they became irrelevant to the pentagon leadership. there were no longer solving the problems that the pentagon needed so. by 2005 nobody thought darpa was a type of agency that would work in current wars that were dupont fighting technology. that went to an organization. so yes those questions with other parts of the pentagon and not always very effectively. >> are right. i think we're good. >> thank you. [applause] >> books are available behind the register. the line will start appear, and please fold up your chairs. [inaudible conversations] >> this weekend on booktv ohio governor john kasich reflects on his 2016 presidential run on "after words." massachusetts senator elizabeth warren offers her thoughts on the current state of the middle class. enter

i begin "the pentagon's brain" with it. from the perspective of witnesses who were there and told me their story when i say colossal failure, it was supposed to be 6.5 mt. but it went out of control. his calculation and all of the site is working with him, they couldn't predict the future. they couldn't predict their own science experiment. and instead it was a runaway thermonuclear bomb. 15 megatons. just an astonishing amount of power, energy, and apocalyptic by its very nature. >> host: he shows up at area 51 and he shows up again in "the pentagon's brain" and "operation paperclip," the whole gamut. >> guest: he's a super interesting character. many people again would say he had hubris and that is trying to outdo his archrival, oppenheimer. other people will say he saved us from a soviet invasion. because he pushed the idea of the development of the thermonuclear bomb. which some of his colleagues by the way called the evil thing. they did not think of additional manhattan projects they did not think it should be develope

we have the honor the untold story of the pentagon agency that changed the world. a couple of notes before i get started now is a good time to turn off your cell phone and other devices you might have. when we get to the question and answer part of the talk if you have a question which we do encourage, please step up to the microphone. we have c-span book tv and we would like to pick up your question for the recording. after the talk, books will be available behind the register in the back end of the line will start to the right of the podium. as you get up if you could unfold your chair against the bookshelf that would be a big help as we put the store back together. the imagine years of war i warse untold story of the defense advanced research projects agency also known as darpa federal agency founded as a response to sputnik. publishers weekly says the archival material and interviews former officials of the defense advanced research project agent is revealing and organization with a mixed legacy into the account of the examples of technocratic arrogance to the

our breaking news, the pentagon says it's very clear the syrian regime carried out the chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people. let's begin with our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, top officials, they are leaving absolutely no doubt about who is to blame. >> reporter: in this extraordinary press conference, wolf, the top pentagon brass wanted to send several messages. some things were clear. some things were deliberately am big gouss. defense secretary james mattis telling me on that he wanted to be ambigous on whether the u.s. would go after chlorine-filled barrel bombings from assad, but he was ambigous on nothing else. the pentagon top brass not yet ready to say russia what is complicit but definitive on bashar al assad's involvement. >> there is no doubt the syrian regime is responsible for the decision to attack and for the attack itself. >> reporter: the u.s. missile strike telling moscow the trump administration will use force and is also not ruling out further military action against assad but hoping that the russians temper their own actions. >> i'm

jennifer griffin at the pentagon, the adviser to four u.s. ambassadors, united nations and ben collins a former g beret who served three tours in afghanistan. all of them standing by with analysis. but we begin with kevin cork just out of the white house briefing. kevin, sean spicer referring a lot of reporters, questions over to the pentagon today for more details. will we get more details from them? >> you know, that's a very good question, dana. i would guess that we'll get more granular detail about why this decision was made and what exactly it means. and jen griffin will help us unpack all of that. it was pretty interesting. keep in mind they're usually pretty puntual here. then you finally saw the press secretary come out and offer very little in the way of det l detail. usually we expect to get more information. understanding, again, from his perspective, you want the information that's coming out to be accurate information. and given the fact that this just happened not terribly long ago, at least in terms of our reporting, he wanted

the pentagon says 59 missiles striking 59 targets on base. they launched another to replace that destroying, they estimated 0 syrian aircraft and the number of harden aircraft shelters as well as depots and radar installations here. the runways here, those are still operational and usable. the focus was syrian forces although this is a base that's also been used by the russians, of course, it is the syrians that the u.s. is planning for this attack. the pentagon is investigating whether russia was complacent in the chemical weapons attack as well. >> the u.s. military is investigating whether russia was complicit in gas attack this week. >> five hours later, perhaps to destroy evidence. >> president trump ordered a barrage of missiles on a syrian air base in retaliation of the deadly attack. the first u.s. military strike against the assad regime of the country's bloody six years civil war. today, nikki haley, warned a possible u.s. military action. >> the united states took a measured step last night. we are prepared to do more. but, we hope

"the pentagon's brain" came out in 2015. recent book is "phenomena: the secret history of the u.s. government's investigations into extrasensory perception and psychokinsis." she tells us her next book will have something to do with the cia. that leaves it pretty broad i guess. do you enjoy the book to her? >> guest: i love it. i love you and eating out on the road and talking to people who like to read. it reminds me of that image that we talked about of edgar mitchell, the man on the moon reading. and you think about this idea, the archetype of reading, of knowledge. i often say i the best job in the world. i get to write books and listen to what readers think about and what the expense of reading a book and then how it influences them in their lives and their thinking and as they become more alert and knowledgeable part of the citizenry. >> host: let's hear from barbara from newark new jersey. >> caller: speaking about near-death experiences and extrasensory perception. i had a near-death experience and i think the brain i

meanwhile, the pentagon is investigating fired national security adviser michael flynn. the question, did flynn fail to ask permission to accept money from russia? >> new details on north korea and the rising tensions with the u.s. how the president is leaning on china for help and, how he hopes to solve things without force. but warns that a major conflict is possible. >> then, united airlines reaches secret settlement with the doctor dragged off a flight. details on that and the company passenger friendly policies. >> kiss-cam, kiss-cam. lack like a normal couple. unsuspecting pairet why is this dude saying no. seems like a lovely woman. >> hmm. >> mom maybe. sister. >> hmm. i dent knon't know. ex-girlfriend. >> we'll explain it on this friday, april 28th. >>> i -- i, you never know. but, the explanation is quite tricky. >> we have our investigative unit on it. get through it in a moment. we'll start the half-hour off with a last minute scramble on capitol hill to avert a government shutdown by tonight's deadline. >> yeah, senate democrats blocked a quick vote on a shor

the pentagon says it struck all 59 of its targets. destroying at least 20 syrian aircraft, air defense systems, radar and ammunition supply bunkers. once those missiles fell, the president huddled with his national security team to assess the damage. the retaliation coming just 60 hours after the world saw the first horrific images of that chemical attack, images that pushed the president to act. >> tonight, i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. >> reporter: the pentagon providing evidence it says shows assad was behind the war crime. the flight path data of the syrian warplane. and tonight, the u.s. military looking into whether the russians knew about that chemical attack or assisted in any way. today at the united nations, ambassador nikki haley warned that the u.s. could strike again. >> the united states took a very measured step last night. we are prepared to do more. >> so let's bring in martha, live in washington. we're learning tonight as we come on that the

the u.s. military says two u.s. pentagon officials telling nbc news today that the attack was launched by u.s. -- sorry, by syrian military planes. fixed-wing syrian military aircraft were seen dropping the bombs that then civilians responded to as if it was a gas attack. the death toll is thought to be over 70. dozens of children were killed. in addition to the immediate horror of that attack on tuesday, there's also this overarching question of whether this really might have been sarin or might have been some other chemical weapon. the question of whether this means syria did cheat the international process that was designed to rid them of chemical weapons, the prospect that russia didn't actually guarantee syria's compliance with the international effort to destroy all their chemical weapons. it's possible now we realize that bashar al assad retains that capacity and proved this week that he was unafraid to use it against his civilian population. so that's -- that's sort of one story arc in terms of how we got here, one w

certainly, i think if you look at this for what the pentagon is describing. and what i would describe as a limited strike they have the means to escalate. at the assad regime i would not be surprised if the u.s. military reacts because this is designed to send a message to assad, stop killing his own people. it is a message that will is long overdue as you ever been reporting for seven years now and we have been reporting 450,000 civilians have been killed seven years and nothing has stopped the assad regime with the killing i believe at this point in time we know that 59 of the 70 tomahawk have been used by the american destroyers in the eastern mediterranean. they certainly resupply it on the island of crete in greece. that's where they load the tomahawk's onto the destroyers. it's also notable that the navy two years ago in 2015 forward deployed for destroyers to spain because for the first time in many years they felt the need to have a u.s. navy presence in the mediterranean. this has all been part of an asset that this day would come. >> jennifer with al

>> i don't think the pentagon can do whatever it wants. at it does mean is the president has decided to trust his commanders, in his view, to do the right thing. when major missions like this happen, we are told, indeed, the white house is briefed. for the first time ever, the mother of all bombs was used by the u.s. military in combat. the largest non- nuclear bomb used in combat, targeting isis fighters in eastern afghanistan's row moat nangahar province. a us air force special operations, mc-130 dropped the bomb via parachute. >> we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target u.s. military advisers and afghan forces in the area. >> reporter: the moab, the massive ordnance air blast bomb, also known as the mother of all bombs, is a 21,600 pound bomb that explodes in the air. it's blast is supposed to destroy a target area that can spread over thousands of feet. on saturday a u.s. army special operations soldier was killed in combat in the same area. >> the unite

there is no end to what the pentagon produces. even artificial intelligence they say is the darpa project or three the i dachnology so the idea that darpa is the most powerful in productive militarycy science agency is the world in so few people know what about it. that is why i wrote the book initial because how could this agency be so significant to change and shape our world but yet it is public perception. >> host: psychokinesis? >> guest: book number four that was just published last week the idea and the book is called phenomenon in the government investigations into esp and psychokinesis knowasensory perception getting knowledge of the then through the five senses and psychokinesis the ability to move matter with the mind these are very controversial subjects that many scientists day mattis pseudoscience but had an interest to write about this after reading - - writing the pentagon sprain it was called squishy science but, the intelligence community is interested in both of these projects and so mit's seven taxpayer dollars

i need to go cnn barbara starr at the pentagon. apparently the united states military has used an extraordinary military ordinance in afghanistan. >> hello, john. we are just now learning and cnn has exclusively right now a short time ago the u.s. air force dropped a 21,000 bomb in eastern afghanistan. the first use ever of this weapon in combat. this is a weapon called the massive ordinance air blast bomb. it was dropped in eastern afghanistan against a complex of isis tunnels personnel that had been assembling in that area. the u.s. military had this weapon in development for years, but now today just a few hours ago dropped the bomb in combat according to u.s. officials for the first time ever. this massive 21,000 pound bomb, we have video we're showing of the testing of the bomb, but again, not used in combat until today. we are told. this is such a heavy bomb. such a large bomb. it is put in the back of a cargo plane, a special operations cargo plane, and basically pushed out the back of it. now they've drop today on this isis

>> hans nichols at the pentagon. thanks. >>> there are a flood of new questions tonight about president trump's new tax plan to be specific, what's in it? and how will it effected millions of american families. the trump administration provided an outline but not many details so far. nbc's peter alexander has more on that. >> reporter: the president's plan to overhaul 70,000 pages of federal tax laws so far boiling down to barely 200 words. critics say it's a p.r. pitch, not a proposal. >> it is a plan to lower president trump's taxes. the taxes of his cabinet. and people as wealthy as they are. >> reporter: the biggest winner according to most tax analyst, the rich, their tax rate dropping nearly 5% and the white house pushing to abolish the tax. the death tax and slash the capital gains tax on investments all benefiting the wealthy. low income americans could pay no tax at least for their first $24,000 of income with the doubling of the standard deduction for couples but today treasury secretary steve mnuchin is ref

"the pentagon's brain" came out in 2015. and her most recent book is "phenomena; the secret history of the u.s. government's investigation into psychokinesis" she tells us her next book has something do with the cia. do you enjoy the book tour? >> guest: love it. love getting out there talking to people who like to read. reminds me of the image of edgar mitchell's man on the moon reading. you think about this idea. the archetype of reading, of knowledge, i often say i have the best job in the world. i get to write books and listen to what readers think the experience of reading the book and how it influences them in their lives and their thinking and they become more of an alert and knowledgeable part of the citiz citizenry. >> host: let's hear from barbara in newark. >> caller: speaking about near death experiences and extra sense perception. i had a near death experience and i think the brain is more powerful than any computer. also, have you heard of dark social? it is supposed to be something where on the internet people

the pentagon showed what it says was proof to justify the limited u.s. strike, the track of the syrian plane and imagery of where the nerve agent hurt. the syrian military denied using chemical weapons blaming terrorist groups. >> translator: this condemnable u.s. aggression confirms the continuation of the flawed u.s. strategy, and it undermines the process of combating terrorism. it makes the u.s. a partner of the islamic state and al nusra and other terrorist organizations. >> reporter: it was a quickly planned u.s. strike. >> ladies and gentlemen. >> reporter: by the time president trump spoke in the rose garden wednesday, the military was already working on options for a response. general joseph otell was hundreds of miles away from his headquarters so a temporary command center was rapidly set up for him to oversee the operation. at 4:30 p.m. thursday, the president gave the order to go ahead with the limited strike. the u.s. then placed a final call to the russians one hour before the strike to warn them. at 8:40 the tomahawk missiles struck the s

. >>> also tonight, we now learn the pentagon is investigating fired national security adviser michael flynn. they want to know whether he asked permission to accept money from russia, from foreign governments. >>> the deadly standoff. the gunman accused of killing a state trooper. today, the images coming in, as authorities blew up this home and the shootout that follows. >>> major news on united tonight, after that passenger was dragged off the flight. after the ceo told us here that changes were coming. tonight, news of a major settlement. and what the airline might now pay you, if you get bumped off your flight. >>> and the warning tonight about the superbug here in the u.s. authorities say it can live for weeks on hospital beds and for months on your skin. >>> good evening and it's great to have you with us here on a thursday night. and we begin with president trump and his promise of the biggest tax cut in history. tonight, our reporter asking the president how he would pay for it. it comes 24 hours after the plan was revealed, promising tax cuts for the middle class and a major

you're on the armed services committee. as you know, pentagon describes missile defense system tested in may as having what they call limited capability to defend the u.s. homeland from north korean intercontinental ballistic missiles and says only about half of the test so far of this system have been successful. are american defenses keeping up with what is seen as growing threat from kim jong-un? >> well, at the present time, the answer is yes. and insofar as intercontinental ballistic missiles are concerned. we have a sufficient number of missiles while one or another might miss. we can fire off significant and we can deterror take down a limited, limited number of missiles and for some time north korea will not have either intercontinental ballistic missile or nuclear warhead that can be placed on that missile. so we're talking about some time in the future where this will be a real situation at the moment the loest mikely way of delivering a nuclear weapon to the united states is on the fishing boat into one of our ports. not on interconti

earlier, russia warned of negative consequences of any us military action in syria but the pentagon didn moscow of the air strikes. i'm aron heslehurst. in business, face—to—face and just the start of what president trump calls a great relationship, the leaders of the world, two biggest economies, finally meet as the rest of the world hold its breath to see if these two can avoid a fight. and the lawsuits that probably runs more than 140 characters. twitter is suing the us government after the trump administration demanded to know the identity of an anti—trump account. but first, president donald trump has said the us military has carried out a cruise missile attack on an airbase from which syrian government planes staged a chemical weapons attack on a rebel—held town. more than 50 tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from american navy ships in the mediterranean, hitting the shayrat airbase which lies 150 kilometres north—east of damascus. the us military say the attack severely damaged or destroyed aircraft and equipment. after the operation was completed, president trump made this sta

and that's hans nichols at the pentagon standing by. he was the first to break the news on our air that this strike was underway. hans, i guess the best way to come at this is what have we learned to kinds of fill in the gaps of this specific targeting? why this place? why now? >> reporter: why now? they did it in the morning because they wanted it in the dawn because they didn't want to have any civilians there and minimize the risk of sylviannian or any actual casualties. they did it at 72 hours after the actual strike happened. this is the base from which they saw planes. and the u.s. thinks they have very clear and convincing evidence, brian, on planes taking off from this base and then they have a track of them flying towards the target where those chemical bombs were dropped. ultimately, this had to do with a lot of build up. this was a decision that president trump made. he was presented several options. he went with what seems to be the smallest option. and that is 59 air strikes, tomahawk, a single strike i should say, a single

what does the pentagon make of this? >> reporter: well, by all accounts it looks like they have moved most of their operational fighter aircraft to this base along the syrian coastline dwight close to where the russians have the majority of their military footprint, including russian anti-air missiles, russian air defense equipment, so the presumption is the syrians think that they are going to be under the russian shelter and that the u.s. can't attack them there. so here's the key question. what if the syrians do decide to launch another chemical attack using something like sarin? would the u.s. fly within the range of syrian air defenses? how could they counterattack against the syrians if they are within the russian military umbrella. jake? >> all these tests and challenges for the president come as the administration is trying to downplay the fact that the president and the white house last week suggested that a u.s., quote, armada, was was approaching the korean peninsula which suggested that that was happening immi

let's go right to the pentagon correspondent barbara starr. we're hearing the u.s. military is now looking at new evidence potentially showing russia was complicit. what are you learning? >> wolf, we have just concluded what is known as a background briefing here at the pentagon. senior officials coming out to brief reporters not allowing their names to be used because they said they wanted to offer as much detail as they could, so we can't tell you who they are. but these two senior officials had a good deal of new information and a lot of it did center on russian involvement. here is what we know. they now are saying that they will investigate any credible claims of russian complicity in the nerve agent attack. in other words, the event that set all of this off. they don't know at this point if the russians were involved, how involved they were, what the z russians knew. but they are now telling us there was a russian aviation unit at the base that they struck last night and those russian pilots would have known about every mission flying out of that base and one

that authority had been transferred to the pentagon during the obama administration. so, it made for an interesting dynamic. let's just say the president's personality doesn't quite lend itself for him to say, no, didn't come from me. >> that's right. i think that he clearly wanted to give a full-throated support of the military action that was given, brian. but as you pointed out at the top, he didn't say yes to what was a very specific question, did you authorize that bomb. instead, he said, everyone knew what was going on and pivoted in that way. and, look, the bottom line is this is something that he clearly supports. it allows him to flex his military muscles as well. the question we tried to get to today, brian, was, was he given a heads up? now, neither the white house nor the pentagon would comment on that question. i think what we started to see today if you take all of these actions together, not only in afghanistan, syria, some of what's been happening in yemen, somalia, are the very small contours of a trump doctrine coming together, which is that he suppo

our top stories: the pentagon launches an inquiry into president trump's former national security advisor. michael flynn's accused of accepting unauthorised payments from foreign groups. protestors storm macedonia's parliament, attacking politicians after the election of an ethnic albanian as speaker. little more than a week before france's decisive presidential vote, polls suggest emmanuel macron‘s lead over marine le pen is shrinking. and facebook says it's launching new ways to uncover fake accounts and fight abuse on its platform. hello. the pentagon is investigating payments to president trump's former national security advisor michael flynn, including one to attend a gala dinner in russia where he sat on a table with president putin. general flynn made headlines when he was fired by mr trump afterjust21i days in office, it emerged he'd misled vice president mike pence about his dealings with the russian ambassador. let's speak to the bbc‘s laura bicker, whojoins us live from washington. laura, what is the latest on this? we know the pentagon is investigating this $45,000 payment tha

in general what you hear from the pentagon sat least on the u.s.make every effort not to have civilian casualties. you hear from the pentagon on the isis side of the campaign, the moral responsibility lies with isis even though they take every pain possible to prevent civilian casualties. but let's acknowledge, it was just two weeks ago when the u.s. likely, and they said there is a fair chance that they were responsible or had a part in collapsing a building where a lot of civilians, including children, also died. katy? >> a reminder to our audience that secretary of state rex tillerson will be watching on the tarmac there on palm beach is expected to talk to reporters and address the situation in syria. he might even take questions, so we are keeping an eye on that. more on this topic. let's go to michael. he's a former ambassador to the russian nation and msnbc contributor. michael, when you talk about the assad regime, you can't not talk about russia. tell me how complicated this gets now for the trump administration if they are to respond in s

again, ask the pentagon. there are still certain questions to be answered about the commander in chief's actions today. we tried to shout a little bit to the press secretary after he left the room. no response. clearly one of the dominant themes in today's briefing. >> courtney, is this a strike that has to be authorized by the president, or is this a strike that can be authorized by the pentagon alone? >> no, this is actually a strike authorized by the battlefield commander, general nicholson, in afghanistan. it didn't have to go to the general or the president. this is a first of its kind strike. it's the first time this large a mission has been used, but the intel has an existing mission in afghanistan to go after isis k, isis khorasan. the four-star general has the authority as the commander there to use the appropriate munitions to carry out his tasks and his operations. so while this is a significant milestone that they used this munition on the battlefield, a 21,000-pound bomb, it is not something that

>> i can tell you that the pentagon has plans for anything at any given time. that's what they do all day long. i think on all those plans a lot are conceptual. there's always planning taking place. the question is and this should be the focus of everybody reporting is what decisions are they making at the committee at the national security council to key up for the president to make a decision. what options are being discussed at that level, at the national security council to present to the president to make a decision. >> also one of the considerations here for the pentagon is the complexity of the korean peninsula and those who are effected by these tests that happen so frequently at least by the calendar you noting president shinzo abe was visiting the president at mar-a-lago there was another test and his comments no flourishes, very straight to the point, but it may be different when it comes to south korea, it may be different when it comes to japan and other allies in that space. how is that gained. >> reporter: well, you know that's a good question and

we're waiting for some news here at the pentagon. what trump said in the back of the plane there at the end, something should happen. it's unclear if trump was referring to military action, or was he referring to regime change with assad? obviously secretary of state tillerson talked about an effort being under way to remove assad from power. later an official clarified that tillerson was speaking about the diplomatic effort, not an actual formal marine change by the united states military. guys? >> so, hans, just a little bit of clarity on that. you had referred to two different options, a sort of broad attack on the air power, airfields and assets of the assad regime, a narrower one on where we think the chemical weapons is? is that right? >> not necessarily where the chemical weapons are because in a lot of ways, remember the deal that was brokered between then secretary of state kerry and the rush unz, a lot of those weapons were supposed to be taken out of the country. so it's not necessarily that the military -- the entagon. we

>> well, the pentagon says that it is merely a coincidence, the timing of the use of this weapon.ertainly it is notable, juan, that just last saturday a green beret member of the seventh group was killed by small arms fire, conducting an operation against the spirit isis tunnels. the pentagon saying it is not in retaliation for the death of that special forces army soldier. >> kimberly guilfoyle? >> curious intensive the intelligence reports they were getting and how they received that information, i guess, and the time frame in terms of making this decision to act and drop this bomb. >> i think there's several things going on. right now, general nicholson is noticing enough to cover not only taliban attacks, especially down in the helman province, but some of the form fighters from afghanistan, not necessarily from syria. these are guys who essentially change their uniforms and go with whatever they think the winning team is. the estimates, the latest intelligence estimates, about 1,000 of these isis fighters inside afghanistan. i think this is part of the larger strategy of taki

now the pentagon saying it has evidence that the russian military forces either knew about this attack in advance or possibly even took part in an explosive. they are still investigating. a reminder to our viewers that some of these images that you'll see are disturbing. tonight the u.s. military is investigating whether russia was complicit in the syrian regime's gruesome chemical weapons attack on civilians earlier this week. specifically whether a russian warplane dropped a bomb on a hospital treating victims of the attack five hours later, perhaps to destroy evidence. the probe comes after president trump ordered a barrage of missiles on a syrian air base in retaliation for the deadly attack. the first u.s. military strike against the assad regime in the country's bloody six-year civil war. today u.n. ambassador nikki haley warned of possible further u.s. military action. >> the united states took a very measured step last night. we are prepared to do more. p but we hope that will not be necessary. >> reporter: target of the strikes was syria's sharate air base, launch point for th

the pentagon chief generaljim matters is presenting the options to president trump.l mattis will go to mar—a—lago and pass on further thoughts on that. detailed discussions now confirmed by reuters on military options to respond to the poison gas attack. it is now confirmed thatjim mattis will meet president trump at mar—a—lago in florida. talks about potential responses underway, including between mr mattis and white house security officials. that's according to white house official. significant development in washington with regard to events in syria and a possible vote at the united nations in the coming hours about investigating what really happened in idlib province. we will talk more about it in the next hour. just going to bring new bit of golfing news. the world golf number one dustinjohnson news. the world golf number one dustin johnson has news. the world golf number one dustinjohnson has pulled out of the us and masters golf tournament after sustaining a back injury in a freak fall. he was favourite to win the title after victories in his last three tourna

the pentagon is giving very little away at the moment.d 500 us troops in syria. they mostly help out kurdish and arab forces, help train them, work alongside them. but we do know that there are some special operations forces, and on rare occasions they are tasked with targeting an individual, as in this case, it seems. now, it is very rare for us just to hear about it but it is also very rare for these kind of ground troop attacks to take place, because they involve an extra risk. the us usually prefers a drone attack, usually targeting a vehicle, to minimise civilian casualties, and they usually use a hellfire missile. but on this occasion, they used ground troops to go in and target abdurakhmon uzbeki. so that is what we know about the operation so far, and we know that they chose to eliminate him because of his believed involvement in those istanbul nightclub bombings. and many people talking about the fact that donald trump has surrounded himself with very impressive or very respected military minds. a lot of operations are being laun

jennifer griffin is at the pentag pentagon. what's being said there? >> on friday afternoon after the air strikes, there was a proofing here at the pentagon with two senior air force personnel, commanders who were describing -- that's where we first learned that the u.s. was investigating whether russia knew at the time of the chemical weapons strike, that they knew that the syrian air force would carry this out. whether they were involved more directly in terms of having -- we were told friday that they had chemical weapons expertise on the ground. remember, at this air base there were between a dozen and 100 russians based at that air base. this is a base that was well-known before 2013 for storing chemical weapons and continued to have chemical agents that can be combined together to create this sarin gays and that was used in the strike last tuesday. so it really baffles the mind that russians could be at that base, being knowledgeable of when syrian planes take off and not know that chemical weapons were being a sum belled there, especially since w

the pentagon says a u.s. missile strike against a syrian air force base knocked the airfield out of commission. president trump ordered last night's strike in retaliation for this week's chemical weapons attack against syrian civilians. now, 59 cruise missiles were ordered. fired from two u.s. warships in the mediterranean at the base in central syria. the u.s. says it's the same base where the chemical weapons attack was launched. the u.s. military say six people were killed and several were wounded. russians were notified in advance. sections of the base where russians were was not targeted. president trump addressed the nation last night. >> years of previous attempts at changing assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically. as a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the united states and its allies. tonight i call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in syria and also to end terrorism

hans nichols is at the pentagon. we just heard from nikki haley with some really strong language about russia and their support for the syrian regime. let's take a listen to what she said. >> the united states will no longer wait for assad to use chemical weapons without consequences. those days are over. now we must move to a new phase. a drive toward a political solution to this horrific conflict. we expect the syrn regime and its allies t take political process seriously, something they have not done until this point. we expect russia and iran to hold their ally accountable and abide by the terms of the cease fire. we expect this council to speak loudly and forcefully when the regime or its allies undermine the political process, and countless of our own resolutions. the united states took a very measured step last night. we are prepared to do more. but we hope that will not be necessary. >> she also talked about russia and questioned whether they knew that syria was going to use chemical weapons or in her words, a

we also learned from the pentagon that the u.s. military contacted the russian military through an established hotline to warn them about the tomahawk strike because russian forces are based at that base. it's not clear if there are any casualties tonight. no clear if any people were at the base at the time, but again, the u.s. military went to great lengths to avoid civilian carpets, to avoid casualty advertise of people at the base. they warned the russian military through this hotline they've been using the u.s. military headquarters in the middle east to the air base where the russians had headquarters in syria. >> we've confirmed that the russians were notified through diplomatic channels in advance. has there lenny response from russia? >> they have put out a sears of statements -- series of statements suggesting that this is being seen as an escalation. there have been criticism of the airstrikes publicly from russia, but we also understand from john properties, who is down in marring, that the president didn't call presiden

jennifer griffin at the pentagon, the adviser to four u.s.ssadors, united nations and ben collins a former g beret who served three tours in afgh

for more, i want to bring in nbc's hans nichols from the pentagon. me, jeremy peters with "the new york times" and msnbc contributor. break this down for us. what do we know exactly, what will kushner be doing when he's in iraq? >> good afternoon. he's met with abadi, prime minister, along with general dunford. people at the pentagon are very clear on this, simply want jared curb ther to kushner to be informed. jared kushner is going to have a lot of policy influence inside the white house and want to present their view to jared kushner. that's why the chairman of the joint chief of staff, joe dunford, invited kushner to take this secret trip to iraq, arrived unannounced. it's not just the generals. secretary mattis, nbc news learned has had several meetings with kushner that's here at the pentagon, as well as at the white house. and just to give you a sense of what kushner will be seeing, he's going to see a very aggressive fight. remember the fighting in west mosul is taking place in iraq, also in syria, some u.s. troops were inserted behind enemy l

this as the pentagon continues to investigate whether russia was involved in the chemical attack and if it executed a coverup. we've got team coverage from the ground in syria to trump's southern white house in florida. let's begin with ed wedeman on the border between syria and turkey. ben, what more are we learning about these new air strikes? >> there were air strikes yesterday and today on a town which on tuesday morning aircraft struck, it's believed with chemical weapons. death toll to that attack has now gone up to 89. now, we understand one of the air strikes today left a woman and several other people wounded and there was another air strike on a town just about seven miles to the north of -- excuse me -- as well. in that instance ten people were killed. of course, it's important to stress that chemical weapons were not used. this was conventional weapons and of course, you know, we've been paying a lot of attention to the chemical weapons but the fact of the matter is this is routine for syria. more than 400,000 people have been killed in syria in the last six years. this i

the latest from the pentagon ahead. a programming note. make sure to catch "fox news sunday" this weekend. the tenant general h.r. mcmaster is giving his first television interview as national security advisor to chris wallace. a fox news exclusive. please check your local listing listings. i mean wish i had time to take care of my portfolio, but.. well, what are you doing tomorrow -10am? staff meeting. noon? eating. 3:45? uh, compliance training. 6:30? sam's baseball practice. 8:30? tai chi. yeah, so sounds relaxing. alright, 9:53? i usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. wouldn't it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do? yeah. introducing essential portfolios. the automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life. the slopes like i used to. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but whatever trail i take, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go f

michelle: michael flynn is now the subject of an investigation by the pentagon. maryland representative elijah cummings announced the probe. the pentagon is looking into the payments to flynn by the russia state sponsored r.t. television network and a company linked to turkey's government. jonathan: the negotiations longed down the short-term extension is expected to be approved tomorrow. michelle: a mother racing from police and the child in the emergency seat. >> they will arrest me. >> no. pull over! michelle: what prompted the wild chase that ended with the mother racing in a motorcycle dealership. doug: we have the weather update coming up at "abc7 news at 6:00". vo: for dominion, part of delivering affordable energy includes supporting those in our community who need help. our energyshare program does just that, assisting with bill pay and providing free, energy-saving upgrades. it's more than helping customers, it's helping neighbors. ♪ stand by me jonathan: the fire that consumed a building on college park on monday is called accidental. it prompted the bi

that part of the pentagon on the political side isn't staffed up there. there is clearly some friction between secretary mathis and the white house on this. i will say though that the functions of the pentagon, the infrastructure here continues to grind. you have so many professional military types here. the decision this centcom plan to launch a bunch of cruise missiles from destroyers in the navy happened quickly because you do have centcom up and running and same joint chiefs of staff and everyone here has a lot of military experience. on the policy side and on the political side, you're right. we're starting to see more new faces here. that has been a concern to some extent but because you have the professionalism of the military, you don't hear the complaints here as loudly as you might at the state department where they are really looking for policy guidance. guys? >> hans nichols, get back to your reporting. thanks for joining us from the pentagon this morning. >>> another of many stories we're tracking this morning. it's day two of president trump

the pentagon set to put this fightner action. it's the f-35 joint strike fighter.e in many ways including it's humongous price tag. president trump slammed the tremendous cost. he took credit after the price dropped. after more than 15 years in development, the f-35 is the most expensive weapon systems effort. rick leventhal live in yuma, arizona. so how much is it, rick? >> first, it got louder. they just fired up a few of them for afternoon training exercises. these jets cold just over $100 million. the next batch, supposed to be around $96 million and the price will drop to $85 million each the next three years. the pilots here that fly them love the aircraft. they say they're fast and responsive and versatile and easy to fly. they create an unprecedented situational awareness in the cockpit thanks to the cameras and sensors. 21st century technology to elevate this plane that its ezined to replace. >> the most expensive plane in history. >> is it worth it? >> i believe so. i'm on the ground level here. capabilities of this aircraft are above and beyond anything

the pentagon described it as a proportional strike, were also told of the pentagon warned the russians multiple times about this strike prior to the tomahawk's landing at this airbase. they did so through a hotline that is established between what is known as the command center in the middle east, that the u.s. uses. which is the base used by russia inside syria. there are multiple warnings commander to commander, the chairman of the joint chiefs has met with his russian counterpart recently in turkey to establish and reestablish that hotline in the event of this kind of incidents. we also were told that there were russian forces at this base of shayrat until recently, it's not clear they were still here there tonight. the u.s. military did worn through that hotline russian forces that they were going to carry out this tomahawk strike today. >> sean: there were interesting comments by one russian diplomat earlier this week saying that their support is not unconditional as it relates to syria and assad. you had a great description earlier of these 18-foot long about 2-foot wide, thousan

the u.s. dropped a massive bomb earlier this month. nbc news pentagon correspondent hans nickles has details. >> reporter: u.s. special operations forces joined by the afghan army attacking isis insurgents, killing around 40. but in the battle, two u.s. special operators were wounded. medivaced out alive but later died. a third was grazed by a bullet staying on the battle field. all happening on the same isis stronghold in eastern afghanistan where the u.s. dropped a 21,000-pound explosive two weeks ago collapsing terrorist tunnels and caves. afghan officials say roughly 100 isis combatives were killed by the bomb but defense secretary jim mattias claiming not to care about numbers. >> frankly, digging into tunnels to count dead bodies is probably not a good use of our troop's time. >> reporter: tonight, more than 20 extremist organizations in the region according to u.s. officials including isis and the taliban. >> i don't see how afghanistan doesn't devolve further into endless civil war. >> reporter: the top commander in afghanistan wants to add a fe

hans nichols at the pentagon. hans, rachel mad dow did a thorough investigation into the following question on her show last night. was it 20 aircraft, 20% of the known openerable syrian air force and even though it was asked and answered today, i am still no closer to knowing the answer. >> brian, what i heard was 23 rare craft which they thinkments to 20% of the plating and operating aircraft that syria has. that seems to be their assessment. one other note on this april 6th response strike, it was made very clear, several points today that the word they used was a sing you lar response, a one-off response. then you twin that with what secretary mautdis said at the end, they do not have preemptive strike authority. it looks more and more like we had on april 6th. this response was a unique response and they are taking this on a case by case basis. one other quick note, in several moments they used the term measured response. you can continue to hear inside the pentagon, the launching that 59 strike targets, 57 of