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Ron DeSantis Ends 2024 Presidential Campaign, Endorses Trump; DeSantis Ends Campaign; Nikki Haley (R), Presidential Candidate, Interview. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired January 21, 2024 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: That he was getting into the race for the GOP nomination and she never really got a text from him that he was going to now throw his support behind Donald Trump.

I know you didn't ask her specifically but, you know, she said it pretty emphatically. If the endorsements of high-ranking South Carolinians including, you know, a Tim Scott, in any way does that kind of rattle her cage? Does it concern her at all about the message that is conveyed to voters?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, that certainly is the intent with every endorsement that doesn't go her way. She is very circumspect, I think, is probably the diplomatic way to say it about the kinds of endorsements that other people are getting. I mean, you heard she was quite disappointed when it came to Tim Scott.

But if I may, one moment that I thought was interesting in our discussion right now was that, you know, she has been on the trail talking about Donald Trump and Joe Biden being bad for America for lots of reasons. The primary reason that she's giving is because of their age and their -- what she says is a declining mental acuity. And just now, just more broadly when I asked about whether they are equally bad, we eventually got around to her answer being yes.

She does think that they are equally bad which is an interesting answer, a noteworthy answer especially, Fred, given the fact that she didn't directly say that she would not support the pledge that she signed way back when to support the nominee which I understand. I've asked a lot of candidates hypotheticals and if they're still in the race they don't want to go there on that necessarily especially with someone like her who just landed strictly and squarely in a one-on-one race with Donald Trump. But that was not something that she directly answered on the Trump and Biden being equally bad. She did answer it and she said yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes. That was pretty striking but she did make the distinction that she thought that both of them were bad for America, and with certainty she believes she's going to be the one who receives the GOP nomination. We shall see.

Dana Bash, thank you so much and of course great get on getting Nikki Haley there with the news of Ron DeSantis now stepping aside, suspending his race.

BASH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Hello to everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.

And just moments ago, just to recap now, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced via a video message that he is suspending his presidential campaign, and in that announcement that he's suspending his campaign he also very quickly threw his endorsement behind Donald Trump. Listen to some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Greetings from Florida. The warmth of being home is a reminder why I've chosen public service from joining the United States Navy and serving in Iraq, to representing the people in the U.S. Congress and now serving as governor of Florida. And it reminds me why I decided to run for president, to fight for those who have been forgotten in this country.

This is America's time for choosing. We can choose to allow a border invasion or we can choose to stop it. We can choose reckless borrowing and spending or we can choose to limit government and lower inflation. We can choose political indoctrination or we can choose classical education. These choices are symptoms of the underlying struggle to ensure that constitutional government can endure and that Western civilization can survive.

We launched this campaign to bring accountability to government, regain sovereignty at our border and restore sanity to our society. We cannot succeed as a country if we allow our nation to be invaded, our currency to be debased, our cities to crumble, and our kids to be indoctrinated. The D.C. elites who facilitated this mess do not care about you and they do not work for you. They work for themselves.

They seek to accumulate power at your expense to pursue an agenda that is harmful to the American people. Citizens do not serve politicians. It is the duty of politicians to serve you. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. Reversing the decline of this nation requires leadership that delivers big results for the people we are elected to serve. I have a record of leading with conviction, championing an agenda marked by bold colors, delivering on my promises and defeating the people who are responsible for our nation's decline.

That is the type of leadership we need for all of America. Now over the past many months Casey and I have traveled across the country to deliver a message of hope that decline is a choice, and that we can, in fact, succeed again as a nation. Nobody worked harder, and we left it all out on the field. Now following our second-place finish in Iowa, we prayed and deliberated on the way forward.

[16:05:04]

If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it. But I can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don't have a clear path to victory. Accordingly I am today suspending my campaign. I'm proud to have delivered on 100 percent of my promises, and I will not stop now. It's clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.

They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare this day to attack him. Well, I've had disagreements with Donald Trump such as on the coronavirus pandemic and his elevation of Anthony Fauci, Trump is superior to the current incumbent Joe Biden. That is clear. I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that pledge.

He has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents. The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology are over.

I thank all of our passionate supporters who stood by us through it all. That we had people volunteer to come to Iowa in the middle of a blizzard to knock on doors and make phone calls touched us dearly. No candidate had more thrown at him but no candidate had so many committed volunteers and staff.

Finally, I want to thank my wife Casey and our kids, Madison, Mason and Mamie. Casey has gone far above and beyond in her support for our campaign and for our cause. She's not only a great wife and mother, she's a great American who cares deeply about the future of the country that our kids will inherit.

Our kids have seen and done a lot on the trail from playing on the famed "Field of Dreams" baseball site in Iowa to making their first Snowman in New Hampshire. They are one of the reasons we fight so hard for what we believe in.

Winston Churchill once remarked that success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts. While this campaign has ended, the mission continues. Down here in Florida, we will continue to show the country how to lead.

Thank you and God bless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Ron DeSantis' suspension of his campaign comes just two days before the first in the nation primary in New Hampshire, and it now leaves two candidates in the running for the GOP nomination, former president Donald J. Trump and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, now going toe-to-toe to represent the Republican Party in November.

Let's bring in our full political team to break all of this down and find out the reasons behind DeSantis' decision. We know we heard his recording there and he says that he did not see a clear path forward. But Jessica Dean, Steve Contorno both have been following the campaign of Ron DeSantis from start to finish.

Now, so, Jessica, you first. Why is it he did not see a clear path to the nomination?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think a lot of this, Fredricka, it comes down to money and the path forward with donors and sustaining this campaign through South Carolina which is more than a month away at this point just was not there, and we are told that he was talking with donors, with advisers, really trying to get a sense of where this was headed and it just became apparent that there was no path forward.

After that disappointing second-place finish in Iowa, he and his team had kind of wrapped their arms around this idea that they would kind of skip over New Hampshire and really focus on South Carolina. They would move their team there and they would really drill down that they would hope to beat Nikki Haley there. But it just simply did not seem to be that the donors would be there with him. And of course to keep going you have to have money to stay in.

Now I'm told, Fredricka, we heard in that video that you played, he did say that he will be supporting former president Trump and that he will -- he pledged to support whoever the nominee is, I am told that at this point, and this can always change, but today, right now, there are no plans for DeSantis to appear with Trump on the campaign trail in New Hampshire at this moment.

Now we might see them together down the road somewhere, but at this point in time there are no plans for anything like that. I am also told that Governor DeSantis is at home in Florida, that he had made this decision, you know, earlier today after really kind of talking with his closest adviser, his wife, but also those around him, and just decided that this was just not -- this could not sustain and could not continue, that he can focus on being in Florida and governing there -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. And Steve Contorno there in Florida, you, too, have been covering the Ron DeSantis campaign. So this recording, this announcement from Ron DeSantis wasn't just about saying I don't see a clear path, but making it very clear I am throwing my support behind Donald Trump.

[16:10:10]

He said Trump is superior to the current incumbent President Joe Biden. Why did he choose to make an endorsement this quickly when so often a candidate who has been on the trail will take a beat or two, think about it and then later come out with an endorsement? What's with the urgency here?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things we've been hearing in recent days is that he has been thinking about not just how to get out of this race but how to sort of preserve his political future. And clearly, you know, he is a Republican who came up thanks to Trump's endorsements and getting back into Trump's good graces is a calculation that they're making will be important to his brand.

But what's interesting is that sources tell me and Kristen Holmes that DeSantis' team, his campaign nor DeSantis himself had actually talked to anyone in the Trump campaign or Trump in advance to tell them that this endorsement was coming. They saw DeSantis getting out of the race today as a likely outcome based off of all of the reasons we've talked about, but they were surprised to hear DeSantis come out and endorse him.

But there's a lot of history between DeSantis and Trump, and not just between DeSantis and Trump, the individuals, but also their staffs and DeSantis and Trump staff went -- DeSantis was a candidate for governor in 2018 he needed Trump's support, and Trump's endorsement proved big for him in getting him the nomination in Florida. After that he was in a tight race for the general election, and Trump actually loaned him a bunch of top political advisers and operatives in Florida to help get him over the finish line.

Well, he had a pretty nasty break-up with that crew of people and a lot of those people are now working for Donald Trump including Susie Wiles, one of his top political operatives, earlier today when words started to circulate that DeSantis might be dropping out, she had a very interesting tweet. It was two words. "Bye-bye."

WHITFIELD: And what you described, the history of the two also better explained perhaps why he was so reticent and careful about how -- Ron DeSantis, I'm talking. How he criticized Donald Trump. And I mean, I guess it was a rather prickly matter. I mean, he benefited from Donald Trump and now a competitor, but only wanted to go so far, it seems, Steve.

CONTORNO: Absolutely, and that was something that they were struggling with internally throughout. There were people who wanted him to come out of the gate throwing hay makers at Trump and responding to all the attacks that Trump was throwing at him. Instead they kind of did this half attempt at going at Trump. It was often shrouded in sort of this soft language and it was almost too cute by half.

And instead of knocking down Trump at all and instead made him look to many supporters like someone who wasn't ready to go toe to toe with the biggest Republican in their party, and it raised a lot of questions about whether he was ready to step into the arena with someone like a Joe Biden. So, you know, many of these candidates in this race have struggled with this question of how to deal with Donald Trump.

You just heard Dana and Nikki Haley go back and forth on that a little bit, but in the case of DeSantis, it's particularly interesting because he was such a vociferous supporter of Donald Trump in the past. He had that ad in 2018 with him and his children building the wall, reading the "Art of the Deal" to his kids, and he had really come up through the political party as a rising star because of Trump.

So breaking himself off from Trump was always going to be difficult and that is something that they repeatedly struggled with all throughout this campaign.

WHITFIELD: So, Jessica, it would seem inevitable that Ron DeSantis will end up on the campaign trail in some capacity even though your reporting is there aren't plans for that right now for DeSantis to be campaigning for Trump. How long, though, perhaps before, you know, we might see, you know, a change of heart?

DEAN: Well, we're just going to have to see, you know, how that kind of develops over time. A couple of thoughts on what you were just talking about with Steve, though, is that, number one, Ron DeSantis was also going after voters that were the Trump base for two cycles and so he had this fine line that he was constantly always trying to walk, which is how do I convince you that you don't want the guy that's actually running that you voted for twice, that you want me the better version. And that was actually a very hard sell as we now know.

The other thing that I think it really illuminates that we're all seeing come out and play out in real time is the remaining and enduring power of the former president on the Republican Party.

[16:15:02]

I think DeSantis and his advisers really thought he could be more vulnerable facing all of these charges with all of the chaos that surrounds him, that perhaps the electorate would have tired of him, that would want someone like him but without baggage. That was their theory of the case and it just seemed that in the end they just wanted Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: All right. So far, like Teflon. All right. Steve Contorno and Jessica Dean, appreciate it. Thank you so much. I'll check back with you all.

So with Ron DeSantis now out of the race, what does this mean for Donald Trump and Nikki Haley's campaigns? How they're responding next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, back to our breaking news. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now out of the running for the Republican presidential nomination suspending his campaign a short time ago.

[16:20:05]

And then our Dana Bash caught up with Nikki Haley moments ago where said she wishes him well and Donald Trump just told a crowd of his supporters while he is in New Hampshire and he let them know that Ron DeSantis is dropping out, the crowd cheered. And then he also announced to his supporters that Ron DeSantis is supporting him. We're going to try and get that tape for you and bring it to you as soon as we can.

All right, so right now there are two candidates who remain for the Republican nomination. CNN's Kylie Atwood and Alayna Treene are there in New Hampshire covering the campaigns.

Kylie, let me go to you first because you're in the very location where Nikki Haley spoke live with our Dana Bash in the last hour from that location or actually at the top of the hour now, and she says, well, you know, I wish him well, but as it pertains to winning the GOP nomination, she says, it's going to be me. Why is she so confident? KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, she's been projecting

confidence from day one. She likes to say that people underestimate her and that is what she continues to say to this day. She of course was asked in that interview with Dana if she would back Trump if he becomes the nominee and she said she is going to be the nominee. She's very confident in her campaign.

And I can tell you, her campaign is obviously feeling pretty good right now. She started her campaign event here, we're at this Clam Shack here in New Hampshire, by saying to the supporters in the room things are changing fast, broke the news to them that Ron DeSantis had dropped out which most of the folks in this room didn't know. They came to see Nikki Haley so they were kind of surprised.

But as you said there, she said that this is now a two-person race between one lady and one fella. Listen to what she told supporters during that speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I want to say to Ron, he ran a great race. He's been a good governor and we wish him well. Having said that, it's now one fella and one lady left.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HALEY: There were 14 people in this race. There were a lot of fellas. All of the fellas are out except for just one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now she also went on to tell Dana Bash with regard to her message to DeSantis supporters that she believes they're great Americans, they love America and they want someone who is a next generational leader. And she believes she is that person.

Now her campaign tells me that they don't think that DeSantis dropping out is going to have a large effect on her support or Trump's support for that matter because in their perspective, they think that that vote for DeSantis is really going to be split between Trump and Haley, but of course, we've already seen DeSantis endorse Trump, so we'll have to wait and see what kind of a boost the former president gets from that endorsement.

Now Haley, for her matter, didn't know that this was coming. DeSantis didn't call her and give her a head's up. She told Dana Bash that. She also defended herself against his allegations that she's essentially in the pocket of corporate America, saying that that's not true and really going after the political elite. She said that they're coming together against the people.

It's a really stinging rebuke of those politicians who have been signing up, standing up behind former president Trump and, you know, even lawmakers from her own state here in New Hampshire campaigning with Trump while she is barnstorming the state, going to events, trying to get every vote she can in what is a critical state for her given the new CNN poll which shows her 11 points behind the former president, trying to do as well as she can here.

But she did tell Dana Bash that absolutely, she's going to keep her campaign alive and well through the South Carolina primary which is about a month from today.

WHITFIELD: Right. 11 points behind but we heard Nikki Haley say in that live interview, she says, you know, I'm used to being underestimated. There were 14 and now there are two.

Kylie Atwood, thanks so much.

Alayna Treene, let's go to you. You've been covering the Trump campaign. I heard a little bit, you know, before we went on the air of the crowd cheering when he made the announcement to everybody that Ron DeSantis is out and that DeSantis is actually throwing his support behind Trump. What else did he say to the crowd there?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Fred, we heard Donald Trump say that DeSantis is a very capable person and touted the endorsement that he gave him. And we also know that he almost immediately after DeSantis had suspended his campaign, he did an interview with FOX News Digital saying that he was very honored by the endorsement.

I also just moments ago received a statement from the Trump campaign. I'm going to read you a little bit of that now.

[16:25:00]

They said that they are honored by the endorsement from Governor Ron DeSantis and so many other former presidential candidates. It is now time for all Republicans to rally behind President Trump to defeat crooked Joe Biden and his disastrous presidency. The statement went on to attack Nikki Haley.

But, look, Fred, I caught up with a couple of Donald Trump's campaign advisers shortly after DeSantis said that he was bowing out of the race and they told me that they have been preparing for that. Over the last 24 hours they had been hearing some rumors and buzz and speculation that DeSantis would be dropping out, and so they had pre- planned some of these statements, and I think that arrival we just saw or that stop with Donald Trump on the trail just moments ago.

But I think a big question still remains how much the Trump campaign will actually embrace DeSantis moving forward. We know that Trump had really viciously attacked DeSantis all throughout 2024. He trained most of his fire on Ron DeSantis in the leadup to Iowa. And a lot of that was, yes, one point was they were a little bit concerned about DeSantis' candidacy, but the other part was Donald Trump has a personal animosity toward Ron DeSantis.

He was very angry and viewed DeSantis as disloyal for running against him in the presidential race after Trump had endorsed him for governor in 2017. Now I do think that DeSantis immediately offering his endorsement for Donald Trump is something that will help and clearly, you're seeing Donald Trump himself but also the people around him be very gracious with DeSantis dropping out and saying that they're honored by his endorsement.

And so I think we'll stay tuned to see whether or not we may see DeSantis on the trail with Trump at some point in the future.

WHITFIELD: Right. And Alayna, that's a great distinction in terms of Trump feeling particularly, you know, bristling at the fact that DeSantis would compete against him on the campaign trail in this go around because in 2016, of course, you know, Donald Trump didn't have a problem with Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, you know, or Ted Cruz eventually being surrogates even though they were his competition initially, too.

But circumstances are a little different here so we'll see how long it takes before Ron DeSantis becomes a surrogate since he's announced his endorsement so quickly.

Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Kylie Atwood, appreciate it. We'll check back with you, again, ladies.

And then coming up, we're going to hear more from Dana Bash's interview that was live right here on CNN with Nikki Haley. We'll bring that to you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:35]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. We're continuing to follow breaking news.

Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is suspending his campaign for president and endorsing, here simultaneously, with his announcement. He is endorsing former President Donald Trump for the GOP nominee.

A short time ago, CNN's Dana Bash spoke with Nikki Haley on the campaign trail about DeSantis' decision. And this is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To allow a border invasion where we can choose to --

HALEY: I know it's personal to get into a race. It's personal to get out of a race. He's been a good governor. And he added a lot to the campaign. And we wish him well.

BASH: OK. When he -- when he dropped out, a part of what he said was he reminded everyone that he signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee. I'll honor that pledge.

He, meaning Donald Trump, has my endorsement, because we can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear or repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents. That's tough stuff on his way out the door. HALEY: You know, it's interesting because there's no proof of that.

These fellas say this, because they want people to believe it. But what's amazing to me, is they think they can lie to the American people and the American people are going to believe it. Prove it.

Prove one thing that they've said. Prove the fact that Donald Trump says I want to cut social security or raise the age. I've never said that. Prove the fact that Donald Trump says I want to raise gas taxes. I've never said that or done that.

Prove that Ron DeSantis says that I'm a corporate whatever he says I am. I've never done that. I was in South Carolina. We fought for the people every day.

There is a reason that you don't see the legislature lining up behind me in South Carolina. It's because I fought to get them to vote on the record. I fought for them to do ethics reform. I vetoed half a billion dollars' worth of their port (ph) projects.

And then, you see Congress. The reason Congress doesn't support us is I've pushed for term limits. I've pushed for mental competency tests. I've said, if they don't give us a budget on time, they don't get paid. I don't get the political elite.

That's what we need to be talking about. Not the corporate stuff that they're talking about. The fact that they all side together against the people is what I'm doing. I'm going to continue to fight for the people.

BASH: A lot of times -- you've run in primary races before. When somebody drops out, there tends to be a breath taken and some nicer words are said.

That is not the case right now with Ron DeSantis. Is that surprising to you? Is it disappointing to you? And did he call you or at least at all inform you, before he was dropping out?

HALEY: No, he didn't call or inform me. And, look, this is what the fellas do. The difference is, I don't take politics personally. I never have.

And I think that's the problem with where we are now. Is you now have people who want to decide who's a good Republican? Who's a bad Republican? Who's a good person? Who's a bad person? That's why our country is so divided.

I don't judge people. I focus on policy that's going to make America stronger. I don't take politics personally. I'm not thin skinned like Donald Trump.

I think that people don't want that. They want a leader who's going to bring out the best in people and get our country going forward.

BASH: Ron DeSantis is saying that he is sticking by his pledge which is why -- and he believes that Donald Trump will be the nominee. You made a pledge, a long time ago before the Republican National Committee debates even started to support the nominee. Do you still feel that way?

Are you still going to support? I mean, it's you and Donald Trump. So, if it's not you, I know you hope it will be, and you're working so that it is. But if it's not, if it's Donald Trump, will you support him as the nominee still?

[16:35:01]

HALEY: It's going to be me. And I know you all want to talk about it like it's still him. Seventy percent of Americans don't want to see a Trump-Biden rematch.

But even look at that. Fifty-six thousand people voted in Iowa. Less than two percent voted in one state. We're not going to let that decide what happens in the country.

We've got New Hampshire. We've got South Carolina. We've got Super Tuesday. We're going to keep on going. And we're going to fight and we're going to win.

I'm used to people underestimating me. It's always fun. But there were 14 people in this race, and now there are two.

I'm going to finish this so Joe Biden and Donald Trump are not an issue at all. That we actually put them in the past and we go forward. Because our country deserves it, and Americans want it. They're tired.

BASH: As former governor of South Carolina, South Carolina doesn't vote, as you know, for a month. You are pledging right now to your former constituents, to your fellow South Carolinians, that you are going to stay in this race through the contest there?

HALEY: Absolutely. And South Carolinians know I won that state twice. They know I'm a fighter. They know I'm going to go all of the way through. I'm also an accountant, so we saved a lot of our dollars to make sure we could be strong in South Carolina.

We're going to be stronger in New Hampshire than we were in Iowa. We're going to be even stronger in South Carolina than we were in New Hampshire. And we're going to keep on going until we're the last woman standing.

BASH: You just did it again, and we've heard you over and over in recent weeks on the campaign trail, lumping Donald Trump and Joe Biden together. Do you believe that they are equally bad for America?

HALEY: If -- it's not even what I believe. It's what Americans believe.

BASH: What do you believe? Because you're the one who's saying that?

HALEY: I worry about the fact that they are so focused on investigations and things that they don't like and focused on the past. When do you ever hear either one of them talk about the solutions of the future?

I'm doing this because I don't want my kids to live like this. We have got to start looking forward.

You've got a country in disarray. You've got a world on fire. And you're going to focus on people who hurt your feelings? You're going to focus on investigations that are involved with your families? You're going to focus on vengeance?

With me, it's no drama. It's no vendettas. It's just hard work. And it's making sure we're not thinking four and eight years. We're thinking 20 and 30 years out. That's what it should be.

And we lost that. We lost that a long time ago, but we can get it back. And I'm going to prove every day to every American that they made the right decision when I get elected.

BASH: You don't want to go there on whether or not they are equally bad?

HALEY: If either one of them was good, I wouldn't be running. Yes, they are equally bad. That's why I'm running. It's because I don't think we need to Biden or Trump. I don't think we need to have two 80- year-olds sitting in the White House when we've basically got to make sure that we can handle the war situation that we're in.

We need to know they're at the top their game. We need to know that they can take care of our national security and our economy. Right now, I don't know that people feel like that with either one. So, that's why we're giving them a choice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana Bash with Nikki Haley there. It was live on our air not long ago. And Nikki Haley saying there were 14 and now there are two. She and Donald Trump.

And as for Ron DeSantis. His camp is saying, thus far, no plans yet that he would be appearing on the campaign trail with Donald Trump.

All right. So, Ron DeSantis' decision certainly shaking things up. CNN's live coverage of the 2024 New Hampshire primary starts Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:38]

WHITFIELD: All right, back to our breaking news. Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is now out of the running for the Republican presidential nomination. In a video statement, a short time ago, he suspended his campaign and, near immediately, threw his support for the nomination behind Donald Trump.

I'm joined now by editor of the Politico Caucus and chief polling analyst, Steve Shepard, and national politics reporter for Axios, Sophia Cai. Great to see both of you.

All right, Sophia, you first. Why do you think DeSantis chose to drop out today and, near simultaneously, throw his support behind Donald Trump?

SOPHIA CAI, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: I mean, look, New Hampshire is a state where DeSantis was polling in single digits. And what we've been hearing is that his campaign also got internal polling back in South Carolina that he was not doing very well.

And so, he figured, you know, why not drop out now? Save his chances for 2028 and get on Trump's better side today. And we know, you know, the Trump campaign has been preparing for almost a day now for the dropout.

And we heard Trump, at his campaign H.Q. earlier, just now saying that he's dropped the nicknames for DeSantis. And emphasizing that he and DeSantis share similar policies.

WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. So, that means that we are probably going to see Ron DeSantis campaigning for him, in some capacity. Even though the DeSantis camp is telling our Jessica Dean, no plans yet to be out on the campaign trail. But he did, after all, just endorse him.

So, I wonder, Steve, you know, while Sophia, you know, helps underscore that he had to assess some new polling numbers. And, you know, the writing was on the wall.

Our CNN Reporter Jamie Gangel was reporting that Governor DeSantis actually called top donors personally this morning. We know that he had canceled some television events, including being on "State of the Union" with Dana Bash today. And he told them that he decided there was no path to winning and it was time to get out.

I mean, this is -- this is really unique, in that it was just two days ahead of the New Hampshire primary. How to you assess what happened in such a quick succession of events?

STEVE SHEPARD, EDITOR AND CHIEF POLLING ANALYST, POLITICO: Well, these things tend to happen pretty quickly. Because there's one thing we can remember from presidential primaries is that the dominos fall pretty rapidly.

You know, it was only four years ago on the Democratic side when, in the three days between the South Carolina primary and Super Tuesday, (INAUDIBLE) campaign departures and coalescing around Joe Biden in that race. And that's one of the things that made that primary so fast moving.

[16:45:16]

In this case, you mentioned Ron DeSantis calling donors. A lot of those conversations often go the other way. You call donors and donors say they're not going to give you any more money. And that is one reason why a lot of candidates drop out. Now, we won't get a look at Ron DeSantis' finances until the end of the month. He's not required to disclose how much money he raised. And even then, the disclosures will only go back to the end of December. So, we won't necessarily know the kind of financial straits his campaign was in.

But we also know that he stopped advertising after the Iowa caucuses. T.V. ads, of course, are the most expensive thing on a campaign's budget. He was no longer doing that. He was not a factor in New Hampshire.

So, he had mentioned he's not really a factor in South Carolina, where it's basically a two-way race between Trump and Haley. The places where he mattered were basically eliminated after Iowa.

And his campaign -- even though this announcement seems sudden, in the six states since Iowa, his campaign hadn't been really doing -- other than showing up in places, hadn't been doing the kinds of things that a functional campaign that's build -- trying to build momentum is doing.

And so, this, in a lot of ways, is not that surprising.

WHITFIELD: And, Sophia, you saw our Dana Bash, you know, live right here on our air, talking to Nikki Haley who said, you know, hey, I wish him well. But she says, but she says, you know what? There were 14, and now there are two.

And she seemed like she had a little extra, you know, kick in her step. She seemed very confident, when asked, you know, who's going to win the GOP race? She says, you know, it's going to be me.

How does she benefit from this moment?

CAI: I mean, look, this is now a two-person race. It's what she wanted. I think the question is, will she be able to capitalize it?

And, right now, we're in New Hampshire, where voters are more moderate. You know, if she's going to do it at any state, it's New Hampshire. You know, she benefits from the primary format more than the caucus format.

You know, if she has Chris Christie supporters behind her. Chris Christie, before he dropped out, he campaigned in New Hampshire a lot. And most of his supporters will be coming out to vote for Nikki Haley.

But the question really is, how well does she have to do in order to move on to the South Carolina and, kind of, carry that momentum? You see the Trump campaign coming out really raising the expectation for Nikki Haley, saying she has to win.

You know, and her campaign has said no matter how she does, she will survive to the South Carolina primary. And that is also her home state. So, that is the hope for her.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Steve, it's a two-person race for the GOP nomination. Has the jockeying already begun for a potential vice presidential, you know, pick to accompany either one, Nikki Haley or Donald Trump?

SHEPARD: Well, look, I think when you look at the final stages of campaigning in New Hampshire, you see people like Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Senator J.D. Vance appearing on the stump, trying to push Donald Trump's candidacy in New Hampshire. You could look at those as running-mate tryouts.

I mean, it's pretty obvious Donald Trump is not going to have the same running mate and vice president that he had in both the 2016 and 2020 election. So, he's looking for someone. He is -- you know, this is a two-person race. But to be quite frank about it, especially if Donald Trump does end up winning in New Hampshire this week, it is (INAUDIBLE) a one-person race.

And so, yes, a lot of this -- the -- what is going to come ahead of South Carolina and then Super Tuesday, before, you know, Donald Trump very likely locks up this nomination, is going to be focused on what the general election campaign looks like.

And that is the biggest decision that Donald Trump will have to make, between now and November, is who his running mate will be. And the kind of campaign that he wants to run after running a winning campaign in 2016 and losing one in 2020. You know, where does he want to position himself?

WHITFIELD: All very fascinating. Wow. What a Sunday this has been. And there's more. Remember, we're just two days away now from the New Hampshire primary. So, lots of fireworks still yet to come.

Sophia Cai, Steve Shepard, good to see both of you. Thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:53:43]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. More on our breaking news. Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is out. No longer on the presidential campaign. Shaking up the Republican race for the White House.

So, how does this affect President Biden's strategy? CNN's Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak is traveling with the president in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. So, what you hearing?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, at the end of the day, I don't think it affects President Biden's strategy at all. Because, really, President Biden's advisers have long looked past DeSantis as the potential Republican nominee.

They are really focusing their attention now on former President Trump. And even in the Democrats' statement about DeSantis, they really didn't say much about DeSantis, himself. It was really more about Trump, saying that DeSantis was the latest Republican to fall in line behind the original MAGA brand.

Really, Biden's advisers here are very eager for this to become a one- on-one contest between President Biden and President Trump. They do have their own internal research that shows many undecided voters just don't believe that President Trump will be the Republican nominee.

And, until that point, they do think that they will have a harder time sort of making this a contrast argument against President Trump. Making it a choice between two men, rather than a choice between Biden and some ephemeral alternative.

[16:55:03]

LIPTAK: And so, I think as each of these Republican candidates drop out, it is becoming closer and closer to this general election contest that they are very eager to see get underway.

And, in fact, we will see that start next week, on Tuesday, when President Biden and Kamala Harris headline their first joint campaign rally in northern Virginia. Their focus will be abortion and reproductive rights. They do think that this is a galvanizing issue for their voters heading into next year.

And they do plan to make the argument that President Trump would be very bad for abortion rights, if he were re-elected.

WHITFIELD: And, in fact, making that distinction is something that the Biden White House feels is like a really important hallmark, right? Vice President Kamala Harris will be joining our Laura Coates, in fact, tomorrow night, here on CNN, to talk.

Do we know anything -- oh, well, it looks like we're running out of time. Dog gone it. I have so many questions for you, Kevin Liptak. But you know what? I know you're available for the next hour, too, with my colleague, Jim Acosta. So, bye-bye for now. Thank you, Kevin. I appreciate it. Thank you.

All right. And thank you, everybody, for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta right after this.