cnn. you will learn about this case. remember, follow me on twitter, please go ahead and tweet me @wolf blitzer. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. breaking news. donald trump moments ago in a stunning announcement saying he'll likely boycott fox's gop debate this week. hillary clinton fighting bernie sanders in iowa. questions about her honesty haunt her. more breaking news, a massive manhunt on for three dangerous men, convicted of murder and torture. police say they have no idea where they are tonight. where they are tonight. let's go "outfront." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news. dond trump in a bombshell announcement telling reporters

he in his words probably won't show for fox's republican debate in iowa on thursday. >> probably i won't be doing the debate. i'm going to have something else in iowa. we'll do something where we raise money for the veterans and wounded warriors. we're going to do something simultaneously with the debate. most likely i'm not going to do the debate. i didn't like the fact that they sent out press releases, toying, talking about putin and playing games. i don't know what games roger ales is playing, what's wrong over there. >> trump has been hinting for days he might skip the last debate before the crucial iowa caucuses, saying he thinks fox anchor megyn kelly is biased. fox released a statement today about the issue before trump said this. they said, quote, we learned from a secret back channel that the ayatollah and putin both plan to treat donald trump unfair if he becomes president. and trump has his own secret plan to replace his cabinet with his twitter followers. that's obviously not the thing

you would come out of a news organization. this is getting ugly. at the first fox debate, kelly questioned trump about charges of sexism, which caused a major rift between trump and the network. host of reliable sources, brian, the statement i just read from fox, is that what set trump off tonight? >> apparently so. earlier in the day, he asked his twitter followers, should i go to the debate? the poll basically had a 50/50 result. until the last hour, trump had not actually said he was really seriously about skipping this debate t. must have been that statement this afternoon that set him off. basically mocking him telling him to grow up. that was written directly by roger ales, the chairman of fox news, the powerful boss of the fox news channel. ales is the one organizing this debate, of course. you know, ensuring all the candidates show up. brainstorming the questions with the moderators. the idea that trump is now saying he might not show up, that would throw the entire debate into disarray.

after all, he's supposed to be center stage. >> he certainly is. and were you surprised at all by the tone of that press release from fox? putting aside the whole history here and who's more childish than whom, that statement is pretty shocking from a news organization. >> no other news outlet would print a statement like that. there's no other news outlet like fox. in some ways fox exists as a permanent political campaign, as well as a news organization. in this case, i think fox is trying to make it very, very clear, they support megyn kelly at all costs. if trump is not on the stage, that's one thing. but megyn kelly will be on the stage no matter what. after that statement came out this afternoon, another statement came out saying she has the full support of the network. i believe fox, the impression over there, this is just bluster from trump. he's not actually going to go through with this. that he's just bluffing. but we'll find out 48 hours from now if that's true. >> brian, thank you. i want to go now to the spokesperson for donald trump's campaign, katrina peerson, and

also with me, david gergen. katrina, let me just start with you. what's the strategy here? did donald trump say this because he was angry about the press release? it seems pretty clear that he did. he had detail here. he might host an event for wounded warriors instead of going to the debate. is he really going to go ahead with this? >> i think mr. trump said it very clearly in the press conference we just heard on cnn. this is going to be his decision. he is taking back by the bias he's witnessed on fox news. this is no secret, this has been going on for a very long time. and erin, that statement coming out of fox wasn't very newsworthy. so we're going to have to wait and see. mr. trump is definitely considering all of his options. he's always been forceful. even with cnn's debate on wanting to raise money for wounded warriors, because him being on the stage makes a lot of money for the networks. he wants to give a piece to veterans. >> let me play a little bit more of what he had to say about the

person that he is most angry with in all this, which is fox news host megyn kelly. >> one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don't use a politician's filter. you called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. your twitter account -- >> only rosie o'donnell. >> obviously that's what caused him to be angry and what caused this rift which got worse and worse, bill, over type. look, you're no fan of donald trump, you think he's a conservative. is this something that could be another -- he is a genius to skip out, turns this in his favor or a huge mistake? >> it would be a mistake. this is in des moines, iowa. tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of iowans are going to be watching it. a lot of undecided republican voters would like to see one more time the republicans make their case. why is he walking away?

something offended by what roger ales said? he's that much of a crybaby that he can't get up on the stage and deal with questions from megyn kelly? he'll be there thursday night, i think. >> david gergen, what do you say? >> i disagree with bill crystal about doing this. i don't think he'll be there thursday night. i do believe had he walked away only on the megyn kelly question, he would look childish. about you once this press release came out, i think it gave him the excuse not to go. and that he doesn't look so childish. rather, fox sort of stepped over a line. the news organization typically never do in my memory. from his point of view, why does he want to do the debate. he's ahead. he's done a lot of them. he wants to sit on his lead. you can figure he would like to find a way to get out of it, and i think fox gave him an excuse to get out. >> let me read it here for you, bill.

we learned from the ayatollah and putin, both intend to treat donald trump unfairly if they meet with him and he becomes president. he has his own secret plan to replace his cabinet with his twitter followers. if we're going to have an argument over who's being more childish, this is pretty bad. >> a little silly. this debate is for the voters in iowa, and around the country, but especially iowa. the debate in des moines. the caucus is monday night. what's the rationale for not letting the voters take a look at all the candidates on stage, including you if you're donald trump, because roger ales put out a statement that maybe he shouldn't have bothered to put it out. but he's so offended he can't show up onstage. >> he gave more of his rationale a few moments ago. here's donald trump again. >> i think the opponents are wonderful people. i think they're wonderful. let's see how many people watch. >> katrina, are you betting that

people really won't watch because he's not there? donald trump when he talks about doing something else, is he going to do something else on tv? if so, where? what's the plan? >> well, this is what i think, erin. i think we could all agree that there have been more viewers on these debates because of donald trump. we're talking about general election viewership of these debates because of donald trump. if he's not there, they'll be looking for him wherever he is. that statement, as you read it again, is just double shocking, because where is roger ales' scathing review of the democrats? not doing a fox debate? all the republicans go on cnn, they did cnbc, they do fox news. where are the democrats? why aren't we seeing similar statements directed at those? donald trump does feel there is a bias there. they do treat him differently. he feels like he might do something else. we'll have to wait and see. >> erin, this is not about roger ales, not about megyn kelly, it's about the voters of iowa. they're entitled to take one last look at the candidates they're going to vote for monday

night in the caucus. >> david gergen, do you -- go ahead, david. >> well, i just think the voters have seen an awful lot of donald trump and the other candidates. we've had an extraordinary number of debates already. i think we're now down to a situation that's sort of a -- it is a trump versus ales mano-a-mano thing. if trump blinks, he'll do it. he's not going to blink, i don't think. >> isn't this, though, bill, the ultimate anti-establishment blow by donald trump? having all these establishment traditional republicans get onboard with him. the tea party, sarah palin, jerry falwell endorsements, and says, fox news, you've become too soft, i'm going to call the shots. aren't there a lot of voters that are going to say, way to go? >> he's chickening out of a debate. >> you say it's the complete opposite? >> it is. we're talking about two hours on a stage with the other candidates. >> if he debated right after the

muslim issue, which he did -- >> you know, this is a little bit ahead. >> david, ted cruz and marco rubio are very good debaters. they'll engage donald trump on his record, the support of the clintons. they're finally getting visibility. maybe donald trump would do great in responding to cruz and rubio. >> one moment. i want to bring in sarah murray, with the donald trump campaign and she has breaking news on this situation, what he might do. sarah? >> that's right, erin. we just spoke with donald trump's campaign manager. trump will not be showing up at the debate in iowa. they're holding out a possibility of having a competing event in iowa on thursday night. potentially with another network. they said they're not in any further negotiations with fox news. he definitely won't be there. neither trump nor anyone else in the campaign have spoken to roger ales over at fox news. they're also saying they haven't

spoken to reince priebus. we'll have to see how the rnc reacts to this. it's clear the trump campaign not to want to skip this debate, but challenge the fox rating by holding their own event. >> i think it's important, reince priebus, you have just learned donald trump will not be showing up at the debate on fox. confirming here on cnn with sarah murray, donald trump will not be there thursday night. bill, that means this game of chicken is over. he said it and he meant it. >> apparently. i say, ronald reagan won in 1980 in new hampshire by showing up for a debate. i believe donald trump, if he doesn't show up at this debate, could lose iowa by chickening out of the debate. >> i think roger ales put out a press release that was insulting to donald trump. and, you know, and he walked away from it. he said, if you're going to treat me like this, how do i know i'm not going to be sabotaged in the debate. how do i know you're not going

to try to take me down in the debate. you can't expect to come me and help your ratings if you're going to insult me in public. i think he's got a strong argument for not coming. at first i totally agree with bill in the beginning. if it was about he gmegyn kelly had to go. but if they insult you from a news organization, you have ample reasoning to say, to hell with this. >> making fun of you and saying you would be a bad president which is what it said, pretty clearly. it does change things a bit. katrina, we'll have more on this in a moment, but this is now confirmed. campaign manager, you're the spokesperson for the campaign, did you just learn about it here? it seems like it was a last-second final decision here out of the donald trump campaign. >> he was talking about it during the press conference, and he just made it final. it's not just donald trump that was insulted. it was 41% of the people that support him across the country, just as shown in the latest cnn poll. this is a lot of people that

have been insulted by the media, by fox news specifically because there has been a lot of bias against donald trump. you also have the national review that was a part of this  debate as well. they do feel like it's possibly a huge setup for mr. trump. he doesn't have to do it. we could do something different and bring our iowa voters, our iowa viewers to maybe another network. we'll have to see what mr. trump decides to do. >> all right. that is a whole another layer to this. yes, we will, thanks to all three of you, obviously this is now a major story. donald trump will not be at the debate on thursday on fox news. ted cruz's campaign spokesman will response outfront next. we'll be back with the breaking news. does printing from your tablet give you a jolt of confidence? then you might be gearcentric.

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breaking nuts. we're just learning donald trump will not do the next republican debate. he announced this just moments allege. here's what he said. >> probably i won't be doing the debate. i'm going to have something else in iowa. we'll do something where we raise money for the veterans and the wounded warriors. we're going to do something simultaneously with the debate. but most likely i'm not going to do the debate. i didn't like the fact that they sent out press releases talking about putin and playing games. i don't know what games roger ales is playing, what's wrong over there. >> you heard his words there,

probably. well, moments after that, his campaign manager, corey, spoke to our sarah murray right there at that event and confirmed donald trump will not attend the fox debate. categorically would not be there. they're simply discussing what he'll do instead. he indicated he would do something to raise money for wounded warriors. rick tyler with ted cruz's campaign, you heard him say he will not be there on thursday night. ted cruz will be there. what do you think? did he do the right thing? >> well, i think it's the most childish things i've ever heard of. this isn't about the country for donald trump, it's about donald trump. this erratic behavior is just inexplicable. the idea he's not going to participate in a presidential debate and let viewers discern for themselves the difference between the candidates because he has a problem with the host is just childish. >> you say it's childish. let me read to you what roger

ales from fox news put out about donald trump today. there's this back-and-forth as you well know. whether trump would go or not go. roger ales puts out this press release today about donald trump. we learned from a secret back channel that ayatollah and putin intend to treat trump unfairly if they meet with him and he becomes president. let me just ask you, rick, if -- i mean, if something like that was said about your candidate by the head of a news organization, would ted cruz show up to that debate? >> it doesn't matter. roger ales is not running for president. i don't think the american people care about the back-and-forth between roger aels and donald trump. there's no reason to get out of this debate. to me it's just erratic behavior. it's inexplicable and child ir. donald trump should be there. he's the leading contender.

he's the leading candidate and he's going to step aside because he's upset over something that amounts to being just petty and small. and donald trump should be in the debate with everybody else. he did say he most likely wouldn't be in the debate. so maybe he won't change his mind. >> his campaign manager, you obviously know corey, made a formal decision he would not be there. >> donald trump could change his mind. >> right. he can change his mind and say, i'm going to do it. fair point. this is what he said would happen when he doesn't show up. >> i think the opponents are wonderful people. i know a lot of them. let's see how they do with the debate. let's see how many people watch. >> are you worried about that? are people going to watch? are they going to give the hearing that your candidate needs, that ted cruz needs, if donald trump isn't there, to get the eyeballs? >> in the last 48 hours donald

trump has called ted cruz a wacko, nasty, on and on and on, and now he says he's wonderful? it's starting to become sort of laughable. but look, he should go to the debate. he's come to his senses and give the country a chance to see all the candidates. but look, again, what did he do? fox is not going to make money on the debate. who cares? that's not the point. the point is the american people get to see their candidates debate. he's going to deny them because he wants to prove a point about raising money? that's silly. >> what, though, happens for ted cruz? you talk about the things donald trump said about ted cruz on the campaign trail. it sounds like in some ways ted cruz is prepared for donald trump to be the nominee. let me play for you something that ted cruz said to a private meeting of evangelical leaders. let me just play it for you. sure. >> donald wins iowa. he right now has a substantial lead in new hampshire.

if he went on to win new hampshire as well, there's a very good chance he could be unstoppable. and be our nominee. >> that was a pretty -- it was an honest thing, a genuine thing, what ted cruz really thinks. does that mean ted cruz is out if trump wins iowa? ted cruz said he's unstoppable. >> we're in it for the long haul. it would be hard if donald trump won iowa. i think we've got the best ground game here. we've got 12,000 volunteers. we've got 700 people from out of state, you know, we're optimistic. we've been an underdog since the very beginning. no one would have put us in this position. we're somewhere between first and second for iowa. different polls say different things. currently second in new hampshire. no one would have expected that. this campaign is built for the long haul. donald trump is up against a ceiling. and he's the second most unliked

candidate in the field. ted cruz has the highest favorabilities. the poll, 60% of the votes are between trump and cruz. 40% are not for either one. i think we have a much better chance to dig into the 40% than donald trump does. >> a quick final word to you. on evangelical voters, do you think ted cruz is going to actually be able to pull out a win with them in iowa? straight win with evangelicals? >> we hope so. i don't want to make any predictions tonight. we've got a little ways to go. ted cruz is doing 30 stops, 22 cities. not taking anything for granted. he's going all over to iowa, small towns, big towns, lots of different rallies, retail stops, meeting voters face to face. that's what we do here in iowa, and we hope they reward us on caucus night. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. appreciate it. up next, breaking news, president obama announcing he will meet with bernie sanders tomorrow, a private one-on-one meeting at the white house.

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ailes. roger ailes. this time on the de side. president obama just announcing he is going to meet with senator bernie sanders. that meeting is tomorrow at the white house. it will be a private meeting, just one-on-one, the two of them in the oval office. this news comes as we're days away from the democratic caucuses in iowa. and the race is too close to call. briana keeler is out front in cedar falls. >> one of the areas that i've been particularly interested in is the area of children. >> reporter: the clinton campaign out with a new documentary style ad in iowa. >> no matter where they're born, no matter to whom they are born -- >> reporter: trying to showcase a decades-long commitment to women and children. bernie sanders looks to rally union support. >> this is a fight that we cannot afford to lose. >> reporter: the front running candidates building on their cnn town hall appearances. a final primetime appeal before

iowans caucus. >> i think we are touching a nerve with the american people who understand that establishment politics is just not good enough. we need bold changes. we need a political revolution. >> you have to have somebody who is a proven, proven fighter. >> reporter: a new fox news poll shows clinton with a slight lead over sanders with likely democratic caucusgoers. but a recent cnn poll shows sanders leading, a sign of just how close the race is here. sanders trying to push ahead by going after clinton's record. >> i voted against the war in iraq. hillary clinton voted for the war in iraq. >> reporter: but clinton taking a noticeably softer approach after recent sharp attacks on sanders. and she's embracing president obama. >> and i had the opportunity when he asked me to serve as his secretary of state, and not only was it a great working relationship, but turned into a real friendship.

>> reporter: she found herself answering a blunt question about her character. >> i've heard from quite a few people my age that they think you're dishonest. >> i've been on the front lines of change and progress since i was your age. i have been fighting to give kids and women and the people who are left out and left behind a chance to make the most out of their own lives. >> reporter: and some revision is history by both candidates, erin. bernie sanders talking about his record of deregulating wall street, glossing over his vote for the bill that actually deregulated credit default swaps, which paved the way for the financial crisis. hillary clinton talking about fighting for lgbt rights for decades. no mention of her '90s support for the defensive marriage act or recent conversion to supporting same-sex marriage. >> thank you, briana. the chief strategist for hillary clinton's campaign, worked on

three winning presidential campaigns. all right. great to have you with me. i've got to start with the other breaking news. donald trump, his campaign spokesperson confirming to cnn he will not be at the fox news debate this thursday. telling our reporter this before they even told the head of the rnc. what do you say? >> i think, look, donald trump is proving that he's not just a skilled candidate for president, but he's quite a character as president. i think when you're running for president, you go to the debates, you don't get into nonsense of are you going or aren't you going. you see the interest that's out there. on both sides right now. both campaigns have been interesting, both campaigns have been exciting, both campaigns have been fun to watch. i don't think it deserves anybody well to say i'm not going to go to this network or that network. >> as you say, it's a skilled campaigner is the words you described how he's handling it. >> he's running the kind of campaign that's probably the only kind of campaign that

donald trump could run and do as well as he's doing it. he's doing it his way. if he tried to be a conventional candidate, it probably wouldn't work for him. i don't know if it will work for him in the long run, but he certainly is demonstrating he can get 25% to 35% of the republican primary electorate behind him in almost any state he's competing in. >> let's talk about what happened with secretary clinton last night. she got a lot of credit for a lot of things she did. she took a tough question about her past, about her honesty. let me play the question. >> sure. >> it feels like there's a lot of young people like myself who are very passionate supporters of bernie sanders. and i just don't see the same enthusiasm from younger people for you. in fact, i've heard from quite a few people my age that they think you're dishonest. but i'd like to hear from you on why you feel the enthusiasm isn't there. >> honesty, joel.

the most recent poll, we asked which democratic candidate is the least honest? 55% for hillary clinton least honest. 28% in june. that's a pretty shocking jump. that's got to worry you, right? >> you're asking a question that a lot of this lines up with who people are voting for. that poll not to pick on it again, had more men than women in it. which doesn't mirror the electorate in new hampshire as well. i pointed that out the other day when we saw that poll. more importantly here, what this election is going to come down to on our side, which one of these candidates people count on to get stuff for them and make a difference in their lives. if you look at what's happening in this race, senator sanders is out campaigning with a union today. secretary clinton is supported by unions that represent over 11 million working men and women in this country who desperately want a raise, desperately want a candidate who will create good jobs. they're lining up with her

because they're counting on her to get stuff done. planned parenthood and human rights campaign are on the front lines of fighting for women's health care, for equality and ending discrimination for lgbt americans of the they're supporting secretary clinton. when these groups support secretary clinton, senator sanders in the past kind of dissed them a bit saying they're part of the establishment. i don't think anybody thinks planned parenthood is part of the establishment. >> maybe a fair point. a good answer to my question. but it doesn't actually answer my question. it doesn't matter if people think she's not honest? they're going to vote for her? >> what i said is people matter, want to know who can they count on to get things done for them. there are lots of ways to ask questions about trust and who you count on and who you want to deliver. they believe she can deliver for them. that's why they're trusting her with her vote. that's why she's still leading. and competitive in every state we're in. and that's what voters are going

to make their decision on at the end of the day. >> do you feel you've -- you've worked on three winning campaigns. when barack obama surged in iowa and took her out at the knees. >> we call that just winning the caucuses. >> i call it taking them out at the knees. here's what happened. at the end there was a lot of high favorability for barack obama. all of these things. are you sure a victory this time around? >> i'm a person because of what i do for a living because i'm also a pollster and always looking at numbers. you can be confident, but you can't be too confident. particularly in these races early on, erin. the history of these things is they're never blowouts. number two, voters, a quarter in iowa last time in 2008 and half in new hampshire made up their minds in the last week. you can check all the boxes, believing you've done everything on the ground, doing everything on the air and the paid media, but you never go in with a sense that i'm absolutely certain a week out. that's why the last week in both these places is very important. if you remember the last week in

new hampshire back in 2008, president obama took a surge after iowa. and then hillary clinton came back and won by two points in new hampshire. >> she did. she had the one emotional moment that made a difference. thank you very much. ted cruz's wife, how she can change the race. and three dangerous men who have done brutal things on the run after a daring jail escape. they have absolutely no idea where they are. we're live in california. i am totally blind. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. think of it as a seven seat for an action packed thriller. i'm in charge of it all. business expenses,

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iowa caucuses, bernie sanders telling supporters he doubts he'll be able to match the president's historic support in iowa. >> obama in 2008 ran a campaign which is really going to stay in the history books. it was unbelievable campaign. in places they ran out of ballots as i understand. the turnout was so extraordinary, nobody expected it. i think in this campaign, that we are going to match that. i would love to. i hope we can. frankly, i don't think we can. >> all right.

the presidential candidate will meet with president obama tomorrow, a private one-on-one in the white house. jeff is traveling with bernie sanders in st. paul, minnesota. jeff, when it comes to bernie sanders talking about barack obama, keep in mind, barack obama essentially endorsed hillary clinton this week. but bernie sanders saying, i know everybody has these hopes for me, i won't be able to do what barack obama did. is he trying to lower the bar, or does he really think that? >> i think he's trying to temper the expectations. they've increased over the last several days, and certainly weeks. but he's also trying to defy expectations. senator sanders is sort of coming to this a bit late in the game. barack obama eight years ago built an organization here for nearly a year. you can look at the counties in iowa in which he won. several of those senator sanders has been visiting again and again. one of the differences, senator sanders has been focusing on colleges. eight years ago, the college students were not in school at

the time because the caucuses were on january 3rd. now they're on february 1st. all of those college students will be el gist to be out there supporting him. he's going across the state to big colleges, private colleges. that is a big part of his plan there. the meeting at the white house tomorrow, i'm also struck by that. it comes one day after president obama effectively expressed his support for secretary clinton. not formally endorsed, but that meeting in the oval office tomorrow is certainly going to get a lot of attention. >> thank you very much. as you said, traveling with the bernie sanders campaign. now ted cruz is about to speak to supporters at a campaign stop in iowa. his wife, heidi, is in new hampshire campaigning for her husband there, where he is making a big run to try to do well in that campaign. she works at goldman sachs. and a mom of two young girls. >> reporter: in these final t n

frenetic days before the iowa caucuses, every operative is on overdrive, especially this one. >> how are you? >> reporter: 43-year-old heidi cruz, wife of presidential hopeful ted cruz, daughter moth their two young daughters. >> the world is on fire. yes. >> reporter: while she is more finesse, warmth ambassador for team cruz. >> you will see a person who is wise, steady and unflappable. >> reporter: telling us on the trail -- >> my job and my only job in this race as the campaign goes is to help ted win. >> reporter: along with this well-known spouse, she could be a difference maker, the daughter of seventh day adventist, after harvard business school turning down a lucrative job to join the george w. bush campaign. she met the hard-charging man

she calls her intellectual equal. >> i was ted's very first fan. >> reporter: her career in washington was taking off, a rising star in the white house, reporting directly to condoleezza rice. in 2010 she talked about that dream job. >> in the white house, you are the elected party. and your power to move things in a direction is formidable. it was fun to be part of that. >> reporter: but her husband moved to texas to pursue local office, and she followed. in his book, ted cruz writes that his wife's move led to her facing a period of depression. in 2005, an austin police officer found mrs. cruz sitting alone with her head in her hands ten feet away from busy traffic. but heidi cruz bounced back to managing director at goldman sachs in houston, a job she's currently on leave from. ted cruz's critics say that job and his wife's past is exactly what cruz rails against, wall

street and washington insiders. the campaign calls mrs. cruz a determined fund-raising powerhouse. >> how much does that come into play? your financial background -- >> like any candidate's spouse, i think we can use our backgrounds to be helpful to our husbands, and i've been able to help the campaign by raising money and help to get out the vote. >> what are your thoughts on senator cruz and his issues with veterans? >> reporter: lisa traveled 60 miles to ask heidi cruz this question. her son committed suicide after tours in iraq and afghanistan. >> as a fellow mom, there's no greater love than we have for our kids. and ted will honor the life of your son. >> do you think she heard you? >> yeah, i think she was listening. >> did it change your vote? >> it has helped to persuade me a little bit more. i'm still an undecided voter.

>> reporter: but on february 1st, the cruz campaign hopes that that undecided voter, because of that exchange, that ipt mat exchange she had with mrs. cruz, she'll end up voting for ted cruz. >> michelle, it will be fascinating to watch the influence of these spouses. we'll sit down with heidi cruz also at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. in southern california, a massive manhunt under way for these three men. what they did is horrific. they are now completely on the run. jeanne moos on the 9-year-old beside herself about seeing donald trump. the possibility of a flare swas almost always on my mind. thinking about what to avoid, where to go... and how to deal with my uc. to me, that was normal. until i talked to my doctor.

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even describe. paul vercammen is "outfront." >> reporter: the bounty on the heads of three extremely violent jail breakers jumped $50,000 for each fugitive. orange county supervisors raised the reward to $200,000 total. the prosecutor of hossein nayeri wonders why this ex-con and his fugitives weren't isolated. >> i'm not in charge of the jail and don't want to second guess what they do. it's disconcerting learning they were with these other hardened criminals who could collaborate and conspire to escape. >> reporter: the orange county district attorney chastises his deputy in a statement saying her comments were, quote, inappropriate, uninformed, and rash and do not reflect the position of the ocda. >> i will say he was housed at the central men's jail, a

maximum security jail. many other inmates with very similar charges to nayeri, so there's a very sophisticated classification system that every inmate that kocomes into the ja goes through. he met the criteria to be housed in that location. >> reporter: little clues keep trickling out about how the trio escaped. clothing may have been intertwined with linens in makeshift ropes. cut through steel bars, made their way through plumbing tunnels and repelled off the roof. nayeri jonathan tieu and bac tine duong faced long sentences, potentially the rest of their life in jail. >> when they get out on the street, there's desperation they'll lean on. as far as where they'll go, what means they will go to evade law enforcement. it was evident by their attempt and eventual success to escape. >> reporter: cnn has learned duong was almost sent out of the country back to his native vietnam. immigration and custom officials say a judge ordered him removed for unspecified immigration violations.

but after an appeal and a year in incarceration, facials say duong remained in the u.s. on an order of supervision. >> and this is pretty incredible, when you think about what happened in new york, everyone was talking about, oh, how they went through this tunnel, how could they have cut through the manhole? this escape was way more difficult, so many tools required, a lot of help probably required. do they have any idea how they pulled it off? >> reporter: yes. timing was a big factor. at 5:00 a.m. in the morning, they have a check here, a head count. after that, they suspect they left, it would still be dark here in california even in winter. the next head check, not until 8:00 p.m., and erin, sometime around there, there was a disturbance, a fight, it d distracted guards and delayed the head check further and gave them a tremendous amount of time to escape, possibly even to mexico. clearly somebody else was involved if they knew of the fight during the second head check, erin. >> stunning, and stunning it

could happen again given what the nation watched in upstate new york last spring. paul, thank you. "outfront" next, jeanne moos on the surprise trip that brought this little girl to tears of joy. it was not to disneyland, folks, no, it was to donald. >> she is excited. i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. and give her the strength and energy to stay healthy. who's with me?! yay! the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. ensure. take life in!

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who is it? here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: it was a reaction best described as trump-tastic. >> guess what we're going to do monday? >> what? >> we are going to see donald trump in person. in new hampshire. >> are you serious? >> yeah. >> oh my word! >> reporter: the prospect of seeing the donald left 9-year-old ava lovely in tears. >> thank you, mom. >> ah. >> reporter: donald trump has given kids rides in his chopper. they sing him diddies. ♪ president donald trump knows how to make america great ♪ >> reporter: when a kid asks a good question -- >> you're going to build the wall? what's it going to be made out of? >> oh. >> reporter: trump brought him on stage. they're far from the stage when they can vote. >> why are you upset? >> that i can't vote for donald trump. >> reporter: what are they doing

for their brain, wrote one commenter. ava dragged her parents to the rally, not the other way around. mom and dad hadn't even settled on a candidate. outspoken ava says she likes outspoken trump. >> i was just, like, freaking out. i was so excited. >> reporter: not to mention -- >> i love his hair. >> reporter: she got him to sign her "trump is number 1" poster, even wrote a number 1 on her hand. just think, four years ago we were making a fuss over a 4-year-old for having a meltdown because she was sick of politics. >> i'm tired of barack obama and mitt romney. >> that's why you're crying? oh. it will be over soon, abby. >> reporter: then there was the kid who had a tantrum when hillary announced she was running because he thought it meant he couldn't. >> i wanted to run for president. >> reporter: upon watching 9-year-old ava's video, one person commented, she may be one of trump's more mature supporters. and even the donald's opponents might agree with this.

>> it was like going to disney. >> reporter: jeanne moos. >> i love you, trump. >> i love you, too. >> reporter: cnn, new york. >> put that in the category of things you cannot make up. thanks for joining us. be sure to set your dvr to report "outfront" so you can watch the show any time. "a.c. 360" starts now. good evening, john burman ma nr anderson. today, donald trump did what i can't remember any candidate doing ever. just six days before the iowa caucuses with so much at stake where any little thing could derail a campaign, donald trump did more than just any little thing m thing. he did a lot and could say a lot about how he sees his strength as a candidate barely two nights before another big republican debate, this time on fox news, he stepped up to the microphones, blasted the network, blasted one of its anchors, blasted how the debate is being promoted and said he is planning to skip the whole thing. >> i'm