to maeve's point.deedoner and yo to put your money behind. >> the best you can hope for is fight to a draw. if you can fight him to have a draw, you have a win. >> on social media, he was getting better praise than that. not from the typical trumpets. for him to take on two guys is impressi impressive. it is worth looking at what john kasich said. in terms of who is laying out ideas for america. maybe because he wasn't getting attacked. rubio and cruz were coming at donald trump from jump last night in the gop debate. the question is what impact did it have on trump? how much did he show by merely surviving? we will hear from the frontrunner right after the event next. thanks. ♪ [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable global commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. great job. (mandarin) ♪ cut it out. >>see you tomorrow. ♪ its intelligent drive is msystems...ng. paradigm-shifting. its technology-filled cabin...jaw-dropping. its performance...breathtaking. its self-parking

s word of expectations there, maeve. you see a third of the new hampshire voters are still open to their choice, right? that is a pretty good unknown going into it. how does that couple with what lindsey graham said yesterday, "the master" of the artful smear. when you look at cruz and trump, it's a question whether you want to be poisoned or shot in the general election. either way you're still going to die. >> lindsey graham. nobody the does that the better, right? so i think what's so interesting, i was out with all four of the establishment candidates, kasich, rubio, jeb. they are getting big crowds. and the thing to remember about new hampshire voters not only are many of them still open, but many flip and change their minds on the last weekend. we have seen this over and over again the last couple of presidential cycles. so there really is an opening here and potential liability for trump for people to say, hey, okay, marco came out strong out of iowa. so i will give him another look. his event that i was at yester

what was your take on that, maeve? hear it because it helps them make up their mind about a person's character, the words that they live by. i'm just reminded when i was with bill clinton in iowa, he spoke for a long time about hillary clinton's faith on the trail in the closing days of that campaign, talking about how she lives by a line from martin luther king jr.'s favorite spiritual about working every day for people that need help and so i think that it sort of rounds out the edges of these candidates and really helps people give them a feel for who these people are or who they aspire to be. and in that way, that often is what a voter's decision comes down to when they go into the booth to make that decision. >> all right. one more step down this road, br brianna. one of the reasons that my mind went to sexuality when we were talking about faith -- >> yes, why is that? >> -- you hear it on the right, the context for social positions. the left, it seems, needs to have a different dynamic for faith and policy that c

. >> helping us analyze is david gregory, maeve reston and jackie kucinich. great to have all of you this morning. let's pull up the numbers again. we are at 96% of the votes come in. donald trump got 45.9%. marco rubio, his closest competitor, 23.9. ted cruz, 21.4. then it goes down to carson and kasich at four percentage and under. what do you see? >> we keep talking about whether donald trump has a ceiling. at 45% he showed he can win across the board with hispanics. he did the litany. well educated, poorly educated. he had high name recognition. strange with what the polling shows us. he did extremely well. it just cements the fact that he is the prohibitive front runner at this point. there is no other way to look at this reality other than he has something close to a lock on this nomination. >> jackie, let's look at some of the demographics. let's start with latino voters. the first thing he did upon announcing he was running for president was offend mexicans, or so people thought. last night he won with latino voters, 45%, jackie. >> ted cruz has consi

that means that maybe it doesn't have anything to do with maeve. whoever it was, they knew you would be at that phone booth, which means they were stalking you. or us. i just came from the director's office. he doesn't like the idea that his agents are being taunted, and he wants me to keep him personally in the loop. catch me up, please. ok. so the flowers cleared all of our security checkpoints, which means there's no explosives and no chemical residue, nothing. they were ordered from a local florist, wendy's bloomers. i checked wendy, her bloomers, the employees, the delivery service. they all came out clean. i managed to track down the credit card. it's a stolen card number, and it was ordered from a prepaid cell phone in philadelphia. but it's all about e message he's trying to send. but they were sent to jj. why her? yeah, the original zugzwang taunt was directed at me. if it's directed at one of us, it's directed at all of us. it's only a matter of time beforeis taunts turn to threats. i'm posting security details at each of our homes. well,

maeve reston in nevada for us, thank you. later, by the way, in "the situation room," i'll be interviewing the ohio governor, john kasich. he's one of the five republican candidates still standing. we'll talk about the results in south carolina, the upcoming votes in nevada and beyond. that's later today, 5:00 p.m. eastern. meanwhile, ted cruz finished a close third in south carolina, but stands second in the current republican delegate count. he's also in nevada today, right to gain support ahead of tomorrow's caucuses. let's discuss a little bit more about what's going on. joining us, our chief cnn political correspondent, dana bash, and our chief political analyst, gloria borger. cruz has got to make his case. a disappointing third-place showing in south carolina. >> he does. and you know, i think that he was disappointed with evangelical voters, and i think he's got to start appealing to evangelical voters. he understands that donald trump is way ahead there. he's got some money to spend. he's been organized. he's got a r

ott oe de maev . thw rhing a oa t uchin s xaane boafi orriea cocoldo dobe rms ss amae that feeling. you know the one. that "grand-slam, aced-the-presentation" feeling. multiply that feeling. it's the deal of all deals. a moment worthy of celebration. now multiply that. you're everyone's hero in the championship of all championships it's that feeling. multiplied. a chance to win. and a chance to multiply your winnings. message for all drivers and passengers. buckle up! mccrory's office posted this picture on facebook. the governor was a passenger in this california highway patorl car when it was rear-ended after leaving super bowl 50 in santa clara. the post states, "thank goodness i was wearing my seat belt! don't forget to buckle up...that means the back of the seat, too. the governor took a few minutes at an event this week to describe what happened that night. i had just leaned over to put on my seatbelt and literally a second later we were hit with no warning, no brakes. obviously some body was on their cell phone or something. not paying attention. and they were still going fas

ry iner e blueormarn bye os blue sel e sp ievon maevs, clg ling s, expeenba thaanst. corodein e reis stonlyr pulore ecve ts inio un coradoha inllhe"minea tho e inan trow. s tif tpet fiay oked l or b macher anthmalt wik the overanilonc spheta en wpaorrow a- ching h wey y.ch rks e en the ay to steris a meprerfa nghundds daiv caol crc thisni..aseyecve hehe acth fle mo tn 0 wwar,ndthia t way lee mmity in ed isroje wre llg tthne, feirea medd me tpeeewith in the bs te lein last 48 the ashatoo calear ay i supethe cohanth areegethenomne in eks.hnwaeves i s field baba d a y..aewn up eet iceor e le thcolodo coeghock am dver f w plg ey atdpohedotht d.u to the to olw d edir e s it whthe stitl thoolsal andtly k meth coul aif ne paergradauate ie jac tonigh iless.uring ti toght'me was nored.naraauncey piston unre e wi baldt hed 2 ggwin 3-thfobaballeam tryingmaken re aow tons ce tthse20 th meballd da t 2 h aigmeriymkeheak nice dveowthfawin -5 is r rs win of se.. thks go mwhbuildi n thweneteinolo ring e urte join the foouwa t, bu com tcool we w stepthis plee ceit uring lo you pi domol

. >> so, maev, what was your take on it? >> the thing he did so well was never let up on donald trump. we've seen the other candidats s go out. he kept bringing it back at him, back at him. in the first hour it was like he hit him with the big oppo book, four things that would be a problem for donald trump right off the top and continually coming back off. he did fine holding up to it, but rubio, i think, really demonstrated what he needed to demonstrate to donors at this critical moment right before super tuesday when he's going to need a huge cash infusion to his campaign, that he can make this a two-man race it's an interesting case, the two-man race case. yes, it wasn't about taking people from trump but keeping his own people solid. let's play you a little mashup of what maeve is talking about. >> he's supported you. given hundreds of thousands of dollars to democrats. >> tell me about your plan. >> it says five things. everyone's dumb, he's going to make america great again, win, win, win, he's winning in the polls, an

as maeve said, those point blank accusations he is thick and a liar.sponded to trump today and really launched his most direct attack on trump's character, saying it shows he lacks core principles. here's a little wbit of of what cruz said earlier today. >> i don't care what position donald decides to support today or tomorrow or the next day, they change every day. i don't care what they are. but pick one and defend it and don't pretend whenever people suddenly point out what you said, oh, never mind. and look, part of the reason someone vacillates from position to position to position is they're not starting from a core set of principles and beliefs. >> trump is also fighting this multifront battle with marco rubio who's been arguing here in nevada he is the electable candidate as the alternative to trump. conservatives should coalesce behind his candidacy. the cruz campaign is really starting to push this message today through surrogates. telling voters point blank don't let anyone tell you ted cruz is not electable, poppy. >> it all starts tonight,

david gregory and errol louis and maeve reston. maeve, you're out in the cold.rd for sanders, the plus/minus. >> reporter: well, what we know is that the money is pouring in to sanders's campaign. this has been obviously true ever since his basic tie win with hillary clinton in iowa. and you do really feel the electricity in his crowds. the question now is whether or not he can ramp up the organization to compete with a sophisticated ground operation. sanders thinks he can do well in some of the caucus states like minnesota, maine, massachusetts. but it's not clear yet whether or not they have the organization to go forward all the way. but there's so much momentum behind his campaign right now. clinton is clearly trying to take a moment, reassess, and see what she can do to stop that going forward. >> errol, there is the ground game and infrastructure question. can he work with blacks and hispanics in south carolina? >> there's no reason to assume he cannot. he's in manhattan today. he will be meeting with reverend al sharpton. >> is that the right first step f

maeve, it's me. listen, don't come to the restaurant. what are you talking about? i'm outside. go home. spencer, if you don't want to meet me, you can just say it. no, that's nott. look, i think your stalker's here. what? please just go. ok. hey, dick. hey. so what's up? [exhales] excuse me, sir. a woman just left this for you. reid: thomas merton once wrote, "love is our true destiny. "we do not find the meaning of life "by ourselves alone. we find it with another." captioning made possible by abc studios, llc and cbs, inc. blessed are the leaves of the forest and the air that we breathe. each day help me realize the oneness that nurtures, strengthens, and invigorates. allow me to honor you each morning as you honor all of your creatures. and give me the strength to-- [gasping] who are you? where did you come from? it's been a long time, patty. i bet you didn't think i'd track you down. my name isn't p-- what are you talking about? no. no. wait. what are you doing? lay down on your stomach. please. i'm only-- your stomach. don't do this. i'm just a humble servant. shh... what

but we don't know. >> maeve reston. >> what are you suggesting?nse of donald trump's ground game. particularly when you talk to voters. you're asking, how often are you getting phone calls? do you know when they voted in the past. i know the campaign is putting out talking points about voters contacts. but it's still open whether he knows how to run a campaign here in a state like this where it matters. >>> a month ago, the guys campaigned. there were party planners, event planners. a month ago they said we're done with that. the national advance guys are doing that. we have to get out the vote efforts. they moved over that to a month ago. we'll see if it worked. >> a couple of late breaking things happened that could end up being factors in the race. hillary clinton, the possible shakeup or reshuffling of her campaign. michael bloomberg also confirmed the rumors, yes, he is considering getting in the race. what does that do to this? >> i don't think it has an impact here in new hampshire and people going to the polls today. but if you are going t

cruva thoris mkiies lat e >> w maev nada. wee lovra.evadca >>t itidn'to lrfteco uccausesnd eed onue tsdayht nig fonor daldmp truo tea lrne h won theve silrte sta. shiwd cro ofpo suprsrteur bgstin intoer ches aret teasuran isld w >>ecomihe tt\os va eicngelld\ thwing youn , wo owitho on wdri thwihl higucy ed, ated wen po eorlyteducad. uyo kp hapybo aut, 46%it w hthe hcpanirumbe .is >>h witc maroi rubondd teru cz e.plac >> o thenly cigampahan tt has atbe denldonamp tru and thenl oy cagnmpaiha ttan c beaton dald t irumpsh tis campaign. >> ep rliubanc tsdurnet ou ovdroes to spoupb nraarveti >> s: rosdi canesdat slinee wer oe threor doraoscrs clark couynti wheigrca c exedpectur tuno p mso witesngunnitestow los on llba lnatio a s lang agerinty c inecludc clulks cutan os fit ne uxtps i ofou crseth oue sth canarolioc demcrati pryrima. thsat i hniappe tnghis wndeeke. d anbithe lig pol ticateven enhappoing arn m ich 1 toing upbe sto ue tysdapsemhe w1n 1astatese in eurre gata ntioni wlld hol pryimarct ele.ions right nower othew nso t get

joining us andy shane from the state, also with us maeve reston, cnn political reporter.ain to me ted cruz and his situation in south carolina right now. how big is his organization down there? what are you hearing? >> he's got a great ground game down here, i'm being told. he's using the same methods that he used in iowa to identify evangelical social conservative voters, to -- so that he can really maximize his support. an interesting fact that i learned is that in 2015 from his contributions, most of them came from the charleston area, an area that normally goes towards more of a moderate or libertarian candidate as opposed to the up state where greenville is where that is sort of the base of our evangelical voters. he seems to be doing a good job identifying the folks that will support him on november 20. >> so game this out. if you heard in that giggle, he's taken on donald trump and taken them hard. what does this look like in south carolina? >> yes, isn't this fascinating? we saw that fight recede a bit in new hampshire, clearly because there wasn't as big an evang

we cannot afford to have a president who melts. >> maeve, you've been talking to voters. is there any sign that these -- they seem devastating attacks. they're very sharp at the very least. that these attacks by christie on rubio are having any impact on the voters? >> yes, i think definitely they are in the sense that what christie did was sort of the classic debate technique where you go after what someone's strengths are thought to be. the young fresh face of the party. but the hesitation that voters have when you talk to them about rubio iwhether or not he's ready. he just got demolished on that stage, and a lot of people found that a very painful moment to watch. i think chris christie has given a huge gift to the other candidates in the race, kasich, jeb bush, who are also getting bigger crowds now. i don't know how much it's helping chris christie at this point. it was a little rough and that may not end up working well for him. >> that's interesting, because julianna, we remember in 2004 when gephardt and howard dean were going at it in iowa, they called it a murd

say what you will about his writing, maeve, it's fascinating the way he weaves characters into situations, right? yeah, i mean, i'm not sure what i think of it. it's slightly obtuse. yeah, he tends to be that way. i probably should have warned you. he's not really anything like sir arthur conan doyle. [chuckles] still my favorite. guess what. what? i think the stalker's gone. the emails have stopped. really? since when? two weeks ago. why didn't you tell me? i wanted to make sure. no, i haven't gotten any. what about the phone calls? no more heavy breathing on the machine, no more hang-ups. you know, oftentimes when a stalker's advances are completely ignored, their erotomanic fantasies will be diverted to a more receive target. i went to the store yesterday. something deep inside my gut tells me he's gone. i think it's over, spencer. well, our instincts exist for a reason. they're definitely a response to specific... i want to meet you. ...environmental stimuli. did you hear me, spence? yeah, i--i-- no, i heard you. well, what do you think? i think it's time. let's get started. uh... sor

these two maeve and preston were part of it.ut the scene. >> is there anything more surreal than leaving iowa before a snow storm, landing here at 4:00 a.m. airplanes stacked up against once another. hillary clinton's plane, the press plane, bernie sanders, everybody coming off at the same time. and who do we see but cuomo sitting there all dressed up saying hey how are you guys? but even more surreal is we didn't know what was going on. there was no wifi on the airplane. these planes were built way before wifi was invented. and we continue to know going on. and we have to sneak around for the other side of the hangar and get bernie sanders for an interview. >> and it was amazing he was still going. this morning. out there in the dark, talk to his people. >> preston lying in front of his suv faking an injury was very very helpful -- >> -- i think your pointed is really right. the strength of rubio is he ultimately can draw off cruz's strength. and the country at large in the general election is going to be asking who can lead us

and maeve reston and author of "too you dumb to fail." brother gregory, it is good to have you with us. we have the headline which alisyn refused to show earlier. jeb bush found a way to be first. alphabetical order. when we look at the last ditch efforts, you know the ground game very well. you always say it is important. why this year? big brains are saying it is everyone more important than the past. >> turnout becomes important because it will tell us whether he has changed the electorate. can he bring out new voters who haven't voted before. his team is putting out huge emphasis. there is a prospect of new people coming out. if you're ted cruz, you have had a rough couple of weeks. you have to outperform in your baker's cyst evangelical base. here is what is shocking. cruz has run a good, ideological hit campaign on trump, relying on christian conservatives, splitting that evangelical vote with donald trump. >> i'm surprised to learn tonight there will be 3,362 individual caucuses held. that suggests there can be surprises ahead. >>

. >> let's bring in maeve reston as well as hillary rosa, a democratic strategist. and donna brazil. it is great to have us all together in new hampshire. on this bill clinton issue, why now, hillary? tell me what you think. >> there's very much a view within the clinton camp that bernie sanders has not been defined by the clinton team and that they maybe missed their opportunity to do it earlier. and i think now people are looking. look, sanders has performed well. he has now got to be subject to the same kind of scrutiny that hillary has been subject to. and when you look at some of those things, it infuriates them, like, he did participate in a campaign committee fund raising outreach to investment banks and to other kinds of big corporations that he rails against now. i think it's a level of frustration and strategic. >> up until now, bill clinton has not said a thing about sanders. i was with him in iowa. he spoke for 40 minutes. did not mention the name, bernie sanders. >> people are saying he was becoming nonissue, really. >> this was a big difference to see

maeve reston, thank you. took weeks last time around. stick around, folks, if you will. we have something special for you next hour. democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders himself is going to wolf blitzer for a live interview, 1:00 p.m. eastern time. don't go anywhere. >>> up next, where the individual candidates are today could tell us a lot about what their strategy is going forward. believe it or not. geography matters. you heard that in school, didn't you? >>> also, where, when and why. a top aide for senator marco rubio fresh off the strong showing in iowa tells us, now what? gets grilled, baked, and paired with even more lobster? you get hungry. and you count the seconds until red lobster's lobsterfest is back with the largest variety of lobster dishes of the year. like new dueling lobster tails with one tail stuffed with crab, and the other with langostino lobster mac-and-cheese, it's a party on a plate! and you know every bite of 'lobster lover's dream' lives up to its name. hey, eating is believing. so stop dreaming and start eating. >>> with iowa in t

we want to bring in maeve reston, mark preston -- that rhymes -- and ron brownstein. great to have you here with us at the waterworks cafe. this is the newly released poll. it exiles everything together and gets to an average. trump has 31% in new hampshire. that's a runaway lead. marco rubio was at 15%. cruz, 13%. kasich, who always put all of his eggs in the new hampshire basket, 11%. bush, 10%. and down from there. where do you think where marco rubio is? >> he got hurt. it was rope-a-dope what happened. it opened a ticket out of new hampshire. we were looking at four tickets out of new hampshire. going now on this monday, i think looking a at polls it's really not going to be helpful. there are late deciders. were donald trump is not going to win by the margin he's leading by now. probably going to win but not by much. >> the one that probably matters most right now is the undecided. depending how you look at the calculus, you have somewhere between 25% and 35% of the people. it could change. we saw it play out in iowa. this idea of how many tickets got out of new

thab estmelishnt pu reanblicte voours wldst ju st oay hfme i dd onalptrum- - g >>-boodye se,nateyb maeve en go yeod-bou hse. >> sou yoav geme soone justor f no rmalub repnslicanv, coonential p recaublions tst juow sh upnd a vo fote evr enify the haveno cechan of inwinng a galener ec el ttionllhey' beinshowupg tovote fore th seenator f ergovfonor our hseor fll ase the ow daln blot ceoffis. >> wow. >> th i doink tnald rump ahas lo t ofcrsoosrveap pealin a ge lneraec el wtion aith lotf o d raemocruts, est bslt . tate it>> o's ging beto iesnter.ting ru tmpou cld peovermrfor t inhe ru stel b t,ovrferpe iormhen t n suvo te. th wat bouldean el raectootl ve g nirehtma. ' weutre o of.time newe oed t go 90mi s.nute rtale thefiafesliat,sn i't that wh edat tp kopseel ud to say. j oinus forpl com etemepri time ercovofage theersupsd tueay fi afe.liat it me's "heet tss pre." >> announcer: nbc sports, home of the 2016 rio olympics. the nhl. emprr ieagle.ue eth ncaasrse cha t forprhe sint cu plp fsayof. and impre'etims nrumbene o show, "s daunniy t ghotfollba." on n ly onbc. > >>in spreglikon conditires

joining me to discuss, maeve resten, cnn political reporter.ell, jason casellas, associate professor of political science at the university of houston. professor, you outrank us all so i'm going to start with you. donald trump, the man in the middle tonight. literally, he's been leading in the polls since august so he's been center stage of every debate. this time, with the wind at his back with winning three states. a new poll out today which does show where there could be some problems with him long term. i'm talking general election. that's among hispanics, where he is unfavorable to some 80%. then trailing hillary clinton, 73% to 16%. this is just what the republican party feared after 2012 when they wrote their so-called after action report, this is just what they wanted to fix. >> trump's campaign has gone to the right on immigration. that's been a problem i think for a lot of reaching out to latino vote. mitt romney didn't do so well last time, he got about 27% of the latino vote. if the polls look right, it looks like trump, if he gets

. >> cnn political reporter maev weston joins us where the trump rally is taking place right now. >> rubio just wrapped up. actually rubio, ted cruz and donald trump jr. are all appearing within a one-block radius today. in one of the ruralest cities in nevada. it's sort of the wild west out here in nevada. it's very hard to do polling here. because it's difficult to figure out who's actually going to turn out. but you heard marco rubio making a strong case in there he's the most electable candidate in the race. ted cruz is also making that argument as he flies around nevada today. back in 2012, when mitt romney won here, actually only 7% of voters turned out to caucus. and that's why it's so difficult to figure out who's tahead. but a lot of people here do seem enthusiastic about trump. >> you are really getting the pulse of what people there in rural areas of nevada feel and interesting to hear your perspective. thank you so much, appreciate it. >>> and from 17 candidates to 5. the republican field is thinning. many say that will mean a tougher contest for trump as his opponents ga

- hmal*e iticvistpa in pstotss al xt..tois n 's a dayn ericeart a peto rse ane o the hse *e d ch h maev thorof enreenta ..e f - ol . dd n r he rse alihoi y thh ss he--bl t t n fae.d on mg ans icve and w depped enrs wn s.tslsf ge coisd er the ak ar h ba rowo ine rslec*bithco 20te un w3 wlraconts rolohe fr. l wnd -ig esck, tse. itoral todeitlourcoanpopoms giv te t so ou itnge" is r ymere ad byrally tepo ..a zear shontact sriff o3lc ng y ywh aad laoue kihe youows e rarailurevay f heamgeweancoheel rao ue d 3wencos ays odt plg but ded ask e gue in the y not ow abo. rgil t inn to0 hoinvi ight. nucker"i wto ol to ape rgn nted litt loe a lobr ne usan hey fate mis chseo all l at a momauos the stuflei d fr danieig e i le le cile i d cky tauge 'sik cki lyik et wrevin abouit anngnd i ty of nd i liketravelerl, lisomaelfomps stilch erem aust arou ..imwing ghmefohebu reifea t tn,a r.e urevas stmi3 fo fey side shlin, niat"h income d "fixer pss in r-orkiap . d orup r is. xtngnt thrindie th ilr falleicldiwh 19lathis r p 3'lac an re fee in ry 3weg .ay .g