party embodies everything about the republicans party. he is established he served in office he is very sober and very articulate. he has all sorts of policy plans the roots -- the republican establishment is under threat is under threats of the republican party exists so republicans win elected office that we have seen over the course of the past two years that it's become less and less necessary for republicans to leverage the party to win office. donald trump is the best example of that. donald trump didn't need the party to win the presidency if he wins the presidency. he used the party and to use the parties mechanisms to get nominated but he doesn't need them and that puts the republican party in a tough position because he is not a tenable to them. if he gets elected president and there's a senate nomination or a house nomination he can just endorse whoever he wants to. it doesn't have to go with the party structure and his endorsement could mean more. i think that romney personally feels as though this is a threat to what has work

>> the republican party -- if the republican party is a gum b bo, the rue of that is the republican party and the core of that is the ku klux klan. >> the leaders of the republican party are disavowing anything to do with the ku klux klan. are they saying that because they have to? shouldn't you give them some credit for what? >> because they're will you lindsey graham thinki -- they're also thinking about starting new party. i fell like they're saying there's nothing we can do other than reconvene somewhere else. >> is this a surprise to them? was this an epiphany that they realize somehow their party is out of control when it comes to these issues, addressing issues in the ku klux klan? >> it came from the first four years of barack obama's presidency. president barack obama where they allowed donald trump to demand the president show his birth certificate and they just stood by and went maybe he's not born here. how would we know? hawaii, we don't know that's a state. this is like the pimple coming home to roost. >> you have a new show on cnn called "the united shades of america." you

the republican party? does him getting the nomination risk the death of the republican party as you keep hearing? or is that overkill? is that hyperbole? right? would the nomination of donald trump more likely just mean that the republican party would change now? it would become trumpier now? right? the way the republican party didn't die after barry goldwater, it just did get a little more right wing. this isn't an idle question. we do actually have some data already that can help us answer the question of what is going to become of the republican party with donald trump as its standard-bearer because right now he is the party's de facto standard-bearer. and while we have all spent the last few weeks agog at this change at the top, right, this morphing of the republican party into what feels like a post-policy strong-man personality cult where political events are like pageants of product placement and on-brand hucksterism. while we've been agog at that and that has been mesmerizing, a few other things ha

democratic party is the oldest party in the word, the republican and democratic parties have been framing this debate in this country for 160 years. what the republican party needs to avoid blowing up is to get a binary choice between mr. trump and someone else. i think the evidence that we're approaching that is the fact that ted cruz announced late last week he's going to open ten offices in the state of florida. he's probably not doing that to win florida. he's probably doing that to prevent marco rubio from winning it. if that happens, indeed, you've got your binary choice, you have the best chance of not settling this in cleveland where, what you outlined with rush limbaugh, trump has the majority of the largest share of delegates but not a majority, then he would have a blow-out. >> mike, let me turn to you. we saw last night's results, picking up on what george said, two states, kasich and rubio win nothing, trump calling on rubio to drop out, is this, in effect, not officially but in effect now a two-man race? >> i think we've got tone that point. i don't think we'll know for sure

he said a trump nomination will destroy the republican party. it will split the republican party. he will fight to the end. this is epic. >> reporter: what do you think, jamelle. question if trump comes in march 15 and picks up the winner-take-all primaries and is the presumptive nominee, the republicans like marco rubio, they've said these things. and now they really have to make a choice-- are they going to fall behind him or are they going to reject him? if they reject him, they have to say to themselves they're forfeiting the white house now, that the more important thing here is to prevent a trump takeover of the republican party and prevent a destruction of conservative, movement conservatism. >> reporter: i heard today from republican leaders, senior people in washington who say they are now hoping for an open convention. how long has it been since you've heard leaders of either party say, "when we really want is an open convention." they want to sew it up before they get to a convention. >> yes, party leaders exist so that they can continue themselves and have a certain am

the republican party, they run it. i looked at the rhymes the other day, rule 40 determines everything you asked me about, if trump does not get 1,237 the delegates are pledged to him whether they want to vote or not in the first ballot and then it is wide open. this is at least as of 2012 candidates in order to be considered at an open convention have to is gotten a majority of delegates in eight states. they can change that rule any time, when they want, the meeting is remaining up prior to the convention and they can do, i predict if they cannot stop trump in the primary process they will make an effort to stop him at the convention. governor romney has stated that. if that happens there is a walk up and utter chaos. it will typify exactly what has happened to the republican party and the base. >> here is the question i often from folks i run and, how does the story end? >> it ends with everything working out. it will end with a nominee. i think when we get down to the summer and it comes together and the pressure a

and i think it's disastrous for the republican party. it's either hurt it badly with cruz as the nominee. or potentially split it with trump as the nominee. this is very good outcome for hillary clinton. >> dickerson: molly, the establishment push against donald trump, isn't that exacerbating the very thing that caused trim top rise in the first place which is the sense that the establishment was out of touch with people in the party and the conservative movement? >> that's why. as mike said, this party is falling apart. because you did have an establishment that was so profoundly out of touch with a lot of the voters and base of the party that they completely failed to take seriously the candidacy of trump and the anger that he was tapping. there was feeling that this was a joke, there was so much denial that this was a real thing. you now have a front runner who won majority of states, the majority of delegates, pretty far down the calendar and normally that would be to a sort of bandwagon affect, everybody would be getting on board. o

within the republican party. we need to focus on beating hillary in november. >> meaning what? you let a trump candidate proceed if that is republican elecelectorate averages wish? >> trump can't beat hillary, we need someone who can actually win the white house and when that happens, we'll be able to maybe rebuild the party from there. >> ron meyer, donald trump has been a candidate since june. and i'm wondering if it's fair that no one yet has yet figured out how to run against him. >> that's right. we're going to have to get creative. i think what marjorie's saying, we have to get creative, something to change this game. i think rubio is having a hard time in florida, his campaign's admitso. and kasich is having trouble in ohio. the two leading contenders, need to, think, crubio, cruz-rubio, i'm no fan of cruz and rubio but i'd rather have cruz and rubio than donald trump about instead of talking about his persona acknowledge let's get into the policies he wants. just like bernie sanders is a european style so

the republican party or republican party history because you're afraid it will be a party of angry and bigoted and populist thinkers and not a party that represents individual liberty and individual thinking and fiscal conservativism and strong military support. all the things that republicans have said they have stood for for 50 years, maybe 80 years really since herbert hoover was president. no joke there. donald trump is not going to represent those traditions in the republican party. and if it takes mitt romney and every other person who can come out and say it, that needs to be done. >> i want to bring katrina in. >> it's hard to believe how stupid the republican establishment is. it's too little and too stupid to bring out mitt romney. don't they remember he was the front man for wall street's greed revolution? the 47% candidate. but in a larger framework going back to what charles said, we're witnessing the republican crack-up. there's been an uneasy alliance between the republican base and establishment for decades. and it was referenced to an insurrection being waged. the esta

rinaldi republican party is trying to figure that out. to see what happens if it is a nominee they think that he will rail against the establishment but is posturing donald trump doesn't actually want to run entire network of nominations but what are their standards? to all but made very clear statements that he disagrees like the iraq war ended is tough how they deal with the president. >> in writing the news cycle but do you think it cuts both ways? he represents the establishment and donald trump is about anti-establishment candidacy. for months in one state had jeb bush to be their guide he was a moderate he was from the bush family and the legacy but it turns out he was a bad candidate and not the campaigning but he was used as a punching bag for months even at 3% donald trump would beat on him because he was the establishment. jeb bush dropped out. nell mitt romney steps into the role for god and though he will gain new people. building there was a of a lot of damage to think i'm probably is frustrated that a party that he led so he

within the republican party can be brought back. and i think what we're watching right now is an unfolding of the great old party -- grand old party. >> we've got an element of the party who feels that -- and it's not just true in the republican party, it's in general -- that the values that they believe -- they've been told that those values make them bigots or racists or whatever, so donald trump gets up there, speaks his truths, speaks the mind, and they say, "i don't care that he's not a conservative. i don't care that he doesn't stand for the things i stand for. he's gonna fight against political correctness. he's gonna fight against the establishment, which includes the republican party. and that's what you're seeing here. he's giving voice to people who feel that they have not had an advocate for them. that's why he's doing so well. that's why he's gonna continue to do so well. and if we go to a convention -- and he's got the delegates, or enough of them -- we go to a convention and go another way, we're gonna see a real prob

they're skirting the issue. republican party has told us republican votes. amnesty. that's why they support the democrats on many of their hispanics or other minorities. guess who's doing it. donald trump is doing it. donald trump has put together a coalition, whether he knows it or not, whether he intended to or not, he's put together a coalition that's exactly what the republican party says that it needs to win east and, yet, look like what they're trying to do, get donald trump out of the race of it. it's the most amazing thing to watch this happen. tries to talk people out of work. you can't talk his supporters out of supporting him. the only guy that will be able to do that is trump himself. >> okay. let's talk about that because there is a lot of commentary, and some of it coming from conservatives who say that the republican party is in it danger of tearing it self apart. we've seen splits many times before over political what's happening this time. this is the establishment, the elite of the party versus the grassroots phase. >> exactly. it really isn't anyth

that really is the plan right now in the republican party. and regardless of whether you love donald trump or hate donald trump, regardless of whether you think he is politics as usual, or absolutely terrifying, if the republican party tells the voters who picked him as their nominee that they don't get him, the party's going to pick someone else despite what the voters said, think about how that's going to go over. what could possibly go wrong? >> finally as you saw, it came to this, at some point my microphone was yanked. drated sk. hydro boost. from neutrogena get one of our right best deals ever.... ....for just $9.99 you can get any large pizza with up to five toppings pile on your favorites with up to five toppings for just $9.99 better ingredients. better pizza. papajohns.com >>> what are you doing later? would you like to get together later? will you be watching tv later? because tonight i would like to see you later on "the tonight show with jimmy fallon." i'm going to be on "the tonight show" tonight with jimmy fallon. i can prove i

i think the people are speaking in the republican party and a lot of nice republicans don't like what the people are saying. this is the party that in 2008, had a -- 2004, had a line of candidates in new hampshire and a third of them said they don't believe in evolution. this has been a slow burning process. >> right. go ahead. >> well, i mean, we have to remember, eight years ago, john mccain, the so called moderate, chose sarah palin to be his running mate. that's also, when you think about it, a fairly terrifying idea as well. >> right. that's the perfect example. i remember having a very similar conversation after he chose sarah palin with a democrat. someone who is fairly high ranking in the democrat party. they said on the one hand i think she'll be ultimately a liability on the ticket. if he wins she'll be a heartbeat away from the presidency. the stakes are larger. we're a 50/50 nation. it's a little more than a way of the coin flip. >> what is making these candidates so terrifying? to a large extent it's their constituency. mitch mcconnell, there's no calculation to reject a

party because clearly the republican party was reagan's party after this. it wasn't ford's. >> yeah. coalition for lack of a better word that solidified and won the presidency for ronald reagan in 1980 you can see forming at this convention. jessie helm was a very powerful prominent broker at this convention. the attack on ford was from the right on foreign policy, on detente, helsinki accords and from the fall of saigon happened technically on his watch and helm's got a lot of foreign -- really hard line foreign policy into the platform. it was the first republican platform that advocating a human life amendment, which showed the way that party was swinging on social issues and reagan's strength was all in the south and the west and that's where the republican party moved. >> there's also the degree to which there's -- clinton had this line about how democrats fall in love, republicans fall in line and there's this will rogers i believe to an organized party of the democrat, but actually those roles have flipped in the modern time. the democratic party is

establishment, the republican party are the people voting for trump. i am not the republican party. paul ryan is not the republican party. people voting for trump in record numbers, they are the republican party. that's why i don't understand the talk about the g.o.p. poll a. the people voting are the party. they're going to pick who they want as the republican nominee and it's evident they're doing so and trump is their guy. >> and he is your guy. congressman, thanks for joining us on the real story. now to immigration. nation's top boarder chief testifying on capitol hill delivering a strong message to ajtss who disagree with president obama's deportation policy granting deferred action to as many as 5 million immigrants with deep ties to the united states. >> when i had police officers in seattle, they would follow the law and there's room within the law to actually do things and if they weren't happy with doing that, it's like if you really don't want to follow the directions of your superiors including the president of the united states and the commission of customs and boarder

primary contests the republican party has had so far. he's won in the suburban snort. he has won in the rural south. he's won over wealthy voters and those in the working class. he's got evangelicals voting for him and he has agnostics. trump is riding on such broad support that he now talks of a quote new coalition to underpin the republican party. but trump is not a sure thing yet. ted cruz has four states under his belt. including the delegate rich home state of texas. while marco rubio fast becoming the establishment favorite can finally claim at least one victory in minnesota. meanwhile on the democratic side hillary clinton now has a comfortable lead against her rival bernie sanders after sweeping the south on super tuesday, clinton has won ten state contest to date, sanders 5. she still needs more to clinch her party's nomination but a clinton victory looks more likely by the day. and the angst that is causing republicans is undenia undeniab. but time is running out for antitrump camp in the gop. it is clear now that trump is the

and what is the republican party stand for now? is this trump party? we talked about the different lanes over the last few years, you have with the establishment wing of the republican party, you have the conservative, the one thing that unites those two factions is being against donald trump. but is that enough to stop him? >> does the general election >> i think you're going to start seeing hillary clinton trying to do both. she still has to beat sanders woul alieningateing supporters but attack towards trump. i think you're going to see trump fight a two-fight war. he knows he needs to go after rubio and finish him off in florida. best shot to clear rubio out because ultimately, i think he thinks he has a better shot in a one on one with cruz than rubio. >> that is going to conclude this hour of coverage. chuck and savannah, always good to work with you. you get some rest. we'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." and we'll have full coverage on nbc news.com and tomorrow night on nbc nightly news. i'm lester holt, nbc news new york, have a good nig

trump that is escalating the republican party. and if they continue to do the disgraceful things that they have with mitt romney coming out and disgracing himself the way they behaved, if they deny donald trump -- if he don't get to 1,237 and deny him the nomination, i think it's going to rip this country wide open because what they are saying, people out there, your vote does not count. we know better what you you do and we are going to give you the person that is best for you and that's the trouble with politics practically forever. host: what do you say? uest: he has talked about what the central message that donald trump has espoused and tapped into and the reason that a lot of people are supporting him. not only an outsider candidate but from completely outside the political system, and has never needed it because he is independently wealthy and doesn't really need it now. but i'm very interested in his prediction there that if a brokered or an engineered or open whatever you want to use, convention comes about and donald tru

mohamed elibiary, on the same issue of whether the republican party, the head of the republican party should condemn this kind of violence, the fact is he did address the audience last night before the major debate. >> i was a little disappointed that reince did not include at least one sentence about the republican party being a big tent party, which would have been a good signal to put out there that only the candidates, but also the audience. in the debate and those watching on tv. amy, i would like to kind of explain something. i personally the this issue through -- my experience, working counter radicalization issues for the past dozen years or so, is that i see the trump phase as a politically radicalized, not a violently radicalized, but a politically radicalized, which means there toward the extreme on the political spectrum. the more you move toward the edges of the political spectrum, the more you're going to end up finding the people are more emotionally charged and they're not really thinking rationally. they are not civil. they're not looking to compromise. they are extre

to leave the republican party. what is your message to those who want to live. good riddance? >> they shouldn't leave. they should get together and i think everybody should be unified and frankly we're building up numbers that are incredible within the republican party. you've been seeing whether it's south carolina or new hampshire, the numbers are astronomical. and i don't think they have ever seen anything like this. >> dickerson: by the way, democrats are losing. 35 and we're going up 50%. couple of states over 100%. >> dickerson: what do you make of the effort to try to take the nomination away from you? maybe even by going to the convention? >> i'm very surprised by it. i'm very surprised hear about a third party because i'm going to appoint conservative judges. i thought that would mean that hillary would win or whoever is going to be running. you're going to have liberal judges probably as many as four or even five if you can believe that during this period of time. so, a third party means absolutely they w

they naturally blogging more in the republican party than in the democratic party. the republicans have done so much with the immigration question, the mexican rapist issue, and, and whatever trump is trumping up that i think they have lost it entirely for this election. by the way we have seen these shifts before. the muslim boat initially went to george bush. , overwhelmingly went to george bush. then the muslim v ote went to the democrats. so these swings are very possible in a short amount of time. i just think the re- publicans are botching it right now. >> will i just want to say is a native new mexican whose in democrat that hispanics are republican and there still some better democrat and so it is like 50/50. so i do believe there are a lot of factors to consider for the latino votes. >> i do too. i would guess the hispanic vote is going to go something close in this election, i would be surprised if it goes close to two - one or 70 - 30, i think it's good to be overwhelming on the democratic side. if the republicans didn't play their cards differ not i thin