top of the hour. 5:00 p.m. eastern. so glad you're with us. coming to you live this evening from the beautiful campus of the university of south carolina in columbia, we have special coverage all day of the democratic presidential primary here in south carolina, and time is running out for voters in this state to cast ballots, two hours before the polls close. will it be a decisive victory for hillary clinton? or won't it. we'll see, the polls have her ahead but anything could happen. while clinton will be in south carolina tonight to watch the returns come in, sanders is

skipping the state today. he was here last night but now on to texas and minnesota. why, because those are two states that vote on super tuesday and votes he wants. cnn's brianna dekeilar and joe johns, and ryan lizza, and former senior communications adviser to mike huckabee and brie, let me begin with you. clinton and sanders not pointing fingers at one another. they are targeting the republicans today. >> they are targeting the republicans today. i think hillary clinton certainly making a point that she is electable and she wants to pivot to the general election and she's trying to show herself as someone who can be the candidate to take on whoever the republican front-runner is. and in this case she has really choice words for donald trump.

listen. >> you know, when you run for president, it's not just americans who pay attention. and when you are president the entire world listens to every word you say. but that person becomes in many ways the leader of free people and free markets and opportunity around the world. so you do have to be careful about what you say and how you say it. >> we will defeat trump because the american people do not want a president who insults mexicans, muslims, who insults women and african-americans and veterans. and basically anybody who is not like donald trump. >> so both candidates, poppy,

positioning themselves a bit there as the anti-trump. but hillary clinton when she did take aim at bernie sanders and was in alabama earlier at a historically black college, clearly looking to super tuesday, alabama will go to the polls then, she hit bernie sanders by using donald trump and this is something she's tried to set herself apart from sanders, specifically in south carolina and beyond in the southern states. she talking about his ideas for free public college. she said i don't want to give free college to donald trump's kids. and she also touted her fund for historically black colleges and universities. a number of them are not public so don't fall under bernie sanders' plan. she is trying to draw thats distinction. >> i wonder, you know this campaign inside and out. how big of a win do they see if they do sweep south carolina tonight, going into super tuesday, because it is so expected that she will take a lot of the state. >> reporter: that's really the question. the question is not if she's

going to win it's by how much. what they want is this really decisive victory, how much is that going to be they are not going to say publicly. they want to manage expectations. some polls have her as much as 20 or more points ahead. so certainly they would like to see that. i think they are managing expectations in case it is below that. but that certainly is what they are aiming for is above that. >> thank you so much. joe johns, to you at one of these polling sites. when you talk about managing expectations and you talk about the margins of the outcome tonight, sort of a surprise to the downside today in terms of the turnout looks like. right? >> reporter: yeah. turnout is not strong. i mean i can tell you that from talking to the south carolina election commission. they tell us turnout is low to light, pretty much across the state. steady in some other areas. one election official also described it as moderate in a few specific areas around south carolina. so, not a lot of people turning

out. we're at an elementary school in columbia, south carolina. we've seen a few hundred people walk through here during this day. we're told that early this morning before we got to this location there was a long line. so, there's that. this is a very different situation from the republican primary last week when they had record turnout. but what is interesting is that there are some kind of comparable numbers on the number of absentee ballots that have been returned to the state election commission. so far we're told about 53,747 people had returned absentee ballots. you compare to the republicans, about 60,000, you see there's not that big a split. but in terms of actual people turning out to vote, it's a much narrower number here compared with the republicans. the other thing we're told, no glitches in the election this time around.

that's different from last weekend with the republicans, they did have a few glitches at the polls. and the officials here attribute that to the fact that now they have done it twice and they are unlikely to make the same mistake on two consecutive saturdays. so, we are moving toward the end of this day in south carolina. and i can tell you that in the past it has been thought that higher turnout in some of these primaries went to the advantage of bernie sanders, because he turned out so many extra voters. this is a situation where we have fewer voters. >> joe johns live for us tonight as the hours tick away. two more hours for people to cast votes. thank you so much. let's break it down with our panel. ryan lizza, hogan, bacary. i want you to react as a hillary clinton supporter that you are i want you to react to something in the panel i did with african-american voters earlier. we talked about criminal justice

reform and one of the panelists, representative vanburg who did support clinton and switched to sanders, what he said. >> bernie sanders is the best candidate for criminal justice reform, it's because of who he is, okay. and he is not afraid to stand up to big money, he's not afraid to stand up to anybody. not worried about him and special interest groups getting in his ear. >> my apologies that was not representative vanberg, that was hamilton, one of the young voices we spoke with. what do you think of his argument that special interests won't get in sanders' way? >> that was representative vanberg. i know him well. when i ran for lieutenant governor he is a person who succeeded me in the state house. i have a great deal -- i have a great deal of respect for him. and i would say that those talking points just did not carry the day in south carolina.

in south carolina what people saw was a fighter in south carolina what people saw was hillary clinton who worked with the children legal defense fund, who helped get children out of adult prisons. what they saw was the person who carried the chips program on their back, on her back, how many south carolinians get their insurance. but even more importantly, what we're seeing today is this race was about who was the best person to protect and build on the legacy of barack obama. and it was hands down no choice, that was hillary clinton. >> to you, ryan, "the new york times" editorial board came out and they have for context have backed hillary clinton. they said that she owes it to the people to release the transcripts from the speeches she's given, the paid speeches especially to the big wall street banks. voters want that? how much is it going to matter? how consequential is it to her campaign in a primary? >> well look, i can tell if you bernie sanders doesn't press her on this issue and the general

election, whoever the republican nominee is going to press her on this. i think as you go forward, sanders has a strategic decision to make. dutz he start getting a little bit more aggressive on some of the things that are out there that are frankly not in his wheel house, not policy issues, he promised to make this more of a policy-based campaign frankly to his credit but he hasn't hit her hard on the e-mails, right. he hasn't hit her on these transcripts. now, some people in his campaign say well, our people don't like that stuff. other people in his campaign saying, advising the candidate to go harder. his campaign is split on this. if he wants to make more of a race of this watch for him to go at her on some of those issues. >> i want you and all of the viewers to listen to sound, listen to really two very different views of the republican party from within the republican party from senator lindsey graham this week and also from chris christie who has come out and endorsed donald

trump. let's play that. >> most dishonest person in america is a woman. who is about to be president. how could that be. my party is gone crazy. >> i guarantee you the one person hillary clinton do not want to see on that stage is donald trump. >> who has it right, this is your party, you are the senior communications adviser for huckabee's campaign. who has it right lindsey graham or christie saying this is a man to lead us to the white house? >> i don't know you can say either one is all the way right. i do want to point out one thing about the senate. as republicans we fought, we scratched, we clawed to get the senate in republican hands. for all of the bluster and all of the bravado of the senators in this race, both marco rubio and ted cruz, we still have obama care, we fund planned

parenthood, we still have the iran deal which they actually made the path way easier for obama to negotiate. so they are at fault here. what chris christie is saying is we need someone outside to do the bidding of the american people to get something changed. that's why donald trump's taken off in this thing because he is representing the true outside. the cruzes of the world say they are but they are funded by wall street millionaires and billionaires, something bernie is tapping into the same thing trump is these kids i talk to wreckage ters i talk to, all of these say kind of the same thing. it's an undervalued trait. they are not taking outside money. and that matters to people and this information age when you can find out where the money comes from and follow that money, if you see a candidate's not taking outside money, you realize they are not beholding to those. >> the difference not everyone is a billionaire and can fund their campaign. >> i don't know if you arbillionaire. most folks aren't.

bernie sanders took this swipe at hillary clinton that stood out to me referring to welfare reform, the bill signed in 1996 that was not backed by sanders. and obviously it was signed into law by former president bill clinton. >> the end result of that legislation was that extreme poverty, i'm talking about the poorest of the poor, i'm talking about children who are hungry, extreme poverty in this country, the rates doubled. because of that legislation. i vigorously opposed that legislation, secretary clinton supported that legislation. >> do you think it is important for hillary clinton who you are a big supporter of, to separate herself even more from some of the policies of her husband's administration? >> i mean, i don't think it's about separating herself as much as it is about building a plan for the future. the fact of the matter is i'm not a billionaire, in fact, i

hesitate sometimes when cnn calls me because i don't know if it's cnn or sallie mae for student loan payments. there are a lot of people encumbered by this debt. a lot of people who do everything possible to live the american dream. they can't. they don't have the opportunity. i want someone who is talking about investing in these communities especially these communities of color where we have back breaking generational poverty. i think the one thing that bernie sanders has done is he has pushed hillary clinton to become more succinct. he has pushed hillary clinton to become more detailed. talking how we lift people out of poverty. that's why i'm glad this is the discussion we're having on the democratic side of the ballot. how to lift people out of poverty and we're not having this circus show my friend hogan and the rest of his colleagues on the republican side are having. >> i got to get ryan in and hogan yes, you will respond to that. >> no, i want to say look. this to me is the year of the republican. if we can't beat somebody who

may or may not be indicted and a man that wants to take 90 cents out of ever dollar. >> i want you to weigh in on this question. does hillary clinton need to garner the votes separate herself from the policies of her husband. when you look at the 94 crime bill she was a supporter, she lobbied members of congress to support it. that poured about $10 billion into the federal prison system, you had a 60% increase in the number of prisoners from 92 to 2000. her husband's term. and now one of her big, big platforms is criminal justice reform and mass incarceration. does she need to draw the line more? >> she has on a few issues. >> but on this. >> on the welfare bill? >> the welfare and the crime bill. >> i don't think, on the welfare bill, there's as much outrage in the democratic base. it's held up better than some of the other centrist policies of the clinton era, the democrat party changed.

it moved to the left. the crime bill does not look good in hindsight. bill clinton himself has disavowed it. it was one of the top accomplishments if you went to the foundation website or looked at the clinton library exhibits. on trade, another big issue, i don't think there is turning back. hillary clinton has opposed the main free trade initiative of the obama administration, has broke within the clinton legacy on free trade. how does she go back on that as president. i don't think she can. so, very interesting to see if on the welfare issue if bernie sanders continues to press that and she backs and take as step back. what you're seeing is that sanders, who is always on the far left of the democratic party is much more in the main stream of the democratic party because the party moved left. >> thank you very much. stay with me. thank you. stay with me. coming up next, a lot ahead, donald trump and marco rubio in the middle of a brawl.

>> he bankrupted a casino, how do you bankrupt a casino? >> light weight rubio, total light weight. and little mouth on him. bing, bing, bing. >> we'll have live reports on the mud slingings also senator cruz focused on texas right now. the crown jewel of super tuesday. could his home state be a great win for him or end his shot at being president. and also of course we're staying on top of the democratic primary race, right here in south carolina. 53 delegates up for grabs for the democrats, more live coverage next.

welcome back. pim poppy harlow. we're focusing on both the

democratic primary and what is happening in the republican race. marco rubio and donald trump are in a brawl for the heart and soul of the republican party. listen. >> the party of lincoln and reagan is on the verge of being taken over by a con artist. named donald trump. >> light weight rubio. total light weight. and little mouth on him. bing, bing, bing. >> trump and rubio in a fierce tug of war with the all important super tuesday primaries and caucuses now just three days away. joining me is cnn politics reporter mj lee tracking the trump camp in millington, tennessee. cnn correspondent jason carroll in huntsville, alabama and mj, let me begin with you if you can hear me. an hour and a half before trump's plain is supposed to land. >> reporter: yes, poppy, we expect trump to get here, we're

at a local airport in millington, tennessee. you're right, the tensions between donald trump and marco rubio have really escalated and we saw this happen really ever since our last cnn debate in houston this week. marco rubio and trump really went after each other on the debate stage and trump who we know to be an excellent attack dog, going after rubio on issues like how much makeup he saw him wearing at the debate. calling him a lightweight, earlier today in arkansas, trump said that rubio stole from the republican party, listen to what he had to say. >> rubio stole from the republican party. but you know what happened, they said you stole from the party, he says no, yes you did, you had a driveway bill. no, i didn't. yes you did. oh, okay. well, ah, he reimbursed them. okay. and for some reason he didn't get indicted. why doesn't he get indict?

chris christie would have indicted him so fast. why doesn't somebody look into his house deal? why, how can he make that kind of a profit on a house to a lobbyist? >> now rubio of course is not taking this quietly either. he really has been going on the offensive going after trump in speeches, on social media. so this is a feud we're likely to see continue to escalate especially as you look ahead to march 15. when the gop primary will take place in the state of florida. a state that rubio badly wants to win because it is his home turf. poppy. >> absolutely, mj lee. let us know when trump's plane touches down. a rally a short time from now. jason, you're with the rubio camp, with them all week traveling around. they are doing a sweep of the

south. >> reporter: yes, doing a sweep of the south, and trying to sweep up donald trump in the process. he's been keeping up and stepping up those attacks on trump. we heard it yesterday, attacking him not just personally but professionally as well, poppy. keeping up the allegations that he defrauded students at trump university and an allegation that trump denies. you heard him calling trump a con man saying that he's not just a con man when it comes to business but also a con man when it comes to be a true conservative. so we expect to hear more of those attacks here in huntsville, alabama when this rally gets under way. certainly heard it yesterday in dallas, heard it a little earlier in georgia, where rubio seemed to be -- seemed to be having fun poking even more fun at donald trump. >> flying around on hair force one and tweeting, so here's the one tweet. a picture of me having makeup

put on me at the debate. which is amazing to me, that a guy with the worst spray tan in america is attacking me for putting on makeup. donald trump likes to sue people, he should sue whoever did that to his face. >> reporter: certainly you can see there he is not letting up on donald trump. and poppy, we were speaking to some of his supporters, they seem to love it. they love this new version of rubio. some of them telling me where was this marco rubio a few weeks ago. one of the other things they want to see from marco rubio is they want to start seeing winning, winning races not just coming in second and third. that's what some of the supporters tell us. they hope that is happening on super tuesday when rubio was pushing saying how do you think you're going to do on super tuesday.

he wouldn't name states, he did say he would definitely be picking up new delegates. one of the other things he said he would do everything in his power to make sure trump was not the nominee, even if it meant driving around in a pickup truck to make sure it did not happen. poppy. >> and jason, i wonder are the supporters of rubio there telling you that they like this new rubio that they haven't seen before, because it's the only way that he can potentially beat donald trump? or they like to see this in general in politics, this kind of fighting. a rubio supporter told me last hour look, this doesn't -- isn't good for the american people but it's the only way i think rubio can win. >> reporter: at this stage in the game you are absolutely right. would they like to hear the discussion be more about policy, of course. but at this point with marco rubio not winning a single state so far, basically many of his

supporters saying look, the only way that he has a chance, any way he has a shot, is to take more shots at donald trump. >> jason carroll live for us in huntsville, alabama with the rubio camp. thank you so much. quick break, live with much more from columbia, south carolina on voting day here in the democratic primary. stay with us. (man) hmm. what do you think? ♪

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xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song. the race for the white house has been downright nasty at times, but does that anger reflect america right now? in the wake of the emmanuel ame church shooting last june in charleston, citizens here rallied together, black, white, republican, democrat, showing a unity that many would say had largely been missing in parts of this campaign. yet it's also a state with a reputation, frankly, for pretty brutal often downright dirty presidential campaign politics. let's talk about it all with doug, he joins me, a republican representative in the south

carolina legislature. sponsored a bill to remove the confederate flag from the capitol grounds here. thank you for being with me. i remember vividly being on the phone with you on my show in june, it was the debate over the flag. you said to me, i apologize to the people, i should have five years ago sponsored a bill to take it down. this state came together, despite politics being divisive it has come together. what do you make of the state of the race right now? for president. >> well, i don't think you can compare the state of the race for president to south carolina over the past year. but you know, poppy, i'm a proud republican. and what i know is we don't want to hand this to the democrats and likely hillary, we've got to get behind one candidate. that candidate's got to quit acting like a third-grader and better identify the issues and be specific with a plan -- >> can you name the candidate? >> i can't. i'm truly undecided. >> you're saying a number are

acting like third-graders. >> i watched the debate the other night. i can't say dr. carson and governor kasich were involved but the other three looked like third-graders. >> is there a candidate you believe would be best for your party? i mean, do you want your party to rally around one candidate right now? >> i want -- i want our party to rally around one candidate, but i know who picks the best candidate and that's the voters. so i'm going to stay with the voters of america, specifically with south carolina. >> so donald trump took south carolina by a wide margin. you getting behind him? >> well, if he's the nominee i'll vote for him. but i want us to focus on one candidate because that's the only way that we're going to regain the white house in 2016. >> what do you make of governor chris christie coming out i think surprising everybody, this news didn't leak which is rare, backing trump despite the two

throwing criticism at one another in the past. do you believe it gives him more credibility, pull some of the establishment over? >> i think it certainly gives his campaign more credibility. i don't know individually if it gives him more credibility. but i'm hopeful that that is a step in the direction that i've just suggested that we get behind a single candidate. that's my hope. >> final word from you on this election as a whole. and on how your state is doing after what is a very difficult year following the shooting. >> it has been a very difficult year. it wasn't only the emmanuel 9 or the emmanuel 12, but you know, we had a devastating shooting earlier unarmed african-american man by a police officer who has now been charged with a crime. then we had unprecedented flooding in the fall, late fall. but we rebounded each time. our church community jumped up and taken care of the flood victims and thursday, the house of representatives passed a farm

aid bill to help the farmers devastated. so i'm proud to be a republican, i'm proud to be a south carolinian and i hope again that our party will get behind one candidate and we can recapture the white house in 2016. >> we'll be watching. thank you for having us in your glorious state. coming up next, we are in south carolina, because this is a huge day in the democratic race. as voters head to the polls they have about an hour and a half left. and well, we'll be right back. think of it as a seven seat theater... for an action packed thriller. aren't moving in the right direction,bers it can be a burden. but what if you could wake up to lower blood sugar?

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welcome back. i'm poppy harlow live in columbia, south carolina. we are just over an hour from the polls closing here in the democratic primary. voters right now making their pick for their favorite for the democratic nomination for president. a lot more on that in a moment. we also do want to address the republican side though. and the face-off we've seen in the last 48 hours between donald trump and marco rubio, also chris christie's big endorsement of donald trump, trump's new round of insults of marco rubio. he called him names today. students from where i'm live from the university of south carolina, all donald trump supporters. thank you all for being with me. anna, you are a big trump supporter. though you did not think he did well in the last debate. >> yeah.

i thought he looked a little bit weak and i think he should have addressed marco rubio's questions better. >> what do you make of all of this so far? because you were supporting rand paul before. >> yes. and after rand dropped out of the race i decided to support donald trump. honestly because he is a true outsider i think america needs. >> what do you think? you look at the attack, the back and forth between rubio and trump in the last 48 hours talking about makeup, about their wardrobe, calling each other names, you are the youngest of the voters. >> i mean you know, a lot of people complaining that he is mud slinging, not what the culturally acceptable you know, process, political process is. we're all used to. but what he is, you know, he is a trail blazer, doing something we've never seen. i think that is spectacular and great for the millennials, and something we need to see happen. >> and as a young voter what is

issue one for you that you think donald trump can achieve over any one else? >> i really, really like the fact that he's self funded. i think that you know, he speaks for himself and not donors and i think you know, that he's going to do what he thinks is best, not what his donors want. >> quickly, issue one. >> for me like the biggest issue donald trump is trying to tackle is immigration. obviously i you know, immigration is a huge problem in this country. and i feel like nobody's going to be able to tackle it as effectively. >> i think the biggest issue donald trump is going to address is the political correctness that is sweeping not only culturally but for coming from the u.s. government. because here in the university of south carolina we have there is a student who is a friend of mine in the process of suing president and the university for them impeding on their first amendment rights to table out there in front of the student

union. >> wish i could have you on longer. we have a huge race to talk about here in your state. thank you all for being here. >> thank you. >> coming up, two candidates one huge prize, both hillary clinton and bernie sanders would love to win this state, south carolina tonight, cnn all over the democratic primary all night. i'm live in columbia and our coverage from washington is just moments away. stay with us. technology. technology... say, have you seen all the amazing technology in geico's mobile app? mobile app? look. electronic id cards, emergency roadside service, i can even submit a claim. wow... yep, geico's mobile app works like a charm. geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. [electronic sound effects]

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well, tonight is huge for the democratic presidential candidates, obviously the voters going to the polls here in south carolina. but tomorrow night it is all about hollywood and the annual academy awards. a look at the nominees for best picture. >> you know why. >> american people. >> constitution. makes us americans. shouldn't we show hour enemy who we are. >> backward, you know. >> i have a life halfway across the sea. >> has the world fell. >> each of us in 0 your own way was broken. >> so i got to make water and grow food on a planet where nothing grows. >> afraid of dying or have i done it already. >> for five years you made life in that small room, that prison.

>> got two stories, about the clergy and a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. >> join us for complete coverage from hollywood's biggest night, that is tomorrow night beginning at 6:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn, coming up next, more live from columbia, south carolina, as the final votes are being cast in the democratic primary here in columbia, south carolina. beautiful night here for you. we'll get the take of our political experts on what matters most in the outcome of tonight, not just the winner but the margin of the win, next.

i'm jerry bell the second. and i'm jerry bell the third. i'm like a big bear and he's my little cub. this little guy is non-stop. he's always hanging out with his friends. you've got to be prepared to sit at the edge of your seat and be ready to get up. there's no "deep couch sitting." definitely not good for my back. this is the part i really don't like right here. (doorbell) what's that? a package! it's a swiffer wetjet. it almost feels like it's moving itself. this is kind of fun. that comes from my floor? eww! this is deep couch sitting. [jerry bell iii] deep couch sitting! most new wealth flows it's called a rigged economy, and this is how it works. to the top 1%.

it's a system held in place by corrupt politics where wall street banks and billionaires buy elections. my campaign is powered by millions of small contributions. people like you who want to fight back. the truth is you can't change a corrupt system by taking its money. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message. join us for real change.

>> welcome back. i'm live in columbia, south carolina. where the focus is solely on the polls tonight. democrats going to the polls. casting their votes after donald trump took the state for the republicans. it's bernie sanders versus hillary clinton. ryan is with me. brianna is with us at

headquarters tip state and brie, tonight it's not really about just the win at all. it's the margin of the victory. >> that's exactly right. because certainly you saw there is a huge win for persony sanders in new hampshire. returning that favor if you will. what she wants to do is show that she has a big enough margin in.

for him to find a pathway to the nomination. and a lot of that they think hangs on tonight here in south carolina. our latest poll has the spread between hillary clinton and bernie sanders at 18 points so you can see really what he's contending with. hillary clinton would be very happy if she could best that number, poppy. >> absolutely. brianna, thank you so much there at one of the hillary campaign headquarters here in columbia. we have a big, big show ahead for you tonight as the results start to roll in. some of the issues. this is a state who has backed hillary clinton, extraordinarily well the african-american vote. one issue where she still struggles with sanders is honest and trustworthy. let's pull up the numbers, show them to our viewers. there is a wide divide with so

many more people believing nationally that sanders 87% they believe he's honest and trustworthy, only 65% for clinton. this is among registered democrats. what does that mean going into super tuesday? >> well, it means strategically, what does sanders do with that? any glance at a poll make it's clear that is hillary clinton's greatest vulnerability. we've had other candidates in the general election with very bad negatives on trust and character including bill clinton who still managed to win a general election. so it's not that those numbers are deadly for clinton. she can overcome it. but if you're opposing her in a primary and you're bernie sanders, what do you do with that? that's obviously her greatest vulnerabili vulnerability. up to now, i think sanders has danced around that issue. if he wants to take the fight to her, does he go at her on these character issues, on trust? >> well, he's gone after her increasingly in recent days on pushing her to release the transcripts from the pay she did to wall street banks. that goes toward the

transparency. hillary clinton has gotten personally $1.8 million for at least eight speeches to the big banks from the time after her husband left office to the time until she announced her presidency, obviously not while she was secretary of state. to the american people, do they want to know what she said in those speeches? should she release the transcripts? >> i mean, anyone who's running for president fshgs they'if the before an interest group and saying something that factors into what they believe about an important steconstituency or an important group that influences american policy, yeah, we should know what she said, right? and if bernie sanders doesn't get the answer to what she said behind closed doors i'll tell you right now donald trump or marco rubio or whoever wins the republican nomination surely will push this issue. >> it won't go away. let me ask you about this. our joe johns did8 at a polling

location here. this is even eck dotal. he says it looks like low turnout. that's what's being reported across the state. >> yes. >> what does that mean for the sanders and, quote unquote, revolution? >> it mean that's the revolution group did not take root in south carolina, right? he's not getting the turnout numbers that barack obama got in 2008. if you're comparing the revoluti revolutire revolutio revolutions, the sanders revolution is not the obama revolution. >> he gave up on the state clearly. he has a demographic wall he hasn't been able to break through yet. he does very well in state that's are overwhelmingly white, better in northeastern states and upper midwestern states. i think the evidence is he's going to continue to do well but she won't be able to knock him out here in south carolina even if she has i 20-point victory the way he had a 22.4-point victory in new hampshire. for bragging rights which she wants, she wants to exceed his numbers in new hampshire. >> all about the numbers, thank

you, ryan lizza. next here on cnn, anderson cooper, wolf blitzer, dana bash and others pick up our live coverage of this primary today. the polls set to close just an hour from now, the results will roll in. they will carry you through the evening as the numbers come in live. so glad you're with us. i'm poppy harlow. today live in beautiful columbia, south carolina. thank you for joining us. have a great evening. washington picks it up from here.

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this time it's the democrats' turn to choose in south carolina. >> can hillary clinton close the deal, or will bernie sanders surprise again heading into super tuesday? >> announcer: right now the democratic candidates fighting for their first primary victory in the south. >> the fight goes on, the future that we want is within our grasp. >> it's the last chance for t triumph before the race goes national on super tuesday. >> you have a chance to make history. >> announcer: who will have the advantage heading into the biggest round of voting yet? it's south carolina's choice. tonight in the battle for the democratic nomination, hillary clinton re-energized by her win in nevada working to knock out her opponent and take control of the race