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>> of course. >> that is tonights last word. the 11th hour with brian williams starts now. good evening once again. its indeed good to be with you. day 37 of the biden administration. and tonight, the breaking news we are covering concerning president bidens first military action as president. he tonight ordered u.s. forces to carry out air strikes in eastern syria targeting feign structure from iranian backed militia groups. its in response to troubling rocket attacks against american and coa...

Tim obrien, thank you for joining us tonight. >> of course. >> that is tonights last word. the 11th hour with brian williams starts now. good evening once again. its indeed good to be with you. day 37 of the biden administration. and tonight, the breaking news we are covering concerning president bidens first military action as president. he tonight ordered u.s. forces to carry out air strikes in eastern syria targeting feign structure from iranian backed militia groups. its in response to tro...

A.m. friday localtime. the pentagon says the air strike was in response to recent attacks against american and coalition personnel in iraq, including an attack in erbil this month that killed a civilian contractor and wounded a u.s. service member. officials say the u.s. response targeted a transit hub used by militia fighters near the iraq/syria border and that multiple facilities were

>> can you say why it was important to do -- was this your recommendation? >> it was my recommendation. we said a number of times we will respond at, you know, on our timeline. >> lets bring in the president of the counsel on foreign relations, richard haass. first, richard, give us background on this region where people may not be aware of what was at stake and tell us what this was in retaliation for. >> good morning, joe. whats at stake is the continuing presence of terrorists, in large parts...

If you see wires down, treat them all as if theyre hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. welcome back. president joe biden and first lady are if texas following the winter storm that wreaked havoc over there the past couple of weeks leaving millions without

Will respond on our time line. once again, we wanted to be sure that we had the right targets. >> when did the president authorize the strikes? >> it was today, yes. >> it was today. was it this morning? >> yes, it was this morning. thats all im going to say, guys. >> defense secretary lloyd austin. that was tonight. we just got in the tape moments ago speaking about the first military operation of the biden administration, these air strikes on iranian-backed militias in syria. the administratio...

Attack in erbil. it wounded a u.s. service members and killed another. a transit hub used by militia fighters at the border and multiple facilities were destroyed. heres defense second lloyd austin speaking last night. . >> were confident that target was being used by the same shia militia that conducted the strikes. we encourage the iraqis to investigate and develop intelligence. and that was very helpful to us in refining the target. >> can you say why it was important to do -- was this your r...

Was being used by the same shia militia that conducted the strikes. were very deliberate about our approach, as you would expect us to be. we allowed and encouraged the iraqis to investigate and develop intelligence and that was helpful in refining the target. >> can you say why this was important to do this, was this your recommendation? >> it was my recommendation. as we said a number of times we will respond on our time line. once again, we wanted to be sure that we had the right targets. >> ...

Defense secretary lloyd austin. he spoke with reporters on a flight back to washington. he had been visiting the u.s. military facilities. this was onboard the plane back en route to the u.s. east coast. >> were confident in the target that we went after. we know what we hit. and were confident that target was being used by the same shia militia that conducted the strikes. were very deliberate about our approach, as you would expect us to be. we allowed and encouraged the iraqis to investigate a...

Refining the target. >> can you say why this was important to do, mr. secretary, and was this your recommendation? >> it was my recommendation. as we said a number of times, we will respond on our timeline. and once again, we wanted to be sure that the connectivity and that we had the right targets. >> when did the president authorize the strikes? were you on the phone with him? >> it was today, yes. >> it was today? was it this morning? >> yes, it was this morning. >> when were you -- >> thats ...