here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today.

[ applause ] good evening and welcome back to iowa tonight. we are live at grandview university in des moines for a special night of these back-to-back cnn town halls. there are only 11 days to go until the iowa caucuses so, good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett. now, of course, you just heard from governor ron desantis moments ago. this hour, the former south carolina governor and former u.n. ambassador nikki haley joins us. and tonight, governor haley comes here in the midst of a heated rivalry with ron desantis. it's just days before their first one-on-one debate, which will be right here on cnn, and tonight governor haley will answer questions directly from ayans. we'll have some questions of my own as well. but in the audience are voters who say that they plan to participate in the iowa

republican caucuses, both registered republicans and voters who plan to register as republicans, which it's important to note is allowed as late as caucus night right here in iowa. so to find tonight's questioners, we cast a wide net. we reached out for help to various organizations, including business groups, farm associations, parent groups, young referral organizations, religious groups and conservative advocacy organizations. now guests of the haley campaign and grandview university are also in the audience tonight, but i want to note they will not be asking questions. we asked everyone to be respectable to each other and governor haley so that everyone here in this room and everyone watching at home has a chance to hear from the candidate. now please welcome governor nikki haley. [ applause ] >> thank you.

>> all right. so i want to start today, we were getting ready this morning for this town hall, governor, and something crossed our wires, a shooting, a school shooting. and here we are with kids back a day or two days, and another horrific event in this country. a sixth grader was killed. people were injured. and we did receive from people in this room updating their questions, asking questions about what had happened about this. so i want to start with matt triplet, because i know you have a specific question about what happened today in perry, you're a senior project manager, a republican, you indicated you support governor haley. go ahead. >> thanks for being here tonight, governor. >> thank you. >> before i ask my question, i'd like to give my condolences to the community in perry tonight as well as the state of iowa. so with that, governor, with the school shooting that happened today in perry, how do you plan to address the school shooting issue? enough is enough with politicians skirting the issue on this, and it must be addressed. >> i mean, it's heartbreaking, right?

our hearts go out to the parents of all of them, our hearts go out to the kids that are going to have to deal with this for a few years, so much thanks to law enforcement, to the chief who did a great job, to the principal who really has come out as such a hero in this, but, look, i have a mom heart. my daughter works at the children's hospital, and i worry about something happening there. my son is a senior in college. i worry about something happening on his campus. my son-in-law is a fifth grade teacher at a school. i worry about something happening there. every day the first thing i do when i wake up is think of my kids, and the last thing i think of when i go to bed is my kids. i know the concerns that everybody has. but it is time that we deal with this in the way that we should deal with this. instead of living in fear, let's do something about it. we have got to deal with the cancer that is mental health. we have to. one in three people have a mental health issue. but if treated, they can live a

perfectly normal life. what we see is 80% of mass shooters are in some sort of crisis at the time that they do that. we've got to do better. the problem is we don't have enough mental health therapists. we don't have enough mental health centers. and if you don't get treated, you can fall into an addiction. we don't have enough addiction centers. and if you happen to be lucky enough to get one of those three, insurance doesn't cover it. so we've got to start doing that. the second thing is we have to secure our schools the same way we secure our airports and our courthouses. and that means we make sure that we have whatever we need to make sure nothing comes through, bullet wise or otherwise. we need to have a security officer at the front of every school. we need to have one point of entry. no side or rear entries. and then we need to make sure that we have someone on staff, not a guidance counselor, but a mental health counselor that does nothing but look to see which kids may be in crisis. and let's start there.

that's at least doing something. but we have to do something. this is heartbreaking. i will tell you what i saw this morning before anybody could even think about these lives and what we do, you have to really think of the families. i had when i was governor a school shooting at townville elementary. and we had a shooter come in and he shot basically at a playground. and we had little jacob hall, who was 6 years old who died that day. or died a couple of days later. he was shot that day. i was at the hospital with his parents the night he was shot. the gravity of what that was is something i will never forget. because the prayers that they had and i knew in what condition he was in, we have to start really focusing on what we're going to do to do this.

and everybody thinks oh, mental health, mental health. we have to stop. mental health is a serious issue. but if we know it, we can treat people. what are we doing losing americans every single day because we refuse to deal with this issue? and the national media has done what they always do. they're wanting to talk about race. they're wanting to talk about gun control. they're wanting to talk about all these other issues. so my advice to the people of perry, give them the respect and let them deal with the families and the sorrow and everything, but when the time comes, let's have that conversation on mental health. when i am president, we will treat it like the crisis that it is. >> and governor, just to be clear, you're being very clear on what you would do, that you want to focus on mental health. you think that's important. you talked about hardening schools much courthouses. just to be clear on gun restrictions themselves, do you favor any additional gun

restrictions or no? >> i'm a concealed weapons permit holder myself. and i will tell you that we could go and take away a certain kind of gun today, and that would make you feel better today. but a week from now, there would be another shooting. let's talk about the hard truths. that's the reality of it. so in a time where we're seeing a lot of lawlessness on our streets and in our cities, we can't go and take away people's rights to protect themselves and protect their families. instead, why don't we do the hard work and deal with the mental health. if we start to do that, i know we will see a reduction in what's happening. but you don't take away from good people because you see something like this happening from other people who commit crimes. >> there are a lot of issues on the minds of voters here, and of course with 11 days to go, one of the big ones is actually the state of this race and where things are. josh lemon is a portfolio manager at a local bank, josh. you're an independent, and you voted for joe biden in 2020, but

you said you plan to vote for a gop candidate this time around. as i was telling everybody watching at home, you're allowed to register right up until caucus night. that's the way it works in this state. you're deciding between governor haley and governor desantis. go ahead. >> correct. and thanks for taking my question. >> thank you. >> what is your strategy to overtake donald trump in the polls? >> you know, i think that what you're seeing is we've got momentum. we've got momentum in iowa. we've got momentum in new hampshire. you're going to don't see us be strong in south carolina. and really, what it's been is it's been about let's talk about where this is. i personally think president trump was the right president at the right time. i agree with a lot of his policies. but the reality is rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. and we all know that's true. chaos follows him. and we can't have a country in disarray and a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. we won't survive it. and you don't defeat democrat chaos with republican chaos.

now is the time we need to have a new generational leader, one that's going to leaf the negativity and baggage behind and start focusing on the real issues that we have in the future. but more than that, americans don't want american nail-biter of an election, and that's what we'll get. look at any of the polls head to head against joe biden. ron doesn't beat biden. trump head to head with biden, on a good day he might be two. "the wall street journal" had him up by four. i'm in every one of those same polls. i defeat biden by 17 points. 17 points. that makes it bigger than the presidency. that's governorships. that's house. that's senate. that's down to school boards. but more than that, you win by double-digits, you're going into d.c. with a mandate, a mandate to stop all the wasteful spending and get inflation under control. a mandate to get our kids reading again and take education

back to the basics, a mandate to secure our border. no more excuses. a mandate to bring law and order back to our country, and a mandate of a strong america that we can be proud of. that's what we're doing. that's what i think we need to do. it is time to move past president trump, and it is time to start focusing on how to strengthen america and do this for our kids and our grandkids. [ applause ] >> there was one thing you said there, and i know you've talked about him being the chaos following him. you did say something there i wanted to follow up on, as people face this decision. you said rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. is it rightly or wrongly? >> it's both circumstances he the one who causes that chaos, or is he just the unwitting victim? >> it's both. you see a lot of the cases they've brought against him are political in nature. and there is no basis on it. and then you see some that he is going to have to answer for. but, look, i'm not telling you anything i used to tell him. i used to tell him he is his own

worst enemy. i think at the end of the day, we don't need anyone who's getting in their feelings. we don't need anyone who is getting personal about anything. we have a country to save. and that means no more drama. no more taking things personally. i mean, you look at the situation, the differences i have with him is first of all, i'm an accountant. we have got to get our economy back on track. and everybody wants to talk about the economy they had under trump. but at what cost? at what cost? $8 trillion in four years. our kids will never forgive us for that. we are having to dig out of it. so you may have had a good four years, but look at what we're paying for now. as of now, in a couple of years, we'll be paying more money in interest payments than we are in our defense budget. you know who notices that? russia, china, and iran. that's what happens here. the second thing is you look at how he deals with dictators.

i think it's completely wrong. he praised china's president xi a dozen times after china gave us covid. you don't do that. he congratulated them on the 70th anniversary of the communist party. we don't do that. when israel fell to her knees, you're going to go pick a fight with israel's prime minister because of some issue, personal issue you had with him before, and you're going to praise hezbollah? it's just not what we need to do. we need to do this without emotion. we need to do this with a sane sense of how we're going take america forward. >> all right. so we're going to -- and you mentioned the economy, and i want to come back to that in a moment. but first, i do want to bring another audience question. dave holme is the executive director of the iowa institute for cooperatives, a republican from ames, and he does say he is supporting you. go ahead. >> thank you for being here tonight, governor. >> thank you. >> many of our ag co-ops use foreign labors now, and we would like to use more, but the process is very daunting. and yet we have thousands of foreigners crossing into the u.s. daily on our southern

border. what is your comprehensive border policy that would address both those that want to contribute and work in this country and still maintain our border security? >> and dave, you're exactly right. you can do both. and we have to do both. so the first thing is you look at the illegal immigration, of all the illegals that are coming to the border. it is truly a dereliction of duty what biden is allowing to have happen. and to now think that governor abbott of texas is trying to do everything he can to save texans, and he is putting barbed wire up, and biden is trying to go against him to cut the barbed wire? are you kidding me? like you can't go and risk people's lives. america right now is acting like it's september 10th. we better remember what september 12th felt like, because it only takes one. you have eight million people that have come to the border, and they've only sent 140,000 back. that's it. and so we're left taking care of

the health care of them, the education of those kids, law enforcement having to deal with them. what we will do is i passed one of the toughest illegal immigration laws in the country when i was governor of south carolina. we'll take that national. we will do a national e-verify program that requires businesses to have to prove to people that they hire in this country legally. we will defund sanctuary cities once and for all. no more safe havens for illegal immigrants. we'll put 25,000 border patrol and i.c.e. agents on the ground and let them do their job. that's not happening right now. we will go back to the remain in mexico policy so that no one even steps foot on u.s. soil. and instead of catch and release, we'll go to catch and deport. that's how we will close the border and get that to stop. but legal immigration, our legal immigration system is completely broken too. it shouldn't take someone ten years to become a citizen. and we need to be smart about how we do it.

presidents in the past have always said set quotas. i'll take this many this year, this many next year. instead look at what does our economy need? i came from an agricultural state, and a tourism state. our farmers needed workers. we need to make sure we are focusing on the businesses that they are not struggling to find workers, and that's the part. when you do it on merit, and that's how we need to bring people in, based on merit. not just a random quota. then you're building up your economy. you're supporting your businesses. you're making sure that we can all grow together. but we've got to make sure we deal with that. think about it. we have student who come from overseas. we educate them, and then we send them back home. i mean, that's lunacy. we've got to start using some common sense when it comes to that. >> you mentioned governor abbott. i want to ask you something specific that he has done, but also something governor desantis has done. and that is bussing migrants from border states up to sanctuary cities.

90,000 according to the tabulation from texas alone to new york, chicago. and obviously governor desantis has sent migrants to martha's vineyard as well as sacramento. do you support governor desantis doing that? would you do that as a governor? >> well, i'll talk about governor abbott, because i think he was courageous. he was the first one to do it. but look at what he has done. today i was watching governor abbott and mayor eric adams kind of having different things to say. governor abbott, if the president won't secure and give security to the people of texas, a governor has a job to protect your citizens. so he's bussing them, but where is he bussing them to? new york city is a sanctuary city. so you can't say we're open, we're accepting of everybody, and then when they come to you, say oh, i didn't mean it, never mind. >> you think it's been effective? >> i think it's been hugely effective because all of the sudden the rest of the country is feeling what texans have had

to deal with for so long. and i went to the border. and truly, what they deal with is unimaginable. those ranchers having to look and see if every morning if someone died crossing the fence, having to pick up kids and turn them over to border patrol, you look at what the sheriffs go through and the idea that they go and round up whatever illegal immigrants they can find before 7:00 a.m., take them to border patrol. border patrol documents them and releases them until their court date years from now. we can't keep functioning like that. we are a country of laws. the second we stop being a country of laws, we give up everything this country was founded on. [ applause ] >> you brought up the economy earlier, and i promised we would get to it. molly hunter is a college student, republican who says she will support any republican other than donald trump. so go ahead with your question. >> hi, governor haley. so i'm going to be graduating from college soon, and i'm worried about the economy.

what do you plan to change to make our economy strong? >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> but you know, what molly is saying is the same thing my son is saying, is the same thing that every young individual coming out of college is staying. and think about it through their eyes. bless you. first of all, think about the fact that they went through covid. then think about the fact that they watched our country go $8 trillion in debt in four years under trump. and now we're saying oh, we're going to have to pay it back, and they didn't do anything to cause it. then look at the fact that one, they have to find a job. two, they're having to say how am i going to afford to live? what used to be the american dream of buying a home, the average home buyer in america is now 49 years old. so that's so out of reach for them. and so they're worried they're not going to be able to afford a place the stay, rent.

they're worried they're not going to find a job. they're worried about the debt the country is in and inflation has gone up, that everything is more expensive. from their standpoint, they're looking at a country, and they're wondering how they're going to get through. and what we owe it to them is to get the economy back on track. the way we get the economy back on track is to first acknowledge that there is a spending problem in d.c. and it's not a republican problem or a democrat problem. both of them did that to us. you look at that $2.2 trillion covid stimulus bill that they passed with no accountability, they have now left us with 80 million americans on medicaid, 42 million americans on food stamps. that's a third of our country. and then republicans opened back up earmarks and pet projects for the first time in ten years? pushing through 7,000 of them last december. we can't afford things like that. so when it comes to our economy and getting inflation under control, the first thing we need to do is claw back the over $100

billion of unspent covid dollars that are still out there. instead of 87,000 irs agents going after middle america, let's go after the hundreds of billions of dollars of covid fraud. one out of every $7 was spent fraudulently. if 8% of our budget is interest, quit borrowing. cut up the credit cards. you have to balance the budget every day. i had to balance the budget as governor. why is congress the only group that refuses to balance the budget? so we'll stop the spending. we'll stop the borrowing. we'll eliminate the earmarks. and i will veto any spending bill that doesn't take us back to precovid levels. that will save us trillions. and then we're going to go and take as many federal programs as we can and send them down to the states. that will reduce the size of the federal government, but it will empower people on the ground. think health care. think welfare. think education. if we started doing that. right now, 70% of federal

employees are still working from home three years after covid. 75% of most of our agencies are sitting empty. we're paying for that. we've got to start getting the waste out of government. this is not them coming to us saying we need more money. this is us going to them saying you did this? now we're going to have to go and make the hard decisions to get us out of it. and we can do that. and then i think we need to open up the middle class. we're watching an america the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. and what we need to do, it's why i want to eliminate the federal gas and diesel tax in this country. i want to cut taxes on the middle class and simplify the brackets. and then let's make the small business tax cuts permanent. they made corporate tax cuts permanent, but they made small business tax cuts temporary. small businesses are the heart beat of our economy. we can't just say it. we have to prove it. and that's what we'll do to get our economy back on track.

>> you talk a lot about spending and you were talking about taxes there. when you ran for state senate, it was interesting, you were asked to sign a pledge never raise taxes. and other people running against you did. they went and signed it and did it. they all did it. you told the state newspaper, quote, no one wants to see taxes raised, but i think it would be closed minded to sign a pledge. would you sign that pledge now? >> i would sign that pledge now, simply because i've always been the type don't handcuff yourself. but i will tell you now, government has way too much money. there is waste in every agency. there is waste in the way we govern. every bit of it. and we have to, the first thing i want to do is go to every single agency, pull down all the bureaucracy, the red tape, the programs we don't need to have. government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. it was never meant to be all things to all people. and we are seeing a bloated government that needs to go on a diet. and i think the only way we do

that is we sit there and tell them it is now time for them to show the taxpayer return on investment. it is not time for the taxpayer to continue to have to work for government. >> so i want to ask you about something that has been challenge for your campaign over the past week, and this is referring back to new hampshire where you were asked to explain the cause of the is the civil war. you obviously did not mention slavery, and you came up, said that was the mistake, it should have been the first thing you said. chris christie came out and said that you gave that answer not because in his words dumb or racist, but because you're, quote, unwilling to offend anyone by telling truth. what do you say to that? >> no one has ever said i'm unwilling to offend. i offend plenty of people because i call people out when they do something wrong. what i will tell you is chris christie is from new jersey. i should have said slavery right off the bat. but if you grow up in south carolina, literally in second and third grade, you learn about

slavery. you grow up and you have -- i had black friends growing up. it is a very talked about thing. we have a big history in south carolina when it comes to slavery, when it comes to all the things that happened with the civil war, all that. i was thinking past slavery and talking about the lesson that we would learn going forward. i shouldn't have done that. i should have said slavery. but in my mind, that's a given, that everybody associates the civil war with slavery. >> so when you talk about slavery being a constant point of discussion, my children growing up in new york, they learn about slavery in first grade too, can you share what the discussions about slavery were like in your household? you've talked about experiencing humiliating discrimination when you were a little girl, things when you were a little girl. what were the discussions about slavery light for you? >> i think no different than anyone else in south carolina. we had -- the time that i came

and grew up, we were the only indian family in a small rural southern town. we weren't white enough to be height white. we weren't black enough to be black. they didn't know who we were, what we were and why we were there. i remember when i would get teased on the playground, and i would come home, my mom would say your job is not to show them how you're different, your job is to show them how you're similar. it's amazing how that lesson on the playground played throughout my life. whether it was in the corporate world or as governor or ambassador, when you're first faced with a challenge, if you talk about what you have in common, people let their guard down and then you can get to a solution. when you talk about slave risks it was not just slavery that was talked about, it was more racism that was talked about. it was more we had friends, we had black friends, we had white friends. but it was always a topic of conversation. even among our friends. and in the south, we're very comfortable talking about it, because we know that's what it is. but the goal was always to make

today better than yesterday. and even though there was a lot of hardened thoughts on that there, we went through it. i had -- i dealt with my share of dealing with race issues. we had the tragic shooting of walter scott. he was an unarmed black man that was shot in the back seven times by a dirty cop. and this was on the heels of ferguson. south carolina could have caught on fire, but we didn't do that. i talked to the walter scott family. i talked to law enforcement, and a month to the day at the bill signing, we had them both there and we signed the first body camera bill in the country. a month later, we had the horrific shooting at mother emanuel church when a white supremacist went in to a bible study and took nine amazing souls. the entire national media came in, wanting to make it about gun

control and racism and death penalty. and i said at the time there will be a time and place we have those conversations, but right now we have nine souls we need to lay to rest. and i didn't have that luxury, because two days later, the killer came out with his manifesto, and he was draped in the confederate flag. and the confederate flag had always been either on top of the state house or right in front of the state house since the year 2000. and it is incredibly sensitive and a personal issue in south carolina. and i focused that next day. i said i want to have four meetings. i want to call republican leadership. i want to call democrat leadership. i want to call the congressional delegation, and i want to call community leaders. and i told the staff don't tell them what this is about because i knew they wouldn't show up. and when they came, i said at 3:00 today, i'm going to call for the confederate flag to come down. and if you will stand with me, i

will forever be grateful. and if you won't, i'll never let anyone know that you were in this room. and it was a tough thing, erin, because we had to have two-thirds of the house and two-thirds of the senate. and to bring a divided state together and avoid riots and protests, the way we did that is i knew half of south carolinians saw the confederate flag as heritage and tradition. the other half of south carolinians saw it as slavery and hate. my job wasn't to judge either side. my job was to get them to see the best of themselves and go forward. and south carolinians showed what true strength and grace look like. because we didn't have protests. we had vigils. we didn't have riots, we had prayer. and south carolina led the way. but that is the way we have to work on issues that try and divide us is don't go and pick who is right and who is wrong and who is good and who is bad. that's what leaders are doing now. and it's caused us to be

completely in political disarray. a leader doesn't decide who is right. when you serve the people, you serve everybody. and your job is to give them all the information you have and let them know where you want to go going forward. [ applause ] >> a teacher from ames here in iowa, she is a republican and she is undecided. so go ahead with your question, carol. >> hi, carol. >> governor haley, you are a very strong supporter of israel. do you believe the idf operations in gaza are disproportional to the october 7th attack on israel, reprehensible as that was? >> you know, i'm haunted by what happened on october 7th. and the reason i'm haunted is because five years ago i gave a speech to the entire world at the u.n., and i told them that we knew there were maps, and these maps were held by hamas.

and it showed that if they could break through the barrier, it was how they were going to kill as many jews as fast as they could, and it happened. and when you look at the situation that happened, and for anybody that says why should we care about israel? and my opponents have said it's israel's issue. no, it's our issue too, because 33 americans were butchered that day. we have american hostages now as we speak. but israel is a bright spot in a tough neighborhood. they're the tip of the spear when it comes to defeating terrorism. it has never been that israel needs america. it has always been that america needs israel. and on that horrific day, when they beheaded those people and burned those babies alive, and took those girls out of the concert and raped them and dragged their naked bodies through the streets of gaza, what did they say?

death to israel, death to america. we have got to do three things when it comes to israel. we need to give them whatever they need whenever they need it. we need to eliminate hamas, finish them so they can never do this horrific stuff again. and we need to do whatever it takes to bring our hostages home. in order to eliminate hamas, it requires them to go into gaza. hamas does not care about human life. they use women and children as human shields. there is a reason that they have all of their areas underneath hospitals and schools. i've been there. i've been in those tunnels. they're very sophisticated. that's probably where the hostages are being held now. gazans would be so much better off without hamas. but i know and i trust that israel will do whatever it takes to make sure they save as many people as they can. you have to know the difference

between terrorists and civilians. that's what civilized countries do. america is a civilized country. israel is a civilized country. hamas is not civilized. they don't value human life. and they keep trying to put people in harm's way because they don't want it to happen. what i will say is when everybody is putting the onus on israel and on america to do something with helping the people of gaza, where is egypt? where is qatar? where is turkey? where is iran? where are all the pro hamas countries that say they care? why is it on israel? why aren't they getting hamas to stop? why are they forgiving that brutality? let's put the accountability where it needs to be. don't put it on israel. israel watched their people get butchered that day. if that was us, do you think we would do a ceasefire? do you think we would stop?

we would do whatever it takes to make sure that americans were taken care of and that we had our say. so i will tell you, i think israel is doing what they have to make sure it doesn't happen again, because what did hamas say? they're going to go back and do it again. they're not finished. [ applause ] >> and ambassador, i know you're ambassador to the u.n., you went into the tunnels. obviously with what's happening in gaza, there is a horrific loss of civilian life going on. a huge stratospheric life. two israeli cabinet members came out this week. they advocated for relocating palestinians out of gaza, and some in the israeli government support that. would a president haley support that? would you support removing palestinians from gaza? >> i don't think you have to remove palestinians from gaza. i think you have to remove hamas from gaza. but i also think you need to make sure that israelis can feel

safe again. and the way israelis will feel safe, they're not opposed to palestinians being in gaza. they're opposed to terrorists being in gaza. they're opposed to terrorists being at their doorstep. and so israel doesn't want gaza. i mean, if you look at what hamas has done to gaza, israel doesn't want gaza. but the palestinian authority has proven they have an inability to lead. and the reason they have an inability to lead is they allowed hamas to come in and do all of this to the people of gaza. so i don't think we remove palestinians. but i think they have to have some sort of leadership that ensures to israelis that they don't have to worry about terrorists living on their doorstep. >> all right. marsha is a retiree from irwindale. we're glad you're here tonight. a republican. and i know you say you're supporting governor haley. >> hi, marsha. >> i want to thank cnn and erin and kaitlan for having the town hall tonight and grandview for

hosting it. and nikki, thanks for all your time in iowa. i appreciate you being here. >> it's been fun. >> good. i'm wondering how you would reach voters that are concerned that you are more of a warhawk versus a peace through strength leader? >> it's a great question. you know, first of all, i am the wife of a combat veteran who is deployed now on a year-long deployment. any military family will tell you the last thing you want is for your loved one to go to war. my number one goal has always been preventing war. and let's talk about what's caused this. the rest of my opponents think that we shouldn't be in ukraine, don't need to do anything with ukraine. trump, ron, all of them have said let's leave ukraine. let me tell you why ukraine is important. first of all, you should know at

the united nations ukraine was one of our good friends. they voted with us on almost everything. they supported all of our initiatives, whether i asked them to or not. but here you have this pro-american freedom-loving country that was invaded by a thug. half a million people have died and been wounded because of putin. now i don't think we should give cash to any country, friend or foe, because you can't follow it. and you can't hold it accountable. i don't think we need to put troops on the ground in ukraine, a and the ukrainians don't want it. they want to win this themselves. but i think we need to give them the equipment and the ammunition win. why should we care about ukraine? anybody thinking that, that's a legitimate question for you to ask, and i am sorry that biden and no member of congress is explaining that to you, but i will, because you deserve it. when i was at the united nations, i saw that terrorists dictators and thugs always tell

you what they're going to do. they're amazingly transparent. hamas said they were going to go into israel. they did. china said they were going to take hong kong. we watched it. russia invaded ukraine. they told us they were going to. china says taiwan is next. we better believe them. russia said once they take ukraine, toland and the baltics are next. those are nato countries, and that puts america at war. this is about preventing war. it has always been about preventing war. we don't want our men and women to go have to fight. and so supporting ukraine is actually preventing war. and seeing it for what it is. and putin has hit rock bottom. we me that. he has lost 87% of the troops that started the war. they've raised the draft age in russia to 65. they're getting drones from iran and missiles from north korea. we know they've hit rock bottom. but now let me tell you

something else that is really important. i told you about that brutality on october 7th in israel, right. october 7th is putin's birthday. who is the happiest man in the world right now? putin. why? because the u.s. and the west took all our eyes and our resources off of ukraine. and what did we do? we started looking at israel. and did putin go and call netanyahu in israel? nope, not for ten days. you know who he did call? hamas, invited them the russia and they held hands and said they were friends. see this for the connection that it is. china and russia held hands before the olympics and named themselves unlimited partners. there is an unholy alliance of china, russia, and iran bound together in their hatred against freedom, democracy, and above all things the united states of america. our job is to always prevent war

and protect americans. [ applause ] >> governor, we'll be right back. we're going to take a brief break. everyone watching at home, stay with us. we're watching the debate with presidential candidates.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ getting sick and tired of cold and flu products that don't work? biovanta is the only number one physician-recommended product chosen over all others, including tylenol, mucinex, zicam, and nyquil / dayquil. the combat symptoms and boosts immunity. biovanta really works. getting sick and tired of cold and flu products that don't work? biovanta is the only number one physician-recommended product chosen over all others, including tylenol, mucinex, zicam, and nyquil / dayquil. the combat symptoms and boosts immunity. biovanta really works. [ applause ]

the presidential town hall here in iowa with former u.n. ambassador nikki haley. so ambassador, i want to ask you about something you said at a town hall in new hampshire. you talk about the importance of new hampshire and iowa. we're here in iowa. but you said about the primary process that while iowa goes first, new hampshire, quote, corrects it. >> oh, my gosh! >> ron desantis said that was incredibly disrespectable to iowa. >> of course he did. >> and of course we're here in iowa. i'm looking around at people's faces. is there anything else you would like to say? >> look we have done 150 plus town halls. you got to have some fun too. so we're at this town hall. we had 700 people in new hampshire. we're cutting up, and yes, i said that. but keep in mind i'm from an early state. south carolina always knew that iowa was going to be the first caucus, new hampshire is going to be first in the nation and

south carolina wanted to be first in the south. it was a packed, it's still packed at least three states on the republican side had that we were going to take that. but we banter against each other on different things. new hampshire makes fun of iowa. iowa makes fun of south carolina. it's what we do. i think the problem in politics now is it's just like too serious and too dramatic. if we're having fun, i don't live, eat, and breathe politics all the time. i like to have fun too. and so if i'm hanging out with 700 people and we're trying to make jokes and have a good time, you should be able to do that -- >> the lack of confidence in how you thought you would do here? >> i would not sit here and in the cold, because it's cold here, i have been coming here for months, going to every part of iowa, shaking every hand, answering every question, being the last person to leave at every one of these town halls. you are going to see me fight until the very end on the last day in iowa. and i'm not playing in one

state. i'm fighting in every state, because i think everybody's worth fighting for. so, yes, we're going to continue to be here. i mean, i've told people get used to this face, and i've been here over and over again. but if i didn't love iowa, i wouldn't keep coming to iowa. so, but if we're going to have fun, i'm probably going to say something funny in iowa tomorrow about south carolina or new hampshire. it's the way to just kind of not make everything so serious. [ applause ] >> all right, denise. denise is the director of communal resources at a local art center here in iowa, a republican who says she is undecided. denise, go ahead. >> nice to meet you, nikki. >> nice to meet you. >> in the spirit of fun, i want to tell you i'm loving your dress. >> oh, thank you. >> my question is do you see any inherent challenges to being president as a woman, or do you feel like we've evolved? >> do you mean globally or do you mean domestically? >> as a country. >> as a country, i think america

has been ready for a woman. but it has to be the right woman. right? i'm one of those i don't think -- and i think a lot of women will agree to this. we don't support women just because they're women. we love to see women do well. i love -- i think women are rock stars. i love to see women do well. but a president is a big deal. and it's a serious issue. and i think what we've seen in politics for, really, a lot lately is they look at a label and they say oh, we're going get this label, or we need this label. well, that's what's gotten us into this mess. and trust me, like i think you look at what biden has done, and he said i want this kind of supreme court justice, or i want this kind of vice president, that's a mistake. i do think america is ready for a female president. i do think that america's been ready. but it's got to be the right one. and they want to know it's some somebody that has fight. they want somebody who has moral clarity. they want know it's someone who

has experience. i have been a two-term governor that took a double-digit unemployment state and turned into it an economic powerhouse. i dealt with russia, china, iran, north korea, israel, every single day that i was at the u.n. and i took the kick me sign off of our back, and america was respected again there. so was america ready for a female president? you bet they're ready for a female president, and i'm going to be the one that makes them proud. [ applause ] >> zachary is a law student from newton. he is independent. he voted for biden in 2020 but says i believe that you plan to support governor haley in the caucuses. we'll see. i don't know what you've heard tonight. good ahead with your question. >> i knew i liked you. >> thank you. governor haley, you have taken a vocally anti-chinese stance in many of your campaign ads. do you plan to continue this stance if elected, or will you try to work with china to solve the problems that prompted stuff a stance? >> at the united nations, i

dealt with china every day. and what frustrates me is you see biden and yellen sitting there trying to tell us that china's a competitor. china never saw us as a competitor. they always saw us as an enemy. and all you have to do is look at what china's done. they have completely infiltrated our country. they bought 400,000 acres of u.s. soil, most recently near grand forks air force base where our most sensitive drone technology is. they've poured millions of dollars into our universities, stealing our research, spreading chinese propaganda. you go and you look at there are certain technologies we never want china to have because it builds up their military and threatens america. yet the biden administration approved 70% of it last year. the trump administration approved more than that. everybody got upset about the chinese spy balloon, right? and rightfully so. what about the fact that 90% of our law enforcement drones are

chinese? you've got chinese police stations throughout our country. you've got a chinese spy base going off our shores in cuba. and you've got china building up their military at a scary pace. they now have 500 nuclear warheads. that's 100 mother than they had last year. they have the largest naval fleet in the world. they have 370 ships. they'll have 400 ships in two years. we won't even have 350 ships in two decades. they're doing artificial intelligence. they're doing cyber. they're doing space. they're doing hypersonic missiles. we've barely gotten started. and now china's the lead developer of neurostrike weapons, weapons engineered, bless you, to change the mental capabilities of military commanders and segments of the population. that's who we're dealing with. so, yes, we're going to be tough on china. but do you stop talking to them? no. you actually keep your enemies close so you know what they're doing all the time .

and we tell them we are going to end all normal trade relations with them until they stop murdering americans with fentanyl. and they are the ones who are sending it. over >> now a mass nerve, -- you's governor, i'm just looking at the numbers here. more than 1.4 billion dollars in chinese investment came into south carolina while you were government. at that time you recording investment, you wanted that to come in. but you just mentioned the drones being bought by the police stations. what you were actively courting that as well. chinese fiber glass maker with ties the communist party that opened a factory in your state while you were governor. do you regret any of that? was that worth? it >> i think you look, every governor in the country was trying to recruit chinese companies ten years ago. every household has chinese products in it.

it shows how intertwined it has all become. but now we know what the threat is. and so yes, it was less than 1% of when i recruited. i recruited a lot, we were known as the beast of the southeast. less than 1% was chinese. so >> you're not saying it's a mistake, you're just saying that your view of the situation is changed? >> well now look at what we know about china i know that we didn't know ten years ago. it's drastically different. when the reality is, presidents, republican and democrat for too long, thought that if we were nice to china they would want to be likeness. china has never wanted to be like, us they want to be communist. they never should've gotten into the world trade organization back in 2001 when the u.s. help them get in. but now, let's not keep going down that path. let's stop it. i fought china every day at the u.n.. we need to continue to do that now until we put them back in their place. >> all right we are going to take one more brief, break and we'll be right back with more from republican presidential candidate nikki haley right after this.

>>

[applause] welcome back to iowa in the

presidential town hall with former south carolina governor nikki haley. governor you've talked about being a mom even here. i know it's a crucial part of your identity and who you are. you've got two children. last year your daughter got married, and just recently you dropped your son off for his final year at villanova. so you've posted a picture of that moment that i saw, actually enough people magazine article. the hashtags were when did my little one grow up, and a proud mom. i'm a mother myself, and you can look at anyone, and you see your little child and then boom, it just happens so fast. i was wondering, is you think about being president of the united states. what made you the most proud as a mother? >> i mean, like, i get emotional thinking about my kids. you know, when my daughter was walking down the aisle, i still see her in pigtails. so when i say when did they grow up, i mean so much of it, they're just good kids. my daughter is a pediatric

nurse at the children's hospital. my son, like i said is a senior in college. and they're just good kids. they've grown up in a public life, and the one thing michael and i always wanted was for them to feel very normal. and that's what i'm most proud of. we always, even when i was governor, had dinner night together five nights out of the week. i wanted the kids to know that we were having family dinner. and sundays, where our special days. fridays were haley family fun nights. we always try to keep it very normal. i never told my kids, i always said you don't have to do anything but go to the christmas tree lighting, and the state of the state address. everything else they could decide if they wanted to go. having them grow up as normal and is grounded as they, are their humble, they're respectful, they're hardworking, and they're just good people. and my husband and i always said, if we can make sure they have a faith in the conscience, we will have done our job, and we have done our job. i'm incredibly proud of them.

[applause] >> catherine delphi is a professor of music here grandview. it's been great to be here these classed couple of days, at your school. a republican who says that she supports you, catherine go ahead. >> i kathryn. >> thank you for being here. >> of course. >> could you please explain to us your rationale for pardoning mr. trump when he has been associated with so much division and chaos in our country. >> when you talk about a pardon, the person has already been found guilty. when it comes to president, trump he still has to face, and we will find out whether he's guilty or not. but if you're talking about a pardon, you are assuming he's guilty. nobody gets pardoned if you're not guilty. for me it's not about guilt or innocence. it's about what is in the best interest for the country, i don't think our country will move forward with an

80-year-old president sitting in jail, that allows our country to continue to be divided. we have to move on past that. so i honestly do believe, just like they did with nixon. you have got to say, what's in the best interest as a country? and i think pardoning, trump and moving on is in the best interest of our country if we are going to heal, and if we are going to get back together and get out of the chaos. [applause] >> jeff quarter is a lawyer and i was largest law firm. what an appropriate name you have, when i saw this jeff quarter. from -- >> ambassador haley great to see you again, and it was great to see you last saturday at the hawkeye arena, watching the hawkeye when -- . so much fun so much. fun >> and bonus time with master branson. my question to wrap this up is, as president how will you work to better unite america after