there was nikki haley's address for the republican republican one. but the tea party republican one was given by a guy you've never heard of. his name is wayne allyn root. huh? wayne allyn root. i had to check twice to make sure that's the order of the words. but that is. wayne allyn root. if you want a sense of the schism in the republican party right now, the divide right down the middle of that party, this is a very clear way to show that because the official republican republican response to the state of the union was nikki haley saying don't vote for donald trump. the official republican tea party response to the state of the union was given by this guy wayne allyn root, who today debuted as a warm-up act and emcee for donald trump campaign rallies. >> i'm supporting donald j. trump because donald understands this isn't a picnic, this isn't a golf match with muffy at the country club, this isn't badminton, this is a war. you and i love trump because we know he'll go to washington and break it. he'll upset the apple cart. he'll derail the gravy t

registered republican. if you open dissipated in the democratic caucus, you have to be a registered democrat. you are allowed to reregister as late as caucus night. you can go in and say you would like to change your party registration to participate in the party caucus. so they are party operations. a lot of them agree registered to dissipate, and the vast majority did so to vote for ron paul, who there was a republican, but different kind of republican, much more libertarian. his son rand paul has not been able to duplicate that, this far at least, this time around. the caucuses are the process much more inclined to be party members are party supporters. that is why it is interesting to .ee will they track to influence republican caucus. host: as you process the candidates ground game and what you are hearing and seeing from your vantage point at drake university, what are you predicting in terms of turnout on caucus night? what story do you think we will be talking about the day after? tough.that is i al

i'm not a republican. because i am so appalled by corruption -- [inaudible] i always wanted to the main contributors are to each candidate so that i know who their puppet masters are because eventually the puppet masters wind up pulling the strings and running our country. so i kind of bend towards trump -- [inaudible] both republican and democrat and i found that this country -- [inaudible] it's going to be up to 30. $30 trillion. now you have lawyers -- [inaudible] politicians that have no concept of how to run a business. and i did this myself. whenever i delegate a job that has to be done on time and under budget, i picked the one employee who has the biggest ego because they always find time and they always get the job done and on budget. >> host: that's here in pennsylvania. let's hear from anthony in georgia, independent line. >> caller: good morning. i just wanted to chime in here for those who are more libertarian minded like myself. neither the establishment nor the outsiders are really looking a

and republicans had 21 governors. since that time 31 republican governors big majority in the house, majority in the senate, his policies have been rejected by the american people but he doesn't want to hear that. >> dickerson: gun control question, donald trump has suggested getting rid of gun free zones in schools and military bases would you agree with that? >> i think for the military, i've said this before for attacks earlier in tennessee. that it seems ridiculous that military folks can carry a weapon with them. they're trained to do it. the best trained people. our military folks being able to carry weapons in those circumstances. on the gun free school zones they should be able to look on its own. >> dickerson: your record on assault weapons. when we last talked you said that originally you wanted to keep an assault weapons ban, those who wanted to get rid of it. in 2009 you were still supporter of the assault weapons ban that was after you'd been a prosecutor. >> what i said at the time that i was not interes

, republican that. there is a thread there. which is, at this point if this gets to be a real problem, the elephant in the room for hillary clinton, everywhere she goes remains possible she could be indicted for a crime of a very serious nature. >> we're going to get to that. >> no matter what she does, that puts a stink on it. >> it's a pig pen in the peanuts, like, still there. and you're coming back in a little bit. in the meantime, mrs. clinton not only ran against bernie sanders but unloaded a couple times on those guys on the other side of the aisle, those republicans. >> we've got to do everything we cannot to let the republicans rip away the progress. >> karl rove is with us tonight. if you saw this, you could have thought she's looking forward to working with them cooperatively to get things done. >> yes. sort of inconsistent. look. that was a side show. the main focus of her comments was continuity. i'm going to build on the legacy of barack obama. she wrapped herself as close as she could to

time is running out if republicans want to launch a stop movement. some are saying if we want to stop, we should remain on our own. >> he is the front runner and remains that way for the past seven or eight months. >> there is nothing stopping had him. >> will romney endorse a candidate and will that be beneficial or counter productive? >> he has spent the last few weeks and months calling around to aids. he has been expressing growing frustration about druchl's lead in the polls. romney has long belief he would stumble earlier and go down. that hasn't happened. he is concerned about the impact he is having on the party's brand. romney hasn't endorsed a candidate in this race. it is unclear if he is doing so but paying close attention to the political landscape. he is keeping close eye on house races. his friend paul ryan is now house speaker. romney is coming in march to host the congressional dinner. >> reporter for politico, thank you for being with us. >> joining us to talk about the president's executive action on guns is paul singer. what is th

then a choice between a dark republican party or a native republican party. or somebody who wants to open up the company. somebody who said yesterday's candidate wants to take us back to yesterday. you would have a generational -- the video you showed of the clinton rally i thought was so powerful. i thought that rally looked old. it felt old. it felt lifeless. bernie sanders, i agree with matthew. >> we're talking about trump's chances. i think a lot of -- look back, we're going to look back at this one and, again, see a media malpractice. that led our media to give him obsessive coverage, click, ratings, and -- look at tissue he's a right wing -- >> there's no question he is leading. here's the question i have. i have interviewed him 20 times since june. he's been asked every single tough question. he's had every single attack come at him. he's done things that would drive other candidates out of the race, in a heart beat, but it hasn't happened to him. why? >> if you want to -- we talk about bernie sanders out of sync with the majority. which i believe he'

texas republican champ had wanted to bring to this week's republican national committee meeting in south carolina a rule change to take away new hampshire's primary. ted cruz the texas senator who is a good friend of the republican chairman talked him into withdrawing that proposal at this time. and has said it's preposterous to talk about changing new hampshire's primary status. as bill, the longtime secretary of state, the longest serving state election official in the country, has said this is the first time he set the primary date in february 9th, of course this is the first time he hasn't had to break either democratic or republican primary rules in setting the date. despite a lot of the unrest we've heard from harry reid, republican s, the national chairman about sake red cows and getting rid of the new hampshires. there's been no threat to the first primary from another state in this cycle. that is unique but there isn't any question that after this e lecks they will be moved in both political parties to try and dilute new hampshire's influence. as we're seen time and time again.

here's a united states senator, republican, doesn't have support of one other republican senator. there's something wrong there. and i can tell you, they like me, those guys. and there's nothing wrong with that, folks. i told you, he's trying to paint me as part of the establishment. and somebody said establishment? well, how commissary ra palin just backed him? and you know what, there's a point at which, let's get to be a little establishment. we have to get things done, folks, okay? believe me, don't worry, we're going to make such great deals. but at a certain point, you can't be so strie gent. we've got to get along with people. >> and here's ted cruz's updated stump speech in new hampshire today where he has magically transformed donald trump into now the leader of the republican establishment. >> donald just a couple of days ago drew the difference between me and him. and he said look, ted won't go along to get along. he won't cut a deal. so if as a voter you think what we need is more republicans in washington to cut a deal with harry reid and nancy pelosi and chuck schume

on the republican side, republicans rely less on younger voters. younger voters make up a smaller portion of the republican primary and caucus electorates. we're talking about iowa and new hampshire, you're seeing some candidates say, hey, it's time for new leadership. marco rubio, for example, is one of the candidates in the republican -- fernando: well, i want to ask you about that, because he's made that argument in a very clear way. yet, he has, at least seemingly, very little traction in the polling. what do you think is the disconnect there? because younger voters make up a very small portion of the republican primary electorate, that's not an argument right now that's well-served for him, when it comes to taking down ted cruz and donald trump. but once they move to a general election, and it comes to facing the democratic nominee, cutting into the advantage that barack obama has had in the past two elections among younger voters is going to be essential for the republicans if they're going to compete in the general election. fernando: what w

i guess we should be expecting the unexpected now, but to have nicky haily, the republican, the republican response to the state of the union actually take a shot at the front-runner, and accuse him of being divisive. what could have been more divisive that she could possibly have said. >> she put little stink on it. she did not do diatribe against trump. she's allowed to not like donald trump, right? lou: of course, when she speaks for the party, i suppose her personal opinions respect the views and opinions of the party, that would be a new form of politics that only stirewalt knows. >> nikki haley is a valuable commodity for the republican party. lou: she's a terrific governor. >> successful governor of an important state. she's a woman. she is a mom. she is indian american, daughter of immigrants, she has a great story to tell. that's of value to the republican party. does absolute decorum demand that she take no swipe at donald trump? yes. you are absolutely right. absolute decorum would demand she not say anything about fellow republicans. lou: push decorum and good manners and judgm

it was the heartland republicans. by the time the eisenhower administration was over, by the '50s, the midwestern heartland republicans were looking to take the party back. >> goldwater, jr.: there were a lot of people that wanted him to run, and there was really nobody else that he could pass that off to. and the reason he ran was because he didn't want to let these people down, knowing he probably wasn't going to win. >> gold: it was goldwater who first said and knew he was not going to win the election because he said, the country will not take three presidents in over a period of two years. it was too much of a shock. >> man: don't look now, young man, but somebody has his hand in your pocket. it's the hand of big government. it's taking away about four months' pay from what your daddy earns every year. $1 out of every $3 in his paycheck, and it's taking the security out of your grandmother's social security. >> you know, that's the great trouble with big inflationary government. it takes more and more of your ear

smart for republican party to talk aboutivity. when they're trying to undo food stamp program all these other things that happens every time they talk about that. but i think you're right. by everything washington based republicans, congress, working on these things. either thehe can find way to score points or at least working on policy decisions while trump is running around the country. >> what's so interesting about this year is that mrs. clinton, on the democratic side, mrs. clinton is the establishment. leader on the republican side is rebuke to the establishment. the establishment using this sloppily in a broadway, is going to have to figure out what to do about this. do we just roll with this? suppose trump brings lot of independence and democrats in virginia. some of the republican party is in the position of happily letting new people in except they don't like the guy that are coming in. it's reallyy- it's complicated and strange year. >> dickerson: one more complexity, charles is quoted as saying the things i'm passiona

please come back. >>> up next, the great debate among the republican party or between the republicans, has donald trump destroyed the gop or fired up the republican voters' base? ann coulter and liz mayer will debate the trump effect coming up next. >>> donald as the gift of self-promoter went out there and pitched this as i got the project done that the new york city government couldn't get done. >> you see the same instinct coming out now that you did with the rink with trump being frustrated how inept and useless government is and jumping in saying i'm going to fix this. >>> welcome back to "hardball." that was ann coulter in my documentary "citizen trump" talking about donald trump's first foray into politics in new york city in the 1980s. trump is bucking the party's establishment and channeling the outrage republican voters have felt for a long time. to his detractors, trump represents the end of the republican party as we know it. in his column last week, former bush speech writer michael gersson said trump would deface the gop beyond recognition. liz mayer runs the anti-trump

for republicans, a vote is about. anywhere you can get a republican vote is valuable to you. there are vote rich republican parts of the state especially the west and northwest in particular. but the more urban areas like des moines and cedar rapids and davenport are places with plenty dates andican candi campaigns tend to be relatively broad unless they have a specific strategy where they go after a specific order who can be identified in a particular part of the state. it is a little different. the delegates i mentioned that they were elected precincts are preset. that is the number of delegates preset the caste based on the democrats voting strength in the prior general election, not based on how many show up. this is true for republicans as well that does not have the same impact because they report the vote count. the democratic party will not report the vote count. they will report delegate count. what that means is you could have massive turnout in a precinct in iowa city if you are bernie sanders. that will increase the number of delegates elected from a precinct. in

on the republican side, republicans rely less on younger voters. younger voters make up a smaller portion of the republican primary and caucus electorates. we' re talking about iowa and new you' say, hey, it' s time for new leadership. marco rubio, for example, is one of the candidates in the republican -- fernando: well, i want to ask you about that, because he' s made that argument in a very clear way. yet, he has, at least seemingly, very little traction in the polling. what do you think is the disconnect there? steve: well, look, i think that because younger voters make up a very small portion of the that' s not an argument right now that' it comes to taking down ted cruz and donald trump. but once they move to a general election, and it comes to facing the democratic nominee, cutting into the advantage that barack obama has had in the past two elections among younger voters is going to be essential for the republicans if they' re going to compete in the general election. fernando: what would be that argument that would convince millennial vote

i voted for republican. straight republican every year. but let me tell you this. back inflaming liberal the 70's and i did vote for jimmy carter -- i am embarrassed to say that. when reagan ram, i was a true believer in him. i learned quickly who was for business and who wasn't. because my second husband and i started a business in 1976. don't forget ronald reagan was a democrat's are you weren't alone. at what point did you say donald trump was your canada? what point did you decide he was your candidate? caller: the first week he talked. he makes good sense. thank you. host: thank you. to that caller, can you assess what may happen? guest: you know, i hear it a lot. i think a lot of people who are going towards donald trump feel like we have been starved of an actual leader and we haven't had true leadership. people see a leader in him. they look at the way our college has been messed with. we see people with their hands on their heads captured by iranians and they know if we have a real leader, it would happen. that is the pickup that i have. donald trump is le

but news flash donald trump is still the republican frontrunner and could be the republican nominee. you talk about sort of the appeal the working class people. this is different. this is raw politics. >> no, i want the republican party and the conserative party to talk about values for real. this is all bigger part of a values conversation. president obama, unfortunately, has been critiquing and using the new testament to make demock to republicans saying we don't care about widows and or fans lately. on immigration he said we need to have concern for -- he quotes hebrew scripture. i wish he would invoke the entire -- >> you are so already in congress. you just took my question and took it in the exact direction you wanted. >> good. >> it's not a bad thing. -- >> do you think -- >> there it is again. >> donna just helped me donna j. president obama and the democrats are willing to invoke the judeo-christian tradition to invoke the power of the federal government. a great new movie on exodus, i don't think moses was best buddies with pharaoh and i don't think jesus was best buddies w

with the republican issues conference and there is a bit of a divide with strategy republicans control the house and the senate. very energized to say this is what we will do this is the policy agenda. we just '01 to repeal obamacare it is a replacement on tax reforme and trade and health care reform replacement.mitcg to mitch mcconnell doesn't want a lot of them going off ahead of the elections and he is happy to repeal obamacare. ed to come up with a lot of money with medicare and medicaid. we don't want to take those votes ahead in november. you can see this as the year evolves with the strategy to. >> host: if you have questions we will have democrats and republicans and independents.sion is there the eternal struggle? or is a a lopsided one where the other? >> we ask the question if he is unelectable with a socialist democrats too far left and out of the mainstream, he believes pretty much everything nancy pelosi and harry reid have that same agenda if he is unelectable then what is yours?but but the campaign to have that policycytr differences butw he gaveou sanders a truthhe ser

of candidates but on in the republicans? >> disconnect between many of the republicans in washington and the grass roots. i lectured my fellow congressmen and senator until 3:00 in the morning saying drive outside the beltway you'll find that no republican really wants us to raise the debt ceiling without significant budgetary reform. we did the opposite. we raised the debt ceiling unspecified amount and we gave up on the budgetary caps. not one republican outside the beltway supports that. that's real disconnect if you see republican leadership working with president obama to raise the budget caps. but it's because some on the right want more military spending or more welfare spending they both get together we raise both. as consequence we have $19 trillion debt. >> dickerson: way to fix that, that disconnect this you're bad? >> term limits. really needs to be more turn over in office if you had that all of a sudden people would be more enthused, i think that's why the republican electorate is they're tired base you cannily

they have become fairly reliable republicans for cultural republicans and charlie pierce, here comes donald trump who is going we're going to build a wall, keep immigrants out, negotiate tougher trade deals. whatever you want you white republican voter who hates the establishment. they still can't make sense of the gap he is exploiting. >> yeah. i'm a little bit alarmed. there seems to be a creeping element of coherence to the trump message all of a sudden. used to be it was throwing out any idea that came to his head. the mental radio of donald trump has been on scan for a while and finally found station. it has wrong footed everyone he's running against. i'm old enough to remember when there was a republican consensus on things like medicare and social security. it was called the 1950s and '60s before the republican party moved south and west and the conservative movement took over and blew up those consensus. it's possible that one might come back that the consensus might be reestablished. i agree with michael in the sense i don't think donald trump is in it for that particular re

on what used to be a hot button issue that divided republicans and immigrants. -- republicans and democrats. you're not just any republican. you tend to be a little to the right. i don't know if there is anybody further to the right in the senate. mike lee: the rush to increase mandatory minimums was a bipartisan rush. it was in the bill clinton 1994 crime bill. the congressional black caucus was on board with a lot of the changes that brought up the incarceration rate 800%. this is something that happened because we were all participating in it. with obvious exceptions. senator lee was working on this far before i came into the senate, with an attitude that -- not many people have. he was a prosecutor that witnessed many of the cases. he brought authenticity. by the time i joined the senate, some of my earliest conversations were with him to really join that emerging group in the senate, extraordinarily, which was a conference of -- comprehensive criminal justice bill, some of which the core pillars are things he advocated for for years. >> republicans for years would run against democrats

it sounds to me like, doesn't necessarily mean that the republican party doesn't -- and the republican establishment doesn't have an interest in going after donald trump. but given that that's his appeal, the absolute wrong way to criticize him is by saying he's intemperate or an inappropriate personality. that will help him. that won't hurt him, because that's part of what people like about him. >> that's part of what people like about him. but then not just saying what you said, but taking the actions, as we -- as you reported several weeks ago, a few -- actually, last month in december, the secret meeting in washington between the leadership and mcconnell and others talking about what to do about donald trump. well, the answer to that is nothing. let the primary voters work this out on their own. they haven't cast a vote yet. so we still don't know exactly whether the numbers we're saying right now, rachel, will translate into turnout, into votes and caucuses, et cetera. that's to come. but every day there's more and more attempts by those who don't want trump in the lead here to ta

and no other republican republican is going to be winning. the people in this country are amazing. they're amazing. they're really smart. they really know what's happening. >> and as for cruz, not one republican senator has endorsed him. now presidential candidates mitt romney and john mccain, neither of whom were born in the u.s., got a senate resolution to announce their eligibility for them to run for president. yet mitch mcconnell has refused to bring such an action for ted cruz also not born in the u.s. so the establishment doesn't want their own two lead candidates to win. this person not conservative enough for you, and this person not republican enough for you, and this person doesn't have real values. now let me ask you something. do you think that the establishment -- whoever they are -- even cares about you? do they think you even like you? folks, this is the one hand washes the other washington two-step. might the establishment be looking to maintain its status quo, keep their donors and lobbyists happy while they feather their ow

then a choice between a dark republican party or a native republican party. or somebody who want tots open up the party. you woumd ld have a generational -- i thought that rally looked old. it felt old. it felt lifeless. bernie sanders, i agree with matthew. >> we're talking about trump's chances. i think a lot of -- look back, we're going look back at this one and again see media mall practice that led our media to give him obsessive coverage, tissue he's a right wing -- >> there's though question he is leading. here's the question i have. i have interviewed him 0 times since june. he's been asked every single tough question. he's had every single attack come at him. he's done things that would drive other candidates out of the race, in a heart beat, but it hasn't happened to him. why? >> if you want to -- we talk and bernie sanders out of sync with the majority. donald trump is in sync with right wing populism. the other day, he said medicare should negotiate with drug companies. but his attacks on muslims and immigrants. he's tough on immigrants. >> but it

with me republican strategist and chairman of the republican political organization go pack, david aivela. before we get into the winners and losers what is your opinion of nikki haley's state of the union response? >> judge, i think democrats do back flips err are i time we try to make mountains out of mole hills. i listen to your opening statement and i sdracratch my h. four of her first paragraphs talk about the deficiencies of president obama's administration. the majority of her speech talks about what republican beliefs were and what they would swanked stand up for. >> she goes on "the today show" she said my comments were trump he's one of the ang iest voices republicans are just as responsible for the mess we are on. s stop being so parting it is if about all of us succeeding not one person or another. she has the bully pulpit and she is trashing the leading contender. why? >> look, you picked one sentence and she talked about it more the next day. at the beginning of heifer speech she talked about the fact that republicans must take our fair share of the blame as what is happenin

it is a burning issue in republican party circles and republican voters around the country but i don't think i dok anybody is having a serious conversation about that issue being made, either you giver people a clear path to citizenship or they live in the shadows. none of the republican candidates most likely to win a nomination are seriously finding a nuanced position between the two. it's all let's get them out of here and be done with that when it's not practical politics. >> lennie mcallister, help me understand, when you go to iowa, a lot of the work that gets done day to day in the fields in the stores in the restaurants working on trucks and grain elevators, is being done by people born in other places of the world. >> well there's a difference between being here legally and illegally. number one, the difference between having somebody work for you and everybody benefits from it versus some of the rhetoric that's out there which includes they're taking up our resources or schools or health care system, when you get to candidate rhetoric, you move away from presidential rhetoric

that's republican line. -- republican line. caller: the one highlight of his legacy is getting bin laden. i give him credit for that. economy is doing wonderful in new york and d.c. the jobs being created are not jobs people can survive on. i hope republicans and independents go to the polls. trump as thenald nominee. host: charles in baton rouge, louisiana. democrats line. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. we're very excited to welcome the president to baton rouge on thursday. i'm extremely proud of the president for his work on health care and for confronting the nra on gun violence. let me touch on health care again. if we don't do something about providers not accepting medicaid patients, we will end up with a segregated health system. we will have to combat that. one last point i want to make. we understand you are the party of fear and fright. democrats and independents will not be scared into voting for four more years of war rhetoric and wasting $7 trillion like we did in afghanistan and iraq. host: the wall

donald trump's numbers with republicans were terrible before he got in the republican race. he's a very talented brander who is good at changing the perception of him and changing the way voters think about him. he's got republicans to forgive him for so many things. this is a guy who was avidly pro-choice. >> they're running an ad in iowa which is dominated by evangelicals of him saying i'm very pro-choice over and over. >> it doesn't mean to matter. he used to be for a 13% wealth tax. his old positions are a litany. >> the issues aren't what's driving -- >> he was also for amnesty. >> the issues aren't what is driving who he is playing to now. when he expands out past that. >> it's not just republicans who can be appealed to on nebulous feelings stuff. >> the voters base doesn't necessarily think ted cruz is that odious. >> it's the people in the establishment who despise them. thank you both. >> thank you. >>> still ahead, we'll have continuing coverage of this donald trump event. we'll tell you what happened the last time trump held a fund-raiser for veterans. bernie san

that's the problem i think the republicans have. >> republicans have to figure out who and what they want to be when they grow up. >> and what they stand for. >> i got to say tidbit in "the new york times" i guess you knew this had to be coming. michael bloomberg, billionaire former mayor of new york, here thinking of the possibility that donald trump could be the republican nominee. hillary clinton the democratic nominee has done some polling i'm told that polling shows a legitimate three-way race. do you think -- >> please god. please god. yes but mayor bloomberg shall >> out it in a sports metaphor. [ laughter ] >> you got me. you got me. >> i think that the opportunity -- if ted cruz or donald trump are the republican nominee and hillary clinton is the democratic nominee you'll have the most unelectable candidates competing against each other. it creates a lane for a third party. i don't know that a billionai billionaire -- >> our puzzling. >> lyndon johnson. >> first was harry truman. >>> up next two of america's top economists look forward >> announcer: catch this week all line

that apt ted cruz. republican party. a different republican party. a great contrast with hillary clinton and a democratic party and trap it in amber. if this is a trump-rubio race, tissue. >> that's the future. it masks regressive old ideas. >> he wants to open the economy. democrats want to keep it close. >> the only thing we don't know, donald trump has not -- he's left marco rubio alone. he left ted cruz alone zplp he decided to leave him alone again. >> he left ted cruz alone until last three weeks inspect the last three weeks, donald trump has system atically taken down ted cruz in iowa. >> he peaked too soon. at 31 pgt in december, he's going down. there are three tickets. an old cliche. three tickets out of a iowa on the reason side. donald trump has his own plane. ted cruz will likely come out. marco rubio will likely become the establishment ment and then 50% are chosen in march. >> will the others drop out? >> tlths not much reason to unless they want a cabinet post in say a trump administration. which some might. as you do, republicans are

wasn't that striking to hear the governor of south carolina, a republican, really going after the republican front-runner in south carolina? one of the earl i ly voting sta. it got negative reception from the far right, especially on social media. they were hitting nikki haley hard for going that. that made it all the more striking. it tells you a little bit more about where the heads of republican leaders on capitol hill are at. mitch mcconnell and paul ryan were the ones who invited nikki haley. they knew what she was going to say, and here she is releasing this sort of attack on the republican presidential front runner. it was a fascinating moment. >> it was the establishment strikes back in a way. erik for us in iowa. we'll talk to you more in the coming minutes. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for staying up with us. >> hillary clinton launching new attacks against sanders as his support soars in a new national pole. the race for president intensifi intensifies. that's next. >> hillary clinton's lead is slipping nationally. a poll just out shows clinton seven points ahead of sanders

sanders: this is a man who, in a republican debate, and what a show those republican debates are, after insulting everyone on the stage and half of america came up with the conclusion that wages in america are too high. this is a man who thinks that we should give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the families of the top .2%. this is the man when, at a time when virtually the entire scientific community is telling us that climate change is real, caused by human activity and is already doing devastating harm, this is a man who tells us that climate change is a hoax invented by the chinese. [booing] sen. sanders: i was shocked by that remark, because i thought a great scientist like donald trump would at least have been consistent and told us the hoax of climate change was caused by mexicans. [laughter] sen. sanders: or muslims. but the chinese? [laughter] sen. sanders: this republican party, and i speak to you as a ranking member, a leader of the democrats on the senate budget committee. this is a political party in the senate that voted to throw 27 million people off our

the republican response. governor haley is not calling it that, because, well, she says she's giving her own address, it's not a response to anything. political analysts call her a rising star in the republican party and a potential vice president candidate. according to a recent polling, her approval rating among south carolina voters is 56%. governor haley says she doesn't plan to compete with president obama tonight. she says she will talk about challenges and solutions for her state and the country. the national political reporter for the "boston globe" is here. what does governor haley do? >> to not be thirsty when she shows up. she needs to stand up and give the kind of speech she's been giving in south carolina. she has this reputation of being a young, charismatic governor who has every right to be on that list of rising stars. the way she handled the shooting in south carolina i think was really stunning. i mean, and she walked into the national prominence there for -- on her merits. i think if she c

this incredible republican campaign is down to the wire. for the first time last night, both front-runners spent the night in iowa. ted cruz this morning, taking the day off before he finishes visiting all # 9 counties. donald trump is headed to church, but the top talker here, how personal and negative this fight has been. trump overnight said he would not vote for cruz if he wins. donald trump began running his first negative tv ad hitting cruz. cruz is fighting back. >> if donald trump wins it's going to be a snowball to hell. >> i was at that rally, martha, the cruz's case against trump is getting sharper, it's electrifying his sporters. day, but the big question here is, will those huge crowds for trump actually turn out to caucus? his iowa operation of course has been untraditional. the underdog, marco rubio getting endorsed this morning by the des moines register. rubio trails in the polls here. worth noting in every election in the last 20 years, the register has endorsed the republican candidate who went on to win the nomination. m

it won't be republican votes. it not going to hurt the republicans and besides, what will the laws tell you? who runs those debates? the republicans and democrats. if you can't get into the president debates how does the message get out? thank goodness for the inter-nate because we're able to get our message out. >> and thank goodness for cable television. >> i agree. >> thanks for coming on, sir. appreciate it. >>> next, who, what, where, why, today's headlines including why meteorologists are tracking an atlantic hurricane in january. ibs-d. you know the symptoms when they start. abdominal pain. urgent diarrhea. now there's prescription xifaxan. xifaxan is a new ibs-d treatment that helps relieve your diarrhea and abdominal pain symptoms. and xifaxan works differently. it's a prescription antibiotic that acts mainly in the digestive tract. do not use xifaxan if you have a history of sensitivity to rifaximin, rifamycin antibiotic agents, or any components of xifaxan. tell your doctor right away if your diarrhea w

only marco rubio does better with republican women than he does with republican men. as you look at those numbers, donald trump has been criticized by some for not being a true conservative. but there you have it in that nbc poll. he's leading among very conservative republican voters. >> ted cruz has chosen not to try to take on donald trump. in fact it's not just the clintons also most of the folks on the republican side afraid to take him on. he doesn't look like the normal ideological adversary. they've run out of time. the cruz strategy was just wait, let trump fade and absorb all his supporters. that may not be working out. if ted cruz doesn't win iowa the question is what does he do next. to joe's question, the last 40 years trump's m.o., i read "art of the deal" and if you're a card carrying member of the republican establishment and have not read it you need to pick up a copy today. trump has been laying out this strategy, you create conflict, draw attention through conflict, dream big, exaggerate, entertain and the populism is woven throughout this. this is

i got along with conservatives and republicans. i happen to be a republican. but when you're a businessman you have to get along with everybody. you can't just say, i'm going to get along with a small group because you won't be able to function that way. i get along. worldwide. i get along with everybody. >> ted cruz is saying a vote for trump is a vote for obamacare. saying in the last few months, you're for single payer government-run health insurance. on that obamacare issue, right there, he's saying, because you want the government to pay for everyone to have health care, sthat just like obamacare? >> look, ted cruz is a total liar. i'm so against obamacare. i've been saying it for two years. i'm going the repeal and replace obamacare. i don't know where he gets this. he didn't put down on his financial disclosure forms that he borrowed money from banks at lower than you or anybody can get. he's got favorable deals from the banks on wall street. he never put it down. ted is a liar. this is why nobody likes him. this is why he doesn't have one endorsement f

republicans see it as a two-front win for them. there's few things that anger republican voters than the use of executive action. there's a lot of concern among republican voters about any actions that could limit their access to guns. but republicans also need to be looking ahead to the general election and when you look at polls, there's overwhelming public support for expanding background checks which is the action we expect obama to take. >>> an early state of the union this year the president will be active. >> i was in new hampshire with permission raided mailbox of friends and family up there. we spend a lot of time talking about tv ad and digital ads that groups are airi ing but they ar sending snail mail. this is one that is supporting marco rubio. you notice senator tom cotton is up here with legislation. the other group is sending a the lot of mail. right to rise usa which is a group supporting jeb bush. they sent seven mailers like this. they leave door tags or car tags, even, if you go to a bush event. neither of the g

what is going to unite republicans is republicans know our country can't stand four more years of what barack obama has been doing and republicans believe hillary clinton or bernie sanders either one will be a third term barack obama or worse because they're running to the left of his record if you can believe that. >> here is a sugar plum for you, governor. i have been asking this of debbie wassermann schultz and candidates like hillary clinton herself. nobody will give me the answer on the center left or left side. what is the difference in your schooling politically between a democrat and a socialist? >> there was a day, chris, when that was clear. when i got to know you and you worked for speaker o'neil and i worked for president reagan there was a huge difference. today i can't tell you the difference. and here is the number -- number two and surging candidate for the democratic nomination is a self-proclaimed socialist and she gaining ground every day and the person we thought was going to be crowned the democratic nominee is running towards socialism as fast as her feet will tak

over the course of the next year. >> hugh hewitt, you're tapped into the republican base, the republican primary voters. they're listeners of yours, as well. how does an issue like this get traction? there isn't one single legal scholar in america who believes this is an open question. ted cruz is qualified but i am reminded when i was a lad there was a series of three fights between joe frazier and muhammad ali, and they were epic battles and i think iowa, new hampshire and south carolina between ted cruz and donald trump are going to be that kind of slugfest, and on the other side there's who's got the george foreman lane? someone will emerge on the other side but those two will clobber each -- >> you brought back memories listening to those fights on my transistor radio on my pillow. meanwhile, hugh heweitt talks about this epic battle right now. donna brazile, you see donald trump at the top of these polls especially in new hampshire holding so strong. >> i mean, no one is a bigger birther than donald trump. i mean, he did it with president obama and now he's doing it to ted cruz and