meantime, send you to washington. the lead with jake tapper starts now. >>> thanks, brooke. our long national nightmare is over. leo finally has his oscar. the lead starts now. >>> donald trump blaming his earpiece for refusal to condemn the klan, david duke, and white supremacist groups. they interrupt a trump rally. >>> the biggest day in the campaign, republican officials in washington in desperation mode trying to save the party as they know it. what will it mean to be a republican if super tuesday becomes trump tuesday? >>> plus. >> i made the worst mistake of my life. >> first on cnn, an american college student detained in north korea sobbing as he pleas for mercy. does he look like a spy working for the cia? pyongyang thinks so. >>> welcome to the lead. i am jake tapper. everything is on the line for republicans tomorrow, super tuesday. if the polls are to be believed, this time wednesday we will be talking about donald trump, the presumptive republican presidential nominee. instead of party leaders getting comfortable with the idea, they're in full panic mode becaus

i think there is a lot of hand ringing in washington. the reality is much of washington brought this on. people are very mad at the leadership. i think in both parties frankly. but trump has had the benefit of having such a crowded field, it's disburpersed a lot of the i think the angryist voices have gone towards him. as long as his field stays as large as it is, that i a benefit to trump. >> washington is a little irked some people aren't dropping to perhaps coalesce behind one. alex, to you, sir, great piece with maggie and jonathan in "the times." in your reporting, you mention senate majority leader mitch mcconnell laying out the plan that would have lawmakers break with trump in a general election? tell me about that. >> what they're envisioning now is a scenario where they're struck with trump and it becomes very clear maybe even before the convention in july that he's a nonstarter and he's going to lose badly. what that means is you have a number of vulnerable republican senators up for re-election who suddenly have to choose do

well, washington, d.c., may start doing just that. after murders in the nation's capital went up 54% last year, the city council recently voted for a crime bill that includes a provision to give money to those who are most likely to commit acts of violence. >> all those in favor of the amendment in the nature of a substitute, say aye. >> 200 people per year could receive payments in conjunction with mentorship and therapy. criticism of the proposal has been witherring, as you might imagine, and the bill is not certain to go through, but here is a really crazy part. another city has run a similar program for several years paying out tens of thousands of dollars, and it appears to be working. in 2007 the bay area city of richmond, california, was the ninth most dangerous city in the united states. things were so bad, the city officials thought about asking the national guard to be sent in. instead, they created the office of neighborhood safety, a new department, separate from law enforcement, that would focus on reaching out to the com

kathleen parker from "the washington post", jim warren from pointer, and molly hemingway, senior editor at the federalist. kathleen, is rubio trying to portray trump as a loser, something other candidates up until now have been maybe afraid to do? >> well, absolutely. and i'm delighted that e seems to have taken my advice because i wrote a column to that effect, but anyway, yes, basically what he's doing i think is going after trump. he's taunting him because the one thing a bully can't stand is to be taunted, and he's trying to get under trump's skin i think at a deeper level than anyone else has bothered to do previously and why not? trump has been throwing it at him pretty fiercely. he's returning the volley but he's also having a little bit of fun i think. it's a liberation moment for marco rubio who has been accused of being so robotic previously. it seems to be working too. trump cannot stand it and we'll see where it goes. we'll look forward to everyone getting back to being a little more presidential however. >> you think that will actually happen? >> will that actually happen?

in washington, d.c. on the campaign trail going into the final weekend before super tuesday. getting ready for round three. round one was the debate last night with rubio launching his first trump-style attack. today came a bunch of insults. >> a nervous basket case. here's a guy -- you ought to see him backstage. he was putting on makeup with a trowel. i don't want to say that. i will not say that he was trying to cover up his ears. >> what does donald do? he takes to twitter. i'll read some. you'll have fun. number one, here's the first one. lightweight marco rubio was working hard last night. this is true. the problem is, he is a "chocker." and once a "chocker" always a "choker" i guess is what he meant to spell. >> when they put marco on to refute president obama's speech, do you remember that catastrophe? and he's like this. and we will -- i need water. help me. >> next tweet, leet weight marco rubio looks like a little boy on stage. not presidential material. he meant to say lightweight but spelled it l-e-i-g-h-t. >> he's a choker and all of a sudden, he's being drained

>> i think it really comes down to the fact that washington has become so corrupt by the donor class and the special interest, and we need to fix it from the outside in instead of the inside. and donald trump is the only candidate in the race that isn't completely controlled by the washington to wall street axis of power. we need someone to go and shake things up and make significant changes. he's the only one that has the capability to do that. >> donald trump lives in a manhattan penthouse and doesn't like to spend the night outside of new york and he's not taking money from people outside of new york but he's as new york as it gets. ted cruz, of course, now famously said new york values to imp ply a lot of negative things about materialism and apply that to donald trump. you obviously don't think that is right. >> i don't. i think a lot of that is because he's been an executive. he's hired tens of thousands of american workers across the country. so he's been able to see how to create those jobs and the impact the decisions he makes has on their families. and the other guys on the

"washington post," i have to tell you, i have respect for jeff bezos but he bought "the washington post" to have political influence and i got to tell you, we have a different country then we used to have. he owns amazon. he wants political influence so that amazon will benefit from it. that's not right. and believe me, if i become president, oh, do they have problems. they're going to have such problems. one of the things i'm going to do, and this is only going to make it tougher for me, and i've never said this before, but one of the things i'm going to do if i win, and i hope we do and we're certainly leading. i'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and mohorrib and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. we're going to open up those libel laws. so when "the new york times" writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when the "washington post" which is there for other reasons writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they're totally protected. you see, with me, they're not prot

the voters are angry, they don't want a washington insider. they want somebody fighting for their jobs. they want somebody who's perhaps a little bit more protectionist and populist when it comes to trade. are you surprised or disappointed that senator cruz isn't adapting more to where the voters are? >> you know, he has a great message that i think now that the field has been winnow ed down will connect with people. let's talk about jobs and a lot of americans are concerned about jobs. ted cruz's message but also his solutions are far more effective because he understands that the biggest killer to jobs right now are all the heavy hand of regulation from the united states government. obamacare, the epa, dodd-frank, et cetera. ted cruz is the one who's able to bring all these things down very quickly once he's elected. that will stimulate gdp in the united states and get jobs growing again. >> white supremacist group is out with a robo call endorsing donald trump and telling voters, republican voters presumably that are being targeted not to v

also with us, todd gillman, the washington burreau chief for th dallas morning news. this back and forth over donald trump's taxes, where the main aggressor is one willard mitt romney, the 2012 republican nominee. i suppose there are two questions. you've been on the record with us saying you think at some point donald trump will be vetted more than he has in the past and this may be one of those areas that will take place in. be that as it may, is willard mitt romney the right messenger for this attack? >> it certainly does show he is the embodiment of the establishment. for him to compae out, i think it's unprecedented to come out like this. but where's his evidence? what does he know that we don't know? interesting to hear. >> impressive for the man who was the republican nominee. i should note that donald trump announced mitt romney four years ago and in case anyone forgets, mitt romney went hat in hand to trump towers to essentially beg for that endorsement. >> we will eventually see his tax return but we will not see him in march. >> all right, amanda carpenter,

in washington, d.c. 9:00 p.m. in baghdad, wherever you're watching from around the world. thanks for joining us. >>> up first, we're counting down to the last republican debate before super tuesday. it could also be the last chance for donald trump's rivals to try to slow his momentum towards the republican presidential nomination. the stage is set for this evening's showdown. you're looking right now at live pictures from inside the debate hall at the university of houston. donald trump will be front and center coming off three straight primary or caucus victories. he'll be flanked by senator marco rubio of florida, and senator ted cruz of this home state of texas. along with dr. ben carson and ohio governor, john kasich. on the campaign trail, rubio and cruz are already sharpening their attacks on the front runner. >> we can't be fooled by pt barnum. the time for the clowns and the acrobats and the dancing bears has passed. >> the front runner in this race, donald trump, is actually alluded to the fact he thinks parts of obamacare are pretty good. i can tell you, everybo

some tried and true jabs dealing with citizenship or dealing with whether or not people in texas or washington actually like ted cruz. did the same thing on twitter today. you'll note he'll go after ted cruz no matter what. the big question is not so much what donald trump does tomorrow night. it's what the other candidates do to him as you know quite well. the gop establishment is scrambling trying to figure out some way to stop this momentum that's gone forward. tonight will mark the first night and the last major opportunity on the public stage before super tuesday for those candidates to really go to work on trying to stop donald trump, anderson. >> phil mattingly, thanks. >>> now marco rubio out of state when the nevada results came in. pretty much went straight to bed as soon as the outcome was known. he held a campaign event here. jason carroll was there and joins us now. what's rubio's message after nevada because at some point if he wants to beat trump he actually has to beat trump. >> yeah. very true, anderson. his message post-nevada is the same message his campaign says before neva

he didn't go to washington and play the game like marco rubio did. let's be clear about that. when he went there, he made it very clear i'm going to go and stand up for tea party conser conservative values. they were not popular in the senate. he stood up for values. he's never flip-flopped on partial birth abortion like trump has done. why don't you use that same logic towards trump and rubio that you're using towards ted cruz? it's a double standard. >> we still fund obamacare and planned parenthood. we still have syrian refugee relocation. he's in the senate and he said he would stop it and he didn't. he is talking about things he would do. he's got zero to show for it. >> hogan, as a senator he said i will go and fight to repeal obamacare. that's what he did as a senator. as a senator, you know this. you can only fight for it. he didn't say he was going to go up there and be the president. he said he was going to be a senator and fight against it. that's a man who has character and fights for his word. more than rubio did. >> you built d coalitions to ge things accomplishe

so a life-threatening event moving into washington, baltimore, philadelphia. the storms will reach new york city a little bit later, but they should not have the severe elements such as isolated tornados. but still, some pretty damaging winds will be associated with these. >> tom, how long do you anticipate this tornado threat will last this evening? >> well, i think it's going to go on for at least a couple more hours. we could see this going into maybe 7:00. again, as it makes its way northward into the cooler air, i think we're going to lose the elements needed for the tornados, but the event continues back to the north. look at the great lakes getting buried. in fact several inches expected there. but as far as the tornados, again, from raleigh, d.c., baltimore up towards just south of new york, probably until 7:00, maybe 7:30, possibly 8:00 tonight. they're moving very fast, jake. >> all right. two fatalities already confirmed. tragic. tom sater, thank you so much. >>> it's the republican establishment's worst nightmare. donald trump looking as if he is t

one it's the anger and frustration at washington. and two the person you are seeing on tv that seems to be as mad as you are the most is donald trump. and that's the reason why he has continued the success. >> tara you want to get in there? >> i absolutely do. as a trump supporter, we have been called angry by the media. and i just did this same thing. it's not the fact that we walk around being angry people. it's not the fact that the fact we walk around being uneducated people. we are very educated and some of the smartest folks that i know didn't get a college degree. the fact of the matter is we finally have a voice. we have been a silent majority for so long in this country, donald trump is giving us a voice. we are not standing out in the street poppy, streaming at the top of our lungs that we're miss pissed off and we're not going to take it anymore. we are simply saying washington needs a choke hold on sit he have. -- on it set. et cetera a out of control. >> tara let me follow that up with this question for you. donald trump

we're going to get rid of common core which is basically education through washington, which is a disaster, by the way, and you understand that, and we'll get rid of obamacare. obamacare turned out to be a total disaster. >> donald trump is hoping to harness the momentum from his nevada win as the race heads straight into super tuesday. 11 states vote on that super day which has the other campaigns scrambling to find a path to stop trump's march for the republican nomination. let's go to phil mattingly following the trump campaign in virginia beach today. what did voters flare donald trump today? what was his message? >> kate, he's relentlessly on message. strength over and over again and repeating the length you just played there. he won't diverge to it. that's what they continue to reference, donald trump represents strength whether it's on national security, domestic issues or trade as he talks about regularly and i think the most interesting thing, kate, is as we've seen in the past three contests that's a message working and as we head into super tuesday where 25% of the available del

. >> you have a crony capitalist businessman that is supposed to change crony capitalism in washington? that doesn't make sense. >> we'll be back in a moment. hillary clinton's trust problem. one in five americans associate clinton with the word dishonest. plus we'll go live to column south carolina where a democratic town hall gets under way in less than 20 minutes. pro. its intelligent drive is msystems...ng. paradigm-shifting. its technology-filled cabin...jaw-dropping. its performance...breathtaking. its self-parking...and self-braking...show-stopping. the all-new glc. mercedes-benz resets the bar for the luxury suv. starting at $38,950. they speak louder. we like that. not just because we're doers. because we're changing. big things. small things. spur of the moment things. changes you'll notice. wherever you are in the world. sheraton. and choose world. choose, choose, choose. but at bedtime... ...why settle for this? enter sleep number and the ultimate sleep number event going on now. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. you like the

strong feeling among anyone but trump republican caucus, which is pretty large, especially here in washington, they need to start consolidating and doing it fast. but ben carson done seem to care very much. more importantly, john kasich doesn't. >> i blame donald trump, i do. first, brain dead comment from a brain surgeon to say something like this, african-americans have all kind of experiences, alicia keys, go through, ba, go through all kind of folks who have white parents, it's brain dead. ben carson has learned in order to get media attention you have to say something completely insane. he learned that from donald trump, insane comment, he got attention, congratulations. he needs to move on. >> speaking of donald trump. a tweet, he says ted cruz does not have the right temperament to be president. look at the way he panicked in firing his director of communications. bad! bad! >> trump says another bad thing about ted cruz, surprise. i'm amazed that donald trump was so upset, you know, that rick tyler passed on this false story which he apologized for and he's suffering consequences for.

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and it didn't come from washington. washington despised ronald reagan. by the way, every candidate says they're going to stand up to washington. you want to know who really will? just ask the simple question, who is washington attacking? but the reagan revolution came from the american people who rose up, and it turned this country around. why am i so optimistic? because the same thing is happening again. we're here today, election day, this whole crazy year of an election cycle, millions in attack ads and mud slung this way and that way and the other way. i don't like your face. [ laughter ] it's been a strange cycle. >> it has been a strange cycle. and you can guess what someone is going to say very soon. i don't like your face. ted cruz speaking there in fernley, nevada. he's making his final pitch before voters head to the caucuses this evening, and then he will be heading on to super tuesday. let's talk about that, if we can, as we look towards super tuesday. we are one week away from super tuesday. here is how it all lays out. 12 states will take p

they don't trust people in washington. and you need to overcome that, you need a track record. ted's track record goes back to when he was a teenager memorizing the constitution and making his way around texas teaching people about it through being the solicitor general, winning awards as the texas solicitor general that democrats supported him for what a good job he did defending the constitution. and then moving on to the senate and continuing that as the only consistent conservative in this race. >> if your candidate doesn't win texas, is that it for him? >> obviously, a home state is absolutely critical. we're not going to make any bones about that. you have to win your home state. really to have a viable path forward. and right now, with ted's popularity in texas, we see him heading to -- cruzing, in his case, to a victory. he's visited more time than any other candidate in the super tuesday states. we have more cash on hand than all the other campaigns combined. so we're prepared for that next week's worth of battles in all of these states as the race goes from one state

also cnn political commentator and washington correspondent for the new yorker, ryan lizza. this idea trump could be unstoppable based on not only momentum but math. how much stock do you put in there? >> a lot. we've been grading marco rubio on a curve since iowa, right? he has to consolidate the anti-trump vote and he has to consolidate the republican establishment around him and the donor class and do it basically yesterday. time is running out. in between now and super tuesday is likely to be another trump victory in nevada. bottom line as john pointed out. if you aren't winning, you aren't winning. the most important thing is if cruz can pick up florida and ohio, then he has a shot. then the momentum can change. it's going to be hard for him to pick up ohio if kasich is in the race. frankly, rubio's path is through john kasich. with kasich in the race, it's very, very hard to see how he catches trump. >> maggie, as long as -- to ryan's point, as long as kasich is in the race but also cruz is in the race. the vote is divided. >> the vote is divided although i've been ske

his focus instead is on fighting the washington cartel, breaking up washington as usual, getting the message to the american people that they want to hear, that they want someone who is consistent, who is a conservative that they can trust. that's the focus. rick is a phenomenal, wonderful person. he's apologized. marco rubio has accepted the apology. we're moving on. we're going to focus on the people of nevada and reviving our economy and making our military strong. >> you talk about trust. look, this is not the first time your campaign has come under fire for an ad or a posting as we all know. you were criticized for the ad showing marco rubio shaking hands with president obama. the rubio campaign accused you of photoshopping the ad. it was not a picture of marco rubio and president obama. it was remarkably similar to an image you can find online. should the leaders of the campaign be responsible for the candidate himself? >> look, as we said, he's taken action and we're moving forward. now is the time for us to focus on what the people of nevada are concerned with and it is about

brianna keilar joins me now in washington. sanders isn't even in south carolina today, he's in massachusetts where he hopes to score a victory a week from tomorrow. >> it's pretty revealing where the candidates are on the democratic side. hillary clinton is fund-raising in los angeles so maybe some confidence revealed there. but you see bernie sanders banking on some of these states that are whiter for sure. his team realistic about his chances in south carolina but he will have to broaden his support if he's going to win the democratic nomination so he has a lot of work to do to challenge hillary clinton from here on out. hillary clinton, stealing back some momentum after her victory in the nevada caucuses. >> i want to knock down all the barriers holding people back. we spent a lot of time talking with voters in the last week about the barriers they felt did impede their getting ahead. >> reporter: it's a message her campaign thinks is resonating with african-american voters in south carolina, which holds its primary saturda

he's represented conservative values in texas and washington, d.c. i think now especially with the passing of justice scalia, we need someone that understands our constitution, that supported our constitution, that doesn't have this record that liberals can point at and say, hey this doesn't jive with what you're saying now. we need someone who's going to stand by our principles and stand by what the republican party represents. and the good of conservativism. >> krystal heath, jeff dewit, thank you. >>> the five remaining republican candidates will meet head to head in the next gop debate this thursday in houston. wolf blitzer moderates the cnn gop presidential debate beginning at 8:30 thursday night only on cnn. >>> up next on this monday, the democrats turning their focus to south carolina. can bernie sanders slow down hillary clinton's momentum as they head into their first big test in the south? >>> plus, the uber driver accused of going on a killing spree in kalamazoo, michigan, is making his first court appearance. we're going to have a live r

here in washington, 10:00 p.m. in damascus, syria. from wherever you're joining us, thanks for joining us. we begin with the presidential race. the republicans hitting nevada, the democrats looking ahead to south carolina. three of the five remaining republican hopefuls are in nevada today. that's the short-term focus. long-term, it's the march 1st super tuesday primaries. meanwhile, on democrat's sides, hillary clinton and bernie sanders are getting ready for their battle in south carolina, and the next test of how african-american voters are going to break. we'll get to that a little bit later this hour. but first, let's check the pulse of the republican race for the white house right now, donald trump is riding high after his ten-point win in south carolina. with a stop in atlanta, he ticked off the groups that gave him the win. >> so we won with everything. we won with highly educated, pretty well educated, and poorly educated, but we won with everything. tall people, short people, fat people, skinny people! just won. >> florida s

"the washington post" join mess now. you want you to respond. he's been the subject of media coverage describing a cozy relationship with donald trump. he's been dismissing those criticisms. let's look at what he said about you on his show. >> "washington post" actually after our town hall meeting the other night when i eperred him with so many questions that i was attacked for interrupting too much actually said how dare they hold a town hall meeting where they don't ask him tough questions. e we asked tougher questions than our ket. tors ask who have the media writers and people have the audacity to ask if we're too close to donald trump. the answer is, no, we're not. >> he says he's been tough. you said he let him skate. >> i think that there is one of these it great situations where both sides can claim, look at this question, look at at that question. my point here is sort of a larger one. that is if you allow donald trump -- if youen gauge him only on social security, iraq, the issues and how he's going to unite the republican party, you'r

for more, go to cnn.com and read my washington post column this week. let's get started. >>> let's get right to the big stories from around the world with tom. tom, welcome. >> good to be with you. >> let me ask you first this bit of news about president obama going to cuba. he's already being hammered on the campaign trail by some trubs. is it a good idea or naive? >> that's a great idea. go down and engage with the people. show them the best of america, their economic model. whoever in your audience is afraid of cuba, please have them raise their hand. i'm not afraid of cuba. it's well past time that we ended our isolation of cuba. it's a lab test that utterly failed. the more we engage them, the more we'll enhance the move. >> is there any out here? >> i've been thinking about this issue. i've been quiet weary to get involved because i didn't see a path going forward and certainly deeply concerned about the hu n humanitarian dimension. syria has spilled out so many refugees they're destabilizing the states around like turkey, jordan, lebanon. at the

>>> i'm michael smerconish live from washington d.c. the outcome of the south carolina republican primary and caucus will be a presidential reset. if hillary clinton loses to bernie sanders in nevada, might it forshadow another collapse like in 2008? and he certainly is not expected to win, but how badly jeb bush loses could determine whether this is the end of the line in his campaign just another indication of what an unpredictable election this has already been. post of all, the republican who is projected to win today keeps confounding everything we thought we knew about politics after baiting the pope himself into a holy war. donald trump now called for a boycott of one of the most popular american corporations, apple. that's despite the fact as of yesterday, trump himself was still tweeting with his iphone. today is also the day of antonin scalia's funeral. i'll talk to a former clerk of scalia's that went on to argue some 80 cases before the supreme court. cnn will begin coverage at 10:00 a.m. >>> the tussle in the fbi's battle a

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cnn senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny is with us. traveling with the bernie sanders campaign in nevada. let's just get reaction first from the sanders camp. this is key. and sanders really needs the minority vote. >> there's no doubt about it, poppy. the sanders campaign would have been happy to have this endorsement. but they were not expecting it. jim clyburn is an esteemed member of congress which also puts him in the establishment cam and bernie sanders is running against the establishment so, you know, the advisers on the sanders campaign say look, they certainly respect the congressman, but they believe endorsements aren't what's driving this election. and they may be right, i mean, i remember so well in 2008 where james clyburn declined to get into this race at all. it created such internal fight in the clinton campaign. bill clinton called the morning after the south carolina primary, screaming at james clybu clyburn. he writes about it in his book that came out a couple years ago and said, you know, he accused him of tipping

here in washington, 8:00 p.m. in tripoli, libya, wherever you're watching, thanks for joining us. we're following two developing stories this hour. first, it's the race for the white house. republicans are spread out across south carolina as they try and reach undecided voters in tomorrow's primary. saturday is also caucus day in nebraska for democrats. we'll check in on the latest with the hillary clinton and bernie sanders campaigns out there. and in washington right now, people are streaming in to pay their last suspect respects to antonin scalia. he's lying in repose at the u.s. supreme court. these are live pictures you're seeing right now. president obama and the first lady, they're expected there some time later today. we're going to talk more about justice scalia's life and legacy, that's coming up later this hour. >>> meanwhile john kasich called the republican race a demolition derby, of course referring to the running battle between donald trump and ted cruz, between ted cruz and marco rubio, between donald trump and jeb bush. are they willing to keep up the pressure an

he has plans to fix the mess in washington, create new jobs, rising middle class incomes, and protect the american people from isis. >> what's the place that he has to have? i don't know you don't like it when you say you have to come in third or fourth, but these are real questions right now. for him to continue, he's got to do well here. >> we feel real well about south carolina. this is a commander and chief debate. this is the most military friendly state in the country. governor bush has been endorsed by lindsey graham. we think we have a great case to make that he is the best candidate on national security, which is the leading issue here in south carolina. >> what do you say, hogan? >> i don't disagree. he has an amazing resume. the conventional candidates are having a difficult time resonating because it is an unconventional year. it is almost like voters have put on blinders to all the things he just said. there's a lot of things governor bush has done toward conservative, but they're gravitating towards those who have no accomplishment. jeb bush has built a fire wall here. h

brianna keilar in las vegas, also marissa rosenberg, a culture columnist for "the washington post" and a supporter of clinton. bri, let me begin with you. inch nevada, a very different electorate. we saw how the polls changed in the past few months. what's she doing on the trail to get those votes? >> this is a more diverse state, mainly due to a sizable hispanic majority which hillary clinton does pretty well with. from the get-go, coming out here last spring, for her first campaign event in nevada, she focused very much on immigration. we're seeing that today with a new ad she's out with airing here in nevada. where she's talking about the fear of deportations. here's part of it. >> my parents, they have a letter of deportation. i'm scared for them because they might be deported. >> come here. [ applause ] i'm going to do everything i can so you don't have to be scared. >> that was an event that happened here in nevada last weekend. you also see bernie sanders trying to cut into hillary clinton's support with hispanic voters. talking about how he in favor of a pathway to citizenship

here in washington. 7:00 p.m. in rome. 8:00 p.m. in annikaa, turkey. sometimes volatile issues, politics and religion. pope francis wading into u.s. presidential politics, suggesting that donald trump's immigration plans are not those of a christian. the pope was taking questions from reporters on a flight to rome after his visit to the u.s./mexican border. he responded to trump's plan to build a wall along that border and trump's accusation of mexico using him as a political pawn. listen to this. >> translator: thank god, he said i was a politician. because aristotle defined the human person as that. at least i'm a person. as to whether i'm a pawn, well maybe. i don't know. i'll leave that up to your dutchmen and that of the people. and then a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be located, and not building bridges is not a christian. this is not in the gospel. as far as what you said about whether i would advise to vote or not vote, i am not going to get involved in that. i say only that this man is not a christian if he ha

now you ignore me down here in washington. >> that's not true at all. you know that's not true at all. >> are you calling me a liar? >> no, it's an untruth. >> an untruth. >> thank you so much. good to see you. >>> appear 'le is saying hackin terrorist cell phone could lead to all your secrets getting out. the battle could go all the way to the supreme court. >>> plus he's the guy who made so many rediscover the power of a smile. what did one worshipper do to make pope francis scowl like this? tired of working for peanuts? well what if i told you that peanuts can work for you? that's right. i'm talking full time delivery of 7 grams of protein and 6 essential nutrients. ever see a peanut take a day off? i don't think so. harness the hardworking power of the peanut. hey, i heard you guys dcan help med. with frog protection? sure, we help with fraud protection. if there are unauthorized purchases on your discover card, you're never held responsible. you are saying "frog protection"? fraud. frog. fraud! i think we're on the same page. at discover, we treat

that got frankly misquoted by "the washington times" and circulated. it was ultimately corrected. >> then that is -- that is my fault, i apologize. i apologize. i'm glad you corrected us. i do want your take on this before i let you go in the minute i have. the latest cnn/orc poll shows bernie sanders 65% to 28%. you've got hillary clinton 65% to bernie sanders 28% in south carolina among democratic primary goers. how do you turn that around? >> you know, there have been polls that have also shown that the gap is just 20 points. people are working very hard on the ground and quite frankly those polls tend to not count a lot of working people who for instance don't have land lines at home. you get a richer set of voters. so we'll see what happens. if people are organizing and you see folks switching every day. >> you definitely do. it's going to be an exciting one to watch as every state has been. ben jealous, please join us again. i wish we had more time. >> thank you. >> thank you for coming on. that will do it for us this hour. thanks for joining me

here in washington. 8:00 p.m. in acura, turkey. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. we begin with a very dramatic escalation in the battle for the race for the white house. ted cruz is now calling out donald trump over a threatened lawsuit. cruz saying trump's threat stems from a cruz tv ad. the ad uses comments trump made to nbc back in 1999 when he said, he was, quote, very pro choice. ted cruz's message to trump, sue me. >> donald's lawyer sent our campaign a cease and desist letter. and this letter, i will say, having practiced law for many, many years, this letter is one of the most remarkable letters i've ever read. mr. trump's lawyers contend that that advertisement you just saw is, quote, material -- is an attempt to materially mislead the public. and indeed provides more detail. he says that this attack ad, is what he calls it, is, quote, not only completely disingenuous, but replete with lies, false, defamatory and destructive statements and down right fabrications. mr. trump's

the establishment in your state is out to get me, the establishment in washington. donald trump is fighting the big voices people don't like especially grassroots republicans. he's fighting president obama, fighting the republican establishment. nikki haley is popular in the states. that might require a bit more calibration for mr. trump to let it go and focus on his voters sometimes he can't resist. >> gloria, to be clear, george w. bush is no longer on the trail for his brother, is he? >> reporter: no, i think it was a big showing and whether he'll come back out again, we don't know, but his mother is going to be out on the trail so it continues to be kind of a family thing. >> gloria, thank you, john king as well. >>> just ahead, republicans on the attack as the south carolina primary approaches. will the republicans get tougher? that's next. >>> on the democratic side, bernie sanders and hillary clinton vie for the crucial african-american vote. ut 9 out 0 americans... ...aren't getting enough important omega-3s. bayer pro ultra omega-3 can help, with two times

bush also vowed to change washington. but he's also putting the blame on republicans especially with this supreme court nomination. a question of will you give this nominee a hearing? that's going to put republicans on the defensive. but at the same time, don, i don't see the republicans caving. now, will the democrats say, well, the president won't sign spending bills unless you give him this nominee. that, will they raise the stakes to that degree? we'll see later this year, but i don't see republicans caving any time soon and i think republicans might say, listen, we might lose the senate over this, but this is more important to prevent obama from shifting this court. >> i appreciate all of you coming on tonight. gloria borger working hard in the field. all the guys, lazy in the studio sucking up the air-conditioning or the heat. gloria, thank you very much. >> come on down. it's fun. >> thank you, guys. see you soon. >>> when we come right back, hillary clinton on the trail in harlem. will african-american voters be t

the ran kor in washington has kept us from getting work done. we're going to find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind, somebody who cares deeply about our democracy, and cares about rule of law. any fair-minded person, even somebody who disagreed with my politics, would say, would serve with honor and integrity on the court. >> reporter: an interesting diverse group, a federal judge born in india, served in both the obama and bgss. worked on indications that supported gay marriage, but also big oil and mining companies. congress approved him to the federal bench unanimously two years ago. you can see how such choices could put republican opponents in a tough spot. and that may well be the strategy. choose a moderate that could spark a storm of criticism if republicans refuse to even take it up. or if a liberal choice helped rally democrats to get out and vote. today in a "washington post" op-ed, harry reid blasted republicans' vows to shut a nominee out. it will ensure the republican majority is remembered as the most nakedly partisan, obs

cnn senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny is in charleston, south carolina, where bernie sanders is speaking this very minute. jeff, sanders and clinton fighting a war on two fronts right now, south carolina where you are, and nevada. >> reporter: sure are, jake. both fronts are critical. south carolina is going to provide the first test for the clinton campaign to see if that southern fire wall will hold. bernie sanders is trying to break through the cracks, at least a little bit. >> hillary clinton and bernie sanders in fierce competition to win over black voters. >> for justice. >> reporter: as sanders' campaign in south carolina -- >> i'll be in -- as somebody who is elected president will help lead this country in the fight against institutional racism. >> reporter: clinton was in harlem, meeting with al sharpton and other leaders. she cast her bid for the presidency as another chance to break history in america. >> my campaign is about breaking every barrier. >> reporter: their eyes fixed on south carolina where next week's democratic primary will test the strength of clint

then of course she's transitioned to her time in washington in the 1990s, where she worked to create fundamentally the children's health insurance program which was a significant bridge between medicare in 1965 and the affordable care act. the chip program has helped many african-american families. even during her time as a united states senator from here in new york, she co-sponsored legislation to deal with racial profiling in the criminal justice system, sentencing reform. she helped to deal with the despaisparity -- >> you can keep going, it's an impressive resume. the thing is, i've been at these bernie sanders rallies. these young people, they don't care. they don't care. a lot of them like bernie sanders. a number of african-americans. although when you look at the polls, she seems to really have it in south carolina. specifically, looking ahead, what does she need to do to take sanders supporters and say no, i'm the one who has your back? >> first, i think the fact that bernie sanders has run such a robust campaign is good for the party and will make hillary clinton a stronge

ryan lizza is here to talk about this, he's a washington correspondent for the new yorker magazine. why is this campaign, all of the sudden, it was bad, but now it's really getting ugly. why has it turn odd ugly? >> one there's an assumption that in iowa and new hampshire, voters are gentle in those states, south carolina is used to rough and tumble, but then the second thing is those states usually went over the field a little bit more. it didn't happen. there's not -- we're not down to a two or three person race the way previous open republican fields have been at this point. and there's basically a death match to be the alternative to donald trump. look at all the polling, there's not much in south carolina, he has a third or more of the vote, and then two-thirds of the vote is divided up among the non-trump candidates. and so, if you're a non-trump candidate, you've got to decide, do i go after my closest competitor, whether he's in the establishment or conservative lane like ted cruz or trump himself? you just have the circular firing squad of all the candidates trying to conso

she joins us from washington. what are the latest details? >> reporter: we know justice scalia went to texas on friday for a hunting trip at a secluded rezorts. he had dinner on friday night. the ranch owner had been speaking to reporters and said scalia was entertaining and engaged throughout the dinner. around 9:00 p.m. he said he had a long week and wanted to get a good sleep. a separate source tells evan perez that scalia said he wasn't feeling well on friday. the next day the range owner checked on scalia because he didn't show up for breakfast and lunch and found him in bed lying in repose. the sheets weren't wrinkled, no signs of foul play. it appears he died in his sleep of natural causes and the family has reportedly requested for him not to have an autopsy. >> in terms of political fallout, a fight brewing over the successor between the white house and republicans. any timetable as to how it could play out? >> likely it will be within the next month we'll hear about a nomination based on previous nominations coming from president ob

every single time there's been an opening in the supreme court since washington the president has put forward someone to fill that seat. these are people who love the constitution. if the framers of the constitution wanted for the last year in the president for the president to be -- i'm a lame duck, i cannot nominate someone, it would be in the constitution. it's not in the constitution because we have one president at a time and that president has to do his or her job until the very last day. so the reality is this is the only president in the history of the republic that's being asked to wait. the longest it's ever taken is 120 days. they want this president to sit on his hands 340 days and refuse to fill a vacancy on the highest court in the land. it's ludicrous. he should do his job. they should do their job. >> nobody is saying the president can't submit a name and make a nomination. in fact, he's more than welcome to do any of that. they're saying he or she is not going to be confirmed as has been the case for the last 80 years. >> josh, aren't you playing a really scary roulet

it's not going to do anything to solve the problems we have in washington, d.c., fixing broken systems. jeb bush plans to do all that. i think there's a real contrast you're going to see between jeb bush in south carolina and trump and the other candidates. the man who's ready to be commander in chief. i mean, you know, trump seems to have become the republican michael moore and i'm not sure that's going to play well in being is is being when we have a significant veterans population. people are really looking closely to see who can sit behind the desk in the oval office and fix the problems that face us. and the reason jeb bush is such a credible candidate is because he has done it in florida. that's why his record's important. that's why experience is important. you can make a lot of promises but you've got to be able to achieve things. and he's got not only the panels to fix these problems and really break apart these industrial age -- >> back on president obabush, w we see him tonight, does he directly address these attacks being thrown out over and over from mr. trump? >> well, if