and today senator joanie "i'm the one who castrates pigs" ernst in des moines.again, none of these folks are officially supporting any candidates in this race. but mark, why are these three influential iowa republicans making these non-endorsement endorsements? >> you know, they all say they won't endorse because they don't want to endorse because i could int interfere with voters coming to iowa. and whether the voters can tell difference between a non-endorsement and endorsement endorsement, i have no idea. joanie ernst has been close to marco rubio for a while, and i think both grassley and the governor would both like to see trump beat cruz in the end. >> i think that the -- look, a non-endorsement endorsement could be as good as an endorsement, if it brought with it fund-raising, if it brought with it going around the state and doing a number of events, crowd building, get out the vote efforts. if it's just a one-hit thing, if it's just one event, one week out from the caucuses, or one news media comment or something taking a shot at some candidate as we've

joan yeerch-- joanie ernst is not up this next year but she was elected on a tea party enthusiasm.qunt afford to alienate any part of it. so it is as much about covering their own political tail as it is about showing support for somebody else. >> woodruff: and in the last few seconds, as we've heard, the republican race, the democratic race is tough but the republican race has gotten really nasty with lying, calling each other liars. does that go over well in a place like iowa. i mean people say they don't like negative politics and yet every time there are negative ads and they are pretty effective. >> and that goes to show. does marco rubio get a bump out of this. do the frontrunners cruz and trump going after each other so hard that someone comes up the middle, a little like john edwards and john kerry said when howard dean and dik gep hart went toe to toe. >> woodruff: we remember those names. >> from long long ago. >> woodruff: the next time i see the two of you it might be somewhere in eye with. >> it will probably be warmer than here. >> woodruff: amy walter, tamara keith,

tomorrow rubio will campaign with joanie ernst. >>> bill deblasio responded to donald trump's comments. >> where i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay, it's like incredible. >> mayor deblasio questioned his statements. >> for someone who says he wants to be president to say that shows he's just not presidential and it's incredibly arrogant, too, to suggest his voters would be with him no matter what he does. another reason to believe donald trump is not ready for prime time. >> mayor deblasio is a major supporter of hillary clinton. >>> the candidates are responding to the news that former new york city mayor michael blookber bloomberg is cg a run for the white house. democratic front runner clinton dismissed the possibility. >> he's a good friend of mine. and i'm going to do the best i can to make sure i get nomination and we'll go from there. glue you'rthere. >> so you're not worried about him getting in? >> what i read was, if i didn't get the nomination, he would consider it so i'm going to relieve him of that, so he doe

joanie ernst. the long time senator from iowa was on stage with donald trump. >> he did not endorse him. >> if you appear with a candidate, you are in effect, endorsing them. you can say it out of your mouth or not. if i am chuck grassly and i am showing up at a rally and speaking from the podium, that is an endorsement. voters will take it that way. no sitting governor or senator or congress member has come out and formally endorsed anybody. you know, this really is a year for the outsider. this is probably michael bloomberg's most viable year yet to come. we are seeing that with donald trump getting in the race and have a commanding lead and so many of the early states. this will be a challenge. >> and the register saying that he has a potential to chart a new direction for the party and perhaps the nation. we endorse him because he represents the party's best hope. the oxygen in iowa is not about marco rubio. it is about trump. >> i love iowa and "the des moines register." it is a great newspape

. >> congress is full of palin beneficiaries, including arizona's jeff flake and iowa's joanie ernst. the congressional candidates who received the most money from sarah apin lynn's pacs, about 2/3 won their seats. >> she's kind of the anti-establishment candidate. >> but can this famous friend of the underdog really boost the top dog? >> it's not going to mean a lot of momentum. >> reporter: in a conversation that we had with sarah palin last month, it seemed clear that she identifies with trump in the way that the republican establishment sneers at him. >> if we want to restore what's great about america, we have to when this thing. so shame on the gop establishment if they essentially boot a top tier candidate out. >> well, palin's jobs at the republican underscores. the rest of the candidates battled it out for mainstream supporters. >> i respect her. but for her to say that donald trump is a conservative when he was pro abortion in the most recent past. he believed in higher taxes. he thought hillary clinton would be a great negotiator in iran. he's been all over the map on forei

a little bit of controversy over joanie ernst gave the response and the congressman gave the spanishguage response. the only thing that would be different is personal identifying information. other than that a translation. he wouldn't say that. other than that it's the same thing. that's how they advertised it. he inserted a new section into the spanish language response that was nice words about immigration reform and how much republicans want that. it was only in the spanish language version. that happened again tonight. there was a spanish language response tonight from mario and he did hail closely. he talked about immigration reform and said it was necessary to find a solution to immigration reform and said there must be border defense and a permanent solution for those living in the shadows and modernize our visas. this was only in the spanish language version as if none of us will be able to tell what was in both and compare them. >> but you know what, none of us will be able to cut it into an ad and air it in 30 seconds in early primary states. those who can speak spanish. us

there had been a little controversy over the fact that joany ernst gave the response and they said thewould be personal identifying information. other than that, it would just be a translation. he wouldn't say, hi, i'm joany esht. he would say hi. i'm carlos car belly. but that's not the way it was. they inserted nice words about immigration. it was only in the spanish language version. that's happened tonight. he hued closely to what nikki haley sid. he said it was necessary to find a legislative solution to can immigration reform. he said there must be a permanent solution for those living in the shadows and we must modernize our visa. none of this in the english language version,ful as if we won't be able to compare them and know what he's done. >> what they'll do is cut it in an ad in campaigning. >> those who can speech spanish, using different words when they talk to spanish audience languages -- language audiences. >> it will be interesting to see whether or not that does anything to the republican nominees' chances of attractsing any of the latino vote. i am a little weirded ou

reporter: congress is full of palin beneficiaries including arizona's jeff flake and iowa's joanie arn chb -- joni ernstwho received the most money from sarah palin's pact since 2010, two-thirds have won the seats. >> it's a major endorsement. she's the anti establishment candidate. >> reporter: can this famous friend of the underdog really boost the current top dog? >> palin-type voters are already with donald trump and it's not going to mean a lot of momentum. >> it probably hurts cruz more than it helps trump. >> reporter: in a conversation we had with sarah palin last month, it seemed clear she identifies with trump in the way that the republican establishment sneers at him. >> if we want to restore what's great about america, we have to win this thing. so shame on the gop establishment if they essentially boot a top tier candidate out. >> reporter: jake tapper, cnn, washington. >> joining us is rick davis who managed the 2008 mccain/palin campaign. rick, thanks for being with us. you certainly know sarah palin. i wonder what went through your mind as you watched her up in the stage last night and t