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CNN This Morning

Most Candidates Braving Snow, Cold For Last-Minute Iowa Caucus Push; Source: Taiwan's Main Opposition Party To Concede Presidential Election; U.S. Launches Second Round Of Attacks On Houthi Targets; Taiwan's Two Main Opposition Parties Have Conceded In Presidential Election; Federal Prosecutors To Seek Death Penalty For Buffalo Mass Shooter; Alabama, New England Patriots Quickly Replace Legendary Coaches. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired January 13, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I also watch tennis not playing out in the snow.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Understood.

BLACKWELL: See?

MANNO: Understood.

BLACKWELL: See?

MANNO: Understood.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know. That's too much work for me.

BLACKWELL: Carolyn, thank you so much. The next hour of CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

WALKER: I don't love anyone or anything enough to shuffle snow for them just haven't tried it. It's a lot of work.

BLACKWELL: That is a huge blanket statement that you don't love anyone or anything enough.

WALKER: Enough.

BLACKWELL: All right.

WALKER: Good morning, everyone. It is Saturday, January 13. I'm Amara Walker.

BLACKWELL: I mean, my list is short, but there are a few people on it. I'm Victor Blackwell. Thanks for being with us.

WALKER: Bet you would shovel snow for.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WALKER: Really?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WALKER: All right, I'll have to. No, I wouldn't --

BLACKWELL: During the break -- during the break -- during the break.

WALKER: I'm not going to be assessed. Never mind. Much of Iowa is still under a blizzard warning this morning. And you can see why. Snow like this contributed to the snowiest week in Moines since 1942. And Republican presidential candidates are worried that weather could lead to low turnout on Monday's caucus in Iowa.

BLACKWELL: Yes, despite canceling events earlier in the week, most plans still engaged with viewers -- voters I should say. We're engaging with viewers. They're engaging with voters.

WALKER: That's right.

BLACKWELL: Some are doing it virtually. Donald Trump will hold a virtual rally today. Now, the question is how many of these likely caucus-goers are now going to stay home because of the temperatures and all the snow?

Let's go to CNN's Eva McKend. Joining us now. What do you see?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you both. I have to say that Iowans, they really have great resolve. I was speaking with an Iowa pastor yesterday and he was telling me that the importance of this process outweighs the cold.

You know, when you speak to Iowans, they have so much pride in this process, that I think that many of them that intended to come out on Monday will still do so. Nonetheless, this weather has caused some challenges for these candidates. Yesterday, Nikki Haley, she shifted her events to tele town halls.

Governor DeSantis yesterday, he shifted several of his events -- postponed them, and instead just did a morning event and then met up with some volunteers. Vivek Ramaswamy. He has really tried to keep his schedule intact. But it has proposed -- it has posed a challenge.

Yesterday, with the blizzard conditions, the roads were largely impassable. But these candidates still leaning on caucus-goers to come out on Monday. Haley knowing though that it is a big ask. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a bit on the phones with voters. We're trying to make sure we do everything that we can. And yes, the weather is a concern.

I'm concerned because I want people to be safe on caucus day. It's going to be negative 28 windchill. And so, what we hope is that they will wear layers, that they will bring their photo ID, and that they will come out in caucus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now, for his part, Governor DeSantis, he perhaps has the most on the line on Monday. That's because him and his team have invested so heavily in this state. He says it is that ground game and that organization that they have laid for months, that will withstand sort of the challenges here on the ground and get his people to turn out on Monday.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, he wants to have a commanding victory here in Iowa to blunt the momentum of his opponents. So, he is trying not only to win but to win big on caucus night.

WALKER: All right. Eva McKend, thank you very much. Joining me now to discuss the race is Galen Bacharier. He is the politics reporter with The Des Moines Register. Hello there, Galen. I'm glad you're staying warm right now inside.

So, let's talk about the concern about the weather, Monday. I mean, obviously, we're talking about potentially dangerous frigid temperatures. We know that Iowans are very proud of this process. And we also know they're very used to cold, cold weather. How could the weather impact turnout?

GALEN BACHARIER, POLITICS REPORTER, DES MOINES REGISTER: Yes. I mean, echoing what Eva said, right, Iowans, Midwesterners, they're used to conditions like this, right? I mean, these are folks who will truck to the grocery store in a blizzard just to say they did.

But everyone has their limits, right? And when you start to get into windchills, like we're going to be potentially seeing on Monday, there are you know, health risks. And I think campaigns are mindful of that. I think the Republican Party here in Iowa is mindful of that.

And I think it's hard to say right now, a couple of days out exactly, which candidates could be particularly affected the most or which populaces of voters are going to be affected the most. But certainly, I think it's fairly common sense to expect that we might see a little bit lower of a turnout compared to what we were maybe looking at, you know before we knew this storm was coming in.

[07:05:08]

And so, this is where campaigns are really going to start leaning on their organizing efforts to get folks out. And, you know, like you mentioned, really encouraging folks to put on layers and stay safe.

WALKER: Yes. Trump, the front-runner, obviously, in Iowa, the big front-runner, is also mindful of the weather. This is him last week speaking about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hear your night's going to be pretty cold next week, but you just have to put on that warm coat and get out there. I said it to one of our people, and they said, oh, that's good news. And I said why is it good? Because their people don't have the enthusiasm to vote, and my people will walk on glass.

I was just asking one of our people back there. They said, no, no, we'd love bad weather because we're not -- the weather's not going to keep our people away. It's going to keep them away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: He sounds confident there. But we've also heard him in Iowa, you know, with this unusual sense of apprehension where he's been telling his voters look, I know, I'm 35 points ahead in most polls. But just keep in mind, you know when you're out there, pretend we're one point down. If the turnout is lower than expected, who could have hurt the most, potentially Trump?

BACHARIER: Yes. I mean, this is a difficult situation because depending on you know, who you're supporting or who you're looking at, there's a couple of different ways you could say this would go, right? I think there's -- I think the argument that Trump's supporters are very devout and passionate and will show up, no matter the conditions, I think that theory holds a lot of water.

But you also have to consider the fact that the coalition they've been trying to build over the past few months in Iowa includes a lot of first-time caucusgoers. They really want these folks to turn out maybe who haven't participated in caucuses in the past but support Donald Trump. And I would say that is one of those populations that is most at risk of seeing the health -- you know, the weather conditions on Monday and deciding to stay home if they've never caucused before.

So, you can come at it from a couple of different angles. Certainly, with the polling lead that we've seen Trump have, I think, you know, they certainly have a little bit of that margin to lose. But you know, you also worry if you're Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis about making sure you know, recently converted voters or folks who are maybe not super enthusiastic or maybe you weren't their first choice, maybe decide to stay home as well. So, it really is hard to say at this point, but it could impact everyone.

WALKER: Yes. Let's talk about then the closing arguments that we're hearing from Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Here's Ron DeSantis on Tuesday talking about a potential rematch between Trump and Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I think the reality is if Trump is the candidate, you have -- the election will be about legal issues, criminal trials, convict -- maybe he's convicted. I mean, there's all kinds of stuff that we don't know is going to happen. January 6, all this stuff.

The Democrats, that's their terrain to fight on. They win with independent voters when that's -- my nomination makes it a referendum on Biden and the Democrats which we will win. Trump's nomination makes the election a referendum on Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: DeSantis obviously has a point, but how much is his message resonating with the voters there?

BACHARIER: Yes, absolutely. I think what DeSantis is saying there is what a lot of the political class both in Iowa and across the country in the Republican Party have fought for months, right? And that's why a lot of those folks have -- you know, flocked to either DeSantis or you know, more recently in the last couple of months, Nikki Haley, who has sort of touted a similar message. You know, wanting to leave behind what she calls the chaos that Trump leaves in his wake and, you know, wanting to put up a more -- you know, a more sure-footed candidate against Joe Biden.

But the polling has indicated that as far as in Iowa, the polling leads and the leads that he has among just about every demographic group shows that Iowans still want Trump as the candidate, at least a majority of them do. They aren't incredibly concerned about his ongoing legal battles. If anything, we've seen as he appears in court more, his numbers in our Iowa poll in the last few months have gone up. And so, that's a tough dynamic for those folks to navigate.

WALKER: So, then what would be a healthy second place for Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis?

BACHARIER: Yes. It's tough to pin down an actual number. I think what one of them needs to see coming out of Iowa is, first of all, a healthy gain on what the last couple of weeks of polling. They need to break out into a clear second, right?

It's going to be tough if both of them end up hovering around the high teens or the -- you know, the early 20s, just to sort of based on what we've seen on polling. If neither of them is able to break out into a clear stack in and sort of come into these next few states as the leading alternative, I think it is difficult to see a clear path forward. Now, if Nikki Haley is able to capitalize on this surge and emerge to the second, or if you know DeSantis after all, his investment is able to break out and get into a clear second, you can maybe see how they could capitalize on that going forward. But they need to emerge as that clear number two.

WALKER: With Chris Christie dropping out of the race on Wednesday, do you -- especially in Iowa, where do you expect those moderate voters to go?

[07:10:08]

BACHARIER: Yes. Christie didn't have a huge footprint here. He's pretty much skipped Iowa on the campaign trail. He's been here, I believe, once and it was for the State Fair.

We crunched the numbers on our latest Iowa poll, and we reallocated his votes. It didn't have too much of an impact on the race. I believe it raised Nikki Haley's support by one percent. And that was about it. So, I think a lot of those folks are -- you know, who are supporting Christie are pretty fervently anti-Trump voters. And so, I think they're going to be looking at the candidates and decide which of those sort of suits their needs best. Maybe they don't see a candidate not necessarily they like.

Maybe some of them go toward Nikki Haley. It's difficult to say. But him not having a huge footprint in Iowa in the first place, I think will mean a lot less here than it might in a place like New Hampshire.

WALKER: Galen Bacharier, good to see you. Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Let's check in now with CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar in the CNN weather center. This cold weather is coming down on more than Iowa. Show us around. Who's also getting it this week?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: An easier question, Victor, maybe who's not going to get some type of cold weather for the next couple of days. Right now, we're still focused on a lot of the snow that's still ongoing across the Midwest and the northeastern portion of the country. So, places like Chicago, Saginaw, Michigan, Buffalo, all looking at snow right now. You've got some heavy rain across Boston, as well as Providence, Rhode Island.

But this isn't the only area that's looking at that snow. As we widen this out, you'll see we also have some snow showers beginning across portions of Kansas, Nebraska, and even Denver. The airport reporting snow right now because you've got multiple systems across the U.S. And that's why you have such a wide swath here of so many winter weather alerts.

But it's not just for snow and ice. It's also the incredibly cold air that's going to be sliding in behind some of these systems. Look at all of these areas, you're talking over 80 million people under some type of windchill alert. Some of these areas could see those windchills that 40 to 50 degrees below zero. And for some of those areas, it's lasting for multiple days.

Here's a look, just to show you how widespread this cold air is really going to be. Yes, about a quarter of the country. The population in the lower 48 is going to have temperatures below zero. But even areas outside of that, you're looking at three-quarters of the population, 75 percent of the lower 48 population is going to have temperatures below freezing. So, even places like Florida, Georgia, other states, far south are still going to be very cold for this time of year.

Looking at these temperatures, it's already starting to set in Bismarck. The temperature is minus 22 right now, feels like minus 50. Very balmy there.

Des Moines right now, the temperature itself is four. It feels like 16. But the concern for Des Moines and really the rest of Iowa becomes Monday for the caucuses. This is a look at the Monday evening temperatures, not the wind chill, the temperatures.

Des Moines looking at minus 10. Then you factor in the wind gusts that are around that, that feels like the temperature drops to minus 28 in Des Moines. And really for the rest of the state, you're talking the vast majority of them with those wind chills of minus 20 to minus 30 degrees throughout the evening as all of those folks are getting together for the caucuses.

How does this compare to previous years? The forecast is minus four on Monday. That is not even remotely close, guys, to what we've seen in previous years.

BLACKWELL: You can't even cry about those temperatures because the tears are just freeze on your face.

CHINCHAR: Yes, exactly.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar thanks so much.

All right, just into CNN. New developments in the Taiwan presidential election. We'll go live to Taipei right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:46]

WALKER: We have breaking news now regarding the Taiwan election. And Taiwan's main opposition party is set to concede the presidential election. And that is according to a party source. But the race is not yet over.

BLACKWELL: Joining us now is CNN Senior International Correspondent Will Ripley. Joining us from Taipei. Will, what do you know?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Our shot is completely frozen. So, I'm not sure if you can hear me guys, or not. But I'm going to just talk and please tell me if I should stop talking. We're in a big crowd and the crowd is growing by the --

BLACKWELL: Seems like we've lost audio in addition to the picture.

WALKER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: If we get Will back, let us know. And we'll bring this to you. Again, this race is not over just the main opposition party, the KMT has -- is -- set to concede this race. We'll see who actually wins the presidential race there on the island.

WALKER: Yes, but obviously it cannot be good news for Beijing which seems to have favored the KMT party candidates. So, we'll stay on top of this, and we'll give you more as we get it.

And meantime, this morning, the U.S. carried out a second round of strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. It's in response to the recent spate of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. But U.S. officials say they don't want to see a wider conflict in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: We know people are anxious there about escalation. We are too. And again, everything we're doing and everything we're trying to do is to prevent any further escalation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: The UK hit dozens of targets in its first wave of strikes against the militant group. Now, the Houthis have vowed to retaliate. CNN's Oren Liebermann has the latest now from the Pentagon. Oren?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Amara, the U.S. carried out further strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday night, local time. This time, targeting radar facilities used by the Houthis, a much smaller set of strikes than what we saw one night previously, where the U.S. led a coalition of countries that targeted nearly 30 Houthi sites across the country with more than 150 precision-guided missiles.

[07:20:03]

Those included radar sites, command and control nods, as well as storage and launch facilities for anti-ship ballistic missiles, anti- ship cruise missiles, as well as drones. Those are the sorts of weapons the Houthis have used to target international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, one of the most critical international waterways in the world. Following that series of strikes, we saw according to the Pentagon, the Houthi is launching anti-ship ballistic missiles into the Gulf of Aden.

It didn't hit anything. But following that strike -- following that launch from the Houthis, the U.S. carried out this further strike. Again, targeting a radar facility. So, a much smaller set and a much more specific set of strikes.

It's unclear at this point, if that was specifically in response to the ballistic missile fired or if this was simply a follow-on to the previous evening strike. A senior Pentagon official had said the U.S. was still conducting a battle damage assessment. So, it's certainly possible the U.S. saw what it -- had been able to destroy and realize there was another target that needed to be hit or destroyed here.

The U.S. again trying to send with these other countries a message of deterrence to the Houthis, and a warning. President Joe Biden saying on Friday that if the Houthi attacks on shipping continued, so too with the U.S. strikes on Houthi facilities. Still, the strikes have tried to be limited in scope, making it clear they're not going after all Houthi infrastructure, just their ability to target international shipping lanes.

The question, could they conduct a sort of massive barrage like we saw them do earlier in the week? A senior Pentagon official says he believes from what he has seen that the Houthis would be unable to conduct the barrage of that magnitude based on the U.S. and coalition strikes, Victor and Amara. BLACKWELL: Oren, thanks so much. Joining us now is CNN political and national security analyst and New York Times White House and national security correspondent David Sanger. David, good Saturday to you.

Let's start here with the question I asked Colonel Leighton in a purely military perspective. I now want this in a geopolitical perspective, considering the tensions in the region. The administration says that this is avoiding an escalation. Is this indeed an escalation what we've seen over these last two days?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Victor, thanks, and good morning. It's a really interesting question. Because, you know, one country's effort to restore deterrence, which is what the U.S. says it's doing, is the receiving end country's escalatory activity. And there's no science here. It's all a question of how it is perceived on the different sides.

You saw the massive protests -- anti-American protests in Sana'a yesterday, they -- in Yemen, that look like tens of thousands of people out. So, clearly, the people of Yemen consider this to be a violation of sovereignty at a minimum and an escalation, perhaps.

At the same time, if you believe the Pentagon, what they've done is taken out enough of the infrastructure to make it physically quite difficult for the Houthis to continue these attacks or at least the missile and drone attacks. They could still do these fast boats that they send out. And if that's the case, it may lead to a pause and the problem. At some point, the Houthis using Iranian money will rebuild.

BLACKWELL: The president, President Biden, has said that he believes that the Houthis are a terror organization. His administration early on reversed the Trump administration's classification of the Houthis as a foreign terror organization. But he also said this from Pennsylvania. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's irrelevant whether the designated. We've put together a group of nations that are going to say that they continue to act -- behave as they do, we respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: He says it's irrelevant. It's immaterial whether it's declared a national -- foreign terror organization. Is it?

SANGER: You know, from a political perspective, he's exactly right. From a legal perspective, maybe not. Once you declare a country to be a foreign terrorist or a group to be a foreign terrorist organization, that kicks in a whole bunch of sanctions and so forth.

It's not as if the Houthis are, you know, big players in the world economy. So, whether or not, they are designated is less important than say, whether the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, other such groups are designated. The coalition, as the president has pointed out, is there to defend shipping. And as Oren noted, they've been very careful in how they have done these attacks to go after physical sites, launchers, missile sites, drone manufacturing sites, and last night, radar, in an effort to degree that capability.

[07:25:03]

But they haven't gone after the Houthi leadership. They've been very careful to stay away from the civilian population. That's why the administration is saying this is about deterrence, not about escalation. I'm not sure the Houthis will deal with that way.

BLACKWELL: Yes, they don't. They say that there will be retaliation. And some of their allies in the region are supporting them in that.

Put this -- or these strikes, I should say now, in the context of the domestic political arena. The president has said that if the Houthis continue to target these economic vessels -- these commercial vessels in the Red Sea, that there would be a deterrence much like this. For the Republican candidates a couple of days before Iowa, they support the action but still call the president weak. Show us the overlap here of what's happening this week.

SANGER: Sure. Well, Victor, it's really interesting because there was a lot of criticism of the president from the right for taking too long to go do this. And the reason he took a while to go do this, was he didn't want to risk disassembling what has been a pretty delicate truth in Yemen, in the Yemeni war, one in which the Saudis were deeply involved. So, he was trying not to destabilize the situation there. Got to a point with these attacks where here, his hand was really forced.

I think the big question going forward, and I think you'll hear more about it during the campaign is now how do you deal with Iran? Because it is Iran that is behind financing the Houthis. They're not calling the shots with every attack, but they're certainly enabling this. It's Iran behind the Hezbollah militias in Lebanon, the attacks in Syria, and the ones coming out of Iraq.

And my guess is as the campaign goes forward, you're going to hear them on the question of what's he doing to go deal with the source. And of course, an attack on Iran would by its nature be escalatory. And the president wants to do everything he can to avoid that.

BLACKWELL: David Sanger, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:11]

WALKER: And we have breaking news in the Taiwan election. The two main opposition candidates in the presidential election have conceded.

BLACKWELL: Joining us now from the capital of Taiwan is CNN senior international correspondent Will Ripley. Will, what do you know?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- parties, the KMT and the TPP. The two parties that were considered friendlier to China, they have both conceded this presidential election, which now paves the way really any minute now for the Democratic Progressive Party, the DPP, which is the party that has held power here in Taiwan for the last eight years under Tsai Ing-wen, and now has a new presidential candidate Lai Ching-te, paving the way for him to, at any moment, declare victory in this presidential race.

Which means it would be an unprecedented third consecutive presidential term for the Democratic Progressive Party, and perhaps, unprecedented anger from the other side of the Taiwan Strait from Beijing, because they have essentially, spent the last several months and years, vilifying both the presidential and vice-presidential candidate.

The V.P. candidate was the former U.S. envoy. She is actually sanctioned twice by China, and is forbidden from even traveling to mainland China. She is the presumptive vice president if, in fact, the Democratic Progressive Party confirms that they have won this election, which is expected to happen any moment now. And the presidential -- the presumptive president-elect, also has been basically vilified by Beijing.

So, essentially, what this means is that at the highest levels, there will continue to be absolutely no dialogue at Beijing's choice. Beijing has chosen to essentially cut off dialogue with this ruling party.

And now, that it seems clear that in just any minute now, the ruling party will likely declare victory in the presidential race. And the excitement is so intense back there, the crowd. We had to step all the way over this way just to be able to get a signal out of here, because the crowd is growing very quickly.

But this is going to be something that Beijing is going to definitely respond to. Intelligence officials that we've been speaking with here in the Taiwanese capital, say they do not expect an immediate response from Beijing, frankly, because the weather right now on the Taiwan Strait is -- it's winter, and it's quite choppy, it's very difficult weather to pull off those kind of massive military drills like what they did, when Nancy Pelosi visited this self-governing democracy last year.

However, in May, the weather is much better, and that's when this new president will be inaugurated. So, we have to keep very close eye on what's happening in this region. A really potential flashpoint here. But we have to see how Beijing responds to all of this.

WALKER: Yes. And just quickly, Will, because you know, you were saying earlier that Beijing has framed this election as a choice between peace and war. So, if the Democratic Progressive Party, if it's confirmed that it has indeed won this presidential election, then that means the voters have chosen war in Beijing's eyes.

And so, in terms of reaction, and also, what is the message -- what would the message be that the people of Taiwan are sending?

RIPLEY: It's really interesting because that narrative, that peace and war narrative was actually picked up by the opposition, the main opposition party, the KMT, which was the first of the two opposition parties to concede this election, just within the last 30 minutes or so.

It's a narrative that the ruling party rejects. They say they are the only party that can maintain the peace because of their close partnership with the United States. Their decision to invest in billions of dollars in defensive weapons from the United States to increase the amount of military training with the United States to unprecedented levels not seen in decades, since the United States actually had a troop presence on Taiwan, which of course, they pulled out their troops more than 40 years ago, when the United States normalize relations with China, and the whole dynamic in the region change.

[07:35:10]

Taiwan now, essentially is closer with the United States than it's been in decades. The U.S.-China relationship has soured tremendously and this democracy is the biggest Flashpoint between these two global superpowers. But the DPP has said, if they don't stand up with military and diplomatic and economic friends around the world, like- minded democracies around the world, they think it would be only a matter of time before China would try to move in and take Taiwan anyway.

WALKER: It will be fascinating to see how Beijing responds. Will Ripley, thank you very much. We'll be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:13]

WALKER: Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the gunman responsible for killing 10 Black people at the top supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

BLACKWELL: This will be the first capital punishment case for the justice department under the Biden administration, and the families of the victims, there have been mixed reactions to this news.

Here is CNN's Miguel Marquez.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, this was a very difficult case for the federal government to seek the death penalty. This decision came down to the attorney general himself, and it was explained to the victims the families of the victims of that Buffalo massacre, which was just -- it was such a vile, such a hideous act. It is hard to even use words to describe it. It was just so horrific.

This is an individual who plan this out, who became radicalized, plan this out, drove 200 miles, research the place that would have the highest number of African Americans, went to a store -- grocery store that he knew there would be people at that store, at that time, went in with a helmet and body armor. He was live streaming it at the same time, hoping to start a race war.

This is somebody who has already gone through the legal process in the state of New York, but it does not have the death penalty. He's already going to serve a lifetime in prison. Many of the families are happy that the government is seeking the death penalty. Some families are not.

Mark Talley spoke to cameras shortly after they were informed of the government's decision. And he spoke out about his mother, Geraldine Tally, who died at that Tops Friendly supermarket in Buffalo on 5/14.

5/14 is what they call it in Buffalo. And it is -- it is etched into their memories there. He spoke about his mother and his feelings about the death penalty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK TALLEY, SON OF VICTIM GERALDINE TALLEY: Thought about my mom a lot, mainly those first six months. I still have a lot of, you know, just a lot of dreams in which I'm crying in the dream.

Most of my emotions that when I dream, and I see her, think about her. You know, smell. I've still got -- I took two clothes of hers, and I can still smell her scent. That's when I really think about it the most.

As far as I concerned. I think he is getting off the hook getting the death penalty. Because he won't get that, that suffering that I want. As long as I'm alive, whether God gives me 20, 30, or 60 years, I want to be able to see him to suffer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: There is also a hearing where the government indicated its intent to pursue the death penalty. Many, many family members were in that hearing. The defendant was not. But many family members saying that they will be in court every day to watch this process play out.

The next court date is February 2nd. Back to you.

WALKER: All right. Miguel Marquez, thank you for your reporting.

"FIRST OF ALL", starts at the top of the hour. And Victor is here to tell us what's coming up. Well, you've always been here. So --

BLACKWELL: Yes, been here all morning.

WALKER: You're still here.

BLACKWELL: Yes, OK. So, obviously Iowa caucuses are Monday. And one would assume that the GOP candidates would want to speak with every potential voter.

(CROSSTALK)

WALKER: Right. BLACKWELL: To get everyone they can. Not the case. There was a scheduled brown and black forum so that these candidates could meet the brown and black voters there in Iowa.

There are many, not one major GOP candidate said that they would participate. This was before the weather. That's despite in 2020, 22 percent of black voters supporting Donald Trump by nearly a third of Latino voters. So, they -- many of them do vote for the Republican. We'll talk about what that means and why no one was there.

MLK holiday is Monday. Martin Luther King III is with us to talk about what he believes we should be doing to honor his father's memory on his birthday.

Also, what the King family thinks about actor Jonathan Majors invoking Coretta Scott King several times during his assault trial, and the day since.

Plus, an update on a young man named Jonas. 17 years old from Haiti, adopted by a family in Indiana. We brought the viewers the story a couple of weeks ago, blind, has autism, cerebral palsy, nonverbal, he was days away from starting deportation proceedings. We've got an update. This one feels good.

WALKER: OK, gosh.

BLACKWELL: So, we will bring that to you coming up in the next hour.

WALKER: All right. Packed hour.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WALKER: Victor, thank you. "FIRST OF ALL" starts at the top of the hour right here on CNN. More after the break.

[07:44:56]

BLACKWELL: See you then.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Two football teams are wasting no time replacing their legendary head coaches.

Last night, the Alabama Crimson Tide announced Kalen DeBoer, the head coach at the University of Washington, will take over for Nick Saban. Saban surprised many with his retirement this week.

And the New England Patriots are turning to Jerod Mayo -- Jerod Mayo, the team's linebacker coach to become the new Patriots' head coach. Mayo replaces Bill Belichick, who led the team to six Super Bowls over 24 seasons.

And what will the Seattle Seahawks do, now that it has parted ways with its winningest head coach Pete Carroll. All right. Joining us now is CNN's sports analyst Christine Brennan. She is also a sports columnist for USA Today. Good to see you. Good morning.

I mean three huge legendary names and football all retiring within 24 hours of each other. Christine, what does this mean for the sport?

[07:50:03]

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: As you know, Amara, this is the --

The NFL is our national pastime. It is our biggest sport. And the thought that you would have some of the biggest names in history all leaving, we knew this day would come, all three men born in 1951 or 52, meaning that they're in their early 70s. So, that makes sense. But we never thought it would be the same day, with all of them would\ leave.

And so, it is the news is obviously not just sports news, it's cultural news.

WALKER: Yes.

BRENNAN: Because the NFL is such an important part of American culture with the playoffs, of course, starting today. And so, I think what it shows us is just how much we care about football college. And the case of Nick Saban and of course, pro with Carroll and, and with Belichick.

And, I think also it shows the power of the incredible longevity of these men. The fact that, as you said, Bill Belichick has won six Super Bowls. And, by the way, he wants to go on to do more. He is only 15 wins away from the legendary Don Shula to become the winningest coach in NFL history.

So, I wouldn't be surprised at all if we see Bill Belichick come back. Obviously, Nick Saban, and he said that he is finished.

WALKER: OK. So, replacing Nick Saban, obviously, not an easy task. What do you think about the new head coach Kalen DeBoer?

BRENNAN: I think this, Amara. I think that anyone who follows a legend like Nick Saban is going to have a tough time. And we've seen this throughout sports history, where the person who comes in right after the great coach has some trouble. Obviously, fans get disgruntled quickly if that person doesn't emulate the success of the previous coach, their legendary star like the Bear Bryant at Alabama years ago. It was very tough to replace him, until they found Nick Saban. There were a couple others that were very good, but it takes a while.

And so, it is going to be very interesting to see especially with DeBoer, if he can recruit the young players, the high school players the way that Nick Saban was so successful, like a magnet, bringing them to Alabama. And especially now for the college game with name, image, and likeness, with the transfer portal, all the upheaval, there is conference realignment. It is a very, very chaotic time in college football.

And DeBoer is going to have to navigate that. Obviously, an excellent coach, took Washington that to the national championship game on Monday. He is an excellent coach. But he's going to have to navigate all that while dealing with the expectations and the pressure that is going to come upon him, because he is Nick Saban's replacement.

WALKER: I mean, to see the New England Patriots turn around and quickly hire Jerod Mayo, that was surprising. And it seems that the Kraft family had a succession plan in mind. And that's pretty rare. Right?

BRENNAN: Well, it is. Although, it made sense in this case, because Mayo, it was in his contract the succession plan last year, they announced a new contract for an assistant coach, which is incredibly unusual in the NFL. And so, at that point, that signaled that Mayo would be the replacement for Bill Belichick. I don't think many people thought it would become so soon, but the terrible season the Patriots had four and 13, I think that, of course necessitated or hurried along the process to have Mayo replace Belichick.

And he is the first black head coach that the Patriots have ever had. And he is a former player, a former team captain, and just it -- he very much emulates and represents what the Patriots are today. A wonderful statement for the National Football League and the Patriots to hire a black man.

As that story continues to play out about black coaches, the dearth of black coaches, head coaches in the NFL.

WALKER: You were saying, Bill Belichick isn't done yet. I mean, do you think we'll see him on the sidelines next season?

BRENNAN: I kind of do. I -- I've covered him over the years and I know him a little bit. And I cannot imagine that 15 games -- 15 wins, Amara, away from passing the great Don Shula, the Miami Dolphins' legendary coach who I knew and thought he was just an amazing rock of a human being and a great American.

I can't imagine that Bill Belichick would say, OK, yes, I'll just put my feet up and watch football when I'm not close to being the greatest winningest coach in NFL history.

So, I do think. So, and there are now still seven openings -- head coach openings in the National Football League. No idea where Bill Belichick might go, or who might even want him. They might want to go younger, with a younger man, not in his 70s. We'll see. But I think Belichick very much would like to give that a go.

WALKER: And what about Pete Carroll and his successor? I mean, how does Seattle replace him?

BRENNAN: Well, again, there are all those openings right now. But there's a lot of young great coaches, and certainly, as I -- we've talked about over the years, diversity in the NFL, having more men of color -- I would say, women of color, but obviously we're not there yet with women, although, there are women assistant coaches as never before in the NFL. And good for them, since clearly, it's mostly almost exclusively a men's sport.

But the -- I think Seattle, you know we'll be looking at some of these young names, obviously, the coordinators, defensive and offensive coordinators, who have been working their way up in the NFL with other teams, and of course, maybe some big college names as well.

[07:55:13]

Because Nick Saban had played as coach in the NFL, and then was set went back to college. So, and Pete Carroll also was a great college coach at USC with controversy following him too. But that's when he left USC to go to Seattle.

So, we'll see if that might be also a potential pathway for Pete Carroll's successor.

WALKER: Christine Brennan, we'll leave it there. Great to have you this morning. Thank you so much.

And thank you for being with us this morning. "FIRST OF ALL WITH VICTOR BLACKWELL" is up next. Have a great day, everyone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:07]

BLACKWELL: FIRST OF ALL, when two of the whitest states in America start the Republican nomination process, there is a cost to none white voters across the country.

This year, Republican presidential candidates were invited to speak to and hear from black and brown voters in Iowa.