bloomberg politics.com, signature report cards. >> signature. >> until tomorrow, we say sayonara. "hardball" with chris matthews starts now. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews, back in washington. first it was jeb, then the pope, then vicente fox, now the ghost of christmas past. mitt romney. the republican party faces, having won 10 of the first 15 contests, especially from its donor class. i love that phrase. hawks aligned with the republican party, announced today in an open letter, a standard tool of the neo kinds against him. according to politico, wall

street getting ready to go nuclear on trump, with millions of dollars. they've had no impact so far this year. and then there is the most dramatic example, what came from the last man to win the republican nomination, as i said, who would like to get it this time. in his speech today, he eviscerated him on his personal traits, his personal temperament. he called him dishonest, bully, phony and fraud. >> if donald trump's plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into prolonged recession. mr. trump's bombbast is already ruling the allies. think of his personal qualities. the bullying, the greed, showing off, masogny, the absurd third grade theaterics.

he call force the use of torture. he calls for killing the innocent children and family members of terrorists. this is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss. donald trump is a phony. a fraud. his promises are as worthless as a degree from trump university. >> wow, by tell prompter. his business confidence. >> his bankruptcy has crushed small businesses and the men and women who have worked for him. he inherited his business, he didn't create it. how about trump airlines, trump university, and then there is trump magazine, and trump vodka and trump steaks, and trump mortgage. a business genius, he is not. >> oh, a short time later, trump responded. >> i heard that mitt romney made a fairly long speech. mitt is a failed candidate.

he failed. he failed horribly. that was a race that absolutely should have been won, and i don't know what happened to him. i backed mitt romney. i backed him. you could see how loyal he is. he was begging for my endorsement. i could have said mitt, drop to your knees, he would have dropped to his knees. he was begging. >> robert costas, david, i haven't seen you in a while, and msnb political analyst and matt, the chairman of the conservative union, hosting cpac this weekend, conservative political action conference. i've spoken there myself at one point. i won't there for a while, though. that's coming up saturday, we're covering that among other primaries this saturday later that night. let me go to robert on this one. robert, i don't know, but i think he benefits, trump does, with all his mixed nature, and

he is a mixed bag at best or at worst. he seems to have benefit from his enemies. joe lewis he would knockout every month. the pope wasn't a good add investorry, nor was vicente fox, the loser, certified loser has come back like a dead cat in from the rain, or a wet cat in from the rain i should say, to rejoin it with the obviously ambition of the people finally going to him. what other reason could mitt romney have for bringing the telepromter. >> speaking to trump alleys, in romney, they have an easy foil, someone they can batter in the coming days. >> mr. 47%, yeah. >> the worry in trump's orbit is that romney provides the anti-trump movement with a face, so coherence. >> it's still incoherent, the

neo kinds are still circling too. >> there a s a line in the conservative movement. do you accept trump or oppose trump. they -- even on each side of that equation, particularly on the against trump, they can't come up with a course of action, what to do, who to support. trump -- romney having interesting today -- >> are they to the right? >> mish-mosh. he wants to protect social security. >> for planned parenthood. >> trade deals, business conservatives lining. all over. romney said today, don't pick a better candidate. vote strategically. what does it give you, a deadlocked convention. who benefits? none of the people running. someone on the outside might. who might that be. >> let's go to matt, you know

your side of the things. what do conservatives think? i think most who are true blues are still with cruz. but tell me, what is this mitt romney guy out saying he is going to now speak for the -- for everybody in the party, including conservatives against trump? >> yeah, i don't really understand it, chris. i mean, we just had the nevada primary that has a big lds population, they very much love mitt romney. why didn't he speak up then. why is he speaking up so late now. the super pacs, anti-trump super pacs have been established. i think this was the call for all of the money folks to start writing checks for the super pacs. i think this is a last ditch financial effort to do everything they can to stop trump. >> sometimes you think as much as i got problems with trump, he ain't so bad compared to this crowd. this is money people talking. they're afraid their money is at risk. it's about big money, 1%. >> and up to now, the

billionaire donors of the g gop don't want to go after him. they don't want to get into a fight with him, brought into the spotlight the way he would, and all been waiting for the candidates were waiting for someone else to go first. it has gotten too late, and they're going to bet it all in florida. >> robert, same question. people vote because they care enough to do their duty as citizens. in primaries, they have political passion for someone, they fall in love or in line. something drives them into the voting booth to actually vote someone for someone. how do you teach somebody to say don't vote for this guy when you go. don't vote for anybody else. i don't know how you train people to think like that. because voting can be a pain sometimes. it's complicated for some people. you have to work eight hours a day, pretty far from where they vote. they have to make an effort before or after work.

they don't have their own businesses. so you tell a person to go out of their way, by the way, just don't vote for trump. that doesn't sound like the usual american way to vote. your thinking? >> yeah. i agree with that, chris. i think that the problem they have right now is that you know, you have cruz and you have marco, the two alternatives to trump. until they decide which one is staying in and being the alternative, the idea that anyone is an alternative to trump only benefits trump. here is one thing that trump is doing that the others are failing to do. he is simply talking to people out there in the country. and they're trying to talk to all these people inside the belt way to get them to write checks. they're focus to the wrong group. they should be focused in on the states and caught up in the wrong -- they're focusing on the wrong election. >> robert, what do you think? how do you get people to vote not for somebody? remember that old line about nixon as he told pat buchanan,

whenever you hear of a stop x, bet on x. it's hard to stop somebody once they're there. by the time you say stop. >> it's very hard. you look at past stop movements, you look at stop carter, it didn't work. it was an outsider coming in in '76, some of the establishment didn't like it. stop trump, a difficult proposition. when you go out there on the campaign trail, these are not rank and file republicans. they're not persuaded by the elites. they may have sat through the bush erra, for the good of the party, this is a party, they don't have much stake in. >> here is romney, what he had to say about his plan. here he is. >> if the other candidates can find some common ground, i believe we can nominate a person who can win the general election, and who will represent the values and policies of conservatism.

given the current delegate selection process, that means that i vote for marco rubio in florida, and for john kasich in ohio, and for ted cruz, or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating mr. trump in a given state. >> there he is. you know, it doesn't sound like democracy. it sounds like the moolla in iran. >> he warmly embraced donald trump four years ago when he was already -- >> he did get on his knees. >> when he was a birther. >> he went to vegas to do it. >> he raised money for him. 90% of what he said that he didn't like about donald trump today was present in 2012. and so the republican party played footsee with him, we've been talking about this for the last eight years, and now they're saying he is beyond the pale. they created it. >> let me tell you, matt, while

i'm enjoying this, the wealthy people on the republican party, there is nothing wrong with it, working class white people, the regular people, the cloth cut republicans, they have gone after him and said we can use your help as our alliance, you know, our whatever. and we'll take your votes. but don't tell us who to pick as presidential nominee. oh, no. you can't do that. you can't pick somebody like trump, because your job is to go along with the romneys of the world and the doles of the world. your job is to -- >> that's right. >> extra white vote if you will for a victory. you're not supposed to make a decision. now they've made a decision, and to me, i actually have some sympathy for trump, because i realize democracy, at least what it is, it's not this thing we're talking about. >> you might be, chris, you might be enjoying this, the rest of us are not enjoying it. you might have been to cpac, and we let all people speak,

including members of the immediate yeah. at the end of the day -- >> that's because clinton's behavior in the white house. that's why you had me there. don't kid yourself. it wasn't because you were reaching out for diversity. >> hey chris, we hope we don't have to live through that all over again. the fact is -- >> hillary will be no problem. >> the conservatives, for mitt romney, he is the one to speak to conservatives, the type of people that are in this hall tonight and that he will convince them to go someplace, it shows they have a lack of understanding that they don't want to hear from people. they might respect him, but he is not the man of the moment. that's what all these old time republican leaders don't get. >> i want to go back to robert. what do you think is the next step? if the romney thing doesn't work what, is their next stop, they're flailing around? if he wins michigan next tuesday, if he wins ohio or two of the three, ohio, florida and

michigan, he is still on a roll, isn't he? >> he is still on a roll. he may not get to the 1237. i'll tell you this, calling around to republican donors, top people in the party, they saw today's speech not just ans an indictment of trump, but a romney draft movement. they think romney is putting himself out there to help his party but remind them that back in 2015, he teased to run, said he was maybe interested in a third bid and he seems to be doing so again in the mind of many donors. >> a campaign that leads to the convention but skips the primaries. >> on the floor, second ballot. >> last time that happened was when? >> very rare. it's. >> 1952, adlai stevenson in chicago. he had never run in the primaries. that was a day so long ago. >> eisenhower that same year. >> but eisenhower won the new

hampshire primary. went out in minnesota and defeated robert taft in the field. i don't think the american people are ready for a candidate of a party that hasn't won the primaries. thank you, robert. thank you, david, and thank you, matt. could. coming up, not only the -- politico reporting hawks, neo kinds, the gangs that brought us the iraq war, are scared to death of trump. they think she is more hawkish than trump. 12 days before the make-or-break it in ohio, how well will marco rubio and ted cruz john kasich hit trump in detroit i'll be right here at this desk. come back at 11:00. a big development, justice department grants immunity to the staffer who set up her e-mail server. immunity is usually a problem if you're a target of an

investigation. we're going oh find out where it's headed. finally, let me finish with a good memory and along with it, an appeal to congress on this national day of action for formal volunteers. this is "hardball," the place for politics. ke? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter thopportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a.

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just sketch it on the screen. i don't have a touch screen on my mac, i'm jealous of that. you put a big bug in a kids hands and change their world view. [ laugh ] man 1: he just got fired. man 2: why? man 1: network breach. man 2: since when do they fire ceos for computer problems? man 1: they got in through a vendor. man 1: do you know how many vendors have access to our systems? man 2: no. man 1: hundreds, if you don't count the freelancers.

man 2: should i be worried? man 1: you are the ceo. it's not just security. it's defense. bae systems. welcome back to "hardball." more than 70 foreign policy types, most of them hawks for the republican party have penned an open letter last night saying donald trump is dangerous tots national security to the country. condemning his anti-muslim rhetoric, foreign dictators and his support for the expansive use of torture, they write, quote, his business acumen with foreign policy is false. not all lethal conflicts could be resolved as a real estate deal might. all that's pretty cute. any way, trump's foreign policy

positions, they say, the swings from isolationism in the space of one sentence. it concludes, we're unable to support a party ticket with mr. trump at its head. the backing of several officials from the administration of george w. bush, who pushed hard for the invasion of iraq. some of them say, quote, they could vote for hillary clinton over trump in november, while others would prefer to vote for a third party or write in candidate. joined by the managing editor, mark halpren, who hosts "with all due respect," political editor for the "wall street journal." i want you to take the time we have and talk about what this means. i mean, putting letters out, it's, you know, neo kind of thing, putting people together. i might -- i'm not going to say. it goes back centuries this kind of politics. read the fountainhead.

elsworth. i ask you to get in here, mark. is this for real? i like the part, because it sounds to me, hillary clinton was a big part of the iraq war, political heat, it wasn't even the policy. she really wanted to do it. she wanted to be for the war, she believes in what they call muscular policy. she is muscular foreign policy. are they really looking to her, the people aligned to her intellectually with the republican party's hawkishness to go to hillary this november. >> i think that group would based on her policy positions and her record based on their view of donald trump's stability, as a leader. i think a lot of them would vote for hillary clinton and prefer her as an abstract notion. i think this a strand that might have an impact on the race in some small way, less than romney, and a strand. but i don't know that it matters that much. what these intellectuals think

of trump versus clinton, i don't think it's relevant of who the next president will be. >> where are you by the way? you like you're in a snowdrift. >> glamorous sports bar listening to anti-republican protesters to downtown detroit, basically my dream slot. >> any way, there you are. let me go to howard on this. he looks great out there. the snowman. any way, let me get this. howard, your thinking? >> well -- >> if you vote on foreign policy toughness, muscular farm, you know the phrases, you have to get out there and fight. in whatever country, trump is not playing that game. his comment by might be neutral in the middle east was a step too far i would argue. but generally, everybody knows, he is not going to waste his presidency on the stupid war. >> the letter matters not one

wit. if i'm donald trump, here is what i'm thinking. who do i want to oppose me that i'm running hard. the guys who brought us iraq and wall street billionaires. >> knocked off the people and va s -- vicente fox. >> to feel squeezed than have the war monday ge-- mongers against you. >> they don't like the trade deals that cost china. they don't like immigration, and they hate their kids, men and women fighting against stupid wars in maximum deployments. they don't want the wars. >> they don't. >> they don't like anything that suggest the rich, surprisingly, he has become a regular guy. >> absolutely. one of the people. so, i don't think, though, romney or any of these people are talking to trump supporters. i think they know, they're not

going to move the trump supporters. they're talk to the rest of the party. that's who they want to behave. >> who are they going to get, the burbs. >> maybe it will get people off the couch and into a voting booth on primary. >> who is the hawk they'll vote for? rubio is a hawk, is he big enough to be president. >> that was the other message. >> he's old enough but not sure he's big enough. >> that was the message that romney was trying to deliver twofold. get involved, know the stakes and vote smart. and that means, wait, he said vote for the guy who can win your state. that's what he said. >> not only a matter of an attractive candidate, a message to the same people donald trump is drawing. what these people aren't realizing is, donald trump has identified and connected with a con st constituency, used to have with

ronald reagan a generation ago. they should know how to reach the people and take them away from donald trump with an actual message, not with a bunch of game playing. >> let's go to some -- >> we've been pushing numbers and the question is how many more are there to bring out while at the same time you're insulting suburban women. >> did you see the numbers. we'll put them up. michigan is going to trump. so it's week after week. after we got miami voting, he carries florida against rubio. i don't know what's left. they can talk all they want about mitt romney. >> game over. >> bill marr on friday, he might refuse trump's orders if they know they violate international laws. here is how trump responded to that today. >> now i'm far from the first to conclude that donald trump lacks the temperament to be president. after all, this is an individual who mocked a disable reporter. who attributed a rof a reporter questions to her menstrual

cycle. a brilliant woman mocked her for her appearance. bragged about his marital fairs, and laces his public speeches with vulgarity. he is not of the temperament of the kind of stable thoughtful person we need as leader. >> remember the movie bat man when the guy kept coming on the screen, we don't have the right tape. let me come back to mark. mark, this question about the scatter shot approach to this, this front-runner right now. you're the expert watching this. how does the scatter shots add up to a demolition. i don't see. >> well, look, a scatter shot on message, a scatter shot on electoral strategy. if trump does not sweep both the winner take all states, if other people can win some of them, and keep accumulating delegates, they can stop him from majority. and that's it right now. these strands, foreign policy experts going to influence in

suburban illinois, maybe. they need to mobilize the wing of the party as jean suggested and hope at the convention a way to take it from him. that's it. every little bit potentially scatter shot as it is. >> can they use between now and july to educate the public that the party is within its rights to deny the nomination for the presidency to someone who gets less than the majority, even though the public after 50 years is used to the candidate with the most votes winning in the primaries? can they teach the public that in this time? >> it's going to be a close call. look, a two step process, or really three step. first deny him the majority, take it from the convention and then unite the party if someone else becomes the nominee. all of that, trump is in a commanding position because all of that is hard. under the rules, that's an acceptable out come under the rules. the constituency is not the public at first though, the delegates, the convention, what do they think about the prospects of denying someone who has won a strong plurality of

the delegates. >> it hasn't been done in, you have to go back to, all i could think is keith in the '52, losing to stevenson who hent run in the primaries. since then, anyone who has gotten the best in the primaries, has won the nomination. this is donald trump talking to george stephanopoulos of how he responds to all this stuff. >> if you order torture and the military refuses to carry out your orders, how will you respond? >> i don't think that would happen. i am a leader. i don't think that would happen. they're cutting off heads in the middle east. they're chopping off people's heads in the middle east and we're afraid to water brooard. >> what do you think, do think the military is out there, disobeying orders, you can't get away with that one. >> no, you can't get away with it, but the over all-attitude

among the military people i talked to is they're not big fans of barack obama right now. >> they think he is what? >> they don't think he is strong enough as a commander in chief. they're not going to over correct and go all the way to donald trump. but it's a closer question at least within the military than some people think. >> what about kill all the wives and chambermaids, kill their families, i mean that's mob stuff. >> that's absurd. >> what he said is pretty dangerous. we are a nation of democracy here, and the military can't at some point start deciding, you know, what are they going to -- >> international law. you don't kill the wives. >> that means the military has to -- other than just saying i'm not going to do what the president says. >> the water boarding is interesting, because they did what dick cheney told them to do. >> there are consequences, that's for sure. >> great group here. as always, staying with us, howard.

next, new details, held over, investigating hillary clinton private e-mail server, what does it mean when her top guy who put the e-mail thing together. we all know what immunity means. this is "hardball," the place for politics. taff could use youp staying in touch with customers. at&t can help you stay connected. am i seeing double? no ma'am. our at&t 'buy one get one free' makes it easier for your staff to send appointment reminders to your customers... ...and share promotions on social media? you know it! now i'm seeing dollar signs. you should probably get your eyes checked. good one babe. optometry humor. right now get up to $650 in credits to help you switch to at&t. unless you have allergies., then your eyes may see it differently. only flonase is approved to relieve both itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. when we breathe in allergens our bodies react by

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ok, i'm telling my brain to tell the drone to get you a copy of my resume. umm, maybe keep your hands on the controller. look out!! ohhhhhhhhhh... you know what, i'm just gonna email it to you. yeah that's probably safer. ok, cool. here is what is happening. rick scott says he will not be endorsing a candidate. in milwaukee, president obama says he and his family will stay in washington after his term ends, so his daughter sasha can graduate high school. san bernardino victims say they should comply legal brief on behalf of the government. now we take you back to "hardball."

welcome back to "hardball," where the department of justice has reportedly granted immunity to a staffer, the staffer who set up the private e-mail server hillary clinton used while secretary of state. brian b bryan pagliano received immunity from prosecutors related to an fbi investigation into the server and noted that, quote, the clinton campaign has described the probe as a security review, but current and former officials in the fbi and just tis department have said investigators are rieg to determine if there was a crime committed. he invoked his fifth amendment right. the fbi investigation comes at a time as hillary clinton takes a commanding lead in the 2016 primary fight. 2012 republican nominee mitt romney paused from his assault

on donald trump to knock secretary clinton on her use of the server. >> she compromised our national secrets. she profound believes to gain presidential power. so untrustworthy and dishonest as hillary clinton must not become president. >> well, i'm waiting to hear what candy crawly has to say. howard is back. former federal prosecutor and worked as a trial attorney. just the facts, ma'am. this seems to be open to anything. any inter operatipretationinter. you give people immunity because you let them escape justice, right. >> it's huge. >> you do it, before you get immunity, you have to proffer to the government, tell me why i should give you the pass of getting criminally prosecuted.

>> is that open to interpretation or always something negative or neglect to grab. >> it's not always negative for hillary clinton in this particular case. it could mean for example that pagliano has information to close the case or he is the only person -- >> is that how it works look for reasons to get off. >> you give him immunity to get the real target. in this case, bryan pagliano is the only person to know whether there was a private conversation between him and hillary clinton that says i knowingly. >> should hillary be nervous about the news in the paper today. >> yeah, i think the answer is yes. i don't know the political import of it. we won't know until we know the details. what's going on it seems to me, my sense of it, is that the fbi and justice department are looking to see how deliberate, how planned, how detailed was the effort to set up a system of

communication outside the one that is required and allowed by law. and -- >> instructed me before the show, whether she did it for convenience, as she said, i want to have one. >> exactly. >> one cell phone or was it to avoid foia, fee dreedom of information requests. >> and that might have -- >> how would he know what the motive of hillary clinton is. >> a direct conversation or actual e-mails saying i would like a secure server they cannot access on the classified system. and that's where her achille's heel eviscerates. >> give me the worst case scenario pro hillary and anti-hillary. is there any case that she committed an actual crime of motive, like she did something bad? >> the only, the worst case scenario for hillary clinton is she'll get the mishandling of -- petraeus also got. >> his wasn't wreckless.

he gave it to the girl he was having an affair with. >> he did. >> that's choosing you did something you know is wrong for some other purpose. >> if she was setting up the system for the purpose of dealing in classified information outside of the system. >> why would she want to do that. >> i have no idea. >> it's very different than petraeus. vulnerable for hacking. not that she gave away information. >> do you agree with that, the distinction. >> yes, that's why also i think it was the clinton people who made sure that "the new york times" had the story today, that -- >> you think they put it out. >> preliminary studies have shown that there was no hacking done on that outside system. because that's a very important part of what we're talking about. >> final question, you're the expert. timing, would somebody like the fbi director, certainly the attorney general, political appointment, however professional she is, loretta lynch, sensitive of the fact

that we're in the middle of picking a president. >> they should be. they'll wrap it up by map. whether they choose to indict, and my opinion is they will not, they have to before there is a democrat nick nominee. >> if she is indicted, what happens to her politically. >> the voters have to decide. it comes to november at that point. >> will they keep her on the ticket? >> well, who is they? >> again. >> i keep saying -- >> there is no they any more. >> no party. just a candidate. >> no they any more. >> so smart to catch me on that. old thinking. i was thinking previous to 1952. no, i was six. any way, thank you, howard. you were not even a footnote then. thanks for your expertise. up next, as republicans take the debate stage tonight, what else is new. he revels in this stuff. can he keep his cool tonight

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now i'm far from the first to conclude that donald trump lacks the temperament to be president. after all, this is an individual who mocked a disabled reporter. who attributed a reporter's questions to her menstrual cycle. brilliant model mocked, due to her appearance. bragged about his marital affairs, and vulgar speeches. dishonesty is his hallmark.

not of the temperament of the thoughtful person we need as a leader. >> the big word there is temperament. welcome back to "hardball." more from mitt romney's speech attacking donald trump. his remarks were saluted by john kasich who tweeted, well said, mitt romney. alex co i alex conant great to see donald trump being a con artist and fraud. john mccain said i share my friend, mitt romney concerns, hope american people think hard who they want as commander in chief. they should think that. the remaining will be meeting for a debate hosted by fox news, in detroit, more fire from his rivals, rubio and cruz, kasich. a reunion if you will, megyn kelly, they fought last august,

august. and social media savaging her. but tonight, trump and kelly meet again. liz merris, frlet's start with this, first of all, can you get a better critic than mitt romney or do you think it hurts. i think it's one of the bumps of the month, knock off one at a time, mr. establishment, i could take this guy. >> it could go both ways. on one hand, he's saying what the republican party, the formal republican national committee cannot say. they cannot openly attack and say please vote for someone else. >> so he he is the voice of reincep rein reince? >> i wouldn't say that. >> morman, influence in utah.

why he is speaking after the primaries. >> he is too late, but he sees an opportunity for himself. mitt romney still wants -- >> what is his road to the nomination. >> rubio winning florida, cruz winning southern states, through the midwest, and it looks like chaos. he hinlted at this today. >> oklahoma. >> oklahoma and illinois. >> they're winning blocks of states, filling out a puzzle when you're playing monopoly. >> right, but you have to put them together to build a hotel or whatever. >> he has oklahoma. arkansas i think. >> perhaps hotel was the wrong thing. yeah, no, i mean, i think to the general point about is this going to help or hurt, it's probably more or less a wash. i will say one thing that's interesting that is overlooked. weirdly, while it seems totally

inconceivable, there are quite a few people who seem to like romney and trump. they like this business experience, a personal family friend of ours is a rabid trump fan. >> i have these conversations with her and what is -- >> interesting circle. >> the point today that romney was making about business is so sal salient. you can't say he doesn't have business experience. >> he said trump had good business experience four years ago. >> sure. >> standing next to him. >> bowing down. >> when people say it will not have an effect or good for trump and give him another establishment guy to knock off, i'm not sure that's totally true. it probably doesn't do a lot to change the ricace, but there mit be a few people moved by it. >> a former movie star, until i heard what he used to do for

sport. i used to get two fishhooks and throw the string in the air and the sea gulls would grab each end of it and fight to the death in the sky for his entertainment okay. i can't tell you his name if you find out who it is, but that's what trump has done with his opponents. because it's cruz against rubio, for the next several weeks, trying to kill each other, to get that little bit of bait, right. >> yeah, that's good. the longer that the four remain, that's good for trump. i think super tuesday was the best possible result, because you had a couple of cruz wins and rubio, snuck out a win out in minnesota. >> and nearly virginia. >> and nearly virginia and kasich threatened him in vermont. they all had a ticket to ride, as long as they have a ticket to ride, it's about stopping him. >> rubio's appeal to the establishment, and seems more moderate because he did have a good position on immigration in the east coast i guess, abld the other guys is a southwestern

conservative. so trump somehow becomes not the golden mean, but in the middle. these guys are biting off each end of him. it helps him. >> it does help him, to a certain point. to go back to what mitt romney suggested today, he was suggesting this brokered convention idea. >> a phrase, i haven't heard until now, and i don't think it's ever going to mean anything. >> contested. >> six months of primaries, they don't matter. >> it does seem what he was suggesting today. if rubio were to win florida, kasich wins ohio, then that puts the trump in the position where it would be hard climb to get to the delegate count and that's how mitt romney or someone else could swoop in there and take this back. do i think that's going to happen, no, i don't think that will happen. >> three way, jump in here, who wins if it is a three way, picks some dweeb who is not even running, i vote on trump. teddy party.

thank you, the round table sticking with us. come back and join us for a special edition for "hardball" this evening. post debate coverage tonight and analysis. two-hour show tonight. after the republican face offin detroit. best moments. analysis on the debate and how it will affect the debate, actually the race. this is "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ every auto insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. ♪ those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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oh, look at you, so great to see you! none of this works. come on in. we're back with the roundtable. tell me something i don't know. >> something you don't know. one thing i thought was interesting about a poll that patrick for the rnc tweeted about, i thought was very interested. it was a story that broke on monday in the washington post about trump mortgage. that appears to have been seen by 13% of the voters in a poll he was looking at. >> kansas is within of four states that vote republicans on saturday. they are getting such overwhelming turn out they'll have one of their caucuses in missouri. why? wichita state is playing in the

missouri valley conference in st. louis. they will set up caucus site. >> that's legal? >> it's legal in republican rules. democrats don't allow it. >> some people might have thought super tuesday suggested this was over for bernie sanders. they told us on wednesday morning they are prepared to take this this will june when california votes. he could be in here a lot longer. >> he could win california. >> that's why they are prepared to take it all the way until then. >> thank you. when we return, let me finish with a good memory and along with it an appeal of the congress on this national day of action for former volunteers. we're watching hardball. ahh... ah. you probably say it a million times a day. ahh... ahh! ahh... ahh! but at cigna, we want to help everyone say it once a year. say "ahh". >>ahh... cigna medical plans cover one hundred percent of your in-network annual checkup.

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thanks for being with us. come back at 11:00 p.m. after the republicans debate. it's always hardball in these debates. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. there are some things you can't imagine happening in your life. >> after a 2012 endorsement, the last republican nominee tries to take down the current front-runner. >> donald trump is a phony, a fraud. >> donald trump erupts. >> i'll tell you the real reason he chickened out. it wasn't jeb. it was me. >> he was begging for my endorsement. i could have said mitt drop to your knees. >> what to expect at tonight's debate. how democrats plan to combat trump's populous message. >> people in the middle income groups are making less money today. new reporting on the