Two Religious Groups Were Violently Attacked In Recent Hours
DEAN: President Trump took a break from the golf course today to speak with President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin says Putin called Trump to thank him for information that helped prevent terror attacks in Russia. The two leaders also discussed, quote, matters of mutual interest. Jeremy Diamond joins me now from West Palm Beach, Florida, where the president is now on his second week of vacation. Jeremy, do we have any more details about their conversation?</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is not too much information aside from what the Kremlin put out earlier today. We do know that this call was initiated by the Russian President. Vladimir Putin apparently calling President Trump earlier today to thank him for the U.S. intelligence information that was provided to the Russian security services. That information apparently led to the arrests of two men on Friday, two Russian nationals who were apparently plotting a New Year's Eve terrorist attack in St. Petersburg, Russia. Now, this is not the first time that U.S. intelligence has actually led to preventing a terrorist attack in Russia. The same thing actually happened back in 2017 with another terrorist plot that was planned for St. Petersburg. Now, as far as what else that they may have discussed, as you said, Jessica, they discussed matters of mutual interests according to the Kremlin. There is a range of issues that could have been discussed. Of course, it came in the same day that President Trump authorized these strikes in Syria and in Iraq against Iranian proxies. We do not know if that came up in the conversation or if perhaps domestic politics, the issue of impeachment that is always on President Trump's mind. We don't know either if that came up. The White House so far, Jessica, has not provided a readout, its own readout of that conversation. Jessica.</s>DEAN: All right. Jeremy Diamond for us in Florida, thanks so much. And joining me now to talk about this, CNN Counterterrorism Analyst and former CIA counterterrorism official, Phil Mudd, thanks for being with us, Phil.</s>PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Thanks for having me.</s>DEAN: Yeah. The last time the two men spoke on the phone was in July. And that is when they discussed wildfires in Siberia and trade between the two nations. For you, how significant is today's call in your opinion?</s>MUDD: Not that significant. To me, this looks like a courtesy call. Look, it's hard. As a former intel guy, it is hard to get intelligence that specific to stop an attack like this. The press reports are suggesting that based on U.S. information, the Russians were able to pick up two individuals who may have been plotting an attack in the next week or maybe in the next few days. So for the United States to provide that kind of specificity, to my mind, it is almost like Vladimir Putin got to call to give a thank you. Whether or not there's more information in the call, obviously I don't, but I wouldn't read too much into this one.</s>DEAN: Yeah. And the White House hasn't released a readout of that phone call yet. This isn't really the first time Russia has put out a call statement ahead of the White House. It happened back in July when the Kremlin that was the first to report that President Trump called President Putin. It took the White House several hours to acknowledge that call happened. Do you think the delay by the White House is intentional or is this just kind of how this goes?</s>MUDD: It is a holiday season. So I'm going to give them a pass here. I'm assuming -- I'm assuming, I'm not kidding. A lot of people are on vacation. That said, at some point, you got to see something on the call. We have seen indications obviously that the president is concerned about how many people in the White House are listening into his foreign phone calls. When you see the transcript of this, the first thing like when the president meets Vladimir Putin personally, the first thing you got to do is to compare side by side and see whether the two sides issued different interpretations or different statements on what the call is. I'd give them a little while. But I tell you -- like I hope a lot of Americans, I will be looking at both them side by side as soon as the White House briefing comes out.</s>DEAN: Yeah. You can look at it for yourself. What would you -- we heard Jeremy Diamond talking a little bit about what these matters of mutual interests could be between the U.S. and Russia. What would you consider potential matters of mutual interest that could have been discussed?</s>MUDD: Boy, I -- you got to find out a better analyst than I am on most the issues that you want to talk about. North Korea could be one. Iran could be one. Obviously, the strikes today against Iranian organizations would be one. The Iranians are historically very close to the Russians. I suppose the president could have raised election security. But remember one thing. This call was at the initiative of Vladimir Putin. So I'm going to think that at the other end of the line, the president of the United States is not going to talk a lot. Season's greetings, thanks, we're happy to pass intelligence when it can help save people's lives. I'm going to guess there is not a lot to this phone call.</s>DEAN: Yeah. I mean, to your point earlier, the Russians did receive this really important information about thwarting a terrorist attack. So a thank you is definitely in line. Sergey Lavrov met with President Trump at the White House earlier this month. And the Kremlin called it an important moment but also said it did not signal a thawing in relations. Where do U.S./Russia relations stand, and do you think that they are just kind of improving generally?</s>MUDD: I don't. I mean, if you are the Russians, you look at one decision maker in the United States. That is the commander in chief. And you say I understand where the commander in chief sits. You know, we don't have to belabor. But for three years, he's been close to Vladimir Putin. That said, if you look at what has happened around the world, whether it's Russian activities in Syria, supporting a man, the Syrian leader who used chemical weapons against his own people. Whether it's the fact that the Iranians are not -- pardon me, the Russians are not on the same side as the Americans on Iran. I suppose there is some room for compromise or talks with the Russians about North Korea. But the North Korean situation is not looking good. The president's been reluctant to talk about election security. So I don't view relations as that good. I suppose the president does, but I want to know where it looks good to you. I -- to me, it looks pretty ugly around the world.</s>DEAN: Yeah. And to that end, you recently told our Jake Tapper that Russian foreign policy once smelled like dog poop, now smells like roses. Really that you believe Russia has a reason to feel pretty good right now. Do you think that they hold the upper hand here?</s>MUDD: They don't hold the upper hand in some ways. I mean, if you look at the American military, I'm talking big terms. If you look at the American economy, Russia is a pip squeak. Not militarily but they are second tier compared to the United States. Economically, they're not even close. That said, if you compare Russia to where we've been over the past decade or two, and again take a high end look, look at Russian influence. The Russian president just went down to open a bridge into Crimea. Crimea was an annexation of a part of Europe by a Russian state. We haven't seen that in decades. If you look at how Russia's expanded influence in places like Syria, where we backed down and basically said to the Russians move on in. This is your turf. If you look at how the president has responded to the Russian interfere in American elections, if you're the Russians, you're saying I don't look that great economically. I can't match the Americans militarily. But diplomatically around the world, they're riding high. They are looking pretty good.</s>DEAN: Yeah. It's interesting. It's almost like they are punching up, right, the Russians.</s>MUDD: Sure. If you are a Russian and you're sitting there -- again, if you are Vladimir Putin trying to sell to a domestic audience in Russia, one of the things you've got to sell is after the fall of the Berlin Wall, being Russian was humiliating, humiliating. We, the Americans, said we won. We beat the Soviets and the wall came down. Now the decades later, the Russians can say we're no longer humiliated. The answer is Vladimir Putin. And one of the proofs is that the president of the United States sits there and says I love this guy. The Russians are back.</s>DEAN: Interesting stuff there. Phil Mudd, we really appreciate your time. Thanks for being with us.</s>MUDD: Thank you.</s>DEAN: Well, before Beyonce, before Lady Gaga, there was Linda Ronstadt. Here is a preview of the new CNN film, Linda Ronstadt, the Sound of My Voice. It premieres New Year's Day.