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Blizzard Freezes 2024 Field In Final Weekend Before Iowa Caucuses; Taiwan Voters Shrug Off China's Warnings And Re-Elect Ruling Party; Hamas-Run Gaza Health Ministry: Palestinian Death Toll Now 23,800-Plus; U.S. Launches Second Round Of Attacks On Houthi Targets; Thousands March On The Nation's Capital In Pro-Gaza Rally; Texas Responds To Supreme Court Filing After Blocking Access To Part of Southern Border. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired January 13, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[12:59:57]

MARK TALLEY, SON OF VICTIM GERALDINE TALLEY: I thought about my mom a lot, mainly those first six months. I still have a lot of, you know, just a lot of dreams in which I'm crying in the dream.

Most of my emotions that when I dream, and I see her, think about her. You know, smell. I've still got -- I took two clothes of hers, and I can still smell her scent. That's when I really think about it the most.

As far as I concerned. I think he is getting off the hook getting the death penalty. Because he won't get that, that suffering that I want. As long as I'm alive, whether God gives me 20, 30, or 60 years, I want to be able to see him to suffer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is also a hearing where the government indicated its intent to pursue the death penalty. Many, many family members were in that hearing. The defendant was not. But many family members saying that they will be in court every day to watch this process play out.

The next court date is February 2nd. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again, everyone. And thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And we're just two days away now from the Iowa caucuses, which will give us our first results in the 2024 presidential election cycle.

But blizzard conditions are wreaking havoc on the campaign trail and wind chills are dropping to a bone chilling 45 degrees below zero. Much of Iowa is now under a blizzard warning. And that's putting a major chill on what's typically a fiery final blitz for campaigns.

Candidates are scaling back in person events across the Hawkeye State even as they try to lure those still undecided voters. CNN's Jeff Zeleny, Kristen Holmes, and Jessica Dean are all tracking the latest forest on the campaign trail. Jeff, let's begin with you outside in the very snowy conditions. So, how are the campaign's handling all of this?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it would be a beautiful day here in snowy Iowa. It's actually quite pretty, but it's the wind, the dangerously cold wind. You can just feel it as it sort of hits your face. That is what is a concern to people.

If you have to be outside for a long period of time. That certainly is a worry. And the reason is for those caucuses on Monday night, it's going to be even colder then.

So, as voters potentially have to wait in line to go into a caucus site, the campaigns are trying a variety of things to try and encourage their supporters to come out to those caucus sites on Monday evening.

The question hanging over this race, though, aside from the weather is, is the campaign still frozen in place? By that, I mean, is Donald Trump still the commanding leader in this race? And are Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis still fighting for second place?

We are going to get a glimpse of a potential answer to that, a snapshot of that in tonight's Des Moines Register Iowa poll. That is going to be released, the final look at the race before the caucuses on Monday. Historically, that has been a pretty good indicator of where things stand.

So, for now, the former president, he canceled his events today in Iowa he'll be flying in later. But Nikki Haley is on the campaign trail in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She had this to say to Iowans about the importance of their choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, thank you for coming out on this really cold snowy day, you know, this comes down to a choice. It's what's the direction that you want the country to go to. And let's kind of look at what you've got. You've got the opportunity to look back at the past and continue. Or go forward and start new.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, Fredricka, perhaps, one of the upsides to this whether, most Iowans are indoors, perhaps watching television. A record setting $123 million has been spent on ads in Iowa alone by all of the campaigns and super PACs.

So, it certainly gives us some people a little more time around their television sets in these final days before the Iowa caucuses. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeff, thank you so much.

Kristen Holmes, let's go to you. You're outside of former President Trump's headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa. This was supposed to be, you know, his final blitz of the state. Now, it's down to one event, what's his message?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So, the final closing message is one, tempering expectations; and two, trying to make sure everybody gets out to caucus.

One of the big things that his team had done was target first time caucus goers. This was an effort to expand the electorate in favor of Donald Trump. They use years of data, people who had showed some kind of support for Donald Trump, whether it be in fundraising or gone to an event, but had never caucus.

Now, they are trying to bring those people out to caucus. The big question is will it work? And will it work particularly under these conditions?

Now, I had been told by senior advisors for quite some time that they were trying to temper expectations that those polls of 30 points, they were not quite sure the margins were that big. Do they still think that Donald Trump is going to win? Yes.

[13:05:01]

But they are saying that they believe that anything over 12 points would be a historic win, which is true given the history, actually, the largest margin someone has ever won by is 12 points.

And they were trying to say that, that was what they wanted to do.

But of course, it's hard when in every poll, it shows 30 percent. The other issue with those poll numbers, they are worried that, that could deter people from coming out.

Saying, oh, Donald Trump already has so much support, they don't need me as well.

Again, these were things they were thinking about before they even saw this forecast. But, of course, this is adding to all of that. So, the big question is, how can he, or if he can actually turn people out? And particularly, because he has not -- he has had to cancel three of four events that he was meant to hold?

Seeing how this is going to play out, obviously, the seems -- it seems to be a very unique situation that we're experiencing this weekend in Iowa.

WHITFIELD: Unique indeed. All right. Thank you so much, Kristen.

Let's go to you, Jessica Dean. You're following Governor Ron DeSantis's campaign. He's already held his first event of the day, what did he say?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, perhaps, nobody has more on the line here in Iowa than Governor Ron DeSantis. He has staked so much on this state. And their whole game plan is to allow Iowa to launch him into this primary.

And so, they are looking to Monday for a very strong second place. Obviously, they want to win. But they -- if they don't win, they want to come in very close to Donald Trump to really make the case that DeSantis is the alternative. That it's not Nikki Haley, who is nipping at his heels and has had a lot of momentum as we head into this final stretch.

So, to that end, we are seeing DeSantis all across the state of Iowa. We're also anticipating it for tomorrow. He has a number of events today in person. He had to cancel one later tonight.

But, as you mentioned, he's already had one today. I'll let you listen to what he said to supporters there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDATE: I'm a Florida boy, born and bred. And yet, here I am in negative temperatures, I am not going to be canceled. If people are willing to come out and hear from me, I'm going to show up all the way until the end of this caucus. You're going to see me everywhere.

I can tell you this, if you're willing to go out there, and you're willing to brave the elements on a cold, windy, snowy January night for me, and do that for a few hours, I'll fight for you for the next eight years, and we will turn this country around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And you heard him there say you're going to see me everywhere. If you talk to people supporting DeSantis, and around his campaign, they really hone in on the fact that he has spent a lot of time here. Probably more -- certainly more than Donald Trump more than Nikki Haley. He's going to all 99 counties, the full Grassley, and a nod to Senator Chuck Grassley here.

He has the support of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. Bob Vander Plaats, who is representative of a lot of evangelical voters here in Iowa that the DeSantis campaign really believes he is -- he will perform well within. They are hoping to really peel off that support from Donald Trump.

And then, it comes down to Monday, as Jeff really laid out and the weather situation here Fredricka, it is going to be about turnout and organization. Something that's always key in Iowa caucuses because you don't just go in and check a ballot, you have to show up, you're there for a while.

You may have to drive a long way if you live in a county where there's only a couple of caucus sites. So, it takes a lot of effort. And that requires organization on the part of the campaigns. And that's where Ron DeSantis and the super PAC aligned with him, Never Back Down, feel like they have the upper hand.

They say that they have an organization that is unparalleled. They've been here for months, they've spent a tremendous amount of money, and time, knocking on doors, getting precinct captains.

They are hoping that, that pays off on Monday, and they're hoping certainly with this weather, which is this new factor in all of this, that, that organization will carry them through for a strong finish on Monday. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. We are -- we are soon to find out.

All right, Jessica Dean, Kristen Holmes, and Jeff Zeleny, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

All right. Let's talk more about all of this. The twists and the turns of the campaign trail with senior staff editor for The New York Times Opinion, David Swerdlick.

All right. David, good to see you. So, should it be presumed that, you know Trump will win the Iowa caucuses? You know, or does this weather that we're seeing in the Hawkeye State now make it a toss-up?

DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Good morning, Fred, from Las Vegas, where it is chilly, but nowhere near as cold as it is in Iowa?

No, I think we can assume that the former president is going to win. He is almost certainly going to win with that commandingly, that he has in polls. This is a race for second place right now. And as all of our colleagues have said, about how close DeSantis and Haley can come to Trump to propel them into Iowa.

The races between Trump -- polite Trump, and let's return to Reagan. That's Governor Haley. And then, of course, Vivek Ramaswamy.

So, we have this race where everyone is trying in a position themselves for an advantage going into these next states.

[13:10:04]

Right now, Trump has this commanding lead in Iowa. But if you can turn the page to New Hampshire, Governor Haley is about 30percent, whereas, the former president is about 40 percent. So, she's hoping especially to propel herself into a competitive race with the front runner.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it looks like, at least, according to polling, it is very tight. And then, of course, Jeff, reminded us that this evening, there is going to be a new Iowa polling and that will give us perhaps another indicator.

SWERDLICK: Right.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, meantime, for Trump, you know, he is been back and forth from the courtroom to the campaign trail. You know, he has used his legal cases, you know, to help raise money and propel his campaign messaging.

Has that been compelling, particularly for Iowa voters? SWERDLICK: I don't think so. I think, there is a 30 to 35, to maybe even 40 percent of the overall electorate, and probably the majority of the Republican electorate, that no matter what happens in these various legal cases with former President Trump, it's not going to deter them from supporting him.

I think it will matter in terms of whether or not other Republican primary voters feel like it's worth coming out in the snow to vote for Governor DeSantis or Governor Haley, whether or not in New Hampshire where people can cross party lines to vote in the primary, people will come out to support particularly Governor Haley, and it will matter in the general election with President Biden.

But right now, President Trump commands the Republican Party, I think it could be a distraction for him, but I don't think it's going to erode the base of his support.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's zero in on that second-place finish. You know, if Trump is indeed, you know, in the lead, how important is that second place, finish for a DeSantis or Haley?

SWERDLICK: So, Fred, my view is that if Governor Haley had not had that gaffe in December, where she made those comments about the Civil War and slavery or non-comments, if you will, I think her momentum coming in from the fall, coming in from some strong debates would have basically put Governor DeSantis away.

But because she had that gaffe, because she had to do clean up on Iowa Seven. And because Governor DeSantis had a strong debate on CNN the other night this past week, I think now it's a much more open question about who comes in second in Iowa, and then who can parlay that into a strong New Hampshire performance?

Again, I think ultimately, we're talking about Trump being the nominee, but both DeSantis is in his mid-40s, and Governor Haley is in her early 50s. Both of them can eye toward 2028 if they finish strong year, despite not winning.

WHITFIELD: All right, and then, there's a Vivek Ramaswamy, he's still in it. And, you know, says that the polls don't reflect the support that he is seeing on the ground.

Just this week, rather, he picked up three endorsements from Iowa legislators. How does Ramaswamy need to finish in Iowa? Is he a factor in this race?

SWERDLICK: He is a factor in this sense. I think the fact that there is another person who uses Trump-style rhetoric, and who uses Trump's sort of fingering your chest aggressiveness, reinforces the idea that that's the way Republicans can politic now.

I also think that he's a very good campaigner, even if sometimes his message winds up offending a broad part of the electorate. He knows how to get his point across.

He is not going to win, at least, in my view, but I don't think we've heard the last of Ramaswamy once he gets out of this race, assuming he does get out of this race, whether that's after a few more states or after a few more debates or what have you.

I think he could run for Senate. I think he could be in a future Trump administration if there's a future Trump administration, and I think he can have a talk show.

I mean, he is talented, even if he hasn't caught on right now.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Swerdlick, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much. And Las Vegas, not quite balmy.

(CROSSTALK)

SWERDLICK: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: But, you know, it's a little chilly, not like Iowa, though.

All right, thanks so much.

All right. One week before New Hampshire goes to the polls, Ron DeSantis makes his case and takes questions directly from voters. Wolf Blitzer moderates. This "CNN PRESIDENTIAL TOWN HALL", airs live from New Hampshire, Tuesday night, 9:00 Eastern Time.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, despite warnings by China that their re-election would increase the risk of conflict, Taiwan's ruling party wins a historic third consecutive presidential election.

[13:14:35]

How China's responding to the results, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Voters in Taiwan shrugged off warnings from China, and reelected the ruling DPP for a historic third consecutive presidential term. It's a vote that could have major consequences for U.S. relations with China.

The island's president-elect, vowing to protect Taiwan from threats and intimidation from China. Taiwan's opposition party, which is seen as more conciliatory to China did make important gains in the vote.

Chinese leaders had warned that reelecting the ruling party could have serious consequences for the country.

Let me bring in now Jamie Metzl, he is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. He is also a former National Security Council staff member in the Clinton administration, and the founder of One Shared World.

Great to see you, Jamie. So, what's the message in your view that voters gained from Taiwan?

JAMIE METZL, FORMER MEMBER, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Well, this is a huge victory for Taiwanese democracy, which is why the Chinese Communist Party is so afraid. The thing that the Chinese Communist Party fears most is empowered citizens. Their own citizens, the empowered to citizens of Taiwan and even of Hong Kong.

[13:20:03]

And the voters of Taiwan are highly educated, fully aware of the issues. They knew the threat that China posed. They went to the polls at that huge numbers, way beyond the voter turnout we have here in the United States. And they gave a message that one, Taiwanese democracy is here to stay; and two, that the path of the Democratic Progressive Party, the DPP is that right now, the ascendance political view in Taiwan, and that is not supporting independence, but is recognizing that Taiwan has its unique historic cultural identity, its unique democracy, and it doesn't want to be under the thumb of China.

And Taiwanese voters looked at what China has done in Hong Kong, where they violated all of their agreements, and have essentially destroyed civil society and democracy in Hong Kong, and the people of Taiwan resoundingly don't want that.

WHITFIELD: And listen to what one voter told CNN's Will Ripley about his concerns in this election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the Democratic Progressive Party doesn't change the direction, I think that war could happen in our generation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A pretty ominous concern there. What would your concerns be?

METZL: Well, that's one voter I'm sure there are lots of voters in Taiwan as an active democracy with lots of different views. The DPP has been extremely careful to try to find the right balance between promoting Taiwan's unique identity and democracy, and trying at least to not cross red lines of the Chinese government.

But the problem is, that the Chinese government keeps moving the red lines, and the Chinese government has this stated goal of basically taking control of Taiwan. And although the Chinese government says that China has a historic claim on Taiwan, China's claim is really tenuous at best.

Since 1895, Taiwan has been ruled from Beijing for a total of four years. In that same period, India was ruled by London for 52 years. So, by any standard of international law, Beijing's claim on Taiwan, is tenuous at best.

It's more equivalent to Russia's claims on Ukraine. And as we're seeing in Ukraine, if the Russians have this assertion, and are trying to implement it by force, then, the Ukrainians like the Taiwanese, perhaps, in the future will have no alternative but to resist.

But the DPP and the KMT, for that matter, are doing their best to try to avoid war, which certainly isn't in anybody's interest.

WHITFIELD: I mean, still, China has warned of consequences if the ruling party were to be reelected. And we just heard them reiterate their position that Taiwan is part of China. So, are you still concerned about, you know, the road ahead?

METZL: We should all be concerned. China is preparing for a war. Xi Jinping has set his legitimacy on essentially the capture of Taiwan and they're building a full military with the goal of doing it.

So, absolutely, everybody should be concerned. Everyone should be concerned, regardless of the outcome of these elections.

WHITFIELD: How might this further complicate relations between the U.S. and China in your view?

METZL: Well, China is going to escalate. We know they are going there -- right now, every day, China has infractions into Taiwanese air defense zones. China is trying to push the envelope, and they're trying to push the United States.

The United States, however, has an interest in supporting our friends in Taiwan, supporting Taiwanese democracy, making sure that the Taiwanese like the Ukrainians have the arms and the ability to defend themselves against invasion by this hostile power.

And the United States needs to make clear that we stand by our friends and allies in Taiwan.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jamie Metzl. Great to see you. Thank you so much.

METZL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, a brutal blast of arctic air is spreading through much of the U.S. over 250 daily cold records in the next couple of days.

[13:24:41]

We'll bring you the latest forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Some pretty wicked weather is hitting most of the country this weekend. Millions from California to Maine are under winter alerts right now. Dangerous coastal flooding and brutal cold are pounding New England today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice over): I mean, just listen to that wind. And people in parts of the Midwest are dealing with vicious blizzard conditions right now, and it comes on the heels of a powerful storm that hit much of the country earlier this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (on camera): Meteorologist Elisa Raffa joining me live from the CNN Weather Center with the very latest. Elisa, when might there be a break from all of this weather.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So, the shower part of this, the snow and rain showers are trying to exit. But that arctic cold that comes in behind it is going to last as we go into the work week.

You can see where we have some of that lake effect snow that's pumping for some of the Great Lakes behind this as the cold air rushes in.

A couple of showers left over in New England. You've got that flood threat that continues for a lot of the rivers in New England, because not only did we just get a couple more inches of rain, but they're still saturated from all the last storms that we've gotten in the last two to three weeks. So, that is a concern as well.

[13:30:02]

Here's the remaining blizzard for parts of Iowa. We're not only getting too much more snow today, we have a ground blizzard today because you still have wind gusts of 45 miles per hour that's blowing around the snow.

And the winter storm watch, from Arkansas to Tennessee, because as the cold air comes in, you can get several inches of snow in parts of the south.

Windchill warnings are now in effect for windchills up to 45 degrees below zero. Incredibly dangerous windchills where you can get frostbite in 10 minutes or less. The Arctic blast that's coming in will find that.

And 55 million people, about 17 percent of the lower 48 will have temperatures below zero, 80 percent will be below freezing as we go through the next couple of days.

So many records, daily high temperatures and low temperatures could be some of the coldest for those days on record. About 250 of them could fall from the high plains down into Texas.

This is a look at the temperature and windchill right now. Windchill down to minus 25 in Des Moines. Minus 54 up in North Dakota.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Oh, my gosh.

RAFFA: And going through the next couple of days, we'll continue to find subzero temperatures on the overnight.

WHITFIELD: I can't imagine anything functioning outside with temperatures like that. It's just extraordinary.

Elisa Raffa, thank you so much.

All right. The U.S. has launched a second round of attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen. Is it enough to stop attacks in the Red Sea? We'll go live to the region next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:48]

WHITFIELD: Israeli forces continue to attack sites in Gaza as its war on Hamas enters its fourth month. Smoke could be seen billowing from the Gaza Strip following the latest round of strikes. Israeli forces say they attacked two sites in central Gaza used by militants to fire rockets at Israel.

This latest attack comes as the Hamas-run Health Ministry says nearly 24,000 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting began in October.

The man in charge of the U.N. relief operations in Gaza is describing scenes of utter horror in northern Gaza with corpses left on streets and people starving.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv for us.

Nic, these new numbers on the death toll in Gaza comes as Israel is denying accusations of genocide at the top U.N. court.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, and this report that you were just referencing there from Martin Griffith, the top U.N. official for coordinating emergency humanitarian relief, that was a letter he wrote to the U.N. secretary-general.

It's sort of a 100 days of this conflict update, if you will. He says 134 U.N. staff have been killed, 1.9 million Gazans displaced from their homes. That's 85 percent of the people, he said.

But the really damning part is the part that you mentioned, where the U.N. workers in the north have seen bodies on the street, people in near starving conditions, people who want to return to homes -- return home but many of those homes are destroyed.

Another U.N. report, again, marking this 100 days, says that the whole neighborhoods have been destroyed. That cultural buildings, mosques, historic buildings centuries old have all been destroyed. Those cultural points of reference for the community there have all been lost.

It is a very unsettling picture that Martin Griffith's report paints, particularly for the potential of what may come.

He talks about the normal population of Rafah along the border with Egypt, inside Gaza, of course, about 280,000 people. He said, there is an additional one million displaced people there.

If the fighting spreads there, that will put huge pressure on that border to allow people to get out of the way of the danger.

So the U.N. here is really laying out, I think, the most -- a very, very strong and damning account of the situation in Gaza so far. WHITFIELD: All of this is coming as the U.S. carried out a second

round of strikes overnight against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. What kind of concerns, you know, does this seem to raise?

ROBERTSON: It raises concerns for the U.S. and the U.K.'s regional partners, and particularly, Saudi Arabia, who essentially fought an eight-year war against the Houthis.

They've backed the internationally recognized government in Yemen who were fighting a civil war on the ground.

Of course, it sort of shows the experience that the Saudis had. Their Air Force was backed by the United States with intelligence, backed by refueling aircraft, as well, for a long time in the fight.

And for many, many years, there were airstrikes against Houthi targets on the ground, and the Houthis were able to keep fighting.

I think in this environment right now, if the United States and the U.K. and the others in the coalition get drawn into a longer conflict, that will enable the Houthis' messaging.

That's also Iran's messaging, that the United States is, in essence, supporting Israel and against the people of Gaza because the Houthis say that their actions are in support of Gaza.

That is a very negative and destabilizing message for the United States and its Arab partners in the region, again, particularly Saudi Arabia.

The war, this conflict that's beginning could easily spread into Saudi Arabia and hit their domestic interests.

[14:39:59]

Of course, the Houthis, for right now, I think the world is watching them to see if they strike back. I think at the moment, the assessment is it is not "if" but "when."

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, here in the U.S., thousands of people are marching in Washington, D.C., right now for a pro-Gaza rally. A large crowd has gathered at Washington's Freedom Plaza for a Palestinian solidarity rally that organizers are calling the March for Gaza.

CNN's Gabe Cohen is there for us.

Gabe, what more can you tell us about the event?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It hasn't even started yet, and yet there is a massive crowd already gathered here. You can see behind me in Freedom Plaza, awaiting speeches on that stage just down the way.

Look, we're a few blocks from the White House. And as we pan over, you can see the crowd actually extends down onto Pennsylvania Avenue. There's so many people, they can't all fit here in Freedom Plaza.

Look, organizers have bused in thousands of people from a couple dozen -- (TECHNICAL PROBLEM). Fred, the crowd size, what it looked like here just over two months ago at another massive rally in early November.

And the message, frankly, over those past two months really hasn't changed. The people here calling for a permanent ceasefire and trying to put political pressure on the Biden administration to call on Israel to end its military effort in Gaza.

Look, I spoke with a young woman a little bit earlier, a Palestinian- American woman, who said she has lost family members in Gaza.

She voted for President Biden back in 2020, but she says 2024 is a different case because of what she has seen and that unequivocal support from the Biden administration for Israel, she's not going to vote for Biden, she says, in 2024.

Now, the Biden administration has said they are listening to progressives who are calling for a ceasefire, who want more support for Gaza.

But look, I spoke with a Biden staffer earlier today. There is a group of them here that are part of this ceasefire effort. She told me she doesn't feel like the Biden administration is listening.

But they also believe that springing a massive crowd like this to the district, that gets a lot of attention.

We know people are expected to march to the White House, this crowd, around 3:30. But that's after the program, Fred, which is set to start, I should say, any minute.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and the White House being only a couple blocks away there from Freedom Plaza.

Gabe Cohen, thank you so much.

All right, straight ahead, President Biden says he is prepared to make significant alterations to deal with the border crisis. The very latest next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:09]

WHITFIELD: All right, turning to the southern border, the standoff between Texas and the White House is moving to court. The state says it is working promptly to give U.S. Border Patrol access to land it blocked with barriers.

The state seized a park that U.S. Border Patrol agents had used as a holding area for migrants. This is in response to a Supreme Court filing by the Biden administration asking the high court to intervene.

I'd like to bring in Priscilla Alvarez in Washington, D.C., and Rafael Romo here in Atlanta.

Let's start with Priscilla in Washington in front of the White House.

What is the reaction from the Biden administration?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the White House has condemned the Texas governor's actions on the U.S.-Texas border -- the Texas-Mexico border and saying that this is, quote, "extreme political stunts."

Now this is part of an ongoing dispute between the Texas governor and President Biden over the handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. Since the start of the Biden administration, the Texas governor slammed the president's immigration policies and taken actions as an affront to the policies.

And this latest action on the Texas-Mexico border this past week, where the Texas governor blocked part of the border and Border Patrol from accessing it, really marked an escalation and an unprecedented one.

Now, as you mentioned there, the Department of Justice went to the Supreme Court asking for them to intervene because, they said, Texas was blocking Border Patrol from its federal enforcement duties.

And saying the Supreme Court needed to intervene. And it backed up the point that they should do so in a timely manner.

But the president, of course, has been dealing with this for years. There has been an influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border now for years. Again, as there is record migration across the western hemisphere.

And he is trying to navigate the politics of all of this, including Republican pressure to do more and to take executive actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have been looking for fundamental change on the border for a long time, a long time, a long time. And so I'll let the negotiations play out -- (INAUDIBLE)

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now it's unclear what alterations the president was talking about there. He has repeatedly said he is open to compromise on the U.S.-Mexico border.

There is ongoing negotiations on Capitol Hill. And the Senate is trying to reach some sort of consensus on changes.

But what is clear, at least, is that this is a political liability for this White House. This all remains a challenge for them as they move forward. WHITFIELD: Yes, a big challenge.

Priscilla Alvarez, at the White House, thank you so much.

Let's bring in now Rafael Romo.

What is the reaction from the border?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we reached out to Rolando Salinas, the mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas, and he said that they were taken by surprise by the decision by state authorities to take over that city park.

[13:50:08]

Because the situation at the border has changed dramatically. When we were at the border less than three weeks ago, as many as thousands of immigrants were coming in seeking asylum at that very precise location. Now, the figure is just figure is just a few hundred.

Now that the number has plummeted to that amount, the situation has changed. But the asylum crisis in America is proving very costly for cities across the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO (voice-over): A small boy's abandoned shoe, a jacket stuck in barbed wire, a pile of recently discarded clothes. Along the Rio Grande, not far from Eagle Pass, Texas, signs of human presence are everywhere.

This 38-year-old Honduran mother traveling with her 3-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter said the reasons for crossing are more powerful than the measures intended to stop them.

SILVIA DEL CARMEN FLORES, HONDURAN MIGRANT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ROMO: She says she decided to leave Honduras after her daughter was kidnapped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This crisis has spiraled way out of control and we are at the point of no return.

ROMO: A local law enforcement official says an influx of about 1,000 migrants a day in December was way more than they could handle at Eagle Pass, Texas, a town of less than 30,000 at the border with Mexico.

TOM SCHMERBER, SHERIFF, MAVERICK COUNTY, TEXAS, SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We're suffering because we don't have the manpower to take care of what we call the local business, the criminal elements, and then the immigration problem.

ROMO: New York and Chicago have made headlines because of the resources and money they've had to divert towards care for asylum seekers transported to them from Texas.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK): We talk about $12 billion in addition to what we already need to run this city.

ROMO: But the impact is also being felt in smaller cities. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has granted nearly $12 million in funding to Atlanta since 2022 to offset costs associated with migrant arrivals.

Maricopa County, where the city of Phoenix is located, allocated $5 million last May in funding for nonprofit agencies serving refugees.

The cost of sheltering asylum seekers in Pima County, Arizona, has been more than $65 million since 2020.

Denver spent over $33 million between December 2022 and the same month last year to shelter more than 32,000 asylum seekers. And the city is projecting a cost of $180 million for 2024 if arrivals continue at the current rate.

And more migrants are now underway to some of these cities, including Marcelly Giraldo --

MARCELLY GIRALDO, COLUMBIAN MIGRANT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ROMO: -- a 33-year-old domestic worker from Colombia who says she risked everything in hopes of giving her only daughter a better life.

We witnessed an emotional reunion, a family of Cubans who hadn't seen each other for five years. Two sisters who risked everything for the American dream.

MILALDIA DUARTE FELIPE, CUBAN MIGRANT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ROMO: She told us they were kidnapped in Mexico. Her family had to pay ransom only to be robbed again shortly after being released. Now they have nothing but the support of their family.

Her motivation? Her 7-year-old son, her only child she's hoping to bring to America once her asylum request, she hopes, is approved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO: And, Fred, the cost of sheltering asylum seekers that we included in our report come from official documents from the federal government and also directly from local officials that we reached out to.

But the reality is that those costs don't include the money being spent by charities, by local organizations, and also the families of these new arrivals. It is very, very costly.

WHITFIELD: Yes, a huge amount of resources needed.

All right, thank you so much, Rafael Romo. Appreciate that.

And Priscilla Alvarez also.

[13:54:05]

All right, take a look at this. Live pictures right now, Des Moines, Iowa, where it's expected to be the coldest Iowa caucus ever. Live to the state capital in minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, in Vermont, released police body cam shows the heroic rescue of an 8-year-old. It had a happy ending, thank goodness.

But a warning that some might find this video disturbing.

The young girl nearly drowned in an iced-over pond last month while playing with her siblings. A state trooper plunged into the freezing water to pull her out -- unbelievable -- after the homeowner called for help. Her sister also fell in and was rescued minutes earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's making noise.

(CRYING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you grab an arm?

Let's bring her over there. Let's bring her closer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, grab her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. I've got you. Come on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. Unbelievable close call. Thankfully, both girls are doing fine. The troopers involved were recommended for the agency's lifesaving award.

And then, a family's visit to a scenic landmark in Michigan almost ended in tragedy when their adventurous dog fell from a 60-foot cliff near Lake Superior.

[13:59:57]

Dancer -- that's the dog's name, 3-year-old dog -- and her family were on a walk when she got off her leash and then tumbled down the cliff right onto a ledge.

Her owners searched for hours, but then couldn't find her in the dark and assumed the worst.