next, breaking news. security on high alert at a donald trump rally tonight. protesters gathering in the streets of chicago as the frontrunner is about to speak live. marco rubio says vote for john kasich in ohio. yes, i didn't misspeak. governor kasich is my guest tonight. jeb bush's brother on why he is working, campaigning, and fighting for ted cruz. let's go "outfront." >> good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront tonight" breaking news. protesters lining up outside a donald trump rally. the gop frontrunner about to speak to a big crowd at the university of illinois. it reportedly started forming at 3:00 a.m. this morning. it's now 6:00 in chicago tonight just to give you some context

here. people who want to see donald trump. hundreds of protesters also are on hand now. security is now ramped up. the chicago police and firefighters are joining the secret service. more than 300 faculty and staff members have asked the college to cancel the rally. earlier today fists were flying at another trump rally. this one was in st. louis. police there say they arrested 32 people. some with injuries. all of this in the same week that an elderly white man sucker punched a black protester at a trump rally. trump addressing the violence at his rallies today saying it is the fault of some protesters who are, quote, bad dudes. >> we've had a couple that were really violent. the particular one, it was a guy who was swinging at the audience. the audience swung back.

i thought it was very, very appropriate. >> jim acosta is outfront tonight at that trump rally in chicago. people waiting for hours and hours, since 3:00 a.m. this morning. what are you seeing now? who's there? >> reporter: erin, there's already tension in the air at the university of illinois. there is a whole section of protesters inside of this arena right now. they have been already clashing with law enforcement officials here, local security here. nothing violent yet, but definitely some verbal back and forth between those protesters and security. we saw a group of protesters about an hour ago escorted out of the building by security. as you said, erin, the chicago police department is clearly mobilized for this event. we're seeing dozens of police

officers outside this arena and inside this arena. we saw basically protesters who were refusing to leave. you have all the ingredients here right now for what could be a pretty unpleasant evening here at this trump rally and donald trump isn't even out here on stage yet. civil rights groups, other progressive groups in chicago saying they were planning to disrupt tonight's rally. we're seeing the start of that at this point. as for donald trump, he's offering no apology for these scuffles. he's blaming the protesters. one of his supporters sucker punched a demonstrator earlier this week in north carolina. despite what donald trump just said in that sound byte, of all the rallies we have covered during the course of this campaign, we have not seen any evidence of the protesters becomie ining violent. as we speak right now, this is tension between law enforcement and the private security here

and the demonstrates who want to act out during this evening. >> let me ask you a follow-up question. we're hearing the chanting behind you. protesters are chanting black lives matter. that's what they're saying. you haven't seen protesters be violent. now that this is becoming a bigger story, jim, are you seeing more protesters? are you seeing a different sort of protesters or is it the same sort you've seen all along? >> reporter: in the beginning, it looked like it was one person here, one person there, showing up at trump rallies and trying to disrupt things. now it does appear to be organized. you have special interest groups, the black lives matter protesters. there are latino groups here in chicago who want to protest this demonstration tonight. and so that is something that is a development during the course of this campaign. you could hear some of the boos that are happening right now. that is from some of those supporters in the room booing

these protesters. i have not seen this large a number of people planning to protest. it's clear that's what they want to do here when donald trump comes out in a few moments. the trump campaign said they're not worried about this at all. trump likes these protests because they spice up his events. clearly, he's inviting this. he doesn't mind the tension. he doesn't mind the charged atmosphere. the question is whether we're building up to something that the campaign will later regret, erin. >> these moments when tensions are high, whether what he says is going to become so crucial. we're going to be going back to jim. this is a huge rally tonight and a whole area for protesters who have been booing and chanting before donald trump even takes the stage. one of the reasons as we're waiting for donald trump to come to the stage -- one of the

reasons they're lining outside this rally is the candidate's anti-muslim rhetoric. >> you told cnn, quote, islam hates us. did you mean all 1.6 billion muslims? >> i mean a lot of them. i mean a lot of them. >> reporter: donald trump is doubling down on his controversial comments that muslims hate america. >> there's something going on that maybe you don't know about and maybe a lot of other people don't know about, but there's tremendous hatred. >> reporter: it drew immediate rebukes from his republican rivals. >> he says what people wish they could say. the problem is presidents can't just say anything they want. it has consequences here and around the world. >> you can say what you want and you can be politically correct if you want. i don't want to be so politically correct. i like to solve problems. we have a serious, serious problem of hate. >> i'm not interested in being

politically correct. i'm interested in being correct. >> the people who represent radical islam, they want to destroy everything that we're about and other muslims who don't share their video, but at the end of the day we have to bring the world together, the civilized world. >> trump's characterizing brought harsh criticism from around the world. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> do you think islam is at war with the west? >> i think islam hates us. there's something there that -- there's a tremendous hatred there. >> we should not make america

racist again. that was the past. we should make america greater again by working together. >> reporter: donald trump's controversial rhetoric fueling both his supporters and protesters here in st. louis today. a large group of protesters had to be forcibly removed from the theater. one protester even being carried out by police. >> outfront, katrina pearson, spokesperson for the donald trump campaign. katrina, let me start with you. he doubled down last night. muslims hate america. what's the rationale for saying that? >> well, i think if we look at what's not being said is the fact we have an administration right now that won't even acknowledge that a problem that we're facing in the country and utter the words that's hurting americans right now and christians. mr. trump was asked a question about islam and he says that

they hate us. in fact, when you look at the culture in islam in the united states, there is a clash. that's why you see this brewing fight between united states law versus sharia law. it's a problem, erin. >> dean, i know you disagree. you're going to make your case. a recent pew poll found 83% unfavorable in jordan, which is an ally of the united states. 70% in the palestinian territories. 62% in pakistan. >> true. >> those numbers on a surface level would seem to show they do not like america. >> true. in countries like indonesia, that same poll is 62% favorable rating, higher than the way america is viewed in germany and equals the way we're viewed in spain and the u.k. there's muslims in this country who want to impose sharia law. that's an absolute lie.

we're living in a time where they say islam hates america. well, katrina, have donald trump tell that to muslim families who lost their children in the armed services who are defending the right of all of us to have our freedoms. they love our country so much. saying islam doesn't love america or muslims don't love america, that's an unequivocal lie. >> i think if you see the vicious images of the christians being beheaded and their children sold into slavery, there is a problem. since we talked about jordan, let me mention 72% of the muslims in jordan agree with the attacks against u.s. soldiers. 80% of egyptians agree with al qaeda and they support osama bin

laden at 59%. sharia law.e countries want - that's why they don't have a favorable opinion of america. they don't like our values and our culture. >> you don't think it has anything to do with foreign policy grievances? depends on the muslim country. let's be honest. donald trump says here in america islam hates us. he goes into dubai and does multimillion dollar business deals that i wrote about in "daily beast." >> trump could find himself in the midst of a holy war between christianity and islam. >> news flash. that's already happening. it's already happening. >> americans have to hear this. donald trump does business with muslims in turkey, indonesia, and dubai. loves them there. comes to america, the hypocrite that he is, and says here in america islam is hate. he's a despicable hypocrite.

>> i spoke to a man who does a lot of business with donald trump, has known him for 30 years, also does business with a saudi prince, one of the wealthiest men in saudi arabia and has said very negative thing about donald trump. this man said that donald trump will not build the wall is one thing that he said. when he talks about muslims, he's thinking that's not going to be the case. he's saying this essentially to appeal to his voter base, dean. his voter base -- republican exit polls, republicans favor banning muslims. 63% to 78% of people. is he just pandering to the voter now and not going to follow up? >> we have no idea, but we can't give donald trump a free pass for spewing hate. he's attacking the fabric of our nation. pitting people religion against religion. pitting people ethnicity against

ethnicity. instead of bringing us together like a real leader, let's all unite to fight isis. he wants to divide us by faith the same way isis wants to divide us by faith, the same way isis says join us because america hates you. i know donald trump doesn't care. most americans are suffering here. >> dean, i have a question for you. just one question. >> go ahead. >> go ahead, katrina. >> what does the "i" in isis stand for? >> what does the west in the westboro baptist church stand for? >> it's about islam. what does the "i" in isis stand for? >> it doesn't matter what they call themselves. we're in this together. if donald trump would say let's unite together as americans

against any kind of radical element, then he would have the support of us the same way president obama tries to build coalitions. that's the important thing. marco rubio made great points last night. donald trump needs to be better than this and he is not. >> you are absolutely right. we are in this together. >> final word, katrina. >> we are in this together. in order to solve this problem we have to acknowledge where the problem is coming from. we have to put american citizens in this country first, which means we have to have an honest discussion about what's happening within islam. the "i" in isis is for the islamic state. that's what mr. trump is addressing. these other countries are not stepping up and they're not helping and that is a problem. >> thank you both very much. a passionate conversation of which there will be many more. outfront, marco rubio telling voters to vote for john

kasich in ohio. will kasich return the favor? donald trump claiming that democratic voters are flocking to him in droves. is it true? our reporter went to find out. [ coughing ] [ sneezing ] a cold can make you miserable.

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tonight, marco rubio's campaign says vote for john kasich. that's they're surprising message to voters in ohio. rubio admitting it is the best way to prevent trump from winning in a crucial state on tuesday. >> if a voter in ohio concludes that voting for john kasich gives us the best chance to stop donald trump there, i anticipate that's what they'll do. >> outfront now, our chief national correspondent, john king. john, what could it mean for donald trump in ohio now that marco rubio is telling his supporters to vote for john kasich? >> will it move the needle? donald trump is at 461 republican delegates. tuesday is a huge day. 367 delegates at stake for the republicans. if donald trump ran the board on tuesday, look where it could get him.

just shy of 800 delegates. if he gets out here, he only needs 44%, 45% of the remaining delegates. you say what happens if all these voters go to john kasich and the governor wins his home state. it would knock donald trump back some. not a ton. then trump moves back a little bit. he needs about 55% of the delegates from here on out. it does affect the math in a big way. >> now let's talk about florida. what does the delegate math look like? florida obviously the biggest prize of tuesday. >> if you want to stop donald trump, you do want both of the home state candidates to win. you want marco rubio to win as well. ted cruz doesn't agree with that, but maybe governor kasich does. if rubio wins florida and kasich wins ohio, this assumes trump

wins the other three states. trump falls back. he's still way in the lead. he is still past the halfway mark to the delegates, but rubio comes up some. kasich comes up some. from this point, donald trump would have to win 60%, maybe a little bit more than 60% from here on out. if he has to win 60% of the remaining 1,000 delegates left, that the point the stop trump movement thinks it has him. they think they can deny him not the lead, but they think they can stop him from getting to the magic number of 1237 come convention. >> proof as to why these states are so crucial. now as promised, let's go to the governor of ohio, john kasich. governor, let me start point blank with this question. do you think you have it? are you going to win ohio? >> yeah, we're going to win ohio, erin, but we take nothing

for granted. our credit is good. we're running a surplus. i think the record is going to end up being the difference here. look, i understand the state, but i want to tell you we're leaving no stone unturned. we're crisscrossing the state. we're doing many town halls. here's what's interesting for you. you've been a financial reporter. we're standing in a facility where the chinese have invested $500 million and we're up over 1,000 jobs. it's pretty cool. >> and certainly a different message of course as pertaining to china than we hear from your rival donald trump. you just heard marco rubio say you've got a better chance of beating trump in ohio than he does. that's the math, that's the polls, that's the fact. he says if his supporters in ohio want to vote for you, they should do that. will you return the favor and tell your supporters in florida to vote for rubio in the hopes

of defeating trump there? >> you know, erin, when people are for you, it's pretty hard to tell them to not vote for you. i'm not spending time in florida. heim -- i'm here in ohio. i'm not going to get into business of telling people i really like you, but by the way don't vote for me. i'm not down there. we'll just see how it all goes down in florida. >> i understand what you're saying. all right. let me ask you a question. donald trump, we were talking about how he's got this major rally going on tonight. people were waiting since 3:00 a.m. this morning to get in in illinois. you have protesters. our reporter was saying for the first time there's a whole area for protesters. things are very tense there tonight. donald trump earlier today, governor, was talking about some of the incidents of violence at his rallies and talking about how some of the people attending were fighting back against pr e protesters.

he said the audience swung back and i thought it was very, very appropriate. what do you hear when he says that? >> it's something i find hard to understand. my message is really very unifying as you know. it must be so unifying that it must be contagious becaus if you watched the debate last night everybody was really positive. or trying to be positive. it's just something that's alien to me. i want to get into a room and give people a chance to make them believe they can be something, that we can be hopeful, that we can be unified. it's what i've done in ohio. it's what i've done in washington. it's what i will do if i return to washington as the president. >> there is a reuters poll out. the political director for the steel workers union in canton, ohio, says it could be several

hundred of his members that will back trump. he continues to say, quote, a lot find him refreshing. a lot of things they say around their dinner tables. can you believe democrats in your state, governor, are coming out to support donald trump? >> well, i don't want to get carried away with news reports. i can tell you when i ran from re-election against a democrat, i received 51% of the vote of union households. i grew up in a blue collar town. i was there with working people. i'm not alarmed with reports like this because there may be crossovers. a lot of these crossovers who come will vote for me. >> a final question. the "wall street journal" says say you win ohio. they specifically mention rudy giuliani banking on florida. if you win ohio, what's next,

governor? what other states are you going to win right away? >> we're on the ballot everywhere we can be in the country. we have momentum. people are finally starting to hear my message. we're rising everywhere. we're rising in illinois. we're rising in ohio. we're rising in arizona. we're rising all over the country. we'll run a national campaign. let me tell you at the end we have 1,000 delegates to go. don't be surprised if i go to the convention with the most amount of delegates of anybody that goes to cleveland. >> good to talk to you. >> thank you. next, jeb bush's brother is outfront. he's going to tell me why he is joining the ted cruz campaign. thousands of protesters at this moment massing on the streets outside that trump rally tonight we were just talking about. there have been a lot of already calls of protests inside that stadium. we're live in chicago. ou have a. then your eyes may see it differently.

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breaking news out of chicago right now. major security concerns that the hour. donald trump is holding a campaign rally there.

donald trump we are waiting for him to take the stage. scores of demonstrators filling the streets outside the university of illinois protesting the gop frontrunner. our reporter jim acosta says there's an area for the first time for protesters, saying he feels a different tenor, feeling inside. there's been booing going on, chanting. people have been waiting since 3:00 a.m. to get into this rally. trump supporters into this stadium, which can fit up to 10,000 people. we're awaiting donald trump tonight. it comes as donald trump faces growing criticism for violence e erupting at his rallies. >> get the hell out of here. >> i'd like to punch him in the face. >> out, out, out, out. >> reporter: these are the moments donald trump seems to relish. >> bye. go home to mommy.

go home to mommy. tell her to tuck you in bed. >> reporter: talking tough to protesters who are increasingly disrupting his rallies. >> if you see someone getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them. i will pay the legal fees. >> reporter: at thursday night's gop debate trump was asked about this incident when 78-year-old white man sucker punched an african-american protesters in north carolina later telling cameras. >> the next time we see him, we may have to kill him. >> reporter: when they see what's going on in this country, they have anger that's unbelievable. there's also great love for the country. it's a beautiful thing in many respects, but i do not condone that at all. >> reporter: as the number of violent incidents at trump's

events mount -- >> [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ]! >> reporter: -- trump continues to fan the flames. >> i love the old days. you know what they used to do to guys like that? they'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks. >> reporter: while trump says he does not condone violence, he did say sometimes protesters actions need to be met forcefully. >> he was swinging. he was hitting people and the audience hit back. that's what we need a little bit more of. >> reporter: that 78-year-old man that punched the protester is now facing assault arges. we saw about 32 people get arrested today in st. louis. we're waiting to see how these thousands of protesters will respond to trump's message outside the university of chicago, rather the university of illinois in chicago. about 300 faculty and staff pleaded with the university to

cancel the event fearing violence. we'll just have to wait and see how this whole thing plays out. >> thank you very much, boris. we're awaiting donald trump. he is late. more often than not he is on time. he is a half an hour late. we don't know if it is traffic or the crowds. a lot of people there. jim acosta inside estimating about 8500 people or so. the stadium fits up to 10,000. there are a lot of people there. there is an area just for protests tonight for the first time. he was talking about how many of them are there as well. i want to go straight to our senior political analyst david gergin and john avalon. david, this is a very important night for donald trump in terms of what he chooses to say and do with any protest incident that happens. >> this is increasingly an

incendiary situation. it is the first principle of politics. a presidential candidate sets the tone for his rallierallies. he's got to do that. he's encouraged these kinds of reactions by his rhetoric. >> jim, what did they just say? >> reporter: erin, the trump campaign made an announcement. they have postponed tonight's rally here in chicago. as you can see here there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of protesters on hand. they were here to show up to disrupt this rally. they were not weeded out as they were coming into this building. they were allowed to come in. now you can see this place just erupt into cheers among the protesters, but also donald trump supporters are shouting right back usa, usa. you can see there are people tearing up donald trump for president signs. i have never seen anything like this. you can see some of these

protesters right in front of our camera right now. this place has just erupted into very loud cheers on both sides. supporters of donald trump who really just sort of look shocked and in disbelief right now and protesters who feel victorious over what's happened. >> you're watching some protesters fighting, talking. john, as we're watching what's happening in front of us right now with these young women, this is unbelievable. an unprecedented moment just happening. they have just postponed this rally because they were concerned that this would get out of control, that there would be violence. >> it is stunning. it is surprising. you have people lining up since 3:00 a.m. donald trump -- >> just to be clear, those are trump supporters who are waiting to see their candidate.

>> trump's whole rhetoric is he doesn't stand down or shy away from controversy. we may get information like that in the coming hours, but he was already a half an hour late. to cancel this big a rally this late in the game is a very significant move. >> i want to go back to jim acos acosta. what are we looking at right now? what are you seeing? >> reporter: we've turned the camera around, panning around to the back of the arena. this is becoming violent. there is pushing and shoving going on inside this arena. people are throwing objects. people a police are escorting people out. just moments ago a very large crowd of protesters, supporters, media. it was simply rocking back and forth. as my camera panned back over, you can see this large section of protesters i was referring to

earlier. they're now shouting bernie, bernie, obviously in support of bernie sanders. erin, i've never seen anything like this. this place has just erupted. now you're hearing donald trump people on the other side of the arena yelling trump, trump, trump. the security does not have a handle on the situation here. it is total chaos. >> this is a pretty terrifying thing, david. we're going to keep these pictures up. we're going to keep listening. jim is going to come in every time something happens there. they don't have this under control. they had the police department, the firefighter department, the secret service. this was cancelled at the last second. this is a pretty stunning statement about this situation that this is happening now. >> this has become a real test of donald trump's leadership. tonight brings it to a head. he must act now. he must take charge of his own rallies and make it clear they have to be peaceful. nobody slugging somebody else, sucker punching somebody else.

if he has more rallies, you'll see more of this. we saw this in the george wallace campaign. violence occurred in the george wallace campaign. he eventually wound out being shot. george wallace got shot. >> can we just talk about that for just a moment, john avalon, as to why they would cancel this so last minute. is it because they are concerned about security? these protesters were allowed to come in along with everyone else who was coming to support donald trump. when you have this many people there, i would imagine you do not know who is there and what they're planning to do. >> apparently not, but if the goal is to try to minimize the chaos and the violence inside the room, cancelling the rally a half an hour after it is supposed to begin when you have nearly 10,000 people in a tight arena only increases the likelihood of some sort of significant disruption.

you have protesters and supporters already amped up, agitated in an enclosed arena with an event being cancelled. you're seeing these hyper partisan passions spilling. >> this is pretty scary to watch. this stadium fits up to 10,000 people. jim acosta believes there were 8500 or so. there are a lot of people in this arena. you can see these fights breaking out between trump protesters and supporters. some of these you do not see any kind of security anywhere around. jim acosta, you're there. how many of these fights are you seeing break out? how much security is there? >> reporter: well, i want to say there was a decent amount of police officers here earlier on and private security people here earlier on.

they were in a number that was able to keep the peace when it comes to a few protests here and there. there is not enough people in terms of security posture that can handle what we're seeing right now. there are literally hundreds of protesters behind me. they're obviously very excited because this rally was just cancelled here, but at the same time, as david was just saying, as you guys were just talking about, these rallies have been building up to this point. we have seen rallies erupt into chaos on a very small scale, but we've not seen anything like this. what i'm seeing over my shoulder right now is now you see a large contingent of chicago police officers coming down that staircase over there. can you see it? there's a large contingent of chicago police officers coming down the staircase. they're coming in sufficient numbers to take care of this situation, or at least we hope so. earlier on there was not the number of law enforcement or security personnel in here to

prevent something like this from happening. just down here on the floor, there's some more scuffling going on. there's a fight going on down here. erin, i'm -- nobody delights in this. this is a very sad scene that we're seeing. this is supposed to be american democracy in action. instead what we're seeing is just total chaos. we are seeing people just going at each other because of what has been happening at these rallies. you have such a charged atmosphere. some of these supporters are almost looking for a fight and some of these protesters are almost looking for a fight. there is just too many people here looking to cause trouble. i think really you can say that it is happening on both sides, erin. >> jim just said this is a tragedy because this is supposed to be american democracy. the tragedy is that perhaps this is representing a significant

segment of american democracy right now where hyper partisan passions have been so inflamed for so long that when you get a candidate who's been demagoguing to a conservative populist base and a liberal populist base turns out, it is going to be a combustible combination. that's what we're seeing right now in a city that has a history of violence and politics. >> interesting point. >> this needs to force everybody to stop and take a breath and figure out to proceed. a candidate ought to be able to hold rallies. he may have to ticket his rallies, but he has to take responsibility if there's going to be threats of violence. he has to be the spokesperson for saying -- it happened to sarah palin in a campaign. there were a lot of racial things about obama in the 2008 campaign and really nasty

things. john mccain came out to his rally and said it is time to treat him with decency. >> jim acosta, they were saying they were postponing it. donald trump was a half hour behind. is there any information as to why? was there a specific threat? is it just the overall environment? i would imagine he's nearby if not at the center right now. >> reporter: i would think so. no specific information as to why this event is cancelled, but you can tell as we were talking to you at the top of the hour there is a whole section of protesters here, hundreds of protesters. i think i was being conservative in that estimate. right now inside this arena you probably have half protesters, half supporters. we're at the university of illinois at chicago near downtown chicago. basically downtown chicago. this is a very racially ethnically religiously diverse campus.

there were announcements in the news media all day long today from latino civil rights groups, from progressive groups, from muslim american groups, that they were planning on disrupting this rally. the question, erin, i think the other big question -- i've talked to my friends in the local press here in chicago. there is a wealth of venues in in the chicago area. you go all the way out to the conservative areas of chicago, there are arenas and venues where you can stage a pro-trump rally. trump for whatever reason decided to hold a rally almost in the lion's den. this is a very progressive city. here we are seeing another scuffle break out. erin, just the ingredients that are present here just did not make for the right mix in terms of what donald trump wanted to have in terms of a positive rally. there's too many volatile elements here. >> it sounds like what you're

saying -- we don't know exact numbers. you're ballparking an arena that fits up to 10,000 people. you're saying half and half of protesters and supporters. we're talking about thousands of protesters. >> that's right. i believe we're looking at thousands of protesters inside this arena right now. there's probably about 8500 people on hand. we're seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters in here. gathered below me right now is a group of people who are pro-trump protesters. they're saying we want trump. we want trump. we ought to show that as well. there are a lot of trump supporters here as well. i have to tell you, erin, to position this rally on a campus as ethnically and religiously as diverse as this one, i think this was inviting trouble to some extent because there were so many announcements during the day that there were plans of

protests tonight and nobody was being turned away. >> which is a significant thing. i suppose in some ways a positive thing that everyone is allowed to come in. that is important to emphasize. we have a statement just coming in from the trump campaign as to why this has just happened. they cancelled this event. mr. trump just arrived in chicago. i'm reading it now. after meeting with law enforcement has determined for the safety of all the tens of thousands of people who have gathered in and around the arena tonight's rally will be postponed to another date. thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace. >> that's nice. he can make a stronger statement than that, but it's the right thing. it does suggest there were security concerns. there were security concerns. >> the context jim acosta just gave us. you're talking about -- they said 8500 people. 4,000 protesters in that arena. >> 10,000 people signed a

petition against him coming. there were 10,000 people out there waiting to stop this. there was a significant number inside the hall. i think he did the right thing calling it off. it might have gotten much more serious than what we're seeing right now with him in the hall. >> you just saw someone rush the stage. something truly horrific could have happened. >> i doubt they had security procedures in place for all the people to go in. >> we don't know the details on the security precautions put in place, but clearly this is a situation that was going to get out of hand, that is getting out of hand, even in the absence of donald trump. and a statement go in peace is better than nothing, but still too little too late. we're watching you reap what you sow. if you run a campaign based on division and demagoguery and you try to hold a rally on a political campus on a campus in the heart of chicago, you're going to get these kinds of

outbursts. these don't happen at john kasich rallies. >> and they don't happen at ted cruz rallies either. i want to bring in neil bush. neil is with me. i appreciate you coming on, neil. brother to george w. bush and jeb bush. neil, let me ask you what's your impression of what you're seeing here. 4,000-plus our reporter is saying of protesters, people breaking out and fighting all around this arena. what's your reaction, neil? >> it's shocking to me, erin. i appreciate your having me on. it kind of reminds me of the democrat convention during the vietnam war. chicago has a history of that kind of thing. look, donald trump has used

tactics that have raised an army of very ardent fans for sure, but he has locked in a lot of people who just don't like him. i'm not saying the people protesting there in chicago are republican voters by any means, but there are tea a growing coa anti-establishment tea party ted cruz type people and establishment folks that are rallying behind the candidacy of ted cruz to unify our party before the national convention so we can have a positive message. we don't need donald trump to be the head of the ticket for this great country of ours to be represented by a man with such a giant ego and with so few solutions to the problems would be tragic. and it is not in the nature of a reagan or a jack kemp or george bush senior or george w. bush to have someone who has this kind of behavioral challenge. so it is tragic.

i think he brought it on because of his tactics that he's used to show that he is the tough guy that will be able to keep us safe from these threats. we are still the greatest earth.y on the face of the he is and not the right guy. >> so as we look at these pictures, you're seeing inside, outside the trump rally. david gergen, what can donald trump do to stop this? can he step up and be statesman like and stop this? what does he do? they put out a statement. they said there were security concerns. they said go in peace. what does he do now? what would you tell him to do? >> he has to go to the country. he has to sit down in a calm way, a calm place through television and talk to the country about what he expects going forward. what he wants. he will to have issue a clear call, which he has not done so far about having peaceful rallies. he only wants people to come in peace and leave in peace.

and he has to be very strong or he will bear moral responsibility for the violence that may occur in the future. and we're headed in that direction. if he keeps holding rallies hike this and doesn't change the tone, we'll have really, really tough situations. >> jim acosta, i want to go back to you. it looks like we're seeing some people trying to clear out. a lot more police coming in. >> that's right. a few moments ago they announced over the public address system that it is time to go. the rally has been canceled and it is time to go home. you can see there are dozens of chicago police officers flooding the zone here. they're coming in here to remove the protesters. a lot of the trump supporters are starting to file out. it is a lot more nemt here than it was even five minutes ago. this may be wrapping up. the chicago police appear to be getting control of the situation. but obviously, for a good, my goodness. 20 or 30 minutes, it was just

absolute bedlam in here. not enough security and law enforcement in here to get a handle on it. >> at least 20, 25 minutes. can i ask you a question, jim? i don't know if you know the answer but we're trying to figure this out live as we go. do you know whether the people who are waiting, what level of screening they went through? were they screened? were they going through metal detectors? do you know? >> yes. everybody was screened in terms of weapons and those sorts of standards. procedures were carried out at these rallies. what wasn't done here, maybe it should be prevented, is that you have people who will disrupt this rally show up. in terms of hundreds, if not thousands of people. and that's what happened. these protesters stopped donald trump from holding a rally here.

and like we were saying, we haven't seen anything like this. yes, a scuffle here, a protest there. but not like this. >> not like this. is this part of the democratic process? someone should be able to have their rallies to do it. so them stopping this is not a victory for the american process. it is an ugly thing. >> it was terribly ugly. and i think we're on a dangerous precipice. the polarization we've seen for so long has brought people increasingly to a point where they begin to hate each other. and they demonize each other. and that's the unraveling of society when you get into that situation. >> democracy depends on a situation of good will. it is metastasizing in front of our eyes and maybe donald trump can be presidential and walk it back. as your viewers saw earlier tonight, he has a history of statements of incitement. that's why for presidents, be a

uniter, not a divider. when you film it, ugly things happen. what does dough? he can't continue. whether you like him or loathe him. you can't continue if you'll have rallies where half the people will be protesters and trying to knock you off the i know at a. what do you do to have him go ahead with the political rally? when you ticket people, is that enough? >> he needs to address this immediately, like tomorrow in a very public way. there will be a lot of fallout. we're not sure where it will go but you'll see people divide up as they go to the polls. some people will say, we can't elect this person. that is the kind of argument of people will say it is ridiculous that they'll be able to shut down our candidate. we'll go out in bigger droves. and it will only increase the polarization. he says he wants to be a unifier? this is the test of his leadership to show that he can unify. >> neil if you're still with me work that be something that would sway someone like you?

you wrote in your op ed, when you talked about backing ted cruz, he was not your first choice, not even your second choice. i'm not saying you'll abandon ted cruz. i'm the point, could someone like you be won over if he were to take statesman like stance? >> no, no. definitely not. do you know what he will do tomorrow if he does it at all? and i hope he does address the issue. i'm a unifier. time only guy who can bring everyone together. he makes these broad generalizations like he's running for eighth grade class president and he doesn't really say anything of substance. he is not a serious candidate and i'm sorry to say. that he's confiscated the republican process. there is still time though. there have been only 42% of the delegates allotted so far. ted cruz has received 29% of the popular vote compared to his 34%. so who is bringing out these millions of voters?

so we need to unify our party. and he is clearly not a unifier. no matter what he says. >> neil, thank you. >> i want to go to greg carpenter outside the rally. you're seeing thousands of people come from inside the arena to outside. what is the tone like? the mood like? are people calm now? have you seen fights? what are you seeing? >> we're not seeing any fights or anything like that. the tone, i mean, it is a protest out here. everybody is pretty serious. the crowd is quite significant. i can't see any change. it is not growing. i don't know if you're looking at this, but as far down the stree street. >> that's the way it's been for hours. i haven't seen it at all. >> what is the mix that you're

seeing? we did see what you're seeing for the camera. now we're at an aerial shot. what is the mix in material of protesters versus supporters that you've seen and you're seeing now? are you able to give as you general sense? >> so i'm about 30 feet from the line. i'm not seeing any supporters for trump. these are all bernie supporters and just supporters of people, for anyone against trump. they're just -- they're just supporting free speech, feel the bern. using the messages. establish the and spanish. lots of different nationalities here. >> the crowds are not going down at all over the last four hours. >> and totally peaceful but just

to be clear, it sounds like you're in an area where it is all protesters. so you're amongst people who are on the same side. >> correct, yeah. when i got out here about 3:00, on one side of the screen, 37 barricades for protesters. i know at some of the these events they like this, this is beyond that. when we got here, this was shoulder to shoulder for multiple blocks. all we're seeing are supporters. protesters. excuse me. we're not seeing anybody -- >> jake, thank you very much. this went on, donald trump was half an hour late. then the surprise cancellation

of this rally. and then about 20 minutes where we saw scuffle, punching, fighting inside. some pretty, very scary moments. not enough law enforcement to fully deal with it. now it looks like it is starting to dissipate. let's go now to anderson cooper. good evening. the pictures tell the story tonight. and it is an ugly story. near pandemonium at a trump rally in chicago. thousands of protesters, and trump supporters. you can see it there. clashing on the campus of the use of illinois and chicago. the event was postponed. donald trump did take stage. other reports say it was flat out canceled. some blaming the candidate for tolerating or in some cases, even