robert costa. again, if you want to watch the interview of my interviewing trump, it's now at the top of hardba hardball.msnbc.com. >>> up next, bernie sanders and ted cruz need to win. it's a must win you might say for both of those challengers. can they do it? you're watching "hardball," the place for politics, live from wisconsin, for today's primary. ♪ the new craftsman pro series riding mowers. now available with power steering. so you can turn with ease. available with the tightest turning radius in the industry. and powerful v twin engines with up to 26 horsepower. because the beer you drink after you mow your lawn tastes better than the beer you drink after someone else mows your lawn. craftsman. when it matters. >>> this new voter i.d. law is another way to suppress more people from voting. >> i think it's becoming unnecessarily complicated. especially, i mean, students have been leaving the line all day, because it's getting too long with new registration requirements. and classes, work,

robert costa, help me out here. i don't -- what does the next three days look like for donald trump let alone the next two weeks. >> i've been reading this statement. it's not just about lyin' ted and trojan horse but party bosses and talking about stealing the nomination. and just think ahead to cleveland. where are the relationships going to be for him. he's making statements that will alienate people in the party. the next few days, california, later in the week a big rally in long island tomorrow. >> is he still going to try to go to colorado? because there was some talk, you know, with all of these different places for the unbound delegates, and i know that there was some talk that he would actually do a surprise visit to colorado, sort of what cruz did with north dakota. any of that? are we hearing of any of that can with colorado? >> what i hear from ed brookover and other people in the trump campaign who are running the delegate selection is that they are trying to revamp their delegate outreach. you got sta

thank you, robert costa, "the washington post." coming back with more from milwaukee and wild conversationing up here. our live coverage continues after this. >>> i know a little bit about the office. i spent the first 18 years of my life in brooklyn, new york. please keep this a secret. live live do not tell secretary clinton. she's getting a little nervous and i don't want her to get more nervous, but i believe we've got an excellent chance to win new york and a lot of delegates in that state. >> i just love senator sanders. i want her to get more nervous. of course, he does. that was senator sanders coming off his huge victory out in wisconsin today. back with chris jansing, jacob sober off, joy reid and in an editorial board, sanders was pressed over many of his positions including on guns. here's the revenge. "the daily news qualification asked the victims of the sandy hook massacre are looking to have the right to sue for damages, the manufacturers of those weapons. do you think that is something that should be expanded? quot

for more on the republican race i'm joined by washington post national political reporter robert costa who conducted that revealing interview with donald trump. here with me in milwaukee the political watch dog columnist for milwaukee journal sentinel. so many head lines out of that great interview. give us a sense of what it was like and what was your main take away? >> the main take away from the conversation is trump is trying to pivot to a general election campaign but still feels preoccupied by the primary battle. he knows he is down in the polls and has a fighter's mentality. so we try to push him on this and said you have low poll numbers, struggling to unite your party. he kept being resisted to the proposed advice to moderate his tone. >> some people have suggested that he said some things to get headlines including the massive recession line because he wants to take attention away from some of the problems that he has had and he has talked about his claim that he can eliminate the deficit in eight years. so i asked his senior adviser this morning. here is what he told me abou

thank you, robert costa of "the washington post." we're coming back with more from milwaukee and wild conversations coming up here. our live coverage continues after this. >>> i know a little bit about the office. i spent the first 18 years of my life in brooklyn, new york. please keep this a secret. [ laughter ] do not tell secretary clinton. she's getting a little nervous, and i don't want her to get more nervous, but i believe we've got an excellent chance to win new york and a lot of delegates in that state. >> i just love senator sanders. i don't want her to get more nervous. of course, he does. anyway, that was senator sanders coming off his huge victory out in wisconsin today. back with chris jansing, jacob soboroff, chris hayes, joy reid and john nichols. in an editorial board, sanders was pressed over many of his positions including on guns. here's the revenge. "the daily news" asked this of sanders, the victims of the sandy hook massacre are looking to have the right to sue for damages, the manufacturers of those weapons. d

and revealed to bob woodward and robert costa of "the washington times" that the u.s. is headed for a, quote, very massive recession. and trump gave three nationally televised interviews that aired yesterday, including one with cbs that led to another clarification on his abortion stance. >> the laws are set now on abortion. and that's the way they're going to remain until they're changed. >> because you had said you wanted -- you told bloomberg in january that you believed abortion should be banned at some point in pregnancy. where would you -- >> well first of all i would have liked to have seen you know this be a state's right. i would have preferred state's rights. i think it would have been better if it were up to the states. right now the laws are set and that's the way the laws are. >> do you have a feeling how they should change? there are a lot of laws you want to change. everything from libel to torture. anything you want to change? >> at this moment the laws are set and i think we have to leave it that way. >> trump's campaign issued a statement after the in

let's bring in robert costa. >> we got a lot to talk about. talk about the trump campaign. >> robert, any news to report? >> yeah, what's happening on the inside? we hear their back biting and fighting and everything, but at the end of the day, donald trump's calling all the shots, right? >> trump's calling all the shots. i'm here in washington and paul manafort is also in town. he's been meeting not only with members of congress here in the city, but with members of the trump campaign, some is of the loyalists of trump who came in long before manafort, trying to keep them on board, keep the relationships there and also think about hiring some communications people. that's what i'm watching for from the trump campaign in the coming days. are they anythigoing to really their national communications and messages, all of that. >> while the gop worries about the convention chaos, trump pushes for showbiz feel. what are you talking about there? he's a performer by nature, and executive producer? >> sure. this is one of the central tensions in the r

robert costa, let me start with you, this back and forth, donald trump railing against the republican establishment, saying the system is rigged, reince priebus firing back now on twitter. we know there was that meeting between donald trump and the republican national committee a week or two ago. how would you characterize the state of that relationship right now, trump and the republican national committee? >> trump still has some concerns about the republican national committee, the actual membership, he thinks some of them are aligned against him according to people close to trump. at the same time you see trump making inroads with his new campaign team, paul manafort and others trying to build relationships in washington, knowing that they still need to build some momentum in these upcoming states and ahead of cleveland. >> and i thought, jennifer, that was very interesting. we heard in that report from jacob rascon about the response that donald trump gets when he rails against the republican leaders at his rally because it may seem odd that he's still lingering and talking about

robert costas national political reporter for the washington post. i want to go to robert costas. i think the message coming out of new york state, without getting into numbers, is that you can't call a place sodom and gomorrah one week and come back and say i love it the next. that's cruz' problem. >> he has started to look forward. new york has never been place where he's really had an opportunity ever since the new york values comment in that debate. >> last night he accused cruz of hating new york. let's watch. >> tomorrow, we're going to show ted cruz, who hates new york, hates new york. when you look at that debate and see the way he talked about us and new york values, here's a man that turned down sending money for this state and plenty of other money. we had lots of things coming into new york and he voted against. no new yorker can vote for ted cruz. here is what cruz did say about new york values. let's watch. >> i think most people know exactly what new york values are. >> i'm from new york. >> you're from new york, you might not. i promise you in the state of south ca

he was trying to get people to get him moving in that direction. >> robert costa of washington post. robert, thank you. appreciate you being with us tonight. >> we want to bring back judge beginsberg. >> can we call him judge ginsberg? >> sure, counselor. >> counselor. he's being modest. counselor, you just made a pint to us of following steve kornacki's presentation on how we get to donald trump first ballot having the numbers. what did you -- what was the cod did i sill y -- codicil you just added to us? >> how he would get over the number is absolutely true. the issue is you won't know where the pennsylvania unbound delegates are until they actually vote on the first ballot. that means the republican national committee doesn't have to given the keys to the convention to donald trump beforehand and it makes for a much more open rules committee, credentials committee process if there is not a nominee who has locked up the 1237. so that's the tension in the numbers as the votes come. >> when you say the keys to the convention, you don't mean the door key. >> well, sort of. >> what do

robert costa here. you have some reporting from the traveling trump camp. >> i just spoke to some people close to trump. i said where is candidate tonight. they say he's in new york. not going to give a big speech. it's a quiet night for trump. the focus is on two states. new york and california. it's going to be in new york tomorrow. have a big rally and he's going to be in california later this week. he'll have a press conference out there. they said wisconsin, the establishment came after them. they are weathering the storm and try to pivot away with a policy speech and focus on those two states. >> the way and in the volume we know donald trump consumes media. to hear some republicans saying, as they're actually already saying tonight, this wasn't so much a cruz victory as it was a trump loss in wisconsin. that, in its own way, follows the plot line for them. >> it does. just talking to the trump campaign a few minutes ago, they say wisconsin is a statement by the conservative wing of the republican

. >> i want to bring into the conversation robert costa from "the washington post." one of the things that we saw a little different from donald trump tonight was him not calling ted cruz lying ted instead calling him senator cruz. some other shuttle shifts in tone tonight from the donald trump. is that an accident or is this a sign of things to come. >> for donald trump the campaign from where it begin. he was more low key and trying to be presidential something he's avoided doing for months. this is a campaign that's traveled at one speed. today you see the campaign trying to move back and play at a different speed and according to people close to trump he's working with his new campaign advisers and trying to ask them what do i need to do to clench the nomination. that's not easy for trump, but that was part of the project tonight. >> that implies there's a diagnosis there was something wrong with the trump campaign. they did lose wisconsin, but other than that they are broadly speaking winning over and over and over again. do they think that something was wrong?

us in terms of the unexpectedly epic scale of donald trump's wins tonight, let's take that to robert costa at the "washington post." in terms of what that means overall for the race, how the other campaigns are reacting. robert? >> it was fascinating to see both candidates tonight, cruz and trump on the republican side, the top two, really outline the contours of this race. trump in his speech at trump tower, what we heard tonight was a political analyst as well as a republican front-runner trying to define the race on his terms as he nears that threshold. >> robert, in terms of the prognostication that trump is doing, as you're saying, essentially acting as an analyst, in addition to acting as a candidate, what he's saying tonight is that, i think he put it in his words, i think i can quote him directly, as far as i'm concerned, it's over. every candidate who is leading wants to say that. is there any meaningful sense in which that is much more true tonight than before tonight? >> speaking of trump campaign associates in the last hour, my reporting says they're getting calls from washingt

let's start with robert costa. is this a fair assessment looking to stop trump, trump swept it this tuesday and now you don't seem to hear much about the stop trump movement. >> chris, i'm here in hollywood, florida just across the street. having meetings all day yesterday and today with members of the republican national committee trying to get their pulse of what's happening with the party. there's a sense among many of them and acceptance fees that trump will be the nominee and willing to accept there's some resistance. what we're seeing in florida at the rnc is a fall in the relations. >> who's changed. have they changed or is trump changed? >> trump's changed. he hasn't done sunday shows in a couple of weeks. he's got paul manafort assuring the party elite he will be a different kind of candidate. the party members are changing as well. there's a sense that cruz has to win indiana in early may. his campaign needs to find fire or else it will probably be trump. that's the acceptance part of this whole scene. >>

let's bring in robert costa. good to see you.s hired a number of veteran strategists on to his campaign after he's positioned himself as the outsider. ever since the beginning of his candidacy. might voters be turned off by the shift toird the party inside is? >> he's trying to make sure he's catching up to senator cruz when it comes to delegate accumulation. but at his rallies and his rhetoric and message, you still see trump holding to his outsider persona, someone who is anti-establishment and running against the republican national committee. even as these new advisers try to build relationships with the same institution. >> what about ted cruz who is reportedly focusing his energies on california even telling a crowd in irvine that the state will decide the gop race. true? >> true for cruz. he's in a survival mode. he's done well for the past month. the next few weeks will be tough for the cruz campaign just based on polling. we at that time swing through the northeast after new york. trump is likely to do we. well. but cruz

you listen to bob woodward and robert costa talking about this conversation, bob woodward goes as far as saying it is a very dreary outlook, that's a springboard for conversation. usually you talk about or think of presidential candidates, think of their message of optimism, what they can deliver. does this come at great risk that donald trump would say, you know, this is a pessimistic view of the next 8 years? >> fred, not among his followers. part of the attraction to him is that they also have a pessimistic outlook on where the united states has gone. it is all in the slogan. make america great again. if you believe it has to be made great again, you think things have gone downhill. he and his followers are in sync there. the problem with trump is large numbers not among his followers disagree with that message and it is tough to meld them and his backers together. >> thanks, appreciate it. >>> turning to breaking news out of chester, pennsylvania. two amtrak construction workers are dead, dozens of other people injured after an amtrak train carrying more than 300 people collided w

i want to bring into the conversation robert costa from "the washington post," an excellent reporter with very good sources in this presidential campaign. robert, one of the things we saw, a little different from donald trump tonight, was him not calling ted cruz "lyin' ted," instead calling him "senator cruz." some other subtle shifts in tone tonight from the trump campaign. is that an accident of tonight's circumstances, or is this a sign of shifts to come? >> for donald trump, the campaign tonight continued where it began, trump tower. we saw those images of trump speaking, a different tone, more low-key, trying to be in his words, presidential. something he's really avoided doing for months. and this is a campaign that has often traveled at one speed. raucous rallies, controversy, twitter battles, shots at rivals. and today you see the campaign trying to move back, play at a different speed. and according to people close to trump, he's working with his new campaign managers, paul manafort and others, republican voeetera. trying to ask them, what do i need to do to clinch the nomin

robert costa and chuck todd probably talked to some of these folks but it is a small circle around himso, you know, you can guess -- he keeps his own counsel. he was asked where he comes up with his ideas and who he talked to on the morning of the brussels attacks. and he said, i have a great mind and i didn't talk to anybody before i called in to the "today" show. he does not take a lot of advice but, you know, he has a tight-knit family. his children are everywhere, surrogates for him and the people that want him to succeed, which is his family and a very small circle around him, some of them would like to see him do things differently. >> lawrence? >> look, i think there are two dueling statements tonight from each party and the front-runner and each party came in second tonight. donald trump puts out a hate statement. he accuses ted cruz of committing a crime with absolutely no evidence whatsoever. he attacks in his statement -- this is the republican front-runner at least until tonight -- attacks in his statement conservative talk radio show hosts. >> many. >> i think -- he was su

. >> right now we're going to be joined by our friend at the "washington post" robert costa who's been keeping an eye on all of the campaigns, particularly donald trump eerks meeting today for what they say will be in effect weekly meetings in an effort to get donald trump to be a party of the nominee. what are you hearing thb nomination, what they hope to accomplish and really about the frustrations that exist within some members of the group about their ability to be treated fair within the rnc, the republican system? >> the meeting today with trump's campaign was really focused on the house of representatives and it was hosted by ed brookeover. a veteran consultant. he's trying to get people energized in the house around the campaign. you have chris collins and others who are there trying to get some of the conservative back benchers away from it and toward trump. you have others working. this was about coordinating trump's campaign with capitol hill hill to try to get some better relationship within the parties. >> robert, i want to get a sense if we can. we know what's been taking

we are going to be joined right now by robert costa, national political reporter with "the washingtonost" who has been in the news himself these past 24 hours. robert, for a piece you wrote saying donald trump would like more entertainment value at this year's gop convention. coming off these two last gop conventions that he found rather lackluster. then again, i hear radio talk show host last night say to someone, bring your gas mask to cleveland. we're in a very unsure time where all we know is this gathering in cleveland this summer is going to be and feel highly unusual. >> trump told "the washington post" he wants to see some "showbiz." he wants to have control of the program. this is not just a theatrical statement by trump. it's a political one. because the key tension in the gop right now is who's going to actually control this convention? who's going to have the message, the themes, the platform, the speakers? trump says even if he's not at 1237 in delegates he still wants to have control. >> in terms of the structure and what's going to happen at the convention and how much

>>> and joining me for insight and analysis are robert costa, of the "washington post." msnbc's joy-ann reid. republican strategist nicolle wallace, and jose diaz-balart, of nbc news and telemundo. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> good sunday morning, with bernie sanders prospects for taking the democratic nomination from hillary clinton getting slimmer by the day, sanders told me yesterday he's fallen behind because in his words, poor people don't vote. there's a lot more in that interview and we'll get tait later in the show and we'll get to the democratic as well. but we begin with the republican race. it's no stretch to conclude that when it comes to donald trump, the republican party has slowly been working it way thou the classic five stages of grief. the first one was denial. trump can't be taken seriously. the second one, anger. what makes this guy think he is even a republican or a conservative anyway? the third, bargaining. let's take it to the voters. they'll reject him, rig

robert costa of the "washington post" and msnbc political analyst.nd talk about the trump campaign and their management in general, the staff. i mean, they just made a new hire. just hired rick wiley who used to work with scott walker's campaign but how much does it matter what happens next hour with corey lewandowski? >> lewandowski remains a confidant and travels with trump often and this decision by the prosecutor down in florida enables lewandowski to continue his role, but what we're seeing right now is an evolution within trump's inner circle. lewandowski has been the sole person at trump's side day by day. now that circle is expanding with the hire of rick wiley, former scott walker advisor but also paul manafort, the veteran gop consultant and others to get from a small operation to something with a national footprint, especially when it comes to state conventions. >> does it, is it too little too late at this point or how much did we read into the fact that they're reorganizing a bit? >> it may be too late. we've seen the trump campaign stru

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we begin this evening with donald trump an talk to robert costa from the "the washington " who interviewed him with long with bob woodward. >> the view in the senate, and the political community is they see trump as a political saf ant maybe someone with once in a generation with char is ma responding to the base but is so limited in being able to assume the role of party leader. >> rose: we continue with the former deputy mayor and former c.e.o. of bloomberg. >> we stepped back and said really what is the future of cities, how is this technology going to really fundamentally affect cities. and when you actual leplay it out you see a lot of different things that are going to, i think, create cities that are much greater or more efficient, more resilient, more adaptable, more personalized. we really believe that as we see this revolution play out we will be seeing very different cities that really improve the quality of life quite dramically. and that's the place that we want to play. >> rose: we conclude with arianna huffington, her new book called the sleep revolution, transforming your l

so can he win the general without them the "washington post" robert costa joins us in just a minute.p gets the nomination, he'd head into the general election as the least popular candidate in modern times. we'll be right back with much more "morning joe." you both have a perfect driving record. perfect. no tickets. no accidents. that is until one of you clips a food truck, ruining your perfect record. yeah. now you would think your insurance company would cut you some slack, right? no. your insurance rates go through the roof... your perfect record doesn't get you anything. anything. perfect. for drivers with aident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. couand i want to remind youel that no one's the same without the game... like @squirrelgirl52 who writes, "no football on sundays has left me with a lot of free time. "so i've constructed a small sanctuary for local squirrels. it's a safe haven where they can meet and fall in love and..." ok, i'm going to stop reading right now.

joining me is robert costa for "the washington post." he recently sat down with trump.oining them.

. >> woodward and robert costa, mentioning that it appeared as though donald trump was really not in the mood to talk. he wanted to keep the conversation going. you were editing this. >> right. >> donald trump was in fact giving different answers than he typically does. did that present a challenge for you in editing, trying to bring the freshest or help unfold the real donald trump or the new donald trump as he tries to look a little more presidential? >> that's a great question. one thing you have to credit donald trump for is talking. we always want our presidential candidates to tell us as much as they possibly can about what they think who they are, what they are going to do and donald trump does that more than anyone i can ever remember doing. it is a little bit of a challenge when you look at -- turn out to be 60 some pages of the transcript and you read it all and there's just so much news in there. if you read through it and follow them as closely as we have, you see through lines in it and they are drumbeats of what he believes that he goes back to all the time. trade is on

robert costa, thank you. >>> key obama administration policy is on the line as the supreme court weighs the president's immigration policy. you don't know what roberts is going to do. there are all kinds of rumors. this is "hardball" the place for politics. >>> two people are dead as a deportation and allow them to work legally in the u.s. lower courts blocked the implantation after 26 states led by texas challenged the action and accused president obama of abusing his power and ignoring the congressional authority over the issue of immigration. well today, the supreme court heard arguments from both sides and a decision on the fate of the president executive order is expected in june. anyway, nbc news pete williams was inside the court for today's argument. so which way is the wind blowing? do we know at all? up or down for the president? >> right down the middle, chris. it did seem for -- at the end of the oral argument like there is a 4-4 tie. four votes to say that the states have standing to bring this four that they don't and four votes to say the president has the power to do thi

political reporter for "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst, robert costa.f these big guests that we have. important gues who breathe life into our show. our tired, tattered show. >> yes? >> walter isaacson, let's begin with you. >> we're all in washington, where are you? >> should be there. >> the first hour, a lot of talk about bernie sanders, is he staying in the race too long? should he be able to be allowed to stay in the race, to change the democratic party to make it more in his imagine, or is he arrogant and should he drop out now? you've heard the debate, certainly over the last week or so, what do you think? >> and i've read nicholas's piece. look, this is what primaries are for. i remember my first primary i covered with barnacle, with ted kennedy and jimmy carter. ted kennedy went all the way to the convention even though he didn't have the delegates and helped change the platform if if he was running a party, i would get rid of those platforms. i don't think they do you any good. they just cause you problems with the person who lost the delegate

. >> robert costa, you report on the trail out there.obviously a big delegate battle right now going on but certainly trump, whose demise has been predicted in many quarters since oshkosh went for ted cruz is now losing steam pretty well in the northeast, rolling over everybody. >> i mean, the calendar favors trump. northeast. you go to new york, he gets a bounce, he goes to pennsylvania perhaps. pennsylvania is a tough state for trump. the philadelphia suburbs, kasich has been doing well in some pennsylvania polls but generally speaking, based on my reporting talking to strategists, trump -- the northeast is better for trump. he got maryland, pennsylvania and new york. >> and the problem is, al, once you get out of the early states -- and this has always been the case, you just -- the pace picks up so quick ly. you spend so much money. then the northeast, this is where john mccain lock thinged down, it was more winner take all. but cruz and kasich and trump, they can't afford to spend the type of money on ads on these numbers. it's cele

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joining me now msnbc political analyst, robert costa.ou make of the manafort coming in and is this all starting too late? >> manafort's trying to do something very difficult at this state. he's trying to get the trump operation working effectively at the state conventions and moving forward into the northeast and other states that are coming up in late april, may and june. he's dealing with a different type of reporter. his base is highly organized and engaged. manafort has to get disengaged populous republicans organized. >> this is the limitations of the unconventional campaign. they have 100 employees compared to 800 for clinton. they spent very little money. there's not the basic infrastructure of an organize and that is kind of what you get. it seems like a senate campaign. trump has opinion running a national promotional exercise. an advertising campaign that earned not so much through paid advertising. now we turn to this game of inches versus this long game of yards. that incremental game is why manafort is coming in. he was invo

. >> robert costa, thank you very much.re going to take our very last commercial break before we'll bridge the top of the hour. the poll closing from wisconsin and whatever characterization we can give in just over 11 minutes. please, stay with us. >>> we're back. current appearances notwithstanding. we have a live shot in green bay and also in milwaukee as we have been saying tonight, the voter id law in the state of wisconsin is playing a role in this primary election. >> we should just keep in mind, you're looking at the bottom left hand corner of your screen, that's when the poll closing is. the rest of the screen shows the very, very long lines that we have been told that the lines still are two and a half hours long in some places. there aren't long lines everywhere in wisconsin, but there are some places where there are long lines. this is where we should tell you if you're in one of those lines or if you're just about to join one of those long lines or just getting out of your car, listening to satellite radio and t

joining me now, the man who used to have that job, michael steel, and robert costa, national political reporter for the "washington post." gentlemen, the news is out tonight that the daily news is endorsing hillary clinton. it's going to happen, the front cover in a minute. but michael, let's get to this point. trump has a pretty good argument, popular vote should decide the nominee. the guy who gets -- the person who gets the most votes should behe nominee. the counter point by the inside guys is well, we have rules that allow people to get picked by conventions and caucuses and they can also be picked who are not bound to anybody. they could make up theirir own mind. >> sure. >> democracy is a pretty good sell in this country. >> it is a very good sell. it's a very good argument for trump to make. it's a very difficult argument for the establishment types, the chairman and others t defend, because i mean, people think, i went to the polls. i voted. i stood in line in the primary. i sat in a room for three hours at a caucus, and i voted. what do you mean you now can -- you can dilute,

. >> robert costa, who covers politics for the "washington post" and joins us at moments like this. robert, we can call this already early in the evening, a significant night for donald trump. >> these are sweeping victories for the trump campaign. going across the northeast. the corridor as many insiders are calling it and this really underscores trump's strength as he moves towards the convention. he's winning over suburban voters who have long been skeptical of trump as well as the rural voters in the center of this state and he's looked across the map in new england as well. these are places where trump has strength. states like massachusetts and where he continues to do the same. >> and robert, some prognostication from you. what about the states that are outstanding? we have them all listed as too early. >> too early is is is a lot of that is because we haven't seen exit poll data yet emerge from those states. what we're looking at in those states is a republican electorate in a blue state. democratic state in a general election that has heavily conservative core on its republi

. >> robert costa is a national political reporter for the "washington post," susan page is bureau chief for u.s. today. let me start with robert. how did the trump people looking at tomorrow's bet after what happened last week with all the bad news. >> they think the base is energized and motivated because of the negative week trump's had. the tumultuous week he's had. they think people will show up. it's a test for the trump campaign. they don't have the same organization cruz has in the state. cruz has the conservatives in the milwaukee suburbs. they want to close this just like trump said in the trump campaign, but it's a test. >> do you show the polls getting closer or not? we said, i said a moment ago they were twice the lead that cruz had twice the lead about double digit about ten points last week. now he's down to half a double digit, about five points. is that your sense of the race right now going into tomorrow's fight? >> it's all over with polling. because some polls show it close. there's a new poll out tonight that shows trump up. it's cruz who has been leading for weeks.

joining me is robert costa for "the washington post." he recently sat down with trump. s son and others, joining them. we are pleased to have bob join us at the table. how did this come about? robert: woodward said, we would like to sit down with you at length and talk this through, and we had a conversation and we tried to ask him about the presidency in washington, that is his prized property. we wanted to ask him about the presidency, how he would actually be as president, to get away from the day-to-day campaign. charlie: what was the setting? his son was with him. who else? robert: when trump is in the room, he is in command. we're supposed to have lunch, and there were all these images -- sandwiches around with no one touches a sandwich. no one even has a drink from the trunk water bottles. if trump is not eating, no one else is eating. we are sitting at this construction table surrounded by secret service. charlie: is he doing more interviews now? robert: he is doing more longform interviews. he recognizes that the kind of needs to pivot to show some depth on poli

. >>> legendary "the washington post" associate editor bob woodward and robert costa conducting that interview with trump. they described it as highly unusual and extremely candid. >> i think the real headline for me is what he said about the economy in a precarious situation that there is a bubble. but then we asked about what would be your advice as a stockbroker or somebody who provides tips on stock, and i was really surprised he said it's terrible now. this is not the time to invest in the stock market. >> i was following economists, they say it is odd for a major party nominee to make this kind of bleak statement about the american economy. in all your years of reporting, have you seen a nominee or major political candidate say this kind of thing about the economy? >> no. i mean, what they say is they may criticize the incumbent from the other party and say the economic policies are not working and i have better policies. but what trump was saying, that this is dreary. >> let's get a reality check on trump's claims. cnn's global economic analyst with me, and assistant managing

. >> i'm joined by katy tur, who is milwaukee, michael steele, and robert costa, national political reporter for the "washington post," political analyst. katy, give us a sense, has he spoken to the press, accepted questions since the town meeting yesterday? >> no, he has not. he visited the rnc earlier today and there were a number of reporters staked out in front. he went in without a comment and left without a comment. waived to the reporters. he has been inactive on twitter today, only tweeting pretty much that he had a meeting with the rnc, not addressing the issue of abortion or his comments, or even the issue about what he said about nuclear weapons in your town hall yesterday. >> what do you make of how he is going to -- can you tell from the scheduled to from today, tomorrow, the next day, is he going to lay low, face this, strategy yet? they've obviously put out these new two statements? really a 180 on what he said to me, which we have on tape of course, and we just showed it. what is their angle right now? what is their plan, do you know. >> the campaign is laying unusually low.