for the romney campaign, kevin madden, and amanda carpenter for the rubio campaig campaign, and so, kevin, you would think that coming out of south carolina and new hampshire, that he would be have momentum, and impervious to anybody else. >> well, this is going back to the discussion earlier on the panel of whether or not this scrutiny coming from the media is going to have an impact or slow down donald trump. what has been fascinating about donald trump sup potters is their ability or their tendency to rationalize or compartmentalize what they don't like about donald trump in order to convince themselves why they continue to support donald trump. you know, you will hear people down in south carolina saying, you know, i don't like what he said about george w. bush and 9/11, but i like him on imgrags and the economy. i don't like the fact that he got into a skirmish with the pope, but he is strong, and he s is somebody who tells it like it is, and so i respect that. and so it is hard for me to see that a lot of the ideas that there is going to be a new stream of information this is

you remember all of us remember kevin madden remembers this very well four years ago they originally, republicans, said that mitt romney won the iowa caucuses, and then three weeks later they recounted and they discovered they had made a mistake. it was rick santorum that won. here's the question to you. david, do you think the sanders campaign is on strong grounds right now to seek some sort of recount? >> i think the sanders campaign is going to have to figure out exactly what they want to ask the party for. i don't think that there's going to be some state-wide recanvassing of every precinct. i think now the sanders campaign -- they've indicated they're looking into this -- will have to make a very specific request to the iowa democratic party what they are looking to see to make sure that they're comfortable with the final tally reported by the party. again, the party is the governing authority here. i don't think we are going to be in a situation like florida 2000 in seeing a huge state-wide recount. i think we have to wait to see how the sanders campaign responds to this news an

here you have cuomo and cooper with ana navarro, kevin madden and s.e. cupp.on the campaign. >> you do know he was known as the sixth son. hopefully he'll get 1/6 of the inheritance. >> from the trump perspective, here comes the party at me. they're supposed to be fair. now the guy that's the last nominee coming up about taxes being echoed by other village elders. it can seem a little contrived. >> the hard part about it, it can serve as a rallying point for so many republicans who felt like mitt romney and the campaign we ran didn't run hard enough. and wasn't successful. and that's some of what you've seen in donald trump's response, right? mitt romney didn't fight hard enough, i will. mitt romney didn't win, i will. and it has served as a bit of a motivator for some of his supporters. you'll continue to see that, which is that's the past. i'm the future. >> do you think romney continues to kind of be in the forefront? >> i do. first he cares about the direction of this party -- sorry, the direction of the country and thinks it would be important for him to

amanda carpenter is here, and she is formerly ted cruz's communications strategist, and kevin madden, worked a lot for mitt romney, along other people. also joined by doug hyde, and former new york mayor michael nutter. >> see, it is difficult to get all of the names in there. >> it is difficult. donald trump wins the south carolina primary. and now, as we know no republican has ever lost the nomination after winning both new hampshire and south carolina. what does this mean for the republican party? what does this mean for this moment? >> well, for donald trump, one of the most valuable commodities that you have in a campaign like this is momentum and right now he has a lot of it. if i'm the other campaigns, one of the things that would continue to worry me is the fact that when you ask the republican voters not who they are voting for but who do you think will eventually be the nominee, donald trump continues to win that question. now, if you are going back to 2012, when we saw the ascent of michele bachmann and ascent of rick perry and all of the other candidates against mitt romne

kevin madden has a question for you. >> thanks for participating tonight. one question for you, since income inequality is such an important issue for you, what was your reaction when hillary clinton was asked about giving wall street speeches and whether or not that makes her compromised on dealing with these issues related to wall street and banks? >> okay. that was my original question. my original question was how are you going to engender trust in the american people when most of your campaign has been financed by wall street and especially since my work is focused on working with companies that are creating change in a different way. so i was really happy that anderson asked that question. and liked that she talked about we need lots of corporate change, not just the banks. we need all companies to be working to do the best for their employees, for their consumers and for their communities, whether that's local or global communities. so i was pleased with a lot of the things that she said in response to anderson's question about that. >> allison, stan

. >> we'll start with our republican commentator, kevin madden, amanda carpenter.you explain that people who made up their minds are coming out to the polls much earlier. >> one thing i would be worried about on the opposing campaigns is voters seemed to have calcified in their support months ago, they seem to have dug in. if these entrance polls start to hold up, it could end up being a very big night for donald trump money. >> which is interesting. what that sort of translate into, no matter what happens in the interim, comments that will be made, those who say, oh, look, he really crossed the line this time, it doesn't seem to matter. >> we assume that donald trump is leading the polls. kevin is right. his supporters are very hard for someone else to peel off. the fight for second place to be the donald trump alternative is even more intense. especially going into the debate on thursday where the field is completely reset with the absence of jeb bush now. it is essentially a three-person race. so the dynamics between marco rubio and ted cruz for the best way to

. >> and kevin madden earlier was talking about the large military population in the state of south carolina. that is going to be an importent voting bloc. >> it's the largest per capita military retyirees is in south carolina. that's the monolithic vote you can count on. it delivered john mccain a win in 2008. pretty important. i think what we're forgetting on our panel is we have a ton of nascar voters here in south carolina. people that go across all groups and they like to watch a car wreck. and you saw the car wreck -- >> we got one. >> last week. so you're getting ready to see another one saturday night. let's see how they survive and watch the nascar voters coalesce next week. >> what did you learn about south carolina? >> i think what chairman dawson makes a good point. i remember in 2012 when mitt romney won new hampshire, we went in to south carolina, probably about a 10 to 12-point lead. in the space of a week we were down 10 to 12 points. the race is very fluid. and a lot of these -- that's why you have a lot of these car wro wrecks because there's so many of these cars slapping

also with me republican strategist kevin madden. thanks to both of you for joining me. mple question, i'll start with you. it's the same question for you, kevin, afterwards. can trump be stopped and what is an effective way to do so if you think he needs to be stopped? >> of course. this is the race where anything can happen, as we've seen before. debates have consequences. they can change outcomes. with that said, it's going to be hard to do. i think it comes down to making it a character attack. as we've seen in previous debates, donald trump is actually kind of timid. he'll lay back, let the others duke it out and go to twitter later on that night. i think there's a chance someone can get under his skin with a type of question and even in the last cnn town hall anderson cooper was able to ask him about his previous statements about the iraq war and he didn't handle it that well. i think donald trump can be exploited in this environment. it's very hard to make a moment and both ted cruz and marco rubio will bow trying very hard to do that. >> you think a character atta

gloria borger, cnn political director david chalian, cnn political commentators amanda carpenter, kevin maddenrepublican strategist ana navarro and former reagan white house, michael lord. he seems to be backing off he'll release his tax returns. he says he'll consider it down the road. >> i think that's the news here in this interview. before he's always said it's going to take time to get them organized and together and then we're going to release them and that was a different story tonight when he spoke to you. it is a little ironic and kevin, you may want to speak to this, that mitt romney was the person asking donald trump to release his taxes. because romney finally released a couple of years of taxes when he ran but under a great deal of pressure. >> what romney said is that cruz and rubio and trump should all release their taxes. he did focus on trump saying there was some sort of a bombshell there that perhaps he didn't earn as much money as he said or didn't give as much to charity as he said. were you surprised romney came out on this? >> yes. he's probably not the -- he doesn't hav

kevin madden was saying this as well. this is what you have to do every single day from now on as long as this race lasts. you have to have press conferences in front of failed trump businesses. you have to have press conferences with people who are suing trump for trump university. you have to have this sustained barrage. >> it does. and it doesn't -- it's not -- can't just come from marco rubio because he's not going to get enough press to generate the momentum. it really needs to be a broader and larger effort which is i think what you are starting to see. you are starting to see the outside money come behind some of these complaints to get some of these individuals who are harmed by trump university on camera telling the story. victim to camera. in a way that was quite damaging for mitt romney and in the early part of the summer in 2012, after he won the primary. so i think you'll start to see that again. you're right. it's the 11th hour. but, you know, you have to fight fire with fire, i think, is what they've decide

gloria borger, nia mallika henderson, kevin madden, former republican congressman mike rodgers, also chairman of the house intelligence committee and cnn political commentator, donna brazile. you are all rested from last night? donald trump not only heading into south carolina with a huge win but the establishment candidates at this point are doing his work for him. >> they have to still attack each other and off a couple of them before they get to donald trump. and this is what has republican donors so worried because they thought that after last night they were just going to be able to figure out who was going to be in that lane and support him and start writing their checks and that would be -- and they don't know now. so, you know, you have to see rubio has to win somewhere. and he hasn't. cruz has won one. trump has won one. and then now, we're looking at south carolina. and somebody -- if somebody else wins that, then it's still -- >> the people who start this spin, they need to get out of washington more. last week it was rubio is going to be the guy. then the debate and he co

. >> kevin madden, patti, thank you so much.une into "the situation room" for more of jamie gangel's interview with john kasich, surprise second-place finisher in new hampshire. >>> isis terrorists blending in and hiding in plain sight. that's the top concern as officials guarantee an isis strike inside the u.s. this year. >>> and you wouldn't think barbie dolls and eminent dough nail have anything in common but they do. a look at the latest attack ads being rolled out in south carolina. aren't moving in the right direction,bers it can be a burden. but what if you could wake up to lower blood sugar? imagine loving your numbers. discover once-daily invokana®. with over 6 million prescriptions and counting, it's the #1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitor that works to lower a1c. invokana® is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. it's a once-daily pill that works around the clock. here's how: invokana® reduces the amount of sugar allowed back in to the body through the kidneys a

and you know who i'm going to talking about, kevin madden, a senior strategist for mitt romney's presidentialids in trath and 2012. and he says that rubio is past the point of meeting expectations, that the campaign needs to start beating expectations. do you think that south carolina is the place where rubio is starting to realign a campaign that had gotten off track? >> well, so i think last night you look at his debate performance and again all of the pundits said he won and a lot of the viewers said he won. i think he exceeded expectation last night. as we go into this debate, i think there ooh so many candidates that -- i'm sorry, voters who are still kicking tires. they don't know who they're going to vote for. they haven't made up their mind. and i think last night's performance of rubio sets the stage for a lot of undecided folks to come his way. listen, you have so many americans who are going through tough times and marco rubio gets it. a guy raised in an immigrant home where he had paychecks coming in to put food on the table, a mom who was a waitress and a dad who was a bartender.

cnn political commentator kevin madden is here.r communications director for senator ted cruz, amanda carpenter and cnn political commentator, former white house political director for ronald reagan, jeffrey lorde, a donald trump supporter. so amanda, look at last night. do you accept my premise, seemed at times concerted action from these two senators coming at the man in the middle? >> yeah. someone waiting for this to happen i think me and many other people were happy to see it in some respects ted cruz and marco rubio teaming up on donald trump. >> why? >> listen, the republican party has been from youred so long even though i think donald trump is the biggest threat to the party, ironically i think he'll unite us against him. people see he is slowly becoming inevitable if something big doesn't happen. ted cruz teaming up with marco rubio. mitt romney out of the sidelines. we agree donald trump has to be stopped. >> not all of you. but not all of you, jeffrey lorde, last primary, 45% of the vote. ahead in just about all polls t

amanda carpenter, kevin madden. donna brazile, david gergen and margaret hoover.of people here. you think that ted cruz had the most command of the issues. >> not only command of the issues, but i think in terms of south carolina, who votes in a republican primary. his arguments, i think, would resonate more than anybody else's and resonate better. >> you were talking about yef evangelicals. but they're not all values voters. many of them are sort of, they're white, blue collar, non-college educated, and they're also college-educated evangelicals actually a smaller number of college-educated. the non-college educated vote on kitchen table issues. that's why he's doing well on this cohort. he talks about immigration, trade. these are things that resonate with a part of the electorate that has been left behind in an economic stagnation. while cruz does speak about values voters and speak to those themes, it doesn't resonate with all evangelical voters is why trump's doing so well, i think. >> cruz is doing very well, too, doing well among evangelicals. >> and marco'

kevin madden, what did you make of what you saw tonight? >> i think rubio clearly came out with a very aggressive strategy. he looked like a boxer hitting a speed bag. and he tried to hold donald trump accountable for what he believes is hypocrisy. and the fact that donald trump, when pressed for details doesn't have any. those are vulnerabilities that marco rubio had to go after. >> beyond kind of two sentences he wasn't able to go into great detail. >> one of the questions, john alluded to this earlier is whether or not you can, whether or not one debate is enough. i think marco rubio that was here tonight, he's going to have to do this 24/7 from here on out. >> i want to go to jake tapper who has senator cruz with him. >> i'm here with senator ted cruz. is it nooit niicer to be in you to state than to be in other places? >> it is great to be at home. this is the first time i've slept in my bed in a month. it was great to have my girls jump into bed, it's a great alarm clock. >> donald trump said that he thought he had a good debate, espe

let's continue with our fanl, kevin madden, what did you make of what you saw tonight? i? think knee he i am gfrm the fact that donald trump went wh pressed for details doesn't have any. those fepgs and beyond kind of two stenss, he wasn't able to -- >> one of the questions and i think john ehuded to this earlier, if -- i think marco rubio that is here tonight is going to have to do this 24/7. >> i want to go to jake tapper. >> thanks, anderson. i'm here with senator ud i remember it is wonderful to be at home in is sfrofrmt m it's the best april larm clark you can have. i love being home in texas. stwli saw you talking to your girls during the break. very sweet. let's talk about the debate. donald trump sailed he thought he had a good debate, especially considering the fact that boldt you and rn. >> look, i think this debate provided a lot of clarity. it became very clear that donald trump is not a good can't to face candidate fwrnkt. >> -- for decades he's argued for socialized medicine. tonight on the debate stage he want away frm it frrmt -- he doesn't like it when any

joining us, cnn political analyst kevin madden, amanda carpenter. kevin used to work for the romney campaign. both, amanda used to work for ted cruz. donald trump defies political convention so much. you would think that coming out of new hampshire and south carolina those wins would give him momentum. you know, is he impervious to even momentum since he's been impervious to everything else? >> well, i think this goes back to the discussion that we were having earlier on the panel about whether or not this new scrutiny that was going to be coming from the media was going to have an impact or slow down donald trump. what's been fascinating about donald trump supporters has been their ability or tendency to rationalize or compartmentalize what they don't like about donald trump in order to convince themselves why nay condition to support donald trump. you hear people down in south carolina saying, you know, i didn't like what he said about george w. bush and 9/11, but i like homoimmigrati-- like him o and the economy. i don't like that he got into a sk

analyst, gloria borger, cnn politics executive editor, mark preston, cnn political commentator, kevin maddenl analyst, editorial director of "the national journal" ron brownstein. kevin, what does trump need to do over this next week to make sure he wins, that the polls are real, that he wins on the real poll next tuesday in new hampshire? >> he needs to slow the momentum of marco rubio who slungshot out of iowa with a lot of momentum and also slow the momentum of ted cruz as well. the other thing he has to do is sort of shift his message. the immigration issue, while a very big one with a lot of republican vote sers is not as animatiing an issue in new hampshire. he has to focus on the economy and national security. the problem for that, those are two issues that are very good, very strong issues with ted cruz and marco rubio. >> you think he's got to really go negative even more so, donald trump, against rubio and cruz? >> i think he'll continue to go negative on cruz, and i think he'll take some shots at marco rubio on immigration even though immigration isn't the issue it is in iowa. it'

joining me, cnn political commentator kevin madden, republican political strategist who worked for mitttial campaigns, plural, among others it also, cnn contributor and attorney becarey sellers who once served in the state for lieutenant governor. also with us, cnn reporter mallika henderson. that conversation with tony perkins was interesting and he used a word that set off alarm bells, he used the word distraction. he's actually there towards the end, admitted a lot of the back and forth between cruz and rubio in the last few weeks, it was a distraction. >> yeah, and what happens, it inevitably happens, whether or not campaigns get side tracked, whether or not there's too much of a focus on the process and a lot of these arguments about conference calls between supports, that's not what voters -- that's not what's going to influence voters. tony perkins did correctly allude to this, what's your vision for the country. why is it i should become invested in your campaign and why is it i think you're going to be a better steward of america's future. i think that is key for marco rubio an

kevin o'donnell. fox 17 sport -- fox 13 sports. >> and claiming that title which is absurd. i mean vegas has the favorites. players they line up and into the pro bowl. computer simulation games like madden super bowl pick them as the winner. they are getting a lot of respect but not denier t is hard to find anyone picking the broncos. >> as i coach if i have to mention every article or everything that is written every day i don't have to go there. they're smart. they had had it for a long time. i would say, we have been in the situation before throughout the we have great respect for their football team and what they are capable of doing and how they got here but we have confidence in your team, too. >> yes so i'm -- i mean carolina they are not the underdog. drop that title. we'll see what happens. >> it will be a good game. >>> speaking of good games congrats. academy of the holy name they are in the state championship for soccer for the first time in school history. they're playing right now and we need to find out what the score is but we're so proud of them. the ga imis in melbourne. it has been incredible for the team. they have done so well. and we're just proud making it to the