will that be enough for ron desantis tonight?- ron desantis tonight? and — ron desantis tonight? i don't know, and first _ ron desantis tonight? i don't know, and first of _ ron desantis tonight? i don't know, and first of all - ron desantis tonight? i don't know, and first of all it's - ron desantis tonight? i don't know, and first of all it's a . know, and first of all it's a personal endorsement, not a ministry endorsement. but we always say we don't want to be always say we don't want to be a kingmaker, buta standard—bearer. my endorsement isn't so much about me but the people of iowa and america weighing in, letting them choose. as i even told ron desantis, my endorsement is worth one vote. now trump will also compete for that evangelical vote, somehow keep, or can he compete? he's got a record. in his first term, he appointed three supreme court justices, the abraham accords, so a lot of evangelicals are appreciative of the former president. does that mean they'll stay with him or turn they'll stay with him or turn the page and move to a governor

ron desantis does not have what it takes. and you could see the way things were lining up, that where pressure on, predictive of how he would handle the national spotlight. first of, all he allowed himself to be defined by donald trump four months before he was able to respond. because he wasn't declared candidate until may. so all that fawning coverage was going on, and he wasn't really able to defend himself against trump's attacks well that funding coverage was going on, because trump said, no no, we're gonna blunt that right away. and, so that was months of that. and also, ron desantis, you have to remember, one of his closest political allies was susie wildes. and he fired her a couple years ago. guess who hired her and who's running champ campaign? donald trump. donald trump hired ron desantis's closest political ally and consultant, and she knew where all the bodies were buried for ron desantis, and several other staffers that used to work for him went over to donald trump. so they knew you had to needle ron desantis a

ron desantis coming to trump.she says the fellas, what she's saying is the boys don't want me to have this but i'm here anyway. which is not allowed to say, because she's a republican woman running in a field, they're doing this to me because i'm a woman, donald trump is bringing claims against me because i'm a woman of color, republican voters an expert after experts say, this data after data point that i found while i was writing my book pointed this out as well. grassroots republican voters hate anything that reeks of gender identity politics. it means she's in a box to the way that she can talk about it, she needs to make sure she saying, i know i look different, i sound different, everyone has eyes, they can see that. but that's not the reason why you vote for me it's all merit, which of course it is. >> she'd write a great book about that if she averaged. it don't know if she. well we need to take a break, michael steele who's been up since the crack of dawn today, he hosted a morning show, i want to thank y

ron desantis does not have what it takes. and you could see the way things were lining up, that where pressure on, predictive of how he would handle the national spotlight. first of, all he allowed himself to be defined by donald trump four months before he was able to respond. because he wasn't declared candidate until may. so all that fawning coverage was going on, and he wasn't really able to defend himself against trump's attacks well that funding coverage was going on, because trump said, no no, we're gonna blunt that right away. and, so that was months of that. and also, ron desantis, you have to remember, one of his closest political allies was susie wildes. and he fired her a couple years ago. guess who hired her and who's running champ campaign? donald trump. donald trump hired ron desantis's closest political ally and consultant, and she knew where all the bodies were buried for ron desantis, and several other staffers that used to work for him went over to donald trump. so they knew you had to needle ron desantis a

what about ron desantis, in the same poll from the des moines register, 62% of ron desantis supporters say they will definitely attend the caucus. 56% for donald trump, 51% for nikki haley. the issue for ron desantis though they are committed, is where they might be in the state. he's making a big play for evangelical voters. everywhere you see on this map with the darker colors, who has the greatest percentage of voters, i will circle these areas right here. what do they have all in common? look at the populations. the places with the biggest circles have the greatest population, the smallest circles the lowest population. a lot of small circles there, for these evangelical areas where ron desantis was trying to run up the score, that means fewer caucus places at these precinct, a longer distance to travel over icy roads, that could be a problem for desantis getting his people those long distances to the polls. well, where do they have the most polling places? let me circle the areas right here with the biggest populations, let's figure out what they all have in common. i will take ou

desantis pulled out, many of the ron desantis voters will go to trump, if she wants to stay in the recentcredible she needs to get down to single digits and trump really needs to get over 50%. if she can't get to single digits, and the rationale for candidacy begins to disappear faster than a third grade science project. >> what went wrong for ron desantis after starting out so strong with his campaign? >> it appeared that he ron desantis candidadacy made since the first becacause we dididn't realize how strong trump remained of the party, but never got out of the starting gate, never got traction, he campaigned in a very flat wake up he offered himself as donald trump without the baggage, but it turned out that he was donald trump without the personality, he had no real charisma. so he was offering himself as the -- maga candidate when you have a real maga candidate, why would you go for a pale imitation? ron desantis had no real chance. >> just a week ago he was criticizing trump, saying if you kiss the ring trump loves you but if you don't he will attack you and now with ron desantis e

ron desantis won by a large margin. but they failed to realize is that people don't want what they are giving. >> chevron jones, i want to thank you very much, particularly being here at this moment where we are talking about your governor and the suspension of his campaign. thank you so much. >> thank you. >>> welcome to all of you to alex witt reports. we have this breaking news, the huge revelation that sources tell rhonda santas is ending his campaign for president. we're going to go right now to dasha burns in manchester who is tracking the campaign. tell us more. what have you been told specifically about this? >> well, look, florida governor ron desantis just tweeted moments ago saying, success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue which counts. that's a quote from winston churchill. alex, we talked earlier today wondering about what these last-minute moves were going from south carolina, making this last-minute pivot to new hampshire. here you have it, suspending his campaign which ha

the headline of the day, ron desantis is out.g and hoping to get in as to how they feel about the news. why don't i reach in here from you, you're from massachusetts? >> from maine. >> woody thing about ron desantis decision today. >> i think it was the right thing to do, there is only one person that we need. >> you? >> i'm really happy, it shows who's in front and were going with the lead horse. >> let's work down the line, quickly in the time that we have, where is a gentleman. we were talking about earlier, the headline of the night that ron desantis has folded in this campaign and enforced donald trump, what do you think that does for the selection. >> every desantis motor is going to vote for trump now. he was a shoo-in anyways but desantis, i would love to see them as vice president and i would love to see him do eight years after trump serves. >> how long have you been in line? >> a couple of hours. >> ball mean? >> it's beautiful i would stand longer. >> we are getting in, we have a ticket. >> good luck to you, thank you

and that's ron desantis. he is the only one who has delivered on every single one of his promises, from school choice to tax relief for families, keeping the state open during covid. there is a reason why florida is number one destination for new movers these days. it's a free state, and if he could take that to the white house he could turn the country around. >> we know desantis' campaign has certainly poured a lot into this state. he has traveled almost every day to all 99 counties. where does he need to place tonight to be a success? is it within ten points of trump? >> listen, i'm not going to answer the directly. we're going to beat the odds tonight. expectations have been set very high for the former president with many polls predicting him winning by 30 plus points. ron desantis has put in the work. he's spent the time here. but as you mentioned nikki haley also has heightened expectations. she spent more than any other candidate in this state. she has attacked ron desantis with more money that's been

ron desantis was doing the opposite. could they have saved him, i agree, it would be almost impossible against donald trump. but he didn't even try. st donal trump. but he didn't even try >> this is a guy, obviously, coming from florida, he has to at least think of the diversity of that state and say, okay, if i can navigate the politics of florida and the diversity of florida, i should be able to take the lessons learned from there in apply that to the broader america. he did the complete opposite. he alienated black voters, he alienated women voters, he alienated latino voters. even voters in florida who may be more moderate and perhaps even liberal lgbt voters who thought of themselves as republican in florida, he alienated everybody he needs to to build a coalition to take on donald trump. >> yeah, listen. i think what happened with desantis's i think they locked in his basic framing of moving, you know, being super maga, even being at the right of trump on things, in the summer of 2022, when everyone thought a big r

if ron desantis cannot beat donald trump _ ron desantis cannot beat donald trump in — ron desantis cannothen the race _ beat him anywhere. when the race moved to new hampshire, independents can vote and it is a primary— independents can vote and it is a primary and the primary has many— a primary and the primary has many independents as republicans in some years. nikki — republicans in some years. nikki haley appeals to those independents and is probably our best— independents and is probably our best shot. the test here in iowa _ our best shot. the test here in iowa it— our best shot. the test here in iowa it will— our best shot. the test here in iowa it will be, can ron desantis get close to trump at all. �* ., desantis get close to trump at all. r ., ., ., desantis get close to trump at all. �* ., ., ., , ., desantis get close to trump at all. �* ., ., ., ., all. and to follow up on that, brad, if nikki _ all. and to follow up on that, brad, if nikki haley - all. and to follow up on that, brad, if nikki haley were i all. and to follow up on that, brad, if nikki haley were to l brad, if

will you see ron desantis become a potential surrogate for the trump campaign. i know, as well, from our conversations with trump's team that as of now, there are no plans for desantis to show up on the trail with him but that could change. alanna trained, cnn, rochester, new hampshire. >>> on the campaign trail sunday, nikki haley doubled down on one of her main campaign messages. she is the best option for those who want to avoid a rematch between trump and president joe biden and who don't care for either candidate she was also gracious in her comments about ron desantis's excerpt while speaking, take a listen. >> i think ron ran a good race, i noticed personal to get into a race impersonal to get out of a race, he has been a good governor and he added a lot to the campaign and we wish him well. >> when he dropped out, part of what he said was he reminded everybody that he signed a ledge as report the republican nominee, i honor that pledge, he, meaning donald trump has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old republican guard of yesteryear, a repac

ron desantis was doing the opposite.have saved him, i agree, it would be almost impossible against donald trump. but he didn't even try. >> this is a guy, obviously, coming from florida, he has to at least think of the diversity of that state and say, okay, if i can navigate the politics of florida and the diversity of florida, i should be able to take the lessons learned from there in apply that to the broader america. he did the complete opposite. he alienated black voters, he alienated women voters, he alienated latino voters. even voters in florida who may be more moderate and perhaps even liberal lgbt voters who thought of themselves as republican in florida, he alienated everybody he needs to to build a coalition to take on donald trump. >> yeah, listen. i think what happened with desantis's i think they locked in his basic framing of moving, you know, being super maga, even being at the right of trump on things, in the summer of 2022, when everyone thought a big red wave was gonna come. when desantis was doing rea

desantis is dropping out, the crowd cheered and ron desantis is supporting him. we'll get that tape for you and bring it to you as soon as we can. right now there are two candidates who remain for the republican nomination. cnn's kylie atwood and alayna treene are there in new hampshire covering the campaigns. kylie, you are in the very location where nikki haley spoke live with our dana bash in the last hour from that location or actually at the top of the hour now, and she says well, you know, i wish him well, but as it pertains to winning the gop nomination, she says, it's going to be me. why is she so confident? >> well, listen, she's been projecting confidence from day one. she likes to say that people under under underof the mate her and that is what she continues to say. she is very confident in her campaign, and i can tell you, her campaign is obviously feeling very good right now. she started her campaign event here. we're at this clam shack in new hampshire by saying to her supporters in the room things are changing fast and broke the news to them that

ron desantis coming to trump.ellas, what she's saying is the boys don't want me to have this but i'm here anyway. which is not allowed to say, because she's a republican woman running in a field, they're doing this to me because i'm a woman, donald trump is bringing claims against me because i'm a woman of color, republican voters an expert after experts say, this data after data point that i found while i was writing my book pointed this out as well. grassroots republican voters hate anything that reeks of gender identity politics. it means she's in a box to the way that she can talk about it, she needs to make sure she saying, i know i look different, i sound different, everyone has eyes, they can see that. but that's not the reason why you vote for me it's all merit, which of course it is. >> she'd write a great book about that if she averaged. it don't know if she. well we need to take a break, michael steele who's been up since the crack of dawn today, he hosted a morning show, i want to thank you for stickin

i think that's what ron desantis' supporters want. they don't want to lose. >> reporter: she also told folks in that room that she's going to continue campaigning. she wants to do well here in new hampshire. her campaign is saying that they think that desantis support is going to be split between haley and trump. they think it will essentially cancel one another out. if it does go to trump, that could deliver him with a margin of victory which is substantial. we know trump is aiming for that. he thinks that could mean that he is the de facto nominee. haley's team is battling it out. they are doubting polls that show her below. say there are polls that show her neck and neck with the former president. campaigning as hard as they can here in new hampshire where the stakes couldn't be higher. >> new hampshire can be full of surprises. thank you very much. >>> what do we expect there? >> reporter: donald trump took the stage. this rally comes shortly after ron desantis suspended his presidential campaign. from my conversations with the tr

she will vote for ron desantis.on desantis's said he will go right from iowa to south carolina, bypassed new hampshire to take on nikki haley in her home state. greg, dear falls, iowa. do you know who you are going to caucus for tomorrow night if you are going? are you with us? caller: i am. i am a caucus captain for my precinct in cedar falls. host: and you will you vote for? caller: donald trump. he is the only one on the who can really get our country -- host: craig, are you -- we lost you there. is this your first time going to a caucus? caller: sorry? host: is this your first i'm going to a caucus? caller: no, i have gone before, but -- host: i am having trouble hearing you. apologies. we will hopefully try to come back to you. if you can hang on the line and clear up your mind, and we will come back to you. the candidates have been in iowa campaigning for months. we are now just hours away from their first test on the ballots. lo at how many times each of es candidates have visited the state of iowa, and think

desantis in iowa. >> ron desantis has put a lot in operation in iowa. how is haley's ground operation? >> nikki haley has a more nimble ground operation. there is the koch pac, the super pac backed by the koch family who has been operating on her behalf here in iowa. their goal is to knock on 250,000 doors of iowans here before the caucus tomorrow, bubut you also have the desantis super pac that will hit a million doors by tomorrow. so even though they both have those super pacs out, nikki haley's super pac isn't quite as resourced as desantis has been on the ground here, but the campaign feels like there's momentum. they feel like that is a thing that they've got going for them and they feel like the more voters haley meets the more come to their side and so that's what they're banking on particularly tomorrow after new hampshire like they feel she's pging to do very well. >> next is jessica dean where the desantis, event is coming shortly. >> anderson, ron desantis has been across the state of iowa today going to his supporters saying it's time to tur

you've covered ron desantis for a long time.hat's your reaction to all of this, and what are they saying down in florida? >> well, not shocked that a guy who staked his political fortunes on iowa and got spanked there decided to drop out. a little surprised that a man of such stubbornness as ron desantis, ultimately listened to common sense and reason and decided to finally quit. now, to scott's point, they knew last night that he was not going to go to new hampshire. and obviously that's the reason he cancelled your shows. but they didn't tell anyone that. so, why desantis went through this extra act of subtricep fuj as sort of an f you to the media, which is one of the animating principles of his political existence, is anyone's guess, because it certainly hasn't gotten very far during this presidential election. >> scott, our colleague, dana bash, she caught up with nikki haley earlier today. and nikki haley still sounds very confident. this is what she said to dana. >> if it's donald trump, will you support him as the nomine

tell us about that and what we heard from ron desantis, and his stepping out today?> we can say jan, but donald trump's eagerness to bring republicans, one time republican rivals back into the fold is a little quicker than eight years ago. of course, it took the lengths of marco rubio, a great many months to come around and endorsed donald trump, and donald trump and return embracing them. this go around, it was a little different not only from rhonda sanders announcing his endorsement on the day he drums, but donald trump just hours later on this stage striking a much different tenor about the florida governor that he has ridiculed for the better part of the last year. >> i would like to take the time to congratulate ron desantis, and of course a really terrific person. i have gotten to know his wife casey ran a great campaign for president. really, he ran a great campaign. i will tell you it is not easy. they think it is easy doing this stuff, it is not easy. as you know he left the campaign trail tonight at three pm, in so doing he was gracious and he endorsed me,

ron desantis yesterday said this. >> i am today my campaign.ubd proud to have delivered on 100% of my promises and i will not stop now. majority of voters want to give trump another chance. trump is over joe biden, that is clear. i will honor my pledge. he has my endorsement, we can't go back to corporatism that nikki haley represents. >> steve: lawrence. >> lawrence: say what you want about ron desantis, he was a statesman as he got out and didn't leave us waiting. says he is honoring his pledge. how do you feel about ron desantis getting out of the race, here is what he had to say. watch. >> lawrence: ron desantis, you supporteds him to be governor in florida. you tell the story you thought he should have supported you, a loyalty thing. now he is getting out of the race. is there a moment where you can come back together? you were friends before. is that possible? >> i endorsed him. i did not know him well, but i did endorse him. i watched somebody not in the race, then in the race and did a good job as governor. i was disappointed when they

the fact nikki haley is fighting with ron desantis for second place did even, means ron desantis cann continue and nikki haley can say she came up, it is not the second finish place she wanted and it is enough for ron desantis to continue.- desantis to continue. looking at the map — desantis to continue. looking at the map some _ desantis to continue. looking at the map some of _ desantis to continue. looking at the map some of those - at the map some of those counties where nikki haley is doing very well it is less conservative areas, more urban areas, perhaps there are independence, nonparty aligned individuals who recovered as republican to vote against president trump.- president trump. that is correct but _ president trump. that is correct but also - president trump. that is correct but also good - president trump. that is l correct but also good news president trump. that is - correct but also good news for her effort to say she is the best general election candidate. if you were in iowa that helps you go forward into the republican primary does not make you president. the bigg

ron desantis ron desa ntis has just ron desantis hasjust finished speaking.w minutes there. yes, we just heard from _ last few minutes there. yes, we just heard from the _ last few minutes there. yes, we just heard from the governor, . just heard from the governor, ron desantis, taking the stage just moments ago to address his supporters. just moments ago to address his supporters-_ did - just moments ago to address his supporters-_ did playi supporters. inaudible. did play some blame _ supporters. inaudible. did play some blame on _ supporters. inaudible. did play some blame on the _ supporters. inaudible. did play some blame on the media, i supporters. inaudible. did play| some blame on the media, there is anger among the campaign that this race was called so early on for donald trump, but desantis saying no—one has been attacked as much as we have in iowa, saying... attacked as much as we have in iowa. saying---_ attacked as much as we have in iowa, saying..._ wej iowa, saying... inaudible. we know ron _ iowa, saying... inaudible. we know ron desantis _ io

he thanked ron desantis for his endorsement. he called it, quote, gracious of him to give him his endorsement. he argued that desantis ran a very good campaign. take a listen to how trump put it. >> before we begin, i would like to take time to congratulate ron desantis. of course, a really terrific person. i've gotten to know his wife for having run a great campaign for president. he did. he ran a really good campaign, i will tell you. it's not easy. they think it's easy doing this stuff. it's not easy. as you know, he left the campaign trail today at 3:00 p.m., and in so doing, he was very gracious and he endorsed me. so i appreciated that. >> reporter: jim, what a different a few hours make. this weekend, we had heard donald trump rail against ron desantis in a series of his speeches. just hours after he dropped out and gave donald trump his endorsement, trump is singing a different tune now. it's worth noting that that was actually the first time in months that donald trump had actually referred to the florida governor by hi

desantis time and time again, and still ron desantis got up there and endorsed donald trump. as you know he's not going to be in the stage tonight, while they have not talked trump's team did reach out to ron desantis's team and offered a open invitation to campaign with the former president. it does seem a little bit unlikely, we heard donald trump throwing sheet at him, essentially saying he wouldn't have them in his administration, and formerly known as twitter, ron desantis during a little bit of shade back at donald trump, regardless we know the campaign is selling this as republicans coming together behind trump, they want to sell this as nikki haley is done and she needs to drop out of the race. >> we will see if she gets her wish, thank you. my next guest tonight is the chair of the house freedom park is, influential among republicans, initially endorsed him last may before he got to the race, yesterday, just moments after he dropped out, congressman bob good tweeted, it is my privilege to provide my complete and total endorsement for donald j trump as the 47th presid

[applause] >> ok, are you ready to caucus for ron desantis?applause] this is the kind of energy and excitement and motivation we are seeing across the state. this team has the best ground game of any other candidate in the state. now is up to each and every one of us. it's not the narrative, not the media, not the polls, we are independent, individual iowans that have listened to a leader, looked at a record. this guy has told you what he's going to do. all you have to do is look at his record and sorted, he has followed through 100% on the promises he made. we barely squeaked by in 2018, and let me tell you, he didn't promise tiny things, he promised bold initiative, it was transformative for the state afforded. i got to know ron during covid and our number one enemy was fauci. we were on an island between the media and the administration and fauci and dr. burke telling us to mask our kids and keep them out of school. the list went on and on. this guy brought in experts, looked at the real science, took into account the people he served and h

this is the type of county that ron desantis focused heavily on. donald trump blew him out of the water. what about the suburbs? this is an area that marco rubio polled off. this was supposed to be where hnikki haley had big wins. not this time around. in 13 of the counties cnn labels as suburbs, donald trump won 12 of them. only losing 1. back in 2016, he lost 10 of those 13 counties. so across the board, whether it's evangelicals, educated voters, donald trump winning almost every single place 98 of 99 counties. that's why he won 51% of the vote. >> phil, thank you so much. let's bring in bakari sellers. not only did he win, but he won so many evangelical voters in iowa. he took them. why? >> he's been able to have those voters really identify with him. donald trump is not angel call by any means. he's not a strong christian, but religious conservatives identify with trump as a lifestyle, as a brand. that's been very hard to shake. it's why the counties that phil pointed out in northwestern iowa turned so dramatically. i think it's what's going t

desantis, and ron is dropping out and _ ron desantis, and ron is dropping out and in — ron desantis,cause we have very similar policies, strong voters, great education, lower taxes, very few regulations. she's a tlobalist. taxes, very few regulations. she's a globalist- l— taxes, very few regulations. she's a globalist. i think— taxes, very few regulations. she's a globalist. i think most _ taxes, very few regulations. she's a globalist. i think most of— taxes, very few regulations. she's a globalist. i think most of those i globalist. i think most of those votes. — globalist. i think most of those votes. i— globalist. i think most of those votes, i think many of them will come _ votes, i think many of them will come to— votes, i think many of them will come to us. _ votes, i think many of them will come to us, but we don't need them because of— come to us, but we don't need them because of hole just came out, suffolk— because of hole just came out, suffolkjust came out, and they say we are _ suffolkjust came out, and they say we are very — suffolkjust came out, and they say we are v

it's actually quite simple what happened to ron desantis. ron desantis was never well liked.n was never well run. and as a result, his super pacs ended up not being well resourced for those reasons. his strategic message was also never well received. and so what it seems like to me is after he won his election for governor, his re-election for governor, he became the golden boy. but at the end of the day, he was always really just a gop mirage. everyone who was dying to turn the page from trump focused all of their hopes and dreams and promises on ron desantis. and so he was like this glistening, beautiful, glittering thing in the desert, but when you got really close up to him, there was no there there. he was more like a lifeless political carcass, even from the moment that he announced his campaign. let's remember what a debacle that was on twitter. and so he never really got off the ground because there was so much pressure put on him to be the golden boy that was going to take the republican party from the stranglehold of donald trump into the promise land. and he was ne

and it shows nikki haley at 21% and ron desantis in third.s on campaign 20 tonight as we wait for the florida governor to come out and talk to his supporters and maybe some caucus-goers who are not quite sure and they are coming out in this frigid weather to hear from the candidates before they make a decision tomorrow night. e, republican. >> thank you for taking my call. i am all for donald j. trump. i love his policy. a lot of my friends love his personality.when you accept trut his policies and you hacks -- and you have to accept his personality. i remember when gas was two dollars and $.50 a gallon. i am in arizona and it is five dollars a gallon. i remember going to the grocery store and spending so much money. hard living in biden's bidenomics world. he's provided the country -- i am in a border state. it is a nightmare here. they come down and they do nothing and they don't tell people the truth. donald trump will get this country on the road to success and donald trump is the man that needs to be the president for 2024. >> bob in con

it came down to nikki haley and ron desantis. they were hoping to go and meet with governor desantis to hear from him directly. and to do the traditional iowa thing, go to the caucus on monday night, here the other people speaking on behalf of their candidates and then make their decision. there are a lot of folks out there who aren't quite certain exactly what they will be doing monday night. host: you headed off to the ron desantis event as well. what type of event was there? who showed up? >> this was at the headquarters in iowa for ron desantis's super pac. at this event there were a lot of what i would consider more persuaded desantis caucus-goers. people who already decided they want to support his candidacy. this was a packed event. there were several hundred people there. i don't know if it had been invitation or without -- or how they had gotten the word out. many said they were certain they wanted to caucus for governor desantis, they weren't going to let the weather deter them even though it is very cold here in iowa.

and 8 percent said ron desantis.e when this was taken. >> brian: real clear average is 54, 37. opened up to double digits last week it. seems as though people looked at iowa and said that momentum instead of trying to correct iowa, they might be trying to build on iowa. all comes down to the independents and undecideds are the ones that registered in october to vote in the republican primary because joe biden, i think, foolishly decided that new hampshire was not worth his time. but, among independents, this is what governor haley is counting on. 73% of independents vote for, 25% vote for trump. trump has got 20% of the independents. and desantis has -- it doesn't really matter now. >> steve: the key is -- here's the graphic. this is easier to understand. according to this poll from cnn, haley with independents right there and that's a little different than broken down. democrats at 73%. and donald trump has 25%. for the most part. lawrence, go ahead. >> yeah. it's become an issue in this race even you have politico

hi. >>> can you tell us where ron desantis is now? did he cancel what was supposed to be an appearance in new hampshire? is he somewhere in new hampshire and plans to make this announcement in person? what's going on? >> reporter: i'm told he's actually back home in florida. as dana was saying, he traveled there last night, and had the new hampshire event scheduled for just a couple hours from now, and i'm told obviously that's been called off as well. back in florida at home with his family. as he looks ahead to what comes next, that is the big question. of course, he entered this race with so much fanfare, there was, you know, the failed twitter launch, where the audio was kind of messed up, and then several resets with his campaign, which what a bumpy road. they poured in millions and so much time in iowa, where they hoped for a much stronger showing. when that didn't happen, you know, when i would talk to sources, they were speaking with him at the time, the theory of the case was let's go a to south carolina, let's try to beat ni

what is doing well for ron desantis, ron? >> i don't think there is a doing well short of winning or shocking us by coming within single digits of donald trump. the issue isn't really expectations, erin. it is the reality that he has put all of his eggs basically in his banket and he has built an impressive organization and he had a favorable electorate for him, the problem is the audience for that message has never been nearly as large as they expected. they basically pitched themselves to the slice of republican voters who want trumpism without trump. desantis was indignantly complaining last week that, you know, the media says he hasn't made a case against trump and he has from the right that you can no longer trust trump to advance the america first agenda. that is a message that appeals to, i think we're going to see a relatively thin slice of the republican electorate. it's left a lot of room for nikki haley in the center among the voters who are most disaffected by trump, but she, too, is kind of facing the reality tha

it was also probably one of ron desantis's better debates.t there into voters and their voting patterns. donald trump is still far and away the favourite. what makes him so popular among iowa among voters in particular? i think iowa is actually a very good reflection of today's republican party. iowa is a state that is largely rural, there are large numbers of white voters in the state and it looks a lot like the republican coalition. it is a state that's always, um, in which donald trump has always done well. going back to 2016, he won iowa after it had voted for barack obama twice. and so i really think iowa today is at the heart of the republican coalition. to follow up on that, peter, what issues are driving voters there the most? it is an interesting race. i don't really think of it as an issue—based race. donald trump is fundamentally an antiestablishment candidate. he has a populist candidate, he runs against elites, he runs against immigration and he has the slogan, of course, "make america great again". it is a call to return to trad

ron desantis dropped out.show. >> thanks, jonathan, it's great to be back on with you. >> before we get to the big news we want to talk about, the 51st anniversary of roe v. wade, as someone that's run for president, i love your reaction to florida governor ron desantis dropping out of the race for presidential nomination? >> well, in some ways for those of us who've been watching this for the past year and seeing no controlled donald trump has on his own party, the thing that surprises me it was 56,000 people who voted for trump in the caucus in iowa, now it's starting to seem inevitable. donald trump, we all know what this means, the chaos, whether it comes to abortion rights, whether it comes to democracy. the thing that i think a lot of republicans were looking for was an alternative. that's why desantis ran, that's why he had supporters. and now we're back where we started with the same guy. >> right, as you well know, governor desantis signed into law a strict six-week abortion ban in his state in florid

desantis. >> are you ready to caucus for ron desantis?applause] this is the kind of energy and excitement and motivation that we are seeing all across the state, and i tell you this team has the best ground game of any other candidate in the state, so now it is up to each and every one of us. you heard what bob said. it is not the narrative, the media, the polls. we are independent individual iowans that have listened to a leader, looked at a record. this guy has told you what he is going to do, ron has told you what you would do. all you have to do is a good's record in florida and he is followed through on hundred percent of the promises he made to the people he served. we went out and told her constituents what we are going to do, and as a governor, listen. this guy did not promise teeny tiny things. he took on big, bold initiatives that were transformational for the state of florida. the first time i got to know ron was during covid. our number one enemy was fauci. he was coming at us every single day, and we were out there on an isla

ron desantis never making it back to the campaign trail. there was supposed to be an event this evening we were gonna see him -- he never ended up flying pakhtun hampshire, instead staying in florida. we got a response from the trump campaign, a look down and read from that, he says it's now time for all republicans to rally behind president trump to defeat crooked joe biden and his disastrous presidency, one message you heard from former president trump, and from ron desantis in that video which he suspended his campaign. they don't believe that nikki haley is the best option. meanwhile, nikki haley as she campaigns, she said this is now a two-person race that she's been looking for, that she's been framing this election since the iowa caucuses. she sat in her words, may the best woman when. she's going, on moving forward with the campaign, she has more support here in new hampshire, and more polling -- it's down to two candidates, donald trump and nikki haley. now that it's down to two candidates, we'll be talking to people who know the s

that's ron desantis. that's why $46 million has been dropped gechbs ron desantis in false negative ads. both from nikki haley and donald trump. and i think we are running to beat donald trump for the nomination. and we're trying to go right through him and directly at him. while nikki haley goes on the outside and has spent most of her money, over $25 million in this state, attacking ron desantis. taking incoming. and we're excited to see where we are at tonight. rely on the ground game and our organization here. this is to outwork the competition. we go and participate in a town hall. we have 63 state legislatures that have endorsed ron desantis. that's ten more than donald trump. i don't think nikki haley has more than a handful. we go to south carolina first, and do our stop there tomorrow morning and take the fight to nikki haley on our home turf and a state she has to win, we have exponentially more in ground troops than the former governor herself in her home state. this is culturally who we are. we

she will vote for ron desantis. ron desantis's said he will go right from iowa to south carolina, bypassed new hampshire to take on nikki haley in her home state. greg, dear falls, iowa. do you know who you are going to caucus for tomorrow night if you are going? are you with us? caller: i am. i am a caucus captain for my precinct in cedar falls. host: and you will you vote for? caller: donald trump. he is the only one on the ballot who can really get our country -- host: craig, are you -- we lost you there. is this your first time going to a caucus? caller: sorry? host: is this your first i'm going to a caucus? caller: no, i have gone before, but -- host: i am having trouble hearing you. apologies. we will hopefully try to come back to you. if you can hang on the line and clear up your mind, and we will come back to you. the candidates have been in iowa campaigning for months. we are now just hours away from their first test on theallots. look at how many times each of these candidates have visited the state of iow

will it, ron desantis? ron desantis, fair to say, needs to do well.e moment, the poll numbers are not good for him. he needs to get to 30% because right now the numbers show he is politically a dead man walking. he will want to do well. the story is probably who gets second place. christian: what puzzles a lot of people is obviously he gets more popular, the former president, the more he is held to account. the criminal cases it seems are making him more popular. >> it is true, and he knows that, which is why after the indictments we saw him immediately using that as his campaigning material. the court room is almost his campaign venue. here in iowa, when you speak to people, the indictments, although legal problems, to them, that is proof, in their eyes, the establishment is going after him. having said that, there are semi wins i have spoken to that are put off by it. some prefer ron desantis. they think she shows more leadership feeling with the pandemic. many i wins not happy with the way that donald trump dealt with it, they felt he listened too

probably ron desantis. may be nikki haley as well.omeone that is not trying to mislead us and feed us a line of bull. here in oklahoma we talked pretty straight. host: what have you heard from ron desantis that you like? caller: i went to a political rally that he did in tulsa, oklahoma. i just liked what he's done. i have actually read his book, the first republican book i have ever read in my life. i like that he has done a lot of things there in florida as far as reducing the size of government, which i like that. i don't necessarily like his stance on abortion, he's way too strict on that. i do like that he's a family man. i like that part of him. most of his policies i don't agree with. but when they are trying to lie to us and tell us it's something it's not like biden and all of his people, it's great. they need to pay some of the bills that all of us are having to pay and quit lying to us. host: darren in oklahoma, democratic caller looking for a possible republican candidate to vote for this time around. sandra in greenbelt,

desantis doesn't find anything there, and he is pretty far down in the polls right now. >> is ron desantis competitive with donald trump anywhere? ana? >> not in new hampshire, certainly not in south carolina or florida or iowa. he was 30 points behind donald trump. i agree with scott. i think it is smart for nikki haley not to debate anymore. the last debate that we saw, all they did was to spar and fight with each other, and she is trying to be a little bit of the more positive force in this campaign. it is very hard to be the positive person when you are in this, you know what i then called the insult palooza which is what those two hours were like. neither gained much, but she certainly can't play the positive role and be in this tantrum and fighting and bickering with ron desantis. it is not good. >> and with that debate, she came with the website of the desantis lies and went to the well over and over, but she did not have a trump website, and she showed up to beat ron desantis, but it seems that she did not show up to beat trump, and now she is changing the strategy to well, i will

ron desantis, some of his events were canceled.e did make it out to a couple of stops but it is really treasurers. as you noted, the authorities are telling people not to drive. even iowans, people that are used to severe winter weather and used to snow on the ground, they are going they do not want to go out. there are a lot of questions about how this will impact turnout on monday night when it is going to be really frigid. it's going to be dangerous. if anyone were to get caught in that weather. so the campaigns have to grapple with those questions but we are starting to see that turnout will probably be affected. rebl have worked caucus is for many years are also predicting that. and so it could be that we see turnout much less th in 2016 when there were about 180,000 iowans who caucused with republicans that year. host: what are the candidates saying if anything at all about how they may scramble to get their supporters out on monday night? >> yeah, so the trump campaign claimed they had "old-school methods" to get people cauc

ron desantis has record as well.ve will stand and fight for them. you have seen ron desantis fire rope prosecutors that were not abiding by the law and holding it up. he is the only one that has done that so when it comes to this race who can do it, the republican party has changed fundamentally as to what is the driving force. the american people felt abandoned and left behind by the d.c. swamp. they want that offended and they want someone who can do it. if that is trump, were desantis or nikki, they want that change. >> trace: i am calling on every other candidate all of whom have no chance to win to drop out so we can unify and immediately rallied behind president trump so we can focus 100% of our resources on defeating joe biden to save america. well, i mean, listen ron desantis is going nowhere and nikki haley is going nowhere. for now. >> locum of course, it is understandable that she would say that. that seems to be for the past few weeks. she is auditioning for the vice presidential slot and on the trump tic

we have a once-in-a-lifetime candidate with ron desantis.as actually led on all of these things after taking the tossup state and dominating it to deep red in the mid-turn elections. i think is our best shot to win in 2024 if this is the most important election in our lifetime, we need to win. this is why i am proud to back ron desantis. >> thank you. just ahead, the ambitions to make or break presidential ambitions and will take a look at that. >> iowa's importance does not in after monday night. every four years, key moments of the contest become embedded in the history lessons for future political candidates. >> when vermont governor howard dean came in third place 20 years ago, this was his response. >> then we go to washington, d.c. to take down the white house. >> that screen put the brakes on his bid for nomination. then there was the wildlife from florida governor ron desantis which went viral last fall. iowa has a long history of memorable moments when it comes to presidential hopefuls. at the iowa state fair, iowans devour just abo

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ron desantis has woke n up this morning thinking what? >> i think he's wishing he was better at math at this point. it gets really tough. i will applaud him for coming in second place. he spent a lot of money and time and effort in iowa, but now the math in front of him is really, really tough. you walk into new hampshire where his numbers are at best, 5%, and you walk into south carolina where he'll finish a distant third or further. you know, this is a tough situation for ron desantis and i think it's going to be tough for him to raise money and do the things he needs to do. this is what we saw coming months ago when we said, we have to have a consolidated effort. if we're going to beat donald trump, we've got to come with one voice and this is what happens. we've forgot for a period of time that was important and now we've got a splintered, fractured, you know, party like we've never seen before, and it's going to be tough to beat donald trump, and certainly going to be tough to beat joe biden with donald trump. >> i mean, put it in pe

that was gop presidential candidate ron desantis.he of course as you do was projecting confidence in turnout from his voter base and his campaign's ground strategy here in the hawkeye state. desantis like rival vivek ramaswamy has really staked his entire campaign on succeeding here. he has been across the state heavily trying to sway voters in a state that served of course as the nation's first presidential testing ground for half a century. here with me now is shelby talcott and laura bellen political reporter for "bleeding hard land." thank you for being up in basically the middle of the night in iowa. it's the biggest day on the political calendar here and i'm thrilled to have you both with us. laura, let me start with you. you live here, you know what the cold is or isn't like. it is all anyone can talk about because it is so intense that it is going to potentially change how this thing turns out. how do you think it's going to change it? >> absolutely. it is really extreme. personally i'm disappointed that the weather didn't co