. thanks for being with me. >>> i want to go now to nbc's hallie jackson who's right there beside ted cruz as we speak. hallie, good morning. >> reporter: hey there, guys. senator cruz is at this restaurant in indianapolis here. this is heidi cruz right next to us, she's talking with some voters here, the senator himself is right around the corner and he just previewed that major announcement, 4:00 p.m. happening today. not saying what that announcement will be, but there is some speculation that perhaps he will name a vice presidential pick. carly fiorina we know has been being vetted as on that short list. as we sort of talk about what may come for him in indiana, an essential state, a must-win state some argue for ted cruz just given that he has been mathematically eliminated from contention. we're going to sneak in and see if we can throw a question live to one of these guys as we wait for them to chat with voters. but i see a lot of people at this restaurant. this was similar to what kroou was doing in iowa, getting boots on the ground. i asked him about that as we were walking i

us make sense. we had donald trump's foreign policy speech as well. hallie jackson is in indiana with the cruz campaign. she'll be interviewing carly fiorina live here on this show later in this hour. i'm also joined by super lawyer ben ginsberg, rick tyler, and presidential historian and reagan biographer craig shirley. the last time a president tried something like this, it was ronald reagan. he named dick swik ert as his running mate in an attempt to try to pick off delegates at an open convention that year. but let me move over and check in with hallie jackson and see what the crowd, the reaction in the room, how big was it, it looked good on television. hallie, what's it sound like in the room? >> reporter: looked good on tv. a couple hundred people filling the space. i want to see if we can get our camera man to pan over, as fiorina prepares to do some interviews, including one with us that we'll be doing in a couple of minutes. they had these signs ready, cruz-fiorina. the website is already redirecting to cruz-carly.com. as the campaign tries to fund-raise off today's ann

in wisconsin. hour hallie jackson who follows the cruz campaign joins me now from the bronx. we have the new poll out, hallie. it shows cruz should be dead last in new york, followed by trump at 58%. he also had someone escorted out. talk about that. >> we'll start there, thomas, because i think we have some video we can show you. a couple minutes ago, there were some hecklers. they were taelling him his policies were discriminating. they were escorted out of the building. cruz met with some faith leaders in the bronx. he is shaking hands with some people. i can see him out of the corner of my eye. you talk about the monmouth poll. he finished in wisconsin and notch aid big win for him there. now it's new york, delaware, connecticut, pennsylvania, places that look better for donald trump. donald trump now breaking 58%, senator cruz ahead of john kasich. it is a potentially bumpy ride for cruz here, but he's going to upstate tomorrow to albany. he's also looking to play to some of these smaller congressional districts who don't have a bigger play of republicans who can go door to

. and the proof is in the pudding -- >> but now you're -- >> hallie, let me answer your question, please. the proof is in the pudding. the voters can ask who has stood up and led the fight against the washington cartel from day one. i am the only candidate who has taken on not just democrats but leaders in my own party over and over and over again. when i ran for senate, i promised the people of texas i would lead the fight against obamacare. that's what i did in the senate, much to the annoyance of the washington cartel. as president, i'll repeal every word of obamacare. when i ran for senate in texas, i promised the voters i would lead the fight against amnesty. that's what i did in the senate, leading the fight against the gang of eight amnesty bill. at the same time that donald trump was funding the gang of eight, giving over $50,000 to the proponents of amnesty, i was leading the fight and we defeated amnesty in congress. as president, i will stop amnesty, we'll secure the borders, we'll end sanctuary cities and we will end welfare benefits for those here illeg illegal illeg

. >> joining me now is our msnbc's contributor and msnbc hally jackson. ted cruz just wrapped up a rally as well. hally cruz wasted no time on this morning going after trump. i want to hear your thoughts here with ted cruz a short time ago. >> donald on television this morning saying gosh, he thought that men should be able to go in the girl's bathroom if they wanted to. now, let me ask you, have we gone nuts? this is the political correctness. this is basic common sense. let me ask you, are there any parents or daughters here? i am the father of two little girls. here is basic common sense, grown adult men -- strangers should not be alone in a bathroom with little girls. and that's not conservative or liber liberal. that's not republican or democrat, that's basic common sense. >> ted cruz is tweeting about this topic a short time ago. this is something that'll resonate the core conservative voters who backed his campaign. >> reporter: as you pointed out, pe peter, really wasted no time on this and he went on twitter and we heard about the rally ended here on frederick a couple of minutes a

with the republicans and nbc's hallie jackson. >> reporter: donald trump wants to win in his home state where our new poll shows him over 50% now. ted cruz far behind in third. his campaign tells nbc news they're hoping to stop a sweep, because if trump gets all new york's delegates he'll only need 55% of what's left to lock up the nomination. trump knows if he wins at home and in the nearby states voting next it's easier to avoid a contested convention. that's where cruz may have the delegate advantage. >> now they're trying to pick off the delegates one by one. that's not the way that democracy is supposed to work. it's crooked. >> reporter: while trump won't get the votes of two of his own children who missed the deadline, he's adding staff to get a better handle on the system he's railing against. >> the latest thing he seized upon is when people vote against him, they're stealing the election. it's a really odd notion. >> reporter: and while trump is taking aim at cruz's tactics a campaign source says if he doesn't like the system he shouldn't be a part of it. >> what people

nbc's hallie jackson, who is in wisconsin this evening. hallie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. donald trump has thousands of people packing his rallies here in wisconsin, but he'll need more support than that to avoid a loss to ted cruz. but it's not trump who has to win in this state. it's the never trump movement needing a victory now more than ever. closing in fast, the wisconsin finish line less than 24 hours away. the last push through a state that matters more than anyone thought it would, not just for its 42 delegates but for the momentum it could give the stop trump movement. >> they realize that donald screams and yells a lot, but he has no solution. >> reporter: it's a dramatic reversal from only a month ago, when this looks like trump country. blue collar, more moderate, an open primary. but since then, ted cruz has surged more than 20 points, fueled by the stop trump movement making milwaukee ground zero, led by a group of conservative talk radio hosts, like charlie sykes. >> this is not a conservative candidate. this is a clown car, and the rhetoric that w

covering it all. first to nbc's hallie jackson. hallie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. even with that big lead here in new york, donald trump is arguing the delegate system is stacked against him. these new yorkers lining up for hours tonight want trump, and donald trump wants the win in his home state, where our new poll shows him over 50% now. ted cruz, far behind in third. his campaign tells nbc news they're hoping to stop a sweep because if trump gets all new york's delegates, he'll only need 55% of what's left to lock up the nomination. trump knows if he wins at home and in the nearby states voting next, it's easier for him to avoid a contested convention. that's where cruz may have the delegate advantage after cleaning up in colorado. >> now they're trying to pick off those delegates one by one. that's not the way democracy is supposed to work. the system is rigged. it's crooked. >> reporter: while trump won't get the votes of two of his own children, who missed the registration deadline, he's adding staff to get a better handle on the system he's railing

that but it has to start there. hallie jackson following the cruz campaign in indianapolis. hallie, he is up against it right now. cruz said it's friendlier turf in indiana, absolute must-win for him. what is their plan to do that in indiana next week? >> how do they do it, right, steve? they do it by getting out and getting ted cruz's boots on the ground and turning it into something similar to iowa, turning it into something similar as wisconsin. they hope the last place where the stop trump forces notched a win but it is an uphill battle here. indiana doesn't have the same kind of conservative, it's a different kind of state and cruz is still trailing donald trump in the polls. you are very emphatic when you talk about how this is a must-win for ted cruz, and it is, but he refuses to say that. here's an exchange that we had last night as he was leaving his rally in knightstown, getting on his bus to head out. watch. >> indiana is a wonderful state and i'm very glad that we're headed to indiana next. i've got incredible faiths in the common sense, good judgment of the people of i

with us nbc news reporter hallie jackson who covers the ted cruz campaign. and kurt anderson, host of the public radio program "studio 360." hallie, the cruz campaign seems to have known when the rules were written. >> right. >> they're on this delegate game like nobody else. i mean, better than kasich. and the trump campaign -- did the cruz campaign know that the trump campaign was completely lost in this area? >> let me give you an example that i think is illuminative of how the cruz campaign is organizing. their person in colorado, the volunteer who was putting together their delegate effort, has been work unpaid for that campaign for the last eight months. donald trump hired paul manafort to sort of run this only recently. when was it, last week or the week before. i had one party insider say to me it has become clear that trump's campaign realized they didn't understand the process when they hired manafort to step in and do this. that is late in the game. he has some time potentially to turn this around and help trump's delegate strategy. but ted cruz's campaign is out in fron

first ballot. >> thank you very much, jacob. let's go to hallie jackson, covering the cruz campaign for us. she joins us live from hershey, pennsylvania, where the senator just wrapped up a rally in that state's big contest. hallie is standing by right now. i think she's very close to senator cruz. hallie? >> reporter: hey there, tamron. we are sort of in the crush here. this is something you see at a lot of cruz events. he's working the rope line. these very nice people are allowing us to squeeze in here. you heard senator cruz deliver a message aimed at voters here talking about the need to pick up momentum and pick up support. remember, 54 unbound delegates in this state. carly fiorina introduced him. when she did, she talked about the system, donald trump's attacks on the, quote unquote, system saying donald trump is the system. you're seeing cruz and his surrogates go after trump. cruz himself has talked about how this will go to a contested convention. just a couple of seconds ago as i'm looking at you and keeping an eye on the senator, we had vaughn ask him is this going to cleve

. hallie jackson on her way to brooklyn. hallie, we're seeing a little bit of a shift in the message today. he was all about jobs, when he spoke up in scotioa, which is next to my hometown. >> i think probably drove through your hometown. >> i'm sure you did. >> driving up to albany, driving back down to brooklyn. a lot of great folks in that neck of the woods. you're seeing ted cruz shift his message. we started to see it in wisconsin, revamed -- notably today, when he was fired up, the crowd, campaign estimated about 1,800 people, they stood on their feet for the entire speech swir which is not something we often see at cruz rallies. that said, he is facing an uphill battle, donald trump pulling about 50%. that's why we're seeing him make overtures, different demographic groups. for example, minority communities, he'll be reaching out to. an aide telling me he'll be reaching out to jewish communities like you're seeing today. we're heading to brooklyn because he'll be at a bakery. his position on israel, drawing a contrast with donald trump. the campaign will say we're highlighting

hard time hearing me. we'll go to hally jackson in a moment. i do want to play quickly, something that he said at the town hall this morning. again, this is donald trump at the town hall talking about nor north carolina's so-called bathroom law. >> i heard one of the best answers was from a commentator yesterday saying leave it the way it is right now. north carolina what they are going through with all the businesses that's leaving and all the striekes, that's on bot sides. there is been few complaints of the way it is. >> a moment ago in the campaign trail in maryland. ted cruz blasted trump over those statements, this is what he said. >> donald on television this morning said gosh, he thought that men should be able to go into the girl's bathroom if they want to. now, let me ask you -- have we gone nuts? this is the political correctness, this is basic common sense -- let me ask you, are there any parents of daughters here? i am a father of two little girls. here is basic common sense, grown adult men, strangers should not be alone in bathrooms with little girls. >> that's not conse

. >>> ahead, the latest on the ted cruz campaign including a live report from nbc hallie jackson and a conversation with a cruz supporter. the ugly tone damage, which ever candidate gets the nomination. good news for democrats on that front in the exit poll. i'm going to talk to caroline maloney about that. that's ahead. (music plays from one way or another )♪♪ ♪ i'm gonna find y♪ i'm gonna getcha ♪ ♪ getcha getcha getcha ♪ one way or another ♪ ♪ i'm gonna win ya ♪ i'm gonna getcha ♪ ♪ getcha getcha getcha ♪ one way or another ♪ ♪ i'm gonna see ya ♪ (inhales cigarette) >>> how will you do next week? >> keep working at it. when people find out i have these pittsburgh value, that helps. >> john kasich was in pennsylvania. he was talking about pittsburgh like ted cruz was in mad talking about donald trump this utah. >> in the republican cannot carry bright red utah, we're looking at a walter mondel blood bath across the country. it may cost up the senate and the house. the bill of rights is in jeopardy. >> cruz is not counting on winning in new york. that m

one movement, hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: closing in fast, the wisconsin finish line. the last push through a state that matters more than anyone thought it would, not just for its 42 delegates but for the momentum it could give the stop trump movement. >> they realize that donald screams and yells a lot, but he has no solutions. >> reporter: it's a dramatic reversal from only a month ago when this looked like trump country. blue collar, more moderate and open primary. but since then, ted cruz has surged more than 20 points fueled by the stop trump movement making milwaukee ground zero led by conservative talk radio hosts like charlie psyches. >> this is not a conservative candidate, but a clown car. >> reporter: but a win here would prove that trump is teflon. battling back criticism from economists who say he's wrong to warn we're headed for a crash. >> what i said we'll go into a massive recession. but i also say if i'm president, that's not going to happen. >> reporter: plus, a revealing new profile claiming he wears a bulletproof vest sometimes, even as he comes under

democrats, nbc's kristen welker and msnbc's kasie hunt and covering the republican race. hallie jackson and kelly o'donnell. kristen welker, first to you. clinton on offense today hitting sanders and some shots at donald trump. >> reporter: that's right. she is focused on this primary and also, the general election at the same time, andrea. she just wrapped up this event here which was focused on equal pay, as you just mapped out in your introduction joined by a number of people including the u.s. soccer league's megan rapini part of the lawsuit for equal pay. so they really focused on that this morning, but i can tell you that she has been aggressively going after senator sanders, essentially trying to paint him as not ready for the office of the presidency in part because of that interview that he gave to the daily news when he couldn't enumerate exactly how he would break up the big banks and i've been talking to her campaign officials who tell me her team is going to be ramping up its attacks in the coming days to really try to close out this race here in new york and the buzz word is g

for the texas senator. hallie jackson is covering the cruz campaign and joins us live from indianapolis. i know, as you always do, you tried very hard to get him to tell us what that major announcement was. you are always there with the right question. he did not want to answer you, did he? >> reporter: his point is if he talks about it now nobody will show up when he makes the announcement on stage. if you look at the speculation, there is talk he will be announcing some kind of ticket with carly fiorina and our cameras have caught images of her in and out of the hotel room and she has been on the campaign trail and a surrogate of his the last six weeks or so. if in fact -- it's still an if at this point cruz were to name carly fiorina on some kind of ticket, it could raise questions and bolser cruz and the question is why now and why today in indiana? the answer cruz is coming off a walloping from donald trump, not just winning, winning to a degree undercutting saying donald trump cannot get a majority of support. this is an opportunity for cruz to try to change the subje

their attention beyond today to indiana and that's where we're going to find nbc's hallie jackson. hallie is covering the ted cruz campaign and she joins me now from indianapolis. this is where the senator is this morning and where he will watch the results this evening. hallie, this is really expected to be another big day for donald trump. how is the cruz campaign hoping that indiana can salvage their campaign with those 57 delegates on may 3rd? >> reporter: they're hoping the momentum shifts after tonight. tonight they're hoping to peel off some of those delegates in pennsylvania, some of those unbound delegates peter and tony and the gang have been talking about. but tomorrow, thursday, going to be really important for the campaign. let's talk about today and then we'll break it down for next week. today, you're already seeing, for example, cruz getting support from pennsylvania senator pat toomey, who is in his own re-election battle. toomey told the local paper that cruz is a solid conservative and has a chance to beat hillary clinton in the general election. this is interes

this morning. hallie jackson, kristen welker and kasie hunt. it is a beautiful day but it's even nicer for me when i get a chance to work with you. >> in person. >> i know. >> let me turn to you hallie first. we've mentioned trump and the other candidates. >> let's talk about cruz and then john kasich. ted cruz today not even in new york which is significant about what he thinks his chances are here. instead he's in philadelphia where he'll be watching the results roll in. the campaign believes pennsylvania is a place they can pick up delegates. maryland too they'll look to but also look ahead to indiana on may 3rd. that's a place they believe they can slow trump down and the stop trump movement might get involved as well. for john kasich, i just got off the phone with a top strategist for his campaign and this source is saying that, hey, places like connecticut and rhode island could be very good for john kasich. he's polling in second place in new york city here. >> and there, by the way, as we speak, sorry to interrupt you. there's mr. trump voting right now in manhattan, so w

out, in new york, he is 14 points behind hillary clinton. i believe we have hallie jackson standing by. actually, we're going to go to kasie hunt. she's standing by with the latest on the sanders campaign. and kasie, you know, we make so much about whose turf it is in new york. hillary clinton obviously considering this her second home. and she was senator representing this, but this is also supposed to be bernie sanders' home turf as well. so when he is behind 14 points, what does the campaign say about it? >> the numbers are tough for bernie sanders right now, tamron. but we should expect over the course of the next couple of days a show of force from the sanders campaign in terms of what has been their ongoing advantage all the way along. that's the people who are willing to show up. i want to show you, this is the line to get into his event in syracuse. you guys have been standing here for how many hours? five hours. four hours. she's a half hour. sorry. there were people here this morning at 7:00 in the morning. well before that 2:00 start time for this event. now we're also expec

me. >> according to hillary's mom hallie, the 16-year-old begins to spend more and more of her free time online. >> she loved video games. she loved being on the computer, chatting on the computer or even skyping on the computer. >> but her daughter's cyber life does not sit well with her family william, a family law judge for aransas county. >> he didn't like it in her life or my life. >> when her father learns she had been downloading music illegally off the internet. >> all he knew was downloading meant illegal. that was basically stealing. not that i'm condoning it. >> i could tell something was going to happen. >> that something hillary fears is a physical beating from her father. >> he would discipline harshly when things didn't go his way. it was usually the belt. it happened more and more often until finally it was once every one or two weeks. >> on this particular evening hillary sets up a small video camera on a dresser in her bedroom hoping to document her father's behavior in case he becomes violent. minutes after hillary presses record, william adams enters her room. >>

seen before, admitting he made a mistake. nbc's peter alexander and hallie jackson are out with the campaigns in wisconsin this morning. peter is with trump in lacrosse, hallie jackson following cruz in madison. so, peter, let's start with you and let's start with what i just mentioned there a minute ago, donald trump i guess in this column of maureen dowd in the "new york times" expressing contrition. tell us about it. >> that's exactly right. in fact, he will be back on the trail with his wife tonight, but he did wade back into that war over wives thing as you noted it was a mistake to put out that retweet that showed the unflattering picture of heidi cruz next to his wife melania, he said as follows, quote, if i had to do it again i wouldn't have sent it. that's about as close to contrition as you've heard from donald trump over the course of this entire campaign so far, obviously that deficit with women is critical, but the state really is pivotal not just for trump but also for ted cruz because it's a more moderate conservative state, cruz hoping to show that he can expand into

offensive as well. as hallie jackson reports. >> reporter: inside of a connecticut theater, donald trump insisting it is not an act. >> when i'm speaking, who is not different than when you are in a private room. >> reporter: even his advisers say he'll work to be more presidential. >> presidential is easy. you know what presidential is -- i walk on. >> reporter: confidence in classic trump style -- >> i sort of don't >> reporter: he is ramping it up against his rivals and birthers against ted cruz. and ted cruz targeting trump's elect ability. >> do we want to nominate a candidate who is a phony? who is telling us he's lying to us. i have to give donald credit. he's betraying us before he got elected. >> reporter: to stop trump, cruz is looking to meet with delegates and getting back-up from one anti-trump group endorsing him there and indiana but backing john kasich in three other states. kasich camp frustrating they are not doing more to happen. an adviser telling nbc news, it is just lip service. stop trump forces and getting off the side line in time for tuesday primary. one pac say

, and we've dug up some insight into her battle plan against him. nbc's hallie jackson tells us more. >> reporter: tonight from the front-runners, an inside look at their playbooks, neither taking the nomination for granted but previewing their strategies in case of a match-up this fall. >> her whole life has been a big, fat, beautiful lie. >> reporter: donald trump now hitting hillary clinton's personal life, would pivot to more policy in a general election, nbc has learned from a top campaign aide, who reveals trump would go after clinton for not he crediting jobs, pointing to a lack of private sector experience. watch for attacks on benghazi, to paint her as weak on terror, and on her e-mail controversy. >> now you look at this horrible scandal with e-mails. >> reporter: a campaign source even crediting bernie sanders for moving clinton to the left, something trump would want to exploit to rally republicans. clinton's camp ready to take on trump. >> there has to be some form of punishment. already already out with ads against him. her adviser telling kristen welker tonight the can

. >> reporter: i'm hallie jackson, and today colorado looks more like cleveland. the state picking its gop delegates, previewing what a contested convention this summer in ohio could look like, and if ted cruz heads there in second place, he'll need to have his support shored up starting now. the campaign deploying what an aide tells nbc news is their secret weapon, a delegate strategy designed to outmaneuver donald trump. in colorado, cruz's top volunteer has been on the job eight months. >> the cruz campaign knows what they're doing and they're organizing well. >> reporter: trump's counterpart only started wednesday. >> it's been like drinking from a fire hose. >> reporter: the front-runner, hunker the down at home, now playing catch-up, but his team argues that doesn't matter. >> this convention process will be over with sometime in june. it will be apparent to the world that trump is over the 1237 number. >> reporter: that's the public spin from a long time delegate wrangler. but privately his recent hiring shows trump's team is more worried than they're letting on. a campaign source s

. >>> let's head now to indiana where we find hallie jackson, covering the cruz campaign. we know we've been having some trouble with your shot because of the weather, which is coming over here soon. so hallie, if you cut out, viewers now know why. but very quickly before you do, tell us about how cruz wants to handle tonight. and is there a definition of what a good night is? he could finish third and all five primaries tonight and it wouldn't be a shock. >> he could. so how does he want to get past tonight? quickly, i think, is the bottom line to get to tomorrow, to try to reset the narrative in this race. and even if the campaign comes in third, in let's say, pennsylvania, that's a state that the campaign has identified as key because of the unbound delegates. so there's a sense in the campaign i'm told by aides, that even if they were to come in behind trump, if they were to pick up a couple dozen delegates, they would feel like they're in good shape, and they can get on to the business of resetting the narrative. the way they had to do with wisconsin, drawing parallels there.

-runner's inner circle and their level of experience. nbc's hallie jackson has details. >> reporter: this is where donald trump will be stopped if the never trump movement gets the win it needs from ted cruz. a top aide privately predicting to nbc news a double-digit win. >>> we're going to win here in wisconsin. it will have a powerful effect nationwide, continuing to unite republicans. >> a win for ted cruz tonight has more to do with trump's weaknesses and the terrible week he's had than it does with cruz really rising or shining in the spotlight. >> reporter: outside, anti-trump groups spending four times as much as the front-runner as they try to make today a turning point. helped by people like enrique, a peruvian immigrant who got his citizenship in order to vote for the first time today, voting against trump. >> i really feel that he's trying to divide people. >> reporter: if trump loses, maybe more pressure on what nbc news has learned is growing frustration and infighting in the campaign. for months, the campaign motto, let trump be trump, has worked well. but now some loyalists fe

to start off with hallie jackson covering the cruz campaign. hallie, you spoke with carly fiorina last night. sources close to the campaign have conceded that the move to add carly fiorina was designed to change the conversation, try to undercut the momentum that done auld trump has. that does seem to be working. at least when we look at the headlines this morning. how does it seem to be playing out on the ground? >> well, when you look at the headlines and local papers, we were just in indianapolis and the front page was a picture of carly fiorina and ted cruz talking about candidates coming to indiana to blan ket the hoosier state five days before what will be a crucial primary, not just for ted cruz but that stop trump movement. you will see on the stage behind me, he and carly fiorina with first campaign rally since he announced that she would be on his ticket if he were to win the republican nomination, and in our conversation, carly fee over-rena and i talked about this attack line coming from the trump campaign. you heard paul manafort talk about that this morning, it is de

still below 20%. hallie jackson is in indianapolis this morning. she has been on the ted cruz beat. hallie, we've got five contests today, ted cruz not anywhere near any of them. he is in indiana. this one especially in light of this deal, this is a do-or-die test for ted cruz now, isn't it? >> reporter: the pressure is really on him to perform in this state, steve, and here's why. for weeks as you know ted cruz has been framing this as a two-man race. his campaign talks about how they believe if this were a head-to-head matchup between him and donald trump, then cruz would win. well, if kasich sticks with his so-called alliance and pulls his resources out of indiana and doesn't campaign here, then it sets it up to potentially be that head-to-head matchup. so cruz has to prove that he can take down donald trump in the hoosier state. the campaign sees it as similar to wisconsin where the stop trump movement was successful. right before wisconsin they had a couple of weeks to change that narrative coming out of the earlier primaries where ted cruz wasn't so successful. coming out of

, katy tur to my right, hallie jackson right there, jacob soeb rof, and kasie hunt. i want to talk tonight about something different. it's past midnight. katy, the guy you cover, he ain't easy to cover. but as you look into what soul there is there and you look into donald trump, is he going -- i've always asked people, did you ever meet anybody who changed? i never met anybody who changed. is trump changing? >> i think he is. >> to meet the circumstances of maybe being a nominee for president. >> i think change is a strong word. i think he's adjusting. >> did you see it tonight? >> we saw a much tighter donald trump up there on the podium today talking about his message. he didn't say lyin' ted. he said senator ted cruz. he was more gracious than he has been in past victory speeches. i think it's a direct result of the new campaign staff that he has, who's advising him right now and telling him to focus on his message and less on the outrageous statements and the unforced errors. >> tell me about bernie because i'm watching him and i'm watching jeff weaver a lot, his very careful

hallie jackson is in the bronx. ted cruz just had an event there. so, hallie jackson, how did the locals treat ted cruz? the guy who said new york values, coming to new york. what was the reaction? >> reporter: well, you know, initially, when you walked in, you saw him immediately heckled by a couple of protesters. a couple of guys came in, i think we have the video, and were yelling at cruz, calling him racist, saying, you don't belong here, taking him at his immigration policies. they were escorted out. it all went down peacefully, obviously. they were taken out without incident. but it's a sign of what cruz may be up against in places like the bronx. that said, the "new york values" line is potentially not a bad sale in a place like iowa. in new york, it may get harder. which is why went cruz was asked about it by us here at his media availability earlier, he talked about liberal democratic values, in his words. and he specifically said, hey, if you're in western new york, you understand. you know what these values are, you get it. that is a bit of a sign to me, of where cruz p

all of, nbc's hally jackson and katy tur covering donald trump and msnbc's katy hundred. hally, first to you of the reaction already against this new effort to team up against donald trump. >> reporter: yeah, you saw it from donald trump himself, andrea and you are hearing it already from the campaign trail. people heading out. before this, we had an opportunity to ask senator cruz about these claims of collusions of donald trump of how he justifies this to voters he may feel that he and john kasich is teaming up. listen to that exchange. >> donald trump is saying you were colluding. we are expecting to hear that from him again and hagain. >> i understand that donald will wine. he's a soar loser. when he lost five states in a ro row, he threw a tantrum. >> reporter: trump is a wienhin and a soar loser. both he and john kasich need to keep him below ma magic number. it is impossible for cruz to win the nomination out right. we talked to cruz's supporter and had a minute to chat with some folks here. one of them said to me, i wish cruz had not teamed up with john kasich but i und

. nbc's hallie jackson is here to walk me through everything that's going on. so hallie, it really is interesting to watch donald trump on this. on the one hand he's poised for a really big victory less than a week in new york. >> yeah. >> but he's still talking about the one he just lost. >> reporter: right. he's talking about colorado and as he looks strong in new york and not just there, the next three that follow. northeastern states like connecticut, delaware, maryland, pennsylvania. places where he's visiting. he's in pennsylvania today. trump over the last 24 hours he's tried to walk the line, trying to appear more presidential yet still clearly upset about what happened with ted cruz outmaneuvering him in the delegate hunt in colorado. you heard him talking about wanting to push more policies in his plans to roll out ten policy speeches over the next two weeks starting with one -- the next two months, pardon me, starting with one on the next week interestingly on party unity. here's what trump had to say about that. >> i'm going to be doing probably ten over the next two month

name being booed on her own network. nbc's peter alexander and hallie jackson are out on the trail this morning. peter, with more on the potential truce this morning, what do we know? >> reporter: so you know about that meeting obviously, megyn kelly made her comments, this was a strange stand off, this would have been her first first interaction in months. one of the videos they play to introduce the candidate begins with megyn kelly saying and here he is, that always ee policities boos at these events, donald trump in the recent past has called her overrated, said things like she is crazy. we do have some reporting that's coming from "the new york times" as well, they talk about what may be a desire to mend fences more broadly for donald trump with fox news, the fact that according to the "new york times" trump went to fox news' headquarters on the avenue of the americas and met for lunch with the fox news chairman roger ailes as well, you can see some of that reports there. but that's notable is megyn kelly isn't just a large television star, she's also representative of what's

the actual vote. i'm joined by nbc's hallie jackson, who's been covering cruz on the trail. also msnbc's chief legal correspondent, ari melber. i have to go to ari first, to teach some things to me. explain to me these delegates who get elected. they get selected somehow, and they're not really loyal to the person they say they should be loyal to. explain how this disloyalty works? you don't have to really be with the candidate? >> the disloyalty comes from the fact that this is all a mishmash of 50 states sets of rules and most of the rules do not require you to have an allegiance beyond the first ballot, nor you to be picked by the campaign. so in most cases, you basically have local party activists. they like who they like, and once they're unbound, if there is a second vote, which there usually isn't, then they can do what they want. two other points, chris, you show trump complaining. this is similar to sports. if you're complaining about the refugee, you're probably not playing that well on the field. and the other important part you played that dynamite, you know, big soun

event in albany this morning. let's start with wyoming. reaching out to msnbc hallie jackson. i know ted cruz is the only republican candidate who's there right now. he's expected to make his pitch about 25 minutes or so from now. how likely is it he's going to sweep all these delegates in wyoming like in colorado? >> the chances look pretty good. donald trump's own advisors are sayi ining he believes cruz wil sweep. trump has not committed resources or time in wyoming. cruz is. he's coming here in about a half an hour. we will hear him make his pitch. john kasich has a surrogate but the candidate is in new york. cruz, the chances look good. while cruz is working his delegate strategy as we have been talking about to be in place and prepared for a possible contested convention. a top campaign aide said none of this matter if he locks up the magic number by june 7th and the important date when california goes ahead and holds its primary. all of this, of course, is contingent upon keeping donald trump below that 1237 thresholds and having the delegates in place to move forward. >> what are

, was to call out donald trump for what he called new york values. nbc's hallie jackson is up in the bronx where ted cruz just wrapped up an event. hallie, not the warmest reception on a cold spring day. >> reporter: not just because of the poll jacob was talking about showing him on monmouth in last place, kate, but because the guy rallying is now in new york trying to win some of these districts where he thinks he can peel off some conservatives from donald trump. i had a chance to ask senator cruz about this. about 45 minutes ago, he was here at this restaurant doing a retail stop. he was shaking hands in the back, he was talking to local faith leaders, local pastors in the hispanic community around here. here's our exchange when we talked about new york values. kate, listen. >> it's the values of the liberal politicians that have been hammering the people of new york -- >> why call them new york values when you're in new york campaigning? >> let's be clear. the people of new york know what those values are, the values of liberal democratic politicians. >> reporter: so here's what

, msnbc's hallie jackson is in casper there where the state's gop convention took place. hallie we know ted cruz won all the delegates in colorado and now wyoming. how is the campaign reacting to those? >> he swept those 14 at-large delegates to head over to cleveland in july, ayman. the cruz camp very pleased about this. i want to read you a piece of his statement and i'm going to point out the most important sentence here. he says, this is senator cruz, gra grassroots are rising up, republicans overwhelmingly elected delegates who will support us at the national convention and nominate us to take on hillary clinton. this is how elections are won in america, this is another step in our drive to win a majority of republicans to be the nominee. ayman, listen to that line, this is how elections are won in america. this, to me is an apparent clear shot at donald trump, trump complaining about the system being rigged, talking about how we could be in for a rough july, in this words, if the rnc doesn't, as trump says, shape up essentially. so this is a shot from cruz, it seems, to trump sayi

take the stage for a rally in erie, and that is where we find nbc's hallie jackson. she's been covering the cruz campaign for us. hallie, look, the polls have not been kind to ted cruz here in new york where they'll have the primary next tuesday, he's actually running behind kasich here in most polls. pennsylvania, though, also looks like a pretty steep climb for him. that's going to vote the next week after new york. >> reporter: right, same deal here in the keystone state, steve. look at the latest poll out from fox news, showing donald trump with a commanding lead. you've got john kasich at about 22% and ted cruz trailing kasich by a couple of points. that said, he is still coming out to try to compete in pennsylvania. this is his rally that should start in about ten minutes. we're behind the press riser here. you can see people still filing in. it looks kind of like your standard campaign rally, but i'm told by the folks who run this pavilion that not a lot of politicians come by here. that's because it's actually an amusement park. we'll head out into the sunshine. as we t

to win the first ballot nomination. let's bring in hallie jackson, who has been following the cruz campaign. she's live in maryland, where cruz has wrapped up a rally. we put the math there. ted cruz isn't looking to win this thing on the first ballot. he's looking to deny donald trump the first ballot nomination and have the open convention we've been talking about. talk about the cruz game plan in the face of likely defeat in new york tomorrow. >> that's why cruz is not in new york today. he's cleared the room, obviously the event ended a bit ago. he's headed back to new york for a private event and then to philadelphia tomorrow night. you ran through a lot of the math. i couldn't see it, but i hope you had a big chalk board, because there's a lot of numbers there. the number that is important is the difference between 1237 and whatever trump will get. the cruz campaign wants to keep it close. you have it right, they want to deny trump the nomination outright, to push it to a contested convention and to a second ballot, where the cruz campaign believes they will have strength. po

. hallie jackson is traveling in california to cover the cruz camp. we know he's been out to california and now back. it's a really interesting intersection to talk about what this potential meeting means . as i brought up with kelly o'donnell, one of the last tweets she sent was just the word "seriously" about that retweet of heidi cruz about melania trump, and now we have a retweet coming out about it being addressed on fox news last night. take a look. >> if there's one thing that's true about ted it's that he always tells the truth. >> you can just brush that stuff off. >> i think these attacks on character are a distraction. i think we have a pattern of behavior here that when donald trump is falling behind, you know, it's interesting the timing of that was right before ted's sweeping victory in utah. our campaign never will, never has engaged in the politics of personal destruction. >> so hallie, talk about the role of ted cruz's wife and how that's being elevated on the campaign trail as he starts to enter states where he is showing a weakness in the polling for april primaries? >> r

the national campaign and the election. >> thank you very much. we saw hallie jackson just a few seconds ago. she's also in new york following the cruz campaign. hallie, good morning to you. a new call to trump from cruz, right? >> well, let's hear it from the senator himself. listen to what he said to say when he was out campaigning. you played a little video from brooklyn. let's play the sound bite and talk about it on the other side. >> new yorkers aren't stupid, ted. after we were hit, we rallied. we rebuilt. but remembered. we tell it like it is. that's when we are. so when ysmear new york values n iowa for votes, we remember that, too. now, you come here and conveniently say you love new york. forget about it, ted. >> all right, so it's actually an attack ad against ted cruz. hitting him on the line about new york values. let's talk about that, the idea that cruz a couple months ago had rolled out the line of attack against donald trump. i can tell you that now cruz in an interview says he has no regrets about having rolled out that line, given now that new york is a real c