Cleveland. Also on our agenda this morning, im with him. This really is all about the person who has the boldest, most fierce vision on the issues facing america. Its a big get for Bernie Sanders. His first endorsement from a sitting United States senator. Oregons jeff merkley. Hes throwing his support behind sanders. The timing on this is important as Hillary Clinton hopes to win new york and put sanders in her Rearview Mirror and unite the party. Heres another sign that democrats just arent ready to end this fight. Rounding out our agenda this morning, the most important number of the day. April is going to be a very bad month for ted cruz. Trumps new convention manager, paul manafert, predicting a bad month for ted cruz. Im going to show you why i think he might have a point on that and why it may be because of this guy, john kasich. All of that, much more ahead this hour, but we are going to begin with donald trump. The republican frontrunner not backing away from his claims that hes been wronged by his party over how its nominating process is set up. The rnc, the Republican National committee, they should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this kind of crap to happen. I can tell you that. They should be ashamed of themselves. The rules are no good when you dont get democracy. The rules are no good they dont count your vote. When they dont like in colorado. The rules are no good when you have to play dirty tricks in order to pick up delegates. Trumps critics, of course, countering the rules were clear long before now on how this process was going to work. Calculation here may be that even if trump did know these were the rules, a lot of the firsttime voters who are flocking to him this year probably didnt. This message is aimed at keeping them fired up, but even some of trumps staunchest allies are not standing with him on this. Heres Rush Limbaugh yesterday. What do you mean if trump is denied . He hasnt won it yet. If he wins it and hes denied, then youve got a point. If he gets to 1237 and they try to take it away from him, then youve got a real point, but he hasnt won diddly squat yet. He hasnt got 1237. Theres nothing to deny yet and i think that may be a point. There is no entitlement here. Just because youre leading doesnt mean its yours. Also, theres this. The Washington Post reporting this morning that cruz is likely to block trump from getting the nomination with all of the delegates hes picked up if, this is the big if here, if that Republican Convention in cleveland gets to a second ballot. If trump doesnt have 1237 on the first one. Nbcs Hallie Jackson is here to walk me through everything thats going on. So hallie, it really is interesting to watch donald trump on this. On the one hand hes poised for a really big victory less than a week in new york. Yeah. But hes still talking about the one he just lost. Reporter right. Hes talking about colorado and as he looks strong in new york and not just there, the next three that follow. Northeastern states like connecticut, delaware, maryland, pennsylvania. Places where hes visiting. Hes in pennsylvania today. Trump over the last 24 hours hes tried to walk the line, trying to appear more president ial yet still clearly upset about what happened with ted cruz outmaneuvering him in the delegate hunt in colorado. You heard him talking about wanting to push more policies in his plans to roll out ten policy speeches over the next two weeks starting with one the next two months, pardon me, starting with one on the next week interestingly on party unity. Heres what trump had to say about that. Im going to be doing probably ten over the next two months. Do you know when the next one is going to be . I would say within the next week. Do you know what the topic will be . Were looking at different topics. One topic it might not be policy, it might be unity in the Republican Party because i think its very important. Reporter on the one hand he says its important but hes out with a new interview with the hill calling it a disgrace and taking it out on Reince Priebus. He said the rules have been the rules for a while. Complaints now . Give us all a break. This is unusual to see from the chairman of the party, steve. As you know, the party tries to remain as neutral as possible. The party is intended to try to help whichever person gets the nomination in a general election. Thats why you see the rnc taking aim at Hillary Clinton more often than not not backing any particular candidate in this race, at least right now. Hallie, it was only 12 days ago that trump had that meeting with Reince Priebus and the rnc. Now it seems like a long time ago. Hallie jackson, thank you. Well get reaction from dan balls and well start with the National Campaign spokesperson for Donald Trumps campaign, katrina pierson. Thanks for taking a few minutes. Let me ask you this. Your candidate, donald trump, has been complaining calling it rigged. He went 0 for 37 with delegates 0 for 34, excuse me, with delegates there. We went back and looked. This is august 2015. This was the headline that appeared out in colorado. This is the headline that appeared in papers around the country saying that colorado was canceling the vote at its 2016 caucus and saying this is the process. The process has been clear in colorado since last august. Seems to me you guys are surprised now to find out thats how it worked but you knew all along, department you . Well, of course, and thats what mr. Trump has said. Hes just identifying the rigged part of the system. What they have done is put in a pyramid scheme essentially to choose delegates. For example, in colorado, if you have 3800 people show up to be delegates, you would expect those who have been credentialed and those who have names on the ballot to actually receive credentials and receive the ballot and thats not what happened. Your local level person, local trump supporter can definitely show up at the convention but if their credentials are not there or denied, theyre not on the ballot, they dont have a chance to move up. They dont survive the next couple of levels. This is the party system choosing the delegates. Some people would look at how this has all gone, they say theres been unfairness on how this rules have been set that has benefited donald trump. For example, South Carolina had a cluttered field there. Donald trump got 33 of the vote but because of the way that state chooses to award its delegates, by congressional district, donald trump went 50 for 50. He got 33 of the vote, 33 of republicans in South Carolina checked his name off for president. He gets 100 of the delegates. Some people would look at that and say thats unfair. I think the beauty of the system is the simple fact was that this system was designed be to stop outsider candidates. Thats one of the reasons why colorado changed their rules when people who make the rules can change them in the middle of the game, yes, that is correct. Mr. Trump has been doing very well but its despite the system thats in place which is exactly why were going to move forward and fight for the delegates even though we know that the Party Leaders have already said they want to stop mr. Trump from reaching these delegates. We see the exact same tam particulars taking place in indiana as we speak. We mentioned it was less than two weeks ago dlump that meeting with Reince Priebus in the Republican National committee. This is what he tweeted out. Just had a very nice meeting with Reince Priebus and the gop. Looking forward to bringing the Party Together and it will happen. Are you closer or farther from that goal now 12 days later . I think the people on the ground, particularly the grassroots, those who have been fighting the party system for at least the last seven years, we have to remember the rnc changed the rules last time to stop a grassroots candidate from winning the nomination and we suspect that theyll do that again, but those on the ground, the millions of voters that have turned out for mr. Trump and those who have turned out for candidates out of the race, i think we are closer to bringing them together. Now they, too, see how the system was set up to keep their candidate from winning. There is a bit of news this morning, too, i want to mention this as well. Marco rubio, he was on the marc levin show last night. He was asked who would be supporting him. The candidates in the race, who would you consider the most conservative and who would you consider well, lets start there . Simon, ive been pretty clear that i want the republican nominee to be a conservative. In my view at this moment of the candidates still actively campaigning, the only one that fits that criteria is ted cruz. Ive said that publicly. Whats your reaction to that, katrina . I suspect all of the elected officials to stick together. These are two individuals who rely on the republican institution to keep them in power. So this is not surprising. Most of the elected officials are going to continue to support the party because they need that Party Apparatus to keep their positions. Thanks for the time. Thank you. Great to be here. Now were going to turn back to the set here. Joining me, dan balls, National Correspondent with the Washington Post and a political reporter with the new york times. The national picture, dan, what you just heard from katrina there, theyre claiming unfairness on this today. Have a case . Well, the rules are arcane but thats the way the rules have been set up and theyve been set up that way for a long time. Anybody who gets into one of these contests has to recognize that. The curiosity is at the very moment donald trump has brought in Paul Manaford to manage control of this and manage the next phase about the campaign is all about delegates, he goes off on a tear while Paul Manaford is trying to build an organization to compete more effectively than colorado. What is that doing . Were talking about eventually if donald trump is the nominee, there has to be a reconciliation with the republican nominee. What is this doing to that . This is a rupture in that. That meeting of two weeks ago despite Donald Trumps tweet was not a particularly good meeting. I mean, there was tension in that meeting and i think there is a feeling inside the Trump Campaign, at least on the part of some of the people, that they have do do somethi have to do something to repair that. Theyre also in a fight. We know when trump is in a fight he fights very hard and then theyll repair it. Donald trump is poised to do really well here. It seems to me what hes saying now, the complaints he has, whether theyre legitimate or not, they fire up his base here. They sure do. It is a little weird that hes choosing to dwell on this really embarrassing series of set backs when hes about to go on what appears to be shaping up a pretty significant winning streak. It does fire up his base in new york and really across the northeast, this idea that the Republican Party establishment is distanced and generally perceived to be in new york a more southern entity is coming in to stop the hometown boy from doing really well. I do think also just sort of playing into his appeal, his local appeal here and in the area. His style of politics in general, which played not so well in a place like iowa, that had mixed success in some of these nicer states like minnesota and utah, this is pure new york. So for him to take a baseball back to reince like this, thats sort of what they expect. They love it. Hes leading in the polls. The other question is ted cruz, he comes in second place. He was never a good fit for new york to give. Is that further complicating it . Oh, definitely. He wasnt a good fit but he won the state convincingly. He was able to reinvent himself. Here in new york cruz is pretty upfront in the primary process. Hes expected to wrap it up. His strategy was geared towards lock that go down in the Southern States at the beginning of march. When he was popping off last winter about new york values he never imagined he would be in the bronx . Right. So let me ask you where this thing goes from here. After wisconsin it seemed the conventional wisdom jumped to, thats it, open convention, he cant get there. Im opening the map if he sweeps new york, big win in pennsylvania, big win in maryland. If he does well in the northeast states he could be sitting on a 400, 450 delegate lead over this month. Very true. I think that you go through this every day with the delegates. The real issue is not wins and losses in these states, it is how close is donald trump to 1237. So every delegate that he is denied is important to the stop trump forces and for him every delegate he can accumulate. We will swing back and forth about who has momentum. Hes going to win very well here. He should do well in these other northeastern states but the real key is how close does that get him to 1200 or 1220 or 1150. And thats thats going to be played out not simply in those but its going to be in the state conventions, its going to be the battle for some of these unbounds de delegates even if t go in unbound, somebody has them. Thats the real focus we have to do. Not what does wisconsin do at this moment of the momentum game. Thats the other question i have. If trump is short but its close, if its 1200, 1215, somewhere in there, that pressure, does the pressure build that, hey, he won the most states . He won the most delegates . He won the most votes. Weve got to nominate him or were going to have a revolt on our hands . Is that going to factor into it do you think . It depends on what that mum is. I dont think anybody at this point can say this is the magic number short of 1237 that he has to have in order for that kind of to take hold in cleveland. But if he has won the most states and the most delegates and the most votes by a lot, its going to be hard for the party to deny him the nomination. That clean sweep 95 for 95 in new york, how realistic is that . Totally plausible. When you are looking at the polls that show him at or near 60 , its really tough to hit that mark unless youre clearing 50 everywhere. Maybe john kasich can pick up a delegate on the Upper East Side but thats not much of a moral triump triumph. Appreciate your joining us. Coming up, Bernie Sanders picks up a key congressional endorsement. His only endorsement from the United States senate so far. This while hillary gains the nod from a big New Hampshire hespap york. What if anything does it mean for next tuesdays vote. Later, this is why they make the maps for me. Im going to show you what twitter, yes, even jimmy fallon did which is something that i did yesterday. 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Get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. Bernie sanders, speaks with jeff merkley from oregon. He was with us on msnbc morning joe. This is about the person who has the boldest, most fierce issues in the world. Issue after issue, Campaign Finance hes been out there leading clearly long before he ever decided to run. And on the subject of endorsements, sanders is set to announce another one later this morning in brooklyn. Brooklyn where he was born, of course, before moving to vermont for most of his life. We will also be hearing from Hillary Clinton in a few hours. She will address the National Action network here in manhattan. Today she picked up a big newspaper endorsement from the new york daily news. Both sides of the campaign are covering it. Msnbcs casey hunt is in brooklyn and Kristen Weller is in mid town manhattan. Lets start with you in brooklyn. Surprising news, too. Surprising to pick up an endorsement from one of his senate colleagues. Also the timing that here we are in mid april and he picks one up. Sign of momentum . Sign of things to come at all for the Sanders Campaign . Well, steve, i think a lot in many ways this is simply a sign of Jeff Merkleys home state. Oregon is a place that has been very hospitable to Bernie Sanders. It was a place that hosted one of those first mega rallies last summer where we started to get a sense that Bernie Sanders was going to potentially be a more significant challenger to Hillary Clinton than anyone expected at the outset. So i do think its still more noteworthy that this is the first of these congressional endorsements. That tel