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CNN This Morning

U.S. Strikes Iranian Group in Iraq After Attack on U.S. Troops; Trump's Christmas Message to His Enemies: 'Rot in Hell'. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 26, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: -- Celtic start scored at least 18 points in this game as Boston beat the Lakers 126-115.

[06:00:07]

And Omar, you know, after this Christmas sports bonanza, I've kind of got the post-Christmas blues, you know?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: I know.

SCHOLES: I've got a whole day of sports to watch, and it's always a little sad the day after Christmas.

JIMENEZ: I know. You know, I've got in debates with people. You know, do you watch sports on Christmas? Do you not? How could you not watch sports on Christmas? It's just an amazing experience. And you just encapsulated it so perfectly. Thank you, Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: I do (ph).

JIMENEZ: Of course. And thank all of you for joining us. I'm Omar Jimenez. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. What time did yours wake up? The kids, that is?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Too early, but I didn't let them out of the room. And that's the key thing. Controlling when they actually get to the tree is critical.

HARLOW: 3:30 a.m. over here. We need to learn that control.

MATTINGLY: So it was a normal -- it was a normal week day.

HARLOW: Normal week day. That's so true. It is Tuesday, December the 26th. We're glad you're with us. I'm Poppy Harlow with Phil Mattingly.

This news breaking overnight, the U.S. launching targeted air strikes in Iraq. The operation in response to an attack by an Iranian-backed militant group that injured U.S. troops. We'll take you live to the White House with details.

MATTINGLY: Also new overnight, Ukraine reportedly strikes a Russian warship docked in Crimea. Cameras capturing a massive blast -- you can see right there -- near the site.

Plus, Alexei Navalny's first message since his arrival at a penal colony in Siberia. What the top opposition leader to Russian President Vladimir Putin is saying this morning.

HARLOW: And Donald Trump's very bitter Christmas message. How the front-runner for the Republican nomination lashed out -- lashed out against his political rivals and what it says about his campaign.

CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

HARLOW: We do begin this morning with tension flaring in the Middle East. Overnight, President Biden ordering retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militant group Kataib Hezbollah.

It comes after the group took credit for a one-way drone attack that wounded three U.S. troops in Northern Iraq. The strike came less than 13 hours after the attack on those U.S. troops.

All of this comes on the heels of a separate incident in which Israeli air strikes in Syria killed a high-ranking Iranian military adviser. Now Iranian officials vowing to revenge for the killing.

MATTINGLY: These dangerous back and forth strikes are playing out as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli military is, quote, "intensifying operations" inside Gaza and that the war is far from over. We're going to speak to CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger in a moment.

But let's get started with Priscilla Alvarez, who's live for us on the North Lawn of the White House. Priscilla, what more are you learning about these strikes directed by President Biden?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, these strikes followed earlier strikes in the day that wounded three Americans in Northern Iraq, one of whom, according to the White House, is in critical condition.

Now, the president was immediately briefed following that strike. And later in the day -- this was yesterday -- Defense Secretary Austin presented the president options, and that is when the president ordered the strike.

Now, according to a statement from the White House, they said, quote, "During that call, the president directed his strikes against three locations utilized by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, focused specifically on unmanned aerial drone activities."

The statement goes on to say that "The president places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm's way. The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing, should the attacks continue."

Now, U.S. Central Command has since said that earlier assessments show that they likely killed a number of militants and that there are no indications of civilian casualties at this point. The defense secretary going on to note that this was, quote,

"necessary and proportionate."

HARLOW: Priscilla, today, we're going to see Ron Dermer, who's very close to Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting with Biden advisers. This comes a day after Netanyahu was meeting with Israeli troops in Gaza and, notably, a day after the Prime Minister said "a long fight that is not close to ending."

It just shows how different the view of what the future is from the Netanyahu government and the Biden government. What can we expect from that meeting today?

ALVAREZ: And it also shows how critical a time this is as the U.S. pushes Israel to move away from that high-intensity war.

So as you mentioned, Ron Dermer is a close confidant of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He's also a member of the war cabinet and previously served as Israel's ambassador to the U.S.

Now, according to a source who told our Oren Lieberman that he's going to be in Washington, meeting with White House officials and State Department officials.

Again, a big topic going into this is what the war looks like in the weeks and months to come. The U.S. wants to see a more targeted, precise strategy from Israel to contain innocent civilian casualties. And that is what Israel has assured the U.S. that it will do.

[06:05:05]

But in addition to that, it's what does a timeline look like? Up until this point, U.S. officials have not been able to define what that timeline is. So this will be a topic of discussion as, again, the president has previously warned that support will wane for Israel if they do not contain this more.

HARLOW: Priscilla Alvarez with the reporting at the White House, thanks very much.

MATTINGLY: And joining us now, CNN political and national security analyst and "New York Times" White House and national security correspondent, David Sanger.

David, we appreciate your time this morning.

I want to start with the strikes that were ordered by President Biden last night. We have seen the back and forth with Iranian proxies over the course of the last several weeks.

This time, there are not just two wounded U.S. soldiers, but there's also a third that is viewed as critical condition. Does that change the calculation for the administration here?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think it does, Phil. And I think you saw that in the way the president reacted so quickly.

Until now, the White House has pretty much tolerated these strikes, as long as no one got hurt. And there was a lot of criticism of him, particularly from Republicans, who are saying he wasn't establishing enough deterrence here.

But he wanted a proportionate response, and he knew any response was likely to kill Iranians; and that probably is what happened here with Hezbollah members. We don't know yet what the -- what the full effects were of the counterstrike.

But it's a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, it happened in Iraq, this -- this counterstrike. And the Biden administration has been trying very hard not to destabilize the al-Sudani government in -- in Iraq.

I think the second reason that it is significant is the president has been quite concerned about escalation with Iran. And so he's been trying to balance that.

But the Iranians, by continuing to order up these strikes -- and we believe these are at least coordinated by Iran -- are -- is making that harder and harder to do.

I think that the next big issue for the president is going to be whether or not to strike inside Iran or at those who are making the decisions. He's going to be very hesitant to do that, I suspect.

HARLOW: But, David, that is a central question, right? Because Phil talks about these ongoing strikes that have happened in the region, whether it's Houthi rebels, in Yemen, whether it's Hezbollah, whether it's this group, Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq. It's all backed by Iran.

What is your reporting on how the White House and the Pentagon are weighing that option now, about do you go after the reigning regime in Iran?

SANGER: So, the Pentagon's worked up a number of options on this. No surprise.

But it -- I don't think from everything I can tell, it has not gone directly to the president yet. And I think, in part, that's because of a recognition that the president considers escalation with Iran to be exactly what he's trying to avoid right now. A widening of this war in the Middle East beyond Gaza.

He's been cautious in Lebanon, where Iran is running Hezbollah troops, as you noted, Poppy. He's been cautious with the Houthis, where he does not want to ruin what has been a bit of a ceasefire that has lasted for -- quite successfully for a while now between the Saudis and the Houthis.

So, you know, it's pretty delicate Mideast politics. But at some point, you have to think that the pressure on him to strike at those who may be ordering this within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is going to be pretty high. MATTINGLY: David, how does this all track with what officials are

saying was an Israeli strike that took out an IRGC officer in Syria over the weekend?

SANGER: Not just any IRGC officer. But General Mousavi, who had been very close to an IRGC commander, Soleimani, who was killed in 2020 in a strike that former President Trump ordered. It was January of 2020, and you may recall there was an American drone strike that killed him.

Mousavi was basically the coordinator in Syria for the Iranian-backed militias that are there. And so the Israeli strike was a big deal there.

All of this, you've got to think, just adds up to more and more and more pressure on the administration to -- to deal with Iran. And the Iranians trying to decide how to calibrate their strike back.

[06:10:04]

My guess is, Phil, that the Iranians are not eager to get into a direct conflict with the U.S. right now. But they sure are pushing the envelope.

HARLOW: Certainly. Just quickly, your take on what happens today when Ron Dermer meets with Biden administration officials, a day after Netanyahu went into Gaza for the second time since this conflict began?

SANGER: Well, Poppy, there's no one closer to Netanyahu than Ron Dermer who, of course, was the ambassador to the United States, and as you mentioned earlier -- Jessica mentioned -- is a member of the war cabinet.

I think he's going to be making a very forceful case for why Israel has got to keep the pressure up on Gaza and keep this kind of bombing going.

The administration really told the Israelis this has got to stop pretty soon. And I think what in their minds soon meant by the new year, only a week away.

It certainly sounds, from listening to Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, like that's his schedule. And this is going to soon collide with that $14 billion in additional aid that the administration wants to give to Israel. And the question will come up, what conditions should be put on that aid?

MATTINGLY: All right. David Sanger, you're allowed to go get coffee, but you can't go too far. We're going to talk to you again in a couple minutes. Stay with us.

HARLOW: Meantime, Donald Trump blasts politicians and prosecutors in a Christmas post. It was anything but cheerful. The familiar attack lines and how they're playing out on the campaign trail.

MATTINGLY: And the Colorado judges who ruled Trump was constitutionally ineligible now face online threats. What's being done to protect them. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:20]

MATTINGLY: New this morning, the FBI is acknowledging it's working with local law enforcement, investigating threats against judges on the Colorado Supreme Court.

This sometimes violent rhetoric follows the court's 4-3 ruling that Trump was constitutionally ineligible to appear on the state's Republican primary ballot, this as a result of the insurrectionist ban included in the 14th Amendment.

Now, analysis shared with CNN shows an uptick in the heated online language about those four judges, who voted to disqualify Trump. While there are no known threats at this time, there are concerns a lone actor or small group may act out.

Trump's team has called the ruling undemocratic, and his lawyers have vowed to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

HARLOW: Those threats come after Donald Trump shared an insulting Christmas message to some politicians and prosecutors. You can see some of it. We'll pull it up here for you. Some of the attacks on -- there's a lot right there -- on Truth Social.

Read things like, "Deranged prosecutor Jack Smith or the Un-select January 6th Committee" -- he went on to call Nancy Pelosi crazy and President Joe Biden crooked.

Joining us now, former Republican strategist and pollster Lee Carter; CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons; and politics reporter for "Semafor," Shelby Talcott.

Morning, guys. Good to have you here.

One thing that I think is really striking is some of the language that Trump is using is not hurting him in Iowa among Republican voters. In fact, this "Des Moines Register" poll shows that when he says things like, you know, immigrants are poisoning the blood of America, or the radical left thugs are like vermin, people are saying it's more -- makes them more likely to support him. Forty-two percent say it's more likely to support him in Iowa.

SHELBY TALCOTT, POLITICS REPORTER, "SEMAFOR": Yes, a lot of the voters I talked to on the ground have the mentality that, A, this is just sort of something you have to deal with when Donald Trump is involved; and, B, they view this rhetoric as that fighter mentality that we talked about last week.

And it's, like, it's been really interesting, because this rhetoric isn't taken like a lot of the media is taking it -- taking it. It's just taken as this guy is a fighter. He's using this language, because he cares about us. And on the flip side, you've seen Trump's opponents really use these

examples as reasons not to vote for him. They cite the chaos and the drama surrounding Donald Trump.

And I've also heard voters on the ground in Iowa say, Well, you know, I wish he would just stop tweeting as much and just stop using social media. And so there is this frustration. But it's not registering enough in the polls. It's not convincing voters enough to not vote for him.

MATTINGLY: Lee, to that point, why? Because I think when you -- when you listen to Nikki Haley talking constantly about can't have the chaos; you listen to DeSantis, I'm Trump policies without the chaos, everybody thought going into this campaign season that that was a pretty effective message.

LEE CARTER, FORMER REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND POLLSTER: Right.

MATTINGLY: It doesn't seem to be working though.

CARTER: Yes. It's not what they say that matters; it's what people hear. And so what I -- what I see right now, and I really think it's an important point you made, two-thirds of Americans are looking for a fighter. They want someone who's going to say that -- who's going to fight back to a system that seems to be working against them.

There's a particular sentiment among Republican voters who support Trump that the government doesn't work for them, that it works for the elite, for the few, and not for people not like them.

So when he does this, it actually energizes them. They don't hear it the same way everybody else does. Everybody else is hearing what he's saying as a threat to democracy, as maybe he's going to be an autocrat dictator, all of those kinds of things.

And the more that people call him an dictator, an autocrat, the more that Republicans dig their heels in and say we're going to support this guy because we want somebody who's going to fight for us, and nobody else will.

And so, despite the fact that there are those voters out there who say that they want Trump without the chaos, those people are supporting people like Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. But the people who support Trump solidly, they want it, they love it, they live for it. And it's hard to understand if you're not part of that audience.

HARLOW: Part -- Just assuming a hypothetical matchup between -- in a general between Biden and Trump, this reporting from "The New York Times" recently that Democrats in some key states are really worried about Biden being a drag on key groups of voters.

So they talk about Arizona. They talk about Michigan, where Biden's polling 15 points behind the Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer. And then they talk about a state like Georgia, where Brian Kemp is taking a lot of credit for things -- investments from the infrastructure bill, et cetera.

But in Michigan, for example, they talk about how Biden is losing ground, particularly among black and Arab-American voters. And having worked in the Biden White House, you also have a read on how he is doing particularly and what he needs to do with black voters.

[06:20:02]

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I do. And I'm from Michigan.

HARLOW: Yes.

SIMMONS: And so let me just tell you, he has a problem. The president has a problem in many of these states.

Young African-Americans, also some Muslim Americans and Arab-Americans who do feel like the administration is too -- leaning too far in the direction of Bibi Netanyahu, right?

And so maybe there's a way to pull back from the Israeli government clutch, the hug so much. And be able to sort of talk about the Israeli pain of October 7th, and then also the Gaza pain that's happened since then. And so there are people who are worried about that.

Candidates should be concerned about running with anybody atop of the ticket who's performing in terms of the polls the way they are right now. Every candidate should be.

The problem is candidates always think, The lesson of this is I need to find my own voice, be my own self, separate myself from the top of the ticket. And it 99 percent never works, right, because the way politics works right now, it's, like, it's too big. The messages out of the White House are too strong. You've got to figure out how to run with the candidate that you're running with.

Define yourself, of course, but you're going to be running with that president. Running against the president just means that the Democratic Party is shooting at each other and not running together on a ticket where everybody is making the same message and making the same call on voters. And that is the way -- the only way that I think any of them have a chance to win.

MATTINGLY: Shelby, you've got reporting on how Trump's team is looking at kind of the softness in the coalitions, particularly among black voters, among younger voters, and seeing if there's opportunities. There are places they can take advantage of it.

TALCOTT: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Do they really think that there are right now?

TALCOTT: They absolutely do. And they believe it's not just getting these groups of voters to not turn out for Joe Biden, which would certainly help Donald Trump.

They also believe that they can sway a number of people who voted for Biden last time around, but who have become disillusioned with the Biden administration, are frustrated with the economy, are frustrated with gas prices, what have you. That's what Trump's team is targeting.

And they're doing it in really interesting ways, particularly with young voters. One of the ways they're doing it is by having some of these more nontraditional, like, rappers and celebrities come out in support of Donald Trump.

He goes to WWE events. He's been to a lot of football games. We saw him throwing a football around at one of the Iowa State fraternity [SIC]. These are all efforts to get, A, voters who are frustrated with Biden; but also, new voters who aren't as political into the mix.

And, you know, we've seen in some ways in the polls so far that's -- it's effective at this point. It's still early on. But we've seen some movement.

SIMMONS: And the Democratic message -- I've got to say this. The Democratic message has to be more aspirational. It really does have to talk to particularly young male voters. It's got to talk about the chance, not just to --

HARLOW: Well, what should they say?

SIMMONS: It's got to talk about, like, how you make money, right; how do businesses grow; how do people have a chance to be able to buy a nicer house and send their kids to school.

Like, those are things that really still animate voters, particularly with male voters. And they don't want the government to solve the problems for them. They just want the government to give them a shot to solve the problems for themselves.

And too often, Democrats make the government and the Democratic politicians the hero in the story and not the individual voter.

CARTER: I do think, though, in addition to aspirational messages, they have to get back in touch with the voters.

So most people are saying they feel like the economy is in ruins. A lot of people are saying that they've never felt worse about the future of our country.

And so when you have all that happening, and you have an administration that's saying things have never been better, you feel completely out of touch.

HARLOW: Disconnected.

CARTER: Totally disconnected. And younger people, I think, are really saying, I need somebody who gets my pain, who gets how angry I am, gets how frustrated I am. And you can't just tell me that things have never been better.

And I think that is one of the biggest problems this administration would just get their arms around how people are feeling and feel like they have a pulse on that, it could truly change things. But right now, they feel completely out of touch. I think that's why you're seeing a lot of people peel off.

SIMMONS: I'd say we're turning the corner. We shouldn't go back. Right?

TALCOTT: Bidenomics message is not registering on the ground when you talk to voters. And it's actually, in some ways, when I was talking to a lot of Hispanic leaders, in some ways, it's turning them off even more; because they feel really frustrated that the Biden administration is pushing this, when they're not seeing that reality on the ground.

HARLOW: I was going to ask you, what do voters say to you when you ask them about Bidenomics? Meaning how do they even define it? What does it even mean to them?

TALCOTT: There has been a struggle to define it. And I think that's part of the message -- part of the problem. There's been a struggle to define it, but also when they do hear Bidenomics, they just hear, Well, this is something that the White House is touting as an accomplishment when it comes to the economy; and we're not feeling that when we go pick up our groceries and we go to the gas station.

CARTER: And I also think it's become a little bit of a joke. People say Bidenomics actually is inflation and runaway prices. So I think it's almost being used against them by a lot of people who hear it and say, When I hear Bidenomics, I hear things are worse for me.

And people keep saying that we're turning the corner, and yet, prices are still up. Even if things are getting better, you still have people paying $11 for a box of cereal and things are saying -- people are saying, that's not working for me.

[06:25:09]

SIMMONS: The gas prices are going down; wages are going up. The economy is doing well.

HARLOW: Housing -- housing is still very --

SIMMONS: Housing is still very --

HARLOW: A big problem.

SIMMONS: -- costs money. People -- you know, just credit card rates are so expensive. That's the Fed's job, not the president's job.

So there are -- there are some challenges out there. But I do think the Biden administration is placing the bet, and a lot of money is going to be spent in terms of infrastructure spending around the country. Wages are going up. Prices are coming down.

HARLOW: Let's see if that can happen fast. Eleven-dollars cereal, I thought 6 bucks was a lot, but 11 bucks.

SIMMONS: Here, here.

HARLOW: Thank you very much.

MATTINGLY: Well, new this morning, the top opposition leader to Vladimir Putin issues his first message from a remote Siberian prison. How Alexei Navalny says he's -- how he's doing and what he's revealing about his weeks-long ordeal. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. New this morning, Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny issuing his first message from the remote Siberian prison that he was transferred to.

He tells supporters that he is fine. His lawyer visited him on Monday at a prison known as Polar Wolf. It is in the Russian Arctic -- You see it right there -- 1200 miles Northeast of Moscow.

Navalny has been missing since December 11th, just days after Russia --