Desantis Set Expectations News Today

including the weather right now. it is here. decision day in iowa. good afternoon. i am erin burnett in washington. >> i am in new york. we want to welcome you to live coverage of the iowa caucuses. we are counting down to the official start of the first contest in the republican presidential race. >> we want to confuse people. washington, you are in new york. everybody, get ready. the battle for iowa taking place against those record cold temperatures we have been talking about. som...

The site. Will it be enough . Joining me now is a republican political owner who backs Ron Desantis. Dan, you and i talked many times over the years. Obviously in recent months, you have been a supporter of Ron Desantis. We are a few hours out from people showing up at these sites. How do you feel about the Campaign Tonight . I feel good. I think we are in the position of being the underdog and i think he has done all the work in the ground, unlike donald trump. He has done a huge amount of even...

Is third acceptable to you . Does he continue if he comes in at third or not . I think he does continue. Hes got a Town Hall and a lot of things scheduled. He is heading to South Carolina Tonight after he addresses supporters. Really, i think youre going to be surprised tonight. If you look at the pool, theres a lot of good news for ron desantis. His supporters have the highest level of enthusiasm and are the most likely to turnout tonight. Hes not expecting to Democrat Votes like Nikki Haley is...

Republican party. He got 100 of what he campaign on when running for governor in florida done since he was elected. That is the kind of leadership i think we need. A lot of politicians are good at this Campaign Stuff and then failed to produce. Ron desantis is an okay campaigner and good at producing once he is in office. I think a lot of these voters in iowa have been up close and met Ron Desantis and i think we are going to defy expectations tonight. We will see what happens. I appreciate your...

Without a Doubt But Tonight we start counting the delegates. Everybody starts at zero. Hes at the top when it comes to expectations but we could start this tonight. The process starts tonight. It is always worth winning a partys nomination. The republican nomination is well worth winning because of this. As we start the cycle, its important to note the democrats are not doing any real Business Tonight but the incoming president of the united states, joe biden. 38 approval rating. That is weak. T...

Nikki haley now heading to her last event. Theyre both trying to stop their biggest challenger, donald trump. Were also watching the weather very, very closely, which as of tonight is below zero and could have potentially a major impact on the turnout. And we have a team of reporters inside the Caucus Sites where people are going to be showing up shortly and at the Candidates Headquarters as we begin our special coverage here on cnn. Lets start with kristen holmes, who is joining us live from do...

Has certainly poured a lot into this state. He has traveled almost every day to all 99 counties. Where does he need to place tonight to be a success . Is it within ten points of trump . Listen, im not going to answer the directly. Were going to beat the odds tonight. Expectations have been set very high for the former president with many polls predicting him winning by 30 plus points. Ron desantis has put in the work. Hes spent the time here. But as you mentioned Nikki Haley also has heightened ...

They have precinct captains across the state in all the various counties. Theyre hoping that can be a difference maker tonight, especially when you throw in the weather and what that might be doing when it is harder perhaps for people to get out, trying to make sure this their supporters make to it this caucus site. As jeff noted, wolf, nobody has more riding on iowa than ron desantis. He has placed so much of his energy, ms. Money here, and he wants a strong showing tonight. Will the voters giv...

The republican party is Donald Trump and the Donald Trump is the republican party. But now what were seeing is this Expectations Game that jan was talk about, which is the trump supporters, including one of his kids is saying its the media who is now saying that Donald Trump should get over 50 , because if we dont get over 50 , then were going to be perceived as not doing as well as we should have done. So what theyre trying to do now is say, okay, lets lower these expectations. We never really ...

Expectations, right . Trump and desantis set expectations. They were both going to win. And again, there can only be one winner. The crowds are really geared toward donald trump. He is the most likely, has the most likely chance of winning there. But Nikki Haley is surging in the polls, right. So anything that she does at this point out is just a great job for her in iowa and definitely gives her a little more momentum, a little more gasoline on the fire as she hits the ground here in New Hampsh...