he said he'd never seen mike lee like that before. i like mike lee and the usual things he's said. it appeared to take the president aback. >> because he likes his republicans obedient, compliant and falling in to line. i think the comments this morning where he's not intimidated by any reaction from the white house or fox news, which usually has the ability of getting the groundhog to go back underground. i think this whole story is stunning from the outside. and mike lee looked around three years in and said you don't want us to do our jobs? congress isn't allowed to see steve mnuchin's secret documents. what was it about yesterday? >> at the same time this is something, when it comes to declaring war and using military force that he has been consistent about. so maybe that's it. but let's not lose sight of the fact there was another very important development in the meeting that explains anger on both sides of the aisle, which is we, the american people, congress, don't have any idea what the intelligence was behind this imminent threat. mike pompeo was saying one thing and the

among them, mike lee. clear, mike lee and rand paul have intelligence, they believe in the constitution and congress should be consulted on these things, but it is still rare in the moment of a big global crises to have usually loyal republican senators come out and look at the administration. listen to mike lee saying, stop treating me like a child. >> they're appearing before a coordinate branch of government, a coordinate branch of government responsible for their funding, for their confirmation, for any approval of any military action they might undertake, and they had to leave after 75 minutes while they're in the process of telling us that we need to be good little boys and girls and run along and not debate this in public. i find that absolutely insane. >> how real is it in the context of if the resolution doesn't pass the house, it has huge teeth. if you have rand paul and mike lee. there is a possible, she's not there yet. essentially what came out of the meeting is pompeo, esper, came out and sai

they'll say, yeah, mike lees of the world and maybe the barbara lees of the world.>> we saw a little bit of that. >> the debate inside the democratic party, a joe biden is going to be hesitant to pull everybody out and the bernie sanders wing is like, hey, let's get the heck out. >> we were talking before the snow about the possibility that iran's long game here, the reason that they were relatively restrained in retall yatding for soleimani is they think they win the prize called iraq. that's a big strategic -- >> they're long game thinkers and donald trump doesn't think about anything more than a week in advance. >> who will resist trump when he says we've had enough of this? it's time for the troops to come home. what have we gotten from iraq? and the problem is we will have a country, another country in the middle east that will implode and will -- i fear, will move as syria did toward a failed state. but i don't think you're going to hear a lot of restaresistanc >> again, he is in this space that he can't seem to get out of where he's saying one thing or does o

michael, let's talk about mike lee.s i said earlier -- >> i know, i'm loving some mike lee. >> when i heard there was a benedict arnold comparison, that was all they proof you find that michael lee's words were overheard. what do you make of it and will it give honest to goodness air cover to other republicans, national security-minded republicans who want to have a debate on this? >> well, it's not going to be so much air cover. this has been an ongoing challenge, if you will, inside the party for a while between the neocon hawks who really kind of live by the creed of, you know, we plant a flag, claim it, or we blow it up. and, you know, republicans are, like, not every engagement has to be a military one. and we should be smart an two fronts. one, have a plan, and two, make sure you can pay for it. that's the rand paul/mike lee part of this. a lot of republicans like a lot of americans are tired of this battle. so what you're seeing now is the president sort of splitting the war baby, if you will. on the one hand, fe

senator mike lee having something of a snit fit today. f tim kaine's candle pai -- campaign t president trump's military authority. it followed a classified military briefing on iran that lee called the worst he has ever seen. >> after 75 minutes, while they are in the process of tilling us we shall be -- of telling us we need to be good little boys and girls and not debate this in public. lou: senator lee who seems to know a lot about not debating things in public still refused to hold a debate on his senate bill, the high skilled immigrants bill, 386. the bill would lead to a major influx of indian h-1b visas and to the u.s. workplace at lower wages. the senator from utah trying to work out a back room deal to pass the bill by unanimous consent, no votes. all in the dark of night. this is the guy talking about public debate. he's not interested in the national interests, just corporate interests, and he's not shy about being as hypocritical a senator who sits in the august chamber. the senator is referred to as the senator from mumbai. n

i want you to listen to senator mike lee. republican senator mike lee on how he felt the briefing went. >> probably the worst briefing i've seen at least on a military issue in the nine years i've served in the united states senate. to come in and tell us that we can't debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against iran. it's un-american. it's unconstitutional, and it's wrong. >> republican senator rand paul agrees that the evidence provided at the briefing was non-specific and less convincing. >> the house is preparing to vote today on a war powers resolution to limit the president's authority to take further military action against iran. the senate is expected to take up a similar measure, but even if it passes it will likely be vetoed by president trump. a senator who spoke with the president told cnn he appeared ready to strike iranian facilities had there been even one american casualty from iran's missile attack. and this morning, iran is warning or at least the commander there is warning that t

now, the -- i think we're getting a little mixed up in our -- in the criticism that mike lee has of thatring. mike is a dear friend. he is a bright, bright guy. his frustration came from the fact that he and rand paul all have -- both have a view that is more restrictive about when the president can use force. the president can reach the three buckets to use force. number one is inherent power under the second article of the constitution. number two, the war powers act. and number three, the specific authorization given to use force in iraq that is the law of this land right now in 2002. they don't like that. they want a more restrictive view of that, and their frustration was they couldn't get the witnesses that were there to tell them exactly when we were at war, what is the definition of that. that's a serious debate we should have. >> understood. let me ask you about this, though, this is the president who has repeatedly disparaged the intel agencies you cited there and the intelligence specifically. questioning the intelligence on russian interference in the 2016 election. notably w

and when mike lee finds a spine to come out the way he did, i think it's remarkable because mike leehe's an ally in impeachment, and he's generally an ally of trump, and you do not hear senate republicans bucking trump in any way. part of that press conference felt like a hostage tape to me because he certainly doesn't want to ask for help from our nato allies. he doesn't like our nato allies, and he's repelled them, and then other parts, you know, he's reading from the teleprompter. it's not his best way to communicate, and you know, talking about more sanctions and he's not a graceful winner, if you want to call this even a short win, he's not graceful in victory. >> yeah, it's striking when you say that because ambassador as is always the case with these stories, there's much we don't know, and it can change very quickly. but it certainly was a day where the administration did not have to in the view of at least these republican critics make this many mistakes when you had a headline of potential deescalation. i want to briefly give you on the substance a chance to walk us through

again, those are senator mike lee's words, republican senator mike lee. now he said at the outset he supports president trump and then he said this. >> i had hoped and expected to receive more information outlining the legal, factual, and moral justification for the attack. i was left somewhat unsatisfied on that front. the briefing lasted only 75 minutes, whereupon our briefers left. this, however, is not the biggest problem i have with the briefing. which i would add was probably the worst briefing i've seen, at least on a military issue, in the nine years i've served in the united states senate. what i found so distressing about that briefing was that one of the messages we received from the briefers was, do not debate, do not discuss the issue of the appropriateness of further military intervention against iran. and that if you do, you'll be emboldening iran. >> now, in a moment, we'll be joined by another lawmaker who was in the room, democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut. this all comes with the house set to vote tomorrow on a resolution th

that's mike lee. mike lee is a trump ally. un-american he is saying unconstitutional and saying insulting. a trump ally. who now says that he is going to support the senate war powers resolution sponsored by a democrat. the same democrat who ran on the ticket with clinton. tim cane. he aid he's going to vote with him. this will limit the president's ability to use military force in iran. ran paul, also saying he's going to support it. another republican. he says the briefing from top officials including the secretary of state mike pompeo. defense secretary and chairman of the joint chiefs. cia director didn't give anymore information they could have read in a newspaper. >> there was no specific information given to us of a specific attack. generality was given to us. i didn't learn anything i haven't seen already. >> republican source telling cnn the attitude coming from pompeo and others in the room was don't second guess this move. don't do anything to question us. the source said that's not a quote. went on it say i don't t

he said exactly the same thing as mike lee. and matt gates a republican from florida, a strong supporter of the president, he has just announced he's going to vote for this war powers resolution. listen to this. >> i support the president killing soleimani was the right decision. but engaging in another forever war in the middle east would be the wrong decision. that's why i'm vote iing for th resolution. >> he tweeted i represent more troops than any other member of this body. i bauried one of them earlier today. if our service members have the courage to fight and tie in these wars, congress ought to have the courage to vote for or against them. i'm voting for this resolution. >> it's certainly significant because, as you pointed out, matt gates is is one of the president's closest allies on capitol hill. he's been a supporter of president trump. so far, there's not a critical mass among republicans of defections. you have some republicans sending a message that it's not just democrats. some members have concerns about this e

rand paul and senator mike lee. lee said that the briefing from the administration, he said it wasn't just bad -- >> it was the worst ever. >> -- he said it was the worst. listen to this. please. >> probably the worst briefing i've seen at least on a military issue in the nine years i've served in the united states senate. to come in and tell us that we can't debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against iran. it's un-american. it's unconstitutional. and it's wrong. >> what's he upset about, john? >> he's upset because the briefing wasn't just thin but the briefers allegedly said to debate the issue would be itself empowering to iran and un-american. and look, this is a very conservative guy. i give lee and paul a lot of credit. in this particular political environment, when anyone sticks up to their principles, that's an honorable action. and i think this is a matter of real principle and they're calling it out. what's really scary is the extent to which republicans have fallen in line by

possibly we could do that, i get along with mike lee, never seen him like that. >> bret: senator mikeoins us now from capitol hill. you heard what the president said it, good afternoon. your response to him? >> my response to him is i have never challenge the attack on soleimani. in fact hours after that attack i issued a statement saying that americans were made safer by it. my concern yesterday focus primarily on the fact that moving forward we were given no indication that the next steps with regard to iran will involve consultation with and authorization from congress as is required by the constitution. in fact those assigned it to come and brief us yesterday from the administration didn't share this president view that has been, i support that president. he's been fantastic, he's been differential to the american people and restraint of as the the command of power. yesterday they did not exhibit the same level of difference and restraint that they have shown. >> bret: the vice president adding to what the president alluded to their saying that somethings could not be shared, sayi

the republican talking points. >> i have to say, i very much appreciate senator mike lee and senator saying this so colorfully. a lot of times we struggle on the hill because you hear these rebukes of the president and others as, you know, behind the scenes or on background, and i appreciate that they came out forwardly and on the record, made these statements, but again, we did see people like senator lindsey graham calling senator mike lee's comments as potentially empowering the enemy is what senator graham said, and so there is this division and i think that when it comes to national security interests especially when it relates to overseas and escalating conflicts that could potentially lead to war, that's where you start to see republicans really begin to rebuke the president and the administration where often they are very hesitant to do, so i think that looking forward, it will be interesting to watch these divisions continue, and i think it does bolster democrats' case for the war powers resolution. >> speaker pelosi, you know she says what she means, means what she says, sh

as mike lee put it, senator lee said go be good little girls and boys and defend the president effectivelys how he summarized it. every once in a while we get a glimmer from a republican in congress, a principled glimmer of someone who says, i'm not going to just rally behind the president, i'm not going to defend him when i come out. when i see something wrong and violates the spirit of the constitution and the way our government is supposed to run, i'm going to say something. >> you know, one of the things that surprised me yesterday about that was that senators have healthy egos. everybody in the senate believes he or she should be president. we know that. >> right. >> when you talk down -- one of the things they hate the most is being talked down to. it's surprising more people didn't come out of that briefing that mike lee had that reaction to and come out and say look, you can't -- you administration bureaucrats cannot tell elected american representatives of the american people what to talk about and not to talk about. it goes to the larger theme of discipline within the republican

. >> yes, mike lee of utah and rand paul of kentucky, and two republicans who do from time to time break from the party on orthodoxy of national security, and the close allies of the president came out railing against the briefing saying in mike lee's words, one of the worst briefings he has had on a military issue in the nine years in serving in the senate. what these two republicans in particular were concerned about were the administration official's contention that it did not have to be a congressional debate of pushing forward on the military action in iran, and also the suggestion that the existing authorities that were proven in 2002 to go into iraq were sufficient to carry out the attacks going forward. one that mike lee, i asked him whether or not he believed that the attack that the president should have authorized the attack that led to the killing of the soleimani, and the top irani general and he said that he was agnostic on it, because of a lack of specificity of what the actual planned attacks of soleimani were that were under way, but nevertheless, they came out make it c

and mike lee is a cool customer. he is a measured individual.as passionate about this because there were a couple of questions that were not answer answered. one that it was an imminent threat that was not laid out enough, and he thought the breakers were dismissive. you can consult us at some point, but what they are trying to do is get to the congressional authority back that was given to them by the framers of the constitution for very good reasons. the authority to declare war should not be concentrated in a single individual. that's why a deliberative body like congress has that authority. >> harris: i don't know how much it will matter, because we only know a couple of these republican senators, rand paul and mike lee who said that they will vote with democrats to shore up the resolution. for war powers and raining and powers of the president. so maybe republicans will still have -- >> jason: what is lost in this discussion is that congress did grant authority to a president to go after a terrorist. in soleimani was designated as a terrori

. >> pauley: republican mike lee, democrats tim kaine and adam schiff will all be here. plus former secretary of state john kerry weighs in on iran and why he is supporting joe biden. >> and a special behind the scenes report from our liz palmer, her and her team spent the multis you week in nation". >> bre good mning. and bin this morning with the secretary of defense mark esper. good morning to you, mr. secretary, good to have youn witnessed anti-government protests, chants against the regime. what is the u.s. assessment of what is happening on to the ground? >> we are safer today than we were just a few weeks ago. why? because we took out the world's foremost terrorist leader, qasem soleimani, who had the blood of hundreds of dead american service members on his hands. secondly we restored deterrence in iran without any u.s. casualties and we yes, reassurer partners and allies in the >>giwirennane : olln deterrence there was an iran fired off missiles at the united states. >> we are confidently restoring deterrence and if you look to your question. >> brennan: you don

that was the last thing that lindsey graham said about mike lee and rand paul.e's rand paul's reaction to lindsey graham accusing him of empowering the enemy. >> he insults the constitution, our founding fathers, and what we do stand for in this republic by making light of it and accusing people of lacking patriotism. i think that's a low-gutter type of response. >> joining our discussion, national correspondent and the host of "a.m. joy," she's the author of "the man who sold america." and ned price is with us, former senior director and spokesperson for the national security council in the obama administration, msnbc national security contributor. it got hot with that reaction. i can't remember seeing a senator walking out saying that one made up my mind. i'm voting against my party. >> first of all, before i answer, i have to congratulate you on that interview with former secretary of state kerry. >> you just listened. >> it was a great interview and i'll be stealing huge chunks of it for me show. >> he did say a lot of important thin things. we should be rep

at utah senator mike lee, a member of his own party. mike lee joining rand paul, both of them have been critical of the president in terms of how he has bypassed congress for his military approach. the president saying the information those senators wanted is up to the military to release. he also suggested that maybe he would be willing or the military might be willing to share that information one-on-one with those lawmakers. i was struck by president trump saying "i have never seen him like this," referring to senator mike lee. i've never heard to the president referred to a key ally in that regard. this legislation is making its way through the house and senate is not going to ever become law because of the republican-controlled senate. david: on the other site, senator mike lee saying he had never seen a briefing like that great he thought it was ridiculous. he was very outspoken. now we go to shawn donnan in washington on trade issues. the president also talked about trade, the phase i deal that is supposed to be signed next week.

senator bernie sanders has a new ally in the senate, mike lee.is is coming after criticism of top officials giving what mike lee said is the worst military briefing he has experienced in nine years. he is joining us now and author of a new book called "our loss declaration, america's fight against tiyranny." thank you for joining us. after the briefing, you were very offended for the lack of information given to you, and was the administration just basically saying, hey, come on, trust us. >> jake n t, in the briefing we not receive information that was not already public available through the media sources. and that is frustrating, because when something like this unfolds quickly, and events that will have a profound impact on the military strategy, and congress does need to know about it in part so we can evaluate the scope of our authority and act or choose not to act, and we did not get that. that is disappointing. >> in the briefing did they experience or say anything about four u.s. embassies would be targeted by soleimani and his forces as

senator mike lee from utah who came out of his version of the briefing today on the air strike against iran, which again was a briefing designed to reassure the congress that president trump launched this military strike against this iranian military official in the middle of his impeachment, but don't worry, it was for all the right reasons. senator mike lee, again, a republican, has long been a stickler for the constitutional progre prerogatives of congress when it comes to war and peace. but his upset today would appear to be his revulsion for what the trump administration tried to sell him and other senators today. it seemed to go beyond just that concern. >> he went in there hoping to get more specifics as far as the factual, moral justification for what they did. i'm still undecided on that issue in part because we never got to the details. they left after 75 minutes. now, i understand these are busy people. they've got a lot of demands on their time. they're appearing before a coordinate branch of government responsible for their funding, for their confirmation, for any approval

me, mike lee's criticism. i want to ask you about mike pence who was suggesting that there's no need for this kind of congressional notification, that they can't be trusted to learn about sources and methods. this was mike lee as you know a republican from utah, blasting that briefing yesterday. >> what i found so distressing about that briefing is that one of the messages we received from the briefers was do not debate, do not discuss the issue of the appropriateness of further military intervention against iran. if you do, you'll be emboldening iran. we need to be good little boys and girls and run along and not debate this in public. i find that absolutely insane. >> so the president today has now blasted democrats and nancy pelosi saying that they basically are embracing soleimani by wanting to debate the war powers and debate this resolution today. your experience, you've been a recipient of briefings and a briefer. >> yeah, tom donilon and i used to talk about this all the time when we both served in gov

mike lee on the shoddy job.probably the worst briefing i have seen, at least on a military issue in the nine years i have served in the united states senate. at 1.1 of brief or said something like don't worry we will consult you. well, with history as our guide, consultation is not necessarily the same thing as authorization for the use of military force. a declaration of war or in a umf is with the constitution requires, and drive-by notification or after-the-fact a lame brie things like the one we just received are not adequate. kennedy: elaine, there are two issues for our lonely freedom fighters that have not been satisfactorily addressed. one, how eminent was the soleimani threats and how can you trust intel from deep stators you have been maligning for two years? and how on earth can you possibly use an 18 or 19-year-old completely outdated and deeply flawed and a nap for justification of against iran. the 2002 resolution targeted saddam hussein's iraqi is dead and it's hard to hold a wedding without the g

mike lee and rand paul, two republican senators. listen to what senator lee had the say. >> probably the worst briefing i've seen, at least on a military issue, in the nine years i've served in the united states senate. to come in and tell us that we can't debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against iran. it's un-american. it's unconstitutional and it's wrong. that was insulting. that was demeaning to the process ordained by the constitution and i find it unacceptable. i walked in undecided. i walked out decided specifically because of what happened in that briefing. >> wolf, it was that last point that's the most tangible result that left a number of senators wanting more. mike lee and rand paul saying they will back a war powers resolution that will restrict the administration's authority to conduct hostile activities related to iran. senator tim kaine is the sponsor. now both republicans are on board. both senators lee and paul have long been critics of the expanding article two authority when it comes

would anyone have had matt lee and mike gates? es, but mike gates was a surprise for me. remember, he's been consistent on at the. the gates vote was more of a surprise. but look, i mean cory gardner has avoided these kind of fights. i don't see them being the kind to do it. lamar alexander is a serious minded senator. he's retiring. nobody's idea of a big donald trump fan. he may want to see the senate act like the u.s. senate and might be a vote in favor of witnesses. >> before garret and i start deciding who's bringing dinner on what night, take us into the substance of all this. donald trump about to be tried for abusing his office. it's sort of an indictment, if you view the house vote that way, that is undisputed by any word, utterence public and any document to date. so, what could the republican strategy be other than to push through something that isn't a trial at all? >> republican strategy is to simply short circuit everything. so that you don't have a real trial. and that's why we're having all these fights about witnes

republican senators rand paul and mike lee previously voiced support for the measure. but i think we can all talk about the fact that with regards to that cause of imminent attack we've had quite an issue with the administration defining what an imminent attack is with the most recent strike against the general. >> yes. let's switch gears and bring in janessa webb for a quick check of weather. hey, janessa. >> hey, good morning, have you enjoyed the warmer temperatures? they're going to fade away. one more day, before it's broken down by the extreme cold front. so highs today, cincinnati to nashville, literally 25 degrees

some gave it a rant, like utah republican senator and man definitely not snapping on the beat, mike lee. lee described the meeting where the administration was supposed to explain the justification for the attack this way: >> probably the worst briefing i've seen, at least on a military issue, in the nine years i've served on the united states senate. they kept telling us that there would have been an imminent attack had they not taken this strike on friday. but then when we would ask them, "what was the nature of that attack? when and where would that have been occurred? by whom would it have been carried it out?," they refused to answer the question. >> stephen: and that's the only reason for the meeting. that's like a doctor saying, "we have the results of your m.r.i., but i refuse to show them to you. so what do you want to talk about? hey, have you finished binging "the witcher" on netflix yet? i'd get to that in the next couple of weeks, if i were you." ( laughter ) ( piano riff ) not only are they not providing any information to congress, briefers were even shushing lawmakers wh

here, the secretary of defense, defense, the entire national security team and apparently senators mike lee and rand paul made the argument that a war powers debate is empowering iran. you saw lee and rand paul call that unamerican, insulting and demeaning and said they were going to join with democrats in a similar effort over in the senate. now, of course the way that they're doing it here would require a veto-proof majority. obviously something that is much trickier in a democratic-controlled house that doesn't control the chamber by the margin they would need to get that done. the path forward for anything like this is unreliable in the senate but certainly it sends a message to the administration. >> as nancy pelosi was behind her podium in the roosevelt room in that building behind you, the president continues to be doing what is essentially a rollback of a 50-year-old environmental regulations that were put into place by richard nixon. he is surrounded by folks that include builders, contractors, realtors, people who said this is hurting business essentially. we see the picture there

i don't think rand paul and mike lee who both support the president overwhelmingly have a great dislike for the president. >> senator, while you and i are having this conversation mitch mcconnell is on the senate floor talking about impeachment, using the words of democratic senators essentially saying they would like to see house speaker nancy pelosi turn over the articles to the chamber to help make his argue. senator feinstein is among them. if you're not going to do it, don't do it. if you are, do it. i don't understand the delay. is it time for the house speaker to just transmit the articles now? >> i trust speaker pelosi in terms of her judgment. look, the house went through an arduous process both in the intelligence committee, the judiciary committee, i think the speaker just simply wants to make sure that the house gets a fair opportunity to present its case in the senate in front of the american people. every day that passes by, we have more disclosures of more information, more e-mails between relevant parties. john bolton coming forward and saying he would testify. all of th

little juice, not only in the house, but also the senate, controlled by republicans. >> laura: mike lee'shoughts on this are a total outlier. i like mike and he is a smart guy, but the idea that the president makes the call that there is an imminent threat to the united states, we have a chance to take out someone responsible for literally hundreds of deaths, american soldiers -- everything they were doing, the fact that he did thai ts a good thing for our soldiers, the victims of all that violence. dan, americans should be celebrating the death of soleimani, not wondering, what if we had waited 30 days for a resolution, or nancy pelosi okayed it? i think that is a joke constitutionally. >> that's the constitution! >> laura: first of all, talk to george washington about what he would think an imminent threat to the united states as determined bye the chief executive officer -- >> he didn't prove imminent. okay, dan, go ahead. >> let's do a quick principles check on chris, because i guarantee chris was nowhere when obama was droning people in syria, what was it, 571 times? he's only upset

those republican senators mike lee and rand paul, they're furious about the way the trump administration officials briefed them yesterday. the lack of evidence produced about the intelligence that led to the killing of iran's top general. and all this comes as pressure builds among senate democrats on a different subject for nancy pelosi to hand over the articles of impeachment to the senate. we're going to begin on the ground with cnn's clarissa ward, our chief international correspondent. she's at the site where one of the iranian missiles hit in northern iraq. clarissa? >> that's right, john. as you can see, this is a very rural area. we have been talking to local security officials who tell us there's no real american presence here. there's no military base here. we've spoken to a shepherd who lives about 100 yards away who says that his house literally rocked from the force of the boom, that there were flames. his children were crying. but other than that house and a refugee camp less than a mile away, there really is nothing here that could make a target, if you like, for the irani

in fact, i was sitting right next to mike lee at the briefing. i had mike lee in front of me, rand paul on the right and bernie sanders next to me. it was insulting. they came through and refused to give us any information on what imminent threat soleimani was that allowed the president to make this decision without consulting congress. and then they had the gall to say to us that they were consulting us now, three days after the fact. you know, there's a reason that the constitution rests the war powers with the congress of the united states. we are the ones that decide whether or not to declare war because we need to have a true debate and discussion. and if the debate and the discussion and the evidence shows we should move forward, then yes, i would vote yes on it. but right now we've been kme completely cut out of that decision-making process. the checks ask balancnd balance longer there. frankly, the evidence they provided us was flimsy at best. don't get me wrong, i'm happy this guy is dead, but i'm very concerned with the circumvention of

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also voicing rather blunt concern who had a mike lee calling it the worst military briefing he'd ever seen in his history as a senator and mike lee said that he had gone into the briefing undecided about the question of how how the senate should respond and came out decided and he decided. against the position of the white house so that that did not go well for them the question now though is what the united states is planning to do in terms of sanctions you know the president trump has been saying that they've been you know applying maximum sanctions already so he's going to have to kind of go searching through the couch cushions to find some more ways to sanction iran meanwhile you're getting noises from various elements of the administration that there was that they're willing to you know sit down without preconditions and talk to iran and you had the specter of donald trump urging your you know members of the iran deal to break the iran deal and then come back to the table and negotiate a new iran deal and essentially he wants the iran deal that was in place but he wants it w

garrett, members of congress like mike lee didn't like the briefing. but is this really about soleimani and iran or is it all about power? >> reporter: it is about power and what could happen next here. the thing that triggered mike lee and other senators in the meeting is the administration saying they're not sure they would feel like they need to come to congress for any kind of authorization for a military strike. whether it was yemen last year or iran this year, you see republican senators like mike lee peeling off to say this is not acceptable, we want to exert our own constitutional authority. in this case, there's something they can do about it. lee cannon said he will support tim kaine's measure on the war powers act that would limit what the president can do in iran without getting congressional authority. the house bill should pass easily, senate bill needs to grab a couple more republican senators. both would face a presidential veto if they head to the president's desk. this is an opportunity you saw senators speaking up and can put opposit

your reaction to the reaction from republican senators mike lee and rand paul. you say the administration is obligated to start working with congress more but also say that congress needs to act more like adults when it comes to national security. are you concerned with the rhetoric and the way they're saying it or are you concerned with what they are saying? >> not necessarily what they're saying. i have -- i was one that also believed the aumf had long reached its expiration date. under obama, i was working with a group of members to try to get it reauthorized and make sure congress had an active and important role in that process. i think congress walked away from that responsibility since 2002. so we do need some aumf, but doing it for political purposes to say, i don't like the president so i'm going to not let him do x or y is not a way to conduct foreign policy or national security. and i can tell you this. as a chairman of the committee who got the most sensitive information and then i would go to these briefings that were broader wut eer with more membe

to protect our nation. >> bret: is it now the case as we look at this briefing, you saw senators mike leeay what they said. democrats saying they were not impressed with the briefing about the evidence of the attack. yet you and other republicans say it's everything that you thought it should be. are we looking now at intelligence and the issue of possibly getting into action about iran through a partisan lens and is that the bad thing? >> very clear committed the evidence he saw was a major attack against our troops interact in the middle east within weeks, if not days. intelligence rarely gets better than that. rarely tell you the exact moment to make the exact day, the exact place. on questions on eminence, it probably looks a lot different from a soldier sitting in iraq than if you are a comfortable senators sitting behind secured doors with armed guards in washington, d.c. >> bret: the president of iran tweeted out, "general soleimani fought heroically against isis, al qaeda, at all, if it weren't for him europe would be in danger right now. kick all u.s. forces out of the region." y

i think mike lee of utah, senator mike lee is a prime example of what republicans might be scared of, is that you have a republican senator walking out of a briefing saying i am insulted by the fact you think if i ask questions, if i want to debate the president's powers and military intervention, that i am somehow emboldening iran. that's what he said, top nur national security experts, mike pompeo and others, they didn't feel as co-branch of government. a lot of people think the republicans have buckled under pressure, not asserted themselves in a way you could as lawmakers and congress. now we're seeing some republicans do that. >> but here's the thing, the president tweeted out hope that all house republicans will vote against crazy nancy pelosi's war powers resolution. pushing back against what they consider to be executive overreach is a bipartisan thing. republicans were complaining about it during the obama administration, and yes, nancy pelosi is speaker of the house, and it is predominantly democrats. this isn't solely about the president and what happened in the last week.

i can look in the look in senator mike lee's eyes when he said the worst briefing ever. no one mentioned embassies or things so i think the point of that is -- >> if they have good intel about the embassies, said that at day one, we would have had a different conversation. >> and there's something about declaring victory after one week and iran is playing a much longer game here. yes, in this exact moment, iran retaliated, they seemed to have backed off here. i'm hard pressed to image then is the extent of what iran is planning given how significant it is that the u.s. took out this general. >> and remember what was happening on the streets of iran was radically different before and after they shot a passenger jet out of the sky. you cannot control all of the factors of this at all and i wonder if we had a different conversation if that horrible event had not happened because that flipped things in iran and trump is sitting pretty, look they're against soleimani too. they're saying death to the supreme leader, not to america right now. >> it's a great point about the lim

mike lee didn't say a thing when obama drops 26,000 bombs when he overthrew libya and the mess that was made there. i wouldn't trust democrats in the grimmest fours you could throw them. >> host: they will let them respond to that. guess who i agree with that. only when after osama bin laden we applauded president obama for that and it should have been done when we had chances earlier had we waited like you said it could have been another benghazi. could have been another 9/11 and god forbid that happens again. president trump acted decisively in the acted like a leader and i think we are all better off for that. >> host: joe is in maine on the independent line. >> caller: yes, ted i just like to ask you tell all the americans how much you are getting paid to comment on tv to lie to us. tell them what your salary is. guess the $174,000 here and i get nothing for being on tv. >> caller: i understand up at $174,000 correct? >> host: what is your question about iran sir? >> guest: president trump said yesterday were talking about taking care of people who kill americans. what about the nor