so, chris christie is out of step with the party.hat is probably why people are saying he should drop out of that performance, because he's clearly not nobody that represents where republicans are at right now. but that's a larger problem for the party itself. it's the same one they've been contending with, frankly, since 2015 and 2016. >> matthew, what do you think chris christie's strategy is? i spoke to a big chris christie dinner when he first entered the race. i spoke to them recently, they said listen. we don't expect him to get that nomination. we expect him to pull a chris christie and be a human wrecking ball. that guy who goes for it, and potentially clears a path for someone like nikki haley. and then he's in her good graces. tonight, we certainly saw him defending her every chance he could, or most chances, certainly went and came to vivek. what do you think christie's game plan is? >> you know, i have criticized chris christie in the past, and i've been on various things with chris christie and i've been critical of his

i thought the chris christie one. and the reason why they felt he was the most direct, he answered the questions honestly and candidly that he held other candidates feet the fire. we have been waiting for this performance for sometime. chris christie proved that he is not just a -- but he knows how to hold the other candidates accountable. >> that's a perfect segue for what i was about to ask you about. want to play one of those examples. it's actually an example of two things. one, christy answering a direct question but also calling out his opponents for not answering the question. listen. >> would you send american troops into -- >> i would absolutely, if they had a plan which showed me and we could get them out safely or dam right i would send the american army in there to get our people home and home now, and i'll answer that question directly. >> what did you and your students think about that moment both from a policy perspective in the style of it? >> they thought that it wasn't important like a question of wh

so, chris christie is out of step with the party.hat is probably why people are saying he should drop out of that performance, because he's clearly not nobody that represents where republicans are at right now. but that's a larger problem for the party itself. it's the same one they've been contending with, frankly, since 2015 and 2016. >> matthew, what do you think chris christie's strategy is? i spoke to a big chris christie dinner when he first entered the race. i spoke to them recently, they said listen. we don't expect him to get that nomination. we expect him to pull a chris christie and be a human wrecking ball. that guy who goes for it, and potentially clears a path for someone like nikki haley. and then he's in her good graces. tonight, we certainly saw him defending her every chance he could, or most chances, certainly went and came to vivek. what do you think kristi's game plan? as >> you know, i have criticized chris christie in the past, and i've been on various things with chris christie and i've been critical of his en

and then matt, we heard on stage from chris christie about this.ant to show everyone what chris christie had to say. >> he's made it very clear there is no mystery to what he wants to do. he started off his campaign by saying i am your retribution. eight years ago, he said i'm your voice. this is an angry bitter man who now wants to be back as president because he wants to exact retribution. >> and let me put this question to sarah first and matt you can weigh in as well. sarah, you worked for donald trump and have since been outspoken in talking about the danger that you view that he poses. how cdo you view what chris christie said and how this is playing out broadly? >> i thought that was probably chris christie's strongest moment actually. and it highlights something that i've been vocal about too, which is that the donald trump of today is very different than the donald trump of the 2016 campaign. back then, he was running on a vision to make america great again. and was a voice for those who felt left behind by this country. and today that is

he was the one that chris christie said okay. we please talk about the man that is not here and that's the one that got everybody into it and that's where everyone really perked up because i guess there was a fight to be the runner-up first caucus, nikki haley, all will be on with us. clear on that stage they were going for nikki haley. >> there was a point vivek went after her and the moderator said do you want to respond. >> she said he is not even worth my time. then she mentioned she loves all this attention, fellas. lawrence? >> brian: let's watch. >> lawrence: it was so interesting brian alluded to the # 5th president. i asked some of the folks here in the diner today, what did you think about the former president, 45 not being on the debate stage and they said some of them said, look, we are disappointed. we want to see our guy on the debate stage. then i followed up. they followed up by saying we understand, especially after last night's performance why he wasn't on the debate stage there was really no value to be there.

her opponent chris christie who clashed with vivek ramaswamy over ukraine. >> this the fourth debate, the fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most okay noxious blowhard in america. >> chris, your version of foreign policy experience was closing a bridge from new jersey to new york, so do everyone a favor, walk yourself off stage and enjoy a nice meal. >> christie, who only got his first chance to speak 17 minutes into the debate spoke the least among the candidates, he grew frustrated with his opponents for side-stepping the republican elephant in the room, former president donald trump. >> this morning, trump is expected back in new york courtroom for his civil fraud trial, likely to begin to wrap up next weeks when trump takes the stand again. >> lisa, i want to start with you, you had a recent piece, which may have been a motivating factor in some chris christie's tone and posture, talking about reality which is behind the scenes, donors want trump to lose, that want him to get out of the race, they want christie to drop out, after last night, what

on donald trump and chris christie has a lot to say. the other three don't? >> kellyanne: i may disagree, nikki haley keeps repeating 9 trillion in debt, etcetera, she was part of the administration. in terms of fitness, the question is joe biden's fitness. i have my eyes on the prize. we have an occupant, joe biden and deputy is kamala harris, neither demonstrate competence to justify a second term. i can't believe i didn't hear more about joe biden. knowing all four of them as i do and happy they are all in the republican party, when you are in debates, focus on three things you want people to take away, make your own moments and memories for voters. three things to improve their lives, people are suffering economically, energy policy and rising cost and rising crime, hot spots, crisis and chaos and certainly at the southern border. here is what was happening last night. they were all over the place, everybody trying to get in sound bites, big on insult, short on insight. way you say you are the alternative to trump, you are the alter

chris christie calling her a slippery, slick politician. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i am caitlin collins and you are in the situation room. >>> we begin this hour with russia's massive new air assault on ukraine, a sign of the winter campaign that ukrainian officials have been warning about and driving. president biden calling it a stark reminder that president vladimir putin remains committed to obliterating ukraine. nic robertson has the report. >> reporter: from ukraine's center, dnipro took all points. odesa in the south , kharkiv in the northeast, and lviv in the northwest. russia launched its biggest air attack since the ground invasion 22 months ago. 44 of 158 russian missiles invading ukraine's western supported air defenses. killing and wounding civilians. this man narrowly surviving, pulled from the rubble in kharkiv. schools, shopping malls, private homes and high-rises, even a maternity hospital hit. in the capital, this resident awoken by missiles at 7:30 a.

chris christie isn't going to make up 30 points in the next few weeks. y nikki haley can make up five or ten points and give trump that defeat. and i think that's likely to happen. i think the voters will come nikki's way and chris come ni nikki's way, but that's a decision for chris to make. >> governor chris sununu of new hampshire, thank you very much. happy new year. >> you bet. happy new year. >>> up next, will the supreme court weigh in on efforts to remove donald trump from the ballot? and what might they decide? constitutional law scholar and democratic congressman jamie raskin is here next. >>> and could our political problems be caused by americans' failure to simply connect with one another? i'll talk to senator chris murphy about the epidemic of loneliness in america, coming up. to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's n

chris christie said donald trump unfit for office.he man not on stage may have been the biggest winner. nikki haley at the center of fire storm as republican rivals sought to slow her rise wednesday night during a heated final debate of the year. >> her donors, these wall street liberal donors they make money in china, they won't let her be tough on china and they'll cave to the donors. >> he's mad because those wall street donors used to support him and now they support him. >> her newfound support from big-name donors to become the leading alternative to donald trump. the former president continues to dominate the campaign despite thumbing his nose at another debate. >> you can't defeat democrat chaos with republican chaos. >> reporter: 40 days before the first votes of the 2024 race are cast in iowa caucuses, the sparring among contenders reached a new level of urgency and incivility. particularly between chris christie and vivek ramaswamy. >> this is the fourth debate, the fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minu

>> yeah, look, chris christie is a friend, but his race is at an absolute dead end.ay anything he can. this say two-person race and it's between trump and nikki haley. everyone understands that and he knows his voters who want to see trump defeated are all coming over to nikki haley and the only person who wants chris christie to stay in the race is donald trump. think about the irony of that. so the fact that christie is out there trying to attack her and make waves, that's not surprising, but at the end of the day this is a two-person race and if people are not just moving on from that issue, they're really engaging with nikki on where america goes on what is about the future. chris is only talking about trump, that's it. he's kind of a one-man show and he wants to stay in the race to speak the truth about trump and he's hit a ceiling and right now he probably wouldn't get delegates if the race were today. if chris is true to his message about defeating trump he'll understand the voters are coming, and i think he'll make the right decision eventually, and i'm sure

chris christie, we have to leave it there for today. thanks for joining us.e have to turn now to the crisis at the border and texas republican congressman tony gonzales with us from san antonio. welcome back to "face the nation." >> good morning. thank you for having me. >> i want to go into one of the issues we know is on the minds for voters and a crisis right now. you've been pressing for a border deal and we know that senators are still trying to craft one but doesn't look good for the near term. what is the real world impact in your district if there is no deal in 2023? >> yeah. i give a lot of credit to senator langford and cinema and tillis and murphy. certainly nothing happens without john cornyn making his inputs on there, and i appreciate their efforts on that, but the time is now. the time for a national security package is now. in my district it is pure chaos and people are upset, they're upset because their lives have been turned upside down. my district is predominantly hispanic. many are first and second generation americans but they're tired.

i was proud of chris christie.e was a scholar and gentleman tonight. >> and i think nikki haley took a different strategy than we've seen from her. she actually kinda took a step back a little bit which really underscored the fact that she is the frontrunner in the race right now. she had lot coming at her. she didn't try to be in every moment. she had chris christie defending her. he probably did a better job defending her on the stage than doing anything necessarily for his own campaign. and in some ways i see why they pursued that strategy this time around because you don't need to respond to every single thing. and it just -- just the fact, the eagerness of ramaswamy to attack her proved to the voters and to the audience she is the one that they think that they have to beat and that's i think the message they were trying to send. >> nikki haley proved again she is a political heavyweight. sh has won all of ddebates. the moment that stood out to me when chris christie was a gentleman and jumped to defend her. he

i was very proud of chris christie. he was a -- >> yeah i think nikki haley took a different strategy then we have seen from her. she actually took a step back a little bit, which really underscored the fact that she is the front runner in the race right now. she had a lot coming at her. she did not try to be in every moment. she had chris christie he probably did a better job defending her on the stage than doing anything necessarily for his own campaign. and in some ways i see why they pursued that strategy this time around, because you don't need to respond to every single thing, and it just the fact and the eagerness of the desantis and ramaswamy is to attack her, only proved to the voters and the audience, she is the one that they think they have to beat and that is i think the message they were trying to send tonight. >> nikki haley -- again tonight she is a political heavyweight, she is arguably won all of the debates, or performed exceptionally well. the moment that stood out to me, i don't want to read the tea

chris christie is speaking directly to that. trying to hone in on that. i do think that as we get closer to new hampshire, if he's still many this game, he's going to be more aggressive with her. >> i actually asked the former new jersey governor about whether or not he was -- i didn't use the word endorsement, but pretty close. let's listen to our conversation. >> it seemed as though you were forming a bit of an alliance with her. >> no, it's not me forming an alliance with nikki haley. wait until you see what's going to happen over the next seven weeks. we're going to be competing against each other hard to win new hampshire, i suspect is. >> david chalian, you speak new jersey. can you translate? >> i do. probably so. you can expect there's going to be an aggressive campaign from crust crist against nikki haley. to eva's point, he's put all his eggs in that new hampshire basket. that's his launch pad, if he's going to have any kind of staying power in this race. the initial question that cr christie got in this debate last night was why are you still h

and that leaves nikki haley and chris christie.e their moment in the sun. we also have to recognize this country has a true disdain for women in executive positions. i know she's been governor of south carolina. i just don't see the type of republican voter actually voting for an indian american money at the top of the ticket. i just don't see it with the demographic and white supremacist reasons to be quite honest. >> yeah, that's entirely possible there. great to see you as always. professor, we'll talk to you again soon. >>> still ahead on "way too early," we'll go live to cnbc for an early look at what's driving the day on wall street. >>> plus, a gift at the gas pumps. fuel prices are falling. we'll get some insight on how much lower they could go when we come right back. when we come right back. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigge

chris christie alone in taking on the front runner. last night's debate and what it means in the republican primary. >>> we're getting new evidence of five hamas command ers that israel says they have killed. we'll be back. >>> happening now, donald trump is on the move. we saw his motorcade leave trump tower and any minute he will arrive at this courthouse in manhattan for his $250 million civil fraud trial where he's already been found liable for fraud. if trump holds true to form, he will make a campaign speech on the way in. this will be his first chance to comment publically about the debate he did not attend last night where his main opponents largely ignored him. there are now just 39 days to go until iowa. according to the latest national poll donald trump is ahead of his rivals by 40 points. the question now are we seeing new evidence this morning that anything in the latest debate did anything to change that? did vivek ramaswamy espousing fringe conspiracy theories do anything to change that. did ron desantis and nikki haley

followed by former new jersey governor chris christie at 10%.ew hampshire's republican primary is also open to independent voters. carol smith attended a haley rally last week. >> i'm a lifelong democrat, and when i saw nikki haley in the first debate, i was overwhelmed. she was concise, she was on point, she said what needed to be said, there was no double talk. she needs to be elected. compared to the other candidates in the field. don't ask me if it's because she is a woman because that will make me go up. >> we're joined by director of elections and surveys, anthony salvanto. this is a big move for nikki haley. what's behind it? >> it is, margaret. good morning. yeah, nikki haley is up substantially from where she was this fall, and one reason is, voters tell us they see her as reasonable as compared to the other candidates and prepared to be president. her number there is on par with the former president. now she's helped by the independents who can vote in the new hampshire primary, and it's not a surprise that she and maybe former governo

ramaswamy and chris christie. let's take a look at new hampshire, the top choices for the gop nominee. back in september, donald trump was at 50%, he is at 44% look at nikki haley, look at where she was at 11%. she's at 29%, 15 points behind and i would note that 29% is the best percentage for a non- trump candidate anywhere, new hampshire, iowa, national anywhere since soon -- june. look who's in fourth place, chris christie at 10%, why do i point out chris christie, it's more than that because nikki haley wants to know whether or not he can close that 15 point gap. i want you to take a look at our last poll, that is not a cbs news poll but i still think it is instructive because take a second look, overwhelmingly they say nikki haley gets the majority at 53%, donald trump gets 11%, chris christie decided to exit this race, this gap that they will close could in fact close even more. now, here is i think the question, why is it nikki haley doing my -- better in new hampshire than iowa or nationally. moderate shar

he was trying to, when he is not in a back and forth with chris christie trying to remind the voters of the conservative voting record in florida, and seen as the leading alternative of donald trump, and of course, he struggled throughout the year, but as the year ends here, he was in a little bit of the upswing here, and one of the strongest debate performances he had, but it was nikki haley in center stage taking incoming, and she has capitalized on her climb throughout the course of these debates here. so last night, she was standing and taking a lot of criticism from her newfound support in donor, and her position on china and much more. >> the only person more fascist than the biden r eseme is you. you are just upset because all of those donors that you had are now my donors. >> and she was trying to push back at some of the criticism, but it was a lot, sara, and again, it is important how the voters viewed this debate, and more importantly than ever. >> and i wanted to ask you how you see this as the caucuses are coming up in a mere 39 days. iowa is going to be making some deci

a really clear politics average has chris christie at 2 hpt 2%. he barely made the debate stage this time around. nikki haley has continued to see her numbers rise. chris christie also, i would argue, has some personality issues. not a lot of voters like chris christie. he comes off as bully to some individuals. i think nikki haley is someone who comes off as forward thinking, as alice spoke about. she was a former governor. she had to deal with a sensitive racial crisis in her state. the country still has many racial issues to deal with. she's been the only republican on that stage to, i would argue, really arctic arctic you late - about positivity. you want someone with foreign policy experience and someone who can sort of parse through some of those social issues that trump frankly doesn't do very well with. >> alice, let's talk about liz cheney. she told "the washington post" yesterday that she's considering a third-party run for president now. here's what she said. she said, "several years ago, i would not have considered it. but we need a ca

as you noted with chris christie calling him out. chris christie pointed to the candidates and saying that they refused to call out donald trump in part because they have their own political futures in mind, either in 2028 or potentially as donald trump's running mate. i'm wondering, david, ramaswamy appears to be auditioning for that role, doesn't any? >> he certainly seems very much like he is positioning himself that should donald trump be the nominee, should donald trump be the next president, he wants a seat at that table. >> nikki? >> he has done absolutely nothing from trumpet anyway. despite the fact that he is actually running against him for the nomination, if you are to believe what he is doing here. he is clearly positioning himself to, at least, be at the table. >> what do you think? >> oh! >> running mate, press secretary? >> but it makes you wonder why he is running at all. i mean, the only difference he can say is it is generational. he is younger than donald trump. he pays fealty to donald trump. the election theory

what does that look like for chris christie? think chris christie is the extreme long shot of becoming a republican nominee. the question is what does that do for nikki haley. because if you -- don't know who's going to win iowa. i was talking to a friend who does republican polling today and i said i still think that donald trump will be the nominee. she left in my face, and she said people aren't even registering that there is a primary because they assume that trump is going to be the incumbent nominee. but if you go to new hampshire, we go past iowa, and you go to new hampshire where nicole is doing very well, getting chris christie's drop of the pot we could bring her closer to trump if not over the finish line. but if he says he's staying in, it's the question i would ask chris christie is why you're running for president. maybe to be president, but i thought it was ultimately so that donald trump would not become president. if that means that you need a drop off to consolidate on the right for someone to likely beat donal

what does that look like for a chris christie?> well, i think chris christie is the extreme long shot of becoming the republican nominee. the question is, what does that do for a nikki haley? because if you -- who knows who's going to win iowa? i was talking to a friend who does republican polling today, and i said, i still think donald trump might be the nominee. and she laughed me in the face. she's like, people aren't even registering there is a primary because they assume trump is going to be the incumbent nominee. if you get to new hampshire -- let's say we move past iowa -- and you get to new hampshire where nikki haley is doing pretty well, getting chris christie's share of the pot, if he were to drop out, could bring her much closer to trump. if he's saying, i'm staying in it, the question i ask chris christie, why are you running for president? maybe to be president. but i thought it was ultimately so donald trump would not become president. so, if that means you need to drop off on the right for someone to beat donald tr

." >>> so what is chris christie going to say on the debate stage tomorrow night now that he knows that at of people don't want him there? according to "the new york times," republican donors, strategists and pundits are publicly pressuring mr. christie, to end his campaign and many want him to support nikki haley, and many want him to quit not only yesterday, but a month and two months ago. and liz cheney has said that she has not ruled out a third-party run, and this is as donald trump prepares to hold a solo town hall and ditch the debate tomorrow and head back to court thursday. kristen holmes and alaina treene joining us. now, where is donald trump seeing things? >> well, john, donald trump continues to run a campaign unlike anything that we have ever seen, and not only is he under four indictments, but he is not playing by any of the rules. we are six weeks out of the iowa caucuses, and the gop rivals are doing what we usually see at this point in the campaign. they are barnstorming the state of iowa and trying to woo the last-minute voters and preparing for the debate to make the

chris christie called her on that.needs to channel her inner chris christie and sharpened the stilettos. she's going to have to sharpen those. she's got the data. it does not make sense to me, you're running for office, you have to take down the top. take down a leader. >> but charlie, is the reason why she is not sharpening those stilettos is because she is afraid of alienating trump voters? >> yes, she is running this campaign where she feels as if the non-trump, anti trump republicans feel she has not been tough enough on trump, and the pro trump republicans feel like she is too tough on trump. she's trying to thread this needle. i don't think you can really do that. i think she has to get in the lane and just take it, be aggressive and call trump out for his conduct and his behavior. i think not just nikki haley but the other candidates other than chris christie have missed opportunities to slam trump on these various indictments, when they should be calling him out on his reckless behavior and bad judgment, rather

. >> honestly chris christie. >> have you surprised he is saying that. maria: i am very surprised he is saying that. >> in washington, republicans in the senate voted wednesday to block a 110-billion-dollar spending package, with aid for ukraine, israel taiwan any bill with more money for ukraine should include money and resources to secure the southern border, immigration ukraine israel taiwan all those issues that came up on the debate stage last night. maria: absolutely grady, thank you grady trimble this morning in alabama, joining us the rest of the hour cheryl casone here, cheryl what were your takeaways. cheryl: i did enjoy she said chris christie entertaining, he is never boring i do have to say, i was very disappointed in about vivek going after chris christie making that comment about weight i thought rude that thing is turning off a lot of people this morning to vivek ramaswamy. >> dirty, this is being a good debater,. nikki haley took all punches snield thanksed thaengsed them for attention. >> there are afraiding to after nikki haley knives

here's what chris christie said on the campaign trail. >> it meant one vote. it would have been nice to hang around with him and done a buddy show like he and nikki haley are doing, but in the end, the voters are not going to be told by anybody who to vote for. what am i going to say? congratulations on a bad choice? >> his line is, what did it get hnikki haley? one vote. what which is saying he doesn't bring a lot to the table. >> there are more than one sununu up there. a former governor, but any way. it is a big question what endorsements mean. we're going to get a good sense of that. some fresh evidence that endorsements, you'd rather have them than not, but ron desantis has the endorsement of kim ray noldss. nikki haley has chris sununu. he's not popular among the base. he's not popular among trump voter who is are going to remain trump voters. where he is popular is, as he told you in the interview, as among independents and moderates. he brings an organization with him. that's what the campaign is hoping for. and chris christie will admit, he's saud it

i desantis has 18, i think chris christie has 2% or so. everybody has such a small percentage now donald trump had like 58% or something. last time i checked. so he is clearly the guy. you think you think yourself, they're probably just debating about who is going to the next vice president. if win but on the democratic side, you don't have that guy. every nobody really sees. joe biden has that guy. i don't think joe biden sees joe biden as they got now. and so everybody sort of searching for that person's. i think that's one thing, even though you could say a lot of things about a president, former president trump's character and criminal charges that he's facing. he's really a guy that people rally behind. the democrats are just searching. hey, can i jump in to say it does seem as we're heading into the primaries and the caucuses. >> people are looking at biden, trump again, have a rematch. and yet we keep hearing that people want younger candidates and fresh ideas. so why have these 4 remaining republican candidates not manage to take c

the question right now is, is nikki haley going to channel her any her inner chris christie and sharpen those stilettos, she likes to talk about those as weapons. she's going to have to take off the gloves. and i think take trump head-on on this and other comments. they are all worried about antagonizing the trump base but at some point, you have to draw a sharp contrast and i don't think she has done that yet. she needs to do better than just a on the next generation, vote for me. >> it's so telling how congressman burchett dealt with that it was basically like fingers crossed that the system holds. >> there will be adults in the room, we've heard all of this, and so that sort of like, here's hoping, i mean how long is that going to hold, if this continues. he is being very clear about how he is sticking out this potential second term. >> donald trump is not being unclear about what a second term might look like. what does it look like in your view? >> he's telling us what is going to do. it's going to be about retribution and grievance and he will go after his enemies. he will do radi

you asked out of chris christie. i think, feel or see and what may be is resonating with the masses. you probably heard some of the feedback from lee carter in the dial testing of those moments where you challenge nikki haley. i did have concerns because i watched it and wondered how will this resonate with the casual viewer? not the person that has already bought into vivek's big ideas. some don't like the style, vivek. >> i think there is a time and place for everything. i've been to four events in iowa and that's a very different personalized experience with 100 or 200 people in a room. on the debate stage part of what we are doing is drawing hard contrast. i will say something you are not supposed to say, but i think it's the truth. i think there is absolutely a double standard based on identity politics. in each of the last two debates nikki haley called me dumb and scum. i don't engage in name-calling. chris christie use fowler language that i don't want to use here on the debate stage. i don't resort to that.

chris christie had no parks for it. he dismissed it as somebody not willing to take on trump directly. you don't cite trump's name in that line and trying to play cute with not offending, where he's making the argument the only way to beat him is to go at him and argue to voters why you are different. he says haley has shown an inability or unwillingness to do that. >> it's not impossible he wins new hampshire. i think back to 200. the way he had that was ultimately a huge victory in new hampshire over george w. bush. the fact that independents can vote. the fact that christie speaks to those independents in a way that perhaps nikki haley or ron desantis don't. >> liz cheney is out with a new book. i want you to listen to what she said about the potential of her running a third party race. i would not have con femme plaited a third party run. it's as a result of donald trump's continued grip on the republican party. democracy is at risk internally as well. >> i remember talking to her in congress. even as she was on her

>> that's chris christie's exact point. so, desantis and nikki haley and ramaswamy, to the extent that he's going to contend -- be a contender, they can't afford to alienate that base. they're very concerned about how far they can just push. because obviously donald trump's favorables in the state of iowa are very high. if you speak ill of him, you risk getting blowback on yourself. so, it's a really tough, tight rope to walk. chris christie is alleging they're not even bothering to get on the tight rope, let alone walk across it. he's the only one up there swinging and swinging hard. and he's at 3%. so, i'm not quite sure it's an effective strategy for him or for anyone else. so, again, it's just that -- it's a tough thing to see how somebody gets ahead of donald trump at this point, at least in iowa and the early states. >> van, do you think that this ends up where we get a few months down the road, we get to the nomination, and there's regret among those republican candidates? we saw it in the 2016 field, they thought tr

now, the problem is that chris christie is an outlier. you have the other candidates effectively splitting the non-trump vote. if there's going to be a real concerted effort to stop trump from once again getting the republican nomination, especially when you look at the kind of commanding lead that he has over the field, then what's going to be necessary is for these non-trump candidates to coalesce around one clear alternative. we don't see signs of that happening. i think, if anything, there's still this idea that, if trump locks up the nomination, most of these republicans are willing to support him. i think we've seen in two previous elections what we're seeing unfold once again right now, that this is absolutely donald trump's republican party. it's just not clear that there's many more chris christies who is willing to stop that from being the case. >> we'll leave it there for now. margaret talev, sabrina saddiqui. >>> coming up, u.s. sec fair of defense lloyd austin heading to israel. we have the latest from the region. >>> and vla

and this has been the entire basis of chris christie's campaign. he is going hard against trump and he is arguing that he sdeefsh deserves to be president because he is the only one who will directly attack the frontrunner. in the last debate i talked to a number of desantis supporters and donors and one of their arguments that i heard consistently was that they were a little frustrated that ron desantis was going after nikki haley and thought that he should be going after donald trump more. on the flip side, when i'm out on the campaign trail, it is a very tough balance for these candidates to make. chris christie is certainly not trying to garner that trump or trump sympathetic voter. he is garnering the voters who do not like trump. and that is sort of a different base from where nikki haley and ron desantis are trying to be. >> right. because end of the day, new hampshire is also unique in that you can register in the primary even if you are of a different party as long as you change it that way. and so cnn's john king spent some time with wome

i think chris christie had a superb night. his smacked out of vivek ramaswamy, his going after desantis for not answering the questions directly. he was just on target last night. and i think haley did well as well but they need to take on donald trump. they all know that. i've run for office many times i was always in the lead, i expected my opponents to tear me down. they are not tearing down trump. >> but that's in the common wisdom. look at the way nikki haley has done this. she has been critical of him without saying his name as christie pointed out, but she's also the only one who is now making some games in the polls, and the way that desantis has been doing it is not working and it really hasn't been working for chris christie, a little bit in new hampshire but having gone up against trump in 2016, i can tell you, it's very hard to just do the direct attack particularly, given you know, that he uses every moment. >> i hope it works for haley but she is still down major double digits. again, i've done a lot of campaigns

sununu who was sharply critical of chris christie this morning, let's take a listen to what he said.ce is at an absolute dead end, two person race, between trump and nikki haley. everybody understands that. chris christie won't make up 30 points in the next three weeks, nikki haley can get that five or ten points to give trump the defeat no one thought was possible. >> harsh but true, right charlie? >> well, yes, but, you know, chris christie, though, to his credit, has been making the case, prosecuting donald trump in this primary, unlike any of his opponents. so i think his voice is good, it is true, sununu is correct that if christie were to drop we believe most of his votes would go towards haley. that is true. but at the same time chris christie is staying in this race because he believes that trump could be convicted and this whole dynamic of this race in the primary might change, may not, but it might. so he's going to stay in there for a while longer. sununu is not wrong, but christie is probably going to be -- the new hampshire primary. >> what will it take for christie to d

and as chris christie points out, she's only go so far in doing that. >> i hear that, but chris christie's goal in all of this, he wants to become the nominee, also for trump not to become the nominee and one of most viable paths to get there, those who are calling for him to drop out, is for him to drop out. so i understand what he's saying about the rhetoric from nikki haley, it doesn't go far enough but also by staying in, the counterargument would be you're preventing anyone from actually beating him, no? >> well, right. that's the paradox here. you know, the anti-trump wing of the party is probably 25%, 30% on a good day in the right state and that is necessary but not sufficient to win. haley's strategy really has been to run from the center toward the right, consolidating those -- that side of the party as much as she can, and then hoping perhaps momentum itself allows her to grow into the trump coalition. desantis ran from the other side, trying to run a trump from the right, and leave the moderates with no choice. that has proved to be a very problematic road to say the least. but

i was actually kind of moved by chris christie.e been, like, the biggest chris christie critic, but i was moved by him stopping the tape and being lovely. >> me, too. >> mika, didn't you relate to that in a weird way? >> i did. i'll tell you why, because, you know, i think that women can point out sexism and other things, ageism, whatever, but when men do it, as well, it's even better. >> yeah. >> i appreciated it, and i thought, you know, it was generous. didn't have to do it. he could have left her standing alone to all of this, but he kind of pointed it out and put a full stop on it. yes, she can do it for herself. she's already proven that. she's taken down that ramaswamy guy many times to massive applause in these debates. i think it's gotten to the point where everybody needs to sort of point out what they see. i thought what chris christie did sort of reminded me about sort of what i tell women in, you know, my know your value community. we have to have a voice, but we also have to have a very open mind to men who step up fo

chris christie, he wiould answe the question. most importantly, he talked about donald trump. it blew me away to watch these other candidates unwilling or unable to talk about the frontrunner in this campaign. if they think there is some magic pony that's going to come along and wish him away, it's not going to happen. you have to take on the frontrunner. obviously, in my mind everybody except chris christie seems to be trying to preserve their name for a vice presidential candidacy or a cabinet. >> do you think that is the reason, because you want to be in a trump administration or you are saving yourself for 2028? it will collapse their polling? >> i think it's both. i think ron desantis started out believe that donald trump would fall apart when he was indicted. so his play was to be mini trump. it's not a bad maneuver if thought this would happen. when trump goes down, desantis could be like, okay, i'm just like him. boy, he got a bum rap. vote for me. that didn't happen. that's the point you have to pivot and none of them did that. chris christie was very effective, wheth

we're talking about nikki haley and chris christie, and others who are running against him. is a very different context here. the bare minimum of, yeah, mike pence has held up as this great hero for doing, again, an extremely -- >> for not ripping up the constitution. >> yes. and he did. to his credit, he did his job on that day. the standards have gotten very low. >> i think -- look, he is way ahead in all the polls, new hampshire, iowa, national, i don't think he is way ahead in the polls because he is using fascist rhetoric. i don't think that. i think -- >> why is he ahead? >> i think a lot of it is that people don't actually realize what he is all about right now. there is a kind of -- you know, a basic partisanship. people have discontent with biden, they're not happy with biden, and he is the voice. he is the loud voice, he is the contrast. >> jonathan karl, mark leibovich, i could talk to you for the whole hour, we could do it a different time. thank you both so much. i appreciate it. >>> coming up, brand-new reporting that clarence thomas once complained he'd retire

ron desantis and vivek ramaswamy on the side, nikki haley and chris christie.in to defend her at this point. he said this. >> while we disagree about some issues, and we disagree about who should be president of the united states, what we don't disagree on is this as a smart accomplished woman, you should stop insulting her. >> you saw the crowd reacting, because vivek ramaswamy is like kindergarten during covid, no class. no class. >> i was wondering where you were going with that. >> i thought chris christie was at his best because he was standing up to the bully and saying leave her alone. she didn't need to be rescued, she was holding her own. but i do not think people like to see somebody like vivek who's never done anything, never voted for anybody, being personally insulted by someone like her. she took it in a classy way, and i thought chris christie was world-class. >> the question was, was a decency, was it political strategy? but the other thing we saw last night, david, which was the attacks on donald trump. obviously that's chris christie's style.

there's no doubt about it. >> you are fine with chris christie staying in the race? >> yeah. think he has made a point that is also important, that for republican voters who have to face the prospect of trump getting the nomination, that people who don't think he is qualified, who really think he is not fit to be president, should be clear about it. that includes, for example, what chris christie has done, what desantis has done, say, i will not be trump's vice presidential nominee. every candidate says that's hypothetical because i will win the nomination. give the candidate the right to say that. then say, in the unlikely case you don't get the nomination, would you be trump's vice president? i'm sure ramaswamy would say in a heartbeat. i would like to know what the other candidates who haven't given their real opinion think. i think republican voters should hear it. >> that seems to be a very clear message about nikki haley. she's someone who chris christie last week told a voter in new hampshire, he would maybe consider supporting her if she would make it clear where she

chris christie would have given that answer. you see in this mixed bag of candidates, this clown car that still exists on the rate. the inability to get serious. the inability to get past this party that wants to do nothing more than to talk social issues. talk about father and, illegitimate fear, i must add, of the changing face of america and the anger about that. s that's what defines the republican party. when we talk about trump or nilgi, ron onner or vivek. none of it matters. what we will see is the real definition of who the republican party wants to be come january 2025. i have not yet seen that. i don't have much faith that it lies within four people we last saw on the debate stage. that makes me nervous. i know the american people want a better option than joe biden. >> we will see what happens. it does seem to your point, the republican voters are the ones driving the vote. it won't be one person who decides who is in and had a is out. thank you both for joining us. >> thank you. >>> next, the creator of chatgpt is f

we're talking about nikki haley and chris christie, and others who are running against him. there is a very different context here. the bare minimum of, yeah, mike pence has held up as this great hero for doing, again, an extremely -- >> for not ripping up the constitution. >> yes. and he did. to his credit, he did his job on that day. the standards have gotten very low. >> i think -- look, he is way ahead in all the polls, new hampshire, iowa, national, i don't think he is way ahead in the polls because he is using fascist rhetoric. i don't think that. i think -- >> why is he ahead? >> i think a lot of it is that people don't actually realize what he is all about right now. there is a kind of -- you know, a basic partisanship. people have discontent with biden, they're not happy with biden, and he is the voice. he is the loud voice, he is the contrast. >> jonathan, mark, i could talk to you for the whole hour, we could do it a different time. thank you both so much. i appreciate it. >>> coming up, brand-new reporting that clarence thomas once complained he'd retire feet and

and chris christie is right. those of us who know nikki haley, who have campaigned against her, worked with her, sat besides her, legislated with her, we know this to be true, she is someone who will try to apiece everybody and every audience and she got caught on the issue that's very, very simple. this is not something that's a very difficult issue for most americans who are genuine and intellectually honest. when you try to cater to many bases, you get caught like this. she would rather be talking about -- i hate talking about clemson, but victory today over kentucky. talking about this issue of slavery, but here we are. >> i think one other issue on this back and forth that she is having now with chris christie and the slavery issue is these campaigns are often not just about the issues, but people are looking to see how you will react when adversity hits. she benefitted from being probably the most polished politician in the republican field so far. she hasn't had a media cycle super negative. so i think peo

christie voters, people who are looking at chris christie, they then go to nikki haley?ood point. i've been with all of them, even last week i was up there with chris christie. he was saying, how crazy is polling? a lot of my supporters might go back to trumpify drop out. as crazy the as that sounds. nothing is a given. including a trump victory. we are gonna see what happens in iowa, as you said, and then we're gonna head over to new hampshire where lot of independents that can swing either way, are gonna make their mark. and see who they feel would be the best republican nominee. >> madam chairwoman, there is not a competitive democratic primary happening. joe biden will be the democrat's nominee. however, the general i, mean, i feel like from the democrats perspective, they're looking towards a general election and i've talked to a number of democrats to do believe that donald trump is going to be the republican nominee. again, the voters still have to decide. how should the biden campaign be strategizing at the top of the year? they don't have a lot of folks on the g

chris christie called her on that. channel her inner chris christie and sharpened the stilettos. she's going to have to sharpen those. she's got the data. it does not make sense to me, you're running for office, you have to take down the top. take down a leader. >> but charlie, is the reason why she is not sharpening those stilettos is because she is afraid of alienating trump voters? >> yes, she is running this campaign where she feels as if the non-trump, anti trump republicans feel she has not been tough enough on trump, and the pro trump republicans feel like she is too tough on trump. she's trying to thread this needle. i don't think you can really do that. i think she has to get in the lane and just take it, be aggressive and call trump out for his conduct and his behavior. i think not just nikki haley but the other candidates other than chris christie have missed opportunities to slam trump on these various indictments, when they should be calling him out on his reckless behavior and bad judgment, rather than mo

it you can see why chris christie's not eager to just get out and pick her. >> even that aside, chrischristie, i think, in particular is not the kind of person who is going to quit, as opposed to being fired, in this case by the voters, when it finally gets to the point. but i think it's a little bit of a circular argument to say that haley needs kristie to drop out of that race to do well. for haley to do well, it implies kristi has voters, which, why would he, effing his voters, leave? if he's doing so poorly, and what's the difference if he leaves? haley has to run her own race. you cannot base your strategy on what five other people do or don't do. yes she could say i would like for vivek and asa hutchison and ron desantis and chris christie to leave and all of you will add up to 45% and i'll be really close to donald trump. but it's not the way it goes. also, it's a little bit of whack-a-mole. a multi candidate field it's not so clear, if christie were to drop out, it's down to halle's favor. you don't know that some people's second choice with christie isn't ron desantis or asa