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[applause] -- back to back cnn town hall, is only 11 days left to go between the i will, cox's good evening i'm -- of course we just heard from governor ron desantis moments ago, this hour the former south carolina governor former u.n. ambassador nikki haley joins us. tonight, governor haley comes amidst the heated -- just days before the one-on-one debate right here on cnn, and tonight governor henry wants her questions directly from iowans. we will have some questions of my own as well. but in the audience are voters who say they plan to participate in the iowa republican caucuses, both registered republicans and voters, who planned to register as republicans. which, it's important to note, it's allowed as late as caucus night right here in iowa.

so to find tonight's question, as we cast a widening. we reached out to help for various organizations, including business groups, farm associations, parent groups, young professional organizations, religious groups, and conservative advocacy organizations. now guests of the haley campaign and -- university are also the audience tonight. but i do want to note, they will not be asking questions. we've got everyone here to be respectful to each other, and to governor haley, so that everyone here in this room and everyone watching at home has a chance to hear from the candidate. now please welcome governor nikki haley. [applause] >> [inaudible] all right, so i want to start today with, getting ready this morning for this town hall, governor, and something crossed our wires, a shooting, a school shooting. and here we are, with kids back a day or two days, and a another horrific event in this

country, a sixth grader was killed, people were injured, and we did receive, people in this room updating their questions, asking questions about what had happened. so i wanted to start with -- because i know you have a specific question about what happened today, and perry, or senior project manager from des moines, a republican. and i know you've said, you've indicated that you support governor haley. go ahead. >> thank you for being here tonight governor. >> thank you. >> before i ask my question, i'd like to just give my condolences to the community in perry tonight, as well as the state of iowa. so with that, governor, with the school shooting that happened today in perry, how do you plan to address the school shooting issue? enough is enough with politicians -- and it must be addressed. >> i mean, it's heartbreaking right. our hearts go out to the parents of all of them, our hearts go out to the kids that

i don't have to do with this for a few years. so much faith -- to the law enforcements and, the chief who did a great job, to the principal who really has come out as such a hero in this. but look, i have a mom heart. my daughter works at the children's hospital, and i worry about something happening there. my son is a senior in college, i worry about something happening on his campus. my son-in-law is a fifth grade teacher at a school, i worry about something happening there. every day, the first thing i do when i wake up is think of my kids, and the last thing i think of when i go to bed is my kids. and so, i know the concerns that everybody has. but it is time that we deal with this in the way that we should deal with this. instead of living in fear, let's do something about it. we have got to deal with the cancer that is mental health. we have to. one in three people have a mental health issue. but if treated, they can live a perfectly normal life. what we see is 80% of mass shooters are in some sort of crisis at the time that they do that. we've got to do better. the problem is, we don't have enough mental health therapist. we don't have enough mental

health centers. and if you don't get see, that you can fall into an addiction, we don't have enough addiction centers. and if you happen to be lucky enough to get one of those three, insurance doesn't cover it. so we've got to start doing that. the second thing is, we have to secure our schools the same way that we secure our airports in our courthouse. and that means we make sure that we have whatever we need to make sure that nothing comes through, bullet-wise or otherwise. we need to have a security officers at the front of every school, we need to have one point of entry, no side or rear and freeze. and then we need to make sure that we have somebody on staff, not a guidance counselor, but a mental health counselor. it does nothing but look to see which kids maybe in crisis.

and let's start there, that's at least doing something. but we have to do something, this is heartbreaking. i will tell you, what i saw this morning before anybody could even think about these lives and what we do, you have to really think of the families. i had, when i was governor, a school shooting, at town ville elementary. and we had a shooter come in, and he shot, basically at a playground. then we had a little jacob hall, who was six years old, who died that day. or who died a couple of days later, he was shot that day. i was at the hospital with his parents the night he was shot. the gravity of what that was is something i will never forget,

because the press that they had, and i knew in what condition he was in. we have to start really focusing on what we are going to do to do this. and everybody thinks oh, mental health, mental health. we have to stop. mental health is a serious issue, but if we know it, and we can treat people. what are we doing losing americans every single day? because we refused to deal with this issue. and the math the national neat media has done what they've always done. they want to talk about race, they want to talk about gun control, they want to talk about all these other issues. so my advice to the people of perry, give them the respect, and let them deal with the families and the sorrow and everything. but when the time comes, let's have that conversation on mental health. when i am president, we will treat it like the crisis that it is. >> and governor, just to be clear. [applause] . you are being very clear on what you would, do you want to focus on mental health, you want to talk about hardening schools, much like -- . but just to be clear on gun restrictions themselves, do you favor any additional gun

restrictions, or no? >> i'm a concealed weapons permit holder myself, and i will tell you that we could go and take away a certain kind of gun today, and that would make you feel better today. but a week from now, there will be another shooting. let's talk about the hard truths, that's the reality of it. so in a time when we are seeing a lot of lawlessness on our streets and in our cities, we can't go and take away peoples rights to protect themselves, and to protect their families. instead, why don't we do the hard work and deal with the mental health? if we start to do that, i know that we will see a reduction in what's happening. but you don't take away from good people, because you see something like this happening from other people who commit crimes. >> there are a lot of issues on the minds of voters here. and of course, with 11 days to go, one of the big ones is actually the state of this race, and where things are. josh lemon is a portfolio

manager, i know at a local bake, josh, you are an independent, and you voted for joe biden 2020. but, you have said you planned to vote for a gop candidate this time around. and i was as i was telling everybody watching at home, you are allowed to register right up until caucus night, so that is the way works here in the state. so, you are deciding between governor haley and governor desantis. go ahead. >> thanks for taking my question. >> thank you. >> what is your strategy to overtake donald trump in the polls? >> you know, i think that what you are seeing is we've got momentum. we've got momentum in iowa, we've got no momentum in new hampshire. we're gonna continue to see us be strong in south carolina. and really what it's been is, let's talk about where this is.

i personally think president trump was the right president at the right time. i agree with a lot of his policies. but the reality is rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. and we all know that's true. chaos follows him, and we can't have our country in disarray, and a world on fire, and go through four more years of chaos. we will survive it. and you don't defeat democrat chaos with republican chaos. now is the time we need to have a new generational leader, one that's going to leave the negativity and the baggage behind, and start focusing on the real issues that we have in the future. but more than that, americans don't want another nail-biter of an election. and that is what we will get. look at any of the polls, head to head against joe biden. ron doesn't beat biden, trump head to head with biden. on a good day, he might be up by two, the wall street journal haddam up by four. i'm in every one of those same polls, i defeat biden by 17 points. 17 points. that makes it bigger than the

presidency. that's governorships, that's house, that's senate, that's down to school boards. but more than that, you win by double digits, you're going into d. c. with a mandate, a mandate to stop all the wasteful spending, and get inflation under control. amanda to get our kids reading again, and take education back to the basics. a mandate to secure our border, no more excuses. a mandate to bring law and order back to our country, and a mandate of a strong america that we can be proud of. that's what we are doing, that's what i think we need to do. it is time to move past presidents trump, and it is time to start focusing on how to strengthen america, and do this for our kids and our grandkids. [applause] >> and there was one thing you

said there, and i know you've talked about him being the chaos following him. but you did say something there i wanted to follow up on, ask people face this decision. you said rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. is it rightly or wrongly area? ? is he the one who causes that chaos, or is he just the unwitting victim? >> he's both. i mean, you see a lot of these cases they brought against him are political in nature. and there is no basis on it. and then you see some that he's going to have to answer for. but look, i'm not telling you anything i used to tell them. i used to tell him, he's his own worst enemy. and so i think at the end of the day, we don't need anyone

who's getting in their feelings. we don't need anyone who's getting personal about anything. we have a country to save, and that means no more drama, no more taking things personally. you look at the situation, the differences i have with him is first of all, i'm -- we have got to get our economy back on track. and everybody wants to talk about the economy they had under trump, but at what cost? at what cost? eight trillion in four years. our kids will never forgive us for that. we are having to dig out of it. so you may have had a good four years, but look at what we are paying for it now. as of now in a couple of years, we will be paying more money in

interest payments then we are in our defense budget. you know who notices that, russia, china, and iran. that's what happens there. the second thing is, you look at how he deals with dictators. i think it's completely wrong. he praised china's presidents xi a dozen times, after china gave us covid. you don't do that. he congratulated them on the 70th anniversary of the communist party, we don't do that. when israel fell to her knees, you're going to go pick a fight with israel's prime minister, because of some issue, personal issue you had with him before?

and you're going to praise hezbollah? it's just not what we need to do. we need to do this without a motion, we need to do this with a sane sense of how are going to take america forward. >> all right, so you mentioned the economy, and i'm going to come back to that in a moment. but first, i do want to bring in other audience question. dave -- is the executive director of the iowa institute for cooperative, a republican from ames, and it does say he supports, you go ahead. >> hi >> many of our co-ops use foreign laborers now. we would like to use more, but the process is very daunting. and yet we have thousands of foreigners crossing into our u. s. daily on our southern border. what is your comprehensive border policy that would address both of those who want to contribute and work in this country, and still maintain our border security? >> and dave, you are exactly right. you can do both, and we have to do both. so the first thing is, you look at the illegal immigration, all of the illegals that are coming to the border. it is truly a dereliction of duty, what biden is allowing to have happen. and to now think that governor abbott of texas is trying to do everything he can to save texans, and he is putting barbed wire up and, and biden is trying to go against him to

cut the barbed wire. are you kidding me? >> like you can't go and risk peoples lives, america right now is acting like it's september 10th. we better remember what september 12th felt like, because it only takes one. so you have 8 million people that have come to the border, and they've only sent 140,000 back, that's it. and so we are left with taking care of the health care event the education of those kids, law enforcement having to deal with them. what we will do is, i passed one of the toughest illegal immigration laws in the country when i was governor of south carolina. we will take that national, we will do a national verified program that requires businesses to have to prove to people that they hire in this country legally. we will defund sanctuary cities once and for all. no more safe haven for illegal immigrants. we will put 25,000 border patrol and i. c. e. agents on the ground, and let them do

their job. that's not happening right now. we will go back to the remain in mexico policy, so that no one even stepped foot on u.s. soil. and instead of catch and release, we will go to catch and deport. that is how we will close the border, and get that to stop. but legal immigration, our legal immigration system is completely broken to. it shouldn't take someone ten years to become a citizen. and we need to be smart about how we do it. presidents in the past have always said set quotas. i'll take this many this, year this many next year. instead, look at what does our economy need? i came from an agricultural state, in a tourism state. our farmers needed workers.

we need to make sure we are focusing on the businesses that they are not struggling to find workers. and that's the part, when you do it on merit, and that is how we need to bring people in, based on merit. not just a random quota. then you are building up your economy, you are supporting your businesses, you are making sure that we can all grow together. but we've got to make sure we deal with that. i mean think about, we have students that come from overseas, we educate them, and then we sent them back home. i mean, that's lunacy. we've got to start using some common sense. >> you mentioned governor abbott. and i wanted to ask you something specific that he has done, but also governor desantis has done. and that is busing migrants from border states up to sanctuary cities. 90,000, according to the tabulation from texas alone, to new york, chicago. and obviously, governor desantis has sent migrants to martha's vineyard as well as

sacramento. do you support governor desantis doing that? would you do that, as the president? >> well, i'll talk about governor abbott, because i think he was courageous, he was the first one to do it. but look at what he has done. you know today, i was watching governor abbott and mayor eric adams having different things to say. governor abbott, if the president won't secure and give security to the people of texas, a governor has a job to protect your citizens. so he is busing them, but where is he busing them to? new york city is a sanctuary city, so you can't say we are open, we are accepting of everybody, and then when they come to you say oh, i didn't mean it, never mind. >> so you think it's been effective, the busing? >> i think it's been hugely effective, because all of the sudden, the rest of the country is feeling what texans have had to deal with for so long. and i went to the border, and truly what they deal with is unimaginable. those ranchers having to look and see every morning if someone died crossing the fence. having to pick up kids and turn them over to border patrol. you look at what the sheriffs go through, and the idea that they go and roundup whatever illegal immigrants they can find, before seven a. m.. take them to border patrol, border patrol documents them, and releases them until their

court date years from now. we can't keep functioning like that. we are a country of laws, the second we stop being a country of law, we give everything this country was founded on. [applause] >> you brought up the economy earlier, and i promise you we will get to it, i want to get to it now with you, molly. molly -- is a college student republican who says she will support any republican other then donald trump. ouyou knmy sonllaught is thing that every young indiviof cfitho trand nowsaying oh, we're go to look when fori a nd so they're worried they're not going to have to afford a pace to stay and rent. they're worried they're not going to be able to find a job. they are worried about the death of the country's, in an inflation that's gone up, that everything is more expensive. from their standpoint, they're looking at a country, and they're wondering how they are going to get through. and what we owe it to them as to get the country on track. the way we get the economy on track is to first acknowledge that there is a spending problem in d. c.. and it's not a republican problem or a democrat problem, both of them did that to us. when you look at that 2. 2 trillion dollar covid stimulus bill that they passed with no accountability, they have now left us with 80 million americans on medicaid, 42 million americans on food stamps. that's a third of our country. and then republicans open back up earmarks and pet projects for the first time in ten years? pushing through 7000 of them last december. we can't afford things like that. so when it comes to our economy and getting inflation under control, the first thing we need to do is crawl -- over 100 billion dollars of unspent covid dollars that are still out there. instead of 87,000 irs agents going after middle america, let's go after the hundreds of billions of dollars of covid fraud. one out of every $7 was spent

fraudulent larry. if 8% of our budget is interest, quit borrowing, cut up the credit cards. you have to balance the budget every day, i had to balance the budget as governor. why is congress the only group that refuses to balance the budget? so we will stop the spending, we will stop the borrowing, we will eliminate the earmarks. and i will veto any spending bill that doesn't take us back to pre-covid levels. that will save us trillions. and then we will go to take as many federal programs as we can, and send them down to the states. that will reduce the size of the federal government, but it will empower people on the ground. i think health care, and think wealth care, think education. if we started doing that. right now, 70% of federal employees are still working from home, three years after covid. 75% of most of our agencies are sitting empty. we are paying for that, we've got to start getting the waist out of government. this is not them coming to us, saying we need more money. this is us going to them saying you did this, now we're going to have to go and make the hard

decisions to get us out of it. and we can do that, even though i think -- and we need to open up the middle class. we are watching america, the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poor. and what we are needing to do, that's why i want to eliminate the federal gas and diesel tax in this country. i want to cut taxes on the middle class, and simplify the brackets. and then let's make the small business tax cuts permanent. they make corporate tax cuts permanent, but they made small business tax cuts temporary. small businesses are the heartbeat of our economy. we can't just say it, we have to prove it, and that's what we will do to get our economy back on track. >> so you mentioned, you talk >> so you mentioned, you talk a lot about spending, and then you were talking about packs is there a bit. so when you ran for state senate, it was interesting. you were asked to sign a pledge to never raise taxes. and other people that were running against you, they did, they went, and they signed, and

they did it. they all did it. you told a state newspaper, quote, no one wants to see taxes raised. but i think it would be close minded to sign a pledge. would you sign that pledge now? >> i would sign that pledge now, simply because i've always been the type, don't handcuff yourself. but i will tell you now, government has way too much money. there is waste in every agency, there is waste in the way we govern, every bit of it. and we have to, the first thing i want to do is go to every single agency, pull down all the bureaucracy, the red, take the programs we don't need to have. government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people, it was never meant to be all things to all people. and we are seeing a bloated government that needs to go on a diet. and i think the only way we do that is, we sit there and tell them it is now time for them to show the taxpayer return on investment. it is not time for the taxed payer to continue to have to work for government. >> so, i want to ask you what's in that has been a challenge for your campaign over the past week.

and this of course is referring back to new hampshire, where you asked to explain the cause of the civil war. you obviously did not mention slavery. and afterwards, you came up, and you said that was a mistake. in fact, he said it should be the first thing that you said. so you did come out and say that. chris christie though came out and said that you gave that answer, not because, in his words you are dom racist, but because you are, quote, unwilling to offend anyone by telling the truth. what do you say to that? >> no one's ever said that i am unwilling to offend. i offend plenty of people, because i call people out when they do something wrong. what i will tell you is chris christie is from new jersey. i should have set slavery right off the bat. but if you grow up in south carolina, literally in second and third grade you learn about slavery. you grow up, and you have you. no, i had black friends growing up, it is a very talked about thing. we have a big history in south carolina, when it comes to slavery, when it comes to all of the things that happened with the civil war, all of that.

i was thinking past slavery, and talking about the lesson that we would learn going forward. i shouldn't have done that, i should have said slavery. but in my mind, that is a given, that everybody associates the civil war with slavery. >> so when you talk about slavery being a constant point of discussion, being a point -- i mean my children growing up in new york, they learn about slavery in first grade to. can you share what the discussions about slavery were like, in your household. you've talked about experiencing humiliating discrimination, when you are a little girl, things you remember. what were the discussions about slavery like for you? >> i mean i think that, no different than anyone else in south carolina. i mean, the time that i came in and grew up, we were the only indian family in a small, rural, southern town. we weren't right enough to be white, we weren't black enough to be black, they didn't know who we were, what we were, why we were there. so we dealt with our own challenges. and i remember when i would get

keys on the playground, and i would come home. my mom would always say, your job is not to show them how you're different, your job is to show them how you are similar. and it's amazing how that lesson on the playground played throughout my life. because whether it was in the corporate world, or as governor, or as a -- . when you are first faced with a challenge, if you talk about what you have in common, people let their guard down, and then you can get to a solution. so when you talk about slavery, it was not just slavery that was talked, about it was more about racism that was talked about. it was more about we had friends, we had black friends, we had white friends. but it was always a topic of discussion, even among our friends. and in the south, we are very comfortable talking about it, because we know that's what it is. but the goal was always to make today better than yesterday. and even though there was a lot of hardened thoughts on that there, we went through it. i had, i doubt with my share of dealing with race issues. we had the tragic shooting of

walter scott. he was an unarmed black man that was shot in the back seven times by a dirty cop. and this was on the heels of ferguson, south carolina could have caught on fire. but we didn't do that, i talked to the walter scott family, i talked to law enforcement, in a month to the day at the bill signing, we had them both their, and we signed the first body camera bill in the country. a month later, we had the horrific shooting at mother emmanuel church. when a white supremacist went into a bible study, and took nine amazing souls. the entire national media came in, wanting to make it about gun control, and racism, and death penalty. and i said at the time, there will be a time and place where we have those conversations. but right now, we have nine souls who we need to lay to rest. and i didn't have that luxury, because two days later, the

killer came out with his manifesto, and he was trapped in the confederate flag. and the confederate flag had always been either on top of the state house, or right in front of the state house since the year 2000. and it is incredibly sensitive, and a personal issue in south carolina. and i focused that next day. i said, i want to have four meetings. i want to call republican leadership, i want to call democrat leadership, i want to call the congressional delegation, and i want to call community leaders. and i told my staff, don't tell them what this is about, because i knew they wouldn't show up. and when they came, i said at 3:00 today, i'm going to call for the confederate flag to come down. and if you will stand with me, i will forever be grateful. and if you won't, i will never let anyone know that you are in this room. and it was a tough thing, erin, because we have two thirds of the house and two thirds of the senate. and to bring a divided state together, in and avoid riots and protests.

the way we did that was, i knew half of south carolinians saw the confederate flag as heritage and tradition. the other half of the south carolinians south sought as slavery and hate. my job wasn't to judge either side, my job was to get them to see the best of themselves, and go forward. and south carolinians showed what true strength and grace look like. because we didn't have protests, we had vigils. we didn't have riots, we had prayer. and south carolina led the way, but that is the way we have to work on issues that try to divide us. don't go and pick who is right and who is wrong, and who is good, and who is bad. that is what leaders are doing now, and it is cause this could be completely in political disarray. a leader doesn't decide who is right. when you serve, the people you serve everybody. and your job is to give them all of the information you had, and let them know where you want to go, going forward. [applause]

>> it's a -- teacher she's famous here in iowa, she is a republican and she is undecided. so go ahead with your question. >> governor haley, you are a very strong supporter of israel. do you believe the idf operations in gaza are disproportionate to the october 7th attack on israel, reprehensible as that was? >> you know, i'm haunted by what happened on october 7th i. and the reason i'm haunted is because five years ago, i gave a speech to the entire world at the u. n., and i told them that we knew there were maps, and these maps were held by hamas. and it showed that if they could break through the barrier, it was how they are going to kill as many jews as fast as they could. and it happened. and when you look at the

situation that happened, and for anybody that says why should we care about israel. in my opponents have said it's israel's issue. no, it's our issue to. because 33 americans were butchered that day. we have american hostages now as we speak. but it israel is a bright spot in a tough neighborhood. there is the tip of the spear when it comes to defeating terrorism. it has never been that israel needs america. it has always been that america needs israel. and on that horrific day, when they beheaded those people, and burn those babies alive, and took those girls out of the concert and -- and dragged their naked bodies through the streets of gaza, what did they say? death to israel, death to america. >> we have got to do three things when it comes to israel. we need to give them whatever they need, whenever they need at. we need to eliminate hamas,

finish them, so they can never do this horrific stuff again. and we need to do whatever it takes to bring our hostages home. in order to eliminate hamas, it requires them to go into gaza. hamas does not care about human life. they use women and children as human shields, there is a reason that they have all of their areas underneath hospitals and schools. i've been there, i've been in those tunnels, they are very sophisticated. that's probably where the hostages are being held now. what gazans would be so much better off without hamas. but i know, and i trust, that israel would do whatever it takes to make sure that they save as many people as they can. you have to know the difference between terrorists and civilians, that's what civilized countries do. america is a civilized country, israel is a civilized country, hamas is not civilized, they don't value human life. and they keep trying to put people in harm's way, because they don't want it to happen.

what i will say is when everybody is putting the onus on israel, in on america, -- will help the people of gaza, where is egypt? where is qatar, where is turkey, where is iran. where are all the pro hamas countries that say they care? why is it on israel, why aren't they getting hamas to stop? why are they for giving that brutality? let's put the accountability where it needs to be. don't put it on israel. israel watch their people get butchered that day. if that was us, do you think we would do a cease-fire? do you think we would stop? we would do whatever it takes to make sure that americans were taking care of, and that we had our say. and so i would tell you, i think israel is doing what if they had to because israel -- and what hamas, say they're going to go back and do it,

again they are not finished. [applause] >> and ambassador, i know you're obviously -- you went into the tunnels. obviously what's happening in gaza though is a horrific loss of civilian life going on as well. and a huge stratospheric loss. two is really capped embers come out this week, and they actually advocated for relocating people from gaza out of gaza. palestinians out of gaza. and some in the israeli government support that. what a president haley support, that would you support removing palestinians from gaza? >> i don't think you have to remove palestinians from gaza. i think you have to remove hamas from gaza. but i think you also need to make sure that israelis can feel safe again. and the way israelis will feel safe, they are not opposed to palestinians being in gaza, they are opposed to terrorist being in gaza, they are opposed to terrorists being at their doorstep. and so israel doesn't want

gaza. i mean, if you look at what hamas has done to gaza, israel doesn't want gaza. but the palestinian authority has proven they have an inability to lead. and the reason they have an ability to lead is they allowed hamas to come in and do all of this to the people of gaza. so i don't think we removed palestinians, but i think they have to have some sort of leadership that ensures to israelis that they don't have to worry about terrorists living on their doorstep. >> marcia aaron's is a retiree from urbandale. marcia, glad you're here tonight. republican and i know you also say your sporting governor haley, >> hi nicky. ? i just want to think cnn and erin and caitlin for having this town hall tonight, and -- for hosting it. also nikki, thank you so much for all of your time in iowa, i really appreciated. >> it's been fun. >> i am wondering how you would reach voters that are concerned that you are more of a war hawk versus a peace through strength

leader. >> that's a great question. >> you know first of all, i am the wife of a combat veteran, who is deployed now on a yearlong deployment. any military family will tell you the last thing you want is for your loved one to go to war. my number one goal has always been preventing war. and let's talk about what's causing this. the rest of my opponents think that we shouldn't be in ukraine, don't need to do anything with ukraine. trump, ron, all of them have said let's leave ukraine. let me tell you why ukraine is important. first of all, you should know at the united nations, ukraine was one of our good friends, they voted with us on almost everything, they supported almost all of our initiatives, with a rash that you are not. but here you have this pro-american freedom loving

country, that was invaded by a thug. half 1 million people had died and been wounded because of putin. now i don't think we should give cash to any country, friend or foe. because you can't follow, and you can't hold it accountable. i don't think there needs to be troops on the ground in ukraine, and ukraine's don't want to, they want to win it themselves. but i think we need to give him the equipment, and the ammunition to win. why should we care about ukraine? anybody thinking that, that's a legitimate question for you to ask. and i am sorry that biden, and no member of congress is explaining that you, but i will, because you deserve it. when i was at the united nations let terrorists dictators and thugs always tell you what they are going to do. they are amazingly transparent. hamas said they were going to go into israel, they did. china said they were going to take hong kong, we watched it. russia invaded ukraine, they told us they were going to. china says taiwan is next, we

better believe them. russia said once they take ukraine, poland and the baltics are next. those are nato countries, and that puts america at war. this is about preventing war, it has always been about preventing war. we don't want our men and women to have to go to fight. and so, supporting ukraine is actually preventing war. and seeing it for what it is, and putin has hit rock bottom. we know that, he has lost 87% of the troops that started the war, they've raised the draft age in russia to 65. they are getting drones from iran, and missiles from north korea. we know they have hit rock bottom. but now let me tell you something else that's really important, erin. i told you about that brutality on october 7th in israel, right. i october 7th is putin's birthday.

who's the happiest man in the world right now? putin why? because the u.s. in the west to all of our eyes and our resources off of ukraine, and what did we do? we started looking at israel. and did putin go and call netanyahu in israel? nope, not for ten days. you know who he did call, hamas, invited them to russia, and they held hands and said they were friends. see this for the connection that it is. china and russia held hands before the olympics, and name themselves unlimited partners. there is an unholy and alliance of china russia and iran, bound together in their hatred against freedom, democracy, and above all things, the united states of america. our job is to always prevent war, and protect americans. >> [applause] , stay with us, we are back in a moment the republican presidential candidate.

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back here in iowa with former u. n. ambassador nikki haley. ambassador, i want to ask you about something you said at a town hall in 100. you talked about the importance of new hampshire and iowa, we are here in iowa. you said about the primary process, while iowa goes first, new hampshire corrects it. [laughter] ron desantis said that was incredibly disrespectful to iowans, and of course we are

here in iowa. i'm looking at people's faces. is there anything else you'd like to say? >> look, we have done 150 plus town halls. you gotta have some fun, too. so we're at the tenth hole. we had 700 people in new hampshire. we are cutting off, and, yes i said that. but keep in mind, i'm from an early. state south carolina always knew that iowa is gonna be the first caucus, new hampshire is gonna be first and the nation, and south carolina one of the before from the south. it was a packed. it's still a packed three states, at least on the republican side head, we're gonna keep. that but we banter against each other. on different things. new hampshire makes fun of iowa. i'll makes fun of south carolina. it's what we. do i think the problem and politics now is it's just like to serious and too dramatic. if we are having fun, i don't

live and breathe politics all the time. i like to have fun, to. so if i'm hanging out with a 700 people and we're trying to make jokes and hit a good time, you should be able to do that. >> it doesn't show elect of confidence and how you thought your do here? >> i would not set, here in the cold, because it's cold here, i have been coming here for months. going to every part of iowa. shaking every hand and answering every question. being the last person delayed at every one of these town halls. you're gonna see may fight until the very end on that last day in iowa. i'm not playing and once that. i'm fighting every state. because i think everybody is worth fighting for. and so, yes. we're gonna continue to be here. i've told people, get used to the space. i've been here over and over again. but if i didn't rub, iowa i wouldn't keep coming to iowa. so if we're gonna have fun, i'm probably gonna say something funny in iowa tomorrow about south carolina or new

hampshire. it's the way to make everything not serious. [applause] >> the knees, director of human sources at a local art center here in iowa. republican from waukee who says she's undecided. go ahead. >> nice to meet you. and the spirit of fun, i want to tell you i'm loving your dress. >> thank you! >> my question is, do you see any inherent challenges to being president as a woman? or do you feel like we have evolved? >> do you mean globally or dealing domestically? >> as a country. >> as a country, i think america has been ready for a woman. but it has to be the right woman. i'm one of those, i don't think, and i think a lot of women will agree to this. we don't support women just because they're women. we love to see woman to well. i love, i think women are rock stars. i love to see moment do well. but a president is a big deal. and it's a serious issue. and i think what we have seen and politics for really a lot

lately is they look at that label and they say, oh, we're gonna get this label. or we make this level. that's what's gotten us into this mess. and trust me. i think you look at what biden has done. he said, i want this kind of supreme court justice or this kind of vice president. that's a mistake. i do think america is ready for a female president. i do think that america's been ready. but it's got to the right one. and they want to know it's somebody who's gonna have fight. someone who has moral clarity. they want to know it's someone who has experience. i've been a term governor that took a double digit unemployment state and turned it into an economic powerhouse. until with russia, china, iran, north korea, israel, every single time i was at u. n. the. and i talk to the kick me sign off of our backs and america was respected again there. so is america pretty for a female president? you bet they're ready for a female president and i'm gonna be the one that makes them proud. [applause]

>> zachary as a law student. he's an independent. he voted for biden in 2020 but says, i believe, you planned to support governor haley in the caucuses. go ahead with your question. >> i knew i liked you. >> governor haley, you've taken a vocally anti chinese stance and many of her campaign ads. do you plan to continue this stance if elected or will you try to work with china to solve the problems? >> at the united nations, i dealt with china every day. and what frustrates me's uc biden and yellen sitting there trying to tell us that china is a competitor. china never saw as a competitor. they always so us as an enemy. all you have to do is look at what china's done. they've completely infiltrated our country. they bought 400,000 acres of u.s. soil, most recently near

grand forks office base -- they poured millions of dollars into our universities, stealing our research, electron is propaganda. look at their technologies, we never want china to have. it builds up their military and threatens america. yet the biden administration approved 70% of it last year. the trump administration approved more than that. everybody got upset about this chinese spy balloon, and rightfully. so what about the fact that 90% of our laura drones are chinese? you've got chinese police stations around our country. you have got a chinese spy base going off our shores and. cuba and you've got china building up their military at a scary place. they have 500 nuclear warheads. that's 100 more than they had lost. year they have that largest naval fleet in the world. 300 governorships. 400 ships in two years. we won't even have 350 ships in two decades. they're doing artificial

intelligence, they're doing several, they're doing space, they're doing hypersonic missiles. we are barely gotten started. now china's that the developer of nourishment. bins weapons engineered, bliss, you to change the mental capabilities of military commanders and segments of the population. that's who we are dealing with. so, yes. we are gonna be tough on china. but still we stop talking to them? no. you actually keep your enemies close. you know what they're doing all this time. but you do let your enemies know what we expect of them. and the way will table china is not more sonic them any u. s. soil and we take back that lead they already purchased. we make sure we go to all the universities, say, you either take for money or american money. but the days of taking both her over. and we tell them, hurricane and all normal tricked legends with them until they stop murdering americans with fentanyl. and they're the ones sending it over. >> ambassador, on this.

you, as governor, i'm just looking at the number here. more than 1. 4 billion dollars in south -- you want that money, but you just mentioned the drones being bought by the palestinians. but you are actively courting that as well. there is a chinese fiber glass manufacturer, ties to the communist party, that opened in your state when you were governor. do you regret any of that? was it worth it? >> look, every governor in the country was trying to recruit chinese companies ten years ago. just mentioned the drones being bought by the palestinians. but you are actively courting that as well. there is a chinese fiber glass manufacturer, ties to the communist party, that opened in your state when you were governor. do you regret any of that? was it worth it? >> look, every governor in the country was trying to recruit chinese companies ten years ago. every household has chinese products in it. that shows how intertwined it's all become. but now we know what the threat is. and so, yes. it was less than 1% of whatever courted. i recruited a lot. we were known as the beast of the southeast. less than 1% was changed. >> so you're not, saying it was a mistake, your secure view has changed. >> now, look at what we know about china that we didn't know ten years ago. it's drastically different. went thought realty, is

president, republican and democrat, for too long thought if we were asked to china pit want to be like us. china's never wanted to be like us. they want to be communist. they never should have gotten into the wto, back and to thousand one, when that u.s. helped them get in. but now, let's not keep going down that path. let's stop it. i fought china every day at the u. n.. we need to continue to do that now, until we put them back and their place. >> we'll take one more brief break, then we'll be back with more from nikki haley right after this. [applause]

[applause] welcome back to iowa in the presidential town hall with former south carolina governor nikki haley. governor you've talked about being a mom even here. i know it's a crucial part of your identity and who you are. you've got two children. last year your daughter got married, and just recently you dropped your son off for his final year at villanova. so you've posted a picture of that moment that i saw, actually enough people magazine article. the hashtags were when did my little one grow up, and a proud mom. i'm a mother myself, and you can look at anyone, and you see your little child and then boom, it just happens so fast. i was wondering, is you think about being president of the

united states. what made you the most proud as a mother? >> i mean, like, i get emotional thinking about my kids. you know, when my daughter was walking down the aisle, i still see her in pigtails. so when i say when did they grow up, i mean so much of it, they're just good kids. my daughter is a pediatric nurse at the children's hospital. my son, like i said is a senior in college. and they're just good kids. they've grown up in a public life, and the one thing michael and i always wanted was for them to feel very normal. and that's what i'm most proud of. we always, even when i was governor, had dinner night together five nights out of the week. i wanted the kids to know that we were having family dinner. and sundays, where our special days. fridays were haley family fun nights. we always try to keep it very normal. i never told my kids, i always said you don't have to do anything but go to the christmas tree lighting, and the state of the state address. everything else they could

decide if they wanted to go. having them grow up as normal and is grounded as they, are their humble, they're respectful, they're hardworking, and they're just good people. and my husband and i always said, if we can make sure they have a faith in the conscience, we will have done our job, and we have done our job. i'm incredibly proud of them. [applause] >> catherine delphi is a professor of music here grandview. it's been great to be here these classed couple of days, at your school. a republican who says that she supports you, catherine go ahead. >> i kathryn. >> thank you for being here. >> of course. >> could you please explain to us your rationale for pardoning mr. trump when he has been associated with so much division and chaos in our country. >> when it comes to presiden