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 sanders,

holding a press conference in cleveland, ohio, one of the crucial states. the republicans hitting as many states as possible in the next 24 hours. tensions are high with rivals ted cruz and donald trump spoke to those caucusing at the same location. trump was hit with booze and jeers as he hit the stage. >> donald trump. >> let's go to rosa flores in wichita. rosa, not only were they in the same room but the lines, the lines of people that have come out today is incredible. >> reporter: it's incredible, poppy. i just talked to the gop organizer. he says that kansas has a great problem, and that is that so many people are here to cast their ballot. take a look how long the lines

are. of course, the gop has plans for this. they planned for it because they knew if donald trump and ted cruz came here to wichita to speak to all of these voters, they knew the turnout would be great. they have some contingency plans. all these people will be able to cast a vote, even though some waited for an hour, hour and a half to do that. what's going to happen. hear this. at 2:00 p.m., the gop tells me that they will have their volunteers stop the line at the end of the line at 2:00, and everybody in front of that line will be able to cast their vote. will there be enough ballots? that's the big question. yes, there will be enough ballots. the gop had contingency plans made, they knew that there would be a lot of people interested in doing this. i want to show you the process. you see the line, how long the line is. hello, excuse me. you can see that all of these folks have been waiting more than an hour to make sure they

can cast ballots. some of them are spillovers from trump's rally earlier today. here is where voters check in. remember, you have to be a registered republican in the state of kansas to be here. you present your id, then you're given a sticker. i want to show you where people are casting ballots. that happens right over here. i chatted with some of the folks as well, they tell me that it is worth the wait. a lot of them were here early this morning to make sure they could cast their ballot. and it is happening right here. take a look. this is where the process ends. this is thengegf the line when people are actually able to select their candidate. they place a sticker that they're given when they register, then they check the box. who will take kansas, poppy? that's the big question. of course both candidates spoke here in wichita, kansas earlier and here is what they had to

say. >> we are here this morning for something a lot more important than politics. we're here because our country is in crisis. we're here because we love our kids and grandkids, we love freedom and the constitution, and we want our country back. >> they're talking about what we've done as a movement. when i saw the thousands of people that i just spoke to in the other hall and more than that, more than that standing outside trying to get in, this has never happened before. the covers of "time" magazine four times in the last few months. nobody has seen it before. we have a movement going. >> reporter: as we take another live look in kansas, this is the voting process. people here are allowed to vote for their gop candidate favorite, and poppy, let me tell you something, kansas has a big

problem. that is a very good problem, the gop tells me, and that is that turnout is phenomenal. they have contingencies to make sure they have a ballot for every person standing in line. if you're in line at 2:00 p.m., you're going to be able to vote. poppy? >> democracy at play live behind you in wichita, kansas. rosa flores, thank you so much. moments ago, marco rubio wrapped up a question and answer session with our very own dana bash at the cpac conference in maryland. before that, he addressed the crowd and took a shot at donald trump without using his name. >> these young americans are the most technologically advanced people that ever lived, on the campaign trail, unless you're under 25, no one knows how to use their camera phone. these young americans have the chance to fulfill an 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. and they won't have a chance if the conservative movement is hijacked by someone who is not a conservative. [ cheers and applause ] joining me, rebecca berg, and julian. thank you for being here. he made it clear who he was talking about, saying someone who is not a conservative has quote, unquote hijacked the party. he didn't use, rebecca, trump's names. he didn't use it once in the entire address until he sat down with dana bash and was asked about trump. what do you make of that strategy, what seems to be a clear strategy shift?

>> right. so poppy, marco rubio has certainly not shied away from attacking donald trump recently. in fact, it has been central to his strategy. he even made fun of donald trump for physical features, some things we would expect more of donald trump than we would marco rubio. i think this is a unique audience. this is a conference of conservative activists, a conference of political activists who would know who he is talking about, without him having to say so. this is an audience that's in large party anti-donald trump. marco rubio knew what he was doing in terms of who he was speaking to, but i think in days to come, especially as we near the florida primary, which is crucial for marco rubio, we're going to see him attack donald trump by name explicitly, and ferociously as well. >> that march 15 florida vote is huge for the 99 delegates. winner take all state. so many look at that, say there's no path ahead for rubio

if he can't take his home state. julian, to you. looking at what peggy noonan wrote yesterday in "the wall street journal" talking about what she sees as the down fall of the republican party, she wrote, quote, the establishment was slow to see what was happening, slow to see mr. trump coming, in full denial as he continued to win. their denial is self indicting. they couldn't see his appeal because they had no idea how their own people were experiencing america. how their own people were experiencing america is key. she's saying, julian, they were tapped out, they were not tapped into their own voter base. cpac is that voter base, right? so what do you makes of what she said? >> there's something to that. obviously they underestimated how much dislike or disgust there is with much of the party. it is also forgiving the party too much, the tea party has been around since 2008, party leaders

embraced the tea party, made it part of the coalition. mitt romney wanted donald trump's endorsement, at a time he used birther politics, front and center. i don't think they like how far it has gone, or more importantly that they've lost control of it. >> rebecca, i want you to weigh in. do we have the sound from sam clovis from the trump campaign, guys? i think we don't have it right now. basically he went on new day, cnn yesterday, rebecca, said the donor class, his words, media class, they don't get what's going on in this country, and they're in, quote, utter denial of it. as you look at cpac, you look at marco rubio speaking, saying donald trump is nothing like ronald reagan, et cetera, let's listen to it. put it in his own words. >> i don't think that the donor class, the media class or anybody else, i don't think they're getting what's going on in this country or they're in utter denial of it, i think last

night or yesterday when we watched mitt romney, we saw a classic case of that. they're in total denial of what's going on in this country. 30 years, the establishment of either party failed the american people, and the american people are upset about it, they're tired of being patted on the head, told to stand in the corner, we'll take care of it. well, you haven't fixed it, you haven't fixed any of it. why should we believe you? we have a guy shows the leadership and style that's necessary out there, and people are flocking to him. >> rebecca, to his point, do you think that marco rubio did the job that sam clovis said people have to do if they want to compete against trump? did he sell them on the fact he is different? he talked about being young and newer and what the country would be like for his children. did he sell himself as different from the establishment? >> i think marco rubio realizes maybe more than some of the other candidates that he is not able to sell himself as completely an outsider, as

completely a fresh face, although he did get elected as one of the first major tea party candidates as an insurgent candidate. that's part of who he is as a politician. he is still a politician and still a sitting senator. for many trump supporters, for many republican voters that are angry with what they consider the republican establishment, anyone that's an elected official counts as what they consider someone, you know, being in the establishment to be. so that's marco rubio's challenge. he can't completely disown his brand, disown who he is, disown his political office, but he tried to present himself as a change agent, just as ted cruz has, just as donald trump has, but donald trump has the biggest claim to this because he hasn't been in politics before, and this is really an anger that has been stewing a long time, poppy, as sam clovis seemed to suggest in that statement. >> julian, you're a historian, wrote a book on lbj and all this.

i wonder from your perspective of past elections, has there ever been a time you've seen such vitriol against the establishment, so much so that mitt romney coming out and blasting donald trump this week very well some analysts say may help trump more than anything? >> there are times the electorate is angry, late '60s, richard nixon who was establishment played on this well. people were angry about vietnam, angry about the situation in the cities. some white americans were angry about civil rights, and he tapped into this. george wallace who didn't win the nomination did the same. we have other moments. patrick buchanon in 1992 tried to do some of this in the middle of the recession. the difference is this time, you know, the party is not in line with the person who is getting the delegates. and there seems to be little hope at this point of stopping him. >> thank you both.

appreciate the analysis. coming up, we take you back live to flint, michigan. the city that has been devastated by lead in the water and the site of the cnn debate tomorrow night. >> this water, if i drink it, i'm going to die, and i don't want to die. >> meet a family who may have to deal with this for the rest of their life.

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[martha and mildred are good to. go. here's your invoice, ladies. a few stops later, and it looks like big ollie is on the mend. it might not seem that glamorous having an old pickup truck for an office... or filling your days looking down the south end of a heifer, but...i wouldn't have it any other way. look at that, i had my best month ever. and earned a shiny new office upgrade. i run on quickbooks. that's how i own it. why is it with two democratic administrations and three republican, these urban communities haven't had help, service. we have seen wars develop under both administrations, things outside, but we don't see what's

going on in these communities any more, on both, democrat and republican. >> arlon boone, one of the folks i spoke with on the sidewalk downtown in flint, michigan. they have some very pointed questions that they have for the candidates, not just the dems but republicans, too. that said we are downto to our debate. flint as you must know by now has become a major issue in the political race, after the city used app tainted water source. it is right behind me. the flint river. it exposed all who drank it to lead. there's been ripple effects since, all sorts of pieces in the puzzle. according to "the detroit free press" the bigger effect of that water poisoning could end up costing you and everyone across the nation, and the number is massive. $300 billion. all of that to do with the infrastructure upgrades to lead

pipes all across the country. other cities just like flint. if you think this is just a flint story, it is not. it is a money story and it is a danger story. look at the pictures on the screen. this was the image yesterday as the city began to dig up old lead pipes in some of the neighborhoods where people are most at risk. senior citizens, pregnant women, and then of course there are children, specifically children under six. want to take this focus to the children of flint. sarah sidner is speaking to families dealing with kids. these kids are not only effected with what they're dealing with in their homes now, but there's a future coming down the pike and it is their future and it is not going away, even if they fix these pipes. >> it's true and it is bleak. if you talk to the children, we talked to dozens and dozens of people while we have been here. what comes out of their mouth is surprising, the things they say do not sound like an 8-year-old

or 18-year-old, sounds like a grown up who has been through a heck of a lot. >> they know what's going on. >> they know what's going on, they see their town dying, they're really effected by it. >> let's take a look. >> reporter: dominique is 18, his lifelong dream for his future is dead. >> when i was 19, got to the army. to know that i can't. >> reporter: the city he loves is a source of anxiety, partly because of the water crisis, what happened to his body since. >> i start, i get headaches and passing out, seizures. >> reporter: his family says doctors can't pinpoint exactly why he began blacking out. sometimes several times a week. it means medically he can't qualify for the army, isn't even allowed to drive.

blood tests showed low levels of lead, convincing his mother contaminants in the flint water are to blame, but there's no medical proof. you said you don't know if it is the water. what do you think it is? >> it has to be the water. he just stopped passing out because i started cooking the water. >> reporter: flint is a former shell of itself. realty track says 1 in 14 homes has been abandoned, three consecutive years in 2013, flint had the most violate crimes per capita. and 40% of residents live beneath the poverty line. then came decision by government officials to save money by switching the water supply. it ended up creating a major health hazard. the biggest potential harm hitting flint's future generations, like 8-year-old julian and nadia, that speak in

extremes about the water. >> what's wrong with the water. >> it has lead continue and poison because the pipes are dirty. >> do you know what lead does to people that drink lead? >> reporter: at 8 they notice everything, the number of times they had to shelter in place if there's a shooter, and the number of boarded up houses in their neighborhood. if it was up to them, their future won't be in flint. what about you, why would you believe flint? >> because this water is poisonous. if i drink it, i'm going to die, and i don't want to die. nobody wants to die. >> reporter: from 8 to 18, many of flint's children and their families worry the town is dying. this young man beside himself, he truly believes he has no future at all. >> reporter: it is a parade of

tragedy. an 8-year-old to say yoeb wants to die. this problem needs the focus of the country, needs the focus of the candidates coming here tomorrow, and republicans as well, who have talked about flint, but maybe haven't visited as much if you ask people on the street. i want to ask something. we spoke off camera. you mention that the class sizes in flint are going up because schools are closing. the significance for kids with lead poisoning and the effects of it are massive. >> it is huge. one of the things they deal with is attention deficit disorder. if you have a classroom of 34 children, you have 2, 3, 4, 5 kids with this issue, jumping up and down and disrupting, other children can't learn, neither can they. what's the future of the children if this issue isn't looked at, and there has to be something in place to help the children get through what's happened. they have no part in it. that's why parents are so

incredibly angry. they cannot believe this was done as a cost saving measure at the expense of their health and their children's health. >> if there was one city, nobody deserves this, if there were one city that can't take another hit after mass closures of all of the assembly plants, the auto industry shrinking this city down. i went to buick city, it looks like an air strip. there's nothing left there. the decay that's going on around it is so sad. but it is having this additional effect, the water crisis is having another effect of flight. people are running. i met a woman across from buick city said i am going back to california -- colorado. >> people are leaving the town. it is shrinking, first time since the 1920s, numbers of people dropped below 100,000 first time since the 1920s. this town is shrinking. there are lots of people that don't want to go. parents of the children said i love this city, i want this city

to do well, but this has just sent us into panic. now our homes are worth nothing. we can't leave. we are stuck here. we can't leave. what has to happen? there has to be infrastructure change and there has to be attention paid to our kids to make sure if they have been poisoned with lead, they can still learn. >> political gridlock needs to figure itself out, it takes money. they have to just do the work, spend the money. who is going to okay it, who is going to be okay and on the hook for what it will cost. that's the big issue. by the way, i don't know how you feel, i did not expect to see the adorable town that i have arrived in. it is lovely. the downtown is lovely. the people are lovely. they're smart, they're astute. wonderful cafes. >> they're interested in what's going on. it is beautiful, but there are lots of people talking politics. you go into a starbucks or local cafe, everybody is talking about the candidates. >> sarah sidner, great work. and sarah ganham.

pretty much taken up residence here. cnn was committed to do the project, we didn't come empty handed, brought a half million bottles of water, handed them to residents. it was the convoy of hope. we had sarah and martin savidge, i know anderson cooper, don lemon are taking part as well. a lot of our folks, on air, off air, going door to door literally, dropping off bottles, and manning stations where we hand out bottles of water to people of flint, michigan. help out as well. there's van jones doing this. do this from the comfort of your living room. go to cnn.com/impact. find a way how you can help the people of flint, michigan your very self. they're your fellow americans, folks, they need you. don't miss the cnn democratic debate. lots of critical issues that will be going on, on stage tomorrow night. flint, michigan is the site. 8:00 p.m. eastern, live. cnn. kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats®...

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you're looking at live pictures in louisville, kentucky. people are casting their ballots in what has been a huge turnout day in primaries and caucuses. brian todd is in kentucky.

you had a chance to speak with someone who played a bill role in the race, one of the former gop candidates. what do you say? >> reporter: rand paul was responsible for caucus moved to this state. caucus officials are shocked at the turnout. we will show you some pictures here. this is the check in area. you check in by the way your name appears in alphabetical order. caucus officials didn't expect nearly this kind of volume today. the caucus opened two and a half hours ago. we will take you through the line. we have a caucus goer here, rick williams, city councilman. every few minutes, he has to tell his colleague mike wilson, choke them. choke the line off. don't want too many people there at one time. rafael, walk this way. check out the line, poppy. this is the area where caucus goers meet with representatives of candidates, different candidates to talk about how the

vote will go, get their minds changed if they want to be open how they vote. this is the area to do that. i will talk to a caucus goer, robin elkin. excuse us, thank you very much. we will make it through the line. robin, you have been voting in primaries in kentucky for 36 years. first time the state held a gop caucus. >> right. >> how do you think it is going? >> i think there's good turnout. i was hoping there would be some people to speak on behalf of the candidates. >> more like speeches like iowa. >> correct. >> how disappointed are you that you didn't hear that? >> i'm not really disappointed, i am enthusiastic about turnout. you see i am a marco rubio supporter. >> i will ask you about that. why marco rubio. and do you think he can stem donald trump's momentum? >> i think he can. he is strong on defense, can bring the republican party together. what's more important, he can bring the nation together. i think this president has done all he can to tear it apart.

i think mr. rubio can pull it together. >> thank you for talking to us. appreciate it. we are going to pivot the camera here. poppy, check out the line. at any one time in the hallway, they had at least 250 people, goes down there, outside. just a massive turnout. 30,000 registered republican gop voters in this county in warren county. one of the caucus chiefs told me they expected a turnout of 2,000 people. way exceeded that, poppy, a real, real energy here. >> absolutely. brian todd, there in bowling green. when it comes to the race on the republican side, the magic number for donald trump if he is to continue on the path is 901. that's how many delegates he needs to clinch the gop presidential nomination. so far has 336. one state that can help him get there is florida. and 99 delegates. it is a winner take all state.

all primaries and caucuses up to now have been proportional, meaning you don't necessarily get all of the delegates. in florida you do. marco rubio certainly doesn't want to see trump take his home state. he wants to take the 99 delegates home. let's go live to chris frates in orlando, a few hours until trump will hold a rally there. talk to me about the strategy here in terms of rubio trying to secure florida, trump going hard after it, and latest poll from quinnipiac shows trump ahead of marco rubio in florida. >> reporter: hey, poppy. we are seeing donald trump shift on the issues, things like immigration and torture, reversing himself on torture completely yesterday. you might remember donald trump saying he wants to go harder on water boarding, wants to kill family members of terrorists, and against international law, faced wide condemnation from generals and lawmakers and others. yesterday he is saying he does recognize international law and would follow it as president.

softening on immigration a bit, saying everything is negotiable, including the height of the wall. that's different than the hard line he had taken to start the campaign that jumped him in the polls. all of the policy shifting coming ahead of florida, march 15th. as you point out, about 100 delegates on the line, winner take all. one of the first winner take all contests, he is spending money. $2 million in advertising to take out marco rubio. but marco rubio is getting a big endorsement from orlando sentinel yesterday. that happened, and that's big in central florida. the i-4 voter rich corridor. the sentinel saying unlike trump, rubio has knowledge and judgment to be president. also saying that trump's policy positions are a little thin, that they had trouble with what they called his trouble telling the truth. so you have a big endorsement for marco rubio. but the polls here, poppy, donald trump is still very much ahead with 44%. marco rubio is down at 28%. marco rubio, of course, the last

hope for the republican establishment who wants to stop donald trump. we heard from mitt romney earlier saying donald trump is not fit to be president. listen to what donald trump had to say about mitt romney this morning. >> they made a tremendous mistake when you chose mitt romney four years ago, was a disaster as candidate, no energy, no life. nothing, a stiff. just a stiff guy. he was. he was a loser. then he comes out. you know, if he would have devoted the same energy four years ago to running for president, him and his third rate campaign manager, i see him on television all the time, where was he four years ago when obama was doing jay leno, when obama was doing david letterman, and romney was looking for zone change to get a nine car garage built. where was this guy? so look, it's the establishment, the establishment is against us. >> reporter: truchdonald trump

talking about the establishment is against him. the crowd getting warmed up. in response, trump telling everybody to hash tag stop the establishment, so trump supporters are pushing back against the establishment, what they see as unfair treatment here. this is a crucial battleground state. he needs to move on and derail this trump train. if he takes florida and ohio, winner take all, it will be hard to stop him, poppy. >> you see 25,000 expected to be there in a few hours for this trump rally. we will be watching. chris frates live in orlando. thank you. coming up next, we will take you back to flint, michigan, live michigan votes on tuesday and the state holds a lot of delegates that the candidates want. we will get a preview of what we might see tuesday night. and flint, of course, home of the next cnn debate tomorrow night, democratic debate in flint. stay with us. ♪

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flint, michigan made big headlines when the movie "roger and me" featured thousands of workers when the gm plants were shutter shuttered. this was buick city. it is acres and acres of empty field now. the buildings came down, so did the neighborhood. look across the street. this is what's left, this is what happened. for the lucky ones whose houses weren't burned out, broken down, they have the crisis of dealing with the reality that their water isn't safe. >> their water isn't safe. take a look at that. the flint river. it is so polluted, it core owed the pipes. even though that doesn't come from the flint river any more, the pipes are a mess, the pipes are leeching the water.

welcome back to live coverage from flint, michigan. ashleigh banfield. glad to have you with us. mitt romney says despite the attack on donald trump, he has no plans, read it, no plans to get into this presidential race. he sat down with chief political analyst gloria borger, did a one-on-one interview with her, had plenty to say about donald trump and why he went after him. >> he has tapped into an anger which is very much understood. what he has done with the anger, however, is not to build it and to resolve and high purpose, but instead to take it down a dark alley. and that i think is unfortunate. at this stage we say all right, he could easily become the nominee, likely to be the republican nominee at this point, but i think there's a better choice out there. >> so the contested convention, is this a scenario that you're actively looking at it? >> i think it is a realistic scenario. a lot of people thought that for

some time. >> likely? likely? >> you know, i think it is more likely than not that we will have a nominee before the convention that's donald trump. he has a much stronger shot getting the 1237 delegates than not. >> there's a contested convention, would you allow your name to be put into nomination? >> that's not going to happen. >> you might not then see mitt romney's name at the convention, but you're about to see a romney. joining me, ronna romney mcdaniels, political commentator, talk show host, niece of 2012 republican nominee mitt romney. thank you for being with me today, and especially in this particular setting. i wanted to talk to you a little about the story that's evolving about the republican race, the candidates are not coming here tomorrow, it is the democrats coming here tomorrow to do the debate, but plenty on television today at cpac. one of the things we saw at cpac

was a charge toward conservatism. we saw it at cpac. that's not something donald trump represents. donald trump is crushing everyone in the republican party so far. what's happening, are there more conservatives in the republican party or more re-trump-licans. >> i traveled the state for a year, i spent time with each candidate. there's a lot of enthusiasm, concern. the voters are so engaged in this race. my job as chair is to bring everybody together after the dust settles because people are concerned about who's going to take the white house. they don't want to see a third obama term in hillary clinton. they're passionate behind candidates, it is contentious, they're angry. we have to come together if we are going to win the white

house. >> how many more outnumber the other? the re-trump-licans or the conservatives? they say he says what he means, he speaks for us, he let's us say things we haven't been able to say before. let's get the pictures up of that rally in the last block, if i can. 25,000 people have come together in orlando for a trump rally. they're just waiting for him to show up. by the way, this is not unusual. there are tens of thousands of people that show up all the time who wait in anterior rooms with speakers to listen to anything he has to say. this is the story of 2016. true conservatives who want to vote republican or retrumply cans who don't care. >> i don't know. we will see it play out in marshmellows 8-- in michigan on the 8th.

this is an anomaly year. i don't think we can say where people are, who outnumbered others. we will find out at the convention. >> michigan is intriguing, looking at the numbers. detroit free press ran a poll and february 27th through 29th, most recent i have, things have changed dramatically since then since the debate. trump 29, cruz 19, rubio 18, kasich 8. he has a resounding ten point lead over the next candidate. pretty much appears he has michigan. do you agree? >> i don't because mitt romney and rick santorum when they came to michigan in 2012, santorum was leading by nine points, romney won michigan by three points. >> you're one of the states, no one should believe the polls. >> michiganders are paying attention. we had a tough time. unemployment five years ago topped out at 15%. >> trump was here yesterday, speaking of working michigan. >> he is spending time here.

the candidates, we had over 30 visits from republican candidates in michigan, since i have been chair. >> what about flint? this is a place, for better or worse, getting a lot of attention because of the election psycycle. others complain it is optics only for a backdrop. many people i spoke to, and i have been showing clips of me interviewing people on the flint streets, many said the republicans haven't come. the democrats have been here, the democrats have done more to make us feel as though they're listening and the republicans haven't as much. >> the republicans in michigan have certainly been here, the lieutenant governor is practically living in flint. >> i am talking about presidential candidates only. >> the presidential candidates have been all across the state, talked about flint. i think they're recognizing that they want to see the state take care of it, want to see where the epa comes in, federal government. there's not much they can do from a solution standpoint. >> can i ask you about the epa, if i remember rubio this morning, trump on the debate

stage thursday night, i want to abolish the epa. how does that sound to the ears of a flint resident who has this going on behind them and has taps they can't even trust. >> i do think the investigation is going on now as to what happened exactly in flint because we need to make sure this never happens again. >> how does it sound to hear the words from a republican candidate, i want to abolish the epa in a place where nothing could be more important. >> there are questions that need to be asked by the epa. susan headman who resigned from region five, they had real time results of lead testing in flint. >> would flint residents be happy to have the epa apolished? >> i think flint residents will be happy when everyone is coming together to solve the problem. >> i don't know if i got an answer on that. >> i'm going to say, that's what needs to happen. we need to investigate where the epa's role is, are they a fail-safe, if they're supposed to protect the water, where were they? what is their role. we give them $8 billion, they

have 15,000 employees. where were they? they're the back stop. when the state was failing, when they were giving bad data to the governor, they were getting real time data. they had a whistleblower that said flint was in trouble. where was the epa in this. everybody is pointing fingers, is not helping everybody. we need republicans and democrats and everyone helping to solve problems, this is a community still in need. the governor is doing it, we have done it in a bipartisan level in the legislature, we will continue to do that in michigan. >> appreciate you coming out with this backdrop. this is a difficult story to cover, so uncomfortable, yet requires people coming together like you said. ronna romney mcdaniel. thanks for being here. don't miss that democratic debate we are hosting at the cnn debate tomorrow night. flint, michigan is the location. 8:00 p.m. eastern time. live on cnn. kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats®... 8 layers of wheat... and one that's sweet. to satisfy the adult and kid - in all of us.

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2012, republican presidential nominee mitt romney is back in the presidential race sort of. this week he made his voice heard denouncing donald trump calling him a phony and a fraud. this is not the first time romney has take an stab at a republican front-runner. his father, former michigan governor george romney blasted the republican nominee in 1964, barry goldwater, but princeton

historian writes in a fascinating new cnn.com op-ed the approach of the two romneys is vastly different. one may be more affective than the other. julian joins me now. thank you for writing this and being here. it is a fascinating history lesson i think for a lot of us. you talk about how then governor george romney fought against goldwater and 1964, largely about civil rights, and he called the nomination of goldwater the suicidal destruction of the republican party. his fight, you argue, was on principles. you see mitt romneys this week is very different. >> back in 1964, republicans were really pretty divided. there were moderate republicans like him who were a big force in the party and he thought goldwater was too conservative and especially had voted against civil rights. thought the party can't put forward someone like that. he really didn't like goldwater, wouldn't even appear with him at campaigns. >> so how -- what's more

effective? that or you say what mitt romney is doing largely personality and that attack maybe not so affective? >> part of it personality. he almost engaged in a trump-like attack on donald trump making it personal, but the other problem is, he is part of a party that has embraced a lot of what donald trump has been doing. and he himself sought his endorsement a few years ago. >> absolutely. and that's what i wanted to talk about. the fact that he saw it and he got, mitt romney got donald trump's endorsement back in 2012. this is even as donald trump was "the" one really leading the birther movement against president obama. still romney sought him out. gloria borger asks romney about their in an interview yesterday and here's what he said. >> i think that's a very different than calling mexicans rapists, than saying that muslims are not going to be allowed into the country as immigrants. that mocking a, a disabled reporter, that going after women and saying, oh, she asked tough

questions because she was in her minstrel cycle. >> they're all bad. hard to distinguish what he said about president obama's birthplace to those kinds of comments. they're all part of a package. so it's hard for him to disassociate himself. >> right. >> even though he wants to do that. >> you argue that this attack by mitt romney on trump could backfire, and it could help trump. how big a believer are you in that? that this is just going to backfire? >> i think it will. that's another difference. when his father did it, a genuine split, unresolved. in some wayses with father was on the winning end add that point. today mitt romney is part of a different split. the washington establishment versus whatever you want to call the trump populism and he represents exactly what trump is attacking. so to have him as your enemy, it could not offer trump a better

trar target. >> the last 20 seconds what would romney learn from this father to be more effective in this fight? >> it revolves around the grass roots. he has to separate himself more bike his father and the electorate the solution, not mitt romney. >> thank you. fascinating op-ed. take a quick bake and we'll be right back. ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

top of the hour. 2:00 p.m. eastern and it is down to the wire in five states today. lines are out the door. crowds are filling caucus locations as voters make their final choice on this super saturday. and the republican candidates are getting in their final jabs. >> and the way we win this primary and the way we beat hillary clinton in november is, we tell the truth with a smile. >> we're going to make our military so strong, so powerful that nobody, nobody is going to mess with us. >> and they won't have a chance, if the conservative movement is hijacked by someone who is not a conservative. [ cheers and applause ] >> if i were to just attack donald trump now and call him a name, boy, it would be just -- kasich has resorted to the negative.