Iranian officials have denied claims that they mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet. The plane crashed early Wednesday morning soon after takeoff from Tehran's airport, killing everyone on board.
CBS News has learned that U.S. officials are confident Iran shot down the jetliner in the hours after the Iranian missile attack on U.S. targets earlier this week. There were 176 people killed in the crash: 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals.
Iranian officials on Thursday denied claims that they mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet. The plane crashed Wednesday soon after takeoff from Tehran's airport, killing everyone on board.
CBS News has learned that U.S. officials are confident Iran shot down the jetliner in the hours after the Iranian missile attack on U.S. targets earlier this week. There were 176 people killed in the crash: 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals.
The TV queen — who attended the couple’s wedding and is also close to Meghan’s mom, Doria Ragland — discussed their “declaration of independence” and encouraged them to consider making a living in North America by building their own powerful brand.
Harry and Meghan have trademarked “Sussex Royal” as a brand on more than 100 properties in the UK, including clothing, stationery, photographs and educational and charitable endeavors — with predicted revenue of over $500 million.
They’ve gathered a coterie of powerful US players, including the Obamas, George and Amal Clooney, Serena Williams, James Corden and Meghan’s designer pal Misha Nonoo, whose new husband, oil heir Michael Hess, has offered them a place to stay in one of the family’s three homes in the gated Malibu Colony — dubbed “Billionaire’s Beach” — we are told.
Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, left, and Oprah Winfrey. (Getty Images/AP)
A source said, “Oprah was the first person to talk to Harry and Meghan about breaking free and doing their own thing, building on their own brand. She made them realize it was really possible.” A rep for Oprah declined to comment.
Harry collaborated with Oprah on a mental-health series for Apple TV+, to air later this year, and it is believed the pair had “frank conversations” about the turmoil he and Meghan have faced in the spotlight. In an astonishing interview, Harry revealed he thinks about the fate of his mother, Princess Diana, “every single time I see a camera … every time I see a flash.”
Harry is also close to Barack Obama, and insiders say the prince could follow a similar after-presidency career path, involving philanthropy, speeches, book deals and documentaries.
Page Six can also reveal that Oprah’s BFF Gayle King is set to score the first interview with the Sussexes post-Megxit. King attended Meg’s NYC baby shower and visited them after the birth of baby Archie. A TV source said: “It’s hush-hush, but there’s no one else they would turn to.”
The White House issued a sharp rebuke Thursday aimed at the House after it passed a resolution limiting his power to take further military action against Iran.
The Housed voted in favor on the war powers resolution 224-194 – largely along party lines – on Thursday in response to President Donald Trump’s decisions that led to an escalation in tensions with Iran.
Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley condemned the resolution in a statement, calling it „misguided“ and „ridiculous.“ He said it „tries to undermine the ability of the US Armed Forces to prevent terrorist activity by Iran and its proxies.“
President Donald Trump and the White House slammed lawmakers on Thursday, after the House passed a resolution aiming to limit his ability to take further military action against Iran.
The House voted in favor on the War Powers Resolution 224-194 – largely along party lines – on Thursday in response to President Donald Trump’s decisions that led to an escalation in tensions with Iran. The resolution aims to bar the president from taking any new military actions against Iran without congressional approval. The resolution now goes to the Senate.
„Under the Constitution, Congress has the power to declare war and approve money for military operations, while the president is the commander in chief of the US armed forces,“ as Insider previously reported. „Under the War Powers Act of 1973, the president has 48 hours to inform Congress that US armed forces have been ordered to engage in operations overseas. These operations cannot last for more than 60 days without a congressional declaration of war or an authorization for use of military force (AUMF).“
„The President has the right and duty to protect this nation and our citizens from terrorism,“ Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said, according to VOA News‘ Steve Herman. „That’s what he continues to do, and the world is safer for it.“
In the statement, Gidley condemned the „ridiculous“ resolution, calling it „misguided“ and saying that it „tries to undermine the ability of the US Armed Forces to prevent terrorist activity by Iran and its proxies.“
The resolution is a non-binding concurrent resolution, and unlike a joint resolution, does not need to go to the president for signature. Gidley pointed out the non-binding aspect of the resolution, and called it a „political move“ lacking the „force of law.“ An argument made by Republicans regarding the resolution.
Trump himself responded to the vote at a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio.
„They’re saying, ‚You should get permission from Congress, you should come in and tell us what you want to do – you should come in and tell us, so that we can call up the fake news that’s back there, and we can leak it,'“ Trump claimed, according to Fox News. „Lot of corruption back there.“
Shortly after a rally, Trump tweeted: „Under my administration, we will NEVER make excuses for America’s enemies – we will never hesitate in defending American lives – and we will never stop working to defeat Radical Islamic Terrorism!“
Trump has faced increased backlash for his decision to kill Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The president authorized the attack on Iran’s top general without informing Congress.
Days after Soleimani’s death, Iran sent missile strikes on two bases housing US and coalition forces in Iraq in apparent retaliation.
Eight Democrats voted against the House’s resolution, while three Republicans supported it – including Trump ally Rep. Matt Gaetz.
„I represent more troops than any other member of this body,“ Gaetz said, adding, „I buried one of them earlier today at Arlington. That sergeant died a patriot and a hero. If the members of our armed services have the courage to go and fight and die in these wars, as Congress, we ought to have the courage to vote for or against them.“
Lee said it is "not acceptable" for officials from the executive branch — whether it be Defense Department, the CIA or the White House — to tell the Senate that they can't "debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against Iran."
"It's un-American, it's unconstitutional, and it's wrong," he added.
Lee said he will back Kaine's resolution once changes are made.
House to vote Thursday on war powers resolution
"I walked into the briefing undecided. I walked out decided, specifically because of what happened in that briefing," he said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, CIA Director Gina Haspel and acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire conducted the briefing to the full Senate on last week's drone strike. The group met with House members to discuss the strike earlier in the day.
Lee said the suggestion from the administration's top military and national security officials that the Senate not debate military action in Iran was "insulting" and "demeaning to the process ordained by the Constitution."
"They left after 75 minutes. Now I understand these are busy people. They've got a lot of demands on their time," Lee said. "They're appearing before a coordinate branch of government, a coordinate branch of government responsible for their funding, for their confirmation, for any approval of any military action they might undertake. And they had to leave after 75 minutes while they're in the process of telling us we need to be good little boys and girls and run along and not debate this in public. I find that absolutely insane. I think it's unacceptable."
A White House official confirmed to CBS News' Paula Reid that Lee did not get to ask a question, but said the briefing lasted 90 minutes. The official added the White House hoped to come back to answer questions.
The White House left the briefing with the impression that some lawmakers were upset with the decision to use force, but not with how the briefing was conducted, the official said.
Paul said he also intends to support Kaine's war powers resolution.
"I wanted to hear the intelligence first," he told reporters, "What I heard was less than satisfying."
Mr. Trump ordered the drone strike that took out Soleimani in Baghdad last week. The president and administration officials have said the decision was in response to an "imminent threat" to American diplomats and service members. The White House on Saturday notified Congress of the strike under the War Powers Act.
Senate Democrats said after Wednesday's briefing that information they were provided by the administration did not describe an "imminent threat."
On Tuesday, Iran launched ballistic missiles against Iraqi military bases that house U.S. forces in retaliation for the strike that killed Soleimani.
Tehran — Hours after President Trump said Iran appeared to be "standing down" after an intense week of soaring tension, a senior Iranian military commander vowed Thursday that there would be "harsher revenge" taken against the U.S. Mr. Trump indicated on Wednesday that he plans no further military response against Iran in a statement intended to lower tension in the Middle East.
But the general chosen to replace Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian commander killed in a targeted strike on Mr. Trump's order last week, said Thursday morning that he would follow the same path as his predecessor.
A commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, meanwhile, issued the threat of "harsher revenge soon."
The messages show that the U.S. can't afford to let its guard down, but they also highlight continued deep divisions inside Iranian society. Iran's political leaders said Wednesday that the Islamic Republic had "concluded" its response to America's targeted killing of a top Iranian general.
CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer says that while Iran's military commanders are vowing to fight on, with the goal of getting U.S. forces to leave the region, the headline in Tehran on Thursday was that — in the short term — the Americans aren't planning another military strike.
Crisis in the Middle East: Fears of War with Iran
In the first real snowfall of the winter, residents of Iran's capital went about their business on Thursday feeling safer.
One resident, Caroline, told Palmer she had definitely been afraid of the prospect of an all-out war with the U.S. Like millions of others in Iran, she listened to President Trump's speech very closely.
She said she was relieved when he said there would not be any further American attack, and she "slept very well" after his remarks.
"The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it," Mr. Trump said Wednesday. "We do not want to use it."
On Iranian state-run TV, the president's decision not to strike back was framed as a climb-down by the U.S., and a win for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who were able to showcase their missile arsenal with the strikes this week against Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces.
Those strikes were retaliation for the U.S. attack that killed Soleimani on Friday. His death brought millions of people into the streets of Iranian cities in a show of national unity, but the mourning masses didn't convey the whole story.
Just a few weeks ago, thousands of demonstrators were in the streets to vent their fury and frustration with their own government, for its corruption, ineptitude and repression.
But Palmer says the mood has changed completely since then, and for now the voices of dissent have gone quiet.
Freshman Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA analyst and senior Defense Department official, is the sponsor of the resolution, which calls on the President "to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces to engage in hostilities in or against Iran" unless Congress declares war or enacts "specific statutory authorization" for the use of armed forces.
One additional exception outlined in the resolution is if the use of armed forces "is necessary and appropriate to defend against an imminent armed attack upon the United States."
A vote on the resolution will take place one day after President Donald Trump signaled a de-escalation of tensions with Iran, saying that "Iran appears to be standing down" in the wake of its retaliatory attacks against Iraqi bases housing US troops, which came after a US airstrike killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.
Despite the apparent de-escalation, however, Democrats have continued to express alarm over the strike and the administration's justification in taking the action.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement on Wednesday that "members of Congress have serious, urgent concerns about the administration's decision to engage in hostilities against Iran and about its lack of strategy moving forward" and announced that the House would move forward with a war powers resolution vote.
The House resolution states that "when the United States military force, the American people and members of the United States Armed Forces deserve a credible explanation regarding such use of military force."
It also states that "Congress has not authorized the President to use military force against Iran."
Democrats push war powers resolutions in House and Senate
The House and Senate are both poised to take up war powers resolutions related to Iran.
In the Senate, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia introduced his own war powers resolution last week along with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois. The measure is privileged, which means that the Republican-controlled Senate will have to hold a vote.
The resolution directs the President to remove US forces from hostilities with Iran no later than 30 days after the resolution is enacted absent a declaration of war by Congress or passage of a new authorization for use of military force, a type of measure that lawmakers can approve to green-light military action.
Even as the military conflict with Iran appeared to have de-escalated on Wednesday, Kaine said that he will continue to press ahead with his effort to limit Trump's authority on Iran.
He added, however, that the timing may be complicated by the fact that it's uncertain when a Senate impeachment trial will begin. But since it's privileged, the Senate must vote on it.
"What we learned from the last 18 months is ... this thing has been going up and down cycles ... and deliberation is the antidote to unnecessary escalation," Kaine said of conflict with Iran.
Democrats invoke War Powers Act in effort to rein in Trump
In their effort to restrain US conflict with Iran, congressional Democrats are invoking the War Powers Resolution, otherwise known as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 or the War Powers Act.
The War Powers Act stipulates parameters of presidential and congressional war powers, including imposing procedural requirements to ensure that presidents keep Congress apprised of military decisions as well as provisions that provide Congress with a mechanism to suspend military operations initiated by the President in certain circumstances.
It was enacted after Congress overrode a veto from then-President Richard Nixon and is aimed at reining in a president's authority to engage the US in military action without congressional approval.
The Democratic-controlled House is expected to have the support needed to clear an Iran war powers resolution, but it is not yet clear if such a resolution would have the votes to pass in the Republican-led Senate.
Whatever the outcome of the vote, however, the resolutions ensure there will be an ongoing congressional debate over simmering hostilities with Iran.
CNN's Manu Raju and Nicole Gaouette contributed to this report.
