advisor and team who understand where you come from. we didn't really have anything, you know. but, we made do. vo: know you can craft an investment plan as strong as your values. al, how you doing. hey, mr. hamilton. vo: know that together you can establish a meaningful legacy. with the guidance and support of your dedicated pnc wealth management team. decision day in the big easy. voting begins right now. they're up and running for business at the polling places including this one right here. it's across louisiana and later in states northeast and west. good morning again. i'm alex witt. just moments ago the doors opened to voters in that critical southeast state. it is beginning of a two-week stretch that would win the presidential field especially among republicans locked in unprecedented and bitter

conflict over the direction of the party and increasingly the front-runner. >> if the washington deal makers try to steal the nomination from the people, i think it would be a disaster. it would cause a revolt. >> i'm going to do everything within the normal political bounds to make sure that we don't nominate donald trump. i think he would be terribly unfit for office. >> romney's a bittermann. he looks like a bitterman. he's attacking really your front-runner by a lot. he's a joke art sxwlis the guy is a rhetorical bully. he has turned the most important election in a generation into a circus and freak the show. >> you know that in florida they hate little marco rubio so much. little marco rubio, 16. cruz, lying ted cruz, lying ted, it's amazing no matter what you say with ted, he will change it. >> if he's our nominee, it will split the republican party. and it will be the end of the modern conservative movement. >> speaking of ending, gop

contender bernie sanders gave official word about the fate of his campaign and what he's doing next. meanwhile, rallies are just about to get under way for a number of candidates as they zigzag across this nation looking for last-minute support in key states. we will cover those as they happen. get them out! get out of here. troublemakers. real troublemakers. yeah, get that guy out of here, police. thank you. get him out. come on. let's go. move. we got to get them out fast. >> we don't plan on getting out any time soon. all day here, the place for politics. . even at this early hour candidates are criss-crossing the country in what promises to be an exhaustive day for

presidential hopefuls and supporters in key states. voters in louisiana will be the first to have their say now that the polls have just opened. maine, kentucky, nebraska, kansas will also decide today. about an hour or so from now donald trump will hold a rally in kansas instead of speaking at cpac. he canceled that commitment at the last minute yesterday. rubio will hit the stage as planned at 11:35 this morning. rnc chair rins priebus and the other candidates addressed the supporters yesterday including bernie sanders who used his time on stage to officially drop out of the race. >> you know there's a lot of people who love me, they just want to vote for me. but it's okay. it's not a problem. you know, i will still continue to be heavily involved, you know, and trying to save our nation. >> so donald trump is skipping cpac. i think somebody told him megyn kelly was going to be here. or even worse, he was told there were conservatives that were

going to be here. >> have to do it right and you can't have a budge of people in smoke-filled rooms who are the establishment, by the way, and my only fear of a convention is that these kind of connected interests would dominate. >> whoever the nominee isbiparty they're going to get the fullbacking and 100% support of the republican party. we don't take sides regardless of what you may think or read. the odds of a contested convention are very small. >> donald trump and ted cruz will cross paths as they make final pitches to voters in kansas this morning. trump will be stumping in florida as is marco rubio. john kasich is in michigan as are hillary clinton and bernie sanders who are both getting ready for a debate in flint tomorrow. meanwhile, the feud between trump and mitt romney is far from over. trump began his latest attack against the former republican nominee as protesters began shouting that during that rally in new orleans.

>> guys like romney that had no idea how to win. and then he gets up and he's upset, he's upset because when he sees this happening, he never had it happen with him. you take guys that are jealous and guys that have lost and guys that don't know how to win like a mitt romney, as an example, he choked so badly, that was an election that was easy. that was an election that could have been won so easily. >> we have reports covering off of today's angles for you. cal perry is in new orleans where the doors have just opened. jane timm is in national harbor, maryland, where cpac's convention is wrapping up today. jacob is in orlando, florida, ahead of a donald trump rally there today. kristen welker is in detroit where hillary clinton will headline the state's democratic dinner. and tony is in flint where the democrats are holding their next debate tomorrow. let's begin with cal at that new orleans site. another good morning to you.

pretty quiet but it looks like people are there doing their thing and voting. >> reporter: yeah, as we sort of anticipated the joggers have come in and they are now voting. give you an idea of what you're looking at, as you of go around the room here, outer tables, each of the presimpcinctsprecin. we're between two wards in new orleans. 17 wards. the precincts are sort of the smaller neighborhoods. this is the fourth and 17th ward. as we go around the room the voters will come in, register here at the precinct in which they live obviously. they will fill out a quick form. that's when you get your ballot. let me show you the fake -- this is the example ballot that people have. your republican side, you have some parish executive nominations going on as well. as you mentioned, this is really about momentum, right? the state of louisiana actually moved its primary day to today to sort of fall between super tuesday and the big day on march 15th to become more relevant, to try to playoff that momentum.

certainly key for somebody like marco rubio. interestingly enough, marco rubio canceled a rally here yesterday instead focusing on the 15th. a lot of people here wondering if that will affect his base's turnout. on the democratic side, a good day for hillary clinton. she's listen really stumping across the state as well as using her husband former president bill clinton stumping yesterday here as well. so it will be interesting to see as the day plays out what the yurn out is and how busy it gets. we're starting to see people filter in, alex. >> i know it's going to be a long day for you, so thank you very much. let's head now to jane timm in national harbor. another good morning to you. how big a deal is trump's cancelation because he would have been the opening speaker in 20 minutes or so. >> yeah, if trump had kept his commitment this room would have been packed behind me. you're just starting to see early birds fill in for some early panels and then later we'll have the first key note at

11:30. that's a late morning for cpac here. i think people are pretty disappointed. this really isn't trump's main base but these are the people who bowie the conservative movement, 365 days of the year. they really wanted the front-runner of their party to come and answer their questions. and as we know organizers tell us those questions were something the campaign disagreed on with organizers, maybe he didn't want to answer the questions and didn't want to face organizers the way they wanted to be faced. >> all right. so that is the big deal. he says it was a scheduling conflict. but do we know when that rally was scheduled in wichita, kansas? wasn't that a late schedule? >> it seems to be a very last-minute addition to his calendar. as you saw the alerts telling media said he's going to rally 20,000 people, definitely more important was the tone of the announcements. but for the people here, these are the really, really hardened, grass root supporters who work

hard for their party and in a normal year, no presidential candidate wanting to win would have skipped this event. >> absolutely. straw poll, what time does that go down this afternoon and i know you can't predict it but do you get a sense of leanings? >> 4:45 we'll start to hear the answers. it's a big deal. people love to vote in the straw poll. the lines have been out the door for much of the day. yesterday. i would say ted cruz has strong support. a lot of very conservative voters. >> jane timm at ccpac. the focus for the candidates this weekend is in the industrial heart of the nation. hillary clinton and bernie sanders are battling for the votes of organized labor, both candidates addressing rallies in michigan in advance of tuesday's primary there. and nbc's kristen welker is covering do it, tetroit, the de there. how are the two candidates looking to make the inroads with the nation's workers? >> well, alex, talking a lot about their economic policies,

also talking a lot about trade. look, senator sanders is looking to slow slow secretary clinton's momentum today with the three states that are going to vote. sanders campaign officials are telling me the states that weigh in today and in the coming weeks are actually more favorable to him. they're feeling good about kansas. they think nebraska could be close. secretary clinton seems to have a strong showing in louisiana. that could become a part of her southern firewall. alex, this all comes as secretary clinton is again answering tough questions about her e-mails. this past week her former aide brian struck an immunity deal with the fbi and told investigators that her server was never hacked. here's what she told our cnbc's john harwood in an exclusive interview. take a listen. >> would you concede that you and the people who work for you at state department were sloppy in the way you handled top secret information? >> no, no. let's be clear about this.

there wasn't a single one of those that was marked classified, either sent or received. >> now, senator sanders has been heavily criticizing secretary clinton not over the issue of her e-mails but over the issue of trade, slamming her for supporting trade deals like nafta. that is an issue that resonates here in the nation's heartland. take a listen to what he told supporters on friday. >> secretary clinton supported nafta. she supported permanent normal trade relations with china. those agreements have cost us millions of jobs as a nation. hit the midwest particularly hard. if elected president, trust me, we will have a new set of trade policies. >> secretary clinton hitting back hard saying that she has called for reforms to nafta. she also says she wouldn't

approve any trade deal that doesn't benefit the american worker. and she rolled out her own economic policy on friday, alex. she called for scaling back tax breaks for companies that outsourced jobs overseas. all of this a preview of what we can expect to see when the two face-off tomorrow night in flint, michigan. certainly going to be fireworks again. >> absolutely. kristen welker, brightening up what is a dreary day in detroit. thank you. well, let's bring in national reporter for the "new york times." and annie linsky at the boston globe. what do you make of the timing of this new economy pitch? who do you think hillary clinton is targeting here? is it bernie sanders or is it donald trump? >> she's targeting both men. both men were circling the state and really trying to make their pitch for why they should be elected. bernie sanders, i talked to his advisers and really he thinks that michigan is a really important state that he really wants to win that state. and he's really using this pitch that secretary clinton, that

when she was championing the trade policies she really was the reason why people lost their jobs this in those areas. he's also use that to actually also broaden his support among black voters. his senior adviser told me the middle class black voters, that they're trying to get to vote for them, they were really kind of the victim of these trade policies. she's really hitting at bernie sanders when she talks about that. but also donald trump says, hey, you know what, when company goes out of the country, they're going to be punished for that and we're going to bring back american jobs. so really she's going after both men when she talks about that in michigan. >> do you think that's getting ahead of herself? focusing on bernie sanders at this point in her targeted focus there? >> i don't think she's getting ahead of herself because bernie sanders constantly is hitting donald trump. while he's also talking about secretary clinton, he is also always saying that donald trump thinks that the fact that donald trump would champion trade agreements that would hurt people's jobs. so i think that secretary clinton is not getting ahead of

herself in this way because at the end of the day she's seeing herself as the front-runner. donald trump is the front-runner. and at some point they might go head to head and bernie sanders is talking about how if he goes head to head with donald trump that he would be a stronger candidate against him. so i think secretary clinton is pre-empting what might be what happens in the general election. >> so, annie, i know that you wrote this week about trump's popularity with working class voters. is clinton's new plan going to be an effective defense? >> well, that's a great question. i think in a more regular election cycle it absolutely would. because it's a very tough plan. just talking about things that would normally send shudders through boardrooms. this notion of clawing back tax incentives for companies that move abroad, you know, tax incentives they have had in previous years is something that is not going to be welcomed by wall street, by any means. but, this is not a normal year. and you look at the polling and

focus groups that people have conducted on donald trump and he is getting anywhere between 20% to 15% of democratic crossover. and if that type of pattern continues, she is going to have a hard time in the general election in those rust belt states. >> what does she need to do to hang on to those voter, specifically? >> i think she does need to keep doing what she's doing. she has new ad that is a little more edgy than her regular ads that pitch these plan. and i think that she needs to count on voters in these areas, deciding on sort of a more rational plan than voting on emotions. the other thing is, quite frankly, she would in a general election match-up with trump, have a huge advantage in other states that have in the past been more considered red states. >> interesting, there is a new poll which puts clinton and ted cruz in a virtual tie if they were going to face-off in a

general election and marco rubio beating her. >> i think it's tough to explain that because if you look at those polls, they're both going after establishment politic, both going after people who are seen as really long -- i guess long people that have had long histories in their parties. so i think there what you're looking at is maybe democratic crossover that donald trump is benefiting from. it's those voters donald trump isn't the nominee yet they've already joined the republican party. it might be hard for them to say, okay, well, now i'm going to go back to hillary clinton which is really the face of democratic party for decades now. so i think that that's what we're seeing here. seeing people that are angry. i think that this election has been a lot about emotion and a lot about anger. if you look at the two candidates, bernie sanders and trump when i talk to their supporter, both of their supporters talk about this, this feeling like america is leaving them behind, feeling like people don't understand the lives that here living and people don't understand their struggles. the polls are show that people are resonating with messages

that are not just speaking to the establishment. >> so, annie, not to put you on the spot here but any predictions on the primaries today? >> well, i think it's safe to say that hillary clinton is going to do well in louisiana. she's done so well with the black vote. that's certainly an area where she will do well. and it's state with the most delegates as well. at the end of the day, i think more delegates. the other two states she's been splitting white voters. those are a little harder to predict and probably a little more favorable for sanders. >> good to see you both. thanks, ladies. in the battle for michigan there's something missing ahead of tuesday's primary elections. just where the endorsements from the big unions? and more questions for hillary clinton about that e-mail investigation. is it a concern for voters as the primary season moves forward? in a moment i'll speak with clinton supporter, former health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. >> i feel very strongly about donald trump. i like him very much.

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donald trump is up and at them this morning. here's the proof. a tweet just moments ago, i am in kansas. will be an exciting day. big speech this morning in wichita. and then go to caucus. sorry, cpac, the format was fine. and right now voters are having their say in louisiana right there in new orleans. the polls opened about 21 minutes ago and we've already seen a few as cal perry puts it on scene there. a few joggers getting in on a saturday in new orleans. democrats and republicans in kansas will caucus today to select their candidates for the party's nomination. there are 40 delegates up for grab on the republican side, 37

for the democrats. let's bring in kathleen sebelius, a democrat and former governor of kansas, former secretary of health and human services as well as hillary clinton supporter. it's nice to speak with you. thank you for joining us. >> good morning, alex. nice to see you. >> let's talk about this discussion i just had with a "boston globe" reporter who told me donald trump is getting 10% to 15% of democrats. are you surprised and how might secretary clinton counter that? >> i'm not really surprised. i think that democrats and republicans have always crossed over for candidates who have some appeal to them. i think that as more focus is on donald trump and what he stands for, i hope that people will understand that he is one of the least well equipped people to become president of the united states. and whether they are a democrat or a republican or an independent, i think at the end of the day americans want the leader of the free world to be

knowledgeable, thoughtful, experienced, and there's only one candidate as far as i'm concerned who is ready to be president, and that's hillary clinton. >> i think another adjective, we want someone who is presidential. >> you bet. >> but both democrat candidates have been pressing the sflesh with the workers in michigan. advance of tomorrow night's debate there in flint and tuesday's primary. the teamsters and united auto workers as well as the afi-cio, they have not endorsed anyone at this point. is that a concern for the clinton campaign? >> i think she would love to have the endorseendorsements. but this is a very strange year, alex. i'm not sure endorsements hurt or help. i think a lot of people want to feel like they're making their own choice for a candidate. and the great news is for democrats, is they have two candidates who both are talking about issues, focused on policy, fa cu focusing on the future, how we

can move things ahead and build on the progress that president obama has made. i have no idea what's going on on the republican side of the house. it seems to be a debate that sounds more like a grade school locker room than a presidential conte contest. but having union members pay attention, looking at hopefully the advance of organized labor and not the continued decline of organized labor, that can happen with either democratic candidate, both of whom have very strong ties to organized labor. >> politico reported yesterday that hillary clinton is now going after the voters who have been flocking to bernie sanders. how has the success, this early success of bernie sanders affected secretary clinton's message? >> well, i think that bernie sanders has -- senator sanders has been able to ignite some of the young millennials' interest and enthusiasm. that's very good news. that's the very same thing that barack obama was able to do in 2008.

get people to pay attention for the first time. get them to focus on how important this election is. and i think as they begin to pay attention, they will also understand what an incredible record hillary clinton has, how long she has been battling around issues that matter to millennials, about equal pay for women, family leave policies, pay equity policies, organized labor, college payment, things that look toward the future, building on the health care plan that we made tremendous progress on and is still under way. so i think that what senator sanders has done is ignite some ideas and she is the person well equipped to govern and put those ideas into effect. and has i think the approach that we're going to need republicans and democrats to collaborate and cooperate, something that hasn't happened in washington in way too long. but happens every day at the

state level. she is an experienced executive. she can execute on plans and nobody knows better than the kansans what happens when you elect b somebody who has a series of ideas that turns into a disaster. kansas is in terrible shape right now, economically, educationally, in terms of job creation. because of the radical plans put in to effect by the current governor. and governing is a big part of what happens after an election. >> absolutely. governor, quickly may i ask you about the campaign and their level of concern about the public perception of the e-mail issue? >> well, i think there's no question. senator clinton, secretary clinton has been cooperating with this investigation and wants it to be fully finished quickly. i think that the good news is it seems in the legal pundits seem to indicate they may will

nearing an end to the investigation and they are interviewing the final witnesses. she said from the beginning using a private server was a mistake. i think it's something that she acknowledges and if she could go back would do it differently. on the other hand, the president has been there with former secretaries of state. there seems to be no evidence that anything that was exchanged, was classified until after the fact. so she would love this investigation to wrap up. she said in the beginning there's nothing there. and i think the american public will be convinced once the investigation is finished that she indeed did -- was careful, thoughtful, should have used a public server but that mistake has been acknowledged and we need to move on. >> and we thank you for the thoughtful conversation, former governor and kathleen sebelius. marco rubio is banking on a florida surprise to keep him in the race but how can he overcome

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at half past the hour getting a live look from orlando, florida. of course it is. look, everyone is wearing shorts in the sunshine there. that is where donald trump will hold a rally later today, 2:30 eastern time. those people are already lining up for it. nbc will be there. is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity 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. at ally bank, no branches equals great rates.

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(vo) you can check on them. you can worry about them. you can even choose a car for them. (mom) honey, are you ok? (child) i'm ok. (announcer vo) love. (mom) we're ok. (announcer vo) it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. good morning. i'm alex witt here in new york at msnbc world headquarters, the place for politics. we're about to give you a live shot of new orleans where voting is currently under way in louisiana. republicans and democrats holding their respective primaries. the bayou state is one of five states holding primaries or caucuses today. candidates including donald trump are crisscrossing the country making final pitches in

these super tuesday states and looking ahead to the races on tuesday and then a week later on march 15th, kansas is one of the states where trump and rival ted cruz are making final pitches and trump will also be stumping in florida as well marco rubio, john kasich is in michigan, hillary clinton and bernie sanders also in michigan ahead of the debate in flint tomorrow night. so for more now on the republican candidates today let's go to nbc's jay scob rasc in orlando. kansas first, the trump campaigning skipping cpac even though he is leading the polls there. why? >> he was leading by more until a couple days ago. he was leading by double digits. suddenly a poll came out which showed him only leading by single digits. the trump campaign didn't say that that's why they skipped the conference. they only said they wanted to campaign in kansas. but an interesting coincidence or correlation or whatever you want to call it but they aren't doing as well as they were, so now they're in kansas.

then they will come here later to florida where of course he still double digits ahead of marco rubio. >> absolutely. i want to put up so poll numbers here because as you know, jacob, florida is a key state for the presidential candidates. trump is leading -- by the way, we have to note this is rubio's home state. leading by 16 points right now. so what are floridians saying about their senator rubio? >> so one thing to remember is that polls have been wrong. this presidential contest we had in minnesota, oklahoma, iowa, a couple other places the polls have been wrong, showing trump ahead and then he eventually lost. but never by this much. now, you have a very diverse state in florida. the northern part of it. a lot of the support does not go to marco rubio but closer to where he's from. it does but overall in every poll the voters have said, so far, that they do not prefer marco rubio.

he is new. it's not clear why his favorability rating isn't great. donald trump likes to.out on the campaign trail that marco rubio has missed a lot of votes on the floor. perhaps that's why. maybe not. but we'll see in the next couple of weeks, marco rubio is spending big. donald trump is spending big. and ted cruz, who knows that he is not going to win florida, is also spending big and he is admitting essentially that he's spending big here to try to take some of the oxygen away from marco rubio so that donald trump wins and marco rubio then has to drop out. marco rubio has said we will win florida. if that doesn't happen, if you can't win your own state, then where can you win? >> yeah. good point. okay. jacob rascon, thank you so much in orlando. of course, florida and ohio both voting on march 15th which could prove to be a critical day. joining me now sir a, the former deputy campaign manager for karly fiorina's campaign.

thanks for joining me. >> good morning. >> your first reaction to romney's comments comments in his attempt to stop donald trump, do you think it was the right message but the wrong messager, which has pretty much been said on my show this morning. >> i think a lot of republicans look to mitt romney as a tron strong conservative candidate. what i will say is that it might be coming a little too late. i think that there's a lot of trump voters out there who think that politicians over and over again have said these things and then, whether they're democrats or republicans, they've gone to washington and done the exact same thing, which is nothing. so i think there's a lot of frustration out there. and i think that donald trump has been extraordinarily effective at tapping into that. unfortunately i don't think he's a conservative. >> all right. i spoke with a boston globe reporter who earlier said 10% to 15% of the democrats are crossing over to support trump. does that suggest to you, sarah, that he may be the best the gop has to offer? >> what it suggests to me is the democrats and in particular the hillary camp should be maybe

less sure that this is the republican nominee that they want to run against. i think it's pretty common to see democrats, both on this network and others, almost gleeful at donald trump's ascension. and i think what that tells many we is that hillary clinton is a very flawed candidate. with not much enthusiasm among her base. and so they should be very careful what they wish for. >> do you think there will be other leaders in the republican party like mitt romney who are going to come out and speak against donald trump and do you think that could make a difference? >> i don't know. i think candidates are -- rather, republican leaders like senator ben sass of nebraska have been doing this for quite some time. he joined us on the trail and has been out there with ted cruz and marco rubio. i think he's an extrard nasordi strong voice in the party, gone to washington and done what he has said so far. and i think he could be a real voice emerging in the party

because of that. >> if you listen to mitt romney though, he thinks if rubio wins florida, which again according to our last numbers we were just showing he is certainly behind donald trump, and if kasich wins ohio these victories would knock the wind out of trump were that to happen. look at the hypothetical delegate count trump still holds the lead even if this happens but then he has to win 66% of the remaining delegates to get to 1237. what do you make of this assessment? >> i think that's true. i think what you saw on super tuesday with ted cruz winning thee states, had a similar effect. it shows that absolutely conservatives can unite behind someone like ted cruz and make a real difference. the question is obviously going into these winner take all states can enough of those states get away from donald trump? i think they can. then it's a question of do we go to a contested convention? i agree with senator cruz that that is a tough thing for the republican party, but maybe it's time to have some reckoning

within the party over what we stand for and who we want to be moving toer ward. >> if you listen to donald trump he says he's responsible for bringing in millions to the republican party with the now people registering to vote and maybe even first time voters. if that's true, do you think he doesn't get enough credit for that? >> i actually think that we as republicans have given donald trump quite a bit of credit. again, for pointing out what politicians have failed to do election after election. the difference is that donald trump i don't think is much better. but i understand why he's attractive to so many voters. it's not that these volters are stupid or like to offend people, it's that they are so sick of politicians never doing anything. my mother is a trump voter. so i am the daughter of a trump voter. i can tell you my mother is a smart woman and she isn't fooled by donald trump but she thinks that it sends a real message to everyone else that we're done with these politicians. >> so let's say from your mother's perspective if there is a contested convention, will

that wrangle her? will she be disenfranchised, and other rank in file voters? >> i think it's interesting that that's the way we started talking about the conventions. truth is every convention is theoretically contested in the sense that any time someone goes with fewer than half the delegates, it's, quote, unquote, contested. we always have these conventions. the delegates always vote on the first round. and then we just haven't needed a second round. it's pretty common in history that this happens every now and then. so maybe it's time. i don't think that people will feel disenfranchised. we don't have a democracy, we have a republic. and this is what our founders, to some extent at least intended. maybe they didn't intend donald trump. >> well, that's probably fair. very quickly, what do you want to see happen up to and at the convention? >> well, i am looking much more closely in just the next couple of weeks to see ted cruz, whether he can consolidate

conservative support. i think he can. i think he's probably the candidate that has shown the most ability to do that from super tuesday. looking for marco rubio in florida for sure. john kasich has to win ohio. john kasich in michigan will be an interesting test. he always said that would be a strong state for him. and so right now it's all about trying to get the delegates away from donald trump. i think we have the right candidateses to do that. it's just a question of can they do enough. >> sarah flores, thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up, how real is the threat of a brokered convention in july? and pondering that may resurrect thoughts of the last chaotic nomination fight and the ad that scared america. eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. they're off. you're an at&t small business expert? sure am. my staff could use your help 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

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he's hardly the first republican firebrand to throw an election into chaos. more than 50 years ago right wing arizona senator barry goldwater did the same. so what can trump and gop learn from the fiery 1964 race? let's bring in julian, professor at princeton university and author of "the fierce urgency of now." julian, with a welcome to you, so explain the parallels here between goldwater and trump. what is the same this time around, what's different? >> the parallel is that in 1964 there were many republicans who saw this right wing senator from arizona run and thought he was dangerous for the party. mitt romney's father, george romney, then governor of michigan, said it would be suicidal for them to run him. and he won the nomination. and there were ads about his connections to the kkk, about how he would get the world into a nuclear war, that painted him as far too extreme for this

country. so that was some of the similarity between the two men. >> so it's also interesting to know, kkk, goldwater came out and said i don't want their support here in my candidacy but we have goldwater having lost the landslide election in 1964 there. are there lessons in that for trump? >> yeah, i mean, look, there are two different candidates. the electorate is much more polarized today than back then. trump is harder to pin as just the right wing conservative because he has so many different views. and at the same time everything is vague. but it does point to the kind of disaster a party can suffer with the wrong candidate. not only can you lose the white house, but as a 1964, you could end up with a congress that's going to do the opposite of what the party wants. so there could be severe consequences. >> you mentioned mitt romney's father and you pointed -- because of the past really in mitt's speech which is very much like his father's attack on

barry goldwater but this time you mentioned it would backfire to have romney criticize trump in this way is to fuel a narrative on the right of a party that is trying to stifle the only genuine voice that exists. many republicans will hear romney, the symbol of 1%, attacking trump ears criticism of free trade and double down on their support of this insurgent campaign. using campaign history as a guide. what would be a more effective way for the party to take on trump? >> i don't think a top-down approach is going to work and it's not going to work from someone like mitt romney who has a lot of connections to the parts of the republican party that trump is appealing to. and again, as he's pointed out trump, he endorsed him and romney welcomed the endorsement. so this has to come from the grass roots. it has to be about a electoral mobilization. it has to be working in states like ohio and florida to make sure the turnout is higher for some of the other candidates than it is for trump. making a speech i think is going to have the opposite effect if it comes from someone like him.

>> what do you think barry goldwater would have made of today's republican party and of this election? >> well, i think the party he would like. he wanted the party to move to the right. and it did. that's what we forget. most of the republican party has shifted dramatically to the right and goldwater, his memory is very much alive and well. i don't think he would have liked donald trump. he believed in principle goldwater. trump is really about style and approach and in some ways supports many policies that goldwater could never have agreed to. >> all right. author and princeton professor, thank you so much. >> thank you. in a moment the battle for michigan. the issues that may drive people to the polls there on tuesday. thanks man. imagine if the things you bought every day... ...earned you miles to get to the places you really want to go. with the united mileageplus explorer card, you'll get a free checked bag, two united club passes, priority boarding, and 30,000 bonus miles.

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53 past the hour. give you a live look at what's been going on there in the last 53 minutes. voters in louisiana, specifically new orleans, casting their ballots in the state's presidential primary. they will remain open until 9:00 p.m. eastern.

the kansas caucuses close at 4:00 p.m. eastern when our special coverage returns will begin for you. another state presidential candidates vying for is michigan. and this tuesday voters will cast their ballots in the state's primary on the democratic side, hillary clinton is taking the lead there and both candidates will be facing off tomorrow in flint, michigan. it is the final debate ahead of march 7th. msnbc's tony is there right now for us. tony, with a good morning. obviously the water contamination issue, huge topic there. what are some of the other issues to look for? >> that's right. flori water contamination is a big issue. we saw the very first lead pipe removed from the ground, replaced by a copper pipe. we are in pierre county, at a shooting range because the michigan militia will be holding a training here today. this is an unregulated pit where members of the michigan militia will be training with heavy guns, ak-47s, shotguns, looking

to get a big patch. we're here because we're looking to explain some of the success that donald trump has had in this state in winning over the white rural vote. but there's another cultural institution part of the fabric of michigan making headlines and that is the auto unions. none of the three big ones have taken a stance to endorse any of the candidates on the republican or the democratic side. that's a really big deal because there's still about 14% or 15% union membership in this state. and although the working class auto workers on a general level when we interact with them seem to side with a trump presidency. they want to see big-time change. that union endorsement can sway some votes. it typically goes democratic. bernie sanders and hillary clinton are going to be working very hard to get it. it's going to be difficult however for clinton in particular because she's of course associated with bill clinton's presidency chen nafta was passed which took a lot of the auto money out of this city and brought it overseas -- out of michigan, and brought it over

seas. she's going to be working hard but she's going have the big hurdles to convince the unions she's on their side, truly working in their best interest. >> speaking with governor governor kathleen sebelius. is the clinton camp worried about bringing in these endorseme endorsement. she doesn't even know that the endorsements would do all that much to sway the average voter. but before i let you go, may i just back up to what you said about this shooting range. you're talking about the michigan militia. they're going to be out there training with ak-47s, not just gun, not rifles, not sharpshooting. with ak-47s. practicing with ak-47s. just checking. >> yeah, that's right. a kr ak-47s. working to earn a patch that says heavy gunner on it. if you want to get a heavy gunner patch you have to use big weapons. they have more militia groups per capita than any other state.

it's an important institution and we're going to talk to some of those voters, alex. >> i'm curious to hear what they say. thank you very much. that is a wrap of this hour of msnbc live. i'm alex whit. up next, joy reid is from detroit and looking at the impact, the air american vote may have on the primary. and i'll see you right back here at noon eastern mere on msnbc, the place for politics. it takes a lot of work... to run this business. but i really love it. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost® to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a great taste.

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[ pickles whines ] i know, it's like they're always on television. what? good morning. i'm joy reid coming to you live from the heart of downtown detroit. we're here this morning at american cone know island where detroiters have been coming for nearly a century to enjoy their famous hot dogs. and this state michigan will take its turn in the president shul primary spotlight on tuesday. this morning the nominating contests are under way right now

in five states. four states will be deciding on a republican nominee and three states will make their choice for the democratic nomination. senator ted cruz will be making his final appeal to kansas voters this morning in wichita. the later today he will catch up to the other candidates who have already turned their attentions to the battlegrounds still to come. senator cruz will hold a rally later this evening in idaho which along with michigan, mississippi, and hawaii will be holding republican primaries on tuesday. most of today's gop action will be going down in florida. the hotly contested state whose primary is one week later on march 15th. and whereas of friday, more than 795,000 people including more than 434,000 republicans have already voted early or absentee. donald trump will be speaking at a noon rally in orlando. and later this afternoon marco rubio will be looking for a little home state advantage when he holds a rally in jacksonville. for the democratic nominees

meanwhile, this state, michigan, is the place to be. bernie sanders will hold a press conference in cleveland, ohio, before coming here to michigan for an event in flint. hillary clinton will be stopping here in detroit before heading to flint where she and senator sanders will fateoff in a debate tomorrow night. we've been tracking all the latest election news today at the place for politics. and we're going the start now at the white house with nbc's kelly o'donnell. what's at stake in this round of nominating contests that are happening today? >> such a busy weekend for all of the candidates, joy. and part of what is at stake is to be able to claim momentum. whether your have candidates who are at the top like trump and clinton or those who are jockeying to stay in the game. they want to be able to demonstrate that they have a pathway and a voter base that can keep them in this. and we look on the more complicated republican side, there's also this issue of outside forces trying to weigh in, from some of the elder states men of the republican

party to outside groups and some of the more traditional republicans trying to shake up the electorate to say, not vote for trump. and that of course brings its own kind of backlash. and we've seen a bit of a different tone as well. whereas we've got two home states coming up, not this weekend but looking ahead. and so these candidates, meaning florida and ohio for rubio and kasich, they are looking at both the short-term gain of wanting to do well today but having to still play to the next round of conte contests. because for ted cruz, for example, he's already won his home state, so he wants to try to make sure that he can trim some of the votes away in the home states of his competitors in order to try to become the last man standing against donald trump. so we're at this phase in the campaign now where it's not just about winning, it's also about blocking your competitors, and on the republican side it's about trying to deal with the outside voices. and for clinton and sanders, for clinton she's got a little more

wind in her back and for sanders he is trying to get to this territory that's especially good for his economic message and hoping that will give him some new lift in this race. joy? >> all right, nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house for us. it want to turn to detroit, michigan, where kis ten welker has been following hillary clinton. kristen, hillary has been speaking and talking about jobs, of course. how is she trying to appeal to voters in this state? >> well, joy, just picking up on what kelly was saying, she's trying to appeal to working class voters in this state. they are going to be critical to winning. she rolled out a plan yesterday, an economic plan, that would call for scaling back tax breaks on companies that outsourced jobs overseas. as you know that is a big issue that resonates here throughout the nation's heartland. and just this morning her campaign releasing two new ads here in the state of michigan. take a look at one of them.

>> hillary says you walk out on america, you pay an exit tax. now, if you got tax dollars or a tax deal, you've got to give the money back. she's with us. >> i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. >> secretary clinton also calling on senator sanders and gop front-runner donald trump to release the details and specifics of their economic plans, saying that she wants to see realistic plans from them. a little bit of a preview of what we might see tomorrow night when he faces off against senator sanders in that debate in flint, michigan. for his part senator sanders has been slamming secretary clinton for her past trade deals, supporting nafta, for example, that's something that a lot of folks here in michigan oppose. they credit nafta with job loss here throughout this state. secretary clinton retorting that she has called for changes to nafta, that she opposes tpp. that's, again, the type of back and forth we're going see as

both of these candidates try and appeal to voter here's. in terms of today, senator sanders hoping to slow secretary clinton's momentum. he thinks he's got a shot in some of these states. kansas and nebraska, his campaign aides tell me they think the voting today and in the coming weeks really benefit senator sanders. we'll have to wait and see. they're also bracing themselves for potential loss in louisiana. that is a part of secretary clinton's firewall. it has a large population of african-american voters. joy, back to you. >> all right, nbc's kristen welker, thank you very much. already voting is under way in florida. nbc's jacob rascon is in orlando where he's been following the florida race. jacob, polls are suing marco rubio is in trouble. he has to win there. talk about what he's trying to do to dig himself out of a hole in that must win state. >> yeah, he has said that he will win florida and florida doesn't vote until march 15 but he has been here a lot. he's going to be here a lot going forward. and he's spending big. but here's the problem.

donald trump has always been ahead in every florida poll by double digits. he is now spending big on ads. he's going to be campaigning here today. he will be back several times. and ted cruz is also now campaigning hard, opening several offices and promising to spend money on ads. ted cruz knows he cannot win florida but he can play a part in making sure that marco rubio drops out. he essentially admitted that yesterday in talking with nbc news that he's going to campaign hard here but he knows he can't win. joy? >> and jacob, quickly, is there any indication that jeb bush is going to weigh in? there's been a lot of chatter sort of in the conservative blog world he would help marco out, right? he could help marco rubio out by endorsing him. are you hearing any indication that jeb world is going to come in and try to help marco rubio win that state? >> no, no more than what you're talking about with a blogs, with the indication that maybe he will come out, maybe not. it would be a little unusual of course looking back and

listening to all of the things that jeb bush has said about marco rubio, that he's not really to be commander in chief that this is not his time. we'll wait and see if that comes out. if it does though, pay attention and you will watch that everybody will -- the other side at least, his opponents will replay that sound with jeb bush saying marco rubio is not ready. >> not a good look. thank you very much, nbc's jacob rascon with the pal poliace in orlando. i want to go to my guest in washington, d.c., msnbc contributor, columnist for the "washington post" and author of the great new book" why the right went wrong, conservatism from goldwater to the tea party and beyond." e.j., help us to understand what's happening here. you have donald trump doing well across the south. not exactly a candidate who seems sort of suited to the southern sensibility, doing well in marco rubio's backyard in florida, doing well in places where he doesn't seem prime to do well. what is that about?

>> well, i think, you know, before this civil war people used to talk about northern politicians of southern convicti convictions. i think in the case of donald trump a lot of people in the south hear a kind of candidate that they have related to in the past. his attacks on political correctness, racial overtones to what he says about immigration on other issues. and his general attack on the establishment. i think you have a lot of conservatives who are -- this is one of the themes of my book -- who are disappointed that conservative politicians have made promises to the right wing that they never kept. above all, you've got working class voters whose votes have been taken for granted by the republican party. and he is running a kind of class war. i think the most interesting development this weekend which you've alluded to already is that ted cruz is refusing to join the united front against donald trump. why is that?

one, he thinks he's the only guy who can beat trump one-on-one and, two, he doesn't have any interest in a brokered or a contested convention either because he knows that the party is very unlikely to turn to him. so you're going to have ted cruz messing up this effort to unite everybody behind rubio in florida and john kasich in ohio. that could have a real impact. >> e.j., you touch on another point which is there's no incentive for the other candidates to get out and try to consolidate because two of them still have a home state contest coming up. kasich has ohio. rubio has florida. they have to see how they do there. is there any incentive behind that to combine against trump? it doesn't seem obvious that there would be. >> i think if either of them loses their state, i think there claims to be a serious alternative oregon. that's why rubio so desperately

needs florida. and it's going to be very interesting to see what jeb bush does because he clearly harbors and in some ways legitimately harbors real resentment against rubio. he was kind of a mentor to rubio. rubio jumped in this race. came out ahead of him. so that's going to be a very personal decision. in kasich's case it's the same thing. if he can win ohio he can stay in this for a while. that's why -- but if both of them are vulnerable enough that that's why there is some logic to the idea that a lot of anti-trump establishment republicans who really don't much like ted cruz may have to go to him in the end because he could be the only guy who can stop him. >> and let's take a look at the map if we can put up the map of the upcoming contest. kansas, louisiana, nebraska, michigan, mississippi, maine. are these the kinds of places, e.j., where the kind of white blue collar voter trump is appealing to, these are his

kinds of states, right? >> a lot of them are. ohio is one of the most diverse states in the country, which is why it's always a decider. but you look at a place like louisiana that's got to be a trump state with cruz as the competitor. there are a lot of conservatives in kansas. a lot of moderates have left the republican party there. nebraska is interesting because the leading voice -- really the earliest voice in the anti-trump movement was senator ben sass, a rising young conservative. it's going to be very interesting to see what happens in his home state today. >> yeah, and not to mention bob do dole. >> a joy to be with you. >> thank you. day right there because today is the first time republican voters will get to weigh in after thursday night's raucous debate. more on that next.ab ic nerve pa. shoots and burns its way into your day,

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he hit he hands. nobody has ever hit my hands. i've never heard of this one. look at those hands. are they small hands? and he referred to my hands, if they're small, something else must be small. i guarantee you, there's no problem. i guarantee you. >> okay. moving on. >> that was weird and that was also donald trump firing back at senator marco rubio's debate in detroit. trump's remaining gop adversaries took aim at him that night over his apparent compulsion to bully his opponents, taxes, trump university and other failed business ventures. joining me now to recap is john yob, former national political director for rand paul and former political director for the mccain campaign.

and also the author of "chaos, the outsider's guide to a contested republican national convention." very timely. and also with me is wayne bradley, michigan gop director of african-american engagement. thank you both for being here. i'm going the start with you, john. you wrote "chaos" so we're going to talk with you about the chaos going on right now. i'm going to play what mitt romney had to say this past week. came out an did a big speech. people were wondering if he was the speech he announced that he wants to run and get into this. this is what he said about a potential contested convention. take a listen. >> if we get to cleveland and a contested convention, how are these millions of voters, come of whom have come to the process in the party for the first time because of donald trump, how are they going to feel to have put donald trump in the lead and watch the establishment wing of the party pull the rug out from under him? >> well, first of all, there are a lot of people, establishment or not, who agree with me that donald trump should not be president of the united states. and don't want to see him become the republican nominee. right now it's about 65% of

republicans who would like someone else. so that's the way politics works. you get behind the people you support. you fight for them. and the person who wins through the process is the one who becomes your nominee. >> is this the new hubert humphrey? is he setting himself to come into the convention and have whatever is left of the establishment, essentially nominate him on a second ballot at the convention? >> it's a real possibility. initial version of the book we had a chapter called the "javelin has landed." secret service make name was the javelin. we thought there was a strong possibility he would land in clove land at the end and potentially run on a first or second ballot depending on the rules. >> is that something he could pull off in a year when clearly the base of the republican party is sendsing the message the establishment, however you define it and that now includes the media establishment of the conservative movement, is somebody they don't trust, that they are angry with, and that they are essentially in rebellion against? could it ever be possible that

the -- that same establishment could then take this guy, this person who hasn't been a part of the contest, has won no primaries, and impose him on the electorate? >> yeah, i think that's a real question. obviously mitt romney was not particularly popular with the base of the party even when he ran in 2012 and more so now despite the fact he probably would have made a pretty good president. but it's a little bit of a misnomer to say the establishment controls the convention process. you got to remember the delegates are elected in these contests across the country so fear generally going to be representative of the primaries and caucuses that happen. there will be exceptions where i call supporters in name only elected in state convention contests but generally speaking the delegates will be representing of the caucuses occurred. >> let's talk about this stop trump movement. you've had this never trump hashtag trending over the last few days. the humans who are supposed to be the embodiment of never trump were asked at the debate this past week wlsht they would follow through on that fully, this is what they said. take a listen.

>> i'll support the republican nomin nominee. >> mr. trump? >> i will support donald if he's the republican nominee. >> yes, because i gave my word that i would and what i have endeavored to do every day in the senate is do what i said i would do. >> yeah, and i kind of think that before it's all said and done, i'll be the nominee. >> can you definitively say tonight that you will definitely support the republican nominee for president even if it's not you? >> even if it's not me? >> what is the point, wayne, of having a movement in which you are saying that that person, donald trump, is unqualified and unfit to be the president of the united states? but, yeah, if he's the nominee i'll support him? doesn't that undermine the entire trump argument? >> they made a promise. everyone made that pledge. if you're a man of your word you honor your pledge. >> what happens to your party, down ticket when you have a lot of senate races contested. when mitch mcconnell has said he would abandon the top of the

ticket and try to save the senate. how can you both say that donald trump would destroy the republican party but that everyone would line up behind him if he were the nominee? >> i just haven't seen the evidence yet of him destroying the party. like i said, i don't have office in detroit and we've had new volunteers that have come in based on donald trump. >> tell me who these people are coming in? >> last week, for example, we had a 17-year-old african-american female that came in as a volunteer and she said the reason why she got involved was because of donald trump. >> why is that? why do you suppose he has appeal to black voters? >> the celebrity factor, definitely makes a difference. you've seen him whether it's on "the apprentice," you've seen him on different stars in the media, puffy and all of these different people have endorsed him. >> puffy hasn't. >> no but he said he would make a good leader. when you've seen that in the past, that kind of translate too people saying maybe he's not as bad as some of the rhetoric that's coming out. >> john, is that the alternative way to sort of look at what's happening? you were the with the candidate, rand paul, who was coming at this from a libertarian

perspective, not into all of these wars. trump agrees your former candidate on this, on not doing a lot of war. could donald trump in a sense open up new options and possibilities for support for the republican party rather than destroy it? >> absolutely. it's a totally possible and you're already seeing it in massachusetts there was record numbers of democrats reregistering as republicans so they could vote for him. won 49% of massachusetts. a lot of blue collar appeal for reagan democrats. i think he could remake the republican party and i think it's highly possible that the additional voters that he brought in could outweigh the establishment voters that could potentially be lost. >> i have to ask you about this situation with sort of cuddling up to even if he's not actively speaking their support you have white supremacist groups attracted to the trump campaign. you have them showing up a at his rallies. in one case getting into a confrontation with young black woman and a an atmosphere at

trump rallies that is dangerous. quite dank rouse in a racial way. >> that part has been a turnoff. it's not necessarily trump but maybe some supporters. >> he is egging people on from the day as to go after protesters. >> i think some of that's already there. when they hear that maybe get some more rowelled up but donald trump is not the reason. >> what do you think there's a reason of so much attraction to white supremacist to his campaign? >> like i said, maybe talking about tim inauguration issues and things of that nature. again, from the -- it's the people that come to the events that make people look at it and say i don't know if i want to support him. it's not donald trump himself, the up supporters that might bring that edge to it. >> he hasn't exactly repudiating them. i appreciate you coming here. thank you very much. john and wayne, john wayne. marco rubio is coming up short in polls in the sunshine state. that ain't good. more on rubio's last stand, next. when you think about success, what does it look like? is it becoming a better professorccess,

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at this point it will be nearly impossible for marco rubio to win enough delegates to secure the republican presidential nomination, but the junior senator from florida is still hoping to eke out a win in his home state. florida is trailing donald trump by 16 points according to the most recent quinnipiac poll. rubio launch an offensive against trump this week. challenging the gop front-runner on everything from trump university to hand size. but is it too little too late? or could rubio pull off a huge upset? joining me now from miami is mark, a senior writer for politico. i appreciate your politico playbook from florida every morning. i do read it. one of the things that you wrote this week was about the early vote turnout, which is huge to use the trumpian phrase. does that help marco rubio or hurt marco rubio that more than 443,000 republicans have already cast ballots including in miami-dade county where he's from? >> we might be up to 500,000 by

now. we got early voting starting today across the state. it probably would have helped marco rubio more if he had been doing more groundwork in florida. one of the struggles his campaign has had is that he's had relatively little money compared to some of the other candidates in part because he hales from the same state as jeb bush and jeb took a lot of the money. he had to make decisions and part of the decision was campaigning hard in all the early states and march states. as a result, you didn't really see a robust ground game in florida. a ground game where you reach out to voters ahead of time, identify those voters who are going to vote by absentee ballot, get them to cast their absentee pal lots. that probably hasn't happened. as a result you look at the poll numbers and apply the averages to ballots cast, rubio could be down 60,000 to 30,000 ballots to trump just at this point alone. in order for him to win, assuming the numbers are right, he would have to really kind of flip the script on donald trump and really start to go hard. now, rubio's campaign says it's

doing that. they're starting a robust ground game but there's a lot of people who wonder if it's too little too late. >> he just ran a senate campaign there in 2010 so it's odd to think he wouldn't be able to sort of restart a ground game. we can put that poll back up, quinnipiac poll has trump it at 44%, rubio at 28%, cruz at 12%. how does it factor into rubio's prospects, this question of absent teeism, not showing up for his job as the junior senator from florida? >> well, that attack was tried on barack obama in 2008. didn't work very well. i'm not sure it has a lot of resonance. then i think what's really important is if fact that he's taking on trump and trump is taking him on. trump is devastating, especially with his base, in his criticisms of people. problem has damaged rubio to a degree. you know, i've given up saying that things are going to damage donald trump in a gop primary at least. i think rubio's largest problem is not really absenteeism and i say this from a political perspective, not the absent teeism he's had in the u.s.

senate but the absenteeism his campaign has had in really starting up its big ground game operations in florida. just this week it finished opening the last of its field offices in his home state. now, the idea there is that, look, we have the infrastructure, the people. we can flip the switch, turn on the light and start to turnout people to vote. we are looking at a electorate. republican primary of 2 million to 2.3 million. 500,000 absentee ballots cast so far doesn't mean it's an insurmountable lead that trump has built but it's going to be quite a struggle and now you have ted cruz coming in as being possibly an x factor and there's a debate right now that you're seeing unfold among the smart people of twitter which is not all the people of twitter as you know. about whether cruz's presence in florida is going to hurt or is going to help marco rubio. right now i don't know because i haven't seen how cruz is going to campaign here. >> even if cruz vanished his poll numbers plus rubio's numbers don't equal trump's 44% in the quinnipiac poll. let's talk about jeb bush.

how much shot in florida is going on in jeb bush world that rubio is struggling and is there any chance that the former governor still quite popular in the state, quite popular with the republicans would come in at the last minute and endorse rubio and try to help him win? >> great question. i don't know. i'm just guessing. i think there's some hurt feelings but the hurt feelings is probably more among bush's higher ups who surrounded him lat rather than between bush and rubio. bush and rubio have spoern personally. they have spoken more than once. i would be surprised in the end if jeb bush didn't actually try to endorse or do something to try to really help rubio. it might be just a question of timing. but, you know, march 15th primary is coming up. tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of ballots have been cast. there's going to be at least 1.5 million value bballots cast. you have to wonder at what point the sand finishes running out of the hour glass before an endorsement from bush is too late. bush's poll numbers weren't

really high in florida before he dropped out. one of the reasons he did drop out. a jeb endorsement would be a good media spectacle for marco rubio and he certainly could use some good headlines and good tv coverage across the cable networks and on broadcasts. >> yeah, it might not hurt if he wanted to let's say have a plan "b" and run for his senate seat again or governor. marc, thank you very much. take care. >> thanks for having me. thank you. okay. voters in louisiana are headed to the polls. can hillary clinton keep her super tuesday momentum alive in the bayou? more live coverage from detroit when we come back. ..ne of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asta not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours.

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on the democratic side meanwhile hillary clinton holds a commanding lead in her own right. joining me now to discuss is trupania -- i'm going to get his last name in a second. perry. i'm sorry, msnbc's cal perry live today in new orleans where doors have opened in in the polling. snafu on our side but not on your side. what's going on in the polls? >> good morning, joy. let me show you around here. this is a pretty busy polling station in new orleans. ward 4 precinct 20 looks like the busiest thing at the moment. people come in. they give their id. they give their name. they sign the ledger. and then they go and vote. i'll show you here a sample ballot. do we have one? right behind you here. sample ballot here. you've got not only your candidates for the presidency but there's also some local parish executive committee elections going on as well. as you mentioned, donald trump in the polling that we do have

seems to be out in front. marco rubio interestingly enough did not stump in louisiana yesterday when ted cruz and donald trump had those kind of dualing rallies, maybe a sign he's going to to does on florida on the 15th. on the democratic side we expect hillary clinton to have a big day. the clinton family is a known quantity here in louisiana, bill clinton was stumping here yesterday for his wife of course. and that's something to keep an eye on as well. this is a closed primary. that's important because we're going to hear from the hard core voters. so, for example, only about 30% of republicans in this state are registered to vote in this primary. so it's a good bellwether. it's a good litmus test of what those staunch republicans are thinking as they go to the polls here in louisiana. one more thing worth mentioning, joy. louisiana originally didn't hold their primary on this day. they moved their primary. the state party wanting to put it between super tuesday and march 1r5th so it can be the momentum state. so whoever the front-runner is can either carry that momentum or if someone is comie ing up f

behind, it makes the polling here a more relevant one. at least that's the hope of the state party official, joy. >> all right, cal perry of msnbc, thank you very much. appreciate it. joining me now is carolyn that hernandez and tripana bonner of crescent city media fwroup. thank you for being here. i'm going to start with you, catalina. let's talk about diversity in this primary on this democratic side. is there a significant latino vote and what do you know about where it is trending between bernie sanders and hillary clinton? >> latino vote right here locally what i'm hearing more than often is that most people are going to be voting for hillary. and i think that the latino vote here, i think there's a little bit of mistrust with whether or not bernie can truly deliver on his promises and people just feel comfortable vote for hillary. but they are a lot of young

latino voters that i have spoken to who are definitely voting for bernie. and i think we've seen that nationally. so it's very -- not that different here in new orleans. >> of course there is a significant amount of early voting here. so if we can take a look, early voting by race, african-americans taking great advantage of it. white louisianans voting 64,500. significant use of early vote. talk about among african-american voters. the hillary/bernie split. we've seen in other southern primaries a heavy tilt toward hillary clinton but that being matched to age. what are you seeing in louisiana on that score? >> well, you know, what we're dealing with in louisiana eight years into the obama administration is a more inforred electorate. so folks are looking to support the candidate that's going to support their issues

legitimately. and right now it seems that folks are leaning more towards hillary clinton but what's valuable to me in terms of bernie sanders is his civil rights history and we're hoping that he is able to connect with new and emerging activists that's carrying on that tradition. >> and let's take a listen because back in 2014 during a lot of really difficult re-elects for democrats in the south, senator mary landrieu of louisiana, the former senator from that state when she was in her runoff, this is what she said about the south and race. take a listen. >> the south is not always been the friendliest place for african-americans. it's been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader. it's not always been a good place for women to be able to present ourselveses. it's more of a conservative place. >> and of course she go gotescoreted by women. look at president obama in 2008,

doing better with white voters than any democrats since jamie carter. 14 nrs in louisiana. 11% in alabama. 10% in georgia. if you contrast that with how barack obama did with white voters in vermont, massachusetts, and rhode island, a stark difference. so i'll throw this out to both of you but i'll start with you, trupania. how does that play in politics today when you have david duke back in for instance? >> race has always played a pivotal role in politics. folks are making decisions not according to race lines but according to their issues. what we find that those issues undoubtedly fall upon those racial lines. and so we tend -- i'm sorry. >> no, go on. >> louisiana ans tend to vote according to issues which happens to fall upon those racial lines and we'll see dramatic turnout for democrats

early voting in the spring as well as in the fall by democrats and african-americans in this state. in support of hillary clinton. >> and final word to you. how much has the trump factor weighed in in terms of voters of color in louisiana and their thoughts in this race? >> i have seen within my community, especially, a group of people that are usually very non-involved when it comes to electoral process actually really talking and being active on social media and having conversations that i think are necessary not just here in louisiana but also on a national level. your question about race, you know, hispanics and latinos here in louisiana are a small percentage but we are the fastest growing community in the state and have been for the last six years. and so race does affect us. the conversation of race. but i think it's a healthy one especially in louisiana. i was born and raised here and race is an issue that affects every facet of our lives.

everything from mardi gras parades to the elections. i think that we as a state can show an example nationally that we can maybe overcome our racial differences. it will take time but i know that trap and i and other activists and social folks are trying really hard to have these difficult conversations so that we can be a state that moves the nation forward. >> all right. thank you very much. appreciate it. cat lyi thank you very much. >> thank you, joy. and michigan voters meanwhile -- thank you -- head to the polls on tuesday. how will donald trump play with the state's sizable arab-american population? we'll discuss when we come back. stay with us.

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primary on tuesday. it has the highest proportion of residents of arab incestry in the population. joining me now to discuss this, american comedian and writer and adjunct professor at the detroit and mercy school of law. your classes must be fun. >> we try. >> let's talk a little bit about the affiliation of arab-americans. i remember in 2000 when george w. bush was run for president and republicans had traction among arab-american voters. party affiliation among arab-americans, 54% democrats, 23% republican, 15% independent. what happened there? >> well, i mean, you know, we supported -- we got tricked by george w. bush i would say in 2000. he came out and said that he would be against secret evidence and secret trials. these were initiatives put forward by the clinton administration. but we saw very quickly his policies were not friendly to us at all and in fact even by as early as 2004 arab-americans

started switching over to the democratic party. and now pretty overwhelmingly vote in democratic numbers despite what any polls say. >> if we look at now the democrats. so if you go between hillary clinton and bernie sanders, overall, the arab vote of michigan of clinton leading 61% to 33% according to a local mitchell fox poll, why is hillary clinton doing better than bernie sanders with arab-american voters in michigan? >> that's not what i see. what i see in dearborn, i was at a bernie sanders rally and it was full of arab-americans which might not be the kind of people that get polled or pick up the telepho telephone. if you watch social media, if you watch what's happening on the streets in dearborn you really see that a lot of the energy, especially the younger energy, is going more towards bernie sanders. >> is that about his being against the iraq war, his sort of non-interventional policy where she's a hawk? >> arab-americans in general. >> reporter: progressive population especially among the younger ones of us and also, remember, hillary clinton has been, as you said, hawkish when

it comes to the middle east. she is a major to the right supporter of israel. one of her major backers is ame, the sheldon adelson of the republican party. this is well-known in our community. so i think that you will see when it comes around tuesday it's hard to track arab-americans because we don't really get counted in census and stuff but i think you will see most of our community voting for bern bernie. >> you don't have a separate categorization. not a lot of polling in the community. we're happy to have you here. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. and coming up, the environment could wind up being a key issue in today's nebraska caucus. we will show you how rural voters are fighting back on the issue of keystone. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection, or a cream.

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♪ in a little more than an hour, doors will open in the nebraska democratic caucus. nebraska is traditionally a conservative state, but bipartisan opposition to the

keystone pipeline project may factor into the race. bernie sanders has been against the oil pipeline system from the very beginning, which could be a major factor in this caucus state. for months, hillary clinton avoided taking a position on the controversy, until coming out against keystone late last fall. joining me now from lincoln, nebraska, is jane fleming cleb, executive director of bold nebraska, a pipeline opponent. jane, first of all, thank you for being here. i want to talk about how keystone might wind up playing in today's caucuses, nebraska being an open primary. are you seeing evidence that independents in the state may be crossing over and voting in the democratic caucus, specifically because of keystone? >> yeah. so you'll see lots of cowboy hats and boots today at the democratic caucus, both in rural and urban settings. not only independents, but republicans, as well. you know, we heard a lot of farmers or ranchers who did everything they could to stop keystone because of eminent

domain and climate change and water issues. they did that because they also knew the republican party has completely left them. i'm not getting more and more farmers, e-mailing and facebooking and coming up to me in person, saying i can no longer vote for the republican party with trump at the head who says he loves eminent domain and issues alienating a lot of rural and independent voters. >> and how much of it is the issue of eminent domain, the idea of seizing or taking private property in order to turn over to the pipeline and how much is opposition to the pipeline itself and the environmental potential impacts of that? >> eminent domain is a crucial issue, the one issue i think that progressives are definitely going to be utilizing to reach out to rural and independent voters, once it gets to the general election. trump absolutely embraces eminent domain. it is an issue that is absolutely broken in our country. there is so much abuse of eminent domain and secretary clinton has said she's going to bring all the federal agencies

together to stop the patchwork quilt of eminent domain and get one solid policy in place so landowners can have some security. and senator sanders will send the pipelines and other fracking pipelines packing. there is not going to be a place for them in our country. so the democrats are clear about their position on eminent domain and republicans are going to hurt the election cycle on that issue. there's no doubt about it. >> and so jane, you just mentioned some of sanders and clinton's thoughts on keystone and what they would do to stop it. do either have an advantage, as you see it, with voters who are keystone voters? >> you know, it's actually kind of mixed. and so when you were deep into the issue on keystone, you knew that secretary clinton was definitely leaning towards supporting the pipeline so that definitely raises some red flags for folks. she has corrected her position on that. and has a very good position now on eminent domain for private gain. senator sanders was there with us from day one. i happily introduced senator sanders when he was in nebraska.

there were a lot of farmers and ranchers there cheering him on. so i think it's going to be a very competitive caucus today, and we'll see what happens at the end of the night. >> and that sounded like almost an endorsement, jane. do you have a preference yourself between hillary clinton and bernie sanders? >> you know, i actually want either one of them to be in the white house. i know that both of them will actually stand up foeminent domain. that is my big issue. you'll see people in nebraska transforming into the bold alliance, going into other red and rural states to work hand-in-hand with farmers and ranchers in tribal communities in this election cycle to turn out specifically on eminent domain and climate change. so i'm happy with either one of them. >> all right. jane fleming cleb in lincoln, nebraska, fighting that pipeline. and as she said, going into other states outside of her own. thank you very much. really appreciate it. >> thanks, joy. and that wraps up this hour from american coney island in detroit, michigan. we'll be live here again at 2:00 p.m. so if you're in town, come on

by. order a coney. they're delicious. and you can talk to me, as well. thomas roberts picks up your coverage from florida, next. stay with msnbc, the place for politics. when you think about success, what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your dauter the opportunity 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.

as we age, certain nutrients longer than ever. become especially important. from the makers of one a day fifty-plus. one a day proactive sixty-five plus. with high potency vitamin b12 and more vitamin d. hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts, broadcasting live from the battleground state of florida. it's a busy saturday where key contests play out in five different states. we're here in the florida panhandle in the beautiful city of pensacola beach, the first district. and it's also known as l.a., lower alabama. in fact, donald trump's win in the alabama gop primary could be seen as a good indicator of how the vote may go here in this part of florida. and florida is really key for the republican presidential hopefuls. the winner of the march 15th primary will earn all of the state's 99