Declaration of independence. Frenzied reaction to prince harry and Meghan Markles plans to separate themselves from royal duties and spend their time in north america. Its thursday, january 9th, 2020. We begin this morning with todays eye opener, your world in 90 seconds. Iran appears to be standing down which is a good thing for all parties concerned. The president threatens new sanctions against iran. Lawmakers were briefed on the strike that killed irans general. There was not evidence presented of imminent attack. Disaster for the administrations position. Democrats fall right in line. They are in love with terrorists. Investigation continues into the cause of a plane crash in iran. Iranian officials are refusing to share the flight recorder with investigators. This is a heartbreaking tragedy. Puerto rico is still recovering after a powerful earthquake. Magnitude 6. 4 quake knocked out the islands biggest power plant. Deadly wildfires continue to rage in australia. The death toll from the fires is up to 27. Google is ordered to turn over emails. Stunning video coming out of spain showing a toddler walking along the edge of an apartment building. All that. A hungry thief breaking into a taco bell. And lupus can make you tired. Elizabeth warren held a rally in brooklyn. From the looks of it she had a good time. On cbs this morning. Prince harry and wife Meghan Markle say they are stepping away as senior members of the royal family. They will split their time between the uk and north america and work to become financially independent. This is what happens when you bring the first black woman into the royal family. You need to get a job. You need a job. You cant sit living in your mamas house. Announcer this mornings eye opener is presented by toyota. Lets go places. Happy birthday to us. It is our eighth birthday. Welcome to cbs this morning. We begin with this. No birthday talk. This is all very serious news. Iranian media reporting new high level talk of partial revenge after President Trump dismissed irans missile attacks on u. S. Troops in iraq. The president indicated yesterday that he plans no military response. A statement intended to lower tensions in the region. To the people and leaders of iran, we want you to have a future and a great future, one that you deserve. One of prosperity at home and harmony with the nations of the world. The United States is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it. In Washington HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi plans a vote today on a move by democrats to block the president from taking military action against iran on his own. On twitter he called for House Republicans to vote no. And two republican senators are complaining bitterly you could say over the administrations efforts to justify the attack that killed a top iranian general last week. Paula reed is at the white house for us. Why are they so angry. Reporter good morning. They talked about the justification for the strikes and it did not go well. One said it prompted him to align with democrats to limit the president s war powers. Today, the white house is under fire for lack of transparency in terms of strategy on iran. I believe we are safer today than before President Trump ordered our military to take out Qassem Soleimani. Reporter in last nights interview on the cbs evening news with norah odonnell, Vice President mike pence showed no regrets over the killing of iranian general Qassem Soleimani. What the president did was restore the credibility of our military deterrence. Reporter after Administration Officials briefed lawmakers on iran wednesday one Ardent Supporter emerged furious with the administrations approach. It is probably the worst briefing i have seen at least on a military issue in the nine years i served in the United States senate. Reporter utah senator mike lee said officials tried to quash any debate over the strike. One of the messages we received from the briefers was do not debate. Do not discuss the issue of the appropriateness of further military intervention against iran. Reporter secretary of state mike pompeo who was one of the officials briefing lawmakers did not take questions from reporters after the meeting. Mr. Secretary mr. Secretary thats what they did to us as well. Reporter after returning to the pentagon, mark esper defended the administrations efforts off camera. Very good discussion. Robust discussion. Reporter lee said the discussion convinced him to support a resolution to limit the administrations ability to take further military action against iran without congressional approval. That may not have too much of an impact on the president. Speaking from the white house wednesday, he signaled that for now hell respond to iran with sanctions not strikes. These powerful sanctions will remain until iran changes its behavior. Reporter cbs news learned senator lee was just one of the lawmakers not able to get in a question during this briefing which lasted over an hour but Administration Officials promise to return and answer additional questions. Paula, thank you. Lets bring in our chief washington correspondent Major Garrett. Was the Trump Administration surprised by the anger from mike lee and rand paul . Reporter sure it was but it left the response to one of the more ardent defenders in the senate, lindsey graham. Rand paul called that a gutter response that insults the constitution. And uses a fake drape of patriotism. This kind of intramural fighting among republicans is clearly going to fuel the debate later on the house floor about war powers resolution to limit his actions in iran. They say when that debate comes to the senate, theyll side with democrats. The white house has an unexpected problem on its hands. The president falsely claimed the Obama Administration funded irans missiles because of the Iran Nuclear Deal. What is the reality there . If you want to do a deep dive on this go to Washington Post. Glen kessler, the Washington Post fact checker has a deep dive on it. A few things. This Ballistic Missile was short range meaning it was old. The Iran Nuclear Deal provided funds that could have been used for long range Ballistic Missile. Not the same technology. The president uses two figures. From the Iran Nuclear Deal, both are exaggerated. One wildly exaggerated. One slightly exaggerated. Thats not my contention. Thats Trump Treasury Department number contentions. In the main the accusation, inflammatory, reckless, false. Theres a big rally in ohio tonight that the president is holding. What do you expect considering all thats going on in washington and iran. The president will assert this was a decisive move, that Qassem Soleimani was a bad actor, long overdue. I anticipate the crowd will be enthusiastic. The simple truth is this is something thats being evaluated in a political context. Theres no evidence the pentagon, the administration or Anyone Around the president cited this was a political maneuver. This was a National Security step. You cant take the politics away from it and everything that flows from this decision will be viewed politically. If it works for the president it will be a plus. If bad things happen that havent happened so far hell own each and every one of those consequences. Doesnt appear it is over. Thank you very much, major. An iran news agent quotes the revolutionary guard of further revenge. The general chosen to replace Qassem Soleimani said this morning that he, too, will follow in the same path. Elisabeth palmer is in tehran with more. That sounds ominous but what does that mean, exactly . Reporter good morning. Well hes saying the goal hasnt changed that Iranian Forces will fight on to sooner or later make american troops leave the region. But the headline here in tehran in the immediate term is that the American Military is not planning another strike. In the first real snowfall of the winter, tehran is going about their business were feeling safer. We were afraid that there was going to be a war. Reporter like millions listened to President Trumps speech very closely. Were you relieved when he said there would not be another american attack . Yes. I sleep very well. Very well. The fact we have this great military equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it. Reporter on iranian tv americas decision not to strike back was framed as a climb down by the u. S. And a win for irans revolutionary guards who showcased their missile arsenal. One commander promised iran would take harsher revenge soon. The killing of Qassem Soleimani brought millions into the streets in scenes like these in a show of unity. But the mourning masses dont tell the whole story. Just a few weeks ago thousands of demonstrators showed their fury and frustration with a government they criticized for corruption. And ineptitude. But the mood has changed completely and those voices of dissent have fallen silent at least for now. Thank you very much. Iranian Authorities Say the crew of a ukrainian airliner that crashed in tehran never called for help. According to an early crash report Officials Say the plane was trying to turn back when it went down leaving a trail of debris in a field on the outskirts of the city. But a series of holes like this one in a wing are leading some to question the idea that the plane had mechanical difficulties. Kris van cleave is following all of this for us. Good morning. Those holes certainly raise a lot of questions. Reporter good morning. There are a lot of questions. One of the real challenges is iranian government statements have to be treated with skepticism. A team of investigators are on the ground, looking for any evidence, a missile, antiaircraft. It does appear the plane was on fire as it came down. Our hearts go out to all the families. Reporter mourners gathered last night to remember the 63 canadian victims on Ukraine InternationalAirlines Flight 752 after Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau vowed to find out what happened. Canadians will be asking for answers and were there to support and find out the truth. Reporter the plane was only in the air for a few minutes before disaster struck. The boeing 737s data was in a seemingly normal takeoff. This was hours after iran fired rockets into iraq. Canadian transport minister. We lost contact with it, suggesting that something very unusual happened. Reporter holes in some wreckage at the crash site drew comparisons to the malaysia crash a few years ago. Can you say categorically that the plane wasnt shot down . I cannot. It is too early to speculate. Reporter iranians say they recovered the black boxes but damaged and may be missing some data. The country says it wont give the u. S. Or boeing access. Former ntsb chairman you cant squash speculation except with the truth. The only way youll have the truth here is have a thorough and fair investigation. Reporter 176 on board the three and a halfyearold airline include a newlywed couple, several children and students returning to universities after break. Among them a student, professors described her as an exceptional student. And environmental leader. Just the thought of one of our students dying in such a tragic circumstances is horrifying. Reporter this is 737, but it was not one of the grounded max airplanes. It has an excellent safety history. This particular aircraft went through a maintenance check days before the crash. The airline has a solid safety and maintenance record. The iranians are running this investigation that comes during very intense times between iran and the west and thats another challenge. Only on cbs this morning our lead National CorrespondentDavid Begnaud was allowed inside a crucial power plant in puerto rico that was severely damaged by this weeks earthquakes. The power situation on the island is critical following a 6. 4 magnitude earthquake tuesday. 600,000 customers do have power at the moment but around 900,000 people, about a third of the population are still in the dark. David begnaud is live outside the plant along the southern coast. How did you manage to get inside . Reporter anthony, we came an sat outside of the plant for four and a half hours waiting for the head of the Power Authority to leave. As he drove out i asked for an interview. He said yes. When the interview was over i asked to go inside and see the damage. He said yes to both. It was important because the people of puerto rico do not trust the folks who run the Power Authority. That is the truth. Youre not only about to see the damage and hear what they told us. Youll hear two different stories between the man who runs the Power Authority and the one who runs the plant. Theyre in disagreement when theyre getting the plant up and running. Translator most of the structure is compromised. Reporter our guide was Operations Manager here. He showed us the damage. Starting with these tanks which are used to clean water. It is, he says, the first step in the Energy Generation process. You can see this tank just knocked over and it did it all the way down the line . Yes, sir. Again, without this, you cant provide power. We cannot even think to provide power. Reporter from here perez says the water is sent to larger tanks which have also been damaged. With a fracture in the middle. Reporter just this morning we were invited back inside the plant. They wanted to show us the control room. You can see the damage inside. Its not safe for people to work here. They gave us photos of a damaged turbine. The reality is with it not generating any Energy Hundreds of thousands of people will be without power. Whats the reality . Do you think people will have to get used to having power maybe half the day and not having it the other half . Were going to work 24 hours around the clock. I hear you. A lot of people are happy to hear that. Be as realistic with me as possible. No less than a month. Reporter compare to what the head of puerto ricos electrical Power Authority says. It will be out for probably over a year. How much of this is earthquake related or how much is it just old equipment that hasnt been cared for and updated . Its both. To be honest those plants were over 60 years. Imagine having a taxi 60 years old and youre required to run that 24 7. Thats the kind of business were running. Reporter when folks here in puerto rico heard jose ortiz say it could take a year there was a trending hash tag on twitter, people calling for him to resign. This is what he told me. They are asking fema to bring in a 500 megawatt generator to get this place up and running. When fema heard him say that they reached out to me and said we have not agreed to do that and cannot do that under the current emergency declaration. They need a major emergency declaration. The governor has not requested it and the president has not signed it. You are standing outside and you asked to come in. Reporter this morning, they said come back in, we want to show you more. We wanted people on the island to see what the damage is. David begnaud, thank you. Great reporting. Interesting when the guy says well be working 24 hours around the clock. And we dont see anybody working. Theres more to that good morning. After a windy start to the day as we head through the afternoon we have afternoon sunshine. 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