January 14 - 2024 campaign updates

Former President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on rival Nikki Haley during his final rally before Monday’s Iowa caucuses, claiming she’s “not much of a Republican.” 

“Nikki did a good job, she was okay, but she’s not right to be president. I know her very well, the wrong thought process, the wrong policy,” Trump said of Haley – his former ambassador to the UN.

“And honestly she’s not tough enough. She’s not tough enough. These are tough people we’re dealing with,” Trump added, describing authoritarian leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping as being “very tough.”

Trump’s comments come as his campaign is closely watching Haley climb in New Hampshire primary polls. A recent CNN poll has her knocking Trump’s lead in the Republican primary race in New Hampshire to single digits, and the final Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom poll before Monday’s caucuses has her placing second to Trump, who currently holds a wide lead in Iowa.

Trump’s campaign, as well as the leading Trump-backed super PAC, MAGA Inc., have poured millions of dollars into adds in New Hampshire attacking Haley on immigration and trying to tie her to President Joe Biden. The ads are part of a larger effort to try and blunt her momentum in the Granite State.

“You can't sit home. If you're sick as a dog, you say ‘Darling, I gotta make it,'" Trump said Sunday. "Even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it."

Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday endorsed Donald Trump for president one day ahead of the pivotal Iowa caucuses.

“When Trump was in WH I achieved major policies I had worked on for years (like expanded Child Tax Credit & tough sanctions on regime in Cuba & Venezuela) because we had a President who didn’t cave to special interests or let bureaucrats block us," he wrote on X.

Rubio added, "I support Trump because that kind of leadership is the ONLY way we will get the extraordinary actions needed to fix the disaster Biden has created."

The Florida Republican, once a critic of Trump when he ran against him in 2016, said Sunday "it’s time to get on with the work of beating Biden & saving America!”

The endorsement marks a stark departure from Rubio's posture in 2016, when he told CNN that "for years to come, there are many people on the right, in the media and voters at large that are going to have to justify how they fell into this trap.”

But over time Rubio has softened on Trump, who has supported his previous reelection campaigns in Florida. Rubio has been careful not to criticize Trump – whether on the January 6, 2021, insurrection, his removal of White House records to Mar-a-Lago or even the incessant conspiracies and lies about the 2020 election being stolen.

Notably, former South Carolina governor and GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley endorsed Rubio in his presidential election in 2016, saying at the time, “If we elect Marco Rubio, every day will be a great day in America.”

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who dropped out of the GOP presidential primary in December, endorsed former President Donald Trump on Sunday at Trump’s last in-person rally before the Iowa caucuses. 

“Today I'm here to do something that none of the other presidential primary candidates have done. And that's endorse Donald J. Trump for the President of the United States of America,” Burgum said at Trump’s rally in Indianola. 

Burgum, who had launched a long-shot bid for president, said, “Under President Trump, America was safe and prosperous, and tomorrow when you caucus, you have an opportunity to send a message to the nation and send a message to the world that Donald J. Trump will make America great again. Thank you very much, Iowa.”

“States like Iowa, states like North Dakota, heartland states — we had a friend and a partner in the White House who understood us and who wanted to see our state succeed versus being regulated out of business,” Burgum told the crowd.

Trump said he was “very impressed” with Burgum as he introduced him to the stage and touted his credentials as a businessman. 

“I was very impressed with him. He ran in the primary, I thought he was just outstanding and he’s got an incredible record,” Trump said.

Residents of Perry, Iowa, will caucus at the local elementary school Monday after the original location, Perry High School, became the site of a shooting earlier this month.

“Due to the unfortunate circumstances at Perry High School, we worked with the school administration to switch the site,” Terry Rich of the Dallas County GOP said in a statement provided to CNN.  

There has not been a date set for classes to return to the high school. On the morning of January 4, as students and faculty returned to classes after the holidays, a 17-year-old gunman opened fire, killing a sixth-grade student and wounding seven other people. 

On Sunday, high school principal Dan Marburger died after he sustained injuries in the attack. He was hailed a hero after trying to save students by talking to and distracting the shooter as the deadly attack unfolded, his daughter, Claire Marburger, shared on social media shortly after the shooting.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, after learning of Marburger’s death from a reporter’s question following a campaign event in Ankeny, Iowa, on Sunday, offered sympathies to the Perry community. 

“My condolences go to him and his family and everybody in that community,” he said. “What Perry went through, no community should have to go through, no parent should have to go through, the fear of even sending their kids to school, let alone parenting the victim of that type of tragedy. So, my prayers go out to the principal.”

Ramaswamy said he was in Perry hosting a campaign event the morning the shooting occurred, calling the day "emotional" and pledging to make schools safer as president in part by implementing his policy to put three armed security guards at every public school in the nation. 

GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson also remembered Marburger as a “hero” in a statement Sunday.

“America lost a hero today. I know all of Iowa is suffering because Dan Marburger died from his sacrificial effort to protect his students. He worked everyday to improve the lives of his students and on that day, he literally saved the lives of students. This is a day to remember a great man and do what we can to help a community get through their pain and loss,” Hutchinson said.

Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann has played a key role in the state's caucuses for over a decade — and he has prepared for every possibility on Monday.

He spoke with CNN Political Director David Chalian about training thousands of volunteers for tomorrow’s big event and how there can be “no questioning of these results” due to the transparency with which the contests are conducted.

Listen to the CNN Political Briefing here.

Former President Donald Trump disputed on Sunday that his team is adding campaign events in New Hampshire as a response to his rival Nikki Haley’s rise in the state’s polls, claiming he is confident about his standing in the Granite State. 

Trump, who made an unannounced stop to visit campaign volunteers phone-banking for him at the Fort Des Moines hotel, claimed his campaign is in “good shape” for New Hampshire.

He also criticized the Koch-backed political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity Action, which is helping the former South Carolina governor's campaign. Trump argued the group is working to get Democrats and Independents to line up behind Haley in the Granite State.

“She’s not suited for the job. I know her very well, she’s not suited,” Trump said of Haley, who once served as his ambassador to the UN.

The former president predicted a "tremendous" win in Monday’s Iowa caucuses but warned his supporters against getting complacent. 

“The big thing, and I say that every speech — don’t sit home. Even if you think we’re winning by a lot, it doesn’t matter, you have to get out and vote. And we’re really setting the table for November by doing that,” Trump told the room.

Dive deeper: While Trump holds a large lead in the polls, undecided voters have been weighing whether his multiple criminal indictments and efforts to overturn the last election mean it’s time to move on.

On CNN's podcast "One Thing," Chief National Correspondent John King spoke to a group of Iowans about how they feel about the rest of the field, and examined what to watch for on caucus night.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Sunday he isn’t assigning much weight to former President Donald Trump’s first criticism of his campaign.

Speaking to reporters after a campaign event in Ankeny, Iowa, on Sunday, Ramaswamy said he “doesn’t hold it against” Trump that the former president called his campaign “deceitful."

“Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, ‘the best President in generations,’ etc. Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks," Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social.

Ramaswamy told CNN that “I interpret it as bad campaign strategist corporate consultant advice that he might have received, and so I don’t hold it against him. ... He’s been a great president.”

Ramaswamy has argued that Trump won’t be able to win the general election because of strong legal obstacles and political opposition.

When asked by CNN whether he believes the timing of Trump’s attack suggests the former president may feel threatened by his campaign, Ramaswamy declined to speculate on Trump’s intentions but reiterated his belief that his campaign is seeing a “late surge” in Iowa. 

“I can't speak for anybody else's attitude towards our campaign. What I can tell you is that you'd have to have your head stuck in that snow pile to believe that we're not having a late surge here in this race,” he said.

Former President Donald Trump made an unannounced stop this morning to visit campaign volunteers phone-banking for him at the Fort Des Moines hotel.

Trump spoke for nearly 20 minutes and thanked volunteers, according to the pool. He predicted a "tremendous" win in tomorrow's caucuses and urged supporters to get out and vote.

Asked about whether he was adding more events in New Hampshire because he was worried about former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's rise in the polls there, Trump said he was not and touted his commanding lead over Haley and the rest of the GOP field.

Trump then unfurled an American flag overlooking the hotel lobby.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed Nikki Haley for the GOP Republican presidential nominee, said on Sunday the former South Carolina governor could "post a strong second" in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“Nikki Haley is the only candidate surging in Iowa and in New Hampshire. The fact that if Nikki could post a strong second here, that is great, and we're going to do that," Sununu told CBS's "Face the Nation."

He said that Haley has a chance of "shattering the presumption that Donald Trump is going to run away with this (nomination) and that happens right here in New Hampshire," adding that Haley also "knows how to win" in her home state of South Carolina.

Sununu noted that he plans to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee, whoever that is.

"With Nikki Haley at the top, she wins by 10 points. It is a fundamentally different argument because you get the Senate, you get the House seats and the governorships, you get all the way down the ticket, the Republicans win," Sununu said. "Donald Trump is simply the weakest candidate and so, again, that is the opportunity that Nikki brings to the table."