appreciate it. >> sure thing, lawrence. >> programming note. tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. eastern, that's when msnbc will begin super tuesday election night coverage. party crashing. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews down in houston, texas. the harris county smokehouse on the eve of the most important day so far in the presidential race. super tuesday. here's the question. is the republican party coming apart? this week it appeared to erupt on all fronts. senator marco rubio mocked on

donald trump's face and spray tan. donald trump made fun of rubio's sweatiness and big ears. senator ted cruz alleged ties between donald trump and the mob. donald trump said a judge in a lawsuit he was involved in was hostile to him because the judge is hispanic. trump also retweeted a quote by mussolini and defended doing so. trump seemed to have a hard time sunday morning disavowing the support of david duke, the grand wizard of the kkk. >> will you unequivocally condemn david duke and say you don't want his vote or that of other white supremists in this election? >> just so you understand, i don't know anything about david duke, okay? i don't know what you're talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. >> the question from the anti-defamation league is, even if you don't know about their endorsement, there are these groups and individuals endorsing you, would you just say, unequivocally, you condemn them and don't want their support? >> well, i have to look at the group. i don't know what group you're talking about. you wouldn't want me to condemn

a group that i know nothing about. >> well, this morning trump blamed that last part of his comment on a faulty earpiece. let's watch. >> let me tell you, i'm sitting in a house in florida with a very bad earpiece that they gave me. you could hardly hear what he was saying. what i heard was various groups. i don't mind disavowing anybody, and i disavowed david duke at a major news conference. >> sunday's exchange with trump was odder, considering what he said friday at a press conference about duke's support. >> i didn't even know he endorsed me. david duke endorsed me? i disavow, okay? >> okay. disavow that. even as trump reaches new highs in national and state polls, ben sasse of nebraska said he would support the run of a third-party candidate rather than back trump if he's the nominee. the question i started with tonight, is the republican party coming apart at its seams, assuming it has seams? nbc's katy tur is following the trump campaign.

katy, where does this stand right now? did he or did he not effectively disavow the support of the ku klux klan former grand dragon, david duke? is he with him or against him? >> reporter: i asked him that on thursday in the spin room after the debate. i asked about the robocalls, i asked about david duke, the white supremacist support. and he said that he disavows it. that's what he told me. he was very quick to move past that and move on. the same thing happened at the press conference you just mentioned. it is odd considering all of that which just happened a couple of days ago for him to say on cnn this weekend that he doesn't know who david duke is, and he wasn't necessarily sure what jake tapper was asking him. we also found today an archival video from donald trump in 2000 on the "today" show telling matt lauer he wasn't going to join

the reform power and run as a third-party candidate because david duke was a part of that party. he called david duke a bigot and a racist. the fact that he won't unequivocally distance himself this time around is questionable. we spoke to people at the law center who said they believe he is doing this on purpose, in order to gain support from people out there who might be on the line when it comes to, i guess white supremacists. certainly pandering in some ways to that voting block, that sector he's been accused of racial intolerance, and stoking racial fears. i'm sorry it's so loud in here. >> i know. katy -- well, there's lots of times between the polls tomorrow morning. a secret service agent got into a violent confrontation with a news photographer. you're watching the video of the incident right now, i believe. the photographer, christopher morris, said he stepped 18 inches outside the media pen that he was supposed to stick to, the secret service agent grand him by the neck and slammed him to the ground. there it is. you're watching it. there it is.

anyway, the trump campaign said in a statement we're not aware of the details surrounding the incident. it should be directed to the local law enforcement. they said it was, quote, aware of an incident involving an employee of the secret service that occurred earlier today in radford, virginia. at this time our local field office is working with their law enforcement partners to determine the exact circumstances that led up to this incident. katy, can you shed any light on this incident, and what led to it? >> reporter: well, from what the reporter said, he stepped outside of the bounds, and the secret service pushed them back in. there was video the reporter swears at the secret service member. i was not ot that rally, but i

can tell you from my experience, that the secret service is hit-or-miss when it comes to reporters at these rallies. sometimes they will not let anybody out of these pens. they call them pens. it's literally gated off. until donald trump gets off the stage. 30 minutes before he takes the stage. we've had reporters that say if they need to go to the bathroom and the secret service said they need an escort go to the bathroom. i and other reporters have asked, whose rules are these and where are they coming from? is it for the protection of the candidate? it doesn't make sense. we're all swept before we come in here. this is a traveling press corps that goes with donald trump everywhere. they're not saying whose rules these are. we get the sense it's from the campaign. they don't want the reporters mingling with folks in the crowd, going up to the rope line, potentially asking donald trump some questions. that's also why this music is so loud, chris. it's because the audio engineers are told to keep it loud so that nobody can hear what donald trump is potentially saying on the rope line.

that goes for the folks that are holding their iphones and trying to take videos or pictures. they don't want any sound to come from the candidate that's not controlled on the stage. >> okay. there it goes again. katy tur, thank you for the real-life -- there we are right in there again. thank you, because of you. if trump secures the nomination, it looks like there could be a shattering of the republican party. jeff sessions of alabama became another big-time backer of the billionaire. others insist they will never support trump. ben sasse. is that how you pronounce him? he's not exactly a major name. if donald trump ends up as the gop nominee, conservatives will need to find a third option. meanwhile, this weekend, senator rubio and donald trump seemed to descend even further in their battle of schoolyard taunts. here they go. >> the guy with the worst spray tan in america is attacking me

for putting on makeup. donald trump likes to sue people. he should sue whoever did that to his face. >> i see him starting to sweat. like i have never seen anything like it. thank god he has really large ears. the biggest ears i've ever seen. because they were protecting him. >> donald is not going to make america great. he's going to make america orange. he's like 6'2", which is why i don't understand why the size of his hands are of someone who's 5'2". you know what they say about men with small hands. you can't trust them. >> was it possible to get below donald trump in your behavior? he has done that now. congratulations, rubio, you're worse than trump in the language front. joining us also is a texas

reporter. i think he's in austin. this republican fight, first of all, trump, how does he deal with this? my hunch, he better straighten out this david duke matter before people vote down here tomorrow. people will say a lot of right-wing people down here have racial problems will vote for him because of it. he'll never get real credit for those votes. >> the piling on on trump has been occurring forever, okay? but mostly from the center and the left. this is legitimate. he has got to clear this up. he disavowed them on friday. sunday maybe he didn't hear. the earpiece, i'm not sure. not his finest moment at all. >> he said he didn't know anything about david duke. we've got the quote here. he said, i don't know anything about david duke. >> he's got to be unequivocal. >> why doesn't he fix this? >> because he only has one gear which is forward. his personality is never to apologize. but he has a political subtext here.

which is that a lot of his people, and i go to a lot of his rallies, are not -- they're not necessarily going to be deeply offended. they're not going to be offended. >> but he won these -- >> i think it's bad for him. yesterday i was at the lakewood church, one of the largest churches here in houston. i talked to a lot of people at that church. they had heard about this. and a lot of people were not going to vote for trump in part

because of this kind of thing. so he's losing some evangelical support that he could otherwise get away from ted cruz by not clearing this up. that's where the rubber meets the road at these primaries and caucuses with these evangelical voters. they don't like this. they don't like it at all. if they're listening to the sermon in the church, they're not liking what donald trump is saying. >> i've watched a lot of politicians over the years, white politicians, democrats, both parties, use these very clever, we call them wedge issues, wedge statements. i'm not going to get all of them, because it will incriminate most politicians. trump identified himself for whatever reason on sunday with david duke. i've never seen anybody do that before. or refuse to disavow, let me put it properly. >> he's either stupid, or he knows what he's doing. and i don't think he's stupid. there is an element in the republican party among the constituency that supports them, the secessionist element of the party. that's a very small group of folks. but the attitudes about race, and more importantly, attitudes about a bunch of folks who feel they've been screwed by the establishment, and trump is speaking up for them, and have attitudes about too much diversity these days. father knows best is still not on tv. you can't pray in school. these are the people who would, despite what i think howard just said, and i would never second-guess howard, but i'm thinking there's still evangelicals who say our world

is changing, we don't like it, this guy is tough, he will fix it, and if he sides with some of the white supremists, so what. >> that's outrageous. are you kidding me? you're saying there's an element within the republican party that would agree with not disavowing the kkk and david duke? that's ridiculous. absolutely ridiculous. >> what about -- >> do you want to clarify that? >> chris, let me ask you about a couple of things. >> that's ridiculous. >> what about the huge element that's admitted in the polling in the republican party that thinks obama is a muslim, or not an american? >> there's not a huge faction of that, chris. i disagree with you. that's a huge leap by saying that there's some type of white supremacist faction within the republican party.

>> there's a problem with racialism, is that -- >> that's not right. >> that he's not really an american? a kenyan. >> that's racism? i don't understand. >> why do people like birtherism? what's that about? >> i don't know what that's about. >> that he's not a legitimate president. >> that's ridiculous. that's five years ago, eight years ago. it has nothing to do with what's going on right now. >> do you think he's a muslim? why do people make those claims? >> all the polling asks people or what kind of data are you presenting? what type of data? how many people think he's a muslim? >> 50%, up there. >> 50% of americans think president obama is a muslim? that's surprising. >> i didn't say americans. you said it. >> you just said 50%.

>> of republicans. >> oh, republicans. no, i don't think -- >> a huge percentage of the trump -- >> i don't think that's accurate. i disagree. >> if you're wrong, you're wrong, and i can post these numbers. >> you're saying 50% of self-avowed republicans believe that president obama is a muslim? no. >> either i'm right or wrong. i believe i'm right. it wasn't just trump's comments on david duke this weekend, that earn him criticism, retweeting a twoet from mussolini. >> it's okay to know it's mussolini. mussolini was mussolini. it's a very good quote. it's a very interesting quote. i saw what -- i know who said it. but what difference does it make whether it's mussolini or somebody else? it's certainly a very interesting quote. it's probably why i have -- >> well -- >> 14 million -- >> do you want to be a -- do you want to be associated with a fascist? >> i want to be associated with interesting quotes. >> let me tell you, this guy said in my ear, 43% of republicans according to a cnn poll this past september, 43% believe barack obama is a muslim.

>> according to the cnn orc this last september? you said 50%. i still don't buy that 43%. >> we're quibbling over that, seriously? you're really quibbling over that? >> well, i don't think it's 43%. >> you don't believe the poll? it doesn't matter what the poll shows? what's your point? that it's okay to make these -- it's okay to make these -- you think there's another way of asking it? >> sure. you can ask questions -- >> thank you for coming on. >> absolutely. >> i think we established the facts here. howard, these numbers are all over the place. i don't like the fact that republicans say it. i'm not rooting for them to believe the president is a kenyan. not an american. illegitimately elected. it's just a fact. >> i will take up my side argument with wayne slater later about evangelicals. in the meantime, the important point is, based on what i see from the events i go to, there are a lot of people at these

rallies who are not going to -- at the rallies -- who are not going to be the least bit offended or let the bit about david duke get in the way of voting for donald trump. >> that states something. >> that states a lot. there are some evangelical, mainstream evangelicals he will lose because of what he said. >> you should fix it. chris, howard fineman and wayne slater. still ahead, this hour, hillary clinton heads into super tuesday after a commanding victory in south carolina. the state to watch tomorrow that will decide whether bernie can stay fully competitive is massachusetts. you heard it here. plus, we're deep in the heart of texas here. a look at what this state means to super tuesday. and home state senator ted cruz and whether he can survive. did he keep his chances alive? this is "hardball," live from houston, texas. post your job to over 100 of the web's leading job boards with a single click. then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. you put up one post and the next day

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on super tuesday. we'll cover them all tomorrow night. tune in starting at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow when i'll be joining brian williams and rachel maddow for the super tuesday primaries. we'll have full results and analysis, of course. that's 6:00 tomorrow night eastern here on msnbc.

i really regret the language that is being used by republicans. scapegoating people, finger

pointing, blaming. that is not how we should behave toward one another. that is not how we want to be treated. and we're going to demonstrate, starting tomorrow on super tuesday, there's a different path that americans want to take, and that we're going to do that. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was hillary clinton, of course, campaigning earlier today in virginia. one of the 11 states where voters head to the polls tomorrow on the democratic side. republicans are also having a vote up in alaska on this super tuesday tomorrow. i wanted to point out some numbers. we were having a dispute there. a poll came out last september showed 66% of donald trump supporters believe barack obama, the president of the united states, is a muslim, not a christian. 61% believe he was not born in the united states, he moved into the country illegally, never got naturalized and is illegitimately serving as our president. those are facts.

higher than 50%. 66%. believe he's a muslim. secretary clinton is expected to do very well in five southern states. the two as, alabama, arkansas, and tennessee and texas and georgia. and she's also targeted virginia where she is today. meanwhile, senator sanders has focused his efforts on the caucus states of colorado, and minnesota. also hoping to get an oklahoma victory. apparently oklahoma democrats are much more passionately progressive, maybe because they're so outnumbered. he also clearly expects to win, and will win vermont. the big battleground for the democrats is shaping up to be massachusetts. i believe it's one state bernie should win if he wants to be the nominee of the democratic party. i think he has to overtake her to get even with her again. clinton leads there by eight in the latest poll. i don't know how you poll this one. independents can vote up there. according to the latest poll today, she's up by eight. kasie hunt is covering it tonight. hillary is ahead, but independents can vote in this. they can take a democratic ballot and vote. how do you know hillary can't be beaten up there?

>> reporter: well, chris, i'm not a pollster but i can tell you this is a place where senator sanders needs to do well tomorrow, in part because there are so many of these, as you say, independent voters, who are these kind of white working class voters that are really the core of sanders' support right now. i think if you looked at these rallies, in lowell, massachusetts, where people came out by the thousands to see either donald trump or now here south of boston, thousands coming out to see bernie sanders, whether you call them scott brown voters or whatever you want to call them, they are the kind of people who have been particularly energized in this election process. and i think the challenge for sanders is going to be convincing many of them to come out and vote for him as he possibly can. he, of course, has been on defense over the course of the last week or so, if you think about the fact that hillary clinton is coming up here to massachusetts. you don't see him spending a ton of time in many of those super tuesday states. we think that she is going to probably walk away with.

one interesting thing today, i will point out, it's not massachusetts related, but sanders himself tends to wear his strategy on his sleeve a little bit. he did a gaggle with reporters after we got off of his plane and he said, hey, keep your eye on texas. we think that we might do better than expected in texas. that means, of course, somebody that's looking at their data is telling the senator that that could be a place where they might do well. they had about 10,000 people show up in austin. of course, kind of the one progressive center of texas, if you will, over the weekend when he was campaigning there. just to keep your eye on as we go into tomorrow, chris. >> i love your carefulness in the way you describe austin. it's not a typical part of texas anyway. thank you, kasie. a hillary clinton supporter and cornell. madam mayor, thank you for joining us. you have a unique perspective. you're up at harvard now, and from down here, the city i'm in now. can bernie sanders win there?

>> no. he will mobilize supporters. hey has a strong streak of support in texas. but hillary probably takes it 2-1. and i'm really sorry that i'm not there in houston with you, that i have to be up here. >> did you get to vote yet? >> i voted by mail. >> okay. let me ask you, cornell, this election. i'm trying to figure it out right now. what does he have to do? i think i've been trying to calibrate it. but i'll let you do it. i think bernie should win three or for states to look good tomorrow night. if he wins four or five, he looks very good. how do you see it? >> i think senator sanders has a headwind. if you look at part of his predicate early on, he would energize and bring a lot of people to the process, especially young people. but if you look at the states

we've had thus far, turnout among democrats has been down. in south carolina, we had almost # 00,000 less voters this time around than the last time when we had a competitive primary. when you look at massachusetts, yeah, the independents could be helpful to him there. but he has not hit the mark on energizing and bringing new independents into the process. we've seen our turnout down a great deal. when you look at the exit polling from south carolina, you've got to be worried. even voters who say inequality was a top concern, they chose hillary clinton over him by 26 points. among non-college whites by 14 points. part of his coalition he's been doing well in, you're seeing erosion. chris, i would argue when he gets beat by 71 points among nonwhites, his pathway to the nomination is tough. >> let me ask you, madam mayor, about crowds. you know, i think politicians are overwhelmed by crowds. they think a crowd tells them how many people will vote for him.

yet history is full of great crowds, and losing campaigns. jack kennedy thought he was going to win ohio in a landslide in 1960. just to give you an example. nixon beat him. i just wonder, what do you think of these crowds? i'm not sure they're great measures of support for who's actually going to show up and vote. >> they're not, no. bernie is able to generate large and enthusiastic crowds, and there's no doubt that bernie appeals to a lot of young folks. and that is something that is exciting for the democratic party, but it's also something that we worry about a little bit because you have to translate that enthusiasm, those crowds into people who actually show up on election day. and it remains to be seen whether that can be sustained through the election. >> yeah. i also think, just to add to your thought there, i think caucuses are like going to a rally. it brings the real passionate people out. fair enough, one of the reasons barack obama defeated hillary clinton eight years ago, he did very well in caucuses, where all the really passionate people showed up.

cornell, we'll have you back again as always. i have to go on to the next guest. up next, msnbc's jacob catches up with poll workers. he's going to get to us before the voting and talk to how the poll workers are getting taught to do their jobs. some of them are better than others, of course. this is "hardball," your place for politics, live tonight in houston. reat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas for pulmonary hypertension, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision,

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welcome back to "hardball." it's coming down to a lone star state showdown between texas senator ted cruz and gop front-runner donald trump down here.

i think trump wins either way, which is my theory. anyway, ahead of super tuesday, msnbc correspondent jacob spent time with those on the front line of the ballot box. he went to a training session for election workers. nonpartisan people. at least their job is not partisan. it's to help count the ballots. he joins us from ft. worth, texas. >> reporter: this is the election office and everybody in this room right now is here to train to become a poll worker, an election judge on super tuesday. what's it like? >> exciting. >> reporter: is it? >> yes, very informative. >> reporter: even if it's a low turnout? >> that's not what it's about. it's just seeing that the people are going to come out and being a part of it. that's my main thing. >> reporter: when you come to a poll worker training, you've done this before, why do you come back for a refresher? >> oh, have something to do. think about something different rather than what's going on around you. >> reporter: nice break, right? >> that's right. break in the monotony. >> reporter: thank you for your service. >> thank you. 30 years. >> reporter: 30 years as an election judge? >> no. >> reporter: 30 years in the military? >> that's right. >> reporter: what do you expect here in ter rant county?

>> we hope that we have a great turnout. that they'll be at the polls bright and early. >> reporter: do you think it will be a big turnout? >> i do. let the best man win. >> reporter: or woman. or maybe just men. >> i'm not going to commit myself. i said the best man win. >> reporter: what do you expect to happen? any idea who might win on tuesday? >> i'm not making any predictions, but what i would hof to see is for hillary to win big in ft. worth. >> reporter: do you want to make a prediction? >> no, but she and i are on the same page. >> reporter: do you have any prediction who will win on tuesday? >> i think ted cruz will win. >> reporter: the hometown senator? >> yes, sir. >> i think hillary clinton's going to do wonderfully. >> reporter: that's on the democratic side. what's it looking like on the republican side? >> i don't even call their elections. >> reporter: sounds like you're a democratic poll judge. >> absolutely. >> reporter: can you tell i'm an investigative reporter? >> yes.

>> reporter: what's the hardest part about being an election judge? >> you're responsible for everything. >> reporter: democracy, right? >> democracy. that's right. >> jake is joining us now from ft. worth. you could be an interrogator, you're so good at this. you get people to tell their -- they come down and tell you who they want to win the count, that they're doing. >> reporter: chris, i didn't realize it, but i guess there be democratic and republican poll judges here in tarrant county, texas. essentially, really cool area, because it's a bellwether, a microcosm of what goes on in this state as a whole. in 2008, and in 2012, the vote in tarrant county, almost exactly mirrored the votes statewide in the general

election. it's the last and largest remaining red urban county in the state of texas. pretty cool thing. >> have you ever met a nonpartisan texan? >> reporter: oh, wow. no, not while i've been here. there have been some folks that have said maybe they're moderate, but they fall into the democratic category. maybe some republicans that said they would give hillary clinton a look. but not -- frankly, not really, chris. >> what can you tell, talking to those election people -- by the way, they do a real service counting the vote and everything. it didn't seem that sizzling, but is it? >> reporter: oh, absolutely it's sizzling, particularly in this county. early voting is something that goes on here in texas. there have been 1 million early voters in texas, statewide. the 15 counties voting this. here in particular, the election administrator, frank phillips,

told me 125,000 people have voted early here, and predominantly on the republican side. 75% republican, 25% democrat. and that shatters the record that was set back in 2008. so i think that actually if you look closely here, there is a lot of excitement. but there's this excitement gap you're seeing, not so much on the democratic side, but certainly on the republican side out here. >> thank you so much, jacob, for great reporting. by the way, that is a pattern we've been watching for weeks now. much more excitement on the republican side, probably pumped up by trump. but with all the talk of political revolution, which is interesting, it's not happening in the polling so far this year. texas is the name of the game tomorrow for republicans. if ted cruz wins it gives him an edge over marco rubio. here's what's happening now. a federal judge in new york said authorities cannot force apple to unlock an iphone used by suspected drug dealer.

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delegates, and i think we'll have a big chunk of delegates. and i think everyone else will be way, way behind. it will be abundantly clear this is a two-man race. >> welcome back to "hardball." ted cruz is fighting for his home state of texas tomorrow. a poll shows 13 points ahead of trump. but far from the 50% threshold he would need to sweep the state's delegates altogether. even if cruz wins big here, the question is, where else can the senator win a victory tomorrow anywhere among the 12 states. is it enough to win your own state? i'm joined by tonight's big texas round table. lisa is a columnist for the "houston chronicle." and a pulitzer prize-winning journalist. thank you all. first of all, you've got to explain something to me. i don't get -- let me put it as temperately as i can -- i don't get cruz. he has a joe mccarty quality. he's obviously smart and a great debater.

he says, how did we know he didn't get $200,000 from north korea? and trump who has problems of being a tax defrauder. and then the other day saying he's mobbed up. he always goes to the mccarty-ite plan. yet people down here are going to vote for him. they like him. >> yeah, he plays to the cheap seats. he says what people want to hear. >> this nasty stuff about opponents? >> he'll say whatever he needs to to get attention, the sound bytes. >> i don't think he would sell many other states, but sells here very well. >> we have a very conservative base. that base wants you to have somebody who fights and don't compromise. for that type of message, he

does well among our pace voters. >> shutting down the government, calling the leader of the republican party a liar. that works? >> it did. >> they're that angry? >> well, a portion of the party is very angry. not the whole party. >> interesting. >> let's talk about that portion of the party. before we start talking about cruz, let's remember he's in the senate because of 5% of the voting age population in texas that goes to the primary. the republican primary put him there. basically we have a million, a million and a half -- >> the primary in texas, you win the general? >> yes. decides everything. >> anyway, is part of cruz's problem lack of authenticity? here's what a former texas land commissioner said. everybody gets elected down here. a rubio supporter told the"the n york times", he went to agricultural and mechanical, that's a school, ted went to harvard. i never considered he was an elitist.

>> he doesn't have that warm, folksy demeanor at all. and he just isn't like the other guys. he's not like the other texas politicians. >> but he "winning. >> somehow. >> and base voters don't care right now if you win the fight, they just want you to make the fight. most parties have an ideological base. when you get polarized and angry, that's the result. >> what i say about texas, it's hard to get a straight jury down here. everybody gets -- rick perry gets out. everybody loves to prosecute down here. but when it comes to facts, somebody in the jury somewhere says, this is all political b.s. this is just political prosecutorial politics. >> let's not put perry in the same category of tom delay. it's not quite the same. >> which one? >> the recent indictment.

what do you mean which one? >> you think they really were bad people that got indicted? >> obviously, it's worked its way through the courts, you can say what you will about the courts -- >> let's watch cruz, senator cruz escalating his attack on trump this weekend, accusing him on "meet the press" on having ties to the mob. pretty serious. let's watch him. >> maybe it is the case that donald -- there have been multiple media reports of donald's business dealings with the mafia. maybe his taxes show those business dealings are a lot more extensive than has been reported, regardless of -- >> let me stop you there. that's just -- that's openly speculative. do you have any facts to support that donald trump -- >> oh, sure, a -- abc, cnn, multiple have reported their dealings with a construction company owned by fat tony

solerno. >> this is mccarthy stuff. everybody thinks mafia, the whole thing. how would tax returns reveal if they dealt with "fat" tony solerno or not? it makes it look like he's trying to find the truth here, but he's not. >> we're very bare-knuckle down here. >> you're chuckling. is there a limit down here in texas? >> i grew up down here. this is the state we had lyndon johnson, you remember. >> did he win fair and square in '48? >> no. >> is that why jack called him landslide? anyway, tell me how you won your pulitzer prize. >> all politicians lie. >> they don't all lie. they don't all lie. >> obviously, at some point, all people lie, chris. >> no, they don't. >> and so -- >> that is not a good explanation.

you're a journalist, you've got to believe in truth. do you lie? >> everybody lies. >> in your columns? >> no, in my columns. if i tell somebody i love she looks gorgeous in that dress -- >> that's called flattery. >> what i think what we see with ted cruz is troubling. you expect somebody to at least, you know, most of the time to be standing by your word. and to stop playing games like this. just grabbing something out of the air without any kind of proof whatsoever -- >> hagel was up for secretary of defense. how do we know you didn't take $200,000 from the north koreans? without any evidence north koreans fave him any money. just made it up. i'll never forget that charge. anyway, thanks, you guys. congratulations. >> thank you. this is how you get a prize here. no money, no rewards, just truth. which you will give us.

live in houston at the harris county smokehouse. but you can't smoke here.

we need to play "hardball" with us all week long. like us on facebook and follow at "hardball" on twitter and instagram. we have the best show videos. plus great photos from behind the seats. here on this show, and we hit the road to cover this campaign behind the scenes. speaking of the campaign, i'll be live here in houston tomorrow night beginning at 6:00

p.m. eastern. i'll join brian williams and that's a lot more. democrats are not having a primary in the last 23 events tomorrow night to cover. tomorrow night on msnbc. i'll be right back. we're back with the roundtable. tell me something i don't know already.

>> well, i can't be sure that you don't know.

what i find interesting if we were playing by the rules that ohio and florida were playing with, and ted cruz were to win, he could take all the delegates. we have an earlier primary. >> what's your point? life's unfair to texas? >> he's at a disadvantage. >> have your primary later. >> several cruz staffers started shopping their resumes right after the nevada caucus. >> no. >> that's true. >> you're an investigative reporter. >> if it weren't for donald trump, ted cruz wouldn't be looking presidential. he wasn't possible he could be an actual nominee. now -- >> what do you think? it's not fast track this group of candidates. people would have said i wish rubio would run or i wish cruz would run. nobody said i wish trump would run. it's not the first team here.

we need back up team. thank you. steve who is the former chair of the party down here, he can explain it to you if you call him. thank you very much. when we return, let me finish with this stunning victory of a move i really like. spotlight. it's about real journalism. you're watching hardball. the place for politics. live from houston. job to over 100 of the web's leading job boards with a single click. then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. you put up one post and the next day you have all these candidates. makes my job a lot easier. (announcer) over 400,000 businesses have already used ziprecruiter. and now you can use ziprecruiter for free. go to ziprecruiter.com/offer99

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let me finish tonight with this stunning victory of the film spotlight. i've seen it twice and loved it perhaps, a, i know boston a bit, and bi worked for tip o' neil for a half dozen years. the better more compelling reason is i worked for newspapers for 15 years. long before the columnists and pundits getting their hands on it. i remember when those stories of sexual abuse by the catholic clergy came out. why would anyone want to believe thatconfessions, consoling us could engage in such behavior, could be so criminal.

it didn't square. it wasn't representative. we didn't want to believe what we were hearing. i didn't want to believe it. it took the boston globe to get to the other side. the side that had been part of the cover up to expose the whole systemic matter that it was carried out. it took investigative reporters to get it right. stay with it long enough and deep enough to make it matter, to make it hurt. i know the heroes of this stories. i'm proud of that small connection. who wouldn't be. what i'm proudest of is the grit and brains of journalist who work a story until they have it right. i think one good thing that could come of this now celebrated movie is it will encourage good young people to go into print journalism because if you don't want to be a journalist after seeing this movie, you'll never want to be one.

thank god for spotlight and what it says about truth and our belief that it will set us free. that's hardball for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in." >> in other words, we're winning with everybody. >> with trump poised for a big day tomorrow, republicans are now doing and saying anything to stop him. >> have you seen his hands. they're like this. you know what they say about men with small hands. >> plus, donald trump's selective memory. >> you have david duke just joined, a bigot, racist, a problem. >> why trump is feigning ignorance of the kkk. after clinton's land slide win in south carolina.