>> nikki haley. >> can i ask why?she has the best chance of going against joe biden. >> what made you switch your support? >> looking for youth. >> any attributes specific to haley that you really like about her or things you dislike after having voted for trump in the past? >> i'm just not sure -- i think it's time for a change. military you have to retire at 65. surgeons don't operate at that age. i think it's time for a younger generation. >> what immediate you change your mind away from trump to haley? >> trump brings a lot of chaos. i think i'm just kind of tired of it. >> so you can see there both of these voters different reasons for switching their support from donald trump. one was about age being a concern. the other saying that trump brings chaos. i think those interviews, it's interesting. it highlights just what new hampshire is like. it's a very different state. there's a lot of independent voters here. people are changing their minds. past trump supporters are not necessarily trump supporters today. so

i think nikki haley's going to do what's best for nikki haley and preserving her options. and the republican party. and in her political future, let me bring you shermichael singleton and get his reaction as well just yesterday. sure. michael trump was tearing into nikki haley calling her crazy and a very angry person. listen to this >> she's gone crazy. >> and i've >> never seen anything like that. she holds up a piece of paper which is false, tells a lot of false things. she is, she's gone haywire. she had as it lost too many elections, i guess and she's getting nowhere. she's actually going down. her numbers are going down, so she's a very angry person. so we'll see if she straightens out. maybe she will >> what do you think what's your reaction to all of that shermichael? >> i mean, look, wolf, i think that the former president would be smart why strategically speaking, to lessen the negative rhetoric against a two-term governor, former un ambassador, who served in his cabinet position. >> one >> of the good things that i think occurred with nikki haley staying in this

why why nikki haley?because my conscience won't allow me to vote for him. >> what has led you to vote for hailie? -- the attributes that drew you to her? >> she is not trump. >>> a key factor in today's primaries, independents. we are looking at how they could impact tonight's race between italy and the former president. primary voters don't need to register to vote in new hampshire. we will go to cnn's phil mattingly at the wall. nikki haley's campaign has been investing heavily in new hampshire. how would you be able to pull off this upset? >> she spent more than double what donald trump suspended his campaign, the ally groups around him over the course of the last several months, making very clear this is the moment for nikki haley and her team if they want to really challenge donald trump in the primary ahead. i was listening with fascination to your conversation with jack heath. his key points i think are so critical. i want to explain why. here is where we stand now. there were votes after midnight

he was sort of overshadowing nikki haley. also overshadowed john bolton, and the president loves him because pompeo is so tough on iran. so that voice, that viewpoint, is going to grow stronger. >> okay. >> no question. we have richard roth at the u.n. of course, ambassador haley's home base for a couple years now. speak about moderating influences. also confidence building influence that nikki haley gave to u.s. allies. >> look, she presented a very good look politically or otherwise for the united states at the u.n. and when she guided president trump around the u.n. two weeks ago at the special general assembly, it was like presenting him with look at where you are. they scheduled extra meetings almost as if to say to president trump, the u.n. is not so bad. there's a meeting we're going to do on drugs you care about and the opioid epidemic and a meeting on iran, but we're not going to call it about iran. we're going to broaden it out. also in the streets of new york and elsewhere, nikki haley was one of the few people in

nikki realizes it. i think she's helped made it a much better position, if you want to know the truth. i think it's become maybe a more glamorous position than it was two years ago. i wonder why, but it is. i mean, she's made it a glamorous position. she's made it a more important, more importantly, a more important position. so we have -- i can almost say many people that want to do it, and they're very good people. i'll be talking also to nikki about that and to the general about that and to my staff. but we have many people that are very, very much interested in doing it. >> you saw secretary pompeo, are you frustrated by the lack of announcements? >> not only am i not frustrated, i think it's incredible what's happening. you're talking about north korea. it's amazing how the media -- who are you with? >> with france. >> it's amazing the media says for 80 years they couldn't do a thing, and what are we, in three months of negotiation, it's ridiculous. as i said about 1,000 times, you have no rockets

he beat nikki haley by 50 points.hat's a reminder, it's hard to win a republican nominating contest if you are losing republicans by 50 points. as we look ahead -- jeff and kate alluded to this -- the calendar. the calendar here is something. we are done now with new hampshire. that was right here. you have all these days left in january. you have all this time before south carolina. nevada notwithstanding and the virgin islands, a favorite of kate bolduan's and mine. this is a ton of real estate. this is a ton of time to weather attacks if you are nikki haley. a lot of things can happen during that time. a lot of them, they're not great. one other thing i want to point out that's of concern to some trump supporters is this number right here. i put it side by side with this. yes, he won. but in our exit poll, we asked, if trump is the nominee, would you be dissatisfied but not support? would you not support him if he was the nominee? look at this. republicans, 19% of republican voters said they would not support donal

nikki haley. and of course, we checked in on how are you going to feel with the results here, if indeed trump wins the nomination 72% of republican voters say they're going to be satisfied 27% say dissatisfied i will note among haley voters 76% will be dissatisfied if trump's the nominee. now, what about nikki haley, if she wins the nomination, 41% say they would be satisfied overall, those voting in the south carolina republican primary today, 57%, nearly 6.10, will be dissatisfied hi, if nikki haley is the nominee, j. >> all right. david chalian fascinating stuff. well, if i were donald trump, dana bash, abby, phillip, and manu raju, i would look at those exit poll numbers and i think i might even be having a better night than i thought i was going to have. >> yeah. and look, there's no question in anybody's mind either in the trump campaign or in the haley campaign? or in anybody pretty much on planet earth right now, who doesn't think that he is going to have a good night in south carolina. yo

nikki haley is 80%. that's good enough for me. and i'm just ready to move forward and move on from the name calling. it's like we are hearing such similar things, but then just flip it in reverse who answers that. >> with the opposite conclusions. >> one thing we have also been hearing, both of them accusing the other of being the political establishment or having the backing and endorsement of the political elite. that was a strong message last night. we also heard her reenforce that this morning when she stopped by a the polling place in hampton. listen to this. >> i think it's not the party uniting around president trump. it's the political elite that are uniting around president trump. and the political elite have never been with me my entire career because i have always fought the political elite. it's why i want them to have term limits. it's why i think i call them out on wasteful spending whether it's a republican or democrat. it you can't give americans a budget on time, you shouldn't get paid. i fight the political class

nikki haley is she's gonna do anything. she's going to put her political career in self-interest first she might have done something knowable for the republican party during this campaign, but i believe it's backed that nikki haley able yeah, it's way too early for that sandwich analogy but look, i'm just i was thinking it was, well, look, i think i think the point here, it's important to remember with republican primary voters actual republicans, even in new hampshire, donald trump won 75-25. so what nikki haley's done is relied on a lot of crossover democrats and independents, whether that was in iowa to agree, certainly new hampshire, but we even saw it in south carolina and a bit yesterday. and so if she wants to have a future in the party, she has to play within the party parameters. and if she doesn't and wants to lead a movement outside of it that's her prerogative, but it's going to be very lonely out there both from a donor standpoint and certainly from electoral one. >> yeah. i mean, i sort of see that in some way

we will see what nikki haley does. we have no idea what's to happen in terms of the -- the uncertainties over both of the candidates. >> we were joking about the fact it's early and the fact that a lot of people in this country are saying, my gosh, could this be happening again? it's so incredibly important. people are going to be paying -- if they are disgust ordeed or ne will see what happens. they will hopefully feel how critically important this is going to be over the next year. >> i think up with oone of the out of iowa -- it's flipped in new hampshire. but the number of people who think that donald trump is going to be disqualified if he is convicted, i tip to believe that when you look at that number, it means that the imperative for donald trump as a candidate, if he wants to win the presidency again, is to cut down institutions to the point that there's no credibility in a conviction. you have seen him do it with his base. i do think it just pre-stages an ugly general election season. >> donald trump is close

so what could be nikki haley's last stand, potentially, it could be nikki haley's last stand in her battle to be donald trump. we shall see. the exit poll numbers are now coming in, just as cnn showing it. 47% of voters were not declared as democrats or republicans. 49% were registered republicans. kristin comeau do these numbers tell you? >> that may be, if these numbers hold -- and i am the world's biggest skeptic of early polls, but if they hold, this could be interesting for two. these are the kinds of numbers that you need to see in order for her to have a shot. when i see these numbers, whether it is the ideological makeup or the partisan makeup, it's a lot of the ingredients she needs. the worst news for her is the 49% split that donald trump one with in 2020. >> we see that 63% of voters today identified as very or somewhat conservative. 37% consider themselves moderate. what do you make of that as a democrat? >> well, the other number that i find interesting is still of that electorate. 15% still think that donald trump won that election . so where is that 47%? i'm some gets in at

a different map to nikki haley. she wants to appeal to independents and moderates. 99 counties in iowa. joe biden won six of them. these are the counties where nikki haley might have the most fertile ground. they include poke county, and dorrie county where iowa state university is and other college towns here. this is what to look for, wolf, as the night goes on. >> we'll be looking together with you. you'll be busy. >>> still to come, following all of the final pitches by republican candidates in this first big event of the republican race for the white house. ron desantis' showing in iowa potentially could be a turning point in this campaign. his deputy campaign manager will join us. that's coming up next. >>> it's not just iowa. dangerously cold temperatures are stretching across much of the eastern and central u.s. several cold records being broken today. who should be on high alert? we'll update you. >>> more breaking news into cnn this hour. two attacks in central israel. at least one 1 person killed, 1 more

nikki haley is around 20%. my big question going in here is how long does do ron desantis donors continue to fund him? egoprevents people from getting out of politics, but running out of money can end presidential campaigns. >> nothing you can do about that. thank you. stay with us. we have a lot ahead. >>> we're going to dig into the iowa results. each candidate performed well and what that could tell us about future primaries. >>> also looking ahead to new hampshire, how voters feel about the final results of the 2024 election season and what's ahead. >> they have all been watching cnn's coverage of the caucus. the first question i want to ask, one headline of what you think this caught cut was all about? >>> it would be so nice if we could come together and straighten out the world and all of the death and destruction witnessing. >> that was president trump last night attempting to send a message of unity after a landslide victory in the iowa caucuses. trump finished the caucuses with a historic 51% of the v

nikki haley will be nikki haley. she'll be real. she'll be authentic.icies of president trump were phenomenal. look at what we're facing now. and haley and all the others will put into effect the sound policies that donald trump did. and so-so no, i don't think she'll differentiate herself. i think she'll lay out a division of priorities that the country will like, and it will be just what america needs now. it's going to take a lot to turn this ship around, and i think she is the person to do it. i saw her do it in south carolina, and i think she'll do it for south carolina. >> there is another south carolinian in the race, the junior senator representing south carolina in the u.s. senate, tim scott. what made you decide to go with nikki haley when you have another person who you serve with in the congress running for president? >> well, i mean, i served with tim scott a short time when he came in the house. symptom a great friend of mine, a great guy. i just think nikki haley has what it takes. her personal skills, her retail politics. but i think wha

donald trump and nikki haley.ember a primary contest where it was down to two candidates this early. that's usually around super tuesday. >> exactly, in fact, there's never been a nonincumbent republican who has won both iowa and new hampshire. he will be the first nonincumbent republican, he was once president, to win both of those early contests. now, to your point, it was a splintered field. donald trump was able to benefit tromit. now it's a one on one race. donald trump is still dominant. even in the one-on-one, and we'll see what the results are. nikki haley has to make an argument for why she deserves to continue to be funded in large dollars and has momentum to move forward in this race. >> guess what, after new hampshire comes south carolina. we know nevada comes next, and the virgin islands. >> they're doing a caucus and a primary. the primary has no delegates. >> the point i was going to get to is if the next big contest is south carolina, and the polls show trump ahead in south carolina, she may be at

nikki haley won that buy 31 points, pete.magine that donald trump can't lose independents in the united states by 31 points in a general election and win. so how much of a warning sign is this going forward? and alongside that, nikki haley, there's some reporting this morning from david drucker and michael warren, that her speech was designed to bait donald trump into, you know, acting out, being rude. and it worked, right? so how does that play with these independents, these moderates, that he is losing in right now? >> it doesn't take a lot to bait donald trump. i think you just have to run against him to accomplish that goal. but i think she's running the strategy of 15 or 20 years ago to say, oh, look, he's attacking me, that means he must feel threatened. we know that donald trump doesn't follow the normal rules of politics. typically, we say you punch up. if you're behind, you go after the leader in the campaign. donald trump he punches down, he punches left, he punches right, he punches in every single direction. that'

we are sleepwalking -- think about this. >> nikki haley says -- >> nikki haley would beat joe biden byble digits. >> would you vote for nikki haley over joe biden? >> i want to vote for a democrat. we are putting ourselves in a position where a lot of democrats are going to have to think about that. you know what happened last night here in new hampshire? democrats voted for the republican, not for joe biden. they voted for nikki haley. >> that's donald trump's argument, which is not true. you would have had to change your registration. >> 8% did. a giant number of independents who vote for democrats -- there was a superpac trying to convince them to vote for nikki haley. your question should ask other democrats. that's the point. they didn't vote for joe biden. >> tell me about what you have done on the ground in south carolina. what outreach have you done to the african american black leaders in the state who are so critical to the party there? >> you are right. we have wonderful things planned. i'm not going to share them. we have good surprises. >> how long are you in this? >> unti

nikki haley is down to like 40. so it just goes to show he has people that are more energized and enthusiastic about getting out there to vote for him. so that bodes well for him. look, overall the most important thing is turning people out to vote. ron desantis has a tremendous ground game. he has been working on this for a long time, knocking on doors, making phone calls, and doing this commit to caucus early. the question is, are those people still with him, and will they deliver. right now i look at ron desantis as having the most to lose if he doesn't come in a very strong second place tomorrow night. >> so margaret, your great grandfather, so often that this comes up. >> iowa's only president. >> herbert hoover. >> so you're involved with the presidential library there. and you know the state well. you know the politics of the state well. i know today you've been talking to a lot of people who say they intend to caucus in that area. what are you watching for? >> i'm looking to see if trump has a strong over 50

i saw nikki haley on the stump. she hasn't given the unaffiliated voters a reason to turn out for her. she's been unwilling to take on donald trump. she's been unwilling to say anything that a potential maga voter might find offensive. in politics, sometimes you are judged by your friends. sometimes you have to make the right enemies. she's not done what she needed to do. >> yes, you are a former party official. but you are a new hampshire voter here. you have a certain thirst that hasn't been quenched. >> that's right. i saw her thursday night. i was looking for her to take the case against donald trump. she had this very timid rightly or wrongly chaos follows him, like donald trump has no responsibility for some of his actions. she's not been willing to take him on this week. i think i have seen john mccain in new hampshire win this primarily twice by appealing to independent voters. she needed to give them something this week to motivate them to turn out on her behalf. i'm not sure she did enough of that. >> the

would you rather see nikki haley or ron desantis tonight? >> i think tonight, nikki haley. i feel like the momentum is with her. something like this, the momentum is beneficial on caucus night. again, i say that with the caveat. were going to have caveats all night but the caveat that ron desantis, this is his stand. he has to come in second or he's out. i will also say with that, if he comes in second tonight, the chance of having anybody but donald trump. it's only nikki haley that could be at this point, then it becomes basically donald trump is the nominee. nikki haley has to have momentum coming out of tonight. out of new hampshire for any prayer of her to gain momentum anywhere else. right now, it is donald trump. >> you watch, you live in florida. you know him. he has visited all 99 counties. he says every hour, all 99 in iowa. why is he fighting so hard to come in second place? >> maybe because he has spent too much time in iowa and they have gotten to know him and seeing what i have been saying for a long time which there is no it there when it comes to ron desanti

and i supported nikki haley. and then three months from now, four months from now, when you're ready to go to the convention, she comes out and is his vice president. what will i look like? what will all the people who supported her at my behest look like when she is up on the stage in milwaukee with her hands up like this with donald trump. >> do you think it would be worth it for ambassador haley to rule out ultimately being donald trump's running mate? if it meant she got an endorsement before new hampshire? >> yeah, no, look, i hear this question a lot. i got to tell you, as someone who has been a candidate multiple times, when you're in the race, you're not thinking of anything else. you're not thinking what the administration might look like, what other opportunities you have. you're literally thinking about your message, where your next stop, how you're earning the votes that is 110% all her, or her campaign is remotely even thinking about right now. i can imagine it hasn't even crossed her mind, nor shoul

nikki haley, nikki haley, nikki haley, you know they -- did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything? nikki haley is in charge of security. we offered her 10,000 people. soldiers. national guards. whatever they want. they turned it down. >> and he is going on and on mentioning me multiple times as to why i didn't take security during the capitol riots. why didn't i handle january 6 better. we can't have someone else that we question whether they are mentally fit to do this. >> so mental fitness, michelle. two questions here. one, did trump actually do that on purpose since he is conflating two female politicians trying to draw lines between nikki haley and nancy pelosi. let's say okay, maybe he's not doing it on purpose. nikki haley hits him on mental fitness which is something that when we requested the question about joe biden in polls, that is something that voters raise and certainly an attack that trump likes to use against biden. it actually hit trump. >> whether he did it or purpose, it is a very hard question to get to, but his rallies are so

you know, nikki haley, nikki haley, you know -- do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything? deleted it and destroyed all of it. all of it. because of lots of things. like nikki haley is in charge of security. we offered her 10,000 people. soldiers. national guards -- whatever they want. they turned it down. >> of course, she was not even in office on january 6th. trump confused her with nancy pelosi who was never in charge of capitol security. and the former president was, of course, glossing over his actions on january 6th when he egged on supporters to fight like hell and then watch the attack on the capitol unfold on tv despite his bizarre blunder, trump is touting his intellectual prowess, bragging he aced a cognitive assessment. haley was quick to pounce on his mental misstep. >> i'm not saying anything derogatory. but when you're dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can't have someone else that we question whether they're mentally fit to do this. >> hailley is sharpening criticm of her claims including this one this week from trum

he's acing cognitive tests. >> the crowd on january 6, you know, nikki haley, nikki haley, nikki haleyu know -- did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything? deleted and destroyed all of it. all of it. because of lots of things. like nikki haley is in charge of security. we offered her 10,000 people, soldier, national guard, whatever they want. they turned it down. we are an institutes and powerful death penalty, we will put this all -- as you know, crooked joe biden and the radical left thugs have weaponized law enforcement to arrest their leading political opponent, leading by a lot, including obama. >> a couple things were not accurate. so obvious gaffes. back to the table. i'm eager to talk to all of but this, because certainly we're seeing a lot of conversations about fitness for office, whether it is character, whether it is his mental competence and beyond. it is a little bit of his own medicine in some respects. >> right. he's been in -- and the right going after joe biden for the last, what, five years about his competency. i believe that

nikki haley was great. >> nikki haley is generally the smartest person in the room. she has a command of the facts. when i was in u.n., when i was in gaza. she shows she looks presidential when she talks about serious policy. performance wise it probably wasn't her strongest night. there is a very definitive split. donald trump will not continue. he will not give aid to ukraine or zelenskyy's government. ron desantis gave a vague answer. nikki haley will continue to support ukraine. ron desantis really honed in on an argument that i think will resonate with voters against donald trump which is to say he made these promises for four years and didn't do them. what i say you can take to the bank and i will do. people will listen to that and i think it will breakthrough. >> yeah. you know, one thing i think is clear is that campaigns in 99 counties and morning tonight has an effect. what you saw is growth as a performer. not a good performer at the beginning of the campaign. he was cool blooded going after trump. there were some topics that he would not address. nor, wou

the governor has endorsed nikki haley. great to have you. what is success for nikki haley in new hampshire tomorrow? >> you know, john, while the race itself has gotten at least apparently more difficult, desantis out, and ramaswamy and tim scott endorsing the former president, the expectations with donald trump is exorbitant. some of the data that's moved around, the reporting you've seen. they're not talking about cracking 50%. not flirting with 60%. success in these things, the contests, these are judged by expectations. trump met and exceeded expectations in iowa. you can 2,070 republicans, and 344,000 undeclared voters. w what happens in terms of success? nikki haley has to pull the base and enough of those to win this thing. right now, success, to your point, is single digits for nikki haley. if she holds the former president under 60% and keep this in single digits, she has to go out. it's not what keeps you out. it's what keeps you in. >> keeping donald trump under 60%. the only republican candidate to get above 50 was ronald reagan.

.>> you know, nikki haley, nikki haley, nikki haley, do you know they destroyed all the information, all the evidence, everything? they deleted and destroyed all of it, all of it, because of lots of things, like nikki haley is in charge of security. we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, national guard, whatever they want, they turned it down, they don't want to talk about that. these are very dishonest people.>> i wonder what you make of that. just in general, the campaign he is running right now. >> to some extent his campaign, from what i hear, it is more professional than it was in 2016. they had an operation in iowa. they had an operation in new hampshire. sometimes i get names a little confused, but i see that again, how many times he said nikki haley. you can understand somebody saying anderson cooper and he confused at seven or eight times. that's pretty weird. there are so many things about trump that voters don't know. they don't know that a jury found him guilty of a woman. this is not a good thing. another determination is that he is a business fraud. when we get that to

nikki haley went there late last night. ron desantis is stopping in south carolina before going to new hampshire, and trump for whom the courthouse has become a central piece of his campaign, he is going to new york. he's going to be there for the e. jean carroll civil damages trial, and then he's headed to new hampshire after that with the new hampshire primary a week from today. poppy, phil. >> poppy atwood from des moines. we go to manchester. i think you ran into nikki haley on your way to new hampshire. what's she feeling coming out of the caucuses? >> reporter: yeah, phil, you know, i would say the mood was grimly determined, if you will. it was not cheerful or kind of -- it wasn't something that gave you the sense that they felt like they had definitely won but rather they had to continue to like rise and grind because if they'd come in second place, i think it would have been a significantly different narrative here. the expectations for her in iowa really changed there in the last weekend. i felt that. i was at one

>> well, i think it's a vulnerability for nikki haley, but another element is that nikki haley is targeting suburban college-educated voters who are in urban centers where the streets have been plowed. given the weather conditions it might be easier to get there. that's not to say she's going to have a massive victory. that's not in the cards. it means she can do respectably. donald trump has universal name recognition. he is to republican primary voters a kind of incumbent. if he doesn't win by enormous margins, that does suggest there's a real vulnerability and the path for an alternative. that's what nikki haley is banking on. do respectably in those areas where she invested time and effort and see where she goes. >> trump, he predicted he would win with what he called, quote, a historic landslide. what happens if he doesn't? >> anything he gets is going to be historic because the next closest one is bob dole in 1988 who won by 13 percentage points. it's going to be historic. he's going to break records no matter what. however, if he doesn't win with the kind of, i think, crushing victor

nikki haley arrived in new hampshire overnight. she's focused a huge amount of time and resources here in recent months. she spent the most of any of the candidates, $28.6 million in advertising here since the start of last year. haley's message heading here today that the iowa caucuses have now made this a race between her and donald trump, even after she finished third in iowa behind ron desantis. gary tuchman, we watched this unfold, and some of these people, nikki haley supporters. watch this. >> i thought she would be a close second to donald trump, but i did not envision her losing by that much. disappointed in the results. >> how do you feel? sgl >> i'm optimistic with tonight considering how much time and munroe ron desantis. i think she fared really well and she's coming to new hampshire where she'll do very, very well. >> if donald trump is nominee of the republican party, are you all prepared to vote for donald trump? >> absolutely. >> yes. >> anyone not definitive about voting for donald trump? >> not definitive. >> ver

nikki haley is focusing her attacks on trump's mental fitness after he confused nikki haley with nancy pelosi over and over again when talking about january 6. >> he claimed that joe biden was going to get fusus into world w ii. i'm assuming he meant world war 3. he said he ran against president obama. don't be surprised if you have someone 80 in office, their mental stability is going to continue to decline. >> this morning trump will once again be in court before heading back here to the began its state fo for a rally tonight. ron desantis just the latest to kiss the ring i guess you could say. trump has been relentlessly attacking nikki haley on social media and the campaign trail. >> nikki haley, i know her well. but she's made an unholy alliance with the r.i.n.o.s, the never trumpers, americans for no prosperity, globalists, radical left communists. and they want to get liberals and biden supporters. >> kristen holmes is with us. good morning. did they give you some eggs yet? >> not yet. i just had a water because i think i overdid it on the coffee. so maybe eggs after that. >> th

nikki haley at 50%. there are significantly more college educated voters in the state of new hampshire than iowa. so nikki haley should have a pathway here. but the real question is whether or not this number breaks big her way. as poppy was noting, undeclared voters are critical. whether or not undeclared who can go it in and vote whichever side they want decide to lean heavily towards nikki haley. remember joe biden won this state handily in 2020. if they start to move heavy towards nikki haley, then perhaps you have a race. but right now the polling hasn't picked that up. >> and we'll hear from the folks who are in that category of undeclared. kasie, nikki haley wanted this, a two person race. and she got it. now what? >> for a year we've been waiting for this to happen. whether it was behind the scenes, over beers with republican political consultants, on television sets, the idea was that we can get one person to stand up against donald trump in the republican primary, then they will be able to take

nikki haley, 739. kari jaupsen, 0.ose. >> we have some votes here from concord, new hampshire, ward 10. strong showing in this one ward for nikki haley. >> yeah 739 votes for nikki haley, 467 votes for donald trump. interesting, pretty easily to get on the ballot ipnew hampshire. you heard a lot of names you've never heard before. people do that every four years and they get on the ballot. she finally got the two person race she wanted was to pick up all the other anti-trump votes. i know it's only a few votes but you heard a few votes for pence, a few votes for christie, a few for ramaswamy, trump will be disappointed he didn't get those. >> john, what's going on where you are? >> reporter: you're looking at louise who's a moderator here in warrant 6 in manchester, and she's going to print out the tape. she's going to print out the tape from this machine, and she's going to read us the results from this tape in manchester ward 6. the last vote has been cast, and what you're seeing her do is get the preliminary numbers

we would be about him instead of nikki haley. >> i'm curious when you look at this race, if nikki haley pulls out second here, there's a possibility she comes out ahead of donald trump, if she doesn't do that, is this basically over for her? >> by the way, matt is right. i want to say quickly on that with desantis, because i think his calculations was donald trump is going to go down with all of his legal challenges and stuff. i will be the heir apparent. not a bad clayplay if that happens, but if you're not part of telling the truth to the base about the fact that donald trump is corrupt, you can't expect everybody else to go do it. and then wish we would have been more successful. so in terms of haley, i think maybe a very close second place, a point or two maybe keeps her in the running. she probably stays in the running for south carolina regardless. i hope she does. this needs to go on. but if she wins, it's going to drive donald trump batty. i think the hope here is, we'll see, how insane he is. and she may gain some in that. i do think for her to be competitive through the longer

: half of the votes so far for nikki haley. >> four for nikki haley. >> and a vote for nikki haley. >> reporter: another vote for nikki haley. five of six for nikki haley. >> nikki haley. >> reporter: nikki haley captured all six votes here in dixville notch, i know from the residence she reached out to the residence in this community and met with them privately, every resident in this community supported nikki haley. those are the results from the first community in the first in the nation primary, laura. >> i want to bring back up that graphic, the yearbook photo of all the people who had that predict the value when you are talking about years of dixville notch , they predicted the republican nominee. i am seeing some presidents in there, and some who did not ultimately win the presidency as well, i wonder, joe, when you look at this, of course, it is just six people, but she is small but she is mighty, what do you think? >> i want zeba leave -- you know what i think about trump, i think it is too late. new hampshire is her best chance to win a state, i think trump will win by more

nikki is only half the victory. to take the people who otherwise left the party and would not vote for donald trump if he's the nominee. >> it could be done. mccain had a victory over jeb bush. that was a long time ago. in terms of the party and how it's different today than in 2016, even can i have than 2020. today the south carolina it's said i don't see eye to eye with any candidate. i've stayed out of it but the time has come to unite behind our nominee. there's only been one contest. but remember, mace was critical. here's what she said on the house floor on january 13th, 2021. >> not only were our lives in danger. if my kids were here, their lives would have been in danger, too. the two most precious people in my life. i will hold him accountable for the events that transpired, the attack on you are on capitol last wednesday. so the message is, our lives were in danger, donald trump is responsible, vote for donald trump. >> making him the most powerful person in the world. and add tom, i'm old enough to rememb

i want to congratulate ron and nikki. they are very smart people, very capable people. >> that was so last week. goodness. and while trump did win last night, exit polls did underscore the warning signs haley spent weeks trying to highlight. he does have a strong grip on the republican party, but a glaring weakness among independents and suburban voters. omar jimenez is live for us in manchester, new hampshire. the primary in south carolina one month out. where do things stand? >> reporter: election night comes and goes so fast. donald trump wasted no time telling nikki haley essentially this primary process is over after winning his second state in a row. that said, nikki haley wanted a two person race. she got it and despite the results here, she says she is not going anywhere. former president trump victorious in new hampshire. paving the way for him to clinch the republican nomination for the third time. >> when you win iowa, and you win new hampshire, they have never had a loss. so we're not going to be the first. >>

it's nikki haley. she's not bowing down and kissing the ring and people should be proud of her. >> that's the main argument for her staying in. it is not that she is a viable contender to defeat donald trump in a head-to-head contest for the republican nomination. it is to continue to give that 30 to 40% of the matter that says, no, thois is not the direction we want to go a continuing voice. when we ask republican voters if they're tuned in or not, many of them say, it's too early. well, bad news for them. it may be too late for them at this point. but if you want to give your party a chance to say, hey, we're not all on the trump train, that's why you stay in. but this is a -- that's -- that's a tough reason to ask your donors to keep funding this effort. and that's why i -- i wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't stay in all the way to south carolina. >> and by the way, the donors have been funding this effort. super pacs supporting nikki haley have surpassed $100 million in spending to try to take o

it helps nikki haley in the long run in new hampshire. i hope he keeps throwing purchases at donald trump if the other two folks won't do it. >> i don't think we'll see christie will endorse nikki haley for someone who has 40 points, but his voters will probably go to nikki haley and conceivably, if she gets all of them that would put her ahead of donald trump. >> there were people on his leadership team, christie saying dropout. christie responded to that saying he was a liar and now we're expecting this announcement according to a source that he is going to be dropping out indeed. thank you both and much more on this with wolf blitzer in "the situation room." ♪ ♪ >>>. >>> happening now. there's majora breaking news out there for the republican presidential nomination. a source now tells cnn that chris christie is dropping out of the race. we are standing by to hear directly from him live this hour in new hampshire. we will bring that to you as soon as it begins and all this comes as the final republican debate before the iowa caucuses a

nikki haley at 41%. and when you look at the gop primary voters specifically, trump, excuse me, beforehand, desantis was at 8%. so you could see she actually, according to this, would get some of his vote. but when donald trump has such a big lead, will it matter? >> so i think you mentioned voters obviously having a say here. i think the other folks that have a say are the donors. nikki haley will stay in this race and candidates don't usually quit. they usually run out of money. so if her donors decide instead they want her to stay in the fight and try to push her to stay in the fight, we will probably have a fight through south carolina at least. but i think the margin here, they do matter very much in terms of, you know, how close can she get? and in terms of desantis. i mean the reason he endorsed trump because he wants a future in the party, right? if he didn't, that's kind of the dead end particularly, somewhere like florida where the president is quite popular. >> yeah, it's true. i mean she has,

trump and steve bannon going after nikki haley. there's donald trump jr. his tweet on december 23rd, let me be clear. we are not letting the swamp keep the status quo and this hail mary isn't happening. he said he was going to talk live about it. listen to what steve bannon said on a podcast about this. >> one of the fights we're going to have, a big fight will take place in the spring is try to force nikki on the ticket and say trump needs a woman. if nikki haley is in this administration in any capacity, it will fail. >> i just want to be clear, she says i'm not playing for second she's very much still a candidate for president. it doesn't mean these other conversations are not happening. what do you make of the pushback. >> they are trying to diminish her as a serious presidential candidate. it's one way of doing that. the pushback is extraordinary she was one of the few who newscast getted the complicateden obstacle of leaving the trump administration. she emerged stronger than she arrived, which most of his nominees were not.

that's the opposite of outreach to nikki haley. and nikki haley supporters. so let's go to alayna treene now, any sign over the last few minutes, few hours since the news came out, the nikki haley was suspending her campaign that donald trump, the trump campaign we'll change the tenor of their approach to that. haley support >> well, i was a couple of things i want to note here, john. one is that this was their goal with super tuesday and donald trump wanted to have a decisive enough when across the board and all the super tuesday states to ultimately force her out of the race. and so they're very happy seeing that is exactly what's going to be playing out in the next hour or so. but luck to get to your question and to address some of what kylie brought up is donald trump can trump's campaign understands that they need to do work with moderate voters with independent voters, with the people who went for nikki haley and they saw yesterday on super tuesday that nikki haley did very well with suburban voters, a key voting group that his campaign knows they need

presidential race leaves donald trump and nikki haley is the last major gop candidate still standing.sunday florida governor ron desantis announced he is dropping of the race for the white house, and throwing his support behind the former president. >> a record of living with conviction in an agenda marked by both colors, and responsible for the nation's decline, that's the kind of relationship we need. he is superior to joe biden, that is clear, i signed a pledge to support the republican nominee and i will honor that pledge. he gets my endorsement because we can't go back to the old republican guard of yesteryear, the warmed over corporatism that nikki haley represents. the days of putting americans last and kowtowing to large corporations and caving to ideology are over. >> so far there are no plans for trump and ron desantis to campaign together before new hampshire's primary but the trump campaign is already fundraising off of this new endorsement. a new joint poll from cnn and the university of new hampshire shows donald trump widening his lead over nikki haley, when asked to th

nikki haley and donald trump, exactly what nikki haley said she was hoping for. you're seeing a live look of her speaking to voters in new hampshire. we're going to take you right back to the campaign trail. >>> we haven't seen much of any of this, but it just happened. nikki haley going hard after donald trump while stumping for votes in new hampshire. this happened moments ago. >> if he's going to lie about me, i'm going to tell the truth about him. and that is the fact that he needs to answer to why does he want to raise the retirement age to 70. why as president in 2018 did he propose a 25 cent per gallon gas tax increase on all of us? why didn't he do anything to take care of the fentanyl flow in china? and everybody talks about the economy that trump gave us. ask how good it was. it was. but at what cost? >> going after him on several fronts. joining me now is the the host of morning edition on new hampshire public radio. thank you for join ughses. you just heard those comments. that was just moments ago. nikki haley really going after trump on policy and t

>> iowa can be a springboard for nikki haley. a lot of events scheduled but is one of the other panelists said, you are in this race until you are not. governor christie is a good friend. he had a set up for next week and then dropped out. he's going to have to look in the mirror and the side of the of a path forward. one thing a lot of candidates are looking for is what happens when the supreme court ruling in early march. motivation for all of these candidates to play this out as long as possible. most believe the supreme court is going to allow donald trump on the ballot but every politician has a grain of hope in their mind thinking maybe there is a chance they can absorb some of his voters if he is not on the ballot. it is unlikely but that goes through their mind. >> maybe they will stay in the race longer even if they don't do very well here in new hampshire because they are holding out hope that something could trip up tromp down the road? >> the challenge is ron desantis is running out of money. you don't get out of pres

a bass nor, as nikki bird brain haley. which is his victory speech last night with a fashion critique. >> when i watched her in a fancy dress, probably wasn't so fancy. what is she doing? we won. she did the same thing last week, but he was much more angry about it than i was. >> former president also trotted attacked accuses before on his mentor, the disgraced attorney broke cohen perfected, baseless innuendo. railing against the people prosecuting who suggests without any evidence at all that nikki haley has something to do have to hide from them. >> these are very dishonest people they're always fighting them just a little note to nikki, she's not gonna win. but if she did, she would be under investigation by those people in 15 minutes. i can tell you five reasons why already. not big reasons, little stuff that she doesn't want to talk about. but she will be under investigation within minutes. >>> so again offered no evidence, par for the course, that's always treats isn't any. it's also how he treats his friend, consid

went after nikki haley more than ron desantis. it 's hard to see how they will overtake him while barely laying a finger on him. >> it seems small. the debate seems small for some reason. seemed like people bickering back and forth is lost in the gra granularity. either of these folks came across as likable. whether you like trump's policies, he walks into the dairy queen and everybody loves him. this stage, you know, nobody wants to sit next to either of those people during a long airplane trip. you have to convey that. you have to get that across to the voters. to some extent, a popularity contest. >> they came out of the gate, attacking one another. in the first segments. that was notable. in the back-to-back town halls, they stayed out of the direct criticisms of one another. it's not surprising because they were both on stage. they were forgetting almost that donald trump was in the race. >> no question about it. the gloves came off. i was told by both campaigns, that's what they wanted. haley had to do a knockout punch and s

only one that nikki haley won and you know what, it was by one vote. 1,271 for nikki haley, 1,270. the votes are not yet certified? >> in johnson county where the university of iowa is. the reality is, before we go forward and talk about new hampshire, let's go back. donald trump won iowa because he was afraid of losing. i'm told that his advisors came to him during his state fair visit in august, senator, said sir, you could lose this state if you don't focus more and come here more. so beginning after labor day we saw him travel there. certainly not as much as desantis or nikki haley, but he campaigned for a former president in places that former presidents do not go. he took his motorcades through smaller towns and called individuals. looked like he was parachuting in but this was by design and his ground game was key. it was a landslide victory. the headline into new hampshire is donald trump is on the cusp of continuing his grip on the party, but not just yet. we've seen history show that new hampshire likes its own say in this. >> that is true. what great reporting about what

>> nikki haley has a more nimble ground operation here. we know that there is that super pack fact by the koch family that has been operating on her behalf here in iowa as well. their goal have been to knock on 250,000 doors of iowans here before the caucus tomorrow. and you also have the desantis super pack that will hit 1 million doors for tomorrow. so even though they both have the super-pac out but nikki haley's super-pac is not quite as resourced as desantis has. but the campaign feels like there is momentum and this is what the have going for them and the more voters that haley meets, the more they come to her side. and particularly heading into new hampshire where they feel she will do incredibly well. >> this is where the desantis event is getting underway shortly and what has been the closing message? >> ron desantis has been all across the state of iowa today going to his supporters and saying, it is time to turn out. they're very confident with him and his team and the enthusiasm with their supporters that it will come through t