hello. it is 8 a.m. in honolulu, hawaii, noon in jackson, mississippi, 1:00 p.m. here in washington, d.c. wherever you are watching from around the world, thank you very much for joining us. a big day in presidential politics here in the united states. it's the second super tuesday of this, the 2016 race for the white house. there's voting in four states today, including mississippi. there you see live pictures of a polling station in jackson, mississippi. the republican presidential hopefuls are battling for a total of 150 delegates today. for the democrats 166 delegates

are in play. on both sides, the biggest prize is michigan. hillary clinton is looking for a win there today trying to extend her lead over bernie sanders. right now she has 1147 delegates to sanders' 498. but that includes clinton's 471 super delegates. sanders has only 22 super delegates. for the republicans, ted cruz is trying to chip away at donald trump's delegate lead, within striking distance of the front runner. a poll out this morning shows trump still in command of the race, although his support has dropped since december. the new i abc news "washington post" poll shows he has 38% support nationally among republicans. cruz follows with 25%. rubio with 18% and john kasich trails with 13%. we're watching all of this go down today. we are watching all of the delegate totals. again, michigan is a key contest for both parties today.

59 delegates are at stake. republicans 130. polling stations have been open for several hours. jean casarez is joining us from warren, michigan, not far from detroit. what's the latest over there? >> reporter: wolf, it's fascinating here. it's been a steady stream of voters and the history of warren, michigan leads to interest here. first of all, this is the midwest. we are getting the pulse of not only michigan but the heart of the auto industry, which is who donald trump has been speaking to from almost day one about jobs being outsourced, companies going to other countries. what i'm seeing is every spectrum, young voters, the elderly, people in walkers and with canes, they are coming and young mothers with children. they are teaching their children all about a civics lesson of voting today. it's truly extraordinary. what am i hearing from the voters? first of all, on the democratic side, i'm hearing bernie sanders

name more than hillary clinton. they are telling me the reason they are voting for bernie sanders is because they believe he's with the people and for the people. they believe she authentic in that message and that's what they want. on the republican side, i'm hearing the names donald trump. i'm hearing the names john kasich. not hearing marco rubio or ted cruz at all. this is an open primary. you can be a registered democrat and vote republican or vice-versa. i spoke to a man who is really doing the opposite. life-long republican. he told me he is voting for bernie sanders. now, wolf, the people voting for hillary clinton and i have spoken to some, i asked why and the number one reason they say is because of bill. their loyalty to bill clinton and bill is coming along. they believe the country was prosperous during bill clinton's term in office and they believe he can help the country even with his wife being president.

>> interesting stuff. thank you. for the candidates right now it is all about the numbers and how they add up. who can secure up the delegates to get the nomination. look at the state of the race on both sides and what is at stake in the contest. john king breaks down the numbers. unfortunately -- hold on a second, here's john. >> four states with primaries on our second super tuesday of the campaign, two for the democrats, four for the republicans, hawaii, idaho, mississippi, michigan, 166 democratic delegates at stake, 150 on the republican side. mississippi and michigan voting on the democratic side. look at the state of play on the republican side. donald trump with a delegate lead. ted cruz after a good weekend closing in at second place. he says he has momentum. marco rubio won puerto rico over the week. he said he is still on the hunt. a lot of questions about that.

look at the map. if donald trump sweeps, they will start to pull away a bit. ted cruz hoping to run second and hoping for a surprise in mississippi, maybe a little closer than you would expect in michigan and watch the smaller battle in hawaii and idaho. sometimes you get a spriurprise that's where you get it. this is why it matters. donald trump has won 43% of the republican delegates to date. if he wins 54% from here on out he will clinch the nomination. that's not as hard as it looks in the sense we move in to winner take all prizes like florida, ohio. steeper hill for ted you, he has won 33% and needs 60%. rubio in third place and kasich in fourth place. they need to change the race fundamentally if they can make the math work. trump and cruz at the op of the pact looking for more delegates. switch to the democratic side.

here's where we start. this is pledge delegates. hillary clinton 200 delegate lead over bernie sanders. she's favored if both contests tomorrow. if she picks them up, she will stretch out other delegate lead and send an important message to bernie sanders. i'm beating you in the south and proving i can beat you in the midwest. michigan is a huge test for bernie sanders. not only for momentum and the message of the midwest but the math. if you look at the democratic map, hillary clinton won 60% of the delegates to date. if she wins 59%, the same pledge of the delegates meeting on caucus day she will clinch the nomination. bernie sanders needs to win 66. in this match for hillary clinton it is a tad misleading. if she won only the pledge delegates. she has super delegates in her back pocket. bernie sanders needs to make a statement soon. the michigan contest would be the place to do that but the latest polls show hillary clinton with the lead. >> john king reporting for us.

can the republican establishment slow down donald trump's roll? how critical is it for ted cruz and rubio in the contest and what about john kasich? let's talk about this and more. the republican race for the white house. our cnn political commentator and political correspondent for the -- thank you very much. play a little clip. this is ted cruz a while ago suggesting donald trump should be concerned going forward. >> typically when he goes to attacking people's faith it's a sign that donald is really worried. i understand. the last election day, super saturday was a very bad day for donald. he came in, proudly expecting to sbeep all four contests, instead he got clobbered. >> he got clobbered. will we see a trend tonight? we will see if he gets clobber,

mississippi, michigan, those are important contests. >> they are. but talking to folks who have won several campaigns, they say it is a lock for trump right now. because there are no other races on the ballot necessarily down there and the fact is republicans who live outside of the city tend to vote democratic often times because the state, because the sheriffs and county sheriffs what have you tend to be democratic. these are trump voters and they expect them to support trump. why support for ted cruz tonight he needs to show momentum. whether it is in michigan or mississippi, or idaho or else, where hawaii. that's important to hi campaign. it will help his narrative as being the only one that can challenge donald trump. >> some indication whether there has ban decline in recent days as far as support where trump is concerned. i want to play this other clip. this is mitt romney, the 2012,

2011 presidential nominee, making calls on behalf of rubio in florida. not endorsing him but voting for him to avoid donald trump winning in florida. listen to this. >> i'm calling on behalf of marco rubio for president. tomorrow you have the opportunity to vote for a republican nominee for president. i believe these are critical times that demand a serious, thoughtful commander in chief. >> then he goes on to say if we choose donald trump as our nominee the prospects for a safe, prosperous future would be greatly diminished. that will help rubio in florida, robocalls by mitt romney? >> tonight and next tuesday are big tests. there's some evidence that they started to slow truch down. showed that poll with trump with declining support. but only third of the republican vote nationally. his trend has been go up, up, up as others dropped out of the

race. that's positive sign for the stop trump movement. romney organized this strategy of republicans who don't like trump vote for rubio in florida and kasich in ohio. but you have to do something tonight. if trump wins michigan, which is tailor made for him considering the way the trade deals have been viewed in michigan, donald trump is more anti-free trade than his opponents. if he wins in mississippi. that shows he can succeed and gives him momentum going in to the huge states on march 15th which are winner take all. if he wins tonight and next tuesday you are not stopping him. >> you think that is so important tonight for donald trump? >> absolutely. this is the moment. this is the tipping point where the never trump movement has to show it wasn't a fluke last saturday when cruz took off. >> rubio obviously stressing his home state of florida, a week from today, march 15th.

a monmouth university poll shows him trailing eight points. but that has narrowed. rubio said he is getting a lot of pressure to stay in the race. listen to this. >> if anyone else other than donald trump was the front runner, every candidate in this race would have a tremendous amount of pressure to drop out. instead the pressure is to stay in. what we hear from people all over the country is please do not let donald trump be our nominee. he's going to get crushed and divide the republican party an redefine it in a negative way. >> he has to do well. he has to win his own state in order to keep going, right? >> no question florida will be a defining moment for rubio. he is getting a lot of support because of the stop trump movement.

everybody stand by. a lot more to assess and we are watching the voters stream in to polling stations in places like jackson, mississippi. could john kasich pick up delegates in a state he's campaigning in today? we are talking about michigan. that's where he is and bernie sanders taking heat for some comments he made in sunday's debate. we will assess that and a lot of developments on the democratic side in this race for the white house. heals faster. for a bandage that moves with you and stays on all day, cover with a band-aid brand flexible fabric adhesive bandage. in new york state, we believe tomorrow starts today. all across the state, the economy is growing, with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in buffalo, where the largest solar gigafactory in the western hemisphere will soon energize the world.

and in syracuse, where imagination is in production. let us help grow your company's tomorrow - today - at business.ny.gov if parts a and bcare and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything.

and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long.

ifor all the wrong reasons.gical you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. try zyrtec®. muddle no more®.

that just tastes better. with more vitamins. and less saturated fat. only eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. polls are open now in four states on this this super tuesday two we are calling it. we have updated delegate numbers to bring you. hillary clinton has 1150 delegates including 472 super delegates. bernie sanders is now 500 delegates with 23 super delegates. on the republican side, donald trump has 389 delegates. ted cruz 303, rubio 154, kasich has 37 pledged delegates. our cnn political commentator is still with us. washington correspondent for the new yorker magazine. our cnn politics executive

editor and matea gold. ted cruz and rubio are hoping to chip away at donald trump's delegate lead in today's contest in the upcoming march 15th primaries. the march 15th primaries in florida, ohio are winner take all. there is a feasible strategy for kasich and rubio if they do really well next tuesday to have some breathing room, more life. >> this is a really fascinating strategy by those in the party who want to stop donald trump from becoming the nominee. they are encouraging all these folks to stay in the race. thinking if rubio and kasich win it can help trump accumulate enough delegates before the convention. it means we are likely on a path to a contested convention which would be remarkable and one that would be unpredictable and one trump supporters i think would protest greatly as he heads

towards cleveland with a lot of delegates behind him. >> if there is a contested convention in july, he needs 1237 delegates to be the republican nominee. if you are short you are not guaranteed to be the nominee. those are the rules. >> great point. the rules are the rules. you have to have a majority of delegates. nothing will be stolen from any candidate on the first ballot if you don't have a majority, right? there's no nominee and then a second and third ballot and takes as long as it takes for the delegates to decide who the republican nominee is. as far as i can tell there's nothing in that scenario that is undemocratic or represents a theft of the election just the nominee will be chosen the way it was in the old days. >> talk about john kasich for a moment. he has to do relatively well in michigan tonight. clearly a week from today he has to carry ohio, his home state. >> he has been making his campaign on the fact he can

represent the midwest, the industrial midwest, like a bernie sanders pitch, too. he has to do well. as we sit here and think about it, in many ways put it in perspective, in many ways marco rubio, john kasich, ted cruz could do terrible tonight. they could all do terrible -- or donald trump could lose one of the big states next week, whether it be florida or ohio and everyone could still stay in. they could all stay in. what rubio told us a short time ago when he said i'm asked to stay in, that's right. the way it will work with a contested convention all they have to do is snipe away at delegates. can you imagine going in to july with a contested convention in cleveland? the political anarchy that would ensue is insane. guess what? what if bernie sanders doesn't win the democratic nomination, and then we go with hillary

clinton nomination, but bernie sanders a week later is going to have power at the democratic convention. we are in a fascinating political time. >> i will get your thoughts while i have you, donald trump not responding to the criticism he has gotten over a relatively new practice at hi rallies when he asked voters to raise their right hand and pledge to support him. some say the images we are seeing invoke, bring back memories of the hitler salute. he was asked about that on good morning america. >> i have a tremendous following. we want to make america great again. it is a strong. i don't want the hitler comparison. we have to be strong and individual len and people agree with that. >> what's your reaction to that? >> this is really part of a greater sense of control the trump campaign is seeking to

exert over their campaign rallies. we have obviously seen numerous disruptions, often violent at their rallies. they are now asking people to pledge their allegince to trump to attend, they are keeping an eye out for protesters, people who will disrupt the crowd. a greater effort to segregate the media away from the protesters. it is a creating an intense climate in these rallies that is their attempt. also evokes images that people find disturbing. >> thank you very much. our march madness continues all day. we will be covering today's votes in michigan, mississippi, idaho and hawaii. tomorrow come here to watch the univision democratic presidential debate in miami. we will air it an own thursday, jake tapper moderates this the next democratic debate in miami. and on sunday, jake will

moderate a town hall in ohio with hillary clinton. that's all right here on cnn. still ahead, it is not the top trophy of the day there is a sought after prize and ted cruz hopes a new endorsement in mississippi will help his campaign.

voters are heading to the polls in mississippi today. ted cruz is looking to meet the front runner there, donald trump. he got a boost from the endorsement of phil bryant, the mississippi governor.

our correspondent is in jackson, mississippi, how important is the governor's endorse to republican voters in mississippi? >> it is a good question. important absolutely. especially for the texas senator. it is foretelling many will argue it is not the case especially after seeing what happened this may over the weekend during the super saturday caucus event. in may paul lepage's endorsement of donald trump was not enough to lead voters to the polling location and was a different situation. of course we will have to wait and see what happens at the end of the day when the numbers come in as the voters head to polling locations like this one to see if the bryant endorsement is enough to carry cruz over the finish line. >> how does the turn out look so far in mississippi? >> it is interesting. we have seen it come in waves. this is the quietest it's been. we expect another group of voters coming in soon. especially since the lunch hour. the process is simple, they walk

in and go to the table behind me on the left or perhaps on the right and pick up the republican ballot. it's not necessarily who the voters want to win, wolf. for some, including one woman i spoke, to it is about who they want not to win. i spoke to a resident who traditionally votes democrat but today she picked up a ballot from the republican side because in her eyes it is important that donald trump not secure the nomination. come the general election in november she plans to join her husband and vote democrat. it gives you perspective and dynamics here at play. people are coming in a old and young alike. one woman has been voting for the last 90 years and said she is not about to miss this particular election and a personal observation, a woman was using a walker an older woman and said if the people on this ballot had any idea how much work it takes for some of

us to get to the polling locations then perhaps it would be a different, better situation. it is interesting what's on the minds of voters as hey thaed to vote. they know the spotlight is on michigan but they are happy and excited to be a part of it. >> mississippi, michigan, idaho and hawaii today. four important contests. we will have live coverage throughout the day in to the evening. we will see what time we can make projections on these four contests. ahead, hillary clinton draws comparisons to 2008 and sends a message to bernie sanders, help me like i helped barack obama. details of that message and more when we come back. allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. try zyrtec®. muddle no more®. only glucerna has carbsteady, diabetes, steady is exciting. clinically proven to help minimize blood sugar spikes.

so you stay steady ahead.

yeah, i was just talking uhabout yourico?... emergency roadside service and how it's available 24/7 and then our car overheated... what are the chances? can you send a tow truck please? uh, the location? you're not going to believe this but it's um... it's in a tree. i wish i was joking, mate, but it's literally stuck in a tree. (car horn honking) a chainsaw? no, no, all we really need is a tow truck. day or night, geico's emergency roadside service is there for you.

democrats are going to the

polls in mississippi and michigan today. hillary clinton hopes to expand her delegate lead over bernie sanders. meanwhile, a new national poll shows clinton with a nine-point edge over sanders, 53-44%. a new nbc "wall street journal" poll she held a 59-34% lead in january. that's shrunk clearly. joining us to talk about the democratic race for the nomination, our cnn political commentator donna brazile and our cnn political strategist, lang rye, former congressional director of the black caucus. what are you looking for tonight? i know you are a vice chair on the dnc and can't endorse either candidate but what are you looking for in michigan and mississippi? >> i will start with mississippi first. as you know, back in 2008, president obama carried it 61-36. mississippi is important. it has a lot of delegates at stake. secretary clinton has been able to sweep the south so far. will she continue to have a

commanding lead in states with the diversity that you see in mississippi. michigan is a battleground state. last time, there was a little delegate issue there. they went outside of the window. so secretary clinton won that state back in 2008. tonight, can she win michigan. if she can win michigan that will give her momentum in turns of illinois and ohio. and also mississippi will give her momentum in north carolina. this is a big night for snorp sanders and hillary clinton. >> given the economic problems in michigan right now, in flint there are enormous problems because of the toxic water and all of that but a lot of people were supporting bernie sanders. i don't know if that is flint or representative of other parts of michigan. but this is a diverse state that hillary clinton wants to carry. a lot of people are saying they wouldn't be shocked if bernie

sanders does well there. >> i think this is an interesting conundrum we are in. bernie sanders has so much on the line tonight. that's why he has everything to lose. he needs to make sure his message doesn't just resonate but resonates to the point of voter turnout. i think that's where he's been struggling. we know his messages are well with millennials and blue collar white workers. it is interesting in michigan the sixth highest percentage of union participation in the country. you talk about flint and what is happening there. he talked about crumbling infrastructure and the washington bail out. he has done well with the whitest states in the country but not the diverse. >> michigan is diverse, 20 to 25%. the democratic vote african-american. mississippi is probably a bigger percentage. you are from louisiana. she does well in those southern

states where there's a large african-american presence. >> mississippi population mirrors that of south carolina. bernie has really run a very good campaign. he's closing the gap with hillary clinton. but unless he broadens his appeal, not by attacking secretary clinton who has deep and strong ties but by appealing on economic issues. if he is able to do that it will be a tight race. >> she has to make sure if she gets the nomination she doesn't over alienate the bernie sanders supporters out there. she will need them if she's the democratic nominee. >> that's right. what he does well for hillary clinton is taking her out of the moderate safe space and moved her to a progressive message. you heard her on the stage talking about we're not just trying to -- we're not going to deal with banks that are too big to fail. we are also concerned about executives, they are not 0 too important. she is using the language that

came from elizabeth warren in the bernie sanders group. i think that's the other thing to pay attention to is again, it's not just about the messaging. it is about how you drive voter turnout. >> she really wants bernie sanders, assuming she gets the nomination. we don't know if she will but she's ahead in the polls. she wants to make sure she doesn't alienate bernie sanders supporters and wants him support in a general election because of the huge base he's developed. >> barack obama put together a huge coalition. over 50% of the vote. secretary clinton has been able to galvanize half -- >> she worked for them after that. >> she drew her support and money and out every day helping him to coalesce. >> bernie sanders i am sure would want him to do the same. there are a lot of pledge delegates at stake. i'm a neutral super delegate. we have to remember these pledge

delegates want to play a role in the process. they don't want the super to put anybody over. president obama earned the support of the pledge from the supers. that's the contest. bernie has a movement that has galvanized, not just young people, people alienated on the outskirts. bernie and hillary i think are giving the country and not just the party, a way to look up. we're not running a tone deaf campaign that we see on the republican side. we are running a campaign of issues and ideas and i think it will galvanize people. >> it is not as tough. >> notice i'm keeping my hands over here. i'm cool. >> thank you very much. >> we are watching the voters in mississippi heading to the polls on the second super tuesday. but first, we are watching breaking news in the war against isis. we just learned that a top isis leader may have been killed. we have details. we will check in after this.

see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% clearance. do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur... ...tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms... ...such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur.

see me. see me. see me. on my way. find clear skin... and a clearer path forward. for a different kind of medicine, ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out

about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now.

this is cnn breaking news. breaking news in the war against isis right now. barbara stavr is getting new information. what are you learning. >> at this hour the u.s. intelligence community and the military is assessing the results of a crucial air strike they conducted in syria a couple of days ago. we are learning the man they targeted and they are trying to determine right now if he is in fact killed in this air strike. the man is abu omar al shashani. a top operative in isis. he is also known as omar the chechen. this is because he is a european essentially. he is from the georgia republic and served in the military in an elite unit. he has been an isis operative

for sometime. the state department has a $500 million reward on his head. this is a guy who the u.s. wants to get very badly. top operaive in isis. he is said to have been involved in the past in the holding of foreign hostages, in isis financial operations, tied to the top of the organization. it was on march 4th, we now know, the u.s. conducted an air strike in the syrian border town. a long way from raqqah or moez sul. the isis stronghlds. it is a crossing.for isis between syria and iraq. there have been in recent days a lot of fighting around there. pretty unusual that someone this senior would be tried across potentially back and forth across that border. so at this hour what we know is there was an air strike. he was the person that the u.s. was targeting and now they are conducting a post strike assess

trying to gather all the intelligence they can to determine if they were able to kill him in this strike. wolf? >> on capitol hill meanwhile, amidst all of this, barbara, there's a call for a bigger military presence in syria and iraq. the central command said more help is needed to retake mosul in iraq, raqqah, syria from isis fighters. is in the first real call from the military leadership for more potential ground troops to help the iraqis and others retake these two key areas? >> yeah, wolf. as it relates -- again, we are talking about mosul, iraq's second largest city a real strong hold and raqqah in syria, the self declared capital of isis. you are not going to defeat isis unless you get them out of those town s and get them back.

in fact today, general austin, who oversea sees military operations against isis talked about this on political. he said, if you are going to do that you need more troops. he's made a recommendation now to the pentagon just for that very thing. i think we have a little sound of what he was talking about and what he needs. >> we could develop better human intelligence. we could perhaps provide more teams at various levels. we could increase our assistance in terms of providing help with logistical issues and we could increase some elements of the special operations. >> there's 3700 u.s. troops on the ground in iraq and syria helping with these things. wolf, it really comes full circle. if you are going to get isis out of those towns you need special

operations forces to help them. you are going to need targeted air strikes. you need better intelligence. possibly what we are seeing unfolding, if they were successful in getting this top isis operative. >> thank you very much. let's get analysis. we want to get reaction. jack reid of rhode island is joining us. he is the ranking member of the senate armed services committee. senator, thank you for joining us. first of all, let le me get your reaction to the report that maybe the top isis leader may have been killed in usa air strike. what, if anything, can you tell us about that? >> it is consistent with our strategy. strategy is multifacetted. one part of it is to identify and take out isis leaders. that is to disrupt their chain of command, their ability to operate. the second is to use local forces on the ground to begin to, and continue to recapture territory, to squeeze isis. those are the two aspects of the

campaign. it's not surprising that u.s. forces would develop the intelligence and act on the intelligence and now, as barbara points out, they are trying to i value wait if they were successful in taking out the isis leader. >> i take it you have no problem with president obama's continued authorization, no let up on his part of what they call targeted assassinations of the terrorists? >> we are committed to destroying isis, helping our allies in iraq, trying to create and generate forces in syria with the goal and purpose of destroying isis and taking out their leadership is part of that effort. this is a ruthless group of terrorists who have shown no mercy to anyone, particularly the muslim communities they have been involved. and our effort is to destroy this organization. >> how did the u.s. million central command say more troops maybe needed in iraq and syria. your reaction?

>> i this i what general austin was talking about is in kraesing capacities that iraq first, whe fighting was done by security forces, the counterterrorism section, supported by american air power. we provided intelligence, we provided training before they went into the battle. there's some question of whether we could move those training elements down from sort of the insulation to the brigade-size units, not involved in active combat, but moving the training down closer to the combat. in syria, i asked them specifically about the training mission and his comments about revising the training. it would be kurdish background and i don't think he was talking about a significant commitment of american ground forces at all. we have some special operators in the region. we'll continue to have those special operators. >> senator, you and i went to

iraq back in 2005 with the then head of the military central command, general abizaid. here's some video of that visit. we went to fallujah, we went to mosul. if someone would have told you or me then, back in 2005, that a decade later, mosul, fallujah, would be under isis control, i wouldn't have believed it, you wouldn't have believed it, but it looked like it's such a mess right now with no end in sight. >> well, in 2005 and 2006, it was complicated and dangerous also, but there was a process under way to begin to assist the iraqi forces to train to go ahead and to develop their capabilities and ultimately i think the hope, if not the expectation, was they could do that. i think what we saw over the last several years, particularly before prime minister abadi took over, under prime minister maliki, a specific deterioration of the iraqi military, a lot of

because of prime minister maliki, of distrusting any sunni involvement, of distrusting any sort of professional military leadership as a threat to his personal command, and those steps i think caused a significant reversal and allowed for -- at least gave an opening to the rise of isis and now we're back engaged and we have to be effective and continue to pursue this enemy. >> senator reed, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. still ahead, it's an aviation mystery that has baffled officials now for exactly two year, what happened to malaysia airlines flight mh 370? up next, a closer look at where the investigation stands. is caring because covering heals faster. for a bandage that moves with you and stays on all day, cover with a band-aid brand flexible fabric adhesive bandage. 8 layers of wheat... mini-wheats®...

and one that's sweet. to satisfy the adult and kid - in all of us. ♪ nutritious wheat for the adult you've grown into and delicious sweet for the kid you'll never outgrow... feed your inner kidult with frosted mini-wheats®. try new kellogg's mini-wheats harvest delights with sweet drizzle and bits made with real fruit. whose long dayis sheldon setting up the news starts with minor arthritis pain

and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

exactly two years ago today, 239 people vanished in arguably

the greatest aviation mystery of our time. it disappeared from radar on its way to beijing on march 8th, 2014. to this day, investigators and some family members still believe the missing plane, an american-made boeing 777, will be found. our aviation correspondent richard quest has chronicled the search effort in his brand-new book "the vanishing of flight mh 370." it releases today, the book. he reports there are still so ma more questions than answers. >> reporter: two years of searching. tens of millions of dollars spent. countless theories about what happened. and still malaysia airlines flight 370 hasn't been found. >> steer 319. >> reporter: experts say the plane is in the southern indian ocean where teams, founded by australia, malaysia and china, have scoured 70% of the huge target area.

above and below the waves. the search is unprecedented in terms of costs and complexity. the remote area is 3,000 kilometers southwest of perth where the seas are rough with depths up to 6,000 meters and the underwater terrain has mountains and canyons. officials are certain they're searching in the right place. especially after two independent reports came to the same conclusion. and part of the plane's wing, the flapperon, watched up on reunion island, an area consistent with oceanic drift models. australian officials are also testing another piece of plane debris found last week by an american tourist in mozambique. this location also fits the analysis. >> we still are optimistic we'll find the aircraft.

there are still nearly 35,000 kilometers still to cover. >> reporter: so we have the wear. we still don't have the why. what caused the plane to go off course? was it a mechanical fault or nefarious action? we just don't know. there are those conspiracy theorists who still believe the plane was taken by a government or shot down. for the families of the 239 victims on board, this two-year anniversary marks the deadline to either settle compensation claims or bring lawsuits against malaysia airlines. the families are also coming to terms with this ticking clock on the search operation. it will be called off this summer if the plane isn't found and there are no new leads. a stark reality that, for the time being at least, the plane and their loved ones may not be

found. richard quest, cnn, new york. >> that's it for me. i'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." for viewers in north america, "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. >> wolf, thank you so much, great to be with you on this tuesday. i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. we'll call it super tuesday the sequel. right now, voters are hitting the polls, which means we are mere hours away from knowing the answer to this question, will donald trump breakway with an even bigger lead or can an even bigger candidate slow trump's surge to ultimately party's nomination? ted cruz showed that was possible just a couple of days ago. today on the republican side, you have hawaii caucusing and then you have