with gritted teeth and i wait my time this is "nightline." >> tonight, judgment day. for the presidential hopefuls. donald trum wp a huge win in native son marco rubio out of the race. but with underdog john kasich scoring big in ohio, could he be the one to take down trump? and with a projected win ie states up for grabs today, could hillary clinton have finally put bernie sanders behind her? plus the a-list activist taking a forced to flee syria. power couple george and amal clooney meeting with the refugees. while many are still fighting to escape the deadly grasp of isis,

where the battle still rages on. and the ex-correctional officer who says he was o.j.'s prison bff.e says the inmate is still living a life of luxury and what he claims o.j. says recently about the knife found at his former estate.k at the results

good evening. thanks for joining us. another epic night in the fight for the white house. for the democrats hillary clinton scores a convincing string of wins. perhapsfront-runner status. as for the republicans, despite trump's success tonight that race is just as unpredictable and unprecedented as ever. as we go now to abc's david wright ino, where a win for governor kasich could reshape the election. david. >> reporter: good evening, juju. from john kasich headquarters outside cleveland a jubilant mood here tonight. this is one state where had a real fight on his hands today. and john kasich, the governor here, won his home state, ensuring that he now moves forward in the republican a three-man race. beware the ides of march. march 15th. the man who would be an american caesar was this wasn't quite the sweeping

he was triumphant in florida. >> thank you very much, everybody. >> reporter: donald trump easilyubio in his home state. the margin, huge. tonight rubio suspended his campaign. >> while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that i've is evidence of how special america truly is. >> reporter: here in ohio john kasich was hoping to avoid the same fate. >> soonight we were with him backstage as he was shooting hoops and shooting the off. >> looks like you've tonight. >> i've got game with basketball every night. >> reporter: this was the biggest day of voting since super tuesday. going into tonight, ohio andthe biggest potential road blocks for trump because kasich and rubio enjoyed home state advantage. here in ohio it was neck and neck right down to the exciting to come into ohio and cast a vote for me for president of the united states.

>> reporter: kasich is the one has continued to take the high road, refusing even today to take a pot shot at trump. >> it strikes me you're the one republican who hasn't gone downleast. >> well, listen -- >> do you think that's helped you? >> oh, no question. after languishing in the shadows for the whole time and, you know, really being ignored, i think that maybe that positiveness is translating through. >> reporter: he says tonight the voters have finally noticed. ohio has an open primary. >> i need you to make a choicey. >> reporter: allowing independent voters to choose whether they'll vote in the republican or the democratic contest. today we met who gamed it out. >> what's your strategy? >> to vote for someone that i think will knock someone else out that i do not approve of. >> reporter: about it. we had to play 20 questions. >> i'm guessing you voted in the republican race. >> i did.

with thee town hero. >> probably. >> reporter: she wasn't alone. ohio officials say 10% of democrats chose to vote republican this year. >> democrats come into the in a lot of different states. i think in ohio they came in and the exit polls show they actually voted for john kasich in the course of this. their effort to sort of say we're going to stop trump. even the democrats are trying to get involved in the stop trump movement. >> reporter: at sliman'ssting cleveland's biggest corned beef sandwiches one of the waitresses told us she was going to vote right after she finished peeling potatoes ahead of the st. >> vote for kasich. >> reporter: she told us she wasn't thrilled with the choice. she says her whole family sees it as the lesser of evils. >> whatabout -- >> picking a presidential candidate this year is like picking what sexually transmitted disease i'd be most comfortable with.rump has plenty of supporters in florida where the choice appears to have

>> i think i've seen enough of professional politicians, so i voted for donaldter: he's come out on top of every poll in florida since july. even after rubio tried to match trump insult for insult. [ cheers ] >> reporter: trump then took special relish in mocking him. l-i-d-d-l-e. little. little marco. >> reporter: the contest in florida ended up looking a little bit like trump's wwe. remember the battle of the billionaires on wrestlemania? >> how are you maybe this is what vladimir putin has to look forward to, eh? >> thank you all very much. >> reporter: for now kasich and ted cruz appear to be the only two candidates who still have some hope of challenging tr them far behind in the

today on hugh hewitt's radio show cruz ruled out ever serving as trump's vp. >> i have absolutelyoing that. >> reporter: not that trump had even offered. >> if trump beats cruz next week in arizona, then you can see a path for trump to 50% of the delegates. if cruz can beat trump in arizona, then i think we really are looking almost certainly at a contested r: tonight trump had a surprisingly strong showing from female voters. >> bimbo. >> dog. >> fat pig. >> reporter: despite this political ad. >> you know, it really doesn't ite. as long as you've got a young [ bleep ]. >> reporter: but that doesn't seem to faze him. as he told "good morning america" this morning. >> we're doing wellry. but i'm leading with women and i'm very happy about it. >> reporter: according to abc news exit polling, he has won the women's vote in 13 out of 20 you, ohio! >> reporter: on the democratic hillary clinton.

bernie sanders in most of the rust clinton sounded triumphant. >> we are moving closer to securing the democratic party nomination andelection in november! >> reporter: and she even mentioned him by name for the first time in a primary night speech. >> we can't lose what great in the first place. and this isn't just about donald trump. all of us have to do our part. >> reporter: for clinton the road to the democratic looks fairly smooth. but after that it could get rocky. today she talked with my colleague cecilia vega. >> donald trump has said he o hit you yet. it looks like this could be a general campaign that is very ugly and very personal. does that give you any pause? >> no. not a bit.oesn't even move. >> no. not a bit. you know, look, i've been standing up to bullies my entire life.

campaign he wants.hick skin. and it's not about me. it's about every american and what we're going to do together. >> reporter: if the past week is anything to go by, we are in foraign. >> thank you very much, everybody. thank you. >> reporter: the primary still ongoing but the general election fight already looming large.t for "nightline" in cleveland, ohio. up next the hollywood power couple fighting for the refugeese bloody conflict in the middle east. we're on the ground in the war-torn region. but first, time forh. hillary clinton is no stranger to being fodder for late-night comics. "snl" poking fun at her seemingly morphing into bernie sick and tired of hearing about my own damn e-mails! >> reporter: but tonight she's in on the joke.

central's "broad city" having some fun with their love for clinton. on their episode airing tomorrow. >> she walked on this floor. she take it in. mm. >> that is power. >> reporter: the candidate rounding out her millennial appeal, tweeting "you're welcome at the real hq time time @broadcity." next sketch at the oval office. >> sorry, we're just so excited.

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famous advocates for refugees. george and amal clooney now speaking out toions forced to flee. searching for a safe hav haven to escape their embattled homeland. and as abc's alexs us, that fight is far from over. >> reporter: they're the red carpet power couple. actor george clooney and his wife, renowned human rights lawyer amal. >> i'm of irish descent.merica 100 years ago we were refugees. >> reporter: but in a new video released today by the international rescuen front of a very different kind of audience. syrian refugee families now living in germany. >> irish were treated t a period of time and not accepted. and america learned to accept all of these ideas. it's what our country is, is a country of immigrants. recently done a very good job of remembering who we are.

sharing their own stories and shining a light on the stories have been forced to flee the brutal war in syria. today, the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict, theot the only celebrities standing with refugees. >> families, children. >> struggling to stay alive. >> reporter: the cast of hbo's "game of thrones" featured in another irc videoy. and angelina jolie visited refugees living in camps in lebanon. >> my own family's from lebanon and they also ran awaynd were lucky enough to be accepted by a european country. >> reporter: for amal clooney this cause is personal. she grew up in lebanon during a bloody 15-year civil war. >> many yearsy's

you know, my father has returned to beirut. i hope that as you say you will be able to go back to a safe and free syria. >> reporter: syrian families are lucky. they made it to germany. >> germany! germany! >> reporter: which has taken in the highest number of refugees and migrants in europe since the wared a massive humanitarian crisis. almost 5 million syrians have fled the country. tens of thousands making the deadly j and while their plight has dominated thellions more have remained escape. two weeks ago we traveled to syria to try to tell their stories. i reported from syria manys time it felt different. for the first time since the war began there's now a fragile cease-fire in place. on the outskirts of damascus

out playing in an empty lot shooting marbles told us that day something was missing. said. nothing? there hasn't beeny? few people i spoke with believed the relative quiet can last. but many are praying it does. >> my heart. on my >> reporter: are tired of this war. >> all. all people here. >> reporter: hello. elsewhere, these people were from a town besieged by rebelus by pro-assad forces. but it's moments like these when the politics and propaganda fall away, leaving just the horrors of this war. 21-year-old er house when a rocket fell on it, she told me, killing three relatives and blinding her. she was pregnant at the time and has since given birth to a daughter, hree months old. "all i want is to see my child

to lift the siege on my ng there." >> it's clear these people were trotted out for the cameras. but what's also clear is they've suffered a lot and they're t between much more powerful sides. >> reporter: this is not just dangerous but difficult to cover. which is why to visit a besieged town we had to rely on e militant group which the u.s. considers a terrorist organization. rare access to the group and a town they've surrounded. >> you look around here, driving through walking around, driving to work. it's incredible to think that just less than an hour down the road tens of thousands of people are living underter: activists in the town of madaya say that dozens have died of starvation and that malnutrition is rampant. the world was shocked by videos like these social media. we can't verify those numbers or these videos. to get to madaya we followed hezbollah. >> there's anch of soldiers up there. >> reporter: one rule. we couldn't film them.

from madaya in a buffer zone without going all the way in, including jihadi factions have control. but the residents were too scared to come out. and hezbollah wouldn't let us go farther in. >> what we can'tabout a dozen sir sxwran hezbollah guys who have accompanied us up here. we understand there are about 500 or 600 fighters in the town from different rebel factions. cease-fire went into place this would have been too dangerous a place to stand. >> reporter: this is one of 18 areas across syria that are half a million people are trapped by forces from all sides. the biggest number, around 200,000, by isis. the people of madaya and so many others used as pawns, unable to escape, longing for peace, for quiet, for a safer country. like the families georgeough the irc. >> these are people who have left because of incredible tragedy. and they're people who had real lives.

>> one of the reasons we've released videos with georgef the reasoof thrones" cast are so committed to working with us is they've seen a dehumanization of these people. and i think the most important thing is to hold on toot a great mass of people, it's a lot of individuals who have their own stories that deserve to be treated with dignity and with respect. >> reporter: overwhelmed of migrants and refugees, some european countries are deciding it's time to start closing their borders.ped out in tent cities living in a kind of purgatory while their fates are decided. that this war that has ravaged syria for five agonizing years will end soon. but the temporary cease-fire has paved the way for peace talks, under way right now instep, a glimmer of hope that a peace could at last be within reach. for "nightline" i'm alex

>> our thanks to and bruno rover for that report. up next, the ex-correctional officer who claims to have been o.j. simpson's confidant. shopping for an suv? well, this is the time. and your ford dealer is the place, to get 0% financing for 60 months on a ford suv. that's right. just announced. scape... and expedition... are available with 0% financing for 60 months. ford suvs. designed to help you be unstoppable. no wonder ford is america's best selling brand.% financing for 60 months on ford suvs is a limited time offer. see your ford dealer today. r makeup remover take it all off? every kiss-proof, cry-proof, stay-proof look? neutrogena makeup remover does. it erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup te. need any more proof than that?

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it hard to believe it's been 20 years since the so-called trial of the century. but so many are still transfixed by the o.j. simpson saga. now an ex-correctionallaims to be o.j.'s

i'm o.j. >> reporter: cocky and it's the on-screen depiction of o.y. simpson in "american crime story." juice. as an aging inmate. >> o.j. simpson is not he's eating well. he's exercising well. >> reporter: retired correctional officer jeffrey felix telling his version of theshed book, "guarding the juice: how o.j. simpson became my prison bff." he claims he was simpson's prison. he retired in september.ays a prison contact described how o.j. reacted to the recent news of a knife found at his former estate. >> he jokingly says, "if the knife is rusted, i can't be >> reporter: but simpson slamming felix's claims. the inmate speaking through his lawyer telling abc news that the representation of their relationship is fantasy, wildlynd "in most instances blatantly false." and that felix never worked in

housed. >> if o.j. gets paroled, o.j.ng golf together. i can guarantee you that. >> the controversy continues. thanks for watching abc news. tune in to "gma"as always, we're online at abcnews.com and our "nightline" facebook page.

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