state laws put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty for getting an abortion. let's focus on how to save as many babies as we can and support as many moms as we can and stop the judgment. >> i'm 100% pro-life. i have a 100% pro-life voting record. i would certainly as president of the united states have a 15-week national limit. >> i'm actually enjoying the ukraine hawks quietly delicately tiptoe back from their position as this thing has unwound into a disaster. >> this is china trying to further divide the united states of america. tiktok should be banned because they are poisoning american minds, and i would do it week one. >> those were some of the highlights from last night's republican presidential debate, an event that was less chaotic than the previous two. we'll have much more from that shedown in miami straight ahead. plus, we'll take a look at what impact if any the debate could have on donald trump's overwhelming lead in the primary polls. and also ahead the latest on a significant development in the middle east. negotiations are under way to release more hostages who are being held by hamas. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this thursday, november 9th. somehow it is only thursday. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we'll begin this busy show with the third republican primary debate. it was last night and hosted by nbc news. the five candidates on the stage last night in miami were ron desantis, nikki haley, tim scott, vivek ramaswamy, and chris christie. they sparred over several issues from israel's war with hamas to abortion. and just like the first two debates donald trump was a no show. he instead held a rally in a nearby miami suburb. so for the first question of the night, the candidates were asked why they should be the republican nominee for president instead of trump. here's what they had to say. >> and donald trump's a lot different guy than he was in 2016. he owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance. he should explain why he didn't have mexico pay for the border wall. he should explain why he racked up so much debt. he should explain why he didn't drain the swamp. and he said republicans were going to get tired of winning. well, we saw last night i'm sick of republicans losing. >> i can tell you that i think he was the right president at the right time. i don't think he's the right president now. i think that he put us $8 trillion in debt and our kids are never going to forgive us for that. >> anybody who's going to be spending the next year and a half of their life focusing on keeping themselves out of jail or courtrooms cannot lead this party or country. >> we need a president and a candidate who will actually help our base solidify and attract independent voters into our party. >> absent from that clip was vivek ramaswamy who used that time to attack the debate's moderators instead of trump. we won't be showing you that. now for the two top polling candidates on the debate stage former ambassador nikki haley and former -- florida governor ron desantis. >> they want to talk about chinese land ten years ago. yes i bought a chinese glass company ten years ago to south carolina, but, ron, you are the chair of your economic development agency that as of last week said that florida is the ideal place for chinese businesses. not only that, you have a company that is a manufacturer of chinese military planes. you have it. they are expanding two training sites at two of your airports now, one which is 12 miles away from a naval base. then you have another company that's expanding, and they were just invaded by the department of homeland security. so mine was ten years ago, yours was six months ago. >> i didn't give them anything. >> what's your story? >> and i abolished that agency she's talk about. enterprise florida, we abolished and we banned china. >> the republican pretzdential hopefuls also grappled with the party's position on abortion rights following overwhelming victories for repructive freedom across the country in tuesday's elections including both ohio and virginia. the five candidates on stage could not agree how the party should best handle the issue including governor desantis who signed a six-week abortion ban in florida. >> you got to work from the bottom up. you've got to do a better job on these referenda. i think of the stuff that's happened today the pro-life cause, they have been caught flat-footed on these referenda, and they have been losing the referenda. a lot of the people who were voting for the referenda are republicans who would vote for a republican candidate. so you've got to understand how to do that. >> so let's find consensus. let's agree on what -- how we can ban late-term abortions. let's make sure we encourage adoptions and good quality adoptions. stop the judgment. we don't need to divide america over this issue anymore. >> we need a 15-week federal limit. three out of four americans agree with a 15-week limit. 47 out of 50 countries in europe agree with a 15-week limit. i would challenge both nikki and ron to join me at a 15-week limit. >> here's the missing ingredient in this movement, sexual responsibility for men. we live in an era of reliable genetic paternity tests that are 100% reliable, so we can say men deserve more responsibility, so we can tell women we're all in this together. it's not men's rights versus women's rights. it's about human rights. >> this country state by state to make the call for themselves. now, it's going to lead to a lot of divergence. in oklahoma you can't get an abortion unless the life of the mother is at risk. in my home state of new jersey it goes up to nine months you can get an abortion. i find that morally reprehensible, but that is what the people of our state have voted for, and we should not short circuit that process until every state's people have the right to weigh in on it. >> joining us now health care reporter for -- on capitol hill for politico. thank you so. for being here this morning. let's talk first of all broadly about the debate last night. obviously it comes as all of these candidates 10, 30, 40 points behind donald trump. a lot of attention about nikki haley. she and desantis seem to be sparring to take the title as alternative. do you think either of them delivered any wins last night? >> despite the debate taking place in an alternate universe where donald trump isn't absolutely beating the pants off of them, i don't think anything really changed. the people who are struggling continued to struggle. the people seeming to do well and improve like nikki haley are continuing to do so. she got a lot of attacks, which, you know, may help her but indicates that people thinks she's doing well. and, you know, with fewer candidates you did get into a little more substance, and you did get into some of these areas where they don't agree with one another including abortion, so that was a little bit revealing as well. >> i think it was also revealing how much they dislike vivek ramaswamy and particularly nikki haley. yeah, you mention abortion. and that's been one of your focuses at politico. and it loomed large on the debate stage coming on the heels of the win tuesday. give us your sense what's taking place with republicans as they try to navigate this issue which is going to be so important next year, too. >> on the debate stage the divisions on the broader conservative movement were on full display. we're now more than a year and a half after the overturning of roe v. wade, and nikki haley talked about consensus. we're so far from that. there's not even consensus among republicans how to move forward. there's not consensus on whether this should be something states decide or federal government steps in. there's not consensus where in pregnancy to impose a ban or a limit. so you just have this tension about how to move forward, and that was also on display in the election results as well. >> look, let's go to the other side of this now and talk about the democrats and how they view the issue. certainly triumphant this week. democratic strategists, and white house aides i've talked to in the last day or two, they certainly believe abortion will be a big part of 2024 as well. tell us which states might be entertaining similar abortion measures next year and how democrats think it'll factor into a presidential election. >> absolutely. so, you know, this strategy of putting it directly on the ballot before voters has proven so successful, and you've had democrats on both offense and defense last year, abut in every single state that's voted so far most recently in ohio, the pro-abortion rights side has won and won decisively. and it's just really striking that in ohio where you had a republican governor campaigning against the measure, you had republican state officials doing everything they can pulling out all the stops to make the vote harder, to change the ballot language that was before voters. and still it won overwhelmingly. and so this is only fueling the desire to put it on the ballot in more states. so we're watching florida, watching missouri, arizona, nevada, could be even more. >> a couple swing states on that list. doing great work covering the topic for politico. health care reporter on capitol hill, alice miranda olstin, thank you for joining us this morning. as we mention just a few minutes down the road from the debate stage, donald trump held a counter programming event last night. at a nearby rally the republican primary front-runner blasted his gop opponents and president biden while offering kind words for authoritaris around the world. for the third time in the last few weeks trump incorrectly stated last night that hungary shares a border with both russia and ukraine. you can see on that map not even close. in a separate moment he also appeared to confuse north korean leader kim jong-un for chinese president xi jinping when he claimed that kim ruled over 1.4 billion people, which just happens to be the exact size of china's population. >> the very great head of a country, victor orban, hungary very powerful. told me a lot of things, great guy. you deal with all these people, the press hates when i say they're smart. he said they were smart. well, what am i supposed to say? they're stupid people? kim jong-un leads 1.4 billion people, and there's no doubt about who the boss is. >> we're happy to provide that fact check for you. after that rally, a trump campaign spokesperson announced that yet again the former president planned to skip the next republican primary debate that's slated for december in alabama. all right, we'll have more on the debate later in our show, but next we'll go through testimony from ivanka trump in the civil fraud trial against her family's business. plus an update on the historic actor strike that's been going on for almost four months. those stories and a check on sports and weather as we take a look at predawn washington, d.c. we'll be right back. e a look at predawn washington, d.c. we'll be right back. hello. it is so fantastamazing for me to see other trolls. is this how people feel when they meet me? yes. poppy, i'm your sister. my what? whoo. did you just braid my hair? 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(vo) this holiday turn any iphone, in any condition, into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium, apple tv 4k, and six months of apple one. all three on us. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch it's mobile providers with ver for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? have we piqued your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible. welcome back. as we take a look at some of the morning's other top headlines, ivanka trump took the stand yesterday as the last trump family member ordered to testify in the new york state $250 miion civil fraud. unlike her brothers and father, ivanka is not a defendant in the case. she left the trump organization in 2017 to work at the white house, and a judge ruled the statute of limitations to charge her has lapsed. but ivanka was still ordered to take the stand as a witness. she testified that she was not involved in producing her father's financial statements while she worked at the company. the attorney general's office says top organization police would falsify records to inflate donald trump's wealth and receive favorable financial deals. the judge in the case has already ruled that the cpany committed fraud, but trump maintains he did nothi wrong. nbc news reports that ivanka trump was largely evasive with her answers on the stand, often responding with the statement i don't recall when she was asked about financial documents. new york attorney general letitia james discussed the testimony after leaving the courthouse. >> ivanka trump was cordial, she was disciplined, she was controlled, and she was very courteous. but her testimony raises some questions with regards to its credibility, which will be a question for the finder of fact. the reality is that based on the evidence, the documentary evidence, she clearly was involved in negotiating and securing loans, favorable loans for the benefit of the trump organization, for mr. trump and her brothers and for herself. >> meanwhile, president joe biden today is expected to visit belvedere, illinois, where united auto workers scored a big win with t new contract. the president is s to head to the chicago suburb to meet with uaw president shawn fain and union workers to highlight a recent agreement between the union and big three auto makers that ended a weeks long strike. the deal with the auto companies included a 25% general pay increase over the course of a four-year contract. increased retirement benefits and more paid leave. afterward, biden will head to chicago proper for a fund-raiser. and breaking this morning, hollywood actors are now heading back to work. sag-aftra, the union that represents tens of tusands of hollywood actors announced a tentative agreement late last night with major tv and movie studios that could mark the end of a historic 118-day strike. the deal comes over a month after hollywood writers ended their own strike. and though details of the new agreement were not immediately released, actors have been calling for similar demands such as better pay, bigger cuts of streaming profits and safe guards on the use of artificial intelligence. tomorrow the deal will go to the union's national board for approval. still ahead we'll turn to sports and a -- go through a major controversy in college football including -- that involves one of the sports premier program. plus a well respected coach in major league baseball is getting another shot at a managerial job. we'll tell you who that is and where he's going next. t is and where he's going next. dealdash.com, online auctions since 2009. this playstation 5 sold for only 50 cents. this ipad pro sold for less than $34. and this nintendo switch, sold for less than $20. i got this kitchenaid stand mixer for only $56. i got this bbq smoker for 26 bucks. and shipping is always free. go to dealdash.com right now and see how much you can save. ♪ my name is josh sanabria and i am the owner at isla veterinary boutique hospital. i was 5...6 years of age and i knew i was going to be a vet. once alexandra called me to let me know that bank of america had approved my loan... it was important to me. we not only just provide the financing piece, we do everything that we can to surround them with the right people. all you need is a perfect, amazing team that will guide you through the right steps to be successful. and that's what bank of america was for me. missed it. up to clay, got it off but not enough. >> clay thompson should not really get a shot off at the buzzer missing a game time three-point attempt as the warriors fell to the defending champion nuggets last night. it was a fun game. jokic led all scores to help hold off golden state. the nuggets improved, remain undefeated so far this season. elsewhere the university of michigan has set the stage for a legal battle between the school and big ten conference over an wolverines ongoing sign stealing scandal. in a ten page let door the conference obtained by yahoo sports, michigan warns the big ten's commissioner against what it describes as preme mature, disciplinary action against head coach jim harba. questions the league's evidence in the case deems it grossly sufficient. and the school believes the conference is in a to punish the wolverine because of public and internal pressure from other big ten schools that e a, quote, indefe precedent. the school also warnedquote, the conference should cautiously when setting precedent giving t reality that in-person scouting, collusion among opponents, and other questionable practices may well be far more prevalent than believed. on monday the conference presented evidence to michigan along with a notice of potential disciplinary action in the scandal involving a former low-level staffer. the conference is reportedly considering a multi-game suspension for harba. his contract extension also in jeopardy. we turn to major league baseball. the los angeles angels have a new manager. washington managed from 2007 to 2018 leading the rangers to back-to-back appearances during that run. the 71-year-old has spent the last seven seasons as a well respected third base coach for the atlanta braves and well-beloved in the game and another shot this time. in anaheim week ten of the re sean kicks off tonight in chicago with the bears hosting the carolina panthers in what is truly a dreadful thursday night football game. folks, make other plans. time now for the weather and let's go to meteorologist angie lassman for the forecast. how's it looking out there? >> it's looking a little soggy for parts of the southern plains, but if you're looking for sunshine really the middle of the country is where it's at. once again we're back to the 80s, so not feeling like fall. in that region feeling more like spring or early summer. we've also got a bit of snow we're dealing with in parts of northern new england. there are alerts sfreching from new york to maine. it could be slicker on the roads, and we could be dealing with rain working through the early hours. but the rain that's developing across portions of of the south, that's going to be heavy through the day today, and this will be something we deal with, this system at least over the next couple of days. so one note heavy rain could lead to some localized flooding in this region and places like memphis, dallas all included in this as we get to the afternoon hours. it spreads up to the tennessee valley, eventually the midatlantic down through the southeast, we'll see that rain moving in for tomorrow. i say beneficial rain because look at this drought we're dealing with across the same region. louisiana is specifically 99% of the state is in a drought with an exceptional area of drought stretching from jackson through lake charles, so much needed rain for folks in this area. this will be something we'll have to deal with in the southeast, though, as we get into the weekend, too, jonathan. >> angie lassman, thank you so very much. talk to you tomorrow. still ahead here on "way too early," negotiations are now under way for the release of more than a dozen hostages being held by hamas. and it would mean an extended pause in fighting from israel. we'll have the latest on those efforts coming up next on "way too early". efforts coming up next on ay"w too early" having diabetes can raise a lot of questions. like my morning ride, will it help lower my glucose? with the freestyle libre 2 system, you can know where your glucose level is and where it's headed without fingersticks. know what activities work for you. manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. ask your doctor about the freestyle libre 2 system. it's covered by medicare for those who qualify. visit freestylelibre.us/medicare to learn more. ♪♪ the power goes out and we still have wifi to learn more. to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. welcome back to "way too early." it is 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this thursday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. we turn now to the news overseas. negotiations are under way for hamas to potentially release up to 15 hostages from gaza. in return, though, israel must pause its attack for three days. that's according to officials briefed on the discussions. the biden administration has been pushing for a humanitarian pause as officials believe at least 240 people are being held captive in gaza including some americans. the pause in fighting would allow -- also allow time for some more humanitarian aid to be shipped into the devastated territory. food, water, and medical supplies are running dangerously low as fewer aid trucks have been allowed into gaza since the war began in earnest. the united nations says is forcing hospitals to shutdown. meanwhile the rafah crossing, which is currently the only point of aid delivery had to close yesterday due to a security circumstance. the u.s. state department did not provide any other details about the closure, but officials say that that border between egypt and gaza will reopen at somewhat regular intervals. we will keep you posted. joining us flow to talk about this, white house reported for the associated press. chris, great to see you here on set here in washington. let's talk about the biden administration's approach to israel including the pause and john kirby, admiral kirby has been saying, look, we endorse the pause. israel seems a lot less sure about this and certainly not at any real length. any biden officials you speak to think a three day pause is something israel would consider? >> so far they've shutdown any consideration of a pause. they're trying to get more hostages out and also to show that they can demonstrate that they have some influence over how israel's conducting its invasion into gaza. and by doing that show that the -- the support that they've shown israel, all that support can pay off also for palestinian civilians caught in the cross fire of this war. >> i know there's been some frostration that israel is not really taking our advice. you bring to us this morning new reporting on an a.p. poll that finds americans are pretty divided over hamas' response to the attack. >> americans are more likely than last month to say it shares values and interests so you see increasing support for israel. at the same time you see them saying israel's counter attack has gone too far and only about a third of americans want to see or believe it's very important for the u.s. to support israel with military help on its counter attack against hamas. so it's kind of a very divided picture there. >> yeah, we're showing the poll results. lastly tell us about, look, there's a political calculation of course as the president is running for re-election. we've seen a lot of anger from some muslim americans about the biden response particularly in the state of michigan. those in biden world you're speaking to how do you think they'll be able to navigate the tricky politics here? >> sure. i think what they're trying to figure outright now are what are the loudest voices and majority voices. joe biden has not been, and now the question is going to be where are a majority of voters going to pan out on this issue? i think what we're seeing is particularly a generational divide, and a lot of democrats are not supportive of what the biden administration is doing right now, and that's a weak point going into the re-election campaign. >> and certainly the president has fashioned himself as a world statesman. we know in the last year or so he's traveled to both israel and ukraine in times of war. he was tentatively slated next month to the travel to the u.n. climate conference going to be in the uae, not far from the battle zone here. and then he's going to fulfill a process to go to africa. he had pledged he was going to go and the first president since obama to do so. now that trip is off. >> certainly the president was going to go. i was there this year earlier with vice president kamala harris, a lot of cabinet secretaries has gone as well. events have sort of overtaken for that hope for that pivot towards africa, you know, the fastest growing continent right now. so really the administration has the to balance all these priorities, two wars and two conflicts. >> and allowing china's and russia's influence, thank you for the poll. white house reporter for the associated press, we appreciate you joining us this morning. we'll talk to you again soon. still ahead here on "way too early," a look at what's driving the markets this morning after the s&p rose for an eighth consecutive day. plus good news for legend of swrelda fans when nintendo just announced it sent shares soaring. we'll be right back with that. ts soaring. we'll be right back with that. alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! ah mornings! cough? congestion? i'm feeling better. all in one and done with new mucinex kickstart. headache? better now. new mucinex kickstart gives all-in-one and done relief with a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. it's comeback season. dry skin is sensitive skin, too. and it's natural. treat it that way. aveeno® daily moisture with prebiotic oat 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(jen) so we partner with verizon to take our operations to the next level. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. and finally three pandas from the smithsonian national zoo were returned to china today packed in a special crate on a fedex plane or as southwest calls it economy plus. >> i've got to say i'm legitimately sad about the pandas. they have now left washington. no more. time now for business and let's bring in cnbc's joumanna bercetche live from london. good to see you this morning. all three of the major indexes are on track for winning weeks but some have more narrow gains than others. give us your sense what's driving the markets this morning. >> that's right, john. a lot of people have been talking about this winning streak. s&p has notched gains eight times in a row. that is its best win streak since 221. if it sees another positive session today that would be its best winning streak since 2024. the s&p yesterday was only up about a tenth of a percent. even though it has been moderate it hbo momentous. looking ahead today fuchards are seen opening along the flat line slightly negative. disney the stock is up 4% after posting better than expected on its disney plus service and gained more subscribers than the market was anticipating. that catapulted the stock a lot higher, and also today we're watching out for a speech by fed chair jerome powell at 2:00 p.m. eastern and also getting those jobless claim ever since that weaker than expected print last friday. >> news lots of talk certainly here in washington about a.i. and meta, which is the parent company of facebook and instagram, introduced a new policy to tackle the effects of artificial intelligence on political advertising. we're now less than a year away until the presidential. so what's the sense as to how it could impact next year's vote? >> well, i mean for starters it will introduce some transparency, so we'll get a lot more political transparency than we had back in 2016. but to go back to what meta announced, going forward they're going to require political advertisers to disclose the use of a.i. in their ad starting next year. it's obviously part of this maneuver to crack down on deep fakes on digital alteration that could lead to misleading content. microsoft as well also unveiled their own initiatives including a tool that will allow campaigns to insert a watermark on their ads so that voters can understand better the source of these ads and whether or not they've been tampered with. and there actually have been instances of deep fakes and digital alteration throughout the political campaign. back in june ron desantis aired a campaign showing his opponent donald trump hugging dr. fauci, not real. it was digitally altered. also microsoft is warning there could be interference from state actors, the likes of china, iran, and russia could also be looking to use a.i. for political interference once more, so it's a big thing. >> yeah, it's a really significant development. and then lastly briefly the popular video game the legend of zelda is now coming to life in a new live action movie. tell us about it. >> well, i don't know a lot about the legend of zelda, but apparently it is one of the best selling game of all-time. it has sold more than 130 million copies around the world consisting of 19 game, three remakes. yesterday nintendo posted the results better than expected on game sale, but also fans of the game will be very excited to hear they're looking to develop and release a movie based on the legend of zelda. the company has said that getting deeply involved in the movie production it aims to put smiles on everyone's faces through entertainment. just like you and me, john. >> just like us, joumanna. i remember my brother was particularly good at legend of zelda and that was 30 odd years ago. cnbc's jumunna bercetche live from london, great to see you. still ahead a look at more of the major take-aways from tuesday's elections as well as last night's republican debate as the party continues to struggle to find a winning platform on the issue of abortion. we'll be right back with that. k. 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>> quite panicked. i think is significant is the question i was asking some campaigns last night, significant in that most of the republican primary vote if you adup donald trump's numbers and put them together with nikki haley's numbers and even for vivek ramaswamy, it's for candidates who don't want to sign an abortion ban and don't think it's feasible or going to happen, in ramaswamy's case say for federalist reasons say he doesn't want to sign one. this is something that one section of the republican base, a dominant section of the base has want, and it has not played out in the primary as a litmus test issue. these election losses emphasize that, i think there's a lack of confidence among republicans you can run on this issue and win in kentucky. mention there democrats played cameron perfectly. he was defending kentucky's full abortion ban with no exceptions and very late in the campaign for the first time said he supported some exceptions if the legislature would introduce them if it wasn't going to do. and same thing in the senate happening in ohio, a referendum on this issue. the best performing republicans say they don't want to go there and say they want to run on something else. >> let's talk about governor haley for a minute. lots of analysis suggests she fared the best last night as she has perhaps in the other two debates as well. the polls are such she's so, so far behind. does it give a sense here, though, she is making a good claim to the mantle of the good trump top alternative? >> that is the goal. the one chorus i heard a bit last night before and after the debate was supporters to go, so consolidation behind her as a trump alternate, she's performing the best in south carolina. they're in a bind right now, especially after kim reynolds' endorsement of desantis. it's a real dilemma if you want trump to be slowed down on his way to the nomination. she's not the second-place candidate in iowa. she's third. it's hard for everyone to game out this primary, nikki haley come in third and then beat trump, there's no precedent for it. chorus to tom consolidate behind her but that's tempered but if it got down to her and trump she would lose by 25 points. >> as we've noted, some of these polls suggest that voters' second-choice candidate is donald trump. national political correspondent for semafor, dave weigel, thank you so much for joining us this morning. up next, it was vivek ramaswamy versus nikki haley again, the two went after each other last night. coming up on morning joe, one of the other candidates on stage last night, former governor chris christie will rejoin the conversation. plus, senator dick durkin will be a guest. he'll talk about the big election wins. wins. while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley. there's challenges, and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world. 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[ting] ♪♪ live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. my skin has been so much smoother so much more hydrated. it's olay! with olay hyaluronic body wash 95% of women had visibly-better skin. and my skin is so much more moisturized. see the difference with olay. that's the choice we face. do you want a leader from a different generation who's going to put this country first or do you want dick cheney in three-inch heels? we got two of them on stage. >> i can say, they're five-inch heels. the second thing i wear heels they're not for a fashion statement they're for ammunition. >> that was one of several heated moments between former u.n. ambassador nikki haley and entrepreneur vivek ramaswamy. that was during last night's republican primary debate. for more not about vivek ramaswamy, let's bring in washington post opinion editor alexi mccammond. nikki haley, had a pretty good night, a couple of good debates in row, trying to pitch herself as the trump alternative, was it a mistake that she kept getting caught up in sparring with vivek ramaswamy than saying ron desantis who she's vying with for number two. >> she expressed a lot of restraint. i think vivek ramaswamy was trying to bait her and be this petty troll over and over again. when i was talking to folks from her campaign in days before the debate, they were saying we're not going to waste our time on vivek ramaswamy, the real focus as you said is ron desantis, i think we all expected her to go a little harder at ron desantis. in the past two debates he's kind of hung back that she's not oversaturating himself or inserting himself more than he has to do. >> the conversation we had with dave, haley's team calling for tim scott to drop out, have you given any sense that might happen, scott struggled to qualify for this debate, we're not sure he'll make the next one, what do you think. >> that remains to be seen. former vice president pence dropped off because he ran out of money. tim scott doesn't have that money. there's no clear incentive for him to drop off. the largest paper in south carolina, two weeks ago, endorsed nikki haley and called on all of the other candidates that includes their home state senator tim scott. that's got to be a little embarrassing and no one believes in his campaign the way that he does. >> donald trump just up the road at a rally, counterprogramming rally, his team has said he'll skip next month's debate in alabama, from what you're hearing, the trump team has been running a general election campaign. nothing is changed? >> nothing is going to change. the first question, why would you be a better nominee than donald trump? i don't think anyone has been asked that before. okay, with all due respect, you're running for president, you're 30, 40 points behind, either one, how do you make up that 40-point gap between now and iowa or two, why are you still running to be the nominee for your party where polls consistently show you're double-digits behind donald trump. >> for so many of them, desantis and haley in particular, we're more electable than trump, but the polls that we saw this weekend that have trump up in at lot of the battleground states over biden, but that seems to undermine that argument. >> i mean, i think desantis is really trying to go after what trump didn't do not having mexico pay for the wall, re-upping these promises he kept as governor, folks are pointing to the fact that he has this baggage, these indictments. it will come down to these folks being able to make the argument not only they're electable but electable to the maga base. it's really hard to thread that needle. desantis is the closest we see to that. i think haley will be able to cut into that maga base. washington post opinion editor alexi mccammond. thank you. "morning joe" starts right now. i would say a package, a package that's been offered by the president for ukraine and israel, that's the wrong approach. >> no, i don't think we should give them cash, the equipment, the ammunition to win. >> we need to stand by them and those of us who forgot history are doomed to repeat it. >> that's a totally ridiculous of american t