What Large Cargo Ships Between U.S., China Means for Trade
BARNETT: Half an hour into this two-hour block, a welcome back to our viewers in the states and those of you tuned in around the globe. I'll Errol Barnett. Let's update you on our top stories right now.</s>BARNETT: We move our focus back to the race for the White House. Democrats and Republicans are blazing a trail across Iowa. And with just hours to go before the caucuses and there is not a moment to lose. CNN's George Howell has more.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We want to make America great again. That's what we want to do.</s>GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Time is running out before the critical Iowa caucuses, and candidates running for president pulled out all the stops to try to get voters' attention. Donald Trump's wife, Melania, took the stage.</s>MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: Hello, Iowa. It's great to be here. He will be unbelievable, the best deal maker, the best master negotiator.</s>HOWELL: And rival, Ted Cruz, relying on the support of "Duck Dynasty" star, Phil Robertson, taking a jab at the front-runner.</s>PHIL ROBERTSON, REALITY STAR: For all you ladies, there will be a duck call. So how many out here have duck calls?</s>ROBERTSON: So let's try one more time to get Trump. It's called Donald duck to come meet with Cruz and debate.</s>HOWELL: From celebrity endorsements to grassroots support, this woman traveled halfway across the country in what she calls the Bernie bus to get Iowa voters to turn out for Bernie Sanders in a tight race against Hillary Clinton.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to feel it out and see where the campaign thinks I need to go. And wherever I need to go, I'll be going. And I definitely plan on hitting all of the big states in terms of where the delegates are the most to inspire people.</s>HOWELL: Recent polling by the "Des Moines Register" and "Bloomberg Politics" shows Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders with 42 percent of the vote. Not far behind, Hillary Clinton, at 45 percent. In the crowded Republican field, that same poll gives Donald Trump a 5-point lead over Ted Cruz. Marco Rubio, third at 15 percent, and Ben Carson fourth. But with so many others polling in the single digits, there is still a large percentage of voters who, if swayed, could turn the tide for one of the front-runners. Marco Rubio turning his attention to New Hampshire and trying to turn over moderate supporters who otherwise would support Jeb Bush.</s>SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R), FLORIDA & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't just want to bring the conservative movement back together. I want to grow it. I want to convince more Americans that conservatism is the right approach for them and for this country. That will mean taking our message to people that have not voted for us in the past.</s>HOWELL: But before the New Hampshire primary and before the next round of debates, a win in Iowa matters because it means momentum moving forward.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We've run a terrific campaign from the grassroots up. Of course, it's close. It's competitive. That's why I hope everybody who has decided to caucus for me will be sure to come out on Monday night.</s>HOWELL: Hillary Clinton focused on the race and off the recent questions raised about her controversial use of a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state, an issue that Bernie Sanders has refused to challenge her on during debates. But just recently, he described it as a, quote, "serious issue." It all comes down to what voters decide in this first state to weigh in on the 2016 presidential race. George Howell, CNN, Atlanta.</s>BARNETT: It is tight on both sides. And now snow could play a major role in how these caucuses turn out. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here to explain that this. Adds to the uncertainty, doesn't it?</s>DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. Timing is everything. We've advertising this blizzard that will eventually impact Iowa. It is a just about when it will reach the state. I'll break it down for our viewers. Let's look at this. We have got a wide variety of watches and warnings across the country. The storm still well out to the West, in fact, across southern California. But that shading of green throughout Nebraska and Iowa that is a blizzard watch. This is the setup. A low pressure system ejects from the Colorado Rockies, eventually gathers a lot of moisture and strength and continues to deepen as it does so. It's going to have a trek that will bring it right across Iowa. As I mentioned a moment ago, timing is everything. Let's look at our computer models here at CNN. Tuesday evening, local time, central standard time, we are anticipating perhaps a rain/snow mix into the extreme western portions of Iowa. It is a really early Tuesday morning, basically, from 4:00 a.m. onward where we expect the roads to really become extremely thick as the bulk of the storm, the fiercest part of the storm travels across the state. The majority of the caucuses should run without a problem. But that extreme western section could be an issue. Here's our snow model forecast. We anticipate anywhere between 20 to perhaps upwards of 40 centimeters of snowfall for the extreme western sections just north of Des Moines, maybe just a little bit less than that. Nonetheless, enough to impact travel conditions across this area. So timing it out, the Western precincts of Iowa, we could, could start to see late snow showers by late Monday evening just as the polls start to close. By midnight, we'll into the overspreading of snow from Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and patio the Davenport region by Tuesday morning. And you can see the snow totals across the area. The Iowa Department of Transportation has a great plan, over 900 plows in force. They have got over 14,000 kilometers worth of roadways to handle. And this is an interesting statistic, Errol. They studied this on presidential election days. If there is one inch snowfall above the normal for that particular day, Republicans see an uptick in votes by .6 percent.</s>BARNETT: Really? So snow is good for the Republican turn out.</s>VAN DAM: So snow is good for Republican turnouts.</s>BARNETT: Very interesting. I wonder what rain would do for Independents or for Democrats.</s>BARNETT: Interesting stuff, Derek. Thanks so much. See you next hour.</s>VAN DAM: OK.</s>BARNETT: Appreciate it. U.S./China trade relations are an important matter for Iowans and many Americans voting in the coming election. It's harder to get much closer to what that really means than from the deck of a giant cargo ship that will soon set out for California from China. Matt Rivers joins us from aboard the "Benjamin Franklin." Matt, I hope you don't get seasick easily. Explain to us, how representative is this vessel of the demand in trade between the U.S. and China? I know there has been a drop in demand for many goods from China at least.</s>MATT RIVERS, ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: You talked about how big this ship is. We are actually in the bridge of the ship, above all these containers. 18,000 containers can fit onto this ship at its most full capacity. And so it really is a true mega container ship. As for how representative it is, when you doctor company that built this is an international shipping company, they do this -- have done this for a very long time. They have been all throughout the world. It's not really an "if you build it they will come" situation. These are executives who are not going to invest the incredible amount of money into this ship if they weren't convinced they would be able to fill the ship up with container after container. That being said, it's a challenging environment here. Exports are down here in China. The economy is slowing down. In speaking with executives with the company, they have told us it is something they think about quite a bit and they have to adapt continually to the changing tide here in China's economy.</s>BARNETT: Matt, global cargo capacity, I understand, is actually surpassing demand. And some in the industry worry that massive vessels, like the "Benjamin Franklin," may put the small guys out of business. What's being said about that?</s>RIVERS: There is no question that part of the reason that these mega container ships are being built because they are more efficient. It takes a lot more money. It takes a lot more expenses to continually take smaller ships. You know, you still need to crew those. You still need to fuel those ships. If you can do that with relatively the same amount of crew members but you have a bigger ship that can take a larger load of containers it end up being much more profitable. But, Errol, it takes a capital investment to build a ship like this. And there is no doubt that the ship builders who are able to build ships like this in today's environment are going to be able to do better than their smaller competitors.</s>BARNETT: Interesting stuff. Matt Rivers aboard the "Benjamin Franklin." 3:40 p.m. there at the port. Matt, thanks very much. Now to another ship, but this one is in serious trouble. A badly listing cargo ship adrift in the Atlantic Ocean could soon run aground in southwest France. Officials will make an effort to tow it to port on Monday. If that attempt fails, the vessel will hit the coastline. The ship's cargo is thought to have shifted in rough seas causing it to list dangerously to its starboard. The crew was airlifted off the ship last week. Another grisly attack carried out by Boko Haram militants, leaving a village in ashes. A live report on this next.