Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Clinton Poised For Big Win In South Carolina; Rubio And Trump Trade Insults; Rubio Mocks Trump's Spelling; Chris Christie Endorses Donald Trump; Fight For Delegates As Super Tuesday Looms; Ted Cruz Rallies In Super Tuesday State, Georgia; Could Cruz Lose His Home State Of Texas?; Truce In Syria Is Holding So Far. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired February 27, 2016 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[11:00:45] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is decision day here in South Carolina for the Democrats. Hillary Clinton hoping to pull out a big victory over Bernie Sanders. Each one hoping for that momentum heading into Super Tuesday. Hello, everyone and welcome. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We are live in Columbia at the University of South Carolina. So the polls are open for another eight hours here in South Carolina. And up for grabs are 53 delegates in the Democrat primary. Hillary Clinton is poised for a big win against Bernie Sanders. Sanders is expected to speak shortly, in fact, but not here in South Carolina. He's already looking ahead to Super Tuesday, holding a campaign rally in Austin, Texas, which is set to get under way in about an hour from now. We'll take you there. And Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is in Alabama this afternoon before heading back here to South Carolina tonight to watch the primary returns with her supporters.

Joe Johns is in Lexington, South Carolina, just about 15 minutes a way west from here in Columbia. Joe, let's get started with you there at the polling station. And Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, the headlines in today's newspapers, here, are reflecting the widely held expectation of a big Clinton win. Could her margin of victory end up being the real story here?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think so, Fred. She needs a breakout moment in the primaries and she hasn't had one yet. Iowa was very close. New Hampshire, she lost in a blowout to Bernie Sanders, and Nevada was pretty close, too. So Hillary Clinton needs a breakout win in this state. A lot of people suggesting it has to be in double digits. the question is whether Bernie Sanders can close the gap, perhaps even within single digits. She wants that blowout win to propel her into Super Tuesday. So she's been pushing very hard for it and we'll see if she gets it, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So the role of the African-American vote in this state, very important, and it's part of the story here in the palmetto state. Does Clinton need a rather sizable turnout as it pertains to black voters here in order to do well in this state?

JOHNS: That's been the whole strategy. She's been making the point that once you get out of the earliest voting states, you get into the south, the demographics change and when you bring African-American voters into the equation, she thinks that shows her strength. We talked to a couple African-American voters just a little while ago, a husband and wife, and it turns out they were voting for different people. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I voted for Hillary.

JOHNS: And why'd you vote for her? What attracts you to her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mostly because of her experience and her background and I feel she may lead us to the (inaudible) that Obama was taking us to.

JOHNS: OK. And what you about, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I voted for Bernie Sanders. I voted for Bernie Sanders because of mass incarceration, needing jobs, and --

JOHNS: The welfare bill, all of those other things that the Clinton administration did back in the day?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly.

JOHNS: All right. So you were disturbed by some of that stuff?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was. And with him bringing this new positive energy, I voted for him thinking that he would make a change where the other people are really not making a change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So this is the moment when we find out if Hillary Clinton actually is able to get those African-American voters to the polls. She leads by a wide margin against Bernie Sanders if you look at the poll internals, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Joe Johns there in Lexington, thank you so much. Take a look at the numbers right there. So Bernie Sanders' biggest challenge here in South Carolina may be trying to limit the margin of victory for Hillary Clinton and then try to make a big showing on Super Tuesday. He has fallen behind in the delegate count. Right now, more than 400 delegates behind if you count the super delegates. I want to bring in Justin Bamberg. He is a South Carolina state representative and a Bernie Sanders supporter. All right, good to see you.

[11:04:59] REP. JUSTIN BAMBERG (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right, so what it is like to be a Bernie Sanders supporter in what has become kind of Clinton country here?

BAMBERG: It feels great. I'm confident in my decision. I do believe that Bernie Sanders will make a great president and he is the right choice for the job. So, feels good to me. WHITFIELD: When I talk to a lot of voters here, yesterday, I chatted

with quite a few people, and still many said, you know what? We love Bernie Sanders' ideas but we feel like we're still getting to know him, thereby, we're voting for Hillary Clinton. So how do you combat that, particularly at this stage in the game? How do you tell people or educate them further about your candidate of choice?

BAMBERG: Well, the unfortunate thing is that when you run for president, you've got a 50-state strategy and as much as you want to be on the ground and spend time in a state like South Carolina, I've spoken with Bernie personally, he loves the people of this state and he wishes he could have spent more time here. He was at a disadvantage early on because the Clintons have basically 100 percent name recognition here. But when you look at, Bernie Sanders started at about 6 percent in the polls here. He has gained substantial ground. So I don't think he has anything to be ashamed of at the end of the day here. The other thing that I do want to point out is there are still a very, very high number of undecided voters. There are many voters that are going to make their decision whether they walk into the booth.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, name recognition, in a big way for the Clintons, but at the same time, when you talk about in 2008 she did not do well in this state. Was there a feeling that that would level the playing field for Bernie Sanders and his supporters, that everyone's kind of starting from ground zero, so to speak, if you look at the 2008 numbers, that among the Democrats, everyone has a fairly square chance, even chance of getting to know the voters here and making the best of your pitch?

BAMBERG: No, I don't think they started out on even ground. Again, it goes back to the history of the Clinton name in this state. A lot of people have this loyalty to the Clintons, not because of anything they really have done but more so, Bill Clinton was a very likeable president. He had what the young people would call, swag. So Bernie Sanders was playing catch-up from the beginning and quite frankly, I think a lot of people were like me. They just did not give him the time of day. So it's not that he wasn't attempting, it was that nobody was listening.

WHITFIELD: What sold you on him?

BAMBERG: I started learning about his background. I saw that for years and years and years, racial justice, social justice, economic justice. These are things that he's cared about. He's been saying the same things for years. We need to fix campaign finances. We need to make sure that the political decisions that are made in this country reflect the views and values of the many and not the few at the tip top. And I trust him. I think he's an honest guy and, I think he really will fight for the people.

WHITFIELD: Does it send a message to voters here? He is in Texas right now spending the day there as opposed to making that last-minute stump here in South Carolina? Does it make a difference in your view?

BAMBERG: No, in my view it doesn't. I understand and I think many voters understand is that right around the corner is Super Tuesday. You have a lot of states voting, a lot of citizens who want to see a candidate. At the end of the day, Bernie's supporters, the grassroots, these are the people making the push on behalf of Senator Sanders and that's why people love him and he loves people. Because when you see Bernie Sanders, I see my mother, I see my grandmother, I see Miss Jones down the street. That's who I envision being in the White House when I think about Bernie Sanders being in the White House.

WHITFIELD: And quickly, in your view, the outcome of Bernie Sanders here in South Carolina. In what way does that impact those Super Tuesday states?

BAMBERG: There's only one candidate running right now that has to win South Carolina to become president. That's Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders just has to perform fairly decent. I personally would like to see a 10, 15, maybe 20 points.

WHITFIELD: But 6 out of those 11 Super Tuesday states are southern states and many times, the view of many analysts is that South Carolina doesn't -- is a microcosm of other southern states.

BAMBERG: Yes. And that's true. A lot of southern states do look at South Carolina as kind of, how should we proceed, but at the end of the day, it's really going to be a decision of the people. South Carolina has kind of set the tone across the country recently from the Mother Emanuel Church shooting to Walter Scott. But at the end of the day, I think people are going to back Senator Sanders not just for what he stands for but for who he is.

WHITFIELD: All right. State representative Justin Bramberg. Good to see you. Sorry, my hands are cold. It's a little chilly out here. It's sunny and beautiful, but there's a little bite in the air.

BRAMBERG: Yes, there is.

WHITFIELD: All right, good to see you. Thanks so much. All right, coming up in the next hour, I'll be joined by the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina who supports Hillary Clinton. And stay with CNN throughout the day for our special coverage of the South Carolina Democratic primary.

All right. As the Republican field heads into Super Tuesday, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump are ramping up their attacks on each other after Thursday's explosive CNN debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:10:01] SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we're dealing with here, my friends, is a con artist. He is a con artist.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This guy's cracking up on us. And he was sweating so badly, I have never seen anything like it. It looked like he just jumped into a swimming pool with his clothing on. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh boy, brutal. The Trump-Rubio fight escalating as their former rival Chris Christie jumps back into the fray throwing his support to Donald Trump. Christie endorsing Trump despite previously saying he didn't have the temperament to be president. So, what happened? Senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, joining me now from Bentonville, Arkansas, where Trump will hold a rally this afternoon. Jim --

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. That's right. Donald Trump will be here in this airplane hangar in northwestern Arkansas in the next couple of hours. He's looking to have a big day here in this state on Super Tuesday as well as all of the other states that are up for grabs just 72 hours from now. But there's been a little bit of turbulence in the GOP race for the White House as he and Marco Rubio have been trading insults and putdowns over the last 24 hours. It has been fierce.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump trying to turn the page after CNN's fiery Republican debate, rolling out a jaw dropping endorsement from Chris Christie.

TRUMP: This was an endorsement that really meant a lot.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: There is no better fighter than Donald Trump and he's going to fight for the American people.

TRUMP: Other than that, I rest my case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a deft move for Trump after he seemed rattled by a newly aggressive Marco Rubio at Thursday's debate.

RUBIO: If hadn't inherited $200 million, do you know where Donald Trump would be right now? Selling watches in Manhattan.

TRUMP: No, no, no. That is wrong. That is so wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rubio has decided the only way to take down the GOP frontrunner is match insult with insult.

RUBIO: Let me tell you something. Last night in the debate during one of the breaks, two of the breaks, he went backstage, he was having a meltdown. First, he had this little makeup thing applying makeup around his mustache because he had one of those sweat mustaches. Then he asked for a full length mirror. I don't know why, because the podium goes up to here, but he wanted a full length mirror. Maybe to make sure his pants weren't wet. I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Texas, Rubio ridiculed his misspelling of the words lightweight choker in his post-debate tweets.

RUBIO: Here's the first one. Lightweight Marco Rubio was working hard last night. This is true. The problem is, he is a chocker [sic]. And once a chocker [sic], always a choker. I guess that's what he meant to say. He spelled choker, C-H-O-K-E-R, choker.

TRUMP: He was sweating so badly --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump mocked the Florida senator as drowning in sweat, backstage at the debates, badly in need of TV makeup.

TRUMP: I will not say that he was trying to cover up his ears.

I need water. Help me, I need water. Help.

When you're a choke artist, you're always a choke artist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a continuation of the alley fight that broke out during CNN's debate. On Obamacare, Rubio got the last word over who repeats himself the most.

RUBIO: So that's the only part of the plan? Just the lines, the interstate competition?

TRUMP: No. The nice part about -- you'll have many different plans. You'll have competition. You'll have so many different plans.

RUBIO: Now he's repeating himself. (applause)

TRUMP: No, I'm not repeating myself. Here's the guy that repeats himself.

RUBIO: You repeat yourself every day.

TRUMP: I watch you -- talking about repeating, I watched him repeat himself five times four weeks ago and I got to tell you, it was a meltdown.

RUBIO: I heard you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump wondered whether Rubio will now land the support of the last GOP nominee, Mitt Romney. Romney, Trump joked, was never going to win in 2012.

TRUMP: When you walk into a stage, can you cannot walk like a penguin. He walked like a penguin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now it does appear that some of Rubio's accusations have touched a nerve with Donald Trump but just in the last several minutes, Fredricka, we should point out, Donald Trump has been answer some of these charges from Marco Rubio on Twitter. In just the last several minutes, Donald Trump tweeted that he is going to release his tax returns just as soon as the current audit that is under way at the IRS of his taxes is completed. He also is saying that he did not inherit $200 million from his father, that it was just a small loan of $1 million and that he paid it back. He talked about that last night in Oklahoma City. We may hear that again at this event coming up in Arkansas. So it does appear even though Donald Trump has been going after Marco Rubio pretty fierce in the last 24 hours, he also has been answering these accusations from Marco Rubio, something we have not really seen very much of during this campaign. Marco Rubio, we should mention, Fredricka, is planning on releasing his tax returns later on today. Fredricka --

[11:14:51] WHITFIELD: All right, Jim Acosta, thank you so much, in Arkansas. All right. Chris Christie heaps praise on Donald Trump in the endorsement that stunned many in the Republican Party. How it differs from what Christie had to say about Trump in the past. All that coming up. We're back live in South Carolina as people cast votes in today's Democratic primary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, any strong feelings about a candidate?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I'm going to be voting for Hillary. So we're very excited about her and I think, madam president sounds really good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it sounds like this was an easy decision for you to make.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I like the idea that she's a policy woman and, I think that experience does matter so that's why I'm voting for Hillary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's endorsement of Donald Trump didn't just hurt the momentum for Marco Rubio, it sent shockwaves throughout the Republican Party and beyond, in part, because of comments the New Jersey governor has made about the GOP front-runner in the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIE: I'm really glad that Donald noticed me. That's so nice. And I'm happy to take any observations he has, even if he can only do them in 140 characters or less which seems to be the best way he can communicate.

I just don't believe that the skills that you're talking about, that Donald has, are transferrable to a governmental setting. But you cannot fire the speaker of the house or the senate majority leader because you don't get what you want.

Show time is over, everybody. We are not electing an entertainer in chief.

WHITFIELD: Christie explained his about-face in an interview last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GRETA VAN SUSTEREN: Maybe I don't understand politics. But he didn't have the temperament or the experience last August, and now you think he's the guy.

CHRISTIE: Yes, well, because, Greta, I'm no longer in the race. I was the person best suited to be president of the United States. The voters decided otherwise. And of the folks remaining on that stage, Donald Trump is by far and away, with his executive experience, with his toughness, with his vision for the country's future, by far and away the best person to be the Republican nominee for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:20:00] WHITFIELD: All right. So here to discuss, Ron Brownstein, editorial director for "The National Journal", and Kayleigh McEnany, Trump supporter. So Ron, you first. What do you make of Christie's reversal?

RON BROWNSTEIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, THE NATIONAL JOURNAL: I think what he said actually is true. I think relative to the two senators who are the principle rivals remaining, and to John Kasich, I think Governor Christie probably does feel closer to Donald Trump. And I think it's an important moment for Donald Trump to have an elected official of this magnitude come out for him. But it really underscores how little of that has happened. If you're looking at a candidate who has won New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada, and how little of the party kind of leadership, the formal party leadership has been willing to come out and stand with him, it still is striking. In fact, there's a terrific story in the "New York Times" today about the enormous anxiety among senate Republicans about what a Trump nomination might mean for the party. So he is clearly steam rolling toward that nomination, but there are clearly a lot of uneasy Republican leaders, uncertain about what it will mean for the party.

WHITFIELD: And Kayleigh, you know, Trump said that he typically doesn't really care about endorsements, that they are fairly meaningless. But Christie's endorsement, he said, really meant a lot. And he was excited about Sarah Palin endorsing him a while back, too. Why is it meaningful to him sometimes?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY: This one is particularly meaningful. I think what he means is that when you look at Kasich's endorsements, being endorsed by "The New York Times", being endorsed by these newspapers, that tends to be meaningless. Likewise, Rubio being endorsed by virtually every congressman in Washington or senator or elected official, it almost contributes to the narrative of Rubio being a Washington insider. But this is of a different magnitude because when you are endorsed by someone who stood next you to at a debate podium, who sparred with you, you got in disagreements with, was on the campaign trail with you as your opponent, when you're endorsed by someone who is your equal and your colleague and says, yes, I wasn't the guy but this is the guy, I do think that's meaningful. I don't think it's going to make him rise in the polls even more, necessarily, but I do think in those marginal situations when you have a voter in Massachusetts where Trump's leading by 20 points, saying to himself, do I go with Rubio or do I go with Trump? Maybe you think of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and maybe that makes a difference.

WHITFIELD: And Ron, you made reference to "The New York Times" piece entitled "Inside the Republican Party's Desperate Mission to Stop Donald Trump" writing this, in fact, quote, the endorsement by Mr. Christie landed Friday with crippling force. It was by far the most important defection to Mr. Trump's insurgency. Mr. Christie may give cover to other Republicans tempted to join Mr. Trump rather than trying to beat him. Not just the stop-Trump forces seemed in peril, but also the traditional party establishment itself. So, elaborate further on this worry and at the same time, some bit of concession, maybe.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, absolutely. Look, this is beginning to feel very difficult to stop. And as that story and others have pointed out, the Republicans most skeptical about Trump have been unable really to organize this effort against him. Why Christie is helpful in particular, is because, if you look, consistently, the voters who have been the most resistant to Trump have tended to be college educated, white collar, mainstream conservative voters and it is precisely with those kind of voters that a Christie imprimatur would be most useful. On the other hand, as I said, most of the elected officials in the party are still very uneasy about what a Trump nomination this would mean. Because, let's keep in mind, that even though he is doing very well with Republican voters, his favorability is among Republican voters are up 20 points since he started the race, they have not improved, Fred, with voters outside of the Republican coalition. And he is looking at 60 percent unfavorable ratings with the public overall and 70 percent plus unfavorable rings with the growing groups at the core of the Democratic coalition which are minorities, the millennial generation, socially liberal whites, especially women. So this remains a big leap into the unknown but one in which the party is becoming increasingly resigned to the fact that they may have to take, like it or not.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hey, Kayleigh, even Ted Cruz has said that Trump could be, in his words, unstoppable after Super Tuesday if this momentum keeps up. Are you in agreement with him?

[11:24:26] MCENANY: I am definitely in agreement. Look, I understand what Ron is saying about unfavorability but the numbers can change. We saw when Trump entered the race, he was unpalatable to many Republicans. Many Republicans said they'd never vote for him. Those numbers have changed significantly since he first entered. And I would look to the states, in South Carolina where he won every single delegate, in Nevada where he almost breeched 50 percent in a field of five candidates. He is being supported by independents in the race, by Democrat leaning voters in the race, by virtually every single category of voters. So I think there's a lot of room to move those numbers. There's a reason that head of unions have come out and the head of the SCIU and said, oh no, perhaps my members might defect the Democrat endorsed nominee to Donald Trump. He appeals to blue collar workers. I think he appeals to independents. I think there's a lot of room for those numbers to change in a general election.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much to both of you. Kayleigh McEnany, Ron Brownstein, good to see you both. Appreciate it.

All right. Tomorrow morning, there's more. On the state of the union, Jake Tapper will talk to Governor Chris Christie about his now Trump endorsement. He'll also be joined by Ted Cruz and John Kasich. That's at 9:00 am Eastern, right here on CNN. We're back from South Carolina right after this.

(COMMERICIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If there are two or three things that you think the next president should be able to address, what would those things to be to make you feel good, confident, about the next president?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ooh, let's see. The needs of the people. I think they would make a best candidate for the presidency. Health issues, the war situation, and just getting the job done, to address all the concerns that people have and really think through about the people who they're serving and not just one group of people but all people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:30:15] WHITFIELD: All right, Latasha Moye, there, a voter I spoke with right here in Columbia, South Carolina, who will be voting today. The results here tonight could set the tone as we head into Super Tuesday. That's the biggest voting day of the primary season.

Just three days away. We're talking about 13 states casting ballots and hundreds of delegates are up for grabs. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the frontrunners headed into this huge contest.

CNN's John King explains how key victories on Tuesday could cement their path to the nomination.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, let's just first set the state of play as we look for the big Super Tuesday. We're finishing February right now. Today is the 27th. South Carolina Democrats are voting today. We'll see the results tonight.

Hillary Clinton is expecting a big win. If she gets it, then we rock on to Monday and Super Tuesday, show the contests up here. Then we go across the country. It's the first multistate primary day. A dozen states voting in both the Democratic and the Republican contest.

By the time we wake up Wednesday morning, 21 percent, almost 22 percent of the Democratic delegates will have been chosen and nearly 30 percent of the Republican delegates.

So let's come over here and take a look at what that could mean starting with the Republican race. Donald Trump heads into Super Tuesday, 82 delegates ahead of Senator Cruz, Senator Rubio and Governor Kasich. He needs 1,273 to clinch on the Republican side.

So everybody can say, well, this is early, right. We're just getting started, but Trump has now won three or four contests. He clearly has the momentum going into Super Tuesday.

So look at this scenario for Tuesday night. Trump could run the board. He could win all 11 states that are actually electing Republican delegates on Tuesday. If did he that, he would start to pull away.

Let's just say for the sake of argument, though, in the one state where public polling does show Trump losing that, is Ted Cruz, Senator Cruz's home state of Texas. So let's give Texas to Cruz, say Trump comes in seconds and Marco Rubio comes in third, and Governor Kasich comes in fourth.

That's the only one where we can say, OK, that's likely to happen or at least it's possible and probable to happen. Even then, Cruz would win 10 of 11 -- Trump would win 10 of 11 on Super Tuesday, Fred, and he would start to pull away.

So the question for the opposition to Trump is it looks like he is going to have a big day Tuesday. It is almost guaranteed. He'll start to pull ahead. Then how do you stop him heading forward in March? That is likely to be the conversation Wednesday morning.

Let's go over to the Democratic race as we look at to Super Tuesday. Again, South Carolina is voting as we speak. But most people assume it's going to come out something like this. This gives it to Hillary Clinton on a 60 percent/40 percent ratio in there.

If that happens, she'll pull lead in the pledged delegates. That would give her a lead there. What she's hoping for, she's hoping she wins the African-American vote in South Carolina big and the Super Tuesday for Hillary Clinton looks like this.

Now let's assume Senator Sanders wins at home in Vermont. Senator Sanders thinks he's going to win out in Minnesota. For the sake of this hypothetical, we'll give him Minnesota. He also thinks he can win in Oklahoma. He spent a lot of time there.

Clinton campaign says not so sure, but again, just for the hypothetical, let's give Senator Sanders that one. He says he thinks he's competitive in Colorado. Again, just for the hypothetical, let's say Senator Sanders wins in Colorodo.

Most of these other states, Secretary Clinton thinks she's going to win, but largely because of her support among African-Americans. If it plays out like this, Fred, Hillary Clinton begins to pull away in the delegate count.

The Democratic rules are much more proportional so Senator Sanders would still pick up a bunch. But remember, add to the 550 or so Hillary Clinton could have on Wednesday morning, another 445 super delegates.

She starts to stretch the math out to here. She's hoping psychologically that would send a message to Senator Sanders that she's inevitable and that he should tone it down. We'll count the votes Tuesday and we'll see -- Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. John King, incredible numbers right there. All right, right now, let's go to Ted Cruz who is campaigning. He's actually in Atlanta trying to clinch more support straight ahead of Super Tuesday.

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We saw a chance between whether you want another Washington deal maker, someone to go to Washington, cut deals with the Democrats, grow government, grow the debt, grow regulation and continue the assault on our constitutional rights or whether you want a proven constitutional conservative.

Someone who has been the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You know, it was striking at the debate this week where it became clear that Donald Trump's record has not been a conservative.

Donald has agreed with Hillary Clinton on issue after issue after issue whether it was foreign policy where Donald agreed with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in toppling the government in Libya that led directly to the tragedy of Benghazi and handing that country over to radical Islamic terrorists.

Donald agreed with Hillary Clinton in supporting John Kerry. John Kerry has been the most disastrous secretary of state in a long time matched by Hillary Clinton.

[11:35:08]Both of whom have dramatically weakened our relationships with Israel and have enabled the rise of radical Islamic terrorism. You look domestically, Donald Trump agrees with Barack Obama on the Wall Street bailout.

Agrees with Barack Obama on the stimulus plan and agrees with both Hillary Clinton own Bernie Sanders on expanding Obamacare to make it socialized medicine for everybody, putting government in charge of your health care and my health care.

Putting government bureaucrats in a position to decide whether you get health care to decide whether your health care is rationed.

I'll tell you for seniors in Georgia who don't want to see federal bureaucrats deciding whether you get a hip or knee replacement and don't want see the federal making a decision (inaudible) the life care you get.

Donald Trump is putting the government in charge of our health care is profoundly dangerous. It's sad to see in these debates that he repeats the same attack. He says anyone that doesn't believe in socialized medicine has no heart.

That is, of course, exactly the rhetoric that liberal politicians have used for decades. A final observation, one thing that is becoming clear is that our campaign is the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump and that can beat Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, is your fight here in Georgia going to be against Donald Trump or is it a fight second versus Senator Rubio? CRUZ: We are fighting to win in every state. It is neck and neck right now. I'll tell you if you look at nationwide, roughly 65 percent of Republicans think Donald is not the right candidate to go head-to-head with Hillary. Donald loses to Hillary. On the other hand, head-to-head, I'd beat Hillary Clinton.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ted Cruz there stumping in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia is one of the 13 Super Tuesday states. We're going to be talking more about Ted Cruz and what he needs to do in his home state of Texas, also a big Super Tuesday state, to pull out a big win on that day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:42]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Columbia, South Carolina. Ted Cruz once again issuing a warning to Republicans. Last night in Nashville, Cruz told voters that if Donald Trump does well on Super Tuesday, there may be no way to stop the billionaire from being the Republican nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: Donald Trump has enormous momentum. He's won three of the first four states. If he continues with that momentum and powers through and wins everywhere on Super Tuesday, he could easily be unstoppable. And I think that would be a grave mistake both for the Republican Party and for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Cruz issued a similar warning before the Iowa caucus and ended up winning that state. He hasn't won a state since, but is hoping to turn that around on Super Tuesday. Cruz is betting pretty big on a win in his home state of Texas, the lone star state.

It is a big prize on Tuesday with 155 delegates up for grabs. But now there are rumblings that Cruz could be in danger of losing his home state as Trump surges. Recent polling in Texas has shown Cruz with a solid but not insurmountable lead over Trump.

Let's bring in Bill Miller. He is a senior Republican lobbyist based in Texas to talk about Ted Cruz's standing in the lone star state. Bill, good to see you.

BILL MILLER, REPUBLICAN LOBBYIST: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: So what in your view do the chances -- what do they look like for him? I mean, yes, he may have issued that kind of warning before Iowa and then he did well in Iowa. But it is smart for him to say that the frontrunner could be unstoppable if he were to win big on Super Tuesday?

MILLER: Well, he is correct in that assessment. More importantly, his win across the board on Tuesday ends the Ted Cruz candidacy. It's really a plead for help from Ted Cruz to his base in Texas. He has to carry state and there's a likelihood that may not occur.

Although I would absolutely say he is favored today and would be considered the favorite through Election Day. But I believe the things that are in play in the state are changing that outlook and could change it as late as election night. We'll see.

WHITFIELD: And so, Bill, what is changing? Because if a Ted Cruz and his base have been feeling so confident in Texas and now here we are just days away from the primary there, what has changed? What's the dynamic that's changed among the electorate to make them think again about whether Ted Cruz is their guy?

MILLER: Well, it's the great question and the answer in my estimation, two things, one, his campaign in Texas has been the Tea Party and Evangelicals. He's believing Evangelicals and that's been shown in all the races preceding this one.

He's not holding that base as well as he does historically. And in Texas, the Tea Party, which adores Ted Cruz, has been the bullies on the block in Republican politics down here for the last two cycles.

And what has occurred because of the Trump phenomenon is we sort of have a new bad ass on the block and it's the Trump supporter and they have exceeded the Tea Party in both ferocity and passion. And that changed the dynamic in the state and has changed the dynamic for Ted Cruz in his presidential race.

WHITFIELD: So that Ted Cruz would receive an endorsement from the Governor Greg Abbott, how influential might that be particularly in the landscape that you just spelled out?

MILLER: Well, I think he's got both the governor and lieutenant governor. They're both popular candidates. But in Texas, we have a history of really embracing characters. We like characters down here.

We like characters as candidates and endorsements count for something, but the greater the character, sort of the greater our adoration and Donald Trump is a character and a half.

And he has captured the imagination of people down here that it's been astonishing event. Everyone assume that's Ted Cruz had this locked. I still think he'll win, but it's by no means a walk in the park and he's fighting for his life.

[11:45:08]WHITFIELD: You talk about Texas really loving characters and we're seeing that on display with Donald Trump. Might the same argument be made for Marco Rubio who is now unleashed in a different way and might that be a particular upset if it's Marco Rubio who does better than Ted Cruz in Texas?

MILLER: Well, I think it would be great for Marco Rubio if he did do better than Ted Cruz. Awful for Ted Cruz. What Marco Rubio is doing right now is he's picking up the pieces of all the other campaigns and he's doing that in an effective manner.

The problem for him is that there are just few days left in the race. I don't think he can bring, coalesce the pieces quickly enough to be strong at the finish. Although, he is growing in strength and will do better as expected, but he's still going to be in third place in my opinion.

WHITFIELD: All right. All right, Bill miller, thanks so much for your time and perspective. Appreciate it.

MILLER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And, of course, CNN will have live coverage all day, Super Tuesday. That is this Tuesday, March 1st right around the corner only here on CNN. We're back live from South Carolina where people are voting right now in today's Democratic primary. We'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're in Columbia, South Carolina, back to the race to the White House in a moment.

[11:50:04]But right now, overseas, the truce in Syria appears to be holding. There were no major reports of fighting around the country except for some sporadic shelling near the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Officially they are not calling this a ceasefire, but a break in the fighting. The U.S. and Russia brokered the deal to help get humanitarian relief to thousands of people in the country who desperately need it.

This deal covers soldiers from the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the rebels who's been fighting trying to take him down. It doesn't cover the terror group such as ISIS who are operating inside the country.

CNN's Arwa Damon is nearby in Istanbul, Turkey. Russia says it has stopped its airstrikes in certain parts of the country, is this a truce so to speak or just a hold on fighting, showing any real solid footing?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's difficult to gauge that at this stage, Fredricka, but the most significant for the Syrian population is the fact that ever the cessation of hostilities as it's being called went in effect, there have been no reports of air strikes.

No reports of Russian jets firing, and remember, they have been accused of deliberately targeting civilians and medical facilities. And also no reports of those horrific indiscriminate barrel bombs being dropped by the Assad regime.

Even if it's a brief respite from that kind of violence it allows the population something have not been able experienced for only too long.

When it comes to sporadic fighting around the country, this happened in scattered areas either between the regime and rebels in one case and in other area, it's been clashes between the Kurdish fighting force and ISIS, and also between the regime and ISIS. ISIS as you mentioned excluded from the cessation of hostilities, as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. Now the Nusra Front's leader did come out with an audio message where he warned the other rebel groups not to fall into this trap.

Saying that the cessation of hostilities was a ploy to try to force them to surrender to the Assad regime. And there have been also been a lot of comments and some skepticism by some of the other major rebel groups as well, really doubting what the true intentions are behind the cessation of hostilities.

But either way, even if has not seen a complete end to the fighting by Syria's standards there have been a significant reduction of violence.

Of course, the hope is that this is going to finally allow that humanitarian assistance to reach the Syrian population and especially those population centers that have been under siege in some cases for months -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Arwa Damon, thank you so much in Istanbul.

We'll getting back to our political coverage straight ahead. I spoke to a Bernie Sanders supporter earlier this hour. Coming up, I'll talk to the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina about why he is backing Hillary Clinton. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:56:45]

WHITFIELD: We'll have more from South Carolina in a moment, but first a quick check on other stories making headlines right now.

Funeral services will be held this weekend for five of the six victims of the Kalamazoo, Michigan shootings. Richard Smith and his 17-year- old son, Tyler, will be laid to rest today in a joint funeral service.

Memorial services will also be held this weekend for Barbara Hawthorne, Mary Lou Nye and her sister-in-law, Mary Jo Nye. A private service for Dorothy Brown was held Friday.

Yoko Ono is in a New York hospital this morning. Her publicist says she was having extreme flu-like symptoms and likely will go back home sometime today. Her son, Sean Lennon, tweeted that his mom is fine just dehydrated and tired.

Police say a crash near Los Angeles has left three people dead and several more critically injured. A UPS truck collided with two other vehicles on Interstate 5, flipped over and burst into flames. Authorities are still trying to figure out what caused that crash.

And moving back to the political race, John Kasich is live in Nashville, Tennessee, and is expected to speak at any moment there at a town hall there.

We're also expected to hear from Bernie Sanders and Marco Rubio within the next hour. We're covering all the candidates throughout the afternoon in their last big push days ahead to Super Tuesday. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)