named finalist for sexiest man al alive, but not travis. about the title went to patrick dempsey. what do you think, should it have been kelsey ice or dempsey? >> well, dempsey. but i will say the kelce stock is up. >> unbelievable. >> yeah, honestly, i envy them, but jason kelce oig just being a finalist, i'm waiting for my call. >> maybe next year, omar. >> yeah. andy scholes, thank you so much. thank you all at home for joining us on some slow news day. of course a joke. there is a lot going on. and even though i'm leaving, "cnnnn this mornrning" startrts now.

good morning, everyone. big night, big election night. a lot of headlines to get to this morning. >> a little bit of a narrative shift, perhaps. >> a little bit? >> maybe. >> a lot of bit. democrats celebrating big wins this morning after ohio voters resoundingly say yes to a constitutional right to abortion. they notch victories in virginia and kentucky. that is where democratic governor andy beshear won a second win in that state. >> a new cnn show president biden losing in a potential rematch to president trump. an evacuation corridor is open for people to get out of northern gaza. that corridor closes next hour. new this morning, the house has censured rashida tlaib for her criticism of israel. 22 democrats joining republicans to reprimand the democrat. and ivanka trump is set to

take the stand today, the fourth family member to testify but she's not a defendant in the case. "cnn this morning" starts right now. >> and phil is right, a big narrative shift and a huge night for democrats on abortion rights. [ applause ] hear those cheers in ohio, voters deciding to make abortion a right under the state's constitution. a solid majority voting yes. this is a state controlled by republicans. >> and in virginia, cnn projects democrats will take full control of the state legislature, they flipped the house delegates. abortion was, as you know, a dominant issue in these races. it is a setback for republican governor glenn youngkin, as he pushes to restrict abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. in the deep red state of kentucky, governor andy beshear, a democrat, has won reelection.

keep in mind, this is a state where donald trump won by 26 points in 2020. beshear beat his republican opponent by about 5 points, according to the late st tally. >> anger politics end right here and right now. just look at what we were up against, five super pacs, my opponent's super pac, mitch mcconnell's super pac, running ads full of hate and division. and you know what, we beat them all at all times [ cheering and applause ] >> republicans did notch a win in mississippi, where tate reeves was reelected. always a little bit of a dangerous game to try and extrapolate off year election results. we're going to go ahead and do that right now. what do democrats think this

means after a very good night? >> >> reporter: well, it was a significant victory for democrats. it couldn't come at a better time as there's tremendous anxiety about president biden's bid for reelection. across several states, voters made their voices heard on crucial ballot measures and important races for political office. in ohio, a state which has trended republican in recent elections, voters in the state approved a ballot measure, enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution, signaling that abortion access is a key issue for voters across party lines. in a statement, president biden applauding the passage of the state's abortion rights measure saying, tonight americans once again voted to protect their fundamental freedoms, and democracy won. ohio voters also approved a second ballot measure,

legalizing marijuana, making it the 24th state to do so. in virginia, a setback for the current gop governor glenn youngkin. >> you know what winning means, hold the house and flip the senate. >> reporter: while the governor hoped for both chambers of the state legislature to go republican, the democrats won control of both chambers of the virginia general assembly, retaining the senate and flipping the house of delegates. and in two marquee governors' races. >> thank you, kentucky. >> reporter: democratic governor, andy beshear, reelected to a second term in kentucky, defeating republican daniel cameron. in a deep red state that donald trump easily won in 2020. >> tonight, kentucky made a choice. a choice not to move to the right or to the left, but to move forward for every single family. >> and i got to tell you, this

victory sure is sweet. >> reporter: and in mississippi, gop governor tate reeves reelected to another term, beating democrat brandon presley. >> i'm fired up for the next four years. i'm fired up because mississippi has momentum, and this is mississippi's time. >> reporter: and in philadelphia, history was made. >> i'm philly born, i'm philly bred, and i'll be a feill philadelphian until i'm dead. >> reporter: democrats say continue to expect abortion to be front and center as they will continue to elevate the issues they argue most americans care about as they try to replicate

these victories in 2024. phil, poppy. >> eva mckend, thank you very much. joinings now, jeff mason, cofounder of -- former republican governor of georgia, jeff duncan. democrats feeling momentum they needed this morning after that polling from biden. what do you make of abortion in ohio, is that just ohio and just abortion or a push for dems across the nation pushing them into 2024? >> i think voters are nuanced and sophisticated than the polls pick up. while i think abortion has been a key issue, not only we saw that in the midterms but we saw it last night that i think women and young voters in particular are performing or responding to that, but i think there are other issues as well, marijuana pass, the legalization of marijuana in ohio, and we look at what happened to beshear in kentucky, i think health care

played a key role. i think this is going to be an election cycle that issues are going to matter. >> geoff with a g. >> thank you for noting that. >> clarity is important. >> we're teaching and learning at the same time. glenn youngkin staked where he's at in his star rise in the party, which has been unequivocal since 2021, flipping a chamber, having the trifecta, being able to move conservative policies through virginia, a blue state through the last couple of cycles, what does this do for him? >> 24 hours ago he had more political capital, and 24 hours later, he doesn't do what he said he wanted to do. one of the reasons he didn't run for senate is he wanted to keep the senate and win the house of delegates. he had a misstep late in the game, talked a lot about

abortion. virginia is one big suburb. the issues we saw play out across the country isn't a good issue to talk about for republicans. we haven't figured out our cadence. we have made abortion about a primary, and it seems like we continue to hammer the issue of abortion through the lens of running a primary. we walk into a general, we have no empathy, no understanding of what 17-year-old is dealing with in her life or tough circumstances. until we figure it out, we're going to get beat over and over. >> it's an interesting point, jeff with a j, glenn youngkin kept saying it's not a ban. it's a limit. vivek ramaswamy from ohio said to kaitlan last night. listen. >> we need to talk about the issue very differently in order to bring people along here. i think if we frame this issue correctly, this need not be some sort of final sign that we take. this was a lost battle in ohio today. i'm disappointed about that.

i think there are deep reflections in the republican party and the pro life movement about how to improve from here, but abandoned the pro life cause i don't think is the right answer. >> you think it's just a messaging issue, you think it's just a messaging issue? is it just a messaging issue? >> clearly not. the polls showed in ohio it's not just democrats who came out and voted in favor of this. it's republicans as well, which isn't necessarily good for joe biden. it means it's an issue that's driving people to the polls, certainly good for people in favor of reproductive rights, and it's probably good for democrats as well. it won't necessarily translate to get getting more people in h column. it's about the core issue, and has been since the supreme court struck down roe v. wade. >> these results came out as a cnn poll, another cnn poll came out showing his top line is weak, he's losing to the former president in a rematch.

more importantly, the coalitions and the strength of the coalitions that gave him 80 plus million votes in 2020 are weak right now to some degree. young voters, african-american voters and latino voters. is there anything you draw from last night about whether or not that can be recreated. >> i actually drove the opposite. i think last night is indicative that coalitions are strong. i think biden and the democrats are going to have to do a stronger message that centers issues and things people care about, instead of literally being candidate centered. i think they're going to have to shift their message. for young people, i think the support is within his base. the question is can you maintain and solidify your base of supporters. >> the exit point from ohio showed that 25% of voters think biden is the right candidate, a good candidate. i wonder if it was more on these issues than on him. >> i think the honest truth is if he had a stiff enough cocktail, a majority of republicans would do anything

other than donald trump, and same with democrats, right, if you just woke skpup up and said both seem to be victims of gravity, and we are where we're at, all hoping that something else changes in the next few months, and i don't know what that's going to be. >> it's not going to change. >> guys, this is a tough tease to the debate tonight, republican debate tonight, which we'll obviously all be watching. appreciate it, guys, stick around. next, we're going to take a deep dive in what pushed ohio voters to the polls and what it tells us about the big line in '24. a 4-hour evacuation order is open in gaza. and what s secretary blinknken abouout growing g calls s for r fire therere. stay w with us.

let's take a closer look at the leading issue driving last night's election results. abortion also a critical issue in the governor's race in kentucky. and in the state legislature races throughout virginia. let's start with ohio. we had the 2020 map up for a reason because this is very clearly a red state. it has been moving in that direction cycle after cycle after cycle. donald trump in 2020 winning by 475,00 475,000 votes. what happens when you put it to this ballot initiative itself. this wasn't close. when it came to a constitutional right to abortion.

the yes won by 500,000 votes, and here's what's most interesting, people going county by county and picking out the data are looking at right now. if you look at the counties that donald trump won in 2020, these, everything that's highlights in orange and green are counties that trump won in this red state of ohio. everything that's green, these are trump won counties that voted in favor last night, underscoring the ability of this issue to just drive voters in favor of abortion rights. it's something we have seen repeatedly over the course of the last year. whether it's in kansas, montana, michigan, kentucky, we saw is again in ohio. what about the governor's race? because this is also a critical race to consider going forward. now, when you talk about andy beshear, keep in mind, he was an incumbent, a popular incumbent, and that is important. what's also important is if you look at the margin, the state's restrictive abortion law that daniel cameron had shown support

for. he won and won handily. 66,000 votes ahead, boosting his margins, not just in blue districts you see her. and also minimizing his bleed in districts that are republican. 2019, only won by 5,000 votes. republicans will tell you daniel cameron is a much better candidate. what about the state legislature races? we talked about glenn youngkin and the push there. glenn youngkin wanted to push a chamber and having a full trifecta. not only did he not flip one, he lost a chamber. democrats are in control of the state senate, holding control there, and also flipping the state house, and what does that tell you? well, most of these democrats were running on abortion. running on a number of issues. youngkin thought he could go on offense, at least according to the results last night in virginia, kentucky, and ohio, that didn't work. >> amazing what 24 hours can do. >> thank you so much. the new cnn poll spells trouble

for biden in 2024. a former member of the biden administration is here to discuss next. israel's defense minister says idf troops are fighting in the heart of gaza city as palestinians are seen leaving south, and some are waving white flags. the latest on the war front ahead.

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welcome back, democrats pulling off big wins in ohio, kentucky, and virginia last night. there are still serious head winds, though, facing president biden's reelection campaign. there was a brand new cnn national poll this morning, and it shows donald trump beating biden in a hypothetical rematch, 49-45, and when it comes to favorability ratings, both candidates are underwater. 39% favorable, versus unfavorable for biden, trump, not too far off, 56% unfavorable. still what this poll makes clear is that american's see biden's weakness as trump's strength on whether the candidate has the stamina, the sharpness to serve effectively. a quarter of americans back biden, compared to 53% who say trump has that. and on being an effective world leader, biden comes in at 36%,

trump at 48%. we are seeing the same trends nationally that we saw in the swing state polls from "the new york times" and sienna college. biden losing support among key groups that helped him win in 2020, voters younger than 35 where trump leads by a point. but in 2020, biden won that group by 24 points. among black voters, 73% favor biden. that number was 87% for biden in 2020. and latino voters have split, 50% say biden, 46% say trump. that's a 4 point margin. in 2020, biden won that group by 33 points, and there appears to be an enthusiasm gap. 71% of republicans say they are extremely motivated to go to the polls in '24, compared to 61% of democrats. >> we'll discuss all of this and more, cnn political commentator, kate bedingfield, the deputy campaign manager of the 2020

campaign. is the assumption here that at some point people will zero in on a trump versus biden rematch and therefore the coalition will come home? >> i think there are two things, yes, i do think that the challenge for the biden campaign in many ways is to make this 2024 effort about trump and to really draw that contrast. i mean, you sort of ratting off all of the numbers in the cnn poll that are not great for biden. there are a lot of nrumbers in the poll that are troubling for trump too. trump does not have an enormous bulwark of support based on that poll. that is, i think, drawing that contrast is one piece of it. also, let's take a step back. you know, voters went to the polls yesterday, and we saw an enormous amount of enthusiasm for the democratic agenda. we saw that abortion is motivating voters, and frankly, biden's agenda is popular. you listen to andy beshear who won last night. that was a vintage biden speech when you listened to his

acceptance speech last night. he's talking about universal broad band, things that are biden accomplishments. what we saw from voters actually going to the polls yesterday is that there is enormous popularity for the biden agenda, and so the challenge for biden is to capture that enthusiasm and drive that contrast, which he now has a year to do. >> he's not polling well in the economy. it's like 36% and our reporting yesterday is, quote, there's no major strategy revamp coming, no deep reassessments, no candidate replacements. why no shift at all given the reality of those numbers? >> look, this is a confounding problem, i'll tell you from my time in the white house. this is an incredibly confounding messaging problem. there are so many signs that the economy is stronger than anybody anticipated it would be two years ago, that we've avoided recession, that we're growing jobs. people have concerns about cost, they have concerns about inflation. the president certainly knows

that and is focused on addressing what people are feeling in their day-to-day lives. as an electoral matter, if you're making decisions about how you're turning out your voters, yesterday was a good road map. voters yesterday had concerns about the economy, but they turned out in droves to reject the republican agenda on abortion, and again, in support of some of these core planks of the biden economic agenda. so it is a confounding challenge, absolutely. there is a huge disconnect between how people feel about the economy, and, you know, what on paper is a strong economy, something the campaign and the white house grapple with. but, again, i think there was a road map yesterday to electoral success, and we saw it in voters actually coming out and voting. >> i think we probably spent hours in your office, you walking me through internal polling about how the issues are popular, the issues of the infrastructure law, the issues of the inflation reduction act,

the issue of the c.h.i.p.s bill, issue, by issue, they're popular, they're not transferring to favorables for biden. andy beshear, he was at the bridge with joe biden and mitch mcconnell. what is the disconnect with the president specifically? and i guess the obvious question is it his age? >> biden hasn't been on the ballot. we haven't seen -- voters have not rejected joe biden at the ballot box. that's the frame there, kind of pro supposes the idea that voters have said i like your agenda but i don't like you. we haven't seen that. so, you know, i think, look, is age a question? is it at the forefront of the conversation? yes, we certainly see that in the polling, but we also see, again, that when the rubber meets the road and voters go to the polls, this was true in 2022 in the midterms when the expectation was that democrats were going to get wiped out and they did not. it was true in the run up to

yesterday. yesterday was a good reminder, the narrative doesn't vote. voters vote. >> do polls vote? >> polls do not vote so we're clear on this. >> said a lot between the two of you, polls do not vote. >> polls do not vote, and it's still true. >> good to have you, kate. >> thanks. house votes to censure rashida tlaib over her comments about israel. ivanka trump, what her testimony could mean for the family's business.

happening now, the israeli military has opened a four-four evacuation corridor out of gaza. it's set to close in the next half hour. scores of palestinians have been seen fleeing northern gaza to the south, some carrying i.d.s

and waving white flags. it comes as israel says its troops are in the target of gaza city, targeting infrastructure and commanders. a few hours ago, secretary of state antony blinken renewed his objections to an immediate cease fire in gaza. listen. >> all of us want to end this conflict as soon as possible, and meanwhile, to minimize civilian suffering, but as i discussed with my g7 colleagues, those calling for an immediate cease fire, have an obligation to explain how to address the unacceptable result it would likely bring about. ultimately, the only way to ensure this crisis never happens again is to begin setting the conditions for durable peace and security and to frame our diplomatic efforts now with that in mind. >> that statement comes as the palestinian ministry of health in ramallah says more than 70% of the ten thousand people killed in gaza since october 7th have been children, women and the elderly. >> in washington, the house did vote to censure rashida tlaib

for her recent comments about israel just before the vote. the first palestinian-american member of congress defended herself on the house floor. >> but let me be clear, my criticism has always been of the israeli government and netanyahu's actions. it is important to separate people in governments, mr. chair, no govents impbeyond criticism. i can't believe i have to say this, but palestinian people are not disposable. >> tlaib posted a video on social media last week with clips of protesters chanting from the river to the sea, and that chant is considered anti-semitic by in groups. the antidefamation league says it's a call to displmantle the jewish state. lauren fox joins us from capitol hill. i thought it was notable that 22 democrats voted for this. that first censure resolution failed, this one passed.

>> yeah, obviously a lot of change over the last week. a lot of democrats saying that they supported this resolution because the language was so much more narrow than that censure resolution brought forward by marjorie taylor greene. an incredible rebuke, with 22 democrats joining republicans to censure rashida tlaib. there was quite an energetic and robust debate on the house floor before this vote took place. take a listen. >> i believe that actions have consequences, and i believe that after a long string of anti-semitic remarks and hate-filled rhetoric, censure is an appropriate consequence for the gentle lady from michigan. never again. >> time has expired. >> please stop misrepresenting representative tlaib's words without her voice we would lack even more empathy for the people of palestine. maybe because of your lack of

diversity, you lack the cognitive and emotional ability to recognize diverse opinions when they speak truth to power. >> rashida tlaib came under fire for some of her recent comments related to that phrase from the river to the sea, which as you noted, is seen by in jewish groups as an anti-semitic phrase, seen that way by many of her colleagues, clearly, and rashida tlaib defended herself on twitter back in november 3rd saying that she views this phrase as a call for freedom. clearly not apologizing or backing off. obviously this is one of the strongest rebukes that can happen to a member of congress, and while it is incredibly rare, it is obviously something that has started to happen more frequently in the house of representative it is. poppy. >> lauren fox, thank you for the reporting. back here in new york city, fresh on the heels of her

father's contentious time on the stand, it's ivanka trump's turn. she will go under oath in the $250 $250 million fraud case against trump and the family business. kara scannell joins us now. we had a 24-hour breather. what do we expect from the testimony? >> she's going to take the stand, the last of the adult children to do so. this case is about the allegation that there were fraudulent stantements to obtai loans. she helped introduce the trump organization to deutsche bank and involved in some of the loans herself and some of these development deals including the old post office building in washington, d.c. so there's going to be a lot of focus, testimony on her about these loans but also the financial statements themselves. and i obtained a clip of her video deposition, an excerpt from it that she gave last year. here's what she said about those financial statements and her knowledge of them. >> do you have any recollection

of your father having personal financial statements? >> not specifically. >> what about generally? >> well, see, i combine them all in my mind, like the statements of the company, so, no, i mean, not like specific to him. look, i have my own -- i've never prepared one. i don't know. i've never made one. i'm not an accountant. >> unlike trump's sons, his attorney said they do intend to cross examine her, and they think those questions could go into tomorrow. then after this testimony is complete, the new york attorney general's office will rest their case. trump's lawyers say they will begin putting on their case on monday. >> what do we expect that to look like? >> trump has hinted about this in his testimony. he said they're going to call bankers who said they didn't rely on the financial statements. they weren't material and didn't matter, and they're going to call a number of expert witnesses to say these deals, the valuations on the properties were not wrong. there's going to be a battle of the experts to some extent about

what these properties were worth. trump's side saying this could go until mid december. >> kara scannell, keep us posted, thank you. ohio voters move decisively in favor of abortion rights. we're going to speak to shawn tell brown about what that means for the 2024 presidential race. and how republicans are responding to the election results. >> politically are you concernrd about t being on t the w wrong f public o opinion on n this issu?

those are abortion rights advocates in ohio celebrating a big win last night. cnn projects access to abortion will now be protected in the state. voters backed issue 1, which enshrines reproductive rights in the state's constitution, prevents restricting abortion access before fetal viability, that is, between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. at the heart of this fight was

ohio's six-week abortion ban. that went into effect in june of 2022, immediately after the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. just four months later it was blocked by a court but it is still under consideration by the state's supreme court. abortion rights advocates argue that passing issue 1 was the only way to stop the ban. ohio republican congressman jim jordan down played the decision. listen. >> reporter: the presidential election could turn congressional next year that abortion could be the defining issue? >> i think the defining issues are going to be, we went from a secure border to no border. we went from safe streets to record crime. we went from $2 gas, to 4, $5 gas. those issues are going to drive the election. >> not abortion? >> no, i think those issues are going to drive the election. >> let's bring in ohio democratic congresswoman, shontel brown. great to have you. jim jordan says it's mainly the economy, not abortion.

ohio is the seventh state, including a couple of red states to enshrine abortion in the state constitution. are republicans out of step with this? >> absolutely. i want to thank the voters and the volunteers who worked tirelessly to make sure we saw victory as it relates to helping women and families protect the right to make their own health care decisions without interference from the government or fear of being criminalized. that's what issue 1 was all about. as republicans continue to try to take away freedoms, you can see in the results from ohio's election that people want the power to remain in their hands, that issues are still important, and messaging matters. >> ohio's governor, mike dewine campaigned hard on this. he called it a radical proposal. but as we got closer to election day, he talked about softening

the law, allowing the six-week ban, allowing exceptions for rape and incest. that wasn't enough to convince ohio voters, and i wonder why you think that is? >> well, governor dewine, i think, could see the tea leaves, the energy around the ground, on the ground in ohio was certainly in our favor when you looked at the early vote numbers. they were certainly leaning our way. i also would like to say that this was not necessarily a partisan issue, but a personal issue. you saw women from democrats to republicans, black, white, rich, poor, this was an important issue and a broad coalition of folks that decided to, again, protect the freedoms. democracy won, and protecting freedoms to make your own health care decisions, again, without politicians being in the doctors office, that was the message that resonated with people. people want to be able to make their own health care decisions and leave the government out of these personal, private, medical decisions.

>> congresswoman, let me ask you, though, about the leader of your party, the democratic party, president biden. "the new york times" poll a couple of days ago was tough for him among key constituencies, and the cnn national poll confirmed that. if you look at the numbers, 36% of voters think he's an effective world leader. 25% think he has the strength to be president. only 37% approve of how he's handling the economy. but abortion is where he's strong, and abortion is where we saw democrats coming to the bat box. is that all he's got? >> no. i think there's an old saying in politics, there's only two ways to run and that's unopposed or scared and those numbers are definitely frightening. what we also recognize is polls don't vote. when it comes to joe biden, traditionally polls have not ever been favorable to him. when they count joe biden out, he shows them they don't know how to count. it's a little bit early to be

predicting what happens in 2024, but we're going to continue to work hard and make sure that people understand the accomplishments. i think what we saw in kentucky is demonstrative of what we have been demonstrating right here in washington, with leader jeffries at the helm, we are always looking for bipartisan solutions to move forward, move this country forward, and the democrats have been united from day one, and we're going to continue down the road and make sure that people know democrats have been delivering for them. >> the gubernatorial race in kentucky is unique because of beshear's popularity there. i hear you on that. i want to ask you about what we saw in the house yesterday, and it included 22 democrats, voted to censure, democratic congresswoman, rashida tlaib, they voted because of her criticism of israel, and the phrasing she has used from the river to the sea. you voted against the censure, and i'm interested in why? >> well, rashida tlaib and i

don't agree on that subject, but what i will say is that we both agree that there should be some humanitarian and civilian aid. this is a very complicated and difficult subject, and we certainly mourn the innocent lives lost, and so while we, again, don't agree on that topic, we do agree that there should be some humanitarian aid as it relates to the conflict that is happening in israel. >> can't both things be true, you can disagree with her on that language and vote to censure her, which you didn't, but also push for humanitarian aid. i want to understand your vote against the censure? >> absolutely. i think representative tlaib who is also a friend and a colleague apologized, clarified her position on the phrasing. i also signed on to a letter that also stated my position as it relates to that phrasing that

she used. people make mistakes, and we have to afford them grace. this is a very, again, complicated subject, and what's happening in israel between the invasion by hamas is something that none of us really wants to see, and as a palestinian i think her perspective that she offers and lends to the body of congress is one that we also value and appreciate. >> i appreciate your time very much this morning. ohio congresswoman shontel brown. thank you. >> thank you. five republican presidential candidates who are not named trump or donald will face off tonight on the debate stage. what can we expect to see? we're going to tell you. plus, the youngest member of congress raising concerns about biden's slipping poll numbers with young voters. >> it is concerning. we need to recreate the 2020 quo litigation, and build on top of it. looks likeke that's a a little in dananger right t now.

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back with us, lat tasha brown, geoff duncan. you didn't sell it well why people should be watching this debate. so we're going to give you another shot. as somebody who has covered the races for so many years, what are you watching tonight? what would be a breakthrough for you. >> the dynamic between haley and desantis will be fascinating. they have been going at each other, giving him a run for his money for second place. also the fact that this is the first debate since the hamas attack on israel that will make foreign policy sort of the key issue. americans don't always care that much about foreign policy. it doesn't resonate that much in elections. it's going to resonate now and in this debate. >> it's a big question of where americans' money goes, taxpayer money goes in terms of foreign policy, israel, ukraine, what the house is going to do with those.

do you think that vivek ramaswamy changes his stance on how he talks about foreign policy given what nikki haley did to him before? >> yes, it seems to be a theme. his chatgpt keeps pointing to a different data source. >> burn. >> it's such an interesting time, right, i'm glad donald trump is not there. it has a high likelihood or being a more substantial conversation. nikki haley does have the foreign policy to flex that others on the stage don't. we need to understand the complexities of the foreign issues going on, and i think that puts her at an advantage. if you just stare at the polls, there's no reason to watch this debate, right, but if you understand the complexities of the fact that the guy in the lead has 91 indictments and four jurisdictions, things could change, and maybe we could get somebody who has a heart beat and no felonies to represent the republican party. >> a high bar you set there. >> i was wound up this morning.

>> i feel bad for nbc the way you're pitching this. post debate coverage with anderson cooper, you should watch. nikki haley seems ascendant over the last couple of weeks. listen to one of her campaign ads. >> ron desantis is against fracking. >> no, it's not true. >> you may create some jobs in that industry, but i think you would probably cost more jobs overall. >> what you don't need is a president who is against fracking. he's against drilling. >> it's not true. it's not true. >> hell yeah, we're campaigning for second place. this fight, though, illustrates a divide within this final five. what do you make of it? >> i'm interested in watching her. i think she's going to do the pull away performance tonight. there are a number of things that have happened. last night with abortion, if you noticed in the last few months, she has taken a more moderate

position around abortion. i think she's going to use gender. i think she's going to use that she's the more sensible candidate. it's clear in the commercial she's going after his environmental record. she's going to go after desantis, it's possible she may gain ground. it's his to lose. we're going to be in florida. i think it's going to be performative. it's going to be interesting to see if he can make this 45-point gap that he has between himself and trump. >> and she's going to flip, and he is going to flip on her and say china, china, china, and say as governor of south carolina, you welcome chinese business and you gave them all of these breaks. explain that now. >> and i said earlier americans don't care about foreign policy, they care about china. >> they do. it was a very effective argument for president trump when he was the candidate in 2016, and it was a big part of his policy portfolio as president. i think that absolutely, desantis will use that. >> how does she defend that? >> we'll have to see what her arguments are. i think it's an effective line,

no doubt something he'll attack her on. >> that will be interesting, thank you very much. jeff mason, geoff duncan, cnn this morning continues right now. critical democratic wins in kentucky, virginia and ohio. >> fear is an incredibly motivating force in politics. >> it is a significant victory for governor beshear. >> a choice not to move to the right or the left but to move forward for every single family. >> abortion rights will be ensh enshrined in ohio, the first republican state to take such a move. >> republican governor tate reeves declared victory inside this mississippi ballroom. >> this victory sure is sweet. >> democrats will remain control of the virginia state senate. >> kwwhat happens in virginia i these off year elections correlates with what we see the following year. >> as republicans try to win back the