>> sam stein. >> trouble for trump, huh? do you have any insight as to why ted cruz and marco rubio are not attacking the guy -- >> the guy that you guys put on the entertainment page. >> the simplest explanation is that they look at polling, they see that, in a two-person race, them versus trump, that they do better than trump, and so they decide that they need to make it a two-person race and not go after trump. the problem is, of course, that time is not their friend here. they have all these states coming up. trump could very well build a near insurmountable delegate lead after march 15 and it makes it a moot point to have a two-person race. i want to list a crazy stat. the "washington post" looked at how much money has been spent by super pacs on attack ads. $215 million spent to date. of that $9 million has been spent going after trump. 4%. and he is the frontrunner. that underscores the point we're saying, which is that he's gone scot-free here. >> i understand trying to get one on one. but as sam points out, we're on

washington, we have senior political editor and white house correspondent for the huffington post, sam stein. good to have you all. >> well, you know, this is -- i just -- being here really tests your grit. >> it does. >> and your resolve to do what you were called to do. >> it was hard. >> it is not easy being out on the campaign trail. you know, it reminds me of the old chicago song "wishing you were here." but i've got a job to do and i do it well. it's really tough being in charleston! [ applause ] >> in this beautiful hotel. lovely people. >> what an amazing place. >> yeah. absolutely gorgeous, historic. >> every time we come back here. >> and we've got a big story to cover and we'll be doing that through the weekend. special editions of "morning joe" saturday and sunday. new polls out of south carolina show donald trump with big leads across the board ahead of saturday's primary. a new monmouth university poll has him ahead of cruz by 16 points. a bloomberg politics poll has him ahead by 19 points. a new poll from the south carolina house republican caucus also has him ahead by 19. >>

. >> sam stein. we also have republican pollster and columnist in at the washington examiner kristen soltsol soltis anderson. in boston, not senior but legh d legendary mike barnicle. >> i want legendary. >> jon meacham, before we get into the news, the sad news this weekend of justice scalia, i want to key in on this friendship between scalia and ruth bader ginsburg. ruth bader ginsburg the hero, actually, of many people this weekend who had very nasty things to say about justice scalia right after his death, and this is not a liberal-conservative thing. if a liberal icon pass aid way this would be horrible regrettable things said after the death. but their friendship was extraordinary and i loved what scalia said there. he said "we usually agree. it's just the knee-jerk things we don't agree on." that's what i told people about congress, we usually agreed, but there are some things we don't agree on but that's what everybody focused on. but these two really a shining example to everybody in washing

molly ball, sam stein, and heidi pressler. are you still covering trump? put him on the funny pages, didn't you? let me ask you, hillary clinton is like trapped in a paper bag, and it's like how do you fight against the guy who says you're not progressive enough? using progressive to be enough real estate to cover socialist, social democrat, democratic socialist to moderate democrat -- not moderate, but it's an enormous amount of water front. how does she say, being further left is not better? >> well, there's that, which is a tough sell. [ inaudible ] >> democrats were hungry after 12 years out of power. they were willing to compromise. >> there was a majority of moderates in the democratic base. that may not be the case anymore. [ overlapping speakers ] >> they're dissatisfied, demanding more than obama has been able to give them. >> exactly -- i know what they want, more medicare and health care. >> when bernie sanders attacks hillary clinton for this whole progressivism thing, it's not just a matter of how far left you are, but he's saying that she doe

katy tur, sam stein, thank you both. >>> coming up, establishment candidates or so-called establishment candidates are getting desperate as they try to claw their way to third or better. we will look at the scrum ahead. when you order now you get a free pizza after super bowl 50! free pizza? we get it after the super bowl. order now through super bowl sunday at papajohns.com and get a free pizza starting monday. use promo code superbowl50. papa john's.com. >>> we're live from manchester, new hampshire, just hours away from the first head-to-head debate of the entire 2016 presidential cycle. it's amazing to think about that. we have not had a one-on-one debate. tomorrow night right here on msnbc, hillary clinton and bernie sanders will face off for the first time since monday's nail biter of a caucus in iowa. so what do democratic primary voters in new hampshire want to hear from the candidates? earlier i spoke with three of them. clay lasher, a survivor of gun violence, supporting hillary clinton. monica johnson, an 18-year-old student backing bernie sanders. dan weeks who runs a non-pr

." >>> good morning, it's monday, february 15th, i'm sam stein. the body of justice antonin scalia is returning to virginia this morning. a plane landed late last night at dulles international airport. now the influential conservative jurist was discovered dead over the weekend while on retreat in west texas with about 30 other people. he would have been 80 next month. reaction has poured in from all over the world, including from his fellow justices. though they differed ideologi l ideologically, scalia and ruth bader ginsburg were close friends. ginsburg said in a statement they had been, quote, best buddies since their days on the d.c. circuit court and she recalled the opera named after them righting toward the end of the opera they sing a duet. we are different. we are one. different in our interpretation of written texts. one in our reverence for the constitution and the institution we serve. here they are in a joint interview in 2014. >> you two ever going to agree on big issues? and still maintain the friendship? >> we agree on a whole lot

katy tur, sam stein, thank you both. >>> coming up, establishment candidates or so-called establishment candidates are getting desperate as they try to claw their way to third or better. we will look at the scrum ahead. the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am. hi mom! hi! every mom is a coach... an artist... sometimes even a zoologist. every mom is a working mom... and it's working moms everywhere who inspired us to work harder. so we made our banquet meals even better. with mashed potatoes now made with real cream and chicken strips with 100% natural chicken breast. so now, there's more to love with banquet. now serving... a better banquet. this bale of hay cannot be controlled. when a wildfire raged through elkhorn ranch, the sudden loss of pasture became a serious problem for a family business. faced with horses that needed feeding and a texas drought that sent hay prices soaring, the owners had to act fast. thankfully, mary miller banks with chase for business. and with greater financial clarity and a relationship built for the unexpected, sh

katy tur, sam stein, thank you both. >>> coming up, establishment candidates or so-called establishmentdates are getting desperate as they try to claw their way to third or better. we will look at the scrum ahead. to prove to you that the better choice for him is aleve. he's agreed to give it up. ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so... more pills. yep... another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? for my pain... i want my aleve. get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. companies must adapt.changing environment, but one thing should remain constant - a financial relationship with someone that understands and cares about your business. pnc corporate and institutional banking offers strategies tailored to your company's needs. know that our dedicated teams of local experts offer insight to help you achieve your business objectives. see how working with pnc can help your company grow at pnc.com/ideas ♪ >>> we're live from manchester,

washington, we have senior political editor and white house correspondent for the huffington post, sam steinhave you all. >> well, you know, this is -- i just -- being here really

." >>> good morning, it's monday, february 15th, i'm sam stein.tice antonin scalia is returning to virginia this morning. a plane landed late last night at dulles international airport. now the influential conservative jurist was discovered dead over the weekend while on retreat in west texas with about 30 other people. he would have been 80 next month. reaction has poured in from all over the world, including from his fellow justices. though they differed ideologi l ideologically, scalia and ruth bader ginsburg were close friends. ginsburg said in a statement they had been, quote, best buddies since their days on the d.c. circuit court and she recalled the opera

senior political editor and white house correspondent sam stein.ig shirley. >> craig, we will start with you in washington only because we've been asking about the marco/christie moment. is that one of those moments like reagan's, there you go again, when christie said, there it is? >> boy, that's quite a delay. he must be in pakistan. >> he cannot hear us obviously. >> we will cork on that. stuart, i will ask you the same thing, was that one of those defining moments in the campaign or is it just too early to tell? >> i think it's going to shake up what's going to happen in hand. it's impossible to get elected president without being humiliat humiliated. it happens to everybody. >> it happens to everybody. >> it's how you come back. i think that's the test for every candidate, you have to be prepared for it and prepare your staffs for t that's the difference between doing a race like this and a governor's race because it's so public. >> yeah. >> everybody knows that you've screwed up, the staff feels bad and you just have to bounce back and come b

mike barnicle and nicolle wallace are still with us along with sam stein in washington.e have former treasury official and "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner back from des moines and in manchester, new hampshire, managing editor of bloomberg politics john heilemann is with us once again. >> we have so much to break down. john heilemann, let's start with you this morning. the democratic side, we'll start there. was it a win for hillary clinton? was it a draw? what does momentum look like on the ground in new hampshire? >> well, joe, it's going to be something up here. you know, last night you had the sanders and clinton campaign planes, i flew out here from des moines with bernie sanders and his wife jane on the sanders plane. the sanders and clinton planes were practically side-by-side on the tarmac this morning at about 5:00 a.m., 4:30 a.m. in manchester. one plane deplaning while the other was deplaning the press buses particularly on a collision course. it's so interesting because in many ways bernie sanders was not the candidate that hillary clinton was run

back with us, jonathan alter and sam stein. political standoff if you're actually thinking about is there a way to get someone confirmed, one of the names that started to flow a little bit in the last 24 hours is nevada's republican governor. he's pro-choice, jonathan. he's 52 years old and if he was nominated what would happen? >> the first thing to understand is that barack obama got into national politics wanting to see past party. we did a cover story on him in news week it was called seeing purple. that was his whole point at the 2004 convention. it's not crazy that he would nominate a certain kind of republican, especially if he found he was on the right side of citizens united and some other key issues that are of importance like abortion. what it would do is you would already get one vote, dean heller, a republican senator. he's indicated that he would support a nomination. you would only need three more to have a 50/50 tie which joe bidden would break to get the nominee confirmed, if you could get republicans to agree

joining me right now are three reporters, molly ball with the atlantic, msnbc political analyst sam steinhe's with "the huffington post." and heidi breslow writes for "usa today." are you guys still covering trump? you put him on the funny pages, didn't you? >> he's in the politics pages. >> we'll see. let me ask you, molly. hillary clinton is like trapped in a paper bag, and it's like, how do you fight against the guy who says you're not progressive enough? using progressive to be enough real estate to cover democratic, socialist, all the way over to moderate democrat. i'm sorry, not moderate. anything short of moderate. it's an enormous amount of waterfront. he says i'm further across that waterfront than you are, therefore i'm better than you. how does she say being further left is not better? >> well, there's that, which is a tough sell. she's a lot further left than the democratic party was. >> democrats were hungry after 12 years out of power, too. >> they wanted to win. there was a majority of moderates in the democratic base. that may not be the case anymore. >> are they bored wit

>> sam stein isn't around for chris christie to kick around anymore. >> give a wedgie to. >> he's thestion "why is springsteen so great?" and you'll say "sam stein, that's a typically stupid huffington post question." >> yeah, so. >> why are you that way? >> typically his questions are that. i notice you don't have him on the segment. >> he's overrested. >>s where he? >> he doesn't look overrested to me. >> you kick him around, too, joe. >> sam's a friend. i never kick him around. let's talk about what's happening today. >> yes, sir. >> how are things out there? you've invested more time in iowa than people expected. most people expected you to stay in new hampshire. why are you here? >> i'm here because i think it's important to be here. i've spent a lot of time here. i think we can do better than people expect here tonight we'll head back to new hampshire this afternoon. we deal two events in new hampshire tonight and we'll get on the road in new hampshire, too. >> would you prefer this to be a normal primary instead of a caucus? is a caucus an outdated way to count votes? >> i thin

deutsch is here as is senior political editor and white house correspondent for the huffington post, sam steinin washington, republican pollster and columnist in at the washington examiner kristen soltis-anderson and in houston, managing editor for bloomberg politics mark halperin. we were in touch with him all night as he was analyzing it firsthand. >> give us your report card, mark, really quickly. >> i gave marco rubio and donald trump a minuses. again, my grades are based on performance and how the performance affects the candidates' chances of being the nominee. i thought rubio's performance really most surprising to me was he'd never flinched. everyone else who's gone up against trump inç these debates has had moments where they flinched and trump has gotten the better of them. i don't think rubio took trump down but i think he showed a fortitude and people in rubio world are wondering why he didn't do this sooner. >> any impact -- i mean, bloomberg came out with polls that shows donald trump crushing everybody in the deep south. rubio showed two polls of him being crushed in florida whe

sam stein.ears later by a two to one margin young women don't care. they just don't care. and hillary clinton, i think it's even stronger for hillary clinton. as they revamp their strategy, maybe they go with a strategy with it doesn't matter if i am a man or if if i am a woman. if i am black or if i am white, if i am hispanic -- whatever i -- baptist. it doesn't matter. i am the most qualified person to sit in the oval office. and you need to elect me because i'll fight harder for you than anybody else and, while i'm fighting, i will know how to bring this country together and how to make us strong across the globe again. and just put that aside. because when they start talking about this stuff, they get in trouble. whether it's with donald trump or whether it's -- whether it's after the stinum blowup. >> the albright quote is so well known and famous. she has been saying it for so long that it adorned the side of a starbucks cup at one point. this is not new. in the context of the campaign i c

let's bring in the political reporter for "the new york times," sam stein is senior politics editor theton post." a great group of people here. how's it going to be called tonight? there's going to be a winner, it's two-person race, binary, somebody wins every time somebody lands a punch someone feels the pain. it's a boxing match. >> i think we'll hear hillary making an argument how to that bernie sanders has effectively tied her in iowa he's a contender and he needs to be vetted. she's arguing he hasn't gotten scrutiny so far because people haven't taken him seriously, he's her only competition. she's going to be zero in. she's a strong debater. >> the target, right on wrong, his ideology, his self-described socialist mentality. she thinks that, is she going after that or little stuff which she goes after little targets like his relatively pro-gun position. but he's not really a pro-gun guy. it's not like she goes after the big target of ideology. will she do that tonight? will she question the far left to wing? >> the argument you hear her making on the trail is within for a type of

now see that quote and actually sam stein yesterday afternoon i remember being surprised that while everybodyabout that time it's interesting that about that time about 60% of americans were still supportive of the war. so don't know what it means. >> it just goes to show that everything that's ever happened important in america history happens on "scarborough country." >> including the four months where we debated "the passion of the christ." >> and you never saw it. >> is "american idol" too mean. that was a good theme you guys had. >> no, jon stewart because i would say is jon stewart bad for america. we would do four minutes of jon stewart. i would walk outside, grab something to drink and come back and i would go, nah, he's good. he's great. every night. it went well. >>> moving on, last week marco rubio came under criticism after abruptly canceling an event five minutes before due to speak at a conservative forum in south carolina thursday night. ted cruz however did appear at the event and his campaign was quick to seize on it saying in part this is a final admission that marco isn't e

>> sam stein, i find it breath taking that ted cruz of all people would question opposition to same-sexted cruz who says one thing when he's in midland, texas, and another thing when he's in manhattan. when he's in midland, texas, why jesus wouldn't like it. it's the end of our family structure. it's when he gets up to manhattan in fund-raisers he's, well, that's the law, he seems to be fine with it. so for ted cruz to be saying that down there really seems to kind of drive home the point that this is a guy that will do robocalls. this is a guy who will lie about ben carson. this is a guy who will do anything to win. >> yeah, that seems to be cruz's reputation at this point and it worked effectively in iowa, for what it's worth. but he is creating a sort of wake of bad will in the aftermath. i talked to people in new hampshire, for instance, who said they could never consider voting for ted cruz because of what he had done to ben carson. of course, these were ben carson supporters, but they took it very seriously. the bigger picture here is what sticks out to me which is, you know, cruz

in washington we have senior political editor and exhaust correspondent for the huffington post, sam stein and in manchester, new hampshire, managing editor of bloomberg politics whose eyes are very red this morning, john heilemann. >> it's a blues brothers look. >> nbc news is calling hillary clinton the apparent winner in iowa but it was gut check night for both campaigns. >> the iowa democratic party says the results are the closest ever in the history of the caucus and the clinton campaign seemed to indicate they had won with precincts still out. as the votes were still being tallied the former secretary of state took to the stage, hugged everybody, flanked by her husband and daughter. shortly after their peaches both sanders and clinton boarded chatters on route to new hampshire whereabouts is well ahead in the latest poles. start sanders has already addressed his supporters from the flatbed of a pickup truck in front of about 350 people cheering on. >> i cannot believe that you're here at 5:00 in the morning. something is wrong with you guys. >> we thank you so much. and look -- >> w

there was a great piece by sam stein in the "huffington post" which talked about the republican candidatesseriously. there's all of this. there are democrats who have been doing this research for longer than the republicans have. they have a treasure-trove of stuff that they're going to use on donald trump once he gets to the general. i mean, i agree that rubio did a little better job last night, but i think it's too little late, and what is shocking here is that this is like peering into a junior high school playground. and atç one point, somebody is going to come out of this junior high school playground and they're actually going to be debating adult, and they're going to have a big problem. i mean, to the extent that rubio and cruz did anything last night, it had nothing to do with conservative values or principles or policies. it was all just them trying to get an insult in against the big bully on the playground. and in some instances, the two of them ganged up on trump, but in some ways, that makes trump look stronger. why do they need the both of them to do it? >> if i can jump in

sam johnson and john lewis as its first recipients. on march 15 at the library of congress with david rubin stein op presiding we'll talk about their extraordinary lives and thashe contribution to this institution. mr. larson: they will be given a medal in their names which forevermore will be perpetuated by this body where both a democrat and a republican will receive this distinguished award based on the patriot -- patriotism they provided to their nation. i cannot think of two more exemplary figures in this body than sam johnson, who was nearly beaten to death by the vote congress and imprisoned for seven years, 42 in solitary confinement, and john lewis, nearly beaten to death by the alabama police after crossing the edmund pettus bridge. this is what this institution is about. please join us at the library of congress. we'll be here on the floor every day with my co-chair, tom cole, to talk about this great event in their honor. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: permission to add the house f