he wants to talk. >> as you just heard from fred pleitgen, they're saying, listen, we don't want war either, but we are prepared. let's look at this region in terms of where u.s. troops are. as we look at military bases in the rege, there's a significant presence as we know in this area of the world. what are the options at this point? >> well, there's a whole range of options, obviously. and the fact that we do have the bases gives us capability. but on the other side it also creates targets for the iranians. this is a dhaucountry that has 0 missiles, they have drones, they have mines and proxy forces. and we saw proxy forces firing to southern iraq. to areas where containers for u.s. may be located. there's no question the u.s. is going to come out on top, we have much more capability. but the iranians also have capability to strike back including in the persian gulf and the gulf of oman about which a quarter of the world's oil passes. this is a dangerous situation. >> and the drone, there's a question was it in iranian airspace. was it in international airspace. what would that ch

. >> for the latest, let's turn to cnn's frederick pleitgen in tehran. frednothing to worry about here. >> reporter: yeah, i think quite a lot to worry about right now, christine. certainly if you look at the situation here in the persian gulf area between the u.s. and iran, there's a bit of a dispute as to where this drone was apparently shot down. as you mentioned, the u.s. says that it was in international air space above straight of hormuz. the iranians were saying 2459 drone actually violated their air space and was somewhat south of the straight of hormuz. they're putting it over iranian territory. i have a little breaking news for you guys because the head of iran's revolutionary guard corps came out a couple of minutes ago. this is the unit that apparently shot this drone down. he says it's a clear warning to the united states and he also says that iran's air space and its territorial integrity are red lines that anybody who surpasses them or transgresses them will not come back. so it's a pretty bellicose rhetoric. christine, the iranians about a wee

let's bring in fred pleitgen live from tehran with the latest. fred. >> reporter: hi, dave. yeah, certainly still a very volatile situation down there in the persian gulf, but of course in general here in this region, you're absolutely right. the iranians continue to adamantly deny that they were behind the tanker attacks. regarding the increased u.s. military presence in the region are putting out some pretty tough talk of their own. a top iranian general saying yesterday that the iranians are very much monitoring what they call their enemy forces which is the u.s. forces in this region and saying they would deliver a crushing and decisive blow in response to any sort of military and they're saying it would happen in a very broad region. of course, guys, the iranians have been saying if it does come to a shooting between iran and the united states that they would respond with their military but also with proxy forces they have in the region. meanwhile, our own christian amanpour warning that iran and the united states are heading directly from a confrontation. here's what h

. >> let's go live to tehran where fred pleitgen has the latest. what might this day have in store? >> reporter: i can already tell there's breaking news. the iranian atomic energy agency just came out a couple minutes ago and said their deadline for you auranium enrichment ends tow and they will speed up their production. this is around the time they would exceed the levels under the nuclear agreement of about 300 kilos of you auranium they going to have. they are putting on the pressure on the u.s. and on the other signatories of that deal as well. the iranians with some pretty tough talk after president trump came out yesterday and threatened there would be obliteration if it came to a shooting war. this morning a senior iranian lawmaker said no one dares infringe on iranian soil, as he put it. one of the things that the iranians are putting out there is they are saying their home grown surface to air missile technology was showcased by the fact the drone was shot down and they are saying that was a clear message to the united states that they are certainly not going to back down

cnn's fred pleitgen is live in tehran now with the latest. so we're hearing this back and forth between washington and tehran daily now, fred. >> reporter: yeah, we certainly are, michelle. i do have a little bit of breaking news, i guess, for you guys. the iranians are having a cabinet meeting in tehran. they said the iranians decisively deny america's accusations that they are behind the tanker attacks. he added, this is interesting, that none of this is documented, that obviously a direct answer to some of the photos that we've seen coming out of the pentagon allegedly showing the iranian boat saying it's removing a mine off the side of one of those tankers. we do have the rhetoric escalating between the u.s. and iran. the head of the u.s. revolutionary guard core saying they would be able to target carriers. they have been testing their ballistic missiles at sea and were able to hit a target that's 2/3 the size of a u.s. air craft carrier. whether or not that's true, it shows the rhetoric that is q a bellacose at this point. they don't wan

let's turn to fred pleitgen. fred? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely, christine.he tensions certainly are extremely high still in this region between the u.s. and iran. the senior iranian commander coming out today saying that the shootdown of this drone was a crushing response to the united states and is something that could be repeated again in the future. at the same time we seem to have something like praise coming from president trump from iran's foreign minister. he tweeted saying that he believes the b team was trying to box president trump into a situation where war with iran would become inevitable. he talks about the b team as being president trump's closest allies like national security advisor, john bolton. he went on to tweet, prudence prevented it. then going on to say economic text sews problems. that brings us back to the fundamental issues. the trump administration says they believe sanctions will bring them back to the table. the iranians are saying this is what's keeping them from geg to the table. >>> with all of that, the first day on the job

. >> for the latest, let's go live to tehran and bring in senior international correspondent fred pleitgen. fred, good morning. a lot of this has to do with twhar $130 million drone was shot down. president trump said we have it all document the silently. >> yeah, you're absolutely right, dave. iran is saying the same thing. the iranians i have to say are putting out a lot of information very quickly which is not something i've seen here, at least in a very long time. but a lot of different entities. the military, civilian leadership coming out with information and tweets of their own. now, of course, we know the u.s. military says this drone was hit by an iranian to surface missile flying in the u.s. air space. they're 20 miles off the iranian coast. iran's foreign minister got himself involved in all of this as iran was actually lodging a complaint to the united nations. he laid out how this, we checked them out, it would put them 9 miles off the coast and would mean that would have occurred over iranian face. the president said there would be strikes, calling them off there. hasn't by a

fred pleitgen in tehran and fred, let's begin with you. many allegations for iran. the u.s. blaming them for the attack and that drone attack. iran pushing back. what is their reaction? >> reporter: yeah, iran very much pushing back. and iran also not answering to some of these specific allegations out there. certainly, firing a missile at a u.s. drone is is not something that the iranians have mentioned at all. even that video that we just saw in michelle's report seems to show the iranians taking something off the side of one of those stricken tanker which is the u.s. believes could be an unexploded mine. the iranians haven't commented yet. there's some suggestion that video is out there but there hasn't been any comment on it. and at the same time accusing the u.s. of trying to fan the flames in the greater middle east and more specifically in the persian gulf region. one of the things the iranians are highlighting in all of this, they say that the company that owns the tanker itself says the sailors on board the tanker do not believe the tanker was struck by a mine. in f

senior national correspondent fred pleitgen. hi there, fred. a lot of this has to do with the coordinates of where this drone was shot down. first, any reaction from the iranians when the-- about these strikes being planned and called off. >> reporter: early this morning so far there hasn't been any specific reactions to the "new york times" article possibly calling off their airstrikes after president trump approved the airstrikes. you have to keep in mind, today is friday. it's sort of like the sunday for this part of the world. what's going on now? starting now is the friday prayer sermon. those are often very political. it could be that we might get some reactions sort of in the vicinity of that. we are standing by and we'll see if anything and what is going to come out of that if there's any reactions from the iranian side. you're absolutely right. all of this is about location. we just had the sound bite from president trump, the lead in, where he says this could have been some sort of rogue commander, someone making a mistake. the irania

fred pleitgen is in tehran. >> reporter: right now

fred pleitgen, thank you very much. dennis ross is a former special isn't to president obama, counselor at the washington institute for near east policy. general, i want to get a precedent here, in your time serving in the war zones, have you seen military action called back by a president with just minutes to go, but also, with the president revealing some fairly specific details of what was planned there? three sites, the kinds of sites they were, and his own military's assessment of what the iranian personnel at risk on the ground would have been? >> jim, i would like to start first by saying i'm thankful for the president's restraint in this particular action, because it's apparent that it wasn't nailed down very well. to answer your question, i have not participated directly with presidents in calling back missions, but i personally have called back missions because of things occurring on the ground, sometimes right before that mission was started. for example, a military decisionmaking process always includes rewa

he left the iran nuclear deal and brought america and brought himself into this situation. >> fred pleitgen live for us and we're very lucky in tehran. fred, come back if there's any response to the president or the pentagon. let's come back into the room. we could have for months and weeks and more an argument about pulling out of the jcpoa. whether the trump administration increased tensions. but we are in the here and now and the administration says whatever the reason, that it has proof iran blew up those tankers. the administration says and iran admits it shot down that drone. whether you're mad at president trump for pulling out of an agreement doesn't give you the right to blow up tankers and shoot drones out of the sky. so what now? there's no circuit breaker that any of us can see. who's a third party to intervene and calm things down. there's a thousand troops on their way. what is the u.s. military footprint there right now? i assume everybody is on a higher alert now than the high alert they were on just hours ago? >> i have no doubt that they are. tens of thousands of troops in

fred fl fred pleitgen is in tehran.you tell us was said here and the meaning behind it. >> reporter: hi, christi. this is a senior iranian general and this is a quote he gave to iranian television. he said the u.s. should act responsibly to protect the lives of american forces operating in the region. obviously what he's saying here is if there was some sort of military escalation between the united states and iran, it would affect u.s. forces in the entire region. one of the things the iranians have been saying, if there was a strike if there was a strike by president trump, by administration on iran in retaliation for the downing of that drone that the iranians would have dealt the u.s., as they put it, a crushing response, they would have responded forcefully to that. one of the things the iranians have been telling me again and again, senior iranian commanders, they say, look, one of the things the americans need to understand the iranians have proxy forces in the region. almost every american military base in the m

fred pleitgen is live for us in tehran. you spoke to the foreign minister. does the war of words continue today? >> reporter: i think the war of words will definitely continue. the big question is whether the iranians can remain in it. hasan rohani should remain in it. there are other voices here in iran who are extremely angry at the most recent round of u.s. sanctions also targeting iran's supreme leader. they say that is essentially closed the door to any sort of negotiations in the future. i spoke to, as you said, the country's foreign minister yesterday exclusively in tehran. he took major issue with president trump saying he could obliterate iran. here's what he said. >> he said something wrong but that statement indicates that the united states' intentions are certainly illegal. the united states is not in a situation to obliterate iran. they do not have the capability other than using prohibited weapons to do this. >> reporter: so there you have it. the iranians say today is the day where they exceed the limits they're allowed to have low enriched ur

let's turn to senior international correspondent fred pleitgen in iran. how do you expect iran to react? >> reporter: it's quite interesting, dave. president trump is willing to negotiate, as he puts it, without limitations. mr. trump, until the sanctions are suspended from tehran, only military forces will talk to you. that was after a senior advisor mr. rohani came out and spoke and said that is unacceptable. you can see that disconnect between tehran. the iranians are saying it is precisely the sanctions that are preventing iran from getting back to the negotiating table. they're saying that can be repeated. above all, you also have a foreign minister of iraq who seems to be almost praising president trump who says there are some in the trump administration and trying to box him into a situation where war becomes inevitable. in a tweet prudence prevented. >> their economy continues to strengthen and inflation increases. contentious weekend. >>> a big week ahead for 2020 democrats with the first presidential debates scheduled for wednesday and thursday

we are joined by cnn's fred pleitgen live with the latest in tehran. fred, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dave. yeah, as we speak right now, the iranians are making that announcement. they've already said some pretty significant things about their reduction in the agreement. they have significantly ramped up the production of low enriched uranium and they've already doubled it. they will reach the limits of the amount of low and enriched uranium they are allowed to stockpile in ten days. they have said before this announcement today that they are going to produce an unlimited amount of low enriched uranium. they're making that announcement at a heavy water reactor. they want to produce more of that heavy water for more products in the fission process. the iranians are clamping down their commitments. they are saying they want to stay in the nuclear agreement. it's a clear message, dave, to the united states that the iranians are extremely angry at the policy of sanctions by the trump administration. also quite angry at the europeans for not gi

. >> we have senior international reporter fred pleitgen in riran. fred to you first, tell us how iran has responded and also what's really left to sanctions here? >> reporter: yeah, this was just a couple minutes ago, there are responses trickling in we are sort of translating as they come in. you have, for instance, one of the fuse agencies saying with delusional excuess, trump announced new sanctions against iran and the state news agency saying america's desperation and new sanctions against iran. so they sort of are starting to react to this. no real official reaction coming in yet. i think it's safe to say the supreme leader, himself, is not going to be quakeing in his boots about this. he is someone that obviously has taken a hard line against the united states. one of the things that has been the messaging coming out of tourn over the last couple week or so, was that the supreme leader has been essentially humiliating president trump, you recall a week and a half ago, the prime minister of japan was here in tehran and offered president trump t

for more we have fred pleitgen on the ground there. the administration strategy is clear, maximum economic pressure. this may we hope get them to the negotiating table. you speak to iranian officials. you go to iran a lot. is there evidence that that strategy works? gets iran to talks with the u.s.? yeah. >> reporter: absolutely not, jim. one of the this i think so the iranians keep saying is they say this maximum pressure policy is doing exactly the opposite. >> that seems to be the big disconnect where president trump as you say says he will sanction and sanction and sanction so the iranians come to the table. the iranians are saying exactly these sanctions are preventing them from going back to the negotiating table. it's interesting, president trump says he wants to negotiate without pre conditions, iranians say there are pre conditions because you have the sanctions on the iranian government. today, a senior adviser to president rouhani, he came out and said to them, war and economic sanctions are two sides of the same coin as he

fred pleitgen joining us live from tehran with the very latest. hi there, fred. >> reporter: hi, dave. pretty big and significant announcements coming from the iranians today that they're going to scale back and that they have already ramped up their production of low enriched uranium. the iranians say they've quadrupled their production and they will reach the ceiling limit that they themselves set in about ten days. the iranians say they reserve the right to get rid of that and produce an unlimited amount of low enriched uranium. they say that's what they're going to make in the future. they are going to ramp up their production of heavy water which is a different way of making the nuclear energy. they say the heavy water is going to be used inside of iran, they don't want to try to export that. what the iranians are trying to do, they're very angry about the u.s. sanctions. they also say this is a message to european countries because the iranians want to be able to do trade with those countries. this is not the case. important to point out the

. >> we have a team that is covering this for us, cnn's fred pleitgen in taylor and, fred, what are theyaying about this video and the allegation that they tried to launch a missile against a u.s. drone? >> reporter: good morning, guys. yeah, so far, the iranians have not commented on those allegations that allegedly iran shot at a u.s. drone flying there over the persian gulf area. and also, as we commented on that video that was released by the u.s. military, allegedly showing an iranian patrol boat going up to one of those stricken tankers and seemingly taking something off of the side of that tanker, which the u.s. said could be an unexploded mine. however, the iranians very much sticking by their story. adamantly sticking by heir story, that they had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks on the tankers. one of things playing out big here in iran, the company that owns one of the tankers, in fact, the one in that video apparently said its sailors are saying that they don't believe that the ship was hit by a mine. in fact, some of those sailors apparently saying they believe it wa

cnn's fred pleitgen joins us live from tehran now with breaking developments.ot only downplaying the attacks, calling them minor this week, but now downplaying the possibility of any military confrontation. so iran seems to be taking him up on that. >> reporter: yeah, they certainly are. i think one of the things that the iranians believe, michelle, is president trump doesn't want any sort of escalation in the middle east. at the same time they do believe there might be others in the administration who are more so inclined. the iranians are saying they would be ready for something like that. the iranians as you mentioned for the first time commenting on the evidence put forward that iran was behind the attacks on the tankers especially the video put out by the defense department. iran's defense minister himself coming out saying this was a cowardly attack mission. when they go out to help, they conduct several checks, go around the vessel. this could be videotaped and none of it proves anything. this is the first time we've heard the iranians comment on that. a

our senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is live there. and, fred, look, a lot of mixed messages for sure coming out of washington been but also varied reactions coming out of iran on this. what are you hearing? >> reporter: yeah. you're absolutely right, george. and i think mixed messages coming out of washington certainly is one of the main things that the iranians are looking at here. i can tell you that over the weekend on iranian state tv, one of the things that the iranians were most surprised by was president trump coming out, i think it was on friday night or saturday night, coming out and saying that he appreciated the fact that the rauniranians wheny shot down that drone didn't also shoot down a manned united states aircraft. that was something that was playing again and again and again over the weekend on iranian state tv. you saw on the one hand you have president trump still saying that military action is on the table, but at the same time, of course, calling back that strike. now, it's quite interesting to see because iran's f

let's bring in fred pleitgen. he is live for us in tehran and i think that the fact that the white house declassified or the pentagon declassified these pictures trying to show what kind of evidence they say they have to in some cases skeptical european allies. >> reporter: yeah, i think you're absolutely right, christine. skeptical european allies. skeptical, the japanese as well. the tanker that was hit, one of them was a japanese tanker. there have been european allies saying they want additional evidence and information. whether or not this is going to do it for them, we'll have to wait and see. the iranians saying they were not behind the tanker attacks and the beefed up american military presence here in the gulf region, the iranians with some belly does rhetoric. a top iranian general saying they are monitoring what they call enemy forces, obviously referring to u.s. forces in the region, and that any move by those forces would be met with what they call a crushing response. they say, christine, in a very w

cnn's fred pleitgen is in tehran. what else are you learning, fred?e of the interesting things we picked up on in tehran is the iranians seem surprised when president trump came out yesterday and said he appreciated the fact that the iranians did not shoot down a manned u.s. plane also in the vincest vicinity of that drone. that clip of president trump saying that, i think it was outside on the white house lawn, that's being played again and again and again on iranian tv. at the same time, you're right, the iranians are saying the u.s. should not strike, obviously, and was wise not to strike iran because that would put unimaginable consequences for the region. the reason the iranians are saying that because they say in their book there is no such thing as a limited strike on iranians. they said if that takes place, it would not only be between the iranians and u.s. military, the iranians would involve the proxy forces they have in the region. they say that's something the u.s. should always think about when they contemplate military action against ira

fred pleitgen is in tehran. fred, do you have a sense why the defense minister would have invoked 9/11? >> reporter: yeah, it was absolutely unclear when he said it. we've been looking into why he would have said something like that or whether or not he might have been calling for something like terror attacks against the united states. looking at some of the remarks that he made afterward that he was essentially talking about the aftermath of 9/11, talking about, for instance, the u.s. invasion in afghanistan but specifically talking about this region, the invasion of iraq and the regime change there, essential low saying he believes that's what the u.s. was aiming for in the run-up to the current situation that the u.s. has with iran right now. he spoke about a very difficult situation here in the middle east. he talked about saudi arabia following the united states, so there seems to be some ominous signs about that. it was very interesting to see, though, today the messaging coming from the iranians. today fo

. >> we have coverage with cnn's fred pleitgen in iran. boris sanchez at the white house. ed, we'd like to go to you, first, what is iran saying about some of this latest information that they aren't letting boats back in to tow the tanker away? >> reporter: well, the iranians haven't been, christi, saying much about any specific allegations. it was quite interesting because essentially there's sort of three things out there. there's one that the americans are saying that the iranians not letting that tanker getting towed away. and finally that video that we just showed of that iranian boat coming after that tanker after hit and allegedly taking off what appears to be possibly a mine that didn't explode. now, the iranians are not saying anything about any of those three things specifically, but they are generally saying they were not behind the attacks on the tankers. one of the things, getting a lot of air play, actually here in tehran, iranians are saying the company that owned that tanker, the sailors from that tanker told their bosses they don't believe that tanker was

we certainly see the iranians not backing down at all, jim. >> fred pleitgen on the ground in iran. thanks very much. let's discuss with rear admiral john kirby. and the founder of the national iranian-american council. you've been covering iran for a long time. you and i covered the iran nuclear negotiations for a couple of years. the trump strategy here as it has been with north korea and china as well is basically battering ram. right? maximum economic pressure trying to get them to negotiate. is that a strategy? is that pressure that iran will respond to? >> not at all. if we look what happened the last time around the obama administration pursued negotiations with iran they had a sanctions tlomt their strategy. but what actually got the the iranians to show some flexibility of not the sanctions pressure, the fact that united states in secret negotiations in oman started offering some important concessions to the iranian and specifically accepting enrichment on iranian soil. this time around it will be more complicated. i don't see the iranians coming to the table as long as yon

cnn's senior international correspondent, fred pleitgen, is in iran. fred, what more did we hear from that iranian official? >> well, one of the things he was saying, something we've been hearing from other iranian officials as well, he believes there are some in the trump administration who might want an armed conflict with iran. the folks at the -- the people -- the folks in iran here keep mentioning, for instance, john bolton. but then also secretary of state mike pompeo. but the iranians continue to say they believe that president trump himself does not want an armed conflict with iran, but what the iranian ambassador to the uk there told our own christiane amanpour, is he said that the middle east is the land or the territory of unintended consequences. which means that the iranians believe or fear that the two nations could slip into some sort of major conflict. it was very interesting to hear some of the messaging we've been hearing out of iran throughout the course of the day. despite that evidence presented by the u.s. a couple of days ago of t

our fred pleitgen is in tehran and/orr orren lieberman is in israel. >> reporter: the statements they made at the beginning of their meeting were effectively the talking points they were always going to make before these meetings. that is both prime minister netanyahu and national security adviser bolton listed off as what they see as iran's aggressive acts going on in the region going back months and years. for that, boat of them said neither israel nor the u.s. would stand for what they see as iran trying to, in netanyahu's words, devour other nations and expand its empire throughout the middle east. that's where they both started and here net yan hue went on talking about the power the sanctions are having against iran. >> we in israel saw iran's aggression in their increased efforts to establish military bases in syria and their increased efforts to provide sophisticated weapons to hezbollah and they're increased financial support for hezbollah, hamas and palestinian islamic jihad. this increased right after the deal. right after the deal. with the removal of sanctions we in israe

pleitgen is there. what else are iranian officials saying this morning, fred? >> reporter: what the iranians are saying is they believe these sanctions won't have any affect on the iranian economy or the people actually sanctioned. the supreme leader has no assets outside the country. the other people sanctioned don't have assets out the country, especially the revolutionary guard commanders who, of course, are amongst the most hard line and loyal to the power structure here that iran has. iranians are saying that this means that iran is not going to negotiate with the united states in the long term, and the president of iran really lashed out at the trump white house, even questioning his mental stability. here is what he had to say. >> translator: they have become frustrated and confused. they do not know what to do. they do strange things that no sane person in the history of politics have done or at least i don't remember. this is because of their total confusion. they have become mentally disabled. the white house is suffering from mental disability. >> an

fred pleitgen, cnn, tehran. >>> you're fired. that's what donald trump told his campaign's pollsters and we will explain the reason behind the u.s. president's surprising purge. we're back in a moment. ♪ ♪ award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90. the most awarded luxury suv of the century. the volvo xc90. the first survivor of ais out there.sease and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. they use stamps.com all the services of the post office only cheaper get a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. >>> welcome back, everyone. well, u.s. president donald trump is apparently angry with one of his favorite targets, "the new york times," for its latest reporting. "the times" reported the u.s. is escalating attacks on russia's power grid with potentially crippling malware. that's not the only thing angering mr. trump. cnn's boris sanchez ha

cnn's senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is live with more information. how do we know what to believe? >> it's very difficult, you're absolutely right. it's still a murky situation as to what happened there and what's coming oof the iranian side, it isn't very much as to the specific allegations out there. like them allegedly firing a missile at the drone and the picture of the iranian patrol boat coming to one of the stricken tankers the crew then taking something off which the u.s. believes could be an unexploded mine, and then driving away. the iranians have not commented on that at all. but making the situation yet more difficult, the company that owned that ship or that owns that ship has said that the crew of that ship said it believes that the ship was not struck by a mine, but instead there was some sort of surface fire, a projectile coming towards the ship that caused that damage. so you're right. still a lot of details that need to be clarified so very, very murky situation as to what exactly went down there in the persian gulf. >> fred pleitge

fred pleitgen joining me from tehran. fred, the u.s.ng iran of a deliberate provocation. >> reporter: yes. >> what specifically is iran's leadership saying today? >> reporter: it's been quite interesting the re, actions we have seen from the iranians. they are not commenting about the allegations of shooting a missile at an unmanned aerial vehicle and that video we have seen surface of the iranian patrol boat coming to one of the tankers allegedly and taking a sea mine off one of them. the iranians are not commenting on that, however, they are standing by their story saying they had nothing to do with the attacks on either of the two tankers. one of the things playing big in iran is the company that owns one of the tankers, the one in the initial video is saying its sailors told management they don't believe their ship was actually struck by a mine. they say that the sailors thought there were projectiles fired at the ship and that is what caused the damage. that is something that is really getting a lot of air play here on iranian medi

fred pleitgen in tehran. thanks, fred. >>> new this morning, house democrats have found evidence of political motive for adding a new question to the census questionnaire. wilbur ross sought advice from john baker. baker has argued a citizenship question is necessary so house seats can be redistricted without counting noncitizens. he said it's out of the department. it's a real objective. the question is to encourage the latinos and it's unclear whether they will have any effect. >>> a warning some commonly prescribed drugs are tied to a 50% higher risk of dementia in older people. a new study published in jama suggest the link is strongest for a certain type of antidepressants, it's associated of what caused the dementia or if there was something else at work. the researchers mention it is not getting a lot of attention here. >>> ten minutes past the hour. a 23-year-old was dropped off at a park. hasn't been heard from since. ahhhh! ♪ we're here. ♪ ♪ here's the story of green mountain coffee roasters costa r

i want to check in with fred pleitgen live for us from tehran, iran. what are you hearing, fred? >> reporter: well, the iranians came out very early and immediately said this drone had veered off into iranian airspace. it's quite interesting to hear because they usually don't come out with information this quickly and don't come up with this much information. they say that it violated as they say their airspace and was shot down by one of their surface-to-air missiles. the iranians not saying this was some sort of mistake. they were saying the droep was -- drone was in their airspace and that's why they shot it down. when the president said iran made a big mistake, they came out and said the u.s. wages economic terrorism on iran, that's what they call the u.s. pulling out of the nuclear agreement and putting sanctions on iran, has conducted covert action against us and now encroaches on our territory. we don't seek war but will zealously defend our skies, land and waters. we'll take this new aggression to the u.n. and show that the u.s. is lying about international waters. so tha

cnn senior correspondent fred pleitgen is standing by but first i want to bring in michelle kosinski. are we learning from the video. >> they said this came from a u.s. plane overhead and in darkness they were able to see the ship trying to get this unexploded mine off the tanker. and they said this boat -- it was an iranian fast boat and this is an asset of the irgc, of iran elite revolutionary guard. and this is some proof. and the first round of attacks on tankers a few weeks ago, the administration was criticized for not offering hard proof at the outset and giving detail as to why they thought iran was behind this and so here is the video and we're hearing from others, from diplomatic sources of u.s. allies that when you see this video, this is a virtual certainty in their words that iran did this and they feel that this video, quote, nails it. >> to fred to get the response from the iranians in the wake of the new video being released. >> reporter: hi, pam, well the iranians are saying the opposite. they continue to say unequivocally they didn't do it and in fact the iranian for

fred pleitgen is with us. fred, iran is demanding that u.s. forces leave the persian gulf and that vital waterway, the strait of hormuz, saying that they, iran, are in charge of security in the area. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, alex, that's exactly what the iranians are saying. it's pretty bold statements on the part of the iranians. on the face of it, if you look at the number of forces and also the sheer firepower of what the u.s. has in the region and what the iranians seem to have in the region, then it seems to be quite a mismatch. just the carrier strike group of the abraham lincoln probably has more functioning fighter jets than the entire iranian air force, however, iran is still very, very bold. there was a statement by the chief of staff of the iranian military today who said that the iranians were not behind the tanker attacks. he said, look, if we wanted to shut down the strait of hormuz we would be able to do that and we wouldn't do it secretly, we would do it openly and talk about it. he's saying if anybody caused these

fred pleitgen has more on the conflicting information. >> reporter: hi, ana, yes, a lot of things unclearut what went down in the gulf of oman. the iranians aren't commenting on very much of it, all they're saying is flat out they had nothing to do with the attacks on the tanker. they're not commenting on the u.s. allegation that they allegedly fire a missile at a u.s. drone before the attack took place and they're not commenting on that video which apparently shows an iranian patrol boat going up to one of those tankers and the crew taking something off the side. the u.s. believes that that could very well be an unexploded mine. however, the crew of that very ship apparently told the management of the company that they work for that they don't believe that the ship was struck by a mine and apparently some of the sailors say they saw projectiles being fired at the ship and then hitting the ship and they believe that is what caused the damage. of course there are other allegations that are out there as well. the u.s. pointing out that they said that apparently the iranian navy was making i

our fred pleitgen joins us from tehran and sam kylie is with us from dubai. so good to see you both. fred, let's start with you. what might iran's plans be for scaling back commitments to this nuclear deal? >> yeah, well, i think they're going to be fairly significant, rosemary. the iranians have already hinted at some of the things they're going to do. first of all, the place they're going to announce this is pretty significant, the heavy water reactor, also part of the iran nuclear agreement and a source of concern for the international community over the years before the nuclear agreement was put in place. now, there's two essential things that the iranians say that they are going to announce today. on the one hand they're going to say that they're going to start stockpiling an unlimited amount of low-enricher uranium. you recall a couple of weeks, a couple of months ago the iranians already said the first time they announced scaling back some of their commitments under the nuclear agreement that they would increase the low-enricher uranium that they stockp

fred pleitgen is back in tehran, iran and boris.t did the president say about iran specifically. >> perhaps most surprising of the president's comments is he repeated a claim on iran that their sights were set on a u.s. spyplane that had entered their airspace. the administration has denied that that p-8 spyplane entered iranian airspace. the president was asked about the accuracy of these claims coming from iran and he didn't directly answer the question. listen to what he told reporters on the south lawn of the white house. >> you notice there was a plane with 38 people yesterday. did you see that? i think that's a big story. they had it in their sights and they didn't shoot it down. >> that was accurate? >> i think they were very wise that they didn't do that and we appreciated they didn't do that, but they had a plane in their sights. 38 people on the plane and they didn't shoot it down, and i think that was a very wise decision and -- and i think that's something that we very much appreciate. >> notably, an a both the president

our senior correspondent fred pleitgen from the iranian capital of tehran. rter: wolf, this was probably the most senior iranian military figure, the head of iran revolutionary guard corp and he said iran has been testing ballistic missiles at sea and managed to hit a target about two-thirds of the size of a u.s. aircraft carrier and he said that the iranians are continuing to develop ballistic missile technology and have already come a long way to make those missiles more advanced. now, of course, all of this rhetoric at a time that the iranians are closely monitoring the u.s. steps to send additional troops to the middle east region and another senior military leader said they're watching this very closely and he said if there is a move on the part of the u.s. military, that there could be a crushing response from the iranians and that would happen in a very large area and not so thinly veiled threat that the iranians, if there is a shooting war with the u.s., would not only use military but also all of the proxy militias loyal to them in the entire greater

cnn's fred pleitgen it with us with more. what message is iran trying to send by breaking its agreement on enriching uranium? >> reporter: iranians are not adhering to all the terms of the agreement. what the iranians are saying is they are quickly going to quadruple their output of low enriched uranium. that's the uranium used for power plants, not for nuclear weapons, for instance. the iranians say they'll reach that level within ten days. that's a clear message, first of all, to the united states that the iranians are very serious about their nuclear program and also very serious about count cannering the united states and middle east. even a more clear message to their allies, the europeans. the europeans and iranians are on the same page. they want to keep the nuclear agreement intact. they want to keep it around and the iranians are saying to the europeans, if you want to do this, you need to start doing business with us. you need to circumvent american sanctions. you need to make sure we're able to export our oil on in

cnn's fred pleitgen is live in tehran with the latest. hi there, fred. >> hi there, christina.g that javad zarif tweeted yesterday. the war of words, twitter words is continuing between javad zarif. the iranian foreign minister believes that there is a disconnect between president trump and his national security adviser john bolton. one of the things that zarif tweeted directly at president trump is that sanctions aren't alternative to war, they are war. and the other thing that he tweeted that i think is really important. he said negotiations and threats are mutually exclusive. so essentially what the iranians are saying is that as long as these sanctions are in place, as long as president trump threatens iran there is not going to be any sort of the talks with iran. of course, one of the things that the iranians are demanding is that they want the u.s., at least in part, to return to the nuclear agreement, but that itself seems to be on the verge of falling apart. iran's deputy foreign mince tis coming out overnight and saying iran's strategic patience is running out. today t

. >> fred pleitgen is live in the capital and barbra starr joins us as well.ys they had nothing to do with it. it's not directly addressed the release of this video. >> reporter: yeah, you're absolutely right. they haven't done that so far. looking at the semi-official farce news agency put out a report saying the u.s. narrative is wrong. they were quoting the owner of one of the ships saying the owner has said the crew of the ship don't believe that the ship was hit by a mine but instead hit by a projectile. you're right. as far as the video is concerned. the iranians have not made any sort of statement as to whether or not it's valid or as to whether or not what connection can be seen on that video. however, what we're seeing is from iran's foreign ministry. they are throwing the ball back from the u.s. they say it's the americans fanning the flames here in the region. you're right. specifically taking aim at secretary of state mime pompeo and also just listening to president trump there saying that the iranians are in a lot of trouble. they certainly don't

let's go live to our correspondent fred pleitgen in tehran for us. how serious is all of this fred? >> reporter: well i think right now it is a very serious situation if you look at the new images that the pentagon put out there a couple of minutes ago where you do see a boat on one of the images that the pentagon said was going away from the tanker after what the pentagon said was sailors from that boat taking a limput mine off the ship and we are seeing holes inside of the hull and placement from what the u.s. said were one of the unexploded mine and a hand imprint on the side of that ship that could be seen as well. it is quite interesting to see the pentagon assessment. they say, and this is a quote, iran is responsible for the attack based on video evidence, of course something that we've seen before and resources and proficiency to quickly remove the unexploded mine and the pentagon saying because they were able to take that unexploded mine off the side of the ship so quickly shows that iran is behind this. but you're absolutely right, the iran

fred pleitgen, cnn, tehran. >> so, the question is, where does this go from here? we're joined now by a senior research fellow on the middle east at chatham house. thanks so much for talking with us. you just heard the back and forth charge, countercharge. i want to begin with what you think about iran's statement that it thinks the united states as far as sanctions goes is committing economic terrorism. >> this is the iranian response very much playing into domestic sentiments both at the political elite level but to the popular level as well, where ordinary iranians are really suffering from the pressure of sanctions. all foreign companies that were in iran since the iran nuclear agreement was signed in 2015 have withdrawn and daily life is becoming harder and harder for iranians. so economic terrorism kind of elevates even further the issue, nationalizes the issue and creates a greater sentiment and an affinity between people who might be frustrated with the government and the iranian regime. >> what are your most concerned about right now? we had a president wh

cnn's fred pleitgen is the only western correspondent in tehran where it's early in the morning right now. he joins us. so president trump is saying it could have been a general or somebody who made a mistake and decided to shoot down this drone. is that -- what exactly are the iranians saying? ? >> reporter: well, the iranians are pretty much saying the exact opposite of that. i've been looking for any sort of statements, any iranian commander, anybody from the military or politics that said this could have been an accident or some sort of rogue commander or even the iranians possibly trying to walk this back, anderson. so far there's been none of that. the iranians are clearly saying this was a deliberate shoot down of this u.s. drone because they believe the u.s. drone infringed upon the airspace, violated their airspace. and the interesting thing about this is, i've been here 16 or 17 times now, anderson, and i have never seen the iranians on all levels, the moderates, the hardliners, the military, the politics, come out with so many statements so quickly. pretty much all of them

let's go to fred pleitgen in tehran. fred, tehran is being clear, saying it's not a mistake as president trump seemingly tried to get them the out of saying. >> you're absolutely right, erin. we've been looking to see whether there would be any iranian official who might walk it back or indicate it's an error or mistake. there doesn't seem to be a single one that we have seen the we'll day. if you look at the video the iranian put out and listen to the voices on the video, those don't seem the voices of people who feel they just made a big mistake and shot down the wrong aircraft. they seem to be people celebrating the fact that they hit the drone. the iranians as you said deliberately shot the drone down because they believe that it was in their air space. we checked out that tweet from the foreign minister javad zarif. that's nine miles off the coast of the i were put going in iranian territorial waters. of course iranian air space as well process. as you say the u.s. has a very different view saying it was in internat

fred pleitgen, are these americans simply pawns in a harmer game between the u.s. and russia?rter: well, that's a big question, wolf, the russians are continuing to say there is nothing political. the u.s. sees that differently, they're averagery over the fact that these americans are weighing heavily. here's what we are learning. tonight, vladimir putin's forum almost without american participation. ae he placed an american, one of the biggest foreign investors first in jail and then under house arrest. his detention another factor case lateing tensions between the u.s. and moscow the kremlin spokesman says the case is not political. >> you are saying we would prefer michael calvey to attend the st. petersburg economic forum among other investors and we, of course, regret that he has problems with the law. >> reporter: while president trump seeks better relations with vladimir putin, the u.s. remains at odds with russia with a wide range of topics, prompting a rare personal jab from putin. >> translator: despite the fact president trump has broken all records in imposing sanc

let's go straight to fred pleitgen in iran. how is this being viewed? is it viewed as the president of the united states trying to de-escalate? >> i think it was viewed as a pause. iranians came out and said they themselves also held back from possibly killing americans. the iranian commander of the aerospace forces for the revolutionary guard came out earlier today and said aside from having that drone which they shot down in their sights, the iranians were thinking of targeting a anti-submarine plane that they say was flying in the exact same vicinity. they said they could have targeted that plane but did not. it seems they're obviously holding back from taking life but as disspelling that notion that president trump put out saying somehow the targeting of the drone may have been a mistake by some loose cannon commander. no. the iranians said absolutely what they're looking at, they know absolutely what they targeted. with shooting down the drone, they were sending a clear message to the united states as to what exactly their capabilities are. for the