an autocrat facing dozens of ny charges with an ax to grind against the government he seeks to lead. that s a question that republican candidates are either unable to answer or unwilling to answer at this moment. there s now just one major challenger to ex-president trump after florida governor ron desantis dropped out and endorsed donald trump. it s hard to remember but for a time, ron desantis was seen as the much vaunted trump slayer, the one candidate who could break the hold on trump that he had on the voters in the republican party. appeal to those alienated by trump and ultimately beat joe biden. back in 2022, the new yorker asked, can ron desantis displace donald trump as the combatant in chief? the new york times asked, quote, is ron desantis the future of the republican party? but a las as it turned out, voters didn t want a trump alternative, they wanted trump. that became clear as his legal troubles mounted with every indictment the trump got stronger in the pol
99 counties, despite visiting only 15 of them. florida governor ron desantis came in a distant second, receiving 21% of support in the hawkeye state. 30 points behind trump and just 2 points ahead of former south carolina governor nikki haley. this year s republican caucuses had the lowest turnout since the year 2000, drawing around 108,000 voters. that s about 14% of the state s registered republicans. good morning. welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, january 16th. how did the results reflect compared to the polls? i think there was a big winner, and i think there was a big loser. the big winner, of course, donald trump. he got over 50% of the vote. the big loser, of course, the republican party, who is strapped with a republican loser, a seven-time loser. the problem for republicans is they started in iowa. this is just a perennial problem for the gop. it really, willie, is a problem that the democrats fixed, but you go back and look. who won in 2008? mike huckabee.
princess patient, the surgery that will keep cape middleton hospitalized for up to two weeks, and the other major royal who is also headed for treatment. our nbc news reporters are following all the latest developments. we start with new york where e. jean carroll is getting back on the stand at this hour. nbc s rehema ellis has more. e. jean carroll has returned to the witness stand and before the lunch break as the judge sent the jury out for their lunch, there was a back and forth between donald trump and the judge. and it all refers to the fact that e. jean carroll s defense attorneys have been objecting to the fact, saying donald trump has been making gestures, shaking his head and making suggestions that e jean carol is not telling the truth. at one point he slammed his hand down on the table. her attorneys say they heard him saying, it s a con job, it s a witch hunt. so the judge said to donald trump and his defense team, mr. trump has the right to be present here. t
hey, everybody. good to see you. i m yasmin vossoughian. we have new, chilling footage, just released and pc news marking the third anniversary of the january 6th riots. never before seen video of rioters, facing down guns to get into the house chamber. i m warning you guys, man. you guys are not gonna lose a paycheck if we come in the building. nobody s gonna get hurt. there s a lot there so many of us. straight ahead, i m gonna tell you how this video surfaced. and who the insurrectionists were talking to through those doors. the man blamed by so many for sparking that riot, meanwhile, is set to take the stage any moment now in iowa in his bid to return to the white house. it s coming right after the supreme court agreed to take on donald trump s appeal of a decision booting him from the colorado ballot. and the former president s lawyer is offering the shocking suggestion that at least one justice owes him big. and it s time to collect. i think it should be a s
welcome back. it is 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific, i m ana cabrera in for jose diaz-balart. moments from now, president biden set to leave the white house on his way to pennsylvania where he ll give his first campaign speech of the year. meanwhile, the republican candidates are going all in, in iowa, with just ten days left until the iowa caucuses. overseas, israel outlines its plans for the next stage of the war against hamas as secretary of state antony blinken heads to the region for the fourth time in three months. back at home, a monster winter storm barreling toward the east coast, impacting tens of millions of people. we ll tell you which areas could see up to ten inches of snow. great to have you with us. it s just 11:01 now. we begin this hour with the 2024 race for the white house, and ahead of the third anniversary of the january 6th insurrection at the u.s. capitol, two presidents, past and present, are offering two very different versions for the fu