Attorney general for, quote, taking charge. Seeming to indicate that bob barr, bill barr had a direct hand in the Justice Departments move to undercut prosecutors recommendations to sentence trump ally roger stone. They wanted stone to spend 7 to 9 years in prison for convictions, we should note, on several charges including lying to congress and witness tampering. Hours later, trump called that very unfair and the sentencing request was watered down. Now four prosecutors who won that conviction have quit the case. Clearly we have a lot to get to. Lets begin with the results in New Hampshire. Phil mattingly is here. What do you think we should focus on when we look at how this all shook out . I want to start with the top two. If you go back to 2016, Bernie Sanders just dominated New Hampshire. This was a different race, a different field. Different money, different organizations. Different results. But theres a reason Bernie Sanders won. Bernie sanders won the three largest townships in the entire state. Ran up some numbers there. Thats obviously important for him. Not unlike 2016, he also won big Public University towns. A lot of progressive voters and younger voters. If you want to go into plymouth, into durham, these are big areas Bernie Sanders did well in. As i noted, this wasnt just a Bernie Sanders blowout. Pete buttigieg keeping it narrow just behind him on that. Pete buttigieg punctured an area Bernie Sanders dominated in twep 2016. Thats the vermont border. The light green is Pete Buttigieg. Also doing well in the southeastern part of the area. Its affluent, a little more educated as well. Thats why Pete Buttigieg made some cracks in where Bernie Sanders dominated. Bernie sanders got the win. Equal on the delegates side. Top two clearly coming out of New Hampshire. What about senator Amy Klobuchar. She needed this night. She had her own comeback kid moment. The senator totally focused on iowa had her moment in New Hampshire. And the reason why is twofold. If you look at some of the dark green, this is Amy Klobuchar. Down here as well a lot of these townships are republicanleaning townships that she capitalized on with her message. Also clearly late deciders moving heavily towards her. Clear momentum coming out of the debate on friday. Out of all three of these top candidates, including Amy Klobuchar, no ideological lane in how these townships broke down. First, second and third, almost throughout the entire map, was klobuchar, sanders and buttigieg. Klobuchar in the top three in almost every single township in the state. And thats why she ended up in the top three at the end. Thats a big overperform. Phil mattingly, thank you. Jessica dean joins us from manchester. Also political commentator karen finney is in d. C. Karen, buttigieg overperformed again here. It is a win, although equal on delegates here. Is that the real surprise from these first two races . Well, i think, yes, because, obviously, Bernie Sanders had a 22point having been there last time 22point blowout in 2016. So to see another candidate come on so strong, someone who did not necessarily have a near state, a neighboring state ou look at the combined e effect of Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, and you look at the number of votes and percentage of votes that Bernie Sanders got, that shows us that this moderate more far left dynamic is going to continue to play out. Now when we get to nevada and South Carolina where we have much more diverse populations, Amy Klobuchar has her own issues with africanamericans. So well see how she is able to build those bridges and lets see how she does in those areas. I think that record as a prosecutor in minnesota, et cetera, is going to come much more into focus starting right now. Jessica, so joe biden actually went to South Carolina last night. And that says a whole lot. How much are they banking on, on that state . Its everything to them right now, poppy. His travel plans yesterday which were announced, you know, midmorning, tell you everything you need to know. They saw the writing on the wall in New Hampshire. They previously said they didnt have to win here or in iowa but they did not anticipate the results Phil Mattingly was just showing us. They did not think hed be that weak in New Hampshire. Now they are hinging all of joe bidens fortunes on, can he deliver on this promise that he can build this Diverse Coalition that when hispanics and africanamericans start voting in bigger numbers in this primary process, can he deliver . So now hes not only expected to win South Carolina, hes really got to blow it out. Karen finney, a lot of talk about, of course, the division between progressives and more moderates in these races. Do you learn anything by adding up the returns for buttigieg, klobuchar, even biden against the returns for a sanders and warren, more for the progressive wing or really is it a mixed message at this point about where democratic voters preference is for the general . More of a moderate or progressive candidate . Look, thats a great question because were not quite sure yet, right . It could be that what voters are trying to say, let me just say, i think well have a long primary so we will be having this conversation many times over because thats what we saw in 2016 and 2008. Voters could be telling us that they maybe want someone more moderate. I think what voters are trying to sort out is who can beat donald trump, right . And so the question the challenge for senator sanders, hes now got to explain to the American People, to voters in these upcoming states why socialism, democratic socialism, as he defines it, can win in other parts of the country. As we get to some of these super tuesday states, they dont have they have more of a mix in terms of democrats who are not necessarily to the far left. More centrist democrats. Theyre trying to sort out between the two, but the strength of senator sanders is something we all have to Pay Attention to because clearly there are parts of his message that are very strongly resonating in addition to the strength of his supporters. So whoever takes this is going to have to figure out how to walk that balance as well. No question. Well have a lot of opportunities to measure out who walks that balance best Going Forward. Jessica dean, karen finney, thanks very much. As some 2020 democrats look to build off a big night in New Hampshire, others are dropping out of the race entirely. I am the math guy. And it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race. Joining us now is fw yang. Thank you for being here. Its never easy on a morning when you make such a tough decision. We appreciate your time. For sure. I appreciate you, poppy and jim. Thank you. It was a tough night for many people, but were really proud of the race that we ran. And were excited to keep making progress on the issues that so Many Americans have come together to say that, you know, we need to actually improve peoples lives here on the ground. I saw someone, i was at the book store yesterday in brooklyn. A man was in there with his daughter. As he was walking out of the store, he had a math button on the back of his hat and it made me think about you, obviously. Youve changed, i think, the party, the race. What do you think you left it with in this process . I hope one of the big lessons that the other Democratic Candidates take from my campaign is that we cant just run against trump. We have to run against the reasons that got him elected. Hes the symptom of a disease thats been building up in our communities for years. And we are to get to the harder work of curing the disease. Too Many Americans feel theres not a place for them in the 21st century economy, thats transforming before our eyes. That we need to start rebalancing the most extreme winnertakeall economy in the history of the world and put more Economic Resources directly into families hands. Okay. Youre out of the race now. Who is the democratic candidate best able to do that, to counter not just trump himself but trump the message in the general election. Are you endorsing anyone . Well, right now were still, obviously, like reflecting on our own campaign. I am already on the record saying ill support more whoeve democratic nominee is. This process is very important for voters to make their voices heard and see what the direction of the paerlrty is. So no endorsements right now, although other candidates have been reaching out to me over the last number of hours which i appreciate a great deal. Andrew, i think many people discounted you way too early. Many people didnt think youd make it this far. Are you going to run again . Well, certainly the problems that animated my campaign are not going away. And im not going away. The yang gang is not going away. So the plan is to keep on pushing the ideas of this Campaign Across the finish line. So were not going anywhere. I would certainly not rule out running for office again. Okay. You are aware of the split in the party. You have your progressive candidates running. Sanders winning the primary in New Hampshire. More moderate candidates in buttigieg perform willing in iowa and New Hampshire. Who gives democrats the best chance . What kind of candidate . A leftleaning candidate or more of a moderate . To address the very problem youre talking about, which is again, not just to go out for the man trump, but trump and the forces that elected him. I genuinely think that the spectrum that weve come up with for leftleaning versus moderate capitalism, socialism, the entire thing is really out of date. We never anticipated that technology would come along that could do the work of thousands of people in mine who said something i thought was really apt. We never knew that capitalism was going to get eaten by its technology. We have to try and push our market economy to a point where its actually built around making us and our families stronger and healthier and not maximizing the bottom lines of these companies. I dont know if thats a moderate, centrist idea or leftleaning idea but that to me is the future. Andrew, how do you feel about theticket . Do you want to be a Vice President ial candidate . I would certainly be honored to serve as someones running mate. Im going on the record saying if i can solve these problems as someones Vice President , a member of an administration, we just need to start solving these problems for the next generation. And im happy to do my part. Im also happy to do my part to campaign for the nominee and beat donald trump in the fall. Andrew yang, thank you for your time and also thank you to your wife for coming out a few weeks ago so bravely in that interview with our dana bash about what she endured and the sexual assault. I think she helped countless women in this country. So our thanks to her for her bravery as well. Well see you soon. Thank you both. See you back in new york. And ill pass that along to evelyn, poppy. Good luck to andrew yang. Still to come this morning, the president congratulating attorney general bill barr for, quote, taking action, but the backlash over the dojs decision to reduce its own sentencing recommendation. That coming from prosecutors assigned to the case for an ally of the president , roger stone. And President Trump also indicating the military could take action, punitive action, against Lieutenant Colonel alexander vindman. Are these power plays just another sign of an acquitted president unleashed . Win her heart with a valentine thats anything but ordinary. Now save 20 to 50 on all fashion jewelry. Every kiss begins with kay. If they saw you on the street at ameriprise, we see you as more than a client. Thats why our advisors care about whats important to you. They offer personalized advice to help you prepare for whats expected and even whats not. Giving you the freedom to live financially confident. Because to us, youre more than just another face in the crowd. With the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. Ameriprise financial. Come with free wellness products like vitamins, pain relievers, sunscreen and more. I like the gummies. 150 in wellness products plus 0 copays on common prescriptions. Go ahead, take advantage. Thats a reason to switch to jackson hewitt. No one gets you a bigger refund or you get 100. Yep, get your biggest refund or we pay you. Guaranteed. And heres another reason to switch to jackson hewitt. Guaranteed. Finding the right words can be tough. N it comes to autism, finding understanding doesnt have to be. Together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. Go to autismspeaks. Org this morning, President Trump is congratulating on twitter his handpicked attorney general bill barr for, quote, taking charge of the roger stone case. The Justice Department is facing backlash and so many questions this morning after it undercut its own prosecutors. Officials revised the sentencing recommendation for stone, a longtime trump ally, just hours after the president called that recommendation by the career prosecutors who brought it about unfair. That move prompting all four of those prosecutors to withdraw from the case. Tell us how it happened and, for instance, was the president s comment about this via twitter, was it connected to the Justice Departments decision . That was the case on everybodys a big question on everybodys mind yesterday. And even if the Justice Department is pushing back on the idea there was some direct connection, you cant ignore the tweets. He made his opinion very clear. It starts on monday night with the Justice Department filing this routine memo. What they say is the recommendation is seven to nine years. Thats the statutory the sentencing guidelines. So that number was not picked out of the blue . Its not picked out of the blue. Part of whats happening is theres a sentencing enhancement for the witness tampering. So thats why you see what you might think an extreme sentencing there for the recommendation. Trump then tweets, mere hours later, doj does a complete aboutface on this, putting out a statement saying theyre shocked by it. And then what do we see . One by one, all of these prosecutors start dropping off like flies from this case and then finally the culmination of a new sentencing memorandum and it reads like a defense brief, guys. They talk about roger stones age. They say basically he should be he should be given leniency. The sentencing memo that reads like the president unleashed. Its not just this. You know, its the firing of vindman, more firings are going to come. A top treasury position taken away from someone else. Listen, poppy, when you put it all together, the things that laura just described, those other cases of retaliation, the statements hes made about adam schiff hasnt paid the price yet, the invitation to Rudy Giuliani to submit information about the bidens to the Justice Department, theres no other way to look at this than as a straight up assault on the rule of law. And the question is, what will constrain it . The president , as ive written on cnn. Com this morning, is the First American president we had who does not recognize our societys distinctions between truth or falsity, right or wrong, morality or immorality. And that means theres every reason to expect more of this as we go forward. The one possible break on his actions are republicans in the United States senate. They have given no indication so far beyond mild and ineffectual expressions of concern that theyre going to do anything about it. Susan hennessy, you were a lawyer on the National Security council. Explain to us for folks who may not understand how unusual this is to have this kind of intervention, not just from the president but from the attorney general. These were career prosecutors who were following sentencing guidelines here. Yeah, one reason were seeing such tremendous pushback, not just from department of justice, but also from the prosecutors who have withdrawn from the case at least one resigned from the department over this, is because this is such an astonishing assault on the notion of independent law enforcement. And this is really an overt politicizization of whats supposed to be an apolitical process. There are processes within the department of justice to determine who to investigate, who to prosecute and what sentencing is appropriate to serve the interest of justice. Thats not a perfect process. It doesnt always produce faultless results but its a process that is designed to be based on the interests of justice and not based on who is the president s friends and who are his political opponents. And so what happened in this case is that process produced this recommendation, seven to nine years, consistent with the sentencing guidelines. And what occurred here is that because that wasnt favorable to the president s political allies, and political friends, the department of justice reached in and changed the rules and overruled people below it. And that really is an incredibly dangerous development. And i think john is right. We should understand it as an assault on the rule of law. Yet it was, you know, fascinating to hear the way that National Security adviser Robert Obrien defended the president y these actions. This after a number of republican senators have said over the last week they think the president learned a lesson from what we was impeached for. Here they were. I would think you would think twice before he did it again. The president is not going to simply ask another foreign power to investigate a political rival again . Yes, i think there are lessons that everybody can learn from it. I think the message has been delivered. So why do you have that feeling that he has changed, that he learned a lesson . Well, i may not be correct on that. Its more aspirational on my part. Its more that i hope that hes listened to the many voices and the senate who have pointed out that the call was very problematic. Manu raju just caught up with Susan Collins on the hill to press on whether she regrets the acquittal vote and how she defends the statement now. What did senator collins have to say . Well, she didnt exactly answer directly about whether or not she Still Believes the president learned a lesson from his actions. I asked her directly in light of the president s actions, do you think theres any lessons to be learned from being impeached and she said i dont know what actions youre referring to and then made clear, she didnt think anyone should be retaliated against. And that has to nothing to do with the basis by which i acquitted the president. She said the house did not meet its high bar to make the case to remove a president from off, something thats not happened in American History entering the Committee Hearing about whether he learned any lessons. She didnt answer that. She continued her argument about why the president should not have been removed from office and at the end said i dont know why youre equating the two. I said do you think the president learned his lesson . And she entered the hearing room. Shes she hasnt quite said exactly views on this this week in light of what weve seen since last weeks acquittal vote, the president s celebratory speech in the east room of the white house, defiant speech. Also the president s efforts to dismiss two impeachment witnesses and, of course, the news from yesterday about the president calling for a lighter sentence into roger stone, his allies at the Justice Department is now pushing for it as well. So those are the actions i was referring to and whether she believes the president still may have learned a lesson. But she didnt quite say directly that what she has seen here is a president who did not deserve to be removed from office based on what the house managers have presented. Guys . Manu raju, thanks. Thanks to laura for your reporting. John harwood, susan hennessy, thanks. A major headline out of New Hampshire. Progressives versus moderates, right . What does this mean for the two factions of the party and could the division help the president . Well took a lawmaker in support of mayor Pete Buttigieg, next. Nt count the wrinkles. But what i do count on is boost high protein. And now, introducing new boost women. With key nutrients to help support thyroid, bone, hair and skin health. All with great taste. New, boost women. Designed just for you. New, boost women. Johnsbut were also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. whistling because the tempurbreeze transfers heat away from your body. So you feel cool, night after night. During our president s day event, save up to 500 on tempurpedic. Find a retailer today at tempurpedic. Com. Save up to 500 on tempurpedic. Amazon prime video so when you say words like, show me best of prime video into this, youll see awesome stuff like this. Discover prime originals like, the Emmy Award Winning the marvelous mrs. Maisel, tom clancys jack ryan, and the man in the high castle. All in the same place as your live tv. Its all included with your amazon prime membership. Thats how xfinity makes tv. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Im feeing good right now welcome back. A clear takeaway from New Hampshire, democrats are divided. Progressive senator Bernie Sanders edging out moderate Pete Buttigieg, and then the moderate divide. Buttigieg facing some new pressure with a big surge for senator Amy Klobuchar. With me now is democratic congresswoman of New Hampshire, annie mcclane custer. Shes endorsing mayor buttigieg. Lets begin and welcome to cnn. Its your first appearance with us. Thanks so much, poppy. Great to be with you. Buttigieg is a twoterm mayor running against years and years of experience, senate experience, a former Vice President , eight years diplomatic experience. Joe biden says hes a good guy, a great mayor, but he was a mayor. In your opinion y , why is bide wrong . You can see it in the results in New Hampshire, Pete Buttigieg is honestly just an extraordinary person and that came through to the voters. Hes got a vision for america about health care for everyone and a clean planet, get passed climate change. But most importantly, he has the temperament that i think the American People are looking for. And when i was with him over the weekend, you could feel that in these big, big crowds that whenever we talked about the exhaustion that the American People are feeling from this president , to imagine a day we could be proud of the white house. We could be proud of the president. And this very, very calm demeanor. I have to keep coming back to that. He is unflappable, and thats what the American People are looking for. And i think honestly the message resonated about small towns, places that are left behind. We have a lot of that in New Hampshire. And they look up to their mayor. When the mayor of nashua endorsed Pete Buttigieg, thats meaningful to them. And the same old ways in washington are not getting the job done. Congresswoman, on the issue of experience and seriousness, you have heard time and time again in the last two weeks senator Amy Klobuchar go after mayor buttigieg for when he said this in a speech in iowa on january 28th. Lets listen. I am exhausted watching the coverage of what is happening in our nations capital. As though by design to make us want to switch it off and just watch cartoons or something. Get a break. Watch cartoons or something. She feels as though he didnt take the impeachment of the president seriously. Is she wrong . She is misinterpreting the phrase. He said almost by design the point being this white house is creating this exhaustion. Let me tell you, that was an exhausting week in washington, and i want to give credit where credit is due to the senators sitting through that trial, but from the perspective of the American People, its the dysfunction that is washington. We need to be getting things done. The house has passed 400 bills that are sitting on Mitch Mcconnells desk. 275 of those bills are bipartisan bills. Nothing is moving, and the American People are tired of that. South carolina, you have nevada and then South Carolina, and joe bidens camp is banking everything on South Carolina and especially on the africanamerican vote. In the latest national polling, its quinnipiac, mayor buttigieg only holds 4 of votes from africanamericans. Hes not been able to get that number up. Are you worried about that . Not in the slightest. And let me explain why. Nobody in New Hampshire had ever heard of Pete Buttigieg either. So to look at national polls, its frankly irrelevant. You need to look at the campaign that hes putting together. Weve got a good strategy heading out to nevada. Did you know internally how hes polling among africanamericans, for example, in South Carolina, what your your teams numbers are saying . Hes not known yet. Hes not known yet, and they are hovering around biden who is not going to be the most viable alternative. So i have no doubt over the next several weeks Culinary Worker Union announcement last night that they are going after Bernie Sanders because he wants to take your health care away, that gives a big opening to pete in nevada. And i am very confident that were going to see in addition to anthony brown, well see other members of the Congressional Black Caucus coming around pete. Ive had a number of inquiries on the house floor and conversations with people. This is going to play out over the next few weeks. And as they get to know Pete Buttigieg, the way we did, theyll see this vision for the future and this very even temperament. And theyll see that thats going to work with all types of voters, and im very excited about it. This was a big boost coming out of New Hampshire. Hes got the wind in his sails now. He heads out to nevada leading in the delegate count. After the first two contests. Nobody could ever guess that with a twoterm mayor. Here we go. Well see what happens. Congresswoman kuster, we appreciate your time. Great to be with you. Thanks. An early line of attack on Bernie SandersGoing Forward on health care. President trump is unleashing a series of power plays after his impeachment trial acquittal. Its worth watching this. Its important. Work is one less thing i have to worry about. vo why the aceves family chose verizon. We all use our phones very differently. These two are always gaming and this one is always on facetime. And my oldest is learning to be a pilot. 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I can read minds too. Really . Book at hilton. Com. If you find a lower rate, we match it and give you 25 off that stay. Expect better. Expect hilton. Since his acquittal, President Trump has launched personal attacks and seems to be out for political revenge against those he feels crossed him. And by crossed him that means telling the truth apparently during his impeachment. Now hes hinting the military might take further action against ousted Lieutenant Colonel alexander vindman. When you look at vindman, the person he reports to, said horrible things. Avoided the chain of command. Leaked. Did a lot of bad things. So we sent him on his way to a much different location, and the military can handle him any way they want. This may not be over. The suggestion has been made by the president there are more departures coming. Lets talk about this, what it indicates, whats ahead, politics reporter Chris Cillizza is here. And Senior Editor for the atlantic ron brownstein. Cillizza, you wrote about this in one of your columns yesterday, talking about the denial from the president because its not just vindman. Its the basically total aboutface at the Justice Department on the suggestion for the prison time for roger stone. What the president is saying here doesnt really matter because the facts are the facts. Hes trying to create, i think, a distinction without a difference. He said yesterday in the same oval office spray we just played, he said at one point, well, i involved myself a lot less. I didnt say anything to the Justice Department to which i would note you sent a tweet saying you think, as it relates to roger stone, he was wrongly accused. You have 70plus million twitter followers. If you think no one at doj saw that and the timing is coincidental, i have a video rental Company Called blockbuster you may be very interested in. Its very hot right now. This is just logic, right . Donald trump has long believed that there is a deep state conspiracy against him and it is focused in the department of justice. Remember, this is a president who publicly shamed and bullied his first pick to be attorney general, jeff sessions. This is not new. Beyond that, though, ron, its not just the belief of a deep state. The president is acting, it seems, in his own interests, right . Over best practices. Is it not . Because you see this not just against individuals. You see it against companies. Amazon is alleging that they lost a big Defense Department contract because he doesnt like the washington post. He equates himself with the state and no president ial authority, including those that have been essentially followed by every president through American History. Susan collins may have had the definitive quote of her career, when she said she believed and later that she hoped trump had learned his lesson from impeachment. In fact its clear from the last week he has learned a lesson from impeachment, only not the one she was alluding to. Hes learned no matter what he does, republicans in congress are going to be fearful of confronting him or constraining him in any way so that in effect there is no practical way of limiting these arbitrary exercises of president ial power and that is the reality that, you know, the country has to face Going Forward but also these republican senators will be on the ballot defending in november. In many ways hes sharpening the issue that they will face before voters this fall. Chris, the reaction was swift from those in congress especially democrats. Schumer, the minority leader in the senate, wrote this letter asking for the doj ig to investigate this, right . Yep. But i guess im wondering, after all that we saw happen with impeachment, to what end, right . What power does congress have here other than nadler or schumer really being vocal about their frustration. Then what . Well, it doesnt it has only as much power as its willing to take, poppy and to rons point, republicans are not going to play ball with this. So congress doesnt have a lot of power. Chuck schumer knows that. But he also, i think, feels compelled both for philosophic reasons. Moral reasons. And also political reasons to draw attention to this. Same thing with House Speaker nancy pelosi. I dont think either of them thought that donald trump was going to be impeached. 67 senators needed for removal, but they do it anyway believing it was the right thing to do. So i think thats what you see here. But the truth is, donald trump knows this, he is now, if he ever was constrained by concerns about congress, he is not now. Yeah, and the subpoena power of congress has been grossly diluted, it appears. I want to ask you a question, ron brownstein. The question has been, who are the adults in the room, or who is checking the president , his decisions, motivations on the inside . I want to quote his National Security adviser obrien because hes someone who has respect in the military. He said this is in defending vindmans firing. Were not a country where a group of Lieutenant Colonels can get together and dictate what the policy of the United States is. The policy of the u. S. Decided by elected president of the United States. So hes in line with the president on this decision. Do you see anybody in his circle today who will tell him the hard truth or disagree with him . Look, he has reached the point where he has essentially pushed out anyone who does not accept the equation of his own personal interest with the national interest. And will stand in any way. What we are seeing from william barr is extraordinary in the long sweep of American History. Possibly unprecedented in terms of his willingness to allow the white house, allow the president to kind of bend and shape the administration of justice. And then but i have to go back equally important are people like marco rubio yesterday saying, well, this is fine. And so we are kind of i dont know if were in the water where the frog is boiling or moving further and further into unchartered waters but either way, what you are seeing is the elimination both inside the government and from congress, constraints on the president and the only constraint being the choices that voters make in 2020. Chris cillizza, ron brownstein, sobering, buteis struggling campaign . Well ask a member of the Biden Campaign coming up next. Youll want to hear. With sofi, get your credit cards right by consolidating your Credit Card Debt into one monthly payment. And get your Interest Rate right so you can save big. Get a nofee personal loan up to 100k. Get a nofee personal loan give her something that will leave her with no doubt. Make this valentines day mean more. Jared. All right. Former Vice President joe bidens campaign in South Carolina this morning, literally in there, went last night, following a pretty disappear pointing performance in New Hampshire. The former Vice President finished fifth there. But before the polls there even closed, he went on to South Carolina where he hopes to have a better showing. Joining me now Communications Manager kate benningfield. Good to have you on this morning. Thanks for having me. These are two disappointing finishes for joe biden who claim going in had been electability. How do you answer voters who question right now whether he is the most electable candidate in the field . Well, lets take a step back here because two out of 50 states have voted in this process. This is not the entire nation. Its not half the nation. They have been predictive. No one has come out of those races with those finishes and gone on to be the nominee. No one has gone on to be the nominee who does not have the support of africanamerican voters. What youve heard from Vice President biden last night is that he believes that this race is moving forward where diverse voters will have their say. This is the base of our party. And for the most part the vast majority, for example, 99. 9 of africanamerican voters have not yet had their say in this process. So now the race goes to a place where diverse voters get to have their say and Vice President biden has been in this race, the candidate whos been able to rally that support, build that coalition. These are the voters that were going to need to turn out to beat donald trump. Thats where this race is now moving to today. Kate, i hear you on the black vote and youre right, it is so important and those voices really largely havent been heard in these first two contests. But i wonder if given that youre worried about the quinnipiac numbers that show this week a big decline for the former Vice President nationally among africanamerican voters. He has fallen in just two weeks from 49 support to 27 support. No, were not because joe biden has those long relationships in the Africanamerican Community. Black voters know him. They know his heart, they know his record. They know hes been there fighting for them for his entire career in public service. I think theres an important question we need to ask ourselves as we look at the candidates who are coming out of New Hampshire. Theres a lot of scrutiny that has yet to be applied to the records of candidates like mayor buttigieg, like senator klobuchar, like mayor bloomberg. We even saw this week that as he has gotten some traction in the polls he started to undergo some of the scrutiny that weve been undergoing since the day we got into the race. Some new audio emerging this week about his record on stop and frisk that he hasnt really answered for yet. So i think that there are really important issues that impact the Africanamerican Community and, frankly, all voters that were going to start debating in this race. So right now sanders is possibly the leader with Pete Buttigieg. An email went out from a pac supporting joe biden early this week warning that it would be a disaster for democrats to have sanders as the nominee. Is sanders a candidate in your view, in the view of joe biden, that would lose the democrats the white house . Look, i think President Trump is desperate to pin the label socialist on any democrat who runs. And with Bernie Sanders as the nominee, we have a candidate who happily calls himself a democratic socialist. I think up and down the ticket in places like michigan, like pennsylvania, like florida, places where we need to win, we need to be competitive to take back the white house and to take back the senate and to retain our majority in the house, i think that senator sanders at the top of the ticket is a tough sell. I think you only have to ask elected officials who are in those states who have come out and endorsed joe biden, who have said people who represent swing districts, people like Abby Finknauer that won a district that donald trump won in 2016. She was able to win it in 2018. She came out and endorsed joe biden and said hes the guy that we need at the top of the ticket in order to get democrats elected. Kate, final question for you. As a senator, the former Vice President voted in favor of welfare reform in 1996. Senator sanders in the house voted against it. Does he stand by that vote in favor of it . Look, i think this is an attempt to take votes out of context to try to smear im not smearing, i asked a very direct question. Does he still agree that was the right vote . I actually wasnt attacking you, i was attacking the campaigns who are moving this around to reporters trying to gin up no one moved it around to me. I read the transcript of an interview he did with nbc on this a few days ago. No one sent me anything. I think his entire i think in his entire career, Vice President biden has fought for working people, he has fought for middle class families, he has fought for africanamerican voters, for latino voters. I think voters know the totality of his record. They know that hes somebody that they can count on in the white house to fight for them and thats why they believe hes the best candidate to beat donald trump. I think his record across the course of his career, i would put it up against anybody in this race in terms of whos been there for hardworking people. Okay. Were out of time, but i was just looking for if he stands by it or not. Well have you back and talk about a lot more. Kate, thanks. Thank you. President trump is defending the Justice Departments decision to take charge in the roger stones sentencing recommendation going as far as congratulating his own attorney general, saying work well done for that remarkable reversal. A lot to talk about. Thats next. Here. But its still important to be prepared for whats next. At fidelity, we can help you build a clear plan for retirement without the unnecessary fees you might expect from so many financial firms. Well make sure you can cover the essentials, as well as all the things you want to do. Because when you have a retirement partner who gives you clarity at every step, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Heres wishing you the bluest sky theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Save up to 65 off top mattress brands. Mattress markdowns event now through february 24th. 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A president emboldened, a Justice Department under his thumb it seems. This morning congratulating his attorney general, bill barr, for, quote, taking charge. Suggesting his handpicked attorney general had a role in the reduced sentence recommendation of longtime