the second key issue in this election is freedom. on the first day in office i intend to rescind every single illegal, unconstitutional executive action taken by barack obama. on the first day in office i will instruct the u.s. department of justice to open an investigation into planned parenthood and to prosecute any and all criminal violations. and on the first day in office, i will instruct every federal agency that the persecution of religious liberty ends today.

justice scalia's passing underscores the importance of this election. it involves two branches of government. we are one leftwing justice away from a supreme court court taking away our religious liberty. we are one leftwing justice away from the supreme court erasing the second amendment from the bill of rights. we are one leftwing justice away from the supreme court making a subject to the world court and united nations and international law and giving up u.s. sovereignty. some candidates suggested we should negotiate with democrats, negotiate with harry reid and chuck schumer on justice scalia's replacement. let me be very clear to the men and women of kansas. i will not compromise away your religious liberty.

and i will not compromise away your second amendment right to keep and bear arms. every justice i appoint will be a principled constitutionalist, faithful to the law who will ferociously protect the bill of rights for your children and for mine. and the third critical issue in this election is security. for 7 years, we had a president who abandons and alienates our friends, shows weakness and appeasement to our enemies. instead of a president who boycotts prime minister netanyahu, america will stand unapologetically with the nation of israel.

and we have seen under president obama the weakness of the military and morale plummeting. as a nation we faced this before. >> there you have it. ted cruz speaking live at a caucus site in wichita, kansas. donald trump, his fierce competitor at this time also tweeting he will speak live at the same caucus sites. we will keep an eye out on this. rosa flores is talk to go the voters, getting the pulse of the voters. you heard about what ted cruz talked about, if he were president he would immediately ask the doj to prosecute planned parenthood, talked a lot about the critical nature of the next supreme court justice appointment. for people there, i am interested with the lines, rosa, down the block, are they making up their mind as they walk into the caucus site? you wonder what the strategy is

of cruz and trump speaking there in front of those voters. >> you know, poppy, the main event is here in wichita, kansas right now. we both have ted cruz and also trump in the building. they're going to be speaking to voters like you said, and the big question is who are they going to vote for. let me set the scene for you right now because these lines curl around the building. we can give you a 360 view from where we are at. you can see a lot of people are waiting to be sure they can cast their vote. some folks waiting an hour, others two hours. some of them were in the trump rally and now made their way to the caucus room where it counts, poppy. that's where the votes will be counted. that's where the delegate county is going to matter. about what some of the folks are saying regarding their candidates, i'm seeing a lot of ted cruz stickers, seeing a lot of trump supporters, of course,

more than a thousand in the trump rally. but folks here want to hear from their candidates. a lot of them say after super tuesday they usually don't see candidates in kansas, so it is a big deal that there are two candidates here speaking to voters, speaking to them face to face. a lot of them in the caucus room, waiting to hear what they have to say. there are some undecided voters for sure. i spoke to some of them. there was an undecided voter weighing more towards trump. he said a lot of times i don't like his tone. sometimes he is a little too blunt, he is a little too rude. but i like what he represents. i like that he is not a politician, not a career politician. so you've got those folks weighing towards trump, but a little disturbed by some of the words, word usage. other folks are here for cruz. i see a lot of cruz stickers. can somebody raise your hand, are you here for cruz?

who are you here for, trump? there you have it, poppy. there's a slice of a little of everything here in kansas, folks anxious to cast their vote today. poppy? >> democracy at play. great to see big turnout. you always want to see people coming out, making their voices heard. rosa flores, thank you very much. i want to take you to maryland. man u rang ee is standing by, marco rubio is about to take the stage this morning. interesting, donald trump announced he is not going there, he is going to kansas and will make this speech, have a rally, which he did. marco rubio taking the stage now, going to have more of their attention because donald trump isn't there. what's the strategy for him? >> reporter: the strategy is anti-trump strategy, something you heard starting at the cnn debate in houston. you're going to hear him calling donald trump a con artist, something he believes has been effective, even though as we

talked about before, only one one state on super tuesday. he believes donald trump's numbers have taken a hit, will take a hit as people learn about his business record and failed ventures. i think you'll hear some of that. interesting to see how far he goes. there are some trump supporters in the audience, not a lot, but some, and marco rubio will have to confront them, depending how hard he goes at donald trump. >> manu, stay with us. donald trump took the stage at this event. same caucus, cruz was speaking in wichita. let's listen. >> a special day. we will do something i think that will be just so spectacular for our country. you know, our whole themis making america great again. we're going to make america great again. that i can tell you. that i can tell you. when you look at what's going on with deals like we made with iran, a deal where we give them $150 billion, where we don't get

our hostages back until years later, years after, it's a disgrace. we're going to change that. we're going to do so many things. we're going to get rid of common core, bring education local, which we have to do. have to do. we have no choice. we have to do. we're going to repeal and replace obamacare very, very quickly. i don't know if you know, but your premiums are going up like a rocket ship. your premiums are going up 25, 35, 45%. it will fall on its own weight soon anyway. we are going to rebuild our military, our military is depleted. our military is frankly, our military is in trouble. we're going to make our military so strong, so powerful that nobody, nobody is going to mess with us. that i can tell you. we're going to take care of our vets. our veterans have been the

forgotten people. >> as we continue to monitor donald trump speaking there in wichita, kansas at the caucus site, take you to another candidate speaking live, senator marco rubio speaking at cpac conference. let's listen. >> in the aftermath of 2008, barack obama had won, we were told the only path forward was to become more like them, to moderate our message, to moderate our stances, to basically be less conservative. i never believed that at the time. so i chose to run. it was a difficult race. at the beginning of that race the only people that thought i had a chance to win all lived in my home. and four of them were under the age of ten. the entire republican leadership in washington, d.c. was with him. and everything i knew about politics said there was no path forward. but it didn't matter to me at the time because i believed deeply that if america continued on the road that the new president put us on, we would lose the things that made it a special country, and the place to change the history of my

family. you fast forward seven years to this moment, things have only gotten worse. we have only gotten further and further away from the principles that made america the greatest nation in all of human history. and it brings us to this moment in our history now. the election of 2016 is no longer simply a choice between political parties or even ideology. the fundamental question before america right now is what kind of country is this going to be in the 21st century? the thing that i always enjoy about cpac is the incredible number of young people that come to these, younger americans. and by younger, i mean anyone under 44. although i feel 45 this week because i had the flu, but

anyway. thank you. what we ask ourselves in this campaign is what is this country going to look like? what will it look like when my 16-year-old daughter graduates from college? what will it look like when my 13-year-old daughter starts her first business, or my 10-year-old son starts his family, or my 8-year-old son buys his first home? i can tell you what it is going to look like if we stay on the road we're on now. they will be the first americans, you will be the first americans that inherit from a previous generation a country worse off than the one left for your parents. that's the road we are headed on now. if we remain on this road, we will have to explain why our children and grandchildren did not inherit what we did. to get off this road we must reembrace the principles that made us the greatest nation to begin with. and that's why the theme of this gathering that our time is now forces us to answer a second question, and that is what does

it mean to be a conservative in the 21st century? i can tell you what it can never mean, being a conservative can never be about simply an attitude. being a conservative cannot simply be about how long you're willing to scream, how angry you're willing to be, or how many names you're willing to call people. that is not conservative. [ cheers and applause ] >> conservatism has never been about fear or anger, not at its best. do people have a right to be fearful of the future right now? yes. because for over two decades, leaders in neither party solved the problems before us. do people have a right to be angry about not just the political class but every institution in society? absolutely. but neither anger nor fear will solve our problems, it can serve to motivate us, but will not solve our problems. what will solve our problems is a specific set of ideas built on

bedrock principles that made america the greatest nation to begin with, and applying those pi principles to the unique challenges of this century. those principles aren't complicated. it begins with the motion that this nation was founded on a powerful spiritual principle, that our rights do not come from government, our rights do not come from our laws and leaders, our rights come from god. [ cheers and applause ] our government does not exist to decide these rights, nor to grant them. our government exists to protect them. and that's why we have a constitution that limits the power of the federal government to a few specific but important things, and we've ban doned that. we have abandoned it in both political parties. we reached a moment in our history where we think every problem in america has to have a

federal government solution. every problem in america does not have a federal government solution. in fact, most problems in america do not have a federal government solution and many of them are created by the federal government to begin with. [ cheers and applause ] and so to move forward in a better direction, it does mean reembracing and following the first amendment, for what that stands for is not just the right to believe anything you want but the right to live out the teachings of your faith and every single aspect of your life. it means understanding that the second amendment was not a nice suggestion, it is a constitutional right to protect yourself and your families from terrorists or criminals. it means adhering the tenth amendment, of which power belongs in government is reserved to states, not because we don't care about our problems

but because we care. we know when the federal government tries to solve these problems, it often makes them worse, not better. so let's return power back to the states. [ cheers and applause ] conservatism means embracing true free enterprise. i believe in that, not because my parents were wealthy, not because i inherited millions of dollars, because i did not. as i walked to the stage, i walked through the kitchen of the hotel, i met people, shook the hands of people doing the jobs my parents once did. you know why they have a job? you know why they have a job? you know why my parents had a job? free enterprise works. because someone created those jobs. with those jobs, they're able to feed their families, raise them, buy homes and a better future. free enterprise is the best

economic system in the history of the world because it is the only system where you can make poor people richer and you don't have to make rich people poorer. [ cheers and applause ] it means conservatism means belief in strong national defense, not because we want war but because we love peace. because history taught us a painful lesson that weakness is the enemy of peace, that weakness invites violence. that weakness invites war. so conservatives believe that the u.s. military should always be the most powerful on earth because the world is a safer and better place when america is the strongest military in the world.

[ cheers and applause ] conservatives believe we stand by our allies, especially israel. they're the only free enterprise democracy in the middle east. conservatives believe we need to defeat radical islam, not because we want war but because isis and other radical islamists are preventing peace, the best intelligence agencies will find terrorists and the best military will destroy them. if we capture them alive, a president that will bring them to the united states, grant them a court appointed lawyer, a president that will send terrorists where they belong, to guantanamo bay, cuba. [ cheers and applause ]

and conservatives believe we take care of our veterans because we have a sacred obligation to take care of them after they've taken care of us. it's something that's not happening now. and yes. conservatives believe in traditional values, not because we want to impose our views on anyone, but because to abandon those values would be to ignore our history. americans are not the most generous people on earth because our laws make us generous. people contribute to charity in record amounts because we have a tax break from it. we do so because this nation is shaped by judeo christian principles that teach us that we have an obligation to care for one another. and we believe in traditional values because without them, without the belief in an all

powerful god and the founding of this country was meaningless, it was founded on the principle our rights come from god. if there is no god, where do your rights come from, other than what your leaders decide they are. you do not understand america and you do not understand our history if you do not understand the role that the faith community played in making us the greatest nation in the history. [ cheers and applause ] so i am preaching to the proverbial choir on this issue, why? because i think there's a growing amount of confusion about what conservatism is. it is time for us to understand that conservatism isn't built on personalities. conservatism isn't simply built on how angry you might seem from time to time. conservatism is built on a set of principles and ideas that our nation desperately needs. perhaps the most important

moment in a generation, for over 200 years this has been an exceptional country. i know this personally as do so many of you, for me america is not just the country i was born in, it is the nation that literally changed the history of my family. but we have to remember what made that possible was not an accident. america is not a special country by accident. it did not happen on its own. it happened because for over 200 years, each generation before us did what needed to be done. over two centuries, each generation of americans before us confronted and solved problems. they embraced opportunities, and americans never had it easy. this was a nation founded by declaring independence from the most powerful empire in the world. this is a nation that faced divisive, bloody civil war, two great world wars, a long cold war. the 1960s were difficult for this country. the civil rights movement divided us regionally, vietnam

war divide us generationally. americans never had it easy. each generation before us confronted their challenges and solved their problems. that's why each generation before us left a country better off than the one left for them. my fellow conservatives, the time has come for this generation to do its part. the moment has arrived for us to do our part now. the stakes could not be higher, the future of the greatest nation on earth is at stake. i want to speak specifically to the younger people here today. i know there's a lot of negativity out there. i know times are difficult. i want you to know i believe something with all my heart. i believe that today's young americans are on the verge and have the chance to become the next greatest generation in american history. [ cheers and applause ] i believe that the 21st century

is tailor made for america. there are now hundreds of millions of people on this planet that a decade ago were starving, now they want to buy things from you, they want to trade with you, they want to partner with you, collaborate with you. and these young americans are the best collaborators in the history of man kind. these young americans the most tech knowledge cli people that lifd. on the campaign trail, unless you're under 25, no one knows how to use the camera phone. these young americans have the chance to fulfill incredible potential and destiny, but we have to give them a chance. and they won't have a chance if a hillary clinton or bernie sanders is elected. and they won't have a chance -- [ cheers and applause ] -- and they won't have a chance if the conservative movement is hijacked by someone that's not a

conservative. [ cheers and applause ] and so i'm already over time. let me close with this. well, i've got to answer questions, i get to answer questions with dana bash. let me close with this. i know all the news today sounds bad. for young americans, know this, one thing that's true about history, every generation believes the next generation is really messed up. i want you to believe and know if we do what needs to be done, i want you to know what history will say about you, about us, if

we make the right choice now. it will say this generation of americans lived in the early years of this new century in a very difficult time. the world was changing, and we struggled to keep pace with it. and it will say the truth. we almost got it wrong, after 8 years of barack obama and one crazy election, we almost got it wrong. we came this close. then we remembered who we were. then we remembered what america was. then we confronted our challenges and embraced opportunities. because we did what needed to be done in 2016 our children became the freest, most prosperous americans that ever lived because we did what needed to be done, the american dream didn't just survive, it reached more people, changed more lives than ever before because we did what needed to be done, the 21st century became greater than the 20th, became the greatest era in our history, became a new american century. this is what we have a chance to do together, and our time to do it is now.

thank you! [ cheers and applause ] thank you! and now -- thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you, thank you very much. and now i'm going to answer some questions from a journalist many of us respect very much, cnn's chief political correspondent dana bash is here. i look forward to answering her questions. thank you, guys. >> i am sick, i don't want to get you sick. >> thank you for that.

>> hold on, hold on! >> that never gets old, does it? >> my running mate right here. >> i just want to say that was definitely the first time way introduced by a presidential candidate. i have a list of questions to ask. one thing you just talked about struck me, i want you to talk about. i too came in through the back, through the kitchen. that's definitely how you approach a lot of these events, and people don't really realize that, but for you it is personal. >> yeah. my parents, this is the jobs they did. i always tell people, my parents were incredibly successful people because the american dream is not about how much money you make, how many buildings have your name on it. the american dream -- the american dream -- i wasn't talking about anybody in particular, i was just saying,

the american dream is about achieving happiness. when you become a firefighter, a police officer, a teacher, a nurse, you know you're not going to become a billionaire, you want what my parents achieved. what my parents achieved as a bartender and maid at a hotel, arriving here with nothing, first words my dad learned in english, i am looking for a job. they owned a home in a safe, stable neighborhood, retired with dignity, left all four children better off than themselves. that's the american dream. >> i know you weren't talking about any particular person you just -- >> i probably was, trying to be nice. >> let's go there. donald trump was supposed to be here this morning. he backed out. instead was in kansas. i sense that the crowd has an opinion on that. do you? >> yeah, i mean, this is the american conservative union. it is usually reserved for

conservatives. this matters. i mean, either the ideas behind conservatism matter or they do not. if they do not, that's fine, but i believe they do. it is not enough to say vote for me because i am angrier, over the top, i will say and do things that nobody else will do, i get that anger and frustration, i really do. but i said this before, it is not a coincidence, there are a plethora of young conservative leaders in their 40s and 50s, myself, ted cruz, rand paul, scott walker, susan a martinez, nikki haley, paul ryan. why? why are there so many young conservatives now serving our country? i'll tell you why, we grew up in the era of reagan. he looked and acted nothing like donald trump. and look at the democrats. who is the young and up and

coming democrat? bernie sanders. >> senator, let me ask you a question about that, though. i asked ted cruz about that this week. you're stepping up rhetoric big time against donald trump on the question of whether or not he is a true conservative, you started that at the cnn debate, calling him a con artist and fraud. if yyou believe those things, wy did you wait until february 2016 to say so. >> couple reasons. for much of the campaign, i have been fighting other people attacking me, that takes time, too. the other is look, i didn't get up on this to beat up other candidates, i really didn't. i hoped that voters, if you told me a year ago that the frontrunner at this stage would be a supporter of planned parenthood, that says he doesn't stand with israel, has a long record of supporting government sponsored health care, i would say on what planet would that be the republican frontrunner, but it happened. we have to ask ourselves why have we allowed that to happen. i don't think any of us

anticipated it. >> why, because americans have voted for him. >> one of the reasons why, i don't mean this, to take you on this, but i want to be clear. i have been sitting here five minutes, and two of three questions are about donald trump. that's the reason why. >> that's fair. but he is the frontrunner. and you have made your campaign about donald trump. >> even before he was the frontrunner, even before he was the frontrunner, he would offend someone personally, make fun of a disabled reporter, attack a woman journalist and dominate news coverage. of course he gets this attention. it is fine. i am not complaining about it. all i am saying is the reason we talk about it, the reason a lot of this happened, the other night at the debate, i didn't do the count, over half questions i asked were somehow related to my opinion of donald trump. i am more than happy to share my opinion of donald trump, but i am running for president because

i think this country needs to reembrace the constitution and free enterprise and strong national defense. >> we have some questions from twitter. people submitting questions on twitter. lisa gary ella asked how are your children responding to the campaign. do they understand how important and serious this is? and before you answer that question, i want to put my mom hat on a second because you're the proud father of four, i'm the mother of a four-year-old son, and i'm having trouble letting him watch the news because things have gotten so vulgar and so over the top that i don't want him to think it is okay to act like that. and i'm not alone. a lot of people said that. how do you feel as a father and presidential candidate about how low things have gone? >> well, i mean, but i'll tell you, this is related to the real question, and i'm glad you asked it. my kids were with me on the campaign trail from iowa and new

hampshire, south carolina, every day i woke up i was glad they were there, not just because they were my kids, but they looked at me and remind me this is what it is about. you're trying to decide what kind of country will it be when they're my age, i mentioned this in the speech. god has blessed my family, protected my children and us. i don't think we had a negative moment in the campaign with them, that's because god protected us and shielded us, i believe he has done that for us and other families as well, and but for me it is a daily reminder that what we are deciding in this election decides what america looks like in ten years. yes, one of the things you asked me, i don't want us to have a president we have to be explaining to our kids, look, i know that's what the president did, you shouldn't do that. i don't want that. we actually had a president like that not long ago, it was bad.

>> i'll leave that one alone. just to follow up, the rhetoric has been, i mean, i understand you're saying that you are trying to answer him in some of the things he has been saying, but you know, i can't explain to my kid about you're talking about hands and things like that. >> well, look. i'll be more than happy to answer another trump question. donald trump, he might have grown up the way he did with a lot of money, going to boarding schools. i can tell you this, if someone keeps punching someone in the face, eventually someone has to stand up and punch them back. >> i want to ask another question from twitter. this is on the supreme court from sarah lee ann. do you think president obama should appoint a justice to the

supreme court prior to the end of his term. >> absolutely not. the reason why, first of all, i agree with joe biden in 1992 when he said we should not be nominating supreme court justices in an election year, much less in the eighth year of this president. first of all, supreme court can function with eight justices, number nine is set by congress. i am not advocating we do this. if we wanted to change to 8 or 7, we could. there's no magic number nine. number two, the president is unaccountable. he will nominate someone to a lifetime appointment and can't hold it against him in an election. we will have a debate over this, there will be election in november, god willing elect a conservative, and that conservative will appoint someone more like justice scalia than the nominees we have gotten out of this president. >> so do you think that all candidates now, republican and democrat, should pledge not to nominate a supreme court justice in their last year of their

term? >> sure. and that has been the practice over 80 years. the only time they want to change the rules is when there's a democrat in office. they ignore what joe biden said in 1992. this is a lifetime appointment. unless this person that gets appointed murders someone, it is difficult to remove them from the court. bottom line is we should not be putting someone when the balance of the court is at stake in that position when in fact barack obama will not be held accountable for it by the electorate. >> i have another question. it is about something donald trump said but on an important issue, torture. you were standing next to him in the debate, heard what he said on torture, then reversed himself, saying he understands that the united states is bound by laws and treaties and won't order to violate those laws. what do you think is the most important position of a president on torture? >> the most important issue, most important job of president

is to be commander in chief. a commander in chief would never ask the armed forces to violate rules of war or the internal practices of our military. i want to be clear about interrogation. we have to understand that this is not about torture, no one is asking for torture. you cannot use the same interrogation techniques on a terrorist as a criminal. here's why. when you interrogate a criminal, you are gathering evidence for trial to convict him. when you interrogate a terrorist, you're trying to gather information to prevent a future terrorist attack. it is not about evidence for trial. and i don't talk about interrogation techniques. you know why? because when you describe interrogation techniques, terrorists practice evading interrogation techniques. how to evade telling the truth. so we are going to interrogate terrorists, but right now that's not even an issue, you know why? barack obama doesn't send them anywhere, he is releasing people

from guantanamo. when i am president, we will go to guantanamo and we will find out everything they know. >> another twitter question from steve clause. he wants to know how will your faith figure into your presidency? >> my faith is the biggest influence on my life. and by the way, i think that's something people should be proud of. i am a christian. i cannot impose my faith on anyone. my faith is the free gift to salvation that you have to willingly accept. but i can tell you my faith teaches me this, my faith teaches me that in order for me to serve the lord, i have to serve others. it teaches me that i have to care for people that are hungry and for the less fortunate, for those among us facing difficult times. democrats would say the only way to care for people like that is through more government. the reason i believe in free enterprise is i know that free enterprise allows those struggling to find a better job and better life. does government have a role to

play in safety net? yes, not as way of life or life-style, as a way to get people on their feet to find a good job and never rely on government again. my faith influence middle eas m believe that, and my faith influences me to believe all human life is worth protection of our laws. >> there you have it. dana bash, our chief political correspondent is interviewing marco rubio there on stage after his remarks at the cpac conference. she has a lot more for him. you'll see that only on cnn state of the union, that's tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. eastern, noon eastern for that. i want to break this down, remarks by rubio, his answers to questions, and cnn contributor and supporter of trump is with me, buck sexton, political commentator, conservative. let's talk about the word that was not used until dana bash sat down for the q and a. in all of rubio's remarks when he took stage at cpac, he did

not say donald trump. he referenced him and said things like there's growing confusion about what conservative is, it is not a personality or anger. he didn't use the word trump. >> it is evidence that he realizes his strategy a week ago isn't working, attacking trump in a vitriolic way, it is evidenced that wasn't working. he needs to criticize trump but do so in a way that isn't calling him by name. when he does that, it fuels supporters and fuels people to caucus sites. dialing it back is a smart move. >> she's fautalking about that only took minnesota after switching strategies. do you agree this is the right strategy to elude donald trump and point out the media for saying all you ask me about is donald trump? >> no one has figured out what the strategy is to deal with trump. rubio is trying. part of his message is unify the

gop. the reality now is whether you're a trump supporter, cruz, rubio or kasich supporter, there are no good options. >> does he want to unify the gop? they don't unify behind him. >> that's his message. his message is there needs to be unity in the gop. if you believe that, you buy into that, you won't believe trump is the answer. look at the polling, trump has a core group of supporters, substantial. he is a frontrunner. everybody not in that group will not vote for trump, doesn't like trump, and there's a never trump movement on social media. rubio is trying to position as perhaps not now but down the line, assuming it goes to brokered convention, the guy that can nominate these factions. will that work? i don't know. rubio doesn't know either. that's certainly the approach he is trying to take, given that he is in enviable position, he has only one win in minnesota. >> pointing out if he was seeking to unify the gop, he would come out and do what

christie and carson and huckabee. >> drop out? >> no, to say brokers convention is unacceptable. cruz said yesterday that would be a disaster, would ensure hillary's path to the nomination. that's from ted cruz, someone still a viable candidate. that would be horrific for the gop. i think you can agree with that. rubio is the only candidate actively seeking brokered convention. you have to ask will that unify the gop? i don't think so. >> you look at this, one thing that stands out is the fact that there are other voices in this that are now pointing to the media. john kasich came out, talked about the media, something we haven't heard him do, trump did it, rubio, but talking about the fact he doesn't feel he gets a fair shot in this environment. granted, he is not speaking at cpac, he is in michigan. listen to what john kasich said about this last night. >> we used to believe in freedom of the press, now i am thinking

we believe in freedom of the purse. not a great way to pick a president, but that's the world we live in. >> he went on to say more, but he said it is a pathetic situation in this country. people only get attention when they call each other names. buck, can you weigh in on that? >> those are two different issues. one is the tone, he is referring to donald trump's campaign, tones of other campaigns have gotten nastier as well recently. if john kasich was pulling 15 to 20 to 30,000 person rallies across the country and not getting media coverage, i could understand him making the case. fact of the matter is he is third or fourth tier candidate at this point, and there's never been any moment in the entire gop contest you thought john kasich, that guy might get it done. him criticizing the tone of other campaigns, he is within his rights to do that, but this idea that the media has created trump, the media hasn't created trump.

trump has gotten media coverage because of what he is and the movement around him. it is not like the cable networks are busting people to show up at the rallies. >> cruz live, trump live, rubio live on cnn, caylee, to you, rubio said reagan looked nothing like donald trump. i thought the strategy was interesting. he is standing in front of cpac, who's who in the conservative movement. talk about one name that's talked about most in the race, a conservative that's not running, it is ronald reagan. what do you make of that. do you see any fear as a trump supporter that we could see a slip for trump given this constant comparison that he is the anti-reagan? >> i completely disagree with the senator when it comes to reagan. you look back at his campaign, jimmy carter said reagan is stirring up hatred because he didn't denounce the kkk enough to satisfy carter. he is choir said anyone that

lines up for trump is like hitler's germany. you had a lot of the same criticism about reagan. as far as the reagan comparison, it is hard to be reagan. it will be a lot of time passes before we find another reagan. >> does it concern you that he didn't disavow on state of the union with jake tapper asked about kkk and david duke. >> kkk should be denounced. >> when you were watching that, did you think just come out and disavow now, instead of on twitter a few minutes later. >> yes. when he said the earpiece malfunctioned, he has a history of disavowing david duke going back 20 years and going forward from the interview. he has been clear he disavow their support. i believe him the earpiece malfunctioned. >> he repeated his name back. >> and just lack week i didn't hear every fifth word. i could make the broad outlines of the question, but i did not hear every word. that happens, and it is dishonest to say it never

malfunctioned. happened to me three times in a month. >> be fair that you agree it was a blunder not to immediately, you hear kkk, david duke, he knows what those are, knows what they mean. should have immediately said, and you agree, should have said that's disgraceful. i would have gone against this. i don't think we have to add that the earpiece malfunctioned. that's like the sun was in my eyes, i missed the ball. >> much more ahead. you'll see the rest of the interview dana is doing live with marco rubio on state of the union tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. eastern. stay with us. back in a moment. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn

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yes, it looks lovely in pictures, doesn't it. but that has been a very troublesome source of so much suffering that's gone on in this city. we are bringing you the latest on the water crisis here ahead of the democratic debate that cnn is hosting live from here in flint, that's tomorrow night. if you think what's happening in flint is just a local problem and it is the people of flint who have to deal with it, maybe this will peak your interest. detroit free press reports that the ripple effect of this crisis could cost the nation an estimated $300 billion. they're talking about the ripple effect because there are other cities with crumbling infrastructure, too. not just flint, not just detroit. it could be you, too, certainly could be your money. 300 billion. just yesterday flint began pulling out and replacing some of that infrastructure that i was just talking about. the lead contaminated pipes in

the water system here. the crews were starting in neighborhoods where people are worst effected, most at risk of lead poisoning. neighborhoods with children under the age of six as well as senior citizens and pregnant women. in another development a utah senator is blocking federal aid to fix the water crisis. it may not be what it sounds like in the headline. the republican at issue is mike lee. he says that $220 million aid package is not needed from the feds because he says the state of michigan has enough money in its rainy day fund, about a billion dollars, to be handling the issue. there's also that argument between it being man-made opposed to natural disaster, and it does have the parties split. the attention on flint's water crisis is greater because this is election year. democratic candidates seized on flint as a campaign issue and both wanted to have the debate

here. for better or worse as you like to say, the issue has focused on the crean. it is beautiful behind us, and it is torment. every time i look at the river, i am reminded how many people every day, still to this day, are having to have a bath in bottled water. yet the candidates are criticized that they're using it as a campaign backdrop. >> i think it is getting more attention because of election season. hillary clinton said there should be a debate here, bernie sanders agreed to a debate here. flint, michigan is not the place you see a primary debate. they're usually in big cities like detroit, an hour away where the recent gop debate was. barely heard about flint in the gop debate, it was the 11th debate, there will be sustained interest tomorrow night. talking to the editor of flint journal, he was planning

questions for the debate, giving local input. held to account what they would do about infrastructure in the future. >> nice secret, we have a beautiful behind us, we are in a quiet library broadcasting very loud, and volume is becoming an issue. >> noticed that with cpac. >> i have not heard cpac erupting into the kinds of, again, uproar from the audience, in between moments you won't hear the audience and uproar, fox debate was another example, a lot of activity on social media and headlines about the behavior and decorum of audiences at the debates. i am not sure the democratic debates have the same criticism. republican debates are like a wwe event, the way the audience is like gladiator sport. >> it does seem to be escalating, especially on the republican side. spoke to shawn spicer.

>> how did he feel about that. >> he said when you have a debate, you have audience members that will cheer for candidates. three were escorted out of the debate thursday by police because it was too rowdy. i spoke with others, including david gregory, he thought it was interrupting the debate to have the audience so loud. >> i was focusing on the moderators, people were making faces, trying to get on television, even during questioning people were screaming at the top of their lungs. it was very distracting. >> there are good reasons to have audiences, some donors come, local elected officials, networks invite people, good to have an audience, instant focus group, candidates can feel comfortable knowing they're speaking to representatives in the crowd. in this case seems to get worse. i wonder if it is a metaphor for

the electorate, a frothy nature out there, people have anxiety, for trump, against trump, whether you don't care about trump. i wonder if that's coming through with this wwe style audience. >> there are definitely a lot of sub texts to that very discussion, a lot of people feel like they're finding their voice through trump again. >> maybe literally in the audience. >> brian, thank you. so many other things to ask you about later as well. appreciate that. brian steltser, excellent television watching, also reliable sources every sunday, 11:00 a.m. on cnn. thank you for that. if you want to help the people effected here by the water crisis in flint, we have you covered. cnn has been helping here, giving out bottles of water, the convoy of hope, we are attached to that, handing out 500,000 bottles of water. you can help going to cnn.com/impact. a great thing to do. people are struggling, folks, they're your fellow americans, could use your help. next hour, a lot more of cnn

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top of the hour, 1:00 p.m. eastern. thank you all for being with me, poppy harlow in new york. it is quite a day on the campaign trail. it is super saturday, if you haven't heard, capping off one of the busiest weeks in the race for president. the candidate pool is leaner, the stakes are higher. five states holding contests today. on the republican side, 155 delegates up for grabs in kentucky, maine, louisiana, kansas. democrats are voting today in louisiana and kansas. they're caucusing in nebraska. there are 109 delegates at stake for bernie sanders and hillary clinton. but the democrats are also looking ahead at nd