♪ opening music ♪ ♪ ♪ Gavin> It's been nearly a year since we watched South Carolina's own Nikki Haley launch her presidential bid and covered her first swing through Iowa.

Now, after more than 150 town halls and five debates and rising poll and fundraising numbers, Haley came to the January 15th Iowa caucuses with momentum, but left here just three points short of a second place victory upset.

Welcome to This Week in South Carolina.

Special report from Des Moines, Iowa.

I'm Gavin Jackson.

The caucuses ended Monday night as somewhat expected with former President Donald Trump securing a majority stake of caucus goers at 51% behind him in a distant second was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, leaving former Governor Nikki Haley just a few points behind in third place.

Now, we've been criss crossing the state, and I want to take you on the campaign trail with me in this very cold and snow covered state.

We've been talking to folks going door knocking and even caucusing with campaign stops in between, as well as the fifth debate that featured just Haley and DeSantis at Drake University just five days before the caucuses.

Gavin> Let's go there now.

Host> Do you believe Donald Trump has the character to be president again?

Nikki Haley> Well, I think the next president needs to have moral clarity.

I think you need to have moral clarity to understand that it's taxpayer money, not your own money.

I think you need to have moral clarity to understand that when you're dealing with dictators in the world, that we always have to fight for democracies and human rights and protecting Americans and preventing war.

And so when you look at Donald Trump, I have said I think he was the right president at the right time.

I agree with a lot of his policies, but his way is not my way.

I don't have vengeance.

I don't have vendettas.

I don't take things personally.

For me, it's very much about no drama, no whining and getting results and getting them done.

Nikki Haley> So I don't think that President Trump is the right president to go forward.

I think it's time for a new generational leader that's going to go and make America proud again.

...that's what I'm going to try and do.

Host> Governor DeSantis, what is your response to Chris Christie?

Do you believe Donald Trump has the character to be president again?

Gov.

DeSantis> Well, I'm running because I'm the guy that's going to be able to engineer a comeback for this country.

I appreciated what President Trump did.

But let's just be honest.

He said he was going to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it.

He did not deliver that.

He said he was going to drain the swamp.

He did not deliver that.

He said he was going to hold Hillary accountable and he let her off the hook.

He said he was going to eliminate the debt and he added $7.8 trillion to the debt.

So we need to deliver and get this stuff done.

And I think the difference between Nikki Haley and me, you know, I listened all that litany of stuff.

You know, I debated the governor of California, Gavin Newsom.

You know, I thought he lied a lot.

Man, Nikki Haley gives him a run for his money and she may even be more liberal than Gavin Newsom is.

We are in a situation here in Flor- ...as Republicans, you need somebody that is going to be in there and fight for you and Nikki Haley, any time the going gets tough, any time people come down, she caves.

When you need someone stand in and fight for you, don't look for Nikki Haley.

You won't be able to find her if you had a search warrant.

Host> Thank you, Governor.

Governor Haley.

Nikki Haley> Look, I think I dealt with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea every day.

No one ever said I caved.

I defended America and I fought for America.

(applause) But I also say this.

This is not a time where you have to have pettiness.

I wish Donald Trump was up here on the stage.

He's the one that I'm running against.

He's the one that I wish would be here.

Nikki Haley> He needs to be defending his record right now.

He's not defending the fact that he allowed us to have $8 trillion in debt over four years, that our kids are never going to forgive us for the fact that he didn't deal with China when it came to stealing intellectual property.

The fact that they gave us COVID, the fact that they've gone and continue to put up Chinese police stations and continue to threaten our military.

He didn't do enough to make sure that we were really standing with our friends and doing some other things.

What we need is a leader that's not looking at four years and eight years.

We need a president that's looking at 20 and 30 years because I want my kids to have a good future.

I want them to have one without debt, one where they can read one with secure borders, one where we have law and order and one where America is strong.

Sen. Kimbrell> It's interesting tonight when she said he's nowhere to be found in South Carolina, there are more than twice as many endorsers in South Carolina for Governor Ron DeSantis that are elected officials.

than there are endorsing Governor Haley in her own state.

And she in Governor DeSantis has held more events in South Carolina than she has.

The only way she can say she's been in South Carolina more is maybe she spent the night in her house a few times.

Sen. Kimbrell> But the reality is his ground game in South Carolina is very good.

Iowa is going to be a real spring step for him.

And I think it changes the game in South Carolina after New Hampshire.

>> Well, I think she's going to have a lot of Republican support, but I think, again, like I said, there's a lot of independents in Iowa and a lot of Democrats that are willing to change their party affiliation to Republican on Monday night so they can caucus for her.

And I think that I think that just shows that her and her message is resonating.

Reporter>Trump...this is a state that he very much needed to win after, recently putting all his eggs in the Iowa basket, where Nikki Haley It's also a matter of finishing in second here.

That's something because of the role that Iowa will play on the strategy and more so because of the boost that it can give her riding into New Hampshire.

The fact that Christie is now out of this race does free up a few points, a few voters, and it could be a few voters and points that make all the difference for Nikki Haley as she tries to come within striking distance of Trump in hopes of winning the New Hampshire primary.

>> It's time for me to have the honor and the pleasure to introduce the next president of the United States, Nikki Haley.

(applause) Nikki Haley> What a great crowd.

It's so good to see all of you here and to fill out this room on a snowy day.

And we can't afford another nail biter of an election.

And you look at the situation where it is now.

If you go and look at any of the polls, any of them head to head with Biden.

Nikki Haley> What do you see?

Ron doesn't defeat Biden.

Trump head to head with Biden.

On a good day, he might be up by two, but within the margin of error, it would be a nail biter of an election.

I'm in every one of those polls.

I defeat Biden by as much as 17 points.

(applause) Nikki Haley> Do you know what that means?

That's bigger than the presidency.

That's governorships.

That's House.

That's Senate.

That's all the way down to the school board.

But you go into D.C. with a double digit win.

That's a mandate.

A mandate to stop the wasteful spending and get our economy back on track, a mandate to get our kids reading again and go back to the basics on education, a mandate to secure our border.

Nikki Haley> No more excuses.

A mandate to bring law and order back to our country and a mandate for a strong America we can be proud of.

Don't you want that again?

(applause) We could have that again.

This is exciting.

This is a moment in time where we can say now we write the ship.

So if you like, what I had to say.

Go tell ten people.

Tell them, yes, I know it's cold on Monday, but I'm gonna be out there and I hope that you can bring people with you, not just you bring people with you.

Fill out this card.

We'll tell you what we're doing, where we're going, all of those things.

If you've never caucused before, we'll tell you how to do it.

If you have caucused before, you can help us tell other people how to do it.

But we are going to make it a great night on Monday.

So I want to thank you for coming out today.

And this is what I'll tell you.

There's a lot of lies and everything going on.

You can go to DeSantis lies dot com.

(laughter) I finally just put it on a website because I'm like, it's too many things.

So, but go there.

It answers a lot of questions of any commercials that you've seen.

>> I mean, I look at Ron DeSantis, I think he's probably got a decent resume.

But...even last night's debate, I mean, he is desperate, he is negative.

He doesn't cast a very good vision of what he's going to do in the future.

And somebody that all he does is attack who's beating him is it doesn't give me a good feeling that he's going to be a very good leader going forward.

Reporter> The term blizzard conditions, so oftentimes people referring to it doesn't meet the criteria, but this is going to meet those criteria.

What's a blizzard?

Three straight hours of visibilities at a quarter mile or less and snow blowing snow and sustained winds or gusts of at least 35 miles per hour.

That's a blizzard.

And we're going to meet these criteria, I think, this afternoon across Iowa and then tonight across Illinois and in the Michigan.

You do not want to be outside during these conditions because I'll tell you what, you're going to be looking at AccuWeather real feel temperatures in the single numbers.

You're going to be looking at local white outs and you're going to be looking at extensive blowing and drifting of snow.

Do not be outdoors in this storm this afternoon, Iowa.

And then tonight, Illinois into Michigan, things are already bad across the area here.

Gavin> The severe winter weather cause headaches across the state from airport delays and cancellations to the campaign trail where there are also cancellations of events due to blizzard conditions.

But that didn't stop some folks from going out and knocking on doors, particularly a group with Americans for Prosperity Action, the group that endorsed Nikki Haley back in November and has been mobilized across the country on her behalf.

Gavin> We tagged along with them in a snowy Urbandale neighborhood in a blizzard.

Gavin> Where to?

>> We are going to Senate District 22 (silence) near Urbandale.

(silence) We're going to knock some doors and talk to some voters.

(engine sound) (telephone voice) You've entered the interactive telephone town hall event with Republican candidate for United States President, Vivek Ramaswamy taking place right now Tyler> They do town halls, but we just know for a fact the doors are way more impactful.

Well, I mean, it goes even further with town hall, right?

Because you're not actually you're not having a one on one conversation in a town hall setting, you know, But even when you're making your phone calls from a dialer, you know, we just know statistically you're going to have less of an impact because there's not the face to face component.

>> You're going to have a lot of people who just won't even answer your questions in the first place.

But we know in the doors, your...you can... your ability to talk to someone, I mean, on the phones, you might if you're having a good day it might be a 5% take rate.

On the doors, a good day.

I mean, a really good day at 40%.

Average day 20, 25% take rate.

So we know that if we can get as many folks out on the doors, talk to as many Iowans as possible on the doors, we know that our impact is going to be, tenfold what it would be if we were just making phone calls.

It's certainly even more than that of an impact than doing telephone town halls.

(wind blowing) (silence) Resident> Yeah?

Tyler> I'm with Americans for Prosperity Action.

We're just out talking... Resident> Huh?

Tyler> I'm with Americans for Prosperity Action.

We're just out talking with folks about the upcoming caucuses.

Resident> I'm going to be caucusing for Nikki Haley.

Tyler> My man.

That's what I like to hear.

Do you know where your caucus location is?

Resident> Yeah.

It's over at the school down here, off on the road.

Tyler> Awesome.

Well, great.

That's all I was here to talk about, man.

I appreciate it.

Have a good one.

Well, we're seeing a lot of momentum right now.

And I think in the primaries and in the nominating contest, momentum is the name of the game.

So we're seeing her rising in the polls in Iowa.

We're expecting a strong finish here in Iowa.

Go to New Hampshire, where we're going to be able to really compete.

We've seen recent polls there show that she's rising there and then you go to her home state in South Carolina.

I think she can do very well there as well.

I mean, the expectations are a strong third place finish.

Anything better than that is just icing on the cake.

The one thing is when it comes to knocking in a blizzard, is you know, people are home.

So I think it's a real missed opportunity for any campaigns who sit at home in a blizzard instead of having their people out and having conversations with Iowans.

Resident #2> She's got to watch it... ...right into being naked I mean, I'm not over the ...about her until...all she does - well all the guys are picking on her... and she went at them.

Tyler> I want my candidate...

I want her to come right back at them.

Resident #2> Well I do too, but You don't need to be - Tyler> That's how you take care of the world.

Resident #2> Yeah, but you don't need to be throwing like that That shouldn't be happening.

Resident #3> I still think Trump got screwed.

But you know what, but everything that happened during his term, I prospered greatly, and I think the country did, too.

Tyler> Oh, yeah.

Resident #3> But I know that there's thin skinned people that say, you know, oh, he doesn't act bright or he says something that offends people.

Grow tougher skin.

...get results.

Tyler> but I feel you there.

Resident #3> Yeah, I do understand.

I just want to go and hear what everybody's got to pitch while they're there.

Tyler> Sure.

Resident #3> I'll make my decision then.

Tyler> Sure.

Gavin> Even state Senator Tom Davis and Representative Nathan Valentine came to Iowa to support their longtime friend, Senator Davis.

Welcome to Iowa.

Good to see you.

How have you been doing?

I know you had a harrowing journey to get here.

Tell us about that.

Sen. Davis> Yeah, well, it's great to be here.

You know, I finished up session last Thursday and then got up bright and early on Friday morning to fly out of Columbia.

I had a connecting flight in Charlotte and was going to get to Des Moines and look forward to a full afternoon of events with with Nikki Haley on Friday.

Out of a Charlotte, we received news that all flights to Des Moines had been canceled.

And so I waited in line and tried to figure out what my alternatives were.

And there wasn't getting anything until late.

The next day.

And they really can't make any promises then.

And so I love talking to Nathan Valentine.

Nathan was traveling with me and I said, Nathan, I'm going to go ahead and rent a car and drive.

And it goes, Are you crazy?

That's 800 miles.

And I said, Well, you know, I'm going to go ahead and do that.

That way.

I know I'm doing something positive.

I'm moving in the right direction.

And so I went ahead and they only had one car left.

They had a luxury Land Rover that I got to, I think, $400 bucks to rent that thing.

Gavin> You're driving however many miles, I guess that's the best way to go, right?

Sen. Davis> I got in it, though, but it was like getting into a cockpit of a 747.

It's just like the whole instrument display there.

And I was just looking for the volume on the radio so I can play some Audible books.

And so I set forth for for Des Moines.

Just put Des Moines in the Waze.

And I drove for about 12 hours and I stopped right outside St Louis and got a hotel.

I checked in about midnight.

I guess that would have been Friday night and then I got- Is it Friday night?

Yeah, Friday night.

So then I got up on Saturday morning and drove the rest of the way and got in here about 6:00 last night and got a great night's sleep and phone banked all day today for Nikki Haley.

Talked to some great Iowans and tried to convince them to come out and caucus for Nikki Haley tomorrow night.

So I've had a pretty good experience so far.

Gavin> Can we talk about that and knowing her and and where she stands right now, in this momentum that's been discussed going into this going into this caucus and then the primary in New Hampshire, what are your thoughts when it comes to just how far she can go and how high she can go?

Is that a concern for you or are we still talking about an underdog here who could take on President Donald Trump and get somewhere?

Sen. Davis> Clearly, she's an underdog.

I mean, anybody who's been in politics for the past several years, since 2016 and everybody has looked at any polls in South Carolina realizes that Donald Trump is very popular there.

I mean, there's no sense not acknowledging that.

But by the same token, I mean, if you have Nikki Haley does well in Iowa, She goes in New Hampshire and gives Donald Trump a run for his money in New Hampshire, as every indication suggests that she will, then you've got 30 days in between in New Hampshire and South Carolina to make the case to the people of South Carolina to remind them why they liked her as governor to remind her of her rock solid conservative record as governor of South Carolina.

She's got 30 days to do that.

If you get it down to a Donald Trump versus Nikki Haley one on one race, that's a fight worth having and that's a fight worth winning.

(crowd conversations) >> Thank you...We are so rooting for you.

(applause) (silence) Gavin> It's caucus day in Iowa.

It's -11 degrees and it's going to be a cold one today.

The coldest on record for caucus day in Iowa.

But that's not stopping former Governor Nikki Haley getting out about pushing people out to the caucus sites this evening at 7:00, including her first up here at Drake Diner in Des Moines.

We just caught up with the governor.

She was shaking hands and getting people pumped up for what would be a long and cold day as folks turn out to pick their choice for the next Republican nominee for the president.

Nikki Haley> Thank you.

Yeah, just speak from the heart.

Tell people why we care and why we want to do this.

We'll get it done.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Today is the day we make history.

Today's the day we make history because we tune out the noise of the media.

We tune out the noise of the politicians and we raise the voices of Americans that say we want a better day.

We're going to make it happen.

Thank you.

God bless you.

Let's do this.

(applause) (silence) Gavin> Can I ask you who you're caucusing for tonight?

Ed Bull> Nikki Haley, for me, no question.

The bottom line is I like the economy under Trump.

I like the fact that we weren't in wars.

But at some point the rhetoric overshadowed the results.

And for me, at some point we get into the position where I believe this is an election that a Republican should absolutely win, unequivocally.

Biden has been an absolute disaster in every way possible.

And so from my perspective, how do we win?

And so from my perspective, how do we win?

This election is going to come down to votes in Green Bay outside of Phoenix, outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

So where is it?

Are we going to find the difference of 60,000 votes for those places to matter, probably outside of Fulton County, Georgia?

I mean, if you pay attention to the electoral map... that's where those votes are going to matter.

It's the only places.

I hate to say that as an Iowan, but Republicans are going to win Iowa by plus nine to plus 11.

The question is, where are we going to pick up those other votes?

And it's someone other than Trump.

Brent Black> You know, when we when Trump was in there, we had everything perfect.

I've...done the same job for 25 years.

I move houses and I set houses.

I pick them up with cranes, put them on basements for the average person that can, you know, handle that income.

And during Trump, towards the end of COVID, I mean, we had 100, 125 houses set every year.

And then this last year had 65.

And now right now at this point in time I'm looking at 12...12 houses.

Gavin> So the economy is a big driver?

Brent> It's done.

As far as I'm concerned, for the middle class.

So 25 years, I've never been done before Christmas, the first time I've ever been done before Christmas, ever in 25 years.

Melissa Nobles> I've been really interested in how this was going to go, because I think we're we have a chance to really win.

And I have been following and trying to go to the candidates.

I unfortunately wasn't able to go see Haley because it was Thursday and we were -17 degrees.

So but I did get a chance to take my kids to the DeSantis and Vivek and just have a personal investment in how this is going to go for the next four years.

And I want it to go better than it has.

Gavin> So what's the verdict for you then Melissa?

Melissa> I'm caucusing for DeSantis.

Gavin> What do you like so much about the Florida governor?

Melissa> He... the final debate.

He really was talking about the issues we have as, you know, the concerned Republicans, I guess you could say.

I think that his track record speaks for itself.

Audience> ...Under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Sen. Davis> I'm not going to criticize.

any of the other candidates here.

That's not my style.

I drove here 818 miles from Charlotte and my flight got canceled... because I wanted to be here ...to...the leading candidate and I know ...that I know I knew her for...years (indiscernible) Come here to set the record straight for her.

...served in the House of Representative.

I saw her run for governor in 2010, in 2014.

And then I know Nikki Haley And now I'm not going to say anything negative about your candidate, but I will say this our job in November is to beat Joe Biden.

It's imperative that we beat Joe Biden.

(applause) Gov.

Burgum> We're here for another reason.

Tonight, when I was here in Sioux City in 2020, caucusing for President Trump and we're back here tonight because yesterday you probably saw the news.

That we're the first of the presidential candidates to endorse Donald J. Trump for the president of the United States.

We finally have a chance to send a message because Joe Biden has wrong the economy He's wrong on energy He's wrong on national security.

We've got a candidate when he was leading this country, this country was safe.

This country was prosperous... wonder of the world.

So we have an opportunity Iowa has an opportunity tonight to send a message not just to the nation, but to the world that tonight is the first step.

Tonight is the beginning of Donald J. Trump going back to the White House.

Host> And now we can make another call.

The Fox News Decision Desk can now project that Governor Ron DeSantis will take second place in the Iowa caucuses.

DeSantis will trail Trump, as we said, by a significant margin there.

But coming in second may give his campaign a much needed boost, now.

>> Called the silver medal out of Iowa.

(applause) Nikki Haley> Thank you, Iowa.

(applause) At one point.

In this campaign, there were 14 of us running.

I was at 2% in the polls.

But tonight Iowa did what Iowa always does so well.

The pundits will analyze the results from every angle.

We get that.

But when you look at how we're doing in New Hampshire, in South Carolina, and beyond, (applause) I can safely say tonight, Iowa made this Republican primary a two person race (applause) Tonight.

Tonight, I will be back in the great state of New Hampshire.

And the question before Americans is now very clear.

Do you want more of the same?

(crowd jeers "No") or do you want a new generation of.

Conservative leadership?

(applause) A majority disapprove of both of them.

Trump and Biden are both about 80 years old.

Trump and Biden both put our country trillions of dollars deeper in debt and our kids will never forgive them for it.

(applause) Trump and Biden both lack a vision for our country's future because both are consumed by the past, by investigations, by vendettas, by grievances.

America deserves better.

Thank you, Iowa.

We're going to continue on.

We're going to make you proud.

And we're off to New Hampshire.

Thank you very much.

(applause) Gavin> After 11 months of campaigning, especially here in Iowa, Nikki Haley pulled off a close third place finish here in the Hawkeye State right behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and, of course, former President Donald Trump.

She was riding a wave of momentum that started late last fall through the winter that carried her up until this point.

And her campaign hopes they will take her on into New Hampshire ahead of the primary on January 23rd, where she enjoys greater support, including the endorsement of the popular governor, Chris Sununu.

We'll be on the trail with her in the Granite State.

But until then, I'm Gavin Jackson with South Carolina ETV in Des Moines, Iowa.

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