not a single one demanded $100,000 like bob vander plaats did from ron desanctus.ike president trump is people are willing to support you for free. all right. your reaction to that? >> well, first of all, president trump knows better than anybody that my endorsement as never been and never will be for sale. so it has nothing to do with any type of money that is being paid or anything like that. i know that's what they want to claim. but that is not the case. what we are trying to do is rebelieve 2024 is the most important election of our lifetime. we believe we need to choose and chewed well. you have want to go to experienced leader who has accomplished results versus somebody that i truly believe he may be able to win the nomination in president trump but i don't think america is going to elect him president again. and i think what we need do the next generation leader. >> bret: yeah. do you think, bob, sorry to interrupt. that we were looking at this video of evangelical leaders kind of praying with the president in the oval office. do you think that there has b

vander plaats would never _ trump in 2016. vander plaats would never have — trump in 2016.6, and he didn't. that doesn't necessarily guarantee victory, — doesn't necessarily guarantee victory, we've seen a path of failure — victory, we've seen a path of failure for— victory, we've seen a path of failure for those candidates, but iowa _ failure for those candidates, but iowa is — failure for those candidates, but iowa is very much an establishment state, _ iowa is very much an establishment state, especially that evangelical faction — state, especially that evangelical faction. �* , , state, especially that evangelical faction. �*, , ., ., ., faction. it's my favourite place on the campaign. — faction. it's my favourite place on the campaign, iowa, _ faction. it's my favourite place on the campaign, iowa, it's- faction. it's my favourite place on the campaign, iowa, it's freezing| the campaign, iowa, it's freezing cold and you trip someone's front room, doilies out with a cup of tea, and potentially a future president walks in to talk to for people. it's great, but i wonder

but bob vander plaats' endorsement is not for sale. he has got a great reputation. friend of casey and me along the way. is he very influential in iowa. it's a scurrilous charge. it's without merit. and if somebody endorses somebody other than you, you don't always have to lash out and attack the person it's a primary. people can have endorsements in this. it's not always interior motive. the endorsements bob vander plaats out of bounds just as the endorsement kin reynolds have been out of bounds. >> laura: you are racking up a lot of faith endorsements. and nikki haley i have tweeted it out or is it xed it out now? big donors are turning out to haley now. i actually think that's not a bad thing for you. i actually think that says a lot, to me, about why they think she, you know, should get the money or she should get the nod from them. what does that tell you and does it concern you regarding your own finances? >> no. we are doing very well. we con sis lently outpaced in her and continue to do it. but, i think what it shows is i have consistently proven that i will

bob vander plaats in iowa back with our panel trey, stef and hugh.o these endorsements move the needle? >> yes, they do in iowa. bob vander plaats is probably the most influential nonelected political activist in the united states. evidence time there is a republican primary there, combined with the governor there, that's a big one to punch for governor desantis. wibut the reality is, if there s more than one contender among governor desantis and christie and haley will south carolina and florida then former president trump has effectively won. they can't go into florida with more than one candidate and mr. ramaswamy doesn't matter in this calculation. if the field doesn't consolidate i don't see how donald trump isn't the nominee. >> mike: take a look at the real clear average of polls in iowa where president trump, former president trump up nearly 30 points over governor desantis then there is nikki haley. tim scott has just dropped out. governor desantis has picked up a couple of huge endorsements if iowa. stef, your expectations? these endorsemen

iowa evangelist literal bob vander plaats officially endorsing ron desantis for the 2024 presidentialder plaats has long been skeptical of trump's reelection big and today he's praised desantis's strong bid in the 2022 elections. joining me to discuss this now is ron brownstein. vent or platte deciding to trump. and also you have kim reynolds and the race. the gold standard pole, ron desantis is in double digits. about 16%. will this make a huge difference for him? >> it will help. this is valuable and the iowa caucuses. the problem is, desantis is essentially representing a strategy that has failed and the past three presidential primaries. to thousand eight, 2012, 2016 oh structured their campaigns the way that ron desantis did. they're focused on consulted in the state evangelical support. the problem is, once each of those candidates were stamped that way,, they had enormous trouble reaching out beyond that community and other states. they all are immediately crashed. none of them even reach 12% of the vote. none of them ended up winning a dozen states. and right now, ron desantis

then he called out -- his team called out vander plaats last night for $95,000.f anyone is going to get a shot, it's going to be him. we still have weeks to go. we will see if this begins to close the gap. his other strategy going after trump's age, i don't love that that seems very democrat of a talking point. >> lawrence: i don't think it's going to work very well. last thing i say on this is you don't want to endorse a candidate when they are down by 30-plus points. >> brian: shows purity, purpose. >> lawrence: why not go in early. in i know it was successful the last time when he was down in 30 points in florida and donald trump endorsed him and ended up turning him aren't. that's a presidential -- that's the president at the time endorsing you. i don't understand why the governor and bob didn't endorse him early on to show this big show of force. right now it's a sinking ship. >> brian: still got a month. >> carley: just a month. >> brian: we're still in the locker room, guys. >> carley: still in the locker room haven't gone out on the field yet. "the des mo

statement desantis picking up two key crucial bob vander plaats and 41 state legislators.news contributor and former oversight committee chair jason chaffetz joins us. jason, when you look at the numbers in real clear politics, this is the average right now in the caucus. you got donald trump at 47%. you got ron desantis at 17.3%. where do you see this going, jason? >> look, donald trump is far, far out ahead. but there was something like 60% of the people in iowa who said they would consider somebody else. so, i don't know exactly where it ends up. that's the beauty of iowa. but, ron desantis is doing well. i mean, he got the coveted endorsement of the governor of iowa. he has been to, i think now is he closing in on going to all 99 counties. people in iowa like it when you actually show up on the ground. and talk to the people. i love -- you know, i like the process where you have to get out and actually go talk to candidates. yeah, he has got good endorsements. and the super pac, you know my analysis of that, lawrence, is by law, the super pac is not supposed to be able

. >> he picked up the endorsement of evangelical leader bob vander plaats, known as the state's gop kingmaker. this follows iowa governor kim reynolds decision to back desantis despite donald trump's wide lead in the polls. >> now to another major scandal in the world of digital currency. another crypto kingpin has been toppled. his company fined billions of dollars, accused of helping criminals, rogue nations, even middle east terrorists. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> this morning, another major blow to the cryptocurrency industry as the leader of the world's largest crypto exchange pleads guilty to multiple us violations. >> actions including money laundering, should see the ceo step down and the company and the ceo charged criminally is a very big deal. >> crypto is digital currency exchange through computer networks without relying on banks. in this case, the feds accused binance and its ceo, changpeng zhao, of processing more than 100,000 transactions by child abusers. cyber criminals and even terrorists, including hamas. >> it's very likely that, you know, crypto was used and funded. ha

bob vander plaats in iowa just endorsed ron desantis as did kim reynolds. >> i'm thrilled to throw mysonal endorsement and support behind governor ron desantis of florida. we need to find somebody who can win in 2024. desantis took a reliable toss-up state in florida and made it complete red, won by 20 points. won in demographics we haven't won in. >> john: he has a good record. endorsed cruz in 2016. he won iowa. didn't win the nomination. and as we know, iowa is one of those states where retail politics means a lot and desantis plans on doing a full grass lead if he hasn't already visiting all 99 counties. that's how others won. >> they santana has done everything right in iowa. he has visited all 99 or 98. he has done retail politics. endorsement of the popular governor, endorsement of a very important social conservative leader as we heard there. but the question is can he budge off his current number. he is tied at 17 with nikki haley. he needs to get some separation and then make the case i'm the only guy in iowa that has a chance against trump and see if he can make the surge.

. >> dana: iowa, leader vander plaats endorsing ron desantis last night. time for desantis where evangelicals make up the majority of republican caucus goers in 2016 and likely again this time around. mark meredith is live in washington with more on this news. hi, mark. >> good morning to you. florida governor ron desantis is betting big on iowa. a first place finish there or a close contest with former president trump could change the 2024 race and last night right here on fox desantis got a big boost after one of iowa's most influential evangelical leaders endorsed the governor and told bret baier why. >> last friday's thanksgiving family forum he closed the sale for me. he was very clear we need a president who can serve two terms, not one term. we don't need a president who will be a lame duck on day one. >> governor desantis pushes a similar message on the campaign trail and won the endorsement of governor kim reynolds and his campaign celebrating the endorsement. he wrote we're thrilled to have them on our team and thankful for their support. the roa

we'll have an interview with bob vander plaats president and ceo of the leader organization.at endorsement on "special report." we now know the dates for the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate next year. the opener is monday, september 16th, at texas state university. the next week the vice presidential debate takes place wednesday, september 25th at lafayette college in easton, pennsylvania. and the second presidential debate is tuesday, october 1st at virginia state university. the final debate set for wednesday, october 9th at the university of utah. all debates will start at 9:00 p.m. eastern time and will run for 90 minutes without commercial interruption. important to realize that last year the republican national convention and the committee withdrew from the commission debate system. we'll see what happens this year. up next, we will look at the many international policy can challenges for the u.s. when we talk with the chairman and ranking member of the house foreign affairs committee. that is coming up in our "common ground" segment. first,

his name is bob vander plaats. as you just heard who is still far behind president trump in the polls in iowa. we'll continue to watch that story while we will continue to watch carley and char charly. >> carley: one more thing to get to. >> brian: call him the comeback kid sam altman returning to open ai after the chatgpt fired him over the weekend. few more face also also be joining him as the company announces it has a new board. kevin corke joins us live to break it down. >> good morning, b.k., it may be tempting to dismiss this as a bunch of tech geeks, a bunch of nerds squabbling but the announcement overnight that sam altman is returning to open ai as ceo with a brand new board is essentially the culmination of a simmering power struggle at the tech giant and it could impact the way you read, write and learn, especially if you use chatgpt. now, the company announcing by way of x, formerly known as twitter, quote: we have reached an agreement in principle for sam altman to return to open ai as ceo with a new

while according to him, 147% say he shouldn't [ laughter ] iowa evangelical leader bob vander plaatsa governor ron desantis, and said that desantis has "the spine to do it." though it's not clear if he meant to be president, or to walk in heels. [ laughter ] murder on the spine. i've been told after pleading guilty yesterday to violating anti-money laundering laws, the crypto currency firm binance is set to pay $4 billion in fines. if you're wondering how much that is in crypto, so are they [ laughter ] the food network, yesterday, released a list of the top thanksgiving recipes in every state. which includes florida's deep fried turkey, nebraska's scalloped corn, and arkansas' whatever we hit on the drive over [ laughter and applause don't show the face! that's the first rule of critters never show the face. according to a new survey, americans said their second favorite thanksgiving side dish is stuffing. their first favorite is the edible they took after their uncle started complaining about pronouns [ laughter ] authorities in philadelphia are looking for a team of thieves who al

bob vander plaats threw his support behind the florida governor adding that evangelicals were ready to page on donald trump. well, that's a surprise, finally. are they? really? having endorsed mike huckabee, rick santorum and ted cruz before each won the state's caucuses in 2008, 2012, and 2016. his endorsement comes weeks after iowa's republican governor did the same. on social media yesterday, trump down played the significance of their endorsement saying they wouldn't save desantis from losing in iowa. despite the endorsements, there are growing signs of frustration, and even anger among members of the ron desantis' team as the florida governor struggles to gain traction. leaders of desantis' never back down super pac met privately last tuesday to work on a plan to fight back against nikki haley's recent rise in the polls. the meeting didn't go as planned with two members of the desantis super pac turning on each other, nearly coming to blows, that's according to a source who was inside the room. the infighting highlighting an escalation in the long running war between political ope