War of the windsors. Reaction pours in after the stunning decision by prince harry and Meghan Markle to step away from royal duties the queen reportedly blindsided and shocked. The move raising questions about the futures of the couple and the entire royal family. A live report from Windsor Castle just ahead. Those stories, plus new fire fears. Overnight, more evacuations in australia amid growing concerns those historic wildfires are about to get even worse. Winters wrath a powerful storm takes aim at tens of millions over a nearly 2,000mile stretch from the south to new england als got the forecast. What is evening the score . Evens the second match in our greatest of all time jeopardy tournament a dominating performance by jeopardys James Holzhauer kicking the show of champions into high gear, today, thursday, january 9th, 2020. From nbc news, this is today, with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hi, everybody. Welcome to today on this thursday morning were happy youre joining us. We have another busy news day. Well get right to our top story, the unfolding showdown between the u. S. And iran, the two nations trying to back away from conflict after exchanging dangerous threats and attacks. This morning were happy to have Vice President mike pence with us live from washington a lot to talk to him about including the intelligence that led to the u. S. Strike on soleimani, irans retaliation and where things are headed next. First nbc chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel joins us from iraq good morning reporter good morning, hoda. Here in the region theres a feeling that the showdown between the u. S. And iran is more paused than over. The Administration Says it taught iran a lesson in deterrence and then wisely pulled back from the brink critics say it started a cycle of violence that is going to be very difficult to stop sirens over baghdad overnight as rockets were fired at the green zone, home to american troops and the u. S. Embassy the small, unguided rockets caused no damage, but that, in part, was just luck. Its unclear who fired them, but what is clear is that tensions remain extremely high after iran fired Ballistic Missiles at bases in iraq housing American Forces in retaliation for President Trumps order to kill irans top general outside baghdad airport. President trump gave his response on wednesday. We suffered no casualties all of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases. Our great American Forces are prepared for anything. Iran appears to be standing down which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world reporter he seemed to be looking for an offramp. U. S. Armed forces are stronger than ever before. The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it reporter his comments coming as the administration gave classified briefings to select senators about why the president decided to kill the iranian general now in iraq. The Administration Says he was plotting imminent attacks against americans. Even some members of the president s own party were unconvinced the Administration Made its case. Probably the worst briefing ive seen, at least on a military issue, in the nine years ive served on the United States senate. I walked into the briefing undecided. I walked out decided, specifically because of what happened in that briefing. Our duty under the constitution is for us to debate when we go to war. We, for one, are not going to abdicate that duty. Reporter those senators announcing theyll support a democratic effort to force the president to get congressional approval before any escalation with iran. Most republicans, however, seem to be sticking with the administration, while others including now even the pope are weighing in about the dangers of this iraniraq tension sa savannah, back to you. Iranu. S. Tensions. Richard, appreciate it. Joining us from the white house is the Vice President , mike pence. Good morning to you. Good morning, savannah. Let me start with the iranian strikes against u. S. Air bases some say they believe iran was shooting to miss, in other words, not kill anybody. Do you think iran deliberately avoided u. S. Casualties . The Ballistic Missiles fired at american bases outside erbil, we believe, were intended to kill americans we have intelligence to support that was the intention of the iranians frankly, thanks to the excellent work of our military personnel on the ground, the forced protection that President Trump directed, measures that were taken and our intelligence, there were no american casualties, no Coalition Casualties and as the president said yesterday, we continue to believe that iran is standing down and the most dangerous terrorist in the world, Qassem Soleimani, is gone. Let me ask you about that you said something remarkable, that you believe iran was shooting to kill, trying to go after u. S. Forces. You also said in previous interviews that the u. S. Had some warning that the missiles were coming, presumably intelligence was it incredibly risky for the u. S. To allow iran to take the shot i know the personnel at these bases were told to hunker down shelter in place the u. S. Has the capability to stop a Ballistic Missile in their tracks was it risky to let them take that shot . Not at all. We have the same threats that frankly, iran was making the same threats over the last week. Remember this all began on december 27th when iranianbacked militias killed an american citizen, injured four american personnel. The president ordered air strikes on five militia bases saying we would not tolerate violence against americans we had information of an imminent threat of a larger attack being organized by Qassem Soleimani, the president took action, and all along the way weve heard the threats. Weve been prepared. Frankly, the action that we took wasnt simply hunkering down, savannah lets be clear our military personnel repositioned people, we repositioned assets. Could you have stopped the Ballistic Missile . To make sure we were as safe as we could be, but we also made trump said in his tweets and his statements, that any loss of american lives would be met with strong repercussions, Strong Military response. I give the credit to our military personnel and our planning on the ground that thankfully there were no casualties again, where we stand today is the most dangerous terrorist in the world is gone and no american casualties in iran is standing down. No question you talked about the imminent attack the secretary of state has said that iran talked about it as a big attack you talked about how soleimani, this notorious terrorist, iranian leader, is off the battlefield. As for this imminent attack that you and the administration say was hours, days, weeks away, is it totally eradicated now . In other words, soleimani wasnt going to be the one strapping on a suicide vest or pressing go on a missile. Now that hes gone, is that particular threat gone well, the threat of soleimanis leadership is gone make no mistake about it for the last 20 years Qassem Soleimani led the quds force the irgc, the terrorist arm of iran. But that imminent threat. Violence all across the region look, the president has taken military action here look, the iranians always knew we had the ability to use military force. What they know now, thanks to the president s decisive leadership, is that we have a commanderinchief who has the will to use military force we hope that has restored deterrence we hope that irans efforts to stand down will continue, but make no mistake about it we are ready for any eventuality including the ongoing threats from iranianbacked militias in iraq. I was going to ask you. Foreign minister zarif said in a tweet that those missile attacks concluded its actions with regard to this matter are you confident that iran is really done with this . Dont you think theyre even more hungry for revenge now, if this goes underground . Were watching it very closely. The public statements as well as our intelligence i can assure all of your viewers that iran, by all information we have, continues to stand down. But our Readiness Level continues at the same level before that being said, the president said yesterday we hope for Better Things in our relationship with iran if iran will abandon its long history of sowing terrorist violence across the region, abandon its nuclear ambitions, we can have a fresh start with the iranian people and the iranian government we do not seek regime change, but we seek for the regime in iran to change its behavior and join the family of civilized nations and bring an end to this violence and the threat of Nuclear Proliferation that theyve been pursuing in the region. Im short on time on this issue of intelligence, as you know, the congressional leaders had a briefing yesterday on what it was, this imminent threat that was posed that justified the killing. Senator mike lee, a republican, left that briefing and said it was demeaning and insulting, saying it was the worst briefing he ever heard and he didnt get the information he needed. Why not in a classified setting can our briefers from this Administration Share what it was, this threat you talk about, in a classified setting . Well, some of that has to do with whats called sources and methods, savannah, that if we were to share all of the intelligence in fact, some of the most compelling evidence that Qassem Soleimani was preparing an imminent attack against American Forces and american personnel also represents some of the most sensitive intelligence that we have it could compromise those sources and methods. Even in a classified setting . I have tremendous respect for senator mike lee i recognize hes had a difference of opinion with our administration over selfdefense measures the president authorized in yemen. Well welcome those debates Going Forward, but i can assure your viewers that those of us that have seen all the evidence, that saw the evidence in realtime know that President Trump made the right decision to take Qassem Soleimani off the battlefield. America is safer the world is safer now, even after the iranian response, no american casualties and iran is standing down. Just one final question because were talking about the evidence, the strength of the evidence, the intelligence that you have seen but that is not available to the public. The president , as you well know, has been vocally dismissive of our intelligence agencies. In a tweet earlier this year he called our Iran Intelligence in particular passive and naive and said perhaps they should go back to school. He now says he wants the u. S. Public to trust the intelligence does he, himself, have a different view now of our intelligence well, i can tell you, in President Donald Trump, the American People have a leader that is always going to ask the tough questions, whether it be military personnel or intelligence personnel but i can tell you, i was ther every step of the way, savannah, and we were gathering intelligence in realtime that was brought to the president that Qassem Soleimani was planning imminent attacks in response to our air strikes on five iranianbacked militia bases. He was planning imminent attacks that were larger in the region against American Forces, and President Donald Trump put american lives and American Protection first he made the right decision and america and the world are safer today as a result. Vice president mike pence from washington this morning, thank you, sir we appreciate your time. Thank you, savannah fascinateing conversation well turn it over to craig. Craigs got us what this morning . Lets turn to th investigation to the plane crash in tehran just hours after irans missile attack. All 176 people on board the flight died. This morning questions are mounting about the case and whether an Iranian Missile may have mistakenly taken down that plane. Nbcs tom costello covers aviation for us. Tom, what more do we know . Iran insists again this morning some sort of technical problem caused the crash ukrainian Officials Say theyre looking into whether a russianmade missile bought by iran might have been fired at the plane just hours after irans late night attack against those u. S. Bases reporter this morning, investigations in iran say the crew of a ukrainian jetliner that crashed in iran never made a radio call for help and were trying to turn back for the airport when the plane went down that according to an initial iranian report released thursday, suggesting a sudden emergency struck the boeing 737 800. What caused the sudden catastrophic failure that brought down Ukrainian Airlines 752 hours after the attack against u. S. Bases was it mechanical, or did an Iranian Missile misfire and target the passenger plane as it took off from tehrans airport officials from Irans Civil Aviation Organization offered no explanation. The planes black boxes have been turned over to iranian investigators. The plane left tehran airport at 6 12 a. M. Local time less than two minutes into flight, the plane suddenly disappeared from radar at 7,900 feet cell phone video shared by a news agency run by iranian students not confirmed by nbc appears to show the plane on fire, shedding pieces as it streaked across the sky, then exploding and crashing to the ground in my mind it has all the earmarks of Something Like a missile exploding because it was shortly after takeoff, it was at 7,900 feet there was no time for the crew to report anything, and it was a massive fireball as seen in that video. Reporter of the 176 people on board, 138 were headed to canada, including 63 canadians Prime Minister justin trudeau. Your loss is indescribable. This is a heartbreaking tragedy. Reporter while boeing and the ntsb would normally assist in an investigation, u. S investigators say that is highly unlikely given the recent hostilities and sanctions against iran the tehran crash bringing back reminders of Malaysia Flight 17, shot down over Eastern Ukraine in 2014. All 298 people on board died investigators blamed prorussian separatists for the attack russia denied any connection the faa reiterated a notice to u. S. Pilots to avoid flying over iran, iraq, the persian gulf, and the gulf of oman now the World Airlines are following the u. S. Lead. Look at this live image from flight radar 24. It shows all the air traffic over the region. Look at the hole over iran with the exception of a few domestic flights, most International Flights are going around the region, skirting iran. Guys thats a striking image tom, ukraines involvement, what could it mean for the investigation Going Forward . What could it mean for the release of those black boxes ukraine is a party to the investigation, they have their own people on the scene, but this is an iranian investigation. The question really remains will iran send the black boxes to outside investigators maybe in france iran isnt saying other than saying theyre not going to go to the u. S. Tom costello in washington, thank you. Al is here for a first check of the forecast, including a big threat of Severe Weather you have your eye on, al good morning. This really is more of an early spring pattern, eight states, 28 Million People for friday afternoon into the evening, tornado, hail, damaging winds. On saturday, in six states, were talking 18 Million People moving from louisiana all the way into georgia and on up into tennessee. This system is going to be pushing east warm air pushing ahead of it, flood watches from texas to ohio tomorrow, heavy rain for texas up to springfield, missouri. Strong storms in the south with tornadoes, hail possible well watch this carefully back side of the system, snow, ice, wind in the midwest with severe storms likely in the gulf here is what were looking at as far as rainfall is concerned look at this a wide swath from oklahoma all the way to michigan, three to four inches of rain. Locally could be up to five. Behind the system were talking about anywhere from four to nine inches of snow stretching from oklahoma all the way up into michigan and parts of wisconsin. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. All we see in you, is a spark. We see your kindness and humanity. The strength of each community. The more we look the more we find the sparks that make america shine. Good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. The rain moves through the south bay but it will be clearing out as the morning goes along. We will see some off and on showers for the next hou