The Latest: Romney to campaign with Kasich

By The Associated Press

Published Sunday, March 13, 2016 | 11:53 a.m.

Updated Sunday, March 13, 2016 | 6:52 p.m.

The Latest on the 2016 presidential race two days before contests in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and Illinois (all times Eastern Daylight Time):

9:30 p.m.

Mitt Romney will campaign with Ohio Gov. John Kasich at two events on Monday.

Kasich's campaign says the former Republican presidential nominee will join Kasich at stops in North Canton and Westerville, Ohio.

Romney is not endorsing a candidate but has encouraged voters to choose Kasich in Ohio and Marco Rubio in Florida in an effort to stop Donald Trump.

8:55 p.m.

Ted Cruz has fighting words for his supporters in Ohio, despite trailing in recent polls.

He told about 300 people at a Columbus theater, "I'm thrilled to be here with so many patriots fighting for freedom."

The Texas senator is polling behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich and billionaire Donald Trump. Ohio's 66 delegates are the second-biggest prize among Tuesday's winner-take-all states, behind Florida.

But Cruz is second in the delegate count to Trump.

He says he will "fight to nominate principled constitutionalists" to the U.S. Supreme Court, and he asked the crowd to "stand and fight" with him.

8:45 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump is encouraging violence and chaos to win over voters.

"At our best, Americans have rejected demagogues and fear-mongers," Clinton says.

Trump wants to round up and deport Hispanic immigrants, ban Muslims from the United States and also kill the families of suspected terrorists, which Clinton says is a war crime.

She adds that he also encourages his supporters to punch protesters that attend his campaign events.

"We can criticize and protest Mr. Trump all we want, but none of that matters if we don't show up at the polls," she says. "If you want to shut him down, let's vote him down."

Clinton and her rival Bernie Sanders are speaking at a fundraiser for the Ohio Democratic party.

8:40 p.m.

GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio says he must win his home state of Florida in Tuesday's primary to keep the conservative movement from getting "hijacked" by front-runner Donald Trump.

Rubio spoke briefly Sunday night at his Orlando campaign office. It was crowded with staffers, volunteers and supporters.

Using a bullhorn, Rubio said, "We must send a message to the country that we are not going to allow the conservative movement and the Republican Party to get hijacked by someone who is neither a Republican nor a conservative."

He invoked the memory of the late President Ronald Regan, saying he acknowledged the country's fears and frustration in 1980 but "didn't exploit them."

Rubio is trailing Trump in Florida polling.

8:35 p.m.

Bernie Sanders is calling on Donald Trump to "tell his supporters that violence in the political process in America is not acceptable."

During a televised town hall Sunday on CNN, the Vermont senator was asked about the Republican front-runner's statements that the Sanders campaign sent protesters to disrupted Trump's rally in Chicago.

Sanders called Trump a "pathological liar" and said his campaign has never encouraged "anybody to disrupt anything." He added he hopes "Mr. Trump tones it down big-time and tells his supporters violence is not acceptable in the political process."

8:10 p.m.

Ohio Democrats are getting to compare the party's top presidential contenders up close ahead of Tuesday's primary.

About 3,200 people are gathered for the party's annual dinner at the Columbus convention center to hear from Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

Clinton has been campaigning hard in the state, after losing the Michigan primary to Sanders among a similar electorate. Sanders added rallies in Youngstown and Akron on Monday.

High-profile guests at the dinner include the Rev. Jesse Jackson and talk show host Jerry Springer, whose early career included a political stint in Cincinnati.

Party chair David Pepper said at the dinner they have engaged in a civil, policy-focused debate, in contrast to the Republicans' contentious contest.

7 p.m.

John Kasich says he asked his aides to give him a list of Donald Trump's quotes promoting violence at rallies after clashes between protesters and supporters led to the cancellation of a Trump rally on Friday night.

The Ohio GOP governor has largely declined to criticize Trump until now.

Speaking with The Associated Press aboard his campaign bus between stops in Ohio, Kasich pulled out his iPad and read off a list of Trump quotes compiled by his press secretary.

The quotes included Trump's comments that his audiences should "hit back" a little more and a statement that he'd like to punch a protester in the face.

Kasich says the "toxic" tone Trump has created makes it even more important for him to win Tuesday's primary in Ohio, adding, "this is not what Ohio goes for."

6:05 p.m.

Minutes after Marco Rubio began speaking at a Central Florida rally, a man rose to accuse Rubio of stealing his girlfriend.

The man repeatedly claimed that Rubio "stole" his girlfriend in New Hampshire, and the crowd seemed stunned.

Rubio laughed off the bizarre claim, noting that he didn't fare well in the New Hampshire primary.

Police escorted the man out of the rally without incident. He was not identified.

6 p.m.

Sen. Ted Cruz says if each of his supporters can find nine friends to vote for him in North Carolina's presidential primary on Tuesday, he can overcome Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

Cruz told journalists after a rally in North Carolina that voters will be upset if the GOP nominee is the result of a brokered deal at the convention. The Texas senator says he thinks it will be a two-man race after Tuesday.

Cruz spoke to about 2,000 people at the zMax Dragway adjacent to Charlotte Motor Speedway in an event sponsored by a political action committee.

He hit on familiar themes such as abolishing the Affordable Care Act and dismantling the Internal Revenue Service.

Cruz was introduced by former Republican presidential contender Carly Fiorina.

5:35 p.m.

Republican Marco Rubio says America is turning into "a nation where people hate each other," a reference to violence at GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump's rallies.

Rubio, speaking in Florida, says conservatism is not about "how angry can you get, how offensive can you be, how loud can you speak."

The Florida senator says televised images of violence at Trump campaign rallies "make us look like a third-world country."

He says the protesters and Trump alike share blame. "You have a leading contender for president telling people in his audience, 'Go ahead and punch someone in the face; I'll pay your legal bills.'"

"That's wrong if our kids did it; that is disastrous if a president does it," Rubio said.

5:15 p.m.

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump blames Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders for increasingly frequent disruptions at the GOP hopeful's massive campaign rallies, and he says he has the answer: Send his supporters to Sanders' rallies.

Sanders on Sunday offered a reply: Bring 'em on.

Trump took to Twitter on Sunday, writing that the Vermont senator is "lying when he says his disruptors aren't told to go to my rallies. Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!"

The answer followed from Sanders' official Twitter account: "Send them. They deserve to see what a real honest politician sounds like."

Both Sanders and Trump have roused their supporters by railing against international trade agreements and decades of wage stagnation. But Sanders, along with Trump's Republican rivals, have noted that Trump adds caustic rhetoric about immigration, drawing protesters who end up clashing with his supporters.

4:21 p.m.

Bernie Sanders is releasing a new policy plan to combat HIV/AIDS , pledging "virtually universal access" to drugs treating the disease.

He is also pledging to create a $3 billion a year prize fund to incentivize drug development and increase federal funding to double the number of people on HIV treatment worldwide by 2020.

The disease is "one of the great moral issues of our day," Sanders said in a statement. America must act to do "end the greed of the pharmaceutical companies."

Sanders' plan comes a day after rival Hillary Clinton apologized for remarks crediting Nancy Reagan with taking early action to stop the spread of the disease. Those comments outraged activists who said the Reagan administration lagged in taking action as the illness ravaged the gay community.

4:04 p.m.

Donald Trump is dodging a veteran's question when asked to clarify comments he made critiquing Arizona Sen. John McCain.

During a town hall-style meeting in Cincinnati, Keith Moppin is asking Trump to clarify the comment. Moppin's son was captured and killed in Iraq while serving in the U.S. military.

Moppin says "you made a comment to McCain that captured soldiers are not heroes."

He goes on, "I want you to clarify because I think it's important."

But Trump immediately says, "Oh, no, no, no. I was -- I never did that. You know that."

Trump said in July while campaigning in Iowa that he dismissed the notion that McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, was a hero "because he was captured."

Trump said, "I like people who weren't captured."

3:50 p.m.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was among the Republican Party's biggest stars when he burst onto the national stage in the tea party wave of 2010.

Now, he's three days away from a home-state showing that could devastate his 2016 presidential campaign and damage his political brand for years to come.

Rubio is the underdog to Donald Trump in Florida's primary election Tuesday.

Should his presidential bid end in disappointment, many who know him expect a political comeback, though those closest to Rubio believe he could turn to the private sector to help provide for his family.

He also would need to decide whether to return to Capitol Hill. It's not too late for Rubio to run for another Senate run, though that is unlikely.

2:11 p.m.

John Kasich is laughing off an Ohio voter's suggestion that he should pre-emptively offer Marco Rubio the vice presidency after Tuesday's primaries in Ohio and Florida.

A voter at a town hall in Strongsville, Ohio, says if Rubio loses his home state on Tuesday, Kasich should team up with him to form a ticket.

In response, Kasich asked the man, "where do you come up with this stuff?" He says he'll win Ohio on Tuesday, but that choosing a vice president now would be like "measuring the drapes."

"I just think he would be a good vice president," the man said back.

Wins for Kasich and Rubio in their home states would make it harder for Trump to earn enough delegates to become the GOP nominee outright.

1:56 p.m.

Hundreds of people forming a line more than a quarter-mile are being told to return to their cars and will not be able to attend Donald Trump's campaign event in suburban Cincinnati Sunday.

The line to the Savannah Center convention hall winds through a corporate development park. It includes people of all ages, families with small children, all covered with caps, rain smocks and umbrellas.

Inside the hall, more than 500 are waiting for Trump to begin a town hall-style meeting event, where he's expected to take questions from members of the audience.

Outside the hall, dozens of protesters are chanting, carrying signs such as one saying "Build bridges, not walls," referring to Trump's pledge to build a wall along the entire length of the U.S.-Mexican border.

1:41 p.m.

Trump supporter Bill Schultz, 54, says he attended the candidates' Sunday morning rally in part to counter the increased visibility of protesters who succeeded in shutting down a Trump rally in Chicago on Friday night.

The Champaign, Illinois, resident suggested that the melee "just made Trump a lot stronger."

He was attending Trump's rally in Bloomington Sunday, the first Trump event in the state since the Chicago incident. In contrast, the Bloomington event was a much calmer affair, though protesters interrupted Trump four times.

Bloomington, Illinois, Police Department Sgt. Henry Craft says no arrests were made at the event Sunday.

1:38 p.m.

Early voting in Florida's primary comes to an end Sunday, with more than 1.9 million voters having already made their presidential choice.

Republican voters far outnumber Democratic ones, according to the latest figures released Sunday by the state Division of Elections.

Republicans account for more than 1.1 million early voters, while about 819,000 Democrats have cast ballots.

Early voters are projected to account for at least half the total number expected to vote in Tuesday's primary.

Florida's closed primary is open only to those registered to one of the major parties.

1:31 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich says Donald Trump should "back off" his negativity on the campaign trail and "start being more aspirational."

Kasich said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that he's glad he spoke out about violence at Trump rallies, particularly on Friday night. That's when a tense evening between protesters and Trump supporters prompted Trump to cancel an event in Chicago and a melee ensued. Trump has spoken often from the dais of wanting to punch a protester in the face, carrying protesters out on stretchers and deeming some Mexican immigrants here illegally as "rapists" and "criminals."

Trump has denied responsibility for setting the tone that fueled the tension.

Kasich says Trump should start "telling people we can get it together" rather than casting blame for what makes people angry.

12:54 p.m.

Donald Trump is through one of three events Sunday, an airplane hangar event in Bloomington, Illinois, that was much calmer than the Friday night rally in Chicago that was cancelled.

Trump called a man up on stage who was a legal immigrant, read poetry and was interrupted four times. He stuck around to greet supporters afterward. It was his first event back in the state since the one in Chicago Friday night that Trump cancelled, he said, out of concern for supporters and protesters who packed the hall and later erupted into a melee.

An Associated Press reporter counted fewer than 30 people being removed from the airplane hangar, which officials said accommodated a capacity crowd of about 3,000.

Trump observed from the stage, "See. Nobody gets hurt."

The candidate has two more events Sunday, in Cincinnati and Boca Raton, Florida, at 6 p.m.

11:04 a.m.

Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump is returning to Illinois after canceling a Friday night appearance in Chicago amid clashes between protesters and his supporters.

The mood was far more muted Sunday outside the Bloomington airport in central Illinois, where about 100 protesters gathered along an access road on an a foggy, overcast morning near the airplane hangar where Trump was scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. CST.

Some participants said they decided to drive the 130 miles from Chicago after the abrupt cancellation of that event. And some protesters said they felt emboldened to stand in a light but steady drizzle only after seeing reports of clashes in Ohio, Kansas City and elsewhere Saturday.

10:25 a.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says Republican Donald Trump is lying when he says the Sanders' campaign sent the protesters that disrupted Trump's rally in Chicago.

Sanders says on ABC's "This Week" that anyone following Trump's campaign "knows that he tells the truth very, very rarely" and that in this instance, "He's lying again."

Friday night's melee between Trump supporters and protesters broke out after the Trump campaign cancelled a rally because of security concerns. Some of the protesters in the crowd were carrying Sanders campaign signs. Trump on Sunday tweeted that if Sanders is sending supporters to Trump rallies to disrupt them, Trump would do the same at Sanders' rallies.

Sanders denies that his campaign was responsible for the disruption.

10:22 a.m.

Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio says he's "very concerned" that someone will lose their life at a Donald Trump rally, adding that "it's getting harder" to explain to his family and friends that he would support Trump as the GOP nominee.

Rubio said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that the violence in Chicago Friday night looked like "something out of the Third World." The Florida senator said it's going to be hard for people who vote for Trump to justify their support down the road.

Rubio and two of his GOP rivals — Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — pledged during a debate earlier this month to support Trump if he is the GOP nominee. All three have condemned the violence at Trump's rallies, but they also are not excusing the protesters.

10:16 a.m.

Here are the delegate tallies in the 2016 presidential race after Saturday's contests.

On the Republican side, Marco Rubio won the caucuses in the nation's capital on Saturday and grabbed 10 delegates. John Kasich took nine.

Ted Cruz won nine of the 12 delegates up for grabs in Wyoming. Rubio and front-runner Donald Trump each got one. Cruz also won the sole delegate from Guam at its presidential convention.

According to an Associated Press count, Trump leads the overall race for delegates with 460. Cruz has 370, Rubio has 163 and Kasich has 63. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination.

For Democrats, Hillary Clinton won the caucus on the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean.

Clinton now has 766 delegates to Bernie Sanders' 551, based on primaries and caucuses alone.

Including superdelegates — party leaders and elected officials who can support any candidate — Clinton's lead is even bigger: 1,231 to Sanders' 576.

More than 1,000 delegates in both parties are at stake on Tuesday when Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio vote.

10:08 a.m.

Donald Trump says he's "instructed my people" to explore the possibility of helping pay the legal bills for a 78-year-old man charged with assault at a Trump rally.

Authorities have said John Franklin McGraw of Linden, North Carolina, was charged after he was caught on video hitting a man deputies were escorting at a Trump rally last Wednesday in Fayetteville.

Trump tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that McGraw "got carried away" and "maybe he doesn't like seeing what's happening to the country."

Trump was asked if he might help McGraw with legal fees, if McGraw needed it.

Trump says: "I've actually instructed my people to look into it, yes."

The man who was punched has told The Associated Press that he and others went to the event as observers, not protesters. He says someone swore at one in their group, and by the time they tried to object, the police were escorting him out.