coming to this, thomas. but i think when you look at donald trump and you were just mentioning the rhetorical grenades he can sometimes throw, if you're a ted cruz, that can knock you off your game for at least a day or a news cycle an enso that was ted cruz probably wanted to talk about several other things and every news reporter and organization wanted to ask about the birtherism charge. >> no. it's interesting to see ted cruz taking the tactic of not showing up to every fight he is invited to. thank you. >> thank you. >> this is the bing pulse question of the day. we have asked, do trump's birther comments pose a problem for ted cruz? now our previous update showed that 33% said, yes. the birther comments will pose a problem. now, it's different. 45% feel, yes. 55% say, no. the pulse remains live. pulse.msnbc went co pulse.msnbc.com. some are taking selective aim to remain viable. let's bring in nbc host and political correspondent steve