bakari is saying the election that donald trump is running right now and one where if you look at the head to head polls he is either tied about president biden or slightly ahead of president biden, bakari is saying that that will not last as the months continue. >> well, we'll see. i mean, a lot of things will happen between now and november. he has his legal issues that will remind people of all the things he is in trouble for. on the other side of the equation is is joe biden running the kind of campaign right now that would get him reelected in november. in some ways these guys are magnets for each other and both have glaring weaknesses. independent voters are not happy with the current president but in the last midterm we saw independent voters not happy with the current president and they still voted for his party anyway. are they going to do that again? there's a lot of unknowns, i hesitate to hazard a prediction on how this is going to turn out because i don't really know. i think the american people don't want this choice, they don't want this rematch and there is some nostal

and with us now, bakari sellers and also rena shaw. this made me think about the possibility of a multiple choice quiz on the events in south carolina. so what i want to ask about nikki haley down there, here is the question, the question is, nikki haley is staying in the race because -- a, she thinks she has a 23nonzero chance of winning, b, she wants to hurt trump, c, she's positioning for something else, d, she still has money so why not. >> i'll go with e, none of the above. i think that people fail to realize kind of the selfish nature of -- most people first of all who run for president are decent layly a sociopath. but second, nikki doesn't have the self awareness of most. i will say i love it, because what she is doing is fracturing the republican party and damaging donald trump for the future. i think that democrats and republicans both acknowledge that. but this has turned into a vanity project because she cannot win this nomination. >> and see, you are throwing it back to my high school days. i used to pick two in a multiple

joining us is a political contributor, -- bakari sellers, and trump campaign advisor, david urban. bakari, president biden spoke to black voters in south carolina, he's hitting on this message that his predecessors have threatened democracy, comparing supporters to defeated confederates embracing the lost cause. in your view, is that a strategy that will resonate with voters? [laughter] >> i think it will. [laughter] i think it's not just the messaging about the lost cause of the confederacy of the civil war. it's actually the act of meeting voters where they are, my good friend david's chuckling in the background. let me give you a point of personal privilege, and teach for one moment, he was at this church where we had one of the most devastating massacres in the history of the united states. he was a few hundred yards away from where the first slaves entered the country, he was in hollow ground speaking hollow words that could really absorb what he was saying. and what he's gonna need to win the election. yeah, i know people get caught up in what he may say, it was about where h

bakari did, for analysis. i want to get to that here. what do they need to get out of this debate tonight? >> well, let me focus on nikki haley. >> okay. >> she has two choices tonight. she can try to reach out to independents and moderates by appearing more sane than ron desantis and trump. she should lump those two together and act like the sane alternative. what i think she's going to do instead is try to appeal futily to the manage wing. and they might try to outright each other. a good strategy for ron desantis but not for nikki haley. that's what i'm watching for tonight. >> i think nikki haley has to show that she can be presidential. i don't know if that's possible, but she has to attempt to show that. i think she's going to try to run against donald trump for that particular sliver of the party, and that's not going make much sense. i think the danger is the person who is actually not on the stage. i think vivek ramaswamy is actually -- don't laugh. >> doesn't this mean we don't have to talk about him? that he's not on the debat

joining now is political commentatorer scott jennings and bakari sellers.our reaction to yet another university chief stepping down. >> i think this is more nuanced than people give it credit for. this entire episode, i have said this before, i had an immense problem with the way the university presidents handle d the hearing. i think not being able to answer questions is a huge problem. and one that has to be dealt with. if you are able to talk about the process whereby professor gay was ousted from harvard, we can't help but see the racial an mouse and overtones in this. you can't help but see the attack on higher education. this is even more troubling. can't hp but see the complicity in mainstream media. when you have institutions platforming and giving him ab interview and giving him a q&a, that's not journalism. what we're seeing is that someone -- this wasn't an attack from her peers. this wasn't an attack from other colleagues who had a problem with her utilizing their words without the proper sites because it doesn't rise to level of plagiarism. thi

as bakari mentioned, up to the period of the civil rights movement. so i actually think it's possible to do both. you can acknowledge the long road and the long journey we have been on, but also embrace the absolute greatness of the united states today and say we are miles better than we were. but i think it's hard to do that if you are glossing over the periods that we lived through and that we're all well aware of from our own history books. i don't know why this has become such a difficult thing. also, she's a republican. and one of the reasons i'm a republican is because i come from kentucky, the land of abraham lincoln and i'm enormously proud of my party's history in trying to rescue the united states from its original sin. and i think if i were running for president as a republican, i would lean on his values and legacy and his name every single day. so that's what i would like to hear more out of is acknowledgment, leaning into the tradition of what it means at least to me to be a republican, and also leaning into the greatness of the united s

and i think for desantis, bakari was talking about him going to south carolina. if you look at the polls in south carolina, he's down at like 6%. 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 lan

bakari sellers, democratic former south carolina state representative who served with nikki haley is going to be joining us in just a minute as well. let me start with you. obviously kiley making it very clear she was speaking to women near the haley rally, so these were people considering voting for her or already were. so she was very cler to be transparent on that. as you look across the state, does haley have a real opportunity to make in-roads among women voters, to do something significant there in new hampshire? >> well, i think she's got a number of different opportunities, but up until she hasn't really shown -- she hasn't really shown the willingness or, you know, just hasn't shown she's able to take advantage of a lot of these opportunities. you know, republican voters tend not to go for the idea of let's look for someone because they'll be the first woman, because they'll be the first african american. it's just not as persuasive an issue for republicans especially, you know, the base of the party primary voters. and to be honest with you, i think when you look at how --

thanks to both of you, bakari, haley has wanted a two-person race against trump. do you think she needs to sharpen her attacks? >> she definitely has to sharpen her attacks, but one of the things nikki haley can do is actually take the attacks. i mean, jake, this is south carolina. our politics are rough and tumble, and many times people don't make it to the national level just because of how -- how dirty our politics are. i mean nikki haley has seen everything. i mean we've -- you know, i actually was on a ticket against her in 2014. i remember when she ran for governor in 2010. i mean she was called all types of derogatory names by former state senators, people posted pictures of her parents in their native garb. shay picked on her for her religion or her former religion and they talked about her by her first name. i mean they did all the things that you would imagine they would do to a candidate in south carolina, and she was able to beat back all of those things. and so i don't think any of the attacks donald trump is going to launch, the racism and xenophobia

david, bakari, gentlemen, thank you so much. appreciate it. we'll be right back. >>> this just in -- a large protest calling for a cease-fire in gaza has reached the white house. look at some of this video that just came in a few moments ago. thousands participated in a march for gaza earlier today here in the nation's capital. a large group continuing that protest right now in lafayette square right outside the white house. we're going to stay on top of this, monitor this video for any other developments. we'll bring that to you as any of that comes in. >>> in the meantime, tensions are continuing to rise in the middle east. the u.s. carried out additional strikes on houthi targets in yemen. with me is cnn's military analyst and retired air force candle cedric leighton -- colonel cedric leighton. this seems like a ramp-up by the u.s. and its allies. we saw what took place on thursday, and now we're seeing even more attacks and more targets. what can you show us here? >> the big thing here is these are the latest attacks. so what we used was t

. >> you hear bakari saying this is a photo op for republicans.e us a sense of the strategy we're looking at here from mike johnson? >> it's certainly to call attention to what is a crisis at the border. it's important to say the numbers. the numbers are speaking for themselves. 300,000 migrant encounters at the border in december. that's historic numbers. to the issue of republicans going down there and let's hear what they have to say, but see what there is to see there. we're seeing record numbers come in. and to the issue of democrats also are recognizing this as texas governor sent many of these migrants to other cities we're seeing democratic mayors of new york, of chicago, of denver, putting up their hands says this is a problem. we need federal assistance. this could impact our city. so we're now seeing democrats on board. speaker johnson and these republicans wanted to shine a light on this problem. what they see as an unmitigated disaster by the biden administration and say it's important to revisit what we passed in hr 2 which is more f

i feel like bakari sellers said it 1 million times, they've given her transport for -- the kind of keep don't let her be who she is willing to be. but i think at a time like this, if we're having these serious conversations about democracy being on the line, i think that all of us should realize the language of politics is dead. and i think new normals call for new things. so i think now is not the time for her to be a politician. >> reporter: do you think it's a communication issue? >>> its -- period. they suck admissive. jen it's not like joe biden and kamala harris haven't done a lot of great things, jake they just don't know how to message it to the american people. >> reporter: who is a politician that you could supports in the presidency? a new age politician? >>> it doesn't matter. if i only chases biden trump, it doesn't matter. >> reporter: what do you see out there? do you see anyone fulfilling what you think needs to be done at that level? >>> no. not even a little bit, as i, said the language of politics is dead. i think that's one thing trump did do. trump made it to where

. >> joining me now to discuss, jessica dean, errol lewis, jeff duncan and bakari sellers. i thought that was really interesting because of how donald trump has tried' to have it both ways over the court of the last several months. i'm against six week abortion ban, but proud of the three justices that i appointed. democrats makes their heads explode thinking that he can kind of get away with walking that line or balance. but kamala harris is saying absolutely not. >> he donald trump can walk that line in the republican primary phase by letting people know, look, i got you your abortion ban, i made good on that, i'm the only president who showed up at your rally on the mall. and i want full credit for that and all of your votes by the way. and at the same time, he is practical, he is looking ahead to november, he is basically thinking like a general election candidate and has already said these abortion bans, these six week ban, it will be terrible. it has already been hard for us politically and the republican party needs to move away from that. now, how that happens rheto

this field, there isn't a path for a ron desantis or i would argue even a nikki haley, obviously bakarier well from serving with him. >> i just said she's formidable. >> no question. but a weak showing in iowa, there's not a strategic path for these guys. donald trump has gone wire-to-wire with all of the key coalitions within the republican party that you need to become the republican nominee. so a fourth place finish, a third place finish in iowa for these guys when they don't really have a path in these other states, won't have the same path. >> let's look at how stagnant this race has been over time. let's put up "the des moines register" poll. donald trump has been far and above the leader in iowa going back to october. haley and desantis have been swapping second and third place. vivek ramaswamy and asa hutchison swimming in the shallow end. it hasn't really changed. >> no, listen, again, what's been overlooked is the trump operation. the trump operation is incredibly professional, incredibly disciplined. you may not like the former president or what he stands for, but you have to

joining us two cnn political contributors, former south carolina state lawmakers bakari sellers and former trump campaign adviser david irvine. president biden speaking to black voters in south carolina hitting on this message that his predecessor is a threat to democracy, comparing his supporters to defeated confederates embracing the lost cause. in your view is that a trat which have that will resonate with voters? >> actually i think it will, and i think it's not just the messaging about the lost cause or the confederacy of the civil war, but it's actually the act of meeting voters where they are. i hear my good friend david chuckling in the background but let mow give you a point of personal privilege really quick and teach for one moment. he was at mother of emmanuel ame church where we had one of the most devastating massacres in the history of the united states. he was just a few hundred yards away from where the first slaves entered the country. he was on hallowed ground speaking hallowed words to an audience that could absorb what he's saying and more importantly ones he'll need i

bakari knows her well from having served with her. >> didn't say it was a path.he's formidable. >> no question she's formidable. but a weak showing in iowa, there isn't a long-term strategic path for these guys. donald trump has essentially gone wire to wire here with all of the key coalitions within the republican party that you need to become the republican nominee. so a third place finish when those don't really have a path in these other states, won't have the same. >> let's put up the des moines register poll, donald trump has been far and above the leader in iowa going back to october. haley and desantis has been swapping second and third place and ramaswamy and is swhimming n the shallow edge. >> and i think what is being overlooked is the trump operation. the trump operation is incredi incredibly professional. you have to respect the game. and so susie wilds, chris and jason miller and brian jack, team that is running this campaign, is doing an incredible job. and they're keeping him right where he's supposed to be. you may have not seen it, the fox news

bakari can't sing right now. >>> next, voters say the economy is a top issue in this election. head of bank of america. in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart, efficient, savvy. making the most of every opportunity. that's why comcast business is introducing the small business bonus. for a limited time you can get up to $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. yup, $1000. so switch to business internet from the company with the largest fastest reliable network. give your business a head start in 2024 with this great offer. plus, ask how to get up to $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all you

particularly african americans, bakari. we still aren't there. and this is the president that our community has vote ford 90-plus percent. and we're still struggling financially. >> everyone, thank you. this is a fine way to kick off our wednesday. >> it's wednesday? >> it is. >> it's wednesday. and you need to be back here at 5:00. so don't forget that. set that alarm, my friends. >> good night, guys. >> just ahead here, donald trump's warning about getting even. in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart, efficient, savvy. making the most of every opportunity. that's why comcast business is introducing the small business bonus. for a limited time you can get up to $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. yup, $1000. so switch to business internet from the company with the largest fastest reliable network. give your business a head start in 2024 with this great offer. plus, ask how to get up to $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. >>> but i don't get too angry. i get even. >> may have been referring to nikki haley