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Trump Tests New Campaign Strategy in Iowa; Harris Launches Reproductive Freedoms Tour; S.E. Cupp Looks at the 2024 Race; Volcano Erupts in Iceland; Austin in Qatar for Meetings. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 19, 2023 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:34]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: As Donald Trump and his 2024 Republican rivals hit the campaign trail in Iowa today, we're getting some brand new reporting on the former president's strategy there and how it might play nationwide.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we have some wild pictures out of Iceland. Just look at this, when a volcano began erupting overnight. It would be beautiful if it wasn't so destructive and dangerous. An update on what is happening there now.

SIDNER: And new law in Texas making it a state crime to enter illegally from Mexico. The details as Texas sees an increase of crossings at the southern border.

I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan. John is off today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Today it's all about Iowa. Nearly all of the 2024 Republican presidential candidates will be in the state and ready to rumble. They have no time to lose. Less than a month until the caucuses. And that is translating into more face time with caucusgoers, more money going to ads, more money going to bolster every campaign's ground game to get Iowans to turn out and caucus on January 15th.

And this morning CNN has some new insight into what that means and translates to for Donald Trump's campaign. Call it an Iowa test case for potentially a bigger, broader strategy to come.

Let's get straight to it. CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now with this new reporting.

Alayna, what are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, well, Kate, the Trump campaign has really set up an extensive ground game in Iowa and they're hoping they can use this new model that they've been working on in a potential general election if this strategy is successful in the state. And the strategy is essentially this, Kate, they are trying to expand the electorate in Iowa in Donald Trump's favor. Trump's advisers tell me, and some of his allies as well, that they've really been focused on turning out and finding and creating first time caucusgoers. And while the polls and other candidates are really looking and betting on existing Iowa caucus voters to come out for them on January 15th, Trump's team is really trying to create a whole new slate of voters to come out for him in Iowa.

And they're really looking to continue to build momentum in this final week. He's going to be in Iowa today. Then he has a short break for the holidays and then he'll be aggressively campaigning in this state, in the leadup to the caucus in January.

And look, I mean, when I talk to Donald Trump's team, they tell me that they do have a threshold in mind for what they're hoping to hit in these caucuses in January. They say they want to reach about 12 points. They think that if they can win by 12 points in Iowa, that will essentially set a record for Donald Trump and help give him the momentum that the campaign wants him to have as he heads into the rest of primary season.

Now, I also just want to point your attention to, Kate, some of the other candidates who are there today and how Donald Trump is trying to attack them. We know that Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, all crisscrossing the state as well in this attempt to really, you know, court these voters in the final days before the caucuses.

But one thing that was really interesting is how Donald Trump is going after Ron DeSantis. We know that DeSantis had received an endorsement, huge endorsement, from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and kind of to go after DeSantis on that, the Trump campaign had released an ad showing Reynolds' past support for Donald Trump. And she criticized that ad last night on Fox News saying that Donald Trump was misleading Iowa voters.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KIM REYNOLDS (R-IA): Now he's using me to mislead Iowans as if I'm endorsing him. And I want to be clear, you know, I - you know, I supported President Trump in 2016. I voted for him. I supported him in 2020. I agreed with his policies. But it's a different day. It's a different time. And we need a leader that doesn't have - that's not distracted. And that person is Ron DeSantis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Kate, we're also hearing Ron DeSantis take some more direct shots at Donald Trump as well. And look, I mean, DeSantis has really been betting his campaign on Iowa. He's been running essentially an all eggs in the Iowa basket campaign. But really the two are going head-to-head in these final days as the caucuses draw nearer.

[09:05:01]

And clearly Iowa one of the big tests for these candidates to see who will go into the rest of primary season with that boost.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and how long - how long they surprise - they can -- anyone can survive into the primary season.

TREENE: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: That's what this, obviously, is about. And it looks like they are all surging there today.

It's good to see you, Alayna. Great reporting. Thanks.

SIDNER: All right, Democrats are on the campaign trail too and their plan make one thing very clear, bolstering reproductive rights is top of their campaign strategy. Vice President Kamala Harris has just announced she will kick off the 2024 campaigning season next month with a Reproductive Freedoms Tour, as they call it. The Biden team sees abortion rights as a winning issue. The polls seem to show the same.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now from the White House this morning.

Arlette, pretty clear now that reproductive rights is going to be a central part of their re-election campaign. What is Vice President Harris' tour look like at this point?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, Vice President Kamala Harris' announcement that she will be making this Reproductive Freedoms Tour really signals how much of a focus the Biden team will be placing on the issue of abortion heading into 2024. Now, this will kick off in the state of Wisconsin, a battleground state, on January 22nd. That is a date of historical significance. That is a - it is the day that the Supreme Court made that landmark decision on Roe versus Wade. And Harris, over the past year and a half, after Dobbs was overturned, she has been hitting the road really to talk about abortion rights, hoping that this is an issue that can galvanize voters, not just in the midterms, but also heading into the 2024 election.

The Biden campaign team believes very firmly every time you talk to them that the issue of abortion rights is a winning issue for them. They point to the fact that this helped candidates back in 2022 during the midterms, that there has been enthusiasm and high turnout with voters, specifically on the issue of abortion rights. And if you take a look at polling, recent polling CNN conducted last month found that Americans are more closely aligned with Democrats on the issue of abortion than with Republicans. The Biden campaign has also signaled that they want to use this as a wedge between their campaign and former President Donald Trump. We have really seen them on the attack against the former president specifically on the issue of abortion over the last week.

Of course, 2024 also has other moments in abortion that will be key on the calendar. That includes when the Supreme Court hears and potentially decides on a case relating to medication abortion. So, this is an issue that will certainly be carried throughout the year heading into November as the Biden campaign is hoping that they can really galvanize voters with this issue of abortion rights and they are hoping that this tour by Vice President Kamala Harris will be a part of those efforts to turn out those types of voters.

SIDNER: Arlette Saenz, thank you so much for that.

BOLDUAN: And joining us now for more on exactly this is CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp.

Just jumping off, S.E., what Arlette is reporting there with Sara. I mean Michael Tyler with the Biden campaign told CNN that abortion will be a central pillar of the campaign moving forward.

Just kind of looking as we enter this - you know, as we start heading into the Iowa caucuses, doesn't it feel like abortion rights is going to play a role in this presidential cycle like it really hasn't in literally decades? I mean maybe 50 years since Roe. And how tough is this then for Republicans?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I think it's - it's about time that Democrats start using this issue because there are so many now real world examples that they can point to of Republican extremism, not just what Republicans would do or want to do, but what they have done. So, I think this is a very smart move, especially considering how important this issue was in the 2022 midterms.

But I would offer just a little advice and a word of caution. Advice, a lot of voters now are not seeing abortion as a standalone issue, especially younger voters. They're seeing it as a part of health care. And health care is already a number one top issue for a lot of voters. So, wrapping it up in health care and not just reproductive rights or, you know, the typical standalone abortion issue I think would be really smart.

And then just a caution, most voters are not on the extremes on abortion. Most voters are in favor of legal abortion with restrictions. So, I would not overplay this because Democrats don't have to. It's a real sort of fringe position to believe in abortion bans or that abortions should be legal in all cases. So, if I were Democrats, I would stick with the Republican extremism and speak to the moderates and the middle, which is the majority, and not play to its far left base.

[09:10:00]

BOLDUAN: Now, jumping off of kind of how everybody is descending on Iowa just before the holidays for this kind of big, final push, a final - you know, look no further than to know it's the final sprint to Iowa than how much money is going to attack ads now from super PAC to super PAC.

CUPP: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I mean I was just putting a list together. You've got the super PAC supporting Donald Trump has launched an ad targeting Nikki Haley. This is the first time that the Trump team has gone after Haley on the airwaves. CUPP: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Accusing her of flip-flopping on the gas tax from the time when she was governor. On the issue, it's more complicated than that, but what I find interesting here is that Ron DeSantis has done the same thing in trying - the super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis has done the same thing trying to attack her on this very issue. Why do you think the super PAC supporting Trump, that's where they're going after Haley out of the gate is on the gas tax? What do you think of that focus?

CUPP: Well, he's trying to -- I think they're both trying to paint her out as establishment and someone who might talk the talk but doesn't walk the walk. I'm somewhat impressed to see a Trump super PAC go after a policy issue. You know, Trump prefers to hand out ugly nicknames. And this is an issue of policy.

The problem is, is it's substantively false. Nikki Haley did not support a gas tax hike. She didn't pass one. In fact, South Carolina legislators had to wait for her to leave office before they actually got what they wanted, which was not what she wanted. In fact, she said she was against that but would only consider it if it was attached to a much bigger income tax reduction. So, the ads are not true but I think that's the effort to sort of paint her as establishment, someone who will speak to conservative voters, but ultimately, in the end, do what's best for bureaucrats and special interests, which is just not true.

BOLDUAN: Well, and if you want a sign that you might be doing something right in terms of on the campaign trail, when people start attacking you, more than one campaign, putting money into attacking you, that means politically you probably are doing pretty -- better in the polls.

CUPP: Yes, she's ascendant.

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly.

CUPP: Right.

BOLDUAN: Alayna Treene's new reporting on how the Trump campaign is using Iowa as kind of a test case and -- for a broader strategy and what they're focusing on is trying to create and turn out first time caucusgoers rather than focusing on existing caucus goers. I think it's pretty interesting, especially when you look at where the polling is. First timers really are leaning into Trump. It's interesting.

CUPP: It's very interesting. And I think you could - you could see it a couple of ways. You could make the argument that Trump really wants a big turnout. He doesn't want to just eek it out in Iowa, he wants a big win. You could also see it as something of a weakness that Trump maybe doesn't believe he has enough of the, you know, the typical voters and he needs new voters. That's typically a Democrat strategy, right, to go after first time voters and younger voters. So, it is very interesting. And look, we're not inside the Trump campaign's head, but it will be very interesting to see how Iowa goes and then how they sort of message it and spin it afterwards.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. It's great to see you, S.E. Thanks for coming in.

CUPP: You too. Sure.

BOLDUAN: Thanks.

SIDNER: Now to some incredible, beautiful but destructive pictures this morning. These are live pictures of the lava bursting out of the earth's crust from an erupting volcano in Iceland. The nearby town has been evacuated but officials are warning there's still a threat. We'll explain what that is coming up.

Also, Texas' governor signs a controversial new law to make illegal border crossings a state crime. Civil rights groups are already threatening a lawsuit. We are live on the southern border.

And the judge in Donald Trump's civil fraud case (INAUDIBLE) might rule on (INAUDIBLE).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:22]

BOLDUAN: Take a look, we're going to show you, some new images coming in. A volcano on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula erupting. Just shooting lava and gases into the sky. This all started on Monday. These are live pictures, though, that we are showing you, coming in this morning, showing not only the large fracture in the earth, but what is coming from it. I mean this is like a river of fire now.

The eruption is not entirely unexpected, but there is some talk that it's been - it's become larger than scientists had been predicting. We're going to keep an eye on these pictures and also bring in CNN's Melissa Bell and Derek Van Dam, who are watching all of this for us.

Melissa, evacuations have been ordered because of the volcano and the seismic activity that kind of led up to it I'm hearing, but what's the biggest concern now?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, the people, some 4,000 of them, evacuated from the closest town, Grindavik, which is a small fishing town just about 3 kilometers south of the very southern bit of that fissure. So, very close to it. Everyone safely out of the way.

And there had been fears for the town itself because, as you say, this was not entirely unexpected, but these events that remain extremely unpredictable. The question was, Kate, which way that lava, you can see on those live pictures coming into us, was going to flow and whether it would head straight for that town. In fact, what we're hearing is it's instead been heading north and east. So, the immediate fears for the town, its residents, the infrastructure have be allayed.

The fear now is what happens to the toxic fumes that have been emerging from this volcano. This is an eruption that appears to be lessening in violence, but that was extremely strong overnight. [09:20:03]

It started just after 10:00 p.m., the lava, the force of the lava prizing opening that crack to 4 kilometers wide. And at some points overnight, 200 cubic meters of lava emerging from it every single second. So, a very powerful eruption and a bigger one than authorities had been expecting.

And what happens then is that the toxic fumes emerge from that fissure and people have been -- authorities have been warning people not to try and come and have a look - or try and get closer to the volcano than they are already, closing many of the roads. But the fears are, Kate, at this stage, given how close Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital is, that some of those fumes could even head towards the capital there, causing disturbances.

So, as we just watch those images, some fears allayed, but some still remain, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, definitely a danger not - very clearly not past.

And, Derek, I mean Iceland has many active volcanos. What do you see happening here with this one?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS CERTIFIED METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well, this video is certainly dramatic of the most recent eruption that's taking place. And geologists and scientists have identified for several weeks now this underground tunnel, it's a corridor of magma underground that's roughly 15 kilometers long. It traversed underneath the town of Grindavik. That's why we saw the cracks in the ground. And they evacuated the town in the middle of the month last month.

And they also identified some of the most at-risk areas. This area highlighted in orange was actually the area of most concern. There is the town of Grindavik. And they actually identified it perfectly because that's where the fissure opened up and the magna started to spew up. That's the latest information we're getting from the Icelandic Meteorological Service. This is a topographical map. You can see some mountainous terrain. So this is going to help push the lava away from the town of Grindavik.

And also the good news here, talking about toxic fumes from this eruption. The winds are out of the northeast, so that's also going to push that away from the populated areas of Grindavik.

Now, look at this video. This is showing that large fissure, which is 4 kilometers long. But scientists and geologists have already noted this downturn in the magna activity recently. This isn't indicating so much that the volcano isn't done erupting, Kate, it's actually indicating to the scientists that the magma is reaching some sort of an equilibrium. So, we can kind of see this slow magma transfer here for the next several days. In fact, only about a quarter of the amount of magma compared to last night is spewing out of this fissure. So, only about a third of the entire 4 kilometer length crack is actually active at this moment.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Wow, so interesting and how quickly it's changing.

VAN DAM: Right.

BOLDUAN: Derek, thank you so much.

Melissa, thank you so much for watching it closely for us.

SIDNER: Magma. Sorry. I couldn't help myself. All right, I'm back to being serious.

This morning, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Qatar, fresh from his trip to Tel Aviv yesterday. He's in Qatar meeting with officials about the next phase of Israel's war with Hamas and efforts to release hostages that are still, all this time, being held in Gaza. Before heading to Qatar, Austin condemned Iran-backed Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, calling them reckless and a serious international problem.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: All countries have the right to move freely and lawfully in international waters. But that foundational global right is under new threat today from the totally unacceptable attacks on merchant vessels by the Houthis in Yemen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Secretary Austin announced a new multinational security initiative for the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden called Operation Prosperity Guardian.

CNN's Will Ripley is joining us now live from Tel Aviv.

What else should we expect from the secretary's meeting there and Qatar today with some serious issues, including so many hostages hanging in the balance?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, 129 or so still being held in Gaza. And the Gaza militants have said - the Hamas militants have said essentially they're not going to be releasing any of these people until the war is over. Of course, Israel says the war won't be over until Hamas is completely eliminated and knocked out of control of the Gaza Strip. And so you have this stalemate and you have the United States, of course, very much wanting to broker some sort of a ceasefire deal. And that is why the defense secretary is in Qatar, although any hope of a quick hostage deal announcement is likely very unrealistic, slim chances to none that the Defense Secretary Austin is going to walk away with a deal this quickly. The last one took, as you know, Sara, well over a month to put together. There's just so many different factors at play here.

Of course, the huge lack of trust between the Israelis and Hamas, Israel, of course, fighting a terrorist organization but getting a growing amount of international pressure because of the large amount of civilian casualties in Gaza.

[09:25:04]

The Hamas controlled health ministry claiming that they are just a few hundred deaths away now from a staggering 20,000 people killed in less than three months since October 7th when, of course, the Hamas militants crossed over the border into Israel and attacked and killed hundreds of unarmed civilians, Sara.

The pain very raw here. The war continues with no immediate end in sight, but the U.S. doing what it can in the region to try to put out that hot spot, not to mention those attacks you mentioned on the Red Sea disrupting global supply chains.

SIDNER: Yes. Will Ripley, good to see you. Thank you so much for your reporting there from Tel Aviv.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a lie is still a lie. The judge from the -- the statement from the New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's civil fraud case turning down the former president's latest appeal.

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