Home in florida defended the strike. We did not take action to start a war. We do not seek regime change, however, the iranian regimes aggression in the region including the use of proxy fighters to destabilize its neighbors must end and it must end now. The United States has the best military by far anywhere in the world. We have the best intelligence in the world. If americans anywhere are threatened, we have all of those targets already fully identified, and i am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary, and that in particular refers to iran. Soleimani was reviled abroad for his role in orchestrating a number of deadly attacks including the deaths of hundreds of americans. In his home in iran, though, thousands took to the streets to mourn his death. The department of defense issuing a Statement Last night confirming the drone attacks saying soleimani, quote, was actively developing plans to attack american diplomats and Service Members in iraq and throughout the region. This strike was aimed at deterring future attack plans. Today the pentagon deployed about 3,000 troops to the region in response to the increased threat levels because of the attack. Response on capitol hill has been mixed with republicans commending the president s action and democrats questioning whether trump had considered the potential repercussions. Irans Supreme Court leader the ayatollah promised harsh retaliation. The state Department Urged americans to leave iraq immediately. Tensions between the United States and iraq have been building during the three years of Donald Trumps presidency. The u. S. Has blamed rocket attacks on iranianbacked forces along with that attack on the u. S. Embassy in baghdad last week that precipitated soleimanis killing. Joining me from iraq, nbcs chief foreign correspondent, richard engel. And from tehran, ali uzi. Let me start with you and what do we know now . Obviously this is something that a lot of folks got caught off guard about 24 hours ago. What do we know about what happened . What led to it . Well, what led to it is a very long discussion. This was something that the United States, many in the u. S. Military have wanted to do for a very long time. They had an old score to settle with Qasem Soleimani. You talk about how he killed hundreds of americans. He killed hundreds of american troops who were fighting a war here in iraq that iran felt very threatened by. Iran wouldnt call that terrorism. Iran would say thats what generals do in war, they kill their enemies. And there were pane many in the pentagon who wanted vengeance for that. They wanted to take him out, so to speak. And now youre hearing President Trump talking about how successful he was and talking about Qasem Soleimani in the same breath as the al qaeda leader abu bakr baghdadi. Theyre not alike at all. Al baghdadi led a terrorist group that carried out attacks in night clubs in europe, that beheaded hostages, that tortured hostages. Qasem soleimani was an official representative of the iranian government that led a policy to try and expand iranian influence around the world and was very successful at it and was very popular at home. Upcoming, youre going to talk to ali rusesy, and hell tell you what a significant figure Qasem Soleimani was in iran and what kind of implications this is going to have. But i think we know a little bit about where this is going because this is not over. This wasnt just a oneoff strike against the classic dilemma, one mans a terrorist, the other is freedom fighter. In this case one man irans National Hero and a United States terrorist responsible for killing hundreds of troops in iraq. But this is now becoming a war against all of irans partners, these proxy militias that Qasem Soleimani was responsible for nurturing and knitting together as a united force. In the last several hours theres been yet another american air strike targeting a convoy containing several shia militia leaders. Now, it may seem like apples and oranges. They were iraqis, he was an iranian general. Its not. Its part of the same militant shiia front that Qasem Soleimani was part of, was the founder of. And now that front which has representatives all throughout the middle east, feels under attack and could very much feel the need to respond violently. Watch closely what happens tomorrow in baghdad. These same shiia militias, the same shiia militias that were allied with Qasem Soleimani, the same militias whose leaders were attacked, maybe six of them killed in a convoy of vehicles just north of baghdad in the last several hours, those shia militias tomorrow are going to be holding mourning celebrations for their leaders not far from the u. S. Embassy. And if they try to go into the green zone crossing one bridge in particular and going into the green zone, u. S. Forces there could open fire on them and then we could have a cycle of violence like this country hasnt seen in years. Ali, lets go to you in tehran. Richard sets up possibilities here in terms of a response from iranianbacked militias perhaps. What is the expectation where you are in terms of what the response will look like and in terms of how prepared the United States is for it . You heard the president there saying the United States is prepared at all possible locations here. What is your sense of that . Well, theres definitely going to be a response. Theres no doubt about that. Iran is going to want some sort of reprisal for what happened to what was ultimately the second most powerful man in the country, Qasem Soleimanis assassination. But i dont think youre going to see a knee jerk reaction from iran. Iran is very good at playing the long game. They are going to plan their reprisal very carefully and that could involve one of many things that they have at their disposal. The main option being unleashing the shiia militias that Qassem Soleimani so successfully created throughout this region, that network of proxies that were so fiercely loyal to him and are probably still fiercely loyal to him in death. So there could be attacks by proxies on u. S. Assets in this area, u. S. Military bases. There could be Cyber Attacks by the iranians, which they have done before. So they have a lot of options available for them. I dont think the iranians are going to want to get involved in some sort of conventional warfare because gun for gun, tank for tank, airplane for airplane they are no match for the u. S. Army. But in an asymmetrical war which involves unconventional types of fighting, that could be an extremely difficult match for america. That is something they are very good at, and they have honed their skills on doing. So sitting down in rooms in tehran right now senior revolutionary guard commanders, members of the Security Council are now probably plotting their next move. There was a meeting today of the national Security Council in iran, and very, very unusually Ayatollah Khamenei attended that meeting. He never attends those meetings. Its always someone like general soleimani who would attend those meetings or one of his deputies that would be there on his behalf. Hes not around anymore, so the Supreme Leader is stepping in making some of those Major Military decisions. In the coming days richard is right, we can expect some sort of reprisal from here somewhere in this region, steve. Thank you both for joining us. And americas european allies who were not given advanced notice of the strike warned today of potential retaliatory violence. Regional experts tell nbc news while soleimani is gone he quote balt global web of proxies and allies while operating largely in the shadows. Now that same network is likely poised to avenge his killing, posing a strike that could strike just about anywhere in the world. For more on that im joined by Courtney Kube and david ignatius. Let me start with you. In terms of establishing what the United States was seeking to achieve here, we said it up front the word from the administration was that there were imminent attacks being planned and this was a preventive step to keep it from happening. Do we know anything at this hour about what attacks the administration had in mind here, had on its radar, and do they believe that this killing has stopped that threat . So we know a little bit. We dont have a lot of specifics about it, so some of it on the record, some of it on background. General mark milly, the chairman of the joint chiefs spoke to a group of reporters today. He declined to give any specifics they were tracking, but told a bit about the atmospherics around it saying they gathered the information very recently. He felt confident it was solid, he praised the intelligence actually as being rock solid, in fact, Qasem Soleimani was direct examining planning and helping with these imminent attacks that were in more than one place. We know from u. S. Officials and defense officials across the u. S. Government that they were concerned about three specific possible attacks that were in the coming days, planned to be in the coming days. One was in lebanon against both diplomatic and potentially some Financial Institutions there. And one was u. S. Military locations in syria, primarily in the eastern part of syria, and then there was of course iraq. My colleague and i have been reporting today that soleimani took two recent trips, but he also was in lebanon recently and officials are telling us that, in fact, those trips were to go and finalize some of the planning and approve some of the planning for these attacks. But i need to stress that no one is talking in the u. S. Government is talking on the record with any of these specifics yet. And so thats why its being met with some resistance, that in fact there was some kind of imminent threat here. Qasem soleimani and these iranianbacked shiia militia groups that operate in iraq and throughout the region have presented a threat to u. S. Coalition and iraqis, locals in these areas for some time. The kataib hezbollah, who the u. S. Took these strikes against last weekend is responsible according to the u. S. Military for hundreds of deaths, and more than 2,000 american Service Members being wounded from these new explosive form projectiles they introduced on the battlefield more than a decade ago in iraq and for some of their tactics. Qasem soleimani and the quds force and these proxy groups, they have represented a threat in this region for some time, steve. David, we say the tensions have been building for three years under donald trump between the United States and iran. You write, though, in a new column at the Washington Post that war with iran has been coming at us in slow motion since 1979, the year of the iranian revolution that put took out the shah and put Ayatollah Khamenei in power. Put this moment in that bigger context. People of my generation have a searing memory of the seizure of our embassy in tehran in 1979, the image of america held hostage by the new iranian revolution. In all the years since then, just over 40 years, the United States has struggled to find a way to deal with this revolutionary regime that is has been consistently been destabilizing in the middle east. The u. S. Has tried everything. Its had actions just short of war. Its at various points tried to form secret contacts, dialogue with iran. President obama made his Nuclear Agreement with iran hoping that that would be a path toward greater moderation. In all that time nothing has worked, the revolution has remained intense, a destabilizing force, and its iconic symbol increasingly has been Qasem Soleimani, the Quds Force Commander and general who was killed in baghdad last night. He was quiet, in many ways a reversed man, small in stature from a working class background. But he built the network weve been discussing. Across the middle east he formed proxy groups, hezbollah and lebanon, shiia militias in syria. Many analyses think that bashar al assad, the president of syria, would surely have lost that bloody civil war that began in 2011 if he hasnt been rescued by Qasem Soleimani and his iranian trainers, fighters and the militia who came across the border from beirut. So over all this time i think america has been moving towards a confrontation with iran. Ive written the phrase brink of war in the persian gulf so many times over this period, i should have a function key at my computer. But now its really here. The killing of this general acknowledged by our president and by our secretary of defense as it happened, senior most senior military officer of another country, that really takes us into the zone of warfare after all this time. I think there are two final questions id note, steve. The first is what was done last night legal. The United States has a prohibition against assassination, so weve heard President Trump and secretary of state esper arguing there was an imminent threat that soleimani was involved in, this was in effect an act of selfdefense. Theyre going to have to make that case more clearly. And the second question, much more haunting, was this action wise, whats your strategy, whats your end game . David ignatius, Courtney Kube, thank you for joining us. And coming up the political fall out in washington from the killing of irans top military commander. Republican lawmakers largely showing support for President Trumps actions. Democrats expressing grave concerns. The question moving forward is whether the administration has given any thought as to how to manage the fallout that comes from such a drastic action. This is the equivalent of the iranians assassinating the u. S. Secretary of defense. Plus Congress Returns on monday with the house and senate still at an impasse over the president s impeachment trial. How could this play out, and does the conflict with iran change anything . Weve got much more to get to. Stay with us. U doug and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] its an honor to tell you that Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. And now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ] only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. They Work Together doing important stuff. The hitch . Like you, your cells get hungry. Feed them. With centrum® micronutrients. Restoring your awesome. Daily. Feed your cells with centrum® micronutrients today. Feed your cells with i have moderate to severe pnow, theres skyrizi. Things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free to bare my skin yeah thats all me. 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Last night the United States conducted a military operation designed to kill Major GeneralQasem Soleimani, a notorious terrorist. No one should shed a tear over his death. The operation against soleimani in iraq was conducted, however, without something authorization and any advance notification or consultation with congress. Welcome back to hardball. That was Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer on the air strike that killed iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Reaction to that operation from members of congress is sharply divided today with democrats like schumer blasting the administration for failing to Alert Congress about the strike. In a Statement Last night nancy pelosi said the air strike, quote, risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence. Pelosi noted the strike was conducted, quote, without an authorization for use of military force and without the consultation of the congress adding the full Congress Must be immediately briefed on this serious situation. While the speaker was left in the dark about the strike one of the president s Top