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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump Blames Iran For Saudi Attack; Oil Futures Soar; Boris Johnson Leaves Prime Minister Of Luxembourg Alone At Press Conference; Iran Denies Responsibility For Attack On Saudi Oil Fields; Netanyahu, Gantz In Tight Race On Eve Of Election Re-do; U.S. Autoworkers Begin Strike Against General Motors; Former U.K. P.M. Cameron Apologizes For Brexit Uncertainty; Police Looking For Stole $6 Million Golden Toilet. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 16, 2019 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:21]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN London, I'm Hala Gorani.
Tonight, Saudi Arabia says its oil facility was attacked with Iranian weapons over the weekend. We are in Riyadh for the latest on the
escalating crisis.
Also this hour, why this podium in Luxembourg remained empty during Boris Johnson's visit with E.U. leaders, we'll have a report.
And also, new reporting on allegations of sexual misconduct by now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Why some top Democrats are now calling for
his impeachment.
We begin tonight with a global finger-pointing over the weekend attack on Saudi oil fields. This video shows the aftermath of those coordinated
drone strikes: a massive fireball, and smoke billowing everywhere. The attack destroyed 19 targets that account for half of the kingdom's oil
output and 5 percent of the world's daily oil production. Oil futures spiked across the globe.
Nothing like this has happened since the Gulf War, nearly 30 years ago. The big question, of course, is: Who did it? The U.S. says Iran is
responsible. A Middle Eastern diplomat tells CNN the U.S. has assessed that the attack likely originated from inside Iran. Iran is denying this.
TEXT: Donald J. Trump: Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on
verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would
proceed!
GORANI: President Donald Trump suggested Iranian responsibility in a tweet, referencing Iran lying about an earlier drone attack on a ship. It
ends with the question, we'll see about this weekend's strikes.
Nic Robertson is on the ground in Saudi Arabia. We're also live in Iran and the United States tonight, and our Military and Diplomatic Analyst,
John Kirby is in Washington. We'll get to our Nick Paton Walsh in Tehran in a moment.
So, first, let me start with you, Nic Robertson. Saudi is now saying that Iranian weapons were used. How did it come to this conclusion?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It hasn't made the evidence public yet. However, they have in the past come to a similar
conclusion about missile systems fired by the Houthis from Yemen.
This time, they're saying very clearly that the missiles have not been fired from Yemen. They're not saying where they've been fired from. They
are saying that they will get to the bottom of it. They are saying that they will show reporters the weapons systems that they've recovered.
And what they've done in the past, where they've claimed that these were -- that weapons that had been fired at them, we're talking about massive Scud
missiles, fired at this city and other cities in Saudi Arabia, is they presented that evidence to the United Nations. And the United Nations has
verified, in some of those cases, that indeed the weapons systems were manufactured in Iran.
Now, what the Saudis are not saying is that Iran fired them or Iran was responsible. But they seemed to be headed in that direction. In part,
look at the analysis. What you were just saying, also Secretary of State mike Pompeo is saying. That these weapons were not fired from Iraq, and
the Saudis saying they're not fired from Yemen to the south. So the conclusion might be that they were fired from Iran.
But I think the fact that we're not hearing from the Saudi leadership at the moment about this --
GORANI: Yes.
ROBERTSON: -- and no sort of bellicose rhetoric from here, is they're trying at the moment to sort of act in a statesmanship-like way. And if
they have evidence, use that to garner bigger support for their position and the way they move forward.
GORANI: And, John Kirby, what calculations are being made right now in the United States? Is this bringing us closer to actual conflict in the
region, the president of the United States tweeting over the weekend, we're locked and loaded, we're just waiting to see what Saudi Arabia has to say
about things?
JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: Well, it certainly could, Hala, but we don't know because the -- we don't -- we're not sure what the
deliberations inside the National Security Council have been. There have been two principal committees meeting, one yesterday, one today. We expect
the president may have more to say today, later on, when he has a photo spray, so we'll see.
But I think what I'm encouraged by, the fact that they're having these principal committees meeting, the fact that they are following somewhat of
a more normal interagency process, means that they're teeing up other options for the president.
So while I fully expect that there will be military options discussed, I think they're also going to be discussing economic sanctions as well, and
other diplomatic moves that they could play. They've got the General Assembly coming up at the U.N. next week, that's a good opportunity, maybe,
for the Trump administration to garner some international support, finally, to do something to increase pressure on Iran.
GORANI: And, Nic Robertson in Riyadh, what does Saudi Arabia want from the United States? Does it want war with Iran?
[14:05:02]
ROBERTSON: It doesn't. But it does want continued U.S. support on Iran. And I think you would have had concern behind the scenes here, that
President Trump looked like he was maneuvering into a position where he would have held face-to-face talks with President Rouhani of Iran. That
seems to be off the table, though not completely removed.
But I've been coming here for many, many years. And ahead of President Trump's election, I was speaking to Saudis about what they liked about
President Trump. And the one thing that they really did like about him was, he was tough on Iran. And they continue -- whether it's the man on
the street here, all the way up to the king and the crown prince who run this country -- that belief that the United States is tough on Iran is one
of the reasons that they're willing to be strong allies with the United States.
GORANI: Yes.
ROBERTSON: Of course, many other reasons in there as well. But that's a key factor.
So what are the Saudis looking for in this? To be able to draw a line on what they feel is growing Iranian hegemony in the region. And I think if
they can get that bigger international support, have the United States on- side over that, then that's their position, move forward.
They're in intractable conflicts at the moment, south of the border in Yemen. They need some strong partners to force a --
GORANI: Yes.
ROBERTSON: -- diplomatic conclusion to that conflict.
GORANI: Well, it certainly seems like they do have a strong partner in Donald Trump, he's made that clear.
We're joined now by Nick Paton Walsh. He's in Tehran, live for us this evening. What has been the reaction inside of Iran to these accusations
coming from the United States and Saudi Arabia, that it is behind this attack over the weekend?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, Hala, obviously, the information has come out, drip, drip over the last 24, 48
hours, in terms of details. We've not had a direct response from Iran to the accusation that Iranian-made weaponry was used. That's the latest
Saudi accusation.
And the more recent reporting CNN has, suggesting that U.S. officials, briefing allies that they think the staging grounds in Iran may have been
used. We've not had a reaction from that, too. Although the president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, has, just in Turkey recently, commented on what he
called the drone situation -- I'm paraphrasing here, as we await a precise translation -- but essentially saying it's not really about oil, it's about
security and stability.
And it's about the suffering of the Yemeni people, who Iran has maintained from the start, the Houthi rebels in Yemen are behind this attack. And
they've accepted responsibility themselves although, of course, U.S. analysts and U.S. officials doubt that explanation, pointing to the blame
being very much elsewhere.
Iran, though, from the beginning, has denied any involvement in this at all, from the pretty much most senior level. We did hear, again, today,
from the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, a comment that, perhaps, I think, echoes many people's confusion about the White House's current Iran
policy. He said that President Trump's comments normally last about 24 hours or so.
You know, hearing today, hearing Trump say lock and loaded, the U.S. readiness to respond, to (ph) hearing the Vice President's spokesperson
come out, moments, afterwards, and say he was referring to oil reserves, it's hard to keep track, really, exactly where this may go. Some may see
this as sort of a broader strategy, to keep their adversaries constantly guessing or on their back foot.
But Iranian officials, I think, have seen the chaos and perhaps seen wriggle room, maybe, perhaps seen an (ph) administration that isn't willing
to put itself together for the significant amount of effort and application that a military response requires.
But at the same time, too, I think there is nervousness about the possibility for retaliation. Iran's always said it doesn't want war. It
perhaps felt, at a level here, that maybe the departure of National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, John Bolton, meant that the era of the
Iran hawks was over.
But then, lo and behold, Mike Pompeo steps in on Saturday morning, and -- right into those shoes, with his direct accusation towards Iran in two
tweets that didn't have any evidence yet to back them up. I'm not suggesting --
GORANI: Yes.
PATON WALSH: -- that there is no evidence the U.S. officials are basing this on, we just simply haven't seen it yet. And that leads the region, I
think, to be deeply nervous about where we may go next -- Hala.
GORANI: And let me ask you, John Kirby, the United States released these satellite photos. I'm no expert, but I was quite surprised that a facility
or oil fields were so vulnerable. If these were drones, maybe they were even missiles, according to some reports, were you surprised at the
vulnerability of these installations, John?
KIRBY: What surprised me most, Hala, was the precision with which these strikes occurred. If you look at some of those tanks, you can see holes in
the top of them without very little explosive evidence anywhere in or around them, meaning a low-explosive payload on whatever munition was used.
That's pretty sophisticated, very complex coordinated attack here. So that's what really struck me about this.
The Saudis have air defense systems, obviously, that we have provided, we have sold them. I'm not sure where they are in their country, but it's a
very big country to try to defend from the air. I suspect that they'll be having very serious discussions in Saudi Arabia, and probably inside the
Pentagon, about how to improve Saudi air defense, going forward.
I mean, these facilities are mammoth in size. They're out, oftentimes, in the middle of nowhere. So it's not entirely implausible that it would be
difficult to defend against a strike like this.
And if this was drones and cruise missiles, both of those kinds of systems are designed to defeat air defense systems, most conventional air defense
systems -- low altitude, usually low speed -- and so they're designed specifically to go around and to try to subvert air defense systems of the
kind that the Saudis probably have.
GORANI: And the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility. Nic Robertson, is it the belief Of experts, of officials inside Saudi Arabia,
that the Houthis do not have this capability, to use drones and missiles to attack these Saudi oilfields, that therefore it must be a state actor or a
proxy to a state actor?
ROBERTSON: I think that the current understanding is, it would be on the limits of the technology, that the Houthis might be able to possess. A
U.N. report, several months ago, said that there were systems that could fly that sort of distance, but it would be on the limit -- would be on the
outside limits. But the Saudis have ruled that out. They've said that they just see the Houthis in this context as a puppet of the IRGC, the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
To that point, as well, the Houthis claimed they sent 10 drones. Yet, so far, we know of 19 different precise facilities or points in facilities
that were targeted, which undermines the Houthis' credibility. Again, today, they've talked about, you know, doubling down that they'll threaten
to strike again.
The sense here is that the Houthis are acting as proxies, either for Iran or in cahoots with Iran and others. And the Saudis see that as Iranian
hegemony in the region, something they have felt has been on the rise, another very significant, sharp rise in the recent years, but really ever
since the Iranian revolution in 1979.
This is -- this is historic, the proportions of what we're looking at now, though, are very different. It's a significant game change.
GORANI: Nick Paton Walsh in Tehran, it's something you said on our air today, that this is a sea change, this isn't Iran, you know, being accused
of shooting down a U.S. drone over possibly its own territorial waters, this is really going into Saudi territory and taking out a huge -- or the
production capability of a huge oilfield. Why would this be more significant than other attacks?
PATON WALSH: Yes. I mean, obviously, you know, at this point we are still waiting for the evidence to show that that is the case. But if you're
talking about what the U.S. allegations seem to be pointing towards, that Iranian territory was used as a staging ground for these attacks, which are
against the key lifeblood of Saudi Arabia's economy, that sort of removes the proxy nature of the sniping we've seen.
Yes, shooting an unmanned drone that may or may not be in Iranian airspace down, and then having Donald Trump, at the last minute, call off airstrikes
in retaliation, that's all sort of part of the theater of adversarial politics in this part of the region.
It's escalated massively because Donald Trump seems (ph) to feel that maximum pressure's the best way to get results out of the Iranian
government. It hasn't worked so far. What's different about this is the fact it's inside Saudi sovereign territory, it's caused a twentieth of the
world's oil supply to potentially have been cut off for a period of time.
That moves things substantially. Because, essentially, if you're Saudi Arabia, you cannot allow this sort of thing to go unresponded to because
you're essentially saying that with one of the biggest armories in the region, you're an open goal still.
We still don't have the details about how this went down. I personally find it hard to believe the U.S. officials' notion that Iranian territory
was used to launch this attack, they've provided no evidence from that and that beggars -- believe me -- frankly, that a sophisticated nation like
this would allow itself to be kind of laid blame to quite so simply. They know the level of monitoring that occurs in this particular region.
We simply don't know the details. We know Iran staunchly denies all of this, and we know we're awaiting evidence for U.S. claims. But the tension
goes up every hour. It was already pretty bad -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. Nick Paton Walsh in Tehran, Nic Robertson in Riyadh -- we're covering this story from all angles -- and John Kirby in Washington.
As always, thanks very much.
There's another angle to this story. There's, of course, the military angle, there is the strategic angle, and the questions still outstanding,
whether or not this is bringing us close to -- closer to open conflict.
There's also the economic angle. And oil prices, jumping after the attack. Brent crude futures soared nearly 20 percent, 2-0 percent, their biggest
jump in decades. They've since stabilized, but you can see they're still trading very much higher.
[14:15:09]
The attacks in Saudi Arabia knocked out some five percent of the world's oil supply. So will this spike trickle down to consumers any time soon?
Also what does it mean for oil markets? Our own oil expert, John Defterios, is following this from Abu Dhabi.
So talk to us about oil prices. They're back down, but still very much higher. What are traders, what are economists and experts saying about
what this means for oil markets?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, Hala, it's interesting, what's happened during the day here. You had that 20 percent spike up in
Asia, we came down to a gain of about seven or eight percent. And look at this, we're up above 14 percent, gains of $7 to $9 in the oil market, are
indeed very robust and something that's extremely rare, no doubt about it.
I'd (ph) describe it at almost like an earthquake to the energy markets, and the epicenter is Saudi Arabia, which is the number one exporter to the
world. We 've never seen production of 5.7 million barrels knocked out in one day. You can go all the way back to the 1990s, the invasion of Kuwait,
the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq invasion, the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi: all major events that took place in the Middle East that affected oil, nothing like
this. That's why I call it an "earthquake."
It's a very fragile market as well, Hala, and you know this about oil. Saudi Arabia was the swing (ph) producer. I'm told by sources in the
kingdom, they have about 200 million barrels in storage outside the country. And this could last, say, 35 to 40 days, to cushion the market.
But while we're seeing the price rise again, this is the real deal. Even Saudi sources are telling me this is not going take days to repair,
potentially weeks because the damage is so bad. We're watching, very carefully, what Donald Trump does with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,
which is 645 million barrels.
He says he's willing to tap it. The market wants to know, when will you tap it? How long will it take for the oil to get to the market? And at
what scale? Are we looking at one, two, three million barrels a day? Because all of a sudden we have a whole (ph) -- better than five million
barrels, and there's no spare capacity around.
GORANI: So you're saying that those who know how these fields operate say, this will take several weeks to get back to the capacity pre-strike?
DEFTERIOS: It could be even longer, Hala. So Saudi Arabia's trying to manage expectations, saying we have these reserves in storage, we'll
continue to supply the market. But a key source in Saudi Arabia was suggesting, this is unprecedented. And that's exactly what we're looking
at here.
So I think that's going to be the key point. They're going to probably show us evidence, over the next week, about how bad the damage is.
But let's put this into context. This has been very surgical, by those who put the operation together. They went after the pumping station on this
east-west pipeline in Saudi Arabia -- we can bring that graphic back up -- they struck a gas field in Shaybah, the Shaybah Field last month. They
were hitting oil tankers in the Middle East. And, now, they struck right at the heart of the major processing center and the second largest
oilfield.
It is unimaginable. It's almost like the 9/11 moment for Saudi Arabia because it is a shock against the number one earner in the country, about
$350 billion a year, Saudi Aramco.
One final point, they were planning to put an IPO out to the market, Hala. They were going to say, maybe by the end of this year, they'd (ph) do the
first listing in Riyadh, I'd spoke to the CEO last week. That was the narrative.
it's hard to say. If you can't protect your assets, how do you go to the public market and tell investors, support us, it's secure? That's been
turned upside-down in the last 72 hours since the strike on Saturday.
GORANI: Sure. And that was one of the questions that I had, this hour. These sites are vast, no doubt about it. But if they're this exposed and a
drone strike can incapacitate such a large portion of the oilfield, then they're going to be many questions coming from investors and other
observers around the world. John Defterios, thanks so much, joining us live from Abu Dhabi with the very latest on our top story.
Still to come tonight, the British prime minister seeks a Brexit breakthrough. He did not get the reception he wanted.
[14:19:21]
Also, new calls to kick Brett Kavanaugh off the U.S. Supreme Court. We'll tell you why some top Democrats say the sexual assault evidence against him
just got much stronger. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: The British prime minister, who's in a tough spot with Parliament these days, traveled to Luxembourg today. He is in search of a Brexit
deal, he says. He says he thinks there's a good chance of coming to an agreement.
But his optimistic words are being overshadowed by images today of an empty podium. Mr. Johnson walked right past, instead of taking part in a news
conference. His Luxembourg counterpart carried on without him.
It was said that the prime minister did not want to hold the news conference -- these are according to reports -- because of boos that could
be heard from anti-Brexit protestors.
Now, when asked, here is how the British leader later explained his absence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Well, I don't think it would have been fair to the prime minister of Luxembourg, to -- I think
there was clearly going to be a lot of noise. And I think we -- our points might have been drowned out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Nina dos Santos joins me now, live from Luxembourg. What happened there? Because there were reports that the British prime minister said he
would be happy to hold the news conference and participate in it, but that it would have to be moved indoors.
And that the Luxembourg Prime Minister, Bettel, said no, it should happen in the courtyard, where it was obvious -- and you could very obviously hear
the protestors. What's the latest on exactly what happened there and why the prime minister of Luxembourg empty podiumed the British prime minister.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pretty spectacular, wasn't it, Hala? I was standing on both sides of the divide, watching this unfold over the
hour that it did, both inside, behind those railings, inside the Ministry of State, there in the garden just there, which is where the press
conference was being held.
And then protestors on the normally placid streets of Luxembourg, about a hundred or so of them had actually been standing behind, where you're just
seeing barricades being taken away here.
So the distance wasn't very big. They were using loudspeakers. They were, of course, playing the European Union national anthem, "Ode to Joy." And
the noise just ratcheted up more and more.
And even though officials were actually -- U.K. officials were actually in the garden there, preparing to try and lay out who would be answering --
asking questions to Boris Johnson, suddenly that press conference was upended and Mr. Johnson decided to leave, and instead just have a pool
interview with one broadcaster, that was then disseminated to the rest of the world's awaiting media.
That prompted cries of humiliation on the other side of the channel. Over here, it was claimed that Boris Johnson didn't want to field questions.
But it was, actually, a very big day of negotiations here, even if not much was actually achieved.
The day started out with the first face-to-face meeting between Johnson and the E.U. Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker -- Hala.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): A day of diplomacy in Luxembourg saw the U.K. prime minister come away empty-handed and leave a podium empty as well.
XAVIER BETTEL, PRIME MINISTER OF LUXEMBOURG: I repeat, this Brexit, it's not my choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prime Minister, who's picking up the bill?
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Arriving for his first face-to-face meeting with the E.U. Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, Boris Johnson didn't
talk up the prospects of a deal with the E.U.
JOHNSON: Caution, caution.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): After a two-hour working lunch, one which Downing Street described as constructive, Johnson made it clear that he wouldn't
ask for an extension to Brexit. The E.U., for its part, issued a statement insisting that the ball was still in Britain's court.
[14:25:15]
DOS SANTOS: It's important that Boris Johnson wanted this meeting to take place in a neutral location. As such, the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,
sandwiched between France and Germany, the big axis of power in the E.U., was chosen. But even here, protestors against a no-deal Brexit made their
presence felt.
DAVID PIKE, PROTESTOR: This is my first demonstration. I've never been in a demonstration. We feel so strongly about this matter, and about how our
rights are going to be destroyed by Brexit, even with a deal. Even with a withdrawal agreement, our rights of free movement go out the door.
DOS SANTOS: Mr. Johnson, CNN. How confident are you in a deal?
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Avoiding questions became a recurring theme for Johnson, with the P.M. pulling out of what was supposed to be a joint press
conference with his counterpart from Luxembourg, who spoke regardless.
BETTEL: Our people need to know what is going to happen to them in six weeks' time. You can't hold a future hostage for party political gains.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Addressing reporters later and homeward-bound, Johnson reverted to his usual optimism.
JOHNSON: Yes, there is a good chance of a deal. Yes, I can see the shape of it. Everybody could see it, roughly what could be done. But it will
require movement, and it will require the system by which the E.U. can control the U.K. after we leave, the so-called backstop, to go from that
treaty.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Until it does, with 50 days left, Brexit negotiations appear, for now, to be going nowhere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOS SANTOS: So, no love lost here in Luxembourg. This wasn't Boris Johnson's finest moment from the E.U.'s point of view. But again, they
reiterate they want to see something concrete and in writing as well, before those Brexit negotiations can continue.
Of course, it's coming awfully close, down to the wire. The next big Brexit meeting is set to take place in two days' time when the European
Parliament that'll have to sign off on any deal, if it gets through, by the way, the U.K. House of Parliament, is going to be having its next big set
of Brexit meetings in Strasbourg -- Hala.
GORANI: OK. Nina, thanks very much.
Now, we'll have more on Brexit later. David Cameron, the former prime minister, is speaking out. He was, of course, the prime minister who
called for the referendum in 2016 that led to all of this. And he is, today, expressing regrets. We'll tell you about that.
Now, in the United States, there are calls for impeachment coming out of Washington, but the target is not Donald Trump. Democrats say they want a
thorough investigation into a newly revealed sexual misconduct allegation made against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Over the weekend, "The New York Times" published an investigation that found several witnesses who say they can corroborate the story of a woman
who says Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a college party.
Let's bring in CNN's justice correspondent Jessica Schneider with more. Talk to us about this reporting. And in it, the reporting suggests that
her legal team, in fact, this woman, gave the FBI the names of a couple dozen people to interview, but that they never reached out to them or never
interviewed them.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. This was a very limited subsequent investigation by the FBI. And all of these new details,
Hala, from "The New York Times," they're reigniting this fury over Justice Kavanaugh's nomination and of course his subsequent confirmation to the
Supreme Court.
Democrats, especially those on the campaign trail, are now calling for his impeachment over the emergence of this new allegation. And it's a new
allegation in addition to the Deborah Ramirez allegations, from another Yale classmate who allegedly recalls another instance of inappropriate
behavior at a college party.
So that allegation is reigniting some of the fury from Democrats. While Republicans and the president as saying that these are really just smears
against the justice, whose addition, of course, to the Supreme Court, solidified the 5-4 conservative majority.
The president in particular sent several tweets today and over the weekend, saying that Justice Kavanaugh should sue for libel, and that the Justice
Department should step in to come to, quote, "his rescue." That portion of the tweet, it really wasn't clear because, of course, the DOJ defends the
administration on policy and would never personally defend individual Supreme Court justices.
So you've got all that. And beyond the impeachment question, top Democrat Jerry Nadler, he's the House Judiciary Committee chairman, he's saying that
he wants more answers about why a more thorough FBI investigation wasn't done.
Especially because we've now obtained a letter to the FBI that was sent by a Democratic senator, Chris Coons, last October, a year ago, telling the
FBI that there were numerous witnesses who had additional information, but they were complaining that they couldn't get through to the FBI.
[14:30:00]
And this letter also references that one man in particular -- we've learned the name, his name is Max Stier -- that Max Stier had made additional
allegations about other inappropriate behavior at another Yale party by Brett Kavanaugh. But "The New York Times" saying that the FBI did not
investigate.
So this new "New York Times" article, a book by two of its authors, really, is just drumming up, Hala. A lot of renewed fury among Democrats, but the
impeachment removal of Justice Kavanaugh, it is extremely unlikely, since in history, only one justice has actually ever been impeached by the House
and that justice, actually, wasn't even removed since his impeachment, and removal was not approved by the Senate.
But, of course, all of this drumming up, this bad blood, this controversy, especially drawing outcry from the Democrats here. Hala?
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: True, and it could certainly become a campaign issue as well.
Jessica Schneider, thanks so much as always.
Still to come tonight, five percent of the world's daily oil output is gone for now. We look at the increasing speculation in Washington and Riyadh
about this weekend's attack on a Saudi oil field. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: More on our top story. The speculation that Iran staged a weekend attack on Saudi oil fields. Coordinated strikes wiped out half of the
kingdom's oil production causing oil prices to surge.
A Middle Eastern diplomat tells CNN the U.S. has assessed that the attack likely originated from inside Iran. We have not been shown evidence of
this. Iran denies it.
A short time ago, its president said Saudi involvement in Yemen led to the strikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN ROUHANI, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): The root cause of it goes back to the Yemen problem. Those that attacked Yemen and conduct
daily bombardments and have leveled great parts of the country and taken hundreds of thousands of Yemeni lives, and supported by waves of American
and European armaments, they must be held to answer.
And they must be questioned why did they start this, why did they attack them? What the Yemenis are doing is legitimate defense of themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: That's Hassan Rouhani. I want to bring in Hassan Hassan. He's with the Center for Global Policy, and the author of "ISIS: Inside the Army
of Terror." A New York Times bestseller. He joins me now from Washington. Thanks, Hassan, for being with us.
First of all --
HASSAN HASSAN, AUTHOR, "ISIS: INSIDE THE ARMY OF TERROR": Thank you.
GORANI: -- what do you make of the suggestion that this attack originated from inside Iran? Do you think that's likely? Is it knowing how
surveilled, how much, you know, satellite surveillance there is in that part of the world? Would they do something like this?
[14:35:13]
HASSAN: Yes, it's very likely because the other alternatives is that emanated from Yemen and that's far away. That's actually harder to emanate
from Yemen. The Iraqis also, you know, refused or kind of declined or said -- denied the attack originated from Iraq.
It's a very high sophisticated -- highly sophisticated attack. It's more likely came from Iran as the U.S. has assessed so far.
GORANI: You say -- you told my producer this is asymmetric warfare taken to a whole new level. What do you mean by that?
HASSAN: Absolutely. If you look at over the past few years, Iran has become increasingly more anxious about the military buildup on the other
side of the gulf, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other countries, and it's becoming increasingly fearful of what that means in the future.
So in order to prevent those countries from becoming the masters of the sky, if you like, what it's doing now is it's upping the game when it comes
to drone attacks and that's a whole new game in the Middle East. This is a new.
Well, you see around the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and so on and so forth, it's really a combination of an ancient game of piracy, but also
the modern technology of drones and drone attacks.
These countries are becoming helpless when it comes to, you know, rolling back these small attacks that are emanating from the Yemen threat in the
south of Saudi Arabia, but also in Iraq and other countries around the Gulf Region.
GORANI: If this is Iran, what is Iran trying to achieve with this particular attack on such a sensitive part of the Saudi economy? I mean,
it's beating heart, basically. It's oil fields.
HASSAN: Yes, absolutely. I think there are two things that are playing out. First, you could see this as Iran knows that Saudi Arabia has very
little -- you know, doesn't have the ability to counter these attacks.
Iran has the plausible account deniability and says this is not us and he keeps denying it. And it knows that at this time, at this very critical
juncture for Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia is not popular actor, not on the region, but also not in the United States and elsewhere.
So it's very hard, for example, if Trump decides to act on behalf of Saudi Arabian to retaliate, to punish Iran. It's very hard for that act to be
justified.
Remember, only two months ago, a U.S. drone was shot down by Iran and the Americans could not attack, and could not retaliate to that. So imagine if
Trump administration is trying not to retaliate against Iran on behalf of Saudi Arabia. That's not going to be a popular opinion.
But another factor, I think is very important, which is that why Iran -- why is Iran doing that now? It seems like it's lashing out. And I think
that's an indication of how hard biting the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. I think Iran has changed the way it operates in the Middle
East.
For a long time, it was almost kind of kept a distance, tried to play cool, prevent others from seeing it as an aggressive attack on other countries.
And that's what it says in public. That's the statements always say, you know, Iran doesn't attack, it only helps its neighbor.
Now, it's doing something else, it's doing --
GORANI: Playing with fire -- apologies for jumping in. It's playing with fire if it's Iran, literally and figuratively, in the sense that if it is
Iran -- and again, we've not seen evidence of this -- it is becoming more and more provocative. First, you know, reportedly shooting a drone, a U.S.
drone out of the sky, but now also going really deep into Saudi territory. If this is Iran, this is a proper act of warfare.
HASSAN: Yes, absolutely. So Iran has -- I mean, so far, we don't know -- and that's the point. We don't have evidence that Iran has done that, has
conducted that, and that's part of the calculation. It doesn't want people to have evidence that it conducted the attack, whether directly or
indirectly. Whether through -- directly through Iran or through proxies, and so on and so forth.
And it's doing that, because there is a fight going on against them and both the Iranian officials said publicly recently that there's a war going
on against Iran, which is the economic war. And that has actually hit them very hard in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon, elsewhere, where they are
suffering. They're seeing these sanctions are biting -- the economic sanctions against them. So they want to do something to retaliate.
[14:40:09]
At first, they threatened the Emirates, for example, that Dubai and Abu Dhabi is going to be attacked first if Iran is attacked, and that was also
the height of the tension between the Americans and Iran two months ago or a month ago.
So I think that's part of its way saying, you know what? If you attack us, if you think about attacking us, this is what's going to happen. But also,
there's a cause going on, if you continue upping the game against those in terms of economic sanctions.
GORANI: And lastly, what does Saudi Arabia want the United States to do?
HASSAN: Well, it wants the Americans to show that they stand by them and, you know, that they have an ally that they can count on when Iran --
GORANI: Because they have that already, don't they? I mean, don't they already have that assurance from Donald Trump?
HASSAN: Mostly in talk, not in action. Remember also that the Moroccans have just abandoned the Saudis in Yemen. So Saudi Arabia is now a very
isolated country in the region and internationally. Partly or actually large part because of its own behavior. Remember, this is almost the one
year anniversary of the killing -- the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.
So they feel the isolation. The isolation has started to play against them in concrete terms. You know, the Congress vote against the Yemen war, the
inability of the Trump administration to actually publicly say, we stand by Saudi -- or at least in action rather than just talk.
So it's becoming increasingly harder for Saudi Arabia to count on its allies against Iran, and Iran is becoming more and more confident that
nobody's going to stand with Saudi Arabia against Iran, especially in a kind of a -- in a hostile situation.
GORANI: All right. Thank you so much, Hasan Hassan. The author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror." Thank for joining us as always.
HASSAN: My pleasure.
GORANI: And elsewhere in the region, the two major candidates in Israel are urging supporters to get out and vote in Tuesday's election redo. Prime
Minister Netanyahu is fighting for an unprecedented fifth term, and for political life.
His top challenger is Benny Gantz, his former defense minister. Right now, the race is very tight. Oren Liebermann is following this from Jerusalem.
And he's here with a preview. Hello, Oren.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Hala. Just a few moments ago, in fact, as you were talking to Hassan Hassan, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu sent out a tweet in what he called an emergency, Facebook live with his pollster, which he also points out as the pollster
for President Donald Trump. There, once again, highlighting that connection to Trump.
And this has been his strategy in his elections. And we've seen it from him before. In the last days of campaigning, go out and warn Likud voters,
his party's supporters, that the election is in danger, that they're losing, and that in an attempt to energize the base and make sure they go
out and vote tomorrow. That has been his strategy.
Not only that, but also attacking institutions he sees as standing in his way at this point, and that would be the central elections committee, the
Supreme Court, the police, and others in an attempt, first, to move to the right, and second, again, to energize that right-wing voter base in an
attempt to show them that, look, he's under attack and he needs his supporters to get out there and vote.
Meanwhile, his rival, former chief of staff, Benny Gantz, is taking part, essentially, a similar strategy. Urging his supporters to get out there
and vote saying they're this close to winning the election, and he needs that last-minute support, he needs everyone to go out and vote.
So similar strategies, if certainly different rhetoric and different tones here from the two candidates, but election polls have shown this is a very
close race and continues to be a very close race, and one is taking this one for granted in the last hours of campaigning here. We're now less than
12 hours away from the polls opening, Hala.
GORANI: What are the main differences between the two candidates? On the Palestinian question, it seems they're pretty much aligned.
LIEBERMANN: Well, there is no -- essentially -- first, it's worth pointing out that the Palestinian issue has not been even remotely a big issue when
it comes to this campaign, in terms of how the two would approach it.
Gantz has said he's not going to take any unilateral action which means he's considering the idea, the possibility of negotiation. While Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an attempt to appeal to that right-wing voter base, especially that settler voter base has said, if he wins the
election, he'll annex parts of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley.
When it comes to the Jordan Valley, that's pretty much a consensus in Israel security establishment, that should remain under Israeli security
control, so they can monitor essentially the security border, the western or the border of Jordan there.
So there's a too much of a difference there. What's the big issue? Well, in large part between the two main parties, this is a referendum on
Netanyahu as he faces, in just about two weeks, his first preliminary in ongoing corruption probes.
[14:45:07]
Gantz has said he's not sitting with the prime minister who's under criminal investigation. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has tried to make big
announcement after big announcement and try to shift the focus in the news agenda away from those criminal investigations. Just remember the attorney
general has said he intends to indict the prime minister on charges of breach of trust and bribery pending that hearing in just about two weeks.
GORANI: All right. Oren Liebermann, live in Jerusalem, thanks very much.
Still to come tonight, it is the largest strike in more than a decade. We are live in Detroit as tens of thousands of workers demand a pay rise from
General Motors. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Honk if you up support worker rights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(HONKING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: That's what drivers were being asked to do, and they did honk, many of them. The once great heart of American auto manufacturing,
Detroit, Michigan, is seeing the biggest protests in more than a decade, 46,000 members of the United Autoworkers Union have gone on strike against
General Motors.
It's been going since the early hours of the morning and it could impact the global car industry, because G.M. is the world's fourth biggest
automaker. So, perhaps, if you're watching from other parts of the world where G.M. has a presence, this could impact you.
G.M.'s workforce has declined sharply in recent years because of automation, lost market share, outsourcing. It's not a story that is
unique to General Motors, but its workers now are saying, they've had enough.
Vanessa Yurkevich is in Detroit. She's hearing from workers. What do they want these workers you're speaking to, Vanessa?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS REPORTER: Hi, Hala. Well, they really want fair wages. They say that if General Motors is turning a
profit, that they should be seeing some of that profit from the company.
Now, we know that meetings are ongoing right now between the UAW, that's the union that represents these workers in G.M. And one source close to
the negotiation say that meeting is very tense right now. It is ongoing, but they have since scheduled future meetings to keep going with these
negotiations. So at this point, no real end in sight.
And this is over a contract extension for a lot of these workers that you're seeing picketing just behind me here. They are asking for better
health benefits, they're asking for higher starting salaries, and they're asking for job security.
Here at this plant, just behind me, this plant is slated to go out of production next year. So that is part of their contract negotiation
getting a product back into this plant. And that is making some workers here very concerned about their future.
We spoke to one gentleman just a short time ago. Take a listen to what he had to say.
[14:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We make pretty good money, but not, man, in this day and age, I mean, it's not that much money anymore it. And we work very
hard and it does -- it beats you up. Your body up pays the price. I just want to have a future. I don't mind working hard to get it either. But,
you know, give us something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YURKEVICH: And, Hala, this is really a generational career. A lot of the people, that gentleman there that you just heard from, his daughter,
actually, works at G.M. over in the Flint plant. So you're hearing a lot of stories, the family members working here over the years and wanting to
continue to work here.
And a lot of people we've been speaking to are really just concerned about getting a pay increase. They said that they haven't, in many years.
They've taken concessions because G.M. has lost the market share. A lot of people haven't been buying as many G.M. cars.
But they're really saying, hey, this time around, we have the opportunity to negotiate. But as we know, G.M. and UAW, really far apart right now on
this negotiation. And it will probably continue into the next couple days as they're continuing to schedule more negotiations. Hala?
GORANI: And the impact on consumers, I was telling our viewers, I mean, General Motors, obviously sells cars abroad. These auto industry, these
big auto industry groups are integrated. There are supply chains all over the world. What impact does this have on ordinary, you know, consumers
around the world?
YURKEVICH: Right. Well, the supply chain is important, sort of. This is the end of the supply chain here. They're assembling the vehicles. But
you have to remember there are parts that are going into warehouses and different parts of this country where workers there are on strike. This is
really disruptive of the entire supply chain.
So today, for the consumer, it might not matter that much on day one, but if this continues for a couple months, I mean, you're looking at a real
disruption in whether you want to purchase a vehicle down the line, if you're thinking about taking one from the dealership in the coming week.
But as it stands right now, no real disruptions to the consumers at the moment. But if this drags on, we may see one in the next couple of weeks
or months. Hala?
GORANI: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, live in Detroit. Thanks very much.
More to come, including why David Cameron thinks some people will never forgive him. The former prime minister finally breaks his silence on
Brexit.
Plus, the $6 million question, who stole the solid gold toilet from Britain's Blenheim Palace?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is done keeping a low-profile. The man who called the 2016 Brexit referendum is making the
rounds to promote the release of his memoirs. And he's got an awful lot to say about the current state of affairs and his role in kicking it all off.
Here's what he told ITV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I totally -- if you're asking me, do I have regrets? Yes. Am I sorry about the state the
country's got into? Yes. Do I feel I have some responsibility of that? Yes, it was my referendum, my campaign, my decision to try and renegotiate.
And I said all of those things, and people, including those watching this program, will have to decide how much blame to put on me.
But I accept. You know, I can't put it more bluntly than this. I accept that that attempt failed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Matthew Chance has more on David Cameron's new candor. Matthew.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[14:55:00]
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These remarks are being closely scrutinized because this is the first time in three years
that the former British prime minister, David Cameron, has spoken at length about his decisions when he was in office, specifically his decision in
2016 to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union, a vote which, as we now know, was one by the leavers and which plunged this
country into political chaos.
Now, he is apologetic. He said he's aware of the turmoil the referendum caused. He also said that he regrets the results and apologizes for his
failed strategy to keep Britain inside the European Union. David Cameron, of course, campaigned to remain and then abruptly resigned shortly after
the referendum result.
The former British prime minister also made it clear that he believed that he thought the vote was inevitable and that he would do the same thing
again, something that won't endear him to many people in Britain who blamed him for the current Brexit mess that the country is in.
He also had criticism, David Cameron, of some of his conservative party colleagues who campaigned for Brexit ahead of the referendum, including
harsh words for Boris Johnson, the current British prime minister. Mr. Johnson, he said, did not believe in Brexit and backed to leave to, quote,
because it would help his political career.
Cameron said that Johnson and other prominent conservative Brexiteer, Michael Gove were ambassadors for the expert trashing, truth-twisting age
of populism. They are harsh words from a former British Prime Minister to a sitting one.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Now, police in Britain are still searching for a $6 million piece of art that was stolen over the weekend from the ancestral home of Winston
Churchill.
Now, it's not any kind of artwork. It's actually a solid gold toilet and it's called America. The 18-karat commode had once been on display in New
York and was only at Blenheim Palace a few days before being stolen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INSPECTOR RICHARD NICHOLLS, THAMES VALLEY POLICE: A group of offenders broke into the palace and stole a high-valued toilet made out of gold that
was on display. We believe they used at least two vehicles during the offense and they left the scene at around 4:50 A.M. The artwork has not
been recovered at this time, but there is a thorough investigation in the process of being carried out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The toilet was fully functioning and it was ripped out. It caused flooding and damage to parts of the home in which Winston Churchill was
born. They have not caught the perpetrators. It weighs more than 100 kilos, by the way. So they knew what they were doing.
I'm Hala Gorani. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
END
