In Ames News Today

this is it, the official kickoff for the 2024 battle for the white house, and one state has the first shot at shaping the race. >> its decision time in the bitter cold heartland. >> iowa has a huge, huge role to play here. >> this starts here. >> there is no way iowa is voting against trump. >> the first votes in a presidential contest that is testing american democracy in extraordinary ways. >> are you ready? >> will the former president and unprecedented legal peril get one step clos...

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 hes 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...

welcome to "inside politics" live from iowa. here we go. the first vote of the 2024 presidential election are tonight. after months of rallying, tens of millions in campaign ads, voters will finally have their say. and in the last few hours, candidates are scrambling to reach as many of those voters as possible. >> you have to get it done quickly. we have to set the stage. >> think of the fact that you might be making history in this moment. >> we are the nations best days actually sti...

piece of stripe gum. the situation room with wolf blitzer starts right now. see you tomorrow. happening now, breaking news. closing arguments just wrapped up in donald trumps new york civil fraud trial. the former president taking his campaign to the courtroom, launching into a rambling speech before being cut off by the judge who urged trumps attorneys to control their client. plus, were now in the final stretch before iowa decides with the first in the nation caucuses just four day...

>> im actually al gore while im asleep also. >> what are you dreaming of, the white house? >> that was my college tour with al gore at lehman college back in 2002. college tours have been a feature on "hardball" since the show first aired on msnbc back in 99. lets take a look. >> welcome. were at memorial auditorium here at stanford university. from george mason university in virginia. live from chapman university in southern california. live from the university of albany. live from the citadel....

They want to see take on trump. kyung? >> reporter: senator kamala harris begins a three-day swing through iowa. she is holding a town hall here on the campus of iowa state university in ames, iowa, and has increasingly begun to sharpen her attack line, her message against donald trump. and iowans at least the ones ive spoken with say they like what they hear, also what theyre seeing from washington democrats. >> they should go harder and faster. they think theres another whistle-blower and i th...

Things that come out of his mouth. >> in ames, iowa, we heard that a lot, especially in light of his most recent comments suggesting that humanity may not exist if not for rape or incest. >> it seems over the top crazy. it does not seem like in this day and age we can have people speaking like that. >> what do you make of steve kings latest comments? >> well, i am shocked, but not surprised. he is an embarrassment. to this community, to iowa, to the congress. he needs to be gone. >> it is too ha...

Way. [ applause ] and im so sorry for your loss, and i thank you for using your voice. but there are too many parents that are grieving the loss of their children, too many communities that are grieving the loss of lives that should never have been taken. >> thank you, pastor. president trump has promised to bring troops home from afghanistan and from syria. on that topic, i want to bring in dylan meyer, a senior at iowa state university in ames. hes studying political science. dylan. >> thank y...

Now. steve king may have been elected but he doesnt represent your everyday iowan. >> he has a real race, it seems, on his hands and it doesnt seem like hes been doing a lot of these events. a candidate forum, where was it? >> yeah, it was a candidate forum. i paid $15 for the ticket. youre right, he hasnt been doing a lot of these events. i traveled four hours away this saturday to talk to him at another event. as soon as i walked up and tried to shake his hand he immediately walked up, had his...

On his hands and it doesnt seem like hes been doing a lot of these events. a candidate forum, where was it? >> yeah, it was a candidate forum. i paid $15 for the ticket. youre right, he hasnt been doing a lot of these events. i traveled four hours away this saturday to talk to him at another event. as soon as i walked up and tried to shake his hand he immediately walked up, had his son come up and kick me out of the venue. >> this is before you asked this question or after youd asked the questio...