>> iowa is always kind of purple. and again, i think that's because we are so political with our first in the nation caucuses. people listen, and study and talk. but as you said, we've gone blue for the last two cycles, and i believe that that will happen again this cycle in the presidential race, and i believe that we have a chance at taking one of those senate seats. >> all right, thank you, patty judge. we appreciate you coming on the show. coming up next, mark halperin will give us a glimpse into the ted cruz campaign. if you're watching us in washington, d.c., you can also listen to us on bloomberg, 99.1 fm. rsey and check out shotsy tuccerelli's portfolio, what's it to you? or i'm a scottish mason whose assets are made of stone like me heart. papa! you're no son of mine! or perhaps it's time to seize the day. don't just see opportunity, seize it! (applause) it's easy to love your laxative when that lax loves your body back. only miralax hydrates, eases and softens to unblock naturally, so you have peace of mind

cruz beat trump by several points there in iowa. i was talking to a woman there and i said, why ted cruz over donald trump here in wisconsin? and she smiled and said, well, here in wisconsin we're friendly and neighborly. and her quote was, we here in wisconsin can smell when a skunk comes to town. i think it was quite clear who the skunk was she was referring to. >> i think we can all make that inference. last night -- overnight, rather, we learned that a kasich superpac is now suing a cruz superpac over an ad they say was untrue. is this really that much of a concern at this point? is kasich that much of a concern for cruz, specialespecially bas the most recent polling? >> yes, the cruz superpac released the ad which i believe we have ready to air. maybe we're not going to air the ad -- >> john kasich playbook. blocking out the grassroots, but that's classic john kasich. millionaires working side by si side, while kasich votes against the second amendment, and expanded obamacare in ohio, costing taxpayers billions. >> reporter: th

they had a venue all picked out in des moines, iowa. it was ahead of the iowa caucuses. they had a tv network that was set to broadcast the debate. they invited the republican candidates to be there. the candidates started saying no. they started rsvp'ing no. the reason they were offended by the whole process of this debate is they were offended by the person who news max chose to moderate the debate. the first campaigns to object were the campaigns of ron paul and john huntsman. ultimately mitt romney said the same thing. he said he wouldn't be there. rick perry and michelle bachmann opted out. they had to cancel because the moderator choice was to controversial to the republican candidates that it became impossible for them to host the debate. none of the candidates would agree to it. that's because the person news max chose to host that debate in iowa before the iowa caucuses was donald trump. it was in the 2012 campaign. they picked trump's campaign. ron paul said mr. trump's participation would contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere. mr. trump said few peo

he got a lot of votes in iowa. finished a strong second. ted cruz did out organize him in iowa. there is a chance that cruz will outorganize him, again and again. >> at the end of the night, if cruz does win two or three states and we look at the tally of delegates, trump's lead smaller than it was going in and a lot of psychology. very important for ted cruz. >>> in the next hour, bernie sanders holding a rally in michigan. the site of tomorrow's democratic debate. earlier today sanders was in ohio touting his civil rights record at a cleveland baptist church. >> 1963 i had the honor. again, i date myself. maybe i'm one of the few people in this room to have been to the march on washington for jobs and freedom with dr. king. and dr. king has been one of the great inspirations in my life. >> sanders is trying to regain momentum this weekend after clinton swept the southern states on super tuesday. won seven out of 1. three of the four states voting today on the democratic side. this weekend, actually. are caucus states with white majority populations. three voting today and then

what do you think about voters in iowa? is this the discourse they want to hear from the candidates? >> we are not talking about iowa any longer. we are moving down the road on the campaign trail. voter thags know him and want secure borders and want jobs and want the veterans taken care of, they are not appalled by this conversation. the people that support mr. trump support mr. trump for what he is going to do for america, not for what he is saying. in defense of his wife milania, i happen to know her and she is a wonderful woman. >> why do you think he doesn't focus more on what you say. his policy and what he wants to do for america and specifics as opposed to getting in the mud with ted over all this? >> he does. if you attend his rallies, they are filled with what he is going to do to make america great again and his policy and taxes. just securing the borders and creating the jobs and the veterans. what he is going to do for the veterans and all the things that are the reason why he is the number one front-runner and

in missouri. >> first of all n iowa, it's not a question of a recount. in iowa we're going through the county process and the statewide process. so that process is under way in the final decision in terms of national delegates has not been made. but here is the truth. the media makes a big deal about, you know, winning missouri or winning illinois or winning michigan. we won michigan. secretary clinton won illinois and won missouri. you know what, you add them all together, there is no difference in delegates. what we're talking about, rachel, now is the number of delegates that we need. and what we proved in illinois and in missouri that what happened in michigan was not a fluke. we have real strength in the midwest and we have real strength, i think, as we head west in california and oregon and state of washington. the issues that are gaining us support in the midwest, for example, is the disastrous trade policies that have cost this country millions of decent paying jobs. i'm talking about nafta, trade relations with china and many others. workers in

ron paul wins 21 of 25 delegates elected in iowa. the reason we have primaries and caucuses technically is to win delegates who then themselves vote to pick a nominee at the party's national convention. the ron paul campaign won a lot of delegates in 2012. they did that in iowa. they did that across the country. the trick is, they just figured out a way to do that without actually winning the primaries and the caucuses. the ron paul campaign in 2012 they ran a whole shadow campaign to get delegates for ron paul after the vote in multiple states but before the convention. and that is the same thing that is going on right now in republican politics again. this time it's not ron paul. this time this is the strategy that the rest of the republican party is trying to organize against donald trump right now. it's just that ron paul is the one who showed them all how to do it. when the ron paul campaign did it, it did not end well in a lot of places. take a look at what happened in louisiana, for example. ron paul lost the louisiana primary

remember, iowa, minnesota, alaska caucuses. the polls had him ahead in those states, but he lost anyway. but, here's the thing. he talked about fraud in the iowa election in the caucus. what is he going to say now? so, the campaign is going to say he doesn't do well generally in the caucuses, which is true. i think we should look hard and be watching closely louisiana. the primary there. how close is it going to be? will donald trump lose there. if he does lose there or if the race is really tight there, then maybe we really do have a tightening race and real impact from that never trump or stop trump movement. he is on his way now to the west palm beach golf course. the dining room has been turned into a press conference room. he is going to give, again, instead of a party a press conference tonight like he did on super tuesday. the only playbook we expect him to show up with a couple dozen friends and take some questions and give a victory speech. we know he likes to win. so far tonight he's not winning. >> how many flags ton

they're sometimes a little sketchy in their results like in the 2012 republican caucuses in iowa where three different winners were announced at three different times and at one point the party tried to get away with saying that they had no idea who had won and we should all just decide to perceive iowa as a tie that year. it was the great moment we accidentally captured live on camera at the caucuses in nevada this year when donald trump walked into the room during a republican caucus just outside las vegas and everybody in the room just left their ballots that they were filling out, they left their ballots on their little tables and ran over to see donald trump in the corner of the room. and who knows whatever happened to all those ballots and all those votes. caucuses are weird. caucuses are weird. they're a little sketchy. they are not official government-run elections. they're just events hosted by the party. and, frankly, sometimes the parties are nuts or incompetent and so sometimes the caucuses are bonkers. i don't want to get iowa or nevada or minnesota or colorado or alaska,

he did so in texas, oklahoma, alaska, iowa and so on and so forth. a risky strategy and puts the future of the country at risk, that's not on the -- >> obviously i would argue that my boss, marco rubio, has a better chance of securing 1237 delegates, looking at the maps still in play. the states that have yet to vote, look like virginia and minnesota than they do texas and alabama where trump and ted cruz did well. as long as there are three or four candidates in the race, it's more likely. >> a four candidate race, getting 35% of the vote is a winner. a two candidate, 35% is a loser. >> absolutely. >> more than 30 points. >> any prospect that your two candidates would team up official or unofficial way before the nomination? >> in a word, no. i don't think so i haven't heard any talk about that. we intend to win florida and beyond that, the map gets better. the we're going to come out of florida with a lot of momentum, money and with marco rubio, the best candidate. >> you should have prefaced that with with all due respect, just to be clear. >> a g

ron paul wins 21 of 25 delegates elected in iowa. the reason we have primaries and caucuses technically is to win delegates who then themselves vote to pick a nominee at the party's national convention. the ron paul campaign won a lot of delegates in 2012. they did that in iowa. they did that across the country. the trick is, they just figured out a way to do that without actually winning the primaries and the caucuses. the ron paul campaign in 2012 they ran a whole shadow campaign to get delegates for ron paul after the vote in multiple states but before the convention. and that is the same thing that is going on right now in republican politics again. this time it's not ron paul. this time this is the strategy that the rest of the republican party is trying to organize against donald trump right now. it's just that ron paul is the one who showed them all how to do it. when the ron paul campaign did it, it did not end well in a lot of places. take a look at what happened in louisiana, for example. ron paul lost the louisiana primary

we said if he won iowa he would run the board. you and me. if he didn't win iowa he would win new hampshire. south carolina was home field advantage. after that he would be even stronger in the sec primaries. we all said trump is strongest in the south. we've been saying that for six months. what is so remarkable is this republican party that set up the debates, that set up the front-loaded process, that set up the winner-take-all states, were working around the clock to get the most establishment figure they could locked down as early as possible, and everything they did has played right into donald j. trump's hands. >> they made a process such that someone could be the nominee quickly, and now he may lock up the nomination. look, watch mitt romney, watch paul ryan, watch john kasich. those three guys i think hold the key to any possibility, any possibility, that trump isn't the de facto nominee in two weeks. >> what can they do? >> i think, if kasich wins ohio and everyone else is out of the race and a one on one, a true one on one, john ka

that buzzer beat to the second around northern iowa into march madness. happy guys right there. in new york city on saturday an historic night for yale university. yale wins the ivy league championship on the road against columbia, 71-55. the big head line, the team earned its first ncaa tournament bid since 1962. okay, like that was during the kennedy administration. president kennedy, of course, probably didn't like that because he was a harvard man from cambridge. anyway, let's get a check on weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> you know one of those teams will be the cinderella. >> i know. it's so fun. i love march madness. it's awesome. >> it's fun. root for the little guy. >> yep. >> the weather over the weekend was really nasty in california. had the big storm go through saturday night into sunday. that storm's going to cause problems. this is not that storm. this is another storm going through california. the wet weather is appreciated, snowing at the high elevations. this will pass through los angeles as we go throughout your morning rush hour, so one of t

as expected, clinton returned fire in wisconsin saying this about the republican senator from iowa. >> senator chuck grassley, the head of the judiciary committee, could hold a hearing tomorrow if he wanted. but he says we should wait for a new president because and i quote, the american people shouldn't be denied a voice. well, as one of the more than 65 million americans who voted to re-elect barack obama, i'd say my voice is being ignored right now because of their obstructionism. >>> last night, president obama chose the dias of one of the most prestigious places of journalism. while speaking at the toner awards dinner, he called on the fourth estate to hold themselves to the higher standard and while taking some responsibility for the divisive culture in american politics, he called on american companies to invest back in the good and not dumb down the news. >> if i say the world is round and someone else says it's flat, that's worth reporting but you might also want to report on a bunch of scientific evidence that seems to support the notion that the world is round. a job well d

." >>> a woman in iowa fights for her life after her small boat capsizes over a dam. june 30, 2009 is just winding down for an iowa bridge construction crew along the des moines river when crane operator joe law notices something terribly wrong. >> i seen the boat drift down and he started it up and he was trying to wrap with an anchor or rope or something. then i heard him holler at his wife, put her life jacket on and he didn't have one on. >> there's nothing anyone nearby can do to stop the boat carrying a husband and wife from plummeting over the center street dam. the man is carried downstream, but the woman is caught in the turbulence or boil of the falls, rushing over the lowhead dam. a swift water rescue team is called in and captured by local nbc cameras. they know time is not on their side for anyone trapped in the dam. the short falls create a powerful undertow too strong for the woman to swim out of. pushing against the strong current, rescuers get as close as they can, throwing her a line. but the celebration is premature according to des moines police se

carson was surging in the polls donald trump went after him aggressively in iowa questioning his religious story, his story of finding jesus, the violent story -- the story of him stabbing another person, another friend of his in the stomach with a knife. donald trump aggressively went after him for that story, said that he was a pathological liar, could be a pathological liar and compared that to somebody who molests children at one point. which was certainly an aggressive tone to take with another competitor, but they said that they had those private conversations. we do not know what was in them but clearly whatever it is they have worked it out and now dr. carson is expected to endorse him in just a few moments, steve. >> katy tur in palm beach. that press conference expected at any minute now. >> we will bring in peter alexander, tess in coral gables, the site of last night's debate. we didn't know what to expect going into that last night, the last couple of these things had turned wild and kruckus, we gota sub deed version of it last night. >> looked like the 12th time was the charm

the des moines register having to break it to iowa voters, even though the iowa caucuses were supposedly won and a few days later they were a tie, in the end, des moines register columnist had to tell her readers, actually, you want to know who won? it was ron paul. here was fox news at the time, ron paul wins 21 of 25 delegates elected in iowa. the reason we have primaries and caucuses is to wyndel gather who then themselves vote to pick a party nominee at the convention t. ron paul campaign won a lot of delegates in 2012. they did that in i, what across the country. the trick is, they fixed out a way to do that without winning the primaries and the caucuses t. ron paul campaign in 2012, they ran a whole shadow campaign to get delegates for ron paul. after the vote if multiple states, but before the convention. that is the same thing that is going on right now in republican politics again. this time it's not ron paul. this time, this is the strategy the rest of the republican party is trying to organize against donald trump right now. it's just that ron paul is the one that showed them

from the president, so they went after this good woman who is on the circuit court covering iowa. remember what o'connell said right after obama was elected. their number one goal is to defeat obama. number one goal. and he said it publicly, that was admirable and that's what they attempteded to do. make sure obama was not re-elected they failed miserably and he's going to fail miserably at this. they cannot succeed in the position they've taken. it totally against the american people. doesn't matter how much money the koch brothers spend. we're going to continue with our message, all we want them to do is their jobs. >> talk about what the strategy is over the next two weeks while republicans are back home. how will you apply pressure to them? how do you think that will be successful? >> a lot of the pleasure applied by you folks. i think the stories have been commendable recognizing what an important issue this is and i'm going to try, when i go home, make sure you have more to talk about. i'm going to do an event or two or three in nevada. we already have the locations we're go

one was going into iowa, when it looked like gingrich was pulling ahead in iowa. the next was after he won south carolina. it was a laser focus, i never really saw anything like that. just tore him apart with $15 million in negative ads. why hasn't there been the sustained, consistent, organized focus against donald trump? >> it's a good question. i've talked to a lot of people about that very thing. and i've talked to a number of campaign professionals and reporters who said, after the announcement of donald trump, though one took the campaign seriously. and then it seemed like everything he said, and as we went on and on, that's going to be it, that's going to be it, well, we no longer believe that. now it's almost too little. newt did make a tactical error in iowa. he should have fought back right away, he decided not to, because he wanted to run a john kasich-like positive campaign, and he got eviscerated. florida was probably just too much to handle, because mitt had spent almost upward of $30 million in florida. he wasn't going to be able to match that. he g

. >> and at a press conference in dubuque, iowa, jorge ramos stood up to ask a question without being called upon. >> i have a question about immigration -- >> okay, who's next? yeah, please. >> mr. trump, i have a question. >> excuse me, sit down. you weren't called. sit down. >> again, exactly what we've been waiting for. people did not fly all the way to dubuque to listen to you read from your little speech and that's exactly what jorge ramos was doing. he was reading from a speech. trump had him thrown out. it was great. and then trump invited him back in and took his question. >> yes. good. absolutely. good. absolutely. good to have you back. >> thank you very much. >> there is an illusion within the american press that the people cherish what we do. i've got news for you. if they find somebody who's going to give us a punch in the nose or a black eye, they're cheering them on, and that's what happened. trump knew what he was doing. >> so the jorge ramos confrontation, you know, worked well with his base. that represented why it is very possible for trump to win the nomination bu

. >> watch iowa democrats, iowa republicans "des moines register" crank up the pressure on grassley and see if he folds. >>> it's safe to assume his wikipedia page got an update. harvard graduate, fellow midwestern from chicago, and in his first remarks to the nation, garland himself gave us a little more bio. >> left the border of western russia and eastern europe in the early 1900s, fleeing anti-semitism and hoping to make a better life for their children in america. they settled in the midwest, eventually making their way to chicago. there, my father, who ran the smallest of small businesses from a room in our basement, took me with him as he made the rounds to his customers, always impressing upon me the importance of hard work, and fair dealing. >> all right, so this is president obama's third opportunity to nominate someone for the supreme court. the first two he nominated were women. and already, there are progressive groups like democracy for america, frustrating that the president picked a liberal nominee, difficulty to the court. john, you wrote a piece about garland back in 2

skipping the debate in iowa, some people thought it hurt him. he has skipped some events. he doesn't always want to be on equal footing. so i don't have a good feeling whether this will hurt him. it does become the narrative, trump off balance, even as he is dominating, even he is the most likely nominee. >> right, look, this is an opportunity for him to come here as a concrete hero. i've been here all day, talking to tacktactivists, and they all look, a lot of skepticism about trump, but he could have come her and rebutted forcefully those who say he is not a real conservative, made the argument, a big moment for him. the fact that he decided not to come here, i don't know if it's the formatt or what. it oh could have been a big moment at this stage. >> breaking news this evening, ben carson already telegraphed, saying he will leave the race and step down, no longer run for the nomination. of course, a lot of carson supporters at cpac who are somewhat up for grabs. he'll miss the opportunity to address them directly. it is a little nuts for candidates to be spending their

they're sometimes a little sketchy in their results like in the 2012 republican caucuses in iowa where three different winners were announced at three different times and at one point the party tried to get away with saying that they had no idea who had won and we should all just decide toer be soo er bperceivee that year. it was the great moment we accidentally captured live on camera at the caucuses in nevada this year when donald trump walked into the room during a republican caucus just outside las vegas and everybody in the room just left their ballots that they were filling out, they left their ballots on their little tables and ran over to see donald trump in the corner of the room. and who knows whatever happened to all those ballots and all those votes. caucuses are weird. caucuses are weird. they're a little sketchy. they are not official government-run elections. they're just events hosted by the party. and, frankly, sometimes the parties are nuts or incompetent and so sometimes the caucuses are bonkers. i don't want to get iowa or nevada or minnesota or colorado or alaska,

what we saw in iowa and new hampshire and south carolina, in particular, were the early stages of the trump phenomenon that drew evangelicals into the issues. to more economic argument. now that's settled out, the cruz effect is taking hold. they are now going back home to that port. it's a safe place to go back to. i think there's some truth to that. >> the final part is an organization. he's got no organization. that's been true from the beginning. when you're contesting in states like kansas and maine. people forget, barack obama ran up that delegate lead in places like north and south dakota and iowa. there were small caucuses and primaries that they organized the heck out of. cruz is playing that role this time around. >> he is. the caucuses are killer in this primary process because a lot of folks who don't get the totality of the process and understand this is about delegates, tend to not play their much. those who do, like barack obama did in '08, and cruz is doing now will reap the benefits of that and given that now we're in space where you're going to have a closed primary/

and wisconsin is very similar to minnesota and iowa. there's this nice atmosphere to it, to the people, to both parties. donald trump lost minnesota, donald trump lost iowa. something to watch when it comes to wisconsin. tony, nice work. we are awaiting donald trump, to take the stage in janesville, wisconsin. we'll bring you a part of that rally live. tomorrow, trump will join my colleague, chris matthews, for a town hall in green bay, at 8:00 p.m. eastern. it's part of a big night on msnbc. i'm moderating a town hall with john kasich at 7:00. and rachel maddow will interview both democratic candidates at 9:00 p.m. eastern. four of the big five on msnbc tomorrow night. we'll be right back. soup and sandwich and cannonballs and clean and real and looking good and sandwich and soup and a new personal best. and a little help and soup and sandwich and study group. good, clean food pairs well with anything. try the clean pairings menu. at panera. food as it should be. (patrick 2) pretty great.ke to be the boss of you? (patrick 1) how about

we saw a lot more details in iowa, of course there is a huge tradition of it. washington is one of the several states that only added the caucus more recently so didn't go back to the tradition where the governor started to implement these caucuses and primaries. so what did you see in the seattle and the run-up? >> reporter: you know, the interesting thing was the courage it took people to stand up for either hillary clinton or bernie sanders because you're doing it for your family and your neighborhood. we saw people argue about the $15 minimum wage starting here in seattle, something that bernie sanders has been hammering on, hitting home. and then the counter-argument to that, the pro hillary argue is she is electable and can give a run to whomever the republican candidate is. that should matter. we heard people talk about foreign policy, not a lot. but for the hillary supporters that is a point they want to make that bernie sanders seems like a domestic-oriented candidate and that everything going on globally with the situation ongoing with isis people wer

idaho fits that pattern a little bit, even iowa fits that pattern. while it's same day voter registration, it's only open to republicans. that's the pattern for cruz. the problem for cruz is he has not demonstrated an ability to go -- he's a better funded version of santorum and huckab e huckabee. if he pulled off something like that next tuesday, that's a big deal. he needs to find a place to win next tuesday. north carolina he can pick off a lot of places. illinois and missouri i think he's going to spend time in. he needs to win missouri should be right for him. there's a reason the university of missouri joined the scc. it's cultural. >> can we talk about cruz's shot in florida? there's been noise about cruz making this entrance into the florida market. people are seeing that as a psyche-out move for marco rubio, if marco rubio does as bad as he did tonight, does cruz have any shot of doing anything in florida? >> all he does it hand it to trump. >> he's kicking rubio while he's done. the whole point is to just bash rubio and keep him from winnin

thing that i think a lot of national folks may not understand is that this is the first state since iowa and new hampshire where both hillary clinton and bernie sanders have visited a lot over the last 10, 15 years. i've been in small towns in this state with hillary clinton and in small towns with bernie sanders. the fact is they each have deep connections. they know a lot of people. so i think you'll see a knock-down drag-out battle. clinton has announce that had she'll be in with four events at the start of next week in all the right cities all over the state. sanders is in on the weekend and he'll be here through much of the week. so they're both in a state where they think they can win. but i would counsel caution on assuming that somebody, just because of some demographics or some things we know, that puts somebody ahead. i'll warn you about one thing from 1976. everybody thought this was a great state for mo udall. on primary night, it. he had won. when trurl votes came in the next morning, jimmy carter held up the headlines saying he had won and it was wisconsin that sent him on

and actually me, because had he not gotten those ben carson votes, i would have won iowa, too. i would have had everything. and what he did frankly voter violation on a form that looked like it came right out of a government agency. voter violation, and the only way you get rid of the violation essentially is by voting and going and voting for ted cruz. ever see this? and people did that, because they were afraid. it was terrible. it was a very fraudulent thing. he's done a lot of bad things. so ben carson is a great guy. he's a great, great guy. and i thought that was a disgrace, what he did. he said basically ben carson is out of the race, come on, vote for me. and he knew what was happening. so one of those things. but i do think this, i do think that ted is at least moving along okay. but marco has to get out of the race. has to. because despite what ted said, oh, do i want to run against just ted. that will be easy. okay, david, go ahead. [ inaudible question ] -- can you state your position on gay marriage -- >> we have policy on it and i've said it very strongly. and i t

this is different from the iowa caucus. everybody here is going to be putting their ballots into boxes at the end of the night and tabulating it and going back to the state party. come with me as we walk down the hallway. don't forget, tens of thousands of people have participated online in this caucus. here is the choir room. if ted cruz can get over the 50% mark he will walk away with all 40 delegates. that would be a huge blow to donald trump and a huge boost for his campaign and his efforts to force a contested convention. we're going to continue to walk around this school around the night to monitor the democratic process in action. >> jacob, thanks. i don't want to raise my voice here. >> we could both do creepy voice for the rest of the night too. >> we could. should we trust our guests? >> we should. >> just in off the campaign trail in one of those rare moments where we get more than one correspondent visiting the home office, covering the trump campaign for these many months katie is here with us. covering the cru

this is your iowa-type of campaign here. this is really trying to accumulate everything he can. on wisconsin, we have eight congressional districts. you win a district and pull in a chunk of delegates. he sees this as an opportunity to gain momentum and push off here from wisconsin. >> how about ground gain. who has the better one? >> they have implemented camp cruz which is similar. they had in new hampshire and iowa where they have given a base to move out here and live here. they knock on doors and make phone calls. that's something you don't see with donald trump. that's their way to victory. so far that's what we are seeing here for wisconsin. it's a week for the primary. they have a week and a half. >> how about the nasty feud. do you get a sense of how that is playing? places like that. can you get a read on that? >> sure. you go into the small towns and remember these are ted cruz supporters at a lot of events. when you go after heidi cruz, that is the next one for permanent attacks. i want to talk about substance. he said it again in an interview on abc. he said we are

come this summer, all of a sudden, they went out and voted out in iowa when it's cold, all went out and voted and picked perhaps donald trump as the leading candidate. then they're told no, that's now how it works. it's sort of iran, where the moolahs get to have the final say. the democracy is a democracy. the second or third guy really wins because somehow a coalition and ganged up and said no, we're going to pick rubio or cruz. i don't think that's going to sell. i think trump will walk right out the door. >> i respectfully disagree, if i might interject. >> i'm not sure that's going to work or effective. you look at the stop trump organization. they haven't been active in a significant way. trump is steam rolling through the primaries. i talked to a lot of republican leaders. they're worried if they go too hard against trump, the white working class voters who are turning out in record numbers in the primary and caucuses, will they show up in november if they feel they've been wronged and their candidate was pushed aside at a convention. a lot of discussion at the highest levels of

had he not gotten those ben carson votes, i would have won iowa, too. i would have had everything. what he did frankly, voter violation on a form that looked like it came right out of a government agency, voter violation, and the only way you get rid of the violation essentially is by going and voting for ted cruz. did you ever see this? and people did that because they were afraid. it was terrible. it was a very fraudulent thing. he's done a lot of bad things. ben carson is a great guy. he's a great, great guy. i thought that was a disgrace. he said basically ben carson's out of the race, come on, vote for me. he knew it was happening. but i do think this -- i do think that ted is at least moving along okay. but marco has to get out of the race. has to. because despite what ted said, oh, do i want to run against just ted. that will be easy. david, go ahead. >> reporter: you have a record on -- for ted cruz to exploit, especially regarding what supreme court justices you might appoint. can you say quickly what is your position on gay marriages and same-sex -- >> i've made it very s

outside of the arena, the rubio campaign coming off so strong, with so much optimism, coming out of iowa, they spun a third place finish into a victory, and wanted to build some momentum after that, then came that stunning debate for marco rubio, since then they have tried to regain that momentum, and it just hasn't happened. they have spent the last several days, crisscrossing florida, his home state, essentially losing the state by double digits, he chose to run against his mentor, jeb bush. this was a situation where they felt the attack ads, $50 million in attack ads against marco rubio, they don't feel that his decision to attack donald trump played a role in this. right now they're expecting marco rubio to come to this stage and address his supporters, the big question now is will he suspend his campaign. it's hard to imagine after this stinging defeat, how he could go on, a lot of disappointment here at the rubio watch party. >> what remains at this hour, of the rubio campaign. >> we're watching those last returns come in in florida. marco rubio is behind by 17 points at this poin

this was not an iowa style caucus. the problem was the turnout was higher than they thought. there's 120 counties in kentucky and nine counties didn't even have a caucus location. a lot of the locations for the caucuses were just overfilled because the turnout was higher than expected. i talked to people in jefferson county where trump won, and there was just more enthusiasm for trump and not enough caucus locations because they were trying to save money by not having enough locations. that was a problem. enthusiasm was more than they planned for. >> what about these nine location, what happened to the voters? >> in these other nine counties, they went to another county to vote. but there was another -- because it was not a primary, there were fewer precinct locations and places to vote, usually in precincts in louisville, you can vote pretty much everywhere. and only nine locations in louisville to vote. so mainly a factor of they did not want to spend the money to have a primary. >> g.p.s. this for me. you go to a place that doesn't exist and you realize it doesn't exist. s

ted cruz won both iowa and oklahoma. donald trump could find himself in a situation had he not been visiting caucus sites like planning ted cruz could have snuck up on him and posted a higher delegate count. >> now he's used them and he's leaving which is charlie pierce's point. there's a lot of people feel that way. >> cpac really is a conservative conference first. most of the people, i talked to today, were ted cruz supporters and passionate about him. he had a great reception within that context. i think this is a situation where the people kind of holding onto that cruz faction asking whether there's any way to block donald trump, i think that trump knows that as well. i think his reception would not have been as positive for all the mainstream moderate republican who is are coming out and supporting him within all these different huge rallies, as you saw today. >> let me say this. there's nothing monolithic. i think cpac has demonstrated they're two different establishments. the sort of conservative establishment.

we heard it in iowa, we heard it in new hampshire, we heard it in south carolina. there was always a strategy that didn't involve actual hard work. what's happening in florida, how has that happened there, and tell us what we should expect over the next couple days from the rubio campaign. >> well, look, he has never had enough money to do a traditional campaign, he has made a big deal out of saying he is not a traditional campaign. i will say with the exception of the core people around him no one i've talked to, none of the data i've seen suggests that he can win this state on tuesday and by his own account that would be the end of his campaign. trump is strong here and rubio does not have the resources or the message to come back, there is a debate tonight, you saw him with chuck todd last night. what has done to him is he has lost control of his public image and i don't know that he can do anything between now and tuesday to overcome trump's lead and it means that -- it means he has to stop trump somewhere else. >> is he going to stay in the race? he's down 20

in iowa, the party will hold their primary, and in both parties they will cast ballots in those state's primaries. puerto rico has allowed prisoners to vote since the '80s. marco rubio is now focusing on the four states voting on tuesday. >> he is not a classic politician. that's no who we are. we're local, we're southerners, and we appreciate someone down with the people, not someone who is insulting. won't keep you up at night. know you have insights from professional investment strategists to help set your mind at ease. know that planning for retirement can be the least of your worries. with the guidance of a pnc investments financial advisor, know you can get help staying on track for the future you've always wanted. to folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain... shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or han

idaho fits that pattern, even iowa fits that pattern. while it's same day voter registration it is only open to republicans only. that is the pattern for cruz, which is really the traditional santorum huckabee pattern. the problem for cruz is all he is is a better funded version of santorum and huckabee. >> devastating but it is true. >> he has yet to prove he can win a swing state. he wants to target illinois and missouri. if he pulls that off next tuesday that's a big deal. he needs to find a placen the big five next tuesday. north carolina he can pick off a lot of places. would al see how he does. illinois and missouri he needs to spend time in. missouri should be right for him. that's a southern-like state. there is a reason missouri joined the s.e.c. cultural as well as anything else. i think there is a shot there. >> can we talk briefly about cruz's shot in florida? obviously, there has been a lot of noise about cruz making a splashy entrance into the florida market. people are seeing it as basically a psych out move for marco rubi

. >> having steadily picked up pledged delegates since iowa, clinton now needs to win just 35% of the remainder of pledged delegates to clinch the nomination. sanders on the other hand would need 65% of all the remaining delegates a feat his campaign maintains is possible given the states yet to come on the primary calendar. this morning in washington the man both of them are running to succeed now at his highest approval rating in almost three years fulfilled his role in another process in society. president obama nominated merrick garland the 63-year-old chief judge of the d.c. circuit court to fill the vacancy left by the late justice antonin scalia. as recently as last friday, republican senator orrin hatch said president obama could easily name him calling garland a fine man adding the president, "probably won't do that because this appointment is about the election so i'm pretty sure he'll name someone the liberal democratic base wants." president obama called on the republican-led senate to do its part in the constitutional process. >> to suggest that someone who has served his

idaho fits that pattern, even iowa fits that pattern. while it's same day voter registration it is only open to republicans only. that is the pattern for cruz, which is really the traditional santorum huckabee pattern. the problem for cruz is all he is is a better funded version of santorum and huckabee. >> devastating but it is true. >> he has yet to prove he can do something greater than that, that he can go out and win a swing state. he wants to target illinois and missouri. if he pulls that off next tuesday that's a big deal. he needs to find a place to win in the # big five next tuesday. north carolina he can pick off a lot of places. would al see how he does. illinois and missouri he needs to spend time in. missouri should be right for him. that's a southern-like state. there is a reason missouri joined the s.e.c. cultural as well as anything else. i think there is a shot there. >> can we talk briefly about cruz's shot in florida? obviously, there has been a lot of noise about cruz making a splashy entrance into the florida market.

and it started with new hampshire and it actually started with iowa and then new hampshire and then right after that, it just kept going. a person came up to me and said i've been at the voting booths for appeared of 30 years. i've never seen crowds like this. ten blocks long. thank you, thank you. she was telling me, i used to have two people, three people walk in and out. then we go to south carolina. where frankly the pope, bunk the pope. right before i was, we were scheduled to have the big vote, the pope said some things about me and my people. the pope made a statement about you, mr. trump. tell me it was a good one flox. it was a bad one. it had to do with illegal immigration. he thought we should open the border. that's because the mexicans spoke to him. once he found out that the crime and all the problem that's are being caused, he was great the next day. i said will this affect my vote? he was really great. it worked out to be great. we have to have a border. we have to have strong borders. we have to have the wall. we have to stop poisoning our swoet drugs. we will do it we wi