Good morning everyone! Happy Wednesday to you!

Joining today's show are Michael Steele, Ron Fournier, Cokie Roberts, Al Hunt, Jonathan Capehart, Sen. Cory Gardner, Sen. Chris Coons, Evelyn Farkas, Katty Kay, Bob Woodward, Eugene Robinson, John Podhoretz, Matt Schlapp, Melania Trump, Sara Eisen and in Taiji, Japan today, it is officially the 13th consecutive BLUE COVE day! All nine boats are back in the harbor. 2016-24-2 9:08am#tweet4dolphins #dolphinproject.
Do we talk about the elephant in the room today? I highly doubt it but a recording was released with a 'hot mic' in between segments during that Donald Trump, MSNBC (notably with Mika and Joe) town hall last week. 
morning joe trump
To be honest with y'all, I have listened to it two times and I do not get what all the fuss is about? 

I know there is a lot of chatter about Donald Trump being on the show 50 times every week, but yesterday, this hot mic content fuels that favoritism charge. They did not really say much and the media outlets that reported ion it conveniatly leave out how Joe says that he felt that he lost the debate last Saturday and some things that were not flattering for Trump. The only thing that can be construed as being nice was when Mika asked about whether to ask the deportation question which may not have even been said to trump. It could have been said to the producer which is what i thought happened. 

A newly released audio recording of Joe and Mika off-air conversations with Donald Trump has reignited concerns that the MSNBC co-hosts are too cozy with the Republican frontrunner.

The conversations, which took place during the commercial breaks at last week's MSNBC "Trump Town Hall" event, feature the three talking jovially about the success of Trump's campaign, his likelihood of winning South Carolina and Nevada, and the ineffectiveness of his opponents' attack ads.

At one point, Mika tells Trump that she had "a wow moment" when he brought two men up on stage after they had removed a protester from a rally. Trump responds: "I saw it, I watched your show this morning. You had me almost as a legendary figure."

The audio, which was obtained by comedian and radio show host Harry Shearer, offered the latest evidence that the "Morning Joe" co-hosts are too friendly toward Trump, which has become a source of discomfort at NBC. Network insiders have chafed at what they described as Scarborough's "over the top" and "unseemly" admiration for the real estate magnate who is leading the GOP field.

MSNBC declined to comment on the tape.

Shearer played the recording on his show to let listeners decide whether or not Joe and Mika were "in the tank" for Trump. His own take, upon the conclusion of the recording: "You can cut the adversarial tension there with a knife," he quipped. "A butter knife, but still."

Throughout the tape, Trump asks Joe and Mika to weigh in on his campaign tactics, his poll numbers and the effectiveness of his opponents.

"They're spending $75 million on negative ads against me over the last two weeks. Are they catching on at all?" Trump asks at one point.

"No, doesn't look that way," Scarborough says.

"What do you think?" Trump asks Brzezinski.

"No," Brzezinski says.

Scarborough and Brzezinski immediately drew criticism from other journalists and media figures on Twitter after the tape was published online. Steve Deace, the conservative radio host, called it "clear coordination/coaching between a national show and a campaign."

One portion of the tape that received criticism on Twitter was misleading. It features Brzezinski saying, "You don't want me to do the [questions] on deportation?" to which Trump replies: "That's right. Nothing too hard, Mika."

However, sources at MSNBC said that Mika was speaking to her producer Alex Korson and that Trump was voicing his approval of the decision from the sidelines.

What are they supposed to be like towards Trump? Mean? Stand Offish? There was nothing incriminating and there was nothing more or less to me than hearing what is an idol conversation. Which was cool. I do not get the fuss about it.

Trump scores big win in Nevada. How would a Mika and Joe interview help something like him winning big in a State like Nevada? And, what was said that was over the top in the bag for Trump that again, would push voters to caucus for Trump or vote for him in whatever primary? Besides, people have brains. They can make their own assessments on every candidate knowing what they know but what I see all of the time with Mika and Joe is them pushing him a lot. I mean rump is on the show every day but that is not a Mika and Joe issue. And, whether to ask a question about deportation is a weird one. It is not a realistic question because it is not a realistic thing anyone could implement so in reality, Mika was maybe trying to make sure she was not knit picking and most of all, I would expect anyone to respect anyone else and to be nice all of the time, let alone during commercial breaks. 

Are Mika and Joe expected to act like an ass towards whomever when they are being interviewed? The entire non issue of a news story makes no sense to me. The only issue should be and/or could be with regard to how many times or much Trump is on the show. That is not a Mika and Joe issue. That is the producer or booking persons issue.

Regardless, and not withstanding Mika and Joe being nice to Donald Trump, he notched a resounding win in the Nevada caucuses Tuesday, channeling the roiling anger of Republican voters against the establishment and sweeping almost every category of the electorate to build his dominance in the delegate count.

It was a stunning show of momentum for his campaign, one that made it increasingly difficult to imagine a scenario where any other GOP candidate wins the Republican nomination.

"We love Nevada," Trump said during his brief victory speech at his party in Las Vegas late Tuesday night. "We will be celebrating for a long time tonight."

"We weren't expected to win too much and now we're winning, winning, winning the country," Trump said. "And soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning."

He basked in his success across demographics.

"We won the evangelicals," he said. "We won with young. With won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated."

Narrow battle for second
Not only was it a win in the Silver State, but it was a win with a huge margin. With 30% of the expected vote in at about 3 a.m. ET, Trump was dominating the race with 42.6%. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were in a narrow battle for second with Rubio at 24.4% and Cruz at 23.6%.

The results in Nevada, a state where 30 delegates are at stake, demonstrated the power of Trump's appeal in this anti-establishment year. It also underscored his ability to use his media savvy and enormous popularity to sweep a state with complex caucus rules and where rivals were far more organized.

Trump increased his vote share over what he won in other primary states, outpacing second place finisher Marco Rubio by double digits, even though Rubio spent part of his childhood in Nevada.

One of the most surprising aspects of Trump's win was that entrance polls showed he was winning among Latino GOP caucus-goers even though he has campaigned on a hard-line immigration platform, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Entrance polls indicated Latino caucusgoers made up 8% of the GOP electorate and 45% of them planned to back Trump. Historically, however, entrance and exit polls have not proved to be a reliable measure when it comes to the preferences of minority voters, particularly when the sample size was as small as it was in Nevada.

Still, Trump noted his showing among Latino Republicans in his victory speech: "Number one with Hispanics... I'm really happy about that," he said.

Driving Trump's victory were caucusgoers who said they wanted a president from outside the political establishment. While Trump played up support among Latino GOP caucusgoers, the electorate was primarily white—accounting for 84% of those who turned out to caucus. Some 6 in 10 caucusgoers said they were angry about the way the government is functioning.

Anti-establishment fervor
The anti-establishment fervor within the electorate underscored the enormous challenge facing Rubio and Cruz in the coming weeks as they try to stop Trump. Rubio and Cruz had campaigned aggressively in Nevada, but had downplayed expectations as they tried to consolidate Trump-averse Republican voters around them.

Rubio was not even in Nevada on Tuesday night, having moved on to the upcoming states of Minnesota and Michigan. But he has repeatedly noted in recent weeks that surveys show that some two-thirds of GOP voters don't want Trump as their nominee. On his plane this week, the Florida senator told reporters that as the field narrowed "the alternatives to Trump will get stronger."

"Donald has a base of support and if the majority of our party doesn't want him as our nominee, we'll continue to work toward consolidating that," Rubio told reporters.

On the stump, Rubio largely avoided critiques of his rivals as he continually returns to the argument that he is the most electable candidate on the Republican side.

"I am as conservative as anyone else in this race," he said this week in Elko. "But I am a conservative who will win this race."

At a rally in Minneapolis on Tuesday, he warned the crowd against "nominating someone just to make a point ... because they seem angrier than everybody else."

"We're all angry, we're all frustrated," Rubio said.

Super Tuesday
Cruz, who is now pinning his hopes on the Southern states that will dominate the upcoming Super Tuesday contest, has attempted to cobble together a coalition of evangelical and libertarian voters, but has faced a string of losses since his win in the Iowa caucuses.

In his speech Tuesday night, Cruz focused on Rubio's loss to Trump rather than his own disappointing finish.

The results, he said, showed that "the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump and the only campaign that can beat Donald Trump is this campaign."

"If you are one of the 65% of Republicans across this country who doesn't think Donald is the best candidate to go head-to-head with Hillary, who believes we do better in elections when we actually nominate a conservative, then the first four states have performed a vital function of narrowing this race and presenting a clear choice," the Texas senator said in his speech in Nevada Tuesday night.

Earlier in the day -- in a reflection of the fact that the time left to overtake Trump is running short -- Cruz unleashed some of his sharpest attacks on Trump yet, questioning his credentials as a conservative.

"Part of the reason someone vacillates from position to position to position is they're not starting from a core set of principles and beliefs," Cruz said.

Trump, in turn, had ridiculed Cruz -- though he laid off those attacks in his victory speech Tuesday night.

"I've met much tougher people than Ted Cruz," Trump said in his parting shot at Cruz during a rally in Sparks, Nevada before the caucuses. "He is like a little baby compared to some of the people I have to deal with. He is like a little baby: soft, weak, little baby by comparison."

It was unclear exactly what the GOP turnout would be in Nevada, but anecdotal reports from caucus sites around the state suggested that it was much higher than officials had expected -- due in part to the supporters turning out for Trump.

That led to chaos, confusion and long lines at some caucus states early in the night. Some caucus sites ran out of ballots and several GOP operatives said that volunteers were not adequately trained on caucus rules, leading to reports of violations.

As the caucuses were underway, the Nevada GOP tweeted that no official complaints had been filed, despite reports of violations on Twitter.

In 2012, only 33,000 of the state's 400,000 GOP voters turned out to caucus -- a mere 7%. So Cruz and Rubio had hoped to win by organizing early, snapping up talented operatives and key endorsements, while beginning caucus trainings last fall in the hopes that a strong organization could overcome Trump's momentum.

But Trump steamrolled through all of that, capturing the excitement and buzz in the race with his visits here.

In interviews with dozens of Republican voters across the state over the last week, many said without hesitation that they were standing firmly with Trump and had given little thought to the other Republican candidates.

There was evidence of the firmness of Trump's support in the entrance polls. Almost 70% of Nevada Republican caucus attendees said they made up their mind more than a week ago, while roughly 30% said they decided which candidate to pick in the last week. CNN's Betsy Klein, Lauren Selsky, Gabe Ramirez, Gregory Wallace, Colin McCullough and Teddy Schleifer contributed to this report.

On the Dem side, there were two town hall's done yesterday with both Bernie sanders and with Hillary Clinton where Sanders says the regarding him releasing the transcripts of all paid Wall Street speeches, 'There ain't none'! At CNN's Democratic town hall in South Carolina., Sen. Bernie Sanders says he's happy to release the transcripts to his paid speeches to Wall Street because there aren't any.

In those town hall's, Clinton, Sanders make pitch to minority voters. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders confronted issues of race Tuesday at a CNN town hall four days ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary in which African-American voters will play a crucial role.

Sanders accused Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and others of fomenting a "racist effort" to delegitimize President Barack Obama. Sanders portrayed the "birther" controversy that Trump pushed during Obama's first term as part of a Republican strategy to thwart his presidency, based on the mantra "obstruct, obstruct, obstruct."

"We have been dealing in the last seven years with an unprecedented level of obstructionism against President Obama," Sanders said.

Sanders has been criticized by Clinton in recent debates and town halls for not being sufficiently supportive of the President, who remains popular among many Democrats, especially African-Americans. Sanders is under pressure to improve his standing among minorities before South Carolina's primary and the string of Southern contests that follow on March 1, which could tilt the momentum of the Democratic White House race toward Clinton.

The forum highlighted the very different tone Clinton and Sanders take to address race. Sanders called for reforms in the criminal justice system and promised to hike funding for historically black colleges and universities if he is elected president.

Clinton responded in more personal terms, saying that white people should be honest and recognize "that our experiences may not equip us to understand what a lot of our African-American fellow citizens go through every single day."

She said there were real racial barriers that "we need to be honest about." Clinton asked a group of African-American women in the audience who had lost children to police action and random gun violence to stand and be recognized.

"We have serious challenges and I think it is important for people, and particularly for white people, to be honest about those," Clinton said. "Otherwise, we are never going to be the nation we should be, we are never going to overcome our legacy."

Clinton is counting on a strong showing in Southern states likely to showcase her dominance among African-American voters, putting the onus on Sanders to try to broaden his support or face falling behind. The Vermont senator clearly appreciates the urgency and is taking an increasingly tough line against the former secretary of state.

He opened the town hall by reiterating his call for Clinton to release transcripts of paid speeches that she made to Wall Street banks after she left the State Department.

"I am happy to release all of my paid speeches to Wall Street -- here it is," Sanders said, with a wave of his hands. "There ain't none."

Clinton, who appeared on stage after Sanders, sidestepped questions about the senator's call for her to release her speeches.

"If everybody does it, and that includes the Republicans -- because we know they have made a lot of speeches," Clinton said.

She said the real issue was about who had the best plan to crack down on Wall Street.

The town hall came on the same day that a federal judge paved the way for possible future subpoenas by the State Department against Clinton and her longtime aide Huma Abedin to obtain personal emails.

Clinton told her supporters that they had nothing to fear from the controversy, which she said was part of a long succession of episodes that turned out to be nothing.

"I am well aware of the drip, drip, drip. I have been in the public arena for 25 years," she said. "The facts are that every single time somebody has hurled these charges against me, which they have done, it has proved to be nothing."

Clinton has spent weeks struggling with how to respond to her rival's self-proclaimed grass-roots "revolution." She has adopted a more populist tone of late, seeking to shrug off claims by Sanders that her reliance on big money donors means she is a typical product of the political class in thrall to what he says is a "corrupt" campaign finance system.

"I want to knock down all the barriers that are holding people back," Clinton said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, striking a message that is aimed at minority voters and members of the struggling middle class alike.

"We have spent a lot of time talking with voters in the last week about the barriers they felt did impede their getting ahead," said Clinton, who has been portraying Sanders as a single-issue candidate -- implicitly arguing that while his anti-Wall Street rhetoric might be popular, it cannot alone be the basis for an entire presidency.

In an unusually self-reflective moment, Sanders described the revelations and the personal burdens he has experienced since his presidential campaign. Sanders paid tribute to "wonderful people" he has met on the trail and told of how some said he had rekindled their interest in politics and democracy.

"If I let those people down who have faith in me -- that's a scary thing when so many people have faith in you and believe you can do something," Sanders said. "It scares me very much. If I ever let those people down, it would be a terrible, terrible thing."

What to know about Super Tuesday, the biggest test of 2016 yet.

With the first presidential nominating contests now in the books, the focus of the race is jumping ahead to the biggest prize so far of the 2016 primary season: Super Tuesday.

More than a dozen states and territories will hold primaries and caucuses on March 1, following the Nevada Republican contest tonight and the South Carolina Democratic contest on Saturday. About half of the delegates needed for a Republican candidate to win the nomination are up for grabs and will be awarded proportionally, along with about a third for Democrats.

That means that strong performances by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Tuesday -- also called the S.E.C. primary because of the southern swath of states that will vote -- could help them clinch the nominations by mid-March.

More from Bloomberg.com: Jesse Jackson to S.C. Churchgoers: 'If You Voted Yesterday, You Need a Real Prayer'

Many of these states have not been polled regularly in recent weeks, and poll averages -- or the race itself -- could change significantly. For now, here's a breakdown of the standings and dynamics.

Alabama
Democrats (60 delegates, 53 pledged, according to Ballotpedia): In the 2008 primary, Clinton lost by 14 points to Barack Obama, and a big reason was African-Americans, who made up 51 percent of the electorate. Running this year against Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Clinton has displayed more strength with black voters, winning the group by almost 4-to-1 in Feb. 20's Nevada caucuses, according to entrance polls. Only two polls for the race between Sanders and Clinton have been conducted this year, and each gives her a sizable advantage, according to RealClearPolitics, the polling aggregation site.

More from Bloomberg.com: Four Problems With the 'Winnowing' Theory of Trump's Downfall

Republicans (50 delegates, 47 bound): These Republicans tend to be white, conservative, and evangelical. Trump, who held one of his earliest stadium-sized rallies in the state in August with an eye toward the contest, leads by more than 20 points in the RCP aggregation. Alabama Republicans backed former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in 2012 by a margin of 5 percentage points over Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker from neighboring Georgia, who also had a strong conservative following. Mitt Romney, the eventual nominee, finished in third place.

Alaska
Republicans (28 delegates, 25 bound): Though reliably Republican in presidential races, Alaska is among the least religious U.S. states, with just 62 percent of the population identifying as Christian. The state is dependent on a single industry -- oil and gas production -- that has declined with the drop in global oil prices, stoking economic anxiety in the state. Its former governor, Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, endorsed Trump, but her views are sometimes controversial in her home state. An Alaska Dispatch poll conducted in January showed Trump leading Cruz by 4 percentage points. Democrats hold their caucuses later.

More from Bloomberg.com: Trump, Rivals Campaign Ahead of Nevada Caucuses Tuesday

American Samoa
Democrats (10 delegates, 6 pledged): Clinton defeated Obama on this tiny territorial island in 2008, 163 votes to 121, according to the New York Times.

Republicans (9 delegates): American Samoa, where Romney won in 2012, is one of several states and territories that won't award delegates based on primary or caucus votes, though some of them will hold local events to start the nomination process during the month of March. The others are Colorado (Santorum), North Dakota (Santorum), Wyoming (Romney), and Guam (Romney). The delegates from these states and territories are unbound, meaning they can ignore the popular vote and support any candidate.

Arkansas
Democrats (37 delegates, 32 pledged): Clinton, who was Arkansas's first lady for nearly 12 years, has deep ties to the moderate Democratic voters in the state, where she beat Obama by 43 points in 2008. In the RCP average, she leads Sanders by more than 28 points.

Republicans (40 delegates, 37 bound): This Southern state is another bastion of social conservatives, with a law on the books that would outlaw abortion immediately if Roe v. Wade were overturned. In 2012, the state's Republican primary was held on May 22, by which time Santorum and Gingrich had dropped out, making Romney the winner with more than two-thirds of the vote. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won strong evangelical support in his 2008 presidential campaign, ran again this year, but dropped out after the Iowa caucuses. He appeared at a campaign event with Trump before withdrawing, but Huckabee has not endorsed a candidate. A Talk Business/Hendrix College poll conducted this month showed Ted Cruz leading Trump by 4 percentage points.

Colorado
Democrats (79 delegates, 66 pledged): The dynamics in this purple caucus state are some of the more challenging to discern, said Ken Goldstein, a University of San Francisco political science professor and Bloomberg Politics contributor. Sanders and Clinton will vie for the support of the state's Hispanic residents, who make up about one fifth of the population. Obama handily won the caucuses in 2008.

Georgia
Democrats (116 delegates, 102 pledged): As in many neighboring states, a large percentage of Georgia Democrats are black, and Clinton's success among African-Americans in Nevada -- along with an expected good performance in South Carolina -- suggests a decisive lead among the demographic, buoying her as long as she doesn't lose too many whites to Sanders, according to Goldstein. Clinton already has an advantage of 43 points there, according to the latest RCP average.

Republicans (76 delegates): Georgia Republicans backed native son Gingrich in 2012 by a nearly 2-to-1 margin over Romney. The RCP average of polls conducted this year shows Trump leading Cruz by 11 percentage points. Trump won the primary in neighboring South Carolina decisively. Southern Baptists are the largest religious denomination, and the state Senate in 2009 passed a bill to nullify federal laws deemed unconstitutional, even though the Supreme Court has ruled that states can't usurp that authority.

Massachusetts
Democrats (116 delegates, 91 pledged): Massachusetts borders Sanders's home state of Vermont and has typically voted for progressive Democrats. Although Clinton beat Obama there by 15 points in 2008, Sanders leads it by about 4 points in the one poll from this year, according to RCP.

Republicans (42 delegates, 39 bound): Romney's home state favored its former governor by nearly 60 percentage points over Santorum in 2012. One of the most liberal states in the country, Massachusetts favors Republican candidates with more moderate, pro-business pedigrees like Romney and Scott Brown, who represented the state in the Senate for three years. Catholics make up the the largest segment of the state's Christian population, which might benefit Rubio, the only Catholic candidate remaining in the race. Still, Trump carried neighboring New Hampshire and overwhelmingly led in a recent Emerson poll.

Minnesota
Democrats (93 delegates, 77 pledged): The state has not been polled since before February, and it's a caucus state, meaning it may be hard to predict a winner. Sanders may do well, considering the almost exclusively white population and his potential to replicate his success among that demographic in New Hampshire. He appears weaker among whites in the Nevada results and the South Carolina projections, however, Goldstein noted. And Clinton has the support of the state's governor and both U.S. senators.

Republicans (38 delegates, 35 bound): Another of the more liberal states to vote on Super Tuesday, Minnesota nonetheless has produced conservatives like former Representative Michele Bachmann, who ran for president in 2012. Minnesota Republicans backed Santorum four years ago by 18 percentage points over second-place finisher Ron Paul, who courted libertarians. A Star-Tribune/Mason Dixon poll conducted last month showed Rubio leading Trump by 5 percentage points.

Oklahoma
Democrats (42 delegates, 38 pledged): Clinton has a 14-point advantage in the latest RCP average, and she won the largely white state by 24 points in 2008, when she tended to best Obama among white voters. But don't count Sanders out yet, Goldstein said.

Republicans (43 delegates, 40 bound): One of the nation's most deeply red states, Oklahoma has a strong social conservative streak. It is the home of Oral Roberts University and an evangelical population that ranks along with Arkansas' as the nation's highest. Republicans in Oklahoma backed Santorum by 6 percentage points over Romney in 2012. Trump led Cruz by more than 7 percentage points in the RCP average of polls conducted this year.

Tennessee
Democrats (76 delegates, 67 pledged): Although it has a smaller African-American share of the population than Alabama or Georgia, blacks still represented almost 30 percent of the Democratic primary electorate in 2008, and Clinton has a nearly 40-point lead here, according to the latest RCP average. She won Tennessee by 14 points in 2008.

Republicans (58 delegates, 55 bound): Another deeply religious state, Tennessee favored Santorum over Romney by 9 percentage points in 2012. Three-quarters of 2012 primary voters were born-again Christians, and the state favored social conservatives including Huckabee in past contests. A Vanderbilt University poll of registered Republican voters conducted in November showed Trump ahead by 4 percentage points.

Texas
Democrats: The Lone Star State is the biggest single prize on Super Tuesday, awarding 252 delegates (222 pledged). It may also be the scene of another battle for Hispanic voters, who were 32 percent of the electorate in 2008. As of now, Clinton seems to have the advantage with a more than 20-point lead in the latest RCP average. Texas gave Clinton a victory by a four-point margin in 2008.

Republicans: Texas will award 155 Republican delegates (152 bound), making it the party's most important Super Tuesday state. Cruz, elected in 2012 to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, has a built-in advantage and endorsements from many state officials, including former Governor Rick Perry. Cruz led Trump by more than 9 percentage points in the RCP average.

Vermont
Democrats (26 delegates, 16 pledged): Sanders's home state gives him a whopping 75-point poll lead, according to RCP. In terms of demographics, it also resembles New Hampshire, which handed him a large margin of victory in its Feb. 9 primary. Clinton lost the state to Obama by 20 points in 2008.

Republicans (16 delegates): One of the nation's most liberal states, Vermont Republicans are, relatively speaking, cut from a moderate, Northeastern cloth. Romney won Vermont's 2012 Republican primary by 14 percentage points over Paul, with Santorum in third place. Neighboring New Hampshire favored Trump in its primary.

Virginia
Democrats (110 delegates, 95 pledged): Although Clinton lost the state by nearly 30 points to Obama in 2008, her longtime friend and ally Terry McAuliffe is now its governor, and her campaign manager spearheaded McAuliffe's successful run. Clinton has made stops in Virginia, which includes the Washington, D.C., suburbs, where many Democratic establishment figures appear to favor Clinton over Sanders. She leads by 17 points in the latest RCP average. The state also has a sizable African-American population.

Republicans (49 delegates, 46 bound): Split between establishment-friendly suburbs of Washington and more southern, evangelical areas, Virginia is a swing state both in Republican contests and general elections. Romney won the state in 2012 over Paul, with other candidates failing to make the ballot after missing a deadline for submitting signatures. Trump has feuded with Republican Party leaders over their plan to require voters in the primary to affirm that they're Republicans even though Virginia voters do not register by party. Trump led Rubio by 6 percentage points in a Christopher Newport University poll conducted this month. 

Compiled by Ben Brody and James Nash with assistance from Andre Tartar.

And, in other news Obama asks for Congress cooperation to close down Gitmo detention camp. 
The GOP candidates jumped all over it which I had no clue the GOP wanted to keep it opened. Since when? Is it since President Blackenstein made the effort to speak about closing it even though it was part of his initial platform in 2008. And, even though it went untouched and not talked about for seven years? I was in awe watching Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump speaking so vehemently about 'loading up' Gitmo 'with bad dudes.'
On Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama submitted to Congress a plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Obama hopes to fulfill a campaign promise and one of his national security goals to shut the facility down.

In a press conference from the Roosevelt Room at the White House, the president urged cooperation from Congress and said that the prison wasted money, raised tensions with allies and fueled anti-American sentiments abroad.

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba currently holds 91 detainees, according to the closing plan submitted to Congress. To close the prison, President Obama proposed bringing 30-60 high-value detainees to domestic prisons, and sending the remaining abroad.

According to the plan, 13 potential sites have been examined for transferring the detainees. Military prisons such as Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and and Fort Charleston in South Carolina, as well as several civilian prisons in Colorado are among the prisons being considered to hold the detainees.

A one-time renovation to existing state or federal prisons will cost between $290 million and $475 million, but Pentagon estimates that this is still $65 million to $85 million less annually than keeping the detainees in Guantanamo. 

Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, the Virginia Republican who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, say the detainees should remain out of the U.S. for security reasons. Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, released a statement supporting the closing of the prison but detainees should be transferred to military prisons and not civilian prisons.

House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the plan, saying that Congress will continue to be against the plan to close down the Guantanamo detention center.

"Congress has left no room for confusion," Ryan said in a statement. "It is against the law — and it will stay against the law — to transfer terrorist detainees to American soil. We will not jeopardize our national security over a campaign promise."

The White House has refused to comment on whether President Obama would consider taking executive action to close the prison if negotiations with Congress fail.

In an USA Today article, the Senate GOP leaders say they won't meet with Obama's Supreme Court nomineeTop Senate Republicans said Tuesday that they will refuse to even meet with anyone that President Obama nominates to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

"I would not be inclined to take one (a meeting with the nominee) myself," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.

Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said "I don't see the point of going through the motions" since Senate leaders have no intention of holding a hearing or a vote on any nominee that Obama brings them.

Democrats were outraged.

"It's a sad day when the world's greatest deliberative body won't even deliberate," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "Republicans have a right to vote no. But for them to not even give the nominee a hearing...is beyond the pale."

The Senate has been cast into the turmoil of a presidential election season by Scalia's death, with Republicans saying they will not advance anyone Obama nominates and Democrats saying the GOP has been taken over by "extremists."

McConnell accused Obama of using the nomination to wield an "electoral cudgel" and declared that the Senate will not consent to Obama's choice, whomever that may be. The president is still considering possible nominees to replace Scalia, who died on Feb. 13.

"He (Obama) has every right to nominate someone," McConnell said Tuesday. "Even if doing so will inevitably plunge our nation into another bitter and avoidable struggle, that is his right. Even if he never expects that nominee to actually be confirmed but rather to wield as an electoral cudgel, that is his right."

McConnell said the Senate has the constitutional right to provide or withhold consent for the president's nominee.

"In this case, the Senate will withhold it," McConnell said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released a copy of a letter Tuesday from all of the panel's Republicans to McConnell saying that they do not intend to hold a hearing on any Obama nominee, let alone a vote.

"Because our decision is based on constitutional principle and born of a necessity to protect the will of the American people, this committee will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee until after our next president is sworn in on January 20, 2017," the letter states.

McConnell told reporters that he agrees that there should be no hearing.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said he was surprised by the "political crassness" of that approach.

"This impulsive rush to judgment runs completely contrary to how this body has always treated nominees to the highest court in the land," Leahy said. "Republicans should not allow the hyper-partisan rhetoric of the campaign trail to trump one of the Senate’s most important constitutional duties."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the debate "a pivotal moment for the Republican Party and this Republican Senate."

"The Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt is transforming before our eyes, abandoning its last vestiges of decency and rationality, and unconditionally surrendering its moral compass to Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz," Reid said.

Tuesday's debate injected the presidential race into the Senate debate to a much greater degree than on Monday, when senators argued largely over past precedents for filling a Supreme Court vacancy.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said that Senate Republican leaders are listening to Trump's advice to "delay, delay, delay" on filling Scalia's empty seat on the court.

In the Feb. 13 Republican debate in South Carolina, Trump said, "I think it’s up to Mitch McConnell and everybody to stop it. It’s called delay, delay, delay."

Durbin said Republicans have the right to vote against Obama's eventual nominee, but argued that they shouldn't "duck" the vote entirely.

"The American people want us to act," Durbin said. "The Senate can't afford to sit on its hands for one year and leave the Supreme Court hanging."

McConnell said he wishes Obama would let the next president choose Scalia's replacement.

"He can let the people decide and make this an actual legacy-building moment rather than just another campaign roadshow," McConnell said.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said McConnell's charge that Democrats are using the nomination as "an electoral cudgel" would be true only if Democrats were calling for Obama to appoint a well-known, outspoken liberal justice as a direct counterpoint to Scalia. He said he wants a moderate justice with strong legal qualifications, not an ideologue.

"(Scalia) was one of the most conservative justices in American history," Coons said. “I do not think president Obama should seek to replace him with a comparably outspoken progressive nominee. I don’t think this moment calls for that. I think this moment calls for balance and for challenging Republicans to put principle and our Constitution ahead of partisan advantage."

Justice Samuel Alito, speaking at Georgetown University Law Center on Tuesday, said it would be "a new experience" if the court has to continue with just eight justices for a year or more. He added that there is nothing in the Constitution that dictates how many justices there must be.

"We'll deal with it," Alito said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who serves on the Judiciary Committee, said she believes public pressure might convince Senate Republicans to rethink their refusal to consider Obama's nominee.

"I hope the public gets upset," she said. "Let America see who the president nominates. Let them see and hear the answers to questions (at a hearing)."

Feinstein said public outcry is the Democrats' only real hope to persuade Republicans to change their minds.

"That's the biggest tool of them all," she said. "It works." Contributing to the article here are Erin Kelly, Paul Singer and Richard Wolf.

Mika's exclusive interview with Melania Trump which is probably her (Melania) public interview ever. I have never ever seen her speak.

Wow. She is great. I am way impressed with Milania. I knew nothing about her till now. I really like her now. 

Now, if we can get the kids to stop trophy hunting, I would be a believer but I cannot back Trump because of how he stands with guns for the sake of it and for the sake of that 2nd Amendment which gets read in such a selective way. And, I cannot condone trophy hunting and I cannot back anyone that is affiliated with killing things for the sake of it. Besides, kill whatever you want like a real man. Kill it with your hands. Be fair. Killing something from a far is a pussy move. 

But I like Milnaia a lot now. I had no clue about her whatsoever until this interview. She is impressive to me.

Sunset Daily News & Sports
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24 February 2016
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