press? what the administration is putting out. we have leann on tformer head o under president obama, not somebody who is shy about saying what he thinks ought to be done. we re tackling this issue on how this has been just a, i don t know how else to put it but a bizarre week watching the republican candidates respond to this. all right. thank you, chuck. still ahead on morning joe, new video coming in from our breaking news from mali. state tv reporting 80 of the 170 hostages released. plus senator jonathan standing by. we re going to speak with a member of armed services and homeland committee. chairwoman martha, you re watching morning joe. we ll be right back.
cuomo, alisyn camerota and michaela pereira. good morning, everyone. welcome back to your new day. in moments, we will speak live with republican front-runner donald trump. stick around for that. but first, we have breaking news to tell you about. russian air strikes reportedly hitting isis targets in palmyra near the ancient ruins of the city. this would seem to be the right thing to do if you want to fight against isis. there s been growing concerns there. russia is digging in with not just air but combat troops and heavy artillery are said to be on the move. where are they going? what is their goal? those are the questions. for analysis, answers and reporting, barbara starr live at the pentagon. what do we know. reporter: good morning, chris. the ancient city of palmyra, the world has watched in recent weeks as isis has destroyed the ruins there. this morning, syrian state tv
newsroom. saudi state tv reporting that saudi arabia is expected to contribute 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers to the operation in yemen. this is part of this military campaign, which began a number of hours ago. these air strikes were ordered by the new king of saudi arabia at midnight on thursday local time in saudi arabia. the saudis are saying they want to support the legitimate government of yemen, but they also see a very real threat from the houthi rebels who are taking control of most of that country. the saudis and others believe the houthis are backed by iran and see this as an attempt by iran to establish a base of influence on the border of saudi arabia, which is possibly one of the triggers. why this military action has taken place right now. the saudis did not say who was in that coalition, but we are getting word on a number of countries taking part. egypt, morocco, jordan, sudan,
people oppose it and think it is a bad idea. there is no consensus that will emerge from this visit. bill: high drama. byron york, thank you. martha: as we await benjamin netanyahu s speech to apa dplrks an hour from now what do we make of secretary of state john kerry john kerry s statement that the deal has made america safer. bill: we ll do a joint show tomorrow from new york and washington, d.c. martha: a fierce new battle is raging in iraq. state tv reporting that iraqi forces are launching a new operation to take back tikrit, the hometown of saddam hussein
process will require a quote prudent period of time as a consequence of the complexity of the surgery. he has kept secret the details about this cancer. he hand picked a successor. we ll watch for updates. we are also tracking concerns about north korea s rocket that was defiantly launched yesterday. this is a long-range missile potentially capable of reaching the united states. the united states is paying attention. north korean state tv reporting this is video of a rocket launch. the satellite may not be functioning properly and it appears to be quote tumbling. reporter: there seems to be a bit of confusion about just how successful yesterday s launch was. in fact u.s. officials are