Right, brooke. It was several hours after those missile strikes by the iranians against u. S. Targets in iraq took place that we learned there was an airliner that crashed which is actually about 30 to 40 miles where i am right now in the south of tehran. We managed to get in touch with the head of irans Civil Aviation authority about an hour ago, and he did not down right dispute that the plane may have been shot down by a missile. However, he did say that he doubted that that would be the case. The reason for that is he says that the plane took off. It flew for several minutes. It then tried to apparently turn back to the airport before it then went down. He says he believes if that plane had been hit by a missile that its forward progress would have stopped immediately, and it immediately would have fallen to the ground. So thats what hes saying. Apparently theres also some investigators on the ground who are quoted in iranian media as saying they have not found any missile debris on the ground so far. Now, whats happened since then is that ukrainian investigators this was a ukrainian airliner, have since come here to iran invited by the iranian government to work with the iranians on this issue, and the iranians are saying that they have the capabilities to read the black boxes of this plane. Remember that the iranians so far are refusing to give those black boxes to boeing saying they are in charge of the investigation. However, they say that those black boxes are damaged. They want to try tomorrow to read the data from those black boxes with the ukrainians, but they say because of the damage that might not be possible, and if its not possible, they might ask france or canada for help, so they are saying that theres an investigation going on. Theyre saying they want to be as transparent as possible in that investigation, but again, the head of the Civil Aviation authority not ruling out that a missile strike could have taken place by accident. Brooke. Okay fred, thank you so much for those details from iran. Lets go to richard in beirut, and youve heard what the iranians are saying, you know, how could it have been one of our missiles when, you know, it would have just fallen versus tried to turn back. You know, and as were talking about precision missiles, how possible is it that a passenger plane could be shot down accidentally . Reporter oh, its very possible, and first of all, i wouldnt assume necessarily this was some highly sophisticated precision missile, guided missile or the like. It might have been something completely rudimentary. Secondly, this turn back that people are talking about, that could be the plane falling out of the sky. Because the iranians have also said the iranians have also said in their report, which ive got a copy of it here, theres a contradictory statement if youll bear with me, brooke. Theres a contradictory statement. On the one hand they say no Radio Communication indicating unusual conditions was received from the pilot, okay . No communications. Two paragraphs later they say the plane turned right following a technical problem. Well, how did they know there was a technical problem if there had been no communications from the pilot . The data shows that the plane just stopped. All the data came to an end. It just ended, which is a highly consistent with some sort of missile attack bringing it down. Finally, on the ground are the ukrainians and the iranians, but the americans are not there, obviously. The ntsb, which is amongst the most experienced, the u. S. National Transportation Safety board, they have been notified, notified but not invited to participate. Now, finally, the best hope in all of this is the canadians because, unfortunately, several dozen, more than 60 canadians perished on this flight, and the canadians will insist on being there, looking at the wreckage, seeing the autopsy results, and making sure its above board. I want to expand on so many of your points with my next guest. Thank you so much. One more detail, this has emerged today from this tragedy. One of the passengers on board that doomed flight from tehran to kiev reportedly had a premonition of impending doom. Shada shadco called her husband about 20 minutes before that plane took off, and then minutes later as weve been reporting it crashed in flames, and so her husband said that his wife was on the plane, you know, expressed fear about the tensions between iran and the u. S. , fear about a possible war breaking out, and he had told her not to worry, told her nothing bad was going to happen and that was their final conversation. And then after he got word that his wifes plane, in fact, crashed, that she died, he shared his wifes last Instagram Post with reporters in toronto. She wrote, im leaving but behind me theres worries. Behind me there are worries. Im scared for the people that are behind. Awful, awful. Michael bosercue is with me. He was one of the First International monitor to reach the wreckage in 2014 killing 298 people, we talked so much then and here we are now. Who would have thought, right . I mean, when you hear what the iranians are telling Fred Pleitgen in tehran, and then the great points that Richard Quest brought up. What do you think . Whats credible . Number one, what on earth was Ukraine International airlines doing operating that flight when the Warning Signals were already there. Some airlines as early as friday already canceled flights, and you know, it really saddens me, brooke, havent we learned any lessons from ms 17 when there is a conflict zone, stop civilian aviation. That plane would have been here today if they would have followed that. The second thing, of course, is that were talking about another missile, and i think investigators will be able to determine fairly soon whether it was a missile. I remember from ma 17 when we first landed on the site, there were signature signs on the fuselage, these holes that you never see nirlanywhere else in crash, and it was quickly determined that was a missile. Who would have thought you and i would be sitting here today talking about a tragedy like this. Going back to the telltale signs, because ultimately they will figure this out, and the points about iran saying, well, if this was a missile it would have just fallen out of the sky, which essentially was the quote from, you know, tehran and Richards Point saying it could have been some rudimentary missile and the plane could have just gone down. What do you make of that . I fly a lot. Ive flown Ukrainian International a lot, and no, the telltale signs are there. It was a very sudden, catastrophic event that brought down that airplane, and i looked at the images of the debris on the ground. It was very widely scattered over two hectares. That tells us something as well. It was very different from those two 737 max jets that basically plowed into the ocean in indonesia and into the ground in ethiopia. We know from what we find on the ground and also what happened in the air. But you know, i think the really important thing right here is the repatriation of the bodies. For the families. These poor families that are grieving, these countries that are grieving including my own country, canada, we didnt only lose the 63 canadian nationals but also a lot more people were actually transiting through canada. Its one of the worst aviation disasters for canada as well. What has to happen, repatriation in a very dignified manner, and also iran for its own sake has to open the investigation. The u. S. Has to be able to see those black boxes. The u. S. , boeing, the manufacturer of the engine. Trudeau said yesterday, canada has a lot of experience in terms of accident investigation, especially analyzing of black boxes. With all your expertise, thank you so much, and nice to have you back on. We have much more on that developing story ahead, also happening right now, the house is debating the war powers resolution that would limit the president s ability to take new military action against iran without the okay from congress. Well tell you where that stands, and rising pressure on House Speaker nancy pelosi to send over those articles of impeachment to the senate. But Speaker Pelosi is standing firm. She said today that she will send them when shes ready. Well talk to a democratic senator and get his take on all of this coming up live. Rng and new reporting into cnn on the royal exit, how prince harry and Meghan Markle defied the queen. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. We will be right back. D no idea that my grandfather was a federal judge in guatemala. My grandfather used his legal degree and his knowledge to help people that were voiceless in his country. That put a fire in my heart. It made me realize where i got my passion for social justice. Bring your Family History to life like never before. Get started for free at ancestry. Com car vending machines and buying a car 100 online. Vented now weve created a brand new way for you to sell your car. Whether its a year old or a few years old, we want to buy your car. So go to carvana and enter your license plate, answer a few questions, and our technowizardry calculates your cars value and gives you a real offer in seconds. When youre ready, well come to you, pay you on the spot, and pick up your car. Thats it. So ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. A book that youre ready to share with the world . Get published now, call for your free publisher kit today were back. Youre watching cnn. Im brookbaldwin. The house took the first steps to limiting President Trumps military efforts in iran, thats set for a couple of hours from now. Speaker pelosi says her goal is to protect american lives and values, something she says President Trump did not do when he ordered the killing of irans top general one week ago. I do not believe in terms of what is in the Public Domain that they have made the country safer by what they did, and that is what our responsibility is. Now, over in the senate, utah republican mike lee, a trump ally is blasting the white house after a classified briefing about the soleimani strike, senator lee was furious that officials wouldnt commit to seeking congressional approval for any future Iran Military action. Probably the worst briefing ive seen at least on a military issue in the nine years ive served in the United States senate. To come in and tell us that we cant debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against iran. Thats unamerican. Its unconstitutional, and its wrong. That was insulting. That was demeaning to the process ordained by the constitution, and i find it completely unacceptable. I walked into the briefing undecided. I walked out decided, specifically because of what happened in that briefing. Senator lee announcing that he will now support the Senate Version of a war powers resolution. As for President Trump, heres what he thinks of all of this. To take further military action against iran, would you seek congressional approval . It would all depend on the circumstance. I dont have to. With me now democratic senator ben cardin of maryland, he is a member of the Senate Foreign relations committee. Senator cardin, a pleasure, sir, welcome. Thank you, brooke, good to be with you. We have heard all kinds of descriptions, senator, from both sides of the aisle about that briefing yesterday. What adjectives would you use to describe it . Well, i think it was certainly not convincing as far as the authority of the president to use military force against iran without congressional authorization. I think what senator lee was saying, thats an area that needs to be debated in a Democratic Society in the congress of the United States, we have the constitutional power to declare war to authorize our military operations and clearly the president does not have authorization to use force against iran, so it is absolutely the right process for this administration or any administration to come to congress if they seek to use force. So i hear you on no not being convinced but based upon what you heard, was the strike justified legally . I tell you, i dont have enough information to make that judgment. The imminent threat was very u unclear in the briefing we heard yesterday, and thats the authority that i think most of us believe is the only way the president had Legal Authority to conduct that attack. The president is also making the point that the existing authorizations for the use of military force give him the authority to use this against the attack that he made, so one could argue that to me just makes no sense, but the president s also using that as justification. Let me ask you about some of the news that Vice President mike pence made this morning. He defended withholding information i hear you saying you werent entirely sure what that imminent threat was. He defended withholding intel to you and members of congress. This is what he said. We have to protect sources and methods and so theres only a certain amount that we can share with every member of congress, but those of us who have steeen all the evidence kn that there is a compelling case of an imminent threat. Does that, senator, does that justification make sense to you . No, it does not. We obviously always protect our sources. No one asked for how they got the information, but they should be able to at least share the information, the specific information with us, and that certainly was lacking. And also this from pence, because we know from our reporting that Trump AdministrationOfficials Say they knew by tuesday afternoon that iranians intended to attack american bases in iraq. We also know from Administration Sources that iran missed on purpose, but then the Vice President this morning maintains that iran was trying to kill americans, and my question to you, senator cardin is what do you believe . Which was it . Well, when they send missiles into our military facilities, we have to recognize there is a real risk of loss of american lives. Theres no question about that. The iranians are not that precise where they can plan where our missiles will land, that it wont cause casualties. I want to just have a shoutout to the people at fort meade at the National Security agency because it was the Early Detection system that gave warning to our troops in iraq about what the iranians were doing, and i think that saved lives. Yes. I second your shoutout, senator, i appreciate you saying that. Let me turn the page and ask you about impeachment. You know, your colleague senator dia diane fieinstein told politico she said the longer it goes on the less urgent it becomes. So if its serious and urgent, send them over. If it isnt, dont send them over. Do you think Speaker Pelosi needs to get those articles over to you, like asap . I think Speaker Pelosi should make her own judgment on this. I understand her reason for delay. She wants to know what the ground rules are going to be in the United States senate, and quite frankly, as a senator, i want the majority to work with the democratic leader so that we have a bipartisan process for a fair trial in the senate where we can hear from those witnesses who have the direct knowledge of the president s participation in the conversations with ukraine and the potential coverup. They were not permitted to testify in the house, so i think we need to have that information. Do we want to do this quickly, get it over here quickly . Absolutely. We also need to know the process before the articles are sent over. Sure. Senator cardin, a pleasure, thank you very much. Speaking of the House Speaker, she is showing no signs that shes about to bow to any pressure to finally send over those articles to the senate. I remember the house passed this historic vote 22 days ago now, but she has delayed sending them over out of concern the senate will not hold an impartial trial and here the speaker was today. You keep asking me the same question, and i keep giving you the same answer. As i said right from the start, we need to see that the arena in which we are sending our managers, is that too much to ask . At some point we would hope that we would see from them, but the terms of engagement will be. Ill send them over when im ready, and that will probably be soon. I think we should move smartly and strategically. Make no mistake, pressure is mounting. Several Democratic Senators have urged Speaker Pelosi to move forward joining the republican call. As we mentioned senator feinstein says the longer it goes on, the less urgent it becomes. Senator joe manchin said, quote, i think its time to turn the articles over. Whats more here, democrats from Speaker Pelosis own chamber want her to end this impasse, and that included at one point one of her house chairmen. I think it is time to send the impeachment to the senate and let Mitch Mcconnell be responsible for the fairness of the trial. He ultimately is. But congressman smiths opposition did not last long. This morning he walked that back saying that he misspoke adding that democrats, quote, should do everything we can to force the senate to have a fair trial. Still, congressman smith is not the only house member wanting to move on. Manu raju caught up with one democrat from a swing district. Do you think its time for the speaker i couldnt it was so quick, i didnt hear. Dana bash, y