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2024 U.S. Election; Prior to New Hampshire Primaries, Republican Contenders Campaign; Nikki Haley Questions Trump's Mental Fitness; Global Leaders Assess Effects of Trump's Second Administration; Interview with President of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media Ian Bremmer; Israel-Hamas War; IDF Has Not Responded to Missile Strike on Damascus; "Unacceptable" to Oppose Palestinian Statehood, According to U.N. Chief; Netanyahu Reiterates Remarks on Potential Two-State Solution; Russia's War on Ukraine; Ukraine Soldiers Use Soviet-era Weaponry as U.S. Aid Delays; In New Hampshire, Haley Hopes for An Unexpected Victory Over Trump; At a South Carolina Event, DeSantis Takes Aim at Haley; Russian President Organizing Trip to North Korea, According to Reports; China and Russia's Connections with North Korea are Getting Stronger; Prior to Election, Modi Will Inaugurate Contentious Temple; Warmer Days Ahead Across U.S.; Buffalo Bills Prep for Playoff Against Kansas City Chiefs; 14-day Expedition, Private Space Crew Lands at ISS. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired January 21, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."
Two days before New Hampshire's primary, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are duking it out, while Ron DeSantis shifts focus to the next state in the race for the White House.
Plus, Iran vows revenge after a deadly strike in Syria's capital, Damascus. We'll have a live report from the region.
And, parts of the U.S. face dangerously low temperatures in the hours ahead. We'll look at where an Arctic chill is settling in for the remainder of the weekend.
We begin here in the U.S. as the presidential race becomes increasingly bitter with just two days to go before the New Hampshire Republican primary. Former President Donald Trump and ex-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are ramping up attacks against each other. On Saturday, Haley questioned Trump's mental fitness after he appeared to confuse her with Former U.S. House Speaker and Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you're 80, that's what happens. You're just not as sharp as you used to be. There is a decline. And this is a situation where our country is very vulnerable right now. And we can't just have four years. We've got to have eight years of somebody that's on it all the time. I'm worried that we're not going to have somebody that's on it two years from now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: CNN's Alayna Treene is traveling with Former President Donald Trump and has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, it's just three days to go until the New Hampshire primary. Donald Trump is escalating his attacks on his rival, Nikki Haley. And part of that strategy is by using leaders from South Carolina and trying to paint her as not being very well liked by people in her own backyard.
On Saturday, Trump called up a series of South Carolina lawmakers to the stage, including South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, fierce Trump ally who endorsed him back in 2022. And of course, that comes after Friday night where Donald Trump also picked up a massive endorsement from South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. I'm told from my conversations with Trump's campaign that they'd really been courting his endorsement ever since he dropped out of the presidential race last year. But they had really accelerated that timeline because they wanted to try and have it come right before New Hampshire.
Again, New Hampshire is a state where they are worried about Nikki Haley's rise in the polls, especially her popularity with moderates and independents. And so, you're seeing the campaign and Donald Trump himself try to implement every tactic they can to undercut her in these final days.
Now, another thing I like to point your attention to was Donald Trump also defended his cognitive abilities while on stage, that comes after a gaffe that Trump had on Friday where he seemed to confuse Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi when talking about security at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. We should point out that Nikki Haley was not in office then and had nothing to do with security at the Capitol during that time. But Donald Trump continuously brought up her name on Friday. And that your response from Nikki Haley, she had said that perhaps it shows Trump is not mentally fit for office. Take a listen to how Trump responded.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I'm sarcastic or like I -- a lot of times I'll say, and President Obama is doing a lousy job, meaning that Obama is running the show. They'll say, Donald Trump doesn't know who our president is. No, no.
A few months ago, I took a cognitive test, my doctor gave me. I said, give me a cognitive test just so we can, you know, because you know what the standards were. And I aced it.
I'll let you know when I go bad. I really think I'll be able to tell you. TREENE: Now I can tell you that this is an argument that actually bothers Donald Trump personally. We know that Donald Trump often likes to use these attacks on Joe Biden and doesn't really like the fire being trained on himself. And I think that's why you saw him try to bring this up tonight and address it head on.
Alayna Treene, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spent the day campaigning hundreds of miles away in Haley's home state of South Carolina whose primary is more than a month away. We'll have more on that a little later in the hour.
Now, around the globe, leaders are starting to consider the possibility that Donald Trump could return to the White House next year, and they are looking at how that could impact key issues the world's facing, like Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly said if he becomes president again, he'll have Russia's nearly two-year-old war settled in a day. Listen to this.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the war between Russia and Ukraine settled. I'll do it in 24 hours. It's not tough to do. That's easy compared to -- that's easy compared to a lot of things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, now, for the first time, Ukraine's president is publicly voicing grave concern about Trump's suggestion, calling it very dangerous. Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Britain's Channel 4 News, the idea that Trump could unilaterally make decisions that don't work for Ukraine or its people makes him quite stressed. But Trump seems to feel he knows how to handle such crises, telling "Fox News" that if he were president, "Putin would have never attacked Ukraine."
All right. Joining me now to talk about Donald Trump's impact on geopolitics is Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group and GZERO Media. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, at the World Economic Forum this week, I imagine Trump was one of the topics of conversation. Is there a concern among some European leaders that Trump could in fact win?
IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT, EURASIO GROUP AND GZERO MEDIA: The Iowa caucuses were on Monday, so you got those results with Trump beating the field pretty soundly just as the World Economic Forum was starting.
So, I mean, clearly that news, sort of suffused across the delegates. I would say that the general sense is that Trump not only can win but most of the delegates thought he was reasonably likely to win which was, I think, a little surprising. And beyond that, this sense of panic, particularly among the European delegates, like right underneath the ice, you had this sense of, my God, you know, we've had very strong coordinated policy on NATO. The transatlantic relationship is very strong in the midst of a war on Ukraine.
And if Trump comes president, I mean, not only is he, sort of, indifferent to very negative on the European Union, but he says he's going to end the war on Ukraine, particularly because he considers Volodymyr Zelenskyy a personal enemy. And that for not opening the investigations against Biden and Hunter -- Biden and his son. So, all that means, that if you are a European, you think that a Trump presidency is a disaster for you.
BRUNHUBER: Well, I mentioned how President Zelenskyy says he's worried at the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House. One can imagine Russia, on the other hand, would welcome another Trump presidency and other populists, maybe, who have emulated Trump like Viktor Orban, who Trump praised directly at a campaign event yesterday. Listen to this.
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TRUMP: There's a great man, a great leader in Europe, Viktor Orban. He's the prime minister of Hungary. He's a very great leader, very strong man. Some people don't like him because he's too strong. It's nice to have a strong man running your country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And then Trump went on to use Orban to praise himself. But who do you think is looking forward to the possibility of another four years of Trump?
BREMMER: Well, you're right about Putin, of course, because if the Ukrainians are going to be cut off from the most powerful country that's provided them all the military support, that's a great thing for Putin. He's probably the single leader that's most excited about the idea of Trump coming in. But you're right, Viktor Orban and also a number of the European movements, not in power yet, but gaining political strength across Europe, who are anti-European Union themselves.
So, of course, I'm talking about Marine Le Pen and her party, that right now is outperforming Macron's own in France. I'm thinking of the alternatives for Deutschland in Germany, routinely polling at 20, 25 percent across Germany, particularly strong in East Germany. There are movements like that in the Nordics and the Netherlands.
In other words -- I mean, if Trump decides that he's going to end support for Ukraine, it's not just Orban that's going to support him, but large percentages of populations across Europe will put real political pressure on their leaders saying, hey, let's cut a deal with Russia. Let's stop the fighting. It's not going anywhere. Cut Ukraine off. That's probably the single biggest geopolitical impact that Trump would have immediately upon becoming president. BRUNHUBER: I mean, the other factor here is, you know, it's the crazy seesawing from one extreme to the other that seems to have allies worried. I mean, it seems as though it's a nonstop cycle of Democratic presidents entering into agreements like the, you know, climate, environment, so on. And then the Republican president rips it all up. It becomes hard for allies to rely on the U.S. with this constant policy whiplash.
BREMMER: Yes, the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Obama tried to do and he failed, and then Trump couldn't get it done. You got a pandemic and Trump pulls out of the World Health Organization, you know, this has happened again and again and again.
And allies around the world are worried, can they really count on the Americans? It doesn't matter that much when the geopolitical environment is pretty calm.
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I mean, if you're flying a plane at 40, 000 feet and its sunny skies, you know, you give the controls to someone that's completely untrusted for 15 minutes. It's probably OK. You try to land that same plane in a hurricane and you can't actually see the landing strip, you are going to crash the plane.
And it's that issue that is really unnerving American allies right now, precisely because you've got a war going on in the Middle East, you have a war going on in Europe, and you have significant geopolitical instability all over the world. That's very different than when Trump became president in 2016.
BRUNHUBER: So, if they can't count on the U.S., I mean, how would this change the relationship with the U.S.? I mean, the word, you know, decoupling might be too strong, but would it encourage countries, especially in Europe, to become less reliant on the U.S.? Maybe diminishing American influence?
BREMMER: It would. Absolutely. But the question is, could that happen in a consolidated way as the European Union? And the answer to that is really hard to say yes to because so many individual countries would be willing to cut individual deals with a very strong President Trump. I mean, the U.K., of course, given that they are out of the E.U., Brexit, though, assuming a labor prime minister comes in, much less aligned ideologically with Trump than the present conservative party.
These issues are also true across Asia with American top ally's vis-a- vis China. Trump would be seen to be a pretty hawkish proponent of policies against China, but would he be willing to stand up for continued strong military support for the Japanese, for the South Koreans? I mean, ultimately, these things are not really based on rule of law as much as they are believed that the American president and the American power will stand up for them if there's a fight. That's precisely where the uncertainty becomes very unnerving.
BRUNHUBER: Still a long way off but plenty of uncertainty ahead. Ian Bremmer, thank you so much for your analysis. Really appreciate it. BREMMER: Sure.
BRUNHUBER: Other growing fears that the Israel-Hamas conflict could turn into a regional war after the latest strikes in Syria and Iraq involving the U.S., Iran, and presumably Israel. Iran is vowing to punish Israel for this missile strike in Syria that killed five members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Israel hasn't admitted carrying out the attack.
In Iraq, Iranian-backed militias are claiming responsibility for an attack that injured Americans on the Al-Asad Airbase. We have full coverage now with Elliott Gotkine in London, but we start with Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi on the regional issues.
So, Paula, what more are we learning about those strikes?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, what we've heard at this point is, as you say, five people have been confirmed killed from the state media side that they have said. They are members of the Revolutionary Guard. So, the elite of the military within Iran, we understand. And one of them was head of the Quds Force intelligence in Syria, so the elite of the elites. It's a very high- level targets that we're seeing targeted here at this -- in this missile strike.
Now, we're -- Israel has not claimed responsibility. It very rarely does in these kinds of situations. But Iran has been very clear about who they hold responsible. We heard a statement read-out on state TV from the Iranian president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IRANIAN STATE TV PRESENTER ON BEHALF OF IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The continuation of such terrorist and criminal acts shows the increasing failure of the illegitimate Zionist regime to achieve its wicked goals and the depth of its desperation against the fighters of the resistance front. And these crimes will not be left unanswered by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: Now, shortly after we did see ballistic missile launches against the Al-Asad Base which is where U.S. troops are stationed. Now, we heard from, U.S. Central Command that there were injuries. We don't know how many U.S. Personnel were injured, but they say that they were treated evaluation for traumatic brain injuries.
Now, this is significant because it appears to be only the second time that ballistic missiles have been used against U.S. assets in both Iraq and Syria. We have seen countless near daily attacks against U.S. Troops by Iranian proxies in these two countries, more than 140, in fact, since October 7th. But what we understand is that this is a more significant missile, obviously, ballistic missile, far more powerful.
Now, Islamic, resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for that strike, an Iranian backed and funded proxy. So, really, this tit for tat that we are seeing from both sides once again raising fears of a wider conflict.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, it could have serious implications. Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, thank you so much.
[04:15:00]
The U.N. Secretary General says opposition to a two-state solution is unacceptable. Antonio Guterres tweeted Saturday that, "The right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognized by all." And his comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again poured cold water on any notion of a Palestinian state. He posted this on social media Saturday, "I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan, and this is contrary to a Palestinian state."
Now, as CNN reported earlier this week, President Biden came away from a phone call with the Israeli leader saying that, "There are a number of types of two state solutions possible."
Elliott Gotkine is in London for more on the situation in Gaza. So, Elliott, the implications of Netanyahu's statements and the subsequent reaction continue to reverberate.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: They do, Kim. and I suppose domestically what Netanyahu is hoping is that this will help shore up his right-wing base because ever since October the 7th, Mr. Security, which is one of the nicknames that Netanyahu proudly was given, has been crashing in the polls. And if an election were held tomorrow, poll after poll shows that he would be out of the job.
So, he's hoping to shore up his domestic constituency with these comments. But I think what it's also going to do internationally is broaden, widen the rift, or more of a Gulf now between Israel and the United States in terms of what's going to happen the day after. Netanyahu effectively saying that from the river to the sea, Israel needs to have security control.
This is diametrically opposed to what the U.S. is saying. We've also heard from the E.U.'s. top foreign policy chief saying that perhaps a two-state solution might need to be imposed on the parties because they can't agree to one themselves -- with themselves. And of course, we heard from the U.N. Secretary General posting on X in the early hours of this morning, certainly in Israel, but I guess the Saturday evening in the U.S., saying the refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians and the demand of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people are unacceptable.
But one thing is worth noting, Kim, is this isn't really any different from Netanyahu's long held position. You may recall back in 2009, he gave a famous speech at Bar-Ilan University in Israel in which he said that he was open to a two-state solution and that that was a possibility. Martin Indyk, a former Ambassador to Israel from the United States, telling "The New Yorker" in an article that came out last week that after that a couple of days later, they spoke. Netanyahu said to him, all right, I said it. Now, can we get on with dealing with Iran? Kim. BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right. And then, Elliott, on the fighting itself, what's the latest from Gaza?
GOTKINE: Look, fighting continuing. Of course, some of the fiercest fighting in, around, and below Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. One of the latest bits of information to come out from the IDF saying that it's discovered a tunnel below a residence in Khan Younis. Went down about 20 meters in depth, it was just over 800 meters in length. And they discovered down there five jail cells. They discovered evidence that hostages, up to about 20 hostages, they believe, were held there. They weren't any more hostages there right now. They said they killed a number of Hamas terrorists.
And one piece of evidence they found there to show that hostages were being held, and let's not forget there are still more than 100 Israelis being held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas and others was a drawing by a former five-year -- a former hostage, a five-year-old girl called Emilia Aloni.
In terms of the broader war theater, the death toll now, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, is just shy of 25,000. Now, those figures don't distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel, for its part, saying that it's killed around 10,000, Hamas fighters since that war began in the wake of Hamas' massacre of October the 7th. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate the updates. Elliott Gotkine in London, thanks so much.
And we'll be back with more news after the break. Please do stay with us.
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[04:20:00]
BRUNHUBER: With President Biden's $60 billion aid request for Ukraine bogged down in Congress, Ukrainian troops have no choice but to ration ammunition for weapons that are often decades old. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports from eastern Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The battle is already in full swing when the artillery unit gets their orders. Their battle cat, Syoma (ph), follows the commander to the U.S. provided M777 gun, and they get to work.
PLEITGEN: So, the soldiers have now been given a target and they're working as fast as possible to try and fire as many rounds as accurately towards the Russian positions.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Three rounds, that's it. The commander tells me ammo shortages are a real problem here.
There is more of a deficit, he says. When we were in Zaporizhzhia direction, we used 50 to 60 shells a day. Now, it's 20 to 30 maximum.
The resupply truck only brings a few more rounds, and with U.S. military aid ground to a halt, things could get even tougher for the Ukrainians soon. We're near Marinka on the Eastern Front. The Russians recently managed to take Marinka after essentially annihilating the entire town with their artillery. Moscow's forces face no ammo shortages, the Ukrainians say, after getting around a million artillery rounds from North Korea in the past year.
Even as we prepare to leave, the position is under Russian fire. We drive away, constantly watching for Russian drones and possible artillery impact. Different day, different front line, similar problems for Ukraine's forces. Major shortages. We're in the battle zone near Avdiivka with a special forces unit called Omega. It's 22 degrees below freezing. They want to fire artillery rockets at the Russians, but lacking Western arms, they have mounted a Soviet era launcher on a U.S. made pickup truck.
[04:25:00]
They set up fast, but then this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).
PLEITGEN: So, one of the issues that the Ukrainians have using this very old technology is that sometimes it simply doesn't work. It's very cold right now. They think something's frozen and it's just not working.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): All they can do is derig and leave before the Russians see them.
We wanted to strike at the enemy's positions, but unfortunately sometimes it happens, the equipment does not work, he says. Technology does not stand still, and as we can see in this war, the technologies from the West are giving very good results.
The unit later did manage to fire three rockets after troubleshooting for several hours. Delays that can be costly in a war where Ukraine is already badly outgunned.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, in Eastern Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The wife of one Russian soldier still in Ukraine is pleading for his return in a big way. Maria Andreyeva made her appeal at Vladimir Putin's election headquarters on Saturday. And while there, she had this intense exchange with another woman who argued the troops are only defending Russia. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA ANDREYEVA, RUSSIAN SOLDIER'S WIFE (through translator): So, what's next? The Ministry of Defense has spent its money. Now, we need to squeeze everything out of our guys to get the last life out of them? So that they come back here to us just as stumps? Will they give me a stump? What will I get back? A man without legs? Without arms? A sick man? Don't you know what's happening there?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The soldiers' wives' group that campaigned for the return of troops from the front line was visiting Putin's election office at the time of the exchange.
All right. Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom", Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Nikki Haley take swipes at each other just days before the New Hampshire primary. All the details coming up next. Stay with us.
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[04:30:00]
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom".
In the U.S., all eyes are on New Hampshire as the state gears up for the crucial Republican primary in two days. Former President Donald Trump remains the frontrunner overall, but his lead in the state has shrunk. According to a recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS, Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has surged in recent months and has cut Trump's lead to single digits. On Saturday, both ramped up attacks against each other as they made their final push to the voters. Haley questioned Trump's mental fitness after he appeared to confuse her with Former U.S. Speaker and Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6th. You know, Nikki Haley -- Nikki Haley -- Nikki Haley, you know, they -- do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything?
Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guard, whatever they want, they turned it down.
HALEY: And he's going on and on mentioning me multiple times as to why I didn't take security during the Capitol riots. Why I didn't handle January 6th better. We can't have someone else that we question whether they're mentally fit to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All right. So, here's how Trump responded to Haley's attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: A few months ago, I took a cognitive test, my doctor gave me. I said, give me a cognitive test just so we can, you know, because you know what the standards were. And I aced it.
I'll let you know when I go bad. I really think I'll be able to tell you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So, could Nikki Haley defy the polls and pull out a surprise win over Donald Trump in New Hampshire? My colleague Paula Newton spoke earlier with Linda Fowler, a professor of government at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and asked her for her thoughts on what might happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA FOWLER, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE: It seems as if his campaign has two things in mind. First of all, let's put this away early so that he can get on to positioning himself vis-a-vis Biden. And secondly, I can only think that part of his visits this weekend reflects the fact that he's feeling a little bit vulnerable to Nikki Haley.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nikki Haley. And let's talk about that vulnerability a little bit. I mean, Nikki Haley seems to have finally found her stride. In terms of taking Trump on, we heard Trump a little earlier confusing her with Nancy Pelosi, and then we heard Haley, the response, a very pointed response. How much could this move public opinion? And I know that you scrutinize the polls and that you've seen over the years that sometimes in New Hampshire people really don't make up their minds until the last minute.
FOWLER: That's correct, or they think they've made up their minds and they tell the pollster one thing and then when they go into the voting booth, they actually do something else. And I worry about the polls. So, all the post polls that I've read are using likely voters, but it doesn't look as if they have done the kind of screening that I used to do when I was polling in New Hampshire. It's not just that people are likely to vote. You ask them about the last time they voted and whether they're still registered to vote, because remember a lot of people move around.
So, I'm just not sure what we're seeing. And with the few polls that we have. So, there was one in January 9th, which showed Haley about seven points within Trump. He was at 38 and she -- her -- 39 and she was at 32 or something like that. There were a couple this past week. One of them had Trump and Haley 50-50. Another had Trump ahead of her by 17 points. So, I think that gives you a sense of how elusive this electorate is right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, missing from all the action, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who abruptly canceled his Sunday morning TV appearances. Instead, he was laying the groundwork for his presidential campaign's last stand far away in South Carolina, on Nikki Haley's home turf, even though its primary is more than a month away.
CNN's Steve Contorno reports from Lexington, South Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: The New Hampshire primary may be just days away, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spent his Saturday 900 miles away in South Carolina where he is trying to convince the state's Republican voters, it's time to move on from Donald Trump and also their Former Governor Nikki Haley.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I also had one of the Republican bates -- debates coming up and so I was like, you know what, I need practice debating somebody that's almost as liberal as Nikki Haley. And so, we did that and you know, it's a -- we got differences on the Republican side, too, you know. It is what it is.
[04:35:00]
Now, can someone tell me -- I mean, seriously, I've been asking crowds. What her big achievements were as governor here?
CONTORNO: Those comments were made in Myrtle Beach, and they were actually seen by a Nikki Haley supporter who decided to confront the governor at his Lexington events later that day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is why I can't -- I want --
DESANTIS: Well, listen, school choice. Did she do it? Yes or no? Because she promised it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not talking about --
DESANTIS: but I'm talking about big -- I'm talking about big conservative achievements. That's what the name of the game is.
CONTORNO: We caught up with that voter as she was leaving and here's what she had to say about how she felt she was treated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did not expect him to shut me down like he did. I expect him, sincerely, to take my question and be respectful of me and answer or at least say, well, you know, OK. But he didn't even acknowledge that I said as he reads. He heard I was a teacher and that was it.
CONTORNO: The DeSantis campaign contends he is not giving up on New Hampshire just yet, and he will be appearing in that state later today.
Steve Contorno, CNN, Lexington, South Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: There are reports Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to visit North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong Un. days after North Korea's foreign minister traveled to Moscow for diplomatic talks. North Korea's state media says, Putin will soon travel east. The two leaders, increasingly isolated on the world stage met in Russia last September. The U.S. has raised concerns the two nations could be working on advancing arms negotiations as Russia seeks weapons for its war in Ukraine. The Kremlin says dates for Putin's visit are still being worked out.
And there are concerns tensions between North and South Korea could result in a wider conflict. One observer says, the rhetoric coming out of North Korea is reminiscent of the Korean War 70 years ago. Earlier this month, Kim Jong Un labeled the South as North Korea's principal enemy. Will Ripley has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, the Korean Peninsula staring down the barrel of a catastrophic conflict. That warning from one of America's leading nuclear scientists, one of two long time North Korea observers who say Kim Jong Un is sending signals in state media. He may be prepared to take advantage of global chaos to exploit what he sees as weakness and vulnerability between the U.S. and close allies South Korea and Japan.
SIEGFRIED S. HECKER, PROFESSOR, MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: They're talking about war. They're talking about war preparations for their country. And so, we're quite concerned.
RIPLEY (voice-over): For years, Former Los Alamos Director Siegfried Hecker had unparalleled access to North Korea's highly secretive nuclear program. Seeing more than almost any American. What he's seeing now, he says, reminiscent of the lead up to the catastrophic Korean War more than 70 years ago. A chilling shift in leader Kim Jong Un's strategy, far more than the usual saber rattling.
HECKER: I think this time it's different. He may have decided that it is time to actually take some actions.
RIPLEY (voice-over): For the past 30 years, North Korea's goal was normalizing ties with the U.S. Hecker says that ended in 2019 when Summit talks in Hanoi, Vietnam collapsed. Former President Donald Trump and Kim walked out, humiliating and infuriating the North Korean leader. Riding his armored private train back to Pyongyang, empty handed. Perhaps giving up on U.S. diplomacy, making a strategic turn towards conflict.
HECKER: He may believe that there actually -- there is some way, sort of, what one would say, what's a path to victory? That he may be thinking very differently than what our conventional thinking is.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Kim's confidence may be bolstered, he says, by closer ties with China, and a deepening military alliance with Russia. North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui visiting Moscow just this week. Also, labeling South Korea a hostile country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is a political provocation. RIPLEY (voice-over): And not just political. North Korea testing a new hypersonic missile, potentially nuclear capable, adding to Kim's growing arson.
RIPLEY: Experts say that arsenal already poses a significant threat to South Korea, Japan, even Guam. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops across the region along with, of course, all of the U.S. allies as well. Some missiles even believed to be capable of striking the U.S. mainland, experts say. Kim also has the world's fourth largest standing army, well over a million strong, making this, these analysts say, a credible threat.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, up next, millions across India await the inauguration of a controversial temple that's become a symbol of the country's Hindu nationalist movement. We'll have more on that after the break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re- election for a rare third term. And it seems he's hoping Monday's inauguration of a hotly contested temple, one that's become a symbol of his party's Hindu nationalist movement will seal his victory. CNN's Vedika Sud has that.
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VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Frenzied preparations are underway in the holy city of Ayodhya in Northern India. Hues of saffron all around, a color associated with Hindu nationalism. Among the thousands who throng the city is 90-year-old Urmila Chandravanshi (ph). She has traveled 700 kilometers to be here and witnessed the inauguration of the Ram Temple. She credits one man for making this happen, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Modi has made this temple for us. We're thrilled to be here, she says.
Millions will tune in from all corners of the country as Modi presides over the unveiling of the temple's idol of Hindu deity Lord Ram. Claiming to be God's chosen instrument, Modi says he represents all Indians at the inauguration.
SUD: Rebuilding the Ram temple has been a decades long core project for right-wing Hindu nationalist organizations and for Modi's political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. Modi has now delivered on that promise in an election year.
SUD (voice-over): Built where once a 16th century mosque, the Babri Masjid stood, the temple cements Modi's legacy. But it stands on the site of the bloodiest communal clashes in independent India. Many Hindus believe it's the birthplace of Ram. After decades of demanding a temple in his honor and years of legal quarrels over the land, a Hindu nationalist mob tore down the mosque in 1992 that spurred communal violence across the country, over 2,000 people lost their lives.
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Years later, the echoes of 1992 still reverberate in the narrow lanes of Ayodhya. 50-year-old Mohammad Aziz (ph), a Muslim who lost his father in 1992 to the riots has chosen to watch the celebrations from a distance.
The opening of this temple has reopened all painful wounds for me. I can never forget the loss we have suffered as long as I'm alive, Aziz says.
But for the Hindu right-wing, the opening of the holy temple is the culmination of its relentless push for a Hindu nation.
NILANJAN MUKHOPADHYAY, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: The lines between politics and religions have got blurred. They have also got completely blurred between religion and the Indian state. You have, at the moment, the Indian prime minister who's actually participating in a purely religious activity. The full participation of the government machinery.
SUD (voice-over): Though backed by India's Supreme Court which ruled in 2019 in favor of allotting the site to Hindus, while calling the mosque's demolition illegal. Analysts fear this may further dent the secular fabric off the world's biggest democracy. But there is little doubt that it strengthens Modi's legacy as a Hindu nationalist leader as he seeks a historic third term in office.
Vedika Sud, CNN, Ayodhya, India.
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BRUNHUBER: In Germany, anger is mounting against a far-right party and its stance on migrants. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered across the country on Saturday, calling for a ban on the alternative for Germany party. It comes after it emerged that senior party members met in November and discussed a plan to mass deport migrants, a move that's been compared to the Nazi era. Local media say, up to 35,000 demonstrators gathered in Frankfurt.
And this was the scene in Hamburg as similar protests took place in other cities as well. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the demonstrations and thanked the people for taking to the streets against what he called racism and hate speech.
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BRUNHUBER: At least 10 police officers were injured Saturday in the Italian city of Vicenza in clashes with protesters demonstrating against Israel's military operation in Gaza. The demonstration took place at a jewelry fair. According to local media, protesters opposed the presence of Israeli exhibitors at the event. Police fired water cannons at demonstrators who carried placards bearing slogans like "Stop Global War" and "Free Palestine". The mayor of Vicenza said there was no justification for the, "Scenes of guerrilla warfare."
All right. If you're tired of being in the deep freeze, just hang on. There's something in the forecast you might want to hear, that's coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The Arctic blast we've been telling you about here in the U.S. is expected to last through this weekend. Winter weather alerts are in effect from Florida to Montana and from the Pacific northwest to the northeast. As for the snow, high pressure has driven out most of it for the bulk of the country, that's with the exception of some lingering snow along the Great Lakes. But what's already on the ground will stick around for a while longer. But there is hope ahead. For that, let's turn to Elisa Raffa in the CNN Weather Center.
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ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Arctic air continues to plunge south and settle in as we go into Sunday. With temperatures still way below average for this time of year and even hitting dangerous levels again for parts of the upper Midwest. I mean, we're looking at overnight low temperatures Sunday morning of minus five degrees in Chicago, minus four in Omaha, that's not including the wind chill.
You've got temperatures in the single digits down to Nashville, even in the teens as far south as Atlanta. Daytime highs won't break freezing for many cities like Chicago and Cleveland and St. Louis. Temperatures in the 40s in Atlanta is still a good 10 degrees below average.
But look at what happens when you look at the four-day forecast. You start to find the other side of the hill with temperatures starting to warm up. We start out the work week with temperatures a little bit closer to average. And then look at these numbers in the 60s by Wednesday in Atlanta, some 40s up from D.C. to New York. We'll keep things again on the chilly side on Sunday.
You can see these temperatures still about 10 degrees below average. We're closer to average by Monday and Tuesday, and then all the oranges start to spread. And you're looking at temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above average by Wednesday and Thursday, nearing 70 degrees from Atlanta and Charlotte.
Temperatures, again, very warm and thawing out for this time of year. I mean, look at Atlanta's seven-day forecast, overnight lows below freezing in the 20s over the weekend, and then we'll warm up with daytime highs up around 70 degrees with some showers and storms. That's what's going to pull in some of that warmer air. And even for a place like Cincinnati that won't hit 70, you're still looking at a huge warm up where your overnight lows are in the teens, and then they warm up to the middle 40s, which is warmer than your average daytime high which is around 39 degrees for this time of year. Your daytime highs will get near 60.
So, a big thaw, a big warmup for a lot of the U.S. is coming.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, that cold and snow haven't stopped Buffalo Bills fans from pulling out all the stops ahead of divisional playoffs this weekend. They hit New York's Highmark Stadium with shovels Friday to help clear the snow before the game against the Kansas City Chiefs. They got 20 bucks an hour for their effort.
And in a nod to pop star and new Chiefs fan Taylor Swift, the Bills culinary team will offer a triple decker karma quesadilla and bad blood waffle fries loaded with both cities' specialties, Buffalo Chicken and Kansas City Cattlemen's BBQ Pork. Now, Swift has been showing up regularly to support Kansas City, and her presumed beau, Travis Kelce, it's not clear whether she'll attend Sunday night's big game.
Well, it's a nice one. Visitors pop by, maybe especially so in outer space. The multinational crew launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center just days ago. A SpaceX rocket has docked at the International Space Station.
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The four-member team is on a 14-day mission organized by the private Texas startup Axiom Space along with SpaceX and NASA. An American mission commander, a member of the Italian Air Force, a Swedish military pilot, and a Turkish Air Force veteran will work on experiments and research during the mission. It's the first Axiom mission where a government or a space agency has bought all the seats. And it's the first time a citizen from Turkey has visited outer space.
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ALPER GEZERAVCI, TURKISH ASTRONAUT, FIGHTER PILOT: We are happy as Turkey to step for the first time in our history, and looking forward to contribute into the science and research efforts over here.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, a six-legged spaniel puppy abandoned in a parking lot in Wales will soon be walking normally after a local pet charity arranged surgery for her. Have a look here. The little dog was named Ariel, partly because of her mermaid like extra limbs. The charity says, Ariel received donations from a shocking number of people, some as far away as Australia. Now, our four-legged pup, Ariel, is set to be discharged this weekend and will go home to her foster family.
I'm Kim Brunhuber, I'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Please do stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)0
BRUNHUBER: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom".
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