jansing. iran suffers its deadliest attack in decades. more than 100 people are dead after twin bombs exploded during a memorial for a revered general. we ll have the latest on that stunning scene and the implications for the entire region and the hostages. plus, with less than two weeks before the first votes are cast for 2024, donald trump s ability to stay on the ballot is still an open question in 19 states. the latest on the uncertainty surrounding critical court cases in colorado and maine. when will the supreme court step in and decide things once and for all? and a surprise at the southern border, just as house republicans show up to spotlight how bad they say things are, illegal crossings plummet to less than half what they were at the end of december. but relief both for president biden and authorities at the border may be short lived. lots to get to today, but we start with the intensity surrounding two hugely consequential legal cases that will have a major im
ayman al zawahri, al qaeda s leader and a former deputy to osama bin laden on 9/11, was killed by a cia drone strike in kabul. the administration has not confirmed al zawahri was the target ahead of the president s re, ma. the senior administration official said there were no civilian casualties in the mission. al zawahri has been on the run for year, and his history of violence extends well beyond his role in planning 9/11. the egyptian doctor was at one point arrested in connection with the assassination of egyptian president anwar sadat and was indicted in 1999 for the 1997 bombings of the u.s. embassies in tanzania. joining me now is chief white house correspondent kristen welker. what do we know about what the president is going to announce, and any details about that operation? reporter: the details are still coming in. what we do know is that the president is going to announce that ayman al zawahri was killed over the weekend in a counterterrorism operation. the pres
zawahiri in afghanistan. happened over the weekend. the news is breaking, confirm now. i can tell you what you may know, the president will be addressing the nation if about 90 minutes. the white house saying president biden will speak out on this. it is a fast moving late-breaking story, and for that reason we go directly to some of our experts on this. kristen welker and retired four-star army general barry mccaffery. wristen, what are we learning from the white house about something that apparently already occurred but is breaking news tonight? it certainly is. first we learned that president biden was going to speak at 7:30 eastern time to announce an operation against a senior al qaeda leader, and based on conversations with two sources familiar with the matter, my colleague and i have been able to confirm that that leader was ayman al zawahiri, the leader of al qaeda, took over after osama bin laden was killed. this is significant. this is a raid that was conducted ov
what s really going to be interesting is how much does iran still continue to blame israel and the united states. do they turn up the heat on the u.s. via the iranian proxies in the region. it also just shows that the region is a tinderbox. the next 24, 48 hours are going to be interesting. what s been the reaction there, josh? what can you tell us you re hearing from your sources? reporter: israel s government has been publicly very coy about this operation, neither confirming nor denying involvement, but now nbc news can report that israel was behind this assassination in beirut. in fact, multiple u.s. officials as well as a person briefed on the operation tell nbc s courtney kube, dan de luce, and myself, that while the u.s. didn t get a heads-up in advance of this operation, that israel did inform the biden administration in israel time once this operation was underway. and that person who was briefed on this operation tells me this also signals, chris, the start