nbc's halle jackson reports. >> new week, same rivalry. now playing out on the radio. >> joining me on the line -- >> donald trump versus ted cruz. >> he started it. if he didn't start it, it would have never happened. nothing like this would have ever happened. >> trump, upset about the racy ad featuring a photo of his wife. >> he knew about it, somebody said he's the one who bought the copyrights. >> the cruz team denies that and s.e.c. filings show no payments from his campaign to british "gq." >> a photographer who took the picture demands the group stop using it. ignoring the back and forth? cruz now refusing to engage. >> who cares. who cares what donald is tweeting late at night. we need real solutions for the real problems in this country. >> he's taking on trump, not personally, but on policy. >> he has no idea how to keep america safe from radical islamist terrorists. so instead, he yells and screams and curses and attacks people and threatens lawsuits and attacks their wives and attacks their families. >> campaigning through wis

now, ted cruz fresh off his win of oklahoma and texas, both to nbc's halle jackson, here's what he had to say. >> why do you go from here after super tuesday? how do you get the republican nomination? >> the whole process of this primary has been whittling. we started with 17 candidates a year ago, the first four states whittled that down considerably. i think we'll continue to narrow the field. at this point there have been 15 states that have voted and only one candidate has beaten donald trump. that's us. we have beaten him three different times. for the republicans, it's about 65, 70% of republicans nationwide who recognize donald is not the best candidate to go head to head to hillary. that he almost certainly loses to hillary. for republicans who don't want to see donald as the nominee. we have to come together and donald trump is for us to stand together united statesed and that's what i hope will happen in the days and weeks to follow. >> marco rubio all but promised to take this to a contested convention. what's your strategy for making this a two-man race? >> every candidate

halle jackson, always asking the great questions. you are going for those an answers, thank you very much. >> author of the 2014 biography hrc, hey, good to see you, welcome. >> good morning, alex. >> let's get right to cruz. we mentioned he called this garbage, trump denies it. how damaging, though, might this back and forth be for both of them, who do you think might be damaged the most? >> right now, we are talking about whether or not ted cruz had a series of affairs and whether or not this story is true, whether or not donald trump or his allies are planning things in the national enquirer. the entire conversation is something hurtful to ted cruz and helpful to donald trump in terms of seizing that, i don't mean to pick on that. that is the entire political conversation today. yesterday, and i assume the next several days going forward. i imagine sunday's shows will be full. so donald trump is against a narrative and puts his opponent on the defensive and even if he didn't put that national enquirer story together, even if his a

. >> reporter: in illinois, this man was among those kicked out telling halle jackson he thinks trump is inciting the violence. >> i get impassioned about the hate that's being shown. >> reporter: marco rubio is very considered that someone could lose their life at a trump event. he's in florida, his make-or-break home state grasping for votes as our new him behind, 2-1. >> he's turned into a circus, a complete fiasco, a carnival. >> reporter: john kasich securing a win in ohio. >> i think when people around the world see americans clocking each other at a campaign rally it's like we're in disarray. that's what they're going to try to say. it will be used as a propaganda tool. >> reporter: a prolonged fight against trump. >> responsibility starts at the top, and it is not beneficial when you have a presidential candidate like donald trump telling his supporters punch that guy in the face. >> reporter: the gop front-runner remains defienlts, rye fusing to pull any punches on his way to the nomination. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez reporting. >>> well, trump is now blaming the democrats and s

tony near phoenix in fountain hills, arizona and halle jackson in tucson. what can we expect and what is the conventional wisdom on whether or not joe arpaio helps or hurts? >> reporter: let's start with that part of it. there are reports he's not just hosting the rally, but running security for it. that's his territory. whether it helps or hurts trump, trump touted his support. it's been a key part of donald trump's campaign since the debeginning. over the summer, candidates were not talking about it. trump really pulling the rest of the field further rightward as he staked out the hard line stance. joe arpaio fits into that. the people who like arpaio and trump's stance would appreciate somebody like sheriff joe, as he's called, backing trump and stumping for him. he is very controversial, but again, look at where we are in arizona. this is arpaio's home territory, basically. for him, potentially a benefit. as for what to expect to see, watch for activists and protesters, many active rights. demonstrating here in tucson and phoenix as well. >> has that be

nbc's halle jackson, at these trump rallies and really speaking from the inside in -- with us from daytonle. let's go to msnbc's tremaine lee, in chicago. all right, tremaine. i don't know how much of that you were able to hear. talk a little bit about from the point of view now -- you're in chicago. how in the aftermath of what happened in chicago yesterday, people are feeling about this sort of trump phenomenon and what that protest might have meant in relation to it. >> reporter: i think you have to wonder if we're at a come to jesus moment. in st. louis, 32 people arrested. one young man blooded. a confrontation between supporters of donald trump and protesters. and last night in chicago, thousands of supporters, hundreds of protesters and now the day after. as halle mentioned, today's event is further out. not an urban center that you have kind of diverse group you had here in chicago last night. folks are wondering if they'll continue to see an escalation of the violence. if you'll see an escalation of the of the rhetoric. and after last night, donald trump said that, you know, amer

. >> reporter: in illinois, a 70-year-old veteran was among those kicked out, telling nbc's halle jackson he thinks trump is inciting the violence. >> i get very impassioned mainly about the whole racism and hate that is being shown at these rallies. >> reporter: marco rubio is very concerned that someone could lose their life at a trump event. he's in florida, his make-or-break home state, grasping for votes as our new nbc news/wall street/marist poll has him behind trump, almost 2-1. >> he has turned the most important election in a generation into a circus, into a complete fiasco and a carnival. >> reporter: john kasich fairing better in ohio. even if he wins his home state, he can't secure the nomination without a contested convention. >> i think when people around the world see images of americans clocking each other at a campaign rally, they're like, you know, we're in disarray. that's what they're going to try to say. it will be used as a propaganda tool. >> reporter: ted cruz is focusing on snagging delegates in north carolina and missouri in a prolonged fight against trump. >> re

nbc's halle jackson is in houston, where she spent the evening with ted cruz's campaign. halle, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey there, matt. good morning. ted cruz is arguing that he can be the one to bring the party together to try and slow down donald trump. but trump looks tough to stop, making the case he can unify the party and taking really a more measured, thoughtful tone after his big night. south, dominance from donald trump, racking up seven wins and more importantly, racking up delegates. >> i think it's awfully hard to say that's not the person we want to lead the party, right? >> reporter: skipping the victory laps for a news conference, trump sounding mostly gracious. >> i want to congratulate ted on the winning of texas. he worked hard on it. >> but at times, defiant, dismissing a gop staeth revolt against him. >> they can always do that. and then they'll just lose everything and that would be the -- that would be the work of a loser. >> reporter: he couldn't resist a dig at marco rubio. >> he had a tough night. >> reporter: who is notching his first

now, ted cruzre off h win of oklahomand texas, both t t t nbc's hall jackson, here's what he hado say. >> why do yo gorom here a&aer susurtuesday? how do you get the repcan nomination>> thehelerocess of this primimyas been whittlg. we started with 17andidates a yearago, the firiririrourr states whitited that dow iderably. i think we'll conon toarrow the eld. at this point the have b b 15 onon candidate has beaten dond % trump. that's us. haveeaten him three differentmes. for the repupuicanan it's about 65, % of rububcaca nationde who recogogzeonald nhe best candidao go head to heaea t t hilllly. that heost certainly losos hillarar r republicansho't w wt see d d ahenoe. heoomhehe a uny, the only to beat doldruru is forvs to stand together unid statesed and at whaha j hope will happen in tayay and wee to follow.>>>> mco r rio all t totoaketo take this to a contested convnvti. what's' yr sategy foro making this two-man bb?? ry candi is going to look at the results. >> should sodyyp out? >> think theeho are nning, allf them lov this country and they're putting ts countryfirst. ift becomes

howie jackson is there at his headquarters. halle, clearly he wants to see this two-man race after tomorrow. we heard him making remarks about marco rubio, tell us more about that. this is the crux of cruz's argument that he's trying to make the republican base. he's the only candidate who has beaten donald trump. and you heard him say a couple minutes ago, he said i beat donald trump not once, not twice, but three times, and putting pressure on other specifically marco rubio to essentially clear the way. the campaign feels that if marco rubio stays in this race, they believe that rubio's supporters simply will not go to trump, that it'll hand trump the nomination basically. the question for cruz now is can he coalesce conservatives around his candidacy? we saw him do well with white evangelicals in oklahoma, and if he won, he picks up the states, but he lost that assignment group. that very conservative white evangelical group in georgia to donald trump. the question now, how much more work does he have to do to bring people behind

i want to bring in nbc correspondent halle jackson. halle follows the cruz campaign. let's just remind everybody the language that donald trump or campaign of donald trump used to walk this back and as luke is waiting outside of the rnc, i remind everybody, ted cruz was one of the candidates to walk away from the loyalty pledge as was john kasich. >> donald trump was likely the most definitive about it, thomas. you talk about his response to this. he said, no, i wouldn't do this. what we have seen for example from ted cruz is he is not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks his family, attacks his wife. remember last week or week before donald trump retweeted the unflattering photo of heidi cruz, next to melania trump. >> not just because of a loyalty pledge but this is something that rnc likely does not want to be focussing on. discussion of unity within the party. remember the rnca goal, what they are very complicit about is beating hillary clinton or whom ever the democratic nominee is come november. that's the discussion they want to be what having. that's

. >> i'm halle jackson in houston, following ted cruz's campaign. moving forward his campaign hoping to play in arkansas and oklahoma, too cruz has predicated his whole campaign on being strong in the south. tonight it will prove whether he can be or not. >>> we'll be continuing our team coverage tonight. you can go to our website, or the nbc washington app. we'll be mapping out which candidates are winning in particular counties, of course we'll be sending out breaking news alerts when the winners have declared. if you haven't had a chance to vote we're putting together a comparison of all the candidates, more specifically where they stand on particular issues. make sure to stick around after news4 at 6:00, for a special edition of "nbc nightly news." and lester will be back for a special report as the results start to come in. >>> all right folks, take a g look at the storm team 4 radar some of the super tuesday states are getting hit with rain as voters head to the polls. >> doug is here with a look at what we can be expecting in the next 24 hour

we begin with halle jackson. i have been following your tweets and you are at the trump rally in blomington, illinois. what are you seeing today and what has been the reaction against trump's assertion that it's bernie sanders and his supporters who are behind what we have seen play out in the last two days? >> a couple of points. he just pulled up in his plane maybe five minutes ago and walked out to loud clears. this crowd has been fired up. almost anticipating before he came out. we saw protests even before the rally began. by our count, have left at their own accord and most escorted out. sing them out. you talked about the bernie sanders thing this morning. before donald trump took the stage, that tweet was referenced. better be careful, bernie sanders. crowd responded and huh that response here. people in this very friendly approach, remember where we are. we are in central illinois which is further south than chicago. more conservative. less diverse. people here really -- you can hear them cheering. they f

to talk about it let's bring in nbc's halle jackson. she's been covering ted cruz. e, ted cruz is supposed to be the answer. >> they have to be. that's one of the more interesting parts about where cruz's candidacy is going. he runs against the washington cartel. i've been with him since august. he talks about running against the establishment in washington. now he needs that establishment to win the nomination basically. the interesting part about jeb bush's endorsement, it was really different from mitt romney. remember mitt romney said he would vote for ted cruz in utah yesterday. romney said in order to force an open convention. it was holding his nose it felt like and saying, okay, i guess we'll pick ted cruz. jeb bush is coming out saying ted cruz has the solutions we need, conservative solutions to take it to the white house. it is much more of a full throated endorsement of ted cruz which is something we haven't necessarily seen in the past. this was timed because of ted cruz's i believe media blitz. he was out this morning on the "today" show, elsewhere. thi

halle jackson, thanks so you. those calls from marco rubio to drop out of the race are continuing to get louder. nbc's gabe gutierrez covers the rubio campaign. he's in tampa now, which is of course in the must-win home state of florida. so, gabe, bad showing for marco rubio on saturday. how's the campaign responding? >> hi there, chris. good afternoon. what the rubio campaign says, dropping out is not going to happen. they say they are in this to win this in florida and they view themselves as underdogs but claim that marco rubio has run underdog campaigns as they called it before in his earlier time here in florida. but as you mentioned, it's going to be a very steep uphill climb for marco rubio. he had a very difficult weekend on saturday, not finishing any higher than third place, even finishing in fourth place at one point. the lone bright spot was puerto rico, where he picked up 23 delegates and ended up with about 73% of the vote. he spoke to his supporters in idaho where he was campaigning yesterday about

nbc's halle jackson reports. >> reporter: even after 11 gop debates, this moment, unprecedented. >> and he referred to my hands. if they're small, something else must be small. i guarantee you there's no problem. i guarantee it. >> reporter: donald trump below the belt and under fire from all sides. >> breathe, breathe, breathe. >> when you're done with the yoga, can i answer a question? >> you cannot. >> he's very flexible so you never know. >> reporter: trump targeted even before he took the stage by former republican nominee mitt romney. >> his promises are as worthless as the degree from donald trump university. >> reporter: romney earlier today telling matt -- >> i'm going to do everything within the normal political bounds to make sure we don't nominate donald trump. i think he would be terribly unfit for office. i don't think he has the temperament to be president. >> reporter: and this morning romney insisting to matt he would not consider stepping in if this race came down to a contested convention, but not completely closing the door. >> there are no circumstances i could fore

let's go to nbc's halle jackson in texas with the cruz campaign right now, halle?> reporter: lester, an enormous cheer just went up from the crowd here at cruz headquarters. his watch party outside houston. the senator has just arrived on-site. you can imagine he's hearing these chants of victory. this campaign telling me just moments ago a top aide saying that at this point, marco rubio losing virginia, ted cruz picking up texas. it is a sign that the reality is for the other candidates, moving forward right now is like a camel passing through the eye of a needle in the words of this aide. it's this idea, according to the cruz campaign, that there are some candidate marco rubio simply a hope and a prayer of moving forward. cruz wants to rally conservatives here and make a two-man race between himself and donald trump. for the campaign this is one way to do that. they're also keeping an eye on as chuck mentioned, oklahoma. a key state for the cruz campaign given it's the first closed primary. registered republicans vote in that primary. so the campaign that's signi

. >> >> halle jackson, thanks so much. we're going to take a break. we're going to look at what the super tuesday results mean for the deeply divided republican party after a short break. the future belongs to the fast. and to help you accelerate, we've created a new company... one totally focused on what's next for your business. the true partnership where people,technology and ideas push everyone forward. accelerating innovation. accelerating transformation. accelerating next. allergies can distract you. so when your symptoms start... ...doctors recommend taking non-drowsy claritin every day of your allergy season for continuous relief. with claritin you get powerful, non-drowsy relief 24 hours a day, day after day. and with fewer symptoms to distract you... you can focus on the extraordinary things you do every single day. live claritin clear. >>> i know it was a very tough night for marco rubio. he had a tough night, but he worked hard. he spent a lot of money. he is a lightweight, as i've said many times before. but you know what, we're going to

nbc's halle jackson is there with what we can expect. halle, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. right now all indications are that rally will go on. people are being let inside right now. some folks started lining up at 1:00 in the morning for this, the first event since donald trump canceled that rally in chicago because of security concerns, saying he didn't want people to get hurt or worse. overnight fights erupted in that chicago crowd packed with protesters. a boiling point after days of rising tensions. trump's campaign says it made the decision to call off the event after meeting with law enforcement, but chicago pd says it played no role and had adequate security. on the streets, police separating trump's protesters from trump's supporters. one officer caught on camera earlier in the day a rally in st. louis was also interrupted by demonstrators. trump's opponents now saying his campaign encourages hostility. >> these scenes are unhelpful, and while it's pretty clear in chicago that protesters were organizing specifi

nbc's halle jackson is in tucson. good morning, what can we expect out there today?otests like we saw last night in utah for donald trump. today activists are set to demonstrate at all of donald trump's states today. all of it comes as trump again locked horns with mitt romney in the battlegrounds state of utah. it's romney fighting on the front of the line. >> reporter: today donald trump bracing for more protests after a face-off in salt lake city outside his rally -- inside -- >> did any protesters sneak in tonight? >> reporter: none of it stopping trumps amped up attacks hitting cruz hard. >> cruz has done anything. >> reporter: now a target mitt romney, confirming he will vote for cruz in utah, tuesday. >> are we sure he's a mormon? he choked. he choked, it was so sad. >> mr. trump is a con man. >> reporter: two weeks after romney's anti-endorsement of trump, a not quite endorsement of cruz, calling on conservatives to unify behind cruz, only to force an open convention. >> why haven't mitt romney and others fully endorsed you in a wholehearted way. >> when some

starting with nbc's jacob rascone in ohio, where donald trump is speaking this hour, first to halle jackson place. he's in his black car. he just pulled up. we are hoping to grab him. maik maybe as he's coming back in. cruz in texas an absolute must win for him. new polls shows he's likely to pull it off t. question becomes, where else can he win? his campaign looking at arkansas, oklahoma. aides saying they feel they can pick up a lot of delegates there. cruz played this expectations game in a way we haven't seen for example, in marco rubio, cruz saying he absolutely expects tomorrow morning when we wake up, he and donald trump will be at the top of the pile, marco rubio and the rest of the field will be far behind t. question is, will that become reality? particularly if cruz picks up delegates, then is unable pick up delegates in arkansas, oklahoma and georgia and tennessee where his campaign has been spending money there, shifting ad buys there, and alaska until much later tonight. we will send it back to you. we were hoping to see the senator come on out. if we can grab him, we will tr

nbc's halle jackson is on the trail in chicago for us.is is one of the states where donald trump is looking for a win, but more importantly, he wants one in ohio. the state where there's the most at stake for both democrats and republicans. today all eyes on the buckeye state. >> i love you, ohio. you can make the difference. >> reporter: where donald trump, for the first time in days, didn't hear a peep from protesters. but his crowd heard plenty about john kasich. >> kasich cannot make america great again. >> reporter: trump upping the attacks as kasich pulls neck and neck with him in ohio. trump wants to win. kasich has to. >> we can't unite america by dividing america. >> reporter: the governor getting backup. though not an endorsement from former nominee mitt romney. >> unlike the other people running, he has a real track record. >> reporter: 367 delegates up for grabs today across five states and a u.s. territory. and the winner takes all in ohio and in florida where marco rubio's making his last stand. new polls show him headed for

halle jackson is live in south carolina with us, good morning. >> reporter: hi there, good morning, allo support the echblg chul gop nominee, another sign of how split the party is. donald trump meanwhile is promising to still support his embattled campaign manager. now facing a new charge in florida. ♪ today, more fallout as donald trump doubles down, defending his top aid. >> the easiest thing, corey, you're fired. i can't do that. >> reporter: police say this moment caught on camera shows corey lewandowski grabbing the armer of breitbart reporter michelle fields. charged with misdemeanor battery insisting he's absolutely innocent. trump telling matt and savannah this morning. >> made up this morning. she said she was yanked down. this was before she found out there was a security camera on her. >> reporter: fields firing back on twitter, quote, my story never changed. seriously, just stop lying. even as trump suggests, he might press charges against her. >> are you going to? >> i don't know, maybe i should, right. just so you understand, she was off base because she went through the

. >> reporter: ted cruz telling nbc's halle jackson it's now a two-man race. >> head to head is a nightmare for donald trump because 2/3 of republican recognize he's not the right candidate to go up against hillary clinton because he loses to hillary clinton. >> reporter: still trump remains defiant. >> donald trump doesn't get over 50% because i'm at 43, 45. i have to explain to these people, they don't understand basic physics, basic mathematics, basic whatever you want to call it. >> reporter: surrounded by family and staff, trump also gave credit to his campaign manager, cory lewendowski. >> good job. >> reporter: still under investigation for grabbing a reporter last week. while this was officially billed as a press conference. >> thank you very much. everybody. thank you, thank you. >> reporter: trump left the stage without taking a single question. and as for all of that speculation about a contested convention when the republicans come back here to ohio this summer, donald trump is dismissing it this morning in a broadcast interview. saying if he comes here and he leads in the deleg

hall, maria silva, monica jackson, jason feinberg , . weather 24/7 with cassandra jones and traffic solutions. major flooding continues in peru. authorities will send the military to help flood stricken areas. soldiers will be deployed to help clean up and towns. scientists say el for the heavy rains that caused the flooding. it's the day all of you have been waiting for... the spring watering schedule starts today. the southern nevada water authority's mandatory restrictions say homeowners can on three assigned days per week depending on your sunday is not an optional watering day. to find out more about your watering schedule visit s- n-w-a dot com. ((anchor chat)) cassandra jones with fox5. we'll stay in the low 80's through the workweek & remain on track to tie the record high for the day today & tomorrow at 82 degrees with the records set back 1986 & 1967. there are changes ahead for the weekend. clouds begin to increase friday with southwest gusts 25-35 mph saturday and sunday with a afternoon. shower chances continue on monday wit

halle jackson joins us detroit.want to read you what she said in an interview published this week. she says i think he's conservative and articulate man. i think, quote, he's an evangelical christian and probably one of the worst ones went it comes to transissues. jenner talks about issues are better with democrats when it comes to social issues. why support ted cruz. if we don't have a country, we don't have transissues. we need jobs, vibrant economy and wants every transperson to have a job. she talks about what in her words trans ambassador to a president cruz trying to bring higher level of issues that she's passionate about and talking about. interesting moment here that's picking up buzz online. >> interesting to see what, if anything, ted cruz says about it. >> reporter: no reaction from the campaign yet. hillary clinton has no planned campaign events today. the spotlight back on the controversy surrounding her e-mail server. "the washington post," i which cites a senior law enforcement official, reporting th