let's go to athena jones in charleston, south carolina. athena, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, brooke. the bush team is making a big play for south carolina. and so they're bringing out perhaps their biggest gun, george w. bush. it's a whole new stage in the race for jeb. >> george w. bush hitting the campaign trail tonight for the first time since leaving office. >> is he a popular republican? you bet he is. >> reporter: giving his younger brother a helping hand as the battle for south carolina heats up. >> i know jeb. >> reporter: he already lent his famous face for an ad for jeb.

as you know, most of athena net is ambulatory. and then we'll move into the hospital and an crocross nursin homes. we signed our first academic medical center as a development partner, university of toledo. they're helping us get deeper into the bigger hospital, but we want to move carefully so that we don't disappoint anybody and ruin our great reputation of delivering results. >> jonathan, what are you seeing in hospitals willingness to spend? because recentlyoff the past couple of weeks, overall enterprise spending, it seems like there is a cautiousness in spending on new technology. are you seeing that trend reflected, does that reflect why you're moving forward somewhat cautiously? >> well, the thing that is great for us is that a these that doesn't require any capital expenditure. absolutely right, those hospital i.t. departments and board of directors are panicked about laying out more capital in this environment. medical care is reducing rates. things are getting tight. so nobody wants to layout tens of millions of dollars

>> athena, thank you very much. >>> they speak out for the first time in this campaign. all six candidates will answer questions from the voters of south carolina in two live town halls moderated by our own anderson cooper. >>> with a week to go, bernie sanders and hillary clinton are fighting hard for crucial votes. they're commanding a 18-point lead in south carolina. 58% to 38%. sanders stumped across appealing to african-american voters while clinton stumped in harlem propose 1g $25 billion for program fighting racial inequality implying sander was a late-comer to racial issues. >> when we talk about what's going on in this country and the fact that virtually the entire nation suffered terribly as a result of the greed and recklessness and the behavior on wall street, the african-american economy has suffered more and has recovered in much less a significant way. >> we have to begin by facing up to the reality of systemic racism because these are not only problems of economic inequality, these are problems of racial inequality. and we've got to say that loudly and cl

athena jones is joining us live from north charleston in south carolina right now, athena, this is the former president's first time on the campaign trail at his brother's side, why now? >> reporter: hi wolf, that's a very good question. governor bush was asked that question on "state of the union." he said this is the right time when the interest level sl high, when people are watching. he also interestingly said we're nearing the beginning of this process. now, a lot of folks might say, look people have been interested in the gop race for the nomination for months. and they've been watching closely for months. and we are far from the beginning of this process, we're at the third contest coming up on saturday, and that's what this is all about. governor bush finished sixth in iowa, fourth in new hampshire, he really wants to have a strong showing here in south carolina, and he's hoping that bringing out his brother is going to help him do that. but of course, as we saw object debate stage -- on the debate stage sunday morning, on twitter, donald trump has been relentless in going afte

athena, thank you so much. >> $150 million. if you add the super pac up. >> the definition of a war chest. >> unbelievable amount of money spent for a campaign that really never got off the ground. >> what happens next? all of that, where was it, 7.8% in south carolina? where does that support move? that's a part of the conversation moving forward, but another part of the conversation that's telling a story more than the numbers are the exit polls. and we've got a lot of information to get into the minds of the voters and what drew them to what candidate. for that, let's bring in cnn political director david chalian. you've got a whole lot of numbers with a whole lot of information, my friend. >> a whole lot of numbers, indeed. >> how did donald trump pull it off? what are you seeing? >> yeah, these numbers are really interesting because it does get at exactly how he won, and quite frankly, to pick up on what athena was saying, i think it gets at why it wasn't jeb bush's year, guys. take a look at this. this is our first questi

athena jones live from beaufort, south carolina. >> reporter: you have the president throwing some punches of his own. >> i continue to believe mr. trump will not be president. >> reporter: weighing in just days before the south carolina primary, president obama confident donald trump won't win the white house. >> i have a lot of faith in the american people. and i think they recognize being president is a serious job. it's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. >> reporter: obama blasting the billionaire tuesday evening saying trump panders and lackings even basic foreign policy knowledge. >> it requires being able to work with leaders around the world in a way that reflects the importance of the office. and gives people confidence that you know the facts and you know their names and you know where they are on a map and you know something about their history. and you're not just going to play to the crowd back home. >> reporter: not one to keep quiet -- >> he has done such a lousy job as president. >> reporter: the gop front-ru

good morning, athena. >> reporter: good morning. bush has been here since last night speaking even before the iowa caucuses began trying to make the case in new hampshire that he is the candidate sho who should be nominated because he's the only one with a proven record. he says congratulations to cruz. cruz and raubio, the two senatos to emerge in strong positions. they can speak, but they don't have the kind of record he does. that's the case he's making to this audience here. quite a few of people, young and old. a lot of voters here are undecided based on my informal polling. he's fighting for their vote. as you heard him say at the beginning of the intro, he believes this is a state that can reset the race. the voter profile is different than iowa. not many evangelical voters. i asked what does it mean to surprise folks. lindsey graham said it would mean finishing third or fourth. a bush campaign official said he could finish in fourth or fifth place. the goal is to con vibs voters to come to his side. new hampshire is a state

i think we need someone who can be president from day one. >> athena jones is with me. hearing from jeb like that, you wonder is this a warning shot that he thinks perhaps he is in good position or is it another signal he's sending? >> this has been part of the argument he has been making for months against donald trump and way of contrasting donald trump with himself. he has been saying donald trump is unstable, trying to insult his way to the white house, not a conservative, not electable. this is more of that. he even said in a radio interview yesterday you can't trust donald trump. he will morph to mirror the current thinking, whether it is on abortion, he used to be pro-choice, now says he is pro-life or on iraq, seeing recordings of him saying he was for the invasion, he has been arguing all along he was against the invasion. you have to go with someone with a proven record and conservative, that's me. the question is is that resonating with voters. >> speaking of donald trump, he is reaching voters, whether in person, town hall, face to face or via tweet. he is d

athena, let's begin with you. how is clinton handling the drastic polling difference of 30 points between she and sanders? >> reporter: hi, fred. well, it is a big gap. we're talking about nearly 2 to 1 spread with sanders in the lead, but you know, clinton is not giving up in new hampshire. we have seen this before, maybe not as big a gap. back in 2008, hillary clinton was counted out by a lot of folks in the granite state after the stunning loss to then senator barack obama and john edwards, but she came out here, pulled out a win. she's hoping to close the gap. hearing her use some of the same language she used in 2008 saying to new hampshire voters you lifted me up, gave me back my voice. those are echos of her victory speech in january of 2008. a big challenge for her here and across the country is this big gap between sanders when it comes to appealing to the youth vote. that's why she's here in a few hours having a town hall with college students. she directly appealed to young voters in her speech in manch

>> athena jones in nashua, thank you so much. john kasich has just wrapped up a town hall in the same city. he will be heading down the road to concord for his next town hall scheduled for 3:30 p.m. eastern today. case i can made a limited number of appearances in iowa instead, putting a lot of his resources into making a big showing here in new hampshire. well, this morning on cnn's "state of the union," kasich said he didn't think a poor debate performance by marco rubio would directly benefit him because he doesn't consider himself an establishment candidate. >> i am not in the establishment lane. i have never been the establishment. i'm not anti-establishment. but i make the establishment very nervous. >> why? >> because i'm a change agent. look, when we were reforming welfare for the poor, which i was in favor of, i said we've got to reform welfare for the rich. i mean, we don't do things like that. >>> we have so much more straight ahead from new hampshire from both sides of the race. >>> for the democrats, the race is gett

he me bring in athena jones at the white house. athena, when you hear from senator john mccain, when you hear from lindsey graham, kelly ayotte standing there with them about their feelings about this plan it doesn't look like the rocket expects for work between white house and congress on this guantanamo bay issue is getting better. what are you hearing from the white house today? >> it certainly doesn't. the white house still wants to have a conversation. they believe the presentation of this plan should start the conversation with congress but this is one more area where politics are tough for the president here. all indications are it's a non-starter on capitol hill even with these two senators who in the past supported the idea of closing guantanamo bay. now you hear from senator graham the window is closed and from senat senator mccain you hear this is not a plan, there are no real specifics on cost, on the actual site where you might transfer these detainees, there's no plan for each of the detainees. there's no plan for wha

joining me now is athena jones, athe athena, what is the campaign saying about the timing. how do they explain bringing w. out to the campaign trail now? >> reporter: hi jim, good question. it's something that governor bush was asked on "state of the union," and he said now is the right time. when there's a high level of interest and a lot of people are watching. you could argue that people have been very interested in this gop race for the nomination for months a watching closely for months. the bottom line is bush finished sixth place in iowa, fourth place in new hampshire. he really wants to finish strong here, and they're hoping that george w. bush will help because he's popular among republicans and he's popular in the state. take a listen to governor bush talking on the "today" show this morning about the fact that be his brother is joining him on the campaign trail, listen to that. >> this will be the first time he's gotten involved. and i respect the fact that he has been out of the political fray. that's a good tradition, but like president clinton, i guess support

. >> let's get more on the campaign trail from cnn's athena jones, she's following the bush campaign and white house correspondent jim iowa costa gathering the latest on mr. trump. jim, if picked start with you, trump says that the pitch in this race will probably hurt the party come november, including himself if he turns out to be the nominee, but at the same time, are you seeing any signs of him backing down from the kind of rhetoric? >> reporter: well no. not at all, jim. and we'll have to see how donald trump hand ms himself at this the rally that's coming up here this afternoon in north augusta, south carolina. i thought it was interesting to listen to donald trump at that press conference. just outside of charleston yesterday. even though he was continuing his attacks on jeb bush, almost stylistically, he was ratcheting things down a notch. he was explaining why he was going after george w. bush. jeb bush brought up this claim that his brother kept the country safe during his time in office for eight years, and donald trump felt like he was compelled to say, no, that's just no

athena. >> hi, john. you can see this event is just getting underway. you talked about the event last night, a dramatic return to the political stage for george w. bush. it was the kind of crowd we haven't seen at jeb bush events. much larger crowd and much more of a rally feel than we're used to seeing. that proves his brother is a draw. he's popular in this state. of course, this state handed primary victories to both george w. bush and george h.w. bush. they're hoping he will be an asset. in the crowd last night i talked to people who said they were there because w. was there and they'd be giving jeb a listen. the real draw last night was w. he made the case his younger brother has what it takes to be commander in chief, but he made references to donald trump saying that strength is not bluster and theatrics. and saying that the loudest voice in the room is not always the strongest voice in the room. he also talked about the fact that a lot of voters are angry, but that he don't need someone in the oval office who mirrors and enflames that frustratio

the device is called athena which is after the greek goddess of wisdom power and justice. >> reporter: should someone threaten you, you press athena's button and she roars. >> and it will immediately i'm will it an 85-decibel alarm and message friends and family with the location so they can come help you. >> reporter: the creator says she came up with the idea while backpacking through south america. >> while it was fantastic it was also really distressing. everywhere i went i kept hearing from women sharing stories of times when they were attacked. when she returned to philadelphia she heard of a brutal attack. >> it was a brutal rape a block from m near my apartment. >> reporter: she and her university team raised $300,000 through crowd funding. >> with 5,000 preorders, over 5,000 preorders in over 50 countries around the world. >> reporter: part of her profits go right back to helping fix the problem. >> we actually take part of the proceeds that we make from the jewelry and we invest it in programs that teach empathy to young children. >> reporter: and right now yasmin is also wo

athena jones live in charleston following the family affair. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. after his less than impressive performances in the first two contests of the year the stakes are high for jeb bush here in south carolina. his team is making a big play for this state so they are bringing out perhaps their biggest gun, george w. bush. it is a whole new stage in the race for jeb . george w. bush hitting the campaign trail tonight for the first time since leaving office. >> is he a popular republican? you bet he is. >> reporter: the former president giving his younger brother a helping hand as the battle for south carolina heats up. >> i know jeb . >> reporter: w. has lent his famous face to an ad for jeb 's campaign. >> experience and judgment count in the oval office. >> reporter: his guest starring role on stage is part of the bush camp's effort to pull out all the stops after a dismal sixth place finish in iowa where his brother won. >> thank you, iowa. >> reporter: and better than expected fourth place in new hampshire where

joining us, athena jones in columbia. bush is pushing to boost his campaign with a win in south carolina. what's his final message to voters tonight? >> he is. bush is doing everything he can to have a strong finish here. ideally, third place or better. he's already brought out his father. now his mother is campaigning with him. the idea is to remind south carolina voters how much they like the bush family and to hopefully make that translate into votes. he is arguing he has a steady hand, a proven record, the executive experience to lead. things he says his rivals don't have. when it comes to marco rubio and ted cruz, he says they are gifted speakers but don't have the record of accomplishment that can compare to his record as the governor of florida. when it comes to trump, he says he's unstable and selling himself as a conservative when he isn't a conservative. he says he's changed his stance on partial birth abortion and now on the iraq war having said all along he was against it. we find out at one point he said he w

athena jones is on the scene for us. athena, george w. bush certainly has a lot of loyal supporters in south carolina. tell us what we should expect at this rally that's coming up. >> reporter: hi, wolf, he certainly does. we're seeing the crowd growing by the minute. people are still coming in and it's a little under an hour until this event is it to start. it's a much bigger crowd than we're used to seeing at jeb bush events. the reason is that george w. bush will be here. he's very popular in this state. this is the state that handed primary victories to both george w. bush and george h.w. bush. i talked to a couple of folks who said they're big fans of w. and they're here to give jeb a look and listen to what both of them have to say. we expect this to get under way at 6:00. we'll see george w. bush on stage with the former first lady, laura bush. we'll hear from senator lindsey graham who will introduce the president. president bush will speak and then jeb will take the stage. we expect -- jeb bush has said he expects his brother to

athena jones reporting live in south carolina. let's head to nevada have voters are getting their final glimpses of hillary clinton and bernie sanders before tomorrow's caucus. increased attention as the race between the democratic rivals continues to tighten after a slit decision in iowa and new hampshire n. joinime now, joe j. >> reporter: busy day on the democratic side also in nevada. as far as we know, neck and neck. the question in the nevada caucuses is always who's going to show up. it's all about getting supporters autoto caucout to ca. clintons ending up at a big rally this evening at the clarke county government center. bernie sanders starting at a town hall and expected to end up with a concert and a rally in henderson, nevada. a very full day for both of the candidates at the end. >> all right. zwr joe johns reporting live for us. still to come, honoring justice scalia. the public is getting its chance to pay its respects. don't let a cracked windshield ruin your plans. trust safelite. with safelite's exclusive "on my

let's begin our coverage with athena jones. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. there was some fire last night, some attacks. we heard, as you played, some of the repetition of the claims that one or another candidate is a liar. we also saw some moments from the personal side of some of the candidates like marco rubio talking act whether he experienced racism growing up. and perhaps one of the most interesting things that senator rubio said was when he made note of the fact that he had just been endorsed by an indian american, governor nikki haley of south carolina. he also has been endorsed by a black republican, tim scott, a senator from south carolina, and that the three of them would be campaigning together. it was in line with the argument that he's making about his candidacy being one about the future of the republican party. and that mention of diversity was in line with that argument. we also heard from ted cruz talking about the fact that he is a u.s. citizen and eligible to run for president. take a listen to that. >> i was a citizen by birth by virtue

want to go to athena jones, she is at what was the bush campaign headquarters. there's no more bush campaign. >> reporter: that's right. no more party going on, at least not anywhere we can see it. this was a disappointing night and an emotional moment in that room as governor bush decided to suspend his campaign. there were gasps in the audience when he said the words "i'm suspending my campaign." people said oh, no, we love you jeb. take a listen. >> the people of iowa and south carolina and new hampshire have spoken and i really respect their dedecision. so, tonight i'm suspending my campaign. yeah, yeah. [ applause ] >> reporter: governor bush went on to say that he believes the next president needs to be someone who sees himself as a servient and not a master. he also said that despite what you may have heard, ideas matter, policy matters, two ideas seemed to be veiled references to donald trump, who was his chief sparing partner for months and it became clear that this wasn't shaping up to be a good night for jeb bush. people close to his campaign have bee

let's get to cnn's athena jones joining us from hen he canner, new hampshire, where clinton is having a town hall with students later today. new hampshire was kind to hillary clinton in 2008. is she and her camp expecting the same results? >> reporter: that's a big gap to close. we have seen in the latest tracking poll that sanders has a 30 point lead over clinton, so the clinton campaign has been down playing her chances quite a bit in the last several days, yet she's out in force holding multiple events. don't want to give up on new hampshire. they hope to at least close the gap. she did some door knocking in manchester just before heading to the event in concorde, and as you said, we have seen this before. she was counted out by many people in 2008, came back to win here even after that stunning loss in iowa to then senator barack obama and john edwards. she was able to pull out a victory here. they are saying we may not win here but looking to close the gap. she's also trying to appeal to young voters who are overwhelmingly supporting senator sanders. she has been speaking directl

cnn reporter athena jones is at jeb bush haueadquarters in manchester and athena, he had been talking about momentum and feeling the crowds and energy and the final polls aren't in yet but it looks like he might have a good night tonight. >> reporter: it certainly does, jake. the fact that this is such a close race for second, third place, the bush campaign has said all along they expected trump to win but they are heartened by the fact they're seeing about 1,200 or so votes separating bush from john kasich. i spoke with a campaign official not long ago and he remarked on this close race and called it something of a win already. he said even by being close, we have won by coming a long way in 30 days. we're back in the conversation. we're actually better, much better positioned than some of the other candidates. one of those other candidates is actually john kasich. you just heard dana talking about how he's running out of gas and has -- may struggle in south carolina. they say that governor bush has a lot of money and resources to be able to compete in the next state. so these number

athena jones has more. >> reporter: george w. bush is back. >> experience and judgment count in the oval office. jeb bush is a leader who will keep our country safe. he respects the military. he honors their families. >> reporter: and jeb bush couldn't be happier about it. >> he's the last republican that was president. he is the most popular republican alive. i am a proud brother of george w. bush. >> reporter: his campaign logo doesn't include the famous last name and began the run saying he would be, quote, his own man, has been embracing his more each day. >> i am proud to be a bush. >> his mother joining him on the stump in new hampshire. the brothers will be campaigning together for the first time monday. until now, w has been helping out behind the scenes. >> this is the first time he stepped out in the political realm since he was president, i think there will be a lot of interest what he has to say. >> it was the younger bush thought to have a head for politics, but his brother beat him there. >> i george walker bush --

>> athena jones reporting. thank you. >>> just ahead, the power of the independent voters in new hampshire. we'll take a closer look at the impact of the independent voter, what's at stake for the candidates, and our political panel. . >>> all right, just moments ago, we heard ted cruz at a diner talking about donald trump. let's play the clip. >> what's your reaction to cruz -- donald trump said at his rally last night? >> listen, nothing donald says surprises anyone. he didn't like that he lost in iowa. and his response often is to simply yell and insult and engage in profanity. my approach is not to respond in kind. from the beginning of the campaign when he and others have chosen to insult, chosen to go to the gutter, chosen to go to the mud, i don't respond in kind. issues. g to stay focused on the >> there's ted cruz. you heard what he said. let's bring in a democratic strategist, former gore campaign national spokesman, former senior adviser to hillary clinton's 2008 campaign. also joining us, the chief

if he does that, it was a success tonight. >> you heard athena reporting there were more people at this rally than have been at any jeb rally at this point. it's bad that it took his brother, the former president, to get those crowds to come out. is that going to translate into votes or is this just now there's a celebrity with president bush showing up? >> there's nothing like a president or former president on the campaign trail. george w. bush has been sadly missed -- sorely missed by the party. i think this gives his brother a big boost. i don't know what the downside of this is. now he's getting some of the positive. he's going to get crowds. he's going to get excitement. he's going to get people that are reminded that george bush kept us safe and george bush had security policies that were good for the country. that's all a win for jeb. >> another thing that came up was 9/11. donald trump brought this up this weekend. he brought up 9/11. he brought up weapons of mass destruction. he brought up the parts of the bush legacy that can be so problematic. i guess the question is, jamie,

we begin our coverage with cnn's athena jones in spartanburg, south carolina. athena? >> reporter: good morning, michaela. voters across the country saw an extended look at the candidates. donald trump a bit more toned down, at least, when it comes to that dust-up with the pope and witnessed heated rhetoric as the candidates battle it out in south carolina, last night was less about direct attacks on each other and more about each trying to make the case why they would make the best nominee. [ applause ] on night two of cnn's gop town hall, donald trump tony down the rhetoric in his feud with the pope, but turning up the heat on former president george w. bush. >> he started something that destroyed the middle east. it started isis. >> reporter: the billionaire questioning bush's reasons for going to war in iraq, but dancing around a previous claim that bush's administration lied about their knowledge of weapons of mass destruction. >> well, a lot of people agree with what i said, and i'm not talking about lying. i'm not talking about not lying. nobody really knows why

cnn's athena jones joins me now from the site of this morning event. so another pairing of jeb and his mother, barbara bush. i wonder in terms of crowd excitement. are they coming there more to see jeb or barbara? >> reporter: that's a very good question. at the event that wrapped up not long ago here, greenville and spartanburg aren't far apart. there was a lot of excitement in the crowd. huge reception to barbara bush. she spoke for a few minutes and how jeb is one of her four favorite sons. honest and kind. and the crowd ate it up. i got a chance to speak with people before the event began, several said they were already decided on bush. they were long-time fans of the bush family. others say that they were undecided, but leaning towards bush. but during the speeches even, we saw someone pass a book about barbara bush over to her so that she could sign it. it was a very excited crowd here to receive both of them. and it's interesting because you can see jeb bush feed on that excitement. you hear him there in greenville making much the same argument

athena jones is traveling with the clinton team. it seems like clinton changed her pitch a little trying to bring in young voters. what is she telling these people? >> she's speaking to the young people who as you said are overwhelmingly supporting her opponent. she said earlier at the cnn town hall even if they are supporting sanders now she hopes to be able to persuade some of them. last night and earlier today she praised young people for their energy, enthusiasm, intensity and urgency they are bringing to the race. she is reprising this line which is that i'm a progressive who likes to make progress, who likes to get things done. she says part of her pitch to young people is that it's good to have this idealism, good to have great ideas on paper and a vision for the country and to address some of sanders' appeal. it's also important to be able to translate them into action. so, that is the appeal she's been making, certainly last night in a big speech she switched up her stump speech added new lines to praise these young voters,

>> athena jones whispering in the jeb bush campaign and still talking, stand by. listen more and let us know if he makes more news. let's turn to marco rubio now. our phil mattingly chasing the rubio campaign. he held a town hall meeting. he did just take questions from reporters and he, too, on the attack. >> basically, everybody is fighting everybody right now, john. welcome to south carolina. the two have been going after each other in a sharp way since the debate. once again, calling one another a liar. now the issue is campaign tactics. right now marco rubio pointing to a facebook page that his digital team found that was fake saying trey gowdy, the south carolina congressman had in fact switched his decision to go with marco rubio and now supporting ted cruz. that's not true. marco rubio saying that calls in to major questions what ted cruz's campaign is trying to do. take a listen. >> it's the robocalls, what he did in iowa to ben carson, what he's done in this state. he had the national right to life, ted cruz, what he said about me on planned parenthood a

cnn's athena jones with more from columbia south carolina. >> good morning. it was an emotional moment. i don't know if you could hear the gasps in the crowd. people were surprised to hear governor bush make that announcement. they were hoping he could beat marco rubio. in the end rubio bested him by more than a does b points and listen to what else he told the crowd last night. >> i have stood my ground. refusing to bend to the political winds. we put forward detailed, innovative conservative plans to address the mounting challenges we face. because despite what you might have heard, ideas matter, policy matters. i firmly believe the american people must entrust this office who understands whoever holds is the servant, not the master. someone who will commit to that service with honesty and decency. >> we've heard bush say over and over donald trump does not see himself as the man of service. he's not thinking of this as the career of service. ed in end as you mentioned governor bush about this time last year was the presumptive front runner but no one predi

athena jones is over there for us. athena, a lot of supporters think this is make or break potentially tonight. >> reporter: yes, they do. and that's what the headline is out of here right now. the campaign is saying that bush doesn't necessarily have to beat rubio in order to stay in the race. they're going to be looking at the point spread as we heard manu raj u mention. a source close to the campaign is telling me even if rubio is significantly ahead of jeb bush, it's going to make it harder he should be the alternative to trump and cruz. that's, of course, what they were hoping to do coming out of new hampshire into south carolina. they sold this as jeb bush's best early states that he had the strongest organization here. and so if he finishes far behind marco rubio, that will be an issue. but this same source said that even if the spread is large, the point spread is large, it doesn't necessarily mean the end forbush. but it's something they're going to be looking closely at. wolf? >> thank you very much. i want t

let's go now to athena jones who is with the bush campaign. pretty strong performance on the debate stage in manchester last night. athena, former florida governor held a town hall in nashua hoping to build momentum. everything i see today, he is feeling strong and all smiles. >> absolutely. that's right, brooke. a lot of smiles on the faces of bush campaigners. and bush folks i have talked to feel he has the momentum after that strong debate performance last night. i spoke to bush after his town hall here just a little while ago. and he said he is feeling good. having good crowds making good connections. he says his canvassing teams are getting a good response as they knock on doors. not only over the past couple of days but also this morning. people are not so much saying they are neutral. more and more people are ready to commit to his team. he said he has the best ground game of any candidate in this state. this is probably one of the most high energy and bush events i've attended. he is feeding on the energy. he touted his take down last

we saw some of that in athena's piece. and of course we are expecting part two of that to take place tonight in columbia at the second cnn town hall when john kasich, donald trump and jeb bush will take the stage. and of course as, you know, trump and bush have a political feud of their own ever since trump went after bush's brother, former president georgia george w. bush and we are expecting lots more sparks to fly tonight. >> we look forward to it we think. mj lee live from south carolina. >>> i'm into breaking news to pass along to. president obama will indeed visit cuba next month. the president just tweeting out the news before the historic trip. he'll be making that trip next month. it's been ninety years since a sitting president has visited the island nation. and as the president tweeted this morning, he'll visit cube. back to politics. as ted cruz tries to sway voters, he's shrugging off attacks from donald trump, including a cease and desist letter after running an ad about trump's position on abortion. cruz's m

. >> athena jones is in portsmouth, new hampshire. >> reporter: anderson, his closing argument is a lot like the argument he's made all along but it's getting a stronger reception than he has. we're seeing a more condition if i dent bush. his argument is that he has a proven executive record and the experience to lead on day one and the temperament, the serious, steady hand to be able to lead this country, unlike some of his competitors, he's been tested through his eight years as governor. he describes donald trump as an egotist who does not have a servant's heart and says that marco rubio is a gifted senator but a good speech does not a presidency make. so that's part of the argument we've heard him make tonight before this crowd here in portsmouth. >> athena jones, thanks. >>> marco rubio took a beating for using the same catch phrase again and again and again. governor christie commenting, "heavyweight mike tyson, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." any damage from that punch has yet to show up in our polling. cnn's raju is reporting. >> reporter: his closing pi

athena jones, thank you. ugly, heated, of what you want to call it, that's what's happening here in a very chilly new hampshire. let me bring in my panel to discuss here. andy smith, a political scientist and pollster at the university of new hampshire. ryan williams is here, former spokesman for governor mitt romney. great to have both of you here. i have to begin with you, ryan. having been in the trenches with the romney team, you know, to watch trump and jeb bush. i mean, they're equally guilty in using this sort of language. i call it third grade language. i kind of feel like that's what it is. why, though, to you think trump is hammering so hard on jeb bush? >> because jeb bush is the only candidate right now taking on trump. he's the front-runner. >> but others have in the past. >> they didn't do it strongly enough. no one is tough enough right now besides jeb bush to stand up to donald trump on policy and on the outrageous statements he's made. he's insulted war veterans. he's talked about banning peo

athena. >> reporter: good morning, john. the bush team is perhaps bringing out their biggest gun, george w. bush. this is a whole new stage in the race for jeb. george w. bush hitting the campaign trail tonight for the first time since leaving office. >> is he a popular republican? you bet he is. >> reporter: the former president giving his younger brother a helping hand as the battle for south carolina heats up. >> i know jeb. >> reporter: he already lent his famous face for an ad for jeb. his guest-starring role on stage tonight is part of the bush camp's effort to pull out all the stops. after a dismal sixth place finish in iowa where his brother won. >> and thank you, iowa. >> reporter: and a better than expected fourth place in new hampshire where his father won. >> i want to thank the wonderful people of new hampshire. >> reporter: jeb is hoping for a strong showing in south carolina which handed primaries to both presidents bush. >> this is the right time. right when the interest -- when it's important and when people

athena live for us, thank you so much. let's talk more about this, all of the republican candidates, of them all, who needs south carolina the most? is it jeb bush? is it john kasich who we heard last night say to the voters in our town hall please, please, i need you to help me get on to these other states. here may be an answer. 1996 republican presidential nominee bob dole said this to the national review about the candidate that he has also chosen, jeb bush. quote, i'm not seeing a lot of movement there. he's got lindsey, that's senator lindsey graham from south carolina, helping him, and he's still at what, 10%, which is way behind the top three. remember, that's coming from bob dole who is backing bush. goes on to say, dole's remarks are an indication that even bush's strongest supporters are beginning to give up hope. let's discuss it. with me, pastor daryl scott of cleveland, a trump supporter. matt lewis, senior contributor to the daily caller and has predicted correctly in iowa and new hampshire. also washington

i want to head to the white house for a second and talk with athena jones. rubio and two other senators will introduce a bill to stop this before they've read the report prepared by the secretary of defense. so maybe -- i mean, surely the president expected this, though. >> reporter: surely he did. you heard him say he's clear-eyed about the politics. there are restrictions in place by congress. if it were easy, it would have been done. they don't need to introduce a bill, because current law to defense wills the president signed banned transfer to the u.s. you can see politics will play into this even before the president took of the podium. we heard from mitch mcconnell on the senate floor saying this is a campaign promise the president made when he was a senator. mcconnell called it an ill considered crusade. he said they'll review the plan. when it comes to congress weighing in, bipartisan will of congress has been expressed against that proposal that he's referring to, the language in the defense bills. this is going to be a very, very steep hill to cli

athena jones at bush campaign headquarters. athena, it's got to be rough in that room night rite now. >> well, surprisingly, jay, there is a lot of festive atmosphere in this room. a lot of attention being paid, of course, to what's going on in the polls. but right here, it feels like a party. of course, if you're with a few bush campaign staffers who are gathered around looking at numbers, it probably doesn't feel much like a party. because as you mentioned, jeb bush campaigned hard here. he brought out his brother, he brought out his mother. he campaigned all across the state. coming into south carolina, his campaign was saying, this is his best early state. he has the strongest organization of any candidates. his only goal in this state is to do the best among the candidates not named donald trump and not named ted cruz. and the language has shifted over the last several days. they wanted to be in third and talking about even a close fourth wouldn't be so bad. it's all going to come down to the point spread. but i've got to

good morning, athena. >> reporter: good morning. this campaign doesn't even include his famous last name. now he is embracing it like never before. this is a campaign pulling out all the stops on tuesday. if jeb bush struggled to spark the excitement we have seen from some of his competitors, his mother brought out a crowd that jeb noted was a lot bigger than usual. listen to what she had to say. >> jeb is the nicest, wisest, most caring, loyal, disciplined -- that's good. not by me. >> and jeb isn't just looking to his popular 90-year-old mother for help. former president george w. bush is stepping up in a new ad from the right to rise superpac. take a listen to that. >> i know jeb. i know his good heart and his strong backbone. jeb will unite our country. he knows how to bring the world together against terror. he knows when the tough measures must be taken. >> bush is in double digits according to the latest poll. but he is still in fifth place behind rubio and kassig, who candidates he would like to beat or not lose to badly. he

athena health with numbers that missed estimates. the insurance company down 20%. traditional insurance operations entirely while it focuses on its long-term care unit. belowbrand coming in estimates. there is this macro view about the job support that makes it more likely for rates to go up and that is negative potentially for stocks. you have these earnings reports not helping matters. david: thank you so much. coming up, we are talking recession proofing as stocks start a weak february. ♪ david: welcome back to bloomberg markets we are following the markets closely this afternoon. still selling off big time. the nasdaq down just over 3%. 2%.s&p 500 down almost the dow jones down 1.5%. on a day when we got jobs numbers for the month of january. time for the bloomberg business/ . sh.bloomberg business fla china has surpassed canada as the u.s. plus biggest trading partner. the u.s. trade deficit rose in december as american exports fell for the third straight month. biggest trading partner. fixed barclayso by spinning off its investment bank and selling its afri

investigators say 27-year-old athena munoz crossed the median in her accord and struck two motorcycles head-on. a couple in their fifties were thrown from the bike they were sharing and were killed. none of the riders were wearing helmets. >>> turning to weather, another warm and wonderful day today. we're in for more of the same this week. meteorologist dave aguilera is in colorado's weather center. looks good, dave. >>> it does look good. despite cooling down by 10 degrees today, still felt wonderful. yesterday, made it to 72. today, we were 60 degrees. with that added sunshine, humidity levels went up behind the cold front. our humidity levels are 10 to 12% from dia, boulder. yesterday, they were 5 to 10% with the heat and the wind. the fire danger has gone down just a little bit as well. and as we look at the wind, it's not gone away completely. still 22 mile-per-hour in castle rock. 11 in blackhawk, a lot better than what we saw yesterday when they were just off the hook in a lot of locations. winter park at 20. most of the wind staying up in wyoming. it's always windy occupy ther

. >> athena jones live where a jeb bush event is about to get underway. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. at that event last night it was the biggest crowd we've seen at an event for jeb bush. much more of a rally like feel than we're used to seeing at his events. it's proof that his brother, george w. bush is a big draw. i talked to a lot of folks who said they were there to see w. they were fans and were there to give jeb a look, choosing between jeb bush and rubio, or between bush, rubio and cruz, they told me. we saw from w., he made a case for his brother as having the skills to be commander in chief, but he also made a reference to gop front runner, donald trump. several of them. you played one in the intro. let's take a listen to this one. >> these are tough times, and i understand that americans are angry and frustrated. but we do not need someone in the oval office who mirrors and enflames our anger and frustration. we need someone who can fix the problems that cause their anger and frustration and that's jeb bush. >> so there you h

athena jones reporting live. still to come, how young voters and late deciders changed the course of the iowa caucuses. >>> ted cruz took iowa for the republicans and hillary clinton declared victory for the democrats. but winning isn't everything. who voted for a candidate and why also plays a critical role in the race ahead. tom foreman live with more on that in iowa. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: you know what it's like here. the whole thing is about beating expectations. if you look at the democratic side, the way that bernie sanders beat expectations, at least the expectations of a couple of months ago when he was behind hillary clinton is that he got out of a lot of first-time caucus goers. that meant he got a lot of young voters. if you look at the break down of who voted yesterday, essentially if you were under the age of 40, you were more likely to vote for bernie sanders. and the younger you went in that scale down to 18, the more likely you were to vote for bernie sanders. once you got ov

athena health care. care services company. shares are down after their fourth-quarter revenue missed. stock is trading at a huge premium. 243% premium. 25% short interest. all of this is bearish money and suggests the stock may drop to the bottom of its range. vonnie: thank you so much good let's check in on first word news. courtney has more from the news desk. british prime minister david cameron has overcome a key obstacle in his quest to get a new deal on membership in the eu. , her meeting with cameron says he is satisfied with the proposal put forward this week. polls make up the biggest share of eu migrant workers in the u.k.. reports from syria today say government troops are close to a victory that could tip the civil war in their favor. says reports sort test running the country's largest city. refugees are fleeing into turkey. here in manhattan, one person was killed and two others injured when a crane collapsed. it happened in the city of trebek. the crane landed across several parked cars, smashing the roots. an e

athena jeans looks at how big of a boost this could be. >> reporter: hi, poppy. george w. bush has been largely absent from politics since leaving the white house. he's helped raise money for his brother's campaign this election season, but other than that remained off the political stage. well, that's all changing on monday. >> i know jeb. >> reporter: george w. bush is back. >> experience and judgment count in the oval office. jeb bush is a leader who will keep our country safe. >> he respects the military. he honors their families. >> reporter: and jeb bush couldn't be happier about it. >> he's the last republican that was president. he is the most popular republican alive. >> i'm a proud brother of george w. bush. >> reporter: bush, whose campaign logo doesn't even include his famous last name, and who began his one stressing he would be his "own man" embracing his family with each passing day. >> i'm jeb, exclamation point, proud to be a bush. >> reporter: his brothers campaigning for the first time monday. until now, w. has been helping out behind the scenes. >> the

. >> thank you very much, athena jones. outfront, with the ted cruz campaign co-chairman. good to have you back with me. i want to give you a chance to respond to this. we're learning about these new voice mails by your campaign. do you know how this happened? >> i really don't. as a matter of fact, i just listened to those voice mails for the first time in my ear piece. i didn't recognize either voice. the thing is i think what's accurate there is i think a lot of precinct captains who did get those voice mails or text messages or e-mails, many of them didn't not act on them, including myself. i have not heard from one voter who said they switched their vote from ben carson to ted cruz because of that. ben carson was not going to new hampshire and not going to south carolina. they were basically writing his political obituary. when people hear that get reported, it's obvious that they're going to move on it. whether that's official campaign people or others that are just volunteering for the campaign, that's big news going into an iowa caucus. if it's coming from a truste

athena >> reporter: good morning, michaela. last night we saw a more demure, toned down donald

cnn's athena jones has this report. >> i know jeb. >> reporter: george w. bush is back. >> experience and judgment count in the oval office. jeb bush is a leader who will keep our country safe. he respects the military. he honors their families. >> reporter: and jeb bush couldn't be happier about it. >> he's the last republican that was president. he is the most popular republican alive. >> i'm a proud brother of george w. bush. >> reporter: bush, whose campaign logo doesn't even include his famous last name and who began his run stressing he would be, quote, his own man has been embracing his family more with each passing day. >> i'm jeb exclamation point proud to be a bush. >> reporter: his mother, barbara, joining him on the stump in new hampshire. >> have you met barbara bush? >> reporter: the brothers will be campaigning together for the first time monday. until now, w. has been helping out behind the scenes. >> this is the first time that he's really kind of stepped out in the political realm since he was president. i think there will be a lot of inte