super tuesday. >> tonight, t t super tuesday showdown. hillary clinton and donald trump leading the pack. now on a likely collision course in the november election. >> get them out of here, please. >> but will the republican party unite behind their controversial front-runner? or is it a fight all the way to a contested convention? senator bernie sanders holding & strong on his home turf. >> it is good to be home! >> but is this delegate tsunami for hillary clinton enough to keep sanders down? >> if you don't want to see donald trump -- >> and can cruz launch an effort to keep trump from the nomination? >> announcer: this special

tuesday," will be right back. (phone ringing) you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidentiti candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise)

>> announcer: this is a special edition of "nightline," "super tuesday." good evening. it's the aptly named super tuesday . a rgh and tumble night of politics. voters weighing in loud and clear on the biggest night of the primary season. 12 states casting votes in all tonight. we begin in texas, where everything is bigger, even its outsize role in politics. ted cruz edging out a victory in his home state, considered a must win to rema viable in this campaign. but the night still belongs to donald trump, with an impressive lead in states across the country tonight. a projected victory in vermont. alal winning big in the south, in georgia, alabama, and

paula faris is at trump headquarters with the robd ahead. paula? >> reporter: hi, juju. well, the trump camp is extremely happy. they say what really stood out to them, the number of first-time voters and crossover voters that voted for donald trump on super tuesday. what can't be lost in the significance of all of this is that t`is event, his campaign headquarters are in florida at the mara lago club which he owns. this is a state that votes exactly two weeks from today, a state where he has a commanding lead over marco rubio. remember, this is marco rubio's home state. night for donald trump but he clearly has his eyes set on the next couple of weeks. >> paula, thanks. let's take a look at the numbers tonight. donald trump also projected to win in virginia as well as massachusetts. a round of crushing losses, thou, for marco rubio tonight. he managed to garner a projected victory in minnesota but ted cruz beating out rubio and trum top take oklahoma as well. and on the democratic side hillary clinton steamrolling

projected win in delegate-rich texas androjected victories in georgia, alabama, and tennessee. and in her former home state of arkansas. at the clinton victory rally tonight, abc's matt gutman is in miami tonight with the latest. matt? >> reporter: well, this isn't so much a victory speech by hillary clinton but it did seem like a speech by a victor, hugely energized crowd that cheed every time they heard that hillary clinton was winning a state. they booed when they heard donald trump was winning. and the guts of her speech was really about landing body blows against donald trump. she didn't menenon him by name but she mentioned everything that he has done. the crowd booing when they heard all the things that he has said. she really pjected herself as a uniting candidate. that was what we saw in the crowd here, a very diverse crowd. of course florida very important for hillary clinton. looking forward to march 15th. hugely rich delegate pool here of 246 possible delegates. she hopes to win as many of them

this race. juju. >> matt gutman in florida thanks. mrs. clinton winning decisively overall with a narrow projected win in massachusetts. but bernie sanders winning big in his home state of vermont. also getting projected wins in minnesota. but even with those wins a closer look at the delegate count tells a different story. clinton pulling ahead in what her camp is hoping could now be an insurmountable lead. as for the republblans, trump consolidating his front-runner status tonight with a strong showing. but let's go back to texas. senator ted cruz holding on to his crucial home state. the question now, is this make or break win enough to counter donald trump's momentum c cing off a big night? my "nightline" co-anchor byron pitts is there tonight. byron. >> reporter: good evening, juju. ted cruz made the case to his supporters tonight that after two wins that he is the best republican alternative to donald trump. but the mood here in the room was less celebratory and more relief.

but many here don't see the math to winning the nomination. the big winner by all accounts on the republican side was donald trump. >> already we've won five major states. >> thank you all so very much! >> reporter: they're the presesptive nominees. >> now this campaign moves forward to the crescent city, th motor city, and beyond. >> reporter: super tuesda the single biggest day of voting in the presidential race thus far. >> vote ford marco rubio. >> donald trump because i believe as a businessman he can make a big difference to us in this country. >> repepter: but the other candidates were trying to make a difference today too. in the race for votes, that is. >> thank you very much. >> reporler: hoping to dethrone front-runner donald trump. >> donald trump thinks vladimir putin's a great guy. trump talks admiringly of the way the chinese government cracked down on the chinese people in tiananmen square. >> if you don't want to see donald trump as the nominee, if you don want us to give this election to hillary clinto then i ask you to stand with us today. >> reporter: even bernie sanders

>> the political revolution is about bringing our people together. we do not allow the donald trumps of the world to divide us up. >> reporter: i spoke to cruz today amidst the hustle and bustle at his polling@location in houston. >> this is a big day for you, right? >> i'm encouraged. >> reporter: he stopped to address the latest trump controversy. former ku klux klan leader david duke's endorsement of donald trump. >> bigotry and the klan has no place in public discourse, in politics, and i think anyone should have been willing to immediately denounce the klan. and it was unfortunate that he didn't do so. he's better than that. and`he should have done that. >> donald trump, he joins us now. >> reporter: but today on "good morning america" trump vehemently denied embracing duke's support. >> i disavowed him on friday. i disavowed him right after that because i thought if there was any question, and you take a look at twitter, almost immediately after on twitter and facebook they were disavowed again. >> reporter: in fact, in his eyes trump has done a lot for diversity. >> there is nobody that's done so much for equality as i have.

flflida. i built the mara lago club, totally ope to everybody. >> reporter: but that doesn't exactly come through at his rallies. >> g@t him out of here, please. get him out. >> reporter: yesterday he insisted a protester be removed. asking -- >> are you from mexico? are you from mexico? right smack in the middle of my punchline! >> reporter: trump's latest antics and rhetoric seem to be once again working for him tonight. last night trump's wife melania rebuffed ideas that her husband is a racist. >> when you hear, you know, people saying he's racist, hearing him saying he's anti-immigrant, what do you -- >> no, he's not. he's not racist. he's not anti-immigrant. he wants to keep america safe. >> reporter: despite not calling trump by name, today more signs of panic in the gop. the speaker of the house, paul ryan, sending a clear message to his party. >> if a person wants to be the nominee of the republican party, there can be no evasion and no games.

cause that is built on bigotry. >> reporter: and yet trump seems a master at playing the race like a game, prlmpting others to try to play on his level. >> i've never seen a human being sweat like he sweats. >> reporter: a new marco rubio in recent days, taking on trump'sproportions, literally. >> and you know what they say about men with small hands. you can't trust them. >> reporter: his pores. >> he doesn't sweat because his pores are clogged from the spray tan that he uses. >> reporter: and his policy, almost. >> donald is not g gng to make america great. he's going to make america orange. >> bullili need to be stood up to. i was proud and happy to do it. but it's not going to change my campaign and what we're about. >> reporter: vice president joe biden weighin in tonight on the divide in the gop. >> i want to thank donald trump. [ laughter ] that's a joke. the stuff he's doing and others including cruz and others, he's making the american people look in the mirror.

the hashtag free chris christie trending after christie's awkward looks at the trump press conference drew mockery. tonight trump might consider a turn of focus.s. hillary clinton. >> once we get all of this finished, i'm going to go after one pers. that's hillary clinton. >> reporter: a new cnn/orc poll out today indicates that trump would lose against democratic front-runner hillary clinton in the general election. after icing the media for 88 days, clinton finally taking questions from reporters today. >> i'm going to keep going. i've got a lot of work to do between now andext tuesday and the tuesday after that. >> reporter: now it seems

and one eye on trump, as we head into the november election. in monday's "new york times" clinton's advisers and strategists highlighted a plan to test ads t tt would portray trump as a misogist and an enemy to the working class whose brash temper would put the nation and the world in grave danger. tonight hilla clinton taking a subtle jab at trump. >> i believe what we need in america today is more love and kindness. instead of building walls, we're going to break down barriers. >> reporter: trump in typical form was much more direct. >> i watched hillary's speech. and she's talking about wages have been poor and everything's poor and everything's doing badly but we're going to make it -- she's been there for so long. i mean, if she hasn't straightened it out by now, she's not going to straighten it out in the next four years. it's just going to become worse and worse. >> our thanks to byron pitts from texas. up next, as trump continues to consolidate his lead, cruz lives

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it's in a tree. i wish i was joking, mate, but it's'siterally stuck in a tree. (car horn honking) a chainsaw? no, no, all we really need is a tow truck. day or night, geico's emergency roadside service is there for you. super tuesday now setting the pace in the race for the white e use. hillary clinton emerging with a commanding delegate lead for democrats, and donald trump seemingly unstoppable. abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl and our entire political team tonight in our times square headquarters on trump's victory, sparking an anyone but trump movement. jon? >> reporter: what a night, juju. we're joined by our panel now. and matthew dowd, this really was super tuesday but it was also trump tuesday. >> a big, big day for donald trump in the course of this. i mean, he had won new hampshire.

but this was the big day. this was the delegate haul in the course of this. and he basically met expectations for himself. >> this has been an amazing evening. already we've won five major states, and it looks like we could win six or seven orr eight or nine. >> the great thing for donald trum is not only is he accumulating delegates but because the other candidates in the course of this won a certain share, marco rubio and ted cruz, it makes them live another day. and if fr candidates live another day, it's helpful for donald trump. >> who's to say that marco rubio is going to win his home state of florida? >> absolutely. so far he's behind in the polls. john kasich is counting on his home state of ohio. but -- >> he's behind in the polls there. some of them. >> this could go to the convention. >> okay. so bill krtol, you have been trying to stop donald trump for some time. first i guess you were a little bit in denial. >> right. >> but can he be stopped?

it's generally a healthy psychologicacastate often compared to facing reality. i think he can be stopped. he had a good night. counting even the first four states, which voted before tonight, looks likee's going to have about 35% to 36% of the popular vote cast so far, about 40%, 42% of the delegates so far. he's an boff 50%. it's very hard to see any of the other candidates getting above 50%. i don't think it's true that getting another candidates out helps the anti-trump cause at this p pnt -- >> because you need to keep him from getting 50. >> yes. >> one of the big q questions of this entire campaign is we now see actually tonight announced a big renewed effort to stop donald trump. what took so long? why now? >> might have been better -- there was too much tactical thinking about gee, if i take trump down here, we'll help cruz, and i prefer rubio or i prefer kasich or i prefer jeb bush. think about this. jeb bush, they're now going to put in 10, 20,0 million dollars, which is a lot of money for people like you and me.

$120 million. >> very little on trump -- >> very little on trump. >> it's a waste of money. donald trump is redefining as matt said today, he's redefining the republican party. he's energizing the republican electorate. so all of this money is just going to just melt away because i think donald trump has found a way to not just grab those voters who are disgusted with the politics in the republican party but he's been able to tap into something that might even give democrats a little bit of heartburn. >> they have not come up with one disciplined argument against donald trump that has been exercised and done in a concerted way day in and day out. it's all been all o or the map. even marco rubio's last week, which was some tiny bit of substance but mostly name calling that i don't think was helpful for marco rubio as we've seen in the results tonight. >> we will win florida. i'm confident of that. especially when we have two weeks to explain to the people of the state just e actly what we're getting with donald trump. a world-class con artist.

ability to exercise one argument that was definitive against donald trump. >> jeb bush spent $77 million in television advertising and didn't rate double digits. i think thattelevision stations are getting rich off of false promises because it's not working. >> the only thing i would say is every other front-runner has survived a huge assault on television, and we@ don't know what would happen if real money were put behind some of these attacks and exposing of the true record of donald trump. >> before we wrap up, a big night for hillary clinton, though. how big? >> huge. >> i believe deeply that if we resist the forces trying to drive us apart we can ce together to make this country work for everyone. the struggling. the striving and the successful. if we all do our part, we can restore our common faith in our common future. >> so hillary clinton will accumulate a lot of delegates,

ago, once you begin to pick up delegates, it's very hard for bernie sanders, w w is a great candidate. it's very hard for him to play catch-up. >> is it over? >> no, it's not quite over, but we have a lot of states at play, sisilar to what we saw tonight. misssippi, louisiana, north carolina -- >> states that -- >> states that once again will give her a lot of delegates. >> all right. well, we're out of time. juju, back to you. >> our thanks to our political powerhouse team for the post-game alysis. up next, david muir breaking down the vote. what the exit polls are saying g voters have on their minds. i'll be right back. be goo text mom. boys have been really good today. send. let's get mark his own cell phone. nice. send. brad could use a new bike. send. [google:] message. you decide. they're your kids.

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and we're tracking super tuesday results, sorting through the exitt polls all night, painting a fascinating picture of what's motivating people in the voting booth. and world news anchor david muir joining me now with the big question of outsider status. hey, david. hey, juju. this was extremely telling tonight. take a look at this. a split between republicans and dmtz on this question. when asked should the next president come from outside the political establishment? 50% of republican voters say they want an outsider. only 15% of democratic voters want an outsider. and of those republican voters, 63% who want an outsider went to donald trump. when asked on the flip side should the next president have experience in politics? 81% of democratic voters said yes this super tuesday. only 39% of republican voters said yes to experience going in. and those who wanted experience in the democratic side, look at the breakdown. 69% went to hillary clinton.

this super tuesday. let's take a look at the coalition that the clinton camp put together to fuel these victories tonight. hillary clinton winning among men 53-45. fairly close, though. when you break down the women you can see the gap much wider. 65% to sanders' 33%. among white voters very close totoght. hillary clinton 50% to bernie sanders' 48%. again,hen you break down the black voters, hispanic voters, the gap muc wider. hillary clinton 83% to sanders' 15%. and then hispanic voters 67% to sander at 33%. make no mistake, this is going to be the coalition that the clinton team wants to use as they continue to move forward. mowl on the last question of when on the republican side the voters made up their mind, if they made up their mind a month or so ago, look at this, donald trump 48% of those. 27% for ted cruz. marco rubio 13%. so donald trump holding the republican voters, the majority of them who decided some tim ago. we've seen all this mudslinging

marco rubio trying to deliver some of what trump typically dishes out right baca to him. and take a look. of these late deciders in the last couplef days it seemed to work. a split right down the middle. rubio, cruz. donald trump 24% of late deciders. the attacks appear to have worked. the only question, was it too little too late. juju, back to you. >> thanks, david. and thank you for watching this special edition of "nightline" on super tuesday. tune in to "gma" first thing in the morning. and as always, we're online 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook page and at abcnews.com. for some of you up next is abc news' contiing coverage of

progress. but, that work -- that work is not to make america great again, america never stopped being great. [ cheers ] we have to make america whole -- we have to fill in -- fill in what's been hollowed out. >> we have the beginnings of a

there between donald trump and hillary clinton. hillary ilinton swept the south. she won in the state of alabama. big win, 79.to 18.on the strength of the african-american vote. in tennessee. in texas, latino votes strong for hillary clinton as well. home state of arkansas, lived there for 18 years, bill clinton of course governor of that state and virginia as well a key swing state in the general election. here's the big one for hillary clinton tonight. break through in the northeast, a win in massachusetts. i'm here with cecilia vega, you covered that campaign from the start. this one was the one that mattered the most. >> this is one they were hoping to win. clearly, they're claiming victory and ver happy about this. thth is also the state that berfie sanders needed to win. if he couldn't win in