piece of stripe gum. the situation room with wolf blitzer starts right now. see you tomorrow. happening now, breaking news. closing arguments just wrapped up in donald trump s new york civil fraud trial. the former president taking his campaign to the courtroom, launching into a rambling speech before being cut off by the judge who urged trump s attorneys to control their client. plus, we re now in the final stretch before iowa decides with the first in the nation caucuses just four days away. nikki haley and ron desantis trying to capitalize on last night s heated cnn debate and close the gap with republican front-runner donald trump. a key haley supporter, new hampshire governor chris sununu joins me live this hour. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world, i m wolf blitzer and you re in the situation room.
iowa caucuses. president biden is kicking off his reelection campaign with some sharp attacks on donald trump. kiley ath wood has those details. hello, iowa. reporter: the iowa caucuses one week away. the republican front runner former president trump is urging supporters not to grow com complacent. you re only about 40 points up, but don t believe that either. pretend you re 1 point down. you re 1 point down. you have to get out and you have to vote. reporter: after months of targeting ron desantis, trump now attacking former south carolina governor hale hale more than ever before. at his rallies she will sell you out. reporter: and new tv ads. nikki haley refused to call illegals criminals. reporter: is haley firing back. if they are lying, it s because they know they are losing. it s that simple.
crucial philadelphia suburbs, president biden s message resonates with democrat elaine tindell. is democracy an issue people are going to vote on in 2024? i really think so. i have very positive i have to be positive that people are really going to understand that we can t continue without democracy. that everything else we can work out. reporter: but democracy and in your eyes, donald trump. would be the end of it. reporter: but for so many the top issue is the economy and 62% of americans disapprove of president biden s handling of it. republican nick carnelia is one of them. managing his family s deli, he s already had to raise prices twice in the last three years. when it comes down to bread or meat, cheeses, sodas, chips, all costs more. and it costs raises prices for everybody. reporter: is it starting to come down? no, it s not going down. everything keeps going up. let s circle back to the supreme court. depending how they rule, this could have a major impac
whether former president trump can be banned from the ballot in colorado because of his role on january 6th. taking up the republican front runner s appeal of a colorado court s ruling to kick him off the ballot. mr. trump arguing its partisan election interference. the announcement coming just hours after president biden visited the revolutionary war site at valley forge arguing democracy is at stake in november. this is not rhetorical, academic, or hypothetical, whether democracy is still america s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time. reporter: it s the president s latest effort to draw a contrast with mr. trump who he s warning is an existential threat. trump and his maga supports not only embrace violence, but laugh about it. crooked joe is staging his pathetic fear mongering event in pennsylvania today. did you see, he s saying i m a threat to democracy. he s a threat to democracy. reporter: tonight in the