fox news channel for the latest on the iran retaliation in the form of missiles fired at the base housing american troops. we have you covered, breaking news, thanks for inviting us into your home tonight -- thanks for "special report," fair, balanced, still >> martha: fox s operation revenge underway as missile surfaces missiles as we understand them, multiples of them going into iraq from iran. you look at images from iranian tv as we see on the screen, at the second we are told crude missiles or short range ballistic missiles. and the early reports that they were coming from many directions in the early accounts that we got of this attack. on the u.s. if facility in iraq. a little bit more information coming into iraq/assad of

irani and top generals. and reportedly, time to be carried out about 1:28 a.m. the exact time of the death at the hands of the united states and senator john kennedy standing bt first we want to take it to the pentagon to national security correspondent jennifer griffin who is with us live from the pentagon with the very latest from what she is learning from her sources there, jennifer, good evening to you. >> good evening, martha. a senior source in baghdad tells me multiply bases have been targeted tonight. here is the message i received about an hour ago from the senior u.s. military source. under missile attacks from iran, these are either cruise missiles or short range ballistic missiles all over the country. i'm told they are either cruise or short range ballistic missiles being fired from iranian territory at multiple u.s. bases, including al-assad

airbase and the province which is the home to most of the u.s. troops that are based inside iraq and iraq he forces. here is what defense secretary mark esper told the pentagon press earlier today. >> what happens next depends on them. i think we should expect that they will retaliate in some way, shape, or form through their proxies as they have been doing now for how many years. and or by their own hand. so we take this one step at a time. we are. don't prepare for and a contingency. >> martha: what is unusual about this strike, martha, these missiles we are told were firedm inside iranian territory at the u.s. target, u.s. military had been expecting a response, as you heard the secretary say. in fact, they held that press conference earlier today to try to warn the iranians. martha. >> martha: jennifer, we are just getting in the first images

that are coming in from iranian news agencies. we will take a look at this. i think you will be able to see it a little bit on your screen as well, jennifer. and we can see some of these missiles as they move through the air. it is very dark, obviously, 12:20 a.m. and iraq. but the state-controlled media and iran and the significance that these images will have or at least they hope they will have. >> the significance is the iranians are doing but they said they would do, that they would respond within three days after the morning ended for qassem soleimani as you mentioned, exactly almost a week ago, five days ago at this exact time. this, the pentagon has been bracing itself for, you saw, they were moving forces around. nato had begun moving troops out of iraq. hundreds of troops had left iraq. the u.s. as they are staying in

iraq and in fact, they had moved some troops from smaller bases into these larger bases like al-assad. and so the question is, what comes next? the u.s. military said they will defend themselves. that most likely there will be a target where these missiles were fired from. and if that is iranian territory, that escalates the confrontation to a whole new level. this is extremely unusual to have ballistic missiles were cruise missiles fired from iranian territory into iraq he territory. notation for iraqi sovereignty and the targeting of american forces there. >> martha: striking images as we watch this video. we will be watching again in a moment. i want to explain to everybody, these are the first images that we have of these missiles. the missile strike going towards u.s. bases in iraq from places in iran in several areas and iran. jennifer, thank you very much for being with us. we will be going around the horn

to keep everybody in the loop tonight as we cover this breaking story. the strikes at this hour, on the heels of these comments from the iranian foreign minister. watch. >> this is state federalism, aggression against iraq. and it amounts to arm detect. and we will respond. that is misinformation. he needs to wake up and apologize. >> martha: senator john kennedy of louisiana joining me now. senator kennedy, good evening to you. obviously, a lot is underway here. your initial thoughts as you have this news. >> i'm not surprised, number one. this is the 12th time in the last 60 days that either iraq or iraq he proxies have fired at american military boys and

girls in iraq. and this is come i don't know the size of the rocket where the missile yet. i don't know the number, but this has been par for the course for a while are the only thing different that i can tell this time is that iran is accepting responsibility. in the past, what, 11 times, they have lied about it. now, this day, i have said this day has been coming, but in truth, martha, this day has been here for a while. i mean, this is the 12th attack on her troops. the iranians have shot down drones. they have tried to destroy the saudi oil fields. they tried to storm the embassy. so when my democratic friends say, oh, we need appeasement. well appeasement hasn't worked. and i think we have learned that with respect to iran, this

invites the woods. do i wish this were happening? no, but america is not the bad guy here. we don't want to take over iran. all we are asking iran, we are asking iran as this. number one, stop trying to hurt us. number two kokomo stop trying to hurt our friends. and number three, you can't have a nuclear weapon. why? based on your past experiences but we don't know how you will use them. other than that, we are fine to just leave iran alone and let them run their lives like they want to. but they just won't stop these provocative acts. >> martha: you know, it is very interesting because some of the dialogue if you read between some of the sound bites in the past 24 hours from iran have indicated that they would do a retaliatory attack. and then they wanted it to be over.

which i find very interesting. i just want to bring to the viewer's attention a couple iran that they have cracked, coming from a peak, u.s. officials confirm air strike at iraq's al-assad airbase housing u.s. troops and of course, we are waiting to hear if there have been, you know, any injuries related to them. and as i heard congressman wal walsh, say a short time ago, watch for whether or not these attacks are aimed at infrastructure or if they are aimed at places where we have personnel. because it may be, and we certainly hope that this is the case, that if it is an infrastructure hit, it is something that does not affect our people and is a message to sort of, sort of cross the bouts. and i want to get your response. i want to get one more piece of news if i make my senator commit says iran revolutionary guard after this happened warned the united states and regional allies against retaliating over

the missile attack in iraq. the issue in the statement carried by iran irna news agency warning allies who gave the basic terrorist army that you need territory that is a starting point of aggressive acts against iran will be targeted. your reaction to that, sir. >> well, you're absolutely right, martha. we have to get the facts. number one, were the iranians shooting at our people or infrastructure? number two did any of the men or women get killed? did any of the iraqi colleagues get killed? we need to get the facts. this may be, i'm not saying that it is, but it may be but again we don't have the facts, that this is iran's way of saving face. all i know that is when the president took the step he took, it was, in my opinion, just. it reverberated throughout the middle east including the world, and number three, iran

understands that the united states of america is serious then for heart attacks and a stroke. now, does that mean that we should double down after whatcom with the 12th attack that they have made against us? let's wait and get the facts. but we came to this the easy way or the hard way and nobody on capitol hill that i know what wants to do with the hard way. we just want iran to leave us alone. stop killing our friends, and iran can't have a nuclear weapon. and i don't think that is unreasonable to ask. is there anybody with a brain above -- let me put it in a positive way -- anybody that has a brain above a single cell organism would not trust iran with a nuclear weapon the way they have been at dominic reacting the last several years, indeed since 1979. >> martha: i want to ask about

the iranian people because i know every time they have made statements about this, you point out that you draw a very strong line between the leadership in iran and a lot of iran's people. >> they are good people. >> martha: they have a culture that is deep and long that goes back centuries that they are very proud of. and a lot of them would like to shake themselves free of this bureaucracy that runs the country. now, they don't have the resources that we have. you know, the idea that they are excited to launch into a war with united states, i think, does not hold much water. so i think the question is, do you see an opening here? is this regime in trouble at this point? is this pinning them down to some extent despite the fact that we have seen this counterattack tonight? >> yes my hope this is an opening. and yes. we are choking the economy in

iran to death. there were 80 million iranians that are good people, well-educated, and the iranians have a strong middle class. most of them do not support their authoritarian government in the eye of fellow men. the reason they have been rioting, but the reason they haven't done more at -- the reason they haven't done more is because they will get killed if they do. >> martha: they have killed at least 1500 people according to reuters report. >> and soleimani was in charge of that. but iranian people if you give them a choice to take my pill complement they would say, let's get rid of the ayatollah and we want to live in peace. and so do we. but i'm sorry, there is evil in the world and weakness invites the woods. some of my democratic friends and not all of them, but they say, well appeasement, appeasement is the answer. united states through president trump has demonstrated

extraordinary restraint over the past 90 days. i mean, the missile strikes, this is the 12th missile strike aimed at men and women who defend america, our military. they tried to storm our embassy, for god's sakes! appeasement didn't work. >> martha: it was interesting today we heard some of the defense secretary and from the president that essentially saying, we are prepared to respond if attacked, but our posture is that what we want to see is de-escalation. >> yes, we want de-escalation. >> martha: even an opportunity at some point to sit down in a known condition based manner. senator kennedy come i think you very much for being with us tonight as we all watch across the country unfold. i want to point out to everybody on the right-hand side of your screen, these are images coming from iran. this is the missile attack from

iran. ballistic missiles headed to iran into iraq and iran revolutionary guard has taken responsibility for this attack that has been underway. my thanks to senatnedy. good to have you with us. thank you very much as always. 20 meet fox sports life in baghdad tonight, watching all of this unfold, what can you tell us tonight? >> martha, good evening, we are getting a statement from the department of defense confirming the attacks. the surface missiles fired from iranian territory, and releasing the statement, confirming more than a dozen ballistic missiles. reports indicate it could be more than 30 ballistic missiles, mostly fired toward the al-assad airbase in western iraq. this is a airbase that houses many u.s. troops. according t to the department of defense, there were coalition that were also targeted as a result of the missiles fired from iranian territory.

and releasing a statement from the irg's eve once revolutionary guard and they have fired these missiles. it is unclear whether this is the response they have been talking about all week or just the beginning but i can tell you bases in iraq on high alert, after last week, president trump made the decision to use a joint nomadic drone strike to killed the leader, qassem soleimani and his burial was today. a grieving of the morning. matt, and we heard from the president and a number of other top generals today. all using a variety of different language and they will strike towards american, and american blood will be spilled. and he tried to explain this will be a response that he explained that will be weighted equal to the killing of top military commander. what we have seen tonight and reports indicating more than 30

ballistic missiles fired from an iraqi base housing american troops. here in iraq a major escalation. the first time that you are seeing these types of missiles used in this larger conflict. because what we were saying before as a proxy war. i want to take you back about a month ago whenever that american contractor was killed in those four u.s. food gnomic service members that housed american troops in iraq. those were rockets fired up you're just a handful of rockets fired towards that base and it left one american dead. the president responded striking a group called hezbollah, and are iraqi group backed by the iranian regime. in response rainey and push the groups back in baghdad to storm the embassy. once that today season was over, we saw president trump making that decision to take out soleimani outside of baghdad international airport. tonight, once again, we are seeing missiles fired from iraq to american troops and major escalation. the white house has released a

statement saying the president has been briefed a meeting with the national security team. president trump vowed to respond very strongly towards the iranians threatening this past week to strike their cultural site. if it really to note here, when we talk about the response or potential response from the american to the u.s. troops, one, striking a rand within its own territory, conversation only for the united states but allien the middle east such as israel, earlier in the year i asked israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu about striking iran within its own borders. he said this is not something israel would take off the table. it is clear president trump is not taking that off the table so we can imagine tonight the white house is speaking not only the national security team in washington but team u.s. ally, and there are more than 3,000 american troops that have been deployed as a result of the tension but also saudi arabia and israel to prepare what may be a major response by the

americans if those promises made by president trump, secretary and also pricked mike pompeo do come true, martha. >> martha: trey, thank you so much. on the ground him baghdad, trey, we will come back to you to cover this new story tonight. the picture on the right-hand side of your screen was a release from iran describing this action this evening, which trey yingst, 30 ballistic missiles involved in this attack. and in that tweet, it was described as hard revenge. i also want to mention that we have words from the chief of staff to nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, the vice president has brief the speaker on the iranian attacks on facilities housing u.s. troops in iraq with regards to what we know so far. this is a moving story and breaking this evening as we show you these live images that we are getting. bret baier joins me from washington, d.c., chief news political anchor and anchor of

"special report." good evening to you. expected but still stunning to see these images tonight. >> bret: it is and it was expected but these bases were fortified and being fortified over the last few days as the u.s. officials believed that this attack would be coming. ese are two u.s. bases. they are actually iraqi base is where u.s. troops are being housed. both al-assad and our deal. and they are the northern part of iraq. and we have to be careful with the number of missiles. i think the pentagon put it at more than a dozen. they will stick with that. we don't know the exact number and the pentagon and senior officials are saying the damage assessment is underway. as far as what is coming next, be assured, having covered the pentagon in the beginnings of afghanistan and iraq wars, that the sites and targets have already been text towards the response. expect the top of that, perhaps be the launch sites from where

those ballistic missiles were launched from inside iran. we have a lot of technology and capability to know exactly and have eyes on where those missiles came from. also expected, perhaps, wheel refineries, wheel platforms, and the list goes on. there were all this back-and-forth bicultural science gnomic sites, but largely these targets have beend in response to the response. what we are waiting for is really the damage assessment from inside iraq. and i think that is going to be significant when we hear from the u.s. military. again, it is 2:00 in the morning almost. >> martha: indeed. and that assessment will be so important in terms of what the reaction might be. and as you rightfully point out, the sites and where they were launched from to eliminate that as a possibility in the future perhaps, but the white house news are obviously going to be

in deep discussion with all of the leadership, the pentagon in terms of figuring out what kind of appropriate response. but first and assessment of whether or not there were human casualties in this attack this evening as we continue to get more information on it. brett, obviously, this has become a big conversation politically as well in terms of the 2020 candidates, something whether or not they would be better suited and how they would respond to this type of situation given the intelligence which started to come out tonight at a top level meeting t was given some information about what that intelligence held. we were going to learn more about that potentially tomorrow. >> i talked to several people who were familiar with the beginnings of that layout, even though some of it is classified. and they said it was pretty compelling as far as the amount of planning that had been going on, that soleimani was bouncing around to kind of get ducks in a row for what was to come.

aunt it is important to point out as many people have, that iran had been attacking over several weeks of not only u.s., but the saudi oil refineries, the drone and multiple attacks in recent months. the question is, the imminence of that attack that soleimani may have been planning on the ground. the other thing to look at tonight, martha, hezbollah and what happens inside syria. what happens inside beirut. these are very dangerous places for americans in particular because hezbollah, as we know, a direct arm of the iranian revolutionary guard and the quds force. >> martha: we are getting new images coming in on the right-hand side of your screen, missile launches from iran going into iraq. brett, thank you so much for sticking around. we will be watching for the rest of us. thank you very much, bret baier, joining me now, chris coons a member of the senate judiciary

committee, senator, thank you and good to have you with us this evening. your reaction to what you see play out tonight. >> thank you, martha. of course my reaction is that i hope and pray there haven't been american casualties on that base in iraq this evening. that we haven't lost any american lives or the lives of our partners and allies in the region. and as all of us late for what the response will be come i am looking forward to getting a briefing from very senior administration officials tomorrow. all of us in the senate will get a classified briefing tomorrow afternoon. just an hour ago, i came from a classified briefing from the homeland security department about the possibility of iran using cyber attacks against the united states. it is important that we not only be prepared, both at the bases and facilities overseas where armed forces and diplomat housed but also in the united states. i think the most important part, martha about being prepared is for the president to deliver a

clear strategy to those of us in congress who would ultimately be responsible for debating whether we think we should be de-escalating this conflict with iran or escalating further. >> martha: do you have any information in terms of what kind of protection these bases have in terms of antimissile defense? >> specifically, this base, no, but broadly there are assets in the region that allow us to have antimissile capability. but there are, as you know, thousands and thousands of u.s. armed forces and diplomats scattered throughout the region in dozens of facilities. i don't believe that we have got antimissile batteries for all of them, and i think there are some real challenges here in terms of being able to defend all of our troops and facilities given ir iran's missile capabilities. >> martha: in terms of hezbollah and other locations from which attacks might follow him obviously, we don't know

whether or not what we have seen tonight is the extent of it or whether it is the beginning of what we might watch unfold. what areas or what concerns do you have as you look at that potential? >> my concern, martha, quite frankly, iran may take this one action tonight and then lay low for months. and then surprise us in another theater around the world or at home. we are going to have to have a clear strategy to engage our allies, how to put pressure on iran and how to deter teacher attacks. i think that is most important is for the administration and congress working together to come up with a stronger and clearer strategy for the region. it might have made news to strike soleimani. certainly, i don't mourn his passing. he was a person responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american servants men the years, but the dramatic escalade, and i think we need to make sure that he is don't make a coherent

strategy to move forward to. >> martha: how much of your thinking on that hinges on what you learned about the intelligence? because it strikes me, today we got a little bit of information from robert o'brien, dhf and the secretary of defense who stated that the intelligence they received of attacks on americans and american's interest was that those attacks were going to take place in days or weeks. so what would you have recommended the action be if you feel that this was to ask all the tour he, given the fact that those attacks appear east on what we know so far to be something that was quite pressing? >> martha, that is what i look forward to hearing tomorrow. it is exactly what qualified as an imminent threat. but more broadly come over many, many months, there have been steady increasing escalating steps against regional partnersd allies and some responding by

the mind ohmic united states oh frankly i think there should have been a strategy in place. i know the president was given accordinto press reports a range of options what to do in response to iran most recent attack, that shiite militia attack on american facility that killed a contractor. >> martha: what do you think would have been the appropriate response, senator? aas a contractor? >> the president had a range of options at his disposal. i know some of them would have included a cyber attack or a lower level military attack on iranian capacities. i'm just struck by the fact that the killing of soleimani was a very significant escalation. and i hope that there has been a thorough plan put together about what the next steps will be because strong force of a rainy unforced throughout the region was entirely predictable. >> martha: do you think given

the escalation that ayatollah ruhollah khomeini stomach iran has been producing the last 18 months, and the president has shown resr the attack on saudi arabia will fields and made it quite clear that american life was taken, that would put this into a whole nother ballpark so to speak. that something dramatic had to take place and that, perhaps, taking up this person that has been designated a terrorist by the obama administration, the united nations, what was fair game or do you think or see him as the leader of an iranian leader in terms of the legality of that attack? >> martha, let's be clear, none of us should mourn the death of qassem soleimani. he is someone as a designated individual terrorist come a very significant leader in malign attempt throughout the region. >> martha: and attacks on protesters, 1500 protesters, people of iran. >> absolutely. in terms of the legitimacy of

seeing him as someone as an enemy of the united states and our interests, you agree strongly. what i'm concerned about and look forward to asking senior administration officials about tomorrow is the planning and for consultation. the idea of potentially striking soleimani has been put in front of american military leaders and decision-makers over a decade. previous presidents, previous decision-makers have chose not to. there were some reasons this might have been the right moment, but there is an obvious set of questions. did we consult with our allies in the region who were joining with us in the fight against isis? should we have given any notice to iraq given the other individual killed alongside him also a leader of shiite strongly influenced by iran but himself a member of the iraqi parliament. >> martha: what about the target of opportunity in the moment that would have been lost had there been too much consultation? >> that is one of the things that has to be weighed by both military commanders and their advice to the president and the

president. but this was not a unique opportunity to strike soleimani. he has someone who travels publicly. >> martha: he was a very small group in a car, an opportunity when standing in a mass of people, which is the kind of situation it usually is him and, no? >> that is correct. that is why he was presented to the president as an option but my key, can we keep the diplomats in armed forces save in the region and we have a strategy? can president trump deliver to congress a strategy that we can support that will de-escalate this particular situation? yep push back on iran region. >> martha: that is the goal as well at this point. senator, thank you for being with us. things for being here tonight. i want to mention as we show you these videos, it just bears sort of a cautionary mention, the iranian news agency, that there may be images a moment ago. you have to sort of just kind of take into account these are

images coming out of iran. it could be possible that some of those images may not be from tonight and that perhaps some of the photos that you saw on the twitter feed may be from previous missile launches. we have credible reports though from the united states and from iran, also, claiming this attack tonight. so we just watch that and also we will keep an eye on it. although the videos we have seen according to our sources is from iran in terms of this happening. we cannot verify at this point, although all signs seem to point in the direction we are looking at the action that we are discussing tonight as well. we will certainly let you know if there is any more updates or clarification in that regard. we have a statement that is just down from the department of defense. at approximately 5:30 p.m. january 7th, iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles, the military and coalition forces in iraq. it is clear the missiles were launched from iran and targeted

two iraqi military base is hosting u.s. military and coalition personnel. al-assad. we are working on initial battle damages assessments and of course, that is the key pieces of information that we are all hoping and praying tonight will provide us good information in terms of the potential of human loss or injury and whether or not this hit was largely infrastructure. joining me is public senator tom tillis and senator, thank you very much for being here tonight. >> good evening. >> martha: your reaction to all of this. >> i think this is a provocation that we expected or i should say retaliation that we expected. the fact that they were so quick to claim responsibility for it is concerning to me, but i have to be honest with you. i think that these targets are not new targets for these missiles. they chose to launch them this evening. we've got to take a look at whether or not they successfully hit their targets. we have to particularly look at the american men and women and

partners in harm's way. i think that the president has to be prepared to respond appropriately. >> martha: obviously, the white house is being briefed. watching all of this closely with leadership at the pentagon, i look back at the interview at that the foreign minister with cnn earlier today. he said that the president must stop threatening people. that people will be further enraged. he said that the president needed to apologize for the hit that took out qassem soleimani. your thoughts on this. the language coming from iran. >> i think the leadership of iran, not the iranian leadership, but need to apologize for decades old attempt to harm americans, kill americans, hundreds of americans. soleimani has created a network of terror across the middle east. he needed to be taken out. he is responsible for the attacks on the embassy. he was killed less than 50 miles away from the embassy, traveling

against u.n. sanctions. he was not there for a good purpose. he was there to continue the terrorist war and he got caught. the american people come i think, stand behind the president and that action. and we will get briefed. i will be in the same briefing tomorrow with some of the pentagon officials and white house officials to go through the circumstances that led them to believe this was the appropriate time to do it. but if anybody needs to apologize here, it is the ayatollah and leadership of iran who have continued to press and press and press maritime attacks through their proxies and sometimes directly. sooner or later, you have to draw a line. i think the president appropriately did that when he took out soleimani last week. >> martha: what is your assessment of what iran's next move is in the continuing situation they find themselves in? obviously the strangle hold of sanctions, unrest in their streets, thousands of people protesting against the leadership and iran. what do you think the

united states role should be or should not be with regard to the divide between the people in the leadership in iran? >> i think iran only responds to pressure. the economic pressure is working. the economy is failing. but if we give them another pass like we did with maritime and the gulf of armand and the gulf, the rocket attacks that killed u.s. subcontractor. sooner or later, you have to say that you have crossed the line and there has to be a consequence for it. iran leadership, rainy and leadership only respond to proportionate force. they need to understand there are consequence for this. the only thing that gives me any paws here is the safety and security of the american men and women in the theater and who are with tonight. i hope everybody in america will say a prayer for them and their family members back here at home. >> martha: we certainly will. senator toles, thank you for being with us tonight.

fox news correspondent benjamin hall, life this afternoon, your update on what you are a scene from your point there. >> martha as everybody has been saying, the most important thing to look out for us to do much assessment. president trump has made it very clear the redline is the death of americans. we saw the way he responded to the american contractor killed on the base and cara cook and again, americans who have been killed or wounded in this attack. that would escalate in a big way. but the big escalation however you see it come up till now, they have used proxy forces to launch attacks. it has given them eminence tonight but president trump said recently the proxy forces will no longer be able to do that and iran will be held account for their actions. today what we see for the first time and this is why it is significant him a direct attack of using rhenium ballistic missiles, claimed by iran targeting u.s. facilities in iraq. the base that was fired at,

al-assad base, that al-assad base is where most u.s. troops in this country are stationed. we know now for some days, the u.s. preparing for some kind of retaliation. they have suddenly secured and hardened up some of those facilities. they brought the number of soldiers to outpost to bring them back to relative safety of these bases. to try to limit the danger, the damage to them. and, of course, we know president trump has spoken quite clearly about responding. the iranian regime said they had 35 targets picked out. that was a few days ago. in response to that, president trump said they had 52 sites. right now, the president has been briefed, and he is speaking with national security team. so the question is, how does he respond, when does he respond? certainly, major escalation of the moment. again, to reach at that statement from the dod laid out, approximately 5:30 p.m. on january 7th, iran launched more

than a dozen ballistic missiles against u.s. military and coalition forces in iraq. it is clear that these missiles launched from iran and targeted directly bases. typically speaking, if the u.s. wants to retaliate the launch sites will be the first they will take out but iran has over 2,000 ballistic missiles. it has vast arsenal particularly so close across the border of iraq, conventional weapons they could use. but suddenly, today, this is what many people have been waiting for. iraq has made it clear after the death of qassem soleimani, they would respond and they would respond military and they would respond against u.s. military. they have suggested a whole lot of options. they were very public about retaliation. they talk about attacking ships and the gold from attacking israel, the u.s. homeland but they'd talked about u.s. bases and iraq and syria. that certainly has been what we have seen today, martha.

>> martha: when question before i let you go is the question of proportionality because that is what we have been hearing from iranian leadership who have spoken out about this. they wanted this attack to be proportional. that is one of the questions that will be answered in due time as we get more information about this, what their perception is, something of proportional and how damaging it is to the united states. >> yeah, absolutely. if you were to talk proportionality, then you might suggest they were targeting a senior american military official. we can't underestimate qassem soleimani what he was to the iranians, whether or not a strike like this allows them to claim revenge and retaliation and then hopefully get in return. we just don't know. but suddenly, they have already said that if the u.s. retaliates now, they will retaliate in return. and we are seeing hezbollah, and other media saying this is the revenge that everyone has been

waiting for it. this is it. we have been waiting for a number of days. today we saw the final day of the funeral of qassem soleimani. it was alwected there would be retaliation that would come after those three days of mourning. it happened within hours of that final mutt that final funeral ceremony that we saw today in iran. >> martha: the timing is significant and perhaps symbolic. five days, exactly at the time that soleimani hit was carried out by the united states forces. a lot of significance there. they have to essentially sell this plan to the iranian people in terms of the response, the proportionality of it, and whether or not they have said, i think both sides realize that a war, an all-out war would be an enormous mistake. but tonight, we are sort of on the press because we don't know how this will go. thank you very much, ben hall reporting tonight from jordan. that is the image that we are getting from the fars news agency. we don't know if the attack is

over or the number of missiles at the the extent of the attack this evening or if there is more in-store and obviously the thoughts go to americans on these bases in iraq this evening. let's bring in once again for national security correspondent, jennifer griffin. spent a lot of time reporting from this region and joins us live from the pentagon with an update this evening, jennifer. what are we learning at 7:41 eastern time? >> martha what we know the defense secretary mark esper him for chairman of the joint chief mark milley have just arrived at the white house. they will be briefing the president meeting in a situation room and they are carrying with them and amount of briefing materials as well as the latest intelligence. we have received a statement from the pentagon, which you have been reading from this evening, suggesting that the pentagon will be carrying out a bomb damage assessment. there were no casualties to report right now from these two

strikes on the american bases inside of iraq. we were the first to report that these were crews or short range ballistic missiles fired within side iran at these american bases. we were speaking to u.s. officials, military sources on the ground in iraq during the attacks. things have quieted down, i'm told, right now. again, the national security team will be meeting tonight at the white house, that most likely, of course, they will be discussing what kind of response, if any, the u.s. will carry out. will it be a response that iran will see? a cyber response? many options for the president tonight. this certainly is an escalation, firing missiles from one country into another country. it affects the sovereignty of the iraq he government, and we do understand the pentagon that mark esper that defense secretary reached out to the iraq he prime minister and we do not have details from that

conversation. but iraqi forces were targeted as well because they are living on these bases with americans targeted to. >> absolutely and there were some reports out there and we urge caution because it is so early in the assessment of all of this that there might be some iraqi casualties. we cannot confirm that yet. those reports are out there so we will continue to follow and see if it is something confirmable. but also reuters reporting that iran guards advises u.s. troops from the region to prevent the killing of more soldiers. and also iran's guards in the aggression of tehran will get a response and one other headline there. they consider his role as u.s. ally in killing soleimani. obviously, jennifer, they are always full of threats. and of a lot of sort of aggressive language when it comes to the united states and their allies. but actual activity going on.

>> also, it is important to point out, martha benjamin netanyahu told that security cabinet that is release were not involved in the targeting of soleimani and were not involved in that strike. and so again, iran escalating the rhetoric, talking about drawing israel into this right now, what is a conflict between the u.s. military and iran. >> martha: jennifer, stand by you if you would. thank you for joining us tonight. now for more information on the al-assad airbase that we are discussing this evening. housing u.s. troops and iraqi soldiers commit cheap breaking news correspondent trace gallagher gives us a look what we are looking at. >> just to piggyback -- piggyback on jennifer gordon's come at the second u.s. military base during iraqi freedom and that was the mission that toppled iraqi leaders saddam hussein. al-assad houses u.s. and iraqi troops and primarily is the base in the fight against isis.

it also oversees syria. the base is located in the western anbar providence west of baghdad. you so trey yingst earlier. he is in baghdad 100 miles away from where these missiles reportedly struck down. we should note that president trump visited the base back in december 2018. he has made it very clear in the ensuing months he wantto get the base open, oversee isis and oversee the flights to syria. we should also note as of december, number of missiles, we are talking about 30 days agd near the base. those were reportedly fired by iran talks inside of iraq. the unusual thing as jennifer griffin has noted many times with this attack, the missiles were fired from inside the borders of iran. again, we are told the missiles or cruise missiles or shorteni e ballistic missiles and no reports about the damage of the casualties and certainly we don't want to speculate. there was also a false alarm at

the al-assad airbase a few days ago. in the wake of killing qassem soleimani, the military bases across the middle east used by american troops have been fortified. those you might imagine because of military climate in the region. they are always on high alert. there are also reports that another base housing u.s. troops in the northern part of the country is also a target of iraq he missiles. again, unclear if those missiles caused any damage or injuries. but this is key military information marked for u.s. troops in's and has been for the last few years. >> martha: to mention the national security team as you would expect is at the white house. we don't know if they are meeting in the oval office but we continue to get more information coming out of the white house this evening as they monitor all of this very, very closely. we wait to get information on the damage from the missile

attacks. want to go back to fox news course when it trey yingst who is alive in baghdad as we speak where this attack is taking place in the country of iraq. trey, where are you at? >> martha, we are learning that according to iranian state television, these attacks are being ordered from the controlled room of iran's military directly by the supreme leader. we cannot confirm that information, but that is coming from a rainy and state television. that could simply be propaganda, or it could be something moving forward we see more often. remember soleimani the man who was killed, u.s. drone strike on friday of last week outside of baghdad international airport was largely considered the second most powerful man in iran when it comes to military, only second to the ayatollah himself. again, those are reports he is actually ordering these attacks on that base in western iraq that houses american troops. as you mentioned, there is reports of a base in northern iraq and the city, and being

targeted, getting reports right now from the voice of america, just about 10 miles from here. i looked out to see what we can see. there is a base housing american troops, and also receiving rocket fire, excuse me missile fire from iran. that is important too because the types of projectiles being used, actually shooting missiles from iranian military is totally different than the region has seen previously. remember, we talk about this time lapse before of the initial strike b by a rainy impact i recommend shiite group that killed a contractor and injured four service members. that was very small compared to what we are seeing tonight. they were fired by iranian backed hezbollah. the regime is firing their own missiles from their own territories towards a base housing american troops is a major escalation.

we talk about the issue of american allies in the region and how they will respond. we can assume they are being updated, especially countries like israel and what the americans know about this attack tonight. i spoke earlier this year with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and what about the possibility of stricking iran within its own borders. he said that is not something he would roll out. president trump is not ruling that out either. he reconfirmed that he would be willing to strike a rainy and cultural site and tehran or other places within iran that too will be seen by the iranians and something potentially they will fear her, but as a result of what we are seeing tonight, not something they feel they are unprepared for. olivia certainly is hard to put into perspective but when you step back and see what is happening on going this with text towards iraqi bases that house american troops, this is the type of nightmare scenario that president trump outlined

and secretary pompeo outlined, secretary esper outlined that the united states would respond to. the white house with the national security team briefed on the situation. the president earlier this week said he would be responding to any sort of provocation like this if americans were targeted. we do know there are american soldiers at that base. there are reports coming in from other outlets there have been on the iraq he sighed, specifically the iraq he sighed, there is no word on americans at this phase. but many of these bases, house a mixture in the fight against islamic states and also other countries that have troops in the region, assisting american coalition forces including canada. canada announcing they would move their troops to neighboring kuwait. 23,000 u.s. troops that are deployed there by president trump as a result of these ongoing threats by the iranians. the next step and what happens in the morning, no one knows. we don't even know if this attack tonight is over yet.

again, there are reports missiles are still being fired in iraqi territory. some reports miles away from where we are standing right now. iraqi base with american troops reportedly being hit as we speak, martha. >> martha: trey, you bring up the regional allies. iran guards putting out statements, obviously, trying to capitalize as much as possible in this opportunity this evening with the firing of these missiles, warning u.s. regional allies that they will be attacked if their country is used for attacks against tehran. you mention the forces moving to kuwait. so much discussion about whether the united states will stay in iraq. all of this provides an opportunity for iran's leadership to try to clear the deck in terms of allies in the area. the president making it very clear, the suggestion that kind of misfired from the pentagon yesterday was actually not the case at all. that the united states is committed to staying and

protecting and standing with our iraqi allies and the soldiers we have trained there. what is the billing on the ground about all of that tonight? >> >> if the array and the ants increasing their foothold in the middle east for some time now many analyst in the region described the possibility of americans being forced out of iraq. and the victory for soleimani who was killed last week. the top leader in iran military. because this is exactly what he wanted. he wanted the middle east to be free from iranian expansion. we talk about proxies in the region to threaten the u.s. allies, specifically looking at israel. you look at the places that surround israel, lebanon, hezbollah, a group funded by the iranians inside the gaza strip, extensively there was senior leadership and palestinian leadership in both groups have come from to fox news in the past year they are receiving weapons and money from the iranian regime. additionally there are a rainy impact militia in syria, iraq. this is all up in the air to

what happens next, but there is this question of could this turn into a larger regional conflict with iranian proxies. in a proxy war. iran has firing missiles from their own territory towards american forces in the middle east ratcheting everything up a notch. that is the big question, where did they go tomorrow? we will wait and see, martha. >> martha: trey, thank you so much. trey yingst reporting from baghdad and also reporting that they are reports of missiles just miles from where he is in baghdad. and we know that we have two iraqi bases that house the united states servicemen and personnel that have been attacked this evening. no reports at this point, so far, the casualties that we can confirm at this point. fox news correspondent benjamin hall is live in jordan this evening with the latest in his report for us. good evening, benjamin. >> good evening, martha. the last few days, we have heard the u.s. and iranians insist

that neither wants war. and yet we see this steady escalation, the escalation for much of the last few weeks, building up towards it. but the secretary of defense was very clear when he said the u.s. did not want war but they are prepared to finish one. so we will wait to see if there is any kind of retaliation. it will all come down to whether or not that redline is being crossed, whether or not the damage assessment shows that any u.s. servicemen have been killed in or wanted. and reporting is difficult. across the region, people are on edge about this. the iran has posed a threat to iraq and the basis that the u.s. have about all the regional allies. we have seen secretary pompeo do mike pompeo reading transcripts that he's had with various allies in the region.

everyone from the kuwaitis to the saudis. certainly, they have been talking through the options, what potentially could lie ahe ahead. many experts have said looking at iran to spend the last ten years building up its regional influence and it controls and has huge influence on syria and iraq. they would not want to throw that away. and the military confrontation with the u.s., they simply cannot win. and so many people thought that they are retaliation would somehow be a way of saving face, but hopefully, not enough to invite that retaliation. now, we have to wait and see what the u.s. does and what effect these ballistic missiles have had. but again, as we have been saying, this is a game changer that it is an attack from iran directly. not using proxies anymore. this is taking this up a step. and so at the moment, we are seeing iranian television at the moment, the twitter handle, sharing this at the moment, really making the most of it.

this is the revenge, this is the retaliation we have been talking about. this is the retaliation we want. the people in iran have been begging for validity according for the american blood to be spilled. they have all made that clear that is what they wanted. in this retaliation. we don't know, as we said if that is the case with the u.s. has been and getting ready of a response an indication that they may have been preparing for some kind of a strike tonight. but b-52 bombers have also flown over from the u.s. those are in place from the 3,000 extra troops that came over to kuwait and the last couple of days. on top of the 750 who came a couple of days before that. an extra 100 into the iraqi and u.s. embassy in baghdad appear the u.s. has made it clear they were ready for confrontation and that they had extra troops ready to move that something happens. everyone will be hoping this does not end up in a wide confrontation that seems to be

in the iranian hands at the moment. as we said, the ball is in their court, and they play in the hands but we have to see how it plays out. >> martha: you make a great point, ben ben for significance of this attack with leadership's response and help the people of iran take it. whether or not they feel this is revenge, hard revenge characterized tonight, and whether it is sort of the right amount to allow them to back off at this point and de-escalate the situation, which everyone on both sides has said is the outcome they would like to see. i also want to show everybody and image this evening of the left wing. this is the left wing, full lights on everywhere across that area. the israeli offices, you know, the top people at the white house, west wing going through that door into the back from the east lawn as we watch this evening. these are the images, also, the lights flying through the sky as

iran launches at least a dozen missiles at sides at two iraqi air bases this evening. ben hall who is still with us in mind, this is a nervous night, ben for the members of the surface, their families who watch this at home, you have spent a lot of time covering the u.s. armed forces overseas and clearly, this is a night full of attention and nervousness. our thoughts are with all of them. >> yeah, absolutely. and certainly we know the president has been briefed. we know there are plans to retaliate for any kind of action. a couple of days ago the iranians had 35 targets ready in response to president trump saying he has 52. you would imagine if it was in retaliation one of the first targets would be the lunch whether there are those rockets came from but of course we have not seen that yet. u.s. ready, postured and ready

for whatever might come next, martha. >> martha: ben, thank you. we are getting some indication that there may be an address from the white house this evening as we take a look at the west wing once again where the president is at this hour meeting with his national security team. assessing the damage as they try to figure out whether or not there is or are any u.s. casualties or injuries as a result of this. we certainly hope and pray that is not the case. as we have said, there has been some indications, some reports unconfirmed by fox news there has been injuries among iraqi soldiers, however, we are all just waiting to see what kind of information we get. also in terms of whether this attack is ongoing is another one of the very big questions that we are waiting for answers this evening. so if and when the president does decide to address the american people tonight, he may have some answers to those questions in terms of what the pentagon's reporting, whether or not they are continuing this

missile strike command for significance this evening, if this is the revenge response from iran, missiles launched from their territory towards two iraqi bases that house u.s. >> tucker: this is a fox news alert. according to u.s. military sources, iran's response has begun. multiple rockets apparently hit an air base. they are taken responsibility for that attack. good evening. welcome to "tucker carlson tonight." we are of course closely monitoring the attack. the president may address the nation this evening. he's actually in baghdad right now and joins us from there for an update. trey, what is happening that you can see? >> tucker, good evening.