Abby, the president speaking to nbc tonight and seemingly simultaneously promising the possibility of military action but also saying he wants to talk. Well, jim, the tough talk from President Trump is back from President Trump in this interview with nbc news. Even as he explains his decision to hold off on that attack on iran that was expected last night, the president is also saying that he wants to talk and if iran doesnt want to talk and wants to threaten the United States instead, that there could be consequences. Listen. Im not looking for war and if there is there will be obliteration like youve never seen before. You cant have a nuclear weapon. You want to talk, good. Otherwise youll have a bad economy for the next three years. Any preconditions . Not as far as im concerned. The president is using a similar strategy with iran he has tried to use in other parts of the world, notably north korea. So far it doesnt seem iran has any interest in talking to President Trump at the moment. The strategy hasnt worked with north korea. Do we know exactly why the president changed his mind at the last minute . He tweeted that this was about the number of iranian casualties estimated, but thats typically information you would get long before a strike was planned. Well, the president never wanted to do this strike really in the first place. He has been kind of dragged along to this conclusion all along and has been resistant to this idea that there should be military action with iran. And so as he came into this Decision Making process over the course of the day, he was getting the input from his National Security advisers who were according to our reporting unanimous in their view that a military strike was warranted here. But even while President Trump says that this happened in the last ten minutes, our reporting is that he was briefed on the casualties earlier in the day, but our sources also say that that wasnt internalized until much later for him. And in those last few minutes or even that last hour, the president decided 150 casualties was too much for him. He believed that an unmanned drone strike was not an equivalent to a u. S. Strike that would ultimately result in iranian casualties. So that is why he ended up at this decision that he, frankly, did not want to go into military action in the first place. Abby phillip at the white house. Thank you. There is new reporting as well on the dimensions of the aborted strike and how this all un folded with the people who would have carried it out. Cnns Barbara Starr has that. She joins us from the pentagon. To Abby Phillips point, youve worked at the pentagon for years during several administrations. Is it standard protocol for the president to find out about the estimated casualties on the ground just minutes before a strike is under way . Well, i suppose one of the things is there are no standard protocols with this administration. He says he found out just beforehand. Typically, you know, a president would be very involved for some period of time in looking at plans for a military strike. But this one ramped up very fast. The president was concerned about this, but we also know that u. S. Military commanders were very clear that they could not assure the president even with a limited strike how iran might react and that it would not set off a wider war and by all accounts that was something that military commanders communicated their great concern about to the president. I spoke to a Senior Administration official this afternoon who said that the president s focus now is back on sanctions, not looking immediately at military options. From the pentagon, from your post there, do you see preparations to at least keep those military options open and how quickly could that happen . Sure. I mean, you know, u. S. Warplanes, u. S. Warships will remain on station in the middle east with a very high state of readiness as they have been for some time. Dont expect to see any of that go away. And therefore, if iran were to conduct another provocation, they would be ready to respond at the president s orders. I think thats where we really are going into the weekend, jim. The u. S. Very much on hold now waiting to see what iran does next if anything. Jim. Thats quite a turnaround in 24 hours. Barbara starr at the pentagon. Thanks very much. The president s turnaround has drawn criticism including from members of his own party some of whom seem to have rethought their views of just 24 hours ago. Li listen to senator Lindsey Graham shortly after his briefing on iran at the white house. All i can tell you, if youre not willing to stand up to aggression, youre going to get hurt. This is an enemy of mankind. If youre not willing to take this enemy on, youll regret it. Full of venom and vigor there. That was a few hours before this operation would have taken place. Today, though, a very different message, some might say contradictory from the now hawkish senator. Quoting from his tweet, i appreciate president Donald Trumps desire to be measured and thoughtful when it comes to iranian provocation. What will be the response if they follow through to restar Nuclear Enrichment . I hope the United States will make this a red line. Thats one senators view or views in 24 hours the case may be. Now some thoughts from a republican congressman who also has red lines on his mind. Ad adam kinzinger. He is now a Lieutenant Colonel in the air national guard. We spoke earlier this evening. Congressman, on twitter today you compared President Trumps turnaround on iran to obamas turnaround, famous withdrawal from the red line on syria. You think theres a direct comparison here. Tell us why. I certainly think there is a risk. Look, the president has every right to not strike and i disagree with that decision. I think the problem is how publicly this played outputting out basically an era, putting out a line and backing away from it. If you remember back in 2013 when the president said the use of chemical weapons will result in x, y, and z, the prosecute be is when he didnt do it, people turned around and didnt it seriously and there will be a cost. I worry about in this case. The way this played out today is actually pretty hurtful in the long run. To your credit, congressman, you are a rare republican who will disagree with this president. You certainly agree with him on a number of things, but when you think hes crossed a line, you will say that. Why arent more republicans in a case like this where the parallels are frankly clear and you could say President Trump got even closer this time before pulling back, why does so few of your fellow republicans, why are so few of them willing to do so . So today ive actually seen there have been a number, not everybody, but there have been a number of people that have spoken out and been concerned with this. But i think a lot of it comes down to hes the commander in chief. They want to support him 37 hes obviously the commander in chief of the same party they are and theres a concern. Quite frankly, jim, and you know this because you talk to a lot of members of congress, a lot of members of congress dont know a ton of details about Foreign Policy, so its hard for them to jump to we should have done this or this should have been the response or the reason. I think in the bottom line of this is if iran uses a weapon to take out an asset of United States of america, they ought to lose that weapon. To be fair, yes, the president is commander in chief, but president obama was commander in chief and republicans at the time took no issue in laying into him, President Trump among them, for breaking through that red line. Youre absolutely right. And i remember in 2013 how vocal i was with my own party. I said you have to treat president obama and this decision with the same standard you would treat a republican president. You would give a republican president the authority to do this and if you remember, there was some in kind of the extremes of our party that said we dont want to give this president leverage to do it. I think thats happening in the democrats with President Trump on some of this. The reality is if you were here in 2013 and you made statements and you see the similarities, you have to be consistent. Thats the message i send to my friends everywhere. I spoke to a Senior Administration official this afternoon who said that now the white house is again focusing simply on economic sanctions against iran, not military options. Thats a pretty remarkable turnaround. This time last night the country was bracing itself if not for war, for military action and now that seems to be off the table at least for now. What does that herky jerk if you want to call it or that whiplash on policy, what does that do to american credibility in the region . I think that remains to be seen. I think the sanctions are working. I think they are devastating iran which is why iran is lashing out like they are. I still, again, i will like to see at least the destruction of the site that took out this drone at the very minimum, but that said its not happening. What does it do to the credibility . I think it depends how it plays out from here. If iran does another thing similar to that, i think they would be underestimating the president to think that he again wouldnt act. I think the pressure is on him enough. I think he came close enough that any other provocation would actually lead to a strike probably bigger than was planned last night. So i think this will be judged in history. It may be a blip we never talk about again. It may be a defining moment either way, but time will have to play this out. Congressman, always good to have you on the broadcst. You bet. See you. Theres more inside the white house reporting on this next. Maggie haberman will join us along with someone who had to speak for the pentagon and the state department on occasions like this one. Later more breaking news. The author who just accused the president of sexually assaulting her and the president s reply tonight. 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With licensed agents available 24 7. Its not just easy. Its havingawalrusingoal easy roooaaaar its a walrus ridiculous yes nice save, big guy good job duncan way to go [chanting] its not just easy. Its geico easy. Oh, duncan. Stay up. No sleepies. Obliteration obliter as we try to puzzle out what went into President Trumps literally last minute decision to stop an operation against iran that was either already in progress or nearly so, it is worth considering what he believes now that he got out of it. Cnn political analyst and New York TimesWhite House CorrespondentMaggie Haberman has some new reporting on that. She tweeted out this morning, im quoting now, a source told me 30 minutes ago that trump was pleased with his own performance last night, loved being in command by ordering the strikes and then ordering the stand down and the president just tweeted it. As always, she gets a twelielli quote. John kirby who served as a spokesman during the obama administration. I wonder how the president can feel he comes out looking good here when he backed off from what appeared to be a red line by his own definition here and of course he laid into president obama for backing off his red line on syria in 2013. Is he convinced that he looks strong here . I think that even if he isnt convinced, hes going to say that he is, but he appeared very happy according to everyone i spoke with who was in contact with him. He liked the power of it. He liked being able to approve a strike and then pull it back while it was in process, but before anything had actually been fired. Look, its still not clear. Theres a lot that you put it very well. We are trying to tease out this puzzle of what happened yesterday. Theres still a lot of questions about what exactly went down, what this new information was that he got. The strike was on according to multiple sources and then suddenly it wasnt. I know that the president said publicly that the reason was that he had learned about the loss of life. Weve been told by other people he was told much earlier in the day about what the potential casualties were, whether he was actually, you know, felt that he had been fully briefed, whether he was fully aware of what was being put in front of him, i dont know. I think there is still more to learn about this episode. Admiral kirby, youve been involved in meetings where military action like this was discussed and decided. Is it credible to you that a president , the commander in chief, would find out 10 minutes or 30 minutes, the president has given two different time frames, but 10 or 30 minutes before the missiles are fired in effect about the estimated casualties on the ground . In this case an estimate of 150 iranians possibly killed on the ground. Does that make sense . No, its not incredible in terms of whether he was briefed or not at that late time. I know for a fact he would have been briefed much earlier than that. Look, the civilian casualty or even just the enemy casualty estimates as well as any Collateral Damage estimates by a munitions package is always in the up front of the brief thats given to the commander in chief or to the commander ordering or potentially ordering a strike. Its laid out right in the beginning. Its like the first powerpoint slide. Heres what its going to cost in terms of potential life. Im confident that he had to have been briefed very early on for this. Now, whether he digested it, whether he internalized it, where he understood t i agree with maggie, i dont think we know. Maybe they did have to come back to him right before with another reminder. Maybe he did ask for that. I dont know. Or its possible hes using it for an excuse for what might have been a politically motivated decision. I dont know. This president has defined his Foreign Policy to some degree as to be distinguished from president obamas because he will enforce red lines and he of course to go a victory lap after ordering military action against syria after use of chemical weapons there. But now you have republicans like liz cheney making comparisons to the president , this president not enforcing a red line here. How does the president handle that criticism . Well, i think he handles it by rejecting it but i do think hearing criticism from other republicans of that nature, comparing him to what many people feel was pretty valid criticism of president obama for allowing his own red lines to be crossed and not doing much, that is going to i think bother this president significantly. He has not laid out he seemed to be moving the red line yesterday, right . His public remarks, and i think he did it again in an interview with nbc, he suggested if it had been a manned drone, then there would have been a bigger issue, but since this was just a piece of technology, that was not really the same kind of thing. So there seems to be a shift there, but i think hes going to plow through it the same way he always does and essentially ignore it. I do think the comparisons to obama will be what get to him. Admiral, this was unmanned, but it was 110 Million Drone flying in International Air space at 50,000 feet, it is shot down into a million pieces out of the sky and the u. S. Response is silence in effect. Does that embolden further attacks . If the response is silence, if they do nothing, then yes, i think this will further embolden them but even the rouhani government to some degree. If theres no response from the american government, i hope that what they consider is a multilevel response. Not just maybe economic sanctions, but you could do theres military actions you could take that are not provocative to try to dissuade and deter the iranians further. I dont think its a complete mistake that this all became public today because clearly the iranians understand how close it came. And thats not all together a bad thing. Thats a fair point. Admiral kirby, thanks very much. Maggie, please stick around because up next there is more breaking news about this president. In a magazine excerpt from a fo