howard fineman and curtis lee who is with me right now. let me go to howie jackson on -- howie jackson, sure. what do you think about tonight's debate? what explains the behavior. i guess cruz was the most consistent taking shot after shot at barack obama irrespective of the topic going for the pro-israel crowd which makes sense. i guess most of what he did was going after the tea party people. he was working their hard right rail of the race like he's always done. i don't know what the strategy is. is there enough of the hard right rail for him -- delegate votes for him to win the nomination way out on the hard right? >> well, that's the bet he's making, chris, that by moving to the right of donald trump he can pick up that conservative support and try to bring together the so-called anti-trump folks within the republican party. what was most striking about this, i mean, i think he nailed it when he talked about it was serious, it was substantive for the most part. even donald trump himself acknowledged how civil the evening was. you didn

our thanks as well to howard fineman. let's go to katy tur who is traveling with the trump campaign. katy, any preview you can give us? >> we don't have a concrete preview of what donald trump is going to say, because the campaign never gives out his speeches beforehand. but we do have a little bit of a snippet. he did talk about it at the press conference today, he mentioned when it comes to israel, he does believe that the capital of israel should be jerusalem. this is changing from what he said initially back in december when he spoke at another influential jewish group. he said then he didn't really know if israel -- jerusalem should be the capital of israel back then. that was considered a major gaffe among that group. jerusalem has long been held as the capital to israelis. so when he didn't say that, it was certainly held as a gaffe. of course, the u.s. has its embassy in tel aviv. he's expected to amend that tonight when he takes the stage here. he's also expected to talk about his -- saying he's neutral when it c

thanks, curtis and robert costa back there and howard fineman. i'll check back with you later on the show. much more ahead on gop's fight in miami. this is a special of "hardball" live for tonight's republican debate. stay with us. pet moments are beautiful, unless you have allergies. then your eyes may see it differently. only flonase is approved to relieve both your itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. complete allergy relief or incomplete. let your eyes decide. flonase changes everything. (two text tones) now? (text tone) excuse me. (phone tone) again? be right back. always running to the bathroom because your bladder is calling the shots? (text tone) you may have oab. enough of this. we're going to the doctor. take charge and ask your doctor about myrbetriq. that's myr-be-triq, the first and only treatment... ...in its class for oab symptoms of urgency... ...frequency, and leakage. myrbetriq (mirabegron) may increase blood pressure. tell your doctor right away if you have trouble emptying your bladder,

howard fineman, megan murphy, washington bureau chief for bloomberg.is nancy calfer. she's a columnist with the "detroit free press." nancy, i have to ask you about that movie theater. is that still a movie theater? it's a beautiful room tonight. >> it's a live theater. they do broadway shows there, kinds of shows, but no. it is a beautiful building, though. >> i told people i wanted to watch lorawrence of arabia in there some night. what's the reaction in michigan? give me the michigan reaction because it seems to me kasich is a better fit for michigan, but i don't know. you tell me. >> you know, i mean there's a lot of commonality between michigan and ohio as much as we like to deny it with the bic rivalry. a recent poll that the "detroit free press" did showed trump coming out ahead in michigan but only by ten poibnts. cas kasich polling a little better than in other places. our primary is tuesday, so we'll find out more then. >> who's the biggest threat to trump right now? can you tell in the movement of the polls right now? >> cruz seems to be rea

chris, howard fineman and wayne slater. >>> still ahead, this hour, hillary clinton heads into super tuesday after a commanding victory in south carolina. the state to watch tomorrow that will decide whether bernie can stay fully competitive is massachusetts. you heard it here. plus, we're deep in the heart of texas here. a look at what this state means to super tuesday. and home state senator ted cruz and whether he can survive. did he keep his chances alive? this is "hardball," live from houston, texas. post your job to over 100 of the web's leading job boards with a single click. then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. you put up one post and the next day you have all these candidates. makes my job a lot easier. (announcer) over 400,000 businesses have already used ziprecruiter. and now you can use ziprecruiter for free. go to ziprecruiter.com/offer99 >>> 12 states compete tomorrow on super tuesday. we'll cover them all tomorrow night. tune in starting at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow when i'll be joining brian williams and rachel maddow for the super tuesday pri

howard fineman for the huffington post, eric mcpike, and ken for politico. i want to start with howard, my friend. as we say in baseball, throw it around the horn right now. all those states, what should hillary clinton be worried about for senator sanders. >> ohio. ohio. the one where it could be a contest, ohio is in many ways similar to michigan, where senator sanders pulled off that big, narrow, but big upset. i think there is some indication he closes in situations like that. and the message is that one michigan for him on trade, middle class economics, that's the core. the polls in michigan showed that eight out of nine or ten voters cared those things. that's the strong message. is he going to win the nomination, probably not. is he allowed absolutely. >> you look good in the baseball cap. her limitations a politician. let's watch this. >> i have said before, and it won't surprise anybody to hear me say it. this is not easy for me. i am not a natural politician, in case you haven't noticed, like my husband or president obama. so i have a view that i ju

in a moment we'll go to chris matthews, who has howard fineman among his guests. chris is out in arizona. about you one more thing for former ambassador mark ginsburg who's been generous enough to stick around with us. mr. ambassador, today we heard kind of the echo of what i call the politics of stereotyping. an example, how can clarence thomas be a conservative, how can ted kennedy be pro-choice, how can bernie sanders not address aipac. my question is not that. my question is about when did the politics of israel in this country move into the heart of the gop order, and when did it become true that the furthest left candidate running for president is at odds with that body of politics? >> interesting, because it really began, brian, during the 2012 campaign when prime minister netanyahu essentially more or less endorsed mitt romney for president. and evidence that the two of them had been friends going back to the respective days in boston. at that moment, netanyahu immersed himself as sort of a man in search of a leader in israel, in search of a republican can

analyst and former rnc chairman michael steele, as well as "huffington post" editorial director howard fineman. thank you for joining me. michael, let's start with what tony dokoupil talked about. we know donald trump often has strategy, a plan even though it may look chaotic. he's in janesville, 1,000 people there. he knows and has commented on paul ryan's assertion the rhetoric is too hot. what happens today if you see a clash between protesters and trump supporters in ryan's home town? >> from donald trump's perspective, he would say, hey, why did you incite this riot? you know, because he just came to do an event, and of course, he'll use the speaker's words against him. and try to score political points. at the end of the day, donald trump doesn't care. that's not -- you know, he's doing what he's doing strategically. he's tweaking ryan. yes, he wants to reach out and build relationships, but he also recognizes that these folks are also working against him at the same time. so he's coming into his backyard. he's going to stake a claim here. i think his chances in wisconsin are not as good

chris, howard fineman and wayne slater. >>> still ahead, this hour, hillary clinton heads into super tuesday after a commanding victory in south carolina. the state to watch tomorrow that will decide whether bernie can stay fully competitive is massachusetts. you heard it here. plus, we're deep in the heart of texas here. a look at what this state means to super tuesday. and home state senator ted cruz and whether he can survive. did he keep his chances alive? this is "hardball," live from houston, texas. ♪ every auto insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. ♪ those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. >>> 12 states compete tomorrow on super tuesday. we'll cover them all tomorrow night. tune in starting at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow when i'll be joining brian williams and rachel maddow for the super tuesday primaries. we'll have full results and analysis, of course. that's 6:00 tomorr

rick tyler with howard fineman. my great question, what are we going? howard, where's this party, the republican party, let's start with the republicans, where are they headed after tonight? >> well, they're -- >> picking a president. >> they're headed towards a confrontation with donald trump if they attempt to gather together to stop him in a way that he finds to be unfair, which, of course, for him would be any way at all. talking to his inner circle tonight, first of all, they're pretty feisty and they're almost daring people like paul ryan and mitch mcconnell and marco rubio and lawyers for the rnc, past and present, to come after him. and they're planning their own counterattack against the possibility that this goes to convention and some shenanigans are pulled by people looking at the fine print and rules. the trump people are going to be doing the exact same thing. >> so the empire strikes back? >> well, it's -- >> really? the washington types? >> well, i think what the trump people are doing right now is planning for that possibility. they're v