look forward to you on the other side, bret. thanks for being with us, live from north charleston coliseum. stay with us, our coverage continues right now.ontinued rit now. ♪ >> this is "lou dobbs tonight," live from the the republican presidential primary debate in charleston, south carolina. here is lou dobbs. ♪ lou: there you are. we're coming to you from north charleston coliseum. good evening, everybody, i'm lou dobbs in charleston, south carolina. we're less than an hour away from the beginning of the second fox business network republican debate of the evening. seven candidates taking the stage in the debate, the fewest number of candidates we've seen on the stage this election cycle for a republican prime time debate. the candidates are in the building, all of them, all seven of them.

and a lot at stake for each one of them. governor john kasich, governor chris christie, senator marco rubio, donald trump, senator ted cruz, dr. ben carson, former governor jeb bush. my colleagues, maria bartiromo and neil cavuto will moderate the debate, the prime time debate beginning in just about an hour. joining me now, senior writer for "the weekly standard" and fox news contributor steve hayes. fox news digital politics editor chris stirewalt. we have now about 59 minutes before the onset of the debate. look at you. >> here we go. lou: licking your chops. >> this is what we're here for. lou: is it going to be the fight that everybody is expecting? >> no. it will be some fights nobody is expecting. we know some of the dynamics. there are two main dynamics to think about on the stage. one is number one and number two, cruz and trump, trump and cruz, how does this play out?

will they come to some detente where cruz accepts subordinate position to donald trump in agreement for the full blow up fight not happening now? or does cruz say no, we're doing this the other one is -- lou: such deals are made in politics? >> shocking as might be. there is another we'll call it a tontine, between jeb bush, chris christie and john kasich. the name of that game is, you have to kill marco rubio. because as long as marco rubio is drafting first in the channel for establishment republicans, none of those three get to go anywhere. the. lou: steve, i hate to bring up the establishment but since chris has broached it, these establishment candidates are getting their heads handed to them. >> yeah. lou: the foles who are so-called outsiders are prevailing. >> yeah. lou: is this dynamic going to change of what we witnessed over the course of this debate coming up in less than an hour? >> i think just the opposite. i think you're going to hear the

establishment type candidates, candidates widely perceived to be in the establishment lane continue to try to adopt the language of the outsiders because that language is working. i was in iowa last week. i followed marco rubio around a little bit. followed ted cruz around a little bit. watched some speeches. what struck me marco rubio's speech sounded almost exactly like ted cruz's speech. they were hitting same themes. talking populist reforms. lou: i remember you would have thought they both had the same view on immigration. >> if you look at their voting records in the senate, they're not very different which is what is so funny that you've bottom these candidates that chris describes taking shots at rubio as establishment candidate, trying to clear the establishment lane when his voting record is awfully close to ted cruz's. lou: votes that were taken on the part of senator rubio. the opportunity here for bloodletting is enormous tonight. you know, you had of course, it may have just been politics,

heaven forbid. but you actually had the impression that rubio and bush liked one another. at onset of all of this. >> yeah. lou: that each of these candidates was palatable to the other, if not someone who they might be passionately enthusiastic. there doesn't seem to be any love lingering in the distances and gaps between them now, does there? >> i would say among the last guardians of the bush citadel the hatred for marco rubio is maybe more intense, the disdain for rubio, is maybe more intense than it is for trump or any other candidate. they call him judas. they hate what he has done. because what he did was he stepped out of line in very one. aspy, un-bushy establishment way, stepped out in line in front of the his mentor and ran for president at him and beating him at it. lou: you would think jeb bush

would be used to that, even brotherly act, was it not. >> that is true fact. he didn't win his first gubernatorial election in florida. governor got ahead of him. got in in texas. ran for president ahead of him and won. lou: each of these candidates has some burden to be more than the audience really recognized at least as in polling. rand how much what they do recognize will convert to votes beginning first in iowa is there a measure how to track that traction? >> i'm not sure there is a way to track but but it is reflected in intensity of the debate. people who have not been following every twist an turn of this campaign the way we have past year-and-a-half are finally tuning in and paying tanks to these things. many will be making up their mind over course of next month.

this debate and debate on the 2th in des moines matters than all the other debates. this is where things will be decided. lou: in twitter land or twitterverse, donald j. trump, is letting it be known in the latest nbc "wall street journal" polling he has extended his lead over the field, measureably, significantly. he just seems at this point to be moving in only one direction and that is higher, his numbers. is there a way in which that can be blunted in your opinion, chris? no well, i mean blunted isn't the thing. this is a long process in the sense that really steve is even being hurried in talking about when the decision-making starts. it begins incrementally now. and then really it's in the 10 days prior to iowa.

so we're about a week away from the real gears starting to turn. everything up until that point stands in notional, it is a notional idea. the question that stands for -- lou: as ideas are sometimes wont to be. >> as sometimes wont to be and in politics very often wont to be. the question for donald trump, do, does poll support equal voter support? donald trump's sport could be overtate stated or understated. we don't know because it looks loo like traditional primary coalition. it has a lot of democrats in it, has a lot of independents in it and we don't know. lou: for the bleak outlook of political certainty that chris projected i hesitate to ask any question requiring a definitive answer but i will. here's the thing. right now seems like it's a two-part race. one part is donald trump. the second part is everybody else.

that has to be changed for there to be anything of material for iowa 18 days distant for us. >> yeah. lou: how do you brigitte and do you not see a direct correlation between polling and likely result in iowa and then new hampshire in quick order? then the state of the south carolina. >> you want me to answer all those questions? want me to do all of that? lou: yeah. you got at least 30 seconds. >> i think you framed that in exactly the right way. lou: it was too long, we both agree. >> until this morning, i will pick and choose. here is what is amazing. until this morning you have donald trump as frontrunner who has let's just say non-traditional views for a republican frontrunner. some of them are conservative. some of them are not. some issues he is still to the left hillary clinton. having said that you have nobody up on air making that point. lou: right. >> certainly not in a sustained way. and i think it is because candidates have decided that for their own reasons they're not

going to go after donald trump at this point in. it doesn't make sense. they want his voters if he has some slippage. >> they're cowards also. lou: well, they have got every reason to be when you look out at the results, the, the experience for each candidate is attack trump. it has not been a candy rock mountain for them after doing so. >> man, i was a big rock candy mountain -- now you're speaking my language. lou: i was afraid i would do that. >> lake of stew and gin lake too and paddle all around it in a big canoe. lou: i wouldn't deny audience for anything. steve and i might have been spared but not our audience. >> not people. lou: chris stirewalt, that was -- quite a journey we went on there. thank you very much, steve. >> appreciate it. lou: up next we're less than an hour away from the second republican presidential debate of the evening. a dynamic we haven't seen. debate yet, seven candidates on the stage. lots of time for them.

what can we expect from the republican frontrunner donald trump and his second drafting behind him, ted cruz. what happens on stage? we're told it's going to be lively. it's going to be electric and something none of us would ever want to miss. we're in, live from north charleston. stay with us. ♪ at every turn... when you're engineered to literally to drive circles around the competition.

♪ ♪. lou: the debate stage as you see there, set in the north charleston coliseum. we're well under an ahour away from the beginning of the second debate. you can expect the front-runners, donald trump, ted cruz to take on one another. cruz attacked trump for his so-called new rk values. >> you know i'll tell you that the rest of the country knows exactly what new york values are. i got to say, they're not iowa values and they're not new hampshire values. lou: whoa. donald trump hitting right back at the senator from texas saying, quote, anyone who wants to knock new york values needs to go through me, end quote. he went on to say new york is full of energy, the same energy

that helped rebuild the empire state after the september 11th attacks and so the stage is set, if you will for that debate, a debate in which donald trump says he will be asking about the senator's failure to disclose his loan from goldman sachs, based, headquartered in new york i believe. joining us tonight fox news contributor ebony williams, former pentagon official, kt mcfarland, "national review" editor rich lowery. let's start if i may, rich, with you. every time trump is attacked he turns it, now he is the defender of new york state, not just simply manhattan. >> lou, i want you to pay very close attention. i want you to write this one down. i think that was the single best thing that donald trump has said in this campaign. he absolutely knocked it out of the park by going straight to september 11th. and it sets up what will be a very interesting clash tonight

because it is natural question for ted cruz, senator, what do you mean by new york values? and cruz will either have the choice to go into some detail, and make this about trump's, in part his life-style, which gets very personal and trump probably won't react very well to, or take a pass and be very vague and duck and deflect, in which case he will look weak. that will be very interesting moment tonight, lou. lou: weakness will be perceived without question by even of these candidates and it will be detected in one another. kt, there is one person who won't be on that stage and that's barack obama. the president, 10 of our sailors detained by iran. he is about to release $150 billion. the republican party and these candidates will have to address why they haven't stood up, i spoke with reince priebus, the head of the rnc, louder and taller in resisting the

president in what appears to many to be a mad, mad, idea. >> well, it is not just that, it is number of things that happened in last really two weeks. we've seen the rampage throughout much of germany of migrant gangs on a rape and looting spree in cologne. we've seen as you said the incident with the american sailors on their knees to iranian thugs and at same time we're rewarding them and apologizing for the american behavior. and then we've seen just a number of other incidents including the president's pledging to close guantanamo bay. what are the candidates going to say about these things? and what could they do? what are they going to do? donald trump interestingly when he was asked what will you do about the iran deal, other candidates said i will shut it down, i will turn it around and i will reverse it. we'll have to see where we are when we get there. what about cuba? if we already closed

guantanamo bay will we open it back up? i think there is opportunity for each of the candidates what would you do differently than the president and what he would do once he is in office. as many people pointed out a lots going to happen between now and whoever it is takes the oath of office. lou: ebony, all of the fighting, the stage is set for a cage match has been the expression but outright verbal brawl here. the moderators, neil cavuto, maria bartiromo, will have at various points their hands full but it is going to be a tough fight. where do you see the profit in these candidates now, beyond trump, i understand attacking frontrunner. >> sure. lou: but attacking one another? >> you said something earlier lou, i thought was very poignant. you say some poignant things. lou: thank you. >> it will be donald trump -- lou: don't laugh at that one. >> donald trump and -- eloquent. it will be donald trump and

everybody else. so what we're going to see, i predict this will come down to donald trump and trump alternative. tonight will have to be start of both ted cruz, marco rubio, no more playing nice. we've seen some of the gloves have come off. who will be determined alternative to donald trump i think republican party has to get real serious now who that candidate is going to be. in the instance, i don't think anyone has the ability to beat donald trump. only thing that can beat donald trump himself. perhaps implosion way down the road. alternative has to be in play. lou: and, rich, going to iowa, 18 days away, how much, how much momentum can be built here tonight to change the outcome in iowa for any one of these candidates, including one who is ahead right now, most recently, ted cruz? >> well we're entering that phase in the campaign, lou, where every little thing can make a big difference because the race is so tight now between ted cruz and donald trump, in

iowa, as he believes the polls, that you know, two or three-point bounce either way can make a big difference and which of those guys, seems the two them are in the race for iowa to win it, which of those guys wins there i think is favorite for the nomination. it is either cruz or trump. lou: do you agree, kt, very quickly? >> yeah, absolutely. i think tonight i'm going to look to see which one much these candidates is going to be my commander-in-chief who is going to like reagan did, reverse the slide of america's global leadership around can anyone of these candidates look like he is the guy who will go to the iranians, go to isis, go to the cubans and tell them, new sheriff in town. start paying attention to me. the days of american slide and leading from behind are over. lou: kt mcfarland, ebony williams, thank you so much. rich lowery, thank you. >> thanks, lou. >> thanks. lou: up next here, carly fiorina

getting rave reviews for her performance in tonight's earlier debate. she needed a strong performance by all accounts. she delivered. "time" magazine declared her the clear winner. was she? we'll ask her. carly fiorina joins me here next. stay with us. ♪ at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like reunions equal blatant lying. the company is actually doing really well on, on social media. oh that's interesting. i - i started social media. oh! it was my...baby.

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at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like ordering wine equals pretending to know wine. pinot noir, which means peanut of the night. >> there are is the debate stage iv an evening second presidential debate. joining us now from the first presidential debate, former hp ceo carly fiorina and i want to say first welcome and congratulations. our pleasure.

"time" magazine immediately calling you the winner of the debate tonight saying that you have sharp elbows. we know that you have a very sharp mind. how do you feel about that judgment? >> what matters the most to me is the judgment of the voters and what i see out there is more and more voters that are listening to me and some more -- supporting me and i was delighted to have an opportunity to speak to millions night. lou: correlate if he will how you judge your performance in the debate like tonight and the prospect of bringing in more voters in your cause. >> first, i started out this race 17 out of 16. less than 4% of republican voters had ever heard my name. pollsters wouldn't even ask for my name and today in yet another poll, i am number six nationally

i am tied for number five in new hampshire with a whole bunch of the guys sitting on the main stage debate and they have spent tens of millions of dollars getting there and i haven't spent a dime yet on tv. in the meantime i have leadership teams and 25 states. a lot of the guys on the main stage can't say that. in the meantime i have her robust ground game. a lot of guys on the main stage debate can't say that. lou: you are feeling good. >> i'm feeling good and elections are won by votes in the voters haven't started voting it. lou: i'm wondering how perhaps the front-runner on the democratic side is feeling. you opened the evening may i say crisply. this is what carly fiorina said to get things going tonight. >> i am not a political insider. i haven't spent my lifetime running for office. the truth is i have had a new opportunity to do a lot of

things in my life and unlike another woman in this race i actually love spending time with my husband. lou: that shot could be heard throughout the auditorium and i think well beyond and perhaps to iowa and new hampshire and beyond. you have decided that you were going to throw those sharp elbows as "time" magazine described them straight at the democrats. i thought people might be expecting you to go even tougher after your fellow candidates. what is your thought about the strategy employed in its effect? >> first, hillary clinton craves power. hillary clinton has spent her life trying to gain power. she has also spent much of her life abusing power and now she wants to go to the white house. i think she is qualified for the big house, but she wants to go to the white house and the truth is that if you want to lead, and people have to trust you and they can't trust you unless they

know you. hillary clinton has said and done whatever it takes to amass power. lou: carly fiorina declared by "time" magazine as i said the winner of tonight's debate. i know there are two other folks are going without just as they were arguing on the stage. congratulations come it's good to have you here. carly fiorina by the way spending every day on the campaign trail. she knows where she speaks in talking about what the folks in iowa want and expect. it's good to have you here. >> thank you lou, thanks having me. lou: new details on what led to the capture of 10 of our sailors in iran. national security will be a big issue in the upcoming debate. general jack keane joins me here next. we are counting down to the second republican presidential debate that begins in less than a half an hour. stay with us, we will be right back.

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lou: candidates from the first debates on iran after 10 of our sailors were detained by the republican guard. it's expected to be another hot topic in the second debate tonight.

this asked defense secretary ash carter sent a national error caused the error. >> we are still talking to those folks and we will find out more what combination of factors led to the navigational error. lou: joining us now former vice chief of staff "fox news" military analyst general jack keane. general, great to have you with us. you just heard ash carter. does that make sense to you? >> certainly could be a navigational error. we don't know if the iranians provocation that they are shut down our radio communications. that was out for some reason they could have jammed it and maybe even jam to the gps. maybe it was just simply a navigational error but if that's the case, most law-abiding civilized countries when other people enter into their waters

and let's assume that did happen, they find out if they need any help, is everything okay and let them go on their way. what did the iranians do? they stopped our boats, they forced to surrender those boats they confiscated her weapons and detained our people against their will and then they created a spectacle to humiliate and embarrass the united states in terms of videos, false apology etc.. that's outrageous behavior and secretary carter should have condemned it and secretary kerry should have condemned it. lou: president obama? >> i had very low expectations that i would ever take place frankly. lou: general, as we look at what happened we listen to that apology from the lieutenant aboard those boats. and i know you might be reluctant to make a judgment here, but is there such a thing as some sort of rules of conduct

that the administration could have enforced that young lieutenant would be called upon to a apologize without resistance? >> we have a code of conduct that limits the amount of information that we can provide to a hostile enemy and although that code of conduct has been amended to the point that we expect our people to resist as far as they possibly can resist, that grew out of the pw that we had in the vietnam war that this situation that we saw just doesn't tell us all the facts in the navy will get to the bottom of this. we don't know the level of intimidation that this officer experience prior to that video. they will get the facts of it and then they will hold the officer accountable to his behavior, if that behavior is in violation of our code of conduct. lou: is it passing strange to you that someone should not be

held accountable, some commander who would prevent two votes to be taken by the iranian republican guard in this fashion without responding? >> yeah, look we have got the most powerful navy and the best navy in the world. i have worked around naval officers. i have commanded enough of them and in commands i have held and as deputy demand or enjoy commander and these guys are first rate. i have seen them perform in iraq and afghanistan. lou, you can assure us of one thing very they are all over this thing. let me tell you 300 miles, small boats what would -- what were the mitigating risk factors and how would we mitigate those risks those questions have to be asked and listens a large audience truly understands the united states is not give up its warships and turned its weapons and let other people take them prisoners. that just doesn't happen and you can rest assuredly that the

naval leaders who are involved here are going to get to the bottom of why that happened because they have got to be furious with what took place. lou: and our president wanting to turn over $150 billion in frozen assets within a matter of days and lifting sanctions. general jack keane thanks for putting the issue in perspective because it's likely to be a good part of tonight's debate coming up in less than a half an hour from now. general jack keane as always, thank you so much. >> good talking to you, lou. lou: thank you. less than a half an hour from the debate we are going to be, well we are going to be looking at a lot of sparks flying. governor nikki haley, donald trump sounding off. we will have that. sounding a little different tune in south carolina. we will tell you and let you listen to it yourself. here come the next. are coming right back.

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lou: joining me now, you're the reporter for the washington free beacon senior correspondent charlie gasparino "washington times" front editor monica crowley. it's great to have you all with us. let's start with donald trump and nikki haley, basically it seems trying at least nikki haley trying to back off from her attack if you will on donald trump. let's roll that. talking with carl cameron. >> i consider him a friend. he supported me during my gubernatorial race. what we were talking about when we talked about the angriest voices, this goes back to how we talk about immigration and remembering that there's illegal immigration and there is legal immigration and in the speech you heard me say we welcome legal immigrants but what is so

important is as we need them to feel welcome. >> a little touchy they are. lou: governor haley was doing fine and then she wasn't doing fine. >> here's the thing, we spoke about this yesterday on cavuto where i said listen i guarantee i don't have the evidence but usually these very tight, these guys in the republican establishment coordinate everything and i believe this was coordinated. within five minutes the rnc is on the phone demanding we go out there and say it wasn't coordinated so i think they feel a lot of heat and -- lou: nikki haley backing off here. and deservedly so. the chairman of the republican national committee had just said we are going to be behind whoever the nominee is lachlan and the fact is she seemed in a coordinated fashion to god and insult donald trump. >> i think we know that trump is a very easy ticket to lots and

lots of media coverage whether q. are trump himself or someone getting into a battle with trump so haley's political star was flagging over the last few years. room all of a sudden she's back in the headlines. lou: here's a headline for you. it's flagging more tonight. >> we may be talking about her, does matter what it said. >> i think there's a bigger issue here. lou: let me quickly turn to monica and get her judgment. >> it's interesting i like governor haley very much but she admitted this morning that was in fact directed at donald trump and now she's furiously backpedaling on that. look, she made a calculated attempt to go after this guy to try to take away some of his support. that was drafted by the establishment and was also a serious misfire which is now she is trying to backtrack. but the more important point here is that nikki haley is part of the republican establishment and they still don't get it read rate they don't understand the

level of frustration and anger among the republican base toward the gop establishment that is far too long ignored, dismissed, mocked and disempowered them and nikki haley's comments, actually tweeted this last night and i like the governor but her comments will have an effect. >> monica is make in the same point that i was just about to make. i would say this, this is the big story of his campaign how the gop establishment is so out of step with most of the gop voters on several issues including immigration and you know that's why they are backpedaling and i will tell you donald trump has made this issue they probably primary issue of his campaign. jeb bush would like to make it the economy and talk about capital gains taxes and stuff like that. on the other hand before she even came out and admitted that

this was directly about trump she was asked by other candidates in the race and she took the opportunity to distance yourself from establishment on immigration and specifically when after rubio for his position on amnesty. i think she is triangular. lou: is this monica going to be an all out tooth and nail fight tonight do you think? >> well i think you will have two dynamics. number one. lou: you have about 30 seconds. >> you will have the governor like bush and christy and kasich it's trying to jockey for a better position. >> here's why the fund-raisers are telling these guys you have to break out. they will try to kill each other tonight. that's my prediction. lou: thank you so much. coming up here next the big night for the political candidates. those presidential candidates set to take the stage. the debate is next. stay with us, we are coming right back. it is going to be something to the hold. can't wait.

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at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like reunions equal blatant lying. the company is actually doing really well on, on social media. oh that's interesting. i - i started social media. oh! it was my...baby. lou: back with me, chris stirewalt, howie kurtz, and bret baier. thank you for sticking through to this point. i know all of us are filled with anticipation. we're now just, well, i'm told that, it is good we're back.

reince priebus, chairman of the republican national committee has been introduced. let's listen in. >> he has redefined what it means to be rnc chairman, focused on data, digital, that will make us successful when we have nominee. i believe any of these candidates here tonight will be wonderful nominee for our party. without further adieu, reince priebus. lou: reince priebus just introduced as i was about to tell you. that is matt moore, chairman of the south carolina republican party. >> are you with me? [cheers and applause] we're honored, we're honored to be in your state of south carolina. we're honored to be in a state on the rise and we're honored to be in a state with one of the greatest governors in america, governor nikki haley is here. [applause] we're honored to be in a state with two great senators, lindsey graham and senator tim scott. thank you. [cheers and applause]

you see the reality is we're the party that is young. we're the party that is diverse. the other side is boring, old and stale. you wouldn't know it from talking and listening to the media. the reality is we have a lot of work to do and republican national committee is committed to whoever our nominee is. the fact of the matter is, no matter who you're for we've got to have a national party that has a ground game together, voter registration a data operation you can be proud of. i know that is not the exciting thing to talk about but that's what our job is. and tonight on national tv across the country we're highlighting this massive recruiting effort for volunteers. to to lead right 2016.com. be part of thousands of people

across the country going through the republican leadership institute to make sure we are far more prepared than we were in 2012. that is our commitment to you, whoever the nominee is, we're going to make sure they plug into a great national party. with that, i want to develop come our moderators for tonight's debate. welcome neil cavuto and maria bartiromo. [applause] lou: that was quite a introduction for neil and for maria. leadright.com, i believe it is. is that what he said? i'm curious about that, let me know. neil and maria are getting situated, preparing for the debate that will begin here in just about, just about five minutes. seated here with me howie kurtz, chris stirewalt, bret baier. bret, let me start with reince priebus's opening remarks.

that was a call to action for the republican party and it began with, we are going to be a national party united behind the candidate. your thoughts? >> well, two things. one is, he shored up nikki haley, the governor of south carolina, making sure to really talk about her in the wake of the controversy that many conservatives said was her republican response as you have talked about tonight. two, he talked about unity for the party. that's really the question, if donald trump rolls here and does get the nomination, it's about bringing the party together, according reince priebus. that is something he is concerned about. lou, let me say one thing. this debate tonight is really big. it is, you look at context of what is happening in the world. bombings in jakarta and istanbul. you have the iran deal will be implemented in a few days with $150 billion going to iran. that is the specter that hangs over this after the president has weighed in. there will be a lot of fodder

for these candidates tonight. lou: chris, your thoughts? as bret says, we heard him boost nikki haley, the governor, but he also made it really clear, everybody is going to be behind one horse. >> so we're at point now all of buccaneers have their swords drawn over the treasure chest, right? the insurgents say, you vote for trump or we'll cut your throats. the other guys say you vote for rubio or establishment pick or we'll cut your throats and pirates are fighting in advance. whether either side makes good on threats they stay home if they don't get their way, we don't know. this is the natural part of the process and the leader has to say, we can be cool.

lou: nikki haley came around and withdrew from the field fashioner insulting donald trump. >> a sign of how donald trump dominated this process as media focus is again on him and ted cruz who is surging in iowa. lou: let me interrupt you quickly, howie. the candidates taking the stage right now. a photo spray as it is eloquently called in front of their podiums. it's quite a tradition to get that. as if there won't be opportunities for further pictures. i'm sorry. go ahead. >> just to complete the thought, so not only is the trump versus cruz aspect going to be subject of a lot of coverage and particularly how senator cruz handles the canada birth issue and all establishment candidates are trying to separate themselves from that pack. lou: as photographers withdraw, the national anthem. let's listen in.

>> detail, order halt. forward. detail, halt. ♪ oh say can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright

stars through the perillous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free, and

the home of the brave ♪ [applause]egin. enjoy yourself. announcer: the road to the white house is long and winding. the twists and turns have captivated america in record numbers. but with a new year comes a new focus. the first contests are within sight. the field of candidates is getting smaller. and with every day the end of the road gets closer. tonight the road leads to south carolina, home of the first in the south republican primary. where history has proven the eventual nominee