kristen welker in the spin room. >> thank you. i think this is the last question. >> we have kristen welker, she couldn't quite hear me before. if you can hear me now, go ahead. >> i'm here with communications director for the clinton campaign. so, jen, your initial reaction to tonight's debate, very fiery. >> very fiery. also very substantive. i think it was probably the most substantive exchange that we've had. also, there were a little bit of fireworks. i think that it was useful. we think -- >> ari, i can hear you. i'm here with jen palmeri. can you hear me back in the studio? >> yes, we're on a delay, but go ahead. >> can you hear what we're saying here? >> yes. >> here with communications director jen. what was your general reaction? fiery debate? >> it was fiery but substantive. we think that that's really use follow for voters to see, particularly at this point of the process. we think that what is revealed in those exchanges is the core difference between the two of them. hillary clinton is a progressive who likes to get

we get more on all of that from nbc's kristen welker. >> reporter: donald trump the arrest of violent protesters at his rally. now saying democrats are orchestrating them. laying blame directly at senator bernie sanders. had bernie sanders signs all over the place. they were made by bernie sanders people. >> reporter: sanders dismissing trump's claim. >> we have never the truth is, this guy really is a path logical ter: trump threatening retaliation, tweeting bernie sanders is lying when he says his disrupters aren't told to go be careful, bernie, or my supporters will go to yours. while some denied getting violent. it's the other way around. ting death threats since the trump rally. it came with the territory. these are the type of people that i support -- that are supporting donald >> reporter: this comes as the democrats are locked in a tight our latest poll shows clinton with commanding double digitin florida and ohio, but topping him only by six points in his home state. she accused sanders of being absent during the health care >> i don't know where he was when i was trying to g

kristen welker, nbc news, seattle. >>> still ahead tonight, inside the tunnel as passengers flee for safety and the terrifying moments bombing what does fresh epcot mean? maybe it's sampling seasonal dishes... ...enjoying hand-picked music or seeing locally grown topiaries. whatever you pick here, the epcot international flower and garden festival... ...is certified fresh epcot. experience a year of fun and all four theme parks with a florida resident annual >>> we are hearing incredible stories of survival in the wake of the terrorist attacks in brussels. evan lamios, a new jersey native was on the metro train behind the one that was hit by a bomb blast this morning. what followed was a frantic evacuation of passengers through the smokey tunnel, and evan caught it all on camera. here he is in his own words. >> this morning i was on my way to work. i went via metro. i was reading on my phone about some explosions at the airport, so immediately i knew there was something going on in the country, and then suddenly there was kind of a blast of air, and my ears popped. we heard some loud

that's where kristen welker starts our coverage tonight. kristen? >> reporter: lester, good evening. we're learning tonight that senator bernie sanders has won the maine caucus, giving him extra momentum. but secretary clinton is still firmly in the lead. all of this the backdrop of the democratic debate. bernie sanders and hillary clinton facing off in flint tonight after sanders clinched key victories saturday in kansas and nebraska. >> we will win in november if we have a large voter turnout. >> reporter: the wins giving sanders new momentum. but clinton still has the math. >> i've gotten more votes than anybody running on either side. i've gotten more votes than donald trump. >> reporter: today's nbc news/"wall street journal" mayors poll shows clinton with a commanding 17-point lead in michigan, but both campaigns privately say the race is likely closer as sanders makes it clear he's not giving up. >> we are going to stay in this campaign until the convention in july. >> i introduce our next president -- >> reporter: clinton not taking anything

nbc's kristen welker is with the clinton campaign in virginia. kristen kristen, what can you tell us. >> reporter: lester, good evening. clinton campaign officials say they feel confident heeding into super tuesday after that big win in south carolina, fueled largely by african-american support. clinton hoping to build on that senator sanders vowing not to give up, but he does have a steep climb, particularly if you look at the numbers, lester. the official nbc news delegate count shows clinton with 519 delegates and sanders with 86. if you only take into account super delegates, typically party leaders who get to choose who they will support, clinton gets 428 to sanders 21, a 20-field advantage. clinton is up with ads in all of the super tuesday states and sanders with ads in five of them, smaller, less diverse states like colorado and massachusetts. still, sanders has a lot of cash on hand which means no matter that could allow him to stay in this race indefinitely. lester? >> kristen welker tonight, thank you. >>> for many of you the stations

that's where kristen welker starts our coverage tonight. cristen? >> reporter: lester, good evening. it's battleground michigan. the focus is on flint tonight. both candidates will need to get specific about how they'll deal with the water crisis here and a whole host of other topics from trade to the economy. bernie sanders and hillary clinton facing off tonight as sanders clinched key victories in kansas and nebraska. >> we will win in november if we have a large voter turnout. >> reporter: the wibz giving sanders new momentum. but clinton still has the math. >> i've gotten more votes than anybody running on either side. i've gotten more votes than donald trump. >> reporter: today's nbc news/"wall street journal" mayors poll shows clinton with a commanding 17-point privately say the race is likely closer. as sanders makes it clear he's not giving up. >> we've all got to stay in this campaign to the convention in july. >> i introduce our next president -- >> reporter: clinton not taking anything for granted. today courting critical black voters her

and that is so important in this race. >> all right, kristen welker, always good to see you. and casey hunt on the sanders' campaign, if you talk to the people and look at the map they came out ahead. points on the board, getting towards the delegate threshold. and obviously from a momentum perspective the sanders win was huge. and also from a money perspective that probably helped them quite a bit in their direct small fundraising. what was their thinking going into tonight? >> reporter: i think that is the right analysis, chris. it looks like they have energized their fundraising. although we're waiting ining t what the totals will be. i think both sides knew how close michigan would be. they knew it was going to be tight, unlike what many of the polls showed. they were a bit surprised. so was sanders himself. we were at the hotel where his staff was celebrating last night, obviously, down at the bar cheering, drinking. this was a campaign that went from being in the mild day of a slog that was kind of a difficult thing, every day put one foot in front of the other to being

>> kristen welker, thank you very much. for more on bernie sanders and his prospects after this kansas win, we turn to kasie hunt, also in michigan tonight with the sanders campaign. >> reporter: jose, good evening. the sanders campaign feeling very confident about these caucus states, not just kansas, which it now looks like they've won, but nebraska and the contest tomorrow in maine. but the question here is going to be whether or not he can take this and convert it to wins in big states, particularly here in michigan, which is coming up on tuesday, and which is becoming a very closely fought contest. the sanders campaign feeling like they're closing the gap here at the end. and they also feel like they have a track record of closing well. so in places where sanders has been able to spend a lot of time, get in there, get a chance to speak to voters, these thousands of people who come out to his rallies, that he's able to make a real difference. so a question there. and then of course it moves farther down the calendar to

kristen welker, nbc news, seattle. >>> still ahead tonight, inside the tunnel as passengers flee for safety and the terrifying moments after today's train >>> we are hearing incredible stories of survival in the wake of the terrorist attacks in brussels. evan lamios, a new jersey native was on the metro train behind the one that was hit by a bomb blast this morning. what followed was a frantic evacuation of passengers through the smokey tunnel, and evan caught it all on camera. here he is in his own words. >> this morning i was on my way to work. i went via metro. i was reading on my phone about some explosions at the airport, so immediately i knew there was something going on in the country, and then suddenly there was kind of a blast of air, and my ears popped. we heard some loud thuds that seemed to be in the distance, and -- and the metro stopped, and -- and there was an announcement that came over the speakers saying that there had been a disturbance on the metro line, and at that time people were a little bit nervous on the metro. people were starting to talk about the fact tha

nbc's kristen welker is with the clinton campaign in virginia. kristen, what can you tell us? >> reporter: lester, good evening. clinton campaign officials say they feel confident heading into super tuesday after that big win in south carolina fueled largely by african-american support. clinton hoping to build on that tomorrow. senator sanders vowing not to give up, but he does have a steep climb, particularly if you look at the numbers. lester, the official nbc news delegate count shows clinton with 519 delegates and sanders with 86. if you only take into account super delegates, those are typically party leaders who get to choose who they'll support, clinton gets 428 to sanders' 21. that's a 20-fold advantage. clinton is up with ads in all 11 super tuesday states. sanders has ads in only five of them, including colorado, massachusetts, and states. still, sanders has a lot of cash on hand, which means no matter what happens tomorrow, that could allow him to stay in this race indefinitely. lester. >> kristen welker, thank you. >>> nbc news will have extensive coverage of super

kasie hunt and kristen welker are there. let's start with the sanders campaign. momentum really is at stake as we look at what's happening today. let's bring in kasie hunt who's been covering the sanders campaign. she is in flint, michigan. tell us a little bit about what bernie sanders is doing today and what he's been doing to make up for his deficit in delegates. >> reporter: hey, chris. bernie sanders is in the middle of a community conversation in cleveland, ohio, after holding a press conference earlier today strictly on the subject of social security, not wanting to take any questions outside of that particular subject matter, which is something he's been doing a lot of lately. but the struggle that he has is momentum. his advisers feel that he has a better shot at many of these upcoming states today, caucus states like kansas. he held a rally in kansas city a few weeks ago with thousands of people in attendance. obviously those trademark big events. in particular looking ahead past today to michigan which votes on tuesday, he's going to hold a rally in mi

. >> joining me from the spin room in miami is kristen welker following the clinton campaign. i'm curious, after last night's surprise in michigan which from a narrative perspective upended things but from a delegate perspective did not. for hillary clinton in terms of awarded delegates, what was the thought going into the camp? >> they have been trying to downplay the loss, of course, no surprise there, but they keep going back to the delegates and one clinton official today said secretary clinton is close to putting this race out of reach. that is significant because they've sort of been looking down the road for that. they've been saying that's not going to happen until march 15th or maybe later and reviving it and saying she does have a significant delegate lead. sanders talked about it tonight, pick up more states and convince some of those superdelegates to come to her side. we saw secretary clinton try to play down the loss in michigan and got asked about it right off of the bat and she sort of suggested, look, it's not that big of a deal. i won more votes, more delegat

kristen welker, we have new nbc news wall street journal poll number toss break out at this hour. it shows a considerable lead over bernie sanders nationally. we are still looking at a 53-44% lead. her lead continues to be very large among older voters, among african-americans, among older women. his strength is with independents and with younger voters as well as younger women in particular. kristin? >> that's right, andrea. those younger voters are going to be the ones to watch today in michigan. the polling showing secretary clinton with a double-digit lead. if you talk to both campaigns, they think this is much closer. the sanders campaigns think they have a real shot to energize and rally those voters. they have been trying to energize african-americans to get out and vote for senator sanders. part of the debate has centered around trade, the economy, senator sanders hitting hillary clinton for supporting nafta, incredibly unpopular in michigan. her response has been to slam him over the fact that he opposed the auto bailout. he said that is not entirely true. he supported a

nbc's kristen welker is in detroit, michigan. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: craig, good morning to you. senator sanders is hoping to gain some momentum today. his aides tell me the states that vote today and in the coming weeks are actually more favorable to him. meanwhile, the clinton campaign downplaying expectations. team sanders says they think they have a good shot at winning kansas. they think that nebraska could be a close race. both states have more of the white, working-class voters that tend to favor sanders. louisiana and that could be part of her southern firewall with a large african-american population. meanwhile, clinton pressed again on her e-mails after her former staffer, bryan pagliano, struck an immunity deal with the fbi and told investigators her server was never hacked. here's clinton in an exclusive interview with cnbc's john harwood. >> this is the same security review that has been going on since last spring. i'm happy that everybody now has been cooperating and giving information, because i

nbc's kristen welker's in kristen, good morning to you. to you. that's right, senator sanders looking for a comeback today. his aides tell me the states that vote today and in the coming weeks are actually more favorable to him. meanwhile, the clinton campaign downplaying expectations a bit. team sanders says he is looking strong in kansas. they also think nebraska could be a close race. that is an area, both states with a number of white, working-class voters who tend to favor senator sanders. clinton looks strong in louisiana, though. again, that could be part of her southern firewall with a large african-american population. meanwhile, clinton getting pressed again on her e-mails after her former staffer, bryan pagliano, struck an immunity deal with the fbi and told investigators her server was never hacked. here's what clinton told our cnbc's john harwood in an exclusive interview. take a listen. >> would you concede that you and the people who worked for you at the state department were sloppy in the way you handled -- >> no. >> no, because l

>> all right, kristen welker in madison, wisconsin. thanks for that. >>> and up next, governor john kasich is digging in. he insists he has no plans to drop out of the republican race. that he is ready to go the distance, all the way to the republican convention in cleveland this summer. i'm going to talk with the kasich supporter, congressman charlie dent of pennsylvania. that's one of the next big states the kasich campaign is focused on. we'll talk to him, next. at mfs investment management, we believe in the power of active management. we actively manage with expertise and conviction. so you can invest with more certainty. mfs. that's the power of active management. we'll be with you shortly.. yeah right... xerox predictive analytics help companies provide a better and faster customer experience. hello mr. kent. can i rebook your flight? i'm here! customer care can work better. with xerox. wait i'm here! mr. kent? (gasp) shark diving! xerox personalized employee portals help companies make benefits simple and accessible... from any

nbc's kristen welker is in cleveland this morning with more on all of that. good morning. >> reporter: erica, good morning to you. secretary clinton and senator sanders will be campaigning here in critical ohio today. but on saturday, those violent protests loomed large. the rivalry between hillary clinton and bernie sanders is escalating, but both were temporarily unified blaming donald trump's rhetoric for stoking violent protests at his rally in chicago on friday. >> violence at rallies is not what america is about. >> reporter: trump then accused porters of starting the demonstration. >> they were taunted. they were harassed by these other people, these other people, by the way, some represented communist friend. >> reporter: sanders fired back in an interview with reverend al sharpton today. >> we have never, ever once called anything like that. the truth is, this guy really is a pathological liar. >> reporter: this comes as the democratic race is heating up. sanders increasingly states like ohio, illinois, missouri, after his surprise win in michigan. h

kristen welker is in miami. >> reporter: last night was a game-changer. secretary clinton is waking up this morning as a strong democratic front-runner after that defeat in michiga last week, she proved last night she can compete in every corner of the country. that dealt a major blow to bernie sanders. his path to the nomination got tougher. the clinton campaign was expecting to win florida, expectingto win north carolina. she did that and did that convincingly. ohio looked a lot more competitive and she pull a off double-digit win there. the fact she was able to win missouri illinois, it does two things. it gives her a lot of momentum and it gives the optics again that she is going to be tough to beat. the more imporornt thing for the clinton campaign is the math. it's going to be very difficict for senator sanders to catch up to her. secretary clinton has virtually put this race out of reach. still senator sanders vowing to last night he talked ability the push to arizona. secretary clinton releasing her own ad this morning in spanish in arizona. that'

nbc's kristen welker is in flint, michigan where the later tonight. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. senator sanders was looking for new momentum on saturday. and he got it with wins in thoses states. but as you point out, secretary clinton did net more delegates than she was already far ahead in the delegate count, mak much the one to beat. >> senator bernie sanders. >> reporter: riding high off victories in nebraska and nie sanders at a democratic dinner detroit saturday. >> we will win in november. if we have a large voter rnout. >> reporter: secretary clinton reason to celebrate, earning a victory in delegate rich >> i am thrilled we're adding to our pledge delegate count. >> reporter: punctuating her delegate lead, each candidate what's ahead. >> i'm grateful to everyone who turned out to support us. but now all eyes turn to >> reporter: and with michigan voting tuesday, clinton isn't taking anything for granted. her top surrogates former president bill clinton and daughter chelsea will campaign sanders aides say a win in michigan

nbc's kristen welker

kristen welker up in ohio. kristen, thanks so much. donald trump, with a commanding lead here in florida, in our new poll out today. can any of his challengers turn the tide in these final two days before tuesday's primary? as we go to break, "saturday night live" poking fun at the recent protests at donald trump rallies and ben carson's endorsement of donald trump. >> breaking news right now, we're getting word now of yet another incident of violence at a donald trump rally. apparently the victim was this man, dr. ben carson. who was atacked moments ago by an angry mob that mistook him for a protester. we go there now. >> it's okay. i'm fine. guys, what did i say? not this one! vo: know you have a dedicated advisor and team who understand where you come from. we didn't really have anything, you know. but, we made do. vo: know you can craft an investment plan as strong as your values. al, how you doing. hey, mr. hamilton. vo: know that together you can establish a meaningful legacy. with the guidance and support of your dedicated pnc w

>> kristen welker for us this morning. thank you. >> chuck todd is nbc's political director and moderator of "meet the press." good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, craig. >> i watched the rally from beginning to end yesterday and i have to be honest with you. it feels like a certain darkness has befallen the trump campaign, chaos spilling into the streets, protests, pepper spray. is there a chance that these images, that these scenes we're seeing play out over the past few days, that they're helping to rally his supporters? >> short term gain, long term pain, craig, i think, for the party. it is possible it helps him. i think we've seen this before. when controversy befalls trump, it stiffens the spine of his supporters. they dig in. sort of the more trump gets attacked. look, i think that's why trump has hesitated, perhaps, to sit here and somehow take responsibility, blame his own supporters. he doesn't want to do that. i think he doesn't believe they deserve the blame. so -- but it does feel like we've entered a n