starting tomorrow i'll be moderating republican town halls from south carolina. two-night event, tomorrow night, dr. carson, rubio, cruz. thursday, kasich, bush, trump. 8:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow and thursday. i hope you join us. that does it for us. i'll see you again at 11:00 p.m. edition tonight. "cnn tonight" with don lemon starts now. the president versus the republican front-runner. this time it's getting personal. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. president barack obama takes aim at the candidate nobody thought would get this close to the white house. >> i continue to believe mr. trump will not be president. and the reason is because i have a lot of faith in the american people. and i think they recognize that being president is a serious job. it's not hosting a talk show or a reality show.

>> donald j. trump giving as good as he got tonight. >> you're lucky i didn't run last time when romney ran because you would have been a one-term president. that was my statement to him. meanwhile, hillary clinton with a commanding 18-point lead in south carolina and making her pitch to voters in harlem. >> we continue to ask black people to vote for us. we cannot minimize the realities of the lives they lead or take their concerns for granted. [ applause ] there is a lot going on tonight, so let's get right to cnn's douglas brinkley and gloria borger, also political commentator bob beck l and "the hill's" bob kusak. the president took on trump today. listen. >> i continue to believe mr. trump will not be president. and the reason is because i have a lot of faith in the american people. and i think they recognize that

being president is a serious job. it's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. it's not promotion. it's not marketing. it's hard. and a lot of people count on us getting it right. and it's not a matter of pandering and doing whatever will get you in the news on a given day. and sometimes it requires you making hard decisions even when people don't like it. >> gloria, there was no mincing of words there. what do you think? >> reporter: no, look, i think the president can hardly hide his disdain for donald trump, and that's no secret to any of us. you know, donald trump originally was the one who said, look, where's the president's birth certificate? remember that? so there's a bit of a history here. and i think the president also, by the way, went after some other republican candidates, but

not by name. but by naming trump, what he does in the republican primary, and i'm here in south carolina, what he does is he elevates donald trump with republican voters. republican voters don't like president obama. and who did obama pick to name today when he talked about republicans? but the front-runner, donald trump. and that only helps trump here because he's in a fight with the president and the other republicans are fighting amongst themselves. >> bob kusak, this one is for you, trump responded tonight is the president's attack. watch. >> this man has done such a bad job, he's set us back so far and for him to say that actually is a great compliment if you want to know the truth. and we just got to call it, coming over, the bridge was, like, packed just so you understand. we were in that car a long time. we just gave -- one of major networks called. they wanted a response. i said, you're lucky i didn't

run last time when romney ran, bau because you would have been a one-term president. >> the president's comments only going to bolster trump's support? >> u think so. the president didn't say he doesn't think donald trump will be the republican nominee, he said this will not win the presidency. maybe this is a move by the white house to help donald trump to some degree because democrats in washington at least fear marco rubio more than they do donald trump. at the same time, who would have thought that donald trump would be atop the republican polls? certainly not barack obama when he mocked him at the 2011 white house correspondents' dinner. it's been an unpredictable year. democrats are nervous trump is going to advance to the final two and never know what's going to happen in a general election. >> bob, do you think the president president is surprise ed donald trump's standings in the poll? >> yes. let's keep in mind here, nobody

else has been very effective at taking him on. particularly on the substance, the gravitas you need to be president of the united states. who better than the president to say that? at this point when it gets down to three people running, obama is not going to be as harmful to the third person in the race. somebody has to point this out. he has the bully pulpit. he should do it. he's not an unpopular president, about 50/50. it's not going to help the pr republican primary. at least it will raise the issue. >> mr. brinkley, have you ever heard of a sitting president calling out a single presidential candidate like that? >> well, not on the eve of something like the south carolina, you know, primary in the way that president obama did it today. i think the backdrop support, i think he's been holding a conference in rancho with south asian leaders. i think all those people, leaders around the world are

like, is trump for real? how can america elect somebody like this? so the president in some ways was also answering their questions, that, no, this guy is not going to be president, and barack obama clearly thinks that donald trump is a bigot. everything, you know, that he stood for, barack obama, his whole life, the antithesis of it is donald trump. i can't think of two people in politics more opposite in personality than obama and trump. but the consensus agreement is it's probably going to give trump a little bit of a bounce in south carolina. >> okay, everyone. let's hear more from the president because he didn't just take on donald trump. he took on all the 2016 gop candidates. here it is. >> you've got a candidate who sponsored a bill that i supported, to finally solve the immigration problem and he's running away from it as fast as he can. they're all denying climate change. i think that's troubling to the international community.

since the science is unequivo l unequivocal. >> bob, he's talking about marco rubio there at the beginning. >> yeah. >> are you surprised to see the president stepping into a primary like this? bob beckel mentioned to moment ago. are you surprised? >> don, i'm not. remember, the president has a marketing problem here. is that everyone is focused on 2016. so he's got to grab the spotlight. congress is not going to be doing any sweeping legislation this year. so how does he stay in the headlines? he talks about donald trump, talks about the 2016 hopefuls. i think he's going to continue to do this and help hillary clinton, his i think preferred candidate, and maybe bernie sanders. >> yeah. gloria, what's the reaction there on the ground for people to hear the president weighing in on, you know, just before a primary? >> reporter: look, i think -- i think no one is surprised that the president is critical of republicans, of course, but i don't think it matters to republican primarygoers here what barack obama thinks about

any of the republican candidates. the interesting thing to me, if you look at our poll today in south carolina, the candidate overwhelmingly that republicans thought could bring about change, remember change, is donald trump. >> donald trump, right. >> reporter: 60% of them thought donald trump was a candidate of change. who was the candidate of change in 2008? barack obama was the candidate of change. who can change washington? donald trump. so that's really important to trump. people want change from obama. and when you talk about trump and obama being the exact opposite, that's what republicans want. they didn't -- they don't like obama. they've had enough and they want -- you know, we often elect presidents that are reaction to the president we had before. and that's the way republicans are thinking. >> i see douglas brinkley shaking his head. does this in some way help the republican message, like, you know, barack obama is coming out against us, he wants one of these guiys to be a third term

for him. >> it definitely helps donald trump. there's no we about president doing that today, but democratic party leaders would like to run against him. he has -- you know, he's one thing to be carrying his 30% of the republicans with him wherever he goes, like a bull carrying its own china shop around. it's going to be another thing if he runs against hillary clinton in the fall and you get to see the latino vote overwhelmingly abandon the republican party because they see donald trump as being xenophobic and prejudice and hate filled, so hillary clinton would love to run against donald trump or ted cruz, but it looks like if trump pulls off south carolina, it's going to be hard for somebody to catch up with him. that bush and rubio are going to have to morph into one pretty soon to take trump on because he has momentum. >> is the president, like many people have, i'm going to ask withdrew this, bob, is the president underestimating donald trump's appeal saying, you know, i know he won't be elected president, of course, the democratic president is going to

say that. is the president in some way underestimating donald trump's appeal to the american people? >> well, he's not alone. i mean, this is going back to last spring when nobody but nobody except for you, lemon, by a lucky stroke, thought that trump had a shot. and the point here is that, yes, it's true that he has got 35% of the republican vote remember, he has 6 5% of the republicans who are not with him. i'm not sure you can sigh this is the consensus republican candidate by any means. trump, can he grow the 35% beyond what he's got, 38% in this poll? i'm not so sure why he can. the republican party, some of them are appalled by him. once you get down to a fewer number of voters, see if trump can grow that vote. if not, you're going to have a brokered convention. >> gloria, this is where we get a taste of the commander-in-chief. a sign of things to come, correct?

>> reporter: he sid today, he sort of said i'm glad i'm not out there, you know, but i think he kind of misses it. i think he's good at it. and i think what you heard today was barack obama circa 2016 on the campaign trail. i think he kind of ducked the question about the democrats, clear to me he favors hillary clinton. he wouldn't go there. he said they differ on tactics, but they differ on a lot more than that. i think he'd like the democratic race to get a little mibit settd so he can go out there, campaign for a democrat and take on these candidates one by one. i think he would kind of enjoy it because his legacy's at stake. >> yep. you guys stay there. i want to tell you viewers, we have a unique two-night event coming up on cnn this week. all six republican presidential candidates answering questions from the voters of south carolina. it is our live televised town hall moderated by anderson cooper, only on cnn. that's tomorrow night and thursday night. okay? ben carson, marco rubio, ted cruz, they're going to kick it off tomorrow night.

john kasich, jeb bush, and donald trump field questions from voters on thursday night. don't miss the cnn gop presidential town hall live two-night event tomorrow and thursday beginning at 8:00 p.m. and make sure you stick around and my panel as well. when we come right back, more candid talk from the president, what he has to say about the battle between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. and who he thinks is to blame for gridlock in washington. a number. ery s but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. ♪ those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. (abdominal pain.

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tough talk for republicans today but he also talked about hillary clinton and bernie sanders and which candidates he thinks agrees with him more. back with me, douglas brinkley, gore ya borger, bob, and bob beckel. bob beckel, to you first, the president didn't just take on the gop today, he also spoke about the democratic candidates, too. watch this. >> i know hillary better than i know bernie because she served in my administration and she was an outstanding secretary of state. and i suspect that on certain issues, she agrees with me more than bernie does, on the other hand, there may be a couple issues where bernie agrees with me more. i don't know. i haven't studied their positions that closely. >> heard what gloria thinks, gloria thinks he's favoring one over the other. bob beckel, did you see him showing his hand, tipping his hat one way or the other there? >> sure. yeah, look, he's got the problem with bernie sanders he's got

with trump. first of all, he's not too terribly happy some people in the white house tell me about bernie opening up the single payer thing and sort of buying into the line that hillary uses which trying to undo obamacare. besides that, he knows if bernie sanders gets on the top of the ticket, the chances of taking back the senate and down ballot the few open house seats there are are going to be very, very much more difficult. you know, he just thinks hillary clinton will be a stronger candidate. i think he's probably right, but that's where he's going to come down. i think this -- he let this out of the box about trump. you going to see more of that and moving closer to t-- >> all right. douglas? >> i agree with that. there's a lot at stake for barack obama, for hillary clinton to get the nomination. i mean, for one thing we've been talking about the death of justice scalia. we might get a third. he's already had two supreme court justices under his tenure. barack obama, he's going to be able to have a third, perhaps. he needs a victory in november to make sure that that happens.

also on issues like climate change, gun violence, it's really a third obama term in many ways, hillary clinton, and he must be very pleased at the way she's helping the president with his own legacy. she's wrapping herself around in south carolina, almost everything barack obama's done, so there's no doubt that any serious democratic politician right now is seeing hillary clinton as winning ticket. >> yeah, i want to talk more about the supreme court in just a moment but i want to stick with the fight between the democrats and republicans that the president is weighing in. on gloria, here's more from the president speaking about a fight we're seeing for the democratic ticket. >> i think what you're seeing among democrats right now is a difference in tactics. trying to figure out how do you actually get things done? how do you actually operate in a political environment that's become so polarized? how do you deal with the power of special interests?

ultimately i will probably have an opinion on it based on both being a candidate of hope and change and a president who's got some nicks and cuts and bruises from, you know, getting stuff done over the last seven years. >> so there's a, you know, a battle for the party -- on the party side for the ticket there, but there's also some legacy speaking there, toor, as well, gloria. >> reporter: yeah. look, i thcink the president is being disingenuous when he says this is a tactical discussion. it's not a tactical discussion. bernie sanders wants single payer health care which would mean replacing the president's signature piece of legislation, obamacare, right? i think when he says he hasn't studied their positions, he knows this position from bernie sanders. and also when he says look, you know, it's a matter of getting

things done, well, that's a page from hillary clinton's playbook which is i know how to get things done, i can work across the aisle, i live in the world of the realistic and it's great to have a bernie sanders kind of pie in the sky ideas but you can't get them done. and so, you know, i think in his own way, and obviously he's tiptoeing around this because he feels he has to, but in his own way, it was, you know, all the signals were there for hillary clinton. >> yeah. this is for you, bob kusak. the president was also asked, of course, about the supreme court, right? douglas brinkley just mentioned that. he specifically talked more about the gridlock in washington. watch this. >> the fact that it's that hard that we're even discussing this is i think a measure of how unfortunately the venom and

ranker in washington has prevented us from getting basic work done and we still have problems. because there's a certain mindset that says we're just going to grind the system down to a halt. and if we don't like the president, then we're just not going to let him make any appointments. >> so bob kusak, you said he's going to put someone forward that's a respectable person on that -- you know, anyone with respect from either side of the aisle. wat do you make of him really talking about gridlock rather than who he might put forward? >> don, i think this is the beginning of a massive pr battle against the republican senate where he's going to try to portray the republicans as mean, unfair, as obstructionists and senator thom tillis, republican of north carolina expressing concern they could easily be labeled as obstructionists if they continue to block whoever the president nominates. i mean, listen, president obama

has said that he didn't change washington. that is something he vowed to do. george w. bush also vowed to change washington. but he's also putting the blame on republicans especially with this supreme court nomination. a question of will you give this nominee a hearing? that's going to put republicans on the defensive. but at the same time, don, i don't see the republicans caving. now, will the democrats say, well, the president won't sign spending bills unless you give him this nominee. that, will they raise the stakes to that degree? we'll see later this year, but i don't see republicans caving any time soon and i think republicans might say, listen, we might lose the senate over this, but this is more important to prevent obama from shifting this court. >> i appreciate all of you coming on tonight. gloria borger working hard in the field. all the guys, lazy in the studio sucking up the air-conditioning or the heat. gloria, thank you very much. >> come on down. it's fun. >> thank you, guys. see you soon. when we come right back, hillary clinton on the trail in

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south carolina primaries are just days away and

african-american voters could be the key. meanwhile, hillary clinton takes her campaign to harlem today hoping to make her case to black voters. let's discuss now with cnn's senior political correspondent, brianna keilar. good to have you here in new york in the studstudio. >> so good to be here. >> hillary clinton, the speech, was it well received? >> it was. this was a very supportive, crowd, right, that she was before at this black cultural center in harlem. in fact, actually at one point she choked up so badly that she struggled to speak for a new minutes and they actually cheered to fill the time because it got a little awkward. but one of the things that i noticed was that it was a predominantly older african-american crowd. this sort of speaks to even the generational problem, maybe it's not a big enough problem when it comes to black voters, but you're still seeing that divide that it's the younger black voters who maybe aren't as in to hillary clinton as they would be bernie sanders. >> they look at him as a revolutionary. let's look at what she said about bernie sanders, okay? >> we have to begin by facing up

to the reality of systemic racism. because these are not only problems of economic inequality. these are problems of racial inequality. and we've got to say that loudly and clearly. >> so is this hit on sanders that he is, you know, a one-issue candidate, is that connecting? >> it's sort of hard to tell at this point because this is something she really unveiled in earnest at the debate last thursday. we're waiting to see. what she's really saying here to african-american voters is bernie sanders doesn't really speak your vernacular, he doesn't have the concerns you have. bernie sanders thinks it's about the economy. what about racism independent of economic unequinequality when i comes to the black community? she's trying to hurt that. other criticisms she had, one at this event thein harlem, withou naming bernie sanders she cast

him as a fair-weather friend to african-americans, sort of said you don't just show up not long before the election and hope for support and i thought it was pretty clear who that was for. >> yeah. is anybody -- here's the thing. when i speak to my nieces who are millennials, love bernie sanders. when i speak to my older relatives who are african-american, when i speak to my mom, my aunts, my cousins, hillary clinton, right? so there is a generational gap in the black community that's going to have to be either bridged, you know, bernie is going to have to get older black voters, hillary is going to have to get younger voters, black voters. who's moving the needle? are any of them moving the needle? >> actually, there is a little bit of movement in that bernie sanders is getting more support from black voters. but it's still this giant chasm between them. you see this in this new cnn/orc poll today. she has an 18-point lead in south carolina where the black vote is crucial. among african-american voters, it goes to 37 points. he has 11 days until the south carolina primary. it's really difficult to see how

he would be able to make that much progress and that much time. a few days after that, it's the s.e.c. primaries, super tuesday. you have a lot of other southern states that are going to be voting and that will also be very difficult for him. >> you couldn't have picked a rainier day to come to new york. i thought about you as i was leaving my house in harlem today. >> it was a mess. >> my goodness, it was crazy. always a pleasure. i want to bring in, talk to two leading democrats, todd releford who supports hillary clinton and represented terry alexander who is supporting bernie sanders. gentlemen, good to have both of you here. we sat here, listened to brianna keil keilar, she told us about the speech. terry, to you first, cnn is out with a new poll of south carolina voters today. overall hillary clinton has a pretty big lead. she's at 56%. sanders is at 38% among black voters. her lead is even stronger. she's ahead by 34 points. so can sanders -- listen, he can't make it all the way up, but can he narrow the gap? >> well, you know, when sanders

first started this race in south carolina back in november, he was at 9%. folks say he didn't have a shot, he didn't have a chance to make a dent in south carolina. you see the numbers are really changing and they're changing because folks are beginning to find out who this bernie sanders guy is. they're beginning to find out that he really has the heart of the people and he's really moving and pushing that needle. now, let's make a point here now. bernie sanders does not need 60% of the african-american vote to win. and i think that's very, very crucial. does he need majority african-american vote? we want that, but does he need that? i don't think so. so we're just trying to push that needle further and further and you're seeing that in the polls that have come out today, the polls coming out over the past couple days and those numbers -- >> i understand what you're saying. i understand what you're saying. i said, can he narrow that gap? it almost seems impossible. >> i think he can narrow that gap. >> you think he can. okay. >> they say that in iowa, too. >> yeah. but they said that in iowa, but

that was, you know, we're talking about a lot more time, right, a lot more time between the polling and that -- there was only 11 days left. that doesn't give him much time. a lot can happen in 11 days. >> a lot can go on in 11 days particularly these days and times a lot can go on. >> todd, is hillary clinton holding on to her lead? >> i think she does. not only that, i think that the more people get to know bernie sanders as we've talked about, they'll see that the ideas as he's aspousing, for example, doing a single-payer system, doing away with obamacare, he's actually talking about doing away with one of the president's ideas, one of the things he stands on. as they get to know bernie sanders, they'll realize he is new to the party, he has just come about talking about african-american issues and those are important to the people in south carolina. and in fact, this is someone who has never run as a president. he is not a democrat until it's convenient. it's convenient for him now and so that's how he decides to run as a democrat. hillary clinton and her roots in south carolina are steep, they're strong and go back 40

years. when she came to help children in south carolina. go to alabama where she helped african-americans there. they twogo across the southeast. when people come to know bernie sanders they won't like what they'll see and go back in droves in hillary clinton. >> brianna keilar, who knows everything political, agreed she's holding onto her lead in south carolina, that's going to be difficult to make up in 11 days. >> very difficult. it's almost impossible. i think the question is how good of a showing does he make? another thing that could change, let's say she loses nevada which has become a competitive race and she did have a big lead and now it's more competitive. that might give him the sense offing look, he's 1-2, she's only 1-1. maybe that will change the numbers. it's such a big gulf. >> it still makes for a very interesting political race here. terrys to you, in her speech today, hillary clinton definitely showed she has barack obama's back. listen to this. >> the republicans say they'll

reject anyone president obama nominates. no matter how qualified. some are even saying he doesn't have the right to nominate anyone. as if somehow he's not the real president. >> so does hillary clinton get it? does she understand what's important to black voters? >> i think she gets it now. eight years ago, remember, she ran against him stating that who would you want to answer the telephone at 3:00 in the morning? so she gets it now. and that is the part of the process, i think, that we are having to face, but let me say this, too, bernie sanders helped write the affordable health care act. he's not going to dismantle that act. does it need adjusting? i think the president, himself, said there needs to be changing in there and i think that's what bernie sanders is attempting to do. not only that, when you're talking about dreaming and big ideas, who would have thought we'd have a black president eight years ago? barack obama, himself, dreamed big ideas. who would have thought we'd have

an affordable health care act if someone had not put it in their mind this country can do this? this is a great country. we can do anything we want to. the government can do anything that the government tends to do if they really want to do it. so to dream big is what this country's all about and i think that's what bernie sanders is saying. that's why he's so attracted to the millennials because so many folks understand and realize that the way we're doing business in this country is no longer working for them and they want someone to make a difference in their lives. >> because of his role, as you say, in helping to shape obamacare, so to speak, the health care act, he has been outspoken an opponent on some parts of it. he wants to change at least some parts of it. stay with me. we're going to talk a lot more. when we come right back -- i'll let you respond. will the race come down to a generation gap between clinton and sanders supporters? we'll be right back.

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we're back. hillary clinton has a mandi incg lead over bernie sanders in south carolina. sanders got an interesting endorsement today. back with me, todd releford, terry alexander. you said he helped write the affordable care act which he has

been saying and you said politifact did a fact check on it and found that mostly false, he was an integral part of raising $11 billion for it which is not insignificant. as far as writing or helping write it, they rate that mostly false. >> he was on the health care committee that helped put that together. >> okay. i just -- is that what you want -- is that how you wanted to respond before the break? >> yeah. >> okay. let's move on now. terry, ere erica garner was in h carolina, daughter of eric garner killed in new york, by nor new york police, 2014, on staten island. here's what she had to say. listen. >> is thand that also inspired seek out elected officials at every level of government who are committed to reforming our broken system. this is why i am here, and it is why i have decided to endorse senator bernie sanders. >> i mean, listen, the fight for younger voters, terry, it is

crucial. does an endorsement like hers bring younger voters to sanders, you think? >> of course. they're going to continue to come to sanders. let me say this, too. senator sanders has been talking about racial inequality since this campaign started. he just didn't start talking about this since he came to south carolina. he's been talking about racial equality, been talking about incarceration rate with african-american men, the high rate that's going on. he's been talking about unemployment in the african-american community. not only in south carolina, in harlem, but he talked about it in iowa, he talks about it in new hampshire, everywhere he fwo goes he talks about inequality that exists in this country. it's just not coming by -- he's not just here at the last moment talking about race and racism and impact it has on our communities. he's talked about that from the very, very beginning. that is why i was so attracted to his campaign. he was not afraid to talk about hardcore issues. not to selective communities, but he talks about hardcore issues everywhere he goes and he understands that. he sees it and he understands

that and that's why i'm here supporting him because of no matter where he is, you can hear him saying the same thing basically about the unemployment in our communities. about high incarceration rate. >> yeah. i see you have a bane e pained your face. listen, before you respond, eric garner's daughter endorses bernie sanders but his mother endorsed hillary clinton. this is a case -- south carolina shows this generation gap of who supports which candidate. go ahead, respond. >> it exactly does, and so does what you just mentioned about the garners. however, the problem, things that bernie sanders says, representative alexander was talking about, what he's promising people, promising these kids, he's going to pay for his college as if immediately overnight their college debts are going to go away and their college loans are going to go away and that's a falsehood. he simply cannot do it. there is no reality that suggests that he's going to be able to make sure that these current kids that are in college get their college paid for by

the government. and that's what he's promising people. when you talk to younger voters, that's all they want to talk about, that's all they hear him say. when he talks about economic inclusion for african-americans as hillary clinton pointed out today, he acts as if that's the only issue. where there's not systemic racism, which there is. there are some people which simply don't like you because of the color of their skin. that's what she talks about today. broader wishes than those which he brought to bear once he started running as a democrat at the beginning inning of this ca. these are the issues hillary clinton, bill clinton have been talking about for decades since their very entrance from law school into the real world, these are the issues they've been working on. he is new to the game. and by promising people the entire world, he is not going to fix the game, he's simply going to lead people to believe something that's not true. >> terry, you want to respond? >> yeah. this college tuition thing, let's look at how our students, or how our kids, funded -- the education is being funded.

number one, it's federal student loans. we are paying the federal government to go to school. i mean, that seems like an easy fix if they're federal student loans, so therefore, these trillions of dollars of loans that these students have across this country, we owe them to the federal government. it would seem to me if we can -- if we can make a deal with iranians, in we can come up with an affordable health care act, we can do whatever we want to do. this is a great country. this is a grat keat country. this country can do whatever this country wants to do and i think bernie sanders is right on track. i think what he's espousing to is something the young folks in particular are interested in and they want to be a part of and they see this revolution. they know that business of the past is just not working for them anymore. just not working. >> yeah. but people always wonder, no matter what you propose when you put affordable health care act together, even if you do some sort of deal with iran, or if

you're talking about, you know, paying college tuition, people are going to wonder how are you going to pay for this? who is going to fund it? go ahead, todd. >> and that's -- >> the government. the government -- >> you can't talk -- >> terry first. go ahead quickly. then toddin, you can respond. >> go ahead, terry, i'm sorry. >> terry? >> i mean, you know, who would have thought we'd been able to what wefr we've done so far. >> okay. >> folks get together, start talking, start having that conversation and try to work it out, then we will see. just to say it cannot happen, i think is raelgly eally not what country is all about. >> go ahead, todd. >> this country is built on dreams and aspirations. >> it's also built on reality. that's where hillary clinton is bounded when she talks about what she wants to do, she is bounded by reality unlike bernie sanders. you can't simply eviscerate the college loan program. it's much bigger than the federal government loaning people money. there are private debtors out there, private banks out there that loan under the federal program to these college students. those loans will got go away.

they will follow you. they can't go away in bankruptcy. these are things hillary clinton has talked about. she's talked about raising the minimum wage. bernie sanders says it needs to go to $15 an hour. >> i got to go. >> all of us know that cannot happen overnight, cannot be done by executive editor. >> that has to be the last word. appreciate it, gentlemen, please come back. the battle over the supreme court, barack obama says he'll nominate a replacement for justice scalia, but that doesn't mean congress will play ball. we'll be right back. but you know what else don't make sense? bai. i mean it's good for you, but still somehow tastes amazing. sideways fancy prance, ya heard!! yeahhhh. clippity clop. clippity clop. yo, i just whispererd all of ya'll! too easy. vo: bai. 5 calories, antioxidants and taste amazing? none of this makes sense. this is a gay car.car.

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president obama vowing to nominate a replacement for justice antonin scalia, insists the constitution is clear on what he should do. with us alan dershowitz, author of identify taking the stand, my life with the law." >> there niece unwritten law that says it can only be done on off years. that's not in the constitutional text. i'm amused when i hear people who claim to be strict interpreters of the constitution suddenly reading into it a whole

series of provisions that are not there. there is more than enough time for the senate to consider in a thoughtful way the record of a nominee that i present and to make a decision. >> so, john, we have heard that the republicans of course are vowing to block any nomination but what about actually having a hearing? >> well, look, article 2 section 2 of the constitution certainly gives the president of right to nominate and appoint justices to the supreme court, but only after receiving advice and consent from the senate and of course there is nothing in the constitution that says that the senate has to give that advice and consent, that they have to have a hearing. presidents have submitted according to the congressional research service 160 names, men and women nominated to the supreme court. 36 of those were not confirmed and of those 36, 25 of them never received an up or down

vote. the supreme court finds itself in a very closely divided country at the center of a number of issues that the people care deeply about. the second amendment, racial preferenc preferences, the first amendment, religious liberty. the next justice is going to be serving probably for decades after president obama leaves office, and i think in an election year the people deserve to have, you know, a say in terms of who they want sitting in the oval office nominating somebody who will be on the bench long after they have left office. >> to john's point, the house speaker paul ryan blocking mitch mcconnell's threat to block any nomination. >> the president has absolutely every right to nominate somebody to the supreme court but congress as an equal branch also has every right not to confirm someone. what are the president's options to disarm his opposition? >> well, he has no option under

the constitution. the constitution says he shall nominate, he must nominate. if a president, for example, were to decide not to nomination in order to increase the chances his party might win the election, that would raise serious constitutional issues. the president must nominate. and the senate must go through the process of advise and consent. it cannot refuse to have hearings and cannot refuse to have an up-and-down boats. >> there's enough hypocrisy on both sides. now it's time for the constitution to speak. the framers of the constitution would turn over in their grave if they heard we want the people to decide who would be on the supreme court. the supreme court was to be to be an institution to check

skrascy, to prevent people from taking away fundamental rights that the majority might want to take away. the president should not name -- he can go the liberal route where he knows he's going to erbe rejected or he can try to find a nominee who was nominated previously by president bush or somebody of an ethic group who never served. make it as hard as possible for the senate to jeereject that nominee. >> if we simply say sight unseen we shall follow into the trap of being an obstructionist. >> do you think the republicans have shown their hand too quickly? would they have been better off it at lest have heard a name first instead of saying no, no, no? >> that's a political decision. let me respond briefly to alan.

>> there's nothing in the constitution that says that the senate has to hold a hearing and there's nothing that's said in the constitution that says that a nominee gets an up-or-down vote. it's a little bit rich listenings to president obama say this when then senator obama along with senator shumers, biden and clinton tried unsuccessfully to filibuster, in other words, to deny an up-or-down vote to justice samuel alito. and then 19 months -- >> i agree with that. >> 19 months before the end of president obama's term, senator schumer said absent exceptional circumstance, the senate should not consider any nominee the president should send up. >> but we shouldn't be listening to people on both side, we should be listening to the constitution and this demands

that the process be followed. >> thank you very much. all eyes on south carolina with our gop town hall just hours away. will president obama's takedown of donald trump make a difference to voters there? first beyonce at the super bowl and then kendrick lamar at the grammys. are they changing the conversation on race? and wouldn't those people need to fill their homes with household goods? and wouldn't the makers of those goods have phones from which they could easily secure mortgages of their own? further stoking demand as our tidal wave of ownership floods the country with new homeowners, who now must own other things. anyway. that's what we were thinking. i thione second it's there.day. then, woosh, it's gone. i swear i saw it swallow seven people.

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there are live pictures of the white house. president obama on his way back there after some pretty tough talk for republican front-runner, donald trump. this is "cnn tonight," i'm don lemon. we're counting down to where trump has a 16-point lead in our new poll. hillary clinton tops bernie sanders in the democratic contest. will south carolina be the turning point in this race? and speaking of turning points, everybody is talking about beyonce and kendrick lamar. but what do their mic-drop moments at the super bowl and grammys really mean? lots going on. let's get right to the race to the white house. here with us, gloria borger, and mark prn.