Plus, msnsnbc scrutinized. How the press is portraying and shaping this frenzied primary process. Trump, clinton, sanders, all had wins last night but it was ted cruz who arguably had the best night winning two states and helping bill his case against trump. The week ahead going to be dizzying with more primaries, two democratic debates and a big gop faceoff. Let get right to three insiders. Cnn tonight host don lemon, one of the questioners, mark preston, executive editor of cnn politics and washington, david gregory, former moderator of meet the press. For a while ted cruz underestimated by some segments of the media, its been about marco rubio and expectation that rubio will be the establishment choice and hell come through in the end, no matter what happens with donald trump after the super tuesday wins by cruz and super saturday, is that over . Can he no longer be underestimated by political talking heads. Certainly. But some due to his own fault. The selfinflicted wounds of the dirty tricks that he played in iowa, and then onward into south carolina. His campaign is very disciplined, but they put the train off the trabs a little bit. They have seem to get it back on the tracks. One thing about ted cruz is interesting. As much as he feels he is being attacked by the Mainstream Media or not taken seriously he does do a lot of News Conferences and willing to take questions and you dont see that often from candidates, certainly those running for president. Lets discuss tonight and why were in flint. Youve been in debate prep. What makes the debate tonight different from all of the others weve seen . The obvious reason, water crisis in flint, michigan. A big reason that were here. As a matter of fact, one of the campaigns, the clinton campaign, when dnc wanted more debates they suggested flint, michigan. Hillary clinton first came out and said, ill have more debates but if you have one in pli flint. Yesterday, handing out water meeting the people of flint, michigan, wonderful people. But thats the main reason were here, its din ticktive of whats happening around the country, mark can attest, people feel they are left behind in the current Economic Situation in our country. And also, for this horrible situation thats happened with the water. People who feel in many ways they dont have a voice and they have forgotten. What does it feel like to be volunteering yesterday . Im not trying to brag about us being out there yesterday but it was shocking to see. The closest thing i can compare this city to is new orleans after katrina, very different situation but similar sense of aband abandonment. Someone who is a resident of louisiana, a grew up in louisiana, volunteered after Hurricane Katrina and volunteering yesterday, i wanted to give more time. This is honestly not to be out there because cnn is hering but it actually i got more out of it and the volunteers get more out of it than the people here. They need it, but the people here are resilient, strong, thankful and i have to say that i was very proud to work for a company yesterday that afforded its employees the opportunity to get out and help the people of michigan and im sure we can do a lot more and also like to do a lot more. People are wonderful. Donation of water bottles. David gregory, i think theres something to be said about the National Media spotlight whenever a political spotlight can reach a story like this plint water disaster. Well talk later whether the president was too late to the story what happen do you make of the fact it came up briefly in the gop debate, that was a few days ago in detroit. Obviously this water crisis will get more attention tonight on the democratic side. Well, because so often whats truly important in our country and in our world doesnt often feel as urgent. So its important but not urgent and therefore we get caught up, especially covering politics and the kind of outrage of the moment. We certainly get caught up in whos up, whos down, analyzing the process of the race. And when there arent easy answers. I mean, whether its poverty generally or more specifically the issue of flint, it deserves more attention and sustained attention but thats not often as much as we say its important, not often what really captivates us or captivates voters. I mean how often do you look at Public Opinion surveys that say education is most important issue, and yet we tend not to cover it as deeply because people dont pay as much attention to it. Mark, tell us about how this debate came together. It was unusual the clinton said yes, ill have more debates, ill meet you, Bernie Sanders, if you come to flint and cnn got involved, local news organizations . Right. So interestingly enough, there had been a call by the Sanders Campaign to have more debates and i think that the clinton campaign, i mean, its no secret they were okay only having six debates and okay with that and the dnc was okay with that, but as we saw sanders build momentum, had the big win in new hampshire, there was an understanding there there needed to be more debates and the debate will be a lot different than the other debates that weve had so far. Look were here for a reason. If anybody, just turn off your tv, after the show, go and turn on your faucet, turn it off, realize you cannot use your water. Imagine that. Feels worse, not to compare the two katrina. Katrina. The waters right there. This has gone on longer, happening since 2014. Here we are in 2016. The water is there for you to drink and use but you cant use it, and the folks here are getting huge water bills from the water company, theyre still having to pay water bills but cant use the water. Its really insulting, in a way. David what i think is so important about the debate tonight, whats so important about the timing of this tragedy in flint, whether you are conservative or liberal, republican or democrat, you under stand that government plays an essential role in delivering basic Foundational Services to its people, and clean water is one of them. We turn on our faucet, expect it to be healthy enough to drink and not poison or sicken our children. This is fundamental accountability and in this way, this when the spotlight of the media can really help. The spotlight of a president ial campaign can only help to really enforce accountability because this is not an overly partisan issue. Can become politicized and partisan but fundamentally its about who is responsible for what government is doing and should do and its most basic level which is to provide adequate resources like this. Still talking about this debate tonight. Lets look at schedule a little bit for the next few days. Another democratic debate later on univision, the Washington Post is sponsoring and cnn will summual cast it wednesday. Thursday, i gop debate in miami on cnn. David, you were outspoken on twitter the other day about the raucous crowd at last gop debate on fox news in detroit. You said the crowd was disruptive to the proceedings. Do you think we have to reconsider actually having audiences at these debates. I do. I dont see the point. I dont mean to sound refl righteous about it, i understand it can create a sense of event, you you can instantly focus group the idea of how certain responses are playing. And you know, look, i think its generally okay if you you have a debate where you have a candidate playing to the audience a little bit. But theres a point, for me the other night, they become disruptive. People mugging for the camera in the background, you have people disrupting both the candidates and the questioners. I just thought that was kind of pointless. And it was a huge crowd. And i just dont really think that serves. The high ratings for the debate is about the nature of the campaign and the candidates themselves. And them going after each other engaging each other, thats not going to change because you add the crowd. 17 Million Viewers for the fox debate, highest debate rating in almost three months. Mark, the argument for crowds instant focus group, it creates a sense of scale and donors come and see their candidates, right . But, i agree with david that the train can go off the tracks and go off the tracks. But i would say when you have an audience, if the audience is kept in check, what it does is it puts the candidates on the stage under more pressure. If youre running for president of the United States, i do think youve need to feel the pressure of having an audience out there hanging on every word. What weve seen interesting. Weve seen the trump i dont know how to explain it but. Ill get you a dictionary. Trump, maybe thats a new phrase. But the ongoing fighting between trump and rubio, i was watching with my daughter the other night, shes 11 and i told her to fall asleep i didnt want her to engage in it. There are times during the debates you want the candidates to feel the pressure of having to answerer a question and not in a quiet studio where they can think easier. The rnc had to escort three people out, the police had to get involved thursday. I would agree with mark. I think mark go ahead, david. I think crowd control is important. We see its possible to do that. I think its a crowd control issue. Let me ask you one more question, david, before i have to go. Cnns dylan buyers broke this yesterday, he reported that donald trump might have broken the rules of the debate. Let me read, his Campaign Manager went directly on the stage to meet with trump during commercial break and as in previous debates the were informed they were not allowed to communicate with the Campaign Staff during commercials breaks. Trump handing a fax, maybe it was given to him by his Campaign Manager. Is this a big deal to have trump up on stage talking to his aides because fox later had to let the other candidates also speak with their aides in order to create fairness . I dont know. Id have to sit with that a little bit. My initial react, i dont think its a huge deal. I think if they have an opportunity to talk to their team during that i dont know, maybe it may become less spontaneous but theres enough debates now. I dont think its keeping trump from shooting from the hip here during these debates. But if the rules are the rules, right, another example thats what they agreed to. Its a rule for the party, then to enforce these things. From that point of view, if they agree you shouldnt do it, you shouldnt do it. They break the rules all the time. They go over the time limit. You heard wolf, you gentlemen agree to the rules and now youre breaking them. I dont know how big a deal it is but its interesting to watch. Thank you all for being here. Appreciate it. Thanks. Coming up more previews of the democratic debate and the gop debate a few days away. Why i think the country is united, not in politics, not in patriotism but something else. Thats coming up after the break. At ally bank, no branches equals great rates. Its a fact. Kind of like bill splitting equals nitpicking. But i only had a salad. It was a buffalo chicken salad. Salad. Youre an at t Small Business expert . Sure am. My staff could use your help staying in touch with customers. At t can help you stay connected. Am i seeing double . No maam. Our at t buy one get one free makes it easier for your staff to send appointment reminders to your customers. 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Bloating . Ask your doctor if nonprescription ibgard is right for you. Ibgard calms the angry gut. Available at cvs and walgreens. Welcome back to flint, michigan, site of tonights democratic debate on cnn. We are close by at university of michigan, Flint Library here, front river behind us. I watch a weeks worth of television news, read a weeks worth of facebook posts this country is unite bud uniteded by fear. I know weve heard a lot about angry voters this election cousin. Angers cousin is fear. Think about it. Democrats are afraid trumps got a real shot at presidency. Some are deeply afraid of what trumps rise represents about america. When i went to a Bernie Sanders rally in michigan last night, i could feel the anxiety right away when sanders invoked trumps name. The tone of the crowd changed almost instantly. Democrats are not the only ones on pins and needles. Republicans who oppose trump are afraid hes blowing up the party he loved. Formed up about Jamie Jonsson who tweeted this, my party is committing suicide on national television. Trump supporters are somewhat fearful as well. Theyre afraid that these victories going to be snatched away by the mitt romneys of the world. When i listened to romneys speech, he sure sounded scared of a trump win. It as if we are all watching a horror movie together. But we cannot agree on who the villain is. Now all of this anxiety revolves around trump. Lets analyze trump coverage with a reporter for real clear politics and chief of bright bart news network. Thanks for being here. Thanks, brian. Rebecca, let me start with you, for your take on what happened at the trump the debate on thursday night, of course, trump brought up his hands, then brought up another part of his anatomy, it seemed like as if the entire election could be summed up in trumps comment about himself. It was about strength, potency, the opposite of impotence, whatever that would be. I wondered if you thought the press made too much or too lit the out of the shocking moment at the debate. I dont think they made too little about it. We heard a lot about moment in the days that followed and for good reason. This is how donald trump has run is entire campaign, cam tured not only the medias attention in the election cycle but the american electorate and especially republicans. He is look a train wreck. You cant look away. It makes a lot of sense we have covered this in the way that we have, it makes a lot of sense what were talking about. What we also saw at the debate the other candidates playing into that dynamic, playing into Donald Trumps dynamic trying to catch the medias attention by saying things that are outrageous, a little bit unexpected and especially marco rubio has been taking the same tact, which has been interesting to watch. As editor and chief of bright bart you take a position, supportive of trump, some call your site trump bart. I wonder your reaction to the hands comment and anything trump could do that would actually cause your website to shift its tone . I think weve covered trump a lot fairly, more fairly than youre giving us credit for. Politico called us the daily cruz as well, people are constantly trying to back us into a corner when youve got competitors Like National review who dedicated resources trying to destroy trump. We have been critical, top media reporters like john nolte critical of what trump did in the debate. Ill be critical of it right now. He cant do that. He cant talk about his penis size if he wanted to be the next president of the United States. He cant flipflop on h1b visas because, contrary to what people say about trump voters, a lot of them are extremely highly informed. He had a flipflop in the debate on h1b visas, imbrags, and that caused concern. What he did, brian, after he yeah. Sorry. Well, i was going to ask reb if theres a split in media centers. There are outlets clearly antitrump and sites like bright bart antirubio. Rebeccas reaction. Do you divide emblematic as a party ace whole. This is ones of the things that happened in the election saying. That we havent been talk enough about. We talk about Establishment Republicans the moderate wing of the party revolting against don trump but were not look at conservative side also revolting against trump. You have supporters of cruz, glenn beck, warning people about voting for trump and supporting him. These are not Establishment Republicans. This is most conservative wing of the party. So theres absolutely division playing out here. National review cover another example. You have Erick Erickson coming out against trump. This is no the something either. Erick erickson invited trump last year in georgia and so this is something that maybe has gone unnoticed here in the Mainstream Media but its absolutely a Division Within the Republican Party that i think is going to be very important moving forward. We need to mention something that happened several days ago. An incident at a trump rally a secret Service Officer and photographer there for time magazine, the photographer wanted to get closer to protesters at the rally, he cursed at secret Service Agent trying to push to get access. The agent seemed to use a chokehold to pull him to the ground. We can show part of the video. Its very disturbing video. I wonder, from breath of you, reactions. Is his something, i can state as a fact we would not have seen this at any other rally at a in other candidate. What does it tell you about trump, even if he has nothing to do with the altercation, what does it tell you about the rallies . It tells me a few things. Like at this from perspective of a journalist. To be atto get outside of the press pen, talk to people in the crowd, observe what is happening and not limited by security, thats very important to c