Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Iranian Leaders Vow Harsh Revenge For Killing General; U.S. Officials Defend Strike Against Iranian Commander; U.S. Troops En Route To The Middle East As Iran Vows Revenge; Trump Administration Withholds E-mails On Ukraine Aid; Iran's President: U.S. Committed "Grave Mistake" Killing General; Foreign Policy In Focus In Campaign Trail After U.S. Kills Soleimani; Buttigieg: Trump Is Weak If He Doesn't Show Up To Debate; Iran Ambassador: Soleimani Killing A "Gross Violation" Of International Law. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired January 04, 2020 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:34]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. I want to welcome our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. right now, thousands of U.S. troops are making their way to the Middle East. A tense 48 hours after a U.S. strike killed a top Iranian general in Iraq. Mourners are pouring into the streets of Iraq and Baghdad to honor Iran's Qasem Soleimani and nine others who were killed Thursday in Baghdad. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations telling CNN's Erin Burnett that killing Soleimani was an act of war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJID TAKHT RAVANCHI, IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: They started a military war by assassinating, by an act of terror against one of our top generals. So what else can we expect Iran to do? We cannot just remain silent. We have to act and we will act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Trump says the strike was aimed to prevent a war and that escalating tensions between the two nations. He defended his decision to kill Soleimani at a rally last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was plotting attacks against Americans, but now we've ensured that his atrocities have been stopped for good. They are stopped for good. I don't know if you know what was happening, but he was planning a very major attack, and we got him.

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, those 2800 American troops on their way, getting ready for any retaliatory attacks abroad.

We have a team of reporters around the world covering all of the details now. Let's begin with CNN's Fred Pleitgen who is live for us in Tehran.

So, Fred, Iran's president is now saying the U.S. made a grave mistake.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Fredricka. And Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, said that while he was visiting Qasem Soleimani's family and as he was talking to Qasem Soleimani's daughter, and he said he believes that the U.S. doesn't even know how grave a mistake they have actually made.

It was quite interesting because in that same meeting which was really one of the focal points today, at least publicly in Iran, the daughter of Qasem Soleimani asked, look, how are you going to take revenge for my father and Hassan Rouhani said, don't worry, everybody will take revenge for your father.

So certainly that is one of the key things that the Iranians are saying. They're saying there is going to be some sort of response but it's going to be on their own terms and in their own time. Also, Iran's supreme leader also visited the family today. He said that the Iranian nation was very much indebted to the family of Qasem Soleimani and he said that he believed that Qasem Soleimani was killed, as he put it, by the most villainous people, the U.S. government.

So clearly the Iranians quite angry at the situation at this point in time, and again, speaking a lot about a possible response.

It was quite interesting also to hear President Trump speak there saying that Qasem Soleimani's rein as he put it had been ended and that attacks had been prevented. One of the things the Iranians are saying is that, look, the Revolutionary Guard or the Quds Force is going to continue to operate even after Qasem Soleimani's death. It wasn't an organization that was dependent on him even though he was a very large figure, but a successor to him has already been named and he says the operations won't miss a beat.

Now, the Iranians are saying they're in no rush to respond to the assassination of Qasem Soleimani. They believe that time is on their side and they say with their proxy forces in this region, they can obviously threaten the American presence in Iraq, in Syria and of course in various other countries in the Middle East as well.

And finally, Fredricka, one of the things that the Iranians have consistently been saying, not just since this event but really also since this maximum pressure campaign of the Trump administration has kicked off. They said they don't want this to escalate into a full-on war between these two nations but they've also said that they would be ready if a war does happen. And one of the things that they point to there are the advances in their ballistic missile program which they say is more dangerous than it has ever been before -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Fred Pleitgen, we'll check back with you in Tehran, Iran. Thank you so much.

Meanwhile, CNN's Barbara Starr is learning new information about possible next steps. She is at the Pentagon.

Barbara, what are you learning?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, to follow up on what Fred Pleitgen was just saying out of Iran, the U.S. very much keeping an eye right now on that ballistic missile inventory of Iran. They believe that some of it, its readiness has been ramped up in recent days. Now this does not mean that Iran would suddenly launch a ballistic attack. It means they have the capability to do it and that is something that the U.S. is watching closely.

[12:05:03]

They believe Iran's supreme leader is the man who will make the final decision of a time and place of Iran's choosing if it wants to launch a retaliation, and that is why these additional U.S. forces are going to the region, very much to be on site to protect U.S. embassies, U.S. assets as the U.S. keeps watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): President Trump's top military adviser, General Mark Milley, not ruling out a possible retaliatory attack from Iran. When compelling intelligence in recent days showed Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander, planned to attack U.S. targets in the Middle East, the Trump administration made the decision to kill him, according to Milley.

"The U.S. decided to act because of the size, scale and scope of the planning by Soleimani," Milley said. Is there a risk now to U.S. safety in the region? "Damn right there is risk," Milley told reporters. But to deal with that risk, the U.S. has stepped up its defenses and plans to send thousands of additional troops to the Middle East.

New video showing the bloody aftermath of the U.S. drone strike near Baghdad's airport. U.S. intelligence learned that Soleimani was planning specific attacks on U.S. interests in multiple countries including U.S. personnel, a congressional source briefed by the Trump administration tells CNN.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, flew to Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to brief President Trump on the intelligence. When the U.S. learned Soleimani was in Baghdad, President Trump decided to order the attack despite concerns by some in the administration about potential Iranian escalation.

These images obtained by CNN showing the wreckage of Soleimani's vehicle after a U.S. drone targeted it as it left the airport. Pompeo telling CNN the strike saved American lives.

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: There was, in fact, an imminent attack taking place. The American people should know that this was an intelligence-based assessment that drove this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Now, there's still plenty of controversy about how imminent an attack might have been based on the intelligence the U.S. had at the moment, but from the Pentagon's point of view the strike was absolutely necessary, they say, and those U.S. troops will be in place to mitigate any risk -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Barbara Starr, thank you so much from the Pentagon.

So as the U.S. steps up its military presence in the region, officials are worried about the potential for retaliatory attacks from some Iranian proxies.

CNN International Security Editor, Nick Paton Walsh is in Beirut for us.

So, Nick, you know, is this a matter of when an attack is to happen as opposed to if?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I think certainly, yes, you're right about that, and the question is of course if this is an attack or if there is some kind of more strategic, more unexpected way that Iran has planned to make its presence felt in the region that may not necessarily automatically include violence.

I think the biggest probability is, though, there will be some sort of attack against U.S. allies or assets in the Middle East. The question is when. Now, there is a strong possibility that proxies or those allies of Iran may be used in the immediate aftermath, perhaps at the end of the mourning period for Qasem Soleimani under way at the moment and expected to last into the early stages of next week.

They may choose to do something immediate to show their anger and show Iran's presence across the region. A Western intelligence official I spoke to in the hours after the attack said they were concerned that possibly Iran might spread its funding to its proxies across the region which would kind of diffuse and disperse the threat and make it harder for the U.S. to work out where exactly it might come from.

That same Western intelligence official also pointed out the threat of cyberattacks, too. That is something that Iran has been investing heavily in on both the state and on non-state level, and something that could possibly pose a direct risk to the U.S. homeland certainly.

You have to point out two other interesting things that we learned about the threat that seems to have caused the United States to act against Qasem Soleimani. Now, State Department officials said they're worried about threats against military and diplomatic personnel in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon where I am right now. And there's really only diplomatic presence here in Lebanon at the Beirut embassies, so that narrows possibly what they may have been concerned about.

And you have to also ask yourself, if the U.S. was aware of these plans and that's a big if, and if they were advanced enough, as you heard there in Barbara's report to perhaps suggest action had to be taken, then surely those plans can still be carried out without Qasem Soleimani being around to pull the trigger on them. That's possibly something the U.S. is weighing at the moment right now as well.

[12:10:03]

I should point out just generally speaking for those debating about the quality of the intelligence ahead of the decision to kill Qasem Soleimani. You have to remember, too, that the U.S. was already under attack by Iran in Kirkuk where a contractor was killed, resulting in airstrikes against the pro-Iranian military who are held responsible for that. So some argue that there's been a 40-year or over in covert war between the U.S. and the theocracy in Iran.

The broader question is whether this marks a whole new era. I think many possibly feel Iran will have to make its presence felt in the region. It will probably use proxies. It will probably pressure allies. Many are looking to Israel to the south of where I am which is very much under the potential targets of rockets fired maybe by Iran's key ally here, Hezbollah, the military and political faction here in Lebanon, long-standing (INAUDIBLE) and conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah.

That could flare, it could be catastrophic if it did happen and I think many on both sides don't want that to occur. And you also have to ask yourself, too, Fred, Iran's situation here has all resolved around its nuclear program. It said it's peaceful. The rest of the world pretty much says they're looking to get a nuclear weapon.

Does this attack against their most preeminent military commander change the balance of calculus of those in command and make them rush for a nuclear weapon? I think some calculations suggest that they might be able to achieve a bomb in a hurried, maybe in a year's time. That was a matter of years ago when that decision was made.

There may be something happening behind closed doors here, unclear, but I would look to that as well as part of how we see the threat evolve to U.S. interests and U.S. allies across the Middle East here as Iran begins to respond to this extraordinary attack against one of its key commanders.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much for a very comprehensive reporting there. Appreciate it.

So from protests in the Middle East to division on Capitol Hill, the killing of Iran's top general setting off shockwaves in Washington. Why lawmakers are not seeing eye to eye, and the fallout over who was notified about the operation and who wasn't.

Plus, the Trump administration reportedly keeping new Ukraine e-mails secret. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Mourners poured into the streets of Baghdad for the funeral procession today of the Iranian military commander killed in Friday's drone strikes. Iran's regime has already named a replacement for top general Qasem Soleimani who was attacked -- who was killed in that attack, rather, and the country is threatening the U.S. with what it is describing as a forceful revenge.

[12:15:02]

The U.S. is now sending thousands more troops to the region as it braces for the possibility of retaliatory attacks. Republican Congressman Will Hurd says the U.S. did what it had to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. WILL HURD (R-TX): And the fact that people want to act like the Iranian government is the victim in this case is to me outrageous, and yes, this is going to potentially get worse before it gets better, but what is the alternative? Sit and do nothing? Let our embassy get attacked once more? Let our troops be attacked even further to allow the Iranian government to continue to oppress their own people?

They killed 1500 people who were unarmed peacefully protesting in their own country. This is not a government that is a rational government that can sit down at a negotiating table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I want to talk it over with Sabrina Siddiqui, national politics reporter at the "Wall Street Journal," and Bob Baer, a former CIA operative who served in Iraq.

Good to see both of you.

So, Sabrina, you first. You know, how might Iran exact revenge? You know, it is threatening that it will be forceful.

SABRINA SIDDIQUI, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's too soon to say and I think there are a lot of questions in terms of what comes next that are really contingent upon the scale of the Iranian response and there are a lot of concerns here in Washington certainly among members of Congress that this administration doesn't have a strategy in the short term much less the long term for how to proceed depending on the response from the Iranians.

But it's important to note that when this president came into office, he really ushered in these renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran. He inherited a nuclear accord that by all accounts was working, that Iran was compliant with according to independent inspections, and he also then renewed hostilities not just by tearing up that deal but also by designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist organization despite the council of experts and of course re-imposing sanctions on Iran.

So is there even room to deescalate for this administration? That's really what remains to be seen at a time when of course the U.S. is potentially bracing for much worse. WHITFIELD: And so, Bob, you know, this was a very, you know, out-in-

the-open, public killing of the Iranian general and the Iraqi-Iranian deputy head of the Popular Immobilization Forces. You know, what was likely weighed for the U.S. to carry out the mission the way it was versus in a more stealth, kind of clandestine way?

ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it couldn't as a matter of fact. We don't have the assets on the ground in Baghdad to assassinate a figure like this who's well protected, well known. It's a lot easier to pick up his movements with intercepts and kill him with a drone. It's what we're very good at and that's the way it was done. And he was a public figure.

Let's don't forget he had a lot of people around him with cell phones that were using them. People at the airport were probably on cell phones saying he's arrived. His airplane, they tracked the airplane from Damascus and the rest of. This was a fairly easy target to hit. Just question the decision. By the way, the Israelis could have gotten him numerous times over the last decade, but they were too worried about the repercussions and they declined to.

I mean, they had him in their sights and they could have killed him but it was too dangerous, too risky, and they avoided it.

WHITFIELD: And, Sabrina, you know, reaction coming, you know, globally. Some European allies are expressing concern. China is weighing in as well. How much influence can, you know, the global audience exert right now?

SIDDIQUI: Well, it really depends and one of the challenges is that President Trump has offended a lot of the traditional U.S. alliances when it comes to the global stage and it's important to note that our allies in Europe as well as other countries who had signed onto the Iran nuclear deal were very much still part of that pact and had really urged the administration not to walk away, and so it's not entirely clear how much support he will be able to cultivate, what kind of coalition he will be able to put together if this does escalate further.

You also had Jeremy Hunt, a conservative member of the U.K. parliament, say that the U.S. and Iran are playing a very dangerous game of chicken. So there is a lot of concern coming from the international community. I think right now everyone is in a wait-and- see mode to really see how Iran responds, but there is a lot of concern about whether or not the administration has the goodwill that it would need from the international community to really meet this test when it comes to what comes in the coming days.

WHITFIELD: And the consequences are being seen very differently, too, from Capitol Hill to the White House.

[12:20:02]

Senator Chris Murphy weighed in and of course you've heard from the president. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): The question we have to be asking ourselves today is whether Qasem Soleimani is more dangerous to the United States alive or dead as a martyr who will now rally the Iranian government and Iranian proxies around the region to do even greater harm to American interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Bob, how do you see it? Is he right?

BAER: You know, his removal is going to make no difference in terms of the threat to the United States because Iran uses proxies, mainly Lebanese. They have groups in South America. They have them in the United States, in Detroit, and these proxies will continue to answer to the Supreme Leader Khamenei. And if he says, all right, hit now, they will. And believe me, they can hit the United States, Cano, and Africa, anywhere they want, in Europe.

It's just a matter of whether the Iranians truly want to escalate or avoid a confrontation with the United States. But right now it's in their court, what they're going to do. And we can just hope that they're not going to respond to this and this may quiet down.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now.

Bob Baer, Sabrina Siddiqui, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

SIDDIQUI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. The White House defying a court order. The Trump administration refusing to release e-mails about military funding for Ukraine. Who they were between and why it all matters?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:10]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Democrats in the Senate say the case to call witnesses at President Trump's impeachment trial has only gotten stronger since lawmakers went on break. And now the "New York Times" reports that the Trump administration is refusing a court order to release 20 e-mails in which White House officials discussed freezing U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

CNN's Haley Byrd joins me now from Washington.

So, Haley, good to see you. What else do we know about these e-mails and why the White House is refusing to release them?

HALEY BYRD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So the White House says that they're refusing to release these because it's -- reveals the deliberative and presidential communications process and it would interfere with that. That is their argument. Democrats are responding to this by saying this just emphasizes the need for witnesses in the trial.

And so Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has called for both of the two officials involved in these e-mails to testify in the Senate trial and he has met pushback from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Republicans who say -- who argue that the House should have taken the time to go through the courts and get testimony from these witnesses.

Both of these officials refuse to testify in the House impeachment inquiry and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi argued at the time that it was not the House's job to wait out the president while they were, as she called it, stonewalling the House in their investigation.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Which underscores how they came up with the article of obstruction of Congress.

BYRD: Correct.

WHITFIELD: Those requests were refused and this -- the argument for Democrats is that this kind of adds fuel to the fire. All right. Fascinating stuff.

Haley Byrd, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

BYRD: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Some people called him a hero. Others called him a ruthless killer. There are posters of Qasem Soleimani all over the streets of Iran, but who was the Iranian commander killed in that U.S. air strike, and how did he rise to power? His impact on the country and the world straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The killing the Iranian military general Qasem Soleimani is by way of a U.S. air drone strike Friday is pushing U.S.-Iranian relations to the brink now. As Iranian officials threaten harsh revenge for his death, Iran's so-called shadow commander led an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was one of the most powerful people in the Middle East.

[12:30:00]

And his death raises questions about the future of the region.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

So Nic, most Americans are not familiar with Soleimani until Friday. So how he did he become such a powerful force while also remaining largely unknown to the rest of the world?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, he really was the spirit of Iran's proxies throughout the region, bringing in the weapons, the money, currying their favor, directing them to kind of expand Iran's ideology throughout the region. He kept a low profile for many years because he was wanting to operate below the radar. But this is somebody who became battle hardened and battle tested soon after the Iranian revolution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Iran's most revered and feared commander, Qasem Soleimani, leaves a gaping hole in Iran's war-fighting machine. That he have resist foremost fighter killed in this devastating rocket strike was both the brains and the brawn behind the coalition of Shia fundamentalist proxies loyal to Iran's Ayatollahs across the Mid-East.

He began his war fighting in the 1980s, a young man in his 20s rising rapidly through Iran's military ranks in the brutal Iran-Iraq war. At least half a million troops were killed. Battles for World War I style entrenches, chemical weapons used by both sides.

Soleimani emerged battle tested, battle hardened, a hero. Soon after, becoming a commander in the IRGC, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp. Within a decade he'd risen again to head the IRGC's elite Quds Force. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Soleimani became Iran's pointman, directing and dispersing funding to Iran's proxies killing U.S. forces.

A signature of their attacks in the early days was the deadly Sheikh IEDs designed to pierce U.S. Humvee's armor, spraying troops inside with molten copper. In 2007, U.S. commanders had Soleimani in their crosshairs in Iraq but didn't pull the trigger. The next decade as war escalated in Syria, Soleimani was instrumental in keeping Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad in power. Long before Russia came to Assad's aid, Soleimani, now a major general, was to be seen striding the battlefield, directing Iranian forces.

He had become Tehran's vital overseas visionary, aligning the theocracies expansionists agenda by directing proxies in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and their massive partner, Hezbollah in Lebanon. In the past few years Tehran had cultivated Soleimani's image at home.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a rare display of (INAUDIBLE), awarded him high military honors. The regime was reinforcing his status as not just a war hero but a national hero. There is no one with his iconic status waiting in the wings to replace him. Iran is weakened without him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: They have replaced him with his deputy but he doesn't appear to sort of have that same charisma. You know think about Soleimani in this way, he was the point man, the guy they go from Tehran, to Moscow to convince the Russians to get involved in the war in Syria. He wasn't just a battlefield commander, he was so much more.

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, thank you so much. Let's talk further about all of this now. CNN contributor and co-author of the book "Agent Storm", Tim Lister is with me now. Good to see you, Tim.

So just on that point that Nic made, what kind of like impact might the killing of Soleimani have on the entire region since he was involved in so many things?

TIM LISTER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think a huge impact because there was no one quite like him in the Iranian apparatus. He'd been the leader of the Quds Force since 2003. He knew people throughout the region. His connections with Hezbollah in Lebanon with the various Shia Militia in Iraq where had no peer.

So, he also was a very charismatic man. They used to call him the goat thief back in the Iran-Iraq war because he go behind enemy lines and bring goats back for his soldiers to eat. So he was a war hero but he was also he had this very understated charisma about him. And consistently in Iranian polls he was up there the most two or three most popular people in the country.

[12:35:00]

WHITFIELD: And what a journey I guess there has been involving him because the U.S. worked with the Quds Force for a period of time and he was very much involved in that. What happened?

LISTER: Well this was way back just after 9/11 because they had a common enemy, the Taliban, and the Iranians were offering basically to help the Americans in ousting the Taliban, but Soleimani was very strategic. He said, let's not do some sort of full frontal assault on the Taliban, that would be unnecessary destructive. Let's work together on helping the Taliban's enemies which is what they did. The Iranians and the U.S. joined forces to supply the northern alliance which eventually helped in ousting the Taliban.

But then a couple years after that of course came the "Axis of Evil" speech by George W. Bush and all bets were off and since then and since the invasion of Iraq they've been absolutely on opposite sides. And Soleimani has always been Iran's point man when it has come to challenging the U.S. across the entire region.

WHITFIELD: So it was Taliban, Al Qaeda and now it's ISIS that is a great nemesis, not you know just of the U.S. but the world.

LISTER: Right. Yeah.

WHITFIELD: So what might this takedown do? How might it impact the battle against ISIS?

LISTER: I think you have to look at Iraq as not a failed state but a rapidly failing state. It's had three months of popular protests on the streets. The prime minister resigned. They haven't found a consensus figure to replace him and now you have attacks on the U.S. presence in Iraq which have been going on for some time -- 11 different rocket attacks, one American death.

The American force there is after this going to come under a lot of pressure from Iraq's to live together which is exactly what happened before the rise of ISIS. Additionally, next door you have 500 U.S. forces in Syria who are as vulnerable.

WHITFIELD: Do you see -- LISTER: But it's the almost cheek by jowl with the very forces that

was running the U.S. embassy.

WHITFIELD: So you even see the U.S. troops that, you know, remain with 5,000 or so in Iraq, will now be in a more self-defense kind of mode?

LISTER: I think they're going to be looking in the rear mirror all of the time. You know the ability they have to cooperate with the Iraqi security forces against what is a renewed ISIS threat. This is still an organization with a massive underground presence across Northern Iraq and plenty of money. And there are plenty of signs that they are regenerating and that requires a really thorough counter-terrorism effort on the part of the Iraqis and the Americans. That may not be so easy to execute going forward.

WHITFIELD: When Iran says forceful revenge, you know, retaliation, do you see that Iran's ballistic readiness is anywhere part of that component?

LISTER: Well that would be part of the intelligence assessment, but there are plenty of reports that Iran has moved short range ballistic missiles into Iraq under the custody of its allies inside Iraq. They have a huge ballistic missile arsenal.

But I don't think we should forget that through the Quds Force Iran can operate almost anywhere in the world. In the past they've gone after Israeli interests for example, in Thailand, in India, in South America. They've also got a presence with Hezbollah in Africa. This is a global organization.

WHITFIELD: So its tentacles are far reaching.

LISTER: They will bide their time and they will look for the targets of opportunity but they weren't necessary just be in Iraq or Syria, they could be anywhere.

WHITFIELD: Tim Lister, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

LISTER: Thanks Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right coming up, what would happen if President Trump refused to show up at a debate?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe I'll just debate a recording or a hologram or something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Former mayor Pete Buttigieg weighs in on that, plus the latest democratic fundraising numbers, next.

(COMMERICIAL BREAK)

[12:41:32]

WHITFIELD: All right, we're officially just 30 days away now from the first 2020 Democratic Contest in Iowa, and today several of the top Democratic candidates are swarming the state in a last-ditch effort to try to build support before the caucuses there February 3rd. However, escalating tensions with Iran is now putting a new focus on foreign policy as the 2020 race heats up.

Joining me right now, Salena Zito, National Political Reporter for the Washington Examiner and New York Post columnist. Good to see you Salena. Happy New Year.

SALENA ZITO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Hi there, Happy New Year.

WHITFIELD: All right could, you know, could this crisis, you know, with Iran change how voters are making their final decisions on who they want to select?

ZITO: Absolutely. I think that foreign policy for the most part has been maybe fourth or fifth on the list of the important things that the Democratic candidates have been talking about and not high on the list. Not because it's not a high priority but because it's not been something that's been pressing. So it could change, you know, Iowa always tends to be volatile towards the end so, you know, it could, you know, make a change, you know, within these candidates, but also a lot of these candidates tend to be against America being in another war.

And so it might not have as large an impact in a primary race as it will as if this continues into a general election.

WHITFIELD: Well look, I mean, Obama you know, he -- part of his campaign was not endorsing the war in Iraq and for now President Trump, he too said it would be his mission to get U.S. you know troops, get Americans out of endless conflicts, and now here we are.

ZITO: Yeah, right.

WHITFIELD: So let's now --

ZITO: Yeah, we're in a really weird position, right, because we don't know what's next. We know what just happened but we don't know what the long range response is going to be. And Trump has gone outside of Republican orthodoxy to not want to be invested in long range wars so, but I don't think any of us know what happens next. Is that where we're heading or was this a one off.

WHITFIELD: Right. OK, let's not yeah, let's not look at some fundraising numbers because that is a big focus for many of the candidates. And take a look, Sanders leading Democrats. You know, however, they are in general they all are behind Trump, the incumbent, you know with $46 million dollars in re-election campaign funding. So give us an idea, how much does this money make a difference for these candidates, particularly lead into now just 30 days away from the first, you know, contest in Iowa? ZITO: One thing I think the disadvantage is they essentially have to start over once they win the nomination. But, you know, I mean I don't think Democrats lack in enthusiasm in terms of donating. And while they are all donating for different candidates at this moment, the rallying cry in particular among progressives and liberals and the more left of the party is, you know, essentially whoever the nominees we're going to get behind them and support them because they want to beat Trump.

[12:45:06]

So I think that both in the end it's pretty much going to be neck in neck, you know, come September, come October, whoever is the Democratic nominee and/or Trump area all going to raising a ton of money.

WHITFIELD: Yeah and along the way, you know, all of these candidates are being dotted with some interesting questions while on the campaign trail and just recently former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, responded to what a question of you know what would you do if President Trump refused to debate, and this is what Buttigieg said. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEIO CLIP)

BUTTIGIEG: I can't make the president do anything, but I'll say this, if he refuses to show up and debate his challenger, it would be a tremendous display of weakness on the part of a president whose weakness has been demonstrated in many ways over the years. If it goes that far, I don't know, maybe we'll be creative. Maybe I'll just debate a recording or a hologram or something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Salena, does anybody think that would actually happen, that a sitting president would not show up to debate his Democratic challenger?

ZITO: Well, it's not like Trump hasn't done that before. He did it in the primaries in 2016, and it only made him more popular with the electorate.

You know, he has demonstrated, whether you like him or not, the ability to blow up institutions and blow up, you know, protocols that we typically do and whether he's campaigning or whether it's policy, and has been able to be successful in doing that. I think he -- I think in the end of the day he probably ends up doing at least one debate just because I don't think he can resist not being there and talking about what he's been successful at. But make no mistake, whether he shows up or not, it's not going to change his supporters' minds.

WHITFIELD: All right Salena Zito, thank you so much.

ZITO: Thanks so much.

WHITFIELD: All right, the United States bracing for retaliation after the killing of Iran's top military leader is a cyber attack imminent, and what other ways could Iran impact the United States? We'll talk about that next.

And, before Beyonce, before Lady Gaga, Linda Ronstadt was the first female pop icon. CNN film Linda Ronstadt, "The Sound of My Voice" airs tonight 9:00, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:51:19]

WHITFIELD: All right, law enforcement agencies around the country are on high alert as Iran promises harsh revenge following the death of its top military general. U.S. officials preparing for retaliation overseas as experts warn of potential Iranian cyber attacks in the United States.

Joining me now to discuss, Jonathan Wackrow, a former secret service agent and a CNN Law Enforcement Analyst, good to see you, Jonathan. So, does Iran pose a significant threat to American computer systems in your view?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, they absolutely do. And I just want to bring a little bit of greater context too. We're not just talking about our traditional network systems here when we talk about a cyber attack. At risk is also the operational technologies that control machinery and in other systems beyond a traditional network.

So what are we facing here? Iran is formidable opponent in the cyber space and launching cyber attacks is nothing new. The U.S. and Iran have been volleying back and forth with cyber attacks for years.

Recently the U.S. had launched a cyber attack against Iran's systems. So they have become a very challenging opponent. They have very sophisticated systems that they can utilize in their tool set of a cyber attack, and they have a history of attacking U.S. systems.

They have, you know, attacked our financial systems. They've attacked critical infrastructure. And I think it's important for the viewer to understand we talk about a cyber attack with Iran, the end state, the objective, isn't to infiltrate data for a financial gain. It's to disrupt and undermine the credibility of financial systems are, you know, in critical infrastructure. So to that point, manufacturing the financial sector and anything that is associated with critical infrastructure remains a target of opportunity for an attack.

WHITFIELD: So then knowing that, what are the things that we all need to be doing to prepare ourselves for a potential cyber attack?

WACKROW: Well, Fred, it comes down to awareness and understanding what a cyber attack does and how it impacts our lives. The challenge with any type of cyber attack is that, you know, there's no pile of burning rubble to know that we have just been attacked, and that construct is something that the Iranians have become very adept at leveraging to undermine the credibility of U.S. systems. And that's their end goal.

They're taking a long play approach to undermining credibility. And at the end of the day they're going to try to sell a psychological effect amongst U.S. citizens in terms of any type of cyber attack.

So how do you prepare? Individuals need to understand that this is -- this could happen to them. Businesses need to be prepared by ensuring that they are, you know, well versed in the attack methodology that comes out of not only Iran but their proxies, and that they have policies and procedures such as incident response plans, business continuity plans. All of this is solidified right now.

Listen Iran is telegraphing what they are going to do. We need to be prepared for it.

WHITFIELD: All right Jonathan Wackrow, thank you so much for that. Appreciate it.

WACKROW: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right some tough talk after this week's air strike on Qasem Soleimani, the Iran ambassador to the United Nations calling the attack a, "violation of international law", so how should the U.N. respond?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:56:55]

WHITFIELD: This morning thousands of mourners marching in funeral processions for Qasem Soleimani as Iranian officials call for action. The Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations telling CNN Soleimani's death was an act of war a gross violation of international law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJID TAKHT RAVANCHI, IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: It started a military war by assassinating by an act of terror against one of our top general. So what else can be expected that we're going to do? We can not just remain in silent. We have to act and will act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Iran's ambassador also sent a letter to the United Nation Secretary General and Security Council urging them to take action and they're calling the killing a, "horrific assassination". CNN's Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth, joining me right now. So Richard what else does that letter say?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Well the letter wants the Security Council to act. That is the U.N. body that is supposed to respond to threats to international peace and security. You know Fredricka 75 years ago, the U.N. started but the world has change the law since the U.N charter which is really the (INAUDIBLE) international law to establish. And according to the charter, the U.S. would have the right legally to respond to an armed attack, however, that was when country a attack country b. Such a changing world of terrorism and different countries involved with other nations is a whole different ball game.

The U.S. defends the hit on the Iranian generals to saying it was some self defense because there were going to be attacks on U.S. citizens, U.S. diplomats, so that it was self defense. However, Iran back by Russia and others say this was an assassination and the Security Council remains divided, Fredricka. So the council met on Friday but they didn't even discuss it and that's what tends to happen now in a big power is involved in some issue like that.

They're going to discuss the U.N. charter by the way the sort of a big ceremony Thursday at the U.N. The Iranian foreign minister was invited. He wants to come so far the U.S. has not granted him a vise, so stay tune of that.

WHITFIELD: Well, would it be expected that the response comes from the U.N. Secretary General in some fashion?

ROTH: Well, he rather quickly by his standard issued a statement saying, we don't want another war in the gulf but curiously the U.N. own humans repertoire said we need more from U.N. leadership on this type of attack. So this even division on that front inside the U.N. There'll be more of this to come should things escalate.

WHITFIELD: All right Richard Roth, thank you so much. And a conversation on Iran continues tomorrow on State of the Union, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Elizabeth Warren and House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff all appearing Jake Tapper on State of the Union airing tomorrow, Sunday, 9:00 eastern right here on CNN.

All right top of the hour right, want to welcome our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, thank you so much for joining me. All right we begin with breaking news.