american space tragedy. hope gravity isn't a drag." he's heading to houston for physical and scientific testing and getting his body reacclimated to gravity on earth. thank you for watching. happening now the donald's day. donald trump wracking up huge super tuesday wins. sending another one of his rivals to the sidelines. is he the republican's presumptive nominee? all out war. republicans soul searching about what their party stands for and against. breaking news a counter attack from mitt romney and gop establishment wing. hillary's run. hillary clinton scores big on super tuesday as she begins looking ahead. is she in danger of overlooking senator bernie sanders should he keep on fighting? shocking video shows a high school student getting slapped

and kicked bay man in uniform bhop are they? is it another case of police excessive force? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we're following breaking news of the presidential race. despite donald trump calling himself a unifier after winning seven super tuesday states he's facing a revolt within the republican party. plin mitt romney preparing to make a rare public appearance. he plans to attack trump, said sources. dr. ben carson announcing he sees no political path forward and will skip the next republican debate. on the democratic side of the race, senator bernie sanders keeps chipping away at hillary clinton's ties to wall street. after seven super tuesday wins clinton campaign is making her

case that sanders should step aside. our correspondents, analysts, and guests. i'll have full coverage and analysis of the day's top stories. let's start with the chaos in the republican party. jason carol is in michigan for us. >> reporter: the rubio camp is pushing forward. they have their work cut out for them in the state of michigan. recent poll shows donald trump leading by 10%. the recent poll showing trump at 29% and cruz at 19% and rubio at 18%. but they say that are not deterred by any polls going forward. they are staying with the message that he can unite the party not donald trump. >> we've done something that almost nobody could be done. >> reporter: the prospect of a donald trump nomination divides the party. the frontrunner is making the

case that he can bring the gop together. >> i'm a unifier. >> reporter: trump's path to the nomination looking increasingly likely after picking up seven victories on super tuesday. his growing strength parking an all out civil war within the gop. >> tonight is the beginning of donald trump bringing the republican party together. >> i will not support donald trump now and i will not support him should he move on. >> reporter: the party pointing fingers with disagreements over who should drop out and who can beat trump. >> the candidates will not yet won a state. who have not wracked up significant delegates. i ask you to prayerfully consider our coming together. uniting. >> reporte >> there will never come a time in this race where our supporters will ask us to rally around donald trump. >> reporter: one candidate not moving on from super tuesday is dr. ben carson releasing a statement today saying i do not

see a political path forward. cruz and rubio pressing on. cruz won three states on tuesday including texas. rubio took one state, minnesota. trump firing off a warning shot to both with his performance. >> it's only too bad that winner didn't take all. because if winner took all, this thing is over. we're having a celebration. >> reporter: also testing out his general election message. >> we have expanded the republican party. when you look at what has happened in south carolina and you see the kind of numbers that we got in terms of extra people coming in. >> just days ago, republican senator lindsey graham was openly railing against cruiz. >> if you kill ted cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial was in the senate nobody could convict you. >> reporter: after trump's super tuesday wins graham said if forced to choose, the choice is clear. >> i'm anybody but trump. ted and i are in the same party.

donald trump is an interloper. >> reporter: rubio voting early today in florida ahead of the marge 15 primary is showing no sign of bowing out for cruz. >> last night was supposed to be ted cruz's night. we beat him in half the states on ballot. we won the state of minnesota. we picked up a lot of delegates. >> reporter: and rubio taking the stage now here in michigan. michigan is not the only place, wolf, where the polls are not weighing in his favor. also, in his home state of florida, polls showing trump leading there as well. trump tweeting today about super tuesday saying marco rubio lost big last night. i even beat him in virginia where he spent so much of his time and money. now his losses are desperate and angry. >> jason carol, thank you. let's get more from our political reporter sara murray where trump spoke with the reporters last night map is trump's strategy as his campaign enters the next phase?

>> reporter: to give you an idea how confident they are. donald trump is taking the day down before he head on the campaign trail tomorrow. they're going to continue this fly around strategy to hit as many states as possible. he's going to be in maine, he's going to be in michigan, he's going to be in louisiana. in addition to a number of big rallies they have here in florida. now, of course, we know florida is the big prize. the biggest winner take all prize on march 15th. the trump campaign wants to win here because of that. it's the most number of delegates you can win that day. they want to stick it to marco rubio in his home state donald trump saying it would have been great if winner could take all. they want to do it on the 15th. >> i understand, also, czar asa there have been staff changes in the campaign. what do we know? >> reporter: that's right. before you roll your eyes and tell me that staff changes are boring, let me explain when we see a number of these people promoted or moving into regional positions, what it tells you is

the trump campaign is looking at this as a national campaign. and they're starting to privet to look ahead to a general election. they pride themselves on efficiency. they prize themselves on having relatively few national staffers. we're starting to see that change. i think we heard that tone from donald trump last night talking about how he would be a unifier. how he would work with congress. how he's ready to take on hillary clinton. so even if they don't have this nomination locked up yet, it's clear they're looking ahead. >> sara, thank you. joining us now is the newly added senior advisor to the donald trump campaign sara huckabee sanders is the daughter of mike huckabee has worked on her father's presidential campaigns and other campaigns. thank you for joining us. let's get to the issue of mitt romney. as you know, a source tells cnn that romney plans to criticize donald trump in a major speech in utah tomorrow. has donald trump, as far as you know, made any effort to reach out to mitt romney as part of an effort to try to unite the republican party?

>> as far as i know, i don't know that mr. trump has directly reached out to governor romney. frankly, he shouldn't have to. governor romney should be rallying behind the nominee. this is an election. it's not a selection process. and unfortunately we have some people in the establishment that are afraid of losing power and losing control because it's not their hand picked guy. if any other candidate had won ten of the last 15 of the first 15 states, then we would all be crowning them the presumptive nominee. i hope the rest of the republican party will follow america's lead and start really a lying behind donald trump. >> if he's the presumptive nominee and he's doing well in all these elections, shouldn't he be working to try to unify a party right now? reaching out, let's say to mitt romney. i understand there have been some efforts, not necessarily

directly from him, but some of his staff to paul ryan, the speaker of the house. shouldn't he be doing more of that? >> and i think he has done quite a bit of that. he is starting to see quite a few endorsements coming from governor chris christie, jooan brewer, duncan hunter, and quite a few others. i think you're starting to see that. to say that donald trump is not unifying the party when he last night won states like massachusetts and alabama. if you're not unifying the party, you don't win two demographics that couldn't be more completely different than two states like that. >> donald trump, as you know -- >> i think in stead of trying to -- i think one of the reasons people like donald trump he's not trying to unify the establishment. he's trying to unify america. that's a very big difference. i think that's why he's doing so well right now. >> he's proud of his ability to hammer out deals as he points out to work with others. does he understand the concerns

that many in the republican party have right now about his candidacy? some senators like lindsey graham flatly saying they don't believe trump is a republican. >> i think these are just desperate attacks that a lot of, again, the establishment is trying to make because he's beating them by such large margins. in often cases, in their home states. i think that this is just another desperate attempt for the establishment to try to gain control and to try to put their hand-picked person in the driver's seat. that's not going to happen in this race in this cycle. >> donald trump seems to be a man very much of his own making. he likes to make his own decisions. what about taking advice from his staff? you're one of his senior advisors right now. how much interaction on these key decisions does he have with the staff? >> you know, i think he's surrounded himself with a great team. guys like cory and michael glasser have done a terrific job, and i certainly think he

takes a lot of information and processes that and makes his own decision at the end of the day. frankly, is what you want in an executive. you want somebody who can take in a lot of different information but at the end of the day the decision is theirs. they make it and they move forward. that's what he does. not just on a presidential campaign but in business and exactly what i think we can expect him to do in the white house. >> i want to play something. th listen to what donald trump said last night responding to a question about his relationship with the speaker of the house. listen to this. >> i'm going to get along great with congress. okay. paul ryan i don't know him well but i'm sure i'm going to get along great with him. if i don't, he's going to have pay a big price. okay. >> what does he mean by that? he's going to have to pay a big price? >> i think that's a question you'll have to ask him about what kind of price he might have to pay. but at the end of the day, i think that republicans are going to rally behind donald trump because even those that may be

saying they don't want him in office, one thing they fear more than that is hillary clinton. we absolutely cannot allow her to occupy the white house again. i think that any of those that are doubting right now their ability to support donald trump are going to come around. >> dr. ben carson says he doesn't see a path forward for him to get the republican nomination. he's not going to participate in the next republican presidential debate. do you know if there have been any dialogue at all? any conversations between donald trump and dr. ben carson? maybe donald trump wanting to get carson's endorsement? >> you know, i'm not sure, but i think he would be a great endorsement. they've had a good relationship from the beginning. they haven't been two candidates that have gone after each other. i think dr. carson has been a great voice for the republican party. i hope he continues to stay active and involved and maybe even jumps in the busy senate race i think is coming up in florida soon. >> your dad, mike huckabee, ran

for president of the united states, as all of us remember. he was the governor of arkansas. he would run on positive campaigns. how comfortable is he right now seeing what is going on inside the republican party? the angry exchange of words between these republican candidates? sometimes getting really low level. >> you know obviously that's not his style of politics. so i think there are parts of it he doesn't like. unfortunately, it's become a lot of the process particularly this year. but i think the thing he would say and point to is it's time to rally around the person that it looks like will be our nominee, and instead of attacking each other, let's go after the real target and that's hillary clinton. >> you think donald trump will tone it down? as you know, he hits back even harder. >> that's his style. again, that's probably a question better left for him. i think last night we saw a great glimpse into the type of general election campaign we can expect mr. trump to run, and i

thought he was right on message and right on par, and certainly moving and transitioning into putting his focus and sights set on hillary. >> what is the worst part of his opponents from his perspective? ted cruz, marco rubio? what disqualifies them to be the republican nominee? >> i think at this point, the fact that the american people aren't getting behind them. i think in order to be the republican nominee people have to be voting for you. right now they're not voting for ted cruz or marco rubio. they're voting for donald trump. the number one reason i think it is, they want to see a break up of the washington to wall street axis of power. he's the only person to provide that type of shake up and change our country and change the direction we're heading on. >> there's been a lot of ridicule of new jersey governor chris christie on the stage standing behind donald trump last night. people are making a lot of fun

of him for the looks on his face. who made that decision to have chris christie up there? was it a smart decision with hindsight? >> you know, i don't know at the end of the day whose decision it was. i think it's a good decision. chris christie is a strong governor. he's been a great asset and a really positive surge of enthusiasm to keep that momentum behind the trump campaign. so, you know, i think of course you're going have people that pick him apart. because last night donald trump had a great night. he won a lot of states. and if that's the worst thing that they can come up with is they didn't like the person standing behind him. then they may want to reevaluate their campaigns. that's probably why they're not winning if that's the best attack they've got. >> that's not the best attack that marco rubio or ted cruz have. they call haim a con artist, a

sham, a lair. >> -- liar. >> i have. i hope the other candidates will tone down their rhetoric and set their targets on where it needs to be and that's on hillary and start getting behind trump, i think, will not only be the nominee but go on to win the presidency. >> sara huckabee sanders is an advisor to the trump campaign. thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. we're following all the developing stories right now in this race for the white house. dr. ben carson apparently deciding it may be time to move on now. mitt romney is getting ready for a major speech tomorrow. word on the street he's going to be going after donald trump. stay with us.

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mitt romney is scheduling a rare public statement that says will involve, or not necessarily involve, but direct endorsement of any of the candidates or an announcement he's thinking of running. it will include a serious amount of criticism of donald trump. let's bring in our chief political reporter dana bash, our senior legal analyst jeffrey tu bin and anna navarro. what do you think is on the mind of mitt romney? he's not going to endorse anyone or announce he's running. >> i think it's probably painful and cringe inducing for mitt romney to watch what is happening to the republican party and what is happening on

this presidential race. you can find a lot of fault with the way that mitt romney ran his campaign. god knows i did at the time. you also know that the man is a decent man who loves his country. who loves democracy, who loves the process. respects the process. i've got to think it's got to be painful for him to see this republican civil war. to, you know, hear the way that this campaign has deteriorated into personal insults of the most juvenile type. i think mitt romney is going to call for civility. i think he's going to call for unity. i think he's going to remind us about the important things that should be going on in a presidential race. i think he's going to try to elevate the tone. i just suspect this knowing the man a little bit. >> i suspect he's going to criticize donald trump. even last week he said there was a bombshell in donald trump's income tax returns. that's why he's refusing to release those income tax returns. i suspect he's going to attack. >> of course. but whether he's going to do it

explicitly or implicitly. sure. whether he's the right messager to be doing that. probably not the perfect mess e messager. the first time he went after trump was on taxes. that is something he had problems with. he attacked him using quotes on shakespeare not showing he's in touch with the new brand of republicans. the way he does the tone and the message is going to be absolutely key. >> who is the intended audience here? that's what i don't understand. we have looked through several elections. what audience is out there right now in this republican electorate that is perceptive to hear from mitt romney or somehow that's going to change the trajectory. >> isn't this exactly what is wrong with the republican establishment? he's going to give the speech and say everyone should be nice to each other. he's not going to endorse one or the other candidate. rubio and cruz will be out there dividing the opposition to trump. what possible good could this

speech do? >> the flip side is talking to a lot of republicans about this issue for weeks. one of the questions that come up where are our party leaders? where are our former nominees? why aren't they standing up for the party? that is what mitt romney is trying to do, but the question is, is it going to work? >> david, isn't it a little late to do this? that trump train is moving. >> right. listen i compare this to the republican elite establishment. the leadership of the party has been hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock for the better part of the last eight months. i don't understand why they didn't get up when the alarm was ringing early on. it may be too late. what i think is romney is trying to do here, if i get it right, i think he's trying to give the anti-trump forces more life to go on. it's another voice to add to the mix. it's another conversation that we'll have that extends this to

buy time to hopefully allow anti-trump to continue. >> one second. >> while he's doing this, one of his former deputy campaign managers is trying to breathe new life into her anti-trump super pac. had a call with some 50 donors yesterday begging them to put up money. they have. they are. the ads are starting to run now. i think that's kind of coordinated effort. >> go ahead, anna. >> yeah, look. when you wake up this morning and you see the reality of last night and it sinks in, at some point you feel saddened and compelled to action. i can understand what is moving mitt romney. let's remember, he's not in elected office. he's not run. he has nothing to lose. he can add to it. i think he's being moved by his own personal sense of responsibility that he cannot sit silently on the sidelines while this is all going on in front of us.

>> don't you think, jeffrey, if you're going to criticize donald trump you need to do more than just criticize trump? you need to say here is what -- here is someone i support who should be the republican nominee. >> exactly. you need an alternative. i think everybody who is following this race has heard bad things about donald trump. there have been a -- >> you listen to ted cruz and marco rubio. you've heard things. >> bad things about the size of his fingers. they're saying terrible things >> they're also saying substantiative things. >> they're also saying substantiative things. there's no single alternative. with a divided opposition and the results yesterday were sort of perfect for donald trump. because rubio has something to claim. cruz has something to claim. if one had been wiped out totally, that would have been bad for trump. >> it looks like dr. ben carson is going to drop out. he a little base in the national polls. sometimes 5, 8, or 10%.

who gets that dr. ben carson? let's say he doesn't point people in the specific direction, where does that support go? that could make the difference in a lot of upcoming states. >> if you look at the make up of the voters and the ideological messaging throughout the campaign you would imagine that ted cruz and donald trump would be in battle for the carson votes. they might each get some of them. but, listen, donald trump seems to benefit when people have been dropping out right now. that's not what we thought was going to happen. he does collect some of the vote that is left behind when people leave the race. i would expect him to continue to collect some of the vote. >> remember, we had a lot of talk earlier in the campaign about lanes. the establishment lane and the evangelical lane. there are no lanes. there never were any lanes. carson was perceived to be in the evangelical lane but his vote has been spread out and mostly go to trump. most of all the votes. >> speaking of lanes, i would love to know what ana thinks

about this. there was talk last week on capitol hill congressman trent franks put out out idea of ted cruz and marco rubio coming together in a unity ticket. apparently that's gaining steam on capitol hill. capitol hill they talk a lot, as we know. we don't know if it's going to happen. i can't imagine how logistica y logistically. it's very complicated. who is the top? who is the bottom. >> let's ask ana. >> i've gotten several -- >> hold on. i've been hearing that as well some people suggesting, you know, they have to unite ted cruz, marco rubio. cruz is ahead so he would be the presidential nominee. let's say marco rubio would be the vice presidential running mate. does that have any sense to you? >> it makes sense in a theory in an ideal world but, you know, i can tell you probably the only thing that is longer and bigger than the length of their fingers is the size of their egos.

it becomes a question of who goes on top on this ticket. i have heard this talk. i've heard a lot of it in the last several days. yes, from some people in congress. folks are becoming, you know, folks are really beginning to take stock of their reality that donald trump may actually be the nominee and are now separately looking around and outside the box for some sort of solution to this. an alternative. there isn't one alternative. you cannot argue that ted cruz should be that alternative when, you know, he's only won three states. you can't argue thamt marco rubio should be the alternative when she's got nothing but minnesota to show for it. it's hard to make an argument for one alternative. so let's make an argument for a unified alternative. >> the idea of a ticket together. that's not how parties nominate targets. you don't get to combine the delegates with somebody else's delegate pot. it doesn't work that way. >> no, but let's walk through

the meadows of sunflowers and smell the lavender. you know, eat apple pie and sing together. can we just go with this fantasy for a little bit? it's been a tough day for some of us. >> the theory is they want to double team. the people that are pushing this. let the two guys get together and they can pounce on donald trump. >> i can just say i'm glad ana ended that sentence with egos. >> standby. there's more. we'll take a quick break and resume our special coverage right after this.

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we are watching new developments in the democratic race. hillary clinton is turning her election senator bernie sanders won four states is not giving up by any means. how much longer could the race go on? >> reporter: well, if you listen to bernie sanders and his campaign, they say this could go all the way to the convention and his aids are stressing they have the money to take them that far. >> what a super tuesday! >> reporter: tonight hillary clinton taking a big step closer to the democratic nomination after winning seven states on super tuesday. >> now this campaign moves forward to the crescent city, the motor city, and beyond. >> reporter: on upcoming primaries in louisiana, michigan, and beyond. she's also turning her focus to a potential general election contest, and the man she thinks will be the republican nominee donald trump. >> america never stopped being

great. we have to make america whole! >> she wants to make whole again. i'm trying to figure out what is that all about? make america great again is better than making america whole again. >> reporter: bernie sanders won four states tuesday night and vowing to continue his campaign all the way to the democratic convention in july. >> 35 states remain. let me assure you that we are going to take our fight for economic justice, for social justice, for environmental sanity, for a world of peace. >> reporter: clinton's strong performance tuesday, which gives her a delegate lead of 201 and more than 600 if you count super delegates leave sanders with a narrow path to the nomination. her campaign describing his route with nearly impossible. saying in order to catch up,

senator sanders doesn't have to start winning a few states but everywhere by large margins. this is why it's difficult for him to close the large gap in delegates. it won't stop sanders from trying. he pulled in $42 million in donations in february and selling himself as the candidate to defeat the gop. >> we want a candidate who will defeat the right wing republicans. i think you're looking at him. >> reporter: in 2008, hillary clinton stayed in the race, wolf, all the way to june facing a lot of pressure from the establishment democrats to get out. at the same time some observers are thinking that sanders could stay in. they think he might reassess the situation after more contests come and go in march through march 15th. we'll see a series of contests. if you talk to his aids, they're

giving no -- nothing. >> our political panelists still here. we have a lot to assess. we'll take a quick break and be right back. does sitting behind a new desk make you feel like an svp instead of a vp? then you might be gearcentric. right now, save up to 40% on desks and filing cabinets! office depot officemax. gear up for great®.

hillary clinton once said in the super tuesday contest that sweeping states in the south and taking massachusetts as well. senator bernie sanders is not letting up. we're back with our political experts. seven out of 11 contests is her

lead among the delegates special if you add in the super delegates in addition to the pledged delegates insurmountable now? >> nearly. she has an actual larger pledge delegate lead just based on the results of the primaries and caucuses so far after super tuesday against bernie sanders than president obama against her after super tuesday in 2008. we know how that ended up. the way these delegates are apportioned, bernie sanders with the money he has, can continue to amass delegates. it's near impossible to see how he's going to overtake hillary clinton among pledge delegates if the results of these contests hold to a similar pattern with what we've seen. >> ana, if hillary clinton continues to stretch her lead out among delegates, how does she go about doing that gracefully without alienating bernie sanders supporters. if she gets the nomination she needs those supporters to be enthusiastic in a general election. >> i'm not sure she will and i'm

not sure she should. first of all, you know, i think one of the things that hurt john mccain in 2008 he wrapped the nomination in early february or march. the democratic nomination fight wednesday on until june. i don't know how hillary clinton can argue with bernie sanders that he should get out now when she held on through june in 2008 against barack obama. it was, you know, look if he gets out now, all the media attention, all of the oxygen in the room is going to be sucked up by the very vibrant, very lively, very interesting, fascinating race and fight going on the republican side. the truth is, bernie sanders being in this race made hillary clinton a better candidate. she was one rusty candidate with she first got into it. this right now is a hillary clinton with much better candidate skills. thanks to bernie sanders. >> bernie sanders very

disappointed that massachusetts went for hillary clinton given the fact she did well in the southern states, african-american voters majority in some of those states really coming out overwhelmingly for her. he thought he could win in massachusetts. >> no question it was a psychological blow to him. he got more delegates than you would think because he lost, but he also did well in oklahoma. he did well in colorado. so he had other wins to kind of offset hers. there's no question about the idea that in new england state that should have been very kind of tailor made for bernie sanders, he didn't win. there's a lot of finger pointing in the bernie sanders camp, not necessarily his campaign, but people who support him at elizabeth warren, the senator from massachusetts has not endorsed hillary clinton but she hasn't endorsed bernie sanders. people who like bernie sanders wished she had come on board. >> i think what bernie sanders is doing is significant, but what he's not doing is even more

significant. he's not attacking hillary clinton as untrust worthy as a liar. he's not talking about the e-mails. he's running a very high-minded campaign, and that is not really one that is going to damage the democratic party. >> yeah. what about the wall street stuff and goldman sachs and, you know -- >> compared to the republican race, compared to you know what he could be saying. this is a woman who, in the general way, is under fbi investigation as we speak. he's not saying a word about that. that's a pretty big gift. >> you have to admit, ana, the republican race is a lot more intense, a lot more brutal than the democratic contest. >> you think? jeez. i mean, we all know that, frankly, there is very little that compares to what is going on on the republican side. i don't think any of us could have imagined that this would

evolve into what it has. the level of the rhetoric, the personal insults, the jokes. i mean, sometimes i watch this and i feel like it has deteriorated into a, you know, your mama is so dumb contest between the front runners. it's painful for some of us that love the democratic process to watch. i hope as it goes on it becomes more unified and the rhetoric becomes elevated and becomes fitting of a presidential race not a schoolyard fight. >> all right. we'll see if that happens. >> we need to cheer ana on. >> good luck. >> can you come to miami, ana. >> send me flowers. >> i'll be in miami next week for the debate. sources tell cnn that mitt romney is preparing to criticize donald trump in a rare public speech. we're getting more information. . windows 10 really helps us

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shocking video of a violent confrontation in a baltimore school provoking angry claims of excessive force by police. brian todd has been investigate this story for us and is joining us from baltimore. what are you finding out? >> reporter: tonight a criminal investigation is under way into the actions of a baltimore school police officer. he is seen on videotape kick, slapping a student inside a stairwell of this high school. tonight it's got officials, school officials, students and parents very rattled. >> the video lasts only four seconds, long enough to show what police are now calling an excessive use of force.

watch again as you see a young man, possibly a student, being slapped three times, then kicked by this officer. >> [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> reporter: officials say this occurred tuesday on the grounds of reach partnership high school in baltimore. tonight the officer who works for the baltimore city schools is under criminal investigation for assault. >> when you first saw the video, what was your reaction? >> being a father two of teenage sons, it was very troubling for me to see that take place. >> reporter: according to police rules, how did the officer behave, in your view? >> excessive. >> reporter: neither police, school officials nor the officer's attorney are revealing the officer's name. a lawyer for the victim tems cnn he received injuries to his face and ribs. the lawyer says he's a 16-year-old student who attends reach partnership high school but that's in dispute by police and school officials. >> was he a student at the school? was he supposed to be there? >> no.

he was intruding the building. >> reporter: he believes the video captures a small part of an incident which played out over several minutes beforehand. the attorney says the officer asked the young man to leave the school several times. says the victim refused and was belligerent, angry and used profanity. the victim's attorney has no information on that. the acting police chief says the fall dlout has been tough for his officers. >> it's a hard job that we do. and a lot of people come to work that work with us every day. they go 110%. we have officers who are coaches in these schools, mentors, after-school programs, and it really tarnishes our image. >> reporter: how far officers and schools should go to physically intervene has become a hot-button issue. just last year this school resource officer in south carolina was fired after violently taking down a student who officials said had been disruptive in the class. tonight the officer in the

baltimore incident is on leave and parents at the school are shaken. >> it was sad. shouldn't slap a child like that. >> a parent shouldn't have to watch that video and see their child being slapped like that. >> reporter: neither police, school officials nor the officers aepss attorney would tell cnn anything about the officer's service record, whether he's ever been disciplined. the attorney says the officer is very upset over the incident. that officer and the officer behind him in the video have been placeod administrative leave with pay pending the investigation. the chief of the baltimore city police department has been placeod administrative leave as well. >> thank verizs very much, bria opinion. donald trump racking up a lot of winds sending many rivals to the sidelines. does the gop establishment have one last chance to stop him? we're getting new information.

happening now. trump's triumph. a huge night for donald trump winning the bulk of super tuesday delegates and now looking ahead to upcoming primary contests later this month. winner take all states that could help him clinch the gop nomination. and now ben carson is poised to drop out. will the rest of trump's rivals fight to the finish? republican reforce. the trump juggernaut sending chills through the gop establishment. party leaders increasingly panicked, now dispatching mitt romney to try to stop trump's march to the nomination. will their despat effort work? hillary clinton wins big but bernie sanders takes enough super tuesday delegates to keep his campaign alive. he's vowing to go all the way to

the convention but the clinton camp said it makes it impossible for sanders to catch up. will the next round of primaries change that equation? and piece of the puzzle. a plane part washing up on a beach in mozambique may be from the tail of the missing malaysian air flight. the debris being sent for analysis. what clues might it reveal about the fate of the vanished plane. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. >> we're following the breaking political news. growing worry inside the republican establishment right now following a string of super tuesday victories by donald trump. gop leaders desperate to take the wind out of trump's sails dispatching mitt romney to give a major speech tomorrow.

sources tell cnn he'll go after donald trump and paint him as the wrong person to lead the republican party in november. we're also following the democratic race and the hillary clinton campaign more confident than ever after the strong super tuesday showing. in a new memo touting clinton's delegate lead, the campaign says it would be mathematically impossible for senator bernie sanders to catch up. but sanders vowing to go all the way to the convention. and there's a stunning new development in the search for malaysia flight 370 which disappeared almost exactly two years ago. a piece of debris that experts nl could be from the missing jet has washed up on a beach in mozambique. we're covering all of that and much more with our guests, including congressman jason chaffetz and a marco rubio supporter. also our correspondents and expert analysts are standing by. we'll begin with our political reporter sara murray. establishment republicans right

now seem to be more worried than ever about donald trump. what's the latest? >> reporter: well, wolf, there is no doubt donald trump came out the big winner last night out of super tuesday. now if you think that means establishment republicans are going to rally behind him, think again. they are now continuing to throw out alternatives whether it be marco rubio or ted cruz. riding high on a string of seven super tuesday wins -- >> i feel awfully good. >> reporter: donald trump with a wide lead in the delegate fight may be on the cusp of locking down the republican nomination. >> it's only too bad that winner didn't take all because if winner took all, this thing is over. we're just having a celebration. >> reporter: as he steals himss for a potential general election fight. >> i'm a unifier. believe me, i am a unifier. once we get all of this finished, i'm going to go after one person. that's hillary clinton. >> reporter: trump's vowing to cut deals and work more closely

with the washington establishment than president obama. >> does he ever go and deal with congress anymore? does he ever speak to the senate? >> reporter: but the establishment isn't having it. >> i will not support donald trump now and i will not support him should he move on. >> reporter: republican leaders are still hoping someone can mount a challenge as some suggest ted cruz who won three states last night could be the trump alternative. >> i'm anybody but trump. ted and i are in the same party. donald trump san interloper. i don't trust him. >> reporter: ohio governor john kasich faces increasing pressure to step aside. >> there's no honorable mention in the nomination. john kasich has run a good race and will continue to but there's no path to victory for him. >> reporter: the field does appear to be winnowing. today dr. ben carson put out a statement saying i do not see a political path forward. adding he will not attend thursday's debate. while rubio trailing trump and cruz in the delegate fight still

insists there's time for a comeback. >> usually in a race like this you'd have a front-runner and at thus point people would be saying you need to drop out and rally around the front-runner. they're saying the opposite. there will never come a time where our supporters are asking us to get out and rally around donald trump. >> reporter: all as trump takes aim at the florida senator. >> i know it was a tough night for marco rubio. he had a tough night. >> reporter: hoping to finish rubio off right here in his home state. >> but, you know, we're going to go to florida. we're going to spend so much time in florida. >> reporter: even though the trump campaign did not expect to have this nomination locked down as of last night you get a sense from donald trump that he's a little bit irritated to continue to see this pushback from establishment republicans. he took to twitter today to vent his frustration saying why can't the leaders of the republican party see that i am bringing in new voters by the millions. we're creating a larger, stronger party. you see there, donald trump

still trying to cast himself as the unifier in the face of this opposition from establishment republicans. >> reporter: there has been record republican turnout in these contests so far. he has a good point there. thanks very much for that, sara. sources telling cnn that mitt romney will praise marco rubio and ted cruz while speaking out against donald trump tomorrow. let's go to our national correspondent jason carroll. he's with the rubio campaign right now. marco rubio, he won minnesota last night. that's his first so far only win so far. what's his messaging out of the campaign trail today? >> well, this speech today shorter than what we've heard in the past. basically the same speech we've heard, almost word for word. same speech we heard in texas, virginia, minnesota yesterday. he is the one that can unite the party and donald trump nothing more than a con man. >> if we choose donald trump he'll have carried out the most elaborate con job in the history

of american politics. and the stakes aren't just a worthless degree. that was pbad enough. the stakes are the very future of our country. so what is the alternative? >> marco rubio. >> well, obviously. >> he also went on to say in terms of issues he stands more with hillary clinton than with the conservative movement. the question is, wolf, will that message resonate with voters here in michigan like it did with voters in minnesota, campaign certainly is hoping that it does. >> what is their path to victory? what are they saying to you about what their strategy is right now? >> well, much of the strategy has do do with a strategy they used in minnesota which is hitting the suburbs like where we are in shelby township, about an hour or so outside of detroit. they did that in places like nevada. they'll continue to just build on delegates. the polls aren't working in their favors, not even here in michigan. trump leading with 29%, cruz at

19%. rubio at 18%, even in his home state of florida, wolf, he's trailing in the polls there far behind donald trump. they're saying we're not going to pay attention to these polls. we have a good ground game in florida. we know how to win florida. we will win florida and it's a must-win state for him. >> certainly is. that's march 15th. all right, jason. thanks very much. let's get more on this. republican congressman jason chaffetz of utah is joining us. he's also a supporter of senator marco rubio. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. so far he's won one state, minnesota. do you realistically believe he has a path to capturing the republican presidential nomination? >> i do. i really do. rather than just counting the number of states, this election is a little different. so many of these states are proportional. even though you may come in second in some states you're still going to gather delegates. that's different than the winner

take all. even donald trump said he wished it was winner take all. he'd be further ahead. i'm optimistic. >> he did have a great night last night. only won one state so far, minnesota. he's got to win the march 15th contest in florida, his home state. but you saw the polls. polls show he's about 20 points behind donald trump in florida right now. if he doesn't win florida, it's over for him. i assume you agree? >> i think he has to win florida. he's got a machine there. he's from florida. it's expected you carry your home state. i've got an expectation that he, marco rubio, carries florida. >> what do you think of mitt romney's decision in your home state of utah? he's going to be delivering a major speech at the university of utah tomorrow on the future of the current state of the race for the white house. apparently according to sources he's going to criticize donald trump, praise some of the other candidates. what are you hearing about that? >> he'll be speaking at the hinckley institute of politics. he's been very quiet in this campaign thus far. he has been a gentleman.

he's stood off on the side. he's got a voice and a lot of support. and he influences a lot of people. for him to give a state of the union so to speak on where this presidential race is, he's going to tell it like it is. i don't think mitt romney will do anything, than that. just give you his perspective. >> is this his decision or did the establishment, the leadership of the republican party say to mitt romney, you have a responsibility, it's getting very late. may already be too late. if the party is going to stop donald trump from being its nominee, you've got to go out there and speak tough right now. what are you hearing about that? >> i don't know. mitt romney isn't the type of personality that's going to do poll testing and put his finger to the wind and say what should i do? that's just not his style. he doesn't need this at this point in his plch he's got a great affinity for the university of utah. i think a lot of eyeballs will be watching that. a lot of ears will be open to hearing what he says. >> i'm sure we'll have extensive coverage of that tomorrow. donald trump just tweeted, why

can't the leaders of the republican party see that i am bringing in new voters by the millions. we are racreating a larger, stronger party. there have been record turnouts in almost all of these contests this year so far. >> well, look. i give a lot of credit to him. he's gone out and the number of people voting has increased. but i am fighting for marco rubio because i really want a conservative to be in the white house. i want to find the person that can be the most conservative person that can actually win in november. and i still to this day, the reason i'm supporting marco rubio is i think he matches up better against hillary clinton. it's all for naught if we don't actually win in the white house. so that's what we're after here. and i want a conservative. i don't think donald trump is nearly as conservative. if you go issue by issue. he's just not. >> you think he is a conservative, though? >> you take a lot of these issues, i don't see a lot of daylight between him and the

democrats. so i want to be fair. i want to have that discussion with him, but if you ask yourself, what's principle does he stand up for other than wanting to fight, which i agree we need to fight, but let's actually get the public policy right. i think marco rubio has been right on foreign policy. marco rubio is right on the direction of what the federal and the role the federal government is. i want the chief executive who understands as president of the united states we don't need more executive power. we need less executive power. we need to push that back down to the states. i never hear donald trump saying i'm not going to do that. i get the sense he wants the single most powerful chief executive we've ever had. >> we are learning the trump campaign has reached out to the speaker of the house paul ryan's team. are you aware of these efforts to reach out to the speaker and other gop leaders now that he seems to be moving forward, getting closer and closer to being your party's nominee? >> i heard and have seen no gesture. there are 435 of us, all of

which have a vested interest in who we're going to be on the ballot with come november. and i tell you, most of us that want to push the conservative movement forward, we're supportive of marco rubio and a lot of us are also supportive of ted cruz. but he's the least conservative person in this race, maybe next to kasich, but compared to ted cruz and marco rubio, those are the two conservatives. i happen to support marco rubio. >> we're learning senator ted cruz will continuing arguing that if rubio stays in the race, he would be directly responsible for a trump win. what do you have to say to senator cruz about that argument? he clearly wants marco rubio to drop out. >> look, they each want the other guy to drop out. i understand that. if you look at the map and where we're moving forward, marco rubio has a much better path. ted cruz created an expectation, rightful expectation that he was going to do so well with the evangelicals, do so well in the south, and that never materialized.

give him credit for winning his home state of texas and pulling off oklahoma, but, you know if you look at where we're going next, marco rubio is your best bet. that's -- we're all reading the own tea leaves here. i tell you, mrk harco rubio has much better path forward. >> cruz has now won four states. he's got more delegates to rubio who has only won one state. >> again, i think it's a count of delegates as opposed to states. we have some big states coming up. part of my assumption is that marco rubio is going to pull off in florida. and that's going to propel and put this place going in a different direction. i also think marco rubio is exceptionally good in debates. there's a debate tomorrow night. another one march 21st in salt lake city. these are critical things in the path. the country -- republicans really do focus with just four people on the stage you can have a real debate. you've done a great job moderating these debates. you do exceptionally well there,

wolf. >> there has been ten debates and it hasn't propelled marco rubio to the top but you're saying he still has a shot. >> i want the most conservative person, a person i can trust to be the person to take on hillary clinton. and i want to win in november. it's one thing to get all excited and huff and puff, but if you don't actually win in november and poll after poll, the majority of the polls show that marco rubio is our best bet to beat hillary clinton in november. >> congressman chaffetz, we have more questions to discuss including these rumors out there maybe about a tag team. the cruz and rubio tag team if you will, going up against donald trump. stay with us. more to discuss right after this. it takes a lot of work... to run this business. but i really love it. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost® to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals,

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we're back with the republican congressman jason chaffetz of utah. he's a strong supporter of senator marco rubio. i want to play something that donald trump had to say about mitt romney recently. romney getting ready to deliver a major speech tomorrow on the state of the current race for the white house. listen to this. >> this guy, what a -- i endo e endorsed him, and about two weeks later i said, he's never going to win. when you walk into a stage, you cannot walk like a penguin. i said this is a problem. somebody tell him, take some steps. anyway, romney turned out to be a disaster. but i know he'll support rubio. he probably has no choice. honestly, if he wanted to support me, i would not accept his support. >> so what do you say? you know mitt romney well and live in utah. romney is from utah. what do you say when you hear that talk from donald trump about mitt romney? >> it's just disgusting.

today donald trump is saying he's going to be a uniter. what in his background would lead us to believe that he's going to help unite us when his go-to, you know, method of operation is just tear down the other person. and when you are on the receiving end of that, what do you think that's going to do internally with the party? i understand there are a lot of people frustrated with the so-called establishment but we do need to unite and come together. and attacking a person who has been on the sidelines is one of the most decent human beings i know, mitt romney, and suggesting that he walks funny, i mean, seriously? that may be funny and show up on one of the late-night tv shows. what does that really get us? we're not going to insult our way to the white house. that's not the path to victory. >> you've heard all these stories out there these murmurings that rubio and cruz, rubio, your candidate, and cruz should agree to a unity ticket to double-team against donald trump. what are you hearing about that? >> i think they're going to

fight vigorously for what they believe in. i think they actually are more similar than they are different in terms of their policy. i find marco to be somebody i'm obviously very much supporting. as long as -- what i'm excited about in this next debate is that i think they are going to be much more policy oriented. you'll not be able to have donald trump just skip one of the debates and he'll have to sit there and answer policy questions. and it won't get defused because we have too many people on the stage. talk about policy. that's ultimately what people want. they want a policy to actually solve problems, not just give lip service to it. >> if donald trump, it's a tough question for you, if he were the republican nominee and you are a republican, could you support him for president of the united states? >> i'm going to want to have a conversation. i want to understand where he's going. but i also want to do everything i can to make sure that hillary clinton is not the next president of the united states. so in that context, if she's the nominee, yeah, i think that's

going to be the right. but i am not giving up on marco rubio. i really do think -- we're still in the first, second quarter of a very long ball game, and we haven't even come out of the chutes at halftime yet. i'm not throwing in the towel. >> from your perspentive, you believe hillary clinton would be worse for the united states than donald trump. is that what i'm hearing? >> i can't think of anybody worse for the nation than a president clinton. she has shown time and time again she is not trustworthy. i think she is disqualified from being the president of the united states the way she's handled her ed herself but we h make that case to the american people. marco rubio is our best voice in terms of showing the contrast and the difference and providing an aspirational message to the voters because they want to be inspired. they don't want to be just insulted. it's not some comedy routine. marco rubio has that in his

soul, and that's why i support him as our nominee. >> one final question, congressman, before i let you go. it seems the entire republican establishment, the party has been in denial over these past several months as far as trump's capability of becoming the nominee of your party. did the party, did the leadership, did the folks out there drop the ball? >> no. the process move itself forward. you've had some people that have gone out and done endorsements. most of them have not gone out and done endorsements. it's up to the people to make this decision. we've been nothing but accepting of the fact that the people get to make this decision. it has not been a heavy handed push one direction or another. that's what i like about the republican party. you don't have people coming in brow beating and saying you better get in line or else. the people are speaking. so far donald trump is doing exceptionally well. so is ted cruz and marco rubio. >> trump is doing even better than the other two, at least so far. congressman, as usual, thanks for joining us.

>> thanks, wolf. a desperate move by establishment republicans increasingly very worried that donald trump will win the party's nomination. dispatching former nominee mitt romney to give a major speech that sources say will attack trump while praising both marco rubio and ted cruz. sunlen serfaty is covering the cruz campaign for us. what are you hearing about cruz's messaging tonight? >> well, for the cruz campaign it's all about framing this as a two-man race. aides say ted cruz will argue if other candidates don't have a viable path forward they should basically step aside. and we saw cruz start to make the early hints of that argument last night when he said pluntly if the field remains divided, donald trump will be the nominee. but besides the politics of this moment, cruz aides also say that ted cruz will bring a much more policy centered address and bring that argument against donald trump, specifically centered on the economy.

we've seen cruz in recent days really bring up some vivid imagery of workers there. his struggle of workers, talking about the calloused hand of truck drivers and single moms out there. cruz aides say he'll draw a contrast with donald trump on the economy in these coming days. >> what is his path towards victory? what are the folks that work with you telling you? >> it certainly is an uphill climb for him. the terrain looking for the states going forward are much less friendly terrain than the states he just got through cruz aides say they're confident in the path forward. they don't think they have a bad state ahead of them but in that same breath they cannot name a single state they believe they can win in the next few days. they are focused right now on collecting delegates wherever they can. so they'll be focusing on caucus states, smaller primary states. the cruz campaign has a big financial strength here that they think will keep them going

today. the cruz campaign just out touting they raised $12 million in february alone. wolf? >> sunlen serfaty covering the cruz campaign for us. thanks very much. let's get more on all of this. joining user chief political analyst gloria borger, senior editor of the atlantic, ron brownstein and our cnn politics executive editor mark preston. mark, you say republicans are evaluating how they can distance themselves from trump right now. what are you hearing? >> a couple of things. you have a superpac that is willing to spend millions to try to take out donald trump as we head into the summer, assuming he's the nominee. we're also hearing a republican strategists are looking at ways to derail his candidacy. one way they're looking at is how do you deny him the requisite number of delegates to become the nominee? you'd do that by trying to keep the current field intact and to keep this motoring along through the summer. the other thing they're talking about is they're talking about running a third party candidate.

mitt romney's name has come up for this, but i've been told by a mitt romney associate that in no way would he do so but you'd do this in order to give a safe haven for house and senate candidates who are running as republicans but are afraid of being too close to trump if he's nuclear. >> the establishment republicans as they're called, they clearly are running out of time. have you heard? is there a date out there when this fight against trump won't even matter anymore? >> they don't think there's a date. i think there is a date. i think coming up to march 15th, you're going to see how trump does in winner take all states like florida and ohio. if he can beat marco rubio in the state of florida, that's a huge problem. i'd also like to say to republicans who are thinking about running a third party candidate right now to give safe haven as mark puts it to those senate candidates, then that all but means they are willing to say, okay, we have to get pas

past this election. we'll probably lose it and then we'll reconstitute the new republican party. and, you know, it wasn't so long ago when republicans were trying to get donald trump, remember, to take that pledge that he wasn't going to run as an independent? and now the tables are turned. the republican party is thinking, okay, who can they put up to run against donald trump. >> it's a strange twist of developments. ron, the republican leaders seem to be melting a bit right now over a likely trump nomination. it could get worse from their perspective. how devastating from their perspective could it be for the party if he does become the nominee? >> well, first, mark's reporting is exactly right. the shift we're seeing is for months republicans have talked about a strategy of consolidation as the best way to stop trump. the idea of uniting behind one candidate. it does not appear any of these candidates by themselves are strong enough to stop him. you're hearing increasing

discussion of fragmentation. keeping multiple candidates in the field trying to deny him that first ballot victory and somehow having the convention turn away from him even if he arrives with the most delegates. he does represent -- he is a destabilizing force in the general election and primary. he could significantly increase the republican turn dlout but his negatives are astronomincaa. which means he risks alienating potentially for an extended period the groups that are growing the fastest growing groups within the electorate itself. that's the fear. not only the impact on one election but whether he stamps the republican party as a party of racial backlash to the growing groups in society. >> rubio's coalition is too narrow and what is the strategy in these republican -- if these republican candidates stay in the race? does that fuel trump's success? >> right.

well, i think cruz is too narrow and rubio is too shallow. and that is the big lesson from last night and why we are hearing more talk of the strategy that mark mentioned. neither one of them by themselves has the capacity to stop trump. cruz, one problem cruz has is he's not holding his evangelical base. trump is beating him among evangelicals. but the bigger problem is that he's not winning enough voters who are not evangelicals. outside of texas, his home state, he has not won more than 18% of evangelicals anywhere. look at those numbers. tennessee 18%, georgia, 17%, massachusetts single digits, new hampshire single digits. the states -- most of the states where evangelicals are a majority of the vote, have already voted. rubio has broad support but it's shallow. it isn't that deep. if you look at super tuesday, college-educated voters have been his best group but he only won them in three states out of the nine for which we have exit

polls. if you look, his numbers fall off pretty fast in states he should have done better with those college voters. 28 in georgia, 21 in massachusetts. among non-college voters, he didn't win anywhere. rubio looks like, gloria will remember this, lamar alexander in 1996. a little support everywhere but not enough everywhere. when you look at the weaknesses of them, that's why people are saying we need all of them to stay in, including kasich to bleed trump in different ways on different fronts and somehow hold him below that first ballot majority. >> gloria, where do dr. ben carson's supporters go, assuming he drops out? >> i think the conventional wisdom, you know is that they may go to cruz. but -- because a lot of them are evangelical, for example. but there's such bad blood between cruz and carson because of what occurred in iowa that they may not. and so it's hard to say. some of them could go to donald

trump. i think, wolf if we take a step back now, what we're seeing is something i think we haven't seen in the republican party since 1964. you have a party elite that is having a fight with its own base. with the grassroots of its own party. and suddenly it's as if they're saying, oh, the house is on fire but we didn't pay any attention to it. now we're going to try and do something about it. this is a party that has to search for what it stands for and carson dropping out and giving some evangelical voters to ted cruz is just not going to fix their problem. >> 1964 is when barry goa rry g emerge as the nominee. we know how that turned out. there's a lot more going on, including on the democratic side. we'll be right back. the microsoft cloud allows us to

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the democratic race for the white house far from over with bernie sanders insisting he'll go all the way to the convention. hillary clinton's campaign is insisting there's no way he can overtake her delegate lead after her strong super tuesday showing. our senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny is out there covering the democrats. hillary clinton won seven states. bernie sanders won four. it's by no means over.

>> it's not, wolf. this is a case where the politics and math don't necessarily align here. the clinton campaign released a memo saying this race is all but over. bernie sanders would have to run the table to win any more delegates here. but he could win a few contests as early as this weekend. on top of it all, the sanders campaign is starting to sound like another campaign from eight years ago. why get out before the race is over? >> i am so delighted to be here with you in florida. >> reporter: hillary clinton is eyeing the florida primary in just two weeks. as one of the key contests that could wind down the democratic campaign. >> what a super tuesday! >> reporter: a big night sending seven states and more than 500 delegates clinton's way. bernie sanders' path may be narrowing but after winning four states tuesday night, he said any talk of clinton locking up the nomination is premature. >> this is not a general election. it's not winner take all. >> but the democratic race is

sounding more and more like just that. a general election fight. >> america never stopped being great. we have to make america whole. fill in what's been hollowed out. we have to make strong the broken places, restitch the bonds of trust and respect across our country. >> reporter: the patriotic cheers show that donald trump can fire up democrats, too. she didn't mention his name, but he's already invoking hers. >> i watched hillary's speech. she want to make america whole again. what is that all about? >> reporter: she has sanders to contend with. he's pledging to stay in the race until the convention with friendlier contests coming up in kansas and nebraska, maine and michigan. the clinton campaign released a memo today saying its rival might win more states but called it mathematically impossible for

senator sanders to catch up. it's a delicate dance for clinton who eight years ago bristled at calls for her to step aside. >> people say to me all the time, well, are you going to keep going? well, yes, of course, i'm going to keep going. >> reporter: most presidential candidates leave when their support or money dries up. and neither applies to sanders. he arrived in maine today making a long-term argument of his own. he's the better candidate to take on trump. >> we will defeat trump because the american people understand that our job is to bring people togeth together. and that togetherness trumps divisiveness. >> reporter: donald trump is at the center of both campaigns, both hillary clinton and bernie sanders adding him into their campaign argument there saying who would be the better to ultimately challenge him should he become the nominee. i can tell you this next week

san important and busy stretch. there is a debate on sunday here on cnn with bernie sanders and hillary clinton. but more importantly, on saturday, the contest in nebraska, in kansas, in louisiana, and on sunday in maine. this could help bernie sanders remain some losses from yesterday and it may not all be over until florida right here when that primary happens in two weeks time. >> less than two weeks now. march 15th. jeff zeleny, reporting. gloria, hillary clinton won last night. not necessarily by the huge margin she originally wanted. what does she need to do going into the contest that jeff just mentioned this coming saturday? >> she needs to keep winning. bernie sanders believes that's his salvation may be the industrial midwest. and she needs to move that that's not the case. i also think the key for her is to keep up those margins which are an average of 60% advance with african-american voters. that's the key to her success. she can't let him cut into that

at all, wolf. >> mark, i want you to listen to what ted devine, a strategist for the bernie sanders campaign said about hillary clinton and her successful sef fuful effort recruiting recruit ing african-american support. >> we have to do better. and hillary clinton has done really well. a strong and long-term record with african-american voters. but we think we can do a lot better. >> how do they do that? >> the interesting thing about bernie sanders and the african-american vote is black voters don't dislike bernie sanders. they be just don't know bernie sanders, even though a lot of his policies would seem to be embraced by the black community. certainly the black urban community. how do they do that? in many ways they don't need to do that or they don't need to spend all their effort. gloria was saying they're heading into the industrial midwest. they are looking at michigan and ohio. missouri, illinois. these are all states that s tha

larger white voters and that they'll do better with. in order for them to stay in the game right now, they think they've at least gotten past the south. mississippi still needs to vote. florida still needs to vote. they think they've gotten past the south which was her firewall. they think they've blown through it, which is an exaggeration. they've won some contests but need to do well elsewhere. stand by. we've got more coming up. an important note. the democratic contest moved to the midwest. the next debate live from flint michigan. please join us for the cnn democratic debate this sunday night, 8:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. just ahead, a piece of plane debris wash ashore. could it help solve the mystery of the missing malaysia airlines flight 370. u.s. special operations forces secretly capturing and holding an isis operative in iraq. what terrorist secrets is he revealing to interrogators? reco? "super food?" is that a real thing? it's a great school, but is it the right one for her?

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cnn is lesh -- learning new information about an elite group of troops. we now know that the operations include targeting and capturing isis terrorists. barbara starr is learning more information. barbara, what's the latest?

>> good evening, wolf. it was just about three weeks ago when they captured their first suspected isis terrorist. this is someone they wanted to get very badly. u.s. special operations forces have secretly held an isis operative in iraq for days after capturing him on a raid. the pentagon's new targeting force commandos with orders to capture or kill top isis personnel. >> i can't discuss the details of any missions, particularly when it comes to risking operational security. >> reporter: additional operations are in the works. the man whose identity has not been disclosed is being held in irbill in northern iraq. the mission to get him led by the army's elite delta force. he is talking to u.s. interrogators, officials say, and has unique information about

isis. the head of u.s. military intelligence chose his words carefully, describing operations on the ground. >> you may have noticed an uptick in special operations intended to capture, interrogate, and gather materials that will give us greater insight. >> reporter: the new perfect puts the military back into the business of holding and interrogating suspected terrorists, but u.s. officials say there will be no waterboarding or enhanced interrogation. no detainees sent to guantanamo bay. the plan instead is to turn them over to the iraqis eventually. >> any detention of isil leaders in iraq would be short term and coordinated with iraqi authorities. >> reporter: now so far u.s. officials have publicly refusing to say what it was about this man, his intent and his skills, that caused them so much worry

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we're following new developments in the mystery of mh-370. officials say a piece of debris that washed ashore on a beach in africa almost certainly belongs to an aircraft, but is it the aircraft that investigators have

been desperately searching for at the bottom of the indian ocean. what are you learning? >> i just got off the phone with a man who found the debris. he says it was lightweight and could float on water, but is this potential clue enough to get answers about how and why this passenger plane fell out of the sky? new images tonight of debris found along the southern show of mozambique, a potential clue for investigators looking into the disappearance of mh-370. it looks like part of a boeing 777, the same type of aircraft as the missing plane. >> they'll take it apart and see if there are any serial numbers on it. >> reporter: american tourist blaine gibson says he made the discovery. >> the local people told me

stuff tends to wash from the open indian ocean. >> reporter: the words no stmp are stencilled on the side and it appears to be made of fiberglass. >> you don't see any marine life or barnacles on the piece. it's almost two years. >> we don't know whether it was under water or floating the entire two years. >> reporter: it would be the first discovery since july when a piece of a boeing 777 washed up near reunion island. that piece was indeed from mh-370. as for the new debris found, malaysia's transport minister tweeted there is a, quote, high possibility that the debris found in mozambique belongs to a boeing 777. it's a fresh clue in the

greatest mystery in the history of aviation, but even if the newly found debris does belong to mh-370, it may not make it any easier for searchers to find the doomed plane nor the 239 people on board. of course, we want to stress there is no confirmation this is actually a piece of the missing plane. that said, the tough reality for families for those passengers who were on board is they may never get all of the answers. wolf, we know the search is slated to end under the summertime mid year. if it ends without finding the actual plane, they may never know what happened on board. >> almost exactly two years ago. hard to believe. thanks very much for that report. for more on this developing story, please tune into cnn this friday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern for a special report, "vanished, the mystery of

malaysia airlines flight 370." thanks very much for watching. please join us right here tomorrow in "the situation room." i'm wolf blitzer. outfront next, full court press. the republican establishment in an all out push to derail donald trump. will it come down to clinton versus trump? the attacks starting already. did chris christie steal the show from donald trump last night? let's go "outfront." good evening, i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, trump versus the gop. republicans waking up today to a reality that many of them seem to not like. donald trump's overwhelming