good morning. i'm steve kornacki. topping the agenda, meetings with the old guard, new hours a. a general election fund-raising plan. they all point to one thing. donald trump getting an organization ready for the general election. >> these people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars to pollsters. i pay nothing. but the networks give me polls every day. >> after vowing never to use pollsters during the primary, trump changing courses this morning bringing a new pollster aboard. also, word of a meet with trump and henry kissinger as he looks to bridge the republican divide. also, hillary clinton saying her husband would handle the economy if she's president. now the former president is

weighing in on his role. >> i'll do whatever i'm asked to do. >> but before hillary can plan her white house or even focus on donald trump, she still has to deal with bernie sanders. two more primaries tonight in kentucky and oregon. with a sweep, clinton would end whatever doubt there is about who will be the democratic nominee. we'll look at both of those states and why the clinton campaign thinks it can make a big score. >> jacob soboroff hits the road to go hitch hiking. >> what is it about what's going on here on this i-80 corridor that people go for him over hillary clinton. >> it me it all boils down to jobs. >> a tour of the rust belt battleground that could decide the trump/clinton race. what jacob has seen and is

hearing. that's all still ahead but we begin with our top story. donald trump flip-flopping on pollsters. he said they were a waste of money a few months ago. now he's bringing one on board. politico reporting trump has hired tony fabrizio. he may be trying to build a more conventional operation. this is a move one of trump's campaign chiefs paul manafort has been advocating. fabrizio and manafort worked together on bob dole's 1996 campaign. trump looking to bridge the divide within his party and bulk up his own foreign policy credentials reaching out to former secretary of state henry kissinger. according to "the washington post," the two are set to meet in new york on wednesday. trump, of course, receiving criticism from republicans throughout the primary for his foreign policy views. particularly when it comes to vladimir putin in russia and also over some of his attacks on george w. bush and the iraq war.

mitt romney and john mccain, the last two republican nominees received endorsements from kissinger when they ran for president. also new this morning, check this out. a tight race in our newest nbc news/surveymonkey tracking poll. just three points separating donald trump from hillary clinton. 48% to 45% lead there for the former secretary of state. the story behind the numbers here not surprisingly a massive gender gap. clinton leading by 15 points with women. trump trouncing her when it comes to men. and add those together a three-point lead for clinton overall. party unity has been a big problem since trump locked it down. trump is getting just as many republicans to vote for him as hillary clinton is getting democrats to vote for her. 87% of republicans saying they'll support trump right now. that looks like party unity, at least on paper. while donald trump and paul ryan wrestle for control over who

will be the ideological leader of their party, republicans when asked if they trust trump or paul ryan to lead, nearly 6 in 10 saying they support trump. the presumptive nominee. nbc's hallie jackson joins us from trump tower this morning. obviously, those are numbers that are encouraging for the trump campaign, particularly just when you look at republicans because this question of unity has been so big. at the same time this news of bringing on a pollster, normally that wouldn't be big news with the campaign but this is donald trump. it's been an anti-campaign. he said he wouldn't do this. what can we read into the fact he now is? >> here we are six months out from the general when most candidates would have had a pollster on for months and months and months and donald trump is just bringing somebody on board. you look at tony fabrizio. he has ties to paul manafort who obviously is one of donald trump's top aides. they worked together back on that campaign in '96. fabrizio an old school operative

to work with the trump campaign not just for polling but also likely have an operative kind of role helping to advise donald trump as he navigates these general election waters. it's interesting because it does seem to be at least somewhat a shift for donald trump into more traditional territory. something that we haven't seen from him in the past. look who he has been meeting with. james baker. the meeting tomorrow with henry kissinger. bringing on board tony fabrizio. he's pulling up some of these veteran operatives to help guide him and his campaign through the summer, through the convention and into the fall. it's not the only thing he's doing. he's previewing his general election strategy, something we see from more traditional campaigns. and he's fund-raising for the general election. that's something we've learned. for donald trump, it's a little bit of a shift into more traditional territory. how that will play with voters is yet to be seen only because trump has run on

unpredictability. they like that he's a candidate who kind of runs against what everybody else is doing, who does his own thing, marches to the beat of his own drum. when you look at where that is with these new nbc news/survey monkey polls is the split in the party between him and speaker paul ryan. 6 in 10 republicans favoring donald trump over speaker ryan. that's potentially significant and could be a reason for speaker ryan, if he were to look at those numbers to see that he might need to come out more definitively for trump, to endorse trump sooner rather than later. that's something ryan has yet to do. >> hallie jackson, thanks for that. let me bring in ben ginsburg. thanks for sticking around. you were on this morning. let me ask you about party unity. a couple of pieces of news. john kasich gave an interview last night and said he's not ready to endorse donald trump. didn't roll it out.

tom ridge, the former homeland security secretary, former pennsylvania governor has a new column this morning saying why i won't vote for trump. trump reflects the traits of a bully, not an american president. the republican leader level, that's the news this morning. when you look at that poll, do you see a unified party? >> the polls show the voters seem to be more unified than the leaders may be in washington. those poll numbers will also probably have the effect of galvanizing even more support. there will be leaders at the top who still have objections to donald trump. paul ryan's decision making process in the way he'll deal with the issues that divide him will be key in unifying the party. and they are sort of timed to happen right before the convention in cleveland. >> when it comes down to it and we get into the fall and close to election day, how big will the holdout factor be? people like tom ridge, do you think they'll still be out there saying this or will that be old news by this fall?

>> they still may be out there saying it. the question is whether that will matter in the dynamics of the fall campaign and those sorts of things don't. there have been examples in past republican campaigns. some we've won. some we've lost. >> we've seen -- donald trump brags pretty much that he won the republican primary by breaking a lot of the rules we thought existed for politics about things you are supposed to do. things you aren't supposed to do. i hesitate to even ask this but when you look to the general election, it is a different challenge. you need to get tens of millions more votes to be elected president in the fall. if donald trump sat down with you and said what do i need to put together organizationally, what's the answer to that? >> donald trump is a different sort of candidate. traditionally you would advocate for really strong ground game and a lot of data and metrix, he is a different sort of candidate with his ability to project to the public. so i think what you see in a tony fabreeze you, bringing on a

pollster is a very smart acknowledgment that a primary runs on a regular schedule. you allocate your resources according to the primary in front of you. when you get to a general election campaign, you need to be able to take soundings in the different states, different parts of the states, different population segments to be able to know where to focus the candidate's time in addition to the advertising resources. >> in terms of strategy, too, some news donald trump was making just yesterday. he gave an interview to "the new york times" saying, when he gets to that debate stage with hillary clinton, he wants to bring up the scandals of the 1990s, lewinsky, bring up this idea that hillary clinton was an enabler of her husband's -- some of the accusations against her husband going after the women who her husband had allegedly done things to and with. what's your reaction? do you think he could -- that could actually give him traction or is that a road he doesn't want to go down? >> i think that around all

debates, the candidates play sort of psychological head games with each other. i think you're seeing it start extraordinarily early. but it seems one of the things that you do want to do is to make your candidate, your opponent start thinking on your terms. this is a pretty effective way to do that. >> we always talk about bill clinton being such a great communicator, a great force on the stump. is there an effect of trying to neutralize bill clinton n get him off the trail? there's this threat the minute he says something, donald trump is going to come at him with all this stuff babout his past behavior. >> bill clinton has been through a lot of wars and a lot of fights, and i'm not sure what you actually do to neutralize him in the sense of this race. you might try and get him to explode because that's been a more effective tactic. >> trump is trying to push bill clinton's buttons to see if he can get a reaction. appreciate it. now to the meeting between

donald trump and henry kissing are. let me bring in steve clemmons, msnbc contributor, editor at the atlantic on this story. donald trump said some things in the primary when it came to foreign policy, particularly on putin, on russia, but also he said at one point we were lied into iraq under george w. bush's presidency. he said some things that did not sit well with the foreign policy establishment. what does meeting with henry kissinger do for donald trump and his campaign? >> well, it helps legitimize him. to meet henry kissinger for the leading gop candidate is like the new hampshire primary. it's something you have to go through. you have to try and win. he's going to have to try and win dr. kissinger over. it's interesting. henry kissinger, the honorary chairman of the center for the national interest. and it's the center for the national interest where donald trump did his one and only very big scripted foreign policy speech. so kissinger was not at that

event, but i think it is taking those notions that trump put forward on america first and through a prism of national interest that he is going to talk with kissinger about where that gap is between them. and it may be narrower than many of us think. >> when you say it may be narrow, how do you -- when you look at the gap, what do you see? >> well, kissinger, who was an architect and a key stakeholder and really the post world war ii international security system as we have it today is nonetheless not a static guy. he also would agree with bob gates and trump that european nations are not doing enough to pay for their own defense. that they ought to chip in more. he would argue that looking as trump said at ways to talk to china and russia, which trump did not demonize in his speech would be okay. where i think he would council trump is said you can talk about walking out of nato or talking about japan and others.

kissinger has called japan an undeclared nuclear nation. but i think he would say what is very important by the united states is standing by its most vital friends and allies in the world and creating a predictability of power and strength. trump is threatening that. that's one of the messages kissinger will deliver to trump. >> does nominating donald trump change the republican party and its relationship with the iraq war? for the presidential election since 9/11, it's been the republican party that's defended the idea of going into iraq, the philosophy behind going into iraq. does nominating donald trump change that going forward? >> it shifts the balance of shower within the republican party away from neoconservatives and towards realists. the iraq war never settled well with many republican realists who both used to serve under ronald reagan but they see themselves as a nixonian realist. and they are part of the gop establishment but they've been the quieter part of that foreign policy establishment.

the paul wolfowitz, john bolton and others that led the way into iraq, and it created a divide. what many people have been missing in the donald trump conversation is he's trying, kind of recklessly and flamboyantly, to tilt that back to a hyperrealism. you see bill crystal and other leading neoconservatives waging a war against trump because he's shifting a battle within the republican foreign policy ranks. >> steve clemmons with the atlantic. thanks for the time. appreciate it. and coming up, it's primary day. we'll check in in kentucky and oregon. votes are being cast. they do them a little differently in oregon. we'll explain what that's all about. and a pro-hillary clinton c. and talk about bill clinton's role continues to come up. is he fair game? all that just ahead. if you're going to make a statement... make sure it's an intelligent one.

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you know, you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever. does she have a good body? no. does she have a fat ass? absolutely. girls 5'1", they come up to you where? >> if ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps i'd be ding her. >> does donald trump really speak for you? >> that's one of t two hard-hitting ads that'soing to hit the air waves tomw in key leground states as the advertising pro-hillary clinton superpac priorities usa launches an but before she shifts to the aggres and sustained neral election, clinton still has to focus on twoe primary states da kentucky and

of losses to bernie sanders. total 116 pledge delegates at stake today. 55 in kentucky. 61 in oregon. she does this, as she campaigns in kentucky, she's also been talking about her role for bill clinton in a second clinton presidency saying that clinton -- that bill clinton, the former president, would focus on helping to revitalize the economy. here's what bill clinton had to say about that in this exclusive nbc news interview. >> i'll do whatever i'm asked to do. i like this economic business. >> right now, of course, primary day, clinton focusing on trying to get those wins tonight. nbc's kristen welker joins us campaign headquarters in brooklyn, new york. this issue of bill clinton's role in a prospective clinton

presidency. a fup nights ago, hillary clinton said put him in charge of the economy. i want to play this just yesterday. hillary clinton still pressing this theme. this is what she said yesterday. >> so let's suppose, here's the question. so what is your plan to create jobs? his answer is, i'm going to create 'em. they're going to be great. i know how to do it but i'm not telling you what it is i'm going to do. >> well, that was her bashing donald trump. the one i was hoping we'd play there, hillary clinton says if i'm fortunate enough to be president and he will be the first gentlemen, i expect him to go to work to make sure we get those jobs growing and incomes rising. we came into this segment with that superpac ad that's being run trying to focus on donald trump's statements, treatment, behavior toward women. if hillary clinton is talking about a very formal role for bill clinton in her administration, is she opening herself up to attacks about her

husband's behavior toward women? >> i think in part it's a response to some of the attacks that donald trump has already lobbed her way when it comes to former president bill clinton. of course, he's taken them on over his past indiscretions. this is the way of shifting that narrative and trying to refocus the conversation about what they see as a strength for bill clinton and his record. the booming economy of the '90s. it's also a way of trying to paint herself as the steady leader. of course, if you talk to some democrats, they say this is a strategy that could work but also comes with some risks. it reminds voters she's entrenched and this is an election cycle that tends to favor outsiders. so we'll have to see how this plays out. i think that's part of the thinking within the clinton campaign. this all comes as this race is tightening. our latest nbc news/survey monkey online poll showing its

closest point to date. secretary clinton leading donald trump by only three points, 48% to 45%. one of her big challenges as she takes on this general election battle is that she's still fighting her own primary. what you were talking about. and there are those two key primaries today, oregon and kentucky. the clinton campaign says they have their best shot at winning kentucky. that's why you've seen secretary clinton make so many stops there and they're outspending bernie sanders there nearly 2 to 1 in adds. i spoke to a campaign official last night. how are you feeling about kentucky? this official said it really could go either way. she needs to start winning these primaries, not so much for the math but for the momentum so she heads into the convention on solid ground. >> kristen welker brooklyn where hillary clinton's national campaign headquarters is. let's look at kentucky. this is the one the clinton campaign thinks they have the best chance to pull off the win

in tonight. i'm joined by a veteran of cross. a journal uist for the louisvil journal. thanks for taking a few minutes. the clinton campaign is looking at kentucky. they come into this with a primary losing streak coming into tonight. they know they're in great shape to win the nomination but they want to win in a state that bernie sanders is really targeting. and they are looking to kentucky, saying they can get a win here. is that plausible? if so, how would they pull it off tonight? what would it look like? >> it's entirely plausible. bill clinton carried this state twice. hillary clinton carried it by 31 points in the 2008 primar. the only poll that's been taken in this state which was in early march, she led senders, 43 to 38. that was before she made the comment about putting coal miners and coal companies out of business which hurt her in the

state's two coal fields. and the clinton campaign has been playing something of an expectations game. at first downplaying its chances in kentucky and now talking them up. and after you spend four days in a state, you better talk it up because it's going to be embarrassing if you lose it. >> what about -- and you've written about the trump factor in this. we saw a little bit of this in west virginia. kentucky, west virginia, states that have moved republican in terms of how they vote for president. there's still a lot of conservatives who are registered democrats in these states who participate in democratic primaries. a lot of those democrats in kentucky are actually trump supporters for the fall who are going to vote democratic today. any clue how they're going to go in this? >> we don't know how well they'll turn out. there are other races on the ballot today that may get people out. it's a fairly light ballot. 52% of kentucky voters are still registered democrats. but most of them, about 40%, 45%

identify as conservative. and their candidate is donald trump. and the polls and the west virginia results indicated that these people go to the polls and vote for sanders even though he's more anti-coal than clinton is. >> it's an interesting dynamic because this is a closed primary. we've heard so much about these distinctions between the closed and open primaries. the democrats only primaries have favored hillary clinton. so it sounds like there's an interesting potentially balancing act here where it's a closed primary. that could benefit hillary clinton. you have these trump supporters in west virginia. they were for sanders. maybe that's his wild card there. >> you had 18% independents in west virginia, and they won't be voting in the kentucky primary. but clinton really has to prove that she can win back the democrats here. the poll that i cited taken in early march by public policy polling found that 46% of people

who said they were going to vote in the democratic primary have a less favleon of hillary clinton than they did in 2008. and that tracks almost exactly with their opinions of barack obama. >> we've seen that in that region of the country. she won west virginia by 40 points eight years ago. got beat by double digits. thanks for the time. appreciate it. coming up, our most important number of the day. we'll look at just how likable the leading candidates for president are. spoiler alert, not very. with the right steps, 80% of recurrent ischemic strokes could be prevented. and i'm doing all i can to help prevent another one. a bayer aspirin regimen is one of those steps in helping prevent another stroke. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. it takes a lot of work... but i really love it.s. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should.

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now serving... a better banquet. [ "dreams" by beck ] hmmmmm... hmmmmm... the turbocharged dream machine. the volkswagen golf gti. part of the award-winning golf family. we have hillary clinton left. she's a very flawed candidate. she's going to be horrible on jobs. horrible on just about every subject that i can think of. >> what you hear from donald trump is not just offensive. it is dangerous. this will be a big part of the general election because

americans, regardless of our political affiliation have to really take this vot seriously. it looks like that's going to be your choice this fall. hillary clinton, donald trump. and there's this cliche in politics, you know, sometimes you say one candidate happens to be running against the only candidate who they could actually beat because they're less popular than them. i screwed that up completely. that's what i get for ad libbing. this is the most important number of the day. the number is 121. what is 121? it's the combined unfavorable number score in our latest national tracking poll for hillary clinton and for donald trump. so check this out. donald trump, we've had a lot of attention paid to this. donald trump racking up very, very high unfavorable scores with all general election voters. that's a consequence of the he's run his campaign for the republican nomination.

37% favorable. 62% unfavorable score. hillary clinton, the flip side of this, her unfavorable score almost as high as donald trump's. not quite as high. 59%. 62 for trump. 59 for clinton. add those together you get 121. only a three-point gap between them. maybe not coincidentally here, there's a three-point gap between them in our national tracking poll. hillary clinton leading 48, donald trump with 45. the cliche if it's a cliche that i wanted to mention was look at vorable numbers like that. look at donald trump's and you say, he's fortunate maybe to be running against the one candidate with unfavorable numbers high enough that he maybe, maybe could beat her and hillary clinton, you look at her unfavorable numbers and say maybe these fortunate enough she's running against the one candidate she could beat. you get two candidates with well over 50% unfavorable numbers.

that's our most important number of the day. 121. and that is also why when you see that combined unfavorable number, that is why so many have talked about the possibility of could there be a third party candidate, an independent candidate getting into this race trying to take advantage of how unpopular these two presumptive nominees are. one of the names floated, this was a bunch of conservatives looking for a conservative alternative. mark cuban. he shot that down right away but joined me yesterday and talked about the prospect of a clinton/trump race. this is what mark cuban had to say. >> do you look at the white house, the presidency, american politics and say the skills of a business leader make for a strong president? >> absolutely. you have to be knowledgeable. you have to be prepared. you have to be willing to learn. you have to have a thirst for knowledge. so that skill-set, what makes a

great business person definitely would fit as the president. the question is, is donald that kind of business person? i don't think he is. i think donald is amazing. a savant when it comes to real estate but hasn't demonstrated that ability in other business ventures. he puts his name on products that make no sense. the products suggest he just needed the money. steaks, suits, water, university, you name it. there's no rhyme or reason there. >> that was mark cuban with me on "mtp daily." cuban says too late. not going to happen. he's not going to run this year. wasn't closing the door on a future year, though. coming up, another primary day. voters has to the polls in kentucky. they are not heading to the polls in oregon where today is also a primary day. there's a reason for that. we'll explain it to you. that's straight ahead.

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all right. the polls are open. they are voting right now in kentucky. there's a big democratic primary there today. kentucky, this is a state hillary clinton has been campaigning in a lot the last few days. this after she lost by double digits in west virginia last week. the clinton campaign looks at kentucky and a closed primary state. they see an opportunity to beat bernie sanders tonight. at the same time out west, democratic primary taking place in oregon today. but here's the twist. no polling places. no ballots. no ballot boxes to stuff them in in high school gyms or the places you usually think of. there's a reason for that. cal perry is going to explain it in just a minute. first, tony dikopolo in bowling green, kentucky. a manufacturing capital for fast cars and cotton underwear. what am i reading here?

clinton versus sanders in kentucky. the clinton campaign thinks they can get a win down there. what are you seeing and hearing? >> they think they can. so this is where every corvette in america is built for the last 30 years. there's your fast cars. also a manufacturing hub for fruit of the loom. another thing to point out, you say super site. this is a five-precinct location in bowling green which is the population capital for western kentucky. we've had 70 people so far. we're in the dozens, not the hundreds. not much foot traffic in this high school gym. that's got a bigger picture reason for it. and to help us understand turnout and some of the bigger voting trends here in kentucky. this is janice. she's a deputy clerk in the warren county voter registration office and an election official here. here's one of the big mysteries of kentucky. 1.6 million registered

democrats. more than republicans but you have a republican governo and you haven't voted for a democratic president since bill clinton. what's going on here? >> i think people are changing. i think that we're going more liberal. i think people are more independent, and i don't think they stand on a base of being a democrat or republican. they're going more for what the person is and what that person says. >> when you look at election day today, how do you think that translates into an advantage for hillary clinton or bernie sanders? >> i think that it's going to be a tight race. >> the other thing fascinating about kentucky is it's closed, and independents are excluded. you have a lot of independents here? >> we do. we'll see a lot more flow of traffic in november when it will be the gym will probably be full and all the precincts you'll have a lot of traffic flow. >> thank you, janice. there are about 6,000 independents in this county. they are shut out as we've seen in other states. i talked to one guy hoping to vote for bernie sanders.

a lot of independents break that direction. he said no dice for me today. i'd like to be back in november. unclear if he'll get that opportunity. >> tony, they could cram a few more precincts in there. it wouldn't be an overflow situation. thanks for that, tony. now to the other state holding a primary today, oregon, out west. there are no polls open in oregon. let's get the scoop on how this all works from cal perry. so what if they had an election and there were no polling places? what is going on in oregon? >> i think you'll be talking about this a lot tonight. we have a situation here where in 1998 they changed the laws and made it all voting by mail. we have pictures of people who have voted, dropping their ballots off in these locations where you have these ballot boxes but they're outside so you can literally drive through, drop them off. also vote by mail. this is really to try to help voter turnout.

oregon has had tremendous voter turnout. if you look at the numbers from general elections, it's usually 20% higher than than the national average. these are tremendous numbers. the problem now is in the primary, are we going to see a drop in voter turnout? the answer is yes. we're going to see a drop in voter turnout. here's why. the dmv automatically registers you to vote. you go, get your driver's license, you're registered to vote. but you're registered as unaffiliated. so you have to register in a closed primary affiliated with a party so the voter has to do that themselves. roughly 76% of people who got that card to register with the primary with a party didn't send the card back. we expect voter turnout somewhere around 24%. great for the general election for oregon. perhaps we'll see low numbers tonight, though. >> if i lived out there, i'd use one of those drop-off things. i'd be scared if my ballot gets lost in the mail or something. >> there you go. one of the questions for you.

do you think it will help the establishment candidate? because people have to go and register for a party, clinton has the edge because she has the establishment and ground game. >> that's an interesting point. you look at oregon on paper and portland and say, was there a city in america more made for bernie sanders than portland, oregon? jeff merkley, the only senator to come out and endorse bernie sanders is from oregon. he can read the writing on the wall. this is sanders country. he doesn't want to irritate those sanders voters. but the closed primary and how those ballots work there was a poll that came out last week that had hillary clinton leading by 12 points in oregon and a lot of people said that doesn't sound right. you may be explaining why that number is something to watch, why hillary clinton has a shot. >> tonight with steve kornacki at the big board. >> we'll just repeat everything we just said. hillary clinton has a shot. two states on paper people said look like bernie sanders states. hillary clinton has a shot to win both of them tonight.

a little surprise there potentially on the democratic side. cal perry, appreciate it. jacob soboroff hitching a ride with some truckers in the big crucial, all-important swing state of ohio. he's trying to get the 10-4 on who the people on the road are supporting there. up next, after several last-second appeals, will we learn any more about chris christie and his role or lack of a role in bridgegate today. it's time for the "your business" entrepreneurs of the week. orrin and ronnie frank, the sounder of talk space are reimagining mental health care. they are connecting therapists with patients who communicate all via text. the idea is not without detractors, but the company is growing quickly. for more watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪

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released. probably. the release was delayed after a john doe, one of the unindicted co-conspirators filing under the name john dole, a last-second appeal said it would brand that person a criminal to be on this list publicly released. a judge in newark denied john doe's request, gave the government until noon today to release the list. but late yesterday, the attorneys representing john doe filed another motion in the appeals court arguing his due process rights would be violated. lawyers representing news groups argued that the doe had a chance to be heard, should have brought his concerns to the court months earlier. a ruling on his claim is expected today before that noon deadline. governor chris christie seems unlikely to be on the list himself, but who is on the list could still say something about christie. these are the people potentially in his inner circle. especially now as he's been

tapped to lead the transition team for a possible trump presidency. coming up, msnbc's jacob soboroff taking a break from jake walking. now he's getting a ride with truck drivers in ohio. who going to get the big job when he gets a chance to live everybody's dream. >> when you pull the air horn, where is it? >> right here. >> can i do it? >> help yourself. with booking.com's free cancellation, you could just forget the beach wedding...

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well, it feels like we say this every four years around this time, but you look ahead to the general election this fall and one state stands out as one of the most pivotal swing states, and that is the buckeye state, ohio. msnbc's jacob soboroff is on the ground in ohio this morning, he's in columbus. jacob, you're looking at ohio right now, you're looking at a very specific type of voter, though, the trucker vote. what are you seeing out there?

>> reporter: you know, steve, we have literally seen countless different places where they say the rubber meets the road, but woe saw where it actually meets the road yesterday. i was on a stretch of interstate 80, which of course a cross-country highway that goes from the east coast to the west coast but specifically through the swing states of pennsylvania and ohio. the folks that traverse that road on a daily basis know this state almost better than anyone else and it is one of the swingiest parts in one of the swingiest states in the union and could tip the scales for donald trump or hillary clinton. so we went to the truck world truck stop, a very fine place, to see what voters there had to say. i'm at the truck world truck stop on the i-80 corridor in hubbard, ohio, and very few roads are as important to the 2016 presidential election than this one because it runs through the swing states of ohio and pennsylvania. nobody knows this area better than these truckers. >> have you thought about who you're going to vote for yet? >> i don't know.

i don't trust either one of them right now. >> donald trump or hillary clinton? >> yes. >> is it possible for hillary clinton to win over your vote? >> yes, it is. >> donald trump, possible for him? >> yeah. he has a lot to prove between now and then. >> retired salesman. what are you doing here at truck world. >> well, i have to do something. everybody has got to be somewhere. >> what do you think is going to happen. have you figured out which way you're going to go in that general election? >> yeah, i think so. i think trump is the lesser of two evils. >> chuck, i want to look at this map right here. what does the next president need to do to win over the voters of the i-80 corridor through ohio? >> i think he's got to convince the voters that he's going to bring back industry that went overseas and mexico. i think trump is a good man to do that. >> or she. >> not she. no, no. >> where are you from? >> kentucky. >> kentucky. so are you a truck driver? >> yeah. >> what kind of a truck do you drive? >> kenworth. >> 16-wheeler? >> 18-wheeler. >> excuse me. i don't know anything about

trucks. who are you going for in november? >> i'm going for trump. >> so where you come from, kentucky is going for trump but this i-80 corridor could pretty much decide it. which way do you think they'll go up here? >> i believe they'll go for trump, i do. i believe it's going to really surprise a lot of people. >> could we check out your truck by any chance? >> yeah, yeah. sure can. >> what is it about what's going on here on this i-80 corridor that people go for him over hillary clinton? >> to me it all boils down to jobs. i have made a lot of money in ohio in my 28, 29 years but there is a lot of places, you know, that are no more. these factories, a lot of them have just closed up and left, you know. >> when you pull the air horn, where is that? >> right here. >> can you do it? >> yes, sir, help yourself. >> here we go. >> reporter: living the dream, steve, getting to pull the air

horn in an 18-wheeler. i apologize to all the truck drivers in the world for calling it a 16-wheeler initially. really important here what's going on in ohio. priorities usa action, we've been talking about it all morning and last night, rachel was talking about it. has released their first ad spending $1.76 million here in ohio. this state could decide the election. it went for barack obama the last two times but went for george bush before that. >> i've got to say you gave it a little toot toot there, i think i would have hung on to that thing a little longer. >> reporter: there were little kids around, i didn't want to scare anybody, steve. i was a little scared to pull it myself. >> jacob soboroff spending time with the 18-wheelers, not the 16-wheelers out there on i-80 in columbus there. thanks for that, jacob. >> reporter: my bad. >> i would have probably made the same mistake. msnbc's special live coverage of tonight's primary will kick off

at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. i'll be there with the whole team breaking down the results as they roll in. for now i'm steve kornacki. jose diaz-balart is up next. w wt forever to see it. (jon bon jovi) with directv, you don't. ♪ you see, we've got the power to turn back time. ♪ ♪ that show you missed, let's just go back and find. ♪ ♪ and let's go back and choose spicy instead of mild. ♪ ♪ and maybe reconsider having that second child. ♪ ♪ see, that's the power to turn back time. ♪ (vo) get the ultimate all included bundle. call 1-800-directv.

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look out!! ohhhhhhhhhh... you know what, i'm just gonna email it to you. yeah that's probably safer. ok, cool. burning, pins-and-needles of beforediabetic nerve pain, these feet played shortstop in high school, learned the horn from my dad and played gigs from new york to miami. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain, from moderate to even severe diabetic nerve pain. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica.

now i have less diabetic nerve pain. and these feet would like to keep the beat going. ask your doctor about lyrica. good tuesday morning from new york. i'm jose diaz-balart. up first this morning, the presidential race is getting personal, as polls show donald trump is closing the gap with hillary clinton. clinton's lead over trump nationally now down to just three points and that's according to our new nbc news/survey monkey online poll showing she's at 48%, he's at 45% and the divide runs deep in some of the nation's most coveted voting blocks. also happening today, democrats enter the home stretch of their long primary season. hillary clinton still locked in a fierce battle with bernie sanders. there are contests, as you know, today in kentucky and oregon. depending on the outcome, hillary clinton could, could clinch the nomination tonight. her main target is already

donald trump. complete with a new media blitz and fresh line of attack on the trail. >> i'm going to do it, i know how to do it, i'll get it done. but i'm not going to tell you what i'm going to do. you know, i kind of think a lot of folks, republicans, democrats, independents, a lot of folks are going to be thinking what's he talking about? >> our political team has it all covered for you this morning. let me start with mark murray on the new polling. mark, good seeing you. we see the national race tightening, but when you really get into the numbers, there are some big splits, no? >> yeah, and it's a familiar demographic splits that we have seen in the 2008 and 2012 cycle. let me break it down. hillary clinton has a substantial lead over donald trump when it comes to african-americans. 84% for hillary clinton. just 9% for donald trump. among latinos, it is hillary clinton at 65%, donald trump at 28%.

donald trump, though, with a 14-p l