mark: welcome to the best of edition of "with all due respect." we saw the super tuesday delegate bonanza. we begin with the question front and center this week. what, if anything, can stop the front runner in this race? get out your abacuses and calculators. we will take a drive down delegate drive. donald trump looks destined to become the republican nominee.

the other guys in the race seem to be relegated to hoping there is some tricky delegate map that could leave trump just shy of the number needed for the nomination. trump now has just 319 delegates. his opponents have a combined 385. here is one scenario we came up with for how trump could be stopped short of a majority. besides nevada, caucasus states -- caucus states have not been his strongest. he lost iowa and alaska and minnesota. trump may see close races in states with big suburban populations like virginia, where he won, but not by very much. trump still gets a lot of delegates, one third of the delegates about in the states that he lost. let's assume this continues and

suburban states and white and rural states in the great plains. let's also say that trump loses ohio to john kasich and somehow also loses florida to marco rubio. those are two of the big winner take all states. if that happened and even if trump won every other state, he would fall short of the magic number of 1237. does that make a case to you that it's possible that trump is stopped short of a majority? john: i think it is plausible. the key thing there, the caucus states where only republicans are led to vote.

-- are allowed to vote and where he may be weaker -- he will have to lose those winner take all states per to someone will have to beat him in ohio and florida. if that happens, there is a reasonable chance that he could be stopped short of 1237 and we could end up in that place where we have a contested convention. that is the only way donald trump does not become the nominee. i'm open to the possibility. mark: the question of whether they can take it from a contested convention -- could the math workout? -- could the math work out where he is stopped, and it could. these outside groups come if they start to advertise big in these states and marco rubio really focuses on florida, kasich focuses in ohio, trump does not win enough winner take

all states -- it is plausible, not the most likely outcome, but far from impossible. john: i'm not saying he has to lose all the winner take all states, but he has to lose some big ones. if you get into a one-on-one race in places like california and new jersey my no yes chris -- new jersey -- i know he has chris christie on his side, but he could lose those states. you could keep him from getting over the goal line. mark: this morning, hillary clinton's super tuesday victories announced -- bernie sanders' path forward in a briefing to reporters in vermont. their scenario involves the prospect that sanders could win

big states like new york and california and also do well in michigan. they were not superhigh on winning florida. how plausible is the sanders plan at this point to stop hillary clinton from getting a majority? john: not that plausible. i admire those guys, they know delegate math as well as anybody in the party. they are trying to find that narrow path. there is a narrow path, but it is really narrow. a lot less likely than the previous thing we were talking about, holding trump short of 1237. those states are more demographically diverse where hillary clinton is strong. there's not that many of them with the monochromatic demographic composition sanders plays well in. i think it is a very, very hard road for them going forward. mark: i thought he would only win one or two states. he won four.

this is about delegate math. what he needs is a momentum changing win. if he can win in michigan, hillary will face more of a challenge than she is now. it will be difficult for him. once you fall behind in the democratic party, it is hard to catch up. there is no winner take all and sanders would have to start winning states in a very big way. and then he would have to start flipping superdelegates. the road is tough for bernie sanders bird coming up 20 , questions or so for mitt romney about delegate math and whether he will consider getting in the presidential race. ♪

mark: governor romney, thanks for joining us. romney: thank you, mark.

mark: it has 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 said 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 , sean hannity, for instance reacted negatively. does that bother you at all? gov. romney: i haven't think -- i have not seen their reactions. i can't speak on these specifics. think that donald trump has neither the expense nor temperament to be president. mark: there have been moments along the way, 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 muslims, most recently what he said with regards to the equivocation on david duke and the ku klux klan. and then saying that george w. bush was a liar, at the same 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 disability. and the sexual and vulgar elements have been a part of this campaign. all of that has been troublesome. a low roaden campaign pretty much from the beginning. particular last

straw for you? romney: 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 equivocation and with how late this is getting in the process, i said to myself, when my grandkids come and say, what did you 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. is that it? what will you be doing between now and ohio? you said you would do everything you could to stop donald trump. gov. romney: i'm doing this, which actually reaches more voters than showing up in a state. i am not sure my showing up in any state would make much of a difference, anyway. most people want you to come in and endorse a candidates.

i am laying out the case why we need to have a real republican lead our party. and why donald trump is not 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. beyond that, i will continue to work behind the scenes and do whatever i could. mark: what about your fundraising network? there are super pacs and groups trying to raise money to stop donald trump. will you help with that effort? are you? gov. romney: i think they have noticed my remarks yesterday. i'm hoping those people who are saying donald trump is effectively the nominee, we might as well get onboard, maybe we should wait a minute here and give it a second look. mark: you are a wealthy guy. not as wealthy as donald trump. are you going to give money to any of those groups? gov. romney: i may. that is something my wife and i will have to decide. mark: some people talk about his taxes. some people speculated about

your taxes. do you know something about what might be in 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 are planning on releasing them. he began by saying they are , beautiful. as time has gone on, he has come up with new excuses why he won't release them. most recent, of course,, oh, they are being audited. 4-5 years are being audited. he says now it's two or three years. we say give us the taxes that aren't being audited. somehow he won't do that either. everyone has the same evidence i do. which is 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 if people saw it they wouldn't vote for him as nominee.

mark: would it be enough for him to release his income, his effective tax rate, his charitable contributions -- romney: no, no. whether it is one year or five years or two years, in the year i had them completed in january 2012, we are now in march of this election year. it is late to be releasing returns. he ought to be doing it. mark: let's take this away from donald trump and talk about who is entitled to the nomination. is the person with the most delegates going into the cleveland convention, has a plurality, is entitled to the nomination? gov. romney: no one is entitled to the nomination. the voters of the country decide who they want to support and the delegates are elected to also make a determination of who will be in the best interest of the party and the country to be the nominee. this is a process that is a normal political process. it may go to a contested open convention. i think that would be

interesting. exciting for the public at large. that is part of our political process. you've got to win. either you have to get the delegates and show you had the support of the nation, you have 1237 delegates. and if you didn't, you've got to go to the convention and convinced the delegates. mark: you would be comfortable being part of the delegates -- a dialogue saying 48 is not 50. he is going to have to fight for he's not the one who should be 50. the presumptive nominee with 41%. gov. romney: what he has said with muslims, women, george bush, a person like that should not be the nominee for our party for president. i'll continue to advocate until that avenue is 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. that is how politics work.

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. by the way, if there was no such thing as an open convention, my guess is the three people running as opponents to donald trump right now would combine to one. they say you have to get up -- get it before you get there, so we better get down to one. no, they are running separately, they think it is not the best chance of getting the delegates at the convention they need. mark: you said some pretty rough things about john mccain, that is politics. rick santorum and new gingrich -- newt gingrich said rough things about you. that's just the way it works. is this different, are the things people will, you and others, saying about donald trump beyond normal politics? and what has happened in past campaigns? gov. romney: i think what he has been doing in the campaign is taking politics to a wholly lower level than we have ever seen, at least in modern times. the attacks based on people's physical characteristics, so

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. usually, you said this is a person who's had difficulty with the truth. this is a person who is honest -- who is dishonest. saying, "he's a liar, liar ted," these kinds of things -- and frankly, the vulgarity, that hasn't been a part of political campaigns. it goes on in locker rooms and sometimes in small groups. but on a public stage, running for president of the united states, to engage in personal , physical attribute attacks is something we haven't seen before. mark: you said you wouldn't vote for donald trump but you wouldn't vote for hillary clinton. even your political allies and advisers 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. if there were not one i was comfortable with, i would write in a name. would you be available? mark: would you like to see, let's say donald trump wins florida and ohio and it looks 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 ballot access? gov. romney: i haven't thought about that. i just know i don't what is he -- just know i don't want to see donald trump lead our country, and i don't want to see hillary clinton leading our country. i will probably be writing in a name. mark: in all likelihood, the winner at that point would be hillary clinton or donald trump. 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?

john: next hour conversation with tim miller. ♪

mark: the prompter says that i should say it is miller time to introduce tim miller, but i -- he has heard that so many times, i'm not going to read it. that, are better than mark. mark: i know. that's why i'm not going to read it. tim miller joins us from miami. he has a new job. he is working for the super pac formed not that long ago with the sole purpose of trying to stop donald trump from becoming the republican party's presidential nominee. tim joins us from miami. why did you take this job? tim: sometimes in life, you have to be on the side of what is right and good. stopping donald trump from becoming the republican nominee is certainly that.

he has no chance to become the president because hillary clinton would wipe the floor with him in the general election. his favorite thing to talk about in his speeches, the polls. i'm not sure what he would talk about in the general elections since hillary is cleaning his clock in every public poll that is out there. it is our job to stop that horrible reality from happening. mark: there has been discussions this week, an infusion of cash, how much cash do you all hope to raise in the next three weeks? tim: our principles has spent $3 million in iowa, with some success. it is one of the states trump has not won to date. because of the fragmented field, there was not the financial support for a stopgap effort in

the ensuing weeks that there needed to be. more and more money is coming in the door, we've raised more money in the last week that it has through its existence to date. we have a $1 million television buy on air right now about how trump scammed people at trump u. a new piece of information just surfaced with donald trump writing on a blog in 2005 that he thinks outsourcing is a great thing, fantastic. that is something you will have to contend with tomorrow night in detroit. mark: how much are you guys going to raise between now and march 15? tim: as much as we can. and we will spend as much as we can. i'm not going to give exact numbers, but it's important that there are a lot of groups out

there. you are seeing more and more money come in the door. hopefully, we will spend as much as it takes. mark: mitt romney is a moderate fan of this program. not impossible he is watching now. what would you like to see him say in his speech right now? tim: hey, governor romney. what i would like you to say in your speech tomorrow -- that no matter who you are in the republican party, no matter what -- whether you fancy yourself establishment republican or conservative or populist, donald trump is not looking out for you. he is a fraud looking out for himself. what you've seen from mitt over the past few weeks is highlighting the fact that donald has not released his tax returns. my guess is because he gets -- gives basically nothing to charity. he claims he gives money to the wounded warriors.

he has provided no evidence of that. he probably pays very little in taxes. he has not put out his tax returns. mitt has called him out on that. he's right to call him out on the fact that he would not clearly denounce the kkk. my hope is that he continues to do that tomorrow with moral clarity. i look forward to hearing what he has to say. mark: it will get a lot of coverage. you've come out to join this effort. charlie baker of massachusetts came out, a few other people have. i don't know if any of these things have gotten as much attention as governor christie's endorsement of donald trump. how much do you think that is helping donald trump stabilize this commanding position he is in? tim: it exposed the fact that chris christie's entire campaign was a farce. he was running for office as the

tell it like it is candidate. talking hard truths about the policies our country has to address. and then he endorsed the candidate who offers no policy specifics and wants to tell people the opposite of hard truths. donald trump tells people what they want to hear. he says what people wish you would say. he is not telling hard truths. he's a complete phony and a fraud. the fact that chris christie is going to support him just so he can continue to get on tv standing behind donald trump around a lot of fake gold chandeliers and whatnot reflects poorly on him. to the extent that he has gotten a lot of media coverage, a huge portion of it has been accrued it negatively toward chris christie and i think that is extremely well deserved. mark: is the republican party

and your associates are you all in a panic over the prospect of donald trump being your nominee? tim: i think he can still be stopped. i think the conventional wisdom being sought in d.c. about this is very much considerate of the fact that this nomination process will work out like past nominations. it is completely different. donald trump has received less than half of the delegates. cruz and rubio combined have more delegates. the key number was about half of voters who showed up to vote would be unhappy with donald trump as the nominee. this is not like george w. bush in 1999. donald trump is consolidating more and more people who don't want him to be the nominee. we are in for a long process. mark: if donald trump called you

and let you a message saying i would like to reach out to you and what i'm about, would you call him back? tim: of course. i have a lot of things i would like to talk to him about. and sure that with your viewers. dachshund share that with your viewers. mark: is there anything he could win you over? >> there is nothing he could say to win me over. he is a complete fraud. he has demonstrated he is a complete fraud over a body of work throughout his life. frankly, the fact that he was pro-outsourcing -- these are essential elements of his campaign. he cannot be trusted. what the republican party has to worry about is making sure he does not get the nomination. mark: tim miller, thank you. we will be talking to you regularly.

up next, my conversation with planned parenthood president cecile richards. and much more. ♪

mark: here with me now onset is the president of planned parenthood, cecile richards. donald trump has been talking a lot about planned parenthood. i know you don't support him, but you like the fact that a prominent voice out there is supporting the role that planned parenthood plays? cecile: i think what he is saying reflects where the american people are. i think what he is saying is very disingenuous. on the one hand, he praises our work, but on the other hand, says if he were president, he would end the ability for folks

to come to us for health care. you can't have it both ways. mark: you could exist without government funding? cecile: we will. we have been around for 100 years. we look forward to doing this work for another hundred years. i think it is very dangerous when politicians put their own political agenda ahead of the well-being of folks in this country, and the access to health care. that is what we are seeing in this presidential primary. every candidate is saying they would and access to planned parenthood. i do not think that reflects where most people are. mark: i'm not forcing you to say nice things about him if you don't want to, but it seems like there seems to be no political upside for him to praise the role that you will play and health issues -- in health issues. i wonder if you think the fact he is doing that is a good thing. he seems to be, as the republican front runner, saying

that planned parenthood does good. cecile: i think what he is saying reflects the polling that we do. i don't want anyone to be misled about the danger of someone who will run for president, and then say, you can't go back there for health care. mark: within the context of the republican nomination fight, your candidate, hillary clinton, seems to be doing well. you think she is the favorite to be the next president? cecile: i think she has an incredible record, particularly in women's health.

i do think she is poised to be the democratic nomination. she had a very good last night. i think this november's election is going to be -- i don't think anyone is taking anything for granted. this is been the most interesting political years. we have been doing this for a long time. i'm glad to see so many young people interested in electoral politics. i think they are going to be a critical voting block in november, and will certainly swing for her. mark: i have covered enough of these that when the supreme court is put on the table, they say that voters will care. voters seem to not care. cecile: i just left the supreme court where they are hearing the case about the texas laws that have been so restrictive on facing legal abortion in that

state. a poll showed that for millennial voters, their top two issues are health care access and reproductive rights. i think this is a special year. i tend to agree with you that usually is something or seems -- usually the supreme court feels far away, but because of all the sl on women's health care and the effort to turn back the clock decades, there is a seed that is very much important to a lot of cases that we care about. mark: as president obama thinks about who he may nominate, is it an absolute for you that he nominate someone who based on the record, affirms that they will uphold roe versus wade? cecile: i think it is an absolute that anyone who is nominated to the court respect judicial precedent. be will be looking closely at

any nominee. i believe that president obama was elected for a four-year term, and not a three-year term. it is and constable --unbelievable to me that the head of the senate say they would not consider a nomination. i think the american people deserve to have nine judges on the supreme court. mark: i want to take you back to a litmus test. some believe there should be no litmus test for either party. some think that roe has been such an important president. there have been precedents overturned. do you think he should nominate someone who says they will uphold roe. cecile: for planned parenthood and the millions of people who

depend on us for health care, it is really important for us to have a federal judiciary that supports women's rights, including access to safe abortions. i don't think it is a hypothetical case. we saw a case argued before the court that, even as the solicitor general said, if these kinds of restrictions are in fact upheld, there may be a constitutional right, or legal right, to facing legal abortions. mark: i did not ask the litmus test question the right way. yes or no, would you be disappointed if he nominated someone who's record -- cecile: did not support women's rights? i would be. i would be disappointed if any judge did not support roe versus wade, given the law of the land. obviously, i will be disappointed in any nominee that does not support women's rights.

mark: you won't know until they are on the court. he could nominate someone who has written, i support roe, or he asked, would you support roe versus wade? would you be disappointed if he nominated someone that did not support roe? cecile: you are going into such a hypothetical. i would -- millions of women would be disappointed if he nominate someone who did not support women's rights, including roe. mark: who would you nominate? cecile: that may not be the best judgment to have my and/or, if they want to be confirmed for the supreme court. it is a point to have judges

that have a government that believe that women are equal members of society. hearing a case argued, as a mom, is a woman, it makes a huge difference having different voices in the room, who have actually walked in the shoes of women in this country. i've been extremely grateful for the addition of hagen. mark: coming out, harold ford junior. ♪

mark: joining us now, former congressman harold ford junior

and dan c. noir. neither of you are here as surrogates. we are going to have a chat. >> why will you start with republicans? >> i will start with you >> >>. would you vote for donald trump in the general election? >> i will not vote for him in the primary or in the general. i'm confident that marco rubio will be the nominee. if he is not the nominee, i think there will be another republican in the general election, even if they are not the nominee. >> running as an independent? >> correct. >> who would that be? >> i'm not throwing up names.

i'm not voting for donald trump. >> is this right now and next essential crisis for the republican party? is that what this moment represents? >> you have a guy leading the polls right now against a fragmented field. look at what he has said in the last few weeks. he said that the chinese government's treatment of its people is a model for the united states. he has said that vladimir putin is a model -- you can keep going down the list. half of the tweets that he breach reads -- that he retweets from his fans are white supremacists. he is the front runner in a fragmented field the majority of voters so far are still voting against him. as the field whittles, as we get

to a two-man race, rubio versus trump will truly test if he is the front runner. two things have not been tested. one, how donald trump deals with someone who doesn't just challenge him on substance, but gets at his girl. -- at his grill. also, how he deals with tv ads. we are about to go through that. >> how would you evaluate how good rubio is doing in this mode, and how you think trump is handling it? >> i will not vote for donald trump either. >> that will be a newsmaking headline. >> i think marco rubio is an attractive guy.

i don't think he has served himself especially well in the past few weeks. i understand the strategy that you are suggesting. the real winner has been mrs. clinton. we were commenting, in nevada, whether she would be able to pull it off. she did. >> what can she do now to take advantage of the chaos in the republican party? >> stay on her message. i think her speech and south carolina was one of the better ones that she has given. signing the way back to the campaign. they appeared to a message and approach. the question now has to focus on all of america, how we have to

make america whole again. that is the message. it is in a bubble, as some point -- mr. sanders has every right to stay in the race -- i'm for hillary clinton. i think his path has narrowed. >> for republicans to win this race, you would have to run a perfect race to beat hillary clinton. then, i heard republican say, she is so easy to beat. how toug the she look -- how tough does she look to beat? >> tough. donald trump will not disavow david duke. he was asked three times.

the principle of it is horrifying. in terms of politics, the electoral politics of it, what donald trump as nominee would do would basically guarantee that hillary clinton could reassemble the obama coalition in big numbers. what percent would donald trump get of the hispanic vote? 10%-50%? >> there are people in brooklyn now who say they would rather run against marco rubio the donald trump. marco rubio is a predictable candidate, i know how to do that. donald trump is completely unpredictable. he could draw out the white working class in places like michigan. what do you think about that, the fact that donald trump could be more dangerous?

>> i don't know which one i would rather run against. hillary clinton, in terms of her speech, her campaign -- the reality is it will be tough. this country is a divided country. obviously, the electoral college can show she had more of a win or not, but when you look at the popular vote, we're divided. >> can i make a point? mitt romney was 4 million votes behind obama. we are already start 2016 with 4 million votes in the hole. tell me which states will flip.

>> ohio and florida. >> one must question. 30 seconds here. what is she going to do, one thing quick, that she will do to excite young voters the way bernie sanders has? >> talking about better paying jobs, owning a home and having a family. >> thank you. we will be right back after this. ♪

♪ >> a huge week indeed for the presidential election. check out our full coverage, analysis of all the contests at bloombergpolitics.com. mark: remember, if you are in

washington, d.c., you can catch us on the radio. we will have a brand-new episode of all due respect -- with all due respect on monday. until then. ♪

>> jeff weiner rose through the ranks of warner bros. and yahoo! before reid hoffman made him a to help run the professional social network he started. it was a match made in silicon valley heaven. hoffman stayed on as chairman. linkedin has 400 million members and 200 companies but faces its biggest chale