[ applause ] >> good evening. welcome to iowa where in just 34 days, caucus goers here will cast the very first votes of the 2024 presidential race. we are live at grand view university in des moines for cnn's town hall with florida governor ron desantis. i'm jake tapper. right now, the presidential hopefuls are furiously campaigning to win over republicans here in iowa. it's a state that can make or break presidential candidates. governor desantis has visited all 99 of iowa's counties. he won the endorsement of the state's popular governor, kim reynolds. but he is facing steep competition from his rivals, including former president donald trump. tonight's event is about the voters. governor desantis will have the opportunity to answer questions directly from the people in the room on the issues that will help them determine who wins the republican nomination. i will have questions of my own. this is not an interview. this is a town hall. the audience are voters who plan to participate in the caucuses, registered republicans and those who plan to register as republicans by the time of the caucus. to find tonight's questioners, we reached out to republican-affiliated groups, as well as business groups, farm associations, parent groups, religious groups and conservative advocacy organizations. guests of the desantis campaign and grand view university are in the audience. they will not get to ask questions. we asked everyone here to be respectful to each other and to governor desantis so you have a chance to hear from the candidate. now, please welcome, governor ron desantis. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> good to see you. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> let's get straight to the voters, if we can. our first question comes from tim bianco. he owns a manufacturing business. he is on the board of directors for the iowa association of business and industry. he says he is a republican and is currently undecided. >> welcome, governor. thank you for your service as a veteran. it's important to recognize you. >> thank you. >> why should my employees trust you to return us to the prosperity they enjoyed under president trump? >> thanks for the question. i hope your business is doing well. i know things are tough right now with a lot of things. they can trust me for a couple reasons. if he look at what we have done in florida, our economy is number one of all 50 states. we have boomed like we never have even in the face of inflation and interest rates, which we have to obviously struggle with, too. our unemployment rate is 60% lower than states like california, which is peer states. the first three years of the trump administration, the economy is better than it has been. but the last year was mishandled dramatically. shutting down the country was a huge mistake. printing trillions and trillions of dollars was a huge mistake. that set the foundation for the inflation that we see. granted, biden came in and poured gas on the fire. it was reckless that he did trillions. if you look, you have trillions and trillions of dollars, of course you are paying more. you will have inflation when that happens. i'm going to come in and get the inflation down. we will open up energy so that you pay less for gas. we will get the interest rates down so you can do things like afford a home. i think your hard working employees are going to have a friend in the white house. i think we're going to turn this country around. [ applause ] >> governor, tim's question does get to a challenge you have. you have been on the campaign trail. nobody can accuse you of not working for it. trump holds a commanding lead. what is your strategy to convince iowans like tim to pick you and not trump? >> first of all, iowa voters will choose, not pundits and polls. i'm sick of the polls. haven't we learned that we were supposed to have a red wave in november of 2022. what happens to that? the polls were telling us, hillary clinton had a 99% chance to win the presidency in 2016. that didn't happen. i look at my own re-election. a lot of the polls they put out, they would say i would win by 4% or 5%. i won by 20%. they use the polls for a narrative. we have the best organization anyone has had in iowa. we have tens of thousands of iowans who have committed to caucus for us. you have the opportunity to make this decision. do not let the media choose your candidate. do not let a pundit choose your candidate. choose a candidate that will represent your values and give this country the leadership it deserves. i'm confident i'm that guy. i'm grateful we have a huge number of iowans who have signed up to support us. we ask all the iowans undecided, come join our team. i will not let you down. >> a few hours ago, zelenskyy was in washington, d.c., in congress and in white house trying to make the case for more u.s. support for ukraine's war against russia. on that topic, i would like to bring in dawn mann. she's undecided as well. >> welcome to des moines. if you had to pick one, which current conflict, ukraine or israel, is more critical for the american people to support with tax dollars and why? >> thanks for the question, dawn. for me, that's an easy answer. it's the state of israel. they are our strongest ally in the middle east. we have a relationship with them that's like no other. they have the world against us. they require the united states to be there to stand with them as a friend. ukraine has all of europe. these european countries need to start pulling their weight. they don't meet their nato dues. some of them have, poland, finland. but a lot are not. russia is a threat to europe. they need to rise to the occasion, rev up the industrial base and start arming themselves so they can help ukraine and keep russia in a box. israel is a unique country in terms of our relationship. as governor of florida, it's something that when the attacks happened against them, that impacted my state. i had so many people that go back and forth. you had people stranded in israel. they couldn't get back. the state department wasn't helping them. the embassy wasn't helping them. i did an executive order. we scrambled planes. we rescued over 700 people from israel and brought them back to the united states of america. when you are an in an executive position, you need to lead, particularly in crisis situations. we stepped up and helped our friends in israel. we would do that as president of the united states. [ applause ] >> just to follow on these wars. earlier today, zelenskyy stressed ukraine needs continued u.s. support as never before. iowa republican senator ernst has said, there's no doubt we need to support the ukrainians. would you send support to ukraine as president? >> i think what the republicans in the congress are doing, i think it's the right thing. what they are saying is, you have to defend our own country's borders before you start sending money all across this world. for example, i have supported in the past defensive weapons under trump, because i figured try to keep russia out. that's in our interests. they have spend tens of billions of your tax dollars to subsidize farming in ukraine, to sub sidie other things in ukraine. from a national security perspective, that open border threatens our country. we have people from all over the world that have gone in. i think what the republicans are saying is, let's get this done. biden will have to compromise. he is not willing to do it. as president, i will do the border on day one. day one, we will declare it a national emergency. [ applause ] i'm sending the military to the southern border. we will stop the invasion. when people are here illegally, they have to be send back. you have to do that. we have people that have come from iran, the middle east, china, russia, you name it. they have come from all over the world illegally. these people don't have our best interests at heart. this is a security threat to us. that is something we have to do. i think that most people that i talk to who are frustrated with some of the money going overseas, they want ukraine to beat russia. we don't like russia. but here is the thing. you gotta take care of your own house first. the d.c. elite, they ignore the problems affecting the american people. you know why? because it doesn't affect them. that's wrong. >> we will get to the border. there's questions about it here. on the topic of israel's war against hamas and the worsening humanitarian crisis in gaza, president biden said today that israel is losing support for the war globally because of its, quote, indiscriminate bombing of gaza. president biden voiced concerns over members of benjamin netanyahu's cabinet who he says don't support a two-state solution which biden says is the peaceful end of what needs to happen here. do you share president biden's concerns? what's your view? >> i think it's true that the world's coming after israel. it's because of anti-semitism. it's because you have these people at the u.n. who are disgraceful, trying to blame israel. they wouldn't condemn the hamas attack at the united nations. israel gets targeted and singled out more than any other country in the world. they are the only jewish state in this world. everyone has come gunning for them. the morning of the attack i was in iowa. i said, we stand with israel. we can do that. here is what's going to happen. weeks, months in the future, you are going to see them blaming israel for all of this. you welcome at what may be happening in the gaza strip. if there are civilian casualties, that is hamas' fault. hamas should release the hostages. hamas should unconditionally surrender. israel cannot possibly live with a terrorist group that wants to annihilate their country and kill every jew and usher in a second holocaust. they have every right to defend themselves. in terms of the two-state solution, i don't think you can have a, quote, two-state solution when the arabs will view it -- the palestinian rare r -- arabs will view it as a stepping stone to a destruction. they never recognized israel's right to exist as a jewish state. i think a lot of people know, they have offered massive concessions in the past. it has been rejected. that's the problem. the people in the gaza strip as well as in fatah, they want that. >> next is a republican who is deciding between you and donald trump. david? >> thank you for your service. welcome to des moines. my question is sort of a two-part question. what are some things different you can do to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border as well as what actions can the border patrol take that are new? >> david, thanks for joining the national guard. it's important. we have a lot of great people in florida. i think it's going to be rewarding service for you. what can you do? one, you can change the policy. remain in mexico. you have people that are abusing the asylum. they come, make a bogus asylum claim. then they get a sheet of paper saying, go into the interior of our country and come back in two years for a court date. that is not a deterrent. we will not entertain those claims. they can wait. we need to reform the law so the claims don't happen. we are not letting people in. we will empower states to enforce immigration law. people are coming across the rio grande. texas should be able to deport and send them back. that's a force multiplying for us. i'm going to build the border wall. i remember in 2016, i went to the rallies with donald trump. he said he was going to build the wall and have mexico pay for it. that didn't happen. why didn't it happen? one, i think he got distracted and he didn't do it on day one. two, he didn't utilize the levers of power he had. how do you get mexico to pay for a wall? they are not just going to give us money. trump said they would do that. people like jake would say, how are you going to do this? you impose fees on the remittances that workers send back to foreign countries. mexico, all over the world. you would raise billions of dollars. put it into constructing the border wall. here is the thing. we as republicans, probably 99%, blame biden for 8 million people coming in illegally. it's been bad for the country. i do, too. here is the thing. if trump had built the border wall, it would have been very difficult for biden to bring in all those many people. that's why you want a wall. it's a physical fact of life that even an open border president would not be able to get around. i will get the job done. the talk is cheap. i'm sick of republicans using this issue every election cycle to try to get donations and to try to tell the people we can do it. we will bring the issue to a conclusion. [ applause ] >> one of the questions i have for you, obviously, the fentanyl crisis is huge and disastrous and hits people in florida, d.c., iowa. as a way to stop the flow of fentanyl, you promised to shoot drug smugglers stone-cold dead at the border. how is that legal? how you can ensure you are not going to shoot innocent people? >> one, they are invading -- the drug cartels arenvading our country. they are poisoning our people and killing them by the tens of thousands. not only do we have a right as president, you have a responsibility to fight back on behalf of the people of this country. what that means is, we will designate the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. it's not just willy-nilly saying we will shoot anyone. how do you know? when i was in iraq, and anyone that knows that served there, the al qaeda didn't wear a uniform that said al qaeda. they dressed the same. you don't know if they were civilian or if they had an ied strapped to their body. you had to make judgments about hostile intent, hostile action. you identify people. we will have intelligence, a lot of things operating in ways that we have never done before. for those who complain about me wanting to lean in on this, are you fine with letting all these people die? one of the things that i have done just as governor and as a candidate, i have met a lot of angel parents. these are parents who have lost kids to fentanyl overdose. really, they are getting poisoned, high school, college, in their 20s. what you find is most of the cases, they are not drug addicts. they are stressed out. someone tells them to take the pill. they take it not thinking it would be fatal. it poisons them. then they die. we had a case in florida, family rented an airbnb. an 18-month-old baby was crawl on the carpet. there was residue from fentanyl on the carpet that killed the baby. this is happening across the country. i met a fellow a couple months ago. he told me he lost his son from a fentanyl overdose. what really is the salt in the wound is that these people in d.c., they don't care about what's going on. they are not viewing this with a surge of urgency. i can tell you this, i care. i think this is a sense of urgency. i think we need to fight this. it's not just the supply. it's also demand. in florida, we have done an opioid recovery network that's reduced overdose deaths. we are one of the only large states in we had a reduction. i think you fight demand, do treatment and do supply. i am not going to let the drug cartels ruin the lives of the american people any longer. [ applause ] >> this is an issue we care a lot about on my show, too. former congressman from florida, ted deutsche, his nephew died of this. it was as you described. he was taking an herbal supplement. it happened to be poisoned with fentanyl. one of the problems with trying to crack down on this, as you know i'm sure, is that according to u.s. government data, the majority of fentanyl is smuggled in by american citizens and through legal ports of entry. >> that's what we know about. i know they do that. when you have a wide open border -- we don't know what's coming across the wide open border. there's so many people that don't get interdicted. it's a combination of both. i think not only do we have to worry about the land ports of entry, i'm going to do a maritime task force to interdict the precursor chemicals being brought into mexico. it used to be china would make it and send it. now china is sending the precursor chemicals and the cartels are making the final products. they put fentanyl in candy to market it to young kids. this is really sick stuff. i think we have to have all options on the table. here is the thing. when they see we're willing to fight back, that's going to make a difference. they have been running all over us. they have been eating our lunch at the border. that changes on january 20, 2025. [ applause ] >> i want to bring in jeanie. she's currently an undecided voter. >> older americans have worked hard to pay into social security. they have earned it and are counting on it to be around for many years to come. how will you protect social security for future generations? >> thanks for the question. as governor of florida, i know a few people on social security. believe me. here is the thing. when some people say it's entitlement, it's not. you have been taxed to pay into it your whole life. people have paid into social security for decades. seniors can know, a promise made is a promise kept. we understand the importance of making sure that you have the benefits, especially when prices are going up so much. you get a cost of living adjustment. but it's not enough to cover what is actually happening. the groceries have gone up more than 10%. they have gone up 50%, 75%, maybe 100%. promise made, promise kept. congress has taken money out of the social security fund for decades. they used to have surpluses. congress needed more money to do its spending. they take it and spend it. then they write ious. that's the reason why social security is having fiscal challenges. i think if we go in and reduce inflation and interest rates, that is going to make a big difference. cost of living adjustments go down. your benefit will go farther if prices are stable. also, on the overall budget. we are going to be a trillion dollars on interest on the national debt. that's unsustainable. we have to get the interest rates down. we have to get that debt situation better. that could overwhelm everything that we are doing in this country. >> a quick follow on that. i hear what you are saying about current seniors. but what about for younger people? i shouldn't point at myself anymore. for younger people, ambassador haley says you and president trump aren't being honest in the issue. she says without reforms being made, the program will not have enough money to pay young people like that one right there their full benefits. isn't she right? doesn't social security need some reform? >> what she has said, nikki haley, she has claimed that the retirement age is way, way, way too low. that's what she said. you have a lot of people that have worked hard their whole life. life expectancy is declining. it's tragic but true. look at the demographic trends and say that you would jack it up so that people are not going to be able to have benefits. i don't know why she's saying that. look at the trends. yes, overall, in the long-term, how do you strengthen the program? you have to have bipartisan agreement. president reagan in the early '80s, he did a commission with greenspan. he had republicans and democrats. they worked through the issues. they agreed. then they moved forward. i think it's the only way you can do it. you can't do this stuff on a party line vote. you are not going to get it done. i'm willing to work with both sides and we got to come up with a solution for the long-term. in the short-term, just know, seniors, this is a priority for me to make sure that you have your benefits. my grandmother lived to 91. social security was her sole source of income. i understand what a lot of people are going through. >> your service has come up a couple times tonight. you are the only vet