♪ john: welcome to this edition of the best of with all due respect . it was a we do it hillary clinton and donald trump inched closer to becoming the nominees while the remaining rivals through everything but the kitchen sink right at them. and john kasich try teaming up to put wins on the board in the upcoming contest. crews also took the unusual step of naming a running mate before the convention, hoping to promise and put it carly fiorina will tantalize voters to join team ted. john: and bernie sanders talking

tough about hillary clinton, even though he is laying off staffers. will any of these candidates work? we were here from the best political strategists from both parties in the business, starting with the campaign advisor steve. john: we are inaugurating a brand-new branded segment of with all due respect. that is called schmidt happens. we are here with steve schmidt, series, of the ongoing schmidt happens. mr. schmidt, you have some experience with vice president 2008.louts, famously tell us what you think, the hypothetical presidential roll out of carly fiorina. is fine, but: she it will not make much of a difference. it is momentum in the campaign is stalled.

it is what it is. he is tried to change the story line from trumps domination of these contests. trying to get some energy in a head of indiana. it went fine, but carly fiorina is not a surprise. we talked about, we are going to unveil the running mate. a lot of people who thought this odds,with not very long it was likely to be carly fiorina. she had been tested over the last month. the net effect as a practical matter is nothing for her as we wrap up this week and go into next week. mark: one of the biggest things of the week, so much overshadowed tuesday night when tom trump asked if he was the presumptive nominee, and he said yeah. he wants them out. if he wins indiana and they don't get out, which i think is possible, what can he do? are the people that can indoors? -- endorse?

what are steps you can take to pressure them? steve schmidt: the title of presumptive nominee is one that needs to be bestowed typically by the titular head of the party. 2008 was clear john mccain was going to be the presumptive nominee. he had a meeting with the president of the united states at the white house. in this case, the titular head of the party is either mitt romney, the past many, or is paul ryan, the ranking elected republican in the country. or perhaps it could be re-sprayed this, but some -- some previous, but combination saying donald trump is going to be the first valid nomination of the republican party. tension, is it possible any of those three guys could or would say that or sense that signal until trump actually goes numerically over? ,teve schmidt: reince previous

there is no upside for the speaker wanted to control the house and certainly mcconnell in the senate to net which test to damage the unnecessarily the person who will be the nominee of the party. denying the obvious, when he is on the precipice of hitting that magic number of 1237 serves nobody's purpose. mark: so he wins indiana. can you imagine where donald trump would call rights previous and say i am getting this -- ebus, send reince pri a signal this thing is over. steve schmidt: it would be totally appropriate for him to do that. reince priebus would check with . if you look at donald trump, let's say to make 1000ath, he is at delegates. he will win new jersey winner take all. let's be stingy in the allocation in california, we

will say he gets 150 out of 172 in california. he is at 1200 free indiana. if he wins indiana, he is clearly going to be the nominee on the first valid in cleveland -- ballot in cleveland. the party will bestow the trappings that it would on any nominee. john: last time, you talked about the fact that republicans say that trump is unqualified, etc. so whether he gets this 1237, there are people who are in the never trump movement. they will never vote for him. you are donald trump, mitt romney does not show up to the convention. john mccain says he will not, but he will change his mind. so the past two nominees hard on going to go. they have made it clear they will not ever vote for him let alone indoors him. how do you manage that? some people will endorse him, he will get that. some of the party will acquiesce

and capitulate. what do you do about that? steve schmidt: once you become the nominee, we will see the dissonance with what people have been saying, never trump, i will never support trump, but i tend to support the nominee in my party. that moment is quickly arriving. i think you will see some republicans who say no, i will not be able to support the nominee of the party. i think he is unfit. but i don't think that is going to be a majority. the prominent members of the elected leadership of the republican party, numbers that will not support him, is going to be few and far between, because they will be -- you have elected class in washington that is terrified of the tea party movement. it wasn't a exactly profiles encouraged standing up to the people in the last year. and the notion these were elected public and congressman

and senators are going to take on the trump constituency i -- byg donald trump attacking donald trump when he is trying to get the nomination, after he becomes the clear nominee is danceable. it will not happen. john: so mitt romney does to the election? juliette: no. john: how do you manage that piece of dissonance? if the past presidents, george w. bush will not be there, what do you do? mark: bush and cheney always seem to be busy. if trump wins on tuesday, we all go back to these people that said, i am not going to vote for trump, but he will not be the nominee. i think they will go about 80, formery will say the party chairman, what is he going to do? not vote for the party? once he gets this, which will

happen after trump is the nominee, they will lose people. if they don't show up in cleveland and protest, what does it really matter? steve schmidt: once you have a nominee of your party, typically you indict all that is wrong in the world and america completely on the other party. republicansns for in this scenario on the moment barack obama took office. donald trump is not like that. he will indict the failures of both parties, multiple administrations, going back to 1980's.the i think the last and arguably successful president we had was ronald reagan in this country. , thell indict both parties leadership of both parties, and he will say there is an upside to doing that with the millions of democratic voters who are as upset as republican voters, they could cross over as reagan democrats. john: so for him, by his

calculation, party unity in the overrated. you play that game, that is the way they alienate the republican party. it is ahmidt: bipartisan thing that attacks both sides. a lot of people will not rally to that message. i think they will say welcome aboard, we want everyone to be on the team, but he will not go out of his way to make concessions. one thing he would be smart to do is reach out to paul ryan upon winning indiana, if he does that, and say, what does the legislative package i signed up to the congress on january 21 look like? what is the first 100 days of legislation that you can pass, i would like you to partner with me in drafting this legislative package. that is how we does the reach out to establishment republicans , through paul ryan, through the policy operation. granting the favor of

washington, getting the lobbying class, the political establishment such as it is. not really important. mark: i thought he would get bush 41. trump,you are trying -- follow romney's course and say i will look for hillary or someone else. they might follow romney's path, what would you be concerned about? steve schmidt: when he was to avoid is a critical mass of national security figures were respected. mark: petraeus. steve schmidt: general petraeus or stan mcchrystal. the generals of our most recent wars. kissinger,ack, henry foreign policy dorians of the of the lastns generation, if they raise the temperance issue. in brooklyn, they are

going hard for many of the people on the list that steve mentioned. the clinton campaign will try to get endorsements on the very kind of people you are talking about early on to break from. -- trump. john: is it imperative that trump but someone on the ticket that has national security experience? steve schmidt: it is not imperative, but he could send an important signal with who he picks to be the vice president. and i think it is absolutely blue skies, open space about who or what credentials that person is going to have that is on the ticket. we have no idea. is it going to be a governor, someone outside of politics, the military? john: that is the one thing he does not have in his portfolio. it will be important. mark: there will be defections. steve schmidt: the key will be the debates in the fall. they will be the most watched global television programs,

probably since the mint moon will, thosend we will be determined who the president is. john: still ahead, the state of the democratic race with two-party veterans. james carville and anita dunn. ♪

♪ bernie sanders: would be a great idea to have a woman as ice president, something i would give very much thought to. mark: any women would be qualified for that? bernie sanders: yes, many. mark: can you name any? [laughter] bernie sanders: no, it is too early. but their people, elizabeth champions been a real taking on wall street. mark: that was senator bernie

sanders on the morning joe. we are back with james carville in new orleans and joining us from washington, former white house communications director in the obama administration anita dunn, not affiliated with either campaigns this year. if you are advising the hillary clinton campaign, and she called and said what is the best proper role for bernie sanders and my convention, assuming she gets the majority, what would that role should be? tell her, let him make his primetime speech, to talk directly to the country about differences between the two parties. mark, as you know, their parting for the direction of the party, but general elections are fighting for the entire nation. primary speech let him lay out the indictment of the republicans and the difference between the political parties and speak to wrigley to his supporters in the people attracted to his message.

mark: what about you? james: it will be her convention, but generally candidates will be allowed to speak. it can be all negotiated going into the convention. but i would not discount the possibility sanders would have a speech at a important time during the convention. he has a lot of voters. they need to be spoken to. i don't have a problem with that. james, you are for hillary clinton. one thing that is clear is senator sanders has spoken to young democrats, young voters, much more clearly. from bernie take sanders? what does she have to do to get the affection, the enthusiasm of those voters? james: i am around young people

a lot, i am a college professor now. i think sanders has a critique of the system that, in my opinion and a lot of other people, is kind of superficial. it is appealing to people. they are coming in the party and have enthusiasm. any political party wants people like this. they don't have a huge advantage with people under 35, he will make it better. she wanted to incorporate these people and have enthusiastic members of the democratic party, which i think she can do if it requires some political skill. it will require dexterity, patients. all of those things she has demonstrated she has. mark: and we talked in the past about the issues that matter to millennial voters. what can hillary clinton do while staying true to herself on policy in terms of temperament and tenor to connect those voters? anita: it is interesting because

bernie sanders are talking about our issues i think hillary clinton is very comfortable talking about. she has 30 years of experience of what happens when you have money interests ganging up against progressive issues like health care, for example. she can talk to that as well as anybody. she can speak to education about as well as anybody. she did education reform when she was the first lady of arkansas. what hillary clinton has a lot of areas of agreement with bernie sanders, and she also has a passion for a lot of things he has been talking about in terms of making lives better regular people. that is what needs to come through. that and what james was saying is absolutely right. he needs to talk to them, but he has a lot to say. peoplei think the young like a lot of people can either

agree, they think the system is rigged. she has got to convince them she understands that and she is about leveling the playing field . she needs to be an advocate for point of view. people around the country and particular in young people think the system is being corrupted by money. she has got to be able to speak to that. i think she can do that, she believes that. there are going to have to do that. she will have to talk about that. that is what young people think, it is rigged, stacked, and bought off. in some extent, i can't blame them. mark: once upon a time there was a war room in little rock, arkansas. they had a sign that said change versus more of the same. don't forget health care, and the economy. one of the three things that should be taxed on the clinton war room, what are they? think they are a bad place to start. change versus more of the same,

i would change that a little, change versus going backwards, more of the same versus going backwards. the way she will match up against republicans. and the second, it is the economy. it is about your life. the third, it is about them. it is about people. those three things, not similar to it james had in his war room in 1992, are really the core precepts of them forward. mark: james, what would you put up? james: i would say the change we are going to bring about, we are going to have a government that works for you. we are going to take on the people that are working against you. it is a level playing field, and i will beat them, i will be your people in the white house. and change is going back. trump wants to go back to 1958. that is not the way to go. she has got to do that and talk

about how she wants to level the playing field and being an agent of change and being on the cutting edge of change. she can do that effectively. i look forward to it. mark: we come back, strategist kassie on us and speaking about the republican assessment warming up to donald j trump. ♪

mark: two guys we call the purple people. they are the founding partners of herbal strategies, our polling partners, and to people that know a lot of -- purple strategies, our polling partners. and to people that know a lot about this. are you fully accepting the reality, or you are hoping people can intersect? >> i am going for donald trump.

he has this thing one in march. he nearly lost it. he has wanted back. -- won it back. and now the price of denying trump the nomination is so clear to everyone in the party it would be so destructive, that is part of the bandwagon effect, rattling the party around. it is not whether he has earned the nomination. it is, what it destroy the party denying it to them? mark: is there anything where he has talked about solidifying his hold, this is a guy that could win a general election. >> i think he has gotten more depth, more presidential. and corey lewandowski, going back-and-forth paul metaphor making him more presidential, or corey lewandowski allowing him to revert to his in south -- his old self. even but the flags up, he is a little presidential. you can see him maturing.

but then he goes off like he did last night and seems to regress. if he runs a temper tantrum campaign, he is going to get destroyed. if he runs a good campaign, he is going to get beat. alex: i think hillary clinton has never run against anyone with 10 arms at eight legs by donald trump. ,n winning the general election the odds are better than 50-50. john: to me about what happened today with ted cruz and carly fiorina. alex: it was a clear strategy by ted cruz to get her delegates. have non't have any, i idea. it makes no sense. this guy has asked a girl to the prom, she said no, he is still making dinner reservations. it doesn't do anything. it demonstrates how irrelevant he has become. ted cruz had value, he was an alternative to donald trump.

nobody actually wanted him. it turns that when donald trump either succeeds or fails, you don't need ted cruz. he is now irrelevant. because heot jealous heard john kasich was interviewing and having president of candidates vetted. cruz did not want to lose anything, so he went quickly. john: so does this help or hurt to watch? the help him, or is it a wash? steve: it probably hurts him a little bit because it reinforces the fact he is desperate and irrelevant. john: so you think that donald trump is going to be the nominee, no question. steve: i have been hoping this would be the case. alex: this year, the impossible is already happening, so who knows what could happen tomorrow ? could he lose indiana? could a meteor hit?

yeah, he could call a handful of votes short, but he still gets the nomination. maybe the steel 200 and deny him the nomination, the party blows up. i don't think that will happen. it looks like donald trump will be the republican nominee. -- stop trump movement, either before or after he wins, that will become the consensus view? alex: i think you are right. the governor of florida is at the leading edge of that debate. but it is beginning to sink in that the cost of denying trump this is liken, political parties like the stock market. they can go up or down, but you want to avoid uncertainty. right now, the republican party is bringing uncertainty. that is the trend for the next two months. steve: i completely agree with this in terms of with the trump supporters walking out of the

convention angry. on the other hand, a lot of mainstream republicans are very worried about what happens if he is the nominee. does the senate go under, does the house of representatives democratic? i say, go donald because all of these things could happen. a lot of his friends are deeply concerned. alex: that if i were a senate candidate and i had a choice in having ted cruz above me in the ticket or donald trump, i would have a better shot of being my own person on my own candidate under donald trump. ted cruz is the nearest expression of a -- narrow waist expression of a republican. donald trump is, the circus is come to town, look at me. ambassador gives us a take no. ♪

♪ talk more about donald

trump's policy speech he gave in washington. we heard a lot of the public in front runner who says what is wrong with america's current foreign-policy and something thematic about what we are doing to ask america's standing in the world. here is a quick highlight reel of some of his ideas and positions. donald trump: the countries we are defending must pay for the cost of this defense, and if not, the u.s. must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. we have no choice. our president has allowed china to continue its economic assault on american jobs and wealth, refusing to enforce trade deals, and apply it leverage on china necessary toin -- rein in north carolina. i believe in the easing of tensions and improved relations with russia from a position of strength only. it is possible, absolutely possible. and then there is isis.

i have a simple message for them. their days are numbered. i will not tell them where, and i won't tell them how. [laughter] [applause] must as a nation be more unpredictable. mark: a little bit more from that speech, joining us to talk about trump, the former political ambassador at the united nations during bush 43's administration. let's start with the last point. the clinton people jump all over this notion that being unpredictable, trump says they are sending advisers into a place. he says we should not be giving stuff away. is there something that unpredictability is a good idea? >> there is a difference between unpredictable behavior versus carrying close cards. nixon's surprise everybody with

normalization of relations with china. that wasn't unpredictable in the sense that it makes sense to the national interest, but it was a surprise. he is looking at vladimir putin and the way he sort of gained and got an edge on certain regional issues, seeing us from plodding along and not being nimble. john: a lot of people look at the criticisms of the speech, do you hear a serious person in that speech about world affairs? stuart: i actually do. what i see is somebody who believes that american leadership in the world is somewhat eroded. that is not uncommon among american republican candidates. but the economic diplomacy and leverage, there has always been the effort to engage to the medically over here and then maybe a sanction, but you really don't do anything to link economic consequences. .e is a negotiator

so using economic leverage to achieve political and automatic outcomes, which is hard. mark: some people look at what is a processing -- proposing, reagan tried to do this. is he not beholden to the state department? this could change on the president trump? -- under president trump? stuart: where he goes and spends time invariably they see a powerful bully pulpit. do the burden sharing, it will do a lot of attention. the question is not do you talk someone out of nato because they can't pay their bill, but how do you play a link to the national security, middle east? can you get them over 2%, which they are only three or four actually paying?

there is a lot of apparent inconsistencies where he seems , hawkish. other places where he seems less so. is there a worldview, and identifiable realist, isolationist, is there an animation here you can identify? stuart: i think it is realist. someone who views democracy promotion and idealistic, it universal values versus american interest. that takes me back to the 1970's in terms of how we viewed the world. i also did your inconsistencies. it is tough to have it always be robust militarily but not intervene. i think the timeframe he laid out for prosecuting the struggle against islamic extremism indicates that he has got this view of the new communist threat

. he is containment, the term containment. building and putting resources behind that is going to be important as well as getting everyone to foot the bill, help foot the bill. mark: if you could ask him one question now about his foreign-policy, national security, what would it be? stuart: when he would decide to use military force. he left that up in the air. we talk about american national interest with our treaties, the south china sea, south korea. when we act, and under what circumstances? that is the highest is possibility of the president, and we don't know where he stands on that. mark: crashing the two parties, we talk to the political activist peter. ♪

♪ john and i recently sat

down with kit peter, the leader of the group known as level playing field. making it easier for third-party candidates in presidential debates. he was also the founder of the elect, trying to get a third-party candidate in 2012. the estimate the success of donald trump and bernie sanders running counter to his argument that the two-party process can be closed off. >> if you look at bernie sanders and donald trump, the thing they don't have together is they don't represent the independent voice that is simultaneously attractive to democrats and republicans together. that coalition is not represented in either of them. what we need is a pathway. people that represent the coalition have a fair chance to compete. mark: are you sure there is room for the want to be a distinctive voice and an important voice between these major parties as opposed to bernie sanders on the left and donald trump on the

populist right? try towhen you conceptualize the third, it is the ideological crease tween them. they are missing the point. basicallydent today, it has a whole range of preferences tempered by the feeling of those preferences. when you put that altogether in terms of portfolio of interests and desires, they find the two parties are not suitable to , toh, one of the other match with a really want. 80% of the country would like to see a viable third. john: who would americans elect is a third candidate, get people on the ballot? talk about level playing field and what you are trying to do right now. peter: we created americans anct, the idea was to create internet-based voting system that would nominate a nonpartisan ticket, not republican, not democratic, that

would be on the ballot in all 50 states. we got that done, did the largest signature drive in history. but frankly, and this is my problem as the leader, i underestimated the difficulty of the debates. we went to candidates and ask them for running, and they went to friends and said, what do you think? and then they had a finger pointed at their chest and said, it would be bad for you. and then they came back and said, we wanted to try this, but if i put myself out, i look at negative blowback. if i win, i am on the ballot, but how do i get through the debate? after two years of planning, i thought it was easier than it was. he was mathematically no chance of somebody getting into the debates who wasn't democratic republican or independent. even they would have huge risks of what is required to be in the

debates. if i said to you, your viewers right now, let's create a law that only democrats and republicans can be president, i would say everyone of your viewers would have said that is a terrible, unconstitutional. it is of noxious to suggest. to suggest.s but that is what we are going to get. we are fighting it, we have a motion of justman -- judgment. john: so level the playing field is struggling with this to the issue. peter: and the things that come before it. the ballot access rules and the in balances and how to raise money. -- imbalances and how to raise money. if you are independent you can raise $2700 a person. if you need to get on the ballot , which nominees don't, every single state it is $15 million. i have been through it.

at $2700, yoully lose your gathering. before you get any nomination, use it with people like i am doing, you need to sit down with 100 50,000 people, assuming they all said yes. if half say yes, it is 300,000. that is white and a person who is not been a billionaire has ever made it on the ballot to be president. that is a defect in the system that must be rectified. mark: i understand what you are deemed -- doing. isn't the reality that however much progress you have, until there is a person who can actually do this as the ,olitical ability issues matrix, funding capacity --rself like bernie sanders like self funding like bernie sanders, they will not really need this.

if you make these things happen on their own. peter: with the current rules, there is note chance. ,ernie sanders with his friends your independent socialist, why are you running as a democrat? he said because you need to to win today. and donald trump has $2 billion in free earned media. the process you follow pre-billion -- you follow brilliantly. normal anticipation of events, each up about it every day, that allows orderly subject. mark: so take a trump. if trump decided he wanted to be on all 50 state ballots and the independent and spent his own money and raise the money, he would meet every sicker. he would be in the debates. peter: the important take away like we are seeing now with the two parties is that we are how obscure rules that we don't think about until the

moment we think about them actually impact an election so that people are saying, this is a rigged game or it is not democratic. john: coming up, what is like to be a trump the border in a deep blue state. we go on the ground in connecticut. ♪

♪ mark: donald j trump, billionaire, is excited to win the primaries tomorrow. we sent the filmmaker on to ur hundred 35 miles north to a rural economically depressed to learnonnecticut, one thing. what is like being a donald trump supporter in connecticut these days. >> what you hear? birds, nice breeze.

it doesn't get much better than this. >> jeff e.m.'s lives in rural eastern connecticut. >> what is the aussie of life going to be? it is tougher and tougher every year, but it is all about emily. with my wife and i babysit our grandson four to five days a week, because that is my son, they work jobs trying to stay even and get ahead. >> the largest town in this area is wyndham, population of 125,000. >> you can't find jobs. >> we have high unemployment. eastern connecticut is suffering. >> windham county had the lowest income level in connecticut. >> costs are going up but incomes are not going up. >> we are documenting anything that surprises you with wyndham so far? >> they have been so welcoming.

i am already speaking on the radio. i have been here for a minute. leads inump connecticut by at least 20 points. >> the inside track on jobs, he needs to know -- he knows what needs to be done. we to go back to the constitution and rebuild this country. >> we have conservative values. you can see it on the streets. if you go to windham, they are extremely, i want is a liberal. i lean more towards john kasich because he is more middle of the line type of guy. he has for bernie, accomplished things for climate change and has a plan. >> i think hillary clinton will do a wonderful job. >> it doesn't feel like a political battleground. >> there are a lot of people that elected where politics on their sleeves, but they definitely are. they are worried about eating harassed.

one of the things that brought me to donald trump is he says that we are thinking. he says it. i think donald trump can go down there, shake it up, and bring a revival back to washington. >> here we are, where i get to tell the rest of the town and the rest of the state that they are driving down route 66. who i am interested in >>. >>a lot of people will support me, they will not put signs in the yard. i notice anywhere from two to three signs at night. i don't know if it is the opposition or somebody that once a sign in their yard. so the result that many republicans in our lifetimes we can remember who won the mississippi primary and are likely to win connecticut. how is it that for trump, in a position where his appeal crosses all traditional red state, blue state, geographic divide? with ae struck a chord

lot of people that does play across different geographical areas and different people that are established -- frustrated with the established that his quote. and the media often paints them as crazy and unreasonable. like all candidates, he has some that are crazy and unreasonable. but people like that are as big a part of trump's coalition as anyone else, and that is a guy that cares about his coalition, family, lives in connecticut. you wouldn't think it is trump country, but he could win that tomorrow. funny that donald trump if he is nominee will not win connecticut. it is a blue state. it is interesting more republican party members in connecticut cannot be more different from other places in the country. donald trump is the dominant figure. interested, donald trump has had a lot of appeal across different parts of the

republican coalition. mark: another action-packed week. think you for watching. we will see you back here on monday. until then, sayonara. ♪

francine: welcome to "leaders with lacqua." i'm prancing about. the focus is on the banking industry. some banks were brought to their knees, standard chartered came out unscathed. in june 2015, bill winters was picked to turn the company around. he has sold 19 businesses and hired new management. he is no stranger to the banking world. he spent 26 years at jpmorgan.