five key states will hold republican and democratic primaries on tuesday. the outcome could define the race for both parties.









but as voters prepare to head to the polls, controversy over a string of violent brawls continues to swirl around donald trump.









at a trump rally in ohio sunday, secret service agents rushed to protect the republican frontrunner after a protestor stormed the stage. and at other rallies throughout the weekend, trump was constantly interrupted by hecklers.









five key states will hold republican and democratic primaries on tuesday. cbn news' david brody shares his thoughts on the upcoming contests and how they could define the race for both parties. watch below:



















even so, his democratic rivals are placing the blame squarely on him.









"he actually incites violence in the way that he urges his audience on," democratic frontrunner hillary clinton charged.









"trump has to get on the tv and tell his supporters that violence in the political process in america is not acceptable, end of discussion," sen. bernie sanders, i-vermont, said.









but trump has refused to take responsibility for clashes at his campaign events. he insists outside agitators are at fault, and even laid some of the blame on sanders supporters <u+2013> and indeed many of the vermont senator's supporters did show up.









"it was totally organized, troublemakers, troublemakers," trump said. "they are not protestors; they are disrupters. they are supposed to disrupt."









but with hours left to go before voters head to the polls in tuesday's five critical states, trump's republican rivals aren't backing down.









"this will be a disaster for the country because if donald is the nominee, it makes it much, much more likely that hillary clinton wins the general," sen. ted cruz, r-texas, said.









"we've reached the point in this country where our political discourse looks like the comments section of a blog where people can just say whatever they want about anyone without any rules of civility, no norms that govern how we interact with one another," he said.









still, polls show trump will likely be the big winner tuesday, except perhaps in ohio, where gov. john kasich is out front with 39 percent.









meanwhile in florida, with 99 delegates and winner takes all, it's a must-win for rubio. but a cbs poll has him currently in third place. experts say a defeat in his home state would likely kill his campaign.









meanwhile, the democrats were the butt of the joke in a fake saturday night live campaign commercial showing clinton, played by kate mckinnon, slowly-- and literally -- transforming into rival bernie sanders just to win more young supporters.









"as millennials, your voice is important. you're the ones who will decide this election," mckinnon says. "and luckily, i hillary clinton, share all of your exact same beliefs..."









"i'm whoever you want me to be and i approve this message," she says, drawing laughter from the audience.









jokes aside, clinton is hoping to add to her lead in the delegates as polls show her ahead of sanders in all five states.









whatever happens, the outcome of tuesday's primaries will be critical for both the republican and democratic candidates and the results are almost certain to shape the dynamics of the race.
rivals slam trump over violent rallies: 'he incites violence'
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