richard engel. i will tell you something that you should know.nian ambassador to the united nations did an interview with nbc news tonight in which he was asked about what the world should expect in terms of these promises of iranian retaliation. one thing he said in response was solemani was not only popular in iran. iran is not responsible for anything that those supporters might act. i said i do not know when or where or how the reaction will be by those who have seen the action against solemani. that's the iranian ambassador to the u.n. saying we're going to respond, but i can tell you that other people in other countries who feel strongly about this assassination might, too, and we can't be held responsible for what they do. we have much more to get to tonight. obama national security adviser susan rice will be joining us tonight. stay with us. be joining us tonight. stay with us. any comments doug? yeah. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. con liberty mutual solo pagas lo que neces

nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in iraq tonight. he notes in response this is not the sort of news you would expect if the u.s. government were actually pursuing de-escalation. richard also tying this reported air strike tonight to an event tomorrow in iraq that should probably now be on all of our radar. an iraqi security official tells nbc news there's been another air strike north of baghdad, targeting shiite militia leaders, reports of six killed, this right before a big shiite protest tomorrow in baghdad. quote, it seems certain to provoke an escalation. richard engel is going to join us live next from northern iraq. but thousands more u.s. troops are being sent into the region as of today. u.s. civilians today were told to get out of iraq immediately. former u.n. ambassador and former u.s. national security advisor susan rice is also going to join us live momentarily tonight. this is a time of profound uncertainty. but in terms of assessing the risk and thinking about who's in danger, thinking about americans who are newly on t

richard engel is in iraq for us. and richard, i think it's important to step back for a second to put it into context how we got here over the last couple of weeks. starting on december 27th, when a u.s. contractor was killed in a rocket attack in northern iraq with the u.s. blaming one of the iranian backed militias there and the u.s. fired back with air strikes two days later and on new year's eve we saw the embassy protests in baghdad, backed by iran and then the strike that killed soleimani. that brings us to today with iran launching more than a dozen ballistic missiles. irbil was one of the sites targeted there. i know that's -- where you have been posted up here. talk us through the latest in the damage and what you're hearing from your sources and from our team about the possibility that iran may have missed perhaps on purpose, if you will, and specifically targeted some of these places without u.s. casualties for a reason. >> so let's start with the last point and then we'll to unpack the sequence of events.

richard engel is there., what is the latest >> reporter: well, iran says it has begun its response, its revenge for the u.s.'s killing of its top general, firing the u.s. military says over a dozen ballistic missiles at two iraqi bases housing american personnel. one of them here in erbil. the attack here apparently not causing much damage. the other in western iraq where u.s. troops were forced to go into bunkers. iran says it will escalate this. it has launched a media campaign as well saying that it can not only mobilize its proxies, but it will continue if there is a u.s. response. >> all right anxious times. richard engel, thanks. continuing coverage on msnbc and nbcnews.com. i'm lest >>> right now at 6:00, breaking news. missile strikes on air bases housing u.s. troops in iraq. the u.s. trying to figure out the damage, but it does confirm that iran is behind that attack. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening. thanks for joining us. >> it is almost day break in iraq. we will soon see the damag

nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel was in iraq tonight. otes in response with this new attack with six reported dead comes on the eve of what's expected to be a big shiite protest tomorrow in baghdad. richard saying, quote, it seems certain to provoke an escalation. richard engel joins us now from northern iraq. it's great to have you. >> it's absolutely great to talk to you on an important night. and i was listening to your introduction and i think you and a lot of other people are now sitting back scratching your head saying what did we just get into, what did president trump just provoke, or what's going to be the response? and you laid out that case, a keystone cops kind of case when the quds force allegedly tried to carry out this assassination in the united states. the quds force is not very good at that kind of thing. it is not the kind of organization that blows up shopping malls or carries out attacks in the united states. it just isn't really built for that kind of thing. it doesn't really project power in that kind of way. but wh

nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel was in iraq tonight. he notes in response with this new attack with six reported dead comes on the eve of what's expected to be a big shiite protest tomorrow in baghdad. richard saying, quote, it seems certain to provoke an escalation. richard engel joins us now from northern iraq. it's great to have you. >> it's absolutely great to talk to you on an important night. and i was listening to your introduction and i think you and a lot of other people are now sitting back scratching your head saying what did we just get into, what did president trump just provoke, or what's going to be the response? and you laid out that case, a keystone cops kind of case when the quds force allegedly tried to carry out this assassination in the united states. the quds force is not very good at that kind of thing. it is not the kind of organization that blows up shopping malls or carries out attacks in the united states. it just isn't really built for that kind of thing. it doesn't really project power in that kind of way. bu

our nbc news exclusive, richard engel with new reporting on just how close the u.s. came to war with iran. the danger the public didn't know about until now. >>> breaking news on the company that owned the chopper that crashed and killed kobe bryant. where the wreckage is now headed and kobe's wife breaking her silence. her heartfelt tribute. >>> the new lawsuit, the family terrorized through their ring camera by a hacker. >> santa claus don't you want to be my best friend? >> how the company is promising to tighten security >>> super bowl countdown and the commercial airing during the big game guaranteed to melt your heart. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >>> good evening on the same day the coronavirus was declared a worldwide health emergency, we're learning of the first-known case in this country of a person to person spread of the deadly disease. the sixth confirmed diagnosis in the u.s., an illinois man apparently infected by his wife with cases now identified in at least 18 countries outside of china, the world health organization tod

dissipating, i think that issue does remain, what happens to the troop presence in this country. >> richard engel, powering through a windy night in erbil, iraq. thank you, richard. to iran, and our tehran bureau chief. the president threatened more economic sanctions. what is left to sanction in iran? they have done everything that we know of. >> reporter: not a lot, andrea. the main things here have been sanctioned, oil, that's iran's most valuable commodity and they've pretty much choked off iran's oil sales. there are other certain minor banking sanctions that they could go through. there isn't anything that could hurt the economic any more than they have hurt it already. iran's economy is in terrible shape. the local currency here has just lost its value completely. after all of these tensions happened here, the stock market in iran just took a complete nose-dive. i don't think sanctions are going to be very effective anymore. and iran has learned how to deal with sanctions for quite a long time. but the one thing to take away from the president's speech is that there isn't going to be for n

we begin with our chief foreign correspondent richard engel, who is in iraq. richard? >> reporter: good evening, peter u.s. intelligence officials are trying to figure out where and when iran's response will be but we are already seeing some of the aftermath of the u.s. assassination of that iranian general with new attacks in iraq today and angry protests >> reporter: if fallout has begun. tens of thousands of mourners and protesters in baghdad and tehran shout ed "death to america" and "reven "revenge" after a u.s. drone strike killed iran's top general, qassem soleimani, and an iraqi shiite militia leader who was with him the u.s. military denied reports it targeted the shiite militias again last night in a second strike in iraq the u.s. embassy in iraq was on pins and needles. american aircraft have been patrolling above to see if protesters would storm the complex. marines on guard inside 3,000 more u.s. troops are heading to the region reinforcements from the airborne division heading out today. this time, the conflict may not be limited to iraq. iran's president

this eveningthe stat department telling americans to leave iraq for their own safety richard engel is there and has the latest >> reporter: the aftermath shows an attack that was deliberate and sustained with around a half dozen explosions, the americans firing with drones, clearly didn't want to miss their target iran's general, qasem soleimani. he was leaving baghdad airport when he was killed in a convoy of vehicles president trump tonight. >> soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on american diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him. >> reporter: the imminent attacks planned by soleimaniand facili house americans in iraq, syria, lebanon, and the region of the middle e state department official told reporters today qasem soleimani was no ordinary general the u.s. officially classified him as a terrorist, but in iran he was a national hero specifically, soleimani was in charge of spreading iranian influence around the world and he was eekstremely good at it ruthless, strategic and bold he knit together a loyal network of armed g

officials are revealing how they think american lives were saved richard engel starts our coverage from >> reporter: the u.s. sehousing americanalvo troopsfor the u.s.'s killing of iran's top general. iranian state tv claiming this is the moment the missiles were fired and iran threatened to unleash war across the middle east if the u.s. dared to strike back so the stakes were high when president trump approached the podium to outline america's response. >> i'm pleased to inform you, the american people should be extremely grateful and happy. no americans were harmed in last night's attack by the iranian regime we suffered no casualties all of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases. >> reporter: t. coheter strike for now.n apars to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world. >> reporter: iran, which has been consumed by a dangerous mix of humiliation and rage that the u.s picked off it second most powerful official with a drone immediately claime total victory making wild and false clai

a wave that now appears to be breaking >> richard engel, thank you. now to the trump administration's decision to take out iran's top general in the u.s. secretary of defense today did not describe the same way the president had. hans nichols reports from the white house. >> reporter: tonight the secretary of defense appearing to contradict the commander-in-chief in a specific threat from iran involved four u.s. embassies in the middle east >> i didn't see one with regard to four embassies. >> reporter: but esper was careful not directly undercut president trump. >> what the president said was he believed that it probably and could have been takes against additional embassies. >> reporter: after justifying the strike that killed qassem soleimani at a thursday campaign rally by saying multiple embassies were threatened -- >> not just the embassy in baghdad. >> reporter: the president got more specific in a fox interview friday night >> i can reveal i believe it would have been four embassies, and i think that probably baghdad already started. >> report

richard engel has the latest >> reporter: new demonstrations tonight in iran. outrage over the government's admission that it accidentally shot down a ukrainian plane after days of denials. some protesters saying they were fired upon by security forces which tehran's police chief denies this as we're granted access to the western base in iraq struck by more than a dozen iranian ballistic missiles some with direct hits where u.s. troops were living and working officials say this shows how close the u.s. came to war with iran this was one of the main housing units for this part of the base, but it's so badly burned and damaged it's hard to tell what it even was. you only know people were living here because there is a burned out bed, somebody's bicycle had soldiers stillen inside whe missile impacted, it would have been many casualties the soldiers did have about two hours of advanced warning from u.s. intt some kind of attack was coming but fearing the base might be overrun, many stayed out of bunkers to guard the base. captain jeffrey hanson had the wind knocke

fresh denials tonight that a missile could have downed that airplane richard engel has more on iran's reaction. >> reporter: ira tonight isn't explaining why the plane crashed while the country was on high alert for a possible american counterattack after iran fired a salvo of missiles at bases housing american troops at iraq, only that iran didn't shoot it down. a blanket denial the head of iran's aviation organization on state english language tv. >> translator: the allegations it was hit by a missile is totally ruled out. >> reporter: citin caught fire three altitude of 8,000 feetreturn t airport but the fire was too intense and exploded officials also denying iran is unwilling to hand over the black box to foreign a witness on local tv says he heard an explosion, went to the scene, and saw bodies and the aircraft in pieces iranian news agency close to the government said the story that iran shot down the plane by accident or otherwise is psychological warfare from the cia to deflect attention from the iranian missile attack. >> richard, what's iran's calculations behind the blanke

give me one second. >> richard engel looks like he needs a cup of water, by the way. we'll get richard back up when we can. again, one of the things that stood out to me was this assertion from president trump basically blaming the obama administration not for the iranian nuclear deal but indirectly for the attack last night. >> yes. i agree with all the points that i think he did show some restraint, but there were all of those falsehoods about the obama administration and he needs to be fact-checked. the classic one is that we gave the iranians billions of dollars for the iran deal. that was iranian money that was deposited in american banks that was frozen since 1980. of course we owed it to them. i guess donald trump pockets people's money when they give it to him and doesn't pay him back. but we do. this idea that somehow donald trump has himself forged energy independence for the united states, this was something that's been going on for 40 years. he's still obsessed with obama. but the larger point is does the killing of soleimani make us safer in any away? i do

first i'm joined by richard engel, nbc news chief foreign correspondent who is over in especial erbil, iraq. it's hard tell we're lucky with no american service person being killed and that happening. >> reporter: so we're lucky there were no casualties here but we are on a cycle of violence and anyone who has covered the middle east or anyone who has served in the middle east knows once you start these cycles of violence they are very, very difficult to break, and the president set up this threshold that is probably impossible to meet. there are tens of thousands of troops and contractors in harm's way and he is now set up a scenario where effectively there is a zero acceptance of casualties. that while pursuing an aggressive foreign policy against iran and attacking the most senior military leaders of the iranian system. we are setting ourselves up for a cycle of crises. so, yes, we got past this crisis, but i could see us in the same scenario a week from now, just a few hours ago there were two rockets fired at the green zone where the u.s. embassy is in baghdad. they didn't hit an

nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us from irbil, iraq. richard, welcome to you. a nonbinding resolution telling the government to end the presence of foreign troops in iraq, tell us what that means, what does that look like? >> reporter: so there is a little bit of a legal explanation that is involved here. technically, u.s. troops, around 5,000, are in this country at the invitation of the iraqi government. there are no american bases here anymore. they are iraqi bases, controlled by iraqis, that host americans as trainers, advisers, providing support, sometimes lethal support, to the iraqis. technically their mission is to fight isis, not to carry out assassinations against iranian generals, but to help the iraqi army fight isis. when isis arose a couple of years ago, parts of this country fell to isis, extra u.s. troops came in. so now, what the parliament has done is request the government to cancel that invitation. and you would think, okay, the parliament is asking it, the prime minister came out in support of that request. so in th

officials are revealing how they think american lives were saved richard engel starts our coverage from iraq. >> reporter: the u.s. and iran stood on the brink of war after iran launched a salvo of short-range missiles at two iraqi bases housing american troops revenge, iran said, for the u.s.'s killing of iran's top general. iranian state tv claiming this is the moment the missiles were fired and iran threatened to unleash war across the middle east if the u.s. dared to strike back so the stakes were high when president trump approached the podium to outline america's response. >> i'm pleased to inform you the american people should be extremely grateful and happy. no americans were harmed in last night's attack by the iranian regime we suffered no casualties all of our soldiers are sa and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases. >> reporter: the president revealing he would only retaliate with economic sanctions. it was an off ramp no u.s. counter strike for now. no conventional war today. >> iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties conce

lester >> richard engel tonight, thank you. >>> this evening threats against iran by president trump as democrats demand evidence of the killing of soleimani was justified. kristen welker has that part of the story. >> reporter: tonight, president trump is defending his decision to kill iran's top general, qassem soleimani >> this should have been done for the last 15 to 20 years. he was their real military leader he was a terrorist we had a shot at it, and we took him out. and we're a lot safer now. >> reporter: mr. trump is also doubling down on his threat to attack up to 52 sites in iran, including cultural sites, if iran retaliates. telling reporters overnight, quote, they're allowed to kill our people, they're allowed to torture and maim our people, and we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites it doesn't work that way under international law, it is a war crime to target cultural sites. >> tweeting about attacking those cultural sites has unified the iranians. >> reporter: it all highlights a growing clash between the president and congress over whether the attack was nece

small rockets, no casualties the likely suspects, iran-backed militia groups lester >> richard engel tonight, thank you >>> the impeachment trial of president trump is moving forward this evening the house poised to vote tomorrow to formally send the charges against the president, abuse of power and obstruction of congress, to the u.s. senate. the trial expected to get under way in earnest one week from today. hallie jackson has late details >> reporter: congress closing in tonight on the next phase of impeachment proceedings. >> madam speaker, is tomorrow the day >> reporter: tomorrow, the day speaker nancy pelosi and democrats will finally vote to send two articles of impeachment over to the senate, triggering a trial 28 days after the impeachment of president trump. first pelosi will name impeachment managers who will prosecute the democrats' case. then once the house approves and the articles reach the senate, something that has only happened once in modern history -- >> i hereby deliver these articles of impeachment. >> reporter: -- the trial will begin formalities first, and op

richard engel is in iraq with new details. >> reporter: on the same night u.s. forces killed iran's black ops commander, the united states was secretly hunting a top iranian militia leader in yemen according to "the washington post" citing four u.s. officials familiar with the matter. but they missed them the pentagon said it would not confirm or deny the report. we now know iran's response to the death of its general, missiles fired at u.s. forces in iraq today, iraqis took to the streets to shout to the world don't drag us into this. these protesters don't want iraq to be a battleground between statesnd the united they're watching all these developments with great concern that it could bring this country back into civil war. they cheered listen america and listen iran we don't want your attacks, raising questions about whether iraqis see the 5,000 u.s. troops in iraq as helping bring stability or as a liability. richard engel, nbc news, baghdad. >>> the trump administration is still holding ground with growing calls by democrats for intelligence justifying the

troops with brain injuries from iran's missile attack climbed to 50 up from 34 last week nbc's richard engel on why that number keeps rising. >> reporter: each of the missiles was packed with 1,000 or 1,600 pounds of explosives military officials told nbc news, enoug to shred this row of bunk houses and blasts as powerful as truck bombs. one of the missiles landed here and because the ground is softer, it created a very deep crater about 15 feet deep, probably twice as wide. so you can see these were powerful missiles just by the fact they were able to displace this much earth. many soldiers were taking shelter near where the missiles exploded some were in bunkers others out guarding the base so you could feel that, the push of the blast wave on your body >> 100%. >> reporter: u.s. officials initially said there were no injuries from the strike, but after it was later reported, there were president trump appeared to downplay the situation last week. >> i heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things but i would say and i can report it is not very serious. >> reporter: no america

iran, new information tonight about how the recent showdown nearly escalated to war here is nbc's richard engel. >> reporter: tonight an nbc news investigation, including interviews with a dozen military officials with knowledge of events shows that the u.s. and iran came closer to the brink of war than previously known and that tensions could quickly escalate once more. this week president trump was again celebrating the strike that killed iran's general qassem soleimani. >> soleimani w responsible for murdering and wounding thousands of americans and actively planning new attacks but we stopped him cold. >> reporter: now we're learning new details. on december 29th at mar-a-lago meeting with his national security team, president trump authorized the soleimani killing and more actions that never took place, including bombing iranian navy ships, missile launchers and air defense systems. three days after killing soleimani came the most critical and dangerous moments. military officials tell nbc news intelligence platforms observed iran moving missiles into place. two officials say the u.s. sent

richard engel tweeted this out, iran making threats of mass escalation. to attack more bases in iraq. to unleash hezbollah making it clear it's ready for a widespread campaign if this escalates further with a a u.s. response. we want to go live to reporters in the region. matt bradley is in tel aviv. chris, let me begin with you, if i may. let's talk a little bit about the threat that we just played there or at least the threat that richard engel is reporting about the threats coming out of iran. that iran would use its proxy in lebanon to attack israel. explain to us the.net unanimo d some of the protests that have happened over the last couple weeks in that country. do they have the capability, not just militarily, but politically to drag hlebanon into a war on behalf of iran? >> reporter: according to estimat estimates, hezbollah controls 60% of the country. they have a military believed to be bigger than that. the official lebanese military. both politically and militarily, yes, they are positioned well. also geographicallgeographicall. it's important

richard engel reports from baghdad. >> reporter: when more than a dozen iranian missiles smashed into this base housing american troops in iraq, revenge for the u.s. killing of an iranian general, the missiles cratered the ground and obliterated a small chow hall and a row of bunkhouses. it was up to 1,500 pounds of explosives and president trump said that there were no injuries or casualties. >> we suffered no casualties? how many died? how many were wounded? none. >> and while no u.s. service members were killed, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and sill being assessed. it is all about the blast. missiles is of these sizes released strong shock waves that can cause internal injury. >> we heard the sound first and then shock waves went through the seawalls and punches you in the heart. >> reporter: some other troops have been given psychological counseling, but numerous commanders stress that this could have been much worse had u.s. forces not had advanced warning allowing them to take cover. a u.s. military spokesman said that eight service members were on

richard engel, nbc news, the al-assad air base, iraq. >> now to disturbing new details about a terror attack in new jersey last month. authorities say two shooters in jersey city had a bomb in their van powerful enough to kill or injure people up to five football fields away and enough material to build a second bomb. the two were found dead at a kosher market after killing three people inside and a police detective. >> the justice department is releasing new information in their investigation into last december's deadly shooting at the pensacola naval air station. attorney general william barr called the shooting an act of terrorism. barr also revealed that the shooter who was a saudi national acted alone. here's nbc's pete williams >> reporter: the justice department says it was an act of terrorism when muhammad al shamrani, a saudi officer here in the u.s. for military training opened fire in a classroom at pensacola naval air station december 6, killing three u.s. servicemen. on september 11th, the fbi says, he posted this message on social media. the count down has started invest

no american troops were hurt or killed and richard engel is reporting from al assad air base in iraq. >> reporter: american forces had two hours of advanced notice knowing that some sort of attack was coming, and that i were able to take shelter in the bunnin bunningkers and if they hadn't, the situation could have been different and there could have easily been a mass casualty event here and things obviously would have been different than they are right now. and overnight, there was another rocket attack on a base here in iraq. but they were much smaller rocket, and eight of them, and did not hit any american personnel and they were on the base at the time and four iraqis were injured and no claim of responsibility, but likely, it was carried out by the iranian-backed militias in the country who were a wild card and concerns that the militias were still carrying out the attacks could again restart this cycle of violence. richard engel, nbc news, asad air base, iraq. >>> a volcano in the philippines erupted in spectacular fashion. the volcano disrupted air travel, and looking at this,

richard engel is there., what is the latest >> reporter: well, iran's revolutionary guard is continuing to issue threats saying it is prepared to widen its campaign iran's foreign minister tweeted that iran does not want war, appearing to offer an off-ramp while president trump has also tweeted that he will make remarks but not until tomorrow morning. so it does seem for now that there is a little bit of breathing room, potentially room for negotiation. lester, back to you. >> all right anxious times. continuing coverage on msnbc and nbcnews.com. i'm lester holt. thank you for joining us tonight, everyone good night ♪ >> kelly: ♪ been a long time since i came around ♪ ♪ been a long time since i'm back in town ♪ ♪ this time i'm not living without you ♪ ♪ taste like whiskey when you kiss me oh ♪ ♪ i'd give anything again to be her baby doll, this time i'm not leaving without you ♪ ♪ i said sit back down where you belong ♪ ♪ in the corner of my bar ♪ with your high heels on ♪ sit back down on the couch where we

here but brain injuries can take time to show themselves so the final toll may still not be known richard engel, nbc news, al assad air base, iraq. >>> there was some pretty dramatic new testimony in the harvey weinstein trial. today jurors hearing emotional stories from two more accuser nbc's kate snow with the details. >> reporter: dawn dunning and tarale wulff came to new york with big dreams of acting both were waitresses in the mid 2000s when they say weinstein dunning cried as she said weinstein assaulted her where a movie was being filmed he put his hand up my skirt. it was two seconds and i froze. he said don't make a big deal about this. defense attorneys countered that the room was full of people and dunning never mentioned that incident when she did a round of media interviews in 2017 instead, describing another incident. >> he cut right to the chase and said, these are contracts for my next three films i'll sign them but i want you to have a three-some with me and my assistant >> reporter: dunning testified that weinstein said you'll never make it in this business, this is how the i

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we'll get to richard engel right now, our chief foreign correspondent., peter. we are just starting to see what i think are the very early stages of the fallout from this american drone attack that killed the top iranian general and an iraqi shiite militia leader we're seeing angry funerals and demonstrations in baghdad, as u.s. intelligence officials are trying to figure out when, where, and how iran might strike back thousands of mourners poured into the streets of baghdad this morning, chanting death to america. there's a mix of grief, anger and a celebration of the martyrdom of iran's top general, qasem soleimani, and a senior iraqi shiite militia leader, killed together from an american drone strike outside baghdad's airport. the shiite militias and the supporters are on the streets today, are a powerful and not universally popular force in iraqi society. the iraqi prime minister came out in solidarity, while iraqi leaders are urging calm. nearby, the u.s. embassy is on the highest state of alert and readiness, with aircraft circling above, marines

their general was hit, now they are firing on military bases. >> thank you so much, richard engel who's in iraq covering this from close range. thank you so much, richard. let's bring in national security advisor ben rhodes. this is in your face. it was in your face when we assassinated their general last thursday. this is in our face right now. it doesn't look like these countries are worried, worried about escalation. in fact, they want to do it in the face of the enemy to let everybody know they're escalating. >> that's right, chris. i'm struck by how brazen it is. you think about the history between the united states and iran. we've never before encountered something where you literally have a conventional military strike from within iran on u.s. troops directly less than a week after the killing of qassem soleimani. so this is iran saying they're not going to be cowed by a strike like that. they have other ways they can respond and there are proxies in different countries and they could take actions that iran doesn't have to necrily claim that would also be in revenge for soleimani

we have peter alexander, richard engel and we're joined by former secretary of defense william cohen. the developments are fast moving. as we await secretary pompeo here's what we have learned in just the last 18 hours or so. a short time ago this morning the national security adviser offered new details on what the administration said was an imminent threat from iran. new threats from emerged as the number of people killed from the deadly funeral stadium field rises to 40. there's a new warning issued of possible retaliation from iran and at 4:00 today, the gang of eight is to set to get a classified briefing. i want to sneak in peter alexander at the white house. you spoke with robert o'brien this morning, right? >> that's right. we heard from robert o'brien. he was on fox news and then he came and spoke to reporters. we pressed him for more details about some of the revelations, some more specifics about what that imminent threat was that the white house and the president's administration and allies say was the reason behind their effort, their ultimate killing of qassem soleimani.

we will start with richard engel, on the ground in iraq for us this morning. hey, richard. morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. welcome back. i wish i had better news for you. iranian state television says that millions of people, in fact, have come out all across iran to mourn qasem soleimani, the top general killed by the united states. while his successor has made a solemn oath for revenge. funeral processions, unlike anything seen in decades, are continuing this morning, bringing iran's supreme leader to tears, as he vows to avenge his top general, qasem soleimani, killed by a u.s. drone strike in baghdad. cities across iran are now seas of black. our tehran bureau chief, ali arusi. >> extraordinary scenes of grief and anger, punctuated with chants of "revenge" and "death to america." this is the largest funeral gathering since the death of the founder of islamic republic in 1989. >> reporter: but secretary pompeo said it's all a short-term crisis. >> preserving and protecting and defending america is the mission that we have. it may be that there's a little no

we'll start with richard engel who is in iraq for us this morning. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. from a wet and windy irbil. one of two locations targeted by those iranian ballistic missiles. at this stage, they say there's no reports of iraqi or american casualties. the iranian government did not waste any time claiming responsibility for this attack. it wanted the american people to know. it wanted the iranian people to know that this was iran's response to the u.s. killing of its top general. this, iran said, was its vengeance for the u.s. killing of its top general. ballistic missiles, roaring toward iraqi bases housing u.s. troops. and claimed the supreme leader had personally overseen the launch in the control room. iranian tv posted more video of what it said was the impact, around 5:30 p.m. eastern time. there were two waves of attacks according to the u.s. military, and iran fired at least a dozen ballistic missiles from inside iranian territory at u.s.based b for logistics and on the all-assad base. there was wi

and over to richard engel. as day breaks on a new day in that region in erbil, richard, i was listening to you live earlier say that you were -- you heard a sound, some noises in the night, got in a vehicle to go around the area, looked around, and you were rather surprised to learn that this had been on the target list that erbil was among the facilities hit. >> reporter: yes, brian. i can tell you we're feeling quite a bit better now that the sun is rising here. things seem to be a little bit calmer, not just in erbil but across the region than they were a few hours ago when it looked like we were heading down a very, very dangerous path. by no means are we out of this yet. we are still standing on the edge of a very slippery slope that could still lead to an open war across the region. but a few hours ago, there were these initial reports that iran had responded. we heard some explosions here. initially you could probably see that it's kiquite windy. we weren't even sure they were explosions. we went driving

let's turn now to richard engel in iraq. understand you have news to update us on with regard to the parliament that's passed the resolution telling the government you gotta end the presence of foreign troops there? >> reporter: no, i think it's more about -- you made a brief reference to it in the introduction. you mentioned hezbollah. i was just listening to the speech by the leader of hezbollah. he was giving an indication of how the shia militia groups across the region want to respond. in a lengthy address, at times impassionate, he said that the appropriate response to the killing of soleimani is not to attack americans in the region, not to attack the american people, not to attack american professionals working in the middle east, but to kick out american troops from the region. he said he would be the most powerful to rise up to have an uprising to turn their aggression, turn their weapons, their energy against american forces. he specifically mentioned american bases. he mentioned american ships. he said that is th

chief foreign respondent richard engel, making his way to a region he knows better than anybody else richard, good to have you on the phone this morning can you help our viewers understand, first and foremost, why this target is so important? >> yeah, so once again, i'm heading to the middle east because once again it looks like we're going to have a conflict, an armed conflict of some shape between the united states and iran and the reason is because of the unique importance of general qasem soleimani, who was killed by a u.s. drone strike at baghdad international airport, which, itself, shows the importance the united states decided they were going to target qasem soleimani in a car with a shia militia leader at the airport without telling iraq this was happening, according to iraqi government officials and killing him, the shiite militia reader and several other people in that convoy so very dramatic escalation and the reason it is so important and the reason there is such a concern for a reprisal from iran, which could lead to a cycle of violence is that qasem soleimani wasn't a

joining me now richard engel from iraq. richard, have things calmed down this morning?own this morning. we know now the scale of this attack with about a dozen ballistic missiles. we haven't heard any new incoming strikes. the iraqi government saying there's no iraqi or american casualties. there's talk of diplomacy. we're waiting to see what president trump is going to say, is he going to ratchet things up, try to humiliate the iranians, rub their nose that they launched this response which was in many ways symbolic while at home trying to play up how decisive it was how iran stood up to the united states. the u.s. did, in fact -- i don't want to say got away with it but so far, it could have been much, much worse here. there were no casualties not as much as we can tell. widespread damage. one of the attacks happened here, and we barely heard it. we are just waiting to see if the rhetoric now will escalate things beyond what the military strikes were able to do. >> richard engel joining us. thank you. >>> joining me now, john schultz, an iraq war veteran and chairman

we have nbc chief correspondent, richard engel in iraq and kristen welker and michael crowley and jeff mason. first to you, richard. extraordinary scene in iran today. there had been weeks if not months of protests, some against the regime. now, it is unified against america. >> reporter: a backfire. i think that's the only way you can describe it. if this administration, you listen to president trump in all the briefings he says he wants to isolate the iranian regime, wants the iranian regime to be toppled, talks about encouraging the protesters, although they say the official policy is not to pursue regime change it clearly has been to undermine the iranian regime. now, the iranian regime is at its strongest point if not years and had been coming under pressure domestically with protests so strong the iranian government decided it had to go out and violently repress them, killing hundreds of people, cutting off the internet, cutting off the iranian people, even more than they normally are. here, in iraq, there had been anti-iranian protests from the very shia community iran had gener

joined by nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel, he's in baghdad, iraq. sted in the foreign policy side of this and then domestic policy within iran as well. let's talk about foreign policy, and this was characterized as the u.s. and iran taking an off-ramp, and the question that still continues to plague me is where that off-ramp leads to, and i wonder what your reporting tells you about that now that we've had this tit for tat, what happens next? >> reporter: well, i think in iran there is no split between foreign policy and domestic policy. iran has been using its foreign policy to make sure that it has patriotism at home, to justify its policies, iran has been por tryi traying itself as a victim, that it is subject to economic sanctions, which of course it is, and that is why it needs to carry out these draconian security measures that have been in place for so many years in iran. just a few days ago in iran, there was a sense of unity in the country. people were rallying around the flag, so to speak, there was a sense of patriotism after the united st

savannah >> richard engel leading us off from baghdad >>> let's get to tom costello. he covers aviation for us. been talking to sources about this investigation now, obviously, we're seeing two sides of this story. tom, good morning. what are you hearing >> under international civil aviation agreements, iran was required to invite boeing and ntsb to participate in the investigation. because of the sanctions in place, both would need a waiver from the trump administration to head to iran we're waiting on word of whether that will happen importantly, iran has started to, as you said, read out the black boxes without western observers there to see the process. most experts i talked to don't believe iran has the same level of expertise or technology that you'd find in the u.s., canada, france, or even russia but iran is in charge of this investigation. this morning, there are already some concerns about whether the wreckage field has in any way been moved or tampered with, making it difficult to properly collect and document all of the evidence, as investigators would nor

joining me now, chief foreign correspondent richard engel in baghdad, iraq.think you might have been in irbil when one of the attacks -- it's hard to keep track of you. you travel so much. >> reporter: no, no. i am still in irbil, and yes, there was one of the ballistic missile attacks happened here in irbil. the other at the assad air base. not in baghdad, at least, for now. >> talk to me about this. it's amazing. they say there were 22 missiles sent to the elle assad base which 17 hit the target. no casualties. minimal damage. it may speak to iran's remarkable capabilities in being able to send a message. how did the president's subsequent remarks this morning which you waited hours to giver, how is that playing in the region? do you get the sense it was an off ramp and is deescalating things from where we were last night. >> reporter: i do. i spoke with a senior iraqi official who was listening to president trump's remarks, and i don't want to say took comfort in them, but thought that it was an off ramp. thought that it meant that the united states is not

our own richard engel points out that shiite demonstrations are planned in baghdad where it is already saturday morning right now, and he warns those events could countturn violent. as to the timing, senior state department officials tell soleimani had been planning what they said were, quote, imminent attacks targeting u.s. diplomats, military personnel, and facilities in iraq, syria, lebanon, and other parts of the middle east. a short time ago on fox news, secretary of state mike pompeo said the president's action against iran is part of a plan. >> the criticism has been there's no strategy. that's willful blindness. there's been a deep strategy that president trump laid down, goodness, almost three years ago. we've been delivering against that strategy. to your point, a central part of that is building out a coalition. >> today from his resort in florida, the president had this message for iran. >> we took action last night to stop a war. we did not take action to start a war. >> robert costa of "the washington post" reports, quote, earlier friday several white house officials, inc

what richard engel discovered when going to one of those air bases that had been hit, that was not the case. our information had come from within the administration. take a look what richard reported today. >> reporter: you can see, these were containers that had beds and air-conditioning units where people were living at the time. one was knocked out, then the next andou the next, all completely destroyed by the blast waves and then incinerated in the fire. take one more look here. if there had been dozens of american troops living here and they hadn't got the notice that they did, there had been a mass casualty event on this base, i think we'd be in a very very different situation right now than we are. >> michael crowley, it's pretty extraordinary, the consequence of events. the reporting of the "new york times" yesterday that gina haspel, along with pompeo were pushing hard in the retaliation for taking outsole sole rather. for taking out soleimani, rather. >> that's right. it's becoming more and more clear soleimani was on the hit list in key figures of the administration a long t

joining me now, nbc news chief foreign country richard engel. we last spoke on friday and you talked about the rising tensions. over the weekend the iraqi parliament voted to expel the united states. i know that there is some legal questions there about what the prime minister who's currently only the acting prime minister, essentially, can and cannot do. but what's it like there today and what should we be expecting? >> reporter: so the prime minister has taken that move from parliament one step further. he has summoned the u.s. ambassador in baghdad and formally conveyed the parliament's memg, that it is time for u.s. troops to leave this country and 4 iraq and the united states to forge a new phase of their relationship. now, it's not clear if that is a binding request, but it does reflect the mood in a very large sector of society here in iraq. which is that the united states overstepped its bounds. the u.s. is in iraq officially at the request of iraqi -- the iraqi government. the u.s. is here specifically on an anti-isis mission. that's wh

joins us is richard engel with iraq. is this a different strategy on iran's part? before a week ago were they still adhering to and respecting the nuclear agreement? >> reporter: so let's start with the nuclear agreement and then there's some new developments about that meeting between the iraqi prime minister and the u.s. ambassador here. so first on the nuclear agreement, the u.s. obviously president trump first pulled out of the nuclear agreement. it was the united states that broke the nuclear agreement, and then iran has been trying to sort of abide by it, and not abide by it in order to keep relations with european countries. and europe has been allowing iran to play what is effectively a strip tease with the nuclear agreement peeling off one layer at a time, because it didn't want to totally break relations with iran, cut off european access to iran's oil markets, et cetera. what iran has done now, however, has said it won't abide by what is perhaps the most fundamental part of the nuclear agreement which is the ability or the caps on its ability to enrich u

our own richard engel points out that shiite demonstrations are planned in baghdad where it is already saturday morning right now, and he warns those events could turn violent. as to the timing of yesterday's air strike, officials have told us that a short time ago on fox news, secretary of state mike pompeo said the president's action against iran is part of a plan. >> the criticism has been that's no strategy. there's willful blindness. there has been a deep strategy that president trump laid down now, goodness, almost three years ago. we've been delivering against that strategy. to your point a central part of that is building out a coalition. >> the president had this message for iran. >> we took action last night to stop a war. we did not take action to start a war. >> robert costa of "the washington post" reports, quote, earlier friday, several white house officials, including senior adviser jared kushner, discussed a possible prime time address by the president, but those plans did not materialize, per an official and gop lawmaker familiar with the talks. there was internal deba