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What to watch in the Iowa caucuses · Apple News Today

• 0:00
  [MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:04
  Gideon Resnick, Narrating: Good morning.
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  It's Monday, January 15th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
• 0:09
  I'm Gideon Resnick, in for Shumita Basu.
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  This is "Apple News Today."
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  On today's show,
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  a frigid start to the U.S. presidential campaign,
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  the critical elections in other countries this year,
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  and the fate of the hostages,
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  more than a hundred days since Hamas attacked Israel.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Today marks the official beginning of the 2024 presidential campaign
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  with the Iowa Republican caucuses.
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  And the question, if polls are accurate,
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  might be less about who the victor is and more about the margin.
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  The story of the race so far
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  is just how dominant former President Trump has appeared to be.
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  Another question for tonight is the impact of the brutally cold weather.
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  At times, more than 110 million Americans
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  have been under wind chill warnings and advisories.
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  In Iowa,
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  the National Weather Service warned of, quote, "life-threatening wind chills,"
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  possibly feeling as cold as 45 below zero.
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  So the bad weather could affect turnout.
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  The latest "Des Moines Register" poll had Trump in first place
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  with a nearly 30-point lead.
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  Amy Walter, the editor and publisher of the "Cook Political Report," told "PBS"
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  that she'll be watching to see if Trump can get more than half the Iowa vote.
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  [START PBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Amy Walter: For the entire campaign,
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  his rivals have made the case that there is a base of support
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  for Donald Trump, but there's a bigger base of support
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  for people who are willing to look beyond Donald Trump.
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  With 50 percent of the vote, that would sort of close the door on that.
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  [END PBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Resnick, Narrating: If Trump can indeed put up those kinds of numbers,
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  it would be the biggest caucus victory in history.
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  Second to him in that "Des Moines Register" poll is Nikki Haley,
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  with 20 percent of voters who say that she is their number one choice.
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  Ron DeSantis has 16 percent.
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  Now, he bet heavily on a strong performance in Iowa,
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  visiting every county.
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  Walter says this could be a make-or-break moment for his campaign.
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  [START PBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Walter: Ron DeSantis, he has the most at stake, certainly, because he has the endorsements
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  and he's really banked his entire campaign on doing well in Iowa.
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  Losing, whether it's by 10 or 20 or 30 points,
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  it's hard to turn that into a win.
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  [END PBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:22
  Resnick, Narrating: With the extreme weather,
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  tonight will be about more than just which candidate has the most support in a poll.
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  [PENSIVE MUSIC FADES IN]
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  It's also a question of whose supporters
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  feel bold enough to brave the frigid weather.
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  Now, let's take a step back
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  and look at elections happening in 2024 around the world.
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  More than 60 countries,
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  representing four billion people, are holding elections.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  That is more than half of the world's population.
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  "Politico's" Eric Bazail-Eimil wrote about what to watch here.
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  Eric Bazail-Eimil: A lot of consequential elections will be taking place
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  that will show us how strong democratic institutions are,
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  how good are social media companies
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  at responding to new technological challenges like AI,
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  social media regulations, content moderation, hate speech.
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  You know, it will affect just as well the ideological directions of countries
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  that have deeply significant impacts in their regions.
• 3:25
  Resnick, Narrating: Taiwan voted over the weekend, electing Lai Ching-te as president.
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  He is a strong critic of China,
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  where leaders have recently ramped up tensions with Taiwan.
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  Bazail-Eimil: There is the menacing threat that China could attack Taiwan.
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  President Xi's remarks in his New Year's speech
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  made it seem that he wanted to,
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  at some point, force the question of reunification between China
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  and the self-governing island.
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  Resnick, Narrating: If Beijing and Taipei square off, that could impact the U.S.
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  and Taiwan's other allies.
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  President Biden has warned that the U.S.
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  would defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack.
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  Also this year, India will hold elections.
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  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party
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  is expected to hold onto power there.
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  The opposition accuses him of undermining democratic institutions.
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  And they say his party condones violence against Muslims.
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  Bazail-Eimil: India is one of the countries
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  with the largest Muslim populations in the world.
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  So there are deep concerns that a second Modi term
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  or continuation of Modi's government could see some real challenges there
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  with preserving India's multinational, multiethnic identity.
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  There's also concerns about targeting journalists,
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  targeting religious leaders,
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  targeting, you know, dissent within the country.
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  Resnick, Narrating: For more on those important elections coming up across the world this year,
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  including Pakistan, Russia, and several European countries,
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  [GENTLE MUSIC FADES IN]
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  you can check out the full story in "Politico" on the Apple News app.
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  Yesterday marked 100 days since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th,
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  killing approximately 1,200 people.
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  More than 200 people were taken hostage.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Over 100 have been released.
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  Some died in captivity.
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  And Israel says more than 130 people are still being held in Gaza.
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  [START NBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Israeli Hostage Family Member: Can you hear us?
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  [END NBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Resnick, Narrating: Family members of those hostages have been gathering near the Gaza border,
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  calling out messages to loved ones over loudspeakers.
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  [START NBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Member: We are here.
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  We are standing so close to you.
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  [END NBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Resnick, Narrating: In recent weeks, some hostages who have been released
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  have been sharing their stories.
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  Like Danielle Aloni, who spoke with "Channel 12 News" in Israel.
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  She described being beaten by Hamas as they took her, her daughter,
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  and her three-year-old niece into Gaza.
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  [START CHANNEL 12 ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Translator: I think there are still no words in Hebrew that can describe this horror,
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  Danielle Aloni: [SPEAKING THROUGH TRANSLATOR]
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  that new words need to be invented to describe what happened there that day.
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  Aloni: [SPEAKING THROUGH TRANSLATOR]
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  I was sure it was a lynching.
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  Aloni: [SPEAKING THROUGH TRANSLATOR]
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  They just kept giving me blows from behind, the head and the back.
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  Aloni: [SPEAKING THROUGH TRANSLATOR]
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  [END CHANNEL 12 ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 6:13
  Resnick, Narrating: Qatar and Egypt continue to play critical roles as diplomatic intermediaries
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  between Israel and Hamas.
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  There have been recent attempts to revive talks around releasing hostages
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  in exchange for a prolonged ceasefire.
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  But Hamas has indicated it will not accept terms
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  that fall short of Israeli troops leaving Gaza.
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  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to free all of the hostages
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  [PENSIVE MUSIC FADES IN]
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  and to continue attacking Gaza until Hamas has been defeated.
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  But there are growing doubts about whether either of those goals can be achieved.
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  Our last story takes us back to Iowa, and a caucus happening in a private home.
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  Maybe you've seen the historical images of this kind of thing.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Folks gathering in a homey living room, maybe eating snacks,
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  arguing about the Hawkeyes or Walter Mondale, or both.
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  You might be thinking about a place like Sharon McNutt's house.
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  "The Wall Street Journal" has the story and pictures of how the 77-year-old mayor
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  of Silver City, population 245,
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  is getting her home ready to host local caucus goers tonight.
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  This kind of living room caucus is mostly a thing of the past.
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  The "Journal" says that she may be one of the last people
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  to host a caucus at home.
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  The rest across the state are in schools, libraries, churches.
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  To get ready for what could be about 50 guests,
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  or I suppose a full 20 percent of town, McNutt has to take down
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  some Christmas decorations, she's got to haul out
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  as many chairs as she can find,
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  plus a piano bench, so people have somewhere to sit.
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  And she needs to bake cookies.
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  Maybe chocolate chip and maple pecan.
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  She said she's gearing up for what happened in 2016,
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  the last time there was a competitive Republican race in Iowa.
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  The room got pretty crowded then,
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  and a newspaper even live-streamed from her living room.
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  McNutt didn't reveal who she is supporting,
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  but she's relatively diplomatic in her house rules for others.
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  [MUSIC FADES IN]
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  Anyone attending can speak in favor of their candidate, but there are limits.
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  Three minutes, she says, so that people aren't at risk of rambling on all night.
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  After all, there will be some cookies to eat.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
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  And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around.
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  We've got a narrated article coming up next from "TIME" magazine.
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  It's about Nikki Haley's campaign strategy,
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  how she slowly built support over time
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  to pass other candidates, and how she gained on Trump in the polls.
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  If you're listening in the Podcasts app,
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  you can follow "Apple News+ Narrated" to find that story.
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  And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]