welcome back. there are six democratic contests this week. three on tuesday and then three more on saturday. bernie sanders could go 5 for 6, possibly even 6 for 6. that would be a game changer, right? well, this momentum and then there's math. take a peek here. hillary clinton heading into this week has about 330 delegate lead. these are just pledge delegates. this is does not involve any of the superdelegates. 330 lead in pledge delegates. now, let's say that bernie sanders wins them all right here in the west on tuesday. wait a minute.on campaign says - we're competitive in arizona. we pitt win arizona. but just for the sake of the hypothetical, say bernie wins them all on tuesday. then three more alaska, hawaii, washington state on saturday. bernie sanders if he won all six of those contests 55-45, he

would cut hillary clinton's lead, the beginning of the week, 330, the end of the week, 302. somewhere in that ballpark. so he would make up a little ground but not a lot. hillary clinton says i'm so far ahead that even if you have a big week like this, you can't catch me. why don't you tone it down, senator sanders? he says such talk, though, is reckless. >> it would be extraordinarily undemocratic to tell the people in half the states in america, you don't have a right to get involved in the nominating process for the democratic candidate. if you write off or you say to half the states in this country that they should not participate, their response may well be on election day, well, you didn't want us to participate in the primary process. you know, we're not going to come out to the general election. >> but so bernie sanders is essentially saying my supporters, if you ignore us, treat us with disrespect, we won't be there in november. but how does he manage this moment in the sense that he could have a huge week?

he could win six contests? he could win 5 of 6 contests and make barely a scratch in her delegate math, which is going to -- his supporters are going to be all revved up, here comes bernie. but? >> the problem is that a lot of democrats and frankly a lot of media are also not treating like this race is still going on. i think that's his main challenge. he needs to have a bunch of wins and then say look how well i did. it's not justifiable that people are not treating us for real. he does still have this incredible low-dollar support base which i think will continue to fund him especially if he has a bunch of wins. his argument is not particularly different than what hillary clinton said in 2008 when she was running against barack obama. and i have been expecting his campaign would say more of that. his language -- excuse me, his remarks in substance are not that different than what donald trump is saying either. it's just that the tone is very different. but i do think that mathematically, it is becoming extremely hard for them to make a credible case, and they have changed their argument, the sanders campaign. before it was that, you know, super sell gats shouldn't count.

now they're looking towards superdelegates. and i think that becomes difficult to navigate. >> his point about staying home in november actually does cause a lot of fear for clinton folks. and they realize that as much as she can talk about saying get out or suggest get out, they have to be very careful about that because should those young voters especially stay home in certain states, it could rob her of winning places like colorado, nevada, you know, even perhaps places like pennsylvania if you have to make up a margin against a trump. so they have to be very careful. they know, though, that this is going to be a rougher week for them potentially because he will win. the problem is if he doesn't win with, like, 80% plus in each contest, he will not catch her. you have to keep doing that. >> right, he would have to win just about everything from here on out if he wins one 60-40, the next one 80/20, above 70% essentially. maggie makes a great point. hillary clinton has been here. she's been in this very spot before. so she has to understand his mindset. >> absolutely. >> he wants more wins. he wants to build himself up.

he wants a role at the convention. he wants to validate his candidacy. but sometimes she does sound like -- like senator, it's over. >> there's some urgency in her campaign. you are seeing her pivot toward donald trump. she's not talking about bernie sanders very much. what they -- they don't mind sanders staying in the race if he's going to make cases broadly about his economic policies if he's going to turn his attention to donald trump. but if he is aiming a lot of fire at clinton basically handing over general election arguments to republicans, that's when it's going to become problematic. they do know they have work to do in the clinton campaign to try to get young people who are fervent bernie sanders supporters into her camp. that will take some effort on her part. she will need sanders probably involved in trying to help that along. but she personally knows better than anybody what sanders is going through and how difficult a process it will be to close down a campaign when you do feel like you're so close. >> and sanders' issue, too, is not only just that the narrative has changed and that the media is increasingly not treating

this maybe as a two-person race or that the narrative has changed that this is no longer a two-person race that she really has this, he needs someone to fight against, and i think the more that she talks about this and uses a tone as though she were heading into the general election, he doesn't have this into fight, right? when two people are in a fight and one person is yelling, the most frustrating thing the other person can do is to respond in a calm voice as if they are not engaging. and i think that is what we're starting to see happen here. >> seize been off the campaign trail. she's almost absent this weekend raising money. raising money. so we'll see what happens tuesday. a super pac that supports her has an ad up that's interesting. it's already focusing on the general election. listen here. ♪ >> who are you consulting with consistently so that you're ready to day one? >> i'm speaking with myself, number one, because i have a very good brain, and i've said a lot of things.

>> it's kind of funny. this is priorities usa which is a pro-hillary clinton super pac. and i asked some people involved why are they doing this now? what is the point here? and actually, what they said was that they're testing this message because they think trump is going to be the republican nominee. they think he is going to be the principal opponent. their point is they're not going to underestimate him like the republicans did and they're trying to see what would work. >> what's interesting is actually that ad was a response to something that trump did. trump did his own version of that, that featured video of hillary clinton at that rally that i never understood what was happening. >> she was barking. >> she was barking like a dog and then it concluded with i think it was putin laughing. this is essentially the same thing. >> right. >> what was interesting to me about the fact that the super pac did this is i think less that they are testing messages although that's definitely true, but that they were responding to something that the campaign did not. hillary clinton has been navigating a careful line here in terms of how she wants to deal with donald trump. remember, she was using him as sort of a rhetorical device at

the end of last year-around, you know, christmastime, right before it, and trump went after her and her husban very hard. both of them stopped talking about him after that. she made clear she's going to engage him on policy, but she doesn't want to trip over some kind of a line where he is firing nukes. he's going to be doing that anyway, to be clear, but i think she is trying to keep away from that as much as possible. >> interesting, interesting, interesting. it's going to flip the map, and they know that. they're trying to figure out how do you go after white working-classmen, donald trump's case. we'll watch the advertising play out. up next, a supreme court fight and a new attack on mr. trump. the obama factor. how president obama plans to shape the campaign to replace him. this is a body of proof. proof of less joint pain. and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis ...with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms.

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not that i'm counting, but in 232 days, america picks a new president. and in 306 days, barack obama will hand the white house over to the 45th president of the united states. the 44th president made clear

this past week he doesn't plan on going quietly. the president nominated a supreme court pick, federal appeals court judge merrick garland, and served notice he's prepared to make it an election issue if senate republicans refuse to give his choice a fair hearing. >> presidents do not stop working in the final year of their term. neither should a senator. >> so let's rate the odds on this day. mitch mcdonnell, the republican leader, has been firm. no hearing, no nothing. will it hold? >> no. >> i think you can start to see some cracks in the republican unity happening already. you have some senators who are open to having meetings with merrick garland. i think you have some who would actually prefer there to be a hearing, even if they voted no in the hearing, just to show that they are doing their jobs. if you're someone who's up for re-election in the fall in a tough race, arguing why you should keep your job, it's hard to make that argument when you're not really doing your

job. >> to that point, here's mark kirk, democrat of illinois, traditionally votes blue in a presidential election year. those are the ones worried. rob portman, kelly ayotte, new hampshire, pat toomey, states that either tend to go blue or could go blue. here's mark kirk saying, "why not?" >> it's just man up and cast a vote. the tough thing about these senatorial jobs is you get yes-or-no votes. your whole job is to either say yes or no and explain why. >> senator kirk seems to be saying there that's why we got hired, to dower on job. i'm also told that chuck grassley of iowa also on the ballot is facing heat from democrats and he's starting to complain at a minimum that he's not getting enough cover from his republicans. >> this is the genius of the garland pick. not only is he imminently qualified as a judicial mind, i think that's fact. that's there. viewers can dispute that, but whatever. he's a brilliant legal mind. if you were at the white house and you're thinking, we need to find a guy who ticks off or

causes trouble for mark kirk, kelly ayotte, rob portman and what the heck, chuck grassley, you found it because he's the chairman of the judiciary committee. he's up for re-election. iowans will not tolerate this. already there's been an editorial page -- essays about this saying just hold a hearing. you know who else probably wants a hearing? ted cruz. he's a member of the judiciary committee. what better than to go back to washington and quiz the guy that he'd like to block and earn some free air time in the process? so i suspect there will at least be a hearing. whether he gets a vote before the election, though, you know, we'll see. >> this is also just not just about vulnerable senate republicans. i mean, this is about the party thinking ahead to 2017. i think the narrative could quickly change as soon as it becomes clear that trump could be the nominee and that, you know, republicans could lose the senate. you know, would they rather just accept a more moderate justice nominated by obama, or do they want to face the potential of hillary clinton's nominee who could be a lot more liberal, and they have no way to stop her --

stop her, you know, decision and her pick come 2017. >> so the president made clear he's going to fight on this one. he also made clear this past week with speaker ryan right there a few steps away, the traditional st. patrick's day lunch. usually a bipartisan love fest, but the president decided with the republican speaker right nearby to take issue with a guy named donald trump. >> i'm not the only one in this room who may be more than a little dismayed about what's happening on the campaign trail lately. we have heard vulgar and divisive rhetoric aimed at women and minorities, and americans who don't look like us or pray like us or vote like we do. >> interesting to watch because obviously the president and mr. trump have a history. the president didn't like the cheerleading for the birther movement. that was very calm obama there. no-drama obama there. but he seems to relish the idea of being in the middle of the trump debate. >> i mean, he can perpetuate it in a way that almost nobody else can. and to your point, he can remind

people, particularly the democratic coalition, i was the focus of this initially. i was the person five years ago who when donald trump was on every cable show, questioning where's the birth certificate? he was really born in kenya. and to your point about speaker ryan being right there, paul ryan has actually been increasingly forceful about how he views -- he feels about this. he has not really been quiet. he has spoken out a couple of times now with growing levels of force about how he thinks donald trump is saying things that are divisive. he spoke out about the riots remark. when trump, a couple of weeks ago, with jake tapper, refused to disavow the kkk, getting asked the question three different times, then later saying, whatever it was, that was a real turning point for a lot of republicans. and i think that's what obama is counting on in trying to remind people. >> who would have thought that donald trump would bring paul ryan and the president together in their closing months together. that's what seems to be happening. >> 232 days to go. up next, our reporters share

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one last trip around the table so our reporters can get you out of the big political news just ahead. maggie? >> president obama spoke at a fund-raiser in austin, texas, a little over a week ago. and what surprised democratic donors in the room, there were no reporters there, was how candid he was about hillary clinton's perceived flaws. he talked about how some people are not excited about her candidacy. he also acknowledged that there are questions about authenticity. and then he said, well, you know, essentially authenticity is overrated. that's my word, not his. but he went on to point to his predecessor, george w. bush, and said he was seen as authentic and let it trail off as in and i don't think he was such a great president. it will be interesting to see

how he defends hillary clinton. >> the president playing pundit there. always interesting. ed? >> so john, marco rubio now out of the presidential race. and of course, the focus now turns to replacing him in the senate of the 34 senate races this year, florida promises to be one of the most competitive and expensive. two democrats, patrick murphy, and the great allen grayson, fighting in a primary there. murphy expected to pick up the support of former senator bob graham this week. and on tuesday here in washington, a bunch of rubio's former financial backers expected to hold a rally for -- or fund-raiser for carlos lopez c cantero. this fight will continue through august 30th when there's a primary and then of course in november. again, expected to be one of the most competitive senate races of the year. >> and he insists -- >> he's not getting back in. >> he's not getting back in, he says. m.j.? >> there has been a lot of focus on the evangelical vote this cycle. frankly i think people have been surprised at how well trump has been doing with evangelicals.

i think it's worth pointing out there is a little bit more of a struggle for trump within states that has -- states that have a different kind of conservative christian constituency. remember that trump lost idaho and wyoming. both are states with substantial lds populations. and i think it's worth pointing out also that utah and arizona are coming up. and trump is not polling so well in utah. and the fact that he has been going after mitt romney, in fact, mocking romney probably is not going to help him there. >> if it does, then every other rule has been thrown in the trash can this year. we'll see what happens there. julie? >> i'm heading to cuba in a few hours with president obama on a trip that is quite historic for this diplomatic opening. but there's also some political maneuvering happening here. president obama is trying to do all he can with this trip to ensure that the opening with cuba stays permanent no matter who is elected in november. he'll be traveling with a contingent of american ceos. some of whom are going to be announcing new business deals in cuba or looking to form new

business partnerships. the idea is that if a republican is elected president and tries to close off the opening with cuba, they wouldn't be just taking away an obama priority. they would also be hurting american businesses. suddenly that may not look so favorable for a republican. >> need anybody to carry your bags? >> come along. it would be fun. >> i'll close with this. kasich's team says fund-raising is way up since his ohio win last week, but they can't deny the math. kasich would be need 108% to clinch the convention. even in this wacky year, safe to say that math is impossible. but team kasich says it can justify to staying in the race and trying to position for the open convention. so getting some from utah tuesday is essential which is why kasich campaigned there this weekend, ignoring ted cruz's complaint that keeping him under 50% has the winner-take-all threshold would only help donald trump get more delegates. the with us wis primary could be the next big test. yes, aides talk up kasich's

chances in states that vote in late may, but they also acknowledge if kasich gets shut out in utah and then has a weak showing in wisconsin, his rationale for staying in will be seriously undermined. that's if for "inside politics." thanks for sharing your sunday morning. we'll see you soon. "state of the union" is next. your body is a finely tuned instrument. diarrhea can throw it out of rhythm. imodium multi symptom relief is the only product that combines two powerful ingredients to relieve diarrhea faster than any other otc medicine. it also eases gas, cramps, and bloating. imodium multi symptom relief. restore rhythm to your digestive system.

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take the roar out of snore. yet another innovation only at a sleep number store. can trump close this deal? >> thank you. >> with more key wins this week, will he secure the nomination outright, or will there be a battle at the convention? >> i think we'll win before getting to the convention, but i can tell you, if we didn't, i think you'd have riots. i think you'd have riots. >> john kasich tells trump to cool it. >> he's not running for the presidency of the wwe. he's running for president of the united states. >> but the ohio governor can only win if he gets delegates, not voters, to switch to his team. is there a backroom deal in the works? i'll ask him next. plus, supreme court showdown. >> i simply a