♪ welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and all around the world i'm kim brunhuber. ahead on "cnn newsroom" -- monday we have caucuses, but it's going to be frigid cold out and if my little beer can can make it out of my driveway again, we will be voting for sure. >> a bitter cold across iowa isn't stopping republican candidates and their supporters from getting out ahead of this

monday's caucus. we will take you to des moines for the latest. plus -- ♪ >> -- today marks 100 days since hamas launched its deadly raid into israel, killing and kidnapping hundreds of people. we will look at how the families of those still being held hostage are making the day. and we're live in taiwan to see how voters there shrugged off warnings from china and reelected the ruling water for the third consecutive term. >> announcer: live from atlanta this is "cnn newsroom" with kim brunhuber. the very first nominating contest of the 2024 u.s. presidential election is tomorrow. iowa's republican caucuses and a new poll finds that donald trump is still the man to beat, but it's unlikely his competitors in the midwestern state will do so. the des moines register, nbc news poll shows trump's support at a whopping 48%.

nikki haley is a distant second with 20% and ron desantis is in third at 16%. but the state has been hit with dangerous winter weather. iowa's capital, des moines, experienced it its knowsnowiestk since 1982. the caucuses is set to be the coldest in iowa history with the day's high forecast set to reach a mind numbing minus 2 degrees fahrenheit or negative 16 celsius and windchills will even go lower. on saturday the candidates battled the cold to make their closing arguments to prospective caucusgoers. >> now, monday is gooing to be cold. really cold. but what i'm asking you is if you will take the time to not just go to the polls, take people with you.

wear layers because you might be standing in a line. take your id. but think of the fact that you might be making history in this moment. >> i'm a florida boy, born and bred, and yet here i am in negative temperatures. i am not going to be -- if people are willing to come out and hear from me, i'm going to show up all the way until the end of this caucus. you're going to see me everywhere. >> the forecast has the trump campaign down playing expectations, but trump himself is arguing that the severe weather could be an advantage. here he is. >> we have the worst weather, i guess, in recorded history, but maybe that's good because our people are more committed than anybody else so maybe it's actually a good thing for us. >> cnn correspondent kristen holmes is in iowa with the latest on the brutally cold day of campaigning. >> reporter: former president donald trump and his team sending two messages, one is get

out and caucus, no matter how cold, and it's cold, and the other is really tempering expectations. they have seen the polls that show that donald trump is up by a 30-point margin. talking to senior advisers they don't believe the margins are that big so they want to set the expectation. they continue to say that anything over 12 points would still be a historic win. you have to remember that they are not looking to just win, they are looking to set momentum going into new hampshire and really offset any momentum of his gop rivals, particularly nikki haley. it was clear that haley was still on the mind of donald trump during a tele-rally event. take a listen to what he said. >> i know nik very well. she was my ambassador to the united nations, and she had a lot of weakness, to be honest. she had a lot of weakness. >> reporter: as we have reported donald trump's team is worried about haley in new hampshire, they have seen her rise there. they are spending $4.5 million between the campaign and the super pac advertising against haley already on immigration.

again, the big point here is to try to get a win that is large enough to set the momentum and offset anything that she has going into new hampshire. the other complication here, they worry that those big poll numbers will keep people from turning out who might just say, oh, donald trump, he already has enough support anyway. so they are trying to stress no matter what you are seeing, get out there and caucus on monday. >> i want to bring in thomas gift the director of the center on u.s. politics at university college london. he joins us from harrisburg, pennsylvania. thanks for being here with us again. so as we heard there donald trump according to this gold standard poll on track for the largest margin of victory in a contested republican iowa caucus in modern history. what does that say about the state of the race? >> thanks so much for having me, kim. great to be with you, as always. i think trump has the nomination locked up, that's what it says about the race, irrespective even of how iowa turns out, but part of me thinks it's important

for trump to win at least 50% of the vote here. saying that he has more than half of the republican electorate has always been trump's rationale for not showing up to the debates and for suggesting that all of the other candidates should call it quits. at the same time i think trump will frame iowa as a flashing whether it's 10 points, 15 points, 20 points. if the voting does turn out close i wouldn't be surprised if he makes accusations of fraud or vote rigging. you know, the media is certainly desperate for a horse race and i understand why that's the case, but i really think that donald trump has this nomination, it's going to look more like a coronation than a primary. >> all right. so anything else to take away from the poll numbers? i mean, it seemed, you know, looking at the favorable ratings, for instance, that haley's support might be soft and equally that desantis might have a turnout advantage because when you looked at the numbers the polls seemed to suggest a greater proportion of his supporters when asked said that they would definitely attend the caucuses. i mean, might that lead to a

second place, third place surprise there between haley and desantis? >> right. it's really difficult to know, i think, at this point. in many respects, though, i think there's more riding on it for desantis. he's really staked his campaign on iowa and it's hard to imagine him recovering if he doesn't have a strong second place finish. maybe he can outperform in iowa, but to me desantis' campaign looks like it's engaged more in brand management and eliminating political fallout than real competition. desantis is staring at the same polls as anyone else, he's at about 16% statewide in iowa. haley according to the recent des moines register poll had about 20%. i still think the big question is why desantis has failed to resonate. his candidacy was premised on this idea that there was considerable constituency that wanted a trump-like candidate but without the drama. so far that momentum has tipped more toward haley. maybe he does exceed

expectations. >> we will see, but whoever is left, surely they will have to sharpen their arguments against trump rather than the velvet punches they've been throwing at him so far. do you think that's likely to happen as the race progresses or at least in new hampshire maybe? >> in new hampshire certainly. i think nikki haley is best positioned to be able to do that. if she could stay close to trump there, that could really jolt the race. haley does have a massive ground game in new hampshire. she has the backing of popular republican governor chris sununu. her biggest asset, though, is independence who can vote in the new hampshire primaries unlike in many other states but the problem for haley is that she doesn't want to court those independent voters too much because she doesn't want to be seen exclusively as the establishment candidate or the candidate of the elites or upscale suburban moderates. as we've seen to this point she has really soft pedaled when it comes to attacking donald trump. whether she can pivot full on or just sort of takes these mild

jabs, that will also be a strategic choice her campaign will have to make. >> all right. so finally, looking to the longer term, you know, if there is a worry for republicans, i mean, some fear that donald trump might struggle in the general, not because of his politics, but because of money. the democratic national committee is flush with cash, while trump has had to spend so much money on legal fees and so on. is it too early for this type of hand wringing, do you think? >> i think probably it is, kim. money follows winners and i think as soon as donald trump has this nomination locked up, as i expect that he will be, he's going to be flush with donors, even some that said that they were never trump, i think that he just always has a way of working out this way. biden's poll numbers obviously are really a concern. it may be the case that, you know, approval numbers in the low 40s, though, are just new normal in this hyper polarized

electorate. i think it's still quite early, 11 months out from the election to make too many strong projections. really we are looking at a horse race between a biden and trump nomination. i really think that a third party candidate could make a difference, that it could be an x factor. that's not being talked about enough. one in five voters say that they would be open, at least open to voting for rfk jr. certainly he doesn't have a chance of winning, but if he could just tip 10,000 votes in one state, 10,000 votes in another state, i think it could really be a game changer. >> yeah, certainly no one is dismissing that possibility when things are so, you know -- such a razor-thin margin between the candidates as we've seen them in the last election. we will have to leave it there. thomas gift with the yoofrd college of london. thanks for being with us. >> thanks, kim. u.s. congressional leaders have reportedly reached an agreement on a short-term funding bill that would keep the government running into march. the new continuing resolution

comes just days ahead of the first funding deadline of january 19th. a source tells cnn house republicans will have a conference call sunday night to discuss the plan, which reportedly includes $1.5 trillion in funding for the next fiscal year and $886 billion in defense spending. have a look here, we're following a developing story out of iceland where residents of one town are being told to leave their homes amid the threat of volcanic eruptions. these are live pictures coming to us from a volcano erupting near the town of grindavik 43 miles on 70 kilometers southwest of reykjavik. people living in grindavik are told to get out after tissues opened roads. in the past there was a burst of lava that sent huge plumes of

smoke into the sky. while many in taiwan are celebrating the results of a historic election china isn't happy at all. plus militants in yemen say the latest wave of u.s. strikes won't go unpunished. you will hear what they're threatening to do. also ahead a somber milestone in israel war with hamas whose end game is no longer in sight. now some israelis are making a new push to bring hostages home. ♪ ♪

today marks 100 days since hamas launched its deadly rampage in israel killing about 1,200 people. you're looking right now at live pictures of a massive rally that's going on right now in tel aviv, calling for the release of more than 100 hostages believed to be still held by hamas. israel is keeping up its military offensive in gaza, saying it hit two sites used to fire rockets into israel. while prime minister netanyahu slammed a genocide case against israel at the international court of justice in the hague, calling it a hypocritical onslaught, which he said was

done on behalf of people who want to commit another holocaust. more than three months after the october 7th attack on israel which triggered the war more than 20,000 palestinians have been killed, plus dozens of hostages captured during the attack remain held in gaza by hamas and more than 1.4 million people are staying in overcrowded and unsanitary u.n. shelters according to the united nations relief and works agency commissioner general. protesters in the united states are showing support for palestinians. thousands participated in a march for gaza saturday. a large group ended up in front of the white house calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. they hope to send a message straight to president biden demanding he withdraw support for israel. the white house takes political heat over the war in gaza, houthi militants in yemen are threatening a military response. u.s. officials say the destroyer

"u.s.s. carney" hit a facility with missiles saturday morning. the houthis claim there was no injuries or material damage but say there will be a firm, strong and effective response. the attack came on the heels of a bigger strike on thursday when the u.s. and britain hit close to 30 sites in yemen. the u.n. envoy in that country is calling for deescalation and restraint. the strikes came in response to repeated houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the red sea. more than 100 days in the war threatens to spill out of gaza. you've been monitoring this. what's the latest? >> reporter: [ inaudible ] -- from october -- escalate beyond the gaza theater, it was mostly likely to happen on the northern border between israel and lebanon where iran's proxy hezbollah has been firing rockets and drones and the like towards israeli positions and

communities every single day. now i suppose things are refocusing and the concern about escalation is more focused on yemen and the houthi rebels who have been -- [ inaudible ] ships and [ inaudible ] them from traveling freely through the red sea and up through the suez canal. many of those ships, most probably are traveling the long way around the southern horn of africa. now, this is a particularly important waterway, by some accounts accounts for about 30% of all container traffic and shipping is responsible for about 90% of global trade. so the big concern is the disruption this was potentially going to have on the global economy and as a result of that we saw those strikes led by the united states and the uk and other allies on thursday and then also over the weekend and president biden saying that i will not hesitate to direct further measures. as you say, the u.n.'s envoy to

yemen has called for maximum restraint. i suppose there are two concerns, one is this could create another front, effectively, the war will burst into the open between the united states, its allies and the houthis in yemen. the other is that the fragile ceasefire that is in place in yemen's own civil war could unwind and that we could see that country descending back into civil war as well, kim. >> that's certainly the fear. now, 100 days into the war we saw demonstrations going on right now in israel. take us through how the families of the hostages are marking this somber occasion. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] culminating in a rally in trafalgar square in the city later today, the focus very much on israel and tel aviv in that square that's been renamed hostages square. they are calling this rally 100 days of hell because of the conditions that more than 100 hostages who were kidnapped by hamas as part of this murderous

rampage of october 7th are still being kept. they have had messages of support from french president emmanuel macron, from the u.s. ambassador, from senator chuck schumer among others. they have heard from hostages, they've heard from the loved ones of those who are still being held in the gaza strip. the main message is to keep public pressure, that the israeli government and the international community must do everything it can to bring them back, but also the concern that they have that the objectives of destroying hamas militarily may conflict with those of bringing those hostages home. that's what we were hearing from some of the families of hostages still being held in the gaza strip. >> the best answer is a political solution and not a military one. there's no price high enough. the israeli people know it and are unified with us and they know israel would never be the same if we give up on our loved

ones. >> reporter: now, the israeli government's position has long been that it's the military pressure itself, it is the war against hamas that will ultimately pressure them to do some kind of deal to free those hostages. there is no sign of that happening. and i should say it seems that the families are getting increasingly desperate, they say time is running out. earlier in the week people went down to the border of the gaza strip with special live speakers to try to call out that their loved ones directly who they assume are being held underground that they haven't been forgotten, should be strong and they are still loved. this rally underlining that they haven't been forgotten but there is no progress we are aware of right now for another truce and to get hostages back home and that's why the families of those hostages are still trying to keep up the pressure on the israeli government to make that the number one priority. kim? >> so much sadness and anger there. elliott gotkine in london. thanks so much. so 100 days of war, but

could there be 100 more even longer? just days august israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu said the war will continue for months to come. i spoke to a senior jerusalem post columnist and senior fellow at the jewish people policy institute and asked him for his outlook. here he is. >> it's unimaginable when we think about what these hostages have been going through, how there still are over 130 of them being held in some dark hole somewhere inside gaza, men, women, children, the elderly, people who are wounded, who needed and still need medical care, and how hamas continues to hold on to them and refuses to allow them to come back to their families. can i imagine that this will take another 100 days? unfortunately the answer is yes. we know, kim, what hamas does and how it operates and what it wants. it uses these hostages as a cynical tool to undermine and to

pierce the heart of israel every day, every hour. we are marking today 100 days, but what i can only imagine what people are going through, the families of these hostages and their loved ones, is really horrifying. ukraine says russia launched dozens of missiles and drones across the country on saturday. it's the fourth such major attack by moscow since december 29th. no injuries were reported. ukraine's air force says it destroyed eight missiles but russia claims it achieved its goal by hitting military industrial facilities. ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy said on friday that the country still lacks comprehensive air defenses. zelenskyy says he discussed ukraine's defensive needs while meeting with the new french foreign minister on saturday. he also talked about joint production of weapons and strengthening air defenses. it was the first trip to kyiv since he was appointed. he promised france will stand by ukraine for as long as it takes and will push other european countries for more support.

we will have much more on the upcoming iowa republican caucuses after a short break. we will tell you what a new poll says about the strength of donald trump's support among the state's gop voters. plus, iowa is one of several states dealing with a blast of arctic air that's impacting millions of americans. >> windchill warnings spilling into the northern and central plains as arctic air could get the windchills down to 45 degrees below zero. all of this happening right in time for the iowa caucus, making it one of the coldest on record. we will take the latest look at temperatures and windchills, that's coming up next.

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states, canada and around the world, i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." more than 80 million americans are under windchill alerts through the weekend and beyond as a brutal arctic blast is making its way through the central u.s. and in some places frostbite could occur in less than ten minutes. cnn meteorologist lisa rafah breaks us down for us. >> the blizzard exits and the arctic air is diving south. windchill warnings in effect for the northern and central plains for windchills as cold as 45 degrees below zero. as that arctic air invades and spills south, this is some of the coldest air we've seen so far this season and it's coming right in time for the iowa caucus on monday. iowans waking up sunday morning to windchills as cold as 45 degrees below zero, frostbite, they are happening in ten minutes or less. by monday evening we're still looking at windchills as cold as 30 degrees below zero with frostbite times at 25 minutes or less. this would by far be the coldest

caucus on record, most caucus days have been in the 30s and 40s. you do have one that sticks out, 16 degrees back in 2004. now, it looks like this one will be much, much colder than that. probably not breaking 0 degrees in des moines with a high of only minus 2. so very cold. and, again, factoring windchill even colder than that, in the evening most of iowa looking at temperatures 10 degrees below zero. so subzero temperatures and you factor in the windchills, again, 30 degrees below zero. it's not just iowa, look at these temperatures, these are air temperatures for the upper plains here, the northern plains, where we are looking at subzero temperatures blasting through tuesday and wednesday for places like rapid city, omaha, chicago as well. minus 10 as you're waking up on tuesday morning. that cold air gets as far south as texas. we are looking at temperatures in the single digits and the teens for places like lubbock, dallas, austin waking up to the teens by tuesday and wednesday morning. so as this continues to spill south it's going to impact most

americans, looking at 80% of the lower 48 with temperatures below freezing by the time we get to tuesday, almost 20% of us subzero. we are looking at records falling, maybe 250 or more records both daytime cold highs and overnight low temperatures that could fall as a result of this arctic invasion. now, this is coming kind of the first of the season, a lot of these places, especially in the upper midwest, are in the midst of their warmest winter on record. all of the red dots there, that's the difference between weather and climate. this is really their first cold snap, but the trend since december 1st has been a warm one. >> airlines are still digging themselves out from an intense few days of storms across the united states and more chaos is likely on the way. according to the tracking site flight aware there are more than 700 flights canceled within, into or out of the u.s. for today. more than 1,300 flights were canceled saturday and more than

6,600 were delayed. on friday nearly 2,300 were canceled across the country. it had already been a disastrous week for air travel in the u.s. more than 200 united and alaska airlines flights were canceled each day after federal officials grounded all boeing 737 max 9 aircraft. the federal aviation administration issued the order after a piece of the fuselage blew off an alaska airlines jet on january 5th with 177 people on board. a new poll released ahead of iowa's republican caucuses on monday finds that donald trump is maintaining his iron grip on the state's gop. the des moines register and nbc news polled likely republican caucusgoers in iowa and found that trump's support stands at 48%, nikki haley at 20% and ron desantis at 16%. jeff zeleny is there in iowa and filed this report just after the

poll results were released yesterday. >> reporter: with two days to go before the iowa caucuses open the republican presidential nominating contest donald trump still remains the far and away front runner in iowa. according to a des moines register nbc news poll. this iowa poll which has a storied history of capturing the final movements in this race shows that donald trump is at 48% in the poll. the race for second place is a fascinating one with nikki haley edging out florida governor ron desantis just narrowly. nikki haley has 20% in the poll, followed by desantis at 16. the rest of the field is far below, vivek ramaswamy 8%, the rest goes down from there. but it is the top of the field showing that donald trump still has an overwhelming commanding lead of this race. his supporters are the most committed. the reason some of this matters of course is weather has been a central concern here, blizzard warnings and dangerously cold weather, those committed supporters may be the answer to who shows up at the caucuses

here on monday night in iowa. haley clearly is riding a wave of momentum. although the poll finds that her supporters are not as committed or enthusiastic as others. it also shows some 68% of people have made up their minds. a quarter of iowa voters have not made up their minds. so there's still room for a movement in this race. but bottom line, this is still donald trump's race to lose. there is no doubt. also this poll raises expectations a bit. he's 28 points ahead of his leading viral, so his margin of victory, should he have one on monday night, certainly will be judged against that number. jeff zeleny, cnn, des moines. china says that taiwan is still its territory and that won't change even as the island's ruling party celebrates a historic election victory. taiwan's democratic progressive party clinched a third consecutive presidential victory on saturday with 40% of the

total vote. china had warned taiwan that a democratic progressive win could increase the risk of conflict. the voters shrugged off those warnings by making lai ching te their new president. >> translator: the taiwanese people have successfully re resisted efforts from external force toss influence this election as we believe we can choose our own president. >> cnn's will ripley joins us from taipei. taiwanese voters ignoring the chinese warnings. take us through the result and reaction. >> reporter: kim, china threw everything but the kitchen sink at taiwan in the run up to this election, talking about disinformation, misinformation, deepfake videos, doctored audio, spy balloons, unveiling images of their new aircraft carrier. we know all of the ships and fighter jets in the taiwan strait have been going on for a few years now and yet taiwanese voters chose the party, the precise party that beijing did not want to win.

in fact, beijing even warned it was a choice between war and peace, prosperity and decline, but the majority of those who turned out for this taiwanese presidential election said they want to stand firm with the taiwanese identity and not the be reabsorbed by rulers in beijing who have never controlled them. snow rarely falls on the taiwanese capital, but on in night a blizzard of confetti. thunderous applause on the winning side. on the losing side, calls for unity as taipei braces for beijing's brewing storm. >> the most important part for me is our relationship with china and we've been bullied like for years on end and i just can't stand kneeling down to their demands and their meddling with our elections. >> reporter: to say china did not want this result is the understatement of the month, maybe the year. china despises taiwan's

president-elect lai ching te. they hate his vice president the former u.s. envoy even more. she's banned from even entering china. diplomacy, forget t ahead of the election china did all it could to paint a dark, foreboding picture of four more years of the democratic progressive or green party in power. taiwan has never seen an election like this before with three different parties vying for the presidency, but in the end it was a third historic term for the green party, a result that will likely have beijing seeing red. within minutes of the result a bold, familiar claim from the taiwan affairs office in beijing. taiwan is china's taiwan. the dpp does not represent the mainstream view on the island. they did capture 40% of the vote. turnout more than 70%, about 20 million taiwanese, more than 80% of the island's population eligible to vote, and many did. in taiwan there are no absentee ballots. >> i am very, very pleasantly

happy. >> reporter: some like this student from the u.s. flew 16 hours to cast their votes in-person. >> were you afraid that taiwan would become similar to hong kong or the next hong kong if there was a different result? >> really. for sure. in terms of especially since -- for a more closer economic partnership with china. it's the first step for encroachment, right? >> reporter: when the buzz of victory wears off a sobering reality for taiwan's new president. his party lost control of parliament, a sign of voter dissatisfaction, with low pay, expensive housing, lack of opportunity. local issues have never been the ruling party's strength, it's why they lost the last round of local elections. but the party's two-term president did one taiwan on the global stage like never before. lai, her vp and successor ran on a continuity ticket. >> translator: we are telling the international community that

between democracy and authoritarianism we still stand on the side of democracy. >> reporter: and he says safeguard taiwan from china's ongoing intimidation and threats. of course, the big unknown, what will china do? when will they do it? an intelligence briefing that cnn attended in taipei gave us the impression nothing is going to happen right away, not in the coming days at least, at least not in terms of action. we're getting lots of statements from china, they just put out a statement blasting the united states for its response to this election, saying that as they always say, you know, that taiwan's elections are china's internal affairs and external forces should not be interfering with that. but in terms of hardware and, you know, aircraft carrier sailing nearby, fighter jets and stuff, unlikely to happen until potentially intelligence in taiwan believes closer to the inauguration, which is on may 20th, because the weather will be better there on the taiwan strait, then they might try to do something like those post

nancy pelosi visit drills that basically for three days simulated a blockade of taiwan, which would be one of the initial precursors to a full-scale invasion down the road. with all that happening the american institute in taiwan say that there are u.s. officials, the former national security adviser, former deputy secretary of state who are here, they will be meeting with taiwanese lawmakers to congratulate them on the election of the of course, this all happening the u.s. officials in an unofficial capacity, they are the former officials, the u.s. want to go make clear that they are still trying to respect this very delicate u.s.-china-taiwan balance. >> will ripley, thanks so much. up next, a history day for the kingdom of denmark where the world's only remaining female sovereign will pass the crown and usher in a new era for one of the world's oldest monarchies. stay with us.

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being hold to leave their homes amid the threat of a volcanic eruption. you're seeing live images coming to us from a volcano erupting near the town of grindavik 43 miles on 70 kilometers southwest of iceland's capital reykjavik. people living in grindavik are told to get out by monday night after more volcanic fissures opened on roads in the area. officials first evacuated the town in november and that followed weeks of seismic activity which culminated in a dramatic eruption which sent huge plumes of spoke into the sky. a momentum day in copenhagen, in a few hours the beloved between margarita will sign the declaration of her abdomen case and pass the crown to her oldest son for instance frederick. her decision to abdicate the throne came as a shock, leaving maybe heartbroken but hopeful for her successor. >> when the queen said she was abdicating i cried. it was a little sad.

i'm probably going to do that tomorrow as well because i'm sentimental. >> he's very into people or at least it feels like he's into people and i think he's doing great. people really like him. >> and denmark's soon to be queen the australian born crown princess mary will be making history today in her own right. cnn's max foster brings us the details of prince frederick and princess mary's modern day father tail and what aussies back home think of one of their own becoming queen when her husband ascends to the throne. >> reporter: the shock abdication of europe's longest serving means the crown will pass to prince frederick and his australian-born wife. crown princess mary of denmark was once mary donaldson of tasmania, a world away from the royals of old europe, until the world converged on sydney for

the 2000 olympic games, including crown prince frederick. >> my daughter and i were watching the news the other night and she was asking about it and i said i actually worked at the pub where they met. she said, daddy, do you think i could meet a prince at a pub? >> reporter: back then justin tinan was the manager of the slip in, a sydney watering hole popular with tourists. mary said she didn't know she was in royal company when she started chatting to a handsome man at the bar. >> i do recollect her, she was quite a striking woman, but, you know, the focus i suppose was on frederick because, you know, he was the one paying for the drinks. >> reporter: mary on a night out with friends quite literally met her prince charming. the slip inn has kept a danish flavor, just as princess mary has worked hard to integrate herself into copenhagen's upper crust. it didn't take long for the senior royal to become fluent in

danish. [ speaking in a non-english language ] >> reporter: and fluent in the customs of one of the oldest monarchies in the world. as the outgoing queen told me in a 2011 interview. >> i feel very confident in her and i think we've got a very good relationship indeed. >> reporter: in 2004 mary and frederick married in a grand ceremony in copenhagen cathedral, the slip inn screened it live and sold a lot of beer that day. many australians remain inn fat a waited. >> i'm very proud, i'm very excited, i think it's wonderful. i think she will make a great queen, don't you? >> yes, definitely. >> yes. >> reporter: but mary is more than a mascot, for denmark or for australia. in 2007 the mary foundation was formed to help fight bullying,

domestic violence and loneliness. princess mary has also campaigned for lgbt rights and equality. >> i've gained a better understanding of the reality of what too many people are forced to endure because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. >> reporter: alwaysness will celebrate when mary becomes queen of denmark on january 14th. two countries linked by chance encounter at a sydney pub and a royal romance. max foster, cnn. still ahead here on "cnn newsroom," severe weather forcing one nfl playoff game to be rescheduled. cnn sports coy wire joins me live next with a look at which teams will come face-to-face on monday. stay with us.

the nfl playoffs began saturday with one of the coldest games ever played as the miami dolphins went to the kansas city to play the chiefs. coy wire joins me now. coy, you know, maybe not too much of a surprise that the team from florida maybe not at their best there. >> there was about a 70 degree temperature difference from where they came down near south beach, kim. i grew up in central

pennsylvania, played six seasons with the buffalo bills. to be clear, nobody likes playing football in this kind of weather. fourth coldest game in the nfl's playoff history. feels like temps of minus 28 celsius at kickoff. taylor swift's suite windows were frozen over and how about chiefs coach andy reid, he had icicicles hangining off f of h mustache. kansas city started off hot. rice had nearly half of mahomes 262 yards passing on the night. it was so cold it may have caused mahomes helmet to crack. a huge chunk chipped off when he hit the helmet of a defender. kc won 26-7. afterwards mahomes talked about the chipped helmet and how even the backup helmet was frozen when he tried to put it on. >> i didn't know what happened in the moment but i got in the huddle and everybody was telling me and i was like, i got y'all, but i'm not coming out of the game. they have a backup that's out there. we had to talk about where we

store the backup, it was frozen. when i tried to put it on it was completely frozen. i couldn't put it on. i don't know if anyone got a picture of it, it didn't look great. we were able to get it warmed up and get rolling from there. >> the houston texans demolished the cleveland browns in their wild card match one with cj stroud all but cementing offensive rookie of the year honors. he had three touchdown passes in the first half matching the rookie record for most in an entire playoff game. houston's defense dominated. back to back interceptions for touchdowns in the third quarter against joe flacco. the texans win 45-14. stroud and head coach demeco ryans becoming the third rookie/qb head coach combo since 1950 to win their first playoff game. >> what this team has done, i mean, for cj to go to have the game that he had, unbelievable performance by a rookie. we talk about opportunity, the biggest thing is what do you do

with it? right? it was all about just going out and just finishing. continue to execute, continuing to finish and that's what we did. >> two more games sunday, both reunions. cowboyoys and coach mike mccart hosting his former team the packers at 4:30 eastern. then quarterback matthew stafford of the rams and jared goff of the lions facing off against their former teams. kim, that will be the first time that detroit lions are playing in a home playoff game in 30 years. energy is going to be electric. >> yeah, absolutely. and then we should say on monday your bills taking on my steelers. let the best team win. elsewhere, the first major of the year, we are talking tennis now, the australian open, all eyes on the defending champion on the men's side novak djokovic as he goes for an incredible 25th grand slam. >> it is incredible. joker is getting all he can handle in his first round match.

the aussie champ just broken and trailing three games to two in the third after losing the second set tie break to 18-year-old corrosion dino prizmic. on the women's side caroline wozniacki notching a win in her return to. aussies getting under way with the nfl playoffs and you and i can talk about what our bet is going to be between our bills and steelers. >> should be good. we will have to leave it there. coy wire, i will talk to you next week. we want to end on this, a bizarre story about ebay, inspects and lots of money. the online retailer has been ordered to pay $3 million to a massachusetts couple to resolve criminal charges. the u.s. justice department says ebay employees sent them anonymous and disturbing items including creepy crawlies like live inspects, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, a book

on surviving the death of a spouse. the couple produced an online newsletter that upset ebay executives. the justice department charged the retailer with stalking, witness tampering and obstruction of justice. ebay has entered into a legal agreement that could result the charges being dismissed if it meets certain conditions. that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." for viewers in north america "cnn this morning" is next, for the rest of the place marketplace asia. i want to leave you with live pictures of a volcano erupting in the town of vind vic, southwest of iceland's capital reykjavik.

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