>> breaking news. nbc news confirms wisconsin governor scott walker will drop out of the republican presidential race. walker is expected to announce that decision any minute now at a news conference in madison. that is a huge drop coming for a candidate in double digits two months ago. walker was leading the polls in iowa this summer. this big news comes two months after he formally announced his candidacy. >> we need knew fresh leadership. leadership with big bold ideas from outside of washington. the kind that knows how to get things done like we've done here in wisconsin. just yesterday in iowa, walker was shrugging off his low

polling numbers. >> we're going to talk about dead man walking. they didn't think i'd make it to the recall election. we didn't back down last year. we will not back down in this race. >> some of the other republicans now starting to weigh in. moments ago donald trump saying, "he's a very nice person and has a great future." let's bring in casey hunt, sheera center, adolfo franco. >> obviously on paper it's clear why he is getting out of the race. we are looking at a race we've been saying is more fluid than any race we've ever seen. 15, 16 candidates out there.

wild swings in polling. was there a case to be made for walker just letting this stretch out longer and seeing if maybe somehow things turned around? >> i'm hearing they were going to have to make some tough decisions about how to go forward, if in fact he wanted to keep going. he built a campaign organization more quickly than almost anyone else. you'll remember just months ago we were talking about him as somebody who could be one of the final contenders for the nomination. there was a lot of expensive and high quality campaign operative talent in walker world. they were costing him a lot of money. if he was going to go forward, there was some discussion about the fact he was a career politician which meant he never really made a lot of his own money. he's been working on a salary his life living a modest life in wisconsin with his wife and his two kids. if he was going to continue this in a real way, it would have required a potential significant financial investment from him. ultimately this was a decision

he made. you know having covered walker that in many ways he's his own top political strategist. his decision here has been very closely held to a tight-knit group of top senior staffers. really -- >> casey, we are going to interrupt you here because scott walker is speaking in wisconsin. >> thank you all for coming. before i say anything about our campaign, i want to say on behalf of tanette, our family, we want to extend our sympathies to the families to -- to the family of wisconsin supreme court justice. we will let the supreme court make the official announcement. we want to pass on our prayers and sympathy to him and his family and certainly his wife and all the extended family. as a kid way drawn to ronald reagan because he was a republican and a conservative. most of all i admired him

because of his eternal optimism with the american people that. thought came in my head as we were standing on the stage at the reagan library last wednesday. ronald reagan was good for america because he was an optimist. sadly, the debate taking place in the republican party today is not focused on that optimistic view of america. instead, it has drifted into personal attacks. in the end, i believe the voters want to be for something and not against someone. instead of talking about how bad things are, we want to hear how we can make them better for everyone. we need to get back to the basks of our party. we believe people create jobs, not the government. the best way to grow the economy is to get the government out of the way. and build it from the ground up. we believe success in government is by how many people are no

longer dependent on the government. we ultimately believe in the dignity of work. we are the party that believes that a strong military leads to peace through strength and that will protect our children and future generations. that good will ultimately triumph over evil. we are a party that believes in the american people, not the federal government. these ideas will help us win the election next fall and more importantly, these ideas will make again to refocus on the debate on these types of issues will require leadership. i was sitting at church yesterday, the pastor's words reminded me that the bible is full of stories about people who are called to be leaders in unusual ways. today, i believe that i'm being called to lead by helping to claire the field in this race so that a positive conservative message can rise to the top of

the field. with this in mind, i will suspend my campaign immediately. i encourage other republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same so voters can focus on a limited number of candidate whose can offer a positive conservative alternative to the current front-runner. this is fundamentally important to the future of the party, and more importantly, to the future of our country. this is a difficult decision as so many wonderful people stepped up to support our campaign. tanette and i are very thankful to the outstanding volunteers and excellent staff who helped us throughout the campaign. you all have been like family to us. speaking of family, i want to personally thank my wife who has been a rock as well as our two amazing sons matt and alex. i thank my parents and my brother david and his family and all of our other family and

friends for the love and supp t support. most of all i want to thank gochltd thank god for his abundant grace. win or lose, it has always been more than enough. thank you. >> there was wisconsin governor scott walker suspending his candidacy for the republican presidential nomination. surprisingly blunt his reasoning for doing so. he said he basically is making the case that he wants the republican party to coalesce around an alternative to donald trump. he says he wants and he encourages other candidates to think about making the same decision he's made in the interest of finding a, quote, positive conservative alternative to the current front-runner. scott walker bemoaning a process, a republican process that he says has deinvolved into too many personal attacks, a process that he says goes against ronald reagan and his

commandment to be optimistic at all times. he says he was thinking about this on the stage at the reagan library last week saying he felt the debate he was listening to, the debate he was participating in was too negative. he said the party needs to be focusing on getting people to vote for something and not against someone. let's bring our panel in. casey hunt, very striking. scott walker saying he wants to lead by example and he wants the republican party to find a way to whittle this field to unite around a candidate who can stop donald trump. >> it's stunning. i'm trying to remember if we ever had this happen before, where one candidate says i'm dropping out and proceeds to urge many of his other fellow candidates to also drop out. we didn't hear him say too much about who he might want to stay in this republican race.

we know he's had over time an affinity with senator marco rubio. they joked about being running mates and we've seen some of walker's supporters make early leaps already to support marco rubio. to have him say this is what all these others would do. it's obviously pressure that he, himself, felt. that because of the fragmentation of the establishment support and republicans who could be pulled away by republican sent him to the bottom of the pack. to have him talk so personally about how he felt trump was inflicting those personal attacks. walker was on the sharp end of some of trump's most pointed attacks. >> donald trump was going after him wednesday night over his record in wisconsin. it was back and forth between the two of them. let me bring you into this one on the republican side here.

scott walker is calling for other republican candidates to reassess to make this same decision. i'm looking here. who do you think he is talking to directly? chris christie, rand paul? >> i'm not sure. i have to agree this is a surprising statement because he is clearing the field, yet at nearly 0%. he is not taking support away from any of the other candidates. i think this was a sour grapes announcement. i agree when he articulated our party principles. this idea he is doing a service withdrawing from the race when he is at 1% in national polls is not credible. obviously, he is disappointed. it is a convince of the

whittling the republican party activists have done. they've taken care of eliminating scott walker from the race. it sounds as though this is something that is a sacrifice when indeed i don't think it is. i don't know who he could throw any of his support to since he has virtually none. obviously, we have 16 other candidates and it's difficult to see because of the conventional candidates, and i think he would be referring to governor bush, senator rubio, governor christie, he made no effort to indicate which of those individuals, who should be leaving the race. it's an ambiguous statement and has little credibility. >> kathy in iowa, i'm making a list trying to go through who i think he might be talking about in terms of potentially being capable of uniting the republican party against donald trump.

john kasich, jeb bush, marco rubio. could you see carly fiorina? she was certainly impressive going toe-to-toe with donald trump in that debate. what is the mood you're picking up out there in iowa among the republican establishment? is what scott walker said something you're hearing more and more of, the idea there is panic. maybe there are so many candidates that donald trump can sit there at 25%, 30% and steal this nomination unless the rest of the party gets its act together? >> the republicans of iowa would like more leadership like scott walker is providing and leading some of these candidates out of the race. there are too many. iowa republicans like to talk to candidates face-to-face. they are having a hard time focusing on anybody. scott walker started off being somebody that seemed like co-unite some of the factions of the party.

he's a governor, he's been an executive. that appeals to the establishment part of the party. he managed to manage his budget the way they liked. they love he went after unions. and also a social conservative and somebody who could inspire some of the religious right to go along with him. lately though, i think all his support has been scattered all over the board. it wasn't just donald trump, it was scott walker. people liked the idea of him, but close up he didn't live up to his reputation. people drifted to other candidates. conservatives might go to ted cruz or bobby jindal or mike huckabee. establishment types if they don't want bush or christy might look at kasich or rubio. some of these folks with walker just wanted somebody who looked like a winner. they might end up with somebody like ben carson or carly

fiorina. >> calling out donald trump and calling on the republican party to unite against donald trump. when you look at the appeal donald trump tapped into the anti-establishment, anti-republican party establishment, voters who just feel republican voters who feel their own party has betrayed them. it almost makes me wonder if an action like this from a republican candidate saying, hey establishment, let's get our act together, let's get this guy trump out of the race. this could boomerang and work to donald trump's benefit. >> it could work to donald trump's benefit. it's not just donald trump you can call the anti-establishment vote. if you look at the polls as ben carson or carly fiorina, these are three people who don't have experience in elected office.

i don't think this will perhaps galvanize an anti-establishment vote further than it is. >> shira, it did sound like he was going directly after donald trump in expressing concern about the negative tone of donald trump, calling him the current republican front-runner. say what you will about fiorina and carson, but trump seems to be the one he's targeting here. is that the fight trump thrives on? >> i'm sure donald trump will have something to say about this on twitter. we can check any minute now. he'll have something to say about scott walker targeting him. he didn't say him by name, but yes it was clear scott walker was talking about donald trump. >> if we take a bigger look at the walker campaign, i remember in january and february, we said jeb bush is going to have all the money and jeb bush will have the mainstream endorsements. if there is one conservative challenger best positioned to take on jeb bush, it's going to

be scott walker. he will say i delivered on all this stuff in the blue state, i took on the unions, i won, i got re-elected, i beat the recall. it is amazing seven months later we are looking at a race where jeb bush is in single digits and scott walker is dropping out of this race with no support to show for it. >> don't forget, walker has credibility with some evangelical voters. his father was a pastor and he was born in iowa. he got tripped up a little bit in trying to be that candidate. i think you saw him attempt to evolve on these positions when trump started to pull to the forefront of this race. that caught walker up trying to say three or four different things sometimes about a position he held many times to try and be the most conservative person. instead of looking like the strong conservative in the race, he looked like somebody could couldn't make up his mind.

that it's opposite of what donors and establishment figures, as well as the grassroots were looking for. i do think your point is absolutely right. if you pull back the lens and think about what the conversations about this race were, the conversations we were having in those early stages, walker was almost always on the short finalist list. if anything, we thought walker might win iowa, go into new hampshire, you would see jeb bush attempt to take him down there. looks like it's not going to work out that way. >> do you see one walker might have a natural affinity for? >> i'm not sure. the courageous thing would have been for him to say, i'm i supporting, for example, ex-candidate and the other candidates should be dropping out of the race. you're left with an unknown. the fact of the matter is he has

been the incredibly shrinking candidate from the get-go. from the gaffes that happened. high expectations. as he moved to the national stage on a number of issues, he did not live up to expectations. it wasn't so much donald trump as it was scott walker. i think it had to do with scott walker. what i think is unfortunate about this statement is you cannot simply go on television and allude to donald trump then ask 16 other people unknown to have one remaining candidate without identifying who you are supporting. it would have been much more credible had he said i'm supporting governor bush. and ask the other candidates to withdraw from the race. >> there will be a full-court press from the other candidates to get his support. i imagine donald trump will have quite a bit to say about what scott walker had to say about him tonight. thank you for joining us. it's where great ideas and vital data are stored.

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up next, what hillary clinton is saying now about that potential challenge from vice president joe biden. later, the anti-muslim birther mess stirred up by donald trump. creating big problems for him and for fellow outside other ben carson. ♪ welcome to carmax, the bright side of car buying. carmax makes car buying stress-free, with fair, no haggle-prices for everyone, every... now wait a minute, can we, can we just hold on for a second? you know, we don't need any of this stuff.

look, we're not splashy. we're not gimmicky. we're just a bunch of people like jeff... good people who sell good cars to good people. and that's what we mean by the bright side of car buying. developing now, hillary clinton out on the campaign trail back where it began in little rock, arkansas. this as new poll numbers show her rebounding. she is getting 42% support on the democrati side. 24% back, sanders 22%.

supporting vice president joe biden who is not officially in the race. the race is heating up on the campaign trail. last night standaeed sanders dr people to a rally in new hampshire. clinton was asked whether she was preparing for vice president biden to enter the race. >> no. we are not. this is such a personal decision. the vice president has to sort this out. he's been so open in talking about how difficult this time is for him and his family and he's obviously considering way wants to do, including whether he wants to run. i just have the greatest respect and affection for him. i think everybody just ought to give him the space to decide what's best for him and his family. >> nbc's kristen welker is live on the campaign trail with hillary clinton in little rock.

obviously, that's the safe answer you just heard there from hillary clinton. i don't think hillary clinton or anybody follows politics six months ago thought we would be seeing polls in september that showed her running in the high 30s, low 40s. they've got to be a little nervous about this biden possibility. >> reporter: there is no doubt about that. they are watching it very closely. watching everything he says and everything he does. several sources close to vice president biden confirmed for me he is inching closer to getting into this race. he increasingly see as viable path to do so. having said that, he has been candid about the fact he still hasn't made a decision yet. he is very much mourning the loss of his son bo. and whether he has the emotional strength determines whether he would get into this race. it would be a game-changer. you just laid out those poll numbers. he would be a viable candidate against secretary clinton. the other candidate they are

watching is vermont senator bernie sanders. she has widened her lead over bernie sanders among democrats nationally. however, according to recent polls, he is beating her in places like iowa and new hampshire. the clinton campaign said they expected the primary race to be competitive. this is probably more competitive than they were anticipating. that's one of the reasons you see her stumping here in places like arkansas and louisiana. this has to do with her primary strategy. she is trying to shore up support from the delegates here. those delegates are going to be critical to her winning the primary ultimately. secretary clinton today talking about health care as she continues to try to go on offense and to get off defense on that e-mail issue. according to the latest polls, seems her strategy has been working. >> kristen welker in little rock, arkansas. thank you for that. let's bring until victoria defrancesco. if joe biden does get in this

race, i see an interesting scenario here. as kristen said, you take early states, iowa and new hampshire. bernie sanders not the only running a lot better than joe biden in those states, running better than hillary clinton in a lot of the polls in those states. the clinton people come back and say, fine. even in worst case if we lost those states to sanders, we are better positioned in the south. i look at joe biden and say, joe biden might be more positioned or better positioned than bernie sanders in those southern states running as barack obama's vice president. >> it's going to be a death match in the southern states if joe biden gets in. as you mentioned, we assume bernie sanders has a good shot capturing iowa and new hampshire. in the south, we saw that as being hillary clinton's firewall. she is not from arkansas but spent a lot of time in arkansas.

as you move west, texas she has very deep roots. she cultivated those ties. at the same time, joe biden has a lot of those similar ties. he has that personality. he has that charisma when he is out on the stump, he can attract those voters. >> i'm remembering back to the summer of 2007, you looked at african-american voters in the south. hillary clinton was leading barack obama 30, 40 points with black voters. when barack obama proved he had a shot beating hillary clinton, those numbers in the south turned around completely. obama was able to beat hillary clinton for the nomination. joe biden, if he could get an endorsement from barack obama and run as barack obama's hand-picked candidate, could

that change in math take place eight years later? >> i think that would be a huge boost of support if he gets the president's nod. i want to bring in what happened in 1992 the anita hill episode. that is still familiar that joe biden presided over those hearings. for many women with, he wasn't forceful enough in seeking out the truth. there is that boost getting the presidential nod, but would you see hillary clinton surrogates go back to the 1992 anita hill episode and bring that to the fore. if there is one group of women who turns out, it's african-american women. they have the highest turnout of any group. this could be powerful in blocking that nod from the president. >> victoria, thank you for joining us. still ahead, the uproar over

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in the days after the 9/11 attack, president bush won praise reaching out for the muslim community in the united states. >> i have told the nation more than once that ours is a war against evil, against extremi s extremists. that the teachings are islam are the teachings of peace and good. i want to thank you very much for the gift you gave me of the koran. it's a thoughtful gift. i said thank you for the gift, he said it's the best gift i could give you, mr. president. >> now we're hearing a different tone from donald trump and others in the republican presidential race. we'll talk about that next.

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with his departure, that leaves 15 republican candidates left. the other major story in the field, that is the backlash toward ben carson after he said he will not support a muslim running for president. >> i would not advocate that we put a muslim in charge of this nation. i absolutely would not agree with that. >> today an islamic group called for carson to drop out of the race. his campaign is doubling down saying while carson doesn't think muslim candidates should be stopped from running, islam itself is inconsistent with the constitution. and the american people aren't ready for a republican president. several of his opponents publically disagreed. >> i don't think we ought to just disqualify somebody because of his or her faith. >> the constitution specifies that there shall be no religious test for public office. i'm a constitutionalist. >> i think this shows dr. carson is not ready to be commander in

chief. >> donald trump declined to contradict a man at the town hall who called the president a muslim. this weekend he raised questions about the president's faith. >> can you imagine supporting or being comfortable if a muslim ever became president of the united states? >> i can say that it's something that at some point could happen. we'll see. it's something that could happen. would i be comfortable? i don't know if we have to address it right now. i think it is something that could happen. >> you said you had no problem putting a muslim -- >> somebody people said it already happened, frankly. you wouldn't agree with that. >> joining me are sabrina. you spoke with the candidates of the rubio campaign.

>> governor jeb bush has taken a similar approach and said the constitution specifically says there should be no religious test to seek public ochs or the presidency. marco rubio had similar comments in an interview that will air tonight. no one should be disqualified from the presidency or any public office based on their religious beliefs. he also added his view is anyone outwardly believing in their law wouldn't be elected in this case. >> i was talking to armstrong williams, a close advisor with ben carson saying from a constitutional standpoint, we accept a muslim could be president. he is saying ben carson is saying i will never vote for a muslim. what armstrong williams added was you would be surprised how many people agree with that sentiment, but are afraid to say it. when i looked, i found this interesting poll. this is from iowa. this is among iowa republicans. they were asked, do you believe islam is either an inherently

peaceful or violent religion? 39% said they see it as an inherently violent religion. i'm looking at ben carson surging in iowa, a lot of social conservatives out there. this is not a good general election message for any republican candidate. does this help him in iowa? >> i don't no. bobby jindal tried it as the man against muslim extremism. ben carson is in much better shape. i think it's interesting that it's been hard to get the rest of the field to immediately smack down donald trump, but we had so many people say carson is wrong. no matter what the campaign says now, it did not seem as though he knew that this was in the constitution, there can be no religious test. it seems like he is playing catch up. donald trump is in a category by himself. i think everybody else is going to be expected to have a

rudimentary grasp of policy and maybe what's in the constitution. i can see him thinking it helps him. i think it hurts him. >> is this the moment where we talked all summer about political gravity and 2011 michele bachmann would zoom up and say something about vaccines. hermain cain would say something off the rails. that would be the end of it. do you think this is a moment when gravity starts to bring ben carson back down to earth? >> it's tough to say. is there a faction within their republican party that views muslims skeptically. one top issue is national security. they are fundamentally concerned with radical islam. unlike president obama, we are going to call the by its name how they will contend with isis. you are talking about muslim americans, who is eligible to seek the presidency. it's not clear they have that

sentiment within primary caucus-goers this will be a deal breaker. a lot of the candidates haven't called on him to apologize with the exception of lindsey graham. out of sensitivity, i think, to those voters who continue to have skeptical beliefs about muslims. >> it's interesting the timing, too. we played scott walker's press conference dropping out of the race the top of the hour. he didn't mention donald trump pie name but talked about in his mind the rhetoric coming out of the debate on the republican side was not optimistic. it was not reaganesque. he talked about the need to coalesce around an optimistic message to go against donald trump. this was kicked off by donald trump. >> right. it was definitely kicked off by trump. i don't know what scott walker was saying. it was obvious he was talking about trump, but it was incredibly self-serving.

i'm going to take my 0.5% and give it to somebody who deserves it and not tell you who that person is. this man is sinking fast. there's plenty of reason to think this will play with the segment of the voter that it is playing with the segment of the voters. i think it goes too far. yes, lindsey graham asked him to apologize. he's had little success smacking donald trump down. trump only gets stronger. i don't know the same laws of dynamics are going to apply to ben carson who seems as though he's already fading. fiorina is moving into that role as another person with no political experience but telling the base what it wants to hear. >> there is, i don't know for lack of a better term, an art you see on the republican side.

it always seems there is the attempt to make sure we are not demonizing all muslims across the board. it's fascinating to see a candidate say yeah. wouldn't vote for any of them. >> one difference with this primary field is unlike 2012 where there were routinely a lot of anti-muslim statements made by people like bachmann and cain, you haven't seen as much from this particular group. they are dealing with image problems with the party. they are showing more sensitivity about going too far. this is an exception to the rule. these are comments that impact americans, impact muslim americans living within this country. we are not talking about terrorism. there is painting muslims with a

broader brush. you see them dance around this issue ted cruz said his faith is between him and god. there are some who refuse to say this president is christian. >> as you heard in the donald trump clip, he will still say that. coming up, a ceo defends his decision to raise the price of a drug from $13 to $750. >> when you bought this company, did you buy it because you knew could you raise the price? >> we definitely planned on raising the price. to clean the oceans, to start a movement, or lead a country. it may not be obvious yet, but one of these kids is going to change the world. we just need to make sure she has what she needs. welcome to windows 10. the future starts now for all of us.

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centurylink. your link to what's next. pope francis arrives in washington, d.c. tomorrow after saying mass today in cuba. on wednesday, the pope will meet with president obama at the white house. then begins a whirl wind tour of the east coast. a parade in washington, a joint address to congress. then on to new york city. central park, the 9/11 memorial. all this capped off in philadelphia. we'll have special coverage of all of this all week on msnbc.

outcry after the price of a life-saving drug leaps over 5,000% overnight. this bale of hay cannot be controlled. when a wildfire raged through elkhorn ranch, the sudden loss of pasture became a serious problem for a family business. faced with horses that needed feeding and a texas drought that sent hay prices soaring,

the owners had to act fast. thankfully, mary miller banks with chase for business. and with greater financial clarity and a relationship built for the unexpected, she could control her cash flow, and keep the ranch running. chase for business. so you can own it. chase for business. the possibility of a flare swas almost always on my mind. thinking about what to avoid, where to go... and how to deal with my uc. to me, that was normal. until i talked to my doctor. she told me that humira helps people like me get uc under control and keep it under control when certain medications haven't worked well enough. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where

certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. raise your expectations. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, control is possible. imagine you woke up to find the price of the life-saving medication you need has skyrocketed by more than 5,000%. that is exactly what happened to one drug prescribed to pregnant women and aids patients dealing with certain parasitic infections. "the new york times" reports the price went from $13 pine 50 a pill all the way up to $750. it sparked an outcry with politicians like hillary clinton and bernie sanders blasting the move. today on cnbc, the head of the company refused to back down.

>> did you not expect a 5,000% price increase would result in that kind of attention? >> maybe, maybe not. depends how focused people want to be on the industry. >> when you bought this company, did you buy it because you knew could you raise the price? >> we definitely planned on raising the price. >> in response to all of this attention, and credits and patient groups saying they can't access this drug, are you going to change the price? >> no. >> one of the key architects of obamacare and senior analyst at the center for public integrity. zeke, a basic question. this drug, what is it, how important is it, we say life-saving. what function does this drug play? >> it's used against a parasitic infection people might remember from the aids era. often we get from eating

uncooked pork and other ways it's in cats. a lot of people have been exposed to it, but not a lot get the serious version of the infection. it is very important for those people. about 10,000 a people a year are treated for taxo. it's very important for those 10,000 or 12,000 people. >> they just watched their medical bills skyrocket in a way we can't imagine? >> often they will get it in the hospital and the bill to the hospital will skyrocket to treat them. it's a real shocker and unrelated to research requirements or anything because the drug was approved over 60 years ago and it's been generic. there's only one manufacturer because 10,000 to 12,000 is not enough of a demand for there to be multiple manufacturers. this guy knew he was buying a drug that had a single supplier and he could corner the market on it and just exploit this

little niche. >> martin zirelli. here is a longer clip, his attempt to justify what he is doing. listen to that. >> if you think about free markets and fair price, it's clear that it was not surprised appropriately. it's a short treatment administration which makes it less expensive than orphan drugs you have to take for years and years. imagine taking a drug that costs $5,000 the rest of your life every year. by comparison a cure treatment is about $50,000. that's half the price of cure regimens right now. >> he is throwing around a lot of numbers there. is there any justification to what he is saying? >> no, there isn't. there is no relation to the value of this drug from what the increase is. just not too many years ago, the price of this pill was $1. until now, $13.50.

they are doing it because they can. the u.s. is the only country in the developed world that doesn't have some means of controlling drug prices. >> that is something that could possibly change as a result of this? >> i wish. i wish this would be something that would get law makers' attention and candidates running for president. i think it will, but i'm not too optimistic. pharma owns washington. they've been able to get what they want and block any measures that tried to give medicare the ability to negotiate prices with drug companies. private insurance companies are just not large enough to themselves negotiate well enough with these drug companies, nor are pharmacy benefit management companies enough to be able to bring costs down. the u.s. on a per capita basis spends exactly 100% more for

medications than people in 34 other developed countries. >> zeke, so you say about 10,000, 12,000 people benefit from this drug in particular. the other question that raises is how many other drugs, niche drugs are there out there like this that benefit a population of maybe 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 that might fall into this category where somebody could come in, buy up the company and raise prices like this? >> this is not the first time it happened. over the last few years, six or seven times other drugs for cardiac conditions, antibiotics had the situation where someone's gone in, bought a drug which was generic, added nothing in terms of research and jacked up the price because there are one or only a few suppliers. i do think while pharma does own washington, the american public is pretty upset. while i don't expect anything to change immediately, i do think

as a country, we are entering four to five years of very intense negotiation discussion, argumentation about what we are going to do about drug pricing. last year drug prices on average went up 14%. this is when health care inflation in the rest of the market was flat. i think a lot of people are being stung by $150,000 cancer drugs and many other very expensive drugs. this comes along with no justification and research. simply someone trying to exploit the market and get as high a price as he can just because he's the only provider is going to get people mad. won't in and of itself change the situation, but i think cumulatively, the american public is getting very angry. unless we get a negotiation of the drug companies act responsibly and come to the table with ideas other than we are raising prices to whatever we can, which is what the

gentleman said. i think we are going to have a backlash. ultimately, the public is going to win no matter what the pharma companies do because they are going to be so upset. i hope we don't get to that point. i hope we can have a responsible discussion and the pharmaceutical industry can be responsible in the way it's pricing drugs for value, for the impact on lives, not just to make as much money as possible. >> there is a story here in "the new york times," maybe an encouraging one, a tuberculosis drug where you had this massive price increase. there was such a backlash the company gave it back to the previous owner under pressure. any chance you see this ending the same way? >> i don't. this guy seems determined to make a lot of money quickly and he can. drug companies have enormous profit margins.

gilead have a profit margin 125%. >> sounds like a sad ending for consumers. thank you for your time tonight. thanks for watching. "hardball" starts right now. great scott, walker walks. let's play "hard laul." "hardball." "hardball we don't need an apprentice in the white house. we have one right now. >> good evening, i'm chris mathews. governor scott walker from wisconsin, a strong favorite for the republican nomination is no more today. he dropped out of the race all together. this is the candidate who mocked