we have a big show tonight. we have presidential candidate bernie sanders joining us live tonight for the interview. super excited to have senator sanders here tonight. we have spoken on this show twice with former secretary of state hillary clinton, bernie sanders his opponent we have spoken with her twice since we have last spoken with senator sanders. so we've been really eager to get him back on this show and his campaign made it happen for us today. super exciting. particularly at what feels like a real cross roads moment in the democratic race, senator bernie sanders will be here live in just a couple of minutes. there was an epic washington showdown today on the flint water crisis as a big national audience tuned in to see michigan governor rick snyder get absolutely grilled about flint by democratic members of the congressional oversight committee today while republican members of that same committee basically complimented his tie color and brushed his hair. it was alternately riveting and super weird at that hearing today. we'll have a report on that coming up later on tonight.

but we have to start tonight with what else, nazi prison tattoos and hey, it's 2016 and that's what it's like this year. in your life i hope you have never reason to develop expertise when it comes to nazi and white supremacist tattooing. there's basically three things you learn right off the bat other than the obvious stuff that needs no explanation. somebody has white power tattooed on themselves or they have the nazi ss or nazi swastika or nice picture of hitler, that kind of thing is too obvious you don't need to study. but the next most obvious layer of this stuff is probably these three symbols. the first one is the number 14. that's an american white supremacist thing specifically. it's very common in neo-nazi prison tattoos. 14 stands for the 14 words that

make up the white supremacist mantra written by a guy named david lane. he was a white supremacist terrorist and murder who died in prison 14 years ago. we must secure the existence of our people and the future for white children. so, that's the first thing that you learn below all the obvious symbols, 14 stands for that mantra. neo-nazis and white supremacists will often have that number 14 on their body. the other number they will frequently have on their body is 88. it has a double meaning. there's apparently some 88 word long section of hitler's book which supposedly inspired that 14 word mantra from david lane. so 88 on one hand is a reference back to that same mantra. 88 is also just bad number code for heil hitler. they both start with h, a, b, c,

d, e, f, g, h, it's the eighth letter of the alphabet. those are the first two. the third one, the other most common vaguely coded neo-nazi white supremacist thing you see around particularly in tattoos is. it's a variant of celtic cross that's sometimes called oden's cross. they do an online viewer's guide to nazi junk. according to the adl that cross is the symbol that was used by norwegian nazis in 1930s and 1940s then after world war ii a variety of white supremacist groups and movements adopted it today. it's used by other type of white supremacist. it's a low of storm front the oldest and largest white supremacist website in the world. and i think that is why because its part of a logo of storm fronts, i think that's why this

one pops up in a lot of places in the white supremacist world, not just necessarily in tattoos. you might, for example, remember late last month when the great reporter dave weigle at "the washington post" did an interview with a guy who we met at a donald trump trump rally in oklahoma. he had gone to the rally wearing this white pride worldwide. the words on that t-shirt surrounded this symbol, right, overlaid on that oden's cross. and that's very common in white supremacist neo-nazi circles. so, you know, you don't have to be an expert at this stuff, but what i just said, that's basically a neo-nazi tattooing and symbolology 101. and so god bless pbs, but couple nights ago the good folks at pbs news hour who really do amazing work. they are a national treasure, they aired a heartwarming little feature about a family of north carolinaens who are not just

voting for donald trump in the primary on tuesday night this week, they had been volunteering for donald trump to the point where the mom in the family had taken their 11-year-old son out of school so he, too as an 11-year-old could phone bank in north carolina for donald trump instead of going to school. and so pbs did this feature and here is that mom. and the tattoo on the right hand, see the really big tattoo on the right hand, remember that from the white pride worldwide t-shirt, and then you wait like one more minute into this pbs profile and then we get her left hand and what's on her left hand -- oh, what's -- that's the 88. hi, hitler. so, pbs news hour feature on these folks, these donald trump supporting family, it's not explicitly captioned or headlines as neo-nazi family or white supremacist mom phone banks for donald trump, but that is actually the feature that they did. that's what they aired. and so now pbs is sort of caught up to what they have done here,

people noticed. they've now had to run an editor's note alongside the online version. i don't know how you clean that up. go back and retrack the voiceover or something to make note of the heil hitler thing on her hand, i don't know. maybe a subtitle. a flashing red arrow, a clickable footnote that goes to the how to discipher nazi tattoos website. seems like relevant context. but these are the kinds of journalistic challenges that we are stumbling upon as a nation because of what the 2016 presidential race is this year and who is winning it on the republican side. the prospect of donald trump winning the republican presidential nomination has taken a couple of interesting twists today. we'll be talking about some of these tonight. the most striking one, i think, was that donald trump's opponent, ted cruz, texas senator ted cruz got his second endorsement today from a member of the united states senate. it's a little bit weird to be a senator running for president without a lot of endorsements from your colleagues, but he's

only got two so far. the first one was from his friend mike lee of utah that came a couple weeks ago. the second one came today former republican senator who until today seemed like probably the least likely republican senator of all to ever endorse ted cruz under any circumstances. >> a good republican would defend ted cruz after tonight. that ain't happening. [ laughter ]. >> if you kill ted cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial was in the senate, nobody could convict you. [ laughter ]. i was asked the hardest question in my political life, do you agree with donald trump that ted cruz is the biggest liar in politics. [ laughter ]. too close to call.

if you're a republican and your choices are donald trump and ted cruz in a general election, it's the difference between poison or a shot, you're still dead. >> i don't think you can be president of the united states if you're going to tell a raped woman she has to have the child of a rapist. that's ted cruz's position. ted cruz at his core ask an opportunist. he has an ideological bent that won't sell with the american people and when it came time to say what ted cruz has done in the senate, what he's done is run down other republicans. he hasn't solved any problem. >> you don't have any confidence in him basically to be commander in chief? >> i think he has been just as wrong as obama if not worse. >> can i just add that senator cruz has been wrong on almost everything. >> senator lindsey graham has never seemed to like senator ted cruz, quite the contrary, but today lindsey graham endorsed ted cruz or said he would do a fundraiser for him on monday a 1,000 dollar a plate fundraiser. >> i'm actually waiting for pigs to start flying down the street.

>> it's one of those big days. it tells you a lot about where we are as a party. >> it sure does. >> it does. >> the republican effort to somehow keep their presidential nomination away from donald trump is getting both frantic and strange. the democratic effort to pick a presidential nominee is neither frantic nor all that strange, but it does seem to be at a critical turning point. the major super pac supporting hillary clinton has now announced they will stop running ads in support of secretary clinton's primary contests against bernie sanders. they will leave the primary field and instead start focussing on the general election and what they are apparently expecting to be a fight between hillary clinton and donald trump this fall. also, "the new york times" and washington post reported today on remarks that president obama made in texas recently to democratic donors behind closed door. there's no direct quotes in either story but the times headlined their story as president obama basically making a case that democrats should start to unit behind one of the

two candidates for the democratic nomination and that candidate should be hillary clinton. now, the bernie sanders campaign obviously doesn't agree with that. they also say that they're about to start winning lots and lots and lottings of states. they acknowledge they did poorly in the five contests this week, but they say they're about to start winning and they say senator sanders, not hillary clinton will ultimately get the democratic nomination. the sanders' campaign is now swimming against a tide of common wisdom that's against them on that subject, which i'm sure they don't mind. but if this reporting about the president's comments is right, then they might also find themselves up against the force of this white house and a president who is both a friend of senator bernie sanders and someone who has an 87% approval rating right now with democrats. with all this going on right now, i'm fairly desperate to talk to senator bernie sanders about this moment in his political career and in our country. and he is here live with us for the interview next. wish your skin could bounce back like it used to?

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i'm very pleased to say that joining us now for the interview is democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders. senator sanders, it's really nice to see you again. thank you so much for being here. i know it's a busy time for you. >> good to be with you, rachel. >> let me start right in on the other big news story that has not about your race for the president right now, which is about the supreme court. what do you think of president obama's nomination of judge merrick garland for that vacancy? >> well, probably not the most progressive pick that he could have made, but i will strongly support the president's selection of justice -- of judge garland. the idea that the president should not be able to make a nomination is totally absurd. republican obstructionism just tells us what's been going on for the last seven years. i will do everything i can to see that there is hearings, that a vote takes place and that garland becomes seated on the supreme court. >> one of the things that has

been one of the most compelling story lines and evolving things we've learned about president obama over the time he's been in office is to watch how he has responded to republican obstructionism, whether he has, you know, continuesed to expect them to cave or whether he's been optimistic or pessimistic about these things. i don't know where you are on that score, do you actually think the republicans on an issue like this will eventually cave, that they'll eventually do the right thing or is there no chance that garland will get a hearing? >> rachel, it's hard to say but this is what i do believe. i think the vast majority of the american people certainly democrats, most independents and a number of republicans do not believe that it is appropriate for the republicans to act in an obstructionist way when the constitution is 100% clear. the president of the united states has the right to nominate someone to be a justice of the supreme court. senate's function is to hold hearings and to vote.

i think the republicans will pay a very heavy, political price if they continue to obstruct on this issue. i think you could go forward with a strong candidate and play it out. >> if you get the democratic nomination and you are elected president in november, would you ask president obama to withdraw that nomination in a lame duck so you could name your own nominee? >> yes, i would. i think i'm 100% prepared to support judge garland. i think he's clearly very knowledgeable and can serve ably on the supreme court. but between you and me, i think there are some more progressive judges out there. i have said over and over again that i do have a litmus test for a supreme court justice and that litmus test is that justice must be loud and clear in telling us that he or she will vote to overturn this disastrous citizens united supreme court

decision. i am very worried about the future of american democracy and about the ability of billionaires to buy elections. that is my litmus test and that's what i would insist on. >> let me ask you about something that's actually based in your fund raising theory of the case here, one of the things that has been stunning about your campaign is how many small donors you have, how people have been willing to give to you again and again and again in small amounts. you raised so much money and shown such fund raising prowess, no matter what happens in primaries and caucuses, you could stay in this race indefinitely. you're never going to run out of money. you are behind in the delegates. because you won't have that kind of constraint on your campaign, though, i wonder if you can imagine a scenario in which you're still behind secretary clinton in terms of delegates but you went all the way to the convention this summer and tried to make a case for yourself by persuading the superdelegates to support you instead of her. can you imagine doing that?

>> well, here is the scenario. secretary clinton has done phenomenally well in the deep south and picked up a whole lot of delegates there. we are now moving beyond the south. we're moving west where we think the terrain favors us. west coast is probably most progressive region of the united states of america. we think we have a good shot, can't guarantee it, of winning a whole lot of states, of winning a whole lot of delegates, of perhaps winning california, state of washington, oregon, many of the smaller states and winning new york state. we think if we come into the convention in july in philadelphia, having won a whole lot of delegates, having a whole lot of momentum behind us, and most importantly perhaps being the candidate who is most likely to defeat donald trump, we think that some of these superdelegates who have now supported hillary clinton can come over to us.

rachel, in almost every poll, not every poll, but almost every national matchup poll between sanders and trump, clinton and trump, we do better than hillary clinton and sometimes by large numbers. we get a lot more of the independent vote than she gets. i think i am a stronger candidate to defeat trump than secretary clinton is and i think many of the superdelegates understand that. >> i just want to be super clear with you about that just to make sure i understand, are you saying that even if you were behind in pledged dell gates, i though you think you won't be, but if you were behind in pledged delegates you would still take that case all the way to the convention and try to convince the supers? >> we're going to do the best we can in any and every way to win. i think when you have states, for example, say in new hampshire where we won by 22 points, in other states where we won by 25 or even 30 points, i

think it is not unreasonable for the people of those states to say to their superdelegates, hey, how about representing the people of our state and the outcome of the caucus or the primary. >> i'm just going to push you and ask you one more time, if -- i'll actually ask you from the other direction. if one of you presumably there won't be a tie. one of you presumably will be behind in pledged delegates heading into that convention. should the person who is behind in pledged delegates concede to the person who is ahead in pledged delegates in philadelphia? >> well, you know, i don't want to speculate about the future and i think there are other factors involved. i think it is probably the case that the candidate who has the most pledged delegates is going to be the candidate, but there are other factors. and the other factors will be the strength of each of us in taking on the republican candidate. what i think is most important to all of the delegates, including the superdelegates, is

that we have a candidate who will win and not allow donald trump to end up in the white house. >> senator sanders, can you hold on for just one moment? we take a quick break and come back? >> absolutely. >> thank you very much, senator bernie sanders is our guest tonight for the interview. we'll be right back. don't go anywhere.

we're back with democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders. senator sanders, thank you again. >> my pleasure. >> let me ask you a question about missouri. missouri is the second state so far in this crazy primary process this year where it was almost imperceptibly decided.

secretary clinton both in iowa and missouri appeared to come in ahead of you but by a fraction of a percent, less than half a percent. you did not appeal that and ask for a recount in iowa and today you said you won't ask for a recount in missouri. >> first of all n iowa, it's not a question of a recount. in iowa we're going through the county process and the statewide process. so that process is under way in the final decision in terms of national delegates has not been made. but here is the truth. the media makes a big deal about, you know, winning missouri or winning illinois or winning michigan. we won michigan. secretary clinton won illinois and won missouri. you know what, you add them all together, there is no difference in delegates. what we're talking about, rachel, now is the number of delegates that we need. and what we proved in illinois and in missouri that what happened in michigan was not a fluke. we have real strength in the midwest and we have real strength, i think, as we head

west in california and oregon and state of washington. the issues that are gaining us support in the midwest, for example, is the disastrous trade policies that have cost this country millions of decent paying jobs. i'm talking about nafta, trade relations with china and many others. workers in the midwest and all over this country are demanding is that we have a trade policy in which corporate america starts investing in this country and not just in china and other low wage countries. yes, we have got to do everything we can to support poor people around the world, but my view is you don't have to destroy the middle class of this country to do that. so, i think the issues that we are talking about, raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. i was in flint, michigan, what i heard there is literally beyond belief in terms of a crumbling infrastructure and water systems

is happening all over america. we can create millions of jobs rebuilding water systems, roads and bridges. we can make public colleges and universities tuition free. we can demand the wealthy start paying their fair share of taxes. i think what you're seeing in the midwest and around this country is a desire for transformation in our political and economics and to elect a candidate who is prepared to fight for working families. >> you brought up flint there, senator. today there was this very dramatic hearing on capitol hill where governor rick snyder and gina mccarthy had at times intense and slightly surreal questioning, in my opinion. one of the things that was striking, though s that both governor rick snyder and house republicans on that committee really spent a lot of their time blaming flint on the epa and saying the epa is the problem and that's what happen in flint. what's your reaction to that?

>> it's absolutely untrue. the initial responsibility was taking local power away from the citizens of flint. decisions being made over their heads. knowledge accruing, people knew what was going on but forgot to tell the people of flint whose kids were drinking poison. should the epa have done a better job? should they have been more outfront earlier on? yes, absolutely. but the core responsibility for that was with the state of michigan. that is why i asked for governor snyder's resignation. but rachel, the point i'm making here is that while flint may be the worst example of a crumbling infrastructure, it's not the only one. we've got to think out of the box. we have to ask why in the wealthiest country in the history of the world why our infrastructure not just water but waste water, roads, bridges, why our rail system is falling behind other countries. and what i've asked for is a trillion dollar investment, 13

million people go back to work, rebuilding this infrastructure. children in america should not be drinking poisoned water, end of discussion. >> senator, there were reports today in "the washington post" and more pointedly "the new york times" that didn't quote president obama but they described remarks he made apparently at a closed door event on friday in which he told donors it's reported that he told donors that the democratic party needs to start to unit behind a nominee and "the new york times" there was a strong suggestion that the president indicated that he beliefs the nominee will be your opponent, it will be secretary clinton. i know that you consider president obama to be a friend. i just have to ask your response to that. >> well, i don't want to speculate on what he said or what he didn't say. in fact, i heard there has been some push back from the white house kind of indicating that he didn't say that. but the bottom line is that when only half of the american people

have participated in the political process, one some of the larger states in the country, people in those states have not yet been able to voice their opinion on who should be the democratic nominee, i think it's absurd for anybody to suggest that those people not have a right to cast a vote. i am extremely proud that in state after state we are winning the votes of working people. overwhelmingly we're winning young people who are the future of this country. a study just came out today, i believe, we have received more votes from people under 30 than secretary clinton and donald trump combined. many states were winning the votes of people under 45. that is the future of america. that is the future of the democratic party. so to suggest that we don't fight this out to the end would be, i think, a very bad mistake. people want to become engaged in the political process by having a vigorous primary and caucus process. i think we open up the possibility of having a large voter turnout in november and that is exactly what we need. a low voter turnout, somebody

like a trump can win. high voter turnout the democratic candidate will win. i think we have the issues. i think the american people are prepared to vote strongly against trump. but we need to have a 50-state process by which the american people can -- in which the american people can participate. >> senator, i know your time is limited. i just have one last question for you and it's because you raised the issue of donald trump. obviously mr. trump has had an issue with violence at his events. he has blamed you. he recently blamed your supporters for showing up to his events and mounting protests that are disruptive. what advice -- obviously i don't blame you. but what advice would you have for your supporters or for protesters who show up for any reason to trump events, whether they're to protest on your behalf or someone else's? >> well, first of all, rachel, you may know at least in my

view, donald trump is a pathological liar. there's very little that he says that one can at face value believe to be correct. we have never, not once, urged any supporter of ours to disrupt a meeting. i think that's kind of counterproductive. having a respective demonstration a protest is i think absolutely right. you have a guy here in trump who has insulted muslims, insulted mexicans, insulted women, insulted the african-american community, insulted veterans, you know, and i think it is totally right for people to protest. disrupting rallies is not my style. i would urge people not to do that. >> senator sanders, thank you so much for your time tonight. please come back soon. it's been too long, sir. >> okay. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. all right, we got much more ahead including chris hayes joining us in just a moment to talk about the big news that bernie sanders just made there about how he thinks the democratic convention is going to go this year.

wow. stay with us.

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i just want to be super clear with you about that just to make sure i understand. are you saying that even if you were behind in pledged delegates, i know you think you won't be, but if you were behind in pledged delegates, you would still take that case all the way to the convention and try to convince the supers? >> well, we're going to do the best that we can in any and every way to win. but i think when you have

states, for example, say in new hampshire where we won by 22 points, in other states where we've won by 25 or even 30 points, i think it is not unreasonable for the people of those states to say to their superdelegates, hey, how about representing the people of our state and the outcome of the caucus or the primary. >> so maybe we're going to have a contested convention in cleveland and in philadelphia? joining us now is my dear colleague and friend chris hayes, host of "all in with chris hayes" is that what he just said? >> i think he said the following, we will fight for this nomination. the rules of the nomination are such that there are bound delegates that we're going to fight to get as many as possible. >> right. that's the primary and caucus process. >> we're going to fight for the superdelegates as well. yesterday throw into that you have bound delegates aren't

really technically bound. >> yeah. >> you know, look, one of the things we're seeing from the republican side is that the rules that we tend to think of just sort of the background quickly become the foreground when there's enough contests between different clashing political entities. that's ultimately what will decide this, right? it's going to be the weight of the amount of support bernie sanders has and he and his campaigns personal decisions about how to leverage the weight of that support. if he has enough support and he is committed enough to a big contentious thing happening in philadelphia, they can probably make that happen. >> i asked as a followup, i said how did i phrase it exactly? i said -- >> should the person who that one? >> yes. here it is. one of you presumably will be behind in pledged delegates going to to convention should the person who is behind concede. he said i don't want to speculate about the future. there will be other factors involved. i think the candidate who has

the most pledged candidate, who has the strength? >> so that to me was the most fascinating part of that article. if you said to me when bernie sanders announced his campaign last year, if you said to me, fast forward to spring. bernie sanders is going to be arguing that he's the most electable candidate in the race -- >> right. >> that is what he kept referring to. the polls show us beating donald trump. >> head-to-head polls against the republican. >> everyone's analysis at the time was this is essentially a contest candidacy. it's a contest candidacy around a core of issues and obviously the argument against bernie sanders will be the guy is completely unelectable and he will remain cordoned off in some sort of fringe of the primary. to have him now making this argument, an argument that i think there are a lot of very good counterarguments to but is not facially ridiculous head-to-head polling is true. >> right now, yeah. >> big question whether that holds up, that is a kind of remarkable turn around.

>> yeah. everything has changed. >> everything is upside down. >> he himself you can tell was expecting to be an asterisk candidate when he started. you could tell by his announcement speech which he did on a coffee break and ran back into the senate. the way his candidacy caught fire, what they're banking on now is that they are by all accounts even the clinton campaign will say the sanders campaign is about to have a run of wins. there's five caucuses in one primary over the next week or so they think they could win five of them. we'll see. see how hi does in arizona, too. they're saying that will not only up end the perception of momentum here but it will also call to question the electability thing in a way that means that this has to end in a way that it otherwise wouldn't have us doing this thing at the convention. >> accumulating delegates and fund raising in the way that he has and the core of support that he has, which is obviously profoundly powerful as we've seen, that is power. right? the question for bernie sanders is what does he want to do with

that power? and how does he want to wield that power as we go forward. >> uh-huh. he is saying he wants to wield it to win. >> that's right. that is what he is saying. the campaign says we want to wield that power to win the nomination and group against donald trump in the fall. that is their statement. now, you could also say, what else are they going to say? you know what he means, they have never from the beginning said this is just a symbolic thing. they have said which they said -- >> you can never say that. >> you're running to win. you have to run to win. you can't -- if you run to win and do a good job running to win and you don't win, maybe then you can accomplish some other things, but you never can accomplish those if you don't run to win. >> unless you're running to win and this is the most aggressive statement he said tactically to win. >> chris hayes the host of "all in" and my best friend 100 yard radius. >> it's just the two of us. >> exactly. we banished everyone else. we'll be right back. stay with us.

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you admit here today that even after the whole world knew that the flint residents were exposed to unimaginable levels of lead you did not declare a state of emergency until january 2016, isn't that true? >> i took immediate action. we delivered filters to people, doing blood testing, i wish more would have been done. >> plausible deniability only works when it's plausible and i'm not buying that you didn't know any of this null october of 2015. you were not in a medically induced coma for a year and i've had about enough of your false contrition and your phony apologies. >> well, that went well. wait until you hear the part that made all the people from flint who were in the room, wait until you hear the part that made them all go, ooo, that's next.

it's about a nine-hour trip, depending on the weather, depending on the traffic,

depending on the roads and what you're driving, about nine hours if you lead from lead poison flint michigan heading to washington, d.c., you can expect to be on the bus for nine hours or more. riding that bus all night long until the doors open in d.c. in the very early morning. if you're coming to d.c. from flint for the reasons these folks did that today, you might not care how grinding that trip was. >> so you rode all night on this bus? >> all night. >> and you did this because -- >> i feel snyder needs to go to jail. he needs be held accountable for his actions. he poisoned our kids. >> more than 100 people made the trip to washington, d.c. from michigan to be there this morning when michigan governor rick snyder testified under oath before congress in his role in the mass lead poisoning of flint. families from flint filled the hearing room, they filled the hallway outside. folks from flint said they wanted their voices to be heard as this is talked about in congress but it still isn't

fixed at home. it continues without much change on the ground even still. yes, more people have filters on their faucets to try to keep the lead out and you can call a volunteer union plummer to make sure it works, you know, faucet, but the filters don't necessarily make the water safe enough for kids and pregnant women and sick and elderly people. in month six, still today there is no regular house to house door to door delivery of water, still. the state senator from flint told the local paper today that nothing really has changed on the ground. senator jim ananich saying, quote if you go today in flint, it's not much different than it was in september with the exception of you can go to the fire station and pick up water. that of course assumes you have a car to help you carry that water home which is no small thing to ask in flint, michigan. even as governor snyder was sitting there on capitol hill

today, the snyder administration back home in michigan is publishing a new round of testing from flint homes today. this past week that testing found the highest level yet of lead in family's water. 15 parts per billion is the epa threshold for action, 150 is what filters are technically designed to handle. 5,000 is considered hazardous waste but this past week a home in flint rang in at 11, 846 parts per billion. that's the highest level we have seen yet in flint and it was just posted today. today. that's what flint families left behind at home when they got on the bus last night to make that nine-hour overnight journey to be there in person when the governor testified. hoping that their voices could be heard, too. and during that hearing, there were times when you actually could hear them. watch this. listen for their reaction from the flint families in the room here. >> so tell me the constituents you responded to based on that report.

>> the constituents, we're out to talk to every person in flint. >> you're talking to them? >> in terms of a visit to their home -- >> that's your response today is to know who is affected maybe by your report and then to talk to them? >> no, not maybe. it's to go to their homes to have an opportunity to ask, would you like a filter? would you like a water test? how can we help support you in terms of getting water. we haven't hit every home but we're tracking every detail. >> let me ask you this question. this is my opinion of someone who does this kind of work for my whole career, we would just fix the water system so that it's all safe, but what do you do with someone like my mom, who has a cognitive impairment, you go to her house and ask her, what about that constituent? >> we ask them to dial 211 or get in contact so we can help bring water to them. >> i think i have my answer, sir. >> have your mentally impaired mom call 211 if she doesn't want to get -- we haven't gotten to every house. seriously. that is the response in flint,

michigan, now. today. they can call us. so lots of this hearing today broke along expected partisan lines on planet democrat, they blame governor snyder and his emergency takeover of the state of flint and his state agent sis and frankly obtuse leadership where he suppose lid had no idea of what all his senior staff and chief of staff were talking about and working on for months. on planet republican, they blame the epa. which makes political sense for them. you don't need a diagram to see why bashing the epa fits for the republican world view for a crisis like this, but governor snyder said everybody should stop blaming anyone. everyone should work with him to fix flint. and then he spent two hours at that hearing blaming the epa for what happened. at the close of the hearing today the ranking democrat asked a final round of questions. he kept the mike for more than ten minutes question after question. governor snyder answered almost

in a whisper at one point and in the end you could hear the flint families in the room again. >> it looks like everyone knew about these problems except for you. you were completely missing in action. that's not leadership, do you think? >> i was not missing in action. i'm going to have to live with this my entire life. >> on your website -- governor, you know what, i've heard you say that, but i've got to tell you there are children that have got to live with it, the damage, that has been done for the rest of their lives. it is painfully painful to think that a child could be damaged until the day they die and that their destiny has been cut off and messed up so yeah, you have to live with it, but they -- many of these children will

never be what god intended them to be when they were born and conceived. i just have a few more questions. when things got rough for you and your administration started being investigated by law enforcement, you got the people of michigan to pay your legal fees. governor, do you admit here today that you have asked the people of michigan for more than $1 million to pay for your criminal and civil defense fees? >> yes. >> it makes me sick to think you found a way to have the state of michigan pay over $1 million in legal fees, yet you thought so little of the people in flint that you could not be bothed to ask the legitimate legislator for money to switch them over to clean water. you cannot be trusted and i got to tell you, you need to -- you need to resign. [ applause ] >> what is happening now in michigan and with this

particular governor, it's not normal politics. it's not normal political fighting over a normal issue, but for all the politics that have been brought to bear on this issue now, think about what it says about the state response that still there is no clean water being delivered in flint. even today, today, still they haven't replaced the ruin pipes. still houses are testing at over 10,000 parts per billion of lead, 5,000 parts per billion is hazardous waste. still you're not getting clean water brought to your house in flint, still, and that's regard ms of who resigns or gets indicted. still. and mouthwash. but she's a dentist so...i kind of have to listen. she said "jen, go pro with crest pro-health advanced." advance to healthier gums... ...and stronger teeth from day one. using crest toothpaste and mouthwash makes my... ...whole mouth feel awesome. and my teeth are stronger too.

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is tonight we heard live on this show that bernie sanders is not ruling essentially a contested convention on the democratic side this year. we have been expecting it now on the republican side, but at the democrats convention in philadelphia too? we've got a special report that we are preparing for tonight's show. here's a taste of it. this is what the republican delegate selection process looked like in one state in 2012. >> he's handicap. he's handicap. >> back up. back up. >> he has a chance to walk. he has an artificial hip.

>> i'm a doctor. the man in that video who says he was hurt in that altercation, he was a ron paul supporter who was physically, bodily dragged out of the republican state convention in a fight over that state's delegates in 2012. the prospect of a contested convention looms over the republican party this year, maybe over the democratic party too. a lot of the reporting is being done on how chaotic the delegate selection process is going to be this with a promise of a contested convention. i promise you it has always been chaotic and occasionally violent. tomorrow night we're going to prove it to you. we have a special report on that tomorrow night. stay with us tonight. we needed 30 new hires for our call center.

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wiback like it could used to? neutrogena hydro boost water gel. with hyaluronic acid it plumps skin cells with intense hydration and locks it in. for supple, hydrated skin. hydro boost. from neutrogena senator marco rubio came to work today. this was a surprise. his staff clapd for him when he came back to the senate. he seemed to enjoy that and then he stayed 15 feet away from them while soaking up the clapping.

he rode the senate trolley today. he seemed to have a good time the first day back to work, but it might be because marco rubio decided to come back to work today quote just in time for recess. he came back to work for one day today and the senate goes on recess for two weeks starting tomorrow. before he worked his fingers to close to the bone, senator rubio did talk to reporters. the senator today asked reporters to credit him for being a top four finisher in the republican presidential race, which if you think about it is almost enough to get you a medal. >> at the end of the day it was a 17 person field and i was one of the last four standing in a field that ran basically every political figure that ran for president. >> i was one of four still standing. marco rubio did indeed place in the top four in the republican

party primary. that is awesome for him. as i said, though, not a man to be humbled by what he just went through. that does it for us tonight. a be humbled by just what -- what he just went through. >> "first look" is up next. it's friday, march 18th. right now on "first look," is the northeast headed for one last gasp with a massive snowstorm? the anger and frustration over the flint lead poise upping crisis shifted to washington. a mounting effort by some in the republican party to stop trump before he leads the party in the race for the white house. soon, every car in the land will have this special safety measure. march madness is in full swing and we have the bracketbusters. "first look" starts right now. good morning. i'm betty nguyen. things they got heated fast on capitol hill yesterday during a congressional hearing over who's