c-an you can watch all our campaign coverage with c-spanowour free video app, or online at c-span.org. ♪ >> watch c-spa■>n's mpaign 2024 coverage of the new hampshire primary as the candidates make their final pitches to primary goes before the granite states first in the nation contest that will feature campaign analysis with new hampshire political reporters. we put take your calls and get your reaction on social media. coverage of the new hampshire primary now through primary not tuesday on the c-span network, c-span now, or c-span.org/campaign 2024. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. ♪ c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these

television companies and more, including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we are getting started building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> welcome back. we are joined by paul steinhauser, a national political reporter for fox news and a political reporter for to. he is joining us from new hampshire. welcome to the program. guest: great to join you. it is in the mid-teens here. a frosty morning in new hampshire. host: but an improvement from when you were in iowa last week. guest: very much so. i am used to the winter living up here, but it was extra cold in iowa. host: let's talk about new

hampshire. what role historically does new hampshire primary play in presidential politics? guest: a very important one. with iowa, it is a 12 punch. the job of iowa and new hampshire is to win the field, maybe not dictate the nominees for the parties but to win the field. we saw iowa do that. a couple of candidates dropping out before and after the weasels came in, maybe new hampshire will do that, as well. it has been a traditional role in both leadoff contests. host: the historical role is different from this year, ough guest: there is a little controversy this year. the republicans, they have kept everything the same. isla first, new hampshire second. up their calendar. it was almost a year ago that the democratic national committee voted to change things, to■@ up the traditional calendar after a suggestion i president biden. they moved new hampshire off,

away from its traditional role of the primary calendar as the first primary, always going after iowa, which is a caucus. that was controversial. they put south carolina first. democrats up did not like that. we have a state law in no hampshire -- new hampshire that says, we hold the first primary and we have stuck with that law. that is why new hampshire is having a democratic primary on tuesday, as well as the public and primary. on the democratic side, it is out of whack, unsanctioned because it is in violation of the democraticiopresident bidene democratic national committee did not think in this primary,tn his behalf, but he will not be on the ballot. the two longshot candidates challenging the president, marianne williamson and democratic rep -- of minnesota are campaigning. host:n, in

addition to the campaign to encourage joe biden as a write in candidate, i have read there is a campaign for people to write in cease fire as a protest of what is going on in israel and gaza. guest: that came about in recent weeks, as well. as you know, there is very much a divide among democrats over the situation right now, the fighting between israel and hamas in gaza. that is very much a controversial sticking point for democrats. this is a form of protest. host: let's talk about the gop ra where do the gop candidates stand in new hampshire right now? guest: that is where most of the action is, that is where most of the votes will happen on the republican side. right now, you saw the results in iowa. very low turnout, only 110,000. the cold was one reason, but i think another reason was a lot of republicans felt warmer president trump would dominate and he did do that in iowa.

counties. he comes to new hampshire with a lot of momentum and as the favorite. the favorite in this contest. the polls indicate that former ambassador to the united nations and former south carolina governor nikki haley in second place, anywhere from 16 points behind trump and a distant third place is ron desantis, the florida governor who came in second in iowa not much of a factor here. those are the three candidates left ithis race on the republican side. host: over to the democratic side, earlier this week, 2024 democratic presidential candidate and minnesota representative dean phillips spoke to voters in manchester and criticized the nations two-party system and calls for more competitive primaries. #qhere are some of his comments. [video clip] >> this two-party system is actually very threat to the

country that about so long ago n his farewell address. if george washington warned us about that, should we not take a moment and are flat onas? he recognized, he called them factions -- which by the way, did not exist when he was president. ■the said factions would underme this democracy when people became so focused on beating each other that they lose focus on trying to win for this country. he is right. i only joined coress after 2016 election and i found my daughter and peers in her bedroom. she had overcom hodgkin's lymphoma, she is a gay woman. i did not know that at the time. i sat at my table t and i promised my daughters i would do something. i ran for congress. little did i know how bad it was. howoffensively separate both leaders on both sides of the aisle have been for generations.

this is sickeningly broken. yes, we need competition. i am a proud democrat telling all of you we need opposition. i think both political parties need competition. they do not want it. they want to protect a duopoly that destructive to this democracy. there is nothing more than allowing two political parties that are private enterprises from seizing this country from all of us. who are these people? who are these people behind that curtain pulling these levers? who are they? isn't it strange in america we do not know who they are? i have been running as a democrat because i intend repaty and integrity to a party in which i deeply believe that has done this country a great service over the last number of decades but has lost its way and is clearly the gop has, as well. host: how well is that message resonating in new hampsre■?

guest: you get a little taste of the dean phillips stump speech. you can tell he is running as an outsider. critical of both party stit is resonating along some democrats. of democrats overall in new hampshire, our support of president biden, they do not want to see donald trump back in the white house but they are also frustrated with the president. and the part for stripping new hampshire of its first in the nation status in the democratic calendar. his message is resonating. he is getting so ctake the polle anywhere from single digits to the upper teens or over 20%. we will find out on tuesday just how his message has been received in new hampshire, but from the looks of it, there are people that definitely will be supporting him. host: we will be taking your calls for paul coming up in a bit. our numbers for democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001.

independents, (202) 748-8002. if you are in new hampshire and he would like to join the show, that number four you is (202) 748-8003. for folks in new hampshire. speaking of that, paul, how do new hampshire voters differ caus of ideology and what motivates them to vote? guest: i used to be a purple state -- iowa used to be a purple state. it has become much more conservative. republicans have done very well at the ballot boxnew hampshire a dozen through battleground states. we have a republican governor, a legislature that is majority republicans and the executive council also controlled by their publicans. our congressional delegation is entirely democrats. we are very much a battleground state. call it what you will. we state where

independent voters, we call undeclared voters up here, they are influential in our president to primary. they make up about 40% of the electorate. we can vote either the democrat or republican primary. we c go into the polling station, register and get a republican ticket card or democrat card, cast our ballots and go back and reregister as an indendent. yes, moderate voters and independent voters in new hampshire are very influential and will probably once primary and especially on the republican side where nikki haley is counting on that independent vote and moderates for her support against trump, who has the backing of the more conservative voters in the state. host: just to back up those points you were making, we have got a chart of the new hampshire voter registration and how that breaks down. you have got about 268,000 republicans, 31% of the

electote. 262,000 democrats, 30%, but unaffiliated voters you were just talking about, 343,000, 39%. more of them than anybody else. why is that the case in new hampshire, compared to other evenly split or lean heavily one way or another? guest: we have seen that the rn independent voters with a lot of voters no longer declaring themselves democrats or republicans, it is more pronounced in new hampshe.fair . the election year is fiercely independent. we have a motto of livfr die. they are known as late deciders. the polls say one thing, but a lot of people go into that ballot boxdecision in the last f hours before the vote. our secretary of state dave scanlon addicting the other

we hundred 22,000 people would vote in the republican primary and predicting 88 house and in the democratic primary. we will see if those numbers can out. regardless, that would be a lot larger than the caucuses in iowa. host: so money peoplare orms in this race in particular. new hampshire governor chris sununu is supporting her. how much of a difference will it make? guest: it has already helped. when he endorsed her five weeks ago in new hampshire, it gave her an instant boost in the polls. with donald trump -- he closed the gap with donald trump. sununu is her top advisor, mapping out where she stops on the campaign trail. yesterday, the first of seven or eight stops was in the general store to my home in newfield where he lives, as well.

retail politics is a very, very important part of new hampshire politics, has long been a major part of the primary. sue knew new is emphasizing that -- sununu is emphasizing that with haley. it has been a traditional part of new hampshire's politicing. they are emphasizing that in their final days. host: let's get to mike in new jersey on our independent line. go ahead, mike. caller: yeah, good morning, paul. thank you for being on and stay warm. bi just want some specifics. can you tell me of the democrats,■n they are listed on the ballot. dean phillips, -- is cornell west on the ballot? thankou. guest: they are not on the ballot, west and stein -- west is now an independent candidate and is running on the

green party. this is a democratic primary. they will come into play in the general election, but this is a prary process so they will not be on the democratic primary ballot. dean williams will be, marion williams will be. whose name will not be on the democratic pallet? president biden. he did not register up here. as we talked about. there is a big write in campaign that top democrats in the state are supporting to try tothe lasn though this is an unsanctioned primary, the last thing a lot of democrats one is for biden to suffer embarrassment here. i spoke to phillips yesterday, he thinks he can surprise and do well here. i think he is looking to finish inhe double digi. he feels that will give him enough juice to march on. he will not be in the nevada primary. the next thing up for the democrats will be the primary in

south carolina. joe biden will be on the ballot in south carolina. that was the state in 202 hlandh carolina after getting punished in iowa. biden came in fifth in new hampshire, but rebounded with a second-place finish in the bata that huge landslide victory in south carolina that boosted him to the nomination and eventually, the white house. host: one of the other arguments the democrats make for south carolina being the first primary is the demographics. if we look at the of new hampshire, it is 89% white and home to the minorities. we have a chart here. almost 89% white, under 5% hispanic and latino, 2% african-american. 3.2% asian. the argument being with south carolina being 69% white, 26 percent black, south carolina being more representative especially in a democratic ar this has been an argument

for quite some time in the democratic primary process. iowa and new hampshire -- this has be■ goi o cycles. the democratic party over the last generation or two has become much more diverse. there has been a lot of pushback, two caucasian states in iowa and new hampshire, they also do not have large urban areas, going first. new hampshire, keeping to its guns and holding to its state law and holding this unsanctioned primary on the democratic side. this has been a fight going on for a long time. iowa and new hampshire kept winning the until this cycle when president biden came up with this new calendar that puts south carolina first. host:■ daniel in illinois on our independent line. go ahead, daniel. caller: good morning. what i want to know is, how is donald trump a victor when only

15% of registered republicans showed up in iowa? because this number affects new hampshire as all, as far as republicans showing up to the polls for this primary. this is not ap. host: what do you think about that, paul? guest: you kno8w, le'. yes, 110,000 people took part in the iowa republican presidential caucuses. that was down from 186,000 last had a contested contest in 2016 when ted cruz narrowly defeatedd senator marcr first place. you are looking at a dramatic drop in the number of participants in iowa. it was a low turnout. why was it low? two reasons. it was freezing. i am a new hampshire guy. i am used to winter. it was subpar take -- subarctic.

he blizzard slammed in iowa to three days ago before the caucuses. the idea donald trump was going to win these caucuses big time, that helped depress the boat. nikki haley and ron desantis have been pointing this out nonstop ends monday that this was not a victory for donald trump and should be a troubling sign that only adminte number of republicans came out to vote and he only won as the incumbent, even though he is not. he isy2nsidered the incumbent in this primary battle that he only won about 50% of the vote. trump world is happy with the results in iowa and calling it a major victory. haley and santos see it a different way -- desantis see it a different way. host: bonnie on our independent line. caller: this whole week reminds me of a quote from winston churchill.

by the time an american gets to be president, he is no longer qualified. i look at the)g arena of politicians who criticize trump for his obvious lies, criminal behaviors, cheating on his wifes american people. yet, now they are jumping on his bandwagon so that they can perhaps pursue or further their own careers. picture in mind, tim scott. 7as a registered nurse, i find t very disconcerting that we have two very senior citizenscountry, presumably. these are the men that get up five times a night to pee becausth. host: ok. i wonder how the age argument is landing in new hampshire. guest: new hampshire is like the rest of the country. there has been poll after poll

that indicate most americans are not very jd ll with a trump-biden rematch in the general election in 2024. age is a big part of that. we have joe biden, the oldest president in u.s. history, donald trump, only a few years younger than him. it is a major, major factor for americans, if you believe polling, are not looking forward to seeing these two gentlemen as the major party standardbearers in november. host: someone we haven't chatted about yet is ron desantis. he is at a campaign event in new hampshire yesterday, criticizing both of his top rivals for their record and their unwillingness to debate ahead of the states primary. t's listen to him for a bit. [video clip] >> i think that the choice on tuesday is simple. donald trump is running for his issues. nikki haley is running for the donors issues.

i am running for your issues and your families issues and solely to turn this country around. i am the only one running that has a record of delivering on 100% of my promises. donald trump ran on a lot of things in 2016. i was at the rally. build the wall, have mexico pay for it. did not deliver. drain the swamp, did not deliver. hold hillary accountable, did not deliver. on and on it does, there were promises made but there was not the follow-through. nikki it is interesting. i was in south carolina the other day. i had 1000 people rally. i said, south carolina and, what did she accomplish as governor that was a major achievement? can you tell me? not a single person raise their hand with anything that she achieved. spoke to 1000 republicans in florida and you ask them what i achieved as governor, you would have shooting up.

being in any elected office is not just being a potted plant. it is leading and delivering results. i am sick ofbeing about entertainment and all of this other stuff. deliver results for the people. that is all you are judged on is articulating that vision in bringing it to fruition. it is sad, if you look at what is going on in new hampshire -- in iowa, we didn't do one, these othertes are running basement campaigns. they will stick their head out every now and then. they will not debate. we were suosed to do the debate last night. i signed up to do it, no one else would do it. had another when offered on cnn on sunday. i accepted it, no one else accepted it. why not? your record and articulate your vision?

i am proud of my record. i am proud of our vision for america. i would take any opportunity to do that. they are not doing it. i think it is something that should concern republican voters. host: back with paul steiau . how is ron desantis doing in new hampshire? what are the stakes in this race for him? believe the polling here, he is not doing well. he is a distant third in new hampshire in the single digits where haleys about 15 points behind donald trump as they battle for first place. it does not appear to be much of a factor here. haleyolron desantis was invisibn new hampshire. she has been framing this as a two-person race in new hampshire. she came in third in iowa, but in her speech monday night in des moines after the caucuses looking ahead to new hampshire and south carolina, she started to f race, rightfully or wrongfully, as a two-person

race between her and the former president. desantis, new hampshire, not bu. he is either resigned to the fact they are not going to perform so well. where is he this weekend? not here. he was in new hampshire friday campaigning era today and tomorrow, he will be in south carolina. they hold their contest on february 20 fourth, state to hoa republican contest. nevada has a caucus and primary, but it is convoluted. that comes in early february. desantis taking shots at both haley and trump for the lack of debates here, th5rq■a■

>> that will deftly come into

play. they could change their voter registration. the deadline is over. sam change their registration om democrat to undeclared or independent. those voters can vote in either primarthere is a process to allr that. donald trump has been saying they can vote in that primary. by that time has passed. >> go ahead. >> i am concerned about people

discussing nikki haley as a moderate. she is a warmonger. she is interested in war with iran, russia. china. moderate is unbelievable to me. i don't understand that. >> is she considered a moderate? >> let's talk about what the other candidates are saying. we were talking about foreign policy. ■that really was republican

policy for decades and decades. until they reshaped the party. there is a high percentage of veterans in this state. they are top issues. especially when it becomes the primary. >> i heard you say joe biden is winning. he is ahead.

nikki haley would be edging biden here in the state. thisit is very close. caller: the question is, donald trump it's out of there and he lies about everything. you know, just like he was saying he was lying about the democrats voting in the republican campaign. i just wonder why people let him get away with stuff. in reference to this book, trump's war on capitalism, it is telling everything he lied about and this guy david stockman is

saying donald trump was the worst president ever. the republicans, they do not want to hear anything. they do not want to see anything. they do not want to hear anything bad about donald trump. host: let's see if we can get another -- a couple more questions for paul before we have to let him go. brian on the democratic five. go ahead. caller: my comment is really about how the press generally is reporting the results on the primary for trump, typically the way i believe they would in a primary for biden based on how they talk about polling for biden. that being, we just had the iowa results. donald trump only garnered 50% of the vote. he is the incumbent president of

the reblarhas had -- along comes a primary, he garners only 50%. there are lots of reports saying he won by a landslide because he had a 20% lead or 30% lead over desantis and nikki haley. but, he actually only got 50%. host: did you have a question for paul? we only have a couple of minutes left. caller: only 50% of the people voted. he did not win. that is a terrible loss. people should be reporting that. host: thanks, brian. let's go to richard in wisconsin on our independent line. caller: good morning. i have something a little different. where i work, there is 93 workers. 56 of us are married or living with somebody.

we have our own polling box so no one knows how somebody voted. come to find out, we are democrat, republican and independents. , again, nobody here wants to vote for the republicans. democrats will vote for biden. independents are talking about what we found out, will vote for biden. nobody, the republicans people said that if trump is on the ballot box, they will not vote at all. host: any thoughts on that, paul? guest: that is an interestingco. there are plenty of people who do not want to see donald trump returned to the white house. that is crystal clear. not just democrats. at the same time, donald trump still has a lot of support in

the republican party. people say that the party is still firmly under his grip. host: we are going to get in one more quick call from patrick in new hampshire who is a republican. go ahead, patrick. turn down your volume on your tv. caller: hold on. yep. i will take it easy on you. how annoying is that ear piece you have? host: [laughter] guest: [laughter] it keeps falling out, but that is ok. i appreciate the concern. host: all right, where there any other questions about the election before we let you go? caller: ahcan. i am going to vote for trump. i did last time. i hope that everybody, if you have a family that you are working your butt off for, like me and my wife are, if you have fallen behind the last three years, hopefully in november, we can change all of that. hopefully, you are on board with us, john. hopefully, we can get back to some normalcy and someone that is not cognitively declining. that would be nice. host: thanks, patrick.

any final thoughts from you, paul, before we let you go? guest: you heard that, there. the former president made history last year, first former president to be indicted. not just once, four times. in two cases for try to overthrow the 2020 election results. in a way, that has only made him stpular with a lot of people in the base of the republican party. we saw that play out in iowa. it was a landslide factory -- victory, but a low turnout. new hampshire is going to be interesting.■9 will donald trump's ride continue to the nomination or will he face a major speedbump in the state with nikki haley■w giving him a run for the money? we will find out on tuesday night. if trump does not have a big victory, we may have a fight

ahead of ourselves. tuesday night will be very interesting. >> we will look forward to hearing more reporting on that. he is a national reporter for fox news. here is a story from the new york times looking at this issue. iran accuses israel of killing intelligence operatwo senior ins were killed. ■4xmilitary advisers were kille.

the chief of intelligence was among those killed. this strike was the latest sign that iran is getting pulled more into regional turmoil. iran is a longtime supporter of hamas. if we go to the wall street there is a map of where some of those conflicts are playing out in the region. you can see that iran filed missiles into iraq and syria.

israel is battling hamas in gaza. while skirmishes continue in the west bank. yemen launched rockets toward israel. here in the u.s., the national security council spokesmannd -- had a white house briefing on wednesday. he fielded several questions. here's a portion of those comments.