another look at the cnn town hall with ron desantis, which begins in just a minute. a lot riding on his ability to connect with iowa voters in the time, four weeks and six days until the caucuses. turn out, he says will be key. one more programming note, nikki haley and chris sununu, the new hampshire governor just endorsed her, sit down with interview tomorrow with our dana bash. you can see that noon eastern time, on inside politics. but first, the cnn republican presidential town hall with governor ron desantis starts now.

♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] good evening and welcome to iowa, where in just 34 days, caucus goers here will cast the very first votes of the 2024 presidential race. we are live at grand view university and des moines for cnn's town hall, with florida governor ron desantis. i am jake tapper. and right now, the presidential hopefuls are furiously campaigning to win over republicans here in iowa, it's a state that can make or break presidential candidates. governor desantis has visited all 99 of iowa's counties, and he won the endorsement of the state's popular governor, kim reynolds. but, he is facing steep competition from his rivals including the republican front runner, former president donald trump. tonight's event is about the voters. governor desantis will have the

opportunity to answer questions directly from the iowans in this room, on the issues that will help them determine who wins the republican nomination. i will have some questions of my own, but this is not an interview, this is a town hall. and the audience are voters who say they plan to participate in the iowa republican caucuses, both registered republicans and those who planned to register as republicans by the time of the caucus. to find tonight's questioners, we reached out to republican if you affiliated groups, as well as business groups, farm associations, parent groups, young professional organizations, religious groups, and conservative advocacy organizations. guests of the desantis campaign, and grandview university are also in the audience tonight, but they are not going to get to ask any questions. we have asked everybody here to be respectful to each, other and to governor desantis, so that voters in the room and you at home have a chance to hear from the candidate. now, please welcome governor ron desantis [applause]

>> thank you, thanks. >> good to see you. >> thank you so much, thanks. thank you. >> so let's get straight to the voters, if we can. our first question comes from tim beyanko from west des moines. he owns a manufacturing business, and he is on the board of directors for the iowa association of business and industry. he says he's a republican, and is currently undecided. tim? >> welcome governor. and first of all, thank you for your services as a veteran, it's important to recognize your service as an american, so thank you very much. >> thank you. >> why should my employees trust you to return us to the prosperity that they enjoyed under president trump? >> well tim, thanks for the question, i hope your business is doing well. i know things are tough right now with a lot of things. they can trust me for a couple of reasons. one, if you look at what we've done in florida, our economy is ranked number one of all 50 states. we boomed like we never have, even in the face of all of the inflation in the interest rates, which we have to obviously struggle with two, but our unemployment rate is 60% lower

than states like california, which are peer states. but also say this, i think the first three years of the trump administration, the economy was better than it has been. but that last year with covid, i think it was mishandled dramatically. shutting down the country was a huge mistake. printing trillions and trillions of dollars was a huge mistake. that set the foundation for the inflation that we see. granted, biden came in and poured gas on the fire, it was reckless that he did trillions. but if you look, you have trillions and trillions of dollars, of course you are paying more for that. you're going to have inflation when that happens. so i'm going to come, and we're going to get the inflation down, we're going to open up energy so that you pay less for gas, and we're going to get the interest rates down, so you can actually do things like own a home. so that your hardworking employees are going to have a friend in the white house. and i think we are going to be

able to turn this country around. >> [applause] so governor, tim's question does get to a challenge you have. you've been on the campaign trail here in iowa for months, you visited all 99 counties, no one can accuse you of not working for it. but, former president trump still holds a commanding lead in the state, at least according to the des moines register poll. what is your strategy to convince iowans like tim to pick you, and not trump? >> well first of all, iowa voters will choose, not pundits and polls. i am sick of these polls. haven't we learned as republicans, we were supposed to have a red wave in 2022. what happened to that? the polls were telling us hillary clinton had a 99% chance to win the presidency in 2016, that didn't happen. i look at my own reelection. a lot of these polls they put out, they'd say i was going to win by four or 5%, i won by 20%. so, they are using the polls for a narrative. the reality is we've got the best organization anybody's ever had in iowa, we've got tens of thousands of iowans who have already committed to caucus for us. you have the opportunity to make this decision, do not let the media choose your candidate, do not let a pundit choose your

candidate. choose the candidate that's best going to represent your values, and it's going to get this country the leadership that it deserves. i am confident that i am that guy, i am grateful that we already have a huge number of iowans who have already signed up to support us, and we ask all of the iowans who are undecided, come join our team, i will not let you down. >> so just a few hours ago, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy was in washington d. c., in congress, and in the white house, trying to make the case for more u.s. support for ukraine's war against russia. on that topic, i like to bring in dawn mann, she's from urban down, she works in sales, and she's a republican who says she is currently undecided as well. >> welcome to des moines. if you had to pick one, which current conflict, ukraine or israel is more critical for the american people to support, with tax dollars, and why? >> well thanks for the question dawn. well for me, that's an easy answer, it's the state of israel. because they are our strongest

ally in the middle east, we have a relationship with them that's like no other, and they have the whole world against us. they require the united states to be there, to stand with them as a friend. you know, ukraine has all of europe, these european countries need to start pulling their weight. they don't meet their nato deuce. i mean some of them have done, in poland, finland. but a lot of them are not doing that. they have all of these people. russia is a threat to europe, they need to rise to the occasion, rev up their industrial basis, and start arming themselves so that they can help ukraine, and keep russia in a box. but israel is a unique country, in terms of our relationship. and as governor of florida, it's something that when the attacks happened against them, and that impacted my state. because i had so many people that go back and forth, yet people were stranded in israel, they couldn't get back. the state department wasn't helping, the embassy wasn't helping them. so i did an executive order, we scrambled planes, and we rescued over 700 people from israel, and brought them back to the united states of america.

when you are in an executive position, you need to be able to lead, particularly in crisis situations, we stepped up and helped our friends who were in israel, and we would do that as president of the united states. [applause] >> so just to follow on these important wars. earlier today, zelenskyy stressed that ukraine needs continued u.s. support, as never before. iowa republican senator joni ernst has previously said this, quote, there is no doubt we need to support the ukrainians. would you send support to ukraine, as president? >> i think what the republicans in the congress are doing, i think is the right thing. what they are saying is, you've got to defend our own country's borders before you start sending money all across this world. for example, i've supported in the past defensive weapons under trump, because i figured to try to keep russia out, i think that that's in our interest. but they have spent tens of billions of your tax dollars to subsidize farming in ukraine, to subsidize small business in ukraine, to pay salaries for bureaucrats, and pensions for

ukrainian bureaucrats. how is that something that's more important to this country then our veterans, then some of the other problems that we have? and from a national security perspective, that open border threatens our country. we have people from all over the world that have gone in their. and so i think with these republicans are saying is, let's get this done, and biden 's going to have to compromise on the, and he is not willing to do that. but as president, i'll do the border on day one. day one, we're going to declared it a national emergency. [applause] i am sending the military to the southern border, we're going to stop the invasion. when people are here illegally, they have to be sent back. you have to do that. we have people that have come from iran, other parts of the middle east, china, russia, you name it. they've come from all over the world illegally. these people don't have our best interests at heart, this is a security threat to us. so that is something we have to do. and i think that most people that i talk to who are frustrated with some of the

money going overseas, they want ukraine to beat russia. we don't like russia. but here's the thing, you've got to take care of your own house first. and the d. c. elites, they ignore the problems affecting the american people. you know why? because it doesn't affect them, and that is wrong. [applause] >> so we're going to get to the border, because there's some questions about it here. but on the topic of israel's war against hamas, and the worsening humanitarian crisis in gaza, president biden said behind closed doors today that israel is losing support for the war globally, because of its quote, indiscriminate bombing of gaza. and president biden also voiced concerns over members of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's cabinet, who he says don't support a two state solution, which biden says is the natural peaceful end of what needs to happen here. do you share president biden's concerns at all, what's your view? >> so, i think it's true that the world is coming after israel, but it's because of antisemitism, it's because you have these people at the u. n. who are disgraceful, who are

trying to blame israel. they wouldn't even condemn the hamas attack at the united nations. so, israel gets targeted, and singled out more than any other country in the world. they're the only jewish state in this world, and everyone is coming gunning for them. the morning of the attack, i was actually in iowa, and i said we stand with israel, we can all do that. but here's what's going to happen, weeks, months in the future, you're going to start to see them blaming israel for all of this. so you look at what may be happening in the gaza strip, if there's civilian casualties, that is hamas's fault. hamas should release the hostages. hamas should unconditionally surrender. israel cannot possibly live with a terrorist group that wants to annihilate their entire country and kill every jew, and usher in a second holocaust. so they have every right to defend themselves. now in terms of the two-state solution, i don't think you can have a, quote two-state solution when the arabs will view it, the palestinian arabs will view it as a stepping

stone to the destruction of israel. why have you not had a solution there? because they've never recognized israel's right to exist as a jewish state. until they're willing to do that, anything that would be done with just weaken israel. and so i think bb and a lot of people in his cabinet know, they've offered massive concessions to them in the past, and it's been rejected. and that's the problem. the people in the gaza strip, as well as in fattah, they want to destroy israel more than they want their own state. and that is wrong, we cannot stand for that. [applause] >> let's bring in david with, he works for a minor league hockey team, he will be sworn into the iowa national guard next week. congratulations, that's wonderful. he's a republican who says he is deciding between you and donald trump. david? >> thank you for your service by, the way, welcome to des moines. my question is sort of a two part question. what are some things different you can do to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border, as well as what actions can the border patrol take that

are new? >> okay well david, thanks for joining the national guard. it's important, we've got a lot of great people in florida, and i think it's gonna be very rewarding service for you. what can you do? well one, you can change the policy. remain in mexico, you have people who are abusing the asylum, they come make a bogus asylum claim, and then they get a sheet of paper saying go ahead, into the interior of our country, and come back in two years for a court date. that is not a deterrent. so we will not entertain those claims, they can wait. i think we need to reform the law so that the claims don't even happen. but we are not letting people in, no way. we're going to also empower states to enforce immigration law. people are coming across the rio grande, texas should be able to deport and send them back. that's a force multiplier for us. i am going to build the border wall, and i remember in 2016, i went to the rallies with donald trump. he said he was going to build the wall, and have mexico pay for it. and that didn't happen, and why didn't it happen? well one, i think he got distracted, and he didn't do it

on day one, but two, he didn't utilize the levers of power that he had. so how to get mexico to pay for a while. they're not gonna give us money, although trump said at the time they would do that, because people like jake would say wait, and how are going to be able to do this. oh, they want to pay for, they're going to pay for it. they didn't do it. here's what you do, you impose fees on the remittances says that workers send back to foreign countries, mexico, central america, really all over the world. you'd raise billions of dollars, you put into constructing the border wall. and here's the thing, we as republicans, probably 99% blame biden for 80 million 8 million people coming illegally, it's been bad for the country. and i do too. but here's the thing, if trump had built the border wall, it would have been very difficult for biden to bring in all of this many people. that's why you want a wall, it's a physical fact of life, that even an open border president would not be able to get around. so i will get the job done, the talk is cheap, and i'm sick of republicans always using this

issue every election cycle to try to get donations, and he tried to tell the people they're going to do it. we are going to bring the issue to a conclusion. >> [applause] so one of the questions i have for you, on the fentanyl crisis is huge and, disastrous. it hits people in florida, d. c., iowa. as a way to stop the flow of fentanyl to the, u.s. you have promised to shoot drug smugglers, quote, stone cold dead at the border. how is that legal? and how could you ensure that you're not going to end up shooting innocent people? >> so one, the drug cartels are invading our country, and they are poisoning our people, and killed by the tens of thousands. so not only do you have a right as, president you have a responsibility of responsibility to fight back on the have the people of this country. and what that means is it is named the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. so it's not just willy-nilly saying going to shoot anyone, how do you know? just like when i was sure serving in iraq.

when i was in iraq, and anyone knows who's served there know that al qaeda did not wear a uniform who said al-qaeda, they all dressed the same. some of we walking down the street, you don't know if they are civilian, or if they had an ied strapped to their body. and so you have to make judgments about hostile intent, hostile action. you positively identify people. we're going to have intelligence operating, have you ever done for. but for those who complain about me wanting to lean in on this, are you fine with letting all of these people die? and one of the things that i've done, just as governor and as a candidate, i spent a lot of these angel parents. these are parents who have lost kids to fentanyl overdoses, really they are getting poisoned, high school, college in their twenties. and what you find is most of those cases, they are not drug addicts, they may be stressed out, someone tells them to take this pill, so they take it not thinking it would be fatal, but it's laced with fentanyl, and it poisons them, and then they

die. we actually had a case in florida, a family rented an airbnb unit. 18 month old baby was crawling on the carpet, there happened to be residue from fentanyl on the carpet, that killed the baby. can you imagine losing an 18 month old? this is happening all across the country and i met a fellow a couple of months ago, and he told me he lost his son from a fentanyl overdose, and he's like you know, what really is the salt in the wounds is that these people in d. c., they don't care about what's going on, they are not viewing this as a sense of urgency, they are not doing what it. as i can tell you, this i care, i think this is a sense of urgency, i think we need to fight this scourge. and it's not just the supply, it's also demand, and in florida we've actually done an opioid recovery network, that's reduced overdose deaths. we're one of the only large states in the country where we can say we actually had a year over year reduction. so i do think you fight the man, you do treatment, and you do supply. but i am not going to let these

drug cartels ruin the lives of the american people, any longer. [applause] >> this could be a significant new tactic against this network of tunnels this is believed to contain some 500 kilometers or 300 miles of tunnels. the idf is believed to b e that's what we know about. when you have a wide open border we don't even know what's coming across the wide open border. so many people who do anything it interdicted i think it's a combination of both not only do we have to worry about the land ports of entry i mean to do a maritime task force to try to interdict a precursor chemicals or to bring in mexico. a used to be china would make it and then they would send it now, china is sending the precursor chemicals and the

cardinals are making the final products. they will put the fentanyl in canada to try to marketed to very young kids. this is really sick stuff so i think we have to have all options on the table, but here's the thing when they see we're willing to fight back that's gonna make a difference because they've been running all over us, they've been eating our lunch at the border that changes on january 20th, 2025. >> so i want to bring in jeanne lu boston, say that quickly retired engineer from west des moines. she's currently an undecided voter. jeanne? >> older americans have worked harder to pay into social security, they have earned it and accounting food for around for many years to come how you protect social security for future generations? >> thanks for the question as governor of florida i know a few people on social security when some people say it's a entitlement seniors know

promise made his promise kept we made the promise of especially when prices are going up so much. but it's not enough to cover what is actually happening the groceries have gone up 50%, 75% maybe 100 percent so promise made promises kept congress has taken money out of the social security fund for decades these does surpluses their it is to have more money to take their spending, they take it they spent at the right ious. that's the main reason why social security is having fiscal challenges. i also think that we go and reduce inflation and interest rates cost of living adjustments actually go down bigger benefit will go further if prices are stable and also on the overall budget. we do a trillion dollars of

interest on the national debt. that's unsustainable, we gotta get the interest rates down and we've got to get that that situation better, because that could overwhelm everything we're doing in this country. >> so just a quick follow on that, i hear what you're saying about current seniors jeanne lieu bobs, but what about for younger people i guess i shouldn't even pointed myself anymore but for younger people the rival ambassador haley says are not being fully honest in this issue without any reforms made to security the program ultimately not have enough money to pay young people like that one right there they're full benefits. is she right does a social security needs some reform? , what she >> what she is said nikki haley she claims the reform time in a just way too low event a lot of people worked hard their whole life. life expectancy is declining in this country it's tragic but it is true so look at those democratic trends to see you

would jack it up that people are not able to get benefits i don't know why she's saying that you've got a look at the trend yes overall in the trend how do you strengthen the program you gotta have bipartisan agreement president reagan in the early 80s he did a commission with alan greenspan he had republicans and democrats they work through the issues they agreed and then they move forward. i think it's the only way you can do it. you can't do this stuff on a party line vote. it's just not gonna be able to get it done. i'm willing to work with both sides and we've got to come up with a solution for the long term. but in the short term, just know, seniors this is a priority for me, to make sure that you have your benefits. my grandmother lived until 91. social security was her sole source of income, so i understand what a lot of people are going through.

>> your service has come up a long time, we only veteran's replanting unit party. it's you served as a navy jag officer in iraq. out of this shape your foreign policies, in particular how you might approach sending men and women into harm's way? >> i think it's a great question. so having been there and seen what a lot of our marines were going through, our special operators, our soldiers. as commander in chief i hope to never have to put our service members in harm's way. but look, i believe through peace through strength. i think if you build up american strength we will deter conflict in this country. but you never know what's going to happen. but my pledge to all the active duty, the veterans, all the family members of active duty is this. i will never put people in harm's way willy-nilly. if we are going to do it there needs to be a clear objective that we are trying to fulfill. we need to send people, when you send people they need to have everything they need to be able to accomplish that objective. that objective has got to be something that is in the vital national security interest of our country and when they edgy

achieve the objective, we need to bring them home. we can have the situations where people are toiling for years and years in these foreign countries with no concrete example of victory. i hope to never do it but if we ever need to, we are going to win. and i think the lesson of the post 9/11 era was we got into conflicts and we weren't achieving any clear cut victories. we've got to know one of the limits of what the military can do. when i was in iraq, part of what we were trying to do was create a democracy in the middle east. well, you know nation building doesn't work. social engineering in foreign countries doesn't work. when you have to go to defend this country, you go, you do the job and you bring our people back home. [applause] >> over the weekend, donald trump compared the bravery of those who have served in the military with his decision to debate hillary clinton in 2016 after the access hollywood tape came out.

you tweeted about it. you seemed offended by it? >> so donald trump, when he gets off the teleprompter you don't know what he's gonna say. is it different donald trump than in 15 and 16. back then he was colorful, but it was really america first about the policies. now a lot of it's about him and, when he's doing this in the says debating hillary clinton after access hollywood was an example of bravery, that some general told him was more significant than soldiers who fight and die in war, that is offensive and that is wrong. debating is the bare minimum that a political candidate should do, and i would note, donald trump has refused to debate throughout this campaign. he doesn't think he owes it to iowans, he doesn't think he owes it to granite staters to show up and debate and answer questions. he doesn't think he should come and answer questions from voters. a lot of times you will come

and make a speech and leave. he's not gonna visit all 99 counties. nobody's entitled to this nomination. you gotta earn this nomination and one of the ways you do it is you show up, you answer peoples questions, you shake their hands and you show them that you care about the future of their communities. i care about the future of these communities, i care about the future of this country. i am not running for me, this is not about my issues, it's about your issues, your family 's issues and the future of this country. [applause] >> we'll be right back with more from republican presidential candidate ron desantis. stay with us. >

[applause] welcome back to iowa and cnn's presidential town hall with governor ron desantis. i have some questions for you about health care for people in that people in the audience have. but before we get to them, i want to ask you about your family's health situation because many of you probably already know, you and your wife casey who is with us here tonight have talked on the campaign trail about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2021. thankfully she is in remission. she is all good now. [applause] >> yes. what was that experience like for your family? >> well, at the time of the diagnosis, we had a four -year-old, a three year and one year old. and obviously all these diagnosis are tough, but when you talk about brick concert

with a mother of young kids it's especially devastating because you're thinking about these kids may have not have a mother. it's also the situation where my wife, she just has a sense, she felt something, she went to see a doctor, the doctor cleared her and then she came back to me and she said, you know, i don't know. >> and i said you're fine. for me, if a doctor said i'm fine, i would never think twice, i would be off to the races. but she had a sense. so she really fought for herself to be able to get a mammogram and then when she got got it and it came back, unfortunately with bad news. but had she not been willing to do that, who knows what might have ended up happening? when you see somebody that you love go through the chemo and it just sucks the life out of you and everything she had to go through, as a husband i'm doing there doing what i can to be the helping hand and to help with the family and everything. but you almost wish i could do a chemo for her so she did not

have to do it all this time. but it was not fun, but i would say she's better than it ever with her health. our prayers were answered. >> let's turn to chelsea china ski, a graduate student here grandview. she's a republican from urbandale who says she's supporting you. chelsea? >> i'd like to thank you for your service, it's much appreciated. i want to know what is your stance on the right to life and abortion and what we do as president to protect that right or not in all 50 states? >> thanks so much for the question, thank you for your support, i appreciate you doing that. i'm pro-life, i believe in creating a culture of life. i've been able to follow that up in florida by enacting pro-life protections to protect unborn that have a heartbeat , a

detectable heartbeat and that is something that the legislature passed and we signed earlier this year. i think the one thing in this race that is important to point out that donald trump flip-flopping on the right to life. so if you look at january 2020 when he was president, he stood in the march for life and he gave a speech. and if you read that speech, he said that all life is a gift from god. he compared the unborn child in the mother's womb to being the image of god. he said it was important that we have protections in law. and that's what he was saying in january of 2020. now he has attacked states that have enacted protections like heartbeat bills as being a terrible, terrible thing. so how do you square that march for life speech with now trashing states that have advanced protections that he claimed to covet. was he not being honest in january of 2020? or is he just flipped his position to now what he is saying in 2023? i think that is a huge problem because we know people come at this from different angles. it's a big, diverse country. there is a lot of division about it. but you should be consistent in

your beliefs especially on something that is very fundamental and he is not being consistent and i think there are a lot of voters in iowa who really care about this who need to know how he has changed his position. >> i want to ask you about a big story dealing with abortion that is in the news. yesterday, the texas supreme court ruled that a pregnant woman in texas could not obtain an abortion in texas, after her fetus was diagnosed with a disorder called trysomy 13 which is almost always a fatal disorder. now the doctor said it could endanger her future life and future fertility. do you think that the baby should have to carry that baby to term? >> we have to approach these issues with compassion, nobody would wish this to happen to

anybody. if you're in that situation as a mother, that is an incredibly different thing difficult thing to imagine. when i can tell, yet the florida legislature passed a heartbeat bill for the exceptions for, things like, life of the mother, fatal fetal defect, and human trafficking. i signed those bills. those are very difficult cases, name in a prudential judgment and having those exceptions were things that made sense. so i have signed legislation that included that and i understand it is very difficult, and these things get a lot of press attention. and i understand, but that is a very small percentage that those exceptions cover. there are a lot of other situations where we have an opportunity to realize really good human potential and we have worked to protect as many lives as we could in florida. [applause] >> staying on the topic of health care, you recently said you have a better plan to proceed and supersede obamacare. some of the conditions of obamacare as protecting people

with predict pre-existing conditions, and acts protecting for medicaid for people with lower income. >> so in florida i've signed bills for pre-existing conditions. and a lot of other states have done it. obviously it's a significant thing we want to do. what we are gonna do. this is a big promise when donald trump ran in 16 that it is going to repeal and replace obamacare, because he did correctly and i always said obamacare is not making health care more affordable. it is made it more expensive. that was the central claim. it hasn't worked, and it's more expensive than ever. but i think they failed because they didn't have anything to replace it with. the american people at the time were telling him and telling congress yeah we know obamacare is flawed, but you have to produce something that will be a replacement. so what we are going to focus on is accessibility. we want good health care to be accessible to people. we want affordability. it's gotta be affordable and we want accountability in the

system. we want will have a bigger plan when we get into the election season, we're working a lot of experts and congress and stuff. but if you look, the patient in the system is at the back of the bus. the doctor is now the back of the bus. who's at the front of the bus? big insurance companies, big pharmaceutical companies, big government bureaucracies. it's an iron triangle that really is a system rather and something that is an individual care. so we want to make sure that people are protected. i think your insurance should be portable. the whole idea of the pre-existing conditions came that it was tied to people's jobs. so if you lost your job while you were sick and then all of a sudden in the past, that insurance should be able to go with you. we're gonna work on all those things, but the number one thing is affordability and cost. and to do that you're gonna have to upset the apple cart and some of these really big entrenched interests. >> when can voters expect to see a plan? >> we will roll it out. we are working on it. it's the type of thing that we are putting out the broad strokes, the campaign in poetry

then you govern in prose. but we're gonna be dealing with insurance, we will be dealing with pharmaceuticals. another thing we are gonna be dealing with, because the biggest health care issue we have had in this country in the last for five years is covid-19. i'm going to bring a reckoning to those agencies that lied to this country [applause] . the cdc, nih, fda, people like fauci, all those things that really harmed this country. and yet nobody has been held accountable. so we're gonna go up there and clean house. so for example, fda, they will approve a covid mrna vax for six-month-old babies. there is no data to support such a thing for emergency use. the question is, why are they doing that? well, pharmaceutical companies are going to make money. where do the people from the fda people go to work when they're done with the fda.

they go to work for big pharma. we're gonna stop the revolving door from fda to big pharma [applause] >> i'm going to bring in a representative the iowa soybean association, a republican from davenport, it was undecided. >> governor, thank you for taking the time and undecided, i'm learning quite a bit about you so, i appreciate that. i just want to talk a little bit of trade. china remains a vital market for the u.s. soybeans. how do you plan to approach trade relations with china to ensure access to a significant market for our soybean a market. while also addressing trade related challenges to ensure a fair competition for american farmers. >> thanks for the question, and thanks for what you do, you're the backbone of the country. the way it really permeates the culture here, it's the bread and butter. you guys are really the salt of the earth. patriotic, god fearing folks, so god bless you. we are gonna do a couple of things. there are other markets in asia apart from china that we don't

have adequate access to. i'm going to use leverage to get it. and it may not even require a trade deal. we have lovers over some of these countries that we can pull. so we can work to get more you more access to that. with respect to china, we are gonna reevaluate and change the relationship, because what is happened they don't follow the rules. they've eaten our lunch on so many things, and we have a lot of critical things to migrate to china that we need for our national survival. pharmaceuticals, things involving military weaponry, on and on down the line, if we had a crisis, world war, we are gonna ask china to give us all the stuff? so we need to repatriate and reshore some of these very key things. that will involve pulling certain levers. it will involve for example isolating the different areas that we want to bring back. we'll also have to do tax and regulatory things here to make it viable to be able to do here. but yes, we want to work to expand markets for our agriculture. we know it's important, we know

you guys can feed the world, and we're gonna be doing that in a variety of ways. >> thanks robin. gonna take a quick break, we'll be back with more from republican presidential candidate ron desantis.

welcome back. we're in des moines. you're watching cnn's republican presidential town hall with governor ron desantis. governor, i would like to introduce you to jessica dunker,

president of the iowa hotel association and the iowa lodging association. she's a republican mother of five. she says she supports nikki haley. jessica? >> thank you. do you think it's possible for the four candidates who made last wednesday's debate stage to come together and throw your support behind one of you in an effort to create an actual competitor against president trump? >> i appreciate that sentiment, jessica. i think that's what the iowa caucus is. i think you guys choose who that person is. i am confident it's going to be me because here's the thing. i'm the only person running who can beat trump one-on-one. why? because the other candidates cannot get enough support from core republicans and traditional conservatives to be able to vote. you can't just win with a slice of the party. you have to have broad support. we will be able to do that going forward.

and also i think the reason why i think i should be the guy, needed agent in washington. we don't want somebody who's just gonna go up there and be the part of the establishment, rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic. i want serious structural change. i want to see term limits for members of congress. i want to see a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. i want to see a line item veto for the president. i want to see agencies moved out of washington, d. c. to other parts of the country [applause] i want to see a reduction in the scope of government. and that's gonna take a leader that has backbone, that's gonna be willing to fight for you, and has a record of actually delivering big victories. i'm the only one running who has done 100 percent of my promises fulfilled in florida. i'm also the only one running if, you look at the folks who were doing the bad policies on the left that is causing the problems in the country, i'm the only one running who beat these people. we beat the teachers union, with school choice, we beat fauci on covid, we beat sorrows

on the prosecutors, the left prosecutors that we removed, we beat the democrats on election integrity. we delivered victory after victory. that's what you deserve the next president of the united states. [applause] >> so earlier in new hampshire, governor chris sununu endorsed nikki haley. wonder how much harder you think that is gonna make a path to victory in new hampshire. unlike someone running, if somebody doesn't endorse me,, i'm not going to trash him. i'm chris is a good guy, he's a really good campaigner, an excellent campaigner, so in that sense i think it's a benefit for her. but here's the problem. even a campaigner as good as chris is not going to be able to pave over nikki being an establishment candidate. she is being funded by liberal democrats from california like a founder of linkedin. people on wall street like the head of jpmorgan. she's getting all these folks that are going to her. guess what guys?

those folks do not want to see conservative change in this country. so why are they gravitating to her? and i think her positions on things like saying her first day in office she's going to demand that everybody produce their name on social media. she said i want your name. what you're gonna doxx the whole country? conservatives have been singled out for expressing opinions on social media. people have been canceled, they've lost jobs on this. why would she want to put our own people under there? i think there are so many problems with her policy positions. she's really reflective of the old failed republican establishment of yesteryear. we do not need to go back to that. but i will say this. chris has done a great job as governor, he's a great campaigner. i look forward to campaigning with him next fall in new hampshire as the republican nominee. i want to bring in tom moreland, he is the area director of a health care company from erindale, is a republican and says he's supporting it. >> tom? >> yes, tom moreland. >> good evening governor desantis.

adds continue to run in iowa saying you are saying you are going to ban fracking, while also showing the big performance while saying you our 4 fracking. can you tell us you are position and while you told the women in the video he would ban fracking. >> that ad has been debunked by even liberal media. you have to fracture to be able to get the energy. marcellus, i did a huge energy rollout in september. we are opening it all up. federal lands, we're gonna get the permit going, you have to do that, you have to frack. she is talking about in the state of florida voters in our constitution, said no drilling offshore on our beaches. lot of people in iowa will go to markle island and all these places, and i think it wasn't because of global warming, they wouldn't want to see this bill that would hurt the tourism. so is governor, of course i have done that. but that doesn't mean that we are not going to fracking

throughout this country. i also think local control in terms of states. look if new york city doesn't royal have to drill in central park. you guys don't have to drill in places you may not want to. but yes, we are going to do it. we are going to have an engine energy boom in this country. we are going to be independent bernier, we're gonna be dominant, we'll get a lower gas prices and we will lower energy costs all throughout here's the thing. what biden wants to do with the green new deal, what they are doing in california, they want to increase demand for electrical by forcing electrical vehicles which i opposed, but at the same time they are knee capping reliable energy, oil, gas and the like. that has blackouts in california, that will lead to blackouts all throughout this country. we need reliable energy. when i respond to a hurricane in florida, i can't get the lights back on with windmills and with solar. i need oil and gas. >> we'll be right back with more from republican presidential nominee governor ron desantis.

[applause] welcome back to cnn's presidential town hall with governor ron desantis. we are here in beautiful des moines. i want to talk to you about a topic, i don't know how much people outside of iowa know about this but it is dominating the local news here in iowa. republicans are divided over a new satanic temple holiday display in the state capitol building. governor kim reynolds who has

endorsed you she says, quote, it is absolutely objectional but quote in a free society the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, unquote. some republicans are calling for 8 to come down. what do you think? should that display be allowed in the capital? >> it's interesting. i heard this and then i thought hundred and get? there is that even a religion? and lo and behold, the trump administration gave them approval to be under the irs as a religion, so that gave them the legal ability. so i don't know what the legislature, if they analyzed but it, but it very well may be because of that ruling under donald trump that they may have had a legal leg to stand on. my view is that is not a religion that the founding fathers were trying to create, but i do think that the irs ruling, i was really surprised to see that they did that. >> so not correcting you, but the context of that is the satanic temple applied for a

tax exempt status granted in 2019, doesn't mean the government supports but they did granted. >> yes, but they recognized it as a religion otherwise we would've been able to do it. i don't think that was the right decision. we are going to recognize satan as a religion? that's wrong. >> but do you think they should take it down in the capital. >> if they are gonna get sued about, but i think it may be and i don't know how the legislature analyzed it it, very well may be because of that ruling they feel like they may lose. i don't know what they did to do it, but in florida i don't think we probably would've had it up. >> let's bring in brooks reynolds, he's the cofounder of the blue ribbon festival, and he brought enough here for everyone tonight. i'm just joking, he didn't. he is the ceo of jay our south pork ranch, currently undecided. >> governor, thank you for your service and spending so much quality time here in iowa. i think this is a very important question for iowa. what was your favorite food item at the iowa state fair

this year? >> it's funny, pork on a stick but i did not do it in public because they say if you get a picture of it is really bad thing. i'll tell you one thing just a policy think, this prop 12 what is doing for the pork producers, help is on the way my friend. we are gonna take care of, it california should not be dictating how you are raising hogs in producing pork. >> i want you to meet grant boseman from west des moines. he's a republican who voted for joe biden in 2022. he's currently undecided on the caucus here. >> governor desantis, i'm 27 -year-old. i never remember the country being so deeply divided and in a worse position mentally than before. my question for you tonight is how will you specifically help reunite this country? >> i appreciate that and thanks. i think what we have seen, we've seen fighting, polarization for no reason.

so look, there is important issues. you can count on me. i will take strong stands. i will deliver big results. as a leader, when you make decisions, not everyone will like it. that goes with the territory. i will not go out of my way to alienate people for no reason. if there is a subset of disagreement, let the chips fall where they may. if you look at trump tweeting and attacking people, i think that created division that we didn't need. i think biden, when he gives that speech in front of the things where his fists are there saying that maga is almost anti-american that, creates division. we don't need to be doing that. we need to be focusing on principle, we need to aim higher and we need to deliver results for people. if you disagree with me 15% of the time, okay, we will hash that out, but i want to work with you on the other 50%. if someone disagrees with me 20% of the time, we can fight on the 80 but to have to be wishing -- willing once the next issue comes up to work on the 20.

on the 20. that's just how i am as a leader, and in florida we had some tough fights. but i've also done some of my policies that got unanimous support. some of the things we have done for conservation. some of the things we have done to raise teacher salaries, some of the things we have done to support police officers. it can be done, but i think it requires a leader that will appeal to the better angels of our nature. >> who is your favorite democrat in florida, democratic official, not just like a guy you know? who is your favorite democratic official in florida? >> the minute i do that, they are all of a sudden going to have -- >> give me one who is in the top 10. >> i mean, i appointed a fellow down sheriff to replace scott israel, who was -- he had a great life story. we put him in there, greg tony. we also just had a sheriff who was a democrat from st. lucy county, who we worked very closely with, rick bradshaw, sheriff of palm beach county.

great guy. it shows you there is not much difference in some of these issues when you are dealing with it. so, we do that. i think what happened is, the minute i started to go a little national, it was tougher for some of the dams to watch to work because they get blow back from their base. that is just the situation that we find ourselves in. but we do have some good ones that photo. >> we want to think governor desantis. obviously, casey desantis as well. thanks to our host here at grandview university. and thanks to you, all of you who, make the town hall what it is. really appreciate it. join us tomorrow at the 9 pm eastern for our town hall with gop presidential candidate vivek roma swami. news it with abby philips starts now. thanks again, everyone. >> good evening, everyone. you were just watching special live cnn tow