Hillary Clinton Wins Louisiana Democratic Primary

Louisiana's Democratic voters favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in Saturday’s primary.

Baton Rouge, LA - It didn't take long for Hillary Clinton to claim a win in Saturday's Louisiana Democratic presidential primary, with the Associated Press calling the race just 15 minutes after the state's polls closed at 8 p.m. CT.

Polls predicted Clinton would win by a large margin, and Bill Clinton's Louisiana rallies Thursday and Friday may have helped his wife increase that gap.

Bill Clinton energized the crowds with Hillary's plans for affordable education, a reduced prison population and equal pay, according to reports from The Advocate and NOLA.com.

Support from African-American communities also reportedly boosted Hillary Clinton's success in the state and in the south.

Clinton led Louisiana with 71.2 percent to Sanders' 23.1 percent, according to New York Times results, with 99 percent of precincts reporting. She walks away from the Louisiana primary with 35 delegates, leaving Sanders with 10 delegates, according to unofficial results.

Super Saturday: Primary, Caucus Results

Across the country, five states are holding primaries or caucuses in what some are calling "Super Saturday." Voters in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine and Nebraska are holding presidential preference elections.

The first results to come in were from the Kansas caucuses. On the Republican side, election officials say Sen. Ted Cruz has won. The Texas senator is adding that to his previous wins in Iowa, Alaska, Oklahoma, and Texas. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton.

GOP officials say Cruz has also won in Maine. He came to the state on Friday to campaign a day after Trump rallied supporters in Portland.

In Nebraska, election officials say Sanders is projected to grab his second win of the night.

In the Louisiana presidential primary elections, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump got their first wins of the evening.

Trump was later declared the winner in Kentucky's Republican caucuses. Previously, Kentucky held a primary election in May but agreed to have an earlier caucus this year. Democrats will still vote in the regular primary election on May 17th.

It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president and 2,383 to win the Democratic nomination.

Rubio campaigned in his home state Saturday. The Florida senator is under pressure to win the state's March 15th primary. The victor will claim all of the state's 99 delegates. Trump says he will clinch the GOP nomination if he wins Florida's primary.

Louisiana Republican primary tightens up

10:56 p.m. ET Despite a close race in Louisiana's Republican primary, Donald Trump gave a triumphant address on Saturday's results at his Florida Mar-a-Lago club.

"It's been really an amazing night," Trump told supporters. "I've been in competitions all my life and there's nothing so exciting as this stuff."

He thanked the states of Louisiana and Kentucky and dismissed his second-place finish to rival Ted Cruz in both Maine and Kansas. Trump said his campaign barely spent any time in those states, estimating that it was "two hours in one place and two and a half hours in the other."

Of Cruz's win in Maine, Trump added: "He should do well in Maine, because, let's face it: It's very close to Canada."

CBS News continues to see a tight race in Louisiana and Kentucky.

10:39 p.m.With 75 percent of the vote in for Louisiana's Republican primary, the race keeps narrowing.

Now, Donald Trump's lead is down to just four points over Ted Cruz, when he started off the night with a 25-point advantage.

10:20 p.m. ET With 49 percent of the vote in for Louisiana's Republican primary, the already-tight race in the state gets even closer.

Current GOP front-runner Donald Trump now leads Texas Sen. Ted Cruz by just six points, 43 percent to 37 percent.

Following a rally in Boise, Idaho, Cruz spoke with reporters about Saturday's primary results.

Cruz declared his campaign has now "beaten Trump not once, not twice, but seven times," adding that his victories represented wide "geographic diversity."

"What we are seeing is the supporters of the many other good people who ran in this race coming and joining us, because we're the one campaign that has beaten" the GOP front-runner, Cruz said.

10:09 p.m.CBS News sees a tight race in Louisiana.

Earlier in the evening, Donald Trump was 25 points ahead in the Republican primary.

9:30 p.m. On the heels of two losses Saturday, current Republican front-runner Donald Trump is bouncing back in Louisiana.

With slightly more than 20 percent of the vote in, Trump has 44 percent of the vote, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 32 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 15 percent of the vote while Ohio Gov. John Kasich has just 5 percent.

Louisiana will award 46 delegates in the Republican primary race.
Election 2016: Primary results

Three other states vote Saturday in the Republican primary race: Kansas,Kentucky, and Maine. Saturday's states have a total of 155 delegates up for grabs.

Get the Full Saturday Primary Election Results Here

On Saturday, five more states will hold voting conventions between the two political parties as the 2016 election enters the pivotal next stage. Following the Super Tuesday results, it’s clear that the two frontrunners have distanced themselves from the pack; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has racked up the delegate count over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, while Donald Trump has significantly distanced himself from the GOP field as well: Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and Dr. Ben Carson.

Both parties will hold Presidential caucuses in Kansas on Saturday, as well as a primary in the state of Louisiana. The Republican party will be holding state-wide caucuses in Kentucky and Maine, while the Democrats will be caucusing in Nebraska.

The results are:

KANSAS (D): Bernie Sanders

KANSAS (R): Ted Cruz

LOUISIANA (D): Hillary Clinton

LOUISIANA (R): Donald Trump

KENTUCKY (R):

MAINE (R): Ted Cruz

NEBRASKA (D): Bernie Sanders

Marcia Clark Reacts to Knife Reportedly Found at O.J. Simpson’s Former Estate

“We have to find out what this means—what the truth of this is.”
BY
JULIE MILLER

On Friday, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that it was investigating a knife reportedly found at the Brentwood property where O.J. Simpson was living when his ex-wife Nicole Simpson Brown and her friend Ron Goldman were murdered in 1994. The knife was allegedly discovered in 1998 by a construction worker helping to raze Simpson’s mansion, and handed over to a traffic cop who incredibly did not report the weapon to authorities. Hours after the L.A.P.D.’s press conference confirming the existence of the knife, Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor during the murder trial, weighed in on the late-breaking twist and what it could mean over two decades after Simpson was acquitted.

“I think it’s a remarkable development if it does turn out to be connected to the murders of Ron [Goldman] and Nicole [Simpson Brown],” Clark cautiously told Entertainment Tonight. “It would be interesting if there was some evidence on that knife that pointed to who might have helped to bury it, if indeed someone else did.”

As for what Clark thinks of the shock development, the retired prosecutor revealed that she is just as confounded as the rest of America.

“I really don’t know what to think of it,” Clark said. “I can’t believe someone gave a police officer what appears to be, could be, important evidence in a case—even if it is closed—and takes it home. I don’t know what to say about that except I can’t believe it, but it’s apparently what happened.”

Clark was careful to point out, however, that authorities are still unsure of the knife's authenticity.

“It might be a hoax, it might be somebody who planted it and then just pretended to find it and gave it to the off-duty police officer, you don’t know,” Clark explained. “But, of course, I’m glad the L.A.P.D. is taking it seriously and subjecting it to testing so we can find out.”

Even though Clark confirmed that “the likelihood of any prosecution stemming from this is very, very slim” due to double jeopardy, she appeared eager for authorities to get to the bottom of the development.

“We have to find out what this means—what the truth of this is,” Clark said.

During a news conference on Friday reported by the L.A. Times, the L.A.P.D.’s Captain Andy Neimansaid that authorities only learned of the knife's existence last month, 18 years after it was reportedly given to a traffic cop who was working on a movie set at the time.

Attorney Carl Douglas, who was a part of Simpson’s defense team, called the story “ridiculous” on Friday, adding, “It's amazing how the world cannot move on from this case! And it, and the media, is apparently still fascinated by everything O.J. Simpson.”

Similar detractors include Mike Weber, the owner of the construction company that demolished Simpson’s home. When the L.A. Times tracked him down on Friday, the 70-year-old said, “I think it’s a joke. No one on my crew found anything. . .I give this story no credibility.”

Late Friday afternoon, NBC News reported that “the utility-style knife” that was discovered was “inconsistent with the 1994 murders of the former football star's wife and her friend,” according to multiple law enforcement sources who spoke to the outlet.

Coincidentally, the Simpson murder trial is currently playing out on FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

Meanwhile, Simpson is presently serving a prison sentence in Nevada for kidnapping, robbery, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and other charges for trying to reclaim sports memorabilia in a hotel-casino that he said belonged to him.
THE DEFENSE
Johnnie Cochran

THEN: Johnnie Cochran was the Dream Team’s ultimate showman, a razor-sharp defense attorney decked out in Technicolor suits. His most triumphant moment came during closing arguments, when Cochran delivered the now immortal line: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

NOW: Cochran’s star power continued to grow after the trial. He scored numerous TV appearances and even had his own show, Cochran & Grace, co-hosted by everyone’s favorite lawyer turned talking head, Nancy Grace. Cochran died in 2005 from an inoperable brain tumor. His funeral was attended by family, friends, and former clients, including O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, and Sean Combs.

Melissa Harris-Perry rejects MSNBC deal in scathing farewell

Melissa Harris-Perry has chosen the freedom to speak over an exit package.

On Tuesday, the outgoing MSNBC host said that her exit negotiations with the network fell through after she refused to accept the terms of a non-disparagement clause that she described as "a gag order."


"They wanted me to sign a non-disparagement clause, and we had a deep disagreement over what constituted the non-disparagement clause," Harris-Perry told CNNMoney on Tuesday. "They wanted me not to speak about MSNBC. I said no."

James Perry, Harris-Perry's husband and the one who led the negotiations with MSNBC, said that MSNBC's non-disparagement clause would have restricted his wife to speaking about MSNBC only when it was "positive or in her academic work."

"I'll never get another penny from MSNBC," Harris-Perry said.

The channel announced on Sunday that it was "parting ways" with Harris-Perry. That came two days after she published an email to friends saying that she had been "silenced" because the network had pre-empted her show for two consecutive weekends.

Yvette Miley, the senior vice president of talent and diversity, told CNN that Harris-Perry's show, like others on MSNBC, was only pre-empted in order to focus on the contentious 2016 presidential primary contest and said there were no plans to cancel it or strip Harris-Perry of editorial control.

"MSNBC is the place for politics, and as we're covering 2016 part of that coverage meant that we were going to look for opportunities during the course of 2016 to really focus on the race for the White House," Miley said. "There were pre-emptions that impacted shows across the network."

James Perry confirmed that MSNBC had never expressed any intention to cancel her show prior to her decision to publicize her email. But he also said that the network's treatment of his wife was "consistent with the way they had 'disappeare"Over the past year, a lot of employees have been disappeared from MSNBC, and what we've observed is there is a clear process for how they've been disappeared: You get taken out of the system and your name as a host is taken out of it as well. And then when you communicate and ask them about it, you don't get any response," Perry said. He declined to provide specific examples.

Both Harris-Perry and James Perry said that she had continuously asked MSNBC's leadership for clarity on her role with the network and received no response.

"Starting around Thanksgiving, I began asking, 'Does anybody know if the show is going to be on air in 2016?" Harris-Perry said.

Holding back tears, Harris-Perry said that she worked hard to support her family, her kids and her mother.

"I support everyone in my family, and I asked, 'do I have a job?' and they wouldn't answer me."

Whatever the case, Harris-Perry's decision to forego an exit agreement has freed her up to speak bluntly about MSNBC and her belief that the decision to cancel her show "has strong racial implications" because it silenced a show that promoted diverse perspectives.

"They wanted us to cover politics in the narrowest sense," Harris-Perry said. "I told my team, we can't allow our own show to go off air and then provide racial cover by having me continue to host the show so people see the little black girl up there.Harris-Perry took to Twitter on Tuesday night to apologize to other former MSNBC hosts of color whose shows were canceled in recent years, including Martin Bashir, Toure and Karen Finney.

"A few apologies: @MartinBashir @Toure @finneyk I am sorry for and ashamed of my earlier silence. I gave into to culture of fear at #MSNBC."

Harris-Perry stopped short of accusing NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack and MSNBC President Phil Griffin of being racially motivated in their decision-making.

"I wouldn't know what Andy Lack is thinking, because I've never met him," she said. "I've literally never had any exchange with him of any kind."

Nevertheless, Harris-Perry's criticism of the network have raised questions about the network's handling of minorities. In addition to Harris-Perry, Bashir, Toure and Finney, several other hosts of color -- including Al Sharpton and Joy Reid -- have seen their shows canceled or moved to weekends. To be sure, several white hosts such as Ronan Farrow, Ed Schultz, Abby Huntsman and Krystal Ball have also seen their shows canceled and left the network.

On Monday, CNNMoney reported that Alex Wagner, who is Asian-American, would not be getting the weekend show she had been promised last year. José Díaz-Balart, who anchors a weekday morning show, has also seen his show pre-empted for 2016 coverage.

John Kasich: Strong Super Tuesday not in my "game plan"

Ohio Gov. John Kasich set low expectations for his campaign on Super Tuesday, saying a big victory on the biggest voting day of the primaries is not a big part of his "game plan."
Super Tuesday live results

The candidate told reporters after a campaign event in Arlington, Va., that "Super Tuesday was never anything critical in our game plan." He reiterated that his campaign has always hinged on states "up north": especially Michigan, which holds its primary on March 8, and his home state of Ohio on March 15.

That echoes what he said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, where Kasich again worked to make it clear that he is not expecting a good night tonight.

Super Tuesday was "never anything that we ever thought was going to be some great thing for us," he said. "...These are things we have been planning for a long time. You know, you plan your campaign and then you carry out your plan. And that's exactly what we're doing."

He reiterated his stance that winning Ohio will give him a much-needed boost of national attention and momentum--and that if he doesn't win his home state, he'll leave the race.

"Look, I am going to win Ohio. And then as soon as I win Ohio, everybody of course in this 24/7 news cycle will turn around and say, 'Oh, let's talk about John Kasich,'" he said on Fox Business. "You know, so, we have a campaign plan and we are--we are carrying out that campaign plan."

Kasich is spending Super Tuesday's election night in Jackson, Miss., and has another Mississippi rally Tuesday afternoon.

Former House Speaker and 2012 GOP candidate Newt Gingrich attended Kasich's Arlington rally with his wife, Callista, but did not endorse Kasich at the event.

Jacqueline Alemany contributed to this article.