point lead, and nikki haley and ron desantis in a battle for second place. also, subzero temperatures could make it the coldest caucus day in iowa on record. plus, our very own steve kornacki at the big board tracking the story lines to watch, and how the result tonight could impact next week s new hampshire primary. meanwhile, new accusations, texas officials blocked border agents from saving a migrant woman is and two children from drowning at the southern border. the white house calling it imhumane. another attack on american forces in the red sea, we have details on how the u.s. responded. the u.s. responded. we begin this hour with the very first contest of the 2024 race for the white house. iowa caucus goers are braving some of the bitterest temperatures, plunging a low as minus 18 overnight. and a new media com poll giving us a closer look at the enthusiasm gap going into tonight s caucuses. nearly nine in ten trump supporters say they are very enthusiastic about
Fascinating aspects of democracy how its represented in different ways in different states, and so jacob, when does it start, and when does it end tonight . So local time people will start showing up here when the doors open i think around 5 00, 5 30, and then at 6 00, 6 30, people are starting to gather upstairs in that auditorium, 8 00 on the east coast, 5 00 out west, the actual speeches will start. Once those speeches start people come down to the classroom as i mentioned, and by 9 00 they hope to have results here at this location. Im not going to get ahead of myself. Weve seen what happened in years past. Thats the hope, whether or not its the reality are two different things. Steve, what are your thoughts on that . Its such a its so wonderful to see, and thank you, jacob, for showing us physically what that process is going to look like, but steve, its just the unique aspect of our democracy, you know. It is. I also you know, one thing
Thats worth pointing out here too is the iowa democratic caucuses, and theyre not happening tonight, the whole dispute with the dnc, its a big thing. Traditionally if you think of the iowa democratic caucuses and the Iowa Republican caucuses, these are different. The Republican Caucuses are different. Its the democratic caucuses. You line up in one corner of the room for one candidate. If you dont get 15 in the first vote, they have another round. Its much more complicated on the democratic side. When it comes to the actual voting in the caucus, its a ballot, you check off a name, you put it in the box. It really is an election at that point. So its simpler from that standpoint. Indeed, but you have to be there, and you have to show up to that high school, and you have to sit it out, and its a fascinating real process that is wonderful to see, thank you, jacob, and thank you, steve, for bringing us those details
Graduate, suburban urban voters. Well, the polls suggest coming into tonight that the candidate whos making inroads there, Nikki Haley. So if Nikki Haley is going to make any noise tonight, youve got to look at it, theres not that many in the state. You look at Polk County, this is the granddaddy of them all. 17 of the vote is going to come out of Polk County tonight. This was a Rubio County in 2018. How is haley doing in the big Bedroom County of dallas county, Western Suburbs of des moines. We showed you story county. How about another one here . Johnson county. This is where the University Of Iowa is. Iowa city heavily democratic but theres a lot of population there. If haley, she wants to beat desantis for second, she wants to make a statement. Those are the core counties to look at for haley tonight, and again, the other question to them too is has Donald Trump improved at all since 2016. Yeah, and you know, jacob covering Iowa Caucuses over the years, its been such a fascinating
Caucus ever, and so this is a moment here i think that will be really defining, not only the Maga Support that is out there for Donald Trump but those folks for the likes of a marco rubio, whether theyre still engaged in this republican Process Today or whether they stayed on the sideline. Vaughn hillyard, ali vitali, and dasha burns, thank you so very much. As we mentioned, this years iowa caucuses could be on track to be the coldest on record, but the brutal cold is also being felt across the entire country. Nbc Meteorologist Bill karins is with us this morning. Bill, the weather has been linked to at least three deaths already over the weekend. How dangerous are these conditions . If you get strand instead a strand instead a vehicle in a remote area, that would be the worstcase scenario. The Avalanche Concern in the west, those are the lifethreatening portions of this. Now the cold has made it down to the texas mexico border. Everywhere thats colored in here shows its below 32