katie packer, it's really nice to you here tonight. nice to meet you. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me, rachel. >> i believe you were a deputy campaign manager to mitt romney in 2012. >> i was. >> why did you decide to do this political work in this cycle? >> a lot of people may agree or disagree with mitt romney but i can say for sure mitt romney never did anything to embarrass the republican party, never did anything to embarrass the united states of america. he always handled himself with great dignity. he was a conservative standard bearer republicans could be proud of. he didn't prevail on general election day to all of our disappointment, but general elections are very, very tough, and i'm very concerned that if donald trump is our standard bearer for the republican party that we will be destroyed in the general election not just because, you know, people might disagree with him on policy positions, but when i think back to what the democrats did to mitt romney relates to bain capital, it's going to make bain capital look like cathol

. >> we're joined now by katie packer. she's the founder of our principles pac and a republican strategist. she served as deputy campaign manager on mitt romney's 2012 presidential campaign. katie, it's disgusting. you just -- it's just hard -- it's a horrible thing to watch, that ad. >> seems obvious, doesn't it? >> yeah. >> yeah, i think it's important. a lot of people, a lot of voters, this isn't specifically directed at women. it's really directed at anybody who knows a woman, has a woman in their life. and a lot of people don't know that this is the rhetoric he uses. this isn't sort of a one-time slip of the tongue. this is a pattern over years and years and years of demeaning and humiliating and bullying women both professionally and personally. and i think it's just another piece of information that voters should have before they head to the polls. >> you know, i have either read most of those quotes or heard him say some of them anyway. it's so much more powerful the way you've presented this with real women just re

. >> joining me now, msnbc political analyst, michael steele and katie packer, from mitt romney's presidential campaign and founders of the our principles pac which you just saw. katie, i think both ads are very well-done, very effective. but it feels a little like why are we seeing this now? i was going through the quotes that are in the women ad, and a lot of those quotes were around years ago or months ago. is -- is this too little, too late? >> well, we'll see tomorrow. the goal of our principles pac has always been to share information, ultimately the voters have to decide. and the voters are going to have to decide whether or not on one hand donald trump is a candidate that has the kind of character and temperament, as he incites this kind of aggressive behavior in his rallies. and number two, if this is a guy that you want to have as our commander in chief and the president of our country when he i'm humiliates and demeans and said himself that you have to treat women like crap to use a more pg-rated word, this is how he treats women. he shows them total disdain and disrespect, unless t

. >> the group's founder is gop strategist, katie packer. >> there isn't any one silver bullet. it take is a lot of information to convince people that they have been duped. >> florida is the first state where our principle's pac has tried to replicate the strategy that stopped trump from winning the iowa caucuses. luntz says it is likely too late. >> you should have done this 90 days ago. >> all negative ads flooding the airways this season has a lot of parents wondering how to talk about the election with their children. turns out the kids may know more than you think. chip reid has the story. >> reporter: we are at middleburg charter school and fifth graters are holding their own presidential debates. they told me that their debates are more focused on the issues and a whole lot more polite than who really enjoys watching the debates? >> a little. >> little bit. >> what do you look watching abut the debates, max? >> they make us laugh. >> reporter: make you laugh? >> any bed in ody in particular? >> donald trump. >> reporter: donald trump makes you laugh. all laugh. >> yes. >

. >> i'm joined now by katie packer, the our principles pac. we've talked before about this effort to flood the airwaves. when you look at mitt romney's speech yesterday, he laid out a case that we've heard from ted cruz, i've heard from you and heard from plamarco rubio. yet we see donald trump the next day with thousands of people at yet another rally. what is he saying to your base, those same people who supported mitt romney, that for some reason is not sticking -- >> i don't know about that. >> well, listen, some of them did and we know they did. they're angry and they may not be the ideal of what the republican party wants to present, but right now your front-runner is donald trump. >> well, absolutely he's the front-runner. i don't think that there can be an assumption that the base is who is showing up at these rallies. we don't know that. we know that he tends to do well in states that have open primaries, that allow democrats and nonrepublicans to vote in their process. and time and time again, you know, you hear from people like jeff

katie packer. mark: what is your role in that pac? >> it is a matter of public record.re facing is a choice between hillary and trump. mark: what you saying? >> vote for the lease of two evils. >> you know for sure trump would be a better president than hillary clinton? >> no, but it is a risk i would be putting -- i'm willing to take. >> if the party splits, it will not come back together. mark: you care more about him being president? >> i am scared if he is president. deport 12 million people, border, it is so violent compared to what i believe about america and the public party. >> i travel a lot and trump is a laughingstock. the world is at peace with hillary clinton. supreme court nominee will have at least four years at minimum. you want to give that to her? >> what does that mean? >> you are right. >> i have never voted for democrat. i've never voted for anyone other than a republican in the united states. that episode of "the circus" is online now. if you subscribe to showtime, you can watch it. what is your take on the establishment as we enter this new week a

katie packer as well.iz mayer tweeted -- it was make america awesome's ad, not ted cruz suggesting she not hold ted cruz responsible. >> wives and children ought to be off-limits. >> you would think. >> that enhances trump supporters who are angry what's going on in establishment. and you run something like this. lou: why are we seeing so much ignorance out of establishment, out of mitt romney, who was mr. clean, until this year? >> hard until you have the bit in your mouth and you don't win to think you can't step up to the stable and start where you left off. mitt is a forgotten figure at this point. lou: those two people on that ticket, mitt romney and paul ryan, they're desperately searching for something. ed, good to have you with us. >> thank you. lou: breaking news, as the manhunt is continuing for the prime suspect in the belgium terrorist attacks, the islamic state has trained and sent at least 400 terrorists to carry out new attacks in europe. the network of semi autonomous terrorist cells shows

. >> katy packer, thanks very much for joining us, of course we'll have coverage of that tomorrow, theney speech, 11:30 p.m. eastern, 9:30 a.m. in salt lake city, utah. >>> ahead what's officials are calling a -- -- leet american forces in iraq, we're going to talk about what it means for the future of the overall mission in iraq. this is joanne. her long day as a hair stylist starts with shoulder pain when... hey joanne, want to trade the all day relief of 2 aleve with 6 tylenol? give up my 2 aleve for 6 tylenol? no thanks. for me... it's aleve. 8 layers of wheat... mini-wheats®... and one that's sweet. to satisfy the adult and kid - in all of us. ♪ nutritious wheat for the adult you've grown into and delicious sweet for the kid you'll never outgrow... feed your inner kidult with frosted mini-wheats®. try new kellogg's mini-wheats harvest delights with sweet drizzle and bits made with real fruit. you premium like clockwork. month after month. year after year. then one night, you hydroplane into a ditch. yeah... surprise... your insurance company tells you to pay up again. why pay for

katie packer. mark: what is your role in that pac? >> tolling, which is now public record.s you more, that he would lose the general or how he would do as president? losing the election. what we are facing is a choice between hillary and trump. mark: what you saying? >> vote for the lease of two evils. >> you know for sure trump would be a better president than hillary clinton? >> no, but it is a risk i would be putting -- i'm willing to take. >> if we split our party, we can't put it back together. humpty dumpty will not come back together. >> that is the great dividing line. mark: you care more about him being president? >> i am scared if he is president. i think he is an authoritarian -- figure. >> deport 12 million people, build a wall border, it is so violent compared to what i believe about america and the republican party. >> i travel around the world a lot, and trump is a laughingstock. the world, whatever that is, is at peace with hillary clinton. >> the next president will decide the direction of the supreme court for four years, minimum. you want to give that to

. >> katie packer is founder of an anti-trump super pack called our principles and deputy manager of mitt romney's 2012 campaign. thank you for being with me this afternoon. i want to start by playing something that ben carson who endorsed trump a few days ago. this is something that dr. carson said about the fighting we've been seeing at these events. take a listen. >> i think certainly if the protesters continue with their elinskiite tactics, there's a possibility of escalation. those who are the victims of them have two choices. they can submit to them and meekly just do whatever those protesters want them to do or they can fight back. >> the trump campaign as you know has blamed bernie sanders supporters in part for the violence, cruz and marco rubio said if president obama actually shares in the blame. why haven't we seen big name republicans call out trump for his rhetoric on violence? why haven't we seen the bushes, the cheneys, paul ryan? the establishment republicans. a lot of shouting down of the vitriol the past few days. >> i think many have. i don't know that their voice

. >> super-pac set up by romney senior visor, i can't remember name of it, but her name is katie packer, joined by tim member who ran the bush campaign, joining super-pac, the super-pac as one purpose. not to beat hillary clinton. it is to take down donald trump. harris: imagine if they would turn that on the democratic party? andrea: this is a sick pit of professional, political exploiters that make their money off of campaigns. meghan mccain can attest to this specifically. all of these people, they're the same people worked for her father, spent millions of dollars and unfortunately ran her father's campaign into the ground. he was able to rise from ashes and come back and win. same people worked for rudy. same people that worked for bush. same people worked for romney, prevented republicans winning white house. voters are sick and tired of having to support these candidates that are propped up by these people make money to feather their own bank account. we're sick of it. a lot of people. that is why they're getting behind trump. you know what? he might not be conservative but he ca

you are saying our principles pac, which you represent now started boy katie packer who was a romneyior advisor isn't establishment? >> it is establishment. >> what i'm saying is it is not just about the establishment versus trump there is a wide swath of the republican party who people who are supporting us like ken blackwell who you can't get more conservative than him in ohio. glenn beck, eric erickson. >> i heard those guys. i lover all of them. they are good conservatives. >> give me a break. on your network charles krauthammer. steven hayes. these guys were conservatives. >> adrianna, if you are hillary clinton, do you put money in this super pac? >> exactly. >> hillary clinton has donald trump campaign. >> mitt romney the two-time loser melting mettle ling in this election and wet their pants because they will finally lose power and lose the nomination to donald trump, they are basically, this pac, your pac is directly helping hillary clinton. because i will tell you what's going to happen when the establishment elites like mitt romney stab taj this election at the convention.

. >> we're joined now by katie packer, part of the stop trump movement, the founder of our principles, an anti-trump pac. she was the deputy campaign manager of mitt romney's 2012 presidential campaign, and also a political consultant and gop strategist. also with us, jonathan alter, a columnist for the daily beast. katie, is time running out for the stop-trump movement? >> time's running oubecause time's running out to get to the convention. there's only a limited number of primaries where delegates will be selected. and those are, you know, as we move down the timeline, they become fewer in front of us than there are behind us. that said, i still think that donald trump is in a very, very precarious position in terms of getting to the convention with 1,237 delegates. as curly said, that is an immovable number. you know, there's been a lot of speculation about, you know, would people try to wrestle, you know, the nomination away from trump? it's not his until he has 1,237 delegates. and if he goes in with 1,100, you know, they can't pressure the convention into handing the nomination

if you talk to people like katie packer, the anti-trump super pac who cut that ad, she says 50% of womenho saw that ad when they did a trial run, said it was new information to them. so the question is are those republican women then going to all of a sudden forget what they viewed in the context of this general election? are they going to stay home? are they going to cross over and vote for hillary clinton, which i think some of them might. considering the fact that the democrats are going to do everything they can to keep all of these images before those women and the run up to the general. >> there is also the issue before we get to the general of how this could affect the republican race in the here and now. the other dynamic is with this dust up over the wives, ted cruz is using this as an opportunity to try to stand up publicly to donald trump. so it sparked an interesting exchange here with hallie jackson, our reporter, where ted cruz called trump a sniveling coward. let me play the exchange and see what you make of that. >> so yes or no? will you vote for him? if he is the nomine

you are saying our principles pac, which you represent now started boy katie packer who was a romneyior advisor isn't establishment? >> it is establishment. >> what i'm saying is it is not just about the establishment versus trump there is a wide swath of the republican party who people who are supporting us like ken blackwell who you can't get more conservative than him in ohio. glenn beck, eric erickson. >> i heard those guys. i lover all of them. they are good conservatives. >> give me a break. on your network charles krauthammer. steven hayes. these guys were conservatives. >> adrianna, if you are hillary clinton, do you put money in this super pac? >> exactly. >> hillary clinton has donald trump campaign. >> mitt romney the two-time loser melting mettle ling in this election and wet their pants because they will finally lose power and lose the nomination to donald trump, they are basically, this pac, your pac is directly helping hillary clinton. because i will tell you what's going to happen when the establishment elites like mitt romney stab taj this election at the convention.

. >> reporter: the group's founder is gop strategist katy packer. >> there isn't any one silver bullet. it takes a lot of information to convince people they've been duped. >> florida is where they've tried to replicate the packer claims. luntz says it's likely too late. >> if you wanted to defeat trump, you should have done it 90 days ago. >> he said no one has won this cycle not only because no ads have broken through but because of all the debates. >> it's been huge. >> 12 republican and 8 democratic and more on the way. >> thank you jeff. >>> a high-profile silicon valley investor is fighting back against disturbing allegation. a woman accuses michael goguen for years of sexual abuse and emotional trauma. he promised to pay her tens of millions for this alleged treatment. he has countersued and accused her of extortion. he was married during the more than 13-year relationship. he has since lost his job. >> $4 billion, $8 billion -- >> reporter: last year "forbes" magazine dubbed michael goguen one of the top investors. now the long-time managing partners faces accusations he amber

and that's just the beginning with katie packer telling politico "in 2012 we spent $10 million against newt gingrich in florida alone." this as the conservative club for growth announced it is putting $1.5 million behind this ad in florida. >> but who has trump ever actually taken on? he hides behind bankruptcy laws to duck paying his bills and kill american jobs. he even tried to kick an elderly widow out of her home through eminent domain. real tough guy. >> and as we mentioned at the top, the former standard bearer for the republican party, mitt romney, is about to address the state of the republican race, making a formal speech in utah this morning. romney is not expected to endorse a candidate but will instead level a broadside against donald trump modeled on ronald reagan's 1964 "time for choosing" speech. in excerpts released this morning thanks to mark halperin, the former massachusetts governor leaves trump out of the candidates with serious policy proposals saying "donald trump says he admires vladimir putin while he's called george w. bush a liar. that's a twisted example of

i've reached out to the folks at the super pac that is run by a woman named katie packer, a senior advisersays she hasn't spoken directly to mitt romney in advance of these remarks. she believes what he is saying today will be from his heart. tamron? >> from his heart indeed. but i want to play what donald trump, at least what his heart and gut is telling him on how to behave in the debate tonight. as you mentioned, he's expected to be taking it from all sides following what mitt romney will do here in a few minutes. let me play what donald trump said on the "today" show. >> if you take a look at what's going on, i can't act overly presidential because i'm going to be having people attack me from every side. ben carson is not there any longer so now we'll have more time for the fight. i will have a very, very presidential demeanor when i win. until such time, you have to hit back. >> so he's saying he has to hit back and for people that don't know, peter, this war between donald trump and mitt romney started on social media, including romney calling on trump to release his taxes, going aft

. >> we're joined now by katie packer. she's the founder of our

. >> we're joined now by katie packer. she's the founder of our principles pac and a republican strategist. she served as deputy campaign manager on mitt romney's 2012