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
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 weeks 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
Somebody who acts like a kindergartner. It was a quite a striking Endorsement Yesterday to come from Marco Rubio eight years after haley decided to stand by his side. You also have utah senator Mike Lee endorsing Donald Trump over the weekend, and notably yesterday on the Stage North Dakota governor Doug Burgum. He is the first republican, former republican rival to Donald Trump in this president ial field to have dropped out and endorsed he endorsed Donald Trump. And so there was some conversations about some of these folks like tim scott, Mike Pence coalesing around somebody like Ron Desantis and nikki haley. The only formal rival of this field is Doug Burgum endorsing Donald Trump. The one thing looking ahead tonight is eight years ago, jose, ali and i were here and watched a record turnout. 186,000 republicans came and caucused. That was more than 65,000, the number of folks who had showed up for any other republican
This race. I can tell you this race to the finish is intense right now. I will talk to you right now about some of the surrogates that he has on the Campaign Trail with him. I want to bring in Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez who flew in from a place thats probably about 100 degrees warmer than we are right now. How are you feeling about this frigid cold . Its exciting to be here in iowa and see all the enthusiasm. Obviously the governor has been making a Hardcore Pitch to make sure iowans can have their voices heard. Were excited about what weve got going on here. Youve been by his side during his administration, what is the Closing Message you are telling voters to try and get them on the side of the governor . From the perspective of somebody that, like you said, has stood alongside him through the difficult times, has seen his resolve, his courage, the convictions that he has, and how hes been able to deliver for floridians. What id like to say to iowans,
Story. The second story theyre going to tell is does Ron Desantis have a chance of pulling any kind of a surprise here tonight . Those counties, those heavily evangelical counties, hes gone after the evangelical vote hard. Hes gotten endorsement from the sort of leader of the evangelical movement, political movement in iowa. He has got to be making inroads in those conditions if hes going to make any kind of a surprise tonight. The other kind of county, jose, were looking at tonight is different. Its more suburban, urban, higher income, a big concentration of college degrees. That profile im describing, that also was a rough one for Donald Trump in 2015. Story county, this is where ames is, iowa state university, the cyclones. This was also one of Donald Trumps worst counties in 2016. Look, 15 here. But look who won it in 2016, it was marco rubio. Marco rubio was attracting those voters i was just describing there, higher income college