joining me now is jamal simmons. r having me rev. >> jamal, trump is going hard at jeb bush. how does this play out? >> well trump is causing the entire gop field fits because what he's doing is highlighting all the things that they don't want people to talk about. it's sort of like a crazy uncle came downstairs from the bedroom and now he's not just at the dinner table, he's outside on the front lawn and people are gathering to take a look at the spectacle. what he's doing is telling the people about all the little dirty secrets that republicans have been able to whisper behind the scenes. he is now saying those things out loud and bringing out the rawest, most xenophobic element of the republican party and causing everybody damage in their party for doing it. >> let's get back to that poll showing trump leading in the gop field in north carolina. now what's your take on this? >> i think voters will flirt and sort of dance with donald trump for a long time. he may even scare some people in a couple of these early sta

joining me now are perry bacon and jamal simmons. thank you both for being here. >> thanks, reverend. >> perry, i've never seen anything like it. giving out a number. now this will dominate the news cycle. how can other candidates deal with this? i mean how do they get noticed? >> i think you're seeing what they're trying to do this morning is lindsey graham and rick perry are now trying to attack donald trump. because they know that's the only way you can get news. there was a study out today that showed that 46%, 46% of the stories right now in the republican primary are about donald trump meaning he's getting covered as much as the other 15 guys are combined. the reason is because whatever you think of donald trump he's brilliant at courting the media and getting attention. i'll be honest with you, after he gave up that cell phone number of lindsey graham i called it. because i'm a journalist and i have to check that kind of thing. it was in fact graham's cell phone number. i was shocked but i knew i had to cover it. because dond