viewers from the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in the cnn elections center. the two big winners tonight here in the united states, donald trump. he wins the south carolina republican primary relatively easily. in nevada, hillary clinton is the big winner in the democratic presidential caucuses. big wins for donald trump and hillary clinton. donald trump, let's take a look at the votes right now. almost all of the votes have already been counted. 99% of the vote is now in. donald trump with a very impressive win. he beats marco rubio in second place, ted cruz in third place. 22.5% for trump, 22.3% for cruise. john kasich, ben carson, they're at 7%. but i want to listen very quickly, listen to donald trump, who delivered a rousing victory speech tonight. >> we will never, ever forget south carolina. we will never forget our great

volunteers. we love our volunteers. we'll never forget all of the people that have helped us so much, my family. and folks, let's go, let's have a big win in nevada, let's have a big win at the s.e.c. let's put this thing away and let's make america great again. thank you very much. >> donald trump surrounded by his family. let's go over to john king over here at the magic wall. almost all of the votes are now in, you know. he's got what, 75,000 more votes than marco rubio and ted cruz. >> the map speaks for itself. this is a thumping by donald trump, winning everywhere. winning up here, upstate in the evangelical heartland of south carolina, winning most of the area you see marco rubio winning in the charleston area, but winning most of the area along the coast where you have retirees, military installations, transplants here. winning center of the state, except richland county is the center of the state, but even running competitive there. even where trump comes in second, he runs reasonably competitive and picks up votes,

so very impressive win for trump. we're at 99%. the question, this will be a minor thing. the question will be for a moral victory, perhaps, but marco rubio at the moment in second place, ted cruz in third place with 99% of the vote in. can cruz pass rubio? again, it will be essentially a tie anyway, but a little bit of a moral boost, maybe. marlboro county, only 97% of the vote is counted, so there are votes out. it's a small county, but cruz is second. if the trend continues, he could pick up votes here. middle part of the state, york county, 76% of the vote counted here, cruz in second. so, if the trend continues in those two counties, ted cruz is likely to pick up some of those votes. if you're marco rubio, you're hoping down here in buford county, where donald trump is winning, but rubio is running second and cruz is actually in fourth place in that county, you could expect rubio to pick up some here. as we look at the final counties, wolf, as we're looking for the moral victory of second or third, and likely by a few dozen votes, maybe 50 or a

couple hundred votes either way, there is still math to be done in the rubio/cruz race for second and third as we await the final results. but if you look at the map overall, huge victory for donald trump. again, all the rules are being broken this year, so i'm not saying this will last, but no one has ever won new hampshire and then south carolina and not gone on to win the reb nomination. >> the way they divide the delegates in that state, donald trump may wind up with all 50 delegates, the others with zero, based on what we see right now. marco rubio says it's now a three-man race. listen to this. >> if it is god's will that i should serve as the 45th president -- if it is god's will that we should win this election, then history will say that on this night in south carolina, we took the first step forwards in the beginning of a new american century. thank you, south carolina! thank you! god bless you!

>> dana bash and mark preston. john kasich, the ohio governor, says it's a four-man race, and maybe ben carson says it's a five-man race, so not necessarily a three-man race. >> that's right. and as marco rubio was making that argument that it's a three-man race, i got a phone call from one of john kasich's top advisers, john weaver, who wanted to push back on that, saying, just as you said, that they believe it is a four-man race, saying "rubio's only accomplishment was running at world-record speed away from his immigration plan." and by the way, he spoke to me and called me from massachusetts, where they are tonight, again trying to look ahead already to march 1st, to super tuesday, where he is trying to play in places that maybe have a more moderate republican electorate, like massachusetts. the other thing that he argued, and it's part of what we've been talking about tonight, looking ahead, the states until march 15th are proportional, meaning there are lots of people who can win delegates in each state. but after march 15th, it's a

winner take all, and that john kasich believes that after that, the calendar is such that he has some benefits -- midwest states, for example, ohio, for example, where he's from, where he thinks that he can stay in this race. he said, no, it's a two-man race between kasich and trump. they all want it to be a two-man race. >> and before super tuesday, there's tuesday night, the republican caucuses in nevada and all the polls show trump is doing really well there. >> yeah, that seems like really fertile ground for donald trump. there is no doubt about that, wolf. even though marco rubio spent some time growing up in nevada, obviously, there is a big latino population in nevada, and both marco rubio and ted cruz may try to court some of that vote. dana's right about the proportional representation. as you were noting tonight, due to the quirky way south carolina awards delegates, the statewide winner gets a big chunk of them, 29 of them, and then the other 21 delegates are allocated by congressional district. and as you saw on john king's map over there, donald trump is winning everywhere, so he may

walk away 50 delegates to zero, zero, zero, zero delegates for the night to the other candidates. there is one primary that john kasich has won, and he gets a clear victory on this, and that is the primary of the governors. when this race started, george pataki, scott walker, rick perry, bobby jindal, mike huckabee, chris christie, jeb bush, all these governors were in this race. and for a long time in presidential politics, we have talked about the success of governors in presidential politics, especially modern-day presidential politics -- bill clinton, george w. bush being the fine examples from recent history. that is now down to john kasich as the guy that is owning the lane of governors of the executive leadership. and we don't see it resonating in the electorate as an all that important attribute, but it is a small victory for john kasich. >> to add to that, what kasich's top advisor said to me was, could you imagine six months ago that john kasich outlasted jeb bush and even scott walker, who, of course, had the shortest

campaign? it is when you take a step back and think about it, kind of remarkable, but i think it also speaks in large part to what you just said, that the appetite for governors is not what we thought it was going into this election. >> at least ten republican candidates, mark preston, they have dropped out, and trump is still doing well with now five candidates left. >> right, so let's go back to june of 2015 and who would ever have thought that donald trump right now would be the leader for the republican presidential nomination? and right now seems to have the wind at his back. to dana's point, we talk a lot about the s.e.c. primary, we talk about this turn to the south, we talk about how march 1st is so important, but you know what? there are a lot of other states in play -- massachusetts, minnesota, north dakota, oklahoma, which you could claim as s.e.c., you could not at all, depends what you think. vermont, virginia, wyoming. so somebody like john kasich, while trying to get to the midwest, is looking at statements like that. on the democratic side, it's the same for bernie sanders. while hillary clinton is going for the african-american vote down south, sanders is trying to

get the white democrat liberals to be on his side. it will be interesting to see what rubio does. his appeal, he's trying to broaden it. will he take it to the northeast a little bit and see if he can try to grab some wins? >> but don't -- we shouldn't just think of the south as the only place donald trump can compete, either, because i think your home state of massachusetts -- [ inaudible ] certainly, yeah. but donald trump will do well in some of the non-s.e.c. states. >> did well in new england, new hampshire. >> no question. oftentimes when he went to new hampshire to campaign, he would stop off in massachusetts and do a campaign event. the one thing donald trump has done successfully is during the whole campaign, he would jump ahead two or three states and try to build a base. but again, donald trump right now is clearly the leader. the question is, can somebody like kasich or rubio go in and try to pick off some of these states? because someone needs to start picking up wins. >> trump did have a big crowd in lowell, massachusetts, when he was there not long ago. you broke the story, mark, that jeb bush was going to drop out of the race just before he spoke. he made that announcement.

let me play the clip. >> i'm proud of the campaign that we've run to unify our country and to advocate conservative solutions that would give more americans the opportunity to rise up and reach their god-given potential. but the people of iowa and new hampshire and south carolina have spoken, and i really respect their decision. so tonight i am suspending my campaign. >> it's a sad moment. we saw his wife start to cry. is there any indication at all any of you are getting if he might endorse someone, if he might decide he's going to support one of these republican candidates? >> let me go out on this limb, okay? and the tree is going to break. he is not endorsing donald trump. >> no. >> it is not going to happen. you know what, i think he's going to be torn and conflicted between kasich and marco rubio. but in the end -- >> i don't know. >> -- there's so much bad blood between bush and rubio. >> so much bad blood. >> but i wonder if more of that exists between the staff than the principals. oftentimes, it does. >> good point. >> but i think bush looks at rubio and thinks that the

apprentice, so to speak, knifed him in the back. >> you certainly heard marco rubio making the appeal tonight in his remarks, very, very glowing language about governor bush, clearly trying to reach out his hand and seeing if he can heal those wounds. my sense from talking to folks is that jeb bush is in no rush to endorse whatsoever right now. so, i don't know that this will be something that's coming immediately. >> were you surprised, dana, ted cruz in his speech made it sound like he was the big winner in that speech, when he at least comes in second, maybe third, well behind donald trump? >> you know, if somebody just came out from mars and hadn't watched the speeches beforehand and tuned in, they would have said, wow, ted cruz won the south carolina primary! you're exactly right. he did declare victory. unclear why, since he possibly came in third, possibly second. but you know, that's what you do when you want to keep your volunteers and your supporters enthused. you kind of give them a reason for hope, even though it was

maybe one bridge too far. >> right, but marco rubio did it in iowa and john kasich did it in new hampshire, which is amazing in and of itself. >> right, but john kasich wasn't supposed to come in second and actually did in new hampshire, but yeah, this was a little bit unusual. >> it's an odd thing this cycle, where the second and third-place finishers -- it's because of the donald trump phenomenon that so many in the party seemed toe reluctant to accept for some time that there's always this conversation going on of what's happening underneath donald trump, instead of -- if some other candidate not named donald trump had put on the scoreboard what donald trump has put on the scoreboard now, a second-place finish in iowa, a first-place finish in new hampshire, a first-place finish in south carolina, we would just be declaring the end of the nomination. >> game over, right. >> and that's what donald trump's aides say, and they have maybe a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, but they should, because they're right. it is true. and it's because people are still having a very, very

delayed reaction to wrapping their minds around these kinds of wins. donald trump winning new hampshire, winning south carolina, a republican primary. >> and coming in second in iowa. let's not forget about that as well. >> wolf? >> it is interesting, gloria, if donald trump does really well in nevada in the republican caucuses tuesday night, that's going to help him, that's going to bolster him dramatically. >> yeah. yeah. and by all accounts, he looks to do very well. >> if he wins big time in nevada, can he be stopped? >> well, i think he looks like -- look, if this were anybody else, and this is what the trump campaign always says, we'd be saying he'd be well on his way to the nomination. i think you have to say that about donald trump. i want to point out one thing. i was just looking at our numbers from 2012. newt gingrich won the republican primary in 2012 with 40.4% of the vote. so, gingrich had more than trump, more than rubio and more

than cruz. mitt romney, who as we know came in second, had 27.9%. so, just look at what this big race has done to this and look at, you know, donald trump has not done as well in this race as gingrich. however, it's a big field. >> that points to the real question, right? to channel donald rumsfeld, i mean, we have two, big known-unknowns in this race. does donald trump have a ceiling? >> yeah. >> there's some evidence that he does. but the second question is, will anybody consolidate the rest enough that it matters that he has a ceiling? because right now, it doesn't. and as we've said before, rubio and cruz each have different problems that prevent them from fully -- [ everyone talking at once ] maybe the limits -- >> to channel donald rumsfeld, will those who oppose trump go with the army they have and not the army they want? >> yeah, yeah. >> who will they consolidate around, one candidate? and because they have such distinctly different profiles. i'd also say this, these guys,

you know, i think look so much like politicians right now. >> yeah. >> we talk about how warm rubio was tonight to jeb bush. everybody remembers that it was just days ago that they were going hammer and tongue against each other. donald trump in this exit poll was given huge vote by people who say he tells it like it is. >> right. >> okay? they look like a couple of politicians arguing with each other, and for -- >> they are. >> yeah, for very base, political -- >> so, the fact that donald trump in his speech tonight didn't even mention jeb bush, even though jeb bush earlier had announced he was ending his race for the white house? what does that say to you? >> yeah, i know, ben, you were critical of him, but it's completely consistent. the truth is, he doesn't like jeb bush. he doesn't like jeb bush and he wasn't going to pretend that he likes jeb bush. >> i think, you know, and this is my great, great fear, is that we start to adapt to his standard. when my kids play soccer, they don't like the kids on the other team, but we expect them to go

over and shake hands at the end. when we start saying somebody could be president of the united states, but they're not going to be held to the same standard as you hold children to in little league, something is wrong. something is wrong. >> well, and i -- >> for that reason, you wouldn't vote for donald trump. and a lot of people won't vote for donald trump. i think one of the issues here is there are a lot of people who feel very negatively toward donald trump. he engenders more negative reaction as well as positive reaction than any of the other candidates. he's a very vivid character, and that's why if there was ever a coalescence, you know, he could be beaten. the question is just whether that will happen in this kind of a divided field. >> i have a question. for those people that are part of the republican party watching this happen, is there a strategy to just, maybe just prevent him from getting the nomination or try to get -- what can be done about this? >> this is the thing. this is the reason why we're not talking -- >> it's done, it's over. >> -- about donald trump as the presumptive winner. there's a number of people in the republican party -- i include myself in that camp -- who i did work for cruz.

i also find rubio very acceptable. i think rubio would have been the republican front-runner, had he not signed on to the gang of eight. so, like i mentioned earlier, republicans are going to have to recognize that we are going to have to unite and stop donald trump, who is a threat to republican values and civility as a whole, because you have a guy on stage in his victory speech who is taking gratuitous shots at nikki haley. that was completely unnecessary. so, there's going to be some heart-searching, whether we can come together or not. this is the big test. >> hold on a minute, because there was a moment -- and i want to replay that moment right now -- when donald trump was speaking and he asked his wife, malana, to say a few words. watch this. >> just wanted to say an amazing place south carolina. congratulations to my husband. he was working very hard, and he loves you. we love you. and we're going ahead to nevada, and we will see what happens.

he would be the best president! >> we never really heard a lot from her in the past, but she's obviously very enthusiastic about her husband. >> that's right. really stunning in some ways to hear from her in that way. and then his daughter also talking. it was a different image of donald trump tonight. >> hold on, guys, one second. let's take a quick break. there's a lot more to assess. we're going to preview super tuesday. we're going to take a look at what's coming up in the republican caucuses tuesday night, this tuesday night in nevada. we'll be right back. standing tall...

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we've got a key race alert. almost all of the votes have been counted in south carolina. look at donald trump. he is way, way ahead, by 73,398 over marco rubio, who's in second place with 164,770. ted cruz in third place, 163,818, and then jeb bush, who has now dropped out, down with

7.8%, kasich 7.6%, ben carson 7.2%. both kasich and carson saying they're staying into the race. i want to look ahead to super tuesday, a week from this tuesday. before super tuesday, there's nevada, the republican caucuses, this tuesday. donald trump, at least in the polls, is doing really well there, just as he was in south carolina and new hampshire. >> cruz wins iowa, cruz south carolina and this is delegates. trump will get at least 41 tonight and could get all 50 in south carolina. we're still waiting for the final calculation, but then you mentioned, on we go into nevada next. for the sake of this hypothetical, we're assigning this to donald trump, saying he's going to win essentially with the margins we had tonight, 35%, the others getting 20, 20, 20, splitting up the delegates there. that's what you would have after nevada, four states in. then ahead to super tuesday -- >> which is a week from tuesday. >> a week from tuesday, when you've get a dozen states voting. watch this now. under this scenario, trump wins them all, essentially

35/20/20/20. some of you are saying no way. let's say he won them all relatively close to that split. he would start to pull away in the delegate chase. say you're a ted cruz supporter. you say ted cruz will win in texas. let's give cruz first in texas -- sorry, keep him at one, then three and four, assign it that way. cruz catches up a little bit. dana mentioned governor kasich tonight is in massachusetts, a more moderate state. let's say for the sake of argument, kasich or rubio wins. we'll give it to kasich here. two, three, four. don't matter, because the delegates come in easy. even if you do that, if trump wins most, he starts to pull away in the delegate chase. so, this is where it gets really interesting as we go forward, because the map, you have so many states voting at once. donald trump has such an advantage. these other candidates who say they're still in the race -- cruz has a decent amount of money, rubio's trying to raise money fast, kasich doesn't have that much. donald trump has celebrity, 100% name i.d. and money, if he wants to spend it. this is where it's interesting, because with the momentum he has now, you assume trump is in the lead just about everywhere. and the question is, can the

other candidates -- they're going to have to pick and choose. and if you're ted cruz, you're going to have to worry about home. >> they call it super tuesday, 11 or 12 contests. a quarter of the delegates on the republican side are awarded on super tuesday, march 1st. that's going to be a huge, huge prize. >> right, that's a big prize. and if you run it out -- again, this is a hip threatical. we're assigning the states to trump on a 35/20/20/20. that's super tuesday. by the end of march, 60% of delegates on the republican side will have been decided. so, trump could pull out a stretch. even taking a few states away, trump would still have a big lead. doesn't mean he's going to be the nominee, but as the calendar gets crowded and busy, pick your targets, and for several of the candidates, they've got to raise money and raise it fast because you need resources to win when the map expands so quickly. >> could be a huge, huge super tuesday. dana, we have a debate coming up thursday night, the last republican debate before super tuesday. so, it's going to be an important debate that we're going to be in houston for.

all of us are going to be there, but it's an important moment right now just to assess about the bush campaign. >> right. >> the decision by jeb bush to drop out. >> that's right. houston, of course, is ted cruz's hometown, but also, texas is bush country. and we've just got a statement from george w. bush, former president and former governor of texas, talking about his brother, saying that he is proud of jeb and his staff for running a campaign that looked to the future. and he said, "jeb's decision to suspend his campaign reflects his selfless character and patriotism." and he went on to say how moved he was by jeb's concession speech. and just reading this and thinking about, i don't even remember how many days ago it was, a few days ago, when george w. bush came out of his self-imposed political exile, went to south carolina, had his one-day speech for jeb bush. and you know, the hope was that he was going to give his brother a boost, and it didn't happen. >> to rave reviews. >> sure. >> there was a large crowd there to see the former president. it's just that it didn't translate in those five final days of the contest to support

for jeb bush. i think it was hard for anyone, brother or not, to observe the jeb bush statement and not be moved by it in some way. there was a ton of emotion on that stage. >> we have new numbers looking at the issues that drove voters in this primary. >> yeah, so, we started looking at sort of those bread-and-butter issues that voters care about the most. let's start with the economy. we all know people vote on their pocketbooks, right? so, look among voters that are very worried about the direction of the u.s. economy, donald trump is the antidote to their fears. he wins 36% of those voters. 23% for rubio, 22% for cruz, 8% for carson. another thing that got to the trump victory, terrorism. 32% of republican voters in south carolina today said terrorism was their top issue of concern. trump wins them, 31%, cruz 25%, rubio 23%, and jeb bush at 9%. so, when you look at the economy and terrorism, dana, two major

issues, and this helps drive the trump victory. and another note that is really interesting -- when you compare that to the issues set in. nevada democratic caucuses tonight, terrorism was nowhere basically on the list. it was all the way down at the bottom of the list of issues important to democrats. >> you know, you would think that somebody who was a billionaire, who made his name and fortune on the economy, would be doing well with people who are driven to the polls by the economy, but terrorism? >> you know, it's interesting. a friend of mine owns a landscaping company in northern virginia, and he's been texting me all night incessantly. and what he keeps telling me over and over again is that this is a bread-and-butter election. that's why donald trump is winning. people are so angry right now. and this is somebody, mind you, who while he lives near the beltway, is not inside the beltway. he's somebody that the john kasich voters candidates going after, somebody bernie sanders is going after, somebody donald trump is going after.

he made a point which was interesting. you didn't see donald trump out in iowa fielding camo and going out shooting. we've seen his sons do it, but donald trump didn't do it. all he talked about was making america great again and trying to redo the economy. he did talk about religion, but not nearly as much as ted cruz and what have you. and i think clearly we know what this election's about, right? and the voters know what it's about. and that's why the likes of bernie sanders and donald trump clearly aren't doing well. >> and in the last few days, his talk of religion was defending himself from the pope, suggesting that he's not a christian. >> right. >> which probably worked in his favor. >> 100%, no question. no question. >> but the economic anxiety is real and trump's message speaks directly to it. >> absolutely, and we see it in every rally we go to from donald trump. i saw it just yesterday in myrtle beach, south carolina. wolf? >> continues to get huge crowds, no doubt about that. in his victory speech tonight, donald trump actually said something nice about ted cruz and marco rubio. >> ted and marco did a really good job and they got -- they

did quite well, as i understand it. [ booing ] no, come on. just one minute. just one second, all right? good. we'll go back to that tomorrow morning. tomorrow morning we'll be back, but i wanted to congratulate the other candidates. there is nothing easy about running for president, i can tell you. it's tough, it's nasty, it's mean, it's vicious, it's beautiful. [ laughter ] when you win, it's beautiful. and we're going to start -- we are going to start winning for our country. >> nice little gesture, amanda, from donald trump to cruz and rubio, right? go back to that tomorrow, but tonight he congratulated them for coming in second and third place. >> yeah that was nice, and it does look like it is becoming more of a three-person race. and you know, as someone who has expressed my concerns about donald trump. but as someone who is looking for a new generation of conservative leadership to come into the fray, certainly the prospect of trump, rubio, cruz. i mean, this is really

momentous, seeing jeb bush drop out of the race, the guy that had everything, all the resources, all the high expectations at the beginning of it. we are stepping into a totally new world. we don't know what it will look like right now. that will be another contest that will continue. but this is a new era for republicans. we'll see where it goes. >> jeffrey. >> interesting in terms of jeb bush and his super pac. and you have bernie sanders over there saying super pacs are the issue. and this super pac spent a bundle on jeb bush, and he's out tonight. the other thing i'd like to say is, at least as i'm understanding these figures, folks in the military, veterans voted for donald trump in strength in south carolina. and for somebody, his opponents tried to tag him as not being good to veterans, veterans responded to him, and i think that's a good thing. >> can i ask you guys a question? wolf? >> sure. >> what struck me in the data is that a majority of voters in south carolina in the republican primary said they favored a

legal path for undocumented workers who are here. >> so in new hampshire -- >> so, the question is, what is this hard-edged position that trump has taken? how is that likely to play in a general election when he has to turn to a broader electorate? if even the hard-core republican believes that there should be a path to citizenship? >> i would say, the question has always been, and this has largely always been marco rubio's problem, is that they've tied the legal status to a border security solution. i think there's probably more agreement that if they can convince voters that the border will be secure, they'll take care of visa overstays and those things, you can have a conversation about that. but that's the reason we haven't gotten to have that conversation, because those things that people want more than a legal path haven't come first. >> but rubio won with those voters, by the way. >> yes, he did, yes. >> who want illegal immigrants working being offered a pathway -- >> but we know what the trump

position is -- >> right, trump is on the other side. >> his position is we're going to deport them. >> right. >> this was rejected even as he won the primary. >> but here's where i think they connected with it. most of the voters who say even if they wanted a legal pathway for citizenship want security first on the border. >> exactly. >> we have seen this for the last five or six years. so, what those voters, i think, identified with, is he's basically saying we are going to secure the border. everybody has said it. as a matter of fact, president obama talked about it early in his first term. george w. bush talked about it, and they never quite had success securing the border. and i think they're attracted and believe he is the candidate that will secure the border. and i argue, america isn't going to have a conversation about what happens to those undocumented workers until you secure the border. >> by the way, 74% also supported a temporary ban on muslims. >> again, as in new hampshire. >> as in new hampshire, right. >> same pattern, muslim ban, majority support, deportation, not majority support. >> undocumented workers speak about legal status or pathway -- >> legal status.

legal status. >> legal status is different than a pathway to citizenship. >> right, exactly. >> right. legal status, a majority wanted to offer legal status. >> you wanted to weigh in. >> i want to go back to your original point, the importance of today for the republican party. today is also an important day for the democratic party. there's a rebellion in both parties. there's an insurgency in both parties. in the democratic party, i think that hillary clinton was able to blunt the rebellion. she was able to begin to show a pathway for her to be victorious and force bernie sanders to think about, how is he going to be able to relate to african-american voters. so, the rebellion in our party, i think you can begin to see a plateau. the rebellion, the insurgency, the outsiders have won across the board. if you put cruz plus trump together in every one of these races, you have a majority race, supermajority. so, i think you're seeing a transformation of both parties. today is an important day for democrats and republicans. >> mike rogers, do you agree

with that? >> yeah, i certainly think it's important for republicans for a couple of reasons. one, if you look at the slate of candidates, it's giving minorities across the country permission to vote for republicans. we've been working for this for a very long time. and that economic message, the message -- >> can we go to commercial? >> no, this is good. you should be worried about this, ben. and you know what, we're going to welcome you in the republican party, we really are. and i'll pay your first-year dues. it's going to be great. you'll love it. >> go ahead. >> but what's happening is a fundamental shift, because people do think that congress is broken. so, even when you see the numbers on hillary clinton, it's a lot of these same oeld same d old. they've heard this promise before. i've been told this before. and when you see this kind of unique slate of republican candidates, what we're finding is trump is attracting minorities. everybody says this is about angry, white men. if you look at -- >> there are not that many. not that many. >> there is certainly no proof of it -- >> we could name them. [ everyone talking at once ]

>> not that many are voting. >> because it's a primary, but i'm telling you just what van has picked up on. the reason why he's worried about them in a general is because his message will resonate, and i think other republicans -- >> we've heard that from some labor leaders, actually. some labor leaders have said that, although this doesn't necessarily mean a whole, but the data suggests there isn't anyone who is more unpopular among democrats among these candidates than donald trump -- >> among democrats. >> and independents. and independents. and independents. >> we're saying with union members. i'm from michigan. when you talk to senior union leaders, they're telling you that minorities are telling them, i think i'm for trump. [ everyone talking at once ] >> i'm afraid some data may actually come -- let me add to the anecdotes and you can chew that down with some data. i'm starting to hear that as well. i'm surprised to hear more people of color who are open. when you say what about the horribly offensive things he said, they'll give him a weird pass, like he's saying that now,

but i don't think he means that, if he was president, he might be different. so, i think we need to be a little less dismissive of the day that trump could pull some voters that you don't expect him to get. >> and historically, there's been concern in the african-american community about economic competition from immigrants. that has shown up in polling over the years, and again in polling we've done this spring. but i want to go back to your other point, because i think you are seeing a shift in the change in the balance of power in both parties in this election. >> yes. >> i mean, you're seeing on the republican side, they've relied on blue-collar whites for about half of their vote in every election since 1996, but they've never really produced a candidate powered predominantly by the support of those voters. mccain and romney were much more white-collar creations. and i think on the democratic side, you really are seeing the millennial generation come into its own. in this election, they will equal baby boomers as a share of eligible voters for the first time, and they are powering the sanders campaign even more than they powered obama. by the way, nonwhites under 30 in nevada today, he won two-thirds of those voters.

so i mean, his advantage, much as trump's advantage in the blue collar's extending into evangelical, sanders is crossing the racial and ethnic boundary. >> hold on a second. david axelrod, having said all that about bernie sanders, he came in second in the nevada caucuses. >> right. >> right. >> donald trump may have been the big winner on the republican side, but hillary clinton won in nevada. >> there's no question about it. i think this was a big win for her. we discussed this earlier. because there was some real doubt as to whether she was going to win, and she pushed back hard. she campaigned hard at the end. and she did the things that -- some of the things she hadn't done in 2008 in terms of campaigning in places she hadn't campaigned. she showed some real strength here. and the question about the sanders candidacy has broadened out. and i think that question remains tonight. >> next saturday is the democratic primary in south carolina. she's going to do well there, too, presumably. >> right, presumably, she will.

>> more than half of the vote. the democratic vote there is african-american. >> and my question coming out of this evening is whether given the fact that both democratic candidates have moved to the left, and given the appeal of donald trump, the question is whether you're going to see a rebirth of the reagan democrats -- >> right. >> -- for the republicans, because you can see that sort of in the works. >> you will. >> -- as we look at all these nominees -- >> let me look at a clip. actually, we'll take a quick break. when we come back, we'll hear a little bit of hillary clinton in her rather emotional victory speech tonight. we'll be right back.

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in the campaign, you've heard a lot about washington and wall street. we all want to get secret, unaccountable money out of politics that starts with appointing a new justice to the supreme court. who will protect the right of every citizen to vote, not every corporation to buy elections. >> bernie sanders may have come in second, but he reminded his supporters where he was in the polls only a few months ago. >> we began in iowa. we were 50 points behind. when we began in new hampshire, we were 30 points behind. and we were way behind here in nevada. but what i think is happening is that as people hear our message -- and it's a tough message, because it speaks to

the truth of an american society today that a lot of people just don't want to address. >> ron brownstein, the next big democratic contest is next saturday in south carolina primary. by all accounts, he's doing well there. >> absolutely. you'll see the biggest participation by african-americans where she won about three-quarters of them tonight in nevada as well. there was one bit of i think very good news for bernie sanders tonight, which is, as i said before, his advantage among younger voters extended into the minority community, at least according to the exit poll. there is some question whether his latino support was as strong as the exit poll said based on the actual voting, but i think he has two big problems out of here. one is that hillary clinton's advantage over older minority voters tonight was even bigger than her advantage among older white voters was in iowa and new hampshire, and that is an issue moving forward. the other is he's still not winning democrats in many places. he won a majority of democrats in new hampshire, but tonight he only won 40% of democrats, basically the same number as iowa. and as john mccain learned in

2000, ultimately, to get people in the party whose nomination you want to vote for you to be the nominee. >> to me, he does very well with young people -- >> he does. >> although young people don't vote in as big a percentage as older people. >> and that will be a problem in south carolina. he's also not changing the electorate as much as obama did, not bringing in enough voters. i think it was 80,000 voters -- >> as opposed to 120,000 in 2008. >> that's something. i think tonight we also saw a significant shift in terms of hillary clinton. >> yeah. >> she is often the narrator of the hillary clinton experience in some of these speeches she gives. tonight she was the narrator of the democratic coalition's experience. she immediately pivoted from sort of beating up on wall street to voting rights. she said, we, we, we, a lot more in this speech than she has before, so i think that's critical to what her message will be moving forward. >> and very few barbs aimed at bernie sanders, that sort of edgy, attack language was not there tonight. and she -- this was a good night

for her, not just the results, but her performance. >> did you say barbs or barks? >> what? >> did you say barbs or barks? >> barbs. >> barks. >> either. >> you're going up the wrong tree there. >> she sounded more to me like a general election candidate. i think she really pivoted away from bernie sanders, as you were saying, didn't attack wall street as frontally as she has. and you know, i think it was her way of saying, okay, i'm going to get another one under my belt next week, and then i'm moving on from this. and so -- >> and there was a nice gesture when bernie sanders actually called hillary clinton to congratulate her to concede. i don't know if that happened on the republican side -- >> he did call collect, but -- >> let's go quickly to john king at the magic wall. he's getting more information. john? >> wolf, let's look at today's races and then try to project this going forward. let's start with the democrats. first, just the score. hillary clinton wins narrowly in iowa. bernie sanders wins big in new hampshire.

hillary clinton wins in nevada by a decent margin. looking at the map, it looks evenly divided with the dark blue hillary clinton and light blue bernie sanders, but seven in ten las vegasans live in this county and carries the state of nevada. now to the republican race. they come to nevada next. they were in south carolina tonight. the map speaks for itself. the dark red is donald trump. the lighter red is marco rubio. he wins two counties. donald trump sweeps the state, thumping ted cruz up here in the evangelical heartland of the state, winning here in most of the areas where mitt romney and newt gingrich won. rubio getting a little bit. looks like this will hold by a narrow margin. i was looking the the two counties with outstanding votes. ted cruz about 1,000 votes away there? but it looks like that will hold for marco rubio, who will get the moral victory of that. what happens next? let's stay with the republicans. one of the reasons this has to be disappointing to ted cruz is that this is a state, the deeper the area, the higher percentage of evangelicals. if you bring out the map, super

tuesday, which comes after nevada for the republicans -- they go to nevada, then march 1st is super tuesday. not all of super tuesday, but most of super tuesday is fought out down here. if you look at this evangelical vote, this is what ted cruz thought would be his wheelhouse and he wanted more momentum than a third-place south carolina finish to get into here. the question for ted cruz is can he regroup in a place where you have a high percentage of evangelicals and also a lot of tea party voters. a big challenge for the cruz campaign going forward. i want to leave up the same map but switch. democrats now come to south carolina. the deeper the color, the higher the percentage of african-americans. hillary clinton did very well with african-americans in nevada tonight. she's going to come into south carolina where you have a high percentage -- let me just take this up a little bit -- high percentage of african-americans, which will without a doubt be the majority of the electorate in south carolina -- >> that's next saturday. >> next saturday. and they will be a majority or plurality in the super tuesday states. there are a couple north of this, but in most of the super tuesday states down here, just look. you have a huge percentage of

african-americans. so, some people will question the margin of the clinton win today, but she's now moving into what should be more favorable territory. so, opportunity for hillary clinton, once south carolina and beyond, and questions for the republicans as they move into that map as well, wolf, where you have more states on the calendar every tuesday, bigger challenge, but also bigger opportunity. >> but both of these remaining two democratic presidential candidates. they are well funded and they have strong organizations right now, presumably suggesting this contest could go on well after super tuesday. >> it could. let me give you an example of that. if you come back to the race to the nomination chart here on the delegates now we're talking about, we've given a projection, a hypothetical that gives hillary clinton south carolina. this is based on 55-45 going forward. as you look through to super tuesday, if hillary clinton won them all but only by 55/45, senator sanders stays in play, and he's got a lot of money. he raised a lot of money after new hampshire and they're trying to raise more tonight. no question, the sanders

campaign, at least through super tuesday, and they say beyond, is staying in, which means we've got a lot of fun. >> this could go on and on and on. and remember, eight years ago it went on until june before hillary clinton conceded to then senator barack obama. let me go back to dana, david and mark preston, who are crunching the inside numbers. dana, it's fascinating how well they did. but marco rubio right now, if he comes in second place in south carolina, that's going to be nice for him because he could have come in third or maybe fourth. but after that setback in new hampshire, he's done relatively well. >> he has done relatively well, but he hasn't won. he hasn't won in iowa. he hasn't won in new hampshire. and he hasn't won in south carolina, which was the place that his campaign aides really thought was his best bet for lots of reasons. so, the question moving forward, even a rubio adviser said to me a couple days ago, admitted to me, the question tonight would be for them from their donors -- where are you going to win? i just texted another top rubio

aide asking that very question, and i said, where are you going to win next? and the answer was, oh, well, the place we get most votes, which is sort of a clever way of not answering my question. so, what do you guys think? >> i don't know where they're going to win next. first let's look at where they're going next. getting on a plane tonight to tennessee, then to arkansas, all before they go to nevada. and so, nevada's tuesday, but as you know, tennessee and arkansas are two of the states on march 1st. so, marco rubio going there first, and then you know, i look at this list of states on march 1st. if marco rubio really does, now that jeb bush is out of the race, consolidate the establishment lane support, you have to remember, in many of these states, establishment republicans will make up a big chunk of the electorate. >> absolutely. >> so, he's going to be able to play -- >> meaning in massachusetts, minnesota. >> even texas. >> john kasich will potentially get some of that establishment vote as well. >> he is, indeed. the rubio/kasich face-off now that we're going to see, i'm

sure we'll see it on our debate stage in houston, is going to be a key race to watch in that way. >> i also think that once we look past super tuesday, past the first, is that we're going to head into march 15th, and we're going to head into rubio country in many ways in florida. jeb bush is out of the race now. he's gone. question is, what is donald trump's lay to claim in florida? he seriously has done a good job of connecting to a very angry electorate, and i'm sure there are very many angry people in florida right now whose economy has been racked as well. and as somebody said to me tonight, it's not the employment number, it's the underemployment number that is really the problem. donald trump's second home is down in south florida. but marco rubio -- >> and he implores a lot in florida. >> he will tell you that many times over. >> and some of his largest rallies has been in florida. but if marco rubio can win florida on the 15th, new game. just like john kasich. if he can win ohio, it would be an interesting game. >> a lot of people from the

north, the midwest, they've moved on to florida. they may be open to donald trump as well. as we point out, he has a second home in palm beach, a modest place. that's donald trump. let's go back to you, jake. >> thanks, wolf. you know, we had -- the republicans had record turnout in iowa. they had record turnout in the new hampshire primary. and just a few minutes ago, we learned from a state election commissioner in south carolina that there was record turnout for the south carolina republican primary, more than 700,000 ballots cast. and van jones, this is kind of a canary in a coal mine for democrats, because the republican turnout has been huge, and the democratic turnout has not. >> yeah. that's true. and there are two ways to look at it. if you want to -- >> give us the honest way to look at it. >> okay. if you want to sleep well tonight and you're a democrat, you say it's because they have many, many candidates, and so, many, many candidates are going to gv you many, many more people, dragging people out.

>> okay, you did your due diligence as a democrat. what is the real thing? >> we're terrified! because it looks like the hunger on the part of republicans to get that white house back, to get it away from the obamas, get it away from clintons, is very, very palpable. and yet, on the other side, as much as there is this sanders surge, as much as there is this clinton machine, it just does not seem to be that same level of passion. >> the passion vote. >> not yet. >> not yet. >> i keep talking about this, passion vote. when you talk to these trump people, they are passionate. i'll give you an example. when i came home from cnn the other day, at my doorstep in pennsylvania was a young woman with a petition to sign to put her brother on the ballot for donald trump. it was 19 degrees out there. they were going door to door. they didn't know who i was. they were canvassing the neighborhood, and there they were all revved up to go at 19 degrees. i mean, that's passion, and that's what we're seeing. >> in chicago, we'd call that balmy. >> yeah, yeah. but i think trump -- look,

there's no doubt that he has infused some energy all by himself in this process, and he is bringing new voters into this republican process. >> but there is a solution to the problem. trump is both, you know, sort of the cause and the effect, because it's clear that there's not going to be the positive energy on the democratic side that there was in 2008. i mean, that is a clear message. if there is an opportunity for big democratic turnout, it's going to be that as popular as trump is among republican constituencies, he is equally as unpopular in the democratic ones. >> two more polarizing candidates than hillary clinton and donald trump. each would motivate their base -- >> the other base. >> the other base, i mean. >> right. >> and you might have, look at it this way, you might have great turnout. >> you would. >> and also, two years ago, you had two of the most famous americans in the world, donald trump and hillary clinton. >> right. >> who right now are on track to be the nominees of their -- >> and a couple of new yorkers, which is what america wants. >> they love new yorkers.

>> david, last time two new yorkers? >> the last time two new yorkers ran against -- dewy and roosevelt? >> 1940. well, dewy/roosevelt? >> 1904, also. >> teddy roosevelt? >> i want to say one thing about hillary clinton, because i've been strong sticking up for the bernie sanders crew, and i think it's important. i was impressed and really moved by her today because she seems to be listening. she seems to be learning. it was a very different speech tonight. she was about the "we." she had this phrase about, imagine a tomorrow. like, at the end of the speech, imagine a tomorrow where. and you could see that she is listening, that this is a party that needs to be inspired. fine, we can be impressed by a good resume, but we need to be inspired. i want to say, tonight i think that the hillary clinton you saw tonight, the hillary clinton that i think can win a general

election but also can win over the party. >> i think van is right, hillary clinton has learned from bernie sanders. and i think one of the lessons from south carolina is that both marco rubio and ted cruz need to learn a little bit from donald trump. i think there's a reason donald trump congratulated both cruz and rubio, because he's going to turn both of them into washington. think about a three-person race. it's going to be donald trump against two senators. those two senators need to stop talking like senators, got to drop this vague talk about the new 21st century, got to stop lawyerly arguing your case like you're going to be a supreme court justice. >> ooh. >> they have to start talking like a real person -- >> that's interesting. >> -- and pocketbook issues to take on donald trump. >> it is true when van jones, after the hillary clinton's new hampshire speech, we did a count of what the pronouns were -- we and us versus me and i -- and bernie and hillary have the exact opposite result, 2-1. >> right. >> and tonight, we haven't done the pronoun count, but they seem to be sounding a lot of we and us. >> and i think it's very, very important, because when you have young people who want to be a

part of something -- and young people around the world want to be a part of stuff. if you say i'm the smart person, i can fix it for you, that's deflad defla deflating. if i say i need you, we can do this together. yes, we can. that will work. >> what's interesting, though, is trump has the opposite appeal. he's saying, yes, i can, let me take care of it. >> it's interesting. >> i'll take care of it. >> but it's interesting amanda said that, ron, because she's saying that cruz and rubio need to take some lessons from donald trump as somebody who's been studying the appeal or surface of appeal in some cases of these two. what would you advise her? >> first of all, they've already moved toward him on policy, on trade and immigration. they've each ended up much closer to him than where they started. and both, you know -- it was striking. i remember in 1996 when bob dole went to south carolina immediately after pat buchanan won new hampshire, he went to the bmw plant outside of greenville to make the case for free trade. even with nikki haley there, no one did that this week, so they're not differentiating that

way. i think that ultimately, donald trump is strong, he is showing strength in all corners of the party, but there are two areas that have been less attractive. one is evangelicals, but the other bigger one are the white collar, center-right college-educated republicans who had 25% among them tonight. unless someone can consolidate a big chunk of those voters against them -- and they are the voters who powered romney and mccain -- this is going to be -- the numbers just don't add up. >> one big problem hillary clinton is going to have -- we've got it written off, she won in nevada, a good speech, she's now the president of the united states. there's a big gap in there -- >> i don't think we did that. when did that happen? >> no, no -- >> certainly not -- >> if you're listening to van over here. if you're listening to van -- >> van sounded scared. >> but the biggest problem she has is honest and trustworthy. that translates into a general election. she's going to have to fix that problem and it's really hard to do because it's so baked in. it's really baked in. >> she's got to dig very, very badly on that. >> can i get back to your question about cruz and rubio?

which is, the more they fight each other, the smaller they become and the larger trump becomes. >> we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, more on election coverage. stay with cnn. my computer's dying again. you'll need to email us so we can issue you a ticket. but you're right here. it's protocol. or, you can try staples tech services next day guarantee. it's fast and done right. i'll do that instead. that's not protocol marsha. in by noon, out by 5 the next day. staples. make more happen. you've finally earned enough on your airline credit card. now you just book a seat, right? not quite. sometimes those seats are out of reach, costing an outrageous number of miles. it's time to switch... to the capital one venture card. with venture, you'll earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. and when you're ready to travel, just book the flight you want, on any airline and use your miles to cover the cost. now that's more like it. what's in your wallet?

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cnn projects hillary clinton is the winner of the nevada democratic caucuses, beating bernie sanders. >> it's an important win, it's a decisive win. >> some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other! >> we have a corrupt campaign finance system. >> we aren't a single-issue country. >> now it's on to super tuesday. >> the fight goes on! the future that we want is within our grasp! >> donald trump, the billionaire real estate magnet, will win the south carolina republican primary. >> does this now represent the defeat of skepticism? >> it looks like donald trump is on his way to winning. >> the people of iowa and new hampshire andou