Face in the News: Candidates in Both Parties Head into Super Tuesday

WASHINGTON (CBS News) - On the eve of Super Tuesday, Republican presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) appeared on this week's broadcast of Face the Nation to downplay the success of Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump. Trump also spoke to Face the Nation host John Dickerson and charged that he'd been treated harshly by the so-called Republican establishment. On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) appeared on the broadcast after a disappointing loss in South Carolina to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. CBS News Director of Elections Anthony Salvanto also appeared on Sunday's broadcast with analysis from the latest results of the CBS News' Super Tuesday Battleground Tracker.

On Sunday morning Donald Trump tweeted prior to appearing on Face the Nation, "The Republican establishment has been pushing for lightweight Senator Marco Rubio to say anything to hit Trump. I signed the pledge, careful," causing many to believe that Trump could be once again floating the idea of running as a third party in the event that he does not secure the Republican nomination. Trump responded by criticizing the Republican establishment stating that they are not treating him well.

"I've been very good, I've been very straight and honest and honorable and they're not treating me well." The Republican frontrunner said and added, "They have this lightweight Senator Marco Rubio saying terrible things, just personal, terrible things. And I don't think it's fair the way that the establishment is treating Donald Trump, I'll be honest."

Though the businessman would not say whether or not he would abide by the pledge when pressed by Dickerson, Trump said "the Republican Party is not treating me right and they're not treating the people that I represent right."

Our conversation with Donald Trump was covered by The Washington Post, The Hill, Florida Politics, Talking Points Memo, The New York Daily News and The New York Post.

Two of the candidates trying to keep Trump from winning the nomination also appeared on FACE. "There is no doubt that if Donald steam rolls through Super Tuesday, wins everywhere with big margins, that he may well be unstoppable." Senator Ted Cruz said when asked if Trump was unstoppable. However the Texas senator added, "I don't think that will happen."

Florida Senator Marco Rubio also took jabs at the Republican frontrunner warning that nominating Trump would "split us and splinter us in a way that we may never be able to recover." Rubio also called the Republican frontrunner a "world-class con artist," and that he had hoped that "people would open their eyes and see who Donald Trump really is."

"He conned all of these people who signed up for Trump University. Now he's trying to do the same thing to Republican voters." Rubio said and added, "It's a con job. It's a scam. And we're going to unveil it here, we're going to reveal it."

Our interviews with Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio made headlines in The Houston Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal, AP, Politico, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, The Austin American Statesman, The New York Post, and International Business Times.

On the Democratic side, we spoke with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) coming off of an embarrassing loss in South Carolina. Sanders admitted to getting "beaten very badly," but said "I think for us that is about as bad as it's going to get."

Sanders remained optimistic, saying that his campaign has a "path to victory," and focused on some of the states that he plans to do well in.

"On Tuesday, we're going to have over 800 delegates being selected. I think we're going to win a very good share of those delegates. You've got major states coming up. And I think the important point is that people throughout this country are resonating to our message." The Vermont Senator said.

Our interview with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made news on CNN.com, The New York Post, Politico, Fiscal Times, Bloomberg, USA Today, The Huffington Post and The Hill.

Finally, CBS News Director of Elections, Anthony Salvanto, appeared on Sunday's broadcast to give the latest results of the CBS News' Battleground Tracker. Heading into Super Tuesday, Donald Trump is seen as being more electable in a general election in key states like Georgia, Virginia and Texas. Salvanto also responded to the argument that if Rubio or Cruz were to drop out, it would hurt Donald Trump's chances at securing the nomination.

"Donald Trump would get enough of Rubio voters, enough of Cruz's voters, not a majority but enough that added to his current standing would keep him as the frontrunner." Salvanto said.

On the Democratic side Hillary Clinton is slated to do well during Super Tuesday, even as Sanders is viewed as being the more trustworthy candidate.

"Where voters are going now for Senator Clinton's -- or Senator Clinton's campaign is that they're seeing her as qualified and they're seeing her as experienced."

For more analysis from Anthony Salvanto on the newest CBS News' Battleground Tracker click here.