i'm natalie allen. >> i'm george howell. here's the latest we know.his happened near the baghdad international airport early on friday. qassim soleimani was the leader of iran's elite quds force. the pentagon fwlblames him for deaths of hundreds of american and coalition troops. >> the u.s. strike also killed a senior leader of the iranian-backed popular mobilization forces. that's the same group whose supporters tried to storm the u.s. embassy in baghdad earlier this week. well, how does this ratchet up the danger in the region from iran? nick paton walsh joins me live from london. nick, it seems this is completely new territory. >> certainly. look, i should point out, you know, you mentioned earlier the possibility of war with iran. one key thing in all of this is that it's likely iran's leaders have calculated that a conventional military confrontation with the u.s. is something they're going to lose. also, too, that will be central to the u.s. calculation here. now, this is clearly a deliberate u.s. action. yes, we were told by u.s. officials that

i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell. initially denied having shot down that plane, but leaders now say that missile fired by mistake brought down a ukranian passenger jet on wednesday, that plane with 176 people who were on board. >> the united states, canada and other countries had already reached that conclusion. the plane crashed just a few hours after iran launched missiles at military bases in iraq housing u.s. troops. >>> also dramatic new video to show you, video of the moment that passenger plane hit the ground. we warn you, this video is graphic. you will find it disturbing for sure. >> it was shot from a surveillance camera on a building not far from tehran's international airport. you can see the impact there. and what happened afterward. the bright light from the fire as the plane gets

. >> i'm george howell.newsroom" starts right now. >>> thank you for joining us from kiev to ottawa and even tuwant. iran's government is facing outrage after claiming it shot down a passenger jet, 176 people on that plane, most from canada and iran. >> that led to furious scenes like the scene you see here in tehran. a local report for the vigils turned into a demonstration. chanting for the supreme leader to step down and even death to the dictator. iran initially denied it shot down the plane, but a top general says the plane was misidentified as a cruise missile. >> the country was on high alert after it fired missiles at u.s. troop sites in iraq and that came after the u.s. killed iranian general qassem soleimani. voiced their support for the iranian protesters on twitter and warned against a democratic crackdown. >> canada, ukraine are demanding accountability. >> here's what leaders from those countries are saying. >> translator: i just had a phone conversation with iran and apologized to the relative

i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm george howell.come back, the united states and around the world. the president warning of sanctions on iran if american troops are kicked out of the country. >> he is threatening iraq's parliament on sunday calling for u.s. and other foreign troops to leave the country in response to friday's killing of iran's top general qassem soleimani by u.s. drone strike. richard dalton is a former british ambassador to iran and libya and currently an associate fellow at chatham house's middle east and north africa program. and he joins us now live from london. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me, but i'm not currently a fellow at chatham house. >> oh, you're not, all right. as the former u.k. ambassador to iran and libya, what is your reaction to president trump's decision to order the killing of qassem soleimani and what do you fear the consequence might be? >> it was reckless. as far as i can tell, it was not necessary to eliminate threats to american service people. no proper evi

i'm george howell. >> and i'm rosemary church. course, be back with another hour of news in just a moment. you are watching cnn. do stay with us. let's be honest, every insurance company says they can save you these. in fact, if you had a dollar for every time they said it, you'd have a lot of dollars. which makes it hard to believe, especially coming from a talking lizard. pip, pip, cheerio! look, all i, dennis quaid, know is that esurance is built to save you dollars without skimping on service. and when they save, you save. the only way to know how much is to get a quote. chances are you'll save time, paperwork, and yes, dollars. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless. when insurance is affordable, creais back at red lobster.ast with new creations to choose from; like rich, butter-poached maine lobster and crispy crab-stuffed shrimp rangoon. how will you pick just 4 of 10? it won't be easy. better hurry in. if your glasses aren't so will we. no we won't. use your 2020 vision insurance on your first pair and ge

. >> and i'm george howell. breaking news we're following this day, iran initially having denied shot the plane down, the leader now saying a missile brought down the passenger jet that plane on wednesday killing all 176 people on board. >> the united states, canada and other countries had already reached that conclusion. the plane crashed just a few hours after iran launched missiles at military bases in iraq housing u.s. troops. >> also, we want to show you dramatic new video. it shows the moment that the plane hit the ground. we warn you before you see the video. it is graphic. some may find this disturbing. >> it was taken from a surveillance camera on a building not far from tehran's international airport. there's the flames, as the plane hits the ground and explodes. you can see the flaming debris. hundreds of pieces of the plane strewn across the area. cnn is covering this major development with our teams throughout the region and beyond. fred pleitgen is live this hour in tehran with more on what the ira

i'm george howell. >> i'm natalie allen. we begin right now. >>> in the streets of tehran, grief turned to outrage after an about face from iran admitting that it shot down a ukrainian passenger jet by mistake. listen. iranian media report a vigil turned to a demonstration on saturday. video of protesters demanding the supreme leader to step down and even death to the dictator. most of the 176 victims on the flight were iranian and canadian. >>> of course, iran initially denied it shot down the plane but a top iranian general says the jet was misidentified as a cruise missile that came amid tensions with the u.s., canada and ukraine say it's good that iran came clean, but now they want tehran to cooperate with international investigators and give the families of the dead justice. >> the protests on the streets picking up international pressure on iran certainly in play. cnn's international diplomatic editor nic robertson is following it all for us in our abu dhabi bureau. good to have you with us, nic. if there was a sense o

. >> and i'm george howell. iran initially denied having shot down that plane, but leaders now say that missile fired by mistake brought down a ukranian passenger jet on wednesday, that plane with 176 people who were on board. >> the united states, canada and other countries had already reached that conclusion. the plane crashed just a few hours after iran launched missiles at military bases in iraq housing u.s. troops. >>> also dramatic new video to show you, video of the moment that passenger plane hit the ground. we warn you, this video is graphic. you will find it disturbing for sure. >> it was shot from a surveillance camera on a building not far from tehran's international airport. you can see the impact there. and what happened afterward. the bright light from the fire as the plane gets closer, and the plane hits the ground and explodes. the flaming debris, hundreds of pieces of the plane strewn across the area. >> and cnn is covering this major development throughout the region. fred pleitgen is live in

announced major changes to the constitution critics say he's paving the way to stay in power for life george howell reports it was dramatic and entirely unexpected except the just hours before the resignation of russia's prime minister dmitry medvedev and his entire government the president vladimir putin had called for a government change. we as the government of the russian federation should provide the president of our country with the opportunity to make all necessary changes to the political system. in the annual live televised state of the nation address putin said that the constitution should be amended to allow parliament to choose candidates for prime minister and the cabinet a power now enjoyed soley by the president and the president he said should in future serve a total maximum of 2 terms putin himself is currently serving his 4th the proposed changes would substantially limit the power of whoever succeeds putin as president after he steps down in 2024 as he's constitutionally bound to do. supporters describe the move as deepening democracy empowering elected members of parliament crit

i am george howell. >> i am natalie allen. thanks for being with us.itially denied shooting the plane down but leaders there now say a missile fired by mistake brought down that ukrainian jet killing all 176 people on board. >> united states, canada and others already concluded an iranian missile was responsible. it happened hours after iran launched missiles at iraq

to my colleague george howell now in atlanta with more on how the attack is affecting politics in thees. george? >> becky, thank you so much. this, of course, an election year here stateside and a threat of a war with iran could become a significant factor to voters, especially if the situation continues to deterrideterrierat. joining us from colchester, england. >> thank you for having me. >> the question here. the white house has notified congress of the drone strike required at the war at powers act. heavy criticism on how this was carried out without congressional approval. the house speaker even saying, natasha, it raises more questions than answers. >> it does raise more questions than answers because normally the document that is provided that justifies why something like this takes place is a public document. in this case, they decided to make it classified. and one of the things that nancy pelosi responded to this is that we are keeping americans in the dark. we don't know why this happened at this particular point. there wasn't a lot of information as to what in particular w

. >> and i'm george howell. welcome to viewers in the united states and around the world.significant for what happened in iraq. here's what we know. iran is vowing revenge for a u.s. rocket attack that's killed its most revered military lead, qassim

i'm george howell. >> i'm natalie allen. the implications are significant. here's what we know. >> iran is vowing revenge at this point for a u.s. rocket attack that has killed its most revered military leader. this happened again early friday morning near the baghdad international airport. that strike also killing a senior member of the iranian backed popular mobilization forces. that's the same group whose supporters tried to storm the u.s. embassy earlier this week. the pentagon says it launched the attack on the direct orders of president donald trump. it blames the iranian general for the deaths of hundreds of american troops over the years and says the strike was a defensive action. >> and iran's spiritual leader says harsh revenge awaits the criminals who killed soleimani and the foreign minister zarif blasted vowing that resistance in the region would only grow stronger. let's start this hour with arawa damon with the latest on the details of what happened. >> reporter: this targeted assassination is monument s escalation, one that can only most like

another hour of news is next with rosemary church and george howell. please stay with us. makes it hard to believe, especially coming from a talking lizard. pip, pip, cheerio! look, all i, dennis quaid, know is that esurance is built to save you dollars without skimping on service. and when they save, you save. the only way to know how much is to get a quote. chances are you'll save time, paperwork, and yes, dollars. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless. when insurance is affordable, whatever happens out there you have the hilton app. will the hilton app help us pick the starters? great question, no. but it can help you pick your room from the floor plan. can the hilton app help us score? you know, it's not that kind of thing, but you can score free wi-fi. can it help us win? hey, hey! we're all winners with the hilton price match guarantee, alright? man, you guys are adorable! alright, let's go lose this soccer game, come on! book with the hilton app. if you find a lower rate, we match it and give you 25% off that stay. expect better. expect hilton. de

. >>> to my colleague george howell who is in atlanta now with more on how this u.s. ed states. george? >> becky, thank you so much. let's now bring in thomas gift. thomas gift is here to tell us, he has perspective on this. very good to have you with us. again, a political science professioner. good to have your perspective. we saw those images and if we could just show them, again. it gives you a sense of the feeling right now in iran and also in iraq. people coming together upset, angry about what happened. the question here stateside is as lawmakers debate how this was carried out, is there enough political will to respond as any sort of strike might happen? >> well, to some extent, george, we are really stepping in to unchartered territory because iran has an almost unlimited number of potential options at its disposal both directly through its own military and indirectly through proxies and iran's history of asymmetrical warfare suggests any number of possibilities may be on the table. that is the real danger, i think, for trump. and also for the united states mo