why did ben ginsberg tell us all that he told us tonight? >> well, because i think ben understands the question you put to him. what would happen to this movement? i mean, trump is the leader of a movement, whether the establishment likes it or not. and i think what ben was laying out is the legal process. he has a great political advice. and i think the notion, it does become a bit of a fairytale. i'll answer your question about how donald trump could be expanding the electorate, and burning down all of the establishment washington. the reason the establishment is fearful of donald trump is because there's a concern that the new people that are coming to trump may actually expect him to do all the things he said he was going to do. ban muslims from entry, build a wall, deport 11 million people. those things are not in line with the rest of the -- again, i want to stop using establishment republicans, just say those who govern under the banner of republicans. so there is trepidation that vulnerable republican senators will lose their seats to

it would absolutely fracture the republican party. >> ben ginsberg, i can surmise from the way that you'realking about this, that you disagree with steve schmidt, that you don't necessarily think it would be fracturing or crippling to the republican party to have that kind of fight at the convention where the person who went in with the most but not a sufficient number of delegates didn't end up with the nomination. >> i think it's very much -- if somebody gets a majority they are going to be the nominee. if donald trump has the majority, it's done he will be the nominee. if he's short, then it's going to depend how short he is. somebody who goes in with 43% of the delegates will be barely over 1,000, more than 200 delegates short. that's an historically weak nominee or a candidate going into the convention. if in fact he's 50 delegates short, then that's pretty tough to take away. the rules, once people start peeling back the rules, will make it pretty obvious that there's no skulduggery that has to be done if a candidate comes into a convention 2002, 50 shorts short that in fact the rule

. >> nicole wallace, answer the question that chris just posed, why did ben ginsberg tell us what he just told us tonight? >> because i think ben has answered that question an the movement, donald trump has established that. the legal process, ben is also a political adviser, he is not just a brilliant lawyer, he has a great political sense. i don't think he would give someone the political advice to proceed in that manner. i think the notion, it does become a little bit of a fairy tail. i want to answer your question about how donald trump could be expending the electorate, there is a concern that the new people coming to trump may actually expect him to do all the things he said he would do. ban muslims from entry, build a wall, deport a million people. those things are not in line with the rest -- i want to stop using establishment republicans and say those who govern under the banner of republican governors and senators. so there is trepidation that vulnerable republican senators will lose their seats to democrats because of that policy debate with hillary clinton. but it is also

republican attorney ben ginsberg. mr. ginsberg. >> thanks for having me, rachel. >> we talked about this last night, a little bit on tv, a little in the hallway here. i want to make sure i understand it. doesn't the nominee get picked based on who wins the primaries and the caucuses that lead up to the convention? >> well, sure. that's the way the nominee gets picked and i think two things are true, number one, if any candidate, including mr. trump, has more than a majority of delegates at the convention, he will receive the nomination. the second possibility is that somebody is ahead but does not have a majority going in. and then the rules under which the convention is run, and the choices made by the delegates can send you in different places as people use the rules to their advantage which, after all, is why rules are imposed. >> if that process was going to be used to try to get somebody who was not the person with the most delegates to be the nominee, if there was going to be an organized effort to use those rules t

. >> ben ginsberg? >> three thoughts. first, republican turnout continues to set all sorts of records. democratic turnout not so much. sets up interestingly for the fall. number two is the perspective on where things were in 2012. mitt romney had won the same especially that donald trump has as of know. and mitt romney was winning about 51% of the delegates and trump is at 45, 46% of the delegates won. somehow mitt romney was perceived as a weak front-runner with a lot of problems and a long slog to go. we have a different narrative with donald trump, although the numbers don't necessarily bear that out. and third, the rules of the republican party say you have to have a majority of delegates to be the nominee for a reason. because if it's not a majority, you then have a historically weak candidate and why would you want a historically weak candidate, majority is there for a reason, it's a test of strength for the nominee to make. so the talk about depriving somebody who doesn't reach that threshold of a majority is ill f

. >> ben ginsberg, veteran republican attorney, msnbc political analyst who's with us at exactly the right time we need him to be with us. ben, thank you, i really appreciate it. >> thanks, rachel. >> invaluable. really appreciate it. when ben ginsberg says that would be increasingly difficult hoops, nothing like that has been done before, that would be really hard to do. you know what has never been done before? a presidential recount. that had never been done before. supreme court picked a presidency not that long ago. things that have never happened before have never happened before until they happen. and this year something weird's going to happen. stay with us. when my doctor told me i have age-related macular degeneration, amd we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression. and everywhere i look... i'm reminded to stick to my plan. including preservision areds 2. my doctor said preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula that the national eye institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd... after 15 years of clinica

i'm joined by ben ginsberg, you are in the cat bird seat, if you l because it's going to cleveland.no way mathematically the way we are figuring it or very slight chance unless something else happens that this is not going to be beyond the first ballot. >> yeah. the rate donald trump is winning delegates, he is certainly in for a longer slide than mitt romney faced four years ago, if you remember how long and painful that was. it looks like it will be decided in cleveland. >> and by that, i should say they will have to go beyond the first ballot or can't be decided on the first ballot. and then what happens. the rules committee can change the rules for the percentage that each candidate needs to have for any state. they can do whatever they want to do basically the rules committee in the days leading up to the convention opening in cleveland. >> they can't do anything they want to do. there's a set of rules that are the rules for each convention and the 2016 convention will have to pass those rules for itself. that includes how many delegates get put in nomination, how many states i

okay. >> let me ask you, ben ginsberg, when is your romance novel on rule 40 coming out?e novel. >> rule 40. a love story. >> when you see the fight at the convention on it, that will be the first big huge fight. >> passion play. >> the tone in the convention come together in the whole notion of who will fix it. your point about if somebody's at 1236, what can the establishment do? nobody can fix that and nobody can fix the tone of this campaign. it goes to why there are no brokers left in the republican party trying to define the establishment. to bob's point really of nobody's talking about what people want to hear. >> speaking of copouts, you talk about the "dark forces" that are driving this campaign right now? it's very easy to look at a candidate and say it's all his fault. >> it's not. >> you dig underneath that candidate and you start looking state by state by state by state and see a majority of republican voters in states want to ban muslims from entering the united states of america -- >> two-thirds. >> forget about tone, forget about individual candidates, sta

there are folks, ben ginsberg, kenny barber who are incredible -- incredibly useful now.ou need some form of coordination and the campaigns are just getting and now -- just getting around. >> this is an "ocean's 11" heist without danny ocean. >> up next, president obama's nomination for the supreme court. i have made my: decision. i have selected someone to is not only one of america's sharpest legal minds but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, evenhandedness, and excellence. these qualities and his long commitment to public service have earned him the respect and admiration of leaders on both sides of the aisle. he will ultimately bring that same character to bear on the supreme court, an institution in which he is uniquely prepared to serve immediately. today, i am nominating chief judge, merrick brian garland to join the supreme court. [applause] ♪ >> joining me now to discuss the nomination to the supreme court is ron clane. ron i will start with you. you have known a merrick garland for a long time, and you are making the claim i

there are folks, ben ginsberg, kenny barber who are incredibly useful now.ve not had anything at this scale, and you do need some form of coordination, and the campaigns are just getting around to this. mark: this is a "ocean's 11" heist without danny ocean. if you want to understand where this republican races had a, you have no choice but to go on to bloomberg politics and read the article. john: up next, we take a look at the nomination by president obama to the supreme court. president obama: not only one of america's sharpest legal minds but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, evenhandedness, and excellence. these qualities and his long commitment to public service have earned him the respect and admiration of leaders on both sides of the aisle. he will ultimately bring that same character to bear on the supreme court, an institution in which he is uniquely prepared to serve immediately. today, i am nominating chief judge, merrick brian garland to join the supreme court. [applause] ♪ ♪ john: joining me now to discuss

announcer: ben ginsberg. looking at the possibility of a contested convention. ain what this means. ben: it is when none of the candidates arrive at the commission with the majority of delegates. by definition, they have to contest to reach a majority. there will be balloting when the delegates get there and to see if and then balloting your candidate can win enough delegates to get over the majority. >> a lot of attention on the rules committee. here is the question. what is the committee and how much authority does the committee have over the convention structure? ben: there will be two rules committee. one is the national committee which will meet the week before the convention, come up with what amounts to a working draft. that draft will be approved by the full committee, historically on the wednesday before the convention. that document will go to a temporary convention was committee which is made up of delegates as opposed to the republican national committee members. those delegates will work through the draft. and do whatever they choose is their authori

. >> there is ben ginsberg -- >> this is a country that knows very well that you can get 59 out of a 100 votes in the united states senate and lose. so it's not complicated to explain these rules that this convention makes a majority vote, this candidate doesn't have a majority rule, nobody does, now we'll get another roll call, that is not hard to understand. >> it's got to be hard to explain. i concede that point, but you look at for example what is going on in georgia, where donald trump won georgia by a lot. georgia is going to turn up at the democratic national convention and cast all their votes for ted cruz? that is going to be harder to explain and that is what is going on right now. that is the stealth campaign that is not happening in public, but is happening at the convention and that is going to be harder to make a case for it. even if you have a rules based case. >> democratic caucus, sanders leads, still too early to call, 4% in. these are incremental developments, ladies and gentlemen. we're in the news business. we'll take them where we can get them. a break in our co

host: a veteran of multiple campaigns, ben ginsberg. thank you for expending all of this. pyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you are coming up on tuesday, republican congresswoman marsha blackburn on president obama's trip to cuba and her work on the selective investigative panel on infant lives in women's history month and democratic congressman -- from virginia, the cochair the democratic coalition on a report released last week designed to promote a domestic american prosperity agenda aimed in growing the economy and achieving political consensus. we will also talk about the house hearing on heroin and opioid abuse and president obama's trip to cuba. washington journal begins live at 7:00 eastern, tuesday morning. coming up on tuesday, arizona all this presidential primary. udall's caucuses for both parties. i has caucuses for democrats. has

if trump becomes a mouthpiece for the establishment republican party for the ben ginsberg and charlie blacks, et cetera, if he starts talking with debra proof, he'll sound like any other hack out there. he doesn't want to do that. >> he is not really doing it. he is expanding his circle. trump is a phone call guy. loves getting on the phone, doesn't use e-mail. i hear he was calling around the senate today. he is starting to build relationships, even if he is not hiring people on board. i got some fresh report in the last few minutes about this meeting tomorrow. 8:30 a.m., washington, d.c., a group of a few dozen conservatives. they're going to start looking about a third party bid. one name i keep hearing, chris, senator ben saas, nebraska. even if it lets hillary get the white race by a split race, he could be a standard bearer for are the hard right. >> who are these people, they got cigars, what kind of a meet something this? so far into mod den politics. online, what are they in social media people? are they actual government people who have been elected as governors or senators?

bush campaign, ben ginsberg, thank you for explaining all of this. ben: thank you. during campaign 2016, c-span takes you on the road to the white house, as we follow the candidates on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. next, editorial cartoonist talk about their influences on the presidential election. then, a discussion about europe's effort to combat terrorism and deal with refugees. after that, a look at what a contested convention is, and how republican party rules may affect this summer's meeting in cleveland. host: good evening. i'm the executive director of new hampshire humanities and i'm so pleased to have you all here for what promises to be a lively conversation about a complex subject. that is actually a perfect description of what we do here i -- at new hampshire humanities, we foster spirited and civil conversations on complex issues. [laughter] i made a point of that. informed by the knowledge of experts and the wisdom provided by all of you. i hope we will all experience some a-ha moments tonight, the wonderful occasions where you suddenly see so

. >> ben ginsberg and robert costa, thank you both very much for joining us tonight. appreciate it.g up, sarah silverman talking about her candidate for president. engage people and to connect us with the wonderment of nature. with the tiger image, the saliva coming off 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. when you think what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a. rheumatoid arthritis like me,e and you're talking to a rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira helping me reach for more.

. >> ben ginsberg and robert costa, thank you both very much for joining us tonight. appreciate it.sarah silverman talking about her candidate for president. out success, what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a. when your allergy symptoms start... i've been claritin clear for 14 days. ...doctors recommend taking one claritin every day of your allergy season... ...for continuous relief. with powerful, 24 hour... ...non-drowsy claritin, live claritin clear. every day. i think the first step in being able to create a helpful solution is just to be able to recognize problems in the world around you. don't you dare change the rules. don't you dare play with your food. don't you dare get any big ideas. ignore what people say you can't do. don't you dare take that apart. don't you dare stay up all night on the computer. do

--n ginsberg -- ben ginsberg thank you. here's the headline from ben ginsberg.the gop is set for a quagmire in cleveland." "build as a make or break for the republican candidates still holding out hope that they can topple donald trump, these contests are also a make or break for trump and the republican party. they will determine whether there is chaos or coronation." up is john, from hawaii. you are a very early. yes, very, very early. i do not think that the party of reagan is still alive. i think it went with ronald reagan when he passed away. our government now -- you can't tell the difference between the republicans and the debt got -- and the democrats. they are all the same. i think that what we need in this country is a new party. maybe a good, conservative party that will be working for the american people and america. the republicans and the democrats, what they have done , ir the last eight years could say maybe 20 years, they country.ruining this i just can't figure it out. these people are supposed to be working for us. but i can see that they are

say come down here right away and he did here the now did.d he the now chief then worked with ben ginsberg and the others on the republican party to craft their argument. i am thinking of where he has ended up, for example, in shall be county, the ruling that cut back on section 5, not section 2. what kind of line do you see, if any, in bush v. gore and shelby versus county? pamela: the composition of the supreme court at that time of shelby county and its predecessors are a product of the 2000 election. it is hard to figure out who would have been nominated because three of the justices who had replaced since bush v. gore were voluntary departures from the supreme court. as many of you know, justices seem to be more and more timing those voluntary departures in various ways. the chief justice's departure was not a voluntary departure. he died in office. very hard to know who would have been present by 2004, but pretty clear i think that coming in 2005, democrats had held the , even if republicans had won the 2004 election, john roberts would not have been position to go onto the supreme c

back with us, attorney and republican strategist ben ginsberg at the table as well. and while ben doesn't work on trump matters, jones day represents trump for president, i just wanted to put that out there. chuck, don't lick your wounds too badly, that was a good villanova team that miami lost to last night, my friend. >> no, that's true. you sort of saw it coming. i had hope at half time because villanova was beating the pants off of miami but miami was only down six. it was one of those you're like, "well --" and then the second half happened. my son cried. i feel like -- >> i think my husband cried, too, chuck. tell your son not to feel bad. >> it's a huge moment, though, when you have totally brainwashed your kids on sports and they cry over the seams you cry for. it's huge. >> if you came in the beginning of the season and said you're going to to sweet 16, you would have taken that. >>> let's talk about politics, bernie sanders says he has a path forward if he does well this weekend. what does that path look like, chuck? >> it looks like a path that doesn't exis

announcer: ben ginsberg. former general counsel to the republican national committee. with the party chair, looking at the very real possibility of an open or contested convention. explain what this means. what is a contested convention? ben: it is when none of the candidates arrive at the start of the convention with the majority of delegates. by definition, they have to contest to reach a majority. host: if there a candidate with the majority of delegates, but not majority overall, what does that mean? mr. ginsberg: there's a magic number, which is 1237 delegates. you have to get more than that. you have to have a plurality. the way the rules are written, there will be balloting when the delegates get there and to see if and then balloting your candidate can win enough delegates to get over the majority. host: a lot of attention on the rules committee. here is the question. how much authority does the committee have over the convention structure? ben: there will be two rules committee. one is the national committee which will meet the week before the convention, come

ben ginsberg is with us, long-time gop counsel, best known for his role in bush v gore. of opens up a new front vis a vis our conversation the other night about the stop trump effort. >> it does. four years ago, mitt romney won two-thirds of the delegates in the states that vote between now and march 15th. so this was a message aimed directly at the voters of those states, whether you vote for ted cruz or marco rubio or john kasich, he is going to his base from four years ago to get engaged, get involved and go out and vote. >> do you think it works, ben? does it have a practical effect? will it move numbers or people or their hearts? >> well, it could. let's remember that mitt romney won 56% of the delegates in super tuesday 2012. donald trump was in the mid 40s on super tuesday. so the answer is a call to arms by mitt romney goes directly at the image donald trump is being able to give for himself. mitt romney has no skin in the game. he's not going to be a candidate which is why this message may move hearts and move voters to the polls. >> ben, in the time since our r

tomorrow we will sit down with ben ginsberg, former counsel and probably knows more about the republicanan anyone else. we will walk through exactly what happens to you we are taping that interview tomorrow afternoon. check it out on our c-span networks later in the day tomorrow on our website at c-span.org. jim from halifax pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning america. thank you, c-span for listening to my voice. i listened to that comment hillary clinton had a little bit ago. she confused me. i'm under the impression that people already do receive childcare credits on their income tax. and i know her husband, mr. clinton, voted for nafta, free trade agreement. everything is contradictory confusing. although, i did call on the republican line but i have to tell you, i would never vote for somebody let -- somebody that shut the government down. mr. cruz, he scares me. the republican party, the democratic party, first thing is there should be accountability. this is illegal immigrant thing, laws on the books since mr. reagan has been president. why aren't these laws enforced?

tomorrow we will sit down with ben ginsberg, former counsel and probably knows more about the republicanrty rules than anyone else. we will walk through exactly what happens to you we are taping that interview tomorrow afternoon. check it out on our c-span networks later in the day tomorrow on our website at c-span.org. jim from halifax, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning america. thank you, c-span for listening to my voice. commented to that hillary clinton had a little bit ago. she confused me. i'm under the impression that people already do receive childcare credits on their income tax. and i know her husband, mr. clinton, voted for nafta, free trade agreement. contradictory, confusing. although, i did call on the republican line but i have to tell you, i would never vote for somebody let -- somebody that shut the government down. mr. cruz, he scares me. the republican party, the democratic party, first thing is there should be accountability. this is illegal immigrant thing, laws on the books since mr. reagan has been president. why aren't these laws enforced? host: we

back with us, attorney and republican strategist ben ginsberg at the table as well. ben is a partner at jones day and while ben doesn't work on trump matters, jones day represents trump for president, i just wanted to put that out