we are back on what has been called super tuesday, ii. we are one hour away from our first poll closing, the state of mississippi. >> super mini tuesday. >> i've been toying with stuff. >> tiny tuesday. >> it's on tuesday and we're on television. >> in mississippi, the front-runners in each party who have so far had a deep lock in the south, no suggestion in the polls or anecdotally or

endorsements that suggests that bernie sanders is going to challenge hillary clinton in mississippi. we'll be mostly looking at the margin there. on the republican side, though, there is some question. donald trump obviously polling ahead there, and he has done great in the south so far, but showed late weakness in louisiana, the last deep south state that voted on saturday. we've also heard from pollsters looking at tonight's races. even over the course of polling, the electorate changing to be less pro trump in the first two days of their poll compared to the last two days of the poll. like what steve schmitt was saying, polls can accurately track, i think it's absolutely true. suspense what will happen in mississippi. >> in won't the first or last, and after mississippi, an hour later, we get the close of michigan. we've heard from some folks in michigan, saying wait a minute. my polling place closes at 8:00.

that's true, except for four counties that close at 9:00. the whole state has to wait until 9:00. chris matthews is standing by in detroit. chris. >> yeah, you know, one of the interesting things is the echo out here. the echo effect of the romney participation in this national election. as of the last week, the big voice out there going after donald trump in a negative way. we can't let him be the nominee, because we have standards this guy doesn't meet. of course what's interesting, the way in which it's like father like son, rather like son like father. george romney, back in '64, did the same thing when barry goldwater, he stood by and said no, i will not support this guy no matter what. i will reject him as a republican leader of the country. now you see, mitt is the last man sort of challenging the rightness even of trump to be the nominee.

not just to contest him, but to say this is bad news for the party. i find that interesting here in michigan, the home of the romneys. that's going on again all over again. >> chris matthews in detroit. tell the folks where you are. >> i'm at the american coney island. a number of these places. these are diners really. i'm looking behind me. everybody loves the hot dogs. i'm saving myself. i love them. not chilli dogs. i like them plain. people say they only taste good at base paul barks. i don't agree. this is the american, national, a lot of competition. cheese steaks in philly, here it's hot dogs. i'm way overdressed. i can tell you that. i am way overdressed. everybody agrees. that is not a statement of anything about me or here, but inappropriately dressed for

national television, i adapt to that circumstance more than the local 1. brian, you would love it here. >> i love hot dogs, i would completely join you, and they always called them coney, you should be able to walk in a place, i don't know, it's a thing. steve kornacki is here. steve, we're going to talk demographics in this segment. how they shakeout in terms of education. >> the biggest divides we've seen in all the primaries so far, the college, non-college divide on the republican side. donald trump has been doing a lot better with voters who do not have college degrees. what do we see tonight, those with college degrees, 47% on the republican said, mississippi 43%, both those numbers lower than what we've seen in the previous states, where we've had exit polls. 13 states. not every state had an exit polls. this is the divide we've seen before. among college graduates, trump over all in the previous 13

states when you average them together, 30% of the college grads, cruz and rubio right behind him now, little misleading, because the cruz number jumps up, in some, rubio jumps up. trump has not been running in first with the college grads, but high school or less, donald trump has been cleaning up in the republican primaries so far. dominating, getting close to half the vote there. so again, what you're seeing in both the states tonight, a little bit lower than what we've been seeing when it comes to the number of college graduates. >> steve kornacki at the big barred. >> lawrence, looking ahead tonight, do you feel there is more suspense on the democratic or republican. >> republican side is more complex. there is, i've never seen a situation where you have these four candidates with completely different claims of electability and how they would get to a nomination, including the guy who is running last. and it's not a crazy idea. >> he hasn't won any where yet,

but he has a plan hae can do it. >> he has to win this state called florida, which is one of the most important states, and he happens oh live there. the marco rubio story is so fascinating. when the end of this, this history is written, if trump is stopped, if he is stopped from getting the nomination, it may be that the republicans, if they feel this way, have marco rubio to thank. he is the one who went into direct combat with donald trump, whether, they were not on the same stage, yelling at him through the tv. on the debate stage. he is the one who got donald trump in a presidential debate to spend more time talking about his private parts than about his health care plan. marco rubio did that. and that is what has turned off, that's what you found, right, in mississippi, people didn't like that parts of the debate. that was created by marco rubio. >> and yet marco rubio tonight, his campaign telling us the best hope they've got for the four states is maybe they'll do okay

in hawaii, they're not sure, but counting everybody has gone to bed. >> seven days, clinging tots records for seven days to float over to the shores of florida and save it all. >> what's fascinating is the john kasich factor. marco rubio has won puerto rico and minnesota, and that's it. john kasich has won nowhere. john kasich tonight is obviously looking ahead to next week to ohio, which is going to vote at the same time as florida, also be a winner take all state. john kasich is in play tonight. john kasich could potentially compete for michigan. he is trying really hard for michigan. is kasich potentially in position to rise to the level of contender tonight, depending on how he does? >> i think he has to do very well in michigan. i don't know if that's going to be possible at this stage. but the polling has been very poor. we don't really know what to expect in michigan. i think if anyone could surprise, it could be him. i think he has gotten a lot of momentum up there. >> what could count as

surprising result for him, obviously first, right, but anything other than -- >> i think second. a close second, within points of trump would be very good for john kasich and it would show he has a fighting chance at the nomination. >> then there is that trump campaign, we should talk about that for a moment, with katy tur, who is in jupiter, florida. is this being build as another press conference, 9:00 p.m.? >> reporter: yeah, what he has been doing is he is having these press conferences with reporters, and just a few friends and family and supporters, instead of having victory parties in these large contests, days where there is multiple states voting. being here in florida, preferring to be here in florida, and then in a state that is actually voting. that can work in a number of ways to his favor, if he is in a state that he loses, he doesn't have to come out and be embarrassed and also he is home. he lives here in florida half the time as well as new york

city. so they're looking forward, looking ahead. of course, this state votes on march 15th and it is a big state for them. they're hoping to take all of the delegates in the state. they're hoping to take all of the delegates in ohio, but the sustainment is pushing back. big indicator is how he does in michigan and how he does in mississippi. does he win early. if he does, that's a sign that the attacks are not working. if this is a long-drawn-out contest, it's a sign that potentially closer with ted cruz than initially anticipated. and that the taxattacks are working. >> katy, i notice a sand trap behind you. let's talk potential sand traps for donald trump. rachel mentioned this too. maybe in the last 48 hours, we all woke up to vague headlines, radio news, the web, television, is donald trump starting to lose

altitude what has it been like, the ether over the past 48 hours? >> reporter: not much of a change whatsoever. his events have stayed pretty similar in the past week, as they have been for the past couple months now. they are rowdy. some of them have been turning vie length. a lot more protests, but his supporters are as dug in as they were were. i spoke to a number of them yesterday, asked them about that pledge that is going around, the controversial pledge that some say evokes nazi imagery, they say this a media fabrication, donald trump is the only one that's going to go in and change washington. and that's why he is seeing so much push back, because these establishment folks, people who have been talking to us for years, don't want him in power, because he is not special

interests. so in that way, this campaign hasn't necessarily changed that much, but what we've seen with the campaign, as time has passed, is that they've become more locked down. they release even less information to the press than they did in the first place and that wasn't much to begin with. they're more focused on the campaign. if there is any worry, you have to look to places like twitter. when you see donald trump coming out and tweeting about the establishment over and over again, repeating over and over again that he is self-funding his campaign, that's an indication that the closeness of the race is at least on some levels, starting to get to this campaign. >> katy tur, on one of the greens in jupiter, florida, katy, thanks, we'll be checking back with you later on. this morning's news, donald trump said he wasn't aware that this raising of right hands at

his rallies was a thing, was a potentially damaging imagine, even though david brooks on "meet the press" called it that. >> the snapshot, the still imagine of the candidate standing there with his right hand raised and his whole audience, it is chilling. that said, people raise their right hands for all sorts of reasons that have no connection to that. i mean, if donald trump started growing a tiny mustache, or his plain clothes security officer started wearing brown shirts, you could maybe make the case. i think it's an impressionistic glean. but the idea that there is something german, that there is something third reich seems farfetched. i usually don't agree with trump

campaign, but this -- >> i saw somebody raising a right paw of a australian dog. back in a moment with more.

inside 45 minutes until the first polls of the evening closes, particularly in the state of mississippi. >> first poll closings in mississippi and then in michigan. chuck todd raised an interesting prospect when he talked about even if bernie sanders has a good night in michigan, because of what is expected to happen in mississippi, the delegate totals tonight could be not what you expect. steve kornacki has more on that. >> let's take you through the numbers, you see what bernie sanders is up against, because the math here is harsh for him. the scoreboard right now,

allocated delegates, they're given out in primary caucuses, you earn them in nights like tonight. the elected officials, declaring who they're for now, and the sanders campaign likes to point out, the problem for bernie sanders is to get them to change their mind, he has got to be winning in this allocated delegate column. here is the issue chuck raised. two states. michigan, 130 delegates going to be given out. in mississippi, 36. in bernie sanders had a great night, if he wins am itch gan say by ten points, this is a proportional allocation system. ten point win would probably be 70 to 60 in the delegates. now, mississippi, southern state, big black population, we've been seeing hillary clinton destroy bernie sanders in states like this. if that pattern holds, of the 36

delegates, takes about 28. 28-8, plus 20 for hillary clinton. so you look at those two together, hillary clinton would actually gain ten delegates tonight, despite losing michigan. that's a great scenario for bernie sanders in michigan and still fall further behind in the allocated column. that's the problem for bernie sanders. when you're losing the black vote by the margin he is losing it, there are too many states where you're going to fall behind in the delegate count. >> so many have phonifocused on super delegate math, but that's complete aside from what you just described there, that proportional allocation is going to be deadly if things go as expected. >> let's talk about michigan, debra stabnaw, senator, i know you're big time hillary clinton supporter. >> right. >> question is, just going on public polling, it looks like your candidate is going to enjoy a good evening tonight.

we will know first in 41 minutes here how we're going to characterize the first race of the evening in mississippi. >> right. >> the question is, is team hillary clinton prepared for a prolonged race with a very well financed opponent in bernie sanders? >> well, i think hillary is prepared for whatever comes in terms of this entire race, and by the way, it's great to talk to all of you. i just have to tell you, chris is at one of my favorite hot dog places in downtown detroit. i wish i was there with him. but you know, hillary clinton is prepared for whatever it takes to win. i'm so proud of her. she is by far and away the most qualified person running on either side, prepared to walk in and do the job, and i'm hopeful it will be a good night. >> since you mentioned coneys and detroit, let me ask you, we

have dear friends out there and we are out in detroit a lot. it's interesting to watch the media coverage, since there is such a con administraticoncentr is fine, what is your view of the present, states of play economically in detroit right now? >> we are coming back. i mean, we are in a great position. the downtown looks very different than it did a few years ago. it's going to look more and more different every single year. in fact, i come home and i always want to go to one of the new restaurants on the weekend when i'm hope. there are so many opening, i can't get to all of them. that's great. we have the most sophisticated neighborhood neighborhood revitalization effort going on. we've got a business community that is stellar, that's running towards detroit, rather than away from detroit. so all of the elements are

there. a great mayor, great business community, civic leaders. still work to do. my biggest concern is the detroit public schools, where there needs to be a real focus, state needs to be stepping up and doing what needs to be done for the children in detroit. i would say this is definitely a good news story overall in terms of what is happening. >> deborah stabineau, thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> chris matthews is in detroit at the favorite hot dog place. the flint water crisis looming large, but also lots of stuff that may not play nationally, but is going to affect that race tonight. chris, i understand you've got joy and also a special guest from detroit with you tonight. >> yes, i do. i've got joy reed who we know very well. thank you for joining us for this mission to get the news, and mildred gattu from the

morning driving. >> there is a lot. >> what is the talk? what is the talk about these -- let's take the top three, bernie sanders, hillary clinton, donald trump. what is everybody saying about them? >> a lot of people are saying they like bernie sanders. they're not convinced that he can win. i talked to democrats today who decided to vote for bernie sanders in the primary, and will vote for hillary clinton. they assume that she'll come out victorious tonight. and across this country. therefore, be the democratic nominee in the fall. >> you failed to mention, mr. trump. >> well, the people i talked to are not concerned about donald trump. they believe that either hillary clinton or bernie sanders will take donald trump. they believe that the american people just aren't going to buy into what donald trump is selling. and after i watched these numbers on msnbc tonight in terms of who the folk are, and their educational levels and how

much they understand how things happen in the world, it might explain why his numbers are as they are. but they're not concerned about donald trump. >> he loves the less educated voter. >> i know. >> what do you think about the less educated voter. are you an elitiselitist. >> no, i'm not. it's not about college degrees. it's about understanding things. i think donald trump plinbrings the worst in americans. he shows the worst we have to offer. despite the fact that he is a wealthy man. >> despite the fact, meaning? you seem to have a conflict, meaning he must be smart you mean? >> no, no, no, i'm saying that he does -- he participates in race baiting. >> what do you think of the hand going up in the air. >> you're talking to a black woman from mississippi who is very sensitive to those signs and things that ignite racism in this country. so i don't know what is really happening there. i'm just saying, i'm not sure

that it looks good. i'm not sure it bodes well. >> do you think he is playing to that. >> he plays to anything off the normal path. >> i hear you. >> joy. >> well, you know, it's interesting. so talking voters in dearborn today, and we were in west dearborn. this was a little more of a mixed bag. a lot of people whose ancestry is scotch, italian, all of whom were drawn of course to henry ford's project here in michigan. so you have this really interesting mix of people. it was about half and half. we were in a place, two precincts, one went for romney and one went for obama. fair amount of consternation about donald trump. a lot of people saying i've never met anyone who likes this guy. where is he coming from. this isn't that's resonating here. but on the other hand, we spoke

to a woman who was a donald trump supporter. he she discounts the things, elite putting him down. she boils it down it a simple thing. she lost her job in the auto plant. she saw and a hanafta and now w part-time jobs, getting by but doesn't have the money to send her kid to catholic school, private school, she doesn't have the numbmoney for her grandchil. >> black or white woman. >> white woman, maybe over 60. she basically just ignoring everything about donald trump that we're reporting that offends people. she says she doesn't believe that he really means that. she thinks he is for all americans, in her words, keep terrorists out of the country. she is with him 100 approximate%. she was the one person in that

column. we talked to other people who were for kasich. this is a guy who was voting for rubio, but wanted hillary. he is a hillary clinton supporter, but he is voting for rubio, because he believes hillary clinton is going to win. >> all the strategic voting, voting for bernie, thinking hill hillary. >> trying to just stop trump. i vote for the person who i want to win. i'm old school. >> thanks, chris, joy, milldrem. am michigan, born in mississippi. >> she vacations in idaho and hawaii -- >> that's right. we can listen in on bernie sanders live after the break.

we are back, and there will be time to talk about the strategy coming out at 7:30 eastern, half an hour before any polls close, this is nonetheless, bernie sanders in miami. we'll listen live. >> truth is not necessarily pleasant. i wish from the bottom of my heart i could come before you and tell you how great everything is. that there are no problems. but if i did that, i would be lying to you, and you know that i would be lying.

so what we have to do as a people is have the courage to face the reality of where we are, and have the courage to take on the big money interests whose greed -- whose greed is destroying our economy. so let me tell you several truths that other candidates will not tell you. number one, number one, and i say this as the former chairman of the senate veteran's committee, somebody who has worked hard, will continue to work hard, to protect the veterans of our country. veterans have put their lives on the line to defend our way of

life, which means our democratic form of government. and i want to tell you right now that our democratic form of government is under severe attack, as a result of this disast disasterous supreme court decision. now, what democracy is about, you agree with me and you want to vote for me, great. you disagree with me, you want to vote against me, that's great. that's call democracy. >> bernie sanders in miami. by the way, this is not keyed to any of the effort to get out ahead of any result tonight. this was a scheduled rally in miami, presumably we'll be hearing from him after we know tonight's results. lawrence o'donnell, chuck todd, joining us.

what do you have from the political front. >> no, i was just, it was a little stunning to see him there, it makes you wonder, oh, my, he has little confidence on what is going on in michigan tonight. but i would have to think, the polls haven't even closed yet. i think, you know -- >> we don't know whether we're going to hear from him. >> i would be surprised. >> i have a feeling if he thought it was going to be a better night, the time for the rally would be different i'm surprised him being in miami, but there is going to be a debate, he ought to be in ohio. if i think about next tuesday and where does he want to make a mark and where should he be able to make a mark. >> and hillary is in -- >> not a good environment for him. >> either party tonight who is in a state that is voting tonight is john kasich, who is in michigan. >> was. i think he's back in ohio. he at least was there. >> made an evening appearance

there. it's been interesting to see what the campaigning have been del graphi telegraphicing what they're going to do tonight. john kasich will be making remarks. that's both a signal that he wants tv time and also he expects something to talk about out of michigan. something interesting from the hillary clinton campaign. not only will she be making remarks tonight and i believe she's in florida, but described her remarks as making her case for why she should get the nomination. >> they want to declare victory tonight. >> they're saying they want to declare victory. >> they want to make the turn and they want to spend next week in ohio. i think they have a fair argument. if they win michigan, if they knock him out there, this would be where they would, if they were going to struggle, and bernie sanders was going to get traction, michigan would be the c canary in the coal mine here. they're making a logical

argument that bernie sanders is running out of states to make an impact. >> chuck was saying that senator sanders perhaps would have a better time of it in ohio. hillary clinton is in cleveland, we'll be hearing from her tonight. >> in fact, he had a plane side news conference, and then they announced he is going to file suit against the secretary of state in ohio. he claims unfairly keeping young people from the polls by preventing 17 year olds from voting in primaries, even though other states have said if they're going to be 18 by the general election, they can do so. he is trying to make a headline for ohio, even though he is not physically there. john kasich is back in ohio. >> andrea mitchell, in washington, d.c. we never made any bones about that. thanks, andrea. we'll be checking back with you. another break for us, as we enter the final half hour before the first poll closings of the

night.

21 minutes to go to our first results of the evening and where the exit polls from tonight are concerned, they keep chugging along in the data keeps streams into our building and others. we're in the second wave of data which is enough for steve kornacki any day to talk about tonight the late deciders going in. >> let's look at michigan here. something we've been tracking here. so many of the voters saying they made up their minds early. here's what we're seeing. when did you make up your mind. just in the last few days, 40% saying more than a month ago. that's the group trump has been doing so well in other states. among late deciders, this is what we're seeing in michigan, john kasich, indication in the polling before this that he might have been picking up steam

in the final week, in the final few days of this thing, among late deciders, kasich looks like he has edged out cruz for the first choice. we're looking to see if there was a late surge for kasich. it looks like there was. the question when these results starting coming in, is it going to be enough. a big enough number for him there. >> the poll, nbc "wall street journal" poll gave him a big shot this week. >> that's interesting, that's a good number for ted cruz in terms of a late deciders quarter of the electorate going for ted cruz by 31% margin. what's more stunning, even better news for john kasich. >> actually, though, that's all good for donald trump. i disagree. it split. the trump, and you know, in mississippi, trump did okay among late deciders, that's doing okay. his people, early ones, they have stuck with him. that's been the history there. imagine all of that going from

one of the two. kasich or cruz arguments. >> is trump's story going to be about the division between cruz and kasich. that's nutty. >> i do think if second and third adds up together it would be ahead of trump by double digits, then yes, that's part of the story. that is your rationale, if you are the republican establishment, and you're uncomfortable with trump, that's your rationale for pushing for the brokered convention. to push to keep rubio in the game and kasich in the game. even though the splintering shows you the majority against him. >> democrats like what they see in that, because they're looking at the white house of all things and so they will judge trump's success by whether or not he makes it to the white house. what they're watching is in the last few days, people turning away from trump. and they've seen this before on late deciders as they start walking to the polls, as it gets serious, they're going to cast

this vote, they start turning away from trump. democrats think if he is the nominee, that phenomenon will be tripled. >> as they turn away, they don't all turn the same direction. >> in november, they'll only have one place. >> this general election point, there is a massive gender gap for trump. massive, okay, and in mississippi, it was startling to me. i mean, it's almost like 20 points, the difference between men and women. very likely donald trump is facing a woman for the general election, and he is already alienating women of republican women, what -- and that is the group, when you talk to these members or consultant members petrified of him, but they think a whole bunch of security, soccer moms, whatever you want to call them this year, but it's married women, that's what they're -- >> how do you soften the product, though? if you're to speak -- >> trump is a marketer, when he

thinks branding, it means he does need a woman running mate. different ways to go about it, but he may need at a minimum, a lot more ivanka. his oldest daughter, his best asset. it is stark. i was looking at a comparison. it's growing. the more vulgar the campaign got, if you're seeing any erosion for trump, it's among republicans. >> the edge of the sword, hillary clinton gender gap, her versus bernie sanders, she is getting a lot of support for women, but losing it in most states. >> she is, but the question is, more women than men in this country, okay. there are, and it's interesting, about a 50/50 slit, it's like a plus 16 women to men, i think, in the democratic primary overall. >> we're going to go to a break. we're within 15 minutes of our first poll closings and we'll be able to have a characterization

of the first race of the night in mississippi at the top of the hour. do not go away in the interim. woman: is that a newspaper?

man: yes. woman: it's quaint. man: did you read about this latest cyber attack? woman: yeah, i read it on my watch. man: funny. woman: they took out the whole network. man: they had to hand out pens and paper. woman: yeah. man: could it happen to us? woman: no. we're okay. man: we are? woman: yeah, we brought in some new guys. man: what do they know that we don't?

woman: that you can't run a country with pens and paper. it's not just security. it's defense. bae systems. first polls close as you see there in the big board a little over 12 minutes from now. lawrence o'donnell, chuck todd with us. lawrence, we touched on the rubio factor earlier in our

conversation. can marco rubio, if he has a less than stellar night tonight, are they just allowed to keep, and you made this point beautifully, are they just allowed to keep saying, yeah, but florida? >> they are this year. because he is running and they all are running on the republican side against the strangest candidate in the history, the most unstable human being in presidential party. they don't know what might happen to him, what he might do or say. just because every crazy thing he has said hasn't him him with republican voters, we don't know when it will. we apparently have seen some of that trump debate performance. there seems to be some evidence that did hurt him. there is a debate coming up, why would you get out before donald trump has to go through another debate? why would anyone get out. why not let him -- let's see what he might do in that debate. >> can i ask a clarifying question, though about the math on the republican side. as far as i see it, donald

trump, if he does great tonight, and he does great a week from tonight and he wins florida and wins ohio, does as well as he possibly can, he has a way to lockup the nomination before the convention and all this talk about it being worked out in cleveland is all nonsense. nobody else has any way to win before the convention. >> right. >> i mean there are ways, it's either donald trump wins or nobody wins. >> 100%. so florida matters, it might be the difference if donald trump is the winner before cleveland. it's not like it's going to give marco rubio a chance to win. >> but an opportunity to be part of the conversation. >> but anybody can go to the convention at this point. >> no, but i think to be a significant factor, to be where maybe he can accumulate enough delegates where -- look, i've believed that the only way to take that way from trump, if he is the delegate leader going into cleveland, but short, saying 950 or 1,000, the only way to take it away from him in

a democratic way, small d democratic way is number two and three together would - do have the majority. >> form an alliance. >> and do and do this. >> you're saying what is the incentive for kasich or rubio. can they combine with cruz and have the magic number together. i think that's the only way to legitimately, quote, unquote, take it away. >> if they're deciding after the first ballot if cleveland, the idea of who has fair math will be so distant. >> the poll that's going to matter most when you get to the convention is the poll that everyone is ignoring now. donald trump loses badly to hillary clinton and loses worse to bernie sanders. >> yes. >> marco rubio, ted cruz, john kasich do well in those one-on-one match ups against hillary clinton. they get wiped out by bernie

sande sanders. the closest one bernie sanders has is with john kasich. those polls will be what everyone is talking about when you get to a convention like that. rubio stays alive in those polls with those discussions. >> especially because he comes to florida. it's going to be hard to deny him or kasich a place on this ticket because both come from such important states. >> we're about to ask our friendly customers to sit through a commercial break. when we come back, we'll go break free and bridge the top of the hour. it will give us our first characterization at the top of the 8:00 eastern hour. that is as the polls close in the state of mississippi. we're back shortly. stay with us.

we're back five minutes before the top of the hour. five minutes before our first results of the evening, first poll closing and first characterization of a race. steve at the big board with why republicans republicans, tonight, are voting the way they are. steve. >> we found an interesting number in the michigan exit poll asking about the attitude of the candidate. we asked the feeling about the candidate they chose. about half the republicans voting said they voted for the candidate because they really

like them. whoa, that's the punch line. about a third said they like the candidate with the reservations and one fifth said they were voting for their candidate because they don't like the other ones. look at the break down if you caught this a second ago. a third of the the voters said the reason they voted for him, they don't like the other candidates. that's their motivation for checking off his name on the ballot. donald trump, only 6% of his voters said it's because they didn't like the candidates. >> steve, way too tough on himself on the technology. thank you. let's go to detroit. chris matthews. chris. >> thank you. i'm here with rick. i think you've been pointing that out today in a tweet that you don't trust the good will of mitt romney help himselves. >> he asserted himself into the campaign. he didn't endorse anybody. when he was pushed to the limit, he wouldn't rule it out.

he erases the suspicions saying he's trying to work his way back in here and he wants this job. he only ruled out donald trump. he's going to endorse somebody. he said he won't endorse donald trump. he'll endorse somebody. if he doesn't endorse cruz, which i don't think he would want it. if he endorses rubio or kasich, looks like he's setting himself up for a contested convention. >> what about neil bush. the brother of a president, son of a president. he's now on the board of cruz. why did cruz accept him? >> it's very interesting the bush family would someone over to the cruz campaign. i don't have any real inside knowledge of it but having a bush help raise money for cruz ought to tell you somebody. >> why did you bring the guy involved in the snl smell, who is thinking about this stuff? >> you'd have to ask the campaign.

>> we've all been fishing around tonight. is there going to be a coalition of the candidates. anything before the convention that can stop trump in terms of a kocombine? >> yeah. if they drop out. >> they drop out and endorse cruz? >> i think that's the only way. >> the that plausible? >> no. >> my question is why do we keep talking about a stop trump movement when there's knnobody the movement? >> if cruz was running against trump, i think he could win. the numbers seem to indicate, but you know this business. >> i do know this business. if you hear of a stop x movement, bet on x because it's always too late. when people talk about anybody but him, they're saying i'm no longer putting myself forward, i just want to stop this.

this means it's too late to do it. >> part of these exit polls is rubio seems to have dropped off the map. ckasich is on the rise. ted cruz is landing in miami as we speak. >> it's going to be interesting. i think we will see a lot of that pattern along the country. back to you. >> thank you. for those people listening to chris worried loren michaels, we're talking about snl, savings and loan scandal. nothing wrong with saturday night live that we know of. these are boom times because the race just keeps supplying raw material. >> we're about to get one of the last results in the deep south. it will be north carolina and florida really the last southern states that are going to be casting their votes.

tonight we're about to hear from mississippi. >> around the ten second mark we put the following animation on the screen. this is our first poll closing of the night in the state of mississippi. do we get to say one mississippi, two mississippi as we count down. it's now 8:00 p.m. eastern time. we can tell you the following. nbc news, msnbc are projecting that when all the votes are counted, hillary clinton will be the democratic victor and we are authorized to say this is a significant win for the clinton campaign for the democrats in mississippi. now, moving over to the right for the republicans. the race characterized as too early to call. donald trump leads for the republicans in mississippi. ted cruz is in second place. kasich and rubio, quote, trail far behind. th h