each other, and get in our future. >> i'll keep us out of world war iii and then revive national pride. >> america needs israel and we need to make sure that we have their back. >> do you want a leader who is going to put this country first, or do you want dick cheney in three inch heels. >> they are five inch heels and i don't wear them unless you can run in them. >> tiktok should be bad because they are poisoning american minds. >> we have to declare economic independence. >> not energy independence, energy dominance. >> let me me say i will protect your social security. >> everything involving bidenomics, i'm going to rip it up and throw it in the trash. >> american hard work has always driven our country to greater things. we should stop choosing victimhood and start choosing victory. >> i will take the hits. i will take the arrows. as your president, i will not let you down, god bless you. [applause] >> governor desantis, thank you. ♪ ♪ >> ainsley: well, the gloves coming you off at last night's republican presidential primary debated in miami. candidates clashing over a wide range of issues and foreign policy front and center. are. >> brian: airstrikes carried out on weapons facility. iran used those facilities to stage attacks against american bases in the middle east. u.s. base in iraq and syria have come under attack many at least 42 times. our guys have been hurt there. this is the first thing we have done or the second thing we have done. we have blown up empty factories. >> steve: it is payback time. we have retired general anthony tata standing by to discuss. first, let's get into the top moments from last night's big debate plus miles from former president trump's rally in nearby high leah. you know, ron desantis was playing on his home turf he is the governor of the great state of florida. of the festivities took place in miami. only five on the stage. so people got more chances to speak. they didn't say much about donald trump. people got another look those five who on the stage is their favorite. >> ainsley: trump obviously still the frontrunner when you look at all the polls. he did have rally we will talk about that haley, one of her best moments. vivek attacked her daughter for being on particular tack and her response was very similar to the will smith response "get my daughter out of your voice." the high heel moment he thought he had her there and she responded on the fly very quickly. quick response. talking about her heels are not 3 inches and they are five inches. >> brian: which i didn't know. >> ainsley: hard to walk in. >> steve: how can you walk in five inch heels? >> ainsley: five is hard, 4 is doable. >> brian: learning from the will smith incident she didn't walk up and smack him. >> steve: she verbally slapped him. >> brian: so interesting and so personal between those two. she basically -- she calls him scum right after. kind of whispered under. he went after her in particular he does not go after president trump and i guess he views her as the biggest threat or something happened behind stage. i don't know. the other thing is don't rip dick cheney. if you are michael moore you can rip dick cheney. dick cheney was are secretary of defense, vice president, did he not get rich off the iraq war. leave that to democrats to make up some fiction. along the way, if you want to make your policies, don't rip -- there is no treason go back and just parrot some hate talking points of the democratic party towards the previous administrations or the prior previous administrations. i just think it was crisp, it was quick. they wanted them to attack each other. they wanted to make sure the moderators they weren't attacking joe biden. >> ainsley: let's hear some of the highlights. some of the things we are talking about here on the set. >> do you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first, or do you want dick cheney in 3-inch heels. >> mr. rams. >> two of them on stage tonight. >> i would first like to say they are five inch heels and i don't wear them unless you can run in them. >> we got two of you on stage. >> such a thing that i will say is i wear heels. they are not for a fashion statement. they are for ammunition. >> regions of ukraine that are occupied by russia right now in the donbas, luhansk, donetsk, these are russian-speaking regions that have not even been part of ukraine since 2014 that other people probably couldn't name those provinces for you. those are the hard facts. and so to frame this as some kind of battle between good vs. evil, don't buy it. >> i am telling you putin and president xi are salivating at the thought that someone like that could become president. they would love. >> in the last debate she made fun of belief joining tiktok while her own daughter was actually using the app. for a long time you might want to take care of your family first before ateaching. >> leave my daughter out of this. >> adult daughter. the next generation is using and that's actually the point. you have her supporters propping her up and that's fine. >> you are just easy ammo. can. >> steve: here's the truth you don't go after somebody's family. he had talked about tiktok. her daughter is 25 years old. she can make up her own mind. once they leave the house, they are on their own. >> ainsley: she is a grown adult. >> steve: nikki haley. has made it career she is not a fan of tiktok it. could be used as a spy device. we have heard republicans say that but, nonetheless, she came out swinging. and ron desantis, who had another good night, he played it relatively safe. here he is. >> brian: just on this pointed if you don't mind, i want to make a point. the reason why the russians have those provinces because they took them. they did a previous invasion. and do you know what barack obama did in ukraine? he gave them blankets and mres. it's not as if these people actually separated. the russians came in and took it. and because we had no response, the weak response during the obama years set up what happened last year and then trump, at least, gave them weapons and training so they would be able to fight for themselves and they have fought. to say call a jewish guy a nazi, the president of ukraine, you have your own ukraine policy. i appreciate that just don't misstate. and the reason why that church that has been sanctioned and been banned because they are using it as a russian enclave as a spying device. some of those clergy there are working against the ukrainian government. that's why they took action against them. >> ainsley: he called zelenskyy, who is jewish. he said that he was a nazi and he was just a comedian in cargo pants. >> steve: and we are talking about vivek ramaswamy. he came out way too hot. you know, the first debate he was way too hot. second debate he was cooler. and what is interesting after the second debate, nikki haley went up in the polls, he went down. that could explain a lot of the back and forth between the two of them. we just saw ron desantis there for the most part. he played it safe last night. here's the thing. the frontrunner, by a mile, was not there. and you cannot debate somebody who is not there. so here he is, ron desantis, the governor, making his case and said donald trump that america elected a number of years ago, 2016, different guy now. >> this country is in trouble, and the elites that have put us here, they don't care about you. they don't care that you're having to grapple with higher grocery prices or higher gas prices. they don't care that your family is less secure because of the open border that's allowed drugs and even terrorists to come into this country. well, i care. i am not going to sit idly by and let this country continue to downward spiral. we need leadership and we need it now. as a veteran, i will get the job done. now, if you look where we are now it's a lot different than where we were in 2016. donald trump is a lot different guy than he was in 2016. he owes it to to you be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance. >> ainsley: he went on to say, talking about the drug cartels and fentanyl at the border. he said if someone in a drug cartel is sneaking fentanyl across the border, that's going to be the last thing they do. we will shoot them stone, cold dead. he talked about trump, he said he always says you're going to be sick of winning. he said well we saw last night, talking about the elections in virginia and elsewhere, i am sick of republicans losing. >> steve: it was a good line. >> ainsley: it was. >> brian: i think they all looked real competent. vivek trying bombs and trying to be unorthodox as a 37-year-old not necessary. >> ainsley: people don't appreciate it. women and high heels sexist. >> steve: he had a terrible night. >> brian: the governor comes off competent. the criticism on him, i had no problem with. while he has a smile and be warm, he wants to solve your problems. he does go in there, what is the problem i want to solve it? >> ainsley: who is that desantis? >> brian: i'm talking about ron desantis. here is the issue and how to handle it. frustration he can't gain on president trump without him being there. i do think some of his criticisms are a dry hole on the republican stage. because we know that he -- the president built 450 miles of wall, would have finished it if the republican house gave him the money. they gave them omnibuses ramped up the. shut down of the government which would have been problematic. and even tried to shut down tiktok and stop sanctuary cities but it was stopped in courts. many of those people were put in place by democratic presidents. so we have a system where we're not an absolute monarch. you can get some stuff done, after a while you can only do so much. look at joe biden with his student forgiveness on loans. >> ainsley: i want to hear what they thought about abortion, too. we had a big conversation about that after the election. nikki haley said i am pro-life, but we don't need to judge people who are pro-choice. she said i had a roommate in college who was raped. she was worried that she was pregnant. she said so i don't judge people who make that decision. >> steve: right. she has said in the past that she would not want to see a nationwide abortion ban because, obviously, republicans have been losing on that left and right. last night she said that she would be for anything that could pass. and, of course, it's all got to pass at the state level. look, no doubt about it, nikki haley and ron desantis were for the most part the winners, lee k5r9er is going to join us here in 20 minutes and show us the dials. i saw on drudge it's not a scientific poll. but nikki haley won substantially, i was talking to people, they felt like ron desantis was the winner. here's the thing. we had five people on the stage last night. tim scott barely made it on the stage. he qualified by 1 percent. you got figure those other-desantis and haley way ahead for the most part. you got to figure it's time for ram and tim scott and chris christie to start to consider dropping out. >> ainsley: will stay in until south carolina? >> steve: think about it this way. when you look at the real clear average of polls, donald trump is at 55, 58%. something like that. that means 45%, about, of the republican primary voters want somebody else. so it's time for a couple of those people to drop out and coalesce around one or two. >> ainsley: i thought you were going to say he has the highest rating. donald trump, is he not even on the stage. you combine their ratings, everyone is on the stage those five, it's still less than what donald trump is. >> brian: it is. last time he won in 2016. >> steve: if somebody wants to be the alternative to donald trump, they have got to coalesce around somebody. >> brian: i know chris christie, it's hard to see a path, but, man, is he good. >> steve: hhe was great. >> brian: he has experience, it's true. all i can say it's very rare to find a candidate opinion and experience in just about everything. and he is willing -- and he is quick on his feet. path there is anti-trump and there is not much of a path there to be anti-trump. when you watch him when he is not talking about trump. his competence is noteworthy. >> ainsley: i like watching him because he is so fiery and not afraid to go ever a people. >> steve: they are afraid to go after him. he is a former prosecutor. he knows how to make his case. evidence would do better in the general with independents and whatnot. but, you know, right now it's tough in a republican primary. >> ainsley: how about vivek going after kristin what's her last name welker he? attacked the moderator and said your network pushed the russian collusion. he said were those just hillary clinton talking points? he said answer that, kristin. go. >> brian: he was right. they did push the russian talking points for two and a half years. >> steve: he also attacked the rnc that was throwing the fest. he attacked the people who were hosting the event on television, nbc, and he attacked ronna mcdaniels by name. and he attacked nikki haley. so, that was pretty much his play. he was n. an attack dog last night. >> ainsley: in the end for the final comments, he said joe biden, we -- are you really running because we need to know. is it really gavin newsom or is it michelle obama? >> brian: that's a little different. ron desantis is going to be with us at 7:40 today. he is all. in one thing he didn't mention he got an endorsement from the iowa governor. that is huge news by kim reynolds. >> ainsley: vivek ramaswamy and his wife going to be on with us. rachel on with his wife at 8:40. >> steve: donald trump was not at the fest in miami. he was high leah. he was endorsed by sarah huckabee sanders. that's big. lawrence is at the touch screen to give us the numbers. >> lawrence: good morning, family. so, if you are talking to the candidates on the stage last night, they say that donald trump can't win because they look at the polling from the last time. you got biden at 51% of the vote. then you have got donald trump that got 46% of the vote. but, now, the new polling, is changing all this. this new cnn polling is a hypothetical. it's showing that donald trump has 49% of the vote while joe biden has 45%. but the biden camp will push back and say look, that's just a popular vote. can he win the electoral college? let's change a little bit here. so then you look at it state by state, arizona and georgia, which are going to be some of the highly contested races. you got donald trump at 49% in arizona, 44%, you got joe biden 43%. joe biden in georgia and 49% for donald trump. now, you remember the last election, it was just a few thousand votes that separated these candidates in arizona, in georgia. but then you go to michigan. joe biden won that by 3 percentage points. donald trump, is up 5 points in this state right now. you go to nevada, he also won that by 3 percentage points. you got this -- you got donald trump at 52% right now, compared to biden's 41%. and finally you go to pennsylvania, joe biden won that by 2 points, donald trump is up by 4 points in that state. in wisconsin, biden won that by 1 point. and it still looks like he has a lead in wisconsin. so, why does this matter? well, donald trump was at a rally last night. and all the candidates have their statements on stage. but he says, look, it's time for all these guys to drop out and coalesce behind me. watch. >> somebody said oh, one of the dumber ones, he doesn't have the courage to stand up. well, listen, i'm standing in front of tens of thousands of people right now and it's on television. [cheers] >> that's a lot harder to do than a debate "time" to stop wasting resources to push weak and ineffective rhinos and never trumpers that nobody wants and nobody is going to vote for. >> i will terminate every open borders policy of the biden administration. [applause] >> we will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in american history. and unlike ron desanctimonious i will always protect social media and medicare. in times like these, you can't afford to have a president who wants to be politically correct. we have to do things properly. we cannot have an administration that takes foreign policy advice from ilhan omar or rashida tlaib. can't do that. [crowd boos] >> i kept america safe. i kept israel safe. i kept ukraine safe. and i kept the world safe. israel, ukraine would have never happened under the trump administration. >> lawrence: so, family, the big problem these candidates have they can't have a rally like donald trump. and, also, as the biden presidency continues, there is a contrast now. voters remember the trump days. they know the success that they had. they had a secure border. the economy was great. we were strong on the national stage and looking at joe biden right now, especially with this war now in israel and they are saying, they miss the old guy. i will send it back to you guys. >> steve: all right. lawrence, thank you very much for summarizing. great analysis. now, to a fox news alert. we mentioned a moment ago. u.s. forces have struck a weapons facility warehouse in syria. >> ainsley: well, this came just hours after iranian backed militias or militants launched their 40-second attack on u.s. bases over there since october 17th. >> brian: our people are getting hurt. this includes an american reaper drone that was shot down yesterday, cost millions. it happened over yemen. looks like we were in their airspace, and that was taken down by a drone, too. let's bring in retired army general anthony tata. great to see you, general. your thoughts about our second retaliation after a total of 42 attacks since october 7th? >> yeah, brian. so these are the lowest threshold, flexible deterrent options that dod has. you can go after equipment and ammo in syria. you can go after people. she a militia groups in syria. next up shia militia groups in iraq. next up iran directly behind all of this. it's the lowest threshold possible. there is no messaging to iran matching the strikes that are going in on the equipment. >> brian: weak. >> it's weak, in my view it's weak having been the policy guy in d.c. general i was watching we hit the facility saw people coming and going and seemed like everybody left. apparently there was a worry that they would kill somebody, you know, connected to the revolutionary guard or a militia group, and that would inflame them more. but you have got to figure they knew. >> brian: that was not accurate footage by the way. >> steve: they had to know we were coming. >> right. by watching it so long and allowing people to leave, it's a very clear intention that we didn't want to kill anybody. we just wanted to damage the equipment. so it's a demonstration of power. >> steve: symbolic. >> it's symbolic and meaningless if it's not matched with an escalation of these flexible deterrent options. >> ainsley: general, you heard donald trump say in florida ukraine would have never happened if he were in office. would that have happened if he were in office? what about the afghanistan withdrawal? would either one of those happen? >> ainsley, it didn't happen when trump was president. and he, you know, right before that, it had happened in crime i can't with obama, as was referenced earlier. and nothing was done. blankets and mres, right? and then immediately after the president leaves office, it happens again. so, one could conclude that the trump policies were an effective deterrent against russian aggression in that region. and, likewise, with afghanistan, we had a really good plan to co-less on bagram, the most protected base in the area, not on kabul, which is the least protected airfield in the area. >> brian: trump never would have allowed -- his own ego would not have allowed kabul to fall