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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the middle east on edge. after the united states and uk carry out multiple airstrikes on iran-backed houthi targets in yemen overnight. president biden defending the move and the concerns this could widen the conflict in the region. and we are only three days now away from the first major test of the 2024 election. the iowa caucuses, as republican

candidates make their final pitches who are will come out on top and who is playing for second. >> they are all policing for a warm blanket because these caucuses are forecast to be the coldest ever. blizzard conditions, freezing temperatures and now severe weather warnings just in for other parts of the country. i'm john berman with kate and sara sidner. this is "cnn news central." >> we are just three days metalwala from the iowa caucuses and the gop hopefuls are facing an unexpected challenger, mother nature. the candidates have been crisscrossing the state making their final pitches to voters, but heavy snow, powerful winds and absolutely frigid temperatures forced candidates to cancel events. and those brutal conditions aren't expected to let up for

several days. forecasters say monday's caucuses could be the coldest in history with the temperature expected to drop to minus 30 in some areas. the former president has held a commanding lead in the state for months. the most recent "des moines register" poll has him leading by more than 30 points. that's left ron desantis and nikki haley trying to battle it out for second place. eva mcend is live in iowa. girl, i'm sorry. this is rough. we're going to go to earth la na treene. is the trump campaign worried about the conditions might impact the caucusing? >> reporter: they are. i can tell you from my conversations with several trump al i lies over the past several days now, they are growing increasingly concerned about how this dangerously cold weather could impact turnout for their

campaign. and i mean, i have had these conversations with them and they said one of the key concerns is trying to manage expectations. one of those is with the former president himself. they want to make sure that trump himself recognizes that perhaps the turnout and the lead that they are anticipating might not be what they had initially expected. but with voters and the general media, if if you take a step back and look at what they have been reporting for months, which is a key part of the ground game strategy in iowa has been to turn out as many caucus goers as possible on monday. it's something that the campaign recognizes could now be problematic with this weather and a lot of voters, potentially not wanting to have to brave that dangerous weather to come out and caucus for him on january 15th. and i i think also we have seen donald trump himself in recent weeks really escalate his messaging, warning voters not to get complacent ahead of monday. warning them not to stay home

because they republic news he has such a commanding lead in the polls. his team tells me that they are worried that some of these voters may see donald trump as doing so well. they may think he has iowa locked down and with these very cold temperatures, may decide he has this in the bag. we don't need to come out for him. that's the key concern here. and also just one interesting tid bit i got from this reporting. in preparation for this, the trump campaign has been hireing droifrs equipped with four wheel drive who are going to be driving these people to the caucuses on monday try ing to make sure they can access the stations and do as much as they can to make sure turnout isn't is affected because of this weather. >> it's rough out there. i know you are in the middle of it, thank you. can you just give me some sense of what is going on there? and how you're handling this? you look so cold. i'm so sour. >> reporter: i'm okay. this comes a at the at a time

when the candidates can ill afford it. they are trying to get their message out to iowans and this weather is cause ing a wrinkle those olympians. nikki haley, she was forced to shift herment campaign events to town halls. governor desantis was out on the trail this morning, but he postponed two events and then he's monitoring the rest of the day. the problem is you can stay the course, you can try to hold these events, but whow are votes going to physically get there. the roads are terrible. it's very, very windy. and then after the snow, it's the cold on monday. those frigid below zero temperatures, still these candidates are leaning on iowans to get out there and caucus for them. take a listen. >> it's going to be negative 15 on monday. i don't even know what that is. i can't comprehend it. it's going to be negative 15. but i'm going to be out there. and i want you to go out there.

>> even though people here are used to cold weather, it's going to be maybe a record for an iowa caucus. so i'm asking you to go out there. i'm asking you to brave the elements. if you can trudge through some really cold weather for a few hours, you'll launch me to be able to serve you as president for the next eight years and turn this country around. >> reporter: i have to say iowans are showing real resolve. they are out in full force at these events pressing on a number of issues from the future of social security in this country to foreign policy. >> eva mcend, thank you for brafing the temperatures with your crew. lots of hot coffee your way. >> join ing us is the former policy director for mitt romney's campaign. it's good to see you.

from your experience, how big of a factor could the weather be this in iowa? >> it's a factor. any time it's that cold, people are going to be desueded from going. iowans take the caucuses very seriously. and we have dealt with sub zero temperatures in past caucuses. i think turnout will be fine. it does benefit the campaigns who have great organization and we have said from day one on this network and others, that organization is going to be the key. that's why it's important for donald trump has been working in iowa for many months. it's going to come down to the campaigns who can motivate those voters to get out on election day on monday night. but i think the weather will be a factor, but i don't think it's going to be as determining of a factor when we get there.

>> i was going to ask about the ground game factor. it's touted their ground game and how strong it is and how they have been working so hard and long to the get that in place. so in the end, i'm wondering. in the end, could the troubling weather really help desantis on the day? >> i think we made a great p point. we had rick santorum win the iowa caugcuses and it surprised everybody. we know the polls don't always predikt who the winner will be, but having a substantial ground game in terms of being able to mobilize individuals and energize them around a candidate is important. a as it per pains to governor haley, i don't necessarily think she has a strong base of supporters in iowa when compared to new hampshire.

i think the voters are looking for someone like her versus a more conservative individual like desantis. >> a superpac supporting nikki haley put out a new ad airing in iowa. trying to make it out idolizing donald trump, painting him as a father figure. watch this. >> so good. >> make america great again. >> what do you do with that? what do you do with that? what are they trying to do in these final moments with that? >> obviously, it's what they are trying to do is demonstrate a level of closeness between desantis and trump. what they are really a at some

level trying to say is that if you're going to -- the reality is that voting for desantis is not a lot different than voting for donald trump. that's really the message that's out there. that will be a salable mess age. that's something thathill nikki haley needs to continue to drive, especially with the exit of chris christie from the race. these ads trs for the effect of being played on tv for the media impact. that's a funny ad. whether it will have an impact in terms of voters seeing it on tv, that's a separate question. >> let me ask you about what we heard from the governor of new hampshire. chris sununu, who supports nikki haley, but he made clear on cnn that he would support the eventual republican nominee, even if it was donald trump, even if he was a convicted felon at that point. he says that should surprise no one. listen to this. >> i'm going to support the

republican nominee. absolutely. that shouldn't shock anybody. that shouldn't be surprised. most of america is going to end up going against biden because they need to see a change in this country. >> what do you hear in those words from the governor? >> i think there's a level of sobriety in knowing that donald trump yesterday, today and tomorrow is the likely gop nominee. and under that expectation, republicans will come around and they will support the individual despite all of the baggage. despite all of their indictments. there's a reason why some polls showcase the former president being appointed to a head of the current president within the margin of error or barely ahead by 1 is%. most voters aren't very happy about the current direction of the country and despite all of the things impacting donald trump, i would argue that many of those pronouncements are baked in at this point. people are looking for answers to some of their very serious problems. whether it's immigration,

whether it's the economy, whether it's jobs, access to affordable housing or some of the more international conflicts costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars with no end in sight. if the former president can stick to that message, you'll seement republicans come home. that maybe a palettable and appealing message to many independents in this country, particularly on some of those battleground states like georgia and arizona that the former president will need to regain. >> it's good to see you both. thank you. >> by the way, you did an outstanding job. >> you like how i threw in former. >> you know what, i just is really like to do my research. so i double check that before i do those interviews. it's good to see you both.

>> i'll see you. >> see you later. the united states leading multiple strikes in yemen this morning. new threats of retallation yaigs. we have new reporting just in. extreme weather affecting millions over large swaths of the country. the new wave of frigid cold and blizzard-like conditions. donald trump attacks michael cohen just after closing arguments in his civil fraud trial. so here he is. what michael cohen have to say this morning?

new this morning, the

message from coalition strikes on multiple targets is clear. to prevent more attacks by the iran-backed militants on the most important shipping routes, the red sea. the u.s. and uk hit over 60 houthi targets including weapons he posed in radar systems. they are warning there could be further measures. priscilla alvarez is joining us now from the white house. what more is the administration saying about the 60 strikes. >> the resounding message from officials is this was a move to deescalate by degrading the capabilities of the hewitt houthis following multiple attacks in the red sea. the white house had called all of those attacks intolerable. >> now on tuesday there were additional attacks and that's what officials said marked the final straw.

the president convening his national security team to review a list of military options and after that, the president directing the defense secretary austin to carry out the response, which as you mentioned there, included 60 targets at 16 hewouthi militant locations. senior administration officials say this was to degrade their capabilities. now in a statement, the president saying the following, quote, these targeted strikes are a clear message that the united states and partners will not tolerate attacks on personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the most critical commercial routes. now the houthis have since responded in their own statement saying that america and britain will had pay a heavy price. what that looks like is still unclear. but what is clear is that there has been growing international alarm over these attacks in the critical war water way that led to companies having to reroute

around the continent of africa, posing a threat to the global economy. as you saw and heard there from the president, they are not ruling out additional measures if it's required should these attacks continue. >> thank you for bringing us all of that. s there's a huge concern this is going to turn into a regional conflict. we'll be checking back in soon. so not only the did donald trump rant during closing arguments in his civil fraud trial, he also attacked the testimony of his former lawyer and fixer michael cohen just after. listen. >> he's a convicted felon and not a good person. that's their only witness. he's now crashed and burned. they have no witnesses. by the way, that witness took back everything that he said. in court, he took it all back. >> here now is michael cohen, former attorney for donald trump, author of "revenge." michael, nice to see you. i want to give you a chance to

respond to what donald trump said. >> is there really a reason to respond? he makes these claims on a regular basis. no matter how many times that they attempt to denigrate me and to impugn my credibility, the one thing that we all know, the one thing that donald knows, which is why he looks so terrible, it's why he looks so nervous and preoccupied is that it's coming. he doesn't have the money to pay it. why not attack the witness and attack the judge, why not attack the judge's law clerk, aattack everybody because what donald trump knows is that he was into the business by his father to which he destroyed and now it's going to be his legacy. >> let's talk about the facts of what he said. you did not recant your testimony on the witness stand. what's he referring to?

>> i have no idea. that would be something you'd have to ask him because only donald knows what's going on inside donald's head. he makes things up. one of the things that they jumped out of the courtroom screaming, we won, we won, is when they asked me a question about specifically did donald trump tell me to inflate the numbers, and the term specifically is very specific. he did not. but what they decided to do is to ignore how i continue, which was that donald trump speaks like a mob boss. you don't have to specifically say something, especially when you're with the guy for over a decade, when you know exactly what he want thes you to do, you do exactly what he wants you to do. and he signs off on it. it's just the distinction between explicit and implicit. >> so you did plead guilty to

lying to congress. you did admit just about a month ago that you sent citations, legal citations that did not exist because you found them on ai to your attorney. and you knew that this was going to come up in this trial. you know it's going to come up if and when you are a witness in other trials, including alan bragg's case. you were a lawyer for a long time. how do you think a jury sees you as a witness? >> okay. great question. thanks for asking it. let me be very clear. the lie, i will say it a million times, and i'm going to say it, the lie that i told congress was the number the of times that i stated i spoke to donald trump about the failed trump tower moscow real estate project. donald, his team, and don't forget it wasn't just me, it was ivanka, it was jared, it was ty

cobb, we all worked on this letter, which i did present and i put into evidence before congress. they want ed me to say the numbr three. that i spoke to trump about it three times because that's what donald wanted. it was on his -- it's what he wanted. the real answer was ten. and if anybody would return around and say that my credibility is impugned because of the three versus ten, there's nothing i can do to change their mind. as far as the ai is concerned, i want to be clear about this. yes, i went on google, because i don't have westlaw. now that i'm going to go for my license application, i'm going to ask for it to be reinstated, so i used what i thought was a very powerful ai tool. it's part of google.

and it prulsed 100 different citations, which i forwarded to my lawyer. i want to be clear about something. my other lawyer found the mistake we notified the the judge before the judge that acknowledged or knew they were inaccurate and didn't acknowledge or notice that we did and we sent proper citations that exactly are on point to what we wanted, which is the fact that these determinations are supervised release. that's all that it was. so once again, i don't think either of these will have any effects upon my credibility.

>> you want your take on one of the things he is now trying. perhaps to mitigate this notion out there that he's sort of been running on that if he is elected president again, it will be a period of retribution. listen to what he's saying now. >> i'm not going to have time for retribution. we're going to make this country so successful again. and remember this. our ultimate retribution is success. >> what's your view of that? >> i hope that he's telling the truth. unfortunately, i know that he's not. donald is a very vindictive human being. take a lock at some of the statements that he made. if you punch him, he wants to hit you back tennessee times harder. that's who he is. he won't do it himself. he will just have seal team 6 do it. if you want to know who donald

trump is, just listen to him. listen to what he is saying. this in front of the iowa audience, it's an absolute lie. he's going to spend the next four years, god forbid, he's reelected, vindicating retribution, causing chaos and destruction to this country. the only person who will benefit will be donald trump and no one else. >> michael cohen, we appreciate your time this morning. thank you for coming in. coming up for us, a new winter storm is on the way. take a look. we're going to show you of the snowy state capital in wisconsin right now. millions need to get ready for another weekend of snow, rain and brutal cold. the forecast, next.

every date in the country is under some type of weather alert. blizzard warnings, tornadoes across the country. heavy, wet snow is hitting chicago right now. that doesn't look fun at all. major travel delays. o'hare ordered a full ground stop this morning because of the conditions. cnn's whitney wild is in chicago looking cold. how are things feeling right

now? >> reporter: it's actually okay now. it's starting to warm up a bit. we're in a lull. it was snowing very heavily earlier. about an inch an hour in the chicagoland area. it's lightening up now, but it does not mean it's over. the advisory goes until tomorrow afternoon. and the problem here is that this is turning into rain and it's going to get cold over the next few days as this cold from canada into the great lakes region. let me show you a highly visible skyline. a thick layer of fog as this warm air mixes with the precipitation in chicago. another factor it's not horribly cold as we have a plow run right by us, see how wet this is. it's so wet bauds it's been unseasonably warm in the chicago area. we have not seen a high of below freezing since november 28th. that means the ground is warm.

that islessening the snow impact here in chicago. suburbs are a different story. as you go west, the roads are atrocious. they are expecting up to a foot or more of snow in western and southwestern suburbs. thinking about 4 to 8 impls total through saturday. next week will be absolutely horrible because our weather team is saying that with the wind chill in the chicagoland area, it could get to 30 below. that's dangerously cold temperatures. >> charming. great producing having the snowplow drive by during the live shot and not to get splash ed by it as it was driving by. super impressive. thank you so much. >> reporter: i a aim to please, john. coming up, the u.s. and the uk both countries carrying out multiple strikes against iran-backed houthi rebels in yemen. president biden making that direct order now there are

concerns as you might imagine this morning that this might lead to a wider conflict in the middle east. a spokesman will join us next to talk about the next steps. that's a ahead.

we have new detail this is morning about the bomb threat at the home of the judge who is presiding over donald trump's civil fraud trial. they say it was a swatting ips.

it's been seeing a huge spike in this trend. rene marsh has more. >> they claimed that i had shot my wife. >> ohio's attorney general -- >> they had shot their and the lieutenant governor both targets of a dangerous trend on the rise called swatting. it's a hoax where they make false reports to 911 about a violent crime in progress at their target's home triggering a large police response with armed officers. like the one dixon experienced says he was swatted on christmas day. >> i opened the door and they threw the door and was met by six officers that were carrying

ars. >> marjorie taylor greene says she was targeted the same day. the police report says the call er told an emergency dispatcher he shot his girlfriend and the home was the scene of the crime. >> the intent is to harass the individual who is the subject of the swatting call, but there are seerious consequences. officers responding quickly to the scene. thinking there's a major crime dm process that puts the subject in danger. >> it's a toxic environment, they seem to be the targets. many viewed as political opponents. this sunday is d.c. police responded to a 911 call for a shooting at the home of the federal judge in donald trump's election interference case. once units arrived, they realized there was no one in her home. last month jack smith special council overseeing two against

donald trump was swatted a law enforcement source tells cnn. the secretary of state after she ruled trump ineligible to awe pear on the ballot. and just hours after thursday's closing arguments, a bomb threat at the home of the judge presiding over trump's civil trial. >> these threats of violence are unacceptable. and the democracy. >> in may the fbi set up a database to track cases for the first time. since then the agency says it has received more than 500 reports, but finding the perpetrators who often mask their data can be difficult and that's why political figures will fall victim to the crime are urging congress to act. that you'd have to jurisdiction and hopefully be a able to apprehend more effectively. >> as elections draw near, states are doing what congress has not.

ohio passed a law making swatting a felony and georgia has drafted similar legislation. >> it's not just high profile figures falling victim to swatting. it is jewish and other religious institutions, government buildings, schools, and members of the military. now law enforcement stresses that this is a dangerous point. they point to a 28-year-old kansas man who was killed after someone called in a fake 911 emergency a about a hostage situation at husband home. rene marsh, cnn, washington. >> our thank for that. a new warning from the white house after the u.s. led airstrikes on targets in yemen.

this morning houthi militants are threatening to retaliate after the u.s. and uk carried out strikes on multiple houthi targets in yemen overnight. the strikes in response to the recent surge of attacks by the iran-backed militants on commercial ships in the crucial red sea. biden said he would not hesitate to take further measures. joining us now from the white house is retired admiral and national security spokesman john kirby. thank you so much for talking to us at a time when there's a the lot of tension that is rising in the region. the strikes do come on the heels of secretary of state antony blinken's trip to the region. one of many he's made over the last several months. he was trying to cool tensions condemning the strikes. this is such a volatile

environment. is the biden administration prepared for the potential retaliation and what would that look like? >> you said it best yourself. last line of the statement said he's not going to hesitate to take further action if that's required to protect our troops and our facilities. now look, we hope it doesn't come to that. houthis have a choice to make here today after these strikes last night. and that choice ought to be to stop these attacks. all the targets that we chose were targets that were meant to go after their exact capa capabilities to launch those ki missiles and drones. they have a choice to make. we don't want to see an escalation or a broader conflict. everything president biden has done since the beginning of this couple months has been designed to try to take the tensions down and prevent any other actor from escalating or widening or dependentening this conflict. >> when you look at the region with israel taking out one of the hez bollah commanders, and n

an israeli strike, a hamas leader being killed. look at some of the things happening in the region, is there a real and present danger of this exploding into a regional war? >> obviously, we don't want to see that happen. and as i said, everything the president has done in terms of building a coalition to protect ships in the red sea, in terms of adding to our force posture in the eastern mediterranean and middle eastern waters with a couple carriers and 4,000 sailors and marines in the eastern med right now, everything we're doing in concert with our allies and partners is designed to keep this from widening and deepening into a bigger conflict it is the houthi who is have escalated over the course of attacks since november. it's the houthis that have decided that they were going to step up the intensity in the volume of those attacks as recently as just tuesday. a massive attack against u.s. vessels in the red sea.

and it is in that context that we took these strikes last night to get at their capabilities to do exactly that. >> when you say it's the houthis, do you mean that it is iran sort of back ing all of this? is that how the administration is seething it? >> no question about it. the houthis are pulling the trigger, but the iranians are providing the guns. we know they are supporting the capabilities of the houthis as well as hamas and hez bollah an the groups in iraq and syria. no mistake a about it. we will continue to hold iran accountable with our allies and partners appropriately for these destabilizing activities. those groups needs to stop as well. >> we do have to ask this because in february of 2021, secretary blinken wrote the terror in addition saying it was a recognition of the dire situation in yemen at the time. what do you make of this decision? does it need to be reconsidered?

>> humanitarian situation which is not complete ly alleviated, o what i would tell you is we're reviewing that designation now. we haven't made up a decision a about to change it or not, but i can tell you we're looking at that real hard. again, the houthis have a decision to make. and they need to make the right one now. certainly in the wake of these strikes last night. and that should be to stop these etc. can escalations, these reckless attacks and do better for the people in yemen. who should expect better lives, more food, more water and frankly peace. >> houthis are promising retaliation against the united states and the uk. we'll leave it there. we'll be coming back to you as soon as we hear any new news. thank you for coming on and letting know that you are considering the administration is considering reevaluating

whether or not the houthis belong on a designate terror list. appreciate your time. thank you. >> thanks. the iowa caucuses forecast to be some of the coldest on record, as in ever. look at some of these temperatures. minus 14 minus 17, how do you campaign in weather like that?

new threats of retaliation after the u.s.-led airstrikes in yemen and a new assessment of how much damage the strikes really did. every sing