And good evening. Im Steve Kornacki in for chuck todd. Welcome to mtp daily. In the revolt against donald trump, it all comes down to this. We are, right now, just 14 hours away from the opening of polls in what will be a supervised tuesday showdown. We have winnertakeall contests in florida and ohio. Its a chance in those states for donald trump to deliver twin knockout blows. One to marco rubio in florida. The other potentially to john kasich in ohio. We also have primaries in illinois, in missouri, in North Carolina, even one overseas. Altogether, hundreds of delegates up for grabs on the republican side, in what could be the republican establishments last stand against the forces of donald trump. And the stakes for the Republican Party could not be higher after what we saw this weekend. A weekend of chaos, of arrests, security concerns, threats of retaliation, and canceled events. All of that consuming the Republican Partys frontrunner and his campaign, and prompting a bipartisan backlash over trumps inflammatory rhetoric. With that backdrop of unrest, protesters gathered outside of trump rallies today in hickory, North Carolina, and tampa, florida. There were no physical altercations to report, no reports of arrests, but tensions did flare in North Carolina, when an apparent trump supporter lifted up a large printout of the Confederate Flag with Trumps Campaign slogan make America Great was written on it. The sign was pulled down and ripped up by demonstrators. All of this comes as trump backer ben carson delivered a message to Trump Supporters this morning. They can submit to them and meekly just do whatever those protesters want them to do. Or they can fight back. And sarah palin followed suit, ripping into protesters and the media. She stumped for trump today in tampa before heading back to alaska. This after her husband was hospitalized from injuries in a snowmobile accident. Heres what palin had to say. What we dont have time for is all that petty, punkass little thuggery stuff thats been going on with these quote unquote protesters, who are doing nothing but wasting your time. And the media, being on the thugs side. What the heck are you guys thinking, media . It doesnt make sense now, marco rubio, john kasich, and ted cruz, all of them slammed trump today. None, though, still will go so far as to say they wont support trump if he emerges as the Republican Partys nominee for president. This is what cruz had to say today when he is asked, what it would take to change his mind. If, for example, he were to go out on fifth avenue and shoot somebody, i would not be willing to support donald trump. At the outset of this campaign, i committed, i will support the republican nominee and i honor my word. Now, comments like that are drawing a stinging rebuke from the white house. Heres what press secretary josh earnest had to say today. Its pretty clear, i think, to most people. To most observers, exactly what mr. Trump is up to. But its not clear at all what the rest of the Republican Party is up to. Because on one hand, they, you know, wring their hands about mr. Trumps behavior, but then when asked, they pledge fealty to his campaign in the hopes that he will be elected to lead the greatest country on the planet. And at some point, somebody in the Republican Party is going to have to step up and show some leadership. Rubio may be the first to break that streak. He says hes worried that someone could be killed amid all of the unrest. This is what he said while campaigning in florida today. What we see, instead, is a new brand of leadership, which is no leadership at all. Which says to people, yes, get angry. Get even angrier and lets take it out on these people . And its everybody elses fault that things are going wrong in our country. And the result is we are now a nation where people hate each other. The whole episode has sparked a firestorm of reaction on the left. Chuck todd moderated an msnbc exclusive town hall with Bernie Sanders. Its going to air at 6 00 p. M. Eastern, right here. And during the show, he asks sanders about rubios comments. Marco rubio this morning said the following. We are now a nation where people hate each other. It was sort of a stark and obviously, hes reacting to the donald trump rallies. How do you react to what i dont agree with that at all. I understand where senator rubio is coming from. And what he is disturbed about and what i am disturbed about is we have a major candidate for president of the United States, donald trump, who is literally inciting violence among his supporters. When he says that he is prepared to pay the legal fees for somebody who sucker punches somebody, what he is really essentially saying is, go do it, supporters. Go beat up people. Its a permission slip . Absolutely. Its more than a permission slip. Its an enticement. Its saying, you can beat up people. Thats what this campaign is about. Dont worry about it. Ill pay the legal fees. That is outrageous. You can catch all of that exclusive msnbc town hall. Chuck todd and Bernie Sanders tonight right here, 6 00 p. M. Eastern. Youre not going to want to miss that one. And we are going to dig in, and look at the violence and anger on the trump trail in just a moment as trump prepares to hold a rally in ohio tonight. But first, were going to turn now to the highstakes revolt against trump in the Republican Party, because tomorrow, it all comes down to the state of ohio. And right now, it doesnt look good for rubio to stop trump in florida, in marco rubios home state. There are more than 600,000 votes that have already been cast in the Florida Republican primary. And kosk to the nbc news wall street journal marist poll that was released yesterday, trump holds a 22point lead over rubio amongst folks who say theyve already voted. Lets crunch the numbers, because math is king in this nomination contest. And after all, today is pi day, march 14th, 3 14. This is the most likely scenario as we take a look at the Playing Field in front of us. This is a base line as to what to expect tomorrow. The most likely scenario would have trump winning tomorrow. The polls have it him up pretty big. Also illinois, perhaps a narrow victory in North Carolina. Add those together, that would give him a total of about 639 delegates, as of tomorrow. Then, also tomorrow, cruz, hes shown strength in the south. He could win missouri. He certainly has done well around missouri. Lets give him that for the purposes of this exercise. That would bring him to about 457 delegates. Kasich, giving him the the edge in his home state of ohio. Lets say he takes that. Thats going to move him with a couple of other second and third place showings tomorrow to 180 delegates, roughly. And rubios best hope tomorrow may well be the nine delegates that are up for grabs in the northern mariana islands. A win there would give him roughly 179 delegates. He may be in fourth place tomorrow, if he cant win his home state. Now wonder this scenario, if this is what happens tomorrow, from that point forward, donald trump would need roughly 60 of the remaining delegates to clinch the nomination on the first ballot to avoid the contested convention scenario. And the map after tomorrow, the you look at it right there on your screen, it does seem to favor trump. There are a lot of northern states where trump could do very well. Weve seen this already with his huge victories in states like New Hampshire, michigan, massachusetts. Look at the northeast there. Look at wisconsin. Look even at arizona. A state where immigration, his signature issue, looms so large. So here is the very conservative scenario after tomorrow. Were saying donald trump isnt going to break 50 in any single contest, after march 15th, all the way to the finish line. So that means ted cruz picks up at least six more states along the way. Even allowing for that conservative estimate, trump would still have roughly 1,190 delegates. And that would put him just shy of the 1,237 you would need for the nomination. And again, thats a fairly conservative scenario there. So with all of that in mind. Were seeing republican Business Leaders flood the zone with antitrump ads. Heres the latest from our principles pac. This is a group run by former romney advisers and funded by prominent republican Business Leaders. There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her, wherever. Women. You have to treat them like [ bleep ]. This is how donald trump talks about our mothers our sisters. Our daughters. If you believe america deserves better, vote against donald trump. That pac has aired 3. 4 million in ads like the one you just saw against trump. And im joined now by Ken Blackwell. He was ohios secretary of state. Before that, the mayor of cincinnati. Now hes a Senior Adviser to our principles pac. So hes obviously interested in this effort to deny donald trump the nomination. Ken, thanks for taking a few minutes. Let me start with the simplest question good to see you, steve. We see ted cruz, marco rubio, john kasich right now refusing to come out and say, if donald trump is the nominee win wont support him. Let me ask you this question. If donald trump is such a unique threat to the Republican Party, maybe even to the country, why cant they come out and just say, i cant vote for this guy to be president . Well, because i think they want to cross that bridge when they get to it. Look, there are millions of people speaking with their vote, and theyve voted for trump. What were trying to do is to shine some light on who donald trump is and say to the remaining voters, you know, dont fall for the okeydoke. Donald trump has never been a conservative. Hes just recently aligned himself with the Republican Party. And he has not embraced the constitution and hes more concerned about the rule of trump than he is about the rule of law. We think that ohio, in particular, has an opportunity to slow the trump train down. And i think a contested convention in cleveland, ohio, where everything is done in the light of day and everybody puts their strength forward, we can come up with a candidate that unites the party. So, look, we dont have to trample on the aspirations. We dont have to ignore or marginalize the frustration that a lot of voters who have voted for trump have experienced after seven years of barack obama, and who feel that theyve been marginalized and ostracized by the socalled washington elite. I have through the club for growth, the National Rifle association, im in leadership positions in major conservative operations, and we are concerned about the constitution and we want to make sure that the constitution is the playbook of american government, because it has been the playbook for american exceptionalism. And let me just say, just as you see folks creating bad judgment at trump rallies, believe me, over two cycles, ive seen a. C. O. R. N. , black lives matter, you name it, folks funded by the left, who have been disruptive but ken, lets ken, ken, lets stick on your party right now. Because youre mentioning there, the possibility of an open convention. Of going to cleveland and coming up with maybe a different candidate there. And maybe a candidate other than donald trump. But, look, if donald trump gets to cleveland. Lets say hes short of 1,237, but he has the most delegates, the most popular votes, he has the most states won. He comes there in that position. Because thats the position hes in right now and is likely to be in at the end of this thing. Can the Republican Party saying with donald trump, you cannot have the nomination . Can the Republican Party do that and actually have a chance to win the election in november . Or will donald trump and those millions of people just walk away . Well, i dont think the millions of people are going to walk away if we handle that correctly, look the convention process has a moderating effect. It can get you the blend of themes coming out of the campaign. It can get you the sort of party ticket that can speak to the broad aspirations of a lot of folks, but it wont happen if, in fact, we dont shine a light on who donald trump is, and he wins ohio tomorrow, he wins florida tomorrow, and he wins 1,237 delegates. You cannot take it away from him. But there is nothing undemocratic, there is nothing untoward about saying, we are playing to slow the train down and to throw it into an open, transparent contested convention. Okay, Ken Blackwell among republican leaders. Ken blackwell, former secretary of state of ohio, describing a scenario we have not seen in the modern era of politics, an open convention. We will see if thats where were headed after tomorrow, but thanks for the time tonight. Appreciate it. And stopping trump for the republicans who want to do that will mean one heck of a showdown at that convention this summer in cleveland. And here with an insiders guide to that explosive scenario Ken Blackwell was starting to outline, im joined by sasha eisenberg. Author of how to steal a nomination from donald trump. So, sasha, you heard Ken Blackwell there. I think hes saying, this could be an open transparent process, but ill ask you what i asked him. If we get to the end of this primary process and trump has the most delegates, hes won the most states, hes won the most votes of any candidate, how do republicans say, you still cant have the nomination . Part of it is the scenario that secretary blackwell laid out, that starts in cleveland from scratch on july 18th or whatever the convention begins, is just not the case. Its already begun. And saturday, in iowa, there are 99 county conventions, where precinct delegates who were elected in the 1,681 precinct caucuses we covered in february, go and vote for the individual delegates who go from county conventions to district conventions. These are the individuals who will go to cleveland. And so, were talking about the numbers of delegates that people are winning. But the individual delegates who are selected to fill those spots, will have votes on rules decision, credentials decision, and after a first ballot in which no candidate gets a clear majority will start to have a free hand to vote. And so, this game is already taking place, and theres not a lot of transparency or public accountability. And for all the talk about the establishment being weak this year in stopping donald trump, were now in the part of the campaign, the shadow campaign, that is set by, quite literally, establishment rules. These are the rules of the Republican Party and the rules can be rather wantonly rewritten, as necessary, to, you know, get to an outcome that Party Leaders want. You see, youre outlining sort of mechanically how it could be done. But i guess, is there a thinking here about Bigger Picture . If we just put a scenario on the screen. If trumps at 1,190 and 1,237 is the second number, and second place is at 650. Its a big gap there, a big gap in the popular vote. Public relations of it, can you get away with that as a party . I think the decision that Republican Party leaders, both in the stateses with who decide on their own delegate states and in cleveland, at the convention, will be, you know, what is a worse scenario. Nominating donald trump to be the republican nominee or going through what would be an unquestionably disastrous media performance. And, you know, quite possibly, have, you know, real mayhem on the floor when hundreds of Trump Supporters, who have showed up, expecting that their guy is, as you say, won the most votes, should be nominated and sees it taken away from him. So theres not a good choice here. Now, there are going to be countervailing pressures within the party. I think Mitch Mcconnell would probably rather see donald trump gone, and, you know, see republican independent senators not have to campaign with him. And if the cost of that is losing a president ial blallot i november, it might be worthwhile to keep a Republican House and senate. Youre going to see a lot of competing incentives for people who carry the republican banner. You know, local state Party Leaders may say, forget the presidency, its lost, but i have county executives who i want to make sure get elected. I have mayors and state legislative caucuses that i want to keep. And that could drive a very different set of pressures than the one were talking about for the top of the ticket. Were so used to thinking of these conventions every four year as glorified infoinfomerci maybe not this year. Happy pi day. Thank you. Well have more on the troubling tone from the Trump Campaign trail ahead. Trump denies there is any violence at his campaign events, but as his fans continue to clash with protesters, is his heated rhetoric fanning the flames . Stay tuned. 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. Russia today announced that it will begin withdrawing troops out of syria starting tomorrow. Its a surprise announcement from president Vladimir Putin that m comes more than five months after russia began its military operation to prop up syrian president bashar al assad. As a civil war rages between syrian troops, rebel forces, and islamic militants. Putin said today that Russian Forces have, in large part, fulfilled their objective, but that some forces will remain behind in syria. According to the kremlin, putin spoke with assad by phone to tell him about the decision. It is a move that comes on the same day that u. N. Brokered peace talks resumed in geneva between the Syrian Government and the opposition. Putin says he hopes the troop withdrawal will help contribute to the success of those syrian peace talks. The obama administration, meanwhile, did not appear to have any advance warning of putins decision. So far, weve gotten reaction from just one of the president ial candidates. As youve seen the syrian army under assad, and with the help of hezbollah and putin, has been able to make significant advances in key areas in targeting nonisis rebels. So perhaps this is part of a new phase in that endeavor. We let you compare our progressive direct rate. Great deals for reals . And our competitors rates sidebyside, so you know youre getting a great deal. Saving the moolah. [ chuckles ] as you can see, sometimes progressive isnt the lowest. Not always the lowest jamie. What are you doing . Im being your hype man. Not right now. You said i was gonna be the hype man. No, we said we wouldnt do it. Im sorry, we were talking about savings. I liked his way. Chaching talking about getting that moneeeey talking about getting that moneeeey savings worth the hype. Now thats progressive. No violence. You know how many people have been hurt at our rallies . I think like, basically, none, other than, i guess, maybe somebody got hit once. Theres no violence. Theres a lovefest. These are lovefests. Welcome back to mtp daily. You just heard Donald Trumps latest comments on the disturbing clashes at his rallies. This was his first appearance in North Carolina since last wednesdays violent scene. A protester, being escorted out of trumps fayetteville rally was hit in the face by a supporter who was arrested the next day when this video emerged. And some new news on this incident now. Just this afternoon, the cumberland countys Sheriffs Office in North Carolina just released a statement saying that they are still investigating whether there was conduct on the part of mr. Trump or the Trump Campaign, which rose to the level of inciting a riot. After fridays cancellation of a chicago rally that erupted in choose, trump returned to the trail on saturday. A man rushed the stage before being blocked by secret service agents. Hillary clinton and Bernie Sanders swiftly condemned trump, and said that he is inciting violence. His republican rivals have had more trouble respond together frontrunner. Theyre navigating personal concern and party loyalty, but through it all, trump maintains that he is not responsible for any violence at his rallies. But he hasnt ruled out standing behind his supporters who commit the violent acts. This is what he told chuck todd on sunday. Do you plan on paying for the legal fees of this older gentleman in North Carolina who sucker punched the protester . Well, im not aware i will say this, i do want to see what that young man was doing, because he was very taunting, he was very loud, very disruptive, and from what i understand, he was sticking a certain finger up in the air. Its possible you could help him with legal fees, if this man needs it . Ive actually instructed my people to look into it, yes. Trump is set to hold a rally at the top of the hour in vienna, ohio. Trymaine lee has been doing a lot of reporting outside of trumps most recent rallies. He joins me now from nearby niles, ohio. So trtrymaine, what have been y been hearing . Reporter were about eight miles away from where donald trump is expected to speak. And the line stretches all the way around the parking lot. You see, it extends here. Folks are waiting very patiently. There have been buses taking folks. We havent seen one in quite a while. Talking to people here, there is a mix of excitement. Many people are clearly donald Trump Supporters. Others are kind of torn between john kasich, the hometown guy, or donald trump. A number of young people, i think, this is the part thats kind of interesting. The level of engagement of the young people out here,s those who are voting for the first time. I want to toss to some video i shot earlier, of a young man who said, hes a little torn of who to vote for, but its his first time voting. Lets take a listen. This is my first election. Im going to be 20 here in april. My first election im actually voting in. And this is what im handed. Hillary clinton and donald trump . Some of my friends are just voting for trump because they think hes funny. Reporter ill tell you what, this is clearly a different scene than what weve seen in st. Louis and even kansas city and chicago. But i think this might be logistical kink theyve worked out. Were seven miles away from where donald trump is expecting to speak. The line here is waiting for buses. Even when you get to the airport where the speech is supposed to happen, no one can get even close. There arent any protesters here. Thats the difference, its quiet here, its peaceful. There arent any protesters here to confront these folks. Trymaine lee in nile, ohio. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate the report there. Now well turn to brian levin, director for the Nonpartisan Center for hate and extremism at california state university, san bernardino. Thanks for joining us. Im just curious, watching the scenes unfold this weekend with the rest of the country, im trying to think of a precedent, im trying to think of another example, maybe in modern times, of Something Like we saw over the weekend. Im kind of drawing a blank. What about you . Certainly not during the last half insure. Look, weve seen people who use language thats been divisive. George wallace, for instance. Pat buchanan, but what we havent seen is a frontrunner using it, and with the impromateur of aggressive force in the campaign. And just with respect to the incitement investigation, the Supreme Court back in the 1960s had a case involving incitement. And what they require in order for criminal charges to be levied is an immediate call to criminality and something thats directed specifically towards it. I dont know if mr. Trump has met the Legal Standard for criminal incitement, but certainly, what he is doing is fueling the fear and thats something i think is far more common among his supporters than, for instance, even bigotry, although, there is widespread support within the extremist community, for mr. Trump, from everything from clan groups to storm front, white nationalists, and others. Thats interesting. Because obviously the whole controversy over donald trump and the seeming reluctance to call out david duke a couple weeks ago, and as you say, these extremist white supremacist groups that have said favorable things about him. At the same time, i was struck, theres this article in the New York Times today, a reporter went down to pampa and went to a trump office down there. The headline on this says, trumps tampa office is an unlikely melting pot. Its a very interesting read, basically saying, look, the image of Trump Supporters are the sort of aggrieved white working class. But the people here, the article says, noteworthy for their ethnic diversity. I wonder, is there a chance here that were sort of coming up with almost a stereotype or a character of what trumps feeding into. And maybe theres also something broader that were not seeing in this article is maybe noticing. I think you hit on it very well. Look, there is a ground swell of support within the extremist world for mr. Trump that we havent seen in some time. However, theyre not the majority of his supporters. What i think they have in common is a desire for authentic leadership and they look at four or five answers. Theyre scared, they want strength. They also want a simple message and that message often comes at the cost of stereotypes and separation. So what i think what we have is a fluid group of disenfranchised folks who fear both external things like terrorism, but also internally, jobs going overseas, and what they are susceptible to is being hooked into aggression and bigotry. Im not saying mr. Trump is a bigot, nor am i saying the vast majority of his supporters are bigots, but if we look at some of the polling, specifically out of south carolina, where more folks who support donald trump say they wish the south won the civil war, there is a slope there, that if hes not careful, can tilt into this incendiary aggression that also can be intertwined with prejudice. And i think thats what he has to worry about. Can he pivot back, because once you start a fire, you might not be able to contain it. All right. Brian levin from cal state, bernardino, thanks for hthe tim. Thank you. Still ahead, Hillary Clinton takes donald trump to task. A closer look at how she and Bernie Sanders are both talking about trump on the stump. And our panel weighs in on the super tuesday stakes for both sides tomorrow. Thats later in the hour. Stay tuned, youre watching mtp daily. Vo know you have a dedicated advisor and team who understand where you come from. We didnt really have anything, you know. But, we made do. Vo know you can craft an Investment Plan as strong as your values. Al, how you doing. Hey, mr. Hamilton. Vo know that together you can establish a meaningful legacy. With the guidance and support of your dedicated pnc Wealth Management team. Frodoers dont stop. Wake up, every day is a chance to do something great. And for the ones they love, theyd do anything. Sears optical has glasses made for doing. Right now, buy one pair and get another free. Quality eyewear for doers. Sears optical. Only glucerna has carbsteady, diabetes, steady is exciting. Clinically proven to help minimize blood sugar spikes. So you stay steady ahead. I am a lot of things. I am his guardian. I am his voice. 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With venture, youll earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. And when youre ready to travel, just book the flight you want, on any airline and use your miles to cover the cost. Now thats more like it. Whats in your wallet . People need to vote as though their future was at stake, because it is at stake. I dont think the stakes have ever been higher or the rhetoric on the other side ever been lower. It is time for us to unite as a country and divisiveness. And that was Hillary Clinton at a rally in chicago earlier today. Clinton will be taking part in an msnbc town hall, moderated by Chris Matthews, tonight at 7 00 p. M. Shes going to address most likely trumps rhetoric during that event. Meanwhile, sanders spoke with chuck todd for an msnbc town hall thats going to air right before the Hillary Clinton town hall. The sanders one will air at 6 00, right after this show. Responding to an audience question at the town hall, sanders talked about the uphill delegate fight that hes facing and the possibility of doing away with the super delegate system altogether. Secretary clinton is the candidate of the establishment, all right . So she has all of the governors, she has almost all of the mayors, all of the congressmen, all of the senators, it is true. And many are super delegates. But heres what is really weird. We won New Hampshire by over 20 points. We are to take on the governor, and we had to take on a United States senator. And yet it is likely that super delegates in that state will actually vote or are intending to vote for secretary clinton, despite the fact that the people in that state have spoken very strongly for me. And were seeing that around the country. So to answer your question, i think what people should be saying to super delegates. Look, if brrpernie sanders wins state with a big vote, why donate you vote with the people of your state . And my colleague kasie hunt is covering the Sanders Campaign. She joins us now from charlotte, North Carolina. Kacey, thats an interesting new twist on the super delegate situation from the Sanders Campaign. Weve been hearing before this the idea that, hey, look, if Bernie Sanders can catch Hillary Clinton in the pledged delegate count, the delegates given out in these primaries and caucuses, the super delegates should follow suit and go with that. But looking at the pledge delegates alone, he faces quite a gap there. Reporter he does face a gap, steve. And i think that there is some truth to this idea that if the pledged delegates start to go in Bernie Sanders favor, there will be a lot of pressure on many of these super delegates to switch sides. We saw some of that in 2008. So i dont think thats out of the realm of possibility. Part of the reason the Clinton Campaign is so hyperfocused on this pledge delegate lead is because they know it could be a political problem for them, to have to deal with that, right . They dont want to be seen as winning this, because the super delegates are with her. They want to win on pledge delegates. Now, their argument is that they have a lead thats insurmountable in that way, and i think that there are still some questions going into tuesday about whether thats the case. And thats why youve seen the Sanders Campaign start to shift a little bit into a more delegatefocused strategy. Youve seen him compete across the map, going into tuesday. Even in states they know theyre going to lose, like florida, for example. Theyve been both up on the air and theyve also put their candidate into these states. North carolina, where we are right now, is another one, where they think that they might be able to do unexpectedly well. And thats all about cutting into that lead. Now, the challenge, as you know, is that he needs to drive up these margins. So he doesnt need to just win states. He needs to win them significantly. And thats why youre seeing the Clinton Campaign focus so much on making sure that they cut their losses in caucus states that are coming up down the line. Think idaho, for example. Alaska, places where she got burned last time, by barack obama. So, if they can protect that, they feel like they can stretch this out. But theres still no small amount of risk for the Clinton Campaign in that regard, steve. All right, kasie hunt in North Carolina, thanks for that. And keep it here on msnbc for our town hall deouble header. Its minutes away. Well start with the Bernie Sanders town hall beginning at 6 00 p. M. Eastern, less than 20 minutes from now. And that will be followed immediately by the Hillary Clinton town hall. And Chris Matthews will be moderating that one. That will be at 7 00 p. M. Eastern tonight, right here on msnbc. Ahead in the ws, on this show, why ted cruz is celebrating a last place finish in the washington, d. C. Republican vote. Stay tuned. When you think about success, what does it look like . Is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student . Is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves . Is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the Natural World . Whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. Tiaa. abdominal pain. Urgent diarrhea. You never know when ibsd will show up. Xifaxan can help. Prescription xifaxan is an ibsd treatment that helps relieve your diarrhea and abdominal pain symptoms. Do not use xifaxan if you have a history of sensitivity to rifaximin, rifamycin antibiotic agents, or any components of xifaxan. Tell your doctor right away if your diarrhea worsens while taking xifaxan, as this may be a sign of a serious or even fatal condition. Ll your doctor if you have Liver Disease or are taking other medications, because these may increase the amount of xifaxan in your body. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan on becoming pregnant, or are nursing. The most common side effects are nausea and an increase in liver enzymes. If you think you have ibs with diarrhea talk to your doctor abou xifaxan. I lead with the evangelicals. Dont forget, dont forget, when i went to south carolina, that was supposed to be for ted cruz. That was ted cruz country. 67 evangelicals and i won in a landslide. Everyone said, whats going on . That was donald trump earlier today, highlighting one of the surprising aspects of this republican primary race. His success with evangelical voters against ted cruz. Now, tomorrows contests feature the last races in states with large shares of evangelical voters on the calendar until we get to the month of may. This happen shows the 11 states with the highest percentage of evangelical protestants. And eight of them have already voted in the republican race. Alabama, arkansas, georgia, kentucky, mississippi, tennessee, south carolina, all of those states going for donald trump. Oklahoma, remember, did go for ted cruz. And missouri and North Carolina, they are set to vote tomorrow. West virginia will hit the polls on may 10th. Now, why does this matter . Well, evangelical protestants were supposed to be ted cruzs bread and butter in this campaign. But as trump himself just said there, cruz has failed to take those states so far. We will see tomorrow if trump can keep that going. I love to take pictures that engage people. And to connect us with the wonderment of nature. The detail on this surface book is amazing. With the tiger image, the saliva coming off and you got this turning. Thats why i need this kind of resolution and computing power. Being able to use a pen like this. On the screen directly with the image. It just gives me a different relationship to it. 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Dont start humira if you have an infection. Want more proof . Ask your rheumatologist about humira. Humira. This is my body of proof [engines revving] you cant have a hero, if you dont have a villain. The world needs villains [tires screeching] and villains need cars. And time now for the ws. Starting with a who. Its soontobe education secretary, john king. The senate is voting right now, as we speak, to confirm king as arne duncans official replacement. That will be happening any minute now. And with duncan out, this leads agriculture tom vilsack as the only original obama cabinet member still on the job. Todays what, its the 2016 ncaa bracket. It is out and heres the political angle. The last two champions in open seat president ial election years, like this country, michigan state, back in 2000, that was before george w. Bush won in november, and kansas in 2008, before Barack Obamas victory. And actually, you could add another one. 1988, the open seat before that. That was kansas, too. Danny manning, larry brown, probation a year later. Anyway, fill in your brackets accordingly. Now, the where. It is broadway on pennsylvania avenue. Right now, the cast of the hit musical hamilton is at the white house, about to perform in front of a group of students. The when, it is town hall night on msnbc. What is the harm in another promo for that. 6 00 p. M. Eastern, right after this show. Chuck todds town hall with Bernie Sanders. And right on the heels of that, a Hillary Clinton town hall at 7 00 with Chris Matthews. All of it right here on msnbc. So do not touch that remote. And now to todays why. Well, ted cruz came in last place over the weekend in washington, d. C. s republican contest, but on sunday, he reported those results to cheers at a rally in North Carolina. For someone who rails against the washington cartel, as he calls it, a victory in d. C. Would have been a tough thing for cruz to brag about. Now, in d. C. , there were four candidates. And i got to tell you, according to washington, d. C. , i am dead last. Youre an at t Small Business expert . Sure am. My staff could use your help staying in touch with customers. At t can help you stay connected. Am i seeing double . No maam. Our at t buy one get one free makes it easier for your staff to send appointment reminders to your customers. And share promotions on social media . You know it now im seeing dollar signs. You should probably get your eyes checked. Good one babe. Optometry humor. Right now get up to 650 in credits to help you switch to at t. This highly soughtafter device from progressive can be yours for. Twenty grand . No we are giving it away for just 3 easy payments of 4. 99 plus tax the lines are blowing up weve got deborah from poughkeepsie. Flo yeah, no, its flo. You guys realize anyone can use the name your price tool for free on progressive. Com, right . [ laughing nervously ] [ pickles whines ] i know, its like theyre always on television. What . For your retirement, you want to celebrate the little things, because theyre big to you. And that is why you invest. The best returns arent just measured in dollars. Td ameritrade®. At safelite,oh nonow how busy your life can be. This mom didnt have time to worry about a cracked windshield. So she scheduled at safelite. Com and with safelites exclusive on my way text she knew exactly when id be there. So she didnt miss a single shot. cheering crowd i replaced her windshield. Giving her more time for what matters most. Howd ya do . We won nice thats another safelite advantage. Thank you so much team sing safelite repair, safelite replace. The press is now calling to say, oh, but theres such violence. You know how many people have been hurt at our rallies . I think like basically none. Other than, i guess, maybe somebody got hit once. People say, well, theres violence. Theres no violence. These are lovefests. Time for the lead, joining for the round table, msnbc Senior Editor beth, former speechwriter tor president bill clinton, and michael waldman. And susan delpesio. Well see if they shut it down for good. That conversation may not be over yet. Beth, lets start tomorrow on the republican side. This is interesting to me. I look at the five races tomorrow and see a range of possibilities that goes from trump wins all five states and kasich and rubio are forced out of the race to maybe trump wins just one state. I could see anything between those two extremes. I would love to know your thought on what its going to turn out to be. My personal thought is, trump fo goes on big. Had es owned the media cycle for the past week. Nobody can get true, even on the distributed side. Hes elevated Bernie Sanders. Simply because trump has created it to be so. We know a lot of the publicity is bad. The entire country saw the guy getting sucker punched. For trump to say, thats silly. His diehard supporters are going to dig in even more. He goes on i suspect cruz goes on, kasich and rubio are basically on life support. Theres two ways of looking at the anybody but trump, the stop Trump Movement. Donald trump, we dont see him getting 50 , 65 in these contests. There is still argument theres a big faction of the party that will never be with trump. On the other side, though, they still havent mobilized around anybody. Hes still winning the most states. A lot of people stay the whole idea of the stop Trump Movement is based on what the republicans want their party to be rather than what it actually is. How do you look at it . I agree with all that. Should kasich lose ohio tomorrow, its game over. I think trump goes to the convention and has the right number of delegates. Its going to be very hard to stop him. If kasich wins, and lets say cruz picks up one state, then were going to a conten tested n investigation. What the Republican Party needs to do, those of the stop Trump Movement, need to start looking forward to july. The problem is, theyve always come in two weeks before florida is not when you start a stop Trump Movement. You have to start preparing to what happens if theres a contested convention. Could, for example, if rubio decides to get behind kasich, does that all of a sudden seem like a really plausible thing that republicans can get behind, start supporting it today, even though kasich wont get enough to get to 1237. Thats a second ballot. Were seeing two things we havent seep for decades in this country. One is what used to be the norm, which is conventions that were contested or open. Might play out in an era of twitter and 24hour cable. Theres a lot of voters that think anything other than whoever got the most votes in the primaries wins. A lot of voters think thats illegitimate. One question is, can the party and parties are important. It means something to have a political party, make the case that its the right thing to do. Im picturing a scene in cleveland where donald trump comes in there with 1,100 delegates. And some procedural maneuver pushes somebody else to the nomination the thats not going to be a calm scene. Plus, there are a variety of rules that make it hard for someone who hasnt run in any of the primaries to step forward near the beginning. And ultimately, this kind of thing if it goes to that, is it goes to somebody who hasnt been on the scene at all. We see potentially a major new force coming and articulating itself in american politics, which is sort of the rightwing populist force that youve seen in europe or in england. And you see it with trump. Its both different from conventional conservative republicans on economics, but much more racially focused, much more nativist, p more violent in its language. This could be the future, not just a blip. But steve, you hit on something really important. You said what happens if he gets to 1,100. Supporters are different than the del gates. How did trump choose his delegates. A lot of them were chosen a long time ago. And they usually are somewhat around the party base. So in a state like california, lets say, maybe he didnt necessarily do the wisest way of choosing his delegates. Maybe this ewere associated with the state party and things were changed on a second ballot. Youre saying they may not have that much loyalty to donald trump. They may not, if they get to have more loyalty with the state party. Thats sort of the mechanical loophole. But again, Donald Trumps not going to take that lying down. No. And neither are his supporters of the what youre saying is completely true. The genie is out of the bottle here. Whomever the establishment is anybody, if they come through and locks trump at the convention, and put somebody else in, if you think the people are going to say, oh, we lost and go on . Trumps going to lose against anybody else anyway. But still, theres those out there, if you lose or not, they are a potent major force in politics right now. In 1972 with mcgovern or in 1964 with goldwater, there were the procedural rules fights that decided who the nominees were. Lock, if trump in the eyes of his supporters is denied a legitimate nomination, he may or may not be able to get on the ballot as a thirdparty candidate. But he will raise a ruckus between now and then. Ive got to cut this short. Ive been droeming of having this conversation about a real contested convention for years. Unfortunately were out of time this hour. But thank you for that. Well be back with more. And msnbcs democratic doubleheader is straight ahead. Stay tuned for Hillary Clintons town hall at 7 00 eastern, and Bernie Sanders town hall with chuck todd starts right now. Some call his michigan win stunning. Even a major upset. I have a feeling that you want a political revolution. Bernie sanders looks to pull off more surprises tomorrow, in what is shaping up to be another super tuesday. If there is a large voter turnout, we will win. But before those votes are cast, he makes one final pitch to ohio. This is a campaign of the people, by the people, and for the people. This is