BREAKING: Iran shot down US helicopter in Strait of Hormuz, Trump says

Well, some breaking news to start us off this afternoon, Santa.I'm John Roberts from Washington.This is America Reports.Of course, the big question is, what comes next if the president says that the U .S.is going to respond?

The U .S.military did make a first -of -its -kind rescue with an unmanned drone boat to rescue the airmen, President Trump adding that the U .S.is going to respond to this attack in kind.We don't know what that means at the moment, though.

Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy with a read from 1600 Pennsylvania.

Peter, what do you got?John, it probably means that the president is about to order something big in Iran be blown up.We know a couple days ago, he was in the Oval Office and was asked if a red line for restarting a hot war against Iran would be U .S.troops being killed.And he said that would be a good reason to resume military operations.

There were no U .S.troops killed here, but it seems like Iran was trying really, really hard to to kill U .S.troops because they did shoot down an Apache helicopter.We've got the president's post.

He says, This is brand new.We have been told over the last couple of hours that an Apache was down and that an operational first for the U .S.military was using this drone, this water -based drone.We've got some info on it.It's a 24 -foot -long ASV, Autonomous Surface Vessel.

They call it the U .S.Navy Corsair.It's got a 1 ,000 -mile nautical range and 35 -knot top speed.We don't know exactly how fast it is. how the drone contributed to the search, but it is credited with helping save these guys' lives as they were plucked out of the Strait of Hormuz.And we would expect to hear more from President Trump about exactly what the appropriate response is here.

it's definitely going to delay any kind of a peace, a final peace plan.John?

You know, I'm sure that the military has got a target list that's as long as your arm.As you point out, we don't know what the president will go after, but I would imagine it's probably something of high value.

Yeah, absolutely.And there's no reason to think that just because they took down a US helicopter, he's going to go take out a helicopter.In fact, if you talk to the president about this, he says they've already wiped out the entire Iranian Air Force.Something that they have been talking about lately are Iranian drone factories.Marco Rubio was talking about this on the Hill.President Trump talks about this a little bit.

They still have some ability to to make these cheap drones to attack their neighbors in the Gulf and also to attack U .S.interests near the Strait of Hormuz.It's possible that they decide to go after one of these things that they've been talking about, or it could be something completely different.

And continuing to update that the White House says that the service members involved are safe and uninjured.Peter, do you anticipate that we'll hear from the president or the White House in any form anytime soon?

Anytime soon is tough.The president's got three policy meetings listed on his public schedule.Those don't usually open up to cameras, but if they do, we would see the president and probably some national security advisors in the Oval Office.Okay.

Well, as we know all too well, all the president's got to do is wave his hand and suddenly these things become public, so we'll see.Peter, thank you for the update.

We'll watch for any update from the White House.Meanwhile, let's bring in retired two -star Marine Corps General Arnold Punaro.General, welcome to you.This is the news.As we start off the top of the hour, we do now anticipate what happens next.Your thoughts?

Well, Iran has committed a mortal sin here and they're going to pay the price.The president had been showing remarkablerestraint the last couple of days as Iran was attacking Kuwait, as they were attacking Israel, as they were stirring the pot with the Houthis in Hezbollah.And now the president basically correctly, first of all, thanks to our great rescue capability and the new technology, our pilots are safe.But the president, I think, would have our military, and they'll be ready to go, they're ready now, go after military targets, which would include command and control, the military leadership, their legitimate combatants, other high -value military targets.So I fully expect the military already knows they have what we call in Iran a target -rich environment.

The president has been very remarkable in trying to keep the peace negotiations on track.a huge, as I said, a mortal sin by Iran in that regard.

ignite a tit -for -tat and drive oil prices through the roof.But here's the thing.The president said that he wouldn't resume attacks against Iran unless Americans were killed.As Peter Doocy rightly points out, maybe the pilots survived, but Iran sure was trying to kill them.So does that mean that everything is on the table here now as far as the president goes, including the top military leadership in Iran?

John, appropriate situation would be a legitimate military target, but certainly much more damaging than just going out and killing people.helicopter.

You know, General, I'm just taking a look at markets right now as we have been throughout this conflict to see how markets are responding.And it's amazing to see that this is happening in a moment where we've seen a turnaround in the U .S.stock market today, Dow off 370 points, but oil prices right now are now well back below $90 a barrel, as the U .S.Energy Secretary has suggested that Hormuz ship traffic is on the rise in a big way.

So you've got oil now down about 4%.That's a drop of about $4 today, bottom right corner of your screen.As this news comes in, General, tie this all together.

Well, I would say that's another reason, Sandra, that you probably would not want to go after the oil infrastructure and the energy infrastructure.If we did that, obviously, you'd see those prices start to spike in a big way.And even though I think this is a huge setback because of Iran on the negotiating track, I think the president will do what's appropriate in terms of the military response, teach them a lesson, for sure.and try to get the negotiations back on track.We certainly want to see that the oil infrastructure and the energy start to flow, because that's important not just to the world economy.And everyone's concerned about that.

But on the other hand, we can't let them, and I know the president is not going to let them get away with this.

I mean, in terms of teaching them a lesson, General, the IRGC, the Iranian regime, has got a learning curve that's as steep as the face of the Burj Khalifa.in Dubai.I mean, these guys don't get it until you really bloody them.So would you suggest that the president just do some sort of pinpoint attack and retaliation or unleash hell on these guys and finally say to them, this is it.It's come to the table or you're going to really pay the price.

John, I think when you're dealing with the Republican guards, you have to unleash hell, death and destruction.You say they don't get it.Well, let's send them to their just reward.and you know where that is.

Well, General, you leave us wondering, as Peter Doocy left us wondering as well, when we'll hear from the White House next.

Well, I know the military's ready to go already.I mean, they're not.They're just waiting to get the ghost signals.They're locked and loaded.They're ready to go.And they can unleash a pinprick, and they can unleash hell, death, and destruction, whatever the commander in chief wants them to do.

All right, we'll see what happens in the hours ahead.General Panaro, as always, thanks for joining us.Thank you, General.Appreciate it.

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