british prime minister tony blair over the iraq war could be lifted later on wednesday artie's laura smith joins me live now in london with all the details so laura it's been fourteen years since the iraq invasion might still face those criminal charges. that's right this certainly hasn't gone away and this case we understand is being heard today by the most senior judge in england and wales and what it attempts to do is overturn a ban on prosecuting tony blair over the iraq war the details were learned by the guardian newspaper we did a quick check though and it is borne out by this judge all of the royal courts of justice today where does it come from they will in two thousand and sixteen a private criminal prosecution of tony blair was blocked the judges said that there was no point in doing it because tony blair would likely have immunity from criminal prosecution this case though could see that immunity overturned and he could face charges charges for what though well as you say this decision in two thousand and three to take bresson into the iraq war which was hugely controversial at

held a hearing on whether to lift any plans immunity from prosecution over the iraq war all teams laura smith reports the background to this is that last year a private criminal prosecution was brought against tony blair and it was blocked by judges because it was ruled that blair would have immunity against criminal prosecution so there was no point proceeding with it this case though you could see that to mean as he overturned it could see him face charges and in fact the charge that they want to level is one of aggression to the second aim of this case is to establish whether aggression is in fact a crime under english law this attempt to private prosecution is based on the findings of last year's chilcote inquiry the report was published last year and it concluded that the war at the time wasn't a last resort which of course it should be that the consequences of the invasion were severely underestimated and that post conflict planning in iraq was wholly inadequate despite all this tony blair has been in public life off and on ever since then in fact earlier this year he announced that he

get their day in court with tony blair thanks laura this certainly an ongoing saga saga artie's laura smith reporting from london more news is coming your way right after this short break. income inequality wage stagnation gerrymandering of political districts polarization you know the lack of effectiveness in congress there are these are well documented trends going back decades and now they're really acute and manifest to the point where people describe the system is being seized with a kind of paralysis. it's called the feeling of. every the world should experience freedom and you can get it on the old. the old according to just. welcome to my world come along for the ride. welcome back to the program russia's foreign minister has expressed concern over the u.n. security council resolutions on new klara zation of the korean peninsula so gay lover of war then he said through this could be used to force through regime change in north korea that's not the south korean and u.s. forces fired missiles into the sea of japan in retaliation for a north korean test missile launch artie's kate part

laura smith some dekalb, mississippi. proud gardener, makes the best sugar cookies.t to longevity eating veggies straight from your own garden. nothing wrong with that. sam cursen of hollywood, florida, celebrating 100 years served in the air force during world war ii. we salute you for your service, sir. and look who's here. happy birthday to, 100th birthday to mary richardson of hilton head, south carolina. she has 9 grandkid, 16 great-grandkid and i think we know somebody getting a lot of birthday cards. >> 106. >> that's right. i'm sorry. maybe my eyes are about ready to go. 4r5 last, certainly not least, friends of the "today" show, fred and trish sa dobdsen of liberty hill. appropriated a family business together raising five kids. if you know somebody celebrating a birthday or milestone anniversary, tell us all about them @today.com/celebrations. >>> coming up after the break, a remarkable man, a thrill seeker already conquered mount everest and taking on a new chal. and then "america ninja warrior" takes over the plaza, rain or shine, after your local news an

laura kuenssberg. let's speak to our assistant political editor, norman smith.ing anyone said will probably change anyone's views, so supporters of mr blair this morning again insisted there were nothing in those comments to suggest that mr blair had misled or lied to the british public. actually sirjohn's comments were a bit more subtle than that. he's suggesting that he was not straight with the british public. what he means by that is once mr blair became convinced of the need for award and he sought to convince the british public, regardless of the doubts, the difficulties, any counter arguments. he sought to almost bypassed the checks and bala nces almost bypassed the checks and balances in the political system, didn't involve the cabinet, he pushed to one side the legal advice, he sidelined the diplomats through his very, very close contact with 6eorge his very, very close contact with george bush, and in that sense sir john chilcot believes he wasn't straight with the british public because in his view he became an advocate for war. norman, thank you, nor

matt smith, robin ellerbe and chris mallard. chris romig, laura sillky. grady boren and subcommittee staff director valerie baldwin. thank you, mr. chairman and i yield back. >> i thank the ranking member as well as chairman carter for their remarks. and lucille and i know that our fathers served together. i am so proud to be serving with you. we live in the greatest country on the face of the earth. it's good to know the ties that bind us are strong. thank you so much for your remarks. this bill demonstrates our iron-clad commitment to safeguarding our homeland and protecting our citizens. in total, it provides $44.3 billion in discretionary funding for the department of homeland security to fulfill its mandates to secure our nation from the many threats we face, whether that's terrorism, criminals and illegal goods crossing our borders or attacks on our cyber networks. this is $1.9 billion above the fiscal year 2017 bill which we recently passed. it's a strong investment in the security of our nation, our families, neighbors, schools and businesses. cri