January 9 - 2024 campaign update

With just days until the Iowa caucuses, former President Donald Trump and his team have shifted to targeting GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley as they seek to slow her recent momentum before the first votes are cast this primary season.

The turn to Trump’s one-time ambassador to the United Nations marks a significant change in strategy for the former president and his campaign. The front-runner had spent the better part of the last year solely attacking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had long been considered his top GOP challenger. However, recent polls have shown an unmistakable surge for the former South Carolina governor, particularly in New Hampshire, where a new CNN survey showed Trump’s lead shrinking to single digits.

But even though he has publicly sought to downplay recent polls – and he still holds a commanding lead over the GOP field elsewhere – Trump’s team is taking Haley’s rise seriously, with the former president homing in on her stances on immigration as he seeks to emphasize his own hardline proposals.

During a series of campaign events in Iowa last weekend, Trump leveled his sharpest attacks on Haley yet. And after stopping all ad buys attacking DeSantis, Trump’s campaign launched its first television ad directly taking on Haley on immigration in the Granite State last week. The leading super PAC supporting Trump released its version on the same topic on Monday. Together, they are spending a combined $4.5 million on ads attacking Haley in New Hampshire, attempting to tie her to President Joe Biden’s policies and criticizing her rhetoric on immigration. A Trump adviser said to expect a continued focus on immigration, as they believe it is a top issue for voters in the state.

Trump has made border security and curbing illegal immigration a key part of his White House bid and has escalated his anti-immigrant rhetoric in recent campaign speeches and social media posts.

The Trump campaign blasted out an email on Monday highlighting Haley’s opposition to the travel ban Trump imposed on several Muslim-majority countries while president — a ban he’s vowed to reinstate if elected in 2024 — pointing to Haley’s comments in 2015 that Americans shouldn’t describe illegal immigrants as criminals, and falsely claiming Haley opposed the construction of a border wall.

Read more about Trump’s strategy

The 2024 campaign is in full swing. With less than a week until the pivotal Iowa caucuses, Republican candidates are making their final appeal to voters in the Hawkeye State while President Joe Biden fully launches into campaign mode.

Here’s are some key things that has happened so far this week:

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips during a campaign stop in October, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips brushed off low poll numbers and carried on with his long-shot campaign in New Hampshire on Tuesday.

“Well, people don’t know who I am yet,” the Minnesota congressman said.

Phillips, who launched his bid in late October, again accused the national Democratic party of suppressing candidates.

A new CNN/UNH poll found 69% of likely Democratic primary voters say they will write in President Joe Biden’s name, compared with 7% who plan to support Phillips and 6% who say they will vote for author Marianne Williamson.

Phillips told reporters before touring a facility in New Hampshire for homeless veterans he’s “listening to people” and “going to do more of it,” again slamming Biden for not campaigning in the Granite State. 

Asked how he’ll win over more support, when the majority of likely Democratic voters have made up their minds, Phillips answered, “my job is not to persuade anybody, it’s not to change their minds. My job is to practice democracy.”

He said he would “defer” to how New Hampshire voters feel, but alluded to the Democratic National Committee’s warning to the state party that its primary would be meaningless, calling it “not just a dereliction of duty, it’s just downright dangerous.”

Phillips later told reporters that though the DNC is not barring New Hampshire from holding a Democratic primary altogether, he believes the party is defying democracy because “there’s nothing a single voter in the state of New Hampshire could have done” to change state’s primary date.

“It’s a political party imposing itself and suppressing voters,” he said, claiming that if Republican party did the same thing, he would be making the same proclamations “even more loudly.”

The Minnesota Democrat started the day by parking his “Government Repair Truck” vehicle along a major street in Manchester in below freezing temperatures, hoping to hold “coffee conversations” with voters outside of a convention hosted by New England College.

Phillips later reshared a post on X that detailed how no voters showed up.

Phillips said his campaign experience was the “most joyful and invigorating American journey imaginable,” adding, “I’ve got lots of leftover coffee, if anyone’s thirsty.”

Campaign spokesperson Katie Dolan told CNN, “When it proved too cold, we headed inside to chat with voters indoors.”

The campaign shared a photo of Phillips posing with a group of young people. It was not clear if they were old enough to vote.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers speaks at the Vision '24 conference' on March 18, 2023, in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, who is now running for Senate in Michigan, endorsed Donald Trump for president in a Daily Caller op-ed published Tuesday.

“President Trump’s leadership and policies worked. The economy was booming with record-low unemployment and gas under $2.00 a gallon. The southern border was secure and our communities were safe. Our military was the strongest it had ever been, our allies knew we had their back, and China and Russia were being held in check,” he wrote.

He argued that America has been “thrown into chaos” since President Joe Biden took office and criticized the Colorado ruling and Maine decision to remove Trump from their state ballots. 

Rogers was previously critical of Trump.

Last year, when he was considering a presidential bid, he told CBS News that “I don’t believe today as I’m sitting here that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee in 2024. Don’t believe it.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives in Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday, January 9.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign went unmentioned during his annual State of the State speech Tuesday, but his remarks from the Tallahassee state capitol appeared aimed at the Iowa caucusgoers — who will soon decide his political fate as much as Floridians.

“We are in the midst of a great upheaval throughout the nation,” DeSantis began, before sharing a dark view of the current state of the country that was deeply critical of the Biden administration and Democratic-run cities like San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, DC.

He ended with a line that nodded to a mission that extended well beyond Florida’s boundaries.

Just as he has in dozens of appearances in Iowa, DeSantis recounted at length his political victories in Florida. He was especially complimentary of the Republican-controlled legislature’s work in 2023 — which he called “monumental” — when lawmakers passed a slate of bills that have served as a platform for his presidential campaign.

“We have put forth a blueprint for America’s revival that has instilled hope into the hearts of millions that a new birth of freedom can emanate from this land once more,” he said. 

At one point, DeSantis quickly ran through a list of more than a dozen conservative policy accomplishments — including new laws to ban Covid-related restrictions, expansion of gun rights and a ban on most abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy.

“Let’s see some other state match that list of achievements,” DeSantis said.

Homestretch to Iowa: The remarks from Tallahassee come six days before Iowa Republicans will caucus to pick a nominee for president.

For DeSantis, who has staked his political future on a strong showing in the Hawkeye State, the visit back to his state capitol marked a rare hiatus from the campaign trail after spending most of the second half of 2023 and early 2024 on the road. 

With his immediate focus on the presidential race, DeSantis has offered few specifics about his future priorities in the state he still governs — a disconnect that was captured by the lack of a forward-looking agenda in his speech. 

“My message is simple: stay the course,” DeSantis said. “The state of our state is strong. Let’s keep doing what works. Let’s continue to make Florida the envy of the nation.”

While DeSantis left his Iowa and New Hampshire travels out of his remarks Tuesday, Democrats in the state legislature seized on it to depict the Republican governor as out of touch with his residents.

DeSantis was scheduled to appear Tuesday night at a town hall hosted by Fox News from Des Moines. However, inclement weather has hammered both Iowa — which is facing blizzard conditions — and Northern Florida — facing storm threats significant enough for DeSantis to declare a state of emergency just before he delivered his address from the House chamber. 

His campaign said travel plans have not yet changed. His office announced he would hold a news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee Tuesday afternoon.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley showed her appreciation for a full crowd of supporters that attended her “commit to caucus” event — despite a major snowstorm impacting the region.

“Thank you for showing up because I didn’t know if we were going to come see five people, but to see a full house really is great,” Haley said. “I really appreciate that.”

Haley canceled a campaign event in Sioux City on Monday due to bad weather, but told attendees in Waukee that she was committed on Tuesday to showing up for her supporters “no matter what.”

The former South Carolina governor, who often jokes that the hardest part about running for president is “being cold,” said she now understands why Iowans have told her the past few months in the Hawkeye State have been “mild.”

“This is unbelievable. I’ve been campaigning here for 11 months and now I get why in October, November, and December, when I was like ‘its’ cold’ and they were like ‘no this is it mild.’ I totally get it now,” Haley told the crowd at Mickey’s Irish Pub.

Before saying a truncated version of her stump speech, Haley addressed the Perry High School shooting where a 17-year-old gunman killed a sixth grade student and wounded five other people. 

“Whenever we turn the TV on and see something like that, our hearts fall. It doesn’t matter what state it’s in. it’s the fact that something like this happened again,” Haley said.

Haley reflected on her time as South Carolina governor when she had to deal with the 2016 Townville Elementary School shooting.

“I wouldn’t wish that on any parent, and I will say this over and over again until I’m in the White House. We have to deal with the cancer that is mental health in this country. We have to,” she added said.

Haley expressed being excited as the first-in-the-nation caucus draws near. 

“We are super excited. It is six days until the caucus. We have been waiting for this. It has come to this moment,” Haley said. 

Haley spoke for about 20 minutes, addressing issues such as the economy, national security, the border crisis, and foreign policy. She didn’t take questions from voters, but she did take pictures following the event.

Haley has no public events scheduled until the CNN GOP Presidential debate on Wednesday night.

Judge Judy.

Judge Judy Sheindlin, also known as “Judge Judy,” endorsed Nikki Haley for president.

Haley called Judy a “no-nonsense lady,” adding she is “honored” to have her support.

 “Judge Judy is a no-nonsense lady who has earned the respect of millions of Americans from her courtroom by being thoughtful, fair, and honest. I’m honored to have her support,” Haley said.

Fox News was the first to report the endorsement.

Judy is currently the presiding judge on Amazon Freevee’s show, Judy Justice. Prior to that, she wrapped a 25-year-run of the show, Judge Judy. She was appointed to the bench in New York City’s Family Court in 1982 and became the supervising judge of the Manhattan Court in 1986.

In this 2019 photo, Rep. Greg Pence listens during a hearing on Capitol Hill.

Indiana GOP Rep. Greg Pence, former Vice President Mike Pence’s brother, said he’s not running for reelection.

“In 2017, I ran for Congress because I was Ready to Serve Again. As a former Marine Officer, I approached the job with purpose,” Rep. Greg Pence said in a statement. “After three terms, I’ve made the decision to not file for reelection.”

Pence represents Indiana’s 6th Congressional District which is strongly Republican and voted for Trump by nearly 40 percentage points in 2020.

Pence is the 16th Republican to announce they won’t be seeking reelection to the House.

President Joe Biden watches as protestors are escorted out of the building during a campaign event at Emanuel AME Church on January 8, in Charleston, South Carolina. 

At most only a few dozen ever come, but they’re following President Joe Biden almost everywhere.

On Friday near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania – as the president was inside giving a searing speech warning that American democracy might collapse if he doesn’t beat Donald Trump – a group of pro-Palestinian protestors stood on a patch of grass outside ticking through rhyming chants like, “Hey hey, ho ho, genocide Joe has got to go!”

On Monday at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Biden was in the middle of remembering the nine congregants gunned down by a White supremacist in 2015 – quoting the Bible about truth and light being a path out of the darkness – when three people (two White, one Black) stood in a middle pew chanting, “Ceasefire now!”

Protestors call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as Biden speaks at the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church.

“If you really care about the lives lost here, then you should honor the lives lost and call for a ceasefire in Palestine!” one of the women called out.

A speech meant to tie the legacy of White supremacy after the Civil War to Trump by calling 2020 election denialism “the Second Lost Cause” and promote his record of achievements for Black Americans suddenly had to detour into international diplomacy and one of the thorniest issues he has faced in office.

Read more on the international diplomacy issue overshadowing the Biden campaign.

Voting booths are seen at Glass Elementary School's polling station in Eagle Pass, Texas, on November 8, 2022.

In today’s closely balanced and highly polarized political environment, the line between victory and defeat for the two parties has grown so thin that control of the White House and Congress typically pivots on the small number of contests within reach for both sides. That means a tiny handful of races this year will likely serve as the tipping points that set the direction for a nation of nearly 335 million people.

Close elections that leave power in Washington teetering between the two parties have become a defining feature of modern American politics. Neither party has maintained simultaneous control of the White House and both congressional chambers for more than four consecutive years since 1968 – after one party or the other enjoyed such unified control almost constantly for the seven decades before that. The Senate and House are now split almost exactly in half between the two parties. Polls likewise show that voters divide almost evenly about a potential rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

It’s premature to predict which party will emerge from the 2024 election with the upper hand. But it’s not too soon to identify the contests that will most likely function as the tipping points in 2024.

Read up on the races that will determine the nation’s direction in 2024.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a presidential campaign event in Waukee, Iowa, on January 3.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will make a brief return to his day job on Tuesday with the delivery of his annual State of the State speech, less than a week before Iowa caucusgoers have their say on his political future.

If DeSantis gets his way, his trip to the Sunshine State will be short, and next week, Hawkeye State Republicans will deliver the momentum he needs to remain on the road as a presidential candidate for the foreseeable future. Dozens of Republican lawmakers, his lieutenant governor and education commissioner, and the state’s attorney general are planning to follow him to Iowa this weekend, where they will campaign on his behalf and help share stories of his political victories in Florida on caucus night, CNN has learned.

But here in the Florida capital city that helped launch DeSantis’ presidential ambitions, optimism about his odds of winning the nomination are waning and expectations are settling in that the governor may return sooner rather than later.

The prevailing sentiment here is a stark reversal from a year ago, when DeSantis was the toast of the town coming off a dominating performance in his November 2022 reelection and stood at the zenith of his political power. Then, his State of the State speech kicked off the unofficial countdown to his highly anticipated presidential campaign launch, and his fingerprints were all over the ensuing legislative session, when Republican lawmakers muscled through a contentious agenda engineered to appeal to the conservative voters who would help pick the next GOP nominee. That session produced new laws making it easier to carry a gun in public and harder to get an abortion and targeting drag shows, teachers unions and transgender health care for minors.

This year, DeSantis has publicly offered few details about his vision for the 60-day legislative session that begins Tuesday as he instead focuses on chasing the front-runner in the Republican primary, former President Donald Trump, and fending off former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Nor is it clear how engaged he will be with state lawmakers, who are scheduled to meet until March 8 – three days after Super Tuesday on the GOP primary calendar.

Speaking to Iowa reporters from Tallahassee on Monday, DeSantis said while he is campaigning on his accomplishments as Florida governor achieved last year, “there’s always more to do.”

Read more about his speech here.

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

Former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis qualified for CNN’s January 10 Republican presidential primary debate in Iowa. The debate is a final opportunity for candidates to make an impression in front of a national audience before voting begins.

Haley and DeSantis have said they will participate in the debate, which will take place Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Trump, who holds a commanding lead over the rest of the field and has skipped the first four 2024 GOP primary debates, will participate in a Fox News town hall in Iowa on January 10.

Just five days before the Iowa caucuses kick off the GOP’s nominating race, it will be a one-on-one clash between two candidates vying to emerge as the party’s lone, clear alternative to the former president.

DeSantis’ path to the GOP nomination likely depends on a strong showing in Iowa’s January 15 caucuses. Haley, meanwhile, has climbed in polls in New Hampshire, where a strong performance in the January 23 primary there could also prove as a springboard ahead of her home state’s February 24 primary.

CNN’s Iowa debate will be moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

To qualify for participation in the Iowa debate, candidates must receive at least 10% in three separate national and/or Iowa polls of Republican caucusgoers or primary voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting, according to the network. One of the three polls must be an approved CNN poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers. The qualifying window for polls to count toward the Iowa debate closed at noon Tuesday.

Three current candidates who have appeared on stage in some previous debates — entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — did not meet those qualification requirements.

CNN will hold a second debate on January 21 in New Hampshire at New England College, ahead of that state’s primary. The location was originally announced as St. Anselm College.

"I Voted" stickers are seen at a polling station in Alexandria, Virginia, in June 2022.

Before Americans pick a president in November, they get to pick the candidates in a series of primaries and caucuses. It’s a wonky process that has evolved over the course of the country’s history and continues to evolve today.

Here’s what to know:

What is a primary? It’s an election to select candidates, usually for a particular political party, to appear on the general election ballot.

Who is running in the primaries? For Democrats, Joe Biden is the sitting president and he’s running for reelection, which makes him the incumbent candidate.

Incumbents rarely face serious competition. There are some Democrats challenging him in the Democratic primaries, including Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and author Marianne Williamson. But they have not yet generated much support, at least in opinion polls.

For Republicans, former President Donald Trump has long been the front-runner, meaning he appears in polling to have a lead over five other candidates who are still in the race.

Trump, as a former president, also projects some of the power of an incumbent, although he lost the last election. His is the first serious campaign by a former president for his party’s nomination since Teddy Roosevelt tried and failed to reclaim the Republican nomination in 1912.

Anti-Trump Republicans appear to be interested in two main options: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Haley has polled better in New Hampshire and DeSantis has focused on Iowa. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson have had more trouble gaining support.

Who can vote in a presidential primary? It varies by state. Primaries are generally conducted in polling places like any other election.

But some states have “open primaries,” meaning any registered voter can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. Other states have “closed primaries,” meaning only people registered in a particular political party — usually Republicans or Democrats — can vote in that party’s primary.

Others offer voting day registration, which essentially opens the primaries to most registered voters.

When do the presidential primaries occur? The first date on the presidential primary calendar is January 15, although it is not technically for a primary.

On that day in Iowa, Republican Party members gather at events called caucuses, where they hear speeches from a campaign’s supporters and then vote for their preferred candidate. Unlike primaries in other states, these events are overseen by state parties and are not conducted like normal elections.

Democrats will also gather that day in Iowa, but their vote for president will be conducted by mail ending on March 5.

In some states, presidential primaries are conducted on one date and primaries for other offices are conducted later in the year. See the full calendar.

After Iowa, New Hampshire holds its “first-in-the-nation” primary on January 23, although Democrats are not sanctioning the event. Democrats want their first official primary to take place on February 3 in South Carolina, which is a more racially diverse state, and the first place Biden won a primary in 2020. That will then be followed by Nevada’s primary on February 6.

The calendar spreads out from there. Republicans compete in Nevada’s caucuses on February 8 and South Carolina on February 24.

Read more about the 2024 primaries.

Snow falls on Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday morning.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy canceled three campaign events on Tuesday due to severe winter weather across Iowa overnight — one day after lambasting former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for canceling her event in Sioux City, Iowa.

On Monday, Ramaswamy touted his campaign’s decision to hold his planned four campaign events in Northwest Iowa as scheduled and said Haley’s decision to cancel her event reflected a lack of the necessary resolve to serve as president.

He told reporters after the event that he wasn’t concerned about potential safety risks of holding events during a storm. “I think people got to toughen up a little bit,” he said. “I think that it says something about a candidate hopefully, if you’re gonna lead this country, you can’t just be a wilting flower when some basic things don’t go your way.”

On Tuesday, Ramaswamy announced on social media the campaign is postponing an event in Coralville, Iowa — the first of seven events on his schedule Tuesday, citing weather conditions which he said make it “effectively impossible to safely get from Des Moines to Coralville.” Later on Tuesday, Ramaswamy released on updated schedule on social media, which no longer had previously planned campaign stops in Burlington and Keokuk on it.

The area around Des Moines is under winter storm warning until Tuesday evening, with estimates suggesting the area could see as much as nine inches of snow.

Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa, on Monday.

On Monday, following his four schedule campaign events, Ramaswamy’s vehicle got stuck in a snow ditch while driving from his final event in Primghar to Des Moines. He said in a social media post a passerby pulled the car out of the ditch to help them get home safely.

“Just got back to Des Moines after a 5+ hour drive in snow from northwest Iowa. Got stuck in snow ditch on the way. 5 of us tried to push SUV out, finally got it done with extra help from a good Iowan,” he said.

Separately, Ramaswamy launched a new TV ad Tuesday — his first in months — featuring the former far-right Iowa congressman Steve King touting his endorsement, and saying that “America’s destiny is Vivek Ramaswamy.” 

Chris Christie talks to the press during an event in Kissimmee, Florida, on November 4.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is up with a new TV ad in which he speaks straight to camera to slam his rivals and tout his commitment to truth-telling “even at times when you get booed for doing that.” 

“Most of the other candidates in this race are all trying to look into people’s eyes and figure out what they want to hear,” Christie says in the ad. “I’m looking into people’s eyes and knowing that the truth is ultimately what they need to hear and what they deserve to hear.” 

“Even at times when you get booed for doing that or, or when you get chastised for doing it, the truth is the one non-negotiable commodity,” he added. 

The ad, which began airing in New Hampshire on Tuesday, echoes many of Christie’s campaign trail talking points, as he’s eagerly criticized rival candidates like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley for what he says is their failure to confront former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

And it’s the latest in a series of ads from Christie’s campaign with a spare production style, which feature candidate speaking directly to camera, making his case to voters.

According to AdImpact data, Christie’s campaign has spent a total of about $1.3 million on advertising so far, virtually all of it targeting New Hampshire. In addition, a super PAC backing his campaign, Tell It Like It Is PAC, has spent about $7.6 million more advertising in New Hampshire.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on November 21.

Even as he’s ramping up his criticism of his predecessor on the campaign trail, President Joe Biden and his campaign aren’t expected to weigh in on Donald Trump’s appearance in a federal appeals court today.

Why is Trump in court today: Trump is expected to attend oral arguments in the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which is less than a mile from the White House. A three-judge panel will decide whether the federal charges brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith should be dismissed based on Trump team’s claim that the former president should be immune from prosecution for actions he took after the 2020 election, sources familiar with the approach say.

The steer-clear strategy tracks with how Biden has approached most of Trump’s court cases, refraining from weighing in on the specific legal issues at hand in order to avoid any perception of political interference.

Trump has repeatedly used the legal cases against him to accuse Biden of attempting to subvert democracy through the courts — even as the president and his team insist they have played no role in the various prosecutions of the former President.

That leaves Biden with a balancing act as he works to paint Trump as a danger to democracy and an unfit leader while still avoiding specific mention of the critical legal cases that will come to define this year’s election.

Biden, who has no public events today, has briefly weighed in on the legal drama surrounding Trump on very few occasions, including quipping his predecessor was a “handsome guy” after the release of his mugshot in August. When a Colorado court ruled that Trump is disqualified from the 2024 primary ballot because he engaged in insurrection, Biden said that decision is up to the court, but shared his belief that Trump “certainly supported an insurrection.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks at an event in Washington, DC, on June 24.

A federal appeals court hears arguments Tuesday over whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for actions he took after the 2020 election, one of the key questions that could determine the former president’s legal and political fate in 2024.

Trump plans to attend the oral arguments in the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit where a three-judge panel will decide whether the federal charges brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith should be dismissed based on Trump’s claims of immunity.

Trump’s presence at the hearing Tuesday – less than week before the Iowa caucuses – underscores how intertwined Trump’s legal and political worlds have become, as the former president has made the four criminal indictments against him a key part of his pitch to his supporters in the 2024 campaign.

The immunity question is ultimately expected to end up before the Supreme Court, one of several consequential questions the high court will take up related to Trump this year. On Friday, the US Supreme Court said it would review next month the Colorado Supreme Court’s unprecedented decision to remove Trump from its state ballot.

Trump faces four counts from Smith’s election subversion charges, including conspiring to defraud the United States and to obstruct an official proceeding. The former president has pleaded not guilty.

Here’s what to know for Tuesday’s hearing. Follow live updates here.

Nikki Haley greets voters during a campaign town hall in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on December 28.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has trimmed former President Donald Trump’s lead in the Republican primary race in New Hampshire to single digits, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire.

Trump still holds a meaningful lead in the poll, with the backing of 39% of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire compared to Haley’s 32%. The rest of the field lags far behind in the poll, with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 12%, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 8%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 5% and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at less than 1%.

Support for Haley has risen 12 percentage points since the last CNN/UNH poll in November, continuing an upward trajectory that began last summer, while her opponents –including Trump – have seen their numbers remain stable or tick slightly downward since autumn.

Haley’s support has grown dramatically among those voters registered as undeclared, New Hampshire’s term for independent registrants – she’s up 18 points with this group since November. It has also grown 20 points among those who are ideologically moderate. Those gains come amid a push from her campaign in the state, including an endorsement last month from New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. The Granite State’s GOP primary is January 23.

The strength of Haley’s challenge to Trump in the state speaks to the contours of New Hampshire’s primary electorate, in which those more moderate and less staunchly partisan voters make up a larger share of participants than they do in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, which are happening next week. Trump has crossed the 50% mark in most recent polling on the Iowa caucuses, and he holds wider majorities in national polls on the Republican nomination.

A little more than 4 in 10 likely primary voters in the CNN/UNH poll are undeclared voters who plan to vote in the GOP primary (45%), rather than registered Republicans. About one-third describe themselves as moderates (32%).

Read more about the poll here.

The shadow of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is cast against a wall during a campaign event in Waukee, Iowa, on January 3.

Several dozen Florida lawmakers and other top Republican officials will join Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa this weekend for the final push before the caucuses, the governor’s campaign told CNN.

Most will stay in Iowa next Monday night and speak on DeSantis’ behalf at the caucuses, the campaign said.  

According to a list provided to CNN by the DeSantis campaign, they include Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.  

In all, 47 Republican leaders are committed to traveling to Iowa, though more are expected. 

The campaign did not immediately respond when asked whether the campaign is covering the cost of their travel. 

The state’s legislative session begins on Tuesday in Tallahassee, where DeSantis will deliver his annual State of the State address. There is no legislative business currently scheduled for Friday and the legislature will be closed Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 

A husband and wife show their dueling support with campaign signs in front of their home in Winthrop, Iowa, on December 20.

The first test of the 2024 presidential election hits January 15, when Iowa Republicans gather to caucus in high school gyms, community buildings and churches.

The first event of the party primary calendar for the past half century, the caucuses will provide an initial moment of truth for former President Donald Trump’s comeback bid and could help Republicans tired of Trump decide which of his challengers to rally behind.

What is a caucus? Caucuses are not primaries. Primary elections are conducted like other US elections – at polling places and by secret ballot, held throughout the day and usually also with absentee and early voting.

Caucuses are something else. They are essentially meetings run by political parties, convened at a specific time – 7 p.m. CT in Iowa. Since it isn’t a traditional election, a candidate’s performance in Iowa is often viewed as a test of his or her campaign’s organizational strength.

How are votes cast at a caucus? For Republicans, surrogates for candidates give final pitches after the caucuses get underway and then paper ballots are distributed to caucusgoers. They’re counted on-site, and the results are shared with the party.

Does the winner in Iowa usually win the White House? In an open year, when there’s no incumbent running for a party’s nomination, Iowa has a spotty record at picking the president, particularly for Republicans.

Only one Republican, George W. Bush in 2000, won a contested Iowa face-off and then went on to win the White House.

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 and went on to win the White House. Jimmy Carter was the top Democrat in 1976, but he placed second to a slate of “uncommitted” delegates. Still, the momentum propelled him to the party nomination and ultimately the White House.

Some notable losses include when the Republican Ronald Reagan placed second in 1980 to George H.W. Bush, who ultimately became his running mate. Reagan, interestingly, had won the Iowa caucuses in 1976, although then-President Gerald Ford won the GOP nomination and subsequently lost the White House.

The elder Bush, despite winning the caucuses in 1980, lost them in 1988 to then-Sen. Bob Dole even though Bush was running as the sitting vice president. Bush went on to secure the GOP nomination.

And Trump, although he’s the favorite in pre-caucus polling this year, lost the Iowa caucuses in 2016 to Cruz.

Read more about the Iowa caucuses here.