Transcripts For MSNBCW The 11th Hour With Brian Williams 20200209

Democrats to tell us with any certainty who won. And lets not forget the first primary now four days away. All of it as a special Early Edition of the 11th hour gets under way on this friday night. Well, good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. Day 1,114 of this trump administration. 270 days to go now until the 2020 president ial election, and for good measure, four days until the New Hampshire primary. As you may have noticed, we are trading places tonight as we come to you during the 8 00 p. M. Eastern time hour because chris hayes will be coming on at 11 00 eastern tonight with a Live Audience from New Hampshire following tonights democratic debate there. Now quickly to the news of this night, which could become known as revenge friday. Tonight two star witnesses of the impeachment hearings are out of their jobs, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman is out at the National Security council at the white house. Gordon sondland, ambassador to the eu, who donated 1 million to the trump inaugural effort, is out of his post. He has been recalled as our ambassador from brussels. Remember it was sondland who supplied this testimony. Was there a quid pro quo . As i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting, the answer is yes. Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret. Tonight sondland said in a very different statement, quote, i was advised today that the president intends to recall me Effective Immediately as United States ambassador to the European Union. I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve. And now we move on to Lieutenant Colonel vindman, escorted out of his job and off the white house grounds as was his twin brother, who was also assigned to the nsc. Vindman, as you may recall, is a decorated wounded war veteran and purple heart recipient. He raised concerns about the president s call with the ukrainian president. Thats what his testimony was about. His lawyer said in a statement, quote, there is no question in the mind of any american why this mans job is over. Lieutenant colonel vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. Yesterday at the white house, trump made reference to both men and the infamous phone call as he celebrated his acquittal. Fortunately for all of us here today and for our country, we had transcripts. We had transcribers, professional transcribers. Then they said, oh, well, maybe the transcription is is not correct. But Lieutenant Colonel vindman and his twin brother, right, we had some people that really amazing. This morning the president was asked whether he wanted vindman out of the white house. Im not happy with him. You think im supposed to be happy with him . Im not. The Washington Post says trump has had vindman in his crosshairs for some time. Stands to reason. They report this. Trump has complained about vindman in private, mocking the way he spoke, wore his uniform, and conducted himself during the impeachment inquiry. He has discussed with aides removing other National Security officials who testified or cooperated with House Democrats with trump calling them disloyal. Earlier today senator Susan Collins, who is still defending her vote to acquit trump, was asked about the possibility that he might retaliate against Lieutenant Colonel vindman. I obviously am not in favor of any kind of retribution against anyone who came forward with evidence. Now of course thats done. You may recall vindman addressed the issue of retribution and potential consequences from his testimony when he recalled his fathers decision to emigrate from the soviet union to the u. S. In russia, my act of expressing concern to the chain of command in an official and private channel would have severe personal and professional repercussions. Dad, im sitting here today in the u. S. Capitol talking to our elected professionals talking to our elected professionals is proof you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the soviet union and come here to the United States of america in search of a better life for our family. Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth. There is also news on the 2020 election front tonight four days out, of course, from the New Hampshire primary. The latest nbc news marist poll shows the race narrowing to four main candidates. Well have more on that later. Meanwhile, trumps former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer is now endorsing Mike Bloombergs bid to keep the president from winning a second term. Spencer, you may recall, was fired after he opposed trumps decision to pardon a navy s. E. A. L. Who had been charged with war crimes. Hes the first trump political appointee to come out in support of one of his former boss opponents in the 2020 race, and today spencer explained why he is backing Mike Bloomberg. We need leadership, proven leadership like mike. We need honesty. We need integrity. He respects opinions. He is not the sole i have the only answer, which is a very dangerous position to be in. We will get to our leadoff discussion in just a moment. But for the very latest, we are joined by telephone with peter baker, chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times. Peter, lets take on mr. Sondland first. He would be forgiven for saying for my million dollars, this is what i got now, the inability to have dinner in a restaurant unrecognized and an asterisk next to my time as u. S. Ambassador to the eu. Well, thats right. Of course Gordon Sondland is one of the key witnesses in the impeachment hearings back in november. He testified that everybody involved was taking orders from the president and everyone was in the loop. But of course today he was told he has to give up his post as European Union ambassador. Now, he had been interested in leaving anyway for a few weeks. Today they called him and said, you have to leave today. They didnt want to do that on the same day that colonel vindman had been fired because they didnt want to look like he was somehow the same and being purged. They said fine, and they fired him according to our people. He was told he had to come back now as the ambassador, and he put out a statement. In his case, a gracious statement thanking the president for the opportunity to serve, but clearly not the way he wanted to leave his service. Peter, is it over, or could this be just the beginning . Well, i dont think its over. You know, certainly the president has made very clear in the last two days since his acquittal that he is anxious for payback. Hes very angry at the people he considers to be his tormenters. Hes lashed out at senators and Congress People and these are only two witnesses that are working in the government. But others still in the government, well see if any of them see any consequences as a result of this. The White House Press secretary herself, stephanie grisham, said on fox that the people who hurt the president should pay for it, and i think were seeing the beginning of that right now. Peter baker, chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times, thank you for calling in late and lending your reporting to this. And now to our leadoff discussion on a friday night. And for that, ashley parker, Pulitzer Prizewinning White House Reporter for the Washington Post and, for good measure, carol leonnig, Investigative Reporter for the Washington Post and coauthor of along with phil rucker of the New York Times bestseller a very stable genius donald j. Trumps testing of america. Good evening and welcome to you both. And, ashley, it was its been said that the president called for ambassador yovanovitchs dismissal. Lev parnas said this in the interview several times without result. Weve heard him on tape saying, get her out, take her out. He was not listened to then, but hes being listened to now. He sure it, brian. And thats what weve been chasing this for a while. Were seeing it now, and what youre seeing is a president emboldened. Some of his aides will say he has the right to have staffers who he chooses surrounding him. But he made very clear in that east room sort of freewheeling not quite speech stream of consciousness that he has a very clear enemies list. This is how he ran his business, his real estate business. This is how hes run his government. You are either for him, or you are against him. You are with us, or you are not with us. And he is publicly planning on making these people pay. I want to add one more person who has not been purged because he cant be purged. But whats striking to me was senator romney. Senator mitt romney, of course, the only republican not to acquit the president , and hes not up for reelection for four years. But President Trump is sort of using romney in addition to these people he has actually fired the white house released talking points against him. The president trashed him at a Prayer Breakfast in the east room. Its very clear if you are not in lock step with this president , he will come after you publicly and with all the levers of power he has. Of course the difference is mr. Romney, who seems comfortable with his life, it may not matter to him. Also before taking on the romney name in his home state, you best be ready. Care leonnig, what does tonight what does the last 12 to 24 hours expose about the Trump White House that youve reported on . Whats the lesson from it . You know, its chilling to hear the words, you know, they will pay a price for what theyve done, my enemies, and i couldnt agree more with ashley about the president s perspective here. But remember what is it that Lieutenant Colonel vindman did . What is it that is so criminal about his behavior . He wasnt blindly loyal to the president. What he was blindly loyal to was the constitution and the truth. He received a subpoena, a legal one. He complied with it. He came forward, and he told the truth about his experience, which is that as a career Public Servant without fear, without favor, without a desire to be partisan, he played his role of listening in on a call with a foreign leader, and he was disturbed hearing the president basically ask a foreign power to investigate an american citizen, and he thought it could be against the law and certainly was improper. Having someone pay a price for that is striking, but it shows the theme about this presidency, which is you will do what i say no matter what your role is. President trump often views these institutions with long histories of being nonpartisan as tools that he should use for his own selfperpetuation of power, to burnish his image. Every politician wants to stay in power, but we dont usually mess with every institution, different branches of government, and demand that it serve us. Ashley parker, is there any evidence these personnel moves, which im sure will be branded some version of the modernday friday night massacre will Republican Office holders find them triggering or, even worse, troubling . They may. Chances are that is a sentiment they will only express in private with certain notable exceptions, and that was what was also so striking when you watched the president in the east room the other day. He was surrounded by republican lawmakers who were clapping, cheering, applauding, and seeming to revel in the president s behavior and in his enemies list and even in the obscenity that he used. And so a lot of lawmakers, they are willing still occasionally to criticize him in private, and behind the scenes, but when they look at mitt romney, they see this is what happens if you are not with the president publicly, and a lot of them do not want to pay that political price publicly. Carol leonnig, the political pros that this white house has working in its political shop may well be urging the president , move on. Set new sights. The future is ahead of us. As youve chronicled, as youve written about, slights and revenge are thing he lingers upon. Absolutely, brian. This moment today, you know, watching the last few hours unfold at the Washington Post, reminded me so much about the 2018 elections, you know, when the president was hoping that the house would not flip to the democrats and hoping that republicans would stay in control. And he also was nursing a grudge, a grudge against the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who had been his first and most loyal supporter, his most prominent supporter in his campaign, the first senator to jump onto the trump bandwagon. And somebody he crowed about as being the most important first believer in his campaign. But he was nursing a grudge about Jeff Sessions doing what was the ethical choice and also by the right choice under the department of justice guidelines to recuse himself from the russia investigation. But the president was so furious, and before those elections, he wanted to fire sessions. His political aides and allies, the republicans told him dont do it. There are consequences. Dont do it until after the election. And what happened . About 15 minutes after the election, which wasnt too good for donald trump at least and not for the republican party, he fired sessions on the spot. Today was a lot like that. Acquittal and 15 minutes later, in terms of news cycles, Lieutenant Colonel vindman and sondland are out. And i guess, ashley, were exactlying expecting a counterattack backlash on former Navy Secretary spencer now. I would assume so, yes. This is the sort of thing that gets under the president s skin. Again, he expects people to be loyal to him, and for someone who was an appointee now not just criticizing him but going to and, again, not just one of his potential rivals but a rival who really gets under his skin because mayor bloomberg in many ways is the version that trump tries to present, an actual selfmade billionaire. He also comes from new york, and he has shown on twitter that so far, at least, hes impervious to the president s attacks. He likes to go after him. He likes to needle him. So to have this Richard Spencer go and join his campaign and support him is something that the president will be paying close attention to, very frustrated by, and i would not be surprised if there was some sort of tweet. Carol leonnig, whats the reelection effort going to look like . Which the reelection of the president . Yeah. If were at take no prisoners in february. Yes. Well, i mean the trajectory of this president is, if you can believe it, increasingly emboldened. Every obstacle that he hurdles, every one that he blows past, a criminal investigation that found substantial evidence that he had engaged in obstructing a criminal probe that was looking at him and his campaign, he triumphed over that investigation, and not just because he was a sitting president that couldnt be charged. He claimed he was exonerated, and he convinced a lot of supporters that thats exactly what he was. And now this, acquittal after he did, as Lieutenant Colonel vindman found, as he asked a foreign power to get involved in our domestic elections, what fiona hill called a domestic political errand. Hes triumphed over that as well. And in each moment he has found a new way to shake up this snow globe of washington a little more briskly and to challenge what we view as sort of the independence of each of these branches of government. Again, back to the idea that everything should be in service to donald trump and the perpetuation of his power. I will add one last thing, brian, which is about the Navy Secretary. So many people in the military, in the senior cadres, former and current, have great concerns about the president blowing through the code of conduct that the military has. Mmhmm. And that decision that he had with regard, that pressure he applied to people with regard to eddie gallagher, that really was scarring, and its something that not just former secretary spencer is upset about. Many, many people are disturbed by that in the pentagon. Two Pulitzer Prize recipients, both from the Washington Post to start us off on a friday night at the end of this long week. Ashley parker, carol leonnig, our thanks for being here. Coming up for us, republicans had hoped trump would learn a lesson from the impeachment fight, but our next guest says its the gop that is getting taught the lesson. And later, a look at where the democratic race is as of tonight as the party struggles to recover from a debacle and with just days to go until the next contest as the 11th hour is just Getting Started on a friday night. As a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. At liberty butchumal cut. Liberty biberty cut. Well dub it. 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All the money that the democrats spent, and the votes are fried. They have no idea who won. They have no idea. But we do have this result from the Iowa Caucuses. Its a tshirt that reads this shirt was designed and printed faster than the caucus results were released. I dont mean to indicate we have any actual results, mind you. In fact, we have not declared a winner, and at some point we do have to move on. The calendar insists upon it. We are four days away from New Hampshire for starters. Its off to the races from there. No one around here feels that more than our National Political correspondent steve kornacki, standing by at the big board with the next states up in the hopper. Yeah, brian. We got brandnew numbers here from nbc news. Our nbc marist poll of New Hampshire. You mentioned we may not have an official result in iowa. Tonight we may not have one were totally confident in ever. But what happened in iowa or at least what seems to have happened, what people perceived as happening does seem to be affecting New Hampshire right now. Heres the poll out just a couple hours ago. You see sanders continues to lead here. Buttigieg seems to have gotten a benefit from iowa, however in second place, only a couple points behind Bernie Sanders. And one of the reasons that buttigieg seems to be benefiting here, you can see down in fourth place, joe biden seems to be slipping here. Theres been other polls that have shown him at or near the top in New Hampshire. Now the polls suggest he is slider to either a distant third or fourth place. You see him 13 percent here. One of the things in the polls that are out there right now that youre seeing is that biden base. What had been that biden base, a chunk of it does seem to be moving towards buttigieg, particularly older voters, particularly 65plus. You also see klobuchar, steyer, yang, gabbard rounding this out. I mentioned age. You can show the breakdown in New Hampshire again. Saw this in iowa. Seeing it again in New Hampshire here. Under 45 years old, it is sanders the runaway leader. Warren in second. You see buttigieg there basically two to one behind sanders. Then you flip it around, and this is the change. Buttigieg now leading 45plus. Sanders actually getting 18 . Biden typically when weve shown this category in New Hampshire and nationally, biden has typically been leading this category, over 45. This is the switch from what were used to seeing. Thats the buttigieg surge right there. And of course it does raise the question, can he pass Bernie Sanders . Is this gary hart in 1984 all over again where you get that head of steam in iowa, you roll it into New Hampshire, and suddenly you got something going. We will see. Or is sanders able to hold him off or somebody else able to get hot in the final few days. You mentioned after New Hampshire whats going to happen. Were going to go to nevada. One thing that happens after nevada is the electorates in these democratic contests, they get more diverse. In nevada, youll have voters who are africanamerican, who are hispanic. This is a poll here from early january, but you can see joe biden led then. Sanders was right behind him. Warren, buttigieg. Obviously you want to see in the next poll has that biden number come down based on what were now seeing . Is that buttigieg number moving up . And sanders, keep in mind, when we have polled hispanic numbers nationally, Bernie Sanders has been leading. So there could be an opportunity there for him in nevada. And of course this is the one its all building towards at the end of february, South Carolina. This has been talked about as joe bidens firewall. There was this poll from the post and courier in South Carolina this week that got some attention. Biden still leading, but wow. Weve seen polls putting him 20, 30 pois up in South Carolina. This one has him only five points ahead of Bernie Sanders. Is that an outlier poll . Is that the sign of a trend . Is that whats going to keep happening if biden isnt winning in these early states or even coming that close to winning . That is a poll there that got a lot of attention, brian, and i think for the Biden Campaign, they talk about South Carolina as their firewall. They cant be seeing that. Steve kornacki, it will be fascinating to see the next wave of numbers out of all of these places. Thanks for a great week of coverage. Another break for us. When we come back, well talk about the week that was in politics. Rick warren standing by to talk with us. Anding by to talk with us. What . Parked it right there. Male voice what did i tell you, boys . Tonight we eat like kings chuckling youre a genius, gordon brake hit the brake uh, which ones the brake . crash, bottles smashing stop stop stooop brakes squealing whats happening . What . Theres a half of cheesesteak back there. 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You can live your entire life and never hear anyone refer to a phone call as perfect. Theyre just phone calls. But the president is nothing if not willing to slavishly repeat his various catch phrases. And he did it again at his east room acquittal slash not guilty celebration. But as weve seen over these past several days, some republicans dont exactly agree. I call it a perfect call because it was. So youre saying its not perfect. I get that. But if its not maybe not the perfect call. Tim scott, i dont know if tims here, but he says, sir he was the first one to call me. Sir, i read the transcript. You did nothing wrong. Was it a perfect call . Ive said from my first interview to this interview that it was not a perfect call. Think of it, a phone call. A very good phone call. If a call like that gets you an impeachment, i would think you would think twice before you did it again. We went through hell unfairly, did nothing wrong. Did nothing wrong. There were so many of us who are republicans in the senate who were very critical of the call. The call was wrong. So on that note, back with us tonight, rick wilson, longtime republican strategist, cofounder of the lincoln project, a superpac created by conservatives with the aim of defeating trump and trumpism. His new book, which we hope youre aware of by now is running against the devil a plot to save america from trump and democrats from themselves. Before the break, you may have heard me rename our guest after the evangelical author rick warren. He now has permission to call me brian wilson after the beach boys mastermind. Lets blame it on a long week, unusual studio for us, and a strange time slot. Youre on the west coast. Forgive me, please, rick wilson. Were all punchy this week, my friend. First question to you. Including tonights personnel moves, what has just happened this week, just this week to the american presidency . Well, donald trump, you know, he learned a lesson all right. Not the one that all the Pearl Clutchers like Susan Collins thought he was going to learn. Hes not chastened. Hes liberated. He knows he will face no legal sanction for whatever he does. He knows between Mitch Mcconnell and bill barr hes got a solid wall where the proverbial murder on fifth avenue could happen, and nothing would occur. So he is now engaging in the usual sort of behaviors he engages in, which is seeking vengeance on everyone who told the truth. And he knows even though that is retribution against a witness is illegal in federal courts, he knows he will face no sanction from it, so it will continue. When criminals dont get caught, they keep doing crime. Rick, there was something about yesterdays east room event, the pliant senator lee from utah standing up in front of the president. The attorney general grinning and enjoying the event in the front row. Mmhmm. That was trigger to a whole bunch of people in the center and on the left. Well, i guess that article 1, section 9 of the constitution about no royalty in the u. S. Is out the window now because they were the republicans in that room yesterday were behaving as if donald trump was a king. And im really disappointed in mike lee in particular, when he sat there mutely and watched this president attack mitt romneys mormon faith and didnt stand up and walk out of the room. Thats what a man would have done. Thats what someone with integrity and a spine would have done. But instead they bob their heads up and down and clap like trained seals. I want to play for you some of what the president said. This was a portion on hunter biden, and this is going to lead us into a little bit of tough love for the Democratic Party. Mmhmm. But they dont think its corrupt when a son that made no money, that got thrown out of the military, that had no money at all, is working for 3 million up front, 83,000 a month, and thats only ukraine, then goes to china, picks up 1. 5 million. Then goes to romania, i hear, and many other countries. They think thats okay because if it is, is ivanka in the audience . Is ivanka here . My kids could make a fortune. They could make a fortune. Its corrupt. So rick wilson, in addition to olympian gaslighting there unbelievable. Folks watching dont know whats true and false there in that telling of Hunter Bidens story. And the reason is that trump owns the biden story, and much to Chris Matthews frustration, joe biden hasnt given the speech of his life to reclaim his own familys truths and falsehoods. Right. You know, i think theres a conflict at the top of the Biden Campaign over how to address it. The way to address it is to go straight at it. And frankly the way to address it is to go straight at the trump kids, who are making money off the presidency. The way to address it is to go right at ivanka, who is getting patents and trademarks in china while she is serving in the president s most inner circle in the white house. The way to go at it is to go after jared kushner, who is again the president s minister of everything, who has been bailed out with 650 million of money to save his familys failing real estate enterprise in new york from gulf states. This is an outrageous set of hypocrisy, but trump knows he plays this game. If it goes unanswered, it becomes the truth in the minds of many, many voters. So the bidens have to get up here. They have to punch back on this. I said this at the time. They should have welcomed hunter biden as a witness in the senate. They should have said, sure, bring it on. Well be happy to strip the bark off this thing. By the way, were going to come visit the trump story as well because the entire family is profiting off the presidency, including the president himself. As of this february night in 2020, do you see a democrat right now who can beat donald trump . Look, there are a lot of ways to get home, but the path is very steep. It is very rocky. Its why i wrote the new book, because there are a lot of ways they can mess this up. A say this a lot. Donald trump may not be able to win this election, but they can absolutely lose it. Day 13 of a book tour. Miles to go before he sleeps. That man is rick wilson. Thank you, sir, very much for coming on our friday broadcast. Thank you, sir. Coming up for us, the iowa caucus chaos raised the stakes for the president ial hopefuls in New Hampshire. Their response when we continue. R insurance so you only pay for what you need. What do you think . I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. 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Tell your doctor if youve had Mental Health problems. The most common side effect is nausea. Talk to your doctor about chantix. Yeah. Only pay for what you need with Liberty Mutual. The most common side effect is nausea. Only pay for what you need with Liberty Mutual. Con Liberty Mutual solo pagas lo que necesitas. Only pay for what you need. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Im reading some headlines from newspapers about Pete Buttigieg. Pete buttigieg has most exclusive billionaire donors of any democrat. That was from forbes. I like Pete Buttigieg. Nice guy. But we are in a moment where billionaires control not only our economy but our political sanders with his first shots at mayor pete and his fundraising strategy. The two emerged, we think, from the Iowa Caucuses as frontrunners. Were pretty sure heading into tuesdays New Hampshire primary. Here to talk about all of it, our guests tonight, donna edwards, former democratic member of congress from the great state of maryland, who is these days a Washington Post columnist. Jon ralston, editor at the nevada independent, who will also be one of the moderators at the nbc news msnbc democratic debate in las vegas the 19th of this month. And with us from New Hampshire tonight, our friend jonathan allen, nbc news senior political analyst. Okay, gang. Donna, id like to begin with you. How do the democrats recover from a consensus, straightup, ongoing debacle . You know what . They got to put it behind them. Thats what i think. I mean its really clear to me that, you know, iowa, number one, i hope it was the death knell of these caucuses. It makes no sense in an environment where we have people working all kinds of hours and, you know, all kinds of jobs, and they cant afford three hours to sit in a gym to move from corner to corner. So i hope thats over. I think the smartest thing for the democrats who are onstage tonight to do is to put iowa behind them, reboot for New Hampshire, and really communicate with voters who are casting actual ballots, and then move on from New Hampshire because neither New Hampshire nor iowa is really representative of the Democratic Party base or of america. I mean it is not these states, i love them. I went to school in New Hampshire. But theyre not diverse at all, and its really time for us to get into the meat and potatoes of this campaign. All right. Jon ralston, im looking at you. This is entering the time of year when i dont think i believe any polling over 24 hours old. That sure as hell includes the last sweep of polling in nevada. What is going to shape the caucus where you live . Well, its interesting, brian. I think what you said is true about not believing polling. But i especially dont think you should believe any polling in nevada, and there hasnt been some in some time anyhow. Mostly its been biden ahead, then sanders, warren, and mayor pete is in Single Digits here. But we have to see what happens in New Hampshire because what happens in iowa and New Hampshire does affect nevada. And if Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg do well in New Hampshire, then nevada is going to become a make or break state for joe biden. He is going to have to do well here. He has been doing well here, brian. But i think that whats slowly going to happen if he finishes in third or fourth in New Hampshire is that people are going to really start questioning whether he is a viable candidate or not, and theyre going to go all out to try to save him here in nevada, which to donnas point, is a much more diverse state than either iowa or New Hampshire. Jonathan allen, that brings us to you. How deep is the despair in the Biden Campaign coming out of, again, what we believe to be the result of iowa . And what change did they make today . I think despair probably overstates whats going on within the campaign, which is a little bit of an indication of some of the problem with the campaign. The despair is more among the supporters, the concertan is mo among the supporters, the donors. I think the Biden Campaign believes the former Vice President can get through this set of primaries, the early set of primaries, get to South Carolina, particularly where theres a large africanamerican population, and rebound. But the problem is they got to convince the people who are giving them money that thats the case. Theyve got to convince elected officials, surrogates, donors, folks like that who might be looking in another direction, and weve heard a lot of that in the last week or so, convince them to stay on board. The big change in the campaign, which i think was necessary as a step to show that they were taking seriously those concerns, was you saw anita dunn, who was high up in the Obama Campaign in 2008, was given an expanded role in the headquarters, and thats sort of the big message theyre sending us, that theres somebody with that experience from the 2008 campaign who is going to get a little bit of a role adjustment, making her more powerful over some of the operations and giving one of those one of those hands with more experience equatable power to one of the sort of younger set. All three of our guests are going to stay with us over this break. Coming up, the president echoing his message to a Critical Group of voters who could make a huge difference in november. The question is can he count on them . vo parents have a way of imagining the worst. Especially when your easily distracted teenager has the car. 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The president again saying it out loud and doubling down now on his 2016 pitch to africanamerican voters during an appearance this afternoon in charlotte. Africanamerican turnout, as we all believe will be crucial in november. With us tonight, donna edwards, jon ralston, and jonathan allen. Donna, our mutual friend Jason Johnson was on with our mutual friend Nicolle Wallace this afternoon, and im going to play for you what he said to explain some unreferenced Michael Bloomberg mentions he has picked up in life. Well talk about it on the other side. The story that i am hearing, ask its not just from older people, is if joe biden falls, if he older people, if joe biden stumbles. If he falls, black voters are desperate to get donald trump out of office. That is the driving force. And many are saying i will support Mike Bloomberg even with his stop and frisk, even with gentrification, because they want donald trump out of there. And i dont think joe biden and mayor pete have convinced anyone they can win a general election. Ive been saying from the beginning, a year ago, that, you know, the Democratic Base is black voters, particularly black women. And the candidates started off with this idea that they were going to really reach out to black voters. And then it quickly disappeared going into iowa and New Hampshire. And i think particularly, with Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, they register almost no support among black voters. And i think thats very problematic, and its their job to reach black voters. Its not black voters job to say you know, when am i going to choose them . And black voters are feeling an existential threat by the president of the United States. And it happens every single day. And so this idea that somehow you can march in to november, just kind of counting on the vote and counting on those voters showing up is ridiculous. And, you know, i have seen for example, Elizabeth Warren who has appeared at black women forums, and i think that has served her well, but you see joe biden doing very well among black voters. But ill tell you, if he falters, that buzz will be out there. Even stop and frisk bloomberg will be an alternative for black voters if they believe he can put his money to winning and defeating donald trump. Okay, john ralston, does anyone think bloomberg made a mistake given the delayed entry into the race thing and his resources and reach. Did he make a mistake not getting into the game in nevada earlier . Of course, brian, as you know, its always a mistake to ignore nevada. Whether thats going to be a crippling blow to Mike Bloomberg, nobody knows. Nobody has ever done what Mike Bloomberg is trying to do. He has had a presence in nevada. Before i tell you, brian, he funded a background checks initiative here a couple cycles ago, and his people were on the ground there, and they developed a bit of an infrastructure here that could be helpful to him if he were to become the nominee, but, you know, if i could, brian, just on the point about africanamerican voters who will come into play here, people talk about the latino vote here a lot. And its going to be large in the Democratic Caucus and in the general election. The africanamerican vote is substantial here, too. But what i think is going to happen, if biden doesnt do well here, doesnt hold up in the polls here, his support among africanamerican voters in South Carolina, it may not collapse, but its going to dissipate, and i dont think its fair to lump black voters away from latino voters away from the rest of the democratic electorate who are animated by the thought of defeating donald trump at all costs. So while Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders have terrible numbers among black voters, brian, i think is a constantly reevaluating contest especially after nevada. Turnout was up 5k in iowa over 2016. Does that mean anything . It means that these candidates didnt turn out as many people as they wanted to. This was not record turnout, but i also think most democratic voters know that theyre going to vote against donald trump come november, and they havent seen the candidate that truly excites them yet, so wait until november to show up. Caucuses are difficult to show up to. A lot of working voters arent able to get out of work in time. A lot of them cant get babysitters. I dont think its a big deal. All right, gang, we could have this conversation right throughout weekend, but we have to deem omand our time off. Many thanks. Coming up for us, advice from a war veteran of the Democratic Party. A war veteran of the Democratic Party. 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James carville now at 75, a selfdescribed old warrior and of course a lsu fan until the very end is the only Democratic Campaign strategist since the roosevelt era who defeated a sitting republican president. So, when he talks people seem to listen. This week on this network he delivered an unambiguous message to his fellow democrats. Theres only one moral imperative in this country right now. And that is to beat donald trump. Thats the only moral imperative. Thats the only thing i want to hear. Until we understand that, we win every argument. We dont win leelections becaus we talk about stuff that is not relevant. Come on, people, we got to have a big election here. We got to take the senate back. And we should be able to do it, but we got to get relevant. And this is all something that is not working the way that it needs to work. And these candidates have got to develop some skill. I dont criticize other consultants, but some of this stuff they come up with is like insane. I dont know who comes up with this stuff. It matters who the candidate is. It matters what a party chooses to talk about. Im 75 years old. Why am i here doing this . Because i am scared to death, thats why. And we got to get, lets get relevant here, people, for sure. A warning from james carville, to take us off the air tonight. That is our broadcast for this friday night. Thank you for being here with us. And heres the part where i would normally bring the night shift to a close and wish you goodnight from nbc headquarters in new york. Tonight, though, i have the pleasure of saying, the Rachel Maddow show begins right know. My friend, rachel, good evening. Its both so nice and so weird. Oh, tell me about it. I called rick wilson rick warren, im so off my game. Im in the wrong studio, the wrong time slot. Im so happy to turn it over to you. Ill see you tuesday in New Hampshire. The evening is yours. Thank you. And thanks to you at home on joining us this hour on what has been a remarkable day and night of news. This night, the president is apparently taking his revenge. Lieutenant colonel Alexander Vindman who testified