robert costa, you cover politics. clearly mitch mcconnell has to look at this with some sort of alarm. republican senators are in tough reelection battles. robert costa: the meth is looking more gloomy by the day -- the math is looking more gloomy by the day for senate republicans. many of the top incumbents were elected in 2010. in states like pennsylvania, illinois, those are states that are almost blue these days, if not purple. those one for republicans by narrow margins in a very republican year. and now in a residential election year when the democratic turnout is generally this has created a lot of depression within capitol hill. there is a thought that if trump does move forward, the gop has to either disavow him or the candidates might try to look at some of his policies to copy his tenacity, his positions on trade, to shy away from controversies. >> finally, i wanted to talk to you about the "implosion" regarding donald trump's candidacy. robert costa: implosion means a collapsed inward, a collapse upon itse

back with robert costa of "the washington post" and howard fineman of "the washington post" and curtis lee of the "l.a. times." robert, i thought we would get news tonight. you had the break on that story, the scoop that dr. carson -- what's he going to do, tomorrow endorse trump? >> tomorrow, mar-a-lago. >> why did he not bring it up tonight? scooped it already? did he mention it tonight? >> he did mention it tonight. we scooped it, and then he mentioned it. they were trying to have a surprise press conference on saturday -- friday at mar-a-lago and all came together this morning. carson, remember, has been fuming about senator cruz ever since iowa, feels like he was wronged. the campaign mishandled it and trump has been building a rapport with carson behind the scenes, phone call after phone call, that's the trump way and finally met today in mar-a-lago. in palm beach. carson has his own home in west palm beach and quietly met for over an hour and i heard from people very familiar with the situation and carson said i'm with you, let's have an outsider be the nominee. >> wow, moments

back with robert costa of "the washington post" and howard fineman of "the washington post" and curtis of the "l.a. times." robert, i thought we would get news tonight. you had the break on that story, the scoop that dr. carson -- what's he going to do, endorse trump tomorrow? >> tomorrow, mar-a-lago. >> why did he not bring it up tonight? did he mention it tonight? >> he did mention it tonight. we scooped it and then he mentioned it. they were trying to have a surprise press conference on friday at mar-a-lago and all came together this morning. carson has been fuming about senator cruz ever since iowa, feels like he was wronged. the campaign mishandled it and trump has been building a rapport with carson behind the scene, phone call after phone call, the trump way and finally met today in mar-a-lago. carson has his own home in west palm beach and quietly met for over an hour and people familiar with the situation and carson said i'm with you, let's have an outsider be the nominee. >> wow, moments ago donald trump came through the spin room and stopped in katy tur's camera. let's liste

robert costa, thank you very much for being with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> next, a house appropriations subcommittee hearing on the president's 2017 budget request for the general services administration. the witness is gsa administrator denise turner roth. she was asked about the fbi's relocation and updates to data technology. this is an hour 15 minutes.

thank you, robert costa. we'll be right back after this with top surrogates including montel williams, who supports kasich. ohm rosa man gall, is backing trump. both coming here to explain how their guy won. actually i think both of those guys won tonight. i think the guys came out ahead tonight because it was the night of the jackals and they didn't look good. this is hardball, the place for politics, live from tonight's republican debate. >> what are your views on the ku klux klan and white supremacists? >> i totally disavow the ku klux klan. i totally disavow david duke. i've been doing it now for two weeks. this is -- you're probably about the 18th person that's asked me the question. gning cars for crash survival, subaru has developed our most revolutionary feature yet. a car that can see trouble and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not toyota. not ford or any other brand. subaru eyesight. an ex

and robert costa, that has been the challenge for the trump campaign, is not apparently knowing thoseme, not knowing what those processes are, not knowing what kind of personnel you need on the ground to make these -- to get these outcomes the way you want them. >> trump has run a campaign based largely on his own instinct, and he has a core team p political advisers who have tried to expand the delegate strategy but it's been an incremental experience for trump as he builds. and what you're seeing now, it's really important to think back to 2012 and how the ron paul activists were able to go to the convention in tampa and challenge some of the credentials and try to get some delegates. they actually didn't win at the ballot box but they won at the state conventions. that's the inside baseball but it's a very important process within the republican party if you want to be the nominee. >> but ben, this is an indication of just how out of their depth the trump campaign team is. his campaign manager's never been a presidential campaign manager before, never been near the top of a preside

i'm joined by chuck todd, meet the press and nbc analyst robert costa, mo brooks of alabama, who supports senator cruz for president. let me start with chuck todd about this. i am confounded by the talk that began last night with ben last night about how republicans are going to deny the nomination, somehow give it to somebody else. how do they do it? >> how do they do it? >> well, but if he doesn't have the majority, he doesn't. >> he has the most. >> he has the most, but not the majority, i agree with you. i think in this day and age, in the 21st century, this isn't 1956. this isn't even kansas city in 1976. as i was talking with charlie black. >> in 1952, he was denied at the convention. >> so this is going to be, if this does take place, such a transparent and ugly and process that everybody is going to be watching, of which there are no rules. because there is no tradition to even follow. everybody is going to play their own rules on this. but if he doesn't have a majority, and you have two candidates chasing him, that together, would give them the majority, well, the math is simple.

i'd like to bring robert costa into there conversation if we can get him on the phone. he's a washington post recorder. we're talking about this as not just violence but as violence in a political context in this country tonight. i have to ask how other republicans are reacting to this tonight and whether or not the trump campaign really is going to try to spin this as advantageous to them. >> many republicans are watching these images and think it's a troubling and complicated momentum for america. they're talking about the historical undercurrent. what's striking to so many republicans is what was at the heart of richard nixon, 1968 prokes was the vietnam war. it's not a war. it's not an issue. it's candidate at the floor. >> and a candidate who is not a side issue to the specific thing we're seeing which is protesters and supporters of that candidate punching one another. the candidate has been engaging directly with that as a subject of his campaigns and his public politicking. he's been talking about this overtly and politically incorrect, inciteful ways. i'm wonde

robert costa has been watching along with us, national political reporter from the "washington post." and i do believe just before hearing robert out, we're going to have to wait to hear robert out concerning his reaction to ted cruz. robert, we have a second before senator cruz comes out. your impressions of donald trump? >> brian, this was the culmination of a day in washington for trump where he's tried to engage the republican establishment, outlined a non-interventionist policy. but he has ground to make up. a prepared text, he made some ground, made some inroads i would argue based on my reporting to do that. i was texting with people throughout the speech, and people were very interested what trump had to say. came away impressed that he said what they thought was the right line he should be taking, but still want to know more as the campaign unfolds. >> robert costa, don't move, we'll talk to you on the other side of this. here's senator ted cruz. >> god bless aipac. [ cheers and applause ] i'm thrilled to be here with you today. and let me say at the outset, perhaps to the su

robert costa, thank you for the scoop about dr. carson about to endorse donald trump. 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 henc

joining us is robert costa.plosion and questions of the republican leadership, whether they come together this republican year, spells trouble for the gop. can you explain? >> it's a significant as historic moment within the republican party. unlike anything i have seen in the post-george w. bush era. total chaos and division between the grassroots conservatives who are backing donald trump, who unhappy about illegal immigration and the more elite side of the party, the establishment elected officials and donors who are horrified at the trump asen den sy and now at odds with each other deep into the presidential prostecess and we're watching in realtime as a major american political party imploeds on itself. >> we covered senator marco rubio joined by governor nikki haley saying that the candidacy of donald trump is scary and yet over the weekend the endorsement by alabama senator jeff sessions in madison, alabama, supporting donald trump. are some admitting that he is the presumptionive nominee? >> the endorsem

joining us from atlanta, georgia is robert costa, who is following the story for this super tuesday eve. thanks very much for being with us. >> great to join you. >> any time you have the first sentence of your story including the word implosion and questions among the republican leadership whether they can come together this election year spells trouble for the gop. can you explain? >> it's a significant and historic moment within the republican party, unlike anything i have seen in the post-george w. bush era. total chaos and division between the grassroots conservatives who are backing donald trump, who are unhappy about illegal immigration, and the more elite side of the party, the establishment elected officials and donors who are horrified at the trump ascendancy and they are now at odds with each other deep into the presidential process, and we are watching in realtime as a major american political party implodes on itself. >> we covered senator marco rubio who is joined by south carolina governor nikki haley who said the candidacy of donald trump remains scary, yet over the week

robert costa, let's talk about wisconsin. on tuesday we have that new poll and wow, donald trump down ten points, it feels something is going on in the state and not good for donald trump right now. >> the politics of wisconsin are complicated. in a general election it's a purple state and gone to democratic nominees but in off years and gubernatorial elections and presidential primaries, it has a movement conservative activist base, not the normal disengaged working class voetder we've seen trump do well with in other states. that's why cruz is rising in particular in this place. >> play it out for us a little bit. we looked at the map there in terms of the delegate math that would be involved. there's a huge difference there. you have trump -- probably counting on winning 30 delegates out of wisconsin. they could get wiped out or be stuck with three the way the numbers look right now. in terms the biggest picture arc and momentum and things like that. if donald trump does lose badly in wisconsin what does that do to the sto

robert costa who you had on earlier and agreed with me on that inef tablt. it's not something i desire or don't desire, i look at the math and say there's no way that anyone gets to 1,237 delegates. wisconsin comes up on april the 4th. it's a winner take all, 42 delegates. scott walker will deliver that state to kasich or cruz, he's not going to give it to donald trump. then you look to my state of california which is not one election, it's 54 elections, each district gets three delegates and the statewide winner gets 10 delegates. there's a possibility that donald trump could get to 1,237, but there's a smaller possibility that ted cruz could get there, but the overwhelming probability is we go to cleveland and we're there for at least two ballots and maybe more and john kasich is assembling a team and keep your eye on pete wilson, he's become very influential, john kasich has already signed him up, it's going to be chaotic all the way to cleveland. >> i did see pete wilson in the background at the reagan funeral. same question to you and that is what part

robert steele, robert costa. more on tonight's debate.l hear from donald trump on what he thought about tonight's performance. i'll bet you that he says he's the best. live, for tonight's republican debate. >> will you promise that you will -- and how soon will you move your clothing collection, the clothes that are made in china and mexico? >> they devalue their currencies, and they make it impossible for clothing makers in this country to do clothing in this country. >> the answer is, he's not going to do it. you know why? there are plenty of clothing makers in america. if you go on our website, everything we have on there is made in america. the reason why he makes it in china or mexico is because he can make more money on it. that's why he's doing it. >>> you could resolve this issue very quickly by simply releasing "the new york times" tape. because listen, maybe it's right. that you didn't tell them you're misleading the american people. >> the tapes i'm not going to discuss here. >> if you didn't tell them that, the tapes will prov

robert costa, who you had on earlier, agreed with me on that inevitability. i say it's not something i desire or don't desire. i just look at the math and say there's no way anyone gets to 1237 delegates. i'll give you a couple of specifics. wisconsin is april 4. scott walker will deliver that state either to kasich or cruz, not donald trump. then in california, which is not one election, it's 54 elections, each congressional districts, gets three delegates and the statewide winner gets ten delegates. so 172 delegates get parcelled out in two or three ways. so yes, there's a possibility donald trump could get to 1237, but there's a possibility ted cruz could get there. but the probability we're in cleveland for at least two ballots, maybe more, and john kasich is assembling a team and keep your eye on good old pete wilson, the governor of the golden state, he's become very influential. it's going to be a brouhaha all the way to cleveland. i have my cleveland browns tie on tonight for that reason. >> my condolences over mr. man de -- manziel, by the way. same

robert costa of "the new york times" has joined us. >> "washington post." >> i'm so sorry, robert, it's late. there's no rivalry between the two publications. same thing. we've got -- we haven't introduced them yet. but chuck and ben have joined me here at the desk. keep that in mind as you answer. what have you filed for the web tonight and tomorrow morning on paper edition of the "washington post"? >> my colleague and i filed a front-page story on super tuesday. the headline coming out of this is it's a trump owns the night. he routed. he showed the depth across the country from massachusetts to georgia to tennessee. but there really still are glimmers of hope for rubio picking up minnesota. cruz with texas and oklahoma. this is an extended race. a race that's not ending anytime soon. trump's trying to turn to the general election. >> i've watched you the last couple of days talk about what we keep hearing anecdotally, kind of whispered. that is, very serious talks, very serious gatherings among operatives of the republican party of how to get this thing back, how to wrestle the party

robert costa, thank you very much for being with us.ampaign rally with vermont senator bernie sanders. >> it's a whole different campaign now. basically moved beyond the early primary and caucus states and now we're in super tuesday so if you think about it, 12 states, voters in each of these 12 states will have a -- impact onket who the democrats and republicans nominate. ins a very different phase the campaign because we've moved from retail campaigning, the one-on-one we saw in ohio, new carolina, even south and now we're campaigning in 12 states where the candidates are literally going from airport to trying to appeal to as many voters as possible and make their last-minute pitches. key.tising is organization is key. but it really has moved to a different level in this campaign where the candidates hope that voters know who they the namen most cases i.d. is out there so the candidates have to convince includingrs, undecideds, that that's the person they should vote for. since this network began in the late 1970's, one of the hallmar

robert costa thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> on the second panel of the american university's latino republican affairs -- we get it closer look. this is one hour ten minutes. [inaudible] were going to get started. >> my name is matt, i'm a faculty member in the government department at eight you. i've occasionally done research in this area, as part of the panel last year when we did it and now we have come back to help assist as moderator. i want to say thanks to eric and jim as the opportunity. want to thank the panelists who are very excited and knowledgeable people. they all make me feel like i'm not busy enough trying to do things. it's nice to have them here. they know a lot more than i do. this panel is the democrats and latino advantage, ronald reagan famously claimed it that his latinos are republicans they just and realize it. so let me introduce the panelists. oh start with matt who is cofounder of managing partner of polling and research firm which is a polling from capturing public opinion and behavior for latino respondents. is also professor political science a

joining me now, msnbc political analyst robert costa, political reporter for the "washington post." robert, what was this paul ryan speech about? what was the play here? >> this was about insulating congressional incumbents. there's a party on capitol hill and then there's the party at large. and those members of the house, members of the senate who are up for re-election this year, they don't always want to point to trump, the presumptive nominee in many of their minds. instead they want to point to someone else. ryan is offering himself as someone who's more civil, more wrapped in the cloak of ideological conservatism. >> you don't think -- there was some speculation that this is him essentially trying to position himself as the possible contested convention savior. as he was, we have to say, during the -- when john boehner retired and the house republican caucus was in crisis and he was essentially drafted against his will to be the speaker. >> it's unlikely. i've spoken with most of ryan's inner circle in the last few days. privately they say he was very reluctant to take the spe

i want to bring in robert costa, doing reporting on the john kasich side. john kasich, the governor of ohio, he has said if he doesn't win ohio, he'll get out of the race. he also has said he is going to win ohio. we'll see tonight whether that confidence is well placed. robert, what are you hearing from the kasich campaign and the other campaigns in terms of confidence? >> talking to the kasich campaign in ohio, they have a strong grassroots operation going on for months, turnout is exceptionally high. they also believe they're benefitting from crossover democratic votes, democratic whose have gotten to know kasich in ohio and are weary of a trump nomination. in florida, i hear turnout, talking to many republicans in the state this morning, is high, but that is not necessarily good for marco rubio. and many people in his orbit at this hour are saying he may get out of the race if it looks like he'll lose the state, which seems likely what we're hearing on the ground. >> we've been hearing overtly that they're planning on campaigning in utah tomorrow, that

. >>> i want to turn to robert costa. robert, let me ask you what you make of that. we just played the exchange, druds has been out there saying, look, in the end i made a commitment i would support the republican nominee if the nominee is trump i'm still going to support him. that's been his line. you saw that exchange with hallie jackson yesterday, he wouldn't say that yesterday, wouldn't say he wouldn't support him. what do you make of that? >> cruz knows that he needs those trump voters should he win the nomination and he does not want to alienate the billionaire's base. so he's trying to walk a fine line, he's taking on trump, very frustrated with trump's attacks but at the same time as he has been doing for months he has been trying to reach out to those same working class conservative voters. >> we also have some news this morning out of wisconsin, scott walker the governor obviously he has not been necessarily too friendly toward donald trump in this campaign, a lot of speculation he will eventually endorse ted cruz although he predicted an open gop conventio

i've got steve spear with me talking about the republican situation and robert costa is still with me. let's talk about the republican side. trump wins arizona tonight, right in. >> yes. >> okay. if he wins, when he wins, then where does he go from there? can he get to 1237? forget what happened in utah. >> donald trump is on track to get the number to be the republican nominee and he's going to remain in that position so long as john kasich stays in this race. at this point in the race, if you were john kasich and you wanted to see an open convention and the kasich argument is that, hey, i'm going to be the candidate per forling most strongly against hillary clinton, what would make sense for john kasich to do is to say, i'm stepping back from my campaign. i want everybody to vote for ted cruz. that's going to force an open convention and when we get to the convention i'll make an argument that i'm the most electable candidate. if you want john kasich to be president, vote for ted cruz. that strategic voting is the only way to deny donald trump the path to 1237 delegates. the math si

welcome back, robert costa of "the new york times" has joined us. "the washington post," oh, my god, robert, it's late, i'm so sorry. there is no rivalry between the two publications, same thing. we have not introduced them yet, but chuck todd, ben ginsberg, you have me here, keep that in mind. what have you filed for the web on paper and in addition, "the washington post"? >> my colleague and i just filed a story for super tuesday, trump owns the night, he routed and showed depth across the country from massachusetts to georgia to tennessee, but really there are still glimmers of hope for rubio picking up minnesota, cruz, texas, trump is trying to turn to the general election. >> now, i have watched you the last couple of days talk about what we keep hearing anecdotally, whispering, very serious talks and gatherings among operatives of the republican party of how to get this thing back. how to wrestle the party back. what can you add to the record tonight because their case only intensified tonight? >> i think the key story for wednesday based on al

joining me are jose diaz-balart of telemundo and nbc news, molly ball, joy ann reid, and robert costa of the "washington post." welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> good sunday morning. the 2016 campaign. the rise of donald trump is basically paralleled the fall of the republican establishment. the more the establishment cries "never trump," the more the voters snub them. on tuesday night, in spite of millions of dollars of negative ads and high profile criticism by mitt romney and others, trump won four of five primaries and he nearly tripled his delegate lead over ted cruz. republicans are desperate to use any means necessary, candidate collusion, delegate jujitsu, rules changes, anything, to deny trump anything, in part because of scenes like this. last night in tucson, arizona, an anti-trump protestors was set upon and beaten up as he was being escorted out of the rally. police arrested and charged the man who assaulted the protester who we see in that video. this was the scene earlier in

our panelists are here, jose diaz-balart, molly ball, joy-ann reid, and robert costa. i want to pick up on what i teased before. molly, here is what dana milbank wrote. "the criticism is the same as in 2008. she doesn't connect, she isn't likeable, she doesn't inspire. if she can't plausibly offer pie and the sky and can't raise her voice, how does this inspire people? this hurts with young voters, the same segment that shunned clinton in 2008." this is a male writing this. in some ways she's being graded on a different set of rules in her style, and this holds her back. fair? >> i think it's very difficult to parse what qualities are specific to hillary clinton and what qualities have to do with gender. there's been this criticism that women are more subject to commentary on their appearance. political science has constituted it and it's not true. men and women get comments on their appearance at the same rate, and it doesn't hurt for women to get comments on their appearance. a neutral woman, a made-up woman in a political science experiment, is viewed as a little mo

robert costa is national political reporter with the "washington post." robert, we already have a lead story -- donald trump just added two states to this incredible campaign season, and we're neck and neck in michigan for the democrats. what can you add? >> i think there's a secondary story talking to top republicans tonight, major donors within the party. there's a lot of anxiety about senator rubio's performance, and there's also some real analysis of trump's news conference, a sense that he is making an overture to them, to the party establishment, talking about his conversation with speaker ryan, acting not so much as a nominee, but as a uniter. they think those two factors, rubio's poor showing and trump's willingness to move closer to the party tonight. >> about mr. trump's press conference, i'm wondering if there's been any negative reaction among republicans you've been talking to to the other aspect of mr. trump's press conference tonight, in addition to uniting the party and saying nice things about the republican party needing to hold on to the

let's start with robert costa, national political reporter for the washington post and nbc news political analyst. robert, you've been writing about this all morning. tell me what we know about this hour about this stop trump meeting that happened in washington. >> good to join you. this meeting began early this morning at 8:00 a.m. at army and navy club in downtown washington. a group of two dozen conservative long time movement leaders on the right gathered in washington to talk about how they could stop trump. maybe mounting a third party challenge to him. or if not that, fighting him on the convention floor. >> so those are big statements that you just made, stopping them on the convention floor or mounting a third party challenge. i want to read part of the letter they all signed. released on-line by eric eriksson a short time ago. everyone who attended signing this letter. we believe that the issue of donald trump is greater than an issue of party. it is an issue of moral and character, not just those of us in a conservative movement, must confront. we call for a unitiy ticket that

robert costa political reporter for the "washington post." in detroit, amarosa who supports donald trump. let's start with amarosa. these attacks that came from two sources tonight. i think everyone here was saying, i haven't decided, but that the least effective assault was from rubio, the more concerted ideological attempt, which i think was consistent and unacceptable. because it is mccarthy-ite, coming from cruz, accusing your candidate basically being guilty of fraud. just says it. he just says it because he can say what he wants legally with a libel lawsuit that we have in this country during a campaign. tonight, fraud with something else to do with his university. he throws these charges around. what do you think works? categorize the two. rubio sort of says you're an old man attack and cruz's ideological attack. >> can we talk about the earlier attack from romney and then segway into the attacks by rubio and cruz. trump is fighting from all directions. he gets to the debate. he hasn't had a chance to deal with the debate prep, because

joining me are jose diaz-balart of telemundo and nbc news, molly ball, joy ann reid, and robert costa of the "washington post." welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, this is "meet the press" with cpuck todd. >>> good sunday morning. let's agree on this much about the 20 campaign. the rise of donald trump is basically paralleled the fall of the republican establishment. the more the establishment cries "never trump," the more the voters snub them. on tuesday night, in spite of millions of dollarsof negative ads and high profile criticism by mitt romney and others, trump won four of five primaries and he nearly tripled his delegate lead over ted cruz. republicans are despate to use

jose, molly ball, joy ann reid, and robert costa. i want to pick up on what i teased before.e criticism is the same as in 2008, she doesn't kiconnect, sh seems shrill. how does she inspire people? that in some ways and this is a male writing this but in some ways that she has -- that she's being graded on a different set of rules in her style, that this holds her back, fair? >> i think it's very difficult to parse what qualities are specific to hillary clinton and what qualities have to do with her gender. i have locked into some of the political science research. there's been a criticism for example that women are more subject to commentary on their appearance. the political science has studied and it's not true. men and women get comments on their appearance at the same rate and it doesn't hurt women to have comments on their appearance. a neutral woman a made up woman in a political science experiment is viewed a little more trustworthy than a man because they're seen as outsiders. not seen as being part of the system, and there's some positive stereotyping about women. bu

. >> what you just heard there, welcome back to our coverage of the republican debate, robert costa ofe washington post" and luciana lopez of reuters. my thought, it's amazing how people talk about their self-interest. trump said that artificial random number is a majority of the delegates. it's not artificial and it is not random. it's the majority number and, secondly, the other guy, ted cruz said somebody can't parachute in. in other words, if it's not trump because he can't get the majority, it's cruz. it was so obvious what they're up to. robert, it's not hard to read these guys. >> 1,237, that is the magic number for the delegates. speaking of people close to trump they believe they'll likely have the lead if they continue on this pace but you get a sense within the party talking to trump's rivals that if he gets close to that threshold of 1,237, if he's 37 to 40 or even 50 delegates away he will have a serious case to make for the nomination and so at this point if they can't get to that number themselves his rivals are trying to stop him from getting close enough. >> but can al