The possibility of just that. So lets get into this special edition of prime time. All right. The latest word is u. S. Military official tells cnn troops that they did have enough Early Warning of the Ballistic Missile launches to sound alarms at the al assad bases in iraq. So, what does that mean . Those in harms way were arable able to get to bunkers and safety and hunker down. If true and all are safe that is a true blessing and also the best indication that this situation may not escalate. The president of the United States tweeted a few hours ago. Quote all is well. So far so good. Now, that is an interesting characterization of being bombed in two different base. The ultimate analysis is were the casualties. Was there loss. Was there clear reason for another step towards escalation . The problem here is the president s practicality vs. His tweets in the past. He laid out a red line. That iran clearly crossed with its bombing. Is that the point of action. So far it isnt. The president says hell make a Statement Wednesday morning. We wait that. Iran put out a statement by foreign minister who tweeted his country took proportionate measures in selfdefense. Heres the important part. Does not seek escalation or war but will defend against any aggression. We have global Team Coverage of course. Lets begin in washington with cnn white house correspondent. Now late obviously on the east coast. What is the latest word and the indication of what comes tomorrow . That tweet from the president that you mentioned is what were hearing from the white house. That is the latest word that were getting. All is well. So far so good. Far from the fire and brimstone that we were hearing from the president just a couple days ago. As the United States waited to see how iran would retaliate. We know how they have indeed retaliated with the missiles fired at iraq bases. Housing u. S. Troops in iraq. The president is sounding a cautiously optimistic tone. And making very clear that the thing he has his eye on over night and prepare to see whether or not the president of the United States will respond with his own military response is this casualties. That is what the president is keeping his eye on. He says assessment of casualties and damages taking place now. So far so good. As you mention, the president set this red line a couple days ago and clearly that red line has been crossed. Remember the president didnt just talk about attacks that would kill american troops he talked about attacks on u. S. Interest as well. And if Iraq Base Housing American Troops is not a u. S. Interest, im not sure what else would be. Hopefully the tweet wont rule with all the other circumstances and counsel hes getting. Well see. Thank you very much. Lets go to cnn in berut. What do you make of what iran did as retaliation . I have to say this is not necessarily a move that was designed to create the max amount of american casualties. I dont know the exact lay out of the air base. Normally this time of night you would expect troops to be sleeping in large numbers in a tent. Surrounded by concrete to protect themselves from a blast in the event they didnt get a warning. Unless you a direct hit upon the sleeping facilities you wont get that much casualties. The Missile Technology is not necessarily able to deliver that pinpoint attack. We have a dozen missiles fired. But the u. S. Million tear op a high state of alert with significant and sophisticated antimissile systems. Some may have been already this morning. The calculation by irans leaders must have been not particularly well to grasp what the missiles were able to do or possibly thinking if they fire in the night like this it might make a loud bang or statement of military force. That they want to. But not necessarily kill enough americans to a u. S. Response. Theres something from this of an off ramp. That iran gets to say we have done our bit. America did its bit and everybody moves on tomorrow. Its so hard to necessarily predict quite how the Trump Administration will react to Something Like this. It appears to cross the red line. Certainly in terms of attack against u. S. Interest. You have to look at this in terms of how it makes iran loolk in the region. They were making noise about forcing the United States out. The Supreme Leader has been reported to suggest he wanted to see Iran Military attack against the u. S. Military. Hes got that. It didnt occur in any way which thus far appears to have been that effective. Many when they heard it thought it was the strangest way for iran to respond. A military military confrontation between teheran and washington. The pentagon would win in that. They thought proxies and other ways of harming the United States if they chose to do that. Right. Of course called for it to come from main line iranian military. Thats what seems to have happened here. According to the intelligence report. And their good at that they saw them setting them up and tracked them. Well see what comes next. Very interesting observations i appreciate you for them. Stay safe. Thank you. Lets go to teheran. Thank you for joining me. First, what do you make of this notion that maybe irans plan was to make a show of force, show they could have done worse, but not cause a lot of deadly impact. Do you believe they have that kind of sensitive capability and have that kind of sensitivity . Yes, actually, they have already said that. Sp made the point that just we want to have a tit for tat. The game is over. And that will be the end of the game of violation. And iran said that we will have a harsh response. If you like. And en after harsh response, we want our assured that peace will presail and everything will be okay. Actually from early morning. We can see the video of jubilation sometimes. Run by the agency. So the people are happy for the victory. That means the victory for peace and to end the war or to deescalate. So from their point of view, the narrative is that we did or tit for tat. And the game is over. That would be great. But lets take one more step down the road of analysis. Because if soleimani meant as much to the iranian government and culture as suggested by the display of memorial and what has been said by the leadership, how is sending bombs assuming they had capability and intention to come close but not hurt anybody. Which is hard to believe. How is that an appropriate response to losing your number two . Not that i wish anything worse. But why would that appease people within the hard line . Appease people because people dont like war. And although they are angry and show their anger in the rally when they pay respect for soleimani. Their beloved commander. It doesnt mean they love war and want to see the war between america. That is also the least thing a risk and thats the way the war is not sold here. Supreme leader said over and over there wont be a war. There wont be a negotiation either. So the top leadership in iran doesnt want to seek war. Reiterate over and over. And at the same time to appease people. And use the blog of their command beloved commander who unified the country. To unify a divided society. So actually soleimanis blood has served a purposes of the ruling theocracy. Now the harsh response according to the narrative has happened. Lets go back to our the routine. I appreciate that perspective and i hope its accurate. That would be great if this is the end of the violence and we can move onto Something Else. A bizarre event that happened tonight that we dont believe had anything to do with hostility between iron and the United States. What a bizarre twist. After the bombing this video coming out. Locally. Of a boeing 737, 180 passengers on board. Crashing just after taking off from teheran. Preliminary reports suggest the plane was in route to kiev. Ukraine. Obviously a big player in american politics. The word i understand it please you tell me, from teheran is this was not anything to do with any kind of retailuation. This was a mechanical problem. What a bizarre thing to happen on this night. Yes. It is the worst scenario that could happen. Catastrophe. In terms of human casualty. And people are shocked and unfortunately it was not top news because the top news was harsh response to american base in iraq. And so it was ignored almost. Because the top news over shadowed anything else. Actually the head of the iran Navigation Organization confirmed that yes, theres no chance for any survival and all on board died. Now collecting anything they can. Just to find out whats going on. What happened. And to looking for the black box to understand the investigation. But it was very bad. Catastrophe in a very unrightful time. It was a tragedy. That of course is not rare in this part of the country. Especially for ukrainian and russian planes. But its a catastrophe. Unfortunately nobody survived. 180 lives lost. On a night we have been watching for loss of life. Thank you so much for what is going on there. What may happen next and share this bizarre circumstances that cost so much life tonight unremitted to what we have been following. Well hear later on wednesday morning from the president. Thats what were told. Question is what are we going to hear . More importantly what will we hear from congress . I had the Top Republican in charge of our security on tonight and he said he doesnt think the president has to consult with congress about any of this. Can that be . Have they learned nothing from whats happened over the last few days chl well bring in a House Armed Services committee member. Next. [sneeze and sniffles] are you ok . Yah, its just a cold. Its not just a cold if you have high blood pressure. Most cold medicines may raise blood pressure. Coricidin hbp is the. 1 brand that gives. 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Nurse you should know, he did it as mayor, hell get it done as president. Mrb im Mike Bloomberg and i approve this message. I feelbusiness cards. New logo. Outdoor sign. You always get me. This week, buy one hp ink, get one 30 off at office depot, officemax and officedepot. Com excuse me. Uh. Do you mind. Being a motour . What could be better than being a motour . The real question is. Do you mind not being a motour . I do. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. The president tweeted that devote all is well. After iran launched a dozen missiles at two bases that hold u. S. Troops. The reason he has any basis to say that is because so far no report of any casualty. Lest get reaction from a member of the house. California democrat, good to have you back on prime time very interesting the state of play now iran launched missiles whether it was any way intentional or just in incompetence. At this point it doesnt seem they spilled any american blood. That would still cross the red line the president set in a tweet. Do you see that as a real guideline . Or is there an actual window to let hostility pass. I think theres a word that has been said by the secretary of defense and a similar word in a tweet from the foreign minister of iran. That is deescalate. It appears as though both sides want to deescalate. That is excellent. Wonderful, terrific news. If there is a tit for tat or retaliation now on the part of the United States that wont take place. Its time for everybody to stop for a moment and take a deep breath. Let this deescalate. And see if we can get back to where we were prior to this rocket attacks and the rocket attacks that killed the american. And the killing of soleimani. So, if it doesnt happen that way, then it is not an issue of the americans defending themselves from an attack. It is an attack by america into iran. That is the requirement for congress to pass a resolution and act of war. Which we must do before the president takes any other step. Let me ask you something about that. Before tonight, that is with congress being boxed out of any discussion about what the president was doing under the guideline of imminent threat. That the secretary of state nor any other member of the administration including the president has been able to explain to anybody satisfaction. Except the die hard supporters. Isnt that jr. Job already . Yet another example of congress its power to provide statutory or declaration powers to a president . Depends upon the word imminent. We can dance around that word or try to number the angels dancing on the head of a pin. The reality is the president has the power to protect americans, military and otherwise, from an imminent threat. Now where we are today is that there is no apparent imminent threat if in fact iran is sending a signal that is doesnt intend to do more than intends to deescalate. The next move is up to the United States. He could argue he really doesnt need you. They were just bombed. If he wants to do something he has a justification. I think not. Because that is then moving into an ongoing war situation. Not an imminent threat of attack but rather a full blown lets go to war. In which case it is up to congress to take that and up really the responsibility of the president. To come before congress and in a joint session say we need to attack or continue to attack iran. So they dont do this or that to us. You think anything further would require congress but you dont think talking out soleimani required congress . I think that, yes, congress should have been notified ahead of time. However, i dont see much use in debating the word imminent at this point. Going forward there is as we know it today, no imminent threat of an attack. Clearly iran signalled it was going to attack. We knew that those missiles were being readied. If we wanted to deal with an imminent attack, we could have attacked those missiles before they were launched. If we see a situation in which the missiles are being rolled out and ready to fire. And yes we have an imminent attack. Were in a situation now where its up to the president to make a decision. Deescalate if he intends to escalate this then in my view he must come to congress and ask for a declaration of war and its up to us to say yes or no depending on the argument and circumstances. From my point of view there is no declaration of war that is justified nor is there an imminent attack that we know of at this moment. Congressman, i appreciate you very much. On a very important night. All right. This is the Foreign Policy test that may define this administration. He threatened a disproportionate military response if iran attacked again. And now it has. This isnt about baiting the president. This is about holding his words up to scrutiny. Two state Department Veterans are here to help understand where things could go, what the tweet should mean or not mean. Next. I can. The two words whispered at the start of every race. Every new job. And attempt to parallel park. electrical current buzzing each new draft of every novel. typing clicks the finishing touch on every masterpiece. newborn cries it is humanitys official twoword war cry. Words that move us all forward. The same two words that Capital Group believes have the power to improve lives. And that, for over 85 years, have inspired us to help people achieve their financial goals. Talk to your advisor or consultant for investment risks and information. Everything your trip needs for everyone you love. Expedia. For everyone you love. Or more on car insurance. S could save you fifteen percent Everybody Knows that. Well, did you know pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker . I look around this room and i see nothing but untapped potential. You have potential. You haveoh boy. Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Wthats why xfinity hasu made taking your internetself. And tv with you a breeze. Really . Yup. You can transfer your Service Online in about a minute. You can do that . Yeah. And with twohour Service Appointment windows, its all on your schedule. Awesome. So while moving may still come with its share of headaches. No kidding. Were doing all we can to make moving simple, easy, awesome. Go to xfinity. Com moving to get started. We dont want to be overly optimistic in the situation. It does seem at this point that iran sees the missile launches that it did today and this evening. As retaliation. As this is it. That seems to be the message from the Iranian Foreign minister. And so far, as far as we know. Now that daylight comes in the middle east and they can assess in the u. S. Base. There are no casualties to report at this point. As i said iran foreign minister tweeted that the attacks were concluded in what he called proportionate measures his country is not seeking escalation. That seems to suggest in a plain reading that tlair not going to do anything else. Two questions. Does that mean that were in a period of deescalation . Entering of diplomatic situation. That