rigged, folks. and the top republicans called up, donald, please, you cow stop saying that? look, i'm telling the truth. but despite the rigging i think we get there before the convention. i think we do. >> meanwhile ted cruz once again called for party unity daurg a rally in western new york last night. >> and if we come together as one, if we unite, we are going to win this republican nomination. if we unite, we are going to win the general election and beat hillary clinton. and we are going to turn this country around. >> cruz is in wyoming today as donald trump and john kasich hold events throughout new york. their last ditch efforts to new yorkers coming to time when a brand new poll shows trump maintaining the lead with 54%. kasich is far behind in second place and cruz in third. on the democrat side, nbc news has con sirmd with bernie sanders about his private meeting with pope francis. ending speculation over whether they would meet during sanders trip to the vatican. it happened this morning at the papal residence just before the pope left for greece. they told my colleagues they found out they would meet with pope francis last night. here's what bernie sanders said about the meeting. >> it certainly was the highlight of the trip. i just expressed my great admiration to him, to see a man of his stature raising issues that are literally transforming the world, speaking so much to young people about the kind of planet that we can come, we can be. >> we are going to have more on that meeting live from rome in just a moment for you. meantime, bernie sanders right now on his back to the u.s. he will be holding a round-table in his hometown of brooklyn tonight. hillary clinton has a fund-raising event in los angeles. let's go right to nbc's kristen welker comping the democratic race for us. kristen joins us from new york. with a welcome to you. different states, in fact, countries for both of these candidates today. >> you're right, alex. good morning to you. you hit the nail on the head. the optics of the democratic candidates couldn't be more different this weekend. senator sanders sitting down with the pope today while attending a conference on social justice. hillary clinton in california attending fund-raisers hosted by george clooney. it all underscores the vast differences between these two candidates with the new york primary looming. >> it was a star-studded friday night for hillary clinton. george and amal clooney hosting the first of two fund-raisers, this one in san francisco. a whopping $353,000 for each couple just to sit with the democratic front-runner. meanwhile, senator sanders wrapping up a trillion at the vatican where he addressed a conference on social and economic justice. this morning he told nbc's anne thompson the opportunity to meet the pope was one he couldn't pass up. >> today certainly was the highlight of the trip. i think he will go down in history as one of the great leaders of this particular moment in world history. >> reporter: late friday sanders making good on his prom nis to release his 2014 tax returns. the document showing sanders made $205,000 and gave just over $8,000 in charitable donations. the sanders campaign touting that unlike clinton's tax release, sanders' returns underscore he hasn't accepted money for corporate speeches. sanders railing against the influence of money in politics while speaking abroad. >> our very soul as a nation has suffered as the public has lost faith in political and social institutions. >> reporter: clinton is closing in on new york. the latest poll showing her with a lead of 17 points. today bill clinton will rally voters in upstate new york after his comments on sanders' supporters fell flat with some friday. >> i think it's fine that all of these young students have been so enthusiastic for opponent and sounds so good. >> reporter: the sanders campaign firing back that the former president was disparaging their supporters as the rhetoric on both sides has gotten increasingly heated in recent days. president clinton emphasized he was just joking about the sanders supporters. as for the primary here, sanders officials privately acknowledge their climb is steep. their goal is to limit the margin by which clinton wins and to net as many delegates as possible but if sanders doesn't win new york his path to the nomination gets a whole lot tougher. >> do you think there is any chance that if bernie sanders loses by a lot here in the empire state that he drops out? >> i don't think so. one of the reasons, he continues to rake in millions of dollars online. he has thousands of supporters who still turn out at his rallies. he thinks he still has a case to make. and look, they take a look at the calendar. they say we're going to rake up big wins in may, oregon, west virginia voting. they think they still have an argument to stay in the race. ford for him to have a shot he's got to start winning the larger states and winning them by larger margins. start looking toward pennsylvania, connecticut, maryland. secretary clinton has leads in all of these states. this is an uphill climb for senator sanders. they think they can start to convince some of those super delegates to come over to their side but there's no indication that that's happening right now. >> okay. kristen welker, good to have you here locally. two republicans in the battle for those delegates. vaughn hilliard in rochester, new york. good morning to you. interestingly for cruz, it's not about new york, it's all about wyoming today. >> reporter: that's right. hey, the guy tried to make his play. he was in buffalo, syracuse, rochester, bronx, brooklyn. the polls find hill 30 points down in third place to john kasich. that's where suddenly last night many rochester you see ted cruz trying to get every last breath out of what he's calling his recent victories. this is him last night in rochester. >> you know it's easy to talk about making america great again. you could even print that on a baseball cap. but the real question is do you understand the principles and values that made america great in the first place? you know, an amazing thing has happened over the last three weeks, over the last three weeks there have been a total of 11 elections in four different states. and in those 11 elections we have won all 11. >> reporter: he's touting his recent victories because tuesday in new york is not expected to go well. a week from tuesday you have states like maryland, pennsylvania, delaware, connecticut, other northeastern states where he's likely not expected to fair as well. that's where he's turning his attention to places like why opening where he could pull up, 29 delegates at play in wyoming. compared to if you look at colorado, his performance last weekend and north dakota the week before that. that's where ted cruz has to win at the convention at this point. and that's where not only delegates that are still up for grabs but rubio delegates and looking at trump delegates they will have to vote for trump first ballot but in the case of second or third ballot, winning them back. that's where a lot of the focus is. it's the guy made his play here in new york. but if the polls are not going anywhere why not? there's no public events scheduled for cruz at this point in new york. we'll have to see looking into next week what the plan is from here. >> yeah. and, vaughn, this wyoming state convention, when will we hear the results of that? >> reporter: that's going on on going today. our team hallie jackson is out there. we will be hearing from that. that's what's interesting shs you heard the sound bite where donald trump is talking about this is a rigged system. that's where cruz working to figure out a way in order to push back and say, hey, i'm not disenfranchising voters. these are the people electing these delegates who are going to pick the nominee. what you will probably see him say today in wyoming, grass roots, people in wyoming showing up, grass root support going out there for him. this is not the campaign. they have people on the ground, but cruz's pitch is ultimately the people who show up. if cruz's people show up and trump's don't, so be it. donald trump in the final sprint to what could be a very big win in his home state looking to sweep all 95 delegates at stake. nbc's katy tur is covering the trump campaign. katy is joining us in new york. it's all about the delegates. >> reporter: good morning, alex. every delegate countses right now. that's because donald trump needs to avoid a contested convention where ted cruz could potentially do very well on a subsequent ballot. that's why the team is reorganizing shs beefing up the inner circle and starting to laser focus on new york where they need to win big. donald trump continues to decline the rules but insisting he will come out on top. >> it's a disaster and not fair, so we're going to win it anyway. we're going to have our 1,237 anyway. >> reporter: trashing the system and trying to bury ted cruz. trump echoing a now familiar chant before a rowdy crowd of supporters. >> lien ted. he wuks into his room with his bible held high, held high, lying ted, folks. >> reporter: the trump team sharpening the game planl and the final primaries before the convention. new experience advisers adding structure and talking points to the normally impulsive campaign. >> cruz talked about new york values. that was a bad thing. and he said it with hatred toward new yorker railroads sources close to the campaign telling nbc news the strateg going forward is to appeal to voters who feel left behind by washington without turning off delegates off to party loyalists. trump said to have a lock on new york but after a tough 24 hours, cruz drew a crowd of 1200 in rochester friday night. >> tuesday is election day here in new york. and new york, the whole country is looking at new york right now. >> i vote for you, man! >> amen, sir. >> reporter: not a lock. former apprentice contestants, a number of whom gathered in new york to denounce their would be boss. >> we strongly condemn donald's campaign of sexism, xena phobia, racism, violence, and rate hr donald trump responding in character, calling those angry contestants wannabes. meanwhile, busy on the campaign trail, donald trump with two rallies in upstate new york. alex? >> katy, thank you for that. be sure to catch "road warriors," a round-table with the women following the presidential candidates on the trail. don't miss it today at 3:00 eastern right here on msnbc, the place for politics. hillary clinton still holds a double digit lead over bernie sanders here in new york. what can sanders do to close the gap in just three days? and donald trump already unhappy about the fight over delegates but how would he react to a possible major rewrite of c convention rules? ♪ ♪ [engine revving] the all-new audi a4 is here. twell what if i told you that peanuts can work for you? that's right. i'm talking full time delivery of 7 grams of protein and 6 essential nutrients. ever see a peanut take a day off? i don't think so. harness the hardworking power of the peanut. don't let dust and allergies get and life's beautiful moments. with flonase allergy relief, they wont. when we breathe in allergens, our bodies react by over producing six key inflammatory substances that cause our symptoms. most allergy pills only control one substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. flonase outperforms the #1 non-drowsy allergy pill. so you can seize those moments, wherever you find them. flonase. six is greater than one changes everything. ♪ ♪ (laughing) there's nothing like making their day. except making sure their tomorrow is taken care of too. financial guidance while you're mastering life. from chase. so you can. in this most unconventional presidential campaigns you can probably expect voter party hopping. at least that is the word from new york state voters. >> i'm rooting for him. >> who are you rooting for? >> trump. >> if i had to vote today, i would probably go bernie sanders. and i'm a republican. >> he's a businessman. you know? this is -- this is country that is a big business. he can be some strength, somebody with muscle. >> those are just two people who want to cross party lines but to do so new york voters needed to register to make the switch back in october. at noon eastern donald trump will hold a rally in syracuse, new york, as one of his final stops before the state's primary with a prize of up to 95 delegates. the empire state could be a crucial battleground in the fight for 1237. let's bring in francesca chambers, white house correspondent at the "daily mail" and national political reporter at real clear politics. good morning. caitlyn, i know you wrote this week about the delegate math. after his last couple losses there's lots of talk that trump will come just short of the magic number. what happens then? >> right, well that magic number, majority of delegates is 1237 as we know. and there are varying ways in which trump can get there. republicans say that number is not flexible. that number is not going to change. but if trump is a few delegates short, if he's several or maybe hechb up with 00 delegates short he could have a chance of wrangling the rest of the delegates between the last primary in california and before the july convention in cleveland. but some estimates are, if he comes -- if he gets 1100 or less than 1,000, that that would be very difficult. there are going to be unbound delegates available. there are various estimates of what that number will be, too, just given different state rules and such. but there could be anywhere between maybe 100, 200 unbound delegates. ted cruz has been well organized at courting those delegates as well. it would be very hard, some people say, for trump to make up that deficit. >> yeah. lots of states, lots of different rules. it's why paul has come onboard to figure this all out. francesca, after the debate on thursday hillary clinton's communications director told you they are confident about winning new york. should they be? >> well, they are feeling very good about new york after that "new york daily news" interview, alex, where bernie sanders had trouble answering some of the questions about his platform. they feel that it laid bare the fact that senator sanders has a lot of big ideas, however he doesn't always have plans to fix them. their line of the night after that debate was hillary clinton doesn't just diagnose problems, she also has solutions. and polling shows that she is expanding her lead in new york. senator sanders is not catching up with her. she is now 17 points ahead of him there in the latest nbc poll. so it's not looking very good for him as it gets into tuesday when yorkers go to the polls. and the sanders campaign is nowing looking ahead to pennsylvania which votes with the series of other -- four other states on april 26th. they had a press call yesterday in which they said that pennsylvania is the state that they will be focusing on that day. >> francesca, if he doesn't win new york and pennsylvania is it over for bernie sanders? >> well, bernie sanders will stay in this race regardless of how he does in those two states. they're looking toward a strategy where they would get close enough in pledged delegates to secretary clinton they could then go to the convention and make the case to super delegates they should go with senator sanders because he would do the best in a general election. >> all right. caitlyn, "the washington post" reports that ted cruz is focusing on a few late delegate rich primaries. california, indiana, nebraska, rather than the northeast to ones over this next week. is that a smart strategy? could he take the nomination with these few specific wins? >> i think it is a smart strategy for ted cruz. remember, when he started this race he was really focusing his campaign on the southern states that voted in march, hoping to sweep up delegates there. that didn't turn out exactly the way he wanted. and so that's around the time that he made the new york values comment. and that has certainly come back to bite him here in new york. i think he has a chance of peeling away a few delegates here and there. maybe in new york, maybe in some congressional districts in pennsylvania. but really i think, you know, places like indiana and pockets of california and parts of nebraska where the voters there -- republican voters are more in line with his brand of republican conservativism. i think he has a better chance there. remember his road though to securing the number of delegates needed to clinch the combination is still pretty difficult. i think he would have to win upwards of 80% of the delegate. his focus is on preventing donald trump from winning the necessary delegates. and believes those states that you mentioned are good avenues for him to get there. >> francesca, the democrats are looking west. who's got the edge in california and what do you think we're going to see from these next couple of months before that june 7 primary? >> well, that's another state where bernie sanders would have to do very well to be able to get close enough to secretary clinton and pledge delegates but she is winning there as well. both of those -- both candidates are going to california, holding lots of rallies there. hillary clinton, as we know, is campaigning there right now. bernie sanders will have to start shifting his focus there very soon as well if he does want to do well enough to pull off the strategy that his campaign is trying to pull off before the convention. >> all right, lady, thank you so much. >> thank you. politico, rules for this summer's republican convention may be overhauled and could dramatically change how it's conducted and lead to other chaos. what does that mean for donald trump? that's next.e pioneers of olden? i hate the outside. well, i hate it wherever you are. burn. "burn." is that what the kids are saying now? i'm so bored, i'm dead. you can always compare rates on progressive.com. oh, that's nice, dear. but could you compare camping trips? because this one would win. all i want to do is enjoy nature and peace and quiet! it's not about winning. it's about helping people find a great rate even if it's not with progressive. -ugh. insurance. -when i said "peace and quiet," did you hear, "talk more and disappoint me"? ♪ do do do do ♪ skiddly do do ♪ camping with the family ♪ [ flame whooshes ] some say "free the whales." for them, nothing else is acceptable. but nothing could be worse for the whales. most of the orcas at seaworld were born here. sending them into the wild wouldn't be noble. it could be fatal. when they freed keiko, the killer whale of movie fame, the effort was a failure and he perished. but we also understand that times have changed. today, people are concerned about the world's largest animals like never before. so we too must change. that's why the orcas in our care will be the last generation at seaworld. there will be no more breeding. we're also phasing out orca theatrical shows. they'll continue to receive the highest standard of care available anywhere. and guests can come to see them simply being their majestic selves. inspiring the next generation of people to love them as you do. the call just came in. she's about to arrive. and with her, a flood of potential patients. a deluge of digital records. x-rays, mris. all on account...of penelope. but with the help of at&t, and a network that scales up and down on-demand, this hospital can be ready. giving them the agility to be flexible & reliable. because no one knows & like at&t. new signs fight ore delegates to the republican convention is heating up, front-runner donald trump in connecticut last night calling the party's system of choosing a candidate unfair. >> i'm leading in delegates by a lot. but you know what? that delegate system is a disaster, the way they count is a disaster. and not fair, not good, and it's not good for democracy. it's not good for what we stand for. >> let's bring in republican strategist russ. what you hear from donald trump right there, is the system a disaster? >> the system is certainly confusing. i mean, there's no question about that. i mean, delegates are selected in 50 different states in the territories and each state has a different system for selecting their delegates. so really requires somebody, if you're going to get to the 1237, to pay attention to the rules. whether that's a delegates are selected by a general vote, whether selected at caucuses or party conventions, or whether they're selected by individual congressional districts. the rnc put out the rules early in october. candidates spend a lot of machine any on field staff, dell delegate hunters, lawyers to make sure that they obey the rules and get the delegates that they need. >> all right. so speaking of that, gop chairman reince priebus is defending the system. here's what he had to say about it. >> i'm not quite sure what the rhetoric is all about. but the truth is, is that these plans have been in place since october of last year. it was the same system that elected abraham lincoln. it's pretty much the same system that the democrats use. delegates and voters choose the nominee. that's what's happening. >> i know that you, russ, have worked for the last six of seven presidential campaigns. >> right. >> do you think this year is unique and, if so, why is that? >> how much time do we have? >> yeah. >> yeah, the -- listen, this year is completely different than anything that we've seen. we have not had a contested convention since 1976 on the republican side. i mean, any of the campaigns i've worked on going back to 1988 there's always been a presumptive nominee by early spring, even late spring with mitt romney in 2012. by april 10th, i believe it was, rick santorum had gotten out of the race as presumptive nominee. the party gets together. they rally around that nominee and they have a very unified convention. this is the first time really since 1976 that we are going to a convention with the possibility of not having the candidate be nominated on the first ballot. and that's just incredibly different. the other thing i'd like to say about that is that we've never done it with this level of media scrutiny. i mean, even back in '76, you know, newspapers, network television, we didn't have the cables, we didn't have internet and twitter and facebook and all of these things that are just driving the amount of coverage. so this is truly a very, very different year. >> i got to say this is my fifth presidential election here with this network. i don't recall saying the word delegate as often as we have up to this point. there may be a move afoot there to change to convention rules. i know you know about this. politico saying the change would shift more power to the individual delegates taking that away from the convention chair. how would this work and is it a good idea? >> i think that's going to be something that the rules committee is going to decide. the rules committee is 112 delegates who make these decisions, members of the rnc. it has to be ratified by the full convention. so my guess is, and i think believe "the new york times" is reporting this morning, that reince priebus was texting members of the committee saying he didn't want any rules changes. so we'll see how this plays out. but there's going to have to be come consensus and, you know, if you go back to 76 or you go back to even before, i think in 1952, with eisenhower and taft, there's always been this criticism of rules and delegate stealing and delegate -- threatening of delegates. this stuff generally works itself out and the parties do then come together to the convention and move on to the november elections. >> what about this talk about some sort of a savior to come to a contested convention? what happens then? >> yeah. i find that hard to believe that that could happen. i think one of the people whose names will be put eventually into nomination on the -- whether it's ted cruz or donald trump, will wind up becoming the nominee if it goes to that. i mean, you would have to get, i believe, into three, four, five ballots before you would be able to put someone else's name into nom nation and that there would be the possibility. i just find that hard to happen considering the current media environment and the amount of scrutiny and attention this convention will receive. >> republican strategist, thanks very much. bernie sanders shares a vision much like pope francis' and the two have finally met. he talks about their meeting next. i'm terrible at golf. he is. people say i'm getting better. no one's ever said that. but i'd like to keep being terrible at golf for as long as i can. he's just happierwhen h. but he's terrible. for the strength and energy to keep doing what you love, try new ensure enlive. only patented ensure enlive has hmb, plus 20 grams of protein to help rebuild muscle. and its clinically proven formula helps you stay you. oh. nice shot. new ensure enlive. always be you. we need to be ready for my name's scott strenfel and r i'm a meteorologist at pg&e. we make sure that our crews as well as our customers are prepared to how weather may impact their energy. so every single day we're monitoring the weather, and when storm events arise our forecast get crews out ahead of the storm to minimize any outages. during storm season we want our customers to be ready and stay safe. learn how you can be prepared at pge.com/beprepared. together, we're building a better california. find fast relief behind the counter allergies with nasal congestion? 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[ upbeat music ] strut past that aisle for the allergy relief that starts working in as little as 30 minutes and contains the best oral decongestant. live claritin clear, with claritin-d. ...one hair color wants to to help you keep on being you.. nice'n easy. natural-looking color... ...that even in sunlight, doesn't look like hair color... it just looks like you. nice'n easy: color as real as you are. welcome back, everyone. i'mal election with it here at msnbc world headquarters in new york, the place for politics. let's get another quick look at where the candidates are today. ted cruz is in wyoming where he will deliver remarks at the party's state convention. donald trump and john kasich will be holding a total of four events throughout new york ahead of tuesday's primary. checking out the democrat side. bernie sanders is right now bringing his way back to the united states. he will be holding a round-table on faith and social justice with one of my colleague, reverend al sharpton in sanders' hometown of brooklyn. hillary clinton has a fund-raising event in los angeles. let's bring in nbc's anne thompson who has new reaction from bernie sanders and his meeting with the pope just a few hours ago. anne, with a long distance good day to you, let's talk about the highlights. what did you learn? >> well, i'll tell you, senator sanders was very moved by his meeting with the pope this morning, alex. it was a very brief meeting, five minutes inside the hotel inside the vatican walls where the pope lives and where bernie sanders and his wife jane spent the night. the two of them met pope francis in a hallway this morning just before the pope took off for greece. they exchanged a few words and senator sanders said he told the pope how much he admired himle and thanked him for his leadership on bringing attention to economic justice issues around the world and also climate change. now, of course, because senator sanders is running for president i had to ask him about the political imp my i guess so as of this trip and meeting the pope. is this trip in any way, were you looking for a papal endorsement here? >> no, god no. god, no. that just came out. no, no. >> do you think this can help you with catholic voters? do you see this helping you with voters in new york? >> i am here because of any profound respect for the pope and the work that he has done and i received an invitation to come here. came when it came. a few days before the new york primary. it was an invitation i just could not refuse to accept. >> my colleague kristen welker wants me to ask, have you worried that you've lost time taking this trip, especially at a time when secretary clinton seems to be pushing ahead in the polls? >> look, i've been campaigning very, very hard in new york. we will have spoke, end up speaking over 100,000 people in new york state. we were upstate. we have been here almost every borrough in the city. secretary clinton was elected there twice. we will go back and work as hard as we can in the last minute before the poll is open. >> the trip isn't you raising a white flag? >> no, follow me when we get off the plane. >> if you don't win new york can you win the nomination? >> i think we can. i don't want to speculate. it's a tough state for us. secretary clinton has won there twice. independents to participate in the independent primary. we do well with independents. we're going to fight. i think we have a chance to do very well. >> alex, you know what i was struck by during that interview was after the caustic nature of thursday night's debate in brooklyn, how. even toned i thought senator sanders was and very, very thoughtful. i don't know if that had to do with his meeting with the pope or just the whole atmosphere. i can tell you that senator sanders really seemed to enjoy being here at the vatican. and he said, i asked him, you know, i asked him, i said, look, 56 years ago john f. kennedy was telling voters he wouldn't take directions from a pope. you're here seeking the approval -- praising the pope. he said, he said, that just shows how far we've come in america on theish sh issue of religion. >> i think your observations of bernie sanders around his tone is spot-on, anne. it was really palpable that he came away feeling positive about that conversation and clearly the whole experience. we'll see if politics follows up with that in terms of new york. all right, anne, thank you so much there from rome. meantime, jewish voters make up 16% of the new york electorate. among democrats hillary clinton holds a strong lead. a new piece in the "new york times" highlights how maybe sanders' opinions on israel that puts him in second place with voters here. >> of course israel has a right to defend itself, but long term there will never be peace in that region unless the united states plays a role, an even-handed role, trying to bring people together and recognizing the serious problems that exists among the palestinian people. >> my colleague msnbc kyle perry is outside that icon oik grocery store on the upper west side of new york. it's not too crowded there. we should note it is the sabbath morning so there is that. what are you hearing from people that you have spoken with about this tone of bernie sanders, whether they support his rather progressive approach, shall we say? >> yeah, well, for staters that was an extraordinary moment in that debate. we'll give you a little flavor of what's going on here. but in that debate that was an extrard marry moment. i have never heard an american candidate speak out and criticize israel that way. and it just hasn't happened ever. and people here certainly are talking about that. we spoke to someone just a few minutes ago, peter frank, who talked about how there's often that loose relationship between the u.s. and israel and how that can oftentimes dictate a vote. take a listen. >> i have a little bit of a connection with israel, not just being jewish but i have a daughter that has lived there for six years and she's recently come back to the united states. so she hoped with our perspective on what really is going on in israel, awful lot of things that the world doesn't see. >> that's one of the interesting things as we look at the jewish vote, a very important bloc as you said, 16% we expect to actually come out and vote. that's of the entire population that will vote. population of 10% of the population here in new york. that's 2 million people. and that's what's interesting about this. bernie sanders is jewish but hillary clinton stands on israel seems to resonate with jewish voters here because she's positioned herself as the pro-israel democratic candidate. that's what's going to matter at least her campaign hopes, as people vote on tuesday. on the republican side, ted cruz has been trying to court the orthodox vote. he's been very critical of the nuclear agreement with iran. for donald trump, he's been propping up the fact that his daughter actually converted to orthodox judaism, something he hopes will help him as well on tuesday, alex? >> interestingly, though, and i read in an article about how that exclusive focus on support for israel, that tends to coincide with the conservative jewish voters and older jewish voters. and then you look at, say, bernie sanders and where his voting base is coming from, what he is saying very much appeals to his voting base, the youth. >> yeah, you know, it's like there's been a shift, again, in public opinion when it comes to america's relationship with israel. it's a recent shift. it seems to have occurred after that gaza war in 2008, that summer war. you have, as you said, a split where you have the conservative jewish vote, very much so wants to show that their relationship that their support of israel is unwavering. and then in a place like the upper west side here in new york city, where we're talking about the nonorthodox, the more secular jewish voters, where they're more willing to say, listen, it's time to readdress that relationship with israel. that's what bernie sanders has been saying. he certainly it on the debate thursday night. he said it's time for america to approach this from a more neutral perspective. that's what we're hearing from donald trump as well. he said he will be neutral in any discussions between the israels and palestinian, that's new. that has not been said before. >> cal perry, thank you. will you give a high five to your fam raman who is really adeptly walking backwards throughout that store. so tell him, job well-done. >> all right. >> okay. all right? >> yeah. absolutely. will do. will do right now. >> have a good breakfast, apparently. donald trump appears to be taking on a tone of a more conventional candidate but how long will that last and how can he unite the republican party? the chairman of the party joins us next. 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why did he get such a dour reception, shall we say? >> because the secret service held up getting into the hotel for about an hour and a half. so everything started late. it was very late in the evening, getting 9:30, 10:00, dessert was over. people were impatient. and senator cruz happen to be the last one talking. it was a very good presentation on his part. just happened to be bad timing. blame the secret service for that one it. >> had nothing to do with ted cruz, the candidate nor the views he exspouses in new york city. it was just about logistics? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> all right. >> this is our new hampshire moment. but we've got a lot of delegates and donald trump is going to do very well. the question is how very well is he going to do? his own people have said he needs to get 80 of the 95 delegat delegates, that's a very high bar to set but that's what he needs to get. to keep doing that from now on to the remaining 40% of the delegates if he's going to win it on the first ballot. >> heading into the primary tuesday you know that john kasich pekd up the endorsement of former governor george pataki which dropped out pretty early on. the daily news endorsing him. what sense are you getting about kasich's popularity here? do you think it's genuine or do you think it's more about the stop trump movement? >> no, for kasich it is genuine. he is popular here. the polls showed him popular to start with. the question is does he have the time and resource to do here in new york what he did in new hampshire when he came in as a very strong second. when people get to know him on the ground he does very, very well. >> i know you have heard on top of trump's insistence of the delegate system is rigged. his ally roger stone has been saying there will be riots if trump is not nominated. riot there's in cleveland. just a couple of days ago sarah palin told the associated press, if party leaders try to interview at the july convention, quote, we will rise up and say our vote does count, our activism does count. i know that you've worked these conventions dating back to 1996. give me your reaction to this sentiment this is -- >> no, alex, i go back to 1968. that was my first convention. >> oh. >> i was going out i was there with the nixon family. very much the same as this. three candidates. you had ronald reagan on the right. you had richard nixon who had the silent -- became called the silent majority in the middle and rockefeller on the right. rockefeller was very much like kasich now. started late. came in with a few dell lates waving polls saying, look, i'm the one who can win. look, we've been through this before. you get this kind of noise before. in the end the party unites and goes on to win. particularly this year, people are just disgusted with the policies of the obama administration. they don't want to give him a third term. >> you've been in charge for that long but you're indeed, you have been back there since 1968 for anybody who does not know you are married to trisha nixon-cox, former president nixon's daughter. but let's talk about what happened about an hour ago here on this broadcast because i spoke with an indiana party chair who says he's been getting threatening e-mails because he just said he was reluctant to vote for donald trump during the convention. i know you've been helping these republican candidates get elected. that goes back to '68. of course we should say was part of nixon's campaign, became your father-in-law. your reaction to what you're seeing these days, what is it? >> here's what it is. we have become the majority party in this country. we have 68 of the 100 houses of the legislature in the 50 states. we've got 30 of the 50 governors. we've got a large majority in the house of representatives. we've got a nice majority in the senate. we're going to get the patsy. being the majority party, it means that you're kind of week will rogers said about the democratic party when it was -- i'm not a member of organized party, i'm a democrat. we've got that kind of disorganization in our party because we are now the majority party in this nation. >> can you take off our party chairman hat and if you were to do that, what would you advise donald trump from this point onward about his campaign and you uniting the party? >> he is unique. this is the first time he's been an elected politics. he's come up to the line before. he's thought of running for office but backed off time and time again. this time he jumped in into the competition. he proved to be really a jean was as a politician. to put together a very good message and then present it in a way that it sticks. that is a real talent. and a talent that is still rough but i think it's quickly evolving into that of a kind of talent with a good organization and he realizes now he needs to build a good organization. he just can't do it out of his hip pocket. as he goes forward, if he builds that good organization, develops that talent quickly, he can win the nomination and be a very good general election candidate. >> look, i know you have not endorsed anyone yet and oftentimes the party chairman does not but i know you endorsed mitt romney before the convention last go around. why have you decided not to -- >> totally different situation. almost a year ago we started planning for this, our new hampshire moment. we wanted new york -- look, it's not fair that iowa and new hampshire should all -- and south carolina should have all the fun at the start. we wanted our grass roots here in new york to be divisive and deciding who the candidate could be. by golly, with 17 good candidates starting it's come down to where we set this date, april 19th, exclusively new york. big primary. 95 delegates. on tuesday, the grass roots of the party are going to make a crucial decision, in that like the new hampshire/iowa, the chairman of the party and the state party have to remain neutral. four years ago when mitt romney completely different situation. >> okay. ed cox, good to talk with you. in just a moment tracing the roots of hillary clinton's political career to upstate new york. fee alive"♪ ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪ ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪ i'm bushed! i've been on my feel alyea me too. excuse me...coming through! ride the gel wave of comfort with dr. scholls massaging gel insoles. they're proven to give you comfort. which helps you feel more energized ...all day long. i want what he has. cleans so well, it keeps your underwear cleaner. so clean...you could wear them a second day. charmin ultra strong. it's 4 times stronger, and you can use up to 4 times less. enjoy the go with charmin. ♪ eye of the tiger ime. tv anncr: good afternoon everyone. morning rituals are special. when you share what you love... ...with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. they're grrreat! i missed a payment. aw, shoot. shoot! this is bad. no! we're good! this is your first time missing a payment. and you've got the discover it card, so we won't hike up your apr for paying late. that's great! it is great! (both simultaneously) thank you. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with late payment forgiveness. former president bill clinton is doing a final push in new york state where she and bernie sanders are essentially tied. she holds a double digit lead. but nbc's is in skaneateles, new york. i know the clintons have vacationed there. what doou hear from voters? >> absolutely. 99 when hillary clinton was coming out as senatorial candidate she came out here to stake a claim, be a new yorker. didn't go well. she stayed in a gigantic house on the lake here, declared it as a person for the working folk and the working folk were not buying it. johnny angels, in '99 when clinton visited they had a bologna sandwich on the menu and renamed it hillary clinton sandwich. locals may be warming to hillary. this is bonnie, justin, and trisha. i want to start with you, bonnie, because you remember the clinton visit in '99. what do you think about her then and what did you think about her now? >> she's a strong candidate for a woman. she's positive. she's strong. and i really -- i really like hillary. she -- i model my children to be able to see a president and his wife. i made sure they got to shake the president's hand when he came, to see that strength and such a strong figure. and i support hillary now. and i think i have always been a supporter. it takes a village to raise a child. my son is an example of that. >> so your son here, justin, you shook hillary's hand in '99 but you're a bernie supporter now. quickly tell us why. >> well, i feel that bernie brings a lot of the issues to light in the community that are important to me as a young individual in the united states. also i was never either a supporter nor against hillary. it's just now when i look at the issues and i see the person that's running, i would rather vote for bernie. >> all right. vote for bernie. the handshake didn't win you over but other people in this town i'm sure hillary has won them to her side. back to you, alex. >> i love the name of that town. it's great. that wraps up this hour of our coverage. up next, francis rivera. she will look at the high stakes in new york for hillary clinton and bernie sanders. could his presidential hopes be effectively over after new york? i'm alex witt. i look forward to seeing you again back here at 12 eastern on msnbc. if legalzoom has your back.s, over the last 10 years we've helped one million business owners get started. visit legalzoom today for the legal help you need to start and run your business. legalzoom. legal help is here. don't let dust and allergies get and life's beautiful moments. with flonase allergy relief, they wont. most allergy pills only control one inflammatory substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. flonase changes everything. 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