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
psychoanalyze here, but there is a little note of disappointment i think in christie s comments there. he wants nikki haley to be more forceful. she has not been up until this point. we ll see what happens going forward. the question she has been tripped up on in the last few days is will she consider being trump s vice president. the fact that she doesn t want to give a straight answer to that i think has been disturbing, not just to christie but to a lot of republicans. there is still time for her to get in some clear place. she has to make a choice here. it s either trump or not. because i think christie is forcing that issue right now. there is a poll out of new hampshire that shows if people weren t voting for christie, what would their second choice be. nikki haley seems to benefit in that. we re putting it up on the screen. that was the first choice, right? christie was running third. this is the second choice of christie voters. look at that. 65% of the people who were going
what can iowa do? what needs to happen for this not to be a race for second? listen, it s a tremendous uphill battle, to jamie s point. should desantis make the point? i ve gone to every county in iowa, i ve showed up and tried to earn your vote. meanwhile, trump showed up in washington, d.c. for his appeals process for his doj case related to january 6th. nikki haley should say i am working for iowa, but i m working for new hampshire. iowa has the adage goes, picks presidents. sure, right now he is tied up in his court hearings. just wait until this summer when he is on trial for federal indictments related to the insurrection. if you want someone positioned to beat joe biden, make the case right now why he is insufficient and unfit to do it. when christie gets out, what happens tonight to haley? that message is going to get you votes in new hampshire. that s going to get trump votes in new hampshire. because people see him as being persecuted in new hampshire, right. the new ha
haley and desantis. sending an email blast after chris christie dropped out of the race tonight, arguing that christie pulling out is actually bad for haley. okay. obviously everyone perceives it to to be good for her. their argument is christie voters are not conservative republicans. they re mostly crossover votes. so their email reads in party christie s withdrawal will only pull nikki haley further to the left. seriously, chris christie has very serious negatives and should be a liability to nikki haley. back to our panel. i will say alyssa. i guess by trump s argument, i guess it s a good thing that christie is not going to come out and endorse nikki haley, throws not now, if ever. i mean, it s arguably a accident spin from trump campaign. they are fearful of nikki haley. maga inc. is spending more than $4.5 million against haley. they have been much more aggressive in their criticisms. and i think they ve realized that this does open a window.
nikki haley has to be careful when she is on the stage. you talked about these really evangelical and more religious voters here, those are not the voters in new hampshire. they re more educated. they re less religious. going after a lot of disaffected democrats or unaffiliated voters. she can t say anything in this iowa campaign that is going the get their screwed up in new hampshire. here is the thing. christie gets out tonight two hours before the last debate before the first votes. and those first votes are in iowa. but now you ve got new hampshire voters tonight. i m going bet a lot i m going the tune in and watch this debate. and the ones who are up to look for haley don t want the hear the message that haley needs to deliver toon iowa gop base, whatever leg of the base you re talking about in iowa. so what does she do? i think she needs to prioritize new hampshire. i don t think you can alienate iowa. i think if she gets a dreadful, terrible third place, that s not the mom