know, is more impaired. but it is important to point out, yes, joe biden is old, but so is donald trump. donald trump is not merely old, but he is also dangerous. i think that that's going to be obviously something that voters are going to have to deal with. republicans have done a very effective job in pointing out every single biden gaffe and raising questions about his age and fitness. now, it is going to be donald trump's turn. it is not going to be pretty. >> yeah. certainly right. old and dangerous. founder of the conservative website, the bulwark, charlie sykes, thank you for helping us out today. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" with us on this tuesday morning, new hampshire primary day. we will have coverage all day long here on msnbc, including on "morning joe," which starts right now. a very tough man, viktor orban. have you ever heard of him? >> yes, yes! >> he is the prime minister of hungary. right, good. prime minister of hungary.

he's a tough man, strong man, very respected. i happen to think he is a good man. the press goes crazy when i say it. we can't have a weak president. we have a weak man who cheats like hell. they cheat at elections like nobody has ever cheated before. i saw shots you wouldn't believe. missile launch, and you hear a bell go. i see this. it's so incredible. they calmly walk to a seat, ding, ding, ding, ding. they have 17 seconds to figure this whole thing out, right? okay, missile launch, boom. and we don't have it here. >> i really take back -- >> i don't know where to begin. >> i take everything back that i said about elvis in 1977. i apologize to the ghost of fat elvis right here and now. he looked better then -- >> joe, we're supposed to talk about how he was talking about orban. >> i mean, i'm just saying --

>> i'm so distracted. >> first of all, we go back to what was said over the weekend on x. if he keeps putting -- >> i can't unsee that. >> -- the bronzer on at this level, white supremacists will soon turn on him. the sweat, look, willie. >> willie. >> elvis at the sands in '77, nothing like this. >> what happened? >> you know, all he needs to do is get the scarves, put them around his neck, and throw them into the crowd there. willie -- >> willie is in new hampshire, by the way. >> he's in new hampshire. willie and i started going to new hampshire for the joe and willie -- actually, up there, it's called the willie and joe snowplow race. we've been going since '52. >> snow angel competition. you know it. >> since '52.

one of us had to go. we drew straws, and willie won. >> okay. >> willie, since '52, certainly not since -- what was that which we saw? >> barnicle is driving the other snowplow in this case. it's a rascal he drives along, and he still won, surprisingly. >> exactly. >> i had not seen that clip. we've been going around doing events and all kinds of things. i'd not seen that clip. i think you probably saw the reaction on my face. i mean, that is the guy who is commander in chief and wants to be it again, describing the missile launches, sensitive moments as bing-bong-boom, and all the noises he makes. i think you're right, at this point, it is an insult to late elvis, though he was sitting at the piano, having someone hold the microphone for him as he had a coca-cola on the piano with him. >> yeah. >> i mean, this is a guy, again, who one of the core arguments

against the guy he is running against, joe biden, is he is too old and doesn't have it together. frankly, we heard it again last night from nikki haley about joe biden and donald trump a little, too, but you can't make that argument and perform the way he has been performing, particularly in the last few weeks, i think. it's been getting worse over time, but if you, again, sit and watch an entire trump event and watch that, that is not a man who has it all together. it's just not. >> no. the thing is -- >> it's just not. >> -- as charlie sykes said on "way too early" -- which, by the way, don't know if you saw, willie, i mean, "way too early" ended up in second place in ratings last week, right behind -- did you see the bills/chiefs game? >> oh, my gosh, yes. >> 40 million viewers. 40 million viewers. of course, "way too early" with lemire, 39.78. >> right there. >> very close. >> yeah. >> but one of the -- but, i mean, the nfl, we talked about

this for quite some time, and i'm not exactly sure when this happened, but the nfl now is where the global village comes together in the united states. that was a term, by the way, freaks that think, like, this is new world order. that's the term of, like, from the '50s on communication. but this global village comes together around nfl games. 19 of the top 20 primetime shows last season, nfl games. 82 out of 100 overall nfl games. of course, three, four years ago, we heard freaks going, "the nfl is done. i'm never watching another game because of that colin kaepernick." now, look at this, 40 million people, like "way too early" with jonathan lemire, the nfl brings america together. it is crazy. >> that was a staggering, staggering number. you're right, in the time when everyone is talking about the splintering of media, the death of network television, there is actually one last place you can put up a number like that where

people will come and watch. it helped that it was that game, the chiefs, the bills, a long-time rivalry, mix in a little taylor swift doesn't hurt the ratings either. man, we've seen it, that's a huge number. we have seen it all year, the last couple years, actually. >> yeah. >> on sundays at least, even though we're all watching different streaming networks and different cable channels and everything else, when an nfl game is on, particularly a big nfl game, america sits down and watches. that was a great game. the bills are going to lament that for a long time. they had some chances. they had it on their home field. man, 40 million people, that just doesn't happen anymore, unless it's the nfl. >> it's really unbelievable. jonathan lemire, again, unless it is nfl or "way too early" with jonathan lemire. the thing i heard you talking about this morning, which i'm sure, again, 38, 39 million people probably tuned in to see, was the fact that the biden campaign -- and this is what's so critical -- the biden

campaign which is supposed to be, you know, out of touch, the old man doesn't know what he is doing, they actually -- they've seized this. they understand now, and they're turning it out quickly. donald trump says something stupid, it's up online, like, 15 seconds later. it's on tiktok. it's on youtube. it's on x. it's on instagram reels. i mean, we've been seeing this over the last week, just how quickly they're moving on trump. i've got to say, i think this is why trump got away with this in the past, because all his opponents were flat-footed. maybe even the biden campaign in 2020 didn't have to do this as much as they're doing in 2024. but you can sense, there is a real understanding. donald trump loses his mind, forgets what he's saying, confuses barack obama with joe

biden, confuses world war ii with whatever the hell he was confusing. confuses nikki haley with nancy pelosi. the whole world is going to see in 3 seconds, and they're going to see in 3 seconds because they're on him now. you talk about a tight man-to-man defense. i mean, you cover the white house. what's happened over the past week or two? i mean, pause they are really -- the rapid response has to be driving donald trump crazy. >> yeah. first on the "way too early," ratings, we hoped taylor swift showed up to give us the boost, too, but it hasn't happened. a shirtless kelce brother we think is possible. we could get a shirtless kelce brother to hang out here at 5:00 a.m. >> maybe he could do weather. jump out and do weather. >> beer in one hand, and forecast in the other. as far as the biden campaign, first of all, we do expect that barring a real upset in new hampshire tonight that would

allow nikki haley to propel this race forward, if it is, indeed, donald trump's nomination, this is the race the biden campaign has always wanted. they feel like they best match up to trump, who they can pose as an existential threat to the nation's democracy, but also allows them to have some defense against what is president biden's greatest vulnerability per polling, which is his age. donald trump only a few years younger and, as you mentioned, the verbal gaffes and the missteps and the incoherence, the flat out incoherence from trump has only accelerated. the biden team is pouncing. let's take a look at some of their recent, rapid responses. >> so we have a policy, remain in mexico. you know, you don't have to be a total genius. remain in mexico until you've vetted everything out. we can be energy independent and even energy dominant. yes, oh, yes, and quickly, says president trump. we will be there very quickly.

>> this is laughable. >> strong third person work there by donald trump. also the qanon theme plays behind him as he speaks. but the biden campaign, joe, we talked about it, we noted it in real time, it's been a couple months now, they pivoted and have gone on the attack. they've missed no opportunity to draw contrasts between their candidate and donald trump, who they fully expect to see in november. in recent days, they are hammering trump on these questions about his mental state. it is clear, as we've been talking, certainly on the conservative media, people have been talking about joe biden's fitness for office for a long time, but right now, it is donald trump's turn to face those questions. that includes from nikki haley. >> i've got to say, too, you have to question trump supporters on their incoherence, willie geist, on how to win an election. this guy lost in '17, '18, '19, '20, '21, '22, '23, and will lose in '24 again if democrats work hard, if they go out and do

their jobs, if everybody that's socon certained about democracy and freedom go out and do their jobs. willie, they're going to lose again, but they have a choice. they have a choice. nikki haley, you put nikki haley up against joe biden, i mean, biden doesn't want that. biden's team didn't even want ron desantis because they understood it was something new. there wasn't all the trump baggage and wasn't the trump craziness. >> some skills there. >> there weren't things that were going to scare off -- yeah, i know, desantis made a huge mistake by going way to, like, the red hot on social issues. you had the six weeks and everything else. but before that, they were like, uh-oh, this guy can win the atlanta suburbs. this guy can win the philly suburbs. they know trump can't. they look at the polls now, and, literally, they literally laugh

and say, "come talk to us, you know, next september, next october." but trump's voters as well as republicans in new hampshire and iowa, it looks like they're going to make the same mistake and lose again. they've lost, as nikki haley points out, seven republicans, seven of the last eight popular votes. go back to bill clinton. they've won seven of eight presidential popular votes, the democrats have. only w won in 2004. and they're going down -- they're going down this loser's path again. they just can't stop themselves. i mean, i feel like there has to be an intervention at some point. at some point, republicans probably need to start winning elections again by pushing donald trump to the side, but they can't do it.

look at this. look at this. '92, republicans lost. '96, republicans lost. 2000, republicans lost the popular vote. they won '54. -- '04. they lost in '08. they lost in '12. they lost in '16. they lost in '20. willie, that starts adding up. after a while, you'd think, maybe we need to find somebody that can relate to the majority of americans, and then maybe then, maybe we have a chance to start winning presidential contests again. you went to a nikki haley event last night. i mean, does it look like they're going to change their tune? >> it's funny, joe, going to the event last night in salem, about 30 minutes south of where we are in manchester, governor sununu, who took the stage first, sounded like he'd been watching joe scarborough. he stood up there and started ticking off the years, 2017,

2018, 2019, 2020, and went on and on. we lose every year. we lose every year. what do the years have in common, the governor says? donald trump. do you guys want to win? the intervention you talked about on paper at least is tonight, here. they feel like the haley campaign gives you a choice. do you want to push forward with donald trump? is that the future of the country, of this party? or do you want to make a change? do you want to drop the chaos, as she puts it generously. she says chaos seems to follow donald trump. but they think this is it. a lot of people in this party think it is it. the feeling here isn't necessarily that she is going to win, but this is a chance, right now, tonight, in just a couple of hours now when the polls open, to make that choice and say, "we've had enough of donald trump." will that happen? it remains to be seen. john heilemann joins me here. john, we were just talking before we got started here, just to share with our viewers, it

just feels different here this time than it's felt probably ever, which is to say, it's not much of a race. it's not that close if you look at the polling. there are only two candidates left. that energy, the life you usually feel in new hampshire. nikki haley had an overthrow crowd. makes a stump speech. doesn't particularly go strong at donald trump, but makes comments about chaos following him. there is a feeling hanging over the campaign that this is it. if donald trump beats her and beats her soundly tonight, he's the nominee. >> well, for sure. and, you know, you guys picked up on this already, there is a feeling with this primary, it's lifeless, flaccid. not much going on. the truth is, trump shows up for one event every day, comes for a rally, and nikki haley is doing events. we've been here for a lot of new hampshire primaries. it is nothing like that. having said that, you know, you'd think the stakes, it's a one-on-one race now. this is a state, as you know,

that has been very hospitable to the outsider candidate who comes in, the challenger, and takes on the establishment frontrunner. hard to think of donald trump as an establishment frontrunner, but that's what he is. he is the republican party. again, we learn and show you what i've been doing the last few days here, following nikki haley and doing a piece on this last kind of whole stretch of the race. you see nikki haley not john mccain. she doesn't have the john mccain thing. she's not tackled new hampshire in that way. at the same time, there's no doubt that everyone feels like she started to find her footing a little bit in these last 72 hours. the big question that everyone keeps asking those who really want her to win, there's plenty of mainstream republican new hampshire-ites who are praying for that. they understand the stakes. their question is, is it going to be enough? let's take a look. >> reporter: new hampshire, just like i pictured it.

the new hampshire primary occupies a hallowed place in presidential politics. steeped in tradition, replete with romance, from the rolling hills and snow-swept vistas to town hall meetings in places like peterborough, stocked with voters. >> look over here. there were some senior citizens here. >> reporter: voters who, time and again, have handed improbable victories to insurgent candidates on both the democratic side of the aisle -- >> thank you, new hampshire! >> i love new hampshire. >> new hampshire, tonight, has made bill clinton the comeback kid. >> reporter: -- and the republican side of the aisle. >> i think we finally have a poll without a margin of error. >> mount up, everybody, and ride! . >> new hampshire, i'm here a lot. we got numbers in, and everyone said, how come they like trump so much? >> reporter: the question for the ages, but whatever the answer, trump was the insurgent

in new hampshire in 2016, aiming to topple the gop's established order. today, trump is the gop, and the field of contenders to upend him has been reduced to just one. nikki haley, mocked for declaring -- >> i can safely say, tonight, iowa made this republican primary a two-person race. >> reporter: after finishing third behind ron desantis, only to be proven prescient six days later when desantis ended his campaign in a manner as hapless, helpless, and hopeless as he's run all along. >> greetings from florida. >> reporter: desantis, first a dead man walking and then simply a dead man, haley had trump one-on-one for the eight-day sprint to new hampshire. but haley promptly announced she wouldn't take part in the upcoming abc news/wmur tv debate unless trump did so, too, stunning the state's political insiders. >> between iowa and new hampshire, there's so many days.

where are the pivot points? 90 minutes on wmur-tv, our statewide television station, is a pivot point. it is a chance for candidates to move. >> i would have not only done the debate, i would have done three or four debates. i would have bought my own hour of time. i would have given new hampshire what it craves, a moment to make history. >> reporter: haley didn't do much last week with the maverick feel of murphy's most famous client. no epic town hall meetings. no free-wheeling sessions with reporters. a light schedule that looked like a comfortable frontrunner's, not a hungry challengers. the frontrunner's campaign was filled with maga surrogates blanketing the state, while trump came in once a day, mostly mocking haley. >> nikki haley was a disaster. she worked for me a long time. she's not tough enough, smart enough, and she wasn't respected enough. she is a globalist fool. she is not presidential timber. so if you want a losing candidate who puts america last,

vote for nikki haley. >> reporter: then on friday night in concord, trump had another of his increasingly common, increasingly addled moments. >> the press never report the crowd on january 6th. you know, nikki haley, nikki haley, nikki haley, you know -- did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything? deleted and destroyed all of it. all of it. because of lots of things, like nikki haley is in charge of security. >> reporter: haley long resisted the calls to whack trump, but the next day, she finally took a swing. >> he went on and talked about how i kept the police from going into the capitol on january 6th. let's be clear, i wasn't in the capitol on january 6th. i wasn't in office on january 6th. he mentioned it three times. he got confused. he got confused and said he was running against obama. he never ran against obama.

>> reporter: and another. >> my parents are up in age, and i love them dearly, but when you see them hit a certain age, there is a decline. that's a fact. >> reporter: and still another. >> he was confused the same way he said joe biden was going to start world war ii. >> reporter: haley's broadside sounded like weak beer to trump's fiercest critics, but they coincided with other changes. more campaign events. more interaction with the press. at least a little spontaneity on her part that gave haley's campaign a different vibe in the homestretch. >> "the boston globe" said the bubble wrap is off. >> she needed a wake-up call is to figure out who she was and how who she was fits into this race. she found her voice late. you saw this weekend, crowds responded to it. >> reporter: even so, all the polls say that none of this will save haley from a drubbing. >> i think she'll have a double-digit loss among republicans, and i'm not sure she's going to win independents.

might break them even, and it's not enough to beat donald trump. >> reporter: late-stage new hampshire polling has been wrong before, of course. in 2008, barack obama was supposedly up by double digits. on primary night, it was hillary clinton's saying -- >> over the last week, i listened to you. in the process, i found my own voice. >> even as we sit here today, there are enough votes there to beat trump here, so where you're left with is who can motivate that group? finding her voice is the key. i don't think she got there until now, but she got there. that may be enough. >> reporter: comparing hillary clinton and nikki haley, come on, i hear you saying. fair enough. but given the sobering reality that this time tomorrow, donald trump will likely be the gop's de facto nominee, don't be surprised if more than a few republicans, and not just republicans, find themselves hoping beyond hope that new hampshire once again works its magic and that hillary and haley turn out to have more in common

than meets the eye. >> there you have it, willie geist. there you have it. >> a little taste of "the circus" there. >> we had the drone up in the air. as long as you have that, doesn't matter what we do down on the ground. joe and mika, miss you up here. i tried to give you a flavor. >> that was amazing. >> part of what strikes you here, too, is just how the conventional idea of what it takes to win in a place like this, same as iowa, has gone out the window. which is to say, you have governor sununu on your side, the union leader endorsed you, all those things that used to feel like they meant something and could push you over the finish line. the sense here is that it doesn't matter. donald trump presents some other challenge. the question will be, if nikki haley does lose and loses by double digits, does she want to continue on to south carolina? perhaps lose big in her home state and endure, what, three weeks or so of attacks from donald trump in her own backyard? we'll see. >> well, you know, willie,

you're right. all of those things usually matter, and maybe trump nullifies it, but i just -- just to remind mika and to remind you and to remind all of our viewers that have been with us from the very beginning, it was 16 years ago on this day that tim russert, mike barnicle, you, mika, and me were sitting around a table, and we were all talking about the end of hillary clinton's campaign. "the new york post" and "the daily news" had two, scathing front page headlines about an oldie but a goodie, about being good. then we had tom brokaw come on. tom brokaw said, "i've got an idea. why don't we let the voters vote?" >> yeah. >> "and then we can report on

that tomorrow." you know, we were all like, yeah, that's cute. yeah, sure. let's let the voters vote. the voters voted, and all the polls were wildly wrong. they were 10, 11, 12, 13 points off. say the same thing with john mccain and george w. bush. that was 24 years ago. this time tomorrow, i was on the house floor, and republicans that were all supporting george w. bush just said, "how did that happen?" mccain won by what, 18 points? the polls were wildly off. i'm not saying that's going to happen here. i'm just saying if it is going to happen anywhere, it'll be here. the last thing, john heilemann, the last thing that we should do, and then to willie, is to predict what new hampshire voters are going to do tonight. because time and time again, they've proven us all wrong.

>> well, for sure, joe. that's part of the reason you'll hear no prediction from me. you talk to people who know this state well. you know, we've seen over the course of the last few cycles that polling has become increasingly unreliable everywhere. no one believes the polls in any state anymore. we thought it was a science. not really a science. if there is anywhere that exemplifies that more than anywhere else, it's here. you know, it may end up being wish casting on the part of anti-trump republicans. there's a lot of people up here, old fashion republicans who still believe in things like democracy and don't want to have a budding autocrat as the nominee of their party. they they be wish casting. also, people up here have been surprised a lot of times. none of that is predicting any outcome with nikki haley. you know, there's no reason. we're going to know soon enough. everyone has to relax about it. things do not look like nikki haley is going to -- is charged to have an upset win tonight, but let's wait and see. voters will start voting. she won the six votes last

night. >> good point. >> to your point, joe, absolutely true. this place loves its role in this process. this place knows the state and how important it is tonight. the largest group of independent voters in this state. if they come out and decide, as nikki haley put it to them again last night in her closing argument, this is it, guys. it is a binary choice. it is donald trump, going back to that. we all know what that looked like. or turning the page, stopping donald trump right here in new hampshire. if independent voters come out in big numbers and decide they want to do that, and enough republicans do, you could have some kind of upset tonight. we will see, though. we will wait and see. >> yup. you're exactly right. we will see. by the way, talking about that moment from 2008, i'm always -- you know, people will say, what was your favorite time? what were the most iconic moments the last 15, 16 years?

other than willie ice skating, you know -- >> so good. >> -- to show how the electoral map worked -- >> can we pull that up? >> we need to find that. >> i always think about those two moments in 2008. tim russert burst through java joe's front door and came in with the snow howling in behind him and said, "hey, you mind if i come on the show and talk a little bit?" the second was right there in new hampshire with barnicle, him, tom brokaw, saying, "let the voters vote." >> one day, we will know. john heilemann, thank you very much. great reporting. >> that was great, man. that was epic. that was awesome. ahead on "morning joe," "the washington post"'s eugene robinson joins us to explain why he says when it comes to the end of ron desantis' presidential campaign, quote, the nation's gain is florida's loss. plus, a republican

congressman accuses the biden administration of staging a civil war when it comes to the southern border. >> wait, but, hold on -- >> these people. >> -- they're trying -- it's actually house republicans -- >> these people. >> -- that want the chaos, that want the fentanyl to keep coming in, that want the illegal immigrants to keep coming i rks instead of -- >> the best deal they'll ever get. >> -- passing the toughest bill in 30 years for the southern border, as republicans are saying. but they're saying no. who is declaring civil war? who is allowing fentanyl deaths to continue this year? who is allowing illegal immigrants to continue to fld over the border instead of doing a deal that will help stop that? it's the house republicans. >> yeah, we'll tell you about the supreme court decision that sparked his law-defying comments. also ahead, the dow closed above 38,000 for the first time

yesterday. >> wait, hold, hold. i'm confused. i thought -- didn't donald trump say that the dow would crash and we'd be in a depression if joe biden were president? >> well, i think he said he hoped it would. >> that's the past week. he said he hoped it would crash. >> sorry, i got screwed up on his comments. >> in 2020, he said it was going to crash. >> yeah. >> it's at a record. you know what record that broke? record from the lucky year or two ago when joe biden was president, as well. >> we'll show you the rapid response by the biden campaign on that development. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. >> see, there's the rapid response. >> i know. >> they're moving. ♪ voya ♪ there are some things that work better together. like your workplace benefits and retirement savings. presentation looks great. thanks.

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good-bye to ron desantis. i think i'll miss most the infectious smile of his. ♪♪ ♪♪ >> pure constipation. >> all right. >> a little rough. i'm telling you, this farewell has not been, like, let's say,

lou gehrig's farewell. it's been tough. really, really tough. >> well deserved. >> you think so? >> yes. >> well, why is that? >> six-week abortion ban. >> you think that is driving a lot of it? >> i do. it's what sort of -- when i talk to women, when i talk to them about, you know, ron desantis as a potential candidate, or we just interviewed him, it's, why didn't you ask him about the six-week abortion ban? who would do a six-week abortion ban? >> it is fascinating. >> and not have an angry country. >> the interviews we had when we actually talked policy and went deep into policy, you go deep into policy, which reminds me -- and we talked about it on this show before covid -- reminds me he was sitting at 55%, 60% approval rating. there were democrats saying that this guy is doing a good job. it is interesting how covid was so polarizing and the lane he chose, and a lot of people will be talking about this for some

time, that he chose a lane, sort of the maga lane. the calculation was, let's go maga without the baggage that trump has. i still think, and i never really understood why people don't go main street republican when you're going up against donald trump, i think he would have got a lot more support, a lot of people, maybe not the early states, but it seems that was the best way forward. but who knows? we'll never know. let's bring in right now pulitzer prize winning columnist at "the washington post," eugene robinson. gene, your latest column for "the washington post," you talk about the fall of ron desantis' presidential campaign. you also do not give him a fond farewell. your piece is titled, "the nation's gain is florida's loss." >> yeah, and you say, "it's hard to see what desantis might have gained from his presidential run and easy to see what he has

lost. his appeal, in theory, was as someone who could deliver on trump's maga policy agenda without all of trump's baggage. but desantis proved to be an awkward, wooden candidate who struggled to connect. his best weapons in florida had been his blister and belligerence, but he was too timid to use them against trump. voters don't want a new trump while the classic is still available. a nation's gain is florida's loss, sadly. i fear desantis will continue using the state as a stage to boost his maga profile, just like the awfully high heels on his cowboy boots." >> there we go again. >> i think gene makes a point. listen, he is callous, and it starts with the six-week ban. there are a lot of other things we could talk about, as well. notice, joe, that he immediately endorsed donald trump. he wants to continue to use that movement for his purposes in

florida. >> yeah, gene, i -- you know, here's a guy who is not up for election again. i don't really understand it. again -- >> yeah. >> -- if you're ron desantis and you were sitting with a 60% approval rating before covid, and you had democrats saying, "you're doing a pretty good job on the everglades. doing a good job on the environment." >> mm-hmm. >> i just don't understand why, in the age of trump, nobody has figured out that there is a lane a mile wide for a main street, tough republican. but they haven't. nobody has done it. >> no, nobody has even tried it. look, that was his lane. he is coming out of florida, the third most populous state in the country. as you said, he had those high approval ratings, but he decided to take the maga trump without the baggage lane and to use

florida as kind of a demonstration project for his presidential campaign. so, yes, first, the 15-week abortion ban, and then the 6-week abortion ban with no exception for rape or incest, which is just, you know, far beyond the pale of what most people would accept. there was a don't say gay bill, which led to his absurd, crazy war with disney. the state's biggest cash cow. there were these standards of learning that he imposed on the schools that say, among other things, that some enslaved african-americans benefitted from slavery and prohibited teaching in the schools that made any uncomfortable about race. you know, the standards made me really uncomfortable. he just went sort of full maga

in that way in florida, and you see the result. you know, the campaign burns through $150 million, and he didn't even get to new hampshire. he did endorse trump. he did it a bit too grudgingly for donald trump, i think. he said, "okay, it is clear you want trump, so go ahead and vote for him," basically. he's not going to get any favors from trump in the future. but i fear he is going to go back to florida. i guess he thinks he has a political future. i'm not sure what that future is. but i think he is going to keep it up. i think that's just bad for, again, you know, the citizens of the third most populous state in the nation. >> well, i mean, he has a choice to make. if that choice is that he's going to be ron desantis post covid, you know, dealing with

library books, dealing with history, dealing with these other things, just things that aren't going to help him in the long run, then we know what that fate is going to be. if he looks over the horizon, jonathan lemire, and sees another trump loss, which is coming in 2024, there is going to be, at some point, a reckoning in the republican party. they're going to want to have main street republicans again who believe in balanced budgets, who support free trade, who support less spending, who support, you know, a foreign policy that actually protects american interests across the globe and freedom. but that's a choice he has to make. i'm not so sure he's going to go in that direction. >> yeah, first to gene's point about desantis not receiving much warmth from trump. trump made a show of saying he was going to retire the ron

desanctimonious nickname and promptly used it again yesterday. also, desantis has yet to appear with trump at an event, and the other republican rivals for the primary field, vivek ramaswamy, doug burgum, tim scott, they've all been with trump in new hampshire the last couple days. eugene, you started to talk a little bit about what desantis' future might be. i wanted to dig into that. it was transparent in recent days, his aides talking with people, planting quotes from supporters saying how much people were coming up to them and saying, "you know, we really like governor desantis, but it is not his time yet. 2024 is still trump. but, hey, 2028 could be desantis's moment." desantis has to make choices between now and then. my question is, it is rare to see a candidacy implode with such swiftly and such vigor as desantis' did, to the point where i wonder if he's so badly damaged that he hasn't set himself up for 2028, but, rather, you know, this moment already passed him by and his

political future may be coming to an end. >> i think it is entirely possible, jonathan. i really do. first of all, he's in office, i believe, until '26, right? but he can't run again. i think he is term limited in florida. what's he going to do? people are going to remember this campaign. he did leave an impression. unfortunately, it was a really awful impression that he left. as this, again, sort of awkward guy. you saw the smile. you saw his sort of inability to connect on a human level. that's not good for him. i think that's one of the things people are going to remember. also, his inability to choose any sort of lane to run in that made any sense. i think people will remember that. i just don't know where he goes from here. i really don't.

>> all right. gene robinson, thank you so much for that. >> thanks, gene. >> for that fond farewell. there's a bit of a tear, i think, in your left eye. check that. >> i've been inconsolable, joe. i really have been, since he left. >> all right. >> i just -- ron, we hardly knew you. >> we hardly knew you. all right. thank you so much, gene. pulitzer prize winning columnist gene robinson of "the washington post," thank you so much. willie, a couple quick things. one, this is a guy who, in 2022, had a massive landslide in florida. his landslide wiped out the modern florida democratic party. wiped it out on the state level, on the county level, on the local level. it was as complete of a landslide as i have ever seen. that was ron desantis that did it. so it is -- politics is a tough

game. one year later, everybody is saying this. that's one. number two, think about the parallels here between his campaign and jeb bush's campaign. both of them raised $100 million, $200 million. both of them were going to be the people who stopped donald trump. both of them got out in pretty tough circumstances. >> yeah, it is extraordinary, isn't it, to go back to november/december of 2022. ron desantis is coming off a nearly 20-point win in the state of florida, which most people thought he was going to win. by 20 points in florida is something else. then thinking, okay, this is the guy in the republican party. this is the guy who helps us turn the page on donald trump. as you said, he tried to out-trump trump in some ways, out-maga trump. as marco rubio and ted cruz could have told him from 2016, just doesn't work. john made a good point a minute ago about what is going on up here, which is, all of the

people who attempted,briefly in some cases, to run against donald trump and fell to the wayside raced to endorse him, to be standing behind him, to introduce him at rallies here in new hampshire, with one exception, governor ron desantis of florida. a little frosty between the two. the trump campaign has said publicly, "he is welcome to come and campaign with us if he wants to." so far, governor desantis turned that down. actually, yesterday, there was a moment where "politico" reported on a bill that some state officials in florida had put forward to make taxpayers pay donald trump's legal bills. the billionaire donald trump, alleged billionaire, pay his legal bills. that was floated out there, and ron desantis came out publicly and says, "not as long as i have the veto pen. taxpayers are not paying his bills," and the bill was withdrawn. there was definitely frostiness there. as you've seen for a few minutes in the two-shot, the great mike

barnicle is here with me in new hampshire. mike, we were talking last night. you said 1968, i believe, was the first new hampshire primary that you were up here for. >> yeah. >> where eugene mccarthy gave lyndon johnson is run for his money. >> i came up here to bring something to richard goodwin. famed lbj speechwriter. famed intellect doran kearns goodwin's husband. i brought something he requested down the street to the old dunphy hotel. he had a portable typewriter on the top of the credenza in his room. he said, "you know what this is?" i said, "yeah." he said, "this is the typewriter that is going to lose lyndon johnson the presidency." >> they made a run at it this year. i won't ask you to walk through every year since 1968. let's focus on this one and how different this time feels. it feels like we're at the last

moment. >> yes. >> nikki haley could pull off something and change the dynamics of this race, and then make the case, "i'm going home to south carolina," and change everything. by the way, as we sat here in 2020, a deflated and dejected joe biden before he turned the corner. what's your impression of what you've seen, talking to people through the state, of what it is like here in '24? >> the process that we're familiar with, that we've been used to for several primary elections, that's gone. it's just gone. it's sad but it's gone. it might revive itself with different candidates four years from now, that we don't know. we saw nikki haley last night in salem, new hampshire, just south of here. she was adequate, but there was no excitement in the crowd. tepid responses, but pretty good crowd, 300 people. what was lacking was her ability to define who her opponent is. donald trump. she refused to -- she tiptoed up

to trump. she didn't hit him at all. the odd thing is, last night, and not for the first time, but joe was just covered about main street republicans, you know, you could do something here. you could do something versus trump. we saw the product of a main street republican, and he would be an awesome candidate against any democrat, and that is chris sununu, the governor of new hampshire. he was electric. he has all the things nikki haley seemingly doesn't have. he has the ability to reach out, touch people, eye contact, engage with people, laugh. he's got a great sense of humor. talks seriously about issues that are important to him and important to a lot of people, not just in new hampshire but the country. but he chose not to run. >> guys, he is a great advocate for nikki haley. in the parallel universe or in olden days, you'd go to the event we went to last night, big crowd, overflow room, everybody is in there. policy-focused message. it is like from a time before donald trump. we go, okay, she's well versed

on everything. she gets the issues. whether or not you agree with her is one thing. then you get to the part about donald trump, and the tiptoeing begins. i don't know, guys, i was proud to serve in his administration. i served. she talks about her credentials under donald trump. then she said, but chaos just seems to follow him everywhere. >> fairly or unfair will. >> it's the passive voice that comes in. fairly or unfairly, she says, chaos seems to follow him. the best case she said to people, and chris sununu made it, as well, is i beat joe biden. look at any poll, i beat joe biden handily. sununu's argument was the joe scarborough argument, here are all the years we lost under donald trump. if you want to lose again, don't vote for nikki haley. vote for donald trump or stay home. >> i don't understand. that is the easiest argument to make. you don't have to go against donald trump to make it. want to lose or want to win? i'm tired of losing.

we can't change america or the world unless we win elections, and we keep losing elections with this guy. you love him, great. great! put posters up all over your house of him. like, if you want to build a little altar in your living room with sweaty trump, people did that after elvis died. you can make up whatever thing. make up whatever stories about donald trump you want. like, invite your bridge club over. does anybody do bridge club anymore? i doubt it. if they do, invite your bridge group over, and talk about donald trump. but when you go into that voting booth, vote to win. i'm tired of losing! we can't keep letting -- fill in the blank, and go that way. nobody did it. nobody said it with passion. i just wonder, when did

republicans stop being obsessed with winning as i was when i was a republican? >> they're afraid. >> i don't understand it. >> they're afraid of trump. >> you don't ever win by being afraid. what's the quote, mike? scared money never wins. >> never wins. >> you've got to go. the other thing i said was, nobody ever stopped me when i was going 90 miles an hour in politics. these people are going around with a little scooter. >> i agree. >> going. >> i don't kick sideways isn't going to cut it. >> is donald trump going to -- >> chaos follows him isn't going to cut it. >> mike, i don't understand it. >> well, you know, what's odd about it, especially odd given nikki haley's background, is this state is made for her. one-on-one in a primary. >> yes, it is. >> highly educated electorate. fairly affluent state. you can switch over if you are an independent, you can vote in either the republican or democratic primary. it's right there for someone to

take on trump with all the arguments you presented, and not one of the republican candidates, including the last one standing, nikki haley, will don't. as willie told you, she says, "fairly or unfairly, chaos ensues when donald trump is elected." not fairly or unfairly, he is a disturbed individual, a chaotic candidate, we know what he'll do to the country if he is retained in november. there is no laundry list on negative attacks on donald trump from her personally to a crowd. there is none. there is no interaction with the crowd. she gives speeches, 35, 40 minutes long. they're fine, substantive, then she waves and leaves. no questions asked by the audience. no interchange with the audience. no going out into the audience. a loser in a skirt. >> here's governor sununu introducing nikki haley in salem. here is the argument he made.

>> tough crowd. >> we lost in '18, in '20. we're going to get that big, red wave in '22. hey, donald trump! where the f is the red wave? give me a break! we are tired of losers, and we're tired of losing. we want to win up and down the ballot. amazing opportunity here. >> joe, governor sununu is making the case very clearly. not hard to do, actually. >> actually, would have been easier for nikki haley. there were so many different ways in which she could have gone after trump. i don't want to hear, "oh, she can't. she'll turn off the voters." as a woman, she should be disgusted with him. she should point out how vile and disgusting this man has behaved as a public servant with experience in foreign policy. she should be so insulted for the treasonous behavior of this former president. for what he has admitted to. and as a mom, she should be

speaking forcefully against him. so everything just comes off as flat because you know she's not really telling the truth. >> well, first of all, regarding sununu, mike, you're right, i mean, that's the message right there that needs to be given, that donald trump is a loser. he just loses year in and year out. there's a reason why sununu looks like a winner. well, he has a 70% approval rating in his state. >> yup. >> he's been riding around with a 70% approval rating in a state that joe biden wins by 6, 7, 8, 10 points now in polls. it's not a purple state anymore. trump and his craziness has turned new hampshire blue. but, you know, i think to, mika, to your point -- >> it is just disappointing. >> -- when you look at nikki

haley being asked about the e. jean carroll case, and she says she doesn't follow the news, she's not a lawyer. willie, the judge in that case said that donald trump committed rape. he said, by any definition. if you look at the definition in webster's, the definition by the united states army, if you look at the definition by the justice department, you look at any definition of rape, donald trump raped e. jean carroll. let me say it again. the person nikki haley is running against was accused by a judge of raping e. jean carroll. when asked, nikki haley says, "you know, i haven't really followed that case." >> yeah, and she says, "i'm not a lawyer." i mean, you used to have to work really hard at op-o. you had to comb through people's past and find some conflict of interest or something they'd done 20 years ago. for donald trump, it's

everywhere. it's all out in the open. what you could have said, theoretically, right now if you were governor haley, is, "as we sit here right now in new hampshire getting ready to vote and decide who we want to be the nominee, maybe the next president, donald trump has to do evening events here because he's in a courtroom in manhattan where they're deciding how much to pay a womanraped." is that the person you want to represent and run our country? it's in front of the candidates, all of it, january 6th. how about someone that was found liable of sexual assault not being the nominee. even nikki haley can't say it. >> there's a sadness in haley's candidacy. >> it's true.

>> following up on what willie said and going the sununu route, "do you really think we have a chance of breaking donald trump's losing streak now that donald trump has been found guilty by a jury of his peers, a jury of voters like you, a jury of his peers of sexual assault?" and after a judge has said he's a rapist, do we really want to take that into november against joe biden and the democrats? do you really think that's the best way to win? mike, it is not hard stuff. this is politics 101. >> you have a candidate for the presidency on the republican side who is awaiting a sentencing hearing. there will be more sentencing hearings given the fact that he's got so many trials. if he is found guilty in one, he

will go to the polls in november as a convicted person in a federal court. we'll see what happens there. that will be a weight that he'll have to learn to carry, and i don't think he can do it. but back to nikki haley, the point willie just raised, it's kind of sad watching her. i'm sure she's a very -- well, she's clearly an intelligent person. she did a fairly effective job as governor of south carolina, no doubt about that. there's something about the small states, iowa and new hampshire, specifically and especially. you have to show an ability to show people that you like people, that you enjoy being with people. chris sununu can do it, obviously. he is a native, lives here. he has a talent that would be transferable. nikki haley, for some reason or other, seems to pull back from crowds. she has a personality where she addresses people, but there is no interchange with people. new hampshire people expect that. they expect to see the candidate

two or three times perhaps in barbershops, grocery stores, on main streets in new hampshire, and they expect to think that they know more about the person prior to voting than they do, you know, from any other state and candidacies. that doesn't happen with nikki haley. former president donald trump's defamation damages trial that we were talking about involving writer e. jean carroll has been postponed until tomorrow over concerns of covid after a juror and one of trump's attorneys fell ill. trump blasted the decision on social media, complaining that he had traveled to court for nothing when he could have been campaigning in new hampshire. but it was trump's own legal team that requested the delay. >> let's get this straight. >> this is what he does. >> donald trump is whining, of course. he is whining about it -- first of all, he doesn't have to be there. >> no. >> he's not required in court. >> but he likes to go there to defame her and talk in court over her and lie about her.

>> and he uses those court appearances as campaign events. that's the first thing. second thing, he's bitching about a decision that his own lawyers asked the judge to reach. unbelievable. >> judge kaplan gave trump's side the option to continue the trial yesterday with the remaining eight jurors, but trump's team said they wanted to adjourn for the day. >> trump's team. >> trump lawyer alina habba then requested the trial be postponed until tomorrow, saying trump would not be able to take the stand today due to the new hampshire primary. habba also reported feeling ill in court yesterday and revealed she was exposed to covid by her parents who tested positive over the weekend. habba and her co-counsel, who was also exposed, both tested negative. >> habba said she was ill. >> yeah, doesn't feel well. >> didn't feel well. donald trump is complaining about it. >> meanwhile, trump continued to

rail against carroll and the case, posting about her on social media. at least 45 times yesterday, a man already found liable of sexually abusing this woman and defaming her. >> yeah. >> there is a second defamation trial because he continued to defame her after he was found liable of defamation, and he continues. >> jonathan lemire -- >> it is not making her life safer. >> -- it doesn't make her life safer, and it just makes the biden team's point, that this is an older man -- >> ugly. >> -- who just lost control of any, any discipline he may have once had. guilty of defamation. going in for the second one. he's posting, repeatedly attacking her. he has no control over his

faculties. >> it is not only that trump's legal team asked for the delay yesterday, the judge did them a favor, granted them an extra day delay. they could have resumed today, but alina habba, trump's lawyer, asked that because today is the new hampshire primary, if they could pick up tomorrow, and the judge agreed. there's not much here for trump to complain about, at least for now. we anticipate him being in court tomorrow. jury is out, pardon the phrase, as to whether or not he'll actually testify. he says he will. there are skeptics about that. to your point about the president's re-election team, this is another example. they have been pretty clear, the president himself and those closest to him aren't going to speak specifically about trump's legal troubles. they want to have a buffer there between anything the doj or courts are doing and the white house. certainly, democrats surrogates are going to make to case and make it aggressively. not only condemning what trump is accused of doing and what a judge found him guilty of doing, but this is an example of a person who can't be trusted in

command, who is not fit for office, who is not showing any sort of discipline. we have seen the truth social barrage in recent days which, frankly, might open him up to another defamation suit. >> right. >> that's in play here. it's another example how it does appear that trump's stumbles are picking up because the pressure is growing. we shouldn't forget the other legal trials that are on the horizon for him. >> it's just -- it keeps getting worse, which is hard to believe. you know, as nikki haley said, he's an older man. nikki haley said, you know, my parents as they get older, things are tougher for them to handle. he is just older. it seems to be getting worse every day. >> right. >> i've got to say, though, he's infected the whole party. >> poison. >> the level of stupid in the republican party just on full display for everybody to see. the united states supreme

court, which is overwhelmingly conservative as we found out, 6-3, conservative liberal, the united states supreme court made a decision ruling on the border. now, you have republicans talking about the need to defy the supreme court. did you hear what i just said? >> yeah. >> republicans in the house, the same people who were saying, "leave the border open. let the fentanyl come in. let the illegal immigrants come in." >> don't take the deal. >> "we don't want to pass the toughest law in the history of the united states on the border, let them all in," these same people now are saying, "let's have a civil war because we don't like a supreme court ruling." >> republican congressman clay higgins of louisiana is calling on texans to stand their ground, as he believes the biden administration is, quote, staging a civil war.

higgins is referring to the supreme court decision that ruled in favor of the biden administration. they didn't like the outcome. >> supreme court. he is saying a supreme court decision is tantamount to civil war? >> hmm. >> where did this guy go to school? >> by the way, it allows federal officials to remove a razor wire barrier along the southern border that texas governor greg abbott ordered to be placed. chief justice john roberts and associate justice amy coney barrett joined the court's liberal justices in the ruling. responding in a statement, house speaker mike johnson writes, the order, quote, underscores that keeping our southern border open to traffickers and cartels is part of a deliberate strategy -- >> wait a second, hold on. >> -- by pnt biden -- wait a minute. president biden? >> look at guy. see that guy right there? >> i see him. >> that is the guy who is

willing to stab israel i back. that is the guy willing to do vladimir putin's bidding and stab ukrainians in the back. letting russia iad them. and that is the who is sayingo to what hard cor conservatives are calling the toughest border security bill ever. and, you know who is behind that tough security bill? james langford of oklahoma, one of t most conservive republicans in the house or the senate but it is mike johnson, because donald trump isng him, it is mike johnson w is stabbing israel in the back. it is mike johnson who is stabbing ukraine in the back. it is mike johnson who is saying, "let's keep the gates open for another eight months and let illegal immigrants and fentanyl stream over the border," after bitching about it

for years. now, republicans have a chance to do something about the southern border, and they say, "no! no! we want fentanyl to keep coming across and killing our children. we want illegal immigrants to keep streaming into this country. we want israel stabbed in the back. we want ukraine stabbed in the back. we want vladimir putin to go all the way to ukraine because that's what donald trump wants." you know, when donald trump said that he could finish the ukrainian war in a day, we know now how he will do it. he'll do it the same way mike johnson will do it. mike johnson, by the way, voted with vladimir putin on every single vote when it came to ukrainian aid, voted no time and again to protect the ukrainians and the west against a russian invasion. >> the republicans you're talking about specifically are house republicans.

here's what minority leader mitch mcconnell had to say yesterday about those senate negotiations. >> this week, senator langford and several colleagues continue their work to finalize the most substantial border security policy in 30 years. this agreement would come not a moment too soon. >> not a moment too soon. jonathan lemire, again, the complaints about the southern border, legitimate. we've been stating it here. there has to be something that's done about the southern border. well, republicans and democrats in the senate are doing it. the biden administration has been pulled along to this position. they will sign the bill for border security. yet, it is mike johnson and house republicans, extreme house republicans, that are saying no to defending israel, no to defending ukraine, and saying no to stopping illegal immigrants

and fentanyl from continuing to flood over the border for the next eight months. >> the biden administration may have been slow in recognizing the seriousness of the crisis at the border. aides have privately acknowledged that. it took pushes from democratic governors and mayors saying, "look, something has to get done." but the white house is there now. we heard it from the president for some time now, some weeks. he's saying, "look, i'm willing to do a border security deal, a big one. i know we need to do it." of course, he makes the impassioned case we need to stand with our allies overseas, including ukraine, a victim of more russian attacks this morning. let's bring in congressional reporter for "the hill," mychael schnell. good to see you again. there does seem to be optimism on the senate side to get something done, but the house could be an entirely different story. walk us through the remaining sticking points. >> jonathan, look, some movement in the right direction in the senate. we heard it from schumer right there. but no deal yet. there's still some key hang-ups, one of which is parole, the

issue of parole. democrats are saying they do not want this to be on the table. they don't want it part of negotiations. republicans are pushing for change on parole authority. then you have to find out how much these border policy changes are going to cost. the senate appropriations committee is looking at that, looking at the text, figuring out how much money they have to appropriate for the changes. then you have to write the bill text and give lawmakers enough time to review it. this is border security policy, a thorny issue, something we haven't seen movement on in decades. lawmakers will want a lot of time to parse through the details and figure out where they stand. look, you mentioned the split screen between the senate and the house. we've seen these tireless negotiations in the senate for about two months now on border security. if they actually reach a deal and if it can get over the finish line in the senate, that'll be extremely significant. there is no guarantee, jonathan, this agreement will become law.

that's because, as you mentioned, house republicans, including speaker johnson, are being apprehensive to any compromised bill that comes out of the senate. speaker johnson last week said if the eventual bill is similar to what leaks and reporting has said, it doesn't look good because it wouldn't address the situation at the border and solve the problems at the southern border. then you have former president trump weighing in. he went on truth social and said that republicans should not agree to border security unless it achieves everything. of course, saying that from the campaign trail, bringing in the question of, you know, the problem of border security. it is president biden's approvals and that being an issue on the campaign trail. the bottom line is, if the senate comes up with a deal and passes it, no guarantee it clears the house. >> congressional reporter for "the hill," mychael schnell, thank you so much for being on the show this morning. we're going to turn back now to today's new hampshire

primary, which is tonight. last night, donald trump made his final pitch to voters. here's a look at some of his closing argument. >> very tough man, viktor orban. have you ever heard of him? >> yes, yes! >> he is the prime minister of hungary. right? good. prime minister of hungary. he's a tough man, strong man, very respected. i happen to think he is a good man. the press goes crazy when i say it. we can't have a weak president. we have a weak man who cheats like hell. that's the only thing they're good at. they cheat at elections like nobody ever cheated before. i've seen shots that you wouldn't even believe. missile launched. they go, missile launch, and you hear a bell go. i see this. i -- it's so incredible. calmly walk to a seat, ding, ding, ding. they have 17 seconds to figure this whole thing out, right? boom, okay. missile launch, boom. and we don't have it here. we have become a drug infested,

crime ridden nation, which is incapable of solving even the smallest, smallest problem, the simplest of problems we can no longer solve. we can't do anything. we are an institute and a powerful death penalty, we will put this on. >> and he can't even say the simplest of sentences anymore. >> i don't think he cares. >> willie, that's so terrible. everything about it is so terrible. he praises, of course, viktor orban. it's not that the press goes crazy, it's that the world sees viktor orban is, like, isolated because he is so extreme. he's just so -- he hates american democracy, western democracy. he said it. viktor orban has said he hates american democracy. he hates western democracy. he brags about being illiberal. he shuts down the press. he shuts down political opponents.

donald trump praises that. then donald trump goes, bing-bang-bong, something like that, because he is not well. then he lies. he lies about the men and women of the armed forces and says, "we can't do this, can't do that, and we're weak." willie, our economy, without a doubt, strongest in the world. not a close second. people have been whining about china for years. we've been saying here on "morning joe" since 2008, if you like china so much, move there. the united states is going to still have the most powerful economy. we do, sitting at $25 trillion. china is at $18 trillion. they have more problems than, well, you could shake a stick at, as we would say in northwest florida. then you go to our military. our military, unrivalled. anywhere across the globe, unrivalled. in fact, if you want to look at us relative to the rest of the world, you would have to go back to maybe the early 1950s.

to find a time when the united states was more powerful relative to the rest of the world militarily than we are right now. yet, donald trump is spewing hatred, attacking the united states armed forces, saying that they are weak, saying that we are weak, saying that the economy is weak, on the day he probably made more money than he has in 40 years because the stock market is at 38,000 for the first time ever. the first time ever! >> yeah, those economic arguments are getting real tough to make. we still hear them, but when the dow is shooting above 38,000, when you have gdp growth where it is, unemployment at historic lows, when you have consumer confidence now -- that was the question, right? well, things cost too much. inflation is still a problem. of course, it is. but consumer confidence numbers are up.

the economic argument, that under joe biden the economy is a disaster, it just doesn't hold up. donald trump should watch cnbc once in a while. they give you these stats every day, every morning. even talking last night about joe biden cheats, he steals elections, you talk about the john heilemann line, about everything donald trump says is projection. joe biden cheats. donald trump led an attempted coup against the united states government the last election. if you live in the news world where everything donald trump says is true, i guess some of what he said last night would make sense, but i don't know how you explain away the raw data about where the economy is. as you said, where the military is. when he talks about, you know, the nancy pelosi mixing up with nikki haley, even within that bizarre, bizarre rant that really should cause concern among people who love donald trump, he says, just making things up, you know. i offered 10,000 troops, and she

didn't take them. that's not true. they destroyed all the evidence around january 6th. no, we saw it all in the hearings. we've seen them in numerous court trials. it's not a particularly -- it's not a particularly big revelation, mike, that donald trump lies, but he is doing it with such abandon. almost everything he says now is a lie. >> yes. >> also, then he drifts off into these bizarre spaces where you really do have to wonder, does he have it all there? can he do the job? >> you know, i'm wondering how many people who see that, see that tape, see clips of him, and it is nearly every day that you can put something like that on, wonder about the stress that donald trump lives under hour by hour by hour. all the court cases. the court appearances which, as joe points out accurately, he uses as campaign appearances outside the courtroom. but the stress of that. the knowledge that's in his head, that he is liable to be convicted on at least one of

these major charges. the jack smith case in washington. the january 6th case. he is liable to be convicted by that jury. that's got to be an enormous strain on him. it affects the way he talks about things. the big thing about the way he talks about things, he tals about the past. this is a presidential election. people in this state, in every state, every american who votes or thinks about voting, wonders about one thing, where are we going? where are you going to take us? what's the impact of your presidency on my children next week, in the years that follow? where are we headed? donald trump does not tell you where he wants to take you. he tells you what happened to him personally from his point of view. the election was robbed, stolen, rigged. tune him out. >> mika, to bring it back to new hampshire, when you listen to nikki haley at her event, mike and i were there last night, she's talking about taking care

of the veterans. she's talking about how our school kids aren't at reading levels they need to be. these are almost in the republican party quaint notions, to care about voters, to care about people. change their lives and make them better. all of the rest of the conversation is about donald trump's personal trials and about what's happening to him and how there is this great conspiracy to bring him down. to talk about the issues almost seems beside the point in this party. >> and to the tremendously valid point that, joe, you raised earlier about the republican party, the maga republican party, it's as if it started with a virus and it grew into an infection that is now going to collapse and destroy the existing republican party that you were once a part of. you can just see it. you can sense it among people, especially the trump people. i mean, their view of life, their view of politics is completely altered by the maniacal rhetoric of what we just saw. a former president of the united states who clearly is losing it.

you can see that he is clearly losing it. >> well -- >> the hold, the grip he has on that party is slowly but surely destroying what we once thought was a great political party. >> mika, i guarantee you, you know, there's some people watching that are saying, oh, they're being so tough on republicans. no! as i've said time and again, listen to me, you may actually start winning elections again. i've been saying this in 2017, '18, '19, '20, '21, '22, '23, and now into '24. people are like, you're so hostile. oh, my god, why are you hostile toward republicans? i'm not being hostile to republicans. i'm not being hostile to conservatives. i'm just telling you, if you want to win, you've got to move forward. >> right. >> you can't elect a guy who is obsessed with 2020.

you've got to elect a guy or a woman in this case who can help you move forward over the next four, five, ten years. all donald trump does is talk about himself. you need to elect a president who talks about you and your family. trump will never do that. ever! >> never. >> but if you want that, if you want to lose again, thank you, jesus, for giving us freewill, republicans lose again, it's in your hands. but that decision is made tonight. it's made tonight. if donald trump wins tonight, republicans will lose again in the fall. joining the conversation, we have editor of the new republic, michael tomaski. his piece is "donald trump is losing it. will the media make it a story?" >> the answer here is yes, michael, but i don't see it in a

lot of other places. if joe biden stutters a little bit, he's been stuttering since -- >> that's on a loop on fox news. >> he's been stuttering since he was 10, 11, 12. if he falls off a bike, it's a loop. donald trump, you were right, we've known him for a very long time. to say, this isn't the donald trump that we met in 2003, 2004, come on! this isn't the donald trump we all saw in 2020. he's losing steps quickly. >> yeah. credit to "morning joe" because you guys have been covering this for a long time on an ongoing basis. most of the rest of the mainstream media hasn't really. i watch a fair amount of msnbc over the course of the day and some cnn, too, and they haven't really been pushing this narrative the way that other cable network pushes it whenever joe biden looks confused in public or forgets somebody's name.

on fox, that is constant. that's a loop. whenever something like that happens. they've pushed it into the narrative. it is a very important point for the campaign they're planning on running. trump and the whole republicans, the right-wing media apparatus, they want to establish in people's minds, i believe, one of the main points of attack on joe biden for 2024. it is to be not merely that he is old, because, yeah, he is chronologically old, but he is mentally out of it, mentally not capable of doing the job. if donald trump keeps speaking like he's been speaking and does that more and more, as more and more voters pay attention to this race and as election day gets nearer, you know, they're going to lose that argument completely because it is trump, very clearly, who is in more precarious shape than joe biden is. >> certainly, the biden campaign believes what you just said. the voters aren't paying attention just yet. when they recognize, and it may

not be until this summer, that, hey, it is donald trump and joe biden again. they'll start listening to trump who, to this point, has been background noise for a couple years to a lot of people, they'll be horrified. wait a minute, this guy has real issues. but let's take the counter of this, though. to this point, republicans, let's be clear, it was said earlier on this air today, have done a very effective job as painting biden as a sort of old and out of touch and not fit for the duies and responsibilities, amplified by conservative media. the biden team had trouble sometimes breaking through with narratives. as a example, the americans aren't giving this administration much credit for the economy. how can, this time around, the white house, the campaign, democrats, how can they break through? how can they get to change this particular narrative? >> yeah, that's a big challenge. that may be the central challenge, jonathan, of the biden campaign and democrats in general this year.

there is just no liberal or progressive echo chamber that's nearly as insistent and relentless as the conservative right-wing echo chamber. they stay on talking points more faithfully, and they just pound messages home in a way that democrats don't. you can see, you know, i watch this very closely, and i know you do, too. senate democrats, house democrats, they don't repeat the white house's talking points in the way republicans repeated trump talking points. it doesn't happen on the democratic side. however, i do think there are some reasons for optimism. willie mentioned it. the consumer confidence number released late last week is potentially a very big deal. two months in a row, the biggest consumer confidence growth since 1991. that is a long time ago. if that continues, that is an indication that people's minds

on the economy are starting to turn in a more favorable direction toward biden. if that keeps up and if there is no recession, maybe by the summer, you know, he starts to get the credit for this economy that many of us think he ought to get. >> editor of "the new republic," michael tomasky, thank you for being on this morning. >> thank you so much. >> we appreciate it. ahead on "morning joe," what we're learning about a deadly, new attack on israeli soldiers in the gaza strip. we'll go live to tel-aviv for the latest on the continued fighting. plus, the new hampshire attorney general's office is investigating what appears to be an unlawful attempt at voter suppression. >> did you hear about this? >> yeah. we'll play the robocall using fake audio of president biden, urging democrats to stay home. as we go to break, you're looking at live pictures out of dairy, new hampshire, where voters are lined up to cast their ballots. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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32 past the hour. israeli forces are ramping up their attacks in southern gaza. the gaza health ministry claims fighting has intensified around hospitals, killing dozens of people. this as the idf announces 21 soldiers were killed in a single incident near the border. meanwhile, tensions continue to escalate across the middle east. last night, the u.s. and uk launched another major strike against houthi military sites in yemen. joining us now from tel-aviv, nbc news foreign correspondent raf sanchez. raf, what can you tell us about yesterday's strikes? >> reporter: well, mika, this was the biggest wave of strikes

in yemen in more than ten days. it involved both u.s. and uk war planes and cruise missiles. the question, though, will it actually be enough to stop houthi attacks on commercial ships? u.s. navy fighter jets leading a major, new wave of joint american and british air strikes against iranian-backed houthi militants in yemen. the attacks targeting missiles, radar sites, and weapons depots, according to u.s. central command. it's the eighth time western forces have struck in yemen in response to months of houthi attacks in the red sea, which are threatening to hold up global shipping. the u.s. and uk saying, "we will not hesitate to defend lives and the free flow of commerce." so far, the strikes failing to deter the houthis, who say their attacks will continue until the war in gaza ends. that doesn't look likely any time soon. israel's military saying this

morning it's encircled khan yunis, sending citizens fleeing for safety. israel reeling from news that 24 troops were killed in an explosion yesterday. the single greatest loss of the war. prime minister netanyahu saying on behalf of our heros, we will not stop fighting until total victory. two israeli officials tell nbc news, they've offered hamas a two-month pause in the fighting in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages. families of those hostages storming a parliamentary committee yesterday, demanding action from their government. "you will not sit here while our children die!" this father shouts. among the protesters, gil dickman, whose cousin, carmel, is still a hostage.

>> what would you say to her? >> i'm sorry it took such a long time. i really want this to end. we all want this to end. but we're coming for you. >> reporter: every day, just agony for those families. in terms of the negotiations, despite that new israeli proposal, the two sides remain very far apart. hamas says no hostages will be released until the war ends. israel says the war will not end until hamas is destroyed. the mediators in qatar say they're doing what they can to try to close the gaps. mika? >> nbc's raf sanchez, thank you very much for that reporting this morning. coming up on "morning joe," we'll go back live to new hampshire. nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard spoke with voters in the granite state and shares what they told him ahead of today's primary. we're back in a moment. >> haley is capitalizing on concerns of trump and biden's

mental fitness. new slogan, nikki haley, i can drive at night.

there were 14 people in the race, a lot of fellas. it's now one fella and one lady left. [ applause ] >> it's pronounced felon. >> that's pretty good. joining us now, democratic senator maggie hassan of new hampshire. thank you, senator, for coming on the show this morning. big night tonight in new hampshire. let's just -- i want to hear about the effort to write in president biden's name, but he's not on the ballot. can you explain why? >> first of all, thanks for having me on. yes, this is new hampshire primary day. the energy on the ground is really, really strong and really good. of course, as you just referenced, the dnc made a really bad decision to forego

the new hampshire primary. we have a state law that says we go first. that's the result of the fact we have a citizen-driven, citizen-led democracy in new hampshire. we take it very seriously. we've led the way in making sure that voters have a direct say in choosing their nominee, not party bosses. so that's the backdrop there. but in the meantime, understanding the stakes in this election, understanding the strong record of bipartisan results that joe biden has, new hampshire democrats and like-minded independents have started a write-in campaign, and it is going well. the energy on the ground is great. we even had a delegate selection for joe biden a few weeks ago, and a lot of people turned out to compete to be joe biden delegates, including young people. we're feeled -- feeling good, and it is a busy day. write-in campaigns are tough, but we're feeling good. >> this effort is not to defeat

trump, but is it to send a message? what is the point at this point, since president biden is not on the ballot? >> well, look, what is important here is that voters arebuilding grassroots organization, not only for today's effort but for november. >> right. >> the key thing about the new hampshire primary, what is unique, is in a small state, candidates without a war chest and without big name recognition can come and engage in the kind of retail politics where voters who are very used to engaging with their elected officials really vet candidates. it really produces stronger candidates and stronger presidents. the point of this is making sure that we are delivering a message to our fellow citizens, both in new hampshire and around the country, about the strength of joe biden's results, whether it's the infrastructure bill or getting health care to veterans who really need it or investing in american manufacturing. we're also talking about the stakes of this election and the

threat donald trump poses to our democracy. this is a guy who denies election results, chooses violence over voting, engaged in and encouraged the insurrection to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power, says he is above the law, and stripped away the most fundamental of rights for women, bragging about his appointments to the supreme court. at stake in this election is another donald trump presidency where we won't recognize our democracy, or re-electing joe biden, who has really worked across party lines to deliver for the people of our country. that's what's supposed to happen in a democracy, putting the voters' priorities and needs first. that's what's at stake here, and we want to make sure that folks are remembering that. >> president biden will be in virginia today, i believe, talking about reproductive freedom. i'm curious, the issues that are -- you talked about the issues that really are confronting this election, that are important big picture 23r l.

you are right, the democracy is at stake. often when you talk to voters, it is kitchen table issues. biden with brag on the economy. donald trump can try to manipulate information, but it is what it is. the numbers are what they are. what about abortion health care? what are your constituents in new hampshire talking about that is most important to them as we look down the line beyond the primary? >> look, we have made some progress on the economy, but things are too expensive. but my constituents don't silo topics off. they're living their lives which involve working to make sure they can afford prescription drugs. that's something we've made some progress on. more work to do. housing and health care are huge issues in new hampshire. so are fundamental freedoms, as you know. i decided an election denier who wanted a nationwide abortion ban in my election in 2022.

voters cared about those issues a great deal. they care a lot about democracy. one of the things i've been talking about, my dad was a world war ii veteran and always said to me, you know, in the run-up to world war ii, people thought the language the fascists were using, the fact that they were targeting jewish people, was, you know, just talk. it was just one racial group they were targeting. we didn't really need to worry about it or get involved. we were wrong. we did. so one of the things, you know, when you hear donald trump talk about his opponents as vermin and encouraging violence, this isn't just talk. this isn't just casual. he is telling you who he is and what he will do. voters understand that, too. >> democratic senator maggie hassan of new hampshire, thank you so much for being on the show this morning. thank you. >> thanks for having me. let's go back to willie. thank you. willie is also in new hampshire. >> back here in manchester, mika, joined now by nbc's vaughn

hillyard who has been covering this campaign so closely, every minute of every day. happy primary day. we're finally here, vaughn. you've been talking to voters. you've seen all the candidates at the rallies. what are you picking up on this primary day? >> i was hearing you talking about going to the nikki haley event last night. it struck me, it was similar measure and tenor of the coming out of an event i went to hers the other morning, over the weekend. the first woman who i attempted to talk to leaving the event, where nikki haley only spoke 20 minutes, this woman goes, "well, that was disappointing." she says it out into the air. i attempted to ask her what was disappointing, and she goes, "i'm not talking to you." i think that was all i needed to hear. last night, you were at the nikki haley event, and i was with donald trump at his closing rally, in which doug burgum, vivek ramaswamy, tim scott were all with him. i was talking to folks waiting in the line, in the frigid cold, about their support of donald trump, and particularly whether somebody like ron desantis should be allowed back into the fold. i'll let you someone to one gentleman's response.

>> i think desantis kissed the ring, so he's all set. >> as long as he kissed the ring -- >> he bent the knee. >> as long as he kissed the ring or bent the knee -- >> you're back in. that's right. it's like the medieval times. >> not only that gentleman, but several others that i talked to, the word i kept hearing from them when asking about why donald trump, despite these trials that await him, was the word strength. strength. it touched me because, listening to the rally last night, you know, donald trump is temperamental. donald trump recoils at tough, direct questions. donald trump does not like dissent, even internally among his own campaign. donald trump is willing to throw anybody off of the cliff. but i think in a way that we understand those attributes to be somebody who is, you know, temperamental, supporters believe it is exuding strength. it is tough for these other candidates throughout this last year to push back on that

strength. one other sound bite, i had the chance to talk to marjorie taylor greene, the congresswoman from georgia, and i asked about the future of nikki haley in the republican party. >> this is a referendum on the republican party. that's something i'll be saying in my speech tonight. this is a true change for the republican party. it says that not only do we support president trump, we support his policies. any republican that isn't willing to adapt these policies, we are completely eradicating from the party. it's up to nikki haley what she does. >> we are eradicating them from the party. she said she didn't believe that nikki haley had a future in the republican party or in a future trump administration. >> yeah, no ambiguity from marjorie taylor greene. it does feel like this is a last stand, that this is a moment, if you look at it from the other side -- that's marjorie taylor greene's view. listen to nikki haley, and, frankly, from governor sununu, who is a loud and strong advocate for her, this is a

moment of choosing for the republican party. if nikki haley loses, this is the argument, tonight, there is no going back. it is trump's nomination, donald trump's party, and perhaps donald trump's country again if he is elected president. those are the stakes, maybe too little, too late. she doesn't particularly distinguish herself from donald trump. she talks about her record and what she'd like to do, soft pedals criticism, as she has, about him in the state. when you listened to her last night anyway. to you sense among the independents who are the biggest voting group in the state, that they are willing to make that statement, that they want to say, we're not going back to donald trump, or does it feel like the polling that has donald trump up in in double digits, does that feel right? >> there is no obvious underground movement independent resistance. there is not some anti-trump resistance. we saw this in iowa. we are seeing this in new hampshire, coming out and are inspired by nikki haley. a voter i talked to tell me she

watches the campaign ad. nikki haley is running as desantis and donald trump, as a coke zero to donald trump's coke. and for folks what are very much opposed to the former president, you've got to be inspired. there was a woman out of a nikki haley event over the weekend that told me i guess i will vote for her because at this point it's a two person race but it's not some moving feeling that is going to draw the folks who are perhaps disenchanted with the state of politics because of donald trump to actually turn out. frankly, what she needs from the data is an overwhelming surge of support, maybe more than 50% of independents to make up this gop electorate. nikki haley, we have not see her draw that inspiration out of voters. >> we will leave it to the voters. if she continues on to south carolina will be the next question if she loses tonight. we can stop talking now. the voters are out there as we speak at the polls.

thank you so much. the new hampshire attorney general's office is investigating reports of an apparent robocall that used artificial intelligence to mimic president biden's voice in an effort to urge voters to skip today's democratic primary. take a listen to the audio obtained by nbc news where fake recordings, fake recordings told voters, quote, their vote makes a difference in november, not this tuesday. >> what baurj of mallarchy. you know the value of voting democratic when our votes count. it's important that you save your vote for the november election. we need your help in electing democrats up and down the ticket. voting this tuesday only enables the republicans in their quest to elect donald trump again. your vote makes a difference in november, not this tuesday. >> theewampshire attorney general's office released a statement saying, quote, these messages appear to be an

unlawful a to disrupt the new hampshire presidential primary election and to suppress new hampshire voters. new hampshire voters should disregard the content of this message entirely. biden is not campaigning in new hampshire and his name will not appear on today's primary ballot after he elevated south carolina to the lead opposition for the democratic primaries. it's unclear who is behind the calls and how many voters received them. we will be following this story. we will also get book live to new hampshire in a moment. a live report from capitol hill where there are signs that a bipartisan deal on border security and foreign aid is headed in the right direction, and cnbc will joining us after a record day on wall street with the dow hitting 38,000. we're back in just a moment.

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biden campaign is capitalizing on new questions about donald trump's mental fitness. we're back in just two minutes. r

orbon. have you ever heard of him? the prime minister of hungary,

and he is -- he is a tough man, strong man, very respected. i happen to think he is a good man. the press goes crazy when i say it. we can't have a weak president. we have a weak man who cheats like hell. that's the only thing they are good at. they cheat at elections. i have seen shots you believe. missile launched! you hear a bell go. i see this. it's so incredible. i calmly walk to a seat, ding ding ding, they have 17 seconds to figure this thing out, right? okay. missile launch. boom. and we don't have it here. >> i really take back -- >> i don't know where to begin. >> i take everything back that i said about elvis in 1977. i apologize to the ghost of fat elvis right here. now he looked better then -- >> talk about how he was talking about orban. >> i know.

>> so distracted. >> first of all, we go back to what was said over the weekend on x that if he keeps -- >> i can't unsee that. >> if he keeps putting the bronzer on at this level, white supremacists will soon turn on him. and the sweat, listen, willie -- >> willie! >> elvis at the sands in '77. nothing like this. >> what happened? >> all he needs to do is sing "my way" and get the scarves and put them across his neck and throw them into the crowd there. i got to say, willie, you know, you and i -- >> willie is in new hampshire. >> he is in new hampshire. we started going to new hampshire for the joe and willie -- willie and joe, actually, called the willie -- willie and joe snowplow race. >> it's snow angel competition. you know it. >> since '52. so what one of us had to go.

we drew straws. willie won. >> okay. >> but willie, since '52, certain any not since '04, have we seen anything like this? what was that that we just saw? >> first of all, we are doing the snowplow race. barnacle is driving the other one in this case. it's a rascal that he drives along and he still won. >> exactly. >> i had not seen that clip. we have been up here doing events and all kinds of things. i hadn't seen that clip. you saw the reaction on my face. i mean, that is -- that's a guy who is commander and chief and describing those missile launches, sensitive noises as bong, boom, all those noises he makes. an insult to elevation, sitting at the piano having someone hold the mike for him as he had a coca-cola on the piano with him. one of the core arguments

against the guy he is running against joe biden, he is too old, doesn't have it together. we heard it last night again from nikki haley about joe biden and donald trump, too. but you can't make that argument and perform the way he has been performing, particularly just in the last few weeks, i think. it's getting worse over time. if you again sit and watch entire trump event and watch that, that is not a man who has it all together. it's just not. >> no. and the thing is -- >> it's not. >> as charlie sykes said on "way too early," i don't know if -- it ended up in second place in ratings right behind lsh last week right behind -- did you see the bills clsh chiefs graeme? >> yes. >> 40 million viewers. 40 million viewers, of course, "way too early," 49.78. but one of the -- i mean, the

nfl -- we talked about this for quite some time. i am not sure when this happened. the nfl now is -- there really is where the global village comes together in the united states. that is a term, by the way, freaks that think that, like, this is, like, new world order. that is a term of, like, '50s on communication. sort of this global village comes together around nfl games, 19 of the top 20 primetime shows last season nfl games, 82 out of 100. overall nfl games, of course, three or four years we heard freaks going, nfl's done, i am never watching another game with that colin kaepernick. look at this. 40 million people. nfl, like way too early with jonathan lemire, brings america together. but it's pretty crazy. >> that was a staggering number. you're right. when everyone is talking about the splintling of media, death of network situation, there is a place you can put up number like

that br people watch. it helped it was that game, the chiefs and bills, a long-time rivalry, mix in a little taylor swift doesn't hurt the ratings either. we have seen it. that's a huge number. we have seen it all year in the last couple of years, actually, suns at least, we are watching different streaming networks and cable channels, when a big nfl game is on, america sits down and watches. that was great game. the bills are going to lament that for a long time. they had chances. they had it in their home field. man, 40 million people. that doesn't happen anymore unless it's the nfl. >> yeah. no, really unbelievable. and jonathan-lemir again, "way too early" with jonathan lemire, the thing i heard you talking about this morning, which i am sure 38, 39 million people tuned in to see i am sure, the biden campaign -- this is what's so

critical. the biden campaign which is supposed to be, you know, out of touch, old man doesn't know what he's doing, they actually -- they've seized the zeitgeist. they understand. they understand now and they are turning it out quickly that donald trump said something stupid. it's up online, like, 15 seconds later. it's on tiktok. it's on youtube. it's on x. it's on instagram reels. i mean, we have been seeing this over the last week just how quickly they are moving on trump, and i got to say, i think this is why trump got away this in the past because all of his opponents were flatfooted. maybe even the biden campaign in 2020 didn't have to do this as much as they are doing in 2024. you can sense there is a real understanding. donald trump loses his mind, forgets what he is saying, confuses barack obama with joe

biden, confuses world war ii with whatever the hell he was confusing, confuses nikki haley with nancy pelosi, the whole world is going to see in three seconds, and they are going to see in three seconds because they are on him now. you talk about a tight man-to-man defense. i mean, you cover the white house. what's happened over the past week or two -- i mean, because they are really -- they are -- the rapid response has to be driving donald trump crazy. >> yeah, first on the "way too early" ratings, we hoped taylor swift could show up to give us that boost, too. a shirtless kelce brother is pos possible at 5:00 a.m. >> maybe he can do weather. jump up and down and do weather. >> beer in one hand, forecast in the other. as far as the biden campaign, first of all, we do expect that barring a real upset in new hampshire tonight that would

allow nikki haley to propel this race forward, if it is indeed donald trump's nomination, this is the race the biden campaign has always wanted. they feel like they best match up to trump who they can pose -- as an existential threat to the nation's democracy and allows them to have some defense against what is president biden's greatest vulnerability? his age. donald trump a few years younger. as you mentioned, the verbal gaffes and missteps, incoherence from trump has accelerated and the biden team is pouncing. let's look at some of their recent rapid responses. >> so we have a policy remain in mexico. how -- you know, you don't have to be a genius -- remain in mexico until you have -- >> we can be energy independent and even energy dominant, yes, oh yes, and quickly, says president trump. we will be there very quickly.

>> strong third-person work there by donald trump. the qanon theme continues to play behind him as he speaks. the biden campaign, we talked about it, noted it in real time, it's been a couple of months now. they pivoted and are on the attack and missed no opportunity to draw contrasts between their candidate and donald trump who they expect to see in november and in recent days they are hammering trump on these questions about his mental state and it is clear, as we have been talking it be -- certainly on the conservative media talking about joe biden's fitness for office for a long time, but right now it is donald trump's turn to face those questions and that includes for nikki haley. >> i am going to say, too, you got to question the trump -- trump supporters about their incoherons about how to win an election. this guy is 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, he is going to lose in '24

again if democrats work hard, do their jobs, if everybody that is so concerned about democracy and freedom go out and do their jobs. willie, they're gonna lose again, but they have a choice. they have a choice. nikki haley, you put nikki haley up against joe biden, i mean, biden doesn't want that. biden's team didn't even want ron desantis because they understood it was something new. there wasn't all the trump baggage and there wasn't the trump craziness. >> there weren't things that were going to scare off -- i mean, yeah, i know, desantis made a huge mistake by going way too, like, red hot on social issues. the six weeks and everything else. but before that, they are like, uh-oh, it this guy can win the atlanta suburbs, this guy can win the philly suburbs. they know trump can't. they look at the polls now, literally, they literally laugh

and say, come talk to us, you know, next september, next october. but trump -- trump's voters as well as republicans in new hampshire and iowa, it looks like they are going to make the same mistake and lose again. they have lost as nikki haley points out search republicans. seven of the last eight popular votes. go back to bill clinton. they have won seven of eight presidential popular votes. the democrats have. only w won in 2004. they are going down -- they are going down -- this loser's path again and they just can't stop themselves. i mean, i feel like there has to be an intervention at some point because republicans probably need to start winning elections again by pushing donald trump to the side but they can't do it.

and you were -- look at this. look at this. '92, republicans lost. '96, republicans lost. 2000, republicans lost the popular vote. won '04. they lost in '08. they lost in '12. they lost in '16. they lost in '20. you know, after a while, willie, that started adding up. after a while, you would think maybe we need to find somebody that can relate to the majority of americans and maybe then, maybe we have a chance to start winning presidential contests again. but you went to a nikki haley event last night. i mean, does it look like they're gonna change their tune? >> it's funny, joe. going to that event last night in salem about 30 minutes south of where we are in manchester, governor sununu, who took the stage first, sounded like he had been watching joe jarboro. he started ticking off the

years, 2017, 2018, on and on. we lose every year. what do they have in common, the governor says? donald trump. do you want to win? the intervention you talked about on paper at least is tonight. here. they feel like the haley campaign, now you really do have a choice. do you want to push forward with donald trump? is that the future of the country, of this party? or do you want to make a change, drop the chaos, as she puts it gentlemen /* very generously. she says chaos seems to followed donald trump. they think this is it. a lot of people in the party think this is it. the feeling isn't necessarily that she is going to win but it's a chance right now tonight in a couple of hours now when the polls open to make that choice and say we have had enough of donald trump. will that happen? remains to be seen. john, we were just talking before we got started here, just

to share with our viewers, it feels different here this time than it's felt probably ever, to say it's not much of a race, it's not that close, if you look at the polling. there are only two candidates left. that energy, that life that you usually feel in new hampshire. nikki haley had an overflow crowd last night. she makes her stump speech. doesn't particularly go strong after donald trump. a few comments about chaos following him. but there is a feeling that's sort of hanging over this place and really this whole campaign that this is it. and if donald trump beats her, beats her soundly tonight, he is the nominee? >> for sure. you guys picked up on this already. there is a feeling here, there is not the flaccid, lifeless -- and there is, you know, not much going on. trump shows up one event every day, for a rally. nikki haley is doing events. we have been here a lot of new hampshire primaries. it's not like that. the stakes, a one-on-one race

now. this is a state, as you know, that has been very hospitable to insurgent candidates over the years. the outsider candidate who comes in, the challenger and takes on the establishment frontrunner, hard to think of donald trump as an establishment frontrunner, but that's what he is. he is the republican party. we learned -- and i will show what i -- what i have been doing following nikki haley and doing a piece on this last kind of homestretch of the race. you see nikki haley not -- john mccain. she doesn't have that. she has not tackled new hampshire in that way. at the same time, everyone feels like she got -- start today find her footing a little bit in the last 24 hours. the question everyone is asking, those who want her to win, mainstream republicans who are praying for this. they understand the stakes. their question is, is it going to be enough? let's take a look. >> here in new hampshire, just like i pictured it.

the new hampshire primary occupies a hallowed place in presidential politics, steeped in tradition, complete with romance from the rolling hills and snow swept vistas to town hall meetings, stocked with cantankerous voters. voters who handed improbable victories on the democratic side of the aisle -- >> thank you, new hampshire. >> i love new hampshire. >> new hampshire tonight has made bill clinton the comeback kid. >> and the republican side of the aisle. >> i think we finally have a poll without a margin of error. >> mount up, everybody, and ride the saddle. >> new hampshire. i am here a lot. then all of a sudden we started getting numbers in and everyone said, how come they like trump so much? >> the question for the ages, but whatever the answer, trump was the insurgent in new

hampshire in 2016 aiming to topple the gop's established order. but today trump is the gop and the field of contenders to upend him has been reduced to just one. nikki haley. mocked for declaring -- >> i can safely say tonight iowa made this republican primary a two-person race. >> after finishing third behind ron desantis only to be proven prescient six days later when desantis ended his campaign in a manner as happen. >> helpless, hopeless as he ran all along. >> greetings from florida. >> a dead man walking and then simply a dead man, haley effectively had trump one-on-one for the eight-day splint to new hampshire. but haley announced she wouldn't take part in the upcoming abc news tv debate at manchester college unless trump did so, too. stunning the state's political insiders. >> between iowa and new hampshire so many days, where

are the pivot points? 90 minutes on tv our statewide television station is a pivot point, a chance for candidates to move. >> i would have done the debate. i would have done three or four debates. i would have bought my own hour of time, given new hampshire what it craves. a moment to make history. >> haley didn't do much last week with the maverick feel of murphy's most famous client, no epic town hall meetings, in free-wheeling sessions with reporters, a schedule that looked like a comfortable frontrunner's not a hungry challenger's. the actual frontrunner's campaign consisted of maga surrogates blanketing the state. trump one rally per day, devoted mostly to knock mocking nikki haley. >> she is not tough enough. she is not smart enough. she wasn't respected enough. she is a globalist fool. she is not presidential timber. if you want a losing candidate

who puts america last, vote for nikki haley. >> then on friday night in concord, another increasingly common addled moments. >> the press never report the crowd on gillette. nikki haley -- nikki haley -- nikki haley -- you know they -- do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it, all of it because of lots of things like nikki haley is in charge of security. >> haley had long resisted the calls to whack trump but the next day she finally took a swing. >> he went on and talked about how i kept the police from going into the capitol on january 6th. let's be clear. i wasn't in the capitol on january 6th. i wasn't in office on january 6th. he mentioned it three times. he got confused. he got confused and said he was running against obama.

he never ran against obama. >> and another. >> my parents are up in age and i love them dearly. but when you see them hit a certain age, there is a decline. that's a fact. >> and still another. >> he was confused the same way he said joe biden was going to start world war ii. >> haley sounded like weak beard to trump's fiercest critics. more campaign events. more interaction with the press. a modicum of spontaneity that gave it a different vibe in the homestretch. >> "the boston globe" said the bubble wrap is off. >> he needed a wake-up call, figure out who she was, how who she was fits into this race. she found her voice late. you saw this weekend. crowds were responding to it. >> even so, all the polls say that none of this will save haley from a drubbing. >> she is going to have a double-digit loss among republicans and i am not sure

she is going to independents. might be even. >> late stage new hampshire polling has been wrong before. in 2008 barack obama was supposedly up by double digits. on primary night it was hillary clinton -- >> over the last week i listened to you and in the process i found my own voice. >> even if we sit here today, there are enough votes to beat trump here. so what you are left with is who can motivate that group. finding your voice is the key. i don't think she got there until now. but she got there and that may be enough. >> comparing hillary clinton and nikki haley, come on i hear you saying. fair enough. but given the sobering reality this time tomorrow donald trump will likely be the gop's de facto nominee, don't be prized if more than a few republicans and not just republicans find themselves hoping beyond hope that new hampshire once again works its magic and hilary and

haley have more in common than meets the eye. >> thank you so much for that great report this morning. coming up, eugene robinson has a new piece on the failed presidential campaign of governor ron desantis. in gene's words, quote, the nation's gain is florida's loss. that conversation is -- >> not a lot of -- not a lot of kind farewells in the desantis campaign. >> no. we'll be right back. right back. rsv is out there. for those 60 years and older protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine.

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i am a little bit sad to say goodbye to ron desantis. you know when i look back on his campaign over the last few months, i think the think i'll miss most is that infectious smile of his.

♪ you know i can't smile without you ♪ ♪ can't smile without you ♪ ♪ can't laugh and i can't sing ♪ ♪ i'm finding it hard to do anything ♪ ♪ i can't smile without you ♪ ♪ can't smile without you ♪ ♪ i can't laugh and i can't sing ♪ ♪ i'm finding it hard to do anything ♪ ♪ ♪♪ >> wow, look at that. pure constipation. [ cheers and applause ] >> all right. >> mine, i'm telling you, this is -- this farewell is not like lou gehrig's farewell. it's been tough. really, really tough. >> well deserved.

>> you think so? >> yes. >> well, why is that? >> six-week abortion ban. say no more. >> you think that's a lot of it? >> i do. when i talk to women, when i talk to them about ron desantis as a potential candidate or we just interviewed him, why don't you ask him about the six-week abortion ban. who would do a six-week abortion ban? >> it is fascinating -- >> and not have an angry country. >> the interviews when we actually talked policy and went deep in policy, you go deep into policy, and we talked about it on the show before covid, reminds me that he was sitting 55, 60% approval rating. there were a lot of democrats saying this guy's doing a good job. interesting how covid was to polarizing and the lane that he chose and a lot of people will be talking about this for some time. he chose the lane sort of the maga lane and the calculation was let's go maga without the

baggage of trump. i still think -- and i never understood why people don't go main street republican when you are going up against donald trump. i think he would have had a lot more support, a lot of people, maybe not in the early states, but it seems that was the best way forward. who knows? we'll never know. let's bring in pulitzer prize-winning columnist at "the washington post" eugene robinson. you talked about the fall of ron desantis, his presidential campaign, and you also do not give him a fond farewell. your piece is titled "the nation's gain is florida's loss." >> and you say it's hard to see what desantis might have gained from his presidential run, and easy to see what he has lost. his appeal, in theory, was as someone who could deliver on

trump's maga policy agenda without all of trump's baggage. but desantis proved to be an awkward, wooden candidate who struggled to connect. his best weapons in florida had been his bluster and belligerence, but he was too timid to use them against trump. as all the failed gop candidates learned, primary voters don't want new trump, not while the trump classic is still available. a nation's gain is florida's loss, sadly. i fear desantis will continue using the state as a stage to boost his maga profile just like those awfully high heels on his cowboy boots -- >> there we go. >> he makes a point. >> he is very callous. it starts with the six-week ban. there are other things as well. but you unless, joe, that he immediately endorsed donald trump. he wants to continue to use that movement for his purposes in florida. >> yeah, gene, you know, here is a guy who is not up for election

again. i don't really understand it. again, if you're ron desantis and you are sitting with a 60% approval rating before covid and you had democrats saying you are doing a pretty good job on the everglades, a good job on the environment, you know, i don't -- i just don't understand why in the age of trump nobody's figured out that there is a lane a mile wide for a main street, tough republican. nobody's done it. >> no, nobody has even tried it. he is coming out of florida, the third most popular state in the country. as you said, he had those high approval ratings. but he went -- he decided to take the maga trump without the baggage lane and to use florida as kind of a demonstration project for his presidential campaign. so, yes, he first the 15-week

abortion ban and then the six-week abortion ban with no exception for rape or incest. which is just, you know, far beyond the pale of what most people would accept. there was a no say gay bill, which led to his absurd crazy war with disney. the state's biggest cash cow. there were standards of learning that he imposed on the schools that say, among other things, that some -- african americans benefitted from slavery and prohibited teaching in the schools that made anybody uncomfortable about race. you know, that's standards made me really uncomfortable. he just went sort of full maga in that way in florida, and you see the result, you know, the campaign burns through

$150 million and he didn't even get to new hampshire. he did endorse trump. he did it a bit too grudgingly for donald trump, i think. he basically said, okay, it's clear you guys want trump, so go ahead and vote for him, basically. and so he's not going to get any favors from trump in the future. but i fear he is going to go back to florida, i guess he thinks he has a political future. i am not sure what that future is. but he is -- i think he is going to keep it up, and i think that's just bad for, again, you know, the citizens of the third most populous state in the nation. >> well, he has a choice to make. if that choice is he is going to be ron desantis post-covid with, you know, dealing with library books, dealing with history, dealing with these other things, just things that aren't going to

help him in the long run. then we know what that fate is going to be. if he looks over the horizon, jonathan, and sees another trump loss which is coming in 2024, there is going to be at some point a reckoning of the republican party and they are going to want to have main street republicans again who believe in balanced budgets, who support free trade, who support leps spending, who support, you know, a foreign policy that timely protects american interests across the globe, and freedom. but that's a choice he has to make. i am not so sure he's going in that direction. >> desantis not receiving much warmth from trump, trump said he was going retire the ron desanctimonious nickname. he is yet to appear with trump

at an event. the others feel vivek ramaswamy, doug burgum, tim scott, they have been with trump in new hampshire the last couple of days. eugene, you started to talk about desantis' future. i want to go deeper on that. it was transparent in recent days, his aides talking to people and planting quotes with reporters saying how much people were coming up to them and saying we really like governor desantis but it's not his time. 2024 is still trump. hey, 2028, it that could be desantis' moment. as joe just said, desantis has to make political choices between now and then. but my question to you is, it is rare to see a candidacy implode with such vigor as ron desantis' did to the point i wonder if he is so badly damaged he hasn't set himself up for 2028, rather, you know, this moment has passed him bay and his political future may be coming to an end? >> i think that's entirely possible. i really do.

first of all, he is in office, i believe, to '26, right? and but he can't run again. i think he is term limited in florida. so what is he going to do? and then people are going to remember this campaign. i mean, he did leave an impression. unfortunately, it was a really, really awful impression that he left as this, again, sort of awkward guy. you saw the smile. you saw -- he is sort of -- his inability to connect on a human level. that's not food for him. that's one the things that people are going to remember. and also his inability to choose any sort of lane to run in that made any sense. i think people will remember that. i just don't know where he goes from here. i really don't. >> all right. gene robinson, thank you so much for that. >> thanks, gene. >> that fond farewell.

there is a bit of a tear, i think, in your left eye. >> i have been inconsolable, joe. i really have been since he left. i just -- ron, we heardly knew you, you know. >> we hardly knew you. thank you, gene robinson, pulitzer prize-winning columnist for "the washington post." thank you so much. willie, first, a couple of quick things. one, this is a guy who in 2022 had a massive landslide in florida. his landslide wiped out the modern florida democratic party. wiped it out on the state level, on the county level, on the local level. it was as complete of a landslide as i have ever seen, and that was ron desantis that did it. so it is politics is a tough game. one year later, everybody's saying this. that's one. and number two, think about the

parallels here between his campaign and jeb bush's campaign. both of them raised 100, $200 million. both of them were going to be the people who stopped donald trump and both of them got out and -- in pretty tough circumstances. >> yeah, it is extraordinary, isn't it, to go back to november, december of 2022. ron desantis is coming off a nearly 20 point win in out state of florida. by 20 points in florida is something else. then thinking, okay, this is the guy in the republican party. this is the guy who helps turn the page on donald trump. as you said, he tried to out-trump trump, tried to out-maga trump which marco rubio and ted cruz could have told him doesn't work. what's going on up here, which is that all of the people who attempted briefly in some case toss run in this election against donald trump and then

fell to the race side raced to endorse him, raced to introduce him at rallies in new hampshire with one exception. governor desantis of florida. a little bit frosty between the two. the trump campaign said publicly he is welcome to campaign with us if he wants to and so far governor desantis turned that down. yesterday there was a moment where politico reported on a bill that some state officials in the -- in florida put forward to make taxpayers pay donald trump's legal bills. think about that. the billionaire donald trump, alleged billionaire, pay his legal bills. that was floated out there. ron desantis came out publicly and says not as long as i have the veto pen, taxpayers are not paying his bills and that bill was withdrawn. so there is some frostiness there. as you have seen in our two shot, mike barnicle is here with me. mike, we were talking last night. you said 1968, i believe, was

first new hampshire primary. >> yeah. >> you were up here. eugene mccarthy gave lyndon johnson a run for his money? >> i game up here to give doing to richard good win, famed lbj speech writer, intellect. i drove up with some things that bronc today him that he requested. i wrought them to the hotel room down the street here, and he had all of -- a portable typewriter on the credenza in his room. he said you know what this is? yeah. he said, no, this is the typewriter that's going to lose lyndon johnson the presidency. >> they made a run at it. let's talk about -- i won't ask you to walk through every year since 1968. let's focus on this one and just how different this time feels. it does feel like we are at the last moment. >> yes. >> nikki haley could pull off something and change the dynamics of this race, make the case i'm going to home to south

carolina and change everything. the way, by the way, as we sat here in 2021 with a deflated and dejected joe biden before he turned the corner. what's your impression of what you have seen, talking to people through the state of what it's like here in '24? >> the process that we are familiar with that we have been used to several years, several primary elections, that's gone. it's just gone. it's sad, but it's gone. it might revive itself with different candidates four years from now that we don't know. we saw nikki haley last night in salem, new hampshire, just south of here. she was adequate. but there was no excitement in the crowd. tepid responses. pretty good crowd. 300 people. but there was just something lacking. what was lacking was her ability to define who her opponent is. donald trump. she refused to tip -- she tip-toed up to trump. she didn't hit him at all. and the odd thing is, last night and not for the first time, joe

was just talking about, main street republicans, you know, you could do something here, you could do something versus trump. we saw the product of a main street republican and he would be an awesome candidate against any democrat, and that's chris sununu, the governor of new hampshire. he was electric. he has all the things that nikki haley seemingly does not have. he has the ability to reach out, to touch people, eye contact, engage with people, laugh. he's got a great sense of humor. talk seriously about issues important to him and important to a lot of people, not just in new hampshire, but the country. but he chose not to run. coming up, congress creeps closer to a deal on immigration. we will have the latest from the capitol on new developments surrounding the southern border straight ahead on "morning joe."

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♪♪ former president donald trump's defamation damages trial we were talking about involving writer e. jean carroll has been postponed to tomorrow over concerns of covid after a juror and one of trump's attorneys fell ill. trump blasted the decision on social media complaining that he had traveled to court for nothing when he could have been campaigning in new hampshire, but it was trump's own legal team that requested the delay. >> let's get it straight. >> this is what he does. >> donald trump is whining about it, about -- first of all e he doesn't have to be there. >> no. >> he is not required in court. >> defame her and talk in court over her and lie about her. >> and he uses the court appearances as campaign events. so that's the first thing. second thing, he is -- about a

decision that his own lawyers asked the judge to reach. unbelievable. >> judge kaplan gave trump's side the option it continue the trial yesterday with the remaining eight jurors, but trump's team -- >> trump's team. >> said they wanted to adjourn for the day. trump lawyer alena haba requested the trial be postponed to tomorrow, saying trump would not be able to take the stand today due to the new hampshire primary. she also reported feeling n.i.l. court yesterday and revealed she was exposed to covid by her parents who tested positive over the weekend. she and her co-counsel, who was also exposed, both tested negative. >> but she said she as ill. >> yeah. >> didn't feel well, and donald trump's complaining about that. >> trump continued to rail against carroll and the case, posting about her on social media at least 45 times

yesterday. this is a man who was already found liable of sexually abusing this woman and defaming her. this is a second defamation trial because he continued to defame her after he was found liable of defamation and he continues. >> and jonathan lear -- doesn't make her lifesaver. the biden's team point, this is an older man -- >> ugly. >> who has lost control of -- of any -- any discipline. he may have once had. he is guilty of defamation. he is going in for the second defamation case and here he goes. just repeatedly attacking her, proving again he has absolutely no control over his faculties. >> also, it's not only that trump's legal team asked for the delay yesterday, the judge did them a favor of granting an extra day delay.

alina habba asked if they could pick up tomorrow, and the judge agreed. there's not much here for trump to complain about. at least for now, we think he'll be in court tomorrow. jury is still out as to whether he'll actually testify. to your point about the president's reelection team, this is another example. they've been pretty clear the president himself and those closest to him aren't going to speak specifically about trump's legal troubles. they want a buffer there between anything the doj and the courts are doing and the white house. certainly democratic surrogates are going to make this case aggressively, not only condemning what trump has been accused of doing, but also this is another example of a person who can't be trusted in command, who is not fit for office, who is not showing any sort of discipline. we have seen the truth social

barrage in recent days which might open him up to another defamation suit. it's another example how it does appear that trump's stumbles are picking up because the pressure is growing. we shouldn't forget the other legal trials on the horizon for him. coming up, what 17 of trump's best people said about him. sarah longwell joins us with a new piece on what the president's loyalists now say about him. that revealing new piece is straight ahead on "morning joe." straight ahead on "morning joe." shopify's point of sale system helps you sell at every stage of your business. need a fast and secure way to take payments? we've got you covered. how about card readers that you can rely on? yep, that too. want one place to manage every

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with new hampshire's own willie geist. they're going to review today's primary vote when "morning joe" comes right back. hen "morning j comes right back

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sadly, not everyone is willing to put our country first. here in new hampshire, nikki haley has made an unholy alliance with rinos. >> are we really going to say we're okay with having our options be two 80-year-olds that run for president? i'm not being disrespectful. i'm saying we need somebody with eight years. they can't do that. >> donald trump and nikki haley making their final pitches to new hampshire voters last night. voting in new hampshire got

underway at midnight with six residents becoming the first voters in the state to cast their ballots in the primary. all six voted for nikki haley, a clean sweep. welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe." 6:00 a.m. on the west coast, 9:00 a.m. in the east. willie is in manchester, new hampshire, this morning. he's joined by mike barnicle, chris matthews and the jonathan lemire back with us as well. >> we have a murderer's row here. not me, these two guys right here. chris, it's primary day in new hampshire. it feels like a different primary day. what's your sense of things as we sit here this morning?

nikki haley obviously needs to pull off a miracle. is there a shot? >> she has a shot, but it's a long one. i remember in '68 it was the college kids coming here to oppose the war in vietnam and of course there were a lot of men versus women. nikki is doing much better with women. this is about class, about economics. i went to laconia last night in a rural area. i was overwhelmingly struck by the poor people, the people who are always democrats. these people have always been democrats. lining up for hours to get one last peek at donald trump, their hero. he says things like they're indicting me for you, i'm taking the bullet for you. i love it because i keep going up in the polls. it's clearly about that college versus non-college.

i hate to see it, because the democratic party has always been for the working guy, working women. i think those people are aggrieved for a lot of economic, social reasons, being talked down to, condescended to by the elites. i think this campaign is going to be run on grief and anger and the 2020 election. it's anger about how it was stolen according to donald trump. he's the only one that said it. he lies and they go along with his lies. >> then you had all the candidates he has vanquished on the stage. tim scott, vivek ramaswamy. >> every one of those people he destroyed. then think have to do the bended knee. it's outrageous. >> just obsequious in their praise of donald trump. you were down in salem, new

hampshire, for the nikki haley event, nice big crowd. she gave a very policy focused speech, not a lot of connection with the voters. then somewhere toward the end of the speech she drew some very vague and non-threatening distinctions with donald trump. i served in his administration, i was proud to serve in his administration, but fairly or unfairly, chaos follows him. we don't want to go back to the chaos, is how she makes the contrast eventually. and look at the polling. i beat joe biden head to head. donald trump doesn't. governor sununu made that case as well. >> nikki haley was fine. she was substantive, spoke for a half an hour logically, a nice string of points that she raised, but there was something missing. i think it was probably the relationship to the crowd.

the crowd was a good crowd, substantial crowd, but sort of tepid responses, remote applause occasionally, but there wasn't anything from nikki haley that would reach out to grab the crowd. there was no excitement level that she provoked with what she was saying which was all very substantive and she was very good at it, but there was a lack of electricity there. >> it's like the jimmy kimmel show with that great scene of desantis trying to smile. hillary clinton is a politician like most people who run for president. when she went into the room and talked about how the election had gotten to her, if you just say half of that is true, it's a lot. nikki haley doesn't bring herself into the room with her. you should bring yourself into the room. if you're coming in, introduce yourself. say, i'm here, let me tell you

why i'm really running. i'm running because i worry about our country or something personal, which should be true. if it isn't true, it's a real problem. >> joe, she eventually gets around to the stakes of this election, but particularly here last night and today saying effectively, this is it, this is your last chance as a republican party to make the statement that we don't want to go back to the chaos of donald trump. we'll find out as people are voting as we speak. >> it's so interesting listening to you all talk who were in the room getting vaughn hillyard's report of the woman that left and said, is that it? nikki haley comes across very well on tv. she comes across very well in a 30-second shot. here's a live shot of hampton,

new hampshire, people in line. there's nikki haley right there in hampton, new hampshire, shaking hands with a voter, outnumbered by the press about 30-1, it looks like. nikki haley, though, i must say on tv comes across very well. while we're hearing about how she doesn't connect, showing still shots of her in diners appearing to connect, in schools and town hall meetings appearing to connect. there's governor sununu with nikki haley. for so many of us like chris matthews, mike barnicle, willie, myself who read the making of a president in 1960. for those of us who are still true believers in american

democracy, this is a great scene, not necessarily 30 reporters outnumbering voters, but just the scene of new hampshire. you know, chris, i heard you were talking about how you had voters who were working class voters lining up to vote for donald trump. that's a seismic shift. if you're going to respond to that and create another seismic shift, then you need somebody that can explain from their gut that donald trump is a man that has promised this campaign to take away their health care. donald trump is a man who has bragged about terminating roe v wade and the right for women to decide. is that going to hurt rich women? is that going to hurt the

children of rich families? no. that's going to hurt working class women that can't afford to travel 1,000 miles to terminate a pregnancy that their doctor's already said is going to end badly. donald trump is a man who gave millionaires and corporations the largest tax cut in the history of any country. so there has to be more than pat campaign speeches to move working class americans back to candidates who are actually going to fight for them instead of fighting over an election.

nikki haley doesn't appear to be that candidate when you're in the room listening. >> ed koch would go up to people and ask them how he's doing as mayor, or nelson rockefeller would say, hiya, fella. it was a way of connecting. eisenhower in normandy when he talked to the soldiers before they went into battle to try to take back europe. he'd walk up to soldiers and say, good luck, soldier. it meant something that he was talking to a soldier, good luck tomorrow, don't get killed. i think there's a way of talking. you connect to people. how are the kids doing? you find ways of subverting the

big distance between you and the other person. >> it's very complicated. you know what you do? you act human. you look them in the eye. if they want to hug you, you hug them. if they want to shake your hand, you shake their hand. you go back, you hold them by the shoulders and you ask them, how are you doing? what do i need to do to represent you? what's the biggest problem facing you? again, that's why there seems to be this disconnect with nikki haley. she looks like she's doing that, but judging from everybody i talk to in new hampshire, there seems to be a distance. >> the distance standing between the voter and nikki haley and

the fact she won't address her opponents on a human level. >> that's not what they're saying, though. is it all about trump, or is it that nikki haley is just not connecting to voters? >> i don't think it's all about trump. . >> hey, mike. by the way, mike, you pull the tape from 2008, this day in 2008, this is exactly what we were saying about hillary clinton, by the way, and then she won that night. but go ahead. >> it's not all about trump. it's her reluctance here in new hampshire from nikki haley to approach the voter individually. she gives the speech. as we said, it's substantive and

she hits all the key points, but she will not engage with the crowd. there are no questions. she doesn't take questions after the speech. she doesn't wade into the crowd. they're right there in front of her, but she doesn't do that. i don't know why she doesn't do it, but it's helpful in new hampshire, that personal touch. hands on the shoulders, talking to someone, eye contact, how are you doing, what's on your mind, what could i do to make your life better or your children's lives better? what could i do to help you think better about our future as a country? that doesn't happen. >> it's like whenever there's a break, when there's a heckler in the crowd, she would stop and make a good comment about how they handled that and she has a right to speak. it's very nice, but then she'd go back to the exact point and continued her script as if nothing had ever happened there.

she should react to it spontaneously. not every politician has spontaneity. bill clinton had great spontaneity. he could go just immediately to the moment and talk to the people about what just happened, but she goes back to the script. i think people who go to a number of her rallies will see that. >> a lot changed after that botched answer she gave about the civil war and why it started. they protected her from questions. it's not clear, to mika's point, that better handshaking and baby kissing would have prevented what may be coming here for donald trump given the force he is in the state. let's go to pem broke, new hampshire, about 20 miles north of manchester, that's where we find ali vitali. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. all my friends are hanging out without me in manchester, so i'm a little bummed.

i think in listening to this conversation, yes, we are at a polling place. folks are starting to vote here in pembroke. this is one of those bellwether counties that people are going to be looking at closely. as someone who's romantic about election day and loves to watch the democratic process play out, i also have the benefit of having been to nikki haley rallies over the course of the last year. i think the thing that i want to add to this conversation is that she does contact, at least in the conversations that i've had with voters, in the times that i've seen her on the campaign trail. she is someone who even just in the last few days was hugging babies, she was pouring beer at a bar. she was showing parts of her personality that she doesn't get to show on the stump. she's someone with a large foreign policy background who wants to talk about the issues

while at the same time informing that with her personal biography. i think i sort of disagree with the panel when they say she's not bringing herself to these rallies, because she talks about the fact that her husband michael is overseas serving yet another yearlong tour defending american's rights to be american. that informs how she looks at foreign policy. she talked about the way she doesn't want to leave this country in its current state for her children and the next generation. the entire generational leadership argument is one you can only make as a 52-year-old woman of color running in a republican primary that has not often seen people who look like that running and, frankly, succeeding. i know she's not polling high here, and it's a steep climb, but at the same time she is the last person standing against trump in a field of what was once 12-plus. i think we have to look at the

fact that on the ground for haley, i don't think it's a lack of connecting, though i think willie is right to point out that after the comments about the cause of the civil war, we did see the campaign really change its posture on the campaign trail. they pulled back in iowa on doing q & a with voters. i've noticed a shift in posture with them. the way they've ramped up the retail politics stops, that's i should -- under the guidance of chris sununu. you see her among the crowd trying to connect in whatever way she can. this is the home stretch. you're doing eight events a day. i don't know that you have time to do one on one with every voter, but at the same time i do see her putting that forward. i think the problem is not a lack of connection. it's a lack of people who want

an alternative to trump. they have a binary choice. it's the one nikki haley has been pushing for the entire time. haley is now potentially on the losing side of that. if we can play a quick clip of my interview with her -- >> are you going to win south carolina? >> our goal, i want to be strong in iowa, get stronger in new hampshire. it's not just about three states. then you go onto super tuesday. this is a process. if you go in history, this process plays out. why is this any different? why should we assume this time we have to have biden and trump? that's not fair to the american people. more people deserve to be able to vote. i'm going to give them that option. >> i want to try and reframe the case i was making earlier and

bring in the point that you made that there are just more trump voters and that could be the issue in whether or not it's trump. what we see is nikki haley going through the motions, doing the work and doing a good job at it. you see in the pictures and in your reporting that she's trying to connect with people, but everything that she's about, her husband served. trump says people who served are losers. she's a woman. roe. foreign policy, she's got expertise. stolen documents. everything that nikki haley is about is a solid answer to donald trump. we've never seen her taking that on and owning it. i guess many would say that would be the wrong strategy as well. but she's sort of left hanging in this middle ground where she's not being completely true to the obvious. >> if she were running in a democratic primary, that would

make sense. if she were running in a general election, that would make sense. she is running in a republican primary. i don't care whether people like it or not. when you're running in a republican primary, you're in the conversion game. you have to move people who voted for donald trump in 2016 in the primaries, you need to move them to your side. you don't do that by spending your entire speech trashing trump, as much as independents and democrats might like that. that's the balance she's doing. it's easy for us to say, oh, you should just trash trump. she's running in a republican primary. it's that simple. >> reporter: yeah. that being said, i think it's fair to ask these candidates -- and i've asked nikki haley this many times -- to draw contrast with the person you're running

against. you can't control the answer they give. it explains why one of her familiar refrains is chaos follows trump, which is a criticism, but then she pairs it with fairly or unfairly. the fair she says is all of his social media posts, all the things about his personality i've been hearing since 2015. she says the unfair stuff is some of the court cases. specifically she points to manhattan and alvin bragg. she doesn't point to the stolen documents, january 6th and the insurrection. she equivocates on that. she in part has to for the base, but also this is an election about much more than winning a base. i think that could be a political explanation for why the connection is just not connecting, either because republican voters don't want to hear that or because she's just

not willing to go there with them. >> i understand it's a republican primary, but do you equivocate on rape? do you equivocate on stolen nuclear secrets? do you equivocate on treasonous behavior? do you equivocate on stolen elections? i think this is a different time. you have to think like mccain. you don't equivocate on certain things, you just don't, right? >> that's why i'm not a republican. again, if you're running in a republican primary, yes, i think you need to speak to all of those things. you've got to figure out how to do it. chris matthews, again, as i said, you're in the conversion game. it's hard to convert trump voters to you if you spend all of your time attacking trump in a republican primary. that makes people angry, i guess, to say that. it's a reality. i will say, chris, i've had

friends, republicans who call me up before they talk about running. i've told a lot of republican friends, don't run this year, because if you run this year, doesn't matter how good you are or how qualified you are, you're going to have to answer questions about trump stealing nuclear secrets, about trump raping a woman, according to a judge. i said and there's no way to do it. again, maybe it's just impossible to run as a republican this year and do what you need to do to keep your dignity and win. >> you're right, because the primary up here is today. the big court primary is march 4th. as he begins to face the jury in america, he's facing a law and

order reality, and he will probably face a real chance of being convicted. one thing is unclear. that is that trump last night in a big crowd up in laconia said they shouldn't let democrats vote in a republican primary. well, you can't be a democrat and vote in a republican primary up here. only undeclared voters are allowed to vote up here in the primary. trump is not appealing to those people, but nikki haley could have been making her point to those people, the undeclared. she could have been talking about the facts of the case against donald trump. she could have been talking about those things, but she has not done that. part of connecting with the reality of the american voter is the lies that trump has told us about winning the election in 2020, about bringing the people up to stop the steal that led to

everything that happened horribly on january 6th. he did all that personally. you have to talk about the person or the man you're running against to beat him. you can't say chaos follows him. you've got to give a human term to who he is. he's the bad guy here. in the case of 2024 politics, he's the bad guy. he tried to steal the election. you've got to talk about what he did to the american people and those 200 people who have pled guilty to felonies for assaulting police officers in the capitol building of the united states. they admitted to those crimes. they have been convicted of those crimes, some of them facing 20 years. trump is trying to walk away from all this with immunity. how can you make him your hero? bring that up. >> it should be said if this is a contest of retail political

skills, if she wins, donald trump parachutes in from new york in his jumbo jet, does a rally, speaks incoherently for an hour and goes back home to his beach club. he doesn't need to do it because of the passion he engenders with his supporters, but she is out there doing the work and he's dropping in once in a while. >> you take nikki haley. she has made those comments before that you want her to make. she, of course, has flip-flopped back and forth. after january 6th, she made the tough comments. most republicans made the tough comments, because a lot of them, the most extreme maga were crouched and hiding on january

6th from the mob that they were afraid were going to kill them, the same mob that they now call -- what do they call them? >> hostages. >> exactly. that tells you how warped it has been. >> thank you both very much. last night, the biden/harris campgn's official twitter account posted that the dow jones surpassed 38,000 for the first time ever. it compiled donald trump warning the stock market would collapse if biden were elected, compared with the coverage from fox news of this week's record market closures. >> if biden wins, you're going to have a stock market collapse. >> optimism over earnings reports led the dow and s&p 500 to new record closes today.

the dow gained 138. the s&p 500 rose 11. >> thanks, fox. president biden's account posted the video writing, "good one, donald." let's bring in andrew ross sorkin. let's talk about the stock market and the economy, which republicans want to paint as struggling, especially donald trump. >> when you think about the stock market, the most interesting piece of this is that the stock market is forward looking. if you think of this as an election year, typically the market is saying what they think the market and the economy is going to look like 12 months from now. it's a very good showing in terms of the confidence that investors have about the market. a headline in the "wall street journal" last week "americans are suddenly a lot more upbeat

about the economy." when you look at some of the confidence polls, it's moved up remarkably just in the last couple of months. really the biden administration now needs to play with that publicly a little bit more. one thing we've talked a lot about is inflation has come down under 4%. that's the great news. there are some people -- i don't know if it's the media that does it or if people are just feeling it, but prices have come down a little bit in certain places, but prices are still up. that's sort of the puzzle piece of all of this. but you do have a lot of good things moving in the right direction. the question is, come next fall, will enough people feel that to get themselves to the polls? >> again, a couple of people on wall street coming out talking about, oh, we can't survive the

biden economy. >> they're surviving it quite well. >> they're all getting richer than hell. i always talk about guys driving around in their porsches bitching about how bad the biden economy is. they get out of their porsche and get their golf bag and check their phone because they keep making tens of thousands of dollars while they're golfing. it's absolutely ridiculous. if this is socialism, the richest americans sure as hell are getting richer on this brand of socialism. >> we should get the charts. you look over the last 50 years, you know, there's a perception that somehow if there's a republican in the white house that you're going to have a better stock market and if you have a democrat in office, it's going to be worse.

it's the exact opposite. for reasons that are inexplicable to me, the public broadly seems to think it's very different. the real question is how can the biden administration communicate this in a way that really resonates? because i think you still have people, especially in some of the red states in this country, that are not feeling this, that don't have that same confidence, in large part because costs have gone up for them. that's something they are going to have to overcome. >> because they watch networks all day that tell them everything is bad. >> that's true too. >> it's very simple. there have been two republican presidents this century. the first republican president left office in the midst of an absolute meltdown, an absolute collapse in september of 2008. donald trump left office with an economic collapse of historic proportions in 2020, in part

because of how badly he mishandled covid, the lies he told for months saying that covid wasn't a problem, talking about how great president xi was. you look where americans have been, where economies have ended when republican presidents have left office this century, there's just not a comparison. both have just been a complete disaster for americans, haven't they? >> i don't disagree with you. i think president trump unfortunately during covid was not handled properly and the public was not told in the right way. >> that's a nice way of putting it. >> to be fair, the u.s. economy may be worse off than it otherwise would have been, but it would have been a bad situation no matter who was the president. i think you saw that play itself out across the globe, just as a

piece of nuance and fairness. >> it's safe to say he took a bad situation and made it a hell of a lot worse. coming up on "morning joe," senate lawmakers are finalizing what mitch mcconnell calls the most substantial border security policy in 30 years. border secuy policy in 30 years (tony hawk) skating for over 45 years has taken a toll on my body. i take qunol turmeric because it helps with healthy joints and inflammation support. why qunol?

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this week senator langford

and several colleagues continued their work to finalize the most substantial border security policy in 30 years. this agreement would come not a moment too soon. >> minority leader mitch mcconnell commenting on the senate's developing bipartisan deal on border security and foreign aid, which most people support. let's bring in sahil kapur. what's the latest? >> reporter: we can confirm these negotiations have moved to a new phase. the policy contours of this emerging deal are mostly settled. we expect to see a higher bar for asylum seeking. we expect to see new limits on parole. this is in the hands of appropriators to make sure the money is there to implement these new policies. we know democrats are highly motivated to get this done, in

part because it's tied to ukraine aid. we know senate republicans are highly motivated to get this done, but among house republicans it's a very different story. speaker mike johnson has been angling against these senate negotiations tweeting up a storm. he argues the problem is not legislation, that it's executive action that president biden only undoes his own policies and implements president trump's actions that this problem goes away. some are saying they won't support ukraine aid under any circumstances, one of them, marjorie taylor greene, even threatening his job over ukraine aid. house republicans worry they have no record of accomplishments to run on heading into this very crucial election where the thin majority they have is up for grabs. don't take my word for that. listen to what a couple of house republicans have to say about their lack of accomplishments.

>> we have nothing to campaign on, chris. it's embarrassing. >> right. i know the republican party has zero accomplishments. >> one thing! i want my republican colleagues to give me one thing, one, that i can campaign on and say we did. one! anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor and come explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the republican majority has done besides, well, i guess it's not as bad as the democrats. it does not matter who's sitting in the speaker's seat or who's got the majority. we keep doing the same stupid stuff. >> reporter: the irony is republicans in the house have a major opportunity here to salvage this unproductive congress. one of them is this border

security deal. ukraine aid and israel aid would ride along with this. either that passes together with the immigration deal or it doesn't pass. there's a government funding negotiation that's happening after they've punted three times. there's a bill to expand the child tax credit and provide new breaks to businesses that passed the ways and means committee on a massive vote of 40-3. even that is uncertain. here you have a gut check moment for house republicans. do they want to take compromises and say we did something with the majority, or do they want to say here's what we stopped, elect us again to another majority. either way, the fate of the current republican house majority could depend on the decision they make in these coming days and weeks on these major deals on the table. >> thank you. mika, again, you have republicans saying the truth, saying they've done nothing.

they've accomplished nothing. chip roy saying name one thing we've accomplished. here you actually have a speaker of the house, who is going to stab israel in the back, going to stab ukraine in the back and going to let fentanyl continue to flood across the border, continue to let illegal immigrants flood across the border because he won't pass the package that conservative republicans in the senate are saying is the best border security package ever. >> i mean, how long does this go on? they're self-destructive. >> it's unbelievable marjorie taylor greene saying if you don't take a pro-putin position, i'm going to kick you out. let's tell the truth about this. why is he opposing a bill that has the toughest border security?

because the speaker of the house, mr. hey, look at the bible, he's voted for putin on every single ukraine voting bill. he's taken the pro-putin position on every single ukraine voting packaging. what's so crazy is, these republicans were attacking barack obama for not doing enough in 2014. now they're taking a pro-putin position. >> perfect time to bring in publisher of "the bulwark" and executive director of the republican accountability project, sarah longwell. her latest piece for the "new york times" is entitled "what 17 of trump's best people said about him." sarah, i would say these house republicans we were just talking about is mini trumps, but they're doing massive damage to

the republican party, to the ability to get anything done, even things they want. tell us about your piece. who did you hear from? >> actually, what we did is we went back and compiled all of the members of trump's cabinet who had spoken out against him. this is unprecedented to have so many senior officials come out and said things like this man is a danger to democracy, he is responsible for the attack on the capitol. i think you guys would agree with me when i say one of the big after flixs of the republican party over the last many years has been a problem of silence, an unwillingness to speak up, an unwillingness to vote for impeachment after january 6th. people have have allowed donald trump to get away with things that are unspeakable attacks on our democracy. i wanted to really use this an

as opportunity both to demonstrate how unprecedented it was, but also to use it as a call to action. as we go into this general election, donald trump is going to be the republican nominee. regardless of what happens in new hampshire, he's going to be the republican nominee. a lot of these folks who have spoken out, they did it a long time ago, after january 6th. i think there needs to be a concerted and sustained effort of a lot of these people to speak outgoing forward and tell the american people just how dangerous donald trump is. they worked up close with him. they saw the things that alarmed them that they've talked about. i think there's this idea from them that they can't make a difference to voters, that if they speak out, donald trump just gets stronger. that's true of the base of the republican party. it is not true of swing voters. one of the things that i think

sometimes people don't understand, i've seen them say i spoke out and it's a half a day story. it's not true with the swing voters. average voters don't read "the atlantic." your average median information voter, that's not what they're reading. you've got to go out in a sustained way and say things. a lot of the folks we haven't heard as much from are the people who are the generals, jim mattis. they will make a difference if they say something. my hope is they hear this call. these are people who have defended democracy overseas. they have sent soldiers into battle. so my ask is that they defend democracy once again by telling people what they saw and the danger that trump poses. i think that would be a real

service to the country. >> so many who have served in uniform resist talking politics, but this could be the exception. there was a lot of importance from the words of those who testified before the january 6th committee who were republicans, who were there up close, who saw trump's behavior on that day. that seemed to break through. i assume that's the theory here as well. you're going to want to hear from them perhaps daily between now and november. >> that is absolutely right. when people told their stories, when cassidy hutchinson and other brave people who worked for donald trump came out and made the case that he was unfit and said what they saw, that he didn't do anything about january 6th, that had an enormous impact. i think for somebody like jim

mattis or some of the other generals, i think they may tell themselves, look, it's not my job as somebody who is in the military to get involved in politics. i understand that, but i think when you take a senior role in an administration with a republican president, that you've engaged in politics. i give them all the credit. i think they joined the administration because they wanted to be the adults in the room. they knew donald trump was dangerous or at least unfit and they wanted to be there to serve the country. i think they did it for the right reasons, but they have to serve the country again by saying what they saw. we know because they give blind quotes to people who are writing books. we know they think he's dangerous. there's people like mark esper who have been out there saying donald trump is a threat to democracy. one theory here is that you need

to speak with one voice. there's safety in numbers. you can't just have one person here or there because they get excommunicated from the party or called a rino. you need to come together and say it loudly, relentlessly and in a concerted way so swing voters hear it. yes, donald trump owns the base of the republican party, and the base is quite large, large enough to win any primary. but there have been people he has been alienating, republicans trump has been alienating for years, but they are still republicans. that's who these people need to speak to help them understand abandon the trump version of the republican party. >> you can read sarah's full piece at "the new york times." thanks so much as always. we appreciate it. joining me up here in manchester, new hampshire, jen psaki and ben stein i want to go

back for a minute to the immigration deal that joe and mika were talking about a minute ago. you have this bipartisan group of senators saying we're at the funding phase now. we think we have a deal. we have to figure out how to fund it now. you have mike johnson saying on tv, i talked to donald trump every day and he sure doesn't like this deal. is the speaker of the house going to kill the deal that they have been asking for, for years? >> yeah, i think so. that would be the -- that would be where things are pointing. i think it is helpful to step back and look at it somewhat in the vacuum. ten years ago, for instance, you put together legislation, tons of funds to go to israel, we were pushing back against vladimir putin and money for border security. first of all, i don't think your former boss would have done it, but maybe not, i don't know. republicans would have jumped and -- that's a republican bill. that is quintessentially a republican bill. the things have clearly shifted

dramatically since then. some of this is just reflexibly being against what your opposition supports. in this case, you have a huge swath of republicans saying, if biden wants it, i can't be for it and that's driven by a lot of the base, which doesn't want them to help biden succeed, who believes that if he does get this bill, it could benefit him in the election and they would rather not do that. some of it is driven by donald trump saying i don't want -- >> i would say a huge amount is driven by donald trump and the politics of the fact that donald trump wants to run on the border. we have been here -- we have been here since saturday. this is an issue people are talking about here, top of the exit polls in iowa and better for trump and mike johnson who reports to him, of course, if this is an issue they can run. this is a disaster. this is joe biden's problem. the white house very much wants this deal, right? it is good for them. they need this deal. and that's why they want to kill it. remember, also, lindsey graham and other conservative republicans in the senate have

basically said this deal is not going to get better. on the substance of it, this deal is not going to get better. >> arguably, if you see a future in which a republican president donald trump wins and proposes the same deal, i don't think it passes. i think democrats at that point say, no way. >> as you say, even republican senators, this is tilted in our favor a little bit. this is as good as it is going to get. let's go to new hampshire, here we are, sitting here on primary day. as you write this morning, a different primary day, a strange primary day, what are you pick up today? >> i don't want to be, like, the vibes guy, but i'll -- the vibes are weird. it is not that it is just low energy. i don't think it is totally low energy. it is empty here relative to cycles past. it is dark. it is extremely dark vibe. and you talked to voters at the rallies and it is really about -- there is not -- it is not an inspirational primary.

they're not there to back nikki haley. they think biden is, like, out to lunch and, you know, should be in a nursing home. you talk to dean phillips people who go there and they think, you know, democratic leadership is corrupt and it is about who they're against. i'm struck by, you know, because in years -- in cycles past, there is one or two candidates who are close in the primary trying to gin up that energy and get the picturesque exit or town hall setting, people are on the road, that's not happening here. it is really weird, very dark and depressing and gets to the mood of the electorate. >> not a lot of babies being held, maybe for the good. >> and the leading candidate spent a lot of time in manhattan courtrooms and parachuting in on his jet, doing a rally and going back home. >> it tells us a lot, we'll see tonight, but about the republican electorate. the eye opening thing about this whole election season so far. right now donald trump and the tracking poll this morning is 22

points up in new hampshire. we'll see what happens. he's winning among people under 50. he's not that far behind among independents. this is the state that is the best state for nikki haley. best state for an alternative. and he's still winning by that amount. at his rally last night, someone said, free the january 6th people who are -- he said, we will! and people cheered. that's the electorate. that's what they want and support. he's not saying i'm sorry that i want to be a dictator. he's saying i want to be a dictate and they're saying, yea, let's go vote for you. >> there is this guy, victor orban, he's great, i'll be like him. >> at every stump speech. >> didn't see that one coming. nikki haley, her closing argument was you have the last vote here. if i don't do well here or keep it close, donald trump is the nominee and we're off to the races. this is your chance to decide who we're going to be. >> so there is some history to that. hillary clinton sort of used that same argument against

barack obama in 2016. i would say barnacle summed it up best, it is a good presentation, but not a rousing one. i think back to the vibes, the people here want to be inspired to support a candidate, not just compelled to vote against another candidate. i think that will be her undoing. >> jen, what are you expecting to see tonight? can nikki haley pull off a miracle? >> it depends how you define a miracle. should she stay in and be pummeled in her home state? the question is kind of what does she do? that's the big question to me. >> jen's coverage, 4:00 today, 4:00 to 6:00 and late night, i'm told, with guest sam stein. >> yes. >> we'll be there. we'll get you some coffee. >> 4:00 and late night for special coverage of the new hampshire primary. that does it for us this morning from manchester. ana cabrera picks up the

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right now on a special edition of "ana cabrera reports," voting under way this morning across new hampshire in what could be the last stand for the anti-trump movement in the republican