from iowa. nikki haley and ron desantis head to head. this is the final push before the first votes which are in iowa. jake tapper and dana bash moderate tonight at 9:00. and i ll be back with anderson for a special hour of ac 360 starting now. we are now just about an hour away from the final republican primary debate before the iowa caucuses next monday. if you re just joining us, i m coming to you along with erin burnett from new york from the campus of drake university in des moines. ron desantis and nikki haley squaring off tonight. cnn s dana bash and jake tapper are moderating. adding to the interest, the unexpected, right, and raising the stakes, the former governor and now former candidate who did not qualify but is so crucial in this race as it moves forward, chris christie. that s right. governor christie stepping out of the race just a short time ago. we re starlgt off this hour with that headline that he made late today, suspending his campaign. here is s
he? should he not? clearly his decision to not patriotic part in debates shrewd. it was a very shrewd decision. he knew without him there, that the other candidates would go after eat other. and that s exactly what happened. and he largely escaped attacks either from the questioners or from the other candidates. and to answer your question, though, about does it energize this event, i think it energizes it in this way. it s now very, very clear, if it wasn t clear before that nikki haley is probably the only person left who is going to challenge trump and has a chance to beat him somewhere early, which is new hampshire. and if she does, there is life in this race. and now there is more life in her candidacy because chris christie dropped out. in that sense, i think it does energize. she looks and it mayner enere her supporters here to think it may be worth doing going to these caucuses. i still have questions whether