are not smart, perhaps they're in incompetent, perhaps they have a bad agenda, which i actually don't believe. i think they're just not very good at what they do. i think they're incompetent. and he said i'm a whiner, i'm a complainer. i am. i said i complain and i complain and whine until i win. and i will win for the american people. we'll have great trade deals, we'll have a strong military. we'll take care of our vets. we'll get rid of obamacare and come up with something that will be spectacular. look what's happening with the premiums on obamacare? they're going through -- look at what's going on with the premiums. they're going through the roof, up 40%, 45%, 50%. we'll make our country great again. all right, maybe one more question. i'll give you two more. say it again. [ inaudible ] >> jeb bush is a low energy person. for him to get things done is hard. he's very low energy. go ahead. [ inaudible ] >> you know what we spend on illegal immigration right now? we're spending $130 billion a year. so if we can spend a similar amount and not have the problem, it would be phenomenal. that's a good deal. it's a one-year payback. not that i'm looking at that. but we do need it. hey, we are losing as a country on a yearly basis. billions and billions, beyond anybody -- they can't even believe it. you look at our trade deals. you look at what we're talking about illegal immigration. we have to straighten things out. and we will. but you know, a lot of people are saying that, the plan, building the wall is something that has to happen. it's not expensive. it won't be expensive. the reason it looks expensive is because you have people working on it that don't know what they're doing. it's not expensive. and that wall will save us. but the one thing i have to get, before we leave, i want people to come into the country. i want them to come in legally. and i want really talented people also to come into the -- great workers, great talent. i want a lot of people to come into the country. but they have to come in legally. [ inaudible question ] >> i love that question. what a good guy. who are you? this is a great guy. why can't you ask me a question like that? it's very interesting. north carolina just came out, a poll just came out, public policy polling. and i'm leading in north carolina by a lot. and i'm leading against hillary clinton by a lot. a very important place, important state and a great state. a lot of things, and they went over the numbers, and so did many of the other polling companies. and i draw from democrats, and i draw from conservatives, and tea party. i draw from everybody. and people are a little surprised. straight across the board. but we draw more than anybody else from the democrats, and that's good. we're going to have to do that if we're going to win. one question. you look so nice. >> what about the voters who love you and don't vote for you? >> i don't have too many of them. you know what, that's changing. excuse me, say it legitimately. how much has that changed in the last three or four weeks? and in new hampshire, it's so positive. and by the way, in iowa, it's so positive, because they've gotten to know me. i've been here a lot and i've been to iowa a lot and south carolina a lot where we have incredible numbers. in the places where i go, my favorability is through the roof, including new hampshire. okay, i'm going to have to go. all right, one from you, but it's always a negative question. go ahead. can you ask a positive question? let's see if it's possible. what? [ inaudible question ] >> if necessary, i would do that, yes. we have to stop -- i didn't want to do iraq. it was a big mistake. it should never have happened. the way we got out was also a big mistake. we cannot let isis continue to do what they're doing. so if necessary, the answer is, yes. okay? thank you, everybody. >> good evening. donald trump has wrapped up his event with reporters and is about to hold a town hall event with new hampshire voters. we'll bring you that live when it begins. joining me now, robert costa with "the washington post." howard fineman from the huffington post, thank you all. i have a lot of clips to bring back. good to have you here. let's go with the straight journalist in the beginning. robert costa, why can't hillary clinton run a press conference like that? the way he instructs people how to ask questions, it's like they're trained seals out there. hillary clinton is overrun by them. who is right and who is wrong in running a press conference? >> it's a huge contrast -- >> and is that the right way? >> he gets away with it because he has a comfort on the stage, at the podium. he's been in front of cameras for 25, 30 years. >> when he tells people to shut up, they shut up. if hillary clinton said, shut up, ed, would he? >> totally different politicians. >> you're defining the obvious. howard, you're the pro here. how does he get away, he's like a lion tamer with a chair, whipping them into action. >> because he knows that everybody out there is hanging on his every word. he has the confidence in that, of a master salesman. this is a guy who's built his career in new york, which is the toughest media market. >> minute by minute. >> and minute by minute, when you're arguing to build a building, it's a constant campaign. he's run a million campaigns to build buildings in new york, las vegas and elsewhere. he's a master salesman. and more than that, he speaks the language of the american people. i've spent a lot of time in new hampshire, those words about immigration, about isis, about james foley who is from new hampshire -- >> i'm with him. >> that's straight out of the mouth of your average male new hampshirite, females too, who are going to be. >> -- who are going to be assertive about what the lost great america. >> a couple of things that seemed like nuance. he talks american english. he says chokes. he said jeb is choking. he talks about his -- he said mitt romney choked. these other candidates wouldn't even say the word choke and yet that's the way we talk. your thoughts? i know it's not as important as policy questions, but there's something in the style, that hillary ought to learn from the style. >> it's all style. he's fun to watch. he's very loose, he revels in the attention. and frankly, he's got nothing to lose. donald trump, again, in my opinion, is not really running for president. i don't think he really wants to be president. >> what's he doing? >> he's running for the attention. >> how does he get off the stage? >> i think he runs as an independent eventually if he likes this well enough. he runs as an independent. and think of the possibilities there, with donald trump running as an independent. >> if he loses that gets ten points and brings down the republicans, they'll hate him for it, like democrats are angry at ralph nader still. >> but he doesn't care. he doesn't care. what does donald trump care whether the republicans are mad at him? >> the brand, the brand. >> i think he cares very much. >> your thoughts? >> he cares. you asked a question, chris, hi, that how is hillary clinton and donald trump different, and what can she learn from him? number one, he really enjoys being up there. he enjoys engaging the press. hillary clinton had a press conference yesterday, looked like she was going in for a root canal. arguing with them, seemed indifferent, a little bit arrogant, sarcastic. and i see trump at that podium as a man with confidence. mrs. clinton used to have -- secretary clinton had a great deal of confidence when he was up at a podium. lately she's reading remarks from a binder and she's joyless. >> just kept asking the same question. but it's a good point. just moments ago, donald trump continued his aggressive push against anchor babies as he called them. here he is right now. >> it's a very big question as to the anchor babies. they've been talking about it for years, as to whether the 14th amendment covers this. we'll find out whether or not it does. changing the 14th amendment would take years and years, a long drawn-out process. a lot of people think that it's absolutely in terms of anchor babies, that it is not covered. so we'll find out. many of the great scholars say that anchor babies are not covered. we're going to find out. >> it's a crude term, not very humane, but it's a term for women who come to america, manage to get across the border illegally, have a baby, that babies is an american citizen and that's the law of the land. and everybody's accepted it until now. as for whether or not we like the practice of it, trump is exploiting it. >> and a reporter asked him about the term anchor baby, he didn't back away from it. >> what's another term? >> you could say a child of an undocumented worker. >> robert's point is that he refuses to speak in the language of political correctness. he wants to use the most -- >> looking at it the other way, undocumented worker is not a very informative term. >> he insists on saying illegal. >> i think illegal alien is really terrible. anyway, donald trump was asked if he's gotten under jeb bush's skin. here's what trump had to say. >> have i gotten under jeb bush's skin? i don't know. i will tell you this. you mentioned the word "skin." he said the other day, one of the dumber things i've heard ever in politics when talking about iraq. that we, the united states, he said, have to show them that we have skin in the game. in order to go into iraq. we've lost $2 trillion, thousands of lives, wounded warriors who i love all over the place, and he's talking about, we have to show them that we have skin in the game. between common core, his act of love on immigration, and skin in the game with iraq, that's the third one that we've now added, i don't see how he's electable. >> katie is covering this for msnbc. katie, it seems that he's made a point. there's a strategy hot off his feet, cleverness, he's going after the leader that he has to knock off in the end, it's jeb bush. and he's picking a fight with him, saying, skin in the game, questioning his nationalism, his sense of grievance about the stupid war in iraq, hitting him where he's weakest, iraq. you got a competing press conference going on right nearby here. your thoughts? the strategy of donald trump. >> well, you know this, you punch up. and i think what the campaign sees is that jeb bush is his biggest threat, his biggest competitor in this race for the long haul. jeb bush might not be doing as well in the polls. he might not have the same energy and get the same crowds, but i think it's telling he's singling him out as much asly does. he takes every opportunity he can to spar with jeb bush. and it's usually a one-way spar, because bush is trying to avoid talking about him completely. he can't quite because reporters keep asking about him. he's tried not to mention him by name, just saying the big personalities in the room. he was forced to comment on his immigration plan on monday. and now even though bush hasn't directly commented on trump holding a rally in new hampshire at the same time as him, just a few miles away, he's getting all the attention. this is going to be in the news for the next few days. this is the headline, trump and bush have competing rallies. so trump is doing this in a calculated way to get all the attention and to take the air out of the tires of jeb bush. even though the air might not be so inflated at the moment, he's taking it for the long run, for the primaries for months from now, it's a long time. chris? >> i love your metaphors there. ron, it seems to me, that the shot at bush was right almost to his solar plex us, if not to his groin. he's unelectable. that is the one thing bush has been selling, that he's electable. it seems to me, he's very focused -- i think he's trying to win this nomination fight now. what do you think, ron? is a real thing or a reality tv show? it's beginning to look like a real thing to me. >> it can be both. he can be treating this as an opportunity to get attention, but he still likes to win. we know that about donald trump. and i think that shot at jeb really was, that was tough stuff. that may have been his best moment there at the press conference. and it does hit jeb where he lives. and the other big story, we've all been talking about donald trump -- >> he lives in his brother's war. >> exactly. he is. and he hasn't dealt with it effectively. all this time we've been talking about donald trump as the big story, and that's legitimate enough, i suppose. the other big story that's happening at the same time, jeb bush, the establishment candidate, the guy who's been raising all the money, absolutely failing to gain traction, going down in the polls, the more people see of him, the less they think of him. this is the guy that's supposed to be the winner, and he just doesn't look like a savvy politician. he may raise a lot of money, but he doesn't have the one thing that money can't buy. and that's charisma. >> by the way, do you think phil griffin is calling me now saying, get over to that jeb press conference, you're missing the big story? what's the matter with you guys? [ laughter ] there's a reason we're moths to the flame here. but there's only one flame. i don't want to cover scott walker. there's nothing to these guys. i don't want to do huckabee, chucka bee, whatever his name it, he's been around forever with the same old country boy sermon. it's yesterday. i don't want to hear it. this guy is thinking on his feet. he is entertaining. >> yes. >> he's entertaining. >> and just give me primetime tomorrow night. exhibition match -- just do it. [ all speak at once ] >> look at the audience. >> it's great for ratings, chris. it would be delicious. i just hope hillary can hang on long enough to be the democratic nominee. that's my hope. >> that was another knife in the back from you. that was a knife -- you just -- you don't hope for the hang on. you don't want her to hang on. >> i do! i do want her to hang on. >> you are just putting it to her. >> and here's why. i worry if she gets pushed out of the race too early, you have elizabeth warren stepping in. but let's get back to the word electable. so important to a conservative -- >> do you think elizabeth warren will come into this race eventually? >> if hillary is truly damaged and if she exits on her own, yes. >> okay, thank you for the -- >> why not? >> there's a lot of ifs there. when hillary clinton quits this election, we'll shut down the show. we're waiting now for donald trump to hold his first town hall meeting as a presidential candidate. he's up in derry, new hampshire. we'll bring you that when it happens. and this town meeting is going to be so exciting. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >> we're waiting for donald trump's first town hall as a presidential candidate. got a pretty good warm-up there. he's in derry, new hampshire, just a few miles from where jeb bush is holding his own town hall. back with "hardball" after this. we are waiting for that donald trump town hall meeting which is about to begin. the pregame was pretty good to start with. just a few minutes ago, trump told reporters that the only constant in the race for president is him. let's watch him. >> the only thing constant is trump. all of them change on the bottom. they're going up and down like yo-yos. but i've been up there are if a long time, and i hope rime going to be up there for a long time. i read a lot of phony reports in the papers, oh, well, when donald trump gets tired of doing this, he's doing great, leading all the polls, but at some point, he'll -- >> i'm not going anywhere folks. i'm not doing this for my health. i'm doing this to make america great again. >> we're back with nbc's katie up at the event. robert costa is here with me. howard fineman with the huffington post. and msnbc contributor ron reagan. let me go back to ron. i know you have big thoughts because of your preinterview today about this motion that he's been pushing that he's a reaganite. what do you make of that as an expert? >> everybody who runs as a republican wants to be running in the foot steps of my father and they mostly say that. they all say that, i think, at one time or other. i can't think of a human being on either that's farther from my father than donald trump. i have to say it. if my father were here, he'd be amused by donald trump. if he were running against donald trump, i think he would swat him aside like a fly. that's another thing that's incredible watching this. donald trump, forget about his policies such as they are, because they really don't exist. they're just sort of notions. but look at how he's moving the republican field. look at how these guys are kowtowing to donald trump. these are people that want to be the commander in chief, the leader of the free world, who want to go toe to toe with vladimir putin, and they can't deal with donald trump, for god sakes. >> that's a brave thought. these guys thought about running for president before they announced. been in the race for months. they thought about the constitution of the united states, probably. and they probably understand the 14th amendment. if you're born here, you're one of us. okay, however it happened, you are. all of a sudden donald trump says that's not the way it's going to be. it's not even the way i read the constitution. i'm starting to talk like him with the hands. and all of them said, you're right. my reading of the u.s. constitution is your reading. it's unbelievable how quick they're moving. that's the definition of a leader, whether you like him or not. >> he's got his foot on their necks in iowa. if you're on the hard right, you're getting no attention. you're under pressure from donors to move. you're taking cues from trump. look at rick perry. he's running out of money. can't even pay his staff. >> let's show you this from movie dr. strange love. remember slim pickings, who gets on the atom bomb and they yell with the cowboy hat, yahoo. let's watch that clip. because this is the way these guys like huckabee and the rest of them have been behaving. here it is. let's watch it. >> yahoo! woo hoo! >> jumping on the bomb. why are they jumping on this bomb? acting like slim pickings riding an atom bomb to the destruction of their party. i'm not hispanic, but i can tell you, they're paying attention to this guy, because he's talking about them and saying go home, if it's your grandkid, uncle, aunt, cousins, get them out of here. it's pretty gross and yet he's doing it to the republican party. >> indeed he is. and the republicans are doing it to themselves. kiss off the hispanic vote which is now about 11% of the electorate. that's no small chunk. >> maybe 13. and it's growing. >> the republicans are essentially writing off once again -- remember last electoral cycle when they all sat around talking about how they had to have outreach to the hispanic community, and now they've got a guy, a standard bearer in donald trump who thinks they're all rapists? really? >> kelly, you're the expert on polling. are they not trading general election votes for hispanics they have a chance to get still if they run an hispanic guy, cruz or rubio, or the guy who's married to a mexican, that's jeb. aren't they traded away those november next-year votes to get early-contest votes? isn't that the trade-up they're making to their infamy perhaps? >> the they, i don't know who the they is. >> donald trump. here it is. as goes trump, so goes the republicans. no. here they are. show you how many of them are joining on this anti-hispanic number. in response to trump's comments about restricting birth right citizenship. on monday, bobby jindal agreed with him. he wasn't the only one. let's watch. >> do you think that birth right citizenship should be ended? >> absolutely going forward. >> w