greenblatt points to three ways to attack it. greater moral clarity in places like colleges and universities. citizens have to hold their leaders more accountable. and he says jews, muslims, christians and others have to band together to fight all of this. because, wolf, as you know, this is not just a jewish problem. >> it's a serious problem. brian todd reporting. thank you very much. we're now a couple of hours away from the final republican presidential debate before the iowa caucuses. at 9:00 p.m. eastern, nikki haley and ron desantis face off right here on cnn with jake tapper and dana bash moderating. it's a critical test for two of the top remaining republican candidates in the race, right here only on cnn. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room". erin burnett out front starts right now. and good evening and welcome

to a very special edition of "outfront." the breaking news, chris christie drops out. the bombshell coming just two hours before cnn's gop debate, the last debate before the first votes of the 2024 election. i'm erin burnett in new york, and welcome the our viewers here and around the world. >> and i'm anderson cooper in des moines, iowa. behind me, the stage is set for the debate tonight between nikki haley and ron desantis. and christie's surprise announcement just raised the stakes here in a big way. here is chris christie in his own words. >> it's clear to me tonight that there isn't a path for me to win the nomination. which is why i'm suspending my campaign tonight for president of the united states. >> the question, of course, who will christie endorse. conventional wisdom says nikki haley. but christie was caught on a hot mic right before his announcement saying this about haley. >> she's going to get smoked. and you and i both know it. she is not up to this.

>> well, obviously, he said what he said. we don't know who he was saying it to and the full context, but it's pretty clear there. and what is clear is haley needs christie's votes in new hampshire, no matter how you cut it. if you look, anderson, at our new cnn poll from new hampshire, trump at 39 and haley right behind with 32. and christie has 12. so obviously you can't say all the 12 are going to go over to haley, right? it wouldn't be fair. but, you know, you get most of those, and look at that, you don't even need them all to get ahead of trump. omar jimenez was there when christie made that announcement. omar, nobody was expecting this announcement tonight. so why now? >> that's the real question here. and even just less than 24 hours ago, there were comments made on cnn by new hampshire governor chris sununu insinuating that the discussions were being had about christie dropping out.

and christie's campaign responded pretty forcefully, saying that those comments are misinformed. christie even came out later in the night and went as far to call governor sununu a liar. here we are less than 24 hours later, governor christie making the announcement that he is suspending his campaign. he did to it a room full of supporters and voters in the town hall format, which is the way he kicked off his campaign. it's been a staple of how he has run this campaign, particularly here in new hampshire. and as we heard tonight, it was how he ended his campaign. and as we heard over the course of some of these comments, he really tried to paint the picture of the stakes for not only him being in the race, but for what's ahead in this race for president, especially when it comes to donald trump. take a listen to some of what he said. >> imagine just for a moment if 9/11 had happened with donald trump behind the desk. the first thing he would have done was run to the bunker to protect himself.

he would have put himself first before this country. and anyone who is unwilling to say that he is unfit to be president of the united states is unfit themselves. >> so now, of course, the question is what happens next. now i talked to some folks from his campaign, and they tell me they're going dark for the next few days. they don't have a plan to announce any sort of endorsement or anything like that. you played some of the audio from that hot mic moment that was happening. those comments were actually to a man named wayne mcdonald, who heads chris christie's new hampshire campaign here. and those comments were made essentially as he was informing them of what he was about to do, and what at that point was just minutes. how that reverberates into any potential endorsement in the future, we will see. but just last month, i was sitting down with chris christie, literally looking him face-to-face. i had brought up some of the

dynamics that are in play now, about whether he and nikki haley co-exist in this race. and he point-blank told me, i'm not going anywhere, and come january 23rd, which is primary day here in new hampshire, you're going to be shaking hands. i'm going to be shaking hands with voters until the polls close, and now here we are with christie officially suspending his campaign. anderson? >> omar jimenez, thanks. jeff zeleny is live from the ground floor in the debate hall. the timing of the announcement is a surprise for people waking up this morning, didn't expect it today. how are the other campaigns reacting? >> well, look, this is something that certainly is going to be on the minds of these candidates as they take the stage at the debate hall behind me at drake university. and really, it's one of those things that shakes up the race in a way that has many crosscurrents. it's not clear exactly if this will be the focus of the debate tonight or mentioned at all. but certainly it is on the minds

of both of these candidates. the immediate reaction from nikki haley is she congratulated chris christie for running a hard-fought campaign. those two served as governors basically at the same time, she in south carolina, he in new jersey. in an entirely different pretrump era of the party. but you heard that hot mic moment there, and that is what florida governor ron desantis seized upon. he says he agrees with chris christie's assessment there, that she is going to get, quote, smoked. so we will see if that dynamic sort of continues on stage tonight. but the reality is, anderson, this does not affect the iowa campaign that much because chris christie was not competing in iowa. but going into new hampshire, which this race is going to do in less than a week's time, it certainly does. so there have been behind the scenes for reach-outs from both campaigns. i'm told that nikki haley has not spoken to chris christie. we will see if that changes. she certainly is likely to get perhaps some of his votes.

there is no doubt about that. but without an endorsement, it's unclear how many. so it hangs over the race in one bigger race, that it is really winnowing even before the voting begins. this is much different than eight years ago in the 2016 campaign when there were nearly a dozen candidates still left in. these two podiums on the debate stage behind me so indicative here of this race's small, of course. the person hanging over all of this is donald trump, and he is not here, erin. >> jeff zeleny on that debate stage, and our new york team here with me. alyssa, christie dropping out unexpectedly in terms of the timing, right? and the timing matters because hours before the debit and before iowa itself. how significant could it be? >> significant. about 60% of voters who say that they were supporting christie, nikki haley is their second choice. chris christie has been getting pressure for a number of weeks now to back out. people have been saying, close

advisers, you could unintentionally be a spoiler for donald trump by keeping the votes that could have gone to someone like nikki haley. i don't think he is going to endorse. i interviewed him last week. he seemed very clear. i think he carries a lot of guilt for his support for trump, and what he doesn't want to do is put his full weight behind someone who might end up being trump's vp or might end up endorsing trump. this is his mea culpa. i'm going to step out and let the votes go where they may. >> he just posted on x he will do anything. he won't do anything to help trump, except for he might have done something pretty significant before he actually went on the stage, david. let me just play more of what christie said on that hot mic. here it is. >> she's going to get smoked. and you and i both know it. she is not up to this. >> she is still 20 points behind trump in new hampshire, right? >> oh, yeah. >> and he is still going to carry iowa, right? >> i talked to -- desantis called me. petrified that i would --

>> he is probably getting out of iowa. >> we don't know who the conversation is with. was desantis petrified that he would be endorsing haley? we don't know. there is unfinished sentences. i tell you one thing i don't need context to interpret. "she is going to get smoked". >> that doesn't sound like a guy on the verge of endorsing nikki haley right there. >> no. throwing his full-throated support behind nikki haley. plus, during his suspension speech there, he kind of poked a little fun at her on the civil war piece. i don't have to tell you, slavery was the cause of the civil war. he kind of took another jab at her. i don't think he is going to come out. be mindful that he doesn't own those voters. the people don't owe him anything. he is not on the ballot. those folks are free to do whatever they want. and they're going to vote for, presumably, nikki haley. he doesn't have to release them. >> how much does an enforcement matter? >> i don't think it's going to matter at all. christie voters are anti-trump voters. so where are they going to go?

they're going to go to nikki haley. as alyssa said, 62%. it's the second choice. the other thing is we saw chris christie, if you will, go liz cheney tonight. he took down the republican party. he took down every candidate who is supporting trump. and my sources close to the campaign say do not expect an endorsement of nikki haley unless all of the sudden nikki haley becomes a never trumper. i don't think -- >> she is being very careful. the other day in the town hall chaos follows him. unclear whether to say he created the chaos or followed him. she very careful. >> he did more than that, because not only did he name names, people that he felt enabled the president, but he used the term "enabled," right. he said this thing that i did followed me. and i could never get away from it, the supporting of this president. and he also used the idea and

the theme overall, this is done on hot mic that ambition had taken over his goals, over everything else. so he is actually calling out the very value system that he thinks is at play in the party right now. and i think that that is actually pretty profound and does feel different if there what we've seen from liz cheney and others. >> what's the impact of it, though. ? obviously you look at iowa where it's much more significant. he wasn't a player in iowa at all. but momentum matters, right. and if haley can't seize this momentum and excitement now, that does seem to impact her significantly. >> chris christie getting out of the race was a necessary but not sufficient condition for her to win new hampshire. if he had stayed in, it was hard to see a path for her to consolidate enough votes. with him out of the way, it's possible. i'm inclined to agree that there doesn't have to be an endorsement, that the 60% or so in polls that say they'll go from christie to haley, that's not contingent on him giving his

blessing. the other say i don't know who i would pick or maybe i'll stay home. and that i think could, if there was going to be any benefit to an endorsement would be permission for those folks to think a republican primary, i don't know if i want to bother. it's cold. do i want to go do this? if they think that nikki haley doesn't have a shot, or oh, maybe she is going to wind up being a trump sycophant in the end, maybe they stay home. and that's the fine line she's got walk. >> jamal, when you look at this, the significance of it as you come into the debate, and haley is talking to iowa voters, to the base that she wants to get a vote from, but she is also talking to independents. when you look at the wall street journal poll, haley beats biden by 17 points. this is just one poll. look how much trump beats biden in the same poll, 4. >> in the before times, nikki haley would be the republican nominee for president, and she might even be the next president of the united states, right. she is talking about a new generation of leadership.

she is trying to be forward-leaning. she is kind of the best of what i consider to be a mediocre bunch of republicans running. she really is the best out of the group in terms of her television performance. i'm starting to hear these questions about how she is campaigning that are raising questions. she is doing events, but she is not taking questions from the audience. that tells me that they're playing this a little too cautiously. she needs to running like she is -- she is 30 points behind. but she needs to be running like that. and that means being aggressive and taking chances, and doing things that advisers will tell you not to do because they're going to say they're going to put things at risk. all you have is risk. what are you sitting on -- >> she is much more cautious. you say before times. >> before trump and after donald. i could go ahead and go with the full analogy here. >> i'm glad you brought up the idea of staying home, though. i think this is talked about so much with the biden white house, and their concerns about enthusiasm that we are -- we have a tendency to maybe ignore that part of the republican party that may just throw their

hands up in the air and not show up. and that is meaningful as well in a general election. >> we don't know, maybe you guys, republicans and pollsters at the table do know, is if there is a cohort of voters out there who are just simply waiting around to see if there is another horse that they can get on that will take them against trump. maybe they're trump voters, but they would prefer not to have all the theatrics that go along with trump. so trump's big number that we've all been talking about he is sitting on, that may be solid, or it may be a number waiting to crack as soon as somebody else looks like it's ca a car -- >> whether she can take this moment tonight and really stand out. >> and i do want to take issue with something that christie said. and first off, i applaud him for being the person in the race most unequivocally telling the truth about donald trump and having that moral clarity. i think it is important. but to say the she is going to get smoked, the numbers do not bear that out. she is competitive. she does have a pathway.

her team is creating a ground game in south carolina. it is a tremendous uphill battle. but chris christie also said something last week, which is if it's trump versus biden, biden is going to sweep the floor with him. the numbers don't bear that out. i think he is taking a gamble here rather than the more pragmatic decision of trying to support someone in the primary because he is putting all his money on biden. and that's just not what the poles show. >> all right. >> good news is we find out next monday. >> right. >> we don't have to wait that long. >> we'll find out something. we don't know what. >> as the debate kicks off, this now colors the entire situation. so much pressure. the biggest debate so far ahead of the first votes. next, we're following the breaking news of chris christie dropping out of the race, the impact, because he was trump's fiercest critic. is trump actually worried about christie dropping out or not? and then evangelical voters, so crucial for this debate tonight in iowa. they supported trump in 2016. will they back him again?

>> do you see him as a man of faith? >> yes, we do. >> we don't see trump as a messianic figure. first, "outfront," nic robertson tonight going deep inside a hamas tunnel, and what he found that you will see for the first time that is chilling. >> this tunnel we're going in here is one where some of the hostages were held.

and welcome back to this special edition of "outfront." you're looking at live pictures out of iowa, where in less than two hours, ron desantis and nikki haley are going to be on that cnn debate stage that you are looking at right now. we are following the big breaking news that impacts this crucial debate, and that is the loudest critic of trump in the race, chris christie just announcing he is dropping out. a very surprising in terms of the timing. now trump is celebrating christie's exit. kristen holmes is of course talking to her trump sources. and so kristen, what is the real reaction here? trump was quick to post on social media and seize on the hot mic moments that christie had there. but what is he really thinking? >> well, erin, when it comes to donald trump, usually there are multiple things that can be true at once. when it comes to celebrating, there is some glee among the former president and his allies

that a sole platform attacking donald trump cannot only survive in a primary, but not even make it until the first vote was cast. and that gives them a little bit of an edge they feel, that he can say this is where the republican party currently stands. but there is a larger issue of concern around nikki haley that was happening even before christie dropped out. as you noted, as your panel noted we cannot say where chris christie's votes would go, if they would go to nikki haley, but it does appear that would be the obvious choice. and trump's team had already been deeply concerned about the rise they had seen in her poll numbers. they are spending a combined between the campaign and superpac $4.5 million on attack ads on haley on immigration in new hampshire. they believe immigration is one of the top issues in the granite state. they are also sending $1.3 million alone to superpac.

they have pulled back all ads spending on attacking ron desantis. they are expressing confidence. i was told by one senior adviser sure, it will impact some undecided voters. but it's not enough to change the trajectory of the race. we also got a memo put out. they said it was confidential memo, written by their pollster to the campaign heads, put out by the campaign that said this isn't going impact trump winning in the state. but, again, as we know, they have been concerned about nikki haley. they are watching those numbers carefully. they are looking at the tabs in every single poll. as we have reported, erin, the team that is around him right now is one of the most disciplined to date, which means they are analyzing data looking through this, and there is a reason they are spending so much money going after nikki haley. so it's certainly not all a celebration tonight. anderson? >> kristen, thanks very much. with me is david axelrod and scott jennings. david, if the former president is publicly crowing about the

departure of chris christie, should he be concerned? >> well, i think there are two things that could be going on here. there is no doubt that he is very, very happy. he wanted to see christie humiliated for taking him on and all of that. but in the short-run, this is a problem for them. it does make haley more competitive in new hampshire. there is no question about it. now i have some doubt as to every -- i don't think there is a straight conversion. i heard this earlier, i think there are people who are going to say i may just skip this one. you heard christie. he gave a blistering speech, and it wasn't just about donald trump, but about the other candidates who are afraid to take him on. and that was very much haley as well as desantis. so it could be that some of his supporters are indecisive. but the bulk of them i think will go to haley. and i think that's something

that the trump team has to worry about. >> do you see christie endorsing somebody before iowa? >> i mean, it didn't sound like it tonight, at least in the hot mic moments. he was caught backstage saying she is going get smoked. we all know that. how do you say that and then that get publicized around the world and you go out and endorse somebody. >> we don't have the context of exactly where she is going to get smoked. just pointing that out. >> and the speech he gave tonight was as much about his opponents as trump, his non-trump opponents. i don't know. it didn't seem like it. i heard kristen reporting on tonight memo that the trump campaign issued. i tend to agree with them. i think a few people are going to flow towards haley. but a lot of people were looking for a pure anti-trump campaign. well, she is not giving them that. she is out promising to pardon donald trump. so if you were somebody who was all in on the chris christie message we have to sweep trump aside. there is no equivocating. you can't play ftseootissy with.

>> he really has been making the case against the former president. let's take a look. >> absolutely. >> donald trump is not fit to be president of the united states or fit to be the nominee of the republican party. >> he will sell the soul of this country. >> he is angry. he is bitter. >> he is such a spoiled baby, completely self-centered, completely self-consumed, and doesn't give a damn about the american people. >> it's going to be interesting to see tonight how much either of these candidates actually get aggressive against the former president. >> yeah. >> because basically, it seems like they've just been shooting each other. >> look, there is another message of christie going out of the race, which is it doesn't really pay on the republican party to go straight at donald trump. and that's a lesson that they've clearly internalized. you know, they've tiptoed around him. desantis was a little more aggressive in his town hall on cnn last week. but generally, their attitude is

i don't want to antagonize trump's base, which is quite large. so it creates a big strategic problem for them. but one other thing i want to say about this. there is no doubt that nikki haley is going to leave this state and go to new hampshire, and she is going to be the principle opponent to donald trump. there is a lot of question as to whether ron desantis is going to leave this state at all. so a lot of the pressure tonight is on him. and i suspect that he is going to save most of his attacks for nikki haley and not donald trump. >> and that will be a departure from what see we saw last week in the cnn town halls. they didn't really engage each other much at all. they did get more aggressive with trump. but you look at the predebate video that the desantis campaign has issued against nikki haley. >> brutal. >> showing her saying things and then denying that she had said them, flip-flopping on various issues. i took that as a foreshadowing that he is going to come out and be as aggressive with her as we have ever seen and not have any other candidates on the stage to

interrupt the flow. >> we've seen desantis debated gavin newsom. so he's had some one-on-one experience. but we haven't seen nikki haley one-on-one. >> it will be interesting to see how she handles these attacks. if i were advising her, i would not be the aggressor relative to desantis, because at this point it's going to look like punching down. even though -- even though they have a competition going on for second place here. but i think the opportunity to attack him will come in the counterpunches when he attacks her. and i expect she'll be pretty strong in that regard. >> they both have to make a case that there is a viable path for either of them. you mentioned iowa could be the alamo for rhon in and new hampshire for haley. to the republican voters at large, not just here, but everywhere, you're trying to motive them to show up, monday night motive them to turn out in new hampshire. it's going to be super cold ear here. and ultimately, you're trying to get people to do something for you. they believe their vote is going to put you on a path to winning this election. that's one thing i think the

trump campaign has done extremely well. keep the narrative of inevitability alive and a big margin of victory in iowa north of 12 points, 15, 20 points would keep that ball bouncing for trump. >> you talked about ron desantis, what he needs to do in iowa. what is -- if -- assuming he is not winning, what is acceptable? >> we should point out when he began his campaign, the presumption was he was going to win here in iowa, and he has crafted his whole campaign with that in mind. he has runway to the rite. he has emphasized the socially conservative issues, and his numbers in new hampshire have gone down commiserately. but i think that he clearly has to finish second. and, you know, he would probably like to finish second with some margin and as close to trump as he can get. >> second, is that good enough? >> it may be good enough to go one more round. but -- >> he's at 6% in new hampshire. so he may stumble into new

hampshire. but if this isn't his alamo and man chest cory be. >> remember, trump's got some chains he can pull here. at some point ramaswamy is going to drop and probably go to trump. if desantis were to drop, you would assume he heads towards trump. tim scott is laying around out there somewhere who hasn't endorsed anybody yet. for all of the momentum hailly is trying to get into new hampshire, trump is not without reinforcements, a and the campaign is systematically rolling them out. >> up next, the evangelical vote. trump working overtime to try to keep the evangelicals. we'll look at whether or not that is paying off. >> god puts people over us in office, and i believe god put donald trump there. >> and israel's war in gaza sure to be a major topic in tonight's debate. it comes as we're getting new footage first on "outfront" on the hamas tunnel network in khan younis where some of the hamas

hostages were just held.

we're covering the breaking news tonight. back with a special edition of "outfront." you're looking at live pictures of our cnn debate hall, where

more is on the line tonight for ron desantis and nikki haley after chris christie dropped out of the race a short time ago. the group of voters that desantis and haley will be focusing on here in iowa because neither can win without their support is evangelicals. they are still firmly in trump's camp in much of the nation. what about in this state? jeff zeleny has the latest in our voters "outfront" series. >> the evangelical vote is the pathway to victory in iowa. >> reporter: five days before the iowa caucuses, one of the most burning questions is whether donald trump still holds evangelical voters in the palm of his hand. >> many of us are very happy with things he accomplished when he was in the white house. but who he is, his character also is problematic. >> reporter: pastor mike said that balance between trump's record and rhetoric, his policy and personality rests at the heart of what many iowa evangelicals have been weighing. >> we will pray for god, and we will be with god. >> reporter: the strength of trump's support among christian

conservatives could solidify or slow his march to the republican nomination. . florida governor ron desantis has been furiously trying to peel away that support, questioning trump's commitment to the anti-abortion movement. >> for pro-life is reporting in iowa, donald trump is taking positions that are way different than what he professed to believe when he first ran for president in 2016. >> reporter: he is talking about trump's attack on florida's six-week abortion ban. >> i think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake. >> reporter: on this pastor charles hunley agrees with desantis. he too bristled when trump made those comments, but he is still planning to vote for the former president. >> if president trump was right here, i would let him know, sometimes your comments irritate all of us at one time or another. but this the end, it's note the way he does that, it's really what he says and/or in how he carries that out. he is a person of policy. >> reporter: in 2016, iowa's evangelicals made up nearly two-thirds of republican caucus attendees and helped lift ted

cruz to victory over trump. desantis and nikki haley are striving for a similar outcome. hunley did not support trump then, but he does now because of his appointments to the supreme court and his belief in a more limited government. is. >> do you see him as a man of faith? >> yes, i do. he is not perfect, he is imperfect like the rest of us. >> reporter: trump's campaign focused on building its outreach for those dwho go to church and who those who don't. >> to be the wrecking ball to dismantle the corrupt government. >> reporter: it's loyalty that remains strong. >> i want president trump back in the worst way because life was better then. >> reporter: debbie held, who sent letters of admiration for trump with her christmas cards told us she has never considered any other candidate. >> god puts people over us in office. and i believe god put donald

trump there. and i want him back in again. >> reporter: when we first met her last fall at the fort des moines church of christ, trump was one of his options. . there is a loyalty with trump, and people that follow him. >> reporter: now he has narrowed his choice to desantis or vivek ramaswamy. he said he and other evangelicals were offended by a recent video trump shared on social media suggesting he was the messiah. >> so god made trump. >> it was offensive to us, because we don't see him, trump as a messianic figure. >> reporter: he has met most of all of the republican candidates. he doesn't tell members of his congregation to vote, but implores them to make faith part of their vote. >> as a patz store, it is my goal to guide them and remind them to let them know god is with you, even in the voting booth. >> how important are evangelicals in this state? >> i mean, very important. if donald trump is really going have a slingshot to the nomination, he is going to need the folsom support from

evangelicals. but they're also key for governor desantis. he has been working them and really pushing that pro-life message in his view. i expect he'll do so again tonight on stage. but the evangelical vote is hardly monolith. the voters we talked to throughout the year, some support haley, some support desantis, but a lot do still support trump. and it all goes back to the supreme court. it really person after person really hold him responsible and thank him for the three justices that helped overturn roe v. wade. but there are also many independent thinkers out there. some are eager to move on that. will be a key question on monday night, how strong that evangelical vote is for donald trump. and it could determine how strong ron desantis is also on monday in iowa. >> jeff zeleny, thanks very much. erin, back to you. >> all right, it's just fascinating to hear that whole conversation. everyone back with me. kristen, you know these voters. you heard the pastor tell jeff zeleny, the evangelical voters are the pathway to victory in iowa, that god is with you even

in the voting booth. how important is it in iowa now? because i know there has been a lot of shifts and changes even within that bloc. as jeff says, it is not monolithic. >> if you look back at the past couple of republican primaries in iowa you have mike huckabee, rick santorum, ted cruz, all elevated to winning the iowa caucuses because of the strength of their support in the evangelical community. but what's a little bit different now is you maybe would have thought 10, 20 years ago of the issues animating that community would be things like abortion or culture wars like god and guns. that's changed a little bit now to where it is more kind of you hear folks like desantis talk about woke corporations or lgbtq issues, the role of gender in society and what that looks like. and those are the sorts of things that have shifted what evangelicals care about which is why donald trump does particularly well with evangelical voters who don't actually go to church every sunday. if you say you are someone who is a born again christian, but

maybe you don't report going to church on sunday and bible study on wednesday, you're actually exactly the type of voter who really finds donald trump's message. >> and in some sense could make sense. jamie? >> that pastor said that this ad that trump had put up, god made trump was offensive. >> yeah. >> i would beg to say that trump knows his audience, and that he is confident in these evangelical voters. they do not care. they have looked past all of his personal foibles, and at the end of the day, i actually think i may personally know all the never trump christian evangelicals, and i can count them on one hand. they're people i have know for many years. this group has stayed loyal to him. and i think they're going the stay loyal. >> you talk about that ad, you underscore this issue about the dechurched evangelical vote,

which is white and culturally identifying as christian. pew research has shown between 2016 and 2020, you had a number of white americans who began identifying as evangelical who were supporters of trump. so the iowa voter you're talking about who was organized by organized religion and its political supporters, those aren't the same people that trump is courting. and quite frankly, they may be the people that ron desantis is sort of missing in his pursuit of the old-school endorsements from the kind of religious right as we knew it out of the '80s. >> also, when you go on social media and you put an ad out like trump did, you hear the patz store say that offended him. >> maybe not for him, and maybe not for anyone jeff is speaking to in that piece. maybe some of what they said shows a little why that may resonate. let me show again. >> god puts people over us in office.

and i believe got put donald trump there. and i want him back in again. >> he has godly principles. and i saw those at work when he was president. i'd like the give him that chance again. >> which he said really does resonate. god puts people over us in office. i believe god put donald trump there. >> none of those people are quitting donald trump any time soon. >> right. >> we saw that way, way back in 2016. in october 7th or 8th, days after the first "access hollywood" tape, people thought the campaign was going collapse and it was just going to blow away like dust in the wind. and not so. people showed up, and they kept showing up. they're not going quit because they like the fact that donald trump is a fighter. and you'll hear this again and again. he fights for us. republicans think that the democrats fought dirty for all these years. and the bush and kind of mitt romneys played by marquis de

queensbury rules. they weren't dirty. and trump is a dirty fighter, and they like that. and they're going stick with him. >> sheer one thing i think is fascinating in all of this. when you talk about women, people know what trump son his personal level. last time around, trump had 22% of the evangelical vote in iowa. the latest follow now among evangelicals in iowa is that he is at 51. >> i mean, it's incredible. >> it's nearly doubled his support. >> he is more or less the evangelical community has made a bit of a deal with the devil with donald trump. they look at the policy outcorp., and they can forgive any number of personal failings. he is the president that for 30 years the evangelical church wanted to take down roe. he appointed the three justices. that will get -- that will make them overlook anything he does or says. and one thing i do want to know in terms of tonight's debate, this underscores why nikki haley and ron desantis frankly have a really delicate dance to do. desantis is playing for iowa. nikki haley needs to do well in more independent, more moderate-leaning new hampshire while not offputting the voters

in iowa. this is major league politics here. she is going to throw some red meat to the crowd but not risk alienating. >> we have to talk about the separation from the evangelical community, the separation from peel who were looking for someone who is kind of an upstanding forthright person to now being a political evangelical. >> and you grew up as an evangelical. you really understand. >> i haven't been in a long time, but my mother, who has been for a long time, and you go to services in the 2000s, and they'd be playing videos about george bush right before service started, and how he was a man of faith. but here is the problem that i have. you have barack obama, right, who is married and got two children. they go to church and they're good people. you got joe biden who goes to church every sunday. he is one of the most devout catholics that we've had that we can think of. but nobody seems to think that's okay. iowa, of course the des moines register poll, 80% of the people who show up in caucus are pro-life. and as alyssa just said, donald trump gave them the end of roe.

it may help them in a primary. in a general election, it's going to be very tough to get past that number. >> jimmy, that's the line that nikki haley has to walk. because her appeal is among independents who do not as a group share that pro-life belief that the base, evangelical base in iowa. >> correct. no question she has a balancing act, and she is looking at new hampshire. she does not want to go after him. i just want to talk about something for a minute generally. when people see a winner or someone that perceive to be a winner, they also tend to go get on board. it is a fact of politics. and donald trump has been by far the presumptive winner, leader in this race. and i hear a lot of people who originally were saying oh, desantis, they would be interested in. well, that didn't work out. they're back with trump. >> erin, i was going to say

quickly, let's not overlook trump. huge, huge portion of the evangelical base. >> biden supports israel. this is about the cultural. >> the working embassy, jerusalem, they love trump for that. >> and we're going have much more on that coming up. i was interviewing nikki haley last week that the u.s. needs israel more than the israel needs the u.s. chris christie shaking things up hours before the debate in iowa. the hot mic moment overshadowing the announcement. the latest on that developing story. we're getting more information out of that campaign and the others. and also first out front, israel, the idf giving our nic robertson a rare look deep inside the tunnels of khan younis where they believe hostages were held and close to where they say other hostages still a remain.

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to fighting climate change. shake up the senate - with democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. so breaking news. we're back with our special editionof "outfront"s just about an hour away to the debate with ron desantis and nikki haley.

chris christie announcing tonight he is ending his campaign for president. jeff deangelo has interviewed many of the candidates on his conservative radio and former iowa republican state senator and has his finger on the pulse of iowa politics. how big is christie dropping out? >> it makes the debate really crucial. it is amazing timing for him. it is a race for second in iowa. and so tonight desantis and haley have to say to iowans i am the legitimate alternative to donald trump if you want to vote against trump. >> chris christie wasn't doing well in iowa. >> right. >> but still, it's going to be of interest to iowans. >> exactly right. he is out and that this becomes a way more important debate tonight. and the decision that you make, whether you're going to caucus for desantis or haley, you really do have to think about who you think will be the legitimate best general election candidate. you're voting against trump because you think he is going to lose the general election. so you're looking for somebody else. so is desantis the person? is haley the person to do better

in the general election? that's what the debate tonight is all about. >> would a christie endorsement -- it seems unlikely he is going to endorse anybody before the iowa caucus. >> right. >> but if he did, would that make any difference here? >> not really in iowa. iowans really pried themselves. most of the iowans are going to caucus monday night. they've gone to events with candidates. they've actually asked them a question. so they're very proud of the fact that they make their decision independently. and so endorsements don't really matter all that much to them at this point. >> the weather is going to be a factor. you were talking monday night, it's supposed to be bone-chilling cold. >> that's right. so we're going get double-digit windchills probably monday night. and it does affect the outcome of the iowa caucus. it depends on the enthusiasm level of your supporters. trump supporters, they'd walk through glass to caucus for trump. i think desantis supporters are pretty solid. i think haley has to worry. i think her support is a little bit suspect at this particular point. that's the kind of voter that

says i think i'm going stay in and watch cnn tonight. it's too cold for me to go to caucus. >> what do you expect desantis and haley tonight try to do on this stage? >> i think they try to create doubts in the voters' mind that they're the best issues match for iowans. first of all, you create doubts about the issues match you have with an individual candidate. then you have to show that you're the candidate that would be the best against joe biden in the general election. ironically, probably very little mention of trump again tonight, which i think is absolutely fascinating. >> in what way? >> i think it's fascinating because he is the front-runner. and iowans are predisposed to support him. so you have to tell people why not to support him. >> you think it's been a mistake not to speak more about him? >> absolutely. i was watching a interview with desantis the other night, and he said i owe you all, the media, want me to get personal. i don't roll like that. why do you think people are voting against donald trump? it's not that they disagreed with his issues, they think as a person, his personal foibles will lose him the next election.

you do have to talk about his personal problems, because that's what people think might lose the general election. and these candidates refuse to do that. >> jeff anglo, good to hear from grow. >> great to talk to you. >> erin, back to you. >> anderson, another thing as we very clear here sure to be a topic tonight in the debate is israel. how much support the united states is willing to give israel specifically, and how conditional is that support. so much of that war tonight still being waged below ground. and now, it is important to have this debate. cnn has gotten incredible access for the first time, going deep inside captured hamas tunnels. in fact, the first western television crew allowed to go inside khan younis was our nic robertson, and he got a rare look at where hostages were held underground. part of this access did come from the idf. it's important to know that cnn did agree to report from gaza under idf support at all times. outlets must submit footage to the idf for security review.

cnn did not submit its final report to the idf and retained editorial control. but we want to be very transparent with you. nic robertson is "outfront" with this incredible report that you will see first "outfront." >> reporter: khan younis, a gunner's view, driving in, scouring the landscape for threats. problem for these idf troops. their enemy is mostly hiding in tunnels, they say. >> the biggest issue is the fact that we're actually maneuvering above ground, underground. >> reporter: gohe commands israel's biggest military command is adapting. >> you use all the senses you have. you use your vision, your feel sensor, your smell sensor. >> reporter: he has invited cnn to go deep into the tunnels. we are told this is the heart of khan younis, and the hostages are likely underground nearby,

and that some were held here. this tunnel we're going in here is one where some of the hostages were held. that first round of hostage releases, some of them came out from down here. so how deep does this tunnel go? our first time to get up close to what is shaping this war. >> we are moving underground. we're maneuvering underground. we are going the reach each and every militant or each and every terrorist underground. >> reporter: no modern army has had to fight above ground and underground like this before. how is that to do it? >> it's difficult, and it's just going to be a very, very hard, long fight. >> reporter: to see just how hard, he takes us deeper. so we came down a metal ladder. we've come down one flight of stairs. we're going down a second flight of stairs here, a double flight it looks like. and down here, command and control wires running all the

way down. how deep are we underground do you think right now? >> at the moment, we're more or less between 10 to 15 meters under ground. >> reporter: 10 to 15 meters. and now we're going down another level. down more steps. we're about to go down again another level. so low, my head keeps banging off the roof. what are we looking at here? >> this is a small room. >> reporter: with some kind of air ventilation system. >> an air ventilation system that goes up. >> reporter: and metal frame around the door. >> these metal frames. as much as this is a small room, this is how the different cages that they put the kidnapped. >> reporter: so they were held in cages? >> in cages, yeah. >> reporter: hidden and utterly cut off. down here, you really can't hear anything, what's going on in the outside world.

now we must be 20 or 30 meters down? almost 20. so they have tunnels three times as deep as this. >> three times. >> reporter: what's clear here, the money, planning and preparation invested for a long siege. we're 20 meters under ground here. 20 meters, and there is a fully flush toilet. and it's even painted, has place for a light bulb and light switches. tile. the labyrinth keeps going. okay. now it's so low, we're getting done on our knees to get through. he pauses, lays out his path to victory. >> underground with hamas. and we have to reach this hamas core to finish them off. >> reporter: but those palestinian people above ground are also dying still.

>> i understand that. i understand. that's why we're trying to do it as fast as we can. yesterday there were mortars and rockets fired from north of gaza. >> reporter: there are civilians. >> into the civilian part of israel. >> reporter: so as long there are rockets coming out of northern israel, the people who moved to the south conditioned go back to the north. >> as long as we haven't carried out our mission all the way, as listening as we haven't finished this mission, i don't think we'll leave here. >> reporter: we head back. half an hour under ground, we've seen only a fraction of this war-changing labyrinth. his challenge, find all the others. >> nic, 65 feet under ground where you are. just to comprehend that. your head hitting the ceiling. it's amazing you were even able to withstand that, to experience that yourself. but when you're down there, how is it that the idf says or knows

that they're so close to hamas hostages in those tunnels or in tunnels next to them, and yet isn't able to get them out? >> and that's the difficult thing. how do you fight the battle when you're fighting it in several dimensions. you know, i said to him normally in a battle, you would outflank your enemy. you would get around the side of them. but down there he said, you know, we don't even know. we can be standing on top of them. they can be underneath us. so we've got to try to fight in all these different dimensions. but they do have good intelligence. that's part of the picture. and in that tunnel at least they were able to extract dna evidence, blood, hair of the hostages that had actually been held down there. there is a lot of technical equipment used as well. >> absolutely. and obviously, israel a crucial topic in this debate coming up in the next hour. nic robertson, thank you so much from tel aviv. and finally tonight, don't miss it. the cnn primary go