voters come out of their gut. they look at the candidates and say which one do i like better? >> thank you to joy, nick, bob and to carrie. we'll be back tomorrow with more "mtp daily" and "with all due respect" starts right now. with all due respect to cold opens, today we would rather listen to a little bowie. ♪ changing ♪ time to face the strain ♪ changes greetings from the des moines register newsroom in des moines, iowa, or as we like to call it ground control. we are exactly three weeks out from the iowa caucuses for both parties. the democrat candidates are gathering here in this city tonight for the iowa brown and black forum. it's an event hosted by the television network fusion and build as the oldest presidential forum focused on minority issues. we'll talk to representatives

from the hillary clinton campaign and bernie sanders campaign. first we face a new reality. unmistakable there is a new nbc news/wall street/marist poll that the sanders campaign has been feeling, clinton's advantage in iowa disappeared for the most part. sanders is only four percentage points behind the democratic front-runner. that is within that survey's margin of error. if clinton's behavior is any indication, she is feel something pressure from sanders, after hitting him on gun control and shadow banking during her interview on "face the nation" sunday. clinton made her case against sanders in waterloo. >> we both have had a chance to support legislation to try to rein in the gun lobby. president obama and i were in the senate and we voted no senator sanders voted yes.

that is a big difference between us. >> in addition to her turning up the heat on sanders, clinton is up with a new television ad in iowa and new hampshire presenting herself as the only viable candidate who can keep the white house out of the hands of the republican party. >> they're backward, even dangerous. ask yourself, who's the one candidate who can stop them? hillary clinton, tested and tough to stop them. stand with her. >> john, given the general consensus bernie sanders has some momentum, the momentum in the state right now, how far will clinton have to go to stop him in 2 the caucus necessary three weeks? >> she'll go as far as she needs to go. as far as they judge necessary. there is no doubt the clinton campaign for the better part of the year now have felt that if they could win iowa, the nomination fight would effectively than over. the fact sanders has this

momentum this electability ad very important. i think there is no question this race is about to get ugly and nasty, it's going to get more combative. >> in a normal race, a front-runner like clinton would get up without a negative ad on television. if she runs a negative ad, it could backfire her. she faces tough choices. let's see if she moves to a different topic to freshen up her attacks and contrast. sanders does have momentum here. there is no doubt. >> one of the fundamental things true in politics, it's hard to go negative on a popular candidate. both these candidates are extraordinarily popular among democrats -- >> including each other's supporters. >> totally true.

the advantage sanders has he is performing better with independent voters than she is. she will start to make the point and point back to the fact bernie sanders was not a democrat. she is stronger with core democrats. sanders is more liberal. she'll point that out he is not a loyal life-long democrat. >> she has to slow his momentum or risks losing on caucus day. speaking of not so friendly fire, donald trump has been stretching the limits of his supposed truce with ted cruz, repeatedly bringing up questions about his identifial's canadian birth and white house eligibility as he did again today in new hampshire. >> he has to figure it out. i think he can go in for some kind of a judiciary proceeding. look. doesn't matter what he does. you can't have a nominee who is going to be subject to being thrown out as a nominee. you can't do it. you are going to make that

decision, folks. it's one of those little decisions. i'm sure ted is thrilled i'm helping him out, but i am. i mean i am. he's got to go and fix it. >> of course, that was the latest of trump going after cruz but it's by far from the first. cruz has been dealing with this now for a better part of a week. let's take a listen to how he has responded as this issue has come up. you tell us if you think he it genuinely thrilled trump is helping him out as trump puts it. >> listen, politicians behave a certain way when panicking. people will continue to make political noise about it. as a legal matter, it's straight forward. >> on the legal question, is it possible a judge might find that to be a difference? >> the legal question is straight forward and clear. the internet has fever swamp

theories. my mom was born in delaware. >> i never breathed a breath of air on this planet when i was not a u.s. citizen. i've never been naturalized. it was the process of being born that made me a u.s. citizen. >> by virtu of being born to my mother in calgary, i was a citizen by birth. >> new national and new hampshire polls show trump leading his republican rivals by double digits. cruz appears to be losing altitude in iowa where that new nbc news/"wall street journal"/parrist poll shows cruz and trump in a margin of error. my question as cruz seems to fall, trump holding steady, is the reason why cruz is falling this question, this birther question that is having an impact on him? >> i don't know what this is about. it seems like he might be falling a little bit. he is well organized. people say he looks frustrated about this issue. i think he is a little frustrated, but i don't think he is worried. he's being asked about something over and over again he doesn't

think is an issue. trump has a great sense of what issues hurt people. tie goes to trump. if he thinks it will hurt, he's been proven to be right. it's too soon to say. cruz does face the choice he's faced, does he keep turning the other cheek. as it's odd in the democratic race to have no negative ads, it's odds to have two guys competing here in iowa. one guy every day, driving a negative attack on this and the other guy turning the other cheek. >> trump thinks he's on to a winner here. when trump thinks he's on to a winner, he is like a dog on a bone. i think cruise has been remarkedly composed. he has not shown evident frustration. he's not gone off his cool. after a while, trump has proven adept at needling until the person falls apart. i agree. i know it's their strategy to not hit back.

i think it exhibits extraordinary discipline if he does not hit back. >> watch the super pac. all year donald trump has been rewriting the rule book for presidential campaigns and how they operate. some say the latest dust-ups in the holy state of new hampshire are bordering on sacrilegious. trump is wagering an open fight with the publish of the new hampshire leader which endorsed chris christie for president. the union leader was just booted as a co-sponsor in a republican debate with abc news after trump complained the paper is biased against him. trump is targeting another new hampshire institution, john sununu. >> there is a guy named john sununu. he wrote a guy. i don't know this guy. he was fired by bush.

he was fired, right? yeah. he was fired like a dog. he was fired viciously and he's such a dumb guy he doesn't even know he was fired. >> we were curious to see what john h. sununu would think about what trump is saying. >> i'm trying to make sure the voters up here do what they normally do, usually do, get selective about the casting their vote. i hope that they begin to see that trump is really, has no substance. that he's all mouth. that his outburst today just shows another reason why he shouldn't be commander in chief, in addition to the fact we saw that he doesn't know anything about national security issues when you saw him dumbfounded when they raised the nuclear triad issue in the last debate. i think the voters here will begin to realize, i hope they'll realize he is not a conservative. he is a political chameleon.

>> our full discussion with governor sununu will be on bloomberg politics in a little bit. is he taking any risk fighting with the union leader and john sununu? >> anti-risk. the whole trump campaign, it's so obvious it's painful to say it. the whole campaign is based on anti-establishment attacking torry institutions. they are the perfect targets for the kind of campaign trump is running. he benefits from doing this. no risk whatsoever. >> i love the union leader, when i'm in new hampshire i read it when articles aren't blocked. they've endorsed chris christie. they don't have the influence they once did. >> no. neither does john h.sunuu.

>> i think every time an establishment, institution or person offers themselves up attacking trump, they are just helping him. >> where we have the sean penn problem in the battle between three top tier republican candidates who have three different strategies. later, we'll talk more about the democratic race with hillary clinton's national political director. more from the des moines register newsroom after this.us . ever since i had a pretty bad accident three years ago. the medical bills - the credit card debt all piled up. i knew i had to get serious my credit. so i signed up for experian. they have real, live credit experts i can talk to. they helped educate me on how debt affected my fico score.

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there are two new compelling stories that frame our next discussion. first is by our colleague here mike bender. he has a new piece out today contrasting the campaign strategies of donald trump and

ted cruz in the state of south carolina. meanwhile, our partners and friends at the des moines "register" published an analyst of tv ad buying in iowa and found marco rubio has plans to blanket the air waves with 7,000 ads over the next three weeks. together these stories devergin games. cruz putting his emphasis on retail campaigning, sophisticated targeting, and his armies of volunteers in iowa and marco rubio and his super pacs are going big on tv. every candidate has a mix of things they do. they rely on ground game, air war. is any of them in danger putting too many eggs in whatever basket they've chosen? >> all three are smartly playing to their strength. the two big mysteries to me, it's surprising rubio has not tried to build a bigger ground

game. the big mystery, if ted cruz does not do as well as he would like in march, why did he and his super pac wait so long to go on television? they are husbanding their resources, but i'm surprised he is not complementing the ground game with more television. >> i think the only one who right now is not in danger of putting too many eggs in the basket is trump so far. i agree with cruz. i think the rubio thing, i'm not alone in this, many people have been the overobsession with television and the lack of a ground game, lack of retail politics, almost anything else on rubio's side. if he ends up not being at least getting to dominate the establishment, people will say, dude, you had to be in the states more and do more on the ground than what you did. >> i think the trump people will wonder if they have a ground game in iowa. they've done more with data and

organizing than they let on. they want to surprise people. you see a real focus and understanding. he's been on tv now with paid media. pretty substantially. compared to obviously nothing before. he had radio. they've all played to their strength smartly. >> final topic on this block, journalistic integrity of journalists. sean penn is under the microscope after "rolling stone" magazine published the actor's interview with the drug king pin known as el chapo who had been on the lam since last year. some questioning penn's decision to give the drug lord the final say and he should have warned authorities about his whereabouts. did he do anything wrong? >> yes and no.

guilty as charged. there is no journalist should give any subject, let alone a drug king pin final say over what they publish. whether he should have done it at all, i would have felt no obligation to do that if i was doing a story about a drug king pin or criminal. i don't believe my obligation in that instance is to become an informant of the police. >> exactly backwards. he's not a journalist. he collaborated with the guy. the guy didn't make any changes. he's an actor. if he collaborated. if he worked with the guy on a story, no one would care. i don't see what the difference is. he should have told authorities about the guy's whereabouts. it's somebody who ruined so many lives, who has allegedly been involved in the death of so many people. i think you're under an obligation to tell the authorities. >> sounds like you want sean penn to be a rat fink.

>> a collaborative rat fink. >> you wanted chapo to tell the story but get arrested. >> work together. glad we disagree about fundamental journalistic issues. coming up, we have hillary clinton's national political director who will join us on the set at the des moines "register's" newsroom. right after this word from our sponsors. your fiber. try phillips' fiber good gummies plus energy support. it's a new fiber supplement that helps support regularity and includes b vitamins to help convert food to energy. mmmmm, these are good! nice work, phillips! the tasty side of fiber, from phillips'. you owned your car you named it brad.s, you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything together. two boyfriends, three jobs... you're like nothing can replace brad. then liberty mutual calls, and you break into your happy dance. if you sign up for better car replacement™,

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as we mentioned, the reason we are here in the des moines register newsroom because the presidential candidate are gathered for the brown and black forum which will focus on key issues for minority communities. here to preview the event, talk about how her boss hillary clinton is doing in the hawkeye state and elsewhere. her political director. >> thank you for having me here. >> we've been spending time with the sanders' campaign. they say he has momentum. true or not true? >> i think you're seeing the polls tighten, which we always expected to happen. if you're on the ground knocking on doors, you're seeing our folks there every step of the way and see our ground game really heating up we feel good about it. certainly, the polls are tightening. >> is there a favorite between the two of them or a jump ball, if i can use a sports metaphor? >> i feel great about our fundamentals, i think we've got

a great game plan. >> so you're the favorite? >> absolutely. >> we've seen in the last few days in particular a shift, little change in tone in your campaign. it's been more contrast here. hillary has been going after bernie sanders more than she has been. can one presume there is a sense sanders is on offense and clinton is a little on defense here? >> now is the phase where you start to build the contrast. you say what's the alternative? what's the choice? that is a natural part of this campaign right now. that's what we are going to continue to do. when it comes to guns, we are showing the distinction. today the affordable care act. she is fighting for families. >> how do you answer the notion, you have this electability ad she is the only one to stop republicans from taking the white house. bernie sanders saying i'm in head-to-head matchups with potential republican nominees. how do you respond to that? >> two things here.

one is that ad is as much about what's at stake in this election and how incredibly important it is that we have a candidate that can beat the republicans. i think the second piece is see's been tested. part of that ad you saw the 11 hours benghazi hearing about what it looks like for hillary clinton to stand up after she's been hit by republicans over and over again. i'm not sure we've seen that from the sanders' campaign. >> presumably hillary clinton wouldn't wish that on even her worst critic. >> correct. >> what about when he says he is doing better with independents he is a viable more general election candidate than she is? >> i say we have the most tested candidate out there she's been through this throughout her life and waged these battles over and over again. we haven't seen that pressure on him yet and we will. things change once you get attacked. it's a whole different ballgame when that happens.

>> we speculated about whether between now and the caucuses, secretary clinton would run an ad mentioning bernie sanders contrasting their records. you know, will she or not? >> i'll leave that to our campaign team. we will continue to focus on raising the stakes, making sure people know what she stands for. >> you don't rule out there will be an ad critiquing senator sanders? >> i think you're seeing the alternatives. what does she stand for? >> maybe on tv? >> i can't say now. >> let's -- >> he said maybe. >> let's talk about the forum tonight. for the communities that are the main audience for this, what is the biggest two differences between hillary clinton and bernie sanders in terms of their records on these issues? >> a couple of things. the history she has had with the african-american and latino community dates back to income texas. >> he's a long history, too.

>> fighting on voting rights. i think it doesn't compare. i don't. >> in terms of the duration, the depth of it? >> in terms of what she's fought for in terms of voting rights, going to communities and literally knocking on doors in texas. once she first started this campaign, being on the stump talking about voting rights in houston, going to nevada and doing a dreamer's circle, there is no doubt on the issues, she has been there for a very long time. and we jumped in right at the very beginning on these things. i think even as you're seeing her wage battles now on the differences of affordable care act, what is it, how will it affect these communities? 4.2 million latinos, 2.3 million african ferns have affordable care act. when you start to look at the fights she is waging, not only is she waging battles important to these communities, but is digging deeper to say how will this affect the communities of color that i want to fight or

and it's important for people to know where i am and we are thinking about all communities. >> when you talked to mark the last time you were on the show at headquarters in brooklyn, you said this thing about how you tell young staffers there will be moments in the campaign you'll remember forever. obviously, this campaign is not close to being over. have you had any moments like that you'll remember forever? >> there's been some really touching moments. there's been a couple when she sat with the mothers and i wasn't there, but many of my colleagues were. they talked about one of the more powerful moments sitting with mothers who had been affected by guns and been affected by what happened to their children. hearing them come back and tell that story. sitting in nevada with the dreamers. showcasing stories that hadn't been told ever before. those are kind of the moments that so far i'll really

remember. >> we have to go. do you expect regardless of the outcome in iowa and new hampshire, senator sanders will continue the race into the spring? >> yes. i do. we've always been under that plan that we have to make sure we are prepared for the long term. >> amanda, thank you very much. appreciate it. up next, we'll hear from the other side of the race. representatives from bernie sanders' campaign. check this out, bro. what's that, broheim? i switched to geico and got more. more savings on car insurance? yeah bro-fessor, and more. like renters insurance. more ways to save. nice, bro-tato chip. that's not all, bro-tein shake. geico has motorcycle and rv insurance, too. oh, that's a lot more. oh yeah, i'm all about more, teddy brosevelt. geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. in my business i cbailing me out my i.all the time... i'm not the i.t. guy. i'm the desktop support tech supervisor.

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we turn now to another candidate appearing at the iowa brown and black forum tonight in des moines. that's bernie sanders. joining us are two supporters of senator sanders. former ohio state senator nina turner and chicago's garcia on the county board of commissioners. we've got this event called the brown and black forum. it addresses minority issues and has been doing so for a long time. there is no doubt hillary clinton has a long history of

support among african-american voters, hispanic voters. start by explaining why bernie sanders is the right presidential candidate for african-american and hispanic voters. >> his message speaks to the needs of the black and brown community. when he talks about criminal justice reform, it's vitally important for the african-american community. his belief we should increase the minimum wage to $15 which would automatically give african-americans a raise by about 50%. his universal k through college platform automatically would save the african-american family about $36,000. when you look at -- and his unrelenting passion for the criminal justice system itself. i heard him say even when he was at clinton state university that he would work to eradicate institutional racism, which is a big deal. senator sanders doesn't say one thing in front of one audience and another thing in front of another. he believes all of us have a

responsibility to eradicate institutional racism. >> senator sanders, as someone who is speaking very candidly about the state of the country, particularly the economics and how the recovery is not working for everyone in america. is speaking and finding very receptive audiences across age, race and ethnicity. with latinos, what people told me they like most about bernie is the fact that he's talking about how going to college has become so difficult for so many people. now possibly out of people's realm. that they may not be able to. he is talking about how college needs to be approached like going to high school and being able to graduate from high school with a high school

diploma. that is what college is requiring in terms of being able to be a productive person a as someone who can pursue a career. he's been extraordinarily candid and understanding of the new reality and immigration policy. i think people are saying, wow, we didn't know anyone running for the presidency could talk honestly, candidly and be able to say, i'm going to be a different politician. i think people are also turned off with politics. people are saying can someone like this who can speak honestly and to the reality of so many people be elected president? i think that's driving the interest in senator sanders' campaign. >> the next president takes the baton from barack obama and deals with two issues. one is income inequality and disproportionate impact that has on your communities. the other is racial tension and ethnic tensions in this country. how will bernie sanders succeed

when after eight years of an african-american democratic president you both think there's been insufficient progress. why will he be better? >> all that does not lay at the feet of barack obama. him being an african-american president, people are laser-focused on that. his presidency shined a light of what's been in the dna of this country from the beginning. to solve racism is not a black or brown problem, it's an american problem. senator sanders has been laying the ground work through this presidential campaign in terms of talking about these issues. i was just in iowa with him last year. he held a criminal justice forum with a majority white audience. it was myself, the senator and two ex-offenders who were african-american. he was talking about how the system is unfa irto african-americans and hispanics and how it is all our collective responsibility to do something about it. senator sanders having that courage to give that message to

an audience that is not majority of color is a strong foundation. he needs other folks in the elective, people in the faith-based community. >> as someone who was friends with barack obama before he was elected to the illinois senate, someone who served with barack obama, i think the message he brought forth eight years ago versus bernie sanders' message is very different. bernie is talking about the underlying problems and institutions that have come to control washington, d.c., and impeded good legislation, good initiatives, good policies from becoming a reality. that's why his following a message that he won't accept money from the folks that have too much influence in washington is drawing new supporters, is

opening eyes. is a refresher to america. i think the message about economic justice and taking a real multipronged approach to inequality is what can be a real winner for him and for democrats winning a majority in both houses and congress. >> i think it's surprising to some people you ended up endorsing senator sanders given you have been a long-time supporter of secretary clinton's. you said the reason is bernie speaks to your issues. >> he does. >> is he appreciationly better on these issues? >> he has lived this life as long as he's been in the elective ministry. he and i are cut from the same cloth, bringing that fiery passion. he acts as though his hair oins fire, and it is in terms of what is going on in this country. he is unashamed to talk about those issues.

when i took a closer look at the senator, i said this is my candidate. this is the guy. so i am fully supporting senator sanders. it is not an anti-the secretary. i am pro-senator sanders. >> unfortunately, we are out of time. unfortunately we can't talk about your favorite topic rahm emanuel. i would love to hear what you have to say. thank you both so much for doing this. up next, an inside look at senator sanders' iowa ground game. remember, if you are watching us in washington, d.c., you can listen to us on bloomberg 99.1 fm. 's why there's biotene. it comes in oral rinse, spray or gel so there's moisturizing relief for everyone. biotene, for people who suffer from dry mouth. across america, people like badominique wilkins...er ...are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes... ...with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar.

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the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am. team sanders here in des moines say that their team's momentum, bernie's momentum in iowa is due to the army of volunteers that sanders has canvassing this state. we sent our resident ace film maker griffin hammond out to the hawkeye state headquarters of the sanders' campaign to meet a few foot soldiers in his ground game. >> three weeks from now, very short period of time, february

1st, the eyes of the world and the eyes of this country will be on the state of iowa. >> i thank you, sir, for running for president and hope to hell you win. >> we've gone from a situation where most people in iowa did not know who bernie sanders was, let alone what he stood for, to be in a position where i honestly believe we have a real chance to win. >> a real chance to win here in iowa. >> doors i personally knocked on are close to 300. that's just in my area of doors this place knocked on i bet tens of thousands. >> we made over a million phone calls into the state already. close to 15,000 people do at least one volunteer shift of some kind. >> if you look around this room is full. so few of these people, all

these people are not paid. none of them are paid to be here. >> we have 25 other offices like this around the state. >> i don't think kids would have moved here from all around the world. >> i came all the way from greece to iowa. >> thank you ever so much. >> for many other candidates. >> even though i live in a different country, i felt this guy could bring positive change in the world. >> i'm calling ones in my own precincts and i'm giving some who got a lot of calls from a lot of campaigns. others are not committed this late in the game. >> sometimes i call people, oh, we would like to vote for bernie, but he is not going to make it. he's a good guy the thing is, if all these people who say bernie sanders does not stand a chance, if they all showed up, bernie would win.

>> how many people are going to join me on caucus night in support of bernie? >> if everybody turns up ied to, bernie will win. there is so much bernie support out there. >> there is momentum. >> you can feel it. you look at the crowds. you just feel it in your bones. >> one of the things we said from the beginning we have to do is we have to expand the definition of the person who goes to a caucus. independents, don't always go, maybe a few republicans. if we keep expanding that, we can do very well on caucus night. >> at least over 2/3 have never been to a caucus before. that's part of the thing, making them understand how important that is. >> first time caucus-goers, some of them aren't clear as to what it is. how it works, understandably, or the time commitment. it's not walking into precinct,

casting a ballot and leaving. they have to make a commitment for an hour to two hours there. sometimes that's difficult to make the case to people that they need to devote that much time. >> educate them it's not that difficult of a process. go to caucus. put a bernie button on, go stand with other bernie sanders supporters. get counted. make sure the count is correct. when they tell you the count's official, you can go home. >> in the last three weeks we spend more time making sure the committeds understand where their caucus is and what time they should be there. >> february 1st we'll go on the streets knocking on doors. >> the point is if we can win here in iowa if we can win in new hampshire as i think we can, i think we have a path toward victory. >> i think it's been intense, i

s sense a passion with this campaign and i sense a devotion you don't always see. >> time to pull off the biggest political upset in the modern history of america. i have acid flashbacks. this is just a flashback. watching that, it's 2008 all over again. those scenes of those volunteers inside sanders' headquarters reminds me of nothing more than the same kind of team, volunteer that barack obama built. >> i thought you were going to say 2004 and howard dean. >> that would be an acid flashback. >> thee did a good job bringing

the commitment of volunteers. >> not trying to diss the clinton campaign. that looks like obama to me. >> one of the things that make them more like the obama campaign than the dean campaign is the level of sophistication of the sanders' volunteers is extraordinary. they talk about national politics. everyone is like a mini karl rove. >> i'm not sure they would love that comparison. >> their spirit is great. i've seen the same thing with the clinton folks. they don't have an enthusiasm gap amongst their volunteers and workers. i wonder if they have it among their voters. >> we watched sanders talk to precinct captains. they are asking pointed, sharp sophisticated questions. up next, few reporters have been watching that same iowa ground war we've been talking

about closer than our next guest o.k. henderson from radio iowa. she gives as glimpse at the front lines after this. degeneration, amd we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression. and everywhere i look... i'm reminded to stick to my plan. including preservision areds 2. my doctor said preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula that the national eye institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd... after 15 years of clinical studies. preservision areds 2. because my eyes are everything. ♪ ♪ those who define sophistication stand out. those who dare to redefine it stand apart. the all-new lexus rx and rx hybrid.

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it's not an accident that two hedge fund billionaires are running ads against me in iowa. they are not running them against martin o'malley and bernie sanders. they know i mean what i say. they know i will take them on and do what i have said i will to rein in abuses on wall street and provide the kind of economic growth plan i think will produce results for people. >> that was hillary clinton speaking here at the des moines "register" at an editorial board. o.k. henderson is the news director of iowa. happy new year.

>> happy new year to you both. >> right now, trump versus cruz and clinton versus sanders. which one of those races do you think going over the next three weeks will be a bigger nail-biter or will they both? >> i think they are both nail biters. people are tuning in after the new year and maybe after the championship game is over on the gridiron, they are going to engage the clinton folks are hoping they engage in a new way. i went to a clinton call center last week and was struck by the fact middle aged white men and women were walking in to start making calls. two in a single night walked into a small presipcinct and sai need to volunteer for this person. i need a female president. bernie sanders has been barnstorming the state this past weekend.

trump draws huge crowds. polling indicates he is pulling new people into the process. cruz had a remarkable trip across the state and was able to withstand some of the criticism in regard to his views on ethanol and was able to count ware mr. trump was saying on his citizenship. >> i don't think there are paper tigers? the four? >> i don't think so. trump had people on his side that did it four years ago and know what to do. we are three weeks from the day of the caucuses. who is closing strongest among those four? it's early. closing is a little early in iowa. three weeks out, somebody is starting to put a button on this

thing. >> right. if you look back to '07, this is about the time obama had his oprah moment. things started really rolling for him. at this point, things are starting to coalesce for both clinton and sanders in completely different ways. the female vote i mentioned and for sanders, people are not falling out of love with him and his message. he's energizing people and keeping them in the fold. i think that was the biggest problem for him, the biggest hurdle. if he is going to turn out new voters, he has to keep them energized. >> you saw us do a piece on the sanders' ground game. sanders has a ground game. >> correct. >> hillary has a ground game. cruz has a ground game. does trump have a ground game or not? >> that is a did he debatable thing. i do think people running the

trump campaign have a game. they were finding out where their polling place is, where they can go on caucus night. he has the money to do some of the stuff we may not know about. you both know brad anderson. he ran president obama's 2012 iowa general election effort here. he said unless you are in the bunker, you really don't know what the other campaign is doing. unless we are in the bunker, i don't know we can accurately gauge what each of these campaigns is doing. they are going to throw around numbers. numbers are meaningless right now. >> 21 days. it's great to dominate the news cycle. the easiest way is to get an endorsement that matters. the register endorsement for the democrats will matter, right? >> it did last time around. >> my sense is -- >> hillary clinton got that endorsement last time around.

>> my sense is some of these campaigns, cruz sitting on an endorsement. some establishment types who suggested they wouldn't endorse, if they feel they can help an establishment candidate, they might. what are the big endorsements you think might come through on either party? >> i don't think they will endorse. i think the endorsement on the republican side has been don't. the endorsement ted cruz got from congressman steve king inoculated him from the things that buffeted him the past week. the immigration side. and ethanol. king comes from the congressional district that produces more ethanol. >> i call them the new three

amigos. >> which one is steve martin? >> not those three. mccain, lieberman and graham. i think the cruz road show is a very powerful thing for iowa conservatives. >> it is. king energizes the base in a way terry bransted doesn't. the lone candidate he could benefit would be chris christie. he's dynamite on the trail. his town hall meetings are attracting a growing number of people in iowa. he's able to roll with it. if terry were to pick chris christie, that could make a huge difference in the caucuses. i asked bransted if there is a monolithic organization and if he wants to use that muscle, no. >> stay by our side the next three weeks. thank you. we'll be right back. about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain

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♪ (man) some things are worth holding onto. they're hugging the tree. (man) that's why we got a subaru. or was it that tree? (man) the twenty-sixteen subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. we are live 24/7 on bloomberg politics.com where we've got a great story by our colleague stephen dennis about the democratic strategy to take back the senate. tomorrow, we will have democratic strategist bob shrum and fred davis here on the program. later this week, we will have an interview with donald

trump and we'll show you that on thursday night. thanks to our partners at the des moines "register" for letting us crash. "hardball" with chris matthews starts right now. is ted cruz an immigrant? let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. what's the worst thing a guy like donald trump can call you, how about illegal immigrant? is that roughly what he is calling ted cruz illegal immigrant trying legally to become president? the constitution says you have to be natural born to serve in the country's highest office. think trump doesn't have an issue here? i'll give you three people who think he might. lawrence tribe, the constitutional expert who calls to question of cruz's