. >> michelle bernard, when the smoke cleared today, what do you make of this race? >> i want to start on the republican side first. >> we'll do democrats later. >> i'm firmly in the camp of conventional wisdom that believes that if cruz and rubio and governor kasich stay in the race, and kasich and cruz can beat mr. trump in their states, coming up on march -- i'm sorry, kasich can beat donald trump and stay in the race long enough to keep anyone from getting a clear number of delegates, take it to the convention, have a brokered convention, and save the country from a president trump or a president cruz. >> can i weigh in real quickly on that. >> let me push back a little? isn't that a problem for the process itself? to say that the millions of people who are going to vote in these republican primaries, you know, we're going to try some stuff out and your will is not going to be respected? the top finisher, we're not going to give him the nomination? >> but if kasich stays in the race, and he stays in because he can get people to pay for ads, and donate to his camp

i'm joined by msnbc robert costa, michelle bernard, and former virginia congressman tom davis. thank you. robert, give us -- this is pretty dirty stuff. what -- are there any facts here about how the story got into the national national enquirer? i don't believe them, because i don't think it's a source for fact. but where are we this? any where but smear back and forth? >> no facts, no evidence. the "washington post" has been trying to report out the story, just to understand what's going on, and there is no evidence of anything close to the national enquirer. this a campaign that has really devolved. >> he says he didn't plant it. i have no idea whether or not the cover story about ted cruz in this week's issue of the national enquirer is true or not, but i had absolutely nothing do with it. did not know about it. i have not, as yet, read it. ted cruz's problem with the national enquirer is his and his alone. while they were right about o.j. simpson, john edwards and many others, i certainly hope they're not right about lyin' ted cruz. that's the most ridiculous statement. he

and michelle bernard, as always. up until now, a big announcement to tell you, i'm excited to tell you hillary clinton will be joining me for an exclusive town hall this monday night at 7:00 eastern, an hour with hillary, a town hall with hillary clinton, right here on "hardball," actually, 7:00 eastern, our time. coming up, marco rubio's last stand, he says he regrets the personal attacks, the personal stuff, below the belt, his children were embarrassed by it. he is headed into the debate to change the race ahead of tuesday's primary. but what's interesting to see, will they keep their gloves up tonight. good luck to both of them. the sharp debate last night between hillary clinton and bernie sanders, clinton showed some authenticity, admitting she is not a natural politician like her husband or president obama. can she turn it into a strength. that's a great question. for all you die-hard fans for house of cards, take a break from binge watching, we've actor michael kelly, and henchman, i hate to say, joining us t

thomas bernard glidewell was charged for leading the last thursday. bond. he had been hospital with accident. michelle: today, local officers are working to determine how many robberies might be tied to one man. police say this is batman unmasked juan nieves morales. , this is surveillance video from last month showing a man dressed as batman robbing a dollar general and then a 1-2-3 dollar store back to back in east orange county. investigators say nieves dropped the costume when he started getting media attention and committed several more robberies. detectives say nieves dropped a cell phone after robbing a pizza shop, helping lead to his arrest. jason: the man accused of firing a deadly shot inside a sanford bar says he is not guilty. killing oceanette hampton inside the cool breeze bar back in january. he filed a written plea so he won' t have to attend an arraignment that was scheduled for this afternoon. his attorney previously admitted pritchard acted recklessly when a fight broke out but says he did not mean to kill anyone. let' s urge your weather this afternoon, it is feeling like spring, a