secretary of defense lloyd austin said president biden ordered self-defense drags onto facilities in eastern syria used by iran s revolutionary guard. he added the strikes our response to attacks against u. s. personnel in iraq and syria by iranian-backed militia groups. joining me now on the phone to discuss, my colleague msnbc white house correspondent peter alexander. peter, what can you tell us about how biden order the strikes and why they were carried out today? stephen, a first, i think we should put this in the contt of what we ve been watching happen in the middle east. and as we heard from lloyd austin tonight, the u.s. military action, these defensive strikes, if as you describe them, they do come amid the rising tensions in that region with the rising tension between israel and hamas, but also called these attacks and his words separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between israel and hamas. they said they do not represent anything in the u.s. approach