Iran vows to push all US forces out of Mideast region

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Iran vows to push all US forces out of Mideast region

Iran proxies have the potential to re-ignite conflict; Trey Yingst reports from Baghdad.

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report," January 8, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: So, very cool that she's (INAUDIBLE).

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Pagan.

SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: (INAUDIBLE).

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Pagan.

GUTFELD: Pagan.

WILLIAMS: What is pagan?

GUTFELD: Get that yoga stuff out of the Fire Department.

WILLIAMS: By the way -- by the way -- by the way, for the record, it's January 8th.

PAVLICH: Yes.

WILLIAMS: All right. Set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of THE FIVE.  "SPECIAL REPORT", it's up next.  Hey, Bret Baier.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL ANCHOR: I was going to mention the eighth, but the three should still come down. Thanks, Juan.

WILLIAMS: That's it --

BAIER: Good evening. Welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier, "BREAKING TONIGHT", President Trump, says Iran appears to be standing down after launching a series of missile attacks against facilities housing American troops inside Iraq. But senior military officials now say Iran didn't try to kill Americans that the U.S. warning system prevented loss of life. The president began his address to the nation today, by saying once again, he will never permit Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. But he emphasized the U.S. is ready to embrace peace. We have "FOX TEAM COVERAGE" tonight. Jennifer Griffin at the Pentagon with what exactly happened in last night's attacks. Trey Yingst in Baghdad with the reaction from the Middle East and concerned about Iran-backed Shia militias inside Iraq. But we begin with chief White House correspondent John Roberts in the president's measured response to the Iranian assault. Is it an off-ramp to new negotiations? That's the question. Good evening, John.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES: Good evening to you, Bret. Since the attack last Friday that killed Qassem Soleimani, the president's critics have accused him of leading the United States down the road to war with Iraq. But today it became clear, neither side is eager for all-out confrontation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.

ROBERTS: It was an impressive show of force this morning, surrounded by his national security team and military brass, President Trump holding off on military retaliation for now, but tightening the screws on Iran.

TRUMP: The United States will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime. These powerful sanctions will remain until Iran changes its behavior.

ROBERTS: The fact there were no American casualties in last night's attack gave President Trump an opening to deescalate the growing confrontation with Iran. But he left no doubt Iran cannot continue down the road it is on.

TRUMP: As long as I'm president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

ROBERTS: The President called on America's European allies along with China and Russia to abandon the Iranian nuclear deal, join with the U.S. and strike a new agreement that covers nuclear ballistic missiles and Iran's malign activities across the Middle East and Central Asia.

TRUMP: We must all work together toward making a deal with Iran. That makes the world a safer and more peaceful place.

ROBERTS: On Capitol Hill today, the secretaries of state and defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the CIA director, brief the House and Senate on the operation to take out Qassem Soleimani. Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, often at odds with the president found the intelligence compelling.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): There was a lot of information revealed, obviously, which I can't talk about. But I will tell you though, I am convinced even more than ever, and I was fully convinced that this was the right move to save American lives on an imminent basis. And they did the right thing.

ROBERTS: But Democrats, heavily invested in public opposition to the president's actions against Soleimani, were not convinced there was an imminent threat.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): President Trump recklessly assassinated Qassem Soleimani. He had no evidence of an imminent threat or attack.

ROBERTS: A day after his funeral was postponed when 50 people were trampled to death, Iran this morning buried Soleimani. President Trump, saying today, Soleimani's hands were drenched in American and Iranian blood.

TRUMP: By removing Soleimani, we have sent a powerful message to terrorists. If you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Fox News has learned that following the attacks last night, the United States and Iran exchanged messages through the Swiss, who often act as intermediaries between the two nations. Fox News's told that Iran initiated the contact, sending several messages through the Swiss to the White House that it was finished with the missile attacks. Bret.

BAIER: John Roberts, live in the North Lawn. John, thank you. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, says she will hold a vote tomorrow in the House chamber on war-- a War Powers Resolution to limit President Trump's authority against Iran. The House rules committee meets this evening to go over that proposal for legislation. Republican leadership aides tell Fox, the resolution is toothless and has no chance of becoming law. More on that in a bit. Iran says he wants to get all American troops out of the Middle East.  Correspondent Trey Yingst, in Baghdad tonight looks at what else the Islamic Republic is saying and the reaction to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS CHANNEL FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Iran is claiming victory after firing 16 ballistic missiles into Iraqi territory overnight that caused some damage but no casualties. New satellite images show part of the al-Assad Airbase in western Iraq that was hit. Multiple structures on the base were damaged. The images show when compared to similar shots taken last month.

BRIG. GEN. AMIR HATAMI, DEFENSE MINISTER OF IRAN (through translator): Our domestic short-range missiles were used due to the distance with the targets. And were the first time since World War II, an important American base, which they said they had spent a lot of money on was hit.

YINGST: The country's supreme leader, vowed to continue fighting American presence in the Middle East. Iranian President Rouhani echoed those comments in a tweet after the attack. Vowing to revenge the death of General Qassem Soleimani, killed in a U.S. drone strike last week. "Our final answer to his assassination will be to kick all U.S. forces out of the region," Rouhani tweeted. Many Iranians took to the streets of Tehran after the attack. Holding flags and chanting "Death to America, death to Israel."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's just getting started, as our leader said, if they hit us once, we will hit them 10 times. Today, only two stages were carried out. We're very proud that we took revenge before the burial.

YINGST: Wednesday, Iraq's Prime Minister Abdel Mahdi, said Iran notified him ahead of the attack. Adding that he protested the Islamic Republic's decision, calling it a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. With tensions ease after a statement by President Trump calling for talks with Iran, Iran's proxies in Iraq may still continue their campaign to push U.S. troops out of the country. These Iraqi Shia militias are responsible for multiple attacks on U.S. forces over the past six months. A single event that can be linked to Iraq, has the potential of re-sparking the conflict between the U.S. and Iran all over again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YINGST: Earlier tonight, there were two Katyusha rockets fired into Baghdad's Green Zone. While no casualties were reported, the event underscores the difficulty and trying to find calm amid this ongoing storm.  Bret.

BAIER: Trey Yingst live in Baghdad. Trey, thank you. U.S. and Iraqi forces suffered no casualties in the Iran strikes. But Pentagon officials now say Iran did try to kill Americans. National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin has the latest from Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: U.S. officials say Iran warned Iraq ahead of the missile strike because Tehran did not want to kill Iraqi forces. The Iraqis in turn warn their American military counterparts, but the American military had already known for hours that Iran was planning to launch the missile strike by intercepting chatter.

TRUMP: An early warning system that worked very well.

GRIFFIN: It included layers of surveillance, satellites that can detect the second the missile motor sparks, infrared images that alert U.S. forces immediately.

TRUMP: We suffered no casualties. All of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases.

GRIFFIN: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said he believed the Iranians wanted to kill Americans.

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEF OF STAFF: They were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles, and equipment, and aircraft, and to kill personnel.

GRIFFIN: The president opted out of a military response, but delivered a message to Iran and NATO, flanked by his military chiefs, while hinting the U.S. would like to eventually leave the Middle East.

TRUMP: I am going to ask NATO to become much more involved in the Middle East process. Over the last three years, under my leadership, our economy is stronger than ever before, and America has achieved energy independence.  And we do not need Middle East oil.

GRIFFIN: 16 missiles fired from three locations in Iran. Four of the Iranian missiles failed crashing short, perhaps due to motor failure.  These were not Iran's most state of the art missiles according to a senior Pentagon official. And the U.S. did not deploy patriot air defense system.

THOMAS KARAKO, DIRECTOR, MISSILE DEFENSE PROJECT AT THE CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: There's lots of different targets within the Middle East that need to be protected, and we just don't have enough patriots to go around to blanket the desert and protect everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: The U.S. has patriot missile batteries guarding assets in Baghdad and bases in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. But not at these bases in Iraq. Bret.

BAIER: Jennifer Griffin, live at the Pentagon. Jennifer, thank you. Big numbers on Wall Street tonight as the markets breathe a sigh of relief about Iran. The Dow gaining 161. The S&P 500 hit an all-time high before finishing ahead 16. The NASDAQ gained 61 and also hit a new record. Just hours after Iran launched it strikes, a Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran's Airport.  The Iranian Government is refusing to cooperate with the plane's manufacturer, U.S. based Boeing. And theories abound about what caused that tragedy. Correspondent Dan Springer is in Seattle, just down the road from Boeing headquarters tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SPRINGER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The wreckage of the Ukraine International Airlines, flight bound for Kiev was just six miles from the Tehran Airport. Tracker data shows it had climbed to about 8,000 feet at normal speeds, then, lost all contact. Crashing in a field killing everyone on board. It happened at 6:00 in the morning, four hours after Iran fired missiles at Iraqi airbases. While there's no evidence the two events were connected, Ukraine's embassy took down an early statement dismissing any link replacing it with another saying it was too early to tell. A former top general in the U.K. is discounting a missile strike.

GEN. SIR RICHARD BARRONS (RET.), FORMER COMMANDER JOINT FORCES COMMAND:  The track of the aircraft would take -- have taken it went away from the flight path of the ballistic missiles in almost all cases. So, it is much more likely that this aircraft has crashed as a result of some technical failure.

SPRINGER: Iran is blaming an engine fire and there are reports that western intelligence agencies believe a technical malfunction caused one engine to overheat. What some aviation experts believe it could be something else because there was no communication from the pilots to the tower. And they say even if one engine did go out, the Boeing 737-8 can still fly.

MICHAEL BOYD, PRESIDENT, BOYD GROUP INTERNATIONAL: They were probably at high alert waiting for American missiles to come in or American airplanes to come in -- something like that. So, it's very likely as screwed up as they are, they could have shut down this airliner by mistake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SPRINGER: Iranian officials have said they would not allow Boeing to examine the plane's black box, while the U.S. State Department is calling for complete cooperation with any investigation, Boeing is also ready to assist. But right now is being shut out. Bret.

BAIER: Dan Springer in Seattle, home to a Boeing plant headquarters in Chicago. Up next, the view on Iran from a key Democrat and a Republican in the Senate. We will talk with Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton. First, here's what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. Fox Five in Atlanta where researchers report the largest ever one year decline in the U.S. cancer death rate. The 2.2 percent decrease from 2016 to 2017 is up from the average of about 1-1/2 percent a year since 1991. Scientists are crediting advances in lung tumor treatments. Fox 40 in Sacramento as California's governor says he is seeking $750 million in part to help pay rent for people facing homelessness. Democrat Gavin Newsom plans to sign an executive order creating the fund two days before he presents his second annual budget proposal to the California State Legislature. And this is a live look at Detroit from our affiliate Fox Two. One of the big stories there tonight Takata recalls 10 million more front airbag inflators sold to 14 different automakers because they can explode with too much force and hurl shrapnel. The recall is the last one the bankrupt company agreed to win a 2015 settlement with U.S. safety regulators. It could bring a close, the largest -- to a close, the largest series of automotive recalls in American history. That is tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT.  We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Let's get some reaction now to the Iran situation from senators on both sides of the aisle. First up, the Republican view, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton sits on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees.  Senator, thanks for being here.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Good evening, Brett.

BAIER: I want to start by playing one of your Republican colleagues about this briefing up on Capitol Hill and what he took from it. Senator Mike Lee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): With history is our guide, consultation isn't necessarily the same thing as authorization for the use of military force.  A declaration of war or an AUMF is what the Constitution requires and drive-by notification or after the fact, lame of briefings like the one we just received aren't adequate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Senator Lee, saying it was the worst military briefing he's ever been to. Your reaction to that and your take.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Bret, I thought the briefing this afternoon was very thorough. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Milley explained that his troops facing attack and weeks if not days. They reviewed with us the various options from which the president shows on the list of options they presented. And the president chose correctly, in my opinion. Qassem Soleimani has been in a terrorist mastermind for Iran for more than 20 years. And has the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands. The president drew a very clear red line, if any American harmed by an Iranian attack, by their proxies, or by Iran itself, he would retaliate. That's what happened when you strike one of their militia's bases on December 29th. You know, and when they attacked our embassy and we had a target of opportunity with Qassem Soleimani, we took it. The world is a better place and America is a safer place.

BAIER: What do you think of the Iran response? I mean, it appears they purposely or, at least, didn't hit U.S. troops, there were no casualties.  And it seemed in the big picture pretty weak from what was being touted four days.

COTTON: Iran conducted a very weak and anemic response as a face-saving measure for their own people. They are currently running disinformation on their state media about the scope of that response. But they did so because in the parlance of experts, we've restored deterrence or as we say, in Arkansas, the Ayatollahs are scared of the United States once again. It was very important that the president stressed at his speech today that his red line remains in place. If Iran or any of its proxies harm Americans in the future, as they very well might try, they will once again face severe consequences.

BAIR: There is now a vote in the House tomorrow on a War Powers Resolution. Your thoughts on those efforts to kind of restrict or put Congress more in the -- in the loop on some of these actions that the administration is taking?

COTTON: Bret, first off, the War Powers Act is unconstitutional intrusion of Congress into the president's constitutional authorities. Every president of both parties has believed that since it was passed in 1973. The second, Congress can act to cut off funding for military operations anytime it wishes. In fact, some left-wing congressmen and senators tried to do that just last year to stop the president from taking any military action, even justified self-defense as we did against Iran, and over the last two weeks, and those measures failed in the Congress. The president -- the president is well within his rights, and it's been the case going back to George Washington to strike targets of opportunity to protect our nation.

BAIER: Is it now the case as we looked at this briefing, you saw senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul, say what they said. Democrats are saying they weren't impressed with the briefing about the imminence of the attack.  Yet, you and other Republicans say it was everything you thought it should be. Are we looking now at intelligence and the issue of possibly getting into action against Iran through a partisan lens? And is that a bad thing?

COTTON: Well, Bret, I think it's unfortunate that so many Democrats are making the question of the imminence of this attack a partisan measure.  General Milley was very clear. The intelligence you saw suggested a major attack against our troops in Iraq and the Middle East, within weeks, if not days. Intelligence rarely gets better than that. It rarely tells you the exact moment and the exact day the exact place. But finally, I just have to say on questions of eminence, it probably looks a lot different if you're a soldier sitting in Iraq than if you're a comfortable senator sitting behind secure doors with armed guards in Washington, D.C.

BAIER: The president of Iran tweeted out, "General Soleimani fought heroically against ISIS, al-Nusra, al-Qaeda, et al. If it weren't for his war on terror, European capitals would be in great danger now. Our final answer to his assassination will be to kick all U.S. forces out of the region." Your response to that.

COTTON: Well, the supreme leader is engaging in propaganda to cover up the weakness of his own response and his own regime's fragility at home. The United States working with our partners in places like Iraq and Syria was responsible for the defeat of the Islamic State. Iran simply stood on the sidelines and tried to benefit from our actions.  Qassem Soleimani saw last week with that strategy got him.

BAIER: Last thing on impeachment. Is Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House has not moved over articles of impeachment yet? However, there are some on -- in your chamber, Senator Joe Manchin, who says it would be a sham if witnesses are not called considering that John Bolton now wants to talk if subpoenaed. What do you say to that?

COTTON: Well, first of all, Bret, I'm not sure what Speaker Pelosi thinks she's getting in terms of leverage against Senator McConnell with the Senate. The Senate Republicans are very happy to keep doing the people's business. To confirm more judges, to confirm ambassador as we just did today to an important ally like Thailand to ratify the Mexico Canada trade agreement. We're very happy to keep doing the people's business. If Nancy Pelosi thinks her impeachment articles are so weak and such a farce that she doesn't even want to send them the Senate, then she can just sit on them.

BAIER: Senator Tom Cotton, we appreciate your time.

COTTON: Thanks, Bret.

BAIER: Now, the Democratic perspective on the Iran conflict. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine sits on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees. Senator, thanks for your time.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Absolutely, Bret.

BAIER: You heard Senator Cotton on Iran, your response?

KAINE: Well, look, was Soleimani a despicable killer? Yes, he was. And is Iran a bad actor? Yes, they are. But the question is, should the United States be at war with Iran? And President Trump in a series of back and forth escalations in the last 18 months have brought us to that place. Now, some of my colleagues may earnestly believe that it would be a good idea for us to be at war with Iran. Many of us don't think it's a good idea. But we should all be able to agree that we shouldn't be at war unless Congress has a debate and vote. That's what the Constitution requires. And frankly, that's what our troops deserve. They deserve to know that there's a political consensus by the legislative body, that this is a mission in the national interest. And there's no shortcuts. And I think that's why Republicans came out of the briefing today so angry because the White House prefers were very dismissive of the notion that Congress should have anything to say about this.

BAIER: And I know you have a War Powers Resolution of your own. We talked about the House version being voted on tomorrow. And now you have the support of senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee as of tonight. But Representative Mark Meadows from North Carolina, he tweeted this a couple of days ago. "Number of drone strikes by President Obama's administration: 571. But very conveniently, you only hear Speaker Pelosi and Democrats calling for limiting the president's war powers when it's Donald Trump, who uses the drone strikes to take out Qassem Soleimani. President Obama's administration frequently conducted airstrikes in Syria.  Pelosi was silent. No calls for congressional authorization. The feigned, hypocritical outrage you're seeing from Democrats now is because a Republican is in the White House. Fair criticism?

KAINE: Well, you know, Bret, I actually don't think it's fair. You're right on the number of drone strikes that President Obama took. But remember, President Obama had a congressional authorization, the 2001 authorization that the Bush administration, the Obama administration, and the Trump administration all maintain.

BAIER: The AUMF.

KAINE: The AUMF that, that was sufficient to cover the attacks against terrorist groups. And again, once you have congressional authorization, the president doesn't need to get our permission for this to that strike.

BAIER: So, you don't consider Soleimani a terrorist?

KAINE: I don't -- we -- there is not a war authorization against Iran. He is official in Iran. The administration has not claimed that the 2001 authorization covers in. Unless we declare war on Iran, we can't be striking their officials. And especially, not striking them in Iraq when Iraq has not given us permission to wage military action on their own soil.

(CROSSTALK)

BAIER: Sure, but the AUMF didn't give --

KAINE: If there was an authorization against Iran, it would be very different.

BAIER: The AUMF also didn't give the Obama administration the right to go after a terrorist who was an American citizen, right. I mean --

KAINE: The question about whether (INAUDIBLE) was a -- was an enemy combatant? That was a thorny legal question. I actually believed that the rationale was that yes, he was an enemy combatant. He was part of the terrorist groups that were authorized under the 2001 authorization. And when he put himself in the position of enemy combatant, then he was subject to that authorization. What we don't have in Iran is we don't have an authorization. Today in the briefing, the administration is not claiming that the 2001 authorization cover the attack on Soleimani. They're just claiming Article Two power.

BAIER: All right.

KAINE: So, my War Powers Resolution, it doesn't say that the president strike was unlawful. It just says we're in hostilities, it's not covered by a congressional authorization. So, under the War Powers Act, we have the ability to bring forward the privilege motion and say, stop the hostilities against Iran, unless one of two things happens: There is truly the need to eminently defend the United States from attack or Congress passes an authorization under either of those scenarios the United States could act. But we can't act without that.

BAIER: All right. Somebody is sitting at home on the couch looks at this and took out this big terrorist who's causing all this trouble. Yes, he was an Iranian military official, but he was stirring the pot throughout the Middle East for a long time and killing American troops and personnel. He is taken out and the response by the Iranians is to hit some buildings in Iraq, no U.S. casualties. Why somebody at home --

(CROSSTALK)

KAINE: Thank, God. Thank, God.

BAIER: Why would somebody at home say what's wrong with that?

KAINE: Well, if we could tell that somebody at home, or, you know, troops, I got a kid in the military, that that's all it's going to be, then maybe there's nothing wrong with it. But the challenge that we're going to have Bret, is this. You know, we were within minutes of a missile strike against Iran last summer, and then it got called off at the last minute.  And then there was a de-escalation, and then we've escalated again. America has a red line, don't kill any of our people. But Iran has a similar red line and the U.S. has engaged in battlefield activity against Iran. His side --

(CROSSTALK)

BAIER: Right. Is it possible, Senator -- is it possible that these very tense days could somehow lead to some new negotiation, some way shape or form?

KAINE: My prayer is that they do. I think what we need to do is de- escalate and look at that negotiation. And in my view, the framers knew a lot about war and they knew that the best antidote to unnecessary escalation is deliberation. And you know, in deliberation in the Senate, Tom Cotton is going to make his case and he's a persuasive guy, and I'm going to make my case, and I'm a persuasive guy, and we'll do a better job of reaching the right decision if it's not just one person making a decision.

BAIER: Senator, as I did with Senator Cotton, I'm going to ask you a question about impeachment.

KAINE: Yes, absolutely.

BAIER: There are some of your colleagues including senators Feinstein, Blumenthal, Manchin, Tester, and Coons on the Democratic side who say to Nancy Pelosi, it's time to send over these articles of impeachment. It's time to move on. The House said one of the reasons they voted on impeachment like they did is because it was urgent, it was necessary, it was fast, had to happen because there was a threat to the election in 2020. Now, it's been three weeks. What -- how do you come down on this?

KAINE: So, Bret, here is what I have to say. I don't give the House advice, but I'll tell you what I think. I fully expect that we're going to be in an impeachment trial very soon.

BAIER: Like days?

KAINE: I think it's going to be days. That's what my gut is telling me.  I don't have any inside Intel. And I also believe that when we take that oath to do impartial justice, there is no way to do that without hearing from people like a John Bolton who has said, I have relevant information that hasn't been disclosed, please subpoena me. I don't think you can do impartial justice without the individuals and documents that bear directly on the questions in the -- to impeachment articles.

BAIER: We'll see how that comes down. Senator Kaine, we appreciate your time.

KAINE: Absolutely, Bret.

BAIER: Up next, the game of impeachment chicken as we talked about between Senator Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Plus, the panel in a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Thunderstorms and showers are bringing some relief for firefighters battling deadly wildfires across Australia's drought-parched east coast, but they're also raising concerns that lightning will spark more fires before dangerous hot and windy conditions return. The death toll from the blazes has risen now to 26 after the death of a firefighter in a vehicle crash. About 2,000 homes have been destroyed in Australia.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republicans are not about to give up their control over the president's impeachment trial. His declaration comes as some Democrats are pushing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as we just talked about, to send those articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate. But Senior Capitol Hill producer Chad Pergram tells us tonight Pelosi is showing no signs of backing down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS SENIOR CAPITOL HILL PRODUCER: It's a game of impeachment chicken between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment. The House Democrats' turn is over.

PERGRAM: But in a letter to fellow Democrats, Pelosi reiterated she wouldn't send the articles unless McConnell published his impeachment trial resolution. That's so Democrats can see "the arena in which we are participating," says Pelosi.  A senior House Democratic source close to Pelosi asks, where is the push to send the articles to the Senate? But some Democratic senators hope that Pelosi hurries up. They are itching for a fight with McConnell.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, (D-CT) SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I think we are reaching the point where the articles of impeachment to be sent.

PERGRAM: McConnell took notice of Blumenthal's defection.

MCCONNELL: Our Democratic friends are losing patience, just like the American people are losing patience. The country knows this absurdity should not go on.

PERGRAM: Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is leading an effort to change Senate impeachment rules if Pelosi doesn't send the articles soon.  The idea is catching on with some of Hawley's colleagues.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-SC) SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: If by the end of the week she has not transmitted articles, I hope we will change the rules so we can start the trial without her.

PERGRAM: It only take 51 votes to alter the Senate's standard impeachment rules, but 67 votes to break a filibuster on such a rules change proposal.  So it's unlikely Senate Republicans can do much to pry the articles loose from Pelosi until she is ready.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PERGRAM: Once the Senate has the articles, McConnell says he has the votes to conduct a trial just like the one for President Clinton in 1999.  McConnell says if it was good enough for President Clinton, it should be good enough for President Trump. Bret?

BAIER: Chad Pergram on the Hill. Chad, thanks. Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan say they are planning to step back as senior members of the royal family and work to be financially independent. The statement also says they intend to balance their time between the U.K. and North America. The couple married in 2018. They have a baby son, Archie. Up next, the panel on the conflict with Iran. First, beyond our borders tonight. A car bomb exploded at a checkpoint in Somalia's capital this morning, killing three people and wounding six others. The Al Qaeda linked al-Shabaab extremist group quickly claimed responsibility. A government spokesman there says the blast occurred as soldiers conducted searches at a checkpoint. The presidents of Turkey and Russia inaugurated the dual natural gas line connecting their countries today. The meeting in Istanbul between Turkish President Erdogan and Russia's Putin celebrated the opening of a new export path for Russian gas into Turkey and Europe, and a promise of greater cooperation in trade and diplomacy. Auto executive turned fugitive Carlos Ghosn says his arrest in Japan was a plot against him, and described his detention conditions as a travesty against human rights. He says financial misconduct charges are false. The former Nissan chairman escaped from Japanese custody last month. Just some of the other story beyond our borders tonight. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER (through translator): Well, last night, we slapped them. These military actions are not enough. What is important is that the corrupt presence of America in this region comes to an end.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As long as I'm president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

SEN. BOB MENENDEZ, (D-NJ) RANKING MEMBER, FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: I think we should look at it as a moment of de-escalation and for a diplomatic surge.

REP. MAC THORNBERRY, (R-TX) HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I think it is likely that the Iranians will try something else. My guess is that the something else will be something they can deny, like a cyberattack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: After the Iranian missile strikes into Iraq, is this the off-ramp both sides are looking for? What happens next? Let's bring in our panel, Matthew Continetti, editor in chief of the "Washington Free Beacon," Susan Ferrechio, Chief Congressional Correspondent for the "Washington Examiner," and Jonathan Swan, national political reporter for "Axios." Jonathan, at the White House, are they hopeful that this is kind of the beginning of turning a corner when it comes to dealing with Iran?

JONATHAN SWAN, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, "AXIOS": The sense I have from talking to people in the White House is that they are not naive that this is the dawn of some new diplomatic renaissance with Iran, but they are happy -- I should maybe use a different word -- at least hopeful that this is -- if this is the conclusion of this little skirmish, it's probably a good outcome. I do not think for a second that Iran is going to stop its malign the behavior across the region, that its proxies may take other actions. There are several questions they are really examining at the moment. One is the idea of Iran using deniability, its proxies to hit maybe an ally, and what does the United States do then? And of course, the question of its nuclear program, which we saw the president talk about then. They can get that up and going pretty quickly. And then we're now talking about back to the last decade, early last decade when you are thinking about the Israelis or the U.S. getting involved preemptively.

BAIER: Speaking of which, I just got a readout from the White House that the president talked to the Israeli prime minister by phone about regional issues. Susan, the Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif tweeting "Iran took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens and senior officials was launched. We do not seek escalation or war but will defend ourselves against any aggression." After what we saw against Iran and its response, kind of what that signaled, does it diminish this argument about whether the Soleimani attack was justified or not, taking out this terrorist?

SUSAN FERRECHIO, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": I think the last sentence that you read from that tweet is the most important here, which is that they are not seeking to escalate this. And they issued that tweet right after they fired those missiles. So on Capitol Hill, people are describing it, Republicans, as the strike is a form of de-escalation because there weren't any casualties. So it provided Iran with a way to answer back from the Soleimani drone attack that killed Soleimani and those other officials without killing any Americans or causing enough damage that the U.S. uses its full force against Iran, which Iran doesn't want because they can't survive that.

BAIER: What's interesting is that the chairman of Joint Chiefs saying that the missiles were intended to kill Americans, seemed like he was off the song sheet, because if somebody is trying to kill you and doesn't, you still strike back.

MATTHEW CONTINETTI, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "WASHINGTON FREE BEACON": Any missile can kill people, and you saw some of the damage to those structures, and even the best awareness might lead to accidental casualties. Here's two things we know. One is we now know that there is no distinction between the Iranian proxy militias and the Iranian government. That was made clear by the missile attacks that came from Iran. More importantly, we now know Donald Trump's red line. In truth, when knew it implicitly back last summer when he failed to retaliate militarily over the downing of our drone. Then it was implicit, since then it's been explicit. If Iran or its proxies kill Americans, America will retaliate in a showstopping way, and I think that's one reason why the Iranians want to back out of this conflict.

BAIER: Yesterday the Gang of Eight were briefed, today all of the House and Senate members were briefed by the administration on the intelligence that led up to the strike on the Soleimani. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. GERRY CONNOLLY, (D-VA) HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: I was utterly unpersuaded about any evidence about the imminence of the threat that was new or compelling.

CHRIS STEWART, (R-UT) HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I can tell you with assurance that this was not the same thing we've been seeing for the past few years. This was something different.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, (D-MD): The briefing was incredibly thin on facts.  They did not support any claim of an imminent threat.

SEN. MIKE LEE, (R-UT): The briefing lasted only 75 minutes, whereupon our briefers left. This, however, is not the biggest problem I have with the briefing, which, I would add, was probably the worst briefing I've seen, at least on a military issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Senator Mike Lee and Senator Tom Cotton may not have gone to the same briefing, because they definitely talked about it differently.

SWAN: Yes, and they come from very different ideological points, and obviously the two Republicans that were speaking that way were Mike Lee and Rand Paul, who have a very different point of view than Tom Cotton. But I just want to go back to, you put up that tweet from Javad Zarif, the foreign minister. It's really important to understand, and I've spent a lot of time now talking to people in the intelligence community, the Pentagon, and other part of the government to try and understand how they perceive that Iran is operating. First, Zarif is a minor -- he's not around the table with the ayatollah. He's a very slick operator, but he's not a decision-maker. Secondly, what they are trying to do is exacerbate the wedge between America and the United Nations, and America and the Europeans.

BAIER: And even America and Iraq, frankly.

SWAN: Sure. And all of these wedges exist. But that's what he's doing there, using the language of the United Nations, et cetera.

BAIER: When the Soleimani was taken out, don't you think the Iranians were taken back, saying, wait a minute, this guy did this? Because Soleimani walking around brazenly in Baghdad, I don't think thinking that he was going to be taking out by a drone.

CROWLEY: Zarif might not be around the table, but Soleimani was, and now he's no longer around the table. And that has put, I think, the Iranian regime in a state of not panic, but shock and confusion.

BAIER: All right, what about the politics of this, quickly, and how Democrats are playing it on the trail and up on Capitol Hill?

FERRECHIO: Right now Democrats are making it appear as though the president needs to be reined in, that he can't be trusted moving forward.  But maybe we've escaped this, it's de-escalating. B but nobody knows what's going to happen from this. I just noticed Chad Pergram tweeting from the Rules Committee meeting where they're drawing up this war resolution right now, and they are saying, the issue is we don't know what Trump is going to do going forward. They want to have some say in this.  So they're not letting this go and saying we've escaped any serious issues this time. They want to have a say in this. And so you are not going to see it in Capitol Hill. The House is going to pass something, and the Senate is going to be forced to vote on this as well.

BAIER: Is the Trump campaign looking at this and saying this is an ad in the making, that the president is willing to take the bold actions to take out the terrorists, and the Democrats are standing up for this guy, or something?

SWAN: It's not clear to me, yet, how they're going to use it. But the polling is no clear on this, either. If you look at the way this stuff polls, most Americans don't believe America should intervene for things like the Saudi oil facilities being attacked, but when you ask them should we intervene militarily to stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon, it's quite different. So the polling is not clear either.

BAIER: And we don't know what we don't know about what could be coming as there's more response. OK, panel, thank you.

Next up, what the Democratic presidential candidates are saying on the trail about all of this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: In tonight's Democracy 2020 report, what the Democratic presidential candidates are saying about the conflict in the Middle East.  Correspondent Peter Doocy reports this evening from Minneapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Michael Bloomberg got a late start campaigning, and he mostly wants to talk about jobs on places like this farm in Minnesota.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (D) FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: I want to give consumers, I eat what you grow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we greatly appreciate that.

(LAUGHTER)

DOOCY: But like every other Democrat, now he's got to talk about Iran.

BLOOMBERG: Now I think we face even more extreme threats from Iran.

DOOCY: Elizabeth Warren is experiencing the same kind of thing, as celebration of her Julian Castro endorsement coincided with Tuesday's Iranian missile attack.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to start on a very sober note.

DOOCY: She later danced on stage, and this morning danced around a question about whether she would have targeted Soleimani.

WARREN: I think you have to remember that when Donald Trump made the decision to take out Soleimani, I don't think anyone has argued it's because that's the first time they saw him or were able to do it.

DOOCY: Andrew Yang is more direct.

ANDREW YANG, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to bring Iran back to the table and invest in a diplomatic solution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you would not have killed him?

YANG: I would not have, no. I think it was a mistake.

DOOCY: Joe Biden's problem is he doesn't know if Iran posed an imminent threat like the Trump team claims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't believe him?

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It could be true, but I don't give him the benefit of the doubt, because he's lied so much about virtually everything.

DOOCY: So it's all about credibility, as candidates argue they've got more when it comes to diplomacy than Trump.

BLOOMBERG: It's imperative that the commander in chief think through all the implications of his actions or her actions. I certainly hope the president does that. But unfortunately, as we all know, that's just not in his nature.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOOCY: With all the senators running for president back in D.C. for an intel briefing, it's uncharacteristically quiet here on the campaign trail.  So with 26 days until the caucuses, candidates are talking about a four letter i-word, but it's Iran, not Iowa. Bret?

BAIER: Peter Doocy live in Minneapolis. Peter, thank you.

When we come back, and a medal ceremony a long time in the making.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Finally tonight, honoring an American hero decades later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't earn these medals by doing anything modest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: One-hundred-and-three-year-old Army veteran Peter Fantasia finally received multiple medals he earned for his service in World War II.  Fantasia was an Army medic. He was held as a prisoner of war for nearly six months after he was captured tending to wounded Americans in France in 1944. Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton presented several medals to Fantasia, including a Bronze Star and a World War II Victory Medal. Thank you, sir, for your service. Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for the SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and still unafraid.

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