Khalid, jonathan swan. Plus an abc news exclusive this veterans day weekend. The president s new top military adviser chairman mark milley in his first interview. How important is it to keep an american presence in syria . The footprint will be small, but the objective will remain the same, the defeat of isis. O the announcer from abc news, its this week. Here now coanchor martha raddatz. Good morning. Welcome to this week. It started with one whistleblower. Now less than two months later, a fu set to reach a critical phase. The first public testimony that will likely shape Public Perceptions of the investigation and the future of the trump presidency. The central question was it an abuse of power for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival at home . Was he acting to further his own personal and political interests by withholding military aid from a key u. S. Ally . With all the rhetoric flying from both sides of the aisle and President Trumps own aions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the constitution. September 24th, House Speaker nancy pelosi formally opens an impeachment inquiry after a bombshell whistleblower complaint raised concerns over trumps july phone call with the ukrainian president zelensky. The conversation was perfect. My phone call was perfecto. According to a white house memo detailing that call, trump tells the ukrainian president we do a lot for ukraine. Zelensky responds were ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps, specifically buying american antitank missiles. Trumps response, i would like you to do us a favor. He goes on to ask zelensky to investigate a debunked theory and then a second request, an investigation into his democratic rival. It goes to the core of whether the president abused his office to seek political help in his campaign and did so to the detriment to our nations security. According to witness testimony trumps demand was pushed by his top advisers, including his acting chief of staff and his personal attorney in phone calls and meetings for months. Among the key testimony so far, bill taylor, the top u. S. Tovething n ukraine including military aid and a white house meeting was contingent on ukraines willing. To launch the investigation. Gordon sondland the u. S. Ambassador to the eu who in a stunning about face revised his testimony. Sondland saying he told a top ukrainian official ukraine would not likely receive military aid unless ukraine publicly agreed to investigate trumps targets. Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, a White House National security official who was on that july phone call recalled one meeting in particular where senior ukrainian officials were told they had to investigate the bidens. Colonel vindman was told the hold on military aid came from the white house chief of staffs office. In face of mounting evidence the president has been unrelenting in his defense. Its all a hoax. Republicans largely closing ranks around the president as democrats move forward. Those open hearings will be an opportunity for the American People to evaluate the witnesses for themselves, to make their own determination about the credibility of the witnesses and also learn firsthand about the facts of the president s misconduct. Joining me now to break this down further is abc News Senior National correspondent, terry moran. I want to start with the public hearings and who the public will see testify. Two big witnesses to lead off. William taylor was the acting ambassador in ukraine. Youll get a picture from kiev and washington from two men who were very alarmed at what was going on. Yovanovitch. I don the ambassador pushed o by rudy giuliani. Terry, at the heart of this is a federal law that says it would be illegal to accept, receive or solicit anything in value from a foreign diplomat for a u. S. Election. There are those that say the phone transcript shows that. Now we have this long line of witnesses. We do. A lot of legal experts will tell you the phone transcript does demonstrate that the president violated election laws. Some will tell you no, it doesnt have a monetary value. This isnt about election law. Its about the constitution and does the evidence show the president abused his power by trying to get a Foreign Government to go after his political rival. Is that an Impeachable Offense . Its the constitution that the congress will focus on. The whistleblower, a lot of attention on the whistleblower. Doesnt sound like the whistleblower will be appearing. Do you think its important . Not from an evidentiary standpoint. Adam schiff the chairman of the Intelligence Committee said other witnesses in sworn testimony have borne out what the whistleblower complaint says. He or she is not necessary and thats probably true from evidence. Federal law protects the whistleblower from any retaliation. I covered jury trials for a long time. Were talking about overturning a president ial election. There will be americans to where the evidence is diminished because they cant see and know the person who started it, their motivations and intent. Terry, you covered the clinton impeachment. You followed the nixon impeachment as a little kid. What are the possible outcomes . The president could be removed from office. Theres some confusion about the word impeachment. Impeachment is the indictment. Its going to go to the floor of the house of representatives and it looks like the president will be impeached. There will be a trial in the senate. If 67 senators, or two third of the senators vote, the president will be removed from office. The final verdict will come from American People on election day about this conduct, about whether or not we want a presidency that goes to other governments for assistance in going after political rivals and that the election day less than a year away will be the ultimate verdict on all this. Thanks, terry. Lets bring in democratic representative Jackie Speier. A member of the Intelligence Committee which will conduct the public hearings this week. Thanks so much for joining us. Let me ask you, Robert Muellers public testimony earlier this year did not galvanize Public Opinion on the findings of his investigation of russian interference in the 2016 election. While this is obviously a different allegation how do you make a Stronger Public case this time . I think for a number of reasons. First of all, bob muellers report was 400 pages long. Had a lot of legalese. This is a straightforward act. The president broke the law. He went on a telephone call with the president of ukraine and said i have a favor though and then proceeded to ask for an investigation of his rival. And this is a very strong case of bribery because you have an elected official, the president , demanding action of a foreign country in this case, and providing something of value, which is the investigation, and he is withholding aid, which is that official act. And the constitution is very clear. Treason, bribery or acts of omission. In this case, its clearly one of those. Obviously republicans would disagree with you. Republicans sent their list of witnesses they want to call as part of the Intelligence Committees public impeachment hearings yesterday. It included the whistleblower and hunter biden. This is what Intelligence Committee chairman adam schiff said in a Statement Last night. This inquiry is not and will not serve as a vehicle to undertake the same sham investigation into the bidens or 2016. In a letter to republicans, schiff calling the whistleblowers testimony redundant and unnecessary and would only place their personal safety at grave risk. It doesnt sound like the chairman will allow biden or the whistleblower to testify as the republicans have requested. If youre able to guarantee his or her safety, why shouldnt the whistleblower testify . Well, the whistleblower actually provided a document he was third hand. We have colonel vindman who was actually on the call who will be in a position i think to testify. You have a much more direct person to speak to about the events. And you have the actual transcript that the president himself provided that is corroboration. So you have what we have to prove though is corrupt intent. We prove corrupt intent by showing, first of all, the money was withheld, secondly there was concealment. Theres concealment by having that transcript put into a special server. You have concealment because you have persons within the administration who are prevented from testifying. You then go further and you have this diversion by the president by trying to focus on the whistleblower who legally has a right not to be congresswoman, even though shadow government. Even though there may be a legal right, terry moran, was saying its somebody the people might want to hear from. For political benefit is that something you might want to consider having the whistleblower come forward because the republicans have made such an issue of this . I think the republicans are making an issue of anything that they think will give them some gravitas. The only thing that the whistleblower can say is that he was told by other people about the phone call. We have the other people coming forward to testify. You have direct evidence, not indirect evidence. And the whistleblower has great risk associated with his life right now. He also has the right under the law, under the whistleblower statute, to have his whistleblower complaint filed and for him to be anonymous. We feel very strongly about whistleblower protections. You said the rules driving the impeachment process are very equal. Yet chairman schiff can turn down the gop witnesses and the white house lawyers are not allowed to participate in public hearings before the house Intelligence Committee. How is that very equal . There are other witnesses the republicans have requested that i would think the chairman is going to make available to testify. Tim morrison, kurt volker is another. We want to stay focussed on the ukraine call. Having hunter biden come in is unrelated to the ukraine call. That becomes irrelevant. The whistleblower has protection. As it relates to having the witnesses be questioned by someone within the white house, this can, in fact, happen. End o l were asking for is that we receive what we are rightly deserving which is the documentation from state department, all of which has been withheld and primary people like mulvaney, who is the chief of staff who took direct orders from the president , of course, is using this phony argument of absolute immunity which doesnt exist in the law. We thank you for joining us this morning congresswoman Jackie Speier. Well have the republican response when we come back. Later the powerhouse round table takes on impeachment and whether billionaire Michael Bloomberg will shakeup the 2020 race. Well be right back. Announcer this week with George Stephanopoulos sponsored by bp. Welcome to our busy world. Where we all want more energy. But with less carbon footprint. Thats why, at bp, were working to make energy thats cleaner and better. Were producing cleanerburning natural gas. And solar and wind power. And wherever your day takes you. We have advanced fuels for a better commute. 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Some of the republican defense of the president this week. Lets bring in congressman, Mac Thornberry. Congressman thornberry, you heard congresswoman speier lay out the process. Republicans have criticized the process. Whats the republican strategy to combat the substance of the allegations . Well, you started out, martha, by saying how did we get here. Let me add a couple things to that. I think its important to remember shortly after President Trump was inaugurated there were democrats who were calling for him to be impeached because they were so surprised of the results of the last election. Weve had two and a half years of investigations, subpoenas, the mueller report. All of a sudden in september the Whistleblower Comes Forward and says theres this conversation that i worried about. All of that two and a half years of investigation gets swept aside. Now the democrats put all their eggs in this one basket. The problem is they started this basket not with the nixon and clinton precedents as far as making sure there was appropriate transparency and due process. They have made it one sided from the beginning, very partisan. So i think whatever happens now there will be a taint to this onesided, partisan approach to impeachment that is different than has been used before. I think there will be intense skepticism about whatever they come up with. Again, they dont like congressman, we they dont let the witnesses come. It has been onesided from the beginning. Congressman, youre again talking about the process. I asked you about substance. How do you fend against the substance . Well, as you know maybe you know, martha i believe its inappropriate for a president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival. Now that leads to a question if theres a political rival with a Family Member involved in questionable activity, what do you do . Just let them alone. Set that aside. I believe it was inappropriate. I dont believe it was impeachable. You know, yall always want to say substance, not process. Theres a reason we let murderers and robbers and rapists go free when their Due Process Rights have been violated. We believe the integrity of the system, the integrity of the constitution, the integrity of the process of our legal system is more important than the outcome of one particular case. I dont think you can sweep process under the rug because its part of an impeachment decision which has a constitutional requirement, bribery, treason, high crimes and misdemeanors, but also a political element whether its good for the country to pursue it under these circumstances. Why is what you have seen not a clear abuse of power . I know you said its inappropriate, his remarks, but not impeachable. Why is what youve seen in the transcript of that phone call which you discussed, not a clear abuse of power or bribery, not impeachable . Youre right, the constitution is very specific. Bribery, treason, high crimes and misdemeanors, which basically means felonies. Thats what you have to prove as a threshold question. The second question is under the circumstances do you believe its good for the country to proceed with impeachment. I would suggest a couple circumstances are relevant here. Number one, theres not anything that the president said thats different than what he says in public all the time. Is there some sort of abuse of power that rises to that threshold that is different than what the American People have been hearing for three years . I dont hear that. Secondly we have an election coming up. Doing it at this time and make no mistake, the democrats are rushing this through by christmas so they dont interfere with their candidates being in iowa and New Hampshire next year. Everything they got out there, fine let me ask you quickly, sir. Let the American People decide this. Do you believe the whistleblower should testify and do you believe hunter biden should testify . I have not been in the room for all like most members of congress ive not been in the room for all these hearings and secret proceedings. I dont really know who the proper witnesses ought to be. I think what Jackie Speier said is right, the whistleblower basically has thirdhand information. So not necessary . I dont know to what extent i dont know to what extent he or she may have information that relates to other peoples information. I cant make that call. I think its got to be the people in the room who make the call, but, again, there has to be a fair way to arbitrate to decide who the witnesses are. Weve had none of that so far. Thanks very much for joining us this morning congressman thornberry. Up next my exclusive interview with the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. Well be right back. 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Natures bounty, because youre better off healthy. General mark milley is up next. All week long you can get the latest on politics on the abc news app. Well be right back. St on politics on the abc news app. Well be right back. miss piggy and of course, moi is on tv. Statler Waldorf nobody cares hahaha dr. Teeth woah woah woah. How are we all on each others tvs . animal me on tv fozzie oh i believe i have the answer. You see. miss piggy the thing on the tv is a portal tv and it lets you video call. all on your tv dr. Teeth ah animal me on tv hahahaha fozzie vo portal. From facebook. But when i started seeing things, i didnt know what was happening. So i kept it in. He started believing things that werent true. I knew something was wrong. But i didnt say a word. During the course of their disease around 50 of people with parkinsons may experience hallucinations or delusions. But now, doctors are prescribing nuplazid. The only fda approved medicine. 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And were exploring ways to use Renewable Energy in our operations. Doin more. With less. More data and precision. To help meet growing demand. Thats going to get a lot of likes. Chevron. Innovating to meet the energy demands of today and tomorrow. This is charlie not coughing because he took delsym 12hour. And this is charlie still not coughing while trying his hardest not to wake zeus. Delsym 12hour. Nothing lasts longer for powerful cough relief. My bladder leak underwear. Orried someone might see so, i switched. To always discreet boutique. Its shapehugging threads smooth out the back. So it fits better than depend. And no one notices. Always discreet. Thank you, mr. President , for the trust and confidence you have placed in me. You can rest assured ill always provide you informed, candid, impartial military advice. That was general mark milley taking on his new role as the 20th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff a little over a month ago as principle military adviser to the president. I first met chairman milley 15 years in iraq on a night patrol and in 2005 in baghdad and in afghanistan ten years ago. This year i travelled to the pentagon where we talked about the meaning of service. I started by asking him about current troop levels in syria after President Trumps recent call to withdraw forces. If i do my math and look at the new troops going in and those going out, it could be more than 700 who remain. Well, there will be less than 1,000 for sure. Probably in the 500ish frame, maybe six. Its in that area. Were not going to go through specific numbers. How important is it to keep an american presence in syria . There are still isis fighters in the region. Unless pressure is maintained, unless attention is maintained on that group, theres a very real possibility there could be a reemergence of isis. We committed to do that. The footprint will be small, but the objective will remain the same. Weve now killed albaghdadi, the leader of isis. They named a new leader. Tell us what you know about the new leader and what effect will the death of albaghdadi have on isis. His death will have a significant disruptive effect on the organization as a whole. Theyve apparently replaced him with another leader. We have a considerable amount of information on that individual. Well see in the days ahead, weeks ahead, months ahead if hes able to piece together his organization. Well Pay Attention to him and where opportunities arise well go after him as well. Iran announced it will inject uranium gas into centrifuges. They keep pushing this, making more provocative moves with their military program. Where does this end . Iran has been a challenge for the United States since the revolution in 1979. We hope diplomatic efforts will resolve the Nuclear Issue with iran and we place our faith in the diplomatic efforts. At the same time well make sure that we maintain appropriate levels of military capabilities in the region to defend american interests if required. The u. S. Says iran was responsible for attacking the tankers, that theyre responsible for shooting down a highly sophisticated, very expensive american drone, yet there havent been significant consequences. Theres been consequences. Our government has chosen not to react militarily at this time. We have capability. Well see. It depends on the scope, scale and nature of any provocation iran does or any threat they do against u. S. Forces in particular or against u. S. Interests or our friends and allies in the region. I want to move to afghanistan. Weve been in afghanistan more than 18 years. What would you say to someone who is 18 years old, male or female, may end up serving in a war that began before they were born . We have to go back to the original reason we are in afghanistan to begin with, which is 9 11. We went there to make sure afghanistan would never again be a safe haven for terrorists that would attack the United States. That mission is not complete. In order for that mission to be successful, the government of afghanistan and the Afghan Security forces are going to have to sustain their own security forces. That effort is ongoing. Its been ongoing for 18 years. I suspect it will be ongoing for several more years. When you say that, that makes me think well be there that long in iraq or syria, wherever the Islamic State is. Its not just the Islamic State. Its other groups. I think we will be for a significant amount of time. Its our National Interests to be there to help out. I want to ask you about ukraine. Ukraine has been a hot topic of late. How important is the military aid to ukraine, especially with russia there on its border. Well, here we are on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. Since that time, russia has aggressively acted against ukraine. The United States chose to help ukraine with money, with advisory aid, with training and manning and equipping through two administrations. Were continuing to do that. I think its important to continue to help ukraine. I want to ask you about lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman who has been questioning on the hill. Do you have any questions about his loyalty . Do you know lt. Colonel vindman . I dont personally know him. Ive learned over the years not to comment on active investigations. I know that lt. Colonel vindman is a witness to an active investigation being conducted by congress right now. It would be inappropriate for me to make any comments. Its veterans day on monday. As i look at you and so many other veterans i see especially those bars, those stripes on your right sleeve, each one of those means six months in a combat zone. Youve got ten of those, five years. So many others have sacrificed so much, the ultimate sacrifice as well. Veterans day is to honor all our veterans. Who do you think about . The first veterans i met were my mother and father. Both veterans of world war ii. My dad was in the fourth marine division. Made the assault landings at saipan. He saw some very horrendous combat. My mother served in the navy. She was a medical orderly. She was at a hospital in seattle taking care of wounded. They had a sense of service and gave me a sense of how lucky i was to be an american, how lucky i was to grow up in a country where we have freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion and a variety of rights not wellknown in other places. Ive had 442 soldiers killed under my command. Thats since 9 11. I think of them a lot at all times of the day. At 2 00 in the morning your eyes pop open and you think about what those young men and women have done for this country. The freedoms we have, martha, are not free. Theyre paid for by the blood of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have been fighting for us for two and a half centuries. Fewer than 1 serve in the military in this country. You went to princeton and played hockey instead of west point. What can you explain to those americans who dont serve . When i went to princeton, i met the hockey coach. He was a marine captain in vietnam. He introduced me into rotc. I thought i would do that and serve my country for four years and get out. Here i am 40 years later. I have not looked back. Ive not regretted it. I think service to the country and service to the nation is an important calling. Our thanks to the chairman and all our veterans. E and the powerhouse round table on Michael Bloomberg potentially joining the 2020 race. Were back in 60 seconds. Powerhouse round table on Michael Bloomberg potentially joining the 2020 race. Were back in 60 seconds. I see it every day. The Mental Health safety net is in crisis. People undiagnosed, untreated, and nowhere to turn for help. Many end up here. Our patients are in jails, prisons, psychiatric hospitals and treatment centers. I work for wellpath. Along with over 8,000 professionals, we provide medical and Mental Healthcare services with a Single Mission to be there for those who need us most. Res a story. If you win the if you lose, theyll say trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world. You cant let that happen to me. That was President Trump campaigning in kentucky monday ahead of the states closelywatched governors race. The results still too close to call, but the democratic candidate in the lead there in a state President Trump won by 30 points in 2016. In mississippi the gop candidate managed a close win, while polls in louisiana have the democratic incumbent governor ahead. How bad of a sign are these governor races for the gop and is it a potential sign of trouble for republicans in 2020 . We ask 538s nate silver do you buy that . Republicans did not have a great night on tuesday. I dont really buy any white house spin this was a good set of resulting for trump. Kentucky, mississippi, louisiana. These are really red states, places where the gop usually wins easily. I also dont buy its any major reason for trump to panic. Governors races are quirky and local factors matter more. Thats how you end up with republican governors in states like massachusetts, maryland and vermont and democratic ones in montana and kansas. If you go back to kentucky, all the other republicans won on tuesday night. The track record of these states in predicting next years president ial election is checkered at best. Louisiana for instance has often pointed in the wrong direction. A double digit win for democrats there in 2015 did not predict a great year for democrats in 2016. Look, i get it, its good to see people actually voting. These results told us things we already knew from previous elections and from the polls. Its not a surprise that affluent suburbs are moving democrats or that rural areas are becoming redder. Thats been the most important and frankly obvious political trend of the past decade. Polls tell us that elections are an uphill tt re trumps Approval Rating remains under water and republicans trail by five or six points when people are asked who would you rather see control congress. As the midterms taught us last year trump will win and lose his fair share of races. He doesnt defy political gravity. Thanks, nate. Lets bring in the powerhouse round table. Mary bruce, abc news analyst matthew dowd, npr correspondent asma khalid and axios reporter jonathan swan. Welcome to all of you. Mary, ill start with you since you basically live on capitol hill. How do you see these public hearings playing out . You heard congresswoman Jackie Speier and congressman thornberry. What are you looking at . This is about persuasion. We know what these witnesses are going to testify to. We read the transcripts. Democrats have to sell it to the american public. They have to build a compelling case about why the president abused his power and how that rises to the level of how the constitution describes bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors. Democrats will try to stay laser focused on the president s actions here to pressure ukraine. They feel its a cut and dry cass and easy to sell to the american public. Theyre aware they have muddied up the messaging in the past. Theyll have to cut through the noise. Thats not always easy. Exactly. I know she said this again, but its so simple, even this seems muddied up in the last few weeks. What do you think the democrats have to do differently, matt . They have to continue to present their case that they presented over the last month in a clear and concise way. If anybody thinks the publics numbers are going to move dramatically, theyre delusional. Its almost at the height level it was for richard nixon, as it was when he resigned. Its not going to move that much. I think theyll try to put forth such a compelling case for when it goes to the senate. I think its all been muddied up. You were sklg earasking earlier the whistleblower. Thats a distraction. The whistleblower is the person who pulled the fire alarm. Then everybody showed up to say there is a fire and there was an arsonist there and the arsonist has admitted to starting the fire. The person that pulled the fire alarm has nothing to do with anybody. The republicans are distract. What else can the republicans do . Theyve moved jim jordan to the hes a loyal defender of the president. Ill be curious to see the republicans everevolving defense. In the Mueller Investigation there was a steady line no collusion, no collusion. In this situation democrats will have to present an airtight case because were hearing from some republicans maybe this was i dont want to say a quid pro quo. Maybe some folks are acknowledging that was a possibility. Was it an Impeachable Offense . Theres an everevolving defense from the republicans. Thats why were seeing theyve added to their witness list hunter biden. Democrats would argue thats irrelevant. Theres probably no way youll see hunter biden. Yes. Jonathan, the president seems to be using the same strategy, witch hunt, witch hunt, witch hunt part two, witch hunt 2. 0. Is there a new strategy other than that . Even Mac Thornberry was talking about process. I think youre going to see both. Not i think. I know from reporting that youre going to see two things overall from the white house and from republicans on capitol hill. Theyre going to be emphasizing that none of the witnesses have firsthand knowledge. Theyre not the people who were in the room talking to the president. Youll see a lot of republican questions to people like bill taylor. Who do you hear this from . Who did they hear this from . Trying to emphasize the degrees of separation. The other thing theyre going to do with, i believe, george kent, the Second State Department witness, theyre going to try to make this about hunter biden. He admitted to raising concerns about hunter biden back in 2015. I think that the republican questioning in that particular hearing will be trying to create that alternative parallel narrative. We talk about people in the room or not in the room at the white house. Weve heard from john boltons lawyer that he has some rather tantalizing details we havent heard. Hes not going to go up there unless a court tells him to go up there. What do you think the likelihood is and do you really need someone like bolton . I think the likelihood is almost zero. Democrats ive been talking to over the last two days, they are not inclined to litigate this to have a court fight, even though the courts signalled theyre willing to do it quickly. I think people misunderstand john bolton. The assumption that some of the conversation i saw he was a trump quizzling. He was doing this out of loyalty. I dont believe that was the case. I think he does care about the separation of powers. If hes a trump quizzling hes doing a good job hiding it. Hes signed a book deal with jim comeys book agents. I think at some point well hear damaging things from john bolton. How important is it that there is someone like john bolton or mick mulvaney, the president s acting chief of staff . Republicans argue you need that person to draw that direct link. Would democrats like to talk to him . Sure. Do they feel they need to to make a compelling case . No. Democrats would not be moving into this public phase if they didnt feel they have the goods, they already have enough evidence to move forward. They are quick to point out that every time a bolton or mulvaney refuses their subpoena, thats more evidence the president and the white house is obstructing. I want to turn to the 2020 race. Big news with the possibility that Michael Bloomberg might join the race. Heres how some of the candidates responded in the democratic field. If you want to run for president , thats fine. Dont think you can buy an election by spending millions of dollars. We have a strong fid. Not sure we need someone else in it. In terms of hes running because of me last polls i looked at im pretty far ahead. Okay, then. Bloomberg said in march he wasnt going to run. Why run now . The sense is that theres nervousness amongst establishment democrats and democrat highdollar donors. Theres nervousness about joe biden as a primary candidate and theres nervousness about senator Elizabeth Warren as a general election candidate. If you talk to democratic voters, theyre really happy with this field. Three quarters of democrats are satisfied with their options. Its some of the more establishment voices. As the Establishment Democratic Party always gets nervous in an election they feel they need to win, i think one of the things we do badly in eterns three years, three years, three months. To me this race looks like to me in the aftermath of watergate, 1976. In 1976 there were 17 candidates that ran. It was the most diverse field. U. S. Senators, former governors, Vice President candidates. Who emerged . Somebody that was at 2 in the polls for most of the time, jimmy carter, who wasnt in an elected official at the time. Bloomberg polled at about 4 . Today. So i think there are today seven or eight candidates in the field or could be in the field if bloomberg gets in that have the potential to be the democratic nominee. This is going to have lots of twists and turns. This is not joe bidens race. Its not Elizabeth Warrens race. Its not Bernie Sanders race. I think this race could twist and turn throughout the pmary process. Go ahead. Its fine to pull out 1976. It would have to be more rare than that. What bloomberg is saying im going to ignore you iowa and New Hampshire. And south carolina. Forget you guys. And fundraising. Im going to spend a gob smacking pile of money on super tuesday bl tuesday blanketing the country with tv ads. Weve never seen anything like this before. Iowa and New Hampshire dont take kindly to being ignored. If he gets crushed theres evidence a democratic nominee can win without iowa and New Hampshire. Youre going to say bill clinton. Every article we see is that were in a disruptive time. The idea you can run a traditional race and win this is gone. We know the polls show theres plenty of room for wiggle room. Theres a lot of potential for movement. It creates a problem for joe biden. If bloomberg comes in, hes going into joe bidens lane. Hes coming in with a ton of cash. The fact we know that bloomberg is thinking about this step is because hes concerned that biden is fading and it underscores about whether biden can pull this off. Jonathan, who are the people out there who are saying, yes, Michael Bloomberg is finally getting in the race . Its funny. Asma will have a better view of this than me. When cr when you try to find a blue voter in New Hampshire trying to find a bloomberg voter in New Hampshire sure, its more donors craving a mike bloomberg. I wonder whether its him and his ego. I dont know how many voters in iowa and New Hampshire want him in. At this point ive met here and there somebody excited about a Michael Bloomberg candidacy. Part of joe bidens strength is his support among African American voters. Michael bloomberg has a sketchy past around new york city policing and the me too movement. Does this create a great talking point with warren and sanders . Bernie sanders likes to talk about millions. This gives him another one to rally against. They were quick to come out why they dont think its a good thing. Moderates are wondering if bloomberg entering the race gives warren a boost. It also gives an opportunity to yes, it helps them post up against Michael Bloomberg. It gives people like joe biden and Pete Buttigieg to prove out their progressive mantle. Ill emphasize this. This is a race undecided at this point with 75 of the people saying theyre satisfied, you have 75 of the people saying theyre not solid in their choice yet in this race. I want to look at the elections this week. You heard nate silver talk about the meaning of those elections this week. Still too close to call in kentucky, but big win in virginia. What do you read about that . Im overly cautious about interpreting the results as being overly positive for democrats. If you look at gallop polling, asking voters, democrats and republicans, are you enthusiastic about the race, usually the party out of power is more enthusiastic. That should be the democrats. We saw them both equally enthusiastic. I dont think thats a great sign for democrats. Mary, quickly. What i find interesting was the impeachment factor. Republicans thinking there would be this backlash to it. That didnt turn out to be the case, especially in kentucky. If anything impeachment was firing up the democrats. Well see if they continue to be fired up after this next week and many beyond. Thanks to all of you for joining us today. Thats all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out world news tonight. Tune in wednesday for abcs live coverage of the impeachment inquiry public testimony starting at 10 00 a. M. Eastern. Have a great day and remember our veterans. The first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry are set for this week. Republicans want the whistleblower to testify. Why democrats dont want that to happen. Also a gruesome discovery on a San Francisco golf course. What golfers found and the questions theyre now asking. And heres a live look outside from our east bay hills camera. Weve got some fog, low to mid50s out there right now. Certainly foggy in the north bay again. A spare the air alert and a look at the weekend is your business still settling for slow internet . Well time is money. Switch to comcast business now and get a great deal when you get fast, reliable internet. With a 30day moneyback guarantee, installation when it works for you, and 24 7 customer support. So what are you waiting for . Get this great deal when you sign up for fast, reliable internet. 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