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Biden Vows Response After Drone Strike Kills 3 U.S. Troops In Jordan; Haley Ramps Up Attacks On Trump Ahead Of SC Primary. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired January 29, 2024 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Her airtime was 33 seconds. Postgame, she shared a lovely kiss with her lovely Beau, Travis Kelsey. And of course there's all this question, will she make it back to the Super Bowl in time because she has to get from Tokyo to Vegas? The last Tokyo concert ends February 10th at 5:00 a.m. Vegas times, a Tokyo to Vegas flight is 11.5 hours. The Super Bowl is not until February 11th at 3:30. So 11.5 5:00 a.m. She'll make it back in plenty of time thank goodness as we all really care about.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Private jet helps.

ENTEN: Yes, it does.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Harry is sitting with a stopwatch watching the game, I love it. Harry Enten, we appreciate you my friend.

HARLOW: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: CNN News Central starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: We shall respond. President Biden's promise and threats after a drone attack killed three American soldiers in Jordan.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: An explosive new allegation from a voting machine company that says it was defamed in 2020. Did a conservative news network engage in criminal activity?

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: And disgraced former attorney now convicted killer Alex Murdaugh is back in court this morning for a hearing that could determine if he should get a new trial. We're live in South Carolina. I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: This morning, President Biden is vowing to respond at a time in place of his choosing after the drone strike yesterday killed three American service members at a U.S. military base an outpost in Jordan known as Tower 22. U.S. Central Command says the strike may have originated from Syria, in addition to the three killed at least 34 other service members were wounded in the attack and eight of them had to be medically evacuated from the base to get more higher level treatment. The Islamic Resistance of Iraq a coalition of several Iran-backed militias has claimed responsibility for the strike. Iran has tried to distance itself from the attack, denying direct involvement. But again, these are Iran-backed militias we're talking about here. CNN's Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon. Arlette Saenz is at the White House.

Oren, let me start with you. John Kirby, he was just on this morning. And the way he put it is they're still kind of trying to work through attribution, which group specifically is responsible? What's the very latest that you're hearing?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, he did also say it looks like it was a group supported by Kata'ib Hezbollah. That's an Iran-backed group that has carried out multiple attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. We have seen to date since the beginning of the Gaza war about 160 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. Many of those the U.S. pins on Kata'ib Hezbollah.

But we've never seen an attack like this, a single one way attack drone at Tower 22 in the northeast corner of Jordan, essentially, where Jordan and Iraq meet Syria there, targeted near a living quarters at the facility that killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded approximately 34 other service members. As you pointed out, eight of those had to be medevac. It is very possible the number of injured soldiers goes up, because sometimes it takes a while for symptoms from traumatic brain injury to develop here.

So the U.S. is very closely watching that. One of the key questions here, of course, not only certitude or certainty on what group was responsible, the U.S. looking for that. But also how is it that a single drone managed to evade U.S. air defenses at the facility. President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and others have vowed they would respond. Biden was briefed on several of those options yesterday from Austin, as well as the National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

So we'll see which one of those he chooses. But clearly there is pressure on the White House. And the Defense Department to respond here is sending a message not only to these Iranian proxies there that operate and have targeted us groups or U.S. forces in the past year, but also to Iran itself, even as Iran denies responsibility. Here it is Iran that funds, arms, trains and supports these groups in the region.

BOLDUAN: Yes. They really wouldn't exist without Iran to put it, to take it a step further. Oren, stick with me. Arlette, President Biden is vowing to respond to this escalation. What else is the administration saying this morning about what they could be talking about here?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, President Biden is weighing his options this morning, as his team is trying to chart out the course of action to respond to this attack, which resulted in the death of three U.S. service members, President Biden yesterday called the attack, despicable and wholly unjust, and vow that there would be a U.S. response, saying that the U.S. would respond in a time and manner of its choosing.

Big question now is what exactly that response might look like? Could President Biden perhaps take a more limited response similar to some of the actions that we've taken in the wake of some -- of similar attacks in the region, the things like striking of weapon bins or supply infrastructure tied to these Iran-backed to militant groups or could President Biden decided to take things a step further. There is certainly pressure coming from Capitol Hill, including from some Republican lawmakers who want to see him more directly take on Iran.

[09:05:15]

This one such post on social media came from Senator Lindsey Graham, who said that the President needed to hit Iran and hit them hard. But earlier today, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby spoke about the thinking of this White House as really since the beginning of when this conflict in the Middle East began, the President has tried to work to prevent it from widening into a broader conflict. That is something that Kirby reiterated again this morning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: We don't seek a war with Iran. We're not looking for a wider conflict in the Middle East. In fact, every action the President has taken has been designed to deescalate, to try to bring the tensions down. And obviously this attack very, very serious. Certainly escalatory on the behalf of these militia groups, we have to take that seriously. And we will. But I'm not going to get ahead of the President's decision space one way or the other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So as Oren noted, just yesterday, President Biden was briefed by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the attack, and also what responses they could take. Those are conversations that are expected to continue today. But of course, it is important to note that there have been more than 150 attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in the region from these Iran backed militant groups in Iraq and Syria. But what makes this different and escalates the situation is the fact that three U.S. service members died, really raising the stakes for President Biden, as he's charting out the course of action to respond.

BOLDUAN: Yes, never isn't safe for everybody. It's good to see you, Arlette. Thank you, Oren. Thank you, as always from the Pentagon for us. John?

BERMAN: All right. This is Jordan. And as Oren just pointed out, the attack to our Tower 22 is right there, where Jordan and Syria and Iraq all meet at a point. You can see where Iran is. And this morning, Iran is denying it had any role in this attack. A spokesman for the country's foreign ministry said regional resistance groups do not take orders from Iran. CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman, he is in Beirut in Lebanon, where Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy wields a tremendous amount of power. Ben, what are you hearing in the region this morning?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're hearing from Lebanese officials and Western diplomats is they are very concerned that this situation could very easily get out of control. They're worried that the United States might overreact. Certainly we've heard some of these calls from Republican members of Congress that they want the United States to hit Iran. The problem is, Iran is not. For instance, Iraq in 2003, there was already sort of crippled by sanctions. The Iranians have been very good at getting around sanctions and developing their military capacity.

They have their pro-Iranian militias, in Syria, in Iraq, here in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen. And all of them, as we've been saying now for quite some time, have been keeping up this steady drumbeat of strikes on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq. And of course, the Yemenis are targeting navigation in the Red Sea.

Now, the United States has struck back multiple times against all of them. But the problem is that there is mounting pressure in the United States to go for Iran, which, of course, the Iranians are saying that they aren't giving orders to these various groups. And most observers in this part of the world believe that in generals, many of them act on their own following general guidelines provided by the Iranians.

Now, this strike in Jordan, that is the first incident where U.S. military personnel are killed certainly raises the stakes, but diplomats we've spoken with here, believe that the real solution to this situation would be for the United States to rein in Israel, bring the war in Gaza to an end, which would dramatically lessen the tensions and certainly reduce the very real possibility of this low intensity regional war, going into something much, much more dangerous. John?

BERMAN: All right. Ben Wedeman in Beirut this morning, Ben, thank you.

SIDNER: All right, joining us now retired Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. All right, looking at the situation, which is getting more and more worrisome, how do you think the United States should respond after something like this? And this is one in a series of things that has happened where the attacks on U.S. troops.

[09:10:00]

GEN. PHILIP BREEDLOVE (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER EUROPE: Well, first of all good morning and thanks for having me on. And I think probably part of the problem are the very words we're using. We've been talking about retaliating. We've been talking about responding. This is all shooting behind the target. The real question is a policy question. When are we going to get in front of this problem, rather than behind it?

We know and it's been said our president even talked about it yesterday, all roads start in Iran. And all roads lead back to Iran, of course, Iran is denying it. But this is very straightforward. And the decision is, will we change our policy to seize and take the initiative and get in front of this problem, rather than sit back and retaliate, 160 attacks. We're behind the problem right now.

SIDNER: Let me ask you something, because everyone is talking about whether or not this is going to turn into a huge conflagration in the region. But isn't this already a sort of slow burning war, though not officially won? It is happening, correct?

BREEDLOVE: Well, you just have to look around and pay attention. And you see that there is a conflict. And as we said, I don't want to repeat, but all roads lead from Iran and back to Iran. Iran has the initiative and is pressing the attack, we say in the in the business that the enemy gets a vote. We would like to say, we're not going to do this, or we're not going to do that, or we're working to keep from widening this war. But the enemy gets a vote, and Iran has made its vote.

SIDNER: We're looking at a map showing where U.S. forces have been attacked and where some of these tensions have risen. I do want to ask you, what is the U.S. to do? What -- at what point do you think that Iran will be the target as opposed to its proxies?

BREEDLOVE: Well, you -- several commentators have said across the last two days, you don't have to strike directly into Iran, the landmass of Iran. There are many Iranian targets that are out there, maritime, oil business based, no plots, other things that Iran values highly that the United States could consider as legitimate targets. Listen, remember, 160 attacks, and now we have dead American soldiers, heroes. And we have to decide when we're going to get in front of this problem. And that may mean striking, important targets that Iran values.

SIDNER: That's a really interesting take, as you sort of look at the region. But how big might this get? You've got Syria. You've got Iraq. You've got Iran. And you've got the issue with Israel and Hamas, all happening at the same time. And there's a battle between Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the region. I mean, this is not looking good.

BREEDLOVE: So I would say that when things get interesting in the world, the world needs leadership. And I would say that the world needs Western leadership. And what we have seen, I think you'll agree with me is this is growing and growing and growing. And it is absent strong leadership in this region. And so I think the real question goes back to what is our policy? Are we going to adjust our policy? Or are we going to let the enemy continue to drive the fight. And as you have pointed out correctly, allow this war to continue to grow.

SIDNER: President Biden says there will be a response to this. We are all waiting to see what that might be. General Philip Breedlove, thank you so much for coming on, and giving us a real in depth idea of what could happen and maybe what should potentially happen in your mind. Thank you. Appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Nikki Haley tells Donald Trump to man up. How the two are battling each other now?

And also President Biden, new CNN reporting is also coming in to the head of the far right network, OAN, is accused of engaging in criminal activities while promoting 2020 election lies with the voting machine company Smartmatic is alleging in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against the network.

And the Super Bowl is set. What's about to happen in Vegas and why lots of people are wondering about Taylor Swift's travel plans. We'll be back.

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[09:19:06]

SIDNER: Now the campaign trail where Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are weighing in on the deadly drone attack in Jordan. Trump is blaming President Biden for the attack that killed three U.S. service members. And this morning, Haley is calling on the United States to retaliate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We lost three heroes because Biden was scared of his own shadow. The very first strike that hit, you punch and you punch back hard. What they should be doing is going after every ounce of production of those missiles, wherever those missiles are you take that out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Eva McKend joins us from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina this morning. Eva less than about a month ago -- months ago into the primary that is going to happen there. What kind of messaging are you hearing from both candidates? We just heard a little bit from Nikki Haley about the drone strike.

[09:20:02]

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, in resisting this pressure campaign for her to drop out of this contest, what we're hearing from Nikki Haley is her feel really emboldened to go after Trump pretty directly more forcefully than ever before. And for all the things that she is calling him whether it is a thin skinned, unhinged, something that stuck out to me is her characterizing him as overly sensitive because we of course know, Sara, that is a criticism often level that women. And so she is turning that concept right on its head.

But listen, she is telling voters here in her native South Carolina, that she can offer conservative leadership without the kind of chaos that the former president inspires. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: I know him well. And I know that when he feels vulnerable, when he feels threatened, he lashes out. And you saw the night of the New Hampshire election. He literally had a temper tantrum on stage. And it's because he knew that he had told everybody we were going to be 30 points down, and we weren't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Now South Carolina's still Trump country. He has a huge base of support here. So much so that last night at her rally at Coastal Carolina University where we were several times there were interruptions, hecklers, and those were Trump supporters, as well as a handful of them standing outside of the venue itself. So she still has an uphill battle here in her home state. But I will tell you, Sara, we had the opportunity to speak to a lot of voters, conservative women at her rallies over the weekend.

And they said that they did not like that they felt as though Trump and the larger Republican establishment was sort of bullying her. I even spoke to one woman who told me that she supported Trump in 2016. And then she supported Biden in 2020 and now she's supporting Haley. So that is something that the Republican establishment has to confront. There are conservative voters that are not comfortable with sort of this coronation of the former president that seems to be happening. Sara?

SIDNER: And we're certainly hearing those lines from her as well. Eva McKend, thank you so much for all your reporting. And to know that this is of course, her home state. Let's go over to John.

BERMAN: All right. With us now is Andrew Boucher, the chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party. Great to see you. Nikki Haley is calling Donald Trump, unhinged and overly sensitive. How far do you think she can push that with voters in South Carolina?

ANDREW BOUCHER, CHARLESTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN: Oh, I think the voters of South Carolina understand that, you know, this is going to be a hard fought fight for the next four weeks, that the candidates are going to have to come in and earn every single vote in the politics and beanbags.

BERMAN: One of the things that Nikki Haley said that caught some attention was after this $83 million libel verdict against Donald Trump and the damages trial from E. Jean Carroll accused him of sexual assault, $83 million. All primary season all the Republican candidates were dancing around all these legal problems saying, oh, you know, the legal system is rigged against him, et cetera, et cetera. Nikki Haley says, I trust the jury in the $83 million case. How will that play down where you are?

BOUCHER: Well, I think it remains to be seen. I mean, Governor Haley has been trying to get a one on one with President Trump since day one, and now she has it in her home state of South Carolina. And I think she's taking her message to the voters asking for their support. And we've got just under four weeks to go, that's plenty of time to carry a message to voters and try to win them over.

But I will say that, you know, President Trump has a very deep base of support here in South Carolina. You know, he was on the ballot here in 2020. And it's been since 2014 that Governor Haley was actually on the ballot.

BERMAN: So there's no party registration in South Carolina, which I always forget, though, I've covered four or five South Carolina primaries. And Republican races, it hasn't come into play that much when I've been down there. But it could be different this time. There's no Democratic race. Talk to me about the impact of that no registration, the idea of an open primary.

BOUCHER: Well, there are folks who like to be able to vote in different primaries. You know, as a party, we will we always push to have closed primaries, but we don't have registration by party. Everyone just registers to vote and they get to vote in whichever party primary they want to. But I, you know, it couldn't be a wildcard. Usually it doesn't play a huge role. Usually we can track who has voted in which primaries and there's not a lot of discrepancy, but it's something we are keeping an eye on.

BERMAN: Four weeks is an eternity. What's the vibe right now in general? When you walk out on the streets are people talking about the campaign?

BOUCHER: People are talking about the campaign they're doubling back with the candidates to try to figure out exactly you know what the positions are, what the, you know, the approach is, what they like about different candidates? And they're going to make an informed vote. Charlotte, you know, South Carolina, you know, no Republican has been elected President of the United States since 1980 without first winning the first in the south Republican primary here in South Carolina.

[09:25:23]

BERMAN: Did Newt Gingrich win in South Carolina? But that's an aside 2012.

BOUCHER: He didn't won. But then he didn't elected President of the United States.

BERMAN: Right. I understand what you're saying right there. Yes. Oh, yes. OK, so you had only winners from South Carolina end up winning the presidency. Excellent point. Andrew Boucher, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate your time. Kate?

BOLDUAN: The Secretary of State meeting at state with foreign leaders key to any success and further negotiations to get more hostages out of Gaza. We also have more on the, quote, significant gaps remaining after talks over the weekend.

And at any moment convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh will be back in court. Why he says he deserves a new trial after he was found guilty of killing his wife and son?

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