reconnaissance personnel, missile defense, cruz, forces said to be defensive in nature. again, iran saying that the action is provocative saying it will be prepared to respond if need be. and, again, the senior shakeup at the pentagon raising questions about leadership here. army secretary mark esper will fill the role. he will take over on sunday we re being told. again, he s had a fairly narrow portfolio as secretary of the army overseeing that one service, and he s currently getting a crash course in a variety of issues, including nuclear weapons, international security affairs, policy and he is an army veteran. he spent a lot of time on capitol hill so he is familiar with some of these issues, but, again, a real speedy transition going on as he steps into the most senior level role at the pentagon. back to you. sudden for him, too. thanks, ryan. long-time trump aide hope hicks heads to capitol hill in a matter of hours. the president s former communications director will face q
recently. those forces will include reconnaissance personnel, missile defense, cruz, forces said to be defensive in nature. again, iran saying that the action is provocative saying it will be prepared to respond if need be and, again, the senior shakeup at the pentagon raising questions about leadership here. army secretary mark esper will fill the role. he will take over on sunday, we re being told. again, he s had a fairly narrow portfolio of secretary of the army overseeing that one service. he s currently getting a crash course in a variety of issues, including nuclear weapons, international security affairs, policy. he is an army veteran. he spent a lot of time on capitol hill so he is familiar with some of these issues. again, a real speed transition going on as he steps into the most senior level role at the pentagon. definitely unexpected. thanks, ryan. turning now to the democrats. front-runner joe biden on the fundraising trail later today in
iran. cnn s ryan brown with more. reporter: good morning, michelle and dave. this most senior shakeup at the pentagon amid increased tensions with iran, acting secretary of defense pat shanahan stepping down, announcing that he will resign effective sunday we re being told. and this shakeup comes as president trump has said he is seeking to avoid war with iran while the u.s. simultaneously is deploying thousands of additional troops to the region to do forced protection, to say to respond to what it says is an increased iranian threat. 1,000 troops being ordered most recently. those forces will include reconnaissance personnel, missile defense crews. forces said to be defensive in nature but iran saying it will be prepared to respond if need be. the senior shakeup at the