>> donna brazile comes out in favor -- let the record show, donna brazile coming out in favor of partiesnd sociali socializing. >> hey, i make a promise, i'll go to doug's wedding. invite me. >> you better go. i've partied with doug. >> the dance after your wife -- >> where are we? where are we right now? >> this is bipartisanship right here. >> sarah palin endorsed donald trump. what's the next big endorsement out there? who's left to endorse that could make a difference? >> well, i think what we'll see is as candidates peel away, those will be the endorsements that make a difference. we look at the wmur poll in new hampshire. trump is leading. cruz is not far behind. if you combine bush, rubio, christie and kasich, you get to 32 poins, two point behind donald trump. if we get to at 20 -- >> i'm sure they'll get out and endorse each other. >> clint eastwood. has he made an endorsement you? i don't care. these endorsements, they're validation. donald trump needs evangelical, home schoolers. he needs the support of those who are very conservative. >> from the democratic side, hillary clin

a lot the discuss with the political panel today, a i want to bring in political commentators donna brazile and alex castellanos. and donna, if you look at the numbers for secretary clinton, and beyond the headline figures tlshg is data in here worrisome, and maybe more worrisome for hillary clinton as to how committed voters are as to sanders and clinton. and how many of them say they are committed, and for sanders, the democrats view him favorably 70%, and 73% for hillary clinton, and how wor risome are these polls as we get closer? >> well, as someone who has been in many, many political battles, a campaign should worry about every time a poll comes out, but don't stop focusing on the real goal, and that is to commitment to the people of iowa and new hampshire to the people who go out the vote. and these polls give you and indication that there is a weakness in the brand or the operation, and perhaps, they can figure out how to make sure to close the gap, but i have to say this about bernie sanders, he has found a sweet spot in the democratic coalition. there is a hunger for someone with

to continue our conversation is gloria gorger and donna brazille. it's midnight.haven't mentioned o'malley. >> i have something to say about more continue o'malley. >> he's going before the fire brand surge. 74-year-old devout socialist. and hillary clinton who is the star of the party. it's difficult. >> he said let's not talk about process. let's talk about people. i think in his response to the questions, he tried to bring it back to the people. the people in iowa. he tried to bring it back to his own message in deliverance. >> you know you're on tv, right? >> i'm going to be catty. i tries too hard to be transformative. >> i saw a tweet from a reporter who says why does he always look like a stock photograph of someone running for president. >> candidates rise and fall in large measure is capture something in the country. sanders is not doing well because of his aesthetics, but at this moment in the democratic party, anger at wall street and even a democratic president, hasn't been able to rein them in. martin o'malley has never found a message that resonates

something i've never seen before in new hampshire, polling, donna brazile.e pull up the new hampshire poll right now. trump is way out front on the republican race. he's at 30%, doing very well. look at the grouping behind him. marco rubio, chris christie, ted cruz, jeb bush, and john kasich. they are all bunched together right there. sort of four establishment lane guys, plus ted cruz. how do you break through there? these guys obviously now battling hard for second place. >> actually, i think they're battling for third place if you think about the winner of the iowa caucuses will likely be in second place. if ted cruz, who i believe have a superior organization in the state of iowa, along the republican candidates, if he comes up in first place, he'll immediately jump to second place in new hampshire. so, the establishment lane right now is congested. and that's why you see mr. rubio attacking mr. christie and mr. christie going back at mr. rubio, mr. bush attacking him, mr. kasich. it is really the scene of an accident. so, somebody will come in third pla

let's talk about the clintons and much more about the 2016 race with cnn political commentator donna brazileekly standard bill crystal. donna, a feminist writer writing in the liberal website slate. she says feminists have repeatedly and convincingly made the case that when women say they've been sexually assaulted we should assume they're telling the truth, particularly when it comes to the story of juanita broaddrick, it's not easy to square the arguments against believing her with the dominant progressive consensus on trusting victims. >> well, in the context of donald trump built his campaign on mocking women, attacking immigrants of course and smearing muslims, i'm not surprised donald trump has decided to go into what i call the sleaze basket to try to bring up anything that would keep him from having a real conversation about issues that matters to the american people. when it comes to sexual assault, violence against women, i think democrats and liberals and progressives have a good history on ensuring that women are able to tell their truth and to ensure that there are laws properly

you can say donna brazil said it. i approved this message. >> trump has the support of non-establishment types, it's member of the establishment yet to rally around him. do you think teaming up with palin further alienates him? a lot of them hold her partly responsible for the republican loss in 2008. a lot of people that support john mccain and feel he deserves loyalty from sarah palin are probably surprised to see her linking up with trump. >> notably senator mccain himself, recently came to the defense of donald trump over the issue of senator cruz' citizenship. so perhaps that was a signal to her it was okay for her to ally herself with donald trump. look, sarah palin is an absolute asset to donald trump or frankly to ted cruz had she endorsed him or to anyone else in a presidential primary in iowa as i can it was ralph reid today with the christian coalition said that she was like the gold standard or something to that effect with a lot of these folks. and that's true. she's very, very popular with these folks. i

i want to bring in cnn political commentator donna brazile, top dnc official and katrina vandenhoevel. at the top of the program, we mentioned cnn's new polling showing bernie sanders gaining a bit of ground nationally. we should also point out there was a fox news poll in iowa showing hillary clinton leading sanders 48% to 42%. if she can pull off a win here, that's would be a big change in momentum for her, would it not? >> look at the poll cnn just released. it shows bernie sanders has essentially re-created the obama coalition. extraordinary support, 74% among 18 to 29-year-olds. very strong support among independents. and also what struck me was the democrats say they are happy, comfortable with both candidates. anderson, i think what bernie sanders needs to do tonight is speak forcefully about why he is a realist and a doer. his ideas are practical. they are in the mainstream of american political ideas, and he needs to say that the new realism is that we must dismantle a rigged, corrupted political economic system if we're going to have the transformational changes this country

meanwhile, hugh talks about this epic battle right now, donna brazile. you see donald trump at the top of these polls especially in new hampshire holding so strong. >> i mean, no one is a bigger birther than donald trump. i mean he did it with president obama and now he's doing it to ted cruz and put ted cruz in a very awkward position as somebody who once pedaled that kind of hysteria, as well. i mean he's running as a son of an immigrant, a proud one, american success story and running as a fierce opponent of immigration reform. so here you have now ted cruz trying to prove that his mother certificate from delaware. it's ironic, i'm not going to get into -- i'm not going to mess with the republican primary. let them fight it out but i do think he's qualified. that doesn't mean that i believe he would make a good president. >> are you going to mess with the republican primary? i'm happy to see donald trump go after cruz on this issue because to donna's point they did it so -- >> even though there's nothing to it. >> they did it so -- there's nothing to

the covenant with black america ten years later, hugh hewitt, host of "the hugh hewitt show" and donna brazile and matthew dowd let me begin with you. boy, the law does seem to be settled on what a natural born citizen is. doesn't mean it's not an issue in the presidential race. >> like many that come up even if we think it's settled and done, even if the candidate himself who raised the issue said it was settled, it doesn't seem to be settled. this is i think where -- we're in a campaign in a time where a series of these events are going to keep happening over and over again. over the course of the next year. >> hugh hewitt, you're tapped into the republican base, the republican primary voters. they're listeners of yours, as well. how does an issue like this get traction? >> it doesn't. there is no debate. there isn't one single legal scholar in america who believes this is an open question. ted cruz is qualified but i am reminded when i was a lad there was a series of three fights between joe frazier and muhammad ali, and they were epic battles and i think iowa, new hampshire and south carol

with me to talk about that donna brazil, congressman dave brat, bakari sellers, and anna navarro. anna, do you think it could be a good political strategy for republicans to bring back up the problems that he had 20 years ago? >> let's be fair, it's not republicans bringing it up. it's donald trump. this he knows if he says something outrageous he'll get media. it might be good for him. there are some people in the base. there are some people who like donald trump who may like the idea of him taking it to hillary. you know, no, i don't think it's helpful. i think it's helpful to hillary clinton in the long-term. it's an old issue. in fact, i would say mr. trump gave bill clinton's foundation $100 invited bill and hillary clinton to his wed iding. after all these allegations and scandals. we all know bill clinton had his issues. a lot of things to go after hillary clinton i would skrut nice her on. i think her husband's personal issue is not one. >> of course, the republicans are going to use it. some people in media say it's a fair game. others said, you know -- >> do you think it

. >>> joining me now, peter and cnn political commentator, donna brazil, vice chair of the dnc voter nd you know, donna, look, hillary clinton not holding back when it comes to bernie sanders today, especially on the issue of readiness to serve as commander-in-chief. is this what hillary clinton on the ropes looks like? hillary clinton the fighter? >> well, first of all, i think from day one she's been willing to not only raise her voice and talk about how she will champion issues facing the middle class, she talked about kitchen table issues, the economy of course. this is not really at the end of the day just about these very important issues facing this country. you have two distinct personalities who are running for the democratic party nomination. hillary clinton, who in my judgment, came in first lace with voters in 2008 but didn't have enough delegates to get over the threshold. and bernie sanders who caucused with the democrats in the united states senate but now running as a democratic -- as you know, a democrat for the presidency of the united states. this is a very spirited

we'll talk about that with donna brazile, vice chair of the democratic national committee.ublican congressman from virginia, dave bratt. cnn political commentator anna navarro, rooting for jeb bush. thanks to all of you for coming in, especially on this post-new-year's weekend. good marketing move? >> i just like to see the interparty fighting, first and foremost. we do believe donald trump is the standard-bearer in the republican party. donald trump is a big on, a 'zine xen xenophobe. if donald trump is the standard-bearer, i am finally glad to see that somebody in the party stood up against him. >> congressman bratt, do you obviously the most intense think you just said is that donald trump is a bigot. >> yeah, i don't get into the name-calling. i think the ruling class in dc is not listening to the american people. the ruling class needs to get the message straight. there is a huge anxiety problem out there, when it comes to the economy, foreign relations, terrorism, the economy. we have $18 trillion in debt, $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. folks can't find jobs.

and let's bring in the strategist donna brazile, and s.e. cupp.lph read, a well known n conservative evangelical leader and he said that her endorsement is as gold as the faucets in trump tower. and they can turn the fight over the evangelical vote over for the soul of the republican party, and how big of a deal is this? >> well, it is a big deal for ted cruz, because he wanted to get her endorsement for that reason to win the fight with evangelicals, but her influence of republicans at large has diminished significantly. and 538, and they did some number crunching and expect the loss to be 55 percentage points, so i am not sure that she open up a magic box to moderate republican voters that trump is also hoping to get. i think that she's right where trump is, and gives him access to the very voters that he has been really turning on over the past few months. >> and among the evan gel cal voters and the home school ers, and that is a big help for him in iowa. >> yes, sarah palin is a big deal among evangelicals in iowa among home schoolers in iowa

donna brazile, matthew dowd, alex castellanos and katrina and have nn -- vandenheuvel. >> i remember when ronald reagan i think right now, donald trump is the odds on favorite to win iowa. it totally depends, we have talked about before, what the turnout ratio is between old and new caucusgoers. he'll have enough new caucusgoers thatre very enthused that i think he pulls out a victory. when he does, there will be a sonic boom around the country. a lot of people think, oh, the republicans will deal with that. when he wins, it will be a big night. >> and ted cruz said he'll be unstoppable. alex, several month tos ago, you tried to get republicans to organize and take him on.. it's notot happened. >>>>yeah, h h are weoing with that? not soo well. i think matthew is right. i think trump is probably going to win iowa. cruz is running as the candidate of moral purity. the guy on the white horse. he's had a problem with that with integrity. he's heading the wrong way and he's got someone behind him growing. marco rubio. cruz has a great organization. this ma be a trump and rubio race down t

. >>> let's bring in our cnn political commentators democratic strategist donna brazil republican s.e. cup. what do you think? your reaction to the decision by governor huckabee to actually forego watching even the prime time republican debate instead heading over to donald trump's veterans' event. >> i know governor huckabee a long time i love governor huckabee and i do not question nor should anyone question his sincerity when he talks about caring about the troops. in addition to that, there is a lot going on right now. governor huckabee is not on the main stage. so as you said he's got nothing to do at 8:00. there is no loss for him by going over to trump's event which will get some viewers from the fox debate -- he'll get on television. and that's good for governor huckabee. let's also not forget that governor huckabee and ted cruz are running for the same kinds of voters in iowa. so any time governor huckabee can contrast with ted cruz or put himself on the opposite side of any issue or any moment that's good for governor huckabee. he's right that ted cruz has changed his mind o

joining us is cnn political commentator, donna brazil, top democratic party official and bush supporter and rubio friend, which might be more than you can say about jeb bush these days. joining us as well is andy dean, trump supporter and former president of trump productions. andy, first of all, were you surprised by this rift between trump and fox news, and the way trump has gone about it, or do you think the statement by fox was so over the top that he's justified? >> i think the statement was over the top. and i think it was offensive, and also not funny. it felt like maybe the weatherman was trying to be a comedian and wrote the statement. and it felt awkward and odd, and donald trump was thrown off by it. he didn't like it. and he responded in kind. but i think what you're seeing here, anderson, is donald asserting control over the process. he is saying, hey, i'm the guy, i'm going to control events. and that's what americans want to see, because it's a reaction to obama, who we feel like has lost control, and one last thing i'll say on this. there is a historical precedent here.

cupp and donna brazil.inton starting to see shades of 2008 when she not only lost iowa to then senator barack obama but also to to then former senator john edwards. . >> she's winning among democrats, but among independents first time caucus goers, there's no question she's having trouble get. ing their support. i think the campaign needs to make sure she cannot just grab democrats but those who will caucus first time caucus goers and a big generational divide. she has to go after them as well. >> he's 74. she's 68. but he's doing better among young voters. >> i talked to a lot of democrats. they will tell you democrats love hillary clinton. her favorables among democrats show that. but they love hillary clinton until there's any other alternative. and that's what we saw in 2008. she just doesn't -- she can't get the kind of enthusiasm that elizabeth warren gets or joe biden had for a brief period of time. it's not to say she's not going to win the nomination, but he's give. ing her a hard time because she

joining us is cnn political commentator, donna brazil and jeffrey lord. he's a trump supporter and former regan white house political director and also with us, analyst and investigative analyst carl bernstein and the life of hillary rodham clinton. is putting bill clinton out on the campaign trail despite the political baggage that republicans like to point to? is it a net plus for hillary clinton's campaign? >> this will be an epic battle this coming election and clinton will be out there and the issue in the election will be the clintons, as far as republicans are concerned and so sure, they want to get clinton out there and they want to hit this stuff early and respond to it but it's really about the general election, not about these primaries. there is going to be plenty of time but there is a concern among clinton supporters the so-called circus is back in the arena, back in the political arena and too much attention is going to be devoted by the enemies of the clinton family to his past behavior. it's a problem. >> well, donna, how big a problem is

joined now by peter and donna brazil, a contributing editor with the atlantic media and senior fellow at the new america foundation. and she's vice chair of the national committee voter project. donna, you say the clinton campaign should be worried about the poll numbers but do you think that worry is coming late? is it tightening of the race because they weren't worried two or three months ago? >> anderson, as a campaign strategist, you're 18 days out, of course you're looking at all these polls. back in the day you had one or two polls, of course, des moines register poll is the one you look forward to read and understand. but, look, the campaigns, both campaigns, hillary campaign as well as bernie campaign, they have a game plan, and both campaigns out there trying to get number threes. you have number one you are committed to go to caucus for the candidates. number two, you're wavering but you're leaning. number three, you're undecided or no one talked to you. they are trying to find votes at this hour. should they be worried? of course. should bernie be nervous that, with you kno

continuing our conversation now, peter beinart, also van jones, gloria borger, michael smerconish, donna brazile, and bakri sellers. it highlights how important iowa was in all of this when you look at the polls, you look at what happened. also we didn't talk much about the republicans. have we mentioned trump once? >> thank god. >> it's midnight and we haven't mentioned him in an hour. >> and we haven't mentioned o'malley. >> i've got something nice to say about martin o'malley. >> first of all -- >> we did talk about o'malley. you said he was going to bring it. and you said, well, he showed up. he was present. >> he did do very well today. i mean, he's going before the firebrand surge. 74-year-old devout socialist who's a revolutionary. and hillary clinton, who's a staalward of the party. that's difficult. >> and he said let's not talk about process, let's talk about people. and i think in his response to many of the questions he tried to bring it back to the people. the people in iowa. and then he tried to bring it back to his own message in terms of delivering, as -- come on. i'm being gener

with me to share their giddy enthusiasm kevin mcfadden, donna brazil who is supporting hillary clintono. >> you're not officially supporting hillary clinton? >> no. >> i apologize. amanda carpenter, and bill. you are supporting bernie sanders. that's fair to say. >> i'm supporting the democratic nominee. i liked bernie but i'm not endorsing anybody. >> glad we got all the cards on the table. let's start with the race with just one week to go sanders has moved ahead of clinton in this poll. but if you only count the people who voted in the iowa caucus in 2008, hillary beats sanders. what does hillary clinton need to do to win iowa, which she was not able to do in 2008? >> finish strong. i think the des moines register poll might help her. eight years ago they endorsed her and gave her 1% boost. but 1% in a close race is very, very important. she has to make sure that the -- not just the regular caucus goers but the new people who might be inclined to support senator sanders are able to give her a second look once they get into the caucus. hear from three candidate. i think it will give

donna brazile, matthew dowd, who has worked for republicans and democrats. alex castellanos and katrina vanden heuvel. editor and publisher of "the nation." let's begin with the republican side right now. donald trump in front. we'll see if he can pull it out. >> i remember when ronald reagan took on an incumbent president. the democratic race. it's as fascinating and impressive as that. i think right now, donald trump is the odds on favorite to win iowa. it totally depends, we have talked about before, what the turnout ratio is between old and new caucusgoers. t it looks like he'll have enough new caucusgoers that are very enthused that i think he pulls out a victory. when he does, there will be a sonic boom around the country. a lot of people think, oh, the republicans will deal with that. republicans will deal with that. when he wins, it will be a big night. >> and ted cruz said he'll be unstoppable. alex, you, several weeks ago, several months ago, you tried to get republicans to organize and take him on. it's not happened. >> yeah, how are we doing with

of this and more, and the political headlines of the day, and joining us is doug hye and also donna brazile, and joining us from harrisburg, pennsylvania is jeffrey lord, a former political strategist for ronald reagan and donald trump suppo supporter. and so, jeffrey, is the purpose of that ad to strike fear? what is the reason for that ad? >> that commercial is much like a ronald reagan commercial who depicted the chaos in the gulf, and went through the brief h history of the american military involvement, and pinned it on jimmy carter. it is a commercial called peace and strength, and it is going to be very reaganesque, and touched all of the nerves that ronald reagan did. the country is not safe, and we have a problem here, and leadership not taking care of the problem. >> and doug, he was on cnn's "new day" today with us, and he said that he is going to be raising attitudes of women with hillary clinton and her husband, and this is an exchange that trump had with chris cuomo. >> i know many people in this campaign, and the last person they want to run against is donald trump. believe m