[ crowd chanting "trump" ] >> of course, if you listen to the pundits, we weren't expected to win too much and now we're winning, winning, winning the country. [ cheers and applause ] and soon the country going to start winning, winning, winning. >> just calm down. >> phil, theres a tiger in the bathroom! >> what's going on? >> what the [ bleep ] happened

last night? >> what happened last night is that donald trump won his third state in a row in the republican presidential race. the results continue to come in slowly from nevada. nbc news projects donald trump as the winner. the state party is calling it a record turnout. at one high school in sparks, lines two to three times what organizers had planned for. vote totals are still trickling in, but with more than 96% of the vote, already 75,000 votes have been tabulated, trump alone got more votes than the total republican turnout four years ago. right now it's too close to call for a second place between ted cruz and marco rubio. ben carson and john kasich are much farther back. so far, not getting more than single digits. trump will get 12 delegates, rubio and cruz five each. but that's okay because they're going to change the world. good morning, everybody, it's

wednesday, february 24, welcome to "morning joe." >> i hope they're going to advertise, they're going to change the world. >> the hammer is coming down. >> but cokie, they're going to change the world. >> they're going to change the world. >> it's a ge commercial. >> with us here in washington we have msnbc political analyst and former chairman of the republican national committee, michael steele. senior political columnist in for the "national journal," ron fournier. abc news political commentator and senior analyst cokie roberts and columnist in for bloomberg view, al hunt. did anyone here get my joke? >> we certainly got it. >> you're so there, okay? >> it's our favorite commercial. >> you can't lift the hammer, can you? >> al hunt, you -- i mean yesterday -- >> i've never seen joe speechless before. >> for a very long time we would

watch him, he would say outrageous and funny things and everybody would laugh and now when you see him speak you're actually hearing sk ing skeptic nicolle wallace saying "it's over, he's going to win this thing." we said for ted cruz, it's over, for marco, it's over. unless something really dramatic happens over the next couple of weeks. actually, over the next seven days. try to put this into perspective in all the years you've been covering american politics. >> what happened? >> what's actually -- what is happening out there? >> well, first, joe, we've been wrong for the last seven months so let's not -- >> well, we've been right and we're catching hell for it right now. >> most of us have been wrong. so let's not automatically assume that wisdom has come down and it's over. we've elected, what, fewer than 10% of the delegates.

donald trump has a commanding lead, there is no question of that. next tuesday you're going to elect a quarter of the delegates. then you have winner take all. >> and trump is ahead in almost all of those states. >> obviously if he holds those leads he'll be the nominee. 60%, 70% chance he'll be the nominee. but i think when people say it's over -- >> give me a scenario. >> the scenario is that cruz does pretty well next week. that kasich wins one or two of those states up in new england and then somehow rubio comes back and beats him there florida and kasich beats him in ohio. what are the probabilities of that happening? maybe 5%. >> maybe 5%. >> but it's not over yet but if you had to pick a nominee, i would agree with nicole roberts. >> coke roberts, i wonder if al had to put any money on that -- >> and how much money. >> so cokie we won't say it's over because everybody was saying hillary clinton's career

was over before new hampshire. >> we've declared a lot of people over. but donald trump clearly is scheduled at this point to win the republican nomination and it's not funny anymore. the outrageous comments are not funny. they're bullying comments. and they are playground behavior and suddenly there's the possibility that that kind of behavior can be elected president of the united states and that's not funny. >> michael steele, certainly the republican establishment's not laughing right now. what's pretty remarkable to me is they should have seen this coming. i say they should have seen this coming because, again, when we ran in -- >> when i ran in '94, at that point -- i love ronald reagan, it was why i got into politics. it was partly the party of reagan but it was also partly the party of pat buchanan and the party of ross perot.

and we were having fights in '95 and '96 with newt gingrich who was k street and republican establishment. >> absolutely. >> they should have seen this coming and nobody did. they were in denial until a couple days ago. >> until south carolina. >> until south carolina was over. >> but then it all comes to a foal point in 2009 with the emergence of the tea party where it began to coalesce itself around movement politics, around action, actually taking on the -- those representatives in the congress and pushing back against the establishment. so if you don't take the history as you pointed out going back to the 1990s where the elements of this were beginning to emerge and you bring it to the present day in 2009 where you have this explosion of activity among activists, grass-roots activists, and you don't see that as a sign that there are troubled waters ahead, this is where you wind up. but i want to go back to your point.

if marco rubio was where donald trump was standing right now what would you be saying about this race? >> i would probably be saying it's close to over. [ laughter ] >> so that's the difference between the way folks in the washington bubble look at it -- i'm not saying you're in the washington bubble, but -- >> i think you just did. >> i think i just did. >> you're a mean of the people. >> but outside across the country -- >> michael, that movement politics has also contributed to this success. because what you saw in south carolina, for instance, because more than a majority of the people, republicans, going into the republican primary voting booth and saying they were disappointed with the republican party and republican politicians. that's because the tea partyists were not able to deliver. >> i was just going to say. that's a great point to make. the tea party movement rose in 2009.

but ron fournier, in 2010, the republican party had the greatest landslide in the history of american politics. if you take the legislators elected in washington and across the country, i think there were 750 -- >> 762. >> wow. that's impressive. >> 762. and what did they promise? we're going to abolish obamacare. we're going to take our country back. 2014. another massive republican landslide. i mean, the democratic party has been wiped out legislatively over the past -- >> i mean look at the state legislatures. >> republicans control 60% of the state legislatures, 60% of the governor's mansions. they control the senate. they have the largest number of representatives in the house since 1928. >> and they did nothing. >> and they did nothing. it's anti-obama but it's anti-republican.

>> it's bigger than that. barack obama was recollected in a landslide in 2008. brought people together, did something that had never been done in this nation's history and nothing happened. what american people are saying on the far right, far left -- >> something needs to happen, anything. >> right. they're looking for a disruption. they want change in the worst possible way and in my opinion and in cokie's opinion donald trump is doing in the the worst possible way. >> right. >> well -- >> but look what's happening on the left with bernie sanders. >> people have been overpromised. they were overpromised by the democrats. >> they're still being overpromised. every one of these candidates are overpromising. >> when donald trump says he'll deport 12 million people, 11 million people, he won't do that. when he says he'll slap a 45% tariff on chinese goods, he won't do that. so we're going through another overpromise, overpromise. >> ted cruz is overpromising, marco rubio is overpromising. >> how about bernie sanders. >> bernie sanders is overpromising. the only person not overpromising is hillary

clinton, who is getting scalded for not overpromising. but i hear these republicans saying they deal this and that, that's a lie. they never do. i've been watching the same 30-second ad for my party since 198 1982. >> it must be frustrating. >> even during michael steele's reign? >> i've heard the same promise, the same ads. and if somebody has voted republican in every presidential election has been as turned off with my party in washington as i have, this is no surprise. >> but this is scary people. it really is. i got my hair cut yesterday and there were -- everybody in that beauty parlor was from someplace else, right? they're american citizens but they're from someplace else and they're scared to death. they're scared for their children, they think something really awful is happening in this country. >> you mean because of donald trump. >> because of donald trump. >> i will say if you had gotten your hair cut in a different part of town, everybody would have been excited.

>> i understand. >> i'm serious. i get my hair cut in the same neighborhoods probably as you do so i'm not casting aspersions. i'm saying also mika and i are surprised, ron fournier, when we go across a country. this happened to you when you went back home to michigan. you were killing trump, you went back home to michigan, you said wait a second, i can nuance this, i can hate donald trump but i have to understand what his voters are thinking. mika and i have had more people come up to us, grab us and whisper "we're going to vote for trump." basically don't tell anybody. even democrats. >> let's look even beyond this election. one of two things is going to happen. a guy like donald trump or bernie sanders is going to win and not be able to deliver on their promises and the public will say it happened again or guys like donald trump and bernie sanders are going to l e lose, the establishment will win, claim victory and people will be angrier. so what i worry about is how does an anger that is already metastasized to the point where

we want to bar muslims and we're calling women pigs and we have a guy running for president who has no grasp on policy, donald trump has not denounced some of the worst things his supporters have done, where does that go if washington doesn't change after this election? that's when things get even scarier than donald trump to me. >> i will tell you, mika, election night i remember walking away from 30 rock on election night and everybody was celebrating, barack obama was elected president and i remember saying to somebody right after that happened, i said, you know, i'm a republican and i'm not happy about how this went down, but god help us if he's a failed president because so many people are putting their hopes and dreams into barack obama. and what ron said has happened. >> we need radical, positive reform in this country quickly.

>> it's beyond politics. a lot of what you're seeing is a tremendous upset and frustration with the world as we know it. >> in both parties. >> yes, because it's like the industrial revolution. jobs aren't what they used to be. expectations are different from what they used to be. combine that with the social changes where people -- where gender isn't what it used to be and people are just unmoored. >> the gilded age. >> the thing is that i think we have to step back. it's one of the things i've been fascinated by. i remember as a young kid driving around in upstate new york and my parents bemoaning the fact that america was failing because some jobs got shipped over to japan. and that's been the narrative.

we have been living a lie since 1945 in this country that everything has to be the way it was after world war ii when 50% of production across the globe was destroyed. if our mind-set is set in the 1950s, it has to be like this. and we're trying to hold on to tha that. all of that is a disappointment instead of looking at the situation new and saying it's not going to be like it was in 1952. >> but that was also the golden age of politics. that was when everybody did cooperate with each other immediately after the war because they all fought together. >> it was the i would goen age for white males. >> well, that's being more specific. it was the golden age for wasps. >> you want to look at the silver lining? this is something the chairman knows in his heart, we've talked

about this. look at the generation that's coming up. a generation forged in these times so they're much more pragmatic, much less ideological, they're consensus makers, they were raised in a sharing economy. >> but they can't lift the hammer. >> no, they can lift the hammer. they're natively born to the technological revolution, they know the power of one person. they know they can connect with other people. >> ron, i felt good about that until my 25-year-old daughter flew back from l.a. and told me she really loved the sanders and trump books. >> your daughter has the ability to do more -- >> i want to quickly say everything you've said is right. but we're doing better than we will sometimes admit we're doing. i saw bill gates saying "i am incredibly optimistic about where america is going. we're better than almost any other western country right now. we don't a border problem, people aren't coming across the border --" >> al, that's what i'm saying. i'm talking about expectations. >> exactly. and the politicians rather than

playing to "here are problems but we have strengths" are just focusing on the former. >> and that's one of the interesting things about john kasich's message, it's much more uplifting and positive than the others. >> and he got 5% yesterday. >> so let's look at the entrance polls. trump finished -- out of nevada, trump finish theed well ahead of the rest of the field when it comes to voters with college degrees and without. he won among very conservative voters, somewhat conservative voters and moderates alike. >> by the way, that has been the reality in this freeld the ield beginning. he did just as well even six months ago with moderates as he did with conservatives. >> part of that is ted cruz's failure among moderates. in both south carolina and nevada he got about 5% among moderates. so when you divide up that vote it goes between rubio and trump. so it moves up trump. >> so 30% of voters were making up their minds in the last couple of days.

many broke for trump as well but it was rubio who saw a surge in the closing days which is keeping him neck in neck for second place. trump won handily among white evangelicals. >> which is why ted cruz's campaign is over. >> with the latest totals showing him taking 41%. he won with ease among hispanics though they made up so 10-% of the electorate this year. one of the more focused stories out of this is campaign politics. we have these republican gurus who have run campaigns. they have literally run to the end of the line. they can not do anything to help their candidates because they're running against a candidate who doesn't have -- who literally doesn't have anybody telling him what to do, say, or think. he zrubtdoesn't have a team. he has a bunch of upstarts who are really cocky and really into donald trump and they organize things great. but they do not tell him what to think or say. and all these other guys are

robots. they are. >> well, tv advertising, you were in south carolina. >> it's painful. hello, it's not '80s. >> people have always said i've been too tough on marco rubio this campaign. the reason i've been too tough, everybody declared him to be hank aaron. when he's a rookie. he and ted cruz -- i'm sorry, i don't want to offend anybody more than i already have but when i see these guys talking i see first-term senators that are reading rehearsed lines. >> which is perfect for a vice presidential candidate, which is why he's sucking up to trump. come on. this is so obvious. >> and i'm not just talking about marco rubio, i'm talking about ted cruz. john kasich is real. but rubio and cruz are so pre-packaged. so if people want to foe why the republican establishment is trying to figure out why they're not connecting it's because people at the end of the day know. >> they see it.

>> it's been focus group, poll tested, they say their lines and it's just -- it's -- it's actually kind of tawdry. >> joe, that's very appealing but let's not go the other way and start making fun of people who have disabilities. let's not start to say terrible things about muslims. >> what are you talking about? >> i'm talkings about donald trump. >> we're not talking about trump. >> we're talking about why donald trump is doing -- >> no, no -- >> wait, i'm not defending what donald trump is doing. i'm talking about why the republican establishment has failed. >> what i'm saying is you're right when you talk about people like marco rubio having pre-packaged rehearsed lines. that's fine. but we need someone who doesn't do that but also we don't need someone who just wings it and says terrible things. there's a medium there somewhere. >> i agree that kasich comes closer to is. >> setting aside all the terrible things that he's

done -- which we shouldn't -- he has shown how you can disrupt a system in a positive way. what if you had a positive politician who spoke from the heart, who didn't pay 10% to ad buyers to waste their money and was totally accessible on twitter and totally accessible with the media like donald trump has been. he has disrupted the way we should be doing politics in the 21st century, tactically, that a positive disrupter could do. >> well bernie sanders has argued he has done that. >> he's a good model. >> i think bernie sanders would be the closest to that model, on the republican side it would be kasich. but that's not what the people seem to want right now. they want someone who will fight and rail against the system that, as joe pointed out, lied to them. >> it's what white people want. >> what what? >> white people? >> disruption? >> railing against the system. >> i think donald trump has said vile things but when he starts talking about the campaign finance system and the lobbyists, he has appeal to me:

and there are some -- a broken clock is right twice a day i suppose but there are some things donald trump is saying that is beyond. >> well, get ready to get killed in the media for that. >> one other thing we need to stop for one second at 6:20 in the morning after nevada is just talk about how donald trump has proven at the end of the day even the republican electorate that everybody said was so overly ideological, the end of the day is not ideological. this guy has come out in support of planned parenthood, he has trashed george w. bush on 9/11. in new hampshire he refused -- he had state legislators lined up to endorse him. they said "all we need you to do is say you agree with us opting out of medicaid." he refused to do that. everybody else ran to them. he refused. not saying it's good, not saying it's bad. i'm saying it's new and different. >> price controls. >> yeah and he's saying things

about federal drug price controls that nobody else is saying. he's saying a lot of things that republicans don't say that -- say are disappointing. he won't touch entitlements. but mika this is about disruption. ron has talked about it. we've had disruption in every single segment of our society. let's look at books. we had bookstores then barnes & noble destroyed bookstores then amazon destroyed barnes & noble and now independent bookstores are coming back. except for politics, donald trump has brought disruption to politics, one instagram post, about hillary clinton and -- bill clinton's approval ratings went from 51% to 39% and trumped $150 million from right to risement. >> and look what he did to jeb bush. jeb bush's campaign wasn't going go anywhere anyway.

>> jeb helped. >> right. but he didn't expected to be bullied like that. >> so what is the media's role now? >> that's a huge segment because i think there's a strange bias that they don't even that collectively it needs to confront. still ahead on "morning joe," my exclusive one-on-one interview with melania trump. i get her take on her husband's more controversial moments of the campaign. plus, not in my backyard, some senators have a visceral reaction -- >> it's nice you got her to come over to your house and do the interview. >> it's actually their house. >> mika has gold all over everything. oh, wait, no. >> it was -- >> eye opening. >> very luxurious. [ laughter ] plus, not in my backyard. some senators have a visceral reaction to president obama's call to finish his campaign promise of closing the prison at guantanamo bay, especially those with federal penitentiaries in their home states.

senator corey gardner of colorado, s one of them. we'll talk to him and fellow member of the senate foreign relations committee chris koontz in just a bit. but first a deadly day of weather and there could be more to come. bill care writtens with a check on the forecast now, bill? >> these were as bad as we thought they would be. three fatalities. a lot of people have significant damage to their homes. in all we have 30 tornados recorded on the i-10 corps dpror the new orleans area to pensacola and panama city. here's pictures yesterday before it got dark. louisiana was hit late in the afternoon and that's where we had the worst damage done. a trailer home park, almost all was destroyed. these were even a few strong tornados. so what are we dealing with now? still a tornado watch for areas of north florida, southern georgia until 10:00. we haven't had any tornados in the last couple hours and i think we'll get a break and then we'll fire it up this afternoon. 35 million people at risk of severe storms today from washington, d.c. south wards all the way down i-95 into central florida. it's this area of orange and the

bright red bull's-eye most at risk of a strong tornado today. that includes the greater raleigh area back up to just south of richmond. the timing of this appears to be some time around 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. so you can see the clock here. here's the storms firing up. that will be the concerned. i-95 corridor then back towards raleigh. then it will be a wind damage threat after that as we go up towards the norfolk area. three fatalities yesterday from tornados and we will see a couple more than the areas of eastern north carolina later this afternoon. washington, d.c., you also could see a few strong storms but wind damage will be your greatest threat later this afternoon. more "morning joe" when we come right back. ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪

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ahead of saturday's democratic primary in south carolina, bernie sanders and hillary clinton participated in another town hall event last night in that state and once again the topic of paid speech transcripts came up. clinton said last week she'd release her transcripts when everyone else does the same. here's what senator sanders had

to say about that last night. >> i have given some speeches and money was donated to charity way, way back, i got a few dollars. if i can find the transcripts i'm very, very happy to do it. but when secretary clinton said "i will do it if other people will do it." well, i am very happy to release all of my paid speeches to wall street. here it is, chris. there ain't none. [ laughter and applause ] i don't do that. i don't get speakers' fees from goldman sachs, it's not there. so i'm happy to do my best releasing any of the speeches. it won't be very shocking to anybody. >> and here is what secretary clinton said last night when asked again if she would release her transcripts. >> sure. if everybody does it -- and that includes the republicans, because we know they have made a lot of speeches. why is there one standard for me and not for everybody else, chris? [ cheers and applause ] at some point -- look, i'm on record, i have a record.

so you know what? if people are going to ask for things, everybody should be on a level playing field and i'm happy if that were the case. >> okay, i can tell from the grumbling around the set that i'm going to be alone here. but maybe it's just the politician in me. i understand exactly what hillary was saying in there. why should i unilaterally disarm? >> absolutely. >> when i don't have -- forget about bernie sanders, i'm just assuming i'm going to beat bernie sanders but if i release all of my speech transcripts then i want marco rubio, ted cruz, donald trump -- >> i disagree. >> and that's why i said everybody was grumbling going -- >> i'm with you, joe. >> it was like parliament making fun of labor's leaders. >> anybody who makes $675,000 from wall street speeches ought to release them. anybody. if you go and get someone speech -- i mean, she made a lot of money from those speeches. he didn't need that money. >> that's fine. >> that's fine. that's absolutely fine.

it test american way. >> she's saying "i'll release them when the republicans release them." >> first of all, she told the american public "when i gave those speeches i took on wall street." if that was true, she would have released them so i suspect she's not telling the truth. this is an era of transparency, the public has a right to know. release it. the fact that when she says why should i do it? because you want to be president. supposedly you're better than the republican party. isn't s that the standard? you'll only be as good as the people you tell us are evil. release the transcripts and let us make our own decision. >> and again she moves the goalpost. if you go back to when it originally came up, she said "i'll be happy to release them." now it's "i'll be happy to release them if republicans do." >> first if it was if bernie does. >> that was a foolish promise. >> so she moves the goalpost and makes it more questionable. so why are you held to a different standard? because you do things that hold you to a different standard. >> let's talk to one person who

agrees with me, cokie roberts. [ laughter ] i'm serious. i will not release something until my democratic opponent in the general election released the same thing. >> the reason i agree with you, joe, is that i think that it's all distracting. enough already with all of this stuff. she's tried desperately to keep the conversation about the issues that she's concerned about. >> then release the transcripts and we'll move on. it's her fault we're focused on it because she's not doing the right thing. >> she raised the money off of wall street. she's running against a guy who has no connection, has taken nothing from them. prove the point. >> i will say that when i -- when i was a young lawyer i had a senior member of the firm come up to me and said -- i asked him why he in an opening statement said something bad about his own client. and he said because if you give the jury the opportunity to think the worst about your client, they will think the worst about your client. put the truth out there, let

people digest it and move on. >> i think better than holding off, and maybe it will be helpful. a federal judge ruled that top -- >> just a second shichlt has been pretty tough on wall street. she has a pretty good record going back to 2008. all the more reason she ought to release the speeches. a federal judge has ruled top aides to hillary clinton and state department officials should be questioned under oath about whether they intentionally thwarted federal open records laws by using or allowing the use of a private e-mail server throughout clinton's tenure as secretary of state. the decision was in response to a lawsuit over public records brought by a conservative watchdog group in regards to its request for information about the employment arrangement by long-time clinton aide houma abedin. in response to the ruling, clinton campaign robbie mook said it was ideological. >> has the campaign decision, houma abedin and others being

asked to testify under oath, are they going to comply? >> chuck, it's important to see who is behind this. this is a lawsuit from a right-wing group. this is unfortunately something that has has beened repeatedly on this campaign. >> this was a federal judge appointed by bill clinton. >> right, but the lawsuit itself was promulgated by a right wing republican group. this is purely an attempt to distract voters from what's at stake here and the issue uz that hillary got in this race to talk about. >> in fairness, if the lawsuit didn't have merits it had have been thrown out. obviously a federal judge thought the lawsuit had merits. >> so is that a fair attack, that this is ideological? >> no, there's 49 other lawsuits, many brought by the media. second it's a clinton-appointed federal judge who made the ruling. her fight is with a clinton-appointed federal judge, not plaintiffs who bring the lawsuit. third of all, it's like a transcript issue. we wouldn't be focused on your e-mail madam secretary if you kept them in a government server like you were supposed to. >> is this significant yesterday? >> well, sure. any of these stories and things

ant the e-mails get people once again having this subrosa conversation about indictment and if that happens that becomes significant for her. >> it's significant because it affects the dialogue. i don't think substantively anything big will come back to th this. certainly it's part of the dialogue now! and honest and trustworthy. her numbers are awful on honest and trustworthy. and that's what happens in each one of these primaries and caucuses. she wins big on the issues themselves and on electability but when it gets to honest and trustworthy, she gets single digits. >> the judge said she may allow for the subpoena of the secretary herself. it's significant. still to come, the "washington post" bob woodward joins us live. you're watching "morning joe."

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we're going to keep, as you know, gitmo, we're keeping that open. and we're going to load it up with a lot of bad dudes out there. we spent $40 million a month on maintaining this place. i would guarantee you that i could do it for a tiny, tiny

fraction. i don't mean like 39, i mean like maybe five, maybe three, maybe, like, peanuts. >> so we're fighting on set here. >> doesn't count? >> this is -- we do this all the time. we just keep talking. >> it's like an act of god trying to get these candidates on the air. >> we're back on the air. so we're having a battle here about a lotz of different things but anyway, that clip of donald trump is one idea on what you do with guantanamo bay, mika. >> yes, and up next, we'll be joined by members of the senate foreign relations committee. >> we're going to break so we can fight some more. >> plus, the debate over whether there should be at least a vote on replacing justice antonin scalia before president obama leaves office. >> i guess they wrote a letter yesterday saying they weren't going to replace. >> and every one of them signed.

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i. i've been on record to close guantanamo bay since 2008. i believe the president is right. >> we're not going to close guantanamo. in fact, we shouldn't be releasing the people that are there now. [ applause ] they are enemy combatants. >> obviously if people are terrorists they need to be confined and we need to make sure they stale in jail until whatever happens. but i think the president is right. i think we should shut down guantanamo bay. i think in the long run it will help us significantly. >> this is what i think of the president's plan to send terrorists to the united states.

>> notice they had to cut away for the basket shot? >> welcome, my friends, to the age of trump: when pat roberts was doing that -- was that twitter or instagram? >> that was 1980. joining us now, republican senator corey gardner of colorado and democratic senator chris coons of delaware. also former assistant secretary of defense for russia and eurasia at the pentagon evelyn farkas and jonathan capehart who was up way too early. everyone has flat stanley. >> i have flat stanley. >> we're going to start off on a very positive -- your nephew is happy. >> i'll tell you my favorite pat robertson story before i start. i walk on to the house for the first time. they're debating subsidies and pat robertson says "will the gentleman and the sheep he rode into town on take that argument

back where it came from?" >> i think he still uses that line. >> i'm sure he does. what's happening with gitmo, guys? the president promised he would shut it down in a year. we said -- mika and i were saying before he got elected that ain't happening. here we are at the end and he's still talking about trying to shut it down. >> it's a very difficult conundrum. i'm glad i had a chance to visit with a bipartisan delegation. when you look at it directly, it's a choice between an ongoing situation that cost us $65 million a year to endlessly detain a dozen of dangerous jihadists and allow guantanamo to still be out there as a recruitment tool. >> are you okay with those suspected terrorists coming to the united states? >> i do think we've got security facilities that can contain them. >> we look them up. there's no doubt about it. does that make sense to you? >> it makes sense to me.

so i'm glad he's going to go visit guantanamo and see for himself. >> so you have people locked up in the maximum security visits. a little window. i can hardly imagine anything. the. >> the fact is guantanamo bay is keeping terrorists and that's where they should stay. >> what's the problem? i'm playing devil's advocate here. but what's the problem with shutting down gitmo and bringing all of these prisoners to maximum security prison? >> well, a couple things. number one, the people of colorado are resoundingly opposed to this move. but they're not talking about the supermax facility, but they're talking about a closed prison that was never open. >> is it a possible that if they

do come to colorado then these facilities become targets of terror? >> i think that's what law enforcement is concerned about. we have about 41 sheriffs who sent a letter to the president of the united states saying please don't move them, these detain detainees, to colorado. concerned about security. federal law enforcement officials are concerned about this as well. these are terrorists who of the 600 some who have been released 100 have gone back into battle against the united states and it's suspected that 117 went back into the battle against united states interest. so nearly 200 of the 600 released have been that -- >> with that data why do you want them to come to your state? what's the dilemma we have here, though, overall that the president is trying to address? >> i think the president said it himself, he said "i want to close this chapter of our history." it's a very dark chapter.

it was outside the bounds of international law. >> do you agreen that? i do. >> and the president is trying to rectify that. >> what did we do at gitmo that put a stain on america's reputation? >> we took the people from the battlefield, mainly from afghanistan based on the say-so of people working in the field. >> and they went to trial, right? >> no. >> exactly. >> so that's the problem. they were detained there indefinitely and they're still being detained indefinitely and this has been going on since 2002 and according to international law and u.s. law there is a process by which everyone gets a hearing. >> say they go to florence, colorado, or supermaxes or other facilities. what happens to our court system? what happens to the rights? do they expand because they're

on u.s. soil. constitutional provisions? the department of justice was trying to explain. so then they have access to the federal judicial system. >> does anyone have a better idea? >> well, i have to say there are a lot of us. >> they should not be tried in federal court in manhattan, they should not be tried in a federal court in colorado. let's stop pretending that these enemy combatants have the same rights as all of us under the constitution. i'm not saying that should be the endeavor. >> but the supreme court doesn't agree with you. so the supreme court spoke and said these guys all have a right to a review. >> no, no, no, you're --

>> it may not be a trial -- >> you can't just make things up. >> they don't have the same constitutional rights you and i have. but they don't have the same rights. >> but the administration is saying we need a process in order to dispose of all of these detainees. and the reality is it's about taking them. it's kind of a public relations opportunity that gitmo presents for jihadis and other states that don't wish the united states well because there are other -- speaking of russia and others who want to kind of stick their finger in our eyes. they'll always talk about our bad human rights record and point to gitmo. >> jonathan, you want to change the subject. >> senator coons, the question

is about the supreme court and the president's potential nominee. just to get your reaction to what leader mcconnell said yesterday and the senate judiciary chairman senator grassley basically saying to the president "fine, nominate someone, but that nominee won't even get a hearing, won't even be welcomed on the capitol." >> this is a sad development. this is a striking development. in this century since the judiciary committee was formed in the senate, every single nominee has gotten a hearing, has gotten a vote just because this is the eighth year of the president's two-term presidency doesn't mean there's anything in the constitution that we don't have a role to perform, advise and consent and for the senate to go "nah, nah" that's not advice and consent. >> corey, there are a lot of people in colorado that would agree with the senator that certainly the president is elected president for eight

years and has a right to send a nominee to the hill. >> last time i checked, he's still president. >> shouldn't they have an up or down vote? >> if you look at the constitution, the two clauses the president shall nominate and the all? shall provided a vice and consent. it's been since 1888 that a senate of a different party than the president in the white house confirmed a supreme court nominee. joe biden went to the floor in 1992 and said no more supreme court justices from -- >> you know, those senators from delaware, you have to discount them. >> the "new york times" in 1987 said the new majority should have the decision in the supreme court choice. let the american people decide. let them make that this decision. >> they did. >> i know! and that's why i just -- >> what about the election of a majority in 2014? the majority in 2014 -- >> but the majority doesn't nominate a supreme court. the president does. >> with the advice and consent of the constitution. >> and it doesn't consist of refusing to even give the nominee a hearing.

>> tell joe biden that. >> and you all are flummoxed as to why donald trump is doing so well. well, there's your answer. senators corey gard anywhener - >> is he going to make the judiciary committee great again? >> it's going to be huge. >> nothing gets done. not even this. >> can you show us the art work? >> i want to see flat stanley. >> we love flat stanley. >> he's cute. >> i'm going to put a kiss on him. evelyn, thank you. still ahead, nevada gives donald trump his third win in a row and despite his harsh rhetoric on immigration, he even won among hispanics. we'll dig into those numbers ahead on "morning joe." on the floor! everybody down! nobody move! on the floor!

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so we're winning with evangelicals, we won with young, we won with old, we won with highly educated, we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. we're the smartest people, we're the most loyal people. and you know what i am happy about? i've been saying it for a long time. 46% with the hispanics. 46%. number one with hispanics. [ cheers and applause ] a commanding victory for donald trump in a number of demographics in nevada with ted cruz and marco rubio locked in a tight race for second. now all eyes turn to super

tuesday. the "washington post" bob woodward and eugene robinson and t weekly standards john pod dorr rets -- >> is he on low zmags we'll be right back in just a moment with cokie as well. people who gave me options. kept me on track. and through it all, my retirement never got left behind. so today, i'm prepared for anything we may want tomorrow to be. every someday needs a plan. let's talk about your old 401(k) today.

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the all-new audi q7 is here. ♪ >> we love nevada! we love nevada. thank you. of course, if you listen to the pundits, we weren't expected to win too much and now we're winning, winning, winning the country. [ cheers and applause ] and soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning.

[ cheers and applause ] we've had some great numbers coming out of texas. [ cheers and applause ] and amazing numbers coming out of tennessee and georgia. and arkansas. and then in a couple of weeks later florida. we love florida. it's going to be an amazing two months. [ cheers and applause ] we might not even need the two months, folks, to be honest. tomorrow you'll be hearing "you know, if they could just take the other candidates and add them up --" [ laughter ] "and if you could add them up. because you know, the other candidates amount to 55%. so if they could just add --" they keep forgetting that when people drop out, we're going to get a lot of votes! [ cheers and applause ] they keep forgetting, they don't say it. >> well, donald trump, he pulled off a trifecta last night, winning his third state in a row in the republican presidential race. nbc news projecting, joe, donald

trump as the winner. the state party calling it a record turnout. already 75,000 votes. >> this is yet another record turnout. >> that's going to be a lot of new voters. it's what we were seeing from barack obama in 2008. every primary, every caucus we heard record turnout, we're hearing that now. you can actually add up, cokie, you were talking about this, add up cruz and rubio and trump actually -- that ceiling suddenly isn't 20 anymore. >> in nevada it was 45% so you add up the other two candidates, 45%. and so the ceiling, he's right. as people drop out he'll start getting those votes. >> right now, it's too close to call for second place between ted cruz and marco rubio. >> abc has called it: second for rubio. >> ben carson and john kasich much farther back, so far not getting more than single digits. trump will get 12 delegates,

rubio and cruz five each so welcome back to "morning joe" this hour. with us in washington we have msnbc political analyst and former chairman of the republican national committee michael steele. washington anchor for bbc world news america katty kay. npr senior analyst cokie roberts. associate editor of the "washington post," bob woodward. >> so, rkso, mika, nicolle wal said last night "it's over." it may not be over but let me ask how did this sneak up on everybody so much? there seems to be a sense of shock over the past week, especially since south carolina, because -- what is -- i'll just say, you, willie geist and i have been reading articles since august and laughing at them saying this is the end of donald trump. we even heard it after iowa.

he was barraged after iowa. nobody stopped to say wait a second, he got more votes than anybody before him in iowa history other than ted cruz. why has everybody been so blindsided including the media? >> i think people voting in the early states are clear. this is not like razor-thin iowa for the democrats. this is clear. i guess i feel like in various factions of the media that we're off kilter. >> i think people were blindsided because he says things that normally would disqualify someone and -- >> i don't think it's our job to disqualify him, cokie. >> i don't, either. but you say why are people blindsided? that's why. >> because he has defied the political norms. we would all agree this campaign is unique and donald trump is a unique candidate and if somebody laid out -- i remember you, joe, saying when he said john mccain wasn't a war hero, has he gone

too far this time? we've all had moments where we thought donald trump has gone so far that -- the potential ban on muslims you also said "has he gone too far." and we all thought, wow, for another candidate -- >> we were very critical but i will tell you this and i don't know what it says about my party but after the muslim ban i also said despite the fact we were all very offended by it, said he'll probably go up in the polls. and while the media was saying he insulted john mccain, we went back and found, like, the ten times he said john mccain's a war hero or whatever he said. the media has looked at it through a prism. >> but at the same time -- >> let me get the point out. it seems to me that the media plays into trump's hands by overplaying their own hand. >> i think a lot has to do with the fact they've never taken him

seriously. they've never taken this campaign seriously. hook at what the huffington post said "we're putting this on the entertainment page. we won't bother with this." and the american people saw the arrogance and disrespect for a candidate that they liked or were trying to figure out more about. there was no exploration up as they went into everybody else's bio and story, they left his almost as a joke and people responded to that. >> except that he got more media exposure than any single candidate has in the history of humankind. >> because they see him as entertainment. >> but hold on a second. part of that reason is because donald trump is always accessible. >> on the telephone in his pajamas. which would have never allowed -- >> we've taken hillary clinton on the telephone. we be we'd be happy to any time. she can call in right now. i'm sorry, our phone lines are open. >> good to hear. that has not normally been the

case except for sunday shows. >> we've made that offer and only lindsey graham called in and we were glad he did. so bob, step back, tell us first of all if you've seen anything like this in america. i think it's happened with the labor party in bret tan as we saw yesterday in vivid display but has this afterhappened in america? >> you don't know but if you go back to 1980 when reagan was running there was a feeling among

>> it's obvious we here in the second phase of this. >> and ronald reagan was governor of california. there was a big difference. >> but there was still a sense of, oh, no, it's not possible. he's going to be president. but the second phase now is what the obligation of the media is to in-depth dig in to who is donald trump, what has he done, there is no one who has a bigger biography. i brought the trump university done in "time" magazine and if you read this, you realize this is a university as the attorney general of new york said a classic bait and switch.

you look at this, you can't be comforted about who he is. >> a lot of people -- i think because nick confessore retweeted a question why won't anybody talk about trump university. i've read about in the the "new york times." i've read long pieces about so much of trump's biography in the "new york times," the "washington post," the "wall street journal." the question is, the bigger question is why doesn't any of it stick? >> because you've got to link it together and you've got to -- no, you've -- >> the "new york times" linked it together, steven brill linked it together. >> a little piece here, a little piece there -- >> no, the "new york times," they wrote a story, with all due respect, when they wrote a story on trump university, that reporter linked it together and this is the thing that's frustrating the media. people are going wait, why don't they talk about -- well, they have. people don't care. like, for instance, republicans are pulling their hair out. he just supported planned

parenthood in south carolina. why don't they care. >> okay, but people don't care, but what's our job? our job is to link it together and when i say link it together, do a whole biography. it is quite an amazing story -- >> bob, you're suggesting the times and the "wall street journal" and the "washington post" and everybody else hasn't. and that is a mistake. they have and they are. >> no, but it's fragments. >> but that will happen. as emerges as the nominee, assuming he becomes the nominee, that will happen increasingly, right? his biography, his policies, his temperament absolutely correctly will be scrutinized as they should be scrutinized. there will be more tough questions asked about how do you get to 6% growth. how do you end the inversions? what is your foreign policy for defeating isis? all of that has to be asked and i think it hasn't been asked as thoroughly as it should be until now. to your point, as we have

discussed, his voters have given him on all of these issues that have been raised in segments, because he is so appealing to them in other ways, they prepared to give him a free pass on planned parenthood, on universal health care, on ink inconsistencie inconsistencies. >> i think the media hatred toward him has pulled people toward him. he's been able to use it master fly and everybody needs to look in the mirror. when he was laughed at in the beginning -- when he came down that escalator i remember saying this could happen. >> oh, sure. >> and i was not taken seriously. i was laughed at. i had a bet with mike barnicle who said "he will never be the nominee." people said it's not possible. is that our job -- >> we actually -- >> hold on, i'm not done. >> we have more people storming off the set: >> we gave more respect to herman cain, we gave far more respect as the candidate to herman cain 999. not done. a lot of people have said -- [ laughter ] >> i'm not laughing anymore. this is scaring me.

why were we laughing? is that our job, bob woodward? >> fair point, but the answer is not hatred, the answer is coverage explaining who he is. and i'm sorry, if i can persist on trump university if you go back when he set this up 11 years ago, he had promotion videos. listen to this promotion video. it's something -- reminds us of what we're hearing now. we're going to have professors and adjunct professors at his university that are absolutely terrific, terrific people. terrific brains. successful. he goes on and on and on about this and you look at it, this is still what he's selling right now. >> and donald trump's university -- i know -- you know why i know this story about trump university? because i've read about this story. i understand all of these people were promised, they were going

to learn to be a real estate mogul like donald trump. they went out and trump wasn't there, somebody would show them -- and the only reason i bring that up is because i've read this story before, bob. voters don't care. i'm not minimizing it. the next question is why don't ideological republicans care that he supports planned parenthood? why don't evangelicals care he's lived the life he's lived the life he's voting -- >> why do so many voters push for a muslim ban? that's our job. >> the point is what's our job. our job -- >> to do what the "times" is doing, what brill is doing, what you're doing. >> and connect it all. >> connect it in a way that the "times" hasn't. >> but as katty says, though, that's happened. >> that doesn't mean the people are going to care about the way you connect it. >> that's fine. >> and in the way you connect it, sometimes people may perceive that as being anti.

>> from the point of view of the parties, when the party has criticized him there is a need at this moment -- and i think this is one of the fascinating things about this election. there is a need for a strong politician -- >> a non-politician. >> or non-politician, a strong leader who promises a certain amount of simplicity in the complex world. >> when whether you're talki in about corbin in britain, le pen in france, bernie. but i want to go back to what you're talking about. i know about trump university. i don't think the question is why aren't we connecting the dots. i think the question is why does everything stick to somebody like, say, hillary clinton but nothing sticks to donald trump. >> well, maybe it does. but what is our job here? our job is excavate.

>> to do what we're doing. >> to explain who he is. >> we are! you are acting like steven brill wrote the first piece on trump university and everybody's heads been buried in the sand. it's a great piece. i have read it before several times and so i keep going back to the question why -- cokie, why don't thing things matter to voters? >> because they're not looking at policy. >> this is a question of character, too. >> well, yes, and no. but it's entirely likely that at some point people will care when it becomes simpler, when it becomes just two people. all of that, it's a chaotic cacophony at the moment but -- >> and there are people who care. he has still high negative numbers and those people care. >> and the late deciders have been deciding against him. what we've seen in each one of these elections so far is that the people who decided weeks ago are for him. then as they learn more and get closer to the election those are

the people voting against him. >> he has the high negative numbers but he's still winning. he has the high negative numbers and yet people are still interested in what he has to say and they're following his lead and this is not election is act ideology within the gop. it's not an election about policy and big ideas. this is an election about a populous of people who are ticked off and fed up. he's saying i don't want to take their money because i don't want to owe them anything. >> which is the most impossible and distasteful policy thing that he's put out there, i think it's one of them. >> i think making fun of the disabled person, that was

distasteful. >> and tell me what the dpit polls have told me about how people feel about the muslim ban. >> they're for it. >> a fair point. >> trust me, sometimes people think i hate the "times," other times i have people from the "times" saying "could you be our pr agent?" the "new york times" on august 24, 2013, wrote a story on trump university which just tore him to shreds. on august 26, 2013 -- 2013, three years ago -- they tore him to shreds. the "times" has been writing about trump university for over three years now and the bigger question, which hillary clinton is why does this stick to me and nothing sticks to this guy. because if there was one editorial in the "new york times" as tough on hillary clinton as there was on donald

trump in 2013, trump university, poor hillary would see her numbers drop 20 points. donald just holds it up. >> so, joe, what's going on here? >> we've been trying to figure that out and also look at what people are thinking. >> i will tell you what's going on. what's going on is that when politicians endorse somebody against donald trump, it only makes donald trump stronger. when we attack donald trump -- >> look at the scalia situation. >> when we attack donald trump it makes donald trump stronger because he holds up the "new york times" or the "washington post": hell, he'll hold up t national review. he's tougher on the "national review" than he is -- >> you talk about donald trump winning despite all of these things. you're right. he's winning despite his negatives. we don't know how that translates beyond an active primary voting public.

>> when we get into the general election, there will be a lot of heads turning and just spinning out of control because if it's a battle between him and hillary, i've said this before -- >> my goodness gracious me. >> don't underestimate trump in that setting. >> can you imagine what he would do going after her? i mean, it's going to be -- >> i don't think anybody will now but so much -- >> i predicted that before it happened. >> and we said this yesterday which is like we said like ted cruz's campaign was over yesterday because he can't win evangelicals. you watch. rubio and donald trump coming together adds a ticket that allows him to shore up support with the establishment and get -- he would believe the hispanic vote that he may have lost by now. you're going to see a synthesis. i love twitter because you see in the realtime. a little chink in the armor here. somebody sucking up over there. sort of this synthesis, sort of moving together and rubio -- >> that's why marco isn't

attacking trump. he wants to be his vice president. >> absolutely. and you've been seeing that among the elected officials for a couple months now actually because they hate ted cruz so much that they've been saying well, you know, we can live with trump and he'll pick marco as his vice president. i think they're making a profound mistake but that's been their view. >> well, yeah, but same-sex union in a situation where he would do or say what it takes. the others can't live with themselves. he will try and get that vice president position. >> we want to give the final word to bob woodward. i hope you understand my point. one of our frustrations is people say why don't you ask him the tough questions? we do. we have the transcripts. they're online, it doesn't matter. like for instance the muslim

protests supposedly in new jersey. we were around the set saying it never happened, there's no evidence, what's your evidence. kept going after him five times "i just remember i saw it on tv." where did you see it? "it's everywhere." you do that five, six, seven times. we could spend 30 minutes in an interview asking the same question and getting the same answered. >> i asked him how mexico was going to pay for the wall and i told him "do not say believe me, believe me is not an answer. how? how? how?" that would be an intense, tough question so soedon't say we're . >> what's the job of the media? >> we ask questions. >> to explain who he is and what's going on. that is a big excavation. >> so you know what the big problem is here? the media hasn't been able to do that yet -- >> because they don't know. >> because they hate him so much. just like when sarah palin was first introduced to the national stage the media had a problem because they hated -- they did

not understand her. >> i learned this lesson through sarah palin. >> the "saturday night live" skit about trying to get somebody to go to alaska to cover sarah palin instead of chicago, it was hilarious because there is not an ideological disconnect, there is a cultural disconnect with the type of people that support candidates like sarah palin, pat buchanan, ross perot, and donald trump. >> okay -- >> and bernie sanders. >> and bernie sanders. >> let me try to answer what you've said because i think it's important and you know, if you say people hate him in the media, let's remember nixon's warning that when you hate people you wind up destroying yourself. >> exactly. >> that is correct. >> and that's what a t media has done. >> but our job is a limited one to describe who he is. >> well, then we need to do our job and not let our views of how contemptuous donald trump and his followers are. >> that's what comes across to a

lot of supporters. >> it's a straight journalistic problem. let's describe who he is. what his background is. he has got one of the richest stori stories. every phase of his life needs to be in and let people decide. >> but also separate him from his followers, because his followers are good people by and large who are -- >> fed up with washington. >> and politics and all the other things we've been talking about. and that's different from him. >> also we've been in the phase of the campaign where donald trump's outside personality and presence has dominated the discussion. and there haven't been many policies yet. once we move into the campaign where it's one candidate against another and people are examining policies i think our job, as it is with any front-runner, is to carry on questioning. whether it makes a difference is irrelevant. >> we're wringing our hands acting as if it hasn't been done

yet. kimberly with the "wall street journal" asked him good policy questions. she got no answers. >> i know, but you know what -- >> that doesn't mean we don't -- >> i'm not suggesting that! >> some of this has to happen in a time frame. >> i'm suggesting nobody is doing it is a faulty suggest. >> they just need to take the hatred out of it. >> you have to do it at a time when people are paying attention and right now people are not paying attention to the details, they're paying attention to the bigger picture. >> and they're voting for him. bob woodward, thank you so much. >> that was fun, bob. >> thank you. nice try. still ahead on "morning joe," after what appears to be another third-place finish, ted cruz says he can't wait to get to his home state of texas. but is the senator's campaign wounded going into super tuesday? plus my exclusive one on one interview with melania trump. she's an immigrant to this country. how does she feel about her husband's tough stance on immigration? you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. welcome to opportunity's knocking,

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the show but the stakes are serious. we're talking about the future of our country. this is not a game. it's not a joke. i share on the trail all the time why i'm doing this. i'm doing this because of our little girls. because of caroline, because of catherine, they're seven and five. i'm not willing to gamble my daughter daughters' with donald trump. the truth of the matter is if donald became president nobody knows what the heck he would do. he doesn't know what the heck he would do. >> with us now we have pulitzer prize winning columnist in, associate editor of the "washington post," i tell you what, the pew litters just come down the vent. [ laughter ] ron fournier back with us, eugene robinson and nbc news correspondent hallie jackson. hallie, let's start with you: how can the ted cruz campaign spin the fact that he once again got hammered by donald trump among evangelicals?

>> looking ahead to super tuesday, it's important to note they're talking about the culture of some of these states but he won on evangelicals here and in south carolina. i spoke with ean aide, they're not concerned. they said "talk to me on tuesday." why tuesday? that's when arkansas and texas and georgia, etc., vote. and ted cruz is not playing the expectations game. he's doing nothing to down play how important that is to his campaign. listen. >> at this point, we've had four primaries. history teaches us that nobody has ever won the nomination without winning one of the first three primaries and there are only two people who have won one of the first three primaries. [ cheers and applause ] the undeniable rally is that the

only campaign that has beaten donald trump and the only campaign that can beat donald trump is this campaign. one week from today will be the most important night of this campaign. one week from today is super tuesday. >> ted cruz talking about getting home to texas, sleeping in his own bed for the first time in a month, he said. but texas is key for him. if you look at recent polling, he leads donald trump there but he has got to win. if he can't win in his home state of texas with 27,000 volunteers on the ground it's going to be tough to see how he performs when you move forward into those march 15 states. how does he look at his strategy for super tuesday? the campaign is looking at it in three ways. one positive messaging on ted cruz in these areas where they feel strong already. two, trying to take it to donald trump and some of these congressional districts where it looks neck in neck and then, three, trying to push down marco rubio in places where they can maybe keep him below the viability threshold when it comes to these proportional

states so that's what they're doing moving forward. it's not lost on the campaign that he is slipping to donald trump among evangelical voters. there's a sense that they have to start throwing elbows and getting in everybody else's lane in order to make sure they can lock down the evangelicals and the very conservatives which is who he needs to do well with as we look ahead to six days from now. >> halle jackson, thank you very much. could ted cruz lose his home state of texas? >> he could and it's very convenient, gene robinson, that his bed that he gets to sleep in happens to be that-- that's the must-win state for ted cruz. >> he's finished if he doesn't win texas. even more than the evangelicals. what i think should be stunning to the cruz campaign is that they're not winning very conservative voters. they're not winning very conservative and what conservati conservative voters. if he can't win them, whose

votes can he win. he's the ideological conservative -- >> can we talk about the man you first called godzilla several months ago, shock him with electricity and he gets more powerful. there's a reason you won a pulitzer prize. >> that's all too true. >> think about what he's don to his main opponents. number one, jeb bush, low energy. we all have stories about people we've talked to that said they like jeb bush but "you know what? he's just too weak." trump defined one of the strongest leaders i've ever seen up close as weak. ted cruz since iowa has been -- donald trump has been calling ted cruz a liar. >> exactly. >> harsh, he lies. for an evangelical, how does he lie so much? >> a dirty campaigner. >> he's a liar. it stuck, evangelicals are listening. i've never seen anybody frame people the way he does. >> he's done a brilliant job. that's what you do. you try to define your opponent before your opponent defines him or herself and define him or her in the way that is most

advantageous to you. trump has done that brilliantly and, look, he is more than i think right now the odds-on favorite to win the nomination. as long as cruz and rubio keep thinking that the other of the two is their major opponent and keeping track of each other -- >> i'm sorry. there's no sense -- michael steele, rubio won't attack donald trump, donald trump won't attack marco rubio. should we just get a picture of them clasping hands right now and photo shopping it? >> by the way, it's because marco rubio is the only one -- well, first of all he's necessary on a number of level bus he's the only one who will go against everything he believes in and say whatever trump wants him to. he'll l do whatever trump tells him to do, that's why he'll be his vice presidential pick. >> you can say ted cruz has a

history of shifting positions, too. i. >> i'm not going to sell the trump/rubio ticket just yet. i think trump will look around and there are capable and just as viable selections and choices -- >> why isn't rubio attacking trump? >> because he wants to be vice president. >> well, because -- that's a good question from trump to rubio because i think he's -- i've always said he needs to watch rubio in that regard. but i don't think trump feels it's necessary to do so just yet. because he's got a firewall and it's called cruz. >> now donald trump -- >> it's systematic. >> donald trump keeps attacking the guy in third place. instead of the guy who finished second in south carolina and the guy that finished second in nevada. >> it helps trump to have three people in the race. >> why not attack rubio? >> there's only one lane in this

race right now. it's the donald trump lane. my question is why don't rubio and cruz realize that when you play king of the hill you go after the king? and when you realize that in this election, donald trump, whatever you think about him, has shown us how to communicate in this day in age, omnipresent on twitter, omnipresent on facebook, speak in a colloquial common person way, call the talk shows, and you go after your opponent. >> hold on for a second, everybody stop for a second. we've been asking this question, why aren't they attacking trump, why do they keep attacking each other? that's a question that willie geist on the "today" show asked marco rubio, why is he not attacking donald trump. >> senator rubio, i'm channeling a lot of republicans and conservatives who like you and support you but have grown increasingly frustrated that you're not specifically going after donald trump and you seem more focused on ted cruz. their concern seems to be that by the time you get rid of ted cruz -- if that is, in fact, the strategy -- it will be too late. donald trump will have too many

states and too many delegates. why not go at donald trump right now? >> first of all, i haven't heard that and i go to rallies all the time. i don't have voters begging me to attack anyone. secondly, i think a lot of people in the media want to see republicans attacking each other because it makes for good television. i'm more than happy to show differences -- >> forgive the sbrumginterrupti you're going after ted cruz. >> i'm responding to ted cruz. if i'm attacked i'm going to respond and set the record state. ted cruz has era r petedly made things up about me and we need to clear the air and point to the fact he's making things up. in the last debate, donald trump said george w. bush is responsible for 9/11. i corrected him in a very firm way in front of the entire nation so when instances like that arise i won't hesitate to point out to our differences or things i disagree with. >> he's called ted cruz a liar and he's saying this is the

media? oh, they just like republicans attacking republicans. they've been tearing each other's eyes out. i don't know if he thinks we're stupid but are you going to believe me or your lying eyes, katty kay? >> doesn't he look at jeb? isn't that the answer to why he didn't attack trump? >> he's coast guard is. >> he's scared. >> the only thing that happened so far -- >> punch the bully in the nose, don't be scared of him. >> everyone stay with us. >> ron fournier, you grew up in the same neighborhood i did. you go up to the bully and you punch them in the face. >> we'll be right back, boys.

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people who gave me options. kept me on track. and through it all, my retirement never got left behind. so today, i'm prepared for anything we may want tomorrow to be. every someday needs a plan. let's talk about your old 401(k) today. joining us from new york, the man who called donald trump our national id, "new york post" columnist in and contributing editor for the "weekly standard" -- >> i made a deal. if john comes on the show i'll get him a book deal with just his tweets about donald trump. >> the tweets are hysterical. >> one of my favorites john was in realtime after the pope attacked donald trump you

basically sounded like willy wonka going "no, please, stop." talk about your long national nightmare. >> i think it's very simple and plain which is -- i'll give you an analogy. so last night i saw the broadway show that everyone has been talking about for a year, "hamilton," the music about alexander hamilton and the founding of the united states. a wyche ago i was at mount vernon, the home of george washington and just to put in the context, you look at the show and you look at mount vernon and you think giants walked here. this country was built by giants, it was created by giants and there is a possibility that donald trump is going to follow george washington, alexander hamilton, thomas jefferson as a leader of the united states. and if that does not represent an enormous cultural decline and a huge embarrassment for this

country i don't know what does. >> john, explain what's happened to a republican party specifically the base of the republican party that goes out and votes in primaries, usually predictably every four years that they are supporting somebody that supports planned parenthood, that was critical of george w. bush on 9/11. you could list the other sins against conservative theocracy. what's happening out there. >> well, you eluded to this in the last segment but it turns out those three creepy girls who did the dance at the rally, the refrain was "deal with strength or get crushed every time." obviously the trump campaign is about strength and strength and strength and almost almost

nothing else which is why this notion that the remaining two plausible candidates have that they can somehow beat up on each other and not him is democrated. >> i don't know which girls you're talking about. i'm sure they're cute and sweet and about to go to elementary school this morning. >> it's not them. it's not them. it was the whole affect of this rally. there was a north korean syrian moment in which the leader was being danced to and celebrated? >> i was thinking more like borat. he will crush his opponents like stalin. john, explain, this is one of the things i was puzzled about yesterday. i think i retweet you about 20 times a day. >> you're a great publicity man.

i want to thank you for that. i'm honored. >> you and i were puzzled over the fact that cruz and rubio as was ron i both were puzzled over the fact that cruz and rubio, as was ron fortier, they're beating the hell out of each other. as ron would say, they're playing king of the hill. they're having a knife fight at the bottom of the hill while the guy on the top of the hill is just sitting there admiring the view. >> by the way, the numbers from nevada made clear why this makes no sense, right, which is if one of them drops out and you added them, the votes of one to the other, it wouldn't be 100% obviously because trump would get some of them. they wouldn't win. so you can't beat somebody without beating him. you can't -- you can't prevail over somebody who is winning without -- without beating him. and i -- >> john, we're showing the numbers right now.

put the numbers back up, guys. it is absolutely mind boggling to me that you get two guys that are stuck in the 20s, that are always fighting each other for second place, another guy approaching 50% and they keep hammering each other and not touching the guy that's approaching 50%. >> yeah. the logic is even crazier if you look at it this way, which is let's say that we're going forward, there were another 12 primaries next week, another eight primaries after that in the coming -- in the coming two weeks and the polling was showing that it was all up in the air, right? so you could say, okay, they can play delegate game. you know, rubio wins half the delegates of trump in nevada and do this and do that, but that's not what's happening. trump's ahead almost everywhere, which means if he keeps winning then his winning -- the likelihood of him winning elsewhere increases. it makes him more thinkable as a candidate and so the logic of their strategy has been blown

out of the water for probably a week. and not just that, by the way, because rubio's claim is electability, he has to make the argument that trump is unelectable. it is not simply the case that the public is supposed to bring to the table, the republican electorate to the table, that trump is unelectable. you have to explain why trump is unelectable. you have to say the company doesn't need a jerk. the way he's talked about women and the things he's done for women will make it impossible for republicans to get female jokes. you have to talk about what sorts of things trump is doing -- >> but he can't do that, john, because the hammer comes down and he won't get his vp spot. >> if he's too scared of the hammer, if he's worried he's the man with the hammer, you might as well quit now. >> what's what everybody around the table said before except me, they all said he was scared. >> i think he was scared at first and now he's plotting. >> john, thank you so much. i hope you'll come back.

>> thank you very much. >> i'm very sorry you're having a hard day. >> be fruitful and tweet. we've got to work on the book deal. still ahead, is hillary clinton moving the goalposts on what it will take for her to release the transcripts of her speeches to wall street. that's ahead when "morning joe" comes right back. what do doctors from

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trump, trump, trump, trump. >> of course, if you listen to the pundants, we weren't expected to win too much, and now we're winning, winning, winning the country. and soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning. >> calm down. >> phil, there is a tiger in the bathroom! >> what's going on? >> what the [ bleep ] happened last night? >> what happened last night is that donald trump won his third state in a row in the republican presidential race. the results continue to come in slowly from nevada. nbc news projects trump as the winner. the state party is calling it a record turnout. at one high school in sparks lines were two to three times what organizers had planned for. vote totals are still trickling in, but with more than 96% of

the vote, already 75,000 votes have been tabulated, trump alone got more votes than the total republican turnout four years ago. right now it's too close to call for second place between ted cruz and marco rubio. ben carson and john kasich are much farther back, so far not getting more than single digits. trump will get 12 delegates. rubio and cruz five each, but that's okay because they're going to change the world. good morning, everybody, it is wednesday, february 24th. welcome to "morning joe." >> you advertise. >> that's okay. they can't pick the hammer. >> the hammer is coming down. >> the kochs are going to change the world. >> they are? >> the g commercial. >> why don't we introduce everybody. >> with us in washington we have msnbc political analyst michael steel. senior political columnist for the national journal, ron

fornier, senior analyst -- yesterday. well -- >> for a very long time we would watch him. he would say outrageous and funny things and everybody would laugh and now when you see him speak you're actually hearing skeptics like nicole wallace saying, it's over. he's going to win this thing. yesterday we basically said for ted cruz, it's over. for marco, it's over. unless something really dramatic happens over the next couple of weeks. actually, over the next seven

days. >> yeah. >> try to -- try to put this into perspective. in all the years you've been covering american politics -- >> what happened? >> -- what's actually happening out there? >> well, first, joe, we've been wrong for the last seven months. >> well, we've been right and we're catching hell forit right now. >> most of us have been wrong. let's not automatically assume the wisdom has come down and it's over. we've elected fewer than 10%, michael, of the delegates. >> right. >> donald trump has a commanding lead. there is no question of that. next tuesday you'll have egates winner take all. >> almost all of those? >> obviously if he holds it, he's going to be the nominee. there's a 60, 70% chance he'll be the nominee. i think when people say it's over -- >> give me a scenario. >> the scenario is that cruz does pretty well next week, that kasich wins one of two of those

states up in new england and then somehow rubio beats him in florida and kasich beats him in ohio. what are the probabilities of all of that happening? maybe 5%. >> maybe 5%. >> it's not over. if you had to pick a nominee, i would agree. >> roberts, i wonder if al had to put any money on whether he would -- whether he would -- >> how much money. yeah. >> we're not going to say it's over because everybody was saying hillary clinton's career was over. >> that's true. >> we've declared a lot of people over at various times. >> exactly. >> but donald trump clearly is scheduled at this point to win the republican nomination and, you know, it's not funny anymore. the outrageous comments are not funny. they're bullying comments and they are playground behavior and suddenly there's the possibility that that kind of behavior can be elected president of the united states. and that's not funny. >> michael steel, certainly the republican establishment's not

laughing right now. >> no. >> and what's pretty remarkable to me is they should have seen this coming. >> yeah. >> and i said they should have seen this coming because, again, i mean, when we ran in -- when i ran in '94, we weren't at that point, i love ronald regan, he's why i got into politics, but it was partly the party of reagan but it was also partly the party of pat buchanan and ross perr p >> there were elements. >> we were having fights in '95 and '96 with newt gingrich who was k street and the republican establishment. >> absolutely. >> they should have seen this coming and nobody did. they were in denial until a couple of days ago. >> and the reality is -- >> until south carolina. >> until south carolina was over. >> you had that, as you described, but then it all comes to a focal point in 2009 with the emergence of the tea party where it began to coalesce itself around movement politics, around action, actually

beginning to take on the -- those representatives in congress and pushing back against the establishment. >> yes. >> if you don't take the history as you pointed outgoing back to the 1990s where the elements of this were beginning to emerge and you brent it to the present day in 2009 where you have this explosion of activity among activist -- grassroots activists and you don't see that as a sign that there are troubled waters ahead. >> right. >> this is where you wind up. i want to go back to your point. if marco rubio was where ted cruz -- where donald trump was standing right now, what would you be saying about this race? >> i would probably be saying, it's close to over. >> yeah. so there is -- that is the difference between -- that is the difference between the way folks in the washington bubble look at it. i'm not saying you're in the washington bubble. >> i think you just did. >> i think i just did. >> you're a people of the arc. >> really outside of -- >> but, michael, that movement

politics has also contributed to this success. >> yes. >> because what you saw in south carolina, for instance, was more than a majority of the people, republicans, going into the republican primary voting booth and saying they were disappointed with the republican party and republican politicians. that's because the tea partiers were not able to deliver. >> i was just going to say -- i was just going to say, that's a great point to make. yes, the tea party movement rose in 2009, but, ron fournier, in 2010 the republican party had the greatest landslide in the history of modern american politics. >> who was the chairman then? >> if you take -- if you take the legislators that were elected in washington and across the country. i think there were like 700. >> 762. >> wow. >> 762. >> impressive. >> and then what did they promise? we're going to a polish obama care. we're going to take our country back.

2014, another massive republican landslide. i mean, the democratic party has been wiped out legislatively over the past -- >> i mean, look at the state legislatures. >> -- four, five years. they control 60% of the legislatures, governor's mansions. they control the senate. they have the largest number of representatives in the house since 1928. >> and they did nothing. >> and they did nothing. so that's what that's about, too. >> oh, yeah. >> not anti-obama, but it's anti-republican. >> it's bigger than that. barack obama was elected in a landslide. brought people together. talked about bringing folks together and nothing happened. what american people are saying on the far right, far left -- >> something needs to happen, anything. >> right. they're looking for some kind of disruption. they want change in the worse possible way and in my opinion and kochs opinion, donald trump is doing it in the worst possible way. >> look at bernie sanders. >> you're right. >> here's what happened, people

have been over promised by the democrats and -- >> that's right. >> donald trump -- when donald trump says he's going to deport 12 million people or 11 million people, he's not going to do that. when he says he's going to slap a $45 million tear ris on, he's not going to do that. so, therefore, we're going to another over promise -- >> ted cruz has over promised, marco. >> bernie sanders. >> bernie sanders is over promising. >> ironically the only person who is not over prom promising. >> hillary. >> who is getting scalded for not over promising. you know, i hear these republicans saying they're going to do this, they're going to do that. it's a lie. >> right. >> they never do. i've been watching the same 30 second ad from my party since 1982. i have. >> michael steel. >> i have. >> except for michael steel. >> i know what you're saying. i've been seeing the same promises. i've been seeing the same ads. if somebody who is voted republican in every presidential election has been as turned off

with my party in washington as i have, this is no surprise. >> this is scaring people, it really is. i went and got my haircut yesterday and there were -- everybody in that beauty parlor was from someplace else, right? they're american citizens -- >> right. >> -- but they're from someplace else and they're scared to death. they're scared for their children. they think something really awful is happening in this country. >> you mean because of donald trump? >> because of donald trump. >> i will say if you had gotten your haircut in a different part of town everybody would have been excited. >> i understand. >> i'm serious. i get my haircut in the same neighborhoods as you do. i'm not casting aspersions. also, mika and i are surprised, ron fournier, when we go across the country. this happened to you when you went to michigan. you went back and said i can nuance this, hate donald trump, but you've got to understand what his voters are thinking. mika and i have had more people come up to us, grab us and whisper, i'm going to vote for

trump. basically don't tell anybody. even democrats. >> let's unspool this beyond this election. one of two things is going to happen. a guy like donald trump or bernie sanders is going to win and not be able to deliver on the promises and the public is going to say it happened again or guys like donald trump and bernie sanders are going to lose, the establishment will win and claim victory and people are going to be angrier. how does an anger that is already metastasized itself to a point where we want to bar muslims, we're calling women pigs, we have a guy running for president who really has no grasp on policy. really ugly. donald trump has not denounced some of the worst things that his supporters have done. where does that go if washington doesn't change after this election? that's when things get even scarier for me. >> i will tell you, mika, election night i remember walking away from "30 rock" on election night and everybody was celebrating. barack obama was elected

president. and i remember saying to somebody right after that happened, i said, you know, i'm a republican and i'm not happy about how this went down, but god help us if he's a failed president because so many people are putting their hopes and dreams into barack obama. >> right. >> and what ron said has happened. >> we need radical, positive reform quickly. >> it goes beyond politics. a lot of what you're saying is a tremendous frustration and upset with the world as we know it. >> in both parties. >> yes. because it's like the industrial revolution. we're going through a completely different time in the technological revolution where jobs aren't what they used to be, expectations are completely different from what they used to be. >> life is different. >> and you combine that with the social changes where people -- where gender isn't even what it used to be and people are

just -- just unmoored. so i think that that's really contributing to everything. >> the thing is though, i think we have to really take this one 30,000 feet and step back. it's one of the things that i've always been fascinated by. i remember the early '70s as a young kid driving around in upstate new york and my parents bemoaning the fact that america was failing. that's the narrative. we have been living a license 1945 in this country, that everything has to be the way it was right after world war ii when 50% of production across the globe was destroyed and the united states dominated. and so if our mindset is set in the 1950s, it always has to be like this, and we're trying to hold on to that, then all we did is disappointment after

disappointment after disappointment instead of looking at the situation new and saying, it's not going to be like it was in 1954. >> but that was also the golden age of politics. that was when everybody actually did cooperate with each other immediately after the war because they had all fought together. >> white males. >> right. >> more specific, it was the golden age for wasps. look at the silver lining, this is something the chairman knows in his heart and we've talked about it. look at this generation that's coming up. >> right. >> a generation forged in these times, much more pragmatic, much less ideological. they were raised in sharing an economy. >> they can't lift the hammer. >> they are natetivelily born to the technological revolution. >> ron, i felt good about that until my 25-year-old daughter just flew back from l.a. and

told me she really loved the standards in the books. >> okay. >> i want to quickly say, everything you've said is right, but we are doing a lot better than we will sometimes admit we're doing. i saw bill gates today saying i am incredibly optimistic about where america is going. we are 25% better than everybody. we don't have a border problem. >> that's exactly what i'm saying. expectations. >> and the politicians, rather than playing to here are some problems but we have some strengths are just focusing on the forum. >> that's one of the interesting things about kasich's message because it is much more uplifting and positive than you hear the others saying. still ahead on "morning joe," hillary clinton says she's held to a different standard than everyone else when it comes to paid speeches. that's because she's paid so much. >> plus this. >> all the time with you? >> uh-huh. >> no, i don't, and i tell him

that. >> and malania trump joins us for an exclusive sit-down interview. first, there were preliminary reports of 2 dozen tornadoes. here is bill karins with a look at what could be a dangerous day. >> three fatalities yesterday. we had pictures before it got dark. even a couple areas like mobile park homes really got crushed. again, the three fatalities, dozens of injuries, hundreds of homes were damaged. obviously a ton of vehicles were in the way of these storms, too, as they came through right around the evening rush hour in louisiana and then overnight the storms moved into southern mississippi, alabama, and right through north florida. overall, 30 tornadoes reported. the threat this morning continues. we have a tornado watch in florida. thankfully they haven't had any tornadoes. there's a couple of new tornado warnings on the border of south carolina and upstate portions of

georgia. we have a moderate risk of severe weather. that's the greatest risk of seeing them very strong storms and possibility of tornadoes. there are 60 million people in the area of the risk. this was expanded northward. we could see strong storms all the way up to new york city at the end of february. very rare. as far as the tornadoes go, it's really from richmond to wilmington, especially the bull's eye area that we have the best chance to see the storms. the timing would be around 5 to 6:00 p.m. we have blizzard conditions now developing in areas of illinois and indiana where schools are already closed in chicago and st. louis and there's a lot of schools that are closed in indiana. now michigan, too. this is a multi--faceted storm. a lot of dangers out there. a lot of concern is tornadoes, richmond, raleigh, norfolk area. keep your eye towards the sky in case the nasty storms head your way. new york city, a dreary day. a lot of airport delays. pick your poison in the east. this is a big storm affecting millions. more "morning joe" will be

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saturday's democratic primary on saturday, bernie sanders and hillary clinton participated in another town hall debate. once again, the topic of paid speech transcripts came up. clinton said last week that she'd release her transcripts when everyone else does the same. here's what senator sanders had to say about that last night. >> i have given some speeches and money was donated to charity way, way back. i got a few dollars. if i can find the transcripts, i'm very, very happy to do it, but when secretary clinton said i will do it if other people do it. i am very happy to release all of my paid speeches to wall street. here it is, chris, there ain't none. i don't be do that. i don't get -- i don't get

speaker's fees from goldman sachs. it's not there so i'm happy to do my best in releasing any of the speeches. it won't be very shocking to anybody. >> and here is what secretary clinton said last night when asked again if she would release her transcripts. >> sure. if everybody does it, and that includes the republicans, because we know they have made a lot of speeches. >> why is there one standard for me and not for everybody else? at some point -- at some point, you know -- look, i'm on record. i have a record. you know what, if people are going to ask for things, everybody should be on a level playing field and i'm happy if that were the case. >> okay. i can tell from the grumbling around the set that i'm going to be alone here. maybe it's the politician in me. i understand what hillary is saying there. why should i unilaterally disarm. >> absolutely. >> forget bernie sanders. i'm assuming i'm going to beat

bernie sanders. if i release some of my speech transcripts, then i want marco rubio, ted cruz, donald trump -- that's why i said -- that's why i said everybody is going -- it was like parliament making fun of labor's leading point. >> anybody who makes 675 grand from wall street speeches ought to release them, anybody, okay? if you go and give one speech -- she made a lot of money from those speeches. she didn't need it. it's fine. >> what's wrong with her saying i'll release them when the republicans release them. >> here's why, joe. she told the american public when i gave those speeches i took on wall street. i told them what they have to do. if that was true, she would release them. i suspect she's not telling the truth. this is an era of transparency. the public has a right to know. release it. the fact is when she says why should i do it if everybody else does it? hopefully you are better than the republican party.

is that the standard, you are only going to be as good as those people that are evil? no, you say you're going to be better. release the transcripts and let's make our own decision. >> again, she moved the goalposts because if you go back to when it originally came up, she said, i'll be happy to release them. now it's i'll be happy to release them -- >> first it was if bernie does. >> you can see. she moves the goalposts and makes it even more questionable. and so why are you held to a different standard? because you do -- >> let's talk to one person who agrees with me. koch roberts. i will not release something until my democratic opponent does. >> the reason i agree with you, joe, i think it's all distracting. enough already with all of this stuff. she's trying desperately to keep the conversation about the issues that she's concerned about. >> release the transcripts,

we'll move on. it's her fault we're talking about it. >> she raised money off of wall street. she's running against a guy who has no connection, taken nothing from them. prove the point. coming up on "morning joe," does marco rubio suddenly have a conservative problem? he had to cancel one forum and now reports say he may not go to the biggest conservative event on the calendar. we'll hear from the head of the american conservative union when "morning joe" continues. my exclusive interview with melania trump is also ahead. be good. text mom. boys have been really good today. send.

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i'm grateful to the american conservative union, young americans for freedom, national review and human events for organizing this third annual memorial service for the democratic platform of 1980. someone asked me why i wanted to make it three in a row. well, you know how the irish love wakes. >> that was president ronald regan speaking to the conservative political action conference or cpac back in 1983. the gathering has become the preeminent annual gathering for conservatives, but there's a report this morning that marco rubio plans to skip cpac this year. joining us now is the chairman of the american conservative union, matt schlapp. he's a former political director

for george w. bush, michael steel and ron fournier. >> matt, what happened. marco also skipped a conservative event in south carolina so he could do a franklin's focus group on fox. now he's skipping another conservative, the preeminent conservative event. what happened here? >> i don't know what happened. i've been working with them for seven months to try to get an answer. all the other presidential candidates are going to be there. this is an interesting year. in typical donald trump fashion when we invited him to speak at cpac and i sent him an e-mail. he does this big handwriting, matt, i wouldn't miss it. i got an answer back in 15 minutes. no bureaucracy. got an answer. ted cruz is a bright guy. he was calling me. how many spots can i get, how many people can i -- >> exactly. >> that's how he operates. with marco it's been a long process of trying to get him there. >> hasn't marco always been measured. chris christie said a boy in the bubble.

he may not be the boy in the bubble, but he certainly from the very start has had walls and walls of protection around him, right? >> well, all i can say is this. a long process to try to get to a yes or no. it was unfortunate that they see my private e-mails going back and forth. i don't want to send more. i want him to be there. this isn't whether i'm happy about the process. people are coming from all over the country and they deserve to hear from them. he wants to be their nominee for president. this is the moment. ronald regan came 13 times. he started his national political career at cpac. our theme comes from the very first address. the theme is our time is now. for conservatives across the country, by the way, they're in trouble. >> i was curious about the whole process, and you laid that out well. talk about, if you can, just the impact of cpac right now. i mean, as we've seen with

donald trump, he's transformed how you run for president. what impact are you seeing among grassroots delegates a among a donald trump campaign versus the other campaigns. what are you hearing the grassroots come to go cpac looking for? >> first thing is the grassroots activists that are coming to cpac, they are not thinking that donald trump is beyond the pale. a lot are happy that donald trump could be the nominee. the other thing is people think that donald trump is a call to personality. this is a strange occurrence because he has a very unique personality. that is not what's happening out there politically. what's happening out there politically is people are trying to figure out a new way to play this game of politics. how do they save their country. this is a genuine, heart felt movement. donald trump happens to be speaking for these people. it isn't as much about donald trump as people who feel displaced. do you call the rnc for answers? do you call the heritage

foundation for answers? where do you turn to on the dial to get your answers? the american people are searching and so are conservatives. >> what's your drop dead time? what time does rubio have to tell you yes or no? >> i believe in happy answers. i think he should be able to figure this out by the time we sit down for lunch today, don't you? >> no, i mean, i -- my question is in what universe does it make sense for marco rubio not to be there, not to be at cpac? that's maybe not a question for you, maybe it's for the panel. how could you in the rubio campaign calculate that this was anything but a no brainer? show up at cpac. >> everybody says that. >> that moment in time. >> speaking to a guy that had a 95, 96% ac uconn ser vative rating last time. >> that's true. i can verify it. i don't get it. >> by the way, he has a -- >> he has a 97. he's a great conservative senator. a lot of people in this crowd

loved him. he's a friend of mine. he's been a conservative senator. come speak to these people. they want to see you. >> you've served the president in the white house. you know this process. what does this process tell you about how he might run a white house. >> it took seven months to get a yes or no. that wasn't a great thing. but actually i look at it a different way. >> make a decision quickly. >> i got sent on a couple presidential campaigns. you've got to lay your schedule down, make decisions, you have to disappoint people, tell them no. if you can look them in the eye and tell them that, everyone is fine. >> what does it say about how he would govern? he gets elected in the senate, he stops showing up to vote. he says he hates the senate. he doesn't show up for the most important conservative conference out there. he doesn't really show up in iowa, new hampshire if you talk to people in iowa and new hampshire. they say he doesn't have a presence there. are you concerned about how he would govern as president? >> well, his answer to this is i'm going to be in states where there's actually voting. i don't think that's a terrible answer. i think when it's

conservative, 2/3 of the people pulling the levers in these booths, the place to be and ronald regan has shown us he should be here. >> how many times was reagan there? >> 13 times. this is something that everybody who wants to be conservative and be their nominee, they come. why do they come, joe? not everyone is from iowa and new hampshire. some people are from states that will never see a presidential candidate. >> right. >> if you are a conservative you should have your own version. this is where you show up. >> it's also a lot of fun. >> it is. >> it's interesting. >> i'm telling you, i feel like i'm in a special museum when i'm at cpac. very much so. i have a great time there. >> actually, she's the one they look at like an artifact. perfect, but i will say, they're always so polite to her when she shows up despite the fact that she's just come from the young marxist league meeting across the way. >> i'm happy about the fact that you're having it in my backyard

in maryland. national harbor. >> thank you so much, matt schlapp. come back on the show. i hope this works out. i hope you can get him to show up. >> my interview with melania trump. how she deals with all of the tough press her husband has attracted and her thoughts on some of the controversial proposals he's made during the campaign.

melania trump first arrived in the united states from her native slovenia in 1996. two decades later she is facing the prospect of becoming the first lady. yesterday i sat down with melania trump and got her to weigh in on everything around her husband's rhetoric with immigrants and his treatment of women. i asked her house the experience

has been so far. >> it's amazing what's going on. we're having fun. i like to keep it -- life as normal as possible for my son and i'm a full-time mom. i love it so i decided not to be in the campaign so much but i support my husband 100%. >> we want to understand who melania is. >> i grew up in slovenia and i went to school there. i studied design and architecture and then i moved to milan and paris to live there. and i had successful modeling career. i came to new york 1996. >> how many languages do you speak? >> i speak a few languages. >> a few? >> yeah. english, italian, french, german. >> tell me about your mother. >> really special. she's a lot of elegance and style. she was in fashion industry for a long time. >> what did your father do?

>> he was a salesperson and then he was a manager of the company and once the slovenia separated and was possible to have his own business, he opened his own business. >> what was it that you saw in donald when you met him or fell in love with him? >> his mind. amazing mind and very smart. very charming. great energy. we have a great relationship. we are own people. i'm my own person, he's his own person and i think that's very important. i don't want to change him, he doesn't want to change me. >> i got a list of terms that have been used to describe your husband from the left, the right, and the center, and they're not pretty. from stupid to demagogue, jerk, idiot, racist, sexist, race baiting, zenofobic, vulgarian in chief. textbook narcissist.

it goes on. what do you make of all of this when you hear it? >> it's normal that will come up. we are prepared for that. we have thick skin and we know that people will judge him and people will call names, and they don't give him enough credit. from june that he announced, they don't give him enough credit. >> what about people who feel he has -- let's just go down the list because the campaign started and many felt he had insulted mexicans. >> no, i don't feel he insulted the mexicans. he -- he said illegal immigrants. he didn't talk about everybody. he talks about illegal immigrants, and after a few weeks -- like after a few weeks giving him hard time and bashing him in the media, they turned around and said, you no he whkn he's right. he's right what he's talking

about. and he opened conversation that nobody did. >> but you're an immigrant. >> yes. >> do you ever think he's gone too far? >> i follow the law. i follow the law the way it's supposed to be. i never thought to stay here without papers. i had visa. i traveled every few months back to the country to slovenia to stamp the visa. i cam back. i applied for the green card. i applied for the citizenship later on after many years of green card. so i went by the system. i went by the law and you should do that. you should not just say, okay, let me just stay here and whatever happens happens. >> when he talked about a ban on muslims, which can't happen for so many reasons, i mean, do you ever think he's going too far with some of this? do you ever worry about it? >> well, what he said is it will be temporary and it's not

for all the muslims. we need to screen who's coming to the country. he wants to protect america. he wants to protect people of america so we have a country and keep the country safe. that's very important to him. and what's going on in the world, it's very dangerous. you have people coming in the country you don't know who they are, you don't know what they will do and that's why he was talking about it. it's temporary. we need to figure it out how and what people do that we know who is in this country. >> what about some of the language he uses? he curses. >> well, do i agree all the time? >> uh-huh. >> with him? >> uh-huh. >> no, i don't, and i tell him that. i tell him my opinions. i tell him what i think. sometimes he listens, sometimes he don't. >> in what areas do you advise him?

>> i follow the news from a to z and i know what's going on. i'm on the phone with my husband few times a day. he calls me, i call him. i tell him what's going on. he's on the road. and i give him my opinions. >> let me ask you about women. he's taken a lot of criticism, kerfuffles of course during the debate with megyn kelly. in the trump organization how are women treated compared to men? >> they are treated equal. i see him in life. he treats women the same as men. he will tell you what he thinks, what he's heard, what he thinks. he will not hold it back if you are a woman. you are -- you are human. you are human. you're not -- it's a woman or a man, it's no different. you're a human. >> so i asked melania if there are any specific issues she hopes to take on if her husband wins the white house. she says she has ideas but wouldn't reveal yet. they's focused on their son.

>> what's your take? >> i've melt her on many occasions before and so i was not surprised. she's extremely cultured and articulate. she speaks many languages and thought that, you know, she put it out there and explained exactly who she is and where she's come from and people can make their own decisions. she seems quite lovely though and they were very welcoming. >> fascinating. up next we'll head to the new york stock exchange where oil is once again pulling wall street into negative territory. stay with us. we settle for cable. but let us repay you for your troubles. fresh milk for the journey home? (neighbor) we live right there. (dad) salted meats? (neighbor) no thank you. (dad) hats then! (vo) don't be a settler, get a $100 reward card when you switch to directv. every insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. for those who've served

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all right. let's check in with cnbc's sarah eisen. sarah, what are you looking at? >> well, mika, wall street is finding itself in a familiar but pretty uncomfortable spot where oil prices are falling dramatically and they're taking stocks around the world down with it. it is all about saudi arabia. the major exporting nation effectively telling the market, do not expect us and other countries to start cutting production. now the news came this week where the saudi oil minister, very important figure in this market, spoke at an industry conference yesterday. he said that the markets should not view the recent agreement by saudi arabia, russia, and other major oil producers to freeze production at january levels as a precursor to another agreement where we could actually see production cut. there's been this hope in the market that's helped build a rally in the price of oil that now that we're seeing the nations finally coming together

agreeing to a production freeze, maybe the next step they'll take to stop falling oil prices would be to actually cut production, but the saudi minister saying, no, no, don't expect that at all. and also iran making some noises not supporting the actual production freeze from january levels. remember, this is complicated because iran just came back to the market after the sanctions had been lifted so it's trying to make as much money as it can pumping oil. the price is plunging because of all of this. it's taking stocks. what could stop it? a lot of people looking to the u.s. to start meaningfully cutting production at these levels. >> sara, thank you so much. we are back in a moment with much more "morning joe." i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

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68% would not leave under any circumstance. i think that means murder, i think that means anything. and the rest, i think i got up to 92 which is like will probably never leave. like incredible. other guys are 10%, they'll leave -- if you sneeze they'll leave. they don't like the way they leave. my people, i love you people. look at you, i love you. this guy ted cruz is the single biggest liar i have ever dealt with in my life. i mean it. i've never seen -- he will lie about anything. i've met much tougher people than i've dealt with. he is like a little baby, soft, weak, little baby by comparison

but for lying he's the best i've ever seen, the best. >> oh, my gosh. >> ted cruz responded to that criticism that he was a sweet, little baby by tweeting this clip from austin powers. >> wait a minute. he kind of looks like a baby. come here, i'm going to eat it! i'm bigger than you. i'm up higher in the food chain. get in my belly. >> i have fun with that. it's time to talk about what we learned today. what did you learn today? >> i learned that we're about to see an interesting experiment whether two guys want to be the republican nominee, marco rubio and ted cruz, can actually win by attacking each other rather than the guy who's creaming them in every category. >> can i answer that for you? no. >> no. no. >> absolutely not. >> i think we know the answer.

>> crazy. what did you learn, ron. >> if matt schlapp invites me anywhere, i give him a quick answer. >> exactly. >> i learned from mika, her point on marco rubio and the strategy behind the silence. i think that's something worth noting going forward. >> okay. we shall see if it fares out. >> i really think it is. you've been talking for some time how it looks like rubio and trump were avoiding each other. >> yeah. >> in the attacks. willie geist asked on the "today" show about why he was avoiding the attacks on trump and he said, well, people -- the media just loves republicans attacking each other so i'm not going to do it, but he's called marco rubio -- he's basically channelling donald trump on his attacks on cruz. >> i think he'll be perfect for him. he'll morph into whatever trump needs when the time comes. >> well, i will say this. if you look at it politically, gene, you have a guy who is beloved by the republican

establishment in washington so there's a connection there. he's a hispanic. >> that's important. >> that's obviously for a guy who said what donald trump has said over the past couple of months, donald trump beating him with hispanics is double. >> but they do completely disagree on foreign policy. they completely disagree on a number of domestic policy issues so there's going to be a whole lot of sort of not -- >> we're not saying this is going to happen, all we're saying is it is very curious that donald trump and marco rubio are savaging ted cruz but have not gone after each other the entire campaign. >> so what i learned is that ted cruz and marco rubio just simply can't lift the hammer. >> they can't lift the hammer. >> that's okay. why? >> it's okay because they're going to change the world. >> they're going to change the world. steve kornacki is going to change the world, too. he can pick up the hammer and he's going to also pick up coverage from las vegas right now. thanks for watching.

we'll see you tomorrow. and good morning. i'm steve kornacki live in a chilly las vegas. on the las vegas strip. you can put another one in the books for donald trump. the billionaire rolls to a huge victory in the nevada caucuses. his third victory in a row. at last count trump was winning 46% of the vote here, by far the largest percentage for any of the candidates in that republican race. nearly a two to one lead over marco rubio, his nearest competitor, who ease way back in a distant second at 24%. ted cruz behind him at 21%. for trump this could be the tip of the iceberg because the primaries start coming fast and furious now. trump is leading in just about all of them. next tuesday it is super tuesday. voters will be heading to the polls in 11 states. nearly