Image source, Getty Images

Nikki Haley is asked about a US commitment to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

She begins by condemning DeSantis for initially backing US funds for Ukraine and then later changing his position.

"So, nobody knows what he believes," she says.

"Let me tell you why Ukraine should matter," she continues.

"This is a freedom loving country," she says, calling Ukraine a "friend" of America.

DeSantis responds: "A lot of people have died and we need to find a way to end this".

"People like Nikki Haley care more about Ukraine's border than our southern border," he says.

He adds that China is a larger threat to the US than Russia.

He goes on to criticise the former US ambassador to the United Nations for having "a UN way of thinking" and calls her a "globalist".

Image source, AFP

DeSantis takes a tough line on immigration to set himself apart from both Haley and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

"We will build the wall," he begins.

"We will actually have Mexico pay for it," he adds, saying his government would get the money from foreign worker remittances.

"Biden has failed" on immigration, he argues, but putting Haley in charge of fixing immigration is like making "the fox guard the henhouse".

The Florida governor says that his opponent once opposed a wall on the US southern border and has said whatever was convenient at the time.

Haley rebuts by recounting her experience as South Carolina governor, saying she took tough stands that led to several clashes with the Democratic administration of Barack Obama.

She says the US must do more than build a wall - hire some 25,000 border agents, defund so-called sanctuary cities, replace the "catch and release" programme with a "catch and deport" programme, and re-institute the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" plan.

Both contenders come out strongly against the idea of providing amnesty to the undocumented immigrants already in the US.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Des Moines, Iowa

Polls in Iowa show that many Republican voters are concerned about the border and immigration, making it one of the primary issues for Iowans ahead of the caucuses and the election.

The crowd here, however, seems to have barely reacted to DeSantis' plans for the border - including for Mexico to "pay" for a border wall, as well as Haley's promise to "catch and deport".

Only a handful of people in the crowd applauded, with the strongest applause for DeSantis promise that "zero" undocumented migrants would be given amnesty under his administration.

As has been the case repeatedly tonight, the question soon descended into accusations of lies between the two candidates. None of it seems to be striking a chord with the audience members here.

Image source, Getty Images

Elsewhere in Des Moines, Iowa, former president Donald Trump is holding a town hall with Fox News.

In the first 20 minutes, Trump has already taken digs at his rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, as well as Chris Christie, who announced earlier today that he would be dropping out of the Republican leadership race.

Speaking on Christie's comments earlier that Haley is "going to get smoked" - caught by a hot mic - Trump said: "I happen to believe that Chris Christie is right".

He also belittled DeSantis' performance thus far in the race, saying he expects him to drop out after the Iowa caucuses "because he is doing so poorly".

At one point, Trump addressed Joe Biden's campaign, in which the current president has highlighted how a second Trump term could spell turmoil for American democracy.

"The new narrative is I'm going to be a dictator, because a guy like Biden has nothing he can run on."

The former president did say that he plans on being "a dictator for one day" in order to do two things: shutdown illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border and bolster energy projects.

"After that, I'm not going to be."

After another tough exchange - this time about the gas tax, the economy and inflation - the candidates were asked about "a flat tax" and what DeSantis would do.

"We have a spending problem in this country, it's not a tax problem," he said, adding that he would only do it if it were "better".

Working families, he added, would "pay less than they're paying now".

He then went on a tangent, returning to an oft-used message about the "weaponisation of government" and "reducing the size" of it.

It's a tactic we've seen many times from DeSantis at previous debates.

Haley responded quickly by accusing him of lying and misconstruing his previous stance on a number of issues, including fracking and off-shore drilling.

"You've been beating that dead horse," DeSantis shot back.

Both candidates were asked what they would do to revitalise the US economy.

Haley begins by calling on people to acknowledge that "both Democrats and Republicans" are responsible for wasteful spending.

She vows to be "an accountant in the White House" who will "cut up the credit cards" and "respect taxpayers' dollars".

The former South Carolina governor also pledges she will veto any spending bill "that doesn't take us back to pre-Covid spending levels" and that she will eliminate federal fuel taxes.

DeSantis rebuts: "We don't need an accountant in the White House. We need a leader in the White House."

He says he will open up energy production and "fly a flag of bold colours" that puts Americans first.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Des Moines, Iowa

Image source, Getty Images

Insults between the two candidates began immediately. It's a tense atmosphere here, and clearly no love is lost between the two candidates.

Just a few seconds into his opening remarks, DeSantis referred to Haley as "mealy-mouthed", while Haley accused him of repeated "lies".

"Don't turn this into a drinking game," Haley told Drake University's students. "You'll be overserved by the end of the night."

These jabs have been non-stop since the event began, with topics ranging from China to their Republican bona fides.

"As a Republican you need someone in there for you," DeSantis shot back. "When you need someone to fight for you, you won’t find her without a search warrant."

This should come as no surprise, given the comments the two candidates have made about each other in the past few days.

Both candidates, it should be noted, have also taken shots at Donald Trump and his absence on the stage tonight.

Haley goes on to criticise Trump, who is not on stage tonight, saying he is "not the right president for America to move forward".

She adds that Trump should be on stage, because he is who she is running against.

The question was about Christie's comments earlier today about presidents needing to be "moral".

DeSantis also levels some attacks on Trump, noting how he contributed to the national debt and failed to follow through on his promise to build a border wall.

Responding to DeSantis, Haley fires back immediately.

"You're going to find out about a lot of Ron's lies," says Haley.

"He's only mad about the donors because they used to be with him and they're no longer with him now," she continues.

"His campaign is exploding," he says.

She also mentions a new website named DeSantis Lies.

Image source, Getty Images

The hosts begin by noting Chris Christie's departure from the race just hours earlier.

The first question goes to Ron DeSantis, who is asked why voters should see him as an "alternative" to Trump.

DeSantis says he's the only candidate who has "delivered on 100% of the promises I've made".

On Haley he says, "we don't need another mealy mouth politician that tells you what she thinks you want to hear".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Des Moines, Iowa

We're just getting underway with the presidential debate between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis here at Drake University in Des Moines.

Earlier, event organisers told me that about 200 people were expected.

We've caught glimpses of the crowd, and it seems like a fairly mixed group that includes older and younger Iowans.

Both candidates got applause from the crowd - although it seemed to me that DeSantis received a slightly warmer reception.

That should come as no surprise - he is, after all, slightly ahead in the polls.

Image source, Getty Images

The first head-to-head debate of the campaign season is just beginning to kick off.

CNN hosts Dana Bash and Jake Tapper are on stage and introducing the candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.

It all comes less than a week before voters in Iowa choose who they think should be the Republican party's candidate.

Haley and DeSantis have squared off in four debates already, so we have a good idea of what to expect tonight.

And both of their campaigns have released ads in Iowa in recent weeks which give us even more insight into their strategy for this debate.

Here’s the gist of a recent DeSantis campaign ad aired in Iowa: “Here’s what Wall Street-funded Nikki Haley just said in New Hampshire: ‘You know that Iowa starts it, you know that you (New Hampshire) correct it.’”

"Nikki Haley told New Hampshire what she really thinks about Iowa," the narrator says in the video.

Meanwhile, a pro-Haley ad criticises DeSantis for allegedly mischaracterising her comments on Gaza, immigration and Hillary Clinton.

The tagline was: "The more Ron loses, the more he lies".

Donald Trump's shadow will also be looming over the debate.

A key thing to watch will be how Haley and DeSantis speak about the Republican frontrunner. Will they be on the attack against Trump? Or focus on each other?

The start of the debate is minutes away, stick with us.

Sarah Smith
North America editor

Haley’s policy platform includes tax cuts for small businesses and the middle class.

She is promising to shrink the size of the federal government and reduce the deficit.

And she is warning that it would endanger America's national security to reduce support for either Israel or Ukraine.

Haley's campaign has been significantly boosted by big influential donors who want to move on from Trump.

The political network, Americans for Prosperity Action - founded by Charles and David Koch - is giving her millions of dollars to try to cement her as the sole anti-Trump candidate.

Emily Seidel, a senior adviser to Americans for Prosperity Action, said that Haley would win "the key independent and moderate voters that Trump has no chance to win," and that the country "is being ripped apart by extremes on both sides".

Serving two terms as a little-known member of the House of Representatives, the former naval officer was boosted to the Florida governorship by Donald Trump's endorsement in 2018.

There, he has backed a range of conservative legislation that has included restricting abortions and loosening gun laws.

After romping to re-election last year by more than 1.5 million votes, the largest margin in the state in more than 40 years, he was touted as the man to carry forward Trump's "America First" movement.

He tried to portray himself as a more effective—and winning—version of the former president.

But his numbers have steadily declined in the past several polls and his refusal to attack Trump directly does not seem to have worked for him so far.

It’s crunch time for Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.

Iowa is the first major state-wide vote to elect a Republican US presidential candidate for the 2024 election.

The Iowa caucuses (where the voting happens) are on Monday.

Donald Trump was the Republican front-runner for the entirety of 2023, so Haley and DeSantis need to start making waves if they have any shot at reeling him in.

That doesn’t mean they need to win first place in Iowa, a strong second place would go a long way towards giving their campaign a boost of momentum.

A poor showing in Iowa? Well that could spell the end of their bid to win the White House.

The campaigning has already been going on for months. But this debate, broadcast nationally on CNN, could help sway some of those Iowa Republicans who are still on the fence.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump has not participated in any of the Republican debates, and that won’t change tonight.

The former president has repeatedly said he doesn’t need to debate his Republican rivals.

And the polls suggest he might be right, he’s ahead by a large margin.

But Trump won’t be shying away from the spotlight.

While Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis debate each other on CNN, Trump will be on Fox News holding an exclusive town hall in Iowa.

While Nikki Haley ignored Chris Christie’s hot mic “smoked” comment, Trump and DeSantis did not.

"I agree with Christie that Nikki Haley is 'going to get smoked,'" DeSantis posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Soon after Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.

"I hear Chris Christie is dropping out of the race today — I might even get to like him again! Anyway, he was just caught on a hot mic making a very truthful statement: 'She’s gonna get smoked'…You and I both know it, she’s not up to this," the former president and Republican front-runner wrote.

Shortly after Chris Christie’s exit from the race, Nikki Haley released a statement - but did not mention his hot mic comments where he said she was going to "get smoked".

“Chris Christie has been a friend for many years,” Haley said.

“I commend him on a hard-fought campaign. Voters have a clear choice in this election: the chaos and drama of the past or a new generation of conservative leadership. I will fight to earn every vote, so together we can build a strong and proud America.”

Image source, Reuters

Just before he announced he was dropping out of the race, a hot mic caught Chris Christie commenting on his Republican rivals.

The ex-governor is heard saying: “She’s going to get smoked — you and I both know it,” presumably referring to Nikki Haley.

“She’s not up to this.”

On the same feed, he also talks about Ron DeSantis: “DeSantis called me — petrified.”

Another person responds to it saying DeSantis was“probably getting out after Iowa.”

The audio abruptly cut off soon after.