coming up "hardball" with chris matthews. stop the primary, i want to get off. let's play "hardball"." good evening. yesterday we showed you the flood of establishment republicans beginning to lineup behind donald trump because they hate ted cruz so much. today we are watching the other usual suspects, assorted right wingers trying to do a stop trump movement. both sides are ignoring the sage advice of one richard nixon who advised if you hear of a stop x movement bet on x. this is one hell of a way to pick a candidate. the national review put out the february issue dedicated that

thumping trump with editors including bill crystal, angry glen beck and tea party eric erickson. they slam trump as a philosophically unmoored political opportunist. they're closing argument is that he is a reckless demagogue who is a menace to american conservatism. one consequence of this anti-trump posse is rnc ended debate partnership with the national review. the publisher responded by saying we expected this was coming. small price to pay for speaking the truth about the donald. for his part trump reacted to the magazine's assault this way. >> the national review is a dying paper. the circulation is way down. not very many people read it anymore.

people don't think about the national review. i guess they want to get a little publicity. that is a dying paper. pretty much a dead paper. >> he is so conclusive. nbc's katy tur who must laugh occasionally at this guy. elyna johnson, editor of the national review and nbc news senior political reporter. this is friday and a snow day as we say here. the archbishop of philadelphia called off church for sunday saying you won't have a sin if you don't go. in this snow world what are those things you turn upside down and it is snowing? that is where we are living now. what is going on katy tur that trump is on his way to winning because this gang, posse has put together you have bill crystal,

all the neo cons out there, the haters like glen beck, what an assortment, a motley crew i would call it. does he fear these people at all? >> i think donald trump sees himself as someone who -- >> he fears you. >> i think he does fear me because who wouldn't fear me? i think donald trump is out there on his own where he wants to be. i think he enjoys being the one that is being attacked by everyone. i think he uses it to his advantage saying that nobody wants me to be in there so that is because i'm fighting for you. these people are part of the establishme establishment. they are beholdened to higher powers. i am fighting for you. i am the outsider and i can continue on. this is so interesting. the establishment just yesterday as you were saying was starting to warm to him and embrace him. now you are seeing hard lined conservatives say no we don't want this to happen.

i spoke with the rnc a couple of minutes ago and asked them if they were doing trump's dirty work by banning the national review from the houston debate. they said they weren't because they are not going to let anybody who is against the candidate or for a candidate participate in a debate. they think that is fair. now this is the second debate that has kicked off a paper or magazine because they disparage donald trump. it happened in new hampshire, as well. >> let me suggest to you a code breaker if you want to be a crypt naulgist. the code is the word iraq. the iraq war. everyone of these characters that signed on to this petition, this posse coming out of the national review now being joined are all hawks who back the iraq war including rich lowery who apologized. they all back the iraq war especially people like crystal. all super hawks, neocons that

thought the iraq war was a brilliant idea. here is the people going against trump. they say trump's campaign rallies are orgies of self-absorption. much to like about cruz. i never heard that before. he is smart. he is a nimble debater. who thinks that? >> i mean, i think that when you have a lot of good points and talking about where these -- >> who thinks cruz is likable? >> i haven't heard that very often on the campaign trail. but i do think that there is a point to be made about what it is like in a donald trump rally going to the now months he likes to talk about himself a lot. the majority of these speeches

are all about how great he is and the deals he has made and look at his poll numbers. and then he gets a little into making america great again and hitting president obama or bowe bergdahl or immigration, refugees. the vast majority of these speeches are all about donald trump. and he can really give it out against his opponents or anybody that criticizes him. he can't take anything in terms of criticism on the way back. everybody that stood up to him and questioned where he is coming from he has tried to insult on the way back. he is insulting the national review, insults journalists. insults his other candidates. i think that when it comes to trump's base of support, those attending his rallies, this sort of stuff works. when you walk around -- i was in vegas yesterday and i asked people what they thought of trump. there wasn't a lot of like for trump. they were calling him an idiot saying he was full of hot air

and full of himself. so i think we have to be careful in painting him as somebody with all of the support because there is a large portion of the republican base that does not like him. the problem is those people don't have one candidate to go for. they have a number of candidates out there and it is fracturing the support. i think that is why we are seeing donald trump lead all of these polls. >> thank you so much katy tur for the back and forth on trump. let me go to eliana. i want to remind you that rich lowery supported the iraq -- crystal he did, too. these guys are all war hawks. that is why they don't like trump because he is the only guy who said this was a stupid war and never should have fought it. they want to go from iraq to libya and then to syria? regime change is in their blood stream. trump is saying it is stupid for

us to play that role. isn't that what yunites? >> i don't think this was about a single issue. >> why do they all agree? >> let me speak for a second. >> answer the question. >> let me speak for one second. i think this was about uniting conservatives of all permitations who disagree on issues including the war in iraq. >> which one disagrees. >> and differentiating from donald trump's -- donald trump supported the war in iraq before he turned against it. >> which one of the people in that group that is now in the posse against trump -- >> chris -- >> i can only ask the questions. can you answer me? which is not a hawk in the group? >> i think all of them are hawks. i don't think -- on what evident

do you say the opposition to trump is based on the iraq war? >> the evidence is every name on the list supported the iraq war and trump said it was a mistake. that is all the evidence i need. >> many people say the iraq war was a mistake. >> name one. >> many of those guys say -- >> start with one name. >> a lot of them. >> eric erickson says -- >> the follow up? >> many of them say that. >> i don't hear it. >>. >> ted cruz says that now. >> ted cruz isn't on that list. >> i do agree that the issue -- >> i watched -- the reason why i have a strong view on this and you do, too, you work for the magazine, i have watched this petition organizing stuff with bill crystal for 20 years. it is always a petition, always a group of people. >> this wasn't bill crystal. >> he is always on the list. they love lists. they announce a list and then we are supposed to go along with

it. sometimes it is a full page of lists. the method of politics which is putting a list of people together. >> i would submit that it is you who has the obsession with the iraq war. >> america loses 4,000 lives in a war that -- when we lose 4,000 lives in a war that should have never been fought and get involved in a situation we cannot get out of for years, yes it is an obsession. >> the challenge today is the establishment is not exactly news. this reinforced that a lot of people in washington do not like donald trump. what is helpful to say who are you for? that is the challenge. we have a movement. we don't like trump. we don't like cruz. when you get other people choose one of them.

>> this group and you have to defend here, these people are all at the end of it crystal comes out and says i'm for cruz. so it is clearly not just an an anti-movement. >> people are for rubio in that group. they need to figure out like the voters, a lot who are not for trump. they are not sure who to be for. the washington leadership could say be for this person. be against trump. we know the movement in washington is not like trump. trump supporters appreciate that he is not like the people in washington. >> i have to go back to this about my obsession. when i look at this list and say who served in the military? it is easy to play commander of the war from an op-ed. none of them are military people. they send other people's kids to fight.

that is my problem. i think it is hypocritical and i cannot stand the neocon mentality, rich lowery did say it was wrong later. and bill buckley said it was wrong and george will said it was wrong later. when the time came to go in they all joined the parade and they are much smarter than the people like george w. bush. smarter people being led by dumber people is a bad way for democracy to work. do you want to respond to that? go ahead. >> and you think donald trump is the ant dote to smarter people being led by dumber people. i don't understand the point really? >> on the issue of iraq war, yes. i think he is smart. the trick i play is i have to convince people in washington i'm not crazy. >> donald trump is not exactly the military leader. >> i think you are on the editorial side. >> you are putting me in that

position by denigrating my employer and then asking me to defend them. >> i'm sorry i did that. we disagree. please come back. perry bacon, please come back. hillary clinton's attacks on bernie sanders are sounding eerily similar to the one she launched against barack obama in 2008. remember the 3:00 a.m. phone call ad? that didn't work then. what makes her think that will work this time. with a monster blizzard it is smart to recall that snow can bury a political career. donald trump says he will be able to make deals and work with congress. we will talk with former leaders who say washington needs a big fix and also whether trump is the guy to pull it off. let me finish with a chance to end a major disease. this is "hardball," place for politics.

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storm a nor'easter. from here it will really intensify and probably be able to call this the blizzard of 2016. blizzard warnings to washington, d.c. up i-95 to long island. the storm itself coming off the south carolina coast over the outer banks. already well ahead of it snow up to philadelphia. heavy snow back up to washington, d.c. that is the story tonight. the heavy snow falling and winds picking up and starting to whip the snow around. earlier we had a lot of ice in south carolina, north carolina. that will continue. a light coating will continue to build up. power outages are very likely here especially charlotte area back up to raleigh. as far as winds go at the coast this could do damage by itself. we could see gusts up to 70 miles per hour. 50 miles per hour towards ocean city, maryland. up to long island up to 50 miles per hour. that is why we have blizzard warnings. interior section winds lower but

we are still going to have high impacts. we can see 50 miles per hour winds peak gusts new york city, philadelphia and areas like washington, d.c. when you get these 24 inch snowfall totals in philly and d.c. you can see drifts up to 5 and six feet tall. that is why it is impassable for so long. let's go to luke rusert in washington, d.c. >> reporter: the snow is falling and it is falling down hard. it has been like that for about the last four or five hours. the worst of the storm at about 1:00 a.m. saturday morning which is a blessing because the hope is that people will not be on the roads and will shelter in place. that was the direction really for folks since 3:00 p.m. today in washington. the roads are bare. usually friday night people out and about going to restaurants and bars. they are all staying home because this has potential to be the most significant storm to

hit d.c. since the 1920s, since the famous blizzard which killed 100 people back then. people are taking this threat seriously. the big worry here from officials is power. a lot of trees in washington, above ground power lines. if the trees fall on the lines people could be without power for days because crews will not be able to get there because the roads will not be plowed. that is what they are hoping against tonight in washington. >> looks like a light fluffy pretty snow but 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning the winds are howling. completely different scene when everybody is checking out the storm. we will have more updates tonight and throughout the show here on "hardball." we will be right back. mmm, a perfect 177-degrees. and that's why this road warrior rents from national. i can bypass the counter and go straight to my car. and i don't have to talk to any humans, unless i want to. and i don't.

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i'm not interested in ideas that sound good on paper but will never make it in the real world. in theory there is a lot to like about some of his ideas but in

theory isn't enough. a president has to deliver in reality. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was hillary clinton laying out her new attack on bernie sanders that he doesn't have what it takes to deliver. it is de ja vu for some who watched hillary clinton make a similar argument eight years ago against barack obama. >> i can stand up here and say let's get everybody together. let's get unified. the sky will open. the light will come down. choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect. maybe i've just lived a little long but i have no elusions about how hard this is going to be. >> as hillary clinton is squeezed by insurgent challenger and headlines of her campaigns

missteps things are starting to feel a bit like 2008. hillary has watched a sickening slow motion sequel. bernie sanders is no obama. he is pushing her to the edge. even her latest tv ad feels like a rerun from her first presidential campaign. >> the world a president has to grapple with, sometimes you can't imagine. that's the job and she is prepared for it like no other. a tireless secretary of state standing up against the abuse of women and girls, negotiating a cease fire in gaza. leading the diplomacy that keeps us out of war. >> reminiscent of the famous 3:00 a.m. phone call ad. >> it is 3:00 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep but there is a phone in the white house and it is ringing. something is happening in the world. your vote will decide who answers that call. who do you want answering the

phone? >> according to our nbc news first read team there are three reasons why 2016 is not 2008. obama has much more potential for expanding his base especially among minority voters than bernie sanders has now. sanders doesn't have democratic surrogates like ted kennedy. and hillary has a huge lead with democratic super delegates which means sanders starts out behind. the latest poll shows sanders maintaining strong nine point lead over clinton. there is something, a de ja vu factor. if you are hillary how do you

deal with the gradual drum beat of it is like before? >> the drip factor here is unmistakable as is the echo of 2008 where she watched it just slowly peel away from her. the great fear is that does repeat in iowa. they already were ready to lose in new hampshire and chalked that up to sanders next door neighbor factor from vermont and considered that a bummer but a survivable loss. if she loses in iowa that is a sucker punch and it hobbles her campaign. she basically bet the farm and organized the whole start of her campaign around we get iowa this time. we understand it and we are going to do it right. if she loses it it raises a lot of questions about her as a candidate and the way she designed her campaign. >> in fairness to secretary clinton 43% of caucus goers call

themselves socialist. it is a left group of people. compared to the rest of the country 43% of americans are not socialists or 43% of democrats are not socialists. >> that is absolutely true. one of the things that undid secretary clinton is probably the thing that they are pinning hopes on today which is as you move from iowa to new hampshire to places that are more diverse bernie sanders doesn't look like he is moving at all really among african-american voters and among the older voters that hillary has enormous strength among. if you look at support and lead in iowa it is based on young people, on first-time caucus attenders and independent voters. that is not the profile of people who normally go to the caucuses. they tend to be older. they have been there before. this is a turnout battle. i think bernie sanders should be happy with his lead.

the ad in iowa is fantastic. even in iowa because people who support bernie sanders are not usually the people who show up at the caucuses. >> let's see why. the question i are is what do you get out of it? you walk away from the group and go what did i do tonight? did i throw a fire cracker into the room? did i shake things up? did i send a message? with bernie you shake things up. billionaires and millionaires and citizens united crowd. with hillary what do you get coming home? what do you feel like you have done? >> i think what you get is her argument is a smart rational argument. >> you come home saying i went in there to make sure we win the general. >> that is an argument we are making and important because otherwise everything obama did. >> do people voting in primaries and caucuses think like that? >> it is a difficult argument to make because people want to be inspired and want to be

positive, aspirational, forward looking like obama was. at the end of the day they want to win and want the supreme court to be reasonable and not reactionary and there are a lot of important issues at stake here. >> last question and i don't know the answer to this. women running for office, there is a lot of action out there. why isn't that draw working for her the way being african-american as the first worked. congratulations on -- i had little part on making you guys make the case. you guys beat the drum. congratulations. and thanks to the president. thank you coming up unexpected moments can make or break a politician's career like weather events and they are no exception. look how snow can bury a politician permanently. this is "hardball," place for politics.

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we did not provide adequate resources at a time where it could make a difference. we should have been out earlier with more resources. we are very sorry for inadequate response. >> welcome back to "hardball." that is washington mayor apologizing yesterday for the city's response to wednesday night's snowfall. just one inch of accumulation brought all of washington to a stand still this week with commuters taking up to nine hours to get home. president obama's motorcade was stuck in traffic on his return from joint base andrews. his trip should have taken 25 minutes and took up to an hour. as millions hunker down in anticipation of record breaking snow storm the question is whether this city and others in its path can mount a more effective response. it is just the latest example of how emergency weather conditions can test leadership.

snow has buried political careers. case in point was back lash that brought down chicago mayor in 1979 when 20 inches of snow hammered city streets and parking lots. the public transit system was overwhelmed leaving thousands out in the cold and the mayor's response proved too little too late. >> in the cold days of january and february i took a hard look at our administration. a as a result i am establishing a new commitment to the needs of the people. >> defeated from renomination. there was the 1969 snow storm that nearly brought down new york mayor -- after the snow storm left 42 people dead, krimed public transportation and trash collection for days. today governor chris christie decided to go home to take care

of new jersey during the blizzard. earlier he tweeted i'm sorry new hampshire but i have to go home. i want to make sure the people of my state feel safe and secure. the fact is you are never not the governor. i am joined by the "hardball" round table tonight. >> the big cities especially do not forgive mayors who are out of town. let's start with that during a snow storm. >> this is something that we call a deliverable. you can see whether your mayor performs good or badly in a situation like this when there is a storm we saw this with

superstorm sandy in new york city. so sometimes people are forgiven. i think back to 1996 i remember the snow storm here in washington that brought several feet of snow. snow melts and he didn't come back. >> a mixed bag of good intentions and problems. he got away with things other people didn't. >> snow can really make or break a career. you have the storm in december 28, 2010 that really made cory booker's career. he was mayor of newark new jersey tweeting about how he was shoveling and he is now senator from new jersey. that same storm chris christie was in florida and michael bloomberg was in bermuda. they were perceived as falling down on the job.

>> is it a -- is it something that comes with the territory, get your but the home when there is snowfall. if you get three feet a lot of people will say this is historic storm and i think it is worse when you flub the one inch, two inch three inches like d.c. did. >> what happened with the mayor, we are leaving work here on nebraska avenue and you get out on nebraska avenue and there is black ice. it was just barely covering the street. buses were stopping. that's worse, a lot of times than two feet. an inch -- >> back during the blizzard of 2010 i took washington mayor to task over his slow response to the snow removal.

let's take a look at what was said then. >> washington is the city that as we all know commands the power of the world's greatest country and the resources of the planet but a city that can't plow the streets but can't get to work. talk about a metaphor. why can't a governmental town do a government job. today we had the snow plowing capability of miami. >> i watch the big cities. we have a very sophisticated mayor. everybody likes him for a while. it's time for a competition in the next primary. i think somebody has to run. the city needs a little better effort. >> we are going to come back. the "hardball" round table is sticking with us. they are going to tell me something i don't know. you are watching "hardball," place for politics. all across the state the economy is growing, with creative new business incentives, the lowest taxes in decades,

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let's give updates on our monster storm. a blizzard already only a quarter of the way through. 100,000 people without power in north carolina. that number could be maybe a million if we get strong winds over interior sections. let me show you live shot picture of washington, d.c. four inches of snow on the ground. only 20 more to go. that is how much snow will fall in d.c. here is the additional snows to fall. pink shading is 24 to 36 inches. 18 to 24 is amazing enough. let me try to break down the timing. 11:00 p.m. the storm is going to be coming off of the carolinas. heavy snow in the blue. as we go throughout the night it becomes a blizzard. that is when the winds howl.

that is when we get blowing and drifting and thunder snow. that is what everyone will wake up to just brutal conditions. people stuck indoors for at least a day. maybe two. now back to "hardball." >> tell me something i don't know. >> bernie sanders is on the march in iowa. we know that. this week iowa's supporters of hillary clinton were telling me openly she could lose the state. iowa's attorney general, her top supporter there, top elected statewide democratic official told me don't worry you can lose two but hang in there. >> what would be the strategy of telling you you could lose? >> it is expectations game. lower the bar. they know this is closing. >> when i did the same number for jimmy carter people said you

are going to lose and they still lose. >> comes from a my book and it is -- >> broad influence. it is about how women have to spend so much more time on their appearance especially female candidates. and in this case i interviewed michele bachmann and she talked about running for president in 2012. she could never sleep because she was afraid of her makeup and hair getting messed up. she never slept on the campaign bus. after every summer event she had to restart makeup and hair and took an hour and a half. >> wow. >> you and i don't have to worry about that. >> she is an attractive woman. i don't this go that was a big problem for her. ooeng that is true. >> my something you don't know is way different than that. we know u.s. weapons have been lost to isis and iraq. what we don't know is what

mother jones reported that the pentagon has no way of tracking what weapons have been lost, they can't tell you. >> we don't inventory? >> we are supposed to and the iraqis are supposed to but there are no controls. we don't know what of our weapons isis has -- >> we can't say how many we give you? thank you to our round table. coming up, two former senate majority leaders take on donald trump and partisan grid lock. weigh in on the 2016 race. that is next. this is "hardball," place for politics. toenail fungus!? whaaat?!? fight it! with jublia. jublia is a prescription medicine... ...used to treat toenail fungus. use jublia as instructed by your doctor. jublia is workin' it! most common side effects include... ...ingrown toenail, application site redness,... ...itching, swelling, burning... ...or stinging, blisters, and pain. oh!! fight it! with jublia! now that's a red carpet moment!

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with fewer high health risks and lower medical costs. take control of your health at cigna dot com slash take control. washington already four inches on the ground. that changes overnight. we are calling for 24 to 30 inches in the nation's capitol. the highest ever is 28 inches. further up to the north it is very bad in philadelphia. at least 14 to 20 inches. you could get higher towards two feet of snow. i want to go to jacob ras cone to see the latest there. >> reporter: the terminals are emptying out. there are only a few flights left. it has been a mad dash to try to get out of here before the storm. this is a really big problem because all flights here in and out and at three other airports including washington national and dulles are all cancelled. that ripples into sunday and

monday. many are believing that this is not really going to be wrapped up until the middle of next week. we are talking about four airports, some of the busiest shotting down. that effects flights all the way to california. >> one of the hardest hit cities when this is said and done. we will have more updates throughout the night. now back to "hardball." >> the high point is always to desks to schools. for your genrosied we have been able to double the number of kids who gets to sit at desks in their classrooms. thank you for your extraordinary outpouring of generosity. and it affects each and every one of us. microsoft created the digital crimes unit to fight cyber-crime. we use the microsoft cloud to visualize information so we can track down the criminals. when it comes to the cloud, trust and security are paramount.

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washington. after years of grid lock it is no surprise that 80% of americans say they disapprove of the way congress is handling its job. the anger is helping to fuel the campaigns of outsiders like donald trump who made washington a frequent target on the campaign trail. >> washington is in total grid lock. people are fed up. they are fed up with incompetence and stupid leaders. they are fed up with stupid people. >> they are politicians, all talk, no action. they don't get the job done. >> our leaders are stupid. they go to washington and they are not the same. they campaign and everything is fine and you are excited and excited about them skpmpt then they go there and they become a regular cog and raise their hand. >> i used to say we are incompetently led. it is really not good enough. what is the word we use?

stupid. >> now former senate leaders crossed the respective party lines to address washington dysfunction in a new book crisis point. they write the center can no longer hold under such mindless and unprecedented partisanship. it is no exaggeration to say the state of our democracy is as bad as we have seen it. it is a crisis point that requires significant changes in leadership and action and most importantly in mindset. i sat down with former senators. is donald trump -- i'm already anticipating your answers. is mr. trump the answer to our problems? >> would you ask somebody who has had no experience to perform a heart operation or fix your car or do anything? experience matters and it is really one of the keys. i think of some of the people who we have counted on to do the

work necessary to run the country in times of crisis whether a dwight eisenhower or franklin roosevelt or washington or jefferson. they had experience in governance. they understood what the leadership was about in driving this country. i don't see that with a donald trump or many of the others who are running this year. >> well, he's put up all those buildings, senator. look at those buildings in new york. he fights the unions. he fights the mob probably. he fights the politicians. he gets the job done. he's a builder. what do you say to that? >> add like eight more floors on the white house just think how good it would look. obviously i don't agree with him. but we'd better listen to what is happening in the elections this year. there is frustration that people are angry. of course i don't like angry politicians. i like people to tell me how we're going to stop fighting the night and create a day. give me a vision of what you're going to do for america. but bring in people -- we've had people come to washington before. in fact, president obama said

we're not going to have people that have worked in government or have been lobbyists, we're going to have a different approach. >> i know. >> by the way, that was the beginning of problems that we've had. but it's not just the president -- >> get to that point. because people on the outside will disagree with you. i don't disagree because i know people who've worked in business, they've worked in legislativ legislative, worked in law firms, they end up being good public servants. >> my partner since i retired from the senate is john breaux from louisiana. great senator, congressman. he was chairman of the medicare commission. so they were having a meeting at the white house on health care. he was invited and was going to go. they found out that he was a lobbyist and they disinvited him. one of the smartest people in the city in terms of health care, medicare needs and solutions. >> so you think the president's a goody twoshoes approach hurt him? >> i do. and look, there's a lot of blame to go around. it's not just the democrats -- >> let's start this administration. i hear both sides.

president obama is not a schmoozy kind of guy. he doesn't like to hang out with other politicians. if he sat two hours at dinner with you guys, he'd say i want to hang out with the daughters. i can just imagine him saying that. but great presidents have hung out with politicians. roosevelt used to play cards with senators all the time and make friends across party lines. but then again, on the other side, senator lott, you had people like mitch mcconnell, your ultimate predecessor, successor, who's now a leader, saying i'm going to get that guy, the number one thing i'm going to do is get him out of office. and guys like newt gingrich having meetings at that restaurant downtown with a bunch of people week, going to get rid of this bastard. i mean, this is the mentality, kill him in his crib was the republican strategy. and obama didn't want to hang out with you guys. so whose fault is it? >> everybody. there's plenty of blame to go around. and we're not focusing on trying to blame people. the reason why we did this book, we are worried about where we are in washington, across the country. the purpose of the book also is

is not to say oh, look how we got things done working with bill clinton and george w. bush. the purpose of the book is to say look, we've got some problems. what are the solutions? >> the tea party seems to be very organized. and if you're a member of the senate or the house you've got to go home to the next town meet sxug know at that town meeting there will be a guy in the back room with something to say. and he'll raise his hand and point to you and say you sold us out, i saw you on tv with the president. i mean, isn't that the way that the leadership over this city has been switched around from the leaders like you guys were back to the grassroots where a lot of these tea party members are more worried about what they're saying back home at a meeting than they are about what the leadership thinks of them? isn't that why they're not voting? >> they're not only worried about the town meeting. what they're really worried about is who's going to vote in the primary because the primary's become the most important election -- >> that's all there is. >> -- for a lot of these members now. and that's really one of the key problems is we've got to change the way we nominate our -- >> in big cities you can't lose a general election. >> exactly.

>> and in rural areas you can't lose a general election. if you're in the black caucus you can't -- if you're in the tea part xwrip the only way you lose is 23 f. you're younger and to your right. or in the big cities someone younger than you and to your left. >> we've driven people to the extremes. and the other part of it is they don't spend any time in washington anymore. they leave on thursdays, come back on tuesdays, try to run the countries -- >> once you take await air travel luns -- >> when i got elected we had four trips a year. >> and now they have every weekend. >> but one of the things we advocated in this book is bring their families so they get to know each other, socialize together, and they work five days a week, three weeks -- >> newt told his people, he said keep your wife at home. >> and that's a big, huge mistake. >> name of the book is "crisis point." trent lott, tom daschle. usu you're going to change things with this, right? >> we hope so. >> you're going to make sure they get on the desks of the right people? >> exactly. >> you have to go put them there. you'll have to demand a book report from these guys, make sure they read the book. like in high school. anyway, it's great to have you. you two guys are

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let me finish tonight with a mission president obama set in his state of the union address. it's to end malaria. now, this is a rare bipartisan mission that began with his predecessor, president george w. bush. it's about saving children, poor, many in africa, from being killed by an entirely treatable disease.

i know about malaria personally, not just from my two years with the peace corps in swaziland but to a later trip we took to zimbabwe. let me just take it's quite an experience of real misery. i can't imagine what it's like for a 5-year-old lying on the ground in a hut with the heat of the disease competing with the air all around. i was fortunate to have a great doctor here in washington and access to the life-saving drugs. i survived. millions of others, especially african mothers and children, aren't as fortunate. so i agree with president obama and the congress in continuing what president bush started. this effort needs to be funded and pushed. thanks to american leadership already there's been a huge decline in malaria deaths. 6 million lives, believe it or not, have been saved since 2000. 6 million. our generation can be the one to actually end the disease altogether. who's ever the next president, boy, that's in doubt right now. i hope this country continues to lead the world in making sure that a child never again dies from a mosquito bite. and that's hardball hardball "h.

thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> donald seems to be a little rattled. >> with just ten days until iowa, the fight between cruz and trump is getting ugly. >> when trump colluded with atlantic city insiders to bulldoze the home of an elderly widow. >> plus -- clinton and sanders continue to battle over women's health. >> nobody will be a stronger defender of a woman's right to choose than bernie sanders. >> as a new poll shows one candidate leading iowa by nearly 30 points. then, as a massive winter storm bears down on his constituents, governor christie will come home. >> they'll feel better if i'm there. >> was he shamed into returning by new york city's mayor? >> look, this is more important than politics. >> reporter: mayor bill de blasio joins me live tonight. and jeb picks up a lukewarm