analysts say the rhetoric from campaign trail fuels the rhetoric. and experts say the attention on sensational crimes like smash-and-grab robberies fuels perception that crime is rampant. >> social media tense to exacerbates baa its perception business continuing to publish videos that are out there. >> not all news on major crime is positive. the fib says vehicle thefts went up, and here in washington, d.c., more homicides have been reported than before. to our viewers, thanks very much, in the "the situation room," aaron burnett outfront starts right now. \s

outfront next. where ron desantis and nikki haley are about to take the stage. plus new documents that trump made millions from the chinese government. did it influence trump? and derone asher held with her two toddlers. let's go outfront live from iowa. good evening. >> and where the stage is set for the back-to-back town halls. in just a few moments, the auditorium will be filled with i wants who plan to vote in the

caucuses. many have not made up their mind. just after kaitlan collins' conversation with ron desantis at 9:00. it's an important tonight, and tonight is one of the last chances for hallie and desantis to stake their case. about 35 miles northwest of where we are, there's news of another mass shooting at another american school. four students and an administrator injured, a six grader killed after going back to school after the holiday. nikki haley posting, my heart aches for the victims of perry, iowa, and the entire community. ron desantis says the united states has a responsibility to create safe environments, but it's a local and state issue. for them in these fine days, the ray could not be closer and more

important. they're locked in a dead heat, but that's a dead heat for sects. by far, the front-runner commanding the lead, by more than 30 points. and yet as we've seen throughout the race, haley and desantis are spending more time taking on each other, who is on track to win the first big -- he's focusing -- and his ambassador, is on the -- >> announcer: they confirm warnings of terrorists sneaking into our southern border, yet hall -- from terrorist nations. >> kelly's camp responding that donald trump must be seeing the

same polls we're seeing and he's running scared. this is a two-person race between nikki and trump. jeff zeleny joins me live. now here we are in the final days, so what are you hearing from the voters. >> surprisingly there's a lot of voters who haven't made up their mind. others are just dining in right now, paying attention. you hear concerns about specific policy issues, but as these candidates tried to make their case here, we hear a lot of voters. that's why tonight is so important. living large over all of this, this is what they're saying about donald trump. >> well, i mean, first of all, he won't debate. he's not willing to get on a stage. he's not willing willing to answer questions. >> cass ofollows him.

we can't be a country in disarray and have a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. >> reporter: they're talking a lot about donald trump. i think right now we need a commander in chief. we need somebody with fresh legs to lead us forward to the next generation. >> it if we get slick and slippery politicians out of the way, and take donald trump on, we will lose it. >> the former president hangs over the primary in most every day. >> hello, iowa, i'm thrilled to be back with so many patriots in the heartland. >> reporter: just 11 days before voters in iowa render the first judgments of the gop context. for his rivals, one of biggest balancing acts is how much to talk about trump and just how to do it?

>> trump is eyeing more than an iowa victory. he's looking for a decisive one. >> we have to be sure to put this thing away. the poll numbers are scary, we're leading by so much. the key is you have to get out and vote. >> reporter: advisers tell cnn complacency is more of a challenge than any of his rivals. >> we could put it to bed after iowa, but you have to go out. >> happy new year! >> reporter: with time running short, desantis has been sharpening his argument. >> i don't think he can ultimately win in an election. and i have said he's running on the same issues he ran on in 2016 and didn't deliver on.

deporting illegal aliens, drank the swamp. >> reporter: haley bluntly blames trump. >> everybody talks about how good the economy was under trump. it was good, right? but at what cost? he put us $8 trillion in dead just in four years. our kids will never forgive us for that. >> reporter: the question is whether any of this will ever whittle away trump's support in iowa. >> i have voted for him in the past. >> reporter: rick says he misses -- >> there's a lot of times i wish he would change his language. i don't think it would stir up as much controversy, you know, but that's his personality, and i think that's probably something we have to live with.

>> reporter: so there's no doubt that he looms large over the race, erin, but it's important to point out there are many republicans shopping and who are interested in turning the page. the question is, what is that balance here. ? >> the next 12 days, that's what's important. so looking to move on, to your point, if you're not doing it -- maybe they're doing it because it's time. that's the crucial question. jeff, stay with me. i want to bring in amy walter, publicablier and editor in chief of the cook report. from what you're seeing, who do you think, who has the momentum, because it's going to set the tone, and knicki haley or ron desantis. >> i think these events that you all are hosting, both the town

hall tonight and the debate next week will also give us clues in temples of which one seems the most confident. which one is able to really get the blows in on her opponent or get some attention through these last few televised events. but honestly, i think that it's really now up to ron desantis. he is the one who has put everything on the line for iowa, and anything other than, like, second-place finish is going to be a huge problem. >> and so i mean, i was just watching him, remembering back in the day with rick santorum, and it went viral, but yet there's no poll, nothing to show him even close. is a surprise possible?

could i be that wrong? >>. >> iowa has a history of surprises. the polling were taken before the holiday it's not necessarily, but -- organization matters, so i think amy is right there's no doubt he has more at stake. he's invested more for the better part of a year, so yes, the burden is on him. he's really campaigning aggress inkly, so we shall see. >> amy, do you notice that change? is that having an impact? or is your confidence in our read of what people think? >> you know, jeff knows this very well, too.

the register policy comes out about a week before, where we see movement may not be for a while longer. if it shows he's farther ahead than the early polling, it really is a question or not the second-place candidate is whether haley or desantis, and whether that's enough to bring haley into -- with a big head of steam behind her into new hampshire. i think there's something else really important to appreciate about this moment in iowa, which is the fact that, you joe, you said earlier the candidates are only now coming out against president trump, sort of

addressing him directly, but remember, we've had over two years now since the january 6th -- republicans, leadership, whether it's congress or anywhere else have really done pretty much everything to not talk about it. only a handful of republicans voted to impeach the president over this is actions, and they did not participate in the january 6th investigations and commissions. so it's hard for these candidates now, three years on, to subtly be telling republican candidates when their leadership has been telling them for year it's not important and it's not a real issue. >> jeff said, some of whom are ready to move on, but not doing

so with disgust. bob vander plat is here with me. anybody who watches anything about politics, it's bob. in this whole conversation, in that context, will you be happy if ron desantis is number two? >> this is an expectation game now. trump has the expectation he needs to score in the mid 50s. he's telling his caucus-goers we're going to dominate and put this to bed. >> governor hallie's expectation is second place. i desantis will beat the expectations, and it does become an expect ation game.

now, what is second? if trump comes in near the expectation, if it's a blowout, is that it? >> i don't know if that's it. first off, i don't believe the polls. inches the sunday before the caucus in 2016, trump was supposed to beat cruz by five, and nobody has organizing iowa like desantis, so cruz had the best organization by far. desantis is light-years ahead of cruz with his organization. if that turns out on caucus night, he'll defy and may shock the nation.

we have singh some criticism of trump proboth, but not very much. the political money has been going after each other, as opposed to trump. i want to play one of these voters, i'm frustrated with desantis. >> i think he need to go after trump, and i don't see him doing it. i don't know that he can put this off unless he goes after trump. >> he's going after knicki haley, what do you think about that? >> that's fine, but nikki seven the leader. donald trump is. is he right? >> desantis is the most accomplished man i've seen long time ready to take on president.

he also knows, this is a tough needle to threat. i think what he's doing is making the case up, listen, by electing me, here's somebody who could win and lead on day one. >> is it smart to save your venom? if you're not going to cry site that person strongly, why would people vote for that person. >> i would stand on my credentials, and that's why people like governor reynolds so much when he got that historic endorsement. so i think desantis knows i can win this without playing the game of disparages the front runner. trump's ad in new hampshire,

where he's knock focus, it came out -- let me show you. >> announcer: haley's weakness puts us in grave danger, trump's strength for texas. sometimes you like to be the target of an ad. >> that's in new hampshire. you look at iowa, i think $36 million has been spent against ron desantis. i think desantis is set up for a really good night. >> as you say, so much can happen between now and then. bob, thank you very much. don't miss our back-to-back town halls tine starting at 9:00

eastern. iranian-backed groups starting more ships near american troops as a senior u.s. officials says the u.s. would not heads at a time to use lethal force in self-defense. is america on the brink of something big and terrifying. trump making millions from the chinese while he was president. that may just be the tip of the iceberg. and breaking news, another round of documents connected to jeffrey epstein have just been released. again, new information coming occupy, with some new names. we'll l be back.

tonight, on the verge of all-out war. the iran usage backed houthi militant group, and again in iraq, a u.s. drone strike, killing a commander. defense official telling cnn that the iranian proxy group had, quote, u.s. blood on its hands. this comes as isis is wading into the fray. two suicide bombs tills people in iran, blaming israel for the worth test toll since the

iranians revolution and vowed retal retaliation. oren lieberman has more. >> reporter: a second strike in a week. one u.s. officials saying the target had u.s. blood on his hands. he was actively involved in planning attacks against american personnel. >> reporter: the attack comes amid fears of an escalation in the middle east, far beyond the borders, nearing the three-month market. the u.s. has tried to practiced the war, but the fights has burt through political borders. a strike killed one of the top leaders, lebanese officials warning that the attack has the risk of increasing the violence.

the houthis in yemen have fired on international shipping lanes in the red sea, with calls growing for a u.s. response. >> we don't tell graph our punches, but we take the attacks seriously, the impact they're having, and free shipping, and we're going to keeping doing what we need to do to predict our interests. >> reporter: with u.s. navy forces in the eastern mediterranean sea and in the red sea to protect international shipping lanes, the u.s. has tried to send a message of deterrence, carrying out strikes in iraq and syria, with the attacks across the region have persistent, once again lay the out an open-ended threat of force. but in a region where one conflict is already raging, u.s.

officials are grappling with how to respond. that's sparking a broader war in the middle east. oren, iran clearly bolder, proxies really upping the ante. so, how tight is that alliance right now? >> they're already very close. that relationship keeps advancing. it appears that iran is really to sell ballistic missiles to russia. now it's adding another capability, not a new tech or new type of weapon, simply adds for the weapons, as we're past our nearing a two-year mark. it simply gives russia more ammo as they two countries grow even closer to each other and

essentially find common ground. thank you very much, oren liebermann with our reporting tonight. next, a new report revealing millions from foreign governments flowed to trump during his presidency. the number one spender was china. plus, breaking news, more documents just coming out, all related to the convicted pedophile jeffrey epstein. all of this just being released in the past few momentnts. that's's c coming up n next. we'l'll be rightht back.

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was happening. . which raises crucial questions. especially after trump publicly said that he favored the countries that favored him millions. >> i get along great with all of them. they buy apartment from me. am i supposed to dislike them? i like them very much. same with china. i have so many people. they pay me millions and millions. am i supposed to hate chiles because they gave me millions to buy an apartment? i don't think so. congresswoman, i appreciate your time. you for you the chinese government spent over $5.5 million at his properties while in office. the question, though, is were you able to tie that money to

any actions he took as president? >> well, we don't know, erin. i want to be clear that the $5.5 that was discovered is a very conservative estimate. i know in your opening you talked about this is an investigation that started seven years ago. while it started seven years ago, trump was fighting it every step of the way. he was fighting every single type of disclosure. he wasn't complying with the oversight committee, and fighting in court. it wasn't until september of '22, that we actually started receiving documents. as soon as january '23 hit and comber became chair, comber shut it down. >> what you did find, congresswoman, was 20 countries, according to the report paid a total of $7.8 million to trump's

businesses. number two behind china was saudi arabia. i found this very important. you found $615,000 spently the saudis at trump reports. your report only covers two years of his presidency, and only four of the entities that trump owned. i'm not saying to diminish the report, but you're looking with a very bright light, a small space. >> obviously we talked about the arms deal that took place around this time. you know, it's important, and honestly erin, we don't know what was spent by russia as well. at a crucial time in which they refused to help out the ukrainians. we needed the full report. we needed the full documentation, and with comber basically deciding he was going on obstruct and say no, no need

to comply, and now we have the former president's son saying, it's okay, because he own hotels. it's not okay, not when you're the president of the united states ant don't go through congress. if everything was on the up and you said and congress gives you permission, but trump wants to decide he wants to skip over the constitution, kip over the rule of law and do whatever he wants to do, instead of honoring those things. i looked deeply into the relationship with trump and the saudis, just one part. i spoke to the then attorney general of washington, d.c., carl racine, he sued trump claiming he had violated the

constitution. i want to play part of an exchange for you. >> you asked them exactly why they're staying at the hotel? they're very clear. they tell you they're here to show the president honor and, of course, we know they're here also to act in their country's best interest. >> honor, that's the word they use? >> yes. they're here to curry favor. >> congresswoman, jared kushner, central in the white house, has reportedly raised at least $3.1 billion for a private equity fund since he left the white house. steve ratner, said annals of that, saying two thirds of that went from saudi arabia. did you find any evidence of wrongdoing by the trump white house when it came to the saudis? >> we don't know for sure, erin.

i'm glad you played that piece. the emoluments clause has always been a concern when trump refused to did i vest himself of the businesses. i do want to point out that no one wanted to jump the gun. we absolutely wanted to make sure that no one accused the president of wrongdoing specifically unless they had the goods, the receipts. that's what we were starting to get. this report only reveals, only, over $7 million, and we don't have the full view of it we don't have everything we need, so i do want people to understand that there's one party playing partisan politics

and another party simply trying to get to the truth and make sure that we are going to preserve democracy here, and make sure everyone plays by the same rules. >> as you appointed out, a very short window of time, and this is what you found. congresswoman, thank you so much. a second round of documents has just come out, connected to jeffrey epstein. as we had this would be coming out over the days. the process that epstein used for girls to interact with many men. and new details about what

she endured in 50 days in hamas captivity.

breaking news. a second jeffrey epstein

document dump came in, in it laying out a process that epstein used to find and recruit girls. this comes as we have new details emerging about epstein and his powerful associates. one of the most notable names, of course is former president clinton, and a quote that he likes him young. donald trump and prince andrew is mentioned, of course, repeatedly. i want to go to jean casarez. it's an incredible amount of information. 19 new li unsealed documents. >> reporter: first, a lot of them are 70 beige each. this is a lot of information. we have a group of people. we are all looking at them, but here's something that was just unsealed. palm beach, florida, detective told authorities at the time and laid out the process that

epstein and maxwell used to recruit young girls. then the question was scud of him, how many would you say were recruit? >> he responded, 30, 30, maybe 33. the documents continue to be revealed. a in window tonight into the complicated company kept by jeffrey epstein. >> it really so far paints a picture of what the girls and young women were experiencing, and it was quite horrific. >> reporter: newly unsealed court documents include the names of several prominent figures, many who had previously been linked to epstein like former presidents bill clinton and donald trump, were named in the filings, though the two, like many others, were not accused of wrongdoing. epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial of

charges involving underage girls in florida and in new york. the documents step from a civil definite nation lawsuit filed by one of his accusers virginia roberts dufrey. they also contain a 2016 deposition from joanna shoberg. >> much of it was her firsthand accounts of what she had seen, observed and heard in her dealings with epps spine. >> reporter: she raw that epps seen talked to her about clinton, one time saying that he liked them young. when asked if he was a friend, she understood epstein had dealings with clinton. there's nobody claims of wrongdoing. he told cnn that it has now, quote been nearly 20 years since

president clinton last had contact with epstein. in her deposition, she also recalled a time she was with epstein on one of his planes, and pilots said he need to do lapped in atlantic sit. jeffrey said, great, we'll call up trump and we'll go to, yompl the name of the casino. schoberg said she never gave a job to trump. he's not accused of wrongdoing. the trump campaign responded to a request for content by attacking the media. ed documents also contain excerpts of depositions. dufrey alleged that he directed her to have contact with people, including prince andrew. she previously reached an out-of-court settlement in the law gentz him. also, a part of the new

releases, maxwell's exchange with one victim's attorneys. >> there was one exchange in which she asked maxwell, did you ever tell anyone you recruited girls to take pressure off yourself. maxwell retorted, you adopt ask me questions like that. attorneys said on a statement like that, quote, she has consistently and vehemently maintained her innocence. she is currently appealing a 20-year prison sentence following her 2021 conviction on five counts, including sex trafficking of a minor. the names are not being released, about you but we do have documents that a victim was ordered to have relations with an unnamed prince, and owner of a very large hotel chain, then an unnamed individual. so not everyone is being revealed by the court at this point. of course, the questions,

will we find out those names and why are they still being redacted? next, we've been covering this family's story from october 7th everybody speaks, and we are also just over an hour from the start of cnn's town halls. we'll be right back.

, quote, they absolutely put on a show. so those are the words of daron, in her first interview. the asher family is a story we've been following so closely. along with her two small girls, held captive for 50 days. you met her husband sharing his anguish so many times on the show while his family was missing. he thought at one point he wasn't sure if he would ever see his little girls when i was with him in israel. tonight his wife doron telling her story. bianna golodryga is "outfront" from tel aviv. >> translator: they absolutely put on a show to dress me up in nice clothes and shoes before i was released, when my girls and i were barefoot for 50 days, and we were cold because we were wearing short sleeves in

november. it's one big show. >> reporter: doron asher opening up and sharing what really happened to her and her two young daughters while held captive by hamas for nearly 50 days. >> once you got into gaza, what happened? >> translator: we got into our hiding place, an apartment that belonged to a family. we were inside the room without the ability to get out, of course, closed door, closed window. and after 16 days, they relocated us to another place, a so-called hospital. >> reporter: did anyone tell you what was going on, why you were there? were they members of hamas? >> they didn't give us a lot of information. they mainly tried to say that hamas wants to release us, but in israel no one cares about us, which wasn't true. we didn't believe most of the stuff that they were saying. >> reporter: and of course it wasn't true. just over the border in israel, doron's husband never gave up hope. >> we are begging for your help.

my babies raz and aviv doesn't have much time. >> i got to see how hell looks like. i don't know if there are any more tears left in me. my wife is dead, is not coming, i am afraid they will forget me. i'm afraid they won't recognize me. >> translator: the stuff that they've seen on october 7, i couldn't hide from them. it's like we were in a war movie. but after, that it was very important to me that they wouldn't feel danger, and i told them there are no terrorists anymore. and good people are guarding us until we can return home. >> reporter: were they good to you, the people? >> they didn't physically harm me, but there was a lot of psychological warfare. >> reporter: like what? >> that we won't return to live in the kibitz because it's not our house. it's not the place where we belong. >> reporter: did you know if

they were hamas or just citizens in gaza? >> they didn't give me a lot of info about them. i don't even know their names. i guess that the father is with hamas, but they didn't even give me much info. i just know he worked in israel in the past, and that's how he knows hebrew, and that's how we communicated. >> reporter: were there other children there? >> yes. he had children and grandchildren, and basically, his children were watching us 24/7. i asked every day about my family, if they knew anything about gadi, about my brother, about my brother's baby girl. they didn't give me any answers. >> reporter: why do you think they moved you after 16 days? >> i think they tried to gather hostages together, because the day that we arrived at the so-called hospital, other hostages arrived there as well. and that was the first time that i met other hostages. >> reporter: why do you keep saying so-called hospital? >> translator: a hospital needs to treat sick people. it doesn't hold hostages.

>> reporter: could you hear the idf bombing? did you know what was going on, and were you worried that by mistake that you and your girls would have been in danger as israel was trying to retrieve you? >> translator: i heard fighting, and yes, we were scared. the noises were very strong, very loud. but at least that's how we knew that something was going on in order to get us back home, to put the pressure on hamas to release us. >> reporter: what did you fear the most when you were there? >> surprisingly, it was the day that we were released. they were smuggling us out of the hospital in a hamas vehicle to get to a meeting point with the red cross. we waited a long time for the red cross, and we were very scared because we didn't know what was going on. no one gave us any info. once the red cross vehicles had arrived, thousands of gazans, thousands, children, elderly, everyone came in and started to climb on the cars and bang on the cars. i was holding my girls, and i was scared of a lynch mob.

and this was the first time that raz said to me after a month and a half of me protecting her, "mommy, i'm scared". >> reporter: today the girls are back in kindergarten, and with family therapy, for the most part are readjusting well. >> translator: there was one day that they saw a tractor here, and they asked if the evil men are here. and i had to tell them no, the tractor doesn't belong to the evil men. the evil men are in jail. >> reporter: and while they mourn their grandmother, doron says the healing cannot really begin until all of the remaining hostages are released. including gadi moses. >> translator: the world has to understand the reality that the hostages are in. i don't want to think about how they're treating men there, how they're treating the young women that are there. people who kidnap children and old people are not human. >> reporter: upon returning home, doron said the first thing the girls wanted to do was play around in their backyard. you can imagine how exciting that was for them after nearly

50 days in captivity. tomorrow, aviv, the younger of the two girls is turning 3 years old. the family plans to celebrate with a small party at home, and perhaps a larger one at kindergarten. erin? >> what a miracle. all right, bianna, thank you so much. just amidst all of this war to be able to hear that and that birthday celebration. well, next, the auditorium is filling up behind me as we count t down to ththe starart os town halls.. we'll bebe right bacack.

cnn's back-to-back presidential republican town halls begin one hour from now