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President Trump to Address Nation After Iran Strikes Back; Iran Fires Missiles Targeted at U.S. Bases in Iraq; U.S. Suspects Iran Reprisal Deliberately Missed American Troops; Ukraine Airliner Crashes in Iran Shortly After Takeoff. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 08, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Very good Wednesday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Poppy Harlow.

Major news, no casualties and no significant damage. A U.S. Defense official reports just moments ago 100 percent of U.S. troops are accounted for after Iran launches more than a dozen missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops overnight.

President Trump will address the nation this morning for the first time since those strikes which were launched in response to the targeted killing of Iran's top general. The president's National Security team is now at the White House planning next steps.

SCIUTTO: Iraq's prime minister says that they received an official verbal warning from Iran before those missile strikes and crucially passed it on to the U.S. Now I'm told there was a growing belief inside the administration and the Pentagon that Iran intentionally missed areas in that base with Americans, and more broadly that Iranian leaders may have chosen to send a message rather than to take significant enough action to spark a substantial U.S. Military response. That could change. That's the view now.

Still a different story inside Iran where Iranian media are reporting without evidence that 80 U.S. military personnel have been killed and more than 200 U.S. Military personnel injured in those attacks. That's, of course, running counter to what we're hearing this morning from the U.S. Military.

HARLOW: The president with a message to the world last night, tweeting, quote, "All is well." The big question this morning, though, where does this conflict go from here? Does it escalate or is there de-escalation?

We have a team covering every angle all around the world. Let's begin with our White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, what do we know this morning about when the president will talk and what he might say? KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're still

waiting to learn when it is the president is going to address the nation on all of this. He said he would speak this morning, but so far the White House has not given us a time of when the president is going to speak. So we are essentially just on standby for the next few hours and waiting to hear not only when he's going to speak but what it is he's going to say. How the United States is going to respond to that attack last night. And essentially what the overall mission here is going to be.

Now as we're waiting to hear from the president, we are hearing from sources, Jim Sciutto, several of our colleagues and I are all hearing that there is a growing belief by some people in the administration that Iran might have intentionally missed. And what I mean by that is they believe that they intentionally did not hit areas that are heavily populated with Americans, essentially arguing that they could have, but they chose not to.

Now the Pentagon is still assessing all of this. A lot of information is still coming in. But what that could signal, Jim and Poppy, is that the administration is looking for some type of rationale to try to ease tensions here. To come to that area where essentially they can start to de-escalate which you've heard the president repeating time and time again, and his aides and now whether or not that actually happens is what we're waiting to see.

SCIUTTO: The president's National Security team has been at the White House over the last 24 hours as the president prepares for this address to the nation. Do we know what they've been discussing? Are they discussing military options still at this point? What are you hearing from the White House?

COLLINS: The big question last night was how did the president want to respond to this? He was in the situation room, in the West Wing with his top national security advisers who we saw arrive at the West Wing almost moments after we started to get confirmed reports of these attacks.

You saw the Defense secretary, the secretary of State, several top officials, the vice president was already here. And then those officials left a short time later and this morning we do know that they are back here, including the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the National Security adviser. So they're all huddling with the president as they are deciding what it is exactly his message is going to be to the American people this morning, though there are going to be a lot of questions over just how mixed those messages coming out of the administration have been since the killing of Soleimani last week, with, you know, from the Pentagon having to apologize for that letter that was they said mistakenly sent to the Iraqi government about withdrawing U.S. troops.

Whether the president was threatening to hit these cultural sites. A lot of things have been all over the place. So that is why it's going to be a really critical time when the president does speak this morning.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Kaitlan, thank you very much.

Let's get straight to our Jomana Karadsheh. She joins us live in Baghdad. What are you learning about the damage from these Iranian missile attacks?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, we did hear from the Iraqi military. They say that it was 22 missiles in total that targeted these bases that house U.S. forces. They say 17 targeted Al- Assad Air Base in the western Al-Anbar Province. They say two of those missiles did not explode. They also say five missiles targeted Irbil Province in the semiautonomous Kurdish region.

[09:05:09]

Now they say that there were no casualties in this attack and perhaps the reason for this is we've heard from the Iraqi prime minister's office in a statement saying that they had prior knowledge of the strikes. They were notified verbally by the Iranians that this will happen. They said that they received this notification just after midnight. That's about two hours almost before the strikes took place.

Now Iraqi and U.S. forces are housed together in these bases. They have joint operations rooms, so the Iraqi prime minister saying that they notified the Iraqi military what they had been told with this retaliatory attack for the killing of Soleimani. So one would assume here that the Iraqi military did notify U.S. forces.

And just so you know, Poppy, we just returned a short time ago from the streets of Baghdad. We've been talking to people here asking them for their reaction. Of course, people here have been bracing for this Iranian retaliation since that killing of Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Muhandis last Friday. And, you know, people are still very tense.

They are concerned. Although the Iranians said that they've concluded their retaliation, people here are nervous. They're really worried. And whether people, you know, blame Iran or they blame the United States, the one thing almost everyone we spoke to agrees on, they want Iran left out of this -- Poppy and Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, one thing is clear. If Iran delivered a message to Iraq, they would have known that that message, that warning would have been passed on to the Americans. That's interesting.

Jomana Karadsheh on the ground in Baghdad.

Let's go to CNN's Barbara Starr with the latest from the Pentagon.

And Barbara, so our understanding is the Pentagon sense is this may be it for now from Iran, but I imagine knowing Iran, it's not monolithic. It has multiple factions. The IRGC kind of runs itself at times. I'm certain the Pentagon is bracing itself for at least the possibility of further military action.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that's reasonable. The Pentagon always prepared. That's what they like to say. You know, there's a real intelligence calculation going on here right now. We know, as you've been discussing, that the Iraqis notified the U.S. they had received word from Iran of this impending missile attack from these missiles fired inside of Iran's borders.

We also know that U.S. intelligence had watched Iran's ballistic missiles for the last several days, had seen them moving around and was watching for signs of them being ready to launch. Third, we know that the U.S. has intelligence satellites that can detect the heat signature of missiles, ballistic missiles as they come off their launcher. So there would have been -- this all adds up to the U.S. had what appears to be a fairly good picture, was able to warn U.S. forces to get into safe positions in time.

That perhaps being a major contributor to saving any potential lives. Whether the Iranians really were able to deliberately target their missiles to avoid specific areas of high concentration of U.S. troops, that is going to have to be an intelligence calculation. They did it but was it deliberate or did these missiles simply go off track in some fashion?

All of this is the kind of information the assessment of this event that has been assembled and continues to be assembled by the Pentagon and the intelligence community presented to President Trump and, of course, we're going to have to see if this time he is comfortable, if he believes the intelligence that he is given.

Here at the Pentagon, I think it is very fair to say they would like to see de-escalation, some type of off ramp, if you will, but what role the U.S. military plays in that very much remains to be seen.

HARLOW: Barbara, thank you very, very much.

Let's bring in our Fred Pleitgen. He is on the ground again for us this morning in Tehran.

What are Iranian officials saying about the missile attack?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, to the Iranians, Poppy, it's pretty clear that a lot of this has been about messaging. It was quite interesting because in the early hours today, the Iranians have released video of those missiles being launched. And after those missiles were launched, certainly very closely afterwards, the Revolutionary Guard Corps immediately took credit for launching those missiles.

Obviously, Qasem Soleimani was a senior member of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, so essentially what the Iranians are saying that they can strike back any time they want, and also they can do so from their own territory. That they can hit American bases in other countries, and they don't necessarily only need the proxy forces that they have in those other countries.

They can also use some of their more sophisticated weapons, specifically their ballistic missile program. That's really the centerpiece of Iran's and the Revolutionary Guard Corps' missile technology. Now we have reactions coming from across the board here in Iran. We

have Iran's supreme leader who essentially also said that this is something that was very limited. He called this a slap in the face to the United States and nothing more.

[09:10:03]

He's also saying that this region will never have America -- would have accepted a U.S. presence in this region. Some of the messaging that we've been hearing from the Iranians saying they believe this could be the beginning of the end of the U.S. presence here in this region.

Similar words also from the president, from Hassan Rouhani. He's also saying that the Iranians want the U.S. to get out of here. However, the Foreign minister, and I think these are some of the most interesting comments that we've seen from Iranian officials. He's calling on the U.S., as he puts it, to come to their senses. He said that the Iranians have retaliated for the killing of Qasem Soleimani but he also said that Iran does not want a war.

He essentially is saying that right now the ball is in President Trump's court as to where this goes next. I want to listen in to a little of what the Foreign minister had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER: We did not start this process of escalation. The United States waged an economic war against Iran. The United States has to come to its senses.

Europe can play a useful role by informing the United States of the serious error in their analysis, that they should stop listening to clowns. That they should base their policy based on realities and not some illusions of some clowns who have ambitions elsewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: At the same time, you do have some different rhetoric coming from other places. I think Jim was referencing it before that there are -- there is an Iranian media outlet claiming that the Revolutionary Guard says that America -- 80 Americans were killed in those missile strikes. Obviously without providing any sort of evidence.

You do, however, also have senior Iranian military leaders who are saying that if the U.S. does now retaliate, that the Iranians will deliver, as they put it, an even more crushing blow than they already have. So the Iranians are essentially saying it can end here or it can descend even further, guys.

SCIUTTO: So in the midst of this last night, and this is just incredible, Fred, but a jet, a Ukrainian airliner, a relatively new Boeing 737 800 carrying 176 people.

PLEITGEN: Yes. SCIUTTO: Crashed minutes after takeoff from the main airport there in

Tehran. At this point, at least a missile strike is not being ruled out. Doesn't mean there's any hard evidence of that. What are you hearing from the ground there this morning?

PLEITGEN: You're absolutely right. There isn't any hard evidence of that at this point in time. Obviously, the investigators are still on the scene there. And I will tell you, it was really a remarkable and very strange thing to happen. We were reporting on these ballistic missile strikes from the Iranians against those U.S. targets in Iraq, and then all of a sudden, there was this new message about a big aviation disaster that took place, Jim, just a couple of miles from where I'm standing right now at Imam Khomeini International Airport. That's the airport that I also use to get in and out of this country whenever we come here to Iran.

The interesting thing about this is, right now the Iranians are saying that they found the black boxes of that aircraft. They are not going to, they have said, give those black boxes to Boeing. It seems as though there's some sort of a political thing going on there as well. The head of Iran's Civil Aviation Authority is saying they're not going to hand these boxes over to an entity that's inside the U.S. and certainly not the U.S. government either.

So they are going to do this a different way. Apparently, according to the International Law of Air Travel, when a disaster like this happens, it's usually the nation where the disaster happens that's then responsible for the investigations. So we're going to wait and see how that moves forward. But you're absolutely right. That plane took off, at about two minutes after takeoff, the plane wasn't at a very high altitude.

It came down very suddenly. There was no distress call from what we're hearing. And that area down there, Jim, is very flat farmland. We fly into that area all the time. It's got a lot of fields, a lot of farmlands, some farm houses as well. It's one of the reasons why crash site seems to be pretty easily accessible from the forensic workers who are obviously sifting through there, the helpers as well. And also probably one of the reasons why they found the black boxes so quickly.

It is a big, big tragedy. This was a Ukrainian airliner. You're absolutely right. It's only 3 1/2 years old. Everybody on board that flight perished. So obviously a big disaster also for Ukraine as well -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. No question.

HARLOW: Absolutely. The timing, as Jim said, remarkable.

Fred, thank you very much.

Still to come, the president is expected this morning to address the nation after Iran strikes back. We will bring you that live, of course, as soon as it begins. SCIUTTO: And those comments could come soon. Congress set to be

briefed today on the situation in Iran as lawmakers are still battling over the next steps on impeachment. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer says that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's strategy worked and that holding back the impeachment articles has served its purpose. New evidence has come to light, he says.

Could the impasse between the House and Senate be coming to an end?

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HARLOW: We have just learned when the president will address the nation. He will speak at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, in less than two hours' time. Again, the president will speak at 11:00 a.m. Eastern from the White House Grand Foyer addressing Iran's strikes on those military bases in Iraq that house Americans.

SCIUTTO: And of course, we'll bring that to you live, and a lot of pregame to that as we get new reporting about what the president may say in that statement. As we cover this story, if Iran intentionally missed Americans in this retaliatory attacks, as is the current Pentagon assessment, according to CNN's reporting, did they intend to create a path towards de-escalation?

HARLOW: We're joined now by our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson who is in Riyadh again for us today, and retired Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich. He just released his latest book, "The Age of Illusion: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory". Gentlemen, thank you both for being here. Nic, let me just begin with your reporting on how Iraq was warned about these coming strikes and then passed that message on to the United States.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, a diplomatic source, an Arab diplomatic source told me that he was aware of information that the Iranians had told the Iraqis to -- that the attacks were going to happen. And that information was passed on to the United States.

We know that Iraqi forces were warned there, their commanders were warned to stay away from certain -- the U.S. bases in Iraq several hours before. It does paint a picture because the Iranians would absolutely know that if they told the Iraqis, then the information was going to land up pretty quickly in U.S. hands, either by, you know, intelligence assets or actually a direct communication.

It certainly gives the impression that the Iranians were aware that U.S. forces would be able to get out of the way of the strikes. And so, I've been to Al Assad Air Base where the strikes -- the majority of the strikes took place. It is a massive air base. It is in the desert. It's in a very remote location. The chances of collateral civilian casualties would be very small, and you would certainly have a huge opportunity to land missiles in areas of that base well away from where troops would be.

And certainly, if those troops had the fore knowledge to take cover, it seems that the Iranians did want to avoid casualties. There are plenty of other places where U.S. troops are based in Iraq where the Iranians could have had a much greater probability of hitting the soldiers had they chosen to. The impression that this really does create is they want to avoid.

SCIUTTO: Yes --

ROBERTSON: And that's reinforced by the Foreign Minister saying that this was a proportional response creating that impression that there is the opportunity for this military off-ramp towards diplomacy. But they're --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

ROBERTSON: Playing it two ways. They're playing it for their domestic audience, the supreme leader calling this a -- calling this a crushing blow.

SCIUTTO: Right. So, you have a warning going out, Andrew, to the Iraqis from Iran. But they know as Nic would note, that, that would be passed on to the Americans. Intentionally, it seems, missing where the Americans are there. It's our reporting that the Pentagon view of this is that Iran intended that to make a shot across the bow, as it were.

ANDREW BACEVICH, RETIRED U.S. ARMY COLONEL: Yes --

SCIUTTO: Is that an accurate read from what you can tell?

BACEVICH: We don't know.

SCIUTTO: Right.

BACEVICH: And I think the interesting point here is, whether or not it would make sense for us to work on the assumption that it was an intentional gesture, not intended to be lethal. And there's a historical analogy here. Cuban missile crisis, October 1962. Kennedy wanted an off-ramp. He didn't want to have a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. He received two letters from Nikita Khrushchev.

One was harsh, confrontational, uncompromising. And the other one, the language was totally different and suggested that Khrushchev wanted a way out. And so, Kennedy had to make a choice, which one of these letters should I take seriously?

SCIUTTO: Yes --

BACEVICH: And he chose the one that sounded -- he chose to believe that the compromising language reflected Khrushchev's actual intention. So, we are speculating about exactly what kind of message the Iranians are sending or there's even a message -- it could be military incompetence. SCIUTTO: So, does the president have a team around him to help him

make that judgment? And do you have confidence in the president's ability to assess that --

BACEVICH: Oh, I have no -- I have no confidence in the president's ability. But the president's got himself in a real fix here. You know, he promised to end our endless wars. The assassination of Soleimani was a step in the other direction. He wants to win re- election, we're now in the election year.

There is something of a tradition that when the president goes to war, the country rallies around the president, and there's a political advantage that he gains. I don't think that's going to play in this case. The Democrats are not going to rally around the president. And I suspect that many of those who voted for Trump because they believed he was going to get us out of these wars would be, you know, less than supportive if we now find ourselves drifting into a conflict with Iran.

So, I think the president has very strong incentives to figure out how to get out of here. Whether or not he's, you know, recognizes the opportunity, and whether or not he's -- you know, he's so full of bluster all the time. Whether or not he's willing to take that opportunity, you know, when we hear him talk in a little bit, we'll probably have a better understanding of what he's going to do.

HARLOW: Andrew, thank you very much, we appreciate you being here, again, and your book, look forward to reading it. Nic Robertson for us in Riyadh, thank you both.

[09:25:00]

SCIUTTO: Well, we're going to hear what the president has to say shortly. All lawmakers as well are set to be briefed today on the conflict in Iran. A senator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is going to join us next. You'll want to hear it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Hours from now, the entire house and Senate will be briefed on the ongoing conflict with Iran, including the intelligence that led to the U.S. drone strike that killed Iran's top General Qasem Soleimani. Our Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. Manu, what can we expect in terms of who is leading the briefings, and also how much intelligence is shared with the entirety of Congress.

Because listening to Esper yesterday, he told Christiane Amanpour, it was pretty clear that it would be very limited in terms of when you compare to what the gang of eight got.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, typically, in these briefings, not a whole lot of intelligence is provided.

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