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Historic Cold Threatens to Freeze Final Sprint to Iowa Caucuses; Haley Urges Iowans to Caucus Amid Frigid Weather; Iowa Bracing for Coldest Caucuses on Record; Republicans in Final Push Before Iowa Caucuses; Congressional Leaders Reach Deal to Avoid Shutdown; U.S. Carries out Additional Strikes Against Houthis in Yemen. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 13, 2024 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Take people with you, wear layers because you might be standing in a line, take your I.D., but think of the fact that you might be making history in this moment.

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

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

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

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

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

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: All right. For the first time in the race tonight, speaking of a fight, Donald Trump is taking direct aim at Vivek Ramaswamy, saying he's, quote, "not MAGA."

Trump also canceled his in-person rally, scheduling a virtual town hall instead. That has his rivals taking jabs at Trump for staying cozy indoors while they are braving the elements.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: 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: Now Monday is set to be the coldest Iowa caucus in history with wind chills reaching life-threatening levels as low as 40 degrees below zero. The frigid forecast has the Trump campaign downplaying expectations, saying while weather could affect the turnout, quote, "a win is a win," but Trump is arguing that severe weather might actually be an advantage.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have the worst weather, I guess, in recorded history, but maybe that's good because our people are more committed than anybody else, so maybe it's actually a good thing for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right. CNN's Kristen Holmes is in frigid Des Moines. Kristen, forgive the long wind up there. I know you were just getting through every moment there. It's negative eight degrees. We should know to our viewers right now, we have the weather, the temperature on screen right there. What do we expect to hear from Trump tonight? He's going to do one of these tele-rallies or virtual realities. What's going to happen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So he's sitting down right now. He's talking to the Attorney General, Brenna Bird. He's basically getting asked questions about what his vision is for America. Most of it is what we have heard so far before talking about what he did when he was in office. We did hear a lengthy rant about Nikki Haley, though, it was actually particularly long, calling her a globalist, saying she was too weak to be president, and reliving that Chris Christie hot mic moment. That is something that Donald Trump has said over and over again, is the only thing he agrees with Chris Christie on is the fact that Haley is going to get beaten in this race. Obviously, that was something that was caught again on a hot mic when Christie was dropping out of the race.

Now, as for Donald Trump's team, they are waiting to see what happens in the Des Moines Register poll tonight. They had been looking at internal numbers where they had seen a rise from Nikki Haley.

Now, of course, they still say that Donald Trump is going to win. They say he's still leading by a big margin. But they are tempering expectations, particularly because of this weather. And we actually just saw Donald Trump entering into his hotel talking about the weather. Just take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: That's a lot of cold weather.

We've got a lot of meetings tonight, we're doing well, we've got a lot of tremendous support. But it's nasty out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So expressing some confidence there as he walks in and obviously not enjoying the weather like most of us, I think, who have been outside today. But overall, Donald Trump seemed, again, they are trying to set the tone for the primary season. This isn't just about winning. This is about building up their momentum as well as stopping any of their rivals momentum, particularly before New Hampshire.

Jim, as we have talked about, they are clearly threatened by Nikki Haley. They are watching her rise. They are spending millions of dollars in the next state. The primary state of New Hampshire, trying to stop her momentum there. They believe that winning by a big margin here will help offset that. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much. Really appreciate it.

CNN's Kylie Atwood is with the Haley campaign and Donahue, Iowa. And Kylie, I'm trying to get to you as quickly as possible. I'm also trying to figure out why it's negative eight where Kristen is and only three degrees where you are. Not that that's particularly balmy, but maybe in different parts of Iowa you've got wild swings in the --

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's wind chill here.

ACOSTA: -- in the temperature, maybe so. How are they feeling inside the Haley campaign right now?

ATWOOD: Well, listen, I think the Haley campaign feels pretty good about where she is right now. She was able to do three events in Iowa today. We're waiting for one to take -- to take place tonight. And they, you know, looked at the crowds today. There was a packed house here. We're actually in Iowa City. For her, it was, you know, a last- minute event. They've had to be nimble putting these schedules together because of the winter weather conditions. I mean, we have seen just tremendously low temperatures here. We have seen that blizzard come through the state. So they've really had to be on their toes and I feel like the support has been there when Nikki Haley has had these events.

[20:05:07]

Now, it's also important to note, Jim, that the Haley campaign hasn't been talking about very high expectations coming out of Iowa. Governor Sununu of New Hampshire, of course, who has endorsed Nikki Haley, has talked about there being a strong showing for Nikki Haley in Iowa, but they haven't defined what that looks like. They aren't saying that they definitively want to come in number two ahead of Ron DeSantis or, you know, they would be happy with number three.

They're just not being very clear on that because if she does exceed expectations, that would be a good thing for her. It would give her some extra momentum coming out of Iowa, going into New Hampshire, where we already know she has some momentum just given what we're seeing in recent polling there, her closing the gap with former President Trump.

Now, I spoke with some of her supporters today. Some of them are former Trump supporters and listen to one who, after the Haley event today, said that she thinks she will caucus for Haley and here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY WOODBURN, IOWA CAUCUSGOER: I think that she's to the point, I like that, not too much nonsense, not too over your head, because I'm not a politician, right? And so I think that she knows how to speak very well to just people that are politicians. And that's a very, very important thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now, I also spoke with another Haley supporter. He's a student here at the University of Iowa. He was a Vivek Ramaswamy voter, but now he's going for Nikki Haley because he thinks his vote for her could actually mean something. Of course, how well she does in Iowa will be a critical thing that we're all watching for tomorrow. She has three events on the calendar before that caucus taking place exactly 48 hours from right now. Jim.

ACOSTA: Interesting anecdote. I mean, those non-Trump candidates, they really are dividing up that non-Trump vote. Interesting to see how all of that plays out. Kylie, please get inside, warm up. Do appreciate you wearing the hat outside. My mother would be proud. Thank you, Kylie, very much. Appreciate that.

Let's dig a little deeper with our panel of guests. CNN Senior Political Analyst and former Presidential Advisor, David Gergen, joins us live from Boston. And here in the studio is conservative lawyer and contributor to "The Atlantic," George Conway. We're both -- we're all warm inside right now. I feel bad for those guys out there. But you know, George, I have to add, let's just, George and David, let's talk about the weather real fast.

GEORGE CONWAY, CONSERVATIVE LAWYER: I was cold watching that.

ACOSTA: I was cold watching that. That was painful.

CONWAY: My ears, I feel.

ACOSTA: Exactly. And it can be a wild card, the weather. And I mean, just a few moments ago, we saw Donald Trump coming into this hotel. And speaking of wild cards, I don't know if I've ever seen him without a tie on. But that was an interesting thing.

CONWAY: No, absolutely. I mean it's something -- I mean, you're -- it's a real test of who is the most motivated -- who has the most motivated voting block.

ACOSTA: Yeah.

CONWAY: And we'll see, I mean we'll see.

ACOSTA: David, what do you think?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I have to tell you on this one, there are so many wild cards, it's impossible to know. I do think the one thing all of us can agree on is that we're heading into a season of kickoff here and then to within the next couple of days with the most significant set of decisions in American, certainly since the early 20th Century.

So there is a lot at stake. And what we are seeing, I think now is, and in one sense, let's say we've almost discounted anybody, but Haley and Trump. Well, DeSantis has a very good ground game. He's been investing in it. He could be a real surprise. So I think there are a lot of surprises ahead of us.

ACOSTA: Yeah, absolutely. I do want to talk about the horse race, and I do want to talk about the stakes. Just if our viewers could just hang in there just a few moments long while we talk about the horse race.

George, one of the things I'm wondering about to David's point, and that is, you know, could we see a situation where Donald Trump underperforms in these caucuses? Nikki Haley perhaps does a little bit better.

Maybe Ron DeSantis does. I remember Rick Santorum surprising everybody in 2012. And then Trump kind of limps out of Iowa to New Hampshire, where Haley could actually win that seat.

CONWAY: That's right.

ACOSTA: That really could change the dynamic of this race.

CONWAY: Absolutely could.

ACOSTA: Yeah.

CONWAY: But there are a lot of -- and then the question is what does Donald Trump do?

ACOSTA: Right.

CONWAY: I mean if Donald Trump, sooner or later Donald Trump is going to -- if he starts losing, he's going to take everyone down with him. I mean psychologically that's what he's going to do. He's not going to want to -- he's never going to support somebody who beats him.

So it's sort of a difficult situation for the Republicans. They have this man who needs to win at all costs basically to stay out of prison, and at the same time he's such a personality. He's a narcissistic sociopath, and he is not going to let anyone else win without trying to destroy them.

And I don't know how this -- I don't see what the end game is for any of the challengers to Donald Trump, frankly. Because he just -- he's not going to let anybody else win.

ACOSTA: Yeah, and David, I mean, to that point, I mean, one of the things that happened earlier today was Trump went after Vivek Ramaswamy of all people for the first time. And our Kristen Holmes was explaining on this program that part of it was because he didn't like that Ramaswamy was taking some little digs at Trump here and there.

[20:10:07]

That kind of gets to a point as to how -- this has been such an unusual cycle and that these non-Trump candidates have really, I mean, bent over backwards to not go after him. The frontrunner in this race, which is just so unusual, it just doesn't happen. And it happened this time.

GERGEN: It happened this time. And look at one of the races that was really important to these primaries, and that is the Nikki Haley situation. You know, and is -- it just makes this very, very difficult because she -- she eventually, in order to gain any ground, she eventually had to go after Trump. And she put herself into a situation which Republicans and Democrats alike, when their candidates hate, and that is that somebody comes along and, you know, they want them to sort of be quiescent and helpful.

You take George H.W. Bush when he was running with Reagan. It was really important to have that -- have a good relationship there. The 13th Amendment about Republicans don't speak ill of each other. And what we're seeing now because of Trump, because what people have to do in order to deal with this misinformation and what George, I think rightly calls his narcissism is really forcing Haley to do some things. I think it made her less possible as a running mate for Donald Trump.

ACOSTA: Yeah. I mean, there's almost a new commandment in the Republican Party, thou shalt not speak ill of Donald Trump. But, you know, George, going back to Trump's legal problems, you wrote a piece in "The Atlantic" this week about this presidential immunity hearing. And I don't want to skate through this program without talking about this. You wrote, Trump's lawyer essentially set a trap for himself. The judge gave a hypothetical question on whether presidents are immune from prosecution if they were to order SEAL Team Six to assassinate political opponents.

And of course, the attorney for Donald Trump said was a qualified yes or something along those -- I mean, should anything be qualified when it comes to answering that question?

CONWAY: Right.

ACOSTA: Was that the -- I mean, was really the final nail in the coffin for that immunity defense?

CONWAY: Absolutely. I think it had no chance to succeed to begin with. But his chance of winning, which was virtually nil, was completely destroyed by the fencing with the judge that he engaged, that this lawyer engaged in by trying to soften the notion, soften the proposition that he was trying in advance, which is that the president can basically do anything. He made himself look foolish, and he also pointed out an inconsistency in their position.

Their position was, oh, yes, you could prosecute a president if Congress convicted. If the Senate convicted a president of a high crime and misdemeanor and removed him. On the other hand, you shouldn't be able to prosecute a president because we don't want -- we don't want political involvement in the legal system.

Well, there's nothing more political than Congress deciding whether or not a president is just highly political. It's a political process. It made no sense, and it just -- it just fell flat at the courtroom.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And even after that failed hearing, David, Trump once again argued he has presidential immunity. He was asked about the scenario of using SEAL Team Six to go after a political opponent. He didn't really knock it down. There was -- he didn't reject this idea, this argument. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: On immunity, very simple. If a president of the United States does not have immunity, he'll be totally ineffective because he won't be able to do anything because it will mean he'll be prosecuted, strongly prosecuted, perhaps as soon as he leaves office by his -- by the opposing party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: David, you have worked for Republican and Democratic presidents over the years. I have to -- I've been thinking about this and wanted -- and when they told me you were on the show, I was delighted because I just thought you would be a perfect person to ask about this. Did you ever think ever that we would be in a universe where we would be having this kind of a conversation, that a president can go out and use SEAL Team Six to go after political opponents?

GERGEN: Not at all. Not at all. I think this is what -- not just the United States and many Americans really concerned about the future of the country, but there are countries all over the world who are waiting to see what comes out of Iowa and out of New Hampshire, because their fates may well be sealed by what happens in the next couple of weeks. And it's not good news for them. They know that. They think America will be in continuing decline. They're going to try to take advantage of us.

We have a rough time ahead of us as a people because we don't treat each other with the kind of respect and regard and kind of, sort of, professionalism that one would like to see. And I celebrate George stepping up and stepping out on this.

ACOSTA: David, I mean, just to follow up on that, is there something that also needs to be said about how that kind of conversation could take place in a federal courtroom between Trump's judge and a federal judge. Trump could come out and not knock it down that he would have this kind of immunity if he's back in the White House.

[20:15:11]

And it doesn't really have an impact on the race in Iowa. I mean, I'm old enough to remember when something like this would have an impact. And it was about eight years ago or so. GERGEN: Well, you know, we've been up and down this hill now a lot in

the last several years, eight years, I guess it is, and we'll survive. I think the one thing that I take solace from is that we're a strong country. We're strong people.

Fareed Zakaria had a terrific piece, and then the Council of Foreign Relations of -- Foreign Affairs here recently pointing out, you know, in the bottom line is America gets a lot of things wrong. But we are the strongest nation, the most respected nation on earth, and we shouldn't let that slip away from us.

ACOSTA: George, in David's optimism, you know, this feels like an electric heater out in the cold of Iowa right now. But if Donald Trump and we talked about the other scenario where, you know, maybe things don't go so well for him in Iowa Nikki Haley catches fire in New Hampshire. We could also see in this New Hampshire or this Des Moines register polls coming out in about 45 minutes from now. If it shows that Donald Trump's way out in front --

CONWAY: Right.

ACOSTA: -- and he crushes the competition in Iowa, goes on, crushes the competition in New Hampshire. This raises might effectively be over.

CONWAY: Well, absolutely. And I felt all along that it's highly likely that we will have the first major party presidential nominee who is a convicted felon. I do believe that even all of this stuff is just discounted by the MAGA base. And the MAGA base doesn't like to hear it. And when they hear it, they double down on him because they don't want to admit they're wrong. There's a tremendous like.

And for a lot of other people, I mean, the point that we were just discussing with David was that, the people have gotten so used to it. I mean, there's -- it's psychologists and socio -- and political historians call it malignant normality that we just, you know, we've so used to Donald Trump saying outrageous anti-democratic, you know, criminal things basically where he's he is -- he is asserted the other day. He was he was expressing on truth social just the -- just today, I think, praise for a mob boss.

ACOSTA: Yeah, I was going to show, we can put this up on screen.

CONWAY: Right. Yeah.

ACOSTA: He thank the notorious mobster "Sammy the Bull" for calling him a legitimate guy in a recent interview. Here's a clip from that. Let's talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She tried to press up on Trump, but you could never get to him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he had ex-FBI agents all around him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the time. Everybody around him is an ex-FBI agent. We'll go up to the office, we'll get cuffed, and we'll go right to prison. So forget about Trump. He's a legitimate guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: George, along with thanking the mobster, Trump posted a veiled threat aimed at the judges overseeing his criminal and defamation trials. I mean, there's no bottom. And as you were saying, there's nothing really at this point that Trump can say or do that apparently -- yeah.

CONWAY: It's just sort of bake into the cake that the man is completely beyond any moral suasion that he lacks -- he completely lacks any moral compass. And what's --

ACOSTA: And I don't think people think that this is hyperbole. Let's put the truth social post back on screen. Forgive my hand being in the shot there. If we can put that Truth Social, it says -- from Donald Trump, this is on Truth Social. "Thank you to Sammy the Bull. I hope judges, Engoron & Kaplan see this. We need fairness, strength, and honesty in our New York courts.

CONWAY: Imagine that.

ACOSTA: That's not really a veil.

CONWAY: Telling judges committed to uphold the rule of law that they should listen to a mobster. You know, he is a sociopath. He's a -- he's absolute, and I think it's going to be -- one of the things I think that needs to happen this year is we need to start talking about Donald Trump's mental state.

This is not a well man. And people, man who would -- who would tech -- who would say this publicly and actually believe it because he does, is not a well man. And we have not, as a country, really dealt with that fact. And I think to understand -- to totally understand where Trump is coming from, where his authoritarian bent is coming from, and the danger he poses to the country, we need to start talking about that.

ACOSTA: All right, David Gergen and George Conway. Gentlemen, thanks to both of you. Really a great combination to start off this hour. Appreciate the insights. Thank you so much.

GERGEN: Thank you. Take care.

ACOSTA: You as well. And as we were just discussing how will former president Donald Trump perform in Iowa as he continues to split his time between the campaign trail in the courtroom, we'll talk with Republican Congressman Tim Burchett about this and obviously other matters up on Capitol Hill. That's next. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

[20:20:02] Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ACOSTA: All right, new this evening, congressional leaders have reached a deal to avoid a government shutdown for now. The deal, which needs to pass the House and the Senate, would fund the government through March. It gives lawmakers more time to sort out their differences over a long-term spending plan to fund federal agencies. And let's discuss more now with Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. He's a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees.

Congressman, great -- great to see you again. Thanks for coming back on. Are you going to support this temporary spending plan? And what do we say to the viewers at home who are kind of frustrated with these continuing resolutions and stopgap spending bills and just sort of kicking the can for another couple months?

[20:25:02]

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): Well, it's nothing new, as you know, Jim, we haven't -- thank you for having me on, brother. It's always a pleasure. I believe it's over 20 years now we haven't passed a budget. That's under Democrats and Republicans. And just a continuation of that can kicking that you described. And I've never voted for a CR. This is a so-called latter approach where it goes off and regimented groups. And I'd still like to see some border security.

We had H.R. 2. We passed it in the House. It provided for locking down our border. You know, we've seen over eight million people in the last three years, plus three million getaways, plus a hundred thousand children we don't know, which is much more disturbing than any of that to me, that we don't know where they are.

So those are the kind of things I'd like to see us start prioritizing. And I don't know why either party seems to be afraid of that. And I wish Schumer would take it up in the Senate. So I'm kind of hanging my hat on that right now, but I would like to see what's in it. Every time they say leadership's agreed to it, you know, that I'm 435th most powerful member of Congress. As you know, they're only 435 of us. So I would really watch in the details.

ACOSTA: And -- but to remind our viewers at home, the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, struck this funding deal with the Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer. But some of the conversations that have been taking place over the last week or so, some conservatives in the House Republican Conference, I mean, they sound like they're calling for a mutiny at this point, I believe Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has issued some threats. Johnson says he's sticking with this deal. How safe is the future of House Speaker Johnson, do you think, at this point?

BURCHETT: I don't know, I was one of the original eight, as you know, and it seems --

ACOSTA: Right. BURCHETT: -- like it's mostly folks who aren't the original eight that are saying this. And some of those people have loyalty to Kevin McCarthy and would like to grind and axe there. But I think what we really need to realize is that Mike Johnson, he's a man of his word, he's a man of God, he loves his country, he loves his life and his family. And so I'm still holding out hope for him. I've given him a couple of ball against him.

I'm tired of going to the well with him. I was mad about the FISA courts and re-upping them and I'm still mad about the border, and those are the kind of things I'd like to see us prioritize. But I'm not going to pull the trigger on getting him yet.

ACOSTA: Yeah, I was going to say, does he have your support?

BURCHETT: He still does, he's still a friend. If he doesn't, I'll let him know, just like I let Kevin McCarthy know. Because you've got to realize, I mean literally, he was the guy who was organizing speeches on the House floor. You know, our agenda speeches that we give every night. And it would give away -- I remember, he gave away, I think a bust of Thomas Jefferson. I got one. One time he gave away a baseball bat for the most people, gave the most speeches. I got one of those.

But, you know, and then the next day literally, he's on an airplane going to Israel to talk to Benjamin Netanyahu, who represents the United States of America. So, and he inherited a lot of that. And the difference between, everybody says it's the same -- he's a legislation, well it is, but the difference is the side deals that we didn't know about, that weren't discussed.

Mike Johnson's discussed those with us and he's put those out in front. And it's a lot more, that part's appalling to me, but what's in it is less appalling. I don't like side deals as you know. And $34 trillion in debt.

ACOSTA: Let me ask you this, the House, I guess, is expected to vote whether to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress this coming week for defying these subpoenas. This is after he unexpectedly appeared before the Oversight Committee this past week, which I'm sure you saw that.

Now, I do want to ask you about this. Some of the same Republicans on that committee pushing to hold Hunter Biden in contempt have defied subpoenas of their own. Don't you think that's a little hypocritical?

BURCHETT: Well, if you're looking at it on the surface, you would, but except those aren't real, they were not standing committees. And if you remember, then Speaker McCarthy had put people like Jim Jordan on that committee, which we were allowed to do under House Rules.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi disregarded or did away with those rules and kicked them off and would not allow them to serve on that committee. And she put Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney --

ACOSTA: Yeah, I hear what you're saying, but let me ask you, you know, it was the January 6th Committee and subpoenas were issued and subpoenas were defied. Congressman Jordan defied the subpoena, Congressman Perry, there were a number of members of the House Republican Conference. They just defied those subpoenas. Didn't they kind of make a subpoena, sort of worthless?

[20:30:03]

BURCHETT: No, I don't think so. I -- again, I don't think that's really a standing, nobody, both sides knew that. What was up with that, Jim. That thing was rigged from the beginning. I mean, you had "ABC" help facilitate it one night so they could have their -- their big -- when they would give out all the information. You know, I wouldn't doubt if they -- I'd ever watch any of it. I think more people watch reruns, the Cartoon Network, honestly.

ACOSTA: Well, I think there were a lot of people watching. It was -- it was a committee process that was investigating an attack on the Capitol, not to go down that road, but that's what that committee was investigating. One of the most important events, traumatic events to happen in this country's history.

BURCHETT: You don't have to tell me that. I was the very last member of the House of Representatives to leave the House floor. Me and Markwayne Mullin were walking out, and neither one of us, oddly enough, were called to testify before that committee about what we saw on the House floor that night.

And, you know, I think they already had their idea. They already were going after Trump. You and I both know that. And you know, they already had their answer, and then they just had to fill in the gaps. And that's exactly what they did. And now you're seeing that possibly Liz Cheney met with witnesses prior to, which is a complete violation. They had troubles with people --

ACOSTA: But Congressman, aren't you -- I don't know if I wanted to get in the back and forth over January 6. But just last weekend we were showing this new footage of some of the rioters going face to face with Markwayne Mullin and Troy Nehls, I believe, when all of that was going down.

I mean, it must irk you when you hear some of your colleagues talk about this being a tourist visit and that they were just sort of -- that the rioters were led into the Capitol and everything. You must just think that you're from Knoxville. You must just think that's hogwash.

BURCHETT: Well, yeah, they tell me to quit using terms like that because folks up north don't understand what I'm talking about. But, yeah, anybody crossed those barriers, they were trespassing.

ACOSTA: Yeah.

BURCHETT: I mean, that's pure and simple. They were trespassing, they were breaking the law, but --

ACOSTA: They were doing more than that. BURCHETT: Take away from that. There was some that were let in, and

there was some that were let out. I'm going to -- I don't want to get into all that, because like I said, if they crossed that line, they were trespassing. If the police told them not to enter, then they entered, they were breaking the law. Bottom line, there's no question.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And assaulting police officers and defecating in the corridors of the Capitol and desecrating our symbol of democracy.

BURCHETT: That's right.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, I did want to ask you just very quickly, the very end here, Congressman, have you made a decision as to who you're endorsing in the Republican primary?

BURCHETT: Well, as I told the reporters as I left the Capitol steps one day, I said, I'm for me. And they said, are you running? Oh, you're running for president? And they all got their pencils out. And I said, heck, no, I'm not running for president. I'm running for Congress, though, and I try to stay in my lane. I'm President Trump's a friend. He's been very kind to me. Nikki Haley has come into town for me to do an event, and I know Governor DeSantis fairly well. So they're all people that I'm acquainted with.

But, you know, Trump's going to win. If the lord or the U.S. Supreme Court takes him out, that's the only way he's going to get out. That's the only way. He will win the Republican nomination. You can say all you want to.

I tell you, if y'all want to tick off Trump, y'all tell Conway and some of those guys just to ignore him, because every time you talk about him, it just fires him. And that's -- and that's exactly what it does to the Republican base.

ACOSTA: All right.

BURCHETT: And it's just -- it's psychological, that is honest to goodness truth. Every time they slap another charge on him, his numbers go up.

ACOSTA: Well, if we ignore it, we risk normalizing it, don't we? I mean, he was on "Truth Social" today, praising "Sammy the Bull," a mobster?

BURCHETT: Yeah. I heard you before.

ACOSTA: Is that who you want representing the Republican Party as a nominee? Somebody's praising "Sammy the Bull?"

BURCHETT: When he was with the mob, they couldn't get to him. So, I mean, is "Sammy the Bull," won? You know, he said he surrounded himself with agents that wouldn't allow the mob to get former FBI agents that couldn't get to him. And Trump said, yeah, that's -- that's the truth. So, you know, I --

ACOSTA: For sure, you don't want a nominee of the party praising mobsters.

BURCHETT: No. But I don't -- but what did he say anything that was untrue? Did "Sammy the Bull" say it was untrue? He said they couldn't get to Trump. That's what he said. That was basically what he was saying. You got retired FBI.

ACOSTA: But then Trump went on to talk about the judges handling his cases in the context of praising "Sammy the Bull," which obviously is a veiled threat, sending a message to those judges. I mean, you -- I can't imagine that you're OK with that.

BURCHETT: I'm not OK with any threats to any judges, obviously. But, you know, it just depends on how you take that. And I didn't take it as that. All I took it was that, Sammy, though, I read the -- I read the quote, "Sammy the Bull" just said, the mob couldn't get to Trump. And I thought that's -- you know, that's a pretty good -- that's a pretty good endorsement if you -- if you got a mobster that's -- that's -- that's killed multiple people. And it was wrapped up with John Gotti for his -- was turned state's evidence against Gotti.

[20:35:18]

ACOSTA: Yeah.

BURCHETT: And then he says we tried to get to Trump but couldn't get to him because he was surrounded by -- he had FBI, former FBI agents right?

ACOSTA: I guess if you're running for president, why -- why even -- why even talk about a mobster? Why even praise a mobster? Thank a mobster. Why do that?

BURCHETT: Well --

ACOSTA: That's not presidential, is it?

BURCHETT: I've told you before, Jim, I don't -- I don't know why Trump says things he does. He's a New Yorker, he's got that bravado, he says it, he lets it fly. And his numbers go up.

ACOSTA: A lot of New Yorkers don't like mobsters, but all right. Well, Congressman, great to talk to you as always. We appreciate it.

BURCHETT: -- mobsters, that's why the "Godfather" is one of the biggest movies of all time. I mean, people emulate them. You see kids walking around with dirty guy.

ACOSTA: You don't want the president -- you don't want the president, you know, laughing up endorsements from mobsters. I mean, do you?

BURCHETT: Well, of course not, but I just don't see that as an endorsement. I just see him saying what was the truth. That's all.

ACOSTA: All right, Congressman, thanks for your time.

We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:40:31]

ACOSTA: All right. Tonight, millions bracing for a dangerous arctic blast that is sweeping across the country right now. Meteorologist Elisa Raffa is in the CNN Weather Center tracking all of this. This is not just cold weather. This is dangerous weather in a lot of parts of the country right now?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, we're talking dangerous, life- threatening wind chills as cold as 45 degrees below zero. And I can tell by looking at this radar that the arctic air is rushing in, because you have the lake effect snow machine pumping, not a lot of ice on these lakes right now because of record warm winter in the Great Lakes area. And that's picking up the moisture from -- with all the cold air pumping snow. And Buffalo, it looks like, has some thundersnow at times there. And games, NFL games were canceled there because of that.

You still have a blizzard warning in parts of Iowa, not because it's still snowing, but because the fresh snow from yesterday is still kicking with 45 miles per hour gusts and dropping visibility. A new winter storm warning for all of Arkansas because as this cold air continues to push its way south. It's going to come through with a punch of several inches of snow for them. This is the wind chill warning for wind chills at 45 degrees below zero for northern and central plains.

I mean, look at the current temperatures right now. It's minus 20 in Minot, North Dakota. Wind chills as cold as 50 degrees below zero. We'll continue to find this spilling south as we go through the next couple of days. 80% of the U.S. will be below freezing by Tuesday, 20% of us below zero degrees. And we're looking at many records falling, 250 records. Daytime highs and overnight lows could fall through the next couple of days, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Elisa Raffa, thank you very much. I hope everybody stays safe out there.

Still ahead, President Biden launches more attacks on Iran backed rebels in Yemen. Houthi officials again vowing to retaliate. We're talking to Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling in just a few moments about what this means for the tensions in the region. Stay with us. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:46:40]

ACOSTA: Now, to the Middle East where the U.S. has carried out additional strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. It came just a day after the U.S. and the U.K. launched a coordinated multi-nation attack on nearly 30 Houthi sites. The U.S. and its allies are attempting to stop the Iranian-backed rebel group from interrupting international shipping in the Red Sea. With me now is Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN Military Analyst and former Commanding General in the U.S. Army, Europe and 7th Army.

General, great to see you as always. Your thoughts on why we saw those additional strikes after the initial round?

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, (Ret.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, well, Jim, what we talked about the other night, the strikes mounted by the U.S. and the U.K., along with other partners, were designed to counter the Houthi anti-shipping campaign. The attacks countered the Houthi's ability.

You've talked to others today that there were 100 precision weapons, hit 60 targets in 16 locations. I think we saw the additional strike this morning against the radar system, which appeared to have survived the first strike.

So this is all as a result of bomb damage assessment, analysis by the Intel community saying, what did we hit? What did we miss? And I think they sent another strike early this morning, early Saturday morning, so now time to strike that remaining radar site to prevent any further damages by Houthi's firing missiles.

ACOSTA: Right, and I guess, you know, folks at home, they're just learning about the Houthis maybe in recent weeks and so on. And, you know, hearing them being described as rebels, (inaudible) is sort of a ragtag band of, you know, militants and so on. But they actually control a pretty significant -- I mean almost quasi-military. Is that -- can you talk about that at all?

HERTLING: Not only a quasi-military, Jim. They control a good part of Yemen, the northern part of Yemen. You know, for those who haven't been following the Yemen Civil War since 2014, it's been just a really complex and traumatic experience for that part of the Gulf region. The Houthis early on in that war attacked the Saudi Arabians. They had fights going on between the Saudi Arabians mounted a combined coalition force of Arabs. And truthfully early on in this war, the Houthis did a very good job, launched close to 1,500 missiles against Saudi Arabian facilities.

We remember a couple of years ago when they launched missiles against some of the Aramco sites. So this has been going on for about 10 years or more. Just within the last couple of months, there's a peace negotiation going on. And Saudi Arabia, one of the reasons they have linked with Israel all over the last couple of months is to try and get some of the technology to counter the Houthis. So yeah, this has been going on for a long time.

And the Houthis are not a ragtag bunch of people. This is not just a terrorist organization. This is an organization that represents part of the state of Yemen.

ACOSTA: And might we see more strikes then, if that's the case?

HERTLING: Yeah, I think it's going to depend on what the Houthis do next. Now, they launched another missile yesterday, or I guess this morning, and it was countered immediately. But when you're talking about what they have done over the last couple of weeks, where they have launched multiple strikes first against Israel, and we were helping to defend Israel, but then it was against shipping and trying to cut -- shut down the economic lanes of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

[20:50:10]

So I think this was a very damaging strike that the U.S. and its allies conducted on Friday and Saturday morning. I'm not sure we're going to see that much coming out of Houthi territory for a while, but we may see, you know, individual launches or some attempts to continue to harass shipping in the sea.

ACOSTA: And the specter of Iran is hanging over this. I have to think that some of this was a message directed at Tehran. And I can't imagine that they want to see the Houthis sort of wiped out. Their military capabilities wiped out. How about all of that?

HERTLING: Yeah, I think you're absolutely correct, Jim. You know, there were some U.K. analysts who said, no, no, no, it was not a signal to Iran. It was simply a strike against the Houthis. I'm with you, Jim. I disagree with that. I think it was certainly a strike against Iran. Even though the Houthis have been independent actors, they've been supported by Iran, and they are connected to Iran.

So as much as this was damaging to the Houthi military capability, it was also a signal to Iran of saying, hey, stop your proxies from doing the kinds of things they're doing. Whether that happens remains to be seen because there are other proxy groups throughout the Middle East that can continue to conduct the strikes against the U.S. and against Israel.

ACOSTA: All right, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, great to have you on as always. Appreciate the insights.

HERTLING: Thanks, Jim. Good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right, thanks so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:56:07]

ACOSTA: U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry is stepping down from his position. A source tells CNN that he plans to leave the post by spring. But will attend the World Economic Forum later this month. Kerry served in that key position of Climate Envoy for three years according to the source he plans to join, the Biden campaign.

And drop everything now and meet me in the freezing cold, more than 90 million Americans are under windchill advisories in the Midwest including in Kansas City where the defending Super Bowl champions, there you go. We got some live pictures right now.

The Chiefs are facing off against the Miami Dolphins who are not as used to the cold. And braving the cold out there in her own way is Taylor Swift. There, she has bundled up in a Travis Kelce 87 jacket. Of course, probably staying a little bit warmer in the skybox there. But she's not as cold as some of the other fans there.

Right now the Chiefs are up 7 to zero. And we were looking at this just a short time ago if we want to show this again. The scene in Buffalo where they have postponed their playoff game is supposed to take place tomorrow. It's now going to take place Monday night if I'm not mistaken. The Buffalo Bills put this out on social media, I guess to show everybody OK, we're not being whims here.

This is the scene at the stadium in Buffalo, so they've got a lot on their hands right now to clean up and get ready for the fans to come in on Monday.

All right, in the meantime, coming up, we're just minutes away from a key poll. The Des Moines Register poll, every campaign, every political journalist in Iowa. They're going to be looking at this as it comes out in the next several minutes as we gear for the Iowa caucuses. It is just coming out in the next few minutes. So stay with us. We're going to have the latest on this poll. We'll break it down for you. We have some experts to talk about it as well. Stay with us. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

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