mark: i mark halperin. john: i'm john heilemann. with all due respect to the find attached to the super tuesday from the past, sayonara. >> the final super tuesday. >> the last so-called super tuesday. like the last super tuesday of our lives. last superthe tuesday. it seems like it has been going on forever. part three.sday >> another super tuesday.

john: hard not to miss it. super tuesday -- no matter what happens in california, new jersey and other states, hillary clinton will stay out on the page and declare she is finally her party's presumptive nominee. we will talk about that historic moment in a moment. but after 24 hours of skating reactions to donald trump's comments, the republican presumptive nominee released a statement later this afternoon that released -- that says in part -- it is unfortunate mike comments have been misconstrued as an attack of people against mexican heritage. i am friends with an employee thousands of people of mexican and hispanic descent. the american justice system

john: from's statement seems -- trump's statement seems to be a response of condemnation from fellow publicans. calling them a racially toxic. senator lindsey graham urged his -indoors theo un republican nominee. mark kirk said he would support from for president and then put out a statement saying i cannot and will not support my party's nominee for president. house speaker paul ryan and mitch mcconnell spoke to reporters today and once again stress their disapproval in the strongest possible terms. : i regret those

comments he made. i don't think -- claiming a person cannot do the job because of their race is the text per -- textbook example of racist comment. ofator mcconnell: we have 20 issues and my device to our nominee is to chart talking about the issues the american people care about and start doing it now. is timeion to that, it to quit attacking various people variouseted with or minority groups in the country and get on message. john: as trump instructed during conference, his allies have been on cable tv trying to get this thing under control, arguing there is no racial undertone to his argument. some staffers actually accused trump's critics of eating the ones using racist statements in this fight. >> let me make no bones about it

-- speaker ryan is wrong and has apparently switched positions and is supporting identity politics, which is racist. >> you are accusing paul ryan of racism? >> i am accusing anybody who believes in identity politics of playing the race card. the republican establishment is playing it, senator mcconnell is playing it. these people have run and he and borrowed the democratic agenda of playing the race card. john: up until this afternoon, this controversy did not seem to be losing steam at all. if anything, it seemed to began bring momentum with all of the stuff that has happened but my question to you is that now that trump has addressed the matter with this statement, do you think that is the beginning of him putting it behind him? mark: this will put some of it behind him for some people. it's too early to say what this will cure. what is clear is that he cannot

unring the bell. this is as close to an apology as he gets. it's basically i'm sorry if you did not understand what i was saying. a lot of republicans will be spooked by this. they hoped he would not be this controversial and they hoped that he would stop after he became the presumptive nominee. i think we will see over the next you days how he behaves. he's going to try not to do this again but this has spooked a lot of republicans. he has nouggest capacity for self control and that he brought this fall thing entirely on himself and then can you and you'd to keep going and going. -- continued to keep going and going. he did not apologize. , saying all of you misconstrued my comments is not an apology at all and there is nothing that explains how when he said before he's hispanic and cannot be impartial, how do you walk that iraq question marquis

says he's still not impartial. he doesn't explain why he's not capable of rendering impartial justice and does not even walk it back, just saying i'm sorry you got this wrong. i think republicans will be freaked by this for a long time and the ones who want to be behind him will be happy that he for ame to his senses little while and i don't think they will say everything is fine. mark: the chairman of the republican party who is under pressure to clean this up, he has said for the republicans to win the white house back, they needed to run a perfect campaign. amongst the things this illustrates is trump is not going to run a perfect campaign. the speaker of the house -- this is extraordinary. it used to it. , thee democratic side washington dc primary doesn't happen until next week but the

last six states are having contests today. the associated press last night and others reported clinton had reached the magic number. super thatd, some she needs. for weeks it has been clear clinton was going to become the first female presidential nominee, a -- an international milestone, but that does not make this moment any less historic. berniewest coast, sanders take the stage in santa monica and almost certainly say his campaign has exceeded all expectations and accomplish more anyone could dream of and that he will be 100% correct. what we all know at this point is what his next move will be, how clinton is going to handle

her victory and what the ellicott dance between the two of them will look at -- look like as it lays out over the next few days. hisnow that sanders and team have said they are going to go to the convention and he says he's going to keep up the fight. talk about how you see the dance between clinton and bernie sanders laying out starting this evening into the coming weeks. john: there's a third party involved in the dance and that is president obama. we know that he talked to sanders and i know the white house right now is being deferential. president obama wants to endorse hillary clinton as soon as possible but they are being deferential because there are conversations happening between the sanders campaign on the clinton campaign on how this dance is going to play out. i think president obama will have an worst hillary clinton by

the end of the week. one of these days that are left some of that endorsement will happen but other things will happen before that happens and that will be between the clinton and sanders people. what happens in california will affect that negotiation of how sanders and clinton choreograph it here. mark: if bernie sanders could take his fight to philadelphia and keep his supporters rallied and have his name put in nomination and see if there were any develop and that would cause superdelegates to turn against hillary clinton, he would do it for sure. but can he be persuaded that staying in damages her? my gut says if he can figure out how to do that and convince people around him that he is not going to hurt her chances of winning, i think he wants to stay and because this is not from his point of view and his supporters point of view, this is not rand x or brand why. john: she may go into passive

campaign mode but what is true is that sanders cares less about the platform and you can tell he's not serious about trying to fix the democratic platform. i think he cares about reforming the process and the argument president obama and others will has a higherhe degree of leverage if he gets on board than if he holds out and if he holds out, everyone piles and behind her, she could lose leverage and that may change everything. mark: i would be surprised by no outcome. john: the super pacs supporting hillary clinton is out with a new tv ad about that time donald trump mocked the new york times reporter pasta's ability. we will talk to the man behind that add next. but first we have a word from

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mark: in commemoration of spring and the unofficial start of the election, the clinton campaign has a new ad hitting the air featuring the ohio parents of a child with a rare physical disability talking about their outrage in that moment two months ago when donald trump seemed to imitate the reporter who has a physical disability. joining us to discuss that ad and much more is the cochair of our seniorusa and white house correspondent from

bloomberg politics. thank you for joining us. early advertising -- are you convinced that you, the campaign and other clinton allies can effectively and this race by defining donald trump on your terms? no, i expect we will advertise all the way through the end. is fully paying attention to the general election. they are outliving their lives, taking care of their kids, but we know as the primaries come to a close that people are starting to pay attention and we want to make sure we are filling in the links on donald trump and his view of the presidency, his view of the world and his view of most americans. what is the percentage of the likelihood that will have paul ryan saying donald trump plus comments were the technical

definition of racist? guy: better than even. we were just talking about the dance between clinton and sanders and that will involve president obama. the endorsements hillary clinton is going to get -- she is going to get barack obama's endorsement -- talk about what you think the timing is and how you think they will play out. margaret: we know hillary clinton will be holding major andaign events in ohio that's going to be an important day for her for -- if they can get them out on stage with them, the next week or six days will be a big time frame. john: and you assume she's going to do a public event at some point soon? : i was soon they are

trying to do that sometime in the next week or certainly get the endorsement in the next couple of days. if you look back in 2008, she was within three or four days, she was publicly standing behind him but it was a couple of weeks when they had their first big appearance together and there is a lot of stagecraft that goes into that. concerns not a lot of that there could be a slow drag on him. he had so much energy behind him in a way that she has not. mark: have you ever seen any candidate for any office do the kind of thing donald trump has done in the last few days regarding trump university and the judge? guy: no, and i haven't seen many people behave in such a horrible way, putting out a statement saying not i'm sorry or that i bestrong or that some of i friends are hispanic is not an

acceptable response to what can only be described directly and simply as a racist attack on an american judge and the idea he could put out a statement clearly written by someone else and that is going to solve this problem is pretty shortsighted. this is going to stick with him for a while. margaret: i think it is interesting the role the judicial system is playing, first with the supreme court thing and now with this. fors certainly a problem donald trump and for hillary clinton, she may be wanting to take a victory lap but she may also just want to get out of the way and watch donald trump's problem's unfold. john: what do you think about the question of leverage and what senator sanders is going about here? there was not that much in 2008 hillary clinton wanted from barack obama accept a future in democratic politics.

what do you think now about how you go about trying to get it eschew mark margaret: there was a question about whether he wanted to adjust the platform. effect thee wants to nominating process. california is a good example where as independents have been brought into the fold, it has helped candidates like bernie sanders. he would like to have some legacy for himself, maybe not as much as if he were 35 but he wants to be not forgotten or left behind. hillary clinton would like for bernie to come around quickly and on his own terms, but if he does not, she has donald trump as a lever. mark: i want to switch to the jobs report that came out. for those americans concerned about the economy, what are the says shellary clinton

would do to help them find jobs? surprised ifnot be we see a significant infrastructure bill. decent chance a of passing because republicans will be reeling from five months of racist comments from donald trump. raising the minimum wage will be part of it. i think there's a host of things she is focused on. people running for president so far, she is the one who has released the most detailed plans on not only the economy but a number of other issues. guestcoming up, our next has his mind on the money and the money on the mind. the finance chair of the republican governors association, right after this. ♪

john: next up in our parade of great guests is republican strategist fred malek who joins us from washington, d c. you wrote a pretest op-ed about donald trump after he attacked susana martinez. you worried about his lack of discipline and said he needed to change. that was before the entire controversy of the judge. what kind of progress is donald trump making in changing in a way that will help him win the presidency?

fred: to my surprise, he's not taking my advice. i think he has doubled down on some of his criticisms but i think it is a step in the right direction to step out of it. nevertheless, i found his statements on the judge to be distasteful and discouraging. there are a lot of us in the republican party who want to come around and support the nominee of our party and he's making it more difficult. mark: you probably talk to, if not the exact donors, the same kind of donors and supporters of the party. give us a sense of how freaked out people have then in the last 72 hours. people had been looking for donald trump once he secured the nomination to move toward not a centrist position but a present -- a position that unifies rather than divides. i think they are looking for him to be more presidential and bring people together and make peace with all important groups

in our country. i think there is disappointment he has not done that yet. mark: you say disappointed. my guest -- my guess is you have heard more than disappointment. you have heard people freaking out and saying is this really our nominee? fred: it's really not true. people have accepted this is our nominee. most people have kind for -- pined for paul ryan word david won fair andbut he square and he is the nominee. now you have the choice, do you support the nominee of your party or don't you? people are still of the opinion we need to change the direction of our country and that's why they want to be supportive of this nominee. john: you said you thought that trump's comments were

distasteful. paul ryan said they were the textbook definition of racist. do you agree or disagree with that? not going to comment on what the definition of racist is. i put out a tweet earlier that said i was very disappointed but than more reprehensible his comments about susana martinez. i think it is perfectly fair to question a judge's impartiality but not based on his ethnicity. and speakst's wrong so ill of him. and it hurts him more than anyone else. john: so the question of discipline that you raise, this controversy roque out several days ago and yet yesterday, trump was continuing. andating these criticisms urging his surrogates to repeat them. does that speak to a discipline

to be a successful presidential candidate? fred: i spoke to the lack of discipline and that he must have more discipline if he is going to win the election. you have to think about what they're going to say and how it is going to affect people. believe he would say that is going to be a good thing. it doesn't seem plausible that is a good thing. a lack ofeak to discipline. we want to be there for him but unless he can give us a reason and show he's a man of inclusion and not exclusion and be more going to be very hard for us to rally behind him. the: can you lane constellation of trump super pacs and which one they should have two? fred: i don't understand the constellation. i think if sheldon adelson is giving 100 alien, that's the one

i want to be associated with. i think something that has not been ripped port on is the fact that you need money in your campaign chest, not just the super pac. it's the people who put out the ads and put out the direct mail and the organizations in the state. these have been put together over the decades and over several years. he's got two months to do it and he's going to have a serious financial this advantage. back, davide come french -- we will talk about why he decided not to run for president after this. ♪

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was talking about when he suggested there would be a third-party political bid by someone with a good chance of winning. turns out, he was talking about our next guest, veteran of the iraq war and tennessean. david french announced on sunday he would not enter the race. he joins us now to talk about it. thank you for coming. when was the first time someone suggested to you or you thought about the notion of running for president? david: about two weeks ago, i met with bill kristol and talked about the times we are in. there's almost enough categories of people emerging right now -- those who understand the gravity of the challenges we are facing in politics now and how serious, for example, the threat that toald trump is, not just .olitics, but to civil society i'm in the camp that believes and understands this is not politics as usual and when other

people were not stepping up and bill asked me if i would consider it, i said yes, i would consider it. to suggesthe tweeted it was happening -- because he had you in mind -- did he have you in mind? ivid: that was a surprise, have to say. mark: did he have reason to believe at that point you were going to do it? david: he had reason to believe i was thinking about it, absolutely. tweeted that it was happening. david: it is easy to read an awful lot into 100 40 characters. it was a process under consideration, and i fully recognize that i do not have name recognition, but are also recognize -- and i heard this analogy today -- that the demand or an alternative is almost like a pressure cooker, that there is an enormous amount of content demand, even people who are supporting trump are doing so very reluctantly. there's a segment of democrats supporting hillary clinton very

reluctantly, so there is pent-up demand there. we need the right person to really -- release that demand into our country, into our politics. i wanted to give it serious thought to see if there was a chance i could be helpful in that process. john: was there one decisive factor? what were the key decisive factors that led you to conclude this was just not something to do? david: i believe honestly at the end of the day, even though there was not really anyone stepping up waiting in the wings at that time, that i would end up doing more harm than good. that i would hurt a lot of people saying, "you have a good biography and people like you when they get to know you," but in that circumstance, that is a huge challenge. there is a need for a person with an existing constituency. if i went forward and it result, which was a likelihood, it would give a misimpression to the american people in the larger volley politic that there's

fewer people like me than there really are, people who are disgusted with the status quo. it is better for there to be somebody who has that constituency to take advantage of the 65 are sent of american people who are willing to look for a third alternative -- the 65% of american people. are you actively involved in the process to find some and to pick up his mantle? actively involved in meetings where we have directly talked about that, and i know there will be people who will be approached specifically, and i hope i can consider it in a different atmosphere than i did, which is not with everyone talking about it, but take time with their families, think about it quietly, take a look at the actual numbers, the work that has been done, and i think they will see it is very viable. john: what kind of people are

you talking about? people like you or people who are more conventionally suited to running for president? weid: if there is one thing learned in this process with me -- again, i was so happy to serve as a guinea pig in this process -- number one, there is demand. there were people from all over the country telling me they were willing to quit their job you needto help, but the existing constituency to explode on those ballots, and that is something i lack. the message we can give to someone else is pretty clear -- if you have that existing constituency, quick access to fundraising at work, it is they are all that stuff you hear about a ballot access problem being insurmountable, all that stuff you here about third-party candidates never have a chance -- since when has this cycle been normal? the presidential campaign lasted about a week, maybe less.

talk about what it was like for your family to see you on the news everywhere and talk about you in a way that had never happened. talk about the upside of it. david: our family has already experienced the downside of .eing against trump my older kids understand what is going on. my wife understands what is going on. she is supposed to trump and to clinton, and she knows the gravity of the time. it was a weighty thing. john: you are in and who things of everything. i'm sure you thought ahead. what was the singer you were going to use in the debate? david: all i was going to do was remind him of what he said. he was going to try to pretend to the american people that he candidate for

president, and i was going to remind the american people that he thinks exxon can help beat isis. be nervous going to in the debate? david: of course. i'm a rational human being. anyone would be nervous in the debate. >> you don't seem nervous now. i'm predicting now you will be an excellent jeopardy candidate at some point. david french of tennessee, thank you for joining us. when we come back, we follow bernie sanders followers around california as the nomination of wraps up. we learn after this. ♪

john: since bernie sanders lost his presidential bid, the democratic contest has been something no one thought it would be. sanders' distrust of the mainstream media and political establishment. as this phase of the campaign ends with sanders all but certain to fall short of the nomination, we wanted to know what the idol leg has been like for voters in california, where he has been barnstorming the past heat of weeks. we found that just as california is a microcosm of america, the sanders phenomenon in the golden state is a microcosm of the movement he unexpectedly inspired all across the country. >> have you had any moments to reflect on everything? sanders: what i see when i look out to crowds of many, many

thousands of people, when i go out to the farm country in california and i see black kids and white kids and working-class people, many people who have not been involved in the political process, i see such incredible hope in their eyes. >> that's why we love him. he sees the people. he looks in their faces. sanders: think it is appropriate to tell us that they love muhammad ali but they hate muslims. >> the first time he hugged a on tv, iaring a hijab i knew we were in deep. >>'s message is what is powerful. handle it?i going to am i going to be depressed and disappointed? >> a matter outcome -- no matter the outcome of this election, bernie sanders has started a

revolution. >> bernie sanders was shaking everybody hands, and with he got .o me, i screamed >> thank you so much for giving me a voice. >> a lot of people do not understand how hard it is. i have been through it myself. years. 25 i understand how complicated it is, and he seems to understand it as well. >> when he first came out, even when we were like, "i don't know if he will make a huge splash, but he will be able to move people to the left. >> the way he speaks and the way he is able to articulate everything clearly, my 11-year-old was able to understand what ernie says. >> bernie is bae! authenticityng how sounds really good, and he does

not seem super polished. half of the time, his hair is unkempt, but i would hear him talk about oligarchy and a rigged system, and i started looking into him maybe a few years ago before he was running, and i could not believe he was a career politician. i thought he was some fringe dude, but he has been doing that a long time, and i trust that message. there is so much momentum going towards bernie, and even if it is the third party that comes up out of these next few months, this people that are not going to stop. busy.had been really we had stuff to do today, but we were like, we've got to go. >> the $27 and, speaking of capitalism, the 1%, the billionaires, the millionaires. so many kids we know just

identify with what he says. i think there is a lot of frustration with -- especially, for me, economic inequality. tohink it is hard for people realize the privilege that they have, and he has mentioned that. >> there are a lot of kids out there who do not have the same opportunities that we do. i would like to know that they would have the same chances to get an education. i do not think it is, like, said that there is an end. i think all his policies on everything he is talking about still has momentum. >> when i was a student at berkeley is when i first heard about ernie sanders. one of his campaign points was tuition free college. people are tired of going into debt just to they can get an education, so they can get a better life for themselves. that is a huge point for college students. he's the one guy who says take weed off of the schedule one list. stop punishing people for smoking weed, and guess what? college students smoke a lot of weed. my first political rally ever. >> i served in the military, consider myself a while and

slowly converted. opportunitylifetime to be able to cast a vote for a guy who believes in what i believe. the little bird landing on that, this little thing managed to find its way in the middle of it all. >> bertie? old man.te >> really endearing, really lovable. that was a cool moment for his campaign. >> that destroyed the group chat when the bird came out. it froze. >> to think about some of the policies that he had in that she supported makes me think i voted be more independent, for the issues that are important now. >> if bernie broke off and did independent, would you vote for bernie as an independent? >> no. >> we disagree on that a little bit. sanders: when i look out at those young people and working-class people who want real change in this country, who

are prepared to be involved in the political process, i get very inspired, and that, in fact, is exactly where i get my energy to go forward. our thanks to the great griffin hammond and his ballet. you guys, do not go to tijuana. you will never come back. up next, paul ryan did not only talk about donald trump. he also unveiled the first of new policy proposals. we will discuss what he said about the republican agenda in the next congress right after this. forget, you are watching us on washington, d.c. we will be right back.

in a press conference, house speaker paul ryan launched his policy agenda, listing problems with the country's current social welfare system, job training, and some prescriptions how to fix that. joining us now, two smart people. here in the studio, mike duchesne senior strategy for governor christie and former director of the republican national committee. thank you for coming. a big cheese. >> let me ask you about speaker ryan's proposal. again, dealing a lot with the safety net and trying to make programs more efficient on that and job training. what did the speaker propose, the task force propose that you think could want -- could find bipartisan consensus in the country? >> today was a historic day. we had policy from the u.s.

house of representatives. this was a remarkable effort on the part of ryan and his colleagues, a strong agenda, an anti-poverty agenda that includes consolidation with a lot of program's to help people make them more efficient. there is a notion of pay for performance or pay for success, that the federal government only funding programs that work. also just a really strong notion of re-instituting and that is something democrats supported back in 1996 with welfare reform and could support again looking at how to inform our anti-property program. i'm really glad you guys are covering it. >> is it not the case that in a presidential election year, the only hope for policy to be advanced is if the presidential nominee advances them -- do you agree with that, or do you think paul ryan could really make progress with his agenda even if trump does not care about it? >> i think precisely because of

the dynamic between trump and paul ryan, this policy agenda could be something that gets attention because trump has been a policy free zone. i do not see that changing. i do not think that is his strength or something he focuses on. if he tells paul ryan to do the policy, it is a great opportunity for paul ryan to talk about these is. it is a different question if people are interested, but even if we did policy on a presidential campaign, i'm not sure to many people would cover it anyway. chances are decent, i think. if you were working for donald trump right now paul ryan's property proposals came out, how would you say mr. trump, you really should adopt ? is policy >> in a many ways, i would embrace those policies. oftentimes, republicans team heartless and callous and only caring about fiscal issues, and i really applaud speaker ryan for doing this. i think republicans that have

been successful especially on the state level have done well in terms of empowering people economically, through education and choice in that way, so i really think it is something that would be good long term. i agree that oftentimes policy gets lost in this. i think that the ability for this to be discussed more robustly just based on this changes will help. me ask you this as devils advocate -- what about the 10th amendment? why shouldn't governors deal with harvard he and their states and not try to make washington more efficient? lonnie: great question. part of what paul ryan is proposing is to give states more of a say and how anti-poverty programs are handled, but some of this coordination does come from the federal level, but absolutely -- i think you will see that as a theme in more and more of these policy rollouts paul ryan is doing over the next six weeks, which is how there are programs that are working at the federal level and those that are not, how they might he consolidated, how states can play a bigger role.

i think that is going to be a theme reaching all the way to health care in the next couple of weeks. have to ask you about donald trump and these latest comments. governor christie, your boss and friend, was not particularly strong in denouncing what donald trump said. many others have been. when this chapter is written, what will many people think when donald trump raises the issue of the judge and his mexican heritage? >> i think it will be seen as a big mistake. party or good for his campaign. the judge is from indiana. i think governor christie is someone who has known him for many years and season differently and does not judge and buy one set of comments, but as we look back on the campaign, this will be seen as a chapter, but it will be seen as a chapter of many things he has said that will be questionable. all of us who have been through the primary process and throughout have thought that is the one that will undo him, and it does not.

seemingly going counterintuitive to what everybody says is what his voters and supporters are finding appealing. case, i think it will be seen as something that was a big mistake in something people were right to object to. he put outtatement today -- isn't enough? a lot of are pelicans are freaking out over the course of the last 72 hours -- donors, electives, etc. it is a step in the right direction, but i do not think it is enough. he has to turn the page. for his campaign, he should be talking about hillary clinton, not trump university, not a federal judge in indiana. he should be talking about differences in policy between he and hillary clinton. not a lot ofit's deep policy, but there are a lot of major policy differences going forward, and frankly, i do not think there will be unity in the party until they focus on those differences. mark: thank you very much. we will be right back with final

thoughts about the primary contest being held today.

>> had taken aback or surprised with the announcement that hillary clinton was the presumptive nominee? they held a meeting of superdelegates that told them in an anonymous way how they would be voting and the night before the biggest primary and the whole process, they make this announcement, so i was really disappointed in what the ap did. to nbc'sders talking lester holt before california. what is your view? mark: i think news organizations

should publish their tally but not -- but they should say it's not final. john: i think the ap was fine, but everybody who has written the words she has clinched or secured, not true. she is on track. keep refreshing bloombergpolitics today -- bloombergpolitics.com today. talkingp, emily chang to the stanford university president on "bloomberg west." fromll be back tomorrow cleveland -- mark: cleveland rocks. >> special show from inside the republican convention. until then, we say to you, sayonara. ♪

mark: i'm mark crumpton. you're watching "bloomberg west." minority leader nancy pelosi has endorsed hillary

clinton for president. the california democrat made her choice public today as her state holds in primary and as the associated press reports mrs. clinton has secured the delegates needed to clinch the nomination. meanwhile, donald trump has lost his first republican endorsement. illinois senator mark kirk says he is retracting his support because of trump's comments about a judge posner can ri can heritage. meanwhile, house speaker paul ryan says trump's comments are racist and indefensible. >> saying a person who cannot do their job because of their race is sort of the textbook definition of a racist comment. i think that should be absolutely disavowed. it is absolutely unacceptable, but do i believe hillary clinton is the answer? no, i do not. released a statement today saying his remarks about the judge have been "misconstrued." europe, russ,