fight directly to donald trump. >> he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. >> trump looks to cement his hold on the gop. >> no, i'm not a threat. ly save democracy. >> what would a secondary trump term look like. j.d. vance of ohio is ahead. plus on the line. a split over foreign aid divided congress as world pressure grows over the civilian death toll in gaza. >> there is more that has to happen. >> does the united states have any requirements. and anthonyony blinken is next. and will they go far enough. >> if there is an agreement to phase out fossil fuels, it is a success. if it is not, it is a failure, former vice president al gore joins me exclusively. hello, i'm jake tapper in washington where the state of the union is preparing for what it looks to be a ugly 2024. we're closing in on a presidential year and america already feeled divided of the last night we saw donald trump leaning in his new argument that despite the allies to overturn the 2020 election it is he who will save democracy and days after he told sean hannitiy he would be a dictator on day one that was laughed off. the president of the university of pennsylvania resigned after ham handed comments at a hearing on anti-semitism in which she called any genocide on jews would depend on the context. and with congress stalled over foreign aid to ukraine and israel, the pressure on the biden administration over the israel policy is only growing this weekend after the u.s. vetoes a u.n. security council cease-fire resolution backed by allies and the state department said it would bypass congress to send more ammunition for tanks as they have an offensive that have killed thousands of innocent palestinians. hamas hides among the civilian population but the u.s. wants israel to do more to stop the blood shed of innocents. the scale of the humanitarian scale is only growing and the president's support for israel is continuing to divide the democratic party. joining me now is secretary of state antony blinken. mr. secretary, thank you for joining us. the u.s. stood alone at the u.n. security council to block the cease-fire. and you said this week there is, quote, a gap, between the intent to protect palestinians an the actual results that we're seeing on the ground in gaza. you could describe that gap? what is israel doing right now that you think does not demonstrate enough care or protection of palestinian civilians? >> jake, we think there needs to be a premium put on protecting civilians and making sure that humanitarian assistance could get to everyone who needs it. as i said, i think the intent is there but the results are not manifesting themselves and we see that in humanitarian and assistance. and we want to make sure that as israel continues this campaign, because, remember, they are dealing with a terrorist organization that engaged in the most vicious possibility brutality and would do it again if begin the opportunity. so israel needs to protect itself and to protect october 7th from had aping again. but it is imperative that civilians be protected and it is critical to make sure that the military operations are designed around civilian protection and to focus on that. when it comes to humanitarian assistance, we, as you know, made the argument many weeks ago to get humanitarian assistance in and it started to flow, wep got it doubled during the humanitarian pause that we helped to negotiate, but now what is critical is this -- even aziz rael has taken addition steps to designate safe areas in the south to focus on neighborhoods, not entire cities in terms of evacuating them. what we're not seeing sufficiently is a couple of things. one, making sure that the humanitarian operators who are there, starting with the united i nations, that there are deconfliction times and places and routes so the humanitarians could bring the assistance getting into gaza to people who need it. similarly, we need to see the same kind of deconfliction, time and pauses and designated routes, plural, not just one. and clarity of communication, so that people know when it is safe and where it is safe to move to get out of harm's way before they go back home. these are the kinds of things we're working on every single day. again to make sure that that gap between intent and result is as narrow as possible. >> the idf told cnn, i believe alex marquardt, they believe they've killed 7,000 hamas fighters. when do you anticipate this phase of israel's military campaign is going to end? they can't kill every member of hamas and even if they did, 150 to you new ones would show up the next day. are the israelis telling you anything about when this phase will wrap up? because the civilian death toll is mounting, and it is unmanageable. secretary austin suggested that they may be facing a strategic defeat by chasing so many palestinians into the arms of hamas. >> jake, we have these discussions with israel including about the duration as well as how it is prosecuting this campaign against hamas. these are decisions for israel to make. but hamas has decisions to make too. it could get out from hiding behind civilians and put down arms tomorrow and surrender tomorrow and this would be over. >> obviously. but will the u.s. continue to back israel the way it is backing israel right now if this continues for months and months? as opposed to days or weeks? >> again, israel has to make these decisions. of course, everyone wants to see this campaign come to a close as quickly as possible. but any country faced with what israel is facing, a terrorist organization that attacked in the most horrific way possible on october 7th and has said repeatedly it could do it again and again. it has to get to the point where it is confident that that can't be repeated. but you make another point that is very important. when the major military operation is over, this is not over. because we have to have a durable and sustainable peace. and we have to make sure that we're on the path to a durable and sustainable peace. from our perspective and from the perspective of many around the world, that has to lead to a palestinian state. this is -- we're not going to have durable peace or durable security for israel until palestinian political aspirations are met. and what happens the day after in gaza once major military operations are over, that is also usually hugely important and to make sure that governance and reconstruction is in place so there is no vacuum. >> members of the journalism, 56 has been killed in this war, mostly if not entirely by idf strikes. is that acceptable to you? you've made a press freedom a hallmark of your term. how do you explain all of these deaths of journalists, how did the israelis explain it? >> jake, as i see journalists including some of your colleagues but also from many other news organizations, putting their lives on the line to just bring the news and bring the facts and bring information to the world, i have extraordinary admiration for what they do, for the courage that they show, and for the vital importance of their mission. and we want to make sure that just as every civilian is proteched to the greatest extent possible, of course, journalists are too. and when it comes to instances where journalists have been killed, we want to make sure that that is investigated and we understand what happened and there is accountability. >> congress is scrambling to reach a deal and republicans are insisting on more border restrictions be added to the bill. what would it mean for ukraine and israel if congress does not pass any additional support by the end of the year and why not agree to tougher border protections which is an issue of national security as well? >> well, jake, the border piece as you know is out of my purview. but i could say this. i know on day one of this administration, or at least day two, the president put before congress the first bill on immigration reform, unfortunately congress hasn't acted on that. in this request for additional funds, there is $6 billion to enhance border security including having more people and more agents on the border. so i know that is very much part of the discussion and something that the president is prepared engage on. what it would mean for israel and ukraine and to be competitive in the indo pacific, i think the only people who are happy if this budget is not approved are sitting in moscow, sitting in tehran, sitting in beijing. for ukraine, this is vital. they've made remarkable progress over the last year and pushing back russian aggression, taking back more than 15% of the territory that was seized since february of 2022. but their in a ferocious battle now in the south and the east. we're running out of funding for them. by the way, 90% of the assistance, the security assistance we provided ukraine is in vested right here in the united states to our companies to our manufactures. we've had burden sharing with our allies and partners. we provided significant assistance, about $70 billion over the last two years, our european friends and partners beyond europe, more than $110 for ukraine. so we have the burden sharing that we need. this is a time to really step up because if we don't, we know what happens. putin will be able to move forward with impunity. and we know he won't stop in ukraine. and he may well end up going after a nato country. that would bring us in given our obligations to our nato allies. so a ounce of prevention is worth ten pounds of cure. >> and cnn has led the coverage when it comes to the evidence mounting in israel of rapes and sex crimes committed by hamas against women and girls, maybe even against men on october 7th. why do you think the united nations an the international community has been so slow to condemn these atrocities? i can't think of a real reason -- well let me put it this way. i've heard anti-semitism high podge sized by they might be so slow to acknowledge this. what do you think? >> jake, first, i really applaud the extraordinary work of cnn in bringing this to light and bringing this before the world. you've performed a remarkable service in doing that. as to a question. i don't have an answer. i don't know why countries and leaders and international organizations were so slow to focus on this. to bring it to people's attention. i'm glad it is finally happening. the atrocities that we saw on october 7th are almost beyond human description or beyond our capacity to digest. but the sexual violence that we saw on october 7th, is beyond anything that i've seen either. so, thank you for doing that and look, i don't have a good answer to that question. i think it is a question that these organizations, these countries need to ask themselves. >> secretary of state antony blinken, thanks for joining us today. >> thanks, jake. republicans who oppose more aid to ukraine already won the fight in congress. senator j.d. vance of ohio joins me next on that. and a report he's on former president trump's short list. and al gore will join me ahead. stay with us. welcome back to "state of the union," i'm jake tapper. we're five weeks out from the iowa caucus, but much of the dialogue focused on what a second term might look like particularly after comments by trump, after he called concerns about what he might do in office, the threat to democracy hoax. for more on that and a debate that is dividing the senate, j.d. vance joins me live in studio. thank you for being here. so you just heard secretary blinken try to make the aid to ukraine and israel and you blocked a package among and the reasons more support for a border package to protect the southern border. mitch mcconnell, however, talking about the aid for israel and ukraine, said that threats from russia and china and hamas are all interconnected. take a listen to what he had to say. >> sure. >> challenges facing america and our allies today, are not on a la carte menu of projects. we could address at our leisure. america couldn't have the luxury of facing these threats individually. our ability to contend with complex simultaneous threats is exactly what our adversaries are testing. >> now you disagree with that and you oppose aid to ukraine, explain your position. >> well so first of all, i think it is possible to have separate debates. congressional republicans tried to force a israel alone aid that democrats blocked in the senate. i think we need to have separate debates. but on the ukraine question in particular, everybody knows, with a brain in their head, knows this is always going to head in negotiation. the idea that ukraine was going to throw russia back to the 1991 border was preposterous. nobody believed it. so what we're saying to the president and really to the entire world is, you need to articulate what the ambition is. what is $61 billion going to accomplish that $100 billion hasn't. and ukraine is structured by a country. the average age is 43. that is older than me. i'm 39. if this goes ong longer, the average will be older than you and a year later it could by wolf blitzer. that is a tragedy. what does it look like -- >> i don't like this age thing. i'm 54 for those wondering. >> we're in a place to be on the hook to pay for ukraine pensioners and we need to bring the killing to a stop and that is what american leadership should be doing not writing blank checks to the war. >> and what do you make if the u.s. and nato and they cede part of ukraine or all of ukraine to putin, that all we're doing is putting out the welcome mat to invade a country in the nato alliance such as poland. >> putin has showed he's much weaker than they've feared and they're stalling him relative to the entire country. the idea that he could march to poland or berlin is preposterous. and what this misses here is we have to remember our nato allies with a exception of a few eastern europeans, most don't spend 2% of gdp on defense. if putin is a threat to berlin, that means the germans should be changing something about their defense policy. it doesn't mean we could write indefinite checks to ukraine. >> but russia is a paper tiger because the u.s. has been helping ukraine. that is the reason. >> well it is also because the ukrainians have fought very bravely and look, you cannot occupy an entire territory the size of ukraine with the amount of troops that russia has. the idea that you could go even further and control multiple european nations is i think a scare tactic to get people distracted from the fact that our ukraine policy just doesn't make a ton of sense. i listen to secretary blinken, what are we trying to do, jake? what is the end goal here. how long does this go until the president could articulate the answer to those questions, i don't know why we would write another blank check. >> the argument might be and i'm certainly not secretary blinken. but the argument might be that russia invaded a sovereign nation that is a ally and what russia is doing is evil and putin's goals are, as he has stated them time and time again, to rebuild the former ussr. >> it is a stark morality but we can't make strategic decisions based on stark morality. we have a food crisis that is getting worse because of the prolonged war in eastern europe. we have an energy crisis that is threatening to swamp multiple allied governments and we must accept that ukraine will have to cede some territory to russians and we need to bring this war to a close. and when i think about the great human tragedy, hundreds of thousands have been killed in this conflict and what is in our interest is to stop the killing. and to your doorstep. ohio new constitutional amendment went into effect thursday. you said after it passed, we have to recognize how much voters mistrust us on this issue, us meaning republicans. this week, the texas supreme court is blocking a woman in texas from obtaining an abortion even though her fetus has a rare genetic condition that is almost always fatal and her doctors want her to be able to get this so she's able to have babies in the future and for her health. isn't that situation an example of why many voters might not trust republicans? >> well, i don't know the details of that story, jake. but i will say that we have to accept that people do not want blanket abortion bans. they don't. i say this as a person who wants to protect as many unborn baby as possible. and that is a basic necessity. and when people don't trust us, what i'm getting at, i've been shocked by you go to the hospital and you have a baby and you get a $24,000 unexpected bill. what does this look like for a middle class family. we've made it hard to have children and families in this country in that environment if people see republicans not as the party that is trying to make it easier to have babies but trying to take people's rights away then we'll loose. i think we have to win the trust back of the american people and one of the ways to do that is to be the pro-family party and i think we have but we have to enact some public policy to that effect. >> is birth control part of that policy, empowering women to make those decisions before they get pregnant. >> people need to make those decisions. i don't think i know any republican or at least not a republican with a brain trying to take those rights away from people. did you i think it could -- it could go deeper than that. >> i could provide a list for you. >> but not anybody that i talk to. i talk to a lot of people and a lot of young families that want to have babies and they can't afford mortgages and terrified about health care and not much enough americans are not able to do it. that is how you destroy a nation. let's turn to trump because there are conservatives that have deep concerns about trump and a secondary term. take a listen to what liz cheney told me this week. >> he already tried to seize power once. so it shouldn't be hard for anyone to imagine he will do it again. once a president decides that he's above the law as donald trump has, everything unravels nearly immediately. >> do you have any concerns that donald trump might try to abuse his power if re-elected. >> no. the guy was president for four years. we had peace and prosperity and wages rising faster than inflation. and president biden has been perfectez for three years and the average ohio pays $10,000 more to afford the same standard of living. the idea that trump will be radically than he was four years ago is preposterous. i think he'll be a successful president again and i that is why i've endorsed him and this to make it about the past that makes it indicative that democrats don't have much to run on and the republicans do. >> and donald trump is out there talking about how the 2024 election was stolen from him and using bogus evidence and lies and assertions that were disputed and overruled by court after court, judge after judge, election board after election board and judges that were apointed by him. he's the one focused on 2020. >> you just showed me a clip of liz cheney and who talks nothing of january 6, 2021. the president is campaigning an redelivering peace and prosperity for the american people. if you want to talk about the 2020 election, but i want to talk about and i think president trump wants to talk about the future, that is what this election is going to be decided on. >> i think the concern is he wouldn't stock his administration where the j.d. vance of the world, would be with individuals that would not be able to tell him no. one voice that i'm heard about is kash patel, he served as chief of staff to the pentagon. here is what he said to say on steve bannon's podcast this week. >> we will find the conspirators in the government and the media. yes, we're coming after the people in media who lies about -- we're going to come after you. >> look, i know kash patel very well. i didn't see the full context. clip. >> sounds like a university president. >> we know this 2020 that there were massive pieces of evidence that were suppressed by collusion between the national security state in this country and various -- >> yuou're talking about the hunter biden laptop. >> the reason it was suppressed on social media. >> for like a day or two on twitter. >> millions didn't see that story if there hasn't been the collusion between the technology companies and members of the media who had security clearances. these people were using trust acquired over a lifetime of public trust and lying to the american people. >> so you agree with kash patel. >> i agree that we need to look seriously as how there was collusion between members of the press and big technology companies and members of the national security. that is not journalism. it is not journalism to take your security clearance, lie to the american people and then persuade the big technology companies to sensor anti-joe biden stories. that is cooperation between the government and journalism, it is the opposite. >> well donald trump was president at the time that any censorship was going on so nobody in government, any biden people were not -- that were asking that were not in the government at the time. but i will just say as somebody that tried to see the laptop, rudy giuliani won't let us see the laptop. he wouldn't let us. so we weren't able to report on it because he wanted us to go by his words. >> i'm much less concerned about what you're reporting on and much more concerned about the fact that millions of americans get their news through social media and we know that the fbi was working with the social media companies to sensor a troubling story. take a look at threats to democracy. that is crazy. the fbi encouraging private companies to sensor journalists. that should pis a lot of people off. you included. >> before you go, axios is reporting you're on donald trump's short list for 2024 to be vp. any interest? >> i was elected for the people of ohio and that is the way i'm host effective but i'm going to help trump however i can because i think he was a good president and the american people will benefit from him being president again. and does al gore think people are doing enough to heal our planet? he's here next. stay with us. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? did we peak your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible, it's happening. welcome back to "state of the union." i'm jake tapper. as the world's climate nears a breaking point, leaders are in the uae to stop rising temperatures experts insist you could not do that without phasing fossil fuels but many are pushing back including host of the climate conference. and joining me now is former vice president al gore. thank you so much for joining us. you were just with leader as the the cop 28 hosted by the uae, one of the biggest oil producing countries in the world. the president of the summit is the ceo of a state run oil company who recently said that there is no science to support phasing out fossil fuels. that is obviously not true. this all feels like having an arsonist host a fire prevention seminar. do you have any hope that something substantive could come out of this? >> well, jake, they've overreached. the fossil fuel industry has sought to control and manipulate this process for a long time. they're way better at captured politicians than capturing emissions but they've gone too far and i think it could end up as a kind of blessing in disguise because it is awakened a lot of people to this situation. it is a fossil fuel croisis and they try to pretend to keep on burning them and catch the emissions into the air is ridiculous. maybe one day in the future that might be possible. but it is nowhere feasible. it is not where close to being feasible now. anyway, i think there is a chance that we could see a surprisingly good outcome here if the majority of the countries there hold to their -- hold on this their convictions and demand to a phase out of fossil fuels, i'm hoping. >> you could explain why on earth a climate conference would be held in a major oil producing country to begin with? >> well it is kind of ridiculous, it should not be. although it is not so much that it is in a country that produced oil, it is the appointment of the ceo of one of the biggest and least responsible oil companies on the planet to be the head of the conference. and here is the reason that is a direct conflict of interest, jake. he's charged by the u.n. with the responsibility of guiding the world toward a sharp phase down of these greenhouse gas emissions coming from burning fossil fuels but he's charged by his sovereign and the company that he heads with a massive expansion of fossil fuels. they have a plan to expand production of both oil and gas by an enormous amount starting the minute the gavel bangs to end this conference. and that is a direct conflict of interest. and it is not a nit-picking thing to point that out. the people of our world deserve to have some confidence that this process has integrity. and we've been seeing the fossil fuels polluters try to manipulate this process for a long time and the world is running out of patience because this is so serious now. we're in the hottest year ever measured, we're seeing these extreme climate-related weather events just causing havoc all over the world and the scientists spot on and dead right we've seen it play it out, we need to give careful attention if we don't phase out fossil fuels. so we've got to do it and i'm hopeful this time we'll finally see some meaningful action. >> it does look like a -- the 2024 election will come down to president biden versus former president trump and i'm wondering what you think the world would look like under president trump being re-elected which is a possibility, not only when it comes to the climate but also when it comes to democracy. >> well, i saw the other day where he pledged to be a dictator on day one. and you kind of wonder, what it will take for people to believe him when he tells us would he is. and, you know, the solution to political despair is political action. and for those in the republican party and in the democratic party and independents who love american democracy, and who want to preserve our capacity to govern ourselves and solve our problems, now is the time to get active. there is a mental health crisis around the world, i think that one of the main reasons for that is that young people look at the fact that we are not yet solving the climate crisis or dealing with some of the other challenges and we heard the word thrown around poly crisis. well solving the climate crisis is a poly solution. we know what we need to do and we have the means to do it and we have to make sure that we make the right political choices in our democracy to enable ourselves to make the right choices. >> i also have to ask you, sir, because you are a harvard alum, the president of harvard, penn and m.i.t. were before congress this past week and were asked whether or not it was calling for the genocide of jews could constitute harassment and they seemed to struggle with that and they issued clarifying statements and what is your reaction as a strong supporter of the jewish community and israel and as proud harvard alum? >> well, i was shocked by the tone deafness of those comments and i think they got bad legal advice in putting together what they were going to say and they certainly do need to clarify that. and we need to respect one another in our country. and when statements come out, we need to stand against them and stand firm as americans for respect for all of the communities that make up america. epluribus unum. we need to be one country. >> and for eight years the clinton-gore white house grappled the israeli palestinian crisis and your former boss said he tried to settle it once and for all and there was a deal whether he had the leaders of israel and the palestinian people in the united states trying to offer a deal. given all of that history, and given the blood, sweat and tears of the clinton-gore administration to try to bring peace to the region, what goes through your mind when you see the crisis unfolding as it is right now? >> it is heartbreaking. and beginning with the hitler level atrocities of october 7th. just unbelievably horrific. and, of course, as our secretary of defense has said, it is important not to make the same kind of mistakes that our country made after 9/11 that ended up making things worse. so, the suffering of civilians in gaza has to be attended to. and the response to the atrocities of october 7th are what israel has a right to pursue. but it needs to do it in a way that doesn't end up making the situation worse and i think there have a majority in israel that agree with that. we have to go back to the two-state solution. jake, sometimes a solution appears to be so hard that people quit talking about it. and hamas doesn't want a two-state solution and some even cabinet members of netanyahu don't want a two-state solution. but the majority understand that is where this needs to -- that is where this needs to go in order to solve it for the long-term. >> vice president al gore, always a pleasure. thank you so much for your time today, sir. >> thank you, jake. a new poll has nikki haley up double-digits in a hypothetical match-up with joe biden. we'll go over those numbers with my panel next. under no circumstances, you are promising america tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody? >> except for day one. >> he said you're not going to be a dictator, are you? and i said no, no, no, other than day one. he said i want to be a dictator for one day. because i want a wall. >> welcome back to "state of the union." donald trump wants to be a dictator but only for one day. my panel joins me now. boy, sean hannity was trying to help him there. >> listen, this is -- i'm giving you this -- just say absolutely not. i mean trying so hard to help. just giving it to him. >> and he wouldn't do. he couldn't do it. >> i got too cute by half, i this. he wanted to make this point that i'm -- let's first stipulate, donald trump doesn't believe in rules or laws or norms or institutions. he thinks their for suckers and part of the message is i'm not going to let that get in the way. we're going to drill and build that wall and take care of the border. and he thought this was a cute way to say that. but he intermingled with this word. and he's given us enough evidence that he does have these autocratic designs that everybody lit their hair on fire. >> so that is the thing. because it is not really about the wall and it is not about energy or about the other things that he said that suggest autocratic impulses. take a listen. >> i will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the united states of america, joe biden. >> if i happen to be president and i see somebody who doing well and beating me badly, i say go down and indict them. >> and if your president again, will you lock people up? >> the answer is you have to choice because they're doing it to us. >> an that is just a little pestish sampling of it. and he's flot going to have around him, should there be a next time, the john kelly and the bill barrs and the mark espers. he's going to have around him a bunchch people who say, yeah, that is a great of people. >> there are a lot of people who were in the first administration that wouldn't go back for the second time. you're going to see a different cast in season two as trump as president. and i see this on both sides that people feel their own side is losing and they are on the losing end and it is the other side that doesn't care about rules an it is willing to break norms to take power and you find that trump is the very potent vehicle for that entire way of thinking on the right. the idea that, he talks about republicans being weak far more than democrats being weak. this is a key part of the message from day one and core to his appeal to republican voters. >> i think it is time for the democratic party to turn the election not into a referendum on joe biden, but to point out what a donald trump presidency is going to mean. it is going to mean by his own admission, a muslim ban on day one and you have the politicization of the department and cuts for people who are struggling today. cuts in education, cuts in housing assistance, cuts in possibly social security and medicare with a debt commission. the way we win this campaign is to vividly describe what donald trump presidency going to mean. >> if he becomes the nominee, we should note, because with five weeks until the iowa caucus, a new "wall street journal" poll shows president biden ties with ron desantis and he would lose to nikki haley by a whopping 17 points. 17 points. that is suggesting a whole lot of democrats and independents that look at the cloihoice of bn and haley and say that is a no-brainer and she's still not likely to get the nomination. >> i think she would be a force in november of 2024. would you not put money on her winning the election by 17 points or whatever the poll found. >> of course not. >> that is probably an exaggeration. >> that has never happened. >> but it is clear she would be the most electable of the options republicans have in front of them. the problem she's facing is to use a "star wars" analysis, she's got to do the trench run on the death star. everything has to go right in order for her to win in new hampshire, and then you've got the empire is going to strike back in south carolina. the gauntlet that she has to run is enormous. >> this is the dilemma for the republican party and we saw it last year in the midterm elections, the things that it takes to get nominated in that party, make you a good candidate make you objectionable to the party base. it is hard to be a center right republican and do well in this progress. >> congresswoman? >> i think she's doing a better job than anyone else, threading the line, showing her conservative policies and also she could be mainstream. >> but she's not -- donald trump is still far and away the leader for the nomination. it is not even close. >> but i do think there is a pathway for nikki haley. i think that even republicans, think about this, even republicans are saying, i have had enough. i can't do another four years of this. >> not enough when it is abortion, as david points out and as you ask j.d. vance. donald trump who appointed three justices who took away women's rights and so many of the party saying no exceptions for the health of the a mother and nikki haley is saying some exceptions because she's not going to win. and it is donald trump upholding the extreme policy that ronald reagan and bush didn't have. >> and she's a skilled politician and i think she's done well in the process but the nature of the process is the better you do, the better you have to do and the more scrutiny you get. so trying to walk the line and please everyone in that party becomes harder and harder and you get challenged. right now ron desantis, a pac supporting him, a nikki haley conflicting ad, tricky nikki they call her, this is a vulnerability. so we'll see. if they becomes competitive with trump, my guess is he's not going to wave her through. >> but the koch brothers came out and supported her. >> but i think the fact that she takes a more nuances stance on abortion is not the reason or even a really contributing factors to why she's not first in the primary. the reality is that republican voters like donald trump and a lot of the candidates running against him have not tried to lay a gloof on him. >> including her. >> there hasn't been a sustained assault on donald trump. and that is a big -- in the last debate she had all of the cannons turned toward her. but they think donald trump did a good job in his first term and until republican voters believe other wise, that is what is so hard to overcome. >> what about the threat to democracy, including liz cheney feels he poses. >> i think liz cheney, she made noises is she going to run for president, a lot of folks that have those concerns have left the party. they could be open to voting for a third party candidate but i think that hurts joe biden more than it would hurt donald trump in a general election. >> thank you for being here. >> the only thing i wanted to say, ro khanna is right about this going and saying this is what is going to help the democrat party is by pointing out what a trump presidency looks like. >> if they successfully make that argument. >> buzz there is also an argument that is working against joe biden in terms of what he's doing today and how it is hurting the american people. they're just going to keep going. it is not -- we're still suffering from inflation. >> tune in this week to two cnn town halls with candidates in iowa, on tuesday i host ron desantis on on wednesday we'll host vivek ramaswamy. she's a barrier breaker on and off the tennis court. but what is it like to be billie jean king. tune into being billie jean king right after cnn heroes. thank you for spending your sunday morning with us. fareed zakaria "gps" starts next. this is "gps", the global public square. welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world. i'm fareed zakaria coming to you live fro