>>> this is the counting of republican ballots. it's going on live. let's listen in. >> marco rubio. rand paul. chris christie. donald trump. marco rubio. jeb bush. ted cruz. donald trump. ted cruz. ted cruz. marco rubio. donald trump. marco rubio. rand paul. donald trump. rand paul. donald trump. marco rubio. jeb bush. donald trump. john kasich. donald trump. rand paul. marco rubio. donald trump. marco rubio. marco rubio. rand paul. marco rubio. marco rubio. marco rubio. marco rubio. governor christie. jeb bush. marco rubio. rand paul. marco rubio. marco rubio. marco rubio. rubio. marco rubio. donald trump. chris christie. rand paul. rubio. >> we hesitate to jump in here like golf announcers. let's state the obvious. something as basic and organic as folded pieces of paper in an organic u.s. mail paper while everyone who has watched a device is watching it being tallied up. it's from here that the voters in iowa, those who cared enough to go out and caucus can send a message that's heard not just around the political country but around the world. let's given where we stand given the fact

aimed at senator marco rubio after his strong third place showing in iowa. governor chris christie is calling him the boy in the bubble. >> we know who the boy in the bubble is. he never answers your questions. he's constantly scripted and controlled. i hope you have guys ask him some questions because it's time for him to start answering questions. jon: joining us now, michael warren and jackie kucinich. jackie, why is chris christie going after the guy he calls the boy in the bubble? why not donald trump or ted cruz? they finished ahead of marco rubio. >> marco rubio finished stronger than expected an has the momentum going into new hampshire. when you are at the top you are going to draw fire. it will be interesting the next couple days to see how these candidates respond to marco rubio. you have to manage he's going to be on the hot seat whether he's on that center position on the stage. jon: is it possible the guy who finished third considered the real winner? >> that might be going too far. ted cruz did win. but marco rubio does have all the sights aimed at him because he's expe

there, and are some campaigns that think it is true. it says that marco rubio has gotten over ted cruz. mark: or at least threatening him. john: this will not be a mortal blow by any means, but it would be a big deflation for ted cruz. people talk you might finish this primary. it would be a big blow, if he was third, below marco rubio. speaking of marco rubio, moving on. he is riding high since he was endorsed by nikki haley on wednesday. they were on the campaign trail today, and holding five rallies. this after scheduling challenges made him stand up to voters at the conservative review conference last night. there was an unforced error that drew fire. he rescheduled the event for tonight. there are a lot of eyes right now on young, marco rubio. so what constitutes meeting and beating expectations? mark: meeting is beating jeb bush. beating expectations is beating ted cruz, and, obviously the big casino, finishing first. i think -- marco rubio people , think that he was already riding high before the endorsement. reducing the image of trey gowdy, nikki haley, tim scott and marco rub

over donald trump and marco rubio with an impressive 30 and ben carson fourth with 10%. only 7% of the republican caucus sites. 25% of the caucus sites reporting and maintaining her lead. 53% to 47% for bernie sanders. not doing so well. uncommitted the same number. hillary clinton doing well so far. about a quarter of that vote now in on the democratic side. let's go back to jake and dana for more. >> thanks, wolf. >> in our own jeff, he is in des moines at sanders's campaign headquarters. we just spoke with him. what did he have to say? >> we just spoke with senator sanders and his wife surrounded by his family. we are here in des moines watching the results come in carefully. >> what do you think you accomplished here? we are only at the beginning of the race. >> what we have shown is that the american people are very dissatisfied with the situation with the middle class continuing to shrink. i think even more, regardless of people's persuasion, people are really angry about a campaign finance system. that's corrupt and allows billionaires to buy elections. >> of course senator

witha video of of rube rube. -- marco rubio. the audio us not clear but there are subtitles and they quote rubio has telling somebody he won't find any answers in the holy book. rubio aides said he actually said all the answerser in the bible. enough the cruz staffer is apologizing. >> i posted in haste. i should not have done it. it's apologized to marco rubio and the campaign, and posted that on my facebook and shared it on twitter and i'm saying it here. it was a mistake and i would not knowingly post something i knew to be false. >> but you can't put toothpaste back in tube. today marco rubio blast the cruz campaign and said he was actually praising the bike. >> talk about the va, where people who aren't doing their job need to be fired. who is going to be fired when ted cruz is president in this campaign now has repeatedly done things they have to apologize for. >> rubio is talking aboutkÑmo"p, and without jeb bush to beat up, donald trump is now targeting marco rubio. trump retweeted a supporter who questions rubio's citizenship, quoting, mark trumping are both cruz and rube y

. lightweight marco rubio was working hard last night. this is true. the problem is, he is a chalker. and once a chalker, always a choker, i guess that's what he meant to say, he spelled it chalker. he called me mr. meltdown. let me tell you something, during one of the breaks, two of the breaks, he went backstage, he was having a meltdown. first, he had this little makeup thing applying, like makeup around his mustache, because he had one of those sweat mustaches. he wanted a full-length mirror. maybe to make sure his pants weren't wet. i don't know. then i see him pacing back and forth, and then he is huddled in the corner talking to somebody, waiving his arm up and down and the person trying to calm him down. any way, but i'm a chalker. all right, next tweet. lete weight chalker marco rubio looks like a little boy on stage. he meant to say lightweight, but he spelled it lete, so he got it wrong. looks like a little boy on stage. it it's not that i look like a little boy, so you start to worry, because he would be older. >> all right, last one, wow, every poll said i won the debate last

tweets or targets. then something went very of ride. marco rubio taking all of those tweets and responding to them in real rapid-fire time. >> you want to have a little fun? what is donald trump doing when things go wrong? he takes to twitter. i have the right here. let's read some. we will have fun. number one here is the first one. light weight marco rubio was working hard last night. this is true. the problem is he's a talker. once the talker, always that choker. guess what that is what he meant to say. he spelled it choakechoaker. he called me mr. meltdown. he went backstage during one of the breaks and was having at melt down. he had this make a thing of lying to make up around his mustache. one of those wet mustachees. then he asked for a full length mirror. don't know why because the podium goes up to here but he wanted a full length mirror. maybe to make sure his pants weren't wet. i don't know. [cheers and applause] >> then i see him picking back and forth that he is of in that corner talking to someone waiting his arms up and down trying to calm down. i am a talker. ne

concerning senator marco rubio. he was forced to apologize to dr. ben carson for fraudulently stealing his votes in iowa and was embarrassed by his phony voter violation form. he is a liar and these statements maids by cruz are desperate moves by a guy tanking in the polls watching his campaign go up in flames. finally, if i wanted to bring a lawsuit it would be legitimate. likewise, if i want to bring a lawsuit concerning senator cruz being a natural born citizen i will do so. time will tell. >> i want to go to david chall on. this is not a reality show. this is real. >> i like the teddy touch. >> it was funny. but this is truly escalating into something we have not ever seen before. unprecedented. >> we are three days away from what may be one of the most consequential contests in this campaign. we are on the precipice whether or not donald trump can take his new hampshire victory solidify it with the stamp of approval from south carolina which has always been a proving ground on the way to the nomination. if he can do that and his opponents can't stop him here, he is going

. and marco rubio exceeding expectations and how with a very strong showing, finishing right on donald trump's heels. mike huckabee has officially called it a night. on the democratic side, third place finisher martin o'malley announced, like, huckabee, he's out. we'll wait to see whether bernie sanders or hillary clinton finishes first we have a very big show, charles krauthammer is here, we'll be joined by bill burton and some are saying that targeting evangelicals and libertarians from the start of the race. two of the most reliable iowa voting blocks here moments ago. >> god bless the great state of iowa. tonight is a victory for the grass roots. tonight is a victory for courageous conservatives across iowa and this great nation. tonight the state of iowa has spoken. >> joining us now, alice stewart, a senior communications advisor for the cruz presidential campaign, alice, congratulations how are you feeling tonight? >> thank you, megyn. it's a tremendous night for conservatives across iowa and the country. the cruz campaign did not leave anything on the tracks time and voters cam

directly from voters. marco rubio topping donald trump by two points. >> for the first time in many months, there's a new national frontrunner on the republican side. >> so far though that poll an outlier because also today a new poll showed trump with a big lead with rubio in second place at night and cruz in third with 18. the candidates taking the stage behind me in less than an hour here in greenville, south carolina. one of those candidates marco rubio, winning a major endorsement just moments ago from south carolina's wildly popular governor nikki haley. donald trump speaking live right now in south carolina. that is where we begin with sara murray, who is traveling with trump today in walter borough. it's reached a whole new level of negativity between these two. >> reporter: you're absolutely right. the campaign has taken on a different tenure. today, donald trump threatening not one, but two lawsuits. tonight, donald trump is raising the stakes in his battle against ted cruz. >> this is a guy who raises the bible and yet he tells fibs, he tells lies. >> reporter: threatenin

cruz fires his campaign spokesman for spreading a false claim that marco rubio had bad mouthed the bible. as his two main rivals accuse each other of dirty dealing, donald trump looks to be holding all the aces heading into the nevada caucuses. >>> burned rate. trailing hillary clinton before the south carolina primary, bernie sanders goes on the offensive. but with super tuesday looming, is he spending his campaign money faster than it's coming up? >>> and un-willing. kim jong-un refuses to discuss his nuclear program as the north korean leader inspects his war machine. is there anything left to talk about? i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." >>> on the eve of the nevada caucuses, donald trump may have a good reason to feel lucky. after another big win in south carolina, his stack of chips is growing while his rivals rip each other apart. ted cruz has just fired his campaign spokesman for spreading a false story about marco rubio supposedly disparaging the bible. rubio is emerging as the leading mainstream republican contender, inheriting some of jeb bush's big suppo

kasich, marco rubio, jeb bush and chris christie rounding out the top six of their but after second place, third-place finish, trump says skipping the last debate was not such a good idea but he is moving forward with what he sees as bright skies ahead for him in new hampshire. >> what happened if you take a look at the overall picture, here i am doing so well. it is very natural, i have known the people for years, been in new hampshire for years, i think i will do great year. i would have done better in iowa had i not wanted to that event for the vets but i am happy with second place finish. bill: fox news digital policy editor, let's start with rand paul suspending the campaign. following mike huckabee on the sidelines. what does that mean in new hampshire? >> iowa did its job. rand paul didn't do horribly, and he wants to be in contention and if he couldn't do okay there it was unlikely to go forward for him so he took the chance and as it turns out very few people will end the being president. we looked it up. not that many all and most are already dead. bill: we are reaching ou

be a good thing in a tight race. if she ends up running against a marco rubio or kasich, it will be cut in the fall. she has this balance of saying i am part of president obama's administration, i want to continue the good work he has done, particularly to get that afire wall night and strong against bernie sanders with african americans, but if she does it too much, these disparities will come back to bite her when a good moderate candidate goes up against her in the campaign. she could try and tie herself to obama's record, but if bernie sanders is looking at that record, he should be able to go after the three strikes and you're out policy, some of the issues that were going on in urban america under president incline to tonne where a lot of votes sent many african americans to jail which destroyed many families. that is something that bernie sanders if he wants to win, he should be looking at using if he is trying to make a statement, he will back away from that type of rhetoric >>> a good point, though, what is good for the primary is not always good for the general election. w

tonight. marco rubio, ted cruz right now still at this moment battling it out for second place. it is close, it is tight. we are watching this. the night, though, belonged to the republican billionaire from new york, donald trump. that is where we begin. sara murray is live inside trump headquarters in spartanburg, south carolina. sara, a very big night for donald trump. bh what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, kate, there was already a celebratory feel here before the numbers came in, and when cnn finally called this for trump, the crowd went wild. listen to what he had to say to his supporters tonight. >> i love you all. again, south carolina, we will never forget you. we will never forget you. we will never, ever forget south carolina. we will never forget our great volunteers. we love our volunteers. we'll never forget all of the people that have helped us so much, my family. and folks, let's go, let's have a big win in nevada. let's have a big win at the s.e.c. let's put this thing away. >> reporter: you heard trump forecasting the calendar ahead. one thing he did not do in

his home state. texas is going to be crucial. then there's marco rubio. the gop establishment rallying behind him even though he is yet to win a single state. his campaign is preparing for a brokered convention. trump is fighting with two people who won't actually be on the stage tonight. last debate it was the pope. this time it is former mexican president vicente fox. >> i'm not going to pay for that [ bleep ] wall. he should pay for it. he's got the money. >> trump's response on twitter, vicente fox horribly used the f-word when discussing the wall. if i did there, there would probably be an uproar. that's probably true. romney claimed there would be a, quote, bombshell, in trump's tax returns. there's a lot to get to tonight. first i want to get to jim acosta. this battle with the former mexican president just breaking late today when he is using the f-word to talk about whether mexico will pay for the wall. what do you think trump will be talking about tonight? >> he is asked about it, erin. i think he'll engage. this is not an endorsement coming from south of the border.

finished second, despite suggestions he had the evangelical vote. and marco rubio exceeding expectations and how with a very strong showing, finishing right on donald trump's heels. mike huckabee has officially called it a night. on the democratic side, third place finisher martin o'malley announced, like, huckabee, he's out. we'll wait to see whether bernie sanders or hillary clinton finishes first we have a very big show, charles krauthammer is here, we'll be joined by bill burton and some are saying that ted cruz scored big tonight by targeting evangelicals and libertarians from the start of the race. two of the most reliable iowa voting blocks here moments ago. >> god bless the great state of iowa. tonight is a victory for the grass roots. tonight is a victory for courageous conservatives across iowa and this great nation. tonight the state of iowa has spoken. >> joining us now, alice stewart, a senior communications advisor for the cruz presidential campaign, alice, congratulations how are you feeling tonight? >> thank you, megyn. it's a tremendous night for conservativ

fails. marco rubio was talking about taking it to the convention. it is like everyone keeps trying to extend their firewall more and more. no one can really believe that donald trump will be the nominee. they are all setting up scenarios where maybe i'll get it this way or that way. no one can come to terms with the fact that donald trump might roll through super tuesday. they all kind of have a strategy that they think is somewhat plausible. >> it is the second stage of grief. it's called denial. >> none of those strategies include actual wins. that's the problem. >> the problem is when you get into a room with donors, which is where this brokered convention idea was brought up, the first question out of their mouth is what is your path to victory? if you get to march 15th without a win in a single state, you have to come out of the box. you talked about cruz in texas and kasich in ohio, marco in florida. the timing is important. for cruz, it comes on tuesday. he will get a bump on that. kasich and marco have to wait another 15 days. >> if they win their home states, how does it f

pitch battle for second place. just a few minutes ago marco rubio pulled ahead, more than 500 votes, 580 votes right now ahead of ted cruz with 74% of the precincts. and we're counting this all night. it could change again. for these guys, second place matters. don't forget, when you claim second, you claim the biggest victory ever. ben carson and john kasich back in single digits. the biggest news is donald trump. he leads in all counties. hugely popular among voters who say they're angry at the federal government and more voters angry in nevada than we've seen before. they want the next pretty to be an outsider, not someone experienced in politic. hi crushes it there too. in his victory speech, donald trump was ecstatic about his win. listen. >> we won the evangelicals, we won with young, we won with old, we won with highly educated, we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. we' with the smartest people, the most loyal people. you know what i i'm happy about? i've been saying it for a long time. 46% with hispanics. number 1 with hispanics. i'm really happy about tha

hired anybody. >> reporter: marco rubio and ted cruz worried about donald trump's trifecta of wins in the last three republican contests. unleashing an onslaught of attacks against the front-runner, from illegal immigration -- >> when i was leading the fight against the gang of eight amnesty bill, where was donald? he was firing dennis rodman on "celebrity apprentice." >> if he builds the wall the way he built trump tower he'll be using illegal imgrant labor to do it. >> the second thing about the trade war i don't understand. your ties you wear and suits are made in mexico. >> devalue currencies to such an ex-thaent our businesses cannot compete with them. our workers lose think jobs. >> i don't know anything about bankrupting four company. you bankrupted four company. >> lied about the polish workers. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. 38 years ago. >> let senator rubio. >> i guess there's a statute of limitations on lies. >> competition. so many different plans. >> now he's repeating himself. >> i'm not repeat -- no, no, no. i watched him repeat himself five times four weeks ago. >> i saw you re

decisive lead, 45%, 19% of the vote in. marco rubio with 24.7% and ted cruz with 20%. again that's 19% of the vote in. we're live. our coverage continuing throughout this hour here on cnn. to donald trump's point again he is correct there is this assumption that many people have had that if only there was one other candidate all those votes would come together and it would be more than donald trump. >> not to make donald trump's head explode, but if you look at the national polls right now his average is 37%, so the non-trump vote is more than that. so obviously as he points out some of those votes, some percentage is going to go to trump rn trump, but it is true that the lack of consolidation in the anti-trump vote is putting him -- his only chance to beat him i think it's pretty safe to say is on a one-on-one race because the race has been trump against a bunch of people you have never heard of so he dom nats in a race like that. the only chance is trump with rubio or cruz and it's a big national story, they're debating, they're storming the states. >> in a general election against

precious may explain why. donald trump is on top with 36%, followed by ted cruz with 70%. marco rubio got a huge endorsement from governor nikki haley. he comes in third with 15%. jenna bush at 13%. john kasich and ben carson both in the single digits. no breaking news, but this is the context before south carolina republicans vote. in the center ring in this battle royal is donald trump and ted cruz. for days, trump has been calling curz a liar and threatening to file a lawsuit over his eligibility to run for president. that o, canada thing. he spoke to reporters in seneca, south carolina and offered his strongest counter blow yet. sen. cruz: i understand if a cousin has a record -- if a candidate has a record like canld trump, that anyone point to his record. if he files the lawsuit that he threatens in this letter, that will be frivolous and it will result in both donald trump and any lawyer that signs his name for filing frivolous litigation. donald happily sat on national tv repeating things that are simply made up. that have no basis in truth. that are complete fabrications. that is

smart money says that is pretty much a done deal. what is interesting about this is the marco rubio/ted cruz contest, because marco rubio has to knock out mr cruz or vice versa. as soon as we begin to get that result, we will bring it to you live here on al jazeera. staying in the states, republican squaring up for a fight against the u.s. president over his refreshed plans as of yesterday to finally close down guantanamo bay. it is an effort to deliver on a pledge he made more than seven years ago. he believes the existence of it undermines america's standing around the world. >> reporter: it was one of his first promises in office, and now u.s. president obama is hoping in his last year he can actually accomplish it. close the controversial detention center at guatemalaned bay cuba. >> are we going to let this linger on? another 15 to 30 years? >> reporter: for all that time dozens of men have been held in limbo. they went on a hunger strike and they were finally fed through a tube. they're going to try to end the location, sending a plan to congress. it is a bit vague, listing 13 sit

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 everywhere. he's winning here in the center of the state. main line establishment republican voters. he's winning along the coast. military bases, you have retirees, more moderate voters in charleston. at the moment, donald trump is not only winning, but winning impressive margins. 28% there, marco rubio, second. ted cruz third. you want to watch this down here for marco rubio. he needs to stay as close as he can to trump along the coast if he's going to pull out the second-place finish tonight. a lot of people looking at the early results here. this is greenville. this is in the evangelical base of south carolina. rubio is ahead right now. a lot of people notice that.

cruz firing a top staffer for spreading a story about marco rubio and the bible. turns out it wasn't true. hillary clinton looking for another win in south carolina as bernie sanders steps up the attacks big time. let's go "outfront." >> good evening. i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, breaking news. a major shakeup for ted cruz's campaign on the eve of the nevada caucuses. his communications director fired. cruz says he personally asked rick tyler to resign. it comes after the rubio campaign asked cruz to hold his staff accountable for spreading misinformation. tyler posted this video that claims marco rubio trashed the bible to a cruz staffer. >> the only problem is that is not what marco rubio said. rubio posted their own video that said -- well, here's what it said. all the answers are in there. short time ago cruz spoke out about why he demanded tyler's resignation. rick tyler is a good man. this was a grave error of judgment. even if it was true, we are not a campaign that is going to question the faith of another candidate. even if it was true, our campaign should not have se

>> republican presidential candidate marco rubio held a town hall meeting over the weekend with voters in that for hampshire where he addressed health care, combating isis and military spending. he also criticized hillary clinton at the obama administration policies. [applause] >> let's go marco rubio. [applause] > >> we are endorsing senator marco rubio for president. we are day one supporters. and we have the t-shirts to prove it. our interest in marco rubio began in 2012 when he addressed the republican national convention. after hearing that inspiring speech, we were hoping he would make a decision to run in 2016 and he has not let us down. we identify with his background because we are also first-generation americans.

case,ic then ted cruz, then on the other side, marco rubio. on the far end behind me, ben carson. the debate layout, stage layout, is essentially an illustration where the race stands right now, john. donald trump is the man in the middle. he is taking heat from all sides. including from the past gop nominee mitt romney. earlier today, marco rubio was saying donald trump supports parts of obamacare. ted cruz last night was saying this is no time to take a chance with somebody out of pt barnum's circ circus. so, you know, this is going to be really the last -- one of the last chances for some of these establishment figures to try to leave a mark on trump. everybody who's attacked them so far has been unable to knock them off the front-runner status. donald trump said every time i'm attacked, it doesn't work. so he says he's prepared for what he thinks is coming later on tonight and that is a much more aggressive posture for marco rubio. but donald trump has more problems than these candidates who are going to be on stage here. he's dealing with mitt romney as you know, john, over the l

has won every single cat gegorc yes the 18-year-olds, marco rubio won them, but across the board evangelicals, across education and incomes, this is a really impressive win. the key here also and john king mentioned this earlier, that's increasing his vote share. that is really, really important. he's not in the 30s anymore. he's now at 44. >> that's another important point he made in this speech talking about the fact that making fun of the pundits who say the -- or even the establishment who says if we add up everybody who is not trump it could be the majority, except as people drop out votes tend go to him. he's not wrong about that. >> no and people do love a winner. that's one of the reason why some of these voters go to him. one of the reasons also david that he think he talks about is because he's very sensitive to what pundits say and a lot of pundits were saying it's just people with a high school education supporting him, he doesn't have wide support, he can't win evangelicals, he can't win latinos and other groups and he is proving them all wrong and he is dominating a

governor chris christie, a former rival is now in trump's corner. spelling it out. marco rubio scoffs at trump's misspelled insults, saying that like trump tower, he must have hired a foreign worker to do his own tweets. no holds barred. mudslinging isn't enough. now trump and rubio have gone from hurling insults to throwing water. what's next? and how will all of this look to voters? and carolina clash. while all eyes are now on super tuesday, democrats are hours away from the south carolina primary. bernie sanders trails hillary clinton there and is ramping up his own rhetoric. is their race about to get nasty? i'm wolf blitzer and you're in the situation room. >>> breaking news. marco rubio and ted cruz, donald trump brought in some back-up today. just hours after cnn's rauks republican debate and days before the the super tuesday at that contest, chris christie showed up to show his support for trump. he called trump the best person to beat hillary clinton and said no one is better prepared to lead the country. the sparring continues today in hours long insults sessions. calling t

. on the republican side, donald trump leading the field by 21. marco rubio dropped a point. jeb bush, john kasich each picking up two points apiece. trump will return to the debate stage in new hampshire tonight as republicans duke it out one final time before the primary. unlike his rivals on beth sides, trump is taking a break from campaigning today after speaking at a rally in south carolina last night. he did not flaunt his polling numbers like he usually does. but he still thinks he came out on top in iowa. >> trump didn't do so well, what? isn't it funny. i came in a strong, strong first, okay? but honestly, it doesn't matter. got a lot of delegates. and it really doesn't matter because my total focus now is on new hampshire. and then next week my total focus is going to be right here in south carolina. >> let's check in with msnbc's halle jackson in manchester for us. what do we expect from tonight's debate, halle? >> good morning, alex. there is a ton of interest in this race. you can see it with election officials predicting a record turnout as we look ahead to new hampshire

see how these dynamics play out. they say marco rubio hasn't attacked them and maybe that could be the next bitter battle in the republican primary. >> and we understand the trump campaign doesn't feel it's getting the respect it feels it deserves. south carolina big tonight by 10 points at least. they feel if this was anyone else, we'd be measuring draps in the oval office. >> that is absolutely right. 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 wh

campaign but they pointed back to his direction. congressman trey gowdy endorsed marco rubio. a fake facebook page showed he switched his endorsement from marco rubio to ted cruz. that was fake but that's south carolina. there was this gem put together by the ted cruz campaign ahead of the south carolina primary. it proports to show the real marco rubio. it's fake marco rubio photo shopped making it look like he was grinning like a goon and shaking hands with president obama when he was not. after south carolina, there was this video. it was not created by the ted cruz campaign. it was created and up loaded by the student newspaper at the university of pennsylvania. the tape shows marco rubio having a chance encounter with ted cruz folks, including ted cruz dad. the paper indicated that when marco rubio saw this young man reading a bible, he pointed at the bible and said there are not many answers in it. now, that subtiting is not only weird but it was wrong. senator rubio said the opposite. apparently what he said is he complimented the young man on the fact he was reading the bible

. as the make or break super tuesday contest s draw near, marco rubio goes toe to toe with donald trump. ted cruz is piling on, desperately needing a win himself super tuesday. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in the election room. hillary clinton has the momentum she wanted going into super tuesday. she did not target her democratic rival, bernie sanders, she went right after the republican frontrunner, donald trump and used his campaign slogan as a weapon. >> despite what you hear, we don't need make america great again. america has never stopped being great. [ applause ] but we do need to make america whole again. instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers. [ applause ] we need to show by everything we do that we really are in this together. >> bernie sanders reacted to the south carolina loss by basically saying you win some, you lose some. at a rally in the super tuesday state of minnesota, he said his campaign is not just about the election but about transforming america. >> you know what democracy

we have been up all night. cruz first and trump second and marco rubio third. that happened four and a half years ago. we have been counting votes on the democratic side. you see the razor margin there. a few minutes ago, we got news that may tell us what the results could be when we declare the final winner. let's read the statement from the democratic party chair. clinton has been awarded 699.57 state delegates. bernie sanders with 695.49 state delegates. we are still waiting for one precin precinct. polk county. that is only worth 2.28 state delegates. even if bernie sanders wins that, it was a 4.08 state delegate difference. there are only 2.28 state delegates remaining. that is the situation which is why the clinton campaign says she has won. >> they are looking at that map, clearly and saying they are ready after thorough reporting and analysis and results, they say there is no uncertainty. she won the race. >> let's go to chris moody. let's be clear, cnn has not called this race, but we did just look at the math, chris. >> reporter: the math lookings to be on hillary clint

, a brawl between the marco rubio and donald trump with a guest star new jersey government chris christie. it was quite a day in trump. the gop front-runner and marco rubio going after each other today, trading insults that are personal, mean spirited and just downright ugly. >> i saw with rubio, i saw and he's a nervous wreck because here's a guy, he's a nervous basket case. here's a guy -- you had to see him back statement. he was putting on make-up with a trowel. no, i don't want to say that. i will not say that he was trying to cover up his ears. i will not say that. no, he was just trying to cover up -- he was just trying to cover up the sweat that pours off -- did you ever see a guy sweat like this? >> he called me mr. meltdown. let me tell you something, last night in the break during one of the break, two of the breaks, he went backstage. he was having a meltdown. first he had a little makeup thing applying make-up around his mustache because he had one of those sweat mustaches. then he asked for a full-length mirror. i don't know why because the podium requests up to he.

of the night senator marco rubio right behind with 23 percent buevery ti we take a look at the numbers he's gained a percentage., closer to trump and trump is to crews, three quarter of the precincts reporting dr. ben carson fourth place with 9 percent, rand paul 5 percent rounding out the top five bend jeb bush the man with the most is been in this campaign 3 percent, john kasich 2 percent carly fiorina mike huckabee, the 2008 caucus winner, new jersey governor chris christie, 2012 caucus winner rick santorum 1 percent and joe gilmour 11 votes. frontrunner, has been now for much of the evening and that is senator ted crews, stephanie moore put the crews campaign tonight. we are at the crews campaign at the iowa state fairgrounds in the band is playing. there is a large crowd, practically standing room only, crew shirts, everybody excited. the crews caucus goers, they were saying double the amount of voters, and some reporting nearly 100 additional people registering a boat tonight sew a large turnout for cruise but some other people said they are porting -- supporting cruz bec

donald trump, ted cruz and marco rubio. that battle between rubio and cruz just keeps getting uglier. the latest, rubio calling for a cruz staffer to be fired over what he calls deceptive and untrue tactics. we'll take that demand right to cruz's communications director in just a few minutes. let's not forget that the biggest day of the 2016 race so far, super tuesday, that's eight days away from now, next tuesday. gabe gutierrez is in reno following marco rubio. katy tur is covering donald trump for us. that's where we'll begin. she's right next to me in las vegas where donald trump will be later tonight. >> i could have sworn we were in new york. >> right, it looks like the brooklyn bridge. i just said it's a three-man race now. but if any other republican had won in new hampshire and south carolina back to back, we probably would be saying that's the frontrunner, that's the person that's going to lock it up. >> nobody wants to say donald trump is going to knock out the nomination because nobody is quite sure how he's going to behave, essentially, in the next few months. they don't

the middle east and europe. you have in the middle east -- >> you're listening to marco rubio outside of atlanta in kennesaw. perhaps this has been the most fiery and perhaps even comical marco rubio that we have been able to see in a very long time. he's rallying support there past last-ditch effort, he hasn't won a contest yet. and he reiterated that. you got to win a contest. haven't done that yet. he's hoping that the folks there in georgia, one of the 13 states, super tuesday states will get behind him. hello, everyone, i'm fredricka whitfield live from you at the university of south carolina where democrats are voting today. but that hasn't stopped republicans like marco rubio stumping in various states leading up to super tuesday. we're also waiting right now to hear from donald trump. a rally could start at any moment now there in arkansas. perhaps his folks are listening to marco rubio who was unleashed there who went as far as saying donald trump he is not some great businessman, why sell hiring foreigners to do the jobs of meramericans and he even classified donald trump to

rebound. he's the favorite target of the gop rivals. can marco rubio come back from a rocky debate performance? our brand new poll is just out showing where the candidates stand right now only hours before the crucial new hampshire primary. >>> trump taunts. there's no let-up in the verbal slug match between donald trump and jeb bush. now after being called a loser and a lawyer, donald trump lets loose. wait until you hear my interview with the front-runner. >>> isis sleeper cells. are terrorists hit teams in place in major cities ready to strike? chilling new details about the intelligence that western security agencies have received even before the paris massacres. >>> and missile defense. as north korea celebrates a rocket launch, will the u.s. deploy an anti-missile system to protect its allies? and how great a threat does kim jong-un now pose to the united states itself? i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." >>> with only hours to go before the nation's first primary begins, our brand new cnn/wmur poll is just out. it shows donald trump well in front of the other r

right now marco rubio has the edge. 23.8%. ted cruz pulling in the rear at 21.5%. trump triumphed in nearly every county. trump was hugely popular among voters who say they're angry, dissatisfied with the federal government and among those who say they want the next prettysit to be an outsider. in his victory speech trump was ecstatic about his win. >> we won with evangelicals, we won with young, we won with old, we won with highly educated. we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. we're the smartest people, the most loyal people, and you know what i'm really happy about because i've been saying it for a long time. 46% with hispanics. number one with hispanics. i'm really happy about that. >> he is happy. the win in nevada puts trump well ahead of the delegate count. he now has 20 more than all of the other candidates combined. now they look at the biggest cache yet, super tuesday next week. >> joining us to break down the nevada results and the numbers looking forward, cnn political reporter tal kopan. again, i think people are going to wake up going wow. they went t

after being in south carolina all week, that marco rubio is pitching -- who is the most logical person to consolidate those voters, is punishing his campaign several clicks to the right where they are. his view has been throughout, as you guys talked about earlier, as these other candidates go out, the center right, mainstream conservative republicans, will have no chase but to come to him and that he can spend all of his time trying to cut into the support for cruz and trump on the right. he had success with that. he did well with evangelicals, especially college educated evangelicals. but he has not unifying sufficiently those voters in the upscale, white collar part of the party. >> and those tuning in right now and see the congressman, trey gowdy on the top right of the screen, about to introduce marco rubio, and when he starts speaking we'll bring that live. you wanted to make a point. >> no, i agree, with braunstein. it's something interesting that trump said tonight. he said, oh, listen. the assumption is once these other folks drop out, kasich and bush, then all that sup

inaugurated in washington d. c. >> on the twitter trail, marco rubio says we're not going to turnover the conservative movement to a con artist. trump touting rubio in his home state in florida. still sending shockwaves through the state. donald trump, 44-28 over senator marco rubio. i'm joined by frank torres. frank, i appreciate your being here. does it surprise you that donald trump is that dominant? >> you know, that margin lead, he went over 14 points over marco rubio. that was the biggest showing by donald trump so far in florida. >> it's not just in florida, he is dominating in other areas. he has even said so. take a listen to this. >> we won the evangelicals. we won with young, old, with highly educated. we won with poorly-educated. i love the poorly-educated. >> that was one of the sound bytes that got a lot of attention. how do you explain the support for him from all the demographics. >> it's the outsiders take no holds barred. he doesn't care. he says whatever is on his mind which is something that's still refreshing to a lot of voters. you don't have somebody reciting lines

third victory in a row. today marco rubio the man many in the gop establishment consider the only hope of stopping donald trump used his last events to tell voters they are running out of time and that we cannot nominate someone who cannot win if they can't unite us. despite rubio's urgency and the urgency of many in the party, it might be too little too late. listen to this donald trump remark that donald trump made at this rally. donald trump: here's a guy throwing punches, screaming and everything else. the guards are very gentle with them. smiling and laughing. i would like to punch him in the face. mark: i've been to a lot of donald trump rallies and that would not even in the top 10 of newsworthy things i have heard him say. look at how much that one remark dominated the news cycle today. >> donald trump unloaded on a heckler at a las vegas rally. >> he wanted to hit a protester who interrupted him. >> this is what happens with donald trump dictating our culture. mark: news coverage for the other republican candidates was pretty meager. marco rubio's getting some coverage for his

ishg o was talking about? >> marco rubio for president >> for g.o.p. presidential candidates being on the ground, talking veterans, listening to the issues is one of the most important tactics in their hunt for delegates u if you're a veteran or you have a family member that is serving now or in the past, can you raise your hand so we can thank you some in that's unbelievable. >> here in south carolina there are eight military bases across the state and of the nearly five million residents here, over veterans. >> the fraud at the veterans administration is beyond belief. we're going to straighten it out, but we will make the be. >> from donald trump to ted cruz, the millitary and veteran affairs has been at the top of their list of talking points >> we have seen moralee in the military plummet. we have seen a commander in chief that does not stand with the service men and women that does not believe in their mission. >> lieutenant colonel is a veteran of afghanistan and is listening closely right? >> well, you know, i think they're all saying the right things, about you the proof is i

massachusetts. he has a 21-point lead ahead of marco rubio. donald trump at 35, marco rubio at 14, ted cruz 13, jeb bush, john kasich, 10, 10, chris christie at 4. bernie sanders now has a 14-point lead. bernie sanders at 55, hillary clinton at 41. joining us now from the site of tonight's debate is nbc's hallie jackson. there's been a lot of who's going after which candidate. i assume it's from which candidate can i steal the most votes. >> at this point it seems that it's going to be marco rubio who's at the center of that bull's-eye who will be the target tonight. let's talk quickly about what each. candidates need to do. you've got donald trump hoping to not drop the ball basically and underperform his number one poll position here. he's looking to keep the course steady as it goes and finish on top in tuesday's primary. you've got ted cruz who basically will need to stay out of the fray a little bit. if he can finish not being the center of attention, that would essentially bow a win for him. this is not the lane he's competing this, this establishment lane you're seeing the real compe

. marco rubio says it's not ted cruz. >> i said he was lying, because -- >> cruz says it's not donald trump or rubio. >> both trump and rubio are following this pattern, when everybody points to their actual record, to what they said and done, they start screaming, liar, liar, liar. >> and trump says it's not cruz. the billionaire sending the freshman senator a cease and assist order. >> he has done that most of his adult life, but this letter really was -- i practiced law 20 years and this letter really pressed the pounds of the most frivolous and ridiculous letters i have ever seen. >> dr. ben carson said the american people will decide. >> they are smart enough to understand bluster and rhetoric versus truth. >> we should have done more to prevent that attack, but after the fact we ought to be using every tool we can. >> i do know this, it will take a partnership between the technology industry and the government to solve this. >> a day after president obama criticized himself from distancing himself from a immigration bill. >> his party controlled the white house and senate

cruz and marco rubio, simply could not be any higher. time running out for them to try to stop donald trump, and soon so will the delegate math. as for the backdrop, well, donald trump calling mitt romney the party's 2012 nominee a dope, his words, for questioning donald trump's taxes. you've got mexico's former president, vicente fox, saying his country will not pay for any effing wall, and those are his words, as well. you've got rubio and cruz, slamming trump in the news, which we broke first here on cnn, that the rubio campaign is preparing, perhaps, for a contested convention to stop either trump or cruz. it would be an understatement to say that there is a lot in play tonight and a lot at stake for the candidates on the stage tonight. right now, let's get our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta, who is down on the debate stage for -- jim, what are you hearing from the campaigns, what kind of strategies should we expect from the candidates tonight? >> anderson, this debate night is shaping up as operation take down donald trump. the gop establishment has heard the critici

. you're watching "your world," and on the screen behind me you're seeing marco rubio speaking in reno, nevada. we had ted cruz in las vegas, nevada, the site of the very big caucuses tomorrow night. the bottom line is we're waiting to hear from marco rubio how he will respond to ted cruz's communications operative told to quit, to get out to pack up and leave. mike emanuel is in las vegas now with the latest. >> reporter: neil, an explosive afternoon here on the campaign trail in the silver state. a cruz adviser, it appears, will be losing his job after senator marco rubio accused the cruz campaign of more dirty tricks after a cruz aide tweeted out a story from a university of pennsylvania student newspaper, accusing rubio of telling a cruz staffer in south carolina there weren't many answers in the bible. cruz communications director rick tyler tweeted out a link to the story. tyler apologized this morning on fox, but cruz took action a short time ago. >> a grave error of judgment. it turned out the news story he send around was false but i tell you, even if it was true, we are not a

. >>> happening now, scramble for third. our new poll shows donald trump and marco rubio running a clear 1, 2 in new hampshire but the battle is now on for the middle of the pack. ted cruz and john kasich, they are now tied for third. we'll hear from kasick this hour. >>> trump trapped. his rivals are campaigning in new hampshire and even jeb bush's mother is out on the trail. but after flying home in his private jet, the front-runner was grounded in new york. not mincing words, bernie sanders and hillary clinton, they throw the gloves off in a stormy debate and trailing badly in new hampshire, hillary clinton complains that she's being smeared by her rival. >>> plus, laptop bomb. investigators believe it was a computer packed with tnt that blew a hole in an airliner. the man blown out of the plane may have been the bomber. al qaeda's african affiliate growing more dangerous. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." >>> the breaking news, with only four days to go until the nation's first primary, our brand new cnn/wmur poll just out shows donald trump holding on to his big lead

information to say where the others will be, but we do know that marco rubio and ted cruz will be in the top three, but donald trump, the big news, donald trump, projected to win the nevada caucuses. let's go to jim acosta now if we can, who is at trump headquarters in nevada. new hampshire, south carolina, nevada, donald trump the winner, we're projecting him this evening. >> reporter: that's right. and now we can say donald trump has won a caucus in edition to those two prime areas and as you were saying there were those organizational problems in iowa. that did not happen here. when you talk to the top trump campaign officials they felt like when they were looking at the landscape of nevada all day long, precinct after precinct they were seeing the same results. it was just donald trump dominating across the state, across multiple sites across the state. you were talking about super tuesday, they are very confident from inside the trump campaign. i can tell you from talking to the trump campaign manager, corey, they feel like they are built for a national campaign, they have staff and vol

header is winner of the night, marco rubio. trump, humiliated. how come the person that comes in third on many of the networks is being covered like it's one of the great victories in the history of politics in this country? >> vote for me, because if i'm the nominee, we are going to beat hillary clinton and it won't be by a flip of the down. no state demands more of your candidates than new hampshire. the role you play is so important. >> tonight, we'll be joined by marco rubio to ask him about his strong showing in iowa. and we'll ask governor mike huckabee about who he's endorsing after he bowed out of the race. tony perkins is here to talk about ted cruz, the evangelical vote, and south carolina, which is right after new hampshire. but we begin with dana perino, who is co-host of "the five," and mark tiesen, former speechwriter for george w. bush. let's talk about what trump said today. he doesn't like the media coverage with respect to marco rubio's third place finish with respect to his second place finish. he did make an admission saying he thinks skipping the debate hurt him bu