January 11 - 2024 campaign updates and highlights from GOP debate

A group of Iowa voters were split when asked by CNN’s Gary Tuchman on who they thought won tonight’s CNN GOP debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Tuchman has gathered this same group of loyal Republican voters from Story County, Iowa, throughout the past 2024 GOP debates to watch the event together and get their opinions on the candidates’ performance.

This time around, four voters said DeSantis was the winner while four others claimed Haley as the victor. Two voters in the group said former President Donald Trump won the debate even though he did not participate.

One voter commended Haley’s defense to attacks during the debate.

Another voter who said DeSantis won called Haley’s performance “weak.”

“I felt like Haley didn’t stand up for herself as much as I’d seen her do in the past,” the voter said.

And with Iowa caucuses quickly approaching, some voters are ready to caucus.

One said they plan on caucusing for DeSantis, two said they would for Haley, four said they will for Trump and three said they are not going to caucus at all.

Read more about the Iowa caucuses and how the work.

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines on Wednesday.

Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley found common ground on at least one point tonight: Donald Trump should have joined them on stage at the Republican presidential debate in Iowa.

The Florida governor made those comments 82 minutes into the debate. He devoted far more time to assailing Haley’s record as South Carolina governor and UN ambassador – a key part of his strategy to try and regain ground as the leading Trump alternative in the race.

It’s not clear he made a direct hit on either of his targets.

For her part, Haley said: “I wish Donald Trump was up here on this stage.” But she saved a far stronger admonition for DeSantis, saying at one point: “You’re so desperate. You’re so desperate.”

As the first Republican presidential debate of the year drew to a close, despite a dizzying series of fiery exchanges between DeSantis and Haley, it’s hard to imagine their bitter fighting changed the trajectory of the race before the Iowa caucuses on Monday night.

Trump, who skipped the debate to appear at a Fox News town hall about 2 miles away, may well have come out on top by declining to show up at the main event.

Advisers to DeSantis came into the debate pledging to humble Haley and scrutinize her record. But it’s far from certain whether he gained any ground on that score, with Haley holding her ground with a far stronger air of confidence than she carried five months ago when she took the presidential debate stage for the first time.

Haley carries the momentum going into the final days of the Iowa race, the question is whether her campaign organization will weather an impending storm.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Responding to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ claim about her support for Black Lives Matter and a question about crime, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said there were no protests in South Carolina after two deadly racial shootings in 2015 — the police killing of Walter Scott and the massacre at a historic Charleston church.    

“We had the shooting of Walter Scott. … We had a horrific shooting at a church where a White supremacist came in and killed nine amazing souls. BLM, all of that, we never had to deal with riots. We’ve never had to call in the National Guard, Ron, because when we had both of those shootings, we were able to pull people together. We didn’t have riots. We had vigils. We didn’t have protests. We had prayer. We brought people together,” Haley said. “Not only did I move to bring the Confederate flag down, we came together as a state of prayer and we had no division, no riots, no anything.”  

Facts First: While Haley is correct that there were prayer services and vigils after both shootings and there were no widely reported riots, there were also protests at the time.  

Civil rights groups and activists held rallies and protests after both shootings. Following the killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed Black man who was shot in the back by a White police officer, activists called for police reform, including for body cameras to be worn by officers.  

There were protests and renewed calls for the removal of the Confederate flag at the state house after the killing of nine Black people at Mother Emanuel AME Church in June 2015. Haley supported the removal of the Confederate flag then while serving as governor. An activist was also arrested for climbing a flagpole on the grounds of the South Carolina state Capitol and removing the Confederate flag.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested that President Joe Biden eased sanctions on Iran, which gave them access to money used to fund terrorism.  

“The root of this is Biden came into office, and he relaxed the sanctions on Iran. They’ve had massive amounts of money flooding into their country, just like under the Obama administration. They take that money, and they use it to fund jihad around the world,” DeSantis said.

Facts First: This is partly false and needs context.  

The Biden administration has lifted a handful of Iranian sanctions, which they said were removed because of “verified change in status or behavior.” However, Biden has also retained and imposed numerous other sanctions on Iran. The Biden administration has issued waivers to allow Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran – something the Trump administration did as well.  

Iran has been faced with a significant economic crisis for years, in large part due to the crippling US sanctions that were imposed under the Trump administration.   

According to the IMF, Iran’s GDP has grown since 2020, but so has its inflation rate. A November 2022 report from the US Energy Information Administration noted that “although sanctions on its oil exports remained in place, Iran shipped more crude oil, primarily to China, in 2021” than the year prior, in part due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “In 2021, Iran’s oil companies earned about $40 billion in net oil export revenues, up from around $15 billion in 2020,” the report said. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would not serve as Donald Trump’s vice president — or anyone’s, for that matter — in a post-debate interview with CNN.

DeSantis also discussed former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suspending his campaign Wednesday evening.

“I thought that he was going to stick through New Hampshire and kind of see how it goes. But at the same time, I mean, you know, people got to do what they think is right,” DeSantis told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

DeSantis said he believes part of the reason Christie stayed in the race was because Nikki Haley wouldn’t explicitly rule out serving as Trump’s vice president. 

DeSantis’ pitch to Christie voters is that he holds Trump accountable in a different way.

“I’ve been willing to hold Trump accountable, I just do it more from the right than more focused on some of the things that the media likes to talk about,” DeSantis said. 

Even though Christie was a governor in a blue state, DeSantis said he believes he “has a more conservative record” than Haley in South Carolina.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday he would vote for Donald Trump if he’s the Republican nominee, even if he’s a convicted felon.

“I think most of us will support the Republican nominee, no question,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins when asked if he thought Trump had the character to be president, adding “we need Biden to lose.”

Asked if he would vote for Trump, in that case, if he was a convicted felon, Sununu answered, “right now, most of America looks like they would vote for him, because he is winning,” referencing hypothetical general election matchup polling.

Pressed again on his own choice, he said, “I will support the Republican nominee, absolutely.”

“This shouldn’t shock anybody. There shouldn’t be a surprise that the Republican governor, and most of America, will end up going against Biden, because they need to see a change in this country,” he continued, later saying, “make no mistake about it, Biden is that bad of a president, even Trump would win.”

Sununu, who is not seeking reelection, defended former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the candidate he has endorsed, as the best Republican candidate to bolster down ballot races, saying, “she wins Senate seats, governorships, and brings those other opportunities to the states, and the country, to actually get stuff done.”

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Making a point about spending on national security, Haley said that the US supporting Ukraine, Israel and securing the southern border would cost “less than 20% of Biden’s green subsidies.” 

Facts First: This math from Haley is largely true.

The cost of the clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act was initially estimated at $391 billion over 10 years, but a more recent estimate from the federal Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the cost of these tax credits has risen to around $570 billion over the next decade. That’s largely a reflection of how popular these subsidies are, as consumers take advantage of tax credits for EVs, energy-efficient appliances, and companies seek to gain tax breaks for investing in renewables, clean hydrogen and new manufacturing.  

If you compare that price-tag to the $106 billion proposal the Biden administration has put forward to fund Ukraine, Israel, and boost border security, that is less than 20% of the decade-long clean energy tax credits. However, Haley’s math gets shaky if you add the $111 billion the US has already spent on supporting Ukraine.  

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Asked how she would reform Social Security, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley gave a couple of options, including changing how the annual benefit increase is calculated. 

“Instead of cost-of-living increases, we do increases based on inflation,” she said. 

Facts First: Haley’s statement is misleading. Social Security’s cost of living adjustments are already based on inflation. The annual boosts are intended to help senior citizens and other beneficiaries contend with the annual change in prices. 

 The formula for determining annual adjustments is specified in the Social Security Act. The adjustments are based on increases in a certain inflation index, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, known as CPI-W. It aims to take into account the annual increase in prices. 

The annual boost, however, actually hasn’t kept pace with inflation over time. Those who retired before 2000 have seen the purchasing power of their benefits drop by 36%, according to The Senior Citizens League.  

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

GOP candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley both characterized President Joe Biden’s policies on electric vehicles as mandatory for American drivers.  

DeSantis said Biden wants to “mandate electric vehicles,” and Haley said Biden’s policies would “have everybody drive an electric car by 2035,” adding, “that’s not even smart.” 

Facts First: DeSantis and Haley’s claims are misleading. Biden has not moved forward with EV mandates, though his administration has made an aggressive push for automakers and consumers to move toward electric vehicles. 

The Biden administration has proposed ambitious new tailpipe emissions regulations for automakers, offered tax credits to people who buy certain electric vehicles, invested in new electric vehicle charging stations and ordered federal entities to purchase electric vehicles, among other policies promoting the adoption of electric vehicles. But there is no Biden requirement mandating the use of electric vehicles and no Biden proposal to prohibit citizens from continuing to use gasoline-powered engines as more electric vehicles hit the roads. 

Depending on how automakers were to respond, the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed new tailpipe rules could, if adopted, require electric vehicles to make up two-thirds of new cars sold in the US by 2032. Several blue states, including California, have passed laws banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. 

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly went toe-to-toe on an issue inflicting pain on many Americans: rising prices.

Inflation began soaring near the start of the pandemic, boosted by the demand and supply shocks and supply-chain bottlenecks during that time.

While price increases have since slowed their pace, they’re still coming faster than the Federal Reserve would like.

The Consumer Price Index, a closely watched inflation gauge hit, a four-decade peak of 9.1% in June 2022. Since then it’s slowed to a 3.1% year-over-year increase in November 2023.

The Labor Department releases its Consumer Price Index for December on Thursday.

The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — has also shown a similar deceleration, registering at a 2.6% annual rate in November.

But that’s still above the Fed’s official target of a 2% annual inflation rate.

Nevertheless, the central bank has already signaled it plans to cut interest rates sometime this year, though some Fed officials have said they’re not yet convinced that inflation is on a certain path to 2%, just yet and that the final mile of the Fed’s historic inflation fight could be difficult.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Former Gov. Nikki Haley said during CNN’s GOP debate on Wednesday that the Biden administration’s expansion of Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans furthered the immigration crisis, saying “all that does is incentivize them to pick up the phone and call their family members and tell them to come.” 

Additionally, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that President Joe Biden has “let” 8 million migrants into the country through the US-Mexico border. 

“Biden has let in 8 million people just in four years,” DeSantis said.  

Facts First on Haley’s claim: It’s true the Biden administration expanded a form of humanitarian relief — known as Temporary Protected Status — to Venezuelans already in the United States, though it’s unclear whether it served as an incentive.    

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security announced that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was extending and redesignating Venezuela for TPS for 18 months for individuals who were residing in the US on or before July 31. DHS anticipated around 472,000 Venezuelans would be newly eligible for the status.

It’s hard to determine what does and doesn’t incentivize migrants to come to the United States. Homeland Security officials have said that word-of-mouth often encourages migration, but that misinformation also plays a role. TPS only applies to migrants already in the US. 

Facts First on DeSantis’ claim: That is not true. US Customs and Border Protection has released more than 2.3 million migrants into the United States under the Biden administration, according to federal data, though it’s still less than the more than 6 million migrants border authorities took into CBP custody in that same period – many of whom are then removed from the country. 

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the majority of all southwest border migrant encounters under the Biden administration have been removed, returned or expelled. 

The Biden administration has grappled with record migration across the Western hemisphere and thousands of migrant arrivals at the US-Mexico border. Migrants have been released in the United States, depending on several factors, while they go through immigration proceedings, while others have been removed. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gestures as he speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on , on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speculated that Americans’ monthly mortgage payments are “probably” double what they would have been if they bought a home five years ago.  

Facts First: The “probably” is an appropriate couch here from the governor, who is mostly accurate on this claim.  

In 2019, the median monthly mortgage payment was $1,242, when factoring an average mortgage rate of 4.13% into a $320,250 median priced home, according to Bankrate citing US Census Bureau data. Right before the end of 2023, the median monthly mortgage payment was estimated at $2,361, according to Redfin. By those estimates, the median monthly mortgage payment is about 90% higher today than in 2019. 

Mortgage rates have been on a rollercoaster ride during the past few years. In January 2019, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.45%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, citing Freddie Mac data. Rates plunged to historic lows right before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, falling as low as 2.65% in January 2021.  

Rates spiked after March 2022, when the Federal Reserve began its historic inflation-curbing campaign of dramatic monetary policy tightening. Average mortgage rates surpassed 7% in August and ultimately peaked at 7.79% in October. As of last week, they were 6.62%.  

Beyond rates, there are a number of factors (including taxes and insurance) that influence a monthly mortgage payment. 

DeSantis answers a question during a CNN debate in Des Moines on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis heralded the fact in the CNN debate tonight that Florida will be able to buy prescription drugs from Canada, where they are less expensive.

The Food and Drug Administration last week approved Florida’s request to import certain drugs from Canada, marking the first time a state has been authorized to buy lower-cost medications in bulk from abroad.

Florida’s plan calls for importing medications for several conditions, such as HIV/AIDS and mental illness, for residents covered by certain public programs, including inmates and Medicaid enrollees. The state expects to save up to $180 million in the first year and around $183 million annually once the program is fully implemented.

The historic move is the latest salvo in the long-running battle to lower drug prices, one of Americans’ biggest healthcare headaches. 

However, major hurdles remain before Florida can start importing certain medications, and it could be a while before the state and its residents see savings. The drug industry is expected to continue its efforts to prevent the importation of drugs, and Canada has opposed the mass importation of its medications. 

In addition to DeSantis, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump had a hand in initiating drug importation in the United States. 

Trump made drug importation a centerpiece of his efforts to reduce drug costs, and in 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a final rule establishing a path for states to set up drug importation programs. The next year, Biden issued an executive order directing the FDA commissioner to work with states that want to develop importation programs.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley opposed a bill in her state while governor that would have banned people from using public bathrooms that didn’t correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificate. 

“She just said she’s always fought to protect kids but when she was governor of South Carolina, they had a bill to protect girls from men going into the bathroom. She killed it and she’s bragged about it for years that that happened,” DeSantis said.  

Facts First: DeSantis’ attack left out critical context about himself. He correctly described Haley’s stance on a proposed anti-transgender bathroom bill while she was governor of South Carolina in 2016 — but he didn’t mention that he also took a hands-off position on bathroom policy while running for governor of Florida two years later. 

In 2016, a Republican legislator in South Carolina introduced a bill that proposed to require people to use public bathrooms corresponding to their “biological sex.” The legislator made the proposal during a national controversy over a similar bill that had recently been signed into law in North Carolina; numerous businesses had announced that they were canceling planned investments and events in North Carolina due to the legislation. 

In response to the South Carolina proposal, Haley said “I don’t believe it’s necessary.” She said she was not aware of “one instance” of bathroom-related problems in the state, and she said “we’re not hearing of anybody’s religious liberties that are being violated, and we’re again not hearing any citizens that are being violated in terms of freedoms.” 

Last year, DeSantis signed a Florida law that prohibits transgender people from using bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity while in government buildings, such as public schools, prisons and universities. While running for governor in 2018, however, DeSantis was dismissive of the idea of state bathroom legislation – saying, at a Republican primary forum hosted by a Christian conservative organization, that “getting into the bathroom wars, I don’t think that’s a good use of our time” and that people should be able to set up bathrooms “how they want.” 

 “I would not pass a law; I would leave it as it is and stay out of that,” he said. 

It’s fair to note that DeSantis was speaking in 2018 during a discussion about how the candidates would respond to a proposal allowing someone to use the bathroom of their choice. Still, his comments conveyed opposition to Florida’s state government getting involved in the matter – two years after Haley expressed opposition to South Carolina’s state government getting involved in the matter. 

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gave their closing arguments to Iowa voters during the final GOP debate before the Hawkeye state’s caucuses on Monday.

As the debate came to a close, the candidates were asked to deliver their closing arguments. Haley began her pitch by first thanking Iowans and made the case for why she’s the most electable candidate.

She said that every Iowa voter she met “knows that we can’t go through four more years of chaos. And if it’s Donald Trump, there will be four more years of chaos.”

Haley also said that “we can’t go through another nail-biter of an election.” She then went to claim that recent polls show her beating President Joe Biden by a large margin, where as Trump is “head to head” with Biden.

DeSantis said he is running for voter issues unlike his opponents.

DeSantis accused Trump for running for his issues and Haley for running for her donor’s issues.

“I’m running for your issues, your family’s issues, and slowly to turn this country around. I’m the only one running who’s delivered on 100% of my promises. And I’m the only one running that has beaten the left time and time again, from the teachers unions, to Fauci, to the Democratic party,” DeSantis said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on , on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued against further US funding for Ukraine by saying that “tens of billions of dollars” have been used “to pay salaries for Ukrainian government bureaucrats,” and that US taxpayers have “paid pensions for Ukrainian retirees.”  

  Facts First: This needs context. 

Although the US has provided Ukraine with around $23 billion in direct budget support since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, it cannot be said that all of that funding is going to “bureaucrats” or “pensions.”

The money, which is disbursed through the World Bank, has gone to pay “wages for hospital workers, government employees, and teachers as well as social assistance for the elderly and vulnerable,” according to a statement from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

It has also been provided to the Ukrainian government to “supply emergency services for internally displaced persons,” the US Agency for International Development said in February of last year.  

In their last chance to make an impression in front of a national audience before voting begins in Iowa Monday, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley threw the same amount of fighting words.

The two GOP candidates had near-equal speaking time throughout the night, rarely breaking ahead for more than a couple of minutes.

See the full breakdown here.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10, 2024.

Amid attacks and back-and-forth jabs on the debate stage, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had a few nice words to say about each other on Wednesday.

Asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper what they admired about the other candidate, DeSantis praised Haley for speaking out “strongly on some key issues” during her time as an ambassador to the United Nations.

He also said he appreciates “the state of South Carolina” and noted is a graduate of the College of Charleston.

“There’s a lot of great people there and I think to be able to have been able to be governor there is a great achievement and I really appreciate everyone I’ve gotten to meet in South Carolina,” DeSantis said.

When the same question was posed to Haley, she simply said, “I think he’s been a good governor,” to some quiet laughs from DeSantis and the moderators.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

With the economy among the key issues for voters, Gov. Ron DeSantis aimed to position himself as the best candidate to address those concerns, claiming that Haley supported policies that hurt her constituents’ wallets, like raising the gas tax.  

 “Nikki Haley when she was governor she promised she would never do the gas tax, then tried to raise the gas tax on hardworking South Carolinians,” DeSantis said.  

Facts First: This needs context. While Haley initially said that as governor she would not support an effort to raise the gas tax, she later said she would if it was paired with a cut to the state income tax.  

In responding to DeSantis during Wednesday’s debate, Haley acknowledged as much, saying: “We said if you want to raise the gas tax, you have to reduce the income tax by five times that amount. They didn’t want to do it.”  

It’s worth noting that this proposal was in response to state legislator’s efforts to raise the gas tax and did not constitute support for a standalone gas tax increase. 

Furthermore, Haley’s proposal was not received favorably by the Republican-held state legislature and ultimately the gas tax remained the same during her tenure as governor. The gas tax was later raised under her successor after legislators overrode a gubernatorial veto.  

CNN’s Arit John contributed to this post.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized former President Donald Trump’s handling of protests that took place during the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd.

DeSantis called the protests “the worst rioting in the modern history of this country.”

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10, 2024.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he believes his rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, has been “confused” on the issue of the abortion when asked whether he believes Haley is “sufficiently pro-life.”

DeSantis argued that Haley has been “using the language of the left” to attack anti-abortion activists.

Haley responded that she is “unapologetically pro-life” and pointed to a South Carolina bill that would have treated abortion as homicide and allowed the person to be punished as a murderer and subject to possible decades in prison. 

Asked if she agrees with DeSantis whether former President Donald Trump is not pro-life, Haley said: “I mean, look, I think that he did some pro-life things when he was president.”

Haley added that Trump should be asked the question.

“That’s why he should be on this debate stage. Don’t ask me what President Trump thinks. You need to have him on this debate stage and ask him for yourself,” she said.

Former President Donald Trump speaks as moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum look on during a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump said Republicans “still have to win elections,” when asked by an Iowa voter about his criticism of six-week abortion bans and his commitment to pushing for restrictive abortion laws. 

The former president, who has criticized six-week abortion bans in the past, noted on Wednesday that “a lot of women don’t know if they’re pregnant in five or six weeks.”

Trump, who has struggled at times to navigate the issue of abortion during his campaign, again touted his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and his support for exceptions for rape, incest and when the life of the mother is threatened. 

Audience members listen as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley derided a defense argument used by former President Donald Trump’s lawyer in his presidential immunity court hearing this week.

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Haley if she agreed with an argument that a president should have immunity for any conduct, including the ordering of an assassination of a political rival unless that president is impeached and convicted by the Senate for that offense.

She went on to describe the characteristics of what she believes make a good leader.

“What a leader does is they bring out the best in people and get them to see the way forward. That’s what we need in our country,” Haley said. “We don’t need this chaos anymore.”

Some background:  A panel of judges on a federal appeals court was skeptical of Trump’s immunity arguments as they sharply questioned his lawyer during a hearing Tuesday over claims he can’t be prosecuted because his actions after losing the 2020 election were part of his official duties.

Trump, who attended Tuesday’s hearing, wants the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling rejecting his claims of immunity in special counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion case and dismiss the federal charges against him.

Trump’s lawyers argued that prosecuting Trump would “open a Pandora’s box” of indicting other former presidents for actions they took while in office. The special counsel’s office rebutted those arguments, urging the judges to deny Trump’s immunity claims as no president is above the law.

Trump’s presence at the hearing less than a week before the Iowa caucuses underscored how intertwined his legal and political worlds have become. He’s made the four criminal indictments against him a key part of his 2024 campaign.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

In response to a question about Israel, Gov. Ron DeSantis said that Florida rescued Americans from the country in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack because “Biden wasn’t helping Americans get out of the war zone.” 

Facts First:DeSantis’s claim is false. The Biden administration helped Americans evacuate from Israel after the attack.

The US government did charter flights for Americans seeking to leave Israel, with the first flight taking place on October 13. The State Department stopped the flights by the end of October due to lack of demand, signaling that the program was successful at helping the Americans who wanted to leave.   

DeSantis argued that the federal government didn’t do enough, which is why he organized flights from Israel to Florida for Americans looking to return home. But his flights only began after the State Department-led evacuations had started.  

CNN previously fact-checked a similar claim that DeSantis made at a CNN town hall in December. 

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Friday described the lack of communication between President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as “unforgivable” amid Austin’s prostate cancer diagnosis and recent hospitalization.

Haley’s remarks came in response to question about ordering strikes in Iran if she is elected president. She criticized Biden for being “slow” with responding to escalating attacks by Iran-backed proxy groups on US troops before calling out the lack of communication between Biden and Austin.

In recent days, Austin has faced intense scrutiny after his failure to disclose his hospitalization last week. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Austin is being treated for prostate cancerand suffered complications that led to him being taken to the hospital on New Year’s Day where he is still being treated,according to a statement from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Nikki Haley claimed during Wednesday night’s CNN GOP debate that while at the United Nations, she stopped the flow of migration from certain parts of Central America.  

Haley recalled a previous trip to Honduras and Guatemala, saying, “We had our military go and train them on how to deal with gangs.” 

“We went and put drug boats on the water to keep the drugs from coming. But we said you have to have them processed from here. You can’t have them come. We were able to stop that flow,” Haley said. 

Facts First: It’s unclear what operation Haley was referring to, though the United States does have a presence in Central American countries and often works in partnership with those countries to stem the flow of migration. While migration from different regions ebbs and flows, it hasn’t altogether stopped from Honduras and Guatemala. 

In fiscal year 2023, border authorities encountered 433,771 migrants from Guatemala and Honduras at the US southern border, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised to decouple the United States from China’s economy to punish the latter country for its policies. The US and China are the first- and second-largest economies in the world. And given that China is the one of the biggest US trading partners, separating the two economies could spell pain for many Americans. In particular, it could make goods cost more if they’re solely produced in the US.

Asked how DeSantis would minimize the pain, he said he would offer “tax and regulatory” incentives to people in the US. “I want to make things here again,” he added.

While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has remade K-12 schools in his state around his conservative vision for education, in Wednesday’s debate he said he wouldn’t necessarily export it to the rest of the country if elected president. 

DeSantis has restricted how sexual orientation and gender identity are taught in schools, banned critical race theory and made it easier for Floridians to challenge what books are in school libraries. 

Pressed by CNN’s Jake Tapper on whether he would implement Florida’s education policies nationwide, DeSantis indicated he would push for universal school choice as he has in his state. But he wasn’t looking to force his other education priorities on school districts nationwide.

DeSantis added that he would eliminate the US Department of Education, which he has often promised on the campaign trail. 

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines on Wednesday.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says Americans in their 20s should plan on seeing the retirement age increased should she become president.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, on the other hand, said he “would never raise the retirement age in the face of declining life expectancy.”

“I mean I think that that would be really bad,” he said, saying that hurts “blue-collar folks.”

Haley went on to accuse DeSantis of voting to raise life expectancy to 70 years old for three years in a row. She pointed out various times that he did not answer back to her accusation.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10, 2024.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said her opponent and the GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, will have to answer for the January 6 insurrection.

“He said that January 6th was a beautiful day. I think January 6th was a terrible day and we should never want to see that happen again,” Haley said.

The GOP candidate said she would always defend the Constitution and advocated for more election integrity legislation.

She reiterated that Trump lost the 2016 election, and slammed him for going “on and on talking about the election being stolen.”

“The idea that he (Trump) has gone and carried this out forever to the point that he is going to continue to say these things to scare the American people are wrong,” Haley said, referring to the former president’s false claims that the election was stolen.

In speaking about antisemitism on Florida college campuses, Gov. Ron DeSantis touted his record on tackling the issue in the state.

“We also have gone after the antisemitism on our campuses. We did that early in my administration. You didn’t see our college presidents doing some of the things that you’ve seen,” he said.

He also promised to combat all forms of discrimination against people being “marginalized because of their faith.” 

DeSantis was referencing an ongoing controversy among elite US universities, in which several college presidents have come under fire in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas for their handling of antisemitism on campus as well as discrimination against Arab and Muslim students.

In particular, the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University and MIT gave disastrous testimony before a House committee in December where they came under fire for their response to whether calling for the genocide of Jewish students would violate their codes of conduct.

Since that hearing, the presidents of both UPenn and Harvard have resigned, in whole or in part because of the antisemitism controversy.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are participating in a CNN Republican presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

See some of the best photos from the debate so far:

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley share the debate stage Wednesday night.

The debate is taking place at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Nikki Haley answers a question during the debate.

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have taken jabs at each other throughout the debate.

CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are moderating the debate.

Ron DeSantis’ son Mason is seen in the audience ahead of the debate.

Ron DeSantis says he has video. And Nikki Haley has a website.

The Florida governor and his team are throwing everything at his rival in an acknowledgment that his national political career is on the line in the caucuses on Monday night.

As he accused Haley of lying and flip-flopping, DeSantis keeps warning Haley that she’s on tape adopting different positions on key issues than she’s doing in her campaign.

“Not only did she say it, she is on videotape saying it. We have all the greatest hits,” DeSantis said at the top of the debate. “She kind of admitted that she did try to raise the gas tax. She is on video saying this.”

DeSantis is trying to carve out a comparison between his preferred self-image as a principled, unbending conservative leader and Haley, whose enemies accuse her of a long record of expediency and of being a reed moved by the merest political breeze.

But Haley came prepared. As soon as DeSantis piped up she unveiled a new website DeSantislies.com, which carries the slogan “The more Ron DeSantis loses, the more he lies” and has Haley’s own videos – of her own comments and speeches that are meant to debunk DeSantis attacks on her record.

There’s no chance that any viewers won’t be able to find it. In between taunting DeSantis for his misfiring campaign, she repeated the web address so many times it’s likely to become a meme – or a Saturday Night Live sketch.

There’s a great deal of irony about this – given that the two candidates on stage are accusing one another of repeatedly lying while the ex-President who piled up more than 30,000 lies in office according to a Washington Post tally, is getting a pass.

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called his state’s feud with the Walt Disney Company standing up to the “800-pound gorilla in the state.”

DeSantis lambasted Disney, which looms large in the Sunshine State, as a “woke corporation” targeting children. 

The Florida governor has had an ongoing conflict with Disney, one of Florida’s largest taxpayers and employers.

Tensions rose in 2022 after Disney spoke out against a bill championed by DeSantis that banned certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics. The bill passed and DeSantis signed it into law in March 2022.

Disney chief Bob Iger fired back last summer at DeSantis’ claim that the House of Mouse is “sexualizing” children as “preposterous.”

The feud has continued.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to get rid of the Department of Education and a nationalized curriculum to “get that weight off the backs of state and local governments.”

“I don’t want a nationalized curriculum. I think that’s a bottom-up thing,” he said. A nationalized curriculum is a standard that is set about what kids in different grades should be learning that applies to schools across the country.

When asked if he would implement Florida’s state policies on education nationwide, DeSantis said it “depends on the policy.”

The Florida governor has supported limits on what subjects can be taught and made it easier to remove books from public school libraries.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines on Wednesday.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley lambasted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for campaigning with Rep. Thomas Massie, who has joined him at several events in Iowa over the past month. 

Haley accused Massie of being anti-Israel and criticized DeSantis for associating himself with the Kentucky congressman.

“That’s just cheap garbage,” DeSantis replied.

“It’s true,” Haley shot back.

More background: Massie was the only House Republican to vote against condemning antisemitism on university campuses and the testimony of university presidents. As CNN previously reported, Massie was also the sole Republican to vote against a resolution condemning antisemitism earlier this month following the October 7 Hamas attacks. Sen. Chuck Schumer also accused Massie of posting an antisemitic post on social media, calling it “disgusting” and “dangerous.”

The night before Massie first appeared on the campaign trail with DeSantis in Iowa in December, Haley’s campaign sent out an email blast with links to Massie’s voting record in Congress.

Haley spokesperson Nachama Soloveichik said in a statement, “Ron DeSantis needs to explain to Iowa voters why he is palling around with an anti-Israel congressman who votes to undermine Israel and foster antisemitism.” 

Addressing reporters in Fort Dodge at the event, DeSantis defended Massie. 

“The thing about Thomas, he’s very principled about it. He’s not for or against any country. Obviously, I’ve been a big supporter of supporting Israel. I think it’s in our national interest. When he gets tagged as somehow being against Israel, specifically, that is not true. He has voted against 100% of it. That’s his position. And he’s been very principled on that,” DeSantis said at the time.

Massie also claimed he’s taking hits because he does not support sending foreign aid overseas, noting that he and DeSantis differ on foreign policy. 

On the debate stage, Haley continued to attack DeSantis for losing the endorsement of the only Jewish Florida state lawmaker who flipped to Trump in October.

DeSantis defended his record on Israel at the time, telling reporters in New Hampshire it was “pure politics.”

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

GOP candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis once again had a back-and-forth on fracking and off-shore oil drilling during CNN’s GOP debate Wednesday night.

The former South Carolina governor once again claimed DeSantis “banned fracking” on his second day in office. Haley also accused DeSantis of writing a bill that would have reversed the Renewable Fuel Standard, which blends corn-based ethanol (a big Iowa export) with gasoline. 

“Why did he run on the fact that he wanted to ban fracking and ban offshore drilling? Why did he go and author that legislation to eliminate the renewable fuel standard that matters so much?” Haley said.  DeSantis accused Haley of “beating that dead horse.”  

Facts First: Haley is largely right. DeSantis has previously suggested his ban on off-shore drilling as Florida governor came from a state constitutional amendment. DeSantis did not unilaterally ban fracking before the constitutional amendment passed, but an executive order he signed just days after taking office as governor of Florida called for the state to “adamantly oppose all off-shore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.”  As a member of congress, DeSantis also co-sponsored a bill to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard. 

Haley’s broader argument about DeSantis’ position on off-shore drilling and fracking is supported by his past comments and actions. During DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he was asked if he supported a ban on fracking and he emphatically said yes. In January 2020, he also oversaw the purchase of 20,000 acres of Everglades wetlands by the state of Florida to permanently protect them from oil drilling, which wasn’t prompted by the constitutional amendment in any way. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis watches as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley answers a question during a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10, 2024.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney are locked in a heated legal battle after DeSantis hand-selected the board overseeing a special tax district that encompasses Walt Disney World.

DeSantis has accused the company of being too “woke,” including teaching LGBTQ+ issues to children. Disney has repeatedly denied that it has an agenda to teach children about gender or sexual identity.

Disney claims DeSantis is retaliating against the company after it spoke out against the bill that prevents teaching public school children about sexual identity, commonly referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Disney sued DeSantis and the oversight board, accusing them of violating their First Amendment rights to free speech. Florida countersued.

The lawsuit has become something of a political liability for DeSantis, however, with opponents, including former President Donald Trump and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley accusing DeSantis of damaging the state’s relationship with its biggest employer.

At the debate Wednesday night, Haley chastised DeSantis for his actions: “Government doesn’t bully our businesses.”

She’s ahead, he’s ahead. They’re neck and neck.

In the first half of tonight’s debate, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have both clocked in 22 minutes of speaking time.

Follow along here as we track them at the mic.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis once again voiced his support of a flat tax at CNN’s debate but said only “if people are better off than they are now.”

“I want people paying less taxes,” the GOP candidate said, voicing a similar sentiment to what he said at CNN’s town hall last week.

Asked at the debate whether working families would pay the same rate as billionaires, DeSantis said that “working class people” would pay no tax – referencing people who make $40,000 or $50,000. Then it would be a single rate after that level.

However, DeSantis has not specified what the single rate would be, nor what he would do about deductions, exemptions and credits. 

Setting the rate so that it would reduce taxes for all Americans would be tricky.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis have spent so much of this campaign attacking each other and not former President Donald Trump.

That pattern is repeating itself on steroids during CNN’s debate tonight, and it’s almost as if Haley and DeSantis have forgotten that he is running, much less the frontrunner.

Haley is directing people to a website that catalogs what she says are his lies. She even made a joke about how college students should not make a drinking game out of his lies because they’d get drunk. 

DeSantis has repeatedly questioned her judgment on fiscal and foreign policy and landed a canned one-liner about how “you can take the ambassador out of the United Nations, but you can’t take the United Nations out of the ambassador.” In a UN-skeptical crowd, it was an insult. 

Both have avoided mentioning Trump for the majority of the debate.

Neither Haley nor DeSantis — even at this late date in the primary — has made much of an in-depth argument about why Trump, the Republican frontrunner, should not be president.

This is the major struggle for these two candidates – making their cases without completely alienating Trump’s very committed supporters. Right now, they aren’t targeting Trump at all.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

In a tense moment during a debate about the economy, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said America needs to be more energy independent.

“It’s important that we’re producing energy here in the United States,” he said. “I never want to go hat in hand, like Biden has done, to Venezuela or Saudi Arabia and begging for energy.”

Yet the United States is pumping oil at a blistering pace: It produced more oil than any country has in history over the past three months, according to the S&P Global Commodity Insights. But DeSantis is correct that the United States imports oil from other countries (mostly from Canada, although he’s correct that it also imports from Venezuela and Saudi Arabia).

Why is America bringing in oil when it’s pumping more than any country, ever? Because American oil is lighter than Canadian, Venezuelan and Saudi oil. Gasoline and diesel are often lighter but still require a mix of the heavier oils that America can’t produce. Heating oil needs more of the kinds of oils produces overseas.

DeSantis said energy independence is “good for consumers, it’s good to reduce inflation. It’s one of the best things we can do for our national security. So we’ll do that on day one.”

But America can’t possibly become truly energy independent as long as it relies on fossil fuels. It exports more than it imports, according to the US Energy Information Administration. But even if the United States produced more at home, US refining capacity was limited, and all that oil wouldn’t necessarily be able to be turned into useful fuels like gasoline for cars.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

A fiery exchange over Ukraine during tonight’s CNN debate showed how GOP candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis perfectly exemplify the chasm down the middle of the Republican Party on foreign policy.

She advocates traditional, hawkish Ronald Reagan-style internationalism. He is a devotee of Make America Great again isolationist populism. Haley explained why she supports continued military aid to Ukraine as it battles for its survival as an independent nation after Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

“This about preventing war,” Haley said, “This is a pro-American, freedom-loving country.”

She said that if Russia triumphed in Ukraine, US NATO allies in the Baltic and eastern European countries would be next. “You have to be a friend to get a friend,” she said, warning the US should stand by allies it would need in time of crisis – for instance after the September 11 attacks in 2001. And she warned a victory for Russia in Ukraine would also be a win for China.

DeSantis mirrors former President Donald Trump’s skepticism about Ukraine. He asked when the conflict would end and warned the US could spend hundreds of billions more dollars in keeping Kyiv afloat. He accused Haley of caring more “about Ukraine’s border than our southern border” and lambasted her tenure as America’s permanent representative to the United Nations, even though many US allies saw her as a vehicle for former President Donald Trump’s global bull in a China shop act.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said if elected he would prioritize reining in government spending, pointing to the national debt, which currently stands at about $34 trillion.

DeSantis said he would also promote energy production in the United States, which “will be deflationary.” A report from S&P Global Commodity Insights released last month said that the US is producing more oil than any country in history.

And in response to Haley’s punchline that there ought to be an accountant in the White House, DeSantis said it should be a “leader” instead.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

The US unemployment rate is near multi-decade lows, but the economy certainly isn’t in tip-top shape either, with housing unaffordable to many Americans and inflation high.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said the first Covid stimulus package, with a $2.2 trillion price tag, was responsible for fueling inflation, which is currently above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. 

As president, she said she would focus on “clawing back” government spending and vowed to “veto” spending that significantly increases the debt limit.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he would not allow the US to grant amnesty to undocumented people in the country.

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked DeSantis how he would handle the more than 10 million undocumented immigrants already living in the United States and if he would let them stay.

He went on to say that granting amnesty “is going to cause more people to want to come illegally.”

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said the solution to addressing undocumented people living in the US is to deport them.

“You have to deport them,” Haley said, saying that they “cut the line” instead of going through the proper channels.

“You’ve got people who have done this and tried to go through the right way. You can’t have them go and jump the line,” she said.

Haley said that her policy will “get them to stop coming” because then they will be turned away or sent back to their country of origin.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

It is striking to see just two candidates on the stage.

The field was actually quite large last year, when CNN was tracking no less than 13 declared Republican presidential candidates.

Some have suspended their campaigns, as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced tonight he would do. Others, like former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Vivek Ramaswamy, are still technically candidates, but did not make the cut for tonight’s debate. See the full list here.

Bottom line: While it has felt this year like debate no-show Donald Trump has dominated the primary, a lot of voices got the opportunity to take part in this primary process.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News Town Hall on January 10, in Des Moines, Iowa.

While his GOP rivals battle it out in the CNN debate, former President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he didn’t know if former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dropping out of the presidential race changes the dynamic of the primary. 

“I don’t know if it does or not,” Trump said when asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier if he thought Christie dropping out changes the dynamic much. The former president also touted his lead in the polls.

Trump also reacted to Christie being caught on a hot mic before announcing he was dropping out, saying “she’s gonna get smoked” and that “she’s not up to this,” apparently referring to Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

Trump has skipped all 2024 GOP primary debates so far. He declined to participate in CNN’s debate Wednesday night despite qualifying for it.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10, 2024.

The first five minutes of this debate showed why former President Donald Trump’s decision to skip all of the debates is working for him.

Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis immediately launched into the most inflammatory direct exchanges of the campaign so far.

The Florida governor accused his rival of not standing for anything and she accused him of being a serial liar. He responded that when Haley says someone else is lying she’s covering up the truth about her record. She read out a website address where people can fact-check her opponent.

The point here is that Haley and DeSantis are tearing strips off one another – in what looks a lot like a battle for second place.

And no one is mentioning Trump’s 91 criminal charges or four looming trials that make him a high-risk potential GOP nominee despite his success in turning his legal quagmire into a rallying point for grassroots conservative voters.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

Presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis both explained why they believe they are better fit to serve as president in comparison to Donald Trump.

She said she believed the next president should have “moral clarity” and clarified that although she agrees with “a lot” of Trump’s policies, “his way is not my way.”

“I don’t have vengeance. I don’t have vendettas. I don’t take things personally. For me, it’s very much about no drama, no whining, and getting results and getting them done,” Haley said.

DeSantis went on to criticize promises from Trump like eliminating debt and building a wall on the US-Mexico border that he says the former president did not deliver on during his presidency.

“We need to deliver and get this stuff done,” DeSantis said in response to the same question posed to Haley.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in a CNN Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10, 2024.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley kicked off tonight’s CNN debate by taking shots at each other when responding to the question of why voters looking for an alternative to former President Donald Trump should cast their ballots for them instead.

DeSantis said that Trump is running to pursue his issues and Haley is running to pursue “her donor’s issues,” something he has repeated on the campaign trail.

He touted his record in Florida, saying he has “beaten the left” and pointed to things like his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and crime.

In a pointed attack against Haley, DeSantis said America doesn’t “need another mealy-mouth politician.”

“We don’t need a candidate who is going to look down on middle America. We’ve had enough of that,” he said.

Haley responded by arguing that the country needs a “new generational leader” and pitched her previous experience dealing with countries like China and Russia during her time as an ambassador to the United Nations.

She also claimed that DeSantis would lie about her on the debate stage and told voters to go to a website set up by her campaign.

“Rather than have him go and tell you all these lies, you can go to DeSantisLies.com, and look at all those… there’s at least two dozen lies that he has told about me, and you can see where fact-checkers say exactly what’s going to happen,” Haley said, later adding that DeSantis’ campaign is “exploding.”

She also pushed back against DeSantis’ comment that she is running to pursue donor issues, saying, “he is only mad about the donors because the donors used to be with him, but they’re no longer with him now.”

Wednesday night’s debate will be the last chance for GOP candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley to make an impression in front of a national audience before voting begins in the state on Monday.

We’re tracking how long each candidate speaks tonight. Follow along live here. Data will be updated every 5 seconds.

The final GOP debate has kicked off less than a week before the Iowa caucuses.

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are facing off in a CNN debate in Des Moines, Iowa, tonight.

With just days until the state’s pivotal caucuses DeSantis and Haley are battling to become the top alternative to former President Donald Trump, who continues to dominate the GOP primary while pushing for a definitive win in the caucuses.

Trump will again is skip the debate, making a solo appearance on Fox News rather than joining his rivals on stage.

The stage is set ahead of CNN’s Republican Presidential debate with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

Aaron Kall, Director of Debate at the University of Michigan, attends all the presidential debates and is one of the country’s top experts on the topic.

Here’s what he’s looking out for tonight in Iowa from each of the candidates:

Nikki Haley 

Ron DeSantis

The stage is set ahead of CNN’s Republican Presidential Debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10, 2024.

The final Republican primary debate before the Iowa caucuses will be a one-on-one showdown between former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Former President Donald Trump will again be elsewhere, making a solo appearance on Fox News rather than joining his rivals on stage at Drake University in Des Moines.

The debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and hosted by CNN, will provide Haley and DeSantis one final chance to pitch themselves — and make the case against one another and Trump — before the first votes are cast next week.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced he is suspending his 2024 presidential campaign during an event in Windham, New Hampshire, on Wednesday.

Christie — along with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — also failed to make the stage under the heightened qualification threshold, a reflection of the increasingly broad margins separating the contenders from what began as a field of nearly 20 candidates.

Whether and how Haley and DeSantis go after Trump is, as it has been through months of debates, the defining question entering this debate.

Here’s what to watch for:

Read more about what to watch for during Wednesday night’s debate.

Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington bureau chief and senior vice president, walks viewers through what tonight’s debate stage looks like in Iowa.

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley will face off in a CNN debate in Des Moines, Iowa, at 9 p.m. ET.

Watch Feist’s behind-the-scenes walk through from the candidates perspective:

Ballots are counted following the Republican party caucus in precinct 317 in West Des Moines, Iowa, in February 2016.

In November, Americans will once again be filling out ballots to decide who will lead the country for the next four years. These ballots will have a single presidential candidate for each of the major parties, selected earlier in the year by a series of primary elections held in each state. On January 15, Iowa Republicans will kick off the season by holding their version of a primary election – the Iowa caucuses.

Can anyone go to a caucus? Just like with primary elections, some states allow voters to come regardless of party affiliation, some require you to have been a registered party member beforehand, and some use a mix of the two. Iowa Republicans, for example, allow you to sign up to become a party member on the night of the caucuses. Check with your state’s party organization to find out how it will work for you.

Is a caucus the same as a primary? Yes and no. A caucus is put on by a political party as part of the presidential nominating process, but it’s not exactly the same as a primary election. Primary elections are held throughout the day and always use a private ballot. While the form caucuses take varies from state to state, caucuses are typically held at a specific time and often give voters an opportunity to listen to prospective candidate representatives before registering support for their candidate of choice. In some states, voters organize themselves into groups supporting their candidate, thus making their selection known to others.

Why does Iowa matter? Iowa represents the first major test of a campaign’s ability to communicate with voters on the national stage. As the first state in each cycle to have their primary, it catches candidates while their campaign funds are full and their energy is fresh. As a small state, Iowa also pitches itself as an opportunity for less well-funded candidates to have success campaigning on the ground. Despite the spotlight, the results of the Iowa caucuses have not consistently predicted who will eventually become the party’s nominee.

What are Democrats doing? In past years, Iowa Democrats have held caucuses where voters physically split up into groups (sometimes multiple times) to indicate their support for a candidate. This year, Iowa Democrats will meet on January 15 to conduct party business; however, due to changes in the Democratic nominating calendar, they won’t vote for presidential candidates. Instead, that vote will take place by mail, ending on March 5.

See more — including illustrations — about how a caucus works

CNN’s Ethan Cohen contributed reporting to this post.

Former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie speaks with employees at Turbocam, a machining company in December 2023 in New Hampshire.

Chris Christie’s campaign will be “going dark” for a few days after the former New Jersey governor announced that he is dropping out of the GOP presidential race on Wednesday, said senior adviser Maria Comella.

Any concerns Christie has about the state of the race were made clear in his speech at the event in New Hampshire, Comella said.

She wouldn’t comment directly on remarks that appeared to be heard on a hot mic of the livestream of the town hall. Christie was heard saying: “She’s gonna get smoked and you and I both know it. She’s not up to this,” which was an apparent reference to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

No decision has been made on who Christie may or may not endorse in the near future.

Christie posted on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after suspending his campaign.

Make America Great Again Inc., the leading super PAC backing Donald Trump, released a statement on Chris Christie Wednesday after he announced he was suspending his presidential bid.

MAGA Inc. has recently poured millions of dollars into attacking GOP candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in New Hampshire. 

A major question now is whether Christie’s supporters in the state will now back Haley following the suspension of his campaign. If so, that could be problematic for Trump, who has also been escalating attacks on Haley in recent weeks in an effort to blunt her momentum in New Hampshire.

What other players in the race are saying: Haley, who said Christie has been a friend for many years, commended the former governor on a “hard-fought campaign.”

“Voters have a clear choice in this election: the chaos and drama of the past or a new generation of conservative leadership. I will fight to earn every vote, so together we can build a strong and proud America,” she said in a statement.

GOP candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday commended Christie for speaking “the hard truth that some did not want to hear,” in reaction to him ending his presidential bid earlier today.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed Haley, said Christie’s decision to end his campaign is coming “at a critical time.”

“Defeating Donald Trump requires a consolidated field and Nikki Haley has the momentum to do so,” he said.

On Tuesday, Christie called Sununu a liar for suggesting that Christie’s steering committee was talking about him dropping out.

CNN’s Kanneth Polson, Brian Rokus and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed reporting to this post.

This post has been updated with comments from Haley and Sununu.

The stage is set ahead of CNN’s Republican Presidential debate with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.

Republican rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis clash in the 2024 campaign’s first head-to-head debate Wednesday, each searching for the critical blow that could position them to become the sole viable challenger to Donald Trump.

Five days before the Iowa caucuses, the CNN debate represents a final chance for the duo to change the dynamics before the first voting of a landmark election in which the ex-president is the favorite to win his third straight GOP nomination.

Trump, as always pursuing a strategy that confounds political orthodoxy, is boycotting the event, reflecting a campaign that’s been routed more through courts hearing his multiple legal cases than traditional stops on the road to the White House.

That juxtaposition was in evidence Tuesday, when Trump showed up in a Washington, DC, appeals court to hear his lawyers argue that he should enjoy absolute presidential immunity over his effort to overturn the 2020 election. The case underscored the stakes of the 2024 election as it shed light on Trump’s perception of an all-powerful presidency without constraints — an omen for a possible second term.

The only feasible way that the ex-president, still the dominant figure in the GOP, could face a true test in the primary is if all the Republican opposition to him is corralled by a single candidate. Unless that happens within days, the hopes of those Republicans looking for someone else could be dashed again, just as when Trump rose to power in 2016 from a splintered field. Haley has narrowed the gap with Trump in New Hampshire to single digits, according to a new CNN poll, but he still has a meaningful lead in the state’s primary, which is just a week after Iowa.

Tonight’s debate: Wednesday’s debate could therefore represent an important moment. Nothing is decided with voters yet to give their verdicts. But Trump’s dominant position shows that neither Haley nor DeSantis has managed to answer the key question of the campaign: how to exploit his 91 criminal charges and assault on American democracy on January 6, 2021, without alienating GOP voters who have been sympathetic to him. Their failure to do so is a symptom of a party long in Trump’s thrall and the fact that many grassroots conservatives have bought into his false claims of voter fraud in 2020 and agree that his legal tangle is the result of political persecution.

Keep reading Collinson’s analysis ahead of the debate.

Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey speaks at a campaign event at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire, in December 2023.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday that he is suspending his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

After the 2016 race, Christie said he made a promise to himself and his wife that he would never let ambition control his decision making.

“Campaigns are run to win, that’s why we do them,” Christie said. “My goal has never been to be just a voice against the hate, and the division and the selfishness of what our party has become under Donald Trump — it’s also been to win the nomination and defeat Joe Biden and restore our party and our country to a new place of hope and optimism in this country.”

The decision marks the exit of the most outspoken critic of the former president in the GOP primary.

Christie said he has been in this race “to tell the truth” about “what’s really at stake” and about Trump from the beginning. 

Christie criticized lawmakers who have endorsed the former president and said the Republican Party needs to change in order to heal divisions in the country.

“If we ever have a hope of restoring this party to be a governing party of principles, we have to be willing to do the hard work and take some of the heat that come with it,” he said.

The former New Jersey governor told voters that the “character of the candidate” is the most important issue they should take into account when going to the polls.

More on Christie’s campaign: Christie launched his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination at a June town hall in New Hampshire, drawing stark contrasts with Trump.

Wednesday’s announcement comes just one day after Christie defended his White House bid and pushed back on New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s recent suggestion that he had no path forward to the nomination.

Despite suspending his campaign for president tonight, Christie’s name will remain on the New Hampshire primary ballot.

CNN’s David Chalian, Jeff Zeleny and Ethan Cohen contributed reporting to this post.

Journalists watch former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announce the suspension of his presidential campaign in the press room at Drake University’s Olmsted Center ahead of CNN’s Republican Presidential Debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10, 2024.

Chris Christie, ahead of the announcement that he is suspending his campaign for president, appeared to be heard on a hot mic of the livestream of the town hall in audio obtained by The Recount.

“You know, and she’s gonna get smoked and you and I both know it. She’s not up to this,” Christie can be heard in an apparent reference to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Christie could also be heard saying that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called him.

“Desantis called me, petrified that I would,” Christie says before the audio appeared to cut out.

A source familiar with that call disputed Christie’s characterization of DeSantis, calling it “categorically false.”

DeSantis called Christie to say whatever he decided to do, DeSantis appreciated his role in the race, according to two sources familiar with the call. 

The same source told CNN that Christie, at the time, did not indicate to DeSantis that he was dropping out. Christie was defiant and bashed Nikki Haley, echoing what Christie was later heard saying on the hot mic, the source said. NBC News first reported details of the call. 

Christie’s New Hampshire campaign chair Wayne Macdonald confirmed to CNN that he was the person that Christie was talking to on the hot mic.

It was in a conversation before the event after Christie had informed him and other members of his state leadership team about the decision.

CNN has also reached out to the Haley campaign for comment.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will make a “major announcement” at a 5 p.m. ET event in Windham, New Hampshire, according to a source familiar with his plans.

The Biden campaign sought to focus the 2024 conversation on abortion rights ahead of a CNN debate with Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis and a town hall with former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, painting all three GOP candidates as “extreme” on reproductive rights — an issue that the campaign has said will be a “central pillar” of Biden’s reelection strategy.

“During tonight’s debate and Fox town hall voters are going to witness three MAGA extremists proudly tout an anti-freedom agenda that poses a dire threat to American women to the fundamental right to make their own health care decisions,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez told reporters.

The Wednesday focus underscores the campaign’s belief that abortion will be an energizing issue for both its base and independent voters, a messaging priority that will continue to be amplified in the coming months.

While the bulk of the attacks were against Trump, Chavez Rodriguez accused all of the candidates of posing “the same cataclysmic threat to our right to make our own health care decisions.” 

While the Biden campaign is planning and expecting for Trump to be the eventual GOP nominee, it has repeatedly attempted to align the other Republican candidates with the former president.

“President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris are the only candidates who will protect a woman’s right to choose,” she said.

Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speaks to voters during a campaign stop at the SkyView Vineyard & Event Venue on January 10 in Indianola, Iowa.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy picked up an endorsement from an Iowa state legislator who had previously backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to his campaign.

Iowa State Rep. Steven Holt formally endorsed Ramaswamy at an event jointly hosted by the candidate’s campaign and grassroots activists protesting the construction of carbon capture pipelines at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines on Wednesday, according to a post on social media from Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Holt had previously supported DeSantis and attended events organized by the DeSantis campaign as recently as November. 

In December, Holt appeared alongside Ramaswamy at an event focused on the carbon capture pipeline issue.

Holt’s endorsement marks the second endorsement from an Iowa state legislator for Ramaswamy in the past 24 hours. Iowa Rep. Jeff Shipley endorsed him Tuesday evening at a campaign event in West Des Moines, Iowa. 

President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, on January 5.

The Biden campaign is taking aim at former President Donald Trump over the economy, blasting his recent prediction that the economy will crash – and his hope it would happen before he would take office, should he win a second term.

Biden’s campaign aides see the GOP frontrunner’s comments as an opening to push their economic arguments amid their own struggles with voters frustrated with the president’s handling of the economy. Plans are underway to lean into Trump’s comments, including a paid media campaign for Wednesday around CNN’s Republican Presidential Primary Debate and Fox News’ town hall with Trump, a source familiar with the discussions said.

“Donald Trump should just say he doesn’t give a damn about people, because that’s exactly what he’s telling the American people when he says he hopes the economy crashes,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement first provided to CNN. “In his relentless pursuit of power and retribution, Donald Trump is rooting for a reality where millions of Americans lose their jobs and live with the crushing anxiety of figuring out how to afford basic needs.”

Trump made the prediction in an interview Monday as he looks to sharpen his own economic arguments – including against Biden – heading into the Republican primary contests, which kick off with the Iowa caucuses on Monday.

“When there’s a crash, I hope it’s going to be during this next 12 months because I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover. The one president – I just don’t want to be Herbert Hoover,” Trump said in an interview that aired Monday on the right-wing platform Lindell TV.

The stock market crashed during President Herbert Hoover’s first year in office in 1929, setting the course for the Great Depression. Biden already has turned to making a comparison between Hoover and Trump during his campaign events.

“He’s the only president other than Herbert Hoover who actually lost jobs in a four-year period,” Biden said at a campaign fundraiser in December. “And that’s why I often think of him as Donald ‘Herbert Hoover’ Trump.”

The White House piled on to the criticism on Tuesday with White House spokesperson Andrew Bates saying, “A commander in chief’s duty is to always put the American people first; never to hope that hard-working families suffer economic pain for their own political benefit.”

It marks the campaign’s latest effort to ramp up their attacks on Trump, who they view as their likely opponent in November. On Friday, Biden opened the year with a forceful condemnation of his predecessor, painting him as a direct threat to democracy who puts his own political power over the will of the people.

Read more here.

Former President Donald Trump and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. 

With just days until the Iowa caucuses, former President Donald Trump and his team have shifted to targetingGOP presidential rival Nikki Haley as they seek to slow her recent momentum before the first votes are cast this primary season.

The turn to Trump’s one-time ambassador to the United Nations marks a significant change in strategy for the former president and his campaign. The front-runner had spent the better part of the last year solely attacking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had long been considered his top GOP challenger. However, recent polls have shown an unmistakable surge for the former South Carolina governor, particularly in New Hampshire, where a new CNN survey showed Trump’s lead shrinking to single digits.

But even though he has publicly sought to downplay recent polls – and he still holds a commanding lead over the GOP field elsewhere – Trump’s team is taking Haley’s rise seriously, with the former president homing in on her stances on immigration as he seeks to emphasize his own hardline proposals.

During a series of campaign events in Iowa last weekend, Trump leveled his sharpest attacks on Haley yet. And after stopping all ad buys attacking DeSantis, Trump’s campaign launched its first television ad directly taking on Haley on immigration in the Granite State last week. The leadingsuper PAC supporting Trump released its version on the same topic onMonday. Together, they are spending a combined $4.5 million on ads attacking Haley in New Hampshire, attempting to tie her to President Joe Biden’s policies and criticizing her rhetoric on immigration. A Trump adviser said to expect a continued focus on immigration, as they believe it is a top issue for voters in the state.

Trump has made border security and curbing illegal immigration a key part of his White House bid and has escalated his anti-immigrant rhetoric in recent campaign speeches and social media posts.

The Trump campaign blasted out an email on Monday highlighting Haley’s opposition to the travel ban Trump imposed on several Muslim-majority countries while president — a ban he’s vowed to reinstate if elected in 2024 — pointing to Haley’s comments in 2015 that Americans shouldn’t describe illegal immigrants as criminals, and falsely claiming Haley opposed the construction of a border wall.

Read more about Trump’s strategy

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participates in a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, appearing at the Associated General Contractors of Iowa, said that his supporters are “motivated people” despite the expected subzero temperatures that are forecast for Monday, the day of the caucuses.

“Negative 10, negative 20, you know, we’re expecting that,” he said, adding he does not think it will deter folks from showing up to support him.

He also dismissed polls showing former President Donald Trump with a steady lead, saying they are not reflective of what will happen on Monday.

Vehicles drive slowly along I-80 in Des Moines on Tuesday.

“On the ground, who’s delivered a message? Who’s showing up to answer questions and showing up to debate,” DeSantis said. “I’m the only one that’s really done all that. I think it’s gonna pay off for us on Monday night.”

“We have some true believers, which I think is really, really good and, you know, the media, you know, they kind of they have their narrative,” DeSantis added.

No Labels launches as a political organization on December 13, 2010 at Columbia University in New York City.

Supporters of a third-party presidential ticket are forming a super PAC to support a potential candidacy backed by the group No Labels, which has spent months laying the groundwork for a bid.

The group, New Leaders ’24, is expected to file paperwork with the FEC today, and will be led by Kathleen Shanahan, a Republican and former chief of staff to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The formation of the group was first reported by the New York Times.

The group has $2 million in donor commitments and aims to raise as much as $300 million if the third-party ticket is launched in the coming months, Stutzman told CNN, adding that if No Labels decides to go ahead with its plans, “money won’t be an issue” for a “strong, viable ticket.”

Stutzman said that the group “has had conversations” with potential donors, but declined to name any individuals who’ve made funding commitments.

Sen. Joe Manchin, left, and former Gov. of Utah Jon Huntsman speak at an event sponsored by No Labels in July in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Several prominent current and former elected officials with bipartisan credentials are currently affiliated with the group, including outgoing West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has stoked speculation about a potential presidential campaign; former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who passed on running in the 2024 Republican presidential primary; and former Sen. Joe Lieberman, first elected as a Democrat, but who later left the party after losing a 2006 primary before going on to win the general election as an independent. 

Republican presidential candidate and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks to a crowd in Waukee, Iowa, on Tuesday.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s campaign released a digital video attacking GOP rival Ron DeSantis ahead of Wednesday night’s CNN debate in Iowa. 

The video is the latest example of the intensifying feud between both GOP hopefuls as they battle to emerge as the best alternative to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.

The video highlights the repeated attack ads from the DeSantis campaign, making claims about her record on China and support for Hillary Clinton, which she often debunks on the campaign trail.

“Have you noticed something different about Ron DeSantis lately? Yeah. We noticed too. Ron DeSantis is lying about Nikki Haley. I wonder why,” the video said. It then went on to show an assortment of media clips touting Haley’s recent surge in polls.

“Now it makes sense. Ron DeSantis: Losing and lying,” the video said.

It also features a clip from DeSantis’ joint interview with NBC News and the Des Moines Register last week in which he refused to list which states he could win after the Iowa caucuses.

“If these fellas have to lie to win, they don’t deserve to win. So, if they’re going to lie about me, I’m going to tell the truth about them,” Haley said as the nearly 90-second video ended.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a town hall campaign event in Rochester, New Hamphire, on Tuesday.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie urged New Hampshire voters on Wednesday to “vote based on character.” 

“I beseech you, I beg you to vote based on character. All the rest of the things can change. Character doesn’t change,” he said at an event at River Woods Retirement Community.

He mostly went after the Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in his opening remarks, calling him “unfit” to serve based on his conduct — a line which received applause. He also brought up former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and his other rivals raising their hand in the first debate when asked if they would vote for Trump if he was the nominee and a convicted felon.

This comes as Christie has pushed back on calls for him to drop out and allow votes for a Trump alternative to consolidate behind Haley.

Voters pass a sign outside a polling site in Warwick, Rhode Island, in November 2022.

Before Americans pick a president in November, they get to pick the candidates in a series of primaries and caucuses. It’s a wonky process that has evolved over the course of the country’s history and continues to evolve today.

Here’s what to know:

What is a primary? It’s an election to select candidates, usually for a particular political party, to appear on the general election ballot.

Who is running in the primaries? For Democrats, Joe Biden is the sitting president and he’s running for reelection, which makes him the incumbent candidate.

Incumbents rarely face serious competition. There are some Democrats challenging him in the Democratic primaries, including Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and author Marianne Williamson. But they have not yet generated much support, at least in opinion polls.

For Republicans, former President Donald Trump has long been the front-runner, meaning he appears in polling to have a lead over five other candidates who are still in the race.

Trump, as a former president, also projects some of the power of an incumbent, although he lost the last election. His is the first serious campaign by a former president for his party’s nomination since Teddy Roosevelt tried and failed to reclaim the Republican nomination in 1912.

Anti-Trump Republicans appear to be interested in two main options: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Haley has polled better in New Hampshire and DeSantis has focused on Iowa. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson have had more trouble gaining support.

Who can vote in a presidential primary? It varies by state. Primaries are generally conducted in polling places like any other election.

But some states have “open primaries,” meaning any registered voter can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. Other states have “closed primaries,” meaning only people registered in a particular political party — usually Republicans or Democrats — can vote in that party’s primary.

Others offer voting day registration, which essentially opens the primaries to most registered voters.

When do the presidential primaries occur? The first date on the presidential primary calendar is January 15, although it is not technically for a primary.

On that dayin Iowa, Republican Party members gather at events called caucuses, where they hear speeches from a campaign’s supporters and then vote for their preferred candidate. Unlike primaries in other states, these events are overseen by state parties and are not conducted like normal elections.

Democrats will also gather that day in Iowa, but their vote for president will be conducted by mail ending on March 5.

In some states, presidential primaries are conducted on one date and primaries for other offices are conducted later in the year. See the full calendar.

After Iowa, New Hampshire holds its “first-in-the-nation” primary on January 23, although Democrats are not sanctioning the event. Democrats want their first official primary to take place on February 3in South Carolina, which is a more racially diverse state, and the first place Biden won a primary in 2020. That will then be followed by Nevada’s primary on February 6.

The calendar spreads out from there. Republicans compete in Nevada’s caucuses on February 8 and South Carolinaon February 24.

Read more about the 2024 primaries.

Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.

Former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis qualified for CNN’s Republican presidential primary debate tonight in Iowa. The debate is a final opportunity for candidates to make an impression in front of a national audience before voting begins.

Haley and DeSantis have said they will participate in the debate, which will take place Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. It will be moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

Trump, who holds a commanding lead over the rest of the field and has skipped the first four 2024 GOP primary debates, will instead participate in a Fox News town hall in Iowa.

Just days before the Iowa caucuses kick off the GOP’s nominating race, the debate will be a one-on-one clash between two candidates vying to emerge as the party’s lone, clear alternative to the former president.

DeSantis’ path to the GOP nomination likely depends on a strong showing in Iowa’s January 15 caucuses. Haley, meanwhile, has climbed in polls in New Hampshire, where a strong performance in the January 23 primary there could also prove as a springboard ahead of her home state’s February 24 primary.

To qualify for participation in the Iowa debate, candidates must receive at least 10% in three separate national and/or Iowa polls of Republican caucusgoers or primary voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting, according to the network. One of the three polls must be an approved CNN poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers. The qualifying window for polls to count toward the Iowa debate closed at noon Tuesday.

Three current candidates who have appeared on stage in some previous debates — entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — did not meet those qualification requirements.

CNN will hold a second debate on January 21 in New Hampshire at New England College, ahead of that state’s primary. The location was originally announced as St. Anselm College.

People cast ballots on electronic voting machines in Los Angeles in November 2022.

In today’s closely balanced and highly polarized political environment, the line between victory and defeat for the two parties has grown so thin that control of the White House and Congress typically pivots on the small number of contests within reach for both sides. That means a tiny handful of races this year will likely serve as the tipping points that set the direction for a nation of nearly 335 million people.

Close elections that leave power in Washington teetering between the two parties have become a defining feature of modern American politics. Neither party has maintained simultaneous control of the White House and both congressional chambers for more than four consecutive years since 1968 – after one party or the other enjoyed such unified control almost constantly for the seven decades before that. The Senate and House are now split almost exactly in half between the two parties. Polls likewise show that voters divide almost evenly about a potential rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

It’s premature to predict which party will emerge from the 2024 election with the upper hand. But it’s not too soon to identify the contests that will most likely function as the tipping points in 2024.

Read up on the races that will determine the nation’s direction in 2024.

Hunter Biden sits with his attorney Abbe Lowell, right, as he makes a surprise appearance at a House Oversight Committee meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

House Republicans will begin the process of holding Hunter Biden in criminal contempt of Congress on Wednesday for not complying with a congressional subpoena to sit for a closed-door deposition last month, and the president’s son is unexpectedly on Capitol Hill.

Both the House Oversight and House Judiciary committees, which subpoenaed the president’s son for his testimony as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, are holding separate markups of the contempt resolution. Hunter Biden was spotted in the halls of Congress with his lawyers outside the Oversight Committee hearing, creating a tumultuous scene inside and outside the committee room as lawmakers debated what to do.

The allegations at the core of the Republican-led investigation stem from unproven claims that the president was involved in or financially benefited from his son’s foreign business dealings, making the president’s son a crucial witness for their probe.

Instead of sitting for his deposition, Hunter Biden held a news conference outside the Capitol and has said he will only testify in a public setting. House Republicans maintained they were willing to hold a public hearing with the president’s son, but only after he sat for a private interview. After the younger Biden did not appear for his deposition, House Oversight Chair James Comer and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan issued a joint statement announcing they would begin contempt proceedings.

The pair of markups on Wednesday kick off a lengthy process and underscore that the Republican effort to obtain testimony from the president’s son will remain difficult. If the contempt resolution passes out of committee, it is referred to the full House for a contempt vote.

If an eventual House floor vote succeeds, the Department of Justice, which is already pursuing two criminal cases against the president’s son, would have to determine whether to prosecute the president’s son for evading a congressional subpoena.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attends a campaign event in Grimes, Iowa, on Sunday.

A super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign launched a new ad Wednesday seizing on rival Nikki Haley’s remarks that New Hampshire “corrects” the results of the Iowa caucuses, looking to undermine her standing with Iowa voters with less than a week to go until the caucuses.

“Nikki Haley told New Hampshire what she really thinks about Iowa,” the ad’s narrator begins before playing the clip of Haley at a New Hampshire town hall last week, when she delivered the remark to a laughing crowd.

“You know, Iowa starts it, you know that you correct it,” Haley says in the clip.

“New Hampshire corrects Iowa?” the ad’s narrator continues. “Nikki doesn’t respect you. She thinks New England knows better.” 

“Why should Iowans support another fake politician who disrespects them?” the narrator adds. “How can you trust Nikki Haley when she doesn’t trust you?” 

The latest ad, from Fight Right, reflects the intensifying race to the finish in Iowa, with DeSantis and his allies seizing on Haley’s remark and using it to portray her as inauthentic. The DeSantis campaign launched its own closing ad highlighting the gaffe, and DeSantis has referenced the comment repeatedly on the trail. 

Haley also faced questions about the remark at a CNN Town Hall last week, and she downplayed its significance.

“Look, we have done 150-plus town halls. You got to have some fun too. So, we’re at this town hall, we had 700 people in New Hampshire. We’re cutting up, and yes, I said that. But, keep in mind, I’m from an early state. South Carolina always knew that Iowa is going to be the first caucus, New Hampshire is going to be first in the nation, and South Carolina wanted to be first in the south. It was a pact, it’s still a pact that the three states, at least on the Republican side, had that we were going to take that,” Haley said.

A husband and wife show their dueling support with campaign signs in front of their home in Winthrop, Iowa, on December 20.

The Republican presidential candidates are all vying to take on President Joe Biden in November 2024. But first, they’re competing in the GOP primaries and caucuses, which begin in January, to emerge as the party’s nominee.

The first event of the Republican primary calendar, the Iowa caucuses, will provide an initial moment of truth for former President Donald Trump’s bid and could help Republicans tired of Trump decide which of his challengers to rally behind.

The new Democratic presidential primary calendar upends decades of tradition in which Iowa and New Hampshire were the first two states to hold nominating contests and moves up South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan. President Joe Biden has argued the new nominating order would better reflect the diversity of the nation and the Democratic Party.

Here’s a look at key dates in the primary race coming up in the first few months of the year:

January:

February:

March:

Access the full 2024 election calendar.

Snow falls as a man walks past caucus signs in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday.

The first test of the 2024 presidential election hits January 15, when Iowa Republicans gather to caucus in high school gyms, community buildings and churches.

The first event of the party primary calendar for the past half century, the caucuses will provide an initial moment of truth for former President Donald Trump’s comeback bid and could help Republicans tired of Trump decide which of his challengers to rally behind.

What is a caucus? Caucuses are not primaries. Primary elections are conducted like other US elections – at polling places and by secret ballot, heldthroughout the day and usually also with absentee and early voting.

Caucuses are something else. They are essentially meetings run by political parties, convened at a specific time – 7 p.m. CT in Iowa. Since it isn’t a traditional election, a candidate’s performance in Iowa is often viewed as a test of his or her campaign’s organizational strength.

How are votes cast at a caucus? For Republicans, surrogates for candidates give final pitches after the caucuses get underway and then paper ballots are distributed to caucusgoers. They’re counted on-site, and the results are shared with the party.

Does the winner in Iowa usually win the White House? In an open year, when there’s no incumbent running for a party’s nomination, Iowa has a spotty record at picking the president, particularly for Republicans.

Only one Republican, George W. Bush in 2000, won a contested Iowa face-off and then went on to win the White House.

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 and went on to win the White House. Jimmy Carter was the top Democrat in 1976, but he placed second to a slate of“uncommitted” delegates. Still, the momentum propelled him to the party nomination and ultimately the White House.

Some notable losses include when the RepublicanRonald Reagan placed second in 1980to George H.W. Bush, who ultimately became his running mate. Reagan, interestingly, had won the Iowa caucuses in 1976, although then-President Gerald Ford won the GOPnomination and subsequentlylost the White House.

The elderBush, despite winning the caucuses in 1980, lost them in 1988 to then-Sen. Bob Dole even though Bush was running as the sitting vice president. Bush went on to secure the GOP nomination.

And Trump, although he’s the favorite in pre-caucus polling this year, lost the Iowa caucuses in 2016 to Cruz.

Read more about the Iowa caucuses here.

Nikki Haley greets voters during a campaign town hall in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on December 28.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has trimmed former President Donald Trump’s lead in the Republican primary race in New Hampshire to single digits, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire.

Trump still holds a meaningful lead in the poll, with the backing of 39% of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire compared to Haley’s 32%. The rest of the field lags far behind in the poll, with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 12%, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 8%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 5% and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at less than 1%.

Support for Haley has risen 12 percentage points since the last CNN/UNH poll in November, continuing an upward trajectory that began last summer, while her opponents –including Trump – have seen their numbers remain stable or tick slightly downward since autumn.

Haley’s support has grown dramatically among those voters registered as undeclared, New Hampshire’s term for independent registrants – she’s up 18 points with this group since November. It has also grown 20 points among those who are ideologically moderate. Those gains come amid a push from her campaign in the state, including an endorsement last month from New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. The Granite State’s GOP primary is January 23.

The strength of Haley’s challenge to Trump in the state speaks to the contours of New Hampshire’s primary electorate, in which those more moderate and less staunchly partisan voters make up a larger share of participants than they do in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, which are happening next week. Trump has crossed the 50% mark in most recent polling on the Iowa caucuses, and he holds wider majorities in national polls on the Republican nomination.

A little more than 4 in 10 likely primary voters in the CNN/UNH poll are undeclared voters who plan to vote in the GOP primary (45%), rather than registered Republicans. About one-third describe themselves as moderates (32%).

Read more about the poll here.