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Iranian General Warns Iran Not Heading to War but Not Afraid of One; Big Fundraising Hauls in 4th Quarter of 2019; Julian Castro Drops Out of Presidential Race; Trump Faces Foreign Policy Tests Ahead of Election Year. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 02, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:34]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Very good Thursday morning. I'm Jim Sciutto in New York.

The top commander in Iran has a message for the U.S. as the new year begins. Iran is not looking for war, but they're not afraid of one either. Tensions building after two days of attacks on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad engineered, the U.S. believes, by Iran. New pictures showing massive damage to the embassy. Iranian-backed protesters burning and vandalizing buildings just inside the walls of the compound.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is now postponing his trip to Ukraine and a visit with Ukrainian President Zelensky. A visit they were depending on to focus on developments in Iraq.

Let's get right to CNN's Arwa Damon. She is live on the ground in Baghdad.

Arwa, tell us what the latest is there. Are these protests done for now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've moved, Jim, but they're not done. And what they did is re-establish themselves across the Tigris River from the U.S. embassy. And, remember, they are calling this just the first step. Kata'ib Hezbollah, the group that was targeted by the U.S. in those airstrikes on Sunday, their spokesperson told us that they decided to move away from the U.S. embassy because they believe that they had delivered their message to America.

But the group is also saying that their expectation right now, their understanding is that the Iraqi parliament within a week should begin negotiating, drafting a bill specifically to address America's troop presence. Their ultimate goal, they say, is to basically kick America out of Iraq. And this country is increasingly becoming much more of a proxy battlefield between Tehran and Washington.

The Iraqi Security Forces right now are outside of the U.S. embassy. They are manning the checkpoints once again. You can't just walk through them anymore. But where were they when these protesters were trying to scale the walls of the embassy? Well, Jim, to quote one Iraqi Security Forces member who we spoke to

just outside of the U.S. embassy, he said what were we supposed to do? Because this group, these hundreds of people marching literally towards America's gate, they aren't your ordinary protesters. They are either members of or supporters of this paramilitary force that includes Kata'ib Hezbollah that is ostensibly part of the Iraqi Security Forces, but Baghdad does not really have that much control over them.

So it goes to show you just how complicated the situation here is with this force that is not only something to be reckoned with militarily, but also, Jim, politically as well.

SCIUTTO: It's a good point. These are not just protesters. They are members of an armed fighting group.

Arwa Damon, good to have you on the ground there.

The other major news breaking this morning, five million donors feeling the burn. Sanders' campaign just announced a fundraising surge that could just jolt this Democratic race.

Have a look at these figures. Hauling in more than $34.5 billion in that quarter alone. The final three months -- million, not billion. The final three months of 2019, no doubt fueling his momentum just weeks before the Iowa caucuses. But he's not the only one raising some serious cash this cycle.

The Trump campaign says it raked in $46 million over the past three months bringing their totals to more than $140 million for 2019.

CNN's MJ Lee joins me now with more.

MJ, the Sanders campaign, you know, at times it's been counted out of this race. That money haul should give them confidence. Does it change the race?

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, this is an incredible number from Bernie Sanders. $34.5 million in the last quarter as you said. This is the most that he has raised in a single quarter during this campaign and the most that anybody has raised in the Democratic race during this campaign and actually around $10 million more than Bernie Sanders raised in the quarter prior to that. We thought that he had a strong quarter then.

Well, this outdoes all of the past quarters for him. And it really does underscore his fundamental political strength. It shows that he has a large base of loyal supporters who are sticking with him and continuing to give him money. It also shows that he was not set back politically by his heart attack that he suffered last year.

And just keep in mind, too, the reason that this number is even more stunning is the fact that Bernie Sanders is not doing the traditional fundraisers. He is not going out there to solicit these high-dollar checks.

[09:05:04]

So very, very strong number again for Bernie Sanders. And this kind of cash is the kind of cash that would allow him potentially to flood the airwaves heading into Iowa and to allow him to really stay in the game if the Democratic primary becomes a protracted race -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: The two other candidates, they put up really big numbers this quarter. Pete Buttigieg, $24.7 million. Not insignificant. But also Andrew Yang who has not yet made the debate stage for the next debate. But those are big figures. And he said $7 million of those just in the last several days of 2019.

LEE: Big figures. Obviously, Bernie Sanders has now set the bar pretty high but yes, these are very strong numbers both from Pete Buttigieg, as you said $24.7 million, and Andrew Yang, $16.5 million.

Let's talk about Buttigieg for a second. I mean, this is somebody who has been sort of the candidate to watch over the last couple of months. We have seen his political momentum grow. And unlike Sanders and Warren, we should note he has been raking in the cash by doing some of these fundraisers.

This has been one area in which folks like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have tried to set themselves apart from the former mayor. And Andrew Yang, as you said, he has not yet qualified for the next debate but he did qualify for the last debate on the debate stage at a moment when somebody like Cory Booker did not qualify. So he has been an interesting candidate to watch and I think he has been a lot more resilient than we might have guessed earlier last year.

SCIUTTO: No question. MJ Lee, thanks very much.

Of course the other number we should mention, President Trump, $46 million in that quarter.

Let's break down all the numbers. Joining me now, CNN political analyst Jackie Kucinich and Molly Ball.

Good morning to both of you.

So, Molly, Sanders had been counted out. He had the health crisis. A heart attack during the campaign. But also kind of splitting that progressive vote over time with Elizabeth Warren. Many saying, well, that might undermine his chances to win the nomination. But when you raise this kind of money, where does that put his campaign?

MOLLY BALL, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's not just the money. It's the polling, right? I mean, Bernie Sanders has been in a strong position throughout this race. He's strong in the early states. He's strong nationally. I think there's been a tendency maybe to overlook him as a factor or particularly among the sort of Democratic establishment to count him out or to assume that he's got a sort of ceiling.

That may be the case but he has been steady and strong. And as I think you mentioned, it's really since that heart attack that he may have seen him even surge a little bit more. He has been clearly, you know, in good health, vibrant on the stump. His fans have rallied to support him and he's got this base of small-dollar donors who keep giving and giving, and they believe in Bernie Sanders and they're not very interested in other candidates.

So I think he -- there's a stability to Bernie Sanders' support and the fundraising demonstrates that as well. Right? That he has this very vibrant grassroots movement of people who are willing to keep giving no matter where he stands in the race.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

BALL: And that's a really important asset for any candidate.

SCIUTTO: Jackie Kucinich, Bernie Sanders. The fact is, he's a senator. A familiar figure for a number of years. He of course ran in the last cycle. I mean, Pete Buttigieg is a small-town mayor, was until recently.

KUCINICH: Right.

SCIUTTO: He raised 25 million bucks in that quarter. He's still polling in the single digits. Where does that put his campaign as we get closer to the Iowa caucuses?

KUCINICH: Yes. One of the interesting things about Pete Buttigieg as opposed to a Bernie Sanders or an Elizabeth Warren is he started this race with very little name recognition, without any sort of national network in order to raise money. Now, as MJ noted, he is doing these big-dollar fundraisers and has been taking some heat from it.

That said, the fact that he's created this fundraising haul with those kind of headwinds going against him shows that he is a formidable candidate going into Iowa. And you can also see the fact that you have some of the frontrunners taking shots at him. As a way that he is building some strength.

SCIUTTO: Yes. OK. Molly Ball, the president, $46 million in that quarter. I mean, fundraising for the Republican Party has been remarkable in these months. It shows that the president has a loyal backing as well as we head into 2020.

BALL: He does. And he's got -- he's always been very strong at the digital fundraising game, right? The e-mail list, the Facebook and other social media. His campaign is very skilled at that. And this is an asset he didn't really have in 2016. Yes, he was raising money online. But not like this. And he really ran sort of a shoestring campaign. Didn't even run a lot of television ads.

It's going to be a whole different ball game for Donald Trump and by extension for his opponents in 2020 because he's going to have essentially unlimited resources at his disposal.

KUCINICH: Right.

BALL: And even when there is a Democratic nominee, that's going to give Trump a head start and an ability to build, you know, an organization all over the country. It's going to be very difficult for Democrats to match. Just the cash on hand that he's amassing is a real warning sign for Democrats that they're going to have a tough competition on their hands.

[09:10:01]

SCIUTTO: Sure --

(CROSSTALK)

KUCINICH: And that's one of the things you hear -- just from Democratic donor.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KUCINICH: The establishment folks is that's what they're worried about going into 2020 when you have some of these other candidates like Bernie Sanders, like Elizabeth Warren who say they're not going to take some of these larger donations. They say that these small donors will max out at some point. Now Bernie Sanders notes that most of his have not.

That said, when you're going up against the massive organization that the president has built, there is some nervousness that those may be off the table if they have a nominee that won't accept those donations in a general election.

SCIUTTO: Understood. Although we have seen candidates change rules like that as they go into --

KUCINICH: Oh, that is true.

SCIUTTO: Go into the general. There's always that possibility. Remember what I said before? Anyway.

KUCINICH: Right.

SCIUTTO: Jackie Kucinich, Molly Ball, thanks. Thanks to both of you.

KUCINICH: Thank you.

BALL: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Still to come this hour, President Trump now facing a growing number of crises around the globe. Will bets the president made during his early days in office haunt him this re-election year?

And Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell will be back on the Senate floor tomorrow. New reporting on what he will say about the looming Senate impeachment trial coming up.

And 17 are now dead as wildfires continue to rage out of control across Australia creating just apocalyptic scenes like this. Parts of that country declaring a state of emergency. We're going to have an update, ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:26]

SCIUTTO: This just in to CNN. Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro is now dropping out of the presidential race.

MJ Lee back with me now.

MJ, what do we know? This follows a series of setbacks for Castro. Was this expected?

LEE: That's right. This is the former Housing secretary, a mayor of San Antonio, just announcing that he is going to be dropping out of the 2020 race. In some ways maybe not surprising because this is a candidate who, despite his efforts, was never able to really break through amid the very large Democratic field, even though he had some memorable moments, particularly on the issue of immigration which was one of the issues that he was most passionate about out on the campaign trail.

He was not able to gain that political momentum. One of the biggest signs of that most recently was the fact that he was not on the last debate stage. So when you're not able to qualify for these debates, you're not able to raise the kind of money and to continue your campaign. You get to a point where you were not able to see a political path forward.

So again, Julian Castro just announcing this morning that he is ending his 2020 presidential campaign.

SCIUTTO: And we're seeing the field become less diverse over time.

LEE: That's right.

SCIUTTO: He was of course the only Latino running for president this cycle.

MJ Lee, thanks very much.

Two foreign policy crises on a very big election year. Two very different strategies. On Iran, the president using maximum pressure and isolation, or attempting to. Pulling out of a nuclear deal, imposing tough sanctions to try to force Iran's hand. But a very different story on North Korea. The president focused on building his personal relationship with the dictator Kim Jong-un. A love affair as he's described it some time.

He met with him three times face-to-face. So far those summits have not paid off. North Korea has just announced it will not stop its nuclear weapons program and that it will show the world a new strategic weapon soon.

Joining me now to discuss this and other threats, Ambassador John Negroponte. He's former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Iraq, Mexico and the Philippines. Ambassador, we appreciate you taking the time this morning.

JOHN NEGROPONTE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N., IRAQ, MEXICO, PHILIPPINES: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: So let's look if we can, let's focus on Iraq for a moment. Iran deploys these militias in effect to attack the embassy, Iraqi Security Forces walk away as it happens. As you watch this unfold, does this show to you that Iran in effect has the upper hand in Iraq? That it's calling the shots to a great degree there?

NEGROPONTE: Well, I think, obviously, as compared to 2003 or 2004 when we were the predominant, overwhelming international influence in Iraq, the situation has changed significantly. And I do think Iran has gained a significant position of influence in that country. But that's not to say that we still don't have influence and that's not to say that there are not still many Iraqis who I think would like us to continue to play a role in that country.

But I think the question of influence is today up for grabs as compared to 10 or 15 years ago. And the other thing, of course, is that we're at a moment of particular significance inside of Iraq because they are at this very moment trying to agree on who will be the next prime minister of that country. And disputes of this nature, obviously, play right into that situation.

SCIUTTO: No question. The question -- one question is the situation for U.S. forces in Iraq because it is our reporting that those Iranian-backed protesters only withdrew from the embassy when they received assurances the Iraqi parliament would consider legislation demanding that U.S. forces leave and the Iraqi prime minister has said that Iraq needs to reassess its relationship with the U.S.

Do you think -- do you see the position that the deployment of U.S. forces there is at risk now because of those political pressures domestically?

NEGROPONTE: Well, I can't be certain but there may be a certain amount of theater to that, and there may be also just that they said they'd agree to that in order to end these demonstrations. But I think it remains to be seen.

Again, as I said, I think there's a body of Iraqis. An important number of Iraqis who would like us to continue to play a role. And I think they would welcome a continued security interest. Iraq needs to be on reasonably friendly terms with Iran, on the one hand, because it's its neighbors. But it also wants to have strong friends internationally, including with the United States.

I don't think Iraq wants to end up in the place that Iran finds itself today where it is internationally quite isolated.

[09:20:03]

SCIUTTO: Let's talk about that policy because the Trump administration has attempted since the president took office to isolate Iran and, therefore extract concessions, withdraw from the nuclear deal, reimpose sanctions, et cetera. But in response to that, Iran has ratcheted up its hostile activities in the region. It shot down a U.S. drone. $110 million one. It attacked Saudi oil facilities. It's orchestrated these protests. I wonder from your position, is the U.S. approach to Iran failing at this point?

NEGROPONTE: Well, I think that still is to be determined because the pressures are significant. The economy of Iran is suffering, and I think that we see even domestic strife inside of Iran where they've been protests at the poor economic conditions in that country. So it's having some kind of effect. The question is, and I think you rightly ask, can that be translated into some kind of effective diplomatic outcome?

Could we ultimately sit down, for example, and renegotiate some of the terms of the JCPOA, whether it's extending the duration or expanding the coverage of some of its provisions. But I do think there still is the possibility one day of some kind of a negotiation. I just can't tell you when that's going to happen.

SCIUTTO: Well, President Trump has at times said publicly he'd be willing to go back and talk to Iran but Iran doesn't appear interested. I wonder if President Trump has overestimated Iran's willingness to do that under this maximum pressure campaign.

NEGROPONTE: Well, we just don't know. I mean, how much do they have to hurt in order to want to perhaps renew discussion of some of these provisions. We just can't tell.

SCIUTTO: Final question, just on Iran and with developments in North Korea. You have two countries here. President Trump has tried bromance diplomacy with Kim in North Korea. And he's tried maximum pressure with Iran. You have Iran surrounding the U.S. embassy, attacking the U.S. embassy in Iraq. You have Kim threatening to restart nuclear weapons testing, introduce a new strategic weapon.

I just wondered, you know, President Trump has said the world respects America again. Do these countries look like they are respecting America here, respecting President Trump or testing him?

NEGROPONTE: Well, welcome --

(LAUGHTER)

NEGROPONTE: Welcome to 2020. I mean, I think you are talking about two of the significant challenges that we're going to confront this coming year. I hope they can be managed and not allowed to spill over into some kind of a serious confrontation between either of the countries. I do think that possibility exists in both regions of the world.

SCIUTTO: We'll be watching. Ambassador John Negroponte, thanks very much and Happy New Year to you and your family.

NEGROPONTE: Same to you. SCIUTTO: Impeachment back in the spotlight as Congress will return

from break. Big question now, when will there be a trial in the Senate.

And we're just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street in the new year where markets set to open on the first trading day of 2020. Stocks ended on a positive note to close out 2019. Futures are pointing towards a positive open again today for two reasons. Renewed optimism over trade with President Trump tweeting about a meeting for a smaller trade deal with China. What he calls a phase one trade deal.

And CNN has learned overnight that the Peoples' Bank of China moved to stimulate the country's economy giving banks the green light to increase lending by $115 billion.

[09:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: The Senate is back in session tomorrow with President Trump's impeachment trial still in limbo. Right now we still don't know when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to send over the articles of impeachment to the Senate and the Leader Mitch McConnell. As for McConnell he is planning business as usual with no intention of moving on impeachment until Pelosi does.

So where do we go from here? We're joined now by Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, of course has a central role in this process, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

REP. MADELINE DEAN (D-PA): Good morning. Thanks for having me, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Let me begin with your comments. You said last week that I think the speaker made a very wise move not to hand over the articles of impeachment for a false sham trial. I ask you now then what in your view would make this a fair Senate trial?

Sorry, folks. Technical issues. Looks like we lost the satellite feed with Congresswoman Dean. We're going to fix that and come back as soon as we have her. We'll take a quick break now as we correct those technical difficulties. We'll be right back.

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[09:30:00]