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Sanders: After Clinton’s big win, Super Tuesday, beyond will be 'tough fight'

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders conceded that his campaign was “decimated” by Hillary Clinton's campaign in this weekend’s South Carolina party primary but expressed optimism about keeping alive his White House bid.
“We got decimated, that’s what happened,” the Vermont senator told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “No question, Secretary Clinton won that state and she won it big. … I think it’s going to be a tough fight, (but) I think we can pull it off.”
Clinton beat Sanders 73-to-26 percent, with exit polls showing nine in 10 African-Americans voting for her. The numbers strongly show that Clinton’s recent Nevada Caucus victory, followed by her South Carolina win Saturday, proves she has a southern “firewall” against the insurgent Sanders’ campaign.
In looking for a bright spot in the South Carolina defeat, Sanders said he did well with younger voters, whom he hopes will support him on Super Tuesday, when 11 states hold votes and roughly 880 Democratic delegates are up for grabs.
Sanders, who won the New Hampshire primary, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he thinks he can win in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and his home state of Vermont and “do really well” in Massachusetts.
"I think we do have a path to victory," he said, adding that California and New York later in the primary season are also potential wins.
But if Sanders loses the African-American vote by similar margins in the upcoming Southern states, like he did in South Carolina, Clinton would likely take a delegate lead difficult for him to overcome.
Sanders said he and his campaign found his lack of support among older African-American voters in South Carolina “pathetic.”
Clinton suggested in her victory speech Saturday night that she’s now shifting her focus to the national election, which unofficially starts after the party convention, this year in July in Philadelphia.
“Tomorrow, this campaign goes national,” she said.
On Sunday, Clinton church-hopped across Memphis, Tenn., to mobilize African-American voters ahead of Tuesday's primaries.
At two churches in the city, Clinton asked worshippers to reject "the demagoguery, the prejudice, the paranoia.”
She never mentioned GOP front-runner Donald Trump's name, but the comments appeared directed at him, and she seemed to reference his campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again."
"American has never stopped being great, our task is to make American whole," Clinton said at Greater Imani Cathedral of Faith.

Cruz, Rubio reveal tax info, Cruz hints Trump tied to mob biz

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday pushed the call for front-running GOP rival Donald Trump to release his tax returns, suggesting the IRS documents might show connections to “mafia” businesses, donations to Planned Parenthood and other items that would ruin his White House bid.
“Maybe those business deals are more extensive that reported,” Cruz told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Primary voters deserve to know before the nomination because Hillary Clinton will.”
Cruz, who has released five years of returns and two-page summaries for the past four years, repeated 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s suggestion last week that Trump’s returns could include a “bombshell.”         
He said Trump’s real estate ventures reportedly have been tied to mafia-run S&A Construction, "which was owned by 'Fat Tony' Salerno, who is a mobster who is in jail.”
He also suggested on ABC’s “This Week” that the returns might show the billionaire businessman has exaggerated his wealth.
“A lot of media outlets have reported that he doesn't make nearly as much money as he says he does. We don't know. But he's clearly hiding something,” said Cruz, who, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, is Trump’s closest rival going into Super Tuesday -- in which the GOP primary field of five will compete for 595 delegates across 11 states.
Cruz also tried to turn into a tax issue Trump’s support for the help Planned Parenthood provides to women, though the billionaire businessman doesn’t back abortions.
“At every debate, it seems, he praises Planned Parenthood,” Cruz said. “Maybe he's written them a bunch of checks.”
Trump told “Fox News Sunday” that he’s filed “voluminous” paperwork and that information about his income is available in Federal Election Commission filings.
He declined to reveal his gross income or effective tax rate and didn’t respond to a remark that the IRS says he can disclose his records, despite an audit, which Trump has cited for the delay.
“I think it's very unfair,” said Trump, despite making promises to release his tax records. “I've been singled out.”
Rubio, like Cruz, released summary pages of their recent tax filings on Saturday, seeking to capitalize Trump's refusal to release similar information.
Romney released tax records in 2012, and Clinton did last year.
Rubio and Cruz produced the first two pages of their filings to the Internal Revenue Service, which don't include key details about subjects such as their tax deductions.
They have left the door open to releasing more information, with Cruz essentially daring his opponents to go first.
"If Marco wants to release the complete thing for the recent years, I'm happy to do so as well," Cruz said. 
Every major party candidate since 1976 has released his full tax returns at some point during the campaign, according to Joseph Thorndike, a tax historian and contributing editor to Tax Notes, an accounting trade publication.
But while Thorndike faulted Trump for backing away from releasing his tax returns, he called partial releases such as those by Rubio and Cruz "fake transparency."
The tax returns released by the two lawmakers, combined with their previously released personal financial disclosures, offer an overview of their financial lives since arriving in the Senate.
Rubio released portions of his 2010 through 2014 returns, adding to 10 years of tax documents he had previously made public.
Since winning election to office in Washington, they show Rubio's income has ranged from $276,059 to $938,963, and he has paid between $46,500 and $254,894 in federal income tax. Most of the income came from a business that collected royalties on two books: Rubio's memoir, "An American Son," and a pre-campaign tract, "American Dreams."
Cruz released portions of his 2011 through 2014 returns. They show he and his wife Heidi brought in an annual average of $1.13 million with large amounts of their income coming from Cruz's work in 2011 and 2012 at the law firm Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, and his wife's work at Goldman Sachs.
Cruz also reported $190,000 in income coming from a book advance from Harper Collins in 2014.
The returns show that Cruz and his wife reported more than $5.2 million in income in those years and paid an average effective tax rate of 37.6 percent.
The summary returns yield few details on either candidate's charitable giving, but they indicate that the Texas senator, who has banked on the support of evangelicals and appealed to voters on matters of faith, hasn't tithed a full 10 percent of his income.

Gabbard quits DNC to back Sanders, after criticizing small debate schedule

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard resigned Sunday as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee to support presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The Hawaii Democrat told NBC's "Meet the Press" that she trusts the Vermont senator to consider the consequences of any military action.
"I think it’s most important for us, as we look at our choices as to who our next commander in chief will be, is to recognize the necessity to have a commander in chief who has foresight, who exercises good judgment," Gabbard said.
Her announcement follows months of discord with committee members, including Chairman Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Gabbard has been critical of the committee’s small debate schedule, which critics say is designed to protect Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Wasserman Schultz on Sunday issued a statement accepting the resignation that in part stated Gabbard is “a role model who embodies the American ideal that anyone can dream big and make a difference."
Gabbard, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a military veteran who served in Iraq, also has been critical of President Obama’s strategy for stopping the Islamic State.
She has called for a more comprehensive approach and has criticized the president for not saying the group is engaged in “Islamic terrorism.”

Rubio, Cruz and Clinton aim attacks at Trump following KKK endorsement

Presidential candidates from both parities turned their rhetorical fire against Republican front-runner Donald Trump Sunday, with his GOP rivals attempting to claw back into the race and Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton tuning up for a possible general election run.

Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz stepped up their personal and policy-based barrage against Trump Sunday, warning that the real estate mogul's nomination would be catastrophic for the Republican Party in November and beyond.

"We're about to lose the conservative movement to someone who's not a conservative and (lose) the party of Lincoln and Reagan to a con artist," Rubio told "Fox News Sunday".

Trump fired back, beginning his “Fox News Sunday” interview with an extended, uninterrupted attack on Rubio, calling him a political “lightweight” and “little,” adding that the first-term senator "couldn't get elected dogcatcher."

Meanwhile, Cruz warned the "Trump train" could become "unstoppable" if he rolls to big victories in this week's Super Tuesday primaries. Cruz cast Trump as a carbon copy of Clinton and suggested that not even Trump "knows what he would do" as president.

“The only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump is mine,” said the Texas senator, arguing that 65 percent of GOP voters don’t support Trump. “The only way to beat Donald Trump is to stand behind our campaign on Super Tuesday."

Cruz later became upset over continued questions by "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace about the integrity of his campaign, following allegations about so-called dirty tricks that resulted in the forced resignation of spokesman Rick Tyler. Cruz accused Wallace of using Trump opposition research to frame questions and ended the interview in silence.

Later Sunday, Rubio mocked Trump's physical characteristics in addition to his policy positions, telling a heavily college-age crowd of around 3,000 at Roanoke College in Salem, Va. that Trump "has these small hands."

"You know what they say about a man with small hands," Rubio said as the crowd laughed. "You can't trust them."

Rubio also mocked Trump for his complexion, as he has before, accusing him of having a bad "spray tan."

"Donald is not going to make America great," said Rubio, again drawing cheers and laughter. "He's going to make America orange!"

In the wake of Trump's endorsement this week by retired Ku Klux Klan Grand wizard David Duke, Cruz suggested on “Fox News Sunday” that a hate group supporting Trump was making recorded calls – known as “robo-calls” -- telling potential voters not to pick a Cuban candidate. Cruz and Rubio are both of Cuban descent. 

In an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union", Trump was repeatedly asked about Duke's support, finally saying, "Just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke, OK? I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. Did he endorse me, or what's going on?”

During a campaign event in northern Virginia, Rubio "refused" to repudiate Duke -- "a well known white supremacist racist" -- despite being asked repeatedly.

"We cannot be a party that nominates someone who refuses to condemn white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan," Rubio said. "Not only is that wrong, it makes him unelectable."

Trump reportedly knew Duke in 2000 and cited him, Pat Buchanan and Lenora Fulani when explaining why he stopped considering a presidential run under the Reform Party.

"The Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep," Trump said, according to The New York Times.

Meanwhile, Democratic frontrunner Clinton, fresh off a convincing victory in Saturday's South Carolina primary, all-but-ignored Bernie Sanders, her rival for the nomination, and turned her attention to the Republican field.