Rtnered with over a million new Business Owners to do just that. Check us out today to see how you can become one of them. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. I believe in the American People. I believe in the people of the hoozier state. I believe in the men and women gathered here and the goodness of the American People that we will not give in to evil. But we will remember who we are and we will stand for our values. Oh, my god and heres good news, mika. Good morning. Birthday girl, mika. Oh, come on. Youre not going to have to hear that much longer. Thank you. Thats a great gift. Thats your birthday present from my Republican Party. Actually, from the good people of indiana. I cant say i will miss William Shakespeare in the political costume. Good morning, everyone. Its monday, may 2nd. Welcome to morning joe. Shall we sing happy birthday right now . Yeah, yeah. Happy birthday to you happy birthday to you stop, stop. No one wants happy birthday to you happy birthday dear mika, happy birthday to you yay. Nice. Thunderous applause. Thank you so much. 29. 29. With us on set. To share in this very special occasion, we have legendary, lets hear it, everybody legendary legendary. Msnbc contributor, Mike Barnicle. Former communication director for president george w. Bush, nicole wallace. And msnbc political analyst and professor at the university of Michigan School of public policy, former democratic congressman, harold ford jr. We have a ton to talk about this weekend. So much to get to. Meet the press how many times was i think nine. Was shakespeare asked on meet the press . I think nine times. Will he endorse donald trump. Yeah. At the same time, rubio and huntsman and a lot of others are starting to move that direction. And at the same time, donald trump crossed the border and he made it to the other side. What . ted cruz and the stoptrump forces in reality have one day left to stop trump from being the republican nominee for president. And a new poll of indianas republican primary is potentially crushing those hopes. The nbc news wall street journal marist poll finds trump near a majority, 49 , 15 points
ahead of cruz, who is at 34 , john kasich at 13 . Only 34 of Indiana Republicans approve of that shaky Cruz Kasich Alliance forged last week. 58 disapprove. But 63 said it was no factory at all in their decision on who to back while 22 called it a major factor. Did we have to tell them that wouldnt work . Sorry, i dont mean to that sounds so smug, but no, we told them we told them the day of, it wasnt going to work. It seems so unbelievably, contrived, forced, and not even truthful to them. There are so many things that everybodys done, that weve been saying, the day they do it, dont do it. Its going to blow up in your face. And this, this has been a horrible week for ted cruz. Everybody has said, for weeks, oh, donald trump can win new york, theres indiana, we can win pennsylvania, but theres indiana. He can win maryland, but theres indiana. He can win the entire east coast, but theres indiana. And were in indiana now. And hes getting crushed. Ted cruz has had a horrific week and the news isnt getting any better. I remember when he was doing relatively well at these state Party Conventions saying, i think in the end he legal causes by winning. And i think hes had that kind of week, where he got the pence endorsement, but it was so halfhearted, it actually headquarter him more than talk about that. Pence is an ideological soul mate. He took meetings with all three of the remaining candidates and there was a moment when people thought he wouldnt endorse. When he finally came out, he said he would vote for cruz, i think it did more damage totally. Thats what i said when i watched it. I think cruz is losing by winning. So cruz is barnstorming the Hoosier State with two appearances alongside republican governor mike pence, who was sort of with him, but not really with him, on friday, when he announced that he would be
backing cruz, sort of. He likes him. Hes going to vote for him. But he also loves trump. I like and respect all three of the republican candidates in the field. I particularly want to commend donald trump who i think has given voice to the frustration of millions of working americans, with a lack of progress in washington, d. C. And im also particularly grateful that donald trump has taken a strong stand for hoosier jobs, when we saw jobs in the Carrier Company abruptly announce leaving indiana, not for another state, but for mexico. Im grateful. Ive come to my decision about who im supporting, and im not against anybody. But i will be voting for ted cruz. Look, i have Bobby Knights endorsement. We go around in fact, im going right now after this show, im going to indiana. Were going to have bobby knight. Were going to have other people that are unbelievable. And by the way, if you really
take a look at mike pence, i think he gave me more of an endorsement than he gave cruz. He started off with donald trump and what a great job hes done and look, his donors and special interests obviously made him give an endorsement, but you know, chris, because youve covered it, most people think it was more of an endorsement for me than it was for cruz. It was the weakest endorsement anyone has seen. It was ill tell you what. Seriously, if somebody endorsed me that way, i would go on the radio the next hour and say, he can take his blanking endorsement back. That was no endorsement. Well, not only was there no endorsement because it was more of an endorsement of donald trump. Donald trump. But at this stage of this election season, you have to wonder, what went through the mind of ted cruz, to try to concoct this, you know, cruz kasich deal. Because its nontransferable. You cant transfer peoples votes. Great way to say it. Newspaper endorsements no longer mean much. Certainly what they try to do are totally meaningless. And you know harold ford, what youre starting to see here
is the real fear factor seep in. A couple months ago, even a month ago, everybody felt like they could be is nsnotty to don trump without any retribution, because they were sure he wasnt going to win. Now you have governors who are frozen, whose supporters and financial backers tell me he has to endorse ted cruz. And yet, hes so scared of donald trump, hes doing backflips. Youre seeing rubio, trashing him a month ago, now saying hes going to get onboard. And it is, its fear. Theyre afraid theyre going to be left behind. Theres a resignation that hes going to win the nomination. Pences comments, i agree with nicole, he said more about trump and more kind things about trump than he did about ted cruz, which signals in every which way, just reinforces your point. I guess the interesting thing here in the next few weeks will be how many more. I mean, trump is going to win indiana unless his public polling is completely off. How does cruz, or how do cruz
and kasich both respond . Is there a move at that point from priebus and others who say, lets consolidate now, lets try to help fortify, lets help downballot races across the country. You have to think theyre reaching that point. And that trump will arrive at this convention with far more than the 1,237 needed. So mean, despite his unity pledge last summer, remember that, when they were all sort of forced to say it. Yes, i will endorse. Ted cruz refused to say whether he will support donald trump if he isnt the nominee. Isnt this what trump got booed for. 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. But are you going to support him. We will lose. I understand what you believe about the Republican Party, but will you support him . Chuck, what im can you tell your delegates, lay down your arms chuck, what i but why cant you answer the question of whether youll support donald trump or not . Why cant you answer that
question straight forward, black or white. Chuck, let me finish this point im making. Donald wont debate and the media wont hold him accountable. Are you going to answer the question about whether youre going to support donald trump if hes the nominee . Im going to beat donald trump. Dont you think its important to take a stand. You just said, its a time for choosing. 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. We are going to beat trump, because trumps winning the nomination loses the country. Dont you think Republican Voters and i am not willing to give up on america. Im not willing to give up on america. But if you care this much about it, dont you think you saying, i cant support him if hes the nominee, doesnt light a fire and send a sense of urgency to the Republican Party . Chuck, what im saying is very, very simple so let the record show, you have not taken a position on whether trump whether you can support trump if hes the nominee . Fair enough . And let the record show, you tried very, very hard to get me
to commit to supporting trump. And, again, exhibit 5,439 of this Election Campaign season why Donald Trumps winning. Yes. You know what donald trump says . I dont need his support. Thats what politicians want to hear. And as i said about marco rubio, when he speaks, you always heard the echoes of a thousand focus groups, when the guys talking, it looks like hes practiced every word in front of a teleprompter or in front of his mirror in his bathroom at home. And that just drives people crazy. Do you support him or not . Yes or no . for months, we have had in this business, in the media business, and elsewhere, people walking around, bumping into hallways saying, how is it possible that donald trump has gotten as far as hes gotten, has made such tremendous progress electorally, as he has. Ted cruz, how has he gotten this far . How is that possible . But to that point, nobody cozied up to him more than ted
cruz. Do you remember the first three quarters of this primary . Jeb bush and others were critical when they disagreed with trump. Nobody sort of sucked up more than cruz for the first three quarters of this primary. And now hes sort of the last one who wont say that hell support yeah, exactly. You know, harold, the thing is, there was no wrong answer to chuck todays question. Just a yes or a no. If you would have said, no, hes a jerk, im not going to support that guy. Voters would have respected you. Yeah, you know what, i think hes a jerk, but you know what, i think Hillary Clinton would be worse. Like, thats what these idiots not speaking about him in particular but these idiot politicians who think that theyre being clever, in 2016, are just taking a baseball bat and hitting themselves over the head. People want answers. Yes, i will. No, hes a jerk, i wont. You win both ways i watched i have to think that people cringe, republicans, and even independents and
conservatives might find his message appealing. At the end of the day, we had a message last weak on the show, when someone wins the primary, the president ial primary, its tradition. You say, i may disagree with him or her, but well work together. If you cant answer yes or no if youre going to support the nominee, it begs the question whether or not you should have even advanced this far in the race and it speaks to your race, theres no doubt, trumps appeal is, i dont want these clowns support after the race. Ill do it without them, because i cant be sincere to say i want it. It underscores mikes point, this is one of the main reasons trump has advanced so much. Whats best for america. Were waiting for him to tell us whats best for america. And going back to the first fox debate, donald trump was booed for saying remember that . What cruz just decade. For saying that he was not he could not say that he was going to endorse the nominee. Or that he would not mount an independent bid. When asked which is the same thing. No, no, no, there was a direct question. It was two of them. And they asked him would he mount an independent bid and he couldnt answer that question. Were now seeing many other republicans warming to the idea of trump as their nominee. Former utah governor and president obamas ambassador to china, jon huntsman, told politico, quote, weve had enough intraparty fighting nows the time to stitch together a Winning Coalition and its been clear almost from the beginning that trump has the ability listen to this, because this is it to assemble a nontraditional bloc of supporters. The ability to cut across Traditional Party boundaries like 1980, 92, and 2008 will be key. And trump is much better positioned to achieve that. Thats good for trump. Its also true. Its also true. And its time that people kind of see that. I mean, has ted cruz been able to do that . Has anyone been able to really do that . No. And on friday, senator marco
rubio said that trumps performance has, quote, improved significantly in recent weeks thank you, marco rubio. Okay, after earlier comments that he would unite behind him if nominated. Senator, if, indeed, it is donald trump, will you support him . Yeah, ive always said im going to support the republican nominee and thats especially true now that its apparent that Hillary Clinton is going to be the democratic candidate. Thats what ted cruz should have said. Thats a big turn. It is what ted cruz should have said on sunday. By the way, thats a big turn for marco rubio. Well, its the only intellectually honest answer, too. Its fine to say, no, i cant get there, im going to vote for hillary. Thats curtain number two. But there is no more curtain number three. Those are the two choices. Yes, im going to get there on trump, or no, i cant. And mike cayden said on this show, there is another choice, but sort of man up and woman up and say it. No, wii cant get there for tru. Im going to vote for hillary. Those are your choices and thats fine and make those choices. But thats what a lot of people have been in denial up to this point. I have said and ive been saying it for a couple of months now. Things will change, mike, when Republican Voters, maybe not the 12 people in the stoptrump, nevertrump group on twitter, but when the rest of the Republican Party looks at their ballot, at least conservatives, and theyre going to say, okay, i can take another clinton for eight years and have three of her appointees on the Supreme Court change the tide of the Supreme Court for a generation, or i can take a chance on this guy. Kind of like people did with Ronald Reagan in 1980. I dont think its going to be that tough for most republicans by the end. Well, its also, you know, a choice between old, new. No matter what you Hillary Clintons a vastly qualified candidate for the presidency, theres no doubt about that. But its the past. And so, donald trump is donald
trump. The interesting thing about what we just showed, those clips, were you surprised that the huntsman endorsement wasnt an endorsement, but explanation . Yeah. I was surprised. Well, yeah is he casting a would he take the number two spot on the ticket . I dont know, but it was positive and i think a lot of republicans i tell you, even if republicans arent saying that, thats sort of what obamas people are saying. Thats what David Plouffe is saying, whats David Axelrod is saying. Theyre all saying the same thing. Democrats, you dont want donald trump. You think you want donald trump, you dont want donald trump. While us republicans are gnashing their teeth saying, hes going to destroy the party. Meanwhile object democrat side, Bernie Sanders is saying theres going to be a contested convention, as well. But donald trump almost didnt make his appearance at the California Republican state convention on friday. Because of a whole bunch of
protesters who blocked his motorcades interest. They later tried the storm the building, but were blocked by police. Trumps security found a way around the obstacle, pulling off the highway and leading the candidate and his aides over a immediati median to the back entrance. Trump later responded saying the protesters were thugs and criminals. And also called them professionals who should be dealt with strongly by law enforcement. Then he had this to say inside the event. That was not the easiest entrance ive ever med. My wife called, and she said, there are helicopters following you and we did and then we went under a fence and through a fence. Oh, boy, it felt like i was crossing the border, actually. Well, its true. I was crossing the border but i got here. Just wow. Ridiculous. I think at some point, calling people thugs and criminals who are exercising their First Amendment rights well, no, didnt they get a little violent . I dont know. I didnt see it. The night before. Im sorry. Oaks, the night before they were wrecking police cars and got out of control. He had some incredible choice of words over the weekend, including about china which well get to. That didnt hurt him at all. Those comments helped him. Hurt him . I used to work on campaigns, and if i were sitting around thinking about how to get the other side to do something to help me, i would infiltrate the protests and make them do this. Sure, every day. Every day, theyre helping trump. Every single day not helpful. I had democratic friends over the weekend who said, oh, this is great and i agree with you. This does nothing but help him. All right. A lot more to talk about. Still ahead on morning joe, msnbcs road warriors on the campaign trail. Kristen welker, kasie hunt, and Hallie Jackson all join us
ahead. Plus, Hillary Clinton makes another move in her pivot to the general election. But Bernie Sanders, as i said, is not making