Impeachment Stalemate; Protesters Attack U.S. Embassy In Baghdad; Interview With Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA); Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) Open To Witnesses In Impeachment Trial.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Happening now: Trump's new threat. The president is warning, Iran will pay a very big price after protesters attack the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. We're learning about growing concerns within the White House that tensions could escalate if the hours ahead. Inappropriate. A moderate Republican senator says both parties are wrong to prejudge the president's impeachment trial. But Susan Collins is signaling she may support a key demand by Democrats, in a potential break from her party's leadership. Overrated. President Trump takes aim at Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats as the year of his impeachment comes to a close. He's ringing in 2020 with a new Twitter rant. And Pelosi's power play. We will show you how the speaker is flexing her muscle as she keeps a tight grip on the articles of impeachment and tries to extend her influence into the Senate. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm Brianna Keilar. This is a SITUATION ROOM special report. Right now, tensions with Iran are on the rise, and American troops are on the move, after protesters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. Supporters of an Iranian-backed militia tried to storm the embassy compound retaliation for deadly U.S. airstrikes against the militia group. Now President Trump is vowing to hold Iran fully responsible for any deaths or damage, warning in a new tweet that the country will pay a very big price. Also tonight, as the standoff over the president's impeachment trial drags on, a key senator is suggesting a potential crack in GOP unity. Senator Susan Collins revealing she's open to calling witnesses. But when? I will talk with Congressman Gerry Connolly, a Democrat on the Oversight and Foreign Relations committees. And our correspondents and analysts also are standing by. First to CNN White House Correspondent, Boris Sanchez. He is with the president in Florida. And, Boris, Mr. Trump just issued a new threat to Iran over that attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Tell us what's in it.</s>BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna. President Trump putting the blame squarely on Iran. White House officials telling CNN they're very concerned about what's happening at the embassy in Baghdad. Their belief is that these protesters are actually part of an Iranian- backed militia, and they're concerned that hostilities could escalate tomorrow. President Trump today scrambled to develop a response, but part of his focus remains on impeachment as he launched fresh attacks on Democrats.</s>SANCHEZ (voice-over): Tonight, President Trump weighing a large response, blaming Iran for the attempted siege of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, writing -- quote -- "Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost or damage incurred at any of our facilities. They will pay a very big price. This is not a warning. It is a threat." The president leaving his golf club after less than an hour this morning to address the erupting situation, protesters scaling walls, forcing the gates, and setting fires inside the heavily guarded compound while diplomats were trapped inside, a backlash against American airstrikes that killed dozens of members of an Iran-backed militia group in Iraq. Both Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and President Barham Salih, according to a State Department spokesperson, guaranteeing the safety of U.S. personnel inside the embassy. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who golfed with the president Monday, tweeted that he met with Trump and other officials about the raid today, writing that Trump is determined to protect Americans, adding -- quote -- "No more Benghazis," a reference to the 2012 attack in Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other U.S. nationals. But critics argue Trump's foreign policy has left the U.S. in danger. Senator Chris Murphy scathing on Twitter: "The attack on our embassy in Baghdad is horrifying, but predictable. Trump has rendered America impotent in the Middle East. No one fears us. No one listens to us. America has been reduced to huddling in safe rooms hoping the bad guys will go away. What a disgrace." All this as President Trump continues to hammer Nancy Pelosi on his impeachment, tweeting: "They produced no case, so now she doesn't want to go to the Senate. She's all lies. Most overrated person I know." Trump also claiming: "The Democrats will do anything to avoid a trial in the Senate in order to protect sleepy Joe Biden."</s>SANCHEZ: And, Brianna, back to the situation with the embassy, President Trump made the Benghazi comparison himself a short time ago on Twitter, writing -- quote -- "The anti-Benghazi." White House officials tell us that they are encouraged by talks that they have been having with Iraqi leaders. They say they hope tomorrow will be better than what they saw today, but they are prepared for anything -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: Boris, thank you so much for that report. And U.S. troops are being mobilized tonight. This is in response to the situation at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Let's go now to the Pentagon and CNN's Ryan Browne. Tell us what you're learning about troop deployments, Ryan.</s>RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Well, Brianna, the U.S. military has already taken several steps to reinforce its posture in the wake of these -- this kind of protest that's really largely being led by this militia group that the U.S. military conducted those airstrikes against. Now, the military has already talked about it send about 100 additional Marines from a crisis response unit in Kuwait that have arrived at the embassy, flying in on MV-22 Ospreys. They landed there. They're bolstering the security there. The U.S. military flew two Apaches, attack helicopters, overhead over the embassy, where they released flares as a warning sign of potential military retaliation if these protests get out of hand. But we're learning now that the U.S. is also planning to move additional forces from the United States. Members of the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to the region, not to Iraq itself, but to nearby countries, to -- so that they could respond if this situation escalates further. Now, the U.S. has blamed the militia that's participating in these protests for a series of rocket attacks against U.S. military facilities, one of which led to the death of an American contractor and prompted those airstrikes. So the U.S. is very well aware that this group has the ability to conduct attacks on U.S. facilities. So they very much want to be prepared in case the situation deteriorates further.</s>KEILAR: All right, Ryan Browne, thank you so much at the Pentagon for us. And now to impeachment. A key Senate Republican is signaling she might break from the GOP leadership on the question of whether to call witnesses at the president's trial. But there could be a caveat here. CNN Congressional Correspondent, Phil Mattingly is joining us. This is a significant remark by Senator Susan Collins of Maine. But you have to look at the details of what she said as well.</s>PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Read between the lines for full context.</s>KEILAR: That's right.</s>MATTINGLY: Look, witnesses have obviously been the huge split between where Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is and where Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is at this moment. It's why there's an impasse over what this trial will actually look like. Susan Collins now weighing in directly on the issue. Take a listen to what she told Maine public radio.</s>SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I am open to witnesses. I think it's premature to decide who should be called until we see the evidence that is presented and get the answers to the questions that we senators can submit through the chief justice to both sides. What I don't understand is why the House, having issued subpoenas to Secretary Pompeo, for example, did not seek to enforce those subpoenas in court, and instead rushed to get the articles of impeachment passed before Christmas, and yet have not transmitted them to us in the Senate. So that seems an odd way to operate.</s>MATTINGLY: Deconstruct that. First, take the final point she made, and I think it's important one, which is that she -- as she told me before she left for the holidays -- has problems with how the House Democrats have run this process. So, take that where it's been. She's been there for a time. Obviously, saying she's open to witnesses is a big piece of this. However, she said she's open to witnesses after the initial trial presentations. Where does that line her up? That lines her up directly behind Senate Majority Leader Mitch, who his pitch has been, like what they did in 1999 with the Senate impeachment trial for President Bill Clinton, is to have both sides present their cases, have senators have an opportunity to ask questions to the defense and to the House managers. And then they can decide whether or not there will be witnesses or subpoenas for documents. Obviously, Chuck Schumer has said he wants this all arranged and set up at the very beginning of the trial, not wait until that point. But at least when you listen to Susan Collins, and how she talks about this, she may be willing to vote for witnesses with Democrats later on in the process, but it looks like not right at the start.</s>KEILAR: Logistically, there's so much ahead of us, right? When are the House managers picked? When are the articles of impeachment sent over? When do we find out if they're going to have witnesses and at what point? When does the trial begin? Do you have -- are you getting any sense of these things?</s>MATTINGLY: No.</s>MATTINGLY: And I would like them.</s>KEILAR: Right. Well, that's good. Neither I have.</s>MATTINGLY: I would like them. Look, I think the most interesting part of the past two weeks, particularly given all the heat and light on impeachment, and rightfully so -- it's a historic moment, it's something we have only seen three times in the United States' history -- is how little has occurred over the course of the last two weeks. Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell have not spoken. The speaker has not spoken to the majority leader in the Senate. Nobody has any idea what Speaker Pelosi's plans are in terms of sending over the articles of impeachment. Here's the expectation right now. We know the House comes back into session on January 7. That's the absolute earliest the House could vote to send the articles of impeachment over. The Senate comes back on the 6th. The expectation, I think, is, you will hear from Senate Majority Leader McConnell when they get back into town, probably on Friday, when he gets back into town, in terms of what the next steps will be. But we don't know when the articles are sent over. And that's kind of the trigger for everything else. In the meantime, my understanding is, Senate Republicans are going to proceed business as usual until those articles come over. So they're not going to be making any special trial preparations. They're not going to be doing anything -- doing a trial without the articles coming over, which has been the theory that some have tried to push. That's not going to happen. If no articles are coming over, Mitch McConnell is going to act like, well, it's the Senate. It's a new session. Let's get to work. And then we will figure it out when the articles come over. So keep an eye on January 7, when House comes back into town, and, hopefully, we will get some answers. Who knows?</s>KEILAR: Right. It would be nice to have some answers.</s>KEILAR: Then we can stop asking the same questions. Phil Mattingly, thank you so much. And joining me now is Congressman Gerry Connolly. He's a Democrat who serves on the Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees. Sir, thank you so much for joining us.</s>REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA): My pleasure, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: So, the president right now -- I want to talk to you about what we're seeing going on in Iraq, where the U.S. Embassy has -- at least the compound in Baghdad has been attacked. The president is blaming Iran. He tweeted this: "Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost or damage incurred at any of our facilities. They will pay a very big price. This is not a warning. It is a threat." What is your reaction to that tweet?</s>CONNOLLY: Well, this is a president who's made many elaborate threats against foreign leaders or other countries in the past, and has not followed through on them. So, I fear that his credibility with adversaries is very limited. Obviously, there are several things that have to happen here. One is, we have got to secure the compound in Baghdad, make sure all of our personnel are safe and secure. Secondly, we have to hold the Iraq government to account here. They are responsible, as the host government, for the security and safety of American personnel, the diplomatic personnel. And they need to live up to that obligation, which, frankly, they were not doing in the last 24 hours. And then,thirdly, I would call upon the president to reexamine both his rhetoric and his policies with respect to Iran. Much of this friction and violence flows from his very fateful decision to renounce and walk away from our own agreement that was working, the Iran nuclear agreement, thus severing any working relationship we possibly could have with Iran. And Iran now has very little to lose in the relationship. That puts it in a very dangerous position.</s>KEILAR: Are Americans at the embassy compound in Iraq safe, in your view?</s>CONNOLLY: I don't know that. It's a big compound. It's about 100 acres. It's one of the largest, if not the largest, diplomatic facilities in the world. It's hard to police and patrol adequately. And that's why we have to rely on security forces in the Iraqi government itself. And, reportedly, a number of those forces stood by while Hezbollah- related Shia crowds stormed or attempt to storm the embassy. That obviously is a very dangerous situation reminiscent of 1979.</s>KEILAR: Well, that's exactly the image -- the moment that these images conjure up, is 1979. And I wonder, with what is supposed to be the ability to entrust security issues to the Iraqis, and the U.S. to a degree still relying on this and telling the Iraqis, look, this needs to be something that you're paying attention to, do you think that the ability to have an effective U.S. military footprint, a U.S. diplomatic footprint in Iraq is still an ability -- or that that ability is deteriorating? What do you think?</s>CONNOLLY: I think the domestic security situation is very volatile in Iraq right now. It has a very substantial Shia population that's really roused up by the United States decision to undertake retaliatory strikes after the death of an American contractor at the hands of Iranian-supported militias or insurgents. But it is the obligation of the Iraq government. And it's my understanding, reportedly, that the Iraq prime minister gave assurances to President Trump that, in fact, they would fulfill those obligations. Well, they need to do that.</s>KEILAR: I want to turn to impeachment now with you. You have heard from Republican Senator Susan Collins, who says she's open to witnesses in the Senate trial. She does say, though, it's premature to choose witnesses before evidence is presented, which puts her in line with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. What do you think about this? Do you think there's any hope in reading that perhaps she can join Democrats or provide some pressure for there to be witnesses? Or do you just think she's in line with McConnell?</s>CONNOLLY: I think Susan Collins is struggling with her own independence. It's got to be tough to be in her position, with the overwhelming majority of Republican members apparently having made up their minds or not seeking a fair and open process. And so I admire what she said today, which is to strike out a little bit and put a marker down for the possibility of witnesses. Her disclaimer about her disappointment in Democrats not pursuing subpoenas is a little disingenuous, from my point of view, because she knows that to do that would have been years of litigation in the court system. And that's why the Democrats didn't pursue it. And the idea that we rushed to judgment is false. The impeachment process was the culmination of an over-two-year effort by Robert Mueller and, of course, compellingly documented on the Ukrainian issue in terms of what the president did. And as clear as the nose on the face, that was abuse of office.</s>KEILAR: She's making the point that, if that's the case, then why weren't the articles of impeachment sent over? And, to that point, we have been trying to get answers to that question. When will they be sent over? Will they go over in January, do you think?</s>CONNOLLY: Well, yes. You know, we're on recess, as is the Senate. And I'm not quite sure the obsession about, well, when will they be said over? But I will say this. I think it's also disingenuous to suggest you went into rush -- and I was trying to explain we didn't rush. And, secondly, why aren't the articles of impeachment here? Well, that kind of pretends that Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham and other Republicans, your colleagues in the United States Senate, Senator Collins, haven't made outrageous statements about their lack of impartiality in advance of taking an oath to be precisely that, impartial. And I think the Democrats, and certainly Speaker Pelosi, have reason to pause as to, well, what -- to what body are we handing over these articles of impeachment? Is this a sham trial with a rigged jury? Or is it indeed going to uphold its second oath -- it's the only time senators take a second oath -- to be impartial jurors in the impeachment trial process? And I think we're entitled to know the answer to that before we send over the articles of impeachment. And I think the speaker is right to pause to give everybody the opportunity to examine that question.</s>KEILAR: It seems like this has been a practice in trying to hold the articles of impeachment to raise questions about -- or, I should say, raise the issue of impartiality, and hope that it really is something that is absorbed a little more by Americans, that the Democrats' message is absorbed a little more by Americans.</s>CONNOLLY: Yes.</s>KEILAR: And maybe there's some pressure that can be put on Mitch McConnell and Republicans. But do you really see that happening? I mean, right now, you have heard what Lisa Murkowski said, but she had criticism for you guys as well, and the same really with Susan Collins.</s>CONNOLLY: Yes, I kind of take some of that criticism as a bit of a disclaimer to give themselves some political protection, because their position is an awfully lonely position in the Republican Caucus in the United States Senate. And so I admire their forthrightness and their willingness to stake out a semi-independent position. I hope they will follow through on it.</s>KEILAR: All right, we will watch as well. Congressman Gerry Connolly, thank you so much for joining us, and a happy new year to you.</s>CONNOLLY: My pleasure, and happy New Year.</s>KEILAR: All right, just ahead: Will the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq explode in the coming hours? We will break down the White House's concerns and President Trump's threats.