abc news political director rick klein. hey, rick. >> hey, great to see you. >> great to see you. all right. this is interesting. i think if you're really into politics, you know, nicole shanahan, if you know silicon valley, you know, nicole shanahan, but the general public really doesn't. so tell us a little bit about her and why you think rfk jr picked her the only 38 years old, as you said, a lawyer for a tech companies married to one of the previously married to one of the google co-founders, which has made her fabulously wealthy. >> i think maybe one of the main reasons is her age, the fact that she is of a different generation is something that that kennedy referenced in particular. her wealth is a big factor because the opportunity that that presents to help this campaign get on the ballot right now, they're only on the ballot in one state, confirmed. they say they have the signatures in seven states, but they're going to have to spend many, many tens of millions of dollars to get elsewhere. and then i think, yeah, the, the, the, the profile that she cuts as a younger woman

you know it. >> thanks, juju rick klein. >> thank you.e're going to check in now with john karl chief washington correspondent john huge night for president trump. and yet just shy of a sweep. and you're seeing some warning signs in some of the exit polling. >> yeah. look absolutely big night no doubt about that. but nikki haley continued to win between 2030 upwards of 40% of the vote in state after state. and what's more significant than that is that her voters in exit polls are saying that they are unsatisfied with the idea of donald trump. i mean, overwhelmingly unsatisfied and upwards of 80% are saying that they don't see themselves voting for the republican nominee, any republican nominee. the only other one besides nikki haley is donald trump. >> and there was also that if he's convicted of a crime question overwhelmingly. >> and by the way, the exit polls are fascinating. it's like two entirely different groups of people, the nikki haley voters saying that they are not comfortable voting for somebody who'd be convicted of a crime a

so let's get right to our political director rick klein at the big board mary bruce with us as well and rick, the big question is if we are officially undergoing this rematch soon within the next couple of weeks given the numbers we're seeing so far tonight where do things stand between both of these candidates? >> look, if the general election starts now it is going to be a very tight race. this is the latest polling average from our partners at five thirty eight. in the key battleground states the seven states likely to determine the presidential election, and you can see that across these battlegrounds donald trump has an edge, sometimes a small edge, sometimes a bit of a bigger one and that's what makes tonight's results in all of these primaries so important. when you hone in on the places where nikki haley is doing very well, where her supporters are really dug in, those are the independent voters. those are much more likely to be voters that are up for grabs this fall, and if haley gets out of this race they are going to be the target of both trump and biden for the coming months

, and i'm going to start with you, rick klein.who could decide the election. >> and consistently in polling, we have seen about 19%, 20%, 1 in 5 americans who don't like either of these two men who are running. that could mean a couple of different things. some of them are democrats. some of them are republicans. some of them might come home and flirt with third-party candidacies, whether it's no labels or rfk jr. what the biden campaign is looking at in those numbers and they've seen nitit in a recent poll, when you really press the voters, who are you going to vote for? biden has an edge. it is a binary choice, biden versus trump. that's the effort that the biden campaign will engage in. these are the voters and think about what it means. in an election, it will be settled by 1 or 2 points. they could easily be the deciders and they may be late deciders. we could be in a campaign that really doesn't get any more clarity for a long while. >> martha: and you saw the nikki haley voters there, sarah. former president trump hasn't ex

abc's political director rick klein joins us now with his take. rick a feisty speech and energetic speech really few signs of any kind of slowdown in his delivery. he was aggressive in taking on donald trump and aggressive in taking on questions around his age and ability to do the job. of course, the question is going to be, what does it mean in the campaign? there is a slight an edge right now for donald trump. and one of the concerns that joe biden has is just getting his base energized and i think this speech, this state of the union, is going to go a long way toward convincing them that he is the man and he is right to be running again. all right, rick, thank you. and president biden will begin selling his message when he hits the road today in pennsylvania. >> the president also announced an emergency mission increasing america's role in addressing the humanitarian crisis in gaza. this morning, president biden confirming plans for america's latest effort to deliver emergency humanitarian aid to gaza, saying the u.s. military will construct a

far are very close, as you see, despite the closeness of the race, abc news political director rick klein says schiff's primary campaign strategy paid off. >> adam schiff made a play to give an give a little bit of assist to steve garvey's campaign, knowing that it's california and the democrat almost certainly wins. we'll see if he comes to regret that. i think adam schiff makes himself the likeliest next senator from california. >> the outcome of the race means california won't have a female us senator for the first time since 1992. the result also likely marks the end of barbara lee's congressional career. the 77 year old democrat represented oakland and the east bay in washington since being elected in 1998. >> san francisco voters passed a controversial ballot measure aimed at getting more drug users off the streets and into treatment. as abc seven news reporter tara campbell found out, there are calls to make sure that it doesn't end up hurting those it's supposed to be helping. the goal is to help get people struggling with substance abuse, get off the streets and into treatment. >

let's bring in abc news political director rick klein at the big board tonight. donald trump focused on president biden. president biden focused on donald trump, and rick, let's get right to the numbers, because if the election were held today, if this is another rematch here where does the race stand? >> yeah, david, it's going to be a very tight race. three recent polls showing donald trump with a very slight edge in the race for president. it's going to be a long and very close campaign. and the entire campaign is going to come down to just these seven battleground states. this is where is battle is going to be fought. and so key in this is going to be the independent voters. many of them voting for nikki haley tonight, and many of them saying they are skeptical of donald trump. if haley gets out of the race tonight, the battle will be on for these independents and donald trump is going to have his work cut out for him. >> david: a lot of focus on nikki haley's supporters this super tuesday evening and where they will go come november, if, again, if, she gets o

let's bring in political director rick klein. rick, good morning. always great to see you.give us a big-picture look at super tuesday delegates here, what's at play, and what's at stake. >> this is by far the biggest day of voting until election day itself. as maryalice just reported, you've got more than 800 delegates in play. you need 1,215 to get the nomination. we've got voting coast to coast, the two most populous states, california and texas, and all the way up to maine. and here's the thing, once you get beyond super tuesday, it's almost impossible to catch up because by super tuesday, almost half of all the delegates will have been selected. donald trump has opened up a big lead and it's only getting bigger, with the victories over the weekend. already more than 200 delegates ahead of haley. 1215 the manch -- magic number, he won't get there, but he might get close. >> whit: and on that very same point, some call this the last stand for nikki haley. where is her focus heading into super tuesday? are there some states where she could pick up delegates? >> you could l

staff, reince priebus, npr white house correspondent asma khalid, and abc news political director rick kleinaiser. $26 million, it was a report for a single political event. >> they won't replicate numbers like that because you can't get that kind of star power. this was months in the making to get all three presidents on the stage at the same time, and the numbers the campaign finance has been calling significant is the biden campaign builds up a significant cash advantage over trump even though trump's planning other fund-raisers that might be just as big, but i think just as important is the messaging. barack obama and bill clinton, two presidents that were able to get working class voters on their side, the same voters that are still so much flirting or maybe potentially going over to trump entirely. there was a road map you hear from clinton and obama to make an affirmative case for biden. they come at it from different angles and directions and that's how democrats will get engaged in this election. >> martha: but there was a problem that fund-raiser, interrupted by protesters. there w

rick klein is here with the state of the race. of the big questions where will nikki haley's voters go? rachel scott starts us off from mar-a-lago. good morning, rachel. >> reporter: george, this news is just coming in. abc news is learning this morning that nikki haley is expected to drop out of the race in just a matter of hours. i'm told she is not expected to endorse former president trump but is expected to make it clear that he has work do when it comes to earning the support of her voters. nikki haley is expected to end her 2024 campaign. she will drop out of the race. le >> good morning. we are coming on the air in the wake of super tuesday. abc news learned republican presidential candidate nikki haley is dropping out of the race. speaking right now. let's listen. >> what's grounded in our love for our country. just last week my mother, a first generation immigrant, got to vote for her daughter for president. only in america. i am filled with the gratitude for the outpouring of support we've received from all across our g

let's bring in rick klein for what to watch for as the returns come in tonight.d morning to you. >> good morning, robin. this is where we see so far in the race. donald trump winning another state in north dakota just padding a huge delegate lead. donald trump still needs a lot of delicates 1,215 to get the nomination. tonight alone 865 on the ballot. he could get close. this is today super tuesday the single biggest day of voting we're going to have until election day itself. some of the biggest prizes on the map, california, texas aupl the way up to maine and massachusetts. this is an opportunity for someone to really lock down the lead. here's the problem for nikki haley. there are huge parts of the country where she hasn't picked up any delegates. california is off the map, for all intents and purposes. donald trump will win all of those delegates. same thing through the deep south. instead she is focusing on utah, new england, vermont, maybe massachusetts where trump is unpopular. >> that is all but a certainty. i know you have a busy day ahead of you. we'll