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Protesters Try to Storm U.S. Embassy in Baghdad; Federal Hate Crime Charges Filed Against Hanukkah Attack Suspect; New York City Preps for Massive New Year's Celebration; Pompeo Speaks with Iraqi Prime Minister Amid Baghdad Embassy Protests; NYT: E-Mails Show Mulvaney Played a Key Role in Halting Ukraine Aid. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 31, 2019 - 09:00   ET

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

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Wish you the best in the race and we wish you and your family a very happy 2020.

ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Happy New Year. Thanks so much, Jim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: All right.

SCIUTTO: He says he's going to be on that debate stage.

HARLOW: Yes. Well, he's been on everyone, right?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: So we'll see. OK. Great interview.

Thank you all for being with us this morning. We are all over this breaking news of the protests at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Our continuing coverage starts right now.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Alex Marquardt. And welcome to our holiday edition of NEWSROOM.

We are following that breaking news this morning out of Iraq. Protesters attacking the U.S. embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. There are hundreds inside the heavily guarded Green Zone as you can see there, angrily demonstrating against American air strikes that killed 25 fighters from a militia that is backed by Iran.

Now right now that U.S. embassy in Baghdad is on lockdown. Security personnel from inside the embassy have been firing tear gas as the protesters tried to storm the compounds today. Breaking through gates and climbing over the outer walls.

Now look at this video that has just come in to CNN. Protesters trying to break through one of the doors to the embassy. This morning President Trump is directly blaming Iran, warning that Iran will be fully held responsible for the attacks that he expects Iraq will use its forces to protect there at the embassy.

So let's get straight to CNN's Arwa Damon who knows Iraq so well.

Arwa, this is the biggest U.S. embassy in the world. Remarkable scenes coming out of there. What do we know about the state of those protests right now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, first of all, we should point ought that these are not ordinary protesters. The vast majority of these individuals are members of what's known as the Popular Mobilization Force. This is sort of a paramilitary force that came to be during the fight against ISIS that is mostly made up of former members of a variety of different Shia militias that many of whom have very, very close ties to Iran.

And if you look at the scenes from the beginning of this protest, you saw three top leaders there. Three top leaders of the three -- among the three most powerful of all of these entities that make up this paramilitary force, but it is a force that is in theory part of the Iraqi Security Forces.

Now they were able to walk pretty much straight up to the U.S. embassy that is inside an area where normally you need either a badge to get through or some sort of escort. While they were out there, we heard anti-U.S. slogans being chanted. They spray painted the walls. They threw rocks. They broke security cameras. They tried to scale the walls. Fires were set.

The U.S. so far, at least what's happening there that we can gather, has not led to an evacuation of personnel. It is on lockdown. The ambassador himself has been away for about a week on a previously scheduled vacation. This is obviously a very tense, very concerning situation. The Iraqi prime minister has asked the protesters to back down, and the Iraqi Security Forces are not necessarily on the scene but are beginning to arrive to a certain degree to try to bring this situation under control.

Of course, the concern is, Alex, is that if this escalates any further, that could potentially have very, very serious consequences.

MARQUARDT: Arwa Damon, that's a very important point. These are not the kinds of protests that we have seen of late in Baghdad. These are different in response to those U.S. air strikes and protests that really could fundamentally alter the relationship with Iraq which of course is a key U.S. ally.

So let's get into this a little bit more with CNN military analyst, retired lieutenant General Mark Hertling.

General, you spent years on the ground in Iraq. I want to get first of all your initial reaction to these incredible scenes that we're seeing out of Baghdad today.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's quite chaotic, Alex, and I'm going to comment just briefly on what Arwa gave in her very good report. And that is, these Popular Mobilization Forces aren't a collective group. Each one of them, a battalion or a brigade or whatever, represent a different Shia political party within Iraq and they have a different Shia leader. That's been part of the turmoil within domestic affairs within the Iraqi government as of late.

Recently the parliament asked for the resignation of the prime minister, and the president of Iraq, Barham Salih, who is a Kurd, has basically been weighing which political party he should allow the prime ministry to come from.

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Many of them that have been offered have come from different Shia groups. So all of those right now are competing for the potential to be the leaders of Iraq. Barham Salih has pushed those down and said no, we don't need any more sectarian leadership within our government as the key driver. So this has turned literally the protest against Iran which has been occurring for the last several months. Now has turned it within the capital against the United States because of the act of bombing the five different targets within the last week.

Arwa also mentioned that Ambassador Tueller is on a long-scheduled vacation so he was not there to coordinate with the Iraqi government once those strikes took place. I'm sure that incurred the ire of many people within the Iraqi government to have U.S. forces striking Iranian targets on their soil. And some of those Iranian targets actually consisted of some Iraqi citizens.

So it is the most confusing situation that you can imagine. Very complex. But what we've seen in the last couple of days is the ire of the Iraqi citizens have changed from countering Iranian influence inside of Iraq. Many people were against that. But now countering American presence within Iraq. And as you know, we have about 5,000 troops there.

MARQUARDT: General, of course, very important to clarify, and thank you for that.

So, again, for our viewers, these are Iraqi militias that have been sanctioned by the Iraqi government but they are backed by Iran. And as you just mentioned, they do have some Iranian elements among them. And that is why they were the targets of these U.S. air strikes.

HERTLING: Right.

MARQUARDT: But, General, I want to ask you, the Trump administration is saying that these air strikes which, as you mentioned, there were five of them taking place in both Iraq and Syria, would serve as a deterrent. Now that we're seeing this very violent response in Baghdad, do these protests suggest that they have not been deterred?

HERTLING: Well, there's always the right of self-defense of U.S. forces and there have been continuing attacks against both U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces by elements of these popular mobilization forces. The Iranian militias. So they have been troublesome for the last six months and even beyond that. There were some of these forces there the last time I was in Iraq in 2008. The problem is the requirement is to collaborate and coordinate with the Iraqi government to counter these Iranian militias.

And what the problem is, is some of these very militias were instrumental in destroying ISIS. So they were brought in as part of the Iraqi Security Forces, not formally condoned, but they were very helpful in destroying ISIS. Now they are looking for their credentials, if you will, within the Iraqi government.

To get back to your question, is this causing further degradation of cooperation between the Iraqi government and the U.S. government? Absolutely it is. There have been several things that have been insulting to the Iraqi government. First of all, when many of our forces were repositioned within Iraq. Some of that took place without requesting permission of the sovereign government of Iraq.

When we dislocated from the Kurds in northern Syria, there's a huge Kurdish population in northern Iraq, that was a contentious issue with many of the Kurdish population. So you can see there has been a gradual declination of the relationship between the U.S. government and the Iraqi government over the last couple of months. And this attack the other day really turned the tide on that.

And I think most of the government officials, which are attempting to be partners with the United States, were furious about this attack without -- that the U.S. conducted without seeking their permission first.

MARQUARDT: And that relationship between the U.S. and Iraq so key when it comes to dealing with a whole range of issues, not the least of which are Syria next door and Iran on the other side. Dramatic --

HERTLING: And Saudi Arabia.

MARQUARDT: As well as Saudi Arabia. Dramatic events in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad today.

Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thank you so much and Happy New Year, sir.

HERTLING: Happy New Year to you, Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right. Well, switching gears, there are new charges for the man who is accused of a Hanukkah stabbing spree at a rabbi's home in New York state. The suspect is expected back in court on Friday to face federal hate crime charges after investigators revealed an extensive trail of online searches and journal entries about Hitler, synagogues and American companies that were founded by Jews.

Brynn Gingras has the latest from Monsey, New York.

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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Grafton Thomas, the man accused of stabbing five Hasidic Jews at a Hanukkah celebration, now charged with federal hate crimes.

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The suspect remains in custody after being charged with obstructing the free exercise of religion and an attempt to kill. Thomas already pleaded not guilty to state charges Sunday of five counts of attempted murder and one count of first-degree burglary.

According to a criminal complaint, prosecutors say Thomas' internet history on his cell phone included searches of "why did Hitler hate the Jews" and "German Jewish temples near me." There was also reportedly a search for prominent companies founded by Jews in America.

The criminal complaint against Thomas also says a journal found by authorities shows that he expressed anti-Semitic sentiments with some entries referring to Hitler and Nazi culture with drawing of a swastika and the Star of David.

One entry, Hebrew Israelites took from the powerful people Ebinoid Israelites, apparently a reference to the black Hebrew Israelite movement. According to a law enforcement source, that group has been linked to the terror attack at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City three weeks ago.

The complaint also details the moments leading up to the Hanukkah attack. Alleging Thomas entered the rabbi's home with his face covered by a scarf and proclaimed to those inside no one is leaving, and then used an 18-inch machete to start stabbing and slashing people.

JOSEF GLUCK, SURVIVED STABBING ATTACK IN RABBI'S HOME: I got those feeling, everybody, move away. Everybody, run. Go, go, go, the guy is coming. The guy is coming. And he said, hey, you. I'll get you. That's the only thing that -- that's the only exchange that he had I think with anyone.

GINGRAS: Thomas was apprehended by police two hours later in New York City. Police say he was found with blood on his clothes and a smell of bleach in the car with a machete and another knife that had apparent traces of dried blood on them. His attorney and family say he's a former Marine who suffers from mental illness. And they claim he had no history of anti-Semitism.

MICHAEL H. SUSSMAN, GRAFTON THOMAS' ATTORNEY: There is no suggestion in any of those ramblings and pages of writing of an anti-Semitic motive of any anti-Semitism.

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GINGRAS: And Thomas is currently being held in federal custody, but he's going to head back to court this Friday on those state attempted murder and burglary charges so we'll learn more there in court on Friday -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right, Brynn Gingras, in Monsey, New York. Thanks very much.

Now joining me to discuss this is retired FBI supervisory special agent James Gagliano. He's also a CNN law enforcement analyst.

James, great to see you. Happy New Year. You and I were on the air just over a year ago in the wake of that horrific massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue. We've obviously seen a spate of anti-Semitic attacks since then. Is that what this looks like to you, an anti- Semitic attack?

JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Absolutely, Alex. I mean, from the perspective of -- let's define what anti-Semitism is. It is either hostility or prejudice against the Jewish faith. And in these instances, especially this weekend, where this attack occurred, not on the street, but actually inside a rabbi's home, it was just a grotesque manifestation of hate.

New York City, as well as places across the country, obviously synagogues, are steeling themselves, looking forward to this and figuring out how we can prevent these. How we can get in front of this. And for law enforcement it's always about interdiction left to boom, before the incident happens, before the attack happens, what can be done to keep us safer?

MARQUARDT: Grotesque is absolutely the right word. And of course, anti-Semitic attacks, it's not mutually exclusive with mental instability either, is it?

GAGLIANO: So the FBI has done a number of studies on what we call lone attackers. And obviously Grafton Thomas fits that mold, right. Lone attacker. And here's what they found. 52 cases since 1972, 83 percent of the folks that cause these type of attacks have exhibited aggressive behavior in the past. And look at Thomas' rap sheet.

Seven arrests since 2001, Alex. Assault, resisting arrest, menacing police, killing or injuring a police animal. 96 percent of the folks that do these or inclined to do these have posted some type of online or written manifesto or hateful screed. And here's the sober fact. Out of every four events like this, at least one of them, 25 percent of them, somebody prior to the attack noticed something in the research, planning or preparation that the suspect was engaged in prior to the attack, Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right. James Gagliano, thank you so much as always for your expertise.

GAGLIANO: Thanks, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Well, coming up, the top Senate Democrat is now demanding witnesses in the upcoming impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. But will Republicans budge?

Plus, good-bye 2019. Hello, 2020 election. Pete Buttigieg's days as South Bend mayor may be coming to an end, but are his recent attacks on Joe Biden just beginning?

And we are live in New York City's Times Square ahead of the massive celebration.

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Miguel Marquez is on top of all of those preparations. That's coming up.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've got 14 and change -- 14 hours and change to the ball dropping here. The stages are set, the crowds are starting to pack in, I'll have details coming right up.

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MARQUARDT: As hundreds protest outside the U.S. Embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, we have just learned that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken with the Iraqi Prime Minister. Ryan Browne is at the Pentagon. Ryan, what do we know about this call between the two leaders?

RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Well, according to a statement from the top State Department spokesperson that Secretary Pompeo spoke with both the Iraqi Prime Minister and Iraqi president to talk about the protests. And according to the statement, Secretary Pompeo made clear the United States will protect and defend its people.

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He asked the Iraqi officials to step in to help safeguard the U.S. Embassy. And according to the statement, they have received assurances from the Iraqi leaders that this would -- that they would, in fact, help safeguard U.S. facilities and U.S. Personnel. And we've also seen a statement from the Iraqi Prime Minister's office, saying that while the Iraqi government condemned the recent U.S. airstrikes targeting these militia groups.

They did warn Iraqi citizens to stay away from embassy facilities, from diplomatic posts as part of their protests, saying they've been warning them to steer clear, although this kind of diplomatic corridor there in Baghdad. So, there does seem to be some response from the Iraqi government here.

But you know, despite billions of dollars the United States has provided to Iraqi security forces, we aren't seeing much of an Iraqi security force presence to try and dispel some of these protests. Many of -- protesters. Many of which we're hearing reports are tied to some of these same militia groups that were targeting those airstrikes.

MARQUARDT: All right, Ryan, and we should remind our viewers that the embassy has been on lockdown, staff has not been evacuated, and the U.S. ambassador there is not present, he's actually been away for a pre-planned vacation. We'll continue to watch all of that. Thanks Ryan Brown of Pentagon.

Now, the top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer is demanding witnesses appear at the upcoming impeachment trial of the president after a "New York Times" article laid out new details surrounding the White House's move to withhold that military aid from Ukraine. Here's what Senator Schumer had to say about that report.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Simply put, in our fight to have key documents and witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial, these new revelations are a game changer.

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MARQUARDT: A game changer says Senator Schumer. So, let's talk about all this with Ross Garber who teaches impeachment law at Tulane Law School and Anita Kumar; a White House correspondent and associate editor for "Politico", thank you both for joining me this morning. Ross, I want to start with you, you heard Schumer right there talking about how these new details in that report are a game-changer.

Now, that includes a scene that was described in the Oval Office where the president's top national security officials were basically pleading with him to release that $400 million in aid for Ukraine. What does this change about what we know in the Ukraine saga?

ROSS GARBER, TEACHES IMPEACHMENT LAW AT TULANE LAW SCHOOL: So, it does change things, I think, on the margin. And remember, you know, the Trump administration blocked testimony from the president's senior advisors. And so it's not surprising that right now information is continuing to trickle out.

You know, the house kind of -- you know, did a thorough an investigation as they could, but they put time limits on themselves before they passed the articles of impeachment. So, now additional information is coming out, and Senator Schumer saying, well, that's another reason why we should have witnesses testify, witnesses subpoenaed to testify at the Senate proceeding.

I think in the real world, though, it's probably not likely to change very much. Senator McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate has said, look, let's do this the same way we did Clinton, where we have long opening arguments first, and then later we'll decide on witnesses. I think Schumer right now is trying to use the current news to kind of bolster his position that, no, let's have a deal on witnesses now before the trial starts.

MARQUARDT: And of course, Democrats had called for Mick Mulvaney, the acting Chief of Staff and John Bolton; the former National Security adviser to be among those witnesses. Republicans have pushed back. And Anita, to you, do you agree with Schumer that this is a game- changer, those new details?

ANITA KUMAR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT & ASSOCIATE EDITOR, POLITICO: I do think it provides more pressure. It gives the Democrats something else that they can say here. Look, we don't know all the details, but it might backfire a little bit because, remember, they can say -- Republicans can say, hey, the Democrats were in control of the investigation on the house side.

Why didn't you come up with this? Why didn't you have a more thorough, lengthy investigation. In the end, though, the Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell is going to fall back on what he's been saying, which is we pretty much know how almost every single person is going to vote. All these, you know, jurors, the senators, it's a political process.

And if it doesn't change anything, why should we go through this ordeal. And that's what he's going to argue. He's been arguing that with President Trump who I have been told is still -- he understands the need for not having any witnesses, but still kind of wants some of them. He wants to sort of be out there and having, you know, Joe Biden and other people testify.

But he's listening to Senator McConnell and understanding that it's probably best for both sides to get this done quickly. If the reality is, he's not going to be removed from office.

MARQUARDT: So most Republicans are saying, we don't want witnesses. We just want to have these opening statements and then go to -- go to the trial, go to a vote. Democrats are saying we need to hear from these witnesses and get these documents. One of the senators that Democrats are hoping to pull over is Republican Susan Collins.

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Ross, she gave an interview to Maine public radio in which she said she was open to hearing witnesses, but she said that it was premature to decide who should be called. Ross, is it premature?

GARBER: Well, so first of all, you know, it's not surprising to hear senators talk like that. You know, even though in the real world, you know, pretty much all of them have probably made up their minds here. What they're doing is they're supposed to be fact-finders and essentially jurists in this trial. So they're trying to -- many of them trying to sort of telegraph that they're going to be fair and impartial.

But I think what she's really getting to is, this sort of two-phase approach that Senator McConnell has advocated these. And that -- and that was the case in Clinton. In Clinton, they heard long opening arguments first, and then and only then did they decide on witnesses. Senator McConnell and some others are saying that's the approach here.

Now, you know, they're also saying in some cases, we don't want to hear witnesses at all. But as a former matter, they're saying let's take it in this two-phase approach and decide on witnesses after we've heard all of the opening statements.

MARQUARDT: Let's talk about the politics of this. Of course, one of the things that makes Democrats really nervous about the impeachment trial is that it could really galvanize Republicans. We heard from Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, she of course was a 2020 presidential candidate, saying that the impeachment has greatly increased the likelihood of a Trump re-election as well as Republicans retaking the house.

Now, of course, house Democrats picked up nearly 40 seats in 2018. Anita, do you think the Republicans are going to be so galvanized by this impeachment trial, so angered by it that they could take back the house and also retain the White House and see President Trump re- elected?

KUMAR: Well, I think that all sort of experts, observers are seeing them -- the Republicans taking back the house is a long shot. But what you are seeing on the Republican side is that enthusiasm that you're talking about. When you talk to the people at the president's re-election campaign, they've seen record numbers of small donors.

They've seen during the impeachment hearings, they saw tremendous numbers, millions of dollars pouring in, they feel like that it's gotten people very excited that it's doing the job for them. They don't have to advertise campaign rallies. People are just wanting to come. And so, I think that there is some enthusiasm there.

It's the question of whether it will translate to the house or not. The president feels very good about it. He doesn't feel good about impeachment, of course, but he does feel good about -- that people are excited, enthusiastic. He feels like he can use that momentum. And people that I've talked to have said that this has really energized him.

That he is so angered by this house vote, so angered by impeachment that he's even more driven to work on his re-election, and that we're going to see that after the new year where he's going to be out on the road. He's going to be campaigning on this and feels very good about his re-election.

MARQUARDT: All right, well, folks, we have to leave it right there. Ross Garber, Anita Kumar, thanks very much and happy new year to you both.

KUMAR: Thanks.

GARBER: Happy new year.

MARQUARDT: Speaking of which, we have just hours to go until we celebrate the dawn of 2020. We'll show you how New York City police are working to secure tonight's festivities. And we're also moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. The last trading day of the decade., the futures are flat, that's after the Dow closed down 183 points.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also fell. In fact, it was the worst one-day percentage drop for all three averages since the start of the month. And as we enter the new year, investors are going to be keeping a close eye on trade and the 2020 election. What this means for you, that's coming up.

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