>> the people of iowa. >> if you're watching in washington, d.c., you can listen to us on the radio, 99.1. "with all due respect," coming up, "hardball with chris matthews." like it or trump it, let's play "hardball." >> good evening, i'm chris matthews, in washington on the way to des moines. did he it, didn't he. he didn't show up for the big performance thursday night, but no under study there to replace him, no judy garland to step into the spotlight. no political person to take care of the difficult va not making it. yes, the whole affair from his event to the fox debate went just as donald trump planned it. he got all the attention. the other candidates squab

belled like supporting players, the story trump didn't grab for himself. just a reminder, it didn't used to be like this. i'm joined by katy tur, and paul sing singer, washington correspondent. katy, you're a trump expert. if you don't write a book about this, i'll be amazed. last night, i looked at the old newspapers, it's the old way of doing things, all over the front pages. trump, trump, trump, trump. i i'm looking at all the wire stuff, trump, trump, trump. find out what's going. he dominated. most important, nobody stepped in, except cruz stepped in to be beat up. it was his night to get beat up. not to take the place of trup. but to be beaten up. your observations in reporting, please. >> reporter: the one thing we've seen in the past several months is that donald trump has been

really able to suck all of the oxygen out of the room whenever he needs to in order to get all of the headlines on himself. he has dominated almost every single news cycle in this campaign season thus far, and he is heading into iowa on monday with all of that momentum, especially after that fund-raiser where he was able to say i'm the strong man, i am the leader, i have action, where these guys are on stage talking. i was able to raise $6 million for veterans, for you guys in that crowd, when those other politicians were doing what other politicians do. they were standing on a stage arguing and not getting anything done. that's what his supporters want to see him do. they want to make it work again. get compromises, fight for them, not the special interests, not their donors. funding his own campaign, they

think he's not behole dent, even though he is a billionaire himself. if he is able to take iowa and then potentially new hampshire, if he get the nomination, he is going to have to attack toward the center, go more moderate and reconcile those extreme views that he has worn over a certain portion of the republican electorate with and win the general election. you cannot win the general election by talking about a muslim ban, by talking about a lot of the other extreme views that he has had, his appeal to the republican base. he's going to have to find a way to reconcile that and woo others who want to see a moderate version of donald trump or a moderate version of their candidate. >> that's the way it has always been. i don't know if it's always been, but that's the way it has always been. you move to the center. in his case, he has to keep that core national is particular thing he has, and not let it crack. how does he do that.

how does he stay true to been.and be acceptable to the people that don't trust him now? >> i think that the thing that he has in his arsenal is he is good at reading a room, wooing people, getting them on his side. will that work with everybody, i don't think so. he angered a lot of minority groups, women's groups, a lot of people that don't trust him, don't like anything he says. there are those who don't necessarily like his positions, like his personality and what he'll need to do going forward is try to find a way to win them over with his personality to make it seem like he wasn't so extreme, like he's going to go in there, and he doesn't care about the more extreme social issues necessarily but they need to vote for him because he'll be able to get the economy working again, get washington working again. make deals when this congress, the past few congresses frankly have not been able to do anything. they've been at a standstill. so that's what his positives can

be. the question is, is he going to be able to convince those who have been so offended by him in this election cycle, you know he we've talked so much about him and talking to his supporters mind you, when you go outside of that bubable, there is a lot of dislike for him. a lot of hot air, nonsense, a big big ego. he doesn't really want to run the country, he just wants to win the presidency. >> i'll say from my observations, the people against trump speak so loudly. they love to let you know, very quickly, they don't like him. they think he's offensive, the ethnic stuff especially. but the people who are for him are not always out loud about it. they're quiet about it. i think there is a lot of secret support, left, right, center. that's what i'm coming across. they like something about his attitude. i'm not sure if we're going to

figure out if it can be distilled away from the bad stuff. that's going to be his challenge. he has to take away the bad, emphasize or re-emphasize the thing people find attractive about him. he does look like the front-runner. >> let me make a quick point. i've been speaking to voters quite a bit. i found one gentleman the other day who was still deciding between jeb bush and donald trump. i found that to be surprising decision he was going to make. then i talked to another woman at this veteran's fund-raiser, this veteran's event, and she said she is an independent voter and deciding between hillary clinton and donald trump. i said how do you reconcile between those two views. she likes hillary clinton, she likes that she has experience, nobody out there more qualified for this job. but there is also something about donald trump that she cannot take her eyes off of. she likes that he is bucking tradition. he's bucking the establishment and she says it's going it to be

down to the wire. she's going to walk into her local caucus station and decide just then and there who she will vote for. whether it's donald trump or hillary clinton. which is such a surprising thing. >> i think that's great reporting. >> all over the country. >> katy, you are great. i really mean this. i think that's the kind of thing going on. i was thinking as you were talking, they couldn't decide between jeb bush and donald trump. it's like i'm going to the pet store, i don't know whether to get a dog or a cat. i mean, it's so wild across the board. or a zebra. what are we getting here. this crazy decision-making. thank you so much, katy tur out of in iowa. proof that donald trump doesn't need debates, the name trump shared the front pages today, in the side by side with his republican rivals in the new york times, "washington post," the headline nchlts bc this morning was he won the debate without showing up. abc's political writer wrote

conservative headline on the druj report wrote the seven dwarfed. social media, gained the mode followers on twitter and most mentioned candidate of the night. most searched candidate on google as well. everywhere you look, the metrics favor him. let's go to the guests. katy had to go and do something else. let me get to david. first with paul singer. this night, it could have gone either way. roger ailes apparently his people were calling him to the end, come on over, fox still got a good number, but he had a lot of interest. we covered him for a half hour, you know. >> in some ways, he is playing the classic front rubber card. right. front-runners don't like the debates, and they don't like the reasons that ted cruz saw. >> he doesn't want one next week either. >> you get bloodied by everybody on the stage. he didn't want to do the debate in the first place.

saw himself ahead. he had a perfectly good excuse. he could say well, fox isn't treating me fairly. >> they did put ous the wise guy pr thing. >> and now he can walk away, not looking like he is, now oe, rejectsing the process, but saying just like a front-runner says. >> do you think he -- let me go to david. david, was anybody smart enough, when i thought it might happen, a fight between rubio and cruz, which there was, because they're two and three, the negative stuff did not work for countries, like chris wallace was very strong last night. it was a tough night for cruz. >> fierds at him first after all, tmaniac, the audience thought that was funny, but harder to hit trump and land a punch when he's not on the stage. >> yeah. >> and he split screened at

another event. trump did this from a position of strength. remember, when he announced doing it, a lot of the political class said this is risky. how can you do this. how can you nuthumb your nose i iowa's face. trump did it from a position of strengths. he knew he could drive coverage by himself, and that's unique to him. none of those other candidates could do that. but it was also personal for trump. he thought fox news went too far with that statement, answered was going to punish him. i was at his rally and he said, he sort of made the parallel to dealing with iran, which you know, you could roll your eyes at, but he said look, you can't let people treat you badly. you've got to punish them. you've got to be tough. that reenforces his brand. >> it's like haggling in business. if you go to the middle east, you have to be willing to walk away. come on back, we can do something here. you have to go to that point. any way, taking a victory lap, trump appeared to revel in

cruz's rough night. here's what he said today. >> he got really pummeled last night. actually, i'm glad i wasn't there, because i guess all of that -- he got pummeled, wow. and you know, they didn't even mention that he was born in canada, right, you know. when you're born in can darks you're not supposed to be running for president of the united states. prime minister of canada, no problem. he can run for canada. ted cruz may not be a u.s. citizen. right? but he's an anchor baby. no, he's an anchor baby. ted cruz is an anchor baby in canada. it is a problem for him. he's crashing. that's one of the reasons he's a nervous wreck too. he is a citizen of canada and a senator from texas and he is a senator from canada, joint with the u.s. how the heck does that work? >> david, did you watch good fellas, and one of the mob guys is joey two times. he says everything twice.

cruz says everything three, four, fiefr times. why does it work. why doesn't it sound redundant and stupid. he's born in canada. he says it over and over, and people seem to laugh every time he says it. >> he's talking. he's talking look a conversation. he doesn't go up there with a teleprompter or script. rarely does he use notes. he's good at it because he is a performer. look, i think what also happened is those lines that you just played there, not going to the debate, trump deprived cruz of being able to come back with a witty response, right. he could go at cruz at these rallies by himself that he knows he's going to get coverage, but cruz is a smart guy. would he have had a line for trump responding to him in it like the did the prior debate, saying your mom was born overseas, you might be ineligible too. >> that's absurd. any way, he thought chris wa

wallace was very good last night. i liked when he said it is a debate. >> wallace was able to check the issue here. he was able to take cruz on and argue with him. >> mono o mono like they like to say. >> i thought they evened out the use of the anchors the other night. nobody tried to score. i thought chris was very strong. thank you. join me at 5:00 p.m. eastern on sunday night for a special edition for "hardball," a two-hour prime time show, brian williams and rachel maddow for complete coverage. that's from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and coming up, back in the headlines, hillary clinton's e-mails in the news. the state department says 22 of her e-mails from her server are considered top secret. the clinton campaign pushing

back, saying of course they were declared top secret after she sent them. we'll get the latest. plus the biggest loser, no doubt, donald trump stole the show, and ted cruz had a target on his back. rough night for cruz. hopes to leave iowa, but can he find victory from a bruising from his fellow republicans. weekend with bernie. polls are close, too close for comfort for hillary clinton and as the clock ticks down, she and sanders are going at it. could bernie pull off a one-two punch. countdown on. just what are the final sales pitches. democratic and republican, and what could brirng thng it down wire. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

just a short time until the iowa caucus now, not the kind of

story hillary clinton was hoping see. the state department said 22 e-mails from clinton's private server have been marked top secret and will not be release to the public. first time entire e-mails from clinton's server deemged too sensitive to share with the public. over classification run amuck. des moines with the latest. how do we put this into perspective? do we know whether they were marked top is he dret before or after they were sent? do we flow thknow that? >> the state department is saying they were marked classified after the fact. i think you're asking the right question, though, chris. how do we put this into a broader perspective. the state department has released several batches of secretary clinton's e-mails. in each case, we've seen parts of several e-mails deemed classified or top secret and the state department decides to redact or withhold parts of

those e-mails. as you rightfully point out, they decided that 22 e-mails are top secret in their entirety and they're withholding the e-mails completely. the clinton campaign saying they were classified after the fact. secretary clinton never sent or received any information that was classified, or top secret. i'll read you part of a statement released by brian fallon. we firmly affirm the complete blocking of these e-mails. that pairs to be over classification run a mock. we'll pursue all avenues to see her e-mails are released consistent with her call last year. as you'll remember, chris, she did call for all of her e-mails to be released. she wants it to be off of the table as a political issue. but now, of course, this information coming just days before the all important iowa caucuses and the race here could not be tighter. we've looked at the last five polls, cl inn ton leads in three, bernie sanders leads in two. this a jump ball. of course, the last thing

clinton campaign wants is any type of negative headline that could influence caucus goers, that's the big question. how will they respond to this. that's the great unknown at this point, chris. i've been talking to voters throughout the day. of course, young voters are the key to this. a quick, both of them are leading towards bernie sanders. one said i don't think so, because i have classes. the other one said to me, i think so. i'm going to try to get there. so that's how volatile this is. but of course, any headline, any change in the headlines could influence voters. >> it gets the whole question of elect ability, the shoe drops two months from now, it's a big problem for hillary clinton. thank you, kristin. >> indeed. >> any way, "hardball" is back after this. for opportunity,

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tough night for cruz, with donald trump by cotting the debate, with such a short time until the caucuses, number one competition seemed to be hobbled. >> the only budget that he ever voted for that rand paul sponsored. >> what is particularly inn s t salting, everyone is for amnesty except for ted cruz. that's falls. everybody he knows is not as perfect for him, because weesh ae all for amnesty. >> this is the lie that it's built on. the most conservative guy and everyone else is a rhino. the truth is, ted, throughout the campaign, you've been willing to do anything to get votes. you helped design george bush's immigration policy. you want to trump trump on immigration. we're not going to beat hillary clinton that is willing to say or doing anything to win an election. >> putting the knife in him.

covering the trump campaign, republican strategist, jeremy peters writes for the new york times. did cruz people expect that salt from every direction? >> yeah, they weren't surprised by it. senator cruz had been preparing for it. it became clear that the person who then took center stage, ted cruz, then the front-runner, going to be facing the incoming fire. the headline, i asked him about that be, saying he had a rough night. cruz does what he often does, pivot to hitting the media, saying he's not surprised the mainstream media wouldn't like his performance. what matters to him is getting out here, turning out the votes. we spent a little time with our cruz down at the campaign headquarters in iowa. they talk about their 12,000 volunteers, more than 10,000 volunteers getting out there and working it on the ground. the cruz campaign will need that to actually happen in order to pull out a strong showing here

monday. >> what about his attacks, i wouldn't call them attacks, but questioning the moderators last night? he complained about that. setting up the questions, fire against him, and then you know, that didn't quite work. here it is, he repeatedly over the rules. >> chris, i was mentioned in that question. >> your name wasn't mentioned. >> i think the -- sir -- sir, i think the vote -- the question was about -- it's not my question you get a chance to respond to. it's his answer. you don't get 30 seconds to respond to me. >> i would note the last four questions have been rand, please attack ted. marco, please attack ted, chris, please attack ted. let me just say this. >> it is a debate, sir. >> you know, i think he thought it would have the same impact it did the last debate. remember the last time, he

cobbled all the questions, and trying to cause cage fights, and this time he did the same exact thing and the crowd didn't go with him. then he had to tell the joke that i have to leave now, like he's trump. >> i came off as a whiner, a big problem for ted cruz. with donald trump not on stage, everyone focused on ted cruz. they dislike him. that came off with the moderators and the opponents on stage. it was a good opportunity for everyone to file on. >> the level of detail, likes, dislikes, i think it's interesting, they didn't seem to have any problem facing him. i noticed marco rubio a strong debate tore, he faced him. he looked at him. mono oechlt mono. your thoughts? >> the debate prep that he has been doing has been incredible. i mean, it's intensive. almost every single day. he takes time on the campaign buses, crisscrossing iowa to do

it. he was ready for this. was there anybody on that stage who liked ted cruz? certainly wasn't a papparent to that they were. trump, rubio, they almost relished attacking him and piling on, just how poorly he feared in the debate. >> let's go with something -- >> you know what, chris. >> go ahead. >> i was going to talk about the like ability. vulnerability for kruz. heidi cruz spoke to the crowd about like ability, hitting it really hard. he said he is likeable. he's knotted likeable to people betraying him. it seemed to be a charm offensive to turn that narrative around. >> that's smart. any way, jeremy, you reported in the new york times that the the rubio camp hopes a trump victory

on monday will bolster rubio's standing as the only smart quote, here's your piece. the florida senator and his advisors a head to head battle with mr. trump over the next several beaks will be much more advantageo advantageous. it would complicate rubio's hopes in insides the republican party. a victory would send panicked republicans to mr. rubio. i think that's very insightful. mr. rubio, mr. preparation, everything is about preparation, in fact, to the point, everything seems like a recitation the way he talks. that he's planning to be the last saloon for the establish. if you don't like trump, you have to go with this guy. you may have problems with, he may be too young or too perky. he's the guy. tell us what you were thinking when you were putting that piece together. >> it's not only hard for markey

rubio to get the nomination with john kasich, jb bush and christie, but it's hard to do it with ted cruz in the way. you wouldn't think this, but cruz and rubio have a lot of overlap in terms of the voters that are attracted to both of them. so if cruz is there, rubio can't appeal to those voters, more importantly, the donors he needs to fight this for the rest of the campaign, needs money to do that. those people that would fund his campaign are right now with either jeb bush or other candidates, and he sees a trump victory as a way of helping him consolidate the support of those donors who would be panicked by trump winning. >> well said. thank you so much. coming up, week end with bernie, the polls are neck and neck obviously out there in iowa on the democratic side. can bernie sanders pull off an iowa upset. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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i've never run a negative ad in my life. i've been in many campaigns. you ask the people of vermont. they'll tell you bernie sanders has never run a negative ad. i don't like negative campaigns, i've never run a negative ad in my life. >> are you going to run a negative ad against hillary clinton? >> no. >> what's the difference between a negative and contrast ad? >> depends whether you're telling the truth or not. >> i like the way he looked over his glasses there. any way, bernie sanders has repeatedly spoken out about negative ads, but his campaign on thursday released a new tv spot that nails hillary clinton at least by inference for the speaking fee she has received from goldman sachs. here it is. >> goldman sachs, just settle with authorities for their part in the crisis that put 7 million out of work and millions out of their homes. how does wall street get away

with it, millions of come pain contributions and speaking fees. as long as washington is built and paid for, we can't build an economy -- i'm bernie sanders and i approved this message. >> he maintains it is not negative, but here is what he told andrea mitchell. >> ynt why isn't that a negativ? >> does it mention hillary clinton. >> no. >> he's not suggesting anything at all. he said this comes as john ralston reports that the volunteers have been posing as culinary union members to approach and try to influence the vote ahead of the nevada caucuses. they've been made aware of the faux union workers. they're wearing the distinctive local 226 pins, implying they're union members to gain access to employee dining rooms.

the deception are also concerned about the organization has endorsed sanders, despite its resent pledge to remain neutral. i'm joined by the man who broke that story. casey hunt as well as john ralston. let me go to john on this. what is the -- just explain this. why would volunteers or operatives for bernie sanders sneak into a lunchroom where workers, culinary workers at the hotels out there have lunch? >> well, chris, there are thousands of workers, as you know, on the las vegas strip and they're going to be at least i think half a dozen caucus sites on february 20th on the strip. to these workers are going to be on their breaks, voting on their caucus. this a target rich environment. this was incredibly sneaky of the sanders people, and these casinos, as you remember from 2008 were war zones back then when the culinary union did what

it is not doing this year. bill and hillary clinton went crazy. they called one of the prominent casinos they're up to no good in the casinos, it's not fair. the sanders are doing this, the clinton campaign knows about it. the culinary union says it's been resolved. they've done something that i never heard of. >> it reminds you of the 1940s. this is aggressive. let me go to case ee, and that's the ad being put out by sanders. clearly there is a reference, i'm just watching this being hillary clinton taking that $600,000 in speaking fees from goldman sachs, which bernie sanders talks about all the time and an ad from goldman sachs. i mean how do you not say that's about hillary? >> i think it's definitely a stretch. bernie sanders has used that tack on hillary clinton over the course of the campaign, talking

about these speaking fees. so the stretch is not very difficult. the sanders campaign did wrestle with this question. you can see sanders himself in some ways wrestling with how negative he wants to go. the fact that he doesn't run negative ads is very important to the political brand he is selling. so if he goes too negative, too aggressively, there is some risk there for him. there is also some risk in him not doing it. if you look at how secretary clinton could be attacked, this idea on the speaking fees, and second of all, on political calculation and whether or not she's being honest, that honesty and truth worthiness number and that's the tack you're hearing from sanders on the campaign trail. at reallies, he talks about how she switched her position on doma or on trade. he basically is insinuating she's doing it because it's politically convenient. the question is, how far is he willing to go to try to lockup these iowa caucuses.

>> well, staying with you for a second, is he going for a knockout? i mean, it looks like he's moving ahead of her in iowa from back here in washington. if he's moving ahead, why he is taking the risk of looking like -- she doesn't want to be seen as. a negative politician. why would he take a risk, unless he wants to make sure he wins out in iowa and then he makes sure he wins in places like nevada, because he can knock her out. that what he seems to making the risk toward. >> the other thing going on too is he is sending mailers to people in iowa that have logos for the aarp and the league of conservation voters displayed on the mailers. it doesn't say he has gotten endorsements from these groups. they've endorsed hillary clinton and asked the sanders campaign to take the logo off of the mailers. so i mean, clearly, there is more to the story and more going on at this point, but i do think that the question for him is if

he wants to take this all the way home, does he want to look back and say he didn't do everything possible. now, i would say dirty campaigning is in one category. attacking your rival is in another. that happens all the time in political campaigns. i don't know anything is necessarily making a moral judgment about that one way or the other. but you know, i think that he just has to decide, okay, am i going to put it all in. while he has been on the rise for the month, month and a half, both sides is hillary seems to have the slight edge going into the last final week end of campaigning. >> yeah i should have -- i should sl said negative. the way he talks to you if inn that interview, he seems that's really dirty, that's the kind of thing he wouldn't do. john, what do you see as the nevada outlook for the caucuses, what do you see winning there? i suppose it's tight in iowa, what happens in nevada? >> that's a very interesting

question, right, chris. i mean, hillary clinton campaign has been here much longer than bernie sanders. she has hired a lot of the people from both her own campaign in '08 and obama's successful campaign in '08. they know nevada, been here for about a year now. bernie sanders came in late. his people don't know as much about the state. but it's going to depend as you and casey were talking about, what happens if he does go all out and ends up with a victory in iowa. he'll probably win new hampshire. he has that momentum. don't forget in the caucus here on the democratic side, they're going all out to get huge attendance. same day registration, a fear in the clinton campaign here that a lot of those new registrants might be i didn't think people who might be bernie folks. so i think she has the advantage, but i don't think it's a lock by any means. >> she won it eight years ago, i'm sure she wants to win it again. thank you both. coming up, closing arguments,

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i'm melissa, here's what's happening. one of the three inmates who escaped a week ago is back in custody. he turned himself in earlier today. two others remain at large. iran says it flew a surveillance drone in the persian gulf. the u.s. navy calls the action unprofessional. and affluenza teen ethan couch in court today. the judge held him at a juvenile facility until it's decided whether he'll be transferred to an adult jail. back to "hardball." we don't need another

gridlock political debate that difficult individua divides us. if we are passionate about what we can get done, and that's exactly what i'm offering you, and asking you to support on monday when you go to caucus. >> welcome back to "hardball." it's go time. that was hillary clinton making her closing argument and final push in iowa ahead of the caucuses. the crucial first test for the democratic nomination, also one that hillary lost eight years ago. her challenge from the upstart campaign is putting clinton on the ropes and weaning hours taking to the democratic front-runner. >> it is great to be against the war after you vote for the war. it is great to be for gay rights after you insult the entire gay community by supporting doma.

it is great to finally kicking and screaming, come out against the tpp, but where were you on all of the other trade agreements. >> it's go time for both parties, with candidates having their final pitch delivers a win. round table tonight, michelle bernard, jonathan allen, author of hrc, and molly hemingway, let me start with you john. i had the sense a nascar race and bernie just passing hillary in iowa. he needs a little bit of extra juice and so he's doing the negative ad. they sometimes get you the last thing you need. >> two things that work here. he knows that he needs to make a contrast and say i'm different enough from hillary clinton that you should care about the differences between us. number two, he is signal to democrats he can take on republicans in a general election. not just stick a daisy in the

barrel of the gun. >> it's retro friday. >> san francisco, wear a flower in your hair. >> he wants to show you has muscle. >> why do you risk a negative ad when you have -- you think you're mr. perfect. i'm going to stick it to this opponent right now. >> i don't see that as a negative ad. >> the way they avoided prosecution, the fat guys in new york got away with it, ie, hillary clinton? >> wait. >> but the way he says it for example does not come off as other ads we have seen as most definitely negative ads. >> who else could he be talking about? >> well, he is talking about hillary clinton, but i'm telling you, when it comes from bernie sanders, i don't think that most voters see it as a negative ad. i think it is a brilliant strategy and when bernie sanders, who has defended hillary clinton in debates. >> right. >> leave her alone, stop talking about the e-mails, nobody wants

to hear about it, when he makes a comment like he did or insinuation about hillary clinton, people also remember that this is a man that stood up for her. >> i've shown tape of bernie sanders going after her. now he closes with the argument, that's how they evaded prosecution. it's not a question whether you should be taking money from wall street. he's saying that's why they weren't prosecuted. because hillary clinton took the $600,000. i think it was a negative ad. your thoughts. >> going negative is one of the few tried and true methods to gain ground when you're in a tight race. it might be a gamble that pays off. i actually agree, it was not a terribly negative ad. he has treated hillary clinton with kid gloves. he's merely point ougt that the ex siexcitement big business wos with government. >> what i was laughing at before

is what constitutes a negative ad in the democratic primary, right, so if you're barack obama, you say change, you can believe in. you can believe in me. not she is a liar. it's basically the same message. democratic don't want to hear that in their primaries for whatever reason. >> the round table staying with me. they'll tell me something i don't know. this is "hardball." the wolf was huffing and puffing. like you do sometimes, grandpa? well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor.

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5:00 p.m. with a special edit n edition. brian williams and rachel maddow for complete msnbc preview. we'll be right back. ♪ 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. ♪

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face the criticism. think about how brutal they were for ted cruz and marco rubio. imagine what they would have had -- >> roger and his people made the mistake giving him what he needed, an overt reason. >> they should have shown the video tape. >> i thought they were going to do that. i thought they were going to ask those questions out loud and throw them out to the general direction of donald trump. jonathan. >> i was out in des moines last week and the best swag on the campaign trail is definitely ted cruz's. his super pacs are enundated people with all kind of things, these t-shirts with ted cruz face on them that says choose cruz. i a lot of campaigns want people to buy things for them. they are giving it away. >> maybe because nobody wants them. that might be a reason. >> tell me something i don't know. >> i'm going to be talking about flint. you know how upset i am about it.

on january 2nd, flint, michigan officials that are poisoning people, i want to quote them real quickly sent out a memo that said although the water in flint failed to meet treatment requirements, there is nothing you need to do unless you have severely compromised immune system, have an infant or are elderly. however, recent reports have shown that flint, michigan's administration, the governor's administration felt differently about state employees and long before they admitted there was a problem with the water in flint, they were providing state employees with bottled water. there's a problem. >> that happens in bad countries. thank you so much. our round table. coming up, some dessert on this friday night. donald trump's all time greatest quotations. we'll end with that tonight. hardball back after this. i'm f 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.

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we're back. from the boardroom to the presidential campaign trail itself, donald trump has immeshed himself and the brand in our psyche. trump has surprised us with

statements like that. >> apologizing is great thing, but you have to be wrong. i will absolutely apologize some time in the hopefully distant future if i'm ever wrong. >> it's not been easy for me. it's not been easy for me. i started off in brooklyn. my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars. >> how stupid are the people of iowa? how stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap? >> rand paul shouldn't be on this stage. he's number 11. he's got 1% in the polls and how he got up here, there's far too many people any way. >> carol, thank you for joining us. it's a very good looking little book. did you study the quotations of chairman because it does look like the little red book? >> i didn't really study it. you talk about the similarity. here are both of them. very similar. >> how about the faking of the two men, the ego.

would you compare the two? >> what. trump has the sense this gra grandiosity about him. i was so astonished by the things that trump was saying. it just came to me that it's so similar to the quotes. >> i don't think he's seen it yet because the hard bound copy only came out this week. i'll be interested in his response. he'll probably tweet an attack on me. >> thank you for coming on. the book is called quotations from chairman trump. everybody will buy this thing. that's hardball for now. thanks for being with us.

at 8:00 p.m. i'll be joining brian williams and rachel maddow. it's going to be a short weekend. we're getting into politics fast on sunday. tonight on "all in." after a trumpless debate, the gop front-runner tests out a new line. >> ted cruz is an anchor baby in canada. >> why ted cruz is switching his attacks to marco rubio. just in time for the caucus caucuses, the e-mail issue is back for hillary clinton. >> these documents were not marked classified. bernie sanders battles his poen opponent and the washington establishment. what the iowa ad blitz feels like. >> not only is the news stories