Clinton In South Carolina; Sanders Stumps In Ohio; South Carolina Primary
TAPPER: Welcome back. We're on the campus of the University of Houston, getting ready for tonight's Republican debate. But let's turn to the Democrats for a second. With only two days until the South Carolina primary, Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are going with very different strategies. Despite a large lead, Clinton is hitting South Carolina hard. She's crisscrossing through the palmetto state today, making four campaign stops. Absent from the palmetto state today is rival Bernie Sanders. He's in Ohio right now, with planned stops in Michigan and Illinois. Sanders' schedule is raising questions on whether or not he's written off South Carolina. Let's discuss it. I'm joined by senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns. He's in Columbia, South Carolina, and CNN correspondent Chris Frates, who is in Berea, Ohio. Joe, Hillary Clinton getting some help from her husband on the trail today.</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Getting a lot of help from her husband, Bill Clinton. And, yes, all here in the palmetto state. They are crisscrossing this state today, going to several different cities. And, look, the strategy certainly right now is to run up the vote in South Carolina in hopes of demonstrating what the Hillary Clinton campaign can do when the broader demographics of the Democratic Party are at play, opposed to what we saw in Iowa and New Hampshire earlier this year. Hillary Clinton right here in Columbia, South Carolina, earlier today, articulating some of the core themes of her campaign as we approach final arguments. Listen.</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So we've got work to do to help more people, to be able to knock down those barriers that stand in their way, to an education, to health care, to economic opportunity. And that includes taking on systemic racism, which is still a problem in America. It includes reforming the criminal justice system. It includes providing alternatives to jail and prison.</s>JOHNS: So, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, all over the palmetto state. They will be joined by Chelsea Clinton tomorrow, campaigning in advance of the primary for Saturday. But I also have to say, Jake, there's going to be a very quick pivot on Saturday. Hillary Clinton headed out to Alabama and then on Sunday on to Arkansas. So once the primary gets started, the voting gets started, they're going to move very quickly to the Super Tuesday states.</s>TAPPER: And, Chris, in Ohio, with the Sanders' campaign, just a simple question, is the Sanders' campaign writing off South Carolina?</s>CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, Jake, when you talk to the Sanders campaign, they definitely say that they are not writing off South Carolina. They point to the fact that he's been campaigning there for months and he's going to go back on Friday. But when you look at all the time and money that they have spent in South Carolina, they still haven't really been able to eat into Secretary Clinton's lead. And that's largely because she has such a strong well of support among the African-American community. And that kind of brings us to why Bernie Sanders is in Ohio today, because he's looking at the map across the country and making sure he can stay competitive throughout the primaries that are coming up. And you really heard him start to talk about African-American issues in a way that you didn't hear him in New Hampshire. He talked about how he's been listening to African-Americans talk about why unarmed blacks are being shot by police. He made the point that young African- Americans are -- have a higher unemployment rate and that African- American women have a higher wage gap than whites. In fact, let's take a listen to how he talked about criminal justice reform just a few moments ago, Jake.</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have talked to people in the African-American community, people with PhDs, who say, you know, if I'm driving across the country, I get kind of nervous. I get kind of nervous. And the reason for that is that African-Americans are stopped a lot more for traffic issues than are whites. We have got to take on this issue of institutional racism and a broken criminal justice system.</s>FRATES: So there you have Bernie Sanders talking about institutional racism, a broken criminal justice system. And that's largely because even when he leaves South Carolina on Saturday, he needs to build support with African-Americans going through into Super Tuesday and beyond. And that's part of what you're hearing in that stump speech and I would expect, Jake, to continue to hear it moving forward into March.</s>TAPPER: All right, Joe and Chris, thanks so much. Coming up, the battle over the next Supreme Court justice. Senate Republicans have promised no hearings, no vote. They won't even meet with the potential nominee. President Obama says he's going to go ahead with the process and send them one. We'll get Democratic Senator Al Franken to weigh in on the fight. He'll join me live, next.