Good morning, everyone. I'm Kate Baldwin. It's Wednesday, March 18th. Here are the five things you need to know to start your day.

Number one, the Maga War Divide. President Trump is quickly dismissing the resignation of his director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Joe Kent is his name. He just quit over the war with Iran, making

him the highest-ranking Trump administration official to quit in opposition to the conflict.

Two White House sources tell CNN, Kent spoke with Vice President and Trump's chief of staff

before releasing his resignation letter, which said that Iran posed no imminent threat.

Kent went on to say, quote, I cannot support sending the

next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people,

nor justifies the cost of American lives. Kent is also quite controversial and Long has had a

penchant for conspiracy theories and is being called out as anti-Semitic by some big-name Republicans.

Congressman Don Bacon writing this on social media,

Good riddance, anti-Semitism is an evil I detest,

and we surely don't want it in our government.

Here's Trump's response.

I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.

But when I read a statement, I realized that it's a good thing that he's out because he said that Iran was not a threat.

New video out of Israel shows damage as Iran retaliates for the killing of two senior leaders,

including its top national security officials.

This morning, Israeli officials say that they've also targeted the Iranian Intel Minister in a strike.

And the US military announced it just dropped 5,000 pound bombs on Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz.

Number two, the DHS drama. Senator Mark Wayne Mullen will face his Senate colleagues today in the first step toward getting confirmed as the next Secretary of Homeland Security.

And this changeup is coming at a moment of intense upheaval at that agency.

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