it is decision day here in south carolina for the democrats. hillary clinton hoping to pull out a big victory over bernie

sanders. each one hoping for that momentum heading into super tuesday. hello, everyone. welcome, we're live in columbia at the university of south carolina. so the polls are open for another eight hours here in south carolina. up for grabs are 53 delegates in the democrat being prime airy. hillary clinton is poised for a big win against bernie sanders. he is expected to speak shortly in, fact, but not here in south carolina. he's already looking ahead to super tuesday, holding a campaign rally in austin, texas, which is set to get under way in about an hour from now. we'll take you there. hillary clinton, meanwhile, is in alabama this afternoon before heading back here to south carolina tonight to watch the primary returns with her supporters. joe johns is in lexington, south carolina, just about 15 minutes o way west from here in columbia. joe, let's get started with you there at the polling station.

hillary clinton and brny saerni sanders. headlines are reflecting the widely held expectation of a big clinton win. could her margin of victory end up being the real story here? >> i think so, fred. she needs a breakout moment in the primaries. she hasn't had one yet. iowa was very close. new hampshire, she lost in a blowout to bernie sanders. and nevada was pretty close, too. so hillary clinton needs a breakout win in this state. a lot of people suggesting it has to be in double digits. the question is whether bernie sanders can close the gap, perhaps even within single digits. she wants that blowout win to propel her into super tuesday. so she's been pushing very hard for it and we'll see if she gets it, fred. >> so the roll of the african-american vote in this state, very important.

it's part of the story here in the palmetto state. does clinton need a rather sizable turnout as it pertains to a black voters here in order to do well in this state? >> that's been the whole strategy she's been making the point that once you get out of the earliest voting states, you get into the south, the demographics change and when you bring african-american voters into the equation, she thinks that shows her strength. we talked to a couple african-americans just a little while ago, a husband and wife, and it turns out they were voting for different people. listen. >> i'm voting for hillary. >> reporter: why did you vote for her? what attracts you to her? >> her background and i feel she may lead us to -- [ inaudible ] >> reporter: what you about, snir. >> i voted for bernie sanders because of mass incarceration,

needing jobs and -- >> reporter: the welfare bill, all of those other things that the clinton administration did back in the day? >> yes. exactly. >> reporter: all right. so you were disturbed by some of that stuff? >> i was. and with him bringing the new positive energy, i voted for him. thinking he'll make a change where the other people are really not making a change. >> so this is the moment when we find out if hillary clinton actually is able to get those african-american voters to the polls. she leads by a wide margin against bernie sanders if you look at the polls. >> all right. joe johns there in lexington, thank you so much. take a look at the numbers right there. so bernie sanders biggest challenge here in south carolina may be trying to limit the margin of victory for hillary clinton. and then try to make a big showing on super tuesday. he has fallen behind in the delegate count. right now, more than 400 delegates behind if you count the super delegates.

i have to bring in a south carolina state representative and a bernie sanders supporter. all right g to see you glchlt good to see you. >> what it is like to be a bernie sanders supporter in what has become kind of clinton country here? >> it feels great. i'm confident in my decision. i do believe that bernie sanders will make a great president and he is the right choice for the job. so feels good to me. >> whether i talk to a lot of voters here, yesterday i chatted with quite a few people. and still many said, you know what? we love bernie sanders' ideas. but we feel like we're still getting to know him, thereby, we're voting for hillary clinton. so how do you combat that, particularly at this stage in the game? how do you tell people or educate them further about your candidate of choice? >> well, you know, the unfortunate thing is when you run for president, you got a 50-state strategy. as much as you want to be on the ground and spend time in a state like south carolina, i spoke with bernie personally, he loves the people of this state. he wishes he could have spent more time here.

you know, he was at a disadvantage early on because the clintons have basically 100% name recognition here. but when you look at bernie sanders started at 6% in the polls here. he has gained substantial ground. so i don't think he has anything to be ashamed of at the end of the day here. the other thing that i do want to point out is there are still a very, very high number of undecided voters. there are many voters that are going to make their decision whether they walk into the booth. >> yeah. >> name recognition in a big way for the clintons, at the same time, when you talk about in 2008 she did not do well in this state. was there a feeling that would level the playing field for bernie sanders and supporters that everyone's kind of starting from ground zero, so to speak, if you look at the 2008 numbers. that among the democrats, everyone has a fairly square chance even chance of getting to know the voters here and making the best of your pitch. >> no, i don't think they started out on even ground. you know, again, it goes back to the history of the clinton name

in this state. you know, a lot of people have this loyalty to the clintons, not because of anything they really have done but more so bill clinton was a very likeable president. he had swag. bernie sanders was playing catchup from the beginning. quite frankly, i think a lot of people were like me. they just did not give him the time of day. so it's not that he wasn't attempting, it was that nobody was listening. >> what sold you on him? >> i started learning about his background. i saw that for years and years and years, racial justice, social justice, economic justice. these are things that he's cared about. he's been saying the same things for years when he's a fixed campaign finances. we need to make sure that the political decision that's are made in this country reflect the views and val udz of the many and not the few at the tip top. and i trust him. i think he's an honest guy. and, you know, i think he really will fight for the people. >> does it send a message to voters here? he's in texas right now spending the day there as opposed to making that last-minute stump

here in south carolina? does it make a difference in your view? >> no. in my view it doesn't. i understand and i think many voters understand as s. that right around the corner is super tuesday. you have a lot of states voting, a lot of citizens that want to see a candidate. at the end of the day, bernie supporters, the grassroots, these are the people making the push on behalf of senator sanders. and that's why people love him. and he loves people. when you see brny sanders, you know, i see my mother, i see my grandmother, i see miss jones down the street. that's who i envision incobeing the white house. >> in your view, the outcome of bernie sanders here in south carolina. in what way does that impact the super tuesday states? >> there's only one candidate running right now that has to win south carolina and become president. that is hillary clinton. bernie sanders just has to perform fairly decent. you know, i personally would like to see ten, 15, maybe 20 points. >> out of the 11, you know,

super tuesday states are southern states and the view of many analysts is that south carolina doesn't -- it is a microcosm of other southern states. >> yeah. and that's true. >> do you buy that? >> a lot of southern states do look at south carolina as kind of how should we proceed? but at the end of the day, it's really going to be a decision of the people, you know, south carolina has kind of set the tone across the country recently from the he manual church to walter scott. i think people will back senator sanders for what he stands for and who he is. >> all right. state representative, good to see you. sorry, my hands are cold. chillly. sunny and beautiful, but there is a bite in the air. >> yes, there is. >> good to see you. coming up in the next hour, i'll be joined about it mayor of columbia, south carolina who sports hillary clinton. and stay with cnn throughout the day for our special coverage of the south carolina democratic primary. as the republican field heads

into super sus, marco rubio and donald trump are ramping up their attacks on each other after thursday's explosive cnn debate. >> what we're dealing with here, my friends, is a con artist. he is a con artist. >> this guy is cracking up on us. and he was sweating so badly, i have never seen anything like it. it looked like he just jumped into a swimming pool with his clothing on. >> oh, boy. brutal. the trump-rubio fight escalating as their formal rival chris christie jumps back into the fray throwing his support to donald trump. christie endorsing trump despite previously saying he didn't have the temperament to be president. what happened? jim acosta joining me from bentonville, arkansas, where trump will hold a rally this afternoon. jim? >> hi, fred. that's right. donald trump will be in this airplane hangar in northwestern

arkansas in the next koum h. couple hours. he's looking to have a big day in this state on super tuesday as well as all the other states up for grabs. just 72 hours from now. but there's been a little turbulence in the gop race for the white house as he and marco rubio have been trading insults and putdowns over the last 24 hours. it has been fierce. >> reporter: donald trump trying to turn the page after cnn's fiery republican debate. rolling out a jaw dropping endorsement from chris christie. >> this was an endorsement that meant a lot. >> will is no better fighter than donald trump. he's going to fight for the american people. >> other than that, i rest my case. >> reporter: it was a move for trump after he seemed rattled after a newly aggressive marco rubio. >> if you didn't inherit $200 million, do you know where donald trump would be right now? selling watches in manhattan. >> no. no. that is so wrong. >> reporter: rubio decided the only way to take down the gop

frontrunner is match insult with insult. >> let me tell you something, last night in the debate during one of the breaks went backstage and he was having a meltdown. first, he had this makeup thing applying makeup around his mustache because he had a sweat mustache. then he asked for a full length mirror. i don't know y the podium goes up to here. he wanted a full length mirror. maybe to make sure his pants weren't wet. i don't know. >> reporter: in texas, rubio ridiculed his misspelling of the words light weight choker. >> here's first one. light weight marco rubio was working hard last night. this is true. the problem is he is a chocker. and once a chocker, always a choker. i guess that's what he meant to say. he spelled choker, chocker. he was sweating so badly -- >> reporter: trump mocked him as drown fwhg sweat backstage at the debates, badly in need of tv

makeup. >> i will not say that he was trying to cover up his ears. i need water. help me. i need water. help. when you're a choke artist, you're always a choke artist. >> reporter: it was a continuationst alley fight that broke out during cnn's debate. on obama care, rubio got the last word over who repeats hill se himself the most. >> that's the only part of the sflan. >> you have many different plans. you'll have competition. you'll have so many different plans. >> now he's repeating himself. >> no, i'm not repeating myself. here's the guy that repeats himself. you repeat yourself every day. i watch you talking about repeating, i watched him repeat himself five times four weeks ago. >> i heard you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago. >> reporter: he wondered if he'll land mitt romney. he said that he was never going to win in 2012. >> whether you walk on to a stage, can you not walk like a

penguin. he walked like a penguin. >> now it does appear that some of rubio's accusations touched a nerve with donald trump just in the last several minutes. we should point out donald trump has been answer something of the charges from marco rubio on twitter. in the last several minutes, donald trump tweeted that he is going to release his tax returns just as soon as the current audit that is under way at the irs of his taxes is completed. he also is saying that he did not inherit $200 million from his father. it was just a small loan of $1 million and that he paid it back. he talked about that last night in oklahoma city. we may hear that again at this event coming up in arkansas. it does appear even though donald trump has been going after marco rubio fierce in the last 24 hours, he also has been answering these accusations from marco rubio, something we haven't seen much of during this campaign. marco rubio, we should mention, is planning on releasing his tax returns later on today. >> all right.

jim acosta, thank you so much in arkansas. chris christie gives praise to donald trump in the endorsement that stun md in the republican party. how it differents from what christie had to say about trump in the past. we're back live in south carolina as people cast votes in today's democratic primary. >> any strong feelings about a candidate? >> yeah, i'm voting for hillary. we're really excited about her and i think madam president sounds really good. >> so it sounds like this was an easy decision for you to make. >> well, i like the idea she's a policy woman and, you know, i think that experience does matter much that's why i'm voting for hillary. (pilot speaking to tower over radio) (tower speaking to pilot over radio)

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new jersey governor chris christie's endorse. of donald trump didn't just hurt the momentum for marco rubio, it sent shock waves throughout the republican party and beyond. in part, because of comments the

new jersey governor has made about the gop front-runner in the past. >> really glad that donald noticed me. that's so nice. i'm happy to take any observations he has, even if he can only do them in 140 characters or less which seems to be the best way he can communicate. >> i just don't believe that skills that you're talking about that donald has are transferrable to a governmental setti setting. you cannot fire the speaker of the house or the senate majority leader because you don't get what you want. show time is over, everybody. we are not electing an entertainer in chief. >> christie explained his about-face in an interview last night. maybe i don't understand politics. he didn't have the temperament or experience last august and now you think he's the guy. >> i'm no longer in the race. i was the -- suited to be president of the united states and voters voted otherwise. donald trump is by far and away with his executive experience

with, his toughness, with his vision for the country's future by far and away the best person to be the republican nominee for president. >> all right. so here to discuss ron brownstein, editorial director for "the national journal." and kaly makanetti, donald trump supporter. what do you make of christie's reversal? >> i think what he said actually is true. i think relative to the two senators who are the principle rivals remaining and john kasich, i think he does feel close to donald trump. i think it's an important moment for donald trump to have an elected official of this it underscores how little of that has happened. you know, you look at a candidate who has won new hampshire, south carolina, and nevada and how little of the party kind of leadership, formal party leadership is willing to come out and stand with him is striking. there is a terrific story in the "new york times" about the enormous anxiety among senate republicans about what a trump nomination might mean for the party. so he is clearly steam

rolling -- [ no audio ] toward a lot of uneasy republican leaders, uncertain about what it will mean for the party. >> and you know, trump said he typically doesn't really care about endorsements. they are fairly meaningless. but christie's endorsement really meant a lot. he was excited about sarah palin endorsing him a while back, too. why is it meaningful to him sometimes? >> this one is particularly meaningful. i think what he means is that when you look at kasich's endorsements, being endorsed by "the new york times" and the newspapers, that tends to be meaningless. like wide, marco rubio being endorse bid every congressman in washington or senator or lekted official, it welcome contributes to the narrative of rubio being a washington insider. but there is of a different m magnitu magnitude. when you're endorsed by someone that stood next you to at a debate podium and sparred with

you, you got in disagreements with and was on the campaign trail, when you're endorsed by snaun is your equal and colleague and says, yes, i wasn't the guy but there is the guy. i do think that is meaningful. i don't think it's going to, you know, make him rise more necessarily. but i do think in the marginal situations when you have a voter of massachusetts where trump is leading by 20 points saying to himself, you know, i do go with rubio or trump? maybe you think of new jersey governor chris christie and maybe that makes a difference? >> and ron, you made reference to the "new york times" piece entitled "inside the republican party's desperate mission to stop donald trump" writing this "the endorsement by mr. christie landed friday with crippling force. it was by far the most important defection to mr. trump's insurgency. mr. christie guy miff cover to other republicans tempted to join mr. trump rather than trying to beat him.

not just the stop trump forces seemed in in peril but also the traditional party establishment itself." is this worry and concession? >> yeah, absolutely. this is beginning to feel very difficult to stop. as that story and others pointed out, the republicans most skeptical about trump have been unable to ors his effort against him. what christie is out for in particular is if you look consistently the voters who have been the most resistent to trump have tended to be college educated, white collar, mainstream conservative voters and it is precisely with those kind of voters that a christie group would be most useful. on the other hand, as i said, most of the elected officials in the party are still very uneasy about what this would mean. even though he's doing very well with republican voters, his favorability is among republican voters are up 20 points since he started the race, they have not included with voters outside of the republican coalition. he is looking at 60% unfavorable ratings with the public overall.

and 70% plus unfavorable ratings with the growing groups at the core of the democratic coalition which are minorities, millennial generation and women. so this remains a big leap into the unknown but one in which the party is becoming increasingly resigned to the fact that they may have to take, like it or not. >> all right. even ted cruz said that trump could be in his words "unstoppable" after super tuesday if this momentum keeps up. are you in agreement with him? >> i'm definitely in agreement. i understand what ron is saying about unfavorability. but the numbers can change. we saw when trump entered the race he was unpalatable to many republicans. many republicans said they would never vote for him. the numbers changed significantly since he first entered. i would look to the states in south carolina where he won every single delegate in nevada where he almost reached 50% in a field of five candidates. he is being supported by independents in the race, by

democrat leaping voters and every single category of voters. i think there's a lot of room to move those numbers. there's a reason that head of unions have come out and headsa perhaps my members might defect to donald trump. he pales to blue collar workers. i think he appeals continue to dependence. there's a lot of room for those numbers to change in a general election. >> all right. thanks so much to both of you. good tow sue both. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> tomorrow morning, there's more. on the state of the union, we'll talk to governor chris christie about his now trump endorsement. he'll also be joined by ted cruz and john kasich. that's at 9:00 a.m. right here on krvenlt we'cnn. we're back from south carolina right after this. ount. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio.

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♪ yeah, you'll just have to miss it! ♪ ♪ we can't let you download... uh, no thanks. i have x1 from xfinity so... don't fall for directv. xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song. if there are two or three things that you think the next president should be able to address, what would those things to be to make you feel good, confident about the next president? >> let's see. the needs of the people. i think they would make a best candidate for the president.

health issues. the war situation and just getting the job done, to address all the concerns that people have and really think through about the people who they're serving and not just one group of people but all people. >> all right. a voter i spoke with right here in columbia, south carolina, who will be voting today. the results here tonight could set the tone as we head into super tuesday. that's the biggest voting day of the primary season. just three days away. we're talking about 13 states casting ballots and hundreds of delegates are up for grabs. hillary clinton and donald trump are the frontrunners headed into this huge contest. john king explains how key victories on tuesday could cement their path to the nomination. >> let's just first set the state of play as we look for the

big super tuesday. we're finishing february right now. today is the 27th. south carolina democrats are voting today. we'll see the results tonight. hillary clinton expecting a big win. if she gets it, then we rock on to monday and super tuesday, show the contests up here. then we go across the country. it's the first multistate primary day. a dozen states voting in the democratic and republican contest. by the time we wake up wednesday morning, 21%, almost 22% of the democratic delegates will have been chosen and 30% of the rendell gats tachlt a look at what that could mean starting with the republican race. donald trump heads into super tuesd tuesday, he needs 1273 to clinch on the republican side. this is early. we're just getting started. trump won three or four contests. he has the momentum going into super tuesday. look at this scenario for tuesday night. trump could run the board. he could win all 11 states that are actually lekting rendell gats on tuesday. if did he that, would start to pull away. let's say for the sake of argument in the one state where

public polling does show trump losing that, is ted cruz. so let's give texas to cruz, trump comes in seconds and marco rubio third and kasich fourth. that's the only one where we can say, okay, that's likely to happen or at least it's possible and probable to happen. even then, cruz would win -- trump would win 10 of 11 and start to pull away. the question is it looks like trump will have a big day tuesday. it is almost guaranteed. he'll start to pull ahead. how do you stop him heading forward in march? that is likely to be the conversation wednesday morning. let's go to the democratic race. again, south carolina is voting as we speak. but most people assume it's going to come out something like this. this gives it to hillary clinton. 60%/40% ratio in there. if that happens, she'll pull ahead in the pledged delegates. that would give her a lead there. what she's hoping for, she's

hoping she wins the african-american vote in south carolina big and super tuesday for hillary clinton looks like. this let's assume senator sanders wins at home in vermont. senator sanders thinks he's going to win in minnesota. we'll give him minnesota. he also thinks he can win in oklahoma. he spent a lot of time there. clinton campaign says not so sure. again, just for the hypothetical, let's give senator sanders that one. he says he thinks he's kpetive in -- competitive in colorado. most of the other states, secretary clinton thinks she's going to win, largely because of her support among african-americans. if it plays out like this hillary clinton begins to pull away in the delegate count. senator sanders would pick up a bunch. remember, add to the 550 or so hillary clinton could have on wednesday morning, 445 super bell gats, she starts to stretch the math out to here. she's hoping psychologically that sends a message to sanders and he should tone it down.

we'll count the votes tuesday and we'll see, fred. >> all right. john king incredible numbers right there. all right. right now, let's go to ted cruz who is campaigning. he's actually in atlanta trying to clinch more support straight ahead of super tuesday. >> we saw a chance whether you want another washington deal maker, someone to go to washington, cut deals with the democrats, grow government, grow the debt, grow regulation and continue the assault on our constitutional rights or whether you want a proven constitutional conservative. someone that has been the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. you know, it was striking at the debate this week where it became clear that donald trump's record has not been a could nservative. he agreed with hillary clinton on issue after issue whether it was foreign policy where he agreed with barack obama and hillary clinton and toppling the government in libya that led to

the tragedy of benghazi and handing that country over. donald agreed with hillary clinton in supporting john kerry. he has been the most disastrous secretary of state in a long time matched by hillary clinton, both of whom weakened our relationships with israel and have enabled the rise of radical islamic terrorism. you look domestically, donald trump agrees with barack obama on the wall street bailout. agrees with barack obama on the stimulus plan. and agrees with both hillary clinton own bernie sanders on expanding obamacare to make it socialized medicine for everybody, putting government in charge of your health care and my health care, putting government bureaucrats in a position to decide whether you get health care to decide whether your health care is rationed. for seniors in georgia who don't want to see federal bureaucrat

democrats deciding whether you get a hip or knee replacement and don't want the federal decision about your health, donald trump is putting the government in charge of our shk dangerous. it's sad to see he repeats the same attack. he says anyone that doesn't believe in socialized medicine has no heart. that is, of course, exactly the rhetoric that liberal politicians have used for decades. a final observation, one thing that is becoming clear is that our campaign is the only campaign that has beaten donald trump and that can beat donald trump. >> senator, is your fight here in georgia going to be against donald trump or is it a fight for second versus senator rubio? >> we're fighting to win in every state. it is neck and neck right now. if you look at nationwide, roughly 60% of republicans think donald is not the right candidate to go head-to-head with hillary.

donald loses to hillary. on the other hand, head-to-head, i'd beat hillary clinton. >> all right. ted cruz there stumping in atlanta, georgia. georgia one of the 13 super tuesday states. we're going to be talking more about ted cruz and what he needs to do in his home state of texas, also a big super tuesday state, to pull out a big win on that day. [woodworker] i live in the fine details. that's why i run on quickbooks. i use the payments app to accept credit cards... ...and everything autosyncs. those sales prove my sustainable designs are better for the environment and my bottom line. that's how i own it. you can't breathed. through your nose. suddenly, you're a mouthbreather. a mouthbreather! how can anyone sleep like that? well, just put on a breathe right strip and pow! it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than cold medicine alone.

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does well on super tuesday, there may be no way to stop the billionaire from being the republican nominee. >> donald trump has enormous momentum. he's won three of the first four states. if he continues with that momentum and powers through and wins everywhere on super tuesday, he could easily be unstoppable. and i think that would be a grave mistake both for the republican party and for the country. >> cruz issued a similar warning before the iowa caucus and won that state. he hasn't won a state since but is hoping to turn that around on super tuesday. cruz is betting pretty big on a win in his home state of texas, the lone star state. it is a big prize on tuesday with 155 delegates up for grabs. but now there are rumblings that cruz could be in danger of losing his home state as trump

surges. recent polling in texas has shown cruz with a solid but not insurmountable lead over trump. let's bring in bill miller. he is a senior republican lobbyist based in texas to talk about ted cruz's standing in the lone star state. bill, good to see you. >> good morning. >> so what in your view do the chances -- what do they look like for him? yes, he may have issued that kind of warning before iowa and then he did well in iowa. but it is smart for him to say that the front runner could be unstoppable if he were to win big on super tuesday? >> well, he is correct in that assessment. more importantly, his win across the board on tuesday ends the ted cruz candidacy. it's a plead to ted cruz in his case base in texas. there's a likelihood that may not occur. i would say he is favored today

and would be considered the favorite through election day. but i believe the things that are in play in the state are changing that outlook and could change it as late as election night. we'll see. >> and so, bill, what is changing? if a ted cruz and his base have been feeling so confidence in texas and now here we are just day as way from the primary there, what has changed? what's the dynamic that's changed among the electorate to make them think again about whether ted cruz is their guy? >> well, it's the great question and the answer in my estimation, two things, one, his campaign in texas has been the tea party and evangelicals. he's believing evangelicals and that's been shown in all the races preceding this one. he's not holding that base as well as he does historically. and in texas, the tea party which adores ted cruz, has been the bullies on the block in

republican politics down here for the last two cycles. and what has occurred because of the trump phenomenon is we sort of have a new bad ass on the block and it's the trump supporter. and they have exceeded the tea party in both ferocity and passion. and that changed the dynamic in the state and has changed the dynamic for ted cruz in his presidential race. >> so that ted cruz would receive an endorsement from the governor greg abbott, how influential might than particularly in the landscape that you just spelled out? >> well, i think he's got both the governor and lieutenant governor. they're both popular candidates. but in texas, we have a history of really embracing characters. we like characters down here. we like characters as candidates. and endorsements count for something, but the greater the character, sort of the greater our adoration and donald trump is a character and a half. and he has captured the

imagination of people down here that it's been astonishing event. everyone assume that's ted cruz had this locked. i still think he'll win. but it's by no means a walk in the park and he's fighting for his life. >> you talk about texas really loving characters and we're seeing that on display with donald trump. might the same argument be made for marco rubio who is now unleashed in a different way and might that be a particular upset if it's marco rubio who does better than ted cruz in texas? >> well, i think it would be great for marco rubio if he did do better than ted cruz. awful for ted cruz. what marco rubio is doing right now is he's picking up the pieces of all the other campaigns and he's doing that in an effective manner. the problem for him is that there are just few days left in the race. i don't think he can bring, coalesce the pieces quickly enough to be strong at the finish. although, he is growing in

strength and will do better as expected. but he's still going to be in third place in my opinion. >> all right. all right. bill miller, thanks so much for your time and perspective. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> and, of course, cnn will have live coverage all day, super tuesday. that is this tuesday, march 1st right around the corner. only here on cnn. we're back live from south carolina where people are voting right now in today's democratic primary. we'll be right back after this.

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hello, i'm fredricka whitfield, where in columbia, south carolina, back to the race to the white house. right now, overseas, the truce in syria appears to be holding. there were no major reports of fighting, except for shelling around the city of damascus. officially not a cease-fire but a break in the fighting. the u.s. helped broker a deal to help get humanitarian relief. it covers soldiers from the bashar al assad and rebels trying to fight to take him down. it doesn't cover the terror group such as isis operating inside the country. cnn's arwa damon is nearby in istanbul, turkey. russia says it has stopped its air strikes in certain parts of

the country, is this a truce so to speak or just a hold on fighting, showing any real solid footing. >> reporter: well, it's difficult to gauge that at this stage, but the most significant for the syrian population is the fact that ever the cessation of hostilities as it's been called went in effect, there have been no reports of air strikes. no reports of russian jets firing, and remember, they have been accused of deliberately targeting civilians and medical facilities. and also no reports of those horrific indiscriminate barrel bombs being dropped by the assad regime. even if it's a brief respite from that kind of violence it allows the population something like that which they have not experienced for only too long. when it comes to sporadic fighting it happened in scattered areas either between the regime and rebels in one case and in other area, it's been clashes between the kurdish

fighting force and isis and also between the regime and isis. isis as you mentioned excluded from the cessation of hostilities, as the al qaeda-links nusra front. the nusra front came out where he warned other rebel groups not to fall into this trap. saying that the cessation of hostilities was a ploy to try to force them to surrender to the assad regime. and there have been also been a lot of comments and some skepticism, from major other rebel groups as well, really doubting what the true intentions are behind the cessation of hostilities. either way, even if has not seen a complete end to the fighting by syria's standards there have been a significant reduction of violence. of course, the hope is that this is going to finally allow that humanitarian assistance to reach the syrian population. and especially those population centers under siege in some cases for months, fredricka.

>> arwa damon, thank you so much in istanbul. we'll getting back to our political coverage straight ahead. a spoke to a bernie sanders supporter this hour. coming up, i'm talk to a back of hillary clinton in south carolina. we'll be right back. welcome to opportunity's knocking, where self-proclaimed financial superstars pitch you investment opportunities. i've got a fantastic deal for you- gold! with the right pool of investors, there's a lot of money to be made. but first, investors must ask the right questions and use the smartcheck challenge to make the right decisions. you're not even registered; i'm done with you! i can...i can... savvy investors check their financial pro's background by visiting smartcheck.gov

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"could you double check "scothe envelope?"wins." "best actress, 1984." "and i can't deny the fact that you like me." "life is like a box of chocolates." "you never know what you're gonna get." "we're gonna need a bigger boat." "xfinity x1 lets you access the greatest library of oscar moments, simply by using your voice. live oscar sunday, february 28th on abc." we'll have more from south carolina in a moment, but first a quick check on other stories making headlines right now.

funeral services will be held this weekend for five of the six victims of the kalamazoo michigan shootings. richard smith and his 17-year-old son tyler will be laid to rest today in a joint funeral service. memorial services will also be held this weekend for barbara hawthorne, mary lou nye and her sister-in-law mary jo nye. a private service was held friday. yoko ono is in a hospital this morning. her publisher said she was having extreme flu-like conditions and likely will go home later today. her son sean tweeted his mom is fine. police have said that a crash left three people dead and seven more critically injured. a u.p.s. truck collided with two other vehicles on interstate 5. flipped over and burst into flames. authorities are still trying to figure out what caused that crash. and moving back to the

political race, john kasich is live in nashville, tennessee, and is expected to speak at any moment there at a town hall there. we're also expected to hear from bernie sanders sand marco rubio within the next hour. we're covering all the candidates throughout the afternoon in their last big push days ahead to super tuesday. we'll be right back. without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. you could heal your cold sore, fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. learn how abreva starts to work immediately at abreva.com don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. with abreva. 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.

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why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement. just start as early as you can. it's going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we'll all be better prepared tomorrow. prudential. bring your challenges. it is decision day here in south carolina for the democrats. hillary clinton hoping to pull out a big victory over bernie sanders. each one wanting that momentum heading into super tuesday. hello, everyone, i'm fredricka whitfield, we're live in columbia, south carolina. the polls are open for another seven hours in south carolina. up for grabs are 53 delegates in the democratic primary. there's a widely held expectation of a big win today