politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing your day with us. new hampshire's first in the nation presidential primary is under way. the first votes were cast at midnight, as is tradition. joe biden is heading to south carolina before the polls close, which speaks volumes about his new hampshire expectations. plus how will new hampshire reshape the race? bernie sanders looks to emerge as the clear progressive favorite. two midwesterners, pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar compete for the moderates. some longer-shot candidates know the road ahead is bleak unless they engineer a big new hampshire surprise.

>> you feel like you have to come in -- >> first is what we're aiming for, and we're working real hard. we've made contact with hundreds of thousands of voters in new hampshire, very direct, very personal over the last couple months. we're working today to get out that vote. >> -- >> we'll see what happens. the motley crew. >> we wish all candidates well on election day. we'll see how it plays out. we begin this hour with the real live votes in new hampshire. actual votes counted. last night the votes cast at midnight, turnout steady this morning across the granite state. >> something is happening here and we just want to seize the moment. i'm going to work my heart out all day. >> we think it's fantastic. the volunteers are fired up and the engineer on tenergy on the

ground is fantastic. >> -- >> we'll let you work that out. >> this is democracy. >> bernie sanders' aim is very clear, finish first and cement front-runner status. >> i heard the 1% may be very powerful, but there are a hell of a lot more people in the 99% than in the 1%. let's win this thing. let's transform america! >> the margins, of course, matter for every candidate today. perhaps a bit more for senator sanders because he won new hampshire easily four years ago. this is 2020, early votes cast in some tiny towns at midnight. if you go back to the democratic primary four years ago, sanders from neighboring vermont did win huge in new hampshire. he has those expectations as you get into 2020. how does he do in the sea coast,

in college towns like here and here. nashua, new hampshire, the most diverse part, some suburban areas, who performs well there? this is the largest voter set, manchester. athena jones is in a polling center. tell us what you're seeing today. >> reporter: i'm at an elementary school, ward 12 out of 12 wards. manchester accounts for about 6% of the registered voters, so it's an important town. about 5,300 people registered to vote at this location. so far we got an update on the numbers, about 1,233 voted. some are the absentee ballots they continue to count. about a fifth of the people who could vote, i've talked aboto at 80 voters since polls opened. a lot of support for sanders, for buttigieg. what they're saying generally about sanders is they like his consistency, authenticity. they say he's never wavered, has

had the same policy goals for 40 years and they like his stance on medicare for all. what they like about buttigieg, his energy, he's new. they believe he's good at messaging and they want to see a new outsider politics brought to washington. we're also seeing support forward wren, biden and klobuchar. they say klobuchar is moderate, that she has the grit necessary to go up against president trump. the biden supporters say i like him, i know him, i feel that i know him. they say they like him because they supported obama. others said i was considering biden but i've moved away because i feel he hasn't been doing as well lately in the polls and debates. we're seeing quite a mix here. the important thing is that turnout so far, it doesn't look like it's huge compared to 2016, but moving along steadily. >> i'm very jealous, athena in the mix of it. thanks for that important insight. looks like it's fun. with us to share their reporting

and insights, cnn's ryan nobles and lisa leher of "the new york times". as you listen to athena play this out, what will turnout be? you talked about this after iowa. a lot of democrats thinking we might have a problem. turnout was kind of eh. >> that's exactly right. democrats are already completely anxious about this race. there was no new polling that came out a few minutes before we came on air that shows two-thirds of people believe president trump will be re-elected. democrats are always anxious. i think they're particularly anxious right now because of the iowa turnout. it showed it was far closer to 2016 than 2008 which was the high watermark. people will be watching those numbers very closely. >> talking about that, john, you think with all these different options in front of them, that would actually increase turnout because you have all these different candidates pouring money and energy into new hampshire. you talk to a lot of voters and they're almost paralyzed by the choice. they have so many options, they

don't neknow how to make up the mind. a lot of voters have yet to make up their mind. it's not the majority of voters, but enough that could make the difference in what we see in the outcome here tonight. >> that's why, number one, we want to be careful when people are voting not to focus too much on the polls. number two, new hampshire has surprised us before and it could well again. heading in through the 2350i7b8 week, and it was sanders who won four years ago, from neighboring vermont. buttigieg had second place although amy klobuchar was coming up. we'll see how that plays out. this is the sanders campaign manager, he's taking some incoming. the sanders campaign manager saying actually, no, don't listen to other democrats. he can beat trump. . >> they're looking for somebody who will be a true fighter for

them. they know donald trump betrayed them. said he was going to fight for the working class, drain the swamp, all that nonsense. >> you spent a lot of time around the sanders campaign. some saying if donald trump is running against somebody who calls himself a democratic socialist, he'll be slaughtered, not only at the top of the ticket but down ballot as well. sanders trying to prove with a win in new hampshire tonight that, no, that's not true. >> john, there is not one particular issue that the sanders campaign talked about more on their beaches, on the stump, than trying to convince democratic voters that bernie sanders has what it takes to beat donald trump. they know, a, that's the most important thing that democratic voters care about, and they also know that, b, it's the biggest achilles' heel for bernie sanders. they are concerned because of his progressive politics, he may turned off independent voters. it appears they're starting to

win that argument. the quinnipiac poll that came out yesterday that showed him with the national lead, he also was the leading candidate in terms of the one that matches up the best against donald trump. what's interesting about it, they think there's a compelling case with the argument against donald trump particularly with white working class voters, he could win over voters that trump took away from barack obama. >> you're absolutely right. that is the issue, who can beat trump. i've probably talked to 50 voters in the state and asking them are you on the liberal side, the moderate side? are you worried about the moderate side of this race splitting up, people do not care about that. what they want to know is who can beat donald trump, and whoever can make that case in the most compelling way and it may indeed be senator sanders is the person that will end up winning this race. i think that explains some of the slide we've seen with biden. in a race where everyone wants to find someone electable, what might make you look electable is, in fact, winning something. if you lose badly in iowa, in

new hampshire, even if those states aren't representative of the democratic party electorate, they don't necessarily make joe biden look like somebody who can win this contest. >> tough to say you're the strongest candidate when you're running fourth our fifth. back in the studio around the table, laura rope pez with politico, heather caygle with politico, also, cnn's vivian salaam. when you go to the rallies, democrats are like beat trump, beat trump, beat trump and then talk about the other issues. sanders making the case, we can't beat trump. it will be interesting to see, if you look in the rear view mirror, it's hard to make a case. we elected obama and elected trump. buttigieg says no, no, no, it cannot be a democratic socialist. >> i think it would be very difficult, and it's not just because of the labels, it's

because of the approach. when you look at what he's proposing in terms of the budget, all the things he's put forward in how to pay for them, there's a $25 trillion hole in how to pay for everything he's put forward. >> new hampshire doesn't settle this argument tonight. it's been the defining argument of the race. new hampshire won't settle that, but it will tilt the scales a little bit. >> if pete buttigieg outperforms sanders, although it's looking sanders is in the lead right now, that can certainly help him heading into nevada. again, someone like buttigieg does not have the support amongst black and brown voters that someone like sanders does. another big question for biden, he's trying to make the argument like buttigieg, a moderate is the one that can beat trump, a moderate is the one front liners can run alongside, democrats in vulnerable districts. the big question is, if you don't perform well, like lisa said, if biden doesn't perform

well in the first two early states, how much of a fire well or launching pad really is south carolina? >> somebody trying to split the difference, clearly running in the centrist lane, amy klobuchar. there's no doubt she has momentum, the question is how much. does it get you up to respectable or does she blow past biden, get close to buttigieg. you hear this a lot in democratic primaries, i will fight for you. >> so, as you probably heard, we're on a bit of a surge. i know they have bumper sticker slogans, free college for all. i know it's appealing, but let's just step back. if you really think big, that's not the solution. if you really think big, you look at our economy and you look at our education system. >> the question is can she? >> well, she just raised more than $2 million after the last debate. that's feeding into this idea that this field is not getting smaller. there are different paths for

different can't dats and different candidates have reasons to stay in the race. joe biden wants to get to south carolina. amy klobuchar's numbers are going up significantly after outperforming expectations in iowa. you have michael bloomberg waiting for the rest of the field and super tuesday. there is a chance the rest of this field could jumble for the next several weeks and we won't have a clear front-runner even if sanders wins to night. there are several paths and several reasons for other candidates. >> it's one thing when one of the candidates really kind of commands this enthusiasm from the voters that a lot of people want to back that person because of who he or she is, versus the excuse of maybe wanting to beat the president in this case, where how are you going to get moderate republicans on your side, independents? a lot of that is because that person generates enthusiasm, not

just because we're going to beat the other guy. it's going to be interesting to see, especially with a jumbled race right now who among these candidates can actually do that. you have supporters like bernie sanders supporters, if he leaves the race, are they going to throw support behind biden or buttigieg or whoever the front-runner may be? >> that's a question way down the road given his sustainability. beat trump is a unifying theme among democrats. but a lot of differences beneath that that will start being litigated tonight. >> at some point we have to start narrowing the field down. the way to do that is look at the differences on specific issues. we did see bernie positioning himself as the front-runner and he wasn't even targeting buttigieg and biden. he was positioning himself against trump saying i'm for medicare for all, $15 minimum wage, free tuition.

what's this guy doing over here? it will be interesting to see if the candidates start focusing internally and trying to narrow each other out after tonight. >> a lot of uncertainty. we think they'll count them today. up next, hard questions for joe biden and elizabeth warren about their path forward. as we go to break, primary day fun, amy klobuchar meets her doppelganger. >> just got my vote. >> the best complement. >> there we go. making easy work of tough messes. dawn is a go-to grease-cleaner throughout the kitchen, too. keep a bottle in the laundry room to pre-treat greasy stains. and keep dawn in the garage to lift grease off car rims. it's even gentle enough to clean wildlife affected by oil. dawn's grease cleaning power takes care of tough grease wherever it shows up.

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call geico and see how easy saving on homeowners and condo insurance can be. i'll come back for the plate. turning to ab important development in washington. an internal justice department dispute over just what punishment roger stone should face. he, of course, is the trump associate caught up in the mueller russia investigation. cnn's sara murray joins us from washington. what's going on? >> reporter: this is extremely awkward.

a senior justice department official is talking to our colleague at the justice department saying they were shocked to see the sentencing recommendation from roger stone from the u.s. attorney's office, asking them to put roger stone behind bars for seven to nine years. a senior dmj official saying it's extreme and excessive and grossly disproportionate to san antonio's offenses. they say they're going to clarify what they believe his sentence should be with the court later today. the senior doj official says the department felt this way long before the president's tweet last night where he defended roger stone, where he said this was a miscarriage of justice. you look at the timing of this, how awkward it is, to have the justice department coming up gonzales the d.c.u.s. attorney's office and a lot of people will walk away with this is bill barr, the president's justice department weighing in to benefit the president's

long-time political adviser roger stone. at the end of the date it's not going to be up to bill barr or the d.c. u.s. attorney's office. that's going to be up to the judge when she decides to sentence him next week. the big question lingering out there, after the president's tweet, now that the jnlt is weighing in, is how the president will react if roger stone is sentenced to jail time and if he'll pardon him. >> left-hand, right-hand issue. turning back to politics now, joe biden a short time ago telling reporters new hampshire is a priority, but his travel schedule suggests his attention is focused elsewhere. >> we'll stay here all day and fight for every vote and heading to south carolina. heading down there, doing a little rally and then getting on a plane and going to nevada. >> -- >> i'm not giving up on new hampshire. >> biden's spin is looking past new hampshire is all part of the

plan. the reality is the result as we discussed earlier, could force both mr. biden and elizabeth warren to have hard conversations about how to regain momentum and keep going. polls suggest warren and biden in the middle of the back in new hampshire. history tells us that can be a big trouble sign. nop not since bill clinton in 1992 has a major party presidential candidate won the nomination without winning iowa or new hampshire. cnn's miguel marquez is in dover, new hampshire. what are you seeing? >> reporter: we're at ward one in dover, new hampshire. joe biden has reason to worry. i've been doing my own unofficial exit poll with lots and lots of voters today. not a single voter so far has said they voted for joe biden. lots and lots of bernie sanders supporters, pete buttigieg doing well here. a lot of voters saying they like amy klobuchar. they've come to her late after her performance in the debate

and some for else as welizabeths well. trump voters saying if they had another choice, they might vote for a democratic. they can't change their registration today, so they might have done that and they're looking for perhaps somebody else to vote for in november. lots of trump voters, the ones that have come in here saying they are supporting him all the way through november. we're watching dover carefully because it's a bit of a tell for how the state will go. in the last contested democratic primaries, dover went exactly the way the state went, not only picking the first one and two candidates, but all the way down the line, four and five, in 2004 and 2005 where you had a contested democratic primary. the feeling here, tepid. about 150 people an hour, on par with 2016, but not as high as it was in 2008. john. >> interesting to watch.

might be able to market that exit poll. keep good notes. monetize that baby. again, people are voting today. i always want to be careful. just let people vote. but if you're elizabeth warren or joe biden, people in new hampshire urnd stand. they pay very, very close attention. they understand what's happening. the question is why. >> i think people are watching and seeing. with biden he has this moderate front line problem with democrats who are looking around and he was their guy. now they're like, is he still our guy. it's actually on the hill we hear this, a lot of nervous democrats who are looking for an escape hatch. they want to see if they can get out of the way before bernie locks down the nomination and that's who they're stuck with and they don't think he can win. now voters in new hampshire obviously feel differently. i don't want to weigh in and influence that in any way, but we're hearing a lot of folks on

the hill talk about mike bloomberg. he's spending a lot of money in the states beyond the first four. maybe he's viable. i think that's kind of where the conversation is heading, and for biden, it's very important obviously that he performs well in nevada and south carolina to hang on. >> the question is the psychology of voters. again, the demographics, iowa, new hampshire, more than 90% white. not representative of the democratic party. but there's still voter psychology. if you're not winning, people think, oh, can you win. i would say in bernie and klobuchar events, they say they are biden voters, but they're looking around. i was with bill clinton in new hampshire in 1992, he dropped 17 points overnight in the middle of some personal drama and rebounded to come in third. the trend lines if you're biden and this is where you are in july and this is where you are now. if you're warren, this is where you were in july and this is where you are now, the numbers speak for themselves. >> it isn't a good sign forward wren, also from a neighboring state. it appears she's

expectation-setting as well. in new hampshire, the same with biden. his poor performance, it's spooking his supports. i was talking to a house democrat earlier today, a supporter of his, who was saying, if he doesn't do well in nevada, they're not sure that south carolina stays there for him. again, even if he performs well in south carolina, the fact that it is only three days before the super tuesday state, i'm not sure gives him as much runway as his supporters would like. >> that's a good point. biden is in nashua i'm told there. elizabeth warren is interesting, she owned the summer. she was the growth stock throughout the summer. it looked like she would grab and seize from sanders. she says she's still in there, she's fine. she has a good organization. we'll see if she can produce beyond. raising money becomes an issue if you're coming in third or fourth or worse. she was asked to draw a distinction between herself and bernie sanders. she's always careful not to

directly criticize. >> i'm not going to criticize bernie. you know i haven't. -- the approach i use, i believe we want to try to get -- we voted in different ways on the trade deal. bernie said not good enough. i said i'll take it and fight for better. >> you're pragmatic? >> i'm determined to get things done. >> my translation there, i'm willing to compromise. i'm a progressive, i will plant the flag for progressive values. but you have to count votes in washington and get things done. is that a fair translation? >> that's what it sounds like he's saying. politically that's not where the energy is on the left side of the party. it's with bernie who says medicare for all, medicare for all. the fact he's been consistent on these issues for a decade is

part of the reason he gotten doorsments from some of the top liberals in washington and why he has a leading position among the liberal wing of the party. warren has tried to consolidate parts of that liberal left winning part of the party. the moderate lane is filled up with a lot of other candidates. she's finding trouble putting together a coalition. it's not clear that after new hampshire she has a strong path for other states where she would do better. she's from the neighboring state in massachusetts. she's long had a relationship with some of the voters out there. it's not clear if she comes in fourth or third she'll be able to surge. >> when we come back, the combination for all of them is what's waiting. mike bloomberg's super tuesday strategy appears to be paying off. pete buttigieg having fun with new hampshire supporters.

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former new york city mayor michael bloomberg dealing with a new controversy, this as there was evidence he was rising and somewhat dramatically in the race. a new quinnipiac poll put bloomberg at 15% and showed significant gains among african-american voters,

critical in the later democratic primaries. as new york city mayor mr. broom berg had in place a controversial policy of stop and frisk by police officers. listen to this audio circulating today from a speech he gave in 2015 at an aspen institute conference defending that policy. >> after this audio surfaced president trump posted and deleted a tweet this morning calling bloomberg a racist. bloomberg issuing a statement about the president and noting in that statement that, by the time he left office he said he cut back by 95% the stop and frisk policy. that should have been done faster and sooner. i apologize and i take responsibility for taking too long to understand the impact it had on black and latino

communities. the question is, when you hear his voice, when democratic activists, african-american, latino voters, any voters, but especially voters who have had to deal with this, what's the impact going to be? >> we've seen president trump and his campaign pushing this out as much as possible because they know when you hear the audio, it has more of an emotional impact. this is raw, unfiltered, bloomberg talking about having young minority kids thrown up against the wall and stopped and frisked. he apologized for it earlier this year. but there is a lingering doubt about whether or not he was authentic in his apology. when you hear some of his defense of this policy long after it had been controversial, long after it had gone through the courts and been thrown out as unconstitutional, he continued to defend it and talked about how the crime is always in the minority communities. it's something president trump and his campaign are going to seize upon if bloomberg continues to rise. you can expect to hear other

democrats talk about it. i would pointed out that president trump has also defended stop and frisk as early as his campaign. maybe part of the reason he deleted his tweet, because he also has a lot of tapes and audio recordings of him personally defending stop and frisk. this is an area that's going to be mined by both sides for quite a while. >> in the short term, the issue nor bloomberg is the democratic primary. he sits out the first four contests and says i'm going to come roaring in on super tuesday. he has spent $350 million, $350 million. that's one of the reasons he's up to 15%. he's doing it smartly with ads like this. >> whoever steps into that ring with donald trump better win because what's at stake is nothing less than america. so now who do you think is tough enough to go the distance? >> he's been a leader throughout the country for the past 12 years, mr. michael broom lerg.

>> leadership in action. leader bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws. >> relatively new obama ad in particular is an interesting strategy in the sense that, number one, he's trying to take votes away from biden. two, he's trying to show i have appeal in the african-american community with one of your political heroes. barack obama liked me, braised me, wanted to work with me. >> he's trying to get his record out there as someone who ran the largest city in the country and has that experience. obviously that's been something that comes up a lot in this primary in terms of experience. biden puts himself up there in first. that's going to be an interesting discussion. more importantly, even if democrats are going after biden, saying he's buying the election and he's not fighting and working hard to basically build up his reputation as someone who deserves this position. it's going to be interesting, when they do come face-to-face eventually and have to have that discussion. >> it appears as though the ad,

so far, based off one poll are potentially working. i believe it was the q poll yesterday had bloomberg at 22% amongst african-american voters to biden's 27%. he appears to have eaten into some of biden's support nationally with black voters. the question is does this actually translate into big-time votes come super tuesday? bloomberg is making a play for latinos in states like california. he appears he's on a big collision course not just with wyden but potentially sanders. >> every candidate gets tested. ask joe biden, bernie sanders, any candidate with a record that's been around longer, there are very few perfect people in politics. this is going to be -- the question will be, put out the statement focusing on president trump's tweet, he's going to have to spend more time in the garden of explaining, here is why i did it, here is why i realize it was a mistake?

>> the question we hear from democrats privately is what else is out there? what other stories are hidden right now? with baggage, we know his baggage is ukraine. some democrats worry can he respond to that in a way that soothes voters. with bernie it's the socialism tag. with bloomberg, these things come out like this tape we heard that could be potentially politically damaging. democratic voters are not as forgiving around republican voters. republicans rallied around president trump after the "access hollywood" tape. >> biden is ready to seize on it. >> you can bet on that. it's a test. candidates get tested in long campaigns. as we go to break, a solemn shift. a very important moment at dover air force base in delaware. the president and the vice president both attending this dignified transfer of two soldiers killed during combat operations in afghanistan, those

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topping our political radar. jerome powell on capitol hill reassuring lawmakers on the strength of the u.s. kmoe, he does point out it does face challen challenges. the impact of the coronavirus on china. he warns it could be a global economic threat. >> some of the uncertainties around trade have diminished recently but risks remain.

we're closely monitoring the coronavirus which could lead to disruptions in china that spilled over to the rest of the global economy. >> moments ago house speaker nancy pelosi and the senate democratic leader chuck schumer both ripping president trump's budget proposal calling it a, quote, blueprint for destroying america. >> nine letters sums up the president e president's budget, hypocrisy. >> the budget in terms of our legislative work is the heart of the matter. it's all for him. this is a heartless butt. >> we go back to the campaign trail in new hampshire where president trump says democrats are struggling to match republican enthusiasm. a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh!

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those are voters in nashua, a city along the massachusetts border in southern new hampshire. a few voters there. one of the big questions, how big will turnout be? we'll count the voters later tonight. president trump is also on the ballot, facing former massachusetts governor bill wells. last night the president didn't sound that worried about competition from either party. >> we have more in this arena and outside of this arena than all of the other candidates,

meaning the democrats, put together and multiplied times five. they always talk about the democrats, they have enthusiasm, right? we have so much more enthusiasm, and that's not even close. they're all fighting each other. they don't know what they're doing, they can't even count their votes. >> "the washington post" describing his thinking about his campaign rallies this way, trump likes the democrats who spent million to compete in critical first of the nation caucuses were pushed off the front pages by trump's re-election machine. the campaign official going on to say, quote, the thinking is if everyone has their eyes on the state, why aren't we there? the front page in the state capitol of nn featuring trump supporters. tony, you're one of the reporters on that piece. he doesn't have really primary

opposition. he's decided how much is his and how much is the campaign. let's go to iowa, new hampshire. i assume he's going to track them around the country. >> he's going to continue this. a lot of us are in new hampshire and iowa. he's going to places where the media coverage is, where he has a captive audience and he can have a contrast between what the democrats are showing and what he's able to put together in terms of having people stand in line at rallies, fill up these big arenas and he can show i have a bigger crowd than what the democrats have, i have more support among my base and the unity of my party while the democrats are stuck in the nasty primary trying to figure out who they want to be their standard-bearer. he wants to put it before the voters and it's a political warfare tactic to show he has the support of his party behind him. he's going to go out west been the nevada caucuses. vice president pence will be in las vegas before the nevada caucuses. we can expect this to continue. >> do not underestimate,

whatever your views watching, an incumbent president with a very professional campaign operation this time, having the advantage for months -- sometimes democrats come out with a lot of energy and inspires them. the advantage of an incumbent -- we've had three consecutive two-term presidents. i want to show, the president wants to mix it up with the democrats. in part, new hampshire's tiny electoral votes in a close election that could matter. hillary clinton 46.8%, donald trump 46.5%. just shy of 3,000 votes separated new hampshire. so why not? >> the thing that might clinch it for the president is the economy. we're going in with a strong economy and that's something that's going to go a long way for him. we were just talking earlier in the show about voter turnout. we saw it dropped a little bit in iowa. democrats are concerned about that. new hampshire, that might not be the case.

president trump has enthusiasm. every time he goes to a rally, he has tens of thousands of people packing these arenas. he shows that enthusiasm. when republicans see that, they see that enthusiasm and see him going out every week and taking the democrats head-on. that's something they can get into. whether or not it inspires the democrats to go out and try to beat him as we were saying earlier, that's another story. >> the context is, yes, trump is the incumbent and that's favored. his team projecting they have this dream scenario where democrats are fractured and where democrats are having a difficult primary, but that was the reverse in 2016. democrats were very gleeful that republicans had this raucous and difficult primary and they've merged with a winner. i think that goes to show that none of us really know what can possibly happen at the end of this primary.

>> we live in such volatile times. anyone that tells you they know what's going to happen is making it up. the president is in total command of his party. it's a smaller party. 2018, the suburbs have shrunk and left this president. he has to be good and efficient in how he goes through his map. if you are a republican thinking of, should i break with the president, run away from the president in this election year, what should i do, he uses these rallies to say stick with me or the voters will abandon you. >> on tuesday i delivered my address on the state of the union and i had someone mumbling terribly, mumbling. i hear a lot of republicans tomorrow will vote for the weakest candidate possible of the democrats. i'm trying to figure out who is their weakest candidate? did don jr. make a good speech?

>> 46, there you go. >> lots of mumble, but not actually. she mouthed a couple of things, ripped up his speech. for him, speaker pelosi will continue to be his foil at least until a front-runner emerges on the democratic side. she's's si for him to contrast with. pelosi says she feels liberated and is not going to stop punching back at him. they've impeached him in the house. what else can they do? >> don't go anywhere. tune anywhere brianna keilar picks up our coverage after a very quick break. have a good afternoon. what'd we decide on the flyers again? uh, "fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance." i think we're gonna swap over to "over seventy-five years of savings and service." what, we're just gonna swap over? yep. pump the breaks on this, swap it over to that. pump the breaks, and, uh, swap over?

that's right. instead of all this that i've already-? yeah. what are we gonna do with these? keep it at your desk, and save it for next time. geico. over 75 years of savings and service.

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i'm brianna keilar live from cnn's washington headquarters. we'll take you live to new hampshire where voters are casting their ballot. first, in a shocking reversal and highly unusual move, the justice department is backtracking its sentencing request for roger stone. the president's former informal advisor and longtime friend and confidant according to a senior doj official. initially prosecutors who by the way are employed by the justice department asked for seven to nine years for stone on charges of lying under oath,