the disco dancing. i knew that they were great a ballroom dancing. i did not know that she had also taken a disco. >> i'm hoping there will be some video in the coming days. hopefully we will get to see that. guys, really a special moment for all of us. a historic figure. we are grateful to sandra day o'connor for all she did for women, for men, for everyone! thank you to all of you for joining us. to our viewers, thanks very much for watching our special coverage of the funeral for the supreme court justice, sandra day o'connor. i will be back at six pm eastern in the situation room. much more news coming up then. in the meantime, cnn news central starts right now.

showdown in iowa. major republican candidates running for the gop nomination are on the trail, their attacks are escalating. the central question remains, can any of them catch up to donald trump? and, the worst attacks and two generations. that is that one senior u.s. official described recent assaults in the red sea. what is happening there could have a big impact on your wallet and supply chains. from what you pay at the pump from up by me missing to store shelves. >> after weeks of seismic rumbling, a volcano in iceland erupts. rivers of lava and smoke billowing over iceland. could it get bad enough to impact international travel? we are following these major developing stories, and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central.

>> good afternoon. thank you so much for joining us on new central. i'm laura sanchez alongside brian peeler in the nation's capital. all eyes are on the hawkeye state. 2024 presidential primary officially will be underway with the iowa republican caucuses in just 27 days. the candidates are hitting the ground game hard. donald trump, of course, has a commanding polling lead, not only in iowa but nationally, as well. we have reporting on just how quickly his campaign thinks he can lock down that republican on the nation. >> two candidates with the strongest chance of getting his way are nikki haley and rhonda santa. here in recent days they have been sharpening their attacks on one another, racing against the clock to emerge of the one alternative to trump. they are covering all the angles with cnn's elena training and steve could turn out. elena, the primary has not yet begun but the campaign already talking about when it will be over. >> that is right, breonna and

bore. as the trump campaign is actually predicting the former president could be able to secure enough delegates by mid march in order to secure the republican nomination. that is according to a senior trump campaign official who spoke with me and other reporters yesterday in florida. that is a startling prediction that they have given that that is months before the gop convention when you often see the nominee really emerge and accept the nomination. some of that is based on data and the polling analysis they've been collecting. of course you need 1215 delegates in order to secure the nomination that is what they are going after i have to point out breonna and boris this is based on current data in polling. as you mentioned, donald trump does have a very commanding lead in the polls. doing very well ahead of the start of primary season just weeks away with it january 15th

caucuses in iowa. some of these dynamics could change depending on what happens in the primaries. if another candidate fares much better than they are anticipating, this could all shift. another very interesting thing that we can report today is that they are also looking at general election rematch with biden and what the battleground they would look like. they actually think the battleground map would be expanded, in a trump versus joe biden rematch. states that are normally democratic leading, places like minnesota, virginia, new hampshire. states that biden is normally looking to take himself, they are seeing that as potentially being more swing state for trump. interesting things, again, all predictions. all things that can very much change given how early on it is in the cycle right now. giving a little insight into how the trump campaign is looking at this. >> desantis and haley have slightly ramped up their attacks against trump in recent days. seems like they are much more focused on each other.

what is the thinking there? >> boris, this is that race within a race we have been seeing for the past few months. now this fight to be the trump alternative. it is really heating up in these final weeks before the iowa caucuses. we saw desantis in handily in the hawkeye state yesterday. take a listen to how this went back and forth at each other even though they were at separate events. she represents more of the old republican establishment. which, quite frankly, did not serve this country well and have been rejected time and time again. >> if you punch me, i punch back. ron desantis lined in every one of his commercials. >> as they fight each other in the hawkeye state, it is interesting to see that they are responding to each other in realtime. take this, in ukraine yesterday. we saw ron desantis calling out

nikki haley's position in ukraine. her hours later in the state saying, that's just not true. >> i think that there is a real risk that she would send american troops to ukraine to fight. >> today he said that i want our troops to be in ukraine. i've never said anything like that. nowhere near it! >> you don't have to take my word for it. these two are really intensifying their battle against each other. look at how they are spending their money. they have spent a combined $12 million attacking each other on the air, at least their super pacs have. a combined $83,000 going out to trump. to put that number in perspective, chris christie has outspent both of them combined going after the former president. >> very good perspective there. steve contorno, elena trini, thank you so much to both of you. let's bring in a pair of republicans now. former congressman charlie dent. and communication director, doug heye. and doug, it's interesting the race within the race we are

watching. you also have the trump pack hitting nikki haley for the first time. the trump campaign is saying this is going to be wrapped up by mid march. do you think that's how it's gonna play out? >> most likely that is the scenario. they are talking about delegate math, which really gets into rnc never talk. i love it but audiences don't. the reality is if donald trump wins it's iowa, new hampshire, forget the delegate math, this is over. this is why this has been interesting. as a republican somewhat depressing to see desantis and nikki haley sharpening their attacks against donald trump. really sharpening their attacks against each other. what we have seen is donald trump is still, by a large, a massive favorite here. we have seen some surges from nikki haley, say in new hampshire, that is about it. in the clip we just saw nikki haley that, if you punch me i punch back. donald trump is punching her right now. what did we learn in star wars? luke skywalker has to take on darth vader! he cannot sit back and hope

that haunts although or someone else takes on this flight for him. you have to take on donald trump, he is the front runner. you can make the argument that he made in front of the courthouse last week. i should be in iowa, new hampshire, nikki haley iran desantis is saying, we need someone who's gonna be in michigan, georgia, they can use that. use trump's words against him. they are not doing that. >> using that reference that doug jones made, is darth vader going to wrap this up by mid march? >> i tend to agree with doug. if dame trump were to run the tables in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina i really do not see a path. i do think that if donald trump is convicted in one of these trials, that could perhaps change the calculation a little bit. i still would like to think that republican voters might, at some point, say donald trump is too great of a risk. we really want to throw a presidential election on a guy who is a convicted felon. that is the only thing there.

nikki haley, i believe, if she can make a strong run in new hampshire, it looks like she's surging. if the iowa voters go trump, sometimes new hampshire, they like to zig when the other states zag. i can think nikki haley might have a path here in new hampshire. it could, perhaps, change the trajectory of the race a little bit. but it all hangs in new hampshire for her. >> the force has to be with her a little bit, at least in iowa. she cannot sink and iowa and rely all in new hampshire. how does she have to do in iowa if she does well in hampshire? >> she has got to do well. politics is funny. you can call it a strong third in a week second. go figure. that is part of how iowa works. it's not about who wins there, it is about winnowing the field down. if you get to the conversation coming out of iowa with these being the three people. let's not have the conversation. if you somehow finish ahead of

ron desantis, that changes the math for us. she needs to not do super strongly in iowa but she cannot be forgotten in that conversation either. >> it is about exceeding expectations. >> also it is -- she does not have the organization in iowa the run desantis. has he is an all 99 counties in iowa. he's banking everything on iowa because he did not have much of that organization in new hampshire the haley does. >> to that point, charlie, if ron desantis does pretty well in iowa. so he comes in second win -- favored in south carolina? she was a popular governor there. where rhonda santas wind up winning a race? nevada, potentially? >> his campaign has been descending for sometime. he has been on the dissent. haley has been on the ascent. bottom line, i think we spent too much time talking about iowa. ask presidents crews, santorum,

huckabee. all of them won iowa. they did not get the nomination. i keep coming back to this thing, haley has got some real momentum here. probably will not win iowa. if she does well enough there, exceeds expectations in new hampshire and goes into south carolina there is still a shot. at least i hope there are still a shot. haley is the one everyone is looking at as the only candidate in the race right now who seems to be attractive to general election voters in the republican side. she pairs up so well with joe biden compared to desantis and trump. that is the good news for republicans. we have a candidate out there who have some appeal. chris christie is also running a smart campaign although he is not going as well pleased on his constant attacks on donald trump. haley is gonna have to sharpen her ziv she really wants to take this guy down. >> if i'm nikki haley and i see

those polls where i'm beating joe biden by 14 points and on trump only by two or three, i would say that all day every day to voters. probably in my sleep, as well. >> charlie dent, thank you so much. we appreciate your perspective. >> had we draw closer to the 2024 election we have new details on foreign interference in the last election. intel assessment found for countries or china, u.n., and cuba tried to meddle in the 2022 election. cnn reporter, katie bliss, joining us now. that is quite a lift, katie. what more did this at find? this was a really interesting report. the intelligence committee found overall effort by foreign governments to try to intervene in the 2022 midterm rose from 2018. what they didn't see was the broad sustained whole government bought like what russia did in 2016. something that have not been seen since. instead what they saw were efforts to try to influence specific foreign policy objectives for these various

nations. for example, the -- found that russia in particular tried to denigrate democratic candidates because they were specifically trying to undermine u.s. support for ukraine. -- something else that my colleagues reported at the crime was russian officials deliberately delayed their withdrawal from the ukrainian city of kherson following the midterm elections, trying to avoid giving joe biden a win on election day. -- both parties depend entirely on whether or not the candidate in question was advancing a policy platform that china felt was aligned with its interests. interestingly, according to the report the chinese communist party has been directing its officials to really focus on congress. they see it as a locus of anti china sentiment. let's face it, right now, it is! >> that is a very interesting

point. they are being so strategic about. this katie bo, thank you for taking us through that. we appreciate it. it is very quickly growing crisis for international shipping. attacks on cargo ships in the red sea are escalating. that is forcing companies to take them pretty tough decisions with huge consequences for the world economy. an international ngo accusing israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in gaza. we are going to speak to the israeli and palestine directors of human rights watch of what they are describing as a war crime. cnn central returns in just a few minutes.

a big change in course. today, one of the largest shipping firms in the world, we are talking about maersk, announced they will reroute transit to completely avoid the

red sea because of these increased attacks on commercial vehicles by iranian-backed houthi rebels. instead of the red sea, announced it will send their ships around the much much further route across the horn of africa. >> cnn's natasha bertrand joins us live from the pentagon. natasha, the u.n. is now promising a international, multinational, in response to these attacks. but it's going to look like? >> reporter: secretary austin is traveling in the region this weekend. he laid out what the initiative, operation prosperity guardian, is going to look like. it, essentially, is a multinational initiative made up of different countries that already fall under a existing task force charged with security in the red sea. it basically involves an increased rotation of naval ships in the region, increased security, additional aircraft trying to monitor vessels transiting through the red sea, and are being attacked

regularly by the iran-backed houthi rebels with missiles and drones. there have been over 100 attacks on 12 different commercial vessels in the last four weeks alone. those vessels are tied to about 44 different countries. the impact here is extremely far reaching. the reason the u.s. wants to set up this task force to try to bolster security in the region is not only to try to deter, of course, these houthi attacks but also trying to increase confidence in the international shipping industry. they can continue to send their goods through the red sea and through the suez canal. vp, the oil giant, has already suspended operations there which have sent oil prices shooting up over the last day or so. -- why he feels this international coalition is no necessary. >> these houthi attacks are a serious international problem.

they demand a firm, international, response. >> reporter: about ten countries so far have signed up to take part in this new initiative. they will be contributing different amounts of resources to the security in the red sea. the u.s., france, and the uk have been among the most active defenders of this area so far. they shot down many of those missiles and drones that the houthi's have launched. unclear if all of the countries involved in this initiative will take such an active role in this. but they hope that the bolstering of the presence there in the red sea will make the's think twice before launching these attacks. we will have to wait and see if that actually works. boris? >> thank you so much for the update. tenth negotiations underway at the u.n.. and comes ahead of a vote calling for a halt in hostilities and got away much-needed aid can enter the enclave. a major question right now is

whether the u.s. will allow that resolution to pass. the vote was originally scheduled yesterday but was delayed a day to allow for more time for negotiations. all of this comes at the human rights watch and international ngo, accuses israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in gaza. the director told cnn that israeli and authorities have, quote, for months been denying palestinian population food and water, intentionally destroying objects indispensable to survival including bakery, the green mills, water and sanitation facilities, apparently raising agricultural areas. the director joins us now, omar shakir, with human rights watch. omar, thank you so much for being with us. i wanted to get your response to what the israeli government spokes person, elon levy, said to your organizations claim. quote, this is a lot. israel has capacity to inspect

more than twice as many eight trucks entering gaza. we are still pumping water into gaza through two pipelines. we have placed no restrictions on food entry or water. director frustration hamas, which hijacks aid. what is your response to the israeli government? >> i think a lot of levy has not listened enough to his prime minister and other political officials. they have spread out in unequivocal terms that food, water, aid will be blocked from reaching the population of gaza until there aims in this particular campaign, whether it be the release of hostages or the eradication of a math, is achieved. starving population as a tool of war is a war crime under international law. the reality here is the israeli government, before october 7th, was facilitating the entry of goods. electricity, other basic services, not out of the goodness of their heart but because they are obligated to do so at the occupying power. there is no debate that they

have shut down the entrance of goods, the exit of goods, electricity and water. yes, a trickle of aid had been entering via egypt. carefully negotiated with the israeli government. it is just a fraction of what the population needs to survive. the results are starve. according to the world food programme, nine out of ten households in northern gaza have spent a full day and full night without food. half the population in northern gaza is facing severe starvation. warnings have escalated. in ten weeks we've had these basic services when, population very much on the brink. >> what about that claim from levy, and others, that hamas hijacked a? would you dispute that? >> there is really no evidence of that. again, we are talking about food and water, which is necessary for human survival. the reality is, throughout the world, when you have a

humanitarian catastrophe in crisis, yes, there are limited shipments of food. there is going to be shipments, families do whatever it takes to survive. there are certainly instances of people trying to access the aid. that is not the problem. even if on the aid has been going through went through, it is not reaching all of gaza. it is only a small part of the south. and tire areas in northern gaza have not received aid. again, these are areas with no bakeries, no sanitation facilities functioning. few to no hospitals operating. israel has, basically, destroyed or made inaccessible the very objects necessary for human survival. we have spoken to people in gaza who spent hours just to be able to get water or get bred for their families. the problem here is not a redirection of it. the problem is not enough is getting in. even when it is getting in. you do not have the fuel pollute the water pumps work.

google it chrissy the people need. by the way, people are also under relentless bombardment. hundreds of people, mostly civilians, dying every day. >> omar, i want to get your thoughts on this statement from israeli president, isaac herzog. israel is ready for another humanitarian pause. our reporting indicates there has been no significant movement towards a new top, though several u.n. officials have been in qatar lately trying to get that restored. i'm wondering what your message is to all the players involved in the negotiations? not only to protect civilians in gaza but also to get those hostages out? >> the message is simple. human beings are not bargaining chips. he hostage taking is a war crime. the hostages should be unconditionally released. similarly, unlawfully detained palestinians should be released. h-e-b going in. i think we are facing the prospect, of all these people dying, we could even see more.

we should, could see disease develop because of the lack of clean water. families struggling to get food on the table. the u.n. security council needs to act to prevent further massive atrocities. aid must be allowed in. unlawful attacks must be stopped. also, to ultimately end this cycle of bloodshed, there is a need to address the root causes. like israel's apartheid against palestinians. there must be accountability for abuses from all parties. ultimately, we must evaluate all forms of complicity in the ongoing forum. such as putting an embargo on u.n. -- u.s. arms to israel. >> omar shakur, we will have to leave the conversation there. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us. >> thank you. ahead, an eruption in iceland. following the stream of lava and now gas pollution, which could become a big problem for people living near a volcano. this is s cnn news c central. we are bacack in just a momemen.

i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity.

happening right now in iceland. a volcano is erupting, spewing hot lava, spouting toxic fumes into the sky this started late last night on the southwestern peninsula. >> almost like a meditative view. i love watching this. it is so relaxing. also, potentially, very dangerous as well! these are dramatic overnight picture showing the orange glow creating by the lava flow.

molten rock now pushing through a crack about two miles long. you can see aerial footage of it here. officials say the size of the eruption is starting to diminish. fortunately it does not appear to be life-threatening. nearby residents had already been evacuated weeks ago because of seismic activity. they are urged to stay away because of toxic gases. we want to discuss with jeff phoenix. he is a volcanologist and geologist. executive director of blueprint earth. thank you so much for being with us. what do you think when you see these images? fortunately it is not life-threatening. is there anything that might change the path of the lava flow? >> boris, it is an old adage in volcanology circles that the only constant's change. that is because volcanoes are not predictable. we know what they have done in the past by looking at previous lava flows. they have hardened, solidified,

cooled over a millennia. we get an idea of what a particular volcano has done. that might help us get an idea of what is to come. it is not 100% certain. this volcano is known for less violent eruptions. i know the lava fountains probably got everyone excited. they are very dramatic to see. this volcano does not produce the big hatch clouds, like when the volcano erupted in 2010. we are not likely to see disruptions to air traffic. the biggest threat is actually to property. people have been evacuated. that is excellent news. >> i actually had a flight that had to move out earlier because of that. in ireland. it just goes to show you how traffic in europe was affected. i know that people are keeping an eye on it for these reasons. what would change dramatically here the path of this going

towards populated areas? >> it is actually connected to something called the mid-atlantic spreading ridge. it is basically like a giant zipper in the earth crossed. the north american and european tectonic plates are being pushed apart as magma comes up from beneath the crust. it goes through the crust and then erupts onto the surface. basically if this eruption continues to spread to the south, that would be where the town would be in danger. right now most of the erupted activity is on the north end of what we saw from those images earlier. that is a good thing. it is less populated. if we get more magma injected into the system that we have more places that it needs to go. we hope that things stay on the calm side and peter out without actually spreading. >> what happens with that gabs? as it dissipate enough for it

to not be dangerous? what happens if weather comes and push the towards a population center? >> volcanic gases, great question. they are one of the biggest threats to people in the immediate area because they are largely acid gases. how do timber rise, hydrogen sulfide, et cetera. you do not want to breathe those. in fact, when volcanologist go up two active volcanoes, we wear professional respirators, not your and 90 fives. those gases are very unhealthy to breathe. your eyes, all your mucous membranes in your nose and your throat. likely the amount of gas being produced is not going to affect anyone, unless they are right up close. they shouldn't be there. hopefully the gases won't be an issue with this eruption. honestly, if this one stays the way it is that is the best-case scenario. >> we are mesmerized along with you watching this. we certainly appreciate all of

your expertise. >> thank you. >> some states are banning abortion. the fight for the right to choose is actually moving to cities. we will speak to a city council member in amarillo, texas, where they are debating a new kind of travel ban. >> also, a judge blocking the removal of a confederate monument in arlington national cemetery. the latest on this battle when we come back.

the fight over in the right to an abortion has long been a national issue. here in the aftermath of last year's dobbs decision at the supreme court is fast becoming a local one, as well.

some cities are considering their own travel bans. one is amarillo, texas. where they are debating a ban allowing an individual travel on city or county road for the purpose of obtaining an abortion. the city council has heard from residents both in favor and those who oppose the ban. we are joined now by tom sure lynn who sits on amarillo's city council. sir, thank you so much earthly in time to be with us this afternoon. we do appreciate. it -- if you could first just explain how this would work, how law enforcement would know who was traveling on the road for the purpose of getting an abortion. >> what this ordinance is being proposed as is that neighbor turns in neighbor, or neighbors report what they see. it would be a civil suit, is what is being proposed. that is how the travel ban would work. a neighbor would report

something. filing a civil suit in court to bring justice. >> you don't know, you say, how you're going to vote at this point. what do you think about that, neighbor turning in neighbor? >> on am very much against that. that is one thing i stood very strong on. last time we saw something like this was during world war ii. hitler was asking neighbors to turn neighbors in during the war. especially towards jewish people. i do not propose liking to see a neighbor turn in a neighbor in america. we live in a free society. according to the constitution, i believe, you are entitled the

right to travel. >> you say you are antiabortion, you are undecided on the bill. i don't know what to tell you about listening to you, it sounds like you are leaning against a. with that be fair? >> i wouldn't say that be fair but i will say this, i won't know how i will vote until i see a written document in front of me. with what is in it because i believe in small government. i believe in the constitution of the united states. when i took office i took office to represent all people, not any one particular group. i would have to weigh the things that are in the ordinance that would actually be put forth before i can tell you how i would vote on this. >> i fear to say the crux of

this won't change, right? the crux of this is, neighbor turning on neighbor. if you are going through amarillo you can just avoid amarillo. this is really about people leaving amarillo, or helping people leave amarillo. with that in mind if you feel that this is hitler ask, how would you get past that to support this? >> that would be something i would have to see rain before i would sign off on something like that. it is really hard. i mean, the supreme court even struggled with this issue. now we are a city struggling with this issue. there is no clear cut answers. in the past month i have listened very intently to both sides. beau sides have good arguments. both sides bring good, both

sides bring bad. i'm going to be asked to make a vote. at some point in time i'm gonna have to make a decision. at this point in time i cannot make that decision with the information that i have for the different proposed ordinances that have been proposed to me. >> you worry it is unconstitutional to restrict someone's right to travel? >> yes, i do. i do believe that. i believe you are protected in the constitution for that. >> council member -- >> sorry, go on. >> go ahead. >> you were saying? >> yes, we would be me treading on a monumental law that would probably make it -- with a travel ban. for now, what i understand, without it being legal, if you

are dealing in a civil court, that civil court is going to be totally different than in a criminal court. that could possibly get pushed through bybee id civil courts. that is something that i would want to investigate further. they are not talking about doing it criminally. they are talking about doing it in civil court. >> certainly a lot of questions. constitutionally still. council member, we really appreciate the discussion. thank you so much for joining us from amarillo. >> thank you. have a great day. >> you too, sir. if you are traveling this holiday season you probably already knew it was going to be busy. you might not be ready for what airports are expecting ahead. we have the forecast and what the faa is doing to keep passengers safe. we will be back here on cnn

news central in just a few moments.

first on cnn, the federal aviation menstruation is taking steps to address era traffic controller fatigue after a string of near collisions this year. the agency is facing a shortage of more than 4500 controllers. that is causing the current staff to work extra days and longer hours. >> cnn aviation correspondent,

pete muntean, with us here. pete, what is the faa planning on doing here? >> i just spoke with the faa about a scoop by broke last night. it's significant because air traffic controller fatigue came up in the investigation of one of these closest near collision. what the faa administrator is doing is bringing to you that they're a three member panel to report and the safety rest of air traffic control is being fatigued. that workforce, understaffed by about 3000 controllers. as a result controllers are often working mandatory overtime. here is where that becomes a problem. back in february, a fedex fly landing in austin came within 100 feet of hitting a departing southwest airlines flight. that incident took place in dense fog before dawn. the air traffic controller in the tower told investigators he had been working a six-day week of ten hour shifts. faa administrator mike whitaker

told the faa exclusively, this is a tough lifestyle. the panel intends to identify risks of the job. >> coming into this job you need understand that risk. this team of experts is there to give me an assessment about that risk means. if they come back and say, this is fine. hire more controllers overtime. that is where we will be. if they identify an immediate risk that is something we will respond. to >> the union that represents this work forth tells me in a statement that the answer to prolong control of it he gives a long term commitment to hiring in training of air traffic controllers. hire more air traffic controllers, that would make them less fatigued. that is what the union says. something the faa administrator says they would be opening up the hiring period coming the spring to the general public. we could see more controllers entering the workforce. >> people who are traveling are not think about this, right? >> i think so, as well! >> they talk about. according to aaa, 7 million

people expected to fly in these ten days between christmas and new year's. what is the faa doing to keep air traffic running smoothly? we know that people want to know about. this >> i just asked administrator rod occur about. this some of this is to funnel back some of the flights on some of the busiest airports in the country. make it so the areas that have fewer controllers but with a lot of air traffic to not get overworked. in new york they throttled back the number of flights. that is worked out for the airlines. also coming into reagan national port here in d.c., numbers from the tsa, a 12-day travel period up 6% from last year. the big days the 21st, 29th, and the first. when everyone begins coming home all at once. we will see about 30 million people in total flying on commercial airlines. it is about to be huge. >> better have our patients. >> i know you love to say. that >> i'm staying home. you guys have fun. >> thank you. >> anytime.

>> of course. from washington to austin, texas. the political battle over immigration is heating up. politicians on both sides of the aisle are searching for a solution to the crisis as the number of migrants crossing illegally keep going up. we are talking record breaking numbers. ahead, we are gonna talk about the political fight and why it left so many searching for sanctuary.