Then we hear from barbara lee, a member of the appropriations and budget committees. And that 00 a. M. , our guest is Katie Bo Williams, defense one l security correspondent. Host it is the washington journal for january 8. For our first halfhour, we will get your reaction to irans Missile Launch targeting an iraqi base housing u. S. Troops. At this hour, no reported casualties. Later in the program, we will hear from legislators about this event and what it means for those in congress. This first halfhour, we will hear from you. Here is how you call with your thoughts, 2027488000 for democrats. Republicans, 2027488001. And independents, 2027488002. If you are an iraq war veteran and want to offer your perspective, call us at 2027488003. You can also use that line if you want to text us your thoughts this morning. Include your name, city, and state and you can post on twitter at cspanwj and our Facebook Page at facebook. Com cspan. The National Post out of canada reporting it was the iraqi Prime Minister receiving word from iran the response to the u. S. Killing of the top general was imminent or underway. Iranian forces fired missiles at military bases housing troops in iraq in retaliation for the u. S. Killing of the iranian general. It was shortly after midnight we received the message that the iranian response to the assassination had started or was about to start. Alreadyold him it would only target locations where , butforces were present did not specify those locations, when it comes to what is going on in the United States regarding this and recent the recent assassination, the hale reporting the full house and senate will be briefed today behind closed doors on the strikes providing an opportunity for lawmakers to air their grievances. Top democrats and republicans, the housesenate, and each chamber pot Intelligence Committee briefed on tuesday with lawmakers declining to comment when they left. In the house side, there is a current debate over a bill that would revise the war powers resolution offered authored by barbara lee and representatives in a hung Bank Representative ilhan omar. Engaged in Armed Conflict without congressional approval. The bill known as the war powers act. If it were passed, it would put. T into conflict with with iran representative barbara lee, the expected of the bill to join us to talk about that effort and the larger issues we will hear from legislators starting in about a half an hour, but we will hear from you. Jeff, democrats line, you are first up. Good morning. I am a first of all, veteran, United States navy, bronze star, served in lebanon in 1983 where all the marines were massacred. The iranians called his bluff and we are humiliated. We have not even gotten to the bottom of what happened in kenya. Host is it a humiliation if there are no casualties . Caller we dont know that yet. We dont even know the reason why he assassinated the general. President donald trump served his country during the vietnam conflict. President is expected to speak on this later in the program. Jan come up next jan, you are up next. Caller i am a vietnam era veteran and in desert storm and in the white house, we have no one who knows what they are doing in terms of the middle east. The imminent danger they talked about is not real. Host why are you convinced we have been sold a bill of goods . Caller it is his lips are moving, he is lying. He is not a well man. Host do you think yesterdays reaction from iran deserves a response from the United States . Caller i think it has to be measured. I dont think we had any idea of the white house and what they are doing in there. They are out of control. Congress and senate host republican line, you are up next. Go ahead. Caller i think we are safe. Didnt Congress Just reauthorize the ircj. Host i dont know for sure, but if that is the case, why is it important . Caller because that is the responsetion for any to an attack on our military bases. Change itre trying to from something they passed two or three months ago. The reactionthink from yesterday deserves a response . Caller no. Let it sit. Let them stew in their own. I think what he is doing is wise. We react after 6, 7 attempts. Guys, be for it you patient. We dont need to go into a war. Nancy pelosi and everybody is saying we are going to go to war, dont lose your minds. Host we will hear from joan in democrats line. Caller i think this president , he doesnt follow any of the rules. He goes ahead and does what he wants. Thing,ld do the same dont follow any of the rules and go in and take him to jail. Attack, yourghts reaction to that. Caller they are trying to show they have got some people left there. Host do you think some reaction is necessary . Caller no. Let it go and just get the president out. Host the president releasing a statement on the events from the previous caller, the Islamic Revolutionary guard corps classified as a terrorist organization. I am formally announcing my administrations plan to designate organizationrorist. Unprecedented step recognizes the reality iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but the irgc promotes terrorism. The irgc and the is the primary means of directing a global terrorism campaign. Your reaction from the events of yesterday. If you want to let us know what you think about that and what it means for the larger issue regarding what is going on between the United States and iran, 2027488000 for democrats. 2027488001 for republicans. And independents, 2027488002. If you are an iraq war veteran and want to offer some perspective, 2027488003. It was at the Defense Department defense secretary mark esper even before the events of yesterday was asked about the priorities for the u. S. Going forward. Here is some of his response. [video clip] our Top Priorities remain the safety and security of our partners. Since the strike, i have spoken with commanders on the ground to make sure they have the needrces we viewed they. We will continue to reposition and bolster our forces as we have received widespread support and we will continue to work with them to protect our gains against isis. Withe been in conversation my counterparts. The defeatough nato, Isis Coalition and partners on the ground, we continue to bolster iraqi coalitions. Let me reiterate the United States is not seeking a war with iran, but we are prepared to finish one. We are seeking a diplomatic solution. First, this will require iran to deescalate and require the regime to come to the table with the goal of preventing further bloodshed and to cease their malign activities throughout the region. We are just as prepared to deliver a forceful response to defend our interest. Host the wall street journal offers there are 80,000 american personnel spread across the region where they trained the Lebanese Military and carry out air strikes against militants. The most immediate concerns are in iraq where general soleimani was killed on friday. America has about 5000 troops where they formed the backbone the killing of the general. Parked calls the wall street journal offering when it comes to the capability of missiles by saying the missiles include the liquid propellant missile. It also has solid propellant missiles, which are easier to. Andle and conceal you can read more at the wall street journal, this is richard in durham, north carolina. Caller my question is when the the illegally elected government of iran, did or are ever leave iran they still there . Israelson is what is involvement in this . It is my understanding in the middle east, besides israel, iran has a big jewish population. I believe that silence is deafening regarding israels involvement and i believe israel host andrew in new jersey, hello . Caller hello. Host you are on, go ahead. Caller i think the only way trump can save face would be to 52 culturalhe sites, but go after the Nuclear Sites in iran. Do you agree with me . Host why do you propose that . Caller because they are highvalue targets. Why value the target the sites that have no cultural significance . America, some people like the speaker that just spoke said america is acting like a proxy for israel. If america wants to help israel, they will go after the threat in iran threatening israel, the nuclear capabilities, etc. Host you think the targeting of nuclear sent targeting of Nuclear Sites should be a priority . Caller correct. It is almost like a reverse bluff. He said throughout his election outaign why would you give he was blaming obama for giving out war plans ahead of time. The element of surprise is what trump campaigned on. Sayinglaying dumb by that and instead, it could be a bluff where he could go after the Nuclear Sites and instead of these cultural sites, but he does not want to say it. Midstthe president in the of yesterday sending out this tweet on his twitter feed saying all is well. Of casualties and damage taking place. So far, so good he goes on to say. I will be making a statement tomorrow morning which is today, no word on when that statement will take place. We will hear from earl in california, republican line. I see all the trump haters are up early this morning. They have all this hate, they are dogmatic where they dont even think. They spent 30 years trying to find a reason to arrest him and they have not found one yet. Host to the events of yesterday, what do you think. Caller i have been to war. Service. E my i dedicate it to President Trump. I served my country then bank. Myis serving i served country then. There is about 60 million of us that support this president. Host to the attacks of yesterday, what do you think . Caller the people saying he is out of control, he is in control. He is listening and watching your program right now. Host jerome in pennsylvania, you are next up. Caller america should settle down. If they do anything now, it is not going to do anything but cause american casualties all over the world. Iraq gave us a chance to settle. His stuff in a more humane way if donald trump thinks he is going to have allied support in iran doing this, he has another thing coming, none nobody trusts him. Selfserving. S he does not care how Many American soldiers die. He is not sending his sons and daughters over there. It is our kids dying. Host the attacks from yesterday warrant no response, in your opinion . Caller iran gave america a chance to sit down and deescalate. If america attacks iran now, it will be so many deaths and so many lives lost. Host the foreign minister of iraq sending out a tweet saying iran took and concluded. Roportionate measures cowardly armed attacks were launched adding that we do not seek escalation of war, but we will defend ourselves against any aggression. Says a member has the inherent right to defend itself if an attack occurs so the Security Council has taken measures to secure peace and security. If you want to read more about the article and reaction from a foreign government. This is before the events of late yesterday, it was mike pompeo talking to reporters when itbout specifics comes to the classification of imminent threat and the killing of the iranian general. [video clip] i answered it multiple times on sunday. I am happy to walk through it again. Any time a president makes a decision of this magnitude, there are multiple pieces of information. We presented that to him and brought detail and gave the best information from the Intelligence Community and those of us who have teams in the field. We evaluated the risks and the opportunity we thought might present itself at some point and we could see clearly that not only had solo monti soleimani done all the things we recounted. Destruction of countries like lebanon and iraq where they denied sovereignty and denied people in those countries what they wanted this is all his handiwork and we would watch to see what is continuing the terror campaign. The end of december last year, ultimately led to the death of an american. Look no further than the days that led up to the strike taken. Gainst solo money soleimani you have continuing efforts on behalf of this terrorist to build out a network of Campaign Activities that will lead to lead to the death of Many Americans. As well as a decision that fit perfectly within our strategy and how to counter the threat of activity. Host john in indiana, republican line. Caller my name is john, i am a 79yearold vietnam veteran and i feel that since no american think theylost i should blockade iran shipment of if they attack again, trump can take whatever action is necessary to end irans regime. Host the United Kingdom confirming no british casualties. The foreign secretary including the British Forces and urged iran to pursue urgent deescalation. When it comes to potential sanctions, the Washington Post reporting new ones could be used to penalize iraq. The Treasury Department and the represent a highly unusual move. The United States spent almost two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars supporting officials who spoke on anonymity because they were discussing no final decision has been made on whether to impose sanctions. The plan was to wait a little while to see weather iraqi officials followed through on their threat to push u. S. Troops out of the country. Grover is next in virginia, go he hung up. Grant in georgia, good morning. Caller good morning. How are you . Host i am well, thanks, go ahead. Iraqi waram not an veteran. I am a veteran of the first gulf. Ar, desert storm hear so many to callers that call in and show such disrespect for our former veterans of war, especially the purple heart. Most veterans know what that entails and it really distresses me as a former military person and apartment of veterans the way theyar speak of those who have served honorably in our country. As it relates to the attack in should have full transparency on the issue that got us into this conflict. For the callers calling in wanting to weigh in on one side or the other as to what we are going to do, it is too late for that. That ball has been bounced. The actions ensuing are going to take place and as far as them no casualties,e i doubt that the 176 lives lost in the ukrainian airplane attack yesterday that is more than coincidence. Host that has been a tribbett into mechanical issues. Attributed to mechanical issues. Caller okay, great. The irony is and that is too great. I cannot stretch my mind to such credulity as that. Host based on what . Caller the timing. Bizarre we would somehow include ukraine in this, but the similarities around what has been going on in our country and howte with ukraine this aircraft, due to mechanical failures, went down out of iran i think anyone would have to is themselves what possibility that that is coincidence . Offering video not only from the crash site of the boeing aircraft not a max aircraft, but a 737 on its twitter feed and offers a breakdown of those present on 82 iranians,luding 10 swedes, three afghans, 10 germans and three british nationals. Michael in portland, oregon,. Emocrats line right i am on my porch now rather than watching tv and i am looking out over the lights of my downtown and thinking we are that our city is not being blown up by missiles. Been ck seems to have they chose a time and a day and a location where casualties would have been minimized. Heads that means cooler in the government are in control and that means we will be cool in our response. Offramp where we can deescalate possibly and let both sides cool down a little bit. I am totally against escalating this. Lets all cool down and enjoy possibility we might have host the attack was measured and could have been more intense. Considering the fact there were our textingualties, service having grown off grownup the president is showing he is willing to. Scalate texting is available to you. Witter is available cspanwj we posted something on our Facebook Page you can post there. This is richard in jonesboro, indiana. Caller greetings and salutations. Happy post new year, 2020, the year of clarity. Remember give me liberty or give me death . What about give me logic therefore i am. Host how does that relate to yesterday . Caller it is about fighting for freedom and democracy and going. Ff Richard Brooke kaiser people have liberty because the source of liberty is extra human. Host how does that relate to the attacks of yesterday . Caller my grandfather was in pearl harbor and was hit by a, kazi, spent time in the hospital and gave birth to my father. Thank god i did not have to go to war in 2001, 2 thousand two, which is my graduation year. We are in initiating time. Host we will hear from grover in virginia. Caller good morning. How are you doing, sir . Host fine, thank you, go ahead. Caller i am an iraq veteran. Served time in the united force. Air by the factisturbed Iranian Missiles landed on one. F our bases we need to find a better resolve a better way to resolve the differences we have in the world. I do not believe politicians can solve it. I do not believe militaries can solve it. I believe it will take theologians. Preachers. Ishops, you cannot force democracy on people who do not want democracy. Host we will have a chance a our nexttimes guest for deployments in the middle east, representative don weon, republican of nebraska will be joined by barbara lee, the only member of congress to vote against the use of force and she will talk about her resolution to block u. S. Military action against iran. Onse conversations coming up washington journal. Book tvweekend, features three new nonfiction books. Saturday at 7 00 p. M. Eastern, Jeffrey Rosen and Supreme CourtJustice Ruth Bader ginsburg talk abou