washington post" headline senator sanders referred to, what he is discussing right now. he is vowing to continue to fight back. >> it is not the type of politics that i want to get in. but, let me also be very clear. if secretary clinton thinks i just come from the small state of vermont, and i need to get used to this, we'll get used to it fast. we will fight back. >> those remarks in philadelphia this morning, following a blistering attack by senator sanders during a rally there last night. >> she has been saying lately that she thinks that i am, quote, unquote, not qualified to be president. let me just say in response to secretary clinton, i don't believe that she is qualified. i don't think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from wall street through your super pac.

i don't think you are qualified if you have voted for the disastrous war in iraq. >> now late last night, secretary clinton's press secretary responded to those remarks on twitter saying, quote, hillary clinton did not say bernie sanders was not qualified, but he has now absurdly said that about her. this is a new low. secretary clinton did respond on her own to senator sanders by staying above the fray. we'll work that technical issue out with you regarding the audio. meanwhile, i'm joined now by our correspondent covering the two campaigns. let's begin with kasie hunt live on the phone, covering the sanders' campaign. she was at the press conference this morning in philadelphia. kasie, as you know, senator sanders is saying basically he was hit first and he was replying very similar to what

donald trump said during his back and forth with ted cruz, that he was only counter punching regarding an attack on him. >> hi, tamron. that's right. and senator sanders, it's clear, has taken what hillary clinton has said about him very personally and, you know, she did not say directly he is, quote, not qualified, in her interview with "morning joe" that kicked this off. she also didn't definitively say i know he is qualified to be president. this morning, of course, she extended her remarks to a certain extent. senator sanders, it's clear, has really evolved in how he is talking about hillary clinton. right? you remember back in 2015, when he would talk very specifically about how he was going to maintain an issues focus. if the crowd booed hillary

clinton, he would wave them off. this campaign has gotten heated as senator sanders has started to raise more money than hillary clinton, has won state after state. people don't recognize that's what's going on. you really saw that come to a head last night at his rally. tens of thousands of people in philadelphia. he essentially adjusted his usual stump speech remarks. he always talks about hillary clinton's position on trade, for example, vote on the iraq war. he took that speech and modified it it to say all these things mean she's not qualified to be president. he doubled down on that at the press conference. we got a sense of why this is bothering him so much. he said i don't want to be dismissed just because i'm from a small state. it doesn't mean i can't fight back. and i think, you know, you're seeing that. as we go into new york, you saw this push from the clinton campaign on "the new york daily news" interview, for example, and her aides behind the scenes

saying they're going to work to, quote, unquote, disqualify sanders from the presidency over the next couple of weeks. this is sanders' very personal response saying i'm not going to allow that to happen. >> kasie, another point that got a lot of attention last night was senator sanders, saying hillary clinton should apologize for supporting the war in iraq after he was under fire from some of the family members of those who were killed at sandy hook. >> reporter: that's right, tamron. i actually asked him about that in an interview i did yesterday. he did say, you know, i don't run around talking about how hillary clinton should apologize for the iraq war victims. i pushed him a little bit and asked, do you view them as the same? his response to that, to say that he doesn't think that the sandy hook victims -- that anyone should play politics with the sandy hook tragedy, if you will. not totally answering that question. the very sensitive issue in new

york and connecticut, and for the country. this, of course, has been bernie sanders' long-held position on immunity for gun manufacturers. and he talked through that with me at some lent length, saying if something like this happens, if you legally buy a gun and commit a crime, the manufacturer shouldn't be held responsible. >> kasie hunt, covering the sanders' campaign. let me bring in kristen welker, covering hillary clinton's response to all of this. before we launch into what she said this morning, kristen, let me play what hillary clinton said on "morning joe" that bernie sanders is partly responding to, he says. let's play it. >> so, the question -- and i'm serious. if you weren't running today and you looked at bernie sanders, would you say this guy is ready to be president of the united states? >> well, i think he hasn't done his homework and he has been talking for more than a year about doing things that he obviously hadn't really studied

or understood. that does raise a lot of questions. really what it goes to is for voters to ask themselves, can he deliver what he is talking about? >> so, this is what bernie sanders says he is replying to. what have we heard further from hillary clinton today? >> the clinton campaign is arguing today that, look, that sound bite proves their point, that she never said he wasn't unqualified. however, she was clearly trying to make the point that some of his answers to that interview in the new york daily news you were just discussing with kasie, proved he was unprepared. still, she never used the term unqualified. i think you'll hear the campaign push that point. they'll also push the point that, by senator sanders' standards, president obama, john kerry would be unqualified. president obama supports tpp. that's one of the points that was brought up. that sort of allows secretary clinton to hug president obama. we've seen her take that tactic

to try to rally the democratic base. seems like the campaign using that in this instance again, seeing an opening there. and then they're making the point that you heard secretary clinton make earlier today when she spoke briefly with reporters. look, this only gives the gop fodder. she tried to stay above the fray with that sound bite. her entire event today aimed at jabbing senator sanders. she took the subway. a few days ago, senator sanders made that comment about using tokens on the subway. some saw as an indication that he wasn't quite up-to-date with how folks use the subway these days. bottom line, tamron, the gloves are coming off. such a fierce fight right now in new york. clinton campaign eager to turn the page on those six losses that they have weathered in recent weeks. this is a preview of more to come as we get closer to the primary. >> some developing news right now. hillary clinton just sat down for an interview with "today"

show's matt lauer, responding to bernie sanders' comments had an she is unqualified. >> he doesn't think you're qualified to be president. >> well, that will be up to the voters of new york and the other states that will be passing judgment in the weeks ahead. i think it's kind of a silly statement. but he is free to say whatever he chooses. >> is he qualified to be president? >> well, here is what i believe. i believe voters will be looking at both of us. but i will take bernie sanders over donald trump or ted cruz any time. >> you can actual will he see more of matt's interview with hillary clinton. that interview also will be part of the "today" show's political coverage, which includes bernie sanders tomorrow, 7:00 am on the "today" show. check out your local nbc station. meanwhile, let me bring in clinton campaign spokesperson brian fallon. thank you so much for joining me. you were among those last night on social media, called on bernie sanders to take back his words regarding that hillary clinton is not qualified to be

president. he is standing by what he said this morning. >> so, you just heard secretary clinton in that interview with matt lauer be very gracious. that's the type of person she is. that's the type of leader she is. let me be a little bit more direct. hillary clinton is probably among the most qualified candidates to run for president in the history of american politics, former first lady, two-term senator from new york, a secretary of state with accomplishments around the globe. this was a below-the-belt, low blow from senator sanders. he should take it back, retract it. this type of rhetoric only helps the republicans and donald trump, trump, senator sanders tried to say hillary clinton made this charge about him. you played the clip. she also did not say it. joe scarborough followed up with her several times and avoided saying it. you heard her say senator sanders would make a better president than anybody being put forward on the republican side.

i think this speaks to the level of desperation in the sanders' campaign. the math is very daunting for them. in the past few days we've seen the rhetoric get out of hand. sanders' campaign needs to take a time-out. in addition to this comment from senator sanders yesterday, his campaign manager in the past couple of days has said that her ambition is threatening to destroy the democratic party. this morning he accused her of making a deal with the devil. the sanders' campaign needs to take a deep breath here. >> senator sanders has maintained all along he will not run a negative campaign. what kind of campaign is he running then? >> he has totally foresaken the pledge he made at the beginning. this was his brand that i think is part of what has got him this far. he has been seen as somebody who is saying it like it is, who is calling out the powerful interests we all agree we need to take on here in our economy. he prides himself on not running negative ads but increasingly the rhetoric has become

coarsant. we are still miles better than the rhetoric on the republican side but this is below the belt. >> kasie hunt is covering the sanders' campaign for us. senator sanders was upset about this report that there are advisers in parts of hillary clinton's campaign who have a strategy. the quo was, they want to disqualify him, defeat him, and unify the party later. and senator sanders took particular issue with that st strategy. is that true? >> we disputed that report yesterday. i'm not sure what the etemdemol of that report is. those errors that were completely unforced on senator sanders part are his to account for. his inability to answer questions about how he is going to break up the banks, that's not an attack we leveled. he has been called out across

the board by observers everywhere. the position he took on guns, hillary clinton didn't ask for an apology. it was the loved ones who perished at sandy hook. senator sanders is lashing out at secretary clinton because he is being held accountable to comments he made to "the daily news." >> family member of the principal of sandy hook called on senator sanders to apologize for his support that gun manufacturers should not be sued. he then called on hillary clinton to apologize to the families of victims who died in the iraq war. those people who are enthusiastic about senator sanders' message, she needs those supporters. how do you unify if she is going to go on to be the nominee? >> i'm hopeful that reasonable minds will prevail today and that the senator -- senator sanders and his campaign will wake up this morning, look at

the headlines and realize they went too far yesterday. and i'm hopeful and cautiously optimistic that senator sanders will take back his words. i do think that at the end of this, senator sanders will do the right thing and that he will urge his supporters to make sure we elect a democrat in 2016. of course, that is what hillary clinton did in 2008 after a very spirited contest between herself and then senator obama. i'm still confident that can happen. but we'll never get to that point if senator sanders repeats the type rhetoric we heard yesterday. >> we saw secretary clinton on the subway today. there were some that were wondering if she was deliberating trolling senator sanders for his lack of knowledge that you don't use tokens anymore. was the subway ride a little dig at him? >> this is the new york primary. it's a quintessential campaign stop. she was shaking hands outside the subway stop, got on and rode it at least one stop before her interview with matt lauer today. >> there she is, swiping, not

using a token. >> you're no longer qualified to ride the subway with a token. you need a metro card. >> by the way, we did reach out to the sanders' campaign to get someone on live to respond to all the developments that have happened this early morning. so far, they have not provided anyone to us at this hour. the latest on the battle between hillary clinton and bernie sanders and the new concerns about what this will do to the democratic party. >> look, i didn't -- i don't know why he is saying that. but i will take bernie sanders over donald trump or ted cruz any time. >> next, i'll talk with joan walsh and david korn. the fight between ted cruz and donald trump is also a big story in new york. cruz is set to hold a town hole near the state's capital in new york. this comes one day after senator cruz was heckled in new york city. we're monitoring the cruz event. we'll bring you the comments

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jeff weaver is on his way to the studio to react to the latest developments in an ongoing war of words between bernie sanders and hillary clinton. the clinton campaign saying that senator sanders has reached a new low by saying that secretary clinton is not qualified to be president.

i will play the interview with "morning joe." that's what senator sanders says he is responding to. a lot of moving parts here. we have a representative from sanders' campaign on the way to the studio. meantime, washington bureau chief for mother jones and political analyst david korn is with us and national correspondent and msnbc political analyst joan walsh, who has endorsed hillary clinton, is with us. david, i'll start with you here. sometimes you have to go back in time. we don't like to do that in news, feeding frenzy. but hillary clinton was on with joe scar borrow borough and was about this interview how bernie sanders could not explain how he wanted to break up the banks. this turned into what we're seeing now, senator sanders accusing her of not being qualified to be president. so far, no one can provide any tape of hillary clinton saying that about him.

it sounds like back and forth, you hit me first. >> yeah. >> nevertheless it looks pretty bad for senator sanders if she did not say this. >> i just want to shake my head. i'm reminded of what my 15-year-old daughter said watching the debates a couple of years ago. it's like watching your grandparents fight. it's a silly argument, silly debate. other parts of this contest have made silly claims about bernie sanders. they said he wanted to throw millions of people off health care because he was for the single-payer system. that wasn't true. now sanders is overstating, misinterpreting or just, you know, fabric ating, whatever you want to put it -- depending how partisan you want to be -- the statements that hillary clinton said yesterday. i think both campaigns are miscalculating. i think hillary clinton, to win this nomination solidly, should basically stop picking at bernie

sanders. i don't mean what -- this morning, but she needs to become a better candidate, make a better connection herself with democratic voters and independent voters and i think bernie sanders should not worry about the clinton slights that he perceives and should just make his case for a revolutionary leader, which he wants to be as a small d socialist democrat. i spoke to a democratic senator last night who favors hillary over bernie sanders. he said his concern is that this might be like 1968 when gene mccarthy endorsed hubert humphrey at the end of the day but didn't bring bri his people behind humphrey. he wants to make sure if hillary gets the nomination, if bernie can can sway his people there. i think he can but not if they continue to go down this path. >> senator sanders went on to

say she is not qualified because of the iraq war vote. he made the point about millions of dollars of super pac money, and special interest funds going to her campaign. he talked about the trade agreement as well. he instantly was ready. >> right. >> kasie hunt, the reporter covering his campaign, says this has gotten under his skin and he actually may be not listening to his campaign advisers. >> right. >> going on this route on his own. >> i don't know about that. he is angry. he is expecting a marvelous campaign. none of us expected him to be here. he may not have expected to be here. he feels he's not getting his due. he's frustrated. i think they should stick to their issues but i also think -- >> isn't being qualified for president one of the issues? >> yes, but the way that he framed it, and the way that he dised her sequential asequentia you could still say about president obama, by the way. is he not qualified? that's a problem. the other problem is the making

these slightly weird sexist remarks about hillary clinton. >> what is sexist in what he said? >> what jeff weaver said the other night about her ambition is going to destroy the democratic party, tamron. >> how is that sexist? >> i think the idea of women as ambitious is scary. our -- his ambition is great. your ambition is scary. it's destructive. there's something psychological in that language that really hit a nerve for women on social media. that's sort of the backdrop to this. then saying that she's not qualified, which women have heard again and again and again. you have to be twice as qualified as a man to get the same job. >> given she's running against potentially a front-runner on the gop side, who has no qualifications, one would argue, as a politician to run for office. >> right sbchlt finally she did say this morning -- and i was happy to hear her say it. bernie sanders would be head and shoulders above ted cruz. i would like to hear those words from senator sanders himself. it's been a long time since he said anything like that.

>> let me play a bit of sound from senator sanders yesterday after he was called out by one of the family members of the sandy hook massacre, saying that he needed to apologize for his decision to support gun manufacturers in that they cannot be sued by the families. here is what he said in response. >> there have been calls for you to apologize to the victims of the sandy hook families. >> yeah. well, i would say that i am not happy about seeing a tragedy of that enormity being politicized. i cannot think of a worst tragedy than what happened at sandy hook, what the parents are going through. but i don't go around saying to hillary clinton, who voted for the war in iraq, where we lost thousands of wonderful young men and women, that she should apologize to the families for a war that we never should have gotten into. >> david, your thoughts on that? >> well, you know, he side stepped the question.

i don't think this was bernie sanders at his best. he feels, at least within the democratic primary electorate, he is on the losing side of these gun issues. the issue of apologizing or not on any front is irrelevant. i don't expect hillary clinton to apologize for the iraq war. she has said she got it wrong and she made a mistake. i think she waited far too many years to do that, and the mistake can be held against her. i don't care whether she apologizes or not. in that instance, he just seemed too oblivious to the question coming from someone in this personal tragedy and didn't take on the polish and try to flip it against hillary. it was very much a conventional politician's trick. he is trying to run as a guy who is not a politician. i don't think he looked good in that exchange. >> in the end, joan, if hillary clinton becomes the nominee, she needs bernie sanders' support? >> she does. >> needs his supporters to rally behind her as well. >> she does.

>> lot of scorched earth. we've seen different sides get together, as we saw in 2008. >> right. >> how does she unify the party without appearing to dismiss bernie sanders this early on? >> i think she has to continue to treat him with respect. she cannot dismiss him this early on. she's not. she's in new york, fighting in her home state. she is having to contest this new york primary very hard. that's good for her. this race is good for both of them, it's good for the democratic party. the three of us were here in 2008. we know it was more bitter then. at the end of the primary season, 35% of chinten supporters said they would not vote for barack obama. we know that at the end of the day in november, there were about three of them. i think i know them personally. right? so i'm not predicting the same thing. i'm not predicting the same thing. a lot of these younger people aren't democrats and are very angry. it will take even more work. >> david, they forget what happened in south carolina where black voters were furious with the clintons.

>> right. >> and other allegations. people forget how tough that year was. >> politicians and the american public have a very short attention span. and when it comes to getting together -- and nothing is going to motivate, you know, democratic or progressive voters more than either trump being nominated by the republicans or ted cruz being nominated by the republicans. and i would expect bernie sanders, if he doesn't get the nomination, to be right out there saying, electing either one of these people is bad for the revolution, that he wants to see eventually. and so that people will get the message that if it's hillary clinton as the nominee, they should support her. >> joan, david, thank you both for your time. we greatly appreciate it. lot of moving parts to keep up with. >> yes. >> ted cruz is visiting a jewish business in brooklyn, one day after some people in the bronx gave him in the new york hello and had the issue over immigration policy and to add that into it, he still is explaining what he meant by new

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and i will not compromise away your second amendment right to keep and bear arms. that means to the catholic schools across this great state, to the jewish schools across this great state, that means to mckiehl christian academy, we will protect your constitutional right to live according to your faith and your conscience without government getting in the way.

the third critical issue in this election is security. for seven years we've seen a president who shows weakness and appeasement to our enemies. two debates ago, donald trump made very clear -- he said if he were president, he would be neutral between israel and the palestinians. well, let me be very clear. as president, i will not be neutral. america will stand unapologetically with the nation of israel.

you know, anyone who can't tell the difference between our friends and our enemies, who can't tell the difference between israel and islamic terrorists who want to kill us, that raises real questions about their fitness and judgment to be commander in chief. for seven years we've seen our military under mined, we've seen morale weakened.

th we've seen this before where the military was weakened and undermined. then in 1981, ronald reagan came into office. and what did reagan do? reagan cut taxes. he pulled back regulations. we saw small businesses explode, millions of new high-paying jobs that generated trillions in new government revenue. and he used that revenue to rebuild our military, to bankrupt the soviet union and to win the cold war. i intend to do the exact same thing with radical islamic terrorism. we're going to repeal obamacare, pass a flat tax, pull back the regulators, stop amnesty.

we're going to see millions and millions of new high-paying jobs come back to america, wages going up again. that's going to generate trillions in new government revenue. we will use that revenue to rebuild our military so it remains the mightiest fighting force on the face of the planet. one of the saddest things we've seen in the last seven years has been this president sending our fighting men and women into combat with rules so strict that their arms are tied behind their backs if they cannot fight, they cannot defeat the enemy, they cannot win. that is wrong. it is immoral. and, mark my words, in january 2017, it will end.

we are slow to anger. we believe in peace and strength. if and when military force is necessary, we should use overwhelming force, kill the enemy and then get the heck out. so, let's talk a little politics. this has been an interesting

political year. hasn't been dull. we started a year ago with 17 republican candidates. an amazingly talented, young, diverse, dynamic field of candidates. what a contrast with the democrats. the democratic field consists of a wild-eyed socialist with ideas that are dangerous for america and the world, and bernie sanders. over the course of the year, we've seen the republican field

narrow. the primaries have done what they're supposed to do, which is narrow the field. there are now two candidates and only two candidates who have any plausible path to winning a majority, to earning the republican nomination. that is me and donald trump. 65 to 70% of republicans across this country who recognize that donald trump is not the best candidate to go head to head with hillary clinton. that if we nominate donald trump, hillary wins and she wins by double digits. and if hillary becomes the president, it is catastrophic. we lose the bill of rights. our kids are buried in trillions

of debt and we remain in the stagnation we've seen the last seven years. we're seeing 60% to 70% of republicans are uniting behind this campaign. of the 17 republican candidates who started this campaign, five are supporting our campaign. we have been endorsed by rick perry, lindsey graham, jeb bush, scott walker, and carly fiorina. when you throw in mike lee and mark levin, we've got the full

spectrum of the republican party all coming together and standing united. now, our friends in the media tell us that donald trump is unstoppable in new york state. oddly enough, our friends in the media are very comfortable with the new york liberal who has supported andrew cuomo and hillary clinton and chuck schumer for decades. and they really want to see a general election between two new york liberals, who agree on washington being the center of the universe. but, you know, an interesting thing has happened in the last couple of weeks. we have seen this race nationally turn. just over two weeks ago. >> we're listening in to ted cruz holding a town hole in

scotia, new york, at mckiehl christian academy. a lot of his comments at the beginning on religion. hallie jackson is covering the cruz campaign. it's an interesting situation for senator cruz after the debate remarks on new york values, referring to donald trump. he says clearly -- he was talking about liberal values in support of democrats, who have run for office for many years. he says if you want to know about donald trump, follow his money trail and who he has supported. it is still a tough spot for him to be in, in the heart of new yor york. >> especially when you look at the delegates allocated here in new york. he tries to push hard to keep the lid on donald trump, keep him below that 50% threshold and for him to be able to pick up delegates. you're hearing him talk more about jobs and the economy. i think you were listening in when he was framing this race in new york as one that is focused

on the working class. you'll see him heading to brooklyn to talk to small business owners. it's why he's talking about jobs and the chi. secondly, you're hearing him in new york -- it's a little loud behind me -- have a couple new foils, donald trump, bill diblasio, andrew cuomo, trying to link to trump to make the argument that he is the candidate true conservatives should vote for. trump campaign aides. one tells me part of the strategy for donald trump is to stay in new york because of the media markets. you're also reaching people in connecticut, pennsylvania, new jersey, allstates that come out and have their primaries after new york. for cruz, that's more of a secondary strategy. what his campaign wants to do is really focus on building coalitions like, for example, looking at the jewish demographic, focusing on israel. he's heading to brooklyn to that matza bakery later today.

>> jacob rascon is covering the trump campaign for us, joining us live now from trump tower in midtown manhattan. what are you hearing from the candidate today? >> reporter: so, today the candidate is down. what we're hearing from the campaign is that he is canceling his california and colorado events this week in order to stay here in new york for the next two weeks prior to the primary. he knows if he can sweep all 95 delegates, moving forward he only needs 52% to 53% of the delegates, which is difficult but doable for trump. in wisconsin, for example, he knows he was up and then cruz took over. you heard cruz talk about, oh, some say he is ounstoppable in new york. cruz must believe he can turn it around and maybe not win new york, but really chip away at the delegate count. what trump wants to do is take all 95. he knows he can carry that momentum down the east coast. and it will be much more likely that he can avoid an open

convention. one trump adviser tells me, look, we all love to talk about the open or brokered convention, but trump, if he can win new york, he can avoid all of that. that's what the campaign wants to do. >> interesting strategy. we'll see how it works out for them. we'll keep covering the campaign and the latest developments. thank you very much, jacob. coming up, next states holding presidential primaries, where can the "never trump" movement pull out a victory against the gop front-runner? we'll take a look at the new map. that's next. you are working with humana and your doctor to maintain your health. because in 5 days, 10 hours and 2 minutes you are going to be 67. and on that day you will walk into a room where 15 people will be waiting... 12 behind the sofa, 2 behind the table and 1 and a half behind a curtain. family: surprise! but only one of them will make a life long dream come true. great things are ahead of you when your health is ready for them. at humana, we can help you with a personalized plan for your health for years to come.

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more of the old lady. i'd like to see her go back to her more you know social side. (vo) pro plan bright mind promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. (ray) it was shocking. she's much more aware. (jan) she loves the food. (ray) she wants to learn things. the difference has been incredible. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind. nutrition that performs. donald trump or ted cruz will rip away the progress we've made. trump, with his insults to everybody, is trying to divide us. >> donald trump has a sizeable lead against the gop rivals

ahead of new york's primary. republican front-runner trails behind hillary clinton in every poll. see the numbers there. joining us to give us a glimpse of what trump might expect in november, "washington post" columnist dana milbank. before efast forward to the conclusion and assume these are both the nominees, let's talk quickly about what jacob rascon just reported. donald trump is staying in new york, canceling appearances out west, heavily focused on his home state to secure as many delegates as possible here. >> uh-huh. well, that makes a lot of sense, tamron, not just for securing the delegates but to reverse the narrative out of wisconsin. that is really that voters there are finally saying we're fed up with this donald trump routine and we're even going to go with ted cruz, who is not terribly popular with a lot of other folks in the party. it makes a lot of sense for trump to make sure that he can maintain his lead in new york.

and he very well may do that. so, i mean, we'll get into this in a bit. but it's not necessarily about one state or the other state. it's appearing appearing increa likely that he won't have the number of delegates he needs in the long run. and what is i think more significant than that is republican voters saying we don't want him in the primaries and 40% in the general election. >> one more question about new york, if you look at governor kasich at 25% in the new poll, i know he was giving his state of the state address earlier in the week but you would think he would try to carve out a little bit more of media attention in new york being here now that he's in second place. he could be the never-trump candidate for this state. >> that's a very good point because new york is certainly not a fertile ground for ted cruz and we all know about his new york values which donald trump is not going to let him

forget, but even beyond that, in new york, a republican is not at all a texas republican. certainly not somebody in the extreme corner of the party's ideology like ted cruz's. there's a natural opening for john kasich there. new york republicans, there will be many for trump because he's the home-state guy but they'll certainly be looking for an alternative to both of those men. >> quickly, when you look back at all of the states and see primaries and caucuses, donald trump has won the evangelical vote. different blocks no one expected him to win under the idea that these voters said they wanted someone to win. they finally wanted a candidate, whether he believed in the same things or not, to get to the finish line and win. when you look at the head to head match-ups and trump has brought up maybe two polls in the past that put him close to hillary clinton, but in reality, the averages, all we're seeing is that she dominates him nationally.

for the gop voters, those who remain, if they want a winner, that is not their guy, according to the polls. he believes he can surge somehow in the general election? >> i think, tamron, you've seen a complete seat change in how republicans are viewing donald trump. if you look at what happened in wisconsin, among those voters who said winning in november is the highest priority, 70% of them said donald trump was not the guy. there was a complete change in that and that's probably because of all the awful headlines over the last few weeks and i think the republicans are coming to a certain realization. the man had 35% of the vote in wisconsin. he's had 37% nationally. he's not gotten the majority of republicans in a single contest across the country now and there seems to be a coalescing of republicans saying this is just not what we want. >> now always insightful and great to speak with you, thank you very much, dana. let me bring in jeff, bernie sanders' campaign manager.

thank you so much for hustling to the phone to gettous. >> happy to do it. >> first off, was it a mistake for bernie sanders to say that hillary clinton was not qualified to be president of the united states, given, and i will play it in a second, that's not what she said on "morning joe" that she's been quoted saying that. >> you want me to comment on it? >> go ahead. >> like secretary clinton did, say something without saying it. and certainly, "the washington post" ran a story with the headline, hillary clinton questions bernie sanders' qualifications. you may remember on cnn and on wisconsin election night that the clinton campaign's new strategy against bernie sanders was to disqualify him, defeat him, and reunite the party later. the clinton campaign, the secretary engaged in a campaign to suggest he's not qualified in some way and i think it was completely appropriate. if that's the kind of campaign

they want to run, that senator sanders points out reasons why voters might view her as unqualified or disqualified to be president of the united states including her support of the war in iraq, her funding from major special interests including wall street and a host of other issues. >> at this point, the campaign is standing by what senator sanders said. now, regarding the report that you referenced where the idea was to disqualify him and then eventually unify the party, the clinton campaign is denying that report. do you buy what they are saying? >> no, i believe the cnn reporting over the clinton campaign. that's a question of voracity between jeff zelany. >> some ask if the sanders campaign reached a new low. he told our own kasie hunt in response to a request made by a family member of someone who died in sandy hook senator sanders should apologize saying

victims cannot sue gun manufacturers. he did not directly respond to that individual, instead said that hillary clinton should apologize for those who lost their lives in iraq. is that a fair response for senator sanders? >> the family members in the horrendous mass shootings, i have a kid myself. i cannot imagine the horror that they live with every single day of their lives. look, bernie sanders said repeatedly he wants to narrow the law they're concerned about. he's co-sponsoring legislation in the senate to do that, and as you know, has a d minus with the nra. a grade he's earned due to his years. >> why saying she should apologized? she said she regrets that vote. that was hashed out when she ran against barack obama in senate

at the time but did not report the war. why not give the answer you just laid out as opposed to saying, yeah, and i'm paraphrasing here, yes, do you have this issue with the sandy hook families, but what about this? >> look, secretary, it's easy to say after a useless wars that resulted in lost of american lives, iraqi lives, and american treasure. but, you know, the secretary really has not taken responsibility for the impact of that war. it's easy to say you're sorry for something many years later. >> has the campaign reached a new low as alleged by supporters of hillary clinton? >> look, tamron, bernie sanders has run an issue-oriented campaign from the beginning. he continues to do so and on television, that's what he would like to continue to do. let's be clear. the hillary campaign wants to engage in the negative attacking in his character and he'll not be punching back to the hillary

clinton campaign. they obviously, you know, i think it's more rough and tumble in new york and maybe someone from vermont can't sort of engage in that level of campaigning but believe me, we're fully prepared to go there if that's where they want to go. >> asked of the gop candidates, a laundry reasons why donald trump should not be the president. senator sanders laid out several reasons he believes hillary clinton is not qualified including money that's come in from wall street, super pacs, talking about trade as well and a number of things he named. would he be able to support her if she's the nominee based on what he now said she's not qualified to be the president? >> let's be cleared. he stands by and will support the democratic nominee, period. we respected the secretary. we do the same. bernie sanders were nominated by the democratic party. they had differences, obviously. the campaign, you know, sort of

sharpened their elbows. that's fine. we can play in that environment. but at the end of the day, when you look at the cast of characters on the other side, either bernie sanders or secretary clinton is far preferable to any of those people. >> stly, we're almost out of time, quickly, looking at the back and forth of the last 24 hours, is there a concern that this could damage the party overall for either candidate? >> i expressed that on television the other day that the clinton campaign's decision to go hard negative in new york against senator sanders could potentially hurt the party in november. we hope that they would stop those kind of tactics, but he's not going to be a punching bag. bernie sanders brought out millions of young people that would not ordinarily participate. secretary clinton wants to run the risk of turning all those people off to the process by engaging in sort of negative campaign tactics. i think that's a dangerous course. >> thank you so much for hustling to the phone. we want both sides, especially

with something as tense as the exchange that we've seen in the last 24 hours. thank you so much, jeff, we greatly appreciate it. >> happy to be here. anytime. sh . >> "andrea mitchell reports" is up next. >> "andrea mitchell rep up next. >> "andrea mitchell rep up next. and right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the subway series. hillary clinton has home field advantage. but bernie sanders came out swinging. >> are you qualified to be president of the united states when you're raising millions of dollars from wall street whose greed and illegal behavior helped destroy our economy.

>> don't make promises you can't keep, want to achieve and bring everybody together to get the results and that's what i'll do in new york and if so fortunate, as president. >> and street cred. democratic front-runner tries to prove she's no token new yorker, riding the fore train and swiping metro card and pounding pavement in the bronx. >> i love new york, and i am just thrilled to have the time to spend here and see my friends and people i've worked with. and looking forward to the primary. coming up, new york city mayor bill de blasio joining us live. and values voters. ted cruz tries to hold his own on donald trump's home turn. defending his comments about new york values. >> you know, it's easy to talk about making america great again. you could even print that on a baseball cap. >> we all know people that died and i've got this guy standing over there