it means the extension, the continuity of the united states military force. is the united states position. >> (interpreter): what they really want is to stay in panama after the year 2000, and that is what they have achieved, to destroy the panamanian defense forces, to make it complacent to u.s. interests and to make it the control center for all of latin america. >> the invasion sets the stage for the war in the 21st century in south america. the invasion from washington to panama city took place primarily with bases from the u.s. the southern command was to get another 2000 miles of intervention capabilities, which takes us right into the heart of the coca producing region. where it is entirely likely to take place. >> panama is another example of destroying a country to save it. it is a case of how the united states has exercised a might make right doctrine among countries of the world. it has long been u.s. practice to invade these countries, get what we want, and leave the people that live there to rot. >> our country has been ruined, our homes have been

he seize what obama did, basically appeasement and the dismantling of the united states military. aid enough of that. that's a disaster. he sees the bush doctrine which effectively was build up the united states military, a much more aggressive interventionism and state building. he said i'm never for that. he was against the iraq war. what does he do? he says i want america to be the strongest nation on the face of the earth. i want to build up the military. i have no problem with diplomacy. i will talk to the dictators. people say no, no, no. but he says i will talk to them. if you are going to kill american soldiers, i'm going to stop you. reaganer in sent a quarter of a million troops anywhere. he pushed the communist re jeements ou -- regimes out of central and south america. he was respected and feared by our enemies. the trump doctrine reminds me of the reagan doctrine with a trump overlay. what do you think about that? >> that's well said. the obama doctrine was a bad overcorrection to what happened in the bush years. we badly harmed our military and hollowed it out. and tu

at my direction, the united states military eliminated the world's top terrorist, qasem soleimani. as the head of the quds force, soleimani was personally responsible for some of the absolutely worst atrocities. he trained terrorist armies, including hezbollah, launching terror strikes against civilian targets. he fueled bloody civil wars all across the region. he viciously wounded and murdered thousands of u.s. troops, including the planting of roadside bombs that maim and dismember their victims. soleimani directed the recent attacks on u.s. personnel in iraq that badly wounded four service members and killed one american, and he orchestrated the violent assault on the u.s. embassy in baghdad. in recent days, he was planning new attacks on american targets, but we stopped him. soleimani's hands were drenched in both american and iranian blood. he should have been terminated long ago. by removing soleimani, we have sent a powerful message to terrorists -- if you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our people. as we continue to evaluate options in response to ir

really rejected these claims next we heard reports from the taliban claiming that this was the united states military aircraft in the they had boarded down and that there were lots of casualties the united states had the wrong move the 5 casualties but it took them. one of many hours to admit that the jet had indeed come down the taliban so far have said nothing apart from the statement that they had boarded the allens very difficult to imagine them having done done so now do you think this instant will have any wider significance for the war ravaged country and in particular for america's mission there well the the question is what is the mission because not a lot of people can can answer the question is there is precious little hope that the ward of galveston can still be won in fact there is there is none that it can be won by military force there's a growing sort of agreement consensus that the unique way forward is is negotiations with the taliban which of recently were started but trump is unpredictable if anything the last time the taliban claimed responsibility for a bombing of a u.s. militar

according to his sources, this is a huge intelligence and military victory for the united states. sean's sources have confirmed to him that the president made this call immediately after the iranians were identified, in consultation with leaders from the intelligence community, the military, and the state department. one source told sean the president was adamant about protecting american interests and personnel within iraq. according to -- joining us now from washington with the latest is david spunt. david? >> jason, this information rapidly developing but iraq state tv reporting that the general, the head of iran's force, killed at the air strike several hours ago at baghdad airport. we know that this is coming specifically from iraq state tv, the associated press, jason, also reporting seven people killed by a missile fired at the airport. now the ap, jason, is quoting an iran-backed paramilitary report and the group is blaming the united states for this attack. it's not clear if this was a separate attack, iraq state tv has also indicated there may be two separate attacks we'r

united states takes any further action respond accordingly and we will respond in a very harsh way but proportionately united stunnel trump and did promise further action but in form of economic sanctions military confrontation it appears has been averted for now. and for more on that i'm joined tonight by hussein but now he's an assistant professor of international studies at the university of indiana he's also a middle east analyst it's good to see you again professor so today we saw the u.s. president donald trump in obvious deescalation mode is that the how tehran is perceiving it do you think and if they are seeing that is it too little too late aaron getting it that way i think they are glad that the president is seeing their response or should know it. as well because they themselves were worried that this could very easily get. out of hand i think iran made a calculated response to what they regarded to be a violation of international law and they wanted to be seen as responding in a way that was commensurate with their obligations under international law and they're happy that it's been received that way by washington as as well it seems though that both iran and the the united states

at the hand of the united states military. no man alive was more directly responsible for the deaths of more american service members than qassim suleimani. revenuesa. his schemes and his agents killed hundreds of american service members in iraq and afghanistan. he personally oversaw the state-sponsored terrorism that iran used to kill our sons and our daughters and as we've seen in recent days and weeks, he and his terrorists posed an ongoing threat to american lives and american interests. soleimani made it his life's work to take the iranian revolutionary call for death to america and death to israel and turn them into action. but this terrorist mastermind was not just a threat to the united states and israel. for more than a decade, he masterminded iran's mall leafs lent and destabilizing work throughout the entire middle east. he created, sustained and directed terrorist proxies everywhere from yemen to iraq to syria to lebanon. innocents were killed. these sovereign countries were destabilized. in syria, this leading te

the united states military plans what targets it will hit under certain circumstances. it is not surprising the iranians will also determine what targets they will hit if they are attacked by americans. so the idea that people might be planning to take certain actions is not surprising, just as we planned to take certain actions under certain circumstances. the take away from my perspective is that they did not establish in any way the facts that would support the claim of an imminent threat that was posed, meaning someone had decided to attack u.s. forces and kill lots of americans. let me turn it over to senator murphy. murphy: let me concur with senator van hollen's analysis. i was deeply surprised at the lack of information presented by the administration regarding a specific, imminent threat. this appears to me to be a strike of choice by this administration, one that likely would have required congressional authorization beforehand. the consequences of this strike in the first six days have been cataclysmic. our troops are being pushed out of iraq. iran has starte

to the senate, it will then be time for the united states senate to fulfill ourt to address the isse of iran. last night the united states conducted a military operation designed to kill major general qasam soleimani, the notorious terrorist. no one should shed a tear over his death. the operation against soleimani in iraq was conducted, however, without specific authorization and any advance notification or consultation with congress. i'm a member of the gang of eight, which is typically briefed in advance of operations of thisev

at my direction, the united states military eliminated the world's top terrorist, qassem soleimani. as the head of the quds force, soleimani was personally responsible for some of the absolutely worst atrocities. he trained terrorist armies, including hezbollah, launching terror strikes against civilian targets. he fueled bloody civil wars all across the region. he viciously wounded and murdered thousands of u.s. troops, including the planting of road-side bombs that maim and dismember their victims. soleimani directed the recent attacks on u.s. personnel in iraq that badly wounded four service members and killed one american, and he orchestrated the violent assault on the u.s. embassy in baghdad. in recent days he was planning new attacks on american targets, but we stopped him. soleimani's hands were drenched in both american and iranian blood. he should have been terminated long ago. by removing soleimani, we have sent a powerful message to terrorists, if you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our people. as we continue to evaluate options in response to iran

weeks ago, i signed the largest ever investment into the united states military. $738 billion, and we created the sixth branch of the united states armed forces, the space force. everyone's excited about that. >> usa! usa! usa! usa! >> president trump: after years and years of devastating defense cuts, we have fully rebuilt the united states military. some of it still coming in. we have everything. we have new planes. we've got new rockets, new missiles. we've got new everything. it's either here or coming in. $2.5 trillion in new investments. our military is now stronger and more powerful than ever before. if you remember, three years ago when i took over, we were depleted. our military was totally depleted. by the way, speaking of our military, have we taken care of our vets, with choice, choice. with choice. that was a big thing. i used to go around and the va was a terrible situation. people would wait weeks. he's right. he said yes, it was. you don't hear too much about that anymore. do you notice? choice and accountability. you know what accountability is? for 44 years they trie

people have felt safe because, frankly, the united states military incursions in the middle east haveped defeat and put isis on the run. if that changes, if there is some type of attack, some type of retaliatory action that iran takes, i think that puts president trump in a much more politically perilous situation than he has faced, really, at any point in his presidency. >> how does this change the conversation about impeachment you saw house speaker nancy pelosi commenting on the insistence of these e-mails, the minority leader chuck schumer as well continued to fight for testimony as i said, new evidence as well in the senate trial, and, yet, the logs are still jammed in all of this. there's been very little movement now that senators are back from their holiday recess. >> yeah. certainly there is a stalemate in the leadership that you describe. but keep in mind that in this -- an impeachment in the senate trial, mitch mcconnell doesn't have unilateral power over what goes on the way he does on the normal senate floor business. ordinary senators can make requests. there is going to

the united states military launched a flawless precision strike that killed the world's number one terrorist. great percentages of people right now because of this [bleep >> crazy bernie sanders and washington democrats are outraged that we killed this terrorist monster. >> donald rick is taking us pell-mell towards another war. >> he is going from crisis to crisis, escalation to escalation. >> we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war. >> washington democrats have never been more extreme than they are now. >> i have been the object of his affection more than anybody else. i have taken all the city can deliver. >> we will pay for everybody's health insurance, schooling. they want to take away your private health insurance. >> medicare for all, we take on greed and profiteering. >> we need to start with what is happening in america. >> i don't believe they are going to say that. >> i didn't say that. >> the only people in the stage to have won every single election they have been are the women. >> this is our one-shot to defeat donald trump and to do it by such a big

united states refused to recognize panama's independence throughout the 1800s. when the u.s. proposal to build a canal was turned down by columbia, u.s. policy changed. in 1903, the united states provided militaryp, enabling panama to secede from columbia. by doing so, the united states secure the rights to take over the canal project that had been abandoned by the french. in a treaty negotiated between the french canal investors and united states, the americans were granted sovereign control in perpetuity of a 10 mile wide strip of land they called the canal zone. panamanians were not included in the negotiations and no panamanians signed the treaty. the united states plays to the canal zone under military control. >> teddy roosevelt was asked by what right he acquired possession of the canal. at least in the honest words, he said i took it. that gives you no right. never has. hopefully never will. >> the canal project had an impact on panama. the u.s. imported cheap labor from the caribbean, india, and asia, changing the racial makeup of the country. thousands of these workers died and those who remained lived as part of a new racial underclass. >> they created an apartheid system based on ra

at my direction, the united states military launched a flawless precision strike that killed the world'ser one [cheers and applause] pres. trump: you know who that is -- qasem soleimani. the number one terrorist. forimani was responsible wounding thousands of americans and was actively planning new attacks, but we stopped him frankly, they already started the attack, as you saw, in baghdad, on our very large embassy in baghdad. that was already started. i said to our generals, get there now, we don't want to have another benghazi on my watch or on any watch. they said sir, we will be there tomorrow, i said you have to be there right now, get them over there now. now. [cheers and applause] thousands of soldiers, they were soldiers, if you look at that crowd, that was not protesters, that was soldiers. they were surrounding ra missy in baghdad, and all of a sudden they see these -- surrounding our embassy in baghdad, and all of a sudden they see these beautiful new apache helicopters overhead. [cheers and applause] pres. trump: into than they see our great military. you saw them in the pla

iran has vowed ‘severe revenge‘ against the united states after the killing of iranian military commanderem soleimani. he was blown up outside baghdad airport in the early hours of friday morning, on the orders of president trump. us officials say the general had been plotting to kill americans in the region. iranian leaders have called the killing an ‘act of international terrorism'. the pentagon is sending an extra 3,500 troops to the region. here's our middle east editorjeremy bowen. this was the moment that the us assassinated qasem soleimani and pushed the middle east into a new year and new decade of uncertainty and more danger. the pictures came from a tv station controlled by iran. the attack, from a missile fired from a drone, hit his motorcade as he was being driven out of baghdad airport. the us and iran were already fighting a war in the shadows. neither side wants uncontrolled escalation, but the chances of miscalculation and a lurch into a bigger war have increased. qasem soleimani was no ordinary foe. for a generation, he was probably america's most capable enemy. his death

decisive action to stop a ruthless terrorist from threatening american lives at my direction the united states military eliminated the world's top terrorist to sam sola many as the head of the cuts force solomon he was personally responsible for some of the absolutely worst atrocities. he trained terrorists arms including hezbollah launching terrorist strikes against civilian targets he fueled bloody civil wars all across the region he viciously wounded and murdered thousands of u.s. troops including the planting of roadside bombs that maim and dismember their victims selami directed the recent attacks on u.s. personnel in iraq that badly wounded 4 service members and killed one american and he orchestrated the violent assault on the u.s. embassy in baghdad in recent days he was planning new attacks on american targets but we stopped him solomon he's hands were drenched in both american and iranian blood he should have been terminated long ago. by removing solemn 80 we have sent a powerful message to terrorists if you value your own life you will not threaten the lives of our people as we continue to e

but right now it's with the united states military.cheers and applause] and we also got rid of remnants of isis. while we are creating jobs and killing terrorists, democrats in congress are wasting america's time with demented hoaxes and witch hunts that have been going on from the time i came down the escalator with our future first lady. somebody said to me recently, president, hey, donald. how are you doing? now he calls me president. he calls me president. they always call me president. president, president. tell me, what's happening? what's going on? how is it all going until you are doing such a great job. i said do me a favor, call me donald. i can't. you know what that means. that mean respect for the office of president. you know what? we are going to keep it that way. we are going to keep it that way. we are going to keep it that way. but that's why this november we are going back and we are going to win the house, the republicans are going to win the house. because i don't know if you know it. the -- the impeachment hoax, th

the united states military has killed the qasem soleimani, the amanda, commander of the elite quds forceover a hundred people from mallacoota in victoria, a town almost encircled by wildfires. it is part of the authorities attempts to get people to safety before a forecast rise in temperatures. and they have been in paris between police and supporters of the transport strike in france. the dispute is now the country's longest continuous railway strike. unions oppose a government plan to merge 42 pension schemes into just one system. it is the time of the day that we take a look at some of the stories in the papers across the world and we begin with politico and it says trump takes a massive gamble with world and we begin with politico and it says trump takes a massive gamble with the world and we begin with politico and it says trump takes a massive gamble with the killing world and we begin with politico and it says trump takes a massive gamble with the killing of world and we begin with politico and it says trump takes a massive gamble with the killing of the world and we begin with po

united states. but think about what that means. what can our military do if iran american civilians or diplomats or commercial shipping overseas? under this reckless amendment, absolutely s nothing. the united states military single shot until after the successful completion legislative l process that enacts a law authorizing the use of force. how many americans would be dead by then? terrorist n and its proxies to think twice about americans, our friends, and our own interests, not enabling them like what this amendment does. further, this is an nprecedented attempt to limit the powers claimed by every commander in chief, both and republican. since the war powers resolution as enacted over president nixon's veto in 1973. amendment is actually far more restrictive resolution powers itself, which recognizes the use to 60 armed forces for up days without legislative situations of n war. this is absolutely not the time with our litics national security. iran's aggression is not going anytime soon. i'd like to quote from a july 8 of er from the department d

as a veteran and member of our united states military, i'm ashamed at the behavior i'm witnessing now. our military deserves better and so do the american people. at a time when our country should unite behind our commander in chief, this resolution turns us against ourselves. i hope my colleagues on the left will come to their senses. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. engel: i now yield one minute to the distinguished member of the foreign affairs committee, the gentleman from california, mr. lieu. mr. lieu: i previously served in active duty in the united states military and if we are going to put our troops in harm's way we better have a strategy. we don't have strategy but reckless decision making made by the president. let me ask a question, what are our goals with iran? is it to get them to come back to the negotiating table on the nuclear program? we are further away from that goal because they have announced they are not going to abide by limits on their nuclear program. or is it to get the

from the battlefield and the hand of the united states military. no man alive, was more directly responsible for the death of more american service members in the sky. the leader of the course, within ran, islamic, revolutionary guard. . . . to kill our sons and our daughters. as we've been saying in the recent days and weeks, he and his terrorists oppose an ongoing threat to american lives and american interest. soleimani made it his life's work to make it his life's work to be death to america. and death to israel. and turn them into action. but this terrorist mastermind it was not just a threat to the united states and israel, but for more than a decade he masterminded iran's destabilizing work throughout the entire middle east. he created, sustained, and directed terrorists all the way from yemen, to iraq, to syria, to lebanon. innocents were killed, these sovereign countries were destabilized. in syria, this leading terrorist and his agents acted as strategists, enablers, and accomplices to the brewed brutal repression and the slaughter of the

on paper, the unit states military dwarfs iran's. the u.s. the most powerful military in the world while iran ranks 14th. the u.s. has 1.3 million active personnel. spent 19 billion u.s. dollars on defefense while the u.s. spent a huge $650 billion, more e than the next seven countries put together. the u.s. also has the world's most advananced weaponry and is allied with rich and powerful countries around the world. despite its lack of military bases in the modern air force, iranan can be effective in other ways. its missile arsenal has grown to be the largest and most sophisticated in the militanant- in the m middle east and is able to strike more than 2000 kilometers away, reaching as far as israel and parts of europe. hasg with its missiles, it a large number of mines and small boats that can deter naval aggression and choke the global oil supply in the persian gulf. inhas made rapid progress cyberspace operations and has a network of militant partners and proxies in the r region includig has below in lebanon and the houthi's in yemen. ag

united states military has joined an investigation into a plane crash in the asked -- in an afghan provinceis was posted by a taliban social media aount. the supreme court -- u.s. supreme court has issued an ordeallowing the trumpet ministration to enforce new limits on immigrants who are likely to become over dependent on government programs. the proposal brought in the previous standards. at least five people died as flames engulfed northeast alabama earlier today. a fire destroyed 35 vessels at jackson county park along the tennessee river in scottsboro. >> use a false -- u.s. health officials said to have seen no new casesn i the united states, but more than 100 cases remain under investigation. and more than 28 -- 28 peopleied have been infected. >> the eerie sound of the city and lockdown who has residents trapped in their homeshouting encouragement to each other. >> here we are, day five of the lockdown your >> he is stuck here -e lockdown. >> stuck here with his grandmother. e was only meant to visit for a short break. her medication is running dangerously low. china's priority is t

direction the united states military successfully. executed a flawlesess precisioion strike thatat killed the number one. terrorist anywhere in the world. kassem saleh many. solamente was plotting. a minute and sinister attacks on american diplomats and military personnel but we caught him. in the act. and terminated him. under my leadership america's policy is unambiguous to terrorists who harm or intend to harm any american. we will find you we will eliminate you we will always protect our diplomats service members all americans and our allies. for years the islamic revolutionaryy guard corps adage ruthless codes force. under sola mentees leadership has targeted injured and murdered hundreds of american civilians and servicemen. the recent attacks on us targets in iraq including rocket strikes that killed an american and injured for american servicemen very badly. as well as a violent assault on our embassy in baghdad were carried out at the direction of solamente. sela mainly made the death of innocent people is sick passion. contr

military power than our tragic adventure in vietnam. i ask you what side do you believe dr king would land on in the debate over the united states' continued congressionally approved military adventures and aggressive posturing in places like afghanistan iraq iraq or africa dr king also observed that a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death in 2020 the united states will spend over 730000000000 taxpayer dollars on its weapons of war thanks to the democrat and republican approved national defense authorization act $738000000000.00 to be exact if that spiritual death hasn't happened yet then we my friends are definitely knock knock knock on the door and that means we had better start watching the hawks if you want to know what's going on easy to you.

engaged in deciding whether or not it's in the national security interest of the united states to authorize any military force. >> but in terms of the bottom line of having killed soleimani, you've been a frequent critic of the regime and soleimani is universally seen, well, in the united states at least, as a terror mastermind. when you heard that president trump gave the order to have him taken out, were you relieved? >> well, look, soleimani was a terrorist. he is the cause directly and indirectly for the loss of hundreds of american troops through their surrogates and through the development of ieds that killed americans, soldiers in iraq. i'll shed no tear for him. but the question that two previous administrations, republican and democrat both faced is targeting soleimani and taking him off the battlefield more valuable than the consequences that flow from that decision? and both president bush and president obama came to a different conclusion. so the question isn't whether or not we weep for soleimani. we don't. the question is, what unfolds now is in the national interest and security of the un

actual or potential suspension withholding, delaying, freezing, or releasing of united states foreign assistance, militaryistance or security assistance to ukraine, including but not limited to all meetings, calls, or other engagements with ukrainian officials regarding potential or actual suspensions, holds, or delays in united states assistance to ukraine, including but not limited to, one, communications received from the department of state concerning the ukrainian embassy's inquiries about united states foreign assistance, military assistance, and security assistance to ukraine, and, two, communications received directly from the ukrainian embassy about united states foreign assistance, military assistance, and security assistance to ukraine. c, communications, opinions, advice, counsel, approvals, or concurrences provided by the department of defense, office of management and budget, or the white house on the legality of any suspension withholding, delaying, freezing, or releasing of united states foreign assistance, military assistance, and secretary assistance to ukraine. d, planned or actual meet

narrator: be more, pbs. ♪ >> last night, at my direction, the united states military sfully executed cision strike that killed the number one terrorist anywhere in the world. >> woodruff: a u.s. air strike kills one of iran's top military leaders, escalating tensions to a new level. as tehran vows to taliate, we consider what the strike for u.s. interests and allies in the middle east, and around the world i ans friday. mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze today's iran new the democratic presidential campaign, w

we have all the capabilities inherent in the united states military to either respond to further attacks or to take pre-emptive action if additional attacks are being prepared. >> the president responded to the aby tweeting out this image of the american flag. iran's supreme leader is warning a harsh retaliation is waiting for the u.s. >>> anti government protesters are gathering in central baghdad and have mixed reactions to the death of the top general. not only was the general killed by the deputy commander of an iran-backed militia in iraq was killed. some thought it was a good thing believing it would be helpful in eliminating corrupt parties destroying iraq. others say the united states and iran should settle their problems outside of iraq. retaliation of the air strike will likely not just affect the united states but israel as well. >>> the senate is back in session today after the holiday break. majority leader mitch mcconnell is expected to speak. he may address the house impeachment of president trump. speaker nancy pelosi has not yet sent the senate the two articles of impeac

but weeks ago i signed the largest ever investments in the united states military, $738 billion, and es, the space force. and everybody is excited about that. [cheering] usa. usa. usa. usa. usa. after years and years of devastating defense cuts, we have fully rebuilt of the united states military, some of it still coming in. we have everything. we've got new planes, we've got new rockets new missiles, new everything. and it's either here or coming in. $2.5trillion in new investments. our military is now stronger and more powerful than ever before. [cheering] and if you remember, three years ago when i took over we were depleted, our military was totally depleted. and by the way speaking of our military, have we taken care of our vets. [cheering] with choice. that was a big thing. i used to go around and the va was a terrible situation. people would wait weeks and he is right they say yes it was. you don't hear too much about that anymore. choice and accountability. you know what accountability is. for 44 years they tried to get accountability. that's somebody who works over the va you

simple and the space force is not -- [inaudible] space force is a service and the way the united states military structure are services that organize train and enforcements and those that operate endorsements on the space force you have organized training and equipment and give them to space command and the other combatant commanders, by the way, to operate as a unified command structure. the changes that will happen in the unified command plan will be expansion of u.s. space command was once abilities as we continue to go out in the space force itself does not change that. with the space force changes is how we train our people, build our people, equip our forces, build our stuff and that is what this resource will do and how they focus on that and i ask a question a while ago about congressional oversight. oh my gosh, if you read the law the congressional oversight is intense. like every 60 days you have to be up there explaining this. why is it that way? it is that way because congress does not want the bureaucracy to be out of control. and given our nature as bureaucrats because there's a bu

last night at my direction, the united states military executed a flaw list strike that deterred thed murdering thousands and thousands of people and hundreds and hundreds at least of americans qassim soleimani has been killed and his blood he rampage is now forever gone. he was plotting attacks against americans, but now we have assured that his atrocities have been stopped for a good, they are stopped for good. i don't know if you know what was happening, but he was planning a very major attack, and we got him. we are a peace-loving nation. and my administration remains firmly committed to establishing peace and harmony among the nations in the world. we do not seek war. we do not seek nation building. we do not seek regime change. but as president, i will never hesitate to defend the safety of the american people, you. [cheers and applause] so let this be a warning to terrorists, if you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our citizens. americans have many blessings, but perhaps the greatest among them is the blessing of being protected by the most exceptional a

as i said, the united states military will, as it always has, obey the laws of armed conflict. reporter: deescalation, does the u.s. have responsibility or obligation to also de-escalate? or is that in your view solely in iran's court. secretary esper: we are not the one that is have escalated this over the past arguably 40 years and the past several months. it's been iran through its proxies. it has consistently escalated this in terms of the size, scale, scope of their attacks. we reached a point where we had to act in self-defense. we had to take appropriate action. at this point as i said a few times now, the ball is in their court. what they do next will determine what happens in the subsequent moves. reporter: mr. secretary, i would like to ask you before the attack against soleimani, had you been in consultations with your partners in the region? i mean the g.g.c. council, or israel, if you have informed them that operation is going to take place? secretary esper: i'm not going to get into the details of our consultations on any matter with other countries. obviously we

. >> the worst briefing i've seen, at least on a military issue, in the nine years i've served in the united states senate. >> reporter: well, those fired up g.o.p. senators, mike lee, who we just heard from, and rand paul, said they would support a war powers resolution to limit president trump's military action against iran. speaker nancy pelosi plans to take a vote on that measure in the house tomorrow. norah. >> o'donnell: that criticism is significant. today iran's supreme leader called his country's attack a slap in the face of america. more about the missiles, where they hit, and how u.s. forces knew they were coming. david martin has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: the missiles were launched from three different locations in western iran only minute's flying time from their targets in iraq. u.s. officials say iran launched a total of 16 short- to medium- range missiles, mostly at al asad airbase, northwest of baghdad, but also some at err air field beacon hill in northern iraq. satellite photos of al asad show the craters left by the 1,000- and 2,000-pound war heads. some officials sug