♪ ♪ finish. ♪ ♪ pete: fitting song for a fitting town. there will be some day drinking in buffalo ahead of their big game sunday night. adam: they did give me this. it's almost like it came through. [laughter] will: [inaudible] adam: yeah. that's what i miss. rachel: i find it so funny -- adam: i really applied. i'm not salty. [laughter] rachel: all right. awesome. pete: [inaudible] see you tomorrow. [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪

neil: well, this is it, the first in the nation if primary, and it's in new hampshire. 22 delegates at stake. i want you to think of that for just a second. it takes 1215 delegates to secure the republican nomination. at this rate and if he were to win this state, donald trump might have, well, about 30, 35 dell grates -- delegates. that's a long way to 1215. but the interesting aspect of this primary and this entire race is the belief that if donald trump does well here, he's all but wrapped up the nomination. for the next two hours, we're going to look at the risk and the reward of that kind of strategy and we -- remind you that sometimes coming in second here isn't the end of the world. in 1992 that honor went to one bill clinton who was called the comeback kid after scoring a silver again in new hampshire.

new hampshire will surprise you. it has a long history of doing just that. a lot of comebacks have been scored here. ronald reagan, after losing iowa in 1980, and then of course hillary clinton after losing iowa to barack obama in 2008. that led to a long and drawn out convention battle that would take us well into the summer. that was then, no idea what happens now if outside of this: new hampshire will prize you -- surprise you even if the numbers come out as you might expect. the race is that, well, diverse. and still not concluded. >> we're all interested in desantis. he's a great guy. >> don't worry about the polls. vote for who you think will be the best. >> president trump. he's a good man. >> thank you very much, new hampshire. thank you. go out and vote. [cheers and applause] >> i'm going to vote for her. >> yeah, definitely.

what she said. >> leave the negativity and the baggage behind and go forward with the solutions of the future. [cheers and applause] >> the battle is on. time is running out. who's about to rock the granite state? now live from bedford, new hampshire, "cavuto live." neil: welcome, welcome, everybody. i'm neil cavuto, so glad to have you. we are in new bedford, new hampshire. it's not quite as cold as iowa, but it's giving iowa a run for its money, but who am i to complain? fox on top of who will come out on top with three days to go. here's what we've got coming up in just the next couple of hours, republican presidential candidates nikki haley and ron desantis on their little battle -- bitter battle against donald trump. don't forget the drama on the democrat side, and this one's a weird one because hopefuls dean phillips and marianne williamson, they're both with here as they challenge an incumbent president who's not even on the ballot here.

a lot to get to, let's get to it with bryan llenas traveling the state. >> reporter: neil, good morning and welcome to new hampshire. no other candidate has more to lose here come tuesday than former governor nikki haley. she is making the most campaign stops, at least four, including right here in party boar if row -- peter borrow, new hampshire. she told us she was disappointed but not surprised about south carolina senator tim scott's decision to endorse former president donald trump at an event in concord, new hampshire, last night if even though haley appointed scott to the senate when she was governor of south carolina. here's scott explaining to fox news why he made that decision even though he said he wasn't going to endorse anyone in the primary. >> donald trump is the way that we unite our country, unite our party and get this nation pointed toward another american century. we'll just prove what we can do here in new hampshire and take

it home to south carolina. >> reporter: the daily tracking poll released morning shows haley in second, her support staying steady at 35% while trump's lead in new hampshire has grown slowly to 18 points. but the polls hale hi highlights most show her performing better against president biden than trump does including a new maris poll that shows haley beating biden in new hampshire and trump losing the state in a rematch. haley beats biden in that poll with independent voters by 14 points. we spoke to undependent voters who are supporting haley -- independent voters who are supporting haley last night. >> i did actually vote for biden the last election. and i'm not saying age is a big thing, but he does seem like he needs to take a rest, to tell you the truth. >> i really wanted chris christie. i've been paying attention to her campaign, and i think she's a good alternative to trump. i don't like trump.

>> i don't feel like he's presidential anymore. i want a strong presidential candidate. >> reporter: neil, you were talking about surprises here in new hampshire. while the haley campaign says they are hoping for high voter turnout, new hampshire's secretary of state says they are estimating the highest ever voter turnout for a republican primary here in the granite state. neil? neil: all right. thank you, my friend, very much, in the middle of that, bryan llenas. i did have a chance to catch up with nikki haley, she stopped by here. she did comment on the tim scott endorsement for president trump. take a look. >> south carolina is a blood sport. and i have dealt with the old guard and the fellas for a long time. i mean -- neil: but you appointed him senator. >> i did, and it was the right thing -- neil: did you feel like, hey? >> no, i mean, look, everybody has decision to make, and they have to live with their decision can. he'll have to live with his. what i know is we're going to continue to go forward. trump has focused a lot of time

on getting as many washington insiders, elected officials' endorsements as he can. if you notice, i haven't tried to do any of that. neil: right. how big a blow was that tim scott endorsement for her competitor? let's go to chris sununu, the governor of this fine state whos' been backing nikki haley. she's stumbling a little bit in the polls, but always good to see you, governor, especially in the flesh. >> it's real momentum. it's here. neil: great to see you -- >> do you feel the live free or die spirit? neil: well, i feel the cold. [laughter] >> that's the tingle. neil: let me is ask you about the tim scott endorsement. there's a little bit of tension, what do you think? >> look, as was noted, nikki actually gave him his e job with. i found it disrespectful more than anything. neil: that's what donald trump said about nikki haley. >> again, or nikki was tim scott's biggest supporter, no

doubt about it. tim scott looked in the camera and said donald trump's going to write the country. not even donald trump believes that statement. nobody believes donald trump is uniting the country. the u.s. senate has never been held accountable. so, again, they're kind of the most overpaid, overprivileged, underachieving bunch of career politicians, so the fact that they want donald trump back in there that never really gave them leadership or held them accountable where nikki haley is going to demand more out of the republicans in the u.s. senate -- neil: but still to support donald trump with all of that if he's the nominee. >> oh, in the general election? yeah. i think, a lot of -- neil: well, that's -- >> look at all the folks that used to support biden now looking for an alternative. even democrats are saying, boy, we've got to get biden out of office. i think you'll see a lot of folks galvanize around the republican candidate. nikki haley crushes bidens which means the senators win -- neil: she's not winning huge in

these polls, and and you've always -- >> against biden. neil: i understand. but she's not winning right now against donald trump in this state. does she have to win this state? >> oh, no. if she was winning huge against donald trump right now, people 's jaws would drop. that was never the expectation -- neil: when i talked with you a couple of months ago a, that's what you were promising. >> i didn't promise anything. the expectation we want is to build on the success of iowa. we want to make sure she comes out strong the -- neil: she didn't come out of iowa strong. >> she went from 2% to 20% -- neil: [inaudible] >> one point behind desantis who put everything he had into the state. and -- [inaudible conversations] neil: giving up on the notion she's not going to win the state. >> i'm sorry? if. neil: you've given up -- >> no, not at all. neil: but if she doesn't one, that's okay too? >> oh, absolutely. neil: you can have it both ways? >> she can win, she doesn't have to win. the goal was to the make it a

one-on-one race, trump, haley. it's happening way sooner than that -- neil: if she's getting within a few points is okay -- >> oh, huge. neil: but what if she's done by 10 points? >> again, as long as a i think we're seeing her able to build momentum out of iowa, carry that momentum into south carolina, that's exactly what -- neil: but are you worried about what her donors are saying, ken ken langone, who loves her to death, thinks she's great, but a lot of them are saying if she doesn't do well here, the checks stop. finish. >> that's ken langone. i like ken -- neil: other billionaires too. >> but you don't just need the billionaires. you want the people's support. she raised $24 million -- neil: oh, no doubt. but that slows to a trickle or a stop if she doesn't do well here. do you think that's real? >> no, i don't. people want to see that as a one-on-one race. going through her home state, building on momentum, and here's the thing about south carolina, the election's not for, like, three or four weeks.

he's got a lot of time -- neil: does she have have to win there? >> she has, again, buildology -- build on the mum. knievel neil i understand, we're quite early on in this process -- >> i can honest hi tell you i think the first state she absolutely has to win would be some of the states on super tuesday. but as long as you're building momentum until there, that's a success, and that's a success for the republican party -- neil: did it bug you when donald trump said she's really not considering, and i'm paraphrasing here, governor, for vp because she doesn't have, you know, foreign policy -- >> nikki doesn't have foreign policy chops? everything donald trump did was because of the -- neil: well, i probably misquoted, that she's not tough enough and that would be -- >> tough as nails. the reason tim scott is supporting nikki haley -- donald trump is because she's going to be so tough. she's going to demand results and accountability in government. that's the number one thing america wants. everybody wants government to

start performing. she's guilty a great record. neil: all right. so what will you be doing with her in this 7- hour crush -- 72-hour crush. >> i think from here i'm going to meet her in peterboro, we're all over the place. it's actually, i think we might even go to the hockey game tomorrow. we're kind of all over meeting candidates -- meeting voters everywhere. the momentum's real. like, if you follow her on the trail, you know, it's a sea of press, to be sure, but voters are coming out to the woodwork. the thing i love is when she does a town hall and says who's never heard me speak before? it's every hand that goes in the air, it's all new people -- neil: and you think that'll translate. >> oh, without a doubt. if we're going to have record turnout, if the weather holds out -- i was predicting perfect weather, i don't know if it will be, but it'll be pretty darn good. you just want as many new voters to come to the table as a possible. neil: all right. it is cold. it's a beautiful state. >> yeah. you think this is cold? come on.

neil: it's nothing like iowa, but a run for its money. it's a little better. a balmy 13 degrees? >> balmy. neil: all right. governor, always good seeing you. in the meantime, we will be talking to nikki haley, that full interview where she did express not prize, but a reaction to that tim scott endorsement for if donald trump. also ron desantis dison what he makes on the race and why he's focusing so much time on south carolina, after this. g0 va cash out loan at lower mortgage rates to pay off those high rate car loans. ♪ ♪ charlotte! charl! every day can be extraordinary with rich, creamy, delicious fage total yogurt. sara federico: at st. jude, we don't care who cures cancer.

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that in the eyes of many has given up on this state. obviously, juggling a lot of that time in south carolina. he says it's justified and he's going to do well in both states. rich edson in myrtle beach, south carolina, where the focus will be a little more than a couple of weeks from now. rich. >> reporter: good morning, neil. well, with the new hampshire primary three days away, governor ron desantis is going to be here at a surf-themed restaurant the in myrtle beach, south carolina. this state's primary is five weeks away leading his opponents to say he's given up on north -- or on new hampshire and instead is focusing on south carolina and what will very likely be a much more reaccepttive -- receptive republican beach. >> this is nikki haley's home state. she obviously can't beat donald trump there, so the question is, how does she navigate that and beyond, whereas with us we want to accumulate delegates. we have not spent a lot of resources there. we do have a great ground organization there. but as we get closer, yes, we

will be going to spend money there. >> reporter: now, the super pac if backing desantis, never back down, has been shedding staff after investing millions and months in iowa and finishing second. the campaign aide tells fox that the desantis campaign is moving the majority of its staff here to south carolina. the aide notes that desantis did campaign last night in new hampshire. he says he's going to return there very likely tomorrow evening. in about an hour, the governor will host a meet and greet at this restaurant, then take questions from voters in an event that his super pac is hosting. from here, he has stopovers near florence and columbia, the state capital, where nikki haley once governed this state. a desantis spokesperson says, quote, when nikki haley fails to win her home state, she'll be finished, and this will be a two-person race. we're wasting no time taking the fight directly to haley on her home turf. a haley spokesperson said that south carolina's a great state and that they hope desantis enjoys his vacation here.

desantis' schedule specifically for tomorrow is still unclear where with he's exactly going to be all this as donald trump continues to lead very much in the polls across the country. neil? neil: rich, sounds like a tough assignment there, but you're doing yeoman's work. keep it up. [laughter] >> reporter: a little better than iowa. neil: rich edson there. marianne williamson's running on the democratic side is. you don't hear hear a lot about that contest, but you will hear a loogett from her after this. kt and benefit choices. so you can reach today's financial goals. and look forward to a more confident future. voya, well planned, well invested, well protected. you give eye exams. i give fresh starts. better vision, healthy eyes? everybody wants that. "hero doc saves vision!" well, i— —"hero owl saves money!" get 50% off lenses when you buy designer frames at america's best.

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♪ ♪ neil: in new hampshire it's really the republican9 battle that's getting the attention. that's not to say the democrats aren't running in their own primary, but here's the thing, president joe biden isn't even on the ballot. i don't even know the last time

something like that happened, but it is a reminder just how little attention the democrats are paying to this particular state. but careful -- be careful how you look at the significance of that, because those who ignore new hampshire -- i'm thinking rudy giuliani back in 2008 -- often a live to regret it. all right. that's an interesting sort of a subset to this entire state and the attention afforded it but not by the president of the united states. as i said, it is unusual to not see joe biden's name on the democratic ballot here in the primary. lucas tomlinson following that, a lot more, out of rehoboth beach with the president. sir. >> reporter: well, neil, there's an old saying that a ship doesn't sail in yesterday's winds, but apparently the biden campaign isn't taking any chances. the president and the dnc not putting his name on the ballot as you just stated, neil, and let's remind our viewers how the president did back in 2020.

perhaps that's the reason the president isn't on the ballot. back in 2020 the president biden, then-candidate biden, ran fifth in the new hampshire primary finishing just ahead of tom steyer. just to remind you it was bernie sanders that won back in 2020 followed by pete buttigieg, then amy klobuchar, elizabeth warren, then joe biden ahead of tom steyer. now, despite biden not being on the ballot, we learned this week from our colleague, madison alworth, that that there's a shadow campaign to write biden's name on the ballot. he's also competing with the word ceasefire, neil, from anti-israel protesters. losing many young voters, a bloc he needs to win re-election according to many experts. biden is polling at the lowest level of any president running for re-election since national polling first was conducted at the end of world war ii. only 18% of the country right now supports his southern border policy, only 28% of the country thinks the oldest president in u.s. history has the mental

sharpness to serve effectively. that came from that abc news poll. earlier this week biden's deputy campaign manager appeared on "special report" with bret baier and was asked why biden is not appearing on the ballot. >> we're not engaged in that -- why not engage in that democratic primary? >> joe biden will be the democratic nominee for president, our campaign is building an apparatus that's going to take on whatever extreme maga republican that the republicans nominate. the congressman from minnesota has been very helpful to president biden, voting with him almost 99% of the time to get real things done for the american people, so we thank him for husband service. his service. >> reporter: of course, talking about dean phillips there who will be on the ballot. if it is a trump-biden rematch, it would be the first presidential rematch since 1956 when president eisenhower ran against aide laid stevenson again, and age was an issue back then too. no president in 1956 had ever been 70 years old.

ike was turning 70 and, obvious, had surgery and a stint in the if hospital, so many were questioning his age as well, neil. neil indeed they were. that was a long, long time ago. lucas, thank you very much. one person who is on the democratic ball ott is marianne williamson, presidential candidate. finally get to see you in the flesh. good to see you. >> it's always good to see you. thank you for having me. neil: what do you make of the president not being on the ballot? >> oh, it's outrageous, actually. the idea that the dnc feels entitled to just anoint the president, you know? i'm old enough to remember e when i was a teenager lyndon johnson was an incumbent president in and bobby kennedy sr. primaried him -- neil: well, bobby kennedy came afterwards, you're quite right. you think that's a risk that the president is losing a lot of people doing this? >> well, i think the people are watching. i think people are horrified. 70% of democrats have said they want to hear from other voices

as your coverage just showed. the president is very low in his numbers, maybe not not as low as it says, who knows? but there's a lot of rumbling out there, and people do not appreciate the fact that the, the nc has chosen to manipulate the process like this. neil: they don't want to hear from you, they don't want to hear from congressman phillips who will also be on this show that it's a coronation. >> that's right. neil: the party's nominee, end of story. he wouldn't be the first incumbent to try to pull that, but what do you think of that? because you're pushed to the side. >> i think we're going to see on tuesday what the voters of new hampshire have to say. new hampshire has stood up to the dnc so far on this when they try to remove it from the line, the state constitution says here, no, we're having our primary. when they wrote that ridiculous letter, make sure everybody knows it's meaningless now. the attorney general -- admittedly republican, but doing his job -- neil: why are you still a democrat? aren't you bitter the way the party treats you? >> i feel what a lot of my republican friends feel, that

the parties of our youth, the old republican party, the old democratic party, where'd they go? neil: why don't you go? >> i'm not jumping over to the republican party. neil: you're not? >> no. no, no, no, no. neil: no maga for you. so what do you do? you're kind of on the island of misfit toys. >> i'm here, and i think more and more people are waking up. it's interesting because in campaigning the last few days, a love -- a lot of granite staters still haven't made up their mind who they're voting for. i don't know if it's working that way on the republican side, but i think democrats in new hampshire are processing. on one hand, the dnc says you don't matter, on the other hand, please vote, write in joe biden. neil: so why didn't you pull an rfk jr. and just say i'm not here anymore? >> if i had $15 million in the bank, maybe that would have been a consideration. buttal -- neil: no labels? >> no, i believe in the trl valu of the democratic party. that's what i was brought up with, the unequivocal add slow

call city for the working people of the united states. i guess, at this point, i have an almost nostalgic connection to that, but a lot of people in this country are trying to stand up for traditional values in the face of onslaughts. onslaught from all kinds of undemocratic forces. and this is a moment when everybody is called in whatever sector when you're republican, whether you're a democrat, in whatever field you're in, stand up for what's decent, what's democratic and what's true. and that's what i feel i'm trying to do with this race. i think it's what millions of americans are trying to do. neil: well, we'll see tuesday what happens with that. marianne williamson, always good to see you. >> thank you. neil: again, the president not on the ballot with the democrats. is she is, so we'll focus on that. also focusing on ron desantis and his strategy now, all but giving up on new hampshire, focusing on south carolina. why he's doing all of that, after this.

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♪ neil: all right. this just in, in case you bond whoered, ron desantis telling me he is not opting out. take a look. >> -- the day after the primary or the caucus in the iowa, and people were actually reporting that i was skipping it when i'm literally here doing events just because i did a stopover in south carolina. but, look, i always knew new hampshire is a momentum if play after iowa, and i faced a barrage of 50 million attacking

me leading into iowa, and, you know, we were able to scrape a second which under the circumstances, i think, was good. however, you know, donald trump posted the victory. so i think he's benefiting from momentum here. so we haven't spent very much money here. nikki haley is spending an inordinate amount of money here. i just talked to a voter that said in one day they got seven is mailers from nikki haley in their mailbox, and i'm just thinking to myself, what, the first six you're not going to vote, but i somehow that magic seventh mailer going to do the trick? i think a lot of trees are being killed for that campaign. the reality is she's not going to be competitive with donald trump on the ground here. that's clear from talking to voters. but i have taken more questions from voters in new hampshire this week than the other two candidates combined, and i'm going to do more tonight. neil: all right. of course donald trump, you know, leads her by less than he leads you. he leads you by a country mile.

and you're quite right, governor, polls change, conditions change and who knows what can happen. but i do notice just from the ads and the campaign that donald trump is waging his attacks are almost solely focused on nikki haley and not you with. he doesn't even mention you. it's like you're invisible. >> well, i mean -- [laughter] i don't think he's mentioned anybody more than me over the last year. that's been constant. but with i do think haley has spent a massive amount of money here. she's trying to appeal to liberal voters who are allowed to vote in this primary. you don't have to be a registered republican. if you're unenrolled, you can do it. so she has a bigtime campaign doing it. just like in iowa, she focused on getting democrats, liberal voters, to come caucus for her. so she's doing that. so i think that she's performed better in polls than she would if it was just the normal republican primary. so i do think they're seeing that. but i think she just -- i think a lot of it's a factor of her dumping so much money into the state, i think an unprecedented

amount of money for that. so you obviously are going to see numbers with that. but i think her problem is, is trump will runaway with it -- run away with it in new hampshire. i think that's pretty clear at this point, he's got the momentum from iowa, and i don't think anyone thinks she can beat trump in her e home state of south carolina. neil: he's running away with it in south carolina as well. this tim scott encoursement might grease -- endorsement might grease the skids for that. so or what are your options? where do you go? >> he's the thing, i think what iowa showed is he got half the vote which is good, really good in a normal caucus season, but i think he's a de facto incumbent president that is the most famous person in politics. and so that was telling, that you had half the people roughly that opted for someone else. now, what i do think we saw in iowa and what you're probably going to see on tuesday in new hampshire and beyond is there are a lot of voters that are just, that were resigned that we were targeting, that that we're interested in another choice,

but they did kind of buy into the inevitability argument. and i think's part of the reason why the turnout was so low. because i think that they just said, well, why go out and do it if trump is running away from it. so that is going to continue to be the inevitability thing, and so we've got to just let voters know, hey, you know, what does november 2024 look like? if how is donald trump going to navigate all the things that he's going to have to navigate? you notice the democrats are licking their chops. the democrats want to see trump as the nominee. that is not anything that i think is a secret because they have a playbook that they're going to roll out. neil: it's easy to pile on someone when they're having hard polling times as you are, governor. but the headlines are piercing. desantis in survival mode, shaken by desantis and a wider margin for nikki haley. it's nick nikki haley's contest to lose versus you. desantis is running the worst campaign in human history.

dead man walking. i mean, you're a human being. you're seeing and hearing all of that and the marco rubio, your state senator, who says i'm supporting donald trump. i mean, that's got to hurt. >> no, i mean, that's just percent of the business. i can take the arrows, i don't care. i remember during covid they were saying all that about me and worse because i actually was fighting against fauci and fighting against the lockdowns, and they said that i was dead, they said that i was making a mistake. and the rest is history now. nobody looks back at that and criticizes me. they pretend like they were on my side. so some of this stuff is those folks have been writing that stuff for years and years. that's just the nature of it. i can tell you this though, if you look at a iowa, you know, we did it right. we got the endorsement of the governor. we won the debates, the miami debate, the newsom debate, the news nation debate, the cnn debate. we did televised town halls, you know, did -- neil: but you didn't win a single county, right?

if you didn't win a single -- >> well, here's the thing finish. neil: -- to your credit, but you didn't win a single one. >> but i also had, i mean, you know, how many people would have been able to handle $50 million in ads? how many people would have been able to handle all the headwinds we did? we had a very uphill battle. we dug in and we executed, and we did run hard. we did do well. and what we got was traditionally what is considered good in a caucus. nobody's gotten 50% before, you know? this is something when you have a de facto incumbent president. neil: i don't want to get ahead of things, governor, but in looking at this and you've been very, as i said, looking at yourself and the campaign and regrets and other things that you did, do you regret making the move this year, many were saying you're a young man, you could wait until '28. what do you think in retrospect? >> i didn't run to be somebody, i ran to do something. 2024's a time for choosing for

this country. we have four more years of this, we're going to be in a tough time to dig out of it. i think it'll take perhaps aration. i've always been skeptical about donald trump's ability to win a general election. and i remain that. and so i couldn't have just sat on the sidelines and not done it when i had the opportunity to make a difference. and we'll see how it ends up working out over the next, over the rest of the balance of the year. but leadership is about taking the reins. it doesn't matter if it's an uphill battle. it's not about trying to protect your own political hide, it's not about trying to position yourself down the road. if there's an opportunity to lead, you take it. and that's what we did. so that was the right thing to do. if i had been sitting on the sidelines and republicans end up losing in '24, people then would have said, oh, well, you had an opportunity to do something and you didn't. so anyone can state there and carp on the sidelines -- sit there and carp on the sidelines. get in the arena and fight for what you believe in.

and you notice, neil, some of the criticisms about, oh, the campaign and the process stuff, no one throughout this whole campaign really has laid a glove on my actual leadership. no one will say that,s man, if a hurricane comes, desantis isn't going to -- even concedes that. they're not going to say that, oh, he's not willing to take on the left. everyone concedes that we beat the left in florida, and the democratic party is now lying in ruins. everyone concedes that we had huge victories. everyone concedes that we managed covid in a way that's put our state on a great trajectory. so none of them are about leadership or substance, and president is ultimately an office about leadership and who can deliver that and who can deliver the results. and so i'm -- it's interesting of all the, of all the criticism, usually they don't have anything to point to in terms of actual performance in office. and i just don't think that there's anyone that ran this year that can match the 100% promises delivered on, and that's e what you should expect from your public officials.

neil: all right. and they're all, you know, trailing donald trump as we speak. what is your relationship with donald trump now? i mean, would you support him if it looks like he is the party nominee? >> well, i signed the pledge, i'm never somebody that takes his ball and goes home. and so that's just how i am. i mean, i don't take any of this stuff personally because it's not about me. it's about a larger, a larger effort, a larger movement, you know? i do think that we've had some in the party that have made their entire political per see that around -- can persona around just kissing trump's ring regardless of substance, and for me, a leader 's only worth what they're delivering in substance. so i think it's important that all of us are held accountable for what we're doing. i don't want to see the party go request, veer far left on some of these issues, and i think you've got to be willing to stand in this and fight on all these things. but the democrats are a menace. we've shown in florida how you're able to beat the democrats. i wish we could start getting

some victories like that naturally. lord knows they're failing on the budget again, they're not getting cone at the border -- done at the border what people want, and so there's a lot of cynicism and frustration out here when i'm talking to voters about the performance of republicans in washington. neil: you know, there is talk that if donald trump proceeds and does as well as he's doing -- and it's very early to your point, governor, i get what you're saying -- that he, in looking for a running mate, the first quality seems to be intensely loyal. what do you think of that and the list of candidates who would fill that niche? >> well, what i always tell people is, you know, as a leader, my loyalty is to my family, the constitution and to the good lord. and that's really how you have to be an or colored. politicians -- anchored. politicians come and go. politicians are useful to the extent that they're advancing things that you believe in. so when i fill positions, i don't look at it about, you know, whether they're blowing

smoke up my rear end or kissing my rump are. what i look at is, is this a person that is going to be able to withstand the fire, show the backbone necessary to actually bring about the type of change that we need. because when you're doing conservative things particularly in washington, you are not going to be loved by the people that inhabit washington, you're not going to be loved by the media. so i look for those things. and i think if they're loyal to the cause and they're loyal to the issues that matter, it doesn't necessarily matter whether they supported me in the past, they're going to do a good job. if they don't have that foundation and they're not willing to sit in the fire and fight for what's right, then it doesn't matter if they say nice things about you. they're ultimately not going to get the job done. neil: all right. ron desantis here. we'll be hearing, no do you want, more from him as he kris crosses now south carolina. in the meantime, an update for you on these strikes against hugh think -- houthi rebels. the seventh such attack on houthi rebel sites in just over

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neil: all right, houthis in the backing down despite u.s. strikes against them largely in yemen and not, well, slowing down. griff jenkins has more from washington. what's going on now, griff? >> reporter: hey, neil. just moments ago before this hit we learned from central command that at approximately 4 a.m. yemen time this morning u.s. central command forces took out another iranian-backed houthi rebel anti-ship missile. that was is sitting on a launch pad if ready to fire at commercial ships and it was deemed an imminent threat, and they took the shot. it is the seventh time that the u.s. has struck houthi sites in yemen in just over a week. and, neil, having been a reporter at the pentagon earlier this week, they told us that we can expect a continuation of what they described as these dynamic u.s. strikes meaning that when cent-com intelligence

sees something like this imminent threat, like these missiles sitting op launch pads, then they, of course, will strike and destroy what they say is in self-defefnlts nsc spokesman john kirby had this to say yesterday. >> the houthis need to stop these attacks. they can make that choice. clearly, they're made -- they've made opposite choices. so we have choices the make too, and we have options available to us as well. we'll continue to explore those options. clearly, one of the options that we are and will continue to take are in the military realm, if needed. >> reporter: and, neil, you're so right, the houthis are not backing down, continuing to fire these iranian-provided missiles into the red sea and gulf of today ash a -- aden. they struck three separate u.s.-owned commercial vessels in just this past week, since monday. fortunately, those ship captains reported no injuries and only minor if damage to the ships. president biden even acknowledging as much. listen here. >> reporter: are the

airstrikes in yemen working? >> well, when you say working, are they stopping the houthis? no. are they going to continue? yes. >> reporter: finally, neil, we have no update on those two missing u.s. navy seals that went missing last week, and that operation that seized the weapons bound for the houthis, cent come just saying that the -- centcom just saying that the search and rescue mission continues. neil: thank you, griff jenkins. you you know about this back and forth on maine wanting to take donald trump off the ballot, the judge saying i'll wait to hear from the supreme court of the united states. he's not alone. after this. i get gas. [laughing] get a little slack on pump three! earn big with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours.

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♪ ♪ neil: well, we'll probably be up to the united states supreme

court to settle this issue of whose name appears on the ballot. maine and colorado, as you know, have been very, very busy trying to get donald trump's name off it. now a maine judge is banning mr, she certainly wants to hear first from the supreme court. that could settle this issue once and for all. i believe they're going to have a hearing on it among the supreme justices on february 8th. david scanlon, in the meantime, joins us, the new hampshire secretary of state is. he isn't endorsing anyone, this isn't political for him. he's just saying right now the move to remove the former president's name from the ballot in his state just wasn't happening. he was getting a great deal of pressure to remove it anyway, didn't want to get in the middle of that. secretary, good to have you. what was your thinking behind that, holding off in there have been a number of pushes nationwide to get him off the ballot. what do you think? >> new hampshire was one of the first states where this issue was raised. there were some constitutional academics that produced a white paper, there were some politicians in new hampshire that were trying to promote the

idea. i worked with the attorney general in the state, and we took a look at the statute and the constitution, and in new hampshire it's very clear that to run for president a candidate must meet the article ii, section one qualifications which is 35 years old, natural born united states citizen and have lived in the country for 14 years. and that -- neil: it's simple, isn't it? basically. what if indictments come up? do convictions change things? all sorts of news on that. >> we've had candidates run in the new hampshire presidential primary from prison. neil: is that right? >> they were incarcerated felon- neil: it's not just the cold weather here. things can get weird, okay. laugh. >> not. as long as they meet those constitutional requires, which are very easy to prove or disprove, the name goes on the ballot. neil: you know, it is a slippery slope, to your point, no matter how you feel about donald trump or any if other candidate that might be exposed to this, that it could be open season on just

removing a candidate you don't like from the if ballot. it's a leap and maybe you're not comfortable predicting that. how do you think the supreme court weighs in on this? >> i don't want to predict how the supreme court is going to weigh in, but the part othe thought process in making our decision was that the, it's a slippery slope because there are many elected offices that apply federal and state, and if you have an individual that all of a sudden has the discretion on whether somebody's guilty of an surrecon or not without due process, that could be abused in the future. and the other thing to remember is that the process we're going through now are the nominating events of each state to choose delegates for the convention. some hold primaries, some hold caucuses, some are party-run, some are state-run are. and this is not the arena where this particular issue -- neil: would a conviction change any of that? >> i don't believe so. neil: like you said, people have

run from prison. >> the supreme court has to make a decision on how, you know, this situation plays out. neil: i got it. all right, secretary, thank you very much. dan scanlon, the new hampshire secretary of state. that's a pressure cook orer of a job right there. in the meantime, talk about a pressure cooker as a it gets to nikki haley and donald trump, donald trump said some choice things about her last night. a lot of people who were reading into how he was referring to her as outright racist. we'll explore and explain, and nikki haley will respond after this. for veteran homeowners, it's easy as 1-2-3. one: call newday and apply. two: take out an average of $70,000. three: pay off your credit cards

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>> you know, they like to call me the numbers geek here at fox because, well, i'm the numbers geek here at fox and one number that stood out to me is the notion, well, winning a primary, winning a caucus, versus the expectations for that primary o