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Don Lemon Tonight

Revered Iranian Military Official Killed by a U.S. Strike; U.S. to Expect a Retaliation from Iran; President Trump Ordered Pentagon to Launch an Attack; Senate Due Back Tomorrow with Impeachment Trial Looming; State of the Race. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired January 02, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Victor Blackwell sitting in for Don Lemon.

Big breaking news tonight. A U.S. air strike on Baghdad at the airport there kills a top Iranian military leader and a senior official in Iraq's paramilitary forces.

The Pentagon announces tonight that the attack was ordered by the president.

Here's part of the statement. "At the direction of the president, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iraq -- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization."

We're covering every aspect of this story from Iraq to Washington. CNN's Arwa Damon is in Baghdad. Alex Marquardt is in Washington and Boris Sanchez is with the president in Florida. Alex, I'll start with you. What more is the Pentagon saying tonight.

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it's really interesting that the confirmation of this strike is not coming from the White House. In fact, the only thing that we have heard from President Trump is a tweet that was just an American flag.

Instead, it is the Pentagon that is confirming that, as you mention, at the direction of the president they carried out this strike that led to the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, which is, as you mentioned, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Now, what it clear from this statement is that this was done in order to thwart, to prevent attacks on American personnel. And I think it bears reiterating what this statement says.

The U.S. military has taken decisive, defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad." They say that Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.

Now, Victor, this did not come out of nowhere. Obviously, we have seen escalating diplomatic tensions of late. We have also seen in Iraq an attack against an American base that left one U.S. contractor killed. The U.S. retaliated with air strikes that killed 25 members of an Iran-backed militia.

We saw these two days of violent protests that Arwa has been covering in Baghdad. So, the big question was would this continue to escalate, would it stop there.

I think it's fair to say that all of us who watch this region and who talk to the players who are involved in this region would not have told you that the next step was killing Qasem Soleimani who is the most senior military figure in Iran. One of the most senior figures in Iran politically and militarily.

But now that we know that this has happened, we've seen how it's unfolded. Earlier today there was a bit of foreshadowing from the Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. He told reporters and I'm going to quote from what he said. "If we get word of attacks or some types of indication, we will take preemptive action as well to protect American forces and to protect American lives. So, the game has changed and we're prepared to do what is necessary to defend our personnel and our interests and our partners in the region."

We will take preventive action and the game has changed. That's what the secretary of defense is saying. It is impossible to overstate the significance of the killing of Qasem Soleimani.

We also did hear earlier today before this happened from a top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in which he said we are not leading the country to war but we are not afraid of any war. It is fair to say, Victor, that the ball now is in Iran's court.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We'll see what they do with that as we talk more about Iran. Let's go first to Iraq and Arwa Damon therein Baghdad. What are you hearing on the ground tonight, Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Iraqi government is going to be in an almost inexplicably difficult position right now. They already were incensed that the United States over its targeting of the bases of Kata'ib Hezbollah. Those were the attacks that took place on Sunday.

One can only imagine the position that they are finding themselves in stuck already in between Washington and Tehran, and now in an almost intractable situation given that this assassination happened on Iraqi soil.

And then of course there are a number of other calculations that need to be made. Look, Victor, the last time that the U.S. took significant action in the Middle East the invasion of Iraq, for example, with the removal of Saddam Hussein.

[23:04:59] That had unforeseen consequences to a certain degree. You then saw the rise of Al Qaeda in Iraq that then led to the rise of ISIS. This action by the United States, this assassination is arguably just as monumental. And there are going to be unforeseen consequences to it no matter how much analysts try to play out the different scenarios.

We are right now in unchartered territory. And this war because Iran most certainly is going to be perceiving this as an act of war is not necessarily going to lock like something the region has seen in the past.

Iran has a number of very, very powerful proxies not just in Iraq but also in Syria and Lebanon. Qasem Soleimani, yes, was often on the front lines of either the war in Iraq against ISIS when it was unfolding, guiding, advising. Often responsible for the training and actually directing this Shia paramilitary force.

He has been inside Syria helping to prop up the Syrian regime. He most certainly does have a lot of blood on his hands. But so too, Victor, did Saddam Hussein. And I think we all need to be ready for what this next chapter is going to be. And we shouldn't necessarily expect it to look like anything that we have seen in history.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We heard from Jim Sciutto last hour that any conflict that comes next will not look like anything that happened between the U.S. and Iraq or any other partners in the region.

Boris, let me come to you there traveling with the president. The Pentagon statement specifically says that this move was directed by the president. We saw the tweets. Anything else from the White House?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, Victor. And we have been told that we should not be expecting a statement coming from the White House tonight on the death of Qasem Soleimani. The White House just pointing to that Pentagon statement and the tweet from President Trump that Alex pointed out earlier of the American flag.

That's been a relatively quiet day for President Trump. He spent most of the day at his golf course, he returned to Mar-a-Lago where sources said that they saw him having dinner, and dinner a jovial mood. No indication that anything was afoot.

We know that the national security adviser Robert O'Brien is actually here at Mar-a-Lago with the president. And just this weekend there were a number of other foreign relations experts alongside the president.

We know that Mark Milley, Mark Esper, and Mike Pompeo were here for a short time this weekend responding to the attack on the American embassy in Baghdad. Other than that, nothing from the White House. Except two days ago on New Year's Eve President Trump was specifically asked about the rising tensions with Iran.

The president effectively said that he didn't want war with Iran but that Iran would not survive a conflict with the United States. The president obviously making bellicose threats that we have heard from him before.

In response the ayatollah put out a statement saying that the president could do nothing, this obviously a clear response from President Trump.

He's also seeing support from a number of Republicans on Twitter. Ben Sasse with a powerful statement calling Soleimani an evil bastard. Tom Cotton as well saying that his death brings some measure of justice to American service members killed overseas.

We also seen some criticism we should point out from Democrats. Chris Murphy, the senator tweeting out that this was done without the authorization of Congress and that presents very serious problems. At one point calling the president a reckless.

Of course, that's still one of the big questions out there exactly what evidence the United States used to carry out this attack, to justify this attack. And further exactly when the president made this decision. Because as I noted before this has been a relatively quiet day for him. Was this something that was in the works for days or was this something that was done directly as a response to potential response from Iran. A further escalation of the rhetoric from Iran, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we know that according to two sources that relevant members of Congress will be briefed tomorrow on what happened tonight in Baghdad.

Everyone, stay with me. I want to bring in now CNN international diplomat editor Nic Robertson. Nic, give us the perspective on the region. What's going to happen after this? We know that this is an escalation. The question is what does Iran do next.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's a massive escalation. And I think the question on what Iran does next can be divided on two categories. One is what the leadership chooses to do and how they respond. And then what Iran's proxies in the region do.

[23:09:54]

We know last summer Iran had told its proxies very clearly that they would know what to do in the face of American aggression. So, Iran groups be they Hezbollah in Lebanon, be they militia inside Syria, be they groups the Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, others groups inside Iraq have already this notion that should Iraq -- should the United States attack Iran's interest. And there can be no bigger attack than we cannot under estimate the magnitude of this killing of Qasem Soleimani has on the Iranian psych at the moment and their proxies' psyche.

So, their proxies will strike back and there will be an uncontrollable element to that. It is the regime in Tehran that has the longer reach. Just a few months ago we saw them strike very clearly inside Saudi Arabia. Multiple strikes on oil refineries cutting half of Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's output. That's on the table.

U.S. naval facilities in the Gulf and in Bahrain where the Fifth Fleet has its base will become much more, a much more likely to face some kind of attack. The United States friends in the region that are vulnerable and the United Arab Emirates also become very much in the front line of the fight if Iran chooses to take it there.

That's the U.S. partners, U.S. forces in Syria who we know there in reduced numbers are going to be vulnerable to Iranian proxies in Syria. U.S. interest in Iraq are going to be vulnerable in the short term. But certainly, Israel is likely to feel the force of Iran's retribution.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

ROBERTSON: Be it authorized from the leadership or proxies believing that this is what they should do. That this is what the Iranian leadership will do.

BLACKWELL: Yes. A lot of people --

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTSON: Think through the psyche of these proxies. Yes. Think through the psyche of these proxies, and it's quite simply they are going to want to show the leadership in Iran that they are capable that they are ready. They are ready to do whatever it takes. So, they will come off the leash. And it's that unpredictable nature that's really going to bedevil planning in this immediate phase now.

BLACKWELL: All right. Nic Robertson and everyone, thanks so much. Stay with us. Much more to come on our breaking news.

The Pentagon announcing a top Iranian official was killed in an air strike by U.S. forces tonight.

[23:15:00]

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BLACKWELL: Back now with our breaking news. The Pentagon says President Trump ordered the strike at Baghdad's airport that killed a senior Iranian military official, General Qasem Soleimani.

Joining me now, General Mark Hertling, Phil Mudd, and David Sanger. Gentlemen, good evening. David, let me start with you. This tweet from Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, he just tweeted this. Let's put it up.

"The U.S.' act of international terrorism, targeting and assassinating General Soleimani, the most effective force fighting Daesh, ISIS, Al Nusrah, and Al Qaeda is extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation. The U.S. bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism."

David, what's your reaction?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, not a particular surprise. The last time that Minister Zarif was in New York a few months ago, he talked with us at some length about his relationship with General Soleimani. And maintained that the foreign policy he was developing for Iran worked hand in glove with Soleimani's acts.

And that's what worries American officials. Because there's no question that General Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of Americans. Was the man who propped up Bashar al-Assad and who was trying to ferment a lot of the uprisings in Iraq. And there are going to be many in Iraq who are going to probably celebrate his death.

But for the administration this was a risky escalation. And I think the big question is since the United States certainly had plenty of opportunities to kill him in the past, why did they choose to do this now? If in fact they chose to do it. That in other words if they knew that he was going to be in that motorcade that was out near the Baghdad airport. And we don't know for sure whether or not they knew that Soleimani would be in that.

BLACKWELL: The statement from the Pentagon tonight, General Hertling, it says that General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and servicemembers in Iraq and throughout the region. Does the Pentagon, does the president have a responsibility now to kind of flush that out some, to offer more details potentially?

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Not really, Victor. If we're talking about intelligence information that's going to provide the requirement for a preemptive strike the Pentagon, the Department of Defense have been watching the actions of the Iranian Quds Force over the last year plus. But specifically, over the last couple of months because they have been indicators that they were conducting the various attacks throughout Iraq against American forces and the Iraqi security forces.

So, if there was an indicator that there were going to be some type of attack, again a massive attack after the Baghdad riots that occurred against our embassy the other day a preemptive strike is appropriate. Now having said that, Soleimani is a ruthless killer. He's a horrible human being. And at the same time, he is a very charismatic soldier to his forces.

[23:20:00]

This is a guy that when I was in Iraq in my last tour there in 2007 and '08 because of the kind of things that were going on against the Iranian-Iraqi border, I had a chance to look at his biographical profile that one of my intelligence guys presented to me.

He is a fascinating character. He commanded a division in the Iran- Iraq War in the late 80s. He's been in combat his entire life. His soldiers love him. He's a quite charismatic guy, a strategic genius and a tactical operator.

So, these were all the kinds of things looking at him from the enemy perspective. It's going to create a great deal of angst in this part of the world. David was absolutely right, there are going to be some in Baghdad that are very happy, even Shia that are going to be very happy that Soleimani is dead. But there's going to be just as many, perhaps even more that are going to be very upset about it.

It's 7 a.m. in Baghdad right now. In a few hours, most of the people in the city are going to be going to the mosque. And they are going to be hearing one way or another from their imams about what to do next. We'll see on the streets today the kind of anger that are going to be -- that's going to be generated by many of the pro-Iranian Shia that are inside of the capital city of Baghdad.

BLACKWELL: And Phil, that's an important point. We heard from the statement, again that's all we have from the Pentagon. Only thing we have from the White House is a tweet of an American flag from the president. That the Pentagon says this attack was to prevent or deter future attacks. So, we'll see what Iran's response is. But what do you think that the U.S. should prepare for as a form of retaliation by Iran?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I think if you're thinking about whether this would deter an attack by Iran, I think the prospect of that is zero. Look, we have a simmering or we had until a few hours ago a simmering conflict with Iran that included things like attacks in Iraq, but also remember Iran was picking up ships in the Persian Gulf going back a few months.

We have decided to take a simmering relationship into boiling relationship. The Iranians, and I followed them when I was at the CIA. One of my responsibilities was looking at the Iranian special services, their intelligence and this Quds Force. This sort of external military force they have. They are very aggressive and they are fearless.

One thing I want to tell you, Victor, this is not just a general. This is somebody who has been with the Iranian since the revolution 41 years ago. This guy has been with the people who were the sponsors of the revolution in Iran. He is somebody who is a brother to the leadership of Iran.

So, they're looking at this not just as the elimination of a general but as an opportunity to respond to an America that just decided they want to go from a simmer to a boil.

My point is whether you are at diplomat facility, a military facility, or some other entity like a company affiliated with the United States in the Middle East the Iranians are going to bring it hard and heavy. I'm going to tell you it's going to happen sometime within the next day or two weeks. They're not going to wait that long. And it is going to be ugly.

Among all the things I've seen in six or seven years talking about national security on CNN. I know this one is hard to understand for people who don't do this for a living. This has to be one of the top things I have ever seen when I've been with this organization, CNN. This is profoundly significant for the Middle East. Profoundly.

BLACKWELL: So, General, what's happening at the Pentagon right now? General Hertling, what should we expect from the U.S. moving forward?

HERTLING: Well, what I would be doing if I were back at the Pentagon which I was when the 9/11 attack happened, is you would not just be looking at this location but you'd be looking at other parts of the world. Who else is going to take advantage of this?

Is Kim now going to launch something and give us two parts of the world to look at. Is Russia going to broaden their adventurism and go into some nation state or go further into Ukraine. Is China going to attack our ships in the South China Sea.

All of those things from a strategic perspective the war planners are taking a look at and saying where are we vulnerable. What might happen. At the same time, from a tactical perspective, some things have got to be gearing up in terms of messages to embassies where all our marine guards are saying be ready for the kind of attacks that we've seen in the past.

When something like this goes down where a lot of organizations are leaning forward and saying where might I go next, what kind of things are going to occur in the Middle East whether it's a soldier, a sailor, an airman or marine. What kind of homeland security measures do we have to take? Our coast guard, some of the DHS elements that are going to be put on high alert.

I agree with Phil completely. You know, that this is one of those kinds of things we're not sure what's going to happen exactly.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HERTLING: But we've got to prepare for a lot of different things. The other thing I'd say Iran is based on asymmetric warfare much like the Russians are. The U.S. is based more on conventional and recently counterinsurgency.

[23:25:06]

So, we're going to be facing some asymmetric attacks wherever there are pro-Iranian forces throughout the Middle East. And those could be very small supported groups by Iran, or they could be the kinds of Iraqi groups that are supported by local politicians within Baghdad that lean towards Iran that have Shia background and look at the Republican guard.

You'll also going to see some attacks against some of our allies. Interesting to note, Victor, the conference -- the council of foreign relations put out a top 13 list for 2020.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HERTLING: Where we should expect attacks and this the kind of proxy war that we're looking at right now that we just turned up the heat on was one of the top five. Either Iran against the United States or Iran against the ally of the United States. I think we're going to see a little bit of both truthfully. BLACKWELL: We've already seen now the rhetorical response from Iran.

We'll see as the day develops there in Iran what we'll see from both Iraq and Iran after this killing of this general.

General Hertling, Phil Mudd, David Sanger, thank you all.

SANGER: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Much more to come on the breaking news. The Pentagon says President Trump ordered the strike on the Baghdad airport that killed a senior Iranian military official. The question now, how will Iran respond?

[23:30:00]

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BLACKWELL: Our breaking news tonight, President Trump ordering the Pentagon to launch an attack that has killed a top Iranian military official and a senior official in Iraq's paramilitary forces. The attack happened at Baghdad's airport.

Let's bring in now Nic Robertson in London, also Samantha Vinograd and Juliette Kayyem. Nic, let me start with you here. Soleimani was much more than just a military leader to the people of Iran. He and Iran supreme leader were also very close. Talk to us about the impact of the assassination on the region.

ROBERTSON: There's going to be a visceral response from some of those Iranian proxy groups, to whom Soleimani was a godfather figure and to whom he was a hugely respected battlefield commander, the person that would bring them the money and the support and the military material from Tehran. So, there's going to be a visceral reaction in the shape and form that it will be hard for us to calculate.

But I think the bigger strategic reaction is going to come from the leadership in Tehran. That is going to take them perhaps a little time to formulate. They certainly said in recent months that they don't want a war with the United States but they are ready to fight one if it comes to them. This is certainly going to look to them that this is what the United States is trying to precipitate here.

I think we can expect the response to be strong. And to attack U.S. allies in the region, I think U.S. troops in Iraq will be vulnerable to Iran proxies in Iraq, attacking them in Syria, also, the same perhaps where U.S. forces are even more exposed by the nature of their smaller numbers.

Countries like Saudi Arabia will be very aware that just in the last few months, Iran attacked their oil facility, multiple drones and missile strikes taking out more than half of their oil pumping capacity. That took them several weeks at least to get back on stream. They will recognize that they are vulnerable for a strike.

United States friends in Israel will be exceptionally on the alert and lookout for any Iranian response. But I think the most immediate response is going to be coming from the proxies. That is very hard to see what shape that will take other than likely head on and immediate attacks where they think they can kill. And if they could capture U.S. forces, that would be an aim. But they will move on to softer targets if no hard military targets exist.

BLACKWELL: Juliette, let's talk about the U.S. forces and their vulnerability. The Pentagon released statement claiming responsibility for the attack that killed Soleimani. Let me read part of it, not the whole thing.

They say here, "At the direction of the president, the U.S. military has taken decisive defense of action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani. General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world."

No doubt Soleimani was a brutal killer. But talk to us, if you would, more about what Nic introduced there, that this potentially making Americans less safe.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right. I think that's exactly right. The killing of Soleimani, you know, no one is going to cry over this. It was tactical action, right? Now, we're in the face of strategy. What is going to happen next? Killing the bad guy tends to be the easy part. What is about to happen next? We do not know.

But let me just put it into categories for people. There is going to be a conventional Iranian response. You are going to see it in Iraq and Syria. You may see it in Saud Arabia and UAE. That will be the more sort of a traditional military drone strikes or whatever else.

[23:35:00]

KAYYEM: You may see the proxy issue like what Nic was talking about with Hezbollah and Israel. But you also may see unconventional type of offense by Iran. That would be in the form of cyberattacks in Western Europe or United States. They have a sophisticated cyberattack -- cyber program. They may try to sort of disrupt in ways that are unconventional.

I want to say some good news here because everyone is animated. Iran's influence tends to be focused on the Middle East. They are wired in the Middle East. They are better wired than we are. So I do anticipate some response there. Their footprint here in the United States and attempts they have had in the United States -- the 2011 assassination against a Saudi Arabian diplomat, an attempt, have been sort of ham- handed. They have not been very successful

So in terms of the homeland, there may be people energized, there may be what we call lone wolves. But I don't expect anything for the homeland at this stage as compared to the geographic area around in the Middle East. BLACKWELL: Samantha, you worked as an adviser on the National Security Council. Are you hearing anything from former colleagues at the NSC, throughout the National Security apparatus, about preparations to protect, potentially evacuate American diplomatic facilities in the region, what pre-emptive protections the U.S. is potentially undertaking?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Victor, I am glad that Soleimani is dead. But typically in this situation, the cost benefit analysis about an operation occurs months, if not years, before an operation is conducted. This is explicitly not the first time that the U.S. government has considered assassinating a terrorist to deter future attacks. It was something that I saw first-hand while at the White House.

But well ahead of the president actually signing the authorization for that operation, there's significant contingency planning that goes into place. President Trump is not fan of reading intelligence. President Trump, we learned just from newly unredacted e-mails today, is not a fan of listening to his experts about the repercussions of his actions.

So I am deeply worried that he did not incorporate intelligence into planning this attack and thinking about the repercussions. We have not seen indications that there were personnel preposition to go to embassies throughout the region to protect our diplomats, whether that is in Lebanon, in Israel or elsewhere.

We have deployed additional forces to Iraq and to Kuwait. I understand that the State Department is furiously working overnight on embassy security. But we do not have an indication that that took place in advance of this attack. Let's be clear, Iran has both the will and capability to conduct attacks not just in the Middle East but in Europe.

As Juliette mentioned, they have tried to conduct attacks in the United States just a few miles from where I'm sitting tonight. So I think the planning is likely happening now. But I don't have any sense that planning happened before the president actually decided to take this action.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. We also know, according to the sources, that relevant congressional leaders will be briefed tomorrow. A source tells us that Leader McConnell was not notified of this. We'll remember back to the killing of Baghdadi that there were questions about notifications ahead of that execution that ended with the death of Baghdadi. So as the night goes on and turns into tomorrow, I'll get some details on what led up to this strike that killed Soleimani. Nic, Sam, Juliette, thank you all.

In the midst of our breaking news tonight, the impeachment trial is still out there, looming. The Senate is due back tomorrow. What we'll hear from Mitch McConnell. We'll talk about that in a moment.

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[23:40:00]

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BLACKWELL: In the midst of the breaking news tonight out of the Middle East, we are just hours away from the Senate's return. Mitch McConnell expected to address impeachment on the Senate floor. Boris Sanchez is back with me and Harry Litman joins us. Boris, let me start with you. McConnell is expected to talk impeachment tomorrow. But this breaking news out of Iraq, that changes a lot, doesn't it?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely. At this point, it is unclear if McConnell plans to go on with his comments about the articles of impeachment being handed over by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as planned. It wouldn't be a surprise if he made a mention of the breaking news out of Iraq, the rising escalating tensions with Iran.

I can tell you that from a White House perspective, their plan really hasn't changed. We just got the president's schedule for tomorrow. No big changes. No public appearances outside of an already scheduled speech before evangelical supporters in Miami. And it's really quite a bid for the president to handle at this point not just with the situation overseas but the fact that this impeachment progress, the process of impeachment is effectively at a standstill.

We have been told by sources inside Mar-a-Lago close to the president that he's been growing anxious, that he is eager for the Senate trial to get started. In his eyes, he wants to be vindicated before the American people, before the world. And the president has been quizzing some of his close advisers on when his strategy should be. So it is still a fluid situation here.

We have been told that several advisers have told the president that he needs to bolster his legal team. All of this is on the president's mind as we're watching what's unfolding in Baghdad and what could become a serious conflict between these two powers, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. Harry, to you, sources tell CNN that Leader McConnell has not spoken with Leader Schumer, has not spoken with Speaker Pelosi about the impeachment trial. This democratic waiting game of holding the articles until they get some assurances, where is the leverage here? Has that proven to fall apart?

[23:45:00]

HARRY LITMAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, so far, the leverage, I think, among other places is in public opinion because over 70 percent of people say they want to have more witnesses, more information. Then with each revelation, that's all by happenstance, Victor.

So, for instance, today e-mails came out really reinforcing the basic narrative of what happened here, that's additional pressure suggesting that the extra evidence would be in fact probative and re-enforce what the Democrats basic case is. But the number one thing on leverage I think that Pelosi knows is it plummets to zero as soon as McConnell gets the control of the matter, which he will as soon as it passes to the Senate. They're once burned and twice shy from Kavanaugh --

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

LITMAN: -- and they know whatever leverage they have, they'll lose after this.

BLACKWELL: Harry, let's look at some of the e-mails that came out today that the White House did not want the American people to see. This one from OMB, an official who said there was a, quote, "Clear direction from POTUS to continue to hold." And this is in reference to the Ukraine aid.

Leader Schumer calls the e-mails in this report a devastating blow to McConnell's plans to put -- to hold a trial without witnesses. Earlier, he said that this was a game changer when The New York Times reporting came out earlier in the week. Is he right? Does this change anything for McConnell?

LITMAN: You know, I think that might be a little hyperbolic, but it's strong, Victor. We have clear direction from POTUS to continue to hold and we're only a month away from when DOD has to spend it here. We're also learning from these e-mails that people within the administration are saying to the president, you can't do it, it's illegal.

So his desire to get this sort of Biden investigations is strengthened by evidence like this. I don't know if it's a game changer but I think it is at least a real marginal addition to the overall evidence.

BLACKWELL: Boris, the report from Just Security, who got their hands on these e-mails, they also revealed senior officials hope the Ukraine aide would be released with Pence's September meeting of Zelensky or with Zelensky. That did not happen. What questions does this raise about the vice president's role and what Democrats now want to hear from Vice President Pence?

SANCHEZ: It's obvious that his influence carried a tremendous amount of weight. He was intimately involved with the dealings with Ukraine. He was one of those people who potentially urged President Trump to think about the way that Ukraine policy was being carried out in a much more friendly way.

As you know, some of what we saw in the reporting behind the scenes at the White House at the time included President Trump saying such things as they are corrupt, speaking about Ukrainians, saying he didn't trust President Zelensky. The White House hasn't responded directly to the release of these e-mails. By the way, Victor, that's another thing that we're still waiting to hear back from this White House on.

BLACKWELL: All right. Boris, Harry, thank you both.

SANCHEZ: Thank you. LITMAN: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: We'll be right back.

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[23:50:00]

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BLACKWELL: Now to the state of the race and a big fundraising hall for Bernie Sanders in the fourth quarter of 2019. His campaign raised more than $34 million. Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden pulled in lots of money, too. Each campaign is raising more than $20 million.

Let's bring in now CNN political analyst Toluse Olorunnipa. Toluse, good evening to you. Bernie Sanders at the head here not just this quarter but this year -- 2019, I should say last year -- more than any Democrat in a single quarter so far. It's not just the overall number, 34.5 million. It's also the unique donors that are so impressive.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, that's exactly right. Bernie Sanders is growing his donor base. He's being able to go back to these donors again and again, people who are giving $10 a month, $25 a month, and that quickly adds up when you have a large group of grassroot supporters who are willing to support you.

This comes right after Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack back in October, and a lot of people were writing his campaign off. We see this huge number coming out from fundraising showing that he is a viable contender. He is someone who is going to have the resources to go the distance.

And Democrats in general are going to have a lot of resources as we see several candidates raking in tens of millions of dollars, showing that even as President Trump has put together a pretty impressive fundraising apparatus himself, Democrats have a lot of enthusiasm on their side as well.

It is going to be a race that's a wash in money and both sides are going to be able to duke it out with all the resources they need for the general election. But this primary is going to be very expensive and Sanders is showing he's leading in that race so far.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about Mayor Buttigieg. His campaign says it raised $24.7 million in the final quarter. Former Vice President Joe Biden, $22.7 million. Andrew Yang, $16.5 million. This is Biden's best quarter thus far. Still puts it behind Sanders and Buttigieg despite being consistently at the top of national polls. What's the explanation for the discrepancy here?

OLORUNNIPA: Biden was pleased with his number because his number the previous quarter was so poultry especially in relation to Buttigieg and some of the other leading contenders. But he does not have what Bernie Sanders has in terms of this large mass of small dollar donors. He comes from the old school political class in which you go behind closed doors, you raise money from max out donors who give $2,800, and you can't keep tapping that well as often because those people have already maxed out.

So Biden is trying to reconfigure his political instincts for the 21st century and for this modern democratic campaign style where you have to have online donations, you have to have small dollar donors.

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OLORUNNIPA: He's starting to put together a little bit of that, but he is still trailing some of the other candidates in part because he has been doing more fundraisers and not relying much on small dollar donors.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

OLORUNNIPA: That is something that is going to have to change if he is going to be able to go the distance.

BLACKWELL: Quickly, Toluse, this interview with The Washington Post, Bernie Sanders warns the Democrats to avoid rallying behind Biden. He said it is just a lot of baggage that Joe takes into a campaign, which isn't going to create energy and excitement. He brings into this campaign a record which is so weak that it just cannot create the kind of excitement and energy that is going to be needed to defeat Donald Trump. Biden says, good luck, Bernie. What's your reaction to this?

OLORUNNIPA: Yeah, Sanders is making his best pitch for why he thinks he's more electable. This has been an election about electability. Biden has said, I can take on Donald Trump, I can beat him in those key states. Sanders is trying to go directly at that saying that Biden does not have the enthusiasm and does not have the grassroots support that Sanders team has. And that's really his strongest argument against Biden.

BLACKWELL: Got to wrap it there. Thanks for watching. Live coverage of the breaking news continues.

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