>> the u.s. has a huge stake involved over there. all right, guys. thanks very much. stay with cnn for more information. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. next, breaking news. hillary clinton wins missouri sweeping all five super tuesday states. plus, prominent republicans plotting against donald trump as marco rubio speaks out for the first time since dropping out of the race. and democrats worried about facing donald trump. let's go "outfront." >> good evening, i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, the breaking news. a clean sweep for clinton. cnn can now report that hillary clinton wins the missouri democratic primary. clinton had already claimed victory in the other four states at play on tuesday. until now missouri too close to call. look at how close that race is.

bernie sanders conceding the state to clinton tonight. clinton leading sanders by literally 1500 votes of more than 600,000 cast. every vote counts. jeff zeleny is outfront tonight. a big win for victory, but how big of a win? what does it mean for missouri? >> the math remains about the same win or lose. how democrats select their nomine nominees, it's proportional. bernie sanders will get roughly the same number of delegates from missouri has clinton. a big sweep for the clinton campaign is a big deal in terms of momentum and mind-set. arizona is going to vote next week. then a series of other states they believe are favorable to him. washington state a week from saturday. erin, this is the main reason that bernie sanders believes that he still could achieve

this. california does not vote until june 7th. that is the biggest prize of all. that was different from 08. in 08, it was on super tuesday. california being at the very end here is what bernie sanders is waiting for. there's also wisconsin in there and other states he believes he can be strong in, but it's a difficult uphill battle for bernie sanders. >> thank you so much. california so crucial. our other breaking story is on the republican side of things in disarr disarray. prominent republicans plotting to stop donald trump. lindsey graham who said picking between trump or cruz is like being shot or poisoned. today he chose poison. >> i think the best alternative to donald trump to stop him from getting 1237 is ted cruz.

i'm going to help ted in every way i can. >> erick erickson met with conservatives to talk about a cruz-kasich ticket or a third-party run. you get a feeling they're throwing spaghetti at the wall. what might stick? 58 winner-take-all delegates at stake on tuesday. >> i want to congratulate donald trump on his victory -- >> reporter: out of the race, but not out of words. marco rubio urging his supporters to fight donald trump. >> hopefully, there's time to still prevent a trump nomination, which i think would fracture the party. >> reporter: rubio supporters in arizona are listening. arizona for rubio social media director is mobilizing for a new cause ahead of her state's primary just days away. >> are you telling them to go

vote for ted cruz? >> at this point i am. i think he is probably the best shot to take on donald trump. i think cruz has a really strong case to make here in this state. i think he has a very good shot. >> my son grant was killed working an overnight shift at his job by an illegal immigrant. >> reporter: that begins with his position on immigration. the cruz campaign stealing a page from the trump playbook launched this new ad in arizona featuring a father whose son was reportedly killed by an undocumented immigrant. >> i trust ted cruz. >> reporter: cruz trailing trump in the polls now renewing a challenge in this gop winner-take-all state by hitting hard on immigration, the issue in this border state. six years ago, arizona passed the broadest and strictest immigration law in the united states.

protesters called the law state sponsored racism. eventually the supreme court gutted portions of arizona's law, so trump's anti-immigration rallying cry? >> i will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and i will have mexico pay for that wall. >> reporter: is a second chance for arizona to see immigration reform. arpaio endorses trump, calling him a savior. >> it was dying until trump brought it up when he was here. he started talking about it again. >> do you think that's why he is resonating so much with people in arizona? >> they were waiting for somebody like him. >> reporter: now there is not a lot of polling in the state of arizona, but the very last poll that was done showed rubio hovering right around 10%. now all of those supporters go to the cruz camp. that would make cruz much more

competitive here. early absentee votiing rates ar very high. many of those rubio supporters filled out those mail-in ballots before rubio dropped out. >> a crucial state for the gop. outfront now, jeff lord who served as political director to president ronald reagan, ben ferguson, ted cruz supporter, darryl scott, and dan fifer who served as senior adviser to president obama. thanks to all. pastor scott, let me start with you. you see this fight going down in arizona. but the bottom line here is there is a ground swell of activity to stop trump. lindsey graham the most humorous example, right? now he goes for cruz, but he's far from alone. could any of this finally work and stop trump? >> no, they're not going to be able to stop trump. lindsey graham took the slow

death rather than the fast death. he went with rubio and rubio got knocked out. now he wants to poison himself to death with ted cruz. governor nikki haley, they're saying she's praying for cruz now. i hope she doesn't pray the same prayer for cruz that she did rubio because that prayer didn't work. the trump train is rolling on. you roll with it or you get rolled over. that's your options. >> lindsey graham did something he never wanted to do in coming out and backing cruz. let me play for everyone the moment what graham said back in february and what he said today. >> if you kill ted cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial was in the senate, nobody could convict you. >> i will be doing a fundraiser

for senator cruz. >> are people going to follow for this because now lindsey graham says vote for the guy? i'm going to do it. >> there is something significant in marco rubio did in saying he's going to be supporting basically anybody but trump because he still has supporters that were supporting him in these states. that is significant and will be significant, i think, for ted cruz. outside of that, i just don't see many of these endorsements, especially lindsey graham of all people having a major impact. and i think this is really going to come down to the issue of messaging. ted cruz, if he's able to go out there and connect with the voters, this is a two-man race now. lindsey graham is not going to have a big impact. ultimately, this is going to be a gut check moment. you can choose between donald trump and you can choose between ted cruz. which way do you want to go? i think a lot of voters are

saying, all right, if i don't like trump, i need to get it together and focus on the long term of this. who has the best chance of beating hillary clinton? donald trump is still down in the national head-to-head polls against hillary clinton. that poll has been consistent for a very long time. he's not closing that gap either. that's why you see so many conservatives saying we need to get around ted cruz and do it now. >> i know ben wants to say it is a two-man race. john kasich would say do not speak so quickly because you are dead wrong. would these ideas be harder to beat than -- let's take this cruz-kasich ticket. would this be better or worse than trump? >> we would take either one of them. the only way you're going to stop donald trump is a contested convention. there's almost no mathematical

path for ted cruz to catch him. the republican party has a decision. are the party establishment, the delegates, going to upend the will of the voters and pick someone else or stick with trump? that's a terrible choice. that's as bad as being shot or poisoned. >> conversations i never thought we could be having in primetime. jeffrey lord, ben brings up marco rubio and what he said today. let me play one quick thing that rubio said. here it is again. >> hopefully, there's time to still, you know, prevent a trump nomination, which i think would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement. >> jeff, it has become accepted that a trump win would break up the gop. he says not so fast, he could unify. is that possible really or is that just insanity? >> i don't think it is guaranteed to break up the republican party. i wrote a whole column last

year. i went back and took a look at all the people who said if ronald reagan were nominated by the republican party, it would break up the republican party, it would be the death of the republican party. i'm talking about names like gerald ford, nelson rockefeller. on and on and on this list goes. here we are again. basically what we had is an outsider getting ready to win this presidential nomination and the insiders don't like it. there's no surprise here. >> it's an interesting point you raise, dan, because you tweeted two days ago the next time rubio campaigns he will be stumping for trump in the fall. do you think marco rubio will eventually get on board what pastor scott calls the trump train? >> yes, if trump is the nominee, people like marco rubio will be campaigning for him. i think rubio will do everything he can with his very limited influence and power to try to change the equation now. if trump is the nominee, i believe everyone will get in

line and help trump win. >> pastor scott, do you believe that? >> he'they'll have no choice. they need to get in line sooner rather than later. he got smashed and destroyed and beaten so badly. >> it's not sour grapes. >> everybody that opposed donald trump head to head gets annihila annihilated. hillary clinton will get annihilated too. >> hold on. pastor scott, finish. then ben is going to come in. >> there's something called humility in the bible. if donald trump wants to know why there are so many conservatives that are not going to actively support him if he got the nomination is because of the arrogance you just displayed. every time they coalesce -- >> hold on, pastor scott. let ben finish.

>> it's the arrogance of people like you that you better get on this train or you're going to get run over. you look like an idiot. it's poison if you pick someone else. >> okay. >> it's the arrogance of the campaign. >> pastor scott, let him finish. >> you might as welcome on board sooner rather than later. it is not a brag. it's a matter of fact. >> i'll hit pause there. we'll have to have all four of you back. how this election could all come down to the delegates at the gop convention? democrats pouncing on that tonight. breaking news. north korea launching a ballistic missile moments ago. we have the very latest on that coming up. look like this.

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tonight, republican house speaker paul ryan bracing for a contested convention. >> there's more likely to become an open convention than we thought before. we're getting our minds around the idea this could very well become a reality and therefore those of us who are involved in the convention need to respect that. >> republicans also now ripping into trump for suggesting voters would riot at the convention if he's not the nominee.

the implicit acceptance of violence is the kind of rhetoric that is pulling people apart. leadership requires responsibility. tom foreman is outfront. tom, yes, that was four tweets. he's not the twitter master like donald trump is. a lot of concerns on all sides about what's going to happen at the gop convention. what happens if it is, quote/unquo quote/unquote, contested. >> it will be something we've never seen before. that's how many delegates you need to clench the nomination. this is the current delegate count. if anybody can get to this number before the convention, all those predictions are off. it will not be a contested convention. if you go into a contested convention, you could have a very different circumstance. let's imagine that we have a state out here in the country that has 20 delegates, and they are bound delegates. what that means is by the rules

they must vote the way the state voted and it's a winner-take-all system in that state. let's say donald trump won that state. on the very first vote, erin, all 20 of these people must vote for donald trump. those are the rules. but after that first vote, if he doesn't hit the magic number, then they become unbound. then they can vote for whomever they want. half of the people in the hall will be that way first. then it would progress to more until everyone is unbound. >> they could then be voting for themselves, right? i don't mean physically, but they could vote for who they want to rather than the will of the voter. >> you hit the nail on the head. the campaigns are making a point to try to make sure they have people among the delegates even if they lost a state. we have 20 people out here who on the first vote have to vote

for trump. let's say when they become unbound you found out only eight of them are actual trump supporters and that the cruz camp has some their people among them and the kasich camp has some of the people among them. if you start all the wheeling and dealing, these might come together here. you could have a state like that where ted cruz might get 12 delegates and donald trump only 8 even though he won the state. erin, if that happens, you can bet there will be some sharp words exchanged. >> sharp words. that's where you have donald trump saying there could be much worse than that if that outcome were to transpire. thank you very much, tom foreman. outfront now, john king and our senior political commentator david axelrod. how likely is this outcome that you get this contested convention? >> it is possible. something probable.

so much so that david axelrod may change his registration to republican just so he can be a delegate. donald trump needs to win 55% on our current delegate count. we're still waiting on the final numbers from missouri. donald trump has to win 55% of the remaining delegates from here on out to get the magic number of 1237. many republicans think they can stop him from doing that. they're not going to beat donald trump on a conference call. they' the only way to beat donald trump, to stop him from getting that 55, is to beat him on election days and ted cruz is simply underperforming. we're not done counting missouri, but it looks like he will lose that state. the way to beat him is for someone to beat him on election

day. >> so everyone in the gop establishment is just upset about that. they're trying to do -- it's like a toddler. they're having a tantrum. >> yes, they are. >> the fight between clinton and obama went on into june. neither one had enough delegates to clench the nomination without using the so-called super delegates. that was pretty nasty and it didn't end up fracturing the party. could the gop get through this m melee of a convention? could you have that happen and have a party that still could unify? >> erin, i think the comparison to 2008 isn't really accurate. that was a love fest compared to what's going on in the republican party today. i mean, this is a real blood feud, a hostile takeover of the republican party by donald trump. the fact that republicans like lindsey graham are clinging to ted cruz, who he despises as his best hope to stop donald trump,

tells you how different this is. i think the republican party is going to have reputational problems and coherence problems whatever happens. either they have trump or they're going to have a candidate who isn't trump and you're going to have a whole bunch of people who voted for trump in larger numbers than any other candidate think that their vote was not worth anything. >> right. >> so i think this is a terrible di dilemma for the republican party. this is a disaster. >> yeah. john, there's also this issue of the rules are the rules until you change them. right now, you have to have 1237, the majority, to win. if trump walks into that convention without 1237 but still far more than ted cruz, is it possible that he could get the nomination without a brokered convention? >> you'd have an open convention. he would have to cut a deal to get the remaining delegates.

if he is 150 short, he could go to john kasich and say be my vice president. he could go to ted cruz and cut a deal. ted cruz would be unlikely to cut a deal at the beginning if he thought you could go two or three ballots into the convention. if the magic number is 1237 and trump has 1185, you're going to stop that guy? you're going to say close, but not close enough? his delegates would revolt. donald trump has said they would riot. they would revolt without a doubt and they would have pretty good reason to him. if he's in the 900s and someone comes close, that's a little bit of a different story. the final trump number is significant in the idea of the morality, if you will, of taking it away from them. >> and guys, if you talk to the republicans who are involved in trying to stop trump, they

quietly acknowledge that. if they can't dump him below 45% of the delegates, then this is a feudal -- futile effort on their part. they want to hold his number down. >> john king, a final point. last night ben carson was on this show. i asked him about the riot comments. trump said if he was blocked from the nomination at the convention there would be riots. ben carson said there's no question there would be a lot of turmoil. there would be an uproar. is the party blaming him unfairly for making this comment about a riot or do you think it is fair and square that he's saying there could be rye yours truly -- riots? >> some consider him the leader of the republican party because he's the frontrunner. what you're hearing from paul ryan and mitch mcconnell is that

a leader can't say things like that. if donald trump wants to say my people will be furious, i think that's a horrible thing to do, that's one thing. saying there will be riots, they think a leader should say the process should play out and stay calm. >> use different words to accomplish the same sentiment. outfront next, democrats attacking donald trump for being dangerous. does that word help him? ted cruz -- take a look at this. ted cruz and this heavy metal rock star separated at birth? and i didn't get here alone. there were people who listened along the way. people who gave me options. kept me on track. and through it all, my retirement never got left behind. so today, i'm prepared for anything we may want tomorrow to be. every someday needs a plan. let's talk about your old 401(k) today.

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tonight, donald trump's m momentum is setting off alarm among democrats. harry reid ripping to the gop frontrunner. he says the republican party is now the party of donald trump. >> reporter: donald trump now the prime target of the democratic establishment. >> his vile rhetoric is embarrassing. his proposals are dangerous. >> reporter: with trump

significantly increasing his delegate lead, democratic leaders are racing to define him in the minds of independent voters. >> republicans continue to stand in the way and refuse to do their job. it will only be because they want donald trump to pick the next nominee. >> reporter: even president obama is jumping into the fray, mocking the party and its frontrunner. >> how can you be shocked? this is the guy, remember, who was sure that i was born in kenya. >> reporter: many democrats initially hesitated to launch a full out assault on donald trump earlier, fearing it would elevate marco rubio. with rubio out of the race and clinton starting to pull away from senator bernie sanders, democratic operatives believe they can no longer wait. >> who are you consulting with consistently so you're ready on

day one? >> i'm speaking with myself, number one, because i have a very good brain and i've said a lot of things. >> reporter: clinton suggested that the public still has more to learn about donald trump. >> we'll find out. if he gets nominated, we're going to have a very vigorous general election if i'm the nominee. >> she's an embarrassment to our country. she's on federal investigation. she doesn't have the strength or the stamina to be president as far as i'm concerned. >> reporter: but some republicans are patently fearful that democrats will successfully exploit the gop division that trump has created. >> in an ideal world you have a nominee and people coalesce around the nominee and it gives you a stronger position in the general election. i don't believe donald trump will ever do that. >> reporter: the supreme court announced this week of merrick garland. republicans say the next president should pick the replacement for antonin scalia,

but democrats are trying to sew doubts. >> it's not just donald trump who is threatening to divide the republican party. it is the issue facing the supreme court. several republican senators say they will meet with president obama's nominee to the report. the senate majority leader's stance is the same. no hearings, no vote. senator roger wicker, i appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you. >> let me start on merrick garland himself. nearly 20 years on one of the highest courts in the land. he served under george h.w. bush. he oversaw the oklahoma city bombing investigation. do you have any issue with merrick garland's ability? >> this is why i'm glad we made our position clear early on. this is not at all about any particular nominee. i don't know anything about judge garland's qualifications,

but the position that we've taken consistency is that this is a decision that the american people can now make during an election year, and it's wrong this far into the presidential election to have someone swing the court in a different direction without trusting the people to speak to that issue first. >> so to that point, though, the american people right now, the majority of them, the vast majority, senator, believe there should flooat least be hearingsm the president obama's supreme court nominee pick. is the senate ignoring the voters by not holding hearings for merrick garland? >> i really think it is the other way around. i feel very comfortable letting the people speak to this and giving them an opportunity to express themselves. which direction do they want the

court to take? do they want it to stay in a 5 to 4 direction or a left wing direction? i think the people will actually appreciate us once we get on into the discussion of the issues. they will appreciate senators who gave them an opportunity to vote on this issue in terms of a presidential election in choosing the type of president that wants the court to move in one direction or the other. >> it's interesting when you say a left wing nominee. a lot of people were surprised, including many in our own party. they thought the president would go for a left wing nominee, but he didn't. by all accounts, merrick garland is not that. he is not a far left wing judicial activist. this is something that actually made a fellow senator of yours on the judiciary committee think twice. i want to play it for you,

senator. >> okay. >> if republicans are not successful in the november election -- i hope we are, but if we're not, we ought to look at this nomination in a lame duck session in november. i would rather have a less liberal nominee like merrick garland than a nominee that hillary clinton, if she were president, would put forward. >> do you agree with the senator? >> i have a great deal of respect for jeff flake. he's a wonderful senator from arizona, and i've admired him for a long time. i'm going to decline to speculate about what might happen in the general election. i appreciate his point of view, but i think i would rather stand on the principle that this is a decision that should be made by the american people. and they have the opportunity in just a few short months to really decide the direction the supreme court will go. >> it sounds like what you're

saying, though -- i want to make it clear. if the voters choose hillary clinton or bernie sanders, would not want to go with a nominee because merrick garland might be less liberal? you would let them pick because the next president picks. >> what i'm declined to do is speculate about what would happen after the presidential election. i believe the american people will choose a president in november that will not completely change the direction of the supreme court. i think this should be an issue in election. i feel very confident in letting the american people speak to this in november. >> i appreciate your time. thank you very much, sir. >> thank you. glad to be on. outfront next, breaking news. north korea firing a ballistic missile. we have a live report. this happening in a momemoments. as the u.s. declares genocide in

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breaking news. north korea launching two ballistic missiles moments ago.

cnn learning they were fired from a mobile launcher, making it incredibly hard for the u.s. to track. jim sciutto is out front. jim, you're hearing it is not just one ballistic missile, but two? >> it's a mid range ballistic missile with a range of several hundred miles. they traveled about 500 miles into the sea of japan. fired from mobile launchers, that makes it very difficult for u.s. satellite tracking to pick them up, to pick up preparations for these missile launches. that appears to be the very intention of north korea using that kind of launcher today. >> and they have been trying to put these miniaturized nuclear missile payload on top of these missiles. perhaps it could reach the united states, right? >> that's the question. the u.s. intelligence view is they have to assume that north korea has an untested capability to do that because they haven't seen them conduct a successful test. they don't know for sure that

they have it, but they don't know for sure that they don't have it, so they make that assumption. what is not questioned is north korea is making progress on both fronts, in terms of missile range and reliability and the possibility of miniaturizing a nuclear weapon. it's extremely concerning to u.s. officials. >> doesn't seem like there's ever anything they can do about it. >> that's the question. they announced unilateral sanctions yesterday just by the u.s. they got a u.n. security council resolution with china on board for another round of economic sanctions against north korea. we know those hurt the regime if they're enforced. >> thank you very much. outfront next, our exclusive look inside syria from a courtroom to a hospital bed. no one is safe anywhere. and on a much lighter note. we get to the bottom of a social media mystery. ted cruz and his heavy metal

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a declaration of genocide. tonight, the united states says that's what's happening inside syria with hospital, schools, childrens being slaughtered, mass murder, rape.

our cnn international correspondent clarissa ward went to the front lines. she witnessed firsthand some of these atrocities. i want to warn you the report you're about to see does contain graphic images. >> reporter: it is an all too common sight in rebel held parts of syria. the moments after an air strike. dazed survivors stagger from the rubble. the target this time the courthouse in idlib city. activists say the bombs were russian. when rebels took the capital of idlib, they saw it as a crucial opportunity to demonstrate they could build their own state. they believe that's exactly why the russians bombed this courthouse, to undermine that effort. any civilian infrastructure is a potential target, including

hospitals. last month four were hit in a single day. one was supported by doctors without borders. this is what remains of it now. at least 25 people were killed. a doctor was the general manager. he told us that russian and regime forces target hospitals cynically and deliberately. >> translator: they want to kill the maximum number of people. also they want to forbid the area from having medical service. if there's no doctor, no nurse, no hospital, then there is no health care for the people and people will >> is it possible that they did not know that this was a hospital? >> translator: everyone knows this is a hospital. there was even a sign that said this is a hospital. but if they didn't know, this is an even bigger disaster because

if you were bombing a building like this without knowing it's a hospital, it means you are hitting totally indiscriminately. >> against the backdrop of this vicious war, islamist factions have gained the upper hand. among them al qaeda affiliate al nusra. they are urging all men to join the jihad. one encourages women to cover up completely. this doctor works at the only hospital still standing. he's no militant but sees this conflict in black and white. >> the whole of the syrian people is against isis and against extremism. but we see that the russians are bombing far from isis and they are focused on civilian areas. >> i asked him why he doesn't

leave syria. >> translator: if i did that, i would abandon my conscience. this is our country. we can't desert it. if we left, then we have sold our morales. who would treat the people? i can very easily leave but we will remain steadfast. i'm prepared to die rather than to leave. and i will carry on no matter what. >> reporter: carry on in the faint hope that for the next generation of syrians it will be better. >> it's just stunning and heartbreaking to watch that on tape. i cannot imagine what it was like to be there. you asked at the hospital, did they know.

do the russians know what they are bombing. from what you were able to tell and when you listen to that man, do you think they know that they are bombing hospitals, schools and courthouses? >> first of all, we did reach out to the russian ministry of defense. they said they have niever bombd any civilian targets and have never killed any civilians. did they know that either the regime or russian military, whoever was responsible did not know? there are signs outside saying quite clearly that this is a hospital. and we actually looked at a report by doctors without borders for 2015. 82 medical facilities in rebel-held areas were hit in 2015. that can't be an accident. >> and they're listed. it's as if someone went through the list and purposely targeted. when the united states today, secretary john kerry says this is genocide. you've been to syria multiple times. you saw a little boy die in a hospital. we saw that footage the other

day. do you think this is genocide? >> well, secretary of state kerry was talking specifically about isis crimes. and there's no question that those are heinous crimes. they were not including in this genocide delegation or designation the crimes of bashar al assad. genocide is a very loaded word, but i can tell you from what i have seen and from talking to the syrian people that they feel very strongly. that they are the victims of a genocide of systematic killing in order to try to prop up this regime of bashar al assad. >> what about at the end there? we saw footage of babies, incubators or newborn babies. this is routine medical care. sometimes it becomes much more than that. but people living, people dying. people being born. >> life does go on. >> was there any care? >> he was complaining they don't have clean water anymore. so it makes it very difficult to

do surgery. they don't have enough medicines. aid is not getting in to these areas because the large aid organizations are simply too scared to put their people on the ground. so they are trying to cobble together whatever semblance of a health care system that they can. but there's no question that it's not enough for these people. and you talked about the children. 1 in 3 syrian children has been born in the last five years. that means all they have known, erin, is death, destruction and war. >> which is horrible when you think about what that will mean when they grow up. thank you so much. jeanne moos is "outfront" next. e roles you play in life are part of what make you, you. and you're not going to let anything keep you sidelined. that's why you drink ensure with nutritious calories, 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. come on grandma! giving you the strength and energy to get back to doing...

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if ted cruz's presidential ambitions fail, he may have a future as a rock star. jeanne moos explains. >> reporter: they don't have much in common, the well singer for a heavy metal band and ted cruz. or do they? >> i don't really see the resemblance. >> but the internet sure does so michael sweet front man for the band striper tweeted, i guess my doppelganger is ted cruz? guess i better cancel the stryper tour so i can focus on my campaign. the photo cruz resembles is of michael back when he was 22. the two do share the same religion.

stryper is a christian heavy metal band. michael is joking about his cruz connection. >> i really am ted cruz. and i have very big hands. >> reporter: back in the '80s, people mistook him for boy george. now they ask -- >> if i'm billy ray cyrus. never ted cruz. >> reporter: he tends to vote republican, but is still undecided. this is not the first time that cruz has been accused of being a twin. opponents joke that cruz is the zodiac killer, or even -- munster. he calls his wife and serenades her anyway. ♪ i just called to say i love you ♪ >> reporter: michael suggests one of the band's classics can serve as the cruz campaign song. rival donald trump in mind. ♪ but for the debatable doppelgangers, we suggest --

♪ you and me together >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> disturbing. thank you for joining us. "ac 360" starts now. good evening. we begin with growing signs of a gop freak-out over donald trump. breaking news in what was the unprecedented effort by leading republicans to keep their primary front-runner from winning the nomination. that battle expanded to include conserve tifss gathering in washington to plot a trump takedown. bud about a ted cruz/john kasich unity ticket, a contested convention and of drafting paul ryan to replace him. there was that and also this. republican lawmakers who openly deeply and comprehensively detest senator cruz are now beginning to endorse him. dana bash has the latest on all of that. she joins us noup letw. let's talk about this closed