did in kansas. the final sites are closing at the top of the next hour. polls close in louisiana and their primary at 9:00 eastern time. on the democratic side, 126 delegates at stake tonight with voting in kansas, nebraska and louisiana. maine democrat caucus tomorrow. >> candidates prom both parties are looking ahead to upcoming contests. john kasich are in michigan, which hold its primary on tuesday. ted cruz has the day in idaho, which has republican caucus on tuesday. marco rubio has been stumping in florida after speaking at the annual conservative political action conference just outside of washington in maryland. donald trump, of course, decided yesterday to skip cpac and rubio earned the standing ovation today after delivering an attack on the absent republican fro frontrunner. >> they won't have a chance if the conservative movement is hijacked by someone who is not a conservative.

>> and there's that standing o. donald finished third in the just released cpac poll and also received less than warmly in a caucus location in which wichita, kansas. >> so, so much going on in the republican race, let's begin there with the nbc reporters on the ground in florida which is already a big focus of the campaign and the debate coming up this week and then voting a week from tuesday. let's start with jacob rascon. jacob, trump skipped cpac and went to kansas and now has lost in kansas. any sense of how the donald trump who is planning to have a press conference tonight is

going to deal with what is shaping up so far to not be a very super saturday for him. >> you know, the campaign is confident, they say, that he'll be the nominee. they know he has not done done well generally in caucus states. in fact he lost iowa, minnesota, alaska. those caucuses even though polls had him ahead. he has generally not done well in these caucuses. although the polls had him leading in kansas and else where tonight, tonight may not be his big night. he's looking ahead, of course, to florida where he was today, this afternoon. though, of course, he really wanted to win kansas. he did that last-minute stop this morning and he skipped cpac, a must attend usually. he skipped that and went to kansas. it should have been a big day for him. but there were reports even as he went after that rally in kansas over to a caucus area so he could speak. he was booed loudly because of the supporters were overwhelmingly for cruz. so, it's an interesting night

for trump. we'll see how he does in the other caucuses. generally he doesn't do well. we'll see if that changes tonight. either way, he'll hold a press conference here and we suspect that we say he is looking ahead and forward to the primary states where generally he's done a lot better. >> jacob, i said you were joining us by phone but it is a picture phone. >> switched on you last minute. >> i just want to clarify for people who aren't focused on this minute by minute. once again as he did on super tuesday. does not plan a rally. be with some supporters in the room but basically hold another election night press conference. >> right. the only playbook we have for this is what happened in super tuesday he held a press conference. tonight, we expect a couple dozen supporters plus the media and for him to speak and ask questions, again. he's sort of playing by his own rules against what rulshy happens in a campaign. >> that happens with trump sometimes. jacob, thanks. let's go to gabe gutierrez who is down in florida covering the rubio campaign. i'm curious about how the

campaign is feeling about senator rubio's performance at cpac that we showed a couple moments ago. >> the rubio campaign is, obviously, thrill would his speech earlier today. he got several standing ovations and a point to a crowd that welcomed him ever since he gave that speech back in 2009. that keynote speech. they feel they got a very warm reception there. he got second place in that straw poll at 30%. reacting to ted cruz's victory in kansas. they're saying a lot of congressional districts have to be counted and several of them will be very beneficial to rubio and they hope to pick up more delegates in kansas. just held a rally here in jacksonville. as you know, guys, florida absolutely crucial for this campaign on march 15th and putting a lot of resources into it right now. some critics say they should have put more resources into it sooner but the pro-rubio super

pacs sinking millions of dollars against attack ads against donald trump. rubio tonight heading to puerto rico where he also hopes to pick up a few delegates and then tomorrow he's heading to idaho before the vote and a few days in michigan. so, this is florida absolutely crucial for the rubio campaign. a lot of ocritics say that him being down by double digits is going to have a very steep hill to climb here. guys, back to you. >> gabe, just one of these days, again, for marco rubio. just kind of covered it, right? he finished second in the cpac straw poll and we don't know the results of a couple of these contests yet. three we are still looking for. not a lot of people who know tonight is going to be a night where marco rubio walks away with a victory. i'm curious how the campaign feels as though the argument is going that he is still in a position to be the consensus candidate when he continues not to win very often. >> certainly. that's a big question of the rubio campaign and has been for a very long time.

they try to set the expectations they won't say exactly where they plan to do well or how exactly well they plan to do. they just say, oh, we hope to finish strong. we don't have any must-win states. really, even on super tuesday they would only say in minnesota when they finally won minnesota. oh, we expect to do well. what is interesting now they're saying that we will win florida. it's basically all on the line in florida. if they don't do well and who knows going forward. the rubio campaign, again, all they're saying is we expect to pick up a few delegates and we hope to do well. that's all they will say. >> we heard mitt romney hope and advise and focus off the states where you can win and make donald trump fight a multi-front war in effect. has rubio basically now given up on michigan? is he going to campaign lots of oother places besides florida between now and a week from tuesday? >> the focus is on florida quite a bit. he will be in idaho tomorrow afternoon. but really his campaign realizes

that they have to really go all in on florida. in michigan, there's a "detroit free press" poll out as well as other media organizations in that poll, as well. donald trump ahead by ten points in michigan and ted cruz and marco rubio are battling for second. but, really, for the rubio campaign, it is all in in florida, if they do not win here it would be a huge embarrassment. question is right now will somebody like jeb bush as his mentor perhaps endorse him and give him a boost there. the rubio campaign is confident that that could perhaps give them a boost. but the cruz, as you guys know, is now putting out that he is upping his ground game here in florida. opening up ten campaign offices. the rubio campaign comes back and say they're not fully convinced that all the campaign offices are open yet. the cruz campaign trying to make a play knowing that perhaps they can't win florida but trying to take away some of any voters that marco rubio would have in

ord oer to propel donald trump to a victory here and then turn it into a two-man race. that is exactly where ted cruz wants to be. that's where the marco rubio campaign wants to be. but, again, laying it all on the line in florida much like john kasich is betting on ohio. >> gabe gutierrez. sounds like he'll spend a lot of time in florida ever the next couple of weeks. >> oh o, yeah. back to florida now with the great thomas roberts who is in pensacola. he's been there for a couple of days. i'm not saying you left with the tan you have now thomas, but you look a little floridian. as you talked to voters over the last couple days in advance of primary week from tuesday, what are you hearing from the voters there and what is trump country to some extent? >> mark, you're absolutely right. we're in a different time zone and completely different demographic when you consider being in the panhandle of florida and pensacola beach, florida. as we have been canvassing this area after being here for a couple of days and seen a lot of different supporters.

but as gabe points out, ted cruz using the momentum of coming off that caucus win in kansas, coming off the straw poll win from cpac, that could work to his benefit as it was announced yesterday that he opened up ten field offices here throughout the state of florida. is trying to take that ground away from marco rubio who has given that message until wait until you see how we do in florida and wait until you see how we do there. he has put emphasis on winning his home state. a lot of people question whether he can do that. this is the panhandle area and some people consider it to be trump country because they call this la, lower alabama. alabama went decisively to donald trump. we attended a gop dib dinner in santa rosa county, just one county open and a bit of a torn emphasis on which candidate they really want to support as a competent gop nominee. >> i really like ted cruz. but i'll accept donald trump.

if that's what it ends up being. >> the senator of my state alone has become an absolute embarrassment with his behavior. it's like a high school child. this is not what we sent to washington. these people are existing in a bubble. >> trump and i don't agree on everything, absolutely. he's an imperfect candidate as we all are. but to send a clear message to d.c. and thaur they're terrified. i think he's the man to do it. >> all of them bother me when they speak. because i don't trust any of them. >> and, guys, as you know a new intensity with ad buys here in the state of florida from these anti-trump super pacs that are flooding the different markets here. the ten different media markets trying to get people to recognize the contrast. anybody but trump for a candidate in a ted cruz or a john kasich or a marco rubio. and it still remains to be seen whether dr. ben carson or jeb bush will come out of the woodwork to endorse somebody

prior to the all-important march 15th primary here. 99 delegates at stake and winner take all. >> you have seen a lot of the anti-trump superpac ads. >> a lot of the anti-trump super pac ads and it's been interesting to talk to the different superpa pacs and the different groups united in this message. anybody but trump. they're not saying who they are going forward with or who they would want to endorse. but it's, again, that narrative that it is anybody but donald trump flooding millions of dollars into this market while the other campaigns are spending millions of dollars on their pro ads for themselves. it's really interesting to see the amount of ads. the anti-trump ads that are on the air here. and donald trump leads in the state of florida. the best and latest polling we had that puts him ahead 40%. marco rubio down by 16%. also, guys, the sources that i have been speaking to here say

this is an area that rubio may have written off because he hasn't campaigned here very much. they haven't seen him in this area and they feel if he's confident in wanting to win florida, that he may need to show his face here before march 15th. >> all right, thomas, thank you. sort of makes sense if the trump forces will spend their money. they spend it in florida where rubio is weaker than in ohio where kasich may be stronger. before we go to break. let's check in on the early results of this hour. ted cruz is the winner of the republican kansas caucuses on the democratic side. the kansas race is still too early to call and the same could be said for the kentucky race on the republican side. a lot more coming up on a night of returns and reaction here on msnbc. straight ahead, which of the republican candidates has the best chance to improve his chances of winning the republican nomination tonight?

>> the republicans are eating their own. they are eating their own. they have to be very careful. we have to bring things together. donald trump from earlier today pitching himself as a unifying figure from earlier tonight. tonight nbc news is projecting that ted cruz will win the kansas caucuses. of course, today is the first real test of how voters are now responding to the now stop trump movement. >> this is what we have to do together and the time to do is now. >> we will have an amazing day today. >> we have been able to win over and over again from the grassroots. >> i am really happy where i am. one of four and the last governor standing. >> four states standing on the republican side. you see that three of them are caucuses. that has not been as good a system for trump so far. he has done better in primary. the question, john, which republican tonight with those three caucuses with ted cruz already been declared the winner in texas.

>> i think ted cruz does, clearly. an easy question at this point knowing he has won the kansas caucuses and he is fighting a hard battle up in maine. we don't know how that will turn out and a chance he could win that race. if he were to walk away with too victories tonight. >> and the cpac straw poll. >> cruz could continue to make the argument that he's been making now for a couple weeks. he is the only one who has beaten donald trump with any regularity and therefore he should be rightfully the main rival to trump going forward. >> the big question, why does trump not do as well in caucuses. he could lose two tonight and maybe three. >> he's only won the one. >> the most fervent activist in the party when it's not open to independents, trump does worst. polling suggests he has a lot of conservatives. but the question of organization and the fact that donald trump for all of his strength on television and all his strength in popular support does not do the nuts and bolts as aggressively as he could. >> look, we raise this question

everyone did before the iowa caucuses. would they have a ground game? they insisted they did. he got a lot of votes in iowa. finished a strong second. ted cruz did out organize him in iowa. there is a chance that cruz will outorganize him, again and again. >> at the end of the night, if cruz does win two or three states and we look at the tally of delegates, trump's lead smaller than it was going in and a lot of psychology. very important for ted cruz. in the next hour, bernie sanders holding a rally in michigan. the site of tomorrow's democratic debate. earlier today sanders was in ohio touting his civil rights record at a cleveland baptist church. >> 1963 i had the honor. again, i date myself. maybe i'm one of the few people in this room to have been to the march on washington for jobs and freedom with dr. king. and dr. king has been one of the

great inspirations in my life. >> sanders is trying to regain momentum this weekend after clinton swept the southern states on super tuesday. won seven out of 1. three of the four states voting today on the democratic side. this weekend, actually. are caucus states with white majority populations. three voting today and then that fourth caucus up in maine. that's tomorrow. mark, my question for you, on the basis of that largely white votes and caucus states. is this the beginning, potentially of a bernie sanders comeback story? >> it's a weekend and caucuses not primaries and states that are not seen as politically huge and the republican race is still going to get more attention. so, sanders has a tall order. en to, if he wins two or three over the weekend, if he wins two of the four or three of the four, then i think he still needs to beat her in a big state. he still has to overcome that hurdle. michigan or beat her in florida or ohio. i think he still has until march 14th to beat her in a couple of big states. >> i mean, look, he could win some of these caucus states tonight. no doubt. although his record on caucuses

has been mixed. narrowly lost the nevada caulks and the problem is the clinton campaign today put out accurately, i believe that her pledge delegate lead. set aside the super delegate is now bigger over bernie sanders than barack obama was over hillary clinton in 2008. it turns out the math that meant in 2008 hillary clinton could never catch up. she has a daunting lead now in pledge delegates. so, sanders could change the media narrative to some extent. but the delegate math is still really hard for him. >> he has to figure out a way to not just spend the money he has effectively. but he has michigan tomorrow night and a debate in florida during the week. he has tafigureute a way to get back into the narrative that says, i can still do this. the hovering e-mail scandal. if there is a development there. that could produce where people will start to say, again, maybe this is possible. again, he just can't beat her in caucuses and smaller, rural states. he has to beat her in a big place between now and the middle of the month.

>> i'll say, again, michigan is huge for him. the economic terrain there favors his arguments on trade and a lot of other economic issues. that is a state where you would think that bernie sanders going tabeat her in any big state, am michigan should be a place that he could win. donald trump proved he could make headlines without saying a word or showing up. his decision at the last minute to skip cpac. ted cruz after trump withdrew won it this afternoon. won it big. marco rubio who finished second attacked trump pretty hard at his speech at the conference today. >> what does it mean to be the conservative in the 21st century? i can tell you what it can never mean. being a conservative can never be about simply an attitude. being a conservative cannot simply be about how long you're willing to scream or how many names you're willing to call people.

that's not conservatism. conservatism has never been about fear or anger. >> so, mark, the question is, will trump ultimately suffer in some meaningful way besides the straw poll. suffer a meaningful way for having to skip cpac? >> look, donald trump came into this weekend as assumed to be the nominee, right? unless something dramatic happened. narratives matter. the press culture would like this race to be competitive. if you take skipping cpac and losing the straw poll. he might have lost the straw poll just as badly as if he won. skipping it and suggests something is a little bit off. if he loses two of ofour or three of four tonight to ted cruz or others and then he's got another debate to do next week. you've got michigan where there's a public poll out today showing john kasich doing well. this could be starting tonight, press conference tonight if he doesn't cancel it. this could be a rough stretch for trump. now, everybody has rough

stretches. >> for sure. i find the cpac decision baffling and i know a lot of people at cpac did, too. they thought it was a sign of disrespect he canceled the last minute and also found it kind of confounding. he has at times raptures receptions and going back years now to suddenly just because there was talk of maybe protests and talk of a walk out for trump. tough guy trump in a position, as you just said, not the prohibitive nominee but by far the overwhelming frontrunner to a moment where he's being criticized for being a closet liberal. to not take the opportunity to go to the big conservative forum and say here's why i'm the conservative you want and you need to unite this party. i find it so off brand from trump aside from everything else. seems like he is a little rattle in some weird way. >> if he does well tonight f he wins michigan, no problem. but this could be part of the narrative of trump in trouble. >> yeah. >> trump a little bit on the rocks. turning now tamitt romney's

campaign to take down donald trump. here's a portion of the interview that governor romney did with me at bloomberg mrikz on friday. >> some super groups trying to raise money to stop donald trump. will you help with that effort, are you? >> i am and i think they probably noticed by my remarks yesterday. those people who were thinking of saying, well, donald trump is an effective nominee, we ought to get on board. maybe we should wait a bit here and give it a second look. >> all right. so, the question is, romney want to pony up money a lot of sense that others are not giving big to the effort to stop trump. how is romney's gamut going so far a couple days in? >> i think it's going almost as well as it could be going. i agree with the criticism that romney should be writing a really big check. >> set an example. >> set an example. you could argue that romney could be maybe endorsing somebody instead of doing what he has done. it elevated this thing in a big

way in the national conversation. it did create a permission structure for some donors to say, you know what, this is the moment where i need, it's okay for me to do this. i don't have to fall in line. this party is actually divided. not that one of the biggest figures in the party followed by john mccain. i think it was an important moment. the big question is the dollars. thomas roberts telling us a lot of ads on the air down in florida and some of those dollars are coming in. >> also a counterweight to chris christie. you have christie onboard endorsing trump and a bunch of people like the other candidates saying we doeb want trump but if he's the nominee, we'll support him. i will not vote for trump under any circumstances. the reason why that is important because it tells some people in the party main street republicans say in michigan, you know what, we have to focus. we have to turn out and vote because we don't want a situation where people like mitt romney say they stay home. we need a nominee. >> a trump nomination would, in

fact, more than that, could lose the general and split the party in half because when you have the last two republican nominees basically saying i won't vote for donald trump if he's the nominee. that means there is some pretty serious. those guys are, you know, hard-core republicans to the bone. if they're going to walk away, it means something. >> mccain didn't quite say that. but getting close. once again, let's check in on the results we have so far this super saturday. ted cruz is the winner in the kansas caucuses. cruz picks up ten delegates so far by nbc news count on the democratic side in kansas, the race between bernie sanders and hillary clinton is still too early to call. nchsh and t and the same can be said for the kentucky republican race. analysis and oh, so much more right after this.

welcome back. we want to take you now to idaho where texas senator ted cruz just spoke to reports about his win at today's kansas caucus. let's listen in. >> back to the free market principles that made america

great in the first place. >> other people who have had one or two and you have the seven. do you think this is a turn of the time for the republican party for voters to see who should be in office next? >> nobody has had two wins against donald. only one candidate has beaten him anywhere and we have beaten him it appears seven. we'll see the tally tonight and see the tally on tuesday and at the next elections. what we've seen whether it was a decisive win in iowa. whether it was a win in oklahoma. whether it was a win in alaska and whether it was a decisive win in texas. whether it was a win in kansas. whether it was in minnesota beating donnell trump or whether it was what appears to be another strong win in maine, we see geographic diversity and ideological diversity and we see the broad spectrum of the republican party coming together behind our campaign. if you want to beat him, you can't beat something with nothing. you've got to unite and that's what we're seeing happening. i'm very encouraged and i'll tell you here in idaho, the support we have is incredible. i mean, we had a couple thousand

people here and we had at least 1,000 people outside because there wasn't room in the event hall. that is a really encouraging and powerful turn out and i'm so, so proud to be. >> okay. joining us now is john, the editor of "commentary magazine" and reagan 41 speech writer and doug high. john, my question for you, what did you think of what ted cruz just had to say? >> one thing he didn't say is that he was sending marco rubio a fruit basket, which is what he ought to be thinking today. marco rubio a week ago started the attack on trump that i think is now bearing real fruit for him today. going at him. going at him as a con man and trump university thief and then, of course, rattling trump to the extent that he spent two minutes in that debate talking about

something that no presidential candidate should ever talk about ever in history. >> talk about his hands. >> talking about his hands. yeah, his hands and maybe some area lower than his hands and i think you could see trump getting very rattled and republican primary voters particularly in these closed primary states where only registered republicans can vote saying, i don't think this guy is the guy we want. already he had already an aggregate had only gotten 35% of the republican vote in these primaries, again 65% said against. maybe cruz is right. maybe votes are coalescing for him because rubio was the attack dog, rubio may have looked like he was lowering himself and cruz is the beneficiary. >> doug, what do you think of the status oof the stop trump movement tonight as we sit here with ted cruz having won the caucuses in kansas and having won the straw poll and cpac big.

how would you appraise the efforts of the state to stop trump? >> obviously a good night for them. just like it is a great night for the north carolina tarheels when they defeat duke tonight. a big night for ted cruz when needed a big night. when these numbers hold, he will be the first candidate to get over 50% of the vote in any state. that's significant. if you're cruz now, you use that organization to try and expand in the states that don't have just as many evangelical or religious voters. if you can do that, your argument is a pretty solid one. >> john, if ted cruz continues to be number two in delegates. if he continues to win states, is it going to be time for people to do what lindsey graham said the other day. i might prefer john kasich or marco rubio but cruz is the only one that can stop trump and get onboard. >> the overoall mission of sanity in the united states is to stop trump. so, right now no. because, obviously, the money bets so to speak is to go

through march 15th, see if john kasich can win ohio. see if marco rubio can win florida and then decisions can be made after that. at which point if some of those things hapbpen and there is a poll out from a not great polling ahead if some stuff like that happens and then trump's lead in the delegates go way down. >> we think cruz should be cheering for rubio to win florida. cruz seems to be trying to help by competing in florida. seems to be trying to keep rubio from winning florida. which should cruz want? >> he should want rubio to win florida. particularly, by the way, if he racks up a lot of stuff tonight, he can sort of afford for rubio to win florida. a state he probably can't win although he could deny rubio florida if he really makes an aggressive push there. from what we hear, he announced he is opening offices. but no visible effort going on, in fact.

maybe a shun to bluff. just an announcement he is contesting everywhere. >> doug, let me ask you this question. prior to a couple weeks ago, a lot of republicans establishitarians said, i don't know what i would prefer less. donald trump or ted cruz. now, it seems like maybe on the basis of the comments like lindsey graham made that the republican establishment might be like, you know, trump is so bad that we even accept ted cruz or do you think if cruz actually gains momentum that the establishment will have a whole different kind of freak out about that? >> i think it's been very clear. so many people have said that i wrote this in january for ij review. that i won't support trump. so many people have said it that it is very trump specific and hard to argue against ted cruz as he has more momentum if he continues to win states. keep in mind the difference between ted cruz and donald trump, there are many. hand size just being is that cruz talks about substance and policy and donald trump avoids that at all cost.

obviously, with the big day at cpac today it's really hard for people with credibility to say they can't go in two directions. easy to say you can't go in one direction. >> john, do you think it matters at all that donald trump decided to skip cpac at the last minute? if so, in what way? >> only matters to the exten that maybe he got information that kansas was going south for him and that he flew there. actually he flew there in order to see if he could turn it around. i think this is a very, very minor thing. i think he was pretty clear that cruz was going to win two days ago based on what i was reading and hearing and the way the crowd was responding to trump. i don't see any reason for him to have handed his enemies a victory by going and losing at something that doesn't have any electrical force. this is of great interest to people like us and of no interest to anybody else. >> all right, john, thank you. doug, thank you very much in washington. coming up, as they await the results tonight, the democrats are also preparing for debate

tomorrow in flint, michigan. straight ahead we'll talk to the sanders campaign on how they are getting ready and how they view tonight. >> what we are seeing in the republican presidential process is like a sixth grade food fight that you see in a cafeteria. i would hope that most sixth graders understand that we don't behave like that.

when you're on hold, your business is on hold. that's why comcast business doesn't leave you there. when you call, a small business expert will answer you in about 30 seconds. no annoying hold music. just a real person, real fast. whenever you need them. great, that's what i said. so your business can get back to business. sounds like my ride's ready. don't get stuck on hold. reach an expert fast. comcast business. built for business. >> i oppose every one of these disastrous trade adpreements and history will record that i am right. hillary clinton supported, hillary clinton supported nafta, supported pntr and supported

almost all of these disastrous trade agreements and the result is the loss of millions of decent paying jobs and a race to the bottom. senator bernie sanders on the attack today against hillary clinton. nbc news has the democratic caucus in kansas as too early to call right now. sanders and clinton are gearing up for their faceoff tomorrow night at a debate in flint, figure figure. democrats are voting in four states over the weekend. maine caucuses tomorrow. hillary clinton currently leads sanders by 604 delegates but about 400 of othat is in the so-called politicians. switch their votes at any time before the convention. so, question is, what is the way sanders to close the gap. here with us now to talk about how the sanders comeback plays out, his senior adviser tad devine. so, just walk people through your explanation of why it is wrong for the media or voters or anyone else to say that this race is all but over. >> well, because we have a long

way to go, mark. i mean, there are so many delegates to be chosen. the process is not nearly as front loaded in 2016 as it was in 2008. for example, in super tuesday in 2008. you had california and new jersey and new york all in super tuesday. and now new york in the middle of april and california and new jersey in early june. we have plenty of time to make up the delegate advantage she has. she has a big advantage with delegates. no doubt about it. a pledge delegate advantage. but now and the time we get to california and new jersey at the end, we can make up that difference and have more pledge delegates and a very strong argument that the super delegates should be for bernie because he'll be the strongest candidate. >> let me just push you a little bit on that. it is the case as you know in your party and you're a famed delegate counter. your party with proportional and the clinton campaign came out today and said, look, we have a bigger lead than barack obama ever had over hillary clinton and hillary clinton couldn't come back from that lead in 2008. so, just explain how it could be.

what kind of victory you would need to score because you would have to score not just victories but big victories to make up that gap. >> well, we are going to have to win and we are going to have to win in big states. if we had the '08 processing calendar which was so heavily we would be in big trouble. but we don't. this race a lot more like '80 and '84. kennedy, carter and the heart challenged mondale. it is going to be a long race and play it out and beat her in big states. i think we can. if you look at the calendar as we get through the next couple of weeks. we start to move to states like washington state, wisconsin and we go, i think we'll have a big show down in new york and i know that's her home state and she's represented in the senate, but we do not concede new york to hillary clinton. i think the guy from brooklyn can beat her there and we'll try really hard to do that. >> ted, you all continue to raise more money. last month more than hillary clinton. are you spending it in ways that help you try to narrow the gap? >> i think we're spending it wisely. we have their strategy and they

have theirs. their strategy is understanding the way it worked in '08. try to win some big states and some big show downs and doing innovative things and we have a national bye next week with a five-minute ad that is very popular and go on univision nationally. >> how much money are you putting behind a five-minute ad? >> we'll spend several hundred tlo thousand dollars in markets like miami and orlando. later in places like phoenix and tucson and chicago, as well. so we're going to put real dollars behind our advertising strategy and moving state to state. we'll have the resources because we built a campaign not dependent on big money. funded from the grassroots moving up. very few of our donors have maxed out. and most of their money comes from maxed out donors. when it comes to campaign funding, we're in good shape. we are up against super pacs that are pouring millions of

dollars from wall street directly. they still have an advantage because of the super pac member. >> we have been looking down the roadilatal bit here. let's look at what is right in front of us. i'm not going to ask you to make predictions. give us a sense if you feel that senator sanders could win how many of those? all four, three out of four? what? >> well, i think this weekend, you know, i feel good about kansas. i feel good about nebraska. those are based on the reports we have been receiving today from our people in the field. i feel good about maine tomorrow. i think we have a very strong campaign in maine. i think hillary is strong in louisiana. we'll try to win as many delegates as we can. i think in michigan, she is still ahead. she's had a lead for a while. but like many other states, we are closing very, very fast and i hope by the time we get to tuesday, we can close in michigan, as well. >> but, ted, it's true that it's no longer the case that finishing close is good. you need to start beating her and making up the delegate gap. you need to start beating her

somewhat substantially. so you say she's still ahead in michigan, are you going to beat her in michigan or not? >> i don't know yet. i want to make a good prediction here. it's going to be close. we're closing hard as we did in so many states. in the states that we did last tuesday. we started in most of those states and massachusetts a good example. first time we polled there we were 23 points behind and 20 points behind in colorado. so, hillary clinton has a hard time holding on to a lead. okay. and as long as we can get in situations where we compete, i think in almost every state that comes up between now and the end, we can beat her. >> all right, ted, thank you. >> thank you. >> chief strategist for bernie sanders. let's check in, again, on the early results at this hour. nbc news predicts that ted cruz is the winner of the caucus. he is at 21 delegates so far from the state of kansas. donald trump has grabbed nine and marco rubio three at this point. in the kentucky go op caucus,

the race is still too early to call.

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you don't see that every day. introducing wifi pro, wifi that helps grow your business. comcast business. built for business. you're looking live at a bernie sanders event in warren, michigan. both sanders and hillary clinton in michigan today ahead of tuesday's primary in that state. nbc kristen welker is tracking the campaign. kristen, let's start with you and hillary clinton on this saturday night of superness. >> well, they're feeling confident heading into tonight. they're also bracing for the reality that senator sanders will likely win a few states. they're expecting him to win kansas, potentially. and nebraska.

but they are looking strong heading into louisiana. that is a state where nearly half of the voters are african-americans. of course, that voting bloc helped propel her to big victories on super tuesday. and that's really what they want to accomplish today. what they're really focused on, as you point out, michigan. she's here, she's been here for the past several days stumping here in michigan and she's courting african-american voters here. she met with a group of african-american ministers and also focused on the water crisis here. we just learned a short while ago that chelsea clinton along with the mayor of flint is going to unveil a new initiative aimed at dealing with the water crisis. remember, she was the first candidate to visit flint, michigan. tomorrow night she is going to face off at a debate with senator sanders. expect her to tout that aggressively. but she's also looking forward, mark. she's heading to ohio on monday. she has events there on tuesday, as well. and then in florida. so, polls show her with a very strong showing in those states at this point. so, the goal based on my

conversations with the campaign is to keep the momentum going that she has. she's also bracing for some very strong attacks from senator sanders tomorrow night. he has been hitting her hard on this issue of trade on the fact that she supported nafta and, of course, that resonates with voters here in michigan. they believe that that was responsible for broad job losses here. so, she's going to have to answer that. she's been calling for reforms to nafta and has been very clear that she wouldn't support a trade deal unless it actually added to jobs. but that's something she's going to be pressed on tomorrow night. she's prepared for that in what could be a very fiery debate here in michigan. >> casey, we just talked to tad and he thought there was a chance bernie sanders would win three out of four this weekend. everything but louisiana. casey, i ask you, how much does the sanders campaign think that matters when weighed against michigan. if my math is right, there are going to be as many or more delegates at stake next tuesday.

>> that's right, john. look, i think they'll take the wins, obviously. they think momentum is important from the perspective of making sure that voters still feel like he is a plausible challenger and potential winner of this nomination fight. i think they think that's important. but there's a reason why they're spending as much time as they are here in michigan. part of it is, there are a lot of african-american voters here. i think they see it as a test of whether or not bernie sanders can appeal to african-americans who don't live in the south. to see what kind of difference there is there. i think they're working on that. you heard bernie sanders today in cleveland working on telling that personal civil rights story. you guys know that bernie sanders doesn't typically like to get into the personal. he views politics as very issue driven. so people who work with him have had to kind of convince him, push him in that direction that, hey, this is something you need to be talking to voters about in a personal way. we're starting to see him come around to that more and more on the trail. but i think the question is going to be whether or not he can catch up to this delegate lead.

we're not going to know that until march 15th when there are a couple of states that have a lot of delegates up for grabs. where he could potentially, if he can sustain this momentum, potentially eat into that lead. states like missouri, illinois, ohio, for example. because the reality is even if he comes close to her or beats her in michigan, it's going to be tough to make a real delegate difference. >> thank you very much for your reporting tonight. >> thanks to you both. >> that will do it for us this hour. maine caucus close for republicans in just a little bit. and msnbc coverage will pick up coming up in just a minute with chris matthews.

good evening. i'm chris matthews at msnbc headquarters in new york. call it super saturday the sixth round of a heavyweight fight. the fact is we're in the thick of it. if you think it's over, tell it to the fighters. tell it to the voters. today they're out there from maine to nebraska down to louisiana trying to decide this thing. democrats may think hillary clinton's in ship for victory, but those feeling the burn are still feeling it for senator sanders. donald trump may be the most exciting candidate in either party but establish republicans and hard right republicans and neo conservatives are all hoping to stick a crow bar in his spokes. if they can't beat him they're determined to slow thim down. tonight we have super saturday action in kansas where both

parties are holding caucuses. in louisiana where both parties are holding primaries. in kentucky and maine where republicans have caucuses today. and in nebraska where the democrats are caucusing. all this on the eve of the huge primary. this coming tuesday in michigan. as well as mississippi, as well as a republican primary in idaho and gop caucuses in hawaii. then ten days from today, a trio of tests in florida where marco rubio needs to win. ohio where john kasich needs to win and illinois, also missouri and north carolina. well, let's start where we are at the beginning of this saturday evening. what's being called super saturday. we are awaiting right now our first characterization in the maine republican caucuses. here's what we know so far. in the kansas republican caucuses, ted cruz is the projected winner. take a look at that. kansas for cruz. cruz has a 2-1 margin over donald trump over there in kansas. and marco rubio is in third.

that's kansas. in kentucky, the republican caucuses there too early to call. on the democratic side, the caucus in kansas between hillary clinton and bernie sanders is too early to call, as well. we will have the first characterization in the maine republican caucus in just a minute. as i said, this is a very interesting time for our fight for this nomination and both parties. we had five contests so far and now we're getting the call right now. and here it is. in maine, it's too early to call up there. in maine and those republican caucuses. let me bring in our panel right now. president of the democratic national committee. heather mcgo, msnbc political director steve cornack