Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Poppy Harlow And Jim Sciutto 20200108

To the targeted killing of irans top general. Iraqs Prime Minister says that they received an official verbal warning from iran before those missile strikes and crucially passed it on to the u. S. Now im told there was a growing belief inside the administration and the pentagon that iran intentionally missed areas in that base with americans and more broadly that iranian leaders may have chosen to send a message rather than to take significant enough action to spark a substantial u. S. Military response. Thats the view now. Still a different story inside iran where iranians are reporting that 80 u. S. Military personnel have been killed and more than 200 u. S. Military personnel injured in those attacks. Thats, of course, running counter to what were hearing. The president tweeting, all it well. Where does this conflict go from here . Does it escalate or is there deescalation . We have a team covering every angle all around the world. Lets begin with our White House Correspondent kaitlan collins. What do we know this morning about when the president will talk and what he might say . Well, were still waiting to learn when it is the president is going to address the nation on all of this. He said he would speak this morning, but so far the white house has not given us a time of when the president is going to speak. So we are essentially just on standby for the next few hours and waiting to hear not only when hes going to speak but what it is hes going to say. How the United States is going to respond to that attack last night. And essentially what the Overall Mission here is going to be. Now as were waiting to hear from the president , we are hearing from sources, jim, several of our colleagues are hearing theres a growing belief by some people in the administration that iran might have intentionally missed. And what i mean by that is they believe that they intentionally did not hit areas that are heavily populated with americans, essentially arguing that they could have, but they chose not to. Now the pentagon is still assessing all of this. A lot of information is still coming in. But what that could signal, jim and poppy is the administration is looking for some type of rationale to try to ease tensions here. To come to that area where essentially they can start to deescalate which youve heard the president repeating time and time again and his aides and whether or not that actually happens is what were waiting to see. The president S National Security team has been at the white house over the last 24 hours as the president prepares for this address to the nation. Do we know what theyve been discussing . Are they discussing military options still at this point . What are you hearing from the white house . The big question last night was how did the president want to respond to this . He was in the situation room, in the west wing with his top National Security advisers who we saw arrive at the west wing almost moments after he started to get confirmed reports of these attacks. You saw the defense secretary, the secretary of state, several top officials, the Vice President was already here. And then those officials left a short time later and this morning we do know they are back here, including the secretary of state mike pompeo, the National Security adviser. So theyre all huddle with the president as they are deciding what it is this message is going to be to the American People this morning, though there are going to be a lot of questions over just how mixed those messages coming out of the administration have been since the killing of soleimani last week from the pentagon having to apologize for that letter that was they said was mistaken the sent to the government about withdrawing u. S. Troops. Whether the president was threatening to hit these cult o ureal sites. Its going to be a critical time when the president does speak. Absolutely. Kaitlan, thank you. Lets get try to jemana. What are you learning from these Iranian Missile attacks . Well, poppy, we did hear from the Iraqi Military. They say that it was 22 missiles in total that targeted these bases that house u. S. Forces. They say 17 targeted al Assad Air Base in the western al anbar province. They say two of those missiles did not explode. They also say five missiles targeted erbil province in the semiautonomous kurdish region. They say there were no casualties in this attack and perhaps the reason for this is weve heard from the iraqi Prime Ministers office in a statement saying that they had prior knowledge of the strikes they were notified verbally by the iranians that this will happen. They said they received this notification just after midnight. Thats about two hours almost before the strikes took place. Now iraqi and u. S. Forces are housed together in these bases. They have joint operations, roomgs, so the iraqi Prime Minister saying they notified the Iraqi Military what they had been told with this retaliatory attack so one would assume the Iraqi Military did notify u. S. Forces. And just to let you know, we just returned a short time ago from the streets of baghdad. Weve been talking to people here asking them for their reaction. Of course, people here have been bracing for this iranian retaliation since that killing of soleimani and abu mahdi muhandis. Although the iranians say theyve concluded their retaliation, people here are nervous. Theyre really worried. And whether people, you know, blame iran or blame the United States, the one thing almost everyone we spoke to agrees on, they want iran left out of this. One thing is clear. If iran delivered a message to iraq, they would have known that message, that warning would have been passed on to the americans. Jomana on the ground in baghdad. Lets go to Barbara Starr with the latest from the pentagon. The pentagon sense is this may be it for now from iran, but i imagine knowing iran, its not monolithic. It has multiple factions. The irgc kind of runs itself at times. Im certain the pentagon is bracing for the possibility of further military action . I think thats reasonable. The pentagon always prepared. Thats what they like to say. Theres a Real Intelligence calculation going on here right now. We know, as youve been discussing, that the iraqis noteified the u. S. They had received word from iran of this impending missile attack from the missiles fired inside of irans borders. We also know that u. S. Intelligence had watched irans Ballistic Missiles for the last several days and had seen them moving around and was watching for signs of them being ready to launch. Third, we know that the u. S. Has intelligence satellites that can detect the heat signature of missiles, Ballistic Missiles as they come off their launcher. So there would have been this all adds up to the u. S. Had what appears to be a fairly good picture, was able to warn u. S. Forces to get into safe positions in time. That perhaps being a major contributor to saving any potential lives. Whether the iranians were able to deliberately target their missiles to avoid specific areas of high concentration of u. S. Troops, that is going to have to be an intelligence calculation. They did it but was it deliberate or did these missiles simply go off track in some fashion . All of this is the kind of information the assessment of this event that has been assembled and continues to be assembled by the pentagon and the Intelligence Community presented to President Trump and, of course, well have to see if this time he is comfortable. If he believes the intelligence that he is given. Here at the pentagon, its very fair to say theyd like to see deescalation. Some type of off ramp, if you will, but what role the u. S. Military plays in that very much remains to be seen. Barbara, thank you. Lets bring in our fred pleitgen. What are iranian officials saying about the missile attack . To the iranians, its clear a lot of this has been about messaging. In the early hours today, the iranians have released video of those missiles being launched. And certainly very closely afterwards, the revolutionary guard corps took credit for launching those missiles. Obviously, Qassem Soleimani was a member of the revolutionary guard corps. What the iranians are saying, they can strike back any time they want, and also they can do so from their own territory. That they can hit american bases in other countries, and they dont necessarily only need the proxy forces they have in those other countries. They can use some of the more sophisticated weapons, specifically their Ballistic Missile weapon program. Thats the centerpiece of irans and the revolutionary guard corpss technology. We have reaction coming from across the board. We have irans Supreme Leader who essentially also said that this is something that was very limited. He called this a slap in the face to the United States and nothing more. Hes also saying that this region will never have america will have accepted a u. S. Presence in this region. Some of the messaging weve been hearing from the iranians saying they believe this could be the beginning of the end of the u. S. Presence in this region. Similar words also from the president from hassan rouhani. Also saying the iranians want the u. S. To get out of here. However, the foreign minister, and i think some of the most interesting comments from iranian officials, hes calling on the u. S. To come to their senses. He said that the iranians have retaliated for the killing of Qassem Soleimani but he also said that iran does not want a war. He essentially is saying right now the ball is in President Trumps court as to where this goes next. I want to listen in to a little of what the foreign minister had to say. We did not start this process of escalation. The United States waged an economic war against iran. The United States has to come to its senses. Europe can play a useful role by informing the United States of the serious error in their analysis that they should stop listening to clowns. That they should base their policy based on realities and not some illusions of some clowns who have ambitions elsewhere. At the same time, you have some different rhetoric coming from other places. Jim was referencing it before that there are there is an iranian media outlet claiming that the revolutionary guard says that america 80 americans were killed in those missile strikes. Obviously, without providing any sort of evidence. You do, however, also have Senior Iranian military leaders who are saying that if the u. S. Does now retaliate, that the iranians will deliver, as they put it, an even more crushing blow than they already have. The so iranians are essentially saying it can end here or it can descend even further, guys. In the midst of this last night, and this is incredible, but a jet, a ukrainian airliner, a relatively new boeing 737 800 carrying 176 people crashed minutes after takeoff from the main airport there in tehran. At this point, at least a missile strike is not being ruled out. Doesnt mean theres any hard evidence of that. What are you hearing from the ground there this morning . There isnt any hard evidence of that at this point in time. Obviously, the investigators are still on the scene. Ill tell you, it was really a remarkable and very strange thing. We were reporting on these Ballistic Missile strikes from the iranians against those u. S. Targets in iraq, and then all of a sudden, there was this new message about a big aviation disaster that took place, jim, just a couple miles from where im standing right now at the international airport. Thats the airport that i also use to get in and out of this country whenever we come here to iran. The interesting thing about this is, right now the iranians are saying that they found the black boxes of that aircraft. They are not going to, they have said, give those black boxes to boeing. It seems theres some sort of a political thing going on there as well. The head of irans Civil Aviation authority is saying theyll not hand these boxes over to an entity thats inside the u. S. Certainly not the u. S. Government either. So they are going to do this a different way. Apparently, according to the International Law of air travel, when a disaster like this happens, usually its the nation where the disaster happens that is then responsible for the investigations. Theyll wait and see how that moves forward. But youre right. That plane took off about two minutes after takeoff, the plane wasnt at a very high altitude. It came down suddenly. No distress call from what were hearing. And that area down there, jim, is very flat farmland. Its got a lot of fields and farmland, some farm houses as well. Its one of the reason ys why t crash site is easily accessible for the forensic workers who are sifting through and also probably one of the reasons why they found the black boxes so quickly. It is a big, big tragedy. This was a ukrainian airliner. Only 3 1 2 years old. Everybody on board that flight perished. Obviously a big disaster also for ukraine as well. Jim . Absolutely. The timing, as jim said, remarkable. Fred, thank you very much. Still to come the president is expected this morning to address the nation after iran strikes back. Well bring you that live, of course, as soon as it begins. Congress set to be briefed today on the situation in iran as lawmakers are still battling over the next steps on impeachment. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer says House Speaker Nancy Pelosis strategy worked and holding back the impeachment articles has worked. Could the impasse between the house and senate be coming to an end . Dental much sooner. Nto asn when youre not able to smile, you become closed off. Having to live with bad teeth for so long was extremely depressing. Now, i know how happy i am. There was all the feeling good about myself that i missed and all of the feeling bad about myself that was unnecessary. At aspen dental, were all about yes. Like yes to free exams and xrays for new patients without insurance. Yes to flexible hours and payment options. And yes, whenever youre ready to get started, we are too. 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Eastern from the white house grand foyer addressing irans strikes on the military bases in iraq that house americans. Well bring that to you live and a lot of pregame to that as we get new reporting about what the president may say in that statement. As we cover the story, if iran intentionally missed americans in this retaliatory attack, as is the Current Pentagon assessment, did they intend to create a path towards deescalation . Were joined by our International Diplomatic editor Nic Robertson in riyadh and a retired army general andrew. Let me begin with how iraq was warned about the strikes and passed that message on to the United States. Yeah, diplomatic source told me that he was aware of information that the iranians had told the iraqis to that the attacks were going to happen. And that information was passed on to the United States. We know that iraqi forces were warned, their commanders were warned to stay away from certain the u. S. Bases in iraq several hours before. It does paint a picture because the iranians would absolutely know that if they told the iraqis, then the information was going to land pretty quickly in u. S. Hands, either by intelligence assets or actually a direct communication. It certainly gives the impression that the iranians were aware that u. S. Forces would be able to get out of the way of the strikes. And so ive been to al Assad Air Base where the major ut of the strikes took place. Its a massive air base. Its in the desert. Its in a remote location. The chances of collateral civilian casualties would be very small and you would certainly have a huge opportunity to land missiles in areas of that base well away from where troops would be. And certainly if those troops had the fore knowledge to take cover, it seems that the iranians did want to avoid casualties. There are plenty of other places where u. S. Troops are based in iraq where the iranians could have had a much greater probability of hitting the soldiers had they chosen to. The impression that this really does create is they want to avoid. And thats reinforced by the foreign minister saying this was a proportional response creating that impression that there is the opportunity for this military off ramp towards diplomacy. But theyre playing it two ways. Theyre playing it for their domestic audience, the Supreme Leader calling this a crushing blow. Right. So you have a warning going out, andrew, to the iraqis from iran. They know that that would be passed on to the americans. Intentionally, it seems, missing where the americans are there. Its our reporting that the pentagon view of this is that iran intended that to make a shot across the bow, as it were. Is that an accurate read from what you can tell . We dont know. Right. And i think the interesting point here is, whether or not it would make sense for us to work on the assumption that it was an intentional gesture, not intended to be lethal. Theres a historical analogy here. Cuban missile crisis. October 1962. Kennedy wanted an off ramp. He didnt want to have a nuclear war with the soviet union. He received two letters from ni nickita khrushchev. One was harsh, confrontational, uncompromising. And the other one, the language was totally different and suggested that khrushchev wanted a way out. So kennedy had to make a choice. Which one of these letters should i take seriously . He chose the one that sounded he chose to believe that the compromising language reflect e khrushchevs intention. It could be military incompetence. Does the president have the team around him to make that, and do you have confidence in the president s ability i have no confidence in the president s ability. But the president s got himself in a real fix here. He promised to end our endless wars. The asassination of soleimani was a step in the other direction. He wants to win reelection. Were now in the election year. There is something of a tradition that when the president goes to war, the country rallies around the president and theres a political advantage that he gains. I dont think thats going to play in this case. The democrats are not going to rally around the president. And i suspect that many of those who vote forward trump because they believed he was going to get us out of these wars would be, you know, less than supportive if we now find ourselves drifting into a conflict with iran. So i think the president has very strong incentives to figure out how to get out of here. Whether or not hes, you know, recognized the opportunity and whether or not hes so full of bluster all the time. Whether or not hes willing to take that opportunity, you know, when we hear him talk in a little bit, well probably have a better understanding of what hes going to do. Andrew, thank you very much. We appreciate you being here. And your book. Nic robertson in riyadh, thank you both. Well hear what the president has to say shortly. All lawmakers are set to be briefed today on the conflict in iran. A senator is going to join us next. Youll want to hear it. Aveeno® with prebiotic striple oat complex balances skins microbiome. So skin looks like this and you feel like this. Aveeno® skin relief. Get skin healthy™ 19if you dont get trthere in time,sm. We will lose sixteen hundred men. I cant see keep hold of me come on jump hours from now, the entire house and senate will be briefed on the ongoing conflict with iran, including the intelligence that led to the u. S. Drone strike that killed irans top general Qassem Soleimani. Manu raju is on capitol hill. What can we expect in terms of who is leading the briefings and also how much intelligence is shared with the entirety of congress because listening to esper yesterday, to christiane amanpour, it was clear that it would be very limited in terms of when you compare to what the gang of eight got. Yeah, typically in these briefings, not a whole lot of intelligence is provided to these members beyond what was already publicly known. Expect to hear a lot of frustrated lawmakers coming out saying that they didnt learn a whole lot new. Yes, youre right. The gang of eight gets the super secret intelligence, something most of congress does not get. The top eight leaders of congress and the house intelligence and Senate Intelligence committees and those members have yet to comment about exactly what they have heard. So well see what lawmakers have to say. The briefing will be led by Top Administration officials, including mark esper, the defense secretary, including mike pompeo, the secretary of state. We expect the cia director gina haspel to be there among others. This comes as the house is debating how to handle the issue about tying the president s hand Going Forward. Theres a discussion about within the house to have a vote as soon as next week to on war powers resolution to essentially prevent the president from moving forward on any aggression towards iran beyond 30 days. And after 30 days, youd have to renew that effort. That vote is expected was expected initially this week but nancy pelosi delayed that until what is expected to be next week. In talking to democrats going into a closed door caucus meeting and the room next to me, they are defending that effort Going Forward and theyre saying it makes stoe s sense to do thi even in light of the attacks, the president needs to come to congress to defend his actions. These are processes that need to be run. They are the two most serious constitutional processes we have. War and impeachment. So, no, they shouldnt be allowed to color each other. They need to proceed independently. If you look at what happened in the last couple of weeks, its hard to argue the delay in conveying articles to the senate didnt serve the purpose of allowing for more information to come out and for americans to better understand what was going on. Weve seen emails that were foia provided that were not happy meals for the president. So this delay has served a purpose. How long it should go on from here, i dont know. So that was jim himes talking about the push on the articles of impeachment, the decision to hold back the articles of impeachment may be on the back of peoples minds as people are focusing on the aggression with iran, potential escalation of military action from the United States. Thats going to be a debate for them, for the Democratic Caucus how to balance both impeachment, as well as this new potential aggression here with iran. So a lot of questions that the democrats have to sort out here behind closed doors. Just takes you back to the late 90s and the delay there when it came to the house on impeaching president clinton when those strikes were happening. Manu thanks very much. Well see what happens next hour when mcconnell taulks. Joining me is senator tom udall. We appreciate you taking the time. Thank you. Pleasure to be with you. Let me begin with the killing of Qassem Soleimani and what has followed. Right after President Trump ordered the attack, which killed him, you said the following. You said that President Trump is recklessly hurdling our nation toward a dangerous and deadly war in the middle east that will not make us safer. The American People are not asking for war. The pentagons view that iran deliberately missed u. S. Forces in this base here and is in fact looking for an off ramp here, do you see this now as the president s decision to kill soleimani as working . I dont at all. And i dont think were any safer. But i think the important thing about where we are today, we have a pause. We should be trying to deescalate in any way we can, deescalate this situation on both sides. And i dont believe that its in the interest of the United States or anybody in the region to be moving forward with a war. And so lets deescalate. You even have an iranian leader publicly offering to deescalate there. I wonder given the nature of this attack, that public offer, and that soleimani has been removed from the battlefield in a sense, is that a win for not just for the president but for the country . Im not so sure about that. I think weve seen the destabilizing impacts already. Iran has taken itself out of the agreement, the jcpoa, the country of iraq has issued through its parliament a request that we get out of the country. This has been very, very destabilizing. So i dont see that as this situation that youre talking about as being described as a win. But i think clearly at this point, lets try to deescalate. Lets try to move back and see if we cant resolve things more peacefully, more diplomatically. Try to talk to each other. Unfortunately, this reminds me an awful lot of the buildup to the war in iraq where one side goes back and forth, back and forth and were headed on a very dangerous path. I remember that buildup well. I covered it. And you hear some similar rhetoric now. Senator Lindsey Graham called irans missile strike an act of war. And the New York Times has reported that secretary of state mike pompeo, that hed been pushing for soleimanis killing for some time. Are you concerned that hawks who perhaps desire a broader conflict with iran have the president s ear now . Well, i think we should all be pausing and figuring out how to deescalate and try to do everything we can. If the president comes out and makes a statement thats very aggressive and escalates this again, hes clearly put us in a war footing. And if hes going to do that, he has to come to congress. Congress is the one on behalf of the people that declares war. The president has got to make his case. Hes got to say why he wants to go to war. How long. What the expenses are going to be. And hes got to make the case to the Congress Rather than this back and forth and trying to build it up to suggest that somehow we have to go to war because weve been attacked. You often hear this after a president , whether democrat or republican, orders military action that Congress Needs to prove it. Thats constitutional. But the fact is over decades through multiple administrations, and oftentimes through despite public statements and private desire for sitting lawmakers not to have a vote on the record on military action. Is this a serious effort here . Because if you look at the sweep of history, this recent history here, congress is not exactly defended its Constitutional Rights on the power to declare war, particularly well, has it . And frankly you dont have bipartisan support for the measure youre supporting. Youre absolutely right. Congress has abdicated its responsibility. It has not stepped up to the plate. This is something that congress has needed to do for a long time. In fact, we have had bipartisan support for the resolution that i attempted to attach as an amendment to the ndaa. 51 senators supported that resolution. The house put it in with a bipartisan majority also in the Defense Authorization act. So i think theres strong, bipartisan support. Right. To say if youre going to get in a war, mr. President , come to the congress and make your case. Very quickly before i go, yes or no if possible. Mitch mcconnell not committing to witnesses in a senate trial. Without that commitment, should nancy pelosi continue to hold on to the articles of impeachment . I think thats a judgment call for her, but the real issue here is, are we going to have a fair trial . And i dont think you have a fair trial without witnesses and without documents. Okay. Well watch the developments. Senator tom udall, pleasure to have you on the program this morning. Thank you. Real pleasure. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now responding to irans threat to target u. S. Allies in the region. What he said is next. Look, this isnt my first rodeo. And let me tell you something, i wouldnt be here if i thought reverse mortgages took advantage of any american senior, or worse, that it was some way to take your home. 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Theres absolutely no doubt that is happening, and no doubt the killing of soleimani has absolutely heightened tensions around the region, not least here in the uae which, of course, is just across the persian gulf from iran. Not unsurprisingly, considerable efforts being made here to take the heat out of this situation. Ive got to say israels position more defiant, if you will. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening anyone with the, quote, strongest blow who might dare attack israel. In the uae, and across the gulf, there is an absolute push towards deescalating these tensions. Anwar is the minister of state for Foreign Affairs stressing this in an early tweet this morning. Deescalation is both wise and necessary. A political path towards stability must follow, end quote. Just 24 hours ago you noted the saudi Deputy Defense minister was in the u. S. , also urging the u. S. To pull back to prevent things spiraling out of control. Remember, saudis prized all facilities attacked in september, blaming the attack on iran. The kingdom has been at war at huge cost. Saudi hosting 3,000 u. S. Troops, 5,000 based in the uae. Many more across the region. You could argue those bases are as much a target now as a deterrent, and thats the reason for this ratcheting down certainly from this part of the world. Before you go, becky, just talk about Benjamin Netanyahus response to the threats and just how aggressive his stance is should anything come israels way. Yeah, i mean, and you can see, as i said, a much more defiant response if you will. And israel really out front as opposed to many other countries around this region in saying we stand by the u. S. , the u. S. Has a friend in israel. Israel has a friend in the u. S. And i dont think we should be surprised by that position after all. Its been iran in the crosshairs that israel has been sort of efforting for now for some time. Look, it is a really interesting sort of juxtaposition as it were between israel and these gulf allies. Embassies here have issued updates to their travel advice. They are warning their citizens to be vigilant, but residents have not been urged to leave the country by any credible sources. Tourists havent been told to stay away. The Dubai Media Office in the past couple of minutes releasing a statement saying that the threats didnt come from, quote, official source in the iranian government. They came from the telegram channel from the Iranian Revolutionary guard and the Dubai Media Office urging people to refrain from what they see as spreading rumors. Its not going to stop people worrying but certainly here its that geogrfic proximity that worries people. Ratcheting down here as opposed to the response, if you will, from israel. Understood. Becky anderson, thank you very much. President trump is set to address the nation. Hell respond to irans latest attack. That will happen at 11 00 a. M. Eastern time, so in just over an hour. Will deescalation be next . We speak to an american who was imprisoned in iran for over 500 days, ahead. music if you have moderate to severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, Little Things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. For psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ready to treat differently with a pill . Otezla. Show more of you. The president s response to irans revenge attack happening in just a little over an hour from now is when well hear from the president at the white house. Cnn Global Affairs annual list jason rezian knows a little thing or two about iran. He was imprisoned there on vaguely defined charges of espionage, covered iran for years before that. He and his wife were seized in july 2014, placed separately in solitary confinement, threatened with execution, physical mutilation, dismayemberment. His wife was released within three months but jason and three other americans were not released until a prison swap in 2016. Jason, thanks so much for being here. As i said, you know a thing or two about this regime, the lengths to which it will go to abuse foreigners or its own citizens. As you watched this attack yesterday, this retaliation for the soleimani killing, do you see what some see here as an effort at restraint, in effect hit back but dont hit back too hard . Yeah, jim, i think that thats what this attack last night was intended to accomplish. Obviously irans leadership has domestic political concerns that they have to think about. They sustained very large protests just a few weeks ago against the regime. Hundreds of thousands of people poured into the street in many different cities around the country. So for them to not respond in any sort of way would have shown great weakness internally, and i dont think that they could really accept that right now. At the same time, i dont think that this is the end of retaliation. Theyre really waiting to see what the u. S. Does next. Even if the u. S. Decides to deescalate and not respond, well see what the president says, jason, i just wonder what history with iran has taught us for americans waking up this morning that may think, okay, now this is done, now we move on. When you think back to how iran has acted in the past and you think about proxy attacks over the years and the subsequent attacks in buenos aires, for example, what does that tell us about how iran views retaliation on targets that would not be obvious . Well, its a longterm prospect, right . Its something that you have to remember iran is a country with a defined identity of itself that goes paback more th 2,500 years. Conflict, revenge, resolution, these are things that play out over a period of decades and centuries, not weeks or months. And we also have to remember that theyre capable of not necessarily mounting a real military defense against the United States. I mean everybody whos looking at the situation understands that their military might is just a tiny fraction of what we could mount against them. So they look towards more asymmetrical and unexpected forms of retaliation, like the bombing that you mentioned, like attacks on embassies and other acts that are outside the norms of International Rules and regulations. And Cyber Attacks as well. Right. The 52 americans who were taken in 1979 by iran and held for 444 days, they have been thrown in the spotlight because of course the president tweeted that we have picked 52 targets in iran, kind of in their honor. But some of those americans say that they really dont want any part of that. I want to play some sound from former hostage john limbert a short time ago. Have a listen, i want to get your reaction. I, for one, want no part of the president s posturing about iran. I certainly want no part of his whatever decision he takes, for example, killing people or blowing up things. So, mr. President , if youre listening, please dont bother yourself on my account because i want nothing to do with it. You could certainly have personal animus toward the regime. Sure. I imagine, but whats your own reaction as you see this play out . Jim, you and i met over a decade ago in iran in a situation that was a very tense time. The regime acting out against people. Ive seen the way that that regime is able to core al, hurt, abuse its own citizens. I look to john limbert as a guiding light. I would double down on what he said. Ive faced a lot of abuse from the revolution guard corps but ultimately i dont want to see iran destroyed or cultural sites destroyed or innocent lives lost because its a wonderful country, despite the abuses of the regime. Understood. Jason rezaian, thanks so much for coming on. Well be right back. Appens o the, remember, you have the hilton app. Can the hilton app help us win . Hey, heywere all winners with the hilton price match guarantee, alright . 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