Cruz says he's the one to beat Trump

Ted Cruz, who won Oklahoma and his home state of Texas, is calling for some of his Republican rivals to drop out.

Though he did not mention Marco Rubio or John Kasich by name, he made it clear that he felt they should drop out so Republicans could consolidate around him as a viable alternative to Trump.

He asked them "prayerfully consider" the future of their campaigns.

He declared that as long as the Republican field remained divided, Donald Trump would have a path to nomination, which he declared "a total disaster" for his party.

He noted repeatedly that he is only other candidate to win a state: he also captured Iowa last month.

Trump has won Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Arkansas on Super Tuesday.

-- Associated Press

Graham says party should rally behind Cruz

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says the only way to stop Donald Trump from becoming the GOP nominee and winning the general election may be to rally behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

"Ted Cruz is not by favorite by any means," Graham, a former candidate, told CBS News on Super Tuesday, when a dozen states held contests to choose party nominees. "But we may be in a position where rallying around Ted Cruz is the only way to stop Donald Trump and I'm not so sure that would work."

Graham called both Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton "crazy" and said the Republican party is bound to lose to Clinton if an alternative to Trump is not found.

He joked that his comments should be taken with a grain of salt since his own presidential campaign did not get off the ground.

-- Associated Press

Rubio, Sanders capture Minnesota wins on Super Tuesday

Marco Rubio captured his first win in the march to the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday while Bernie Sanders snagged a critical victory in the North Star State's Democratic caucuses.

Rubio and Sanders cashed in on a late string of visits to a state that's normally been an afterthought in the race to the nominating conventions. But both candidates still face huge climbs to capture their parties' nod as Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and GOP leader Donald Trump padded wide delegate leads.

Results trickled in slowly amid reports of heavy turnout that swamped caucus site volunteers. Texas Republican Ted Cruz was poised for a second place finish based on early returns. Minnesota's proportional allocation of votes means no candidate will capture all the delegates.

The new interest in Minnesota's caucuses, combined with the appeal of outsider candidates, translated into banner turnout for both parties. Thousands of voters wound around staircases and hallways inside a Minneapolis recreation center to cast ballots for the Democratic caucus, quickly drying up the site's supply of printed ballots and forcing officials to use scraps of notebook paper for votes.

Several voters weighed a sense that Sanders best matched their values against a belief that Clinton might give Democrats the strongest chance to maintaining the White House.

While she said the former secretary of state may be a safer bet to win in November, Amy Shaunette sided with Sanders due to his vow to tackle income inequality and his appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, among other factors.

"It's all a mess," she said. "We might as well have someone that I really believe in at the center of the mess."

Sanders spent more time in Minnesota than any other candidate, rallying in the state's most liberal pockets in recent days while Clinton largely relied on surrogates until last-minute trips to a Minneapolis coffee shop and marketplace.

Rubio was the lone GOP candidate to drop into Minnesota as his rivals focused elsewhere, hosting a caucus-day rally in a Minneapolis suburb after a visit last week.

Just northwest of Minneapolis, hundreds of voters filled a middle school auditorium for a GOP caucus, and the overflow was directed to individual rooms that also quickly filled. Countless pictures of caucus sites elsewhere posted to social media showed strong crowds.

Steven Trobiani headed inside with his mind made up for Rubio.

"Marco Rubio appears to be a candidate who has taken up the mantle of representation of the middle class, and I think we desperately need that," the 65-year-old neurologist said.

But Trobiani noted Trump's wide lead in the GOP race. Asked if he'd back the New York businessman as the party's nominee, he answered: "Unfortunately, yes."

At his packed caucus-day rally in the Minneapolis suburb of Andover, Rubio urged angry voters not to support an outspoken celebrity in GOP rival Donald Trump.

"How did that work out for Jesse Ventura?" the Florida senator said, referencing the former professional wrestler turned Minnesota governor. "Jesse Ventura was an embarrassment."

Seventy-seven Democratic delegates were up for grabs in Minnesota on Tuesday; 38 on the Republican side. Both parties allocate delegates proportionally, meaning even losing candidates could pick up some delegates.

Democrats also have 16 so-called "superdelegates" — party bigwigs and elected officials — who can cast their votes at the national convention without regard to Tuesday's results. Most had already pledged their support to Clinton ahead of Tuesday's vote.

-- Associated Press