washington. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. growing tension, fallout deepening across the middle east after the death of the top military commander. a sea of people lining the streets again in tehran today.

iranian-state television claiming millions are there mourning the death of general qasem soleimani. really, the most powerful general in the region. a man blamed with having blood of americans on his hands. the death of hundreds of americans over the years. the president says that soleimani was planning, quote, imminent and sinister attacks on americans before he was taken out. now, soleimani's replacement is vowing revenge, promising to remove the u.s. presence in the region entirely. the iranian government said it will no longer abide by the 2015 nuclear deal, which could open the door -- which will open the door for future uranium enrichment. >> president trump for his part is making new threats against adversaries and an ally, not backing off threats to target iran's cultural sites. two senior officials told me there's widespread opposition within the administration to

such a move. why? it's against international law and the law of war. iraqi parliament voted to end the u.s. troop presence in the country. president trump has warned if they do kick out u.s. forces he will hit iran with sanctions, even bigger than those he imposed on adversary iran. back home 3,000 troops set to deploy the middle east. as the white house still refuses to release details of the imminent threat to americans prior to this strike house speaker nancy pelosi said she will present a war powers resolution to limit president trump's military actions in iran. of course democrats have majority in the house. that would go nowhere in the senate. >> good point. >> to iran, fred is live in the capital city. immediately after soleimani taken out after they continue here, any reason for americans

that threat represented, attacks by soleimani are gone just because he has been taken out? >> no, absolutely not. that's certainly one of the things we heard today from protesters we see and heard also from the iranian government over the past couple of days as well. it was quite interesting to see as qasem soleimani's body was there at the mosque before it was brought through the streets in tehran his replacement at the revolutionary guard corps, he said he was vowing revenge, something officials telling us as well. we've replaced soleimani. he was a towering figure, an important general, someone well-known in the entire region. the capabilities of the revolutionary guard corps to strike any place in the middle east they say is exactly the same as it was before. iranians vowing revenge. today, poppy, at the protest taking place, that procession,

mourning procession of qasem soleimani and the body of others through tehran, you can really feel serious anger towards the united states on the ground there. it was a vibe that was different than i've seen in the country with people carrying placards saying two words, harsh revenge, poppy. >> fred, you set down with military adviser to the supreme leader. you listen to secretary of state pompeo. they describe an iran that is cowed by these attacks. i wonder as you sit across from the military leader, was that the sense you got? >> no, absolutely not. the iranians are essentially saying that they are going to strike back. i was able to speak to the main adviser, military adviser of iran's supreme leader. he was telling me kwiatkowski frankly he said, look, there's going to be retaliation in military form against military sites. they don't want a full-on war with the united states but they do say this is something that's

going to happen and they have the capabilities for. one of the other things, jim, they really are angry about, not just leadership but people as well was the fact president trump went out and tweeted that the apparently the u.s. has 52 sites in iran in its crosshairs, including sites that are important to iran's culture, to iranian culture. they said if the u.s. does that, president trump does that, iran will also take off the gloves. let's listen in. >> f>> translator: for sure no american military center, base, no american vessel in the world will be safe. he says 52 sites, we say 300, and they are accessible to us. >> so you can see the iranian adviser there to the supreme leader still saying very much that iran still has exactly the capabilities it had before. the iranians saying they are certainly going to retaliate. they do say they hope it ends

after that point in time. of course right with the tensions so high here in iran, and of course the entire middle east, this does seem to be a situation that could get out of control pretty quickly, jim. >> fred, threats on top of threats from each side. senior correspondent live in baghdad, so we now have this vote to expel troops from iraq. you know as well as me many iraqi politicians will say in public we need them to go. in private they will say, please stay. we need you here. i wonder is the dynamic on the ground different in light of this attack. is there more of a political push there and is this threat likely to be acted upon? >> you know, jim, i think the events of the last few days unprecedented escalation with the strike that killed soleimani and also abu mahdi al-muhandis,

that really put them under pressure. the political leader under pressure from the streets, majority of the population. shiite proxies on the ground telling parliament they will be watching how that vote is going to go, what they are going to do about the presence of u.s. forces. so yesterday we saw this determination by these shia members of parliament. those in parliament shia parliamentarians. sunnis weren't there and kurds boycotted. it was really reflective of how they feel, the shiites. they want the u.s. out. you have this vote, resolution by iraqi parliament, questions about the legality of this, how

it's implemented. you have a caretaker president in place. we heard from the care taker, it was absolutely stunning. he sat there making an argument why u.s. should get coalition forces out of the country basically saying no option because iraqi security forces can't protect them and their basis in the country with the rising threats. jim, poppy. >> as the u.s. sepds thousands of additional troops from the region and iran thetaens military action against military sites in response. before you go, what -- the message from the iraqi president, though, this morning is a call for unity. you just explain how deep the division is among iraquis on this as exemplified by that vote in the parliament yesterday. >> absolutely. this is the concern you're seeing divisions emerging again

because we have seen this in iraq over the years, whatever political divisions are that tends to turn into violence. that is always the concern with the sectarian and ethnic divisions in this country. of course there are some who fear that once the u.s. forces leave this country, if they do leave this country, this is only going to empower iranian-backed troops on the ground. what will this mean for the rest of the population, especially sunni arabs in the country. poppy. >> thank you for being there, you and your team. we really appreciate it. your presence is invaluable. the president says he's not backing down from his threats to potentially strike dozens of iran's cultural sites. live at the white house, this comes as two u.s. officials describe to cnn widespread opposition. this is jim's reporting -- to doing that. essentially it would constitute a war crime, violate a u.n. resolution a few years ago the

u.s. was a signatory to. but the president does not see it that way. >> precisely, poppy. we heard from the counselor to the president, kellyanne conway. she told reporters some cultural sites are military sites. what you're seeing is the administration trying to recast these cultural sites as legitimate targets. she cited secretary pompeo on the talk shows saying the united states would act within the law in responding to any iranian aggression. however, we should point out pompeo said trump wasn't considering cultural sites as targets. the president himself contradigging secretary of state being adamant about this speaking to reporters on "air force one" headed back to d.c. to west palm beach, his estate at mar-a-lago. the president saying iran committed war crimes, too. they are allowed to kill our people, torture and maim our

people. they are allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people and we're not allowed to blow up their cultural sites. it doesn't work that way. nancy pelosi indicating she would present to caucus a resolution to limit some of the president's war powers. kellyanne conway scoffing at that saying the president was well within his authority to attack qasem soleimani. jim, poppy. >> boris sanchez at the white house. barbara starr at the pentagon with more on the 3,000 troops about to deploy. barba barbara, i'm curious, for folks at home, what number, the president repeatedly added to, principally fighting isis, counter-terror role. now that seems to be on hold to some degree. are the troops there basically just to protect the other troops? what's the function? >> well, with the hold on isis operation indeed 3500 or so

troops moving to the middle east this week, some initially left at the end of last week and days before that, that is, in fact, their job. they are there for force protection, protecting u.s. bases, u.s. embassies, u.s. assets and interests in the region. they are not going to be a force in combat in iran by any stretch. that's not what they were equipped for. if you were to have full scale war, combat against iran, that's fog to be something from the air and the sea, not a land force. so go to the map we have for a minute. you know, it shows the dispersal of tens of thousands of u.s. troops across the region. that is all potentially an iranian target list. that is the real challenge here. how do you go ahead and protect all of this. defenses have been increased, force protection increased, security awareness has been uptick, but this is going to be a real challenge and how long do you maintain this enhanced

posture. can you really do it forever? remember, you have initial forces going. they don't stay forever. they come home. other forces have to go in and replace them. this could be a very long-term new troop commitment in this region. >> this is an administration that vowed time and time again to end endless wars and now a major, major escalation of forces. thank you, barbara. we appreciate it. more on the president digging in on the threats to attack iranian cultural sites. if he actually does that, jim, it would be huge, a war crime. something as you've noted was even avoided world war ii. >> that's why members of his own administration oppose it. plus lawmakers back this week as we wait for nancy pelosi to send articles of impeachment, we're learning the house will present a vote on war powers to limit the president's military actions

on iran. of course what passes in the house won't likely pass in the senate but we'll continue to follow it. americans come to lendingtree.com to compare and save on loans, credit cards and more! but with the new lending tree app you can see your full financial health, monitor your credit score, see your cash flow and find out how you can cut your monthly bills. download it

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potentially attack iranian cultural sites. the president said last night on "air force one," quote, they are allowed to kill our people, they are allowed to torture and maim our people, they are allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people and we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites? it doesn't work that way. >> joined by retired general who served with petraeus, an iran expert and carnegie endowment for international peace. thanks to both of you. you know iran well, the region well. you tweeted yesterday attacking

cultural sites in your way is the most assinine idea. i've spoken to senior members that agree. beyond that, it's against international law. tell us why that matters. the president, as he does, said they do bad stuff so we should be able to do bad stuff, too. tell us your response to that argument. >> gratuitously destroying iran's cultural sites is such incredibly destructive and counter-productive thing to do. iran is one of the world's oldest nations. this is something iranians take great pride in their ancient history. if you're trying to counter shia radicalism of the iranian regime, the best way to do that is by trying to promote the idea of persian nationalism. so president trump threatening to destroy iranian cultural sites would truly be the one

thing that would unite all iranians against him. i actually don't buy the idea that all iranians are united now after the assassination after qasem soleimani. i think qasem soleimani was a polarizing figure. there's some folks in iran who passionately support him. others don't support him. destroying iranian cultural sites would truly unite all iranians against trump and the united states. let's talk about the region, aftermath. these are live pictures out of iran. the streets have been filled with protesters and anti-america chants since the news of his death broke late on thursday night. you now have an iran that yesterday announced it was abandoning all, even the final limitations of the nuclear deal, which means iranian enrichment will accelerate quickly. and you have the president now threatening sanctions on iraq,

our ally, which if that were to happen, i would read that as making iran more powerful in iraq. what is the plan here by the administration? >> i don't think the administration has a plan. they needed to reestablish deterrents after a series of iranian provocation and attacks across the middle east including our forces but they went a step too far with no plan for the aftermath. this is playing right into iran's hands. iran has three goals, and they are accomplishing them all. solidify support for the regime, get u.s. forces out of iraq and crack u.s. alliance in middle east. unfortunately iran is winning right now. >> kareem, help us get to iran's calculus here on retaliation. you know as well as i do the iranian regime is not suicidal. they often calibrate their responses here. on the other hand you look at those protests in the streets,

there's enormous ground swell of domestic support for revenge. you hear those calls there. can iran not respond and how severely do you think they do and where? >> jim, they have to respond in a pretty forceful way. at the same time they obviously don't want to provoke a major american where response. one of the things iran has become effective doing is operating via proxy. these days they are operating drones. as another layer of deniability. my sense is we really have to widen the aperture and consider not only attacks on outposts and interests but u.s. allies not only in the middle east but throughout the world. my sense is this is going to be something -- we're all focused on this at the moment. iran is unlikely to do something in the next 48 hours.

they are not forgetting about this three months from now, six months from now when we're in the general election campaign of 2020, which i think is going to put trump in a very difficult positi position. on one hand if he doesn't respond to iranian provocations he's going to risk losing. if he does respond he risks a war. iran's goal is to make trump a one-term president. >> karim said something, political motivations among iranians but karim's note earlier essentially who would have been planning the response here, it would have been qasem soleimani. who now is planning that response and what does it tell you about what iran's response will be to the u.s. whenever it comes. >> this was the thing about killing him, although i don't shed any crocodile tears about his demise. his number two just stepped up into his position. there's no change in the iranian

strate strategy. they lost a little leadership but number two stepped in and they will continue. i will say if proxies forces attack u.s. forces, this president is likely to respond with force against iran proper. i don't think that gives them any deniability at all from this point on especially with this very unpredictable president. >> it's remarkable stuff. karim, finally, before we go, you talk about the use of proxy forces there. we saw that, in effect, on saudi oil facilities. those drones and cruise missiles that cain were not waving iranian flag, although no doubt who it was, but they did it in that kind of proxy war, hybrid war, shadow war kind of way this. give us a list of possible -- i don't expect you to look at a

crystal ball but possible categories for iran. >> again, if your goal, jim, is to try to cause trump damage in his re-election campaign, you want to do things which will spike the price of oil so americans feel it in their pocketbooks. i can tell you regional leaders like the leaders in saudi arabia are really afraid of mike pompeo leaving to go run for senate in kansas, because they see him as a real ally. they don't see president trump as a real ally because they are worried president trump is not going to stick his neck out if iran goes after saudi arabia or goes after dubai. >> karim, that's a great point. "the washington post" piece that crossed overnight explaining how long of a campaign mike pompeo has forged on iran to get the president to this opponent was really, really telling there of how much of a role he played in all this. gentlemen, thank you both for your expertise this morning. we appreciate it. in the middle of an impeachment

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lawmakers back from recess on capitol hill, washington faces both domestic and global crisis. right now we still don't know when an impeachment trial will happen. in fact, if it will happen globally. lawmakers will soon vote on a resolution to limit president trump's military options against iran. that takes place in the house. manu raju, impeachment standoff,

nancy pelosi, question, when does she send the articles. what are you hearing from democrats? does that happen this week? >> this is the week we get questions to the answers after two weeks of stalemate when democrats demanded an agreement with mitch mcconnell about witnesses and documents up front in the impeachment trial. mitch mcconnell said, no, let's deal with those issues later and that led to standoff. meanwhile nancy pelosi hasn't sent the articles over to the senate for the trial. there's an expectation on capitol hill that's going to happen soon. it's unclear when she will send the articles over. when the house comes back tomorrow that's when questions will be answered when she meets with colleagues as pressure begins to build, as it becomes clearer when she plans to deliver those. at the same time the house is making it very clear how it plans to handle the issue of iran. democrats are going to move to vote this week, according to a letter from nancy pelosi last

night, to try to limit the president's power when it comes to iran legislation they plan to vote on this week will actually try to impose a limit of 30 days of any hostilities the administration will take towards iran and say if congress is not explicitly authorize military action after 30 days, that will no longer be allowed. this is similar to a democratic measure introduced in the senate by tim kaine of virginia. expect that house bill to pass this week but the senate chances seem unlikely at the moment given the numbers and republicans overwhelmingly support what the president is doing in iran. but all these huge issues, the president facing an impeachment trial, how he handles iran, pushback from democrats, handling the military action with iran all going to be facing a lot of questions from lawmakers as they return to washington after the two-week break, jim. >> going to be busy there. as always, manu raju on the

hill. that's very much. let's talk about all that is ahead for congress this week. democratic congressman buyer joins me. thank you. happy new year. thank you for being there. >> thanks, poppy. happy new year. >> the response to taking out soleimani will be for sure military and against military sites. given the international crisis, frankly, that we're in right now, do you have any concern with the senate holding an impeachment trial of the president at this juncture? >> no. we have shown, as we did in the past quarter, we can impeach and pass major legislation. for example, on drug prices, nafta part two, usmca. we have to be able to do more than one thing at once. i think as manu just said it's critical we get a vote in the house on the authorization to limit military force and hopefully senate will follow that example with tim kaine's leadership. >> you were one who came later to impeaching the president than

others. it was may of last year. so sooner than some but later than some of your democrats in congress, some who called right after his inauguration to impeach him. i say that because the house wrote to the federal appelt judges last week seeking former white house counsel don mcgahn's testimony in court arguing they could use it for additional articles of impeachment against the president. potentially more obstruction articles. i wonder if you believe that would be prudent. do you believe potentially impeaching the president again, based on potential testimony from don mcgahn would be prudent for the party right now? >> it becomes -- you know, poppy, i'm not good at what the political consequences are. i take that lead from nancy pelosi who has paused on sending impeachment over despite what the political costs are. she's trying to protect the constitution.

we're still frustrated that many of the people we called to testify before the house intel committee, the president prevented them to do it. they refused to do it. we looked at months and months in court trying to get the courts to force them to come over. if we can get more evidence, that's good. one of the reasons why after mitch mcconnell said no witnesses, no new documents, nancy pelosi is forced to say what other evidence can we get before we send it over to them. >> mitch mcconnell saying let's follow clinton trial, in the midst have a vote on witnesses. i'd like to move onto iran. the idea you prevent war with a country by killing its leaders is not a strategy, not a rational thought. over the weekend the chairman of the joint chiefs said intelligence was compelling, said soleimani was planning a significant campaign of violence. of course the american contractor was killed december 27th. this is a man with a lot of american blood on his hands. why, in your opinion, was the president wrong to carry out

this strike? >> well, for at least thee reasons. number one is decapitation has never been a credible strategy for preemption. we see right away soleimani has been succeeded by a successor. the plans for whatever they were going to do has not gone away. second, the people that opposed iran nuclear deal said in 15 years they will be able to restart their program. now they restarted it after five years. the exact worse consequence. finally this whole notion of trump saying we'll attack cultural sites. think how we would feel -- >> i think a lot of people don't understand the multifaceted role soleimani played not only in iran but iraq across the region the power he had there. he wasn't just a terrorist leader, not to minimize that, but essentially a head of state,

something that ran something akin to the cia. look, you were a diplomat for years, obama administration for switzerland, lichtenstein. we heard military adviser to the supreme leader in iran any negotiation with the u.s. was impossible unless the president was to stand trial in tehran. that's not going to happen. is diplomacy with iran dead? >> it sure seems in a difficult place for the next year. i think the next president can reopen it. i'd love to see this president make those overtures. i don't trust he would actually do that. when i was in switzerland, switzerland is our protecting power in iran. so i would meet regularly with swiss ambassador to tehran. they always talked about the need for much more confidence building measures, for conversations, things that never happened until we had the iran nuclear deal. >> let me ask you the final question. you were the first member of congress to endorse mayor pete buttigieg for president. when you look at the foreign

policy polling, the latest cnn has from late november, it puts joe biden way ahead of mayor buttigieg. 48% of potential democratic voters think he's the best candidate to handle foreign policy. do you believe that mayor buttigieg is stronger on foreign policy, more adept to deal with the crisis with iran, for example, that we're facing right now than the former vice president? and if so, why? >> i don't necessarily say he's more. i certainly respect joe biden's many years as chair of the senate foreign relations committee and the like, but pete served in afghanistan. he was a naval intelligence officer. he's been on the ground. when it came up in the interview this morning the security officer said, please don't let them kill my five cousins and brothers that are in afghanistan right now. so i think that perspective of having served there recently gives him at least an equal insight as to how things will

move forward. >> congressman beyer, thanks for being with me. >> thank you. happy new year. saudi arabia, just one of the countries trying to deescalate the growing crisis in the region. but will president trump listen to calls from u.s. allies for restraint? ♪

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the u.s. >> cnn editor nic robertson joins us in riyadh, security editor nick paton walsh live in beruit. a leader will muy meet with u.s. officials day. y -- today. you have learned what we might expect from that? >> reporter: i spoke to the brother of the crown prince, brother of the king, effectively the third most powerful man in the country. his title is deputy defense minister. don't let that fool you. what i'm told is he's in washington today to meet with secretary of state mike pompeo on a mission for the crown prince, but it's a very simple message he's bringing. it's a message of restraint. the saudis want to find a way to deescalate the situation. that's what he wants to talk to mike pompeo about. i'm told part of the way that he'll convey this message is to say that, look, we live in the

region. we've seen this sort of chaos before. we don't want it. we've been a target. saudis will say we've been a target of attacks from iran before and we consider we might be a target again. we don't want that. this is something we want to avoid. that's going to be part of the message. i was also asking the saudis as well about what the iraqi prime minister had said that soleimani was going to meet with the iraqi prime minister and was, according to the iraqi prime minister, had a message with him for the saudis, following a message the saudis given iraqi prime minister. they were saying they were not aware soleimani had any message for them. so what we can expect in washington is a simple meeting, restraint, but they are also going to want to know what the u.s. red lines are and what could come next. >> nick paton walsh, you're in lebanon, hezbollah powerful there, part of the government, in fact, and close relationship with iran.

hezbollah, in effect, one of the proxies that iran could use in retaliation, has used in the past. tell us what you're hearing on the ground there about that possibility. >> yeah. notably restrained statement yesterday from hezbollah chief. some anger, a large gathering in the southern suburbs of beruit here and leaving people a little subdued. there was some sense of angry energy certainly. what was missing from the speech, the usual condemnations and rhetoric against u.s. allies like israel or saudi arabia as potentially the targets retaliation. extremely clear and precise and echoed from qasem soleimani's daughter and iranian foreign minister that essentially the focus now is ending u.s. military presence in the region. said also, too, important not to target american civilians and

focus on sending american troops home in coffins. obviously possible order to kick u.s. troops out of dozens of countries they have thousands of troops in here but this moves under way in iraq, reduce iraqi presence for u.s. military would jeopardize their presence in syria. donald trump has talked about leaving afghanistan. essentially iranian officials are giving some degree of pressure on something donald trump almost wants to do anyway. he's long said he wants to withdraw from this region. he immediately allergically reacted doing it out of his own timetable but that is potentially where we're seeing the result of iranian focus. only one thing apart from enormous display of mourning they have done so far is reduce commitments under the nuclear deal. that may be where we see the remaining flash point here that essentially iran is abandoning those commitments. it may enrich faster. not clear if it's a race for the

bomb. that may take a year. this could be the enduring problem potentially from the claas qasem soleimani killing. >> iran will be closer to making a bomb today or tomorrow than it was while the nuclear deal was nblgt. just a simple fact. nick paton walsh in beruit, nic robertson in riyadh, thank you. brush fires across the country. look at the image there. it's like the surface of mars. we'll be live as the death toll continues to rise. look, this isn't my first rodeo...

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at the images. jim, you said it looks like the surface of mars. the sky is red in australia where dozens of bush fires have just continued to burn out of control in areas the size of west virginia has been torched, the death toll stands at 24 people. wildlife experts estimate nearly half a billion animals have died. >> that's just incredible numbers. it is so hard to get a sense of the scale. australia has called up thousands of army reservists now to battle the fires. look at the view out of that airplane cockpit there. again, like the surface of mars. cnn's andrew stevens, he's live now in australia's capital. andrew, listen, the scale of this is just i think hard for people to understand. i wonder if you can help us, folks at home understand. but how long do they think crews can get a handle on this given the size? >> reporter: well, jim, the good news and it is only short-term good news is for the past 24 hours there has been rain over

most of that affected area. it hasn't put the fires out, but it reduced the level, the intensity of the fires. the bad news is that this is, as i say, just temporary. by the end of this week, once again, we're going to see the temperatures soaring, we're going to see the hot dry winds which have been really fanning the flames re-emerge and going back to the sort of conditions that you just were talking about then. it is really quite extraordinary looking at the pictures. day becoming night, that eerie orange glow, we were talking to someone a few hours ago, they said they were sitting on their porch and they heard what they thought was a freight train, sounded look a freight train. went behind the house and there was a wall of flames heading towards them. they got out as quick as they could and luckily they were fine. they didn't know whether their house survived or not. that story is amplified tens of thousands of times around australia. the fire services managed to get

a lot of people out before the fires came through. a lot of other people were left too late. they had to stay and pray that they and their homes would be safe from the fires. there is still more than 100 fires burning, like i said. and they are not going to be put out until we get heavy, heavy drenching rain and that's not forecast for another couple of months. we're right at the start of the bushfire season here in australia. the toll on the animal populations, you said, it is horrific. half a billion of these unique australian animals have been wiped out. the numbers are very hard to get a figure on. but the habitat has been wiped out as well. an area ten times the size of what was destroyed in the amazon has been wiped out and the fires are still burning. this is australia in 2020. the climate change debate is well and truly under way in australia and there is no respite really. >> and the world too, right? we're seeing the effects. it is just devastating there. >> and seeing those koala bears,

you know, trying to find some patch of ground that is not in flames is heart breaking, of course, and those 24 lives that were lost. thank you for being there and reporting. we'll stay all over that story. meantime, huge crowds gathering again in iran today, tensions skyrocketing after the deadly u.s. air strike on iran's top general. we're following this all live from tehran, baghdad and across the globe, like only cnn can. stay right there. hey, hey-we're all winners with the hilton price match guarantee, alright? man, you guys are adorable! alright, let's go find your coach, come on! book with the hilton app. expect better. expect hilton.

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it is the top of the hour. good morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow in new york. >> i'm jim shciutto in washington. the middle east on edge. right now the scene in the streets of tehran, a massive crowd mourning the death of iran's top military and