as we age, certain nutrients longer than ever. become especially important. from the makers of one a day fifty-plus. one a day proactive sixty-five plus. with high potency vitamin b12 and more vitamin d. good evening. i'm stove kor neve kornacki liv manchester, new hampshire. you're watching coverage of the new hampshire primary. ahead in this hour, marco rubio rises. ted cruz stalls. and donald trump is still on top. but trump's been here before. how does he plan to avoid another disappointing finish on tuesday? team christie and team bush are targeting rubio, but will their efforts only end up helping

trump? and how divided are the democrats? eight years ago in unity, new hampshire, barack obama and hillary clinton came together at the end of their long campaign. can bernie sanders and hillary clinton do the same after theirs? and the unemployment rate falls below 5%. >> i know that's still inconvenient for republican stump speeches as their doom and despair tour plays in new hampshire. >> but is it still the economy stupid? a look at which party has the edge heading into november. but we begin here in manchester, new hampshire. the queen city. where in two hours, the republican presidential candidates will face off in their final debate before new hampshire voters head to the polls on tuesday. in the latest university of massachusetts lowell 7 news tracking poll, donald trump is ahead with 35%. marco rubio back at 14%.

notably, that is basically where he was a day before, too, suggesting at least in this tracking poll that maybe he has stalled. ted cruz at 13%. jeb bush and john kasich at 10%. the top three candidates in new hampshire, trump, rubio, and cruz, they did not hold campaign events today. they are instead preparing for that debate, taking place very shortly a few hours from now. here's what donald trump said about ted cruz earlier this week. >> you try having an anchor baby in canada. well, there's one anchor baby in canada. >> ted cruz also ramped up his attacks on donald trump this week. >> donald trump is very rattled right now. he told the entire world he was going to win iowa. and then he didn't win. and his reaction is he got very angry.

it is no surprise that donald is throwing yet another temper tantrum, or if you like, another trumpertantrum. it seems his reaction to everything is to throw a fit. >> joining us is katy tur. leading into iowa, donald trump -- the thing he was trying to get into everybody's head was this canadian citizenship, the canadian birth status thing. now it sounds like he's just trying to discredit ted cruz's iowa victory. what's the strategy here? what's the likelihood he could get people to actually put an asterisk next to that cruz win in iowa? >> reporter: he was doing that more so earlier this week, saying that ted cruz committed fraud and that that election should be either reheld or ted cruz's votes should not count. that obviously is not going to happen. he stepped away from that in the later part of this week. he did make an allusion to it last night in south carolina saying that he should have come in number one. or he believes he did come in number one. ted cruz seems to be the one who's harping on this a little

bit more right now. and just put into perspective, ted cruz is dropping in the polls as well. donald trump is still ahead. he's dropped a little. but ted cruz has dropped also. marco rubio is surging now in the polling. so i think the bickering between the two of them is almost old news at this point. marco rubio is now the candidate that everybody has their eyes on. he's the one with the target on his back. donald trump will need to attack him to him in his place. ted cruz will need to attack him, and the other establishment candidates as well as chris christie, jeb bush, john cakes. they'll all need to take marco rubio down in order to move past new hampshire. so the trump-cruz drama seems to be on hold for the moment, but we of course could see fireworks again tonight at this debate if ted cruz goes after donald trump first. he has often said he is a counterpuncher, a counterattacker. but the argument about voter fraud does seem to be hurting ted cruz a little bit, at least when it comes to ben carson, who has been the one talking about

it mostly right now, saying that what happened in iowa certainly wasn't fair to his campaign because they were told, the voters were told by the cruz campaign that ben carson was dropping out. but he's not. he's here in new hampshire and he says he's going to continue on to south carolina. >> all right. nbc's katy tur at the site of that debate. thank you for that. joining us now, we have our panel. the author of "the wilderness." the veteran political reporter who writes. msnbc political analyst. so let me just set this up a little bit before we get into this trump-cruz stuff. first of all, this was the voicemail, this was the cruz campaign putting out the word to potential caucus-goers that hey, maybe ben carson is not long for this race. let's listen to that. >> this is the cruz campaign.

inform any carson caucus-goers. thank you, good night. >> and then we just mentioned this with katie tur. donald trump made an allusion to that in his campaign speech last night, basically saying hey, i'm the real winner of iowa. this is what trump said. >> a lot of people said don't go to iowa. st skip iowa. start in new hampshire. i said no, but i like iowa and i like the people and i have a lot of friends that live in iowa. no, we'll go to iowa. i think we should have come in first, to be honest with you. a lot of things happened there. a lot of things happened there! >> all right. let's dissect this with the panel. a lot of things happened there, he says. how is this playing with republican voters? the stories about ted cruz, the stories about how he won out there in iowa. is this something that is taking voters who may be like ted cruz and turning them off? >> i have heard it from a few voters here. cruz is already seen by a lot of

republican voters as overly ambitious. very unlikable, basically. and the person that he did this to, the candidate he went after was carson, who has the highest favorability ratings in the race. rarely ever gets in fights. he doesn't go on the attack. he's just very well-liked by many republican voters, whether or not they'll vote for him. so i have heard voters say that they liked cruz. they like cruz and trump. but they really don't like what cruz did in iowa. they don't like how he went after carson and how he's doing dirty tricks. so you could see that end up hurting him in new hampshire. this was never going to be a state that cruz was going to win. >> that's the interesting thing, too. you look at the past iowa winners. they've not gone on and done well in new hampshire. rick santorum of mike huckabee south carolina looms as more the next big test for them. from cruz's standpoint, what does he need to do to say i got something out of new hampshire? >> cruz i think wants to finish second.

if he doesn't finish second, i think he's diminished. but he's not going anywhere. that's why i think it might have been a mistake for trump to go after cruz as opposed to rubio. who he could really do damage. if rubio doesn't surge, as everybody's saying he will. but it wasn't evident in the poll that was just cited. rubio really will be damaged. and rubio, it seems to me, trump has an issue. and that's where i think his fire should be in the debate. >> we talk about ben carson clearly being upset by what he saw went on in iowa with the cruz campaign. some people even saying look, ben carson, maybe he was going to get out of this race sooner. but now he's going to stick around because he wants to get some kind of payback. an angry ben carson. what would that look like on the stage? >> well, we're just going to have to tune in and see. i haven't quite seen that. none of us have seen that on the

stage. but a wronged ben carson is a dangerous thing for ted cruz, i think. because people love ben carson. people who like ben carson really love him. even people who wouldn't vote for him tend to have a lot of respect for him. after all, he is a rightly acclaimed neurosurgeon with this incredible life story. so even if you don't want the guy to be president, you don't want him to be treated the way he was treated by the cruz campaign. i think it is potentially damaging for ted cruz. i tend to agree with mickey, though, that the play for trump in the debate might be to go after rubio. because he could really do some damage to rubio on immigration. >> let's talk a little bit about trump here. this jumped out at me. this new poll. it asks the question, who would you not vote for on the republican side? look at this number for donald trump. in december, it was 26%. which is a little high.

it is now 37%. and this is the thing i hear over and over. the idea that donald trump has carved out his audience, his constituency. but when you get out of that, he doesn't have many potential converts left. >> yeah, you saw it in iowa, too. the second choice numbers i think both ruby and cruz had something in the 20s in terms of who would be the voters' second choice. trump had 7%. i mean, that's been pretty consistent. and in some cases, it's only gotten worse. and that said, i mean, look. unless everybody drops out except for one of his rivals, his 35% or whatever that trump has is plenty for him, right? and it's enough to probably win south carolina or contend for it. it's enough to compete on super tuesday. this is why you see the circular firing squad on the establishment side, because they're trying to whittle it down to just one establishment contender to hopefully take on trump. >> how do you think donald trump looks this week?

leading into iowa, for six months, it looked like here's a guy who's found out how to defy political gravity. he broke every rule. he got stronger because of it. he starts every rally by saying i'm up in georgia, i'm up in kentucky. he reads off all the states. now this week he's coming off a loss in iowa. he's here in new hampshire. suddenly the news coverage isn't all trump. does he look vulnerable? are voters picking up on that? >> at the beginning of the week he did look vulnerable, and his attacks on cruz were not his best strategy. but his poll numbers have been holding up. surprisingly. i expected them to go down. he's still hovering around 30%. and you can change these bad numbers. the i'll never vote for donald trump number. earlier in the campaign, that number was falling. and he can get it falling again if he does the right moves. if you look back on every successful campaign, one moment where they stumble. sometimes four or five moments.

i don't think in any way it's the beginning of the end necessarily. >> this is interesting. when donald trump first took off, you had the political science, data journalism crowd, the smart people who were all saying look, it's never going to last. it's a complete mirage. just ignore it. they started to get quiet the closer we got to iowa. but i've heard them start to chirp again in the last week and say yeah, yeah. here come s rubio, just like we told you. if trump gets a solid win here in new hampshire, are we back in the yeah, donald trump's in great shape world? >> yeah, the data people will have chirped too early if trump pulls this out. you know, my theory about donald trump's campaign is that he is at his best and at his most successful when he's not acting like a traditional politician. so to me, whenever he sounds and looks and speaks like a politician that we've seen before, i think people tend to

tune out. but when he is that sort of totally unpredictable candidate unlike any other we've seen, his numbers tend to go up. so i would tend to -- you know, i'm not an adviser for the trump campaign. if i were, i would tend to advise him tonight in the debate to just have at and let fly and be trump. >> something tells me donald trump doesn't need to get that advice to just let it fly. thanks for stopping by and joining us. stick around. much home run with you, and we have much more ahead. coming up, team christie and team bush set their sights on the same target, marco rubio. will that only end up helping donald trump? and -- >> you ready for a joke? here is the joke. my name is larry david and bernie asked me to do the show. >> who does the better bernie?

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welcome back to manchester. three days away now from the new hampshire primary. donald trump, marco rubio, ted cruz. they are the three leaders in the latest polls. and now two candidates in the second tier are trying desperately to breakthrough before tuesday by going after marco rubio. here's what chris christie had to say on "morning joe" this week about ruby. >> he has not accomplished anything of note in his career in the united states senate or in his time as speaker of the house in florida. so it's time for the boy in the bubble to come out of the bubble and answer these questions and tell us things, rather than just continue to give the same speech he's been giving for the last

six years. >> and here's jeb bush. he's currently running behind ruby as well on "morning joe" yesterday. >> leadership is not about passing amendments and calling it success. people are struggling. they're hurting. they need someone to be on their side, not pursuing their own blind ambition. marco is a talented politician. he got elected when he was 26 years old. people love him. and i do, too. he's a great guy. but he's not a leader. >> and joining me now, an opinion writer for "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst. jonathan alter, columnist for "the daily beast." mickey couch still with us. jonathan, let's start with you. chris christie i have decided looking at him this week, maybe he can pull out a miracle and win new hampshire, but i think he's decided if i can't win new hampshire, i'll settle for taking down marco rubio. >> yeah, and that's the way christie rolls. he is an unguided missile. he's locked on to rubio.

he's probably going to blow himself up in the process. but it's hard to imagine him going any lower in the polls. he's in the low single digits in new hampshire. >> but the question is, maybe he doesn't get the votes for himself. >> it will help cruz and trump. that's what christie's efforts are doing. i think it's probably true of jeb bush. and remember, the question when a politician is under attack is not the specifics of the attack. it's how they respond. so tonight is going to be very important in seeing the way rubio responds. and he has a lot of advantages, because if they don't leave them panting on the floor, that's not likely. if he pops back up and has some kind of an answer, a lot of people will say hey, you took a licking, he kept on ticking. so he can actually benefit from these attacks. >> i will say he struck me stylistically in terms of his stage craft in politics. rubio seems very strong and very

polished. but noticeable in the last debate, jeb bush got off one good line against marco rubio and it was on the issue of immigration. it seems to me that's the question with rubio, more or less powerful than the vulnerability he has with the base on that issue. >> usually people are gunning for a candidate, the candidate wins. usually that works. it was a mistake for trump. but the issue that kills rubio is immigration. they can't bring it up because they're on the same side. trump can bring it up. you have to get him off his canned paragraph and force him to apologize. or just get into the inconsistenc inconsistencies. >> cruz should bring it up tonight. >> cruz could bring it up, too. >> let me bring you in, e.j., on this one. the other thing that's

interesting, we were talking about the theatre of politics. thinking of that moment a couple of debates ago when jeb bush tried to go after marco rubio, and marco rubio did not miss a beat. threw it right back in his face, that you're only going after me because your pollsters told you to do it. i think we got a glimpse there of a marco rubio who could be effective. >> i think there are a couple of things bush is going to do. he is going to go after rubio and he's going to try to find something that rubio isn't ready for. i think they're all going to go after him on immigration regardless of their position, because one of rubio's vulnerabilities is he keeps switching sides depending on the political circumstance. but i also think bush is going to go at donald trump. i think in one last debate, he wants to come out on top of trump in an exchange, because one of the most damaging things to jeb bush has been that he didn't look strong against the trump attacks.

i saw him yesterday. he's practicing a lot of lines that he wants to use on donald trump. the other interesting figure here is john kasich. he's been polling very well for months. he needs some of the people who seem to be drifting toward rubio, and he's also going to be talking to independent voters. we forget that people aren't registered for either party can pick up a ballot from either party. and kasich is desperate for a big independent vote. and the guy running his campaign is john weaver, who did that for his campaign back in 2000. >> what do you think in terms of donald trump's strategy tonight? rubio is the most direct threat to him right now in new hampshire. on the other hand, if you're donald trump, and ted cruz is going to take some shots at him. who knows, john kasich will get wild at him and say i'm taking

shots, too. if you're donald trump, maybe sitting back will be your best strategy. >> you might want to wait to see if the other guys are going to tear rubio apart and only come in if you think you can really take him down and throw him off stride. i think he may be in competition with ted cruz for votes of people who are very much opposed to immigration reform. cruz has a base of evangelicals and very conservative people in new hampshire. trump may want to see if he can shake some of those people loose, or at least weaken cruz a little bit in his general image. >> everybody talked after the results on monday night in iowa, they said look how different the world looks and feels with donald trump losing now. suddenly the media is not 24/7 trump. they're talking about the other candidates. i said that's true, but that will change right back if donald trump pulls off a win in new hampshire. >> it will. caucuses and everybody knows this now, but caucuses are all about your field organization.

and in a primary, it's about momentum. >> we're talking about 70% turnout. >> don't have to be pulled to the polls. weave seen so many examples of candidates winning the last weekend. the first one i ever carried, gary hart versus walter mondale. mondale was way ahead in the weekend polls and hart won by a lot on tuesday. so there could be 30-point swings. there have been several others. george h. w. bush against bob dole. same thing in 1988. >> and the momentum for dole was stalled. he refused to sign a tax pledge. the problem is if rubio comes

anywhere close, and he's in number two, he will spin it as a win. and the whole establishment and press corps wants to keep him alive. >> if it's trump 34, rubio 18, bush 13, can rubio call that a win? >> rubio will call that a win. >> can he be believed at that point? >> the press is primed to believe him. >> he has laid down a marker, which is his so-called third, second, first strategy. third in iowa, second in new hampshire, first someplace else. he hasn't figured out where yet. if he finishes second, he can say hey, i'm right on schedule and he has a ticket out of new hampshire. >> the concern is do too many tickets get issued by new hampshire? rubio wants a clear shot, basically can i beat donald trump in new hampshire and

marginalize him and get a clear shot at krusz, versus like if bush does okay, if even christie does okay and they all say i'm sticking around for more, that's advantage trump. >> it's also potentially advantage for one of those other governors, getting the lane that rubio wants. some is going to depend on what the margin is. if rubio is ahead of the governors by seven or eight points, it's good for me. >> i think he needs clear separation. e.j., what do you think? >> rubio's got a real problem. i agree with nicky that they've spun it well. and the press has sort of bought into the rubio spin. but he cannot afford to run behind any of those governors. if he does, then any momentum he had is dissipated. for the moment, he's running

ahead. but a night like tonight can completely overturn any momentum somebody has in iowa. dole won in iowa and it did him no good in the end. >> if he gets great momentum out of iowa, gets the spotlight for a week and loses by 15 points to donald trump, i think it will be tough for marco rubio to make the kind of case he's making right now. thank you all for coming on. coming up, there has been a loft talk about the civil war. the democrats, how divided are they? >> under his definition, president obama is not progressive. >> will hillary clinton reunite the way hillary clinton and barack obama did eight years ago? that's next. ugh! heartburn! no one burns on my watch! try alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. they work fast and don't taste chalky. mmm...amazing.

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[ chuckles ] wait. uh-oh. as we age, certain nutrients longer than ever. become especially important. from the makers of one a day fifty-plus. one a day proactive sixty-five plus. with high potency vitamin b12 and more vitamin d. hillary clinton held two events in new hampshire, as she looks to close the gap with

senator bernie sanders. kristen welker is following the clinton campaign. what's the latest? >> reporter: steve, good evening. secretary clinton is pulling out all of the stops to try to come from behind here in new hampshire. earlier today, she was knocking on doors herself. the clinton campaign has called in volunteers from all across the country. they're knocking on doors without volunteering. they're going to do that through election day. meanwhile, the clinton campaign also bringing out one of her top surrogates. former secretary of state madeleine albright appeared here. the two on the stage for the very first time. albright arguing that senator sanders is weak on foreign policy because he fumbled some of the questions during this past week's msnbc debate. i had a chance to interview her one-on-one and i asked her about sanders' chief criticism of secretary clinton, namely that she voted in favor of the iraq war, while he voted against it. take a listen.

>> i think that clearly that vote is a very complicated issue and various aspects of what was going on at the time and what information people had. and he is to be admired, but it's not enough. i think one vote is really not a strategy. >> and steve, albright also touted secretary clinton's progressive credentials in the wake of a lot of criticism from senator sanders that she's not a true progressive. albright also tried to rally the young female voters here. they will be key if secretary clinton is successful at coming back. albright telling the crowd there's a special place in hell for women who don't support each other. strong words. we'll have to see what type of reception they get. steve, back to you. >> the latest poll shows women going for sanders by four points up here. thank you for that. the biggest issue in the democratic race this week has opinion the debate over which candidate best represents progressives. here's what the candidate said about that at thursday night's

debate. >> i am a progressive who gets things done. but i've heard senator sanders' comments. and it's really caused me to wonder. who's left in the progressive wing of the democratic party? under his definition, president obama is not progressive because he took donations from wall street. vice president biden is not progressive because he supported keystone. >> she was in ohio i think in september and november. and she got up and said something like, i have been -- i'm paraphrasing. i have been criticized because people think i'm a moderate. well, i am a moderate. that's where this came from. it wasn't me paraphrasing. it is what she said. and all that i said is there's nothing wrong with being a moderate. but you can't be a moderate, you can't be a progressive. >> and joining us now is howard dean, the former governor of vermont, former chairman of the democratic national committee. joining us as well, charlie pierce, the lead political blogger for esquire.com. and back with us is gene

robinson. charlie, you're following these guys around. you were with hillary clinton today. she had this event up there in concord. what is she doing right now to try to close this gap? saw this eight years ago. came back, beat barack obama. are you seeing that happen again? >> i wasn't in concord. i was at another event she had done at new england college, which was just a q&a. she said here i am, it's nice to be here to answer questions. which i thought was really a good strategy for her. it's such an amazing thing. she's probably got the best resume to be president since jake monroe. and somehow it doesn't matter. if you could combine her resume with her husband's natural political schmoozing skills, she'd be the emperor of the universe. >> 74 years old. a socialist. >> and he's also not warm and

fuzzy. he's a very -- he's very determined and very strident sometimes. i think she's been wrong footed by this campaign. i think she can come back. i think she can close the gap here. i still don't see what puts bernie sanders beyond here. when was the last time democrats were fighting over who is a progressive and who is liberal? usually they hid under the table. >> it's a big change. the clinton campaign, they sent out an announcement for tuesday night. they did not call it a victory party. they're going to try to declare victory, even if she loses wi a few points. say hey, it was a moral victory. can they do that? a year ago, if you tried to tell me, hey, losing by nine points is a moral victory for hillary clinton in new hampshire, i would have laughed at you. can they pull that off now? >> well, maybe they can.

she's been way behind in the polls in new hampshire. after these caucuses and primaries, everybody plays the expectations game. i'm always a little skeptical of that. i think we ought to look at actual results. but the expectations people will be saying that she did better than expectations, that therefore she has momentum coming out of new hampshire. and by the way, she's going into a state, south carolina, where she's expected to do very well. so she might be able to pull that off. time spent debating what's a liberal and what's progressive is not time profitably spent for her, so i'm sure she'd like to change the subject. it's time better spent for bernie sanders, so i gather he's going to try to keep us focused on that. >> governor dean, you're a hillary supporter.

you know a thing or two about how the expectations game works up here. what does hillary clinton need to do in your mind on tuesday night to be able to stand up there and say hey, this is a good result for us? >> i think she may have already done it. i was at the debate on thursday. for the first time, the issue of how can bernie sanders get anything done. i like bernie and he's a strong voice for progressivism. but the problem is he doesn't have any accomplishments at the federal level. so he's standing for all the right things, but hillary's resume -- this is where the i'm a progressive that wants to get things done. she will compromise. but you have to compromise to get stuff done. i actually think that she is surging in new hampshire. whether she gets all the way back, i don't know. i think she's closed the gap by about 21 points in four days, which is fairly impressive. i think the issue is yes, we love bernie, but can he get it done? that is hillary clinton's closing argument.

i think she's going to win it. >> is that the issue, though? you talk about pragmatism and experience. he's selling passion here. he's selling the idea of a political revolution. are we in a year where that is going to trump the idea of pragmatism? >> at the end of the day, it doesn't. i am unfortunately a reminder of that. we had all the passion on our side and we didn't win in iowa. first of all, john kerry got to be a pretty good organizer. and second of all, people looked at that and said at the end of the day, we need to win this race against the republicans. and dean has great ideas, but we're going to go with john kerry because we think he's more likely to be elected president. whether that was true or not, i don't know, but that was the judgment of the voters. and it was also the judgment of the voters in new hampshire where i came in second to john kerry. so we've seen this movie before. we'll see what happens on tuesday. >> the sanders campaign, when you asked them how can you actually win the ultimate prize, how can you get this nomination,

they say basically the world changes if and when we win new hampshire. do you buy that? >> it certainly changes until the second week in march. then it becomes a long march. if they win here, then you've got the long march for the nomination. something nobody expected a year ago. and there is a dynamic to the sanders campaign that goes beyond simple passion. the responsibility for the economic crash in 2008 was never fully litigated. anywhere. in the courtroom, in our politics. president obama got in there and had his hands full just trying to keep the economy from sinking. he chose not to do it in certain legal areas and i wonder about that. the responsibility for destroying the american economy is now being litigated in this campaign. and there are just as many people down south who feel that way as there are up here. so i think there's something more to bernie sanders's

campaign right now than simply passion. >> and i'm curious about that, too. in 2008, the issue that took down hillary clinton was the iraq war vote. barack obama was able to say i was against this, she voted for it. how close to the power of the iraq issue in '08 is wall street in '16? what charlie is describing. and the closeness. i know the campaign says you can't show the quid pro quo. how close does wall street get to what iraq was? >> i'm not sure if it is the same thing, if it's at that level as the iraq war vote. which after all was the central issue really in 2008. if wall street malfeasance reaches that level, then she's really in trouble. but we would expect to see that reflected first of all in new hampshire. where we would expect bernie sanders to equal expectations. or maybe better expectations.

and really thrash hillary clinton. and then we'd also expect to see some movement, some results in south carolina, in my native state. where bernie sanders has yet to catch hold. economic issues are very important down there. it's not that it couldn't happen. but i'm not yet convinced that it's at that level. we will know a whole lot more tuesday night. >> howard dean, stay with us. and coming up next -- >> deficits, gas prices are all down. jobs, wages, and the rate of the insured are up. >> we're going to take a look ahead to the general election landscape in november. is it still the economy, stupid? that's next. ♪

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sometimes in politics, the right answer is the simplest answer. in 1992, the driving force behind the clinton campaign was the simple message, "it's the economy, stupid." economic headlines this week are painting a grim picture when it comes to the markets. but on friday, also got some good economic news about unemployment. president obama came to the white house briefing room to trumpet that. >> after reaching 10% in 2009, the unemployment rate has now falling to 4.9%. so this is the first time that the unplimt rate has dipped below 5% in almost eight years. americans are working.employmend below 5% in almost eight years. americans are working. >> so what will the 2016 general election end up being fought over? will it be the economy, stupid? joining us now is john harwood. back with us is former dnc chairman governor howard dean. john, interesting situation here. after two terms, history says

it's very hard to get the same party elected to a third term. the country was feeling pretty good back then. how does the mood of the country feel to you and how does that play into this general election? >> well, i think the mood of the country is ed middling. there's a tremendous amount of anxiety about people's ability in the middle class to move ahead and their kids to do better. on the other hand, we're a lot better off than we were eight years ago at this time. i don't think you have a clear picture, but i do think the fact that unemployment continues to come down, private sector job creation continues. creates an economic story that gives democrats a chance to deidentify the usual propensity of voters to go to a different market. >> hillary clinton has been running so close to the white house for obvious reasons in the primary, but could you stand up there and basically take that old line? reagan used it to get carter thrown out of office. you better today than you were

four years ago? could she have the answer come back yes? >> i think the answer would be a weak yes. so not sufficient as a message for her. the fact that there's increasing attention right now to the issues of inequality, to the issues of wage stagnation. you see it on the populism on the right. you see it on the populism on the left with bernie sanders. i think that creates a commission that you can't simply pose a choice and say we're better off, therefore go democrat. i do think the issue she'll in her favor is some of the brand issues that republicans have being exacerbated by this primary. >> howard dean, in terms of who the democrats and hillary clinton, bernie sanders, whoever the nominee is, who they'll face this fall, electability. i'm up here in new hampshire. i'm hearing these rubio ads over and over again saying i am the republican the democrats are most scared of. if you vote for me on tuesday, i can get the nomination. i can buy hillary clinton. is marco rubio the strongest

candidate the other party -- your rival party can nominate? >> no, jeb bush is. marco rubio doesn't know anything. he's been in the senate for four years. before that, he was the speaker of the house in florida, which is not exactly the position of great accomplishment, shall we say. so, you know, i think the question is going to be are you better off where you were eight years ago? and can you trust the republicans with your money? judging by the debate on the democratic side, both candidates say absolutely not. >> we had the same number of years in the u.s. senate that barack obama had when he got elected. >> yeah, well, the republicans have spent eight years arguing that that was a bad idea. >> that's interesting. and a point i've been thinking about. some people will say look, the republicans will nominate the opposite of barack obama. that's what parties do. after eight years, they want a change. on the other hand, i'm thinking back to george w. bush in 2000, the whole compassionate

conservatism thing. he was supposed to be their clinton in 2000. this is how we can beat them. we can nominate our own clinton. >> right. i disagree with the governor. i do think marco rubio would be a stronger candidate than any other republican. because a generational argument that you can make. a change argument that you can make. it's just not as fresh as jeb bush. we've seen in the campaign that marco rubio delivers a message better than jeb bush. he does not have the experience. he doesn't know as much as jeb bush, but he's a better communicator. the question is can he make it through this process. >> what about howard dean too? donald trump, if he wins new hampshire, he's right back in the thick of this thing. does donald trump have the potential as a republican nominee to make a new coalition? a republican coalition, maybe more blue collar working class states like michigan, pennsylvania, ohio. can he put a new coalition together at least in theory?

>> i don't think it's possible to win the presidency without significant hispanic support. and i don't think there's a single republican with the possible exception of jeb bush who could get significant hispanic support. marco rubio has been about as anti-immigrant and right wing as he could possibly be on that issue after changing his positions three or four times. hispanic voters are not stupid. they're not going to vote for somebody just because they're hispanic. i just don't see how the republicans can win with the kind of anti-immigration, anti-muslim, anti-gaye rhe rhet that they pursued. i don't think marco rubio's age does anything to encourage young people to vote for him. he stands for everything that the millennial generation is against. big try, intolerance, shifting views. if he wincs, he wince. i think he's easier to run against than somebody who knows what they're talking about. >> howard dean, john harwood.

thanks for joining us. appreciate it. up next, the state of the race before new hampshire votes. we've had the best of the wild week that was after the iowa caucuses and where the candidates stand. you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. ugh! heartbu! no one burns on my watch! try alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. they work fast and don't taste chalky. mmm...amazing. i have heartburn. alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. ♪ everything kids touch during cold and flu season sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. dad, yoh no, i'll take you up to me off rthe front of the school. that's where your friends are. seriously, it's, it's really fine. you don't want to be seen with your dad? no, it's..no.. this about a boy? dad! stop, please. oh, there's tracy. what! [ horn honking ]

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we are approaching the hour where exactly three days from now, the polls will close in the new hampshire primary. the voting will stop and the counting will begin. and if tuesday night is anything like last monday night in iowa, you are not going to want to miss a minute of election coverage and how the campaigns react in the aftermath. >> it's like opening day. christmas. new years. super bowl. put it all together. >> caucus day has finally come to iowa. >> this is fun! >> huge, huge crowd has gathered

here, as you can see. >> donald trump. >> bernie, he cares about veterans. >> they haven't gotten benefits in three months because the v.a. is so [ bleep ] up. >> when you're listening to caucuses, you take the good with the bad. >> her phone battery has died, so she's not able to report the results to the party. >> you had four years to charge your phone. >> they had a coin toss in each one of these coin tosses, hillary clinton's side won. >> bernie's trash talking of money and politics so much that now the coins have turned against him. >> i stand here tonight breathing a big sigh of relief. thank you, iowa. >> it is still too close to call, according to nbc. >> it looks like we are in a virtual tie. >> ted cruz is your projected winner. >> morning is coming. >> we finished second, and i want to tell you something. i'm just honored. >> who are you?

whaen have you done with donald trump's body? >> i am suspending this presidential bid. >> obviously the voters are sick of me. >> marco rubio surprising a lot of people with the late surge. he came in a close third. >> when senator rubio gets here, the boy in the bubble gets here -- >> he lives in a bubble! >> i hope you guys ask him some questions. >> you have tweeted that senator ted cruz stole the iowa election. >> it was disgraceful. it was a fraud as far as i was concerned. >> yet another trumper tantrum. >> are you team trump or team cruz? >> i'm on team jeb. >> please clap. [ applause ] >> he's so polite. >> decided to support marco rubio. >> can you name his top accomplishment? >> bottom line is, there isn't a whole lot of accomplishments, joe. >> no one expected a barn burner on the democratic side.

>> this is the first time that hillary clinton and bernie sanders have squared off exactly like this. >> i think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out. >> oh! which is bernie sanders for aw, hell no! >> thanks for joining us. i'm steve kornacki. a special edition of "hardball" live from manchester is next. can work for you? while you guys are busy napping, peanuts are delivering 7 grams of protein and 6 essential nutrients right to your mouth. you ever see a peanut take a day off? no. peanuts don't even get casual khaki fridays. because peanuts take their job seriously. so unless you want a life of skimming wifi off the neighbors, you'll harness the hardworking power of the peanut. (cheering) ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪

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