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GOP Candidates Hit Campaign Trail With 2 Days Until NH Primary; Lebanon: 1 Killed And 5 Hurt In Drone Strikes Near Military Checkpoint; Hamas-Run Health Ministry: 25k+ Killed In Gaza Since War Began; Sources: Trump Expected At E. Jean Carroll Trial Day Before New Hampshire Primary; Arctic Air Is Chased Out By Spring-Like Weather; 49ers, Ravens Earn Trip To NFL Conference Championships. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired January 21, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:36]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Just a few days now remain before the first in the nation primary happening in New Hampshire and candidates are sprinting to the finish line. The last three Republicans in the race are fanning out across the Granite State.

Former president Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis all holding events there today. But as they make their final pitches, we're getting a new view of how Tuesday's primary might shake out.

A new CNN/University of New Hampshire poll out today shows Trump with 50 percent support among likely Republican primary voters, outpacing his nearest competitor, former South Carolina governor Nikki winning Haley by 11 points.

CNN's Kylie Atwood is tracking the latest on the campaign trail. Nikki Haley is holding multiple events today, right. I mean what's her closing message right now to narrow that gap or perhaps even take the lead?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Nikki Haley is really barnstorming the state, Fred. She has at least eight events today. There were six events yesterday. I mean she is really going forth with retail politicking, trying to get in front of as many New Hampshire voters as she can.

And as she does that, she's sharpening her attacks against former president Trump. We've seen her in the past say that he was the right president at the right time, be critical of him on policy matters.

But she's doing more than that now. She questioned his mental fitness after he confused her with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at a rally on Friday night. And this morning in an interview with CBS, she doubled down on that critique and essentially said that that wasn't an isolated incident where he has gotten confused and made errors. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you look recently, there have been multiple things. I mean, he claimed that Joe Biden was going to get us into World War II. I'm assuming he meant World War III.

He said that he ran against President Obama. He never ran against President Obama. Don't be surprised if you have someone that's 80 in office. Their mental stability is going to continue to decline. That's just human nature.

This is different. I mean we're seeing -- he's just not at the same level he was at 2016. I think we're seeing some of that decline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now she went on to say that mental fitness is a real issue because if you are going to be president, you can't get confused when there are wars happening around the world, when you're trying to avoid wars.

She also critiqued him for in her words, "buddying up with dictators". And of course, this comes as obviously there's some urgency in her campaign. As you guys said, that new CNN poll shows her 11 points behind former president Trump here in New Hampshire.

But it might be a message, this increased critique of former president Trump. It might be a message that's better met with the Independent voters here in New Hampshire than perhaps it would have been met in Iowa where there were fewer Independent voters. Independent voters couldn't partake in the caucus.

Here in the primary, they can partake on Tuesday night in the voting. So that is an area, a group here that she's doing quite well with. It might be a group that she feels that this critique will pull in even more strongly to her side on Tuesday.

But she is really across this state today, trying to make the case that she is as she's been making throughout the entirety of her campaign, the next generational leader.

WHITFIELD: All right. And Kylie, what about former president Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis? They're also out there in New Hampshire today. What's their schedule looking like?

ATWOOD: Well, Ron DeSantis has one event here in New Hampshire today. It comes after his campaign was scrambling. They canceled some morning show interviews today. He was in South Carolina yesterday.

He's really not aggressively competing in the state, but they clearly wanted him here later today to show that he hasn't completely given up on the state. Then you have former president Trump who has had rallies. He has singular rallies in the state every day for the last few days, tonight included.

ATWOOD: So incredibly different tactics when it comes to their campaigning here in New Hampshire with Nikki Haley's campaign feeling that it really matters for her to get out and see as many people as she can because the stakes are incredibly high for her in New Hampshire, quite frankly.

[14:05:00]

And they know that she has to do well here. They think that she can do well here. But whether or not she does well here will be really essential to what her campaign looks going forward.

They're saying that they'll compete in in South Carolina, and they plan to compete in the super Tuesday states, but if she can get momentum out of New Hampshire, that will help her.

And you have former president Trump telling rallies here that if he can win by a large margin in New Hampshire, then he believes that he will effectively have secured the nomination.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kylie Atwood. Thank you so much, Kylie.

All right. Let's dive into this now with national political reporter for "The New York Times Jazmine Ulloa and national political correspondent for Politico Alex Isenstadt. Good to see both of you.

Ok. Jazmine, you first. I mean Haley is out all over, you know, in the state of New Hampshire today holding eight events, but she's also hurling direct attacks now at former president Trump challenging his mental acuity in these final days before the primary.

But the CNN poll out today, let's examine it further, shows her still 11 points behind. Is that strategy offering some real promise at this point of her campaign?

JAZMINE ULLOA, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Yes, so we have been seeing some of her most energized crowds yet. Voters seem to be really connecting with her. You know, they say she's the sharpest she's ever been.

She's making this really sharp case against President Trump that she hasn't made before, and she just seems more relaxed on the trail. She looks like she's actually having fun, which is a very different Haley than we've seen -- than we saw in Iowa.

But I definitely picked up on some concerns from Independents, you know, Independents were very worried about the future of democracy, about turning the page on this nation -- on this era of divisive politics, whether it's just a little bit too little, too late, and concerned about that grip that President Trump still maintains on the Republican party.

They really see her as the last -- the last best chance, at least this cycle to move the party away from him.

WHITFIELD: And Alex, you know, we've seen Trump get backing now from several Republican leaders. And some of them from Nikki Haley's state of South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster, Senator Tim Scott were both campaigning with the former president this weekend.

Has that rattled or even distracted Haley or perhaps even, you know, have voters who were supporting Haley now second-guessing their support?

ALEX ISENSTADT, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Well, it's not clear, but what is clear is that the Trump campaign is trying to put forward an image of inevitability. They're trying to convey, to telegraph to primary voters, but also other top Republicans around the country that the outcome of this primary is a foregone conclusion.

So they're trying to put together a show of force. Last night in New Hampshire, they brought out a lot of top South Carolina endorsers, which of course, the state is having its primary next month.

And so what they're trying to do is they're trying to say, look. Trump's ahead by almost -- between 10 and 15 points now according to polling in New Hampshire, and so if he wins there, and he goes on and wins in Nevada as he's favored to do, it's going to create a steamrolling effect in which primary voters and other top Republicans are just going to get on that bandwagon.

WHITFIELD: And the flip side to that, Alex, I wonder, you know, flanking himself with these surrogate supporters, I mean showing this show of force as you put it. Is that also perhaps an indicator that maybe he's concerned, that you know, he doesn't have it all, you know, nailed down? That he feels like showing this kind of support will kind of enamor voters and be influential?

ISENSTADT: Well, there's no question that New Hampshire is probably a tighter race than Iowa was. And what you definitely see the Trump campaign doing, is they are really taking nothing for granted.

Trump is here pretty much -- he has been here pretty much every day in New Hampshire. He has a pretty packed schedule. He's going to be here tonight. He's going to be here tomorrow night. His son Don Jr.'s going to be campaigning.

And so they're not taking their foot off of the accelerator here. They definitely want not just a 10 to 15-point win, but they want a win that's even higher than that because if they can get a really dominant win, that's going to increase pressure on both Haley and DeSantis to potentially get out of this race.

WHITFIELD: And Jazmine, you know, it's not just the latest numbers, you know, that Trump has, you know, only strengthened his position since early this month.

[14:10:00]

Haley is only up, you know, seven points while DeSantis has stayed flat despite other candidates dropping out. And today DeSantis has only one event scheduled. He's canceled several television appearances that were scheduled for today including on CNN.

Here's how one of his surrogates put it this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): We never had high expectations for New Hampshire anyway. And Nikki's exploiting, you know, a quirk of their primary which is that undeclareds, i.e., Democrats can vote in the primary.

The real fight I think is in South Carolina and that's where Nikki Haley, I think stumbles. She's going to miss expectations and not even win her own state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So Jazmine, what do you make of DeSantis' strategy by way of, you know, his surrogate's explanation there? South Carolina, DeSantis' kind of last real chance to stay in this race?

ULLOA: Yes. Haley has been really fighting back against these attacks, you know. Both DeSantis and Trump have been saying that she's in the pocket of Democratic donors, that Democrats are infiltrating the New Hampshire primary in her favor she's been shooting back at those attacks this week pretty forcefully saying, you know, I'm a Tea Party conservative. I wrote, you know, I signed some of the most -- the toughest immigration voter ID, abortion laws in the state, you know.

She even rejected claims that she's a -- the characterization that she is a moderate. And so she's been -- she's pre-emptively taking on these attacks already looking to make it a showdown between herself and Trump in her home state.

And again, she's also dismissing the mounting stack of endorsements against Trump saying that because she rode on the Tea Party, this anti-establishment wave, she doesn't have many friends in the legislature.

She told us in a gaggle just yesterday, you know, I don't get any love. There's no love for me from the South Carolina legislature because I pushed for reforms in the state.

So she's arguing -- she's making this case that she knows her state better than anybody else, and her attackers -- her rivals are making the case, well, you are competing in a very different party now.

WHITFIELD: So Alex, you know, let's look a little bit at what's driving these numbers because they are pretty extraordinary, just two days ahead of the primary.

The new CNN poll showing the border and immigration issues as the top items of interest for New Hampshire Republican primary voters. Why are voters so captivated there by immigration particularly in New Hampshire which yes, it does border Canada, but thousands of miles away, you know, along the U.S. southern border with Mexico, that's where we see, you know, the most graphic images of what the immigration issue is like in this country.

ISENSTADT: Yes, you know, the immigration debate, border issues have really animated Republican voters nationally. It's something that touches something deep, and I think especially to Trump's -- his core base -- something he's really tapped into is this notion that other people are coming into this country. They're taking your jobs.

That's something that really taps into how Trump's base feels, and it really is part of his connection to them. And so as Trump has been campaigning here in New Hampshire all week, he's been talking about border issues, and he's been getting quite the reception from it.

So you can bet that as the race heads down to the final 48 hours, he's going to continue talking about it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alex Isenstadt, Jazmine Ulloa we will keep it there for now. Good talking to you.

(CROSSTALKING)

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, a grim milestone in Gaza. The Hamas-controlled health ministry now says the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 25,000. We'll discuss the crisis there with the president and CEO of Oxfam America after a quick break.

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[14:18:04]

WHITFIELD: We're following new attacks in the Middle East.

A drone strike near a military checkpoint in southern Lebanon killed one person and injured five others earlier today. That's according to Lebanon's state news agency.

The incident happened just five miles from the border with Israel, and so far there's been no comment on the strike from the Israeli Defense Forces.

And it follows strikes yesterday in another part of Lebanon and in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Both Syrian and Lebanese news agencies said Israel was behind those strikes.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut. What can you tell us about today's strike?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've seen is a fairly intense day of strikes and counterstrikes on the border between Lebanon and Israel.

By our count, there have been four Hezbollah attacks on Israeli positions on the other side of the border, but there have been many more Israeli strikes on places, positions in Lebanon in addition to that strike near an army check point that we understand left at least one woman dead and several people injured.

Now this evening there have been overflights by Israeli war planes over the Lebanese capital according to reports we have been seeing. Of course, it's so noisy here we can't hear much of anything.

But there is a growing sense here in Lebanon that perhaps things are coming to a new threshold in terms of tensions between Lebanon and Israel.

WEDEMAN: There have been persistent press reports coming from Israel that the Israelis are basically saying if the Americans can't work out some sort of easing of tensions between Lebanon -- Israel and Hezbollah, then Israel may launch a major military operation in Lebanon itself. So this is leaving people worrying that perhaps Lebanon is next, Fredricka?

[14:20:00]

WHITFIELD: Well despite all of that, you know, these increased strikes involving Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, is it the case we're already seeing a de facto regional expansion of the conflict?

WEDEMAN: It's a low-intensity conflict, but it is -- geographically it spreads all the way from the borders of Iran to Lebanon down to Yemen. This is a conflict where in more than one sense, the United States and some of its allies have already been drawn into.

The United States and the United Kingdom have deployed ships to the Red Sea to counter the attempts by the Houthis in Yemen to stop ships going through that vital sea lane. You see the Americans have -- are trying to for instance, between Lebanon and Israel, trying to reduce the tensions, but there have been more than 140 attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq since the 7th of October by Iranian-linked militant organizations.

So really we are already in a low-intensity regional war, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ben Wedeman in Beirut, thanks so much.

So as the war rages on in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7th when the war began. And Palestinian officials say more than 11,000 children are among the dead.

Abby Maxman is the president and CEO of Oxfam America which is a global humanitarian aid organization. She's joining us from Jerusalem. Great to see you.

ABBY MAXMAN, PRESIDENT/CEO, OXFAM AMERICA: Thanks. Good to be with you.

WHITFIELD: So paint an even clearer picture for us. What are your aid workers telling you about the conditions in Gaza right now?

MAXMAN: Fredricka, we are hearing harrowing story after harrowing story about how difficult life is. Our colleagues in Gaza have been displaced over and over again. We have 29 staff there. We have -- who are every day just doing the basics to try to keep their families and their friends and others, strangers, safe, fed, access to clean water and shelter.

Everything is in short supply, and nobody is safe. They're just thriving in incredible fear every day, and just not knowing when this is going to stop; desperate, and feeling abandoned quite honestly.

WHITFIELD: So your aid workers say their experiences are very much mirroring, you know, that of Palestinian civilians. It's hard to get water. It's hard to get food. What are they saying about the real fears of widespread famine in Gaza?

MAXMAN: Well, they are -- the harrowing stories just keep adding up. They describe what it takes -- they feel lucky. I hear stories each day of how lucky people feel when they can have access to finding flour, using an agriculture well to make dough, then having to search for a place to bake it once a day so that their family and those in the -- where they're living with up to 60 people can be having bread one time a day.

It is a fearful -- set of fearful and frightening conditions. And we should be responding to what is a global wakeup call, to the warnings of famine being imminent because people cannot survive as food -- anything that they might have is diminishing, and we are not able to get aid or commercial food in at any level of real meaningful quantities that people need at this time.

WHITFIELD: So yes. There are gigantic obstacles still for aid to get in. So you're saying it's typical that people can find sustenance if they find flour. I mean, a, where are they finding the flour, and then they're relying on agricultural wells to get fluids -- water?

MAXMAN: Absolutely. Yes, that's right. I mean, the stories of how people are trying to find, you know, those who had, you know, tin food, those stocks have run out. We are well over a hundred days of this conflict, and people are just doing everything they can to stay safe, and they're not.

You know, people are displaced. Everybody is displaced. Staff and those they're supporting.

[14:25:00]

WHITFIELD: So, you know, this lack of food, shortage of food, sustenance is one thing, and then the access to health care, something like according to the Palestinian health ministry only 16 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are partially functioning.

So talk to me about how people are able to get medical care or what are they resorting to in order to render aid when you can't get to one of the 16 hospitals that might be able to help you?

MAXMAN: Well, yes. Absolutely, Fredricka. The hospitals, you know, are short on fuel, on medicines, on everything they need. We hear repeated stories of cesareans being performed without anesthesia. And actually post-delivery hysterectomies being performed on what might otherwise be routine access to medical care that's non-existent, also without anesthesia.

This is horrifying, and quite frankly impossible to imagine. I spoke with a woman a 33-year-old woman who this morning from Gaza, who is actually stranded outside with her 3-year-old son. She was in Ramallah getting medical care for him just days before the conflict began.

But her two daughters, 7 years old are stuck -- are trapped in Gaza with her family and their father. And each of them, when their house was bombed, have injuries -- back, leg, head injuries.

And she described that they're not going anywhere for the treatment. They can't. They can't reach treatment, and the father and those in a tent who they're living with are self-administering care.

And she said that it's absolute torture living separate from her family, and she would give absolutely anything to be back and able to hold her daughters again.

WHITFIELD: As you said, it is horrible to imagine, and sadly many people there don't have to imagine it. They're living it.

So I wonder, Abby, if there's a, you know, a way in which you can, you know, appeal to the viewing audiences. What can ordinary people do in the situation to help?

MAXMAN: Well, what is needed above all, and I hear this over and over again in talking with people in Gaza or colleagues, people stranded outside, people all over the territory. We need a ceasefire. We need a ceasefire now.

We need to be able to administer and scale up a massive humanitarian response. We need the release of hostages and families need to be able to be reunited and return home.

So action, calling for a ceasefire, taking action. Obviously supporting whatever it takes to be able to scale up. We as Oxfam are positioning along with partners to scale up as soon as it's safe to do so.

And it is going to be an enormous response and so anyone who feels compelled can donate and support as we preposition and prepare to be able to scale up as soon as it's safe to do so.

WHITFIELD: All right. Abby Maxman of Oxfam America, thank you so much. And all the best to you and all your colleagues and everyone who is trying their best to endure what you are describing very aptly. It's a very horrible situation, horrible to imagine. Thank you so much.

MAXMAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, former president Donald Trump expected back in court tomorrow as a jury hears arguments on how much money he must pay E. Jean Carroll in her defamation case against him.

How can the jury calculate a figure? We'll discuss straight ahead.

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[14:32:50]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

Donald Trump faces another key battle on the campaign trail on Tuesday with the New Hampshire primary, and it comes as he faces several major battles in the courtroom. On Monday, Trump is expected back in court as a jury hears arguments on how much money he must pay E. Jean Carroll in her defamation case against Trump.

And in Georgia, the Fulton County district attorney investigating Trump for election interference is now facing her own inquiry ahead of that trial.

Joining me right now to discuss all of this and more, is CNN legal analysts Carrie Cordero.

Carrie, great to see you.

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Okay. So let's begin with the Georgia case. You know, it's alleged that the D.A. Fani Willis hired prosecutor Nathan Wade and that he allegedly -- they allegedly had a romantic relationship and mishandled public money. And in Wade's divorce case, his estranged wife showed credit card receipts allegedly showing that he, Wade, bought plane tickets for himself and Willis. These are the allegations.

What did Trump's of former campaign aide and co-defendant, Michael Roman, have to prove at this point?

CORDERO: Well, he's asking for a couple of things. And so, one thing is he's trying to get the case against him, just absolutely thrown out. And I think that's going to be a relatively high bar. I think the more interesting question and probably the one that is more likely to play out is whether or not the D.A. and potentially the prosecutor, Mr. Wade, have to recuse themselves or would be disqualified for the case in any way.

And so, I think it really will come down, you know, right now. The allegations are basically unresponded to or unanswered. We have allegations that are made against Fani Willis and Mr. Wade, but we haven't yet heard their version of events or the other story. And so, I think it will come down to a question of whether or not they are able to counter those allegations or whether or not there's really an ethical issue for them that would down the road lead to their recusal from the case.

WHITFIELD: And thus far, I mean, Willis has actually filed a motion so that she would not have to testify in Wade's divorce case.

[14:35:05] She is after all the leaving prosecution -- leading the prosecution rather of Trump and 13 co-defendants accused or criminally conspiring to overthrow Trump's 2020 election loss in Georgia. And last weekend, at a Sunday church service, Willis, you know, said Wade is one of three prosecutors that she hired and had the right to do so. One is Black, two are white. And she says they were all given the same hourly rates.

Did she just kind of illuminate the approach that she might take that the credentials the three prosecutors, their pay and how race might be driving these accusations are all at issue?

CORDERO: Well, certainly in terms of her public messaging, that seems to be the approach that she's taking. And both looking at the credentials of the prosecutors, including Mr. Wade and the potential racial basis for the allegations that are being made. But the interesting thing is her role in the criminal case related to the election is completely separate from the ongoing civil issue with respect to the divorce that is the basis for these allegations coming out.

And in divorce proceedings, there can be a lot of discovery and that's a civil proceeding and it really is completely separate so it will be interesting to see whether she would be able to use her role as the prosecutor to be able to get out of participating, or responding to a subpoena in that civil divorce case. I don't really think that there's a good basis for that she would need to respond in a civil matter, just like any other citizen. And so I think that is going to be where the professional and ethical challenges continue to arise for her.

WHITFIELD: All right. You mentioned the possibilities of recusal or the considerations of recusal. And as CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen said, it would be appropriate in his view for a wade to recuse himself step aside, but that Willis should stay on the case. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I would advise Mr. Wade if he asked me, he hasn't, D.A. hasn't asked me, but if they asked me, I would say, Mr. Wade, the right thing to do, not mandatory voluntary. That right thing to do is to recognize your successes here and step away to resolve the distraction and to put the focus back where as a matter of public policy and public interests and the rule of law should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, what were the recusal of one or even both, including the district attorney, do to the overall case? I mean does it all threaten, you know, its real viability to move forward, recusals of one or both?

CORDERO: Well, first of all, the recusal of Mr. Wade, even if he were to do that, I don't necessarily think that that would take all of the pressure off Ms. Willis and to be able to continue in a way without having to participate in the civil divorce proceeding in a way that might potentially expose things that would lead to her recusal, too. So I'm not sure that one will necessarily solve the problem for the other.

Again, these being allegations that are made and we don't know whether they're true or not. And that continues to need to play out. With respect to the criminal case in the election overall, that case should in theory be able to continue because prosecutions should not be dependent on individual prosecutors is the office of the D.A. She has other prosecutors who are working on this case. She even has said that she has appointed two others as people who have been appointed to assist in the case from outside the office.

So it does sound like there is an additional team, but clearly, Ms. Willis has been deeply engaged in the case itself. And so, it is a question whether or not it would really retain the leadership that it needs given the historic nature and the importance of the case.

WHITFIELD: Okay. All right. Let's quickly move on to the E. Jean Carroll case. She was on the stand, you know, two days as the court, you know, tries to decide damages in the defamation case in which Donald Trump was already found liable.

How will the jury calculate a figure?

CORDERO: Well, juries have and this is a civil jury. Juries have wide discretion to be able to put $1 amount on the harm that has been done. And so, this case is at this point just about the damages. I do think that the testimony of potentially experts who talked about the reputational harm or not harm that Ms. Carroll has faced, will potentially be more persuasive on the damages question, than the testimony of Ms. Carroll herself or potentially the former president if he testifies in this particular case, because it really is up to the jury to determine whether or not and how to put that dollar amount on her reputational harm.

[14:40:25]

The former president's attorneys are arguing that her reputation has actually been bolstered and enhanced and given her sort of a new public life that she hadn't had for a number of years. She, of course, is arguing the exact opposite, which is that this has seriously harmed her. And so, she's made -- requested in the case, many millions of dollars to compensate her for that harm.

WHITFIELD: All right. Carrie Cordero, thank you so much. It's going to be a busy week on many fronts. Thank you so much

CORDERO: That's right. Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. A temperature roller coaster, the arctic blast that brought record low temperatures and snow to parts of the country is finally coming to an end and warm air from the Gulf of Mexico will make temperatures 30 to 50 degrees warmer in some cities -- can't wait for that. The latest forecast right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:28] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

The arctic blast that brought frigid cold temperatures across the majority of the country is finally on its way out this week. But now, millions of Americans are under threat of flash flooding and heavy rains along the Gulf Coast and parts of the southeast.

Joining me right now is CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa.

Elisa, so when will we get a break from this arctic blast this week? I'm looking forward to that.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Finally, by the end of the week, temperature swing the other way, 10 to 20 degrees above average. But right now, that cold is important because you could feel some ice going into tomorrow morning.

Temperatures right now are below freezing from Cincinnati to Nashville, still St. Louis, 37 degrees in Charlotte and Atlanta. So, that chill making it pretty far south.

Now, we have pretty widespread winter weather advisories in effect for most of Missouri back into Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas. You see that brighter pink, that's an ice storm warning. We're looking at up to a half an inch of ice that could cause some problems on power lines and some roads as we start out tomorrow morning, and you can see that pink really flourish there once you roll it into the future, that future radar.

Some of that rain continues to stretch as north as the Great Lakes, some snow can mix in there and then we continue to pump some of that heavy rain along the Gulf Coast and that could set up a flooding risk as well.

Here's a look at that ice accumulation again, a huge what would at least a quarter of an inch of ice and then some in northwest Arkansas up to a half an inch and that could really cause some problems. Then, on the warm wet side of this, we've got three days of that slight heavy rain risk where we're looking at several inches of rain and some localized flooding from seeing some of that tropical moisture just continue anyway to dump on the same spot, and you can see that rain forecast where were seeing low over four inches of rain for some spots, locally higher amounts possible over the south as we wrap up the week.

So this is the storm system that's going to bring the warmer temperatures, will be above five degrees warmer by Tuesday, by the middle the week. But then by Thursday, Friday, we're looking at temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above average, some 70s from Charlotte to Atlanta, 80s in Florida. And you can see the warm up here thawing out into the 40s in D.C. We're in the 60s in Atlanta.

And when I find crazy about this is even the overnight lows could get into the 60s for places like Orlando, New Orleans, than Atlanta. Some records could fall. There for record, warm overnight temperatures.

WHITFIELD: Oh, I know everybody is going to welcome that. For that little tiny respite, we'll take it for now.

All right. Elisa Raffa, thank you so much.

All right. When we come back, the Buffalo Bills are asking fans again to help shovel out the snow in the stadium before tonight's do or die playoff game against Kansas City. Who is that waving that shovel?

Oh, my gosh, that's our own Harry Enten. Perhaps he is wrapped a volunteer to help shovel out Highmark Stadium. He's doing his warm-ups right now.

We'll check in with him right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:52:49]

WHITFIELD: All right. The road to Super Bowl 57 will become clear tonight. The San Francisco 49ers have secured their spot in next week's NFC championship after they squeaked by the Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Ravens punch their ticket to the AFC conference championship by beating the Houston Texans last night. What a game that was.

And in just a few hours, the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs will battle for the chance to face the Ravens. So Bills Mafia, Chiefs fans, they better come with shovels to dig out their seats.

CNN's Harry Enten, one of the biggest Bills fans here at CNN, what bigger than Wolf or even Coy? Nonetheless, you're all in good company there.

All right. Harry is joining us now with his shovel at hand right outside the stadium -- Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, where else would you rather be, Fred, than right here, right now. That's exactly right. I'm out of here with the tailgaters, in Orchard Park, New York.

The temperature is about 25 degrees. In fact, it is warmer today than it's been basically throughout the entire week. Of course, as you mentioned, the Bills are taking on the Chiefs. We've had about three- and-a-half feet of snow in Orchard Park over the last week, so much so that they have been asking fans to come out and shovel the snow in the stadium. They were offering $20 an hour. What not just hundreds thousands of people showed up.

So I tried to go in there with my shovel, Fred, they would not allow me to shovel. They had too many volunteers and I will just tell you there is no environment and no fan base, like the fan base here in Buffalo. In fact, earlier today, we run around the tailgate and we asked some fans what makes the buffalo bills and their fan base so special.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're fantastic, but it's everything that goes around the Bills. We call it Bills Mafia nowadays, but it always used to be just the people who show up week after week who embraced a random British guy as their best friend the day that I arrived in -- the first time I came was 1997, and they just made me part of the family.

[14:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I grew up wanting to be a part of the Bills because I just knew that every game that goes cited and they're going to win by a million. And tonight, this is a sad tragedy because we've got all these Taylor Swift fans and they're going to be all aside because Kansas City's going to lose. But who are -- we are trying to be there and be supportive and cheer for the Buffalo Bills. But at the end of the day, Bills are going to see a loss (ph), and this is our year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Harry, something else. As they all are on the road for Super Bowl 58. Do we know whether Taylor Swift is going to be at the game tonight and if she's not there, I understand she's going to be on the menu? What do we mean by that?

ENTEN: Yeah, that's exactly right. We believe she will be at the game tonight. There are rumors about that, but yes, the Buffalo Bills are having a slew of different food options within the stadium that folks can buy some Taylor Swift options.

But, you know, Fred, it's so interesting. I spoke with a number of fans here. And when I asked them about Taylor Swift, a lot of them said they simply put, didn't care. They wanted me to ask them real questions, but there's also some beautiful signs with Taylor Swift.

And wonderful things where in fact a lot of Bills fans are saying, you know what you may be heading. Travis Kelce but secretly she wants to be dating star quarterback Josh Allen for the Bills.

WHITFIELD: Oh, really? OK. Well, you know, nonetheless, she's going to have a good time because I can tell already snow, lots of snow. No snow. It doesn't matter. You all are into it and I'm glad you have a front row seat. Harry Enten, you lucky dog.

ENTEN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. We'll check back with you. And we'll be right back.

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