for the white house. new cnn pulls out today show president biden, trailing donald trump in critical battleground states. laces that biden won in the last election and needs to win again. with just five weeks until the first votes are cast, republican presidential hopefuls are stepping up their attacks as a new poll in iowa shows donald trump's lead is only getting bigger. and under pressure. the president of the university of pennsylvania is force out and now calls are going for harvard president to resign after her comments on the rise of anti-semitism on campus. many jewish students at harvard say they don't feel safe. >> it felt like a failure of leadership. i was expecting a clear statement against anti-semitism and either here is our plan or we need your help implementing this and that instead of this, when hearing the lack of response, they attempt to evade. it just made us feel like alone in this. we start today with cnn's exclusive battleground state polls. who else is here to break that down other than david, start with the basics, the overview. >> the overview of biden versus trump. that is a rematch that we are headed for. looks like it is. in these states, georgia and michigan, and our new poll, donald trump has a lead in both, he is currently winning both states. as you noted, joe biden wound them in 2020. they were two of five states he flipped from red to blue. and that's how he got to the white house. i just want to show you in michigan specifically, dana, look what happens when you add in the independent candidates, bidens number goes down trump's does, too, but bidens goes down really low. rfk jr. pulling 20% in michigan, cornell west getting 6%, that, in addition to trump having some strength clearly, this is another threat coming to joe biden from another direction. >> look at those two numbers. there is only an 11 percentage difference between joe biden and rfk in michigan. that's a snapshot as are all polls. let's look at what would happen if one of the other republican candidates were to match up against joe biden. >> we tested ron desantis and nikki haley you will see in michigan haley is walloping president biden, tram, we noted is at 50% to 40%, and desantis in michigan has a seven point lead, 49% to 42%. >> and we looked at the characteristics that people are looking for in their candidate. >> it's a bit of a goldilocks kind of question and exactly what you are looking for, and that's what we asked, we said which candidate exactly has the attributes that you want in a president. nobody has exactly everything but, take a look here, on temperament, in georgia, 20% of people say biden has exactly the temperament they are looking for, not too different than what trump has, 18% on temperament which is one of his weakest attribute tested. everything else you see that trump outperforms people like you. policy positions, 13% and only 7% of georgia voters say that president biden has the sharpness and stamina that they are looking for. 31% of georgia voters say that about trump. >> i'm no mathematician but none of these adds up to 100. does that mean a number of people just don't like either of them? >> correct, or they think that these attributes do not apply for either candidate. but here, biden is underperforming trump in most of them. >> let's talk about the issue, the economy. >> take a look. this is one of the biggest warning signs for joe biden because in both georgia and michigan, a majority of voters, 54% in georgia, 56% in michigan say biden's policies have worsened economic conditions for them. only a quarter in each state say that economic conditions have improved under joe biden. this is the perception we see day in and out, the white house is trying to change that but it's not working. >> they are trying very, very hard. a warning sign is an important term i think to use particularly for that top one. meister see you as always. and while voters in these key states say joe biden's economic policies aren't working as david just showed us, the president is sticking to his message, listen. >> they started off making fun of it calling it "bidenomics". guess what, our plan is already paying off. we've created 14 million jobs since i took office, more than any president has created in all four years. wages are up, more than inflation. the economy grew by 5% this last quarter. today, the supply chains are strong but we have more to do to bring down inflation beyond the two thirds we brought it down. america had the strongest growth and is the lowest inflation of any major economy in the world that there's more to do. >> i want to bring in our reporters on the panel today. nice to see you all. you both were in iowa, a lot but most recently this weekend. so we will talk about that but let's just talk about first, the national picture. and of course, what we just saw on cnn's new polling. starting with kind of the feeling, jeff, inside the biden campaign, whether or not they see these polls, particularly the cnn poll in georgia and michigan, two important states. and how worried they are. >> look, there's no doubt that this is not coming as a surprise to the biden campaign. they responded this morning saying, voters vote, polls don't vote, of course all of that is true but the question is why, and why is the economy, voters in michigan and georgia simply have not responded to the president's policies. >> as you are talking i will put back up the economy numbers in georgia. >> these are so stark, i mean, it's a majority of voters do not approve of the policies of the biden administration, and that is what is a central challenge. a lot of numbers here today with polls, a lot of numbers on the screen right now, improved conditions, only a quarter of voters had no effect on these voters are driving on new roads that the biden administration is paying for, flying in new airports, a lot of things have been done yet they don't feel it. it's a classic case of an incumbent president, you know, there's a malaise out there. they will argue, once this becomes a choice, a contest with trump or another republican candidate, this will level out a little more. that may be the case but for now, it's not good. >> this is why the investments in various coalitions over the coming months is going to be so key. i was speaking to georgia-based organizer traveling the country training college students to register voters. you know, that work, you always hear from these progressive groups, they need funding. i think when you see numbers like this, that the calls become all the more dire. they will have to do all they can to make decisions that really motivate and wake up the pace and not to press those voters. >> what are you hearing about the state of play right now? >> folks in trump's orbit are quite happy that he's dominating the polls, he's dominating and other states, you saw the iowa poll came out and he's 32 points up over desantis. they sort of view that he's leading biden and a lot of these, too, as the main argument against former president trump has been he's just not electable. you might like this guy but you saw the cook brothers try this, all of these populated groups, you might like this guy but he is not electable. with these polls are showing and what we are seeing throughout other states this kind of undercuts the argument that he's not electable. and a lot of arguments are not working against it. on the republican side, the other folks are flailing but trump's team feels confident where they are. >> we have another national snapshot from the wall street journal. and, it goes through the issues that are the most important. there, you just look at the blue and the red, the economy, read, that's from, inflation, red, trump, border security, israel and hamas, the things that are different and that flipped the democrats are abortion and tone in politics. >> right, abortion rights have been a driving force for democratic voters ever since the dobbs decision. so they are hoping for that again but they're also democrats out there who sort of worried that cannot be overly let relied on. there's that meta argument and the big picture is, joe biden's weakness has strengthened donald trump and it's taken away the arguments for other republicans who were saying that trump is not electable. that is the concentric circle right here that is a challenge for a nikki haley or desantis, they've been hoping to make the argument that donald trump can't win. if these polls show that maybe he can, that sort of erodes their support. so that is their burden here. five weeks from tonight, the iowa caucuses have opened the contest and if this lead by the former president holds, it's pretty much lights out. >> what's interesting to me about the polls is how durable they've been, these various groups, you know, billionaire donors, all sorts of constituencies that wanted to knock him off have tried all sorts of measurements -- messages and they have at work. so far what we've seen on the republican side is that he's seemingly untouchable. you never want to be too predictable here but it's remarkable that the efforts of the anti-trump efforts in the republican party have failed so spectacularly over the last six months. he's even stronger in the states than he was before. there needs to be some soul- searching for those that dislike trump and why they don't want him to be the nominee again. >> let's drill down on one of the issues that's coming up, that was notable, this wall street journal poll that is different from all the other numbers that gives joe biden an advantage and that is the issue of abortion. republicans know this, and i was really struck by what republican senator jb vance of ohio, who is a big trump supporter, very conservative, said to jake tapper about this issue. >> we have to accept that people do not want blanket abortion bans. i say this as a person who wants to protect as many unborn babies as possible. we have to provide exceptions for the mother. that is a basic necessity. if people see republicans not as the party whose -- then we are going to lose. >> yeah, he is pretty clear eyed and practical about this. i remember being in pennsylvania last year, talking to young democrats, who were otherwise not really engaged, not really happy with the job the democrats were doing but were really concerned about reproductive rights. it is a hugely motivating issue, it is an issue that also wakes up independence and republicans realize that they have to change course on this. >> that is clearly what he was trying to do there. and it's one of the issues that donald trump has been kind of different from the other republicans on, because he's trying to take the long-term general election i should say perspective which is ironic. but that's another conversation. we will drill down on that iowa poll. the republican presidential candidates are barnstorming i. the new poll we were talking about the show trump with a commanding lead. so the question is, are there still enough voters to stop him like this? >> controversy follows him, it's not that he's not intelligent, he just creates controversy and that slows everything down, it's just not helpful. an 11th hour reversal from donald trump. he canceled his planned testimony today at his civil fraud trial in new york. he made the announcement on where else, social media. he said, i've already testified everything and have nothing more to say other than, this is a complete and total election interference by the campaign, witchhunt, that will do nothing but keep businesses out of new york. kristen, what are you hearing from your sources abou t the reason the former president decided not to go. >> i just got off the phone with a senior advisor who told me that trump came to this decision after meetings with his legal team with outside allies that essentially, there was nothing to gain from actually going through with the testimony. he had talked extensively about it saying he wanted to finish some of the testimony that he didn't feel like he had gotten to when he was being questioned by the prosecution, but that there was more risk than reward for him to get back on the stage, and he was ultimately convinced that essentially, he had given testimony, that he had gone through all of those fact. so now where we are with this case is that it is wrapping up this week. we expect another expert witness to finish up his testimony but one thing to note here, is that these are just the beginnings of donald trump's legal problems. and his team is still figuring out how they're going to navigate all of these upcoming trials, with him running a presidential campaign in 2024, and as you've been talking about, especially with this giant lead in the polls that they are saying, you know, they have to figure out, if he is the nominee which it seems like he is inching towards that, what exactly is that going to look like in the next year. >> what is next in the case? >> they do expect the case to wrap this week. there's another expert testimony, he will finish tomorrow, but we aren't expecting any ruling on this until early next year, those are kind of the next steps. they will be sitting on that and an important thing to note, this case is very, very important to donald trump. he did not have to appear a number of times, and he did. this is about the future of whether or not he will be doing business in new york and it goes to the core of his identity, the idea that he inflated his wealth that all this was for tax purposes but it wasn't exactly who he was and it was made up. that's part of something that has really bothered him, obviously, we've seen that as he has gone out and repeatedly stepped up to the cameras a talk about how the numbers are wrong and also attacking those who are in this. >> it's hard to believe but you said next year, that's like in a couple of weeks. that's wild. speaking of that, just five weeks to go into the iowa caucuses. and donald trump does appear to be getting stronger in the hawkeye state. according to a new poll just this morning from the des moines register, 51% of likely republican iowa caucus goers say that he is their first choice. that is a staggering, 32 points ahead of ron desantis, 35 points ahead of nikki haley. the former president is up eight point since october. desantis and haley remains statistically stagnant. plus the pool of persuadable voters is getting smaller. 49% say that their mind is made up. making it even harder, to see anybody catching up with him. our great panel is back with us. jeff, you are a former political reporter for the des moines register. this is a poll that candidates this time of year are waiting to see, and it certainly doesn't look good for anybody except donald trump according to the poll. the caucus process might make for a few surprises but what are you hearing? >> we've seen a lot of surprises. but, time is running short for those surprises to emerge. a lot of the rivals, they were hoping to see some movement particularly florida governor desantis. he has the big endorsement from a popular figure, iowa governor reynolds and other evangelical leaders and he ticked up a touch but he's at 19%. so the bottom line is, donald trump is driving this conversation. one number that i think under stores and a good point. the trump campaign has been running a strong campaign and i will. he's not just going -- >> this is first-time caucus goers? >> yes, look at this, 63% of first-time caucus goers say they are supporting from. 12 for desantis and 11% for nikki haley. they are expanding the caucus electorate. and that means the trump campaign is doing work on the ground that they didn't do eight years ago. i remember at the end of 2015 and early 2016. a lot of trump supporters, they didn't know what a caucus was and it's a neighborhood meeting, thousands of them are held across the state monday night at 7:00, you have to get your supporters to this location. they were not organized. but now they are. we should also point out that 49% say their minds are made up, trump supporters are sticky, as we know but there's a sense, you know you were talking to voters as well, it's easy to find republicans who want to move on. >> i want to show our viewers some of the work that you've been doing on the road and iowa. let me set the table with this wall street journal poll, this is national, not iowa but i want to give you a sense of the argument that you say that nikki haley is making on the trail which is electability. nationally, she can make the argument that she is electable versus joe biden. now, i want our viewers to hear what nikki haley said on the stump about that. >> don't complain about what happens in a general election if you don't play in this caucus. it matters. if you look at any general election poll, biden and trump are head to head, on a good day, they are two points, wall street journal today, trump is up by four points, that's the margin of error. in every one of those same polls, i'm up by 10 to 13 points . >> and here's what some voters that you spoke with and iowa said about that argument. >> i've just been really finding her to be more appealing, each time i see her on the debate stage. i like what she's saying, i like that she is a strong woman that doesn't back down. >> my belief is, she's the only one that can probably reach that independent boat and secure the presidency. i would it be here if i didn't believe that she had a very good chance of winning. i think donald trump is very beatable. >> yeah, this is central to her argument in the closing weeks. that she is a more competitive person to go up against president biden next fall. i don't know how many islands she can convince of that in just five weeks but there certainly is an appetite for this argument. and in that poll, about 40% of islands say they could still be persuaded. there still a market for this. but what you are seeing is people show up to her rallies, who, they voted for trump in 2016 and they voted for biden in 2020 and now they are supporting her, so she really is speaking directly to the swing voters. >> and then there is ron desantis. and it's iowa or bust for desantis. let's listen to a little bit of him on the trail in iowa over the weekend. >> he is his own worst enemy because he can't control his mouth. that has consequences for us being able to get things done. >> you can't have hawkeye haley here conservative and then a more nuanced nikki over here, appealing to liberals, you've got to have the same message everywhere. >> ron desantis, he got the endorsement from a popular government does my governor, kim reynolds, he is really barnstorming the state. it doesn't seem to be working. this campaign has been in turmoil, his group, never back down has lost a lot of officials in the coming weeks. he is doing this traditional leg work but it is viewed as a prerequisite to compete and iowa but it doesn't look like people are liking what they are seeing so far. >> i was communicating with a desantis source this morning, who said well, we are taking so much incoming from both trump and nikki haley, i'm surprised we didn't do worse. i mean, take that for what it's worth. >> they thought they would do better but we should also point out, this poll was taken right before the debate. so there are still voters making up their minds here but challenges, as we talked about before, the other campaigns, have been trying to convince republicans that there is a race. >> one man told me in frustration, he said he just wishes that republicans and i would come to their senses and rally around ambassador haley. there are some voters are there, who are practical, they are thinking about electability , they are true conservatives and they want to actually win in a general election. and so those voters at least are still up for grabs. >> c