it was a victory that sends a loud, clear message, a message that candidates should run for something and not against someone. >> democratic governor andy beshear of kentucky wins re-election in an otherwise deep red state. we'll have much more from that race and the other major results from election day straight ahead. also we'll bring you the latest out of the middle east. israel says its troops are in the heart of gaza city. it comes as the biden administration is warning the country about reoccupying the gaza strip at the end of its war with hamas. plus, we'll preview ivanka trump's testimony today in the civil fraud trial against her family's business. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this wednesday, november 8th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we will begin, of course, with last night's election. after a historically strong showing in the 2022 mid-term elections, democrats continued their winning ways yesterday with major victories in several state races. in kentucky incumbent governor andy beshear won a second four-year term by defeating the state's republican attorney general, daniel cameron, by a margin of 52% to 47%. though recent polls show the race seeming to tighten in its final weeks, beshear is projected to have beaten his trump backed opponent by a wider margin this time than when he first won the governor's mansion back in 2019. mind you, this comes in a state that donald trump won by 26 points in 2020. in his victory speech beshear reiterating the bipartisan message that helped him secure another term. >> tonight kentucky made a choice. a choice not to move to the right or to the left but to move forward for every single family. a choice to reject team "r" or team "d" and to state clearly that we are one team kentucky. >> an impressive win and a rising star there. the 2028 chatter begins soon enough for the governor. let's move to ohio now. nbc news projects voters there have passed an amendment that protects reproductive rights in that state. the ballot referendum will enshrine a constitutional right to abortion and bars the state from burdening, penalizing, or prohibiting those rights. the amendment also specifies that abortion will be allowed up until the point a doctor determines a fetus would most likely survive birth. now, there are exceptions to protect the mother's life or health. its passage effectively overrules ohio's so-called heartbeat bill, which took effect immediately after the supreme court's dobbs decision that banned most abortions in the state. let's turn to virginia now. nbc news is projecting democrats will keep control of virginia's state senate and will flip the house of delegates in what is a rebuke to republican governor glenn youngkin. democrats will nowontrol two-thirds of the state government and will be able to stymie gop wish list items when it comes to abortion, guns, and voting rights. however, the race for full control of the legislature came down to abortion access with democrats campaigning against youngkin's push for a 15-week abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother. democratic mailer lavar stony of richmond, virginia, framed it this way last night. >> you saw what happened in kansas. you saw what's happened in other parts of the country, and in virginia the same result. people want their rights, particularly women want their rights, and so any sort of scale back of those rights, roll back of those rights that governor youngkin was offering, essentially, was repudiated tonight. and it's my hope that the republicans particularly governor youngkin listen. >> republicans weren't totally shutout on election day, though. in mississippi republican governor tate reeves is projected to beat. brandon presley did keep the race close as usual attacking reeves over a welfare corruption scandal and the governor's positions on health care. bret favre was in involved. ultimately reeves was successful in tying his opponent to president biden who is deeply unpopular in the state. joining us now, steve, i know it was a late night. so thanks for being in. let's start with talking about kentucky and andy beshear. it's a deep red state. it's mitch mcconnell's state. and beshear has now not just won a second term in the governor's mansion but did so in impressive fashion more so than he did last time around. tell us why that is and what it could mean for the future for beshear. >> a few different things. i was in kentucky with beshear following him around the eastern half of the state in a lot of can'ties, very rural counties that donald trump won overwhelmingly that andy beshear didn't win last time around and he won last night. including the county i visited with him where he lost it by 9 points last time, he won it by 11 last night. donald trump won it by 54 points. donald trump won 57% of the vote there. these are deep red places. look, he's had four years to build on a record. he's emphasized this bipartisan cred. it goes to show even in these nationalized polarized times at least for governor's races. i don't think we're going to see this in some of the senate races democrats need to win in places like montana and west virginia next year, but for governor's races, voters are willing to cross the aisle a little bit and vote for a candidate from the other party they might vote for president. >> let's move to virginia where republican governor glenn youngkin put in a lot of resources and capital in an effort to take full control of the state legislature. do we think yesterday was a significant blow to him? >> for sure. look, glenn youngkin was always in this kind of political box. virginia governors, they're only allowed to serve one consecutive term in office. so he's out of a job at the end of 2025. and the way to build his political credibility was to go all in on these races. these battles are going to be close so i don't think you could fault him for trying. to lose the statehouse and fail to flip the state senate means he's not going to be able to enact any agenda, i don't think any white night scenario where he'd rise to rescue the party from donald trump early next year has gone to the wayside. >> what happens now democrats they win elections and they're largely right, 18, 20, 22, last night all good nights for democrats. beshear ran with some distance from president biden. he didn't wrap his arms around him but the white house feels good about how things went last night particularly after those tough polls. and we saw abortion remains a highly motivating factor for people to come to the polls. give us a lesson or two, a preview, if you will, what we could learn from last night heading into the 2024 presidential? >> i think abortion is important. not only was that referendum in ohio especially as republicans rallied around youngkin's idea of a 15-week abortion ban, something he hoped could bring back independent voters but even an issue in kentucky where the state's law had few exceptions and beshear painted that as out of the main stream. the other lesson i would draw here, and it is a bit of an inversion from what you might remember from say the obama era of democrat politics where barack obama built this coalition in 2008 including a lot of people who didn't vote frequently to come out and support him. but when it came to the 2009 off-year elections in virginia and new jersey when republicans flipped both governorships or the 2010 mid-terms when republicans flipped 23 congressional seats and all these state legislatures and governorships that were able to lock in power a long time especially as it came right before that round of redistricting, he was able to get those infrequent voters out to the polls when he wasn't on the ballot. they came back out for him in 2012. things have flipped a bit in politics especially as donald trump has built a coalition of sort of down scale blue collar voters who may not turn out at the same race. so i would look at these results in 2022 and 2023. they're certainly better for democrats than some of the 2024 polling looks right now, but i also would not assume that the 2024 polling is wrong because i do think there is a group of now republican leaning voters or big trump voters specifically who might only win to vote in presidential elections. that's a problem for the republican party outside those presidential elections, but it also might be a problem for joe biden and the white house. >> those voters may turn out for trump. and i think we're seeing concern of enthusiasm of voters turning out for biden. really great break down from politico. steve shepherd, thank you so much on only a few hours slip joining us early this morning. still ahead here on "way too early," ivanka trump is set to take the stand today in the $250 million new york state civil fraud trial. we'll look at what prosecutors are expected to ask the former trump organization executive. plus, the count down clock is ticking once again towards a possible government shutdown. we'll examine some of the options that house republicans are considering to put forward. those stories and a check on weather and sports when we come right back. alright, alright! tiny, branch, poppy... on another musical adventure. ♪ you're all i ever wanted ♪ i can't believe this is really happening. ♪ you're all i ever needed ♪ looks like your band days aren't behind you. grrr. announcer: try tide power pods with 85% more tide in every pod. who needs that much more tide? everyone's gonna need more tide. it's a mess out there. that's why there's 85% more tide in every power pod. -see? -ah. 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( ♪♪ ) there's something going around the gordon home. good thing gertrude found delsym. now what's going around is 12-hour cough relief. and the giggles. the family that takes delsym together, feels better together. is it possible my network could take my business the family that takes delsym together, to the next level? it is with comcast business. powering all your devices with gig-speed wifi. and you get fast downloads and uploads. pick it up! pick it up! oh we got this! because it's powered by the next generation 10g network. more speed for your business? it's not just possible. it's happening. get started for $59.99 a month for 12 months. plus, ask how to get an $800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. comcast business, powering possibilities. welcome back. we'll have more on the election results throughout the morning here, but let's turn now to a few of the day's other top headlines. later today ivanka trump will be the final family member called to take the stand for the prosecution in the new york state $250 million civil fraud trial. unlike her brothers and her father, ivanka is not a defendant in the case. after successfully arguing the statute of limitations had expired since she left the company when here father became president. back in 2017, of course, she moved into the white house. but ivanka trump has been ordered to appear as a witness. the prosecution will likely ask her about her role in several trump organization real estate transactions including the valuation of her own new york apartment, which lawyers say the company priced at 2.5 times the rate she was offered. elsewhere, special counsel david weiss who is leading the department of justice investigation into hunter biden yesterday rejected the popular conservative talking point that he was stopped in any way from criminally charging the president's son. weiss testified in a closed door republican led house judiciary committee meeting to update lawmakers on his investigation. the special counsel insisted that he is in charge of the case and has not had direct contact with the attorney general outside of a letter sent in august that requested he be elevated to special counsel status. weiss' opening statement reads in part this way. "i am and have been the decision-maker on this case. at no time was i blocked or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other united states attorneys, the tax division or anyone else at the department of justice." this was the first time a special counsel has answered questions for congress before even finishing their investigation. but lawmakers came away from the meeting with very different interpretations of the probe. >> did you ask for special attorney authority under 208c section 515, his answer, yes, i did in spring of 2022. did he ever have special authority throughout this process? no. he maintains i would have always been able to get it if i had asked for it. but then his answer was i'd asked for it but wasn't given in. to me that's the concern here. >> i think it's a complete waste of time. weiss is a very strong -- very incredible witness. he stated multiple times that he made all the charging decisions on his own, that no one gave him any instructions or suggestions as to charging decisions. the republicans just keep going over and over the same appeal and he gives the same answers. >> also on capitol hill new speaker mike johnson is working with house republicans to avert the government shutdown as the november 17th funding deadline rapidly approaches. house republicans met yesterday to review their options to keep the government open. speaker johnson briefed his conference on a series of potential spending strategies with one republican congressman describing it, quote, as clear as mud. the meeting came after the gop leadership team gathered on monday night to review some possible options. last week the speaker said that his own preference was to pass a continuing resolution through january 15th to keep the government's lights on through the holidays. and that would give the house and senate more time to pass and negotiate all 12 appropriations bills. but during monday's private meeting, nbc news has learned that gop leaders also discussed a so-called latered idea favored by conservatives, which calls for a staggered passage of short-term stop gap funding bills. we know, of course, the decision to pass a continuing resolution led to kevin mccarthy's downfall. there's a sense johnson has enough to get this done but things can turn quickly. we'll see. the clock it ticking. still ahead hereof we'll turn to sports and explain why the entire nba took the night off. and in the nhl the san jose sharks, they avoid being on the wrong side of history. we'll tell you what that's about straight ahead. we'll tell you what that's about straight ahead ♪ my name is josh sanabria and i am the owner at isla veterinary boutique hospital. i was 5...6 years of age and i knew i was going to be a vet. once alexandra called me to let me know that bank of america had approved my loan... it was important to me. we not only just provide the financing piece, we do everything that we can to surround 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however, a full slate of midweek action with three college football games out of the midamerican conference. last night's showdown between central and western michigan got testy in the first half. look at this, when a scuffle broke out between teams at the end of a punt return of the second quarter. as for the game itself, western michigan continued to push its bowl eligibility with a 38-28 win. meanwhile, a game winning field goal as time expired put ball state past northern illinois. ball state retains the bronze stalk trophy which depicts a cornstalk in a rivalry which honors the farming locales of both institutions. and to round things out the ohio bob cats beat the buffalo bulls 20-10. ohio state remains number one followed by georgia, michigan, and florida state. there's real potential for movement with a pair of top ten matchups slated for this weekend. second ranked georgia will host number 9 ole miss, and third ranked michigan will visit number 10, penn state. let's turn now to the nhl and a dubious record avoided in san jose. the sharks snapped an 11-game losing streak with a two run win over the philadelphia flyers last week, stopping one week shy. but there may be chatter this year's san jose sharks may be one of the worst ever assemblied. time now for the weather and let's go to meteorologist and detroit red wings fan angie lassman as she brings us the forecast. >> you know me well, jonathan. the forecast looking a little bumpy for some spots for that morning commute. yesterday we saw a super fog event. today we're dealing with fog once again. so the low beams, taking it slow. a little extra time on the commute is going to go a long way. we've got hazardous driving with this low visibility. and you can see some of this is reduced to just over a quarter of a mile mobile, pensacola at 1 mile visibility. so once again looking at some fog when it comes to the wildfires burning there and just the moisture in the atmosphere, a difficult situation early this morning. that will taper off and we'll start to see better conditions later today and warm conditions, too. record highs once again possible across parts of the south and through the afternoon hours today. heads up if you live near the great lakes. we've got rain in the picture but also some snow possible as that system works a little farther to the east specifically in places like the upper peninsula of michigan. here's those highs i mentioned 83 in nashville today and running 23 degrees above normal. it'll be real warm. you'll want the shorts and t-shirt through the day today. and even tomorrow we keep it above normal. there's that rain and bit of snow i talked about, jonathan. there good news for the south they're getting some rain, much needed. the top five driest i should say falls on record so much needed rain for folks there. >> we're certainly glad to see that. angie lassman, thank you as always. still ahead here on "way too early" we'll turnover seas as israeli defense forces advance into gaza city as many wonder what israel plans to do when the war with hamas comes to an end. we'll discuss that and more with one of our favorites, editor at the insider, michael west, that's coming up next on "way too early." ichael west, that's coming up next on "way too early. symptoms are stopping you in your tracks... choose stelara® from the start... and move toward relief after the first dose... with injections every two months. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. feel unstoppable. ask your doctor how lasting remission can start with stelara®. janssen can help you explore cost support options. 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(vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. welcome back to "way too early." it is exactly 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this wednesday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. the democratic party secured several victories last night providing a potential boost for president biden ahead of his 2024 re-election campaign. following the passage of ohio's abortion measure,side celebrated the referendum writing in a statement quote, ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts to by maga republicans elected officials that threaten today criminalize doctors and nurses for providing the health care their patients need and that they are trained to provide. the this extreme and dangerous agenda is out of step with the vast majority of americans. in another tweet the president also seemed to take a swipe at the recent "the new york times" iena college polls. those polls show biden behind donald trump in a series of key swing states. biden wrote this across the country tonight democracy won and maga lost. voters vote, polls don't. now let's go win next year. joining us now democratic congresswoman shontel brown of ohio. let's start with your home state. >> yes. >> there was a real win for abortion rights, now been insidelined in ohio's constitution. tell us how we got there and how it makes you feel. >> well, i am thrilled. and first of all, thanks for having me. your show is appropriately named, but i am a fan. last night was a great night for ohioans, and i would be remiss if i did not thank the volunteers and voters who worked tirelessly to get us this victory. we had the august election where secretary attempted to by raising the threshold, really designed to make it more difficult to pass this initiative we voted successfully for last night. i am incredibly excited we're on the path to end the extreme abortion ban that had no exceptions for rape or incest. this will continue us to have access to contraceptives like birth control pills. and it will give doctors the ability to provide emergency care in the event of a miscarriage without the feral of being criminalized or a government interference. >> certainly a big night for democrats last night, and i think they're -- as we look to as the president just did looking to 2024, we all saw the polls over the weekend, it's going to be a tight race. i think we can all agree it'll be a tight race between the current president and the former president. how do we see that race shaping up. it also played a role what we saw in virginia where democrats did well there, too. what role do you think we'll have next year? >> i think it's going to be critically important. many folks have written off ohio as a red state. i often like to echo the sentiments of my former chair of the ohio democratic party who likes to say that ohio is more rigged than it is red, and i think this issue prove that. polls have never been favorable for him. we like to tell folks when they count joe biden out, he shows them that they don't know how to count. we know polls are simply a snapshot in time. and it's kind of early to predict the weather for next year. so i think that in the political land scape, we have a phrase that there's only two ways to run and that's unopposed or scared. and those numbers are frightening. >> some democrats have said it to me the last cup of days. first of all, yes biden was seen as down in 2020 and 2022. but also those polls can be motivating for democrats to say, hey, we have a lot of work to do in this next year. let's shift to governing. we're only a few days, frankly, until it government funding runs out again. november 17th is the deadline. we covered early in the show republicans are talking about some options there. how concerned are you we may be facing a shutdown? what's your read so far about the new speaker's approach? what are you willing to vote for? >> well, maga is making it clear it's going to be challenging. we saw it start in january where it's 15 rounds to pick the first speaker, speaker mccarthy and we went another four rounds to get maga mike elected. they have demonstrated they have been the party of chaos and confusion, deflection and distraction. and we have been focused putting people over politics. in fact, i don't know if it was an oversight or intentional, but he said he refused to put people over politics, and i think that is indicative of what we can expect as it relates to his governing. >> all right, busy week or two ahead for you. we're so glad you joined us this morning. come back soon. democratic congresswoman shontel brown of ohio. coming up next we'll take a look at the markets and the latest live report from our friends at cnbc. a lot of red on the board. that's straight ahead when we come right back. that's straight come right back. 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(vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. hey, guys where i read culuau and absolute vodka teamed up to create a $100 fragrance that smells like an espresso martini. it's already being called the number one skept to not wear on a job interview. if you don't have $100 for the espresso martini cologne just wait a few weeks and have them all sent to breathe on you. >> espresso martini, no thanks. time now for business and for we're joined by joumanna bercetche live from london. the s&p 500 and nasdaq notched their longest winning streak in two years. so what do you think? what can we expect today? >> yeah, that's right, john. even though today futures look thoik they're going to open up in negative territory, it's been quite a november. we've had seven day of gains for the s&p, eight positive days for the nasdaq, the longest winning streak since 2021. and of course this is coming off an october to forget. we spoke about october the s&p down about 2.5% for the month, and november things are looking up, and mainly because investors are starting to think about the possibility of rate cuts in 2024. and to that effect the fed chair jerome powell is going to be speaking later. that's going to be key for market direction from here. also we're going to be watching out for results. don't forget we also have the rest of earnings season to come up with the like of disney, mgm resorts, and arm. you'll remember they ipo's only recently so this is their first set of results since they went public. >> oil prices in the united states yesterday fell to their lowest number in other three months. a lot of talk about this. what's causing the decline? >> yeah, big drop that we were surprised to see it down. down more than 4%. brent ended up just below $81. below $84 for the first time since the hamas attacks on october 7th. attention has shifted to the economic demand complex, the fact china export data disappointed to the down side. also what we are seeing is a bit of an uptick in term of opec plus supply. that is interesting and moved up about 1 billion barrels per day in august. ultimately more supply means more concerns about less supply to the consumer. >> one more for you. americans are piling up record credit card balances, and it seems that many of them are falling behind on those payments. break it down for us. what's going on here? how worried should people be? >> yeah, that's right. a new report out of the new york fed has showed that credit card levels are sitting at $1 trillion, actually just over $1 trillion for american consumers. it's jumped by a whopping $150 billion just in the last year, the biggest increase since 1999, and also interestingly, john, we saw a big jump in the third quarter of this year which tallies up with that stronger gdp data we had and tells you even though consumer spending has held up in the u.s., it's partially motivated by this additional credit card lending that's been going on. delinquency rates have been rising mainly amongst millennials and borrowers ages 30 and 39. and this concept of persistent debt. over a tenth of borrowers are in a situation where they simply cannot keep with the interest and fees on their credit cards. so the pile of debt keeps building up every year. >> certainly a worrisome trend. cnbc's joumanna bercetche live from london, great to see you. still ahead here on "way too early," there appears to be a growing rift between the united states and israel when it comes to the future of gaza. we'll explain that when we come right back. we'll explain that when we come right back fore your asthma got in the way? get back to the things you love... with fasenra. fasenra is an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma. having too many eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, can cause inflammation and asthma symptoms. fasenra is designed to target and remove eosinophils and helps prevent asthma attacks. fasenra is 1 dose every 8 weeks. fasenra can help patients to breathe better. most patients did not have an asthma attack in the first year. and fasenra helps lower the use of oral steroids. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. get back to better breathing. and get back to your life. ask your doctor about fasenra. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. 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(engine accelerating) (texting clicks) (tires squeal) (glass shattering) (loose gravel clanking) welcome back. israeli ground troops have now reached the heart of gaza city. israel's defense minister made that announcement yesterday saying its forces are, quote, tightening the noose. troops are carrying out coordinated attacks in the territory targeting hamas infrastructure and the terrorist group's commanders. this comes as hundreds of thousands of civilians remain in northern gaza despite calls from the israeli government for them to evacuate. many are either unable to make the trek or afraid to do so. meanwhile, questions remain over what israel plans to do once its war with hamas is over whenever that might be. on monday prime minister benjamin netanyahu suggested that israel will assume an indefinite role in overseeing security in gaza, but he did not provide any other details. the white house is firmly against that idea, opposing an israeli occupation of the territory. national security counsel spokesman john kirby says there needs to be a, quote, healthy set of conversations about what post-conflict gaza looks like. joining us now editor at the insider michael weiss. michael, great to see you this morning. i was inside the briefing room yesterday when as mierl kirby made that declaration. there does seem to be a few growing divides here between how washington and israel views this conflict over what to do after the war ends in gaza but also about humanitarian pauses. netanyahu said he's been willing to do an hour or two here and there. most in washington said that's not sufficient. give us the landscape and how tensions are growing. >> thanks, jonathan. i think the united states finds itself in a dilemma. president biden came out robustly in defense of israel committing these atrausys on october 7th, likening hamas to isis and saying the u.s. stands behind israel. but and here's where it gets tricky, despite what a lot of people particularly protesters on the streets of western capitals think just because the united states spends billions of dollars annually on subsidies to the israeli military does not mean we get to push a button or veto what the israeli government, political leadership and military choose to do in their own backyard, right? there's this misconception we essentially have this client state relationship we override. netanyahu's position has been we'll allow for four-hour periods at most to allow civilians to evacuate and for aid, food, medicine, and so onto come into the strip. but the israeli government's position is that allowing for a three-day truce or pause really they see that as tantamount to a cease-fire and they'll remind americans that in 2014 such a cease-fire allowed hamas to attack the position of israeli troops and kidnap one idf soldier. they think the more time they allow hamas to operate freely is more time for hamas to reconstitute its forces to go on the attack. remember, jonathan, gaza unlike mosul, a lot of people liken these two campaigns, the u.s. coalition liberated from isis several years ago. gaza is really a city top a city. the entire underground of the strip is honeycombed with a network of tunnels and underground structures which by hamas' own testimony are used for their own military purposes. so the israelis think if we stop thesuys are going to literally not -- go underground and get a chance to regroup. they can't have that. >> michael, as you're talking there we're showing footage of the smoke rising over gaza earlier today. give us a quick sense as to what you're seeing on the northern front in particular. the level of skirmishes increasing. particular. the level of skirmishes increasing israelis is, look, they saw hezbollah's speech the way most of the arab world did, w -- a l of people were anticipating or hoping he would declare a second front of the war, he seemed to be distancing himself from the that, you know, the time isn't right for hezbollah to get involved. they'll be on the sidelines watching. israelis are more fearful of a miscalculation, some attack tha his boll lashgs one of their commanders launches which ends up killing a idf soldiers, which would have to precipitate a counterattackec and that could spiral into a much larger conflict. >> we appreciate the insight. michael weiss, thank you for joining us this morning. up next, we'll preview the third republican primary presidential debate. id and the take aways from electionro night. history made in a number of other key races. plus democratic senator sherrod brown of ohio will join us,ll what the victories in his state and more will spell for 2024. 2024 there's challenges, and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world. welcome back. elections yesterday, a debate today. the fighting in the middle east is expected to be a central issue addressed in third republican presidential primary debate which will be held tonight. topics, foreign policy with the ongoing war between israel and hamas in gaza, coupled with the o-year-long battle between ukraine and russia, the five republican candidates on stage will be, chris christie, governor ron desantis, nikki haley, vivek ramaswamy and senator tim scott. former president donald trump will skip the debate just like he did for the first two, instead he'll hold a campaign event in a nearby miami suburb. nbc news is hosting the third debate tonight in miami from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m., it will stream live on nbcnews.com. don't miss it. joining us now nbc news senior national politics reporter jonathan allen. great to see you this morning -- nice backdrop, a big moment for the rest of the field who are all deeply behind donald trump in the polls, what are a few things you're looking for? >> the big thing, jonathan, we're starting to see a little bit of narrowing here for second place, the fight to maybe go one-on-one with donald trump at some point. with ron desantis and nikki haley. it's getting pretty intense there, desantis has largely fallen. haley, built very slowly is coming up to a place where she's behind in national polling but has caught up to him in iowa. >> donald trump reported to give arkansas governor sarah huckabee sanders on stage for the endorsement. will they go after trump, it's picked up recently with ron desantis questioning whether donald trump is mentally fit to be president again? >> reporter: that's a great question, jonathan, they've been previewing this over the course of the last couple weeks and more so, over months, largely, the argument they have to make, the donors so important to keep these campaigns going, what those donors want to hear is why donald trump can't win the general election, of course that flies in the face of some of the polling we've seen over the last few days, "the new york times"/siena poll, another one yesterday suggesting that trump is in pretty good position at the moment. why not trump and why themselves? >> some republicans who have pointed out to me they think this is a make or break night potentially for senator tim scott, who entered the race as someone who could pull off an upset it's him, that hasn't happened, his campaign has yet to take off and some chatter he barely qualified for this debate a sense if he can't have a big night, fades into, his campaign may end soon. >> reporter: there's a good chance of that. senator scott definitely needs to find a spark, i think, his problem so far, the reason why people seem to like him particularly in the republican party he's very nice, he doesn't go after other people very hard. republican voters want to do the most rhetorical violence of other candidates. getting on stage and unwilling to contrast your ideas in a sharp, tough way, hasn't proven to be a successful recipe for republican candidates. >> certainly, we know that the situation will dominate a lot of the conversation, fascinating to watch how they address last night's election results which again show a big night for democrats and particularly for abortion rights. jonathan allen, thank you for being up early with us. thank you all of you for getting way too early with us. "morning joe" starts right now. a big thank you to president donald j. trump for his support and his endorsement of this campaign. let me just say, let me just say, the trump culture of winning is alive and well in kentucky. that didn't turn out exactly. i promised the governor i'd be brief and say thank you all. >> trump-backed candidates pick up where they left off in 2022, with republican d