john: with all due respect dueld trump -- with all respect to donald trump, this may not be the best idea. mark: our daily donald fix and the republican party's big swinging ego. mitt romney stops by our studio hisart of day two of "anybody but trump" tour. york he went on a new

needs topage why he be stopped, even if it takes political gamesmanship at the national convention in cleveland. mosterson with the delegates going into the cleveland convention, is that person entitled to the nomination? mitt romney: nobody is entitled to the nomination. the voters decide who they want to support them. and the delegates make a determination treated -- determination. is a process that is a normal political process. it may be a contested open convention. that may be interesting, exciting for the public at large. either you have to get the delegates and show you have the support of the nation, and if you didn't then you have to go to the convention and convince the delegates.

mark: we are 24 hours into mitt romney's crusade, how is it going? i thought he performed really well today. i thought he made his case in greater detail. i don't think he has dispelled the suspicions of some that he ultimately would like to be the republican nominee. romney'srge i think driving the message strongly. mark: chris christie is the opposite. fore are endorsing trump establishment, there are those saying they are against trump but if he is nominated they will support him, and that people like romney who say he will never support trump. he is having surprising traction with that decision to use the rules of the party to stop somebody they do not have the majority. is quite clear,

either you get the majority of delegates or you do not. there is a first ballot and if you don't win the first ballot it becomes a contested convention. i think you can be a great fan -- of robertsrts rules of order. this becomes fair game, fairplay. about to tell you a story little marco and big donald. the two white house hopefuls stood as stoic statesman. of the about issues electorate. i was having a reverse flashback at as anyone who saw the debate knows, it was actually an exercise in petulance and penile illusions. allusions.

doesn't change anything in the republican race and doesn't do any lasting image as some conservatives have suggested? mark: people have said for several weeks they cannot watch the debates or political rallies with their kids in the room. rubio exploited some of that rhetoric in the last couple of weeks. last night did turn off a lot of people. i don't know if it will have a negative effect on the candidates, it had a negative effect on a lot of people saying they can believe this is a major party presidential debate. john: the ratings are off the charts in the debates and americans are tuning into this .otly contested nomination it blows my mind there was a time in our memory, in our lifetime in which the republican party was a party of ideas. it is not the party of ideas anymore. mark: you see the tension out of

the mouth of marco rubio. on the one hand trying to continued his insults against donald trump. and the other, when he said i wish we could be talking about ideas. back, my full interview with governor mitt romney on everything trump, including how far he is willing to go to stop front-runner. ♪

mark: as mentioned earlier mitt romney stopped by our studio today to talk about his anti-trump project. it's darted by talking about the feedback -- we started by

talking about the feedback he has heard since yesterday. been 24 hours since you gave your speech. i am wondering what you have experience to wrigley and what you have observed is a direct reaction to it. gov. romney: i have received a lot of support from friends and associates. they have sent a record number of e-mails and messages. mark: anyone you can tell us who viewers would know? gov. romney: those people can express themselves if they would like to. i sat in my speech that we can measure the radius of donald trump to be president in part of how people responded to my speech, whether it be policy or a personal attack. characteristically he took the low road. mark: there has been some negative reaction, rush limbaugh reacted negatively. does that recent -- does that -- does that bother you at all? gov. romney: i haven't think that donald trump has neither

the expense nor temperament to be president. mark: there have been moments where you are mrs. romney together have said that is too far, too much. can you think of those in the last few weeks or months where you were mrs. romney have said that is too much? gov. romney: it is a long list. his comments about mexicans, that was very early on. then comments about slums, most recently what he said with regards to the equivocation on .avid duke and the ku klux klan and then saying that george w. , at the samear time saying putin someone who he respects as a strong and effective leader. it has been one outrage after the other. his mocking of a reporter based on their physical does ability. -- physical disability. and the sexual and full elements have been a part of this campaign.

and folder elements that have been a part of this campaign. ar elements that have been a part of this campaign. my thought was i was going to remain neutral and call the balls and strikes and a foul here and there. with the ku klux klan equal vacation and with how late this is getting in the process, i said to myself when my grandkids come and say, what are you going to do to stop donald trump, i don't want to say i did nothing. mark: a big date is tuesday when florida and other states vote. you did some other interviews. what will you be doing between .ow and then you said you would do everything you could to stop donald trump. i'm doing this,

which actually reaches more voters than showing up in a state. i much or my showing up in a state would make a difference. most people want you to come in and endorsing candidates. i am laying out the case why we need to have a real republican lead our party. and donald trump is that person. that is something i can continue to do best in the media. mark: after today are you done? gov. romney: i have a show or two tomorrow. then i will continue to work behind the scenes and do whatever i could. mark: what about your fundraising network? there are super groups try to raise money to stop donald trump. gov. romney: i think they have noticed my remarks yesterday. i'm hoping those people who are saying donald trump is ineffective, we might look at on board, maybe we should wait a minute here and give it a second look. --mark: are already

you going to give money to any of those groups? gov. romney: i may. mark: some people talk about his taxes. some people speculated about your taxes. do you know something about his taxes? do you have some informed guess or are you doing some trolling? gov. romney: i indicated what i believed to be a bombshell in his taxes. every time someone raised a question about his taxes he evades. you don't do that if you planning relationship. as time has gone on he has come up with new excuses why he won't release them. for five years he is being audited. he says now know, the debt or three years. us the taxes that aren't being audited. he does not want to release his

tax returns under any circumstances. i don't believe he ever will because there is something in there that he is afraid of people sought a wooden vote for him as the nominee. -- they wouldn't vote -- if they wouldn't vote for him as nominee. it is one year or five , in the yearyears i had them completed in january 2012, we are now in march of this election year. let's take this away from donald trump and talk about who is entitled to the nomination. is the person with the most targets going into the cleveland convention, has a plurality, is that entitled to the nomination you go -- to the nomination? gov. romney: no one is entitled to the nomination. the delegates make a determination of who will be in

the best interest of the party to be the nominee. this is a process that is a normal political process. it may go away in a contested open convention. i think that would be interesting. either you have to get the delegates and show you had the support of the nation, you have the 1200 30,000 delegates, then -- the 12,000e 12 300 delegates. he's not the one who should be the present of nominee with 41%. what he has said with muslims, women, george bush, a person like that should nominee for our party

for president. i'll continue to advocate until that avenues no longer open. mark: what do you say for the people who voted for him? gov. romney: i will do my best to get people to vote in another direction. we have a political process that has been used before and i anticipate you are going to see a process where people decide the best way forward. thing as an no such open convention, my guess is the three people running, as opponents to donald trump right now, would combine 21. they say you have to get up before you get there. those that are running separately, they think it is not the best chance of getting the delegates at the convention they need. mark: we will be back with more from my interview with mitt romney.

♪ welcome back. more from our interview with mitt romney, where he talks doomsday scenario. why the political rhetoric in this campaign is different from elections past. mark: you said some pretty rough things about john mccain, that is politics. rick santorum and new gingrich said some interesting things about you. is this different, are the things people will, you and others, saying about donald trump beyond normal politics? he hasmney: i think what been doing in the campaign is taking politics to a wholly lower level than we have ever seen, at least in modern times. doomsday scenario. why the political rhetoric in this campaign is different from elections past. mark:the attacks based on peop's sosical characteristics, saying about carly fiorina, look

at her face, saying about marco rubio in the debate, "little marco, little marco," this hasn't been done before. even calling someone a liar. liar, liar ted," -- andinds of things frankly, the vulgarity, that hasn't been a part of political campaigns. it goes on in locker rooms and small groups. but on a public stage, running for president in the united states -- president of the united states, to engage in personal attacks is something we haven't seen before. you saidey: --mark: you wouldn't vote for donald trump but you wouldn't vote for hillary clinton. but a lot of political advice you say that is the most likely outcome. what would you do in the general election if those are your only two choices? gov. romney: i would vote for a

conservative on the ballot. i would write in a name. see, would you like to let's say donald trump wins and it lookshio like by the middle of march he's going to be the republican nominee, would you like to see an effort made by some conservative to get talent exits -- get ballot exits? gov. romney: i haven't thought about that. i just know i don't what is he donald trump the dow country, and i don't want to see hillary clinton leading our country. i will probably be riding in a name. -- be writing in a name. president -- whose presidency would be better for the country and whose would be worse? gov. romney: i'm going to channel lindsey graham and say do you want to either drink the poison or take the bullet? you are not a fan of

hillary clinton being president, and i know you respect the clintons. it doesn't sound like you respect donald trump are\. you don't think from your point of view a hillary clinton presidency would be better than a donald presidency? unlikely to do anything to see i'm pulling for the presidency -- for the democratic presidency. mark: it would be a horrible with those choices, it sounds like you are saying. gov. romney: i would be troubled with those choices. the republicans who are supportive of me them up to me time and time again after the speech and says, thanks for doing that. thanks for what you said yesterday. this is something in which people are concerned about. not all republicans. obviously people support donald trump.

but people are uncomfortable with something whose policies are so far away from the views of mainstream republicans. and with regards to domestic i said yesterday i'm convinced his policies, if they were implemented, would cost the country to go into recession. -- they don't crate jobs don't create jobs. he says we will bring jobs back, he has no idea how to do that. he says he will put in a terrace, which would be devastating for our economy. there is a way to get jobs back. key six talked about them last night. talked about the last night. mark: there is skeptic among career politicians and even cynicism. last night you had marco rubio and ted cruz continue to say the kinds of things you are saying about donald trump. rubio has said he is a con man. debate at the end of the when asked if they would support

him, they said they would. to somethat lead cynicism, where a leading candidate says this guy is a comment that but i will support him if he is the nominee? gov. romney: it is a difficult decision. they agreed at the beginning of the race they would support the nominee. mark: is in that putting the party above country? gov. romney: they can say i can't stand the guy and i don't want him to be president, but i'm concerned about the supreme court nominee and that is going to tip the balance for me. each one of them has to make that decision. mark: would you trust him more to pick a supreme court nominee that hillary clinton? gov. romney: i think ted cruz made a strong point, which is it is very difficult to know exactly what donald trump is going to do. he has changed his position within days on a whole host of issues. subject was raised about the new york times transcript and what he said about immigration, it is clear he said something different

because he talked about flexibility and wanting to have flexibility. i don't think you would know what he would do. the presidential contenders suggest it is different than mine. mark: you are optimist about american people. is it possible donald trump could become the republican nominee, get elected, and turn out to be a much better president and much more in line than what he has suggested to you so far? mark: he says -- gov. romney: he says he has never repented, he never asks god for forgiveness. this doesn't seem like a guy who embraces changing his view or demeanor. i think that is not very likely. thatot going to write off people have the potential to change and prove themselves. he is a link something about his temperament, which suggests this

kind of unhinged approach is not going to be the kind of leadership we want to see in washington. question, you obviously had a relationship with him before. if he calls you tomorrow and says i would like to talk to you and get your advice on how i can run this campaign to make you proud of me and earn your support, would you take that call? gov. romney: of course, i would be happy to. i would take him through all the things he has said. , iould say, if i were you would go back and say i was wrong, that was a mistake and i shouldn't have said that. i haven't heard him say he is wrong yet. he should go back and say, what i said about george w. bush, towing there were weapons of mass destruction, what i said about putin being a strong and powerful leader, that was wrong.

he's a bad guy. what i said about mexicans being rapists, that is wrong. if he was to earn your support and he did all that, he could? afraid it's too much change to consider such a thing. if a majority of the delegates in cleveland say we vote for mitt romney, we want is romney on the ballot, would you turn that down? gov. romney: would you? the prospect for me is not the same as you. is at leasty it slightly higher for you. gov. romney: i'm not going to go there. that pretends that i have any interest, and i don't. -- our nominee is likely going to be donald trump.

it is not going to be someone who is not running for president, not seeking that office, doesn't have the staff to it the delegates into supporting them, that is not what we are doing. i want us to get someone who can win and leave the country in a way that would make us proud. mark: you and i know at least two people who think it could end up the other way. thank you. gov. romney: thank you. at what isxt, look happening at the severely conservative seatac meeting. ♪

mark: i'm down in the fabled

washington dc area for the fabled see pack conference good today it was ted cruz and john kasich to lay out his case were the party faithful. think anybody is going to get that, i'm going to win ohio, and then -- >> you think it is going to be a brokered convention? , i do. >> i was there when president reagan tried to be jerry ford, at the end everybody got together. is, theres this year is nobody who say this isn't , i have to win 68% of the remaining delegates. marco has to win 64. ted is somewhere around 59 or 60. it is unlikely. john: tomorrow's speakers were

supposed be little marco and big donald. trump scheduled a last minute rally in kansas. afternoon ted cruz saw that as an opportunity to strike. isator cruz: donald trump skipping cpac. i think somebody told him megyn kelly was going to be here. or even worse he was told there were going to be conservatives that were going to be here. [applause] for even worse he was told there were libertarians -- or even worse he was told there were libertarians that were going to be here, or even worse he was told there were young people that were going to be here. none of you have a degree from trump university.

john: that is ted cruz milking it. we are going to talk to the chairman of cpac about the exit trump stage left or right to later in the show. my question has to do with his decision. it has been a good event for him. what do you think about his decision to skip out in this year of all years? mark: he was committed to going. there was some question about what the format would be. y trump has the wa conducted himself, he skipped a lot of events where he would have to be on equal footing with a lot of candidates. i have -- i don't have a good feeling about whether or not this is going to hurt him. trump is a little bit off-balance, even though he is dominating and is the most likely nominee. an opportunity for

him to come in here as a concrete hero, i have been here all day talking to activists and big names in the conservative movement. there is a lot of skepticism about trump. he could come here on the precipice of winning the nomination and rebutted forcefully, those who say he was not a real conservative. to coment he decided here, i'm not sure if it was because of a format or he was afraid of a walkout. it is not tough guy trump backing down from what could have been a big moment for him politically in this stage of the nomination. mark: breaking news, ben carson stepping down. carsonre a lot of supporters at cpac who are up for grabs and trump is going to miss the opportunity to grab them direct plea. it is a little bit nuts for a candidate to be spending their friday or saturday at cpac as

opposed to talking to voters who on the precipice of voting in a very underrated day of voting. ted cruz was tearing up the stage. clockuld think given the is ticking, it may be better for crews and marco rubio. on the other hand this is a time honored tradition that presidential candidates show up every four years. overstated the case. cpac is obviously a huge event. it is just the scheduling does leave these candidates with the choice. in the coming days we may learn more what went on in his decision not to go by people in the conservative movement in their peril. coming up, how the conservatives are coping with the idea of donald trump reading their party's nominee. if you are watching us in washington dc, you can listen to

us on the radio. ♪

at the biggest gathering of conservatives in the country, everybody is getting a message from the general election. >> dollar is the presumptive nominee. -- donald say that trump is the presumptive nominee. >> i won't say that. >> i do think he will be the nominee, not that i want him to be. >> i'm not giving up on senator cruz. >> i'm not real sure.

>> right now rubio is a little bit behind. there are all kinds of theories. >> transfer a favorite book is the bible. >> i don't think -- trumps favorite book is the bible. >> i don't think he has ever read it. >> make america great -- >> again. >> make america great -- >> as it has always been. i don't want to say it. i can't. mark: our thanks to the brilliant guy behind the camera for capturing the turmoil. talk to us about what is going on -- to talk to us about what , mattng on down here

pp.la i want you to talk about what happened that caused donald trump to not show up tomorrow. enjoys beingly here. i have talked to him several times. everything was going smoothly. stuck on the idea that yes he is the front runner, but we are going to stick to our rules and how we have explained we're going to handle the time on that state which -- stage with each of these candidates. we were going to be fair to all these campaigns. what we will not do is we will not change these rules because one person is doing so well as a front runner. if you come to be treated like the other candidates.

john: every candidate who comes here gives a speech. and then they take questions. there are not a lot of nation journalists. he has toissue was give a speech and take questions, he did not want to take questions. i think he is used to giving a speech in a certain way, which some people love. john: is this because of a particular moderator? matt: it had nothing to do with who was going to conduct the question. it is about this, should he follow the same rules as all the other candidates? i would never schlapp you in the face. he has done a lot of media interviews. that he is inre here where he has got a good reception in the past -- he

isn't here where he has gotten a good reception in the past. matt: he wanted to give a big huge speech, which he is allowed to do at his campaign rallies and. but when -- rallies and events. but when he comes here conservatives are setting the rule. john: are you annoyed, are you -- what is your personal reaction? matt: i probably have had every emotion. what i think needs to happen for the conservative movement is they need to hear all these candidates. we have a lot of issues, they are going to deal with those issues. if we are having a family dispute, everybody has to come to the family reunion. john: this event is obviously a huge deal for the republican party and the conservative movement broadly. every four years, the candidates all come. that is basically the way it is done.

donald trump not coming, is there anyway to see that as anything other than a huge sign of disrespect for the people who are actually at this event? john: no. it is disrespectful, it sends a message that priorities are greater than talking to conservatives. in newdon't live hampshire and live in south carolina, don't live in one of these early states, this is your chance to get an upload -- an up close personal look. that is the thing that can happen. even john kasich god a standing ovation. john: -- john kasich got a standing over nation. there are those that say donald trump is not actually a conservative, he is a closet liberal. it seems this would be the most important moment to step forward and make an argument that he is a real conservative. is this a huge opportunity squandered?

i think it hurt him in iowa and he made a whiff today by not following our rules and coming to cpac. john: what do you think the potential consequences are going to be? matt: i saw ted cruz lighting that audience up. he gives fuel to the fire, he may give fuel to the rubio fire. john: if tomorrow donald trump and his people come out and say this has nothing to do with the format, this was a scheduling conflict, you are saying if they say that they are not telling the truth. i believe in happy endings. if they want to follow our rules we can make it work. john: if they are claiming anything other then that conflict, that would not be true. are you having a great time?

matt: talk to me saturday evening. ahn: matt schlapp, always pleasure to talk with you. we have it turn from cpac to super pacs.

our next guest keeps promising to come back on our show and she always keeps the promise, kelly m conway, -- kelly anne conway. i want to pick up with you what we left off with chairman matt

schlapp. in your obviously biased view, what does donald trump not coming here say to the conservative movement? asi'm not biased as much informed. i know what matt said is true, we work with these candidates trying to get everyone to agree to a certain format. trump.oo bad for donald they react as much to messages as messenger. if he came here and talked about how americans are getting killed with isis and kill without economy, mr. trump would have had a good reception here. he is clearly not afraid to take tough questions. he took him coming from all sides. -- took him coming from all sides. he took some personal and salacious insults as of late marco rubio. it can be a free to facing audience.

when he gets to the airport he can just leave here early in the morning. you just basically ruled out all the possible explanations, what explanation could you give you go -- give-and-go -- could you give? kellyanne: there are these delegates up for grabs. i think it is a missed opportunity when you have asked here are a form of democracy a cpac, thousands of people in that room on their feet for ted cruz, great reception earlier for governor kasich. they want to hear from the candidates directly and they get a front row seat as opposed to other people who have access all year long. john: this is an incredible week in some ways, but this week is incredible. he reputed david duke in a forthright way.

we then super tuesday, have governor romney coming out trying to stop the most likely next nominee, then the debate last night. give me a sense of your history in republican politics. is this the weirdest most volatile week? likeellyanne: it almost seems crazy to shore -- crazy du jour. part of it is the condensed calendar we are facing. so many people are weighing in later in the game. people who did not take trump as seriously. jeff has fallen, chris christie is there. they are worried about stopping trump. if you want to stop donald trump, you don't just do the shsk -- don't just do the ha tag stopdonaldtrump.

did the ballot in virginia say not trump? none of the above? you can't say first step, stop trump, second step figure it out later. shot, they had his had all the money, all the adulation, the media on his side, all these endorsements. he hasn't been able to put it to bed. he ought to drop out and endorse senator cruz. john: there is no sign he is doing that. you have a lot of energy trying to stop donald trump. you also have people in the conservative movement. different concerns than the establishment has, the grassroots conservatives. at the same time we would all agree that he is most likely the next republican nominee. can you explain the scenario by which trump is stopped?

what is the actual scenario by which someone rises up? cruz has aif it is great advantage -- if it is z and trump, cruz has a greater advantage. lindsey graham taking back his comments, attacking ted cruz and saying the choices shot or poison -- choices are being shot or poison. they have to rally around senator cruz, which i think is exactly right. --t senator graham's end senator graham and others are seeing is we at least have to work with our own. out -- rubio xg

kasichng out -- rubio or dropping out -- if mr. trump to not win ohio or florida and two other people one those, the math doesn't add up for him. the establishment is flat on its back. you can't event -- you can't invent enough moderate voters for marco rubio to get enough votes. it's for him and senator cruz and senator rubio, but there's no way for any of them to get to 1237 at this point. kellyanne: he's at 4% of the delegates. john: is there a scenario for you where ted cruz could end up with a majority of the delegates? kellyanne: yes he could. mr. trump needs 52% of the

remaining delegates to win. marco rubio is closer to 65 or 66%. i'm surprised after super tuesday there hasn't been more said or written about the fact that mr. trump still needs 52% of them. he did not have as good night as people expected. he is obviously the front-runner in the republican party. percentage time, the that senator cruz put on the board in a place like texas, 44% of 155 delegates, that is a lot. john: if donald trump needs john kasich -- donald trump dietz john kasich -- donald trump beats john kasich in ohio -- kellyanne: he is unstoppable at that point. a lot of the delegates are unbalanced.

it turns out that is a very important piece of information this time. just in that audience, just in that hall at cpac, it is unbelievable how much people are on their feet for conservatism. john: is ted cruz going to have a great night or just a good night on saturday? kellyanne: he can have both. john: i think ted cruz could have a pretty good day on saturday is my judgment. thank you for coming in. coming up, who won the week? ♪

john: this is the wildest week in my memories. mark: tee up front-runners, both will have -- two front-runners,

twists and turns to command their position as nominees. john: mitt romney this something very potent, and you have to take your hat off to him. coming up next, emily chang speaks with jerry brown. go to bloomberg.com to see all of our coverage of 2016 coverage. with all due respect to now, invade your weekend will be on your tv. we are back here monday. thanks for watching, have a great weekend. sayonara. ♪

mark: let's begin with a check of your bloomberg first word news. presidential candidate ben carson is leaving the campaign trail, speaking today at the

conservative political action committee can't in maryland. carson said he is suspending his bid to the white house. anyaised more money than other republican contender, 58 million dollars since he began his bid last may. democratic presidential front-runner hillary clinton says the nation needs a new bargain to create better paying jobs. clinton is campaigning in michigan ahead of the state's primary next tuesday. she is proposing a callback of tax benefits for companies that ship jobs overseas. crews are starting to dig up old lead pipes digging up water mains to homes. children under six years old, senior citizens, pregnant women, people with compromised in the in systems, and homes where there are high levels of lead. brazilian police raided a home and took into custody, president -- released