facing off again in iowa. former president donald trump said to take the stage in cedar rapids as he continues to hold commanding lead in state polls. 100 miles west in newton, iowa, ron desantis completes his to work of all 99 state counties open to close the gap. with six weeks until the first in the nation iowa caucuses, it's going down. welcome to a brand-new hour of fox news live, i am arthel neville. >> a lot going on, i am bill melugin, and for, he's going to take the hawkeye state, he got the endorsement of i will cover kim level may not be his biggest challenge right now. desantis is trying to fend off former un ambassador nikki haley starting to gain steam in early voting states. >> for now the former president appeare republican party's topic dominating the national polls. we have live coverage from the rallies when they get underway? first go to alexis mcadams following the campaign in newton, iowa. >> a busy day for candidates on the ground in iowa including ron desantis about to take the stage behind me in a few minutes to talk about what he says is a huge accomplishment ending all 99 counties in the state. he spent a lot of time in the hawkeye state says he's talked one-on-one with people and made important connections he says will put him on top and iowa. >> you hit 99 counties here in the state, how do you feel? >> is a lot of good work but it's important, you shall people you expect to have to earn their vote, not entitled to vote and you get to talk to people from all walks of life. we hear about things through the filter of media, social media, this is talking to real people every day and you get good feedback and questions and they have good suggestions so that something valuable and it reminds us you are a servant, not a ruler in this country and going to these places shows that i believe in that servant model, is important in this day and a age. >> even with all the time he spent in iowa, trump is ahead in the polls. according to a poll by the des moines register, 43% of likely republican caucus door say they picked trump the president. the former ambassador to the un nikki haley, tied for second sitting at 16%. another live look, desantis will stand side-by-side with iva, kim reynolds, supra popular she will be on the stage after she endorsed him and iowa evangelical leader bob, a kingmaker in the state will be after super pop money flooded the race. earlier this week nikki haley received the endorsement from the network called americans for prosperity. there are still some things happen, i will step back and will keep here on the ground but governor desantis says he believes he's been performing very well talking about the debate, he said he's had a lot of people talking to him how he did a great job, thinks he's doing well in iowa and we will see what happens, it's six weeks out. >> ninety-nine counties in iowa makes me think of 99 bottles of beer on the wall. if you don't know the reference, i'll tell you when you are back in new york. you know it? >> i don't know, i think i do but maybe i don't. [laughter] >> you don't need to know, alexis mcadams, thank you. >> i want to know what that's about. [laughter] >> former president trump outpacing host contenders from other hopefuls starting to run out of time to catch up. ron desantis and nikki haley training from trump in the multiples by a wide margin making it urgent for both to get report if they want a shot at becoming the 2024 nominee. washington examiner selena joins me now. >> i know what the 99 bottles of beer on the wall means. >> i think i know but we will leave that for another time. for these non- trump candidates, a little over 40 days from the iowa caucuses. do they still have runway toolpusher or do you think voters minds are essentially made up by now? >> absolutely they have plenty of time to catch up and you look at the numbers and trump's numbers and you say how can that be? it happens every time. iowa, new hampshire and south carolina, those voters tend to expect you to show up not just in the county but their living room and expect you to earn their vote and talk about real issues, not issues that are across twitter social media but issues impacting their lives. in particular, the economy, if inflation and the border crisis and national security so i think there's a lot of room for people to grow. i think nikki haley will benefit from the afp, an amazing grassroots network but i think desantis is doing the right thing, reminds me of mike huckabee 2008 when -- and rick in 2012 where these guys were on the ground working, they underscored the voters and want despite no one seen them coming at the time so i think there is plenty of time and room for things to change. >> let's talk about desantis, he's made himself a contest between him and other republican candidates essentially saying republicans have been losing elections since 2016 when donald trump won. 2018, 2020, 2022, he says he's a winner in florida and keeps heading back home. >> we had the biggest republican victory we've ever had in the state of florida and the governor's race but that's because we lead and delivered big results that didn't happen in the rest of the country so winning is what we need to be doing. i am tired of losing, i want to put points on the board. [applause] >> he turned florida pretty red in the process and coming off a debate night with governor gavin newsom the other night by most accounts, conservatives feel he did well. do think the debate will move him up in the polls in the coming days and weeks? >> i'm interested to see what happens, he came across very well. he was able to come back solid policy answers but also fun equipped and jabbed at newsom so voters are looking for that. conservative or republican voters are looking for someone who can govern, who can win but also someone not afraid to give it back when conservatives get attacked and i think desantis embraces those qualities and voters have not solidly decided and i think that debate probably helps them, i'm interested to see the polling numbers. >> let's talk about donald trump because he's been searching recently. if we could pull up this recent polling of his biggest gains over joe biden recently. i think this is wrong but this is donald trump sizable lead over nikki haley and ron desantis but donald trump has been surging in the polls and keep battleground states, picking up steam with independence, hispanic voters, people he would need, a coalition he would have to build if he wants to win in 2024 if he ends up being the nominee, what do the numbers say to you? >> the conservative populist coalition is not only intact from 2016 even though they suffered losses in 2018 and 2020 and 2022, the coalition is intact and growing. people talk about working-class a lot but there's hispanic working class and black working-class who share a lot of the same cultural values as a white working class and that's where trump and conservatives, republicans have been gaining voters. the problem for biden in the polling is he's shutting young voters and they are not interested. it doesn't mean he will vote republican, probably just won't vote at all or third-party but they are unhappy because they are further left than the rest of the coalition. his coalition is frank and that's his challenge. >> thank you for your time today, appreciate your insight. >> thanks, bill. >> we law live coverage once they get underway, stay tuned for that. >> israel bombarding seven because after seven days misfire ended yesterday. israeli strikes today reportedly hitting houses and destroying three mosques. idf ordering neighborhoods in gaza to evacuate ahead of further strikes. meanwhile israel and hezbollah continue to exchange fire across the lebanon border and that's where we find nate foy standing by with the latest. >> in the past hour, hamas terrorists fired ten rockets out of gaza to southern and central israel including tel aviv where israel's iron dome intercepted six of the middle and they landed in areas like open areas where nobody was injured. this will shortly after a rally in tel aviv for hostages who have come home and 130 hostages remain in hamas captivity but what you are watching right now is what we see on the northern front of the war, hezbollah and israel exchanging fire. this is a precision strike taking out hezbollah infrastructure, second straight day we seen this and we are seeing artillery. hezbollah claims 11th largest into israel over the past two days, israel response by targeting the positions where the attacks come from. lebanese media reports israeli shells killed three people but you mentioned it, the focus of today's military operations is in gaza. the idf took out a senior hamas commander who helped plan october 7 attacks with this strike you see in gaza city. the southern city hit hard today as idf soldiers are going door-to-door in the northern gaza strip fighting hamas terrorists and close combat. israel found hamas weapons hidden in northern gaza including rockets, missiles, grenades and benjamin netanyahu reiterated israel will not stop until hamas is eradicated. >> how do you argue for murder, rape and dismembered women, children and babies, human life has no value? >> israel pulled out of talks and qatar to negotiate another cause in the fighting so with just seeing this recent rocket attack out of gaza into southern central israel is an indication the war continues. >> nate foy, thank you. >> president biden spending the weekend at the white house while keeping a close eye on the idf forces and renewed bombardment and gaza. lucas tomlinson joining us with the latest. we know what the president is up to? >> the president taking it easier and the white house, hosting a few christmas parties at the white house. vice president harris on the road speaking in the oil-rich middle east autopilot summit. this is what she said. >> president biden and i have been clear with israeli government, public and in private many times. as israel defends itself, it matters how. the united states is unequ unequivocal, international humanitarian law must be respected. too many innocent palestinians have been killed. >> earlier on fox lawmakers from both parties reacted to that from the vice president. >> i think it is inappropriate for us to tell them how to win the war against hamas. but we know, hamas is the one who perpetrated the crimes against innocent israelis. they must be wiped off the face of the planet. the idf will do that. >> senator ernst was saying we can't dictate how the idf prosecutes the work. we can influence it, it's better indirect coordination with the idf. >> the big debate thursday night, president biden's age came up and potential of a plan before democrats in 2024. >> yes is in decline, yes it's a danger to the country. he has no business running for president and gavin newsom agrees, he won't say that but that's why he's running a shadow campaign. >> one thing closing we have in common, neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024. >> just before we went on air, the u.s. military central command responsible for middle east tweeted this photo showing iranian drone flying in an unsafe and professional manner during the persian gulf intercepted by this navy helicopter so viewers understand, intercepted does not mean shot down, this aircraft flying alongside the drone. i'm sure viewers are wondering why it was not shot down. surely they could easily make that happen. >> great question as iran and proxies harassed forces out there almost daily it seems. thank you. >> indeed they do. the race for the white house starts in iowa where former president trump in florida, ron desantis are holding rallies this afternoon. we will bring them live when they get underway so stay right here. here. ♪ we are hearing from actress susan for the first time since the controversial speech at an anti- israel rally last month. she is apologizing for at least one of her remarks that day. cb cotton live new york city with more. it seems like she's walking the comment back now. >> she's trying to address many people who were upset. susan writing a lengthy apology on instagram after she told a crowd in new york city getting a taste of what it feels like to be a muslim in this country. now the actors taking to instagram writing this, this was a terrible mistake as it implies until recently jews have been strangers to persecution when the opposite is true in the actors went on to acknowledge persecution past and present mentioning the holocaust and writing about 2018 pittsburgh synagogue shooting. here are part of her initial report marks that sparked outrage. >> there are a lot of people afraid of being jewish at this time and getting a taste of what it feels like to be a muslim in this country so often subjected to violence. >> there are undoubtedly deepening divisions in this country as people continue to share in their abuse on the israel hamas war, hundreds gathering in new york city for this pro- palestinian rally outside the american museum of natural history. rally organizers accusing the medium of having corporate patrons which donate israeli defense forces. something which enrages many of the people in the crowd because they feel israel's committee genocide against palestinians. >> united states break the country so we should have people who freely can express what they think. >> the messages stop the genocide and cease-fire. >> pro- palestinian groups are going to continue holding rallies as long as the fighting continues in gaza. this week at least seven people were arrested in new york city during the rockefeller tree lighting organizers called on people to disrupt the holiday event. >> it doesn't seemed like the rallies or division will stop anytime soon. thank you. >> when we got word this morning israel pulled out of talks to get another possibly going to qatar, what happened? >> the talks, hamas had not fulfilled its own commitment. the truth is hamas continued to release hostages. we would still be at a pause n now. >> advisor to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu rainy hamas after israel recalled negotiators today after talks collapsed. israel "could be the next phase in the war wrapping up attacks on the southern gaza strip. joining us now, jonathan, senior vice president at founding for defending democracy. i might have to interrupt you and take political rally we've been telling our audience about. i want to start here and they do not mean to be insensitive. do you believe the remaining nearly 200 hostages in gaza are still alive? >> is a tough question to answer. israelis are saying there are 137 i believe still in gaza, could be more or less, they are dealing with intelligence they have. my guess is they've lost several dozen, i can't imagine must have taken care of all of them, how many were killed and tracked across the border? hamas is using did bodies with israelis to negotiate over bodies as well as life people. >> let's listen to kamala harris today in dubai. >> as israel defense itself, it matters how. the united states is unequivocal, international humanitarian law must be respected. too many innocent palestinians have been killed. >> i am going to talk about that in a moment but i believe we got president trump starting his rally right now so we are going to take a listen to him at the trump iowa caucus event. here's the former president. >> thousands of proud hard-working patriots in the heartland of america. [cheering and applauding] we are 44 days from i was first in the nation caucasus. [cheering] don't let other people take the credit. monday january 15, we are going to win i will caucasus and then crush cricket joe biden next november and we are going to simply make america great again. [cheering and applauding] i want to thank a special person and great woman, i will attorney general brenna, thank you very much appreciated. what a job. [cheering and applauding] great job. thank you very much. also state senator charlie mcclintock, thank you, wherever you are. thank you very much and state representatives, bobby, he's got very good genes. brad sherman, thank you, brad. heather and mark cisneros. [cheering and applauding] and former acting attorney general matt whitaker did a great job. [cheering and applauding] we have one of my favorite generals of all time, keith, thank you very much. great job, great general, great man. for decades he watched as the corrupt political class and our nation's capital, lose your money, trampled on your dignity and pushed their radical agenda into every aspect of your lives, you know it very well but in 2016 you voted to stand up to the liars, losers, crooks and creeps and you elected an outsider as you president and it was about america first. we want to put our country first, we did it for four years and that's why we did so well. one of the great presidencies say. even opponents sometimes say he did very well. i have to say, to get back a screen. from that day on we have a lot of opponents but we been waging war in american democracy. you look at what they been doing and becoming more and more extreme and repressive, they have waged all out war with each passing day. they focus on our country, it would be a lot easier because we will bring the country to level it hasn't seen before. we will take two levels even higher than where we had just three years ago. [cheering and applauding] four straight years, they tried to overthrow duly elected president, you know about that with one witchhunt, abuse of power after another. russia, prussia, russia. remember all the nonsense. it all turned out to be fake. they rake and saw the election of 2020, they raked it and stole it. [applause] cricket joe biden got in, he's been weaponize and government against his political opponents like a third world communist, no different. you look at what's happening and we are talking a lot of people, we've got this thing. we've got this thing. [cheering and applauding] cricket joe biden banana republic and. [cheering and applauding] [cheering and applauding] biden and his radical left allies like to pose as defenders of democracy. we see you standing up there not so long ago with the pink and red background, it looked a little sinister. i don't know if he knew what he was doing but he was up there spewing the word somebody wrote for him but joe biden is not the defender of american democracy. joe biden is the destroyer of american democracy. it him and his people, they are records of the american dream, the american dream is dead with him in office. it's sad. we have such a dream, such an american dream, such an incredible administration but it died when these people came into office. over the past few years, you watched biden and his band of marxist communist fascist trying to crush free speech, center? , criminalized and destroy attorney-client privilege which is something nobody ever thought they would see in this country and attempt to imprison their leading electoral rival by far, it happens to be me in case you forget. [cheering and applauding] somehow i'm not worried. i'm not worried. that's why we are doing this, we have to straighten out our country what we've done, where we come, think of where we were three years ago and where we are now, nobody listens to us, they don't care what we say. we were fear, i want to say fear, we were feared but respected. we were everything the country could be at a level this country has never been before. just three years ago. now they laugh at us. they laugh at us, a guy can't find his way up the stage. can't use the stairs, air force one has to use the children's stairs. [laughter] it doesn't look good. you land in the country and get off the children's stairs. [laughter] persecuted christians and pro-life activists, you know that. they label parents at school