airs at 10:00 p.m. eastern friday night on cnn. you can always follow us on twitter. please tweet me at wolf blitzer. you can tweet the show at cnn sit room. i'm wolf blitzer. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. breaking news. donald trump about to land in iowa. he is staging a rival rally against the fox debate. trump winning a major endorsement from a leading evangelical figure. an exclusive interview with jerry fallwell jr. tonight. health officials warning the zika virus is spreading, quote, 4 million cases expected. let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm erin burnett. we begin out front with the breaking news. donald trump just moments away from arriving in iowa on his

private plane. going to be landing there and perhaps taking questions from reporters on that plane. trump hosting his own event to raise money for veterans. part politics, part theater, all donald trump. this is the line. a huge crowd has been waiting in line to get into the event. people waiting there for hours. thousands of them. and there are many more of them than there are seats inside that theater. trump's veterans fundraiser is at des moines's drake university and is two miles away from the fox debate. you're looking at that map right across town. thousands waiting to get into the trump event. trump and ted cruz are neck and neck in the latest iowa polls. trump obviously thumbing his nose at the debate, taunting fox, tweeting the debate tonight will be a total disaster. low ratings with advertising rates dropping like a rock. trump tweeted, i hate to see

this. we are outside the trump event. you've been talking to voters who changed their minds about trump based on his decision to skip the debate. what did they tell you? >> reporter: this is just fascinating. i have spent a lot of time with the people here waiting here hours for donald trump. he is expected to arrive in des moines at any moment. she was one of those coveted undecided iowa voters. she was interested in donald trump, but just not convinced. after he made this decision, that's what solidified her vote for donald trump. he showed boldness. she wants that in a presidency. that's a word that i heard from so many people here in line tonight. bold. they said this move by trump really appeals to them, that they want that in their president and that's why they're coming out here tonight. a lot of people saying i'm not going to miss the debate. i'm here to say donald trump. >> you've talked to one voter of many, but talking to someone who said this changed their mind and

in favor of donald trump, which may surprise many people who think, oh, this just couldn't have been a good idea. when you talk to people in that line, are they -- what are their views on good idea, bad idea that he's skipping this debate tonight? >> reporter: well, it's interesting. i think of this as in the category of donald trump being donald trump. people said this is his personality. this is why some people like him. this is why some people dislike him. these people have been out here for hours. the first person in line came out here at 11:30 this morning. drake university where this is being hosted tonight said the event has been significantly over sold, that many people will not be able to get in tonight. there's 700 seats inside. the trump campaign has set up some big jumbotron television screens where there will be an overflow crowd of people watching outside. there's a debate going on just three miles away from where

we're standing. it sure doesn't it feel like it right here. >> incredible. we're going to be going back to her through the hour. now i want to go to our chief political analyst and the executive editor for cnn politics and editor of "the daily beast." we were told fox didn't have a podium standing by. that wouldn't have been protocol. now they have a podium standing by. i don't know if they're going to use it or not use it, but this battle is just escalating even in the final moments here. >> this is the most fascinating political theater. the circus has come to town, but it's a one-man band. they're waiting in line for donald trump, not the other k h connectickrt candidates running for president. it's celebrity. republican-based voters see in donald trump everything they don't see in barack obama.

this brash decision has really seemed to play well. >> it has. who knows, right? but so far from what we know, we'll know the ultimate answer here come monday. mark preston, you're actually there outside with the thousands of people who've been waiting. the university says the event was significantly over ticketed. thousands standing outside where you are. >> reporter: yeah. i have to tell you this is something, as john said, the circus has come to town. we're talking about two or three blocks of people standing in line trying to get into this event. if they're not able to get in, they have a large jumbotron set up to watch. this is iowa cold right now. it is very, very cold out here right now. if donald trump is able to keep these folks watching, i think that says something. the big question has been will this really hurt donald trump not being at the debate. i have to tell you the last 48 hours in iowa the only talk has

been about donald trump. of course, tomorrow when we see a new cycle kick in, we'll certainly see what donald trump had to say tonight. interestingly enough, he will be on stage, but we won't be taking any tough questions tonight. that is very much frustrating the opponents that he's running against. >> gloria, who wins the battle there? let's just say they make it personal or nasty. everyone piles on him and they leave the empty podium. is all of that going to hurt donald trump or does that have people say why are you doing that? >> you know, nothing seems to hurt donald trump. i think he made an emotional decision in reaction to a press release from fox news that he didn't like. what he's done as he always does is he's turned it around into something that could actually work for him. on the debate stage tonight you're going to see a lot of

candidates trying to take on donald trump without sounding whiney about it, right, because he is not there. that's going to be a difficult task for them to do. if one of those candidates shines, like a ted cruz or a marco rubio, this will be good for them because there is more oxygen for them in that room. but donald trump is a showman and it looks like his show is pretty sold out, right? >> it certainly does. as we said, thousands of people showing up in the iowa cold. only 700 tickets. john, there's something else here that i think is important for people to know. there's an undercard debate on fox with the candidates who aren't in the top polling tier. rick santorum and mike huckabee are on that ticket. they're going to donald trump's rally. sure, they get publicity, but isn't that effectively once we're out of this, which both of them likely will be, are going to be for trump?

>> not only did that expect more reflected glory in trump's event than the undercard, these are two guys that won iowa in the past. mike huckabee won iowa. rick santorum won iowa. all the oxygen is gone from the evangelical line despite their past is significant. the fact they're aligning themselves with trump tonight visually could send a sign to evangelicals that this is a guy that's okay to back. >> they have nothing to lose. they have nothing to lose, right? they're going to go be with donald trump and get all this attention. it also shows the civil war in the republican party because they're going to be saying, oh, those people on the debate stage, they're establishment, right? we're outside of all of that. that's not a bad place for them to be. either now or in the future. >> gloria, doesn't it also show, even if it is not the preamble to an endorsement, it shows something like, look, donald

trump not a third rail. he is not toxic. we will appear with him. there is something significant in that, isn't there? >> right. particularly since these two guys used to work for fox news. yeah. >> good point. >> i think there is something significant in it. and it is about the republican party right now. you have the establishment republicans, and you've got the wall street journal, fox news in one category. they're saying that is not us anymore. we have changed. that's george bush, but it is not us. that might be john cakasich. it's not us. this is just sort of getting sort of a wound getting open and open further and further. >> mark, when you're talking to people in that line where you are, are they just coming because donald trump is a celebrity? are they coming to say we're happy about the decision you've made about this debate specifically? what are their feelings about

his decision to, as some say, quote/unquote, snub iowa voters and do this instead? they obviously still want to vote for him. >> yes. certainly. there's certainly people here tonight that are here because this is such a spectacle. this is something that has never, ever happened before. however, there are a lot of people here, though, that are supportive of donald trump. we're seeing veterans now that are being escorted to the front of the line. they're being brought in. i was able to talk to one volunteer who's been with donald trump for six months. he has traveled the country with him, and he told me that donald trump is somebody who can get things done for veterans and that he is really frustrated at the lack of oversight and the lack of care and attention he thinks washington has given to veterans right now. we are seeing veterans starting to stream in here right now. what is interesting, we are spending a lot of time focusing on whether donald trump is going to win the day or lose the day tonight by not going to the debate, but what it does come

down to is donald trump is getting huge amounts of people at these rallies all across iowa and new hampshire. the big question is, though, will these people come out and caucus for donald trump on monday night. if this is any indication, perhaps they will, but we just don't know that yet. donald trump a celebrity getting a lot of people out there to see him. question is, will they show up on a cold night to caucus for him on monday? that remains to be seen, erin. >> and continuing to do what nobody ever thought could be done, rising in the polls. the whole world is going to be watching at this point. very fair to say. next, the final republican debate before the iowa caucuses less than two hours away. couple miles away from the big trump event. does ted cruz become the top target? this is the airport. his plane will land any moment now. very near. going to be landing.

then, he's going to be holding a live event at the same time in the same city as the republican debate. brilliant or huge mistake? trump winning a major endorsement. jerry falwell jr. will be my guest tonight. your path to retirement... may not always be clear. but at t. rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. for over 75 years, investors have relied on our disciplined approach to find long term value. so wherever your retirement journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. call a t. rowe price retirement specialist or your advisor ...to see how we can help make the most of your retirement savings. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. when emergency room doctors choose an otc pain reliever for their patients muscle, back and joint pain.

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breaking news. we're awaiting donald trump's arrival in des moines, iowa. this is a live picture of trump's reporters inside the event. it is about two miles away from the fox debate. outside the event there's been thousands of people who have been waiting since this morning to get into the donald trump event. can cruz survive? sarah murray is out front. >> reporter: with donald trump off stage, ted cruz could be the gop's new top target. >> this race is a dead heat between donald and me. we are effectively tied in the state of iowa. >> reporter: trump skipping tonight's debate to hold a rival campaign event. that leads gop's arrows aiming straight at cruz. rubio previewing one of his

lines of attack, calling cruz a flip-flopper on issues like immigration. >> time and again, ted is a calculated political operative. >> there are candidates in our race that are first-term united states senators. senator rubio. senator cruz. good people, but not prepared to be president of the united states. >> reporter: other candidates like rubio were eager to pile on cruz. tonight the biggest punches may come from rubio. >> i saw you on the senate floor flip your vote on crop insurance because they told you it would help in iowa. last week we saw you flip your vote on ethanol in iowa for the same reason. every single time there's been a defense bill in the senate, three people team up to vote against it. bernie sanders, rand paul, and ted cruz. >> i appreciate your dumping your research folder on the

debate stage. >> reporter: as for cruz, he's still looking to face off with trump head to head, challenging trump to their own debate. >> we'll do 90 minutes. donald and me. he can lay out his vision for this country and i can lay out my vision for this country in front of the men and women of iowa. >> reporter: the super pac supporting cruz raised the stakes offering to donate $5.1 million to charity if trump takes cruz up on his offer. trump shot back on twitter, asking can we do it in canada? now, i was just talking to a couple of cruz's campaign staffers. they say they are kind of worried about tonight. they're sort of hoping donald trump will show up at the last minute at this debate after all because they are fully expecting without donald trump on the stage senator ted cruz could be right in the middle and the center of so many other candidate's attacks. >> thank you very much. i want to go now to the national

co-chair for ted cruz's campaign along with a republican strategist for former president george w. bush. you heard sarah say she's talking to people inside the campaign. they're still hoping donald trump does show up because they think this could be a tough night for ted cruz. he's the frontrunner on the stage tonight whether they put trump on the stage for pomp and circumstance or not. is he ready? >> i think he is ready. it's a great opportunity. what a great position to be in that you're the frontrunner. the issue is donald trump doesn't want to defend his record, so he's going off to another venue to hold a rally. there's no way he can defend his record. the people of iowa are going to hold donald trump accountable for missing the final job interview before the caucus vote on monday night. i really do believe that.

>> let me just ask you one question. the lines -- let me show our viewers the lines again. these are the lines outside the donald trump event. thousands of people have been waiting since this morning to get in. there's only 700 seats. thousands of them have been waiting. that seems to really give the momentum to donald trump. does that shock you, thousands of people waiting in the cold to get into donald trump's event? these are the people who are supposed to be offended that he's skipping the debate. >> he's definitely tapped into an emotion, an emotion with the american people that washington is broken and needs to be fixed. if that's the case, the next logical question is who is best to fix it. i think ted cruz is going to make that stage case on the deb stage tonight. >> do you think this is going to end up being a huge mistake for trump? who else is going to shine tonight? >> this is not a mistake for

donald trump. nothing that he does has deterred his voters. what has happened is that you've seen senator cruz go on the offensive against donald trump. en route here tonight a long-term friend of mine who is a conservative, college educated, lives in texas who is a constituent of the senator. he said, paris, i'm so fed up with ted cruz i have cancelled my eight-month $100 automatic contribution. we're fed up and we're not watching the debate tonight. if cnn watches it, we'll watch donald trump's event because we're tired of it. this is the energy. this is the momentum that donald trump has. it's not a mistake. senator cruz is on the offensive because i believe he's nervous because i don't know what polls bob is reading, but donald trump is leading in iowa and all of the national polls, especially in iowa. it's not going to be a good night for senator cruz because people like marco rubio, chris

christie and others will look at him as the number one target. not because he's leading, but when you have the establishment versus the outsiders, he's going to be the number one target there because donald trump is not present. >> that's a pretty tough anecdote. >> what a horrible line. to say i'm not going to show up at the game, i'm going to skip the game, but i'm going to expect to win anyhow. he's the bad guy? i used to coach. you don't show up to play the game. you don't get to win. >> bob, it's not that he's not showing up to play the game. he's going to another event supporting the veterans. he will be there in iowa. >> he's wimping out because of megyn kelly. >> it's about the press release that fox news put out which was in poor taste. that gave him another cover to say there's no way fox news can be fair and balanced as it

relates to this debate. nbc was pulled out by the rnc for the very same reason about them being fair and balanced. let's not make this about megyn kelly. it was about the fox news press release. when he goes to the veterans, i believe they're going to come out in support of him and he's going to have a better play, just like when rand paul decided not to go to the undercard debate. he's on the main stage tonight. donald trump is going to continue to lead and that's unfortunate for you. >> whether it is fox news -- >> donald trump has arrived. he is going to attend his rally, bob. he's arrived right now. you're looking at his plane. we'll see if he takes questions. >> we're not watching ted cruz tonight. we're watching donald trump. >> we're looking at a live picture of donald's plane. >> it's going to be a great night for ted cruz who is actually on the stage. he's not running away from anybody else. if you take on people like putin

or china or nuclear iran, you have to go up against fox news and megyn kelly as well. the first vote is going to be monday night. let's see how iowans speak. they're going to stand with ted cruz because he's a principled pro-family conservative. >> do you have anything that gives you that confidence? you say that with great confidence. what sort of numbers or internal research are you looking at? >> well, i say it with great confidence. yeah, i take a look at polls. i take a look at the iowa state university poll. they've got cruz ahead 26 to 19. i take a look at the turnout game that cruz has, the number of doors that are being knocked. he has an exceptional ground game and he's on the debate stage tonight. the debate stage is the

frontrunner. he has an exceptional chance to perform well tonight. if he does, it's going to bode very well. this is a risk by donald trump. it might play into his fair. but i don't think it's a risk that should be rewarded. >> erin, you asked him about polls. he named one. other polls has donald trump leading in iowa. then they go on to have him leading in national. you can pick and choose one little poll here, one little poll there, but it is inaccurate to say ted cruz is leading. it's not a good night for ted cruz. he's nervous, i believe, because he knows he's going to be target number one. donald trump and his counter programming is going to steal the spotlight. the less time he's going to be spending talking about his own recording and defending his own flip-flopping record that marco rubio and others have attacked him on.

this is going to be donald trump's night no matter what. >> is there anything in your mind that makes you think twice here? it's a media circus. you have all these suvs. we're expecting him to get off that plane any moment. we don't know who he might have with him. but the truth is, bob, is he's not just not showing up. he is doing something else. he says he's going to give the money to veterans groups. we don't know which ones. if he's able to go ahead and do all that, isn't he doing some good and aren't there some people that might say, that statement was pretty nasty and trump was in the right? >> i still don't think it does anybody good to skip the interview. this guy wants to be commander and chief and he's going to be awol in a debate. the fact he needs to show up and answer the tough questions a few days before the iowa caucuses. to the other point, i've been in iowa all my life. i've been with the last two iowa

caucus winners. i will grant you this. donald trump is an unprecedented candidate, one that we've never had before, so he might prove all of us wrong. i do know ted cruz is a full spectrum conservative. he's united iowans and national leaders. he has the ground game that can turnout and perform on caucus night. i think it's game on. let's play. i love this. i can't wait for monday night. >> all right. well, we are going to take a pause then. thank you both very much. donald trump is talking to some people on the plane. we're going to see him when he gets off. we'll see who he's with. we have a little bit of time here, so we're going to take a break. when we come back, we're also going to be interviewing jerry falwell jr. we'll be back in just a moment.

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event to counter the republican debate. there are thousands who have waited for hours throughout the day. donald trump, as we said, has landed. he is on that plane right now. he is doing interviews. one of them with our brianna keilar here at cnn. you're going to see that at the top of the hour, speaking and interviewing donald trump ahead of this rival rally that he is hosting in des moines across town from the gop debate at the exact same time. his fundraiser, the podium that you see there is going to be veterans. it is taking place literal about two and a half miles away from where he was supposed to take center stage and that, of course, is the debate site. two presidential candidates are going to do the undercard debate and then they're going to go to trump's rally. mike huckabee and rick santorum. not an insignificant thing. they're still running, but it is significant. we are outside the trump event

in des moines some 90 minutes away. donald trump is now in iowa talking to the press, doing that interview with cnn. what can we expect from him tonight? >> reporter: erin, there's still a significant amount of mystery surrounding this event. i do think that speaks to how hastily this was arranged by the trump campaign. really speaks to the drama of this moment going on at the same time as the debate will happen in just about 90 minutes. from the get-go, donald trump and the trump campaign have been firm this is a military fundraiser for veterans, but there was no specifics to back that up. the trump campaign, after multiple attempts, has not revealed specifically what the money from tonight's event will be donated to, but we do have some new information from a tweet from donald trump's son. he just tweeted out the list of organizations that will benefit

from the event tonight will be said tonight. people said they were not prompted to make any sort of donations to veterans group. inside there's no sort of pamphlets or anything prompting people to make donations. it's not clear if that is a one to one payment or a fundraising effort, the trump campaign directing people to a specific website tonight to donate money. that's a big focus of tonight's events. i'm here in the area that be the overflow area. behind me you see a big jumbotron, that television, where people who cannot get in to tonight's event will be able to watch from outside. very cold out here. only 700 people allowed inside. there will be plenty of people later in the overflow room. >> that is pretty stunning. thank you very much. as we await trump to get off that plane and the interview you're going to see here on cnn, i want to go to jerry falwell jr., president of liberty

university. it is the largest christian university in the world. falwell gave his personal endorsement to donald trump to win over that all important evangelical vote around the nation. it was a blow to ted cruz who had been campaigning very hard for his support. tonight is falwell's first tv appearance since his endorsement. what a night for you to be on. this is something no one ever thought they would see. a stunning develop here with that rival rally. i know your endorsement is your own personal view. it is not on behalf of your school. but first, with what's going on at this hour and this debate coming up, donald trump not participating in that fox news republican debate, is ditching the debate worth the risk for him? >> you know, i think he's shown throughout this campaign that his decisions are never

orthodox. they're never are what is expected. each time he moved up in the polls. so i'm not going to second guess any of his decisions because i've been proven wrong before and he just seems to keep moving up with every decision that everybody seems to think is the wrong one. that's my feeling about it. >> when we look at those lines of thousands, there are a lot of people who are passionate about supporting him. jer jerry, fox news put out a statement mocking trump. we've reported here at the cnn the head of fox approved and wrote the most offensive lines. we learned from a secret back channel that putin plan to treat donald trump unfairly when he becomes president. trump had his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his twitter followers to see if he

should go to the meetings. should roger ailes had said that? >> i think that's a petty thing to say. i think he's just -- he's revealing he's just mad that he lost the biggest draw in his debate. i'm sure it's going to cost his company a lot of money tonight. >> jerry, why did you endorse donald trump? what was your reason? >> i've spent my entire adult life trying to build liberty university to make it the world-class christian university that was envisioned to be and i did it as an attorney. i'm not a pastor. i've never preached a sermon. i went to university of virginia law school after i studied theology at liberty. i went into practicing law for 20 years at a time when liberty university was struggling to survive financially.

we have over $100 million in debt for a small school. we were struggling to make payroll every week. we would have to stay on the phone many weekends begging and borrowing money to keep the school open, to cover the paychecks that had gone out the friday before. from that experience, eventually we brought in the right professionals, attorneys, accountants. not people who shared our faith, but the people most competent, just like a parent would select the best doctor for their sick child. we've healed liberty university and now it is one of the most prosperous and most successful universities in the world. i think our country is where liberty university was 20 years ago in the early 1990s. we need someone who is a professional, who has taken companies, taken them at bottom, turned them around. sometimes had to use the bankruptcy laws.

we didn't. but he's a turnaround expert. i think that's what -- he's somebody who will be tough on terrorists. the country needs somebody who will protect our borders. those are all the reasons. and those are not the typical reasons an evangelical selects a president. i think when jesus said render unto caesar what is best for the citizens. >> there's been heavy criticism of your endorsement from some other religious leaders. a conservative activist in florida said the late dr. jerry falwell sr. would be rolling over in his grave if he knew his son endorsed the most ungodly man to ever run for the

president of the united states. what do you say to that? >> that's the same thing they said to my father when he supported ronald reagan. they said it's terrible he's supporting a hollywood actor that's been divorced and remarried. he said, no, no. when i walk into the voting booth, it's my job to choose the best not the best sunday schoolteacher, not the best pastor, but the best leader for the united states. i believe it's my job as citizen. whoever said that didn't know my father as well as i did. >> jerry, thank you very much. jerry falwell jr. speaking out for the first time on television since his endorsement of donald trump. next wall street showering candidates with cash while the same candidates are bashing the banks. a special report. does north korea have the

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breaking news. donald trump going rogue in a

little more than an hour. he's going to skip the republican debate for a soldout rally of his own. an unprecedented move by a frontrunner that's been anything but unconventional. but why is wall street lining the pockets of some of the people running against him, people who constantly bad mouth the big banks? we have the story you'll see here only on "outfront." >> reporter: this is the season for wall street bashing. >> he's taking on wall street and a corrupt political system that keeps in place a rigged economy. >> we're going after everybody. they're going to know we can't put anybody at risk through their shenanigans and their abuses like they did before. >> reporter: but wall street donors are not taking it personally. a review of federal campaign filings and interviews with more than a dozen financial executives and political fundraisers show that wall street donations are flowing in at record high levels, already

giving more than the entire 2012 campaign. outside political action groups with no limits on donations driving the influx with chucks of 1, 2, even $10 million from industry participants. while jeb bush was expected to pull in big dollars, ted cruz is an unlikely favorite of the big banks. a first-term senator with a reputation for bucking his party and wall street. >> would you bailout out the big banks again? nobody gave you an answer to that. i'll give you an answer. absolutely not. goldman is one of the biggest banks on wall street. >> reporter: ted cruz's wife, heidi, on leave from her job at goldman sachs says her husband anti-wall street at all. >> he has an anti-government

support of the industry sentiment. >> reporter: trump is taking advantage of the issue. >> he doesn't want you to know he borrowed from goldman sachs. >> reporter: on the democratic side, bernie sanders making the same point about his rival. >> my opponent is not in iowa tonight. she is raising money from a philadelphia investment firm. [ booing ] >> frankly, i would rather be here with you. >> reporter: clinton's defense against the wall street attacks -- >> i was a senator from new york. i took them on when i was a senator. i took on what was happening in the mortgage markets. i was talking about that in 2006. >> yet the banks keep doing it. they keep doing it. >> yeah, that's right, erin. you're looking at a campaign

financing system that's on steroids. flat out this is just the reality. candidates need to raise tons of money, more than a billion dollars, erin, in the 2012 campaign just to compete. when they donate, they get to play. i asked about the bashing and most of them said, look, we've got thick skins, particularly in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. we've just gotten used to being political punching bags. bernie sanders has had more than 2 million donations to his campaign. zero from anybody who worked at goldman sachs. >> thank you very much. donald trump on his plane, as we said, talking to the president, doing an interview with cnn. we have some headlines coming out of what he is saying to reporters on the plane. breaking news here. we're going to take a break. we're going to come right back. as we said, still on that plane getting ready to deplane, go to

that sold out rally where thousands are awaiting his arrival. they speak louder. we like that. not just because we're doers. because we're changing. big things. small things. spur of the moment things. changes you'll notice. wherever you are in the world. sheraton.

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donald trump is in des moines, iowa. he sohis plane, talking to the press. he is going to go to an event

honoring veterans where he'll announce the groups that are going to be receiving money from the event. no one was charged to go. we'll find out a lot at the event. thousands waiting all day to get inside. only 700 tickets. he's on that plane and maggie haberman, our contributor at cnn, tweeted out that trump has said that he spoke to roger ailes, the head of fox news, the one behind the offensive press release that trump says was the reason he dumped out of the debate. he spoke to roger ailes. still, donald trump is not going to do that debate. our editor is with us with those lines of thousands waiting for the trump event. that's a significant development. trump saying he's still not doing the debate, but the fact they actually spoke. >> no doubt about that. donald trump said he was not going to talk to roger ailes. wanted to talk to his boss, rupert murdoch, if he were to come to the debate. it was clear when donald trump

said he was going to hold this event for veterans he had to attend and do something about it. he's going to say what veterans groups are going to get the money. we still don't know who donald trump is going to give the money to and where that money is coming from and how much. but donald trump now on the ground in des moines heading over to drake university shortly. we'll see a crowd of about 700 people that will be inside that auditorium. as you noted earlier, as we showed, the line is stretching two or three blocks down the road and the university had to issue out a press release saying if you are in line there's a very good chance you are not going to get in. this event has been overticketed. >> massively so. thousands waiting as you've been talking to people in line. thousands waiting. only 700 tickets. i know floos goithere's going tg jumbotron. it's sub zero there. are people angry they can't get in or they're not angry? is this just a big celebration?

what's the mood? >> you know, i don't think a lot of the people in line know that they're not going to get in yet. i think there's still hope that they will be able to get in there. they're not sure how many people have been already. as we talked about, we've seen veterans arriving here that have been escorted to the front, and they are being let in right now. clearly people are going to be frustrated. clearly people are going to be upset. the question is, how many will stick around in this really frigid weather to sit outside and watch this event on the jumbotr jumbotron. >> and before you go, mark, barack obama, president of the united states, is hosting a retreat with democrats and referenced donald trump. let's play what he had to say a moment ago. >> we're not going to strengthen our leadership around the world by allowing politicians to insult muslims or pit groups of americans against each other. that's not who we are. that's not keeping america safe. >> it's amazing. the president of the united

states now weighing in on a republican candidate. not even yet the nominee. >> right. no further evidence when you have barack obama now talking about donald trump on the night when the republican candidates are all supposed to bea stage together, erin, debating one another. donald trump has sucked so much oxygen out of iowa right now. he is controlling the narrative. not only here in this state but throughout the country. >> mark preston, thank you very much. we'll be right back in a couple of moments as we await donald trump getting off that plane and our highlights from the cnn interview with mr. trump on board. 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.

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thank you for watching. it's time for "ac 360." good evening. tonight i want to show you a pair of live pictures. on the left, the iowa event center in des moines. on the right, drake yesterday, also in des moines, just three miles away. in just about an hour on the left, the final republican debate before the caucuses on monday. all the leading candidates except donald trump. also in just about an hour on the right, donald trump. just moments from now on this program, donald trump as well. a 360 exclusive. breanna keilar sat down with him on the jet. the interview is just wrapping up. we'll bring it to you as soon as we physical can because it was quite a conversation and a totally unique moment in