I do, but i have chosen so far not to. This is a blunt assertion of unitary executive power that seldom if ever heard from an american president and in response to a rare rebuke from bill barr who told trump to stop tweeting and talking about cases before the department of justice. You know, i think the i cannot do my job here at the department with a constant backgrou background commentary that undercuts me that is why i think it is time to stop the tweeting about the department of justice criminal cases. Lets ignore the attorney general plea following his public effort to assert insert control over the Justice Department for political purposes. The president lobbied for reduced sentencing recommendation for his political adviser roger stone and when the Justice Department did just that, he attacked the prosecutors who quit the case. And then he tried to intimidate the federal judge who are will decide stones fate next week. And last but not least, he attacked the leading member of the jury in the case and despite the attorney general public rebuke of trumps of trump, barrs work at the Justice Department still appears closely aligned, doernnt you think, wi the president s political purposes. According to people tame with the matter barr has assigned an outside prosecutor to scrutinize the criminal case against nasa security adviser Michael Flynn. The move is highly unusual and could trigger more accusations of political interference by the president. Im joined by charlie savage, and for the New York Times and Yamiche Alcindor and mieke eoyang and Charlie Sykes editor at large at the bulwark. Let me start with charlie savage. What would the president be up to here with Michael Flynn . Is he trying to spring him . Well, so to lay this out to your listeners just a little bit more, what weve learned is that two weeks ago when attorney general barr installed an interim u. S. Attorney here in washington over the office that has all of the politically contentious cases, oversees the roger stone case and Michael Flynn case and deciding to charge james comey and other things we dont know about and he also sent this an outside team of prosecutors, some from st. Louis, some from the Deputy AttorneyGeneral Office to impose a new layer of sup supervisory review handling the cases to be in a position to secondguess and micromanage these cases. Whether trump knew this was happening or barr did this on his own is an open question. But it is extremely unusual and part of the reason that that office was already in an uproar before this happened with roger stone and the pulling back of the sentencing guidelines recommendation that led those four attorneys to quit the case. Charlie sykes, are we seeing corrupting of the Justice Department here where the president and his attorney general who sort of walks in lockstep with him and thinks and acts that way are out there to use the Justice Department to clear his political attendants. Yes. And there is nothing stealthy about it. This is the thing about donald trump. He says the quiet part out loud. His vision of the presidency is the constitution gives him the power to do anything that he wants which includes attacking, harassing, indicting his political enemies, cutting slack to his political cronies and hes had had an attorney general who has been willing to do all of that. So as this revenge tour escalates after his acquittal on impeachment, i guess the only surprising thing is how blatant it is. So i see bill barr not as breaking with the president but simply as cya, saying, look, im going after your buddies, your cronies your friends but it is embarrassing if you give away the game by announcing it on twitter. Weve on talked in my generation the advantages of watergate with John Mitchell and the former law partner running the show and behind watergate. But since watergate the idea was that the a. G. Was an independent force in the country. An honest judiciary. Look, weve seen a breakdown of the norms. We have the fbi and tenyear term to insolate Law Enforcement from political influence. And what were seeing here is all of those lessons post watergate, this administration is not interested in them at all. They want their hands really on all of the levers, making all of the decisions, letting friends off, starting investigations of the people who are causing them trouble. This is exactly the kind of corruption that our government was trying to fight in ukraine when we were trying to say you cant do this kind of using the prosecution to hurt your enemies. As trump just mentioned, his tweet this morning asserted his authority to interfere with the department of justice even though he still denies doing it. It is not the first time the president has denied accusations of Improper Conduct while at the same time claiming he had ab lu absolute right engage in such conduct. I never told done mcgahn to fire mueller. Any wanted to fire mueller, i would have done it myself. It is simple. I had the right to. And whether i did or he did, we had the absolute right to fire mueller. In the meantime i didnt do it. And there would be nothing wrong if i did say it. It is not even under campaign finance. If it was, it is not even a violation. There was no pressure put on them whatsoever. I put no pressure on them whatsoever. I could have. I think it would probably possibly have been okay if i did. But i didnt. I didnt put any pressure on them whatsoever. Yamiche, lets talk about the power over all of the executive branches and including the Justice Department is under his thumb. Where did he get that the idea from. There is two things. The norms and traditions and then what is illegal and what is legal. Based on my conversations from former doj officials it is legal for the president to be as chummy as he wants to be with the attorney general. I put a question to so many both conservative and liberal people in the Justice Department and said what is the hypothetical, if President Trump calls up a. G. Barr and said change the sentencing for my friend, is that illegal and both of them said no. All of them said no. How powerful do they think they are theoretically . Could the president say let that guy go, hes a pal of mine . It sounds like he could do that. It sounds like my reporting and conversations that that is legal but the issue is norms and traditions, in america most times president s said there needs needs to distance between me and the Justice Department and now wee see a president emboldened after being acquitted of being impeached and a Republican Party given him the goahead to do things hes done with ukraine and china and he feels emboldened to say i could tweet about this if i want to. Obviously you see bill barr saying lets keep this lower than twitter. And now to what is the president s m. O. Beyond some constitutional theory that the president could tell the doj whatever to do. Justin amash, a former republican turned independent member of congress, criticized trumps claim today saying, it follows a standard trump progression, amash said that trump the trump first claims i didnt do it. Then it becomes, i didnt do it but i could do it. And then it becomes, i did do it, so what . And finally, i did do it and it was right to do it. This is unbelievable this does remind me of the early 50s with the alleged communist. What are you . What is your point here . Your thoughts . I think justin amash is right there. And weve seen this pattern before. And the really frightening thing as yamiche points out these are norms. There is nothing in the constitution or statutory prohibition so if the president wants to go full authoritarian, what stands against him . We know that the Justice Department so far has not been standing against him. We know that the republicans in congress wouldnt. So this is a genuinely alarming moment. I guess this is one of the moments where you want to put up a red flag and say, this is the essence of the attack on the rule of law. This may not be technically a constitutional crisis, but this is the essence of authoritarianism when the president claims he has untrammeled right to basically say i want you to go after this person and i want to punish my enemies and i want to let my friends off the hook. Look and by the way, we know how this will end. Hes going to pardon flynn and pardon manafort and will pardon roger stone and at the end of the day we know hes going to do all of this. And quite frankly this is one of the moments are where we have to look in the mirror and go are we still a nation of laws . You know, weve had had such a difference among attorney generals. I remember reporting on this digging it up for history purposes that joe kennedy sr. , the father of the president , said i want bobby, your brother, to be attorney general because i wanted to look out for you. That is why he was put there. And then you had a case under clinton which was so clean, janet reno, every time clinton called up she would say let me get my notebook so they could record very formally the conversation. And thousand we ha and now we president who is a synchronized swimmer who knows like a did butler knows what the boss wants. Yeah. Or thinks like the boss so much. And it is very the thing is it is all happening out in the open. It is not like this is some sort of secret pact and it is very clear as to what charlie im sorry, as to what the attorney general is doing here and what the president wants and the attorney general is following his guidance. I dont think theyre trying to hide this at all. Charlie. I want to say it is important for viewers to know that today the Justice Department announced they were not going to be charges against Andrew Mccabe, the former acting fbi director who is one of trumps enemies hes ville tied for the role in the russia investigation and this is an example coming one day after barr said back off, you cant be telling me what to do. Is it showing independentence. It is sending a signal of the nonpartisan use of the this power, were going to do this one thing and get away with the other things or is trump going to blow up at barr or accept this. This is the thing to watch. But in this conversation knowing that barr having gone out and fired the shot against trumps bow then did the opposite of what trump clearly wanted on mccabe is a hugely important fact. Well well see. Sally yates blasted the president in a scathing Washington Post oped writing that from the virtually the moment he took office President Trump has attempted to use the department of justice as a cudgel against his enemies and a shield for himself and his allies, detailing the misconduct yates warned that with every blow the wall of justice has wobbled a bit more saying that this week it teetered on the verge of collapse. Yes, yamiche, this. This is what i would say about the president. I think he has this political, some would say genius and some say outlandish that the president said things that are so openly go against the norms and he is aware to air it out there. In case in point when china should go after hunter biden. That took the wind out of it. Except that it was happening on the white house lawn and now the president tweeting, he could tweet as soon as we get off this show. He could tweet, Andrew Mccabe should have been prosecuted and i wish that would happen. What you have the president telling attorney general barr, you could do on tv and im in charge and i could say whatever i want to say and the Republican Party said the president can do whatever he wants. How does that translate to the person voting later this year on the president s reelection that he could be so bold that it is not just that he breaks laws, he ignores them and speaks publicly about how hes doing it in a way that is so outlandish that somehow it seems strong . Just simply strong. Yeah. Well, among the trump base theyll be people who say, look, hes draining the swamp and getting things done. And this, by the way, is something that is also, i think, terrifying, which is that leave ago side what donald trump is doing, what is he doing to the American Political Culture . Now republicans now are going to accept it this idea that the presidency, the imperial presidency could basically punish and use the department of justice as a cudgel or a shield for your friends. Are they going to buy into that . If they do, then the culture that has undergirded all of the norms and traditions will have been bad hi damaged. Once that jeanne is out of the bottle can we put it back in. Let me ask a political question. Simple fill in the blanks. Who do the trump people out there, in the country, the real voters, the 90 of the Republican Party that wants to get trump back in again next time, who do they want him to run against . Which democrat or whatever do they want to be his main challenger come november . Are you asking me . Charlie sykes. You, sir. No question about it. Bernie sanders. Every republican that ive talked to thinks that Bernie Sanders is the ideal candidate to run against because they think that you have a lot of swing voters in places like wisconsin who height be willing to be looking at a centrist democrat but if you are going full radical democrat socialist that is the deal breaker for a lot of swing voters. Charlie very much. You guys seem like friday neat people around here. Thank you. It is great to end the week with you. And yamiche, thank you. And emboldened by republicans who wont hold him accountable. President trump admits he was the one that sent Rudy Giuliani over to ukraine. He told geraldo rivera, yeah i sent him to get information on the bidens and now admitting it and targeting the state of new york, the state of new york in a new apparent quid pro quo to make it more difficult for new yorkers to travel on airplanes. Plus the stakes are high for democrats as they enter the critical threeweek period in the race to defeat President Trump. Starting off in nevada, then South Carolina and then 14 states on supertuesday. Wow, 40 . Meanwhile Trump Supporters are taking aim at mayor petes sexual orientation. It didnt take long as trump himself stokes division in the Democratic Party. We have much more to get to. Some of it rotten, actualliment sti actually. Stick with us. They get that no two people are alike and customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Almost done. What do you think . I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Theso i would understand. Ng every aspect of my treatment they cared about my victories. Theyre my second family. Call us at Cancer Treatment centers of america. Fidelity now has zero commissions for online u. S. Equity trades and etfs. And fidelity also offers zero account fees for brokerage accounts, plus zero minimums to open an account. And only fidelity offers four zero Expense Ratio index funds directly to investors. With all of those zeros, there are zero reasons to invest anywhere else. Fidelity. So maybe ill win saved by zero so maybe ill win 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 to hardball. Emboldened, you might say, in the nine days since his acquittal by the u. S. Senate on two articles of impeachment, President Trump is now admitting to his misconduct out in the open as we said. Out in the open now. In a radio interview yesterday with geraldo he acknowledged that he sent Rudy Giuliani to ukraine to dig up dirt on his political rivals. Was it strange to send Rudy Giuliani to ukraine, your personal lawyer, are you sorry you did that . Not at all. Rudy was a great crime fighter. You know that maybe better than anybody else. Of course. I interviewed him. Rudy is on his game. Rudy was a great crime fighter. Well geraldo is a lawyer too and he led trump right into it but trump wanted to do it, he wanted to admit that he did something hes been denying for months. That contradicts what he just said to geraldo his own repeated denials during the impeachment investigation itself that he had anything to do with giulianis trip to ukraine. Here is what he told bill oreilly back in november. What was Rudy Giuliani doing in ukraine on your behalf . Well, you have to ask that to rudy. But rudy i dont even know i know he was going to go to ukraine and i think he canceled a trip. But rudy has other clients other than me. Im one so you didnt direct him to go there on your behalf . No. No, but you have to understand, rudy is a great corruption fighter. No. No, no, i didnt send him. Well in an interview yesterday with geraldo he seld the American Intelligence Committee left him with a bad taste. So when you tell me about rudy, so here is here is my choice. I deal with the comeys of the world, and or i deal with in either words i was given a very bad taste of our Intelligent Department and one other thing about rudy, number one, he was the best. Best one one of the very best prosecutors an the best mayor. But also other president s had him. Fdr had had a lawyer who was practically totally involved with government. Eisenhower had a lawyer. They all had lawyers. For more im joined by raja crist gnaw. And you two should be able to handle this. Why the president so proud of himself, so freedomhinded that he doesnt care what he says. Hes now saying what hes lied about, apparently lied about for months, that Rudy Giuliani was his man in ukraine congressman . Well, i think that hes emboldened because he was acquitted. And this this follows a typical pattern for the president where he denies that he did anything, then he later says even if i did do it, it isnt wrong and then later said i did it, so what. As congressman amash pointed out before. And that is what is going on here. He clearly sent Rudy Giuliani to ukraine to conduct these investigatio investigation and the new piece of news that we learned today is not only is giuliani continuing the investigations but the doj under barr has set up some kind of special back channel where he can provide this information to the doj, i think i heard the office in pittsburgh is somehow receiving this information which is very, very disturbing to say the least. Well, cynthia, what do you make of that suggestion box or dirt box and in the doj on pittsburgh where if giuliani has some dirt or smear on one of the president s enemies or rivals, he could just throw it in the box and throw it into the system. Right. It is just amazing that the fbi isnt involved, didnt occur to anybody that we have an entire criminal Justice System that handles situations but the president likes his buddy giuliani and it is not working any other way and they dont like the prosecutors that theyve had had in the past that have said there is nothing to think of this. And so barr has gone form shopping. He not only is looking for attorneys to come in to work with giuliani but now hes also bringing in special groups to overlook the flynn case and trying to get doovers on anything the president is not happy with. Andrew mccabe, they couldnt get an indictment on mccabe so they said he wasnt goes to be prosecuted but theyre bringing in other lawyers to relook at the whole situation and it is a baitandswitch. So it is so sad for those of us who love the department of justice to watch as an entire generation of children, of millennials and the new generations are reared in a world in which the department of justice is a political weapon and not a place where justice is administered fairly and impartially. Congressman, what do you make the fact hes out there going after his enemies using Rudy Giuliani to dig up dirt or smear people he didnt like like joe biden or his family and apparently reviewing cases where he might be able to spring one of his people like flynn. I think it is deeply disturbing. I think at this point in congress and the house specifically, we have to exercise aggressive oversight in a way that perhaps we didnt do even before. I think that those folks at the doj will come to us for more money, theyll come to us for new programs, come to us for modifications of ole programs, and i suspect that my colleagues, saeshl especially on the Judiciary Committee will condition what they ask for on quote unquote good behave contributor and were not seeing it right now to say the least. And that is going to happen. Youre going to squeeze them a little or punish them a little. I think that at this point we cannot have taxpayer dollars aiding andn lawlessness. This is misconduct with a big m and i think at this point we have to do whatever it takes to prevent the worst excesses from happening further. Well, during the president s Senate Impeachment trial the trial art, Hakeem Jeffries of new york warned of the potential consequence cans of acquitting the president for abusing his power and soliciting a personal benefit. And if this senate were to say, thats acceptable, then precisely as was outlined in that question could take place all across america. The president could say, youre not going to get that money, mr. Mayor, mrs. County executive, mrs. Town supervisor, unless you you endorse me. The president could say that to any governor of our 50 states. Thats unacceptable. That cannot be allowed to happen in our democratic republic. That is one of the heroes of the house the operation investigation into the senate trial, Hakeem Jeffries of new york and now the president is being accused of looking for a quid pro quo with the state of new york. He suggested a link between his administrations decision to bar new yorkers from joining trusted traveller programs like global entry and the states investigations into his personal finances, get it. Quid pro quo. They shouldnt be doing that. Im going to punish them. Ahead of a meeting with andrew cuomo he tweeted he many must understand that National Security far exceeds politics adding new york must stop the unnecessary lawsuits and harassm. Cynthia what do you make of that quid pro quo, the president making it difficult for new york state citizens to travel because he doesnt like sanctuary cities or their prosecution of him . Right. Exactly. And he has tweeted before that theyre two interested in his lawsuit and situation and it is a misunderstanding of the way it works. Governor cuomo is not in charge of that lawsuit. Thos the attorney general. He believes what was said in the impeachment tile which is anything that is in his interest is acceptable. That is essentially what the argument was at his impeachment trial. And that is what he believes. And i believe i agree with the congressman, theyll have to be much more aggressive, all of the people involved at dhs in shutting down the trusted traveller programs. They should be in congress this week. Those United States attorneys who were forced to resign because of this stone case, they should be in Congress Next week. We need to shut down financially the department of justice. With we need to be more aggressive and we havent been enough. Thank you so much. Cynthia and congressman raja crist. Thank you. Up next, big stakes in the upcoming contest in nevada and South Carolina. A large field of democrats with support pretty much divided fairly evenly among the top tier candidates. It is not winnowing out yet. But of course Bernie Sanders is winning the cases, these elections but theyre very close. And lurking beneath it all is the important question of electability against trump. Youre watching hardball. With hepatitis c. I felt i couldnt be at my. Best for my family. In only 8 weeks with mavyret. I was cured. I faced reminders of my hep c every day. I worried about my hep c. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret. I was cured. Mavyret is the only 8week cure for all types of hep c. Before starting mavyret your doctor will test. If youve had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. Tell your doctor if youve had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant,. Other liver problems, hiv1, or other medical conditions,. And all medicines you take. Dont take mavyret with atazanavir. Or rifampin, or if youve had certain liver problems. If youve had or have serious liver problems other than hep c, theres a rare chance they may worsen. Signs of serious liver problems may include yellowing of the skin, abdominal pain or swelling, confusion, and unexplained bleeding or bruising. Tell your doctor if you develop symptoms of liver disease. Common side effects include headache and tiredness. With hep c behind me, i feel free. Fearless. Because i am cured. Talk to your doctor about mavyret. Thouwhich is Breast Cancer metastthat has spreadcer, to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Be in your moment. Ask your doctor about ibrance. Good morning, mr. Sun. Good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. Im gonna grow big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. Welcome back to hardball. With only eight days now until the nevada caucus, candidates are setting sights beyond the silver state to South Carolina and of course supertuesday coming soon thereafter. Today only former Vice President joe biden and senator Amy Klobuchar are on the ground in nevada. And new las vegas reyou have journal poll has sanders leading at 25 in nevada followed by biden at 18 . Hes holding up there. Elizabeth warren at 13 . Tom steyer is up to 11 and Pete Buttigieg and klobuchar even down at 10 ment it doesnt look like New Hampshire looked. Sanders is leading in nevada and today hes in the supertuesday states of texas and North Carolina where he got in a dig against michael bloomberg. The reason were going to win is i think all across this country people understand there is something wrong when we have a corrupt political system that allows billionaires to buy elections. Now, we may be oldfashioned, what we believe is in democracy, one person, one vote, not billionaires buying elections. While buttigieg is focusing his attention on supertuesday states, today hes holding multiple events in california and that states that the largest fub number of delegates, 415 and trump and his alleys are focusing on him. Not on his policies. But about him being gay. You wont believe it. And that is coming up next on hardball. whistling whistling wean air force veteran made of doing whats right,. Not whats easy. So when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa no matter how much you clean, does your house still smell stuffy . Thats because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. So try febreze fabric refresher. Febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. Use febreze every time you tidy up, to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. Fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. Make febreze part of your clean routine for full home freshness. La la la la la but when allergies and congestion strike, take allegrad. A nondrowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. So you can always say yes to putting your true colors on display. Say yes to allegrad. We have it this my way or the highway politics that suggests if youre not with me, you must be against me. If youre not for the revolution, you must be tor the status quo and most of us dont see ourselves in that picture. Ive heard some people say that my experience is not relevant because you have to have washington experience in order to become a president. We have to look at what kind of judgment that experience has brought. Well here he comes and welcome back to hardball. That is former mayor Pete Buttigieg criticizing not by name Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar. And while Pete Buttigieg is campaigning out west President Trump and the allies are questioning whether the white house is ready to have an openly gay man in the white house and it is called a possible sign of things to come. I would say that is true. Here is what the president and his allies had to say. Theyve got to be saying, des pute all of the great ground that has been covered, america is still not are ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president. And what limbaugh is different than i would have said it, he said there are democrats sitting there worried that this is going to be a bigger issue. Would americans vote for a gay man to be president . I think so. I think there could be some that wont and, you know, i wouldnt be among that group to be honest with you. To be honest with you. There is an interesting phrase by this president. To be honest with you. What does that mean. Michelle goldberg from the New York Times and ej dionne there the Washington Post and author of code red how progressives and moderates could unite to save our country. And lets start with red meat. Why would Rush Limbaugh who goes from 12 00 to 3 00 eastern time, thought travel time, not commuter time, i thought he would pick noon to get the people that are are just a certain crowd. Why would that be good for him audience . Why would he stoke up the antigay sentiment. Rush limbaugh is a bully and a bigot who people best know for calling a College Student a shut because she wanted Health Insurance to cover her birth control. I mean, of course Rush Limbaugh is going to gay bait buttigieg. And he goes for the lowest common denominator and remember his song about barack obama. I think it was barack the magic negro. And Rush Limbaugh, that is his stock and trade. Beyond that, i think that Rush Limbaugh has about this tribune of aggrieved and resentful masculinity, a generation of white men angry about their declining privilege and a sentiment that propelled trump to the white house and so of course theyre going to play the gender card against either a gay candidate or a woman candidate. Most people today, ej, you dont have to be a liberal that your birth and your origin and remember trent lott said you choose your orientation like 12 or 13 years old. Like going to walmart. And why would the man who just got the medal of freedom put around his neck by melania trump, at the state of the union address, go right to this level . Because that is why he got the medal of freedom. He got the medal of freedom from donald trump because he has recited and indeed lets give him credit invented some of the most important and often nasty rightwing talking points weve seen in the last 30 years. And i think in a way this is welcome to the big time Pete Buttigieg, because the fact that the right wing now feels they need to attack Pete Buttigieg by saying that the country wont vote for a gay man, shows that he is now a very serious candidate. And that this works, i think, only for much, much older voters. Because the country has swung around on this issue faster really than on almost any othy other issue in our history. We have bigger things to worry about. And in manchester the president tried to sow discard claiming that the chaos in iowa was the Democratic Party trying to steal the election from Bernie Sanders. Does anybody know who won iowa . Nobody knows who won. Actually, i think theyre trying to take it away from bernie again. I think bernie came in second. Can you believe it . Theyre doing it do you again, bernie. Theyre doing it to you again. The same playbook he used in 2016 when he argued the Democratic Party are rigged the primary against sanders. Here he was. Bernie sanders, it was a rigged deal. The whole thing is one big fix. Bernie, the system was rigged. Bernie sanders with the superdelegates and that whole deal was rigged. I watched Bernie Sanders, work, work, work, poor old bernie hes working, working, working and i said i think the system is rigged. The superdelegates, what happened to bernie, what happened. So there were crocodile tears if i ever saw them. Michelle, what is he up to. He thinks he can divide the Democratic Party and play on the suspicions of kind of the people who are most disaffected from the party establishment. I also think it is pretty clear that donald trump wants to run against Bernie Sanders. That might not necessarily be the right political judgment. There was a lot of democrats in 2016 that wanted to run against donald trump, right, and so im not saying that his judgment is right but i think that it is pretty clear that conservatives think that if Bernie Sanders gets the nomination thats the easiest path to the reelection. And this book is about uniting. How do you do it . In fact, i think that what trump said is why i wrote this book. Because if progressives and moderates spend time tearing each others hair out over difference that are are tiny compared to the differences both of them have together, we have donald trump and increasingly radicalized Republican Party, hes going to win. And he knows that. What i argue in the book is that progressives and moderates broadly want to move in the right direction and in the same direction. And whether your for single pay or health care or the public option, you want to make sure everybody has Health Insurance. That is usually different from the other side. Another point i make is about the power of negative thinking and that progressives and moderates need to think about how Ronald Reagan used three big antitax, antigovernment and anticommunism to construct a whole ideology and dominate our public thinking for about 30 years. And what trump represents, his attack on immigrants and refugees, his attack on the democracy, these are things that they both both sides believe we got to fight against. Okay. Great writer and great man. Ej dionne, academic and thoughtful leader. Michelle goldberg. Still ahead, polls point to a unifying issue for the democratic candidates. Gun control. It is a partisan issue. The republicans under this president are not serious about it. And they never cared that much about it altogether. But the democrats do. And the 2Year Anniversary today of the parkland shooting which cost the lives of 17 people. Well look at the promises trump made and the aftermath and versus what hes actually doing to put the stop to school shootings. Which is nada. Youre watching hardball. Liberty biberty cut. Well dub it. Liberty mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Dealing with our finances really haunted me. Ttle cranky. Thankfully, i got quickbooks, and a live bookkeepers helping customize it for our business. live bookkeeper youre all set up janine great vo get set up right with a live bookkeeper with intuit quickbooks. Everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. Expedia. For everyone you love. My agerelated macular degenso today i made a plan with my doctor, which includes preservision. Because he said a multi vitamin alone may not be enough. And its my vision, my morning walk, my sunday drive, my grandsons beautiful face. Only preservision areds2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the National Eye Institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. Its how i see my life. Because its my vision. Preservision. Fidelity has zero commissions for online u. S. Equity trades and etfs, plus zero minimums to open a brokerage account. With value like this, there are zero reasons to invest anywhere else. Fidelity. There are zero reasons to invest anywhere else. This is hals heart. Its been broken. And put back together. This is also hals heart. And his relief, knowing hes covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield. This is hals heart. And its beating better than ever. This is what medicare from Blue Cross Blue Shield does for hal. And with easy access to quality healthcare, imagine what we can do for you. This is the benefit of blue. Welcome back to hardball. Today marks two years, the two Year Anniversary but it is not something to celebrate since the devastating shooting at Marjory StonemanDouglas High School in parkland, florida. Remember that word, parkland. That tragedy and the Mass Shootings in this country have occurred since they have made gun reform a main issue in the 2020 campaign trail and the democrats are unified on it. Here they are. One of the biggest issues we have to face is gun violence in the country. It means passing sensible gun safety laws that protect our children and community. There is no excuse for us to go one day longer without acting to make sure that the Second Amendment can no longer be twisted into an excuse to do nothing at all when it comes to gun violence. We need National Background checks of our guns. We need to get weapons of war off our weapons of war off our streets. My prom tois you is that our gun policy will be written by the American People, not the nra. But President Trump appears to have gone in the opposite direction. As the Associated Press notes, as he primes the pump on this 2020 reelection effort, trump is going all out on embracing the mannedel of gun rights champion, a stark it urn from earlier in his presidency when he toyed with enacting stricter rules. Im joined by colin, heres your chance, use this medium, talk to the democratic candidates. Thank you for having me here tonight. First and foremost what is encouraging is seeing the fact that every single democratic cant dat is putting gun violence prevence front and center. And its clear because this is something that the American People are demanding, sick of seeing their children mowed down in schools, sick of being afraid of going to the mall or places of worship. We know first and foremost that expanding the brady background check system is a nobrainer. Over 90 of the American People support this. Bills hr8 and 11 12 pass. These close a lot of the loopholes, the charlston loophole, they are going to keep americans safer. Background checks . Background checks. But beyond that extreme Risk Protection orders. These are proven to keep guns out of the hands of others that are a risk to others. It would have stopped this tragedy at parkland. How would that work . If i am someone who is saying that i want to go shoot up a school, much like this parkland shooter did, who was known by the authorities to want to go do this, you could enact an extreme risk protective order, which temporarily takes guns away from someone or prevents them from getting new ones so they can get the help they need. When they ta you can about this being mental health, yes, but its also an access to guns issues. If people are able to go get help dont go and shoot up schools. If they cant get help but they can get a gun theyll shoot up a school. President trump has promised to act on gun violence. Here he goes. I can speak for all of the senators and congressmen and congresswomen, all of the people in this room that are involved in this decision, that we will act, we will do something. We will act. My government will not rest until we have done everything in our power to reduce Violent Crime and to protect innocent life. Its a terrible, terrible thing, whats going on with hate in our country frankly and all over the world. And something has to be done. Something has to be done. Well after the august shootings in dayton and el paso there had been discussion between trump and democrats on gun control but that stopped. Trump tweeted the democrats are so focused on hurting the Republican Party and the president that they are unable to get anything done because of it including legislation on gun safety. He laid it on the democrats. Which is a complete unfair and unacceptable charge. This is an american issue. This is not a partisan issue. It should not be. I should say. It is something that is supported by all americans. He can act right now. We have repeatedly called on him to tell Mitch Mcconnell to take up hr8 and 11 12. Better background checks, more comprehensive, and find out people that really are a danger making sure they dont get guns. Correct and renew the federal assault weapons ban. Thank you. Up next, the pathos of a concession speech. Youre watching hardball. [ applause ] thank you. Its an honor to tell you that Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. I love you only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Through the at t network, edgetoedge intelligence gives you the power to see every corner of your growing business. From using feedback to innovate. To introducing products faster. To managing website inventory. And network bandwidth. Giving you a nice big edge over your competition. Thats the power of edgetoedge intelligence. Can you help keep these iguys protected online . . Easy, connect to the xfi gateway. What about internet speeds that keep up with my gaming . Lets hook you up with the Fastest Internet from xfinity. What about wireless data options for the family . Of course, you can customize and save. Can you save me from this conversation . That we cant do, but come in and see what we can do. Were here to make life simple. Easy. Awesome. Ask. Shop. Discover. At your local xfinity store today. Im a romantic about politics. I like it when a person stands up for what he or she believes and accepts the consequences. I think the great moment of truth can be the concession speech when the candidate is told its over and they have 15 minutes to get up an say theyve come up short. Sometimes the concession speech is more memorable than the one by the victor. Heres add lay stevenson after losing the presidency to dwight d. Eisen powehower of november 1952. Abraham lincoln, asked him how he femt once after an unsuccessful election, he said he felt like a little boy who had stubbed his toe in the yard. That it that he was too old to cry, but it hurt too much to laugh. [ applause ] the great addly stevenson. Here are two candidates, first andrew yang. I stand before you tonight and say that while we did not win this election, we are just getting started. This is the beginning. This movement is the future of american politics. This movement is the future of the Democratic Party. And colorado senator michael bennet. Tonight is not going to be our night. But let me say this to New Hampshire. You may see me once again. I got in this race because i love our country, i love america, i love the idea of democracy, and i want to make sure that our generation passes this democracy intact at least if not in better shape to the next generation of americans. Well, not always poetic of course, but generally truthful. Sometimes the best speech of the campaign. And thats hardball for now. Happy valentines day, especially to the guys that dropped out. All in with chris hayes starts right now. Tonight on all in. No i didnt speak to id be able in i wanted. New alarms over the president s abuse of the Justice Department. Hopefully somebody is going to look at the other side. Tonight chuck rosenberg. Plus is there really such a thing as a moderate and progressive lane in the democratic primary . Organizers attempting to lay the