join us tomorrow. we'll be here with "all due respect." keep watching us and keep on the website. and until tomorrow, sayonara. up next, "hardball with chris matthews". trump and sanders, could both win? let's play hardball. good evening. i'm chris matthews. what could be the wildest week in moerp american politics. could it be that voters, real people heading to a cold night in iowa will give victory to the twin candidates of historic change. donald trump promises to make america again. bernie sanders will stay here to the last year of his presidency. could iowa choose both? could the two names loom in the

headlines of the tuesday morning newspapers? could this be the start of something big in america, or something the latest tectonic ship of the country's reasonably centrist politics? here's where the race stands on the republican side. according to the latest poll out of iowa, trump leads by 11 points. trump is up 11 points since earlier this month. cruz is down four. trump continues to lead big in new hampshire. 31% there compared to cruz's 14%. and rubio's 13%. one reason is cruz's constitutional eligibility. trump tweeted it's time for cruz to settle his problem with the fact that he was born in canada, and was a citizen of canada, or get out of the race. he also talked about this weekend including a crack about cruz's support of the keystone pipeline. >> all conservatives want the keystone pipeline. you know who's going to appeal

that fast? ted cruz. he's from canada. i never thought of that. this is a first. ted cruz will approve the keystone pipeline because it benefits canada. it's great. he could be the only guy who will run for president, then run for prime minister of canada. >> according to "the wall street journal," donald trump made his decision to start skewering senator ted cruz as his private jet was approaching new hampshire earlier this month. ted's hanging around the top too long in the republicans. according to his campaign manager, time to take him down. howie jackson in iowa following the cruz campaign. perry, political reporter for nbc news. david drucker. thank you all. let's start with halle. it seems to be a paper bag you have to bang your way out of if you're ted cruz on this constitutional eligibility issue. i'm looking at polls thinking a third of republican voters think there's a problem there. how does he get out of that without sounding very defensive? i'm an american, darn it.

what is he supposed to say? >> by pivoting, chris, frankly, to more attacks on donald trump and highlighting what he and his campaign believe are the lack of conservative credentials that trump has. that's what cruz does every time you ask him about this. he believes this is a settled matter. he immediately turns to attacks on donald trump's policy. not personality, as he would be the if irs to tell you. he said today he likes donald trump. he think he's bold, brash, and has energized the electorate. but he's hit trump on 15 different policy topics just in the past week. >> ted cruz's constitutional law keeps racking at him. how does he deal with that? >> ted cruz tries to make it, as trump is a liberal democrat. >> let's look at this. cruz today called -- actually, trump called cruz a nervous wreck, and tweeted, cruz going

down fast in recent polls. dropping like a rock. lies never work. now, that is tough stuff. this fight, you know, we're going to -- i always try to think writing the news headline the next day. what will it say the next day if trump wins? it will say he scored on the question of constitutionality. it's the one thing that happened in the last couple of weeks in which cruz is going down a bit but trump going way up. >> two weeks ago, cruz leading most polls. trump starts talking about being born in canada, raises the debate. cruz did well in pushing back, but trump has raised a lot of questions in voters' minds. it appears to have worked. cruz may have got ahead of the polls too early in some ways. he hit a month for trump and rubio to attack them and they succeeded in doing so. >> david, what do you make of this fight of why it has shifted so dramatically in two weeks? i can only think it's the

doubts, the old power of suggestion, the power of suggestion, the voters saying maybe he's not a natural-born american. >> i'm not sure exactly myself. i think there are a couple of things to look for here. first of all, donald trump has a knack for controlling the sort of narrative, right? it's not so much, i think, that voters at large on the republican side worried about cruz's eligibility. but it's that he took control of the debate and what everybody was talking about. that naturally means cruz is on the defensive having to explain this. i think the other thing, chris, and this is really important to understand, is that every candidate in this race, at least the leading candidates, have been knocked around pretty good. with the exception of donald trump. the primary superpac that is supporting ted cruz finally goes on the air after almost a month of cruz getting battered by trump. when do they finally go on the air? today, with a week left to go in the caucuses. >> what are they saying in the ad? >> it's hard to fight back if

you're not actually spending money on tv. >> let me go back to halle. what are the knocks going to be on trump? >> the first ad shows donald trump several years back, basically endorsing ted cruz saying, i like ted and listing all the things he likes about it. what cruz supporters see is the effective ad that paints trump as simply not conservative enough. it reprises him of trump's comments made to tim rustert on "meet the press" in 1999 when he talked about his stance on some of these pro-life issues. >> did he come out for partial birth? or against it? >> this is what he said back in 1999. that he was in support of partial birth abortion. trump obviously now says he is very pro-life. and has talked about this is -- this is what he talks about that lies never work from ted cruz. some of those tweets just coming in from donald trump tonight.

>> in recent days trump has tried to distinguish himself from cruz in getting things done. >> everybody hates him. i mean, he's such a nasty guy. everybody hates him. he can't talk. think of it, not one united states senator has endorsed him. not one. i think i'm going to get along great with a lot of people. i got along with democrats. with the republicans. with the liberals. i get along with people. people like ted cruz will never make a deal. no, you cannot have that. and you know what? let's get to the establishment. we need to get things done, folks. believe me, don't worry, we'll make such great deals. at a certain point you can't be so strident -- ronald reagan would get along with tip o'neil. and they would sit down. and they'd make great deals for everybody. that's what the country's about, really. >> this is so interesting. in a matter of two weeks he's hit three points. first, the one that worked about the constitutionality of the guy who's from canada. had elived there for a couple of

years. he had an american mother, he said he's constitutionally settled as a natural born. that's not good enough. one-third has a doubt about you. the second one, he took the big loan, what did he call it, un -- >> the goldman sachs -- >> without collateral. collateralized loan. that snuck out at the wrong time. now he's saying he can't make a deal. now i saw a poll that ronald reagan and tip o'neill agreed on things when they had to. i just saw a poll that said most people would like to see people who could make a deal rather than just were res oh late in their ideology. >> two things fascinating in that clip. first thing, donald trump comparing him to ronald reagan. the figure of republicans, saying i cut deals like ronald reagan. i'm skeptical of that. but a smart argument to make. that he could make deals. a lot of democrats really do not like him. the second point is, donald

trump calling someone else strident. very funny. >> anyway, is cruz responding to that one, halle? or just ignoring the one saying, you're no deal maker, nobody likes you? you can't win that argument. >> he's turning it. what tread cruz is doing, chris, is flipping this around and making it the fundamental choice that caucusgoers and voters have to make. cruz is saying, yes, the establishment doesn't like me, and wrapping himself in it and running with it. when it comes to being unable to make deals, ted cruz runs on that, too. look at what happens in washington, with republicans having some power, and still being unable to put bills and put things on the president's desk for him to veto. so cruz is taking these attacks and turning and running with them, because i believe that the campaign thinks that's the best strategy for them to prove to conservatives that cruz is the one that's backing them. it potentially comes with risks in a general election and beyond, chris. >> who is the argument, the deal

maker, or the guy who marches to his own drummer? >> in a primary, a candidate who marches to his own drummer will make the day. but cruz is standing on principles. what you the voters want me to do, not just to get along in d.c. if ted cruz wanted a story line in the final week against donald trump, this is the story line he wants. now let's see if it works. it should work based on everything we know about the republican base. if trump has mixed up the republican base and turned it into something else, it may not work as well. >> anyway, this weekend, donald trump joked, you could say, his base of support was so solid, almost nothing could stop him. even if he shot someone in the middle of fifth avenue. here he is actually saying this. let's watch. >> the people, my people are so smart, and you know what else they say about my people? the polls, they say i have the most loyal people. did you ever see that? where i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay?

it's like incredible. >> let me go to perry with that one. clearly it's metaphorical, or whatever the word is. it's hyperbolic. obviously if he shot something on fifth avenue, he would be arrested and go to prison for life. it's not a real statement. what does it say? >> ben carson went up and then went down. carly went up, then went down. trump has had this 25% in iowa, new hampshire, the core of voters deeply concerned about immigration, syrian refugees. he's got -- marco up and down some. trump got a good core. the question becomes as the number of candidates go down in the race, is the core gets bigger or stay the same? he's going up in iowa. so the core is getting slightly larger. >> david, he seems to represent like in a big city, ethnic area, somebody loyal to, the guy stole

a few bucks, okay, the guy did this, they're so loyal to the person. we've known them all, irish, black, all sorts of ethnic groups, people are so loyal to them, no matter what infractions they commit, rhetorically or even criminally, the guy says, yeah, but i'm with him. it seems that way with trump's people. >> i don't think trump's being inaccurate. i think he could go in the middle of fifth avenue and gun down -- >> new york's finest would be there to take care of the situation. >> but i'm -- >> he's making a point that's borne out by the polls. when he gets a supporter, and the polling shows this, they don't go away. other campaigns have noticed this. all i would say is that if you're going to try to take down trump, you've got to spend money on television. we don't know how teflon he is until they actually do it. >> howie, last word about cruz, is he going to win this thing? do you think he's going to win? are they confident? >> i think the campaign is

feeling good about the organization, and the resources on the ground. as you've heard ted cruz say repeatedly, he's not trying to take votes for grantd. this comes down to, as you know, organization. can you get out the vote? that's what this is going to be about in one week from today, chris, can trump bring out that big tent, all those people who haven't previously caucused? he's got a real shot at winning. if cruz can bring out the people who have caucused, the hard-core supporters, he's looking like he could be in a strong position. >> i think it could turn out to be the third of voters in either party. if they show up, it's good night for trump. if it's too cold, it's good night for cruz. thank you. coming up, with a week to go before iowa, it's a dogfight among democrats, sanders and clinton. president obama's openly praising his former secretary of state. the democratic fight straight ahead. keep an eye on ohio governor john kasich, he's on the move up in new hampshire. he joins us from the campaign

trail tonight. is michael bloomberg serious about running for president and should we be serious about that? finally, let me finish with two fast-moving trains about to leave the station, and the difficulty of stopping either one once they do. this is "hardball," a place for politics.

new numbers on the republican race. let's go to the "hardball" scoreboard. march 1st, donald trump is on top. trump has 39%. ted cruz 29%. marco rubio, just 13%. in texas, where voters also head to the polls on march 1st, home state senator ted cruz is at 45%. trump with 30%. and rubio at 8%. march 15th in florida, trump dominates with 41%. ted cruz comes in second with 22%. marco rubio in third at 18%.

jeb bush doesn't even come close, he's at 4% in florida. we'll be right wack. that is until one of you clips a food truck, ruining your perfect record. yeah. now you would think your insurance company would cut you some slack, right? no. your insurance rates go through the roof... your perfect record doesn't get you anything. anything. perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. iand quit a lot,t but ended up nowhere. now i use this. the nicoderm cq patch, with unique extended release technology, helps prevent the urge to smoke all day. i want this time to be my last time. that's why i choose nicoderm cq. i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. and give her the strength and energy to stay healthy. who's with me?! yay! the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. with 9 grams of protein

and 26 vitamins and minerals. ensure. take life in! it's gotten squarer. over the years. brighter. bigger. it's gotten thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks.

x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. welcome back to "hardball." now the democrats in a recent interview with politico, president obama basically endorsed hillary clinton. >> the other thing that i'll always remember is the shear strength, determination, endurance, stick-to-itiveness, never give-up attitude hillary had during those primaries. i mean, we had as competitive and lengthy and expensive and

tough primary fight as there's been in modern american politics. and she had to do everything that i had to do, except ginger rogers backwards in heels. >> the president went on to say he would like to see more women in politics generally. >> my number one priority is having a democratic president succeed me, and i think there's no doubt that -- that given our history, i want more women in politics generally, and i want my daughters to feel that there's nothing they can't do. >> this comes off a banner weekend. at least newspaper banner weekend for hillary clinton, in which she received three major newspaper endorse. . iowa's des moines register, and

the concord monitor, and the "boston globe." a political correspondent for msnbc, and mar sella garcia with the "boston globe," and opinion writer with the "washington post." i think these matter when people read the editorial pages. when you sit down on the board, did you hear from all the candidates before you made the endorsement? >> absolutely. yeah, we met with all three democratic in the party. we spent a great deal of time debating, how the interviews went, and how they performed. we were particularly impressed with hillary clinton, obviously. and so we decided to go with her. >> that's a change from eight years ago, right? >> yes. well, the paper endorsed president obama. not president obama back then. and, you know, it was a controversial decision back then, from what i understand, from what i hear. i wasn't here then.

but people in this state are very much supportive of hillary clinton. in fact, she went on to win the primary. the state went for her rather than obama, despite our endorsement, despite the support of the other elected officials here in the state. but yeah, she's definitely a different person obviously. she has been tested. she has eight years more experience. she was particularly impressive on her handling of foreign policy issues. which really, really made us go for her. >> marcella, let me ask you a tough question. i hope you can answer this factually. how many women were on the editorial board back in 2008 and how many are on there now? >> how many women? >> yes. >> how many women right now? we have one, two, three, four, five, six out of about 12 people. >> that's good. that's a good match. >> back then i have no idea. i'm going to have to pass on

that. i really have no idea. obviously there's people that are currently on the editorial board who were members back then. but again, from what i hear, she pretty much was a rock star here in the state. people love here here in massachusetts. >> let me know sometime. i'm curious about that, if you ask around of the i want to know whether the number of women in the room affects how a room decides things. casey, i thought you were great yesterday. that's a serious comment from me. there's something you said that really explains to people who weren't paying as much attention as we are, somebody was talking the usual line about, oh, these people were excellent presidential candidates. they just can't campaign as well as the others. you just made the point that all these so-called better at general election candidates haven't come across to the voters as big as the people like sanders and trump. i thought that word big was pretty good. your thoughts about this race?

hillary versus bernie sanders right now? >> i think that is what it takes, chris. and i do think -- i was talking specifically about the republican side in that instance that you're citing. i think that's a lot of these guys who tried to take on donald trump haven't been able to stand up to him in that way. i think on the democratic side, there's been a certain degree of surprise that bernie sanders has turned out to be the kind of candidate that can potentially stand up to somebody who is as big in the imaginations and minds and history and culture of this country as hillary clinton, and her husband bill clinton. she's getting all these endor endorsements, the support of the labor unions. she has this locked down in a way we haven't seen in a while, which is why so many people have discounted bernie sanders. what he's been able to do is generate the crowds and make an unexpected mark, and suddenly seems like a force that is big enough to take her on. he's doing it on the force of

these policy ideas. you're starting to see the clinton campaign respond issue by issue. just today there was some talk about two big companies merging in a corporate inverks to avoid paying u.s. taxes. of course, this squarely in bernie sanders' wheel house. there are a lot of examples he's driving the debate in that way. >> let me go to the counterforce, to use your term, to jonathan here. president obama who hillary has been clinging to, like guns in a bible, the whole thing, he's been clinging a lot to the president for a lot of good reasons. he's a more centrist democrat. the fact that he's basically endorsed her -- by the way, we quoted from it. it's pretty adulatory. how gutsy she was and steadfast in the pri hears after she lost to him, in iowa last year when they fought in 2008, she really was an impressive heroic figure there in new hampshire.

i was for obama. i thought she was heroic. i think he's telling the truth. but is it going to matter? >> here, chris, let's be clear. the president didn't directly come on out there and say i endorse hillary clinton for president. in the clip you played about how the president wants more women in politics, it was in response to a sort of underhanded, in a good journalistic way, approach of glen thrush to get him to endorse hillary clinton by asking him, how would it feel to you to be succeeded by the first woman president after the nation's had the first black president? and he dodged. but the president did everything walking right up to the line in saying all sorts of nice things about -- as you said, adulatoy things about hillary clinton, while also saying nice things about bernie sanders. because as we all know, if hillary clinton becomes the democratic nominee for president, she is going to need

those bernie sanders supporters, she's going to need their enthusiasm and need their votes in the general election. nobody wants to tick off the bernie sanders voters. >> i did think there was something personal, though, in what the president said in that interview. you know what he said? he said i want my daughters -- you know what i mean here. you talk about your kids. i have a daughter, too. she's very ambitious. i think she's -- she's up at harvard now. i'm impressed by what women are able to do. the doors have opened in the last 40, 50 years. some people are walking through those doors. i think it's pretty impressive that the father who's a president, and a father, is talking about his daughters, viewing the world if hillary clinton is the president. he did say that. >> absolutely. yes, absolutely, the president did see that. look, as the president said in that interview, you know, he is in a very reflective mood. he is in that space where he can take a step back and look at his

presidency and look at what's going to come after him. and if hillary clinton becomes the next president of the united states, i think he'll be extremely happy with that result. >> okay. i want to thank marcella for joining us. i think your editorial means a lot. i love the globe. who doesn't love the globe. >> thank you very much. >> casey, you're getting smarter and smarter. some outfit you got on out there. >> it's a little chilly. i don't do well in the cold. >> you need some earmuffs anyway. up next, he's got a successful record as a congressman. but an anti-establishment year. is that the right resume? i want to talk in a minute -- a lot more minutes than one with presidential candidate john kasich. he's coming here. this is "hardball," the place for politics. pitch you investment opportunities. i've got a fantastic deal for you- gold! with the right pool of investors, there's a lot of money to be made. but first, investors must ask the right questions

and use the smartcheck challenge to make the right decisions. you're not even registered; i'm done with you! i can...i can... savvy investors check their financial pro's background by visiting smartcheck.gov being hacked and intellectual property being stolen. that is cyber-crime 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. we're building what we learn back into the cloud to make people and organizations safer. and feeling good, sort of.n and real, and 500 calories or less. the clean pairings menu. at panera. food as it should be.

does printing from your tablet give you a jolt of confidence? then you might be gearcentric. right now, get this hp printer for 50% off! office depot officemax. gear up for great ®. yeah! ahh... you probably say it a million times a day. ahh... ahh! ahh... ahh! but at cigna, we want to help

everyone say it once a year. say "ahh". >>ahh... cigna medical plans cover one hundred percent of your in-network annual checkup. so america, let's go. know. ahh! and take control of your health. cigna. together, all the way. look, i think we're doing well in the polls. we're up in second place in most places. it's better to be up than down,

but what it all means, i think come election day, we're still not going to know who's going to win. >> wow. welcome back to har baud. there's talk of a kasich surge up in new hampshire, after the polls showing the ohio governor taking second place behind trump in the granite state. kasich needs to win over a large share of the independent voters that represent a majority of new hampshire's electorate. there's no predicting what they'll decide to do by election day. new hampshire law, independent voters can vote in either the republican or democratic contest. as the boston globe noted this weekend, voters in the state are notoriously late deciders. independents can switch between the democratic and republican contest voting in whichever contest they find more compelling the day of the primary. such gyrations are injecting another element of uncertainty in what has been an utterly unpredictable season. kasich is the only republican with a net positive favorability rating among new hampshire's

independent voters. that means that the more independents show up for the republican contest, the better kasich is going to did. i'm joined on the phone right now by ohio governor john kasich. governor, thank you for having us. let's talk about independents. what is your appeal to the independents up there, who won't regionster democrat or republican? >> chris, i've taken a can-do approach. you and i worked together for years when things got done. what i tell people is rather than living on the side of the street we're down, why don't we live on the side of the street where the sun's shining, and realize we can solve the problems of the border and social security and get the jobs going again and get the wages up. i'm just telling people i've seen it throughout my career. i even refer in the republican town hall meetings to the efforts of tip o'neill and ronald reagan when they fixed social security. we can't spend all of our time

fighting. that's a national security issue, too, don't you think, that people around the world look at us and think what the heck's wrong with that country? >> i watched you, governor, you used to play basketball late in the afternoon like a lot of guys did. it was called heart attack prevention. i remember one time you used to play with ron with the people's republic of berkeley, and you would find a way to cut the gold plate from the defense budgeted. you're two guys, conservative and liberal. so i know ma can be done. >> what i try to tell people is, i know we have problems. but let's just not stay here and worry and not get things done. we win the white house, we're going to call the tune. republicans then have a right to set the schedule. but we're going to have to have a few democrats who come on and help us get things done. we're not going to fix social security without bipartisanship. we're not going to be able to do a lot of things unless we bring

people together. republicans are cheering, too. it's not just the independents. what's funny is everybody's been saying all along, how are you going to distinguish yourself, and now people are saying, you're the only positive guy. and that's pretty cool. >> i hope so. your campaign responded to a text from jeb bush's superpac over the weekend. let's watch that. >> what happened to jeb? he had the name, the money, the support, and yet a luke-warm message, weak debates and sagging polls have left jeb attacking john kasich in desperation. john kasich is a leader. he shrunk government, balanced budgets and cut taxes $5 billion. there's a better, brighter way. john kasich. >> there's a little talk floating around, the national review that has been negative on trump. suggesting in other articles, they have different opinions throughout the magazine apparently, that you and trump

would make a ticket. i'm not laughing, you are. why are you laughing? >> because i'm not even commenting on that. you know what, people have a lot of time on their hands and they have to write a bunch of stuff, right? no, i'm not laughing. look, chris, actually, there was a -- there was some kind of a poll out of boston, out of a radio station in boston that did a pretty good poll, and they asked time with trump among residents. you've known me a long time, i'm an independent guy, i'm a republican, but i'm a conservative. but we've got to see with the pounding they're going to give me over the next couple of weeks, can i close the deal. if i do, i think coming on your show, and you're talking about everybody else, you put me on and i think you're like, oh, i don't know about kasich. all of a sudden, you see? i'll tell you what it is.

because you know this, too. gordon humphrey said we have the best ground game he has seen in new hampshire in 40 years. we've got people coming in from all over the country. we've got great people here in new hampshire. i think ground games win in a crowded field. >> i've been hearing you telling me you're going to win since you pulled me in that side room four or five months ago. i root for you because i think this campaign can hear your voice and be better for it. thank you, governor john kasich. >> all right. chris. always good to talk to you. >> we'll be there. donald trump is the final expectations in his run for president. but could it be another billionaire coming in to shake the race up again? michael bloomberg's potential third-party run, for whatever it's worth. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. one second . then, woosh, it's gone. i swear i saw it swallow seven people. seven. i just wish one of those people could have been mrs. johnson.

[dog bark] trust me, we're dealing with a higher intelligence here. ♪ the all-new audi q7 is here. ♪ i'm in charge of it all. business expenses, so i've been snapping photos of my receipts and keeping track of them in quickbooks. now i'm on top of my expenses, and my bees. best 68,000 employees ever. that's how we own it. you're down with crestor. alright! now there's a way you can get crestor for $3. adding crestor, along with diet, lowers bad cholesterol. crestor is not for people with liver disease, or women who are nursing,pregnant, or may become pregnant.

tell your doctor all medicines you take. call your doctor if you have muscle pain or weakness; feel unusually tired; have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of serious side effects. ask for the crestor $3 card. ask your doctor about crestor. whfight back fastts tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue and neutralizes stomach acid at the source tum, tum, tum, tum smoothies! only from tums

i'm melissa rehberger. a houston grand jury indicted two anti-abortion activists accused of making undercover videos at a planned parenthood. it called to cut off government funding to the organization. planned parenthood was cleared of any wrongdoing in this case. a manhunt continues for three inmates who escaped from a california prison on friday. authorities are asking for the public's help to locate the three who were said to be extremely dangerous. there is a $50,000 reward for information leading to their capture. at least 41 deaths are blamed on a massive winter storm that dumped more than two feet of snow in some areas. some deaths were caused by traffic accidents while others were resulting from shoveling snow. and donald trump is speaking at a rally in farmington, new hampshire. the candidate has been touting his poll numbers and sharpening his attacks on rival ted cruz. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball."

a new york state of mind, the campaign trail now, how did 2016 turn into the year of the new yorker? hillary clinton is the two-time senator from new york. she touts her new york values on the campaign trail. donald trump, he's a republican, of course, he's from queens. he's a real estate mogul whose buildings dot the sky ofs of new york. bernie sanders born in brooklyn. each time he rails against the billionaires. and wow, word is out that independent michael bloomberg, the wall street mogul, and three-time government am city mayor himself will drop $1 billion to make a run for the house, he says if bernie beats hillary. here's donald trump on a potential bloomberg run. >> i'll have to deal with hillary clinton if she doesn't go to jail, or bernie. or bloomberg comes in, with i would be great, i love the competition, frankly. i would love bloomberg to come in.

>> i love the way he talks. the "hardball" round table to figure out this new york city subway series. huffington post political reporter, and "washington post" martha. i don't have any idea. my theory about this guy, and i like bloomberg, i think three terms was one too many for new york city, but that's okay. i don't know what he does in the electoral college. i suspect he doesn't win any electoral votes. but he takes away florida from hillary, has a shot at winning connecticut and he's pro gay rights, pro abortion rights, anti-gun, anti-big soda. what does he do except take votes away from hillary? i don't think he can decide when he says he's going to decide before hillary is out of the race. i think hillary will fight this out until june. i don't think he'll know if she's out of the race. >> a, that's absolutely right. >> all of it. >> all of it. we can go home now.

he wants to run, period. >> sure. that's the first factor. >> if there is trump or cruz on the one side, and a bernie sanders on the other. the problem of the logistics is this. he kind of has to make a decision whether to run, which is to say, to start the spend the money, and he's already spent some money to get on the ballot in all 50 states. >> by march. >> by very early march. once he does that, he's basically in it. so he won't know where hillary is by that point. >> will his going in hurt hillary? just going in? >> going in, not sure. staying in, yes, for sure. though the bloomberg folks argue that the polling suggests otherwise. >> give me other names. who's doing all this blabbing? >> but bloomberg in the race draws moderate republicans.

>> is he more interested than staffers? >> he's interested, and you know if you stood to make money on a michael bloomberg campaign, you might be interested. >> you're warmly agreeing. >> i think that this is michael bloomberg's obsession, particularly. he's a guy who's incredibly successful. one of the most successful men on the planet. makes donald trump look like church change. >> and he's made money through communications. >> and he is a studious guy who's always holding dinner parties which he holds forth about how dumb these other politicians are, and how he could figure out how to run things. >> he was at roger roman's house, a big new york democrat. and waxing on hillary's deficiencies last year. >> right. he was a pretty good mayor, most people would think. however, this has a certain groundhog day feel to it. including the fact that it

happens right around february every four years. >> does he do this? >> he says, i've got to do. now's the time to do it. >> as my dad would say, is the money burning a hole in his pocket? he wants to spend the money? >> it's that. >> that's a big pocket. >> it's a big pocket. also, he would hurt hillary enormously. which is why donald trump says come on in. because then there would be a real new yorker for ted cruz to run against. and make donald trump look conservative. >> i think hillary clinton, in all fairness, is sort of a hubert humphrey, a democrat's democrat. black and white and hispanic, most of the democrats. we'll see. if he comes in, he goes right there. >> yeah. >> that's where he goes to. >> this isn't really about the other candidates. when you are that rich, i think you're surrounded by people telling you what you want to hear, which is that you can save the country and you should be president. so he does this every four years. he sends out these -- >> he's seconding that emotion. >> no one ever takes it seriously. the country is not clambering

for michael bloomberg. especially this cycle. >> does anybody ever stand up and say, michael, you're full of it? >> i haven't actually heard anybody ever do that. but again, i think that this would be an enormous help to donald trump. what also must gall him is donald trump went and did this. donald trump is doing what michael bloomberg -- these titans of new york -- >> the billionaires are so jealous of each other. who is richer. >> bloomberg is so much richer. >> $11 billion? >> like $41 billion. >> what do you do with more whatever? >> i asked somebody the other day, so a billion? that's like the limit? because that's not that much for a presidential campaign. but that's table stakes, just to

get in the game. >> these democrats are saying that he has -- >> on the mayor's race he spent more than that. >> i don't know. i don't like -- i'm a prejudice guy on some issues. i didn't like the iraq war. i don't like voter suppression. and i hate third-party candidates. people should pick the person they want to be president. otherwise stop crapping around. this country can't afford another ralph nader number. w. winning over al gore. the round table sticking with us. these people tell me something i don't know. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

get fast-acting, long-lasting relief from heartburn with it neutralizes stomach acid and is the only product that forms a protective barrier that helps keep stomach acid in the stomach where it belongs. for fast-acting, long-lasting relief. try gaviscon®. for fast-acting, long-lasting relief. iall across the state belthe economy is growing,day. with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in the hudson valley, with world class biotech. and on long island, where great universities are creating next generation technologies.

let us help grow your company's tomorrow, today at business.ny.gov tina fey this weekend, reprising her role as sarah palin. just days after the former alaska governor herself endorsed donald trump. >> trump and his trumpeters are right-winging proud clingers of our guns, but he can kick isis' ass, because he commands fire. >> i hope nobody's allergic to nuts, because we've got a big one here. she's two corinthians short of a bible. >> the best part is, much of what tina fey used in that monologue wasn't written by the

"snl's" writers, but taken from palin's speech itself. i've been blind since birth. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. learn about non-24 by calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com.

i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. and give her the strength and energy to stay healthy. who's with me?! yay! the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. ensure. take life in! i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business...

that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

we're back now with a "hardball" round table. >> bernie sanders picked up a important endorsement today from a state lawmaker in south carolina. he help to lead the fight to get the confederate flag taken down. he's the lawyer for walter scott, the black man unarmed and shot by police officers. he switched from hillary to bernie. >> that's good help. >> here's everything you need to know about how ted cruz approaches politics. he and his campaign decided they should send water, bottles of clean water to people in flint, michigan. they only sent them to people who were anti-abortion activists in flint. only those people. you got to protect the unborn. we'll worry about the rest of the people. >> did they have to mark the front of their househouses? >> you have to worry about the other people. >> i'm not going old testament. for some reason women voters,

the hillary clinton campaign learned respond better to male validate validaters. instead of younger women, you're going to see more guys. >> with deep voices. >> more guys with deep voices. >> you know who bill clinton is, he's the big validater. >> in addition to him. >> that is so weird. great reporting. who knows what to make of that. thank you. thanks for our roundtable. when we return, let me finish with my two fast moving trains about to leave the station and the difficulty of stopping either one once they leave. we're talking politics. you're watching the place for politics.

soup and sandwich and clean and real, and feeling good, sort of. and 500 calories or less. the clean pairings menu. at panera. food as it should be. does the smell of a freshly fill you with optimism? do you love your wireless keyboard more than certain family members? is your success due to a filing system only you understand? does printing from your tablet to your wireless printer give you a jolt of confidence? if so, you may be gearcentric. someone who knows that the right office gear helps you do great things. and there's one place that has it all. office depot officemax. gear up for great.

thcompetition, it's protecting buscustomer trust.not every day you read headlines about governments and businesses being hacked, emails compromised, and intellectual property being stolen. that is cyber-crime, and it affects each and every one of us. microsoft created the digital crimes unit to investigate and fight cyber crime. we use the microsoft cloud to visualize information, so we can track down the criminals. using our advanced analytics tools, analysis that used to take days to run, we can now see in real time. and we're building what we learn back into the cloud to make people and organizations safer. when it comes to the cloud, trust and security are paramount.

our passion is making life tougher for cyber criminals, and making it safer for you and your customers.

it's a week to the iowa caucus. a huge night for both parties. if he does, this could be a long battle indeed. it could out last the one eight years ago between president obama and clinton.

for the republican it's a question of who gets in the first punch. if it's donald trump, if he's able to beat ted cruz, it's hard to say where he can. if he knocks him down there, he's more than likely to do it in new hampshire. if he can't, this battle like the democratic fight, if sanders wins next monday could go on and on. the most influential result next monday night will be wins for both sanders and trump. that would put the mark and prove hard to take off. it will say to the voters that this country is in a winter of discontent. it could become a spring of disconte discontent, a summer of discontent and then an autumn of disconsent. those that don't believe that last spring's discontent would not lead to this past summer's discontent. if you want to have an influence on all of this, you better get out there and vote.

once the train starts rolling it will whistle through the country. i've noticed there's a thrill to fast moving train. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts now. tonight on "all in". >> 177 hours and iowa will speak. >> one week until the first votes are cast, ted cruz is slipping in the polls. >> he's from canada. he will run from president and prime minister. >> people see ted cruz and worry about authenticity. >> president obama weighs in on 2016. >> i think bernie same in with the luxury of being a complete long shot. >> and whether he would compare bernie's campaign to his own from 2008. does the one time gop front-runner still have a chance? we'll break down jeb's path