first in south carolina. he has a strong south carolina team aon the ground. his people know the lay of the land. he does have to do well. there's no question. as much as it's make or break for bush, it is for rubio. what we need to start seeing happening if there's a prayer for a real competition to the nomination that isn't cruz or trump is a winnowing of the field before march 15th. you continue cobbling enough delegates to get through to share nominations, but once march 15th happens, if there's not a winning of the field, trump or cruz win the table. >> let's talk about ted cruz for a moment right now. ted cruz caught in the middle of rubio and donald trump. ted cruz has been fighting both these men quite hard and fighting for evangelical votes there. south carolina was a state i think he thought he could win. he thought he could win a lot of march 1st states. he needs what tomorrow? >> he needs a win, and some of the polls have suggested that that's not entirely out of the realm of possibility, or at least a close second. he needs to do well. he needs to

game on in south carolina. in the next few minutes, both ted cruz and jeb bush will be holding their first events in the key state following the stunni stunning finish in new hampshire. this is the kickoff of a ten-day scramble with a state known to not be always so fair but intense campaigning. or as one rubio aide puts it, it's going to be a blood bath. >> ted cruz coming off a surprising third-place finish behind john kasich and jeb bush. this week, jeb bush will be joined for the first time on the trail by someone who took the south carolina primary back in 2000, his brother, george w. bush. it worked out pretty well for him in 2000. cnn anchor and correspondent victor blackwell is in bluffton. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. we're 30 minutes out from a rally starting here in bluffton with governor bush. you mentioned george w. bush. he's recorded a radio ad for the campaign although he has recorded television ads for the super pac right to rise, the pro-bush super pac. they believe this res

it's south carolina's choice. tonight in the battle for the democratic nomination, hillary clinton re-energized by her win in nevada working to knock out her opponent and take control of the race for good. >> going to wrap up the nomination and then we're going to win this election. >> announcer: bernie sanders trying to spread his political revolution to the south and prove he can go the distance as the campaign moves cross-country. >> we are actually listening to the american people, not the 1%. >> announcer: it could be a game changing contest in a state where african-american voters are a powerful force and both democrats need their support. >> stand up, take back your own government. >> i don't want to rant and rail. i want to get things done. >> announcer: now it's time for voters to have their say as clinton aims to be the only star on stage. >> that is why i need you, my friend, more than ever! >> announcer: and sanders battles to steals the show. >> we are gaining steam every day. >> announcer: south caro

in south carolina. get it? his brother, george. he made a dramatic return to the campaign trail for his brother. the bush campaign clearly hopes that one w. leads to another when votes are counted on saturday. as for donald trump, as for jeb bush, i should say, he feels like he has donald trump all figured out. >> i think he is a master at manipulation, and i find it amusing on one level that he constantly attacks me. i'm his primary target, and i'm doing so poor in the polls according to everybody. why is that? why is he going after me every day? it's because he fears me. i'm the only guy standing up to him. >> he fears me. let's bring in athena jones. she's in columbia in south carolina with the bush campaign. 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 bro

pleasant, south carolina. athena jones is here in the state capital, and jeff zell me is covering close to where both candidates are today. so let's begin with brian todd, live outside a polling station in one of south carolina's most populated counties, charleston county. brian, voting has been open for six hours. what are you seeing and hearing from people. >> reporter: fredricka, good turnout in mt. pleasant, six hours into voting, a steady turnout, lines have fluctuated here, this is one of the most populous counties. the line thinned out, it was pretty long, almost to the door a moment ago. so basically this is where the action happens. they come in here, they don't register here. you are already registered by the time you get here and don't have to register by party. you come in, poll managers ask you, say this is the republican primary, do you intend to vote in this primary, they'll say yes, then you're good to go. go into one of the polling stations covered on three sides, only takes 25, 30 seconds to

even before victory in south carolina. they said we won in new hampshire by wide margins, we're leading nation wide. but for some reason people think he's going to trip and fall and everything is going to disappear. if this were any other candidates, they would already be seen as the air apparent to the republican nomination. and after south carolina and after new hampshire, he is undoubtedly the republican frontrunner in this race. so, it's not clear what state someone else is going to knock him off in. >> and in south carolina. the party there is over physically. but metaphorically it will continue on. did i mention we're live covering the election results and we don't yet know who came in second in south carolina. for that reason, you need to stay with us for hours. we know who came in fourth, a distant fourth. that was jeb bush and perhaps, one of the most memorable moments of the night was the emotional speech he gave after suspending his campaign. want to go to athena jones, she is at what was the bush campaign headq

south carolina does pick winners. what are we hearing and seeing tonight in these exit polls about the feel of the electorate in terms of the kind of candidate they want? >> i think that's true back to 1980. if you look at that history. >> that's right, ronald reagan. >> i think what is so fascinating about this entire cycle and we are seeing again tonight in south carolina, dana, is what is sort of driving the republican party electorate right now? this number is astounding. take a look at this. we asked voters as they headed to the polls whether or not they felt betrayed by republican party politicians. this is asked of republicans participating in the republican party. 53% of republicans today in south carolina said yes. a majority of republicans in south carolina said they feel betrayed by their own party leaders. 44% say no. that is what is happening underneath this entire primary race. and then we asked, which candidate ran the most unfair campaign? and look at this. donald trump, the winner of this category, if

and you're not talking to the people of south carolina. i love south carolina. but if you're bernie sanders tonight, you're talking to people in texas. of course you're trying to reach some people >> we believe he is going to speak around 9:00 p.m. >> so you're trying to talk oklahoma, colorado, minnesota. of course you're there. you're trying to get delegates. you're looking beyond to the caucus states that would be held on 3/5. and my beloved state of louisiana. >> but unless bernie sanders is able to attract many younger african-americans, more african-americans, a greater percentage of african-americans, is there a path forward? >> he's trying. they talked about creating new voters. one of the things they're particularly trying to do is focus on working class black men. that's where mike has been, going into barber shops talking up bernie sanders. it is an uphill climb. >> jim clyburn, congressman clyburn being introduced to the crowd. obviously as we were just talking about him, instrumental. we'll keep the conversation going. >> one difference between them

south carolina is next. you can tell obviously it's a huge evangelical community, but most of march is down here. the color speaks for itself. this is evangelical bible belt for ted cruz who unlike huckabee and santorum who won iowa he has an organization, he has money. so now you have a essentially he goes at it with trump in south carolina. the question is kasich will come in with a little momentum. can he play here. the bush family now. this was critical to george bush after john mccain beat him. it will be interesting to see jeb bush on the road with his brother, but jeb bush can't afford to come in third or fourth again. he needs a break through moment. so the evangelicals are critical for ted cruz and a slice is important to marco rubio. >> remind our viewers what happened in south carolina four years ago on the republican side. >> four years ago on the republican side, newt gingrich beat mitt romney here. mitt romney along the coast here, and newt gingrich won everywhere else because santorum didn't h

marco rubio's campaign manager is from south carolina, is of south carolina. he's been -- you know this. he's been down there a lot. at a certain point it was by far more than anybody else which is why it's such a bummer for this campaign that he lost the momentum that he had in new hampshire. we can't underscore how quickly things change. the day after iowa, i was with marco rubio and there was such a sense of momentum, of energy. so many people were coming saying, we did so well in iowa. i'm giving him a second look. i might vote for him and with that one moment or 25 seconds, it changed everything. and so they really have to come back up from that. >> you are from florida. he seems to have acknowledged he made a mistake and wants to move on. how do you think he's doing? >> you know, i think that doing interviews like the one he just did, he really helps himself. he obviously has a breadth of knowledge on policy issues. when he attack s jeb, it's true. jeb has not been in the foreign policy committee in the senate for the years marco has. and jeb bush is goi

let's start here in south carolina. where republican candidates are making those final pushes. >> donald trump trying to turn a lead in south carolina polls into a win and he tells supporters he expects he can run the table if he can start with a win here. and this morning he has a message for black voters across the state. >> i will do more for the african-american people in one year than barack obama has done in his seven years, soon to be eight years and then, by the way, he's out and thank goodness. >> south carolina may be the site of jeb bush's last stand as he's not pulling any punches. >> donald trump has never known any interest in anybody else other than himself. the two candidates that are gifted speakers, marco rubio and ted cruz, have shown nothing in their pasts that would suggest they can make a tough decision. >> with the state's governor nikki haley by his side senator marco rubio is confident he can recover from his showing in new hampshire and win the gop nomination. >> i can't wait to be the nominee

he'll do it in south carolina. and he'll do it in those crucial march 1st states, massachusetts, maine, vermont, tennessee, virginia. these are all states that john kasich will do very well in, and i'll tell you why, it's about being a conservative that can get things done. he cut taxes $5 billion in ohio. whose taxes has ted cruz cut? nobody's. he rolled back regulations, he created hundreds of thousands of jobs in ohio. what regulations has ted cruz rolled back? none. it's not just about making a speech. it's about getting these things done. john kasich has done it. he's cut taxes, balanced budgets, and he's going to take that same conservative pragmatic approach to washington and turn the economy around. >> we know that the positive message that he is using is certainly resonating. let me come to you, john avlon, and talk about governor jeb bush. he's got four offices open across the state, 20 staffers. his brother, former president, coming onto the campaign trail at the early started week. if he does not do wel

i love south carolina. the people are -- i've been there many, many times and the people are tremendous people and i think i can do very well there. >> there's a big competition obviously for second place and third place in new hampshire right now. who do you think is your competition going forward? is it ted cruz? do you see some rejoouf nation for jeb bush and john kasich? >> i see them all. i think they're all good competitors and talented people and right now it looks like kasich has a little bit of a leads, but i'm just looking at your chart. yeah, it's getting a little bit closer. it's going to be a close race and you sort of predicted that and so did cnn and the whole group. it looks like it's going to be a pretty close race for second. >> lastly you've been campaigning more with your family, your wife, your boys. how are they taking the news? this is a big, big night in trump family history. >> they're very proud. my wife is standing with me right now and my children an corey is right outside who ha

south carolina has notoriously been that way. i've been six presidentials down there and it's just mean. >> why? >> well, it's in the water, or something. i don't know. i mean, it's just -- there's a lot of dirty tricks played down there. and i'll tell you, from the democrats' standpoint, bernie sanders has got a real big problem now. almost half that electorate is going to be black. and he's not had any black votes. now, i'll say this. hillary clinton, when she ran in 2008, against barack obama, was carrying the south carolina black vote 60% of the vote. then obama wins iowa, and she loses 77 to something. so whether sanders could pull that off, the big difference was it was a black candidate. but it's -- it's a tough haul. a brand-new electorate. >> naomi just had the finger pause. >> one poll in the past year in south carolina. so the numbers are -- we have no idea. >> i was going to say, we have no idea. we have got this at least from nbc. 74% of african-american voters in south carolina to sanders 17. >> right. >> say what y

they did in south carolina. you know, i think a lot of people look at numbers, scratch their head and oh, we thought cruz would have had evangelical vote locked in. he didn't. does this translate across the south? does this translate into super tuesday? and why do you think it is that trump can win evangelicals. >> i really think it does. >> i think this race so much is not about the rise of rubio. but this state is tailor made for an evangelical. rick santorum did that as well to some degree. >> and cruz didn't get a single one. >> ted cruz -- ted cruz did not win a single county in this state. and it is absolutely amazing when you consider the heavy evangelical base. but listen, here is a problem with ted cruz that he just can't shake. i have talked to pastors, parishioners, they all say the same thing. they don't trust him. they understand as a christian and his basic campaign slogan is i'm as good as ronald reagan but a little bit better than jesus christ. if you have that on the campaign trail, then you bet

donald trump wins the south carolina republican presidential primary. that's our projection right now. let's take a look at the votes. he is ahead with 15% of the actual vote now in, 32.9%. a fierce battle for second place between marco rubio and ted cruz. rubio right now is in second place. look at this. it just changed. 22.2% for rubio. 20.6% for cruz. kasich, bush, carson, donald. but kasich now in fourth place, took over for jeb bush. jeb bush now in fifth place. dr. ben carson in sixth place. look at donald trump, a very, very impressive win for him right now in south carolina. let's go over to john king. john, these numbers are impressive. a fierce fight for number two, it's going back and forth between marco rubio and ted cruz. but you've got to give donald trump credit for a big win. >> we're going to spend a lot of time from now until the end of the night how it impacts the race going forward. let's make sure while we have the time to salute the winner. if you look at this and watch this and this dark red is donald trump. he's winning everywher

we are going now to south carolina! we're going to win in south carolina. i love you all. thank you very much. thank you. >> very impressive win by donald trump on the democratic side. right now bernie sanders also has an extremely impressive win over hillary clinton's almost 70% of the vote is in. he's 36,000 vote ahead of hillary clinton. he's got 60% of the vote to hillary clinton's 39%. bernie sanders just a little while ago in his victory speech said this: >> nine months ago we began our campaign here in new hampshire. we had no campaign organization, we had no money, and we were taking on the most powerful political organization in the united states of america. [ cheers ] and tonight with what aprpears o be a record breaking voter turnout -- [ cheers and applause ] because of a huge voter turnout, and i say "yuge," we won because we harness the energy and the excitement that the democratic matter will need to succeed in november! [ cheers and applause ] >> bernie sanders, the independent senator from vermont, with a very impressive win over hillary clinton. john king

cnn all over the south carolina republican primary. the democratic nevada caucuses, don't miss the pregame show with wolf blitzer, anderson cooper, and jake tapper. kate baldwin and i pick up the coverage tomorrow night. legal view starts right now. >>> hello everyone, i'm jim in again for ashleigh banfield, welcome to legal view. and we begin today again with politics. we are a day away from two more presidential contests that could give this race further clarity or make clear that the drama will last through springtime and beyond. democrats will caucus in nevada, and live to nevada in a moment. but we're going to begin in south carolina where republicans hold their first southern primary where donald trump still holds a very comfortable lead in our poll of polls. rolling average of the five latest polls of likely voters shows trump, the the choice of 34% with ted cruz just behind at 20%, marco rubio at 15, jeb bush, you see there at 11%. our national poll of polls is remarkably similar, except this one jeb bush comes in last place ju

people like south carolina governor nikki haley. instead of focussing on them it's the donald trump show. >> do you think that trump is going too far with his criticism of george w. bush when he's talking about george w. bush? >> i do think he went too far in the debate. i was kpleesed to see him dial back the rhetoric today. here is one thing i know about conservatives, and that makes up about roughly half of donald trump's support. one thing about conservatives is we love george w. bush. he enjoys an 84% approval rating in south carolina. calling him a liar is a bit too far. i was pleased to see donald trump pull in that rhetoric today. he has a fair criticism of the iraq war. most people think it was a bad idea including george's own brother jeb when he was pushed on the point earlier in the political season. he did go too far in the debate. >> don, one thing i haven't seen in the coverage is laura bush was there too, today. i worked for president bush and, you know, there was the first, you know, the first sister-in-law. she's p

in a short while, i'll be on a plane to south carolina. then we're going to be competing in 11 states all across this country on super tuesday. and i believe that on super tuesday we have got an excellent chance to win many of those states. but i also know that on super tuesday and before we are going to be taking on a very powerful and well-funded super pac, a super pac that receives significant amounts of money from wall street and wealthy special interests. so as we head to super tuesday, we would very much appreciate the support of the american people who have been so kind and generous. we have received at this point over 3.7 million individual contributio contributions. and if people want to help us out, they can do that at bernie sanders.com. lastly, as i think everyone knows, taking on the establishment, whether it is the financial establishment, whether it is the political establishment, whether it is the media establishment is not easy. we have come a very long way in nine months. it is clear to me and i think most observers that

marching on to south carolina. donald trump riding high after his huge new hampshire win seemed to switch his campaign tactics wednesday night choosing not to go after most of his gop rivals this time hitting his democratic opponents hard. trump sounding more like a general election candidate. >> sanders ranting and raving like a lunatic. hillary, look at the damage she did. >> but the front runner couldn't resist taking a jab at his most vocal gop attacker jeb bush. >> he's a low energy person. i said he's a stiff and i said if he was in the private sector he wouldn't be able to get a job. >> what's left of the gop field now has a target squarely on the brash billionaire's back. >> can you imagine donald trump as the president? we'll be worse off than now. >> the hard thing about donald in the short-term he doesn't have any policy positions. >> the only way to beat donald trump is highlight the simple truth of his record. it is not conservative. >> addressing chris christie's decision to drop out less than a week

we're a week from south carolina. a week and change from march 1st and then other key states march 15th. so this called all move very quickly here in the next few months but he's obviously moving forward towards south carolina, looking to pick up some support there. really one of the issues though for him was that he was banking on a win in nevada so he could say look, i have two. she only has one. bracing for a defeat in south carolina which seems almost imminent here and then he was going to try to pick up some delegates but probably hillary clinton would pick up more for super tuesday. so you can see this puts a little bit of a dent in some of the math his campaign was banking on. >> brianna keilar, great having you. thanks so much for that. >>> and at 9:00 a.m. eastern, a special state of the union today at 9:00 a.m. eastern only on cnn. >> there are so many subplots after last night's big win from donald trump and hillary clinton. let's try to answer some questions here. with back-to-back wins now. big wins. is d

south carolina always gets nasty. remember back to 2000 what happened to john mccain down in south carolina? i think that this hope that this might be an optimistic and uplifting campaign, neighbor will last a day or two, but i don't think it's going to last too long. >> all right. i have to leave it there. matt lewis, jamie weinstein, thanks to both of you for stopping by. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >>> still to come in the "newsroom," another battle at the southern border. donald trump takes on the pope, next. (ray) i'd like to see more of the old lady. i'd like to see her go back to her more you know social side. (vo) pro plan bright mind promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. (ray) it was shocking. she's much more aware. (jan) she loves the food. (ray) she wants to learn things. the difference has been incredible. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind. nutrition that performs. want to survive a crazy busy day? sfx: cell phone chimes start with a positive attitude... and positively radiant sk

you, south carolina! >> reporter: with the president still held in high regard by african-americans and democrats nationwide, both candidates are, would go hard to show their support for him as seen as thursday night's democratic debate in mill waky. >> president obama and i are friends. >> i think president obama has set a great example. >> reporter: clinton is trying to drive a wedge between sanders and president obama. >> the kind of criticism that we've heard from senator sanders about our president i expect from republicans, i do not expect from someone running for the democratic nomination to succeed president obama. >> that is -- madame secretary, that is a low blow. >> reporter: with sanders returning the favor. >> one of us ran against barack obama. i was not that candidate. >> reporter: sanders is also targeting clinton over wall street contributions to her super pack. >> $15 million from wall street. >> reporter: an attack clinton reputted by noting president obama's super pac also took money f

>> can she keep momental rolling into south carolina? >> they were intentional, deliberate. >> allegedly picking up passengers between killings. what we are learning about this suspect and the six victims. let's talk live in the cnn newsroom. >>> thank you so much for joining me. republicans ready to rumble. next stop nevada with the clock ticking down the candidates are hitting the state trying to lock in last minute support. with jeb bush out of the race the race is on to capture his supporters and his donors as trump rides momentum after saturday's big win. >> we won with everything. we won with women. i love the women. we won with women. we won with men. i'd rather win with women to be honest. we won with evangelicals. we won with the military. we won with highly educated, pretty well educated and poorly educated. but we won with everything. >> and with super tuesday just around the corner the big question on everyone's mind is trump unstoppable? let's bring in chris live in las vegas this morning. >> reporter: good morning from sin

and so if -- >> in south carolina, though. >> sure, sure. in south carolina. but she's going to roll through a bunch more states just like that. you've got to acknowledge that she is much much better now than she was two months ago or even one month ago. >> one week ago. look, i thought this was ecumenical. it was powerful, it was strong. she spoke to the hearts and soul of not just the people in the room, but i think the people who are going to be looking to hear from hillary clinton in the next couple of days. the biggest surprise on super tuesday is texas with 22 2 delegates. that reference was not so much to antagonize donald trump but to remind hispanic voters, who are going to be key in these upcoming states, that she wants to trak on theake on these so-c vi divisive issues. >> nobody is talking about marco rubio because everybody is drafting off of the lead horse here. donald trump is the center of attention and donald trump is the most vivid figure out there. and he has defined his issues very, very sharply. so it's natural to position yourself off of

in south carolina. he just walked off this stage moments ago. listen to the marching orders he just gave south carolina voters. >> the main thing is you have to go and vote. don't go for me and vote. it's a nice thing. you have to go and vote. doesn't matter who you're voting for. i don't feel that way. just go and vote if you're going to vote for me. >> you're not going to vote for me, don't vote at all. the order from donald trump. again, the new cnn/orc poll from nevada has him at 26 points up on marco rubio who is in second. comes up big in south carolina, also. on the democratic side, wow, the nevada race is closer than ever. a one-point difference now between the two. hillary clinton up one point bernie sanders. let's talk first about the republican race, cnn correspondent jim acosta is live. jim just walked off that stage. >> reporter: that's right. he likes those new poll numbers in nevada, john. he said that he's up so much in nevada right now, according to our latest cnn/orc poll that maybe he

what do you say about south carolina? >> well, you know, you can actually say i called iowa completely right. on this one rubio got the same number of delegates as cruz and bush. so i actually tied for third in delegates. >> but you predicted kasich, which i thought was very smart. >> the independents broke for him. about rubio, i'll say there's an old english song, don, called "the ball add of sir andrew" that said i shall lay me down and bleed and rise to fight again. i think that was rubio with wolf earlier today, rubio has momentum, jeb is fighting on. but i look at the crowd in south carolina tonight and think think is far beyond anything he imagined so what do you say for south carolina but go on to continue talk about this. >> it depends on the debate on saturday night. i've been asked to make a prediction because i've been close to 100%. it really depends on saturday night because the compression of this calendar and focus on these debates. wolf is going to moderate the debate. this is going to allow the candidate

two days ahead of south carolina's primary. now the governor of that state of south carolina offering a big endorsement. will it tip the scales on saturday? you will hear from a top trump advisor when he takes the stage tonight. >>> we are watching a battle with apple and the fbi over the cell phone data or the cell phone access of the san bernardino terrorist. would helping unlock one cell phone set a terrible precedent apple warns of? we will explore that today. >> we have been talking about this. every break, we look and say how can you -- you want to understand the technology of it. >> i don't pay attention because i'm on my phone. >> nice to see you, michaela. >>> oil cutting the dow losses in half for the year. i'll tell you why when we get an early start on your money next. pure is big, bold and just better. pure is mccormick. the smallest pinch of pure mccormick can make meals legendary. we want to help you realize the rich taste that pure can bring. because pure tastes better. the rich taste that pure can bring. ♪ (c

we know south carolina senator. it was at the washington press club foundation dinner and a light hearted dinner and he said if you kill ted cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial was in the senate, nobody could convictk convict you and erupted in laughter and continues the narrative he's not a well-liked man and what do you think whababout what we're hear from lindsey graham, this joke about killing your candidate? >> i think it's -- if anything is a vote of confidence of ted cruz, having a bunch of washington d.c. insiders, you know, laughing at a joke like that. ted cruz said he would go to washington d.c. and challenge the leadership in both parties, particularly the republican party which he note in conflict after conflict with barack obama that republican leadership surrendered before breakfast and we've seen that to be true with republicans frustrated with the lack of republican agenda even though we won the house and won the senate. you know, ted cruz did not go to washington d.c. to change ideas and

again, south carolina is voting as we speak. but most people assume it's going to come out something like this. this gives it to hillary clinton. 60%/40% ratio in there. if that happens, she'll pull ahead in the pledged delegates. that would give her a lead there. what she's hoping for, she's hoping she wins the african-american vote in south carolina big and super tuesday for hillary clinton looks like. this let's assume senator sanders wins at home in vermont. senator sanders thinks he's going to win in minnesota. we'll give him minnesota. he also thinks he can win in oklahoma. he spent a lot of time there. clinton campaign says not so sure. again, just for the hypothetical, let's give senator sanders that one. he says he thinks he's kpetive in -- competitive in colorado. most of the other states, secretary clinton thinks she's going to win, largely because of her support among african-americans. if it plays out like this hillary clinton begins to pull away in the delegate count. senator sanders would pick up a bunch. remember

and south carolina, it was hard to imagine. getting in the race, it was hard to imagine. >> i think he's still got hurdles to get over. he's got a two-front war now, one front against cruz. he's got to beat him in a lot of the southern states coming up on super tuesday. he's got a second front against marco rubio, who will do better in midwestern states and places like pennsylvania, and he's got to beat him, too. he's beaten both of them. this is the first time he's going too take that on, but i think he has another hurdle coming up. we can talk about this later, but i think the media is going to start investigating him in ways we have not seen before and they're going to vet him and vet him and vet him, and we'll see where it comes out. >> hmm. scotty l. hughes is a chief political correspondent at the usa radio networks, a supporter of donald trump. you heard david gergen say something very interesting, that maybe donald trump will get, whether it's a second look or a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh look, but will get a

in south carolina. when you look at immigration, we've seen the candidates try very hard to outdo each other on sort of who's more hard line? who was part of the gang of eight? who is not? who's for amnesty, who's not and it gets muddied and you see them say, i did say that, i did say that. bottom line when it comes down to the voter, m.j., how critical really is immigration in south carolina as a key voting issue? >> reporter: well what we're seeing here is a handful of republican candidates really trying to grab the mantle of being the most conservative candidate in the gop field. >> right rt you ask donald trump and he will gladly tell you i am the reason all candidates are talking about the issue of immigration. remember, hiss is a platform base and building a wall along the southern border, deporting people who are undocumented, not letting in refugees from the middle east, and i think a lot of the candidates who are fighting against donald trump as he has really dominated this race, they have real

in south carolina, he got wiped out. if he doesn't make inroads by next week, the game is over for the bernie sanders campaign. >> there are certainly those that would want to trip up hillary clinton. i mean, from the emails to benghazi and now this speech transcripts, he still talked about that. is there anything that he can say or that can happen that could trip her up at this point on her way to getting more delegates? >> look, hillary clinton is her own worst enemy. she certainly improved her stump speech. she sounded more empathtic in her victory speech tonight in south carolina. but it's really -- her issue is in the general election. she has poor favorability numbers in the general election. a lot of people in the country still don't trust her outside of the democratic base. so her big challenge looking forward is to think about the general election. but she hinted at some lines preparing for a match-up again donald trump in her victory speech tonight. this is someone who's going to be focused primarily on novembe

it's big again in south carolina. you preparing for the democratic nominee to face donald trump as a republican nominee? just quickly. >> i think very clearly, it's looking more and more like a donald trump possibly ted cruz. but you know, when you've got a republican party where 44% believe the president is a secret muslim. and 45% don't believe he's legally the president, of course, a trump or a cruz is going to emerge. but ultimately, when you get into the general election, the rules are very different. and the standards are very different. >> robert zimmerman, thank you very much. thanks to all of you for watching "legal view" today. wolf starts right now. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 10:00 a.m. in las vegas, 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 8:00 p.m. in acura, turkey. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. we begin with a very dramatic escalation in the battle for the race for the white house. ted cruz is now calling out donald trump over a threatened lawsuit. cruz sayi

donald trump won south carolina big. there is still a fight for second place, marco rubio and ted cruz fighting out for second there, and in nevada, hillary clinton prevailed in the democratic caucuses there. a margin of about five points over bernie sanders. >> and another story coming out, former florida governor jeb bush who was once considered the frontrunner to win the nomination, offered an emotional goodbye this evening as he suspended his campaign as the votes were coming in. and now ted cruz and marco rubio will be battling for second place, but tonight, the night belongs to the billionaire from new york, donald trump, and that is where we want to continue the coverage with cnn politics reporter jeremy diamond who is inside of the trump headquarters. so a big night for donald trump. and he says quickly, thank you, south carolina on to the next. what are you hearing from the trump campaign late this evening? >> reporter: that's right, kate. donald trump tonight with a huge win in south carolina, and this is somet

the same he got in north carolina. south carolina was as much as cruz and rubio combined. on the other hand, if you look at the college educated voters on immigration, trade, more dubious of his personality, he was only 25%, chris. much less imposing. rubio beat him among college educated voters. he only beat him narrowly. what you've got is a disproportionate pattern where he is consolidating the blue collar and white collar remains fragmented. right now you have to say donald trump is clearly in the drivers seat. neither cruz neuer rubio have gotten big enough. >> mark, he is in the driver's seat. is that the same thing as unstoppable? how do you see the math? >> ron is absolutely right they have a plan right now to defeat donald trump. as chris goes through the numbers, you can't assume all of jeb bush supporters will go to marco rubio. you can't assume when chris christie got out all his supporters will go to marco rubio. if john kasich were to get out, you can't assume they all go to marco rubio. it becomes a math game at this point. donald trump, you have tore give t

we'll see how she does how bernie sanders does in south carolina carolina as well. she is clearly the winner in nevada. i'm reminded of 2008 because of the contest between hilarylary clinton and barack obama it went through february, march, april. >> we remember. >> it wasn't until june until she conceded he was the winner. >> that is why the fact bernie sanders can raise the kind of cash that he can from small donors and he has the ability to do that and to keep going is why his campaign can say with voracity that he can keep going until june if he wants to. but i think what john was just saying is important to flesh out about the whole concept of pledge delegates versus super delegates. explain what that means. >> believe me when i tell you hilary clinton does not want to win the democratic nomination just because of super delegates. >> because super dellegates are -- >> automatically given a vote at the convention irrespective of how their state votes they are free agents if you will. they are the party establishment. they are the leaders. they are members of the

certainly crucial in south carolina. but looks different in some ways in south carolina than other places. it's huge, but it's also divided along economic lines. >> yeah. i mean, it is huge. and i think that one of the big questions that i and, you know, a lot of political journalists have is, can another candidate make in roads in that group. it's expected to be 60% or so of the gop electorate. and so for any of these -- for any of these candidates who want to do well here, and obviously all of them do, speaking to them and speaking to those issues are going to be important. one of the most interesting things we have seen this election, i think why a lot of people have scratched their heads about trump in particular, is that, you know, he obviously doesn't speak necessarily well on those issues, and had some flubs on the bible and all of that. but he speaks on issues that cut across -- sort of cut across the grain. i mean, i think, especially in the upstate and other areas where you have a lot of evangelical vote, there

thank you, we are going now to south carolina. we're going to win in south carolina. i love you all. thank you very much. >> i love you all. thank you very much. thank you, new hampshire. thank you. that was donald trump right there. cnn politics reporter jeremy diamond is in new hampshire. thank you, jeremy. what a night it was for donald and bernie sanders. >> unbelievable. as donald trump would say, "unbelievable." he came out tonight with a really strong win that is really showing that his movement, as he calls it, is absolutely real. he was 20 points over his closest rival, as did bernie sanders. but for donald trump, this was an important night. after he raised expectations before the iowa caucuses and then underperformed by coming in second place. this week in new hampshire, he kind of underplayed expectations, said, we'll see how we actually do. and then came up with this double digit win. so donald trump learning to play the expectations a little bit. he's really improved as the candidate. as far as bernie sanders is concerned, he tonight showed that his camp

donald trump with his big win in south carolina. on to nevada as marco rubio and ted cruz battle for second. >>> hillary clinton reasserting herself in nevada, but today it is south carolina. the new moves for clinton and bernie sanders ahead. >>> new questions about the horrifying weekend killing spree in kalamazoo. did this uber driver pick up passengers between killing? good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is monday, february 22nd. and donald trump riding high in the big win in the south carolina primary. turning to super tuesday on march 1st. trump has donors, pundits and candidates grasping for ways to stop him. based on a rally last night, trump is sticking to the strategy that brought him huge success. we have cnn's jeremy diamond with one of those super states. georgia. >> reporter: good morning. fresh off the victory in south carolina, donald trump rolled in atlanta on sunday with momentum on his back. the crowd responded in kind as he hit his key notes. donald trump did not r

she's going to south carolina. now, she doesn't mention the fact that she actually disagrees with obama on a number of things. she doesn't agree with his trade policy. she's against tpp. obama is for it. she has critiques of his health care. she doesn't like the cadillac tax. she doesn't like his foreign policy. she wants a no fly zone. all of that she put away and just hugged obama like she was hilla hillary obama and drove this wedge between sanders and the president. she is very, very good when it comes to the smart politics inside of this party. it was on display. the reality is she has critiques too. she didn't talk about them last night. >> not only did she say i'm with obama. she said clearly that senator sanders in many cases is not. and she said outright there are times when bernie sanders sounds like a republican in his criticism of barack obama, to which bernie sanders said that was a low blow. was it a low blow? >> yes. in many ways. to say bernie sanders is a republican, is absurd unless you want to go

after a poor showing in south carolina. it looks like donald trump who is consistently used jeb bush as the foil on the campaign trail may be missing him a little bit. john and christine. >> jeremy, thank you. look at this. a pivotal political event. there are five remaining candidates. they will face-off in a debate in houston. wolf blitzer moderates the presidential republican debate at 8:30 p.m. only on cnn thursday night. >>> to the democrats. hillary clinton trying consolidate her frontrunner status. clinton rejecting the claim from the sanders camp that sanders won big among nevada latinos. the battle for minority votes continue as the battle moves to south carolina with the primary set for saturday. clinton and sanders spoke to b.e.t. both admitted the democratic party has not done enough. >> the white community, including myself, have not been as sensitive as we should be to what goes on in black communities in terms of policing issues. i plead guilty to the fact that i think i have not been as sensitive to that iss

when it comes to south carolina and the goals for these republican candidates coming out of south carolina, there is such a battle royale between jeb bush and marco rubio in particular. if jeb bush doesn't best rubio, doesn't come in ahead of him, it's going to be a big blow to him in south carolina for a whole host of reasons. but that's why the haley endorsement was something he was coveting as well hoping that it would help. but haley is going to be on the campaign trail starting at 6:00 tonight. in about an hour is when she'll make the formal endorsement of rubio. i'm told by a source familiar with the plans that she is going to be on the trail with him by his side pretty much from then until primary day, wolf. >> she's often been mentioned as a potential republican vice presidential running mate. she's very popular indeed among republicans out there. all right, dana, we'll have live coverage of her announcement and that's a big event for marco rubio, so we'll stand by for that. dana, thank you. we're only hours away now from hearing more from senators ted cruz and marco rubio along wi

in gaffney, south carolina. you're looking at live pictures. we'll see what he says about the pope. that's coming up. also we're standing by for tonight's cnn republican presidential town hall that begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern. you see anderson cooper will be moderating that town hall with john kasich, jeb bush and donald trump. that's coming up later tonight here on cnn. in the meantime, let's get some insight from our political experts. joining us, our senior political commentator, david axelrod. also our chief plolitical analyt gloria borger and ron brownstein, a senior editor at "the atlantic. " trump weighed in on the what the pope said. listen to how trump responded earlier today. >> if and when the vatican is attacked by isis, which as everyone knows is isis' ultimate trophy, i can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that donald trump would have been president because -- it's true. it's true. because this would not have happened. isis would have been eradicated, unlike what is happe

so here is how they finished in south carolina. with 32.5% trump solidified his status as front runner among the republicans. and marco rubio rebounded from the poor showing in new hampshire to edge out second place. >> the democrats, a crucial win for hillary clinton, blunting the rise of bernie sanders and helping ease anxiety among her supporters. >> and more on nevada caucuses in just a moment but we begin with donald trump's commanding victory in south carolina. and now the shrinking republican field. cnn's senior political reporter manu raju joining me now from klum baa south carolina. this was a solid win for the trump campaign, despite his comments about the pope and george w. bush lying. >> a big win for donald trump. who would have thought a year ago that donald trump would have driven out a man who hailed from the dynasty in republican party politics. that of course being jeb bush. what a night that really reordered the republican race and put donald trump on solid footing to win the republican nomination. he has taken t

not only in south carolina. but in many of those other southern states where there are large african american voting populations. and it definitely paid off for her. victor. >> certainly did. joe johns from the campus university columbia, south carolina. >>> sanders issued a statement warning his grassroots political revolution has only just begun. he went on to say let me be clear on one thing tonight. this campaign is just beginning. we won a decisive victory in new hampshire. he swon a decisive victory in south carolina. seems as though hillary clinton already has her eye on donald trump and the gop. listen to what she said after last night's blowout. >> we don't need to make america great again. america has never stopped being great. but we do need to make america whole again. instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers. we need to show by everything we do that we really are in this together. >> we are going to talk here in a couple of seconds but i want to bring this poll back up, if we c

we are going now to south carolina, we're going to win in south carolina. >> i also hope that we all remember, and this is a message not just to our opponents but to those who support me as well, that we will need to come together in a few months and unite this party and this nation because the right wing republicans we oppose must not be allowed to gain the presidency. >>> let's talk about the big wins for donald trump and bernie sanders. let's bring in our panel of political experts. daily beast columnist patricia murphy, cnn political analyst josh rogen. patricia, let me start with you here. donald trump, wow. i mean, i was up in new hampshire the last five days and the whispers were donald trump he may win but it's going to be by a slimmer margin than is reflected in the polls right now, maybe single digits, but he outperformed expectations there. >> he absolutely outperformed expectations there. i was in new hampshire as well and you would go to his rallies, thousands of people in what felt like the middle of nowhere kind of a small ski town and people were coming out and it was

spleesh because you get to south carolina he'll say south carolina made me do it. dirty tricks. i still say where's the contrast in substance? where are the philosophical differences? if mr. trump would say i think ted cruz's tax plan say disaster, that would be more credible than he's a nasty guy, he's mean. i don't know how many conservative voters will say ted cruz washington insider when the constant washington insiders bob dole and trent lott and others are saying we don't like ted cruz, we can't stand him, we won't vote for him. you can't have it both ways. i think the difference between trump and cruz is this. they both have set it up this year to put the establishment flat on its back. the twoun tag team of trump and cruz. however, one is talking about taking on the washington accomplishme establishment and one's gone there and done it. >> but why change your tactics if you're winning? why would donald trump change and give specifics about things or change his campaigning when he's winning? >> he won't. >> kellyanne, i've got to disagree with you because this collection

this is a vibrant, energetic conversation we will see not just in south carolina, after the south carolina primary, two days later super tuesday you have georgia, alabama, arkansas, tennessee, and virginia, and later on my home state of louisiana where you have a lot of black delegates at stake. i think the candidates need to tune their message to not just inspire and uplift but to really come up with solution. >> how do you see it spilling into caucuses? >> i think it will spill over because there's a lot of skepticism. >> of what? >> of both candidates. like bernie discovered black voters 18 months ago, now coming up with policies. >> his history, a member of core at university of chicago, civil rights movement. arrested once, helped integrate an apartment complex there. you say because people don't have fluid knowledge of that, they're just being introduced to that idea, that part of this man. therein lies the skepticism. >> it is not just that. most things are 50 and 60 years ago and i don't care, a lot of voters don't care. what have you done for me lately, where have you shown polici