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Trump, Bush & Kasich Appeal to Voters in CNN Town Hall; Clinton to Pick Up Important Endorsement in S.C.; Justice Scalia to Lie in Repose at Supreme Court; Clinton & Sanders Battle for Win in Nevada. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 19, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

PEREIRA: Welcome to your NEW DAY. Alisyn is off. That means the "bromance" continues this morning.

[07:00:04] In just 24 hours, the polls will GOP primary. Three Republican hopefuls, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, John Kasich answering questions directly from voters at last night's CNN town hall. Most of the attention, though, has been on Trump's war with Pope Francis after the pontiff suggested that his actions were not Christian and his words were not Christian, because he wants to build a wall on the U.S./Mexico border.

CUOMO: Pay more attention to Michaela. Got it.

All right. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are in a squeaker right now going into tomorrow's Nevada Democratic caucuses. Clinton once had a presumed double-digit lead. Now no more. Can Sanders pull off another win? What are the factors? We have complete coverage.

Athena Jones live in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the big GOP race there headed to a decision in just hours. What do we know?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. We saw a more toned-down Donald Trump last night at the town hall at least when it comes to this dust-up with the pope. And as you know, we've been seeing some tough talk from these candidates as they battle it out here in South Carolina for those undecided voters.

Last night, though, was a lot less about directly attacking each other and more about each candidate talking up their case for why they'd make a good president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): On night two of CNN's GOP town hall, Donald Trump toning down the rhetoric in his feud with the pope but turning up the heat on former president George W. Bush.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He started something that destroyed the Middle East. It started ISIS.

JONES: The billionaire questioning Bush's reasons for going to war in Iraq but dancing around a previous claim that Bush's administration lied about their knowledge of weapons of mass destruction.

TRUMP: Well, a lot of people agree with what I said. And I'm not talking about lying. I'm not talking about not lying. Nobody really knows why we went into Iraq.

I don't know what he did. I just know it was a terrible mistake.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: So was it a mistake for you to say in that debate that you thought he lied?

TRUMP: I'd have to see the exact quote. Look, I don't know. I would probably say that something was going on. I don't know why he went in.

JONES: Trump dismissing an interview with Howard Stern in 2002 where he made comments supporting the war.

COOPER: He asked you, "Are you for invading Iraq?"

You said, "Yes, I guess so. You know, I wish the first time it was done correctly." Is that accurate? You remember saying that?

TRUMP: No. But I mean, I could -- I could have said that. Nobody asked me. I wasn't a politician. It was probably the first time anybody asked me that question.

JONES: The front-runner backtracking after calling Pope Francis disgraceful for questioning his faith. The pope criticized Trump's continuous calls to build a wall as not Christian.

TRUMP: And he also talked about having a wall is not Christian. And he's got an awfully big wall at the Vatican, I will tell you.

I think it was probably a little bit nicer statement than it was reported by you folks in the media. I have a lot of respect for the pope. I think he's got a lot of personality.

JONES: His rivals, Jeb Bush and John Kasich, having mixed reactions to the pope's remarks.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here's what I will say: we have a right to build a wall. But I've got to tell you, there are too many walls between us. We need bridges between us if we're going to fix the problems in Washington. Because all they do is have walls.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But I don't question people's Christianity. I think that's a relationship they have with their -- with their Lord and Savior and themselves. So I just don't think it's appropriate to question Donald Trump's faith. He knows what his faith is. And he has a -- if he has a relationship with the Lord, fantastic. If he doesn't, it's none of my business.

JONES: Bush taking an apparent dig at Trump later, while listing the good things about being a self-proclaimed introvert. BUSH: Listening allows you to learn, and then you have a chance to

lead. And rather than, you know, being a big blowhard and just -- just talking all the time. What are you going to learn when you're talking? Nothing.

JONES: With his mother, former first lady, Barbara Bush, in the audience, Jeb gushed about his family.

BUSH: It's a blast being with George, because I love him dearly.

I realized pretty quickly in my life if I could be half the man my dad was, that that would be a pretty good goal.

JONES: And so did Kasich, the Ohio governor sharing how he grew in faith after losing his parents in a car accident.

KASICH: It's really where I found the Lord. Life is -- it's so rocky; it's so fragile. We have to build our homes, our lives on solid ground not on sand. And I have found that, even though the pain still comes, there's where I have to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: So we saw Kasich's compassionate side there last night.

Meanwhile, some of Jeb Bush's most passionate remarks were about his family. It's fitting on this final day of campaigning as the candidates are crisscrossing this state, making nearly two dozen stops among them, Jeb Bush will be making several stops like at this restaurant behind me with his popular mother, the former first lady, Barbara Bush -- John, Chris.

BERMAN: Athena Jones in South Carolina, where it is all happening right now, just 24 hours until the actual primary. And we have a brand-new poll coming out this morning which shows a much different picture than we've seen. Look at this.

Donald Trump up only by five points over Ted Cruz, who's up by eight points over Marco Rubio. And Jeb Bush is actually right in it. So what does this all mean?

[07:05:17] Want to bring in David Gregory, former moderator of "Meet the Press"; Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and a senior editor at "The Atlantic."

Ron, there's too much polling at this point, and it's all over the place.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. There is.

BERMAN: But what's interesting about this poll is it blows up three narratives. Right? It blows up the idea that Trump has got a double- digit lead. It blows up the idea that Rubio is surging, is going to finish a strong second. And it blows up the idea that Jeb Bush is out of it, because he's right still in it. Again, a lot of polling here. It all means different things. But tell me the stakes, Ron, in South Carolina with all of this going on.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, John, that's exactly right. Three different narratives. Of course, as you say, it's only one poll. Most of the other polls tell a slightly different picture.

But this is internal consistency to this, to what we've seen in other states where Donald Trump is way ahead among Republicans without a college degree, only at about 20 percent among college-educated Republicans. But those voters fragmented with four others in double digits.

Look, South Carolina has been the absolute hinge of most previous Republican races. Ever since it moved up the first in the south, third slot behind Iowa and New Hampshire in 1980, in five of the six previous contested races, one candidate won Iowa, a second candidate won New Hampshire. One of the two won South Carolina and won the nomination.

And you know, you can't say decisively geared from that in 2012, but if Donald Trump does win here, a state that is heavily evangelical, that leans conservative, it would say that he is kind of cracking that resistance, skepticism on the right about whether he is a true conservative, or at least enough of it to be in a very strong position on March 1, putting Ted Cruz in a lot of trouble and leaving open the question whether anybody can unify that white-collar side of the party against him, which presumably would play out in the coastal states later in the calendar.

CUOMO: Ron Brownstein laying out the case for why who finishes on top matters a lot.

David Gregory, let's look at the opposite side of the standings. If Jeb Bush, if a John Kasich, less so. If Jeb Bush -- let's stay focused on him -- doesn't finish third, second, what does it mean?

DAVID GREGORY, FORMER MODERATOR, NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": I think it's very difficult, because he's put so much into South Carolina. He's had his brother, former President Bush down there campaigning with him. This might very well be his last stand.

I mean, I think Ron is exactly right. If you look at kind of the top of this race. Which is you have a two-man Cruz versus Trump showdown. They're going to be fighting in the south for a long time, perhaps splitting this evangelical vote and seeing how durable Trump is the more he says things that are over the top, the more Republicans take a hard look at the reality of him becoming the nominee.

If you are Marco Rubio principally -- and this is why Jeb, I think, has to do well enough to stay close to Rubio or to beat him -- you have to be able to make a case to donors that, "Look, I know I'm not winning. I know in any other year I should get out of the race. But let me stay in to mount the challenge in a two- or three-man race against Trump. I think we can do some real damage to him and taken him down, even if that means going all the way to the convention."

BERMAN: David Gregory used the words "taking a closer look at Donald Trump," which is something that people have tried to do and have done, in fact, for months and months. You take a closer look at the things he says. One of the things he has said repeatedly is "I was the one Republican to say, 'Don't invade Iraq.' I stood up against the Iraq invasion."

CUOMO: "I'll show you 25 articles."

BERMAN: Exactly. Well, now we've seen an interview in 2002 when the Congress was voting on whether to invade Iraq, where he actually said he supported it. It was with Howard Stern. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD STERN, TALK RADIO HOST: Are you for invading Iraq?

TRUMP: Yes, I guess so. You know, I wish it was -- I wish the first time it was done correctly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: "Yes, I guess so," which is a way of saying, "Yes, I'm in favor of invading Iraq," Ron Brownstein, which is a way of saying that "What I've been saying about being against invading Iraq isn't true"? Is that what it means?

BROWNE: I thought his answer last night was actually reasonably persuasive but yet also highlighted a real vulnerability. On the one hand, he was saying that was his first-blush reaction, and by the time, you know, things were going full-scale, that he was against it. I guess we'll have to check the historical record. And it doesn't seem unreasonable.

However, you know, I was at an event last night in Greenville, a rally of over 5,000 conservatives. And the principal objection to Trump you hear on the line is that he -- people waiting to get in, is that he has changed his views so often they can't be confident that he would truly govern as a conservative.

And even now that he is saying many things that kind of violate conservative orthodoxy. So to the extent there is a -- a source of resistance to Trump on the right, it is largely about whether you can trust him, whether this is kind of a foxhole conversation. And I do think that this evidence on Iraq does feed into that narrative that this is someone who changes his views an awful lot. And do you know what you're getting if you buy the package?

CUOMO: I don't know that we're seeing results, though, David. I mean, you know, look, I understand what Ron is saying. It makes a lot of sense. But it never -- or it hasn't panned out that way in any of the races.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

GREGORY: I think that's right. And look, I think Ron is exactly right. But we're both kind of operating out of maybe an antiquated textbook here about political campaigns. You know, that he's not a movement conservative, that he's not consistent. Not on abortion. Not on the war. That he's vilifying.

I mean, this is a -- the GOP front-runner is accusing the former Republican president of lying to go into war and basically blaming him for everything that's gone wrong in the Middle East. And in South Carolina, a place where George Bush saved his campaign in 2000.

So our politics have changed quite a bit. And Chris, I think you're right. I think what we're saying is that the politics and the identity politically of Donald Trump is to say or do anything to challenge everyone, which is not to say that he won't change his views, that he'll be reasonable, quote unquote, about it. But he's not going to be hemmed in by all of the kind of niceties of the political process.

CUOMO: David, he...

BERMAN: Challenge everyone, like the...

CUOMO: He's basically telling the pontiff to shut up when he got involved with, you know, building bridges versus just building walls. And he got, as John has been putting out very intelligently all morning, it's not just his followers bought into that response about the pope. Jeb Bush...

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CUOMO: ... Marco Rubio...

GREGORY: Yes.

CUOMO: ... even Ted Cruz took a distance where, like, "Eh, I don't want to get involved with the pope and Trump."

You know, it seems that maybe the rules of humility and what you're supposed to be as a presidential candidate, David. When you can go at the pope, things have changed.

GREGORY: Well, and that was -- that was quite unusual. Look, people will debate politically and otherwise whether the pope ever overstepped by questioning his religion.

But look, the pope's role in the world is to preach the gospel and to interpret Christianity through the prism of the ministry of love of Jesus Christ. That is what the pope does. He lives it, and he is a humble person. His view and his passion, of course, is to look after the least among us, the poor; be merciful and be compassionate. So he is interpreting what Christianity is actually about and taking on a world view that Donald Trump has had about immigration.

And I thought it was a very strong rebuke. It shows how far the party has come from the days of 2000 when Ron and I were covering George W. Bush, who said family values don't end at the Rio Grande.

As a political matter, I don't know that it has much impact in South Carolina with more evangelical voters who are not paying as much attention to the pope. And again, interesting to see how Trump dialed this back a bit last

night, said he'd like to meet with the pope. But to suggest that the Mexican government had an influence over the pope's statement or that the pope doesn't understand the difficulties of immigration on the U.S. side seem to me to reflect a lack of knowledge on Donald Trump's part.

BERMAN: David Gregory, Ron Brownstein, great to have you here with us.

You know, in our next hour we're going to talk to the one Republican candidate who stood up and said, "I'm actually pro pope in this exchange." That was John Kasich. John Kasich comes on the show next hour to talk about that. And also just an unbelievably poignant moment that he had on the campaign trail yesterday.

PEREIRA: All right. Meanwhile, a nail biter brewing in Nevada. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a dead heat going into tomorrow's Democratic caucuses and taking some blistering shots at one another.

In the meantime, Clinton is set to get a major endorsement today in South Carolina. Our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns is live in Chicago with more for us.

Hey, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michaela. Actually, I'm in Washington right now.

The final stretch in Nevada. The caucuses tomorrow. A lot of the back and forth there is about immigration, naturally. With the South Carolina primary just a week away, there's a dust-up over Democratic allegiances. The town hall last night in Las Vegas, Secretary Clinton questioning the party loyalties of Senator Sanders, because he's been critical of Democratic presidents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just don't know where all this comes from. Because maybe it's that Senator Sanders wasn't really a Democrat until he decided to run for president. He doesn't even know what the, you know, last two Democratic presidents did. And you know what, I'm -- well, it's true. It's true. You know it's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: It wasn't just Hillary Clinton on the attack. Sanders on BET essentially accusing the former secretary of state of pandering in her embrace of President Obama, suggesting it's all about her attempt to attract African-American votes.

Here's a quote: "Hillary Clinton is now trying to embrace the president as closely as she possibly can. Everything the president does is wonderful. She loves the president. He loves her and all that stuff. And we know what that's all about. That's trying to win support from African-American community, where the president is enormously popular."

Later today we do expect Hillary Clinton to get the endorsement of another establishment African-American politician, Democratic South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn. He's been holding off endorsing anybody. But now it's our understanding he's headed over to the Clinton camp.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Joe Johns with that news. Thank you so much

[07:15:09] We do have some breaking news this morning. The U.S. targeted an ISIS operative with an airstrike in Libya. American warplanes struck an ISIS camp where they believe an operative behind two deadly attacks in Tunisia last year is hiding. The attacks at a national museum and resort each killed dozens of people, you'll remember. Whether the strike was successful today, not clear at this time

CUOMO: Much more important than the politics of filling a vacancy at the Supreme Court is remembering the loss of a husband, father, and friend that was Justice Antonin Scalia. Today he will lie in repose at the Supreme Court he loved so dearly. Family and friends and the first family set to pay their respects.

CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown is live at the Supreme Court today.

We know that where the justice sat had been veiled in black for the last few days. But now, there will be a pall over the entire area.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It certainly will be a day of mourning here at the Supreme Court. A day of ritual and tradition.

The casket is expected to arrive here before 9:30. It will be brought up the marble steps behind me here and into the Great Hall by court police. Justice Scalia's former clerks will act as honorary pall- bearers.

The casket will be in placed on a catafalque, the decorated wooden structure that was initially built for Abraham Lincoln. There will be a private ceremony at 9:30. We expect former justices to be there, family members. We know Justice Scalia had 9 children, 36 grandchildren. Also, his former clerks.

After that private ceremony, the public will be invited to pay their respects here at the high court until 8 p.m. tonight. And later this afternoon, we expect President Obama to arrive here with the first lady to pay their respects.

Now, we know from the White House that he is not going to be attending Scalia's funeral mass tomorrow, and the White House has been criticized for that. Instead, Vice President Joe Biden will be there tomorrow.

Josh Earnest, the press secretary, said that the White House feels this is the appropriate way to pay respects to Justice Scalia, that Vice President Biden has a lighter security footprint than the footprint. And also, Ted Cruz criticized the White House, and initially his campaign said that he would not be attending the funeral despite that. but now it turns out he will also be there tomorrow, along with Vice President Biden. The service tomorrow will be led by Scalia's son, Paul, who is a priest. That will begin tomorrow morning.

Back to you, Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Thank you so much for that. Of course, CNN will be covering all of that. There's going to be such an incredible remembrance of that terrific life.

This is something you've got to see. If I was a parent of one of these kids, I'd be hot. A school bus driver in Houston out of a job. This is the reason why. The back of that bus just inches from a speeding train. Students on board say they were freaking out, screaming at the driver to pull forward. Thankfully, the bus was not hit. Texas law actually says that drivers must keep at least 15 feet away from the tracks. I think there's specific protocol for school buses in that state, as well. You can hear the kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Doesn't look like 15 feet right there.

PEREIRA: No. That -- that's literally inches.

CUOMO: Well, he lost his job. So they must have made a determination that he didn't have to be there. It wasn't like he was stuck or in a rut or something like that.

PEREIRA: Right. If the train had broken -- or the bus had broken down, that was one thing. But that was unreasonable.

CUOMO: Not good to see, but it's important that it was captured.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: Because that made action much easier.

All right. So tomorrow's Democratic caucus in Nevada is going to be a nail-biter. There's no question about it. The candidates are slinging more mud than ever before in this campaign.

What are the latest accusations, and do they hit the mark? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:22:52] BERMAN: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders getting their final digs just ahead of the razor-tight Nevada caucuses, which are tomorrow. Bernie Sanders says Hillary Clinton is riding Obama's -- that's President Obama's coattails to rally black voters. Clinton says Bernie Sanders is riding the Democratic Party's coattails to the White House.

Let's bring in CNN political commentator Hilary Rosen and Bill Press, also a CNN political commentator and a Bernie Sanders supporter. Hillary -- actually, Bill, let me start with you here.

BILL PRESS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: OK.

BERMAN: I want to read you a quote. I want to read you a quote from Bernie Sanders. He was interviewed with Marc Lamont Hill from BET, our friend Marc Lamont Hill. And this is what he said about what Hillary Clinton is doing, talking about President Obama.

Bernie Sanders says, "Hillary Clinton now trying to embrace the president as closely as she possibly can. Everything the president does is wonderful. She loves the president. He loves her and all that stuff. And we know what that's about. That's trying to win support from the African-American community where the president is enormously popular."

So Bernie Sanders is accusing Hillary Clinton of, you know, playing up the president to win the black vote. So what's he doing when he meets with Al Sharpton? You know, what's he doing when he appears with Ben Jealous? I'm confused what the distinction here and what the charge is that he's making.

PRESS: I think what the president said is -- I'm sorry, what Bernie Sanders is true. But I also think what you said is true.

Look, they are locked -- first of all, let's not forget the Nevada caucuses. I know we're going to talk about that. That is hugely important tomorrow. And it will have an impact on South Carolina. But in South Carolina the rap is that Hillary has the black vote sewn up, because Bill Clinton was so popular there, and won in 2008.

Bernie Sanders is trying to build as much support as he can. He has to prove that his -- that he can reach out beyond a 98 percent white state like -- like Iowa, and so he's trying to line up as much African support as he can to show that his message resonates across the board. That's what the campaign is all about.

And I think clearly Secretary Clinton -- I understand why -- is trying to show that she is more in line with President Obama's policies, who's hugely popular in South Carolina and will be the best one to carry them forward. It's a good message for her. And I think Bernie is doing what he has to do.

BERMAN: Hilary Rosen, you were shaking your head.

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, just because I think what -- what Sanders really said kind of just shows that he is showing himself to be the politician the rest of them are, that he is as capable as snarky and, you know, nasty asides as anybody. And that's, you know, the -- you know, that's what that was.

The fact is that Democrats are overwhelmingly supportive of President Obama. And Hillary Clinton served in his administration. She has a choice. She can go out and be disloyal and talk about all the things that she disagrees with him on, which doesn't make sense, isn't authentically her, where she can be who she is, which is somebody who served him loyally and tried to help him with his agenda.

And obviously, the latter makes more sense, and voters see that. Democrats see that. So, you know, I think Sanders is -- has this, you know, mixed record in terms of support of the president. and he's pissed off about it, because he knows that, you know, Democrats aren't that happy about it.

PRESS: I was just going to say, I think it's interesting that Hillary put out a new ad yesterday, a beautiful ad called "Brave," showing her counseling -- or comforting a young girl who's afraid her parents are going to be deported. They're going to be deported under a -- could be deported under a policy and a practice now underway by the Obama administration. It has deported more people than George Bush did in eight years. And so there's Hillary Clinton out with an ad, attacking -- not by name, but attacking ...

ROSEN: No, no, no.

PRESS: ... the Obama administration.

ROSEN: You know, actually, everybody should see that ad, John.

BERMAN: We showed it. We showed it yesterday. I don't want to give it more free air time here. It's up in Nevada, being you know, paid for there. But we played it here...

ROSEN: Here's what that ad...

BERMAN: ... a couple times already. Hang on, Hillary. I just want to ask you something else about an interview that Hillary Clinton did with Scott Pelley. It will appear on "60 Minutes" Sunday, but there was an excerpt of it played last night. And I want to show you, because it has to deal, you know, with the subject of honesty, which has been an issue for Hillary Clinton in this campaign. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You talk about leveling with the American people. Have you always told the truth.

CLINTON: I've always tried to. Always.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, Hillary -- I think a lot of people who watched the Clintons for a lot of years are going to look at that answer and say, "I've always tried to" is different than saying, "Yes." ROSEN: Well, Hillary Clinton is an honest, authentic politician,

right? She's doing what, I think...

BERMAN: Can you be honest, authentic and a politician, all at the same time. I suppose that's the question.

ROSEN: Of course, you can. Look, she only has herself to answer for. She has made mistakes. She has owned up to those mistakes. I don't know what answer you're looking for there. But she -- from her own point of view, she's, in fact, paying for those mistakes.

You know, the e-mail is a mistake. Here's the interesting thing. Talk about honesty. That Nevada ad where she is talking to a little girl, what she said to that little girl in that ad is, "I'm going to do the best I can." That, you know, and "deportation is a problem for your family. I don't want you to worry about it. I'm going to do the best I can."

What strikes me about that is she's not out there making grandiose promises about changing the, you know, world. What she's saying is I'm going to do the best I can. You can't get more honest than that. And, look, I'm not going to accuse Bernie Sanders of not being honest. But I just think when you talk about, like, what realistic authentic truth is, doing the best you can is all you can do as a politician.

BERMAN: Bill Press, a 10-second last word.

PRESS: I was just going to say, I just want to give -- let Hillary off the hook on that. I think all of us, to be honest, say we try to tell the truth every time. And that's about as close as we can.

Again, I just want to point out that Hillary does not attack President Obama in that, but that policy is an Obama policy. Bernie Sanders says only one candidate ran against President Obama, and that was Hillary Clinton. Only one candidate has run an ad against an Obama policy. And that is Hillary Clinton.

BERMAN: All right. Bill Press, Hilary Rosen, thanks for being with us. Thank you, guys.

ROSEN: It is a hopeful look forward.

BERMAN: A disagreement. Thank you guys. Appreciate it.

Be sure and join us. Tuesday night you will see much more of this discussion. We have a CNN town hall. It is the Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders. They will be on stage answering questions from voters in South Carolina.

Chris Cuomo, you know him well. He's going to moderate that. It will be very interesting to see. It comes after the Nevada caucuses, before the South Carolina primary. A big moment in this campaign.

Meanwhile, for the Democrats -- I mean, for the Republicans, now we're just one day before the South Carolina primary. The outcome is crucial, not just for who is on top of the polls, but also who might finish second, third, fourth. What does it mean for Jeb Bush? One of his advisors joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)