chicago the safest big city in the country, as they say, and they're among the cities hoping to use the start of this new year and new decade to reset what's become an all too violent reality. >> omar was live in chicago. omar, thank you. thank you for joining me. "inside politics" with manu raju starts right now. hello and welcome to "inside politics ". i'm manu raju in for john king. reporters told to keep fighting as he officially ends his bid for president. a violent attack on the u.s. embassy in baghdad. and bernie sanders is feeling flush after netting more than $35 million in three months from grassroots donors. >> we will hold firm, we will

not change a damn thing. the reason it's working is the working class believes in bernie sanders over donald trump. we're not going to go into a general election suddenly claiming we'll need money from millionaires and billionaires. we don't need that money. >> we begin this hour with the state of the 2020 race. a crowded field of democratic candidates shrinking by one today. h julian castro, the former member of housing and development, ends his 2020 presidential bid. he struggled to stay solvent. he released a video showing highlights of his year-long run, and ending it with this. >> with only a month until the iowa caucuses and given the circumstances of this campaign season, i have determined that it simply isn't our time. so today it's with a heavy heart and with profound gratitude that i will suspend my campaign for president. >> meanwhile, the remaining

contenders are veiling their fundraising hauls for the fourth quarter. bernie sanders raised $34.5 million in the last half of the year. remember, he suffered a heart attack in october. he even took a break from the campaign trail. he raised more than any other democrat this year. the trump campaign raked in $46 million as president trump was being impeached. ryan nobles joins me live from new york. what is your take on bernie sanders' fundraising in the fourth quarter? >> the thing i'm impressed by is his numbers are growing. i don't mean the raw dollar numbers, he's consistently raised more money since he started his campaign a year ago. but also the base from which he's drawing that money from is growing. his campaign said they averaged

more than 300,000 new donors in october alone. bernie sanders as a candidate means he's not just widely supported but deep. there has not been as much growth before then, and now you can't make that argument. adding more donors, that shows his support is growing. manu, in december alone the sanders campaign raised $18 million. they had 40,000 donations just on new year's eve. this shows that there is real momentum behind his campaign, and then, of course, you translate those resources into boots on the ground and organizational effort, paid field staff. that is so important in iowa. manu, he almost won iowa four years ago with virtually no levelful sophisticated organization. that is much different this time around. obviously there is a much bigger field to compete against, but this campaign shows a lot more confidence. i talked to his campaign manager just a few minutes ago.

they're as positive as they've ever been since he launched his campaign, and that's pretty remarkable given where they were just a couple months ago. >> yeah. real lasting power in this race. the money can certainly get him there. we'll see how it shakes out. ryan noeshls, thank you for joining us. margaret talev with bloomberg and rachael bade. as we head into iowa, the poll numbers are very fluid in that state. it's unclear why this is ultimately going to end up. we're now getting this first glimpse of the money haul. julian castro drops out today. how wide open is this race right now as we head into the early voting states? >> it's totally wide open, and one of the most frustrating things about this is we've seen such little quality polling in

the states of ohhigohio and new hampshire in the last month. we don't know if elizabeth warren is still flat or if she's rising or falling. who knows where joe biden is. if he craters there, that could have major implications for him after that. we need polling in other states to know where things are. hopefully we'll get that in the next few weeks. the bernie sanders haul, absolutely amazing. he could influence the direction of the party, the party's platform and the eventual nominee. >> if he doesn't win in these early states, he can stay as long as he wants, assuming he doesn't burn the cash on hand numbers which is often more significant than the total haul because it shows how much money is left for these campaigners to campaign on. julian castro dropping out. not a huge surprise because he was struggling in the polls, not making the debate stage. he did have an impact on some of the rhetoric in this race, particularly on immigration. he pushed the more liberal

immigration policy, he wanted to decriminalize border crossings. that's things that his campaign agreed with him on. he said this in the debate earlier this year. >> let's be very clear. the reason they're separating these little children from their families is they're using section 1325 of that act which criminalizes coming across the border to incarcerate the parents and then separate them. some of us on this stage have called to end that section, to terminate it. some, like congressman o'rourke, have not, and i want to challenge all the candidates to do that. >> the next day, then, the june debate, all the candidates in that second debate were asked if they believed or agreed that undocumented immigrants should have access to health care. they all said they should. that's a different position than the democrats took when the obama affordable care act was passing. they took a hard line on that issue. clearly the party has shifted

that direction. what impact does that have? >> republicans seized on that right away saying democrats want to give free health care to undocumented immigrants coming to this country. that moment showed castro he was able to create a litmus test for dem democrats. they had to answer did they believe crossing the border should be some sort of criminal charge or should they decriminalize that? that shows this guy isn't going anywhere too soon. he might be jumping out of the race, but we know hillary clinton saw him as a potential running mate. we could see the democrats pick someone like castro himself. obviously with him dropping out, there is a question of diversity in the field. there are a lot of candidates leaving the race which was, at one point, one of the most diverse fields we saw of democratic presidential candidates. a lot of minorities dropping out, including castro. so we'll have to see, does he come back when people start

looking for running maltes. >> in the last debate, cory booker didn't make that, julian castro made that debate. look what yang posted. we don't have joe biden's numbers yet, we don't have george washington's numbe elizabeth warren's numbers yet. so far on anyone else on the democratic side for the entire race for the year of 2019, buttigieg 24.8 million, yang, 16.5 million. what do you take from that? >> he's an appealing candidate for a lot of younger voters and he reflects the fact that among democratic voters, although there is the intensity of this desire to nominate someone who can beat donald trump, there is also an intensity of desire to have a candidate they feel excited about, and a lot of voters are still searching for that candidate, and to some

extent, andrew yang represents that. he is one of the big takeaways from these numbers, but sanders is probably the more important one because of the impact he can make as a potential nominee himself, as a spoiler. we talk a lot about the idea of a brokered convention and whether or not michael bloomberg, among other candidates, are holding out for that scenario. but it has been and always is bernie sanders to be the one to watch if it came down to that. he has a base of support that's growing, not shrinking. it is unerodable, apparently, at this point. every time elizabeth warren weakens a little bit because of her handling of medicare for all questions or what have you, bernie sanders always seems to solidify and that's what these numbers represent. >> speaking of numbers, you look at the trump campaign, it is staggering, especially compared to where the democrats are at this moment. the president essentially has campaigned and fundraised since he became president. he's breaking precedent in doing

that, unlike past presidents. $46 million. that's $12 million more than bernie sanders. it's the highest on the democratic side. but the cash on hand number, $102.7 million. this is a president who -- i mean, if you're a democrat, how do you make the case to the voters that you can compete toe to toe with the president, especially when you're struggling to raise money the way some of these other candidates are? >> by aggregating the entire fields. by looking at all the donations to the democratic candidates, not just one, not just bernie, but the entire field. i've seen a lot of pieces in the last few months saying, don't underestimate donald trump's reelection prospects. i don't know anyone who does underestimate his reelection prospects. i've seen a lot of analysis about the economy being so strong, it's such an asset. we've seen his money flow. i don't know who out there is underestimating the president's reelection prospects, but they probably shouldn't. >> remember, with the impeachment going on right now, there will be a trial in the

senate. trump has shown he can use this to really motivate his base. not a single republican in the house will vote against him or vote to impeach him, and likely we won't see any in the senate. they haven't voted yet, but he's able to use that to his benefit and we'll see that in the fundraising numbers for him. >> if there was only one democrat right now, donald trump would be getting a run for his money. the race is now down to, what, 14 now? that's a lot of kind of -- that's going to gobble up a lot of any leading democrats' ability to take it and run with it. >> and the voters have to make the case, how would you run a general election? what's your pitch to moderate voters, independent voters in swing states? we were talking to our colleague ryan nobles about exactly what he would do to change general election time. here's what he said. >> we will hold firmly.

we will not change a damn thing. the reason it's working is because the working class believes in bernie sanders to defeat donald trump. we will do our part if we're the nominee to extend the open hand to welcome people in this movement. if there are people right now who would like to join and endorse bernie sanders, we welcome you right now. but we will do our part to make sure we're bringing this party together, returning it to its roots. >> not change a damn thing. that's according to the campaign manager for bernie sanders. but that's what scares a lot of democrats if he wins the nomination. a lot of democrats, particularly in washington here, are worried he would not, quote, change a damn thing. >> it's a risky bet for democrats to take because this is not a tested path. bernie sanders' general election campaign would look very different than anything democrats, certainly in the last several decades, have done. it means bringing in lots of new voters, lots of independents who are left of center, maybe very, very left of center. i don't think the democratic party cares about them, but i think bernie sanders cares about

them. some of this shows up in polls, but will it be enough? how many mitt romney voters in the suburbs will show up and pull the lever for bernie sanders? these are the kinds of questions that government establishment figures are asking about bernie sanders and also elizabeth warren. >> how much do these candidates use to their advantage to argue that they have the resources to compete? do you think this could be helpful to tom steyer and michael bloomberg? they've had some success there, but they've dropped a ton of their own money to make the argument they can compete with the president because they have the pocketbook to do that. >> i think it's tactically helpful to the extent it stretches out the primary season longer. bernie sanders is unlikely to clean up in south carolina, although, who knows, but the longer this goes on and the longer there is a contest, the more time that a steyer or

bloomberg has to test the proposition that if you spend your own money and end it in the airwaves playing on unusual states that you can put something together. it does show the small donor grassroots campaign difference versus someone who has not had the time or political profile to engage full-time on their own. it's going to show up in stark contrast as we look at these numbers. >> it really is. there is so much that can change in the weeks ahead. the senate impeachment trial and how it can sideline some 2020 democrats, up next. it feels like i'm just wasting time. wasted time is wasted opportunity. >>exactly. that's why td ameritrade designed a first-of-its-kind, personalized education center. see, you just >>oh, this is easy. yeah, and that's >>oh, just what i need. courses on options trading, webcasts, tutorials. yeah. their award-winning content is tailored to fit

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an ongoing game of impeachment chicken between the top republican and the senate and the speaker of the house. no signs today of progress on how to conduct the president's impeachment trial in the senate. but while congress sits on its hands, the president is content

to fuel his impeachment anger and conspiracies. he says the witch hunt is still going badly but sputtering on, after accusing the them for committing treason. he still insists his phone call was appropriate and he did nothing wrong. back here with the panel now. the president, behind the scenes, both the white house and democrats in the house have prepared for the possibility of a january trial. it's still possible it can happen, but the stalemate is real. pelosi has said she wants to understand what the trial will look like before they name impeachment managers, but that has to happen before they send the articles of impeachment over to the senate. chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell are at a stalemate for what the trial would look like because of witnesses and documents wanted upfront.

if congress does return, can pelosi hold the articles indefinitely? >> i think the pressure will be on her to send over those articles. they are sort of latching onto this argument that she's treating trump differently than hillary clint clinton was treated, and by holding these in the house, that is not fair, and it's clearly resonating with republican voters, at least right now. michael debonis has reported that schumer and mcconnell have not talked at all, so the standoff is continuing. in the "washington post," there is a great takeoff where trump was talking to bolton and mulvaney in the office specifically about ukraine assistance, and that obviously sort of bolstered this argument that they need to hear from

firsthand witnesses in the trial. that's what schumer wants, that's what democrats want, but mcconnell is not moving. let's get this started and we'll decide on witnesses down the road. >> that argument will continue. schumer did tweet this on december 31st speaking to what you're saying. to snar mcconnell and senate republicans, support a fair trial with the witnesses and documents we requested. all we are asking is to get all the facts out. the american people deserve to know the truth. the president wants a trial to happen. mitch mcconnell wishes it would never happen and they can just vote to acquit. with this happening, does that undercut the leverage of schumer's hands? >> the leverage democrats would have all depends on whether a

critical mass of republicans come out and support this. susan collins and lisa mouch have said they're a little troubled, saying he's going to work in lockstep with the white house, suggesting this won't really be a fair trial and they need to be impartial. democrats need four votes in order to force mcconnell's hand. they know if four people don't come out, the democrats don't have a lot to work with, and if mcconnell continues his stand, the president will say they can't actually convict me. >> susan collins and lisa murkowski did say they do not like this, but they're not saying, we need all these witnesses and documents. they're not siding with mitch mcconnell, but he's sayischumer

saying we're seeing all kinds of things from republicans right now. >> there are two dates on the calendar and they're basically the same date we should be looking at. it's early february to the date when house speaker pelosi has invited donald trump to come and deliver the state of the union address, and it's the date of the iowa caucuses. you've got this scenario where if this is still going on before you get to that point, anything could happen with the president's state of the union address, and it's going to take two of the frontrunners and some of the other remaining candidates out of play, potentially, while former mayor pete buttigieg and -- >> and how will you deal with campaigning in the iowa caucuses while having to be in washington probably six days a week for the

senate trial, and they all continue to say they will be back in washington, that comes first. >> i took an oath of office to uphold the constitution of the united states of america. some things are more important than politics, and that oath is one of them. so if there is an impeachment trial in the u.s. senate, i will be there. >> i don't think they're going to hold it against you if my husband is standing here that last week and i'm here on skype on some screen. i mean, that's what we're going to have to do. because this is too important. >> all of us have a constitutional obligation we have to fulfill, and there's no way around that. we're going to have to figure out how to walk and chew gum at the same time. >> there's still a lot of questions, though. there's debates, state of the union, the iowa caucuses in early february. do you think there is actually real apprehension for these candidates about having to be in washington and not in the living rooms of voters at a critical time? >> not all of them. i think the ones with the big organization, big social media, more endorsements for those on

the panel will be minimized than those behind in the field or not polling well. it's much more important for them to be out there doing some of the politicking. if you're a michael bennet, you sit there quietly. you can't even ask questions. you can do a press conference every day if you want to, but you are sidelined. you can't even use the camera to advance your campaign. >> yeah, and they'll try to find a way to advance their campaign, i'm sure. up next, is president trump seeing the limits of his brand of diplomacy right as he gears up for reelection? site! very soon you're gonna be very famous! lady that is the last thing i would ever... huh? stop! put those away!

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we're getting a fresh look at the destruction inside the u.s. embassy in baghdad. you can see the burned-out buildings, smashed windows with rubble littering the ground after iranian protesters stormed the heavily fortified compound. forces have since regained control to the area, ending the immediate threat to americans there. but this morning the militia behind the attack calling on iraq's parliament to pass legislation removing u.s. forces from the country, adding that if the government does not act, they may take further action. cnn's arwa damon is on the ground in iraq. arwa, the embassy appears to be

safe, but clearly the situation is far from over. >> reporter: it is far from over, and that is because this group's demand that the u.s. troops leave iraq has yet to be fulfilled. and there is a clock on that demand that they're making of parliament to draft this legislation, saying that they're willing to give them about a week to, at the very least, prove that they have serious intentions. we also heard from one of iran's top commanders who was responding to additional threats being made by the white house, pretty much trying to give america a lesson in manners, saying that iran should be addressed with the respect and warning that they still, to paraphrase, still have other cards that they can potentially play. now, in front of the embassy right now, the situation is normal, so to speak, in the sense that the iraqi security forces are manning their checkpoints once again, and you can only go through if you have

a proper i.d. or an escort. big question, of course, is where were these security forces during this attack and attempt to breach the walls of the embassy? the answer to that, manu, goes to the very core of who these demonstrators were. they were not your ordinary protesters, they were, by and large, members of or supporters of this paramilitary force known as the popular mobilization force that ostensibly is part of the iraqi security force's apparatus. this force, however, is largely made up of former members of any number of shia militia who actually cut their teeth fighting the americans for years back in the u.s.-led occupation. they currently are very powerful, both militarily and politically. that is who managed to make it to the gate of the united states in baghdad. >> we'll hear more in the days

ahead. we'll keep monitoring that, a a arwa, from baghdad. thank you for that report. the president here over his holiday has been hailing what happened as a victory. he was tweeting about how this is not like what happened in benghazi. this is a sampling of his tweets over the last couple of days. but the reality is this is a very dangerous situation, and based on the reporting on the ground, it seems that the iraqis essentially cut a deal with the iranians, including allowing the demonstrators to actually storm the green zone where the embassy is located in baghdad. he's right that nobody lost their lives, thankfully, in the demonstration that occurred over the last few days, but this is a highly fluid and dangerous situation. is he declaring victory too soon, olivier? >> yes, he is. the problem is the american

sanctions are working in the sense they're damaging iran's economy, but they have done nothing for iran's will except make things worse. we've seen this escalation by the iranians. the administration has warned iran against attacks on american personnel facilities since 2018. this has been going on fior a really long time, and this new pressure on iran doesn't seem to be changing their ways. >> and the president is entering 2020 facing these dual crises. he's got iran, and he's staked so much of his personal style dealing with ukraine. now ukraine is saying they want to move guaforward with their o weapons. they say, the core problem may have been mr. trump's conviction that economic descent is alone,

and the beach-front hotels in north korea would overcome all other national interests. he dismissed the depth of iran's determination to reestablish itself as the most powerful force in the region. he also underestimated mr. kim's conviction that his nuclear arsenal is his only insurance policy to buoy one of the last family-controlled stalinist regimes. what do you take away from that? >> i think in both cases, president trump tapped into a frustration inside american politics and with many american voters who disagreed with the approaches that president obama took, who thought president obama's foreign policy was too multilateral or, you know, sort of gave these countries too much slack in the case of iran, but i think president trump seems to have fundamentally

underestimated the will of some of these countries to kind of take the punishment and keep going. president trump's political experience is not that long-ranging, and since he became president has mostly existed in terms of negotiating with businesses to keep a carrier plant open longer, or negotiating with his own party to come around to his way of viewing republicanism. calculating how much punishment is willing to endure or north korea, what the diplomatic overtures of korea looked like, or even complicated like china, that it's not really iran or north korea, you want to work with them but they work against him. the way he's playing these games, they work differently than when you're playing with american politics. that's because we're leaders, regimes, they have their own internal politics and much longer histories. they take a longer view. >> you mentioned the trump

foreign policy approach. what is his foreign policy doctrine as he approaches 2020? he talked about not being the policemen of the world, but then he says -- he talks tough, he sabre rattles. they say, now that there will be a, quote, severe response by the united states if iran takes any other action. but when asked about what that severe response is, the defense secretary said this today. >> he's absolutely correct that if anybody challenges us, they will be met with a severe response, a strong response by u.s. forces. >> what does that severe, strong response look like? >> i'm not going to telegraph what we're going to do, but people know we have vast capability to do any number of things. we will act in response to actions by iran or its proxies, and we will act to preempt any attacks on our forces, our personnel, by iran or by its proxy. >> of course, you're not going to telegraph exactly what you're going to do.

>> no defense secretary has ever held up a sheet of paper and said, if they do this, we'll do this. on the other hand, if they do that, we'll do that. >> but the president wants to get out of the business of war, he says, again and again and wants to reduce the military footprint in these sort of engagements. so these countries have to be asking, what are you going to do about it? >> and the president's pledge to end endless wars, that polls well with the public. he figured out there was an appetite to do that, but do you not respond when the united states is attacked in this way? let's remember, this is one of the legacies of the iraq war. there was someone that predicted correctly it would create a void in the region, and iran managed to fill that void. a bold and extravagant iran has done that. >> and there are troops still stationed in afghanistan that questions how the president will

square that for his own campaign rhetoric. we'll see what he says when he talks to voters in the months ahead. up next, a star witness for the impeachment proceeding says goodbye to ukraine. $9.95 at my age?

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corruption cases. netanyahu currently facing indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. he maintains his innocence and he calls the proceedings an attempted coup by his political opponents and the media. they stalled the meetings against him until upcoming elections in march. hillary clinton updates her resume today in northern ireland. she became the chancellor of the queen's university belfast. a ceremonial position she'll hold for the next five years. the white house announcing president trump plans to attend an annual gathering of the uber rich and uber powerful later this month in switzerland. the president will headline a big economic delegation in the world economic forum in davos. also going, mnuchin and family members and jared kushner.

the star impeachment witness leaving his post today. bill taylor turned over his duties and he made no mention of the impeachment inquiry that made him a household name in this fathrewell video. >> think of the things that have happened. an anti-corruption court was established. there have been opportunities for many of the reforms that have been pending for years and years to be enacted by a very active rada. phone calls between president zelensky and president putin. >> so, rachael, you covered every second of the impeachment proceedings, and he was -- the president attacked his character, went after him and said he was a never trumper with no evidence to support that, even though bill taylor served in multiple administrations, has

been a career diplomat. when you look back at it, though, do you think he acquitted him as a person just raising concerns about what he saw about the way the president was carrying out foreign policy through rudy giuliani with calling ukraine, or do you think his allies have some ammunition to go after bill taylor over? >> this is a decades-long career servant. the reviews of his performance in that hearing were tremendous. this is a guy who has been serving the state department for a long time, and clearly he saw something that really worried him and he felt that he needed to speak out and say what the president was doing was wrong. keep in mind this is a guy who, he was the first person to connect the military aid to the investigations in ukraine. we had sort of been hearing people suggest that perhaps there was a link, but he was the first person that came in and told impeachment investigators, i was told, by multiple people

that these two things are specifically linked. our republicans will say he never heard it from trump's lips, therefore, he's not a firsthand witness. but you could see his sincerity really shine through in that big moment when that he had that hearing. objeviously the trump administration wasn't going to appoint him permanently -- >> he was told that gordon sondland and president trump made that link by saying 2 plus 2 is 4. he assumed that's what the president meant, but that will be debated in trial if it ever happens. suffice it to say, if you're a 2020 candidate, it's about to get really busy. y increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection

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as the new year kicks off, it's almost like a new stopwatch has been triggered on the 2020 elections. campaigners are busy on the campaign trail in iowa, joe biden, amy klobuchar, bernie sanders. and in new hampshire, elizabeth warren is set to hold an event at this hour. she's joined by pete buttigieg, mike bloomberg and andrew yang. this is the first campaign on the trail before anyone has had their first caucus or vote. in 30 days, iowans decide. a lot of voters are undecided in these early days despite all the campaigning that has happened so far. you look at the des moines register showing these undecided

voters quoting a number of people who have not made a decision yet. and then in the same des moines register on wednesday, a story came out saying this. after hearing former vice president joe biden speak in tipton on saturday, west liberty resident faye petersen said she is beginning to think that perhaps he's the one. even so, peterson added, she is still undecided. she also likes klobuchar, booker and entrepreneur andrew yang. and she fully expects to change her mind at least a few more times before she attends her cauc caucus. this is common among the voters. >> it really is. they say, are you going to possibly change your vote? a majority of them say, yes, i could potentially change. what's remarkable is how steady this is. biden was 29%, he's now 28%.

sanders was 16%, he's now 18%. elizabeth warren doubled hers, but most have remained constant. they will decide what matters. idealogy, electability, is this someone who inspires me? we'll find out. >> joe biden comes from previous winnings. he won the swing state in iowa, she actually volunteered to work onn the biden campaign in 2008. is it a surprise that many democrats are more comfortable with biden at the top of the ticket, given she is precarious in her standing as well. >> you have to keep in mind there are many who are in the area where trump won in 2016. if they have someone at the top of the ticket that they disagree

with on policy, they'll be spending all their time on the trail trying to distinguish themselves from that candidate rather than running with the leader of their party. i think that's why you see speaker nancy pelosi, notice she hasn't touched medicare for all, it hasn't gotten a vote on the floor, but if it reaches the top, that will be tough. >> the impeachment and the economy will be major factors, and we probably need another year to decide whether electability is just a code word for iowa and new hampshire where voters vote first. >> a lot of things for these candidates to balance, a lot to goment. thanks for joining us on "inside politics." brianna keilar starts after a quick break. that is amazing.

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