decided with no congressmen te nuptials. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> ifou c-span's coverage find it any time online at■b c-span dorgan videos of key hearings and debates that bring you to news worthy highlights. they appear on the right han side screen. it makes it easy to get an idea of what was decided in washington. scroll through. antlehe is the e. thank you foyoyou go to the webs about the events of last night.

iowa puts pressure, showing they can compete. whatt? guest: we've yet to establish we've competitive phase of this race. the earliest parts of the race are when it ought to be most competitive. when you get in the early stage you are competing in fewer media markets, it's much easier for lower tiered candidates to invest resources. you can compete with the front something much more approaching even terms. when you get out to super tuesday you have to campaign in multiple states at once, multiple media markets. it gets difficult. and name id becomes much more important. new hampshire would seem to be the place where trump rivals, particularly nikki haley have the best opportunity to really change this up and to see that

we have a competitive race. so it's not exactly a coronation. host: nikki haley talked about heading into new hampshire. guest: it is complicated by the fact she ran third. a second person in the race besides and president trump who finished second in the iowa caucuses. she is right to that based on public positioned in the upcoming states, cond in new ha. independents can vote in the new hampshire primary. the electorate is much more moderate, more centrist than iowagoers tend to be which is a more socially conservative, more evangelical voting base. haley has perhaps a better shot in new hampshire, that's the

place where trump is paul -- polling below for 50% and were candidate similar to haley have done well in the past. south carolina is ere thell be. she is py second place. she will have a month to capitalize on the momentum she can get out of newif she to upsn new hampshire that would make the race look different. e likelihood would be -- oddly enough given the george w. bush was donald trump's least favorite republican president, you beat a more conservative candidate in iowa lose to someone in new hampshire. bush lost to john mccain and trump could lose potentially to nikki haley and crush this rebellion in south

carolina as bush did with mccain. outcome. host: it is reported heading to south carolina. what could the strategy be there? guest:more conservative state the new hampshire. it's a close primary. i could see he thinks there's may be he has not been polling very well in new hampshire. he has been behind in most polls. chris who has already dropped out of the race. íq■ethiner hampshire even though he got a lot of conservative activists support in the state early on. maybe he is looking ahead. might also be looking t into 's momentum. that becomes a dynamic in the race that i has benefited the former president trump is that you have his two main

opponents really have a lot of incentive to go after each other place it becomes easier for hims to hold onto first -- onto first. there's going to be a big sort of expectations game, setting coming out of vaio up. on the oneif you look at his maf victory, 30 points, biggest ever in a competitive iowa caucus, more than double the previous re in 1988. nobody gets better than a littlt him. you whittle the field down to the three best funded, best organized candidates, highest quality candidates. to me that was a pretty commanding win.

the is 49% of iowa caucus-goers still picked an option other than former president trump. and if you are running against trump that's y to think if youk most of that vivek vote would've gone to trump. a good bit of desantis would have gone to trump. you could argue there's a good 80% of the iowa caucus voting to trit still shows there is some appetite for a candidate not natr and if you are nikki haley or ron desantis, your hope is you can build on something like that. >> are guest with us if you want to ask questions about the iowa results and as we head towards new for democrats, 202-748-8001 for republicans.

independents, 202-748-8002. if you want to text us your thoughts you can do so a 20for now the starting nominatiu think the biden campaignooks at the start and what goes on? guest: campaign months ago arrived at the conclusion that they are most likely facing a rematch with trump. i> doing this thing where they were hitting trump and hitting ron desantis. they were trying to brand ron desantis in such a way that most of the trump playbook would also work against him. if the nominee were to be nikki ha think they have given some thought to that and have tried to frame her as a maga candidate but i think they arethey are training most of thr

fire against tmp a mr talk aboug on the ballot in november, thatg against trump. i think it becomes a bit more play this playbook against candidates that do not ■l meaningful connection to january 6 or any of those events. i think the biden campaign knows ways him once before but i don't think they are as compcent as hillary i' they realize in the battleground states of 2020 the election was much closer than it was nationally. the public polling and some of the private campaign polling shows this election could be even closer. of a trump wining i think most of biden's people dismiss

out of hand. host: the repeated trips to as votes. guest: absolutely paired they've pennsylvania, wisconsin. i think they are worried about michigan. if you look at the president travel schedule promoting administration initiatives■ and also campaigning for other democrats, very much looks like ej state where this race is really going to be decided in november. host: when you look at polling, things about his ageeconomy, ars or is it too early on to determine whol vote for the president in the end? guest: historically speaking it is still pretty early for these polls to have predictive value. inwin or lose. i do think the fact that some of these

consistent across months and in some areas getting worse sho red how baked in everything has seemed so if youfg1t look the 41 year high only marginally affected the midterm election. in previous years that could have hadyou saw fairly small swn the battleground states of■ 20, massive economic disruption, relatively narrow shift, certainly sufficient to make joe biden president and donald trump the former president but nevertheless not a massive shifa recession in which the ecy by 1% had been over for over a year by the time the election happened was enough for george bush to lose 16 points

1988 and 1992. are looking at how muchol in. everybody has got their 40% locked in. almost no matter what happens. if you see some of these lower propensity demti voters, still e cost of living is too high. in some cases may be the dislike the vote swinging back to trump. i think there's some real cause for concern even though it would be premature. host: the washington examiner's jim antle with us. kansas, democrats line, you're on with our guest. good morning. caller: thank you. i have a statement and then a question.

■-- my question is donald trump stated last night that it was time he had won the iowa caucus. ■i■did he win the iowa caucus te times? guest: he lost the iowa caucuses in 2016. there was not a competitive caucus in 2020 or particula yeae faced no major opponents. he has carried iowa twice in the general election andhost: from . republican line good morning. caller:, i have a question for you. guest: yes sir. caller: is it going -- will the

supreme court be able to overturn the colorado decision to keep him off the ballot?çs my view is that will likely be overturned. it will certainly be heard by the supreme court. there are a lot of issues with both trump per■dsonally with the 2024 election that may end up being adjudic art. that's going to be an important one. i think what happens with maine will in some respect to more important because that is a state where trumpelectoral vote. he's carried that congressional states that allocates electoral votes by congressional district. winning in both 2016 and 2020. some polling indicates seem could indicate -- win statewide. if blue states get trump off the ballot i am of theis is unlikelt

gets to the supreme court. but if it did, if blue states kicked trump off the ballot that does not particularly affect his ability toelection because winne by one vote versus one million , or getting zero votes doesn't make much difference in terms of if you get the states electoral votes. you lose a state you don't get any of their votes with the exceptofso trump wasn't likely n colorado. if he was going to win colorado there is not much chance of president biden being reelected. what can become a problem is some swing states start to exclude trump from the ballot. obviously th campaign and his allies will fight very hard le to prevent anything like that from happening. host: court today with e. jean carroll. other things concerning the

legal matters of the former president. what's the has not been a dragn his campaign? guest: it's truly remarkable. when you set7q the contrast with senator bob menendez of new jersey whose -- the reaction to senator menendez being indicted, this is the second time, ty wagt but this time around the reaction has been what you would politician being indicted to be, people look like they are trying to run him out of office. leading the charge to run him out of office are members of his own party. yet that has not been e case of former president trump. in fact his pollingsures have id since he's faced multiple indictments. i think trump has been very on a practical level in that a lot of the money that would be gog ton campaigns is

going to legal bills. the broader sense of they will be coming after you, they are coming after me■ bau i only thing standing between you and them. we have a t-tiered systemjustice criminal justice system against conservatives and republicans. and also republican voters there is just this pile on and it is to some degree■dthis seems to ae people want to nominate him even of the obvious risks of having a multi-indicted candidate 8 -- as your general election nominee. trump has been able to take this and turn it to his advantage. he's also been able to make his -- he does not have to go to a lot of these trials, he is choosing to do this. he's made some of these courtroom appearances campaign appearances. that was a concern when these

legal cases began is this would take him away from the campaign trail. but it has in the physical sense in that it has made him a little bit less obvious on the ground in places like iowa and new hampshire. him out front all the time and it■ keeps him goig out making his argument. press conferences after these courtroom appearances are effectively the rallies of 2024 and so far that's worked. host: jim antle on this conversation. 202-748-8000 for democrats, republicans 202-748-8001. . independent line from connecticut. you are on with our guest, good morning. caller: i had a question. are voting more ideologically with trump or with their pockets?

hate with -- hate his antics but they go my 401(k) did well when he was in office. how do you thinkzgguest: i thinf trump gets back in the white house it's going to be the voters who are voting on their pocketbook and voting on the idea■j that we thought we would get things more back to normal if we got rid of trump, that has t happened. those would be the decisive voters. there are enough voters who feel that way, trump can win a second term. in the republican primary i think it's a bit that as a moti. i think he has a core base with which he has a small emotional connection of people who think he is the only political leader

in america whotands them. and then yes i think there are some people who aree they view a conservative and others because he is not quite a traditional conventional conservive. they are drawn to this popism and some of the issues in which he deviates from the standard republican playb together of it so far has gotten him a majority and so it's up to ron desantis and nikki haley to demonstrate there are enough republicans things or reject enough of those things that you could have a competitive race. host: it was only -- the economy, a 50 2% of those president put immigration top that list. guest: immigration has always been a huge isit was a big issud

how he got himself to the right of candidates like marco rubio, whowise would've had a record of more association with various conservative viewpoint obviously talk about curtailing immigration to the united states was a very hot issue. for trumpbuild the wall was a he for trump in 2016. ron desantis in particular has tried to campaign on the basis of some of these immigration related campaign promises in particular either not complete or did not fully materialize making the argument at implementing the trump agenda than trump himself was. in the really early voting's of this race about a year ago it did seem like that argument was

making some headway. things have seemed to swing in opposite directions. >> nelson joins us from florida. republican line for you are on with our guest good morning. >> can you hear me ok? donald trump which is perfectly understandable. i would like toout joe biden who has shown himself to be a complete disaster as far as the presidency is concerned. mybiden more than anything is ts very clear deteriorating health. is there anybody in the mocratic party who really is concerned or should be concerned about mhealth including his wifo

seems to be covering for him and why can't the democratic party, up with a candidate who can go against joe biden in the primaries, a candidate that credibility and someone that would give an alternative for the american people in addition to donald trump as an alternative, the other candidates■ates on the ren side who i think would also make good presidents. guest: i think the dilemma for the democrats in this area, there are some democrats that are pretty concerned about president biden's age. if you look at polling,■] democrats age 30 and under in particular don't want him to be the nominee and his age is a major reason for that. but among even leading

democrats, davidod -- advisor fotalking about him beir to 90 than 80 in the end of the second term. you could suspect axelrod is familiar with obama's thinking on this subject. is primary challenges agnsnded to fail and they have not left the winner of the primary particularly in a strong position in the general election so tend to hurt or perceived to have hurt the -- the nominee and the general. it could be the case that its weaker incumbents who attract primary challengers in the first place so the causation mit not be what it is. rbut nevertheless, going backwa-

democrats lost that election. jimmy carter lost the election in 1980 after ted kennedy■ even the pat buchanan challenge against georgeby the 1992 genern loss. democrats i think for the most part gave it their best shot, look at all the younger who lost a biden in the 2020 primary many of whom dropped outey think biden may br best bet but are they nervous about it? host: danny, democrats line in orlando, go ahead. caller: i would jusmg[t like toy -- i would like to ask a ques■=tion. vet. never in my life did i think i would see our country bow down to that so pathetically

incorrab and they go along with anything that he does. i waever since james the black lady judge, all of these people prosecuting donald trump, they turned the tide where nobody black can prosecute him. they turn the going well. they feel like he's above all black people. so he's above the law. guest:o trump having this big passionate following is he also has a very big passionate group of people

who don't like him at all. and his favorability ratings are low, underwater for most of time in national political life. he's a very polarizing figure. if he is the nominee he will once again expect a very polarized electorate. the electorate was polarized when your have barack obama and george w. bush who i think were not actively attempting to polarize the nevertheless polarize the people's opinion, but donald trump is actively playing into the polarization. it's a big part of his politil it has kept him around but it's also been a dangerous way to live politically. >> when it comes to governor desantis or nikki haley, what faces their campaigns when it comes to funding iue versus fort

trump's? >> in iowa ron desantis arguably has the best ground operation. but that still yielded a 30.2 feet. he did beat nikki haley for second place but notaç by much. i think governor desantis will have to demonstrate if he could not win their, where is he going to win going forward. make that he would be better situated/6 in a two-person race against former president trump than nikki haley. but he doesn't have as clear a path as to how he will get there as nikki haley now does. i think that's his biggest challenge. i think for governor haley it will be can you actualize this y

in new hampshire. a big problem for desantis as they are going for strong theories as to why he would have various none of these theories have worked out in practice. i think she's going to have to demonstrate that she doesn't have a similar version of the problem. can she first win new hampshire. a state that is much more tailor-made for more tailor-made in than iowa was? and can she keep the momentum going? i think for right now she is not going to have a problem with donors. donors may even flocked to her with the perception that she is the last gal standing against the former president. she is going to have to try to win new hampshire and shoshe hay game and one home game. she can do that i think she will have to resources to keep going forward through super tuesday.

she can't, trump is going to start to look inevitable. host: constituencies does she already have? who does she have to reach out to? guest: i think there is a higher percentage of republicans in the state of new hampshire who are wieven among new hampshire republicans you don't■ have a never-trump majority, but you're starting with a much higher base of maybe one third or so of the primary electorate is willing to consider that. out cono is running a writing campaign because the dnc chose south carolina as their first primary state. a lot of independence -- independents will want to vote etitive game in town. nikki haley could potenalindepef

how john mccain won the primary against bush, and then 2008 the year he won the nomination. those of t are two core groups. the problem she and the santas has tried to run for the nomination this year, other than trump is, how do you run against trump without pitting yourself against the republican base? ! say, -- if you are essentially trump, why not vote for you are too anti-trump, people perceive it as anti-republican. trump has been able to use that to great effect. somebody's goio you're seeing nn into the generational chan and the idea that biden and trump collectively are both more of the same, and she is something different. host: jim antle of the washington examiner joining us that's here from an higher one

-- an iowan. as is bonnie. caller: want to talk about two things that impacted the results last night. the first is obviously the weather. at my location the would have expected, and that makes sense on a weekend when schools were closed friday and monday and churches were closed on sunday. quite simply, a lot of people chose not to brave that cold weather. that is unfortunate and that makes a difference. location did in fact choose ron desuantis narrowly over president trump, but also in 2016 when there was a contested caucus we did not choose president trump either. it is an interesting observation. my question is, what do you think about the debacle in, which allowed democrats to

choose not to meet in person last night, and therefore a number of them, as i observed, came in registered republican for one night so could vote in our caucus? guest: it is much easier to do in new hampshire, in effect, for people who are functionally democrats or swing voters to dissipate in the republican primary. much of that which happened in that is something nikki haley may be counting on in new hampshire. he saw a dynamic last night where a lot of the ted cruze from 2016 went to ron desantis. a lot of the marco rubio vote went to nikki haley. trump capped the trump boat, but trump picked up votes, relatively speaking, because curz --■p cruz beat him in the

■)2016 caucus. the weather was a big impact. now, trump's voters skewed older , so u would think if somebody's voters were going to be detd that doesn't seem to bee case. i have no doubt it had some impact, because turnout was definitely down. and the concern, i think, republicans in general should have, and particularly republicans running against that purely the weather? it certainly was cold. >> we will keep our 40-year commitment to live coverage to congress.