senate that he's been hoping for after, of course, the house impeached him this week. but a lot of people also within the democratic side are a bit nervous about what this means. i spoke with congressman jerry connelly yesterday inside the capital and he said i don't understand this idea of leverage that democrats have been approaching the speaker and other democratic leaders about. he thinks that, you know, at this point time to get everything to the senate and let that trial play out as had been expected. >> i was going to say, if the president's indication with his tweet, that's one line into his think. thank you very much. we'll be reading axios a.m. in a bit and you can sign up for that newsletter at signup.axios.com. >> that does it for us this morning. "morning joe" starts right now. the mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and

served $900 a bottle wine. think about who comes to that. >> this is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass. [ cheers and applause ] >> if i pledge -- if i pledge never to be in the company of a progressive democratic donor, i couldn't be up here. senator, you're net worth is 100 times mine. >> about last night, the democratic contenders for president took to the stage in their sixth debate of the primary season. there were fewer candidates this time around, meaning, the spotlight is getting a little more bright. we'll speak live with senator amy klobuchar on the heels of her solid performance. plus, we'll dig into "the washington post" reporting on the fallout between a private meeting between donald trump and vladimir putin back in july of 2017 and how it helped lead to the president's impeachment.

on that front, the house speaker is controlling the narrative yet again in what "the new york times" calls a risky bid to assert influence over an election-year trial in the republican-led senate. we'll explain that strategy ahead. plus, how an angry president is looking for vindication in neff november. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it's friday, december 20th. with us we have white house reporter for "the associated press" jonathan lemire. senior adviser at moveon.org and an msnbc contributor karine jean tee, a. "new york times" reporter jeremy peters. republican strategist and mist political contributor rick tyler. and white house correspondent for pbs news hour, yamiche who was the comoderator of last night's democratic debate. what a debate it was.

>> it was. i heard from so many people and if you listen to the post debate analysis, a lot of people thought joe biden had his best night. >> he did. >> you had people praising mayor pete for having a really good night. >> he did. >> same with amy klobuchar, a lot of really positive comments about her. people said tom steyer had his best night. bernie sanders, also a lot people believed he had a good night. think we really saw for the first time the impact of having fewer people on the stage, giving each of the candidates more time to talk and making a big difference. and there vir think, if we're talking about the front runner, there's no doubt that joe biden after some very weak debates had his best debate of the campaign season yet last night. >> it was something to watch in what was perhaps the evening's most explosive exchange, a fight over fund raising that had been building up on the campaign

trail and senator elizabeth warren played out on stage. here is some of their back and forth. >> the mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900 a bottle wine. um, think about who comes to that. he had promised that every fundraiser he would do would be open door, but this one was closed door. we made the decision many years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president of the united states. billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the united states. >> this is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot, yourself, pass. [ cheers and applause ] >> if i pledge -- if i pledge never to be in the company of a progressive democratic donor, i

couldn't be up here. senator, you're net worth is 100 times mine. >> i do not sell access to my time. i don't do call time with millionaires and billionaires. >> sorry, as of when, senator? senator, your presidential campaign right now as we speak is funded, in part, by many you transferred having raised it at those exact same big ticket fundraisers you now denounce? do did it corrupt you, senator? of course not. >> jonathan lemire, it's hard to find many people outside the warren campaign who didn't believe mayor pete got the best of that exchange and the line really between those two of the night was don't hold other people to purity tests that you, yourself, cannot live by. because mayor pete's exactly right. she transferred a ton of big money from her state campaign over to her presidential campaign and, i mean, she's

fueling her presidential run on that. and he asked, i think, the important question. did that money compromise your values? and then i don't think she had a good response. >> i'm distracted by his tie. >> do you like my tie, mika? >> it's elf like. it's nice. it's good. >> that's beautiful. >> it's my tribute to tom steyer's consistent tie. i'll maybe change it during the break. i think last night, joe, think first of all that was sort of the signature exchange of the evening and the fact the phrase wine cave was trending on twitter for a good portion of the night after that. i think it's reflective of two things. think that first, yes, you're right. the two of them went back and forth, they each scored some points, mayor buttigieg probably had the best line with the purity test that you highlight. but it shows not just a fundamental difference in how they're currently funding their campaign, but mayor pete's standing in this race right now.

he took a lot of heat last night. he's sort of become if not the overall front runner but certainly perhaps the front runner or cofront runner. he's doing very well there. as he started to climb in the polls he didn't take a lot of attacks from his rivals. last night he did. he was on his heels a little bit at times but largely pair rid th perried them. he's so nimble. we saw that again in that exchange with senator warren and came out from it largely unscathed. but i do think there's a sense from people i was talking to last night, this was definitely vice president biden's strong debate. he's had a view suspect performances in some of the earlier evenings when he was on stage. he didn't have any obvious stumbles last night. he sfoek spoke occupatipoke pas exuded a command of the stage which had been lacking in

previous debates. >> yeah. >> mayor mayor pete buttigieg has been climbing in the polls. they clashed over their experience and accomplishments. >> before the break you seemed to imply that our relationship to the first amendment was a talking point, as if anyone up here as anymore or less commitment to the constitution than anybody else up here. let nel you about my relationship to the first amendment. it is part of the constitution that i raised my right hand and swore to defend with my life. that is my experience. and it may not be the same as yours, but it counts, senator. it counts. >> i want to be president of the united states. and the point is, we should have someone heading up this ticket that is actually won. >> senator, i know that if you just go by vote totals, maybe what goes on in my city seems small to you. if you want to talk about the

capacity to win, try putting together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80% of the vote as a gay dude in mike pence's indiana. [ cheers and applause ] >> where, if you had won in indiana, that would be one thing. you tried and you lost by 20 points. >> well, and that continued, yamiche. at one point amy said i don't mean to denigrate your service, your local service, he said, you just did. again, mayor pete always seemed to have an answer. amy had a great night last night as well. i was curious what your thoughts were as a moderator of i'm just going to say it as the best debate easily of this campaign season because we didn't talk for the first 1 one hour 45 minutes on subset "c" of medicare part "d" and how that's going to apply to universal health care in the year 2047.

i mean, you actually got them debating about issues beyond the subtleties in a universal health care plan. >> well thank you, joe. i official set out to really try to have a substantive exchange between the candidates and think we got that. in this case, the feeling going into this debate was that senator warren and mayor pete buttigieg, they were going to go at it. they had been trading back and forth about whether or not elizabeth warren was demonizing the private sector work and pete buttigieg had been talking about purity tests. but then amy klobuchar jumped in there and she showed she wanted to engage with pete buttigieg and she showed that she's someone who's very interested in winning iowa, someone who has her eye on the mayor. and she kept on saying, of course he is mayor, but she kept on repeating mayor over and over again. i think i picked up on that because she was going back and really highlighting his experience and highlighting what she thinks say lack is a lack o

experience for the presidency. and the heart of the conversation was do you really have the resume and do you have the capacity to win in the same way that i do? i'm someone who has a statewide office and a statewide position rather than being mayor of a small city. but i think at the heart of elizabeth warren and pete buttigieg argument is another argument that will be a big part of this democratic party. are we going to be a tent sfi? i city? is it okay? are we going to aus tos tra siz people who are big tickets? we don't want to use big money. >> i think the experience we bong have in bei both have in being attacked and what to do. when you attack someone the way

pete buttigieg was attacked last night, did it make it very clear to a national audience that he's a very big deal? that he's a front runner and a force to be reckoned with? because i would think the better strategy would be to ignore someone who's attacking you, to show that they're not worth it. but yet everybody seemed to be kind of going after him. >> well, if everybody's piling up on a candidate and that candidate is -- >> it's so obvious, though. >> and that candidate can respond the way mayor pete responds, it only elevates him. rick tyler, my gosh, we were having a debate at the gichk this impeachment inquiry whether hunter biden was going to hurt joe biden, whether all the attacks would hurt. my god, no, it's been a god send for joe biden because every democrat said wait a second, why is donald trump so freaked out about running against joe biden that he will risk impeachment? that he will hold up

$400 million in military aid for a democratic ally being invaded by russia? why would he do that just to get back at joe biden? so a lot of times you getting attacked from others, whether it's other people in the democratic field or whether it's the president of the united states, that's actually a political god send. it has been for joe biden over the course of the past money and last night i think it was for mayor pete. >> so you're right, joe, in politics every problem san opportunity. and it's how you handle that opportunity. and joe biden, although i think he was a little slow historically to respond to the attacks on his son and his -- what he actually did in ukraine, last night he minced no words about it at all. and fumblist front runners are winners of debates by default. so you have to say that joe biden had his best debate, he say front runner and therefore

probably came out ahead in the debate. i thought some of the exchanges last night were rather interesting. i think people kind of broke even, but i have to say that pete buttigieg probably came out ahead and here's why. i think the only echo coming out of the wine cave was elizabeth warren's hypocrisy on fundraising. because i thought the most devastating point was when he said, when? when did you stop selling access for time? because it is true, she raised money like all the others and took that money from her senate campaign and put it in her presidential campaign. and the other thing being attacked by amy klobuchar, i thought that was a break even. again, here's why. because you have these senators, and when you're a senator by definition you are the establishment. i worked for senator ted cruz and wasn'ted to run as wanted ts an outsider. very procedure name with the title senator. and here's all these senators on

the stage and you had an outsider on the stage, mayor buttigieg, who, as you say, was prepared for every single attack and had very good responses and he actually did more than break even on them. >> joe biden was under fire early on. elizabeth warren attacking him for saying he could work with republicans claim egg was ding naive. he said i'm not naive, they're attacking my family. they're going after my son. and if i can say that i had can work with them, even though they're attacking my family, like, everybody else on this stage should at least try to do that. it was a very impressive moment for him and joe biden also did pretty darn well in his closing statement. here's a clip of that. >> look, we all have big progressive plans and the question is who can deliver on those plans. and it seems to me we have to ask ourselves three questions

straight up and honestly. who has the best chance, most likely chance of defeating donald trump? who is the one who's most likely to do that? number two, who can -- who can help elect democrats to the united states senate in states like north carolina and georgia and arizona and other states? and thirdly, who can deliver legislation? that requires you to look at our records. i have a significant record of getting significant things done from the violence consumer act to the chemical weapons treaty in foreign and domestic policy alike. i think asking those questions, i believe, as you expect, that i'm the most kbaqualified to anr those three questions. but most of all, we have to level with the american people, tell them the truth and be authentic. god bless you all and have a great, great holiday season and thank you. >> you know -- >> okay. >> there he is. >> yep, joe biden also had a back and forth with sarah huckabee sanders.

she wrote a tweet about his stuttering when she apologized for. he came back very strongly and then she apologized for the tweet. but, karine, i don't know, perhaps i'm judging joe biden on a low grading curve. perhaps that's the case. but he seemed to have a pretty darn good night. seemed to have 1 of his best nights last night. >> he had his best night last night, that was clear. talking about foreign policy, the economy. he showed the biden that so many were hoping to see. i think, though, with the incoming with mayor pete, it was interesting to see that because, as you said, when someone rises, when someone is seen as the front runner, others attack. we sue it with biden in the past. we saw it with harris. we saw it with warren. so this is where mayor pete is. his campaign should be happy, he did a very good job handling that incoming. what we saw between mayor pete

and warren is basically what we've been seeing on the campaign trail, the way that they've been attacking each other. what we saw with klobuchar and mayor pete is, i think, for the first time a crowded kind of moderate lane. and that is what was interesting. >> exactly. >> that was very interesting to see. because we -- >> after that first debate, karine, we didn't think we would ever see a crowded moderate -- people are going, buy sky scrapers for illegal immigrants? yes, i'll buy them whatever skyscraper they want. let the -- university? yes, of course. and we'll kick, we'll kick it like, you know, americans -- american citizens -- it's changed a lot, has it not? it seems that they found they don't have to chase had the most progressive voices on twitter. but how funny, a crowded moderate lane. explain. >> that's what was happening. i have to say, joe, everyone had

a good night because there were less people on stage. someone like klobuchar used her moment in a really good way. tom steyer, yang, we haven't talked about those two. i thought you saw more time for folks to speak. you saw a better debate on issues. on topic ary think that was the first hour, things i think voters want to hear about. it was a good debate last night. >> absolutely. and i think joe biden suffered in the earlier debates because there were too many candidates on stage and this gave him the space to be joe biden. that's my gut. but, the candidates started off the night being asked about impeachment. the big news of the week, the month, the year. here's what they said. >> it was a constitutional necessity for the house to act as it did. and, you know, trump's response to suggest that only half of the american people want to see him thrown out of office now i find is dumbing down the presidency beyond what i even thought he would do. >> we need a candidate for

president that can draw the sharpest d sharpest distinction between the corruption of the trump administration and a democrat that will get out and fight not for the wealthy and well connected but will fight for everyone else. that's why i'm in this race. >> the case to be made is, yeah, certainly i disagree with trump on virtually all of his policies. but what conservatives i think understand is that we cannot have a president with that temperament who is dishonoring the presidency of the united states. >> the president left the house with no choice. and i think a lot of us are watching this process, watching washington go through the motions and not expecting much but a foregone conclusion when it gets to the senate. but we cannot give in to that sense of helplessness because that's what they want. it support to us in 2020, this is our chance to refuse to be taken in by the helplessness. to refuse and reject the

cynicism. that is what this presidential election is about. >> as a wise judge said, the president is not king in america. as we face his trial in the senate, if the president claims that he is so innocent, then why accident have all the president's men testify? richard nixon had his top people testify. if president trump thinks that he should not be impeached, he should be not scared to put forward his own witnesses. >> jeremy peters, you are writing about president trump's response to the impeachment. he had said that he wasn't going to watch any of it, none of it, none at all. >> he's so angry. >> but chances are he was watching impeachment and he was tweet throughout it and possibly watching these democrats as well take it on. and they seem to do so pretty mournfully and calmly and focused on the constitution. >> i think that's right. because i think they not only

realize the gravity of the situation here and that this is something that has still only happened three times in the history of this republic, but they also realize that it's something that does deeply divide americans and that this whole process has not really changed many americans' minds about how they feel about the president. as one republican told me yesterday, if you already disliked donald trump as the president, you were not going to dislike him anymore at the end of this process. i think that the answer that elizabeth warren gave in response to this question was one of the most telling of the night because it kind of brought into relief the big issue in this campaign. and that's whether or not you're going to have a debate over electability or purity. and slowly what you've seen happen over the course of the democratic primary is more and more democratic voters saying it's important to them to have a nominee who can beat donald

trump. more important than to have the most progressive candidate or the candidate who has the most progressive values on issues. that's a big shift. that was a big part of the reason why, for example, mike bloomberg decided to get into the race. and when elizabeth warren says we ought to have the nominee who can draw the sharpest contrast with donald trump, i can tell you that's exactly what republicans want. that's exactly what the trump campaign wants. they want somebody like warren to be the nominee so they can portray her as a radical left socialist and scare swing voters in the states across the upper midwest that donald trump needs to win re-election. so if there is a nominee that allows them to draw that sharp contrast, it really does work to trump's advantage. >> let's now bring in msnbc correspondent garrett haake. garrett, you have been on the present on capitol hill over the past week especially. tell us where impeachment's

heading. it certainly looks like nancy pelosi is holding the cards very close to her chest. >> and she can hold them into 2020. we are in two weeks of impeachment purgatory. the house and senate have gone home till the new year so this idea of delaying the articles, it's going to haep happen if i way. the house left without selecting their managers for an impeachment hall and without sending them down the hall to the senate. this allows them to call the president's bluff. the president who said over and over again he wants witnesses, he would send his people to capitol hill if it were a more fair trial in the senate. democrats are saying, okay, now's your opportunity to prove if the and you also have democrats saying that they don't believe that the republicans will really try to call hunter biden if they get into some kind of witness negotiation here. chuck schumer said last night on rachel maddow's program that he thinks even republicans in the senate don't want to turn the senate into a circus in that way. so now you have in face-off here

between the inpatience of donald trump to get this on with, to get his name cleared, and the strategic patience of mitch mcconnell who said yesterday he's perfectly willing to wait this out. he doesn't want this trial anyway so he's willing to sit and wait. that's what the dynamic will be over the next couple hours with the house and senate out. does donald trump's inpatience to say let's get this over with, whoever can come testify let's do it. or does mitch mcconnell win and say i'm perfectly willing to sit on my hands until democrats decide they're ready to move forward. >> you know, another complaint, garrett, was that this is being rushed, this sham is being rushed. okay. you want to slow this down? we'll wait for a while. one are the pitfalls for both sides on the potential that this waiting goes on weeks and months, that what? something could break perhaps in the news on this or perhaps the

president could maybe use this to further kind of make it look like he's a victim? >> well, for the democrats i think there are two big risks here. the first is they spent the last month saying it was an you gent priority saying that the president be impeached. if it's urgent and has to be done now, you would think you have to move forward on it now. second idea is that it suggests that the democratic case in the house was incomplete without whatever witness these might be able to get on the senate floor. so that's the potential risk for democrats. and i think the idea that it makes it look more nakedly political. democrats have defended impeachment saying it's a high constitutional duty. if it looks like they're playing tactical tricks with it, there's a political risk there. for republicans the risk is that more could come out. the early stage of this inquiry we were having one new bombshell after another week after week. there's no reason to think that an intemperate presidential tweet might not reveal more information over the holidays while the president's down at

mar-a-lago. that more information might come out or if this things gets held up in late january or god for bid february that some of these court cases that have been slowly grinding along might also reveal more information. there are political risks on both sides the long they're drags out. >> jonathan lemire, i must say, and i'm sure i have a blind spot here, there's something procedurally that i don't understand. but at least from my vantage point this morning on december the 20th, 2019, i don't see why democrats should rush anything. john bolton yesterday said he had a lot to say, a lot to get off his chest. >> why doesn't he say it? >> but he's not going to do that until the court orders him to do that. you have other -- other witnesses that may be able to come forward. and every day that donald trump -- i mean, you tell me whether this read is correct or not just based on my knowledge

of donald trump. every day that goes by where donald trump is impeached but not acquitted, that is a day that drives donald trump into a rage. and so democrats should wait, they should negotiate, they should negotiate with republicans and get the witnesses that both sides agree to and actually have a real senate trial. >> i think there's a sense there's a limit to how long the democrats can wait on this. but in terms of the short-term, this seems like a pretty masterful play from the speaker in continuing her streak of winning head games with the president. donald trump is desperate for vindication. he wants the senate trial, he wants to win that be trial, he's going to try to spin that as a victory going forward, he wants to be exonerate and now he's being deprived of that. according to our reporting and others he was talking yesterday, wait, can she do this? how long can this happen because he's so desperate for the trial to get started, he wants sort of

a longer showy trial than certainly senate majority liter mcconnell wants, but he wants the outcome. he wants this to be cleared as soon as possible and move forward. so, garrett, let me go to you in terms of just some of the contours of what this trial could look like. i believe senator schumer and mountain leader schumer and majority leader mcconnell briefly met yesterday, but there's been a lot of tense exchanges and speeches delivered from the senate floor about what should be happening next. can you give us an update in terms of where talks stand and what should we expect with the negotiations ahead? >> yeah, the two mostly have been negotiating past each other with floor speeches and interviews to other media outlets. they met yesterday off the floor for about 20 minutes and afterwards they said they were still at an impasse. schumer wants a guarantee up-front that these four witnesses that democrats have asked for will be able to be called at some point during the trial. that's mulvaney, pompeo -- excuse me, mulvaney, pompeo, and mulvaney, bolton, and two of the budget officials who handled

this money. mcconnell's not budging on that. mcconnell wants a structure more like they saw during the clinton impeachment where the only thick that's guaranteed is the managers will get a chance to present their case and the white house will get a chance to present their defense and then they might open things up for motions either to dismiss the trial, acquit the president, or if senators want it to hear more witnesses. they are stuck there. in terms of the politics of it, the next two weeks are free. they were never going to start the trial over christmas. it was never going to start before january 6th when both the houses back anyway. so the next two weeks have the political room for negotiations, if they continue to talk over the holidays. but when both men left the senate chamber last night for the last time in this year, both were saying there is not an agreement. >> all right. garrett haake, thank you very, very much. still ahead on "morning joe," joe mentioned that exchange between joe biden and former white house press secretary sarah sanders. she's no longer working for donald trump, but you wouldn't know it from her hurtful

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waelcome back to "morning joe.." joining us now or nbc news national security analyst jeremy bash is with us. "the washington post" reports that are nearly from the moment president trump took office he, quote, seized on a they're that i troubled his senior aides. ukraine, he told them, on many occasions had tried to stop him from winning the white house. quoting former officials, the paper goes on to say some aides believed that it was russian president vladimir putin who influenced president trump's theories of ukraine and the 2016

election. after meeting privately in july, 2017, with russian president putin at the group of 20 summit in hamburg, trump grew more insistent that ukraine worked to defeat him according to multiple former officials familiar with his assertions. the paper also notes that trump's, quote, intense resistance to the assessment of u.s. intelligence agencies that russia systemically feared sbooe interfered with the 2016 campaign led many of his advisers to lead that putin himself helped spur the idea of ukraine's culpability. the russian ambassador in washington declined to discuss whether president trump was told that ukraine interfered in the 2016 elections. when asked to comment on the post, the white house declined to comment on the story.

>> we read a story that's more disturbing than the last about donald trump's relationship with russia and other foreign leaders across the globe. but this one struck me yesterday afternoon as particularly troubling. according to a source inside the white house, a former official, donald trump at that g 20 summit is told by vladimir putin that ukraine actually meddled in the election and not russia. donald trump came back to the white house, tried to spread this russian disinformation around to his aides and staff members and his secretaries. they all said, no, intel chiefs all said no. and here we are two years later, we fastforward from that meeting between putin and trump and now you have this russian disinformation that infected donald trump, infected the republican party, and now has infected, you know, about half of the electorate who now

believe that ukraine improperly influenced the 2016 election, despite the fact that the opposite is true. and all of the intel community, they've been warning donald trump, they've been warning republicans for two years now that this is a lie. and, yet, putin's conversation with trump may have started all of this that is completely twisted and perverted u.s. policy towards a democratic country invaded by vladimir putin. it's shocking, isn't it? >> it is, joe. and this concept that ukraine, not russia, interfered in the 2016 election, it's no mere nutty conspiracy theory. i think we should stop referring to it that way. it's a russian information operations campaign. it's directed by vladimir putin. it's carried out by the russian intelligence services 'the there are multiple prongs, multiple layers to it. robert mueller indited several

russian intelligence officers for it. vladimir putin did it potentially according to this report, in direct diplomacy with the white house. fiona hill wrote the book on vladimir putin, she testified about this, i think it's high time that we call this for what it is. >> yamiche, take off your presidential debate correspondent hat. >> that was amazing, though. >> and put on your white house reporter hat, and tell us what you make of it. >> it's pretty incredible, but it also is doubling down on what we know as president trump's propensity to take the president of russia at his words. remember helsinki when he was presented with evidence from his own intelligence communities that russia meddled in the 2016 election and the president of russia said we didn't do that. and president trump basically leaned toward believing russia. so we saw then and we're learning even more now that president trump believes vladimir putin largely over his

own administration. and he also often likes to really take russian -- russian intel and in some ways get that to influence the way that he sees the world. he said it over and over again in the white house we know through testimony's that he said ukraine tried to take me down, ukraine tried to take me down. he said that over and over again. but he never said russia tried to take me down or at least try to take the country down which would have been in some ways accurate. but, jeremy, president trump is continuing to really want to lean on russia's information for the we that he looks at the world, what does that mean for places like china or for our relationship with nato? there are so many other geopolitical things to navigate here? >> it's a great question, yamiche, and i think it's important. because russia's world view is that when they can go one on one with a country they can win. but when they face an alliance, when they face a network of countries, whether it's nato or the european union, that's had

they feel surrounded. vladimir putin's objective has been to use his influence with the trump administration to denigrate nato, to undermine the eu. that's why in some ways brexit has been actually something that the kremlin has wanted. the undermining of nato, the constant critiques from the jump administration, it's exactly out of the kremlin playbook. >> yeah. jeremy bash, thank you very, very much. coming up, a prominent christian magazine founded by one of america's most admired men is now calling for president trump's removal and lays out in clear terms why. we'll have that next on "morning joe." we'll have that next on "morning joe." i'm your mother in law. and i like to question your every move.

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45 past the hour. joining us now, pulitzer prize columnist and associate editor of "the washington post," eugene robinson is with us. so let's take a look at this, gene. the prominent evangelical magazine christianity today founded by the late billy graham is calling on president trump to be removed from office.

this is big. the magazine's editor and chief called the president's actions that led to impeachment, quote, profoundly immoral writing this: the reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. he has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. he, himself, has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. his twitter feed alone with his habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and sondlanders is slanders is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused. trump's evangelical supporters

have pointed to his supreme court nominees, his deficiencies for all to see. none of the president's positives is can poll the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character. we should note that the magazine was critical of bill clinton 21 years ago writing, quote, unsavory dealings and immoral acts by the president and those close to him have rendered this administration morally unable to lead. franklin graham, the son of the magazine's founder and a trump supporter, slammed the editorial telling "the new york times," quote, my father would be embarrassed. he continued its not going to change anybody's mind about trump. there's a liberal element within the evangelical movement. christianity today represents that. i don't think it does, gene, and it seems like this piece

especially by "christianity today" is finally saying what you would think the evangelical community would say. and i wonder if in the debate leading up to that impeachment vote if the parallels to jesus christ and the parallels to -- that the republicans were making were a bridge too far. >> you have to wonder if -- if that finally tipped the scales. i mean, i guess to everything there is a season. and finally it is the season for realizing what has been apparent since the minute donald trump announced his candidacy for the president. it has been astounding to me that even without even questioning the evangelical movement has been so lockstep supportive of this president, not an inch of daylight. and now you see someday light. this is -- it's really interesting, this is an

important publication. i really wasn't aware that it was some sort of liberal evangelical "washington post" or something like that. it actually isn't. it's not that kind of publication. and i think this is potentially significant as franklin graham said. it's not going to automatically change the minds of the millions and millions of evangelicals who continue to support the president. but i think it's going to make some people think. during that debate and this isn't stuff president trump himself was saying, but when those republicans compared him to jesus, i noticed on twitter there were prominent evangelicals who were aghast that this sort of thing was being said. and this may be a moment when -- when we -- when this idea gets

people's attention, that this is a seriously morally deficient president. there's just no way around it and no other way to look at it. >> jesus comparison -- >> and jonathan lemire. >> go ahead. >> the evangelical community has given trump so many breaks along the way for,s th as this pete p point pointed out, for the things that he has done. but yo really hau really have t your eyes and ears to not see the things that the evangelical things that they stand for he flies in the face of. >> most of them will point to victories that they handed them, mostly on the judges, his stance against abortion and so on. but, jeremy, it seems like it's been an unlikely fit, right in the president is twice divorced, billionaire from manhattan who

openly speaks about his life to this point in a way he's never made faith a centerpiece of his existence. you know, but, yet, for the most part evangelicals have marched lockstep with him. do you see here, following up on gene's point, is there going to be any daylight? is there any suggestion that that support has wavered? because the campaign is banking on them being 100% behind the president again going into his re-election. >> you're exactly right about that. they're working very hard to shore up that vote. i spoke with one of the most prominent evangelical republican leaders earlier this week and asked him is that 81% that donald trump received in the last election, 81% of the white evangelical vote going to be there again? and he suggested to me not only would it be there, but that they were aiming for upwards of 83%. so they're trying to drive that higher. now, i think what this christianity today piece kind of highlights is a growing gap

between the older evangelical political guard and a younger generation of people who are, frankly, not comfortable with the way that their parents' generation's politics have, they believe, corrupted the evangelical political movement. so it's more of a generational thing. it's a question of who votes more, though. and i, at this point, would not be surprised if donald trump holds on to that 81% just given how much he's done. >> hey, rick, so i assume that this piece dropped like a bomb in the white house and it takes it straight to trump's base, the core of his base. my question to you, even though it's scathing and it's kind of mind blowing and about time, i think, that the evangelical community says something. do you think it will make a difference? do you think this piece will actually hit home with them in some way? >> i think, absolutely. this is the tearing of the

curtain. by the way, i'm not sure it was a bomb in the white house because trump's response would have been crihristianity what? it's not where you go to bet your big issues. they occasionally weigh in on these types of issues. and unlike my friends in the republican party, they are not two-faced about applying their moral standard and they applied it to clinton and here they are applying it to donald trump. let me say this as clear as i can. the evangelical trump worshippers that i had see have cashiered jesus for proximity to power. they've been seduced by this man. >> very much. >> here's why i say this comfortably. christianity is about one thing, its central theme is forgiveness. and we can forgive and god can forgive all the things that we've all done, including donald

trump, but it's what christianity is pointing out today is that he is grossly immoral and ethically incompetent and he has no repentance for this. he doesn't show any contrition. he says he's never wrong. and what was -- what struck me very early there are was before he was president, he went to iowa and he was asked by steve dace if he had ever asked god for forgiveness and he said no. that's remarkable if you didn't have to ask for forgiveness then you can't be a christian because the central theme is you need a saviour to forgive. and by saying he doesn't forgive, it's so revealing because forgiveness is in the lord's prayer. >> that's the basis, yeah. >> you have to ask for forgiveness which tells you he never played the lord's prayer. it's in the catholic liturgy, it's in the main line prod test.

which is why nancy pelosi says she praise for the president. think her faith is strong. she praise for the president by name every sunday because that's what the catholic churches do, it's in the liturgy. but donald trump didn't know this. >> the editorial uses impeachment as the hook to call for the president arizo's remov but they have stuck by him, some of the things that would be damaging even about deceased members of the military would have led to this movement. mika, briefly, about my tie, twitter has come out strongly in favor of. 'i've conducted a focus group at the table. karine karine's opposed. jeremy likes it. gene, you have the tie-breaking vote. >> i love you, but i'm with

california rin. karine. >> you win. >> you know what they say, twitter is not how people really feel. >> it's a bubble. still ahead, democrats are looking to call witnesses at the impeachment trial of president trump. but senator lindsey graham says he won't allow it. not even witnesses the president wants to hear from. wait, what do you want, guys? do you want to hear from people or not? and on the heels of this week's impeachment vote, president trump is now looking to november for vindication. "the new york times" peter baker joins with us that new reporting. "morning joe" will be right back. reporting. "morning joe" will be right back.

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senator warren, you would be the oldest president ever inaugurated, i'd like you to weigh in as well. >> i'd also be the youngest woman ever inaugurated. >> know your value. welcome back to "morning joe." it is friday, december 20th.

still with us we have white house reporter for "the associated press," jonathan lemire, who is going to twitter for validation, joe, about his tie. >> i know. i know. >> help me out. >> needy, super needy. senior adviser at moveon.org karine jean-pierre. associated editor of "the washington post" eugene robinson and joining the conversation "the new york times," peter baker. and out in los angeles for last night's democratic debate, national affairs analyst for nbc news and msnbc john heilemann. he's the co-host and executive producer of show time's "the circus ". i'd love to get your take on "christianity today" which came out forcefully for the removal of president trump from office and franklin graham pushed back saying it had liberal strains to

it, doesn't represent the evangelical community. can we ask the same question at this point about evangelicals that we are asking about republicans? are they not evangelicals anymore? >> well, "christianity today" is not a liberal publication. i think it's the most well-read magazine in the evangelical world. it's always held a center spot in the evangelical world. and just because franklin graham says that they're now liberal says a lot more about franklin graham. >> yeah. >> than it does about "christianity today." you talk about worshipping false idols, franklin graham here is actually he's talking about -- he's judging somebody's christianity, somebody's theology based on how much they follow, how much they bow down to, how much they worship politically donald j. trump.

and you see the same thing politically. it's so people come up to me and say i used to like you until you become liberal. meekal tell you th meekal te mika will tell you -- >> don't say ta that to joe. >> we'll talk about all the things that republicans now do. they've stopped being conservative. they're liberal on spending. they're liberal on the budget. they're liberal on the size of government. they're liberal on tariffs, they're liberal on socialist payoff schemes. you can go down the list. but i wanted to touch on what rick tyler said and it really was at the heart of today's editorial editorial. sinning is not disqualifying. you go to church because you're a sinner. that's the grace, the mercy that

jesus christ gives you. and the only thing that is asked in return, other than loving others, taking care of others and loving god, is that you ask for forgiveness. >> yes. >> and "christianity today" underlined the most important part. not only has donald trump had a terrible life, he refuses to ask for forgiveness. he's proud of what he does. he's proud of his past. and he has said time and again, i don't need to ask god for forgiveness. i can tell you somebody that went to bankruptist churches pt majority of my life, that's the an tith sis of jesus' teaching. i'm not sure how franklin graham describes that editorial as liberal. it seems that it's franklin graham now who is liberally twisting the realities of evangelical movement and christ's own words to fit his own political needs. >> yeah. i mean, i'm not a theologian but

i grew up going to a southern methodist church. yes, this idea of forgiveness, this idea of surrender is -- is central to the idea of christianity and it is for evangelicals. you know, i was -- i was born again and through the grace of jesus christ i am saved. and donald trump will not and pointedly has refused to acknowledge that he needs any such help from anybody. you know, he's just fine -- i. s it's amazing to me that as he has said this again and again, evangelicals, it either doesn't register or they just willfully ignore it in a sort of i guess pragmatic, real politic way.

maybe they're thinking about judges, maybe they're thinking about owning people like, you know, liberals and people who don't ho don't -- who they don't think think like them and they classified as an enemy which is not what i was told was christian. but this is a significant step, number one. and, number two, i don't nope what's happened to franklin graham. i grew up having a lot of respect for his father. i certainly cannot say the same thing for the son. >> well, you know, again, so often long before donald trump he seemed the antithesis of billy graham going around and attacking other faiths. for my baptist family, billy graham was like the pope. people always asked who was your favorite interview, it was billy

graham. but i remember him getting attacked by conservatives because he thought the great commission, jesus' great commission meant what it said. he went to the soviet union and was cost gatedcastgated. but that was the open heart that billy graham had. the crazy thing is, christianity is for sinners. you can't -- you can't go through the gospels and not see that. so that's not the problem. the problem is donald trump says that he is beyond god. he does not need to be forgiven. and that's certainly tip off and that was underlined last night by the magazine. john heilemann, if you want to weigh in on whether that's going to impact evangelical voters think there right now a lot of people are skeptical that it will, but let's talk about the debate last night.

fascinating a smaller stage, it seems like every democratic candidate, just about every democratic candidate left that debate stage with something to be excited about, including the front runner joe biden who i think easily turned in his best debate performance. >> yeah, joe i think it's certainly right thaul after the candidat that all of the candidates benefited from having for time on stage to say some things at length. mika made the point earlier that joe biden was someone who benefited most from that space. i think in biden's case it's a matter of time. one of the things that biden's debate coaches have learned is that he has strengths but he account make quick political points with a high degree of precision. they were looking forward to the notion that there would be these

extra seconds to let him talk more like joe biden normally talks. i think there's no doubt that last night was the best debate of the six this year for joe biden. he came in to the debate the national front runner. he walked you the aught national fro out the national front runner. and you did not have a moment where even democrats who were sympathic to him looked at him and said, i don't know, do we want that guy to be the nominee? he didn't have a moment like that last night, which i think is a really big -- a huge win for him. and then you saw amy klobuchar who was the other person who had a night last night. she has been slowly rising out of the pack. she has been picking up ground across the board since the october debate when she first aggressively tried to stake the claim in the moderate lane and started to go after some of her fellow democrats on stage. last night she was very aggressive. she sees the possibility that pete buttigieg and elizabeth warren both could be flat lining

a little bit and maybe losing a little bit of altitude in iowa and that could open up space for her in a state that's essential for her. i know she raised more money last night than she has in any other -- on any other night of the entire year 2019. and that's what amy klobuchar needs most right now is money in iowa. so it was a huge, huge night for amy klobuchar. i would just say look out for her. this is the moment this close to the iowa caucuses, the whole organize, organize, organize, get hot at the end in iowa. the end means right around the first of the year. and she might be someone who could be that person who is the dark horse who comes out of nowhere and gets hot at the end in iowa. i make no predictions, but i'd say keep an eye on her. >> i don't disagree with that. we'll get to more on amy klobuchar in a moment. former vice president joe biden defended his position on bipartisanship last night after he was pressed on his belief that democrats and republicans

will have an epiphany and work together once president trump is out of the office. >> look, i didn't say return to normal. normal's not enough. normal means we have to move beyond normal, health care, the environment, whatever it is. we have to build on what we had started in our administration. and that's been interrupted very badly, number one. number two, with trump out of the way, it's not going to change things in a fundamental way, but what it will do is it will mean that we're in a position where he's not going to be able to intimidate the base -- his base is not going to intimidate those half a dozen republicans we may need in other things. i refuse to accept the notion, as some on this stage do, that we can never ever get to a place where we have cooperation again. if that's the case we're dead as a country. if anyone has reason to be angry with the republicans and not want to cooperate, it's me the way they've attacked me, my son, my family. i have no -- no -- no love. but the fact is, we have to be

able to get things done. and when we can't convince them, we go out and beat them like we did in the 2018 election in red states and in purple states. >> peter baker, some joe biden critics, and just democrats in general who even supported him were often concerned that he wasn't able to answer the basic questions in earlier debates. he hit that landing extraordinarily well last night. seemed like a different joe biden at least to me. >> it did. and it came right after the british election that raised questions in the american democratic community as well as to what kind of candidate you want to put forward in the fall. are you going make the mistake that some moderates like biden supporters saw in britain in putting forward a candidate who's seen too far to the left? critics say the opposite, you need somebody who stands up for something and they're going after him as too much of a

milquetoast alternative. they want somebody to propose revolutionary change. it's a fascinating moment in the democratic race and fascinating moment for joe biden because we're on the heels of the final few weeks, people start to pay attention in a serious way in iowa and new hampshire. once those votes start coming in, they start to roll in in a quick succession. you don't have a lot of chances to, you know, reorient your campaign or to recover from the states. so coming out strong from this debate is probably the best timing for joe biden that he could have hoped for. >> i think also peter's right, the timing and the strong performance was essential for joe biden who had been shaky in a few of his previous debates and suffered with some fundraising. karine, let me get your take to expand on this a little more. biden has remained strong, very strong in the national polls. less so in some of the early battleground states. he's closed the gap a little bit in iowa it seems of late. do you think here, as much as his -- we heard a few weeks ago that his advisers were cown

playi down-playing, we know from the past that's usually not the case. it's hard to rally from iowa. do you see a path where joe biden could compete and finish in iowa, finish in the top two or three and, if he does, is that going dto be a spring boar going forward? >> has to finish strong in iowa. like you just stated think there it's hard to say that you're the front -- to say that you could beat donald trump and not have some mow nent meanmentum. when you win iowa and early, that momentum takes you into super tuesday. so we haven't seen anything that has not looked like that. so it's hard to say. but, i'll say that we're living in a different time, right? the reason why we haven't seen biden's numbers slip and that he's -- well, it slipped but stay strong. >> stabilized. >> strong and stabilized at this moment is because people look at him, in particular, older african-american voters in south carolina, they look at him and they're like, okay, we need to

get out of this. we need to beat donald trump. they're comfortable with biden, they know biden, they've known him for some time. and i don't think that's going to go away. we have not seen that good away in the polling. so i think voters have pretty much made up their minds. but, i do think he has to compete. he has to do well in the states before south carolina. >> one of the things that these debates have brought out, i think, is a real concern among a lot of democratic voters that the party was moving too far to the left. you know, when they started talking about providing health insurance for undocumented immigrants and reparations for slavery, i think that scared a lot of people in the democratic party thinking, hold on, we're going to really alienate swing voters in the states where we need them. you saw the polling shift. and now there are more and more democrats who say it's more important to them to have a nominee who can beat donald trump than it is to have somebody who's idealogically pure. and you've seen people like mike

bloomberg get in the race and you've seen people like pete buttigieg rise in the polls and now amy klobuchar. the question i have for john heilemann is, one of the lessons of the democratic primaries, the republican primaries is you're never completely out. there's always somebody who gets a second wind, a third wind even. i don't get the sense that elizabeth warren or bernie sanders and their supporters are going quietly anywhere. what are you hearing from that crowd, that group on exactly what is next as they watch kind of their candidates and their aye ideas be swept aside? or at least knocked down a few pegs in terms of the priorities of the party? >> yeah, well jeremy, it's a really good point and there's a couple things going on. what we've seen in the course of the fall, i would say after that october debate when people first turned on elizabeth warren and started to ask her hard questions about medicare for all, that she didn't initially have answers to or that she

didn't want to say what her answers were to outloud, she's been losing altitude in that period of time. and, at that same time, there's been in kind of collective thing that you described just now which is the mainstream of the party taking a deep breath and saying should we really be in the market for political risk when what's on the line is who are we going to put on this ticket to beat donald trump? and so the resurgery answer of the kind of center of the party has been the story of the fall. now you have joe biden and you have amy klobuchar and you have pete buttigieg all emerging in the strong three-way race, essentially, in the top tier, amy klobuchar edging into that tier in the middle of the party. and bernie sanders resurgent after his heart attack. so on the left you've got this issue, i think, you know, elizabeth warren and bernie sanders in a nonaggression pact for most of 2019 now suddenly looking at each other going, wait a minute, bernie's resurgent, warren's lost a little altitude, both of them have enough money and will

continue to have enough money to go all the way through to june. and what that means is that it's going to be very hard for either one of them to consolidate the progressi progressive winning of t progressive wing of the party. what that is is bad news if you're a progressive and want to be a nominee if they both stay till the end. and good news if you're in the center of the party because you look at those two locked in that depth str depth struggle for months. that leaves 60% of the vote open. and who emerges among those other three right now, i mean, there's still opening for someone else to come out of now no way. but it's tay reala really good and people thought either sanders or warren would have the poll position on the left. looks like they could be going at each other for the entire

race. >> it looks like we have a little viewer feedback. the president would like to chime in on our "christianity today" op-ed. >> okay. >> he writes, far left magazine or, quote, very progressive as some would call it which has been doing poorly and hasn't been involved with the billy graham family for many years, "christianity today" knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather have a radical left -- >> oh my god. >> would rather have a radical left nonbeliever who would take your guns than donald trump as your president. donald trump has never done more for the evangelical community and it's not even close. you won't get anything for dems on stage. he rights e.t. again and i think he means c.t. or he's chiming in on a beloved children's movie. but he's come out strongly against the op-ed and showing some signs of concern on the impact it could have on his evangelical brace. >> maybase.

>> maybe he reads the transcript every night. but we want to thank donald from quee quee queensboro from calling into bible bowl. donald, think so much. "christianity today," donald, is not a liberal magazine and "christianity today's" not failing. in fact, it's interesting you keep saying our show is failing, we've had highest numbers ever. >> then why watch? >> thanks to our great team that works around the clock. but crist knit"christianity tod top evangelical magazine. donald, i know you wouldn't know this, but it holds an important place in the intellectual life of the christian evangelical movement for people that grew up in churches like me and so many other evangelicals. i wanted to follow one gene

robinson, on what john heilemann was talking about. and we had been talking about it this morning, gene, about the democrats' search for the center. and i want you to focus specifically, i talked to reverend al about this an awful lot, but i want you to focus specifically on your home state and the most important voters for the democratic primary. and that is black voters, older black voters, female black voters, and go back to that first debate where you had everybody rushing over to the left talking about -- i asked that you look through the lens of people in historical black churches, not only in south carolina who will help sway this election, but also across the deep south for super tuesday. but who do issues like the decriminalization of illegal immigration are giving health

care benefits to illegal immigrants or even reparations which barack obama swatted that issue away twice when he was running for office or taking health care away from 160 million americans or, and i will say it because it needs to be said, debating -- democrats debating about transgender bathroom issues or birthday cakes in indiana. reverend al's reading and most people's rooegdeading i see is the black electorate is far more conservative with a small "c" than liberal democrats in new york or los angeles have ever understood. reverend al calls them latte liberals and he says they just don't get black voters. >> yeah. a lot of sort of rock-ribbed

african-american, traditional democratic supporters are, in many ways, liberal but socially conservative. the issues you just ran down certainly would not strike a chord. for a lot of those voters in my home state, there is a central overriding issue. there's, you know, there's a president in the white house now that a lot of people consider just flagrantly out and out racist. and who is determined specifically determined, he announces it all the time, to tear down everything president obama built. that's pretty much enough. i mean, you know, you're going to get -- they're going to support the democratic nominee, but of course there's always a question of enthusiasm, there's always a question of turnout,

there's always a question of how many people you get out. and in the context of the democratic primary, these are some of the reasons why you see the joe biden's firewall in south carolina. you see him talking a language -- it's not just his familiarity, but you see him talking in a way that connects with a lot of those voters. and they're very reliable voters. they are going to come out, they're going to vote. i think that whatever happens in iowa, whatever happens in new hampshire, unless things really change a lot, i'm just starting to really believe in the south carolina firewall for biden. and, you know, his more moderate position on some of those issues is a factor. >> yeah, i think so. so, peter baker, we just heard

the president of the united states who never watches "morning joe" once again tweet on the -- in close proximity to when we talked about him. he never watches the show, hi, donald, how you doing? bau but it shows how fixed is he on impeachment, his kbeconcern abo impeachment and support slipping. take us inside the white house, the president's current state of mind. we understand he's been angry and you can see that with all cap tweets over the past week. but where is he today? what do we expect over the next week or two where there's going to be dead silence coming from the hill and the president's just going to have the impeachment, his impeachment, the third president of american history to be impeached hang offering him the entire holiday season. >> yeah, think that's right.

heing toles ba he toggles back and forth and being confident that he's in good shape politically that this could be a positive for him. he may not be right about that, but that's what they talk about. he express and vented his furry that the rally of course in battle creek, michigan, we saw two hours of vintage donald trump. and then he got on the plane we're told and he was in a better mood. he got it out of his system. by the morning he was still sort of, you know, kind in a shell shock, you know, my colleague maggie haberman was reporting that he at some point kind of thought that perhaps this wouldn't have actually happened, that nancy pelosi wouldn't have brought it to a vote or she didn't have the votes even though his own staff was telling him of course she does. there's been a mix of denial, anger, and acceptance, i think. it's going to be a routine theme you'll hear from now until next november. he brought in jevon drew wrurn of t jeff van drew to showcase that

he had somebody standing behind him. he said i don't feel like i'm impeached because it's a hoax. but he's going to take this to the voters. this is the first time we've had an impeached president who will then go to an election. both bill clinton and richard nixon were in the second term. andrew johnson didn't get a nomination after his impeachment trial. so we're going to test this they ballot box and he's willing to take that to the voters. he's trying to stir up his supporters. they put out a fundraising pitches yesterday and created democrats for, you know, for trump organization. the question is whether or not in this is something that drives his voters to the polls or, in fact, creates fatigue factor among voters who say, okay, enough, let's move on. >> hard to know. >> fascinating that the van drew pledged his undying support for donald trump only a month or two after attacking donald trump and endorsing cory booker for president. >> okay. peter baker, thank you very much. and still ahead on "morning joe," there are protests gripping hong kong and leaving

china on edge. also, the uk political drama and the fallout over brexit. spoiler alert here, he neither is the ap's top news story of the year. we'll reveal what is when associated press reporter joins the conversation. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. i'm finding it hard to stay on top of things a faster laptop could help. plus, tech support to stay worry free. worry free...boom boom! get free next business day shipping or ...1 hour in-store pick up shopping season solved at office depot officemax or officedepot.com.

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♪ all right. welcome back to "morning joe." 32 past the hour. joining us now, reporter for "the associated press" david. he's here to count down the ten biggest stories of the year. last year's top story was the mass shooting at the high school in parkland, florida, which sparked student-led marches all over the country which -- what is this year's biggest story? we'll start with number ten on

the list, before you we start, david, i want to say that at the airport the other day i met a parkland mom, gina rose's mom, jennifer, and twharg bracelet through the holidays for gina, remembering last year's top story and never forgetting it. so what is this year's top story? >> we want to start at the top or at the bottom? well, number ten, all right. >> we can go backwards, i guess. >> number ten. >> all right, ten, nine, eight, sten. >> we'll work our way up. number ten could have probably been the top story in asia if we vote noo voted for that region. it's the long-running protest in hong kong started mid-june and still going on. it's a remarkable show of collective defiance against the most powerful government in that region. i think people around the world are impressed by the staying power and the courage of those protesters. and? >> and number nine, boeing jets ground. tell us about it.

>> that was probably the most global story on our list when you stop and think about it. it's affected airlines around the world when boeing decided to ground its max 737 jet. it's affected families of victims of two far-flung plane crashes, killed more than 300 people altogether. and now it's having a huge impact on boeing, the biggest exporter in the u.s. announcing just a few days ago that it's going to suspend production of that plane indefinitely. so it's a story with a lot of ripples and a lot more go on that saga. >> you have u.s./china trade wars number eight. but number seven, the story that's been in the news the last week, brex sblit fit. >> it seemed like a story of confusion and division and uncertainty and then, wham moa

now it will be how it will unfold? >> the next one on the list you have here is climate change, which some might argue is the number one concern that we should have every year. >> absolutely. >> talk to us about that and then segue into opioids is number five. >> climate change should be number one. this year it was depending on your viewpoint good news and bad news. you have trump pulling out of the paris talks or setting the stage for the u.s. to really withdrawal from the international process. on the other hand you had young people all over the world led figuratively by greta thunberg casting attention on this issue, putting pressure on governments and adults to do something about it. interesting sort of double developments there. >> and opioids at number four. and with mass shootings at number -- i'm sorry, opioids are

number five and mass shootings at four. tragedies. >> yeah. the opioids epidemic has been going on for a couple of decades. what was different this year and i think why it was so high on our list is sort of the year that victims, financial victims and real victims struck back governments of state, local governments went to court seeking huge settlements and they're going to get those huge settlements. purdue pharma, one of the prime makers of oxycontin. a countermove that we haven't seen in previous years. mass shootings, sadly, has become an annual fix on that list. it's there every year. and the difference is what the targets are. every year it's a sad litany schools, churches. this year a garlic festival in california. come on. >> so we'll get to number three now, which is leading us up to the top one, the trump/russia

probe. >> yeah, i was thinking about this, mika, if we were polling for the first half of the year this probably would have been the runaway number one story. it was preoccupying everybody what's going to happen when special counsel mueller comes and delivers his report. for all the buildup i think a lot of people found it anti-klei m climactic. it didn't really bring closure to that issue, left people frustrated. but it was a big story and made our list. >> and we often -- we often have to remind ourselves that this story continues, but the immigration issue and the separation of families and the treatment of mai migranigrants treatment of young children at the border continues to this day. >> this is an interesting yas on the one hand the

one hand there was a debate over some of the things the trump administration did. but the concern about the policies was magnified by the imagery, interviews with parents and children who were separated and the tragic stories kept popping up year long. i think they broke a lot of people's hearts. think people defending the policies, some of them were on the defensive because the imagery and the stories were so sad. and it's not over. those families, many still separated. many people not getting even to the u.s. border but in sort of squaller temporary camps in mexico. so it's not over by any means. >> and number one, the impeachment of president trump. talk about the impact on this presidency, on history, our place in the world, but also the rise of nancy pelosi. >> yeah. well, it's interesting that this was the year of trump. i think he was complaining that he wasn't "time" magazine's person of the year. if you look at our list, he

figures in at least five of the top ten stories. this one is such a historic thing, only the third president to be impeached. but i agree with you, think nancy pelosi is the very much aco leadia co-leading actor in this. she kept her troop to line, very, very minimal defections. and think she's going to play a big role as this thing possibly moves to the senate. her strategy now of delaying that transfer is fascinating and i think it's going to be a real sort of contest of wills between the president and the speaker. >> you know,on nan lemir jonath the president seeing this associated press list, you can say to him hey, buddy, we had you number one and you had five of the top ten stories. how about that 1-on-1 interview in the white house? >> we're due for another oval office interviewer, mr. president, we'll take it anytime.

i guess it's the saying there's all publicity is good publicity. there's no question he did not get the time and person of the year award this year but he shapes every conversation every dha we ha day not just on this show but across the country. his impact good or bad is undeniable. >> david, thank you very much for being open the show and bricking that bringing that to us this morning. coming up, while social media dominates the conversation on impeachment today, in 1973 americans called for richard nixon's impeachment by a telegram. tom brokaw joins us ahead with a historical comparison. we'll be right back. d with a historical comparison. we'll be right back. ♪

♪ a president who abuses power. and obstructs justice. the impeachment of donald j. trump. he was supposed to protect our constitution. not trample on it by asking foreign countries to undermine our democracy for his personal political gain. trump broke his oath to america. members of the house and senate must now do their constitutional duty.

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it's both an honor and disappointment to be the lone candidate of color on the stage tonight. i mischa malla, i miss cory, though i think cory will be back. the question is why am i the lone candidate of color on this

stage? fewer than 5% of americans doe night political campaigns. you know what you need to donate to political campaigns? dies posable dies pose able income. i guarantee if we had a freedom dividend of $1,000 a month, i would not be the only candidate of color on this stage tonight. >> andrew yang when asked about being the only candidate of color on the debate stage. let's bring in the national director of indivisible, a naswide movemena nationwide movement of volunteer groups. great to have you on the show. what were your takeaways from the debate last night and specifically andrew yang's comments? >> great to be with you. one, i want to start by saying that your first-time caller that

called in earlier, donald, one thing that he just proved there is that it really doesn't matter who you are, if you oppose president trump, he's going to label you as a radical leftist. i think that's really important to ground the debate into. because really we have a really talented field. and as you saw, a narrowing field that does not have enough diverse stage. but no matter what wur putting o you're putting out there, you're running against a president that calls for all of our ideas for running against him radical and left. it's really important that no matter what the democratic primary electorate should be interrogating all of the democratic candidates and thinking clearly not just about how do they beat trump, because we do have a talented field and we can get into that, but it's about what they build when trump is gone. >> this is gene robinson. do you see that kind of engagement beginning to happen in terms of questioning the

candidates getting them to really address the issues that affect communities of color? or do you see this as, at times, an afterthought? >> that's a really great question, gene. one, i want to point out that we just roeld roll just rolled out an deign visible scorecard that looks at their policy positions but also who are they talking to and spending time with. not just the indivisible movement, but are they going to latino "x" forums? are they talking to african-american communities and talking to young people? it's important that, one, all of these candidates are engaging these communities that are squarely part of the base, but also need to be motivated if they're not already part of the democratic base. and that means early engagement, authentic engagement. it means that these policies cannot be sort of nice talking points that they actually have to have some substance and some political courage behind them. i think as i interact with

movement leaders of color and organizers of color who are organizing in communities, young youth communities and people of color communities, one thing that emerges a lot is that we need a democratic nominee who is going to be able to motivate and really generate the enthusiasm from young people, la tetino a people so we have the coalition, women, suburban women, so we have the coalition of voters that we need to take on trump. that's a question that i really encourage, like we talk a lot about in our movement and with other community leaders because candidates cannot just pay lip service and they need to do it early and they need to really do it in an authentic and respectful way. >> hey, maria there is karine jean te jean-pierre. you know we started off with the most diverse democratic field making history and as we saw last night we saw a lack of diversity on the stage which is not reflective of the democratic

party. what you to suggest that the democratic party needs to do to change that? what are your suggestions on that? >> well, i think, when you look at what senator booker did in encouraging his fellow running mates to join him and asking the dnc to consider how they're weighing candidate by ability on this stage, as least as more voters turn and pay attention to the stage, that's an important consideration. there's an analysis piece that a ucla professor put out that talks about the limitations in data science and talks about the limitations in polling and really capturing the opinions and the sentiments of hard to reach voters or voters of color in that these data samples are not representative enough, that there are limitations and actually capturing the nuance and the depth and also the prominence that exists within communities of color. so i think that's another thing you're seeing. you're not seeing the full sort of nuance or shape of people of color in this primary race because we're not really able to

capture all of their sentiments. and so also when i hear analysis around communities of color, i often hear it as a sort of one blanket statement voters or older african-american voter, maybe here, you look at age or education, and that tends to shift. so i invite that level of int introspection when we think about these communities. >> thank you for being on the v show this morning. as the impeachment battle turns to the senate, the american people also become jurors of a sort and the public opinion battle is goes waged already on social media. so far the trump campaign is not taking any chances. case in point, in the first week of december the trump team ran more than 2,500 ads mentioning impeach or impeachment according to a reuters analysis. the ads criticized the democratic-led inquiry as producing baseless lies while

asking for money to support the president's reelection bid. in fact, "the washington post" reports trump and republicans are far outspending democrats on impeachment related facebook ads so far highlighting how social media is a key element in the president's strategy. undoubtedly american's opinions this time around will play a larger role in the impeachment process. in 1973 that battle was waged not on twitter or facebook, of course, but via telegram. more than 50,000 telegrams poured in on capitol hill today, so many western union was swamped. most demanding impeaching mr. nixon. few congressmen were in town because of the holiday. among those here and impressed by his telegram was democrat morris udall. >> these come from republicans and businessmen and people, most of whom begin their statement by saying, i have supported the

president, i have never believed in impeachment, but he has now gone too far and we want the congress to take strong action. that's a real wave in the country today, ray, on impeachment, and it has support it never had before. >> that was october 22nd, 1973, nine months before articles of impeachment were formally filed against president richard nixon. at the time the american public used a rather limited method of communication to make their voices heard, the western union telegram. let's bring in nbc news senior correspondent tom brokaw. his latest book is entitled "the fall of richard nixon, a reporter remembers watergate." it seems like these were much simpler times, tom, when there were pieces of paper coming in from people across the country and they could just be counted. now, it is the wild west of social media. >> in fact, i have been thinking this morning that the public is

not paying as much attention to what we all have to say but they're paying attention to what they're reading, frankly, on their small screens and their large screens. that has been a game changer in american politic, social media. how you can hit a key stroke and reach lots of people, and the folks that are being reached have no way of determining what is true and what is not, what is authentic and what is not, what will stand up. that's a huge difference between then and now. the other thing is in the nixon case, his senior aides were all going to jail at that time. he was hanging on to a very, very thin thread. when the supreme court ruled he had to give up all of those tapes, it was over for him. bill clinton in that case, they decided that, okay, first he lied and then he confessed about his relationship with monica lewinsky, but it didn't rise to the high crimes and misdemeanors from the democratic point of view. now we're in a different game all together. this goes on 24/7. i'm much more interested today

in what they're saying at the shop in charles city, iowa or at the sales barn there, what is going on in atlantic, iowa, because that's where the decisions are now being made and they're talking about it this morning, but they're all very distracted frankly by what is going on in the christmas season. they're going to church, they're thinking about parties. >> yes. >> they're arranging their personal lives. they always take up their -- take time to make up their minds in iowa, and they're doing that once again. the other thing that i would say, which i think is important for all of us to remember, is that what happened in the last two days is important because, in fact, mitch mcconnell, who is supposed to be presiding over the trial, now is like a judge saying to a defendant, "are you comfortable, is there anything i can do for you here?" he has changed the rule entirely. he has become an advocate for the president. >> you know, so much has changed

since 1973, 1974, tom. that much is obviously, how people get their information. in my household we had cbs, abc, nbc and pbs, and it seemed like forever the cartoons we wanted to watch when we were kids were preempted and they were preempted by the watergate hearings. that's where you got your information, those fournet four networks. i was on a flight this week, and as i walked through the plane i watched, like i usually do, i looked to see what people were watching. maybe one in ten were watching impeachment. this global community, this global village we live this is now fractured in so many ways that so many people do get their information from sources that soothe their own preexisting

beliefs, their own preexisting prejudices. >> we simply can't overstate the importance and reach of social media, and also the very difficult job of trying to determine what is authentic, what is true and what is not. that's a big, big game changer. by the way, i wanted to add something else. this is mike bloomberg's button running for president. he was in pennsylvania earlier this week. he will be in the industrial midwest i think today or tomorrow. he is willing to spend whatever it takes. he has his own airplane. he doesn't have to worry about going out and raising money, so at some point before too long mike bloomberg will become a factor on the democratic side. he's counting on that. there's very little in life that you can look at in terms of his career that he's failed at. he thought it through in a very systematic way. a graduate of johns hopkins, he has always approached whatever he does in life in a way that he knows that it will turn out okay for him. this is a different arena, and he's fully aware of that, but he's in the game already. one of the things that he's going to do is begin to

concentrate on the african-american vote. we know that he went recently and apologized for stop and frisk. now he thinks that there are opportunities in dealing with the african-american voter in which he can say, we can change the game for you economically and socially as well. >> nbc's tom brokaw. thank you so much. great to have you on "morning joe." . still ahead on "morning joe," seven democratic presidential candidates hit the stage last night for the sixth democratic debate. with his poll numbers on the right, pete buttigieg was a pages target. we will be joined by senator amy klobuchar who wasn't afraid to take on the south bend mayor. we will be back in two minutes. r we will be back in two minutes ♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪ we go the extra mile to bring your holidays home.

you have a brother in the second battalion? they're walking into a trap. your orders are to deliver a message calling off tomorrow morning's attack.

if you fail, we will lose sixteen hundred men. if we're not clever about this... no one will get to your brother. i will. the ones that make a truebeen difference in people's lives. and mike's won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat america's biggest gun lobby, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants and beat big tobacco, helping pass laws to save the next generation from addiction. all against big odds you can beat him. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. the mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and

served $900 a bottle wine. think about who comes to that. >> this is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass. if i pledge -- if i pledge never to be in the company of a progressive democratic donor i couldn't be up here. senator, your net worth is 100 times mine. >> about last night, the democratic contenders for president took to the stage in their sixth debate of the primary season. there were fewer candidates this time around, meaning the spotlight is getting a little more bright. we will speak live with senator amy klobuchar on the heels of her solid performance, plus we will dig into "the washington post" reporting on the fall-out from a private meeting between donald trump and vladimir putin back in july of 2017 and how it helped lead to the president's

impeachment. on that front, the house speaker is controlling the narrative yet again in what "the new york times" calls a risky bid to exert influence over an election year trial in the republican-led senate. we will explain that strategy ahead. plus, how an angry president is looking for vindication in november. two of our guests this morning share that byline on the front page of "the times". good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is friday, december 20th. with us we have white house reporter for the associated press jonathan lemire. senior adviser at move on.org and msnbc contributor karine jean-pierre. "new york times" reporter jay my peters. msnbc contributor rick tyler and white house correspondent for pbs news hour, yamish elsindor, the co-moderator of last night's democratic debate. what a debate it was. >> it was. i heard from so many people, and

if you listen to the post update analysis, a lot of people thought that joe biden had his best night. >> he did. >> you had people praising mayor pete for having a really good night. >> he did. >> the same with -- i mean amy klobuchar, a lot of really positive comments about her. people said tom steyer had his best night yet. i mean you going down -- bernie sanders. bernie, also a lot of people believed he had a good night. i think we really saw for the first time the impact of having fewer people on the stage. >> yes, big difference. >> giving each of the candidates more time to talk, and it making a big difference. there is, i think, if we're talking about the front-runner, there is no doubt that joe biden, after some very weak debates, had his best debate of the campaign season yet last night. >> yes, it was something to watch. what was perhaps the evening's most explosive change, a fight over fundraising that had been building up on the campaign trail between south bend mayor

pete buttigieg and senator elizabeth warren, played out on stage. here is some of their back-and-forth. >> the mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900 a bottle wine. think about who comes to that. he had promised that every fundraiser he would do would be open door, but this one was closed door. we made the decision many years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president of the united states. billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the united states. >> this is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass. if i pledge -- if i pledge never to be in the company of a

progressive democratic donor, i couldn't be up here. senator, your net worth is 100 times mine. >> i do not sell access to my time. i don't do call time. >> hold on a second. >> with millionaires and billionaires. >> sorry, as of when, senator? your presidential campaign right now as we speak is funded in part by money you transferred, having raised it at those exact same big-ticket fundraisers you now denounce. did it corrupt you, senator? of course not. >>on th >> jonathan lemire. >> wow. >> it is hard to find many outside the warren campaign that didn't believe mayor pete got the best of that exchange, and the line really between those two of the night was "don't hold other people to purity tests that you yourself cannot live by" because mayor pete's exactly right. she transferred a ton of big money from her senate campaign over to her presidential

campaign, and, i mean, she is fuelling her presidential run on that. he asked i think the important question. did that money compromise your values? i don't think she had a good response. >> i'm distracted by his tie. >> do you like my tie, mika? >> it is elf-like. it is nice. it is beautiful. go ahead. >> it is my tribute to tom steyer's -- >> okay. >> i'll maybe change it during the break. >> perhaps. >> i think last night, joe, i think first of all it was sort of the signature exchange of the evening and in fact the phrase- wine cave" was trending on twitter for a good portion of the night after that. i think it is reflective of two things. first, yes, you're right, the two went back and forth. each scored some points. mayor buttigieg probably had the best line with the purity remark you just highlighted, but it shows not just the fundamental difference in how they're currently funning their campaign

but mayor pete's standing in the campaign right now. he has become if not perhaps the overall front-runner but the co-front-runner in iowa. he is polling near the top. during the last debate as he started the climb in the polls he didn't take a lot of attacks from his rivals. last night he did. he was on his heels a little bit at times, but largely parried them. he is so nimble in the moment. he is so very quick. we saw that again in the exchange with senator warren. >> yes. >> and he seemed to come out largely unscathed. to underscore what you said earlier there was a sense to people i was talking to last night, it was definitely vice president biden's strongest debate. he had a few suspect performances in some of the earlier evenings on stage with the other candidates. he didn't have any obvious stumbles last night. he spoke passionately and with authority on certain issues, particularly foreign policy. i think he exuded a sense of command of the stage which had been lacking in previous debates. >> yes.

>> well, mayor pete buttigieg, who has been climbing in the polls, also came under attack by senator amy klobuchar last night in a heated exchange. the two candidates clashed over their experience and accomplishments. >> before the break you seemed to imply that my relationship to the first amendment was a talking point, as if anyone up here has any more or less commitment to the constitution than anybody else up here. let me tell you about my relationship to the first amendment. it is part of the constitution that i raised my right hand and swore to defend with my life. that is my experience. it may not be the same as yours, but it counts, senator. it counts. >> i want to be president of the united states, and the point is we should have someone heading up this ticket that has actually won. >> senator, i know that if you just go by vote totals, maybe what goes on in my city seems small to you. if you want to talk about the

capacity to win, try putting together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80% of the vote as a gay dude in mike pence's indiana. >> mayor, if you -- if you had won in indiana that would be one thing. you tried and you lost by 20 points. >> well, that continued. at one point amy said, i don't mean to denigrate your service, your local service. he said, you just did. again, mayor pete always seemed to have an answer. >> he was right there. >> amy had a great night last night as well. i'm just curious what your thoughts were as a moderator as, i'm just going to say it, as the best debate easily of the campaign season because we didn't talk for the first one hour and 45 minutes on sub set c of medicare part d and how that's going to apply to

universal health care in the year 2047. i mean it was -- you actually got them debating about issues beyond the subtleties in a universal health care plan. >> well, thank you, joe. i mean we obviously set out to really try to have a substantive exchange between the candidates and i think we got that. in this case the feeling going into this debate was that senator warren and mayor pete buttigieg were going to go at it. they had been trading back and forth about privatization and whether elizabeth warren was demonizing the private sector work and pete buttigieg was talking about the purity test. amy klobuchar jumped in and showed she is someone interested in winning iowa, someone with her eye on the mayor. she kept on repeating mayor over and over again, and i think i picked up on that because she was going back and highlighting his experience and highlighting what she thinks is a lack of

experience for the presidency. i think at the heart of this, what this conversation was about was do you really have the resume and do you have the capacity to win in the same way that i do. i am someone that has a statewide office and a statewide position rather than being mayor of a small city. i think at the heart of warren and buttigieg's argument is an argument that will be part of the democratic debate in the democratic primary, and that is are we going to be a big tent city. are we going to welcome in million dollar democrats. is it okay if you are rich and also a democrat, or are we going to basically say as some are arguing that we will ostracize people who are big tickets, we don't want to use millionaire money. >> you know. i found it interesting, joe, just in the experience that we both have in sort of being attacked and, you know, what it is like to sort of respond and figure out what to do, but you especially with politics, when you attack someone the way pete

buttigieg was attacked last night, did it make it very clear to a national audience he is a very big deal? that he is a front-runner and that he is a force to be reckoned with? i would think the better strategy would be to ignore someone who is attacking you, to show that they're not worth it, but yet everybody seemed to be kind of going after him. >> well, if everybody is piling up on a candidate and that candidate can -- >> it is so obvious though. >> -- and that candidate can respond the way mayor pete respond, it only elevates him. rick tyler, my gosh, we were having a debate at the beginning of this impeachment inquiry as to whether hunter biden was going to hurt joe biden, whether all of the attacks were going to hurt. my god, no. it has been a god send for joe biden because now every democrat said, hey, wait a second, why is donald trump so freaked out about running against joe biden that he will risk impeachment, that he will hold up $400

million in military aid for a democratic ally being invaded by russia? why would he do that just to get back at joe biden? so a lot of times you getting attacked from others, whether it is other people in the democratic field or whether it is the president of the united states, that's actually a political god send. it has been for joe biden over the course of the past month, and last night i think it was for mayor pete. >> so you're right, joe. in politics every problem is an opportunity, and it is how you handle that opportunity. joe biden, although i think he was a little slow historically to respond to the attacks on his son and his -- what he actually did in ukraine, last night he minced no words about it at all and fumbled his front-runners are winners of debate by defall. you would have to say that joe biden had his best debate, he is

a front-runner and therefore probably came out ahead in the debate. i thought some of the exchanges last night were rather interesting. i think people kind of broke even, but i have to say that pete buttigieg probably came out ahead and here is why. i think the only echo coming out of the wine cave was elizabeth warren's hypocrisy on fundraising because i thought the most devastating point was when he said, pl"when, when did you stop selling access for time wrrn becau time" because it is true. she raised money like all of the others and took the money from her senate campaign and put it in her presidential campaign. the other thing being attacked by amy klobuchar and again i thought it was a break even, and, again, here is why. you have these senators and when you are a senator, by definition you are the establishment. i worked for senator ted cruz and he wanted to run as an outsider. very difficult thing when what precedes your name is a title called senator. here are all of these senators on the stage and you had an

outsider like pete buttigieg who, as you say, was prepared for every single attack, very well-prepared and had very good responses. he actually did more than break even on them. >> still ahead, we've got a packed hour coming up. we will show you one of joe biden's big moments from last night. he had a good night. plus, the progressives dominated the conversation in the start of the primary season. is it the moderate's time to shine? we will talk about that. first to bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> reporter: thank you. let's get into the holiday forecast through christmas. for today it is brutally cold in northern new england, negative wind chills. with the sunshine this afternoon the wind dies out, it gets better. even new york and d.c. heading to the middle and low 40s. all of the wet weather is in the northwest, that's where most of the travel problems will be. let's fast forward into the weekend. on saturday a rainstorm begins, and it will be a soaking one, too, in louisiana. that will push through the southeast. we have a flood threat here in

the northwest with high elevations snow but rain is more of the issue. then on sunday that rainstorm in the southeast becomes even bigger. there will be gusty, strong winds. we could have some minor beach problems and coastal erosion, especially south carolina, georgia and north florida and we could expect three to five inches of rain. anyone driving throughout the region especially in georgia, north florida and through alabama, delays on the roads will be a little slower, especially at the airports, too. the west coast storm continues to sink to the south in northern california and that's where we will see the high-elevation snow and rain. let's head to the christmas eve forecast. you will notice everywhere east of the rockies is looking fantastic. it will be sunny and mild, even d.c. could be in the 50 s, the 60s in carolina. the only issue could be with snow from salt lake city through the rockies. for christmas day, the storm system weakens with a light mention in the midwest. i think if we are one travel

spot on christmas day, it will be areas of california and high-elevation snows as we go throughout the sierra mountain range. overall compared to -- remember thanksgiving how horrible it was with the storms across the country? this is looking a lot simpler and better and everyone's christmas travel plans hopefully will go well. you are watching "morning joe." we will be right back. i'm your curious cat,

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>> welcome back to "morning joe". more now on the presidential debate. we want to play a portion of joe biden's closing remarks. let's listen. >> look, we all have big progressive plans, and the question is who can deliver on those plans. it seems to me we have to ask ourselves three questions straight up and honestly. who has the best chance, the most likely chance of defeating donald trump? who is the one most likely to do that? number two, who can help elect democrats to the united states senate in states like north carolina and georgia and arizona and other states? thirdly, who can deliver legislation? that requires you to look at our records. i have a significant record of getting things done from the consumer act to weapons treaty in foreign and domestic policy alike. i think asking those questions, i believe, as you expect, i am the most qualified to answer those three questions. most of all, we have to level with the american people.

don't play games with them. tell them the truth and be authentic. god bless you all and may you all have a great, great holiday season. thank you. >> you know -- >> okay. there he is. >> yes. joe biden also had a back-and-forth with sarah huckabee sanders. she wrote a tweet about his stuttering which she apologized for. he came back very strongly and then she apologized for the tweet. but karine, i don't know, perhaps i'm judging joe biden on a low grading curve. perhaps that's the case. but he seemed to have a pretty darn good night. he seemed to have one of his best nights last night. >> he had his best night last night. that was definitely clear. even talking about foreign policy, talking about the economy, he showed the biden that so many were hoping to see. i think though with the incoming -- with mayor pete, it was interesting to see that because, as you said, when

someone rises, when someone is seen as the front-runner, others attack. we saw it with biden in the past. we saw it with harris. we saw it with warren. so this is where mayor pete is, and i think his campaign should be pretty happy. he did a very good job handling that incoming. what we saw between mayor pete and warren is basically what we've been seeing on the campaign trail, the way they've been attacking each other. what we saw with klobuchar and mayor pete is, i think, for the first time a crowded kind of moderate lane. that is what was interesting. >> exactly. >> that was very interesting to see. >> after that first debate, karine, we didn't think we would ever see a crowded moderate -- people going, buy skyscrapers for illegal immigrants? yes, i'll buy them whatever skyscraper they want. name a wing of a university after them? yes, of course! we'll kick, like, you know, americans -- american citizens

out. no, it has changed a lot, has it not? it seems that they found they don't have to chase the most progressive voices on twitter. but how funny, a crowded moderate lane. go ahead and explain. >> that's what was happening. i have to say, joe, i think everyone had a good night because there were less people on stage. someone like klobuchar, as i just mentioned, used her moment in a really good way. tom steyer, yang -- we haven't even talked about those two. i thought you saw more time for folks to speak. you saw a better debate on issues, on topics. i feel it was the first hour, things that i think voters want to hear about. so it was a good debate last night. >> yeah. >> absolutely. i think joe biden suffered in the earlier debates because there were too many candidates on stage. this gave him the space to be joe biden. that's my gut. but the candidates started off the night being asked about impeachment, the big news of the week, the month, the year. here is what they said.

>> it was a constitutional necessity for the house to act as it did, and, you know, trump's response to suggest that only half of the american people want to see him thrown out of office now i find is dumbing down the presidency beyond what i even thought he would do. >> we need a candidate for president who can draw the sharpest distinction between the corruption of the trump administration and a democrat who is willing to get out and fight, not for the wealthy and well-connected, but to fight for everyone else. that's why i am in this race. >> the case to be made is, yeah, certainly i disagree with trump on virtually all of his policies. but what conservatives i think understand is that we cannot have a president with that temperament who is dishonoring the presidency of the united states. >> the president left the house with no choice. i think a lot of us are watching this process, watching washington go through the motions, and not expecting much but a foregone conclusion when

it gets to the senate. we cannot give in to that sense of helplessness because that's what they want. it is up to us in 2020. this is our chance to refuse to be taken in by the helplessness, to refuse and reject the cynicism. that is what this presidential election is about. >> as a wise judge said, the president is not king in america. as we face his trial in the senate, if the president claims that he is so innocent, then why doesn't he have all of the president's men testify? richard nixon had his top people testify. if president trump thinks that he should not be impeached, he should be not scared to put forward his own witnesses. >> jeremy peters, you are writing about president trump's response to the impeachment. he had said that he wasn't going to watch any of it, none of it, none at all. >> so angry.

>> but chances are he was watching impeachment and he was tweeting throughout it and possibly watching these democrats as well take it on. they seemed to do so pretty calmly and focused on the constitution. >> i think that's right. i think they not only realized the gravity of the situation here and that this is something that has still only happened three times in the history of this republic, but they also realize it is something that does deeply divide americans and that this whole process has not really changed many american's minds about how they feel about the president. as one republican told me yesterday, if you already disliked donald trump as the president you were not going to dislike him any more at the end of this process. i think that the answer that elizabeth warren gave in response to this question was one of the most telling of the night because it kind of brought into relief the big issue in this campaign, and that's

whether or not you're going to have a debate over electability or purity. slowly what you have seen happen over the course of the democratic primary is more and more democratic voters saying it is important to them to have a nominee who can beat donald trump, more important than to have the most progressive candidate or the candidate who has the most progressive values on issues. that's a big shift. that was a big part of the reason why, for example, mike bloomberg decided to get into the race. when elizabeth warren says, "we ought to have the nominee who can draw the sharpest contrast with donald trump," i can tell you that's exactly what republicans want. that's exactly what the trump campaign wants. they want somebody like warren to be the nominee so they can portray her as a radical left socialist and scare swing voters in the states across the upper midwest that donald trump needs to win reelection. so if there is a nominee that allows them to draw that sharp

contrast, it really does work to trump's advantage. >> coming up on "morning joe," we talked about it a little earlier. senator amy klobuchar wants to win over moderate voters in iowa, but so does mayor pete. we will ask the minnesota senator about her strategy in that battleground state. "morning joe" is back in a moment. you wouldn't do only half of your daily routine so why treat your mouth any differently? listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs. try listerine®. need stocking stuffers? try listerine® ready! tabs™.

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♪ this morning we have your first look at the all-star event, global citizen price which took place in london. it airs the night at 8:00 p.m. even on nbc and on sunday night at 10:00 p.m. on msnbc. the event celebrates individuals taking action to end extreme poverty. msnbc's matt bradley is in london with the preview. >> reporter: a red carpet for relieving poverty. the inaugural global citizen prize has come to london, turning up the volume for change makers and artists from around the world. this whole production, the start of an annual tradition, was the

brain child of hugh evans, a lifelong activist putting humanity at the center of pop music, business and politics. >> thank you. >> there was nothing out there that was almost like a cross between the nobel peace prize meets the grammys because if you are an amazing artist you have the grammys. if you are an amazing activist the chances of winning a nobel is very slim. >> reporter: he tied it to a well-known but elusive target, the nuchl n sustainable goals which seeks to end extreme poverty by 2030. honoring a new generation of activists lifting up more than 700 million people that live on less than $1.25 per day. >> we needed a platform that would recognize and highlight the powerful, the next greta thunberg, those out there creating change around the world. >> reporter: that's where global citizens' youth leadership awards come in, marking up and coming activists entrepreneurs like finalist lisa bonan, the we

are together initiative. and a 27-year-old cameroonian whose app gifted mom connects expectant mothers to reduce infant mortality. >> we can't wait until we reach a million apps. >> reporter: these awards are about big businesses, politicians and artists engaging in their communities. he has convinced artists like coldplay's chris martin, jennifer hudson and john legend, a champion of the global citizen organization for nearly a decade. >> it is really an incredible group of artists. i think when people know this many artists are coming together for such an important cause, it makes them pay attention. that's a great thing. >> new york city, what's up! >> reporter: on september 26, 2020, global citizen goes truly

global. ♪ >> reporter: six concerts on five continents in one day, amping up the pressure on world leaders to end extreme poverty in just ten years. it is a lofty goal and a call to action for every global citizen. matt bradley, nbc news, london. ♪ >> and you can watch "global citizen prize" in its entirety tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on nbc and again this sunday at 10:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. citi is a proud sponsor of gcf prize and the global citizen festival on msnbc. coming up on "morning joe," presidential candidate, senator amy klobuchar, joins the conversation on the heels of last night's debate. "morning joe" is back in a moment. mike bloomberg's never been afraid of tough fights,

the ones that make a true difference in people's lives. and mike's won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat america's biggest gun lobby, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants and beat big tobacco,

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all former president obama said this week when asked who should be running countries that if women were in charge you would see a significant improvement on just about everything. he also said, quote, if you look at the world and look at the problems, it is usually old people, usually old men not getting out of the way. senator sanders, you are the oldest candidate on stage this evening. >> and i'm white as well. >> yes. how do you respond to what the former president had to say? >> well, i got a lot of respect for barack obama and i think i disagree with him on this one. >> vice president biden, i'm going to guess that president obama did not clear that remark through your campaign ahead of time. what do you say to it in. >> and i'm going to guess it wasn't talking about me either. >> okay. >> first of all, we have not had enough women in our government. when i was on trevor noah's show

once i explained how in the history of the senate there were something like 2,000 men and only 50 women in the whole history, and he said if a nightclub had numbers that bad they would shut it down. >> senator warren, you would be the oldest president ever inaugurated. i would like you to weigh in as well. >> i would also be the youngest woman ever inaugurated. >> all right. joining us now democratic presidential candidate senator amy klobuchar of minnesota. i have to say in many ways this was your night. great debate performance for you. >> thanks, mika. >> i have a couple of questions. >> sure. >> first of all, a lot of people are saying, you know what? don't discount her. don't discount her, slow and steady she rises. what is it going to take to get the headline in iowa, klobuchar closing in snow h? how are you going to bring it together? >> we have seen our numbers go way up. we are up to ten points in the last poll and someone sent me a text, with an auto correct

problem, it said congratulations on your insurgency. i think they meant surge. >> that's nice. >> i think what it means is that we have been able because we've been getting so many contributions in online from regular people that didn't know me before, we've been able to double our offices and double our staff, in new hampshire as well, opening offices in nevada and south carolina. it is going to allow me to put together this national campaign. one of the things that i raised on the debate stage was that in the place they know me, a state where hillary had her lowest percentage of any state that she barely won, and that's minnesota, i am ahead of trump by 18 points, more than any other person on that stage by a long shot, including with men. i think it is really important to take that model for me and bring in those rural suburban and, yes, our fired-up democratic base and make the case that we don't want to just win that night and eat by a

victory at 4:00 in the morning and there's no way we're going to send mitch mcconnell packing and there's no way we will pass the 400 bills sitting on his desk unless we win big. to do that you win in the midwest, pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, and i'm the one that can do that. >> so one question about last night. do you regret at all going after pete buttigieg's experience? >> no. this is a debate and i think it was done in an appropriate way. i actually had been waiting to do that since the msnbc debate the month before where we went back and forth some about that issue. then he had made that statement, oh, you know, there's 100 years of experience on this stage and what has it given us. unfortunately, it then went to tulsi and i never had a chance to reply. this time i did. i also would have mentioned up on that stage was calm lkamala

with her years of experience and the work she had done in california or cory booker passing the first step act or, as i said last night, joe biden with the cancer funding and elizabeth with her consumer financial protection bureau and the work bernie did and my over 100 bills. i think experience matters. one area i didn't think we would go last night was because he brought up that i had this coalition in indiana. i just felt that it was important to also bring up the fact that he had lost that election by a sizable margin when he ran statewide. i think the voters need to know that because we need to have someone on the top of this ticket who has the best bet of beating donald trump. to me that means a combination of can you get things done, what do you do when you're president, but also can you win this race. >> hey, senator. it is jonathan lemire. iowa looms large for you.

it is a neighboring state for you. you have steadily climbed in the polls there. you are about to launch a bus tour there. >> 27 counties. >> we're just a little more than a month out from iowa at this point. come january you will have another responsibility. you will be a juror in the senate impeachment trial of president trump. how are you going to balance those two things? are you concerned that having to be in washington for so long for that trial could blunt your momentum in iowa? >> there is nothing i can do about that, although i will point out it is one reason it is, what, 5:00 in the morning in beautiful los angeles and i am going to iowa for a 27-county bus tour and then to new hampshire and then nevada, because i'm well aware that i'm up against the clock here if this hearing goes on. i was the one last week of any of those -- no one else on the stage was in the meeting with senator schumer to discuss that procedure on impeachment with a few other senators, and i made very clear it doesn't matter what happens on the presidential

race when it comes to the decisions on impeachment. what matters is that we bring those witnesses in, that we do our best to make the case to the american people and the chips will fall where they may. i think that the citizens of the country, that democratic voters and independents, moderate republicans who have had it with this guy, i think they're going to understand that we have a constitutional duty to do our job and that's what i will be doing. >> senator klobuchar, it is jeremy peters from "the new york times". as you know, trump only lost minnesota in 2016 by about 40,000 votes. his campaign feels fairly confident that they can make more inroads and possibly even win minnesota this time. you know, they're famous for bluffing, of course, but i'm curious given your read on your state, the people you are talking to, their concerns. how realistic is it that trump could do better this time in minnesota or in states across

the upper midwest like wisconsin and michigan than he did in 2016 given that there are still an awful lot of people who think that the democratic party is just not their cup of tea? >> you know, this is a good point because when you look at the numbers from the past, it was very close. it was one of the closest states. but what we know for sure is if i'm leading that ticket it won't even be close. since that election in 2016 donald trump has come to our state numerous times, rally after rally after rally, as has vice president pence. through it all, i continue to be beating him by 17, 18 points. so i think if you want to make sure you win in these kinds of states, having someone who doesn't see the heartland as flyover country but instead lives there -- that would be me -- and one that actually gets ag where there's been huge problems, where the president

has been treating these farmers like they're poker chips at one of his bankrupt casinos, 25% increase in farm bankruptcy over just the last year, why not put someone on there that is on the ag committee, wanted to be on there and has been a leader on the agriculture committee. i'm going to have a lot of good cases to make in the middle of the country as well as across the country beyond the heartland. >> all right. senator amy klobuchar, always great to have you on the show. happy for you. >> thank you. >> hope to talk to you soon. >> okay. thanks a lot, mika. >> all right. thank you so much. john hohman, i want to ask you a question. is there a path for bernie sande sanders. iowa, new hampshire, nevada, is there a viable possibility for bernie sanders? >> yes, mika, it is one of the

overlooked things. we have talked about his strength with african-american voters and how south carolina for that campaign theoretically a firewall. bernie sanders is someone who his performance in 2016, a large part of the reason was his lack of support among nonwhite voters. they have done a lot of work but not so much with african-american voters always they have tried in that area but they really made gains and you see in some of the polling in nevada that sanders is doing well with latino voters there. he almost won the caucuses in nevada in 2016. very close with hillary clinton and they worked hard to cultivate that workers union. when you look at it right now one of the other subplots isrest

attack. he won in a white out with 2016, and if that support holds up for him, to have him then win the caucuses, he could have a lot of momentum out of the first three races. making no predictions, but another person, i said earlier today, don't count amy klobuchar out, and right now bernie is looking stronger in the progressive lane than elizabeth warren is. >> sanders looks to be in a pretty solid second place overall right now. he seems to be at worst you know holding study. gaining a little bit as elizabeth warren slipped back. is there a kind of -- there can only be one moment moment over

sanders and warren in terms of that progressive lane. they will have to consolidate that support in there, don't they? >> yay they have to discussion it again, a lot of people assumed as the campaign played out that elizabeth warren was on the way to consolidating the progressive result. both of them are capable of draw onk the -- on the high teens. it is about 40% of the total. and usually the thing is you know that causes someone to get out of a race, given the likely

support of their supporters, they could have the money to campaign all of the way through to june and you could see neither of them splitting throughout the primaries. >> up next from endorsing corey booker's presidential bid to pledging his "undieing support to donald trump." we're back in a moment. trump. we're back in a moment you sure about this? yes. [ suspensful music playing ] no! we need to keep moving. the whole things coming down.

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two more things i want to say, one, you have my undying support. >> always. >> by the way, the same. i'm endorsing him. how do you feel about that? >> haung, thank you mr. vice president. >> thank you, and the last thing i want to say is i have a bipartisan wall with a lot of people on there, ronald reagan, and when he said "i didn't leave my party, my party left me." >> that's true, that's what he said. >> he was a democrat and he moved over and he said exactly those words. that's fantastic, thank you very much. >> new jersey congressman jeff

van drew sitting in the oval office. that is just yuck. >> it is very yuck. bizarre yuck. the worst of the worst. i think van drew is looking at his last 12 months as a congressman. as a flip-flopper he will not make it. voter wills see that, that is not authentic at all, and i don't think she going to make it as a -- in another term. >> lightning round, five seconds each, final thoughts? nail it. five seconds or less. >> you know, this iowa, iowa, iowa, headed to iowa, everyone else is going to iowa, come to iowa, mika. >> it's impossible for him to do anything in five seconds. >> the president is going on have indication today, he leafs this evening for two plus weeks. i suspect we'll still hear from

him on twitter. >> i ran into chuck shum eschumt night and he had a big smile on his face. >> that clip you just showed tells you everything you need to know about the state of the republican party. >> sorry. >> but had 45 presidents and only two others have been impeached, so this has been an incredibly historical week. >> and since jonathan is looking for validation on twitter about his holiday tie, we did our own informal poll, let's see, sally has written in and said "as soon as i saw him this morning i thought oh i like his tie, it's so christmasy" then everyone made fun of it but i love it though." >> valley tweeted "kind of

ugly." >> what we have done here this morning is add to the nation's polarization. we're further apart because of the tie. we need to come together and like it. >> your tie is ugly, you're looking for your third strike. that does it for us this morning, stephanie ruhle picks up your coverage right now. we're having chaos you know j? i have plaid ties here with me, too. it appears today that we will not be getting any clarify on the impeachment process. house lawmakers came down without sending articles of impeachment to the senate. and leaders are at an impasse when it comes to setting rules for the president's trial. president trump said he wanted things figured out fast so he could get his day in court and that will depend on whether or not nancy pelosi and mitch