confirming here on cnn with sarah murray, donald trump will not be there thursday night. bill, that means this game of chicken is over. he said it and he meant it. >> apparently. i say, ronald reagan won in 1980 in new hampshire by showing up for a debate. i believe donald trump, if he doesn't show up at this debate, could lose iowa by chickening out of the debate. >> i think roger ales put out a press release that was insulting to donald trump. and, you know, and he walked away from it. he said, if you're going to treat me like this, how do i know i'm not going to be sabotaged in the debate. how do i know you're not going to try to take me down in the debate. you can't expect to come me and help your ratings if you're going to insult me in public. i think he's got a strong argument for not coming. at first i totally agree with bill in the beginning. if it was about he gmegyn kelly had to go. but if they insult you from a news organization, you have ample reasoning to say, to hell with this. >> making fun of you and saying you would be a bad president which is what it sai

. >> sarah murray what the trump campaign. thank you so s much. as for the other candidates, they are flooding the campaign trail and the air waves today, attacking just about everyone and everything except the republican front-runner. phil mattingly is "out front" in new hampshire tonight. >> the political air war kicking into high gear. >> you want someone to read one hell of a bedtime story? ted cruz is your guys. >> reporter: across televisions, the republican primary has gotten tough on the issues. >> politics would be very different if lawyers or bankers were crossing the rio grande. >> reporter: on democrats. >> he's the one hillary doesn't want to run against. >> unlike some, his day is now booming. >> the only one escaping the onslaught? donald trump. >> he's calling for a temporary shutdown on muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: as trump's new ad hit the air waves in iowa, other candidates are hoping these will make, not break, their campaigns. the ad spending millions from the top tier candidates underscore s the urgency of

sarah murray is out front. >> reporter: with donald trump off stage, ted cruz could be the gop's new top target. >> this race is a dead heat between donald and me. we are effectively tied in the state of iowa. >> reporter: trump skipping tonight's debate to hold a rival campaign event. that leads gop's arrows aiming straight at cruz. rubio previewing one of his lines of attack, calling cruz a flip-flopper on issues like immigration. >> time and again, ted is a calculated political operative. >> there are candidates in our race that are first-term united states senators. senator rubio. senator cruz. good people, but not prepared to be president of the united states. >> reporter: other candidates like rubio were eager to pile on cruz. tonight the biggest punches may come from rubio. >> i saw you on the senate floor flip your vote on crop insurance because they told you it would help in iowa. last week we saw you flip your vote on ethanol in iowa for the same reason. every single time there's been a defense bill in the senate, three people team up to vote against it. bernie sanders, ran