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Trump Leads In New Iowa Poll, Haley Surpasses DeSantis; CNN Investigates Gaza Hospital Attacks; Taiwan's Ruling Party Wins Third Presidential Term; Health Experts Sound Alarm Over JN.1 COVID Variant. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired January 14, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM:
The final push ahead of the Iowa caucuses. A new poll indicates Donald Trump with a commanding lead as the state deals with historic winter weather.
CNN investigates Israeli strikes on hospitals in Gaza. We look at satellite imagery to determine whether the attacks were proportional given the potential for harming civilians.
And, a historic win in Taiwan. The president-elect saying it demonstrates the self-governing island's commitment to democracy.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: Less than 48 hours remain between Iowa's Republican caucuses, the first real nomination test ahead of this year's U.S. presidential elections. And a just released poll finds Donald Trump continues to keep his iron grip on Iowa Republicans.
The final "Des Moines Register"/NBC News/Mediacom of likely GOP caucusgoers shows Donald Trump support at a whopping 48 percent. Nikki Haley, a distant second with 20 percent, Ron DeSantis, third at 16 percent.
But Iowa is coping with a vicious winter storm which has brought blizzard conditions and brutal cold across the state. Candidates have been forced to cancel multiple campaign events during this final weekend push before the caucuses. The arctic blast will be in place Monday and there are concerns about turnout.
The high temperature in much of Iowa that day is forecast to be negative 2 degrees Fahrenheit, or negative 16 degrees Celsius.
CNN's chief U.S. national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny is there in Iowa. He got more on the results of the new poll of likely Republican caucusgoers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: With two days to go before the Iowa caucuses open the Republican presidential nominating contest, Donald Trump still remains far and away frontrunner in Iowa, according to the new "Des Moines Register"/NBC News poll. This Iowa poll which has a storied history of capturing the final movements in this race shows Donald Trump at 48 percent in the poll.
The race for second place is fascinating, with Nikki Haley edging out Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just narrowly, 20 percent followed by 16 percent. The rest of the field is far below, Vivek Ramaswamy 8 percent, the rest goes down from there.
But it is the top of the field, showing that Donald Trump still has an overwhelming lead of the race, his supporters the most committed. The reason this matters, weather has been a central concern, blizzard warnings and dangerously cold weather, the committed supporters may be the answer to who shows up on the caucuses here on Monday night in Iowa.
But Haley is riding a wave of momentum, although the poll finds that her supporters are not as committed or enthusiastic as others. It also shows that some 68 percent of people have made up their minds, a quarter of Iowa voters have not made up their minds. So, there's still room for movement in this race.
But bottom line, this is still Donald Trump's race to lose, there is no doubt. Also, this poll raises expectations of it. He's 28 points ahead of his leading rival, so his margin of victory should he have one on Monday night should be judged against that number.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Des Moines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein is there in Des Moines. He's also senior editor for "The Atlantic" joins us now live.
Always good to see you, Ron.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Michael.
HOLMES: Quickly before politics, let's do what normal people do, let's talk about the weather, mate. Snowstorms, biting cold.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HOLMES: OK. So, whose advantage did voters says it's too dang cold, I'm staying home?
BROWNSTEIN: Current wind chill, by the way, Michael, is 45 below in Des Moines, which is at the outer level of what I've ever experienced. I actually think it benefits DeSantis if anybody at the margin, and maybe Trump a little.
[00:05:04]
I think the weather is the biggest problem for Haley. I mean, by definition, you see in this poll that -- and not only in this poll but in general, that her supporters tend to be the voters who are most alienated from the Trump era Republican Party. In fact, the poll shows half of her voters are either independents or Democrats.
And, you know, do they feel strongly enough about her to show up on a night that may be historically cold? By the way, this is the most snow since the early '40s. DeSantis has a serious organization, and so, they will be at least, you know, contacting people, whipping them, trying to encourage them to the polls on that night.
And Trump has, you know, he has his MAGA base, and I suspect will show up as well. So, it wouldn't be shocking if the weather led to a slight flip in the DeSantis/Haley finish. But that won't likely change the big story coming out of Iowa.
HOLMES: You mentioned the poll, Trump commanding 48 percent, Haley 20, DeSantis 16 percent, Ramaswamy 8. They add up to 44 to Trump 48.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HOLMES: Does anybody fall out after the Iowa caucuses? Who benefits if it happens?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, those are really interesting and different questions. I mean, DeSantis has put in the maximum effort in Iowa. He's visited all 99 counties. He's built this big organization. He's corralled the support of more of the state's political leadership than anyone else, including the governor and most of the leading evangelical leaders, in a state where evangelical voters might be 65 percent of the total turnout.
If he comes in third, it's hard to see a rationale for him to continue at that point. Even if he narrowly beats Haley for second, that probably is the end of the road. If he can't compete effectively against Trump here, you have to ask yourself, where would he?
The problem Haley has got, if DeSantis drops out, it's not clear she gets the bulk of those voters. They might end up with Trump.
I mean, Haley's situation reminds me of John McCain, not in 2008 when he won the nomination but 2000 when he lost the nomination. His initial surge was fuelled mostly by independent voters. That surge gave him an opportunity to make a case to core Republicans against the frontrunner, George W. Bush. Ultimately, he couldn't make a race of it. That race was decided in South Carolina. I really feel like we're heading to something like that again this year where Haley is likely to emerge after Iowa/New Hampshire as the one last viable alternative to Trump, but to have done it mostly on the votes of independents.
And to really make a race of this, she's going to have to give Republicans a stronger argument than she's been willing to try so far. HOLMES: Yeah, Iowa is a deeply red state. Recent polling averages
show a lot of love, of course, for Trump in that regard.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HOLMES: But is Iowa a bellwether? Does the result portend much for the next races?
BROWNSTEIN: No, not really. Iowa has had a poor record picking the Republican nominee. In fact, the last three Iowa winners, none of them won a dozen states and none of them won the nomination. Now, that trend may break this year with Trump.
The reason Iowa has not been a good predictor of the eventual Republican winner is because the last candidates won here in a similar way. They borrowed into the state and focused above all on maximizing their support among evangelical Christians, who as I said are the biggest share of the vote here. But once they painted themselves in that corner, they had troubled reaching out beyond that community in other states and really couldn't make a go of it. A problem that was apparent immediately in New Hampshire.
One thing I'll be watching for on Monday is in the exit poll, who wins the voters, the minority of voters who are not evangelical Christians because that winner has usually won the nomination. And, again, the problem for Haley, who I think is very much on track to be the last standing alternative to Trump in ten days from now or so after New Hampshire, is that she has to peel away more Republicans. And to do that, she has to make a stronger case against Trump than she's willing to do so far.
All of the arguments against Trump, almost of arguments are value free. There's no value judgment, I'm a stronger candidate. We need generational change. Ultimately, she has to make a case to Republican voters about why they should not to go with someone who they view in essence as the incumbent in the race.
HOLMES: Yeah, make the differences more starker.
Ron, always good to get your breakdown. Thank you, Ron Brownstein there.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
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HOLMES: Well, Sunday marks 100 days since Hamas launched its deadly raid into Israel, killing some 1,200 people. And right now, a massive rally is under way in Tel Aviv to mark the occasion. You can see it there.
An estimated 120,000 people are taking part in the event, which is said to last for 24 hours straight until Sunday night. The rally also calling for the release of the more than 100 hostages still believed to be held in Gaza. Some of the hostage family members, as well as the French president calling for giving negotiations a chance. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best answer is a political solution, not a military one. There is no prize high enough, the Israeli people know it, are unified with us. And they know Israel will never be the same if we give up on our loved ones.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): It's been 100 days today, 100 days. France does not abandon its children. This is why negotiations for their release must be resumed again and again.
Never give in, never give up because we do not and will not accept any sacrifice. So we're going to do everything and you can count on me to bring them all home with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Controversial strikes in hospitals on Gaza have happened often in the first months of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Here's CNN's Katie Polglase now with in-depth look at those attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATIE POLGLASE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside an ambulance at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza on November 9th. Nearby, at the Indonesian hospital the same night, sheer panic. The first two months of war decimated Gaza's health care system, as Israel launched an air, then land offensive on the north of the strip.
Out of 22 hospitals in northern Gaza, CNN has identified 20 that had been damaged or destroyed between October 7th and December 7th. Imagery analyzed by CNN shows over half have been directly attacked. Several, including the two largest in Gaza, Al-Shifa and Al-Quds, were directly attacked by Israel Defense Forces, this evidence suggests.
At Al-Ahli hospital, CNN previously found evidence a misfired rocket from Gaza was likely responsible for a deadly blast. But this appears to be the exception.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's called the Qatari hospital.
POLGLASE: Israel and U.S. intelligence say Hamas used many of these hospitals as command and control centers, a claim Hamas denies.
While protected under international humanitarian law, a hospital's protection during war is not absolute.
CRAIG JONES, AUTHOR, "THE WAR LAWYERS": There are instances where those protections can be lost, and that is for such time as they are being used for military activities to sort of further the activities of an enemy. That does not give carte blanche to militaries to launch an attack however they want.
POLGLASE: This is al-Quds, Gaza's second largest hospital. We modeled out how weeks of Israeli attacks around it caused severe damage and civilian harm. Behind the hospital on October 29th, an explosion has just hit. The director of al Quds spoke to CNN that day, saying there was bombing all around us.
On November 7th, the IDF published a video of them conducting a strike, just 100 meters from the hospital entrance. Here. They claim they were targeting a Hamas weapons depot.
The strike appears to have taken place on November 5th. This video from the ground shows people being stretchered away from the scene and into the hospital. But inside already looked like this, after days of strikes nearby.
The IDF say they repeatedly told people to evacuate, medical staff inside at the time said this was just not possible.
MSF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON, AL-QUDES HOSPITAL: We have thousands of civilian people in the hospital. How? How to convince them to go outside? Where? Were to go?
POLGLASE: The IDF legal adviser told CNN they did not attack al-Quds hospital, except in mid-November, when apparently returning fire from Hamas militants releasing this footage as evidence, 21 people were killed. The IDF said they were terrorists, but acknowledged civilians were still inside.
Over at Al-Shifa Hospital, displaced civilians were sheltering in the courtyard where aerial attacks were intensifying.
[00:15:04]
An IDF legal advisor again told CNN they did not attack Al Shifa. But weapons experts told CNN this is a remnant of an Israeli illumination shell.
A couple hours later, and the maternity ward is hit. Here, part of an Israeli tank missile is found.
Within a week, Israeli forces enter the hospital.
DR. AHMED EL MOKHALLALTI, SENIOR PLASTIC SURGEON AT AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL: We can see them checking and searching the east part of the hospital.
POLGLASE: Al-Shifa was one of the hospitals the IDF and the U.S. say Hamas were operating in. But when troops arrived, they appeared to have found very little evidence of this, publishing these videos of a network of tunnels.
What the IDF videos don't show is what they would have found just meters away. Multiple graves dug by civilians who were forced to bury their loved ones within the hospital grounds, amid the continued siege. The cameraman asked, who was in the grave? My mom, she replies.
Can I just put to you a conversation I had with a legal adviser to the IDF? They said to me, at the end of the day, as long as Hamas continues to use these hospitals and facilities for the military operations, and our aim is to defeat Hamas militarily, there is absolutely no choice but to go there. JONES: Much of the death and destruction, damage including to
hospitals, health care facilities is known in advance and part of the calculation. And that is absolutely a choice and to frame it not as a choice is to frame the death and destruction as an inevitability.
POLGLASE: Those first two months of war, and now among the most deadly and destructive of any conflict in recent history. The question remains as to whether any military objective can justify this.
Katie Polglase, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, CNN sent a full list of the hospitals we identified as damaged or destroyed to the Israeli military. In response, the IDF say they, quote, did not conduct any targeted attacks against hospitals in the Gaza Strip. They also said that, quoting again, any strike expected to incidentally damage hospitals is approved by the highest echelons of command.
Now, Israel's prime minister is denouncing the genocide case in the International Court of Justice, South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocidal acts in Gaza. Israel calls those allegations grossly distorted and says its war is fought in self-defense, despite the death toll.
Mr. Netanyahu has said it is Hamas who wants to commit genocide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The hypocritical attack in The Hague on the Jewish state that rose in the ashes of the Holocaust on behalf of those who came to perpetrate another Holocaust against the Jews is a moral law in the history of nations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, Israeli War Cabinet member Bennie Gantz thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for supporting Israel's position.
On Friday, the German government said it, quote, expressly rejects the allegations that Israel is committing genocide.
Still to come here on the program, while many in Taiwan are celebrating the results of an historic election, China is seething. More why when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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HOLMES: China says that Taiwan is still its territory and that will not change, as the ruling party celebrates an historic election victory. Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party clinched a third presidential victory Saturday with 40 percent of the total vote. China had warned Taiwan that a Democratic Progressive wing could increase the risk of conflict, but voters shrugged off those warnings by making Lai Ching-Te their new president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAI CHING-TE, TAIWAN'S PRESIDENT-ELECT (through translator): The Taiwanese people have successfully ignored efforts from external forces to influence this election, as we believe we can choose our own president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Marc Stewart joins me now live from Beijing.
Marc, this was precisely the result China did not want and actively tried to prevent, right?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Michael. In fact, we have seen efforts by China in recent months to try to dissuade the Taiwanese voters to support the Democratic Party -- the Democratic Progressive Party. So, we've had a big narrative that Beijing was trying to push saying selection was a choice between war versus peace, also having to balance its act of not doing too little to doing too much, perhaps creating even more ill feelings toward mainland China.
With all of that said, very much according to script, the results are in, and now, we are getting response from Beijing, coming in very late last night, early into the morning hours, a very forceful statement, which reads in part, the basic fact that there's only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change. This kind of statement certainly expected, very much according to script based off of what you've seen in the past.
But the real question is, Michael, is this just going to be a one-time statement and things will perhaps calm down for a bit? Or will Beijing want to flex its muscles, show that it is very much opposed to this idea of separation between the two, and perhaps do something more bold in the very near future?
HOLMES: So, what, you know, its strategy is eventual unification, it made clear that's still very much the aim. What are its options? What is in its quiver for what comes next?
STEWART: Right. So, China is in a very difficult position because as much as it would like to do something very bold and show Taiwan where it stands, it also has to balance the challenges at home.
[00:25:05]
Right now, as we discussed many times, Michael, the domestic economy here is struggling, Xi Jinping has seen leadership changes within his regime, so he has to balance with this broader Taiwan question. Now, he certainly has a very big toolbox. He can do things militarily, as we have seen before, but there's also perhaps diplomatic and economic steps he could take to show his force toward Taiwan. As far as timetable of all of this, and what will dictate what's next,
a number of analysts said wait until May to see something big, until the inauguration and we hear that speech from the new president-elect. Perhaps that will set the tone for the future. But to expect Beijing to sit back idle and do nothing, that's probably very lofty thinking, Michael.
HOLMES: Yeah. Marc, good to have you there, covering this for us, Marc Stewart in Beijing.
Now, Ukraine says Russia launched dozens of missiles and drones across the country on Saturday. It is the fourth such major attack by Moscow since December 29, no reported injuries, fortunately.
Ukraine's air force says it destroyed eight of the missiles, but Russia claims it achieved its goal by hitting military industrial facilities. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that the country still lacks comprehensive air defenses.
Mr. Zelenskyy says he discussed Ukraine's defense needs while meeting with the new French foreign minister on Saturday. They also talked about joint production of weapons and strengthening air defenses. It was Stephane Sejourne's first trip to Kyiv since he was appointed. He promised that France will stand by Ukraine, quote, for as long as it takes and will also push other European countries for more support.
I'm Michael Holmes. "WORLD SPORT" is next for international viewers. For everybody else, I'll be back with more news after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me, Michael Holmes.
Now, we are following a devastating storm continuing to pummel parts of the U.S. with blizzard conditions, rain, snow, dangerous coastal flooding as well. In Oregon, falling trees toppled power lines, started fires and shut down mass transit. Officials in Portland say there's been at least one weather-related death in the city.
More than 250 daily cold records could be broken across the country through Tuesday. Iowa, the epicenter of the blizzard conditions, of course, with the caucuses on Monday. It currently forecast to be coldest on record.
But 75 percent of the country will be experiencing temperatures below freezing and that's Fahrenheit over the next seven days as a blast of arctic air moves south and east through the central U.S.
Extreme weather is creating chaos at U.S. airports. The tracking site Flight Aware counting more than 1,300 flight cancellations across the United States on Saturday, and more than 6,600 delays, almost 700 flights have been canceled for Sunday already.
It's already been a disastrous week for U.S. air travel to say the least. Over the past week, more than 200 United and Alaska Airlines flights were canceled each day due to federal officials grounding Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
In Patterson, New Jersey, officials say first responders had to rescue people who got trapped in flood waters. The area remains under a flood warning according to the National Weather Service.
CNN's Polo Sandoval with those details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yet another storm system cutting its way through the Northeast, affecting millions of Americans, leaving behind chilly temperatures and also the constant threat of flooding, at least here in Patterson, New Jersey, where you can see behind me, the water that's actually overflowed the banks of the nearby Passaic River, which is about 90 yards away from where we're standing, one of the reasons the bridge is supposed to be closed we've seen most of the weekend, many drivers simply drive through those barricades to the other side, while others have simply shifted into reverse and gone the other way.
This really has become quite the inconvenience for many people, especially those who had to be rescued from their homes in the last couple of days, about 20 individuals in the last several days, according to local officials. New Jersey's governor was on ground over the weekend in order to assess the damage and see first hand the impact. We also know that there are close to two dozen streets closed and we mentioned the bridge. This is after the storm last Tuesday, a soaker that was one of the first to prompt the flooding concerns. Nonetheless, officials pledging financial support, hoping to obtain some from local, state and federal sources for people affected by the recent storms.
Polo Sandoval, CNN, Patterson, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, as the cold weather impacts many in the U.S., new data shows increasingly high levels of COVID-19 cases across the country. U.S. Centers for Disease Control says nearly 36,000 COVID hospitalizations last week alone, with numbers more than doubling since the start of November, while the infections are less likely to cause severe disease thanks to vaccines, experts say viral activity is still high. Only one in five adults and fewer than one in 10 children have gotten the latest COVID vaccine.
Eric Topol is a cardiologist and professor of molecular medicine with Scripps Research. I'm delighted to say he's joining us because not many know this story better.
Doctor, hundreds of people still dying from COVID each week in the U.S. The World Health Organization says 10,000 around the world in December, yet not many people are talking about COVID anymore.
What are you are concerns right now? ERIC TOPOL, CARDIOLOGIST: Well, they should be talking about it,
Michael, because it's raging as far as the infections, the spread. The wastewater levels are the second highest in the pandemic. So, we've got a problem with this JN.1 variant getting into people far easier than most of the variants that we've seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
[00:35:06]
HOLMES: I know a lot of people personally who have not gotten vaccine boosters, don't think COVID is a big deal now. But CDC data says as of I think January 5, less than 20 percent of adults, 8 percent of kids have received the updated COVID vaccine. What do you say to those ambivalent about the boosters right now?
TOPOL: It's a real mistake because this booster does help protect against the current variant. And most importantly, it helps protect against long COVID. This is a real bonus there.
And for people who are of advanced age, over 65, only 35 percent have had the booster, compared to 95 percent who had the primary series. They're the higher risk and we've got to get people with increased risk to get a booster.
HOLMES: You just mentioned something I want to cover with you, again for the complacent, speak to the impact of long COVID, symptoms that persist, something I know you have studied extensively. Is enough attention given to long COVID and its impacts? Should people be motivated by that?
TOPOL: I would hope so, Michael. This is extraordinary how much we're not having enough respect for that potential. How we don't have any treatment for it. And the only preventions we really have are not getting COVID or not getting reinfected and getting the booster or vaccine, which is 40 or 50 percent reduction of the chance of getting long COVID, which as you well know is a potentially suffering, disabling condition with tens of millions of people already affected. So, that's what this wave is doing now, adding to the burden of long COVID, where we have no treatment.
HOLMES: Yeah, what is interesting, too, when it comes to death, I think half from the U.S. of the global deaths, which is extraordinary. It's not just deaths in the U.S. again, we're seeing around the world, that CDC figures showed almost 35,000 people were hospitalized in the week ending December 30. So the deaths might be down, but hospitalizations -- that's a lot of people.
TOPOL: Exactly. And most of those people, Michael, are people over 65, who didn't get a booster since September when they were available, which is just amazing how we missed out there.
HOLMES: Yeah, Or stupid. You covered this, we've talked many times over the course -- since COVID began. Are we ready for another pandemic should it come? Have lessons been properly learned? Is this pandemic over? TOPOL: No, not at all. We're going to be looking at this virus for
years to come unless we develop an exit strategy, which is to block infections and spread. That's going to rely on oral or nasal vaccines, which we started to work on, but it's gotten a late start and not a big priority and resource. But otherwise, you know, we will have variants, 30 plus mutations and raging pandemics.
For future pandemics, we've not learned enough. We're in the fifth year of this one and we could face another one in years coming not taking the lessons we should.
HOLMES: Yeah, I can't believe the booster numbers are so low. Just finally, too, is it a concern there's not as much danger around these days compared to the height of the pandemic? Most people test at home these days, who knows the case numbers. A lot of it is out of public view and doesn't get as much attention. Is that a problem?
TOPOL: It's a big problem. That's why we have to rely on wastewater. It's our best metric. That's what has been so high in the U.S. and many other countries. This is a globally dominant variant now, it's really surged. And hospitalizations are helpful.
But, you know, fortunately, Michael, we have some population immunity that's built over these four years. So, that's why there's this gap between lots of new infections, reinfections, and not as much hospitalizations as in the past.
HOLMES: Always great analysis from you, Dr. Eric Topol. Thanks so much.
TOPOL: Thank you.
HOLMES: U.S. congressional leaders have reportedly reached an agreement on a short-term funding bill to keep the government running into March. The new continuing resolution comes just days ahead of the first funding deadline of January 19. A source telling CNN House Republicans will have a conference call Sunday night to discuss the plan, reportedly with $1.5 trillion in funding the next fiscal year, with $886 billion in defense spending.
[00:40:11]
Now, as U.S. voters prepare to cast the first votes of the 2024 presidential race, election workers are bracing for new threats from conspiracy theorists, especially if Donald Trump loses again.
We'll have details on that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: On Monday, Republican caucusgoers in Iowa will be the first in the U.S. to choose who they want to represent their party in the next presidential election. That as the November vote draws closer, there is concern about how Donald Trump supporters could react if he again fails to win back the presidency.
Our Donie O'Sullivan talked to election workers still shell-shocked from the way the 2020 vote played out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA MARRA, FORMER ELECTIONS DIRECTOR, COCHISE COUNTY, AZ: You should be in jail. You should be killed. You should be fired. To just people screaming into the phone, I mean, just ridiculous -- in 24/7.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lisa Marra was Director of Elections in Arizona's Cochise County for six years.
MARRA: We actually had to hire an armed security company because the people that worked in the office processing ballots were afraid somebody was going to come break the door down and take ballots.
O'SULLIVAN: Lisa, a lifelong Republican, had enough of the intimidation and threats, and last year she quit.
Your successor is a man named?
MARRA: Bob Bartelsmeyer.
O'SULLIVAN: This is Bob Bartelsmeyer.
BOB BARTELSMEYER, FORMER ELECTIONS DIRECTOR, COCHISE COUNTY, AZ: The election itself just didn't seem like it had been in the past elections. There was just something off.
O'SULLIVAN: Back in 2020, he shared these Facebook posts falsely claiming Trump legally won by a landslide.
BARTELSMEYER: Sometimes it's hard for me to accept that there wasn't some errors made in the election, but I'm not sure that it was to the extent that it would have changed the election.
[00:45:02]
O'SULLIVAN: For some of the election conspiracy theorists who forced Lisa out of her job in Cochise County, Bob's doubts about the 2020 election made him an ideal candidate to replace her.
To maybe some of the people in Cochise, was your critics were saying, this is an election skeptic. He's an election extremist, a conspiracy theorist.
BARTELSMEYER: Denier.
O'SULLIVAN: Denier?
BARTELSMEYER: Mm-hmm.
O'SULLIVAN: While some people would have viewed that as a disqualification.
BARTELSMEYER: Correct.
O'SULLIVAN: There's people in Cochise who are probably saying, this is our guy.
BARTELSMEYER: Correct.
O'SULLIVAN: He knows what's up. He knows the election's been stolen. So when you got there, some people were probably happy to see you coming.
BARTELSMEYER: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: But then something happened that he never expected.
You weren't extreme enough?
BARTELSMEYER: No. They found out from the beginning that I was going to follow the laws and procedures.
O'SULLIVAN: And they weren't happy about that?
BARTELSMEYER: Some were not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your actions, sir, are not that of a conservative.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Mr. Bartelsmeyer, if I had the authority, I'd fire you.
O'SULLIVAN: At public meetings in Cochise County, some voters who believe conspiracy theories about the election decided Bob was not MAGA enough and began demanding he overhaul the entire voting system.
BARTELSMEYER: To do away with machines, doing away with mail ballots. Those are things that have to be changed legislatively, and it's not permissible legally for me to do away with all this stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure even you brain dead rhinos and Democrats can understand. We the people don't want any machines or mail-in ballots.
O'SULLIVAN: After just four months, Bob quits.
O'SULLIVAN: At my age, I don't need that. I need less drama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want some more?
O'SULLIVAN: Geri Roll, a former Trump supporter, also left her election job in another Arizona County last year.
GERI ROLL, FORMER ELECTIONS DIRECTOR, PINAL COUNTY, AZ: I've never been treated so poorly, so disrespected.
O'SULLIVAN: So much of the vitriol directed at election workers like Bob, Lisa and Geri is fueled by false beliefs about voting machines, about ballots, and about election workers themselves.
ROLL: I had a guy tell me that he could hack into our election equipment through the power outlet.
O'SULLIVAN: What people believe?
ROLL: Nonsensical. It never has been like this before, and it's not stupidity. And they really don't care about truth or integrity. They just want their outcome. I think that's it.
O'SULLIVAN: Geri has spent most of her life working in the court system as a county attorney, but she says the abuse she received as an election worker topped it all.
ROLL: I have been treated better by murderers, child molesters, thieves, rapists, then the political parties and the elected representatives.
O'SULLIVAN: Harassment is one of the main reasons election officials across the country have called it quits. Across eleven western states, more than 160 top local election officials have left their positions since November 2020.
BILL GATES, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ: We're asking a lot of our elections workers to deal with not only the general misinformation out there, but directly people being attacked.
O'SULLIVAN: Republican Bill Gates is on the Board of Supervisors for Arizona's largest county.
How concerned are you by the fact that there are election conspiracy theorists now becoming election officials?
GATES: I'm very concerned about that. We're seeing that in some small counties, we are only as strong as our weakest link.
BARTELSMEYER: It's very sad because we need experienced election workers.
O'SULLIVAN: Fortunately for Bob Bartelsmeyer, he returned to his old election job in a different Arizona county, where he says he is no longer being harassed. As for the election conspiracy theories he shared in 2020.
Do you regret sharing those Facebook posts?
BARTELSMEYER: Yes. The 2020 chapter should be closed and we should move forward. We have to believe the process of the certifications in each state of the secretaries of state.
O'SULLIVAN: So you think voters should trust a 2024 election?
BARTELSMEYER: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: Even if Trump loses?
BARTELSMEYER: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Our thanks to Donie O'Sullivan for that report. When we come back here on the program, as people clear their homes of
Christmas trees, one organization is proving one family's trash is another fisher's treasure.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:53:32]
HOLMES: In Colombia, at least 37 people are confirmed dead after landslides in the country's northwest, according to authorities. The governor of the department says more than a dozen bodies have been transferred to the Medellin for forensic information. She says it's a very sad weekend for the region and she will not rest until everybody there has information they need about relatives who may be affected.
After three years on the job, John Kerry plans to leave his post as climate envoy. That's according to a source close to Kerry. The 80- year-old former U.S. secretary of state is expected to attend two more major conferences before stepping down in the spring. In his tenure, Kerry led U.S. negotiations in three international climate summits and was key in restarting U.S. climate talks with China. Axios reports Kerry intends to join the Biden re-election campaign.
Now, with yuletide over, Christmas trees are no longer gracing our homes. Instead, they're heading to sidewalks for trash collection. One Swedish organization is giving discarded trees a new environmentally friendly purpose, as CNN's Paula Newton tells us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The lights are gone, decorations put away. But there is one organization in Sweden trying to stretch that Christmas spirit into the New Year.
[00:55:01]
Since 2016, the Swedish Anglers Association has been collecting recycled Christmas trees and tossing them into the bays and waterways around Stockholm. It may look like a cold and icy grave but it's a new beginning for the trees.
MALIN KJELLIN, SPORTFISHKARNA: So, we tie them together, three or four together, then we tie them to a weight. In this case, rocks in a bag. Everything is biodegradable. Then we throw them out into the water, and they will sink down to the bottom.
NEWTON: There the trees will settle into their new role, providing habitats for marine wildlife. Environmentalists say there's a lot of boat traffic and not enough vegetation for the fish to thrive. The trees come each year like Christmas to help make up for the loss.
KJELLIN: There are plenty of places to hide in here. All these branches and pine needles as well. NEWTON: Since the start of the initiative, more than 1,000 trees have
been deposited in the waters. Scientists hope that makes for a lot of happy fish, and humans like it, too. An eco-friendly way of recycling a special part of the holiday season.
CAMILLA HALLSTROM, STOCKHOLM RESIDENT: In Sweden, you give the Christmas a personality. You choose it very carefully and live with it.
NEWTON: It's a gift that keeps on giving for inhabitant above the surface and below.
Paula Newton, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes.
You can follow me on X, Threads and Instagram @HolmesCNN. Do stick around, I'll have more news for you in just a moment.
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