harry bellefonte endorsing sanders. i'm joined by this distinguished panel tonight in new york as we count you down. we're going to get into the details of tonight's debate in a moment. i want to begin with jeff zeleny. jeff, tonight truly is a very crucial night for both clinton and sanders. >> reporter: it certainly is. the outcome shook the confidence of donors and staff members and the candidate herself. this is a chance on this stage right behind me here to get back in the groove. we know one thing about hillary clinton. she does very well at debates. there's not a debate this cycle or the first time that she ran for president that she did not shine in. so what she's trying to do tonight is to get back to the issues, to focus on foreign policy, a strength for her, to highlight other strengths, her experience and record. the clinton campaign knows they have to improve their likeability. i think the sanders campaign has a burden to keep this in the driver's seat. bernie sanders has fallen into this moment a bit. he w

. >> reporter: the influential writer ta-nehisi coates and harry bellefonte endorsed him today. >> i think he represents opportunity. i think he represents a moral imperative. >> reporter: when clinton and sanders face off here in milwaukee tonight, she'll argue that she will actually do more to carry on the legacy of the nation's first black president while he'll argue, scott, that he'll actually do more to help for things like free public college tuition. >> thanks very much. >>> the republican primary in south carolina is just nine days away and the attacks are getting louder and cruder. here's major garrett. >> we win here, we're going to run the table. >> reporter: donald trump in south carolina, by turns optimistic and vulgar. >> what the hell is this guy talking about? doing. >> senator marco rubio. >> reporter: marco rubio campaigning in the state with more conservative cultural instincts criticized trump's language on an assault on decency. >> you have a presidential candidate saying profanity from a stage. profanity from a stage. i mean, all these things undermine what we t

black caucus sided with clinton and sanders won the support of civil rights icon and entertainer harry bellefonte. >> it's your voice, your vote. abc's liz kreutz has more from the debate. good morning. >> good morning. after that devastating loss in new hampshire, the pressure was on hillary clinton at last night's debate. she's been criticized for not having a cohesive message especially compared to bernie sanders. but at last night's debate, she came armed with one going after sanders for being a single issue candidate and for criticizing president obama. sanders fired back. take a listen. >> he's called him weak. he's called him a disappointment. he wrote a forward for a book that basically argued voters should have buyers remorse when it comes to president obama's leadership and legacy. >> madame secretary, that is a low blow. one of us ran against barack obama. i was not that candidate. >> the two candidates also sparred over wall street, foreign policy and criminal justice reform. that's going to be a topic they both zero in on in the coming days as they make their final pitch to minoritie

> reporter: sanders is making in roads to the african-american leadership and endorsement of harry bellefonte and not on the campaign trail and hunkering down studying and prepping for the debate airing at 9 p.m. eastern on pbs and air odd cnn. >> denise: let's talk about ohio governor john kasich after the second place showing in new hampshire. what's his strategy going into south carolina. he has a much tougher time a far way the voter base is but how much time he put in new hampshire and kasich said i am not expecting the same kind of results in south carolina. i can tell you he is pulling in some large crowds. a lot of people not paying attention to him before or showing up for the town halls in south carolina to hear what he has to say and the gov says he will maintain this positive campaign to be the adult in the room if you will amongst republican candidates while there. he won't be a marshmallow or pincushion. he will bite back if they attack him. >> dan: let's stay on the republican side of thing trump first, kasich second and who among rubio, jeb bush and ted cruz, who of the three

. >> reporter: the influential writer ta-nehisi coates and harry bellefonte endorsed him today. >> i think he represents opportunity. i think he represents a moral imperative. >> reporter: when clinton and sanders face off here in milwaukee tonight, she'll argue that she will actually do more to carry on the legacy of the nation's first black president while he'll argue, scott, that he'll actually do more to help minorities with his proposals for things like free public college tuition. >> thanks very much. south carolina is just nine days away and the attacks are getting louder and cruder. here's major garrett. >> we win here, we're going to run the table. >> reporter: donald trump in south carolina, by turns optimistic and vulgar. >> what the hell is this guy talking about? i don't know what the hell i was doing. >> senator marco rubio. >> reporter: marco rubio campaigning in the state with more conservative cultural instincts criticized trump's language on an assault on decency. >> you have a presidential candidate saying profanity from a stage. profanity from a stage. i mean, all

sanders supporters include everybody from harry bellefonte to others. and those speaking in support of the naacp and the voting issues as well as against the confederate flag. >> do these matter? do these play into people's decision-making? >> it's good to see that people are interested in south carolina that have not shown an interest before because of their work. not because they didn't care, but they've had other responsibilities. it's good to see that now that it's crunch time, white knuckle time or brown knuckle time, that they're now showing an interest in what takes place in south carolina. because this state, and i think you said something earlier, this state is number 5 in the nation in the number of african-america african-americans. we're right at 30%, which is half percentage. for a state that wasn't known for nothing but picking cotton, can now pick in the united states. they're right for coming to south carolina letting folks know what they stand for and what they don't stand for and who they don't support. there are still candidates in th