Transcripts For MSNBCW All In With Chris Hayes 20160503 : vi

Contested contest. James sanders is here to discuss the campaigns road forward. And the comedian in chief. Gop chairman Reince Priebus is here as well. President obama roasts the rook at the Correspondents Dinner. Congratulations on all your success. The Republican Party, the nomination process. Its all going great. One of the people who helped him write that routine will join me when all in starts right now. Good evening from new york. Im chris hayes. Tomorrows primary in indiana may be all that stands between donald trump and the republican president ial nomination. And tonight he and rival ted cruz are holding dueling rallies in different parts of the Hoosier State in a final effort to motivate supporters before the polls open just ten hours from now. For cruz and the never trump movement, the stakes could not be higher. The entire country is depending on indiana right now. It really is. Its a fundamental choice which direction the country goes. I think this is a moment where the entire country is relying on indiana. To save us from going over this cliff. Cruz had been hoping for a repeat of his triumph last month in wisconsin. The local indiana Never Trump Coalition that boosted him, the trump coalition, Never Trump Coalition, failed to materialize in indiana. Cruzs attempts to shake up the race over the last week, announcing an alliance with john kasich and picking Carly Fiorina as his theoretical running mate, seem to have backfired. Trump lead busy 15 points in the new nbc news wall street journal merris poll of likely Republican Voters in indiana. If that margin holds tomorrow he could sweep every one of the states 57 delegates which are awarded by a combination of winner take all for the state, and winner take all for each congressional district. Also 58 of likely gop voters in indiana said they disapprove of the cruz kasich alliance. It wont stapp cruz from turning to ever more desperate lastditch tactics to try to win over indiana voters. Like say directly confronting a group of angry Trump Supporters protesting one of his Campaign Events today. Asked kasich to drop out, its your trump, take your own words. Im curious, when donald doesnt get to 1237 are you going to call on him to drop out . Donalds going to get more than 1237. You know on the wall that donald told the New York Times Editorial Staff hes not going to Deport Anyone . Once again, lyin ted that came just a day after cruz reprimanded a kid who was heckling him at a rally in northern indiana. Thank you, son. You know, i appreciate your sharing your views. You know, one of the things that hopefully someone has told you is that children should actually speak with respect. In my household, when a child behaves that way, they get a spanking. [ cheers and applause ] i should note its a matter of Public Record by ted cruz that he hits his kids. At another event earlier in the day, cruzs new running mate Carly Fiorina had a mishap while introducing the candidate and his family. Help me welcome your next first family, heidi cruz, your next first lady, carolyn and katherine, and the next president of the United States ted cruz today donald trump, renowned cherisher of women, scolded cruz for failing to help fiorina get back up. She fell off the stage, did anybody see that . Cruz didnt do anything even i would have helped her, okay . They just showed it to me and i said, wow, thats really cruel. She fell off. She just went down, she went down a long way, right . And she went down right in front of him and he was talking, kept talking, he didnt even look like that was a weird deal. The same time ted cruz is playing up the high stakes of tomorrows vote, hes trying to limit expectations of his own performance at the ballot and make it all about the convention in cleveland. Witnesses interviewed today with nbcs hallie jackson. Nobody is going to get to 1237. Im not going to get to 1237, but neither is donald trump. 1235 . So were headed to a contested convention. And at a contested convention, the battles going to be who can earn the support of a majority of the delegates elected by the people. Donald knows that he cannot earn a majority at the convention of the delegates who have been elected by the people. If you cant earn a majority, you cant be the nominee. It means you cant unite the party. Youd be an incredibly weak general election candidate. Its true the Cruz Campaign has done a much, much better laying the groundwork, getting supporters in state after state. The cruz camp won 10 of the 13 delegate slots up for grabs at virginias Gop State Convention in virginia, despite finishing third in the states primary behind trump and marco rubio. With trump shattering expectations in last weeks northeast primaries, bringing him ever closer to 1237, some of cruzs delegates may be experiencing a change of heart. In north dakota where delegates are technically unbound but cruz supporters won a majority of the slots, a delegate named jim puman, whos committed to cruz, told the national view, i think last tuesdays vote spooked a lot of people. Donald trump has a lot of support across the country, last tuesday winning five states, one heck of a showing. In an interview with New York Times he said, im not in the anybody but trump campaign, im in the anybody but hillary campaign. Its not just republican delegates who are coming around to trump. Hes picked up three more congressional endorsements in the last week. Now according to the associated press, Republican Leaders are beginning to make peace with trump as the nominee. One of trumps supporters in the house used almost the exact same language as the north dakota delegate. Its not never trump, its never hillary, wake up and smell the coffee. Katy tur, i watched a little bit of the trump rally, it seemed that theyre feeling pretty confident. Reporter the trump rallys just started behind me here in south wend. Theyre feeling extraordinarily confident about indiana. I spoke with Donald Trumps Campaign Manager a moment ago and theyre feeling good, especially seeing that they are up 15 points in the latest nbc ne news merris poll. Theyre running a general Election Campaign they tell me despite ted cruz and jo kasich still being in this race, theyre looking ahead to how to take on Hillary Clinton. Today when donald trump had a lunch at shapiros in indianapolis with the infamous anticlinton author ed kline, that should be an indication theyre trying to figure a way to frame their attacks going forward. Theyre already trying to get Bernie Sanders appeal out there, saying that he has been treated unfairly by the dnc and that his supporters should go to donald trump, who is also an outsider. But indiana again, that is the task at hand. It is tomorrow and they do believe theyre going to take out a win here. But its not a mustwin like it is for ted cruz. Even with that the campaign thinks theyll be able to go on and easily make to it 1237 by the time california votes on june 7th. Katy tur at the trump rally with lusty boos in the background, it wouldnt be a trump rally if there werent any. Joining me, nbcs hallie jackson. Hallie, its looking tough. 15 points today. There was a sense maybe they could bring back the wisconsin magic, has not materialized so far. Glenn beck on stage trying to work that magic. Calling for a fast. Whats the thinking there . Listen, i think theres a sense within the Campaign Based on conversations i just had with the Senior Adviser that they know tomorrow is not going to go the way they want it to go. That it will probably be a tough night for them. That its going to be possibly a singledigit loss. Theres pushback against the idea that the margin will be as big as our nbc news wall street journal poll shows, which is a 15point lead by donald trump right now. But theres a sense that cruz will hang on until there is no longer, as he put it in that interview we did, a viable path to the nomination. That means trump hitting 1237. Why . Why stay in . As was phrased to me, you never know. The idea within the campaign is that trump is such a wild card, theres no reason, they believe, for cruz to get out of this race. They want to be able to offer conservatives a choice in case something happens and trumps candidacy does fall apart. People have been talking about what trump could do to lose the nomination since, what, august, july, even earlier. Maybe since that moment he came down those escalators back in june. So theres a question as to sort of how realistic that is. But cruz tomorrow night, i dont think youll see him come out and give some sort of concession speech if he loses. He will continue to fight, june 7th the big day when trump could lock up the nomination and if he does, that is when you will see a real reassessment within the Cruz Campaign. Hallie jackson, thank you very much. Joining me, former rnc chairman and msnbc political analyst Michael Steele and charlie pierce, writer for esquire. Magazin michael, im bemoussed as i watch the never trump forces start to maybe flirt a little bit with, maybe trump. Maybe eventually trump. This is mr. Crystal who is a flagship member of the never trumpers answering a question earlier today. And there are things trump can do to win you over . I mean, i guess never say never. On the one hand, im never trump. On the other hand, never say never. Ill leave it there. Fair enough. This is the writing on the wall, michael. Everyone loves a winner. That is so precious. That is so precious because he flipped out on me in a conversation we had about this very thing, about 30 days ago. And he was like, no way, no way im like, okay, dude, just wait. I wish we had that on tape, id play that in a heartbeat if you had that on tape. Gosh no. But this is where they are. They have been longsuffering on this slow death march to nowhere. And meanwhile, the base of the party is like, dudes, were over here. Were going with this guy. And this reconciliation within the party has probably been one of the most amusingly frustrating things to watch. Because the base has been saying for some time, as you know, this guy, we like him. Yeah, we dont like everything he says, we dont like everything he does. But hes the kind of fighter we want for this fight. And there has been nothing since the beginning of this campaign that anyone other than donald trump has been able to do to slow his role and thats the reality of it. He has moved this campaign to the point now where were at our last wall, our last firewall, our last bridge, our last whatever. In indiana tomorrow night. And theres nowhere else to go except to get on board and thats what youre seeing. Charlie what im looking for tomorrow, the polling out today that has him over 50 , it was one thing he wins over 50 in new york. Its another when he clears high 50s in the northeast which is sort of the ancestral home of trumpism, if you will. In the case of indiana this is not the kind of place youd expect him to clean up or to romp. If he clears 50 tomorrow that seems a clear statement from the gop base about where they are and how ready they are for this. Yeah, first of all, id like to say that it was hard to hear bill kristol talk over the sound of the cock crowing in the background. However, youre right. I spent a day with the cruz surrogate team yesterday, which was god help us Louis Gohmert and Carly Fiorina and heidi cruz and mike lee. And outside of a slice of the evangelical vote, and not a very big slice anymore, theres no support for him in indiana right now. Theres no reason to vote for the guy. You saw him today. This is diet who was the ivy league debating champion and he was arguing with a guy in fake oakley sunglasses and a fake weatherbeaten sweatshirt whose entire riposte was, uhuh no i expect to see ted cruz on a Street Corner outside ft. Wayne with a sign saying will debate for food. By the way, that was a biblical reference from charlie pierce, anyone who accuses us of being godless liberals. Jesuiteducated Michael Steel knew. So this was the other thing. The question that cruz is going to play. Right now i think youre seeing calculations about peoples future in the party. I want to play you ted cruz and chuck todd going around and around on this question of the fundamental never trump question. Thats the real thing that hangs the air right now, take a listen. If hes the nominee, i take it you cant support him anymore, can you . I believe if the Republican Party nominates donald trump, we will lose to hillary are you going to support him . We will lose i understand what you believe in the Republican Party. Can you support him . Can you tell your delegates chuck what im going to do is lay down your arms and support trump . Chuck you may not. I recognize that many in the media would love for me to vend tore donald trump. If its a time for choosing, say it. For him . Or against him . As the nominee . Its a time for choosing, is it not . Chuck, youre welcome to lobby for support for trump as much as possible. Let the record show you have not taken a position on whether you can support trump if hes the nominee . Fair enough . Let the record show you tried very, very hard to get me to commit to supporting trump. The record will show that. Michael, whats that about . I dont know. Bottom line is, just say no. Nancy reagan said it. Just say no. This is the problem no one can take it seriously at this stage, just say no. You cant support the guy . Just say pitt thats been the problem from the beginning. Youve got to be in it all the way or not. And theres a small group of intellectuals who i think both feel it on principle basis, they really do believe it, they hate trump, and also feel insulated from the consequences of that. Aside from that, charlie, like youre saying, thats not a huge constituency, never has been. No, its not. I think that the historical irony of course is that the very fact that ted cruz is a figure of National Politics at all is a failure of the republican establishment, especially in texas. Michael steele and charlie pierce, thank you very much, both. Could democrats win back control of the senate this november if donald trump is the nominee . A look at that. Plus president obama lets loose in his final white house Correspondents Dinner. How humor played a strategic part of obamas legacy. After conflicting messages on Bernie Sanders plan going forward, the candidate offered clarity and Saddam Hussein ascenders joitds me. Allergies can distract you. So when your symptoms start. Doctors recommend taking nondrowsy claritin every day of your allergy season for continuous relief. With claritin you get powerful nondrowsy relief, 24 hours a day, day after day. And with fewer symptoms to distract you. You can focus on the extraordinary things you do. Every single day. Live claritin clear. Introding clarispray nasal allergy spray. New from the makers of clatin© with a different ingredient. Billions are spent to confuse and, dare i say it, flummox the american public. Save 16 on car insurance. Switch now. Well at compare. Com, we say enoughs enough. So we constantly scrutinize millions of rates. Answering the question once and for all, who has the lowest. Just go to compare. Com and get up to 50 free quotes. Choose the lowest, and hit purchase. So you can get back to whatever it is you civilians do when youre not thinking about car insurance. Compare. Com in the last few weeks from have been conflicting messages about the Bernie Sanders campaign between now and the convention in philadelphia. It was suggested to Rachel Maddow the Party Insiders should follow the will of the voters. But Campaign Manager jeff weaver has argued superdelegates are free to support the candidate of their choice and even override the will of the voters, giving sanders a potential path to victory even if hes trailing clinton in the popular vote and among pledged delegates. Yesterday the candidate himself offered his own thoughts. It is virtually impossible for secretary clinton to reach the majority of Convention Delegates by june 14th with pledged delegates alone. She will need superdelegates to take her over the top at the convention in philadelphia. In other words, the convention will be a contested contest. Sanders says overall he wants to flip superdelegates who have already endorsed clinton, especially in states where he won. Superdelegates who support clinton should switch allegiance to him. As Greg Sergeant notes in the Washington Post the math doesnt work for him at least as of now. Tonight sanders is in indiana. Perhaps showing how confident the Clinton Campaign is, shes on a twoday tour targeting voters in appalachia with stops in West Virginia, kentucky, and ohio. Kentucky and West Virginia will hold their primaries later this month. Ohio, on the other hand, has already voted, back in march. It is of course a crucial swing state that could decide the general election in november. I spoke with jane sanders, spouse of Bernie Sanders, and i began by asking whether she could point to a precedent for what sanders is now calling fo