with a fox news alert. retaliatory airstrikes have begun in the middle east. according to the pentagon the u.s. military conducted strikes against iranian backed militias in iraq and syria striking more than 85 targets. the u.s. says it hit command and control operations and intelligence centers. this comes after three american soldiers were killed and dozens more injured in a drone strike in a base in jordan this past weekend. launched by iranian proxies. iran is responsible for pretty much all the trouble in the region. here is jennifer griffin live from the pentagon. any word on why the targets were not in iran considering they are the source of all of these proxy attacks and terror attacks? sean, officials who i spoke to said they were ruling out striking inside iran in this first set of strikes. and they want to message to iran they are not trying to go to war with iran. they are hoping iran gets the message based on these strikes against their proxies and the irgc str
the militias that they sponsor. we are also getting some more details on the timing of the response to those three american soldiers killed in jordan last week and how it unfolded throughout this week. just in a moment, i will talk with deputy director for the very latest response from the administration as well as the defense department. but first, we re going to head to the region and nbc news chief international correspondent, who s joining us from iraq. welcome, here, so has the region reacting? what can we expect next? well alex, i think what we saw last night was not insignificant. that is true. but it was also limited. granted, an escalation by the biden administration. we haven t seen anything like this in recent years, frankly, in this part of the world. but still limited so that the strikes were along the east syria, iraq border in a trench there that we know has a number of militia groups and camped there. now, that s a part of that border that runs through
the suspicious powder found over the weekend. also tonight the philadelphia mass shooting suspect appears in court as we re learning about his disturbing social media posts. bill asking philadelphia s district attorney what they might reveal about a motive. and president zelenskyy warns that russia is ready for a potential attack on a ukrainian nuclear power plant under the control of russian forces. speaking exclusively to cnn about the threat to the plant amid new global fears of a nuclear disaster. welcome to our viewers. wolf blitzer is off today. i m alex marquardt and you re in the situation room. starting tonight at the white house, confirmation that a small bag of white powder was found in the west wing and was in fact cocaine. the question now, who s responsible for bringing an illegal substance into the inner sanctum of the white house? the latest on the investigation, jeremy, how is the white house handling this in. reporter: we heard from white house press
first images of u.s. strikes on syria and iraq. this is from alkhine in the western province. that orange fireball in the distance appears to be a weapons depot, one of some 85 iranian-linked targets attacked by a variety of u.s. aircraft including long-range b1 bombers like this one which flew nonstop with aerial refueling from here in the u.s. president biden says that today s strike is only the first part of a larger operation being carried out in response to sunday s drone attack on american troops in eastern jordan, which you ll remember killed three soldiers, wounded dozens more. caskets burying those three, the remains of those three returned home today. the president also signaled the united states will not strike targets inside iranian territory and does not seek a wider conflict in the region in what is already one at war. reporting for us tonight from all across the map m.j. lee at the white house, natasha bertrand, ben we hadman in jordan. let s begin, though, at
right now in beijing facing a tough challenge during her two days of meetings with chinese officials. she s there of course to try to stabilize a tense relationship strained even further just this week when china retaliated against the u.s. anna coren is live for us. what is yellen saying so far? reporter: as you say she is currently meeting with the chinese premier leader in the great hall of the people. she was with him at the paris finance summit last month where she said the world expects china and us to work together. you may have seen both of them smiling at each other. the premier spoke first just a few moments ago and said that there was a rainbow when yellen landed yesterday. and it was symbolic of the u.s./china relationship. so who knows, perhaps there is hope on the horizon. but the u.s. treasury secretary said that the biden administration seeks healthy economic competition that is not winner take all but can benefit both countries. she says the u.s. will in ce