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McConnell Speaks Amid Impeachment Standoff and Iran Strike Fallout; Fort Bragg Families Speak to CNN Amid Deployments; How Pompeo Was Critical to Trump's Decision to Strike Iran. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired January 06, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): -- thread of national unity for 5 minutes, for 5 minutes before deepening the partisan trenches. Most Democrats distaste for this President dominate every thought they express and every decision they make. Is that really the seriousness that this situation deserves?

The full Senate will be briefed on Wednesday. I expect the committees of oversight will also conduct hearings and the Senators will have plenty of opportunities to discuss our interests and policies in the region. So I would urge my colleagues to bring a full awareness of the facts, mindfulness of the long history of Iran's aggression toward the United States and its allies. And a sober understanding of the threat Iran continues to pose. Could we at least remember --

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: All right. So listening to the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell obviously defending the actions of this administration. Brett Bruen, let me bring you back in. You know, this has quickly become partisan even as the crisis escalates. Isn't the big question right now, just aside from what Iran will do, what is the intelligence that led to this strike?

BRETT BRUEN, FORMER DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT, OBAMA WHITE HOUSE: Yes, I think the President and his National Security Council have to level with Congress and level with the American people. I mean we are talking about the potential for a major conflict. And nowhere in my 12 years working in national security, nor that I can recollect prior to that, did a President take us this close to war without explaining why and why now.

BALDWIN: And is there any kind of expectation, you know, that he or this administration or DOD will?

BRUEN: Well, I think that they are doing their best to avoid accountability on this one. You heard Secretary Pompeo interestingly not Secretary Esper going on the Sunday shows over the weekend trying to make the case, but without the details and without really explaining why it was so necessary that we take such a drastic action.

The question of whether or not Iran poses a threat I think everyone can agree on. Whether or not Soleimani was a threat, everyone agrees on. And yet why now, why with such a combustible situation in the Middle East did we need to exacerbate matters? BALDWIN: OK, let me hit pause on this conversation. Let's listen back into Senator McConnell.

MCCONNELL: Mr. President, the Senate has a unanimous bipartisan precedent for when to handle mid-trial questions such as witnesses. In the middle of the trial was when that was done the last time. And that is the way it should be done this time.

In 1999, every single U.S. Senator agreed to establish basic parameters for the start of the trial up front and reserve mid-trial questions such as witnesses until later. The vote was 100-0. That was good enough for President Clinton. So it ought to be good enough for President Trump. Fair is fair.

House Democrats hunger to break our Senate precedence just like they broke their own House precedence could not be more telling. But the Senate does not just bob along on the currents of every news cycle. The House may have been content to scrap their own norms to hurt President Trump, but that is not the Senate.

Even with a process this constitutionally serious, even with tensions rising in the Middle East, House Democrats are treating impeachment like a political toy -- like a political toy. Treating their own effort to remove our commander in chief like a frivolous game. These bizarre stunts do not serve our Constitution or our national security. They erode both. My Democratic colleagues should not --

BALDWIN: OK, so we wanted to dip back in because he was also speaking with the impending impeachment trial over on the Senate side, again as we all know, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker thus far is still holding on to those articles. And Elie Honig, he made the point, essentially, he was saying, well, let's just get rolling. Let's start the Senate impeachment trial now and then we'll decide whether we want to have witnesses, mid-trial. What's say you?

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: He is trying to set a trap here. So what he wants to do is let's get this trial going and then when we're done with the openings and the arguments, then we'll vote on witnesses.

But at that point the Democrats are going to have zero leverage, we're already going to be in the middle of this thing, it is almost impossible to say let's stop if we disagree, right.

[15:55:03]

If the Republicans vote no witnesses, Democrats are going to be out of options. The Democrats have sort of maximum leverage right now just increased because of John Bolton. They need to get whatever witnesses they're would get right now.

BALDWIN: We're pausing because I do want to read -- this is what Marco Rubio has said. He said -- he tweeted worth repeating the testimony and evidence considered in a Senate impeachment trial should be the same testimony and evidence the House relied upon when they passed the Articles of Impeachment. Our job is to vote on what the House passed not to conduct an open-ended inquiry. But you say --

JAMIE GANGEL, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Counsel.

HONIG: Not true, legally. And I will hand it back to Jamie politically.

GANGEL: Ridiculous, it's just --

BALDWIN: Is that old now that John Bolton is off of this?

GANGEL: -- that is absolutely. So Mitch McConnell's argument might have worked yesterday.

BALDWIN: Not today.

GANGEL: Not anymore. Not with John Bolton saying basically send me the letter, I'll be there. It is a whole different situation today.

HONIG: Also, Mitch McConnell, he wanted witnesses in the Clinton case. And in the Clinton case they knew everything that they needed to know and more thanks to Ken Starr. Here we have key witnesses who still haven't spoken, John Bolton being a perfect example.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GANGEL: Right.

BALDWIN: OK. Thanks you two very much that. More breaking news on the crisis with Iran. We're learning six B-52 bombers are being deployed to be ready for potential operations against Iran. We'll be right back.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just days after President Trump ordered the killing of Iran's top military leader about 3,500 U.S. service members are now being deployed to the Middle East and so many of them are coming from the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the world's largest military base by population.

And so with me now, Major Jose Rodriguez, he serves in the U.S. Army Reserves and owns a bakery there that employs 6 military spouses stationed at Fort Bragg, and one of them Isamar Diaz. Her husband is on standby as we speak. So thank you both so much for being with me there in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

ISAMAR DIAZ, HUSBAND IS ON STANDBY FOR DEPLOYMENT FROM FORT BRAGG: Thank you

MAJOR JOSE RODRIGUEZ, OPERATIONS OFFICER, ARMY RESERVES: Thank you

BALDWIN: Isamar, I have to start with you because we can't tell the way the camera is framing you but you are 38 weeks pregnant. So you have two more weeks to go. First of all, congratulations DIAZ: Thank you, thank you.

BALDWIN: And your husband is on standby. What does that mean?

DIAZ: Yes. Yes. It's very strong. Stressful for me, for her, for him because my delivery is the next Monday because I am a dilated type one. The hospital induces my delivery. I don't know that he stay with me in the delivery or no, because this situation is very hard. Very strong for me, and for him.

BALDWIN: Is this your first baby?

DIAZ: Yes. Yes. It's a girl.

BALDWIN: It's a girl. And are you --

DIAZ: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- nervous, are you nervous if your husband isn't there, do you have family?

DIAZ: Yes, yes. Very nervous. And it's stressful.

BALDWIN: Major Rodriguez, let me pivot over to you because I know and thank you so much for your service to this country. I know you've been deployed twice to --

RODRIGUEZ: Your Welcome

BALDWIN: -- you've been to Afghanistan and also to the Philippines. And you are on standby, correct, sir?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, ma'am. I am, I'm waiting for -- yes, I'm waiting, it's up to them if they are going to put me in orders and send me down range.

BALDWIN: And what does that feel like to sort of live in limbo?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, it is part of the military life, I guess. We have to stay put, wait, and we have to move into the warzone. I guess we're ready, we go ahead and do the job when we have to do it.

BALDWIN: And tell me about the other employees who are spouses of members of the military. I mean, tell me about the culture and how close everyone is there in the bakery. And what this feels like for them.

RODRIGUEZ: It has been difficult. It has been hard for all of them. We are trying to be a family. We all here get along very well. We pray in the morning and we are trying to support one another. My female employees, I have more females employees than boys. And with this situation, they have become more close to each other right now. I see them in the back crying and hugging themselves, and you know, and giving one another support. And that bring us close more than what we were before. BALDWIN: Sure. I'm sure this would bring everyone together. Isamar,

can you relate? He mentioned some of the women crying, you know, back in the back.

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Have you spoken with other spouses and are you leaning on them?

DIAZ: For me, it is very hard. It is very hard because they are very, very family. I don't know the start of -- I don't know that they come back or no. It is very strong. For him, for Dave, four our, for all the Americans, it is very strong.

BALDWIN: I appreciate you showing emotion because I think that it is so important for Americans watching and thinking of the politics and the military movement. But this is so personal for both of you and for so many people there in North Carolina. So just bless you, thank you very much for sharing that, and just any final words from you, Major Rodriguez? Anything you want to share before we go, just on Fayetteville and on your community?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, we want to share the love here and my heavenly sweets were a small family. We pray for our soldiers every day. If there is anybody, you know, can come here and feel like family before they deploy, we are here. If they have any asking prayers, we're here also. And they can count on everyone one of us that we will be praying for them, that's the only thing we can do for them.

BALDWIN: We all will. And Isamar, good luck with the little girl. We'll be thinking about you. Thank you so much.

DIAZ: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Thank you.

The reality of American military and their loved ones. Coming up next, an inside look at how Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may have convinced President Trump to order the targeted killing of Soleimani.

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[15:40:00]

BALDWIN: In the days since President Trump ordered the killing of this top Iranian General, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has really become the voice of the administration defending this decision. And according to this reporting out of the "Washington Post" Secretary Pompeo was also the driving force behind the President's aggressive action.

Pompeo failed to convince the President to retaliate militarily last summer when Iran shot down a U.S. drone. But this time the "Post" reports that Secretary Pompeo was able to seize on those protests outside of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad just last weekend.

Writing, quote, recent changes to Trump's national security team, and the whims of President anxious about being viewed as being hesitant in face of Iranian aggression created an opening for Pompeo to press for the kind of action he had been advocating.

Shane Harris is an intelligence and national security correspondent for the "Post" and one of the writers on the byline of that piece. And Shane also is the author of the book, "At War, The Rise of the Military Internet Complex." So Shane, awesome having you on. So much great scoop in this piece.

First, just for everyone, explain Pompeo's role, and why he's been this Iran hawk for as long as he has?

SHANE HARRIS, INTELLIGENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, his role in the administration actually is quite unusual for a Secretary of State to be kind of advising on the military options the way he had been. But he has become, I think it's safe to say, probably one of the closest advisers to President Trump back from including his time as the CIA Director. And really is leading on the policy with regards to Iran and pushing this military option of taking out Qasem Soleimani. As you said, we know even some months ago he'd been advising this.

Pompeo though was an Iran hawk well before he got to administration. When he was in Congress in the House, he was one of the most prominent critics of the Iran nuclear agreement that the Obama administrations signed.

And really one of his key issues was focusing people's attention on Iran's role in supplying these explosive devices to insurgent groups in Iraq that were responsible for killing so many U.S. service members, and Qasem Soleimani and his Quds force were the primary group responsible for that. So he comes into the administration with a long history of skepticism about Iran and a real hostility towards Qasem Soleimani himself.

BALDWIN: And then fast forward to basically the President receiving the list of options -- several options and then the final option was, you know, taking out Qasem Soleimani and obviously that's what they went with. Did it catch the Pentagon, Shane? Did it catch the Pentagon by surprise that he went with the most extreme option?

[15:55:00]

HARRIS: It did catch some Pentagon officials by surprise. Important to note that Secretary Pompeo and Secretary Esper, the DOD Secretary, we're told were in lock step on this recommendation and they did push this recommendation to the President.

But I think people in the sort of more of the bureaucracy in the Pentagon were surprised by this. Not really understanding perhaps that the President was likely go for this, and perhaps not even understanding Secretary Pompeo's role in pushing it.

And a lot of the career national security officials we've been talking to in recent days questioned whether or not enough thought had been given to what the Iranian response was likely to be. They've kind of seen this decision as impulsive and maybe there wasn't enough planning for thinking about what Iran's likely response would be to this act.

BALDWIN: Yes, that's still the massive, massive question. Shane Harris, thank you very much at the "Washington Post" for us.

[15:55:00]

HARRIS: You bet.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, the staggering crowd in Iran in the wake of that U.S. strike that killed Soleimani. This as the U.S. military deploys more assets. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks to CNN as the world waits to see how Iran might retaliate.

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BALDWIN: Here's the breaking news out of the Pentagon. We are now learning that six B-52 bombers are being deployed to be ready for potential operations against Iran. They'll be sent to a British territory in the Indian Ocean so that they are out of the range of Iranian missiles. I'm Brooke Baldwin, thank you --

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