LOU: BREAKING NEWS.
IRANIAN RETALIATION AGAINST U.S.
FORCES IN IRAQ FIRING BALLISTIC
MISSILES AGAINST TWO BASES.
THE PENTAGON SAYS TWO BASES WERE
ATTACKED AT APPROXIMATELY 5:30
EASTERN TIME.
WE'LL GO TO TREY YANST IN
BAGHDAD.
REPORTER: REPORTS INDICATE MORE
THAN 30 SURFACE-TO-SURFACE
MISSILES HAVE BEEN FIRED TOWARD
THE AL ASAD AIR BASE IN IRAQ.
MISSILES ARE COMING FROM IRANIAN
TERRITORY.
AT THIS POINT WE DO NOT KNOW.
ALL WE HAVE ARE THE STATEMENTS
FROM THE IRANIANS THIS WEEK
SAYING THEY WERE GOING TO STRIKE
BACK AS A RESULT OF PRESIDENT
MAKING THE DECISION TO TAKE OUT
THE IRANIAN IT IN LEADER QASSEM
SOLEIMANI.
WHAT STARTED OUT AND LOOKED LIKE
IT WAS GOING TO BE TAKEN ONGOING
PROXY WAR.
SOMETHING WE HAVE SEEN OFTEN IN
THE REGION HAS TURNED TO USING
MISSILES FIRED FROM IRAN INTO
IRAQI TERRITORY.
WE SAW A NUMBER OF STATEMENTS
FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE
IRANIANS.
IT SEEMS LIKE A PING-PONG, IF
YOU STRIKE US, WE'LL STRIKE.
BUT WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IS
MISSILES BEING FIRED TOWARD AN
IRAQI BASE WITH U.S. TROOPS.
PRESIDENT TRUMP THIS WEEK A
NUMBER OF TIMES INDICATING HE
WOULD STRIKE BACK AT IRAN AND
WOULD BE WILLING TO HIT SOME OF
THEIR CULTURAL SITES.
THE PRESIDENT CONFIRMING MUCH OF
THAT INFORMATION TODAY WITH JOHN
ROBERTS SAYING HE WOULD BE
WILLING TO STRIKE IRAN WITHIN
ITS OWN TERRITORY.
THIS IS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN
THIS LARGER CONFLICTS OF WHAT WE
HAVE SEEN UNFOLD IN THE REGION.
THEY WERE TARGETING
WESTERN-LINKED OIL
INFRASTRUCTURE.
WE SAW THE IRANIANS SHOOTING
DOWN A U.S. DRONE.
THE PRESIDENT SAYING HE WAS
WATCHING BUT WASN'T GOING TO
RESPOND.
EVEN STRIKING AT THE LARGEST
OILFIELD IN THE WORLD IN SAUDI
ARABIA.
IT TOOK KILLING AN AMERICAN
CONTRACTOR AND INJURING FOUR
AMERICAN SERVICE MEMBERS FOR
PRESIDENT TRUMP TO RESPOND.
HE STRUCK HEZBOLLAH, AND THAT
LED TO THE EMBASSY BEING STORMED
IN BAGHDAD.
AND AFTER ALL THAT UNFOLDING,
THE DRONE STRIKE OUTSIDE OF
BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
KILLING A MILITIA LEADER AND A
MEMBER OF THE IRANIAN MILITARY.
IRAQ IS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF
WHAT IS AN ESCALATING CONFLICTS
BETWEEN THE U.S. AND IRAN.
30 MISSILES HAVE BEEN FIRED
TOWARD AN IRAQI BASE THAT
CONTAINS U.S. FORCES.
LOU: THERE IN BAGHDAD, ANY SIGN
OF STREET DEMONSTRATIONS?
ANY KIND OF CIVIL UNREST THERE?
>> IT'S BEEN VERY QUIET IN
BAGHDAD TODAY.
MOST OF THE PEOPLE WE WERE
TALKING ABOUT EARLIER IN OUR
REPORT.
THEY SAID THEY HOPE THINGS
REMAIN CALM.
SO MANY PEOPLE IN BAGHDAD HAVE
LIVED THROUGH SO MANY CONFLICTS.
RIGHT NOW IN BAGHDAD THINGS ARE
CALM AND THE THE TWO BASES ARE
IN NORTHERN IRAQ IN IRBIL, THIS
IS KURDISTAN IN KURDISH
TERRITORY AND THE AL ASAD AIR
BASE.
THEY ARE IRAQI BASES HOUSING
AMERICAN TROOPS.
THEN CAMP HAJII CLOSE TO
BAGHDAD.
WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM
THOSE REPORTS.
BUT IN THE PAST BAGHDAD HAS SEEN
A NUMBER OF PARTS OF THIS
CONFLICT HITTING THE CITY.
JUST A FEW DAYS AGO THERE WERE
FIVE ROCKETS FIRED INTO THE
GREEN ZONE.
U.S. FORCES HAVE BEEN ON HIGH
ALERT OUT OF CONCERN.
WE HAVE SEEN AMERICAN APACHE
HELICOPTERS THROUGHOUT THE LATE
AFTERNOON AND THE EARLY EVENING
FIRING FLARES TO MAKE SURE THE
AMERICAN PERSONNEL IN BAGHDAD
REMAIN SAFE.
LOU: THOSE SERVICE MEMBERS
DISPATCHED TO BAGHDAD TO PROTECT
THE EMBASSY A U.S. PERSONNEL
THERE, THEY ARE IN THE
HELICOPTER PROTECTION OVERHEAD,
IS IT ALMOST CONSTANT NOW?
>> IN THE LAID AFTERNOON IT IS.
RIGHT AS THE SUN IS ABOUT TO GO
DOWN, WE HAVE SEEN HELICOPTER
ACTIVITY.
AND RIGHT WHEN IT GETS DARK YOU
CAN SEE WHEN THEY ARE FIRING THE
FLARES TO AVOID GETTING SHOT
DOWN.
THE CONCERN IS THE
IRANIAN-BACKED SHIIA MILITIAS,
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THEM
OPERATING WOULD ULTIMATELY TRY
TO TARGET AMERICAN FORCES.
THE PRESIDENT DID DISPATCH
AMERICAN MARINES AFTER THE SIEGE
LAST WEEK.
THE BIGGER CONCERN FROM
CIVILIANS ON THE GROUND, THERE
ARE CONCERNS THAT IF YOU ARE NOT
SUPPORTING THE IRANIAN REGIME OR
THE IRANIAN BACKED MILITIAS THAT
YOU COULD BE A TARGET.
AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN IN
BAGHDAD, YOU ARE A TARGET.
ALL AMERICANS HAVE BEEN URGED TO
LEAVE IRAQ.
MANY AIRLINES IN THE REGION HAVE
STOPPED FLIGHTS TO BAGHDAD.
JORDANNIAN AIR STOPPED FLIGHTS
TO GET HERE.
SO NOT ONLY WILL WE SEE
AIRLINES AND OTHER PERSONNEL
LIMITING THE TIMES AND PLACES
YOU CAN GET INTO IRAQ.
THE CANADIAN MILITARY ANNOUNCED
THEY ARE REMOVING ALL TROOPS
ASSISTING U.S. FORCES.
THEY ARE MOVING THOSE TROOPS TO
KUWAIT WHERE PRESIDENT TRUMP
DISPATCHED 8,000 TROOPS FROM
NORTH CAROLINA.
THE CONCERN FOR THE UNITED
STATES AND ALLIES IN THE REGION.
AN ATTACK LIKE THIS COULD
HAPPEN.
MORE THAN 30 MISSILES,
SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILES
TOWARD A BASE THAT HOUSES U.S.
TROOPS.
THIS WAS THE NIGHTMARE SCENARIO
EVERYONE WAS TALK ABOUT.
THIS IS A PAGES TODAY LAYING.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF IRANIAN
PROXIES IN THE REGION AND IN
SYRIA.
MANY ARE IRANIAN-BACKED MILITIA
GROUPS.