Iraqi Protestors Are Demanding A U.S. Military Withdrawal From Iraq; Benjamin Netanyahu Requests Temporary Immunity From Criminal Charges
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN London, I'm Hala Gorani. Tonight, the protests at the U.S. embassy in Iraq dies down, but the rhetoric between America and Iran ramps up. Then, breaking last hour, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially requested parliamentary immunity in the three corruption cases against him: what it means for Israel's political future. And a German zoo goes up in flames, all but two animals in an enclosure, lost: details of what zookeepers are calling their hardest day. It is 10:00 p.m. right now in Iraq. And after a second day of violent protests outside the U.S. embassy, the question is, what happens next? Here's what it looked like earlier. Supporters and members of a pro- Iranian militia threw stones at the embassy. They were protesting airstrikes launched by the United States. They also set fires. U.S. forces responded with tear gas. Most of those protestors, though, have now left. But the State Department says Iraqi forces are still working to clear any stragglers. CNN's Arwa Damon reported earlier, from the scene in Baghdad as the situation was quickly shifting.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The situation does -- at least compared to the images that we have been seeing coming out -- appear to have significantly calmed down, although it may not necessarily be entirely resolved. We're standing just outside of this massive sprawling U.S. embassy complex. You can see one of the entrances there. If I'm not mistaken, that is where you would go through if you wanted to go to consular services. There's another entrance, further down the road, that also has been torched as well. You can see all of the anti-American graffiti that has been spray- painted on the walls. Supporters and members of what is known as the Popular Mobilization Force, the PMF, they are the ones that were part of this protest. These are not ordinary protestors. The PMF came together as a response during the fight against ISIS. And they have continued to be extremely powerful. The message here, obviously, is very clear. Even though, now, their spokesperson is (ph) saying that they will be withdrawing from this area, that they also will be pulling back because they say the message has been received, they continue to demand that the U.S. leave Iraq. However, what they are saying right now is that they are going to allow time for it to happen within the Iraqi legal process. Now, what makes this all so very complicated is that this paramilitary force, of which Kata'ib Hezbollah is an element, is underneath the control, ostensibly, of the Iraqi security forces -- you can hear them chanting now, "Down America." There is a sense, among those who are here, that they have the upper hand right now, they have won. They managed to come into one of the more fortified U.S. installations, to its largest embassy, and make this kind of statement. There is still a lot of concern, though, when it comes to what's happening here in Iraq. Not only have it becoming much more of a focal battlefield in this proxy war that's unfolding between Tehran and the United States. Many of these groups that are part of the paramilitary force are supported by Iran, very closely affiliated with it but then you also have the reality that the Baghdad government itself, at this stage, is extraordinarily unstable. So this most certainly, as many who are watching this situation will tell you, another extraordinarily difficult and potentially very dangerous chapter for Iraq. Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.</s>GORANI: The U.S. is sending additional forces to the region. And the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, is postponing a trip to Ukraine and several other countries. He's staying home to keep an eye on the situation. CNN Pentagon Reporter, Ryan Browne is with us now. So what will these additional forces, what is their mission in Iraq right now, Ryan?</s>RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Well, this latest contingent of forces includes about 750 paratroopers, and they have deployed to the region, not Iraq itself but nearby Kuwait, we're being told, so they could respond in the event of a crisis, if there were some kind of scenario where the situation were to deteriorate. Now, of course, these forces were deployed before the -- kind of the dispersal of most of these militia protestors. But they were sent there to kind of help bolster U.S. forces in the region. That's addition to, of course, those Apache helicopters that were flown overhead in a show of force -- we just saw images of those -- and a contingent of 100 U.S. Marines, a crisis response force that was flown into the embassy compound, about 100 Marines trained in security duties, flown in immediately to help kind of secure that location in the face of those attempts to storm the embassy grounds. Now that you see Iraqi security forces back on scene, it will remain a question, whether or not the additional thousands of U.S. troops, based in the United States, that had been kind of earmarked to go to the region if the situation continued to unravel, whether they will actually go now. I think that's something they'll likely revisit. But, again, these tensions remain very much in place because we had this thing happened (ph), with these airstrikes against this militia group, ostensibly part of the Iraqi security forces but seen by the U.S. as closely tied to Iran. They were blamed by the U.S. for a series of attacks on U.S. bases, one of which had killed an American contractor. Those fundamental foundational issues have not gone away, so the U.S. will very much remain focused on securing its position. And, again, the -- a sign that the U.S. is taking this very seriously, Secretary Pompeo, cancelling a very high-profile multi-day trip to Ukraine and other places in central Asia to focus on this situation. So, again, the U.S. taking this very seriously still.</s>GORANI: All right. Ryan Browne -- thanks very much -- at the Pentagon. Let's move on to breaking news. And a big announcement from Israel's prime minister. A short time ago, Benjamin Netanyahu said he is seeking immunity from prosecution in the corruption cases that he is facing. He just submitted the request to parliament. But because of Israel's political gridlock, an answer is not expected soon. That is putting criminal proceedings against Mr. Netanyahu on hold. Let's bring in Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem for details. So what are the implications of this request, Oren?</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the key question now is, of course, how does this affect the election in March? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew -- or it seemed was aware -- the fact that this could do political damage to him. A request for immunity, he tried to soften the blow by saying this is only temporary, I'd have to re-request it after the next elections. And then he tried to hype up not only his achievements, but say that he's requesting immunity so that he can -- to continue to lead the state of Israel and follow what he calls the will of the people. And that's how he tried to play this as he requested immunity. He said, "What's being done to me is a field court-martial by misleading the public. The immunity law is intended to protect elected officials from fabricated legal proceedings, from political indictment intended to damage the will of the people." Well, it's not a surprise here that Netanyahu's rival, Benny Gantz, immediately blasted Netanyahu's decision and said voters now have two options in March. One is the kingdom of Netanyahu or the state of Israel: an immunity government or a broad unity government. The real question at this point is, first, of course, can Netanyahu's immunity request be heard? That answer at the moment is no. The committee that has to hear this hasn't been convened since the April elections when there's been a state of political deadlock in Israel. Can it be convened in the near future? That's a key political question here. And then of course the second question -- since this is a campaign cycle and we're in an election cycle -- does this change votes, does it swing votes in either direction? And those will be the key questions here. Netanyahu has, of course, maintained his innocence all along, and he did say he does want his day in court, a chance to prove his innocence. But made it sound like just not now, as he's leading the country towards what he calls historic achievements -- Hala.</s>GORANI: Oren Liebermann, thanks very much. The leader of the Roman Catholic church has a confession of his own. Pope Francis is apologizing for slapping a woman's hand. The pontiff was greeting pilgrims in St. Peter's Square when a woman grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her. He slapped her hand, broke free. The pope, clearly irritated. He later apologized during a New Year's Day address denouncing violence against women, saying he set a bad example by losing his patience. Joining us now from Rome is our senior Vatican analyst John Allen. So we were talking earlier, and you were saying what makes this unusual is the fact that the pope apologized. Why do you think he did so?</s>JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Well, I mean, I think the juxtaposition of this incident happening on New Year's Eve, and then him delivering a New Year's Day address, which was almost entirely dedicated to the scourge of violence against women. And you know, him making the argument that the way a society treats women is an index of its level of its level of humanity. You know, I think it just became unavoidable, that Pope Francis felt he had to deliver some kind of apology. And he did it in the context of his noontime New Year's Day address in Rome. And usual, when Pope Francis has something special to say in that noontime address, he will do it at the end. This morning, he did it at the very beginning, which I think is a reflection of how important it was to him, to get this out of the way.</s>GORANI: And he's lost his temper a few times before. I mean, nothing major, but we've seen him sometimes -- and maybe understandably -- lose his patience a little bit with people gathered to greet him and see him, who kind of become a little too enthusiastic, perhaps physically.</s>ALLEN: Yes, of course. I mean, look, I mean, you know, Pope Francis is well known for being a figure of deep compassion, deep mercy and so on. But, you know, he is also an 83-year-old Argentinian male who has a bit of a temper. And we've seen flashes of that before. When he was in Mexico in 2016, a kind of overly enthusiastic teenager sort of grabbed the pope, actually caused him to fall into a person who was in a wheelchair. The pope popped up and yelled at the kid, saying, you know, don't be so selfish. Earlier this year, in March, he was in Loreto here in Italy, visiting the Holy House there. People were trying to kiss his ring, Francis does not like that gesture. You saw him testily yanking his hand back. And all this, I think, just ends up humanizing the pope. Of course, in this case, he's apologized for it. But maybe, you know, one of his new year's resolutions for 2020 will be to try to keep that side of himself a little bit more comprehensively under wraps.</s>GORANI: All right. Well, I think if someone dragged me toward them in that way, I might also react that way. So I kind of understand how he -- how perhaps irritated he was --</s>ALLEN: I'm with you.</s>GORANI: -- at that particular moment. Yes, exactly. Thanks, John Allen. Coming up, protests and some violence in Hong Kong on this New Year's Day. Stay with us for the latest. Also, Rudy Giuliani says he's willing to talk about the Ukraine scandal that led to Donald Trump's impeachment, but will anyone actually call him to testify? We'll be right back.