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Super Tuesday Winners & Losers; Sanders, Trump Triumph on Super Tuesday #. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired March 09, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Big breaking political news this morning.

[04:00:01] Donald Trump rules and a stunning upset for Bernie Sanders, so many people across the country casting their ballots on Super Tuesday, the sequel, and now, Wednesday, the morning after the sequel. The entire race shaken up. We'll break down the biggest winners and losers all morning long.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, March 9th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.

We welcome our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world.

The breaking news overnight, a stunning upset victory in Michigan for Bernie Sanders, beating Hillary Clinton on the second of three Super Tuesdays. And it was a Super Tuesday for him. But Clinton wins overwhelmingly in Mississippi, a triumph that maintains her vast lead in the race for delegates.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump -- Donald Trump picks up two strong wins in Michigan, Mississippi and then another in Hawaii, just breaking the last couple of hours. Ted Cruz wins in Idaho. It was a terrible night for Rubio with no wins on the board.

The net result, Trump preserves his big lead in delegates, going into another week of big, important contests.

Both Trump and Sanders already turning those -- towards those upcoming primaries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, we are going to do something, I think we're going to clean the slate. I think we're going to do really well in Florida. It's my second home, I love Florida. I love Florida, a special place. I think we're going to do really well.

I think we're going to do really well in Ohio, now that I have Paul O'Neill's endorsement, I know I'm going to win Ohio. But I love Ohio. I have so many friends in Ohio. It's an amazing place. SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What tonight

means is that the Bernie Sanders campaign, the peoples revolution that we are talking about, the political revolution that we are talking about is strong in every part of the country. And, frankly, we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. Joining us now, CNN politics reporter Jeremy Diamond live from Florida, one of the next big battlegrounds for both parties.

Good morning. Break it down for us, Jeremy.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, guys.

Yes, last night, just as Hillary Clinton was going -- seeming to have her clearest path to victory so far, last night, a huge upset for her. Bernie Sanders last night taking the Michigan primary, just as Hillary Clinton had a huge polling lead in the state with just days to go. You know, she completely captured that win in Michigan, winning among working class voters -- sorry, sorry, with Bernie Sanders winning among working class voters and really completely against the tide of what was expected to happen last night.

But, of course, it was Donald Trump's big night last night. The Republican front-runner winning across the board in Michigan and winning also in Mississippi. But, of course, Ted Cruz also having a great night last night. He came in a close second in several of these states. And it was truly an incredible night last night.

Donald Trump, though, in his press conference sort of pivoting towards the general election. He was discussing his message and the way in which he hopes to unite the Republican Party and bring them together as he moves towards general.

ROMANS: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much.

So, let's look at the winners and losers. Let's break it all down, what it all means in terms of those golden delegate numbers.

Joining us now is our panel of experts, CNN political analyst and columnist for "Bloomberg View", Josh Rogin, CNN senior reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers, and CNN politics digital reporter, Eric Bradner, CNN politics Jeremy Diamond sticks with us.

Guys, what a night. I mean, you look at the Democratic side, really, Dylan, let's go back to that victory for Sanders. Independents broke for Sanders, young people, no surprise there, broke for Sanders. People who don't like the way U.S. trade policies have felt for the middle class broke for Sanders.

This has got to be disappointing -- not devastating but a disappointing morning for the Clinton campaign.

DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: Yes. It's an immensely disappointing morning for the Clinton campaign. Look, they still believe, I think, that this is in their favor. That Hillary Clinton is still on course to become the Democratic nominee.

That doesn't change the fact that Sanders' ability to continue winning these states, these states in the Rust Belt, to continue doing very well among young voters who are, of course, the future of the Democratic Party and his ability to make inroads with African- Americans in Michigan.

All of this is setting off the alarm bells about the enthusiasm gap for Hillary Clinton, which is something that has dogged her entire political career.

But, of course, the key issue here, it's the one that the Clinton campaign needs to focus on the most, how do you appeal to economic insecurity, job insecurity, that is something where Bernie Sanders has had a consistent and clear message.

[04:05:05] Hillary Clinton needs to focus not so much on taking on Bernie Sanders or pivoting to the general election, and taking on a Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, she needs to think about how show she can convey a more simple, focused, and energetic message about the economy and about people's jobs if she wants to be able to stop Bernie Sanders and really focus on the general.

BERMAN: That's the headline, sort of, from the Democratic race.

Josh Rogin, the Republican race, Donald Trump takes three out of four. Some big delegate wins. This, just when a lot of people are saying Donald Trump, he's vulnerable.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. So, more about the delegates, it's about the shifts of momentum, even from two days ago. Remember, after Super Saturday, Ted Cruz looked to be on the upswing, everything was about Ted Cruz gaining ground. And now, that's been halted in its tracks.

So, Donald Trump has momentum. Ted Cruz still has an argument for being the only anti-Trump candidate who has shown real results. And Marco Rubio, who had warned in fairness that these would be tough states for him in advance of March 15th, underperformed greatly.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROGIN: And there's just no doubt about it, that this hurts his chances in Florida. They know it. They're trying to bail water out of a --

BERMAN: He did not meet delegate thresholds in Mississippi. He did not meet delegate thresholds in Michigan, did not meet the delegate thresholds in Idaho, and he may just get one or two delegates in Hawaii.

He made a trip to Idaho. He just went to Idaho to campaign. He's going to end up with no -- ROGIN: I mean, Idaho is a caucus state. It's a Ted Cruz state. It's

not surprising that Ted Cruz won there. Michigan, he should have done better.

The bottom line is they put all of their chips on Florida. They have no other strategy. They have no plan B.

They think they know how to win in Florida. They won there before, but internally they admit the projections show their numbers going in the wrong direction. And what happened last night is only going to exacerbate that. And there's really no solution that they have for that.

ROMANS: Eric Bradner, for anybody that's tuning right now, I mean, it was a good night for Bernie Sanders last night, although Hillary Clinton did win Mississippi. For the Republicans, that stop Trump, that never Trump campaign just not -- that Trump train is just not chugging with enough coal in the engine to go much further. Is that an accurate assessment?

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS, DIGITAL REPORTER: Yes, it's not leaving the station, right? Marco Rubio was a big loser of the night, Mitt Romney was a big loser of the night. He had lone robocalls for both Rubio and John Kasich, didn't seem to give any sort of lift.

So, yes, Donald Trump won three out of four and looks close to stoppable at this point. Kasich and Rubio are both betting everything on winning their home states. But after that, it's kind of like -- and then what? The race moves east at some point.

And so, their theory is they could win in more moderate or left- leaning states. But right now, Ted Cruz is turning in a lot of strong second place showings, but the more establishment candidates just aren't getting any traction. Kasich bet a lot on Michigan. It looks like he came in third, couldn't get past Ted Cruz.

And, yes. So, for Mitt Romney, who picked up this banner and everyone had been following him, it was a rough night.

BERMAN: You're sitting in Michigan, we'll give you the home field advantage right now, with the big story coming out of Michigan, which is the Bernie Sanders upset, Eric. You know, how on earth did it happen? Because the Sanders campaign I don't think really they thought they were going to win. They hope they were, but I don't think they would have bet on it. The Clinton campaign, they thought they were going to win.

BRADNER: That's right. The Clinton campaign focused a lot of effort and energy on Wayne County, that's where Detroit is. Bernie Sanders campaigned all over the state. And, you know, it turns out that Sanders' economic message is actually starting to resonate. He really hit trade hard here, which is something that is especially potent given that NAFTA has really hammered the Rust Belt, Midwestern states in terms of job losses.

And he turned the entire Midwest into a battleground. We've got Ohio, Missouri and Illinois coming up next week. And now, all of a sudden, that March 15th election went from Hillary 5-0 and really put some distance between herself and Bernie Sanders to a shot for Sanders to go 2-3 or 3-2, as the race starts to move West to the states that he's poised do a lot better in.

ROMANS: That debate stage, just a few nights ago, in Flint, it sound like "I love the '90s", you know, the political version because they were talking about trade policies. And clearly, that turned out to be important and resonated with those voters. Guys, stick with us.

March madness continues -- we're calling it March madness, it continues this week on CNN. Can Bernie Sanders capitalize on that Michigan win? He gets his first big opportunity tonight at the Univision Democratic debate simulcast here on CNN 9:00 Eastern Time.

[04:10:01] That will be followed by a special post-debate edition of "AC360" at 11:00 p.m. Eastern.

Then, tomorrow, tomorrow, CNN will carry the Republican debate at the University of Miami starting at 8:30 Eastern. So, there's a lot of chances for these candidates to try to reset the table after the last couple of days.

Bernie Sanders pulling out that surprise victory over Hillary Clinton, a big night in Michigan for Bernie. How did he do it?

We're going to break down who voted for Sanders and why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: I just want to take this opportunity to thank the people of Michigan who kind of repudiated the polls that had us 20, 25 points down a few days ago, who repudiated the pundits who said that Bernie Sanders was not going anywhere.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm proud of the campaign that Senator Sanders and I are running. We have our differences, which you can see when we debate. But I'll tell you what, those differences pale in comparison to what's happening on the Republican side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: An exciting night in the Democratic race, especially if you work for Bernie Sanders and that campaign. They have a stunning upset over Hillary Clinton in Michigan.

Though -- though Hillary Clinton did prevail in terms of delegates last night. And she has a big delegate lead overall right now.

[04:15:02] Let's bring back our panel to discuss.

Josh Rogin, let me start with you. What do you think was decisive in Michigan? ROGIN: Right. I think Bernie Sanders finally started picking away at

those demographics that Hillary Clinton has dominated, as you pointed out all night. Her numbers for black voters were better than Bernie's, but not as good as they were in the Southern states. And this followed a series of high profile black endorses of Bernie Sanders, Killer Mike, Cornell West, Spike Lee.

So, Bernie Sanders has started to play on Hillary Clinton's turf, albeit a little bit late. The other thing here is that the black vote is not a monolith. And the south is different than the north. As they move to the Midwest, it generally benefits him and I think that's playing out.

ROMANS: We're showing some exit polling showing Sanders, of those in Michigan, said felt who they cared about him, Bernie Sanders won that exit poll in Michigan. So, it showed that he is resonating with those voters. They feel like, you know, of those who said of the top quality, cares about people like me, Bernie Sanders 55 percent, Clinton 41 percent.

Dylan, let's pivot to Mississippi, talk about what Clinton did right in Mississippi, because she did win Mississippi there. She won black voters there.

Josh, you're right, it's not a monolithic voting bloc at all. But she did very well there, just as she has done in South Carolina and other areas of the South. She also did well when someone was looking for somebody honest and trustworthy, that was good for her in Mississippi, which is interesting since all this comment about the e-mail and the like.

What went right for her -- what went right for her -- or you could say in Michigan, Sanders won honest and trustworthy in Mississippi. I think it went the other direction. But what went right for her in Mississippi, Dylan. Why is the story different in these two states?

BYERS: Well, there's no -- I mean, Hillary Clinton's relationship with African-American voters in the South is longstanding. That is a group that supports her overwhelmingly. We saw that in the South Carolina primary. We saw that on Super Tuesday.

And, look, for the Hillary Clinton campaign, despite the inroads that Sanders has made with African-Americans in Michigan, she continues to have a broad base of support among some of those key minority groups. And you certainly -- you're going to continue to see that turnout in several states across the map, not just in the South, you know?

But thinking about all these exit polls, we look at demographics, obviously. Sanders able to pick up the youth vote. Hillary Clinton able to (INAUDIBLE) with African-Americans in the south. The most salient point for me in terms of the exit polls, are all of those people coming out and saying they are either angry or frustrated with government, with the establishment, and with the direction of the country right now.

And, you know, it's not dissimilar from what's happening on the right with Donald Trump. There are people are going through economic hardship, they've lost jobs, they know people who have lost jobs. They're not happy with their minimum wage. They are looking to candidates like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump who are promising clear and consistent messages on how they're going to change the situations for them.

BERMAN: Eric, you know, I think a lot of people are going to wake up this morning and see the headline, "Giant Bernie Sanders upset in Michigan, oh, my God," and then they're going to look at the sub- headline, Hillary Clinton carries delegates, they're going to go, what the heck is going on here?

(LAUGHTER)

BRADNER: That's right.

BERMAN: But the fact, in some ways, this is somewhat what the Obama campaign did, you run up the delegate math, you run up in delegates in places you can, and in other states, you know, where you might not win, you are still breaking even.

BRADNER: That's right. It's not pretty, but it's effective. Hillary Clinton can argue after tonight that she had a better night than Bernie Sanders because she won more delegates. The same thing is probably going to happen next Tuesday, even if Sanders does pick up a couple states.

And because the Democratic delegate apportionment process is proportional, it's very hard to catch up once you've fallen behind. So, it's not inspiring, as Dylan was saying, people who are angry at government, people who are really inspired by Bernie Sanders and whatnot, that's where the juice is. That's where the energy is. But the math is on Hillary Clinton's side.

So, on the other hand, for Bernie Sanders, this is a big psychological win. He had been seeing momentum slip away. Super Tuesday was rough. Next Tuesday looks like it was going to be rough. He needed a win that showed that he could expand the map, play in a big state, a state with diversity, and that's what he did by winning Michigan.

So that might be more valuable than the delegates, because it keeps him in play. It expands his playing field and allows him to stay in the race longer. But in terms of the math, Hillary Clinton is winning and she's winning by more today than she was yesterday.

[04:20:02] ROMANS: All right, guys. Stick with us.

BERMAN: Covering breaking news on this presidential race, all morning long. But there's other news, too. North Korea with a new nuclear threat, while you were sleeping. We'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, the North Koreans claim they now have miniature warheads that fit on ballistic missiles in their military arsenal. The government just released pictures of leader Kim Jong-un meeting with scientists at a nuclear facility where the warheads were allegedly made.

Now, CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the photos. The North has been threatening to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S. and South Korea, now conducting joint military exercises.

ROMANS: An American graduate student and combat veteran has been killed by a Palestinian man in a stabbing rampage near Tel Aviv. The victim has been identified is 28-year-old Taylor Force, a first year MBA student at Vanderbilt University. He served five years as an army officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. The attack took place about a mile from where Vice President Biden was meeting with former Israel President Shimon Peres.

BERMAN: Breaking news: the manhunt has ended for a heavily armed suspect charged with four counts of first degree murder.

[04:25:03] Police announced they captured 36 year old Pablo Serrano- Vitorino earlier this morning in Missouri. He is the prime suspect in a quadruple murder in the Kansas City area Tuesday. Serrano-Vitorino is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who was deported 12 years ago. He managed to return to the U.S. and he slipped from the grasp of the authorities last year because of a paperwork error apparently by ICE officials.

ROMANS: You can take Attorney General Loretta Lynch's name off the list of potential Supreme Court nominees. She does not want to be considered and it had a lot to do with the nominating process. Republicans will not even consider holding a hearing for the eventual nominee and Lynch's spokeswoman says the attorney general fears she would be limited in her current role if she had to endure the nominating process.

BERMAN: The public has a chance to say farewell to former First Lady Nancy Reagan today. Security will be tight this afternoon and again tomorrow morning with thousands of people expected to pay their final respects at two schedule viewings. Secret Service agents will serve as pallbearers when the cassette is moved from the funeral home to the Reagan Library tomorrow. A private funeral scheduled for Friday.

ROMANS: All right. Candidates and super PACs spent a total of 8.4 million bucks in television ads in the four states that held primaries and caucuses Tuesday. The bulk of the money was spent in Michigan, more than $7 million in Michigan. The next highest, Idaho, at nearly $240,000, that was GOP only, same with Hawaii. The lowest amount was spent in Mississippi.

The biggest individual spender? Bernie Sanders. He spent more than $3.2 million, almost all of that spent on Michigan, ahead of his big win there. Hillary Clinton was second at $2.5 million, then followed Donald Trump and John Kasich.

The focus now shifts to Florida and Ohio. Total spending in Florida among candidates and political action committees already topping $16 million. In Ohio, $5 million. Those primaries are next Tuesday. Six days left to spend and those dollar signs show you how much is at stake, John Berman. BERMAN: Oh to be an ad man. Something is getting rich.

All right. Breaking news this morning, big night for Donald Trump and a stunning night for Bernie Sanders. An upset victory, Super Tuesday election shaking up the race for president, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:55] ROMANS: Breaking news this morning: a big night for Donald Trump. A surprise upset for Bernie Sanders. Millions across the country cast their ballot on Super Tuesday. We're breaking down the big winners and losers.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Thirty-one minutes past the hour exactly.

And breaking overnight, wow, this was simply stunning. Bernie Sanders with an upset victory in Michigan, such an unexpected result there. The Sanders campaign didn't expect it. The Clinton campaign didn't expect it. The polls did show it was going to happen.

Now, Hillary Clinton did win in Mississippi by a huge margin. What does that mean? It means that Hillary Clinton won more delegates on this Super Tuesday.

You're looking at the total delegates that includes superdelegates. But she leads ion the regular delegate fight as well. And she did win more delegates in the races yesterday.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump, he had three strong wins, Michigan, Mississippi, Hawaii. Ted Cruz won in Idaho.

An awful night for Marco Rubio. He didn't win any of the states. He picked up no delegates for sure in either Michigan, Mississippi or Idaho. We're still waiting on Hawaii. It's maximum one or two delegates. Just an awful night.

The net result, Donald Trump extended his delegate lead going into another week of big, important contests.

And both Trump and Sanders are turning their focus to next week's primaries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So, we are going to do something, I think we're going to clean the slate. I think we're going to do really well in Florida. It's my second home, I love Florida. I love Florida, a special place. I think we're going to do really well.

I think we're going to do really well in Ohio, now that I have Paul O'Neill's endorsement, I know I'm going to win Ohio. But I love Ohio. I have so many friends in Ohio. It's an amazing place.

SANDERS: What tonight means is that the Bernie Sanders campaign, the people's revolution that we are talking about, the political revolution that we are talking about, is strong in every part of the country. And, frankly, we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. In case you're wondering, Donald Trump was referring to former New York Yankee and Cincinnati Red outfielder Paul O'Neill.

ROMANS: Not the treasury secretary.

BERMAN: Not the treasury secretary.

ROMANS: I thought he was talking about the treasury secretary.

BERMAN: No, there was a baseball player at the Trump event last night. So, there was that.

Joining us now is CNN politics reporter Jeremy Diamond live from Florida. Florida is the next big battleground for both parties.

Jeremy, lay out the big stories from last night.

DIAMOND: That's right. Well, Sanders' blowout victory a huge upset in the political world. You know, Hillary Clinton had been expected to win in Michigan last night. She had been expected to win handily, and instead Bernie Sanders really coming ahead here, which is a really good sign for him coming ahead in the Rust Belt states. You know, you've got several of these similar states in which the auto issues and trade are huge. So, that could be good signs for Bernie Sanders coming ahead.

Hillary Clinton, though, you know, last night also coming up with a big win in Mississippi. You know, this comes after she had a string of really strong whips in the southern states after the South Carolina primary. She actually came out ahead last night in the delegate count.

On the Republican side, you know, you had Donald Trump with three out of four victories last night, which really, just as there had been questions about whether or not he could continue the momentum, keep up the momentum of his campaign with attack ads pouring in, last night, Donald Trump praising voters, he was talking about how voters really showed their intelligence last night by not giving in to the attack ads that had been put up against him.

But, of course, Marco Rubio last night, what a tough night for him. You know, he was supposed to at least come in in a strong second in the state. Instead, he came in a distant third in several states, even came in a distant fourth as well.

You know, his spokesman last night, Alex Conant, had said that Rubio would perform well in Hawaii. He was saying, you know, wait until later results come in, with Hawaii coming in late in the night, still Marco Rubio there did not do well. [04:35:06] So, certainly, some questions for him, even John Kasich as

well. He was supposed to do well in Michigan. Ted Cruz pulled ahead of him to second place in that state. That certainly raises questions for him.

But still, John Kasich did very well last night. He pulled several third place finishes, really sending an e-mail to supporters last night saying, look, I did better than expected, that's good signs for him for the road ahead.

ROMANS: All right. Thank so much for that, Jeremy. And, you're there in Florida where, you know, the story always pivots forward, as it always does. As soon as the voting is done, the story pivots forward.

Let's look at the winners and losers and what it all means in terms of those golden delegate numbers and the road ahead.

Joining us, our panel of experts, CNN political analyst and columnist for "Bloomberg View", Josh Rogin, CNN senior reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers, CNN politics digital reporter, Eric Bradner, and then Jeremy Diamond is gong to stick with us.

I want to listen to some sound last night from Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton talking about how she's going to build a better America. She was speaking at the same time that Donald Trump was speaking last night. She was speaking before she knew officially that Bernie Sanders had edged ahead of her. Let's listen to the secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can't be talking about building walls or turning the clock back, we have to build on what made America great in the first place, our energy and optimism, our openness and creativity. Nobody works harder than Americans. Nobody innovates better. Nobody dreams bigger.

If we work together, I know America will out-compete anybody anywhere in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Dylan Byers, I don't think she's talking about Bernie Sanders there. I think she's talking about team Trump there. Did she learn, though, last night that she needs to be a little more focused on her competition this primary and not look ahead to Donald Trump?

BYERS: Well, yes, I think she did learn that last night. I don't think she wanted to think about that too much, which is probably why you saw her giving another general election victory speech, despite the fact that the story of the night was Bernie Sanders huge upset in Michigan. And it's also why you saw her speaking while Donald Trump was commanding the attention of the national media.

I mean, look, Hillary Clinton still on track to become the Democratic nominee, but in many ways, she needs to hit the reset button on how she and her campaign think about shoring up support and not letting Bernie Sanders run away with key states. He won Michigan despite trailing her in the polls in double digits. Now we're going into states like Ohio and Illinois next week where again he's trailing her in the polls, but he could do very well and surprise once again.

So, as Bernie Sanders' own campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, said earlier tonight, the map is turning in Sanders' favor for a while, if you exclude Florida that could prolong this primary campaign. And so, obviously, that right now is the chief focus for Hillary Clinton and her campaign.

BERMAN: Josh Rogin, I think it did prolong the campaign, because the inverse of what happened, had Bernie Sanders lost in Michigan, particularly by ten points as the polls showed, there'd be a lot of people would say this race is all but over. They're not saying that now. Now, they're looking ahead seeing if Bernie Sanders can replicate what he did in Michigan, in Ohio and Illinois, and Hillary Clinton got to look inward to see if there were mistakes that she made in Michigan that she can avoid going forward.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, yes, I think that's right. I think what we see is the momentum still on Bernie Sanders' side, and that's a bad news story for Hillary Clinton, heading into tonight's debate. If you look at the exit polls, she's still losing badly amongst young voters, she's still losing amongst white voters, and most importantly, she's losing 71-28 on independent voters.

And when you see Hillary Clinton talk, she's always talking about the general election, going against Republicans. How will she do that without expanding the voter rolls on the Democratic side? All of the late voters break for Bernie. All of the new Democratic voters break for Bernie.

So, she's got to solve this problem of how does she get the Bernie voters to come to her camp? She doesn't have an answer for that yet. And meanwhile, if she attacks Bernie, that actually sets her back.

BERMAN: But does she, though? Because she still ended up, as bad as the night as it was, and Michigan was shocking, she ended up with more delegates.

ROMANS: Yes, she ended up with more delegates, and she had such an overwhelming victory in Mississippi. And she's right and high looking into Florida. I mean, those are -- if you're team Clinton, those are the advantages you're looking at. If you're team Trump, you want to point out these narrow victories and sort of mock her a bit. Listen to what Donald Trump said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'll be honest with you. I'm very surprised. I looked at the numbers, Mississippi I'm close to 50 percent. That's not 50 percent with two people, that's 50 percent with four people. That's a lot. That's shocking. That's like record setting.

Big difference. You know, if you're running like Hillary and you're running against one guy, I mean, you're running against Bernie, OK?

[04:40:02] And you get a 50, or a 52, or a 56. That's different. I'm running against three very competent people, and I'm getting 50 percent, in Michigan close to 40 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Eric Bradner, if she gets the nomination, you can see, you know, she has a delegate lead. She's expanding her delegate lead. If she gets the nomination, how much does this narrow victory, how much does the presence of Bernie Sanders and her attack from the left, how much does it hurt her in a general election?

BRADNER: Well, some of the attacks Sanders has been making, particularly on issues like trade, do translate to general election match-up with Donald Trump. It's fascinating to see. But the far left and the far right are actually in the same place on trade right now. The same rhetoric is coming from Bernie Sanders and Trump.

So there is a question of whether Hillary Clinton, being so weak among white working class voters, having some economic troubles getting past issues like trade, whether that is a real general election liability, particularly in swing states like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, the Rust Belt. These are places that Democrats have to win in the general election. And so, that's sort of an argument that Sanders can make now, that he has won running on those issues.

So, yes. This is a trouble spot. For so long, we've been talking about Hillary Clinton's minority fire wall and how Bernie Sanders has to do better among African-American voters -- well, Hillary Clinton is struggling to energize people, she's struggling with white working class voters, and the Reagan Democratic types, who are coming out to vote for Donald Trump. So that's definitely something to keep an eye on.

(CROSSTALK)

BYERS: John and Christine?

ROMANS: Sure. Go ahead, Dylan.

BYERS: I was going to jump on Eric's point there. You know, what he talks about is a trouble spot for Hillary Clinton in terms of trade.

We're not just talking about a minor secondary or marginal issue. We are talking really about the issue that voters on the right, the left, and independents see as the cause for why jobs are being lost in this country, why jobs are moving -- why businesses are moving out of the country.

I mean, this is really one of the key issues that I think the entire campaign is going to hinge upon at least in terms of domestic policy. So, more than a trouble spot, I mean, I think it's a huge alarm.

ROMANS: No, I agree, but I haven't heard the policies on either side that would fix it. I see they have managed to, on the Trump anti- trade voters and the Bernie Sanders anti-trade voters, I see that they tapped into this anxiety. But I haven't heard the policy prescription to fix it and it's been going on for 25 years, going back to the beginning of NAFTA. They tapped into how people feel but they haven't tapped into anybody, the solution yet I don't think.

BERMAN: All right. Guys, stand by. A lot more to discuss, including the big results on the Republican side of the race, too. Donald Trump, not as vulnerable, maybe as he had seen.

March Madness continues all week here on CNN. We have a debate tonight. A Univision Democratic debate at 9:00 p.m. in Miami. CNN will simulcast that. This debate vastly changes now that Bernie Sanders pulled off this offset victory in Michigan. What will it mean in that stage? That's at 9:00 p.m., followed by a special post-debate edition of "AC360" at 11:00 p.m. Eastern.

And tomorrow, the Republican presidential debate. The final debate before Super Tuesday, maybe the final Republican presidential primary debate period. The last up with that's scheduled right now. That's at 8:30 p.m. Eastern -- maybe the last time to knock off Donald Trump.

But, wait, there's more. Donald Trump on NEW DAY in a couple hours, 6:30 a.m. Eastern time. I imagine he has lots to talk about.

ROMANS: All right. Millions of dollars spent on advertising against him, but Donald Trump keeps on winning. Can he be stopped? We're looking ahead of the next big contest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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[04:47:41] TRUMP: I don't think I've ever had so my horrible, horrible things said about me in one week. $38 million worth of horrible lies, but that's OK. It shows you how brilliant the public is, because they knew they were lies. And it was just really amazing to watch.

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ROMANS: That was Donald Trump speaking at his victory news despite all those attacks on Trump this week he picked up wins in Mississippi, Michigan and Hawaii. Does that make Trump officially unstoppable?

Turning to our panel now for the answer, I want to talk about this. I want to bring in Dylan Byers again. We were talking about trade before the break. And how Trump and Bernie Sanders tapped into an anxiety among people, especially in states like Michigan and they were concerned about what trade means for their job, for American factories. This story has been going on for 25 years, but it's really resonating here right now.

When you look at the exit polls, in Michigan in particular, 92 percent said that they worried, Dylan, about the economy, 92 percent of the people polled said they were worried about the economy. I always say when you ask them when they leave the voting booth, that's like asking them if they love their mother. Of course, they're worried about the economy, of course, they love their mother, of course, 92 percent going to say.

But of those who are worried about the economy, 38 percent of those people went to Donald Trump. He has really tapped into something there, Dylan.

BYERS: Yes, no. That's absolutely right. And, look, the economy is something we've been talking about for a very long time. Ever since Bill Clinton said, look, it's the economy, stupid. And, of course, well before that.

It's a talking point. We seem to understand that nothing matters more to Americans than jobs and economic security. But, you know, to really understand it in a sort of visceral level, you look, for instance, at the videos of employees at Carrier, the air conditioning manufacturer, listening as they were told that the company was going to be moved to Monterey, Mexico. That's a point Trump has brought up several times.

You can feel that anger. Sometimes it's hard to really identify that when you're sitting in studios, and green rooms. But the truth is, there are a lot of Americans out there who are worried about it.

So, maybe they're progressives, maybe they're liberals, maybe they're conservatives and Republicans, either way each group has found a candidate who is telling them, it's going to be OK.

[04:50:02] It's going to get better. On the left that's Bernie Sanders. On the right, that's Donald Trump.

That's why you're seeing Donald Trump do as well as he's doing and it's why you're seeing Bernie Sanders continuing to be a thorn in the side of Hillary Clinton's campaign, especially because she is perceived as being so close to Wall Street, part of the establishment.

ROMANS: The Trump response to that Carrier story, though, is that he would immediately slap a 35 percent tariff on Carrier air conditioners coming into the country, which almost every expert says would cause a trade war and would be wound up in international courts.

So, I mean, the policy sometimes is not as coherent as the emotion.

BERMAN: And there's not a lot of policy sometimes. You know, last night, Donald Trump did an extraordinary thing last night, he didn't hold a victory rally, he held a victory news conference/statement/like product placement moment infomercial.

ROMANS: What was that?

BERMAN: Let's play a little bit of sound from that.

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TRUMP: We have Trump steaks. If you want to take one, it's about 50 bucks a steak. He said Trump magazine is out. I said, it is? I thought I read on two days ago? Anyone want one?

You have the water. You have the stakes. You have the airline that I sold. I mean, what's wrong with selling? Every once in a while you can sell something.

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BERMAN: Josh Rogin, I'm going to be completely honest. I have no idea what that was or why that was. What I do know --

ROMANS: But wait, there's more.

BERMAN: What I know is that Trump won three out of four states last night. He picked up the most delegates, impressive wins in Michigan and Mississippi and heads into a crucial week with wind at his back at the very moment when there are people writing stories about for the first time he's vulnerable.

ROGIN: Right. So, what you're seeing there is some of Trump responding to the stop Trump movement which has focused on many of his businesses like Trump University, Trump water, Trump steaks. Some of it is bragging, talking about his golf courses, hotels, clubs. He just brought that up on his own. Didn't really make any sense at all.

Looking forward, you saw in the press conference more than that was he was trying to bring back the establishment to say, hey, it's OK to support Donald Trump. He said nice things about Paul Ryan. He said nice things about Lindsey Graham. He knows he needs the establishment if he gets to the general election.

What's going to cost, $500 million? He's not going to pay for that out of his pocket. The problem is that, ideologically and policy- wise, there are a lot of Republicans who cannot stomach Donald Trump. He's not going to get their support. So they're going to take the last two weeks and pile on with more in a last-ditch effort to try to stop him.

ROMANS: Well, in about an hour and eight minutes, we're going to have some new polling that will be helpful for us, especially for those on the stop Trump movement. Will they have any traction after tonight?

Eric Bradner, let's throw up the map and talk about where are the next stops on this Trump train and whether he's going to be able to do well and add to what has been a commanding lead in the delegate race?

I mean, look at this, we're talking about Illinois, we're talking about Ohio. We're talking about Florida, 99 delegates up for grabs in Florida. Marco Rubio had been desperate to have a strong showing in his home state. But he's not even on the board tonight.

BRADNER: Absolutely. So, Marco Rubio and John Kasich are betting everything on their home states. But the reality is, so what if they win? What does that get them? It buys them a bit more time. But it doesn't change the fundamentals of this race.

Donald Trump is going to keep his delegate lead. He's looking at Illinois which has another -- a few more delegates than Ohio. He could win there. Sort of obliterate any gains anyone else makes in the delegate race.

Donald Trump is campaigning in North Carolina today. Missouri votes, key do well there. So, just surviving by winning their home states for Kasich and Rubio doesn't really change the fundamentals of this race now. Donald Trump is basically flaunting and bragging. That's what that show of all of his products are about.

It's like, look, establishment Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio. You all threw everything that you had at me. Here I am. Everything is still perfect. No one can stop me.

Rubio seemed to hit a sacrifice fly by going after him in a couple of debates. It didn't change anything. The attack ad on Trump sort of showing all of the curse words he's used in campaign speeches didn't change anything. It remains to be seen if there's any particular strategy that can slow Donald Trump at this point.

ROMANS: All right. Everybody, stick with us. In the break, John Berman is going to tell me what a sacrifice fly is.

But until then, we are covering breaking news in the race for president. First North Korea with a new nuclear threat to tell you about. We've got that next.

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[04:58:02] ROMANS: All right. New this morning, North Korea claims it has now miniaturized nuclear warheads that fit on ballistic missiles. The government there just released pictures of leader Kim Jong-un meeting with scientists at a nuclear facility where the warheads were made.

CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the photos. The North has been threatening to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S. and South Korea, now conducting joint military exercises on the peninsula.

ROMANS: You can take Attorney General Loretta Lynch's name off the list of potential Supreme Court nominees. She does not want to be considered and it had a lot to do with the nominating process. Republicans will not even consider holding a hearing for the eventual nominee and Lynch's spokeswoman says the attorney general fears she would be limited in her current role if she had to endure the nominating process.

BERMAN: The public has a chance to say farewell to former First Lady Nancy Reagan today. Security will be tight this afternoon and again tomorrow morning with thousands of people expected to pay their final respects at two schedule viewings. Secret Service agents will serve as pallbearers when Mrs. Reagan is moved from the funeral home to the Reagan Library that happens tomorrow. A private funeral scheduled for Friday.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start of your money. Dow futures are higher coming off losses yesterday. Oil edging higher. Stock market in Europe is up, but share's in Asia mostly lower overnight.

Happy birthday to the bull. Today is the bull market's birthday. The recent run up in prices, now eight years old. The bull market, of course, is when stocks climb without dropping dropping 20 percent. There was no drop, there wasn't. It tried and failed. This bull was born March 9th, 2009, since then the S&P 500 up 192 percent.

BERMAN: What do you get a bull market on his birthday?

ROMANS: I don't know.

BERMAN: Slacks. Amazon gift card.

ROMANS: That beats the average gain of 144 percent, and much longer than the average bull market. This is like a teenager, the average of the 12 bull markets since World War II is 54 months. This one is 84 months.

BERMAN: Of course, how moody is it? Is it moody like a teenager, this bull market? We shall see.