democrats, independents (202) 748-8002. we will take a few minutes to get an update on the campaign trail. the week ahead, join us to gust that is stephanie murray, the politics reporter. good morning to you. guest: thank you for having me. host: how do you think the events in israel will affect the candidates for the white house? guest: it shows an interesting

split in the gop primary field. foreign policy has been an area where the field is split and you have seen that over the last several days. your the former vice president mike pence throwing punches at former president donald trump, ron desantis, vivek ramaswamy saying israel and in pence's words, a perfect example of that. we have seen disagreement over ukraine and funding for ukraine that israel is another area where you will see things split but obviously a very dynamic and evolving situation. i think there is a lot to see what happens. this is an area or you can see the field splitting. host: we are expected today to

hear an announcement from robert kennedy junior about his future plans running for office. can you set that up for us? guest: this is going to be interesting to see rfk moving from the democratic primary to we think running as independent. the thing to watch is whether he will be a spoiler for either of the candidates in the general election. there are reports the trump team is concerned about him taking votes away from trump. there is also concern they would pull from joe biden. even without a clear chance for winning in the system we have, an independent candidate can make a huge difference for the general election when it comes to buying and perhaps former president trump based on the polling. independents like rfk could have an impact that it is unclear what that might be yet.

host:'s or any sense of why he is thinking of making this change? guest: it is a situation where he could stay in the race longer and get more attention. in the democratic primary he has not gotten into debates. he is looking for an area where he can make the biggest flash. host: talk about nikki haley as far as she is doing. it seems like the name gets mentioned more and more as she campaigns. what kind of impact does she have? guest: over the past debates nikki haley has had standout performances in both of them. you saw the impact in the polls, especially in new hampshire, the first primary state. she is rising in the polls. she has overtaken ron desantis, who has been in second place for the majority of the race in new hampshire and he has fallen in the polls, especially in new

hampshire where he hasn't spent time. he is betting on isle in the iowa caucuses. nikki haley has been in the state taking advantage of that and moving ahead. she is far second to former president trump but rising in the polls in new hampshire. that is where you can get momentum and bring it across the rest of the primary calendar. she will be interesting to watch as she emerges from a very crowded, large-scale republicans to start to stand out in a state that really matters. host: if you go online you can find the story taking a look at governor desantis' operations in iowa. what is he doing there? guest: he is betting on iowa. he has moved staff members to iowa and he is trying to make a huge splash in the state. he is visiting all 99 counties

and spending a lot of time there but the challenge is every cycle we see candidates who either moved staff to i a what or even with themselves or rent an apartment or do different things to show iowa caucus-goers they are committed to the state, it doesn't always work and can put you in a challenging position once the caucuses are over. it can be harder to get resources elsewhere. he is betting on his first in the nation caucus state to deliver him some momentum and they would like to have a strong second-place showing against former president trump and manage expectations there. so it really trying to make a big splash in iowa but the way the caucuses are structured, it is a huge challenge. host: former president is

dealing with legal issues but how is he compensating for that? guest: he had started to spend lots more time in iowa showing that this is a huge primary state for everyone but especially for trump. it is not the easiest state for him. in 2016, he didn't when the caucuses, ted cruz did but it shows that you can win them but it doesn't always deliver you the presidency and trump has been there saying his contract -- committed to making it there.