>> let's just say -- >> the pride of miami, marco rubio. now rubio takes the snap. he drops it. rubio passes to his man, just out of reach. here's the handoff. it's a fumble. he is wide open. one final chance for rubio to save the game. can he do it? >> basically not even filling the end zone. ♪

mark: two blocks from here tonight, republican presidential candidates will meet for debate lucky number 13. this one will be moderated by jake tapper. the volley of personal attacks was out of hand at the last debate. as we prepare for tonight's sequel, controversies are exploding all around the front runners. donald j trump facing a trio of topics that are sure to come up during the debate tonight. the first came from and interview he did with anderson cooper on cnn last night when he was asked how muslims viewed the west. >> do you think islam is at war with the west? >> i think islam hates us. there is something there that is a tremendous hatred, and we have

to get to the bottom of it. there is an unbelievable hatred of us. >> in islam itself? >> you will have to figure that out here. you will get another pulitzer, but you will figure it out. but there is a tremendous hatred, and we have to be very vigilant. we have to be very careful. we cannot allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the united states. and of people that are not muslim. mark: so this has been a huge controversy since he said it on social media and on cable. he has been -- he has said things like this in the past. is this going to hurt him in the debate tonight? john: does it hurt him in getting the republican nomination, or in being president of the united states? what we've seen in exit polls is that a vast majority of republican voters are favoring

the muslim ban. do i think it will hurt him with those voters? i do not. do i think it will make it impossible for him to be a unifying president of the united states if he actually believes there are millions of muslims in the united states who go off and fight and die for this country overseas -- it's an outrageous statement and it will be hard to make him a unified figure of the country. mark: so you suggest that he won't take this back and it won't hurt him. i think it is an important time in the debates tonight. i think one of the implications tonight is, i'm almost certain trump will be asked about it. how will the others step up? sometimes the other candidates have pulled their punches. will they have a moment that elevates them?

john: it's not hard for any of those other three candidates to stand up and say, there is an element of radical islam around the world that hates us, but there are millions of citizens of this country who love this country as much as you do, mr. trump. that would be easy for any of the other candidates to do. mark: at a campaign rally in fayetteville, north carolina, one of donald trump's supporters in the audience hit a protester in the face as he was being escorted from the arena. today that protester spoke about the incident. >> you have said that when you woke up today and saw the video online, because people started sharing it, that is when it really hit you. >> yes. >> tell me about your thoughts. >> i was there, but it didn't seem real.

it's like i got hit and now i'm on the ground getting detained by the police. i look at the videos and i really got hit. as you can see i am being escorted by officers after i'm hit, they are still leading me up the stairs. john: there has understandably been a lot of reaction to this today, including from hillary clinton. >> count me among those who are truly distraught and even appalled by a lot of what i see going on, what i hear being said. you don't make america great by dumping on everything that made america great, like freedom of speech and assembly and the right of people to protest. clearly, i know that everybody

in public life gets protested against, and sometimes people do have to be removed, but it should be done in an appropriate manner. other people in the audience should not be joining in. mr. trump should not be joining in. i think as the campaign goes further, more and more americans are going to be really disturbed by the kind of campaign he is running. john: this comes after what a lot of people see is a diverting pattern of violence and rowdiness and unpleasantness at trump rallies, including a photographer who was attacked a few weeks ago. do you think the trump campaign bears responsibility for the atmosphere that is becoming pervasive at some of these events? mark: they make an announcement

before their rally saying don't get violent and sometimes events occur that they really don't know about. but donald trump has said things at the podium about people leaving on stretchers. my view is, while they are not fully responsible for every incident in every case, a p.a. announcement at the beginning is not enough. john: it has a sort of macho tone in it, kind of a jokey quality about it. the comments about, "back in the old days, people would be taken out on a stretcher." he doesn't tell people to go hit other people or beat them up, but the mood in these crowds is something that i have not seen

for the past 25 years. i don't think you've ever seen it at a presidential campaign rally, and it happens at almost every trump event. mark: i don't know that he will get asked about this tonight, but people will be able to say there is something off about this. john: and if they don't do something about it soon, something much worse is going to happen at one of these rallies. mark: the final donald trump controversy, something that happened during his victory press conference here in florida on thursday night, allegedly. a reporter allegedly had a rough encounter with someone who she says dragged her off and forced her to the ground. a washington post reporter

identified the person who grabbed her as the donald trump campaign manager. the trump campaign says it never happened. they call her an attention seeker. breitbart has been a favorable news organization for donald trump until now. will this hurt him in the debate or in general? john: i think in general, donald trump does not have that many news organizations that are favorable for him. in terms of the media that drives coverage on the right, being in a fight with breitbart is no good for donald trump. it goes back to a previous topic, not just roughhousing or undue roughness going on, the other thing at the rallies we've seen is that their attitude toward the press is not something you normally see at presidential campaign rallies. it's not been appropriate for a long time.

it is a broader issue beyond just right breitbart. mark: there is no video and the campaign denies it, but i would say, donald trump can fight with the new york times or nbc news, but fighting with breitbart is a totally different thing. all three of these elements i think embolden the anti-trump forces. there is an instability that comes out of this. i think this is great news for the anti-trump forces. john: i know we heard the bell, but there's a photograph of this woman with a bruise on her arm. it doesn't prove anything, but something happened there. and his explanations and posture have shifted somewhat. he cannot be dismissive and it cannot be about attacking this

reporter. marco rubio has expressed remorse last night over his campaign's decision to get way too aggressive and way too personal with donald trump. last month the rubio campaign stumbled after he looked robotic on the new hampshire stage. with poll numbers dropping in his must-win home state of florida, there is no one on the debate stage tonight who needs a great performance more. so what if anything can marco rubio do to change his fortunes? mark: tonight is the night for him to rise to the occasion. he needs to explain to the people of florida and the country he is the best republican nominee for president. can he do it on a four man stage in the current climate? it will be hard.

john: the idea of shifting strategy, taking on trump, the way he did it is not a good idea for marco rubio and it has certainly backfired on him. he cannot just retreat to optimistic, generational -- he cannot go back to that without looking like a clown. he needs to find a way to say, i've taken the conversation in the wrong direction, but donald trump still needs to be confronted. it's a tough line to walk, but he's got to get there somehow. mark: john kasich and ted cruz in their own ways are both perfectly good on the debate stage. coming up, bernie sanders is trying to ride his michigan momentum. other states are voting next week. we will show you some new

campaign ads he's using to try to leverage success, after this. ♪

john: after last night's democratic debate, bernie sanders stuck around in florida and he's been here all day. hillary clinton headed out to the other states voting on tuesday like north carolina and illinois. that doesn't mean bernie sanders is ceding those states to hillary clinton. he has hit the illinois and ohio airways with a bunch of new ads. let's look at two of them running in the chicago area. the first one mentions someone chicagoans love to hate. that would be mayor rahm emanuel.

>> we have endured a corrupt political situation. if you have a presidential candidate that supports someone like our mayor, you have a candidate who is not willing to take on the establishment. bernie sanders is definitely not afraid to take on that system. he looks beyond that system and sees better possibilities for us. he sees that this is not the way it has to be. that's why i support bernie sanders. john: the second ad we want to show you is bernie sanders getting arrested for civil disobedience. >> as a student, he was arrested for protesting segregation. he led sit-ins against the racist housing policies. he was there in the fight for jobs and justice. now he is taking on a broken criminal justice system to end

mass incarceration and tackle racial profiling. now it's time to stand with him. >> i'm bernie sanders, and i approve this message. john: so bernie sanders rides out of michigan with a lot of support. we have five big contests on tuesday. where is the state of play in the sanders-clinton war? mark: ohio, illinois and missouri are better for sanders. they claim things have narrowed and they have seen improvement. you can go into these contests thinking the same dynamic will prevail. the issues in michigan are very real in illinois and ohio. john: the train sanders is now driving is a good message for those states you mention. the fact that he was able to get a quarter of the black vote in michigan, if you replicate that

in ohio and michigan puts them in the game again. i don't think he believed he had a chance of winning florida even though he's making a show here. mark: this state is totally different. we need to emphasize the economic message. we need to clarify our position on trade. so what does she stand for in jobs? she will have to do that in a powerful way. john: there are bunch of things where the smell test is a problem for the clinton campaign. the clintons are free traders to

the depths of their soul. she can say whatever she wants. most people in their heart know where she stands. they attacked sanders on things that also don't pass the smell test in the other direction. last night saying he is a koch brothers ally, that's ridiculous. it doesn't pass the smell test. mark: one thing i will say, hillary clinton is the heavy favorite to win the nomination. she is ahead in superdelegates. she is the heavy favorite to win the nomination. hear me now, believe me later, that is the state of play. john: when you think about the things that undermine her most, she is honest, trustworthy, authentic, it's about the way they are conducting the campaign. some of these things undermine her basic credibility.

coming up, what president obama said today about the republican race and the supreme court vacancy, after this word from our sponsors. ♪

mark: today at the white house, president obama introduced prime minister justin trudeau at a press conference. there were two interesting questions, whether he was responsible for the tenor of the presidential race on the gop side. >> i've been blamed by republicans for a lot of things,

but being blamed for their primaries and who they are selecting for their party is not all. the republican political elites, and many of the information outlets, social media and news outlets, talk radio, television stations, have been feeding the republican base for the last seven years. what you are seeing within the republican party is to some degree all those efforts over a course of time, creating an environment where somebody like a donald trump can thrive. what i'm not going to do is validate some notion that the republican crackup that's been

taking place is a consequence of actions that i have taken. i think it is very important for them to reflect on what it is about the politics they've engaged in that allows the circus we have been seeing to transpire. mark: we've heard a lot of this stuff before. did he say anything today that surprised you in terms of his perspective or his view, his culpability, what's going on with the republicans? john: you can say, as we often have, he should have reached out to republicans and sought bipartisanship more.

that might or might not have ultimately helped to get a few things done. donald trump did not begin the birther movement, but he certainly capitalized on it. these things are not barack obama's responsibility. it's not his fault. you can say whatever you want about barack obama, but he has conducted his presidency with an attitude of ability. he's not been about whipping up the frenzy of the mob. mark: except he could have done health care and stimulus in a bipartisan way and he chose not to. he could have helped the republican party help itself. small culpability. whether the political pressure to nominate someone to the supreme court, whether he feels --

president obama: i think it is important for me to nominate a supreme court nominee quickly, because i think it's important for the supreme court to have its full complement of justices. i don't feel constrained in terms of the pool to draw from or that i'm having to take shortcuts in terms of the selection and vetting process. mark: so a lot is going on in capitol hill on this issue and both sides feeling emboldened. where do you think the president thinks he is in his ultimate goal of getting someone nominated? john: the only attitude one can have in this situation, he believes he has the constitutional authority and responsibility to nominate someone to the court. if the republican party decides they do not want to accept that, there's not much he can do about it.

as you have said, the right actual nominee, and it seems like obama has been thinking about that, will change the calculus on the republican side. will it change it enough to get a nominee appointed and confirmed? i don't know. mark: i think we will see some of this in the debate. when the republicans started doing this, i said they are going to have to back down. but they need to -- they need the right nominee. up next, how to stop donald trump. the republican super pac dedicated to doing just that. ♪

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♪ mark: if anyone is capable of stopping trump, it is our next pact, tim miller, whose has the goal of stopping the trump nomination. an important goal. tell me now, what are you doing today that is different from what you were doing yesterday? tim: what i'm doing today -- is expanding the amount of states we are in. it has been reported already that donald trump is outsourcing. everything, the body wash, umbrella, all of it is made in bangladesh. none of it in ohio. john: the david letterman argument. tim: exactly. letterman made that point in a very comedic way. we are up there in ohio.

we are also in missouri, which is an important state next tuesday. we're talking about the pestimonials of the trum university students who have taken $15,000 out of their own pocket and got nothing from it. mark: of the five states, how many are you up in? tim: four. we are also in tampa, talking about trump tower tampa. ,e was the developer on this who partnered with the list guys reduced grip -- guys who do strip mall development. aftergot away scott free filing for bankruptcy and these guys lost their own money. he made money on the licensing

rights. mark: iraq wins all five of the states -- if trump wins all five of these states, it's over. do you have any metric on what the actual voting might say? tim: we're not flying blind. we have been in the field, and we have talked about these markets we are in. trump is behind in illinois and missouri. john: who's ahead? tim: ted cruz. in florida, marco rubio is only down by five. where going into markets the data shows that trump supporters are falling. went live ofp only -- only wins 2 of 5?

tim: he's in trouble. mark: and now you are in striking distance? tim: that's what i'm saying. mark: that's contrary to the narrative. tim: this is an important day, no doubt. the matter how it goes on tuesday, this race will continue. 3 orike you say, he loses four seats on tuesday, he is in the trouble. there's a split in parts of the republican party that are trying to stop trump about what the most plausible way to stop them is dash cam is. is.-- stop him john: people are saying they should go to a contested convention. others are saying we should get ted cruz up as fast as possible. what say you?

tim: i think they are very realistic. this goes against the conventional wisdom that you're hearing out here, the trump is in good shape. regardless of whether it is a one-on-one with cruz or whether it is a fragment of, it is very hard for him to get to 1237. we put out a memo yesterday. it will be hard to get to 1237. fore's a number of paths him to lose the plurality, which would mean that nobody gets 1237, but somebody else could get more than him. john: let's say that john kasich and marco rubio and ted cruz are watching right now. what would you say to them? tim: they should raise the issues were trump is the most vulnerable.

trump has left regular people holding the bag to enrich himself. on immigration, the fact that he , it ties to trade, outsourcing,. those -- outsourcing. on those issues, he is left having to defend foreign workers at outsourcing, and in the last five days, these are going to be a bad set of issues for him. john: saying that islam is at war with america, that hurts him? tim: it's hard to track. john: people got punched at trump rallies. help -- doesor

that hurt or help? tim: it hurts them. the fact that when his campaign managers manhandled a female reporter -- john: allegedly. tim: no, not allegedly. audio that came out right when it happened. megyn kelly pointed out the trump models, he imported 14-year-old girls, and he has a real women problem. john: thank you for being here. mark: up next, two people from the john kasich and ted cruz campaign preview the debate tonight. we will be right back. ♪

♪ mark: joining us now, alice stewart, the director of the ted cruz campaign. welcome. -- trent,hat is your what is your candidate's goal? trent: to become president of the united states. he is the only one that has a record. john kasich is the only person who has actually fixed anything. he will go into great detail. you opened 10 offices in florida, alice. how many people are working in them? alice: there are people working

in all of the offices. ted will be up there tonight in the debate, to show true contrast between him as a true, proven conservative, against -- mainly it is a two-man race between him and donald trump. him, a realsting conservative, against someone who is not a conservative. there are people up there who would rather launch insults rather than debating the issues. the last republican debate according say many conservatives, embarrassing. "my party is committing suicide up there." what can happen on the stage?

think we will see a lot more contrast, and i will say has done aor kasich fine job on the debate stage of keeping it positive, and being -- he will talk about the issues, not attack the other candidates. i can speak for ted. he's continuing to talk about the substantive issues. we will see. it is clearly because donald trump and marco rubio clearly want to spend their debate attacking each other. john: is this going to be a k-6 sich stylee -- ka debate? or cisco and of the more trump -- or will this be more trump? will be thekasich one who is distinction himself. -- distinguishing himself.

to continue to do this, to talk about the issues. that is why you can see, this new poll is out, showing that for the three candidates going forward in the state, it is a three-way race. who has a better chance of winning for the, donald trump for marco rubio? you don't want to answer come you don't have to -- answer, you don't have to. trent: well, we don't prefer anyone, we prefer john kasich. alice: the reality is this is a two-man race. ted cruz is consistently -- john: so you won't answer either? alice: the fact is we have got a head-to-head -- polls are showing that ted cruz can beat donald trump. john: so you decline to answer

my question? who is better for ted cruz's chances, marco rubio or donald trump? alice: it would be best to ted cruz won. [laughter] mark: at the top of the show, we discussed this. there's a couple of controversies about what might happen at donald trump rallies, including that breitbart reporter and the protester who was punched. there's a lot of talk about how the rallies have gotten unruly -- unruly. do you think donald trump is responsible for this, and what should he do about it? alice: i think he is responsible for the tone that has been set at his rallies, the language he uses. i do not think it is appropriate for a presidential candidate. for the activity that happens outside of his purview, i mean, you cannot hold a responsible, but he does set the tone.

that is something that i think, more than anything, if you were to approach these venues with and inspired tones the crowd and said the riling them up, it would be different. trent: i think it is despicable what happened to the reporters. but, what is more to the point, is he is talking about invading the first amendment, the right to free press. this is a serious proposal he has laid out here that goes against the core of democracy. this is a serious issue and we should not laugh it off. john: his john kasich at the top of the list? when we are talking big picture, we're talking about donald trump --

[talking over each other] alice: i think there are bigger issues. we're talking about radical islam. we're talking about radical islamic terrorists. john: can we agree to disagree about donald trump? think -- this is a great day, having mike lee out there. john: thank you both. alice, trent, good luck tonight. up next, what did stake in the miami debate -- what is at stake in the miami debate? to reporters give their take. -- 2 reporters give their take.

♪ john: we are back in two miami. -- back in miami. colleagues.with our trisha is making her second appearance in today's on this show. we had this question earlier in the show about what, if anything, can marco rubio do to change the script. what do you think? >> he has to win florida. he has to recapture the magic of seeming like a winner, that was the point of his campaign. john: that's the debate, what does he have to do? sahil: he has to show that he is

the most electable guy. people have left this campaign, and he needs to get back in the polls. i don't think you can do it, but he will try. john: we were talking about jeb aboutand what do you know where it's might have gone and how it matters? marco met last night. think,wants to commit, i on whether it went well. it sounds like it is a little bit late. i don't know if he is waiting to see how the debate went tonight. mark: we made fun of this thing with rubio at the small football crowd -- crowd. how did that happen?

patricia: not sure how a campaign that has been so good at knowing how things look would let it happen. early the street was an voting site, the john f. kennedy library, and there was a line of many rubio voters, but many mentioned that the stadium was not full last night. a lot of people noticed. in the context of this race, i am stunned at how very little people talk about john kasich. sahil: is so far behind in delegates. even if rubio wins florida, he will be 200 delegates behind. it is unlikely that anybody but donald trump is going to win, ted cruz maybe if he gets to a 1-on-1. this entire campaign has been about an uprising against the party. this could shatter the party.

today, who's got a better chance of beating donald trump? patricia: i think rubio. just speaking to voters from those counties, i think rubio. but, whether this will be enough, i'm not sure. john: we were talking about john kasich and his delegate deficit. if he does win ohio, which is obviously, there is no certainty that that would not be the case, what do you think of the argument that if he wins ohio, which he has done since he could win, he should have a path to go forward, as the best potential antitrust force -- anti- trump force? sahil: he's going to argue that he can carry on the republican legacy. has a lotrgue that he

of play in pennsylvania and california. he has a good case against ted cruz. he does do well with evangelicals. mark: put talk about the immigration debate. -- let's talk about the immigration debate. bernie sanders said hillary clinton did not support the leading and of children from central america. lacking the point about his support on the last big immigration bill. patricia: i've heard more about -- auba exchange them the dandthan the immigration debate. at the end of the debate, they promised they both want to not support nonviolent criminals or

children -- deport nonviolent criminals or children. is astonishing to watch these two sides debate among themselves on immigration, is like they live in two different universes. both clinton and sanders were competing on who would be the most lenient, who would protect the immigrants. were strongly promising not to deport anybody who is not criminal, that six ordinary -- that is extraordinary. mark: bush nomination fight do you think will be -- which nomination fight do you think will be going on longer? sahil: democrats. patricia: democrats. , in: you are both so smart

guess i will trust you aron that. what your favorite karaoke song? patricia: "total eclipse of the heart." [laughter] sahiljohn: sing it for us. patricia: absolutely not. [laughter] john: your both awesome. we will be right back after these messages. ♪

♪ we find ourselves at the end of another day. at least, the daytime part of

the day. won? mark: ted cruz has mike lee's endorsement, and there's increasing sense that if he gets to donald trump one-on-one, he could win. john: also, bonnie tyler, who i was listening to, it was wasorted, -- it was it extraordinary. mark: coming up, emily chang talks to the head of amazon. we will see tomorrow, from somewhere surprising, thank you for watching, sayonara.

♪ friday, the 11th of march. i am rishaad salamat. this is "trending business". ♪ live in singapore, mumbai, tokyo. markets heading for the first askly loss in a month stimulus fails to lose confidence. the banks are running out of options. the offshore yuan rising. the currency strengthening the

most since november. , $1 billion of debt. the finance ministers has banks are taking actions to recover their money. ,ollow me on twitter @rishaadtv #trendingbusiness as well. it is a bit of a turnaround in hong kong. here is shery. shanghai composite down 3/10 of a percent, falling for the third consecutive day, headed for a weekly loss. turning around a bit, but weakening all week. nikkei 225 reversing yesterday's rebound. utilities, financials leading the decline. a japanese court ordered