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Historic Cold Threatens To Freeze Final Sprint To Iowa Caucuses; "No Labels" Faces Pressure To Reveal Donor List; Ninety-Plus Million Under Wind Chill Alerts This Weekend; Former NFL QB: This Weather Is Unsafe For The Fans And Players; Taiwan Voters Re-Elect Ruling DPP Party For Third Term. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 13, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:01:13]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening. We begin the hour with historic cold temperatures threatening to put the Republican race in a deep freeze with just two days left until the Iowa caucuses. A blizzard force campaigns to cancel events throughout the week. Des Moines snowiest seven day stretch since 1942. While most of the candidates spent the week on the ground with caucus goers, the frontrunner was spending much of his time in court railing against the judge in his New York civil fraud trial.

Tonight, Donald Trump canceled both his in-person rallies, shifting to a virtual town hall beginning in the next hour. His Republican rivals have been mocking him for relying on MAGA surrogates just days before the Iowa caucuses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON DESANTIS, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're showing up. I mean, Donald Trump, I guess, has phoned it in. He's just going to be hanging out down in Mar-a-Lago. I'm sure it's probably 75 degrees there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Monday is set to be the coldest Iowa caucus in history, leading the candidates to downplay expectations. Yesterday, the Trump campaign argued that while weather may affect turnout, quote, "a win is still a win." The former president is warning his supporters against complacency with his commanding lead in the polls. He's also arguing that severe weather will play to his advantage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Your night's going to be pretty cold next week in nine days, eight days. So you just have to put on that warm coat and get out there. I said it to one of our people and they said, oh, that's good news. I said, why is it good? Because their people don't have the enthusiasm to vote and my people will walk on glass. They don't care, right? (END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Our Kristen Holmes is in Des Moines right now. Kristen, what are you hearing from your sources inside the Trump campaign. I should know to our viewers, we just put it up on screen, it is negative seven degrees where you are in Des Moines. I'll stop talking so you can get through this quicker. What can you tell us?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it is very cold, Jim. I've got a little gust of snow just now in my face and it is not pleasant. But we are waiting to hear from former President Trump. He's doing a kind of a video rally from a hotel in Iowa tonight. It is not something that is open press. It's just going to be something that is streamed.

But what we are hearing from his team is that they are waiting to hear -- to see that Des Moines register poll that's coming out later tonight. They had seen some internal polling that showed Nikki Haley pulling up not ahead of Donald Trump. They still have him leading by quite a big margin, but on the rise. They want to see what her momentum looks like as we head into the caucuses or just days out now.

And remember, we talk about this margin. We've heard from these advisors, as you noted, really tempering expectations. I had actually heard before we even got to the point where we were in these negative digit degree weather that they were trying to manage expectations. They did not believe that the margins were quite 30 points. They do believe he's leading. They do believe he's going to win. But they continue to say that anything above 12 points would be historic. Anything above twelve points would be something that they would consider a major win.

But you have to remember, it's not just about winning. Obviously, a win is a win, but it's also about momentum. They want to build up their momentum going into New Hampshire. And they also want to curb Nikki Haley's momentum going into New Hampshire.

They have seen her rising in the polls there. And we know that it's something that his campaign is concerned about. Between the super PAC and the campaign, they're spending $4.5 million already in New Hampshire on advertisements hitting Nikki Haley, particularly on immigration. They also just had an ad coming out on Social Security issues that they believe are critical in New Hampshire.

Now, Jim, I do want to give you a little bit of an update, because last hour we talked about what we saw from Donald Trump's social media, which was him going after Vivek Ramaswamy directly for the first time, essentially calling him disingenuous, attacking him. Ramaswamy, as we know, has not gone after Trump. He has been soft gloved with him.

[19:05:01]

I know that from senior advisors that they've met several times, this was a blatant attack. And I am told by his advisors that it is not because of anything that they're seeing in the polls but instead because of a tweet that Ramaswamy sent out of him standing with supporters in shirts that said, free Trump, vote Vivek, with pictures of Donald Trump on them.

Trump was shown that tweet and obviously did not like it. They also didn't like the comments that Vivek Ramaswamy made recently on NBC. They said that he's been issuing kind of slights at the former president they believe and they thought that these t-shirts took it too far.

So clearly again every vote is going to count. This is a really critical time and as we continue to say while they do believe Donald Trump is going to win, it is all about the margins and they want the largest margin of victory that they can get coming out of this state as they set the tone for primary caucus season.

All right, Chris, and it sounds like the former president, you know, I mean, typically in a normal campaign, the candidates would be going after one another. And it has been very kid gloves with respect to some of these rivals going after the former president. When he's taking real punches, I guess he doesn't like it so much. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.

For more analysis, let's bring in our panel of guests. Joining me now is CNN Senior Political Commentator and former Adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod, and CNN Senior Political Commentator and former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings.

Scott, who do you think this unholy weather is helping heading into these caucuses? I could hazard a guess, but what do you think?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think the weather affects everybody equally. I don't think it terribly advantages anyone or disadvantages anyone. I would just say, though, we have seen over the years Donald Trump's people stand in line when it's hot, stand in line when it's cold, stand in line in the pouring rain. And that was just to go watch something. Now this is a chance for them to go do something. And so I suspect that Trump people feel pretty good about the intensity of the loyalty of their voters.

So I don't -- I don't really see this as necessarily disadvantaging one over the other. I see it as an equal opportunity disadvantage, which means intensity is really what I'm looking at. And I think -- I think Trump's people are the most intense in the election right now.

ACOSTA: Yeah, David, I mean, you worked for Barack Obama, who pulled off that stunning win in Iowa back in 2008, really catapulted him on his way to the nomination. And Iowa is known for these wild and crazy sorts of upsets and results that the pundits and the polls maybe weren't anticipating. Could we see a situation where Trump doesn't pull off a huge win here? Goes on kind of limping to New Hampshire, where he's waiting on Nikki Haley, and potentially she could pull off a win there, really could change the dynamic of the race. What do you think?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, anything's possible, I suppose. But by the end of that campaign in 2008, the final register poll had Barack Obama winning that race. It's not like these races turn around. Trump has a very sizable lead.

And I understand his team wanting to downplay expectations. I think expectations may be his most dangerous opponent in these caucuses, because there is this sense that, well, you know, he should get 50% of the vote. That's where he's been polling around 50. They're very clear, no, we're probably not going to do that. And it's dangerous for a number of reasons, Jim. One is how it gets spun coming up. But also, they're worried that their supporters are going to be, you know, complacent because they assume Trump's going to win, or some of their supporters. They bring a lot of first-time people and so on.

So I don't see that. I don't see an upset. In terms of who this disadvantage is, I agree with Scott. You know, enthusiasm is a huge thing, and he's got that. They also have some organization, which they didn't have back in 2016. And that should help them too.

The one downside for Trump I see is that a lot of his supporters are in these rural areas where you have to travel, in some cases, long distances to get to these caucuses. And there may be some people who just don't want to go out in 35 below.

I note, by the way, Jim, that the President was very -- had recommendations for his voters, just put on that heavy coat and just go out there in that 35 below. I notice he's telling them that from Florida. So it's easier to say.

ACOSTA: He's not doing it -- he's having a tele town hall or a video virtual reality, or I don't know what you call it, rally this evening. But you know, Scott --

AXELROD: He's called surreality.

ACOSTA: Yeah, maybe. Exactly. You know, Scott, the old expression there are three tickets out of Iowa for a second and third but if Ron DeSantis does not perform well in these Iowa caucuses, might there really only be two tickets out of Iowa, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley?

JENNINGS: Well, if you talk to the DeSantis folks, they'll tell you they're headed straight for South Carolina. They're going to bypass New Hampshire and go to South Carolina. Where, I would note it is considerably warmer than it is in either Iowa or New Hampshire. So it's probably a good call either way. But --

[19:10:10]

ACOSTA: That's why the reporters always like to go onto South Carolina. But anyway, yeah.

JENNINGS: Yeah, if Nikki Haley were to beat DeSantis in Iowa, it would be difficult, in my opinion, to see how they recover momentum in South Carolina because I assume what would happen is if she finishes a high second in Iowa, then she's going to bounce in and most likely finish a high second or get close to Trump in New Hampshire, maybe. That would -- that would -- she would be the candidacy with momentum at that point. And DeSantis would be trying to scramble and recover in South Carolina, a place where Donald Trump is very strong. And of course, he and DeSantis are fighting for some of the same kinds of voters. And obviously, you know, he's going to run into the same brick wall down there that he has run into in Iowa. So we'll see what he's doing.

I think at this point it's wise to continue to tell your supporters that you've got a path, that you've got a strategy, and you're executing that because you don't want anyone to stay home thinking this is the end of the line no matter what. But it strikes me that his initial reaction will be to say, I'm going to the Palmetto State, and then probably within the next 24 to 48 hours, decide if that's a real thing or not.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And David -- go ahead.

AXELROD: Before you get to your question there, I agree with Scott. I think they're trying to do everything they can to signify that this is a beyond Iowa candidacy and that there's real meaning in casting this vote. But I think Iowa could be the big chill for DeSantis. And as for South Carolina, I note that it's right on the way to Tallahassee, which is where he may end up on Tuesday morning.

ACOSTA: Yeah. I mean, if he's going to withdraw from the race, he's going to certainly hightail it out of all those early contest states things. And David, the question I was going to get to, because you mentioned the Des Moines Register poll earlier, this is typically when all, you know, campaigns and all their advisors, and I'm sure you were there doing this, too, in 2008. Scott, maybe you as well, journalists and everybody else waiting for that Des Moines Register poll to come out. It is coming out within the next couple of hours. It really has the potential to change the storyline here. Can you talk about that?

AXELROD: Yeah. Well, look, I remember, you know, sending people down to the loading dock at the Des Moines register to try and grab a copy of the paper before, you know, as soon as it landed on the loading dock to be shipped out. You know, every -- this -- and there's a reason for --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: And this is before Twitter, David?

AXELROD: Yes, exactly. Well, no, it was -- it was just --

ACOSTA: Well --

AXELROD: It was in its nascent there. But -- but, you know, David, I spoke with David Yepsen the other day, the long, long time political editor, now retired, of the Des Moines Register. He said he used to go down to the loading dock when the night of the -- when the poll was coming out because he could talk to people from all the campaigns who were waiting to get a copy of the paper to see what was in --

ACOSTA: Wow.

AXELROD: -- the poll. So, you know, it has -- it has influence. I think it will -- if the poll shows that Nikki Haley has opened up a big lead on DeSantis, that may further dampen his support. It may discourage people from coming out. Maybe it encourages some of her supporters to come out. So, you know, it's -- it'll have an atmospheric impact and may infect enthusiasm. But by and large, it tends to predict what happens, not to provoke what happens.

ACOSTA: Yeah. See, I remember 2008, David, as being the year when I think I shifted finally from the BlackBerry to the iPhone. I think that is what I remember in addition to following your candidate from town to town during that summer and fall stretch.

AXELROD: Yes.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And Scott, I mean, your sense of how things could change. Because, listen, I covered the 2012 Republican contest, and I remember Rick Santorum just really catching fire. Forgive the cliche, right at the very end, and it did happen. And these things have happened before.

JENNINGS: Yeah. And the campaign that's using that same kind of network is the DeSantis campaign. It's the evangelical network. And you saw in the debate the other night, he was talking about school choice and education issues that are dear to that network. And Santorum talked about those issues back in that election. So if it were to happen that way for DeSantis, it would be among that network. He's got some key religious endorsement, religious leader endorsements out there.

But then again, so does Donald Trump. He's not without reinforcements among the evangelical and Christian crowd. So obviously, they're fighting it out right there. And the DeSantis people believe their supporters that they've identified as wanting to go for him, that they're hard core. They're ready to go. They're excited and

they're not going to be deterred by weather or atmospherics or polling or anything else.

[19:15:09]

So they still have a good thought about how their organization may help them out kick their coverage here. But to David's point earlier, this thing's all about margins and expectations for Trump, for DeSantis, for Haley, for all of them. You know, if Trump wins, what's that margin? And what was the margin between second and third? That's really what we're all going to be picking apart Monday night and Tuesday morning.

ACOSTA: All right, very good. Scott and David, great to talk to you. Thanks so much.

JENNINGS: Thank you.

AXELROD: Good to see you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Good to see you. All right. And while the Republican primary process appears to be getting most of the election coverage so far, a new political group known as No Labels is still looking to put together a bipartisan third-party ticket, they say this year. We'll talk with one of the organization's leaders, its National Director. That's next.

Plus the bone-chilling weather that scrambled the candidates' plans in Iowa this weekend is so dangerous. Even the NFL had to cancel or postpone, I should say, a game before the playoffs even got started. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:25]

ACOSTA: Chris Christie won't be the Republican nominee for president, at least it doesn't look that way at this point, but he might still end up on the ballot this year. Just days after ending his campaign, the former New Jersey governor appears to be getting interest from a group working to put forth a bipartisan third-party ticket. The Head of No Labels says Christie is just the kind of candidate it wants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH": Is Chris Christie "No Labels Material?"

JOE LIEBERMAN, NO LABELS FOUNDING CHAIRMAN: I think he might well be Chris Christie is refreshingly independent. And that's the kind of candidate "No Labels" is looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And joining us now to discuss "No Labels," is the "No Labels" National Director, Joe Cunningham. Joe, great to have you on. Thanks so much for being here, really appreciate it. So what do you think? Do you want to see Chris Christie at the top of a "No Labels" ticket? Is that what we're talking about here?

JOE CUNNINGHAM, NATIONAL DIRECTOR, NO LABELS: Look, we have a lot of respect for former Governor Christie. You know, personally, I have a lot of respect for any Republican who can win in blue areas or any Democrat who can win in red areas.

I mean, the truth is, we're going to be talking to a lot of people. And we're going to be talking to a lot of people, but more importantly, we're listening to the American public. And what the American public are telling us right now is that they're not happy with these choices.

And that's why No Labels has been set out to gain ballot access across the country, to have that ballot line for a uni-ticket, a bipartisan ticket to offer it, should America still be unhappy with the choices after Super Tuesday?

ACOSTA: And Joe, I mean, I don't have to tell you this. There are growing fears that an independent ticket, like the one that you want to put forward, could hurt President Biden and put Donald Trump back in the White House. What's your response to that?

CUNNINGHAM: I mean, look, I move to impeach President Trump. The fact that I would be engaging anything to help out President Trump is ludicrous. It's crazy. And you look at the people involved with this organization.

The folks who are worried about this ticket that has yet to be named, it's like people who are complaining about the food before it even comes out of the kitchen. You know, we're waiting until Super Tuesday to find out if we're going to nominate a ticket and we're listening to the American public.

And it seems to me that who you have on the ticket has the largest impact. I mean, we have polling and data, it shows it draws evenly from both sides. But again, we have a right to be ballot access.

ACOSTA: Joe, I mean surely you've considered this scenario. I mean obviously if you have a Chris Christie or Joe Manchin at the top of a ticket, you might have some Republican voters who might have held the nose and voted for Joe Biden, voting for this -- this "No Labels" ticket, which would not help Donald Trump in certain states?

CUNNINGHAM: I disagree. I think that's -- I think that is based on assumption that, you know, Republicans who don't like Trump are going to automatically stay in line with Biden. And I think that's making the assumption that Trump has control over 40% of the electorate, which he doesn't. It's probably about half of that.

It seems to me that if you put a Republican at top, it might draw more from Republicans, if you put a Democrat on top, it might draw more from Democrats. We've been very clear about this. You know, we're not engaged to be a spoiler. We're only launching this ticket to win. And it shows that --

ACOSTA: Americans have never voted for a third-party candidate. The closest they came was Ross Perot in 1992. Polls in June of that year showed him leading Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, but he ended up getting less than 19% in the general election. So I mean, you could do the same thing and end up, you know, just drawing votes away from Joe Biden?

CUNNINGHAM: Now, but you're leaving out some critical details there, how he dropped out of the race, there's a lot of factors at place. And the truth is, you know, we've never seen this dynamic in our country before, where America is so dissatisfied with the choices we have.

You know, 60% don't want Trump to run, 70% don't want Biden to run. You know, the majority of the country is begging for another choice. And that's what we've been doing, getting ballot access, despite -- despite the partisan efforts to try to prevent us from our constitutional right to gain ballot access, we've been succeeding. We're on 13 states right now and counting.

ACOSTA: Yeah, Joe, let me ask you this, "No Labels" is not required to disclose who is giving you money. How is "No Labels" being funded?

CUNNINGHAM: We're a C4, we're non -profit. You know, we've been around for 14 years. It's interesting that folks are, you know, bringing this up for a questioning now after all the bipartisan work that we've done, whether it be the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

[19:25:11]

ACOSTA: Well, it's a valid question if --

(CROSSTALK)

CUNNINGHAM: Here's how --

ACOSTA: I mean, you're more than just a nonprofit, if you're going to put a ticket out there with the potential of throwing a monkey wrench into the race, right?

CUNNINGHAM: Can I finish? Unity08 versus FEC gives us a constitutional right to access the ballot. Before then, only billionaires could run as an independent or a third party. Now, as a nonprofit we have access. We have a right to access that ballot. In that Supreme Court case, by the way, is underpinned by Alabama versus the NAACP when Alabama was trying to get the NAACP to divulge roles to attack --

ACOSTA: Yeah, but Joe --

CUNNINGHAM: And that's exactly what's going on.

ACOSTA: "No Labels" sounds like no transparency. If Donald Trump and Joe Biden have to disclose who their donors are, why not "No labels?"

CUNNINGHAM: Jim, we're not running a campaign yet. It's that simple.

ACOSTA: OK, let's say when you put together a ticket, would you pledge?

CUNNINGHAM: Hold on --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: When you put a ticket out there, do you pledge to disclose who those donors are?

CUNNINGHAM: Look, the ticket will have to abide by the rules at FEC. A Super PAC will as well. You know, we don't have a ticket. We're not advocating for a particular candidate. We're abiding by the rule of the law. All the wow while people are attacking us. And I really haven't seen much coverage of that. You know how people are trying to keep my friends like Dean Phillips off the ballot in Florida or Tennessee or North Carolina. You know, democracy is being attacked right now by various groups. And all we're trying to do is gain access to the ballot to respond to the American people who are craving, who are desperate for another option than what they're being provided with right now.

ACOSTA: All right, Joe Cunningham, thank you very much for your time. Hope we can continue the conversation in the months ahead. We'll be keeping an eye on things and hope you'll join us again. Thanks a lot.

CUNNINGHAM: Look forward to it. ACOSTA: Appreciate it. All right. In the meantime, the blizzard

conditions, bitter cold gripping much of the country right now as tens of millions of Americans on high alert. Take a look at this video right here. This is from the Buffalo Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. That game had to be postponed in Buffalo and you can probably tell why. Just look at the video right there. We'll talk about that next with NFL Veteran Donte Stallworth. He's coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:42]

ACOSTA: Over 90 million Americans are under windchill advisories from the Midwest to the central US including Kansas City where the defending Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs are getting ready to face off against the Miami Dolphins.

And take a look at this: Not great conditions out there in Kansas City. KCTV reporter, Mark Poulose is there in Kansas city for us.

Mark, great to see you. Thanks for joining us. Our chyron says negative one right now, is that correct? This looks like it's going to be one of the coldest games in NFL history. What's it like out there?

MARK POULOSE, KCTV REPORTER: Well, if you don't believe that minus one you see on your screen, would you believe this? This is a bottle of Coca-Cola that has frozen solid.

Now, KC Chiefs fans love to tailgate and this is what is going on.

Now, here in Kansas City, Travis Kelce would love to say you've got to fight for your right to party and that is undoubtedly what these fans are doing here out here at Arrowhead Stadium.

Honestly, not a lot of people are here early, but now, people are beginning to come in. They're staying much warmer. They have been using the good spirits, the good vibes of the arena to help keep them warm out here today.

Our meteorology team here in Kansas City has told us it wasn't going to get much warmer than minus 25, feels like temperatures. So, these guys are absolute troopers.

Right now, you just heard them say it is not even cold out. Now, one last thing I would like to show you, Jim, is that some fans are bringing in card board pieces like this. They can't be any larger than three by five. Fans are standing on these to help keep their feet warm. This is how desperate things have gotten here in Kansas City.

ACOSTA: Oh, that's smart.

POULOSE: But I will say, the Chiefs fans are very excited. Now, we did not postpone our game. They're saying we are not the Buffalo Bills here in Kansas City. ACOSTA: Ohm, yes, and I figured that Kansas City would take some pride in having that game tonight and not canceling like they're doing in Buffalo.

We showed the video earlier in Buffalo. It does look pretty intense.

But let me ask you this, Mark, what about Taylor Swift? Is Taylor Swift going to be braving the cold? I mean, I know the folks at home are going to want me to ask this question. What can you tell us about that?

POULOSE: I have not seen any reports of Taylor Swift here at the Stadium. I've been spending much of time my outside trying to stay warm.

I have seen several fan signs here waiting to see Taylor Swift. I saw some fans who said they only came to the game to see Taylor Swift, so we will have to wait and see if she does show up, but the fans out here are certainly excited for a chance to see her.

ACOSTA: Yes. absolutely. I'm a little worried about those Dolphins fans there. I mean, they are not used to this kind -- they are not used to any kind of cold. A cold day in Miami is when it's 60 degrees and breezy.

POULOSE: They are sea creatures. They don't survive in water this cold.

ACOSTA: Yes, advantage Kansas City, I think. All right, Mark, thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

As you'd imagine, the league's decision is not sitting well with everyone when it comes to canceling, I guess going forward with this Kansas City game tonight including former NFL quarterback, Robert Griffin III, RG3.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GRIFFIN III, FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK: But if the NFL is really about player safety, it's their job to do what's in the best interest of the players.

Guys, the weather is unsafe and winter isn't coming, it is here.

It is not soft to say that in these conditions that the game should be moved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Joining us now, someone who has played his fair share of games out in the cold. Former NFL wide receiver, Donte Stallworth whose 10- year career included time in Philadelphia, Cleveland and the New England Patriots. I mean, we could talk about New England, that's a different story, but what do you think about what RG3 is saying? I mean, he is saying the game in Kansas should not be held. It should be moved. What do you think? [19:35:06]

DONTE STALLWORTH, FORMER NFL WIDE RECEIVER: Yes, the weather right now is negative one and that's before you even determine in the windchill factor.

ACOSTA: Sure.

STALLWORTH: So -- and that kind of weather it is like, it can get to like negative 30.

ACOSTA: Yes.

STALLWORTH: I've never played in that cold. I've played in like negative five, which seems a lot warmer than negative 30, but I think for the players, you know, as long as they're on the field moving, then they're fine, but as soon as they stop moving or if they come off to the sidelines, that's when it gets really cold, and it can be dangerous.

I mean, those temperatures, no one is probably -- your body is not meant to be out in those temperatures. You see the images from Buffalo, but --

ACOSTA: Incredible.

STALLWORTH: We don't have enough -- we don't have the same snow as we do in Kansas City, but the windchill factor is still going to be extremely dangerous, and you know, I understand where RG3 is coming from. If we are talking about player safety, then you have to think about negative 30 regardless of you playing a football game or whatever. Those have to be terrible conditions for the human body.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, obviously, Kansas City is taking some pride in carrying on with the game tonight. We're seeing some live pictures there of the fans right there. They've got blankets, they've got beverages. I assume the beverages are, actually -- the cold beverages are actually warmer than what it is outside, I have to assume. I don't know if that makes sense from a scientific standpoint.

But, I mean, Donte, what is it like for the play being out in this? I mean, obviously, the fans are doing what they can, but what about the players?

STALLWORTH: Yes, the players I think are usually fine. The ones on the sidelines have the huge jackets now. That can only keep you so warm, especially when it's negative 30. They have the warmers on the sidelines where you can stand if you're going in the game and you can keep your hands warm and your legs warm.

And then, on the benches, the benches are warm.

ACOSTA: Yes.

STALLWORTH: Then you can keep your helmet warm because they have the little pockets where you can hold your helmet, but when you're on the field and you're walking back to the huddle if there is a timeout, it's brutal times out there.

ACOSTA: Yes, and Tyreek Hill with the Dolphins, the famous wide receiver there, he says he is going sleeveless.

STALLWORTH: Yes.

ACOSTA: He is going with short sleeves tonight. I mean, some guys take pride in this stuff, but I mean, the Dolphins, they probably would like to go pretty far in the playoffs. I just wonder if you get hit in something like this. If you're trying to catch a football or something, it has got to be like catching a cinder block.

STALLWORTH: Yes, it is. It is, and I mean, even falling to the ground, the ground will be frozen. You know, some of these new fields now have the heaters underneath, but still, I mean, you're hitting this ground when it's negative 30 degrees out, that's not a good feeling.

It basically feels like you're playing on that old school Astroturf or that you're out in the streets playing on concrete.

ACOSTA: Yes, good idea. Is this a good idea to play this game tonight? What do you think?

STALLWORTH: I would pass up, but if you listen to the Kansas City Chief fans, they say we're not Buffalo, which could be fighting words used down the line in case they meet up in the playoffs in Buffalo. I'd like to see that happen.

ACOSTA: But it is also a potential advantage for the Chiefs, too. The Dolphins are not used to playing in this kind of stuff.

STALLWORTH: No. Not at all. I think, yesterday, it was 80 degrees in Miami when they were leaving to go to Kansas City, so I don't know how well they will fare tonight in that weather.

ACOSTA: Miami sounds pretty good right now.

STALLWORTH: Yes.

ACOSTA: All right, Donte, great to see you.

STALLWORTH: Thanks a lot.

ACOSTA: Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. We'll be right back.

There they are.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:19]

ACOSTA: Voters in Taiwan shrugged off warnings from China today after reelecting the ruling DPP Party for a third consecutive presidential term. The island's president-elect vowing to protect Taiwan from China's threats and intimidation, but now the historic vote could have major consequences for the US and China. Let's bring in CNN Global Affairs analyst, Kimberly Dozier.

Kim, what's your reaction to the results? I assume we're going to be hearing some chest beating from China in the coming days out of Beijing. What's next?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, we've already heard some grousing from Beijing over this. This was definitely a blackeye for Beijing, which had been campaigning against the Democratic Progressive Party, and for its favored candidates in the Kuomintang Party, the KMT. But this also wasn't the clearest win for the Democratic progressives. They got 40 percent of the vote, but KMT got 33 percent of the vote, and a relatively new party that is preaching a middle way between anti-Beijing and pro-Beijing got 26 percent of the vote.

Those are a lot of numbers, but what this means is that, yes, the Democratic Party got another term, and that's good for the Biden administration. But every time they go to the Taiwanese legislative body now, they've lost their majority, and they're going to have to do deals with the pro-Beijing party to make anything stick.

So yes, a good result for the White House, a good result for those who support democracy and independent or at least a Taiwan that stays the way it is right now, but not so clear cut.

ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, and Taiwan and the US, they've been bolstering their ties, the US has been increasing support arm sales to the island. But there's also been, Kim, I mean, there have been these visits from congressional leaders that have angered the Chinese. Might that need to sort of be dialed back a little bit? How does the US approach this? And is this a powder keg that might erupt?

DOZIER: You know, I don't think that either the Democratic or the Republican Party are going to stop their outreach to the incoming Taiwanese administration. You're going to see a delegation from the Biden administration, but it's called an unofficial delegation in that there are no active duty appointees. There are going to be retired senior officials on the trip.

So the White House is plowing ahead with maintaining strong ties and the Taiwanese people are braced for continuing harassment from China.

[19:45:10]

They have had stepped up harassment in terms of jet patrols overhead that have exhausted Taiwanese fighter pilots trying to maintain their boundaries around the island, harassment in the High Seas around Taiwan.

So all of that will surely continue, and any one of those incidents could end up in a dangerous territory. So yes, in some ways, it's a powder keg. But Beijing has set its eyes on taking Taiwan back in decades, not next year. So it's probably going to spell a slow grinding continuing campaign of stress and pressure with Beijing hoping perhaps to in the next go round. It strengthened its pro-KMT Party more and perhaps take the presidency that time.

ACOSTA: Right. I mean, Beijing is always playing the long game, right, Kim? I mean, and I think you just touched on something I wanted to explore a little bit that the Chinese were trying to influence this election, they were trying to make their presence felt in this election.

DOZIER: With everything from disinformation and fake videos to openly campaigning against Vice President Lai, who is now the incoming president with opinion pieces. China has labeled him the "troublemaker." But he has always tried to weave this center line of saying Taiwan is good the way it is. We don't need to declare independence anytime soon.

And the Taiwanese people, their eyes, like the American people's eyes are on the economy and stability. So I think they're hoping that he will be a steady hand, but won't rock the boat too much and offend Beijing too much.

ACOSTA: All right, Kim Dozier, thanks for breaking it down for us. We really appreciate it.

DOZIER: Thanks.

ACOSTA: All right, and coming up next, we're getting new details about a large protest that formed outside the White House tonight. It has gotten a little testy there. The Secret Service, they've had to take action. Our Priscilla Alvarez is reporting this inside the White House a short time ago. We're going to have a live update on all of this, next. Stay with us.

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ACOSTA: New developments tonight as protesters gather outside the White House. Here was the scene earlier today as demonstrators gathered outside security gates that were installed outside the White House fence that prompted the Secret Service to evacuate non-essential personnel.

Just in the last hour, we are learning why. Our Priscilla Alvarez joins us now from inside the White House.

Priscilla, I noticed earlier, you were on the phone. Now, you're back in the briefing room. I've been in situations like that myself over there at the White House. I know the Secret Service doesn't take any chances. What is the latest on this situation?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's exactly right, Jim.

Moments ago when we were talking, we were being evacuated by Secret Service. As you can see, I'm in the White House briefing room now. That was a very short moment, about 10 minutes where Secret Service thought they needed to get us off the ground, that being non-essential personnel and press.

I've since talked to a federal law enforcement official who told me that what prompted that higher level of security was a damage to the temporary fence. Around the White House, there were additional barriers that had been placed knowing that this protest was coming to the White House this afternoon and there was some damage to that fence for a brief moment of time that led to that higher security posture.

This official also telling me that objects were thrown over that temporary fence. That did not though lead to the higher security posture.

Jim, you have been to the White House probably as many times and there was enhanced security over the course of the afternoon. They had prepared for this march on Washington for Gaza to intensify over the course of the afternoon, which is what we saw play out amid chants of ceasefire.

Now President Joe Biden was not here at the White House. But all of this is going to underscore some of the -- what he is navigating politically, which is as the US continues to support Israel, there has been pushback domestically and on the world stage for ceasefires, a ceasefire in Gaza where of course there have been images of the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded there and the many thousands of deaths.

So again, President Joe Biden was not here for this incident. There was a moment where we thought we were evacuating and we're in process of doing so. That posture no longer the case as crowds have dispersed.

ACOSTA: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very much. Keep us posted if anything develops. We were just showing some live images a few moments ago of some of the demonstrators making their way around downtown DC. We'll keep an eye on all of that and bring it to you as it develops.

Priscilla, thank you so much.

In the meantime, with less than a week before parts of the federal government run out of money, congressional leaders apparently have found enough common ground to push the ongoing spending debate back a couple of months and it's the weekend, but the remaining Republican presidential candidates are hard at work making last minute pitches to voters ahead of the Iowa caucuses on Monday. The first stop on the road to the White House. That's all coming up. Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[19:59:10]

ACOSTA: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening.

We begin the eight o'clock hour here on the East Coast exactly 48 hours away from the Iowa caucuses as historic winter weather threatens to derail the final push in the nation's first Republican contests.

Candidates have canceled events throughout the week because of the dangerous winter weather during the snowiest week in Des Moines since, get this, 1942.

Today, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley were battling it out and battling the cold to make their closing arguments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now Monday is going to be cold. Really cold. But what I'm asking you is if you will take the time, do not just go to the polls, take people with you, wear layers because you might be standing in line. Take your ID, but think of the fact that you might be making history in this moment.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They can throw a blizzard at us and we are going to fight.

[CHEERING]

DESANTIS: They can throw wind chill at us and we are going to fight.

[CHEERING]

DESANTIS: They can throw media narratives at us and we are going to fight.

[CHEERING]

DESANTIS: They can throw fake polls at us and we are going to fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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