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Trump Administration Offers no Proof on Their Claim of an Imminent Threat; Iranians Angry Over Ukrainian Air Shoot Down; Philippines Taal Volcano Erupts; Royal Family to Discuss Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Future; U.S. troops assigned at Al Asad Air Base told CNN their harrowing experience when Iran bombed their base almost two weeks ago as they struggle to find shelter at a former enemy's bunker; protesters in Iran are demanding justice over the 176 people killed on board Ukrainian Airline after Iranian leaders admit its mistake; attorney for Robert Durst, Dick Deguerin told CNN how they are looking at his client's upcoming trial in February. Durst is accused of killing his friend Susan Berman 20 years ago, but was acquitted in Texas last December. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 13, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Let's get started.

It's been 10 days since the attack on Iran's top military commander and the White House is still leaving us with more questions than answers.

Fears of another eruption lead to a large-scale evacuation. We have the latest on the Philippine's Taal Volcano.

And he's rich, he's famous, he's accused of killing his best friend. We will look ahead to the trial of Robert Durst.

And we start with grief and outrage in Iran after the government admitted it shot down a passenger jet last week, killing 176 people on board. And that has led to anti-government protests and the unrest is spreading. Authorities say shooting the plane was a mistake and they have apologized. But protesters are demanding those responsible be brought to justice.

Police have responded to the protests with tear gas and a witness says they even shot into the air in an effort to disperse crowds.

CNN's Nic Robertson has more now from Abu Dhabi.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Chants of death to the supreme leader, angry blow-back for the downing of Ukrainian passenger jet gathering momentum in Tehran. Thousands protesting just hours after Iranian officials finally admitted mistakenly shooting it down.

"I will kill who killed my brother," someone shouts. The vast majority aboard flight PS 752 were Iranian, the best and the brightest. Their death a spark igniting tinder dry middle-class frustrations.

Police tossed tear gas, scattered the crowds. The anger quite simply Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doesn't care about his people. He didn't pause civilian flights while attacking U.S. bases in Iraq.

The crowd telling him he no longer has a mandate to lead, anger to the powerful IRGC. Another slap down for the Iran's leadership. Protesters avoid walking on American and Israeli flags painted on the ground some years ago by the regime out of disrespect. Iran's leadership now facing growing external as well as internal pressure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: Iran's admission that its own armed forces unintentionally shot down flight 752 is an important step towards providing answers for families. But I noted that many more steps must be taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Demands the airplane investigation be international, open and transparent. President Trump heaping on his pressure, too, tweeting, "The world is watching the protests. There cannot be another massacre of peaceful protesters as happened last year."

And in the midst of it all, the British ambassador arrested at the protests held for several hours. The British foreign secretary calling it a flagrant violation of international law.

Fallout over the downed plane now becoming a Perfect Storm for Iran in the global spotlight with international investigators poking around as domestic protests grow and sanctions increase and Iran's recourse to violence muted by fear of escalation. And still no real diplomatic off ramp in sight.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Abu Dhabi, the UAE.

CHURCH: And that passenger plane was shot down after the U.S. killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. And now a new ABC News poll shows a majority of Americans, 56 percent, do not approve of the way President Trump is handling Iran.

People were also asked if they thought the air-strike that killed Soleimani has made the U.S. safer. Fifty-two percent say the U.S. is now less safe. Only a quarter of those surveyed said they felt safer.

Well, the justification for why the Trump administration decided to target Iran's top general keeps shifting. Mr. Trump has said he believes that Soleimani was planning to target four U.S. embassies. But his administration has yet to provide evidence to back up those claims.

[03:05:03]

Defense Secretary Mark Esper was grilled on that when he appeared on various networks, including this one. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Was there specific intelligence the Iranians were plotting to target four U.S. embassies?

MARK ESPER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There was intelligence that they -- there was an intent to target U.S. embassy in Baghdad. What the president said with regard to the four embassies is what I believe as well. He said he believed that they probably -- that they could have been targeting the embassies in the region --

The president didn't say it was a tangible -- he didn't cite a specific piece of evidence. What he said is he probably -- he believed it could have been --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you saying there wasn't one?

ESPER: I didn't see one.

And CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond has more on these mixed messages.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, just days after President Trump claimed that there was an imminent threat against four U.S. embassies by Iran that precipitated his order to kill the Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the Trump administration still struggling to get its messaging together.

In fact, it appears that the Trump administration's message is only getting more muddled. Trump administration officials struggling to explain exactly what this intelligence was that the president was referring to.

In fact, the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper and the national security advisor, Ambassador Robert O'Brien, both of them trying at the same time to stick to the intelligence that the United States actually knows about while trying to avoid contradicting the president. Here is Ambassador O'Brien trying to do that delicate dance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Would you agree with what the president said, that there were specific imminent threats to four U.S. embassies?

ROBERT O'BRIEN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Look, it's always difficult even with the exquisite intelligence that we have to know exactly what the targets are. But it -- it -- it's certainly consistent with the intelligence to assume that they would hit embassies in at least four countries. But again, we knew there were threats to American facilities. Now

whether they were bases, embassies, you know, it's always hard until the attack happens, but we had very strong intelligence they were looking to kill and maim Americans at U.S. facilities in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And you hear O'Brien there using that word assume. That is what he and Esper were really focusing on, was this notion that the president wasn't necessarily talking about specific intelligence threatening four embassies, but was instead drawing an assumption, drawing a conclusion based on intelligence that he had seen and that it was his, quote, unquote, "belief" that those four embassies were indeed being targeted.

But, again, this just makes the administration's arguments particularly in the face of tough questions from Congress. That much more difficult to understand. That is because, of course, the Trump administration has said that there was an imminent threat that led to the justification for President Trump ordering the killing of that Iranian general.

This, again, isn't just about transparency and isn't about understanding what President Trump was doing here. But in fact, it is a legal justification and that argument seems to be getting more muddled.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: And for more on this, Richard Johnson joins me now via Skype from Lancaster in England. He is a lecturer in U.S. politics and international relations at Lancaster University. Good to have you with us.

RICHARD JOHNSON, U.S. POLITICS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS LECTURER, LANCASTER UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

CHURCH: So, according to an ABC News poll released Sunday, a majority of Americans disapprove of President Trump's handling of Iran. And they may feel less safe as a result of the killing of Iran's top general. Why a top Trump administration officials having trouble explaining why Soleimani was killed so far offering only this muddled explanation?

JOHNSON: It's hard to speculate on the nature of the intelligence that the administration does or doesn't have. It's important for them, both politically and constitutionally to try to establish that there was an imminent threat because if killing Soleimani is interpreted as an act of war, under the Constitution Congress is required to give consent to any declaration of war.

But the president is understood constitutionally to be able to act if there is an imminent threat against the United States. And so that's why they are emphasizing this so strongly.

At the end of the day, the enforcement mechanism for whether or not the president has behaved constitutionally is Congress. You know, Congress is already going through an impeachment process, but if they did feel strongly the president hadn't acted against an imminent threat, then they could, of course, take action against the president through another impeachment process if they wanted to.

CHURCH: All right. We'll watch to see whether they can get their story straight on this. Meantime, let's turn to impeachment, and on Tuesday we will learn when Democrats plan to send two articles against President Trump to the Senate for trial. What do you think will be the likely outcome of all this?

JOHNSON: Well what Nancy Pelosi's done in holding back the articles as long as she has is really been an attempt to try and buy time, and that's because if there is a majority in the Senate sort of favorable to where the Democrats' procedural preferences are, they can really take control of the process.

[03:10:07]

And there are a small number of Republican senators who seem to be amenable to the Democrats taking control of the process. Most importantly, being able to bring witnesses.

I think Nancy Pelosi has now concluded that she has got as much Republican support as she can. Maybe three Republican senators which may or may not be enough for them to take control of the process if they wanted to at a later stage, say, to bring witnesses into the trial.

CHURCH: All right. Richard Johnson, many thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, American firefighters are stepping up to help tackle Australia's massive bush fires. But the fight is much bigger than they thought.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Have you ever seen anything at this magnitude?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. We have large fires, of course, in the United States and all over the world, but this is just unprecedented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And we will have more on their mission when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:14:58]

CHURCH: Well, nearly half a million people are being evacuated in the Philippines after this powerful eruption from the Taal Volcano on Sunday. And you can see smoke and ash spewing nearly nine miles high.

Officials have now raised the alert level to four, meaning another explosive eruption could be coming soon.

More now from CNN meteorologist Tom Sater.

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A violent eruption near the Philippine capital filmed from the Taal Volcano's main crater, images taken in five-minute intervals capture the speed and strength of the initial explosion before the camera is consumed.

Hours later strikes of lightning shoot through the dark sky generated by the volcano's intense energy. As the powerful eruption continues, it spews a column of ash up to 15 kilometers into the air, spreading across the sky.

Visible from afar, one passenger captures this image from a plane approaching Manila where the airport suspended arrivals and departures. The volcano's ominous cloud rains down ash, coating cars, roads, and homes on the ground below.

Some protect themselves with umbrellas and bags, trying to escape the health dangers of the volcanic ash. Thousands of people are being evacuated as officials warn the situation could worsen. A cause for concern to about 25 million people who live within 100 kilometers of the volcano.

As authorities try to prepare for the fallout, they face a volcano with a volatile past. Though one of the smallest volcanoes in the world, Taal is also one of the most dangerous.

Situated inside a lake, it lies in the belt of Pacific Ocean volcanoes known as the Ring of Fire. It has erupted more than 30 times in the past five centuries. Once killing more than a thousand people in 1911. Now the powerful force of nature erupts once again.

Tom Sater, CNN.

CHURCH: Let's go to our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri who has been watching this very closely. Pedram, the big concern now, this possible second eruption. What are you learning?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, the latest coming in here with this particular volcano. Of course, we know this is going to be an active pattern over the next couple of days. You see the plume.

We know the officials there are saying an eruption of this magnitude, and also what is known as a phreatic eruption, essentially what you have is a volcano directly in the middle of a lake, on an island. So, the proximity to water here really makes it dangerous scope.

When you have lava and magna, and of course, you have rocks coming out of this particular eruption that are exceeding 1,100 degrees Celsius. What is happening here as we are seeing additional further eruptions coming in that are also kind of interacting with the water, creating essentially the rapid steam across this particular region.

So, you get flash steam that is generated, essentially looks as such here, as you see a photo from an aircraft. Then of course, not only do we have ash here that has small compounds of glass and rock embedded within it, but, of course, larger rocks the size of boulders also have been kind of lofted into the atmosphere and the surrounding vicinity.

So, officials saying stay far away from this particular region. The level four stays in place. One shy away what would be considered a major eruption and a level five, of course, and that is a catastrophic set up.

We know historically speaking, about 34 significant eruptions have occurred in the past several hundred years. We had one in 1754 that actually continued over a six-month period. The one in 1911 took with 1,300 lives. You notice once it did erupt in subsequent years, it continued over a course of multiple years, 1966, '67 and again in '68.

So, I wouldn't be surprised we get additional volcano eruptions here over the region over the next several weeks, several months, maybe even further intensification inside the next several months as well.

So, we'll watch that carefully, also noting that some 75 earthquakes have occurred here in the past 24 hours as a result of the eruption leading up to it. And of course, since the eruption as well.

So, we'll watch the patterns carefully. We know some rainfall is in the forecast, mixing rain with volcanic ash certainly not a good set up. And having that in the atmosphere in an area that about 25,000 million call it home is also not good because the compounds are so small, Rosemary, that they get into your bloodstream it becomes very dangerous for the population here.

CHURCH: Yes, it is a big concern for sure. Thanks so much for keeping a close eye on that, Pedram. We'll take later.

Well even with that volcano erupting nearby, one couple was determined to go forward with their wedding as smoke filled the air and ash rained down. The ceremony pushed down.

The wedding photographer said while it was nerve-racking, everyone kept their cool. And now the newlyweds have some amazing wedding photos to show everyone in the years ahead.

Well, a new poll shows the Australian prime minister's approval rating has dropped over his botched response to the country's bush fire crisis. The poll found Scott Morrison's approval rating dropped eight points as Australians are upset and they are angry over his interactions with fire-ravaged communities and inaction over climate change.

Meanwhile, CNN's Will Ripley spoke to American firefighters who were there to help.

[03:20:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Hovering over Australia's hellish inferno, this American angel, a 52-year-old heavy lift helicopter nicknamed Georgia Peach. Built in 1967 for the Vietnam War, today it battles bush fires, dousing them with enough water to fill three large swimming pools every hour.

But in New South Wales, Australia's hardest-hit state, these helicopters sit idle, giving American firefighters who came here to help a rare day off.

Today's weather is not allowing you to fly. Is that a good thing or bad thing?

JAY KARLE, BATALLION CHIEF, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: It's a good thing.

RIPLEY: Why?

KARLE: We can't compete with Mother Nature.

RIPLEY: Colorado firefighter Jay Karle says rain, lower temperatures and higher humidity are slowing the fire's progress.

KARLE: What this will do is kind of put the fire in a sort of comatose state for a few days.

RIPLEY: Nature can do more for the fire right now.

KARLE: Than we can, yes.

RIPLEY: He knows that break may be short lived. Recent rains barely made a dent in Australia's historic drought. Just a few days of extreme heat could be catastrophic, reigniting a burn area the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

Is there any way to have enough resources to fight a fire this big?

MARK WILLIAMS, SUPERINTENDENT, NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE: Not of this magnitude and not of this intensity.

RIPLEY: For the first time, superintendent Mark Williams takes us inside Nowra's fire control center. We see Australians and Americans working together. The two nations have agreed to share fire resources.

WILLIAMS: I've been to the United States and Canada on numerous occasions myself firefighting, so it's great to have that reciprocal effort now coming back and to assist us in our times of need.

RIPLEY: More than 150 fire specialists from two dozen U.S. states are in Australia, some traveling more than 16 hours. These Americans got a hero's welcome when they landed in Sydney last week. Even the city's iconic opera house lit up its sails for all the firefighters risking their lives.

BART KICKLIGHTER, FOREST FIRE CHIEF, COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE NATIONAL SCENIC AREA: It felt really good. I was very proud to be able to come over here and help.

RIPLEY: Bart Kicklighter from Oregon says the two nations are sharing manpower and brain power at a critical time.

Have you ever seen anything at this magnitude?

KICKLIGHTER: No. We have large fires, of course, in the United States and all over the world, but this is just unprecedented.

RIPLEY: He's never seen a fire so fast, so big, so hot, an ominous sign of what could lie ahead, not just for Australia, but the U.S. And the world.

Will Ripley, CNN, Nowra, Australia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well Britain's royal family will gather in the coming hours to discuss the next steps for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan. The couple took Buckingham Palace by surprise last week when they announced they were stepping back as senior members of the royal family. They also plan to divide their time between the United Kingdom and North America and become financially independent.

Well there are unanswered questions about how this will work. Anna Stewart joins us now from London with the details. So, Anna, the royal family sitting down in just a few hours to discuss these possible compromises. What's likely to be worked out and decided?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well it's absolutely unclear whether we will get sort of an agreement or an impasse as a result of the Sandringham summit. It's been eerily quiet on the royal family ever since that shock announcement last Wednesday and the very curt response from Buckingham Palace.

And it's been quiet ever since then while all the Royal Hussars get together on the phone trying to figure out how they can move forward. Here's a little preview of what will happen today.

The queen's Sandringham estate, a much-loved country retreat and the royal family's Christmas get away. Monday it will host a different sort of get together. Crisis talks to decide the future role of the duke and duchess of Sussex.

Attending will be her majesty, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry. It will be the first-time senior royals have seen each other face to face since the Sussexes shock statement on Wednesday.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, returned to Canada, but is expected to dial into the meeting. The announcement came in defiance of the queen who had expressly asked Prince Harry to hold off making any statements. A terse response from Buckingham Palace appeared to express her displeasure.

Discussions with the duke and duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.

Officials acting for the queen, Prince Charles and Prince William were instructed to work together at pace to find workable solutions for the future role of the Sussexes.

A range of potential options are to be discussed Monday. Any of which will take time to implement.

On the negotiating table are expected to be income, properties, security, and even titles.

[03:25:04]

Defining their future role will likely involve a compromise on both sides. For the queen and her heirs, it's crucial they reach a solution that is workable not just for Prince Harry and Meghan, but for other royals who slip down the line of succession.

Prince Ann, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. And one day Princess Charlotte and Prince Louie, too. A transformative chapter in royal history. Worthy of a future blockbuster episode of the crown.

CHURCH: And, Anna, it's worth talking about this financial independence because they're still going to accept the money from Prince Charles, aren't they?

STEWART: Well, that's that plan. Currently their income has 5 percent from the British taxpayer. That is the money they are not going to accept any more according to their plans. Ninety-five percent of their income is derived from Prince Charles's estate. And it will be really interesting to see what happens there because Prince Charles hasn't necessarily agreed to continue to fund them at the level they have currently.

Now, what we could see is some sort of phased system where they have funding from Prince Charles for a number of years. There may be changes and phases as they become more independent. But how they earn money independently without the trappings or the linkage to the royal family is really anyone's guess. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Indeed. Anna Stewart, many thanks to you for bringing us up to date on this story. I appreciate it. And if you're watching internationally, thank you so much for being with us. African Voices Change Makers is coming up next for you.

And if you are joining us here in the United States, do stay tuned. We'll have more news for you on the other side of the break. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rosemary Church.

I want to check the headlines for you this hour.

Authorities in the Philippines are warning another hazardous eruption from the Taal Volcano could be imminent. They have raised the alert level to four and ordered a total evacuation of nearly half a million people near the capital Manila. The volcano erupted Sunday afternoon sending a massive plume of smoke and ash nearly nine miles high.

U.S. officials are expected to conclude that a deadly naval base shooting carried out by a Saudi national last month was terrorism. The findings from an investigation will be released in the coming hours. Sources tell us that more than a dozen Saudi servicemen training in the U.S. will be expelled. Some are to hold ties to extremist groups.

Anti-government protests are spreading in Iran after officials admitted the military shot down a Ukrainian airliner last week. Authorities say it was a mistake but protesters are demanding justice. Police have responded with tear gas and a witness says they have shot into the air in an effort to disperse the crowds.

And we received new video of the latest protest just a short time ago. In this one, protesters target a poster of Qasem Soleimani, kicking it before finally being able to take it down.

Soleimani is the Iranian military commander killed by U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. In another one, crowds cheer as Soleimani's picture is set on fire while we hear shouting, Soleimani is a murderer. His leader is also a murderer. Other images show protesters clashing with government forces. Crowds in this one shouting, you have no honor.

Well, Iran shot down the plane hours after it fired missiles at bases with U.S. troops in Iraq. One of the sites hit was Al Asad Air Base. And CNN was the first network to reach and report from Al Asad after that attack.

Arwa Daman has more on what happened in this exclusive report. A warning, though, some of the language may be offensive, but it captures some terrifying moments for U.S. troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (muted). God damn. Holy shit, bro (muted).

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: American forces are not used to being on the receiving end of this kind of fire power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (muted) another one, another one.

DAMON: They are usually the ones delivering it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I'm not going to lie, I was scared at the moment. But it happened. It was something that we were ready for. Ready as can be.

DAMON: Ready for some sort of ground attack by Iran's proxies, ready for mortars and rockets, but this base is not equipped to defend against ballistic missiles. On any other night, some of the two and a half thousand troops and contractors would have been in the areas hit.

TIM GARLAND, U.S. ARMY: The ballistic missile reporting started to come in a couple hours before the event. And so, at that point we were, we were really scrambling on, you know, how to protect against that. And so, it really came down to dispersion, you know, putting space between people, and then also getting them into hardened bunkers just to provide that protection.

DAMON: At 11 p.m., those who could started to hunker down in bunkers built by their former enemy.

This is a Saddam Hussein era bunker.

STACI COLEMAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: It is. So, we felt we'd be somewhat safe in here because it was designed to take, you know, some kind of hit or it was built for, you know, ballistic missiles.

DAMON: At 1.34 a.m., the first missiles hit.

COLEMAN: And these doors, every time one of the missiles hit, the doors would kind of sink in.

DAMON: Dozens of troops were still out in the open, holding their positions to protect the base. There was still the threat of incoming rockets, mortars and a ground assault. Pilots were still at their stations operating drones.

MIKE PRIDGEON, U.S. ARMY: As I was going across the gravel, I could look out to like the eastern sky and I see just this orange streak. So started springing and yelling and coming giving everybody kind of warning, and then it hit. So, yes.

[03:34:58]

DAMON: Flames swallowed up the drone team's living quarters. Some 30 troops would have been sleeping here had they not been ready. Others rushed around the base as missiles came down looking for anyone who may have been injured, checking on the base's defenses. Along the base perimeter, young soldiers on their first tour fought the instinct to flee and stayed, manning the guard towers.

ERIC KNOWLES, U.S. ARMY: It was definitely scary at first, but we both knew we had a job to do manning the tower, keeping eyes front. So, we had to do that more than anything, focused on that, trying not to focus on everything behind us.

DAMON: When one strike hit too close, they vaulted into the back of a truck and held their position there. It was a night unlike any here had experienced. Hunkered down for about two hours, unable to fight back. Some crammed into bunkers that weren't built to withstand missiles like these.

These kinds of small bunkers exist throughout the base. But they're meant to protect against rockets and mortars. The ballistic missiles that were fired are about 3,000 times more powerful than that. The blast from this one knocked over a four-ton t-wall. But if that hadn't happened, those who were sheltering here probably would not have survived.

Come daybreak, fear of finding out who was killed or wounded was eclipsed by the joyous shock that no one was.

What are those reunions like when you kind of see someone who you're close to and you realize you're both OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a warm feeling deep in the heart that all your friends, your family here is OK.

DANE KVASAGER, U.S. ARMY: It just felt like forever since I had seen my guys and, you know, there's a lot of hugging and a lot of tears and a lot of just -- it's just a great feeling knowing that all your people are OK.

DAMON: And this is where you used to --

KVASAGER: Yes, this is my room. A little bit more open floor plan now. But, yes, my bunk was right in the corner right there. This is my neighbor up here. Everything's obviously gone. It's just -- happy no one was inside, you know?

DAMON: It's kind of freaky looking at it like this, isn't it?

KVASAGER: Yes. It's surreal. I'm not bothered looking at it. It's just a reminder, threat still exists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we have each other. We had each other that night and we'll always -- it's a brotherhood that will never break because of it.

DAMON: Does it change your perspective on life?

COLEMAN: It does, it does. It could, you know, it could be over in, you know, in an instant. It really does. And it really makes me value -- value mostly my team.

DAMON: The base is still on high alert. The dining facility is open, but people eat elsewhere to avoid a large crowd gathering.

COLEMAN: We have a little bit of notification.

DAMON: The military says they are ready for what may come next. Iran's proxies on the ground continue to vow revenge. Even for those who have seen war before, this was unlike any other battle field experience.

The overwhelming feeling of helplessness that comes with being under ballistic missile attack, to be at the mercy of the enemy, one that could strike again, even if it's not like this.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Al Asad Air Base, Iraq.

CHURCH: And we are also tracking news out of Afghanistan where two U.S. soldiers were killed over the weekend. They have been identified as 29-year-old Staff Sergeant Ian McLaughlin of Newport News, Virginia, and 21-year-old Private First-Class Miguel Villalon of Joliet in Illinois. And they were killed in a road side bombing that injured two others. The Taliban are claiming responsibility.

Villalon is survived by his parents. Mclaughlin leaves behind a wife and four children.

[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Important motions in the murder case against real estate tycoon Robert Durst are slated to be heard in the coming hours. Now, they will impact his upcoming trial in February for the murder of his close friend Susan Berman who he is accused of killing nearly 20 years ago.

In December of 2000, she had been scheduled to talk to police about the 1982 disappearance of his first wife, but Berman was found dead the next day. Last month Durst's lawyers admitted that a note sent to police leading them to Berman's body had been written by their client.

CNN's Paul Vercammen talked to Durst's lawyer and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What promises to be a sensational Robert Durst murder trial is scheduled for February. On Monday, they'll take up some key motions and we caught up with Dick DeGuerin. He's been Durst's long-time defense attorney for decades.

Here's what he had to say outside L.A. County's Twin Towers jail.

Mr. Dick DeGuerin, you just met with your client. How is Robert Durst doing right now?

DICK DEGUERIN, ROBERT DURST'S ATTORNEY: Well, he's looking forward to trial. He's doing well. He's not physically -- he's not ready to run a foot race, but he's sharp and we had a good session.

VERCAMMEN: Well, he is 76 years old, will turn 77 during the trial. Is he ready for this endurance and how is his health?

DEGUERIN: I think he is. It's -- it is going to be an endurance test for everybody, including the lawyers.

VERCAMMEN: Well, you have often said you feel nervous going into any big trial. How are you feeling right now?

DEGUERIN: I feel nervous going into any trial, whether it's a big trial or little trial. But, you know, there is no such thing as little trials when it comes to individuals who are charged. Everything is very important.

VERCAMMEN: Since you last visited with your client, I believe you had not discussed with him this now stipulation that you're agreeing that Robert Durst wrote the cadaver note. How has that changed this case? DEGUERIN: I'm not going to discuss things like that. I don't think

the judge would appreciate us discussing either evidence or strategy.

VERCAMMEN: Let me ask you this, then. Given the sensational aspects of this case and anything that seems to follow Robert Durst, how tough will that make jury selection? How long will it last?

DEGUERIN: Well, we're going through jury selection now. We started on Monday with the judge doing hardship screening. He's doing that all week this week and next week. And then the jury questionnaires will be graded by the lawyers on both sides, and that's going to take some time.

[03:45:06]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Killed them all, of course.

VERCAMMEN: Given that Mr. Durst had said those things off camera, but on a hot microphone about kill them all, what sort of challenge does that present for you?

DEGUERIN: I'm not going to discuss what the facts are, what our strategy is. I'm sorry.

VERCAMMEN: And as this case moves forward, though, can you tell us how long you expect this will last?

DEGUERIN: You know, the lawyers are not in great agreement about that, but we all think it's going to be at least three months. Might be four. I don't think it should take that long, but we'll see. That's what the predictions are.

VERCAMMEN: You and Mr. Durst are optimistic?

DEGUERIN: I'm optimistic, yes, because, you see, Bob Durst did not kill Susan Berman, and he doesn't know who did. And that's the bottom line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury find the defendant Robert Durst not guilty.

VERCAMMEN: As you know, your supporters and critics have said it was quite something that Dick Deguerin and the team got Mr. Durst off before in Texas. And now they're saying how is he going to do it this time.

DEGUERIN: Well, you know, what happened in Galveston was 12 jurors agreed that Bob Durst acted in self-defense, and he panicked. And that, that was a jury that heard all of the evidence. And I just don't think we should be trying that again.

VERCAMMEN: One of those defense motions, they want to exclude any evidence that Robert Durst wanted his wife Kathy to have an abortion. She turned up missing, you may recall, and her body was never found.

Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Paul Callan is a CNN legal analyst and former New York City homicide prosecutor. He was also the counsel to the estate of Nicole Brown Simpson in the civil suit against O.J. Simpson. And he joins me now from New York via Skype. Very good to have you with us.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Nice to be with you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, an important motion hearing is slated for Monday in the Robert Durst murder trial. Durst's defense attorney says his client is looking forward to the trial. How fair do you think jury selection will likely be?

CALLAN: Well, I think it will be a very difficult task to pick a fair jury in a case like this. The HBO documentary, "The Jinx," or was a documentary that you couldn't watch without thinking that Durst is actually guilty of having committed one or more murders. And that's what the defense will have to get around and find jurors who maybe haven't seen that show and certainly haven't formed an opinion.

It happened in the O.J. Simpson case. Jurors were picked in both the civil case and the criminal case, so I have no doubt that at the end of whatever the period of time is there will be a fair jury sitting in that box.

CHURCH: And Durst has recently admitted to writing the cadaver note that led to the location of the body of a close friend. So how might that change everything?

CALLAN: You know, it's hard to say when you have -- but you have to consider that Durst is like the Houdini of the criminal justice system. I mean, who would think that he would be acquitted in Texas when he admitted that he actually killed his roommate, and then cut the body up into small pieces and disposed of it in the bed.

He asserted self-defense and he beat the charge. So, you know, I think here he's probably got a good explanation. Mr. Deguerin is a very talented lawyer to explain the so-called cadaver note. And that note indicated where Miss Berman's body could be found by the police. And the question will be how would he know that if he hadn't actually seen the body or been at the scene.

CHURCH: Right. And Durst and his attorney, as we heard in that report, seem very optimistic. What's your legal reaction to that? And what do you think their strategy might be? He obviously isn't revealing it.

CALLAN: I think the defense attorneys always say that they're optimistic and that their client will be acquitted. Even when they're actually pessimistic. So, I really don't put too much stock in anything that's said before trial about optimism or pessimism.

But I think they have a very difficult case in front of them. I think Durst is so widely known at this point in time and I think the evidence is building against him. And I think he got lucky in Texas and it's going to take an enormous amount of luck for him to beat the rap before this Los Angeles jury.

CHURCH: Interesting. And what impact might Durst's health have on the trial, given his attorney thinks it will go for three to four months?

[03:50:03]

CALLAN: Well, it could have an enormous impact. Bear in mind that if he became seriously ill during the trial, the trial would have to be suspended. And if it was too long a period of time, a mistrial would have to be declared. So, health could interfere with completing this trial and we'll have to keep a close eye on that.

CHURCH: But in a sense it could work for him is what you seem to be implying there.

CALLAN: Well, it might work for him because what would happen would be that the prosecutor would have presented most of his evidence once, giving his attorney a look at every detailed piece of evidence and then the case would have to start over again. So that could very well work to his advantage. But sometimes it doesn't because sometimes new evidence comes to light when a case is delayed. So, we'll have to see how this one now works out.

CHURCH: Paul Callan, always a pleasure to get your analysis. Many thanks.

CALLAN: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And we'll take a short break here. Still to come, there is a reason Bernie Sanders and Larry David are so similar. What happens when the presidential candidate and the man who plays him on TV meet up? We'll take a look at that on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:55:01]

CHURCH: Welcome back. So, one is a leading U.S. presidential candidate, and the other is the man who plays him in Saturday Night Live parodies. Bernie Sanders met up with Larry David recently. And as Jeanne Moos reports their connection is no joke.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What happens when Bernie Sanders and Larry David happen to separately booked on the same Today Show, much enthusiasm is shown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm enthusiasm Larry David -- no, wait. Oh, curb your enthusiasm's Larry David.

MOOS: It's not like they haven't met.

LARRY DAVID, COMEDIAN: Huge? Huge.

MOOS: Larry has been playing Bernie for years. DAVID: So, who do you want as president? One of these Washington

insiders or a guy who has one pair of clean underwear that he dries on a radiator?

MOOS: Larry and Bernie radiate similarity.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Am I really Larry David?

MOOS: Distantly he is.

DAVID: We're second or third cousins. I feel a familial connection with him.

MOOS: Established through DNA on the show "Finding your roots."

DAVID: What the hell --

SANDERS: You're kidding.

MOOS: They've been kidding ever since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you become president, you've got to be flying back and forth.

SANDERS: Yes.

DAVID: To play him. It will be great for the country --

SANDERS: And terrible for me.

Getting you a good job for four years and you're complaining.

MOOS: Larry got an Emmy nomination for impersonating Bernie.

SANDERS: He does a better Bernie Sanders than I do.

MOOS: But here's the secret.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think you're acting when you do Bernie Sanders.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVID: Yes, there's not much too it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not really --

DAVID: There's not much to it.

MOOS: She didn't have to beat it out of him.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Just being himself apparently. Thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Early Start is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END