[Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] John, thanks. The polls close in most of Michigan, all of Mississippi in an hour. Idaho and Hawaii later. We'll have all the results and reaction, another crucial day of voting. "The Race For The White House" Special Coverage Super Tuesday 2.0 continues.
[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] The race for the White House is tightening as the remaining candidates fight it out in key states tonight.
[Cooper:] And tonight's outcome could determine who stays in this wild ride to the nomination.
[Announcer:] Right now, new battlegrounds in the presidential race. After a weekend of fresh wins for the front-runners and for their top rivals.
[Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Millions and millions of people are coming to vote for the Republicans because of me.
[Announcer:] Four more states are weighing in, with both parties bracing for climactic battles one week from now.
[Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Whether we like it or not, we're all in this together, my friends.
[Announcer:] Who will win another Super Tuesday scramble? It's America's choice. Tonight, in the Republican race, Donald Trump piling up delegates and piling on his opponents.
[Trump:] Lying Ted and little Marco, this is not presidential material, folks.
[Announcer:] Ted Cruz, racking up new wins, raising questions about whether voters are thinking twice about Trump.
[Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Our campaign is the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump over and over and over again.
[Announcer:] Marco Rubio, stalling, rejecting Trump's call for him to drop out.
[Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] We've all been underdogs. But we will win!
[Announcer:] In the democratic race tonight, Hillary Clinton widening her lead, still facing voter doubts, and a determined opponent.
[Hillary:] We have got to work together. We need to unify our country, not divide it.
[Announcer:] Bernie Sanders, keeping the pressure on after his weekend triple play.
[Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] This is a campaign of the people, by the people and for the people.
[Announcer:] Now, it's time for voters to have their say.
[Clinton:] When I hear people running for president, they are bad mouthing America, it really upsets me.
[Announcer:] When will we learn who faces off in the fall.
[Trump:] Who wants Trump?
[Announcer:] America is choosing. Every contest counts. And the all- important race for delegates is heating up right now.
[Blitzer:] We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. The next seven days could very well decide which of the six remaining presidential candidates will accept their party's nomination in July. For the Democrats, 166 delegates are on the line tonight. Hillary Clinton is looking to shut out Bernie Sanders. But both candidates they have a long way to go. We're not even halfway through this race. While Hillary Clinton'campaign is leading in the delegate math. Bernie Sanders still has plenty of momentum and has vowed to fight until the convention. For the Republicans, 150 delegates are at stake tonight. Trump is the delegate leader right now. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, they're hoping the Never Trump Movement isn't already past its expiration date. Cruz has won six states so far. And he is arguing the Never Trump Movement needs to unite behind him, not Marco Rubio. Rubio says, he just needs to make it past his home turf, Florida, that's when he'll win he says and derail the front-runner. We're counting down to the 8:00 p.m. Eastern hour, that is when the polls close in Mississippi. At 9:00 p.m. Eastern, that's when we could make a major projection in Michigan. That's where the most delegates are on the line tonight of the campaigns are making the biggest play. At 11:00 p.m. Eastern, polls close in Idaho where the Republicans are voting today. And at 1:00 a.m. Eastern, vote counting gets underway in the Hawaii caucuses. CNN is taking you to every state and inside every campaign tonight. Our Sara Murray is with the Donald Trump campaign in Jupiter, Florida. Sarah, what's the latest over there?
[Sara Murray, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, we've all seen this tightening in the national polls. But tonight will be the first real test whether Donald Trump's momentum has taken a hit. Now, Trump has made it clear. He wants to win in Michigan. He wants to win in Mississippi. Just last night he was campaigning in Mississippi, bragging about how he was leading in the polls there by double digits. So the key thing to watch for Donald Trump tonight is not just, does he win these two states, but by what kind of margins. We know that he has stalwart supporters, we know he has people who have jump on the bandwagon early and he had stuck with him. But the problem for him has been bringing in this late deciding voters. And that's what we were hearing, even earlier in Mississippi voters who came out. They wanted to see some more specifics from him, they wanted to see a little bit more meat on the bones. And a couple of them at least telling me, they are going to vote for Ted Cruz Wolf.
[Blitzer:] And Trump's headquarters tonight, Jupiter, one of his golf courses in Florida. Sara, we'll get back to you. Let's check in on the Cruz campaign. Now, Sunlen Serfaty is joining us from North Carolina which has, it's primary next Tuesday, a week from today. Sunlen, what's the latest there?
[Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. Well, this is really an atypical election night for Ted Cruz rather low-key, much different than past election nights. There is no big banners, no blasting music, there will be no big speech at the end of the night here for Ted Cruz. He spent the afternoon and the evening at this Baptist Church in Kannapolis, North Carolina, speaking to voters in advance of the March 15th primary here. And he just held a press conference with reporters where he talked about this anti-Trump movement in his words he says, Trump has built this image that he's unstoppable, that he's unbeatable. Well, we're starting to see that crash into reality. Now, he will not stick around here to make a big speech at the end of the night. He will be on a plane flying to Miami, Florida, while much of the election results are coming in later tonight in advance of an event here tomorrow morning. Really speaking volumes where his focus is right now, and his next big quest to take down Marco Rubio in his home state of Florida Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Sunlen, thanks very much. Let's bring in Dana Bash and David Chalian. You guys have been going through some numbers right now, exit poll information.
[Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] That's right and before we get to that, I think, sort of it's important to look at the night and what we're expecting. I have to say, David, I'm sure you've been on the phone with your sources all day. I was talking to people who I would never in a million years expect to tell me that they voted today for Ted Cruz. But they did. Somebody in Mississippi, Austin Barber, who is as bad establishment as he gets, said, you know what, I voted for Ted Cruz, and it's because I think he is the best person to stop Donald Trump. Not Marco Rubio, not John Kasich, Ted Cruz and that is the dynamic we just heard from Sunlen and Sara that they're certainly seeing and hearing on the ground. And it seems to be the way things are heading at least tonight.
[David Chalian, Cnn Political Director:] That's right. Because what you have in the Republican primary electorate is that, if you are somebody who is opposed of Donald Trump as your nominee, that becomes the most important issue for you. Right? And so what you're saying, when you talk to other Republicans, Ted Cruz slowly becoming more establishment of a choice, because of that one factor alone, this stop Trump moment. It's something we'll going to be talking about all night long, and we're going to be assessing and looking for clues to see, is it really taking hold. Is there something going on with Trump right now that his momentum is being somehow slowed. Now, there are big contests tonight. He can emerge with victories, he was leading in the pre-election polls in these states. But you see the national poll. You see the conversations that's happening among Republicans, I really do think that's going to be the big story line tonight.
[Bash:] And I should say that even people who do not want Trump to win do expect him to. We'll see if that happens but expected to do so in Michigan and Mississippi. But let's take a look at Michigan. You've been going through the exit polls, and about what the qualities are that candidates have and what the voters are looking for.
[Chalian:] Yes. We wanted to sort of look first at the issue to reign that is out there. And we looked just in Michigan here, in both parties, to get folks a sense. And I think it's really interesting. So, what may not be so surprising is that the economy is the number one issue. We see it, 35 percent say the economy on the Republican side, 32 percent government spending, 22 percent terrorism, nine percent immigration. Democratic side, take a look at this. Forty two percent of Democrats in the Michigan primary voting in the Michigan primary today say the economy and jobs are the most important issue, followed by income inequality, health care, and terrorism. But now we dig in, Dana, a little bit further into the economy at the issue of trade. We've heard so much about it on the campaign trail. Watch these numbers. Among the Michigan Republican primary voters, a majority, 53 percent say that doing trade with other countries takes away U.S. jobs. Thirty four percent say, it creates U.S. jobs. Democrats feel that way even more so, a bigger majority, 56 percent of Democrats voting in the Michigan Democratic Primary believes doing trade with other countries takes away U.S. jobs. Thirty one percent say it creates jobs. This is why that stat right there is why you hear Donald Trump when he says, hey, I'm going to be the nominee, and when I'm the nominee, I'm going to put states like Michigan
[Bash:] That's right.
[Chalian:] In play in the fall. That is why. This is an electorate across the aisle that is completely open because of their concerns to hearing the kind of message on the economy and trade that Donald Trump has been selling hard.
[Bash:] And it is real. You've been in Michigan in the past few days, so have I. It is true. It is a bipartisan sentiment. People still feel economic anxiety and very much blame the trade policies of both presidents, Democrats and Republicans in the past. And that is where both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders meet. And I'm sure you were there too. You probably heard the same thing Wolf.
[Blitzer:] I certainly did. And it's going to be a fascinating night tonight. I think it's going to be pretty exciting for all of our viewers. Anderson, over to you.
[Cooper:] Wolf, thanks very much. I'm joined by some new panelists joining us, Michael Smerconish is here. We have of course, Nia-Malika Henderson. David Axelrod is joining us. Gloria Borger as well. David, let's hear from you. Just in terms of what you were looking for tonight, and what you read from those exit polls that David Chalian has been talking about.
[David Axelrod, Cnn Senior Political Commentator:] Well, first of all, I've never seen a fuselad like the one that's been aimed at Donald Trump in the last few weeks. I mean, there have been so many guns trained on him. And there's some evidence as David said, the national polling that it's having an impact. The question is whether anybody but the Trump movement can prosper in an environment where the campaigns have nobody but me movement. Each one of these challengers think they should be the alternative to Trump. And the longer they stay in, as we said, week after week, the better he does. And this we'll see tonight if there's some indications to whether some are going to fall away or whether he's beginning to fray as a result of all these attacks, which have been very, very severe.
[Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] You know, the question is also, we saw this "Wall Street Journal" poll tonight, which had Trump losing ground tremendously against his top contenders. And I think the question we have to say is, even if people gain on Donald Trump, because of this establishment barrage against him, the question is whether it's too late.
[Unidentified Male:] Right.
[Borger:] Because he's already racked up a bunch of delegates. He's going to get a lot of delegates tonight. And if John Kasich wins in Ohio, that's winner take all. So, we have to see.
[Cooper:] And to that point, Michael Smerconish, I mean, the last primary night, even though the margins were closer, Donald Trump still won those states.
[Michael Smerconish, Cnn Anchor, "smerconish":] True. But he's not performing at a 51 percent rate thus far. So even though he's doing well comparatively, he's not doing well enough to lock this thing up. The question is, is it going to on for a while, for another three or so months at the current pace. Or is he going to tee this up for next Tuesday, to really put it out of contention for the others. And I'm not sure which way it goes but it's very hard to see how anyone other than Trump can assemble the 1,237 before Cleveland.
[Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes. And that's what you heard Kasich say earlier. Nobody is going to get to that 1,237. They like the idea that it's chaos and it's muddled. But there are some, I think underlying constants about this race. And this is, it might be three people, but all the time Trump is winning. In states all across the country. And so I think it benefits the establishment to keep saying it's muddled. But in fact if you're an establishment candidate, particular candidate like Rubio, one thing you've got to look at tonight is, maybe he comes in fourth and maybe he doesn't even meet the threshold to get
[Axelrod:] The two guys we have to watch closely tonight. Not necessarily the headliners, Rubio and Kasich. If Rubio is weakened tonight going into Florida, that enhances Donald Trump's chances of winning Florida. If Kasich does well tonight, perhaps he'll do better in Ohio. If he doesn't, then Trump has a good chance to take Ohio. Those two huge winner take all prizes next Tuesday.
[Cooper:] I want to turn to our commentators Andy Dean, is joining us, Trump's supporter, former president of Trump Productions Van Jones, and political commentator, former Obama administration official S.E. Cupp, CNN political commentator Donna Brazile, political commentator and Democratic strategist. Andy, welcome. Good to have you actually here.
[Andy Dean, Donald Trump Supporter:] Thank you. I appreciate it.
[Cooper:] We got you out of L.A. We actually got you here. So, what are you looking for tonight?
[Dean:] So, we've got Michigan, we've got Mississippi. These are two very, very different states. The one thing they have in common is they are both primaries. And if we look forward, the next 24 states to vote, the rest of it, 23 of them are primaries. There's only caucus left. Ted Cruz is only been doing well in caucus states. Ted Cruz has only won two primaries, his won his home state and his neighboring state, Oklahoma. So, if you look to the future, tonight is going to be a big sign. If Trump can win diverse primaries, then I don't see when the next 23 or 24 states, primaries he doesn't win.
[Cooper:] Do you see any signs of cracks or weakness in terms of Trump? To David Axelrod's point, there are a lot of guns pointed at him. A lot of ads being ran against him. Do you see them having any effect?
[Dean:] I think when tens of millions of dollars are spent against Donald Trump. Yes, the margins may come down a little bit. But at the end of the day, the voters are going to have their say, and in two hours, if Trump wins Michigan and Mississippi, these are very different states once again
[Cooper:] Right.
[Dean:] I'm sure John King will look through the evangelical population, very very different. If he wins both, then I think that there's no way that Trump can't win the nomination.
[Cooper:] S.E., I mean, to Andy's point, Mississippi is a state which on paper, you know, months ago, Ted Cruz would have thought, oh, this is a great state for me. Huge percentage of the voters are evangelical. Donald Trump has been winning evangelicals.
[S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yes. And much to Ted Cruz's surprise, much to a lot of people's surprise. And I think it's made a lot of Republican Party elders kind of reconsider what the evangelical math looks like, I think for a long time Republicans took the evangelical vote for granted. Assumed we knew who these people were. Turns out they're not as homogenous as maybe they used to be. And they're not as loyal to the GOP at large as they have been in the past. These are people who are now going for the guy who's probably the least, I would say, the conservative of all 17 candidates that we've offered up. And to speaks evangelical the least fluently. So, I think it's sort of a wakeup call to the party to look again at the makeup of our evangelical voters.
[Cooper:] Van?
[Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I think when it comes to Trump, there's a villain in Marvel Comics called Sebastian Shaw. And the harder you hit him, the stronger he gets. The harder you get it. So there was a theory, I think, that this was Sebastian. You couldn't hit him. Don't fight him. We're going to see how many bullets he can eat without actually getting weak.
[Cooper:] The Marvel Comic book theory. We're going to bring in Donna shortly. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to take you down on top of the hour in Mississippi. We hope to share the first votes out of that state with you. We're working on being able to make projection. A long, exciting night ahead. Keep it right here on CNN.