[Don Lemon, Cnn:] You know, it is hard to imagine a more pivotal week in the presidential race than this one right now. Super Tuesday tomorrow, democratic debate Wednesday, GOP debate Thursday. This is CNN TONIGHT, I'm Don Lemon. Super Tuesday, round two, big states up for grabs, Michigan and Mississippi. Ted Cruz nipping at Donald Trump's heels, but tonight, Trump fighting to hold him off, rallying his supporters in Mississippi.
[Donald Trump,  U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Raise your right hand, everybody. Do you swear that you're going to vote for Donald Trump tomorrow? Raise that hand. I love you! I love you!
[John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] How are you? I'm good, how are you?
[Lemon:] I'm great as well. So, Super Tuesday, number two, round two, tomorrow. Is Donald Trump poised to slam the door on this nominating contest or have the attacks begun to works?
[King:] We're going to get good answer tomorrow. There's some crumbs that the attacks are working. Ted Cruz won two of the four states on Super Saturday. The margins in Kentucky and Louisiana were pretty small for Donald Trump and some conservatives think there's a sign of weakening. Let's see what happens, Don. The big prize is tomorrow, Mississippi and Michigan. If Donald Trump can shut Ted Cruz out again in the south, if he can win Mississippi, that's supposed to be Ted Cruz's Evangelical base. If Donald Trump can win there, and then if he can win in Michigan, in the industrial heartland, a state Donald Trump says he would contest against the democrats in November, then Trump will say, hey, I took a punch but I came back in the next round and I won the round. So, tomorrow's voting matters a lot.
[Lemon:] OK. Let's show the numbers here. As you say, Michigan, big prize with the latest poll of Monmouth University that it shows there. Well, Donald Trump is in the lead by 13 percent here, John. But in the last two days, John Kasich appears to be on the rise. Do you think either John Kasich or Ted Cruz have a shot at winning?
[King:] Well, that gap would tell you no, but the pollsters did say in the last couple days of the poll, the race was much tighter. Trump was still in the lead, but the race was tighter. So, again, is that one of the crumbs that suggests there's a moment of pause in the Republican Party? That either voters are thinking, are we sure we want this guy to be our nominee, or that all the attacks on Donald Trump are beginning to have some effect? Michigan's a diverse state, it's an interesting state. You have a little bit of an Evangelical base. You have more suburban republicans, as well. Remember, Rick Santorum almost caught Mitt Romney there in 2012. The Romney name people thought was the gold standard in Michigan. Santorum almost caught up with a mix of Evangelical and also blue- collar economic appeal. Trump has that blue collar economic appeal. Let's count the votes tomorrow. Again, if Trump can hold Michigan tomorrow, especially if he also holds Mississippi, he will stabilize heading into March 15th, which is another huge test. But tomorrow's a very interesting test.
[Lemon:] All right. Let's talk about delegates, John. I mean, if you look at it, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz aren't far apart. So, what's at stake tomorrow in terms of delegates? Does the math really work for all the candidates? Does it still work here?
[King:] Well, it works easier for Trump and easier for the rest of Ted Cruz. That's the main delegate total. That fact that Ted Cruz is now within 87 delegates is a pretty big deal. Marco Rubio, a distant third. Marco Rubio, one-word answer, he says can he survive and that is Florida. And that's a week from Tuesday. Don, Marco Rubio has to win his home state. But if you look at that lead right now, so project this forward. Again, tomorrow will tell us a lot about whether Trump is actually weakening or if he just took one punch and he can come back and do it. But look at the percentages here. Donald Trump has won 44 percent of the delegates in the republican contest to date. He has to win 53 percent for the remaining contests to clinch. Ted Cruz you see what the percentage he's won, 34. He needs to win almost 60 percent. And then for Rubio and Kasich, the hill is much steeper. It's almost impossible to see Rubio or Kasich actually clinching. You can only see them being in play if there is that, you know, fabled open convention. But for Donald Trump, even if you see that 53 percent, you say, that's a steep number, can you reach it. Remember, we go through this week, Don, and then we get to next week and it's winner take all. You win Florida, you get 199. You know, you win Ohio, you get a bunch. So, once we get into winner take all, that math, the 53 and even the 59 percent for Cruz is not so daunting. It is possible. It is possible. That is why the next 10 days, the next 8 days, really, are so critical in this race. Number one, can Donald Trump get back on track tomorrow or is he weakened further in the tomorrow contest, and then you get to the big winner-take-all March 15th where you're looking at Illinois, you're looking at Ohio, you're looking Florida, the biggest prize there. And so, tomorrow is a huge test, then going into what could be the deciding week. I think this is a defining week. Next week, potentially, could be the deciding week.
[Lemon:] If Rubio and Kasich, if they don't win their home states, the question is, can day go on? But what I'm wondering, though, is what if Trump loses both or even if it's very tight. Is that a game changer?
[King:] Yes. Well, he would still in the he's still likely to be in the lead. He's certainly to be in the delegate lead, even if he loses both of those. But that's when you get in, Don, to this conversation about, stay in the race, everybody stays in the race. But if Rubio wins Florida, he'll stay in. If Kasich wins Ohio, he'll stay in. And then you get into the thing the idea of can Donald Trump get to 1237? The answer is he can. But the math becomes very, very difficult. If he loses both Florida and Ohio, we're likely to have a war of attrition through the end of March, into April, into May, perhaps through California in June, and we could go to a convention. Now, remember, this story changes every day or every week, this story changes. What I like to say is, we're in the middle of a great drama. This chapter is pretty exciting. Let's not try to write the last chapter yet. But I do think look, tomorrow is key to test Trump's momentum and his ability to rebound from taking a punch. If he can rebound from that, then next week is hugely important in the sense that Rubio and Kasich, life or death in their home states. They have to win their home states or else they're done. If they win their home states, they're in and we've got a really interesting ride.
[Lemon:] I'm going to call you the John-ac, like the great Carnac. All that magic word stuff is in your head. You don't need those thinking magic well. It's all in your head. Thank you very much.
[King:] Most of it.
[Lemon:] Most of it. Thank you, sir. See you soon.
[King:] All right.
[Lemon:] I appreciate you coming on. Now I want to bring in Hugh Hewitt, the host of radio's Hugh Hewitt show. Hugh, good to have you on as well. So, what's your prediction for tomorrow? Who comes out the big winner?
[Hugh Hewitt, Radio Hugh Hewitt Show:] Well, I have no predictions on Michigan, because the polling is problematic at best and it's an open primary and they have a great race on the democratic side, as well as on the republican side. But I'll say this, Donald Trump has been losing altitude for 10 days. I don't think he's crashed, I don't think he's in a nosedive, but he's been losing altitude. So, Michigan, he needs a good double-digit win in Michigan to regain that momentum. And if it's single digits, I think you'll hear the chatter that John was just referencing about Marco Rubio coming back, the early numbers out of Florida from Monmouth poll, very good for Marco Rubio. He's winning the actual vote. The election is underway in Florida. There's early voting. People are casting ballots every single day. And so, I think Rubio's got a little wind at his back. Cruz had a great weekend for Cruz, and Donald Trump hasn't crashed it's a...
[Lemon:] So, why is he losing altitude, what's going on?
[Hewitt:] ... I will predict that. Well, he had two bad debates in a row. He had the KKK imbroglio that he had to break free from, he had to clarify his remarks on torture and families of terrorism. He just had a bad 10 days. Now every campaign has bad patches. And I think you could look back to Ted Cruz's bad patch right before Donald Trump started to slip on the ice. So, I think we're going to a contested convention, Don. I've been saying that since 2014 with different rules.
[Lemon:] You've been saying that. Yes, you have, you have.
[Hewitt:] And I think today, Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post, Jay Cost in the Weekly Standard, other analysts up and down the network dials have been looking they've been looking at the map, it's very hard to get to 1,237, especially this is really in the weeds 9 percent of the republican convention delegates are by state law uncommitted. And you take that 9 percent, you allocate the other delegates, and I don't think see any way anyone arrives a to the shores of Lake Erie with a Peyton Manning-led Cleveland Browns doing anything other than arguing on the floor that they ought to be the nominee.
[Lemon:] You got...
[Hewitt:] Peyton Manning, by the way, that's the big story of the day.
[Lemon:] It is, but I mean, it was expected and he's going out on a high note. We're really going off the rails here. But he's going out on a high note. I think it's a perfect time for him to, you know, to retire. But I have to ask you I think what...
[Hewitt:] And a bit of the Cleveland Browns.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Hewitt:] And to go run the Cleveland Browns. That's what he's going to do.
[Lemon:] Yes. Listen, I've got to ask you, though, I think in the crosstalk, I cut you off. People couldn't hear you but you said you think John Kasich is going to win Ohio, because if he doesn't this is life-or-death for his campaign, right?
[Hewitt:] Well, I from Warren, Ohio, and I have known the governor for a long time and he has a great organization and he has a couple of conservative critics who make a lot of noise, but John Kasich is going to win Ohio. He's a very popular, very successful governor in the buckeye state. And I think that's going to throw us into a contested convention, in which he's in a very, very good position. If he doesn't ramp up in Illinois and other places to nevertheless say, hey, I should be the vice president. I think Marco Rubio is going to make the same case if he wins Florida and that looks to me to be increasingly likely. Nevertheless, Donald Trump is the leader. He is by far the most popular with democrats who cross over and vote in the Republican Party primary. And so, as John King just said, you can't beat John King, you're right, he carries it around in his head. I've sat in green rooms with him when he reels off precinct totals from 25 years ago.
[Lemon:] He talks about differently, you know, different district and counties that I'm like, how do you know this stuff?
[Hewitt:] Yes.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Hewitt:] Because he was an A.P. reporter back in the day. He was covering Dukakis in Western Pennsylvania during the 1998 campaign. So, John knows his stuff and I tend to trust his on this.
[Lemon:] Let's talk about Florida. Trump is airing a new commercial in Florida, let's listen.
[Unidentified Male:] Rubio's been a total no-show in the U.S. Senate with the very worst voting record of all. Marco Rubio, another corrupt, all-talk, no-action politician.
[Lemon:] So, we haven't seen too many Trump ads. What does that tell you?
[Hewitt:] Well, it tells me he's playing to win and he's got a good argument that he's making repeatedly. But I have been in Miami for one day, Don, and I've probably seen 40 ads. Most of them are anti-Trump ads. Some of them using his own language run by super PACS. And I it's a 10 major media markets.
[Lemon:] We have one. Do you want to listen?
[Hewitt:] Yes, please.
[Lemon:] All right. Let's play it.
[Unidentified Male:] When I heard Donald Trump insult my fellow prisoners of war from Vietnam by calling us losers, that was the most infuriating comment I think I've heard from a politician in my entire life. Trump would not have survived a POW experience. He would have been probably the first one to fold. Learn about Donald Trump. He is not what he appears to be. Donald Trump is a phony. Stop him now.
[Lemon:] How effective is this? Continue your thought.
[Hewitt:] It's very effective in Florida. This is probably the state with the most active duty military registered to vote, because, it is, of course, military can register to vote anywhere they can declare their residence. There are a lot of them in Florida. If you remember the recount in BushGore in 2000, the absentees that came in from the military, that is a devastating ad. And I expect Donald Trump to be up responding with his long-standing support of veterans groups for a long time. But nevertheless, an air war is how you win Florida, and Rubio's got the turf at this point. I'll watch every day and new ads will arrive between now and next Tuesday. And I have so say, Don, I think that Thursday night's debate and I'm pleased to be a part of that one, is going to be the most significant primary debate in the history of television. Not like a presidential debate, but I've never seen a debate with higher stakes than Thursday night.
[Lemon:] Yes, OK. Well, we all will be watching. We'll be watching you. Thank you, Hugh Hewitt. I'll see you soon.
[Hewitt:] Always a pleasure, Don.
[Lemon:] Make sure make sure you yes. Mae sure you stay with CNN. March madness on the campaign trail. We're going to have all the day's coverage tomorrow. Super Tuesday, round two. Wednesday night, we're simulcasting Univision's democratic debate from Miami. It's at 9 Eastern. And on Thursday, CNN's republican debate from Miami, 8.30 p.m. Eastern Time. And up next, the move to stop Donald Trump and draft House Speaker Paul Ryan as the republican nominee. I'm going to talk to the man who is leading the charge and get reaction from Trump's campaign. Also ahead, which candidate is best at getting the last word in this race?