an unbelievable weekend on the campaign trail. donald trump accused overnight of inciting violence at campaign rallies. why his competitors say he's responsible for the chaos. breaking overnight. hillary clinton and bernie sanders in a cnn town hall. they too go after donald trump calling him a political arsonist and pathological liar. civilians and westerners targeted. we have new information this morning. good morning. welcome to "early start."

i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. it is monday, march 14th. the race for the president at a boiling point with the violence at donald trump rallies. breaking overnight. hillary clinton and bernie sanders slam donald trump accusing him of inciting violence on the campaign trail. trump now says he would consider footing the legal bills of the supporter who sucker punched a protester in north carolina last week. donald trump is also now explaining why he canceled a chicago rally among clashes with pro and anti-trump groups. sanders is blaming donald trump for the violence there. >> all americans should be concerned. it's clear that donald trump is running a very cynical campaign pitting groups of americans

against one another. he is trafficking in hate and fear. he is playing to our worst instincts rather than angels. he incites violence. talking about punching people, offering to pay legal bills. >> donald trump is literally inciting violence with his supporters. he is saying if you go out and beat somebody up, that's okay. i'll pay the legal fees. that is an outrage and i would hope that mr. trump tones it down big time and tells his supporters that violence is not acceptable in the american political process. >> that was bernie sanders and hillary clinton last night. overnight, donald trump defended

his campaign. he held a rally in florida. he is 21 points ahead of marco rubio. that is the latest cnn/wall street journal poll. sara murray has more. >> reporter: just days before the florida primary, donald trump was rallying a crowd and taking aim at marco rubio, calling him an absentee politician. in florida, donald trump went after john kasich and overhauled his plans to add an event in ohio. he says kasich is a bigger threat than marco rubio is in florida. trump is coming off a news weekend. he cancelled an event in chicago. he addressed that in boca last night and believes he made the right decision. >> we had an interesting week.

on friday, we went to chicago. we had 25,000 people coming. we had 25,000 people coming. we had some, i would say, they were let's be nice, protesters. okay? let's call them protesters. we had a decision to make. we had to make this decision. we want peace. we want happiness. we want everybody to go home happy and peaceful. we said you know what we'll do, we'll postpone it. it was a wise decision. we have been given a lot of credit. >> reporter: in light of the protesters appearing at trump events, we have seen a strong security presence, in florida. relatively few interruptions. >> sara murray, busy weekend for you. we are hearing from the man at the center of the mayhem of the trump rally.

secret service agents tackled thomas dimassimo arrested, ka charged with disorderly conduct. he said he wanted to send a message. >> i was thinking that i could get up on stage and take his podium away from him and take his mike away from him and send a message out to the people in the country who don't consider themselves racists. and send a message that we can be strong. we can find our strength and we can stand up against donald trump and against this new wave he is ushering of white violent supremacist ideas.

>> and trump says he has ties to isis. donald trump's republican rivals are blasting donald trump for appearing to condone violence. >> some of the people are disruptive. they get hired to be paid to incite violence. that's not excusable because that is wrong of our kids. that is disastrous if our president does it. >> no question that donald trump created a toxic atmosphere pitting one group against another and name calling and those things. i think there are people that would go to a rally that look to disrupt. the environment is there and he needs to back off and starting more inspirational. you can go into the room and get

people depressed, angry and down or you can walk into the same room and lift them and give them hope. >> our huge day on the campaign trail. donald trump makes stops in north carolina and ohio and florida. he canceled an event in florida and added one in ohio. ted cruz will stump in illinois and missouri. this on the eve of huge voting tomorrow. winner take all in florida and ohio. big voting in north carolina, missouri and illinois as well. john kasich, you see him here, he will be joined on the trail today by mitt romney. not endorsing governor kasich, but romney engaged in the stop trump movement. kasich is ahead by six points in

his home state. a top concern at the town hall last night on cnn. bernie sanders calling trump a quote pathological liar for trying to connect unrest at trump events to the sanders campaign. eric bradner was at the event. he joins us now. violence and conflict this weekend on the stump was the story. the two democrats at the town hall asked about it. listen to bernie sanders. >> donald trump is a pathological liar. we have never, our campaign does not believe and never will encourage anybody to disrupt anything. we have millions of supporters. people do what they do. people have the right to

protest. i happen not to believe that people should disrupt anybody's meetings. >> the trump campaign has turned violence and conflicts in the campaign events into somehow an attack from bernie sanders to donald trump's right to free speech. he has had more air time than anybody else. >> a lot of protesters at his event. >> in chicago. >> bernie sanders is saying that he can't account for everyone that votes for him. he said he did not send anyone to do this. he discourages violence. he is defending people's right to protest. he said i have been standing on the picket lines my entire life. he says it is unreasonable for any one person to be blamed for

the actions of the group of protesters. at the same time, he and hillary clinton were pinning the blame on trump for using this rhetoric that triggered these platforms. the democrats were not triggering the blame even if trump is putting it on sanders. >> what is interesting is how the events of donald trump events overshadowed the campaign trail. there was a huge amount of focus on donald trump last night and the candidates were racing to differentiate themselves. hillary clinton equates it as her time as secretary of state and time with foreign leaders. listen to what she said. let me read. >> messages from leaders. i'm having foreign leaders

asking if they can endorse me to stop donald trump. whoever goes up against donald trump better be ready. i feel i am the best prepared and ready candidate to take him on. >> this is a case worth not pivoting on the general election. this is recognizing what is out there and discussed across the country. >> that's right. it was fascinating to see these two who are still locked in a competitive primary race just sort of dropping attacks on each other and focusing on trump. making the argument to democratic primary voters, they will best be able to take on trump in a general election. clinton was fascinating to hear. she claimed that foreign leaders are calling her asking if they can endorse her. she is saying she has been a target of republican attacks for 25 years.

she can stand up to trump. sanders is citing his poll numbers and trump's economics are unpopular. this reveals a lot of the state of the race and dominance trump has. >> eric bradner, so much to talk about this morning. a big day tomorrow. you have dozens and dozens of delega delegates. >> hundreds. winner take all in florida and ohio. >> that is tomorrow and discussion of where we are headed. two deadly terror attacks in less than 24 hours. more than 100 injured in a car bomb in turkey. gunmen target hotels frequented by westerners. live team coverage next.

turkish authorities are saying it is too early to say who is responsible for a car bomb. this blast ripped through a busy square in the capital. the attackers targeting a transportation hub with bus stops and metro station. scores of authorities rushing to the scene. we have the latest from cnn's arwa damon. she is live for us. good morning, arwa. >> reporter: good morning. you can see the police cordoned behind me and the white sheet pulled across the road. we were able to catch a glimpse from one corner of it showing the rest of the road filled with broken glass and debris from that massive blast. the attack carried out by eight terrorist organization. which one the government suspects at this stage, they are not disclosing. they want to wait for the

investigation to end. we have seen a handful of forensic experts moving in and out of the scene killing at least 37 people. among them, according to government authorities, one or two of the attackers. the attackers drives the vehicle laden with explosives and detonating it close to one of the main bus stops here. the main boulevard through ankara. there are shops on the other side of the street. around the corner there are tons of open air cair cafes and restaurants. this is where you take a walk and go out and grab something at the end of the weekend and the day the attack took place on sunday happen to also coincide on the same day that students take entrance exam to get to university.

a lot would have been out finally trying to relax after months of cramming for the exam. ankara has been in a state of heightened alert for some time. especially following an attack that took place a month ago. in that instance, targeting a convoy of military personnel. that attack was blamed by the government on the kurdish separatists group, the pkk. prior to that, suicide bombs in october. that attack was blamed on isis. most certainly, this underscores how vulnerable turkey is at this point. how devastating this violence continues to be. >> thanks for that, arwa damon. the president of ivory coast is appealing for calm after an attack that left 16 people dead. gunmen opened fire at three straight beach resort hotels near the capital. the north african affiliate of

al qaeda is taking responsibility for the attack. we have robyn kriel with more. >> reporter: good morning, john. it would be around midday in ivory coast as a very hot sunday. the beach is about a 20 minute to 30-minute drive from the coast. a lot of people have driven out from the sunday and sun bathing and in the water and eating in the beach side cafes when the gunshots rang out. according to the government, six attackers killed in total. the gunshots rang out steadily for 15 minutes. people were running screaming down the beach. they're jihadists. we know that the government has now basically cordoned off that area. they were searching for more gunmen, but have not found any. ivory coast went through

election violence in 2012, but really trying to improve its security situation. this will have devastating consequences for the tourism industry, particularly along the beach. this beach popular with westerners. we know of the 16 people killed, 4 are europeans, according to reuters. one is french. an al qaeda affiliate, responsible for hotel attacks near mali and faso have taken the responsibility. thank you. >> 21 minutes past the hour. storms turning deadly in the south. more severe weather on the way. we will tell you about it next.

the south battered by deadly storms and historic flooding. bracing for more extreme flooding now. this is the damage suffered in little rock, arkansas. it suffered hail and damaging winds. the storm claimed four lives. including three in louisiana which was drenched by nearly 2 feet of rain. time to start your week on money. the dow almost breaking even. the blue chip down 1.2% this year edging up from a 10% loss. stocked relieved by oil prices and easing concerns of slowing growth in china and the s&p still down 1%. nasdaq down 5.1% for the year.

here's where we stand. futures are lower. oil is slipping. stocks in europe moving higher and shares in asia started the week with a rally. breaking overnight. the controversy over donald trump rallies. the violence talked about on both sides now. we will have the latest next. ♪ ♪ ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides.

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new this morning, donald trump blasted overnight by both democrats and republicans over the tone, tenor at his rallies and his response to the whole thing. donald trump blames the protesters. we talked to one arrested. hillary clinton and bernie sanders with tough criticism of donald trump on the cnn town hall stage last night. what voters wanted to hear from the democrats running for

president. dozens killed in separate terror attacks. a major city bombing and attacks on hotels. we have live team coverage. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. 32 minutes past the hour. the race for president at a boiling point over violence at donald trump rallies overwhelming each side of the race. breaking overnight, hillary clinton and bernie sanders slamming donald trump of inciting violence. trump said he would now consider supporting the legal bills who sucker punched the protester. he is now explaining why he cancelled a chicago rally. trump is blaming bernie sanders and sanders' supporters for the chaos there. both bernie sanders and hillary

clinton are speaking out. >> it is clear that donald trump is running a cynical campaign pitting groups of americans against one another. he is trafficking in hate and fear. he is playing to our worst instincts rather than angels of our better nature. he actually incites violence in the ways he urges his audience on. talking about punching people. offering to pay legal bills. >> donald trump is literally inciting violence with his supporters. he is saying if you go out and beat somebody up, that's okay. i'll pay the legal fees. that's an outrage and i would hope that mr. trump tones it down, big time, and tells his supporters that violence is not acceptable in the american

political process. >> overnight, trump defended his campaign and rhetoric at a rally in florida. he holds a lead in the state. 21 points ahead of marco rubio in the latest wall street journal poll. cnn's sara murray was at the late night rally. >> reporter: good morning, john and christine. days before the florida primary, donald trump was here rallying a crowd and taking aim at the senator calling him an absentee politician. donald trump went after ohio governor john kasich and overhauled events on monday to add the event in ohio. he appears to consider john kasich a bigger threat on tuesday than rubio in florida. trump is coming off a news weekend. he had to cancel an event in chicago after protesters at the campaign event. he addressed that in boca last

night. >> we had an interesting week. on friday, we went to chicago and we had 25,000 people coming. it's okay. we had 25,000 people coming. we had some, i would say, they were let's be nice, protesters. okay? let's call them protesters. we had a decision to make. we had to make this decision. we want peace, we want happiness. we want everybody to go home really happy and peaceful. we said we will postpone it. it was a very wise decision. we have been given a lot of credit. >> reporter: now in light of the number of protesters appearing at trump events, we have seen a strong security presence. here in florida last night, few interruptions. back to you. >> thank you, sara. we are now hearing from the man at the center of mayhem at the

other trump rally. secret service agents surrounded thomas dimassimo. this is frightening when a candidate gets rushed on stage. 22-year-old dimassimo was charged with inducing panic. he said he wasn't aiming to attack trump, but wanted to send a message. >> i was thinking i could get up on stage and take his podium away from him and take his mike away from him and send a message to all people in the country who would not consider themselves racists or approving of what type of violence donald trump is allowing at his rallies and send a message we can be strong. we can find our strength and we can stand up against donald trump and against this new wave he is ushering in of violent

white supremacsupremacy. >> you have candidates who have been shot at before. it is is serious matter. >> people are criticizing him. he talked about how he watched secret service agents and found a way to jump up there. you are talking about thousands of people in an airport hangar. that protester getting criticism from trump supporters and others who say now jumping on stage will not advance the cause of civility. >> that is a separate issue that donald trump sets. the rivals are blasting trump for appearing to condone violence. listen. >> some of the people are professional disrupters. they get hired and get paid to be rude and nasty. i'm not excusing that. i'm not excusing the fact you have a leading contender for president telling people in the audience, go ahead and punch

someone in the face. i'll pay your legal bills. that is not excusable. that is wrong if our kids did it. that is disastrous if a president does it. >> there is no question that donald trump created a toxic atmosphere pitting one group against the other and name calling. i think there are people that would go to a rally who would look to disrupt. the environment is there. he needs to back off this and start be be being more aspirational. you can go into a room and get people depressed and down and angry or you can walk into the room with the same people and lift them and give them hope. we need to be hopeful in america. not depressed. >> the big show is tomorrow. candidates have a busy day ahead. trump makes stops in north carolina and florida and ohio. rubio campaigning in florida. kasich will be in ohio joined by

mitt romney. a new poll has him six points ahead of donald trump in his home state. >> mitt romney campaigning with kasich. romney will campaign with anyone that is not donald trump. you saw the democratic town hall on cnn last night. donald trump very much a focus of the event. let's bring in cnn's eric bradner to talk about what happened there. eric, we saw bernie sanders call liar.d trump a pathological we saw hillary clinton call trump a political arsonist on the campaign trail. they both went after him on substance. listen to what bernie sanders had to say on where donald trump stands on the issues. >> this is a guy who is a billionaire, but doesn't think we should raise the minimum wage above $7.25 an hour.

this is a guy who goes on the republican tv event and says wages in america are too low. tell that to people in ohio. this is a guy who believes in defiance of all science that climate change is a hoax. >> bernie sanders supporters and donald trump supporters, many of them, have the overlap in where they think the middle class is gutted out by trade policies and the american worker has received the raw end of the deal on that. now bernie sanders, eric, trying to fine tune that. saying this guy, my opponent is not good for american workers. >> that's right. bernie sanders has never really liked this idea that populous supporters of him and supporters of donald trump have a little bit in common, especially on the trade issue. he is very resistant to that. he is laying out the series of

issues on which both he and frankly hillary clinton think democrats have an advantage. they think the majority of the electorate is with them on these issues. hillary clinton is making it a bit more personal. she is talking about how people she worked with when she was a diplomat are calling her and asking her to supporter over donald trump. she is talking about how she suffered the stings and arrows from the republicans for 25 years. sanders is focusing on policy. he is saying he would highlight all of these positions trump has taken with the idea being they prove to be unpopular in the general election even if they are popular in the republican primary. >> we are talking about the violence on the campaign trail. to the certain extent, both candidates talked about that. there are other powerful moments. hillary clinton faced a question from a man who spend 39 years in

prison for a crime he did not commit. on death row. listen to this. >> excuse me. i'm sorry. >> it's okay, brother. >> i came close to my own execution. i would like to know how can you still take your stance on the death penalty. >> at this point, given the challenges we face from terrorist activities, primarily in our country, that end up under federal jurisdiction, for very limited purposes, i think it can still be held in reserve for those. >> she did go on to say at the state level, she would not mind if the states did away with the death penalty at the state level. this shows why these town halls are valuable. you see moments you would not otherwise see. the genuine interaction. you see the candidates think. you don't see the wheels necessarily turn in their heads

otherwise. >> absolutely. we get tired of the endless campaign that goes on for two years. it is event after event and debate after debate. these really truly human moments that we see in the town halls, i think really show the value. show in these forums, people really can connect with the candidates. it was fascinating to see hillary clinton thinking through her answer on that. this seems to be an issue where she truly has spent a lot of time thinking about it and evolving. you know, i remember earlier town halls, some of the off the wall questions that got thrown her way. provided some of the most insightful answers. we always look for these truly unexpected moments with voters. genuine moments. things that knock candidates off their talking points and stop you. i was in the hall last night.

i'm telling you, you could hear a pin drop while that man was asking his question. >> you have the big elephant in the room. the donald trump rallies which brought so much violence and controversy. a fascinating moment in the political calendar. eric bradner, thank you for that from columbus, ohio. let's talk about the trade part. bernie sanders slamming trade agreements at the democratic town hall last night. he says they are hurting the manufacturing sector. technology, consumer demand for cheap stuff contributing here. sanders was spot on with his numbers when he said the u.s. has lost 60,000 factories since 2001. there were more than 352,000 establishments back in 2001. they employed 16 million people. by the year 2013, that figure dropped to 292,000 and 11.3 million people working at those

companies. trade, one of the hottest issues on the campaign trail. donald trump bringing up similar arguments on the republican side. as you know, exit polls show claims are resonating with voters. the manufacturing situation is complicated than bad trade deals. i have been saying this all weekend. globalization was happening with or without free trade deals. you talk to people and they say this is like the rules of the road to survive globalization. on the campaign trail, no one wants to hear that. they want to hear that trade deals are bad and your candidate will fix them. >> ohio, missouri, illinois, north carolina. all with big manufacturing base. they vote tomorrow. two deadly terror attacks less than 24 hours. dozens dead. more than 100 injured in a major city bombing. this is al qaeda affiliated gunmen who target hotels filled with westerners. we have live team coverage ahead.

turkish authorities are saying it is too early to say who is responsible for the car bomb that killed 37 people and injured dozens others last night in ankara. it targeted the bus stop and transportation hub. let's get the latest from arwa damon live in ankara this morning. good morning, arwa. >> reporter: good morning. you see the police cordoned behind us and the sheet that was pulled across the boulevard. this area was the transportation hub. very crowded at the time of the attack at 6:45 p.m. a very popular boulevard. the kind you come to walk around

and go shopping and go sit at one of the many outdoor open air restaurants and cafes that exist here. according to authorities, the attacker or attackers drove a vehicle laden with explosives and detonated it close to the bus stop. the images show the skeleton of a bus remaining and extensive damage done to vehicles. at least 37 people dead. among them, one or two of the attackers. 125 wounded. 19 in critical condition. this is another attack that has shaken turkey to its score underscoring how vulnerable the population is. the government believes a terrorist organization is behind it. not disclosing who until the investigation is complete. >> thank you, arwa damon. the president of the ivory coast is appealing for calm

after the attack left 16 people dead this weekend. gunmen opened fire at three beach resort hotels near the capital. african affiliate of al qaeda claiming responsibility. cnn's robyn kriel is live nairo nairobi, kenya. >> reporter: this isn't the first of al qaeda in the islamic rim with the attack of this nature, christine. they also launched attacks against hotels last year killing dozens of people and in bakima faso attacking a cafe popular with person westerners. this is the latest high profile attack in the last five months. they are trying to compete with isis with publicity and

operational capacity, but it goes to show the porousness of the borders, most of which sprung up from the fighting in mali in the last few years and they are moving to areas considered safer. this has some election violence in 2012, never has seen an attack like this either. it killed 16 people. 14 civilians and 2 soldiers and 6 terrorists neutralized. we have a correspondent on his way there to bring us up to date reports very shortly. >> robyn kriel, thank you. the dow jones industrial average just one rally from turning positive for the year. will it happen today? >> i would love that. that would be great. >> we will get an early start on your money next.

let's get an eitharly start your money. stocks in europe are higher. asia finished with a strong rally. the dow is 1% away from breaking even for the year. forget february. it gained 1,500 points in the past four weeks. s&p 500 is 1% away from breaking even. nasdaq is down 5%. and in last night's cnn's town hall, bernie sanders says the u.s. has the worst wealth of all countries. the richest 10% controlled the nation's money. the other country that comes close is switzerland.

the top 10% owned 75% of the wealth. sweden and denmark lagging behind. the average among developed nations is around 50%. don't bring that. hillary clinton brought facts to the town hall. i want to look at that those. she said poverty fell drastically under her husband's presidency. rose to 15.1% by the time george h.w. bush left office. in clinton's term, the poverty rate was 11%. then under bush's term, 13%. and obama's term has risen to 14.8%. that is because obama's administration has the worst financial crisis. they blame who is at fault. on the raw numbers, that is

true. "early start" continues right now. huge new controversy on the campaign trail. donald trump accused of inciting violence at campaign rallies. he says it's not me. it's you. breaking overnight. hillary clinton and bernie sanders with tough criticism for donald trump and facing tough questions from voters on the cnn town hall stage. >> welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. the race for president. controversy over donald trump. breaking overnight. hillary clinton and bernie sanders slammed donald trump. they accuse him at a cnn town hall of inciting violence. trump now says he would consider footing the legal bill of the supporter