Musings of a loser as trump says. Just as Hillary Clinton looks to be putting away her president ial nomination race, what is that you hear . Is it the drip, drip, drip of her email server controversy . The aide that set up that serve are has just been granted immunity to cooperate with the fbi investigation. Plus pyongyang firing six shortrange projectiles off the north korean coast. Is kim jongun inching closer and closer to firing a Nuclear Device at another country . Mitt is tough, hes smart, hes sharp. Hes not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love. So governor romney, go out and get em. You can do it. It seems like a long time ago. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. That was a clip from 2012 when the Republican Party felt like it was in the middle of a divisive primary fight. It was not compared to 2016. The Republican Party seems to be in the middle of a civil war, so divisive it could fracture the gop forever. Hes playing the members of the American Public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the white house and all we get is a lousy hat. Mitt romney, the last republican president ial nominee, all but endorsed a contested Convention Today to stop donald trump. John mccain, the 2008 republican nominee, then endorsed everything mitt romney said. The big question, of course, will any of it matter to voters . Cnn chief political kosht da correspondent dana bash is where republican candidates will debate later tonight. Dana, what prompted this speech . Why . Why do it . Reporter well, my understanding is that he felt personally compelled to get out there and try to make a difference as much as he can. But the fact that he declined to endorse anyone and instead heaped some praise on Donald Trumps three opponents left some people wondering what exactly his goals were. But regardless, what romney did today was create a moment for the political history books. An unprecedented takedown of a republican frontrunner by a former republican standard bearer. Donald trump lacks the temperament to be president. Reporter the most important part of mitt romneys message, he wasnt just blasting donald trump as bad for the gop, he called it perilous for america. If we choose donald trump as president , the prospects for a safe and prosperous future is greatly diminished. But you say wait, wait, wait, isnt he a huge Business Success . Doesnt he know what hes talking about . No, he isnt. And no, he doesnt. Reporter romney effectively called trump a loser, an attempt to undermine trumps core rationale for his candidacy, that hes a winner. Whatever happened to Trump Airlines . How about Trump University . And then theres trump magazine. And trump vodka. And trump steaks. And Trump Mortgage. A business genius, he is not. Reporter but the 2012 gop nominee is an imperfect messenger, since he courted trumps endorsement just four years ago. Having his endorsement is a delight. Reporter then romney even praised the business acumen he criticized today. Donald trump has shown an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works to create jobs for the american people. Reporter but the straightlaced romney is clearly disgusted with trumps demeanor as a president ial candidate now. Think of Donald Trumps personal qualities. The bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third grade theatrics. Reporter romney even tried to preempt trumps response. Will he talk our policy differences . Or will he attack me with every imaginable low road insult. This may tell you what you need to know about his temperament, his stability and his suitability to be president. Mitt was a disaster as a candidate. Reporter trump responded, true to form. I backed mitt romney. I backed him. You can see how loyal he is. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said, mitt, drop to your knees. He would have dropped to his knees. Reporter trump claimed romney didnt run for president this time around because he feared the real reality star. Ill tell you the real reason he chickened out, it wasnt jeb, it was me. Reporter but it was clear it hit a nerve. The billionaire came armed with a list of accomplishments. They dont want to talk about 92story buildings all over the place. They dont want to talk about the bank of america building in san francisco, 1290 avenue of the americas. Frankly, its ridiculous. Reporter now, jake, mitt romney after his speech gave people the answer to what a lot of us were asking, which is why did you change your tune given four years ago he did seek Donald Trumps endorsement. He did it on twitter. Heres what mitt romney said. He said if donald trump had said four years ago the things he says today about the kkk, muslims, mexicans and the disabled, i would not have accepted his endorsement. Now, again interesting that he decided to wait until after his speech to make that clear. Jake. Some democrats noting that four years ago donald trump was openly questioning whether or born in the United States and wondering anyway, lets move on. Thanks so much, dana bash, appreciate it. Donald trump is quite fond of saying i am selffunding my campaign, the idea that he owes nothing to any big money donors so he can remain his own man. Its something voters find appealing. The question is how long will he continue to take the stance. Sara murray is also in detroit and has breaking news on this front. Sources are telling you about trumps plans for the general election should he met the nomination . Reporter thats right, jake. Like you said donald trump makes a big tedeal on the campaign trl that he is selffunding his campaign. But a source tells me that in private conversations, donald trump and his campaign are acknowledging that they will be fundraising for the general election. This is a reflection of their belief that they know they cannot run a shoe string campaign in a general election up against someone like Hillary Clinton, that they know not just donald trump but also the Republican Party needs to be well funded for a fight like that. Right now donald trump operates with just a handful of aides and sort of hopscotches them across the country. Going forward if he does win the nomination, he would work with the rnc, tap into their data operation, their Ground Troops and all of this is very expensive. Now, as you might imagine, the Trump Campaign was not super excited to discuss this with me. When i spoke to their campaign manager, corey lewandowski, he said donald trump is focused on the primary election, he is selffunding now and not even thinking about the general election. But thats not what were hearing is happening behind closed doors. Sara murray, thanks very much. Joining me senior advisor, sara huckabee. So mitt romney, im sure you heard his speech, he delivered a takedown of your candidate. Your response . Frankly, i think americans probably liked the 2012 version of mitt romney a lot better than the one that they saw today. The one that praised trump for being a great leader, great on the economy and great at creating jobs. I think thats one of the reasons that so Many Americans are rallying behind donald trump is for that very thing. I think its a sad thing for governor romney and frankly i think it helps donald trump. It further plays into the antiestablishment atmosphere out there and its just another reason that more and more americans are rallying around donald trump because theyre so tired of the washington establishment telling them who to vote for, why they should vote for them and how to vote for them. So i think actually this is a good thing for donald trump and another great day on the campaign. Lets get into some of the substance of some of the things mitt romney said. Lets play this one about Donald Trumps positions. Dishonesty is Donald Trumps hallmark. He claimed that he had spoken clearly and boldly against going into iraq. Wrong. He spoke in favor of invading iraq. He said he saw thousands of muslims in new jersey celebrating 9 11. Wrong. He saw no such thing. He imagined it. Hes not of the temperament of the kind of stable, thoughtful person we need as leader. His imagination must not be married to real power. Sarah, thats something that we have heard from others, including from former competitor now endorser chris christie, saying that donald trump doesnt have the temperament to be president. You know, i think that when you have people that are coming after you, i think you have to consider the source. Obviously a lot of the establishment doesnt like donald trump, they dont like what hes doing, hes growing the Republican Party and hes changing the die many naic of the Republican Party. Hes not just running a campaign but an actual movement. They dont control him, they dont have access to him and dont get to tell him what to do and i think theyre terrified of that. Of course they are going to come up with outlandish attacks, every day were seeing a new series of them rolling out. I think they lack a lot of credibility considering just a few short years ago they were standing on a stage praising the guy for what a great leader he was. I think its hard to make that kind of transition. You have to wonder and ask yourself were they lying then or are they lying now . I want to play this again for our viewers. Heres mitt romney talking about some of the Donald Trumps business record. His bankruptcies have crushed small businesses, and the men and women who work for them. He inherited his business, he didnt create it. And whatever happened to Trump Airlines . How about Trump University . And then theres trump magazine and trump vodka and trump steaks and Trump Mortgage. A business genius he is not. Your response, sarah . Obviously, i think donald trump has built tremendous amount of business all across the country and all across the globe. I think we go back to the same point. I hate to sound like a broken record but this is just one desperate attack after another and i think it helps donald trump when the establishment continues to pile on to him. Thats one of the reasons america loves him is because hes not the establishment and because he is a different and fresh face. And when it comes to business, i mean the guy is a billionaire, he cant be all that bad. I think its really hard to say that he is not a good businessman, even if he did have a small loan at one point from his father. He has grown that into a billiondollar industry. So to question that success just seems a little bit ridiculous. Are you preparing for a fight at the convention . I think we have to prepare for everything, but right now our main focus is on winning delegates so that we dont have to have that fight. I think were in a really good place and position to do just that. Sarah Huckabee Sanders from the Trump Campaign, thank you so much. Best of luck at the debate this evening. Thanks, jake. Mitt romney the ultimate member of the establishment said he would accept ted cruz rather than accepting donald trump so how can cruz continue to claim hell do things differently if he makes it to the white house . Well does the Cruz Campaign next, stay with us. Twell what if i told you that peanuts can work for you . Thats right. Im talking full time delivery of 7 grams of protein and 6 essential nutrients. Ever see a peanut take a day off . I dont think so. Harness the hardworking power of the peanut. Hi im kristie. And im jess. And we are the bug chicks. Were a nanobusiness. Windows 10 really helps us get the word out about how awesome bugs are. Kids learn to be brave and curious and all kids speak the language of bug. Hey cortana, find my katydid video. Oh this is so good. If youre trying to teach a kid about a proboscis. Just sketch it on the screen. I dont have a touch screen on my mac, im jealous of that. You put a big bug in a kids hands and change their world view. [ laugh ] hi im kristie. And im jess. And we are the bug chicks. Were a nanobusiness. Windows 10 really helps us get the word out about how awesome bugs are. Kids learn to be brave and curious and all kids speak the language of bug. Hey cortana, find my katydid video. Oh this is so good. If youre trying to teach a kid about a proboscis. Just sketch it on the screen. I dont have a touch screen on my mac, im jealous of that. You put a big bug in a kids hands and change their world view. [ laugh ] then your eyes may see it, differently. Ave allergies. Only flonase is approved to relieve both your itchy, watery eyes and congestion. No other nasal allergy spray can say that. Complete allergy relief or incomplete. Let your eyes decide. Flonase changes everything. In new york state, we believe tomorrow starts today. All across the state, the economy is growing, with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. Like in buffalo, where the largest solar gigafactory in the western hemisphere will soon energize the world. And in syracuse, where imagination is in production. Let us help grow your companys tomorrow today at business. Ny. Gov welcome back to the lead. Im jake tapper. Were going to stick with our politics lead now. Mitt romneys extraordinary speech today where he pleaded with Republican Voters to nominate anyone but donald trump mentioned three of the other candidates still standing, including senator ted cruz, who has spent much of his career alienating the republican establishment or fighting on behalf of the public. But this afternoon a suggestion that maybe some of the establishment is coming around to cruz. Joining me now from detroit is alice stewart, Communications Director for the Cruz Campaign. Alice, thanks so much for being here. Good to see you. Great to be here, thank you, jake. So eight former National FinanceCommittee Members of the jeb bush president ial campaign have joined your team with senator cruz. Why is the establishment coming around now and do you even want their support . Wont this become a talking point for donald trump . Look, we certainly welcome the support from anyone who wants to support ted cruz because were at a critical time in this country. What we heard from mitt romney today was reflective of what clearly 65 of the Republican Voters feel, that donald trump is not the person that should be the nomination for our Republican Party. Look, ted cruz has been saying this for months and months, and all donald trump does is return by saying that hes a liar. Look, the fact remains donald trump has spent a lifetime donating to Democratic Candidates and causes. He spent a lifetime sharing views similar to Hillary Clinton. He has donated significantly to causes that have been in contradiction to what republicans stand for. He supports issues that the Republican Party doesnt stand for. He has been pro choice, he is for gay marriage. I think even more troubling are the things we dont know. Hes refusing to release his tax plan. We dont know whats in his taxes. Also now he has come here saying that he is starting the conversation with regard to immigration, yet now we know there is a tape of him having a conversation with a New York Times reporter where he has acknowledged that everything hes saying on the campaign trail is nothing more than political talk and hes going to go back on it if he were to be the nominee. These are things that are a concern to ted cruz and many republicans. So romney proposed a strategy for all the remaining candidates to stay in the race and try to keep trump from getting enough delegates to secure the nomination. Take a listen. Given the current delegate selection process, that means that id vote for marco rubio in florida and for john kasich in ohio and for ted cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating mr. Trump in a given state. Is that the strategy now, the best way to keep trump from becoming the nominee, for cruise, rubio and kasich to compete only in the states where they have the best chance of beating trump and force a contested convention . We expect this to be decided before that point. Look, our strategy has been the same as its been all along, to do well in these early states and also have the money to continue to execute a multistate strategy. We announced that we raised 12 million in february. Thats the largest cash haul in any month of this campaign and were building our finance team so well have the resources to execute our game plan. The way the delegate counting sits now, donald has a little over 300, we have 225 and marco rubio is far behind. We have a plan in place to continue to acquire delegates that will get us to the magic number, 1237, in time to secure the nomination. That has been our plan and method all along and were on the path to do just that. Alice, donald trump, as he continues to win primary after primary, caucus after caucus is also, it seems, part of this huge recordbreaking turnout by Republican Voters. Is it not possible that he is doing what hes saying hes doing, increasing, expanding the Republican Party . Well, certainly without a doubt the Republican Voters this year are coming out in record numbers. Its because theyre frustrated with the obamaclinton policies that have turned this country into shambles over the past seven years and they want to see a change. Look, when it comes to this process, weve had ted cruz is the only one that has significantly beaten donald trump. Weve won four states and hes also come ahead of him in the state of minnesota and thats critical to know. And also when it comes to who is going to take on Hillary Clinton, ted cruz resoundingly in the polls can beat Hillary Clinton. Donald trump cannot based on his policies. He cannot prosecute his case of his record against Hillary Clinton. So the Republican Party understands that if they want to defeat Hillary Clinton, they need to line up now behind ted cruz and thats where were seeing more and more in the past few days and certainly in the weeks to come. Alice stewart from the Cruz Campaign, thanks so much. Good luck at the debate tonight. Thank you, jake. Appreciate it. They are the emails that just will not go away and now the man who set up Hillary Clintons private email server is striking a deal with fbi investigators. Does this mean that clinton could be forced to testify in the middle of a campaign . Its the north korean militarys version of a toddler throwing himself on the ground midtemper tantrum firing a series of shortrange missiles. What set off kim jongun this time . We wonerere. And here. And here. Here. And here. Uh, here. Also in here. Back there. Behind here. Even next to these guys, here. In the nations largest, independent study, rootmetrics just named verizon Number One Network for the fifth time in a row, here. So when the other guys claim theyre the best, remember theres only one, number one. And now well pay up to 650 to switch to the best network. This one right here. Alright, what do you think boys . We could do tacos. We could do some thai. Ooo. How bout sushi, eh . [weird dog moan squeak] why not . [dog yawning squeaking] no, were not, were not having barbecue. Again. [quiet dog groan] why . Because youre on four legs, and im on two. And im driving. Thats why. [dog whine] sushi it is. Welcome back to the lead. Im jake tapper. This time were going to talk about the democrats, the investigations into Hillary Clintons email server is once again haunting her president ial campaign. Now the man who set up her improper home server could soon be interviewed by the fbi. He has been granted immunity to cooperate. Hillary clinton herself could also eventually face questioning. As that news settles in, her competitor, senator Bernie Sanders, is blasting clinton suggesting she might flipflop on trade issues and sell out the working class if she gets elected. Lets bring in brianna keilar. The clinton team publicly insists its focusing on sanders and not the general election but is that really whats going on behind the scenes . They dont think Bernie Sanders can beat Hillary Clinton. It doesnt mean she doesnt damage him. So i think theyre a little focused on him but they have reduced their focus on Bernie Sanders and theyre much more focused now on donald trump. Hillary clinton raking in the cash she needs good evening, everyone for the general election at a starstudded fundraiser in new york. With a lineup featuring katy perry, julianne moore, jamie foxx and sir elton john. Even in the face of fear tactics and smear tactics, she has the grit and the grace to look back and laugh. Shes taking a break from the trail today. Two debates on the schedule next week against Bernie Sanders, commitments her campaign now regrets as she shifts her rhetoric, positioning herself as the compassionate alternative to donald trump. America has always been great, we dont have to make it great. What we have to do is we have to make america whole. And that means working with one another. Shes fundraising on her promise to keep trump out. But Bernie Sanders is trying this tack as well. Almost all of the major polls that have come out have me beating donald trump. And in the labor strong hold of michigan, where democrats hold their primary tuesday, hes attacking clinton on trade. She has supported nafta. I opposed nafta. She supported permanent normal trade relations with china. I vigorously opposed that with china. Clinton may have another distraction to deal with. The Justice Department has granted immunity to bryan pagliano, the staffer who set up her private email server while she was secretary of state. Its part of the fbi investigation into whether classified information was mishandled due to the setup. Despite her initial months of refusing to turn over her server, her campaign is emphasizing her cooperation. She was willing to answer any question, so have all of her aides been. We want wanted bryan to do the same. Were pleased that hes cooperating with the Justice Department review. Im not going to let go of the email things. If you think about it. Ben gauz benghazi, of course. And thats the worry for the clinton campaign. You remember back when Hillary Clinton said donald trump showed a penchant for sexism. He turned that around on her targeting her husband back when he was just starting to get on the campaign trail and it effectively undercut him. He had to stay away from rope lines, he wasnt talking to reporters as much, he wasnt able to be that effective surrogate that he was trying to be. Donald trump i think wounded that strategy. Yeah, no, its interesting and stopped Hillary Clinton from criticizing him as strongly on that front. A reminder that you can see clinton and sanders face off in the next democratic debate live from flint, michigan, this sunday night at 8 00 eastern right here on cnn. Sticking with our politics lead in a president ial race already defined by firsts, mitt romneys stinging re buke is out of this world and could it back fire on romney our. Our Political Panel will break it down next. You premium like clockwork. Month after month. Year after year. 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Call your doctor if you have muscle pain or weakness; feel unusually tired; have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. These could be signs of serious side effects. Ask for the crestor 3 card. Ask your doctor about crestor. He has a sharp wit. A winning smile. And no chance of getting an athletic scholarship. And that is why you invest. The best returns arent just measured in dollars. Td ameritrade. Welcome back to the lead. The world awoke to another round of headlines about Hillary Clintons email server and all of it was overshadowed by the republican civil war over donald trump. Joining me to talk about it, s. E. Cupp, former george w. Bush advisor and cohost of the circus Mark Mckinnon and steve mcman. S. Echt s. E. , your response to mitt romneys speech today. Let me say, mitt romney is a very good man. I think he cares deeply about the country, about the Republican Party, about the conservative movement. Theres a but coming here. I share his frustration. I share his frustration. Get to the but. The however action i thought that his prescription today was wrong and, frankly, a little offensive. This is how democracy works. We in the media sadly dont get to pick a president. You know, we dont have king makers. And when the People Choose a person that you dont like, i dont think that the prescription is to try to rig another outcome. I also dont think that appealing on strategy is how were going to change hearts and minds. This isnt about strategy, this is about the soul of the conservative movement, the Republican Party and the country. And i dont think that that message to find a strategy to sort of wriggle around a trump nomination, i dont think thats how you get people out to vote for rubio or cruz or kasich. Whats interesting about the romney prescription of everybody stay in the race and go to the state where you can beat trump and force a contested convention, people did talk about it. It didnt get as much attention as 2012. In fact heres marco rubio talking about the possibility of a contested convention in 2012. They have said the only way they can win is a floor fight in tampa. I think that would be the worse possible thing we could do in terms of winning in november. Now, the rubio team has a different view and say its different because donald trump is such a horrific character. But what do you think of all this . Well, first of all, i think that romneys speech today is not going to change a single vote. If anything, it will probably harden the support that Trump Supporters have because its just another example of the establishment that all the supporters are against circling the wagons. Any time a president ial campaign you hear people talking about a contested convention, that means people are running out of options. We had a funny meeting last night where we founding the establishment and took them out to a restaurant last night. The six of them who are there now left. Theres no clear consensus at all from the establishment about what to do. All six had a different idea. So theres no this is 52card pickup time. Theres no clear lane out of here. Steve, ive got to say i know there are a lot of democrats out there licking their chops at the prospect of a troump nomination but there are also a lot of democrats who are really, really worried about this fbi investigation and what it might mean. What do you think . Well, i mean i think obviously the fbi investigation is a serious matter. Depending upon what they find or perhaps importantly what they dont find this thing is going to get resolved one way or another, hopefully soon. I think the fact that the emails werent classified at the time they were received and sent and the fact that others have done this before her is pretty persuasive to most voters. They havent abandoned Hillary Clinton at all in the primaries. Bernie sanders is running against her. Even though he says hes tired of hearing about her damn emails, voters are making their own judgment and reaching their own conclusion. So i dont think its nearly the problem on our side that the republicans have on theirs. And, you know, frankly as a democrat, youre right, there are a lot of democrats who are enjoying watching it, even as we watch some of our friends squirm. So heres the big question. For the republican establishment what is the best Case Scenario if they dont want donald trump to be the nominee. S. E. , mark, steve, stick around. Youll answer that when we come back. Twell what if i told you that peanuts can work for you . Thats right. Im talking full time delivery of 7 grams of protein and 6 essential nutrients. Ever see a peanut take a day off . I dont think so. Harness the hardworking power of the peanut. Welcome back to the lead. Im joined again by our Political Panel, s. E. Cupp, former george w. Bush advisor, Mark Mckinnon and democratic strategist steve mcmahon. S. E. , you do not want donald trump to be your nominee. What is your best hope . I mean i guess the best hope is that either cruz or kasich or rubio would somehow, you know, find a way to the nomination. On the back of a unicorn . I mean, i know. Ive surrendered. Ive waved the white flag. What i dont understand though, jake, and you know this better than anyone, we were able to find all of romneys bane victims. We were able to find Carly Fiorinas hp victims. Where are the victims of Trump University and Trump Mortgage . You know this guy has got to have a wake of carnage. I just dont know why that hasnt been more of a story to put a face to the policies that trump would have in the white house. Mark, there are some republicans like bill bennett and others who are starting to say, look, this can be the way that we can win the white house. Weve been trying to get White Working Class voters to join our party more. Look at some of the turnout numbers. First, look at how many more republicans have voted in early contests than democrats. Thats a lot more. Five million to 2. 6. On super tuesday turnout was up for republicans and democratic turnout dropped. I guess the question is, isnt there an upside, republicans can win the white house . I tell my democratic friends beware of what you wish for. Its not until you go to a trump rally that you really can see it. Its not just what you typically might think would be trump voters, but its young people, lots of millennials but also a whole lot of white, blue collar men. Its definitely the reagan coalition. You think about the options, Hillary Clinton or donald trump, theres a lot looking at trump. A lot in labor. He pulls from a lot of different coalition. Donald trump, when i asked him about the need and the old way of looking at election math, the need for republicans to win 30 of the minority vote, something that george w. Bush was able to do with the support of latino, and trumps answer was, in addition to the fact that he will get some more minority vote, hell make states like michigan, pennsylvania, ohio competitive, steve. Are you at all worried about that . I think any smart democrat would listen to Mark Mckinnons advice and be worried about it. Theres no question that the core of the sanders message is very similar to the core of the trump message which is youre not getting what you deserve. The money that you work so hard is being taken. The villain is in a different place. For trump its overseas and mexico, but for sanders its wall street. But the core of the argument is the same. And bill clinton understands that donald trump would not be an easy general election opponent. Democrats who have watched the partisanship in this country and seen the last three president ial campaigns or more know that this thing is going to be very close either way. And he is unpredictable, which makes him actually harder to run against because hell say and do things that you can only imagine and even after you imagine them, you think noibody would say or o those things and he does. And it helps them. Usually. So far its helped him with some. But the general election is going to be i think a little more challenging in that respect. Do you think, mark, that as mitt romney said today the interview that i had with trump on sunday in which he struggled to condemn the kkk, although he has subsequently done so, do you think that that thats going to be replayed by democrats over and over and over . Yeah, to some extent, although i think that thanks to your show i think that message got out pretty widely. Dont waste the money. I think most americans have heard that message. To the extent that it bothers people, its kind of baked into it. I think there are greater issues. I think her general election framing about how she came out and talked about the barriers, thats kind of the right direction for her to go. I think that theyre heading in the right direction. But, you know, as steve said, bill clinton has got everybody on alert, which is a smart thing. He gets it. S. E. , mark, steve, thanks so much. Great job, appreciate it. Turning to our world lead now, north korea test firing six shortrange missiles off the north korean peninsula. The provocative act coming just hours after the United Nations imposed tough new sanctions against kim jonguns regime for its recent nuclear test. Jim sciutto, what do u. S. Intelligence officials believe the main purpose would be of firing these missiles . Timing with north korea is always telling, coming a day after the u. N. Votes unanimously, the security council, to impose these sanctions. Theres virtual certainty that theyre connected. The missiles that they fired, theyre short rake, not icbms, not like the space rocket that was fired last month so not the things that are typically banned under u. N. Security council resolutions, but still provocative. Keep in mind they fired them in effect in the direction of south korea over the sea and south korea extremely nervous about this. They say north korea is the greatest threat to security in asia today. And what is the focus of these new sanctions . Its important because these are directed here, directed specifically at north koreas weapons programs. Theyre directed at rocket fuel, at jet fuel. Theyre also banning north korea from shipping out of the country selling any of its National Natural resources, which are a key source of funding for its weapons program. So theyre going right after what backs their weapons programs here. Listen to what samantha power, the u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. , had to say. We fully anticipate that they will try to drive a truck through any loophole that they can find. But this resolution is so comprehensive, there are so many provisions that leave no gap, no window. So the question now really is does china enforce these new sanctions . Does it stop north korea from in effect driving that truck through any holes left here . But i will say this, jake. These sanctions were the result of weeks of negotiations between particularly the u. S. And china. Thats a rare victory of sorts, so to speak, and china certainly alarmed now to a greater degree than it has been for some time about north korea. If they enforce these sanctions, its possible it could make a difference. Jim sciutto, thanks so much. Closed door meetings, calculated moves, dirty tricks. Were not talking about the 2016 race. A darker look at the darker side of politics thats been around for generations. Stay with us. See see me. Dont stare at me. See me. See me. 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Joining me now from capitol hill, cnns chief congressional correspondent, dana bash. Dana, what is the mood at the capitol . We already have several senators publicly saying theyre going to vote against how about that for a little throwback thursday. Thats the lead in the middle of all the suspense on house of cards last season. Netflix is dropping season 4 tomorrow at midnight pacific. Tonight and the plot behind this drama and others like it are not farfetched. Cnn will debut its own series called race for the white house narrated by kevin spacey. This one documents real life, americas Twisted History of dirty tricks and calculated political moves in politics. Case in point, attempts to hide sensitive and possibly disqualifying information that could have derailed john f. Kennedys chances of getting elected. The kennedy forces denied it vociferously and having doctors say he was above average in health and energy and vitality and he had never had socalled addisons disease and they lied through their teeth. Kennedys illness is never mentioned again. Joining me now, evan thomas, a nixon biographer who appears in the cnn series and author of being nixon, a man divided. Evan, thanks for joining us. Before we start on the series, i want to get your take on today, mitt romneys speech, the 2012 nominee, attacking the current frontrunner, essentially urging a strategy to force a contested convention. This seems unprecedented. Is it . Its a crazy election. I mean the conventional wisdom already seems to be that its going to help trump. Its just the dying gasp of the establishment. But you dont know. It could be the moment that the trump bandwagon does start to have problems. There has to be a lot of skeletons in trumps closet from his tax returns to his business records. Maybe over time those will come out and slow the bandwagon but the opposite could also be true, that the populist fervor behind trump is so strong that it actually helps him to be denounced by the former republican candidate for president. Its quite a time. Now lets talk about this episode that youre in that documents the attempts to hide senator kennedys Health Problems from taxes to speeches to clean bill of health reports. Does that coverup sound familiar to whats going on with some of the things you just referred to . Well, maybe. But heres the difference. In 1960 you could get away with it. The kennedy folks could lie all they wanted about kennedys health and get away with it. Today you couldnt because of cable tv, because of the internet, because of people like you, you just couldnt get away with it. So if jfk was running today, i dont think he could make it. He would be exposed for having a almost fatal disease. Not to mention some of the other things that he participated in. Racial politics are a big part of the conversation this year, especially this week. They played a role in 1960, of course. John f. Kennedy calling kret c scott king. That call worried Bobby Kennedy, why . Bobby kennedy was afraid it would offend white voters in the south. In those days, the democratic party, the solid south was democratic. He was afraid if kennedy reached out to mrs. King, that would offend white voters. The optics would be bad. But Bobby Kennedy is a smart guy. He also realized that this would help with black voters, particularly in the north. In the north they could vote and they did vote for jfk so this actually was politically advantageous but at first they didnt realize. Sometimes these moments happen and you dont know that theyre decisive and dont know that theyre helping you until you finding out later that it really did. You just referred to about how you could get away with things in 1960 that you cant get away with today. From rallies to diner visits, the media and people who are selfappointed Blogger Media types, they cover practically every move of a candidate different than 1960. Do you think theres still a lot going on that we dont see . Im sure there is. I was in journalaliism long eno to know theres things they cover up that we dont see. Frankly, we still dont really know what happened in the 1960 election. Theres a lot of allegations of voter fraud in illinois that allegedly won the election for kennedy. We dont really know what happened all these years later. Well probably really not know what happened in this election for a long, long time. You know, its funny, i talked to mayor daleys son, the former secretary of commerce and he suggested there were also people in illinois stealing the election for nixon just in a different part of the state. Thats true. I think there were more people trying to steal the election for kennedy in chicago than they were trying to steal the election for nixon downstate. But he has a point, there was vote stealing going on all over. Evan thomas, thank you so much. You can see the series tonight on sunday night. Thats it for the lead. Im jake tapper, turning you over to wolf blitzer in the situation room. Thanks to watching. Happening now, breaking news. Revenge and remorse. The 2012 republican nominee unleashes a stunning attack on the 2016 frontrunner, who answers with his usual punch in the gut. Will they rip the Republican Party apart . Third grade theatrics. Mitt romney slams donald trump as a phony, a fraud and calls him a greedy, dishonest bully. Trump paints romney as a failure and a loser and sums him up as irrelevant. Where is all this headed . Splitting the vote. New information that the gop establishment is plotting to deprive trump of the needed Convention Delegates by a