republican party and the legacy of ronald reagan. this is 40 minutes. r opposed that policy. our guest now is matt lewis, the author of two them to fail. b to fail. he is the cohost of the dmv show. he is also a cnn political commentator. thank you for joining us this money. this is the book "too dumb to -- thank you for joining us this morning. guest: somebody says something dumb or crazy or controversial in the republic and primary, they go up in the polls. that is what too dumb to fail is. it harkens to the too big to book appeared in both cases, you have these perverse incentives. you had financial institutions who took risks that we the people ended up picking up the bill for. we have a similar phenomenon taking place in politics right now where you have politicians and pundits who do or say things that have perverse incentives. it helps them individually, they go up in the polls, they sell more books, to get more buzz. collectively, it hurts the republican party and conservative movement. speak.laying out as we right now, there is a big debate in washington over whether or not the se

. thanks to you at home for joining us in nevada where heads have started finally roll in vast republican race. today in durango hills, hundreds of people, something like 700, 800 people were gathered at a ymca for a midday campaign rally for ted cruz. we're getting down to the wire in nevada. the caucuses are tomorrow. these are the last things the candidates are going to do. these are the last day events. this is really important in terms of trying to win nevada. this is closing argument time for the various campaigns who can get their candidate here in person and on the ground. this ted cruz event today was supposed to start at noon local time. there was supposed to be a candidate press conference ahead of time. even with the incredibly tight schedules that the campaigns and candidates have to run, the cruz campaign had to blow up its schedule and keep all thoeds -- those people waiting. all the people are waiting. all the reporters are waiting for the press conference. everything got pushed. everything got left waiting because the candidate and a bunch of his top staffers were holed u

you know political sphere that all the candidates in the republican party are splitting the vote and giving trump the win. do you think that's the case? well i think obviously if they were down to one other candidate against donald trump it would be an entirely different race at this point in time but it's not that way and it's sort of like nobody wants to let go. i mean we're finally down to five but i don't know when we'll go any lower than that. some think if cruz did poorly in texas next week that would do it or if something were to happen in and you know rubio doesn't do well in his home state that would be a factor. i think they try some way to survive in this process which frankly plays very well into the trump strategy going forward through march, april, is there anything in particular that you guys can identify about trump's campaign or his platform that is appealing to nevadans specifically? that's a good question. nevadans specifically, no. no more so than his appeal anywhere. he's captured what i'm now calling the anger demographic. like with-with cruz you can identify hi

viewers to weigh in. on a republican, democrat, republican line and a special line for latino voters. marie is from minnesota on the democratic line. caller: hello? host: you're on the air. caller: thank you. i would like to ask you a very important question. stand ontly is your illegals coming to this country and they cross the border illegally. i am a mexican. i'm an american born mexican. my father and mother came from , and guest butre come i ended up being an orphan. i want your stand exactly. why is it we have to have illegals take to dent over illegal immigrants? -- take accident over illegal - dent over illegal aliens? why is it we cannot come together as a nation with mexico improving the mexican economy. come on, please. . want my culture back i want to know how the mexican people in mexico. i could care less about how the united states has handled it. i want my culture back. all, what's of is toant to emphasize illegal immigration to the united states but we want to ensure our legal immigration system works properly. that's an important concern. days, we allowed as many im

that's been taken place in these republican primaries and republican debates. i don't think it's restricted by the way to mr. trump. i find it interesting that everybody's focused on trump because he says in more interesting ways what the other candidates are saying as well. he may up the ante in anti-muslim sentiment, but if you look at what the other republican candidates have said, that's pretty troubling too. he may express strong anti-immigration sentiment, but you've heard that from the other candidates as well. i'll leave it to you to speculate on how this race will go. i continue to believe mr. trump will not be president. the reason is because i have a lot of faith in the american people. i think they recognize that being president is a serious job. it's not hosting talk show or a reality show. it's not promotion. it's not marketing. it's hard. a lot of people count on us getting it right. the american person are pretty sensible. i think they'll make a sensible choice in the end. all right. thanks, everybody. thank you. >> president obama at a press conference today in c

, 40 minutes here on washington journal. numbers, republicans, screen.on your democrats and hillary, it's on your screen. we're keeping that special line for new hampshire voters. calling in. start we'll get right to linda in philadelphia, pennsylvania. linda is an independent. linda, you're on with arnie arnesen. >> hey, linda. >> hi! you?re >> fine. thank you. >> i'm calling because i've been watching the debates. i think and how i feel. says hillary clinton but my heart says bernie sanders. >> welcome to the club. why.ll tell you we were always taught to go with gut.eart, to go with our bernie sanders is an older man. but i like his views when it the middle class people who are just -- have been kicked of the programs and kicked out of the system right now. and we're out here fending for ourselves. and i think it's very sad. thinking that donald trump -- i want to put him in there too. he has poor impulse control. and i'm very afraid that if he house, thate white he might make impulsive that are coming from do. what he likes to and he'll throw us back into another war, where a lo

get out, the republican party would coalesce around him and he would be able to beat donald trump. ted cruz says he is only person who has been donald trump. is donald trump unstoppable? good morning. caller: i believe if he wins super tuesday he will be unstoppable. i want to point out that i am a first-time voter. i have never voted for. all these politicians are brought. this is my opinion. i have never had a reason to vote. i think donald trump brings new voters out. it, i think if he wins super tuesday i don't take anybody is going to be able to stop him. host: how old are you? caller: i just turned 25. host: you did vote the last time? caller: i never voted. me donald trump supports american values and we need to bring back our culture and what founded america. i think donald trump as a representative of that. host: why not these other republicans? has themarco rubio establishment behind him. donald trump is going to do what he says about building a wall immigration,egal which is a big issue in our country. i think he will bring jobs back. money, yout have can't be rich. has a go

front-runner has put the fractures into overdrive. but do republicans have a backup plan that sounds just as unbelievable as what we're already seeing? this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. >>> good evening from our election headquarters right here in new york city, at rockefeller plaza. i'm chuck todd and welcome to "mtp daily." we are on the eve of history tonight. donald trump is on the precipice of potentially beginning to lock down the republican nomination. and the republican party, as we know it, might be on the brink of coming apart at the seams if that does happen. things have gone from nasty to outright insane. just look at what topics are dominating the campaign trail in the last 24 hours. the kkk, the mafia, mussolini, drafting a third party, which candidate sweats more, which candidate's taller, who's got bigger, um, hands, spray tans, a prominent photojournalist brawled with a secret service agent at a trump rally. it is madness out there. so can the republican party survive trump's takeover? either way, this may not end well for anyone involved. trump is barreli

you choose someone moderate enough republicans might change course and schedule a vote? if you consider that choice who to come nanominate, what qualif important to you in diversities among them? thank you. >> first of all, i want to reiterate heartfell condolences to the scalia family. obviously justice scalia and i had different political orientations and probably would have disagreed on the outcome of certain cases but there's no doubt that he was a giant on the supreme court, helped to shape the legal landscape. he was, by all accounts, a good friend and loved his family deeply, and so you know, it's important before we rush into all of the politics of this to take stock of somebody who made enormous contributions to the united states. and we are grateful not only for his service but his family's service. the constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now. when there is a vacancy on the supreme court, the president of the united states is to nominate someone. the senate is to consider that nominati nomination, and either they disapprove of the nominee or

>> dickerson: welcome book i'm john dickerson in greenville, south carolina, where a republican debate was held. beer back now with more from senator bernie sanders on the democratic race. senator sanders before we get back to the political questions i want to ask you about the president's replacement for antonin scalia what do you think will happen? he's going to nominate somebody but republicans have said they're going to let it sit. >> well, i'll say, john, it is beyond my comprehension and just speaks the unbelievable level and unprecedented level of republican obstructionism against obama from day one. this is not something that is in debate. the constitution of the united states of america provides that the president appoints, nominates, a supreme court justice. and then the senate holds hearings and deliberation and votes on whether or not to approve that nomination. the idea that republicans want to deny the president of the united states is basic constitutional right is beyond my comprehension. i will do everything that i can to make sure that when the president makes h

>>> candidate donald trump crossed a bright red line in a recent republican candidates' debate, transgressed on a piece of core g.o.p. orthodoxy. he said invading iraq was a mistake, an avoidable mistake and one the u.s. has been paying for big time ever since. does it open the door for debating iraq and the legacy of george w bush for the rest of the republican field or does it leave donald trump alone, isolated as the campaign moves forward. iraq's loose ends. it's the "inside story". >>> welcome to inside story. in a world of don't go theres, donald trump has a way of going there and stomping all the way. one of the most rigidly observed bits of stated belief in the years since the invasion of iraq goes something like this. that the war was worth fighting, that the bush administration could be forgiven for being wrong about the presence of weapons of mass destruction because everybody, everybody, everybody agreed they were there. no-one could have predicted how things were going to turn out once the u.s. toppled the bathurst ray jail and the-- regime and the real mistake was

, the republicans, they do not want president obama to nominate a replacement for the justice they believe a new justice hand picked by the president will swing the court and future opinions to the left. that scenario would be fine with democrats, fully aware scalia's absence four appointed by republican and four appointed by democrats. the new addition to the court will tip that balance. republicans believe if they win the presidency this year, they will name a supreme court justice next year. president obama is in no hurry according to the white house. a spokesman saying don't expect any decision this week. he'll consider when his options -- when the sen -- what his options are when the senate comes back from recess. manu r manu raju, four different american presidents. manu, if i could begin with you, saying the president will not rush, to nominate someone, but the recess is really just a little more than a week away. the president has said that he will nominate someone this year. i just wonder, looking at this politics from where you sit, president nominating someone, is there

reports of massive turn out for republicans. >> dishonesty can knock out a poll very quickly. that's the only wap we lose. >> donald trump goes for three in a row. we'll go live to the caucuses. republicans sign their names on the plot to stop obama's supreme court pick. the unprecedented letter signed by republican senatorers and why this move has presidential politics written all over it. >>> the president's pitch to close gitmo. >> i don't want to pass this problem on to the next president. >> setting up another 2016 fight. >> don't shut down gitmo, expand it and let's have some new terrorists there. >> when "all in" starts right now. >>> good evening from las vegas. i'm chris hayes at this very hour doors are opening at caucus sites across nevada. we'll be bringing you live coverage ocht caucuses throughout the evening and in this hour. donald trump has now had two victories back to back. he is a clear favorite tonight. recent polling up up to a 26-point lead over his next challenger polling the republican caucus in nevada is difficult. a cnn poll one week before the 2008

. we'll look at evangelicals' role in shaking out a crowded republican field. >> you want to see things change in iowa? do you want to see the glory of god come down to iowa? then you need to be involved in the political process. >> ifill: and we talk with amy walter and tamara keith about what's happening on the ground as candidates make their final push. plus, david brooks and michelle cottle are here to analyze the race. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. lincoln financial helps provide financial security for those who are always there for you, because this is what you do for people you love. lincoln financial-- you're in charge. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >>

action by president barack obama seems to be a call to arms for the republican opposition. in an effort to keep a campaign promise, he announced a plan to close the guantanamo bay detention facility. president obama: this is about closing a chapter in our history. fernando: then, he agreed to a temporary truce with his russian counterpart, vladimir putin, to halt all hostilities in syria. >> it could save lives. fernando: the republican leadership in congress and gop presidential candidates were quick to reject the president' s initiatives. senior senator lindsey graham, who until recently was a presidential candidate himself, is a member of the armed services and judiciary committees. he joins me from capitol hill. senator graham, thank you for joining me. sen. graham: thank you. fernando: sir, the president has announced a new plan to close guantanamo. what' s your reaction? sen. graham: it' s not a plan, it doesn' t designate where they would go, what legal status they would have. it will go nowhere in the senate or the house. fernando: and sir, do you have an alternative plan

expected to lag in this race as the clinton juggernaut starts to gather steam. republican presidential candidates also in the southern states this weekend. donald trump with tremendous momentum. senator ted cruz admitting trump could easily be, well not be easily stoppable if he sweeps the march 1st primaries. he took aim at cruz and rub owe. >> i watched this lightweight, total lightweight. his new attack is he calls me a con artist. he's a very nasty guy. i thought ted cruz was a liar but rubio is worse. >> he's flying around on hair force one. he put out a picture of me having make up put on me at the debate. >> it was striking listening to him express he was defended. this from a man who over and over have stood up and used profanity and vulgar insults. i got to say, i don't think it's a good thing to see presidential candidates just behaving like school children bickering. >> thank goodness we've seen none of that. we have the best political analysis for you this afternoon. both you have, welcome. we've got a contest that we're going to start counting votes in a little under two h

obama vows to ignore the unprecedented republican supreme court blockade. >> let's see how the public responds to the nominee we put forward. >> is the white house considering a surprise republican nominee? when "all in" starts right now. good evening from new york city, i'm chris hayes. all right. ever since real estate developer/reality tv personality/prominent proponent of birther nonsense donald trump came down that escalator in june to announce he was running for president americans have grappled with an increasingly intense series of is this really happening moments? last night with trump's third straight victory, an overwhelming 22-point win in nevada, we experienced our most jarring such moment yet. >> if you listen to the pundits, we weren't expected to win too much and now we're winning, winning, winning the country. [ cheers ] and soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning. we won the evangelicals. we won with young. we won with old. we won with highly educated. we won with poorly educatef i love the poorly educated. >> trump's victory lap today included

generating hand-wringing within the ranks of the republican party. michael steele is the former chairman of the rnc and he joins me now here in the studio. michael, thanks for coming. michael: great to be here. fernando: well, you've just come back from iowa. let me ask you right off -- do you think donald trump will win iowa? michael: i think he's well-poised to do it. depending on the polls you're looking at, there's still a very, very tight span between him and cruz right now. but the thing that's fascinating to watch is how cruz sort of eclipsed him, held that lead almost 4, 5, 6 points, and then trump just turned it, just turned it on the dime and moved the energy back in his direction. so i think, going into this, i think trump well-poised to win it and if he does, it makes the , rest of this effort by the other candidates that much more fernando: this shift in momentum, do you think it's connected to trump using the fact that ted cruz was born in canada as some wedge issue? michael: it contributed to it in a small way. what it did was, more importantly, is it got people t

. and in just four days it could be a battle for the republican party's very soul. plus, the other battle for the future, president obama coming out to speak about replacing justice antonin scalia who died suddenly saturday. shaping up to be one of the big of the battles of his entire presidency. >> conspiracy theorys in overdrive, blaming everyone from president obama, clintons, dick cheney, mr. spock for the death of justice scalia at age 79. which presidential candidate added tin foil to the proverbial hat? >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. breaking news. brand-new cnn polls laying out the state of the race in south carolina as the republicans like to say, south carolina picks presidents. so if your name is donald j. trump you might be grinning, four days before republicans vote in the palmetto state you have a big lead there. hillary clinton also has a big lead, but with more than a week until south carolina democrats flood the poll, so many undecided democrats, a sanders supporter, might, might see some evidence all is not yet los

republican caucuses tonight... candidates are taking advantage with appearances all around town. senator ted cruz was in reno yesterday...holding a late night rally at the boys and girls club. he was welcomed by supporters including nevada attorney general adam laxalt and radio personality glenn beck. cruz fired up the crowd by promising to defend the constitutional rights of citizens. today... he has rallies in fernley, minden, carson city... before heading back to las vegas. senator marco rubio also held a rally in reno yesterday... after jetting in from elko. local supporters... including lieutenant governor mark hutchison and senator dean heller were there... reminding everyone of the importance of rubio outlined his conservative platform... and touched on the issue of land ownership here in nevada... which got a roar of support from the crowd. for today's caucus. and yesterday... doctor ben carson spoke to a crowd of more than 400 at piper's opera house in virginia city. it was the first time a president or the 1800's his supporters cheered when he described the flat tax he

between donald trump and ted cruz. one out three republican voters have been voting for donald trump. two out of three have decided not to. when it's a two-man race those two out of three coalesce behind ted cruz. and then you have ted crz winning more than 50% of the vote in these winner take all states. for all those folks out there who don't know the math and know how the states work between now and march 14 the, all of the states are proportionate. texas is the wig aboutest share of next tuesday's volte with about 15% of all the delegates. if you don't get 20% of the vote in texas, you don't get any delegates. by next wednesday more, we should have kasich, carson and rubio ready to step eye ai side. once that happens, two ut of thee vote who are have been voting against trump will vote for ted cruz. >> do you agree with with his assessment, jeff? >> no, not at all, especially when you count -- he keeps saying two-thirds voted against trump. well, 46% of nevada just voted for trump. so if you're trying to say that 53% is going to add up to something, donald trump just got in

captioning sponsored by wnet >> brangham: on this edition for saturday, february 6: republican presidential hopefuls hunker down in new hampshire, while the democratic candidates look beyond that first primary. in our signature segment, the campaign road ahead: how the complex delegate rules of individual states help determine who makes the ballot in november. >> brangham: next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: lewis b. and louise hirschfeld cullman. bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the citi foundation. supporting innovation and enabling urban progress. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, william brangham. >> brangha

the single most important state. host: let's look at the republican side. here is the most recent poll. donald trump, 29%. marco rubio up to second place with 18%. ted cruz, 13%. john kasich, 12%. chris christie and carly fiorina each have 4%. what is significant in that to you? mr. smith: the takeaway is that donald trump's numbers have not budged before or after iowa. that is typical. even though he did not win in iowa, it has not impacted voters here. it is also not surprising that ted cruz who won iowa is not getting much traction here. it is not been a republican theidate who has won both iowa caucuses and the new hampshire primary in the same year. mainly because the iowa caucuses are dominated by more socially conservative and evangelical voters. 45% of new hampshire voters are moderate to liberal and are not that concerned about social issues. it is not surprising that ted cruz is down fairly far. marco rubio is the one to watch. rubioe have seen is marco is one of those candidates who is pretty accepted with the conservative wing and the mainstream wing. they like him and

punching bag in the latest republican debate. he recruits a former rival to snatch back his momentum. mr. trump this was an : endorsement that really meant a lot. rubio: so, that's the only part of the plan? just the lines? trunk you'll have many different : plans. you'll have competition; you'll have so many different plans. mr. rubio: now he's repeating himself. mr. trump: no, no, no. gwen: and candidates race to the bottom. >> he wanted a full length mirror. maybe he wanted to make sure his pants weren't wet. gwen: in washington, another kind of standoff. >> everything is on the line. congress, the supreme court, the presidency. >> the election is well underway. this vacancy should not be filled by this lame-duck president. >> the easier thing to do is to give in to the most extreme voices within their party and stand pat and do nothing. gwen: are politics as we know it frozen? or is about to change forever? covering the raucous week -- susan davis, congressional reporter for npr. michael duffy, executive editor of time magazine. john harwood, chief washington correspondent for cnbc.

coming in third. they head to nevada for tuesday's republican caucus. >> following that announcement, donald trump gave a victory speech saying it's beautiful when you win. >> there's nothing easy about running for president, i can tell you. it's tough, it's nasty, it's mean, it's vicious, it's beautiful. [laughter] >> when you win, it's beautiful. and we're going to start -- we are going to start winning for our country. we're going to start winning. because our country doesn't win anymore. it doesn't win. we don't win with the military. we can't beat isis. we have great military. we don't win. you look what the china is doing to us, what japan does to us, what mexico is killing us at the border. >> this win puts trump in a commanding position now to move forward to the next primaries. >> one thing he did not jeb bush who recently dropped out of the race, a little more than an hour ago. >> i'm proud of the campaign we've run to unify our country, and to advocate conservative solutions that would give more americans the opportunity to rise up and reach their god-given potential. the

that yesterday chairman grassley gathered only republican committee members in a private meeting where they, as i said, they unilaterally decided behind closed doors to refuse consideration of a nominee. the decision to foreclose even holding a hearing for a nominee to our nation's miest court -- nation's highest court is shameful, and i suspect that the american people share that view. the supreme court is a central pillar of our democracy. the women and men who sit on that bench make decisions that touch the lives of every single american, regardless of party or political persuasion. now the senate must do the same. we must honor our solemn duty to uphold the constitution and to ensure that americans seeking justice are able to have their day in court before a full bench of nine justices. i urge my colleagues to reject the impulse to put politics before our sworn duty to uphold the constitution. i would thank you, mr. chair, and yield to my colleague from utah. mr. lee: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: supreme court justice antonin scalia wa

these republican presidential candidates. the stakes are enormous right now. in south carolina, the polls are closing right now. >>> and this is a cnn key race alert. the early leaders based on the exit polls that we have, donald trump, ted cruz, marco rubio. they are the early leaders right now in south carolina in this republican presidential primary. the second tiered candidates based on the exit poll estimates that we have, jeb bush, ben carson, john kasich. but the early leaders clearly as anticipated the big three right now, donald trump, ted cruz and marco rubio. just want to let our viewers know, this is an early snapshot based on interviews with the sampling of voters as they left select polling sites. more details from our exit polls. they're coming in. we will share with them very, very, very shortly. but those are the early leaders and the second tier candidates. i want to go to trump headquarters right now. sara murray on the scene for us over there. one of the early -- three early leaders as we had anticipated. >> yeah, wolf. i think this is very much what we expected

declared the winner on the republican side or a virtual tie as bernie sanders has called it. this is the results from the new york times this morning. that rate is called on the epublican side, senator ted cruz got 27.7% of the votes. that gives him eight delegates of iowa.t donald trump with 24.3. he'll get seven. 23.1%.rubio, the senator, he too will get seven delegates. side, only ratic points separating hillary clinton and bernie sanders. delegates and 23 bernie sanders 21 delegates. this is updated at 6:30 this morning. we will wait to talk to you this night's iowa last caucuses. what did you watch? what did you think? what did you think about the winners today? let me show you the "washington journal" this morning, their front page about ted cruz's victory. the headlines say that ted cruz bumped past trump in iowa. racks mr. trump's status after a six-month ride at the top of the polls. cruz's superior turnout machine and the texas appeal with the party's most conservative voters. we'll look at those numbers and find out who turned out to vote in iowa, in lansing, north carolina, d

best >> plus -- can the numbers add up for the gop? >> republicans need to do better. fernando: hello, and welcome to "matter of fact." i' m fernando espuelas. on monday, for the gop boils down to the iowa caucus, and 30 delegates. and the rise of outsider candidates, like donald trump and senator ted cruz, is generating hand-wringing within the ranks of the republican party. michael steele is the former chairman of the rnc and he joins me now here in the studio. michael, thanks for coming. michael: great to be here. fernando: well, you' ve just come back from iowa. let me ask you right off -- do you think donald trump will win iowa? michael: i think he' s well-poised to do it. depending on the polls you' re looking at, there' s still a very, very tight span between him and cruz right now. but the thing that' s fascinating to watch is how cruz sort of eclipsed him, held that lead almost 4, 5, 6 points, and then trump just turned it, just turned it on the dime and moved the energy back in his direction. so i think, going into this, i think trump well-poised to win it and if he does, it

forward a nominee. this will likely come up tomorrow in houston with republican candidates. what can we expect? think you will see much division from the top , in the moments after scalia, they were taking the position that the next president should choose and ted cruz has been talking about this for a long time, putting up a constitutional conservative and changing the balance of the court. i say that we have not heard a and he isohn kasich someone you might hear taking less hard line on this. do not expect this to be an issue of division and you never know, at this point in the campaign. >> we have heard from the president. what are you hearing from congressional democrats? >> they are trying to plot out how they will handle this. they are being complicit and of brian the name sandoval, a moderate republican. the idea is to make the republicans look unreasonable by rejecting their own. you heard republican senators matter and does not they took the hard line before the nomination and will stick with it. democrats are figuring out how to make this painful and trying to make the republi

thoughts. republicans can start dialing .nd at (202) 748-8001 democrats condyle and at (202) 748-8000 -- can dial in at (202) 748-8000. an independents can dial in at (202) 748-8002. you can also comment on twitter wj.-span the white house proceed with plans to pick a successor to scalia within weeks. in "the washington post," obama, senate gop group for battle. the white house mulls scalia successor. the storya today," is "scalia -- the battle begins." even before the american flag outside the supreme court has been lowered to half staff in honor of justice antonin scalia, the political battle over who would replace him and who gets to choose was broiling. while on ated death hunting trip in west texas could affect the ideological tilt of the nation's top court as it considers abortion rights, immigration law, and other landmark cases. the debate over his successor and fling the 2016 present will race and it is likely to become a divided vote contest to determine control of the senate in november. here are present obama's comments. [video clip] a plentiful so fulfill my constitu

days before they go before the voters in south carolina. the leading republican presidential candidates are at war with one another. trump against cruz. cruz against trump. cruz against rubio. trump against bush. candidates calling other candidates unstable, liars, threatening lawsuits. heent been this tough since adams supporters called jackson's wife, well, you'll have to look that one up because i'm not going to say it. jeb bush has been used by trump as a political punching bag is punching back bringing his brother, the former president, into the fight. george w. bush may have left office as one of the least popular presidents in history but remains one of the most popular republicans in south carolina where he campaigned with his brother today and where donald trump was the unspoken subject. we'll have more on the impact he had from gary tuchman. >> reporter: former president george w. bush with his wife laura on the 2016 campaign trail to try to make his brother jeb the next president. >> i came here for two reasons. one, because i care deeply about jeb and, two, becaus

to do and how republicans are plotting to stop him. >>> thenning back to the future. >> i've been misunderestimated most of my life. >> the return of w greeted with a trump assault. >> ever ask yourself why his brother went silent for all these years. >> donald's numbers are plummeting after the debate. >> i don't think cruz deal wells with pressure. i think he's a basket case. he's an absolute disgusting liar. >> as far as i'm concerned they're in default of their pledge. >>> good evening. i'm chris hayes. as if the 2016 election wasn't unpredictable enough and didn't have high enough stakes. as of saturday with the death of supreme court justice antoni scalia, the balance is polarized. he was a legal founding member of the conservative block often joined in the majority by justice anthony kennedy. replacing him with a judge would tip the balance of the court away from conservatives. it would ease the fate of several profoundly cases now before the court, unsettled. it didn't take long after the news broke for toyota be fully sub sooned by party politics. republican senate majori

majority. those who support trump and his views -- the republicans will lose if they nominated trump. that is what the establishment knows. alarmedwhy they are so about his success because it is obvious he would ruin the party. >> what about ted cruz and marco rubio? they may not be quite as extreme as donald trump but they have adopted his anti-immigrant bashing message. are they any less populist? >> they are not really anti-immigrant -- both are sons of cuban immigrants. to --ay say that you have immigration cannot happen indefinitely. there is a difference between ted cruz who is an evangelical and marco rubio who has adopted some of the tactics but at the moment he becomes the party's nominee in has to win over people who are in the middle. he will track to the center like every candidate does. >> are you so sure about that given the role of right-wing media and the political landscape? they will hold until accountability if he walked back. that he wasenied ever willing to go for in immigration deal that would allow illegal immigrants in the u.s. citizenship. he is now denying positio

. and tonight, tonight looms as a huge night in the republican race. all five remaining candidates are coming together on the same stage in houston, texas, for their final debate before super tuesday. this is the best and possibly last chance for one of those other candidates to put the brakes on donald trump's rocket ride to the nomination. >> well, first of all, i will admit he is the front runner and i'm certainly an underdog but i've been an underdog my entire life. >> donald wins the general election who the heck knows what he will do as president. we need a president we can trust. >> there is no honeymoon period in foreign policy. you can't just say when i get there i will hire the smartest people and they will tell me what to do. >> we can't be fooled by pt barnum. the time for the clowns and the acrobats and the dancing bears has passed. >> well, you heard marco rubio starting to take the gloves off there. the question, though, is whether he and ted cruz are going to be going after donald trump in that debate tonight or if as we've seen they will be training their fire on each

. republicans want to turn the november election into a referendum for who should sit on the court. and any nominee put forward by president obama should be blocked in the senate. ted cruz has blocked a filibuster. >> we're one away from a majority that would effectively write the second amendment out of the constitution. >> reporter: mr. obama has ignored that call and said that he will do his constitutional duty to fill the vacancy. who will he nominate? speculation around two classes of candidates. first, a jurist already on the bench. a stepping stone to the supreme court. he was analysisly confirmed by the senate three years ago. merritt garland is the chief judge of the dc court. widely respected, his name has come up on previous lists, and paul wall ford, elected to the beverage in 2012. all three are considered moderate. and would have an outside shot of getting republican support for confirmation. if republicans block a moderate, democrats will call them obstructionists. they could go outside of the judiciary or pick someone with a more liberal record, knowing that republicans

of conservative causes. republican -- respected even by adversaries. president obama called scalia's son to offer condolences and interrupted a trip to california to address the nation. >> he influenced a generation of judges, lawyers, and students. and profoundly shaped the legal landscape. >> reporter: his body has arrived in el paso. no word this morning on memorial services. tributes will likely come. as a colorful, larger-than-life figure is gone. all of official washington stunned. george? >> pierre thomas at the court. thank you. >>> we have the battle now over who comes next. president obama promised to nominate a successor. republicans vowed to block his choice. so much at stake. jon karl joins us from the white house with more on that side of the story. good morning, jon. >> reporter: good morning, george. the battle lines on this were drawn before the suprem hit washington like a thunderbolt. in an unprecedented move, mitch mcconnell immediately released a statement saying this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. when president obama came before the

. senate republican leaders are insisting they'll hold no hearings or vote-- and will, instead, wait until a new president takes office next year. but in a oval office meeting with the king of jordan, the president said he's going to his job, and senators should do theirs. >> i recognize the politics are hard for them, because the easier thing to do is to give in to the most extreme voices within their party and stand pat and do nothing. but that's not our job. our job is to fulfill our constitutional duties. >> ifill: meanwhile, it was widely reported the white house is vetting republican governor brian sandoval of nevada as a possible nominee. he confirmed he's discussed it with the state's two senators: minority leader harry reid and republican dean heller. we'll delve into all of the court fight, later in the program. the senate did confirm a new commissioner of the food and drug administration today. robert califf has been the agency's number two official. before that, he was a well-known cardiologist and medical researcher at duke university. also today, the president nominated

place separating himself from the pack of republicans desperate for tickets, but can he go the distance. jeb bush, ted cruz, marco rubio still in a battle for third place and sixth place governor chris christie says he's headeding back to new jersey to take a deep breath, meantime the rest of the field will be pounding the trail in south carolina just hours from now. let's go to cnn political. i'm going to mark first. he's joining us from manchester right now. he's getting new information on marco rubio. >> we learned in the last 30 minutes he has sent out a fundraising e-mail that he's acknowledging that he dropped the ball during that debate on saturday night, that devastating debate where chris christie took him to the mat. now marco rubio trying to raise money, but telling his supporters that he will never let that happen again. marco rubio in the past has made some pretty big mistakes. the whole water incident had reached over and grabbed a water during the republican response to the state of the ununion, he says he's going on to south carolina. marco rubio not giving up e