has been pushing the story in various ways which brings us former cruz communications director amanda carpenter. now found herself fending off allegations she is one of cruz's five mistresses. tabloid published a pixilated image with carpener with the story causing carpenter to face a hailstorm of storms. yesterday donald trump's social media director retweeted something sketchier than the "national enquirer" story, he sent out a bizarre web video stitching together photos of carpenter and cruz claiming the pair had an extramarital affair. i didn't understand the video, to be honest. let's talk about this all, joini joining me, cnn political carpenter. let's address the circumstances. have you had ever any sort of intimate relationship with senator cruz, anything at all, anything that could be considered inappropriate? >> no, i had a purely professional relationship with senator cruz. and i want too go further than that. i've been 100% faithful to my husband. there's nothing more important to me than being a good wife and a good mother and it's been very hard the past few days to have my charac

also john phillips, a donald trump supporter, amanda carpenter, cnn political director, communications director -- former director for ted cruz and political commentat commentator an commentator ana navarro. anna, did they slow down the trump momentum? >> i don't think anything changes as far as where the difference candidates stand. i do get the sense that last night was the turning point and the drop that filled the cup with the crassness, with the vulgarity. so many people, republicans, not republicans that watched that debate yesterday are feeling today disappointed, are feeling today distraught by just how low the level of discourse has dipped in the midst of this democratic process. and i think all of us regardless of who we may support should today call on those republican candidates and say enough is enough. you are running for president of

amanda carpenter, you were smiling. ted cruz won three states. that's the plus side. but if he asked anyone two months ago, ted cruz would have won more. the south is supposed to be this firewall and not just that, it doesn't get any easier for ted cruz. the map doesn't get any more favorable for ted cruz. so how is he going to move forward with any reasonable strategy to win? >> sure. here's the argument. kind of looking at the republican field right now, you have the establishment, which we've talked about, the donald trump wing which is attracting a lot of democratic moderate voters and the conservatives. i disagree with what david chalian was saying earlier, that the establishment is going to try to mount against donald trump and take him out. it's going be to the conservatives. they just want a winner. so ted cruz's task going forward is to convince the establishment that, hey, donald trump is not going to win against hillary. donald trump provided a lot of evidence to that end in making those comments about the kkk. we can go through all of that stuff. cruz has

joining me is amanda carpenter and ana navarro and tara setmayer and kayleigh mcenany. kayleigh is a conservative columnist and trump supporter. does this matter? is this, among trump supporters, a lot of them are saying, look. this was a, you know, a scrum, it's a chaotic scene. he touched her. but does it really amount to a crime? >> the courts will decide that. but conservative women as evidenced by this letter are horrified to see what happened to michelle fields. look at what corey said immediately after. she's delusional. i never touched her. his own lawyer just acknowledged to you tonight on the air that there was a touch. corey did lie. this woman was smeared for days and days by a presidential campaign. she has suffered. she had to walk away from her job because her editors would not support her. we all see this going on, and you have to stand up to it. i don't know if it will hurt donald trump but i get the feeling he's being boiled like a frog in water. there may be a moment when it happens but we'll look at all this and say, wow. he's cooked. >> ana? >> it's

joining me is amanda carpenter and ana navarro and tara setmayer and kayleigh mcenany.is a conservative columnist and trump supporter. does this matter? is this, among trump supporters, a lot of them are saying, look. this was a, you know, a scrum, it's a chaotic scene. he touched her. but does it really amount to a crime? >> the courts will decide that. but conservative women as evidenced by this letter are horrified to see what happened to michelle fields. look at what corey said immediately after. she's delusional. i never touched her. his own lawyer just acknowledged to you tonight on the air that there was a touch. corey did lie. this woman was smeared for days and days by a presidential campaign. she has suffered. she had to walk away from her job because her editors would not support her. we all see this going on, and you have to stand up to it. i don't know if it will hurt donald trump but i get the feeling he's being boiled like a frog in water. there may be a moment when it happens but we'll look at all this and say, wow. he's cooked. >> ana? >> it's not going

panel, ana navarro, margaret hoover and former communications director for senator ted cruz amanda carpenter. amanda let's start with the elizabeth warren thing. what does donald trump get for engaging in this feud with elizabeth warren? and what does she get? >> well, he gets to pick another fight with someone who's in office. but i do think it's very interesting for elizabeth warren. she is someone who's considered a hero among the progressive base. although when she went to washington she never really challenged democratic leadership. she would famously run away from reporters and was very tight lipped. it seems that someone has given her a pass to speak out against donald trump. i don't think she would be doing this without sanction from other democratic officials. i would expect to see her become more of an attack dog against donald trump, probably doing some of the work that hillary clinton may not want to do. hillary clinton could go get these very professional speeches at aipac, stay above the fray. meanwhile i would expect more people like elizabeth warren to come out, direct lowly

i'm joined now by cnn political commentator amanda carpenter. olitical commentator dawna brazil is with us. ladies, thanks very much for joining us, let me get your reaction, amanda, i'll start with you, mitt romney, the republican presidential nominee four years ago announcing that tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. mountain time, or 11:30 a.m. eastern, he will make a speech addressing the state of the 2016 presidential race. what are you hearing? what do you think? >> i mean judging from his actions last week where he started calling for the release of donald trump's tax returns, it's clear that mitt romney is frustrated with the way things are going and maybe wants to influence the race in a positive direction or maybe be held to the same standards that he was held to during his race. if he had a chance to make an impact on the race, it really seems like it would have been before new hampshire endorsing mar marco rubio. >> it's not like the man you like, donald trump. >> mitt romney had to almost aa poll jazz for being successful and being wealthy, where d

involved, amanda carpenter, denied it when a trump surrogate confronted her on cnn. >> ted cruz has allegedly had affairs with five mistresses. you have been named. >> what's out there is tabloid trash. if someone wants to comment they can talk to my lawyer. >> reporter: the owner of the national enquirer is good friends with donald trump cruz points out and the tabloid has endorsed trump for president. >>> hillary clinton and bernie sanders will battle it out when democrats hold caucuses in alaska, hawaii, washington state. republicans don't head to the polls until april 5 when wisconsin holds its primaries. new york's takes place april 19. >> connecticut is the week after and new jersey. amazing that it will mean something. it's usually wrapped up. >> absolutely. >> exciting. >> it is very chilly, and it is going to be the same tomorrow morning as well. time to break out the jackets if you put them away. be ready especially for the sunrise services. let's take you outside to show you a beautiful live picture. sunrise is a little ways away, 39 degrees, north winds at 14 miles per hour. it is

we have amanda carpenter who comes an and says she's keeping a list of everyone who is supporting anddo opposition research on anyone supporting donald trump. this is pretty serious inflighting we're seeing right now. >> it is. i think it's a nice play by if anti-trump pacs to get some attention on themselves. we're all talking about it today. they're getting what they wanted. at the end of the day, donald trump has an opportunity potentially to be our nominee. it makes a lot of sense that people in washington want to take the opportunity to get to know him and ask him questions. to ask him questions about foreign policy and other national interests because he hasn't given a lot of specifics on the campaign stump. these people want to ask him questions and find out where exactly he stands on the issues. >> christian, can i ask you if you think anti-trump efforts can successfully stop trump if case ic -- kasich are on the cruz. lindsey graham thinks not. >> john, if i thought you could win, i'd be behind you. you are the most electable candidate. work with ted to deny trump the 1237. i

another woman alleged to be involved with cruz, amanda carpenter when a trump surrogate confronted her on cnn. >> ted cruz allegedly had affairs with five, including you have been named amanda. >> what is out there is tab the if someone wants to comment on it, they can talk to my lawyer. it is false. >> reporter: the cruz campaign points out the owner of the national enquirer is good f riends with donald trump and the tabloid has endorsed trump for president. in the newsroom,. >>> republicans do not head to the polls again until a pril 5th in wisconsin. new york's primary takes place april 19th. >>> it was a rock 'n' roll take over in cuba just days after president barack obama's historic trip to the island. >> the rolling stones performed at a free concert for hundreds of thousands of fans last night. from cuban radio for decades. they are the first major international group to play in the island nation since the cuban revolution. >> free is nice too. >>> a superhero match-up is d rawing big bucks. >> batman verses superman nabbed just $28 million with just preview screenings this wee

another woman alleged to be involved with cruz amanda carpenter denied it when a trump surrogate confronted her on cnn. >> ted cruz has allegedly had affairs with at least five mistresses including you've been named amanda. >> what's out there is tabloid trash! if someone wants to comment on it they can talk to my lawyer. it is categorically false. >> reporter: some voters clearly find the whole thing distasteful. >> i don't care for that at all. i'm interested in the issues. >> what they need to do is realize that their opponents are hillary clinton and bernie sanders. >> reporter: the episode is so ugly, cruz hinted friday he will back down on his promise to vote for trump if he is the nominee. tony aiello, cbs 2 news. >> the cruz campaign points out that the owner of the "national enquirer" is close friends with donald trump and >>> catholics around the world are observing good friday. pope francis lied down in prayer before the altar at st. peter's basilica opening the day's commemoration. good friday is unbefore the holiest days and the catholic calendar reflecting the crucifixion and

also joining me is former communications director for ted cruz, amanda carpenter. let's go around, everybody. this is a very big night. do or die for marco rubio. crucial for kasich. crucial for donald trump because he's got to show he can deliver the statesman-like goods. crucial for ted cruz to show he can beat trump. >> trump has been in ohio, slamming kasich as the absentee governor. does he bring that tonight, and how does kasich respond? does he continue to try to rise above it, be mr. rogers, mr. nice guy or get a little down and dirty? >> john kasich's neighborhood? >> yeah. >> i think that the key tonight is whether john kasich and marco rubio in particular can make the case to their home state voters that this is the do or die moment. this is larger than about how you feel about me. this is about whether or not you want donald trump as a representative of the republican party. if he wins one or both of those states, it is going to be almost impossible to stop him. >> ted cruz needs to make everyone forget about marco rubio and john kasich and convince peo

. >> amanda carpenter used to be his spokesman. when he comes out and says i'm the only alternative, is that -- >> at the end of the day when all the dust clears tomorrow, we're going to be looking at the delegates. trump may have 600 some, cruz will have 400 some and far, far behind is kasich. short of that going into the convention if cruz is just a few hundred votes behind donald trump or maybe a few hundred vo ahead of donald trump, those are the two that will be go the to convention. are they going to pull it out and give it to john kasich? give it to someone who hasn't even run for president, paul ryan? those scenarios will not happen they sound pretty good to me. >> and rules are made to be broken. but i think it would be very hard for an open convention not to give the nomination to someone not named donald trump or ted cruz. >> in truth, it would be hard for anyone not to give it to donald trump if donald trump has come close enough and won the majority of states. >> until someone gets to 1,237, everyone is on the same pla

joining us is the cnn political commentator, donald trump supporter, amanda carpenter, communicationsector for ted cruz, cnn political commentate area and donna a brazile, vice chair hoff the democratic national convention. that's a disturbing ad. you are a woman. men will be disturbed when they see that, as well. what's your reaction? >> it was a tough ad and those are awful statements that i don't condone. most of those statements came from the 1990s interviews that donald trump did on the howard stern show. i think he's a different person today. we saw ben carson speak to his christian values. like wise huckabee's daughter has been a part of his campaign. these are strong christian women and men. the american people are forgiving. we had a president that did awful things in the oval office, bill clinton and american people forgave him. if american people will forgive him. >> has he apologized. >> i think he needs to and i think it is important. >> i don't think that sdrump a person that asking forgiveness. he said that at one the iowa forums last year. here's think the thing, he ca

amanda carpenter the former communications director for senator cruz and doug high from the republicantee. doug,eer your reaction. there was supposed to be a presidential debate monday night in salt lake city. fox news was hosting the debate. trump said this morning on fox news he has had enough of these debates. he is not going. kasich then said if he is not going, i'm not going. >> obviously there is no reason to have a debate if trump is not there. they have gotten more and more important. it's unfortunate but a smart decision politically for trump. more time for trump to speak, more room for error. he got out. >> less opportunity for his challengers like cruz and kasich to go after him skipping the debate. he is the front-runner right now. usual wheely what front-runners like to do, skip debates. >> it gives his opposition talking points. he doesn't want to air his views anymore, meanwhile i'm willing to talk to you anywhere, any time. donald trump is avoiding you. >> is it a two man race, cruz and trump or threeman? >> it's more of a two and a half man race right now. i think it w

cupp, jeffrey lord and amanda carpenter. kevin is a republican strategist, s.e. cupp a conservative columnist, jeffrey lord, a former reagan political director and amanda is a communications director for ted cruz. what are you expecting from ted cruz tonight? does he focus on donald trump, trying to make this a two-person race? getting that idea across? or does he try to go after marco rubio and make it as much of a two-person race as possible? >> it's going to backfire if he goes against marco rubio. marco rubio's campaign is imploding as we speak. a lot of people who like marco rubio and supported him. if he attacks him hard he's going to look like he's kicking a puppy. he needs to direct it at donald trump. he is the alternative to trump. if you want to take him down you have to support ted cruz on super tuesday right now. >> jeffrey lord, what do you expect from donald trump? when i talked to him yesterday, he is clearly trying to be in a more presidential mode. whether or not he's capable of restraining himself when attacked is another question. he told me if

amanda carpenter, you're just joining us. the man that you work for, obviously, ted cruz winning in texas, oklahoma. he's previously won in iowa. what do you make of -- is donald trump the presumptive nominee at this point? >> absolutely not. the good news for ted cruz whippiwhic winning those states shows conservatives uniting against donald trump live to fight another day. at this point in the race, if it is a cruz/trump race, we have to throw out the dynamic that it's conservative versus establishment. essentially you have two outsiders in donald trump and ted cruz. you can double down with trump with, a guy who is going to have a bigger, more out of control government because you like brute power and you want to stick it to the liberals or you can have a more appropriate reaction with ted cruz, a guy who has made his whole career agui abiding by the constitutional limits of government, both things are a reaction to the obama administration. i don't know what direction we go but at this point i think the establishment lane

cupp, along with former ted cruz communications director, amanda carpenter, jennifer grantholm, our cnn chief political analyst, gloria borger. we are the women of the world here. >> yeah. >> yay! >> i love that. >> all right. i just want to start off, gloria, we were in houston looking at a much smaller and more intimate space. this is a very big space. a big part of what's happened in these debates thus far has been the booing and clapping and cat calling that come from the audience. >> there's going to be a lot of people here. we at cnn try to keep that to a minimum and try and get the audience evenly divided that way, although donald trump has complained about that. there are going to be a lot of people here, but there are going to be fewer people on that debate stage. so what you're going to see now is people -- these candidates understand that this is it for them. marco rubio's stakes could not be higher. he's got to win the state of florida or i would argue that's it. he's not said he would pull out but he's got to do well. john kasich, this is all about getting to ohio. cruz, th

ben jones is here, former policy director for hillary clinton's 2008 campaign, and amanda carpenter andn strategist ana navarro. ben, let me start with you. do you agree with clinton's campaign manager who says sanders is without a clear path to catching up? they're pressuring him in ra wa vaguey to drop out. >> he should not drop out. there are people who feel that passion and love his message. i think it's good for the party to keep this going. he's made hillary clinton better and he's made the party better. if you look at the math, the math unfortunately is not partisan and the math says you've got to win 55-45 or 60-40 every contest going forward. is it possible? it is possible, but that is very, very difficult. >> and hillary clinton taking more of a general election message when she speaks. she did that before michigan and it kind of backfired on her. do you think that she needs to focus still on bernie sanders and less on donald trump and the republicans or is she doing what she needs to be doing? >> i think she should definitely be focusing on both. democrats are really concerne

amanda carpenter joins me. and adrianna curran.rday, ted cruz's words were just -- the gloves are off, if they were still on, i guess we could say. should he be taking this on another day? this feud over donald trump and his wife? >> i think ted cruz has every right to defend his wife pip would like to see more republicans defend women from these sexist attacks that donald trump launches almost on a nearly daily basis. the first big question, megyn kelly asked fox about the sexist things trump has said. he blew up. he continues to play it up every sipgle day. this is not a shtick. this is who donald trump is. republicans can't stand on the sidelines and allow this man to continue the vile attacks. they shauld say, hey, if you have a mother, sister, wife, you have an obligation to say this is not okay. and hold donald trump to a higher standard. >> are you ready for trump to move on? >> oh, absolutely. i think we should move on. where we should move to is the "national enquirer" story that says ted cruz has had affairs with five mis

we're back with michael smerconish and amanda carpenter, jeffrey lord, s.e. cupp. and a conservative columnist. let's start right to left, john king, what did you make of tonight? very substantive. not a lot of sniping. >> every candidate tried to do what they think is their job. number one, donald trump gets the moment. like him or not, he understands if he has a big day tuesday, the math is heavily in his favor. he is trying to tell the republican establishment, stop fighting me and join me. kasich playing straight to ohio, an economic message, an optimistic message. ted cruz talking to the republican base, saying you better rally around me or you're going to get him. and marco rubio taking a big step tonight to restoring his reputation as a young upcoming leader in the party who talks generationally about the next generation. and is that enough to win florida? who knows. >> gloria borger. >> i think the argument that has resonance trump made over and over again tonight is i know the system and i'm the only one who can fix it because i was a part of it. i was an

our friend amanda carpenter was from that area.those have got to be union workers there, auto union workers. i think he's tapped into this. this pennsylvania, new york. >> it's incredible how similar they are. they've both tapped into people's anger and frustrations. what's more interesting is how many people support bernie sanders and don't need to ask the question, how are you going to pay for free college. like donald trump said i'm going to build a wall and keep everybody out of this country that would hurt us, without asking how are you going to do it, and how are you going to pay for it. whether you're the extreme left or extreme right here, the supporters don't need an answer of the i don't really think they care about an answer, because they're buying into what is sold on the surface. there is no read the fine print with these two candidates. that's the reason why he's doing so well and donald trump is doing so well. >> on the issue of donald trump's campaign manager, he said that would never happen in my campaign. interest

today amanda carpenter joins "the lead" to respond to the es

joining me now, the lady panel, amanda carpenter, kaley mcnanny and may have been restin.welcome, welcome, welcome, to miami, ladies. i want to actually begin -- i'd love to hear quickly all of your responses to the fact that now we've learned jeb bush will be meeting with all three of them minus trump. you first. >> i mean, i don't know how much he can really bring to the race at this point. i think that the safest move for him is really to stay in the elder statesman role. he has had such a difficult relationship with marco rubio obviously over the last couple of months that he would create a whole other drama around that conversation in the next week if he were to come in and endorse rubio or someone else. it seems like a dig distraction. >> trump is your guy. and this is a big old -- can i say that middle finger essentially to mr. trump, that he is meeting with everyone else but him? >> it is, but it's one that helps him. just like the mitt romney speech against trump helps him. it paints the image that he is the ultimate outsider, no one on the inside likes me. maybe

and cnn political commentator amanda carpenter who used to serve as communications director for senatoriday. a.b., let me begin you with here on this whole notion of the unity ticket. at this the meeting behind closed doors, apparently this unit ticket would be ted cruz and john kasich. what is the logic of how these two could actually stop trump? >> well, look, i don't think that they can win more delegates than donald trump going forward, but they might be able to stop him from reaching 1,237 before the convention. they're already in a kind of unity ticket because they're not criticizing each other. you hear cruz say he's the only one who can stop trump but they're not attacking each other because they know they're better off with each other in the race. they'll amass more delegates combined than if one of them it was try to go against trump and they'll make it more possible that he's stopped before the convention. but both of them have only one path and that is contested convention. neither one is going to get the delegates to storm hp him now. i think paul ryan, the house speaker, i

and amanda carpenter, used to serve as the communications director for senator ted cruz. of you on this super tuesday part three. and let me just first tee up the sound. we've been talking about it. now we have sound from the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. we heard there was a phone call between the senate majority leader and donald trump. here's what mcconnell sheared. >> i appreciated his call. and i took the opportunity to recommend to him that no matter who may be triggering these violent expressions or conflicts that we've seen in some of these rallies, it might be a good idea to condemn that and discourage it, no matter what the source of it is. >> so dana, let me begin with you. your beat has been the hill for many a year. how unusual is it that leader mcconnell will have spoken with a presidential candidate? >> that they've spoken, not that unusual, but for the senate majority leader to come out and talk to the press core and say he privately told the front-runner for president in his own party that he should try to tamp down on some of the violent rhetor

just like in the previous interview with amanda carpenter who i respect so much who brought the idea, this is not just slandering me, this is not politics, you're slandering my family, i'm a wife, i have children. this has gotten so dirty. the same thing said for corey. corey is an amazing father of four children and amazing devoted husband if you get to know him. a man of faith. so you know, that shows how sad this whole political campaign has gone, it's not just going after the candidates. we're now trying to attempt to smear families and destroy families and that is not the republican party i belong to. i hope this is the last incident in both candidates. both senator cruz and mr. trump to say, put this aside, go back to foe cutting on issues because it's not about us, it not just talking us. we're destroying families now that are not only going to affect people but children for generations to come. >> we showed pictures of the bruises on her arm she tweeted after the incident. she says those were done by corey lewandowski. he originally insisted he never touched her, he tweeted, a

and amanda carpenter is here also.. >> good morning. >> good morning. katrina, less than 10 minutes into the debate your boss, mr. trump, referenced the size of his manhood. doesn't that cheapen the debate in this country? >> well, he was actually responding to marco rubio referencing the exact same thing, but you didn't show that clip to put it in context. mr. trump will respond when he's attacked. that's what he did. >> amanda, is that fair? i mean, i guess marco rubio, like brought it on when he talked about donald trump's small hands, and i can't believe i'm saying this on national television, but amanda, your take? >> it's embarrassing. i woke up this morning kneeling nauseous, and granted, there's a flu going on. it's because of th donald trump debate performance. the trump effect is nausea. we can say rubio is to blame. no. donald trump goes to the bottom of the barrel, gutter politics at every opportunity. if he becomes president, guess what? you're going to get a lot of untact, and unfair attacks. it's the pre

political commentator and trump supporter and former communications director for senator ted cruz amanda carpenterstatements like that may have the effect of getting ted cruz back on his heels but may have larger ramification of turning off some female voters? >> i think they should be concerned about that. the republican party right now has devolved into this attack between two candidates over their wives. it's a narrative i don't want to see my party engaging in and one that needs to be stopped. that means both candidates including my candidate mr. trump. i think it is important to point out that he has won women in 12 of the 16 states where cnn has conducted exit polls. i think women care about kids being safe at school, care about the economy. i think that will drive the female vote. he should not be giving ammunition to those who want to paint him as anti-woman. >> donald trump won women in virginia but lost female vote to marco rubio in missouri. but, amanda, do you think the female voters care about these statements that he has made towards women? >> absolutely. he has a long history of doi

amanda carpenter. republican strategist kevin madden. and former george w. american union, matt sclapp. last night, fair to say your man on the stage was the most to point out the contrast with trump. what was the plan? what was the impact? >> he was focused like a laser. this is a two-man race. not only is donald trump watching him. it's like hillary clinton. it's a two for one attack. every question he got he manages to direct it that way. he wasn't interested in pigging a fight with rubio. everything was on donald trump. >> were the stakes higher for marco rubio? all eyes on him. he has reached the rubicon. the rubio rubicon. >> i like it rubiocon. >> he is a god gifted communicator. he has had so many great debates. for some reason it doesn't seem to correspond with a surge in the polls. i would say here in his home state of florida that usually you just count on winning your home state. ted cruz won his home state. he of course has to win here. but he has to go further than that. most people view it as donald trump is as close to being inevitable. and t

on cnn and on live tv brings it up out of the blue and accuses the woman sitting right there, amanda carpentern't ignore it anymore because it just happened on live tv. that's what it feels like in the media. that this criminontrol has been stolen away. it's unbelievable to watch. >> maybe the media should get over the fact that they should haven't that control. they're just supposed to cover the story. >> but the bigger question is -- and you can't ignore it. people chose not to ignore it. the underlying question, though, in your column is -- the point of the column is the media did not create donald trump. the people that have been going out to his rallies from day one created donald trump. >> yeah, i've never bought into that idea entirely. i think the media has some ability to set the agenda. they've covered donald trump extensively but i think that from -- the biggest thing is that the voters still decide these elections which sounds so overly simplistic but the press is out there and as you said they ask tough questions and they report on, well, donald trump says such and such and that's