Theres real world consequences from the drone strike. You have iraq voting to get rid of u. S. Troops. So far, thats a nonbinding resolution and you have other consequences as well and President Trump standing by the suggestion he may essentially violate international law, commit war crimes, by going after cultural landmarks in iran if they do retaliate. Thats right. To your first point about iran essentially threatening to expel u. S. Soldiers who are there, President Trump warning hell impose harsh sanctions against iran if it does in fact move to do that. Now, you talked about President Trump defiant, defending his decision. Secretary of state mike pompeo flooded the sunday talk shows to defend the president s decision essentially saying that that top iranian leader posed an imminent threat to the United States and thats why it was necessary to take him out. But democrats have countered, they want to see the evidence as you point out. Theyre demanding that the president declassify the intelligence that led to this decision, not clear that thats going to happen. President trump not taking it off the table but not saying that its going to than either. Just moments ago out with tweet in all caps, saying iran will never have a nuclear weapon. As you know, democrats have expressed concern that the fact that the president pulled out of the iran nuclear deal, the fact theres all of these escalations will only embolden iran to move forward with its Nuclear Program and of course over the weekend iran saying they will no longer abide by the terms of the nuclear deal. Now, on that point that you mentioned about the cultural sites, President Trump signaling that he will target 52 cultural sites if iran takes actions against the United States. Of course, that number 52 to signify the number of hostages that iran held back in the 1907s. He defended that with the reporters theyre allowed to torture and maim our people, use roadside bombs and blow up our people and weve not allowed to touch their cultural sites it doesnt work that way. Now, of course taking aim at cultural sides constitutes a war crime and we pressed Kellyanne Conway on that moments ago and she disputed the president would act outside of the law. All of it comes as the clash with congress is Going Forward and the House Democrats blocking the president from taking military action until he gets the signoff from congress. And lets go to irbil, iraq, which is where Richard Engel is. We talk about the vote nonbinding resolution to get the troops out of the country and the u. S. Pausing operations for isis today were now seeing in iran that huge show of force and frankly iranians seeming to bely to be unified against the United States. When you have the experts saying the point should be to exploit the disunity. Give us a sense of what youre seeing on the ground from the region. Lets start with iran. There had been very, very large protests against the iranian government and it prompted the iranian government to shut down the internet, to cut the country even more off from the rest of the world. At times Security Forces there were opening fire into crowds. Now, were seeing massive shows of support not just for the Iranian Regime but for the revolutionary guards who are the protectors of the Islamic Revolution. And this for iran is a seminole moment to show that young peo e people, old people, are behind their government. In a way that they were not just a few weeks ago. So we still dont know what kind of response if any iran is going to carry out. Although were hearing many, many acts calls for revenge. Including from Qasem Soleimanis successor. He today is taking a more prominent role and he swore a solemn oath saying that god the almighty will take his revenge for this act. Thats just in iran. Then in iraq, as you mentioned the Parliament Making this vote saying that they are calling for the government to kick out to expel the roughly 5,000 u. S. Troops here in this country. The troops here its important to note are in iraq on a counterisis mission. There arent u. S. Bases in iraq. They are now technically iraqi bases that host u. S. Forces by invitation. And the invitation is extended to fight isis because a few years ago half of iraq effectively collapsed. The iraqi army collapsed and isis was taking over and the iraqi Army Extended the government and the iraqi Army Extended this invitation to bring troops back and now there are these growing calls for t the for that government to cancel that invitation and kick out u. S. Troops. Then President Trump who all along who said he wants to get out of the middle east said that if u. S. Troops are expelled from iraq, hell make iraq pay for the money that the United States spent, particularly billions of dollars he claims to build an air base in this country. So a lot of tension, a lot of threats, threats as kristen mentioned to attack the cultural sites and now threats by President Trump to impose sanctions on iraq which is an allied country. If it expels u. S. Forces the situation is fraught. I havent seen it this angry in quite some time. Particularly with the different shiia factions. Not just in iraq but around the world. Now trying to mobilize and turn their attention toward the United States. And there are other groups who are galvanizing of putting the pressure on the United States to get out of iraq and get out of the region more largely. Richard, youre there in irbil. We had ali arouzi and can you talk through what you have seen . As we look at the stunning images through the last maybe 18 hours or so. You talked about what it was incomparable to what you saw in the late 80s. Thats right, hallie. I mean, extraordinary scenes this morning at Qasem Soleimanis funeral. There were very passionate, angry crowds there. Screaming death to america and vowing revenge for Qasem Soleimanis death. I have been covering this country for a long time. I have never seen crowds close to this magnitude in this country. People are comparing it to the crowds that came out for the death of the founder of this Islamic Revolution in 1989 which was one of the largest gatherings of humanity recorded in history. There were hundreds of thousands if not millions of very passionate, very angry iranians on the streets. Dressed in black, beating their chests. When the Supreme Leader came out to hold prayers for Qasem Soleimani, his voice was trembling. He was crying. Nobody in this country has ever seen him act that way and a lot of people here are saying that that is an indication of how strongly he wants to exert revenge on the United States. But just to followup on what richard was saying as well, killing Qasem Soleimani seems to have backfired spectacularly. If you think about what situation iran was in two months ago, it was facing a crisis from some of the worst protesters this country had ever seen. In iraq, the iraqis were calling for iran to leave their country and stop meddling. Today, iran looks like a very united country. Today, the iraqis are calling for the u. S. To leave iraq, so the tables have turned dramatically in just two months. Hallie . Ali arouzi, Richard Engel, kristen welker, thanks to all of you. I want to bring in now retired four star marine general john allen, president of the Brookings Institute and envoy for the Global Coalition against isis. General, it is great to have you on the show with your perspective, frankly, thats unique and your expertise here. Do you believe that President Trump needs to release the intelligence here given what we have seen so far . It would be helpful for and for the congress to know why the president took this dramatic move and for the American People to understand. We keep hearing from the administration that we are safer today because of this strike. My own view is that we are not safer tactically. Our troops are at risk all across the region as are the troops of our allies and i dont believe were safer strategically as well. As we have heard before, cemeteries are filled around the world with indispensable people and Qasem Soleimani is going to be succeeded by someone who will be picking up the portfolio and will have the same mission. So we need to be very, very careful ago making assumptions about our safety at the tactical level and the more that the American People and the American Congress understands about the motivations of this president ultimately to affect this strike the better off well be. We have talked about the concrete consequences of that drone strike so far that are playing out. As we speak, general, today right now for example, especially as it comes to iraq and this Parliament Vote that was of course nonbinding but discussions continuing we understand today and this week about removing our troops from the country. The president threatening sanctions on iraq if that happens. How does this play out, you know that region so well. Well, were not hearing conversation about one of the reasons theyre so enraged over this and that is Abu Al Muhandis was the commander of one of the militias and the Popular Mobilization force and that force was credited with having blunted an defeated the Islamic State. So we killed that man on iraqi sovereign territory and theyre furious about this. We should not be surprised that the council of representatives voted to have us removed. We have a caretaker Prime Minister who has to deal with how this will play out, but we shouldnt be surprise at all. Of course if we have to leave it compromises our capacity to deal with the Islamic State. If we have to vacate the Kurdistan Regional area, the krg, thats a platform valuable to the United States and our coalition that we have not seen in a long time. Its extremely valuable place for us and of course if we do, the coalition has to go. Nato is in iraq training and they had to cease training so there are significant outputs that will come from this. If were forced to leave iraq. If we choose not to, then the iraqis will have to decide whether we now become an occupying power or an invading power. And i have to remind everyone that one of the reasons that the shiia militias did not attack us in 2014 is because at the end of our stay in iraq to defeat the Islamic State and the train the iraqi Security Forces to ultimately to protect their country that we would leave. So staying after the iraqis call us to depart would change the entire tenor of our presence in the region. I want to ask you about the military perspective on this and specifically one of the reporters Kerry Sanders is down in ft. Bragg where the 82nd airborne is deploying from and i want to talk about the families who are remaining behind as we this country deploys more troops to that region. I want you to watch. Reporter for military families left behind theres anxiety. Seeing what they did to the embassy especially was kind of scary. Reporter brea jana ferrys husband is on the ground over there. But she doesnt know where that is. Ferry used to be in the 82nd airborne herself but now with a daughter about to turn 1 she is worried. Lots of emotions, she feeds off of me. Im trying to stay positive and have more good days than bad days but its she says its really hard at times. Somebody who has led troops himself, what should the message to American Military families be from a commander in chief who pledged and who ran on pulling u. S. Troops out of what he described at the time as endless wars . Well, the 82nd airborne division, those soldiers are magnificent. We spend a lot of time with the families of these troops preparing them for this very contingency. You know, this is the 82nd airborne ready brigade. Theyre prepared to go anywhere in the world. And thats whats happening now. We have a moment of crisis here, completely apart from whether the president s decision was right or wrong to kill soleimani and we have a crisis thats going to require an american response. So i know that back in ft. Bragg the families will support each other and and these are extraordinarily well trained troops. The paratroopers of the 82nd airborne. Theyre going to go to kuwait. I dont know that any of them can get inside iraq right now because Prime Minister methy has said no more troops can enter but theyre great troops and they are bred for this mission. I think well be fine. Especially with the families back here. Before i let you go, one more topic and thats the president s threat to go after culture sides, the landmarks. Admiral James Stavridis talked about how suggesting he felt confident that the military would not carry out targets, bombings, for example, on culturally important landmarks because it would violate international law, it would violate a potential war crime. Are you confident thats something that wont happen . Let me say first of all that the United States is one of the greatest powers on the planet, not only because of the capacity to crush the opponents but we value humanity. Part of that humanity is that we value cultural sites and restrain ourselves as americans and who we are as a nation. So when you go to war like this, you have a target of list that and you have a restricted target lists and then you have a list that has do not target on it. Typically, that list is filled with cultural sites so that we dont explicitly or inadvertently target the sites and its a war crime to attack those sides. We can get past the bombast of the president and owl of the gloating about American Power destroying cultural sites but in the end, my hope is that the military chain of command will recognize that attacking these sites is an illegal order and theyll have to respond accordingly. General john allen, we have to leave it there. I american your time and your perspective on this. Thank you. Thank you. From iran to impeachment, a critical week on capitol hill. Coming up, well talk with a key democratic lawmaker about what happens next and what he wants to see. Plus, two years after the accusations against him ignited the me too movement, Harvey Weinsteins trial is starting as we speak. Well head to the courthouse next. We speak well head to the courthouse next Trump Obamacare is a complete and total disaster. Let obamacare implode. Nurse these wild attacks on healthcare hurt the patients i care for. Ive been a nurse in new york for thirty years. I know the difference leadership can make because i saw what Mike Bloomberg did as mayor. Vo mayor bloomberg helped lower the number of uninsured by 40 , covering 700,000 more new yorkers, Life Expectancy increased. He helped expand Health Coverage to 200,000 more kids and upgraded pediatric care infant mortality rates dropped to record lows. And as mayor, Mike Bloomberg always championed Reproductive Health for women. 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At Northwestern Mutual, our version of Financial Planning helps you live your dreams today. Find a Northwestern Mutual advisor at nm dot com. You are looking live at a new york city courthouse in Lower Manhattan and inside that building is Harvey Weinstein with his case. The one that set off the me too Movement Starting right now. After more than two years of buildup, the now disgraced Hollywood Super producer faces life in prison pleading not guilty to charges ranging from two women from Sexual Assault to rape. What youre looking at after you saw weinstein walking in there with the help of a walker, these are silence breakers and moments ago in new york city, demonstrators essentially representing the nearly 100 other women who have accused the now 67yearold of sexual misconduct. The trial means so much to so many so many. Know that the silence breakers will never give up. Survivors will never give up. Rose mcgowan there and Stephanie Gosk at the courthouse. Steph, we saw him walk in with the help of a walker. The defense has seemed to portray him as sort of this sympathetic character. Thats part of the strategy. Set the scene for us. Well, hallie, hes using that walker. He had back surgery earlier this year, he had gotten into a car accident in august. He needs it he says to walk. But ultimately, the prosecution, the largest battle is to make this about the actual case going on inside that courtroom and not this larger story. You have the silence breakers coming out here and saying today that this trial is about for them something much bigger than just the case and allegations involving these two women. And there are five charges that he faces. They are serious charges including predatory Sexual Assault is the most serious charge he faces on top of rape. If that is established, if hes found guilty of predatory Sexual Assault he could be put behind bars for the rest of his life. Hallie . And steph, is there any chance that we would hear from weinstein on the stand as this unfolds . It is a possibility. His defense attorney said hes ready to testify but didnt say hes going to testify. Obviously over the course of the trial things can change. Although its about the two women and their allegations there are as many as six women who are going to be telling their stories including Annabella Sciorra who appeared on the sopranos. Based on the incident that she says that took place with her in 93 or 94 with Harvey Weinstein. Each one of the women who takes the stand will be a story that his defense team will then have to combat and undermine and basically question the credibility of each one of those women that comes forward. The more women that come forward the harder that becomes. Hallie . Stephanie gosk, in new york, thank you much. A Top Republican back here in washington suggests removing Speaker Pelosi from the process if she does not send two articles of impeachment to the senate by the end of the week. But is that even realistic . We are talking with colorado congressman ka that about what he wants from the Trump Administration and the war powers resolution coming up this week. Look at the people in indonesia, the flooding has forced thousands out of their home. Its the worst needing in the country since 2007. More rain is expected this week and landslides are preventing rescuers from getting to people buried under the mud. M getting buried under the mud i dont keep track of regrets. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on is boost high protein. And now, introducing new boost mobility with collagen for joint health. When taken daily, its key nutrients help support joints, muscles, and strong bones. New, boost mobility. You may have gingivitis. When you brush, and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums, and possibly. Tooth loss. Help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. Leave bleeding gums behind. Parodontax. Here in washington, congress is getting ready to kick it into high gear with the house back in session tomorrow and moving to the top of the agenda, a vote on a war powers resolution. Thats according to white House Speaker nancy pelosi who put that in a letter to her fellow democrats. Not a word in the note about impeachment, by the way. Even with republicans rolling out a new strategy. Trying to put pressure on the speaker for her refusal to send those articles to the senate. And in the senate, youve got Top Democrats this morning taking issue with President Trumps classified war powers notification. Sending him a new leerlt just this morning. Were talking about senators me december and schumer. Kasie hunt, talk me through the new steps that the democrat is trying to put on the president related to iran. Thanks for the welcome, and a formal congratulations to you and frank. Im so happy for you guys. Let me know if we can help you with absolutely anything. Thank you. All of your clothes. Yes, indeed. But of course right back to the news which has been completely nuts for all of you who have been here in my absence. And its rolling through today and lets start with iran as you mentioned here. We have that letter from menendez and schumer. They say you need to tell the American People about it. And, you know, whether or not the administration is going along with that is of course what you and your colleagues at the white house are looking to see. But theres no indication at this point that the administration seems willing to do anything along those lines. This has been you know, something of continuing concern and theres a bill from senator tim kaine focused on war powers and this is something that he brings up pretty repeatedly when we see a situation like this. However, there isnt pressure right now from republicans to do anything. And in the senate of course they would need republicans to go along with this. In fact, the sources that i have been talking to close to leader mcconnell and others are focused on talked about the legality of this president s action with regards to iran. They do underscore that senators need to know more because at the end of the day theres not been a briefing for all senators. We expect that this week. Kasie hunt, thank you much. She is right, plenty of news to talk about and were talking about it with democratic congressman ro khanna, he sits on the Armed Services and the committees as well. Great to have you back here on a busy morning. Happy new year and congratulations, hallie. You as well. Thank you, congressman, i appreciate that. Let me start with the war powers resolution thats coming up in front of the house here. What impact do you realistically expect that to have on this administration and should it have been a higher priority for democrats frankly before this point . It should have, i mean, the president has taken action that is unconstitutional. And heres the fact. We had a barn bipartisan majority in both the house and the senate that were willing to stop this presence, stop any funding from taking an offensive action against iran or iranian officials that provision was stripped during the National Defense authorization, so now Congress Needs to reassert our role by passing the war powers resolutions. I believe we can get republicans. Im hopeful we can do it again. The intent is to send a message to President Trump, a message do you think hes willing or able to hear . Well, its not just a message. He would be again violating the constitution by disregarding congress. And its illegal. Its frankly another Impeachable Offense for him to continue an escalation without congress authorization. And congress does have the power of the purse. I mean, ultimately, we can just say we wont fund it. Its interesting that you call it a potentially Impeachable Offense. Obviously that word has a lot of significance, fraught with meaning. Are you suggesting if the president did not abide by the resolution if it was passed by the house, by congress, you would potentially add that to articles of impeachment against him . How seriously are the conversations happening with the colleagues . Its definitely on the table. Theres no greater offense than sending american troops to war without congressional authorization. The president has compromised National Security when it comes to ukraine. Hes now threatening iran with 52 strikes on their cultural sites in violation of the 1954 haig convention on cultural properties, something that george bush got ratified in the senate. It should be scary to people what this president is doing. No regard for the Decision Making process, no consultation with congress. This is exactly what the framers intended the impeachment power to be used for. He did of course quote unquote notify congress with the tweet he sent out. Saying the media post will serve as notification to the u. S. Congress that should iran strike any person or target, the United States will strike back. Such legal notice is not required but is given nevertheless. Does that hold water for you . Well, first of all, his tweet is a violation of the 1954 haig convention. Again, something that george w. Bush helped ratify. So its a violation of international law. Second, its not just that he has to notify congress. He has to get congress approval. Congress is article one, they have to authorize a war and hes not gotten any congressional authoritiation for any attack on iran. Their argue this is for selfdefense doesnt pass any possible test. Before i let you go, we talked about impeachment but thats the other big news happening on the hill over the next week, two week, or three weeks, who knows how long. Senator schumer seemed to suggest this weekend that the democrats have gotten what they needed out of this. Right . Documents have come out and he and adam schiff talked about exposing the hypocrisy on the senate side. Do you expect the speaker to send over the articles this week and do you feel like the point has been made by now . Hallie, i do expect the speaker at some point to send over the articles. But heres the only at some point this week, like in next five days . Thats her decision. I dont want to speculate or know the timing but let me say this. All the speaker, all the democrats are asking for is let Justice Roberts make the rules. She doesnt want to make the rules and schumer dont want to make the rules but mcconnell shouldnt make the rules. He would have absolutely no debate from any of the democrats if he let roberts make all the calls. Thank you very much ro khanna. Let me bring in Michael Steele and former new York Democratic congressman joe crawly to talk more about this. Gentlemen, here we have the dueling i mean, a crises, you have iran, impeachment for the white house. And you have a president who has had at times many issues on his plate but perhaps none as con . Shall as these two. Well, hes put it on the plate. This is a manipulation of the narrative. What do you mean by that . The tail is wagging the hell old of the designate right now. And the predicate leading up to the action taken against iran was not laid inside the internal circles of washington. Defense department, state department in a way that the congress, senate and house, would be apprised and an action was imminent or a threat was imminent. Usually in the past, that kind of information is shared because the administration wants to be able to take action. They dont want to hear from congress, oh, you didnt get authorization, lets have this conversation over money so they get in front of that and let people know at least a gang of eight, the heads of the relevant committees know this is what were thinking about and that didnt happen and it didnt happen because this silo is very its consisted of one person who makes an executive decision and then Everything Else follows after that to catch up to justify and put in context that decision. So you have that tracking along with what nancy pelosi has done. What has the conversation has become . Its now as youre hearing some say on both the house side and the senate side republican and democrat, well, i dont know. I mean, should we be impeaching or remove a president if we engage militarily with iran . Its a perfect check to that particular argument. I think its also demonstrable of the fact that we are more and more into an imperial white house. The president acts more and more like a king and not an elected president. Without discussing this with congress, really talking to, you know, the normal powers that be and determining whether or not to take this kind of action, this aggressive action against all the sovereign states. Can i ask about the criticism, im curious, that some are talking about that, listen, over time, over past administrations congress has ceded power over and over to president s, with this exact authority. Does congress hold some of the culpability for this now . I think over time thats true. But theres been an attempt to take back that authority and whats been given over the executive. A new you know, attempt here know i think well see it this week in terms of nancy pelosi authorizing or not authorizing i guess you could say a future action without the consent of congress is important. You talked about this idea there are the two parallel tracks. The president knows that. Hes tweeting about that perhaps unsurprisingly this morning. Saying that you know congress and the president shouldnt be wasting their time and energy on a continuation of this impeachment when theres important matters. Well, with the iran crisis, for example. Do you think impeachment plays differently under iran and do you think thats irrelevant . No, i dont think its irrelevant and thats the check that trump put on the table on this chessboard. I dont think its irrelevant. I think it has the potential to impact the way that the public now looks at the actions taken by the house Going Forward. Meaning delivery of the impeachment articles and do you drag that out. So do you . So the House Speaker you have republicans saying if she doesnt send them over we should do it anyway. We need to change the senate rules and dismiss the case. Thats never happened before. And i want to comment in terms of what michael is saying as well. I have been to this before. I was there, you know, when the war not even declared when president bush went into iraq. And the fallout that happened after that, the pressure on pelosi back then who took control of the house to bring impeachment hearings against then president bush, she pushed back against it. I think you can see that happening i think ro khanna is on to something here. More and more democrats in the house are calling for more impeachment articles to be part of this. And the irony is that civilian donald trump said gee, i wonder why nancy pelosi isnt calling for the impeachment of george bush for going into iraq. Thank you for that conversation, i appreciate it. Another live look at iran. We have been showing you the pictures with the tension of that country dominating. Back here at home, the president ial campaign trail. We go inside the strategy of two of the leading democratic contenders who say theyre best able to deal with this. Have you seen the wildfires theyre devastating australia still. Officials have confirmed at least 23 people have died, thousands of home have been lost. There are bushfires all over the country. Heres another staggering figure. Wildlife activists say hundreds of millions of animals may have already died in these fires. We have some cooler weather today that may mean a little bit of relief but remember the australian summer is just ramping up, so the end of the fires is a long way off. The en fires is a long way off. Breathe freely fast, with vicks sinex. My congestions gone. I can breathe again ahhhh i can breathe again ughh. Vicks sinex, breathe on when you look at the world, what do you see . Where others see chaos, we see patterns. 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Right now, to my mind is with the troops who are moving to the middle east and having known what its like to be on the inside of one of the airplanes you need to trust that everybody up your chain of command has thought thousand whats ahead. We are not seeing that. That was Pete Buttigieg on this Network Today on the issue everybody running to be the next commander in chief is now talking about. Iran. The crisis there suddenly shifting Foreign Policy off the back burner and into front and center on the campaign trail. As democrats now face the potential, the potential, for a wartime election. Let me get to our road warrior, mike memoli in davenport, iowa. I know youre at an andrew yang effort but can you see how theyre best talking about how they might be the one situated in the oval office at this moment to lead this country out of the crisis. Absolutely, hallie. Domestic policy this is what its been, but as Vice President biden told me this weekend, listen, Foreign Policy has always been front and center for me in the campaign trail. And the next president is going to inherit the world in disarray and we dont need someone who has on the job experience. But Bernie Sanders his advisers they want to highlight joe bidens vote to go into iraq in 2002. Lets listen. When i voted against the war in iraq in 2002, i feared that it would result in greater destabilization. Use this month to question your judgment about iran. Bernie sanders talking about how he was right, you were wrong. Whats your response to that . I dont respond to bernie. You wont get me into a fight with bernie. Hes got enough baggage. Its interesting i was talking to a lot of voters at warren and bernie and biden events. A lot of them saying that 2002 vote on the iraq war its long history for them. But well see. Theres a debate next week. We are only four weeks until iowa. Youre right, Foreign Policy is front and center and you have other threats including the guy that you cover 90 of your time, former Vice President joe biden not getting an endorsement not surprisingly from somebody he once swore or in or worked with and thats Julian Castro who is endorsing this morning Elizabeth Warren for president. Times have changed of course. I dont think anyone is super shocked by this one, but are you hearing anything from team biden on the reaction . There had seemed on the a little bit of an alliance between warren and castro in some of the debates on the campaign. Castro not only endorsing warren but hell appear with her in brooklyn on the same day that biden is in new york raising money. I havent heard from the campaign about the castro endorsement. He was endorsed yesterday from three new congressmen, conor lamb and Christy Houlahan and elaine lair ya from virginia. They make this argument about the importance of bidens coattails effect to bring the democrats along in the house and the senate along with him winning the white house. Mike memoli, road war report. Next up, new reporting on whats happening inside the white house as the president confronts a Major International crisis and what is called a high risk gamble. And what is calledh risk gamble. I switched to miralax for my constipation. Stimulant laxatives forcefully stimulate the nerves in your colon. Miralax works with the water in your body to unblock your system naturally. And it doesnt cause bloating, cramping, gas, or sudden urgency. Miralax. Look for the pink cap. Remember, you have out the hilton app. Can the hilton app help us win . Hey, heywere all winners with the hilton price match guarantee, alright . Man, you guys are adorable alright, lets go find your coach, come on book with the hilton app. Expect better. Expect hilton. 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Eliquis, the number one cardiologistprescribed blood thinner. Ask your doctor if eliquis is whats next for you. Its hard to overstate how consequential this moment is for President Trump after the drone strike he ordered that killed irans top general with the question facing the white house, what is next . As peter baker of the New York Times has pointed out, for the last three years the president s critics have wondered and worried how he would handle a genuine international crisis. He faces a decisive moment to test whether those critics were right or whether they misjudged him. With us now, msnbc political analyst peter baker. Great piece. Appreciate you joining us. Hey, hallie. How are you . Im good. Let me read from what you write. You say as volatile as this administration has been, this is one that will challenge an instinctive, combative and relatively inexperienced commanderinchief. Can you take us inside the white house, what are you hearing be signed the scenes and what you rightly describe as a consequential moment. This is the moment that people have anticipated. He has had a relatively calm International Scene to confront over this presidency, and although he is, himself, has been a disrupter and has created conflict or trade wars with china, scuffles with nato allies, that kind of thing, this is the first time i think you see the potential spiraling into a more violent and uncontrolled confrontation in the meadal east the way hes said during his campaign he wanted to avoid. Thats why a lot of people are paying attention to this moment. Did he do the right thing by hitting solemani who has been an enemy of america for many years, or did he go so far that hes triggered what might be something beyond his capacity or desire to follow through on. You heard senator chris murphy of connecticut, democrat saying this is the moment weve all been afraid of. You have an outofcontrol, inoverhishead president without adult supervision. Let me read that tweet. He says, an unstable president in way over his head panicking with all his experienced advisers having quit and only the sycophantic amateurs remaining. Who has the president s ear right now . The person that seems to have the president s ear at the moment is mike pompeo. He dismisses this criticism saying this is the appeasement crowd that have led the iranians walk all over us for the past few years. Hes the one in the president s ear. Hes been a hawk on iran for many, many years long before he joined the administration. An ally of sorts in john bolton, the National Security advisor who got pushed out in september. Pompeo continued to be here, increasingly the dominant force inside the National Security team. He told the president , look, if you want to have any credibility of a ter ternt factor in the middle east, you have to stand up against iran when they do one of these provocations. The president objected pompeos advice by pulling back from that strike that he authorized and withdrew from ten minutes before it was about to happen. This is the culmination of months of discussions and debate within the administration where mime pompeo is emerging as the dominant force. As farr as what happens next, you spoke with one of his former middle east advisers who tells us when iran responds, depending on what it is, the ball will be squarely back in President Trumps court presenting him with an equally fateful decision. Diz he seek an offramp . Peter, what is your sense of which way hes going to go here . He promised on the campaign to get the u. S. Out of endless wars after all . I think theres a past part of President Trump that does not want war. He talks a big game. Likes to say provocative, even out rage ous things like threatening to wipe out cultural sites in iran which many people would consider to be a war crime or certainly excessive. Yet, when push comes to shove, he has not necessarily wanted to get involved in the kind of wars that he decried that george bush started in 2003, for instance, in invading iraq. Whether or not that matters, we dont know. Thats the problem with these kinds of situations where they can spiral out of control. You do this, then i have to do that. If you do that, then i have to follow that. He has outlined in these tweets and Public Comments a series ofesque la tory steps that would be extraordinary and lead into a wider more dangerous confrontation if iran responds and he follows through the way he says he would. Peter baker from the New York Times, great to have you on the show. Your new piece out today in the times. Breaking news from the defense department. We learned the pentagon chief of staff has just resigned. I want to bring in Courtney Kube who is breaking this story. Courtney, whats going on . Reporter hallie, this is eric chuning, been there about a year now. He actually came in as chief of staff to then acting secretary of defense Patrick Shanahan in january of 2019. He stuck around while secretary shanahan was acting secretary throughout the first half of the year. When shanahan decided to step back and mark esper was nominated chewning stepped out. Hes been here throughout a tum mull ous year. During that time hes had an unusual amount of power in this building, as the stability for the pentagon. Because of that hes been the goto man for many people in this building, some calling him the most powerful person in the pentagon. Hes decided to step back. Said he wants to go back to the private sector. Hes going to be replaced by jen stewart who works on the Armed Services minority staff. She worked for general dunford when he was chairman of the joint chiefs. Also a number of other jobs working for republicans on the hill. We expect eric to stick around for a couple more weeks before he heads back to the private sector. To be clear, courtney, the timing of this you might have viewers being like, hey, right as things escalating internationally and the pentagon is sending more troops to the middle east because of the escalation with iran, this guy stepping down. Related at all or not related at all . Be super clear for us . No. This is an announcement weve been expected for a while. Everyone wants to tie it to the current environment, iran, ukraine. These guys work grueling hours. The same case at the white house for a lot less pay they can make in the private sector. They take time away from their families. In this case, as of now, were not tracking anything beyond hes just read difficult to go back to the private sector. Courtney kube, thank you very much. A look now ot what our sources are saying. Lets head over to msnbcs Garrett Haake on capitol hill. Youre talking about the trial and the trail, right . Reporter thats right. My sources on capitol hill and on the campaign trail have all talking about what the five senators still running for president are going to do when this Senate Impeachment trial starts right in the leadup to the Iowa Caucuses when theyll be expected to be in the u. S. Senate, essentially sitting on their hands for six days a week for the trial, not out campaigning. Those sources are largely looking at Bernie Sanders who has the best advantage because of all the money hes been able to race. Hes talking about having a private plane fly him back and forth the iowa at night so he can Still Campaign in the early states. Thats an advantage to amy klobuchar, cory booker, Michael Bennett dont have. Elizabeth warren has it to a certain extent, not on the same scale as Bernie Sanders. The other senators are trying to come up with ways to be creative with their campaigning whether its video conferencing, using surrogates even more scraping together cash to stay on the tv airwaves. We have not seen Something Like this where normally you have all the candidates blitzing iowa. Instead theyll be stuck in a platform where they cant even speak most of the day. Nor can they be on their phones. Theres that, too. Msnbcs Garrett Haake, great reporting from the hill. That does it for us on this busy monday morning. Chris jansing picking it up from new york. Hallie, thank you very much. Im Chris Jansing in for krig melvin at m headquarters in new york. Here is the big question, are we marching toward another war in the middle east . The president now appears to be drawing us closer to conflict with iran. Its raising critical concerns about where things stand and where we go from here. President trump doubling down on his threat to attack 52 of irans cultural sites if that country retaliates. That threat from the president has sparked outrage among everyday iranians, if carried out could be classified as a war crime. There are major ramifications for our troops. Today iraqs Prime Minister is planning to meet with the u. S. Ambassador after iraqs Parliament Voted on a resolution to end the u. S. Military presence there. If that happens, president