good day. i m chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. devastatingly cold weather is making these caucuses even more unpredictable in a state known for surprises. we have the latest on former president trump s bid to run away with a win tonight and the fight facing the other candidates to have a strofrng enough showing to stay in the race. we ve got the latest straight ahead. plus, congress on the clock again. with just four days to go before a government shutdown, leaders of both parties float a plan to keep the lights on, but there s a catch. conservatives hate it. so will that sink it? iranian-backed rebels refusing to back down despite dozens of u.s. air strikes against their home base. another u.s.-owned ship attacked just a few hours ago in the red sea. this time they actually hit it. so how is the u.s. going to respond? a lot to get to on this very busy day. we start in iowa where the first votes in what will almost certainly be one of the wildest
presidential election. the first american election with a front-runner indicted for conspiring to steal the last one. dividing his time between the campaign trail and the courtroom. i think he s got a lot going on. i think the d.c. circuit will rule against him. in the frigid cold. the coldest in modern history. temperatures so low, they bring new meaning to the term negative campaigning. republicans in iowa will make their choice. donald trump is a threat to democracy. tonight, special election coverage, with joy reid, chris hayes, alex wagner, ari melber, jen psaki, lawrence o donnell, stephanie ruhle, plus campaign experts and steve kornacki with results and analysis at the big board. once every four years the big one. msnbc s special coverage of the iowa republican caucus, the start of the 2024 presidential election, is right now. and here we go. ready or not. time to stop worrying about it. time to start actually doing it. good evening. i m rachel mad
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
it is 4:00 here in new york, 3:00 p.m. in des moines where in just a few hours, the doors will open at caucus locations across the state. and the first votes will be cast in the 2024 election. voters going to the polls today in 1600 precincts across all of iowa s 99 counties will do it in some of the most brutal conditions imaginable. tonight could be the coldest iowa caucus ever. windchills could gets a low as 45 degrees farenheit, that is freezing. that brutal cold is putting a damper on what is normally a frenzy of campaigning. trump campaign and haley campaign canceled three events, but it doesn t mean candidates aren t asking people to get out and vote. ex-president said even if you vote and then pass away, it is worth it. yes? he really said that. there is no early voting and no mail-in ballot, so all of it comes to turnout tonight. the last nbc des moines register poll released last night shows trump with a commanding 28 point lead. if he wins by anything close to th
on that list. and voters in this notoriously independent state tell me they are just waiting for her to prove that she can do it. so can she? if you add chris christie s support to hers here in new hampshire, the math is close. we have the narrow paths you could follow out of the granite state with the atlantic s mark leibovich, but before she goes anywhere, she s got to make it through tonight s caucus where it is 0 degrees and getting colder. joining us now from des moines, iowa, is nbc news correspondent ali vitali, staff writer at the atlantic and msnbc political contributor, mark leibovich, and here on set with me is nbc news correspondent shaquille brewster. ali, i m so happy to see you inside on this very very cold day. tell me what nikki haley is doing in the last moments before this caucus tonight? she s making the rounds still, katy. on the campaign trail circuit. specifically in the area that sort of makes a doughnut around des moines. and that s because her focu