Other candidates receive noou huge fundraising hauls. Stop this hatred. A tearful plea coming from the family of one of the victims in the hanukkah stabbing attack. That victim still unconscious, fighting for his life, and expected to have lasting brain damage. Words of warning. U. S. And iranian officials are exchanging not so subtle threats following two days of attacks on the u. S. Embassy in baghdad. These new pictures show the extent of the destruction by protesters, many of them members of iranbacked militias. Defense secretary mark esper cautioning iran from letting it happen again. Clearly we have always had the right of selfdefense and we have more than sufficient capability on the ground at the embassy and poised nearby to respond to anything. But its important to back up and understand a few things. First of all, the embassy is situated in a compound thats over 100 acres large. The embassy itself was built in the wake of 9 11 and other things, so its a very strong, capable facility that would be very, very hard to breach, and it would be a bad day for anybody that tried to do that. But irans Top Commander also has a message tofor the u. S. An its basically this. We are not heading to war but we are not afraid of one. Cnn correspondent arwa damon is live for us in baghdad. Tell us where things stand, arwa. Reporter well, you finally have things, relatively speaking, back to normal in the sense the Iraqi Security forces have positioned themselves outside of the u. S. Embassy. They are manning the checkpoints, and once again you still need, right now, to have either proper identification, the proper badge to be able to go through these checkpoints or some sort of an escort. But what we saw transpiring, brianna, really goes to the very core of a series of very complex problems here. That group that was targeted in those u. S. Airstrikes that makes up this shia Paramilitary Force has told us that they only agreed to withdraw from the u. S. Embassy under the understanding that the Iraqi Parliament within about a week would begin discussing and drafting a bill that addresses the u. S. Troop presence in iraq. They still want the americans out, and theyre saying that if the Iraqi Government cant make that happen within iraqs legal framework, well, they have other options. Now, this Paramilitary Force that kitaebhezbollah is a part of, this is mainly made up of shia militia, battling against the americans, back against the u. S. Led occupation of iraq. Thats really whof was at americas gate. These groups are very tied to iran. Within iraq they are very powerful militarily because this entity that theyre a part of does ostensibly fall against the Iraqi Security forces, but theyre also very powerful politically. They all have corresponding Political Parties. So irans tentacles are quite far reaching, especially in iraq. So despite the fact that the country does feel like its stuck in this proxy war between washington and tehran, the reality also is that extracting itself from irans influence is going to be extraordinarily challenging. And as we have seen evidenced over the last few days, those groups that are under irans influence can pose a fairly significant threat to u. S. Interests here. Yes, we saw that very clearly. Arwa, thank you very much for being there on the ground to cover this for us. I want to discuss this now with kimberly dozier, our Global Affairs analyst, and shes also a contributor to time magazine. These militias pulled back the protesters. The conditions, and arwa was laying this out, is they want this commitment. Its a condition on a commitment by the iraqi Prime Minister to push the position on the u. S. Forces. What does that mean immediately, and longterm, what does that mean for iraq . The iraqi officials, some who would like to keep some military presence inside iraq, says unfortunately the u. S. Is playing into irans hands in that its giving Iraqi Parliamentarians an excuse to kick u. S. Troops out. They have tried this before. The last time, when President Trump made the comment last february, saying that he was keeping troops inside iraq to watch iran, that set off a movement in parliament to try to do this once before. This movement now has more momentum. Because were all describing these groups as armed militia groups, iranian backed, et cetera. Inside iraq, they are considered iraqi citizens. The majority of iraqis consider them heroes who fought against isis. Do they like how close some of these groups are to iran . No, but its one of these things where, okay, hes somebody who is not on my side but hes iraqi, and if you attack him, then i attack you. The u. S. Risks pushing people to be more antiu. S. Than antiiranian. So youre saying the u. S. Is giving them an excuse by having attacked and having killed dozens of these iranbacked militia, but also iraqi citizens. Yeah. To that end, we saw antiiran protests, and then it morphed into antiu. S. Protests. The men on the streets have been part of the million man marches inside of baghdad. What you saw at the embassy, that was a display of political power by militia armed groups that are part of Political Parties who have large blocks of power in the Iraqi Parliament. Do they know, though especially over the holidays, and maybe people arent following closely, when Something Like this happens and theyre lighting the main entrance to the embassy on fire, that gets american eyeballs. And thats what they want. Thats what they want, because i dont know that the antiiranian protests garnered as much attention here domestically. So theyre sending a message to, really, the president , right, about theyre sending a message. What effect can they have . Theyre sending a message also to the iraqi population. The iraqi population has been fearless against many of these groups, fearing theyve engaged in predatory behavior, because the maximum Pressure Campaign has robbed them of a lot of funding, so theyve had to engage in corrupt practices that have stolen money from the iraqi people. But in this case, by getting the u. S. To launch attacks against what are Security Forces that are technically part of the Iraqi Government, while the u. S. Tells us there have been 11 attacks over the last two months against their forces, but there is video of that. So from the iraqi perspective, all they can see is the u. S. And invited guest without their governments permission attacking their own forces. That can set up a cascade of negative attention towards washington and undermine what a very fragile Iraqi Government can do to work with washington against isis and also against iran. Kimberly, thank you so much for the perspective. We appreciate it. Thank you. And then there were only 14 . Julian castro, the former hud secretary under president obama, has officially ended his president ial campaign. He addressed his supporters in a video. Im so proud of the campaign weve run together. Weve shaped the conversation on so many important issues in this race, stood up for the most Vulnerable People and give an a voice to those who were often forgotten. But with only a month until the Iowa Caucuses and given the circumstances of this campaign season, ive determined that it simply isnt our time. His decision also comes as his now former opponents announce huge fundraising hauls. Senator Bernie Sanders raised 34. 5 million, and now former mayor pete buttigieg, 24. 7 million. Businessman andrew yang, 16. 5 million, and congresswoman tulsi gabbard, 3. 4 million. Were still waiting for numbers from other candidates in the race. President trump, meantime, check this out, he raised a whopping 46 million in the same time period. Lets discuss this with tolinu. When you look at the numbers of donald trump, its more than any single candidate in this race, but when you combine four democrats, they brought in 140 million to trumps 46 million. I wonder if that matters or how youre analyzing these numbers, francesca. I was talking to a trump advocate before i got here, they said when you combine those numbers, they feel pretty confident youll be able to get that money. Democrats have different ways of fundraising and theyre pitting the Progressive Movement against the moderate movement, so if progressives who were giving to Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, and whether theyre willing to give to a pete buttigieg, we just dont know. Bernie sanders saying theyre not going to take money from millionaires or billionaires ever at any time in this race, so that money thats flowing around with the moderates wouldnt necessarily be going to Bernie Sanders. Its hard to imagine you can say, okay, 70 million. Looking back to 2016, i cant imagine anyone who voted for i cant see the Bernie Sanders supporters throwing money clintons way. I cant see that happening. But its not a far cry from where trump is. Do you see this as a way that republicans are in the senate race . They are definitely tapping some enthusiasm on their side. There is a large field, Bernie Sanders being able to raise more than 40 million in a quarter is especially large considering hes not doing these big, massive, high dollar fundraisers, instead hes tapping in to small dollar donors. There is that enthusiasm that will be important for the general election, and its important that democrats can start raising that money from the stage. But its also important to note theyll have to spend a lot of that money because theyre competing in iowa, new hampshire, South Carolina where President Trump will be able to hold onto more of his money until the general election. He reportedly has 102 million cash on hand sitting there right now that he wont have to spend. Its important to note hes bringing in that money without actually being in a race yet against the democrat. Maybe against the entire field of them, you could say. So we dont know how much joe biden brought in, we dont know how much Elizabeth Warren brought in. How important is it that they top or at least match pete buttigieg, maybe even Bernie Sanders . Thats going to be a tough one. What do you think, toli . It is important to note they havent put out their numbers yet and we did see sort of a fundraising plea from senator warren a few weeks ago where she said she was only at 17 million, she was trying to get it to 20 million. It seemed some of these candidates raised more than they did the Fourth Quarter where some are retreating. Joe biden is improving from his four third quarter, but his third kwourt quarter was so weak, there was only one way for him to go. It may lead to changes in the polling where voters think they do not have this momentum that other candidates have, and Bernie Sanders may get a closer look for someone who can beat trump in 2020. Julian castro as of today is out of the race. Something he said, because i think it reflects something in the democratic party. Hes been critical of the fact that iowa, which is overwhelmingly white, right . Its over 90 white. That they get to have the first say. Theyre so important when they have their caucuses as the first in the nation, really, deciders, these caucusgoers are. I wonder, though, considering President Trump and where democrats need to make up the losses that they had in 2016, do democrats need to show that they can have strength in white voter strongholds . Well, in michigan and pennsylvania and wisconsin, those are the places that come to mind, but also i mean, theres obviously a large contingent in each of those states of minorities. Its not just White Working Class voters that they would need to win in those states, or President Trump, in order to win those states, so thats maybe potentially an oversimplistic way of looking at it. But when it does come to iowa and being first, that is the way things are. If youre looking at someone like amy klobuchar, who we just mentioned, she had a very good debate, and she probably did raids raise a lot of money off of that. But that was toward the end of the quarter, so in order to catch up with Something Like a Bernie Sanders or pete buttigieg, we havent seen their numbers yet, but that would have been very, very hard for them to do. The problem is, figurine shes having this big fundraising surge right now, being able to stock up in iowa or louisiana. I cant imagine it not being iowa. The people are so friendly, but if it were not to be iowa first, somewhere sunny, perhaps . That would be lovely in the winter. Francesca, tolune, thank you so much. New documents showing just how concerned republicans were about the president Holding Ukraine a military aid up in ukraine. How the president s impeachment trial will move forward. An emotional plea to, quote, stop the hatred, from one of the victims in the hanukkah stabbing. One of them said their loved one may never wake up. Say this pizza. [mmm pizza. ] is your part b medical expenses. This much about 80 percent. Medicare will pay for. Whats left. This slice here. Well. Thats on you. And thats where an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company comes in. This type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesnt. And these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement. Thats because they meet their high standards of quality and service. Wanna learn more . Its easy. Call Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company now and ask. For this free decision guide. Inside youll find the range of aarp Medicare Supplement plans and their rates. 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When youyou spend lessfair, and get way more. So you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. For small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. Shop everything home at wayfair. Com theres new information coming out this hour that could impact the impeachment investigation for President Trump. Reporting that unredacted versions of emails on the hold for ukranian aid shows pentagon officials were concerned about the legality of this freeze. This is the aid that witnesses have testified was being held, until ukraine announced an investigation into former Vice President joe biden and his son hunter. Heres what justice security says these emails hold. What is clear is that it all came down to the president and what he wanted. No one else appears to have supported his position. Although the pretext for the hold was that some sort of policy review was taking place, the emails make no mention of that actually happening. Tell us what this says. There is all this back and forth where the pentagon is raising concerns with the Budget Office about whether they could violate the law if they dont lift the hold, about their ability to get the money out the door. Even in the face of these concerns on august 30, michael duffey, the top o mshs b mb off emails and says, continue to hold. So even though there are all these concerns, its coming from the top. The president does not want to lift the hold on this money. Some of the back and forth before that really shows the divide between what was going on at the office of management and budget and what was going on at the pentagon. Pentagons officials really did not feel they were taking this seriously, about their ability to get the money out the door before the end of the fiscal year when it wouldnt have expired. In one of these emails, the comptroller of the Defense Department was writing the chief of staff and saying, recognizing the importance of decision space, but this situation is really unworkable made particularly difficult because omb lawyers continue to consistently mischaracterize the process. And the information we have provided. They keep repeating that this pause will not impact dods ability to execute on time. And thats their concern, they dont believe omb is being honest, and they risk it disappearing altogether. Theyre saying, look, the omb isnt taking this seriously and theyre not holding it correctly when theyre placing holds on this money. When theyre talking about continuing the hold, it almost seems as if