just like with every election. >> it is, but auto in iowa. >> in this case, even more so. >> than any other. can you remake the electorate. always fun. thank you. we'll be back with more tomorrow with "mtp daily." it's not heaven. it's oi way. with all due respect starts right now. i'm mark halperin. >> all respect to other candidates in iowa, today yet again, all about the donald. >> happy, donald trump did what? sports fans, hello again, mark, bloomberg politics, iowa caucus mission control at the downtown des moines marriott.

frothy lather that he does not intend to take part in the fox news debate here tomorrow night. the donald makes this position from a mission of strength according to a brand new bloomberg politics national online purple strategies, he leads the field with 34%, trailed by marco rubio at 14 and ted cruz at 12. the one bit of not so good news for the front-runner, 71% of voters, 71, that's a lot of voters, could still change their minds. you can find the full results at blumberg politics.com. no shortage of opinion across the i'd logical spectrum. talk radio land, rush limbaugh said in this business, one of the games is that when the media calls, you answer. when the media wants, you go. that's the game. trump is so outside this game. so outside the rules. never been a player in the game. always been an outsider.

from an altogether different perspective, even josh earnest, the white house press secretary couldn't resist from the podium. >> the president himself noted that he was not a big fan of participating in presidential debates, but he never backed out of a debate two case before it was scheduled to be held. i think that demonstrates his own commitment to the process. and you know, making good on one's commitments. >> so you got limbaugh and you got earnest, more importantly, the trump reaction from trump's rivals from the nomination. listen to chris christie who had this to say on boston herald radio today. >> listen, i think that donald trump has made -- he's making a big mistake. i think any time you get a podium and microphone and 15 to 20 million people watching in an election campaign, you should take it. and he's not going to do that, i'm glad he's not coming from my perspective.

more time for the rest of us on the stage. >> marco rubio and rand paul, they also had things to say, chiming in by criticizing trump's move. mark, here's my question. a little less than 24 hours since he dropped the bombshell. how do you think the decision is looking. >> initial impulse was strength. he doesn't need it. that means it will be about beating up ted cruz and trump does best when he's acting from his heart and gut. he was insulted by fox news and doesn't want to be part of their debate. since then, i was in the lobby smartest people that covers politics that said this could be a big miss take. i'm not convinced this is a mistake. iowa ans might mind. i think he might show up. >> there is that. let's put that aside for a second. as you know, my initial reaction was there are risks here. i think there are risks here no not because the people of iowa will be insulted because i don't

think people care about them as much as we do. ush ae not going to expand any support. that opportunity goes away. every other network is going to cover his alternative event if he holds it. by and large, the same thing you think. one day later, what has not happened, the world does not come crashing down on his head. >> the rnc hasn't come after him. >> right. praised for being strong, i hate to find myself agreeing with rush, but he looks like he's bigger than fox news. >> that's pretty big. his supporters like him when he's big. plenty of debates. i don't think people are going to say he didn't debate enough in iowa. they've been -- donald trump feuding with megan kelly since last summer. he said what pushed him over the edge to not do the debate was an unusual statement that fox news put out from the press shop. took a poll of his followers whether he should skip the debate, fox issued a remarkable

snarky retort. bill o'reilly on fox news tonight, but all day today, fox news did not cover this controversy nearly as much as we watched it, as cnn and msnbc did. they would love to have him at the debate. how much blame do they have? >> pretty much all of it. i like to annoy my liberal friends and maintain the idea that fox news is a news organization, even though they have clear-eyed logical slant. this is nothing that any news organization would ever do under any circumstances. it's just. >> or should do. >> or should, yes, i mean, it's a ridiculous thing to have done. i don't know what got into someone's mind to think this was an appropriate thing to do to any of the participants in this debate or potential participants, let alone the front-runner. >> they're keeping it at it. she did an interview with extra, saying it would be a bad decision to not show up at the

fox debate. she should not be commenting as a moderator. >> i agree. >> they say we were threatened. if you were a news organization, you couldn't get involved with fighting with the people -- >> you don't get involved with mocking the people. that's what it was yesterday. it was funny, maybe, you know, opinions will vary on that. but openly mocking the people you cover is not really what our business should be, and especially if you're hosting a debate which is supposed to be a neutral platform for the sake of voters. >> they should not let the candidates pick the moderators. >> right. >> they put themselves in a position now where if they want trump, they're going to have to give something else. they're not going to remove her nor should they. they put themselves in this position. >> let's be clear that none of this goes to the questions around trump and megan kelly. trump's behavior previously will megan kelly was inexcusable. he was wrong. should have been criticized for that.

in my opinion, he was out of bounds in that area when he said some of the offensive things he said about her. none of this has anything to do with this instance, which fox is tweaking him. >> they thought they had the biggest, last debate before iowa and now it's been downgraded. >> republican party said there will not be an empty chair if he does not show up. some discussion of that previously. after ted cruz came out last night and challenged him to a one-on-one debate, the donald tweeted, quote, can we do it in canada. kind of cheeky. you speculated that trump could change his mind at the last minute and show up thursday night. you've been hinting to that. that would -- what are the different ways in which this debate debackable drama could play out.

>> debate prep, two sets. one with trump in case he shows, one without. ted cruz come news this i think having gierd his mind up to say this is going to be a trump cruz confrontation. who is going to come after him. huckabee -- not huckabee. i'm blanking here. >> rubio. rubio is going to come after him. and i think none of them really know what the dynamic is. there hasn't been a dynamic without trump. i believe trump has the power and influence. fox says they're not going to be an empty podium. they'll have one to wheel out in case he does show. >> how much does the decision im fact the ratings. we don't know. >> tuning other channels watching trump. >> that's what i mean, to check out his alternative event, assuming that happens. how small will the audience be. the second thing that's clear the main impact is on ted crews. with the two front-runners, they could have assumed they get

attacks. now everyone will be focused on cruz. last night in the hotel where cruz is staying, late last night after the iowa city hotel event, there was no doubt talking to them that they were talking about we have to throw the prep debate book out. >> it's not just target to other candidates, target of the moderators, they're going to ask hard questions. >> if this was part of trump's game here, which it obviously was, he succeeded. >> nicely done, mr. trump. >> our breakfast with bernie sanders. we'll be right back after this.

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minnesota yesterday. there was no reprevious though, even with sanders out of the state, intensifying back and for the between sanders and clinton. there was a new york times story that quoted the advisors as saying the campaign start running some negative ads against clinton who was trying to raise money off of those quotes. sanders talked with lester holt about his chances in iowa. >> what's what's your bar for success in iowa? >> winning. >> number one. >> i mean i think that we have worked really hard. we started off in iowa later than secretary clinton did. she had her ground organization in place before we did. she has more money in the bank than we do. but in the last number of months, we have put together an incredible volunteer effort. we have some 15,000 volunteers. and let me be very clear about this, lester. on caucus night in iowa, you will be able to tell very early,

i think, who wins and who loses. if there is a large voter turnout, we're going to win. >> so the democrats have their own debate about debates in the last 24 hours. sanders declined to participate in a last minute, unsanctioned scheduled debate for new hampshire that nbc news was putting together with the union leader, clinton said in an interview, after sanders declined with chris matthews, she said this, something that's going to be on hardball tonight. >> chris, what i said to my campaign is that i would look forward to another debate. i am, you know, anxious if we can get something set up to be able to be there, and so let's try to make it happen. >> would you like the chair of the democratic national committee to approve the msnbc/nbc debate next week. >> i would like the chairman of

the party to agree that we can debate in new hampshire next week. that is what i'm hoping will happen. >> okay. >> so clinton has some new ads up here in iowa that are not quite negative, but certainly, some contrast with without naming sanders. lots of back and forth, even with sanders in d.c. who is faring best. >> i think sanders is faring best. he gets to be at the white house today. a little makeup for president obama seeming to put the thumbs in a podcast earlier this week, but getting to be at the white house, getting the invitation, very good for sanders. >> why do you think they agreed to do that, given the timing. >> i think the president made a mistake going as far as he did with that podcast. >> got over his skis. >> as though they felt for the sake of fairness, they owed it to the sanders campaign to have him in. >> yeah, i think sanders, this clinton ad isn't one of her bast ads of the cycle and i think

she, as i said yesterday, her team is much less off balance in the less 48 hours. >> i agree. >> sanders white house visit to me psychologically is a big deal. it puts the brakes since the last debate. she as the heir to obama. >> she has i think looked, sticking with my position on sanders oning the last 24 hours. she has looked good challenging him on this debate question, you know. being for debates is a better position to be in. it's clear she needs this debate in new hampshire. >> voters are obsessed with -- >> she looks like she's calling for more discussion. you know what i'm saying. just as the democratic race here in iowa is essentially a two person contest, sorry about that governor o'malley, the republican side for a while now has looked also like a head to head matchup. donald trump versus ted cruz for the top spot on caucus night with everyone fighting for the bronze metal at best.

in this very room, hosted by ourest steamed colleague, al hunt, ben carson had some things to say about that wisdom. >> i want you guys on monday night or tuesday morning to remember what i'm about to tell you right now. you're going to be surprised. >> what's the surprise? >> the surprise is that there are going to be a lot of people who will do a lot better than you think you're going do. >> yourself included. >> myself included. >> so mark, ben carson, is he right about the possibility they're going to be a big surprise, not just in terms whof wins or anyone in the field. are we going to wake up and say hey, wow. >> i don't think it's likely. been a lot of polls. he said, we asked him, why would the polls be under counting your support. he said i have a lot of new people. trump has a lot of new people and i think cruz has a lot of new people. polls do talk to new people too.

when you call and find new people. >> i do, i do think, though, that, you know, cruz and trump are not conventional front-runners. things about them that make them unusual, and think that i in the end, that's not ben carson calling, i think in the end, that i wouldn't be surprised if somebody ended up, and that's not the front-runner, with ten points higher than they currently are at. there is enough flux in this, including not for carson, in the establishment lane. a ton of establishment vote unaccounted for in the polls. >> the biggest potential surprise is marco rubio somehow bolts over ted cruz into the second place. i'm not saying a likely surprise, but that's the one, in rubio world right now, you hear people talking about that right now. >> the way that happens is, look, the establishment, the other establishment candidates got nothing going on right now. >> collapse. >> if they collapse, rubio could jump up.

all right, coming up, a legendary journalist, tom brokaw joins ut rig-- us right after t.

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>> that is nbc's tom broke ca, circa, 1988. some things never change. mr. brokaw, our first guest tonight. let me ask you, as i look at that picture. that's a younger, i wouldn't say necessarily handsomer, but younger. i was not yet on social security. >> that's right. how many caucuses have you covered. >> 80 for the first one. >> i was covered ford, so i didn't get here for jimmy carter, but i have been coming ever since. >> as you look back on all of them, what is the -- what's like the most memorable of the caucuses you covered. >> this will be in my judgment. this is a wildest time that i can remember. the other one was howard dean, all the way up to saturday night looked like he was going to pull it off. >> in 2004. >> and he finished third. so it's been a cautionary tail to me.

iowaians decide late as we know. we expect fewer going to the caucus sites. this time it has jumped ball. i was just looking at dwayne thomas, and before super bowl, sportswriter said to him, my god, this is the ultimate game, isn't it. he said if it is, why are they going to play it again next year. >> this gets criticized even more than new hampshire, because it's a caucus and don't have participation. downside of iowa and reasons it's not great. tell people why i think this a dprat pa great part of why we pick a president. >> we need to have the first contest. i've been doing a story is iowa the right place given the rules and the nature of the state. i've always been persuaded that probably all things considered is a good place to start. >> upside to the rest of the country, why is it fitting and proper that we let them have the

first crack at it. >> they take it very seriously. it is middle america. it touches on a lot of economic basis. i mean, a lot of people don't realize that insurance business and banks business is as big here almost as agriculture here. it's a perfect example of what's happening in small cities and large cities about how it's being revitalized. i grew up in this part of the world. they take their civil responsibility very seriously. if it were up to me, i would put iowa, south carolina and new hampshire in the first week. you get a regional representation as well as a cultural representation. >> all in the first week. >> i would do it all in the first week. >> that's never going to fly, because they're not going to get it done. i did a paper at harvard at one point about dividing it up by time zones and having a drawing. we have all the states in the mountain time zone would be the

first tuesday, two weeks later, all in the central time blown and maybe the eastern time zone and then finally, you know, you pick up the mountain time zone. that's not going to happen. i do think that a lot of iowa is driven by us. you know, we make it important quite honestly. >> they build it, we come. >> and we, you know, and we don't just put on an extra coat of paint. we build gardens and terraces. >> so donald trump deciding, announcing he's not going do do the fox news debate, the last one before the caucuses tomorrow night. there has been a lot of discussion in that. >> he loves it. >> he loves it. some of it has gone to media criticism, and people are saying, you know what, it's the news media that have empowered donald trump, they've fallen down on the job. they've allowed it to occur. what say to you to the question of whether or not we have all, we collectively all done a good enough job with trump. >> i think we've had a part in that. a lot of people understand, and

i said to the people who come after me on it, hey, look, we put donald trump on and everyone listens, and the ratings go up. we're not doing it just for the ratings purposes, but there is an interest. he can say things that are just patently not true, you know, 20,000 muslims that were celebrating in new jersey, clearly not true. so there is this constant examination that goes on with him. this decision on his part, i saw his top team at lunch, they were all jacked up about the endorsements. i think this might have been a late decision, and i'm sure with almost all on his part, during the middle of the night, i woke up and i thought i wonder if he's playing stall ball. i wonder if he figures i've got it locked up, i don't want to take a chance on cruz taking the pins out from under me. he's going to dominate the news

cycle until tomorrow night. i've got to show up, they're right, i won't be surprised. he has owned us for the last 30 hours by having done that, and create a lot of attention for himself when he walks on that stage. he'll be a plus, everyone else will be c plus. >> you've met a lot of people all over the world. can you think of anybody, u.s. overseas, in politics, not, who is like trump? >> in italy, probably the closest example. >> i've made that comparison before too. >> that is probably a wild cat as well. >> when ask you first meet trump? what were the circumstances? >> i tell you when i met 4ihim the today show and there were some beautiful relief places on the facade. >> you got him booked on the today show. >> he couldn't understand why everybody was upset about it. these were really important parts of new york, historical

precedence about how they built things on fifth avenue. he put up the big gold t, people didn't stand around and have their pictures taken, they do stabbed around in front of the big gold t. he has been a self-promoter as long as i've known him. he said recently about the muslims, i remember brokaw, i never cared for him and i helped prop up his nightly news ratings on his show. he used to say come on and spend a weekend, you know, he once had me introduce a heavy weight fight. >> i have to cut you off. i would love to keep you talking all day long. thank you. coming up, the democratic and republican parties after this. customer trust. 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.

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last several days for you all, you and your staff has bp workiwork a lot of new people engaged in iowa and around the country. what caucus night will be on the democratic side. explain the logistics. >> a great night. before 7:00, so we need you in line by 7:00, you can find the location and everything. go to your precinct, go with your friends and neighbors and talk about the three candidates. >> to how small to how large. >> just a couple of people and sometimes there is hundreds of people. so it can really vary and depending on the turnout. >> they could have 1,000. >> they could, super ones, yes. >> chairman kauffman, they're a little different, but just describe for people if you show up at a republican caucus, what happens? >> conversation about the candidates, a lot of times, each one of the candidates will have somebody designated to say

tomorrow great things about them. a little conversation. >> time limited, or they can talk as long as they want. >> no, they can set their own rules. typically a few minutes for each. some conversation and then the vote. >> okay. what do you guys do, what have you done in the course of getting ready for this to prepare for eventuality for things that could go wrong. >> microsoft is working with us with an app, a lot of testing. 1681 for both of us. we have all the pacts out and chairs, just a lot of moving parts. we keep testing, testing and retesting. >> a lot of technology involved here. >> absolutely. >> your party had some difficulties four years ago. talk a little bit about specifically how you have addressed the rid dilled the caucus problem. >> we addressed those head on. our microsoft app is going to be key to transparency, internal checks and such.

most important thing we've done, over 300 trainings, all volunteer led caucus and paid for by the parties, unlike primaries, paid for by the secretary of state and the taxpayers. so we have trained and retrained and retrained our folks that are there on the ground to make sure that we get the results back through the microsoft app. second thing, i'm not going to, make a call in terms of who won if it's too close. back in 2012, it was one of the closest in american history. i'm not going to make that call if it's close. finale, reform that we've made. 48 hours, we're going to verify everything with the paper trail. so 48 hours, there will be an official count. >> so what's the standard for a so close that you would not make a call? how close does that have to be. >> last time it was 34 votes out of 120,000. if we're in the hundreds, i'm going to talk to the people advising me very carefully. >> fewer than 1,000 votes

separates the winners, you would say hold on, we're going to wait? >> i think so. and the thing is, this is the beauty of our app. the democrats and republicans have. the media is going to see what andy and i see before we go out there. so in many ways, you scan draw the same conclusions or different conclusions than what the parties draw. >> one of the criticisms you both know of the caucus process, the turnout is not particularly robust. you've got three candidates, you have more than that. what do you see out there that might lead to higher turnout than we've seen typically? >> yeah, and there a big difference between caucus and primary. 15 minutes you're gone. caucus, you're buying off more time. you can expect more of, or a little bit lower turnout. >> has your party done anything to jack turnout. >> the candidates themselves, and everything surrounding what the caucuses are about and the fights and elbows, et cetera, all of that helps. >> you're saying republicans never been engaged being

involved by. >> a lot. i said honest to goodness, none stop calls. i mean, literally seconds between each call. last night, i was there from 7:00 to 9:00. >> asking how do i caucus. >> how do i register as a republican, where do i go, you know, sometimes they'll say making sure the parties fair, nothing is rigged, all of that, those kind of things, which the last one, impossible to do. but more activity than a lot of the old-timers around the party have seen ever to be quite frank. >> you haven't had a caucus here for eight years. >> not a competitive one. >> what is your sense of how it's going to go. >> i don't think we'll get to 2008, but i think we'll have a good turnout to your question, it's about organization. we have three great organizations, and they are all over the state. i've been traveling all over and you see people everywhere for all three of our can gaits and you see fieldworkers for all of

24e78. i think it's that organization that's going to help the turnout this time. >> what's the one thing you worry about most? >> snow. >> snow? >> you don't like snow? >> well, when he talked about the volunteers, we have a lot of moving parts that night and they're run by volunteers, and they're very conscientious and want to do a great job. if they can't get to the places or get other people to their precincts it's hard for them. >> what time are you going to wake up? >> i don't know that i'll sleep. i mean literally. depending on how long you leave us alone. >> we're not going to let you sleep very much. you might as well get -- brew some coffee. >> chairman of the a wiowa republican campaign. ted cruz both here in iowa, after this word from our sponsors. so if i wanna go to jersey

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don't be late. >> the future and destiny of america could very well be decided monday night in iowa. >> you're going to be the first america is going to be hear from. >> i don't think iowa can be won from a manhattan t studio. >> we thought they were big events, never in the small coffee shops. whereas cruz is probably more grassroots than what donald trump is. >> i told him we would be praying for him and told him we would be caucusing on monday night. this is our first time to be involved in the caucus. >> i will be here until all of you are gone. i'll stay here as long as it takes to shake every hand, kiss every baby, sign every book. >> there are a lot of undecided voters, and we're going to get marco around the state this weekend, to hear his message, they'll come our way. >> caucusing for senator rubio on monday?

>> i'm prepared to support marco rubio. >> i think committed to rubio tonight. it was tonight for me. i just like what he has to say. he aligns with my beliefs. >> we are continuing our bus tour across the state of iowa. the iowa caucuses are 147 hours from now. committed to to come out next monday and caucus. >> i thought it was pretty humbling for ted cruz to walk in this old church in a small town in bloom field, iowa, come in here, dressed down like we were, and kind of, you know, just kick it with us for 20 minutes. monday, i plan to go to the caucus and support ted cruz. she was on the fence coming in here today. >> i've been a huge ben carson lover, and i've kind of been in favor of marco rubio, so this did seal the deal for me. >> we've got now over 12,000

volunteers in the state of iowa. we're making over 20 thousand phone calls a day. our volunteers reaching out to voters. >> you're going to see a get out and go and vote on the cruz campaign that we've not seen on the part of republicans ever. >> even if it's colds, snowing, we have to get out. >> after the end of the event, i hope we've earned your support. if we have, please fill out these cards. >> these are commitment cards. supporting marco at the caucus next week. >> we've been working hard. we make tense and thousands of phone calls. people decide that they want to support marco, those numbers have ramped up a lot. >> i ask to sign up so we can stay in touch with you. we're going to bombard you with emails for like five more days. >> you'll show up next monday night, 7:00, sit through about an hour meeting, write down marco rubio on that piece of

paper, and you can leave. >> three kids, i have to find a baby-sitter so i can go to the meeting for two hours. it might cost me $40, $50 to go caucus. it's always a challenge. >> time is always an issue, but we'll make time, because it's important. >> it takes some commitment and the willingness to be able to speak. it doesn't seem difficult or something that's going to take tons of time. >> this is the time for the men of women and iowa to join us, and number two, to bring others. if everyone of you gets nine other people to show up and caucus, you will have voted ten times. that is how we win. >> vote ten times, i think that's a tremendous idea. we'll be taking some people with us to caucus. >> that will be really tough to drag them with you, hey, go with me and vote for the same guy. i'm not sure that's realistic. >> committed to to come out next monday night and caucus for us.

stand up and speak for us. be with us. >> when you go caucus next monday night, we must choose a nominee for this party that wins. i will win. >> god bless the great state of eye way. >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. >> our thanks to griffin hammond. coming up, our reporters, all brillia brilliant, after this. does printing from your tablet to your wireless printer give you a jolt of confidence?

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well, donald trump alternative plans during the debit tomorrow have been more concrete and now just moments ago by his campaign thursday night, tomorrow night at the clock eastern, the same time the debate, trump plans to do, a benefit for veterans organizations. he'll do that instead of the debate. at least as of now. we'll talk about that in a minute. we want to set up a little bit

of important topic in iowa, which is money being spent on television ads. a lot is being spent here in iowa. you see candidate ads, super pac adds and other organizations advertising across the board, nonstop to get some perspective on that and interesting facts, here is our blumberg contributor, ken goldstein to crunch the numbers. >> reporter: when all is said and aired in iowa, $77 million will be spent on old media, tv and radio to influence the half million iowa would a ten the caucus on fb february 1st. $13 million spent in the last week. republicans have spent $50 million. $41 million of that coming from gop groups, not candidates. pro jeb bush right to rise leads in spending with $15 million, yet the bush campaign hadn't

spent any money at all in iowa. the two neck in neck front-runners. donald trump spent 3.6 on iowa ads, ted cruz spent $2.1 million. on the democratic side, the sanders and clinton campaigns are equal. spending roughly $3.7 million on advertising in the coming week. as far acetons tone, finish lin over all, the big dollars aren't backing negative ads. so even in an age of new media, lots of dollars on old media. >> reporter: all right, our thanks to ken goldstein to talk about advertising. donald trump and everything else going on here, our blumberg politics colleagues, welcome all. john mccormick, start with you. what is your sense of how the cruz campaign feels regarding all these negative ads against them, the trump gambit and where they stand? >> first thing i want to say is

you've done a nice job with the place. this used to be a bar. >> sticky floor. >> you could get free pizza on friday night. the attack, cruz is under attack. everybody is under attack in the state of iowa on both sides of the race. cruz has maybe peeked a little too early. we thought he was doing so well. i was on a bus tour with him then, he seemed to have the situation under control. of course, he has come under attack since trump since then and as ken mentioned on the previous segment, tons of advertising going right now. so much noise in the state right now, you have to wonder how much is getting through to voters. the candidates are here, the media is here, advertising going, a lot of competition for those ears now. >> do you think there is some chance that possible cruz could slip out of second place and rubio might bolt over him. >> i don't see that happening. i mean, i think the social

conservatives will be there for cruz. you know, trump has managed to peel some of those away, but i think those people will stay fairly solid for cruz. >> let me ask you real quick, margaret, the white house, you covered it for a long time, what's going on with barack obama and bernie sanders and this event today, the core -- >> it could be the conspiracy where he gets more than he wanted to on hillary. he feels like he walks back scenario, be for the conspiracy theory. trying to get bernie sanders to change his mind on the fda. it's also just as likely that scenario three, which is less sexy, that the president has met with hillary at the white house, needs in fairness to meet with bernie sanders. >> does he meet to meet with him just a couple of days before the caucuses. >> either that or after, where the scenario could really change. if bernie sanders wins the caucus, goes into new hampshire and full speed ahead, then

president obama meets with him. >> i feel they should have gotten the schedule a couple of months ago. >> absolutely. >> the bowling alley events, tell us about that. >> hillary clinton went to a bowling alley, but did not repeat in 2008, which was bowl. she went back to the bowling alley. >> pack man, space invaders. >> she did her speech and did some time just on the rope line, shaking a lot of hands. >> people bowling? >> no, bowling was on hold. there was no bowling to be had. i didn't see a single bowling ball any where in the place. maybe secret service got rid of them. >> are they unsettled or back on track. i get the sense -- >> i think they feel okay. i think they've been, all along, putting a lot of weight into the organization, rather than the candidate. i would say she's doing a solid job on the stump, but very much the same job. she got most fired up about

inversions, about the johnson control, perfect for bloomberg, but really getting fired, basically we bailed out this auto company, and then they go ahead and they decide that they're not even going to pay the u.s. taxes any more. it was this populous fire that seems like what bernie sanders does. maybe the most powerful moment she had in the last couple of days. >> shawn, on the republican side, go back there again. there is this debate, we know the trump gambit has gotten a lot of attention. take the focus away from trump and think of the other republicans. what are they all doing, thinking now on the eve of the most republican debates, precaucus? how does the trump thing screw up their plans or maybe create some opportunities for them? >> i think it potentially create ace problem for cruz, because everybody is coming after him if trump isn't on the stage. if you're a candidate, you have to prepare for scenario a and b it's possible that trump shows up.

i don't think you can have all of your trump attack lines per nan -- put in place. receiver of attacks, cruz, if trump isn't on the stage. rubio is going to try to make a mark here. he's done well in all of the previous debates. he has gotten pretty good scores in the debates. rubio will try to shine and who knows, maybe, maybe nudge cruz out of second place. it seems unlikely. >> as you watch them talk to staffers, do you get the sense they're having fun out there, or are they getting tight an nervous because monday approaches. >> i think bernie sanders is having fun. much more fun than he thought he would be having. >> i don't get a lot of sense of fun or joy. there is a lot of -- i think that right now, they're just trying to pack in as many

events, get as many people engaged in possible. if there is some fun along the way, that's fine. i think fieldworkers are having fine, that's why they do the whole thing. >> let me ask you about this debate between sanders and clinton right now, you know. clinton asking, saying i want the debate in new hampshire. sanders say let's debate in california, other places. it seems totally cynical to me. they want it in places where they need it. do you think ultimately there will be a resolution where everyone will give and they'll say let's have a whole bunch or a stalemate. >> probably a stalemate, because i don't think the dnc is willing to budge very much. i think the executive director of the dnc don't want to go in the direction of that. they were firm. they've been out on a limb for a loong time. that's where they are. >> jennifer, margaret, john, enjoy your time on the stump covering everybody. a lot of candidates left.

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all right, mark, so it's the end of another day. my time to did you, who won the day, but obviously we know who won the day, because we that would be donald j. trump. who else won the day? >> well, i think trump won the day so decisively, i'm not going to tell you how big he won the day. he just tweeted something out out moments ago, he's not not doing the debate because of megan kelly. he's not doing it because of the press release, which is what he said yesterday. i think it's important for him to stay on that message, because he needs a justification. people have underestimated it, to benefit veterans, rather than sitting at home. >> bernie sanders for getting to go to the white house. we're on the tube 5 and 7. tomorrow, bush strategist and

rick tyler. >> thanks for watching. you can listen on 99.1 radio. thanks for watching. "hardball with chris matthews" starts now. last chance debate. let's play hardball. good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. hillary clinton wants another big night with bernie, the former secretary of state said she would be happy to hit the stage with bernie sanders and martin o'malley. she told me earlier today that she hopes the campaigns will agree to sanction the february 4th debate hosted by the new hampshire union leader and msnbc. meanwhile, the contest between clinton and sanders is getting heated. a new q