catherine barrett is in seattle for us. catherine, it's a lovely part of the world.ashington state, alaska, who wouldn't want to go there? but will it make any difference even if he wins all three? >> reporter: the national delegate math is hard thing to surmount. washington state is the biggest prize in the three caucuses today but even if he wins all three of those states, he is separated from hillary's delegate count by over 700. so he would have to win nearly 60 first of the remaining delegate contest to gain the nomination. his supporters hearsay part of the caucus process here in washington state is that they can make mo proceedsals. they say sanders is in it to the convention whether he has the delegates or not. they hope to move the party platform and if that is hillary clinton to the left and incorporate some of sanders' progressive ideals into whoever becomes the nominee. >> is the suggestion that unless his ideas have taken on board, if he does really well unless she changes and becomes more of a bernie sanders he won't get the nomination? >>. >> no. you a

al jazeera's catherine barrett is following the results for us in seattle. d she joins us live tonight. good evening to you, catherine. what's the voter turn out like today? >> reporter: it's been very high, erica. it was high even in the preregistration people were able to preregister for their caucuses, there were also absentee caucus votes that were tallied that were hundreds of times higher than they had been last time around. and people say that that high turn out was one of the factors that helped bernie sanders go to a really high margin of victory here. some three-quarters of the votes tallied thus far have accrued to sanders. and the sanders campaign for its part is already celebrating this victory. >> sanders has won 10 of 13 democratic caucuses, why does he appear to have an advantage in this form of oa vote something. >> political strategists have told me that caucuses in particular favor the candidate who generates the most passion in his supporters. passion because one they have to actually show up, commit to several hours, it's not just simple

catherine barrett has more from portland. >> in the moist, mossy rain belt that is the pacific northwest, string planting usually comes early, but not here, not this year. >> i don't think so, i'm really worried about planting in my garden. >> health authorities are advising portland residents not toe grow food in areas closest to two hot spots where moss and air monitors revealed high areas of heavy metals linked to cancer. the sources of the contamination are two companies that make colored glass and another that manufactures metal parts. all three companies were within current laws. officials called the gardening ban a caution. some recent soil tests have come back safe, but jealous da apple gate raising two children one a mile of one toxic hot spot doesn't feel safe. >> i am worried. i was tested 10 years ago with really high levels of arsonic, dangerously high levels. >> portland environmental activists say the pollution has a regulatory agreeing down. it all started with this and two forestry researchers who raised the alarm. >> so basically, moss is, you know, a primitive plant. i

catherine barrett, al jazeera, portland, oregon. >> we're going to take a break. before we do, we want to look at the michigan primary results. for the republicans, 13% of the vote reported, 37% for donald trump, 27% for john kasich and 21% for ted cruz and rubio at nine. the democrats, bernie sanders running ahead of hillary clinton with 13% of the vote in, this could be a long night for the democrats. we'll be back right after this, and coming up, aiming for total equality, celebrating the success and the struggles on this international women's day. >>> tuesday marks international women's day, a look at women around the world. how does that stack up? we looked around the world. >> from microsoft. to google. >> one day we want to see every girl in school. >> corporations have lined up behind international women's day. >> imagine that we finally make it clear women have a right to make their own health care decisions! >> while there's a good chance america could elect its first female president this year, there is a pronounced gender gap. only 20% of women serve i