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Iowa School Shooting Leaves Multiple Injured, Shooter Dead; ISIS Claims Iran Attacks; Over 80 Dead, U.S. Targets Militia; GOP Candidates Haley And DeSantis Face Off In Iowa Town Halls; Trump Seeks Supreme Court Relief On Colorado And Challenges Special Counsel; Biden To Address Democracy Concerns Ahead Of January 6; House GOP Threatens Shutdown Over Immigration In Budget Standoff; Positive Economic Trends With Dropping Gas Prices And Relief Programs; Haley Predicts New Hampshire Surprise; Trump Leads 2024 Polls; Wages Outpace Inflation, Indicating Positive Economic Shifts; Key 2022 Election Issues: Democracy And Abortion In Focus. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 04, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: On the first day back from Christmas break, a shooting at an Iowa high school. Multiple people hurt. We'll break down the latest details. We're also following rising tensions in the Middle East. ISIS now claiming responsibility for a twin deadly explosions in Iran, while the U.S. targets a pro-Iran militia operating in Baghdad. We're covering all angles in the region.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR And tonight, Iowa voters asked Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis the tough questions in back-to-back CNN town halls. We're tracking the candidates and what they have to do in a heated race for second place. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar here with Boris Sanchez in Washington, and we are not even a week into the new year, and already a school shooting devastating one Midwest community. There are multiple gunshot victims at Perry High School in Iowa, according to the Dallas County Sheriff. But at this hour, it's not clear how severe the injuries are or if any victims have died.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, two area medical facilities say they are treating multiple patients from the shooting, and a law enforcement officer said, and a law enforcement source tells CNN that the shooter is in fact dead. CNN producer Aaron Pellish is live for us at the scene in Perry, Iowa. Aaron, the sheriff making clear that the incident took place before classes actually kicked off for the day. What else are we learning about what happened?

AARON PELLISH, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Boris. At 7.37, just before classes started, as you mentioned this morning, law enforcement got an alert that there was a shooting at Perry High School just behind me. Now, we've learned that Des Moines Area Hospitals, Des Moines is about 45 minutes from here, are treating multiple gunshot victims from the incident here at this high school. CNN has also learned, as you mentioned, that the shooter at this incident is dead.

Now, there are obviously many families in this community who are shaken, who are rattled by this incident. Let's take a listen to one woman, a stepmother of a student here at Perry High School, who spoke to our affiliate, Casey. Casey C.I. in Des Moines about the incident, who said a bullet grazed her stepdaughter. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODY KURTH, STEPSON GRAZED BY BULLET: It was a text message this morning from my daughter, and it was absolutely horrifying. Like, that's one of the worst moments of my entire life. But the best phone call I got was saying that they were okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PELLISH: Now, we don't know much else about what happened here, but we do expect to learn more later today at 4 o'clock Eastern, 3 o'clock local time. Law enforcement will be briefing the media with more details, we expect, and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds will be attending that briefing. Boris.

KEILAR: All right, Aaron Pellish, thank you. We'll be waiting for those details. Certainly, we think we'll be learning more there. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is about to leave for the Middle East in a multi-nation diplomatic push. It's actually his fourth trip. He has been heading there so often, his fourth trip to the region here since the attacks on October 7th by Hamas in Israel. This may be his most critical visit yet.

Today, the terror group ISIS claiming responsibility for the deadliest attack in Iran in nearly 45 years. Two explosions killing more than 80 people and injuring nearly 300 Wednesday at a memorial for military commander Qasem Soleimani.

SANCHEZ: It comes as Israel's defense minister tells U.S. officials that the window is closing for a diplomatic solution with Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon. Meantime, in Iraq, a drone strike today killed a commander of an Iran-backed militia that was operating in Baghdad. A defense official tells CNN that a member of an Iranian proxy group with, quote, U.S. blood on its hands was targeted. CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt joins us now. Alex, first, break down this claim from ISIS that they are responsible for the twin blasts in Iran.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Boris and Brianna. Well, after this attack happened yesterday, U.S. officials had told us that it had, all the hallmarks of an ISIS attack, both in terms of how it was carried out with the explosives and the high civilian death toll. And now we have this claim of responsibility by ISIS.

[14:05:09] They say that it was carried out by two suicide bombers using suicide vestments. In fact, they say that the bombers were brothers themselves. The statement by ISIS, this claim saying that it was directed at what they called polytheists near the grave of their dead leader, Qasem Soleimani, of course, Iran's most powerful military leader. It was the fourth anniversary of his death yesterday, and you had all these mourners gathering at his gravesite. But this was really a classic sectarian ISIS attack. This was a major target of opportunity with so many people gathered at Soleimani's gravesite, highly symbolic.

Directed by this Sunni terror group against the most powerful Shiite country in the region. Soleimani symbolized more than anybody, perhaps, the military power of Iran. He was backing and supporting Iranian-backed groups all across the region that, in fact, would often fight with ISIS and other affiliated groups in the region. So, this really does have all the hallmarks of an ISIS attack. The U.S. very quickly yesterday saying that the U.S. had no responsibility, and that Israel had no responsibility. Of course, Iran is always quick to blame Israel. But given the high tension in the region, the U.S. wanted to make clear that Israel did not have any responsibility here.

KEILAR: All right, Alex Marquardt, thank you for that report. Let's bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond, live for us from Tel Aviv. Jeremy, what more can you tell us about this warning from the Israeli Defense Minister on escalating tensions on the border with Lebanon?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there have been continued skirmishes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah forces on the Lebanese side of the border. And amid all of that, there has been an intense round of diplomacy, American diplomacy, aimed at trying to prevent those skirmishes from turning into a broader, wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, but also to try and search for a longer- term solution.

And that is indeed the message that Israeli officials delivered to Amos Hochstein, this envoy for President Biden, who arrived in Israel today for these meetings to try and de-escalate that situation. Yoav Galant, the Defense Minister, as well as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both telling Hochstein that, look, they want to try and find a diplomatic solution to prevent this situation from escalating further. But one way or the other, they will see the return of those 80,000 Israeli civilians who have had to be displaced from the northern part of Israel from that border with Lebanon to allow them to return to their homes and to have a situation where there are not these constant exchanges of fire.

Those 80,000 people have been bringing to bear a lot of pressure on the Israeli government to allow them to return to their homes, to allow them to return to their jobs and their economic activity in that area. But for now, that is impossible because of the fact that we are continuing to see not only these exchanges of fire, but also, of course, as Israel appears to have taken this targeted strike in the suburbs of Beirut against a senior Hamas leader in recent days, risking the possibility of some kind of escalation. For now, that escalation doesn't seem to be in the offing. We've seen

those regular exchanges of fire continue, but nothing broader. And so today, Yoav Galant, the defense minister, saying that the window of time, though, for that diplomacy to be able to take effect, to be able to achieve some kind of a longer-lasting security and peace across the border, that that window of time is closing. And Netanyahu telling Hochstein, according to the Israeli prime minister's office, that whether, through or whether through another way that those civilians will eventually return to that area, that Israel will reestablish some sense of security for those individuals. Of course, a lot of bluster there and very much hinting at the possibility of a military solution to this problem if diplomacy fails.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, live for us from Tel Aviv. Thank you so much. Let's take you now to the Pentagon with CNN's Natasha Bertrand, because Natasha, you're learning more about that U.S. drone strike that killed that Iranian-backed commander in Iraq.

NATASHA BERTRAND, NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Boris, so adding to all of these tensions that were just laid out there across the Middle East, the U.S. has confirmed, according to three defense officials, that the U.S. conducted a strike on a vehicle inside Baghdad that was carrying a commander of an Iran-backed militia group, as well as another member of that militia group, and both were killed, according to officials.

Now, this is really the second time in just over a week that the U.S. has conducted these kinds of strikes inside Iraq, targeting these Iran-backed militants. And the Iraqi government has expressed extreme displeasure with these U.S. strikes, saying that they violate Iraq's sovereignty. So, it's unclear at this time whether the U.S. consulted with the Iraqi government before carrying out this strike.

[14:10:09]

But it just shows you how determined the U.S. is to retaliate against all of the attacks we are seeing by these Iran-backed groups on U.S. and coalition forces across Iraq and Syria. Even despite the protestations from the Iraqi government, the U.S. has moved forward with the strike, saying that, quote, the U.S. is continuing to take action to protect our forces in Iraq and Syria by addressing the threats that they face.

Now, just to provide some context here, there have been over 115 attacks by these Iran-backed proxy militias across Iraq and Syria against U.S. and coalition forces just since October 17th, over the last two months or so. And these attacks really have shown no signs of abating. Just last week, the U.S. retaliated against an Iran-backed strike that hurt three U.S. service members and left one in critical condition. So, the U.S. now, of course, continuing to say that they are going to keep weighing these precision strikes, keep retaliating and trying to deter these groups from launching additional attacks in the future. But so far, those threats and those retaliations have not worked, guys. SANCHEZ: Yeah, we'll have to see if there's a further escalation. And Tasha Bertrand, thank you so much for the reporting. Still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, 11 days and counting until the Iowa caucuses. And we're now just hours away from back-to-back town halls with Governor Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. More on the battle. For second place.

KEILAR: Plus, can former President Trump be disqualified from running for president? He's urging the Supreme Court to settle the matter once and for all. Will the high court take the case and how quickly will this move? And Senate negotiators digging in on what to do at the U.S. southern border. Aren't lawmakers getting closer to a deal? What the House GOP is insisting be included and what they'll do if they don't get it.

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[14:15:09]

KEILAR: In 11 days, we will officially know the outcome of the first contest in the 2024 Republican primary campaign, the Iowa caucuses. Former President Trump maintaining a significant lead in the Hawkeye State. Recent polls showing him polling a significant majority of support. But Governor Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, they are working very hard trying to trim that margin. And tonight, they'll take center stage. At a pair of CNN town halls, taking questions straight from Iowa caucus goers and making their pitches face-to-face.

SANCHEZ: Let's go there live now with CNN's Steve Contorno. Steve, Haley and DeSantis are really laying into one another with just days left in the race. More so than attacking frontrunner Donald Trump. Break down the thinking there from these two campaigns.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris and Brianna, the thinking is that there are 11 days until the first Republicans are going to weigh in on this nominating fight. And we still don't have a clear alternative to Donald Trump. And there are still persuadable people at this point. And so, the hope is that they can, by going at each other, they might be able to get enough support to convince people that they are that alternative. And you're going to hear from some of those undecidable, undecided and persuadable Republicans tonight. They will have a chance to directly ask Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley some of their concerns.

And for Haley and DeSantis, there are competing goals to get out of tonight and out of Iowa in general. Ron DeSantis has staked a lot of his campaign on getting a strong outcome here. Nikki Haley, though, she has put a lot more effort into New Hampshire and doesn't necessarily need a big result next Monday in Iowa. In fact, she sort of said the quiet part out loud at a New Hampshire town hall yesterday. Take a listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HAYLEY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): We have an opportunity to get this right. And I know we'll get it right. And I trust you. I trust every single one of you. You know how to do this. You know Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it. You know that you continue to go. And then my sweet state of South Carolina brings it home. That's what we do. That's what we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: DeSantis took issue with that description of Iowa caucus goers. Listen to what he said this morning on an Iowa radio station.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON DESANTIS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): I think she's trying to provide an excuse for her not doing well. You know, her allies and her have spent huge amount of money here. A lot of this money is coming from liberal donors on Wall Street. And California. These are people that have supported liberal Democrats in the past. And they're gravitating to Nikki Haley because they know she's not going to change anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: DeSantis talked about the money spent in this race. It's been one hundred and fifteen million dollars in Iowa alone on ads. And a lot of them have been negatively against DeSantis from Nikki Haley's people and Trump's people. But DeSantis has been on the airways with some negative ads about Haley as well. Their super PACs have been spending quite a bit here. And that's not going to change over the next 11 days. Boris and Brianna.

SANCHEZ: Now, we look forward to hearing from both of them. Steve Contorno, thank you so much. Another friendly reminder. Governor Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are going to take questions directly from Iowa voters in back-to-back events tonight. The CNN Republican presidential town halls moderated by Kaitlan Collins and Aaron Burnett are live starting at 9 Eastern right here on CNN.

And as Trump's rivals go on offense in Iowa, the former president is launching a new legal offensive. He's asking the federal judge in his election subversion case to hold special counsel Jack Smith in contempt. The case is on hold pending appeals. So, Trump's defense lawyers argue that Smith has violated that pause by submitting more filings.

KEILAR: We have CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reed joining us now. Walk us through this latest move, Paula.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, there's no love lost between the special counsel's office and Trump's legal team. And here Trump's legal team is objecting to the fact that prosecutors continue to file motions and do things in this case. Even though it's on hold and I will say they're doing a lot. I mean, they worked right through the holidays. They were making filings. They're trying to limit defenses Trump can put on. They've also submitted discovery. You would think that some defense attorneys might think, OK, great, I'm going to get a preview of what you're up to. You're not going to get anything from us. That's not the way they see it. They see it as political. [14:19:59]

They're accusing the special counsel of trying to score cheap political points and turning the case into an arm of the Biden campaign by making these arguments, many of which are very critical of former President Trump. Now, Judge Tanya Chutkan, who oversees this case, she has put all substantive proceedings on hold. It's unclear how she's going to respond to this. She might just say, look, it's fine.

If they want to file things, I'm not going to make any decisions. We know, because Jack Smith has told us, that he's doing this because he wants to take this case to trial before November 2024.He hopes, even while this case is on pause, while they resolve larger constitutional questions in the Court of Appeals, he hopes that will be resolved in his favor. And when it's over, he wants to have everything lined up so he can push this forward as quickly as possible.

SANCHEZ: Meantime, on another legal front for the former president, he's looking for relief from the Supreme Court on that Colorado Supreme Court decision to remove him from the primary court. What kind of timeline are we looking at for a resolution?

REID: Well, the Supreme Court does what it wants, when it wants. But the one thing that everybody involved in this case agrees on is time is of the essence. You have both the Colorado Republican Party, Trump lawyers, and the voters who brought this challenge all agreeing that they would like a decision quickly. And particularly the voters who filed this challenge, they have asked the Supreme Court to make a decision on Friday at their regularly scheduled conference about whether they're going to take this up or not. And then how long does it take them to make a decision? See my previous comment, they do what they want, when they want.

There's an open question about whether they'll schedule oral argument. Notably, the Trump lawyers in their petition, they did not ask for oral argument. They asked for a quick review and for them to just overturn the Colorado Supreme Court. So, it's unclear how long it will take for them to hear this case, to consider it. And then what they decide, they could go 12 different ways. But let me tell you, this is certainly the biggest test of Chief Justice John Roberts' career.

I mean, these two petitions from the Colorado Republican Party and from Trump, they're arriving at a court that is, you know, they're still reeling from scandals, also some controversial decisions, including overturning Roe. So, he is going to be under enormous pressure, not just to take this case, but to try to build consensus and come up with some sort of narrow ruling that doesn't look partisan and also doesn't look like they're favoring Trump. It is an enormous task, but we don't know when they're going to tell us what they're doing. But, you know, that's just how they roll.

KEILAR: That's going to stick in my brain, the way you said it. You said that. They do what they want, when they want. (CROSSTALK)

REID: Story of my life. What is going to happen? What are they going to do?

KEILAR: Coda (ph), back to that. All right. Paula, thank you so much for taking us through that. Let's bring in former senior advisor to the 2016 Trump campaign, Jason Osborne, and former communications director for Vice President Harris, Jamal Simmons. Jason, none of these legal issues seem to have affected Trump's primary polling so far. He's really using a lot of this to his advantage. Is his campaign, or should it be worried, though, that it will have an effect on the General?

JASON OSBORNE, SENIOR ADVISER TO TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGNE: Well, for sure. I mean, I think for a couple of reasons. One is, how much money are they spending to actually defend themselves in these cases? And then two, like, when are we going to start seeing some movement in terms of judgments? And I don't know if we will see any of that before the election. There's enough going on right now in each of these cases that there's a little bit of truth that Trump can point to as being, you know, this is conspiratorial, that this is election interference. That its giving his base at least enough pause to say, you know, wait until everything is settle but right now we're going to stay with him.

SANCHEZ: Jason, staying with you, Iowa obviously in 11 days, New Hampshire Chris Sununu predicted that Nikki Hayley is going to shock everyone and procure second place there. Do you see that happening?

OSBORNE: Actually, I was just up in New Hampshire yesterday. Not actually for a campaign but it seems to me that she certainly got the momentum in New Hampshire. And her comments last night in her town hall debate weren't inaccurate, right. If you look at the last three caucus votes in Iowa, the winner there did not win in New Hampshire. I think it wasn't probably the best time to make that statement but I certainly see momentum going her way in New Hampshire. And I think in Iowa I still believe DeSantis has the organization on the ground to be able to pull off some pretty big numbers there, but certainly, I think Donald Trump is in the lead in both cases.

KEILAR: And Jamal, here we are just ahead of the third anniversary of January 6th. President Biden will be delivering a speech on American democracy. He's been running these ads that position Trump as a threat to democracy. You think that's the strongest opening argument for him?

JAMAL SIMMONS, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VP HARRIS: Its absolutely the strongest opening argument for the most part because it's the argument that Joe Biden made when he announced he was running for president way back in 2019. And one thing that we know about presidential candidates that often are successful is they tend to basically make the same argument throughout their career.

[14:25:19]

Think about Barack Obama. He gave a speech in 2004 at the Democratic Convention that was very similar to the remark that in the way he carried his presidency for the rest of the time he was in office. So, when you talk about hope and we talk about the democracy being at stake, this conversation about Donald Trump perhaps getting emoluments, perhaps some might call them bribes, is a very fundamental thing. When I was at the White House, I mean, we got so many trainings about what was acceptable, what was not acceptable, what you could take, what the gift limits were. Everybody was very conscious of this.

The president seemed to be not very conscious of it at all. And I have heard from people from outside the White House during the Trump years that people believed the president was very aware of who was staying in his hotels and who wasn't. So, it might not be that they were necessarily getting a full-on favor for staying in the hotel, but imagine if you did. If you didn't stay in the hotel and one of your opponents did, that you might not, it's sort of like a presidential tip jar. If you didn't give the bouncer 100 bucks when you're away in the door, you might not get a good seat.

SANCHEZ: We also wanted to ask about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She spoke with Dana Bash earlier today regarding the democracy argument. And I'm wondering from your perspective, Jamal, she says that that argument needs to be connected to kitchen table issues. How does the Biden camp do that exactly when so many people believe that the economy is working for them?

SIMMONS: Well, I think people will begin to see some things in the economy over the course of this year that are going to be different. For instance, for much of the 2021, 2022, 2022 perhaps, inflation was outpacing wages. Now we're seeing wages are outpacing inflation. So, people are going to have a little bit more money in their hands than they did before. We are seeing some targeted relief in terms of student loans. So, people are getting their student loans relieved. I just talked to somebody yesterday who had $100,000 plus relieved by President Biden and some of the targeted student loan relief. So, gas prices are also going down, right?

But it just takes time for these things to work their way through the system. And I think that's what the administration is trying to do. And in the advertising campaign, you're going to hear a lot more from people telling it in their own voices than having some politician tell you you're doing OK. You'll hear from one of your friends and neighbors that they're doing OK, and you probably are too.

KEILAR: Yeah. Jason, what do you think Biden's most effective, messaging against Trump is?

OSBORNE: Well, look, I think this election is going to come down, quite frankly, to the economy. I mean, there's no question about it. And I think to date, what we've seen from this administration and to what Jamal is saying is that people are telling us how they're doing individually. That doesn't necessarily work because the economy affects everybody individually, right? And so, if somebody else is telling the consumer that the economy is great, but they're not feeling it, then they're not going to believe it. And I think that dilutes the message that the administration is putting out.

But if what Jamal is saying is true and that people start feeling that they're able to spend a little bit more money or they're able to save a little bit more money and that it's cheaper, then I think they're going to start gravitating back towards Biden. And Trump needs to do, if he is the nominee, then he needs to confront that head on and go back to during his term how good the economy was.

SANCHEZ: Jason Osborne, Jamal Simmons, we have to leave the conversation there. Thank you both.

SIMMONS: I have to give you before we go. Just really one more piece, which is that democracy and abortion are going to also be on this ballot. And we saw in 2022, those were very compelling issues for the electorate.

SANCHEZ: All right. Jamal Simmons, Jason Osborne. Thanks again. Still plenty more news to come on NEWS CENTRAL. House Republicans threatening a government shutdown if their demands on the border are not met. What they're demanding as a budget fight heats up.

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