. >> this is the beginning of the end for donald trump. >> the beginning of the end for donald trump. i will eat my right hand is the republican nominee. mark: happy 2016. the countdown is over and i was has begun. this month, you can expect major speeches. what matters more than anything else is which candidate has the strongest closing argument. we saw three candidates make their bed today. >> on donald trump and i approve this message. donald trump called it radical islamic terrorism. he is calling for a shutdown of muslims entering the united states until we can figure out what's going on. he will stop illegal immigration by building a wall. we will make america great again. mark: in new hampshire to top candidates put forward their own closing cases. >> i won in one of the toughest places in america. i know better than anyone how to prosecute. >> we need a commander in chief. which of these three arguments you think is the strongest? it's only the 1st avenue year. trump is the strongest closing argument. it brooks no quarter. he said two phases to his campaign, one stop illegal i

trump is up 1%. a long-awaited development in the race between trump and cruise has occurred. until now, he has held his tongue when it comes to donald trump, but that detente is over as john predicted it would be,. here is the back-and-forth between the top gop rivals in the last 24 hours. >> what is he getting at there? >> i think he may shift in his new rallies to playing "new york, new york." he embodies new york values. the donald seems to be rattled. >> when you are a citizen of canada and you were born in canada, there's a question. a lot of people say, you have to be born of the land, meaning on the land, and i have read numerous articles -- not only professor laurence tribe of harvard -- there was a big article in "the washington post" from a different group of lawyers. >> i will note that mr. trump is relying on ultraleft wing liberal law professors at harvard to make this argument, and the same professors he is relying on are major supporters for hillary clinton. >> i do like ted cruz, but not a lot of evangelicals come out of cuba. >> anytime someone starts attacki

trump has kept his word. he is not going to go after on the eligibility, rick, it was the cruz campaign that went after donald trump in a tweet that started this0fñ+: whole discussion. y, mr. trump is definitely going to fight back if you come after him. >> go ahead, rick. do you want to respond to it? >> yeah. look, donald trump, for most of his had life, has been a liberal progressive views that are based on new york values. those are not my words those are his words from a meet nothing has changed other than he wants to be the republican nominee for president. he is not a conservative. he is not reliable. he is not dependable. we don't know what he would do. and in washington the art of the deal is a euphemism for you are going to get screwed. >> we have to leave it there and rick. next on the rundown, brand new polling and what it really says about the race for the white house. we'll be right back with that. to cover by sundown. we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. yeah, i was ok,

. >> i'm not endorsing trump. this is not a defense of donald trump, lawrence. >> i'm glad you clarified that. chris hayes is up next. >>> trump and sanders, could both win? let's play hardball. >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews. what could be the wildest week in moerp american politics. could it be that voters, real people heading to a cold night in iowa will give victory to the twin candidates of historic change. donald trump promises to make america again. bernie sanders will stay here to the last year of his presidency. could iowa choose both? could the two names loom in the headlines of the tuesday morning newspapers? could this be the start of something big in america, or something the latest tectonic ship of the country's reasonably centrist politics? here's where the race stands on the republican side. according to the latest poll out of iowa, trump leads by 11 points. trump is up 11 points since earlier this month. cruz is down four. trump continues to lead big in new hampshire. 31% there compared to c

so trump 2016! >> you know what, i'm actually changing my mind again because trump is like the joker-- pure chaos. at least, you know, cruz is focused and methodical. >> so cruz is more like buffalo bill from "silence of the lambs." oh, yeah. plus he's know cruz tucks his penis between his legs. i'm going to change back. i say trump 2016. >> trevor: i'm sorry, guys, you're all over the place. sohasan you would put donald jumped trump in charge of the u.s. military. >> no i wouldn't trust trump with sharp objects. if he came over my house for steak, i would make him use a spoon. >> trevor: hasan, that's unrealistic. he wouldn't come to your house because he hates prown people. >> trump's right-- brown people make terrible steaks. >> trevor: jordan, jordan, that's not the point. >> i thinkings that the point. >> trevor: where do you get that stereotype. >> stereotypes come from some place. >> that's not the point. >> i make great steaks. i make amazing steaks. >> trevor: guys, please, just answer the

trump. >> so trump says he didn't play golf with him. jackson says he did. >> i think i would remember. >> right. >> the evidence is actually that they did play golf and trump is saying, i remember him. he has a terrible swing. unathletic golf swing. >> this is the problem with tweeting. if you say you didn't play golf, then say you did. now i remember. so you have to be careful. >> that's true. >> i told trump that a million times. you have to be careful before you tweet. think about it. >> now trump is saying, let's play golf for charity. and we haven't heard anything from samuel l. >> i think sam should do that. >> the ball is in his court. >> that's a hundred bucks to wounded warriors. i'm really going like that -- >> can't afford it. >> i can tell by the tie you're wearing tonight. >> all right. there is jesse watters everybody. cnbc taking a big hit in the republican debate. remember that? guess who benefitted. fox business channel. the tip, moments away. the flu virus hits big. with aches, chills, and fever, there's no such thing

trump. carl? >> reporter: it is unprecedented for a front running candidate in either party to suggest they will be a no-show at a debate four days before the nation's first of the caucuses, is something no one could have imagined prior to donald trump's candidacy. he held a news conference today in iowa before a rally, and mr. trump gathered the press where the audience was waiting, and he initially suggested that he might not appear in the debate. but first, let's listen to what he said to the news conference initially. >> most likely i won't be doing the debate. see, the point is, with me, they're dealing with somebody that is a little bit different. they can't toy with me like they toy with everybody else. so let them have their debate and let's see how they do with the ratings. >> reporter: so it sounded like he was clear that he wasn't going to go but it wasn't a sealed deal. within a matter of moments, mr. trump's senior staff, his campaign manager told me that the boss, in their words, had

donald trump. >> a major business magazine came out with a story, "everything he touches turns to gold." and i started to believe that myself. coming back on my long-term control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid

[chanting] trump!p! trump! mr. trump: it is too crazy. rallies.otests at my we have thousands of people outside trying to get in. we set up cameras, screens, everything. -- i love theu protesters in the big arenas because the cameras never move. they are always on my face. honey, standife -- up. she has to suffer through this. [applause] home -- ando, i go it is always on. it is not like the other politicians -- nobody covering them. i said, how did i do? she said, you are great. how many people were there? 21,000. in alabama, we had 35,000 people. by the way, we get bigger crowds by far. much bigger than bernie. though he is second. we get the biggest crowds. she said, they never show the crowd. i realized, they never turned the camera. i said, i figured maybe they are fixed. they cannot turn around. the only way you find out they are not fixed, they are like pretzels, is when you have a protester. you can have a protester up at the top, and they turn. but they do not want to show a crowd. we have a rich guy from new york who has become

. >> tonight, donald trump was forced to endure listening to a trump-like incoherent political speech. and this one was from one of america politic's biggest loser, and certainly the biggest quitter. >> can i get a hallelujah? >> i've never been a huge fan of endorsements. >> thank you so much, it's so great to be in iowa. >> i'm a big fan of sarah palin. >> the triumph of of reality television. >> you betcha. >> palin was a cruz gal before she was a trump gal. >> heads are spinning. media heads are spinning. >> you'll see more of these odd ball endorsements. >> he picked up the endorsement of john wayne's family. >> i love john wayne. >> this is fun for trump, and people can tell. >> people are talking about his temperament. >> like two tarantulas in a bowl in iowa. >> it's no surprise the establishment is in full panic mode. >> i would believe it would be a big mistake for iowa to support him. >> our next president of the united states donald j. tufrp. >> ask yourself this, what would you do the day after your 26-year-old son who lives at home with you is arrested in your home after

trump. "the weekly standard" says that you and the superpac that supports you bears some of the blame for the rise of donald trump. saying right to rise like an all-pro right guard helped clear a path for trump by blocking several of his would-be tacklers in particular marco rubio. with each passing day, it becomes more and more likely that the lasting legacy of jeb bush's 2016 presidential will be its prom note role in making donald trump the nominee and contributing to the crisis of conservatism that will follow. >> hey, martha, i'm the only guy taking on trump on. he's a conservative and, my life commitment to the conservative cause is going to be validated by having a guy be our nominee who's not a conservative. who doesn't believe in a hopeful, optimistic message. so, the weekly standard can say what they want. consistently goes after him. advocate my plans. >> and word yesterday that former mayor of new york michael bloomberg might getting into the race as an independent. >> look, he's

trump, trump wants to take cruz on. can trump beat cruz in iowa? >> it's probably going to be very close and you start to detect nervousness in both of their voices right now. you have got trump really trying to lower expectations in iowa saying, "eh --" he was telling you "if i don't win iowa it's because those people hardly ever get it right. they don't pick winners." now you have cruz coming forward and changing the way he speaks about ethanol in iowa which is really important. and so you see them really gong at each other in ways that iowans are starting to detect both of them seem worried. right now cruz has the advantage and he's very popular. our last poll showed 73% think favorably of him. trump is 57% favorable and republicans are more dug in against donald trump in iowa. you have 30% saying they will never caucus for donald trump whereas only 17% say that about cruz. >> trump is running the smartest campaign of anyone right now because he's engaging cruz in iowa because he wants to be the alternative to cruz should cruz win in iowa as the

trump in iowa. we're also following what forecasters say could be a man store winter storm impacting 50 million people along the u.s. east coast with the washington d.c. area in the cross hairs of the potential lly historic blizzard. some areas could see two feet of snow. we're covering all of that, a lot more this hour with our guests including the national spokesman for senator ted cruz and expert analysts are standing by right now. let's begin in tulsa, oklahoma where sarah palin crusaded for donald trump today before an audience of christian conservatives. our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is out there tonight this is familiar territory for sarah palin. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. and going rogue never felt so good. donald trump and sarah palin on the campaign trail with less than two weeks to go to the iowa caucuses and while they may not be future running mates, palin support may be the boost trump needs to stay on top of this race. it's a match made in tea party heaven, don

he would battle trump on the populist trump pretty well. he would hold a lot of young people in minorities with part of the obama coalition. and yes, it would be hard for him, because we live in an aspirational nation where everybody wants to be rich and trump gets that much better than bernie sanders does. he would have to tone down some of his rhetoric. we would see how good of a politician or not so good bernie sanders was, but i don't -- we're so far past the cold war and all this rhetoric about being a socialist, being that meaningful. remember, barack obama has been called a socialist endlessly by republicans and -- >> okay, let me move on. >> he denied it. >> jonathan, i think you're not sure and i understand why you're not sure, because nobody is. but let me go to another question. hillary clinton is sitting around with people around her, pretty smart people. they've been through a lot of these races and they're very experienced in presidential politics. as experienced as anybody's been in long history. charles, who would they rathe

we're looking at the trump plane. we have live shot of the trump plane. don't lose sight of the fact we're talking about iowa. we're talking about new hampshire and nonrepresentative states with small hard core people that are not representative of the broader electorate. we're talking about 40% of the one-half of one-half of party. keep in mind, donald trump is massively unpopular figure broadly. favorable rating negative 25 points. hispanics and african-americans 18%. embarrassed for trump to be president, 20%. keep in mind right now, this is a massively toxic figure. >> right now, maybe. 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

domd trump, donald trump, donald trump. >> you're pivoting to the general election already. >> trump has very, very high unfavorables as well. do you think there's any way for him to improve that? >> yes. i think he will tone it down and become more main stream and more polished once he wins the nomination. i think that goes without saying. >> you think he'll stop demonizing reporters so damn much? i'm concerned about the way he's continuing to so distrust. >> i think reporters without boarders should have better things to do than criticize donald trump. let them really fight where freedom of the press doesn't exist. if donald trump were under fbi investigation, his last name every time his name was mentioned would be who is under fbi investigation? >> as far as we know clinton has not been investigated by the fbi. the headline isn't whose under fbi investigation. >> i bought you so many vanilla milk shakes you owe me. would you consider, just consider it. oh me milk shakes, i'll take them off the ledger if you consider it. >> i was curious, steve, as a broadcaster what you thought o

donald trump and donald trump needs isis. isis needs to be able to say on undere hand that they are attack. donald trump needs to say on the other hand the you are under attack by muslims. that is why i strongly believe that he should not be allowed to come to our country. just think what would happen in the current climate. if he came to london, to glasgow and preached that message of divisive hate, it would be damaging, it would be dangerous, it would be deeply divisive. >> the gentleman is making some interesting points. these examples are more shortly about donald trump being a bigot rather than hatred. britain is pretty good at roasting beets. shouldn't we just roast trump? think aorry, i don't debate like this calls for flippancy at this time. with the greatest of respect, when our police service and our security services are working night and day to prevent our country from being attacked, when they believe the support of the muslim community, to have someone come to our shores who demonizes the entire community would

i think donald trump did well. i think it was his best debate performance, and he drl own that new york values moment. i thought he was even a little emotional, and i thought it was in some ways a very touching answer. ted cruz did very well at the front of the debate. then he got in it with rubio, and i think that was less good for him. rubio i thought was okay, but i thought the winner probably was donald trump. and remember, what donald trump those do is win iowa. he doesn't have to win iowa big, but if he wins iowa, he'll win new hampshire big and he'll win south carolina big. and he'll have incredible momentum. someone needs to beat him somewhere in the first four states. >> elise, let me bring you in. you have, for example, joe scarborough saying this morning, if donald trump wins iowa, there is no stopping him. what is your belief there? >> well, i think there's a lot of truth to that. it's going to be interesting to see if trump can actually take iowa, since his ground game there in the caucuses are a very

number one, donald trump is not a conservative. and two, we wanted to make the point, it's not the so-called establishment that's opposing trump -- in fact, as we speak, you have elements of the political establishments among republicans hiding under their desk, figuring out how they can co-op or deal with donald trump. we wanted to make the people principal conservatives oppose trump. we want to win this election. we want to do it with a conservative and we think we >> rich, you wrote this morning, this is what "national review" exists to do, to plant the flag for conservatism, have you missed your chance, has trump led for too long? >> i object the notion because he's at 30% at the polls. before anyone has actually voted in a caucus or a primary that this thing is effectively over. look, we knew we could get a lot of blowback from this issue. we knew that donald trump would call us a loser. it's particularly rich that donald trump invoked william f. buckley and said buckley would be ashamed of what we have done. when actually, bu

donald trump. this as we have new national polls from fox news. just out at the top of the hour. and you have donald trump with a comfortable lead over the rest of the field. ted cruz in second. and rubio far in third. and eventually you're going to actually see this poll. it's fox poll number 1. there you see the rest of the field. carson, bush and kasich. and republicans refusing to support against the democrat. these candidates, and there you see trump leading 15%, bush at 10%. christie at 8%. let's bring in steve hayes senior writer for the "weekly standard," and kristen powers for "u.s.a. today" and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. >> the major trump collapse is happening. he was at 39 last month and he's 34 today. there's no trump collapse. he has an incredible lead over ted cruz. the fact that he can sustain the lead and has sustained it for six months i think is a credit to his candidacy. we'll see how long it lasts now that he and ted cruz are fully engaged. one of the most remark

this is making fun of trump, being very snarky toward trump. and be again, they should never depart from that posture of impartiality. you stand there and you hear candidates attack you or attack the network, and, you know you have to stand there and take it, and say, okay okay. and be impartial. but to come back -- gave trump the opportunity to leave. he said why should i go on a debate on a network that so clearly has it in for me. and that statement gave him that ground to do. >> have you, bill endorsed or supported, come out in favor of any of these republican candidates yet? >> no i have not. there are several there i like. i also like tom cotton but he's not running. no we're talking -- i'll have them on the show on my radio show and interviewing them. and i'm trying to just give an honest analysis here. but i just think this was a big mistake by fox. and i'm sorry to see them do it. >> and you think trump was right as a result of that statement that fox put out to go ahead and boycott the debate? >> i think -- you know as i said from the

trump. >> i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters. it's incredible. >> while insurgents start to back ted cruz. >> the washington establishment knows who's willing to keep the gravy train going. >> donald trump joins me this morning. plus, now it's the democrats' turn to worry and sanders surges. better than hillary clinton against donald trump and the other republican candidates. >> their establishment frets over nominating a socialist and wonder what is wrong with hillary clinton. >> i'm not interested in ideas that sound good on paper but will never make in the the real world. >> both hillary clinton and bernie sanders are with thus is morning. >>> and if you thought this cam point could not get more unpredictable, look who's considering jumping in, former new york city mayor michael bloomberg. joining us are nbc's kristen welker, also from nbc kasie hunt and david brooks of the "new york times." trump versus cruz, clinton versus sanders, eig

i think trump -- i disagree with buck. i think trump goes after everyone. and i don't think that's a mistake. if anything, that's what's kept him at the top. so i don't think trump is wrong to go after ted cruz. as a republican, i'm so glad that my candidates are going through the fire before they brm a nominee. if they don't go through the fire now, they're going to go through the fire when they face hillary clinton. as for that ad, i would say you could make an equally effective ad in the trump camp by i wouldn't see using cruz's own words who said over the summer, i praise donald trump. he called him bold. it's fair knowledge. we all know that they've praised one another. donald trump could make an equally effective ads -- >> to be fair, it's not that we think there shouldn't be criticism. it's the nature of the attacks recently which have been personal. which have been no one likes ted cruz. it's like he talks about someone he doesn't want sitting next to him in the high school cafeteria. that's not the thing you expect for somebody that he has shown a

trump. last night, he took a little shot on the goldman sachs thing, trump, but he would be negative going against cruz. i think he would be happy going out of the debate with a draw. john: for the reason that you said very explicitly, the moderators will ask ted cruz about his canadian birth and whether it makes him eligible, they will point out that trump is driving this issue, and cruz will be forced to swing at it. i thought last night that the body language around trump suggested that he was holding back last night in anticipation of this very event, and when this event transpires, he will pop cruz on the noggin. mark: we have not seen what it looks like, a full on cruz-trump engagement. it will be the most important thing to happen since jeb bush took a swipe at marco rubio. they both say they are friends. people say that in politics all the time. you think they are? john: no, i do not. mark: that could have an impact. now to the establishment lane, where four candidates could fight to

zero heartburn. >>> trump is disgusting. anybody but trump. you see there the message written in the skies over pasadena during the famous rose parade. the message brought to you by a real estate developer who is also a donor to marco rubio's campaign. clever marketing move. but does it say anything about the state of the race? we'll talk about that with donna brazile, vice chair of the democratic national committee. republican congressman from virginia, dave bratt. cnn political commentator anna navarro, rooting for jeb bush. thanks to all of you for coming in, especially on this post-new-year's weekend. good marketing move? >> i just like to see the interparty fighting, first and foremost. we do believe donald trump is the standard-bearer in the republican party. donald trump is a big on, a 'zine xen xenophobe. if donald trump is the standard-bearer, i am finally glad to see that somebody in the party stood up against him. >> congressman bratt, do you obviously the most intense think you just said is that donald trump is a bigot. >> yeah, i

brian, trump supporters were all-in on trump's decision to hold this streparate event jrch trump supporters seem to be all-in on everything he does. right? i don't see as it, as a profound cultural shift. he's good at the art of the feud, if we're being generous, or the art of the temper tantrum if we're not. the ability to pick fights to get attention and we in the press are dutifully playing along because it rates well. an interesting story line. but i agree that last night's debate was an opportunity for some other candidates to maybe walk through the door that trump left open by skipping it. we don't know if that's the case or not. he admitted as much. we don't know who's going to show up to caucus monday. one thing iowans have been consistent about over the last several cycles, they like to prove people wrong, and they like to pick somebody other than the person who we thought was going to win, maybe trump skipping it helped get to that point and solidified support. this has been the hardest cycle to predict so far, and this is just another unprecedented element that we have going into

i think they'll take on donald trump in beabsencia. could trump go to the spin room? could he had something up his sleeve? who knows. >> and if he showed up at the last minute or half wave throwa do you think they would turn him down? i don't think so. zli >> i have no idea what fox news is planning. would they welcome him on the stage? they might. >> he's pretty well dug in. simultaneously he's having an event for veterans, that means at the same time. we're going to take a little bit more. they didn't just argue over the debate. they took issue with other things. he did at least. listen eto this. >> you went to church last week. you don't usually go. you went to can huthurch a lot >> i go to church a lot. >> okay. in your christian faith, there is a very significant tenet and that's the tenet of forgiveness. i think up should forgive not only journalists who come at you in ways you don't like but i think you should be the bigger man and say i didn't like it and you should make that case all day long, but i'm not going to take any action against it. don't up think th

trump say bimbo? >> no, but for a guy who has had plenty of people in his family who have posed provocatively. why isn't it fine for a woman to pose provocatively. >> because this entire campaign, since june when he's been doing things which would have killed any other candidate, whether it is coming out and offending p.o.w.s, coming out and saying he's never asked god for forgiveness, telling people of iowa in their state in their face, they are stupid. he's done things we have said over and over again, this has got to be the straw that breaks the camel's back. but he can't. he gets away with it. the reason he's doing this is because he's a new york manhattan billionaire who acts like one. he can do it. if you -- he'll sue you and counterattack and try to squish you because he has the big pockets and big ego. >> the key to donald trump's entire campaign has been to dominate the headlines with whatever outrage from day-to-day. that's how he leads in the polls because he thinks the polls are like ratin

this is trump's nomination to lose. there are two theories of trump. he's either f'ing crazy or crazy like a fox and in this case i think he's crazy like a fox. people are going to turn to fox and expect to see donald trump in that debate and they are not going to see him. his supporters are going to flip the channel until they find him. >> ana, let's talk about this. >> i think he's f'ing crazy like a fox. >> or brilliant. look at his poll numbers. >> tell us how you really feel, ana. so this rival event that trump says he's going to hold at the same time as the debate, do you really think that he would be able to sort of set something up and take away viewers from fox because his campaign is saying that fox's ratings are going to plummet now that he's not on the stage and he's holding this rival event. >> yes. i believe that -- what if he gets millions of viewers and put this event that he's doing online? i mean, that makes a statement. but then also, on the other hand, if fox gets great ratings without donald trump there, that speaks volumes as well

he f he wants to go after donald trump, he needs to go after donald trump. and of course as of yet, nobody has been able to go after donald trump who didn't see their numbers sink in the polls like a rock. >> guys, we got a break. good see you both. happy new year. when we come back, our ask sean segment is next. and we need your help with the important question of the day. it's about iowa. we'll be right back. months... please. it's time you got the quicksilver card from capital one. quicksilver earns you unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere. doesn't get much simpler than that. what's in your wallet? and i'm still struggling with my diabetes. i do my best to manage. but it's hard to keep up with it. your body and your diabetes change over time. your treatment plan may too. know your options. once-daily toujeo® is a long-acting insulin from the makers of lantus®. it releases slowly to provide consistent insulin levels for a full 24 hours. toujeo® also provides proven full 24-hour blood sugar control and significant a1c reduction. toujeoÂ

trump's side. megyn kelly was sort of the isolated one. fox news did not know how to respond. they were freaked out about the volume of e-mails and tweets and comments that were taking trump's side. if you notice in those first weeks after the august debate, they did not know how to handle trump. and this is further evidence that roger ales does not know how it deal with trump -- >> you're saying that ales has after 20 years final litsly met match? >>yes. >> rojyou said roger ales is sweating? >> yes. roger ales is not used to playing defense. fox news is scrambling to draft a statement. donald trump is driving this conversation. >> when it happened back in august, i think megyn went on like a ten-day vacation or something like that. there was hardly nany response from fox. >> i think they wanted it to blow over back then and it didn't. >> are they speaking to each other? >> roger -- >> roger ales and donald trump. >> no. even one of the marquis hosts has not been able to reach him. now he on wants

they say donald trump isn't a conservative. when you look at the economy, like immigration, those are very important to republican voters. frankly, the last few election cycles across the board, all those republicans that gave us those think tank talking points and talked about those issues didn't govern accordingly. that's the problem. >> amanda, what about this poll coming out tonight? we know donald trump will bring up this poll. he will love it. it's a big national lead. it's increased. ted cruz has been getting all this momentum. in the same poll, trump is up 13 points now. a month ago he was only up five points. is this something that should concern ted cruz? >> i think the cruz campaign is probably focused on performance tonight. they will have a chance to tangle one on one, face to face, no more twitter fights, no more fighting through media. i think this is a great opportunity for ted cruz to ask donald trump to settle this question about the birther stuff, about the canadian status. if donald trump tried to slink away

>> donald trump. willie geist has the odds of 34.1% that donald still makes it. >> he just called in, he's got it down to 28.6%. >> i don't know. maybe, maybe they can figure out a way out of this. these are two really smart guys that know how to big deals. i just wonder if roger and donald can make the deal. >> if it's way too early what time is it? >> time for "morning joe" but stick around because we will be talking about this and a lot of great stories throughout the day. but msnbc live starts right now. >>> and right now on msnbc firing back at fox. donald trump goes toe to toe with a network and maintains he will boycott tonight's debate. >> i was not treated well by fox, they came out with this ridiculous pr stunt, it was drawn up by a child and it was a taunt and i said, you know, how much of this do you take?

donald trump managed to trump himself on the campaign trail in iowa last night. the big news was supposed to be his pair of high-profile endorsements. arizona sheriff joe air pie owe and evangelical leader jerry falwell jr. instead donald trump is skipping the debate. >> i'm not a fan of megyn kelly. i think she's a third rate reporter. i think she, frankly, is not good at what she does. i think they could do a lot better than megyn kelly. i will be making a decision but i won't probably be doing the debate. i see they picked me number one. not only number one, but number one by far. i'm going to be doing something elsewhere we raise money for the veterans and wounded warriors. most likely i'm not going to do the debate. >> now, the trump campaign manager corey lewandowski took it a step further saying he would not attend the debate and might hold a competing debate in iowa. they would like to see all of their candidates on stage but each candidate needs do what's best for them. and it looks like ted cruz is trying do just that, challenging donald trump in a one-

trump, mr. trump? >> go ahead, sara. >> why do you think it's a cheap shot for people to bring up your past infidelities after you brought up monica lewinsky and bill clinton? >> it's not a cheap shot. i've had a very good life. i've been a very good person over my life. i'm a religious person. i'm a good person. i give money to charity. a lot of money to charity. i feel you can bring up whatever you have to bring up. >> all right. just to remind you, this is what set trump off. fox's taunting statement late today after trump raised the possibility moderator megyn kelly might treat him unfairly. the statement from fox reads, "we learned from a secret back channel the ayatollah and putin both intend to treat donald trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president. nefarious source tells us trump has his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings." as you saw, donald trump's reaction came late tonight. as you heard, cnn po

donald trump wins, it will be all trump all the time and if he doesn't, it will still be all trump all the time. this is a very odd year. for the democrats, the same thing happens typically. but for democrats if a smaller field with only three candidates. if bernie sanders wins, there will be a lot of talking about how it is just like 2008 and hillary clinton lost again which will not be to her advantage. wins, i think she's in much better shape but if she barely wins, that might be a win for sanders. then there is martin o'malley who is pulling much lower than 15%. but through various possibilities, might do better than expected. said,to add to what he this is from the washington times, saying on the republican side i don't think there's any doubt that iowa is, if not make or break, close to that for ted cruz because if senator cruz doesn't win iowa eight makes it even more difficult to imagine anyone other than mr. trump winning new hampshire. let's go to teresa in des moines. will you be caucusing? guest: absolutely. host: four home? whom. all hillary clinton. if any of you martin o

. >> that's the portion of cruz's support that i don't think trump gets because cruz -- trump actually sort of going after cruz on religion thing which is very weird and a little bit race baby because he's cuban can't be shore an evangelical that is the portion, especially iowa electorate is accessible to trump. you don't him trying to speak. >> dickerson: ruth, let me ask you about this frack cuss between hillary clinton/bill clinton and donald trump. they got back and forth saying he was sectionist. if you want to have conversation about how do you think that works out, you were quoted favorably by some people as having said this was fair game. >> i do think it's fair game. to talk about bill clinton for two reasons. one is hillary clinton attacked donald trump appropriately and correctly for sectionist remarks which -- sexist remarks of which bill clinton's record with women then becomes fair game. she also has designated him as her surrogate in chief will be out on the campaign trail this week. she does both of those things, attacks trumps for sex u.k.ism picks bill clinton as surr

most of his friends in new york if it came down to trump or cruz it would be trump. trump called mitch mcconnell last year to build relationships. trump seen the nomination on the horizon and started to do the kind of things a nominee would do. even on the campaign trail the last few days he's speaking as a healer. this is before the voting began. >> steve, when i saw this poll yesterday, the cnn poll that came out, it had bernie sanders by a good bit and donald trump by a good bit. it's a political earthquake. >> obviously, hillary clinton was so far in a way a favorite of her losing not one but two of the political primaries. bill clinton didn't win until 1992 until georgia. i don't think he won another one before that. i think she's powerful, organized and popular in the south. this is not what she was hoping for. >> some concerns among your democratic friends. >> there are some concerns among my democratic friends, sure. i don't think any of my democratic friends want sanders to be the nominee. when you see polls like this, it has to get you nervous. sometimes ou

trump. >> i would vote for donald trump if i would -- definitely. this is very new. this is the equivalent to obama new, you know what i mean? first black president. first, um, interesting president. >> o so now, suddenly, the summer of trump is becoming the autumn of trump. trump's not going down. he's going up. >>> when "citizen trump" continues. >> i joke and i say there's only one rogue in every family. donald's the rogue. he's a pretty good rogue. ...gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against occasional digestive issues. with three types of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'. ever since i had a pretty bad accident three years ago. the medical bills - the credit card debt all piled up. i knew i had to get serious my credit. so i signed up for experian. they have real, live credit experts i can talk to. they helped educate me on how debt affected my fico score. so i could finally start managing my credit. theynow my credit and i

trump tweeted, i hate to see this. we are outside the trump event. you've been talking to voters who changed their minds about trump based on his decision to skip the debate. what did they tell you? >> reporter: this is just fascinating. i have spent a lot of time with the people here waiting here hours for donald trump. he is expected to arrive in des moines at any moment. she was one of those coveted undecided iowa voters. she was interested in donald trump, but just not convinced. after he made this decision, that's what solidified her vote for donald trump. he showed boldness. she wants that in a presidency. that's a word that i heard from so many people here in line tonight. bold. they said this move by trump really appeals to them, that they want that in their president and that's why they're coming out here tonight. a lot of people saying i'm not going to miss the debate. i'm here to say donald trump. >> you've talked to one voter of many, but talking to someone who said this changed their mind and in favor of donald trump, which may surprise

trump. mr. trump, welcome back to "meet the press." >> good morning, and i have to tell you, his ad is wrong because i ver knocked down that house. i wanted to get the house to build a major building that would have employed tremendous numbers of people but when the woman didn't want to sell ultimately i said forget about it. so he's got me bulldozing down a house, i never bulldozed it down. >> all right, i think the accusation was that's what you wanted to do -- >> no, the accusation was i wanted to and did do it. you know, if you didn't have eminent domain, you would haven't highways, the keystone pipeline because they need it if it's going to be built. you wouldn't have roads, schools, hospitals, i mean, i don't love imminent domain but you need it or you don't have a country. >> this race between you and ted cruz, hent wants to make it about who's the real conservative. here's what he said yesterday when it comes to you and conservatism. i want to get you to react to it. here he is. >> p

trump hitting back. your reaction? >> sarah is smart, and she cunning, and she's a good person. >> what about the media attack? >> they can attack. in the meantime she has one of the best records -- i will tell you ted cruz wanted her so badly, he almost cried. he's a nervous wreck. >> and a boast about himself and barack obama. cruz denouncing members of the media as out-and-out partisan. >> there's a reason they don't like the mainstream they're partisan liberals. >> every single journalist? >> they have an agenda. >>> new york values, the birthers flap and the way they're covered. >>> "national review" calls trump a hubs terr. >>> plus the press says hillary clinton is in trouble. weren't the pun debts just telling us she was inevitable? i'm howard curtis. and this is "mediabuzz." >>> just back from las vegas where i went to the trump hotel and interviewed donald trump, a 17-point lead in new hampshire and fox news polls just out this morning making him still the republican candidate to beat. after months of attacki

now you want to trump, trump on immigration. we're not going to beat hillary clinton with somebody who's willing to say or do anything to win an election. >> why you need to send's someone from outside of washington to washington. i feel like -- i feel like i need -- i feel like i need a washington english dictionary converter. all right? >> with me now is fox news contributor ebony williams, and political strat jit ed schoen consulting jessica tarr love, host of "red eye," co-host of "outnumbered," and last, certainly not least, one of our newest fox news reporters, abby huntsman. so i was watching the debate last night and i feel like trump gave these guys a huge gift and none of them were able to take advantage of it and steal the deal. how did you see it, andrea? >> everybody but ted cruz, because donald trump has acted as his human shield. time and again, and so without trump there, cruz, what did he get all of the cruz missiles fired at him by the other candidates jie thought the exchange between him and rubio was fascinat

clinton accuses trump of a penchant for sexism. trump says this makes bill clinton fair game. all this is preview to my sitdown interview tomorrow night with secretary clinton. her first of 2016. the iowa caucuses are now exactly four weeks away and the two biggest races in american politics today is taking the stage tonight. donald trump is about to speak at a campaign rally in massachusetts. hillary clinton is here in des moines holding a town hall. katy tur joins us from trump's rally in massachusetts. first donald trump has launched an assault on the clintons in interviews with fox, cbs and cnn, trump went after hillary clinton's husband. >> she's got a problem. she is married to a person that's a serious abuser. i mean at the highest level. she's not an innocent victim. she was the one that would go along with him in this whole game that they play. she is not like the innocent person sitting by the side with tears in her eyes. i'm the only one willing to talk about his problems. i mean, what he did and what he has gone through, i think is frankly terrible, especially if s

he flicked at trump, cruz flicked at trump. in the end, given that everybody is firing in different directions, not directly at trump, who is the most likely to take on trump? will they be effective? >> most likely obviously is christie. he is doing it in a not so subtle way. my question is when he starts to take the gloves off and tries to hit trump hard. trump is not afraid of christie at all for some of the reasons we referred to, thinks he is super vulnerable. i think the person with the most interesting line of attack on trump is cruz who played rope-a-dope. if cruz comes firing against trump, trump hasn't found a way to go back at cruz. >> cruz in iowa and christie in new hampshire are the most likely. no one has taken on trump. they are the two. cruz has the resources and good political skills. christie because he is such a great brawler. th >> in iowa, ted cruz gets slammed for saying one thing in front of manhattan donors and another in front of iowa vulnerables. ted cruz' bond with them is real. donald trump played th

it doesn't seem right now anyone is leaving trump. trump is leading. to the extent if you don't like donald trump, why would you not go to governor christie over senator ted cruz? >> there are two things in christie's record that are still hurting with conservatives. the first was was it a hug or not a hug. >> can i say we looked back and looked at the tape and right before the election i will say this again, i looked at the tape, i thought in my mind i saw a hug. we went to the tape. we didn't see a hug in that confrontation meeting right before the election. anyway, everybody is going to be mad at me about that. >> about hurricane sandy and government funding and that became a major issue and major republican for republicans over on capitol hill. evidence was seen a guy who was stabbing republicans in the back at a critical time for them. more than that, i think the other issue is there is maybe a better candidate, somebody who folks thought would be the unifying candidate and still has the chance to be that. that's marco rubio. is he certainly looki