The republican establishment and some of the guys that have been hammering you in the past starting to change how they treat you and how they look at your candidacy . Totally. And establishment people. I dont know if this is good, this could be the curse, okay. But establishment people are now calling us and saying how do we get involved with the campaign . People who were saying terrible things like three months ago. The Washington Post wrote what was unthinkable a few months ago no longer is. Trumps durability in National Polls an his standing in the early states have forced gop leaders to confront the possibility that the new york billionaire and reality tv star could end up leading the party into the Fall Campaign against the democrats. And rich lowry, ed tor of the National Review tweeted from my conversations gop establishment mood on trump is moving from fear and loathing to resignation and rationization. I. E. He would run better than cruz and slam hillary. Meanwhile an nbc news wall street journal poll found a major shift among republican voters. 65 now say they could see themselves supporting donald trump. Thats up from 32 in june when he first announced his run. Susan paige is Washington Bureau chief for usa today and Jonathan Capehart is an opinion writer for the Washington Post as well as an msnbc political analyst. Susan, your view. Your paper is quite broad in its readership and usa today is everywhere. My question is, is it your sense as a bureau chief that this is all true, that somehow trump is now plausible . Yes. Hes not just plausible, hes undeniable. Hes undeniably a credible prospect upon the republican nomination, although its not in hand yet. I think what republicans are trying to figure out is how can they negotiate a world in which thats the case. Its a special concern, i think, to republicans running for swing senate seats in purple states. And also in that handful of competitive house races where having donald trump at the top of your ticket could really affect your prospects down the ballot. Is there anything they can do about it . They can wring their hands and say oh, gee whiz, this guy is going to be our nominee, but at this point they have tried to stop him already. They have thrown jeb bush at him. They have thrown rubio at him. They have thrown kasich at him and perhaps christie are all fighting for the old establishment and theyre not doing too well. Its not that they can stop him but they can run independent campaigns. They can figure out ways to try to present themselves as the republican nominee and minimize their ties to the ticket. Jonathan. The problem that they have, i think rich is right that the establishment has gone to resignation and rationalizatior. What we saw last night on the stage at the debate was a frontrunner who faced his most hoss ttile audience we have see six out of seven people in the audience were working for other candidates. But every time they beooed, e worked very hard to turn them into cheers or laughter. He succeeded every time. That is what the republican establishment has to worry about. Not only a candidate who has the ability to grab the hearts of people who dont even like him, but someone who could then turn that into votes that then gets him the nomination. Is that character or what is that . Is it show business . What gives you the ability to withstand that assault from the audience and from your opponents . Well, as susan just said, its skill. This is someone who has been in our living rooms on television, Reality Television for about a decade now. Hes the boss of those shows. But also, you cant underestimate the what it means to be a public figure in the Media Capital of the world. New york city, where you have tabloid newspapers gunning for you every day. The new york post, the New York Daily News, new york news day. In that environment unlike any other environment in the country, you learn how to work the media, play the media, be friends with the media, be enemies with the media. On a president ial scale, thats incredible training. On thursdays Republican Debate in south carolina, last night, donald trump and ted cruz clashed over cruzs use of the phra phrase, boy what a mistake this was, new york values to attack trump, and trump called that insulting. He insulted a lot of people. Ive had more calls on that statement that ted made. New york is a great place, its got great people, its got loving people, wonderful people. When the World Trade Center came down, i saw something that no place on earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than new york. We rebuilt Downtown Manhattan and everybody in the world watched and everybody in the world loved new york and loved new yorkers. I have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement that ted made. Wow. Well, in this mornings interview with joe scarborough, trump continued to slam cruisz that front. I thought cruz hurt himself last night very badly because he looked very strident. To me. I see you gave him a b plus, but i think youre wrong about that because i think people are not going to like him based on that performance last night. I can tell you if you live in new york, youre not going to like him. He gave up about 20 million votes last night. Trump got support from surprising sources. The liberal New York Daily News ran this front page. Dont look too carefully. Drop dead, ted. Hey, cruz, you dont like new york values, get back to canada. I love voicing the New York Daily News front page. Hillary clinton tweeted just this once trumps right. New yorkers value hard work, diversity, tolerance, resilience and building better lives for our families. Meanwhile one of ted cruzs main supporters, steve king out in iowa, this is a guy who talks about cantaloupe legs on immigrants, said cruz lost the fight on new york values. Heres congressman king. I didnt think he went too far until i saw Donald Trumps reaction. And then i thought it would have been better on the part of ted cruz not to have had that exchange. He really flipped that. Ted cruz didnt go there, but donald trump elected to go into the september 11th and the damage and the suffering and the thousands of people that were killed and he turned that into an emotional component of the debate. That, i believe, was good for trump. You know, i was thinking waiting for trump to do what i would have done and have done up there for speeches is talk about the firefighters, 225 of them dead. They were walking up those stairs when everybody else was coming down and that was beyond heroic. To make fun of a city for lack of values, you better be specific about it. You cant just do the ole gene kirk patrick trick of saying San Francisco democrats, gay, gay, gay, or soddom and gamorah in new york city. Theyre just people who grew up in a neighborhood in the big city. And to judge them on their values is insane. As a new yorker by adoption living there 16 years before moving to washington, what donald trump said to me said in that answer resonated with me as someone who was in new york city on 9 11 and the beauty of what he did there, donald trump for the first time looked like a statesman. He didnt target anybody. He stood up for an entire city of people thats up there, new york, and he i agree with congressman king. I cant believe it. That donald trump won won decisively the debate on that answer. Well, lets go to another debate which is going to be a lot more conflicting here. The other big clash between the frontrunners at the debate was over the issue of cruzs constitutional eligibility to be president , an issue trump has been hammering away for about a week. I recognize that donald is dismayed that his poll numbers are falling in iowa. But the facts and the law here are really quite clear. Under long standing u. S. Law, the child of a u. S. Citizen born abroad is a natural born citizen. And for some reason, he beats the rest of the field, i already know the democrats are going to be bringing a suit. You have a big lawsuit over your head while youre running and if you become the nominee, who the hell knows if you can even serve in office. Mary is a constitutional law professor at widener university, delaware, law school. Professor, the question is to you, youre on tonight. Whos right, is natural born, does it mean what it seems to mean you have to be born here . Yes, it is. Its a very clear cut question. So when cruz says its clear cut, hes right. But hes wrong as to how it cuts. You have to be born in the United States. One of the issues that have come up before, for example, with john mccain being born in the canal zone, what would you make of that case . Hes a totally different issue. The common law says that if youre born in the territory of the sovereign so that territorial United States would include it. For example yeah, for example, Barry Goldwater wouldnt have had a problem even though he was born in the territory of arizona as it then was. Mccain does a problem in front of him but i dont think its insurmountable. In the early 20th century when we acquired our territories after the spanishamerican war, guam, the canal zone, the philippines, the Supreme Court was asked are the children born there now natural born citizens. And in a series of horribly embarrassingly racist opinions, the Supreme Court said no because, and i quote, the people there are alien races. Now, it seems to me that all mccain would have been able to do is to say that should be overruled and there would be no problem because he was born in the territory of the United States. Do you think if this went before the Supreme Court including members like scalia and judge alito and judge thomas, would they go with original intent or go with this practice like we let George Romney get away with it for at least a while while he was running. Will they be tough or rigid about this and say, no, this is not what the founders intended . I cant tell you that. Scalia and thomas are especially what they call originalists. They tend to cherry pick their history. So im not sure if they actually went with real history, cruz is not eligible. But i cant predict how they would go. Okay, thank you so much, mary, of widener law school. Theres new evidence that the attack has hurt cruz politically. According to a Reuters Ipsos poll, one quarter of voters believe he should be disqualified based on his canadian birth. I checked all the front pages today, all the leads. Every lead in the first paragraph it has either the canadianborn cruz or a reference to this debate. This is not good for cruz, the fact that he has to defend his qualifications to run, let alone get people to vote for him. And he was very smooth in defending himself. He uses a little humor. The problem is hes spending a lot of his time explaining that hes in fact eligible to be president of the United States. And the brilliance of trump is that trump doesnt attack him on this and declare that hes ineligible. He says who knows, there will be a lawsuit. I just want to be helpful. Why dont you go to court and get a preemptive judgment which is a very mischievous suggestion. If this guy cruz is elected president , hell be the first president born outside the United States. And would there be a big lawsuit if he got nominated . And hes also a natural born canadian. Can you be a natural born canadian and natural born american . Maybe well find out. Thank you, great to have you on tonight. Ever wonder why iowa and New Hampshire have such a dominant role in picking our president . Why do these two states that dont look like the rest of the country get to go first . Well get to that next. Plus the other big contest going on, the race to win the academy awards. The nominations come out this week and weve got a look at the oscar favorites and some of the snubs. And the big announcement from president obamas state of the union this week, a moon shotlike effort to conquer cancer. What will that be like and will it achieve something. Let me finish with a story of a great actor dying way too young. This is hardball, the place for politics. Costs ill save the day for plumbers and bakers and scapers of lawn, shes got insurance savvy you can count on. You chipped my birdbath now youre gonna pay not so fast i cover more than just cars and trucks. Action flo did somebody say insurance . Children flo action flo cut can i get a smoothie, please . Ooh they got smoothies . For me. At ally bank no branches equals great rates. Its a fact. Kind of like ordering wine equals pretending to know wine. Pinot noir, which means peanut of the night. South carolinas senator and former president ial candidate Lindsey Graham has endorsed jeb bush for president. Graham cited bushs ability to be a strong commander in chief. But the endorsement was quickly mocked by republican frontrunner donald trump who tweeted jeb bush, who did poorly last night in the debate and whose chances of winning are zero, just got graham endorsement. Graham quit at zero. Trump can be rough. Well be right back. 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Here i come cant find you anywhere dont settle for uverse. X1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. Welcome back to hardball. Every four years were reminded of the awesome power the voters of two small states hold over our president ial elections. Those states, iowa and New Hampshire, look at them there, play perhaps the most consequential role in winnowing the role of president ial contenders because they dont come first. A victor or strong finish can propel a candidate onto the National Spotlight or on to the nomination. According to an estimate by the Los Angeles Times iowa and New Hampshire account for about half of the news Media Coverage for the entire primary season. So its the media too. The influence of New Hampshire cannot be overestimated. Since 1972 no candidate has ever been the nominee of either Party Without a top two finish in New Hampshire primary. Critics have long argued that neither state should be the gate keeper of the process because neither state is particularly diverse ethnically, for example. Iowas population is considerably whiter than the rest of the country and its the same story in New Hampshire, which is 91 white. So why do i wa and New Hampshire deserve so much influence over who gets to be president. Professor larry sabato is the director of the center for politics at uva. Im going to larry. Presume perhaps naively he has no dog in this fight, although i think he might be gunning for virginia to get a shot as the first one, youre shaking your head, tell me, sir, why is it wrong for us to invest so much power in the hands of the voters of iowa and New Hampshire . Because, chris, put them together. Theyre 1. 5 of the National Populati population. They have a tiny minority population, as you just mentioned. Theyre disproportionately rural. They dont represent the urban, suburban, exurban nature of america as it exists today. And most important i think, and im sorry, governor, i think they have gotten spoiled. They are the spoiled children of american politics. They throw a temper tantrum if you ever suggest they shouldnt go first. I had a voter in iowa tell me not too long ago that it was in the constitution that they were supposed to go first. No, its not in the constitution. This was invented by iowa and New Hampshire and they stay there, chris, because they want it more than anybody else. New hampshire will go into the year prior to the election year. Theyd have this primary on july 4th if they had to last year in order to remain first. Let me go with let me go with the governor. Why dont we begin the primary season in a giant state thats representative of everything like california. Have it around the time of the rose bowl. The weather is fabulous, its got all the big cities, san diego, San Francisco, l. A. , all the inland empire, its got sacramento. We could all go out to california for a month or so, a huge sample of the american electorate, lots of hispanics and africanamericans. Why not go big with our first big sample of the American Opinion . First of all, let me just make one quick comment to larry. You know, a plea for diversity coming from a guy in which the state has 90 of its population of federal bureaucrats. You have to look at the whole package. Not true, governor. Iowa, New Hampshire, nevada and south carolina. Thats how the package is put together. When you take the four states as a total theres a pretty representative example of diversity. Now, New Hampshire the reason New Hampshire gets such support to be first is that its citizens really do the hard work. Youve been up here, chris. They go not only to the rallies or the coffees or the town halls of the candidate they support, but they go to virtually all of them. They work hard in this process of winnowing down and selecting. And the second reason is that New Hampshire is an unusual state. We have most of our governance at the local level. Our school boards, our budget committees, our boards of selectmen really do determine the spending of about 85 of your money. And you go and vote your budget at the town meeting or the School District meeting. And in this state every two years, those positions are up with our 400 members in the house and 5,000 people a year are elected. Governor, i just want to go to jason for equal time with iowa. You know, your state, i think i figured out why so many people are home schoolers out there. Last week driving across that state, you spend hours over flatland with a farm every couple miles or couple Hundred Acres or so. People really are living out in a rural environment. Its like that scene from north by northwest when the crop duster comes down and tries to kill cary grant. Its wideopen spaces. But is that typical of america . Well, i dont know if thats a fair representation of iowa of the weve got some metropolitan areas here that have an urban feel, a suburban feel. But you get to a good point about iowa, which is that its a relatively small state. Its a state with small media markets, which makes it an inexpensive place to campaign and thats really valuable. That gives candidates a lot more opportunity from the start, and a candidate can go out and prove his appeal, prove her viability and really make a name for themselves in a way that they couldnt in a larger state where youre talking about larger media markets, a tv or campaign thats run through tv ads and airport tarmacs. Do you think youre a reliable indicator of whos going to get the nomination of either party, iowa . Statistics dont hold up that you are. What makes you think iowa will tell us who will be the strongest candidate to win the nomination of either party . Well, four of the last six president s four of the last six president s have won the iowa caucuses. Every candidate except one since 1972 placed in the top three in the iowa caucuses. Thats a pretty good track record. Four of the last ive got two of the last six. Two of the last six. Barack obama, george w. Bush, jimmy carter and george h. W. Bush won the caucuses in 1980. Im talking about which party are you talking about, democrat or republican . Across the board. Larry sabato, do you think Hillary Clinton could possibly win the democratic nomination if she suffers two defeats in iowa and New Hampshire . Yes, she can still win because her strength is with nonwhite democrats, particularly in the south and some of the states that have large hispanic populations. So not only is it possible, i think its still probable. But lets be honest here. Were talking about whether Hillary Clinton comes into philadelphia at the convention sweeping or limping. And if she loses both iowa and New Hampshire and if she loses New Hampshire by a big margin, i think shell be limping. Okay. I think thats the way i look at it too. Thank you very much. Coming up every four years my favorite seasons collide, president ial elections and academy awards. This is hardball, the place for politics. If youre looking to save money on your Medicare Part d prescriptions, walgreens says, carpe med diem. Seize the day to get more out of life and Medicare Part d. Just switch to walgreens for savings thatll be the highlight of your day. Now preview the cost of your copay before you fill. You can even get onedollar copays on select plans. To folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain. Shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. To everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. Make sure your doctor hears you too i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. 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Contact your health plan for the latest information. Welcome back to hardball. The Oscar Nominations are now out and there were some truly amazing films recognized, many underscoring the theme of this year shall the importance of people working together to achieve common golals, somethin the country isnt doing right now. The journalist in spotlight. Do you think your paper has the resources to take that on . I do. We havent committed any longterm investigative resources to the case. No, we havent. And thats the kind of thing your team would do. Spotlight. Guys, listen, everybody is going to be interested in this. Great movie. And the cold war drama bridge of spies also up for best picture starring tom hanks and directed by himself, steven spielberg. The boss was right, but hes always the boss. Do you never worry . Would it help . All rise. Thats great, great. Great. That was spielberg himself. The quirky the big short and its cast are up for five nominations. Banks have conditioned us to trust them. What have we got from that . 25 Interest Rates on credit cards. They have screwed us on student loans. We can never get out from under. Four outsiders risked it all, to take them down. Got to see that one. And one of my favorites, the martian starring matt damon received seven nominations. This is mark watney and im still alive. Obviously. I have no way to contact nasa. I have to figure out how to grow four years worth of food here on a planet where nothing grows. But if i cant figure out a way to make contact with nasa, none of this matters anyway. Joining us right now is the chief film critic of the Washington Post, ann hornaday and ted johnson of variety. You know, my theme, i want to know what you guys think of my theme about working together. I think one of the most magical scenes, i was a little mistyeyed, is when the chinese come aboard during the martian and save the day. We think of them as coldhearted, businessminded, and they do the right thing. Well, they do the right thing and they also that had an eye toward the Chinese Market pandering to the chinese. Its the magical space dust of chinese money. Has it worked . Yeah. I mean the movie has done beautifully well. I think to your point about some of these films like the martian and bridge of spies and mad max another best picture nominee, these are big popcorn blockbuster movies that have been done incredibly well and very artfully. Theyre smart and they have done well and i think thats all good news. I think all movies are about, i dont care if theyre period pieces or not, movies of the 50s were really about civil rights, we know that. Really were. This one, i get the feeling is about a Dysfunctional Society where nobody can get along with anybody and get anything done, particularly the world we cover here in politics, nothing gets done. Nobody can agree on anything, and at least these movies, at least the ones we discussed tonight are about collaboration and about how squares as we used to call them in the space program, guys with slide rules from the old days, know how to Work Together and not just fight all the time about whos boss. Yeah, and actually my Favorite Movie of the year was actually bridge of spies which you mentioned. Just because, again, that ties right into your theme. Heres this unexpected figure who ended up being this great diplomat who negotiated the release of frances gary powers and really went to the mat for the United States government. Kind of a story that people didnt even know about. I mean i love spy thrillers to begin with, but this movie was so unexpected and so well done i thought by steven spielberg. And the way he sympathized with the communist spy. None of us did at the time, of course, but he said, you know, he wasnt the rosenbergs, he wasnt an american couple that sold out the atomic secrets for money. Hes a russian nationalist whos doing this for his country. Get it . Hes not a bad guy morally, hes a bad guy politically. I thought that was great. What did you think about the acting awards . Im a Jennifer Lawrence fan. What about women in the pictures this year . The women all were very strong and it was a strong year for womens roles. It was an interesting year because we were hearing a lot about representation behind the camera and in front of the camera and the tremendous work still to be done nerinspect ter of women being tasked and taking on directorial part of movies. We had films absolutely dominated by women. Many of them you see here on the list and a few that didnt get nominated like Charlize Theron in mad max. We h. We had a lesbian relationship and also one transgernder. Its coming out fast and now its coming out even faster in the film industry. You kind of wonder whether well see a turning point in womens roles in the movie industry, because theres so much attention this year to diversity. Theres a little bit of a lag time before something takes hold in hollywood. You dont see it for two or three more years just because the time it takes to make a movie. So i would expect that were going to see a lot more layered performances come out in the next two or three years. Lets talk about africanamericans in the film. I mean africanamericans have been here longer than any of us have. Theyre part of america. When are they going to be a fullfledged part of the movie industry . Im going to talk about the late alan rickman said the part gets the award. Yeah, thats fascinating. Halle berry in monsters ball. Shes gorgeous and wonderful as an actor but she won the award for that one. But you give a meaty part like that to somebody, they have a good chance of winning an award. And we had some meaty parts. We had michael b. Jordan in creed. I cant wait to see that movie. Oh, its wonder. I just love it, its terrific. And idris elba in beast of no nation. Who did he play . He was on the wire. Hes a wonderful actor. I dont know everything you do. Thank you, ann, thank you, ted. For an average guy, i know a lot. Up next, nearly every american knows a friend or Family Member who has battled cancer. Well look at the president s new Moon Shot Initiative being head by Vice President joe biden. They only got a year, lets see what they can get done. Youre watching hardball, the place for politics. Why blend in with the crowd . Why shy away from the extraordinary . Why fit in, when you were born to stand out . The 2016 Nissan Altima has arrived. Im here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. And give her the strength and energy to stay healthy. 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Right now, buy one pair and get another free. Quality eyewear for doers. Sears optical heres whats happening. Al qaedalinked militants attacked an Upscale Hotel injuring at least 15 people according to reports. The attackers also took an unknown number of hostages. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from former Virginia GovernorBob Mcdonnell who was convicted on corruption charges two years ago. And it was another painful selloff on wall street. The dow plummeted 391 points after sliding more than 500 earlier in the session. The s p dropped 41 and the nasdaq fell 126 points. Now back to hardball. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that were willing to accept. One we are willint willing to postpone and one we intend to win. And he did win. Welcome back to hardball. Those are memories etched in the countrys consciousness. That was president kennedys challenge to the country in 1962, seven years before we actually did make that giant leap to the moon. 54 years later the spirit of that moon shot has been rekindled as part of Vice President ial joe bidens final act on the national stage. Heres president obama laying out the challenge. Last year Vice President biden said that with a new moon shot, america can cure cancer. So tonight im announcing a new National Effort to get it done. And because hes gone to the mat for all of us on so many issues over the past 40 years, im putting joe in charge of mission control. For the loved ones weve all lost. For the families that we can still save, lets make america the country that cures cancer once and for all. What do you say, joe . Lets make it happen. That was strong for the families we can still save. For biden this is personal. The Vice President lost his son, beau, to brain cancer just last may. When biden announced in october that he would not run for president , he said if i could do anything, i would have wanted to be the president that ended cancer because its possible. Im joined by dr. George dimitri, the director of hard vards cancer research. Doctor, what can you get done through some kind of manhattanstyle project like this . Well, i think our community of researchers across the country and across the world can really mobilize a lot of the resources that have come from the investments weve made in this war on cancer since 1971. A lot can be done. A lot of what i heard and what president obama said was that we have the opportunity, now we can apply what we know and we can also discover new things to apply. The pace of science and the pace of application is faster than ever before. Is there such a thing as cancer per se or are all the examples of cancer weve come across different among each other in ways that they are not similar . Well, i think there are thousands of different kinds of cancers, and they vary greatly. Thats like saying is there one kind of infectious disease. Of course not. There are viruses, there are bacteria, there are other kinds of infectious diseases. Cancer is more like that. But if we can use the available resources, apply what we know, we can make a difference for many more people with cancers today. Look how many more cancers are cured now than even 10 or 15 years ago. The cancer death rates are dropping. Were making advances. And i think inspiring the country to get together in something thats nonpartisan like this is a good thing. Thank you so much, doctor, for joining us. Lets go to michael tomasky, a special correspondent with the daily beast and rebecca burke, and jonathan allen, another familiar face, Political Columnist with roll call. Lets go from your end to this end about the credibility of this program. Youve got one calendar year left of this presidency. Youve got the appropriations that doesnt kick in until october. So its very tricky to see anything get done with the oomph thats needed. President kennedy said what he said about the moon in 1962 when he was succeeded by lyndon johnson. Lyndon johnson kept committed to that. We all know the famous words, houston, when theyre calling back from the moon. Big effort in texas, johnsons home state to get that done. I think what youre talking about is a longterm proposition here and its something that barack obama and joe biden, if joe biden is to leave office, arent going to be the ones to actually shepherd through. Its aspirational. I dont think anybody would disagree with the goal of trying to end cancer. More funding, boy the way, of the federal government. When they direct funding towards particular types of research, it brings in more private funding. Wherever the government decides to fund research, you see all these foundations come in and support that. When you spend more on cancer, particularly if youre not able to get additional money, there are priorities and other things that will lose out as a result of that. Rebecca, you know the country made a heroic effort on aids hiv. Its not cured, but its certainly better than it was. Its not a death sentence. Exactly. So progress can be made. Progress can be made. And i think thats exactly why you see the president and the Vice President going out on a limb like this trying to at the very least start this conversation, bring the technology into a more organized fashion, bring doctors together to have this discussion, try to make as much of a difference as they can. With an issue like this, its not like Many Political issues where if you dont fully succeed, you lose. This is an issue where if they make any steps toward success, i would say thats a win for not only the white house, for americans in general, for science. And it also makes the case ultimately that democrats are trying to make, that the federal government can have a role that influences peoples lives in a positive way and makes a difference as opposed to what republicans would say, which is usually that this is something that the private market should be dealing with. In the end the manhattan project, they put a man onto the moon in the 60s so we do have that capability in terms of oomph, in terms of national commitment. My question is perhaps theyll keep joe biden on in the next administration to commandeer this effort, have one nonpartisan person stick around and do it. I here by recommend it. Even President Trump or president clinton. I think hed accept the honor, i think. I think he would accept the honor and that would be a nice thing to do. It would be nice to think that a republican president if a republican gets elected this fall will continue this. You know, liberals have had a joke for the last seven and a half years that obama could cure cancer and the republicans would be against it. Well, this isnt quite the equivalent of that joke. I hate to say it but i will. The new beloved, revered speaker of the house, paul ryan, he doesnt applaud anything. Did you notice the other night . What was that about . Paul ryan over time paul ryan, peter ryan, whatever. You can read paul ryan very easily. I think he was i think he was well coached to just not not to cheer anything the president said. Not just cheer but the opposite side was the problem too. You could see when president obama that he killed bin laden, there was just this slight tightening of paul ryans lips and there were a couple of other moments, tongue goes into the cheek. I think his team told him dont do anything that reveals emotion because you dont have you generally do not have a poker face so make sure your face doesnt move. Oh, my god. Anyway, Vice President biden spoke about the challenge hes now facing. Here he is. Possibilities. Thats the uniqueness of this country, limitless possibilities. This is a place that the United States can make a contribution that exceeds almost anything we could and will have done so far to humanity. Do you believe in this . In this mission . Do you believe it will work . Do you think come the end of this administration well be talking about the progress made so far, the commitments that have been fortified to fight cancer or is this just going to be a will of the wisp . I hope so, chris. This is one of those rare political issues where everyone can applaud the effort. If they dont succeed, thats unfortunate but if they do, its fantastic. Its worth the effort, its worth trying. As the president said, everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer. The celebrities, about two out of three that have died, alan rickman im going to talk about later. You know, it just happens. Its part of our life, cancer, the big c. Remember john wayne dying of it and Nat King Cole and anybody, humphrey bogart. Every movie star in the 40s and 50s died of cancer. Its going to be much harder than going to the moon. I think in terms of an issue and in terms of focusing things, this is an area where the United States can be a leader in the world. That is what he had. That is what the president said. And actually but talking about it is a good moment for america and for bipartisanship. But if america was to find a cure for cancer at large or to make progress on the various forms of cancer, dr. Demetri was talking about that, there are different forms of cancer, you can make that progress america is a leader in the world. It used to be in everything, didnt we . Practically. Anyway the roundtable is staying with us. Up next, these three will tell me something i dont know, and this is hardball, the place for politics. The right one for her . Is this really any better than the one you got last year . If we consolidate suppliers, whats the savings there . So should we go with the 467 horsepower . Or is a 423 enough . Good question. You ask a lot of good questions. I think we should move you into our new fund. Sure. Ok. But are you asking enough about how your wealth is managed . Wealth management at charles schwab. Does printing from your tablet give you a jolt of confidence . Then you might be gearcentric. Right now, all hp ink is buy one get one 50 off office depot officemax. Gear up for great. Trust number one doctor recommended dulcolax constipated . Use dulcolax tablets for gentle overnight relief suppositories for relief in minutes and stool softeners for comfortable relief of hard stools. Dulcolax, designed for dependable relief i built my business with passion. But i keep it growing by making every dollar count. Thats why i have the spark cash card from capital one. 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Rowe price retirement specialist or your advisor. To see how we can help make the most of your retirement savings. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Were back with the hardball round table. Michael, tell me something i dont know. Going to be a big trump thing tuesday. Hes going for the big symbolism this tuesday. Hes having an event at john waynes birthplace. Marion, whatever his name was in real marion morrison. Yeah. Marion morrison in winterset, iowa. Its going to be huge. And it will great again that day. Yeah. Weve been talking about ted cruzs Strong Campaign in iowa. Hes favored by a lot of people to win right now. But he has a big problem. Its called the renewable fuel starnld. Hes one of the only candidates opposing it and he would be the first if he won iowa to win the state without supporting the rfs. Whos this . This is cruz. But he doesnt like ethanol either, does . He. He doesnt like ethanol. He doesnt want subsidies for anything of this. Sought thing i learned when i was in iowa last week with ted cruz, i spoke with steve king, iowa congressman, whos supporting ted cruz. He told me he urged ted cruz to support ethanol, to at least moderate his views somewhat. Ted cruz said no way. Where is he on ethanol in canada . Im just teasing. Go ahead. When donald trump first burst on the scene democrats loved the idea of donald trum. He was very exciting for them. They sat down with popcorn and watched the republican side. Now suddenly theyre very worried donald trump could be president. Not only are they worried he could win the presidency. Theyre obviously worried about what he would do with it. You saw barack obama in the state of the union, spent so much time, his last state of the union address, knocking down donald trump. Yeah, he was like a response to donald trump. It was unbelievable. Can you give me some indication if not the names of your sources who really fear he can beat Hillary Clinton or beat any theres absolutely a divide among the democrats. There are some who think he will still fail and fall and some who believe he has the lowest floor among the republican candidates, that Hillary Clinton will wipe the floor with him if shes the nominee. But increasingly what im hearing from people is theres some concern that he could attract some democrats. He has the most unrepublican positions in the republican i think theres a lot of reagan democrats waiting to vote for him. Thats exactly right. You look at the industrial midwest, those are states he could really compete in 37 your home state of pennsylvania i think pennsylvania might well be in play if hes the nominee because hes unpredictable. Whereas you get cruz up there you put him over on the far right, hillary takes the center back, right . And you win. Trump likes the social safety net. Hes been for higher taxes in the past. Hes good on lgbt issues compared to and he thinks the iraq war was insane. Exactly. Thanks to the great round table. Youre so smart tonight. Michael tomasky, Rebecca Bergen and especially the man who just spoke, jonathan allen. Let me return with the sad story of a great actor dying way too young. Youre watching hardball, the place for politics. politely wait, wait, wait you cant put it in like that. You have to rinse it first. Thats bakedon alfredo. Bakedon . Its never gonna work. Dish issues . Trust your dishwasher with cascade platinum. It powers. Through. Your toughest stuckon food. Better than finish. Cascade. My man, lemme guess who youre wearing. Everyones lookin red carpet ready. Toenail fungus . Whaaat . . Fight it with jublia. Jublia is a prescription medicine. Used to treat toenail fungus. Use jublia as instructed by your doctor. Jublia is workin it most common side effects include. Ingrown toenail, application site redness,. Itching, swelling, burning. Or stinging, blisters, and pain. Oh fight it with jublia now thats a red carpet moment ask your doctor if jublia is right for you. Visit our website for savings on larger size. Im here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. And give her the strength and energy to stay healthy. Whos with me . yay the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. With 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. Ensure. Take life in let me finish tonight with a sad story of a great actor dying way too young. Most people know alan rickman as the villain in die hard or as snape in harry potter. I think of him as the lead in knoll cowards private lives or in seminar which kathleen and i saw on trips over the years up to broadway. And like so many millions of people including the producers i work with i see him every time i rewatch that incredible movie love actually. There it is. He plays the husband of Emma Thompson who has his eye on his secretary. Its a poignant role because you dearly hope the guy wont get trapped into something that will hurt what is clearly a fabulous and potentially irretrievable marriage. Rickman has always been stingy with his emotions, a real stiff upper lip brit. Thats probably why we rooted for him, hoping in the end hell show some heart and let us love him. Alan rickman, a character actor whose character got to us. Alan died this week at 69 from cancer. Tonight on all in im very, very angry. The sum of all fears. Americans are feeling frustrated and scared and angry. Trump and cruz dominate as the republican establishment shutters. Were almost terrorized as members of our party. Todays fallout from the first debate of 2016. Plus, hurt feelings over new york values. That was a very insulting statement that ted made. But is it an effective attack anyway . Then the Clinton Campaign keeps the attack up on bernie. Senator sanders has said he wants to do, which is basically to start all over again. Both campaigns respond tonight. And return of the birthers. Im not going to be taking legal advice from donald trump. You dont have to. Why ted cruz may have an actual legal problem now that