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Five People Stabbed At Hanukkah Celebration In Rabbi's Home; One Person Killed, One Wounded In Texas Church Shooting; Pentagon: U.S. Strikes Five Facilities In Iraq And Syria; Key National Security Officials Arrive At Mar-a-Lago To Discuss Strikes With Trump; Wall Street's Final Trading Days Of 2019; Kremlin: Putin, Trump Talked Counterterrorism Efforts And "Matter Of Mutual Interests" In Call. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 29, 2019 - 18:00   ET

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

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: A man walked inside the home and started stabbing people.

[18:00:03]

Thankfully, no one died but five victims were taken to the hospital with injuries. The person in this surveillance video reported from a neighbor's home is believed to be the suspect running toward his car immediately following that attack.

He got away from the scene but police caught him a few minutes later, they say, covered with blood.

Then this morning, inside a Church of Christ near Ft. Worth, Texas, police say a man opened fire on worshippers during Sunday services. He shot two people, one of them died before two armed people in the congregation shot and killed the gunman.

CNN's Alison Kosik is in Monsey, New York. She gets our coverage started (ph). Alison, it's the evening after that terrifying, awful stabbing attack. How are people responding?

ALISON KOSIK , CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can imagine, this community is in disbelief after that violence that happened in the home behind me at the rabbi's house. And now, we're learning just how the suspect got into that house. He walked in through the unlocked front door.

And it wasn't unusual for the Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg to have the door open, to have an open door policy during a celebration like what was happening last night. It was the seventh night of Hanukkah. Almost 100 people were gathering inside the home. But it's at that time that 38-year-old Grafton Thomas went ahead with his machete type knife, a long machete type knife, and walked into the house and went on that stabbing spree, stabbing five people, one of them, the rabbi's son.

One of the guests is being hailed as a hero, Joseph Gluck. He is said to have -- he told us that he threw a coffee table at the suspect and also wrote down his license plate number before the suspect fled. And that's a good thing because electronic system on the George Washington Bridge caught him driving across the bridge into New York City to Harlem. And that's where police caught up with Thomas.

We actually have a video, a New York Police Department video of that apprehension where you see police cars stopping Thomas' car and getting him out of the car as they arrest him. He was arraigned earlier today, given a $5 million bond. His next hearing is on Friday.

Now, we did hear from a close friend and church pastor of Thomas' who defended Thomas, saying he's not a terrorist and he's not violent. Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right. Alison Kosik for us, thanks so much.

Oren Segal is here with me now. He runs the Anti-Defamation League Center on extremism. And, Oren, the people in Monsey where that man with the knife hurt and terrorized so many people last night. We saw them today though outside celebrating Hanukkah, coming together, pushing through, letting their light shine. What does that say to you about the people, about the community in Monsey?

OREN SEGAL, DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE'S CENTER ON EXTREMISM: I think the community in Monsey, the Jewish community more broadly, is not defined by the attacks that occur. It's defined by the resilience. And I think today, whether it's in Monsey or Poway or Pittsburg or anywhere else in this country, I think people are going to have special meaning when they light those candles tonight.

DEAN: Right, and come together, yes. Well, it's actually the second stabbing there in Monsey since November. An orthodox Jewish man was stabbed near a synagogue. And then look at this list. I know you're very aware of it. But for our viewers out there, look at this list of anti-Semitic attacks and assaults in New York. This was just this week, just this week. Oren, what is going on here? What is happening?

SEGAL: It's difficult to say. Yes, we've had more than ten, at least ten attacks against the Jewish community in one week. But when you take some context and put that around there, we've had a 17 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents between January and November of this year in comparison to the previous year.

DEAN: Seventeen percent in one year?

SEGAL: In one year. And so we are seeing more mass shootings. We're still recovering from what happened in Jersey City.

And so trying to identify why this is happening, I think, is the real challenge. I will say anti-Semitism and violence is not the sole domain of any one movement or group.

DEAN: But this happens -- right. They're seeing it from kind of all different corners is what you're seeing.

SEGAL: Correct.

DEAN: Yes. The man who stabbed the people in the Hanukkah celebration last night, based on what you know so far, and I know you just said this is not coming from one specific group or type of person, but is there any sort of threat, is there any sort of thing that marks someone, a profile, anything like that that would lead you to think there is a profile in any way, shape or form?

SEGAL: I think there's still a lot to be investigated and determined about what this person's motivation was. And so what we have seen is that anti-Semitism, and violent anti-Semitism in particular, knows no one profile.

[18:05:01]

Anti-Semitism is the age old hatred. And whether you're on the left or on the right, different movements abuse and exploit anti-Semitism in order to further their world view. And so it's not easy to pinpoint a particular profile, and especially now with the series of attacks, I think we need to wait and we have to demand that law enforcement investigate not only prosecute but understand what was the motivation. That data is important.

DEAN: Then try to get to the bottom of what's pushing people to do this. Is this is something that their long-held beliefs they're just not acting out on or are they radicalized in some way.

SEGAL: And there's the fact that these are orthodox Jews who are more visibly -- you can see that they're Jewish based on what they wear. Is that part of this as well, since we've seen so many of those in Brooklyn.

But here is where we need to realize. Again, this is not going to define the Jewish community. It's how we stand up. ADL has been on the ground in Monsey, they way we were in Jersey City, they way we are in Brooklyn, educational training, holding people accountable, whether they're elected officials or public officials of any kind for their comments and what they say. We need to push back and stop the mainstreaming of the narratives of anti-Semitism in order to maybe see an impact on the ground.

DEAN: Okay. So you mentioned elected officials. We saw New York's governor, Cuomo, today. He called these attacks a spreading cancer, domestic terrorism. That's what he said. Is this strong enough language, in your opinion, and do you think leaders are doing enough to push back on all of this?

SEGAL: Listen, the governor's comments are very, very important. I mean, we've seen even the congressional caucus of blacks and Jews come together and make an important statement condemning this act. We have people, all types of people, different leaders coming out and speaking out and that's important but it's not enough. It needs to be consistent.

And when we see other who engage in the type of anti-Semitic rhetoric and hatred, we need to make sure that other leaders and everyday people feel empowered to say, no, that's not okay, not now.

DEAN: Yes, to stand up and call it out for what it is. All right, Oren Segal, thanks so much for being with us tonight. We appreciate it.

New York's governor did condemn that stabbing attack, as we mentioned, and vowed to prosecute the suspect to the fullest extent of the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I consider this an act of domestic terrorism. Let's call it what it is. These people are domestic terrorists and the law should reflect that and they should be punished as if it was an act of terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: With me now, former federal prosecutors, Lis Wiehl and Jennifer Rodgers. Thanks to both of you for joining us.

Lis, I want to start with you. What legally changes when an attack happens during a religious ceremony or is committed against people specifically because of their religion? Are there additional charges that can then be brought forward?

LIS WIEHL, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, there can be charges of hate crime if you can prove that an individual went out and specifically targeted a group or a specific individual because of their religious beliefs and then went ahead, and in this case, stabbing or shooting, as we saw in Texas, because of those beliefs and went ahead and committed those violent crimes. Then, yes, you can tack on a hate crime. And hate crimes that are tacked onto the offenses already being charged, right?

And so in New York, for example, New York has a very good, I would say, strong hate crime legislation. Not every state has it. New York does. In an A1 violation, that's an A1 felony, sort of the heaviest felony, you can say if you're charged with that and convicted of that, that can be more than 20 years and upwards, a minimum of 20 years and upward attached to your sentence.

But the trick there is getting into intent and showing from the prosecutor's side that you wanted to go after those specific people because of their religion. That's always the intent issue for prosecutors.

DEAN: Right, okay. And, Jennifer, what legal protections exist for religious groups or ethnic groups on the federal level? Is that also categorized as hate crimes? Are there other things beyond that?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's right. Federal law also has a hate crime statute and sentencing enhancement for hate crimes. So in this case, it looks like the case is going to be charged locally. Grafton Thomas has already been charged by Ramapo Police. So it may stay in the state system. And as Lis was saying, there are very good statutes on the state level as well. But if it did go federal, then there are statutes there as well and sentencing enhancements that raise the penalty significantly for hate crimes like this one. It looks like it is, so far. DEAN: Right. And, Lis, legally, is there a difference between, say, this attack that occurred in the rabbi's house during the religious celebration rather than in a synagogue perhaps, that because it's in a home versus maybe an official place of worship, like a synagogue, a church, is there a difference, legally, there?

WIEHL: It might make issue of intent a little bit more difficult because a crafty defense lawyer could say, well, how did he know that it was -- he was just going into a home?

[18:10:05]

And how did he know as opposed to orthodox, a church or a synagogue? Then, clearly, you would know you would be going past signage and all of that.

I mean, I think that a jury bringing in their common sense would realize this was the seventh day of Hanukkah, this was a rabbi's house.

DEAN: In a predominantly Jewish community that's very --

WIEHL: Right. That would be a jury question. It's not a legal question.

I just want to touch on one question that you brought up about domestic terrorism and federal laws when we're hearing our governor talk about domestic terrorism. There is no federal law saying that domestic terrorism is illegal. I mean, it's a lot of talk right now, which when you really get down to the legal technicalities of domestic terrorism, there is no one federal law.

And that's why there's a lot of talk among politicians about should there be a law, there should be stronger language. That's why there's all this talking going back and forth, because there is, as crazy as that sounds, no one federal law saying domestic terrorism is a federal law in and of itself. That sounds kind of a little strange, but it is.

DEAN: No. And for you guys, as a prosecutor, right, you don't have that one thing to go to and say this is --

WIEHL: You don't have that one tool.

DEAN: Right. Jennifer, is there any legal recourse that takes into account the environment in which the attack or a threat occurs, like during a time of heightened panic or terror that's targeted toward a specific group? It's the week of Hanukkah, that they're all gathered together. Does that play into this at all?

RODGERS: Well, what it goes into is, as Lis was saying, the intent. So prosecutors will have to prove that Grafton Thomas acted with the intent to harm a specific religious group. So they'll be looking at things like what was he posting on social media, what was he telling people, what did he say during the attack itself, if anything, to try to figure out exactly why he targeted those people. So, let's say he posted something saying, it's Hanukkah, I'm going to go out and hurt some Jewish people, that would be the kind of evidence that they would use to establish the hate crime element of his offense. So it can be circumstantial evidence but it's just a piece of the puzzle.

DEAN: And I just want to touch on this. We're getting some new video in that I want to show everybody from Brooklyn that despite these violent attacks, the Jewish community in New York is coming together tonight to mark this eighth night of Hanukkah. Again, this is in Brooklyn just a few moments ago.

You see the menorah being lit by religious leaders and community leaders there. And, again, just kind of a show of solidarity coming out of Brooklyn in the state where this horrific stabbing happened last night, this attack on members of the Jewish faith. The community in Brooklyn coming out to show their support and to also shine the light of Hanukkah, as one of our guest said in the 5:00 hour.

Lis Wiehl and Jennifer Rodgers, thanks for giving us some context and understanding around the legality of all of this. We appreciate it.

WIEHL: Got it.

DEAN: Thanks.

President Trump tweeting today from Florida the anti-Semitic attack in Monsey, New York on the seventh night of Hanukkah last night is horrific. We must all come together to fight, confront and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism. Melania and I wish the victims a quick and full recovery.

Meantime, a gunman opened fire inside a church before one of the parishioners fired back. We're going to have an update on the deadly shooting out of Texas.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

DEAN: Some breaking news into CNN now that you hate to hear. We have just learned Georgia Congressman and legendary civil rights icon John Lewis has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and must now undergo treatment.

He released a statement today regarding his prognosis. He said, I've been in some kind of fight for freedom, equality, basic human rights for nearly my entire life. I've never faced a fight quite like this one I have now.

This month, in a routine medical visit and subsequent tests, doctors discovered stage four pancreatic cancer. This diagnosis has been reconfirmed. He goes on to write, please keep me in your prayers as I begin this journey. We go right to CNN's Dana Bash on the phone. And, Dana, this is shocking sad news. What more can you tell us?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is shocking and sad, very dire diagnosis. He put out the statement in the way that he has approached every fight that he has undertaken since he was a young man fighting in the civil rights movement, saying he is not going to give up, he is going to continue to battle, but this is clearly not a good prognosis.

He says I am clear-eyed about the prognosis even though he said in his statement that medical advances have made this type of cancer treatable in many cases. Pancreatic cancer, historically, has really not been very treatable because most times they find it at a late stage, and stage four is pretty dire, Jessica.

DEAN: Right. And talk to us a little bit about Congressman Lewis. He's a lion. He's such a huge part of the House, of the Hill. Help us understand the huge role he plays there.

BASH: A huge role. I should also say before I get to that that he is saying in his statement that he is not going to -- he is going to continue to work, he's going to return to Washington when Congress comes back and he's going to have to be in treatment but will try to vote and to participate in the work of Congress as much as he can.

But when it comes to his role in American history and more recently his 30-plus years of Congress, it's hard to overstate how much of an impact he's had, first of all, on that bridge in Selma, Alabama. I had the honor of going back with him.

He does this every year. He makes a pilgrimage, a bipartisan pilgrimage, takes some reporters with him in order to tell the story of what happened in 1965 when he was walking across that bridge with so many other civil rights activists just for the sole purpose of getting the right to vote for African-Americans.

And he got his head bashed in. He almost didn't survive. He said he remembers feeling like he was going to die. He was 25 years old. And that moment was really a turning point in the movement for African- Americans to get the right to vote, that led to the Voting Rights Act.

And that was such a critical time that, as I said, he makes a point of bringing people back every single year. Sometimes it's the president, sometimes it's first term members of Congress from across the aisle, Republicans and Democrats. So it's really, really special even that he does.

But also in Washington, you kind of alluded to this, Jessica, John Lewis is the heart and soul of the Democratic caucus and even beyond the Democratic caucus. When there's a big fight coming up, whether it's a policy fight or even a political fight, the Democratic caucus turns to him many, many times for the leadership that they know he can give, for the heart and the soul that they know he can provide.

You know, he always says, we need to get into trouble, good trouble, to kids that he meets and to adults who are trying to make change.

DEAN: It is, and he has had, and he has really been a thread through so much of our nation's history.

[18:20:02]

Well, we certainly wish him well. Dana, thank you. We got to watch some of the video, as you were talking about your trip with him. We got to see you crossing that bridge with him. Thank you for giving us some of that background and information. We really appreciate you.

BASH: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Dana, thanks.

The U.S. strikes targets in Iraq and Syria. The Pentagon says forces hit a militia that's been attacking American military personnel. We'll have more on that.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: More on our breaking news out of Texas right now where one person is dead after a gunman opened fire during a Sunday morning church service. That terrifying moment happened at the West Freeway Church of Christ in the town of White Settlement near Ft. Worth. One victim died but was resuscitated and is now in critical condition. The other victim and the shooter died on the way to the hospital.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is joining us now. And, Paul, we're learning parishioners actually shot the gunman after he opened fire. What else do you know?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's exactly right, Jessica. Let's characterize what we've seen in a streaming video of the service. In the back left corner facing the altar of the church we see a man pull out a rifle or a long gun and then he opens fire. We then see a parishioner open fire and knock down that man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF BILL WAYBOURN, TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS: It's a horrific day in Tarrant County. Our prayers and thoughts are with the folks over here at the church and the people that are lost. But today, evil walked among us. Let me remind you, good people raised up and stopped it before it got worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: In the Ft. Worth area, the Med Star Ambulance company says it transported three victims to the hospital and was administered CPR to all of them. Two died. One of them was the shooter. Now, there was a third victim who, for their intents and purposes, was dead. This person had no pulse, no heartbeat, but there were these emergency paramedic measures, extreme CPR efforts and they brought this person back to life. They are calling it a miracle.

Also, we should not e, there were two parishioners who were wounded inside the church. [18:25:03]

They said that they hurt themselves while ducking in the middle of the gunfight.

Also we talked to Lisa Farmer. She is the wife of the minister of the church. She talked to her husband over the phone. She said that he is okay. She added that it was chaos in there and she told us a little bit about the man who passed away, the parishioner. She called him a close friend, wonderful man, lovely man who would do anything for anybody.

She also said that her husband told her that the shooting happened during communion. She also wanted us to know we are just a loving congregation doing the Lord's work, she added. So if there is any silver lining In all of this, it's that that one parishioner who is said to be dead was revived by paramedics.

DEAN: Yes, that is incredibly miraculous. Paul Vercammen, thanks so much for that update. We appreciate it.

Russia's Vladimir Putin is thanking President Trump for sharing information. We're going to have more on their first phone chat in several months. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: This hour, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other key national security officials are in West Palm Beach where President Trump is vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago resort. They are set to discuss today's U.S. air strikes on five facilities in Iraq and Syria. The Pentagon says they are linked to an Iran-backed militia and that the strikes were retaliation for a series of attacks that injured American military personnel and left a U.S. civilian contractor dead. The Iraqi prime minister is calling the operation a violation of the country's sovereignty.

CNN Pentagon Reporter, Ryan Browne is in Washington. Ryan, what do we know about these strikes and how they were carried out?

RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Well, Jessica, we're being told by U.S. officials that the strikes were conducted by U.S. F-15 Fighter Jets targeting five targets, two which were in Syria, three which were in Iraq, very close to the border between both countries. The strikes targeted a headquarters and operations center and weapons storage facilities belonging to this Iran-backed militia group, Kata'ib Hezbollah.

Now, the group has a very complex relationship. The U.S. accuses it of being funded, directed and supplied by Iran. It also has a relationship with the Iraqi government. And that's why you see the Iraqi prime minister criticizing these strikes as a violation of sovereignty which is calling into question the future of the 5,000 U.S. troops that are currently stationed in Iraq where they primarily fight ISIS and train local security forces, again, a very complex situation there, and the potential for additional retaliation.

The U.S. had believed that these Iranian-backed groups had conducted a series of increasingly sophisticated rocket attacks against U.S. Iraqi bases. And you mentioned the one that left a U.S. contractor dead, kind of an escalation, if you will. You see the U.S. after threatening to retaliate for some time finally conducting a strike. It will be interesting to see whether or not Iran and its allies conduct a retaliation of their own.

[18:30:03]

But it's something definitely the U.S. will be watching for in the coming days. And it's likely what prompted this high-level meeting between the Defense Secretary, the Secretary of State, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the President today in -- down in Palm Beach.

DEAN: Right. And a U.S. official says the Pentagon had a plan. They took it to President Trump, Saturday, for approval. What else do we know about that process kind of playing out?

BROWNE: Well, I think it underscores the fact that the U.S. was worried about all these complex dynamics, at least the Pentagon was.

You had the Iraqis. You have the Iranians. You have their militia forces. You have the U.S. in Syria where they often operate in close proximity to Iranian troops and Iranian-backed militia groups.

So given all that complexity, the U.S. relationship with Baghdad, some of the potential for Iran retaliation elsewhere in the region, I think you -- it's likely that the U.S. felt that presidential-level approval, even though U.S. forces have the right to self-defense and this was a response to an Iranian-backed attack, that they felt that this is the reason that it required presidential-level direction and approval to conduct this operation.

It's likely the reason it was elevated so -- to so high a level.

DEAN: Right. And you also learned that the U.S. military helped carry out three airstrikes in Somalia. What else do you know about that?

BROWNE: Well, it's an interesting operation. It comes almost just hours after a massive al Qaeda-linked terrorist attack by the group, Al-Shabaab, left over 75 people dead in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The U.S. military is saying it helped with working with the Somali government there, carrying out attacks on members of that terror group.

Somali officials are saying that the targets of that attack were linked -- or the target of the strikes was linked to that massive terror attack. Again, just underscoring the fact that the U.S. is continuing to combat terrorist groups in that country, in Somalia. Despite some successes, the group retains the ability to carry out

deadly attacks like the one that just occurred in Mogadishu.

DEAN: Well, yes. All right, Ryan Browne in Washington for us, thanks so much.

BROWNE: You bet.

DEAN: Two best friends, one epic night. Ring in the new year with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. It's "NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE." It begins at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

But, first, here is Alison Kosik with a look at the week ahead on Wall Street.

KOSIK: Hi, Jessica. It's likely to be another quiet week on Wall Street as 2019 draws to a close.

The stock market is closed on Wednesday for New Year's Day, and there is plenty for investors to celebrate. The major averages are on track for gains of over 30 percent this year.

It's been quite a decade, too. Despite the financial crisis, the S&P 500 rose over 200 percent during the past 10 years. That's its 17th highest 10-year return in the last 100 years.

So what's ahead for 2020? Analysts seem to think more gains are ahead, just smaller ones. They point to several risks for the market.

The trade war isn't necessarily over. Earnings estimates and valuations may be too high. Inflation could pick up. And there is political uncertainty that comes with the 2020 election.

In short, plenty of reasons for investors to stay cautious.

In New York, I'm Alison Kosik.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:36:38]

DEAN: President Trump took a break from the golf course today to speak with Russia's President. The Kremlin is saying Vladimir Putin called President Trump to thank him for intel that helped foil terror attacks in Russia.

The two leaders also discussed what's being called matters of mutual interest, again according to the Kremlin. The White House still hasn't confirmed the call.

Jeremy Diamond joins me now from West Palm Beach, Florida, where the President is now in his second week of vacation. Jeremy, do we have any more details about their conversation?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, we don't. And it's been hours, frankly, since the Kremlin has put out this readout of the call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and nothing so far from the White House.

But here's what we know from the Kremlin, is that Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Trump earlier today to thank him for intelligence information that was provided by the United States to the Russian Security Services.

Now, apparently, that information led to the arrest of two Russian nationals on Friday who were plotting a New Year's Eve terrorist attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

This is not, however, the first time that U.S. intelligence has helped thwart a terrorist attack in Russia. The same thing happened back in 2017.

Now, beyond that, the Russians are also saying that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin also discussed issues of mutual interest between the two countries. We don't know what those issues are, but, of course, there's a range of issues that that could potentially include.

Of course, this call between President Trump and the Russian President came just as President Trump was launching these five strikes in Iraq and in Syria against this Iranian-backed militia following a string of rocket attacks at U.S. forces at Iraqi bases.

So, of course, that could potentially have been included in the call. But, so far, no information -- no further information from the White House or from the Kremlin about the contents of that conversation -- Jess.

DEAN: All right, Jeremy Diamond in Florida for us, thanks so much.

CNN national security analyst Sam Vinograd joining us now. Sam, it's always great to have you because you have such great perspective on all of this.

The last time the two of these men spoke was back in July. They discussed wildfires in Siberia and trade. How significant is today's phone call, in your opinion?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it's significant in the first instance because they discussed counterterrorism, which is important that we continue to work with the Russians on all of that.

But, Jessica, why is it a guessing game what happened on this phone call? Why have we outsourced our public relations to Putin?

There is a process after presidential calls to come up with a readout from the U.S. government side to clearly articulate what was discussed with a foreign leader.

When it comes to Russia, we know that the Kremlin excels at information warfare and wants to control the narrative. So the White House has really given itself a self-inflicted wound by not clarifying soon after the call exactly what was discussed. We don't know what President Trump said, other than you're welcome.

And the key question is really whether he used this call to advance U.S. interests.

Every time President Trump gets on the phone with a foreign leader like Vladimir Putin, he should have a clearly articulated U.S. national security objective, which, in this case, should be raising election interference, for example.

DEAN: Right. And you were responsible for putting together some of these readouts when you worked for President Obama, so you know why we do this.

[18:40:03]

And then, you're -- you kind of explained it. But you're saying that it really helps give everybody an idea of, clearly, what was talked about, and that Russia, in this case, can then go about and kind of nudge the --

VINOGRAD: They can manipulate --

DEAN: -- the P.R. war, right?

VINOGRAD: They can manipulate the narrative.

DEAN: Right.

VINOGRAD: Again, Putin playing U.S. publicist is not a good thing for U.S. national security.

And in this case, as we look at the counterterrorism cooperation, that is, overall, something that we shouldn't shirk away from. President Trump is not the first president to work with the Russians on counterterrorism. President Obama actually did as well.

And if we have intelligence, for example, about an impending attack in Russia or any other country that could harm civilians, we should share that. That should be articulated in the readout.

But this whole notion of mutual areas of mutual interest or whatever should be clearly defined by the United States so that seeds of doubt about what was discussed --

DEAN: Right!

VINOGRAD: -- are really not fomented anymore.

And we don't even know who was allowed to listen to this call or get a readout within the U.S. government based upon this bunker mentality that the President and his inner circle have really institutionalized for these head of state phone calls.

DEAN: And it's not the first time that Russia has put out a statement on a phone call between these two men before the United -- before the White House has. Back in July, during that call I was just referring to --

VINOGRAD: Right.

DEAN: -- it happened again. They -- the Kremlin got out in front of this, and then the White House was delayed. They did release a readout, but it was delayed. They -- or it took them hours to acknowledge that call.

Do you think this is different? Do you think this is kind of the same thing? Is it intentional, or is it just it's the holidays and we'll get to it when we get to it kind of thing?

VINOGRAD: Well, he's getting through a lot of tweeting, and he's meeting with his national security team.

And typically, before you go into a call, the statement is actually drafted in advance so that the team has something ready to go right after the call.

And the President should learn from past mistakes and should learn and should know -- his Press Secretary and others, his national security advisor, should educate him on the fact that the Russians manipulate these calls to, again, try to control the narrative.

His team should have had a statement ready to go. They should have tweaked it after the call and normally coordinate on the statement to an extent with the other country, done that, and then issued it quickly to, again, avoid this self-inflicted wound.

DEAN: Right. And it's interesting because it's -- talking to you -- you know, they're saying, well, we gave them this information to thwart this terrorist attack. It's a thank-you call.

But it's never as simple as a thank-you call when it's between the United States and Russia in terms of, you're right, people -- or there are strategies there. There are games being played on both sides even if something is, ostensibly, as simple as a --

VINOGRAD: Well, it's --

DEAN: -- thanks for the information call.

VINOGRAD: It's interesting because President Trump is so transactional with every relationship. He never really seems to give anything away, you know, for free. He wants money for things. He wants favors in return.

So with President Putin, we did hand over this intelligence reportedly -- again, I strongly support our doing so -- but what did he do on this phone call to advance U.S. national security?

He was being thanked for helping Russian security, but what did he do to, again, advance U.S. goals?

And I can tell you, ahead of every presidential phone call, the national security team gives the President talking points that, again, advance U.S. national security interests.

It is, unfortunately, as we've learned, up to the President whether he uses those talking points or not on calls with leaders like Vladimir Putin.

DEAN: Right. And I know you alluded to this earlier, but we also want to show your tweet from just a little bit ago.

You said, with Putin playing publicists, is anyone else wondering which U.S. officials were authorized to listen to the call and/or receive a readout?

You hit on this, but, for you, that's the most important part of this, is just to clarify what was on the call. Because it could have been perfectly, you know, normal and --

VINOGRAD: Right.

DEAN: -- and adhered to their strategy, but we don't know because we don't have that readout.

VINOGRAD: We don't, and we know from separate reporting that the White House has instituted policies restricting those allowed to listen to the call and then restricting -- to calls, in general, and restricting where a written readout goes and who even gets a verbal readout within the U.S. government.

That hamstrings officials' ability to incorporate those readouts into policymaking. And so, it's very unclear who actually knows what happens on this call -- happened on this call. And the administration would do itself a great service if it would issue a clearly worded statement on specifically what was discussed.

DEAN: Yes, following that protocol.

VINOGRAD: Yes, if only.

DEAN: All right, Sam Vinograd, thank you so much.

VINOGRAD: Thank you.

DEAN: We appreciate it. Great to see you.

Well, more now on the breaking news we told you about earlier in this hour. We have just learned Georgia Congressman and legendary civil rights icon John Lewis has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and will undergo treatment.

He released this statement today regarding his prognosis, saying, quote, I have been in some kind of fight for freedom, equality, basic human rights for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now. This month in a routine medical visit and subsequent tests, doctors discovered stage four pancreatic cancer. This diagnosis has been reconfirmed.

[18:45:00] He goes on to write, please keep me in your prayers as I begin this

journey.

We're going to have more on this breaking news ahead on the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: With 2020 just days away, we're now counting down the biggest entertainment stories of the year. Here is CNN's Stephanie Elam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILIA CLARKE, ACTRESS: Dracarys.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Winter came and went. The final battle for the iron throne. Avengers packed a punch at the box office. And Lizzo storms the airways with her "Juice."

ELAM (on camera): Here's a look at the top entertainment news in 2019.

ELAM (voice-over): Number nine, "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek's courageous battle against pancreatic cancer.

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY!": I have some news to share with all of you.

ELAM (voice-over): Trebek announced his stage four diagnosis in March and vowed to aggressively fight the disease.

He underwent intense chemotherapy and resurfaced just five months later to announce he was on the mend --

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm happy to report I'm still here.

ELAM (voice-over): -- and ready to return to "Jeopardy!" for its 36th season.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:50:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POMPEO: -- course of the last 72 hours.

I will leave it to Secretary Esper to talk about the military activity, but I want to put it into the context of our policy with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The attack that took place at an -- against an Iraqi facility threatened American forces. This has been going on now for weeks and weeks and weeks. This wasn't the first set of attacks against this particular Iraqi facility and others where there are American lives at risk. And today, what we did was take a decisive response that makes clear

what President Trump has said for months and months and months, which is that we will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy.

We will -- we will always honor that commitment to take decisive action when that takes place, and we continue to demand that the Islamic Republic of Iran act in a way that is consistent with what I laid back -- out back in May of 2018 for what it is that we expect Iran to do so that it can rejoin the community of nations.

And with that, I'll turn it over to the Secretary of Defense.

MARK ESPER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Thank you.

As we reported earlier today, the Department of Defense took offensive actions in defense of our personnel and interests in Iraq by launching F-15 Strike Eagles against five targets associated with Kata'ib Hezbollah, which is an Iranian-sponsored Shiite militia group.

The targets we attacked included three targets in western Iraq and two targets in eastern Syria that were either command and control facilities or weapons caches for Kata'ib Hezbollah. The strikes were successful. The pilots and aircraft returned back to base safely.

I would add that in our discussion today with the President, we discussed with him other options that are available. And I would note, also, that we will take additional actions as necessary to ensure that we act in our own self-defense and we deter further bad behavior from militia groups or from Iran.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: All right. You're hearing there from secretaries talking about the strikes against the Iranian militia. Let's go now to CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who is live in West Palm Beach where the President has been spending his holiday.

Jeremy, we know that the President's secretaries flew down to be with him today to talk this through. What else are we learning from what we just heard there?

DIAMOND: Well, what we're really learning here is the real reason for these three top defense officials, foreign policy officials, actually be at Mar-a-Lago.

It wasn't just to brief the President, but it was to send a very clear message. And it appears to be a message aimed primarily at Iran and at those Iranian proxies as the U.S. monitors any fallout from those strikes that it carried out on those five targets in Iraq and Syria against this Iranian-backed militia group.

Essentially, the message that the U.S. is saying here is, look, we have briefed the President on additional potential responses that he has at his disposal; and to send a clear message that if there is indeed any retaliation from that group or from Iran itself, that the U.S. is prepared to, once again, act in a military fashion.

We also heard from the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, making clear that these were pilots that carried out this mission.

Not just unmanned drones but indeed real pilots who were out there in aircraft over Iraq, over Syria to carry out these strikes -- three targets in western Iraq, two targets in eastern Syria -- and that those pilots returned safely after successfully carrying out their mission.

We have not heard, however, from the President of the United States in person today about these strikes. Instead, it seems that he wants this message to be coming from several of his top officials.

Again, the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo; the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper; and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley.

DEAN: All right, Jeremy Diamond for us in Florida, stand by. Thanks so much.

I also have Sam Vinograd here, our CNN security analyst, to talk through some of this as we're getting this new -- more details, new information.

You heard from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo there. And essentially, it sounded to me like what he was saying was the message to Iran is we're not going to tolerate this type of behavior.

What are you -- what were you getting from what you were hearing from them?

VINOGRAD: Well, what I was hearing was that this was a calibrated response.

Secretary of State Pompeo, Esper, and the other official briefing made very clear that this was meant to send an initial message to Iranian- backed militias. But the real reason why they did go down to Florida on such short notice is they are prepared to do more.

[18:55:00]

You know, President Trump had been criticized for not responding in a military way to Iran shooting down a U.S. drone. We also, of course, have had ongoing attacks against American forces in Iraq by Iranian- backed militias. And so, the message to Iran is, stop attacking our forces, stop interfering in Iraq and in Syria, or there will be consequences.

Now, the fact that Secretary of State Pompeo was there is very interesting because he is signaling that this is not just a military approach. There are other tools in the U.S. tool kit that the administration is prepared to use, whether that be more diplomatic tools, more sanctions which the administration has rolled out, or more military responses.

DEAN: It's very interesting. And we also heard, as Jeremy noted, that these were manned aircraft. This was not a drone strike. What does that say to you in terms of their preparation? That they knew this was coming? What can we read into that?

VINOGRAD: Well, what we can read into it is that the U.S. military is very good at conducting precision strikes.

DEAN: Right.

VINOGRAD: And typically, in these high stakes situations, the U.S. military will develop various con-opts or concept of operations to achieve goals through a variety of means.

Now, drones may have been on the table, and then manned aircraft is another -- obviously, another option on the table. Those are presented to the Commander and, in this case, we learned, the President of the United States, along with the cost-benefit analysis.

That cost-benefit analysis includes the risk to American personnel that may be involved in carrying out the mission as well as the risks of retaliation, for example.

The immediate near-term threat, of course, is that Iranian-backed militias, with support from the Iranian regime, retaliate against Americans on the ground in Iraq, in Syria, or in other theaters.

Let's remember we have thousands of troops still in Iraq, not to mention thousands of American civilians working hand in hand with the U.S. military to accomplish our goals on the ground.

DEAN: And quickly, before we have to go to a break, what about this timing with China and Russia and Iran doing their own testing there, and now to have these airstrikes?

Is there anything to be put together about that as well, or do you think this is very precisely aimed at Iran?

VINOGRAD: I personally don't think that this was in response to the joint military exercises by that troublesome trio. I think that this was likely planned in advance.

And Secretary of State Pompeo said, I believe, on December 19th, that these attacks would be met with decisive action by the United States. So it looks like this was in the works for a few days and, likely, the military had these options ready to go for far longer than that.

DEAN: All right, Sam Vinograd, thanks so much for breaking that down for us.

Clearly, we've got a lot of breaking news that we are covering right now. We've got all angles covered for you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:57]

DEAN: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in for Ana Cabrera in New York this evening.

And we begin tonight with some breaking news.