good evening, everyone. i am ayman mohyeldin. is seven pm here on the east coast, which means the polls are now officially close. tonight's primary contests, marking the first official primary for democrats and in the first time that president joe biden's name appeared on a ballot this election season. now, alongside him on the ballot, democratic rivals, congressman dean phillips and marianne williamson. steve kornacki is live for us from washington prepared to break down the results for us. any moment now, as soon as we get them. however, to be clear, the nights outcome is all but decided. biden stands as the overwhelming favorite tonight

in the state. and what we really want to watch out for you tonight is how many delegates he leaves south carolina with. a total of 55 will be awarded proportionally based on tonight's outcome. a candidate needs a total of nearly 2000 delegates to capture the democratic nomination. meanwhile, breaking news overseas tonight. the u.s. and uk launched a new series of strikes targeting the houthis inside yemen. the attacks hit at least 36 targets in at least 13 locations in the country following cities retaliatory strikes by the united states on more than 85 targets a seven iranian-backed military facilities fall rock and syria. a senior biden administration official told nbc news today that the strikes in yemen are in response to actions by the houthis and are not related to yesterday strikes in iraq and in syria. that's where we start this hour of our breaking news coverage.

with us now, live from tel aviv, matt bradley, nbc foreign correspondent. matt, you're in the region. give us a sense of how a day of airstrikes by the united states and its coalition have developed across both yemen and the broader view arab world. >> amen, it's a tricky one, because it's tempting to associate this with the salvo of missiles and projectiles that were launched by the u.s. on targets in iran and syria than it before. as we have heard, as we mentioned from the, states that this is not necessarily associated with that. this is part of an ongoing mission to target who'd sites in yemen that have been hitting commercial shipping in the gulf of aiden and the red sea. as i mentioned, we heard from the houthis just tonight. they said that they will be continuing that harassment of international shipping, which has really stalled up a lot of traffic throughout the region, really a main shipping route for the entire world between

asia and europe, forcing a lot of votes to go around the horn of africa and the cape of good hope. they said that they would continue as long as israel's aggression in the gaza strip continues. a fight that has killed now nearly 27,000, most of them civilians, according to the gaza ministry of health. this looks totally distinct from what we have been seeing in iraq and syria, sort of downstream. it's a different approach, a different reason and a different mission, when you go up stream, through why this is all happening, the genesis of this all comes back right here to zero and its fight against the gaza strip. that's why we have been seeing the attacks by iranian-backed groups in iraq and syria, against u.s. sites there. that's why we saw the death of the three u.s. servicemen last weekend, and that is why we are seeing an entire region being brought to the brink of a region wide war that could encapsulate all of the middle

east. that is the big risk here. when you look at the act as part of this mission just this evening, they were the u.s., the uk, these have been the main actors involved in trying to fight against the houthis to protect against international shipping. they were backed by six other nations. all of this, if you like them side by side, it's almost exactly the same as the operation prosperity guardian that was started back in december. it was a coalition of different nations, compiled by the u.s. and uk to protect international shipping. that looks like that is set to continue. again, sort of similar to what we see in iraq and syria, the effort against iranian-backed groups, but in a way, totally different. >> totally different and a cause of concern tonight, as we see more and more operations, military operations across the region. matt bradley starting us off in israel, that, thank you so much. let's switch gears back to the politics here. our reporters are fanned out across south carolina, as we await these primary results from the democratic primary.

msnbc correspondent jermaine lee is in north charleston for us, campaign's earned dean is in south charleston, and campaign embed, -- is live for us a watch party and columbus. good to have you all with us. we'll get the results altogether. it will try to parse them as start getting them, but i'll start with you, tremaine. you have been having conversations with voters. what are you hearing, and what are they telling you about the first official primary for the democratic party and one to as joe biden's name officially on the ballot? >> i tell you what, ayman, now that the polls have closed soon, we should be slicing out what the primary election results would mean. it's almost a foregone conclusion that joe biden will win, but the conversation as really been about the dueling narratives. here pulling suggests is that there is waning excitement and enthusiasm for the part of specific voters, like young black voters and some male voters -- i've spent the last weeks talking to the, groups and there is a little bit of dissatisfaction, even among

democrats who say that they would still vote for joe biden. but out here today, speaking to folks who arrived early this morning, started sprinkling into the polls throughout the day, say that they understand what the mission is. they say the mission is to get joe biden reelected, if ultimately, is a joe biden donald trump showdown rematch. so, those narratives are what they. are they are narratives. here on the ground, folks are making their voices heard with their ballots and with their votes. the folks we talked to are pretty excited. soon, we should know exactly what those turnout numbers actually look like, they see how many folks actually were induced to come out to vote today. >> sarah, let me bring you in on the conversation and pick up on something that tremaine was talking about. this will come down to enthusiasm. obviously, he is a president running for reelection. that already incorporates a little bit of suppression of numbers and a primary that is not very contested, but what are you hearing from voters there on the ground in terms of what you are seeing in turns out and what they tell you

about enthusiasm? >> yeah, amen, just about 330 voters cast their ballots here at sows point elementary school in james island in charleston today. the last voters just left. there was a slow but steady trickle throughout the day and i have heard from voters is that their mind is already on the general election. almost every conversation i had today, donald trump was brought up, either by name or an indirect reference, and joe biden. a lot of voters were casting their vote for him, in part due to the fact that they are thinking about the general election, and they are concerned about another trump administration. you might think that these voters, you mentioned enthusiasm, don't have concerns about joe biden. they came out here on a saturday in a pretty non competitive democratic primary to cast their vote for the incumbent president, but that was not the case. i heard lots of concerns today. heard concerns about president joe biden's age. i heard people say that they want more progressive policies

from the president. i even heard somebody say that they wished that he had stepped aside and not run again, but despite all that, they still came out and supported him today. largely, as i said, that was due to the fact that they are thinking about the general election, and they think what the nominee will likely to beat donald trump, amen. >> for mainly, sarah lee, thank you so much. we'll check back in with both of you later. we've lost our connection would not, maple tree will reestablish that. let's cross over now to msnbc national political correspondent, steve kornacki at the big board for us in washington d.c.. not here in new york. steve, it's good to see you, my friend. we just heard from a reporter there about enthusiasm about turnout, and i think this will probably be the early numbers. we know it's a foregone conclusion that joe biden will win, but how should we be reading the numbers as they come in tonight? >> polls are now closed. you see the official designation is too early to call. we will not have an exciple tonight, so this is the old- fashioned way. we'll wait to see some counties come in, get a sense of where this is, before the decision

desk makes any official on this, but it's a question here of what the turnout is and how biden does compared to philips and williams, with the margin. is as a reminder, last time around, for years ago, big democratic field. biden came to south carolina wounded. he had been blown out and i, leblanc to smithereens in new hampshire. nevada did not go much better, and all of a sudden, it turned it around in south carolina, getting nearly 50% of the vote, transformed the entire democratic race. that is why biden as tried to make south carolina the first official democratic contests, the first one where his name will appear on the ballot. in new hampshire, biden won as a write-in candidate. he got 65% of people in new hampshire. phillips got 20, so that was biden not on the ballot, just having his name written in, and that was new hampshire, it's that he only got about 8% of the vote in four years ago. this is south carolina where biden did incredibly four years ago, where he is on the ballot. i think you would expect that number to be significantly higher tonight, maybe 80% plus. we'll see what comes in here officially. in terms of turnout and what

constitutes good turnout, again, we are waiting here. any minute now, one of the counties could line up, and that would give us a good idea. here in terms of what constitutes good turnout or bad turnout in a primary like this, they do this, it's hard to say. i'll show you why. this is, this is the black vote in passed the market of primaries in south carolina. you see biden winning a pick in 2020, hillary clinton, barack obama. here is the turnout in the past primaries in south carolina, and the key is there's. 1996, 2012. those are the years that are like this year because those are the years where incumbent democratic presidents running for reelection. the problem is in south carolina, it's a tradition in both parties. if you got an incumbent running for reelection, they canceled the primary. so no primary in 96, no primary in. 12 does it be the years he would look for for a comparison in terms of turnout here. otherwise, you see the numbers are all over the place here. it's tough to tell. only one president is even faced a primary an incumbent president in south carolina.

it was a republican, george bush senior backcountry 92. pat buchanan came out in new hampshire, where he did unexpectedly well. must be in by 41 points backed. and those are the only benchmarks that we have. that, and as i say, again, as a write-in candidate, biden got 65 in new hampshire, the state looks better for him on paper for all sorts of regions, not to mention his name is on the ballot. again, you expect the numbers to be significantly better than that. in terms of the eternal question, will be looking in particular at counties with large black populations. the democratic electorate in south carolina is typically majority south american. as we showed you, it was african american voters to get biden that victory, who were primarily responsible for the huge south carolina victory four years ago. we are looking at a country like this tonight, even though the orderlies are coming in. but allendale counties has the highest concentration of black voters in the entire state. you can take a look here four years ago how biden did here. remember, he got less than 50 statewide, he got nearly 60 into county. what we want to look at here is

the turnout in a county like this relative to the rest of the state, is it low or high? that will get to the question of that core african american voter block that joe biden thinks is sort of his base, the key base for him. are they motivated to turn out and a primary? we have seen evidence in polling that black voters may not be that motivated right now. you hear tremaine talk to a certain suburbs there. the question is, is that something that we see in the return tonight in counties with large black populations. orangeburg county, another that will look at. it has the highest constitution of black voters in the state. biden got nearly 70% of the vote years ago. he did get 70% in williamsburg. a give you all counties. one of the largest buck populations in the state. aileen county, nearly 70% of the vote. there are a whole bunch of counties in the middle area of the state, that we will be looking at. in terms of bigger counties, this is the biggest and they stay. this is the state capital.

this is about 50% black by population. you see biden here ran a little bit better then he did statewide and 2020. again, we are waiting right now. i was hoping in the course of my meandering filibuster here, one of the counties with light up, because i think arsonist we get a result, it would be very telling. again, south carolina, it's a little, typically the returns, the first half hour are slow, but you typically get reports from one or two counties. that might give us a sense of what is going on in south carolina, tonight. >> i want to say a caveat that we all say to you, don't go too far away. obviously, as soon as we get the results, we'll come back to get to make more sense of. it's the kornacki at the big board, thank you. let's bring into the conversation, jonathan capehart, my friend and host of msnbc's capehart. it's good to see you. so, i want to get your thoughts. what should we be looking out for tonight? what are you going to be looking out for as the result start to trickle in?

>> so, i am going to be focused on turnout. i am glad that steve gave us that primer that in 96 and 2000, would be the more analogous years analogous to this year. there were no primaries. out also point out that in 2000, there were no primaries because vice president al gore was the basically incumbent, but he was running for president. here is what i am looking at in turnout. in new hampshire, president biden was not even on the ball and, yeah, he won the right in. that was a big help from new hampshire, where new hampshire basically said, yeah, you opted to kick us out, as the first primary, and he did not even campaign in the state. but, wilson's a message to the country that we are behind you. in south carolina, the state that put joe biden in the white house by helping him when the democratic primary there and eventually the nomination, he then makes south carolina the

first democratic primary, because it's a state that not only looks more like the democratic party but also looks more like the nation than iowa and new hampshire. but, he is the incumbent. i think people expect that he will win. i am looking at if we have low turnout, whatever that might be, low turnout, could that be that folks figured, he'll win, there's no need for me to show up at the polls this go around. will those people turn out in november? however, if there is a high turnout, however we are fighting that, if there is a high turnout, could that be that south carolinians, particularly black south carolinians, who are saying like they did in 2020, we are not letting the rest of the country tell us what to think and who we should vote for. we will tell the country who we think should be the nominee, and if south carolina comes out and big numbers for an

incumbent president who has a nominal challenge but sends a message that they definitively are behind him to be the nominee, that would be a big story. >> a big story and an important message, i think, that the biden administration would certainly use in the coming days, as they tried to build the momentum from the turnout, going into other primaries and notably, super tuesday. jonathan, thank you for giving us your initial thoughts. we'll be in touch with you throughout the show. please stick around. we'll also go back to steve kornacki in a bit, as we work to answer that key question, what is driving south carolina voters to the polls today, stay with us. >> what is the motivation for you supporting joe biden for another term? >> no trump is one of the main things. can't have trump as president, and all take every opportunity to vote. opportunity to vote. d weak enamel. sensodyne sensitivity gum and enamel it relieves sensitivity helps restore gum health and rehardens enamel. i am a big advocate of recommending things

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welcome back, everyone. we are back with msnbc's continuing coverage of the

south carolina democratic primary. we are going to bring in steve kornacki in a little bit. right now, i want to bring into our conversation, our panel to help us break down all of what we were expecting this evening. with this right now, adrienne elrod as well as chuck rocha. with me on set, the reverend al sharpton. rev, a start with you. as we await the initial numbers and what we should be looking out for, give me your take on how you are reading the importance of south carolina and, more importantly, the voices coming out of south carolina in terms of what this will mean for whoever wins tonight, presumptively, the biden administration. >> i think that a lot of what we are looking, at one, we don't know how to measure the turnout, because it's no real speculation that biden will win the primary. the question will be, do a lot of people come out, and what do a lot of people feel in terms of the general election is going to be a lot of anti trump, but i think that some

people are saying that they want to send a message. well i think that we have not looked at well is that none of those who have challenged biden has been able to plug into whatever the transaction that we're hearing, because i don't think what we are talking about is, not only will biden definitely win, but there is a large vote for those democrats who have challenged biden. we'll see whether it has taken on a lot. you would say that people are dissatisfied with him because of age, or because the message he has said what he has done, they have not been able to plug into. if i was -- i ran in 2004. if you can't get your message out against an incumbent, then you must ask maybe the incumbent is stronger with the body that we thought. >> we got our first results in. hold that off for everyone else. i want to cross over to steve kornacki, who will bring us in with these numbers, steve?

>> basically what we got, i'm in, is charleston county. a big chunk of charleston county, early vote here. this is where the city of charleston's. overall, statewide, joe biden gained 97% of the vote, basically all from the county, which i can show you. it's a fifth of the vote in charleston county. -- with what has come in so far. just as a point of reference, this is about 4500 votes that we have counted so far. you can see about 19% in, so at that pace, if that pace were to continue, it would be about 23,500 give or take, would be the turnout in this county. by comparison, in 2020, we talk about turnout. in the 2020 primary, hotly contested, obviously, the turnout in charleston county with 64,000. so, you can see it be about a third. they are on pace at least here with the early voting, they're on pace for about a third of what they got. we got some vote in the state capital as. well this is the biggie,

richland county. again, this is as overwhelming and near unanimous as he will see in any primary so far. biden at 98% here. again, this looks like the early tabulated. we'll get more in darlington county. again, this is about half the vote in. it will give you a sense here. there is a large black population here. you can see that biden did over 60% here last time around. he did 53 in richland. he's at 98 right now. lawrence county, charleston county, as we have showed you. biden, this is one of the weaker counties for him. this is not a county in terms of other south carolina counties, charleston county does not have a large black population. it's lower than the statewide average. again, you saw black voters power biden so much in 2020. the counties that had lower black populations he did not do as well. in at least we see in charleston county tonight, that is not all the case. you add that to get the statewide, and you can see, it's official, and it probably has been for a couple of

minutes, but the check mark means that the decision desk has called the south carolina democratic primary for the incumbent president, joe biden. nbc news projects that he will win the south carolina democratic primary. you don't need me to tell you that with numbers like this. but then, about 6% statewide. we'll continue to get counties like this on the board, and i think that this, point it's just a question of margin, a question of what you can read into turn, now if you can read anything at all. but the numbers tell the story, ayman? >> all right, our thanks to steve kornacki for the, and as we have said there, joe biden, the president, the incumbent president, is the projected winner of the democratic primary in south carolina. steve, we'll touch base with you in a bit. let's go to our political panelists and bring in adrienne elrod and chuck rocha. a adrian, i will start with you on this one, and the point that sleep is making, it's hard the a surprise that joe biden won

this but the enthusiasts within the biden campaign will say that this was expected, and we were also expecting the numbers not to be as high as they were in 2020 in the voter turnout because of the fact that he is incumbent and hardly competitive primary, but at the same time, the pessimist may be looking at this and say that the voter turnout is going to be the key determining factor here. how should we be reading into it throughout the course of the evening? >> well, look, i think that you just sort of now it is, when you are looking at a couple of -- first of all, he won the state, and that is a huge deal. this is diverse, as you noted earlier, the first primary that we recognized the democratic party. it's also a very diverse state, so joe biden doing very well in south carolina among diverse voters goes a very far, and it's a good sign going into the primary season. from a reminiscent standpoint, this is a state that means a lot to president biden, means a lot to his campaign. this is a state that ultimately

turned the trajectory of the primary around for him in a positive way. ultimately delivering him the democratic nomination. i think the campaign invested resources and they say to make sure that they do well in the primary. they want to show their south carolinians how grateful they are for all of the support that they gave them in 2020. again, this is a meaningful evening for the president. it really kicks a primary season in many respects, even though joe biden is obviously the nominee. so, i think it's great that he is doing well so far, and, you know, more turnout or less turnout, i think just recognizing is diverse coalition is really what south carolina has delivered tonight. >> he had an important message being sent out, perhaps either not just of the democratic party budget pivoting to the general election there, chuck, and it was something that ref said that i wanted to come back to. it really had to do more with the other candidates, not that there were serious contenders, as we saw from the early results but, the other two

names, congressman keith phillips, marianne williamson. two questions for you, they were not able to tap into it, if there were any resentment against the biden campaign or the biden presidency, and, to, where do they go from here? is this something that they should consider dropping out as a result of tonight? >> ayman, that's a good question. i will remind everybody four years ago tonight, i was in south carolina. i can promise you as the guy to help bernie sanders won his presidential campaign, folks in south carolina love them some joe biden. it was proven again tonight. what you had to look at here, folks knew that joe biden would win, first in the nation. we give him props, amazing job by jaime harrison, also from south carolina. what you are looking at tonight is a presidential campaign trying to get rid of some of the narrative about losing some of the black vote. black men are moving away from them. there could be movement here or there but tonight and today, ayman, they got to kick the tires on the truck. they went out and did the

community and tested their gop operations, which they will have to have. the rev knows this, who won the presidency, you need to win the black vote in philadelphia, milwaukee and the troy. that is what tonight was about. >> a really quick one, rev, is that the same motivating factor among black voters in philadelphia and in the north versus south carolina, black voters there? >> no, you will have to earn the vote everywhere, but i think the indication here is that if these numbers hold up anywhere near where they are now, it's that black voters decided, even though that they knew the conclusion, they came out and voted for joe biden. now, the question is, do you find your messaging to make sure that you get a bigger turnout in the general election and in the other primaries? but the fact that you see people did come out to vote for biden and did not vote for him -- any kind of it's challenging biden, the right-wing media that there are the satisfactory

parties among democrats, there is nothing this satisfactory in south carolina tonight, because he would've expected a movement of disinfected democrats coming out double against him, and it does not appear to be the case. >> panel, stick with me, i want to cross over to msnbc's tremaine lee, who is at a polling location. we're getting the initial numbers that you probably heard, and we're projecting that joe biden has won the south carolina primary, not a surprise. give us a sense of what you have been hearing from throughout the day and certainly this primary result. >> yeah, not that we are well past polls being closed, i want to bring into the charleston county board registration and election. you see here, polling data coming in from all over charleston county from 182 different precincts, a different polling locations. again, soon, will have a better sense. you guys have been talking, about just the forced of enthusiasm with which black voters have, in particular, showed up and out for president biden. there has been a tale of two

electorates, basically. the polling that has been reflected, and somewhat of what i have been hearing from, folks there is waning enthusiasm and excitement. yeah, underground here, as we learn that elections about who comes and cast their ballot, there was a lot of excitement for joe biden. folks that are clear about the mission, there were soldier bought into the white house, if he is indeed going against trump once again. so, even though there has been a lot of speculation and top here, those who were coming out the vote were enthusiastic. the big question is though, how many of those folks who feel disconnected, feel -- feel not touched by the democratic party and joe biden will ultimately show up later. again, folks are looking at south carolina as a barometer, a bellwether, to see how other folks and other states, like wisconsin and georgia and pennsylvania, how black voters there will be voting. again, even though we have been hearing a lot about this lack of excitement and enthusiasm, folks that show up, and it would be great to see those numbers -- here are supporting,

in amman? >> adrian, talk about momentum and the importance of momentum taking a vote or taking a win in the primary in south carolina and building on that for the biden campaign, as we know from 2020. new hampshire was a setback, iowa was a setback but when he hit south carolina, he was able to breakthrough and build a momentum that, honestly, delivered him straight to the white house. how did he capitalize on that momentum again to keep the campaign full steam ahead going into a general election? >> first of all, a man, you capitalize on by making sure that you are investing in the state. president biden's campaign, he knew that he would win south carolina. he could have literally dropped zero dollars in the state and had a resounding victory in south carolina. that is not what this campaign did. they invested in a ground game. they have a strong state operation in south carolina, and they did this for solid reasons. for number one, to your point, this is the first democratic primary that we recognized within the democratic primary

system. new hampshire was obviously a different situation, it was a strong write in campaign. i think the campaign was decided that people came out to write in president biden's name, even though it was not officially on the about there. but this is the initial first contests, on this first stage, the dnc, somewhat controversial but most people were excited within the party that the democratic national committee moved at the south carolina primary up to be the first in the nation, because it is a diverse state. so, i think if you are president biden, you are saying back in 2020, yes, i had a rocky road, getting the south carolina, iowa new hampshire. but south carolina is a diverse state. as a direct voice saying, and chuck was saying earlier, being able to go forward and the primary process, show strength amongst numbers voters, pushing back against the narratives out there that, maybe, he's losing support among black men, being able to go forward and say, here's a diverse state with a large black population, and president biden did well in

that state. i think this gives him a lot of momentum going into the primary process and, again, diversity here being the key. >> speaking of voters, let's cross back over to tremaine, who has been now speaking to voters that we can hear from. >> ottawa, ayman. what i heard today is a bit of a level set, but again, it did push back against the narrative here in recent weeks. the gentleman named haley all was a librarian here, made it plain in the way that i think spoke to a lot of voters, take a listen. >> so, there has been a lot of talk, voter excitement or lack there of, people checking out or checking in coming out to vote for the democrat today. look at you out here? were you driven by any excitement at all? how do you feel about joe biden, tell me about it. >> i think that joe biden is doing a great job, with all of the things that he is doing, whether the economy or international relationships, i think he's done a lot for us,

and i want to show my support for him. >> that is the one thing that you hear from folks actually pumped into the issues and aware of what the administration has done. there seems to be a disconnect between the positive message that resonates with him and other folks who are clearly unaware of that progress. again, that voter is the kind to show up today, those who are informed and mission-driven, ayman. >> across over to steve kornacki at the big board with more numbers,? steve >> what do you do when it's 97 to 2 to 1 in terms of that second the vote? look, one thing that we can tell you that is interesting to add to the conversation here is that it's what has been reported so far in south carolina. the thing that is most noteworthy to me is, actually, the three counties with the lowest share of black population in the state are theory that we have got reports from. you've got to right here in the up country, and you have horry county, we're myrtle beach is. these two counties are single digits here in terms of the

percentage of residents who are african american. as a matter of fact, this is pickens county, the home of clemson university. this has the smallest black population by percentage in the state, and look at this, this is the worst county in the 2020 primary. human got 32% of the vote here. tonight, it's just as unanimous for biden so far, in pickens county, a gain of 62 points for him. again, this is coming, presumably, largely overwhelmingly from white voters not on his side in the 2020 primary. they are tonight, in the same numbers that you see in other countries. take a look at myrtle beach, 96% year. again, this had the third lowest share of black residents in the entire state. look at where it was in 2020. biden was at 24%. tonight, near unanimous. it was the second lowest share of black voters in the state. biden did not even touch 40% here four years ago. he's at 95% tonight. brockville, this is york county. a little bit higher but, still, below the state average, when it comes to the share of black

voters. again, you are seeing the same numbers, 90 567 in every county right now, so we will wait on getting more of these majority black counties, where you have a picture of the vote to come in. we can talk about turn out and stuff. i guess besides the fact that biden's nearly unanimously winning the primary right now, the biggest growth we see right now, the same number in every county in every state, that means that with voters reluctant in 2020 with sanders or put a judge or other candidates, they are just us in line now as black voters now, at least in the primary. >> all right, steve, thank you for breaking down that for us. let's bring in -- he is joining us from a democratic party, from the democratic parties watch party, i should say, in columbia. with james clyburn. i believe he is there, representative james clyburn is there at the watch party. tell us what you are hearing in what the mood is obviously that joe biden is the projected winner, what are you hearing from those in attendance?

>> yeah, ayman, you can feel the excitement in the room, even though there was not a question that joe biden will win the state's primary. the fact that he would be winning by a large margin did cause some excitement. the highlight of the night though was representative jim clyburn took the stage to speak. two notable things happened. one, he referenced joe biden's victory in new hampshire and looked into dnc chair jaime harrison's eyes and said, find a way to make sure that those delegates count. this is something that we -- we know that the dnc decided not to have the new hampshire delegates, decided not to hold their primary in south carolina. even more than that, joe biden called in. jim clyburn got him on the phone, and his first question to the people in the room was, because they, what was the turnout like? he is just as curious as we are about how many people turn out the vote and support him? of course, clyburn, we don't yet know, but that is where the mind of the president is at the moment. he later thanked the audience and ended by telling him, you will not get rid of me yet, i

will be back. >> thank you so much. let's bring back in our panel and bring into the conversation jonathan capehart with us. we start with you, rev, already part of the biden campaign for all of us. as i said, four years ago, this campaign has been for everyone knockdown, counted out and left behind. that is culture today with more than 40 million new jobs and the record 22 straight months unemployment rate under 4%, including a record low unemployment rate for black americans. we are leaving no one behind. this is something that you and i talked about before the, show when we talked about how much of this is the fear setting people, that the republican candidate is trump, and we know what that means for our country, as much as it means for what joe biden has done for the voters of america specifically in a case like south carolina for black voters, because how much they are the backbone of the democratic party to the presidency. talk to me about that, what do we hear from the people that you speak to about how much of this turnout is going to be about the fear of losing to

donald trump and what he needs for our country and what joe biden does for our border? >> i think a lot of it will be the fear of donald trump, and i think a lot of it will be what is in the interest of the voters, and what did the biden harris ticket acid to is what they've done and what they could have done, if they were not blocked by the republican congress and the supreme court. let's not forget when we talk about young voters, a lot of the issues that they have is to student debt loan. biden threw put through student that loan, and the supreme court knocked it back. who's that the supreme court? donald trump and the republicans. if they message on i did abc, the identity own, i cut black unemployment down to historic lows now, i've done the inflation reduction act and infrastructure act, got black contractors involved. these are the things that i have did. i have tried to do george floyd

justice policing act. the senate republicans blocked it. i tried to do the john lewis voting act. the senate republicans blocked it. if we talk about what many of us are saying in the black community, we want to see more, if he comes back with, i tried to do more, they stopped me, which is why i need you all to come out and vote for me again and bring me a senate and congress, it changes the conversation, and i think when you see in new hampshire, a write in vote that is not a black vote, then you see tonight, a diverse vote in south carolina, it gives them a lot to work with. the challenges, will they know how to work it? >> kate part, that question, i guess i will ask you, will they know how to capitalize on this go forward and the dangers of misreading the fundamental question of turnout in south carolina's vote? how risky is that going to be? >> okay, i reached that the dnc chairman jaime harrison before we went on the air saying that

our will be on between seven and nine, any tidbits you can give me. just before this panel started, he said this text message. he said i can attribute it to him. early vote numbers, 13% more black than 2020. 13% more black then 2020. 2020 was a presidential election year. that was when joe biden's campaign hobbled into south carolina, having won no state, but anybody paying attention in south carolina in 2020 knew that that would be the first opportunity for black voters to tell the rest of the country who day thought should be the democratic nominee, and they made it clear that that man should be that person, that person should be joe biden, and, according to the and see chairman, jaime harrison, this year, in a year when it's not really a contested primary, even though marianne williamson

and the philips are in the race, and also as kornacki pointed out, several times, that we don't have an analogous ear to point to, because the president is an incumbent, and just as in 96 and in -- i am losing track of time. 2012, the president, the democratic president was the incumbent, so the primary was canceled. but the fact that in 2024, when the incumbent president has to challengers in a state where the black population is a huge chunk of the electorate in the democratic party, that he is getting 13% more of the black vote then tonight, then he did in 2020, a presidential election year. sends a clear message, i think, should send a clear message to us in the press, sit send a clear message to folks in the democratic party and should

they send a message to the nation that president biden is on firm ground when it comes to the foundation of the democratic party and, therefore, the foundation of his support going into november. >> i am really glad that you shared that number in. let me bring in steve kornacki to weigh in on the. steve, any insight or visibility into that number that jaime harrison just gave our colleague jonathan capehart, about 30% more black voters this time around compared to 2020? >> yeah, i think he was citing the early vote, so it's take that into consideration. the same day, there could be variants there. in a lot of counties, that is what we are waiting on. we get the early vote, for instance, charlton county was the first thing that we saw results from tonight. now, they are started to report out the sunday. i am not expecting a huge shift right here, but you want to see out of curiosity, is this going to stay at 97, going to fall down into anything like that. what i am seeing and the big picture, county to county, like

i said, we got a range of counties that are reporting substantial here. as i have said, the three counties with the lowest proportions of black voters in the entire state, we got results, a lot of results from all three of those. biden is running 96 97% in all of them. we also have results for majority black counties, as well here. biden again running on seven 98 96%, that ballpark. i am looking to see if there isn't a turnout imbalance of our between them. what i see so far, just broad math here, we had a dive into it later, but they are all running about a third, a little bit more than a third of their 2020 level in terms of turnout, all of these county seem to be. so you see a high interest here, to put this in some perspective, i have the turnout totals here. this is old voter data, but i want to show you, this is turnout in south carolina democratic primaries. this was the first one back in 1992. as we have said, we are playing blind. we don't have a democratic

primary when an incumbent has been running to compare turn off. do we have competitive democratic primaries. here you see the carry year, the obama era, clinton, sanders, biden in 2020. if you end up about a third of the 2020 number, that is going to take you to about 180,000. it gets very rough right now. we want to get full results from the county, but right now, they seem to be running about a third or maybe a little bit more than a third, maybe about 100 a dozen turnout, so you can put that in perspective, the high interest years of 20 and a, these are all contested primaries, 16, two dozen four, john kerry, john edwards, and this is where it would fall if it runs about a third. 180,000, 1982, that was bill clinton. does the first sunday south carolina had been a caucus state. that was the first year they went to a primary on the democratic side. that is where we are at. again, we don't -- it's tough for me to say, is that a great number for democrats. does that say anything about

enthusiasm. the big thing that these results are shouting is, there is no appetite among democratic voters for a contested primary for joe biden. winning new hampshire, the ultimate high interest high turn voter primary state on right in, with two thirds vote, and now he gets numbers like this in south carolina, right, now it's not screaming anything immediate about turnout. it just seems to me that every democrat, basically, bother the turnout today has delivered a message, we're good to go for the general election. >> good to go, and the motivation is there as tremaine pointed out, the gentleman that he spoke to, rev, was that if you vote now, and because it is not a contested primary, not a competitive one, the more accurate word, you are going to vote to send a message, and you are motivated. you're not somebody who is, like a deal with this when i have to, because it's an confidential vote for those that are going to say, it's definitely going to be joe biden. >> absolutely, and that is what i am saying. a lot of the skeptics now will

have to explain why this is the case. there was no, apparently, a vote out that came out to say, joe biden, i want to send you a message in the democratic party. it was that joe biden, i want to say that i am with you. these are people that did not have a incentive to vote other than to send that message if these numbers hold up, and if i were those that were protecting that there was this mass dissatisfaction. it does not mean that people don't want a lot more, but it does mean that it appears from the right in a new hampshire, to what we are beginning to see in south carolina tonight, that the dissatisfaction is not as rampant as they thought, and a lot of it is -- yes, we're dissatisfied, but we also know about the sabotage done on a lot of things that we are concerned about, the bills like i named, the john lewis voting bill to the george floyd

policing bill. we know a lot about narratives that have been in the media that joe biden was the one that stopped these bills, and that is not true, and i think if you get that in the primaries, imagine if in fact he is the nominated, which he will be, when he is nominating a guy against the john lewis bill and the george floyd bill, and the other things that people are dissatisfied about. if i was the biden campaign, i would be fine-tuning my message, saying the things that could not do, i was blocked, and you've got to help me break that book. >> so, luckily for us, we got political strategist to help us out with the messaging. chuck, give me your messaging here going forward for the biden administration. pick up on revs point. you've got evil in in new hampshire, significant win. you are south carolina, also an important message, coming out of it tonight. and then, what do you take from the two early primary states to the general election, because it's clear that the biden administration or the biden campaign has already -- offered

new hampshire to pivot to the general election. now, they need to start running that message into the general audience. >> i think what you seen on the campaign trail, and i think back to the president in virginia this week, he won a lot more after donald trump, but that is what you'll see. when you start moving towards the general election, you have to have a stark contrast. the rev was absolutely right. he should be leaning in and screaming from the rooftops, all of the things that he has been working on, that he has accomplished, and so the work that is ahead. the american people are not stupid. they just want the facts and truth. they just get misinformation from lots of people. as a strategist, as the guy who runs campaigns for a living, you've got to get in front of the, and got to be strong, and you have to speak to the american people and, frankly, the american people, joe biden has been underestimated. i even underestimate him. i ran a presidential campaign against him. he has a good team and a good message, but now it's time to turn to trump and make sure people don't want to risk of donald trump is the president

again. we have already seen, a little sample of what could happen, but now israel. >> adrienne, part of the criticism that the biden administration has faced on some of these issues is that they have not been listening to the base of the democratic party, with some of the protests that have been taking place regarding a cease-fire in gaza, some of the discontent with some of the issues a line that they were not necessarily aware that it was, because the supreme court or republicans blocked these measures. so, going forward, there was a nervousness about whether or not that will translate ultimately into some of the early primary states. i guess my questions about those concerns, how does the administration walk the fine line between saying we hear some of the concerns, but we also see the resounding victories that we got in the two primary states. >> yeah, i think the rev nailed it, per usual. you had to go out there and talk about your accomplishments, at which there are many in the administration,

and they are talking about the accomplishments. we're making major economic those which have delivered over 14 million jobs, record gdp, unemployment under 4% for more than two years. there is a lot to talk about, but at the same time, not everyone is feeling the economic benefits. not everyone is having a happy and satisfied where they are. if your president, you are working to overcome whatever obstacles are in place in congress. the reality is reality, and if president trump or reelected president again, he would overturn all of these policies that president biden has worked so hard in the past, including historic climate change legislation. from a foreign policy point, i am incredibly proud of president biden. i am every single day, but i am proud that he has not allowed some of the protested dictate foreign policies. obviously, he is work to do when it comes to working on the

american, base but he has not allowed the protests out here to dictate what he is doing from a foreign policy standpoint. that is real leadership, so, i think that there is a long road ahead. shock is exactly right. we are now in a general election. president biden is taking out the contrasts, a couple notches. he's making a clear what a donald trump presidency will look like again. he's drawn that contrasts, and they will see more of the. even ratcheted it up more in the days and months to come. >> let me read for you another part of the, statement and not get your final thoughts as we wrap up the hour. this is the final thoughts from the biden harris statement after tonight's victory in south carolina. when i was elected president, i said the days of the backbone of the democratic party, being at the back of the line or over, that was a promise made and a promise kept, now, you are the first in the nation. >> first in the nation, and we should not lose sight of the fact that this is the first time you had a diverse state

like south carolina, with a significant black vote, is a diverse primary. and not only did the dmz under jaime harrison miked up au sable with the power over jim clyburn. biden and then we're the ones that delivered, and they worked hard in this primary. let's not forget, joe biden himself went to the church and barber shops in south carolina. i am not saying that is a given. he worked like he was campaigning against some formidable opposition in his own party. i think people appreciate. i have an office in of the national action network in south carolina. that is what i am hearing. a lot of people are saying, yeah, they are doubting him, they tell us, they always predict this wrong. a lot of that helps him, but he must again say the things that you are concerned about, despite my victory, i know you are not satisfied, you did not get a lot of what you wanted, and i was blocked in many of those areas, and the more he

brings that, home the more against a guy like donald trump, the best thing that can happen to joe biden in 2024 is donald trump, his opponent. >> well, we'll get a chance to ask the biden campaign about. that reverend sharpton, thank you so much. greatly appreciate it chuck rocha, adrienne elrod, jonathan, stick around, we'll talk to you in our continuing coverage at the top of the hour, as president biden, the projected winner tonight in the south carolina primary comes into focus. we'll have live reaction from the biden harris campaign spokesperson michael tyler. he'll join me live, and we'll have the latest on those airstrikes, both in yemen and iraq by the u.s. and uk, stay with us. and uk, stay with us. ♪♪ light work! ♪♪ next victims. ♪♪ you ready for this? ♪pump up the jam pump it up♪

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you were always stubborn. and on that note, i'm evan low, and i approve this message. >> good evening everyone, i'm not ayman mohyeldin in new york. we are continuing our special coverage tonight, the 2024 democratic primary is officially underway. last hour polls in south carolina, the first democratic contest in the nation closed. president joe biden, easily secured a victory there, blowing his rivals congressman dean phillips and marianne williamson out of the water. now, all eyes are on the number of delegates. a total of 55 are up for grabs tonight. those will be avoided proportionally based on the results. a member of course, a candidate needs a total of nearly 2000 to capture the democratic nomination. just a short time ago, president biden issued a statement thanking the