Chuck Todd: Donald Trump ‘Getting into the Heads of His Opponents’

TODD: “On the Republican side, another shock. Look at this. Donald Trump leads. That's not surprising at 23%. But almost out of nowhere, here comes Ben Carson with 18%. And ready for this, nobody else is in double digits. Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, all in single digits. And by the way, anybody I haven't named? Less than 5%.
And one more note on this poll. If you add up the first and second choices on the Republican side, Ben Carson and Donald Trump are actually tied. Ben Carson, the highest favorable rating among Republicans. But of course it is Donald Trump that is dictating things. And him being on top is not the surprise this morning.
He's been dominating all the polls in every state, the media. And it turns out he's getting into the heads of his opponents, as well. We put together some examples of how, just in the past few weeks, when Trump talks, the other Republicans feel forced to respond.”
[clip starts]
TRUMP: “Make America great again. (CHEERING) Make America great again.”
WALKER: “It's not too late for America. With your help, we can make this country great again.”
RUBIO: “The issue's not that America isn't great. The issue's that America can be even greater.”
TRUMP: “We'll call it the great wall of Trump.”
WALKER: “Secure the border, which means build the wall, have the technology, have the personnel to make sure it's safe and secure.”
BUSH: “It is not feasible to build a wall as the sole solution.”
TRUMP: “I'll use the word "anchor baby."
REPORTER: “Do you regret using the term "anchor babies," yesterday on the radio?”
BUSH: “No, I didn't.” (OVERTALK)
BUSH: “I don't, I don't regret it.”
REPORTER: “You don't regret it?”
JEB BUSH: “No. Do you have a better term?”
RUBIO: “Those are human beings. And it's ultimately-- they're people. They're not just statistics.”
TRUMP: “You know, Rand Paul, you have to understand, is a disaster in the pools. He's a disaster on military and defense. He's getting decimated by everybody.”
PAUL: “I think people are going to have to decide whether they want someone who can say, "Oh she's fat. Yeah, and I'm so good looking. Or she's stupid, or I'm rich, and I'm smart because I'm rich."
TRUMP: “And has anyone ever heard of Lindsey Graham?” (Laughter)

GRAHAM: “If he becomes the nominee, we'll get killed. Come to South Carolina and I'll beat his brains out.”

TRUMP: “I think Jeb is a nice person. He's very low energy. I'm not used to that kind of a person.” (Laughter)
BUSH: “We need leadership in Washington D.C.. (Cheering) High energy leadership.”
[clip ends]