here in iowa. bill: 7:00 tonight, martha and i will kick it off in des moines, followed by the prim time debate -- prime time debate as well here in iowa. i really like how this has come together, so i think for the viewers and voters at home, stay tuned. good stuff coming. martha: we'll see you tonight, 7 p.m. eastern. "happening now" starts right now. ♪ ♪ jon: and so the stage is set for tonight's fox news debates ahead of the all-important first in the nation iowa caucuses. welcome to "happening now," i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee, and it's the last chance for the candidates to square off before the first votes are cast in this presidential election. the stakes could not be higher, and with republican front runner donald trump doubling down on his decision to skip tonight's event, his gop rivals are pulling out all the stops to take advantage of the situation.

let's get our senior national correspondent john roberts who's live in des moines, iowa, with the latest. >> reporter: jenna, good morning to you. it's breezy, but it's mild here for a change. just ten hours now until the debate starts, and new polls released just this morning show a very fluid race at the top. take a look at this, because it's really interesting to look at. donald trump now at 32 points in the latest "wall street journal" poll, that is up eight points from the last "wall street journal" poll back in early january. ted cruz now at 25, that is a drop of three points in the last month. but here's another story, marco rubio now at 18 points, that's up five from the last poll and now within seven points of ted cruz. rubio's numbers are ticking up in a similar fashion to rick santorum's in 2012. santorum gained nearly 11 points in the closing days of the campaign, and he won iowa, as you'll remember. if rubio could match that, he may actually pass cruz by the time people go to caucus.

so with cruz center stage tonight, watch for a big play from rubio to take cruz down. >> ted is, apparently, willing to say, do or be anything in order to get votes, and so when he's out there portraying himself as the only real conservative in the race, i mean, his record just doesn't live up to that in terms of the standards he's set for himself. so those are policy differences, and those are legitimate, not personal. >> reporter: and don't forget about jeb bush with his arch nemesis absent tonight, bush may actually be able to make a few salient points on policy without donald trump trying to pull his pants down. bush is relying on an energetic ground force to defy expectations on monday night. >> how do you get someone who supports you to go out at 7:00 at night when it's likely to be snowing in iowa on monday night to spend an hour participating in the most amazing form of democracy that exists, the iowa caucuses? that's what these volunteers are doing. that's the whole focus right now. >> reporter: you know,

obviously, a lot of it is campaign face time, but grinding it out in the ground operations, that's really where the caucus-goers are found. tonight's absence of donald trump from the main stage really is going to change the dynamic, giving a hot more oxygen to people who have been campaigning really hard, doing it the old-fashioned way, the way they do it in iowa. retail politics, jenna, going into small towns, diners, people's living rooms and meeting people one-on-one as opposed to those huge campaign rallies that donald trump has been doing. we'll see if it pays off in these remaining hours of the iowa caucuses. jenna: we shall see. john, thank you. jon: let's bring in larry sabato, director of the center for politics at the university of virginia. you're the guy with the crystal ball, larry, and you say even the crystal ball is surprised at where the democratic and republican races stand right now with respect to iowa. >> absolutely. certainly on the democratic side, it's far closer than

anybody imagined six months ago. we think, think that clinton may be able to pull it out very narrowly for one structural reason, jon, that people haven't focused on. the students, college students who overwhelmingly sport bernie sanders -- support bernie sanders, it's like 70% to 30% for clinton, they are heavily concentrated in just a few of the iowa counties. and this thing's all about delegates. it doesn't matter how many votes you have in these caucus meetings. you can have a lot of excess votes, you don't get any extra credit. this is very different than barack obama eight years ago. why? because the iowa caucuses were right after new year's day. the students were still dispursed in their home counties, so they counted for more. so we're watching that factor. it's something, as i say, people aren't paying much attention to, but it could be decisive in the democratic race. jon: but, you know, hillary clinton's campaign is sort of on

the bubble in iowa. i mean, you say you expect she will win, but if she doesn't -- >> barely. no, you know, we've all been through this a million times with the clinton people. they've got iowa and new hampshire have very liberal democratic electorates, and they're inclined to support somebody like bernie sanders. once you get to places like south carolina and the other southern states that are voting on march 1st, large african-american population, you've got a completely different situation. plus, the white democrats in those tates are not -- states are not as liberal as the white democrats in a place like iowa. i think she's okay but, jon, it matters how you win, you know? if she sweeps to the nomination, she's in a much better position for the fall than if she is attacked constantly by, you know, a democratic socialist. that -- [laughter] that is kind of an unexpected situation for hillary clinton or for any democrat.

jon: but you say that if bernie sanders were to win iowa and then go on to victory in new hampshire where he is well ahead, you say the telephones would start ringing off the hook in joe biden's has -- household. >> oh, sure. you know, activists get nervous, party leaders get nervous, and they'll worry about something happening on the e-mail front, you know? an indictment, something that would really take her out. and so they want to make sure that biden's still willing to run, and if for some reason he isn't, maybe they go to the other obama secretary of state, john kerry. you may remember he ran for president, and you never get rid of that presidential ambition bug. jon: let's talk about the republican side. donald trump and ted cruz seem to be positioned to finish one and two or maybe, you know, vice versa. the question, i guess, is who comes in third in iowa, right? >> yeah. you know, your correspondent, john roberts, is absolutely correct. everybody is watching marco rubio.

he did get endorsed by "the des moines register", which is a liberal paper, normally doesn't have that much influence with republicans. but rubio has been moving up tedly, carefully -- steadily, a point here, a point there. if he gets a strong third out of iowa, it's going to give him some extra momentum in new hampshire. so we'll be looking to see whether he can finish second to donald trump there. if he does, you've got the potential for a long, grinding battle between trump, maybe cruz but also rubio. jon: cruz is maybe not positioned to do quite as well in new hampshire, correct? >> yes. ted cruz is more conservative, he fits the south and the border states and the rocky mountain states, i think, better than he does a place like new hampshire. rubio would be better positioned to do well in new hampshire, though remember we're still talking about second place with donald trump in first place. jon: and if there's huge turnout in iowa, donald trump says

that's because he has energized so many new people, brought so many new voters into the process, and it's a sure sign that he's going to be a big winner. do you agree? >> yes, yeah. if we see that there is a much larger-than-usual turnout on the republican side in iowa, i think you can put iowa in trump's column pretty safely. if there is a smallish turnout the way there was in 2012, then this thing could get much tighter than expected. you know, look, iowans, jon, hate being pegged and predicted, and they love confounding analysts and prognosticators. so i'm real careful not to offend them. jon: the forecast is apparently for snow in much of iowa on monday, that's not going to help turnout. >> it shouldn't help turnout and, you know, also some people get cold feet. they plan to go to the caucuses, but maybe they don't want to spend the evening there. it's a commitment of an evening. it's not like running into the polls and spending five minutes

of pulling down a lever or pushing a button on a computer terminal. this is real commitment. jon: yeah. >> and so, you know, naturally people have other things to do. jon: yep. they are hearty folk in iowa but, you know, sometimes the weather does get in the way. larry sabato, we'll see what the crystal ball has for us next week. thank you. >> thank you, jon. jon: tonight is the big night here on america's election headquarters. fox news is partnering with google and youtube for the final republican debates before the iowa caucuses. the first debate airs at 7 p.m. eastern time. bill hemmer, martha maccallum, your moderators. then the prime time debate kicks off at 9 p.m. eastern. you can watch them right here on fox news channel. and this fox news alert, we are getting a brand new snapshot of the state of the democratic race for the white house. according to the new monmouth university poll, hillary clinton

is currently at 47% among likely iowa democratic caucus-goers, bernie sanders just five points behind at 42%. martin o'malley stands at 6%, unchanged from a month ago. jenna: certainly a lot of politics today, but we don't want to forget this news as well. the world health organization is setting up a zika virus emergency team of after what's been described as an explosive spread of this virus. laura ingle joins us with the latest. >> >> growing at such an alarming rate, this emergency committee is being asked to figure out how to best deal with an international response. and in the united states, the centers for disease control and prevention giving us an update this hour as to what is happening here. now, the virus transmitted through infected mosquitoes is connected to a neurological disorder that causes some babies to be born with abnormally small heads. it's a -- the world health

organization which is meeting today in geneva over the issue is now saying it expects the virus to spread to three or four million cases around the globe. the general director of the organization told executive board members today the virus is something that they've seen in the past. >> last year the virus was detected in the americas where it is now spreading explosively. as of today, cases have been reported in 23 countries and territories in the region. the level of alarm is extremely high. >> reporter: the outbreak is largely in latin american countries. health officials in brazil where over 4,000 babies are believed to be byrne with microreceively are telling people to delay having children, including over 1,000 pregnant women. according to the centers for disease control and prevention, there are 31 laboratory-confirmed

travel-associated cases in 11 states and washington, d.c. and 20 confirmed cases in u.s. territories. the cdc has issued a travel alert to pregnant women to not travel to countries where the outbreak is occurring. jetblue airways has joined a growing list of airlines offering to refund pregnant customers the full fare of their tickets if they do have plans to travel to zika regions, again, that update from the cdc this hour. we'll bring you the latest when we get it. jenna: laura just mentioned the airlines and what they're doing for customers, refunding their tickets if they don't want to travel to these countries where the virus is known to be, and we're seeing some impact for some of these airline companies on the stock market. there's also this issue of oil prices that's playing in, but we're seeing airline stocks trading lower because of this announcement that many of them are offering those refunds. so we'll keep you posted as we hear more on the zika virus and otherwise.

jon: a young american woman brutally murdered in vienna. who police are now looking for in the death of laura mann. and they're getting the stage ready in iowa without a spot for donald trump. former speaker of the house and presidential candidate newt gingrich joining us to share his thoughts. and we want to hear from you, who do you think will win the gop debate tonight? our live chat is up and running. go to foxnews.com/happeningnow and get your thoughts into the conversation. with it neutralizes stomach acid and is the only product that forms a protective barrier that helps keep stomach acid in the stomach where it belongs. for fast-acting, long-lasting relief. try gaviscon®.

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♪ ♪ jenna: fox news is america's election headquarters as we count down to tonight's debate among republican candidates for president without front runner donald trump right now. preps are well underway in des moines. with donald trump out of the mix, ted cruz will be the highest polling candidates on the stage, and many of his supporters worry if he doesn't do well in the caucuses, he

might not have another chance to catch up here n. the meantime, other reports suggest republican party leaders are ready to endorse anyone but ted cruz. interesting. the jockeying for the candidate who represents the party brings up a bigger question about the state of the gop this year with peter hart writing, quote: in 2016 republicans have a party problem, and democrats have a candidate challenge. let's bring in newt gingrich, former speaker of the house, presidential candidate in 2012 and fox news contributor. we were just talking during the break, you like politics, right, mr. speaker, but you don't necessarily being a part of it. [laughter] >> well, i just think, look, i find being able to comment on fox and watch what's going on, i feel like i'm part of it. but trump has created such an extraordinary dynamic, and the american people have created an extraordinary dynamic. remember, when you get trump and cruz at national polls between them at better than 60% of the votes, what they're telling you is they want very dramatic

change. john kasich is gaining some ground in new hampshire, but it's uphill because a lot of people in experience, people don't want you. they want someone who's going to kick in the door and change things dramatically. cruz was on a path to be that candidate until donald trump showed up, and trump is so loud and so aggressive that he overshadows everybody. jenna: one of the things "the wall street journal" is saying that often times in the media, the media is painting support of trump and others as anger about what's happening in this country. but really it's about voters wanting solutions and trying to find candidates who have that solution, which is interesting being that the quote-unquote party or establishment apparently doesn't have a chosen one this time around. what do you think it means about the state of the republican party and where it's at? >> well, i think we're in a tremendous transition period. i think the fact is that the voters who were aroused in an anti-obama mode in 2010 with the

tea party really have been frustrated and, frankly, they are angry. i think it's disingenuous to say they're not angry. they'd like solutions, but they don't see any solutions coming down the road right now. and i think we're at a pivotal point. one of the challenges of trump being able to make so much noise is that really smart people like a marco rubio or a jeb bush or chris christie or john kasich who do have solutions and do have ideas, they almost get drowned out by the sheer noise of the trump/cruz fight. jenna: interestingly enough, it's worth pointing out when you look at the debate stage, you have a diversity of people and opinions that you don't see on the democrat side. but the risk that some bring up is that you see what could appear like a fractured party or fractured platform of what conservatives stand for. do you think there is a risk of that, or do you think this is actually healthy moving towards a more cohesive message for the country? >> look, i think it's at a time when we have enormous problems and at a time when we're in the

middle of tremendous changes, particularly technological changes, it's good to have an open debate and to have smart people who are trying out new ideas and trying out new approaches. i think that's much healthier in our party than it is in the democratic party. and you see it in the quality and the style of the two debates. but i also think that we're going to get to a nominee probably in march or april when we have a choice between a hillary clinton or a bernie sanders and the republican nominee. the republican party's going to rally to the nominee, and people are not -- we're not going to have to worry about this party problem. it'll all come together in the late spring, and then we'll have to have a convention where we find a way to bring all the different elements together with a platform and with three or four days of working together so we go into the fall campaign unified. but i think you look at a hillary clinton or bernie sanders, or it's pretty'd city to unify -- pretty easy to unify the republicans when they're the alternative.

jenna: a quick final question on ted cruz because this was a report out of the l.a. times that these unnamed establishment leaders in the republican party are hoping for anyone besides ted cruz. what do you think of a report like that? do you think there's some truth in it? >> well, i think, i think ted made his name by taking on the entire senate, and the fact is the entire senate gets to take him on. and i think he has done very courageous, very principled things, but he's done them in a way which has created a block of republican senators who would probably favor almost anybody but cruz. but that's the cost of how he rose so quickly. he came up very fast, he came up very harshly, and he drew very sharp lines with his colleagues, and now his colleagues are drawing the same lines back. jenna: interesting. speaker gingrich, i know there's a lot more to get to. we hope you come back, have more of a conversation. >> look forward to it. thank you. jon: new developments in that armed standoff in oregon, why the leader of the group behind the occupation is asking his followers to stand down. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis...

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jon: a fox news alert, and a disturbing arrest outside of paris. according to french media, a man has been arrested at the entrance to disneyland paris. he was apparently carrying two small caliber handguns and a quran. they say he was unknown to police or security services, 28 years old, a resident of paris. and apparently, he had a companion with him whom police have not yet apprehended. so a guy trying to enter the disneyland paris theme park arrested when he put his bag through a metal detector, two handguns popped up. he has been arrested, but there's no information on his companion.

we're continuing to follow this story. when we get more from our fox news affiliates around the globe, we'll certainly bring it to you here on "happening now." jenna: new information on an armed standoff in oregon. the fbi and state police announce new arrests. the leader of the group says his client is now urging his followers to go home. claudia cowan's live in burns, oregon, with the latest. claudia, any updates? is everybody gone, or are there still folks there? >> reporter: jenna, reportedly there are five people who are still there. according to one of them, things have become very chaotic up 59 that federal wildlife refuge, and they all want to leave. reportedly, they're now negotiating the terms of their surrender with federal authorities. they say they don't want anyone taken into custody, so we'll see how that goes, but things have been winding down ever since police arrested the group's leader, ammon bundy, on tuesday following a deadly confrontation with oregon state troopers.

eight others surrendered yet, fbi agents, five were let go but three were arrested on charges of conspiracy for, essentially, preventing federal officers from being able to do their jobs. we have 11 arrests so far. yesterday in portland ammon bundy and six others made their first appearance in court. they wore blue jail jumpsuits and handcuffs. they all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges, and they'll be back again tomorrow for a detention hearing. outside court bundy's lawyer delivered a message from his client directly to the remaining occupiers. >> to those remaining at the refuge, i love you. let us take this fight from here. please stand down. please stand down. go home and hug your families. >> reporter: the fbi says it is working, quote, around the clock to empty the refuge of the armed occupiers in the safest way possible.

and no doubt the people here in burns will be glad to see this volatile occupation come to an end. for the past three week, they're been inundated with law enforcement and media. some residents supported this protest over federal land policies but others did not, and that create add lot of tension in this community. the hope now, jenna, is this ordeal will come to an end without further violence and that life can get back to normal soon. jenna: we'll be waiting and watching for that, claudia. thank you. jon: up next, a look at how foreign policy will figure in tonight's debate. what will the republican candidates say about how america can navigate a hostile and dangerous world? and a tornado touches down in florida tossing cars and trucks across a busy turnpike. the latest forecast, coming up.

jon: right now a look at what's still to come this hour of "happening now." we'll take a look back at american history and the tragedy 30 years ago today. the space shuttle challenger exploding as a horrified nation watched on live tv. we'll remember the lives of seven brave crew members who died that day. and new arrests in the escape of three dangerous inmates from a maximum security jail in california. how close are police to catching these fugitives? plus, mozzarella sticks, what could be wrong? why mcdonald's is under fire for its latest menu item. jenna: some terrifying moments in south florida. a tornado barreling across a

turnpike near ft. lauderdale injuring at least one person and tossing cars and trucks. the threat from these storms may not be over. our meteorologist, maria molina, is live with more. >> reporter: hi, jenna, that's right. more storms rolling across parts of south florida, and i want to show you the radar image from the past 36 hours, because the rain has just continued to come down. we've picked up as much as 3-5 inches of rain at least yesterday, and now we're seeing more of the heavy rain rolling through the state again today, so we could be looking at flooding threats across the state of florida, especially across central and southern parts of the state. we had that tornado reported yesterday in broward county, and about 30 minutes or so ago we had a tornado warning in effect for palm beach, so being hard hit by these storms that continue to roll through the state. basically, a stalled front continues to linger, producing all this heavy rain and pulling in tropical moisture from the gulf of mexico. you can see the risk is in place yet again today including places

like ft. lauderdale and even lay along the west coast in fort myers, isolateed tornadoes. the tornado threat includes central and south florida, across places like miami and even down into the keys. as much as 2-4 inches of additional rainfall will be possible, and that is why we have that threat for flooding. there's a watch that's center lu in effect across parts of that state because of the potential for flash flooding. meanwhile, out wet we have another storm system impacting this area with a lot of heavy rain from washington state down into parts of northern california. this is also bringing the risk for flash flooding due to the heavy rain in the forecast and in the higher elevations, they're going to get hit hard with as much as two feet of snow, jenna. jenna: maria, thank you. ♪ ♪ jon: now back to tonight's big republican debates. the candidates are trying to set themselves apart from the pack with their foreign policy positions. they're fighting to control the

republican party's direction on foreign policy in the near future and over who is best equipped to take on the terrorists of isis and keep america safe. joining us now to talk about it, rick grinnell, former adviser to four u.s. ambassadors to the u.n. and a fox news contributor. rick, you write that the world is a more hostile and dangerous place to the united states than it has been in 70 years. the question, i guess, is what do we do about it, and who best articulates that? >> well, i think that's the challenge tonight for all of the gop candidates. they have to be able to differentiate themselves from each other. they have to be able to have a good discussion like marco rubio and ted cruz and rand paul have had on intelligence gathering or, you know, how to confront isis with boots on the ground or not boots on the ground. they have to be able to differentiate themselves. but they also need to remember that they need to -- remember that there's an audience out there of not just gop voters.

especially when you come to a fox news debate where there's millions of voters out there. they need to be able to articulate a foreign policy that takes on the eventual democrat, whether it's hillary clinton or bernie sanders. so trying to do both, i think, like all things in life you have to be balanced. take on your opponents. differentiate yourself. show how you are better than your opponents, but also remember that there's a new opponent coming in november, and show the voters that you know how to differentiate yourself with your eventual opponent. jon: so have their foreign policy credentials been lost, do you think, in all of this intra-party sniping? >> i think that foreign policy is not only key because you want to have someone who understands national security, but it's a leadership question. and people who can articulate a vision for the world, a world order where the united states is absolutely in charge, our allies

all around the world want to see a plan, and they want to see a strong america. they have not seen that. so when a candidate stands up and articulates a vision, a global vision, it's not just about national security credentials, it's showing leadership. and voters, even if they don't understand foreign policy or national security, it seems like a foreign issue or they don't care about those issues, they're going to look at the candidate as a leader. that's why the leadership test is so important when talking about foreign policy. jon: think back, you know, seven years ago when the bush administration was ending, and a little-known senator named barack obama was elected in large part because americans were tired of war. you wrote something that really caught my eye. you said that george w. bush's years ended with iraq and afghanistan more peaceful and stable and with al-qaeda in sharp decline. it's hard to remember that that's the way the world was. >> yeah. one word, the surge, right? i mean, the surge was something

that was extremely controversial, but it showed that president bush took leadership. the polls were showing that he shouldn't have done it, the democrats were sniping, but he believed with the advice of his military generals that it was the right thing. that is a leadership moment where you stand up and you build support for an idea. we haven't seen that from this president. but i do think, jon, that we have to have candidates that will understand that barack obama is not on the ticket. they cannot just run against barack obama. a lot of people are are tired of just sniping at the president and not giving a specific vision for how they would bring world order back. the fact is that our allies are begging for u.s. leadership. they haven't had it over the last seven years. they want to see a plan. i mean, you look back, the king of jordan in his u.n. speech was begging for a plan to deal with the syrian refugees back in

september at the u.n. he was literally asking the world to come up with a plan that they couldn't do it on their own. no one responded. we still haven't seen the national security council come up with a plan for that. that is something that i think the gop candidates could come forward and say here's the plan that i have. this is how i'm going to work with the saudis. let's bring back diplomacy, strong diplomacy, not wimpy diplomacy. jon: so very quickly, what would you advise viewers watching the detate tonight to look for? >> i would -- the debate tonight to look for? >> i would try to figure out which candidate is looking towards november, realizing that they have another opponent off in the distance, and they want to articulate a world vision that is going to all americans and all voters, not just a parochial gop voter. because that person who does that will show that they're a leader, that they're not just sniping at their opponent now, but they're looking to showing

that in november the conservative view is much different than the liberal view. jon: ric grenell, good to have you on. thank you. >> thanks, jon. jenna: well, the religious right will be an important factor in the iowa caucuses. evangelicals make up a big part of the republican vote in iowa, so how are the candidates appealing to this particular voting bloc? who has the advantage? it plight surprise you. plus, it was a day that devastated a nation. we remember seven brave crew members on the challenger who gave their lives to explore a new frontier 30 years ago today.

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♪ ♪ jon: it was 30 years ago today and just about this time of the morning that americans watched tv in disbelief and horror as the space shuttle challenger exploded shortly after launching from kennedy space center in florida. challenger blasted off at 3 1:38 a.m -- 11:38 a.m. ian time.

73 seconds into that flight, the failure of an o-ring on a solid rocket booster led to the shuttle blowing up over the atlantic ocean. all seven astronauts onboard died that day. commander dick sew by, pilot michael smith, judith resnik, allison on sue coe and gregory jarvis as well as christa mcauliffe who was set to become the first schoolteacher to travel into space. mcauliffe's husband steven says her goals were largely accomplished and she has inspired generations of teachers and students. ♪ ♪ jenna: america's election headquarters now, republican front runner donald trump nailing a big endorsement in the week from evangelical leader jerry falwell jr., but not all conservative -- [inaudible] are cheering trump on. joined by betsy woodruff from the daily beast who explores

that in her column this week. betsy, it's great to have you on the program. i want to read a little bit of what you wrote. in it you say this, quote: trump's top foes have largely steered clear of attacking him based on his scandals even while he and rubio lob attacks at ted cruz for being born in canada, trump has evaded hard-hitting criticism for his multiple marriages and appearance on the cover of playboy magazine. goes on to say for whatever reason, trump's critics and questioners have largely given him a pass on this. why do you think this is happening? >> i don't really understand it, and many of the evangelical christian leaders who i spoke to said the same thing. they would have expected people to go after trump on these issues, because even though evangelical christian voters understand generally that trump isn't exactly a sunday schoolteacher, they don't know that much about some of the more, perhaps, troubling to them details of his past. and it seems like the rest of the republican field is just too

shy or nervous to actually make these issues. i talked to one evangelical leader who didn't want to go on the record, but who described talking to multiple campaigns, urging them to cut tv ads making this particular criticism, and the campaigns refused. they didn't want to do it. it's really unusual, and it's a big part of the reason that trump's doing so well particularly in iowa. jenna: it brings up a question, too, about what is fair game. do you think they're making a calculation saying, well, if we go down this road, we can't come back from it so perhaps we're not even going to start? or do you think it's something else? >> i think the fair game question is interesting, and that's why perhaps we haven't seen criticisms of trump's wife whatsoever, you know, her work doing modeling, some pictures that iowa republicans might not love. that's been totally off the table. however, the morality of public figures has always been something republican voters really care about. russell moore tweeted out a link to the southern baptist convention's statement back in 19 t 8 saying that voters --199d consider what the moral

background of their candidates is, that it matters. it matters if a politician is faithful to his or her spas, that it matters if their honest. these are legitimate questions. most of these campaigns just don't seem to see those as necessarily newsworthy or safe things to talk about. jenna: do you think it has to do with how trump is handling it? obviously, he talks about it, and he can't cover up the fact that he's on the cover of playboy magazine, he is. so is that part of adding to trump's momentum that he owns it? i mean, he doesn't talk about it all the time -- [laughter] but he's not necessarily hiding it. >> i think he owns it in a way that's really strategic where he talks about his past, he's open about the fact that he maybe isn't the most exemplary, perfect depiction of what the typical christian life looks like. he's open about that. he talks about it. but he avoids some of the things in his past that i think would bother iowa or republican voters. for instance, at every single campaign stop he talks about

"the art of the deal," his bestseller. he boasts about the fact that he slept with the wives of married men, that he's participated in that behavior. if iowa republican voters knew that, they might be troublinged because even though evangelical voters are willing to forgive all sort of lapses and sins, trump has never said he's sorry for these kind of things. he's unrepentant about it, and that could potentially be a liability for him, but evangelical voters just don't seem to know. jenna: we'll see if the other candidates bring it up. i saw this walking into work today, the cover of "us weekly" magazine, and we're going to pull it up for our viewers because the cover, tabloid magazine, is donald trump and his wife. and interestingly, betsy, when we see other tabloid magazine bs, we don't see a lot of other republican candidates in this arena. you do see sometimes the clintons though. i think that brings up an interesting question about donald trump and his appeal to other audiences, because again,

the other republican candidates with their personal life aren't on that platform at all. so if we just take that for a moment and think about what else you're saying about evangelical voters in iowa, who really has it in with this group? is there one candidate that does, or for right now does it seem like these, quote-unquote, moral issues aren't really part of the race this time? >> what's interesting is there's a really big divide between what rank and file evangelical voters, who they like and who their leaders like. world magazine is kind of a niche publication, a lot of evangelical christians and home schoolers read it. every month it does a survey of about 100 top evangelical leaders to see who they like the most. for seven months in a row, marco rubio has won that survey, but a recent nbc poll showed donald trump is the favorite of conservative christian evangelicals. so the leaders don't seem to have the clout with their followers, with evangelical christians, that they historically have had. and that said, rubio has made

his faith a central part of his pitch to iowa voters. he cut a tv ad that was just him talking about his faith, no mention of abortion or marriage, just him saying i believe in god, and it's really important to me. and that seems to have potentially helped him a bit, but he's still a distant third. ted cruz, of course, does well with evangelicals, but even he hasn't been able to top donald trump in this sector. and i don't know, it's just kind of unusual that evangelical voters have been willing to say put aside all the other stuff, they like his rhetoric. jenna: it's very interesting, it was a fascinating column. i encourage our viewers to check it out and also something to pay attention to in the debate tonight and the answers and to see if it comes up in the way the candidates answer considering that iowa's just a few days away; the caucuses, that is. betsy, look forward to having you back. thank you. >> sure thing. thank you. jon: police are stepping up the manhunt for threes caped inmates -- escaped inmates in california. the new arrests and what investigators are doing to find these dangerous fugitives on the

run now for nearly a week.

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♪ ♪ jon: let's check out what's ahead on "outnumbered" at the top of the hour. harris: happy friday eve. we are now just hours away from the final debate before the iowa caucuses, and without donald trump on the big stage, will ted cruz now have the biggest target on his back? sandra: plus, hillary clinton changing her tune on her e-mail scandal. why she's now blaming other people's reactions for her trouble. harris: and how safe are we after this? we've learned hundreds of homeland security badges, cell phones and guns are missing. sandra: all right. all that plus our #oneluckyguy, ambassador john bolton, on "outnumbered." top of the hour. harris: oh, yeah. jon: be interesting to hear what he has to say. thank you both. jenna: well, some breaking news now. california police arresting five

people believed to have links to the dangerous inmates who escaped that maximum security jail last friday, and we're hearing more arrests are expected soon. william la jeunesse is live in los angeles with the latest. william? >> reporter: well, immediately after the escape the district attorney obtained 36 search warrants on the homes, the computers and cell phones of the friends and family of the escapees. now, in obtaining that information, police arrested five yesterday they believe helped these inmates escape. however, the sheriff would not release their identities, because it could compromise the investigation and reduce the chance of catching the fugitives. >> they do happen, and you certainly don't want maximum security prisoners who are a danger to the public to get out of your jail. so it's not, it's not a good day. >> reporter: police still have not found the tools used in the escape, but for the first time the sheriff admits not only does he believe the inmates had help, it may have come from her own staff. >> we certainly believe at this

point that there was outside help. what we continue to look at, the possibility that there was some inside help as well. >> reporter: and police are still asking for the public's help, releasing new photos of fugitive bac duong showing his gang tattoos, and the sheriff visited little saigon yesterday because she believes the fugitives may be hunkered down in the vietnamese community, and every day that goes by the odds of catching them goes down. the sheriff expects more arrests in the coming days, jenna. she's not saying whether it's going to be for something minor like a probation violation, a warm, finding a firearm in one of these guys' home because he's a prohibited purchaser or owner, or if it is something serious like harboring a fugitive or abetting in the jailbreak which would indicate they're getting closer. don't know right now. back to you. jenna: we'll watch it, william, thank you. jon: up next on "happening now" in our next hour, a daring rest sue -- rescue on the high seas caught on camera.

nearly two dozen sailors aboard a ship in danger of flipping over and plunging to the bottom. plus, a live look at dallas/fort worth airport where ethan couch, the so-called affluenza teen, due to arrive after dropping his appeal against deportation from mexico. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue and neutralizes stomach acid at the source tum, tum, tum, tum smoothies! only from tums

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>> see you back here in an hour. >> "outnumbered" starts now. andrea: this is fox news alert. we are just hours away from the last round of republican debates before the first in the nation iowa caucuses, making tonight one of the last chances that the candidates have to make their case in the hawkeye state. this is "outnumbered." i'm andrea tantaros. here with us today, harris faulkner, sandra smith, commentator and national spokeswoman for the national lee bringing initiative, rachel campos duffy, and our #oneluckyguy, former ambassador to the united nations, fox news