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>> good and welcome to live special coverage of the 2024 presidential primaries. >> the biggest one-day prize of the campaign with votes being counted in 16 states and one territory. more than a third of the delegates for the republican and democratic nominations are up for grabs. >> we rely on the associated press for election results. the ap only decide the winner after other contenders have no mathematical path to victory. polls have closed in nearly every state and former president donald trump is having another very good night. he has won alabama, arkansas, colorado, maine, massachusetts, minnesota, north carolina, oklahoma, tennessee, texas, and virginia. former south carolina governor nikki haley, the last remaining challenger in the gop race has won just one state, the state of

vermont. she has won with 50% of the vote and 90% of the expected vote in so far. >> the associated press has called president biden the winner in races in alabama, arkansas, colorado, iowa, maine, massachusetts, minnesota, north carolina, oklahoma, tennessee, texas, and virginia -- utah, vermont, and virginia. president biden experienced his first loss of the primary season tonight in american samoa. baltimore-based investor jason palmer won the territory and four of its six delegates. the president won the other two. >> we are still awaiting results in a couple states. the polls closed in california and they remain open in alaska for another hour. we are joined by our panel for full analysis. that is new york times columnist david brooks, jonathan kay park,

associate editor for the washington post, amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter, republican strategist kevin madden who advised mitt romney's presidential campaign, and democratic strategist faster kier, bernie sanders 2020 campaign manager. >> as long as polling has been available has been clear most americans do not want to see a rematch of donald trump and joe biden. and yet here we are. both candidates on paths to the nomination. >> the sequel no one asked for but they are getting. what is remarkable about this is that earlier this year -- i'm sorry, 2023, it did not look as if it was going to be a glide path for both candidates. donald trump was getting less than 50% of the republican vote in national polls. you see the numbers now, he's winning with 70% or more in the states. that was not a given.

the fact this is actually happening is important, number one. the second point is when you look at how americans feel about this. the new york times siena poll last week came out with a pole that asked people, how do you feel about this election? only 14% had a positive word. everyone else had a version of things like, angry, worried, dispirited, unsure. this is the next basically eight months in front of us. enjoy, everybody. welcome. i love that we got laughter from that. i want your takeaways on what we have seen so far. as amy has pointed out, no real surprises here. i welcome your thoughts on american samoa. this is into the general election, although neither trump nor biden is officially the present of nominee yet. does what we saw today change

the contours of the race moving forward at all? >> i hope it will quiet the pundits on the democratic side to think we should have an open convention and they should find some magical mystery democrat who is younger. the people voted and they voted for jo biden. he deserves to be the nominee. if you want to be the nominee, run a candidate and get votes. the idea of an open convention for the democrats, no. people voted today, lots of people voted. they voted for joe biden. he's going to be the nominee. >> i should add jason palmer is not the person, the person who won in american samoa. both president biden and donald trump are hoping they would sweep today. they did not. there are big warning signs for donaldrump. the fact nikki haley won vermont is great but the fact she is still continually getting a quarter of the republican primary vote -- i would love to hear what kevin has to say.

that is an opening. that is clearly an opening for democrats and president biden to go in and say, look. if you want to save this country, you must vote for me. and actually i am cribbing from the statement that just came out at 10:21 from the biden-harris campaign. making the case to democrats, republicans, and independence -- if you care about the future of this country, join us in saving the country. >> the haley campaign was hoping after she won the d.c. primary on sunday that northern virginia voters, just across the river, would help deliver her the state of virginia. where does she go next and why is she not speaking tonight? this could be a crucial night for her. tons of viewers potentially but she is at home, mia. >> to your point about her campaign hoping, hope is not a strategy.

their strategy has been limited to winning these areas like northern virginia and suburban areas around these many primary contests. that i think are going to be hugeattlegrounds in the general election. the big question is whether nikki haley's vote is a monolithic block and it stays with her. i think jonathan is right. it will be up for grabs in the general election. where does she go in the next 48 hours and why haven't we heard from her? those are big question marks. her campaign is at a crossroads. the first option she has is does she want a future in the republican party? she has to consider what that looks like and whether that involves endorsing donald trump. or does it mean becoming a voice of the conscientious objectors inside the republican party? the other path iswhat she's going to decide in the next 48 hours. is she going to be part of uniting the party and beati what they believe is the common

opposition in joe biden? that is the very tough deliberation taking place right now inside the haley campaign. >> what about the takeaways for the biden campaign? for democratic voters who are looking for a place to put their displeasure or discontent, there are plenty of outlets there. we saw that in michigan with the significant uncommitted vote. there were options for uncommitted in some states today for no preference in others. if you look at the minnesota results there was an uncommitted option on the ballot. 20% of the vote went that direction, although of course he did get 69% of the vote there. eight months out, how much stock should the biden campaign be putting in people who are choosing to register their displeasure this way? >> i do not think they are blind to it. they know they have a job to do to build the coalition. they are building off a strong base. democratic consolidation is

there for biden. he has work to do to maintain progressive young people's support. a lot of that is related to policy. i know he's beating his brains out to try to get a six-week cease-fire. if he can do it it will matter a big deal. while he goes into the selection, one caution i have, i think abortion rights and core democratic issues, incompetence of government, the things that propelled him to presidency in 2020 are still there for him. every time you've gone into the election cycle and maga candidates have been up against biden, docrats have done well. keep that in mind. now as you go into 2024, the things you want to reassess or continue to challenge yourself on is the fact that, i'm reminded of a bill clinton quote from 2002. he advised democrats at that time, in times of uncertainty that amy walter was referring

to, people prefer strong and wrong over weekend right. it is a good reflection to remember that donald trump is wrong. we all know this. we are going to win that debate. strong is the point i would reference here. as he heads into the state of the union, president biden for age reasons and others needs to assert his hand is firmly on the steering wheel and i'm ready to fight in a big way for you. >> let's turn to lisa desjardins tracking the primary races but first let's hear from president who addressed supporters in his mar-a-lago estate about his victories. >> they call it super tuesday for a reason. this is a big one. and they tell me, the pundits and otherwise, there has never been one like this. there has never been anything so conclusive. this was an amazing night, amazing day.

it's been an incredible period of time in our country's history. it has been sat in so many ways but it's going to be inspiring because we are going to do something that frankly nobody has been able to do for a long time. >> lisa, take us inside the trump campaign. what did they believe the series of victories tonight means for their campaign? >> the truck campaign tells me they believe they can clinch the republican nomination within one week. the march 12 primary as they believe will put him over the top to get the republican nomination. what is interesting is the speech he gave tonight. this was a general election speech. this was something to mary keith said yesterday or monday on politics monday, that is what the trump campaign is trying to put out there. he did not mention even intimate anything about his main republican opponents, nikki haley. there is a reason for that. one trump source tells me that

is intentional. they are trying to leave room for nikki haley to get out of the race with respect. they do not want to be throwing punches at her. that is what the trump source says but i have a haley source saying wait a second, there are other reasons as well. as you are saying on the panel, the trump campaign realizes they need haley voters. they do not want to do anything to put bad blood in the water right now at this moment where they feel they are about to clinch the nomination. >> laura barone lopez also joins us. our white house correspondent. she's been following the results. what are you hearing from the biden harris campaign about the results today? are they saying anything in response to the warning signs we been talking about? >> the biden campaign told me they are watching the voters that were voting for haley in states like north carolina and states like virginia very closely. specifically when you look at those exit polls, cnn exit polls

show in north carolina 62% of haley vots said they would not vote republican in november regardless of who the nominee is. for the same question 76% of haley voters said they would not vote for the republican nominee regardless of who it is in virginia. the biting campaign is paying really close attention to those numbers -- ben campaign is paying really close attention to those numbers. they see those numbers as a sign potentially gettable voters fo president biden are repelled by trump's extremism. in terms of warning signs, their response to the uncommitted effort is they are not ignoring it. they are well aware of it. they understand the president is not doing well with young voters, not doing well with muslim and arab voters and he needs to address that. they also compare it to similar uncommitted efforts that were brought against former president barack obama in 2012.

so far tonight the uncommitted votes in a state like minnesota has gotten more than expected, some 39,000 votes. people voted uncommitted in minnesota. right now a lot of democrats are not lighting their hair on fire about it. >> we have learned president biden has won the state of california. we have more information from the ap about the share. there it is, making it official. donald trump has won california as well. laura, you are tracking the california senate race to replace dianne feinstein. california has a top two primary meeting all the candidates run together on the same ballot. help us understand the candidates running and the dynamics at play. >> there are three leading democratic candidates. congressman adam schiff, congresswoman katie porter, congresswoman barbara lee. they have split the democratic vote especially congresswoman

katie porter and barbara lee. they have split the progressive vote quite a bit. the result is because of the fact the top two vote getters proceed regardless of party, we could see adam schiff who has been leading in a lot of the polls make it through to november but alongside a republican, steve garvey, a former l.a. dodger who has a lot of name id. he has not put out very specific policy platforms. but he is getting those republican votes in california and it is looking like a democrat in adam schiff and a republican in garvey could make it through. if that is the case that pretty much steals up the race for adam schiff. we have not seen results yet and katie porter was really trying to fight tooth and nail to the last minute to try to make sure garvey did not box her the top two -- box her outf the top two. but polling was not looking

good. >> as we talk about the future of the senate we should mention kyrsten sinema who has been a polarizing figure in the u.s. senate has said she is not going to run for reelection. how do you see that changing the landscape of the senate? >> it is good news for congressman gallego who jumped in right away when senator synema ticked off democrats, being a fly in the ointment of the democratic agenda items. the math has always been hard. it is always going to be hard for democrats. especially with maryland coming into play with former governor hogan getting into the race. i do not know and that is why i'm glad i'm sitting next to amy because she is the one who should be answering this question. with kyrsten sinema not running for reelection, i do not know. i turn to you. does that help congressman gallego?

>> it actually theoretically would help kari lake. she was taking a lot of the republican vote. sort of moderate voters who see kari lake as to extreme. that was one element. although i do think this is what is interesting about arizona. it is a swing state. the democratic senators there have been more centrist democrats. the republicans we have -- it has been since john mccain the last republican who was successful winning an election there. hewing to the center being seen as a more moderate. jeff flake, same thing. the nominee is now in gallego, kari lake, who lost the governor's race, last cycle, both further apart on that. they are not exactly centrist candidates. how do you win over those key

independent voters in a state like arizona? when you are coming from more ft side and then for kari lake, much more on the right. >> while i have the brain trust here, a question about the filibuster which jonathan mentioned. you have senator manchin leaving. kyrsten sinema leaving. mitch mcconnell no longer in leadership. the legislative filibuster is up for grabs. on the democratic side that could mean they get voting rights passed and on the republican side there could be abortion restrictions. >> people have long thought the filibuster was on its way out. it was a matter of time because so few people are willing to defend it. as one of those willing to defend it i think it is bad for the body. you can get a lot more done, a lot more bad done. if you had any hope of having a senate where people try to work across the lines and did what kyrsten sinema did, that will not be necessary. the senate will look a lot more like the house.

>> amy, i want to come back to you on the senate. it is fascinating with the race on to replace mitch mcconnell. you've been focusing on house races as well. credible primary contests today in california and other places. i'm thinking of congressman david bell day-o in california -- david valdeo, in california, fighting for his life there. how are you looking at these races? >> there are competitive ones like california and then there are these your red or very primaries. so many members of congress are elected basically in the primary. so the kinds of candidates that win will tell us a lot about the kind of members we are going to see in congress in the next election. some have been endorsed by donald trump. some are coming from the freedom

caucus or have been endorsed by the freedom caucus. the folks who have been a thorn in the side of leadership on the republican side. so that -- i do think what is so different about this moment in time then say where we were in 2017 where you really did have a bifurcated party, there was donald trump and then the republican party doing its thing , these are now the same party. the trump party -- trump is doing his thing and the candidates running on the republican side are basically running as donald trump. >> with an eye to what's happening in north carolina, kevin burke robinson who is a hit lurk quoting holocaust denier, -- hitler quoting holocaust denier, running against a democrat josh dine who if he wins would be the first jewish governor of north carolina. what do you see when you look at that race especially mitch mcconnell's warnings during the

2022 midterms about the lack of candidate quality as he saw it on the republican side? >> he is sort of an avatar of the candidates that really struggled in the 2020 election. even many of the candidates who had a trump veneer who ran in the 2022 midterms. they suffered at the ballot as a result of that. that's one of the things to amy's point that is going to be difficult for these candidates. this is going to be a campaign that is really conditioned by the national jet stream of donald trump versus joe biden. so many of these candidates that run a majority maker seats where they have to have a unique identity with their voters, they have to run on local issues and defined themselves, oftentimes they have to vote against their party to show they have a streak of independence to appeal to swing voters. it's going to be increasingly difficult. there is another impact here.

trump's legal issues and legal problems start to mount and he tries to take over the rnc. the resources to pay for that with the down valid effect of resources, the time and effort that goes into winning down ballot, how that's going to be affected by the national jet stream. >> how do you look at a race like that which will be polarizing? also getting back to what you mentioned rlier about the opportunity ahead on thursday at the state of the union address which is not a campaign event but as a chance to address the weaknesses and warning signs they are taking away from today. what do you hope to hear from him? >> we don't have to look back in history. herschel walker, dr. oz, you go down the list of poor senate candidates they put up. look at georgia. kemp wins by a healthy and large margin while herschel walker

loses, right? once again we are going down a road where it looks like trump like candidates who like to say outlandish things, they think that works with a base, the politics in the general electorate doesn't seem to affirm that. one thing i'm keeping my eye on, as we head into the next few months, one of the things people are not paying attention to his the ballot line in a lot of the states. who is actually going to be on the ballot? when i say that -- which third-party candidates are going to be on the line in arizona, georgia, michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, nevada? those are the key states. we know just looking at the nikki haley votes, there's a healthy portion of people who are not going to pull the trigger for donald trump. they have known enough about him. there is not much to learn. they are going to look for somebody else. historically that someone else has been joe biden.

the concern i would have heading into this is rfk, cornell west, jill stein, whoever it might be. the more names, the more concern for joe biden. they siphon the votes away from who they would ordinarily go to. >> looking to thursday, how does president biden really leverage the state of the union address to show the nation he's a president who's in command and can transmit a vision for the future? >> this will be s biggest audience. it's the biggest audience any president gets in a year. this will be vital for him. if president biden who shows up thursday is the same feisty president biden who showed up at last year's state of the union, it is going to be lit. it is an election year where he feels like he has something to prove because we are all talking about his age all the time. he's also a president who has a

record to run on and he's very proud of it. this is his opportunity to tell the american people what it is. we should keep in mind thursday is the actual of 59th anniversary of bloody sunday. we should expect to see him lean hard on the symbolism of that because it fits with his rationale for running in 2020 and running for reelection in 2024. that is the fight for democracy. >> there is a piece in the new yorker this week with joe biden and one of the joe biden team says we expect democracy to be on people's minds when they go to the polls. i think that is crazy. people want an agenda and joe biden cannot run against donald trump. he has to give some idea what he's going to do on the border, what he's going to do internationally. the agenda is a blank slate. >> are deep thanks to all of

you. >> this has been live special coverage of super tuesday. tune in tomorrow for more analysis on the regularly scheduled newshour. >> join us thursday for live coverage of president biden's state of the union address. that starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern. for all of us at the newshour, we thank you for joining us and we bid you a good night. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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