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Iowa Caucuses Set To Kick Off In Subzero Temperatures; Final Day Ahead of Caucuses Begins With Trump Boosted By New Poll; Spending Battle Renews Friction Among House Republicans; Biden Campaign Data: Undecided Voters Don't Believe Trump Could Be GOP Nominee Again. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired January 14, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:09]

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As election results draw near, states are doing what Congress has not. Last year, Ohio passed a law making swatting a felony and Georgia has drafted similar legislation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH (on camera): Well, it's not just high-profile political figures falling victim to swatting. It runs the gamut from Jewish and other religious institutions, government buildings, schools to election workers and members of the military.

Now, law enforcement stretches that this is a dangerous hoax. They point to a 28-year-old Kansas man who was actually killed after someone called in a fake 911 emergency about a hostage situation at his home.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Rene Marsh, thank you.

The next hour of CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND starts right now.

(MUSIC)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good, morning. Thank you for staying with us. It is Sunday, January 14th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

WALKER: And I'm Amara Walker.

BLACKWELL: So after months of the speeches and the debates and the polls -- oh, the polls, finally time for I will voters to weigh in here in the 2024 presidential campaign. The Iowa caucuses are tomorrow night against the backdrop of subzero temperatures, in what's forecast to be the coldest caucus night in history.

WALKER: CNN's Eva McKend joining us now from Des Moines.

Eva, it is good to see you. I know it was tough for you to get to where you are standing now. This is not the way the Republican presidential field wanted to head into the first big test of the primary.

What are they telling their supporters to ensure they actually show up?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nikki Haley telling Iowans to wear their layers. Governor DeSantis telling supporters, brave the elements, that if they make this temporary sacrifice and come out and caucus for him tomorrow, that he will work hard for them in the White House.

You know, for many months, all of these candidates working hard to draw policy contrasts. Haley and DeSantis in particular making this argument that former President Donald Trump is too vulnerable in a general election and has electability issues. For all of that, this contest make principally come down to the impact of these bitterly cold temperatures.

Take a listen to how the candidates are talking about this weather on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: I just landed an airplane, and it's nasty out there. I worry about that, but at the same time, I'm watching even the newscast today, they're saying the Trump voter has so much more spirit, dedication. They say they walk over glass, that the Trump voters coming to vote yes.

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, Monday is going to be cold, really cold. Wear layers, because you might be standing in line. Take your ID, but think of the fact that you might be making history in this moment.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now, all indications are that this is still Trump's race to lose here in Iowa. The critically important "Des Moines Register" poll coming out last night, showing that he has captured nearly 50 percent of Republican Iowa caucusgoers. He's at 48 percent. Nikki Haley at 20 percent. Governor DeSantis at 16 percent. That is a difference from a polls earlier in this cycle that had Governor DeSantis in second place here in Iowa.

But all of this to say, we don't know what the turnout is going to look like. It was negative 20 when I woke up this morning I barely got here because my car got stuck in a snow bank. Some of the roads are still impassible and so that is the big wildcard as we approach Monday, Viktor and Amara.

WALKER: Well, I'm so glad you found a way to be indoors for this. Eva McKend, thank you so much.

CNN chief congressional correspondent and anchor of "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY", Manu Raju, is with us now.

Good morning, Manu.

Obviously, turnout is a big factor in the Iowa caucuses. How much of Iowa, Manu, is undecided right now? And are voters' minds mostly made up?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, there's a slice of the electorate that it has not made up its mind according to that "Des Moines Register" poll, saying about a quarter of the voters simply say, their mind has not been made, but it's different per candidate, about 80 percent in that same poll of Trump supporters say that their minds have made up roughly 60 percent for DeSantis and Haley, suggesting that perhaps DeSantis and Haley, and once again, what we've been seeing time and time again, that this is a battle for second place.

Now, while Haley has momentum here according to this poll, does show that her supporters simply are not as enthusiastic as DeSantis' supporters are, or as Trump supporters are, which could be a warning sign for her, especially given the extremely cold temperatures as you were talking about and the concerns about getting people out to the state.

[08:05:12]

It will be interesting to see exactly if Trump does win, the significant portion will be the margin of that victory. Can Ron DeSantis outperform expectations? Can even keep that victory somewhat narrow are not good completely blown out because he has put so much into Iowa? But if he gets trounced in Iowa, if he ends up in the distant third in Iowa, that potentially mean the end of his candidacy as they head into New Hampshire where he is but very little stock into that state.

In fact, going to South Carolina the day after the Iowa caucuses? So, so much riding on the second place. But, well, second place is not first place. That does that mean though dethrone Trump, but it could be mean momentum for one of those candidates if they exceed expectations, guys.

WALKER: Yeah, momentum will be key going into New Hampshire.

And, you know, to the dysfunction now in Congress, Manu, we learned yesterday afternoon that congressional leaders reached an agreement to kick the can down the road even further until March. Does this even help?

Speaker Mike Johnson, if he couldn't get his conference behind him by now, how does an extra month-and-a-half matter?

RAJU: Its really unclear. You know, in fact, for Mike Johnson, a lot of this sounds very similar, like Kevin McCarthy, who was living day by day of sorts, just trying to figure out how to navigate, how to govern his unruly and very narrowly divided conference with a faction of members simply dead set on saying they want their way and pushing for deeper spending cuts, pushing for adding tougher immigration restrictions in a must-pass bill, same things that simply Democrats in the Senate and the White House simply will not expect.

What Johnson agreed to here is for his short-term stopgap bill to keep the government open until early March. That is simply -- simply what he said he would not do. Back in November, he said there'll be no more short-term stopgap bills. Well, he is bowing to reality and trying to move ahead here given the divisions within his conference.

I spent so much of last week talking to these members about exactly what happened over the last few weeks. And a lot of the members, particularly the ones who supported Kevin McCarthy, say the efforts to push him out made absolutely no sense in their view because they are left in the precisely the same place they were amid McCarthy's ouster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): There is no sense in getting McCarthy. And so, those members that now are starting thinking if things are going to change, they elect somebody new, you got to face reality now. Okay. And they're not facing reality where were going to end up from the get-go. I'm not big fans of them. Let's put it that way.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I feel like we just went through a four or five months detour to go -- to end up where we should have been all along.

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I just think there's a lot of people that would like to see him fail. Thankfully, there's people that are still loyal to Kevin McCarthy like say I told you so, and they don't care if they bring the country down or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And that last comment come from Congressman Tim Burchett, who was one of the eight Republicans who voted out. Kevin McCarthy is simply not offering no regrets for that vote. In fact, of the members who did push out, Kevin McCarthy also saying that they have no regrets for it.

I did talk to the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus who's Bob Good, someone who of course is part of that effort to oust Kevin McCarthy. He has said that Johnsons job is not in his view, in secured the moment. He said he's not going to push for his ouster because Johnson is simply walking into this position right now, he said he cannot blame them for the mess left behind, but allow the Republicans blame those members on the far right for the mess that they are currently in, which is lurching from potential crisis to potential crisis and potentially kicking the can down the road for just another few weeks where they'll face yet another shutdown deadline and questions about how they can proceed.

WALKER: Yeah. A four to five-month detours is a nice way to put it. I mean, they're just spinning the wheels and getting nowhere.

Manu Raju, good to see you. Thanks so much. RAJU: Thanks.

WALKER: And make sure to join Manu for "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY". That's at 11:00 a.m. right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: The Biden campaign, it's also watching the Iowa caucuses and beyond. They say their internal research shows a significant number of undecided voters still don't think former President Trump will be the Republican nominee.

CNN's Camila DeChalus is joining us now.

The former president is so far ahead in these polls. Tell us more about what the Biden campaign has found.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the Biden campaign team says that at this point in time, if you'll have many voters are just tuned out and not engaged and paying close attention to what's really happening in this election cycle. And so moving forward, they say their strategy will be to paint a more vivid picture of what a potential second term under Trump would look like. And to really emphasize what Biden wants to do if he gets reelected.

Now, that will be one of Biden's biggest challenges in the months ahead is to really showcase where he stands on certain issues to convince these voters that are undecided to fully put their support behind Biden and say that they -- that he stands with the issues that they care about, and really try to emphasize what's at stake in this election cycle -- Victor, Amara.

[08:10:23]

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus, thank you.

WALKER: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has spent a lot of time in Iowa campaigning. And this final poll ahead of tomorrows caucus shows him in third place. How does he pull off an upset? We're following him during the final sprint to the finish.

BLACKWELL: Plus, more than 80 million people are facing wind chill alerts today as dangerous arctic blast sweeps across the U.S. The places that will stay below zero for a day or two, next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:06]

WALKER: A powerful blast of arctic air is sweeping across the United States, placing 80 million people under cold weather alerts.

BLACKWELL: Temperatures in Iowa were forecast to stay at or below zero, and that could impact turnout for caucus day. Meteorologist

Allison Chinchar is tracking this chill from the CNN Weather Center.

Allison, tell us more. ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, I think the key thing is just how many people are affected by this. Take a look at this map. These are wind chill alerts and they stretch from the North Dakota, Canada border all the way down to Mexico, again to varying degrees because the criteria for each of these varies.

So for safe folks in North Dakota, you're looking at wind chills as low as 70 below zero down across Texas, those temperatures are going to be closer to say about 10 to 15 degrees above zero. But even still, very cold and dangerously cold, especially across the northern and central portion of the country. These are current temperatures and wind chills.

Right now, in Bismarck, the actual temperature is 21 degrees below zero, but that feels like temperature 47 below zero, not much better in Minneapolis. That feels like as 26 below zero and Des Moines looking at a wind chill of minus 41 at the moment, and its really not expected to get all that warmer as we go into tomorrow. So that means for a lot hi folks heading out to the caucuses.

This is going to be absolutely the coldest set of caucuses in history. You can take a look at all of the previous ones compared to the forecast for tomorrow. Not even close. Again, that forecast high right around four degrees below zero. And to put that in perspective, that means Des Moines high temperature tomorrow will actually be significant colder than the high temperature in Anchorage, Alaska.

Again, just to show you how unbelievably cold it is going to be in some of these places because that cold air is in place, that means is moisture moves across the country. You're going to get it in the form of snow and ice, even in places you wouldn't normally expect it now, in the northeast, we do and you're still having some lingering spring snow squalls and some lake effect showers, places like Buffalo, Erie into Pittsburgh in Cleveland.

But it's down to the South. This is where it's a different story. A lot of these places aren't used to all of this. You're looking at snow starting to ramp up later on today across Oklahoma City and potentially some of that freezing precipitation for places like Dallas and Shreveport.

I know its a holiday tomorrow, maybe not. Everybody has to work. But for those that do its likely going to be very slick tomorrow in Dallas and Shreveport is that's when you're really going to see a lot of that sleet and freezing rain coming down.

To the north, you're looking at snow from little rock all the way over towards Knoxville, Tennessee. And that's going to continue through the day Monday and even transition into very early Tuesday so keep that in mind for some of these areas, especially across Tennessee, this is still going to linger Tuesday for so for those that have to go back to work, then you're likely going to encounter some slick spots there.

Overall, most of these areas, especially across portions of Arkansas, areas south of Memphis, you're looking at widespread about three to five inches of snow that's on the ground. Farther south where ice and freezing rain are going to be the main concern, for those areas, it could be as much as a tenth of an inch, maybe even a quarter of an inch of ice accumulating not only on those roadways, but also on power lines and trees as well, Victor and Amara.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thank you.

Let's go to Paterson, New Jersey, where officials say that crews had to rescue 20 people who were trapped in floodwaters. Now that area is still under a flood warning. Official say that more than 20 streets look like this, covered in water, a bridge was closed

WALKER: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy survey the flood damage on Saturday and he said the state is committed to getting help to those affected.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, good morning to you.

Another storm system making its way through the northeast leaving in its wake some frigid temperatures and also that looming threat of flooding here in Paterson, New Jersey well, we've really been monitoring the levels in the nearby Passaic most of the weekend here, with forecasters had expected it to rise. And because of that, we've seen some of the river basically overflow its banks and affects so many neighborhoods here in Paterson, New Jersey.

Earlier in the last several days, we know that well over 20 rescues, at least well over 20 people had to be rescued from their homes and either low-lying areas that are very familiar with the flooding potential of the Passaic. Over the weekend, also heard from New Jersey's governor, who surveyed the area.

We should also mention that authorities are still going to be tracking, of course, the situation here on the ground. And this comes after just a soaker of a storm last week that initially prompted some of those flooding concerns. Officials here are pledging and promising some financial supports to some of those impacted residents coming from state, local, and federal sources as well.

Amara, Victor, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Thank you. We are just one day out from the Iowa caucuses and Republican presidential hopefuls. They are out in full swing.

How Governor Ron DeSantis is making his final pitch to voters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:55]

WALKER: Governor Ron DeSantis is calling on his supporters to bundle up and get out to caucus tomorrow, even in the dangerously cold Iowa temperatures. He promised to fight for his supporters if they're willing to, quote, brave the elements and pledged to continue to campaign in the state until the very end.

BLACKWELL: DeSantis also took a couple of jabs at former President Trump for canceling planned events in Iowa this weekend because of the weather.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: We're showing up. I mean, Donald Trump, I guess has phoned it in. We're just going to be hanging out down in Mar-a-Lago. I'm sure its probably 75 degrees there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Jessica Dean is out in the cold in Iowa with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Victor, we are now in these very crucial closing days to the Iowa caucuses and probably nobody has more at stake than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has put so much into Iowa. He and his campaign have poured time and millions of dollars into their organization in this state. He's visited all 99 counties, the full Grassley, a tip to Chuck Grassley, the senator from here.

And he talks about that a lot on the road. He talks about how he's spent a lot of time here.

[08:25:02]

His wife has been spent a lot of time here, and his children. They're hoping that that will really impress upon the voters here how serious that he is. The closing pitch that we've heard from him in the days leading up to the caucuses is that Donald Trump is in this for his own selfish interests. That former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is serving the donors and that he is the only one that's running on behalf of the people.

Now, if that's the message that's going to resonate, we're going to find out on Monday. To backup the message, his super PAC that's aligned with him, has spent so much time and money organizing here. They have made the case that they have unparalleled organization here in Iowa, with precinct captains and people to drive people to caucus sites, that sort of thing.

And that always matters in Iowa, but its certainly matters when there's going to be potential for wind chills of negative 40, when were seeing historically and dangerously cold temperatures. They're hoping that that organization, along with his message, will lead him to a strong finish here in Iowa, setting him up for the rest of this primary -- Victor and Amara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

And be sure to stay with CNN for "STATE OF THE UNION" at the top of the hour. This morning, Jake Tapper sits down with Governor Ron DeSantis. That's at the top of the hour, right here on CNN.

With me now is the Des Moines bureau chief for "The Gazette", Erin Murphy.

Aaron, good morning to you.

So the governor -- Governor DeSantis -- tried to rev up his supporters last night. Let's watch a bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: They can throw a blizzard at us and we are going to fight! They can throw wind chill at us and we are going to fight! They can throw media narratives at us and we are going to fight! They can throw fake polls at us and we are going to fight!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, some enthusiasm there. I'm not sure which they through the wind chill, but I get where he was trying to go there.

Let's talk about this new poll from "The Des Moines Register" because I think its pretty interesting beyond the headlines of Trump at 48, Haley 20, DeSantis 16, Ramaswamy, 8.

Haley leads DeSantis now in this poll by four points. However, if you look at those who will definitely show up at the caucuses tomorrow, 62 percent of DeSantis, who supporters say they will, only 51 percent for Haley. Their support is one thing showing that is something else

ERIN MURPHY, DES MOINES BUREAU CHIEF, THE GAZETTE: You gone down the exact right path there, Victor, because especially when you talk about the caucuses in a normal year, that enthusiasm is important because its not like an election where you can vote whenever you want in the day you walk in, you cast a ballot, you walk out and you're done, you know, short amount of time.

The caucuses, you have to be there at a specific time in this case, 07:00, Monday night. And you have to stick around for a little bit to go through some business and then go through the process of filling out your sheet with your preferred candidate on it. So in a good year, that enthusiasm and that desire for supporters to go out and caucus is important. Add these spectacularly low temperatures, these unbelievable windshields, and that motivation is even more important.

So I think that is a huge question going into tomorrow night is whether these candidates can get all the people out to the caucuses who have been saying that they plan to support them.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. There is a distinction made between those who say they definitely will show up, and those who are enthusiastic or extremely enthusiastic. And this is another number that the disparity is kind of shocking here. On the enthusiasm, Trump's supporters, 49 percent, extremely enthusiastic, 23 percent for DeSantis, only 9 percent of Nikki Haley's supporters are extremely enthusiastic.

How does that reconcile with her performance in the polls, the growth that we've seen over the last month.

MURPHY: Yeah. Well, I mean, it can be one thing to say that someone is my preferred candidate, but still another thing to say but I'm going to go out and go to my local school on Monday night at 07:00 at 40 below wind chills and walk in there and sit down for an hour and cast my preference for them. Those can be two different things.

And so, that's what those campaign organizations that Jessica described I know are working hard on right now, is making sure making contact with those people. And imploring them to get out on Monday night, so that that's what they've those commit to caucus cards that those folks follow through on those commitments because its no guarantee.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, let's talk about this first swipe from president -- former President Trump at Vivek Ramaswamy, in which he sent out a social media message, essentially calling him deceitful.

[08:29:49]

What is your view of that? Explain your understanding of the strategy here to wait a day or two before the Iowa caucuses and go after someone who is so closely allied?

MURPHY: Yes, that was certainly interesting yesterday. And my best read of that is that former president Trump maybe sees this race overall, not between him and Vivek Ramaswamy but maybe a Ron DeSantis or a Nikki Haley getting closer. And the people who are supporting Vivek Ramaswamy, are often also people who like former president Trump.

So what that sounds to me is like former president Trump trying to avoid losing some of his support to Vivek Ramaswamy, telling his supporters, hey, I know you like both of us, don't peel off of me and go to this guy. I'm the real deal. Stick with me.

And maybe that is because he sees this race tightening to some degree and wants to make sure that his lead stays where it has been in all of the polls that we've seen.

BLACKWELL: Maybe a play for margins. 8 percent who's supporting Ramaswamy, to pull back two or three of those to keep his margin between whoever that second place finishes and himself as broad as possible.

Erin Murphy, stay warm. You live in Iowa, you know how to do that. I can't tell you that from Georgia. Thank you so much for being with us.

And CNN will have special prime time special coverage ahead of the Iowa caucuses. Starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

WALKER: On CNN.

BLACKWELL: On CNN.

WALKER: Still ahead, disturbing new data from the Anti-Defamation League. It says anti-Semitic incidents have nearly quadrupled from their already high levels since the Israel-Hamas war began. We'll have more on that next.

[08:32:06]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Today is the 100th day since the Hamas attacks in Israel killed more than 1,200 people. And right now there are thousands of people rallying in Tel Aviv. They're calling for the release of hostages being held in Gaza. There have been these mass demonstrations there since Saturday.

Protesters around the world are turning out in support for Palestinians in Gaza this weekend and they're demanding Israel stop bombarding the Strip in retaliation for the Hamas attacks.

WALKER: The death toll in Gaza is climbing to now more than 23,000 people -- 10,000 of them children. That is according to the Hamas- controlled Palestinian health ministry.

A large rally also took place in Washington, D.C. Calling for a Gaza ceasefire.

CNN's Gabe Cohen has more.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Victor, Amara -- this was a huge rally that included a march through Washington D.C., as well as this protest here outside the White House.

And in many ways, the size and program of this protest mirrored the last massive march for Gaza that we saw here in Washington, which I covered in early November.

But the message Saturday felt even more urgent as the death toll continues to rise in Gaza. Protesters calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and really trying to put political pressure on the Biden administration to end its unequivocal support for Israel and its military aid for Israel's war effort in Gaza.

I spoke with a Palestinian-American woman who told me, she has lost family in Gaza since the conflict began, and she said voted for President Biden in 2020, but 2024, she said, is a different story. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have American family who are stuck there now. And we have tried every avenue for their evacuation. They've tried four times, they were shot at, at the border.

There's no circumstance in which President Biden has my vote in the upcoming election. He's single-handedly funding the genocide of my people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Now just this week, the Biden administration said it is listening to and engaging w progressives who are calling for a ceasefire.

But I spoke with a Biden staffer and there are several participating in this ceasefire effort. She told me she does not feel like the administration is really listening right now and that more political pressure like this rally is needed.

We know as well that there was at least one incident connected to the protest with U.S. Park police arresting two people for disorderly conduct and assaulting a police officer.

Amara, Victor.

WALKER: Gabe, thank you.

Police in London say about 300,000 people marched for a free Palestine.

From the financial district to the Houses of parliament Saturday, demonstrators repeated a view that Israel's response to Hamas needs to be reined in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here because genocide is wrong. Because it is disproportionate. Because so many more Palestinians have died.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Police say they've also arrested at least 82 counter- protesters. More than 2,000 officers were deployed there.

[08:39:50]

WALKER: The Anti-Defamation League has a new report out that confirms reports of a troubling trend we have seen in the U.S.

BLACKWELL: They say that anti-Semitic incidents had risen dramatically across the country, a number of them since the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7th.

CNN's Brian Todd has more details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Outside a D.C. synagogue, a man is arrested for allegedly attacking a congregant with a foul-smelling spray and menacing others.

RABBI HYIM SHAFNER, KESHER ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE, WASHINGTON D.C.: He was yelling "Gas the Jews".

TODD: A Cornell University student is charged with threatening to kill Jewish students on campus. These are among thousands of incidents fueling a new report by the Anti-Defamation League which says anti- Semitism has gone off the charts in the U.S. in the three months since Hamas' October 7th attack on Israel.

The ADL says it has tracked nearly 3,300 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States between October 7th and January 7th, an increase of 361 percent compared to the same period the year before.

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: It is shocking to think that while the numbers were high before, they have skyrocketed to a level we've never seen.

TODD: And the ADL broke it down into types of incidents targeting Jews during that period including 60 acts of physical assaults, 553 incidents of vandalism, 1,353 cases of verbal or written harassment. Who is committing the acts?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mostly these are white supremacist groups. They are able to use the Israel-Hamas war to both condemn and villainize Jews and the Jewish community and Israelis.

TODD: And analysts say, the same groups also target Muslims, Muslim institutions and individuals have also seen a dramatic uptick in threats and incidents of bias since the Israel-Hamas War started.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is certainly one of the most dangerous time to be a Jew or Muslim in the United States.

TODD: One monitor of extremism is worried about where these war will take the level of hatred from here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm most worried about is the way that the Israel-Hamas conflict could be used to recruit young people into extremist groups in the future.

TODD: But experts say what makes the Israel Hamas war unique is that it motivated not just white supremacists and other extremists to target Jews and Muslims but also many who otherwise might not act out.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The emotional reaction to what is going on in Israel and Gaza is very, very strong. This is not just a news story for a lot of people. This is a story that they feel very strongly about emotionally.

TODD: It's led to a pervasive climate of fear. The rabbi of that Washington synagogue says people have asked him it is safe to go to the synagogue or even to walk around with a head covering.

SHAFNER: We're a country where we should be able to worship freely, everybody -- whether Jew or Muslim or Christian. And if it's getting to a point where, you know, we're worried about her (INAUDIBLE). We're worried about violence. What does that say?

TODD: How to combat this horrifying trend, the ADL Jonathan Greenblatt points to three ways to attack it. Greater moral clarity among leaders at places like colleges and universities, citizens have to hold their leaders more accountable. And he says Jews and Muslims and Christians and others have to band together to fight all of this. That it is clearly not just a Jewish problem.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, a historic day for the kingdom of Denmark. The world's only female sovereign has just abdicated the throne. Her son is now king. The latest next.

[08:43:17]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: The judge in the Georgia election subversion case against former president Trump has set a February hearing to discuss allegations of an improper relationship between the Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis and Nathan Wade, her pick for the lead prosecutor.

BLACKWELL: Now when Trump's attorney brought this up on Friday, Mr. Wade was in the courtroom. Last week in a court filing aimed at getting the case dismissed, a Trump co-defendant alleged Wade and Willis were having an affair.

CNN's Nick Valencia has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATHAN WADE, GEORGIA LEAD PROSECUTOR: Good afternoon, Judge.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Nathan Wade was selected by Fani Willis as a special prosecutor in Georgia, many lawyers in Cobb County, where Wade practiced law wondered why him? Not only did Willis have the biggest staff of any judicial circuit in Georgia to choose from, but she also had more experienced felony prosecutors to take on the former president and his allies.

Former U.S. Attorney and one-time Federal Prosecutor Michael Moore says if the allegations of an improper romantic relationship between Willis and Wade are true, it's an unforced error by Willis and challenges the integrity of the case.

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Cases are not lost because of some Matlock moment, some moment like you see in "My Cousin Vinny", where suddenly somebody finds the evidence.

Cases die by the death of a thousand cuts. This is a cut on the case.

SCOTT GRUBMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I was pretty shocked. I was pretty appalled. VALENCIA: Criminal Defense Attorney Scott Grubman faced off against Wade while representing one-time Trump co-defendant Ken Chesebro.

What stood out for Grubman is not the alleged romance between Wade and Willis that's shocking. It's the exhibit in the filing which showed some of Wade's billable hours. So far, Wade has earned more than $650,000 for his work on the case.

GRUBMAN: He's doing things like billing 24 hours in a day.

VALENCIA: Why is that weird?

GRUBMAN: Well, look, attorneys work hard, and technically it is possible to bill 24 hours in a day. Of course, I have never met an attorney, ever. And I don't think anyone I know has ever met an attorney who has billed 24 hours in a day.

And this 24 hours in a day isn't being billed to a private client, it's being billed to the taxpayers of Fulton County.

VALENCIA: No doubt, the 127-page legal filing from Trump codefendant and former campaign official Michael Roman has been fodder for gossip. But noticeably missing was any direct evidence of an improper relationship.

[08:49:49]

VALENCIA: That optic is something Willis has already been reprimanded for once when she held a political fundraiser for a political rival of one of the case's co-defendants.

JUDGE ROBERT MCBURNEY, FULTON COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT: I don't know that it's an actual conflict. It's "a what are you thinking moment" if the optics are horrific.

VALENCIA: Persecution, not prosecution, is a theme the former president has tried to get to stick in all of his cases.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a political witch hunt.

VALENCIA: After allegations of the Willis-Wade romance surfaced, Trump again seized at the chance to appeal himself as the victim of a witch hunt.

GRUBMAN: And wonderful defense attorneys, and there are a lot of them that are left in this case. I could absolutely guarantee you they're going to avail themselves of that.

MOORE: I'd tell her to get out of the case. I really think that this type of case, with these allegations, this case is bigger than any one prosecutor. And I think probably to preserve the case and to show that what's of most importance to her is the facts of the Trump case, as opposed to her political career, if you will at this moment.

VALENCIA: If the world wasn't already watching Fani Willis' every move, they likely are now.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has stepped down from the throne giving the position to her son King Frederik. Queen Margrethe shared her plan to leave the throne on New Year's Eve after being queen for 52 years. Although, she's no longer the queen, Margrethe will keep her royal title and she can fill as queen as needed.

BLACKWELL: There's been another volcanic eruption in Iceland. Look at this. This ongoing threat to the people of the nearby town of Grindavik.

After lava started flowing toward the town, the National Commissioner of Police issued an evacuation order. The police have heightened the alert level and (INAUDIBLE) a coast guard helicopter is watching that situation closely.

So there is football weather, and then there is what these teams played in. So cold at this playoff game in Kansas City that it shattered a helmet.

WALKER: Oh, wow.

[08:51:55]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The town of Divide, Colorado's mayoral race is happening now and the candidates are not your typical politicians. For the past 12 years the town has elected an animal for its mayor in part of the long running campaign to raise money and awareness for the local animal shelter.

WALKER: All of the funds raised during the election go to the teller county regional animal shelter to provide everything they need to take care of hundreds of animals.

The town's current mayor, the beloved Clyde the Donkey has reached his term limit and whoever wins the office next will have some -- ha-ha -- big ears to fill.

BLACKWELL: Well, that is a donkey name if I've ever heard one. Clyde. Clyde the donkey. I love it.

WALKER: Well the NFL playoffs began yesterday with one of the coldest games ever played.

BLACKWELL: Negative 4 degrees at kickoff in Kansas City last night.

Coy, not a shocker, that the team from the south really couldn't handle it.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. 70 degrees temperature difference. I remember playing in Buffalo in temperatures this cold and I looked over at practice one day and my team mates were under the hot chicken broth (INAUDIBLE) and they were pouring it over each other's hands to warm up hands. So you could feel your fingers again.

This game, though, in Kansas City was the fourth coldest game in NFL playoff history. Here are your highlights.

The feels-like temperatures were negative 20 at kickoff. The windows on Taylor Swift's suite were frozen over and you got to see this, image of Coach Andy Reid of the Chiefs, icicles hanging off his mustache with Patrick Mahomes and the chiefs started off red hot.

Rasheed Rice scoring the opening touchdown. He had nearly half of Maholmes 262 yards passing on the night.

It was so cold that it may have caused Mahomes helmet to just crack. A huge chunk of it tipped off when he was hit there in the helmet by the defender. KC wins 26-7 and they shut down that Dolphins' high-powered offensive.

They wanted nothing to do with that cold to do with that cold. Afterwards Mahomes talked about that chip helmet and how his back-up helmet, even that was frozen.

PATRICK MAHOLMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: I didn't know what happened in the moment. But I got in the huddle and everybody wags telling me I was like I got you all but I'm not coming out of the game.

They have a backup that's out there. And we have to talk about where we store the back-up. Because it was like frozen.

When I tried to put it on, it was frozen and I couldn't get it on. I don't know if anyone got a picture of it. It didn't look great.

But we were able to adjust it an owe the side line and get it kind of warmed up a little and get rolling from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: How about those Houston Texans demolishing the Cleveland Browns in their well-card mashup. C.J. Stroud all but amid cemented his offense rookie of the year honors.

Three touchdowns passes of in the first half. That match will rookie record for most in an entire playoff game.

Houston's defense, dominant once again, back-to- back interceptions for Her touchdowns in the third quarter against Joe Flacco. A 45-14 win.

Even when just three games last season and now here they are with Stroud and head coach DeMeco Ryans in their first season's leading the way. Houston advancing to the divisional round of playoffs. Here is the coach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DEMECO RYANS, HEAD COACH, HOUSTON TEXANS: What this team has done, I mean, for C.J. to go to have the game that he had, unbelievable performance by a rookie. We talk about opportunity, now the biggest thing is what do you do with it.

And it was all about going out and finishing and continuing to execute and finish and that is what we did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. We have another playoff double-header today -- both reunions and potentially awkward ones.

[08:59:46]

WIRE: Cowboys' coach Mike McCarthy spent 13 seasons as Green Bay's head man and they've going to host the Packers.

Then the Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, he spent 12 years in Detroit. Returns to face the Lions whose quarterback Jared Goff (ph) spent five seasons with the Rams. So they're both going against their former teams. It should be fun.

BLACKWELL: Chicken broth aside, Coy. How do you stay warm out in those temperatures where you're playing?

WIRE: There's this special lotion, it's super thick. Almost looks like Vaseline. You put that on, you put exam gloves, rubber exam gloves underneath your football gloves tape the inside of your ear holes for your helmets so the wind doesn't get in -- there is a whole plethora.

WALKER: There's a special lotion?

WIRE: Yes. It's used for like extreme explorers out in the Antarctic.

WALKER: That's super cool. Coy, good to see you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you Coy.

WIRE: You got it.

WALKER: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

WALKER: "STATE OF THE UNION" is up next. Have a great day, everybody.

[09:00:00]