actually motivated some of the people there today to show up. >> yeah, trump is scheduled to be there at 10:00 eastern, about an hour from now. we'll be back at 10:00 eastern. but right now stay with us for smerconish. ♪ ♪ i'm michael smerconish. it's getting scary out there. is this a presidential race or uncivil war? in chicago last night, angry confrontations between supporters and protesters at a donald trump rally, things quickly spiralled out of control. police had to intervene. the event postponed. and now, you're looking at a packed trump rally in ohio that begins in about an hour, unprecedented heavy security, five law enforcement groups represented.

is this the new normal? when the dust settles, do or die week for marco rubio and john kasi kasich, both have to win home states, florida or ohio and that's to thwart trump's nomination. things got so crazy, rubio's team is asking rubio supporters in ohio to vote for kasich and wait, there is more, a ground swell of democrats are switching parties so that they can vote for donald trump, but is it because they believe in him or because they see him as the weakest candidate to face on general election day. as i mentioned, another trump rally scheduled to start in the hour within dayton, ohio. thousands have shown up for a rally in an airport hanger. can things stay calm? mark preston joins me, the executive editor of cnn politics. i think, mark, everybody wants to know, is there any presence of protesters in ohio a kin to what there were in chicago last

night? >> reporter: well, michael, this is a very secure area we are right now. we're right next to the dayton international airport. as you said, unprecedented amount of police activity around here. this place is pretty locked down. having said that, there are thousands of people going inside this hanger right behind me who knows who is a mr. teprotester o is not. there is a level of support i haven't seen for donald trump in the past few weeks, certainly the past few months of seeing him on the campaign trail and a lot of that is probably based upon what we saw last night in chicago. these trump supporters, michael, are very frustrated by protesters that keep on interrupting these donald trump rallies. >> it's so interesting that you say that because it's a subject i'm about to pursue with other guests. mark preston, a bright bulb politically speaking, you think this plays to his benefit?

>> look, it does if you are a hardened trump supporter, michael, what happened in chicago is only making you even more supportive of donald trump. several people i spoke to today in the line said they say listen, donald trump is going to say what he wants to say and if you don't like it, that's too bad you have a right to protest, sure, what you don't have a right to do is interrupt these presidential rallies. one gentleman said he's a retired police officer and said listen, if you get in my face, i'm going to get in your face. there is a level of anger percolating certainly something i haven't seen in the several presidential campaigns that i've covered but again, as you said, is this the new norm? >> the behavior we witnessed is just a hillary or a bernie commercial waiting to p haen in a general election. mark, you can see that loop already. >> reporter: no question. you know, it's interesting behind me you look behind me right now and it doesn't look like there's a lot of people here. they have moved several thousand pop probably into the hanger

behind me but i have to tell you to the side off camera, there is a line of cars stretched out, people still trying to get into the rally. people, michael, started coming in the middle of the night to get in line to see donald trump. it's really an amazing scene. >> mark preston, thank you. we'll come back to you later, okay? >> reporter: thank you. what happened last night in chicago was a republican test. people will look to the same footage and come to completely different conclusions. some will see as you heard from mark, unruly protestors that succeeded in squashing a presidential candidate's first amendment to speak but that only makes sense if viewed in a vacuum. the events need to be seen in trump's campaign and the milestones include trump himself saying that he wished he could have punched a las vegas protester in the face. i saw this coming from the beginning ever since donald trump first sported the hat that

said make america great again. his campaign is based on convk n convincing voters that america is not a great place and sold that message to a small but loyal constituency hearing the same thing through a.m. radios since barack obama was elected. two-thirds of republicans don't want donald trump as the nominee. others have been saying that donald trump has harnessed the anger that exists between the republican voters. i disagree. trump hasn't just tapped into the motions but created and perpetuated them and he knows exactly when he's doing. get him out isn't just a command to remove protesters from traum rallies, it's the campaign slogan. it's the white middle class that sees it's job is in jeopardy with the changing demographics. donald trump shouted fire in a

political theater, that's how i see it. joining me now, jeffrey lord and cnn political commentator and crystal wright, the publisher of the "black chic blog." jeffrey, take the floor, your are you bu rebuttal. >> i wrote a column and look at video from occupy wall street, from black lives matter and 1968 democratic convention. this is what the american left does. donald trump has nothing to do with it. donald trump is an excuse. at one point it was hubert humphry. there is video going through downtown seattle smashing windows. video of the black lives matter people silencing bernie sanders at one of his own rallies. this is the american left in

action. it's just that donald trump happens to be the target of it right this minute. >> no, jeffrey, respectfully, i've already read what you pen for the spectator and it's very well done but what you failed to show me is where hubert humphry stood up and said i wish i can punch that guy in the face. get him out. there is no behavior like that from the elected officials but there is here. >> michael, we have free speech in this country. candidates can say anything they want. you can't blame this stuff on the candidate. hubert humphry used the secret service to get them out. he did the same thing as donald trump. you can't blame humphry and trump. you can't blame some merchant in seattle or bernie sanders. they have first amendment rights and you can't blame them. >> crystal wright, what i am blaming trump for is creating an environment and let me say to jeffrey's point, i don't think

it's fair to interrupt the candidates and i recognize the free speech rights on both side of the equation but when you see the old-timer that hit that guy, run that footage in fayetteville. isn't donald trump insighting that kind of a response, when donald trump says i wish i could punch him in the face, do we have that footage? can we put it up on the screen. african american guy walking out of the place. here it comes. a white guy with a cowboy hat, boom. isn't he doing what donald trump said he wished he could do? >> isn't it interesting we're missing a lot of facts when we talk about chicago and we talk about donald trump's rallies? it's interesting that donald trump is the only candidate who has protesters show up by the thousands. a friend of mine was in chicago, she brought her teenage daughter who was about 13 or 14 and got her out of school early at 1:30 to go to stand in line for hours to hear donald trump speak, and

bernie sanders supporters had a calculate coordinated effort on social media to have protesters sneak into donald trump's event last night, get in trump supporter's faces and ripped up signs but nobody is blaming liberal protesters for stopping free speech and nobody is telling bernie sanders to call him people down and another unreport the fact at the rallies, donald trump is actually playing over aloud speaker before each rally there is an audio recording telling supporters not to get into fights with protesters. >> wait a minute -- >> no, no, let me just finish here. let's wait a minute here. donald trump is one man. he is not -- i think the blame is on the protesters, even some of the protesters. there is an article in the washington post this morning, the protesters are on record saying it's not donald trump's fault. they go in there with specific purpose -- >> crystal, you have to let me

respond. wait a minute. being fair, i'm not being asked to vote for any of these protesters for president of the united states. i am being -- i am being asked to vote for donald trump. and respectfully, you're both comparing apples and oranges when you reference bernie and the left i want to say this, you can't give to me the same thing i'm about to give to you. i want to show you jake tapper reminding donald trump of some of the statements he made. i'm unaware of any statements from any of the other candidates -- >> you're giving a free pass to bernie sanders liberal protes r proteste protesters. shut down free speech last night and you know what -- >> crystal, no -- >> i'm not defending -- >> you're -- >> you're defending -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> i'm going to show you something. here is jake tapper in the debate. roll it. >> some of your critics point to quotes you made at the debates,

that these rallies including february 23rd, i'd like to punch him in the face referring to a protester, february 27th in the good old days they would have ripped him out of the seat so fast, february 1st, knock the crap out of him. i promise you i will pay for the legal fees, i promise, i promise. >> we have some protesters that are bad dudes, they have done bad things. they are swinging. they are really dangerous and get in there and start hitting people and we had a couple big, strong powerful guys doing damage to people not only the loudness, the loudness i don't mind but doing serious damage and if they are going to be taken out, to be honest, we have to run something. it's not me. it's usually the government, the police because i don't have guards all over these stadiums. we fill up stadiums. >> jeffrey, what i'm saying there is nothing you can show me from any other candidates where they made similar statements to

donald trump. i am not about that. i don't like the fact these protesters have interrupted your guy but other candidates have done nothing like he has done. you get to respond. >> michael, i love you but what i hear you saying is the political equivalent of the woman was asking to be raped because she wore a short skirt. this is wrong. this is wrong. candidates can say anything they please, anything they please, they do not deserve to be -- >> michael, look, i think that showing that clip you raise an important point, michael. no other candidate is being heckled and having protesters disrupt his rallies be intent purpose of getting into insighting fights with supporters. you have would be protester after another -- do i think these people should be punched in the gut? no. i'm with you, michael. i think on both sides, the violence is not acceptable but

to blame it on donald trump when you have him being gang banged by protesters and his supporters, i don't think that 75-year-old man should have sucker punched that young black kid, at the same time, we have to ask ourselves a question. why are so many liberals coming out in hordes to donald trump's rallies? shouldn't they focus energy on supporting their candidate, hillary or bernie? isn't that what democracy is about? i don't like the violence, michael. i agree with you. >> i don't see correlation, i see causation. i see a direct connext between the seeds of discontent and telling an angry the white middle class, the others could be barack obama without a birth certificate or mexicans that are rapist or muslims we need to keep as a religion out of the country and to act like you're surprised when people go crazy -- >> i'm not white and i agree with them. the muslims, we need a temporary

moratorium on muslims coming into the country and get a handle on illegal immigration. i'm not white and i support donald trump. >> next time you come on, don't hold back and tell me what you think. jeffrey lord, crystal wright, thank you. what does the rest of the path to the convention now look like. joining me three smart individuals, dr. terry ma done no, director for the center of politics and michael waldman, step cat tick strategists bob beckel. dr. madonna terry, politically speaking, who benefits from what we saw last night? >> well, i think donald trump support hardens. remember, he had it early and firm. nothing he has said and done has diminished the support. he is now one-third of the way to the magic 127 barring something in this almost insane presidential nomination contest. i think it's going to be very difficult to stop him. well know a lot more tuesday in

ohio, florida, and illinois. but the facts are his support is firm. it's been consistent. rallies will only grow. you hit the nail on the head. we are seeing the deep divisions, polarization that has come to grow and enlarge over the last decade and a half and it's being crystallized in the candidacy of donald trump. >> i see part of the building of the last 30 years and i've spoken extensiveextensively. the polarization, the gop advocated leadership to them and this shouldn't be a surprise. >> it comes at a period of economic change and stagnanting wages for many people. significant democratic change and yes, a lot of voices in the media and conservative media telling people this is the fault

of the others. and you need to go out and do something about it. anybody who pretends this is a surprise, that a major candidate likely to be the nominee who gets up and speaks in such racial terms, anyone whose surprised that violence erupted at these rallies is faking it. the fact of the matter is, this is an inevitable consequence of the language and not the first time we've seen this play out in an election but the first time in a long time not since george wallace's presidential campaign in 1968 and he used code words, much more than donald trump does now. >> bob beckel, i'll begin with ted cruz. you tell me if he is striking the right chord with an eye towards tuesday. roll that.

do have -- >> the campaign bears responsibility for creating an environment, when the candidate urges supporters to engage in physical violence to punch people in the face, the predictable consequence of that is that it escalates. >> bob beckel, marco rubio said words have consequences and john kasich said trump has been sewing the seeds of this for awhile. how should they respond? >> trump captured the entire news cycle so the only way to get in is somehow colt on what happened last night. i was at the chicago convention in '68. you don't know fear until you see a horse bearing down at you at 12:00 at night. this was not comparable to chicago but the screens are. trump has a responsibility. certainly he should have been lowed to speak. he had a perfect opportunity

last night to say when don lemon ask him this that we should all come down here, i ask my supporters not to engage. i asked these who want to protest to please do it in the areas they are supposed to protest in but this will in the short term help in florida and it's going to get commercial and the intractable donald trump will be exposed more. >> hey, terry, you're focused on strategic implications, a fusionen ticket. might the net of this be two candidates on the republican side pair up and there is a lot of strategic voting taking place in the cycle. i get phone calls on a daily basis for individuals that said i just want out and voted for donald trump. half the time because they are for him and half the time they want to elevate him as a weak candidate. >> yeah, we'll first of all, there is almost no way to stop

trump barring from something we don't know and that could occur tomorrow. the fact of the matter is that three of these other candidates are not going to be the nominee, they could put a fusion ticket together, unity ticket, kasich, rubio, rubio, kasich. mathematically, cruz has the chance to stop and win the nomination as this process moves forward. that was done in 1976 when ronald reagan picked democrat -- united states senator or republican named richard from pennsylvania. it didn't work then. there is two ways, a fusion ticket to shake up the republican process and/or when you go into the convention, it looks like trump will be shy under almost any circumstance and then to do a brokered

convention how? there is no one to broker the convention and maybe just a go through some kind of effort by rules changes to stop trump. there aren't a lot of options out there. a fusion ticket might be one. now on the other side of the equation it looks now like there are some democrats who are doing exactly what you say but the vast majority of the party switchers are blue collar working class voters, the kind of support showing up at the trump rallies conversery on the democratic side, sanders seems to get some of the same kind of support because the folks are left behind and economy is not kind to them and stagnant wages, too many folks -- >> strange -- >> hey, guys, gets, i have to move. i want to say this, michael waldman, i just read the fight to vote your new book. it's terrific. thank you-all for being here.

>> thank you. >> tweet me at smerconish. waiting on the rally in ohio and trump's tactics on terrorists and families put him at odds with a former general, one-time head of the nsa and cia michael hayden, general hayden is about to join me. it wasn't just chicago. several rallies are turning into scenes of confrontation and out right brawling. it is it his fault. are part of what make you, you. and you're not going to let anything keep you sidelined. that's why you drink ensure with nutritious calories, 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. come on grandma! giving you the strength and energy to get back to doing... what you love. from the #1 doctr recommended bran. ensure. always stay you.

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you're looking at a live picture from vandalia, ohio. we're about a half hour away from a trump rally. security very heavy. you're looking at the exterior. people started lining up at mid night and many in the crowd, there you go. there is inside. many in the crowd are buzzing about what happened last night in chicago. we'll go back to that soon.

but first, donald trump said that he wanted to reinstate water boarding of terrorists, then he backed down. he still however insists he'll quote unquote take out members of terrorist families. this unsettled some people including four-star general, former director of ncia and said the military wouldn't obey such orders and trump fired back on cnn's anderson cooper. >> i'll work on it with the generals. >> i spoke to general michael hayden. >> he said it's terrible and that's why he's been fighting this war for many years. >> he's four-star general, former head of the nsa -- >> i don't care. he frightens me because we've been fighting isis for many years and this should have been over with quickly. that's the problem. we have these people that are frightened because we're protecting terrorists. >> that's donald trump. i invited general hayden here to

respond. he's the author of a brand-new book called "playing to the edge, american intelligence" and chron chronic ls his long time in the trenches. donald trump says you frighten him and this isis business should have been wrapped up long ago. >> michael, look,, the simple explanation is if we could have killed our way out of this problem, this war would have been over 14 years ago. i was a member of, i supported the most magnificent killing machine in the history of armed conflict but we can't kill our way out of the problem. we have to kill to defend ourselves in the immediate near term. i get it. we need to do other things, as eloquent and some things mr. trump is suggesting like killing terrorist families intentionally, like saying they all hate us, living the narrative that jihadists use as their basic recruitment tool.

like there is undying amnesty between the west. that gets in the way of resolving this issue. >> general, i've read and thoroughly enjoyed the book. >> thank you. >> i notice you make an effective case for the arsenal of tools that have been at the disposal of the nsa and cia since this war on radical islam began. donald trump is making a similar argument he wants to make sure you've got the tools going forward. >> no, there are some things he suggests that i could support in a modest form. i think our forces are a bit over regulated and tolerance for collateral damage is far too low when we talk about striking isis. he's not talking about that, might michael. he's talking about targeting the innocent. the title of the book is playing the edge and you're right, michael. it's a pretty broad discussion of how i think we have to use

the space but implicit in the title is that there are edges that there are points beyond which we should not go. not just because it's not ethical or illegal. >> one thing he brought up is water boarding and there is a segment in the book where you speak about having personally interacted with the individual who interrogated moe hohammed a sleep deprivation pushed him into what investigators called a zone of cooperation from the previous zone of defiance. the information we got from him and others was incredibly valuable, is not that a page taken out of the trump platform? >> well, i had my circumstances, my predecessors who were the

actual officers who used water boarding had their circumstances but michael, things have changed. one important thing that's changed is american law. the congress is actually said we can only use the techniques in the army feldman well and there is no water boarding in that, beyond that, michael. our knowledge of the enemy, our sense of the threat is also changed so i said if a future president wants to water board, i don't think my old agency will do that again. >> ronald reagan's ambassador was faith ryan, he had just weighed in in written form embracing donald trump in many respects and among other things, she said donald trump meanwhile is getting some important things right. the goal is to wipe out isis, alibi a alial qaeda and jihads.

he can talk to vladimir putin and it's good, high time. he has said he dislikes the agreement, says it was badly negotiated but will respect and enforce it. oddly enough, these are mature positions that out class those of several opponents that love to pose as policy heavy weights but have a pension for taking childish approaches to serious matters. will you respond to the ambassador? >> sure. i don't think we should rip up the agreement on day one. the candidate i support, governor bush had the same view. let's take a look and be a mature super power. with regard to the first half, though, michael, i'm in disagreement. the dish in which isis was able to grow and thrive and expand was actually created by the bashar al-assad government. the russian interest is to support the continuation of that

government. you can never defeat isis. you can never under cut sunni fundamental li menant -- >> you heard donald trump say 20, 30,000 troops he would put on the ground in syria. what about that? >> i'd have to defer at the generals as to what the sufficient american forces that actually michael sounds like a big number. too small a number and we need to have a larger and i don't think anyone with any experience, michael, who knows how to point to syria on the map would want american ma never brigades back in the desert again. >> one final question, i invited you here to talk about your book and the war on terror but you're not only a general, you're not only the only individual to head the nsa and cia, you're an american with a television set. surely you watched last night or this morning what happened in chicago. what did you think?

>> let me merge that with the conversation we just had, michael. i think mr. trump and an awful lot of his statements and rallies have been appealing to the darker angels of our nature and we've saw the product of that last night in chicago. >> general hayden, i'll see you monday night at the philadelphia free library. thank you, sir. >> thank you. waiting for a rally today, donald trump's rally in ohio, and we're standing by also for ohio governor john kasich who is going to be responding to last nig night's events in chicago and i'll tell you if trump wins big on tuesday how it might actually make it harder for him to win the nomination. unless you have allergies. then your eyes may see it differently. only flonase is approved to relieve both your itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. complete allergy relief or incomplete. let your eyes decide. flonase changes everything.

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ohio governor john kasich now addressing the donald trump controversy from chicago last

night. >> and in fact, the sun is starting to rise in wilmington by bringing people together at all levels at the local community, the state, my friends in the legislature. it was not long after that when the african american democrat mayor of cleveland came to me with the union and the business community to ask whether i would help them to fix the cleveland schools. we work together, struggled together, and passed some of the most comprehensive reform that we've seen in the united states affecting our children. i believe that -- and that was done in great collaboration, community, the political leaders, the union, the legislature, strong bipartisan results. we worked all over the state to bring people together to create jobs. and of course, as a result of

that and a result of cooperation, we not only were able to balance budgets but also to put ourselves in an environment where we have now risen to the fact we have over 400,000 jobs in the state of ohio. now i am the only one on that stage who has run an unwaivering positive campaign. i have recognized the frustrations of the american people but i have made every effort i can to answer those frustrations with programs that i hope would provide, would provide a positive sense that we can overcome our difficulties. i learned in the state of new hampshire i knew it all along that it became very clear to me that you could walk into a room of 100 people and you can give them hope or walk into the room

of 100 people and drive them into the ground and give them hopelessness. to this campaign his been nothing but an effort to express a vision and the things that we can do in america both at the government level and the community level to restore hope in our country, donald trump is created a toxic environment and the toxic environment is allowed his supporters and those who sometimes seek confrontation to come together in violence. there is no place for this. there is no place for a national leader to pray on the fears of people who live in our great country. it is important that we recognize their frustrations. it is important to recognize there are challenges that we face.

challenges of job insecurity and a lack of rising wages and a frustration that their children may not inherit the kind of life that they inherited from their parents. that is to be recognized. but it isn't to be used to drive people down. it isn't used to divide people. i have been talking about vision and hope and after doing it, laboring on surety during this entire campaign, i'm proud to see the other candidates realize that name calling, lowering the bar to politics is not acceptable and they learned in the last debate and the ideas matter and policy matters and giving people hope matters.

it just took too long for them to realize it and frankly, the coverage of this campaign is disappointing. because it seems as though the attention goes to those who call names. i refuse to do it this entire campaign even if it meant i would be ignored and even if i meant that i would lose because our purpose as public officials is to design solutions to unify, to raise, to help, to give a road map for how people's lives can be improved. i hope moving forward that all of us, all the candidates including the democrats, bernie sanders, hillary clinton, my remaining colleagues, who are running for president of the united states will begin to focus their attention on how we can solve the problems in

america. are they serious? yes. are they resolvable? absolutely. but we will not resolve them by dividing ourselves including the public officials. if our rhetoric is negative, if our rhetoric is divisive, we will not solve these problems that the american people expect us to fix, but if we can work together, expect one another, allow for a discussion of vision and a path to a stronger america, we won't miss. some of the greatest moments i've had in this campaign is the opportunity to give people sense that they are made special that they can solve problems, they need to believe in themselves, just yesterday at a town hall

meeting a young woman was talking about will she have her hopes and dreams to fulfill graduate school. i listened to her carefully. maybe i saw a little bit of me in her. maybe i saw my precious daughters to remind her that hope comes to the inside, believe that you're special, believe that you can make a difference. believe that you can change the world. maybe this is the reason i continued to survive and need to be heard in america. i'm proud of what we've been able to do. we're going to continue to do it, and i hope that others will continue to follow the example

that we set. i don't watch much television news as i told all of you, just to see americans slugging themselves at a political rally deeply disturbed me. we're better than that. we're a nation that overcomes obstacles ex challenges. i'm just reminded of when with work together in light of some terrible, terrible situations in ohio where we brought police and community together where three democrat legislatures came to see me and expressed concern about pending judicial decisions and how we work together brought community, brought police together to move forward.

that's what we need to do in america, across all of our states and the leaders of the united states of america. >> [ indiscernible question ] >> ohio governor kasich with strong words for donald trump. can i say in a campaign of many milestones, you just witnessed one. three days ahead of voting in ohio, his native state, you heard john kasich say i'm the only one whose run a positive campaign and that donald trump has put forth a toxic environment. it will be interesting to see at the top of the hour here on cnn whether donald trump responds to those words, it will be interesting to see if donald trump responds to general michael hayden, the only person to have ever headed the nsa and the cia who said here this hour

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just book the flight you want, on any airline, then use your miles to cover the cost. now you're getting somewhere. what's in your wallet? we're minutes away from what is arguably the most anticipated rally of the 2016 cycle, vandalia, ohio is the location. it's a donald trump event. we just carried live a pretty stunning set of remarks from ohio governor john kasich. joining me now, "the new york times" national political correspondent, jonathan martin. jonathan, please react to all the events of the last 24 hours, but begin with the kasich comments. >> the kasich comments don't really surprise me. he's trying to win ohio, his home state. if he doesn't, he's not going to be able to go forward with this campaign, and he sees an opportunity to rally republicans in his state who are appalled by donald trump's campaign. and so, he's doing that by seizing on what happened last night.

but let's be clear about what john kasich has done during the course of this campaign. he wants to portray himself as sort of taking the moral high ground and not going after trump. in react, he did confront trump last fall at the cnbc debate in boulder, colorado. he basically said, the party's gone berserk, these plans don't make sense, what are we doing as a party. donald trump smacked him back pretty hard, and i think kasich at that point decided it was not wise from a tablctical standpoi to attack donald trump, so he hasn't done that since, but that's for the purpose of politics, and to his credit, that's been worthwhile. he's stolen the politics going into his home state. he sees an opportunity in finally confronting trump after what happened last night and is doing that going into his home state on tuesday. >> it seems as if -- and i know that you're an astute observer of this process and the numbers -- it seems as if it is only donald trump who has a path to the 1,237 delegates before

arriving in cleveland -- >> beforehand, yeah. >> but he's got a very small margin of error, jonathan. >> yeah. >> if he doesn't win ohio and florida on tuesday, this thing's going to just hobble along for a long time, and it will get to the convention unresolved. >> you're exactly right, michael. in ohio, especially. and that's why kasich, even though he is, i think, 0 for 24 at this point, has not won a single state, which is why this candidate is so important to the party's nomination. because if he wins ohio, john kasich does on tuesday, that is crucial to denying donald trump from getting that delegate majority that you just mentioned by the last day of voting in june. if kasich can win ohio and ted cruz can pick up delegates in north carolina, missouri and illinois on tuesday, michael, the states that are kind of forgotten, by the way, with all this focus on florida and ohio, then it's a lot harder for trump to get 1,237 before the roll call at the convention this summer in cleveland, and that's what the game is now.

it's almost impossible that anybody else is going to be able to get 1,237, besides donald trump, by the time california and new jersey vote on june 7th, but it is possible that trump could be denied from getting that delegate majority himself, and that's the entire game now. >> only 30 seconds left for you to react to this. that if trump wins ohio and florida and the field narrows, he may have more of a fight on his hand going toe to toe with cruz. >> well, that's the big question, is is it better for cruz to have kasich in or out of the race? >> right. >> there's an argument that it's better for cruz to have kasich in, because in some of the more moderate states that kasich could pick up delegates in cities and suburbs and college towns. the other argument, though, is that it's better for cruz to have a head-to-head matchup against trump, michael, because then, all of the sort of anybody but trump forces would have to rally to cruz. it's not quite clear which is better for cruz. i can tell you which scenario the cruz campaign wants -- they want to get trump head to head. they think that if they have trump head to head, that there

will be a surge to him of folks that don't love cruz but that want to stop trump. >> jonathan martin, thank you so much. we really appreciate your being here. we are awaiting a donald trump rally outside of dayton, ohio, and we will bring it to you live. >> thanks, michael.

let me show you one of the tweets that has come in this hour, which raises quite an interesting point -- "the problem with the rest of the gop candidates, they still say they will support trump if he wins their party's nomination." how can you call donald trump a con man at one moment and then say i'm all for him in the next? it will be very interesting to see if they will still support donald trump in light of the events of the last 12 hours. so, that is vandalia, ohio. and i am not being melodramatic when i say this is the most anticipated campaign event thus far in a season that has had a whole slew of them.

what will donald trump say about the events of last night, about the comments of general hayden here today, about the comments of john kasich? we're about to find out, as i hand off to christie and to victor. you're in good hands. stick with cnn. good morning, everyone. so glad to have you with us. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. good to be with you. 10:00 here on the east coast. and republican front-runner donald trump will be holding a rally near dayton, ohio. this is the podium at this hangar in vandalia, ohio, just outside the city airport there. thousands of people there waiting to see mr. trump for the first time since that rally last night was canceled in chicago. of course, we'll bring you the remarks as soon as everything here gets under way. >> yeah, but what a scene it is, victor, from the crowds in chicago last