Trump has cruz losing in other ways in a weird attempt to counter the fact that cruz was born in canada sp not a naturally born citizen cruz now attacks trump for being from new york. Believe it or not questionable to people of iowa who liked being talked down to this way as people fearful of the big bad metropolis. The new numbers show where the republican race does stand. Donald trump has increased his lead. One third of republicans back trump up six points since last month since december. His best showing so far in the nbc survey. Ted cruz is second with one in five republicans. He is down a bit. Here is another new reality. The number of republicans who can say they see themselves Backing Trump in the end has shot up. 65 about two thirds say they can back trump if it comes to that. That is compared to 32 who said the same thing in june. Nbc katy tur and Hallie Jackson join me now. You are in it from square one from day one. This acceptability and maybe not something you can read on the trail because you are with the true believeers but it is kind of impressive that two thirds of the Republican Party says they can back trump if it comes to it. Reporter this was inevitable. In the beginning days he was seen as somebody who was a bit of a side show and people didnt think they could support him. As it has gone on and gotten a ground swell of support as he has gotten more head lines and people found it more acceptable to like him in their social circles it is inevitable that acceptance level would rise. We are seeing that among gop insiders seeing trump as more of an inevitability now and trying to rally behind him. Not all of them. We had the nikki haley rebuttal to the president who was a rebuttal to donald trump. There is a faction of the Republican Party not behind him. This is something that was going to be inevitable. The higher his poll numbers go the more people are going to end up liking him because they see him as maybe the only option out there right now. Ted cruz has used Donald Trumps hometown of new york as an attack. It was a hell of lot of people who love the city and love it since 9 11. Lets watch. Donald comes from new york and embodies new york values. Listen, the donald seems to be rattled. As a life long new yorker what do you mean . Ill tell you the rest of the country knows exactly what new york values are. I dont like that conversation. Trump responded in an interview with Bloomberg Politics. I embrace in new york we took a big hit with the world trade center. Worst attack ever in the United States. Worst than pearl harbor because they attacked civilians, people having breakfast. If you would have been there and if you would have lived through that like i did with new york people, the way they handled that attack was one of the most incredible. People want to knock new york. They shouldnt be doing it because of a massive population there. New york is an amazing place with amazing people. Let me go to Hallie Jackson. Why would anybody attack the town so nice they named it twice . New york, new york, the major city in the country, chief Financial Center of the country. No one knows that better than donald trump who has been up there at the old till looking for money himself raising money from Goldman Sachs. Why is he knocks the hand that feeds him in. It appears to be apparently a values issue. It is this idea that folks from new york arent the same as folks from iowa and New Hampshire, a campaign aid. New york is great, the center of the news media, where the Entertainment Industry is based pointing out that folks who live in parts of the country that arent urban centers may have a perception of new york that is different than the perception that some of us might have. You see the stupidity to that line. The people who grew up in new york in the boroughs, brooklyn known as the borough of churches it is religious. The big shots move to manhattan because they are famous. New york isnt the show business crowd that shows up, the Beautiful People with bold print names. It is 99. 9 of people who are new yorkers. You know new york and because you live in new york. Why is he assuming the people in iowa not know anything . That is an insult to them. Its a strategy apparently that cruz believes may help him with the people who he needs to propel him to victory in a place like iowa. Can i jump in here . Is he running for president of the United States except for new york state . Im not sure this line of attack is going to work supporters. Yes he is rich. Yes he is brash. Yes he is sometimes politically incorrect. He doesnt always say the right thing. He is from new york and he owned these things. That has resonated with a lot of his supporters because they dont see him as being insincere. They dont see him as playing a part as many other politicians do. A lot of people are supporting trump who see him as somebody who is insincere. This is also his greatest weakness. Trump is alienating a lot of people in this country, not necessarily the Republican Base who likes him. Others think he is divisive and sowing the seed of discord and making other countries question his ability to lead. The uk is going to debate a petition to ban him from the country. Is he the best leader for america . That is debated. His supporters like all of that about him that he is unapologetic for who he is. He is also a new yorker and talks like a new yorker. Thank you. This is interesting and it is getting better. In her state of the union the response governor nikki haley recognizes donald trump as one of the angriest members of the party. A large part of the campaign has been to exploit the anger in the country. Anger is real and legitimate. Here is the man himself. Right now the state of our union is a mess. We cant beat isis. Our military is falling back. A dollar buys a nickels worth. Shop keepers keep a gun under the counter. Im running because we are not going to have a country soon. We dont have borders. We dont have law and order. Our country is going to hell. We know things are bad, worse than bad. They are crazy like everything is going crazy so we dont go on anymore. If i go to the doctor and have to wait like nine minutes i go crazy. I dont know what to do about the depression or the inflation and the russians and the street. All i know is you have to get mad. Im very angry because i hate what is happening to our country. I am angry. Im very angry. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it and stick your head out and yell im as mad as hell and im not going to take this anymore i dont like this mic. Whoever the hell bought this mic system dont [ bleep ] to put it in. This mic is terrible. Stupid mic keeps popping. Do you hear that, george. Dont pay him. Dont pay him. Those scenes were the work of peter finch the actor and brilliant screen writer. A great preview of what television has been like all these years. Former chairman of the Republican National committee. And rick tyler is spokesman for ted cruz. Are you part of the i hate new york crowd . I love new york. What happened to new york state of mind . I thought we liked that . No one said they were bad values, just different values. Pullback time. Youre pulling back. You said it is not a statement of bad values to say he has new york values. You said that. They are different values. Steve king or peter king. In texas we can have open carry. You cant have a weapon in new york city. You would be arrested. New york sends liberals to congress, texas sends conservatives. How many hours of desperate struggle and spin led to were not knocking this guy for having new york values . Is this separate but equal . I think separate but equal wont win here. I dont think you can argue different values. Are you saying your values are the same as our values. What does ted cruz mean when he attacks new york values . He didnt attack them. He said they were different than iowa values. Are you disputing that . I think they are different. Look at the Voter Registration compared to new york. They dont send republicans. They send liberals. Who is running for the president of iowa . President of the United States new york is part of the United States isnt it . New york values are different than most of the rest of the country. Not all but most of them. Different than the rest of the country. Its not just new york and iowa, the entire United States has different values than the city of new york. How about the state of new york . Lets go through the policy. Can you carry a weapon openly in new york . You cant. I want to go to mike. Michael, this likes like the city mouse being attacked by the country mouse. This is worst than high school. What do they mean by new york values . Was it about ethnicity, pushiness . Loudness . Chris, its not about any of that. This is ted cruz speaking to a particular constituency and this idea that their values are different from yours. And that is the difference that he wanted to contrast with donald trump. Which trump value is different than cruzs value . Chris, it is a lot about what rick has said. Those things that impact people every day. Its their outlook on the world, h how they see problem solving. There are differences. What cruz i believe was trying to do there in a very real political sense was to draw that stark contrast between a donald trump who is an east coast new york republican from a ted cruz who is a southwest texas you guys agree so much it is driving me crazy. Chris, you want us to Say Something that doesnt exist. Lets go to particulars. Is there a difference in new york and iowa in how to fight isis . Explain the relevance to the campaign issues. What is the difference between new york values and iowa values . Different cases. How about putting out a fire somewhere . The entire city of new york on how they address isis . You brought it up. Im saying it is different. Everybody in america would agree new york values are not the same as our values. Let me give you an example. Every morning show you turn on where does it come from . New york city. When was the last time we did the cool hunting gear for the hunting season . That is important to a lot of americans. New york city doesnt cover that. There are a lot of issues. They used to make fun of Country Music and now have it on because of ratings. There are taste differences but that is not values. There is a difference between there is a difference between new york media covering the birther issue. Nobody in iowa asks about that. Very clever. You are in retreat. Its a knock on new york. Its a knock on trump. I love new york. By the way, i talk for everybody watching knowing you are hiding. Thank you. Coming up michae you are defending him and you shouldnt be. More on the Republican Debate. One establishment candidate is this really coming down to two guys we have been talking about . Trump and cruz. Plus bernie has momentum. The burn is working. Hillary is on the attack. There is a lot of noise whether Elizabeth Warren might endorse either of these candidates, maybe hillary. That would make a lot of difference. The field is shrinking. Seven candidates are going to the big stage. Only three took part in the happy hour debate. Rand paul wasnt among them. He refused to sit at the little kids table. We will give him the big table tonight. And finally the hosts with all due respect join us tonight. After the debate back to msnbc. Two hour edition of hardball with highlights, analysis of the 2016 race coming up here. Watch us at 11 00 on to 1 00 a. M. Eastern. This is hardball, place for politics. 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When you want to knock new york you got to go through me. Welcome back to hardball, a hot one brewing. Trump throwing down the gauntlet after cruz took a shot at his new york values. That is not the only fight going. Time is running out for the partys establishment wing to take out the hell raisers. Robert Costa National political reporter, dina bash National Press secatory and Michele Bachmann. How do you see this race . Do you think it has come down to trump and cruz or is there a lot of real potential among what we call the establishment candidates . Certainly isnt over by a long shot. I think it is safe to say that donald trump occupied the lead position for a long, long time and only managed to increase market share. After the last debate you saw ted cruz move up and i think that again tonight could be a breakout moment for almost anyone on that stage but in particular i would say those in third, fourth, fifth place have a real chance to move up. I think debates are very important and i think we could see movement after tonight. What is your candidates plan . Can you give us a tease as to what he is planning to do to get back to the race . Absolutely. Thank you for having me and dr. Carson recognizes that this is a chance for him to share his vision with the American People. He will be i think a more asserted dr. Carson. He is a statesman, not a showman. You wont see wise cracks. You will see wisdom. Dr. Carson is prepared to be more assertive and share his vision. What do you mean by more assertive . You obviously worked with him. He is very liklikable. They are very impressed with his credentials. He has done nothing wrong but failed to light up the charts. What does he do. One thing on the trail the crowds are enthusiast skiastic enjoy him. If there is an opportunity for him to interject or to share his vision hell do it. Soft spokenness does not mean he is strong. You will see he said he has more pep in his step. You will see a more assertive dr. Carson. Do you think he will talk faster . I dont know if he will talk faster. When he has the opportunity to talk we know he will say things that resonate with the American People. Let me go to robert costa. You have been covering top front runners. Are they going to hold the lead throughout the next its like two prize fighters, chris. Eyeing each other in the ring. Talking to people close to cruz and close to trump. They come to the fight ready to engage and the question looming over cruz is how does he handle if trump brings up his canadian birth. If trump brings up the Goldman Sachs story and the cruz loan. This is hovering over. Cruz is under a test tonight, probably the biggest test so far in the campaign. Why doesnt he just ask cruz, youre a constitutional lawyer, what do you think the Founding Fathers had in mind when they said only naturalborn americans could be eligible for the presidency. What could the phrase mean naturalborn american mean other than born here . Based on my reporting, cruz wont get into the semantics. How about the right to bear arms. Thats semantic and the conservatives love those phrases. Im talking politics. Im serious, conservatives believe in literal interpretation of the constitution. You cant believe in that and then say not on this, baby. This is inconvenient. Naturalborn, were not going to use that against our guy, because hes the most rightwing guy out there. Those are issues that people are talking about within the beltway. But my hope and i think dr. Carson hopes tonight on the debate stage were not talking about those kinds of things. Dr. Carson and im sure the other candidates want to use this time to talk about the real issues facing the American People and more than anything, thats what we should be using the time for. Thats the argument there. But do you think the debate moderators are not going to bring up and ted cruz is not going to be confronted with the question of whether or not whether hes eligible to run for president. Thats a central question are you eligible to run for president . How could there be something more important to talk about, dana . I dont think people arent concerned about it i think most americans are concerned about how will ted cruz and ben carson and others keep more money in their pockets at night. Congressman batchmann, this issue is a strange one. I listen to this lawyer from widener college, im hearing people say, naturalborn means naturalborn, born here. No think ted cruz is afraid of this question at all. He is a constitutional scholar and hell stand up and give the answer this is something that would come up any time someone is born out of the country just like john mccain was born out of the country. Think that the voters deserve an answer. I dont think hes a frayfraid at all. Again i would agree with dr. Carsons press person. That what were going to hear about tonight these candidates want to give an answer to the state of the union address. There are a lot of people not real happy with the state of the union address. Think youre going to hear these candidates give their own form of the state of union. The other thing i think youre going to hear a lot about is this huge issue that happened this week with iran. Taking these ten u. S. Soldiers hostage and th