what do i see in peter dixon? i see my husband... the father of our girls. i see a public servant. a man who served under secretary clinton in the state department... where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. i see a fighter, a tenacious problem-solver... who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. because he sees a better future for all of us. i'm peter dixon and i this election is about who shares your values. approved this message. let me share mine. i'm the only candidate with a record of taking on maga republicans, and winning. when they overturned roe, i secured abortion rights in our state constitution.

when trump attacked our lgbtq and asian neighbors, i strengthened our hate crime laws. i fought for all of us struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. i'm evan low, and i approve this message for all of our shared values. >> good evening, everyone, and welcome back to msnbc special coverage of the south carolina republican presidential primary. i am symone sanders-townsend, with my friends and co-host alicia menendez and michael steele. in a blow to nikki haley, donald trump, the twice impeached four times indicted ex president overwhelmingly when the primary in her home

state. the state she used to be the governor of. here is what he had to say moments after the race was called. >> there have been a spirit like this. i just want to say that i have never seen the republican party so unified as it is right now. >> we cannot verify the veracity of the truth of those statements, but -- only a quarter of republican primary voters in the state say nikki haley has the mental and physical health to serve effectively when compared with 38% who say donald trump does. kelly's campaign manager told nbc news tonight that, while they know the ads, they also know what is at stake, confirming they are staffed and ready to stay until the end of march. haley, for her part, has framed super tuesday, or march 5th, as a reassessment point for her campaign. let's just listen to some of what she said after tonight's results. >> the younger generation, my

children's generation, knows it better than anyone. they deserve better. they deserve leadership. and so, i will keep fighting for them, and for you, and for all of america. >> so, according to nbc news exit polls, 38% of voters actually only -- don't trump -- i don't know with his physical and mental health situation is. >> i don't know. >> but look, nikki haley is still in this race. i said in the last hour that i believe she is trying to pull a bernie sanders. someone who, again -- >> donald trump is going to put that in an attack ad, just so you know. >> i'm sorry, senator sanders. and i do apologize, former

governor haley. -- that was the last primary. because he said he wanted the voters have the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice. and he garnered a lot of delegates. >> but he could. >> with haley, that's not our story. >> it's not her story. but the process is different. you have to understand, this is not an apple for apple comparison. >> that's true. >> the democrats have a proportional primary allocation, the republicans have a winner-take-all allocation. and unless states decide individually to allow a certain proportion of folks, and even in that case, you could have a state that is a proportional race, but then if you get 50% or more of the vote, you get all the delegates. so, the proportionality goes away. so, it's a very different dynamic for folks to understand the incentive structure for a bernie sanders is very different for nikki haley. >> so, what is she doing?

>> nikki haley is staying in the race because she's trying to make a point. bernie sanders stayed in the race because he had an opportunity to not just when delegates, but ultimately get to the nomination. his problem, a stumbling block, with south carolina. and black voters said, oh, hell, no, i ain't doing that. -- that's a different conversation for that campaign. for this campaign, nikki is sitting there touting the 40%, wink, wink, yeah, that's primarily democrats and independents making up a significant number of that, at least half of that number is democrats and independent voters. she has that going into super tuesday. there are a number of states. for example, texas, alabama allow for a sort of an open primary, a quasi-open primary process. but when you get to those red states that are red or then south carolina, and even if they are allowing democrats and independents to vote, the

republican turnout is going to be so strong. >> and democrats also have their own primaries and -- >> they had their own primaries at that time. >> and pushing democrats to vote -- >> okay, why is she still here? >> -- still here. >> asking a question, people want to know at home. why? >> she still doing this. >> -- the possibility of delegate count. >> to be clear, there are no delegates for her to get. she's going into the convention with -- >> is it about the conviction? >> it is conviction. i think -- olivia troye was with us, is exactly. right it's not just about the conviction of it. but it's also about the opportunity to maybe, perhaps carve out some land for what comes after trump. there is this thinking still, among some republicans, that trump implodes.

all right? starting in the -- >> where? >> with the trials, with the cases, the weight of all of that. the $454 million in judgments. all of this stuff just becomes too much. the question i have is it too much for trump, or is it too much for party to bear? and then the party starts to reevaluate their circumstances and situation. that is why trump is hurrying up to put his daughter-in-law as part of the leadership of the rnc to start to lock down some of that backdoor cash flow. but the reality is, for her, all of those things have to happen in such a way that she is the last person standing. and here is the dirty little rub to that secret. you really think those trump voters are going to turn to nikki haley? if trump is not the guy on the ballot going forward? coming out of the convention? >> at this point, they are more likely to look at tim scott. >> exactly, which is why tim scott is doing tim scott right

now. because he is going to be, potentially, that person, if trump falters, to be considered. or, if he does not falter, to be on the ticket. so, there are a lot of little machinations going on that have nothing to do with nikki haley, but you have an impact, ultimately, on how this thing plays out. . and the reality for nikki haley is she's not garnering, at this point, the kind of thrust that moves the needle among base voters over the republican party. that is what these primary elections are about, folks. y'all can dance on the 40% all day long, and the happy clapping about it, but based republican voters decide who the nominee is. and that base has told us who they want. and his name is trump. >> folks, this is the kind of michael steele you also get at 8:00 when you tune into "the weekend". let's bring in jaime harrison,

former chair of the south carolina -- shout out to -- >> my mama's from south carolina. there we go. >> south carolina is on the stage tonight. honorary, honorary. >> mr. chairman, can we just start -- south carolina has spoken. we have seen the numbers. they are very clear for joe biden and for donald trump. talk to us as we barreled towards a general election. what is the democratic party? what is y'all's the strategy. especially when you look at michigan coming up, there are a lot of democrats who are pushing within the state. not the majority, but a number of democrats are pushing for democratic voters to go to the polls and vote unconfirmed on tuesday. >> symone -- and it's good to be with all three of you -- and congratulations on the wonderful, wonderful new show that you all have. i can't wait to join you on saturday or sunday coming up. but listen, this election is

going to boil down to this. it's hope versus fear. it is progress versus chaos. and we see the chaos coming from the other side. listening to michael, in essence, that headline that reporters love to give democrats? it's about republicans in disarray. think about it. from the house of representatives, they don't know what they are doing. it's the most do nothing congress in the history of do- nothing congress is. it took them 15 times to get a speaker. it took them nine months to lose it. and this next guy, he's probably on the unemployment line in two or three weeks. we see that they can't get anything done there. we see the rnc is falling apart. they're applying for credit lines and everything else. the chair is about to leave. former president trump is about to put his daughter-in-law ahead of it. they're going to pay his legal bills. and then you see donald trump himself. you saw the clown show of last night of him going into a forum where there are black voters,

and he's talking about all of the racial tropes that he has always talked about in the past. on the democratic side, it is about hope. it is about progress. joe biden has gotten more done in three years than most presidents get done in eight years. and bottom line, i want everybody to understand this. you vote for a president not because of their age, not because the close of their wearing, but to get stuff done. and what president has gotten more stuff done than joe biden over the last three years? so, that is going to be the message and the frame that we go into this next presidential election with so that people understand, this is about progress, continuing to move the ball forward. and then you've got chaos and fear. and you also have someone who is the biggest threat to american freedoms that we've ever had in the history of this country. take a look at what is happening in alabama right now. for the first time in 50 years, women do not control their own bodies. one in three women of

reproductive age now live in under an abortion ban. ivf is now threatened in alabama. and very soon, it will be contraception. and it's a slippery slope. when you lose one freedom, it becomes much easier to lose another. and that is what we get under donald trump. and that is why this election is so key. folks, this is not a time to play. there is no games being played right now. this is about your freedom. this is about the future for your kids, and the next generation. and this is serious. >> mr. chairman, i really appreciate that message there. but there are some hard truths that also go with that message that democrats have to confront. -- i respect and understand, and so everybody understands, jaime harrison and myself in our roles as political people were -- we don't do policy. but we were charged with going out and having to work the

policy in a political context. with that in mind, mr. chairman, there are a number of concerns that voters have right now within the democratic family. and we have reporting this week on our network in michigan among the muslim community, around what is going on in israel and with the palestinian situation. how do you see, to what you just said, about the president and the messaging there, how does the dnc and other organs of the party began to level up the messaging, to shore up the support the president is going to need, particularly among young voters who are concerned about an issue like palestine? and israel, and what is happening there? and how that may translate in terms of your ground game, and your other efforts to solidify your vote against what will be, despite what we may think or feel about donald trump, a formidable challenger to this

president in a november election? >> i really appreciate, that michael. and you are right, at the dnc, we don't handle policy. but we have to deal with political implications of policy as they move forward. and the one thing we see, particularly with the situation in israel and gaza, the president understand that this is personal for so many folks. and when you are dealing with personal, you are dealing with a lot of emotions that come along with it. and the first thing is, is sitting down and listening to people and hearing where they are. and for him, and i think, for us as a party, making sure that folks understand that we do hear them, and that we are trying to figure out ways to lead in this situation. and this is not through polling. this is not about politics. he is a commander in chief. and his number one issue, his number one interest, is to do what is in the best interest of this nation in terms of carrying on that role. and so, it is tough. there are difficult

conversations to be had. but this is the thing that you understand with joe biden. it is, he's always going to be fair. he's always going to try to do the right thing for all of america, as people, and our friends and our allies as well. it's a very different contrast, michael, as you, know from donald trump. this is a man who is just focused on himself and retribution and revenge. and it is important for folks to understand that, to see what is going on in the short term, but also to understand the long term ramifications. and so, we will, in this big tent that we have as a democratic party, we are not always going to agree on every single thing. policy is not always going to cut the way that we want to tolerance the board. but we are going to have those conversations, and sometimes they are tough conversations, so that we can move forward and be strong as a party together. and that is what we are engaging in right now. that's why i am in michigan right now, meeting with folks, and meeting with folks in

various groups to make sure that those conversations are being had, and that we can find a path forward. >> mr. chairman, you all do have a lot of opinions on that side of the aisle. so, i can appreciate -- >> -- here, brother. >> i can appreciate that, my friend. dnc chair jaime harrison. thank you very much. folks, we have a new statement from president biden reacting to donald trump's victory tonight. biden says, in part, quote, last night in south carolina, donald trump stood on stage to make shameful, racist comments that tap into a hatred and divisiveness that is the very worst of us. we all have more to do to push towards a more perfect union. but trump wants to take us backwards. let's turn now to our team on the ground. nbc news campaign embed jake trailer, who is at trump's headquarters in columbia. ali vitali is at haley's headquarters in charleston.

jake, let's start with you. -- what are you hearing from trump's team and how do you think they plan to keep that momentum going out there? >> what is significant, and what i want to know is, what happened before donald trump actually took the stage tonight i was actually speaking with a couple of folks with the campaign. and they said that, unlike new hampshire, donald trump was very adamant tonight about getting on stage first, to give a victory speech before nikki haley took the stage. look, whenever donald trump took the stage in new hampshire, after his win, he was noticeably very upset. the accused nikki haley of claiming victory. and so, tonight, you want to get on that stage first in that victory speech. he did, of course, mentioned haley, but not very much. he very much so had a pivot to a general election message that we are beginning to see more and more from donald trump. look, there are, as kristen welker was saying, last night there are too big m's, the momentum, and the math.

-- i know steve kornacki. so, i'm not going to address the delegate math. when it comes to momentum, -- yes, moving forward in super tuesday states, he will be present, he will be still campaigning. but he is way more focused and honed in on biden. we are noticing this annoyance, almost, as if he wants haley to drop out, and she won't do it. but as of now, the way that the campaign's messaging this is that they are looking towards november 5th. that's the election they say they are focused on, despite haley very much so being in this race. >> ali vitali, as you know, that maybe with the trump campaign, and not what -- it is almost as if he cannot quit nikki haley, cannot stop talking about her. what is nikki haley go from here, ali vitali? >> tonight was the bright spot of discipline. the kind that they are billing this latest trump campaign as they have at the centerpiece of it, quite frankly. but having covered trump all these many years, we know the discipline only last for so long. we also know that he has

seemingly relished hitting nikki haley over the course of these last few weeks, attack and not just her as a candidate, but also attacking her husband who is currently serving on a tour overseas. that is certainly something that has percolated within the campaign's ranks. we also saw her just in the last few days get emotional when she was talking about her husband. she said on the stage here behind me tonight that she was able to speak to her husband, michael, on this election day. he was flanked by family here, being able to bring her mother to the polls to vote for her daughter for president, along with her children. but i think in listening to the conversation that y'all have been having, a few things that stuck out to me. one, i'm glad, alicia, that you are asking the question that, frankly, i get all the time. which is, why is she doing this? if the delegate math is not there? and there's really no way for her to win? which, i do think all of those are point that i do not actually hear the haley campaign robot to meet. . you will all have worked on campaigns. you know how weird it is to not have a campaign argue with you when you talk about them not being able to win. instead, i actually think that

the reason she might be in this now is, of course the principal principle -- trying to find, other people who might have, at least, wariness about the former president, not the most outright concern about him being the nominee again. haley is certainly trying to speak to those people. but i also think that, if her vision about trump's lack of electability in 2024 again bears out, she is able to then clear look back at the party and -- told you he was not going to help folks down ballot. . i told you he was not going to be able to beat president biden. we won't know any of that until we know that. but that is certainly something that they have continuously been saying out here, and that it is only going to continue as we see her go through the super tuesday states. the other thing that i was thinking about too, when you guys were talking about the fact that the haley campaign on the one hand is saying, look. 40% of people in south

carolina, a democratic makeup of a state that should be really good for trump, when 40% of people are not voting for him, her campaign has said, that is not what you should be getting if you are a quasi- incumbent. so, yeah, that's a warning sign for him. but i was looking, when michael was talking earlier, about some of the other numbers in this breakdown. and the idea that haley wants to pull independent voters to her cause. only 28% of republicans who voted in this primary tonight supported nikki haley, according to our colleague brigitte bowman, who is looking at the nbc news exit polls for us. . but also, for context, haley did win among independents. she won 59% to 40%. but the problem is, that coalition is only 21% of the electorate. so, in south carolina, that was always want to be a long shot of how you can build a coalition that would win. but in a place like michigan, in a place like virginia, in a place like massachusetts, they are hoping that they can do something similar and try to drive those numbers up. it is not going to be a

coalition of capital r republican primary base voters, but it could be a coalition that gives them at least enough to continue going on and trying to make this point that they have been making over the course of the last few weeks that is, hey, people do want in alternative, even as the bulk of the establishment of the republican party says, all right, let's pack up, go home, it's trump. >> jake traylor, we ali vitali, i hope that we are your last stop on the way to bed. . thank you so much for what i know has been a very long day. >> you're welcome. >> donald trump puts a familiar name to -- at the rnc. and will the party pick up the tab for trump's legal fees? leg with nurtec odt, i can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. ask about nurtec odt. eggs make all our family moments better.

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>> one of the reasons we won north carolina's a man named michael wildly, who looks to me we gave him our endorsement. and he looks to me like he is going to be going on to the national republican party as the boss. michael whatley -- do we like kellyanne? we love kellyanne. >> that was donald trump. you've got to laugh, folks, because it's funny. that was donald trump tonight, floating the idea of kellyanne conway getting involved with the republican national committee. oh, say it ain't so. trump also shouted out election denier and current north

carolina republican party chair michael whatley, his pick to be the next leader of the rnc. meanwhile, the committee is faced with a massive dilemma, whether to use their funds to help pay trump's legal fees. joining us now is brendan buck, msnbc legal analyst and mo alikee, director of your ten universities institute of public service. i'll start with you, brendan, if i could really quick, down trump seems to be trying to consolidate his control which a lot of people think he already has over the rnc, but really put his -- with lara being there as coach here, but two, the idea that nikki haley is somehow going to buck that system. you have the consolidation on the one hand and nikki trying

to bucket on on the other -- who wins? >> a lot of questions tonight. like, why is nikki haley still doing this. i think at this point, there is no real rational political long term -- you just have to take her at her word. should these people deserve a choice when they vote? i think it's that simple. i don't think it's any long term game. she's also hurting herself in this process. the idea that she's going to catapult into some future of the republican party through this process, i think, is silly. this is her, i think, going out with a blaze of glory we. we'll see whatever happens when she does drop out, coming back endorsing him. i think that would be really -- in relation to the rnc i don't think it is all that surprising that he is taking over the rnc. but what people should appreciate, though, is at least last time around, there was

some tension within the party. they were -- and trying to restrain him and within the -- trying to restrain him. that dynamic will not exist this time around. everyone within the entire republican ecosystem, it's all going to be on the same. page and everybody who had an issue will be gone. >> that is so important. >> it is important. >> because sometimes, i think, mo elleithee, i hear that election night music swells, and i see the graphics and their head shots pop up. and it's easy for just a moment to lose track of just how abnormal this moment is. this is not like the election that we have covered in the past. this is a question about the future of democracy in the united states. you even have the haley campaign saying, yeah, we know the odds. but we will also focus on the stakes. those are the stakes here. they could not be any higher. >> that's right. and it's great to hear nikki haley saying all this now. she was not saying all of this early in the. campaign. >> three months ago.

>> up until iowa, she was still giving him a pass on a lot of things. and that says everything you need to know about today's republican party. to brendan's point, there are no resistance, no headwinds now for trumpism. the people who are in charge, the people who are in charge at the rnc, the people who are in charge at congress, they are going to give him a blank check to do whatever he wants. why? because his base wants him to have whatever he wants. and this whole issue of democracy being at stake is so interesting to me. because for a lot of trump supporters, they would agree. they would say, for their perspective, democracy is at stake. the people who are marching towards the capitol on january 6th truly believed that they

were the patriots fighting for american democracy. and so, this election is going to be, in many ways, a debate that defines what vision of democracy winds. >> i see what you're trying to say, yes. >> -- and in part because he has perverted truths about what has happened in the past few elections. he has tried to jiu-jitsu these arguments about democracy against joe biden. the problem is that you have so many republicans who have bought that, hook, line and sinker. >> to people who have bought it, but also, there are legitimate voters who have bought it. i do think, though, that there are a lot of people who are playing a part or a role, or caricature of what donald trump wants them to be. because they believe that that is how they will survive in this ecosystem. and why they're not more republicans like you and michael steele? >> it's a good question. a lot of them have run off at

this point. and i think it is important thing to appreciate, especially the big number that nikki haley put up tonight. we're talking about 40%. the polls have shown overwhelmingly that people who are supporting the kayleigh, if it's a choice between biden and trump, are still going to pick trump. the preference maybe nikki haley between the two of them. but it is not as though there is this enormous group within the republican party who has just had enough and is running away. i think we assume a never trump crowd is a lot bigger than it really is. i think we assume that those people are still active members of the republican party, a lot of whom have left. they've moved on, and said, i'm sick of this, i'm not going to be here. >> look, i will just say -- right? a strong democracy, you need to, and we have -- we need to sean political parties. we need a strong republican party apparatus, and i'm searching. i don't see one. oh, lord, i have more questions, i think. we have questions. but y'all are sticking around.

because south carolina has just happen. next, we are going to look ahead to tuesday's primary in michigan, were both president biden and donald trump are looking to repeat past victories. there is also some caucuses happening in michigan throughout the week. we are going to get into. it stay with us. with us. how many people did you tell? only pay for what you need. jingle: ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ baby: ♪ liberty. ♪ with nurtec odt, i can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. ask about nurtec odt.

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i'm adam schiff and i approve this message. this election is about who shares your values. let me share mine. i'm the only candidate with a record of taking on maga republicans, and winning. when they overturned roe, i secured abortion rights in our state constitution. when trump attacked our lgbtq and asian neighbors, i strengthened our hate crime laws. i fought for all of us struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. i'm evan low, and i approve this message for all of our shared values. >> with south carolina in the books, the spotlight now shifts to michigan, where just days from now, voters will cast their ballots for both

democrats and republicans. brendan buck and mo elleithee are still with us. can >> we first, for folks at home, who don't know -- because i did not know until michael steele told me about us, and this is my job to know, on tuesday, there's a primary, democrats will host there -- as republicans, there's also a caucus. >> a hot mess -- michigan right now there is a big dispute between the chairman and women. they have a chairman in former ambassador hokstra in ms. -- in addition to the primary, because it was a dispute over the primary, that they would also do a caucus. okay. we will do a caucus. but then karamo --

>> it's on tuesday. mo elleithee, what do you make of the michigan primary. obviously, this is -- i know that my phone is going to light up when i say this, but there's not an active democratic primary really happening. i don't know if dean phillips is on the ballot in michigan. i do not believe he -- owe, he is on the ballot. he skipped that. he has his sights on michigan. joe biden is expected to win there. the big question on the table is, there is this campaign now for folks to vote on committed, if you will. and this is particularly related to what is happening and how they feel about the administration's response when it comes to the war between israel and hamas and the plight of the palestinian people. even beto o'rourke has weighed in, and hazards michigan --

>> so, this worries me it. worries me in a general election. and i'm going to speak now as an arab american. it is so incredibly short sighted if you want to see real progress in gaza. and i think there is a real political opportunity here to make the choice very clear. joe biden stands with israel. joe biden wants to get the hostages out. but joe biden is also putting pressure on our friends in israel to change the way they are litigating this war. joe biden is the reason why there have been some humanitarian pauses that have gotten some aid into israel. donald trump wants to ban muslims. he wants to keep them out of this country. he wants to stop bringing

people from palestine into this country. and if you think donald trump is going to push for a humanitarian pauses to get more aid in, or do anything to help the people of gaza, i think you are going to be very disappointed. a vote to stay home, a vote for an committed is a vote for donald trump in the general election. it is a vote that gets you closer to a muslim ban. it gets you further away from a peaceful solution that would bring some dignity to the palestinian people, while supporting our friends in israel, while supporting getting the hostages there. while supporting any sort of a two-state solution. >> again, this is a point of contention, particularly in michigan, because michigan has the largest arab american

population in the country. as a democrat, you can't win michigan without winning the suburbs. and part of the suburbs is dearborn. and dearborn, is, again, the place with the largest arab american community is. i think, prior to -- oftentimes i say, a -- possibility it doesn't make it into domestic politics. but this is something that absolutely has. but i often say, there are people that cannot point to where israel is on a map, can't tell the difference, can't tell you where the gaza strip is. but they are seeing the images coming out of the gaza strip. and they are affected by the images. >> it's heartbreaking. >> it's heartbreaking. i think this is -- i don't expect donald trump to step up to the plate and say something about humanitarian issues. that does not mean that we should -- that he should not be asked the questions. but i do think this is more of a concern within the democratic primary. >> i guess i put it to, you mo, what does that say, then, about joe biden, that so many people are willing to protest him,

basically openly? and that there seems to be this underlying weakness, that there are so many constituencies within the democratic party who, while they might respect him, are not excited about him. they are willing to do things like this. and potentially threaten him. i just can't picture this with a barack obama situation, where they would do the same thing to. >> oh, i -- members of the obama administration getting protested by pro immigration activists during his event during his administration, we are a passionate people, democrats. we come out, we fight, and we complain to our friends. this is one of those defining issues of my lifetime, right? those images that you talked, about symone. they are heartbreaking. and now, we are going to be loud about that. democrats will be loud about that. but i think we need to keep

some perspective. >> can i just, real quick on that stuff, because i think it's an important coda to that. if joe biden did what they wanted, and netanyahu still did not change the game there, then what? because, at the end of the day, as much as you want to propel and push and squeeze this on to joe biden, joe biden is limited in what he actually can do. because he's not the president or the prime minister, or the leader of israel. and that is an internal decision that he is trying to influence by leveling up the two-state solution conversation, by getting netanyahu to, not only once, but, what? three times now create a pause in this horrific process. so, i think to both of your points, gentlemen, that there is this overlay that is getting played out that, unfortunately for joe biden, he's getting squeezed by it. but the reality of it is, if he

did everything that all the protesters are claiming and wanting, and netanyahu still did not do the deed in terms of ending the horrific killings and so forth, then what? >> i just think it's more about the conversation. >> it is? >> jaime harrison, i love jaime harrison, but we asked him about. it and he was good. he pivoted. he -- answer the question. he hit me with the eisman, and what the other way. and i appreciate, mo, leaning in and talking about it. because it -- this is something that is happening within the apparatus. >> and that was my point. you made him articulate the case than i've heard anybody of the democratic party, including the president -- why is the president not able to make this argument? there's -- and others, that they don't seem to be drawing the contrast. you would think at this, moment everyone talks about democracy being at risk, you would be making those contrasts.

>> -- he's got to sit there and talk to these families, and have people back there, as well as the families of the hostages that were taken by hamas. this is such a personal issue for so many people. >> i think the reality is, when asked, and when protested, the president does respond with, i think the answers that people would like to hear, but he is welcome to come here and give us interviews, and we are happy to talk to the president. >> anytime, sir. anytime, sir. >> brendan buck, mo, think you all for staying up late. we will be back with some final thoughts on this illuminating evening. illuminating evening. honestly, i was scared when i was told age ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ it was all too hard to deal with in the beginning, but making a plan with my doctor to add precision was easy. preservision areds2 contains the exact nei recommended,

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>> there is never been a spirit like this. and i just want to say that i have never seen the republican party so unified as it is right now. >> again, you cannot verify those comments. final thoughts, friends? >> i think there is a lot of storylines here. but they all lead to the same place. and that is a race between joe biden and donald trump. as much as i think people want to see something else, and they

want to will something else to happen, i just don't -- the american people, as fickle as we can be sometimes, and as prickly and difficult, when they make up their mind, they tell you what they want, and they do it. i mean, they just do. and the republican primary, they are not making another choice. so, all of this, well, they are telling us that there is someone else other than donald trump. well, why don't you vote for him? why don't they have 60% and donald trump have 40? why didn't they, when there was a stage of eight people, and he wasn't there, you pick one of those other people? so, the reality of it is that's, where we are. same with joe biden. stop the moaning and groaning and get behind a guy who is the standard bearer for your party, because that's where you got. >> i have a question. which is, if donald trump were actually to be disciplined, which he is not, he laid off of nikki haley, and he started

treating this like a general election, and it really became a clear, binary choice, as you just said, between biden and trump, who do you think that benefits? >> trump. yes. it benefits trump. >> we are -- i'm just like, it's crazy. it's crazy. whether the numbers have materialized formerly on the paper, it's like, when i asked my husband, would he know what i want for dinner? you know i want to go to the restaurant i'm always going to. whether you have made a reservation or not, you know that's where we are going to end up. >> i went there for lunch today. >> that's where we end up. whether we are at the convention or not, it's joe biden and donald trump. >> it is. have your head in that game. >> yes, that is the game. so, does it benefit? i think, at the end of the day, where you began our coverage

tonight, that this is not normal. these are not normal times. it's not a normal election. this is not a normal presidential primary process, on the republican party side. it's not normal that the president will end up being the republican nominee is four times indicted, 91 counts, everything from sexual assault, to rape, to you out here, don't have the money to pay the bills. >> he's broke. >> and you are promising to be a dictator on day one, and your offensive comments to black people. the sneakers, maybe perfume. i don't know. mugshots. like, this is not normal. but this is where we are. so, people have to pay attention. you know? this was important for us to do tonight. i know a lot of folks were like, why are we doing this? because politics is happening, whether you participate or not, ladies and gentlemen. >> and that does it for tonight. thank you for watching msnbc's

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you're watching our continuing special coverage of the south carolina republican primary, i'm chris hayes, along with rachel, joy, lawrence, stephanie, and already, it's eight pm here on the east coast, if you're tuning in late, polls closed in south carolina one hour ago, and just about a four seconds afterwards, our decision desk called the race for donald trump it is another decisive victory for the ex president, only serious remaining rival is former south carolina governor, nikki haley, a lot has changed in american politics since haley was last on the ballot in the palmetto state a decade ago. tonight's results, a testament to that. once considered a dominant force, she now trails donald trump by a substantial margin in a typically rambling victory speech, the ex president looked ahead, more right now seems to

be in all but inevitable double general election showdown between him and president, joe biden. haley, for her part, has already vowed to stay in the race at least through super tuesday. we are now waiting, on what could be any moment, her concession speech down in her headquarters in south carolina. let's get some more vote in, let's head over to steve kornacki in the big board. steve, you're keeping tabs on whether nikki haley can come out of tonight with delegates in one of the districts in south carolina. >> just how this works with delegates, there's 50 that are being given out in south carolina, 29 of these 50 are based on a statewide vote he gets those 29 delegates so it's left after that is 21 delegates that are given out by congressional district and that's what you see right here, a little rough to see with all the red here, but these are congressional districts, they're seven in the state, each one has three delegates on its own. seven districts times three,

that's the other 21 delegates. you win the district, you win all three delegates. so you see, in these districts so far, one, two, three of them, we've already projected that donald trump will win those individual districts. which is three, six, nine more delegates for donald trump. at this point, we have projected that 38 of the 50 are going to go to donald trump. where there's a little bit of a suspense right now, i don't know if that's the right word, but if there's any chance for haley to win a congressional district, it's this one right here. this is the first district here, this is the low country, this is charleston, we talked about charleston, it has the highest concentration of college degrees, voters with college degrees, of any county in the state. it is also an area of the state where you do have a lot of independents and democrats, especially democrats relative to the rest of the state, folks haley is trying to attract over to the republican side. you've got big, fast -- excuse me, fast growing suburb there. this is berkeley county, very fast growing, this is also part

of the district. i think it's interesting, take a look right now in berkeley, donald trump's margin over nikki haley is about 7000 votes. what we've got out of charleston right now is haley's margin over donald trump is about 6000 votes. you see, there's a fair amount to come in charleston. what else is in this district? the other biggie is beaufort county, where we have almost no votes. this is where hilton head is. this is an area with a big concentration of college degrees, a lot of wealth. probably more conservative than charleston county's. those are the biggies. there's a piece of carlton county, piece of dorchester county in here as well. it's interesting that between charleston in berkeley county, we're just about all the vote is in, hail eastbound even with trump. the problem for haley's while there's a lot of outcome in charleston, she certainly doing well with this, we think we're looking at right here is the early vote. the ballots that were cast early, about a third of the total in charleston. what we are seeing in other counties around the state now where the same-day vote is being counted up and reported out, we're seeing trump run better with the same day than

he did with the early vote. so i'm not sure that this haley margin over trump is going to continue, with the remaining charleston county vote. and again, you just look at the past. beaufort county is more favorable to trump, then charleston county. let's see what happens with the remaining vote in charleston but that is in terms of this election night in south carolina, the open question is this first district, if haley could find a way to win it, and pick up those three delegates, like we said, if she were to succeed in winning the first district, it doesn't change the overall picture, trajectory of the republican race. but if you can win a district like the first demographically, in terms of income, in terms of college degree concentration, this sort of thing, there are some districts out there on super tuesday where the delegates are awarded like this , that haley could then potentially win. again, i want to emphasize here, we're talking about a very, very small number of delegates, in a very small number of districts in the grand scheme of things.

but that's what we're looking at in south carolina right now. again, we can return to the statewide vote, just check in on that, about a quarter is in right now. remember, 17 point trump margin, this is basically, with a few exceptions here, early voting. we are starting to get same-day vote in, starting to potentially see a pattern where trump is doing better with that. we'll see how those numbers start to fill in. i think from this point forward, we're gonna start getting more of that same day vote. we'll see if those numbers move. >> steve kornacki. i'm curious, joy reid, if you are advising nikki haley right now, or you are her comms person, what is the thrust of the remarks tonight? >> it would be hard for me to imagine being her comms person, but let's just try this nightmare with you and say that i was, what i would say to nikki haley is that sometimes in defeat, you can actually have your finest hour. you recall that barack obama,

then senator, barack obama's most famous speech, was given on the night he lost the new hampshire primary. yes, we can. that is the speech that most people thought was his slogan, it was so famous, it became a pop hit, because will. i. am turned it into a hit on youtube. so he had his finest hour. i'm not saying she somehow a barack obama, i'm not comparing her to him, for all my obama fans out there. i'm not saying that. i'm saying that this is the night that people are going to pay the most attention to nikki haley probably for the rest of this political cycle. she is losing her home state. this is when people are going to focus on her. steve kornacki has made it very clear, giving us all these numbers, she cannot access the maga base. she cannot access this white evangelical, hard-core anti immigrant base. donald trump keeps giving her openings, when he did his thing about black people love him because he's indicted, trying to sell them on sneakers. he's giving her a lot of openings to go somewhere else. i think you're going to understand where she wants to go from here, whether it's politics, or something else based on what she does, with the spotlight that is the

brightest it will be on her, probably forever. right? so it will be interesting to see if she takes this opportunity to speak to the donor class, and say, think of me as a 2028 tax cutting george bush republican. which seems to me to be a far out fanciful kind of idea. she can try to speak to the donor class that way. or, she could speak to the people who actually have been voting for her in the last three contests we've seen. independent voters, and just zero in on them. no pandering on the civil war, and saying it wasn't about slavery, no more of the pandering she used to do on the confederate flag, which is how she became governor. let's see if she tries to lean into the never trump world. which is someplace she's not wanted to go, i think alex has made that point. she hasn't run like a never trumper would run. she hasn't run like somebody who doesn't -- she's won like somebody who doesn't understand she can't get the maga base. and who still wants them. you can't get them, nikki. it will be interesting to me to

see if she decides to leapfrog over maga, and speak to the country, in a way that sets her up as some sort of a future, dot dot dot. i don't know what it is that she wants to do. i've actually been told she doesn't want to stay in politics if she doesn't do this. she doesn't have some plan to be senator or something like that. i think we will know what she really wants to be and to do, based on what she does, because this is the biggest that -- will probably get for the rest of the cycle. >> i can tell you, nikki haley 's donors tell me she is not going to overtake donald trump. look at the stronghold he has on maga voters. she just has to be the backup quarterback, standing on the sidelines, hoping drew blood so gets injured, gets out of the game, and she can step in. >> they end up in the game a lot. if you watched this last -- >> nikki haley does not have any conceivable path to nomination, even if donald trump withdraws.

the week before the election. >> this is the other issue, exactly. >> the reason is well over 90% of the delegates are going to be trump delegates at the convention. if they must get another nominee, because donald trump is hospitalized, if they have to do that, it will not be her. >> it will be his son, i guarantee you. >> it will be someone who has never -- >> you don't think his daughter? >> one of them. >> those delegates will only go for someone who has not attacked donald trump. >> yes. >> it's not gonna happen, trump's the nominee. >> speaking of, let's go to trump headquarters in columbia south carolina, that's where nbc news correspondent, is standing by for us. vaughn, i understand you've got some reporting, talking about this tonight, basically about the rnc. and it's institutional posture as an arm of the trump campaign or ostensibly a neutral arbiter in a competitive primary.

you've got some reporting tonight about rnc resolution that would slow down trump's plan to handpick new leadership for the rnc. >> right, chris, there's a structural consequence of nikki haley staying in this race. let's be clear. joe biden in the dnc are already able to work together, they are working in tandem fundraising operation here, and you saw that in the numbers. so far, here to start the year, right, now the rnc and donald trump are getting out raised by millions of dollars. so, by nikki haley sting in the race, it is keeping the rnc and the trump campaign from merging. and allowing trump to effectively take over the rnc. resolution that was just put forward today, by an rnc number, his name's henry barber, from mississippi, longtime prominent rnc member. crafted a resolution and intends to bring it to the full 168 member body of the rnc. that resolution states that the two entities, the trump campaign, and the rnc, cannot merge their operations until either donald trump gets the required number of delegates to become the presumptive nominee, or nikki haley drops out of the

race. so, for the kayleigh, who is saying that she intends to go nowhere, there are serious questions about whether donald trump can actually put laura trump and michael wally into the positions of chair and co- chair, and move his co-campaign manager, chris lacivita, into a chief operating operator role at the rnc, as he would like, because in the meanwhile, there is this resolution, when these rnc members meet in houston texas on march 7th, they could very well vote for, and i could tell you guys from conversations with multiple rnc members, there is disagreement over whether donald trump should have the power to dictate who the rnc chair is. the one rnc member told me explicitly that if donald trump wants a pick his chair, he should go win the presidential election in november. there's one man, his name is drew mckissick, another rmc number, who just this afternoon, he did not rule out

challenging michael whatley for the rnc chairmanship. it's not donald trump that makes that decision, it's that 168 member body who are looking at not just the white house, but also the senate in the house candidates, as well, in those races, and i'm told that very serious conversations nine months out about what this rnc and trump operation could look like. of course, it's now just a matter of time until donald trump gets the keys. but there's some interparty battle inside the rnc right now over the extent to which he will control those keys. gus? >> fun, great reporting. can we just play a moment from trump's victory tonight? drew mckissick, the individual who is just noted by vaughn hillyard, he's actually, i believe it's the same individual tonight, who is in the room, and after the crowd had booed lindsey graham, and trump threw him out there to get continue to booed, drew mckissick is also out there, he was also getting booed. this explains what was an otherwise weird moment there. just to get a sense of the backstory, and the fact that despite him saying tonight everyone is unified, and to lawrence's point about joe biden getting 95% in south

carolina, here's where that individual got shouted out by trump, this is his reception in that room. take a listen. >> we have a man who has done a really good job in this state, your south carolina gop chair, drew mckissick. thank you. we have a highly opinionated group of people. i'll tell you, they've turned very positive on you, very quickly, alicia. >> just naming people and watching them get booed, this is a feisty and celebratory atmosphere, rachel, at the trump victory party tonight. >> yeah, and, what lawrence is spotlighting, in his inimitable way, i actually think is very very important, you see it working all these different

dynamics that we are observing. you've gotta kayleigh, right now, with about 40% of the vote, despite the fact that trump appears to be the inevitable nominee, there's good reason to believe in the exit polling suggests that a reasonable proportion of nikki haley's voters will not vote for donald trump when he is the nominee of the republican party. that is a problem, that is, as lauren says, a sign of significant weakness for trump who's running effectively as an incumbent. , you do have him trying to bigfoot the rnc, throwing out running macdonnell. tonight, essentially announcing who he's installing. tonight, that will be a contested matter, as one just reported, that was fascinating, when they have the houston meeting of the rnc, it's not a gigantic meeting, it's not a meeting of the trump base, it's not a meeting of millions of people, it's a meeting of 160 million people. they very well might vote for a resolution that requires the rnc to stay neutral, that does not allow the rnc to stop funding trump's legal bills,

all of these dynamics are all pointing in the same direction. which is that the democratic party certainly has its challenges, in terms of having a nominee who doesn't have great approval ratings, people think old, there's some fractures in the coalition. sure. in the republican side, you have a former president who is the most controversial politician in american history, not named benedict arnold, who wasn't a politician. the republican fracturing around him the is real, despite the fact that he seems to be winning the primaries running away, and will likely continue to do so. those will have general election consequences, and they may very quickly have fundraising consequences. biden is already gotten nearly doubled cash on hand that trump does, the dnc already has nearly triple the cash on hand at the rnc has. if those divisions persist, that's going to be structural trouble for the republican party, heading into a hotly contested general election. >> yeah, alex, to rachel's point, one thing that

transcends ideology in the time of politics is turf and money. honestly, that's what's at play here for the rnc in terms of looking at the legal debts he has, listening to laura trump like every penny's gonna go to trump. >> every penny is gonna go to my father in law of legal defense in a moment when other expenses are mounting to the tune of half a billion dollars. the timing is trying to install your people at the air and sea is not particularly, it's not a mystery why you might want to control those purse strings. the point has been made, i'll just elaborate on it, the fact that biden in the dnc have a glide path here, trump not only has the interparty fights of the rnc, but the huge question of money, more generally, the pressure that's going to put on his supporters to be asked over and over again, and then also we talk about this anecdotally more than we have factual evidence to support it, the idea that nikki haley's going to maybe remain in this race, not just to complicate matters

with the rnc, but to be a reminder of why people don't like trump. that he's a flawed candidate, that's not helpful to him as he seeks to say the party is as united as ever has been. >> i think most of the republican party and most of its leadership and politicians have gone along with donald trump's opposition to honoring elections. that's a through line of our politics, there's some trials scheduled to also deal with that. yet, what we find? some of them are most vocal, dislike it more when he takes that same tacked towards intramural republican elections. so rachel and others just referred to a voting process that's within the rnc. when we could get into it legally, of course it's a little different then a government election. but again, the one of those outcomes? do you allow republicans to participate and then you honor what those voting members say? or not? donald trump has shown time and

time again, we can't say legally whether it's criminal or not, but we can say as a fact for people watching, that donald trump has proven himself to be anti election, anti democracy, in ways that hurt the country, our democracy, yes, the democratic president who he's trying to run against again, but also, this might sway other people for different reasons, also against republicans. also against having a primary calendar that's been scheduled for sometime. it was only weeks ago they were trying to have the rnc shut down. and disenfranchised, i use that word literally. literally disenfranchised, tens of millions of republicans around the nation. now, i wish, personally, as a person and a journalist, that we all cared about these issues equally. that you don't have to find your team affected to care more. but this is the real world. i'm not saying every republican cares about, it but we just got reporting for our own team that some voters of the rnc care about it. nikki haley's fans care about it, some other people in later states care about, it it's a not zero factor that donald trump's attack on honoring all of democracy is also potentially hurting him inside the republican party. you also make a really good

point here, stephanie, which is when you have fractured coalitions, right, you see a lot of outrage, usually, to try to suture goes over. there's of course the unity new hampshire, i would think about unity new hampshire, hillary clinton, and barack obama appearing together. you saw this process play out between bernie sanders and joe biden in 2020. it's hard to imagine the version of that here, but there's going to have to be something like that, or they face what lawrence flagged, which is some people not coming back inside the tent. >> what donald trump does is get to the podium and lie, and talk about how unify the party's. right? think about who has donald trump reached out to beyond his base? what has he offered anyone beyond his base in this campaign? there is not one policy proposal, not one event, he's got his hard-core trump lovers, and that's it. so, when you think about the people that are now firmly in nikki haley's camp, do you

really see them turning to donald trump come november? like democrats did for joe biden? you could've had a people to judge democrat, amy klobuchar democrat, turn around and said, yeah, i'm gonna vote for biden come november. or those voters really gonna do that for trump? not if he keeps going the road he's going down. and the one she's going down. >> and already's point about that, i had forgotten that, a little moment in the news cycle when they clearly pushed ronna mcdaniel to put out this, to start this revolution, parties over, guys, show is done. everybody go home. tip your waiters. trump had to come out to be like let's let it play out. >> briefly, that's part of why they're trying to bring a new leadership. >> we are still anticipating nikki haley to come out and give what is, at this point, one of the most anticipated concession speeches we've had in this cycle so far, so let's sneak in a quick break, then we will get that on the other side. we are reliably informed. let's see. ahhh, there's nothing like a day out with friends.

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>> i just wish we could do it quicker, nine months is a long time. i just wish we could do it quicker, mr. governor. is there anything you can do with your vast powers? to make that, you know, in certain countries, you're allowed to call your election date, if i had the right to do it, i do it tomorrow. i'd say we're having an election. >> you would imagine he would want to have the election before facing any of the criminal trials he's now possibly going to face. let's head back over to steve

kornacki, steve, not a lot of suspense on the winner of tonight's contest. some suspense on the possibility of some delegates being won by nikki haley. >> yeah, that really is it. it's a question of whether the final split is going to be a clean 50 nothing sweep for donald trump, or if nikki haley's going to win a congressional district. win a district, you get three delegates, they're seven congressional districts in south carolina. and take a look here, actually, you can see charleston county and beaufort county, this is where hilton head is here, kind of low country here, south carolina, these two countries right now are in haley red. beaufort is all in the first district, not all, but a lot of charleston is in the first district. if we pull up our friend, the congressional district map here , again, you see we've not called several congressional districts. a big one we've not called is the first district. if you take a look in some of the component counties here, here's what we are seeing. take a look, this is the bedroom county, bedroom community county, berkeley

county, it's very fast growing, donald trump has opened up, pretty significant advantage over nikki haley here. this is bigger than what we were seeing earlier, so trump needs to get a big margin out of berkeley county. because look at what haley is getting out of trump right now, half the vote, charleston county. the one thing we're getting some indications of looking at some of these counties around the state is that the election day, though, that's what's now being tallied, we've also basically seen the early vote in just all these counties. but two thirds of the vote is going to be election day vote, that's what's coming in now, we're getting some indications that may be more friendly to trump than the early voting. if that's the case, then the remaining vote here in charleston county, this could be the early vote, plus some of the same day, but this trump number could rise as the same day is coming in. i think that's the critical question right here. because if it stays at this level, the rest of that vote continues to go to haley, almost a 2 to 1 margin, she's going to get a lot of voting. make up a lot of votes that

way, then the question would really become beaufort county. what we're looking at here is the early voting before county. none of the same day, haley jumps out to a 17-point advantage here. how different is that election day vote going to look from the same day vote? donald trump suddenly get over 50% of the election day vote, beaufort county a wash. where does he not really do much better with the remaining vote them? in which case, if haley were to put beaufort and charleston together, could that offset berkeley? could that offset the little piece of carlton county, the piece of dorchester county that is in this? that's the question right now. there's still a lot of vote to come, that's the suspense. to the extent there is. if haley wins that, that's three delegates for her. like i said, she could take that, and there's some districts, i don't want to overstate this at all, there's some districts looking into super tuesday, where they give out the vote like this, demographically, are similar to this, that she could then say i've got to make a run at those districts. that's 1000 delegates given out

after tonight into super tuesday, very very few are going to be three congressional district delegates in a place like this. >> that first congressional district represented currently by nancy may, someone who nikki haley put her political weight behind to save from a primary challenge successfully for mace to turn around and endorsed donald trump. she, along with lindsey graham at the trump headquarters tonight. let's bring in someone who knows delegate math better than almost any person on the planet, it's former obama campaign manager, david plouffe, who is one of the masterminds of that delegate math. that was a lot closer delegate math, that delegate math required a lot more precise calculation of marginal cost- benefit than the delegate math we are seeing here, where it's just -- to steve's point, looks overwhelming. >> the delegate situation is immature. assuming haley stays, in trump's going to have a massively coming out of super tuesday. i do agree with lawrence, even if something were to happen to

trump healthwise in july or august, that convention is not going to nominate nikki haley. she's not staying in, i think, because there's some outside chance. i think the important thing though, we're now heading to the geriatric cage match, the general election. the important thing is, we now of iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina. these are not general election voters that are republicans, these are primary voters. and 35, 40% are not choosing trump. so, the best campaigns and the best companies have the best data. in the biden campaign has so much data right now, but the type of voters who you can then translate that to wisconsin, arizona, georgia, and nevada, who have a problem with trump, and that, to me, is a gift for the biden campaign, and a huge problem for donald trump. at the end of the day, he's going to have to get anywhere from 47 to 50% of the vote. when you have that many republican primary voters, does going to be more republican general election voters.

so i think that's the most important thing coming out of this from a general election standpoint. trump is going to get out of his big win, he's essentially incumbent president. he's been performing quite poorly, if you from it in that way. >> how much, david, how easy or hard is it for a campaign like the biden campaign to basically, literally find the individual voters? people that are, again, because it's so polarized, and obviously not every haley voter in these circumstances is going to be an anti trump voter in a general election, in, fact i think the majority win -- but to find that small sliver of the persuadable few. >> listen, all of us as americans have hundreds of data points. so the biden campaign will go to figure out who's been voting for haley, and find people just like them in the battleground states. >> nikki haley, now, approaching the podium, let's take a listen to what she has to say.

>> thank you. thank you. thank you. [crowd chanting] thank, you thank, you thank you. thank you. y'all are a rowdy bunch. but i love that about you. thank you. i want to start off, obviously, thanking my family. i am so incredibly blessed. i was able to speak with michael this morning, his support has been amazing. the kids have really stepped up. sometimes too much, but they have stepped up in a way that has made me so, so proud. i am blessed, because i have the ability to actually go vote today, with my mom.

there's something very special, with the fact that she was a lawyer in india, she was named one of the first female judges. because of the times, she was never able to sit on the bench. but the fact that she could go with me, and cast her ballot for her daughter, as president of the united states, was an amazing moment. i want to thank my parents, who taught me strength and grace, i want to thank michael's parents, who have been unbelievably supportive through all of this. i want to thank my brothers and my sister and their families for always supporting us, every

step of the way. thank you. i feel blessed tonight, i felt blessed through this entire journey. even when it's been tough. i have not lost sight of that. i've felt god's strength and grace every step of the way. i'm blessed to have served at the state that raised me. and i look forward to continuing to be blessed to serve the state that raised me, whether it's going and voting with my mom, or whether it is being with our family, we are very grateful for the good people of south carolina. thank you. and it's a blessing to know that across our sweet state, everyone wants to bring back the america we know and love. that is the underlying message of what happened today.

i want to congratulate donald trump on his victory. and i want to thank the people of south carolina for using the power of your voice. no matter the results, i love the people of our state. i love what we accomplished together, and i love how we united during our worst challenges and tragedies. i've always seen our state as a family, families are honest with each other. they say the hard truths. that's what i've done this entire campaign. and that's what i'll do now. what i saw today was south carolina's frustration with our country's direction. i've seen that same frustration nationwide.

i share it. i feel it to my core. i couldn't be more worried about america. it seems like our country is falling apart, but here's the thing, america will come apart if we make the wrong choices. this has never been about me or my political future. we need to beat joe biden in november. i don't believe donald trump can beat joe biden. nearly every day, trump drives people away. including with his comments

just yesterday. today in south carolina, we are getting around 40% of the vote. that's about but we got in new hampshire too. i'm going to count it, i know 40% is not 50%. but i also know 40% is not some tiny group. [crowd chanting] there are huge numbers of voters in our republican primaries who are saying they

want and alternative. i said earlier this week, that no matter what happens in south carolina, i would continue to run for president. i'm a woman of my word. [crowd chanting] i'm not giving up this fight when a majority of americans disapprove of both donald trump and joe biden. south carolina has spoken. we are the fourth state to do

so. in the next ten days, another 21 states and territories will speak. they have the right to a real choice. not a soviet style election, with only one candidate. and i have a duty to give them that choice. we can't afford four more years of biden's failures. or trump's lack of focus. we are at 34 trillion in debt, and counting, not even a third of our eighth graders are proficient in reading. some families can't afford groceries, 9 million illegals have come to our border with enough fentanyl to kill every single american.

and beyond our borders, the world is on fire. war is spreading further every day. if we aren't strong, those wars will draw america further in the. and it's not just about policies, we won't get out of our downward spiral, if we keep obsessing over the past. does anyone seriously think joe biden or donald trump will unite our country to solve our problems? [crowd chanting] one of them calls his fellow americans fascists, the other calls his fellow americans vermin. they aren't fighting for our country's future. they are demanding we fight each other. the younger generation, my children's generation knows it better than anyone.

they deserve better. they deserve leadership. and so i will keep fighting for them and for you, and for all of america. from the start of this campaign, i have made clear that i'm running for president to save america. i'm running to remind us what it means to be an american. and the america i know and love, we believe in each other. and we believe in america's inherent goodness.

now is the time to renew that belief, now, is the time to remember who we are. we are citizens of the greatest country in human history. [crowd chanting] and we must lead now, more than ever before. i'm grateful to south carolina, i always have been, and i always will be. and i'm grateful that today is not the end of our story. we are headed to michigan tomorrow. and we are headed to the super tuesday states throughout all of next week.

we will keep fighting for america, and we won't rest, until america wins. i want to give a few thank you, because we've had some people who have really -- there's been too many to thank, but i really have to single out congressman ralph norman. ralph has had pressure on him from every side, that he needed to not support me, and that he needed to step away from me. and he always said there is no way in hell. i want to thank senator tom davis, representative nathan valentine, and representative mike niece.

who were there we -- had other supporters, but they were constantly there. tom, you've been there from the very beginning, nathan, you will forever be my deskmate, mike, i won't know what to do if i don't see you at an event. but i am truly, truly grateful. solicitor scarlett wilson and dunfee stone, amazing rock stars for our state, that we should all be proud of. mayor brenda bethune, really stepped up, the mayor of myrtle beach, she was absolutely fantastic. former congressman gresham barrett. the story behind me and gresham is we duked it out in our first primary, when i ran for governor. to have him call me and say not only do i want to help you, i will do whatever you need me to

do. gresham, thank you for the prayers, thank you for the texts, thank you for the encouragement, i'm grateful for that. and everybody needs a friend, like bubba kramer. [crowd chanting] >> nikki haley making good on her word not to leave the race, announcing tonight she will continue to fight. stressing, she says that she got about 40% of the vote, at least as of now, and that while she's good enough to know that's not 50, that 40% is not some tiny little group. rachel, your thoughts on that speech? >> that is exactly what i was focusing on, as well, wondering if governor haley was listening in on our discussion earlier

about that lawrence i highlighted, we've been talking about our sense, this idea that yes, trump is winning, and trump's been winning throughout this primary process, but the haley candidacy, i think specifically because it does not show any risk of winning, its strength, nevertheless, is a problem for trump, who wants to wrap this up, who wishes she wasn't in the race, and wishes she'd proclaim -- while seating 40% of the vote to her. she said in south carolina we're getting 40% of the vote, that's about what we got in new hampshire too, i know 40% is not 50%, but i know 40% is not some tiny group. she said there are huge numbers of voters in our republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative. when i said earlier this week, no matter what happens in south carolina, i would continue to run for president, i am a woman of my word. then the crowd goes wild. first of all, she's good at giving a speech. second of all, that's an incredibly fired-up room for a

group of people whose candidate just lost that poll closing. but she is making a case that despite the top line results, is justified by the data that there is a problem with the prohibitive front runner in the republican party. she's making that case against him, both on substantive grounds in terms of what he's like, but he was like as a president, what he's like as a candidate now, when he's offering the country in this campaign, but also when a horse race analysis as well. saying, listen, if trump has this wrapped up, how come 40% of y'all voted for me? here and in new hampshire. it's a reasonable case to be made. >> joy, what did you think? >> i wrote down a few lines, i think that's brilliant rachel just said. i'll add to it. this is a couple of her lines. everyone wants to bring back the america we used to know, we used to love, she said. that's that nostalgia commentary that you gave her. she said she loves her state, i love how we united during our worst challenges.

she said, the people have a right to a real choice, not a soviet style election with just one candidate. this is where she calls out both biden and trump, she says one of them calls fellow americans fascist, the other calls them vermin, she says trump drives people away. then she goes into her riff about the 40%. nikki haley, i think, did very well. first of all, she is a talented politician. i think we only to acknowledge her talent as a politician. she's got it giving a speech. but what she's also particularly good at, and it's one of the reasons she became governor of a state like south carolina, that is so white evangelical, that is so anti- thetical to the idea of the daughter of immigrants from india, you would think would not have a shot there, but what she's really good at is doing the kind of nostalgia that, frankly, barack obama used to do, and that voters -- candidates of color, have to do in order to succeed in american politics. they pushed to a nostalgia

about this we are an america with possibilities, it's the reason she won't say america's a racist country. it's the reason most black politicians won't say it. if there is a part of the american electorate that wants to believe the best about america, they want to believe the rose colored glasses version of america, tonight, nikki haley spoke to those people, who she has very accurately said to make up maybe four out of ten republican and independent republican leaning independent voters. she didn't try to speak to the maga crowd, she didn't try to pander to trump's voters, she ignored them, essentially. she went straight for that nostalgia portion of the republican party that still remains. i thought that was very smart. and that is kind of what i would say that she might do, to leapfrog over maga, to ignore them, essentially, and to speak to that nostalgic voter that in the past voted for george w. bush, or whatever. she's a standard issue old style type republican, who has zero shot of being the nominee

in this election, right? however, she is keeping alive the fact that that part of the party and that part of the independent portion of our electorate does exist. now, her policies are far right. if you've dug deeper into what she believes, she's a far-right wing tea partier. but she presents as that old- fashioned type of nostalgic candidate, and a candidate of color in the republican party, where i think there's value to that. her staying in the race, i'm quite sure that the democrats are very happy to have her. she's not going to be the nominee, but she's a reminder every day, and every time she opens her mouth, that there still are republican voters who want something other than maga, who believe in something about america that isn't maga, and who actually are open to someone like her, who looks like, or who sounds like her, who is a woman, who is the daughter of immigrants. it's a reminder that if you are a nostalgia voter, you are not alone. and about 40% of republicans and republican-leaning independents agree with you, i'm sure the biden campaign

couldn't be happier to have her in the brace and to stay in. >> ari. >> i heard three key points, one, this equivalence that she's done several times, she attacked trump as divisive than argues that biden is equally divisive. of course, if the term fascist refers to the sitting president trying to defend democracy, i don't know if that's equivalent to vermin. but that's the pitch she's making republicans, that's point, 1. 2, as it's been discussed, i think that line jumped out to rachel, joy, myself, maybe everyone, 40% a nothing. she continues to hit decent losing margins. repeatedly in new hampshire, and here, and maybe she thinks she can do that in other states super tuesday. that's not nothing. she saying, hey, i'm strong, against this supposed leader president who's semi incumbent who's week. that's pointer three, she's basically shading his numbers, and she's pointing out that there is a weakness to the way that he wants to short-circuit the race, the soviet style comparison, lack of democracy. why do you do it? because you can't win an outright election, which he

couldn't last time. those overlap. i'm reminded, as we take this all in, she's kind of pulling a jay-z, who said we don't believe you, you need more people. >> true. >> i don't know that i have as charitable an assessment of the speech, i think on one hand -- >> speak your truth. >> look, i do think she's a good politician. but i found it a bit mushy, in so far as by virtue of staying in this race, she's performing an act of antagonism against donald trump, on a number of levels. right? >> correct. yes. >> yet, her only fortunes are to be had among people who don't like donald trump, who have a problem with him, in a meaningful way. the only thing she can say, really, critical of donald trump, is we can't afford four more years of biden's failures or trump's lack of focus. let me tell you something, the 40% of people who are --

>> thank god he's not more focused. >> the 40% of people are not voting because trump has not focused, he is focused like a laser on brown people, on women, on migrants, that's not the problem here. a little less focus might be good. i just think, joy, i thought so articulately, and eloquently raised this is your moment in the sun, nikki haley, what are gonna do with it? are you going to speak to the heart of the matter, which is a sizeable percent of the republican electorate thinks this guy is a problem for them? and i didn't hear tonight. >> but she also isn't looking to speak to his voters. joy noted it, she started her speech talking about her indian mother, her lawyer mother in india. she is not speaking to mega maga. i thought that was extraordinary. what i felt like i was listening to was a no labels pitch. >> yes, that's what it sounds like. >> which, in theory, speaks to a lot of people. but in practice, the math doesn't. >> so, let's talk about 40%, for a second. what is 40%? >> one of my favorite numbers. >> it was enough for lyndon

johnson to not run for election. jean mccarthy went to new hampshire, got 42%, in 1968, in new hampshire, against the sitting president. no one thought he was going to get above 20. when lyndon johnson saw those results, that was it. it was all over. that's how big and important within your own party, when you have presidential standing on the ballot, in the primary, as trump does, essentially incumbency, and south carolina, south carolina, this is a hard- core republican state. this is not new hampshire, this is a hard place to get 40% against donald trump. it's a very troubling night for donald trump. and rachel's point about the enthusiasm we were hearing in the crowd, i was wondering about that. because the losing hotel ballroom is never quite that energetic, and remember what

that energy is about. we are so thrilled that you are going to keep running against donald trump, her campaign at this point isn't really about policy positions, no one can tell you what's the difference between haley and trump on tariffs. they have no idea. what's the difference between them on israel and gaza? none of those voters have the slightest idea. the only thing that haley voter knows in a republican party's she's running against donald trump. and a small price, the small price that democrats have to pay is that when ever she says a negative thing about trump in a prepared speech, she's going to try to put joe biden somewhere on the other side of that coin, and it's never going to be as bad. it's never as bad. when she's out there on the campaign trail and she's asked specific questions by reporters about insane and hateful things that donald trump says, she attacks those things very directly, and doesn't drag joe biden into it.

she's going to michigan tomorrow. when you're running a democratic biden harris ticket, who do you want to send michigan tomorrow? haley. can we sent haley? yeah, she's going. that's the most effective person you can send into michigan to pull voters away from the republican side of the ballot and the runner. >> steve kornacki, i'm only going to you because i just want to, again, my fastidiousness, just calling me here, because she said 40%, which we are all quoting that number. and again, rounding, that's where we're at. i just want to make sure that we haven't gone down to 29, and she's run a donald trump on us, and we're out of the actual number. quickly, where are we right now? we're at 38. 7. >> yeah, that's what you're seeing. 22 point lead for donald trump. little bit less than two thirds is in statewide.

just look here and see what the biggest outstanding, where we have the biggest outstanding vote. okay, so three counties to point to right now. the biggest single source of outstanding vote is in greenville county. this is in the upstate. this is probably the biggest -- you know, you think of the upstate, maybe as not as big, but actually, population wise, it is. this is a place we've got a lot of outstanding votes still to come. but haley could do fairly well with. but the second biggest places this, horry county, which is producing a massive votes tonight. this is the heart of trump country. this is myrtle beach, conway, you see trump's margin, and he's doing better with the same- day vote. he's had that there. the third one to point to, the third biggest source, is the one who's gonna answer that question about the first congressional district and whether there's any chance haley -- there it is. >> all right, much more to come tonight, as nikki haley vows to find all these results in south carolina republican primary. we'll be right back. l be right.

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