with friends like that, here's manu raju. >> reporter: ted cruz said the gop is rallying behind him. >> you are looking at the entire spectrum of the republican party, the entire ideological spectrum coming together and uniting. >> reporter: but one influential group is still holding out. his fellow republican senators. >> i think it's difficult for many senators to be supportive of him. if we're going to save this country, it's going to be in the senate. i would think most people would wish that he'd take the senate more seriously. >> reporter: many gop senators dislike cruz after two years of bitter infighting. they say he's engaged in divisive tactics to bolster his profile. most notably a 16-day government shutdown in 2013 after demanding republican support to defund obamacare. >> and the republicans in this body, sadly, more than a few of them, say we will take lots and lots of symbolic votes against obamacare. but there's nothing we can do. >> reporter: the tough talk has made cruz beloved by conservative activists frustrated with party leaders. but in the capitol, it's come at

here now is cnn's manu raju. >> reporter: democrats believe they found an issue that will help them win back control of the senate. the gop's opposition to considering president obama's supreme court nominee judge merrick garland. >> if the senators don't want to do their jobs, they should stop taking the pay. >> reporter: at the top of the list, republican ron johnson, a former plastics manufacturing and now considered one of the most endangered republicans in the country but he isn't phased by the democratic outrage. >> they are blowing it way out of reaction. i'm big in real. the fact is, we are not going to hold hearings and we are not going to confirm this justice. >> reporter: johnson argues his defiance stand will play to his favor with gun enthusiasts in his perennial swing state. >> this judge is pretty hostile. he's got a proven record that he's hostile to second amendment rights to keep and bear arms. that's kind of important in the state of wisconsin so i think in general if anything it will be to my benefit. >> reporter: senate republicans are betting that their stand will

senior political reporter manu raju has that story. manu. >> hey, pamela.as made his presidential campaign in large part about nasty infighting between him and his colleagues. and it turns out senate republicans have not forgotten. >> if you want to see the -- >> reporter: ted cruz says the gop is rallying behind him. >> you are looking at the entire spectrum of the republican party, the entire ideological spectrum coming together and uniting. >> reporter: but one influential group is still holding out, his fellow republican senators. >> made it more difficult for senators to be supportive of him. if we're going to save this country, it's going to be in the senate. an i think most people would wish that he would take the senate more seriously. >> reporter: many gop senators dislike cruz after two years of bitter infighting. they say he's engaged in di vizzive tactics most notely a government shutdown after demanding republican support to fund obamacare. >> and the republicans in this body sadly more than a few of them say we will take lots and lots of symbo

manu raju spoke with merkley about that endorsement. this is key.s is the first sitting senator to back bernie sanders. >> that's right. 46 have actually endorsed hillary clinton. he became the first. i asked him was he surprised about that? he said, well, maybe if other democrats had a chance earlier and did not actually commit to hillary clinton earlier, they would be considering endorsing bernie sanders right now. but the main issues that drove him towards bernie sanders was his position on climate change, on campaign finance and on trade issues and made very clear the reason why he's backing bernie sanders is that he's the one person who has been leading the charge on these issues. >> certainly we're fortunate to have two candidates on the democratic side that have experience in common positions but it's bernie sanders that i'm endorsing because he has been in the battlefield fighting clearly on these issues in a way that i think is the boldest, most powerful voice. i think the math is an uphill climb, the delegate math is an uphill climb but my

manu raju. good to see you. thank you so much. those meetings will continue.onald trump, when talking about this delegate fight, he insists the system is rigged against him. he has also said the head of the rnc should be ashamed of himself for how this delegate fight is playing outstate by state. but the rnc chairman, reince priebus, he insists the process is fair. listen. >> look, the rules are there. i know people get frustrated and they're disappointed when things don't go exactly the right way. i think when people are frustrated and upset, they say things they regret. is but certainly one things that's true, the rules are not being changed in order to injure or benefit anybody. they are what they are. they're in writing. they're available to anyone that wants to participate. and actually, state by state, they're not all that complicated. >> so you see right there, reince priebus and with us is rnc national spokeswoman lindsey walters. >> thank you. >> you heard from reince, clearly trying to take the temperature down on this back and forth with donald trum

manu raju at the capitol tonight. and manu, you've been talking to members of congress today.nd a few weeks ago, right, it was hard for any of them to admit they would consider donald trump. they wanted to avoid it. they didn't want to talk about it at all. and now things are really changing. >> reporter: that's right, erin. actually, senate majority whip, number two senate republican, told me in february that donald trump would actually be an albatross. when i asked him about that yesterday, he said that donald trump could be good for his party, expand the electoral map and help maintain the senate majority. mark sanford, who supports ted cruz, south carolina congressman, said trump is probably the nominee and they're getting behind that idea. orrin hatch, republican senator, also said that he will do whatever he can help trump if he becomes a nominee. paul manafort, his convention manager was on capitol hill today as part of his weekly outreach meetings to members of the house. and after that meeting, house members were saying the support is broughtening for donald trump. >>

for the first time one of his colleagues in the senate, senator jeff merkley who talked to cnn's manu raju. >> it's bernie that i am endorsing because he has been in the battlefield fighting clearly on these issues in a way that i think is the boldest, most powerful voice. >> reporter: but hillary clinton firing back with but support of her own winning the endorsement of the "new york daily news" editorial board who had the interview with bernie sanders last week that made him look seemingly unprepared. clinton's proposals are shaped for the world in which we live. clinton also won the endorsement of two major immigration groups, announcing her plan to create an office of immigrant affairs and once again hitting the republican front-runner. >> as i have said frequently about donald trump, basta, enough with the prejudice and bluster and bigotry. >> reporter: another key voting bloc for clinton, african-americans. she's leading sanders and trying to side step the land mines of race and politics. controversy arose in a skit she appeared in with new york's mayor where she thanked him for endo

. -- manu raju. >> from our nation's capital, is this "washington week," with again ifill. corporate funding is provided by -- >> today, people are coming out to the nation's capital to support an important cause that could change the way you live for years to come. how can you help? by giving a little more, to yourself. >> my future. >> people sometimes forget to help themselves. >> the cause is retirement. and today, people came to the race for retirement and pledged to save an additional 1% of their income. if we all do that, we can all win. >> prudential. >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing. additional funding is provided by new man's own foundation, donating all profits from new man's food products to charity and nourishing the common good, the ford foundation and the efforts and excellence in journalism foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator, again i zhrep fill. gwen: two slightly different fights broke

let's go to our senior political reporter manu raju live on capitol hill with all of the details. listen, he said no multiple times before. but finally this is it, is it really? >> it seems that way. paul ryan has dealt with this increased speculation that he needs maneuvering behind the scenes to position himself for a possible run in a deadlock convention. he's tried to end all that chatter. for months we've been asking him. he said no, i'm not running. it's only seemed to intensify the speculation and the chatter also among people in the party establishment who are worried about ted cruz, who are worried about donald trump and view paul ryan as a savior. he's going to make the case very clearly that no matter what he will not accept the republican nomination. he is of course chairman of of that convention. and wants to deal with this, what could be a very messy fight on the floor in deciding who the next republican nominee is, as his office says, he wants to call balls and strikes. as you see him ma enouneuvers b the scenes, that would undermine that effort, so expect a pretty

manu raju is covering this morning.morning. >> reporter: today the first full day back for the senate since a two week recess. we're seeing the opposition effect. republicans are digging into their position. including chuck grassley and democrats are going after grassley in increasingly personal terms. >> republican leader and chairman grassley want to hand it over to donald trump. that would be disastrous. >> now there are two senators who are meeting with merrick garland today. that is susan collins of maine and john bozeman of arkansas. bozeman has agreed to meet but does not actually want to advertise the meeting. bozeman under pressure in his own reelection race. has not invited press into his room. really shows how much pressure people are facing from the right flank of the party. backtracked on that after facing criticism in his right flank and may face a primary challenge as well. shows how unlikely it is you will see mass defections from republicans in this election year. >> manu raju live for us this morning.

>> manu raju, thank you.he next hour of "cnn newsroom" is up after a break. e saliva cof and you got this turning. that's why i need this kind of resolution and computing power. being able to use a pen like this on the screen directly with the image, it just gives me a different relationship to it and i can't do that on my mac. this is brilliant for me. headache? motrin helps you be an unstoppable, let's-rock-this-concert- like-it's-1999 kind of mom. back pain? motrin helps you be the side-planking, keeping-up-with- your-girlfriend- even-though-you'll-feel-it- later kind of woman you are. body pain? motrin helps you be an unstoppable, i-can-totally-do-this- all-in-one-trip kind of woman. when pain tries to stop you, there's motrin. motrin works fast to stop pain where it starts. make it happen with motrin liquid gels. here's the plan. you want a family and a career, but most of the time you feel like you're trying to wrangle a hurricane. the rest of the time, they're asleep. then one day, hr schedules a meeti

i think the republican party is pretty stressed out at the moment, and you can see that when our manu rajualked to these folks on the hill about whether they're going to show up on the convention. they even bumped into jeb bush and he said he didn't expect to be there either. listen, this is a party that is trying to figure out a path from here to november knowing that it is at this very tense moment where it could be breaking out into open chaos on the convention floor, where the nominee may be somebody that clearly is going to bring down the rest of the ticket in certain places. so if you are up for election for a senate seat in a pretty contested battleground state and it's a risky election for you to begin, with i don't think tying yourself to any of the chaos in cleveland is probably a good idea, which is why some of these folks are going to stay away. >> stand by, everyone stand by. i also want to remind all of our viewers to stand by to watch tonight's special cnn town hall with republican presidential candidate ted cruz and his family. please join anderson cooper in new york tonigh

in an exclusive interview with manu raju, the speaker explains why he has ruled out a run for presidenter: paul ryan has his hands full. 46-year-old house speaker is leading a deeply divided republican conference. he'll chair the contentious republican convention and he's trying to hold onto the gop's majority in the house. similar struggles brought down his predecessor, john boehner. >> i think i do it better. not to knock john. but i spend more time with all of our members on a continual basis. because i was a person that wasn't looking for this job, i'm trying to be responsible with the power that comes with this job and make members more empowered. >> reporter: the gop-led house is now faced with major issues. >> you guys are having a difficult time over here passing a budget. can you guarantee in the fall there will be no government shutdown? >> there will be no government shut down. we're actually getting some things done. >> reporter: with many republicans worried about trump or ted cruz as their nominee, ryan has given two high profile speeches and trying to set an agenda that t

we have manu raju with all of this from washington. >> reporter: good morning.ld trump is not backing down with the war of words hoping to continue to tap into frustration with the party establishment. he writes what we are seeing now is not a proper use of the rules, but a flagrant use of the rules. delegates are supposed to reflect the voters, but this system is rigged with operatives with double agent delegates. trump was joined by kasich and cruz. trump continued to seize on the criticism of new york values. trump was greeted more enthusiastically inside the room. all ahead of the primary in new york where 95 delegates are at stake. the trump campaign has a good shot of taking all of them. >> thank you. we have corey lewandowski joining us live in our 7:00 a.m. hour. >>> so if the polls are right, bernie sanders has to make up a double-digit definiaficit in tht four days. what is the plus/minus? did he gain ground? you will hear from the vermont senator about how he thinks he did coming up. d 't get here. there were people who listened along the way. people

cnn's manu raju asked paul ryan about this. take a listen. >> the rules are the rules.eople know the rules going into it. we are going to follow the book by the rules. that is exactly how this convention is going to be run. it's a very important that it's done exactly that way. and all the candidates coming into this convention liberal rules ahead of time. >> where do you come in on this issue. what do you think? >> it reminds me of when i play golf. i like to say, we'll decide what the bet is after we decide what the scores are. when you say we're going to adhere to the rules, you realize the rules haven't been written yet. so what is extraordinary, and it is extraordinary, that people by the millions have voted in a primary and 110 people will decide how we're going to make the rules. you can't say we're going to obey the rules. the rules have yet to be written. the convention will abide by rules that are written in the first day or two by 110 people. they told my dad you have to be nominated by eight states or your votes don't count. the interesting thing is, even th

ahead with to us share the reporting and insights, julie pace of the associated press, cnn's man manu raju and ashley parker of the "new york times." we knew from day one donald trump say performer, a billionaire businessman turned tabloid celebrity turned reality tv star turned politician. huge part of why many republicans predict a 2016 cast disaster if trump tops the gop ticket. his campaign chief traveled to a big republican meeting this past week trying to calm those concerns in and a private briefing suggested a lot of trump's bluster is just show business and things are about to change. the meeting of course was secretly recorded. >> out on the stage he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about and stuff, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose. the part he's playing is evolving is a part that now you've been expecting. negative also come down, the image is going to change. >> the evolution campaign trat gist paul manafort would bring a more presidential trump but if we learned anything the past nine months trump enjoys being trump. >> so lyin' ted took a reall

he spoke to manu raju in the last hour. >> i'm endorsing bernie because he's been in the battlefield.i think is the boldest most powerful. >> joining me to discuss this new show of support for sanders, cnn political commentator and democratic strategist donna brazile and political anchor at time warner cable news errol lewis. donna, if i can start with you, we know sanders winning eight of the last nine contests. he picked up two endorsements including one from the senate and one from a powerful union. how much momentum is this and how much of a worry should it be for the clinton camp? >> first of all, let me say, i'm a neutral super delegate. i would hope these endorsements the kind of support that senator sanders has across the country will enable to get him what he needs from new york. that said, this is a state that secretary clinton carried back in 2008. very, very contested primary against then senator barack obama. new york is very, very important for both candidates because it's just the sheer number of delegates, 247 delegates. so i'm sure that they are going to continue to r

. >> reporter: manu raju, cnn. >> there's so much to talk about it. hire ram college political professor jason johnson and the director of the center for politic, larry sabato. larry, let me start with you. cruz continues to say that he is, you know, an outsider, a political outsiders even though he's not really. i'm wondering if he gets elected how will he get anything done when it appears almost everyone in congress doesn't really like him? >> well, they'll all have to learn to work together. i guess that's the only thing you can say. you know, martin, last year when you asked elected republican leaders, people in high office which candidates they did not want to be nominated, the two that led the list were donald trump and ted cruz. isn't it ironic that these are the two finalists in the republican party? and it tells you what a tremendous distance there is -- >> i'm not sure that's ironic. it suggests the public has finally realized something that those in washington -- they don't like those in washington so maybe that's the lesson here. jason, le

. >> on what happened in wisconsin, matt, manu raju has great reporting that despite the win, you're not seeing the rush of republicans on the hill to get behind ted cruz, and this is -- we're in april at this point. if they're going to make -- they could probably get on board if they want to try to change the way the race is going if they think it will have impact. do you think they should be offering support? should ted cruz be courting their support more aggressively? >> it's sort of an interesting question. on one hand cruz has branded hic himself as an outsider. i don't think he wants to become the establishment candidate. if senators were to get on board with ted cruz, in a way it might under mine ted cruz. maybe this is them being smart or strategic and trying to help ted cruz become the sort of the nontrump alternative. there's the other possibility, of course, which is so tt -- to say a lot of them don't like cruz and may be hoping that he plays the spoiler, sort of deprives donald trump from getting the 1237 delegates he needs and some of them may hope to have this white kn

their reporting and insights, cnn's sara murray, jonathan martin of "the new york times," cnn's manu raju. make it 8 of the last 9 for bernie sanders. he scored a win in wyoming on saturday and again, 8 of the last 9 says something. just what says it, however, probably depends on which candidate you prefer. and how much you like math. yes, sanders won, and winning means momentum. but delegates win nominations. and in that regard, sanders won nothing yesterday. he evenly split the delegates with hillary clinton who knows that even though the other guy's on a roll, the math still overwhelmingly in her favor. >> we are on the path to the nomination, but i need -- i need to win big here in new york because -- because the sooner i can become the nominee, i can turn and unify the democratic party like i did with president obama back in 2008. and -- and the sooner we can go after the republicans full time. >> there were 14 democratic delegates at stake in wyoming. new york awards 247 next tuesday. senator sanders gets the math he needs a big upset. >> there's going to be a very important primary

manu raju is live with more.s. >> paul ryan has said he won't run for president nearly two dozen times. but the chatter over what may happen can become a major distraction from his two main jobs. raising money to keep the house majority. a fund-raising binge of 20 events in the next eight weeks. chairman of the convention when he wants to be seen is a fair arbiter of any disputes. he wanted to make clear there would be no circumstance in which he would be the nominee. >> if no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, i believe you should only choose from a person who has actually participated in the primary. count me out. i simply believe that if you want to be the nominee for our party, to be the president, you should actually run for it. >> a number of republicans tell me they will not attend. jeb bush told me he would skip the convention. ryan wants delegates to limit distention by writing a rule saying only people who run for president can be the nominee. we will see, alisyn, if they do just that. >> man

manu raju live in washington. i left you with the meaty part.ive question is in this op ed this morning. some absolutely, chris. it's all about the delegates. new york primary is days away where 95 delegates are at stake. for now trump is employing a tactic he has been very successful at this campaign season. that is anger at the party establishment. this morning donald trump speaking out against the republican party in a new op ed in the wall street journal, appealing directly to americans about the voting system he believes is corrupt. asking how has the system been working for you and your family? airing grievances about how delegates are selected in the state of colorado. they were chosen on behalf of a presidential nominee, yet the people of colorado not able to cast their ballots to say which nominee they preferred. while last night hundreds of protesters gathered outside a black tie gop fund-raising event in new york city. inside, all three remaining republican candidates sharing the stage. >> i love to speak here because i built this hot

manu raju reports the bad blood may be already too thick. >> reporter: former house speaker john boehnerd back his true feelings about ted cruz. >> solution lucifer in the flesh. >> reporter: many republicans on capitol hill are piling on. >> you got the former speaker basically calling him a miserable s.o.b. that's harsh. i wouldn't have called him miserable. and the other incident, he calls him in lucifer in the pleasure. somebody better contact lucifer for a comment. he's probably upset about this. >> green eggs and ham. >> reporter: no love lost between members of congress and ted cruz. battles over raising the debt ceiling and the defunding of obama health care which caused a 16-day shutdown and calling mitch mcconnell a liar. >> i cannot believe he would tell a flat out lie. >> reporter: do you think he should apologize about those remarks about mitch mcconnell, calling him a liar on the floor? >> well, i stood up and said he should. that was the wrong thing to do. contrary to the rules. ♪ here's what i tell everyone ♪ >> reporter: on the campaign trail, cruz hasn't head back. cruz

. >> i want to turn to reporting from my colleague manu raju who says your colleagues and the republicanare not rushing to back ted cruz, they're staying on the sidelines, and you're staying on the sidelines too. why is that? >> think i said my piece. i was involved in a lot of the presidential debates. i got to point out what i thought were my attributes. we didn't have enough votes. we moved forward. now, you know, i'm running for re-election in kentucky. i think my job is more to unify republicans, rather than continue to point out what i think are some weaknesses of the candidates. really, i think my message is somewhat unique in the party. i bring a libertarian sort of message. a message for privacy. a conservative military budget that doesn't cause us to go further into debt. i want to keep promoting those issues as opposed to sort of being a pundit or a spokesman for any particular candidate. >> but not everyone else is running for re-election. why aren't the other republican senators rushing to back him? >> think it's some of the same though. because everybody sort of has a state

he just told manu raju a short time ago that he's not interested.job." brianna keilar reporting. >>> meanwhile, another major story we're following, a significant increase in the u.s. military presence on the ground in syria. hundreds more special operations forces will be heading their soon to help in the fight against isis. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr reports. >> reporter: to get to isis fighters like these seen in a recent propaganda video, president obama is sending 250 additional u.s. troops into syria, most special operations forces. the president says the u.s. troops will not have a combat mission. >> they're not going to be leading the fight on the ground but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces they continue to drive isil back. >> reporter: the additional 250 troops will join 50 already there. and it will be dangerous. military medical personnel are also deploying. >> any special forces troops that we deploy into iraq or syria are going to be combat equipped troops. they may be in circumst

. >> one of the minutes that my colleague manu raju has heard from several republican senators is theyand telling all of their grassroots activists to back you if you would apologize for saying your republican leader mitch mcconnell is a liar. >> this is why people are so frustrated with washington. it's the inside battles back and forth. this isn't a game. this isn't about washington power brokers. this isn't a smoke-filled room. if we want to turn the country around -- let me tell you who should apologize. barack obama and hillary clinton should apologize to the american people for seven years of economic stagnation, for people seeing jobs going overseas, for wages stuck. they should apologize to all the single moms being forced into part-time work. >>> no apology to mitch mcconnell? >> my focus is on washington. that ain't going to happen. they can hold their breath for a long, long time. my focus is on the american people and uniting republicans behind shared values and a shared vision. now, i will tell you this, i am happy to praise mitch mcconnell for his stand, along with chuck

manu raju live. >>> democrats believe republicans would be under such enormous pressure they would deflect leadership. only two gop senators are calling for hearings, the same before the recess. a couple backtracked, getting pummeled by the right flank. chuck grass ley chairs the committee. he's in charge of holding hearings. but according to an aide, he told garland that he would be happy to have breakfast with him to discuss why no nominee will get confirmed until there is a new president. chuck grassley up for reelection himself. getting protests back home. he does not believe this will affect his race. they will rally supporters in november. the democratic campaign isn't yielding much. two meetings scheduled this morningment don't expect a whole lot more, chris. >> all right, manu. hey, at least it's a start, right? >>> a thrilling edge of your seat finish to the college basketball season. literally one for the books. villanova, final seconds of the game. the game had just been tied. the big three to win over the favored north carolina haar deals, 77-74. literally one for the ages. nob