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U.S. and U.K. Strike Houthi Targets; Frigid Temps Could Wreak Havoc on Iowa Caucuses; GOP Hopefuls Make Final Push in Iowa. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired January 12, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Washing of history that's happening in this country. You want to make sure more kids see this movie. Tell us really quickly, if you could, what is Seat 16?

AVA DUVERNAY, WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER, "ORIGIN": Oh, thank you.

So, I do, we have Seat 16, not sweet 16, Seat 16. For $16 you can buy a ticket for a young person to see the film. And they also get a one- year subscription to master class. I did a master class about how we made the film. And so it's really just an idea of, let's educate, let's talk, let's inspire one another. And let's not just be in our corners pointing to one another. Hope -- perhaps the film allows us an entry point to - to communicate and hold hands.

HILL: I think it does. It also is - it leaves you with hope, I have to say.

DUVERNAY: I'm glad. I feel that way too.

HILL: It is really beautiful. Thank you again for coming in.

DUVERNAY: Yes.

HILL: The film is "Origin," in theaters January 19th. Again, you can buy at seat at seat16.com. Be sure to check it out.

DUVERNAY: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: That's it for us. Have a great weekend.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Fast-moving developments this morning in the Middle East after the U.S. and the U.K. strike dozens of Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen. President Biden warning that further measures could follow.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Wicked weather across the country, from blizzards and bitter cold, to flooding and tornadoes. The latest on the dangerous storm heading your way. KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are three days out from the Iowa

caucuses, and it's expected to be the coldest one ever. How Republican candidates are battling the clock and the elements in a very real way now.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: President Biden is promising he will not hesitate to take further measures to protect Americans after the United States and the U.K. launched strikes on Iran-backed Houthi targets overnight in Yemen. A U.S. military official says a significant percentage of Houthi assets were destroyed across at least 16 locations. You are looking at that firing now. That is more than -- there are more than 60 targets. They include storage and launch sites for ballistic missiles and weapons depots. The goal, disrupt Houthi militia (ph) capabilities.

The forceful response comes after weeks of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Houthi militants. The Houthis promise to retaliate.

CNN national security reporter Natasha Bertrand is at the Pentagon and CNN's Bianca Nobilo is at 10 Downing Street in London.

We're going to start first with you, Natasha, there. What are you learning from U.S. officials about these strikes?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Sara, this is a response that had been in the works for quite some time. The U.S. had been planning for a potential retaliation if the Houthis did not stop their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

But the green light from President Biden came on Tuesday when we saw one of the biggest missile and rocket and drone barrages fired from the Houthis really to date. And what we learned from the Pentagon and from the president last night is that that salvo targeted a U.S. vessel on Tuesday, which was surrounded by U.S. Navy assets. So, that really was the last straw for President Biden and he ordered the military to proceed with this action.

Now, importantly, the U.S. was able to get buy-in from a coalition of countries. And in terms of the operation, they actually conducted the strikes in conjunction with the U.K. And as you said, it was over 60 targets hit across 16 different locations inside Yemen. Command and control nodes, as well as munitions depots that have been used by the Houthis to launch these missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

Now, as of right now, the U.S. has not seen any signs that the Houthis are preparing to retaliate or have retaliated. And it remains to be seen just how quickly they could actually regroup to start launching these missiles and drones again in the Red Sea. The U.S. says that the percentage of the targets that they destroyed was, quote, significant. However, it still remains unclear just how much of their capabilities have been degraded at this point. But the Houthis are pledging to retaliate and the Houthi foreign

minister actually said, quote, "our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack. America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all of the dire consequences of this blatant aggression."

So, we'll have to see just how the Houthis respond here. And, importantly, because they are a group backed by Iran, whether Iran is going to get involved in a more significant way.

Sara.

SIDNER: This is certainly leading to more fear that we are going to start seeing a regional conflagration there involving the United States and its allies. We will watch and wait and see.

Thank you so much for all of your reporting, Natasha.

Let's go now to Bianca, who is at 10 Downing Street.

[09:05:03]

What is the word on the collaboration? Obviously, the U.S. and the U.K. had to come together and agree on this and agree on this -- these strikes. What have you heard about how that all worked?

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an important note to make, Sara, and it's one that I've heard from some former ministers I've spoken to this morning, and analysts, that, of course, the United States did not require Britain's assistance in this. They could have done this alone. It's a political endeavor that the U.K. is taking part.

In fact, it was quite inconvenient for some of the British planes to be a part of this mission. They had to fly far farther. They had to come from Cyprus. There were more aircraft required to refuel them so that they could be part of this American mission.

We understand that four British typhoon (ph) jets took part. They hit two targets, predominant one in the north, which is used for reconnaissance and drones by the Houthis, and another which is used for missile launches and also drones further south.

Now, they were also using pathway for laser-guided missiles as well. As far at Britain's concerned, so far the signs are that this operation was a success. There were also non-operational international partners as well, like Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.

And Britain, the prime minister, the defense secretary being very disciplined about their messaging here, just like President Biden in the U.S., trying to draw a very clear delineation that this is not about engaging in a theater of conflict between Israel and Hamas, this is clearly an act of self-defense to preserve freedom of navigation and the global economic trade that goes through the Red Sea.

Now, in Britain, where also in a highly politicized moment of an election cycle too. So it's important -- this is a significant development that the opposition party here in the United Kingdom are also fully behind this move. They've been out doing media this morning saying they back the prime minister, they back being part of this American operation. So, they are trying to present a united front, especially when in London we've seen tens, if not hundreds of thousands of protesters out here in support of the Palestinian cause, deeply reticent about the U.K. getting engaged in this conflict in any way, Sara. So, lots to juggle going forward with this.

SIDNER: Yes, there's a lot to juggle, and there is a lot of concern in the region there.

Natasha Bertrand and Bianca Nobilo, thank you both so much for your reporting.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, Sara, the Houthis control the -- sort of the western coast of Yemen. And you can see what kind of a choke that they can put on the southern part of the Red Sea to all this shipping that wants to travel up the Red Sea through the Suez Canal up here.

Joining me now is Brigadier General Peter Zwack and CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto.

And, Jim, when you take a look - again, there is the choke point. You take a look at all the attacks the Houthis have conducted over the last couple months, all these little red dots constitute at least one attack there. Why did the U.S. decide it had to respond now to all of this?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Listen, John, there's genuine concern, and understandable concern, about the expansion of the conflict beyond Gaza, beyond Israel and Hamas. And the fact is, it's already expanded on multiple fronts. You have - you have Hezbollah increasing its attacks on Israel's northern border, you have Iran-backed militias attacking U.S. forces repeatedly in Iraq and Syria. And you have these expanding Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. What do all those groups have in common? They're backed by and supported by Iran.

What's happened with these shipping attacks is that as they've expanded - and, by the way, this is deliberate, right? I mean they're attacking that chokepoint for a reason, to exact a global price for this, not just from the U.S. but from the world economy. As they've expanded, it has begun to do exactly that, it has impacted supply chains. Tesla is suspending its production in Europe because it can't get the parts it needs through the Red Sea and on through the Suez Canal.

What was really the straw that broke the camel's back as administration officials were explaining to me last night, John, were these attacks on Tuesday. And that is 20 drones, Houthi fired drones, that deliberately and specifically targeted U.S. ships in the Red Sea, including one of them that was carrying jet fuel. And the concern was, had those drones gotten through, not been shot down by U.S. forces, it could have sunk that ship. So, that was the straw and now you see this U.S. response.

And it strikes me, John, that the U.S. is pricing in the possibility of a Houthi response here. They say - an administration officials said to me, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Houthi response. But also opening the possibility of additional U.S. and U.K. strikes, saying, in these words, this may not be the last word from the U.S. against the Houthis as regards to these attacks on shipping.

BERMAN: Obviously we're standing by to see if and how and when the Houthis respond.

General, let me ask you, in terms of how the U.S. and its coalition partners struck back, they hit airfields, drone launch sites, military bases, all these locations inside Yemen. How do you assess it as either a deterrent or an attempt to degrade the Houthi capabilities?

[09:10:03]

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK, U.S. ARMY (RET.): John, I believe it's both. Clearly, it is a strong, definitive message to the Houthis as you've crossed the line with us. And they've already been working at that for some time. Seemingly almost defying us to strike. And - and so the strikes are, I think, aimed again at infrastructure, workshops, where - where they - where they launch these small boats, aircraft. It's to degrade their ability to reach out into the Red Sea and regionally to continue to try to paralyze commerce through this area.

Why this is happening, and (INAUDIBLE), you know, it's impossible to think that Iran isn't pulling the strings in some major way or else it would stop. And - and we have to watch escalation in there. If they decide to come out even more aggressively, that's kind of a signal to not just us but the regional countries and our allies that there are -- they are not going to back off and - and then, you know, and Russia, he said, well, let's call a meeting in the security council. All right, Russia, what does that mean? You could - you could - you could bend Iran's arm, who could bend the Houthis' arm, to stop.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ZWACK: So, there are a lot of (INAUDIBLE) here.

BERMAN: General Zwack, Jim Sciutto, thanks to both of you.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: This morning millions of Americans are in the path of another dangerous winter storm sweeping across the country. It's causing blizzard conditions, heavy rain, bitter cold. You're looking at some pictures from Milwaukee right now. Near whiteout conditions have already been seen -- have already been seen and have already set in, in parts of Nebraska.

In Iowa, Monday's caucuses could be the coldest ever. The weather already upending campaign events there today.

CNN's meteorologist Elisa Raffa is tracking all of this for us. She's here with us now.

Elisa, what are you watching most closely right now?

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Kate, we have, for the second time this week, nearly every single state has some sort of alert, whether it's the winter alerts, severe weather, wind, flooding. We are really watching all of it as we go through the next couple of days.

Here's a look at this system. You can see the snow already pumping from Omaha to Chicago and all of the lightning with some strong and severe storms stretching down to the Gulf Coast where we have a tornado watch in effect through midday because we are finding tornadoes just kind of spinning up embedded in this line. We're getting some of those little bits of rotation with the torrential rain.

As we go through the afternoon, that severe risk continues to spread east. You can see that yellow, slight risk there, level two out of five, all the way to the Carolina coast, including Charleston and Wilmington. That's the warm part of this storm.

The cold part of this storm, we've got blizzard warnings in effect for most of Iowa here, including Des Moines, where a lot of those caucus events are happening because we're looking at maybe up to a foot of snow, six to 12 inches of snow in some locations, and 45-mile-per-hour gusts that's going to drop visibility and make things incredibly dangerous. So, you can see those blizzard conditions really popping as we go through the day today. The wind plus the snow. Plus the severe side of this as well headed into the Carolinas through the day today.

The snow swirls through Friday in the upper Great Lakes there with some of the heavy snow and the gusty winds and then that flood threat continues to work its way into the northeast.

Behind this we have intense arctic air that's going to spill into the Central Plains there. The coldest air that they've seen so far this season. But that as we look towards Monday, as we look at the Iowa caucus here, we will have windchills, these are the real feel windchills, up to minus 40, 40 degrees below zero, minus 34 as we head into Monday. And when you have windchills this extreme, this dangerous, you're talking about frostbite in 20 minutes or less. So, this is extremely dangerous, life-threatening. And it's the first bit of cold that they're seeing so far this winter coming off of the heels of one of the warmest winters that they've seen on record.

So, yes, looking at all of the past caucuses that we've seen here in Des Moines, this will be by far the coldest because we're looking at an average high at minus 4. Might not even reach zero degrees on Monday.

BOLDUAN: I was just getting reminded that that graph is super helpful. I was trying to remember, in 2016, when we were there. Because I remember sitting there and thinking I was overdressed because it was actually too warm. I have a feeling it's not going to feel that way when we are there on Monday.

Elisa, thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: Kate, she said minus 40 degrees. Let -- I'm leaving. Like, there's no way I'm - I can't - they're -- people in Iowa are so hardy. I don't understand how they do it.

But - and, by the way, we're going live there now where those absolutely dangerous temperatures are having a direct impact on the campaign trail, as you might imagine.

[09:15:09]

Who wants to be out in it? Republicans are now worrying about what it could mean for Monday's caucus turnout and the results of the caucuses.

And the government at risk of a partial shutdown in just one week. Can House Speaker Mike Johnson do a seemingly impossible task and unite Republicans behind a deal? We will have more on that.

Plus, now the FAA launching an audit on Boeing. That is on top of that NTSB investigation and new lawsuit. How Boeing is responding and how this might impact your air travel.

That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, just three days to the Iowa caucuses.

[09:20:01]

It's cold in Iowa. How cold? Well, Sara Sidner is going to be in Cedar Rapids on caucus day where they can expect a high of minus 6 degrees, minus 6 degrees overnight, down to minus 17. Kate Bolduan's going to be in Ames, which is right about here. And you can see not far away a high of minus 8, a low of minus 14. I will be right here where it will be 68 degrees. Significantly warmer right here in the studio where they are not letting me leave under any circumstances.

And you can also see there are blizzard conditions right now in large parts of Iowa, including not far from Des Moines where they're expecting eight to 12 inches of snow.

Some of the candidates are out there. Nikki Haley is doing most of her events in these televised town halls. Still, she's working hard to get her people out on caucus day.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know it's going to be negative 15 on Monday. I don't even know what that is. That's so - like, I literally can't comprehend it. It's going to be negative 15. But I'm going to be out there. And I want you to go out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, let's get right to Jessica Dean, who is in Iowa with an all-white background behind you.

Looks like snow there, Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I am living in a snow globe, John. I'm so happy for you that you're going to be inside and toasty and warm on caucus day. But this weather is certainly affecting the campaigns right now, and it's just the timing too is very unique because we are in the final push, obviously. We're now just days away from Monday's caucuses. So, let's talk about the logistics first and then the political piece of this.

So, logistically, you mentioned, Nikki Haley has canceled her events today. Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, is currently doing an event, his first one of the morning. It is going forward. He's speaking right now. But we just got word from his campaign that they are postponing the next two events later today and then we'll see what they do with the rest of them.

In terms of the weather forecast, it is supposed to continue to snow here. And then those subzero temperatures and the wind, true blizzard- like conditions.

Now politically what does this mean? Well, in Iowa especially caucus night is all about turnout and all about organization. And those are hard things to do when it's really, really cold to get people convinced to leave their homes. So, that's when your ground game and your organization really comes into play here.

Governor DeSantis and his super PAC that's aligned with him have been touting their organization for months now. We're going to really see if that actually comes to be.

The Trump campaign has been lowering expectations, saying that because in so many polls they've been leading that maybe people might stay home. He's been actively encouraging people to show up on caucus night.

So, there are a lot of dynamics at play. But what we know for sure right now, John, is that the forecast is the coldest caucus night ever, with windchills at negative 40. So, it is going to be quite cold. And in this final push when you're really trying to retail politic and talk to voters one-on-one, it's going to be hard to get people out and get the candidates to them in this type of weather.

John.

BERMAN: You can't even move your mouth when you're outside in that level of cold. I can't imagine --

DEAN: No, you start -- it does start to get, yes.

BERMAN: You're doing a great job nevertheless.

Jessica Dean, in a snow globe in Iowa. Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: That was not a statement about Jessica Dean for everyone.

BERMAN: No.

BOLDUAN: That was a statement about other lesser humans than Jessica Dean who go outside.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent for "USA Today," and senior political - CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. He's also a senior editor for "The Atlantic."

Ron, how serious is the weather factor in Iowa for these candidates?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm indoors. Yes, look, I'm indoors in Iowa.

Look, you know, obviously I think, you know, it makes it harder for people to come out. And it is at the end of a caucus, you know, I've been coming to the caucuses I guess since '88. And among, I think, many people who have watched this for a long time, there's been a certain perfunctory nature to this given the -- not only the magnitude of Trump's lead, but the very limited way in which DeSantis and Haley have been willing to directly challenge him.

It should, as Jessica said, benefit the candidate who's invested the most in organization. And DeSantis, I think Haley also might have the problem that her voters, almost by definition, are the ones who feel the least engaged and attached to this Trump era Republican Party.

But having said that, I think there is a sense here, as there is nationally, that her strength in urban and suburban areas might allow her to even surpass possibly DeSantis on Monday night, but certainly she has the bigger runway coming out of Iowa given her strength in New Hampshire.

[09:25:01]

BOLDUAN: And, Francesca, you've been covering Nikki Haley's campaign very closely. And I was just looking at your new piece out this morning with the headline, "Nikki Haley is cruising toward defeat in Iowa and here is why her campaign is not panicking." Why are they not panicking?

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "USA TODAY": Well, because Nikki Haley never claimed that she was going to win Iowa. That is something that Ron DeSantis said. He set that expectation. Her campaign has said that they want her to do strong in Iowa without defining exactly what a strong finish would be, where they have, from the beginning really, banked their candidacy on New Hampshire.

Now, she is still campaigning in Iowa. They are having those tele-town halls today. But certainly they have always thought here that if she could turn this into a two-person race in New Hampshire, or afterwards, then she could win in her home state of South Carolina and carry that momentum into Super Tuesday. Now, we will see what happens next week in New Hampshire as well, but that has been their theory of the case.

BOLDUAN: And, Ron, the governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, who has been a big endorsement pickup for Haley, he made clear on CNN last night that he will support the eventually Republican nominee, even if it was Donald Trump and even if he was a convicted felon at that point.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

BOLDUAN: Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): I'm going to support the Republican nominee, absolutely. Yes, like, that shouldn't shock anybody. That shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that the Republican governor, and most, actually, of America is going to end up going against Biden because they need to see a change in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Does it surprise you? What's he saying in this?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, look, I think - I -- look, obviously, you know, we have not seen any Republicans stand up to Donald Trump going back seven years. But Sununu saying that so unequivocally really undercuts one of the core messages for Haley. I mean her -- one of her messages is that, you know, she says every day, Donald Trump is a toss-up. I -- I'm going to win big. Chris Sununu is basically saying, nah, you don't really need to worry about that so much because Republican are going to - Republican voters are going to rally around Trump. He is, I think, kind of hedging his bets in a way that is not very helpful to her. But, look, she's hedging her bets too by saying that she would vote for Trump if he was a convicted felon. I mean Sununu could be saying in that same answer, well, I'll vote for Trump but, you know, look, there are a lot of people who are going to have hesitation about voting for a convicted felon, and that's why we need Nikki Haley. He's not saying that.

And, you know, it's funny, I was talking to someone the other day who said, that just does not betray (ph) a lot of confidence that she is going to be the winner and that he's still looking at his viability in a Trump-dominated party. And as I said, it isn't hugely different than what she herself has said. And that remains part of her challenge. Even if she does well in New Hampshire, Kate, as we -- as we see in that CNN poll, it is primarily on the backs of independents. Trump is still winning Republicans two to one over her, even in that CNN poll in New Hampshire, to get to truly become a threat to him, even if she does emerge with a one-on-one race after New Hampshire, she's going to have to give Republicans a stronger reason to abandon Trump (INAUDIBLE) willing to risk so far.

BOLDUAN: And I want to ask - Francesca, I've been wanting to ask you about this because Biden has shifted his focus to campaign in South Carolina more and try to maintain support amongst black voters. On the Republican side, is the Haley campaign worried about South Carolina, her home state?

CHAMBERS: Well, they've been projecting confidence in South Carolina, but as I reported last month, she has potentially some problems there too. One of the campaign arguments they have made is that she was essentially a maverick in the state, including among Republicans, and that's made her some political enemies who have went on to endorse former President Donald Trump.

Now, certainly she has some support amongst state legislators. But in terms of the ground game, because she has been so focused on New Hampshire, as well as Iowa, where they do think that she still needs to do well in order to get that momentum going into New Hampshire, even if they don't think they're going to win Iowa, because they have been focused on all of those things, she has not campaigned aggressively in South Carolina.

BOLDUAN: Ron, Francesca, great to see you guys. Thank you.

Sara.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

SIDNER: Next, Donald Trump's courtroom appeal contained a message for voters, but how will the New York judge overseeing his trial see things?

Also, Speaker Johnson's juggle. Does he walk away from negotiations and risk a partial government shutdown? We'll talk all about that ahead.

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