poorer and go hungry. virginia lopez, al jazeera, car aks a. plenty more coverage for you on our website. the address for you is aljazeera.com. plenty more on super-tuesday underway in the u.s. the address again, aljazeera.com. ♪ it's super-tuesday, a cross roads in the path to the white house. front runners look to lock in the nomination. >> we are going to make america great again, greater than ever before. >> they have been after me for 25 years, and i'm still standing. >> a chance to breathe new life into campaigns fighting to stay alive. >> football is a spectator's sport, democracy is not. >> elect me president and we will be the authors of the

greatest chapter in the amazing story of america. >> we are going to win the general election. we are going to beat hillary clinton. and we are going to turn this country around. ♪ >> voters across the country give their say as the field to 1600 pennsylvania avenue narrows. ♪ a big day. this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey. millions of americans have already started casting their ballot on this, the biggest day of the 2016 campaign. it is super-tuesday. earlier this hour, ted cruz voted in his home state of texas. today could be a potential game changer for sanders and some of the republicans. democrats are vying for 865 delegates. republicans are competing for 595 delegates. i'm joined on set by lincoln mitchell. we need him on days like this.

and our team coverage is going to be jonathan martin who is following developments in alabama. and heidi zhou castro is in san francisco -- san antonio you, texas. pardon me, where the most delegates are up for grabs. let's start with heidi. texas is the big estate heading to the polls today. how are the candidates driving home their message to connect with voters in texas. >> hey, richelle, so we first look at the republican side. we're looking at a two-man race between donald trump and ted cruz who is the favored son here in his home state. he is trying to tap back into that tea party base. these are the same voters that launched him into the senate in 2012. cruz has the endorsement of the governor, and a former governor, rick perry, and cruz is trying to steer his campaign messaging back on track to attacking the obama administration, which has

long resinated here among texas republicans. the question is, will it continue to resinate, and will it be enough to counter balance the insurgency that is donald trump's campaign. trump leading -- leading in rallies as far as how many -- the attendee size, but as far as a ground game goes, obviously ted cruz has the advantage, but if you listen to what people are talking about on the street, if you tap into the energy here in texas, richelle, donald trump's campaign saying he definitely stands a chance. >> but cruz as you said is expected to win, as is clinton. how close are they to meeting their expectations? this >> reporter: sure, we are seeing hillary clinton leading in polls 21 points. a significant gap there. her campaign expecting a massive sweep of texas, similar to what we saw in south carolina. she is tapping in to the hispanic vote here, hoping to

capitalize on the good relationship she and bill clinton had. back at the republicans you see evidence of the two-man race. the latest poll showing just a 3-point gap between ted cruz, leading over donald trump. if you look at marco rubio he is trailing at a disimportant third. >> all right. heidi zhou castro thank you so much. let's bring in lincoln mitchell now. why is it so close for ted cruz in his home state? >> because donald trump has become this kind of national phenomenon that has spoke to a battery of issues that effect a lot of voters. ted cruz has stuck to this orthodox conservatism, which these voters aren't buying into anymore. i think if you are worried about the country looking differently from the one in which you grew up, you are not saying what we

need to do is cut taxes for rich people. donald trump is moving past that and appealing to voters in a different way. >> let's assume ted cruz wins today, because his campaign look different tomorrow? >> does win texas today. >> yes, specifically texas. >> well, it means he has a campaign tomorrow. if he doesn't he may not have a campaign tomorrow. >> what do you think? >> i think he can win texas. but it doesn't solve the republican's problem. the fantasy of the establishment wing of the republican party is that marco rubio who has been running around saying hey, i got a good second, hey, i came in third, but better than expected is going to emerge as a front runner, and i don't see that happening at all. cruz winning texas doesn't solve the problem. and the market that marco rubio is still in that race, the republican leadership really

coalesces around anybody but cruz, they should be saying rubio, get out of texas and tell your supporters to support cruz. >> but when you combine cruz and rubio, sometimes they still don't come up to what donald trump has. >> sure. and additionally, what makes us think that people supporting ted cruz would prefer rubio to trump. maybe sitting in a studio or think tank, you can come up with that, but these are real voters. >> and as this election has shown they are very unpredictable. >> that's right. so it's going to be very hard to stop donald trump but if cruz wins texas he can fight another day, but if he can't, i don't think he can. >> all right. let's check in with jonathan martin in alabama. the governor said this time around his state is going to make a difference. so what kind of turnout is expected in vermont and who is

leading? >> so far the governor and some of the other elected officials are predicting a 40% voter turnout here in alabama which is fairly significant, when you consider there are not a lot of other issues drawing voters to the polls. they are now voting on super-tuesday with a lot of these other states. in the past alabama has voted a week after super-tuesday, so they feel because they moved this primary up, they have gotten more attention. the candidates have spent more time and money here. so we'll see what happens. donald trump still out with a pretty commanding lead. 42% is where he is polling. so the thing to watch here in alabama and some of these southern states will be who will come in second and who will come in third. marco rubio and ted cruz neck and neck in alabama and some of these southern states. and on the republican side,

hillary clinton, really, also with a commanding lead, polling over 70% in the latest polls. she is really hoping to do what she did in south carolina, and not only win big, but win big with a lot of the african american voters. she was here over the weekend, and richelle she spent a lot of her time at an historically black college and she spoke to some of those big issues like criminal justice reform and raising the minimum wage. >> all right. jonathan, collectively, how many delegates are at steak today? >> reporter: well, a lot of delegates at stake when you combine this whole deep south region. if you look at alabama there are 50 delegates on the republican side and 60 on the republican side. but this is the sec primary as they say with aesthetics. you have alabama, georgia, tennessee, arkansas, oklahoma,

all of these southern states voting, and when you combine all of those delegates it is a significant number, you are talking about more than 250 each richelle. >> jonathan martin thank you so much. let's turn bk to lincoln mitchell. was there a strategy to the republican party trying to have so many southern states so early? >> one part of the strategy is you want to get this over with, right? they were concerned about a primary that would drag on, and on. i think now they would be very happy with a primary that would drag on and on. but originally, they said let's get this done early. so that was part of the strategy. there has always been this traditional super-tuesday southern states, so there is a history of that as well. >> let's talk about senator jeff sessions when he came out earlier to support donald trump.

what is that indicative of, of the state of alabama? >> well, there are politicians who are saying this trump movement is real. first of all he is going to be the nominee and maybe we'll rally around him. and secondly, it is maybe i should think about potentially being primaried in the future, and that's a real problem. one of the bigger-picture problems effect american politics today, it's not that they are worried about reelection, many of them come from solid red states, and they are making decisions based on will i get renominated, which means they are really constantly appealing to the most conservative base of their party. >> and -- and majority leader mitch mcconnell has in fact said do what you have to do for yourself and your local race if that's what you need to do. >> right, which would generally

speaking, you would think that is his way of saying you don't have to be with trump. what he is really saying is if you feel you have to be with trump, we can live with that. >> all right. lincoln thank you very much. stay with us. in georgia a group of black students were ejected from a trump rally by secret service. they were silently protesting on monday. the secret service agents said trump requested their removal. >> to get kicked out because we're a group of black people is -- shows how racist our own school is. >> reporter: the trump campaign spokesperson denied that trump or his campaign had anything to do with that incident. but there was another incident at radford university in virginia. the candidate was interrupted several times including by a young female protester. >> are you from mexico?

huh? right smack in the middle of my punch line. >> the secret service is now investigating what happened when an agent scuffled with a time magazine photographer. the photographer said this in a statement: i am joined again by lincoln mitchell national political correspondent for the new york observer. republican leadership is taking note of these things, taking note also of what has played out the last few days when donald trump has gone back and forth on whether or not to disassociate himself with former klansman david duke. >> i want to be very clear about something, if a person wants to be the nominee of the republican party there can be no evasion and no games. they must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry.

this party does not prey on people's prejudices. we appeal to the highest ideals. >> so tension, confrontation at trump rallies. the situation with david duke. what is party leadership thinking here? >> party leadership is thinking we're going to carry five states in november and lose all of these down ballot races. and they are also thinking this guy can't a real conservative. there is a big part of the republican establishment anger about trump which is, wow, this guy is scary, but hey, he's not a real conservative. there are other candidates in this race who have support from candidates who say horrific things about lbgt people. >> you can't control who endorses you. >> no, more than that. or about jews for that matter.

david duke is more well-known than some weird pastor who supports ted cruz. but that is a noble sentiment by paul ryan. and if the republican party doesn't like that their most -- the man most likely to be nominated is enthusiastically supported by someone like david duke, then they need to think about how they got to this point, rather than saying donald trump is the only problem, we had nothing to do with it. >> i'm sure the republican party would disagree. but thank you very much. a reminder we'll have complete coverage starting tonight at 7:00 eastern right here on al jazeera america. up next a showdown between apple and the fbi. and president obama sits down with republican leaders in an attempt to sway them to fill the empty supreme court seat.

more of osama bin laden's personal documents seized during the 2011 raid have been released to the public. one of them was a handwritten will which said he had around $29 million personal wealth. president obama is sitting down with senate leaders today hoping to convince senate republicans to fill the vacancy

on the supreme court. the republicans say the next president should choose the nominee. roxana saberi is live in washington with more on this. roxana. >> reporter: president obama is sitting down face-to-face with two leading republican senators, both have vowed to block his moved to fill the supreme court vacan vacancy. iowa senator chuck grassley said they will not hold a confirmation hearing. and mitch mcconnell has said he won't even meet with an obama nominee. they said in a statement, we look forward to reiterating to him directly that the american people will be heard, and the next supreme court justice will be determined once elections are complete. a leading democratic accused republicans of shirking their

responsibility to consider a nominee. >> this is a political calculation they are willing to take. in the hopes that a president trump will pick someone to fill this vacancy or some other republican president in the future. that's what they are counting on. that's political. politics shouldn't trump the constitution. >> reporter: and vice president joe biden was also in meeting with the president today. along with senator reid, and patrick leahy, the leading democrat in the judicial committee. richelle. >> there is obviously a big gap between these two camps. so what is likely to actually come out of this meeting? >> president obama and his allies would like to convince the republican leaders to change their minds and hold a hearing on his nominee, at least consider a nominee and hopefully

actually vote on a nominee. at least president obama can say he sat down and tried to change their minds. >> all right. racks sana'a, oh, the bar is so low now in washington, d.c. loretta lynch is speaking in san francisco today on the balance between tech and privacy. a recent new york decision, on monday, a judge ruled apple does not have to unlock an iphone to help in a drug investigation. jake ward joins me now. what does this case in new york tell us about the upcoming fight between apple and the fbi. >> reporter: well, it's a really interesting parallel case. you hear the fbi talk about the san bernardino case, but we have heard almost nothing about this

case. in this case a drug dealer was -- was charged and wound up pleading out and yet the government continued to press under the all writs act, for access to his phone, and apple fought back in court, and the ruling that this judge wrote basically said that the government has overstepped its constitutional authority by trying to force companies like apple to do this. as a result, they have really lost in this case. it's a very interesting parallel to what we have seen with san bernardino. >> so what is the big deal? like they have said it's just one phone. >> right. the fbi director says this doesn't open up a master key. but this shows that there are many, many cases, and you have heard many, many people saying i have 175 phones ready to be

opened in this case, so this really does give creed dance to what apple has been saying. if the fbi loses, are they out of options? >> technologically their options are narrowing by the day. analysts expect with the release of the next iphone, apple is going to put all information out of reach of the government even the most determined government hacker is not going to be able to hack it. the only option is to go to the courts or congress. they will be speaking about the need to make some sort of law to address that. both camps seem to agree, we need to make new law. >> and we see this so much where the law and technology are not

even in the same decade or century. >> that's right. the all writs act that the fine has been referring to was built at a time when the adding machine was the top thing. so the argument is because the law has not been updated the judges need to improvising, and the world is saying congress needs to step in and update the laws. >> jake thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up, mission complete, astronaut scott kelley prepares to return to earth after nearly a year in space. and another elephant attack in india, this time creating chaos at an annual holy festival. ♪

look at this video. terrifying moments in india. look this elephant broke free and was running amuck in a festival. it was one of five lined up during a ritual. yes, those are children on top there. nearly 30 vehicles were damaged, but no injuries to report >> starting today some of the most iconic attractions at yosemite national park will have new names. it's a all because of a legal dispute. the company that owns the names lost a contract to run services in the park, so is demanding the names be taken down. the park says it is putting up

temporary signs in hopes of reaching a settlement. two astronauts will be turning to earth after more than a year. >> reporter: over the past 49 weeks, scott kelly and his russian comrade have taken more than 5400 spins around the earth, and carried out experiments. but it's how their own bodies have weathered the long spell of radiation exposure and weightlessness that researchers will be giving the most attention. kelly says he feels fine physically, but has a keener sense of the social isolation of space travel. and after spending almost half of the time in a box the size of a phone booth, he points to the challenges for those designing a human journey to mars. >> making that -- you know, that

private -- that private area as perfect as possible, i think it will go a long way towards, you know, reducing fatigue and stress. >> reporter: while scientists will collect data from both, it's the american who will be subject to closer examination. together with his identical twin brother, mark. >> so far my role has been to provide samples, blood, saliva, other things, i'm not going to go into. [ laughter ] >> and be there for mri's and ultrasounds. >> reporter: they will be compared for their vision, and the interacting system of bacteria within each human body, to the chromosomes that determine aging, and to their immune systems after both received the latest flu vaccine. >> we are using the latest

technology for sequencing. to really identify each t-cell in mark and scott. >> reporter: >> reporter: kelly says he could have spent another year if necessary, but back on the ground he will continue to be the focus of study. tom akerman, al jazeera. take a look at that gorgeous picture. astronaut kelly tweeted out earlier today. the caption read: super sonic planes could soon be returning to the skies. the concord flu more than a decade ago now. nasa has awarded a $20 million contract to develop a new high-speed passenger jet. thank you for joining us. i'm richelle carey. ♪

hello, this is the news hour live from london. the race to be president of the united states reaches a crucial stage. it's super tuesday which could make or break the path to the white house. >> i'm in texas, the loan star state is the biggest prize on super tuesday and now the most divisive figure in the race is saying he can unite the country. >> people don't know that about me.