Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that reports Gen. Qassem Soleimani was on a diplomatic mission when he was killed are "fundamentally false" and asserted that the president's actions that led to his death were both legal and appropriate.
As tensions continue to rise in the Middle East, Pompeo answered questions from reporters at the State Department after making remarks on issues that included turmoil in Venezuela and the Australian wildfires, for which he offered his condolences.
Pompeo, the former C.I.A. director, declined to provide evidence of what has been repeatedly described by the White House as an "imminent" threat from Iran that led to the assassination. He further said the timing of the attack was less important than the fact that American lives were threatened.
"If you're looking for imminence, you need to look no further than the days that led up to the strike that was taken against Soleimani," he said.
An American contractor was killed late last month in a rocket attack by an Iran-backed militia in Iraq. After the U.S. ordered a retaliatory missile strike, protesters stormed the embassy in Baghdad on New Year's Eve. Some Pentagon officials have said intelligence did not show an imminent attack.
He added, "And then you, in addition to that, have what we can clearly see were continuing efforts on behalf of this terrorist to build out a network of campaign activities that were going to lead potentially to the death of many more Americans."
"It was the right decision, we got it right," and U.S. intelligence supported that conclusion, Pompeo claimed, defending both the president's authorization of the strike and the broader Iran policy.
Pompeo said the U.S. would also abide by international law. On Monday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper acknowledged that striking cultural sites is a war crime, despite the president tweeting about such potential targets in Iran. When questioned on the subject, Pompeo said "let me tell you who's done damage to the Persian culture. It's not the United States of America. It's the ayatollah."
Meanwhile, U.S. forces were placed on high alert in the Middle East amid military intelligence suggesting Iran is moving equipment to launch drone strikes.
Pompeo said the president had acted in an "entirely legal, appropriate" way that was "perfectly within our strategy," which he described as a "pressure campaign we have in place … diplomatic component, economic component, and military component."
"In the event that the Iranians make another bad choice, the president will respond in the way he did last week," he said.
Last week, President Trump authorized the airstrike killing Soleimani and his adviser Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at the Baghdad airport, angering Tehran for killing the high-profile commander of the Quds Force and frustrating some American politicians who feel he took his power too far.
The president ordered the strike without giving notice to Congress, seemingly conflicting with the War Powers Act of 1973. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will hold votes this week when the House of Representatives is back in session to limit the president's ability to act unilaterally. A Senate vote is expected as well.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine raging on, millions have turned to TikTok to stay up-to-date on the latest developments and get a first-hand look. The social media platform has been so prominent that the war has been dubbed "the first TikTok war" by many publications — and even the White House has taken notice. The Biden administration held a virtual briefing with 30 social media creators to discuss their role in communicating to their followers by countering what it deems as being misinformation. Ellie Zeiler, an 18-year-old TikTok star who attended the briefing, joined Cheddar to talk about the conference and her responsibilities as a social media creator. "How could you not be a little nervous or scared when you're getting your information and media all from this app? But also then you think back to, I guess, when media was changing between newspapers and TV, and I'm sure people were nervous about that too," she said. "So the fact is, is that people do really look to Tiktok and social media for their news."
U.S. markets closed the day at session lows as the Dow marked its fifth straight week of losses. Investors continue to weigh inflation and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and growing economic risk factors. George Seay, CEO of Annandale Capital, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
U.S. stocks ended Thursday's session lower as new CPI data show inflation continues to rise and the Russia-Ukraine war continues. Philip Palumbo, founder, CEO, & Chief Investment Officer of Palumbo Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
It's been an eventful past few weeks for the WNBA. One of the league's top players, Brittney Griner, remains in Russian custody after being detained at an airport last month. The league is also dealing with a scandal after fining a team for providing charter flights to their players. Emily Caron, sports business reporter for Sportico, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
School nutrition experts warn that millions of children could go hungry as soon as this summer, after Congress excluded waivers that would extend universal lunch for children in school from the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. Cheddar News speaks with Jessica Gould, chair of the public policy and legislation committee at the School Nutrition Association, about the issue.
The ongoing semiconductor chip shortage has been impacting everything from the purchase of cars to smartphones. Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves spoke with Cheddar about the Biden administration's efforts to combat the issue and if the current crisis in Ukraine will have any impact on the global supply chain problems for semiconductors. "We're working very closely with all of our partners and allies around the globe, just as we have on the export controls and sanctions that we've applied to Russia to deal with that needless aggression," he said. "We're also working with them on the challenges of raw materials for a range of industries, including the semiconductor industry. We believe that we are going to be able to meet the demand for the for the near term."
Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves spoke to Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo about the ongoing semiconductor shortages and the push from the Biden administration to cover the supply chain problem as well as look ahead to future-proofing it.
President Maxx Fenning and Vice President CJ Walden of PRISM, a Florida non-profit providing resources for LGBTQ youth, joined Cheddar News to discuss the negative repercussions of a Florida bill banning discussions of sexuality and gender identity in some classrooms.
