>> dickerson: we continue our conversation with ted cruz. conservatives used to talk a lot about the cull the tougher, the job of conservative politics to stand up say, no more. has this campaign improved the culture or made it worse? >> well, listen, there's no doubt that there are aspects of this campaign that have gone into the gutter. we saw moments with donald trump and marco rubio engaging in insults, engaging in off-color jocks, just getting nastier and master and throwing mud. my approach, john, i'm not going to ploy that game. not going to engage in the in subtle, i don't really have any views on the sizes of any parts of donald trump's anatomy i'm not interested in talking about that. but what i am interested in talking about is the issues facing the american people. millions of americans are facing stagnant wages, not having jobs.

my top priority bringing back jobs and raising wages, we're going to do that by repealing obamacare, passing a flat tax. abolish can the ir, reigning in the federal regulators, stopping amnesty and securing the borders that's my priority. >> dickerson: you said also week that donald trump is entertaining. but then this other stuff slips in and that's the way in which people, conservatives i talked to more years said that's the way the culture slips. it's the job of a politics to stand up and say no, there are guard rails here. >> think about what presidents have meant in history, think of lincoln gettysburg address, fdr think of jfk ask not what you can do for your country. i think people at home are asking themselves, how would we feel if our children came in repeating the words of the president of the united states, if that president was donald trump. if it would embarrass you to have your children repeat the words of the president, that's

not a good thing. a president should unify us, should appeal to our better half, appeal to our shared values that make america who we are. that is how i'm trying to campaign. i think that's what the american people are looking for. >> dickerson: donald trump says there needs to be flexibility on immigration. you talk about the "new york times" and the conversation, why not -- he's light, of course, negotiation flex flexibility. >> he is mostly absolutely not right but stunning aspect of the debate that he said over and over again, flexibility. flexibility. actually that's one of the reason why we're selling now yoga mats on our website, tedcruz.org, that if you find yourself boiling over with rage, spend some time doing yoga and breathing. conservatives are used to seeing republican candidates. run to the right in the primary then to the left in the general. part of the reason we're so frustrated, so angry. we're tired of politicians lying to us. what was amazing about this

debate, john, donald is already running to the left he's not even out of the primary. in the debate this week, donald stood up there said, marco rubio, i agree with you, marco, i understand why you compromised were flexible negotiating with chuck schumer on the gang of eight. this is the donald trump who has made immigration the centerpiece of his campaign who said he agreed with marco rubio supporting the gang of eight amnesty bill. that was stunning. >> dickerson: last question something that puzzles me. you talk about, going to be a president you can't let your children watch tv. marco rubio says he's a con man all of these terrible things then at the end you're asked if you'll support him and you do. doesn't that undermine all of these criticisms that going to be such danger to conservatives and republican values? >> listen, i think number one hillary clinton as president would be even more catastrophic. she would be a third term of barack obama you can no not support hillary clinton. but income do the at outside of this campaign, i promised i would support the republican

nominee. and i am someone who keeps his word, you know this past week on super tuesday, in the state of texas, we won an overwhelming victory. won texas by 17 points that was particularly meaningful because the people of texas they know me. they know my heart. they are the people that i made promises when i ran for senate, you owe look me i'll lead the fight against obamacare and amnesty. i'll lead the fight against our debt and i'll lead the fight to protect religious liberty, second amendment and bill of rights. the reason we won overwhelming victory in texas is because texas said, ted, you kept your word. i tell you, john, as president i'll do very same thing. >> dickerson: we'll that have to leave it there. senator cruz. >> thank you very much. dickerson: we'll be right back with the chairman of the republican party. technology.

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that are lighter in calories and added sugar when you use splenda no calorie sweetener. think sugar, use splenda >> dickerson: we're back with reince pe bus. greg knee -- priebus. the chairman of the american conservative union says that the hopelessly fractured. what is your view on the health of the republican party? >> if you look across this country we're having record turn out. we have 70% more people coming out in this republican primary we're up 70%. democrats are down 30%. there's no question that enthusiasm gap we're crushing the democrats. we're beating them on money, beating them on mechanics and i like our chances. we're prepared to beat hillary clinton.

>> dickerson: we got a situation the speaker house calling out the front runner on the questions of bigotry, the front runner is attacking the governor of south carolina who gave recommend play cannery sons that's tough stuff. >> it is tough stuff. i don't think there's anything wrong with drama and intrigue. we've got plenty of that. there's no question abut that. the key, though, is can you come -- get to a nominee, come together and then take it to the democrats. i think that we'll get there. i'm confident that we will. we've got more republicans elected today since 1900 but we do need to learn how to win a big cultural vote in this country that's what i'm hopeful of. >> dickerson: that coming together that's the doctor traditional thing. in the last couple of weeks you have ben carson, no, he won't vote. let's start a third party. there's also talk of a kind of monkeying around to get contested convention. >> that means coalescing isn't going to happen. what it means is that we're in the beginning of march, got over

1600 delegates to go. it means that people are concerned at least in their own interests as far as who the nominee is going to be. they're making public statements likely to change the course of what they see as direction that they don't like. but ultimately, there's a long way to go. we are going to come together and we're going to beat hillary clinton who is now dodging immunity agreements with the doj. >> dickerson: what do you make of the talk about the convention. let's start with mitt romney, he's basically said, everybody should have a strategy with marco rubio wins in florida, kasich wins in ohio. denies him the number of delegates. what do you think of such a planned strategy? >> i don't really think anything of it. my role is ways i cannily -- basically be 100% behind whoever gets 1237 delegates i'm not going to do anything to help them get that. nor am i going to do anything to prevent someone from getting 1237 delegates.

but keep in mind what is going on here. we have a political party, two political parties these folks are running to join our political party as our nominee. so, yes, they pledged to support the event nominee, they want to take part in the process. eventually we'll get to that point, they will join -- one person will join our party we'll be 100% behind that person. >> dickerson: republicans out there who are watching, when they march about contested convention, there are rules, in other words, it's not a dirty word, right? >> no. dickerson: there's a process for which contested convention could be possible that's okay. >> i still think it's unlikely. but not impossible. i was general counsel, john, for two years before being chairman for six. i know the rules inside and out. i'll be prepared for anything. but i still think it's very early to have this conversation. i think that in the month that we're sitting in situation where

candidates are tied, then i think in a month you start looking at those possibilities. but right now we've got a long way to go. >> dickerson: do you think donald trump's success because he's donald trump or republican? >> i would think probably a little bit of both. but again, i still think it's early. i don't know who is going to be successful and who is not going to be successful. what i do know is that we have a great opportunity here to win in november. an opportunity to save our country running against a person who is dodging the i.r.s. and has to answer for a lot of things that people find to be pretty troubling. >> dickerson: you have worked hard to try to expand the republican party in different communities where republicans have had trouble. hispanic community, african american community. how has donald trump and way this campaign mid out so far helped or hurt those efforts? >> obviously the proof is going to be in the pudding. there's a long way to go. we have at the national party put more people on the ground in different communities than ever before in the history of our party. we've committed millions of dollars, invested hundreds ever

millions dollars in our infrastructure and mechanics, far better than we much in 2012. i do think that tone and rhetoric has to improve. i do think that we have to keep a pg rating during debates. i think that the next debate needs to be improved in that regard. i'm hopeful that our candidates will heed that suggestion. >> dickerson: if the process goes forward, do you expect the republican party to keep gaining more people as it goes forward? >> i think we are. if you look at the numbers that we're putting up all of these states it's astronomical f. i was democrat i'd be very concerned over lack of enthusiasm over a sluggish process that isn't going to end any time soon. even though hillary clinton is now seemingly winning these contests, she obviously didn't have good night last night. it doesn't seem to be ending for her. i think bernie sanders is going to do well on the west coast. those contests aren't coming for awhile, they're in for a long process whether they like it or

not. >> dickerson: we'll be back in a moment with some political analysis.

>> dickerson: we're back with our time but check in with cbs election director who is in new york this morning. anthony this effort by the establishment to come up with another nominee other than donald trump how is that going so far? >> not well. in michigan, you still see donald trump in the lead but very specifically looks like the party is just not in line with its voters on this. whether or not they are for donald trump, we asked voters who were not supporting trump right now, what should the republican party be doing at this point. you might have expected to see a big number but you didn't. actually saw split decision. 47% who said that the party should indeed be doing everything they can to stop trump from getting the nomination. similar number of 37% said that party should rally behind donald trump and get behind him on the way to november if trump keeps winning primaries. another fifth who said going to take this as wait and see.

i think this dovetails with what we see a as larger theme of this campaign that voters, no matter who they're for just not in the mood to be told what to do by anybody that they see as related to the party establishment. >> dickerson: even though they don't like donald trump they're not in a break glass and it's emergency state of mind. why can't the establishment move more people? >> for one thing voters tell us within they hear someone is connected to the establishment makes them less likely to vote for that person. that's why four to one margin i think what you're seeing here more of this outsider theme that we've seen throughout the campaign. i think that certainly playing out in michigan. i think also speaks to the larger balancing act that the party has right now. see donald trump get over three million votes. he's one conservatives. voters do not appear to be in any mood to be told what to do by the party establishment.

what do you do with those folks because you will need them come november in these battleground states. >> dickerson: anthony salvanto, thanks. here in washington we're here with molly bull who covers politics for the atlantic. michael gerson scholium must for the "washington post," ed o'keefe and ezra klein editor of vox.com. there was flash mob of establishment people, all going to stop donald trump how is that going for them? >> i think they would say still in progress. yank you can say something failed when it's only been underway for a week or two. what is remarkable it's taken so long to get going but really the denial didn't end until well after voting had started and trump had built up quite a bit of momentum. there are lot of people who fear that it is too late but you have couple of political action committees that have started, seeking funding, air can ads in florida. that is the main focus of lot of these efforts right now.

as was said not majority view in the republican party that trump must be stopped. but very remarkable at this juncture to have a 4% plurality of political party they are hell bent on stopping the front runner. >> dickerson: you wrote about alternatives what is the most plausible one for stopping trouble? >> a lot of people will argue, cruz, in second place now. presumptive challenger to this. ted cruz to the right of donald trump on some issues like immigration which does not solve that problem. we're in a situation where the conservative critique of trump is giving a little traction. but the establishment for rubio has not gotten traction. cruz has benefited here, the question is can he win in states that have are not closed primaries and caucuses. he hasn't noon adequately.

the 15th will determine this. florida will have lot to do with it. >> dickerson: who do you think about that idea that cruz is now the alternative and that's the way it should go for those who want to stop trump? >> some degree that's been true for a long time. part of the failure of the party to stop donald trump has been complete unwillingness to unite behind ted cruz. couple of months ago, maybe not couple, not long ago when cruz beat trump in iowa there was an obvious reason at that moment for the republican party. unlike donald trump, ted cruz is a conservative. he actually believes even if it goes much further, he is fairly orthodox, very much connected to the core institution of the republican party. the core thinkers. and i and many other folks expected some uniting behind ted cruz it didn't happen because, lindsey graham came out if you kill ted cruz on the senate there are the senate would invoke to convict. that's been a problem.

>> dickerson: a sign of warming, lindsey graham would support they even talked on the phone. may be picnicking soon. ed, let me ask you about marco rubio he got 1% in kansas despite endorsement from the governor. 16% in kentucky. what is happening? >> falling apart. it's evident now that that's happening i was striking and hear any -- look what happened to rubio. he runs in tennessee has some last minute endorsements from senator lamar, goes to kansas, books three events in the state after cancelling appearances. does miserably there as well after getting endorsements. he goes into florida now, convinced they can still win there are conservatives show that the race tightened probably helped by millions of dollars in attack ads that are now airing

against trump f. he can't get florida, might as well go home. individual. >> dickerson: if you get endorsement from governor in the state the kit of death you go an lose. michael gerson, what is the health of the republican party at this moment? we hear lot of dire -- talked about with it with the chairman, where do you see things? >> if you look at this from 30,feet republicans have two of the least popular politicians in american at one and two in their party. deeply divided party. instead of doing outreach to groups that they needed to after last election, they have been determining whether they should have authoritarian as their nominee, someone not small d democrat. and i think it's disastrous for the republican party. it's either hurt it badly with cruz as the nominee. or potentially split it with trump as the nominee. this is very good outcome for hillary clinton.

>> dickerson: molly, the establishment push against donald trump, isn't that exacerbating the very thing that caused trim top rise in the first place which is the sense that the establishment was out of touch with people in the party and the conservative movement? >> that's why. as mike said, this party is falling apart. because you did have an establishment that was so profoundly out of touch with a lot of the voters and base of the party that they completely failed to take seriously the candidacy of trump and the anger that he was tapping. there was feeling that this was a joke, there was so much denial that this was a real thing. you now have a front runner who won majority of states, the majority of delegates, pretty far down the calendar and normally that would be to a sort of bandwagon affect, everybody would be getting on board. other than chris christie, most of the sort of republican officer holders are running screaming in the other direction talking about contested convention. as mike said there's no visible outcome that doesn't entail sort

of falling apart of the party. >> people have to appreciate what happened this week that you had both the 2012 and 2008 republican nominees come out say we need to stop the guy who is on verge of becoming 2016 nominee. mitt romney and john mccain both. he's bad for the party, bad for the country, somebody else needs to step up. problem is, you ask romney, would you be willing to put in your name l? no, i just want to say these things look my grandchildren in the eye. great that he spoke out, unclear it's going to help things at this point but still, it shows that there is no solution if you are someone worried about trump winning. >> that's why the poll we mentioned is so important the four to one republican voters do not want candidate who touched by establishment. at a very core level republican party is failing in boast mase i can function of the political party. what a political party does is very complex world like we have. if you got into point where

political party says, trust this guy. voters say, that's actually disendorsement, right? then you got into very profound place of dysfunction because you've lost that function of organizing information for voters. now they don't have very good ways to figure out who to trust. that is going to be really hard place to organize if the fact the establishment is becoming boon for donald trump because it shows that he is standing up to republican party. the. >> dickerson: quickly before we switch. >> i wouldn't underestimate that republicans found effective attacks against trump in the debate, financial fraud and acid logical fraud. i think that is real momentum this week those types of attacks. going forward that may be an important achievement. >> dickerson: the democratic race, bernie sanders, is it basically over for him, is hillary clinton on her way to the nomination? >> i think she is. it is not over. but it is mostly over. and it is over because of the

demographic alignment behind hillary clinton as she told you earlier, she has obviously gotten the vast majority of minority voters and i think in a democratic party that is increasingly fueled by a minority-based national coalition you can't be a credible nominee of this party if african american voters don't support you. but it is also true that she is winning white voters, winning latino voters she's got very diverse coalition behind her. bernie did win two of three states last night. he does clearly still have lot of support. i think the party still has to grapple with what he represents. even if he falls short there has been a sort of uprising against the establishment and democratic party as well by folk vocal seg machine that wants to see a more radical position. >> dickerson: how does fix the enthusiasm problem? >> i think one of the ways, he continues to raise so much money despite the fact he's losing. find way to turn grass roots support not only in to votes but into cash. something to be learned from what sanders is doing.

i think it's also a lesson to everyone that you think super pac have outside influence. lot of these guys have run out of money donated to their campaign, the reason sanders is able, he's got all these people donating $20-30 that is what is keeping him in the race. if he can find way to convince those people eventually she'll be fine. but certainly he still enjoys that. >> dickerson: what do you make of the stories in massachusetts and ohio, democrats crossing over and registering. are these people who are effective republicans it's not a big -- >> i think every cycle we hear stories like that, never proves to be very large affect on the open race. will tell you what presidential campaigns do they're long process and reminded of who they like and who they hate. that speaks 20 your question about the enthusiasm gap, too, the way hillary clinton will solve that is she'll be running against a republican candidate, very possibly republican candidate who is scarier to democrats than any republican who has been nominated in generations.

so, that is going to i think reshape who democrats -- whether democrats turn out. >> dickerson: have to stop you there. thanks to all of you. we'll be back in a moment. expert? sure am. my staff could use your help staying in touch with customers. at&t can help you stay connected. am i seeing double? no ma'am. our at&t 'buy one get one free' makes it easier for your staff to send appointment reminders to your customers... ...and share promotions on social media? you know it! now i'm seeing dollar signs. you should probably get your eyes checked. good one babe. optometry humor. right now get up to $650 in credits to help you switch to at&t.

>> dickerson: that's it for us today. thanks for watching. until next week for "face the nation" i'm john dickerson. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ,,,,,,,,,,

it has already begun. the next storm pouring south over the north bay poised to hit us. >> reaction pouring in over the death of former first lady nancy reagan. we take a look at her life and legacy. i'm juliette goodrich. >> i'm brian hackney. nancy reagan died at her home in bel air. she was 94. cause of death, congestive heart failure. she became one of the most influential first ladies in history during her husband's presidency from 1981 to 1989. as news of mrs. reagan's death spread today, mourners started