has to reach out to all his constituency. we he cannot alienate minorities and expect to win the white house. we are very hopeful that we can change his mind and all other candidates who have issues with muslims in america. >> please come and join us after your meeting with donald trump. >> sure. will do. >> saba ahmed, thank you for joining us tonight. appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. 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 eligibility to the presidency murky. iowa governor terry branstad and 2008 republican presidential nominee john mccain. trump may have something. facts matter. president obama was born in honolulu, the state of hawaii part of the u.s. cruz was born in calgary in canada. donald trump zeroed in this weekend and today on the issue of cruz' canadian birth. here he goes. >> ted cruz has a real cloud hanging over his head. so the question is, is ted cruz, is he a natural born citizen? if he was born in canada,

whether we like it, don't like it, he lived there, he was there, he was born in canada. he has to solve this problem because the democrats will sue him if he's the nominee. you can't have a person running for office even though ted is very glib saying i'm a natural born citizen. the point is you're not. you can't have a nominee subject who be thrown out as nominee. i'm sure ted is thrilled that i'm helping him out but i am. i mean i am. i mean, he's got to go and fix it. >> as i said, iowa's governor terry branstad said when you run for president of the united states, any subject is fair game. let the people decide. katy tur, you don't want to cause questions about whether the other side is going to have litigation against your candidate if you nominate him. that it's way he is going to

play this. knowing the democrats are not going to get a prior review from the supreme court and certainly not going to try to get one because they probably enjoy this. if cruz is the nominee, they'll play the same game the same way republicans used willie horton after al gore brought it up. people play the same weapon if it's thrown to them, they use it. go ahead. >> absolutely. they are going to let the republicans fight amongst themselves because they only think it's going to hurt both of the candidates. donald trump is casting doubt. he is trying to raise questions about ted cruz, whether or not he is eligible. make voters think maybe i don't want to vote for him because there will be issues down the line. whether this works for him remains to be seen. he did get big cheers in reno over the weekend and cheers in new hampshire today for this line of attack. he was testing it out in the press last week to see how it would play. i'm not sure it will work in a

plates like iowa where ted cruz has that strong base of evangelical support. right now iowa is the state for ted cruz to lose in many ways. if there is a larger turnout, donald trump is favored to win there. if that is the cases. a place like new hampshire, a place like nevada, potentially a place like south carolina, i think this line of questioning will eventually potentially, i should say, work for donald trump in casting the doubt in voters' mind. whether he will be a sure enough bet to beat the democratic nominee when donald trump is saying i'm here, i'm strong, i can beat hillary. i'm stronger an hillary and bernie. what he wants to do is make voters question ted cruz. >> of course trump has a great advantage. he was born in new york city in queens. not in alberta. senator cruz responded to questions about trump's attacks this weekend.

>> i understand that a lot of candidates in the field are dismayed. they're dismayed because they are seeing conservatives uniting behind our campaign. as that happens, you're seeing candidates throw whatever rocks they can. i like donald trump. i respect donald trump. he is welcome to toss whatever attacks he wants. we are at a time of enormous challenge and crisis. i recognize that there are candidates in the field that don't want to talk about those issues and they want to instead encourage the good people in the media to go down rabbit trails and engage in circus side shows. i don't think the american people are interested in that. >> the governor of iowa like that rabbit hole. people are enjoying this. for one reason, nobody likes cruz. if he's got a little problem proving he is running for president -- >> some people like him.

conservatives like him. >> they argued this is part of his success story. that somehow he came down from calgary, alberta. >> he talks about his personal life a lot. >> he skips where he what is born. >> he doesn't make an emphasis of it. he is relying with hardcore conservatives to stick with him. >> they are anti-immigrant. >> anti-illegal immigrant. >> would he be the first person in our history to be born outside the united states who is president? does that bother them? >> it doesn't bother them in the sense when i'm in iowa or new hampshire they rely on him being a constitutional scholar. >> he says it. >> it's an open question. it's a cloud. >> of course he would say it. what is he supposed to say, i'm not eligible to run for president? i have a thought here.

in the next several days we are going to find out how this tests. we are going to find out what trump is trying, whether it works or not. if it works with the very conservative people, very isolationist, home grown, home schooled people that don't like foreigners and strange people, say wait a minute, i didn't know -- we'll see. >> remember though, ted cruz hasn't made a secret of it. he wrote about it in his book. i'm not sure that's the case they make. it is part that his father abandoned him and his mother while they were living in canada and moved to texas, then came back. my sense is the campaign is not overly concerned with how this is praying and resonating with voters, at least not yet. let's look at what we saw this weekend. which is trump bringing it up on his own. if he continues to do that, let's see if that changes minds. >> numbers are so close in iowa. you see trump closing the gap. i'm not sure it's because of canada. we haven't seen data. since trump talked about canada, the numbers are narrowing in iowa.

>> remember how george bush sr. made sport of pete dupont when he called him during the debate, let me help with you that, pierre? do you think rafael will hurt him with people in iowa? that's his real name. >> no. one of his biggest assets in iowa is his father. >> his father is rafael cruz and he goes around iowa. >> every time we read something about iowa republicans, it's culturally conservative and resistant to anything new. >> he's got the steve king guy in western iowa. >> he talks about cantaloupe legs. >> he's with cruz. >> cruz hit he is the consertive in this race. more consecutive than trump. did cruz ever speak out when trump was making fun of the president saying he was born in kenya? did he attack the whole notion saying he was african-american saying he was born in africa? the reason i'm enjoying this is

there is a little bit of payback, blowback going on here. the people that enjoyed like hell the 20%, 30% of the country who let the president be pilloried out there as some interloper who same here, some magical way through kenya are now saying we shouldn't bring this up about cruz. >> you're saying cruz is getting a taste of the trump medicine now? >> yeah. he never fought it before when it was not attacked on him. lawrence tribe, a liberal constitutional scholar says it's anything but settled, this question whether cruz is eligible to be president. tribe taught ted cruz at harvard law says what constitutes natural born are murky. >> a lot of people, including me, think it's a pretty unamerican concept to say that members of indian tribes and tens of millions of naturalized citizens can't become president, but without amending the

constitution, or get a defensive ruling from the u.s. supreme court, it's wrong to say as senator cruz has tried to say, that it's a settled matter. it isn't settled. >> settled or not? >> according to trump it is. i've got a good story about this. trump is watching lawrence tribe -- this is how he runs a gut level campaign. my sources say he's watching "last word" sees tribe and says that's my argument. i'm taking tribe from his msnbc appearance and putting it at the center of my campaign. >> he lives off the land. >> polls showing the state of play in the republican race. in iowa, the contest, two-man race between cruz and trump. nbc/"wall street journal" poll shows cruz edging out trump. a poll today shows trump with a slight edge in iowa. all this is within margin of error stuff. in new hampshire, the stories are different.

trump is 30% ahead by marco rubio by 16 points. a monmouth poll show as similar story. trump leads by 18 points in the monmouth. ted cruz and john kasich tight at second 14%. no candidate comes close to challenging trump's lead. we've got a tight race in iowa with the home schools and evangelicals probably think donald trump is who he is, a cosmopolitan, big city, secular guy. they can spot him. he's not one of them. he is note a country mouse. where they like the mustang, the wild one, trump is their guy. >> when you look at the cruz campaign in iowa and new hampshire, they are leaving iowa and going to new hampshire to

make a play there. that's a sign the campaign is feeling confident about where they are right now. >> who is talking confident? >> ted cruz. >> is trump going to spend money to win iowa or not? >> he's going to spend money to win iowa. >> will he let it go? >> he's spending about $1 million on the air each week in iowa. >> can he buy it? >> no. it's grassroots in iowa. he's got santorum's guy. >> he changed his tone a little bit. he was a guy who, katy can speak to this, said it's just a couple of points here and there. this week we saw him say, we've got to win iowa. >> will trump win both? >> i think he's going both ways. he wants to win iowa for his ego. that would be a big boost to his ego for him. i don't think he would like to lose it. he's laying the ground work he might not lose it. he is saying it is ted cruz' state to lose. i think he understands iowa isn't his strong hold but he

wants to come in within a few points. of course, he wants to win. this is donald trump. he is banking a lot on new hampshire right now. he is going to be here every monday. he is win by a ton today. today he showed up at a diner. donald trump in a diner today. that was a massive surprise. >> it seems the best way to win new hampshire if you are republican is to lose iowa. iowa has been for santorum and huckabee, is that the route for success? it's not the yellow brick road to get to the nomination. thank you. hillary clinton and bernie sanders are in tight races in iowa and new hampshire. clinton is turning up the pressure on the issue of guns. bernie is not as good on guns as hillary. donned trump has broken all the rules for republican party politics. the party establishment wants him stopped. ann coulter and liz mayer debate.

whether trump's broadening the republican party or destroying it. the white house is promising big changes to president obama's final state of the union address tomorrow night. the president is expected to frame the 2016 presidential debate and talk about where we need to go as a country after he leaves office. let me finish with the story of a public service, a public and personal police officer in philadelphia, what a great story of heroism. in this year of voter i asked my dentist if an electric toothbrush was going to clean better than a manual? he said sure. but don't get just any one. get one inspired by dentists.

with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's rounded brush head cups your teeth to break up plaque and rotates to sweep it away. and oral-b delivers a clinically proven superior clean versus sonicare diamondclean. my mouth feels super clean. oral-b know you're getting a superior clean. i'm never going back to a manual brush. in this year of voter frustration, voters are near all-time lows for party identification. 29% say they're democrats, an historic low. 26% say they're republicans, one point off the all-time low. 42% of u.s. adults identify

themselves as political independents. big news. think about it.

i would love to run against bernie. i mean, can you imagine? remember they took the microphone away, get off the stage. they told him. this is our president. he goes like this, excuse me. and everyone's out there saying, get off the mike. he walked back like a little puppy. this is going to be our president. i would love, please, fbi, please, go after hillary. i want to run against bernie. welcome back to "hardball." that was of course donald trump earlier today saying if he is the republican nominee he wants to run against bernie sanders. ard coulding to the new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll out yesterday, the contest on the democrat side is a real race

to watch. it's a toss-up in iowa. in new hampshire, sanders is on top 50/46. both polls have the neck and neck quality within the margin of error. sanders outperforms in hypothetical general election matchups in iowa and new hampshire. in iowa clinton beats out donald trump by eight points. sanders leads by 13. in new hampshire state, clinton rubs out by one point while sanders beats him by 19. for more on the battle over the heart and soul of the democratic party, let's bring in kristin welker on the trail in des moines. people tell me it's the independents, that senator sanders is doing better against a potential race with donald trump in both iowa and new hampshire than secretary clinton would do. >> i think it's the

independents. it's the progressive voters. i think it's this issue we've been talking about, this authenticity factor. bernie sanders has it. he has excited a number of voters, not only in the democratic base but the independents. it's also the fact that you have senator sanders who has gone up with ads in november. here in iowa. essentially he wasn't on the air, now he's on the air. that's why you see the race tighten here in iowa and see him surge ahead when it comes to going after donald trump. it's a fascinating race. i think it's getting closer between clinton and sanders than a lot of people were anticipating if you look at the race in iowa. new hampshire not as big a surprise. they weren't expecting to see this here in iowa. that's why you're seeing clinton change her strategy. in recent days, she's been going after republicans. now she is drawing very sharp lines of attack against bernie sanders. taking him on over the issue of

guns, health care and taxes today. i think you are seeing the clinton campaign respond to these polls. it's making them jittery, though the official line from the clinton campaign is this is what they always expected to see, but it's a real race now. >> kristin welcomer in iowa. clinton appealing to caucus goers and sharpening her attacks on senator sanders. >> i'm asking to you make a decision to caucus with me. i have two very worthy opponents, people i've known, people i served with, people that i respect. i'm asking to you choose to caucus for me over either of the other two. i just have a difference with senator sanders. he has a different plan. his plan would take medicare and medicaid and the children's health insurance program and affordable care act, health care insurance and private employer

health insurance, he would take that and he would take it all together and send health insurance to the states. turning over yours and my health insurance to governors like terry branstad. >> is there any surprise that hillary clinton is now turning, i hate to use the phrase guns on bernie sanders on gun issues. it wasn't just about social programs being sent back to the states which seems -- >> clever, very clever. >> it's the kind of issue you dig for, but doesn't move voters. guns, however, does have it. you don't want a pro-gun democratic president. >> that is about the harshest shot she can take on bernie sanders and it might move the

need al little bit. after she spent three times as much money on bernie sanders in iowa and new hampshire, not including super pacs, if she hasn't moved that already and has all the media, endorsements, everything lined up to planned parenthood to the national anti-gun organizations, i don't see how she is going to move the needle. it's going to be about getting people out to vote. she just has to keep reminding her support in iowa, especially that these are the issues that make a difference. >> how about the fun factor? it's fun being for bernie. he's a lefty. he is a socialist, no problem. he is sort of a mustang, a renegade like trump in a very different way. it's fun. if you vote for hillary, you are voting for the democratic party. >> the establishment. >> yeah. that's not -- it doesn't cause a giggle in your stomach when you vote.

>> right. going back to what you said about 42% of americans being independent, think about that. a lot of those people are young. those are the people supporting bernie sanders. those are the people that aren't watching the tv ads the way the older demographics are. he's been able to have a fun campaign. >> because a they are not watching tv. >> exactly. >> secretary clinton called into "hardball" friday and made one of her toughest critiques of senator sanders to date. senator sanders reacted. >> when it really mattered, senator sanders voted with the gun lobby and i voted against the gun lobby. this is a significant difference and it's important that, you know, maybe it's time for senator sanders to stand up and say i got this one wrong. but he hasn't. he defended his vote time and again. >> what you had was a complicated piece of legislation. there were aspects of it that

were rock. i am absolutely willing to take another look at that legislation and get rid of the onerous provisions when gun manufacturers, for example, are selling guns into an area and know those guns are going into the hands of criminals, absolutely, those gun manufacturers should be held accountable. >> when a gun producer is making a gun, they are making it for a criminal on the streets they know about, know him by name, in fact. that's an absurd -- why doesn't say like hillary finally did on iraq. okay, wrong vote. >> he should apologize. democratic voters support gun control, period. >> this feels like the december 2007 to me. hillary started attacking obama aggressively. the sign was she's in trouble in iowa. you can tell that again. >> will it work?

>> i think it will work. she needs to have a gain among progressives. >> you are convinced voters this guy with a brooklyn accent who seems liberal left, progressive, everything about him says that, that he is some charlton heston? is that sellable? >> hillary has to convince them she is close to being as progressive as him. >> thank you. please come back. up next, the great debate among the republican party or between the republicans, has donald trump destroyed the gop or fired up the republican voters' base? ann coulter and liz mayer will debate the trump effect coming up next.

donald as the gift of self-promoter went out there and pitched this as i got the project done that the new york city government couldn't get done. >> you see the same instinct coming out now that you did with the rink with trump being frustrated how inept and useless government is and jumping in saying i'm going to fix this. welcome back to "hardball." that was ann coulter in my documentary "citizen trump" talking about donald trump's first foray into politics in new york city in the 1980s. trump is bucking the party's establishment and channeling the outrage republican voters have felt for a long time. to his detractors, trump represents the end of the republican party as we know it. in his column last week, former bush speech writer michael gersson said trump would deface the gop beyond recognition.

liz mayer runs the anti-trump super pac trump card llc. i was just quoting you, liz, during the break. richard nixon said when you hear of a stop x movement, bet on x. aren't you leading a stop x movement? >> i aim to prove richard nixon wrong about that in addition to other things. >> you think you're right? >> i hope i'm right. >> defacing the republican party? >> i think he is. inherently i don't think there is necessarily a problem with destroying certain aspects of the republican party as it exists. there are many of us in the republican party who have a real problem with the establishment and the way it's run things. if somebody who is a legitimate economic and fiscal conservative, i do have a problem with trump and where he stands on an array of economic and fiscal conservative issues and the fact he is very close to hillary clinton on those. in some cases to the left of

hers. >> i think it's all about immigration. it doesn't really matter what a republican's position is on saving social security or how they are going to reform medicare. americans are being outvoted by foreigners. americans have been begging on their own party to shut it down, to stop this endless immigration for decades now. both the media and elected republicans and democrats have tried to push amnesty through three times in the last decade. every time it was shot down, not by a presidential candidate, not by some big media figure, it was the american people getting wind of it and rising up in rage. donald trump is the first one to finally take america's side on immigration. that is why he is sweeping the polls. >> i think that is a patently ludicrous notion. most of the time when we've been looking at amnesty fights

they've been shut down by a set of groups funded by a population control enthusiast liberal who is actually involved with zero population growth in the sierra club. that's who has shut it down. it's not in any way advancing the economic interest of the american people. free market economists across the board agree with that. the only people who take the stance trump is taking with regard to immigration and believe way is proposing would be a good idea are hardened liberals who adhere to the same policy line of unions out of the 1970s. >> i think it's crazy. >> i think trump is appealing to nationalism. says the country has been sold out by elite on immigration and on jobs. >> yes. i don't disagree with that. to say it's just about immigration is bogus. >> why did he come in that door if it didn't work? >> not only that, if i could say that was his opening -- his

announcement speech announcing he was running for president was about mexican rapists and drug dealers. his very first policy paper for this guy who allegedly isn't giving us details was an immigration policy paper. he was talking about values voters summit and said something untoward about marco rubio, the crowd grumbles and turn against him. he instantly goes to immigration. every day he is giving speeches before tens of thousands sometimes of americans, regular ordinary americans. he knows what gets them on their feet. he knows what is getting him the standing ovation. over and over again, it is immigration. to try to say it's some guy i never heard of and they are the only people -- no. gracious was shut down or amnesties three times now when the american people rose up. >> that's patently false. it was driven by numbers usa a john tantum-funded group. >> let's talk about today this weekend.

what do you make about another guy who came in the country at the age of 4, whatever, ted cruz? rafael cruz. the guy came in the country from canada. larry tribe, one of the top constitutional lawyers says it's a big open question whether he should be allowed to run for president. he may not be natural born american. >> that is completely bogus. >> tribe is bogus? >> yeah. >> why is he bogus on this one? he's been respected up to now by the liberals. >> liberals have a vested interest to kick the crap out of ted cruz. they hate him and everything he stands for the same as donald trump who is another liberal. >> how about terry branstad? >> the republican establishment hates ted cruz. >> where are you on this issue of his eligibility to run for president? this thing about natural born, it doesn't say native born. what did the originalists think?

you are a lawyer. how do you do that? >> yes. since my very first book "high crimes and misdemeanors," i find it to use a smith college word, tiresome that constitutional law provisions are supposed to be interpreted based on what we would like the constitution to say. the constitution is the constitution. natural born has a meaning going back to 1608. we have a half dozen supreme court cases interpreting it. it means other things, too, but you have to be born within the country. >> that is not true. >> i've been saying that when cruz was the only candidate i had. i had no idea trump was going to run. so it's not that i want him not to be a natural born citizen, but it's not an answer to you're not a natural born citizen to say, but i'm a conservative. that could be. i don't see the point. the nominee is going to be donald trump. why bother?

>> why do you think they put that in the constitution? >> we do know why, anne. >> i said we know why. >> no, you don't. in 2013 you were saying cruz was a natural born citizen and was eligible to run for office. people can check my twitter feed. i retweeted her feed from 2013. >> changed my mind. >> you know what? you were right the first time. >> do you think obama was born secretly in kenya? >> absolutely not. he was eligible. >> did you go that way on obama being born outside the country? >> my newspaper shot it down. it was raised by hillary clinton. >> if ted cruz is a natural born citizen there would be no problem with obama being born in kenya. what was the issue with that? if he had been born in kenya, no one disputed his american status.

>> now anne is dabbling in obama birtherism. >> where would you put trump 50/50? >> from the week after he announced, i said he is going to win the nomination and the president. >> he's your favorite? >> not a favorite. he is going to win. >> anne said mitt romney was the perfect and best republican candidate and she kissed chris christie's backside up the wazoo. >> my ideal ticket is trump/romney. >> that is the proof right there that you are in no way conservative and no way interested in conservative policy. >> would romney join that ticket? >> i wish he would. one of the things i like about romney and trump and ronald reagan is, these are three men by running for president and being president, in two cases, i suspect, made their lives

immeasurably worse. for rubio, what else is he going to do but run for president? they love the country and want to help fix it. i don't think it's out of the question that romney would serve the country. >> it won't be a salary increase for donald trump. >> thank you for coming up. you've been feisty and i like that. >> i try. a look ahead to tomorrow night's state of the union address. president obama's last and most ambitious speech of his presidency.

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welcome back to "hardball" where there is no bigger stage for american politics than the president's state of the union address. this will be president obama's final state of the union, 20 days before the iowa caucuses. the white house is promising a nontraditional address. this will not be the usual laundry list of policy proposals. instead, they say it's going to be billed as a rallying cry against the doom and gloom of the republican candidates for president, especially donald trump. the president will have to walk a fine line being loony tune optimistic and funeral dirge of

the republican field. here is trump's assessment of the state of the union yesterday on "meet the press." >> right now the state of our union is a mess. we can't beat isis. our military is falling back. it's not being properly taken care of. our vets are not being taken care of. obamacare will fail soon. we don't have borders. we don't have anything. if i'm there in two years and i'm making a speech, i say we're getting better fast. >> we don't have anything. here is the white house chief of staff previewing the president's response to that. >> what i see is an america that is surging. 292,000 new jobs just the other day. fastest reduction of unemployment in more than three decades. the biggest job growth in two years since the 1990s. i do not understand why the republicans, each of them including the one we saw, continue to run down america. you'll hear a big optimistic,

generous view of the future of america from the president on tuesday. >> tonight's "hardball" round table. abbey, how does the president keep us up but not sound loony tune optimistic? >> i think that's the challenge. >> 77% think this country is headed in the wrong direction. >> the baseline numbers favor him. unemployment is 5%. job numbers that came out friday were good for him. >> 290. >> yeah. the problem is americans are feeling insecure. both economically and in terms of national security. he has to speak to that. if he ignores it, it will come across -- >> how does he bolster us? >> this is something you see on the campaign trail with democrats. it's about the fear of a republican future that turns back from the progress that's been made. that's where he is going to go. we are moving forward. republicans are trying to take us back.

it's going to be looking towards a republican future and pointing out the threat that poses to americans. >> i think if that's what happens, you've got republicans running on a climate of fear. you need to be afraid of terrorism, economic insecurity, et cetera. democrats saying you need to be afraid of, in obama's case, the unraveling of my legacy. that is a lot about what this speech will do. whether that plays into hillary clinton or bernie sanders' hands. that was interesting saying the president won't owners do before the democratic primary is over. look at the numbers for bernie sanders and hillary clinton. it says the same thing that the republican numbers tell you. people are hungry for a system that doesn't seem to only work for itself. that's on both sides of the aisle. >> the president's tendency would be to endorse hillary clinton, secretary of state. not doing that tells you there

is something troubling him about it. >> obama for the last six years or so has tried to tell a story of america, political story, which is highly ideological. basically two types of approaches to our collective problems, both overseas and domestically. republicans take one approach. we saw it in the bush years. we saw it with the neo con led foreign policy. i try to see something different, a different approach overseas. i think tomorrow night is his basic opportunity to say, i won. i had results. >> can you sell the argument we are all in this together, which is what you're saying? the american people don't feel we are all in this together. >> i think we are highly divided and polarized. he is not going to win over the trump supporters. he wants the suburban independents to say economic security is great.

>> we have to figure out why people are grouchy. 70% say we are going in the wrong direction. the round table is sticking with us. up next they will tell me something i don't know. i hear abbey has a wild one. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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you've got to tune in tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. eastern. we've got a special edition of "hardball" ahead of president obama's final state of the union address. at 8:00 p.m., rachel maddow and i will bring you full coverage of the announcement of the president's address as well as reactions from top law makers and journalists and the republican reaction. and we'll be right back.

back with the round table. abby, tell me something i don't know. >> well, over the weekend white nationalist groups began airing robo calls for donald trump essentially saying he's the candidate that understands that

what america needs is more white immigrants and white people. >> that's an original idea. let's follow up on that awful thought. let's take a listen. >> i'm jared taylor with american renaissance. i urge you to vote for donald trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for america. we don't need muslims. we need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. vote trump. >> i wouldn't think so. but i mean, that's probably a nice thing to say. david, tell me something. >> like many people today i'm saddened by the death of david bowie. but i was surprised that the german foreign office sent out a tweet, a message thanking david bowie. why? because they think he helped bring down the berlin wall. he gave a concert at the wall a week before reagan was there and gave his speech. it caused riots. and his song, his very popular song "heroes" was adopted as the unofficial anthem of citizens of east berlin.

>> on a less artistic note one thing that this week i think is reaching fever pitch is the republicans in washington are finally entering the acceptance phase of donald trump and ted cruz. the number of people that i have talked to who are just at the point where they think that the establishment has almost no hope and they're going to have to figure out -- many of them have worked in -- >> okay. thank you. what's after acceptance? i forgot the list. >> dessert. >> lots of drinking. >> thank you so much, casey. i do love the way you said that. thank you. david, you big heart. and abby phillip for stumping me with this horrible racial crap. when we return, let me finish with a story of public service and personal bravery. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

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to your mobile with no interruptions. i've never felt so alive. make your business phone mobile with voice mobility. comcast business. built for business. let me finish tonight with a story of public service and personal bravery. you know, with all the bad stories about police work of late i was thrilled to see the real-life account of a philadelphia police officer's grace under pressure. since so much good day to day, night to night police work goes unnoticed and unpraised i was glad too to see it all on television. we've all seen the surveillance tape by now of the assailant on that west philadelphia street shoving his arm in the squad car, getting off at least 11 shots at point blank range at the police officer inside. and yet, and yet we saw -- all of us saw too what followed. we saw the police officer seriously wounded with three bullets in him pulling himself from the car, racing up the

street past the camera after the assailant he knew to be armed and mortally dangerous. finally firing a shot that caught the fugitive and led to his arrest by officer hartnett's backup, who arrived on the scene. police commissioner richard ross said he couldn't say enough about how officer hartnett conducted himself. perhaps this is how all police officers are expected to act under fire. perhaps it comes with their training and approach to the difficult, dangerous job they have. but when you see it right there in front of you. when you see the guts of this guy recorded on camera. you have to ask, where do we find such men? it tells us that even in a dangerous world with street crime and terrorism about us we have real public servants ready to take it on, all of it, to fight the bad guys on their own rotten terms, that even with the criminal able to set the time and place, to demonstrate for all of us, to see the god-given instinct to defy the danger, to fight back, to confront the attacker even on the worst of nights and save justice for us all. here's to officer jesse hartnett of the philadelphia police department. get well. thank you for your service and your courage.

that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> i think it's time for us to have the kind of spirited debate that you deserve us to have. >> a statistical dead heat in iowa has hillary clinton fighting to keep her lead. >> president obama and i were both in the senate, and we voted no. senator sanders voted yes. >> reporter: tonight, my interview with the front-runner, hillary clinton, on her new lines of attack on bernie sanders. then, donald trump continues going in on ted cruz. >> you can't have a nominee who's going to be subject to being thrown out as a nominee. >> as white nationalists go up with robo calls in iowa. >> we need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. and remembering a rock god. ♪ starman waiting in the sky david bowie's impact on music