Name: The Iowa caucuses phenomenon is real, kind of | December 12, 2023
Uploaded: 2023-12-18T21:01:10.000Z
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Welcome to Tuesday, December 12th. I'm Coy Wire. This is CNN 10. And tomorrow is #YourWordWednesday.

So follow me @coywire on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.

Put your unique vocabulary word and definition in the comment section of a most recent post.

And we're going to choose a winner that we`ll have to work into tomorrow's show.

Put your school, your mascot and your teacher's name in there too, if you like, because we'd like to show some love to you for helping to bolster our vocab.

We're five weeks away from the first test of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The Iowa caucuses take place January 15th. And these aren't traditional elections.

Caucuses can be more like meetings rather than an occasion where individuals say vote in the booth.

Fifteen states and territories in the United States use caucuses.

Party members and party leaders use them to meet select delegates and show support for a presidential candidate by public declaration.

Caucuses often help choose delegates for the national conventions that will happen for both Republican and Democratic parties next summer.

"So why do the Iowa caucuses matter?" you may ask.

Well, while these aren't primary elections, a candidate's performance in Iowa is often viewed as a test for their campaign strength.

In the past, the Iowa caucuses have sometimes predicted the outcome of the presidential election. President George W. Bush, for instance, went on to become president after winning the Iowa caucuses in 2000.

The same happened for Barack Obama in 2008.

And if you want to know just how good of an indicator Iowa caucuses are in predicting the next president of the United States, here's the statistic for you.

56% of winners of the Iowa caucuses have gone on to win their party's nomination for the presidency.

Now, another possible indicator of a candidate's potential future success? Polls.

CNN's David Chalian gives us an outlook at a recent poll from Michigan and Georgia to other battleground states.

Take a look in Georgia here, look at the different matchups between President Biden on this side, and three of the different candidates running on the Republican side.

So against Haley 49, 43 in Georgia. Haley bests Biden.

DeSantis here actually -- this is within the margin of error, but he does not perform as well.

That sort of damages a bit of his electability argument in the Republican primary in Michigan, which Joe Biden won by a little bit of a healthier margin than he did Georgia in 2020.

What you see here, Haley trouncing Biden, 50 to 38. Trump, you showed 50 to 40 against Joe Biden.

And again, DeSantis is the one that's the below 50 here, but he also is besting Joe Biden in Michigan.

Underneath the horse race, we look at some attributes.

So this in Georgia here, we asked the -- does -- which candidates does not have the attributes you want a president to have when it comes to temperament?

OK, that is Donald Trump's worst score, 58% say he doesn't have that quality, 47% say that of Biden.

But across the other three, understanding people like you, policy positions and sharpness and stamina, which is Joe Biden's weakest point.

You see 66% of Georgia voters say that Biden does not have the sharpness and stamina that they're looking for in a president.

In line with our election coverage today, which U.S. state will be the first to hold a primary election a few days after the Iowa caucuses?

New Hampshire, Hawaii, Florida, or New York?

If you say New Hampshire, ding, ding, ding, you are correct.

New Hampshire has had the tradition of holding the first U.S. presidential primary since the year 1920. This year, that will happen on January 23rd.

All right, now we want to highlight someone doing extraordinary things.

Our CNN audience voted that the recipient of this year's CNN Hero of the Year Award should go to Dr. Kwane Stewart.

He cares for the pets of people experiencing homelessness.

Dr. Stewart said that he wanted to be a veterinarian ever since he was a kid.

Then he started a nonprofit called Project Street Vet more than a decade ago, after helping to examine and treat the dog of a homeless man outside of a 7/11, where he used to get his coffee.

The dog owner's words, "Thank you for not ignoring me."

Well, they inspired Dr. Stewart to help more people in similar situations.

He started by setting up small drop-in clinics to provide free medical care to pets whose owners wouldn't be able to afford otherwise.

And since then, Dr. Stewart and his volunteer teams have treated thousands of animals while giving their owners some hope and dignity too.

In his award ceremony speech, Dr. Stewart spoke about what it means to him.

The 2023 CNN Hero of the Year is Dr. Kwane Stewart.

If I, as a child, could dream of doing something that was impactful, then I think I found it, or it found me.

And I'm so lucky to be doing what I'm doing.

It's been a wonderful journey, and as I get older, I start thinking about those big questions in life.

Why are we here? What defines us? Why are we human?

And I think the answer, at least for me, the answer is in the question.

What does it mean to be human? And I believe it's humanity.

It's looking out for each other, believing in each other, helping one another. And all of these people embody that.

This part certainly wasn't planned, but the $100,000, I want to celebrate with all of you.

It splits evenly ten ways pretty nicely, so it is my contribution to all of us.

I want to say I'm honored to know you and to be a part of this fraternity.

I'm here in part because -- I'm here in part because I've been willing to share and give throughout my life.

There's no reason to stop doing that tonight.

I have one last quick thought. I was in the streets one day, and an unhoused man and his pet, after I delivered care, we got to talking.

And he said sort of nonchalant, he hadn't eaten in almost two days.

And I was due for lunch myself. I returned with a sandwich for myself and for him.

He tore off -- it was a sub sandwich. He tore off a corner of it, a piece of bread. He ate it, and he gave the rest to his dog. And they've taught me a lot, too.

I'll close by saying this. An act of kindness can change your day. Change someone's day. An act or gesture of kindness can change somebody's life. Thank you.

Today's story getting a 10 out of 10 it's one that makes me feel good from my head "tometoes."

American astronaut Frank Rubio became one of the first to grow and harvest a tomato in space.

It was "ultomatoly" his passion project during a record-breaking stay on the International Space Station.

It lasted more than 371 days, longer than any American astronaut in history. But his tomato went missing.

Colonel Rubio said he probably spent 20 hours searching, but he was unable to catch up with it before he had to return to Earth.

Well, eight months past harvest day when Colonel Rubio said he was sure that he had securely Velcro the tomato in a little bag, he got some mighty vine news from his former crew mates.

We can exonerate him. We found the tomatoes.

All right. I got a chance to meet Colonel Frank Rubio this weekend at the army Navy game. And I asked him about his mission in space.

Full disclosure though, I was not brave enough to ask him about the missing veggies.

I'm here with Colonel Frank Rubio recently back from the longest-ever mission in space, 371 days.

Thanks so much, Coy. Yeah, I appreciate it. Longest for an American astronaut. - Yes.

And it's awesome to be here and it's awesome to be here with my family.

Yes. And so we have house divided, you know, first Colonel here, he went to Army West Point, graduate of 1998, but it's house divided Andrew, as you can see in Lydia are on opposing size of today's epic rivalry.

Colonel, we'll start with you. What makes this rivalry so special?

You know what, it's the fact that we are absolutely going to go at it today and Army's going to win for sure.

But the other 364 days, we are brothers and sisters in arms.

We work together and I work with some amazing Navy people out there.

And so, yeah, we are best of friends except for today.

Awesome to be here with you. I hope you got some inspiration from today's show.

Harriet Tubman once said, "Always remember you have within you, the strength, patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

This shout-out's going to Crockett Middle School in Hamilton, New Jersey, go, go, go Cougars. Thank you for letting us spent part of our day with you.

And this shout-out goes to the Red Hawks in Albany, in the State of Oregon, South Albany High School, rise up. Shine, bright superstars.

Thanks for making us part of your day. We appreciate you and we'll see you right back here tomorrow.