on trump's heels with 305. leaving gop establishment favorite marco rubio lacking well behind. and trump has even more reason for optimism this morning, according to a brand-new nbc/"wall street journal"/marist poll, trump has a commanding 19-point lead in the michigan primary. michigan is one of four states where republicans will be choosing a nominee on tuesday. that follows puerto rico's republican primary, which takes place today. senator rubio's hoping to pick up a few more delegates in that contest. now, he made a stop late last night in puerto rico where he addressed an audience of supporters in spanish. and today he's headed to idaho before the state's republican primary on tuesday. over in the democratic race, saturday was a good night for bernie sanders. he won the democratic caucuses in kansas and nebraska. but it was a slightly better night for hillary clinton in terms of delegates, at least. she prevailed in yesterday's only democratic primary in louisiana. ending the night with 59 delegates to sanders' 48. democratic voters head to the polls again today, for a primary in maine. but tuesday will be the next really big day for democrats with primaries in mississippi, and here in michigan. a state with 147 democratic delegates on the line. that's exactly where the attentions of hillary clinton and bernie sanders have been focused this week. both candidates have spend the last few days defining their differences to michigan voters. hillary clinton is currently leading by a 17-point margin among likely voters in this state, and tonight, bernie sanders will have his best shot at closing that game when the two candidates go head to head in a debate in flint. then of course we've got all the election news covered for you here at the place for politics. let's begin with nbc news' kristen welker, who's in flint right now with the latest. all right, kristen, what do we expect to hear from hillary clinton and bernie sanders in that debate tonight? >> hey, joy, good morning to you. well, of course, first and foremost, the key topic tonight is going to be the water crisis right here in flint, michigan. both secretary clinton and senator sanders addressed this issue last night when they attended a party dinner. secretary clinton calling it a disgrace. senator sanders saying it appears to be something that would happen in a third world country. but residents here are going to want to hear more than that. they're going to want to hear specifics from both of these candidates. what would they do to address this crisis? what would they do to prevent it from ever happening again? secretary clinton will likely tout the fact that she was the first candidate to visit flint. she has had very critical words for the governor here in michigan. as has senator sanders, and the question is, how will residents and voters here respond to their answers? this is an issue that has resonated with african-americans here throughout michigan. but also throughout the country, and just voters more broadly throughout the country. so that's going to be one of the tee topics, joy. and then of course there will be a whole host of other issues. senator sanders has been signaling in recent days that he is going to go after secretary clinton on the issue of trade. he's been very critical, of her for supporting past trade deals like nafta a lot of voters here in michigan didn't like the nafta trade deal. secretary clinton signaling that she is going to continue to try to paint herself as the candidate who has the most realistic policies. now senator sanders did pick up some momentum after last night's wins in nebraska, and kansas but as you pointed out secretary clinton still has the delegate lead and she got more delegates last night. senator sanders still trying to play catch-up. his top aides, though, say even though she's leading in the polls they think they can close that gap before tuesday and that could very much start at tonight's debate. joy? >> thank you very much. nbc new' kristen welker. let's turn to the fight for florida. early voting is already under way in advance of florida's march 15th primary. gabe gutierrez has been following the race from jacksonville. marco rubio had not so good of a night last night. what is he doing to try to turn things around? clearly he needs to win his home state. >> clearly, joy. good morning. marco rubio's campaign knows that florida is make or break. it's on march 15th. it's his home state. and the campaign is planning more stops here over the next couple of days. tomorrow they plan to be in tampa and the orlando area, and conservative solutions, the marco rubio super pac is already spending millions of dollars here to try -- on ads to try to make a dent on donald trump's lead, according to the latest quinnipiac poll, donald trump up 16 points. the rubio campaign discounting that. there's another poll that has him down seven. but still, it's not a great position to be in. this is not where the rubio campaign wanted to be at this stage of the game. now today rubio is going to ohio to campaign in the afternoon. puerto rico has its primary today. he's hoping to pick up delegates there. now the question will be how much of a play ted cruz makes in florida. he's upping his ground game here hoping to really squeeze out rubio, and he knows that he can't win here most likely. but if he can make it a two-man race with donald trump that will be the key. cruz picking up those key victories yesterday, those two key victories in kansas and maine. partly due to the fact that they were closed caucuses and there were not independent voters and outside voters that typically favor donald trump. the argument against cruz going forward is that he has peaked. that he has won texas and oklahoma, as well, and that these -- going forward, it's mostly primaries. but for donald trump, he is calling on marco rubio to get out of the race, which is somewhat surprising in that a divided field would benefit donald trump. the question you have to ask, joy, is how did the debate last beak, and how did the insults playing back and forth between marco rubio and donald trump, did it hurt both men? of course, donald trump had a decent night last night. he had two victories. but ted cruz really tried to stay above the fray. and he obviously had a very good night last night. so going forward, key thing to watch will be florida. it will be make or break for marco rubio's campaign. it's hard to see how he can even continue in this race if he loses his home state. his campaign says they will win here no matter what. she shall see. joy? >> all right, gabe, as the great tim russert used to say, florida, florida, florida. thank you very much. >> you bet it. now, i want to get my guests in on this primary action. so joining me in memphis is elise jordan, nbc news msnbc political analyst and former senior adviser for policy for senator rand paul's campaign. and in washington, d.c., is karen jean pierre, democratic strategist, former deputy campaign manager for the martin o'malley campaign and former obama 2012 battleground deputy state director. good morning. elise, i'm going to start with you. let's talk about florida and marco rubio. not a good night for him. there were states in which he didn't even meet the threshold to take any delegates out. what is the rational going forward that it the rubio campaign can put forward, particularly to their donors, as to why he should stay in? >> well, i think that they still are banking way too much on florida, and certainly joy, you know florida politics better than i do. but rubio is down, and he's down by a lot it looks like. and part of what his whole strategy has been has been on march 15th that he's going to lock up a lot of these winner take all states. he's going to do well in ohio. that he's going to do well in illinois. and then, of course, he's going to do -- he's going to win florida and right now, that just isn't looking to be the case. it's interesting, in the aftermath of the thursday debate, because you know, i have become so cynical that anything that donald trump will actually affect him at the polls, and you know, i'm hopeful a little bit just because of what happened yesterday in louisiana and in kentucky, you know, just you see winning kansas, that you know, perhaps the strategy of attacking trump has started to pay some dividends. and certainly, cruz played it a little bit safer by having more of a diplomatic approach, i guess you could say, than rubio, who basically lowered himself a little bit to trump's level. but it's been interesting to watch how it's played out at the polls. >> yeah, indeed. and let's flip over to the democrats and talk about sort of a similar dynamic. you have bernie sanders doing very well last night winning two contests out of three. but still walking away with fewer delegates. what does he need to do going forward to try to close that gap? because it does seem that even when he wins he's still sort of doesn't win. >> yeah, yeah, joy. so he needs to really do well in michigan and tonight, tomorrow night or tonight i'm sorry, tonight for the debate, you know, he'll have an opportunity there to really talk to the folks of michigan. and he needs to do well in michigan. but here's the thing, joy, you know, as we've talked about before, hillary clinton has a strong relationship with the african-american community. look how well she did in louisiana, while he may have won those two caucus states, which is not surprising, overwhelmingly white demographic, and he outperforms her with the white -- with the white voters, but she has done so well with african-americans. as we look towards michigan where you have detroit, and voters are very sophisticated and pragmatic. while his messaging with nafta and trade seems to be working and resonating, but she has a relationship there, and like i said, voters are sew fis kated and trag matic and they want -- they're looking at the long game. they want to see who can beat donltd trump and right now it looks like second clinton can do that. >> and elise, staying with michigan for just a moment, do any of the candidates have an opportunity to close the gap with donald trump? obviously that blue collar demographic, white blue collar workers that are real open to trump's message around the country, is this a state where cruz or rubio can do better than expected or maybe john kasich? >> well, you know, ohio kasich is way ahead. that will be interesting to see if he can keep that lead after all these contests. today, and especially on tuesday. in michigan, rubio and kasich have been doing better. it will be, i wonder if trump is going to have a tighter race there than we've been expecting, just because it does seem like people are closing in on him. he isn't, you know, his momentum doesn't seem to be the same soaring trajectory that it had seemed coming out of some of the other contests. >> and karine, one more time with michigan as far as tonight's debate, so far the flint crisis has not really inured to either the benefit of hillary clinton or bernie sanders particularly. is there something that one of the two can do tonight to have a breakout on that particular issue? >> i think they just need to continue talking about the flint crisis and not give up, and just focus, zero in on it, focus on it. this is something that african-americans, it really, really strikes heavily for them. and i think it will be important, as we talk about detroit and other african-american electorate just in michigan alone. so i think they just need to focus on it, zero in, and really make that contrast between democrats and republicans, and how this republican governor has really treated the people of michigan, the people of flint. >> all right. elise jordan will be back with the program later on. want to thank karine jean pierre for being with us. tonight the democrats square off in a debate in flint, michigan. we'll have the latest on how the candidates are preparing and we'll talk with michigan senator debbie stab know right here in downtown detroit. developed our most revolutionary feature yet. a car that can see trouble and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not toyota. not ford or any other brand. subaru eyesight. an extra set of eyes, every time you drive. then your eyes may see it, differently.ave allergies. only flonase is approved to relieve both your itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. complete allergy relief or incomplete. let your eyes decide. flonase changes everything. you can fly across welcome town in minutes1 or across the globe in under an hour. whole communities are living on mars and solar satellites provide earth with unlimited clean power. in less than a century, boeing took the world from seaplanes to space planes, across the universe and beyond. and if you thought that was amazing, you just wait. ♪ as we age, certain nutrients longer than ever. become especially important. from the makers of one a day fifty-plus. one a day proactive sixty-five plus. with high potency vitamin b12 and more vitamin d. i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? that's great. the super tuesday score card is in and hillary clinton no has more than 1,000 delegates to bernie sanders 477. she's won a dozen states and sanders has won six. bernie sanders did pull off two victories yesterday in kansas. he won with nearly 70% of the vote to hillary clinton's 32%. meanwhile in nebraska, sanders won with 56% to clinton's 44. hillary clinton did pick up her big victory in louisiana with 71% of the vote. so now sanders and clinton are looking ahead to the seventh democratic presidential debate tonight in flint michigan ahead of this state's primary on tuesday. msnbc's kasie hunt joins us now from flint, and senator sanders racked up some big wins last night in kansas and nebraska, but he still came out with fewer delegates. what does he need to do tonight or what is the campaign saying that they think they can do tonight to try to close the gap? >> joy, good morning. i think that you should look for sanders to focus on one set of issues, particularly and that's trade. we're seeing his campaign up on the airwaves here in michigan, with a relatively tough ad on trade calling sanders the only candidate who's opposed policies like nafta, cafta, these trade agreements that were passed largely in the '90s under bill clinton's presidency and that sanders did oppose at the time. and of course michigan very hard-hit by the recession, so he hasn't really gone negative on hillary clinton, especially on the airwaves before the closest we had seen was that wall street speech related ad that never named her that was on the wear in iowa and some of those earlier contests. but it's interesting to me that he is up with this spot with something of a negative push on this issue. it's also something he's talked a lot about on the campaign trail in recent days. so that's what i would look for tonight. >> all right nbc's kasie hunt thank you very much. really appreciate you. >> thanks. >> all right, thank you. okay now joining me is the senator, the united states senator from michigan, our friend senator debbie stabenow. we've established we have a certain amount of favoritism to you. >> welcome to detroit. you're part of this vibrant effort going on. it's great to have you in downtown detroit. >> and america's coney island. >> absolutely. >> so let's talk about this debate tonight obviously in flint. hillary clinton last night did lose two contests but she still won the delegate hunt. >> right. >> what do you think is behind, what she's been able to do which is to win in these states which have high african-american populations. what is that connection about? >> first of all, i've known hillary about 30 years, we were both 5 i think when we started this. but her life has been about breaking down barriers and people understand that. and that's why she's winning not only with the african-american community, we see, you know, excitement among men and women. we see working people. she has a very broad coalition of people. >> one of the things that's not part of her coalition really are voters under 30. she's not doing so well state after state with young voters. why not? >> well i think what is coming into focus first of all, and i love bernie sanders, he's a friend of mine. he's a colleague. we work together. i appreciate what he is bringing to this in terms of energy and so on, but what people are going to see moving forward and what is becoming crystal clear is that she has the ability, and the plan to actually get things done. we talk about college affordability. it's great to say free for everybody but i'm not so sure i want donald trump's kids or grandkids getting free college. hillary's saying that middle class families, working families, low income families, of ought to have a fair shot. nuances are important differences because she can get that done. >> well, so the pragmatism i think obviously is helping hillary clinton particularly with african-american voters. one of the things bernie sanders is zeroing in on is trade. obviously in this state, nafta was devastating to the economy in detroit. places like flint. >> right. >> how does hillary answer that question? she was obviously first lady, wasn't president, but on the issues of trade and free trade is hillary clinton a free trade advocate. >> hillary clinton is about smart trade. so just like me, where you say we want to export our products and not our jobs. we stood together in voting no on cafta, because of what that country was doing to its workers. she's come out against the trans-pacific trade agreement. >> it took her awhile. >> she's a thoughtful person. it's one thing to have a knee jerk reaction and another thing to read and be thoughtful and that's what she did. what i love is that she is laser focused on enforcement. i've been saying for years we need a trade prosecutor that reports directly to the president, that goes after countries that cheat, she has proposed that. and i think that's incredibly important if in a global economy we're going to have a race up and not a race down. and that's really what hillary clinton's all about. >> so a lot of what we've been litigating throughout the course of this primary has been the '90s. has been the bill clinton era, much of which has been found wanting. they've been sort of disassem e disassembling a lot of the bill clinton era. does the bill clinton presidency help her or hurt her? >> first of all, creating 22 million jobs under president bill clinton was a good thing. i mean, in michigan, you know, during that time, i would say -- >> but nafta, the crime bill, welfare bill, doma and "don't ask, don't tell" those things have been repudiated by democrats. >> i would say this is about hillary clinton. i met hillary clinton in this city back years ago when i was a young state rep and she was a young attorney when she could have gone to any corporate law firm and got any big job and made a lot of money but instead she was working for the children's defense fund. she and i were on a national panel focusing on protecting children. then you go on forward. you look at her record. i was in china when she gave that incredible speech about women's rights or human rights. you move forward to the senate. she has her own record of breaking down barriers, creating opportunities for people, fighting for people, every day. and as secretary of state the great thing i love, joy, is that the person who is the best to keep us safe abroad, who knows every world leader, who is the best on national security and fighting terrorism is a woman. how cool is that? >> mm-hmm. well, and but does hillary clinton, in your view, you know her very well, does she think that things like nafta in retrospect, things like the crime bill, does she now think they were a bad idea? >> she has absolutely said that nafta should be renegotiated. that we need to take that next step. and i agree with her. that absolutely needs to happen. there are things now, when we look at today, what's happening, to young african-american men, and prison, both the unfair, you know, system that puts them there, and then the lack of capacity when you get out to have a fair chance to be successful. >> right. >> there's no question in my mind that she's going to tackle those issues head-on. and the difference is she knows how to actually do something about it. >> yeah. and what about flint? what can the federal government do about flint at this point? what should be done? and should the governor resign? >> well, you know, it's -- don't get me started. the governor has spent more time hiring pr firms and attorneys than he has focused on actually fixing the water in flint, and the entire state government apparatus not only caused the problem, but spent all of their time trying to hide it. so, there's no question about that. they have primary responsibility. but we as americans need to care when an entire community has their water system shut down, and is poisoned. and so i'm proud of the fact that our president, president barack obama came in immediately when asked. we have been able to expand health care. we have focused on nutrition for children. we have done a number of things, expanding head start. in the united states senate, senator peters and i have legislation that we now have bipartisan support for to focus on infrastructure. water infrastructure. worse in flint in terms it of anywhere else -- >> will you get republican votes? >> we get republican votes. we have a problem with a friend from utah, even though there's a lot of water projects that need to be done in utah that this bill would help with. but the truth is we have a very broad bipartisan coalition, if the republican leader will allow us to have a vote, i believe that we'll be successful. >> yep. >> and hopefully that will help get the water fixed. >> okay. we are out of time but i have to ask you quickly will there be a vote on a supreme court nominee? >> well i'll tell you what, republican colleagues need to do their job. i hope so. when folks say that this president of the united states doesn't have the right to nominate somebody in his last year of office, then i don't think anybody running for office this year should have the right to vote. the entire year, right? it's the same principle. >> there you are. >> so the first thing is do your job. >> yep. all right, senator debbie stabenow, thank you very much. having us in your state. all right stick around the highlights and low lights from a wild saturday night are next. incredible bladder protection from always discreet that lets you move like you mean it now comes with an incredible promise. the always discreet double your money back guarantee. always discreet is for bladder leaks and it's drier than poise. try it. we're so confident you'll love it, we'll give you double your money back if you don't. incredible bladder protection. double your money back guarantee. that's always discreet. helps preparey themng right for a healthy future. but up to 90% fall short in getting key nutrients ... ...from food alone. let's do more. add one a day men's ... ...complete multivitamin. with vitamin d and magnesium to help support healthy blood pressure. one a day. so come try the largest variety of lobster dishes of the year, like lobster lover's dream or new dueling lobster tails. it's a party on every plate, and you're invited. so come in while it lasts. when you think 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. t-i-a-a. after carrying out -- after carrying two of the four states with republican primaries and caucuses last night, donald trump maintained his lead and brought his total delegate count to 392. he gave this victory speech in west palm beach, florida, last night. >> i want to thank the people of louisiana, the people of kentucky. it's been just an amazing relationship. amazing relationship. i want to congratulate ted on maine and on kansas, and he should do well in maine, because it's very close to canada. let's face it. i mean -- >> ouch. all right, senator ted cruz picked up some steam yesterday with his victories in kansas and the aforementioned state of maine. his delegate count now stands at 305. strengthening his viability as the trump alternative. >> let me take a minute to speak to the 60% to 70% of republicans who recognize that donald trump is not the best candidate to go head to head with hillary clinton. if you're one of those 65% either here or watching at home, i would point out to you what super tuesday, what today has demonstrated, is that our campaign is the only campaign that has beaten donald trump over and over and over again and that can and will beat donald trump over and over and over again. >> back with me from memphis, elise jordan, why is ted cruz not right? he is the only other person to win any primaries or caucuses besides donald trump. is he now the anti-trump candidate? >> well, he should be. but the problem is, basically, everyone who's anti-trump is somewhat anti-ted cruz also and that's really the problem with trying to provide an alternative to, without providing an alternative to trump, in cruz, you know, you're not giving voters anything else. so really it is problematic that the establishment can't come behind, you know, just they aren't coming behind cruz, and at this point you have to look at morally what's the better choice? trump or cruz? and i think that's a question republicans have to ask themselves and really at this point, probably should be strongly considering going behind cruz. >> now let me bring to the conversation robert t. jones, the author of the upcoming back "the end of white christian america." robby, thank you so much for being here and joining us. >> thanks. >> i want to throw the same question -- >> thank you, robby. -- question to you. we've now had a number of primaries in which we've discovered that donald trump has durability across different regions, durability in the south. explain to us a little bit, robby, you've done a lot of research on this, what is that about? what is trump's appeal basically about? >> i think the most surprising thing, really, has been his performance across the south. at this point in the race after super tuesday one would have thought that ted cruz would be coming off super tuesday with winds at his back with winds across the heavily evangelical south, states like south carolina where white evangelicals make up two-thirds to three fourths of primary voters. but instead we see donald trump, and continuing louisiana, kentucky, southern states is, heavily evangelical voters. i think what's going on here is that trump has actually successfully converted what we were all talking about as values voters back in 2004, the white evangelical protestant voters, converted them to nostalgia voters. the most important words that donald trump has uttered in this campaign is the word "again." at the end of his make america great again. i think it is hat hearkening back to an america that many white evangelical protestants, especially those in the south, white working klaas voters really do find that appealing because they see an america that both culturally and demographically is shifting before their eyes, and donald trump has really in many ways promising to bring it back. >> and indeed, i think that is a very well said and lot a great research you've done to back that up. elise i want to play what marco rubio has said in response to ted cruz saying he should drop out calling him and john kasich sacrificial candidates to donald trump saying he should drop out because he is not hitting the mark with the same voters as robby was just talking about. listen to marco rubio explaining himself. everybody is asking somebody to drop out so they can do better except for me. i've never asked for anybody to drop out. here's the bottom line, there will be more delegates awarded in florida than basically every state that voted tonight combined. that's why we're going to continue to campaign in florida but we're also going to go to other states. we want to continue to increase our delegate total and the math only gets friendlier for us after tonight. >> so elise donald trump is talking to the sort of intrinsic core needs it of white working klaas voters to feel like their prim's is being restored. marco rubio is talking about delegate counts. is that why he's not able to do better? >> rubio i feel in general hits a more hopeful tone with his language. and trump also, i mean trump is overall, when he's not criticizing and bullying, he has a fairly hopeful, optimistic message that he can, you know, take control of everything that's going wrong in america, and turn it around, make america great again. cruz fundamentally has somewhat of a dark message. i think that's what you're seeing. right now is more of a cruz versus trump. republicans are just having a hard time fundamentally accepting cruz and they certainly the establishment can't get behind trump. but rubio, i think, at this point is just has a very tough path and any time you're talking about delegate math that certainly isn't going to exactly connect with voters. >> and last question to you, robby, why do you suppose that the marco rubio message has not appealed to the voters that you're talking about? >> well, you know, i think the main thing, i would agree somewhat that what you see here is marco rubio trying to strike a little more of an optimistic tone and really talking about the future of a republican party that looks more diverse. in many ways he's really taking a page out of the playbook straight out of the republican national committee's autopsy report from 2012 saying they've got to reach out, be a bigger tent party. not just appeal to conservative, white christian voters. not just have that kind of white christian strategy be what they're up to but really make a bigger tent. part of that is about an optimistic view of where the country is going, and i think that view is just not landing with republican primary voters in particular, and cruz, and trump are both kind of playing i think a little more to voters' anxieties, fears, and even angry, and i think that that's playing more strongly. >> yeah, indeed. there's a party want and a party that you've got. elise jordan out of memphis and robert jones, thank you both very much for being here. >> thank you. >> all right. and we will next take a trip down memory lane, back to the 2008 democratic primary here in michigan and tell you why it matters today. that is next. at safelite, we know how busy your life can be. oh no this mom didn't have time to worry about a cracked windshield. so she scheduled at safelite.com and with safelite's exclusive "on my way text" she knew exactly when i'd be there. so she didn't miss a single shot. 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[ horn honking ] [ forward collision warning ] [ car braking ] bye dad! it brakes when you don't. forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking. available on the newly redesigned passat. from volkswagen. hillary clinton has the democratic nomination well within reach. largely due to her strong performance with after ricking american voters. that trend may play a major role in michigan, here on tuesday night. a brand-new nbc news/"wall street journal"/marist poll has hillary clinton leading bernie sanders 76% to 21% among black voters. who make up about a fifth of the electorate here in the state of michigan. clinton seems to have gained the support of the majority of black voters who worked for then-senator barack obama eight years ago. now it's hard to compare though in 2008 the exit polls in michigan primary voters was irrelevant. that's because the dnc had stripped the state of its delegates because governor jennifer granholm moved the primary to january 15th. in violation of dnc rules. hillary clinton took part in the 2008 michigan primary, barack obama did not. and this set off a firestorm at the end of the campaign as clinton supporters desperately tried to get michigan's hillary delegates to count. one new york supporter of clinton's 2008 campaign was caught on tape saying this at a rules committee meeting at the time. >> where are you from? >> new york city. hillary state. the best nominee that's possible. and the democrats are throwing the election away. for what? an inadequate black male? >> that was the late harriet christian and joining me now is mildred gattous from radio one detroit. you were here yesterday and reminded us of this sort of insane thing that was going on after around the michigan primary in 2008. does that still have reverberations in michigan among democratic voters today? >> well, understand that i think first we have to understand the reason behind it. this was an effort on behalf of then-governor jennifer granholm and some other higher ups in the michigan democratic party to ensure that hillary clinton could get the majority of the nonblack votes. and there are blacks who are still bitter about it. however, it seemed to be very clear to me that they're willing to put that on the back burner and move on and ensure that she becomes victorious. >> what's really remarkable, i think, because i think people forget sometimes just how acrimonious 2008 really was and just how in a lot of ways racial it got at a certain point. >> absolutely. >> between the two. but it seems to have completely washed away. is that really about hillary clinton joining the obama administration? is that why that has gone away? >> i don't think so. first of all, understand that hillary clinton enjoys the clinton legacy. whatever you may have thought about what was happening in this country at that particular time, a lot of americans, black americans still love her husband. and what he did for this country, although all that he did nos not necessarily good but they still love did it's sort of like a camelot kind of thing in the minds of some people. there are black americans who really want to see this country with its first female president and there are others who look at donald trump and look at the republicans, and they've always perceived the republicans as elitist, insensitive to the needs of the common american, and therefore, they're willing to forego everything else to ensure that there is a clinton victory in november. >> and how much has what's happened in flint and what governor rick snyder did in terms of the manager law, essentially seizing control of detroit, seizing control of bentsen harbor, seizing control of flint and the results that we've seen in terms of detroit schools in terms of flint water how much has that reinforced that sense about republicans and locked it in more for hillary clinton? >> oh, it's reinforced it. but there are a lot of americans here in michigan and black americans who are saying, where were these candidates when the hijacking of democracy was going on? detroiters did not hear from any of them when the republican governor decided to forego the vote of the people in a couple of situations, regarding a right to work, regarding the emergency manager law, and get his friends in the legislature to override the decision of the voters. so, you know as i said yesterday, they perceived some of this flint water crisis, the emergency manager law, the talk we hear from these candidates now, as pandering. nevertheless, nevertheless. they believe that we're going to have a greater america if hillary clinton is elected. >> and how would a donald trump play in a state like michigan? with black voters because his message is, hey, i'm the guy who can get you a job. >> donald who? >> he doesn't play at all. he has been the most divisive candidate, i believe, since george wallace. >> yeah. >> the boldness of his arrogance and bigotry has not fared well. not only with black voters but many decent white americans. >> and now just to bernie sanders. given that we started this segment talking about just how incredibly rancorous 2008 was between barack obama and hillary clinton, why do you suppose bernie sanders has not been able to take advantage, not only of that division, but of things like nafta, of things like the way that the economy, that the bill clinton policies have played in african-american lives, and in their households? >> unfortunately, they don't know who he is. although his history clearly shows that he has historically been on the right side of the issues, and policies for the average american, he has not had enough time to introduce himself to americans and in this country as a man grows older the world turns colder and everybody tells him that his work is done. i believe there are some age discrimination and then there are those folk who say we don't want america to become a socialist country. and this guy wants to give away everything and take care of everybody. of course you know the republicans certainly reject that notion. i think that that's the greatest, in addition to that as it relates to race and black americans he comes from a state where there are more black men in prison than there are on the street. so, i tell you what i do find interesting, he came to michigan, he said eastern michigan university, i believe it was, 10,000 students, and parents, the students had encouraged their parents to come and convince their parents that he is the best candidate, and i think he is -- he in those areas where he is doing well, for those of us who remember the kennedy years and i was a very small girl back then, but, the kennedys made us feel good about being meshes. >> right. >> you wanted to roll up your sleeves and help america become the great country that she has the potential of becoming. and bernie sanders does that for a lot of people. >> yeah. interesting. it will be interesting to see if he's able to do it enough to be able to do better than expectations on tuesday. mildr mildred, thank you so much. really appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> and up next, up next, "saturday night live" was almost as entertaining as the real thing. stick around for that. w. so strap yourselves in for action flo! small business edition. oh, no! i'm up to my neck in operating costs! i'll save the day! for plumbers and bakers and scapers of lawn, she's got insurance savvy you can count on. you chipped my birdbath! now you're gonna pay! not so fast! i cover more than just cars and trucks. ♪ action flo did somebody say "insurance"? 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go antiviral with tamiflu. the 2016 campaign continues to provide plenty of late-night comedy material. "saturday night live" spoofed donald trump's super tuesday speech with his number one supporter new jersey governor chris christie standing right behind me. >> everyone loves me. i even got this fat piece of crap behind me now. isn't that right, chris? >> yes, sir, thank you, sir. please, sir, may i have another? >> i mean, he really is a sad, desperate little poet to back there. aren't you, chris? >> yes, sir. thank you, sir. please, sir, may i have another? >> no. go get on a plane. go home. >> okay, you got it. >> poor chris christie. and "snl's" jason sed ackous returned to the show to reprise his role as former gop presidential nominee mitt romney. >> for the last nine months i've sat down and watched donald trump say something every day that was either racist, or sexist. and we in the gop, the party of the great ronald reagan, we do not say racist and sexist things. we imply them. subtly over decades and decades. of policy. so i felt that i had to take matters into my -- my own, tanned, well manicured hands, and follow the advice of my favorite macklemore, and i chose to put donald trump on blast. america, he's a fool. >> four years ago, he endorsed you for president. >> like i said, he's a fool. >> that was the best. coming up, marco rubio is trying taget a win on the boards today in puerto rico. that's up next. things you bought every day... ...earned you miles to get to the places you really want to go. with the united mileageplus explorer card, you'll get a free checked bag, two united club passes, priority boarding, and 30,000 bonus miles. everything you need for an unforgettable vacation. the united mileageplus explorer card. imagine where it will take you. ... 83% try to eat healthy. yet up 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more. add one a day women's gummies. complete with key nutrients we may need... ...plus it supports bone health with calcium and vitamin d. one a day vitacraves gummies. do you sign invoices likeour fathey're autographs?en, then you might be gearcentric. right now, buy two get one free on all pens, pencils, and markers! office depot officemax. gear up for great®. 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(announcer vo) it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. puerto rico is holding iits republican primary today. it could have an impact beyond the allegation of its 23 delegates. they have a population of 3.5 million, but an estimated 4.5 million people of puerto rican descent in the 50 states. florida is a winner take all state with 99 gop delegates to give and thousands of puerto ricans have moved to florida because of the territory's escalating financial crisis which has left the island $70 billion in debt with a budget gap of more than $20 billion. senator marco rubio campaigned in puerto rico last night, hoping to garner last-minute support. without polling to provide insight, it's truly anyone's race to win. joining me is alfonzo aguilar, president of the latino partnership for conservative values. you are a supporter of marco rubio. this is a state that he should be able to win, correct? because it's a state that obviously is not going to be donald trump's territory. because of its population. >> correct. marco is very popular in puerator puerto ri rico. i have seen one poll that has marco winning the territory. as you say, it's 20 delegates. the immense majority of gop voters in the island support statehood for the island. marco rubio has endorsed statehood for the island. he wants to work with puerto rican leaders to get puerto rico to become the 51st state of the island. puerto rico is very important not only because it would be a win for marco rubio, but it's a good indicator of how puerto rican voters in florida, particularly in central florida, in the i-4 corridor, will vote in the gop primary. and many puerto ricans are affiliated with the republican party and participate in the gop primary. >> yeah, we know in the puerto rican political leanings, about 22% republican, 57% democratic. heavily puerto rican, fastest group in florida. marco rubio is campaigning in part in spanish, speaking spanish and trying to court voters. finally sort of working the latino card a bit. does that wind up helping him or hurting him in a party where anti-immigrant sentiment is driving the front-runner? >> i don't think so. i think it helps him at this stage. certainly, puerto rico and florida. trump is anti-immigrant, but many other candidates in the gop field, many who suspended their campaigns, or some who are still in the race, are good on immigration. want to be constructive on immigration and support some form of legalization. governor kasich, marco rubio does. >> dpoept they all want toent dhaka? >> i think they have said they want to end daca. >> that has become an obstacle to immigration reform. and this is -- democrats don't want to tell you this, but by continuing to talk about going beyond obama on executive action, the message that hillary clinton is telling congressional republicans is that she doesn't want to work with them to pass immigration reform. >> all right. sorry we don't have more time. appreciate it. thank you. that does wrap up this hour from detroit, michigan. thomas roberts picks up our coverage from florida next. and i'll be back at 11:00 a.m., so stay with msnbc, the place for politics. i'm billy, and i quit smoking with chantix. i decided to take chantix to shut everybody else up about me quitting smoking. i was going to give it a try, but i didn't really think it was going to really happen. after one week of chantix, i knew i could quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix definitely helped reduce my urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse or of seizures. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you have these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have heart or blood vessel problems, or develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. most common side-affect is nausea. being a non-smoker feels great. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. when your allergy symptoms start... i've been claritin clear for 14 days. ...doctors recommend taking one claritin every day of youou allergy season... ...for continuous relief. with powerful, 24 hour... ...non-drowsy claritin, live claritin clear. every day. ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. see if you're eligible for 12 months free at mybreo.com. hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts live on location. another beautiful panhandle morning in pensacola beach, florida. super saturday results are in and we have a busy sunday ahead of us. ted cruz and donald trump winning two contests each. making it a tough and winless night for marco rubio. cruz winning caucuses in kansas and maine. the senator explaining yesterday why he's become the alternative to donald trump. >> i think what it represents is republicans coalescing, saying it would be a disaster for donald trump to be our nominee,

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