mark: with all due respect to my i totally had webb vs. gilmore in the finals. tonight, garland seeks the green light. first, what is black-and-white and read all over? this new york times story. springrties heading into , the lacking candidates are getting more pressure to exit. we will talk about ted cruz and

john kasich in a moment. president obama told donors in texas that bernie sanders is nearing the end of his bed and at the party should soon unite behind hillary clinton. reportrnest disputed the claiming the president was not taking sides in the democratic nomination and was only making the case for unity. john, will these reported remarks by the president accelerate efforts to get sanders out of the race? john: even ernest disputing the reports is not categorical. thatdent obama could say without taking sides. he could say bernie sanders' end withoutng to an taking sides. do i think that obama can read

the delegate math as well as anybody? i do. he recognizes that sanders is unlikely to be the nominee. does he think the party needs to unify? i do. i believe obama said something close to this. it is the case that more democrats are going to start saying the same thing soon. mark: the clinton people attended to wait more to start this jumpy but they have started it because of her success on tuesday and in part because trump may be cruising to the nomination. they do not want a democratic fight to go through june. obama is reflecting that reality and will drive it. clintonsma and the both understand the value of money in politics and how

important it is to have a lot of it to win tough races. clinton does not want to spend money beating somebody she has already beaten when she could be saving them money to take on somebody who will give her a hard fight. politics, saye of something at a texas fundraiser, it will get out. .ohn: he is not a dumb man now for some republican updates. ted cruz and his team arguing that john kasich is so far behind that he is waging a quixotic campaign. rivals seem toer agree. remember marco rubio? he returned to his office today on capitol hill to a standing ovation. callede weeks ago, he ted cruz a liar. last night, he told supporters

that ted cruz was the only conservative left in the race. you might recall lindsey graham said this about ted cruz one month ago. a few kill ted cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial was in the senate, nobody could convict you. [laughter] that might leave you thinking about the day that senator graham supported senator ted cruz. currently, pigs are flying. pigs are flying actually today because lindsey graham the supporting ted cruz for president. john: that is correct. the lindsey graham is hosting a fundraiser for ted cruz on monday and he says that in order to stop trump, he will help ted

cruz in every way he can. and lindseyo rubio graham siding with ted cruz? lindsey graham has thought for a while that john kasich would not have enough strength to stop donald trump. he looks at the map in the money and the message and he believes it up or conservative person -- he believes that a more conservative person can stop trump at the convention. that simply the reality ted cruz is the only vehicle to stop donald trump. does have positions that are more moderate rate some conservative activists are saying that we want to conservative nominee and that leaves us with one choice, ted cruz. john: i agree with everything

you said but i will add one layer. both of these guys are senators and ted cruz is also a senator. the fact that senators are sticking together are not surprising. the fact that more governors have not rallied behind john kasich a surprising. -- it is surprising. these groups that met in washington today thinking about getting a third candidate in the race. ted cruz has picked up some conservative endorsements. it would be interesting to see if he can build momentum. now that you do not have contests every week, it will be hard for either of them to build up the momentum they need to become the decisive alternative. john kasich to get the endorsement of like levitz --

mike levitz. john kasich started going after donald trump more aggressively today. in response to that comment that trump made about grassroots , john kasich tweeted this. donald trump says there could be why it's -- riots. that is more unacceptable language. also, this tweak. this acceptance of violence is the kind of rhetoric that is pulling people apart. in the case of a chaotic convention, one name that continues to be flooded as a who isight his paul ryan the guy that would be behind the podium chairing the convention voting process. here is what he said today when he was asked about whether he

would accept the party's nomination if convention in september locked. -- ends up deadlocked. hd somebody running for president. i made the decision one year ago to not run -- it should be somebody running for president. i made the decision one year ago not to run for president. there are caucuses and primaries. that is who we should select from. let's put this thing to rest and move on. i had six days notice taking this job. i've learned after that i am the chair of the convention so i will have to build up on all of the rule -- i will have to bone .p on all of the rules i will be neutral and dispassionate and make sure that the rule of law prevails in to make sure that the delegates make their decision however the rules require them to do that. is dean yard about

being -- ryan is demured. he have on thes possibility that he could be the white night? john: it creates certain complications which i bet you are going to outline. it also creates advantages. he will be in a position where he can maintain neutrality into the last possible moment. if a white night is going to come in, it is going to be drafted from a position of neutrality. as you pointed out, he is running the show and becoming the eventual nominee of the contents of convention requires knowledge of the inside game. he will understand that better than anybody in consent. mark: it makes it more likely and in some ways less likely. only because he will be so mes hed in running this thing. the symbolism.

the added symbolism of the guy who was in charge -- i want say but it is like winter cheney picked himself to be george bush's running mate. -- it is like when dick cheney picked himself to be george bush's running mate. john: it is going to be ugly. when they come back, why hillary clinton is laughing at donald trump in a new web video. ♪

mark: yesterday we showed you a video that donald trump tweeted

showing hillary clinton barking like a dog and vladimir putin chortling at her while today the super pac supporting clinton turned the tables on donald. witho are you consulting so that you are ready on day one? with myself because i have a good brain and i have said a lot of things. -- i am speaking with myself because i have a good brand and i have said a lot of things. mark: whatever you think of that on a static merits, -- on a static merits, -- on aesthetic merits, what does that tell you? and: and they looked at it didn't treat it like some trifle, they saw in its cutting and in the implications

of its viral quality. pickup played a lot on cable and dance around the web. they decided they had to be now. he brings a knife, you bring a gun. he brings a gun, you bring the bazooka. they cannot let trump to to her what he has done to his republican opponents. mark: this is an updated version of something you are familiar with from 1992, the war room. has become commonplace that you respond to anything always. don't let anything go or anlenged or unreported reply. they have learned not just from that yesterday but from previous tangles with trump that they cannot afford to let those go unanswered and also they want to throw an elbow at trenton say hey, you know what? we are not going to be passive here. they will be a price to pay if you come after us unprovoked. mark: they also have to succeed

where these other anti-trump efforts have failed on the republican side. it have to be able -- if they are going to do well -- they have to be able to effectively mock him. trump is so good at mocking others. and of course come up with the biggest areas of incredulity that people have is that from their point of view, trump is the most easily mocked person in politics and you have to be litan mocon in a way to make it effective. the possibility of a general election matchup between clinton and trump is one of many factors that is now hovering over the capital health fight about whether president obama's pay for this up in court will get a hearing. rebecca leaders have not changed their position about whether they will be a hearing, there are some senators such as the one from arizona and have agreed to meet with the nominee merrick garland and they have noted that the parties taking a gamble by blocking garland because -- he is totally unknown. >> if republicans are not

successful in the november election, i hope we are. but if we are not, we ought to look at his nomination in a lame duck session. i would rather have a left liberal nominee like merrick garland then a nominee that hillary clinton if she were president would put forward. that is one point of view on the republican side. patrick leahy, a democrat from vermont, former chair of the committee, calls for his colleagues to vote on garland by memorial day. an army of senators have been all over cable news telling the party lines. at this moment, with all the back and forth, which side is winning this potus tug-of-war? john: democrats in the white house are winning.

we were all saying that the senate should do its job that you are hearing that even from some conservative media saying, look, you guys, you are killing yourselves here. this has done damage to the republican brand in the past. take a beating with the guy, to not give the guy a hearing, if you want to shoot him down, shut him down, that make it look like you are willing to at least do your jobs. well, democrats, and politics, the side that is winning is when they are saying the same thing publicly and privately. democrats are saying we will witness. it is easy to find republican strategists who say the mistake was to come out early the way we thist we are not winning fight. the thing possibly we can hold the line. paid a priced not that some of them are worried about paying a price when public theion is still fluid but democrats often have the media on their site because of the

liberal bias. this is the case of the media believe that democrats are doing the right thing and i think over time if the white house continues to perform this way public opinion is going to shift in a way that will spook the republicans. john: i think he is giving points to something a lot of people are thinking and is not a position of strength they are going to be into a crazy -- we duck take it up in a lame session -- anyway, coming up, amy klobuchar joins us to talk more about that supreme court nomination battle ended ♪ -- talk about the supreme court nomination battle. ♪

merrick mania sweeping part of the nation. we are joined by amy klobuchar.

the democrat who sits on the digit shery committee. -- the democrat who sits on the judiciary committee. i am here.har: mark: i know you have an open mind about this nomination. republicans may be made a mistake by saying they don't. decisionsring what the judge has signed that concern you that you want to ask about? sen. klobuchar: i am starting to look at his record. what i do know as a former prosecutor is that it is not an easy job. he oversaw two difficult criminal cases, the unabomber and the oklahoma city bombing. he has a strong reputation. he has tended to be a little more conservative india criminal area.- in the criminal

as a prosecutor, i can understand that. i want to look at both cases. the main point today is that there are some republican who will meet with him. five or six of them have agreed to meet with him. i thought agnes king said it best. are you just afraid you will like him too much? he is a good guy with a great background. just nownow you are reading into his record. are there any general areas that you know about how he has rolled where you got concerned -- how he has ruled where you got concerned that you want to know more about? sen. klobuchar: i literally

found out about this yesterday in the rose garden. we are gathering his record. i attended to in the past with sudden mayor's hearing -- sotomayor's hearing -- i ask about criminal cases because of my background. i want to look at some of the stances he has taken. we should have cameras in the supreme court because i know you guys like to see things immediately. i have a lot of good questions to ask him. john: i know that planned parenthood came out with a statement that i would say is tepid in support of merrick garland. she acknowledged that there are a lot of questions about his stance on reproductive rights. does that issue gives you any pause? sen. klobuchar: again, i would want to look at his positions. is the important here

fact that he is someone that is known as being fair, that he has had the respect of democrats and republicans. you look at the some of the -- you look at some of the comments made in the past, senator mccain, senator cochran, senator roberts, people who have been around a long time. saying, ior hash challenge anyone to say what he would not be a good nominee. i will look at the record and i have not needed -- i have not made a decision yet. i plan on meeting with him next week. what is important here is that we need to have a hearing to ask those questions. yes i will ask those questions at a private meeting but my constituents have a right to know the answers. mark: there is a lot of groups on the left who look at this choice and are not overly enthusiastic and it is not so much a matter of the merits but

a sense of opportunity missed. this is an overwhelmingly male white institution. they were happy when on a kagan got on the court but still think there is room for a woman of color. do you think that obama played it too timidly? sen. klobuchar: i don't think president obama played a timidly. i would never use it agitated to describe him. my colleagues on the other side of the i/o would describe his actions in the last year focusing on moving ahead on cuba and many other things as being far from tenet. what i think he has done here is pick the person that he felt was best for the job twice, judge garland was up there. in one nomination, unwanted hispanictwo women, one . and being the first african-american president with

many cabinet members being people of color, i do not think anybody can doubt obama's street credit on diversity. mark: you know i went pretty well. ireland pretty well. what would have to happen to cause senator -- took change his mind on whether there should be a hearing? sen. klobuchar: i think that will be up to the senator it i have ordered with him on a number of issues. bills withor pharmaceutical companies. i have a good working relationship with him. i hope that he will be listening to his constituents. i don't know what the numbers show in iowa but they tend to have an open court system and speaking of cameras in the courtroom -- they have high cameras in the supreme court in iowa -- they trend -- they tend to be transparent and you look at nationally as the president noted in the rose garden two thirds of the american people favor going forward with a hearing. senators do not have to vote for the nominee but i think they

need to hear and that unless their consent -- and let their constituents. our country deserves this hearing. mark:

john: joining us now from des patty judge.

thank you for joining us. -- i amurious about journeys about -- you have -- i am curious about -- you have jumped on this hard. bring pressure on to senator grassley. gov. judge: i started talking about this issue very soon after would notalia's death must immediately a chuck grassley informed us that he was not going to hold any hearings and he is evidently not ever backing off of that. i think that is the wrong approach and that that is an obstructionist way of handling government and we deserve better. with the name garland put

forth by the president yesterday, i think that we should need to have a hearing and learn about this gentleman. i think that a senator grassley's job as the chairman of the judiciary committee. john: the on the merits of the argument, talk to me about the politics and explain the theory of the case by which you think this is a case by which he could be vulnerable? believe he is vulnerable on this issue. this election cycle we really have seen so much dissatisfaction with politics as politicalplaying games i think because the voting public across this country and definitely here in iowa is fed up with that. we saw that in our caucuses. we are seeing it now across the country. it is an issue that people feel strongly about whether it is

obstructing a hearing, whether it is refusing to pass a budget, whatever the issue, i think people expect that elected officials do the job, find a path to finding solutions and not just to fall their arms and say, no, we are not going to do it. mark: with all due respect, you .ave won and lost races what makes you think, how can you make the claim that he is out of touch? gov. judge: we have been watching him over the last few months and definitely believe that public opinion is not within it i think this is a very , he is very vulnerable on this issue. we intend to keep that in front of the public and i think it is having a real effect on him. his answers are just not holding much water.

iowans see through that. we pride ourselves on our politics. predict he will lose the general election regardless if you are the nominee? gov. judge: i think i'm the best candidate or i would not have gotten into the race. someonethat it takes with some name identification and someone that can seriously challenge him. i have lost a few. i am a known person in the state just as he is. i think this is going to be a good handheld contest. tell me, governor, what your senses beyond this issue or the other areas in which you think senator grassley is vulnerable? he has been in the office for a won time and has not just

elections but one some of them quite commanding lead. what are some other issues? know in an we never election how things will turn from now until next fall but i isinitely believe that he vulnerable on issues like protecting social security, affordable health care, affordable college, raising the minimum wage. these are issues that should be happening. he and republican leadership are stonewalling and there are things that we need to make happen and soon after this next election. just do a little political the analysis of your state which has become the ground state, has gone blue, but has, at this moment, at least, a republican governor and two republican senators. what is the current kind of state of iowa's purpleness?

iowa is always kind of purple because we are so political with our first in the nation caucuses. people listen and study and talk . as you said we have gone blue for the last two cycles and i believe that that will happen again this cycle in the presidential race and i believe that we have a chance at taking one of the senate seats. judge.hank you patty we appreciate you coming on the show. coming up, mark halperin will give us a glance into ted cruz's campaign. you can also listen to us on bloomberg and 99.1 fm. ♪

is the tedng me now cruz's spokesperson to talk about ted cruz. you are picking up some endorsements. did senator graham and ted cruz talk? guest: there has been a lot of conversations throughout the last couple weeks. we were thrilled to have senator and host a us fundraiser for us. we expect more to come. senator rubio said that ted cruz is the only conservative in the race that goes a long way. we're sensing more and more that. we had carly fiorina endorse us

last week. cruze recognize that ted is a true conservative. they see him as someone who is going to fight against washington as usual. based on their election results, people are fed up with washington. they want to see some change. someone who will stand up to fight washington. they are acknowledging ted cruz. mark: i want to say two things. you competed in florida and ohio but donald trump 11 state and ted cruz what another. by all indications, trump is way ahead. there is strategically

going on here. part of that is 2 -- mark: will ted cruz when arizona? you have to win or get nothing. now isstrategy up until to acquire as many delegates as you can -- mark: are you playing to win in arizona? alice: our strategy was successful -- mark: are you playing to win in arizona? is that why you are going on television. alice: we are going on television in several states -- mark: are you trying to win arizona? alice: our goal is to do as well as we possibly can. moving forward, the next 22 primaries on the map look good for us. 14 of them are closed primaries which are more beneficial for ted cruz. four are republicans and

independents. four are trump primaries, open for democrats and independents. we are looking at the next 22 primaries. many of them are favorable to ted cruz. another thing people are questioning is you put out a memo on election night before the results were known. you are making claims about the ability to get a majority of delegates or even win more than donald trump and some people are saying that undermines your credibility in convincing people that there is a path. is there still a path for ted cruz to get the majority of the delegates? alice: yes. there are several paths to victory. it could be us winning them out right and having the settled before the convention. mark: have you heard from people

-- that a strange credulity. nobody has said that to you but me? alice: i am saying -- mark: but there are other paths. alice: there are several paths to a ted cruz victory. that is one of them. the other is acquiring as many delegates as we can to bring into the convention floor. ,hen we get to the convention when there are republicans deciding this, ted cruz is going to walk away the winner. that is what makes this election so exciting. we got into this not knowing who would be in this spot. it is going to be exciting. there is a chance this will be decided at the convention. , westrategy moving forward

have tremendous resources to execute our strategy. we will continue to do what we have been doing, competing hard when the delegates are awarded proportionally to continue to wrap up delegates. with the closed primaries on the horizon, they are beneficial. mark: senator ted cruz is emphasizing the border as he competes in arizona. tell me what the differences between ted cruz and donald trump. not going to be flexible on anything he says or does when it comes to immigration. he will be in arizona tomorrow on the border with a farm family in southern arizona. they are going to be sharing -- mark: what is the difference between ted cruz and donald trump on immigration? alice: ted has been committed to securing the border -- mark: more than donald trump? -- not some

pie-in-the-sky story about getting mexico to pay for the wall. ted is supplying practical solutions to securing the border, enforcing existing laws, and not providing amnesty for those here illegally. mark: do you characterize transposition as amnesty? trump'su characterize position as amnesty? alice: absolutely. he is on both sides of virtually every issue. he even acknowledged that what when he had an off the record conversation with the new york times, admitting that what he has been saying with regard to immigration that he has no intention whatsoever of carrying that through. that speaks volumes. he has said many times, whether he has taken both sides or that he would be flexible or in this

case technology into our reported that what he is saying about immigration is simply campaign rhetoric. that should be concerning. mark: there are a bunch of northeast contests john kasich profile is closer to the republicans who wind in the northeast. what are the arguments he would make to say that ted cruz can win delegates in places like new jersey and connecticut? alice: we will continue to have momentum as we move through the next primary. we're going to have the -- to as to a secured secured a ground game. a carried us through many of the state spirit have shown tremendous victory and acquire delicate spirit we have a tremendous amount of resources not just in terms of having raised 72 million dollars but we have a strong field operation in variede executing states and that is going to play a key in us winning in all areas

of the country whether it is the northeast or outlast. mark: thank you so much, appreciate it. march agnes after this. ♪

mark: joining us once again is ken goldstein in a segment we call by the numbers. tonight, march agnes. thank you for joining us. john: i would like you to talk about a topic that you refer to in terms of bracket busting. talk to us about the expectations about the money spent on advertisements. ken: some had the number of bit

waser but a good consensus about $4.2 million -- $4.2 billion. some people had the number even higher. under $370 have had million spent on political advertising in the presidential race. thirdt number, about one of that should be on the presidential race. is what we have seen so far more or less? on the one hand, it is a little bit more. 2008 orook back to 2012, that is way more than what was spent on television in those races. there is a couple factors that show the pace slowing.

the majority of the spending was only in three states. the pace has slowed after that. on theer point is, republican side, the majority over $75who spent million where the super pacs of two candidates, jeb bush and marco rubio, who are not in the race anymore. it seems higher but there is some danger signs and then there is the trump effect. mark: let's talk about the trump effect. trump has gotten good ratings .or television if he is the nominee in the general election, what is the danger for stations that tend to make a lot of money from political advertisements if trump continues to rely on free

media? executives said, tv love the high ratings that trump generates but they are very concerned about what he could do to that ultimate spending. he is only spent about $17 million himself on advertising. the big danger for some of these toadcasters who have begun rely on political ad spending is at the groups who as we have orked about pay three four times as much as the candidates and spend a ton of money on political advertising whether they sit out the presidential race. so that is a real possible down factor. trump himself will not spend a lot, and there is not going to be lots of republican groups coming to bat for trump. if trumpher hand,

changes how the 2016 elections look, that could increase spending in other races. maybe trump makes some states competitive that were not before. what if trump makes the senate race or the house race more competitive than we would have thought some of the super pacs that would have spent the money on the presidential race now instead are spending big money to defend house seats? mark: i'm a big basketball fan and the worst thing that you can do on the court is in air ball. irball" in "airball, a the gains. you have to come to the conclusion -- please explain. ken: again, it is difficult to do this in real time. it is always much more fun to be the couch coach than the real

coach in to say how the shot should have gone and rather than screaming air ball but i think it was a bit of an air ball. $80 million has been spent against donald trump which, when you measure it against the free media he has gotten, is not a ton. what is more perplexing is over anti-trump spending has happened after march 1, after super tuesday. --y have done it when lost lots of the elections had already happened. or even looking at a place like florida, where you recently had a primary. a lot was made at the $8 million spent in the last week against donald trump. a million dollars is it really a lot of money. almost 50% of florida republican voters voted early. all of that money was spent when half of the florida republican electorate had already voted.

have an, we advertisement that was out that had women reading inflammatory quotes from donald trump. it is a 62nd advertisement and it seems pretty powerful but it only started airing on march 15, after super tuesday and florida and north carolina and illinois and missouri. which is a bit perplexing. john: it is an air ball that came after the buzzer. thank you ken goldstein. next, what elizabeth warren will not say. ♪

who won the day? john: those who endorsed. mark: i agree. see what i mean in this very heavily edited version of elizabeth warren interview. >> you have not yet paid in endorsement. win thenk bernie should white house. alright. sayonara. ♪

>> i mark crumpton. you are watching bloomberg west. after he was nominated to serve dream courts, -- to the supreme court merrick garland made the

rounds on capitol hill. harry reid is demanding republicans hold a hearing on the nomination. he met with patrick leahy the ranking member of the senate judiciary committee. some have expressed an openness to meet with garland. senator lindsey graham endorsed senator ted cruz for president. in february senator graham wasn't supportive. >> if you kill ted cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial was in the senate nobody could convict you. [laughter] mark: he says rallying around ted cruz may be the only way to stop donald trump. blocked the cabinet. he says he was an attempt to hide him from a corruption