turn out to see people already arriving here. to tell us a bit about what will happen here tonight, i mjoined by about what will happen here tonight, i m joined by david young. david is a former congressman for the third district and iowa, also former chief of staff to chuck grassley, the senior senator, so he knows his iowa politics. what ll happen here tonight? in iowa, we don tjust pick corn, but presidents, that s what we re but presidents, that s what we re doing tonight. first to say hi we re doing tonight. first to say hi to we re doing tonight. first to say hi to your viewers and in being say hi to your viewers and in being educated about what we do here, being educated about what we do here, it s being educated about what we do here, it s a being educated about what we do here, it s a very arduous process, here, it s a very arduous process, but it s also simple. candidates come in here and we kick the candidates come in here and we kick the tires on
let s go straight to gavin at the bbc sport centre. the africa cup of nations kicks off in ivory coast on saturday. despite going through a civil war just over a decade ago, the country has produced some of africa s greatest players such as didier drogba and yaya toure. since the conflict ended, ivory coast has become a growing power in west africa. earlier, we looked ahead to the tournament with bbc sport africa s ian williams, who s in abidjan. the first in a0 years in the ivory coast, notjust excitement but pride as well that is coming back after so long. you see those distinctive orange, white and green everywhere you go, traders weaving through the traffic selling their flags, hats and horns. not so long ago, a country torn apart by civil war. they are spread over $1 billion on new infrastructure including forney stadiums. the idea turn the country into a west african sporting hub so the facilities do not go to waste. we are told there is great interest in as globally
they ve doubled work patterns. they ve gone quasi war mobilisation without full mobilisation. they seem to be able to find spare parts for tanks and ships from abroad through what they call parallel imports or smuggling. so, russia s leader buckles down for a long war and was apparently dismissive of the recent african peace initiative, preferring to continue to fight. but could he be toppled if ukraine s counteroffensive succeeds? i think a major reverse in the south which threatens crimea, which putin s put so much stake on. if the bridges are dropped again, if russia has to evacuate forces and people from crimea, that s going to have political repercussions. and then the question is, of course, how does it layout? and then the question is, of course, how does it play out? i think the centre, putin s power, the tarnish. it s been weakened. a feeling of a slight sense of decay. there is a rout, a major reverse by the ukrainians, going to the heart of his grip on power and
weekend of campaign rallies to try and fire up his base ahead of the caucus there. president biden travels to the valley forge area, home to george washington s war encampment, to deliver a speech on america s democracy, marking three years since the capitol insurrection on january 6. secretary blinken overseas for high-stakes diplomacy, with tensions flaring throughout the middle east. a new u.s. drone strike in iraq calls for revenge from hezbollah. all as the idf is pressed by nbc on civilian casualties in gaza. good to be with you. andrea mitchell is on assignment traveling with secretary of state antony blinken in the middle east. it s january 5, 2024. president biden is beginning his campaign season, heading to valley forge where soldiers trained to fight for the new promise of america. using the historical site to warn voters that donald trump is dangerous, a threat he says to that idea of america, to our democracy. just remember what happened three years ago