voters are rejecting washington and specifics. they want donald trump to capture their anger, speak to them, purvey strength. when he gets in the white house, you're going to see a very successful country. >> thanks very much. thanks very much for watching. i'm anderson cooper. you've been watching "the situation room." coverage continues right now with "erin burnett outfront." i'll see you back in an hour. >>> good evening. i'm erin burnett. welcome to a very special edition "outfront." we are live from houston, texas. the five republican candidates for president are about to take the stage behind me in a crucial faceoff. this is the final debate before super tuesday when 12 states will vote and everything is on the line to want. center stage the frontrunner, donald trump. he'll be standing there. he has won three states in a row. in the lead by 65 delegates. ready to take him on his left and his right, the men running out of time to stop him. ted cruz is the only man so far to beat trump, but he's 0 for 3 after his iowa win and

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

and then for yesterday, virginia all the way up almost to washington, d.c. it was very close, as storms were very close to your southern part of your viewing area, northern virginia. we get tornadoes all of the time. there is a tornado in america every month all of the time. in fact, we should have 29 in february on an average february. and it's not unusual to get big outbreaks, either. super tuesday, 2008, we had 86 tornadoes on the ground and 57 people died. that was in a february. how did it happen? you need a big jet stream and we had one. you need warm air heading up the east coast. we had that. and you had cold air coming back down, pushing that warm air aloft. it's like pushing a hot air balloon up into the sky. severe weather here on tuesday, severe weather here on wednesday, thursday finally moving offshore. this severe weather will be well out to sea today. we won't have to deal with it on land, but we will have to deal with much colder air. the wind is blowing everywhere. the airports are slow and it's cold outside when you walk out there. it feel

let's talk about that with a trump supporter and also with commentator for the washington examiner. thanks for being here, both of you. jason, why has mitt romney injected himself into this campaign? >> well, why not? he's concerned about his party, and the way that it's going. clearly not the direction that mitt romney wants this party to be going in. everything else has been tried against donald trump so far. why not come out and say that he should release his tax returns. maybe there is a bomb shell in there. he had the event in iowa. he skipped the debate and had an event in iowa. there's no evidence that he donated that money. why not try to get involved? >> we did talk to one very small veteran's group that did accept a donation from donald trump on that day. but they're smaller veterans groups across the country, not the big larger ones. i wanted to throw that out in fairness. why not just release -- why doesn't donald trump just release his tax returns and be done with it? if he has nothing to hide, what's the big deal? >> because donald trump is bucking the political rules.

i know folks on the republican side and non republicans are very frustrated with washington and they like in donald trump somebody that is willing to break some china. but i also think we have to maintain a certain level of decorum. and this is the leader of the free world. and someone we want our dhirn to grow up to emulate and i think that kind of attack, which you see very frequently doesn't happen the process. >> we'll be looking forward to watching the debate tonight. thanks so much. >> thanks a lot. >> unraveling one of the biggest scams in history. a cnn money investigation you need to hear about. that's next. .. (radio chatter continues in background) that's all there is. there's just one direction. forward. one time... now. and there's just one sound. you and us... together... with a mighty roar... that tells the world... we're coming for you. (vo) whewe ate anything.ake home until i decided we both needed to eat better. now jake gets purina cat chow naturals indoor a nutritious formula for indoor cats with no artificial flavors. it helps to control hairballs and maintain a

let's turn to political reporter tom lobianco in washington. tom, a lot of people have all of a sudden started to talk about this. this is almost as if there is a coordinated discussion coming up from the establishment world talking about donald trump and his taxes. it is not just the establishment. ted cruz was only too happy to speculate that donald trump should release his taxes soon and why he might not be. >> a lot of people speculate that he hasn't made as much money as he said. who knows? he doesn't release his tax returns. i do think mitt has a good point that the voters are entitled to know before they vote. because you better believe the democrats will go to town on this. >> on so this plagued mitt romney four years ago. do you think this is an issue that will cause donald trump over time or even now before super tuesday. >> it is interesting they are doing this now. for the establishment, the republican establishment, it's almost a rare guaranteed win for them bringing this up. if he doesn't release them, that looks good. the specula

he has defined what he thinks is the wrong approach by washington and then he's offered what he believes is a rather simple remedies. that is something that's really resonating right now. >> but a lot of people in the beginning didn't believe that he could do it. >> that all of these people misjudged the pundits pm they misjudged the anger of the american people. >> they really shouldn't have because the three people who are the frontrunners right now, marco rubio in 2010, ted cruz in 2012 and donald trump in 2015. what do they have in common? they're the outsiders. and they have close to 60 and 70% in some places. and marco rubio now wears the establishment proudly. and the idea you can beat trump from the left, senator rubio himself was asked tell us which state you'll win and he said i'll win florida on march 15th. ladies and gentlemen, by march 15th, 50% of the delegates will have voted. he's skipping the first four contests 0-4, he's not going to win anything on super tuesday, according to mr. rub io himself and he may win florida. i think cruz has a much better chance of winning te

he's a polarizing figure in washington and capitol hill. can he win the hearts and minds of the texas voters. we'll take you to a diner in dallas to find out what people there are saying. >>> deadly tornadoes strike the southeastern united states. the latest on whether the powerful storm system is hitting as we come to you live from the university of houston where the cnn debate is tomorrow night. think of it as a seven seat theater... for an action packed thriller. being hacked and intellectual property being stolen. that is cyber-crime and it affects each and every one of us. microsoft created the digital crimes unit to fight cyber-crime. we use the microsoft cloud to visualize information so we can track down the criminals. when it comes to the cloud, trust and security are paramount. we're building what we learn back into the cloud to make people and organizations safer. one day a rider made a decision. the decision to ride on and save money. he decided to save money by switching his motorcycle insurance to geico. there's no shame in sa

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

and there's a lot of frustration about the idea that washington is not listening to people and their every dave concerns. donald trump's candidacy for many of these voters has become a vehicle for those frustrations. and he has talked about it, whether it's been about the economy, whether it's been about immigration, whether it's national security. he has not offered real substantive positions, but instead he has offered clarity. he has defined what he thinks is the wrong approach by washington and offered really simple recommend dips. >> a lot of people in the beginning didn't believe he could it it, that he to have more substance, that the people in the republican party misjudged the anger of the people. >> and they really shouldn't have. >> absolutely. >> go ahead, kellyanne. >> they really shouldn't have because the three people who are the front-runners, marco rubio in 2010, ted cruz in 2012 and donald trump in 2015, what do they all have in common? they were the outsiders challenging the establishment. so cruz and trump are still doing that as the outsiders and they have a coal

he's a polarizing figure in washington and capitol hill. can he win the hearts and minds of the texas voters. we'll take you to a diner in dallas to find out what people there are saying. >>> deadly tornadoes strike the southeastern united states. the latest on whether the powerful storm system is hitting as we come to you live from the university of houston where the cnn debate is tomorrow night. f. he's agreed to give it up. ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so... more pills. yep... another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? for my pain... i want my aleve. get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. if you have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's, and your symptoms have left you with the same view, it may be time for a different perspective. if other treatments haven't worked well enough, ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc

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

i learned that my ten times great grandmother is george washington's aunt. within a few days i went from knowing almost nothing to holy crow, i'm related to george washington. this is my cousin george. discover your story. start searching for free now at ancestry.com carry the centimeter, divide by 3.14 something something something... [ beeping, whirring ] great caesar salad! ♪ and now the name your price tool shows people policy options to help fit their budget. is that a true story? yeah! people really do save an average of over $500 when they switch. i mean about you inventing it. i invented the story, and isn't that what really matters? so... what else about me? >>> all right, you're looking at live pictures of hillary clinton working the room there in south carolina. you know, we're just three days away now from the democratic primary there in the palmetto state. hillary clinton has a substantial lead in the polls. she's hoping that a big victory there is going to be a sign of good things to come as several more southern states prepare to vote next w

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

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. >> cnn washington correspondent, joe johns. i think i heard your voice in that room, joe. what was he doing the morning after the cnn town hall? >> reporter: well, for one thing i think he was just making his appearance felt here in south carolina. there has been this running narrative in the pall meadow state that bernie sanders has been writing off south carolina because hillary clinton has such a big lead in the polls and that has been sort of spurred by her strong support in the african american community. sanders, this morning saying he has not been writing off south carolina but also tipping his hat to the idea that he might have to worry about doing better in some other states. listen. >> we came to south carolina and if you look at the polls we were like 7, 8, 9% in the ebolapolls. we were 60/70 points behind. we have picked up a lot of support and closed the gap very significantly. but this from day one was going to be a very difficult state for us. we're not writing off south carolina. >> so, if you look at his schedule, it tells a slightly different story. after

the washington post said he was moral poison. it's over the top commentary about him and i think it's kind of antithetical to what their purpose is. this feeds into his narrative that everybody is against him and he can play with that in these kind of strong stringent statements against him being made by editorial boards. >> maybe you're on to something there, bill. because trump supporters and i'll pose this question to you, john. they hate the media. you only have to look at what happened to katy tur from net net news. quote trump trashes press, crowd jeers, guy by press pen looks at us and screams you're a -- it rhymes with witch. other gentleman gives camera the double bird. so, are they making trump ever more popular? >> you may be confusing correlation with causation. i think that donald trump recognizes that there is relatively low popularity for the media. so, if you're bashing the media, you're not making a lot of in y inomies, right? it's an easy target. i see a lot of people looking at the things that he says and findi

somehow in washington they seem to be incapable come together? >> first it is not a come buyia why can't we get a along book in it is a challenging look at independentsy. we are the country that starts the declaration of independence with the idea that we prejudice to each other our live, fortunes, sacred honor. prosecu patriotism is not a sword to wield against someone else. it necessitates love of country, men and women, despite our differences. differences matter our but country matters more. two years down here in washington i found there is opportunity to do big things. you are a tea party or you are a the bernie sanders supporters i'm a hillary clinton supporters and let that be the lens that really blocks out all the other light and commonality that we have. so have an obligation to understand that nothing will change unless we do. alice walker said the most common way people give up their power is not realizing they have it in the first place. time to exercise and heal. our nation must continue to go far. so we've got to find ways to star

sometimes they give out the worst week in washington awards. you can argue that ted cruz is up for that this week. he was battered by both sides on this dishonest city issue and had to fire a staffer. it turned out to be completely wrong and he finishes a third most likely and gives this tired deflated speech about moving on to super tuesday. >> you did not hear from marco rubio last night. he left. he was out campaigning. getting a good night's rest so he'll be on tv this morning trying to tout what looks to be a number two position in nevada. the five remains will meet head to head in the next gop debate. that's tomorrow night in houston, texas. it will be only on cnn. >>> there was another big cnn event. they made their final pick to voters just a few days before their primary. cnn town hall event. we saw some new strategies, new line. a new campaign direction. wheel break it down next. the future belongs to the fast. and to help you accelerate, we've created a new company... one totally focused on what's next for your business. the true par

they're really frustrated with washington. that's why you see the candidates who are from washington. it doesn't get mer washington than two senators running away from that record. marco rubio saying he doesn't want to be in the senate anymore, ted cruz staking himself as an anti-senate senator. there's no doubt they want someone from the outside. they get the sense they're frustrated and angry and donald trump has embodies that for them. >> you have to wonder what that means for those going forward in the senate and the house. voters are saying they're very angry with what they've done. interesting, marco rubio, there was one category that he did win and that was the category essentially people who think that he wanted experience, people who did want experience wanted marco rubio, and he hasn't been in this senate all that long even. >> yeah. you know, he paints himself as a 1-year conservative. that's a new part of his stump speech he's put in there in the past weeks. he kbos back to his time in the florida legislature as a

joining us live from washington. you can probably go to bed now. it is just after 3:00 in the morning. many thanks to you. we appreciate it. >>> cnn's chief u.s. correspondent john king breaks down the results from the nevada caucuses and how some of the key counties voted. >>> as you look at the map filling in ted cruz winning these two smaller koepcountriest las vegas, donald trump getting a majority in clark county so far. marco rubio less than half of donald trump in clark county. the largest area of the state, trump proving he can win where the people are, where you get the most votes. also winning the second largest county out here, 16% of the state population, at 46%, 35% of the vote counted out there. as you look at the map it's mostly trump. he's proving he can win in suburban areas, cities and win in other areas as well. you pull it out and this is the result tonight. one, two, three wins for donald trump and one for ted cruz. trump new hampshire, south carolina, nevada and can he project that going forward. let's switch the maps here. af

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cnn's senior washington corner joe johns joining me from kl columbia. do you have a sense what we're expecting to hear, what secretary clinton is trying to achieve tonight? >> reporter: well, let me you some sense of what's going on here, which is the warm-up event before she goes over to the law school however in columbia, south carolina, to do that later town hall on cnn. this is a gun policy event in an african-american church in columbia, south carolina. she's appearing here with a group of mothers who have been traversing south carolina in support of hillary clinton. those mothers happen to be the mothers of victims of controversial shootings, including the mother of trayvon martin. the campaign thinks that gun policy's a good issue for her, polling bears that out. the latest cnn/orc poll suggesting she's 20 points up on bernie sanders, 5-35. when it cops to gun policy as far as african-americans are concerned here in the state. and make no mistake about it, this is an opportunity for her to tie herself to the legacy of president obama, he said gun

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

that's a rounding area in washington d.c. when we spend some $600 billion a year on defense alone, and i can tell you that certainly i'm a fiscal conservative. i want to make sure we're making the best financial decisions, but as we start to look at this, you know, what he didn't mention is that out of the people that have been released, we know that one is now an al qaeda leader in yemen and was actually in detention at gitmo. we need to close it, but we need to close it by bringing them to justice and having them go before a military tribunal. we've been sending millions of dollars on attorneys to defend them, and yet, here we are trying to make a political statement instead of really addressing the concern for all of this as americans. it is bipartisan. we do want to make sure that our homeland is secure. but i can tell you having been down there, we don't even let the military men and women who guard them have their real names on their fatigues for the potential of retribution from these hardened terrorists that are there

and that is what we haven't seen in washington for at least seven years. and it is the reason that i support marco rubio. your question about a pathway to a majority i think is pretty easy to understand. if you look at national polls, essentially donald trump is a 30-some percent supported individual. and what you really have, is you really have 65 to 70% who want somebody else, the so called establishment. the problem is they are divided among candidates who can win and candidates who can't win. the old expression in the republican party and i think it still holds true is you have got to support. you have got to vote for the most conservative candidate that can win. >> well but here is the thing. i think that it might be simple on that level to understand it. but i think that that assumes some things that may be very much in question. for instance, trump is not at 30%. by most polls he's higher. so say you need closer to 40. fine you still have 60. but that assumes one path. there is no reason to believe that cruz supporters would go with rubio. certainly

. >> i went to washington following my mother's advice. i had been in the legislature at the age of 26. we just got an army of people and many women who left their kitchens to go out and door-to-door and put yard signs up for me all the way back when things were different. >> first off, your comment earlier about the women coming out of the kitchen to support you. i will support you, but i won't come out of the kitchen. >> i got you. i'm more than happy to say i'm sorry if i offended somebody out there. if you hear the whole thing you understand the context of it. >> 1978? >> still, it is funky language these days. >> kasich is denying reports that figures of the republican establishment urged him to drop out clearing the field for marco rubio so donald trump doesn't walk off. kasich is signing up new fund-raisers and quote doing fine. >> has big money guys. tom ridge's endorsement. >> among those five. the five remaining candidates meet head-to-head thursday night in houston. wolf blitzer moderates this one thursday night only on cnn. >>>

here it is. >> i went to washington following my mother's advice. i had been in the legislature before that at the age of 26. how did i get elected? i didn't have anybody for me. we just got an army of people who -- and many women who left their kitchens to go out and go door-to-door and put yard signs up for me all the way back when you know, things were different. now you call homes and everybody is out working but at that time early days it was an army of the women that really helped me to get elected to the state senate. >> so who has a problem with that? matt do you have a problem with that? >> no, i have a problem that he apologized. i think it shows he is a wimp. i think he is bound to political corre correctness. he didn't say anything wrong. this is 40 years ago, and stay at home moms helped him get elected. >> does that change anything listening to the context? >> no, in fact if you listen to the woman who asked the question next she said i want you to know i will vote for you, but i won't be coming out of the kitchen to vote for you. i'm

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

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

our senior washington correspondent, joe johns, is following the democrats. joe, can sanders slow clinton's momentum ahead of super tuesday? >> reporter: wolf, i'm at u-mass amherst waiting for bernie sanders to make his appearance. his campaign is showing it's got a lot of life left in it after that loss in nevada. he's ramped up the rhetoric today, added multiple stops to his campaign schedule, and he's also hitting hillary clinton for appropriating many of his ideas on the campaign trail. >> bernie, bernie, bernie. >> reporter: bernie sanders is going on offense today after his loss to hillary clinton in nevada. >> what the american people have got to determine is which candidate, whose life work is about standing up to the billionaire class, standing up to wall street, standing up to corporate interests and who does not. >> reporter: and tweeting about the lack of transcripts for clinton's paid speeches. it's been 17 days, 6 hours and 32 minutes since @hillary clinton said she would look into releasing her paid speeches to wall street. he spent the weeken

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

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, hiar

"the washington post" reports that donald j. trump, the front-runner for the republican nomination right now, is getting advice from rudy giuliani. both giuliani and trump confirm they've spoken several times on the phone over the last month about big, important things about running for president. >> quote/unquote, campaign issues. let's discuss and bring in cnn political commentator, errol louis. great to see you, thanks for joining us overnight. that was a lot of fun. what do you make of this? rudy giuliani, donald trump, hmm? >> what i make of this is, donald trump taking another step toward a very interesting break point i think we're going to see in the near future, which is that as trump continues to rack up delegates, what looks like right now. because the next president is not just the commander in chief and not just the head of the government and not just the head of state, but also the head of the party. and i think we haven't seen any senators endorse him openly. i think the closest to an elected official, the most po

we are having a discussion between moscow and washington about how peace can be inside syria. in that discussion you don't have main actors on the ground or their often distant political representatives who talk about peace on their behalf. that is a key problem and gives you a shock as to what kind of cold war discussion this has become. many think they might have traction because the americans influence many rebels and moscow is the key backers of damascus, syrian regime. fighters are involved in this behind the weekend's attack. al qaeda branch in syria not meant to be a part of cessation of hostilities at all. they may disrupt slow down in violence and the death toll higher than it has ever been inside syria, a time when we are according to the state department maybe edging towards peace. >> nick paton walsh reporting live this morning. >>> still to come, think south carolina's battle over the confederate flag ended when it was removed from the state house? think again. how the issue has found its way into the 2016 presidential cam pain. absolutely ageless® night cream av

what the voters are saying is this system is brokien in washington. let's send somebody to change the dynamic. the more he plays into these things the more it is helping. >> thanks for walking us through all of this. great to see you. >>> really hard news coming out of syria. isis striking as other nations scramble to hammer out a truce. any hope that a cease fire is possible? we are live in the middle east next. when they thought they should westart saving for retirement.le then we asked some older people when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement. just start as early as you can. it's going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we'll all be better prepared tomorrow. prudential. bring your challenges. what makesheart healthysalad the becalifornia walnuts.r? the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. g

i think i need to ask you about the story in "the washington post." donald trump is now talking to rudy giuliani. the former mayor of new york city is now advising him on his campaign. he doesn't say he is supporting donald trump. the mayor says there are a bunch of other washington and new york insiders giving advice to donald trump. interesting. >> it is interesting. donald trump is taking counsel from anyone else from outside. he does trust his wife, melani. to find he has a circle of former political leaders giving him advice and he is taking it is a real story. donald trump is not known for heeding counsel of others. he is known for shooting from the hip. this could be interesting in terms of what we hear from him in the coming weeks. >> shooting from the hip has worked for him. >> it's paid off. >> let's get at the south carolina numbers. so interesting with ted cruz and marco rubio. ted cruz playing this as a tie for second. 1,000 vote difference out of several hundred. they needed to win. this is what ted cruz saying on abc this week. basicall

washington and seoul say that is not true. they are defensive in nature. it is unlikely we are going see any closer coordination between the two sides in the near future. there was a satellite launch earlier this month, again, angering the international community. we know that the new military chief in north korea. according to state run media. he is named as jong su. john and christine. back to you. >> so many things happen in the dark there. those recent executions getting a lot of attention. thank you for that, paula hancocks. >>> let's get an early start on your money. the biggest rise for stocks in three months. dow futures set to pop again. oil boosting markets around the world. oil and stocks have been moving in lock step. stocks in asia closing higher overnight. let's talk politics and money. how much cash? ted cruz has $13.6 million to spend. rubio has $5 million. donald trump is funding his campaign. gives loans to himself. his financial picture is different. he is not relying on the cash on hand. john kasich is last at $1.4 million cash on hand.