let's bring back our panel, joan walsh, they're are dowdell, and matt welch. hat this legacy question with clinton, some of us, i'm in complete disclosure, was against the crime bill very publicly. >> right. >> and the welfare reform. but we didn't have a lot of people with us at that time or at least not the majority even in the black community but now it's become an issue. is it going to be something that weighs down the candidacy of hillary clinton? >> i think it's weighing it down, sure. i think that she, you know, did a good job and got out and said i would never use the term superpredator again, and so it was really disturbing to see her husband then go out and try to defend the use of the word. that was completely off message. he stepped on her message and i thought that was terrible. but i also thought the other night at the debate she missed an opportunity to really, i'm going to say sound sincere, be sincere and sound sincere about the impact of that bill. its intentions from the democratic side were not bad. the consequences, she can say they were un

. >> next, i'll talk with joan walsh and david korn. the fight between ted cruz and donald trump is also a big story in new york. cruz is set to hold a town hole near the state's capital in new york. this comes one day after senator cruz was heckled in new york city. we're monitoring the cruz event. we'll bring you the comments that he makes as soon as he steps up there. we'll be right back. i'm billy, and i quit smoking with chantix. i decided to take chantix to shut everybody else up about me quitting smoking. i was going to give it a try, but i didn't really think it was going to really happen. after one week of chantix, i knew i could quit. along with support, chantix (varicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix definitely helped reduce my urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while takingr after stopping chantix. some had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right

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joining me is joan walsh and charlie pierce writer at large for esquire.oth protest too much. >> he's a boy scout. if we wanted to shoot down a rumor, you do not -- >> well, let that float out there a bit. >> we successfully got it out there. you do not cut an ad that looks like a campaign ad talking to those fresh faced, capitol hill interns. you do not go on a grand tour. you do not meet with -- there's stories he's meeting with funders this week in the observer. he's doing this things you do not do if you're determined the shoot down this rumor. >> that's true. let me say this, charlie, he's attending a secret donor meeting next week. they say he's very interested in preserving the majority. they released a whole memo to nbc news in response to the speculation. he's not running. he won't. it's that simple. okay, but do you buy it? >> may i refer to the honorable gentleman as dodgy paul? >> i'll allow it. >> i stopped believing paul ryan, as far as i can throw the city of jamesville. i think he's as ambitious as satan. i don't think he wants to go out in

turn to msnbc political analyst joan walsh and supporter of hillary clinton for president as well as josh senior editor at business insider. he puts that stat out there and ted cruz says i've won 11 straight contests. this does not mean 11 state primaries, 11 straight caucuses. he's counting the individual congressional district conventions in states like colorado and wyoming to say 11 straight. he says unbound delegates. this is what i'm saying, pennsylvania, 54 unbound, they're going to vote for the statewide winner. trump is winning by 30 points. >> ken blackwell is telling us in a profound way we're looking at things outside the election process. we really know that we can't defeat donald trump in all these east coast states coming up. we're really trying to put together plan. the problem they have is they've never been able to match the never trump movement with the candidate because it can't coalesce around ted cruz. kasich has turned out to be incredibly weak even though he's hanging on. they're focusing on this post-election strategy that will be incredibly damaging for the p

and joan walsh, national affairs correspondent for "the nation." my question for you, he has very effectively wielded this kind of insult comic schtick. it's helped him i think vanquish se se series of foes here, but do you see this working in a general? >> i actually kind of think it does. last week we talked about how trump was going to be presidential and start being more serious and put those insults away. >> which was always preposterous. just to be clear. >> he basically just completely dismissed that and said, absolutely not, i'm not going to be that way. this has worked well for him. the only thing that -- just by how well he's done thus far in the polls. he wants to now turn this into a race between him and hillary and he wants to do that prematurely and he wants the media to help him do that. a poll tonight showed ted cruz is up 16 points in indiana. this race is not over but trump wants it to be over and portrayed as just him and hillary. the more he forces that new narrative, this insult against her, a well chosen, well crafted turn aga

all of this, former aide to karl rove and former spokesman for president bush, annie linski and joan walsh, i'm going to talk with you first. let's talk about the clinton campaign which has released this new ad which is trying to respond to donald trump's putting out a new style. and let's take a listen to what they're saying. >> knock the crap out of him, would you? i'd like to punch him in the face. i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody, and i wouldn't lose any voters. >> one of my personal heroines, maya angelou, said when someone shows you who they are, believe them. >> how powerful is that ad, and how likely are voters to forget everything for the last ten months? >> i think it's a powerful ad. and i also think that donald trump is many things, but he's not stupid. his campaign thus far has been characterized by bombasts, by buffoonery, both are traits that will not serve him well as trump and his campaign head into what will be a contested convention. >> there are things that will serve him well in a primary season, but it's as if they're not looking past the

and joan walsh is a political analyst. nice to have both of you here with us this morning. when we look at the week that was for donald trump, a lot of bumps on the road. with abortion and issues with the campaign manager. it is not the first time, josh, we have seen donald trump change position and quickly on an issue. is anything different this time? >> i don't think nationally anything is different. i think people who care about the abortion issue or policy issues already were not with donald trump. trump is about mood affiliation. he is angry. i think he had a bad week in wisconsin. i think the fight he picked with scott walker is stupid. he attacked walker for not raising taxing. that is a weird thing to do in a republican primary. conservative talk radio is a force backing him usually. he will likely do badly wisconsin. we should not assume he will be >> joan, trump's disapproval with women is continuing to plummet. quinnipiac says it is at70 nationwide. >> negative. >> four years ago, mitt romney was about 40%. assuming he is the nominee, how does a candidate like th

. >> joining me are nina turner, surrogate for the bernie sanders campaign and joan walsh is with me. how would it not be hillary clinton's obligation to make the sale to the voters who have preferred bernie sanders? >> she very much does have to make the sale. she realizes that, and i think she will. the area where we might have disagreement is there are people, many clinton supporters, and i'm one of them, feel that senator sanders, too, is going to engage if this is indeed over which maybe it's not, but if it is, when it is, there will be a negotiation over the platform because there should be. he has brought great issues, he has brought great energy, he has pulled her in some ways to the left, certainly on the fight for 15, the movement and senator sanders i think are bringing her towards 15. i think he does have to play a role. i think there is, nina and i are friends and we talked about it, there's a level of bitterness on both sides but there's a real element of sanders support. it's small but vocal. they use talking points that come from republicans. they talk about benghazi.

to help us break it all down, i'll bring in joan walsh and mckay coppins, also the author of one of theongest book titles in the world and i new just call it the wilderness. >> that's okay. [ laughter ] >> i want to play from both of you the sound of donald trump from the rally in rhode island. that happened at 1:00 in the afternoon. take a listen. >> how do you give a guy on the second, third, fourth ballot, the nomination when he failed in new york, where everybody laughed at him, where he can't get any votes, where he's expected to come in third in virtually every contest on tuesday and some of those contests kasich has given up, how do you give it to him, and you can't give it to kasich, because you can't give it to a guy that by that time will be 1 in 50 or something. >> so the case being made is just the rational one of, when you get to the convention, you need to back the front-runner. so if we do get to a second ballot, wouldn't logic dictate that people would coalesce around the guy that was closed to 1,237, as opposed to everybody fall away from him and run as fast as they can

. >>> john bais an nbc contributo and joan walsh for "the nation" magazine and nbc political analyst. nice to have you with us this morning. when we look at the week it was for donald trump, there have been a lot of bumps on the road, multiple comments and change when it's come -- changes with his campaign manager. it's not the first time, josh, we have seen donald trump change position and quickly on an issue. but is anything different this time? >> i don't think nationally anything is different this time. i think people who really deeply care about the abortion issue or more broadly care about policy issues already were not without donald trump. donald trump is very much about mood affiliation. he's angry like i'm angry. i think he had a bad week in wisconsin. i think the fight he picked with scott walker, who's very popular there, is stupid. he even attacked walker for not raising taxes, which is a weird thing to do in a republican primary. there's also this dynamic in wisconsin where conservative talk radio has been hostile to donald trump. nationally talk radio has been friendly