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Erin Burnett OutFront

and welcome back to this special edition of "outfront." you're looking at live pictures out of iowa, where in less than two hours, ron desantis and nikki haley are going to be on that cnn debate stage that you are looking at right now. we are following the big breaking news that impacts this crucial debate, and that is the loudest critic of trump in the race, chris christie just announcing he is dropping out. a very surprising in terms of the timing. now trump is celebrating christie's exit. kristen holmes is of course talking to her trump sources. and so kristen, what is the real reaction here? trump was quick to post on social media and seize on the hot mic moments that christie had there. but what is he really thinking? >> well, erin, when it comes to donald trump, usually there are multiple things that can be true at once. when it comes to celebrating, there is some glee among the former president and his allies

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Erin Burnett OutFront

more is on the line tonight for ron desantis and nikki haley after chris christie dropped out of the race a short time ago. the group of voters that desantis and haley will be focusing on here in iowa because neither can win without their support is evangelicals. they are still firmly in trump's camp in much of the nation. what about in this state? jeff zeleny has the latest in our voters "outfront" series. >> the evangelical vote is the pathway to victory in iowa. >> reporter: five days before the iowa caucuses, one of the most burning questions is whether donald trump still holds evangelical voters in the palm of his hand. >> many of us are very happy with things he accomplished when he was in the white house. but who he is, his character also is problematic. >> reporter: pastor mike said that balance between trump's record and rhetoric, his policy and personality rests at the heart of what many iowa evangelicals have been weighing. >> we will pray for god, and we will be with god. >> reporter: the strength of trump's support among christian

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Erin Burnett OutFront

hands up in the air and not show up. and that is meaningful as well in a general election. >> we don't know, maybe you guys, republicans and pollsters at the table do know, is if there is a cohort of voters out there who are just simply waiting around to see if there is another horse that they can get on that will take them against trump. maybe they're trump voters, but they would prefer not to have all the theatrics that go along with trump. so trump's big number that we've all been talking about he is sitting on, that may be solid, or it may be a number waiting to crack as soon as somebody else looks like it's ca a car -- >> whether she can take this moment tonight and really stand out. >> and i do want to take issue with something that christie said. and first off, i applaud him for being the person in the race most unequivocally telling the truth about donald trump and having that moral clarity. i think it is important. but to say the she is going to get smoked, the numbers do not bear that out. she is competitive. she does have a pathway.

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Erin Burnett OutFront

her team is creating a ground game in south carolina. it is a tremendous uphill battle. but chris christie also said something last week, which is if it's trump versus biden, biden is going to sweep the floor with him. the numbers don't bear that out. i think he is taking a gamble here rather than the more pragmatic decision of trying to support someone in the primary because he is putting all his money on biden. and that's just not what the poles show. >> all right. >> good news is we find out next monday. >> right. >> we don't have to wait that long. >> we'll find out something. we don't know what. >> as the debate kicks off, this now colors the entire situation. so much pressure. the biggest debate so far ahead of the first votes. next, we're following the breaking news of chris christie dropping out of the race, the impact, because he was trump's fiercest critic. is trump actually worried about christie dropping out or not? and then evangelical voters, so crucial for this debate tonight in iowa. they supported trump in 2016. will they back him again?

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Erin Burnett OutFront

trump there. and i want him back in again. >> reporter: when we first met her last fall at the fort des moines church of christ, trump was one of his options. . there is a loyalty with trump, and people that follow him. >> reporter: now he has narrowed his choice to desantis or vivek ramaswamy. he said he and other evangelicals were offended by a recent video trump shared on social media suggesting he was the messiah. >> so god made trump. >> it was offensive to us, because we don't see him, trump as a messianic figure. >> reporter: he has met most of all of the republican candidates. he doesn't tell members of his congregation to vote, but implores them to make faith part of their vote. >> as a patz store, it is my goal to guide them and remind them to let them know god is with you, even in the voting booth. >> how important are evangelicals in this state? >> i mean, very important. if donald trump is really going have a slingshot to the nomination, he is going to need the folsom support from

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Erin Burnett OutFront

queensbury rules. they weren't dirty. and trump is a dirty fighter, and they like that. and they're going stick with him. >> sheer one thing i think is fascinating in all of this. when you talk about women, people know what trump son his personal level. last time around, trump had 22% of the evangelical vote in iowa. the latest follow now among evangelicals in iowa is that he is at 51. >> i mean, it's incredible. >> it's nearly doubled his support. >> he is more or less the evangelical community has made a bit of a deal with the devil with donald trump. they look at the policy outcorp., and they can forgive any number of personal failings. he is the president that for 30 years the evangelical church wanted to take down roe. he appointed the three justices. that will get -- that will make them overlook anything he does or says. and one thing i do want to know in terms of tonight's debate, this underscores why nikki haley and ron desantis frankly have a really delicate dance to do. desantis is playing for iowa. nikki haley needs to do well in more independent, more moderate-leaning new hampshire while not offputting the voters

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Erin Burnett OutFront

maybe you don't report going to church on sunday and bible study on wednesday, you're actually exactly the type of voter who really finds donald trump's message. >> and in some sense could make sense. jamie? >> that pastor said that this ad that trump had put up, god made trump was offensive. >> yeah. >> i would beg to say that trump knows his audience, and that he is confident in these evangelical voters. they do not care. they have looked past all of his personal foibles, and at the end of the day, i actually think i may personally know all the never trump christian evangelicals, and i can count them on one hand. they're people i have know for many years. this group has stayed loyal to him. and i think they're going the stay loyal. >> you talk about that ad, you underscore this issue about the dechurched evangelical vote,

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Erin Burnett OutFront

hampshire. but if this isn't his alamo and man chest cory be. >> remember, trump's got some chains he can pull here. at some point ramaswamy is going to drop and probably go to trump. if desantis were to drop, you would assume he heads towards trump. tim scott is laying around out there somewhere who hasn't endorsed anybody yet. for all of the momentum hailly is trying to get into new hampshire, trump is not without reinforcements, a and the campaign is systematically rolling them out. >> up next, the evangelical vote. trump working overtime to try to keep the evangelicals. we'll look at whether or not that is paying off. >> god puts people over us in office, and i believe god put donald trump there. >> and israel's war in gaza sure to be a major topic in tonight's debate. it comes as we're getting new footage first on "outfront" on the hamas tunnel network in khan younis where some of the hamas

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Erin Burnett OutFront

that a sole platform attacking donald trump cannot only survive in a primary, but not even make it until the first vote was cast. and that gives them a little bit of an edge they feel, that he can say this is where the republican party currently stands. but there is a larger issue of concern around nikki haley that was happening even before christie dropped out. as you noted, as your panel noted we cannot say where chris christie's votes would go, if they would go to nikki haley, but it does appear that would be the obvious choice. and trump's team had already been deeply concerned about the rise they had seen in her poll numbers. they are spending a combined between the campaign and superpac $4.5 million on attack ads on haley on immigration in new hampshire. they believe immigration is one of the top issues in the granite state. they are also sending $1.3 million alone to superpac.

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Erin Burnett OutFront

conservatives could solidify or slow his march to the republican nomination. . florida governor ron desantis has been furiously trying to peel away that support, questioning trump's commitment to the anti-abortion movement. >> for pro-life is reporting in iowa, donald trump is taking positions that are way different than what he professed to believe when he first ran for president in 2016. >> reporter: he is talking about trump's attack on florida's six-week abortion ban. >> i think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake. >> reporter: on this pastor charles hunley agrees with desantis. he too bristled when trump made those comments, but he is still planning to vote for the former president. >> if president trump was right here, i would let him know, sometimes your comments irritate all of us at one time or another. but this the end, it's note the way he does that, it's really what he says and/or in how he carries that out. he is a person of policy. >> reporter: in 2016, iowa's evangelicals made up nearly two-thirds of republican caucus attendees and helped lift ted

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