quarters at a louisiana plantation. part of the caption reads, "we are truly our ancestors' wildest dreams." that wraps up this hour of "msnbc live." i'm chris jansing. "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. hey, andrea. >> merry christmas, happy holidays you to, chris jansing, thank you. happy friday to all. on "andrea mitchell reports," piling on pete. in the last debate of the year, the democratic contenders came out swinging and it was iowa frontrunner pete buttigieg taking most of the hits. >> 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. 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. >> we'll have more on that exchange. and coming up, we'll talk about a candidate who didn't make the cut for the debate, cory booker, about the lack of diversity on that stage. never afraid. speaker nancy pelosi says she is not intimidated by mitch mcconnell nor, apparently, by the president, who wants his impeachment trial now. >> i just left president trump. he's mad at hell that they would do this to him and now deny him his day in court. the reason they're denying him his day in court is because they know their case sucks. and help wanted. is president trump about to replace his acting chief of staff? after mick mulvaney's epic fail that day in the briefing room. >> let's be clear. you just described a quid pro quo. >> we do that all the time with foreign policy. and i have news for everybody. get over it. there's going to be political influence in foreign policy.

and good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. competing for the chance to run against an impeached president, the seven top democrats fighting for the nomination went at each other in a fiery debate last night. after a rapid rise in the iowa polls, pete buttigieg took most of the heat from his competitors, especially during this exchange with elizabeth warren over campaign fundraisers, including his recent one in a california wine cave. >> 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 pledged 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. as of when, senator? 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. >> wow. joining me now, nbc senior political editor mark murray. bill kristol, founding director of defending democracy together, and margaret carlson, columnist for the daily beast. on this friday before christmas, there wasn't much christmas spirit last night. this was the "pbs news hour"/politico debate last night in california. a great debate, largely because there were seven people onstage. what they gained in having fewer numbers they lost in diversity, because of dnc rules, nothing to

do with the journalists involved. where are we now, mark murray? >> there was that exchange, also amy kobe went after pete buttigieg. if you were joe biden, last night was a really good debate for you. he look at our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, joe biden has solidified his lead in the race. pete buttigieg has been leading in the iowa polls. warren and bernie sanders obviously need that, importantly. but joe biden probably ended up giving his best debate from start to finish. and with all the attacking between pete buttigieg and elizabeth warren, it's good news for joe biden. >> pretty impressive, if you had told us six to nine months ago that pete buttigieg would be up there, the final seven, really the final five, i think we can discount -- >> and not one of the senators. >> not one of the senators, and being attacked by elizabeth warren and actually i thought responding quite effectively, it's a tribute to buttigieg. he's run a heck of a campaign.

he may fall short but i was also wondering what a wine cave was, luckily margaret explained it to me, she spends a lot of time in those caves in california. >> that's my group that i aspire to. >> having had dinner with you, neither of us are in that league. >> exactly, chipped china and jelly glasses for wine. >> what was impressive, margaret, to me, i was fascinated by the debate, but exactly as mark and bill were saying, pete buttigieg had a really good night, even though he had a target on his back, he came back solidly. and joe biden and amy klobuchar, amy klobuchar was a standout. in talking to people close to her, she's advertising herself as the other midwesterner in the race, she has to place well in iowa to get any kind of momentum

going forward to new hampshire, and she did well. >> she did very well. it's a mystery to me why amy klobuchar hasn't yet had her moment. she doesn't have a target on her back because she hasn't come up that much. >> last night could be the beginning of a moment. >> it could be. pete buttigieg is the perfect iowa candidate. he talks so well, he's so reasonable, he's so moderate, he comes back from these attacks so beautifully. even though i am never going to forget the wine cave, and sometimes, you know -- >> it was trending nationally. >> it's the new skinny latte vente at starbucks, to characterize a certain group of people. it has a bit of truth to it because even though it was open to the press, there is a -- it signals billionaires with time on their hands. and couldn't you have found $100 bottles of wine for your fundraisers? >> the other thing that mayor pete and amy klobuchar mixed it up over his, quote, lack of

experience, he would argue with that characterization, but she went at him also because this is, as we say, her chance to try to score in iowa, and if she's going to score, she has to score against him, at least place somewhere in the top three. this was the this exchange between the two of them. >> 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 and been able to show that they can gather the support that you talk about. i think winning matters. i think a track record of getting things done matters. and i also think showing our party that we can actually bring people with us, have a wider tent, have a bigger coalition, and yes, longer coattails, that matters. >> 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 is a gay dude in mike pence's indiana. >> if you had won in indiana, that would be one thing. you tried and you lost by 20 points. >> so, mark murray, in the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, 48% of democratic voters say they are determined to vote against president trump. >> yeah. so andrea, yeah, that shows donald trump's really precarious situation heading into 2020 where almost half of the country is already saying -- >> registered voters. >> right, registered voters, i am certain to vote against you. 34% say they're certain to vote for trump. that leaves the remaining 18% who say it depends on who the nominee is. we actually took a look at these up for grabs voters. they're mostly men, mostly independents or very soft republicans. it was interesting to me to look at who they liked the best. and up on top you end up having bernie sanders and joe biden. and then below that is pete

buttigieg and at the very bottom, elizabeth warren. and you kind of end up seeing, who is this persuadable middle that does lean a little bit republican, but democrats are going to have to win back to make sure that trump can't pull off that inside straight again. >> bill, who are those people? >> well, i think the polling pretty consistently, for all the variance, shows biden doing the best against trump in the matchups. and everyone gets surprised that sanders is also doing well because if you have a very ideological lens on the race, he's awfully far left. but a certain type of voter is reassured by people who have been senators for a long time, for whatever reason they seem to like biden and sanders. buttigieg is more of a wild card. klobuchar has been a strong candidate. warren was hurt the most, i think she could have done more to counteract this, she's been painted, fairly or unfairly, as someone whose policies would be so far out of the mainstream,

she would alienate voters. >> she's so certain, it's hard to back away from medicare for all and the wealth tax, and she hasn't done it. that limits what she can do. >> phasing in the medicare for all, she showed some, quote, flexibility or willingness to compromise there. we'll have to leave it there. we have also yet to deal with the bloomberg factor, since he hasn't been in any debates and hasn't taken any money but is certainly spending it. to be continued. thanks so much, happy holidays to all physical you, mark murray, bill kristol, and of course margaret carlson. joining me now is simone sanders, senior adviser to the biden campaign, great to see you, thanks for joining us. >> good to see you, andrea. >> an early day after a late night for you all out there, by all reports, mine included, joe biden had his best debate yet. i don't think there was a single issue that he didn't handle in a commanding way after not doing well, frankly, on the debate, not at least matching up to his

consistently high polling. >> we would agree with you, andrea, that vice president biden did amazing last night. i would also push back on the credit card that he didn't have a great last couple of debates. by far we think this was his strongest debate. i think most important because he was clear, he was sharp, he was thoughtful, and he frankly stood on that stage and articulated why he is the leader we need for this moment. there was a very poignant exchange on the debate stage last night where vice president biden talked about his view of bipartisanship and working with republicans. the question was posed to minimum, you often talk about working with republicans and why is that, particularly given this moment. and vice president biden's answer led with the fact that no one has more reason to hate the republicans more than him, given how they have ruthlessly attacked his family, how they have smeared him and his son with conspiracy theories, and they continue, continue to beat the drum on this, if you will. but vice president biden also rose to the moment last night on that stage and said, but look,

we have to rise above partisanship and do what is necessary to unite the country. he articulated where his vision of bipartisanship and working across the aisle would be, but also beating republicans when they refuse to work with us is not a naive decision but a critical one. >> he talked about, without explaining himself, frankly, but he talked about reaching out to people on the campaign trail. let's play this, given his history, which he has talked about recently, his history of overcoming stuttering, let's watch. >> my wife and i have a call list of somewhere between 20 and 100 people that we call at least every week, or every month, to tell them, i'm here, i give them my private phone number, they keep in touch with me, a little kid who says, i -- i -- i can't talk, what do i do.

i have scores of these young women and men who i keep in contact with. and the reason i give everyone here a gift is because they want to do something like i do, making their lives better, because there's a lot of people who are hurting very, very, very badly. >> now, sarah huckabee sanders, as you well know, the former white house press secretary, initially tweeted, then deleted her tweet when she realized her error. but she said, i have absolutely no idea what biden is talking about, #demdebate. of course he was speaking about children who come to him knowing that he had a history of overcoming stuttering. his response was, i've worked my whole life to overcome a stutter. and it's my great honor to mentor kids who have experienced the same. it's called empathy. look it up. so that, sarah huckabee sanders then apologized. >> i mean, i'm glad she apologized, andrea, because that tweet was frankly just

despicable. this goes right to the heart of why so many people are drawn to vice president biden. his ability to connect with people. voters in poll after poll say they want someone who can unite the country. vice president biden's empathy is one of his greatest assets, one of his greatest strengths. we often say he's the greatest retail politician in america. i think that flies direct in contrast to who donald trump is. it's not surprising to me why sarah huckabee sanders was unable to see what that moment really was on the debate stage last night given who her former employer is. >> i want to ask you one thing about foreign policy, which is obviously, he says, one of his strengths. he brought out the fact against bernie sanders challenging him on iraq, that he had consistently internally called for withdrawing from afghanistan, bringing it down to special forces, basically doing, frankly, what donald trump has

been trying to do. one question. if he was such a close adviser to barack obama, why did he never in eight years win that debate internally over afghanistan? >> so andrea, i think this is -- i'm glad you brought this up. one, i want to make something very clear because on that debate stage last night, the question, there was a conversation as though president obama misled the american people on afghanistan, and that's absolutely not true. what did happen, though, and what vice president biden talked about on the debate stage, and frankly, a number of former obama officials, david axelrod included, tweeted and underscored his comments on twitter last night, that there were disagreements and vice president biden was very clear on where he stood. so there are disagreements, as happens on any team in any white house. but i think that vice president biden's account of where he was during that conversation was

absolutely clear, critical, and true, and which was backed up by other obama administration officials. >> simone sanders, a pleasure to see, thanks for joining us today, the day after the debate. >> thank you so much. coming up, in the driver's seat. na nancy pelosi keeping her hands on the wheel, holding onto the articles of impeachment for now. and donald trump lashing out at an influential christian publication after its editor calls for him to be removed from office. the president's strength amonga. ay p smoking at first and ease into quitting so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood,

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senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and democratic leader chuck schumer met late thursday but they failed to agree on terms for an impeachment trial. schumer wants mcconnell to promise that the senate will hear from current and former white house officials who refuse to testify before the house, including former national security adviser john bolton and acting chief of staff mick mulvaney. but the talks did not get far. let's bring in peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" and an msnbc political analyst. joe crowley, former democratic congressman from new york, former chairman of the democratic caucus. welcome, both. peter, you're the author of a book about impeachment. you were there for the impeachment of bill clinton.

then and now, very different rules of the road for the upcoming trial. >> we're in new territory, we haven't had a whole lot of experience with trials of presidents to begin with but this is the first time we're looking at one where the house and senate aren't in control of either party. and what you see is nancy pelosi trying to use whatever leverage she has left before setting off this trial that will then be in the hands of mitch mcconnell, the republican leader. the last thing she seems to have at her disposal, that she feels she does, anyway, is whether to transmit these articles, triggering the start of the senate trial. whether she'll hold those back beyond the winter holiday or not, we don't know, how much she'll make this a bargaining position is sort of unclear. it was interesting to me how much the president and some of his allies reacting viscerally to this. mitch mcconnell said, fine, don't send it to me, i don't

want it anyway. that wouldn't be a surprising position from a republican. but the president clearly wants a trial that would acquit him and he could go to the country and say, see, i was exonerated. >> you know nancy pelosi so well, how is she managing this? >> first of all, she's fearless. shelter is n she really is not intimidated by anyone, certainly not mitch mcconnell, certainly not this president. she's going to stand her ground. she's going to use all the tools in her quiver to really move this prosecution forward. she'll give more leverage to senator schumer moving forward in the impeachment hearing and the actual trial itself in the senate. >> and the other change today on this front is "christianity today," a leading evangelical

magazine, calls for the president to be impeached and removed from office. he's had solid support from evangelicals, and he's pushing back against it. peter, does this affect him with that community that's been strong for him all along? >> i do think it's a significant moment, the first crack in a wall that's been strong for him up until now, the bedrock of his support, in some ways, among his core constituents, has been the evangelical community, happy with the judges that president trump has appointed, happy with his strong opposition to abortion while in office. they've been willing to overlook a lot of things that would normally, you would think, trigger the concerns of people who put morality at the top of their list. this is the president's third marriage, allegations of not just adultery but sexual assault

against him, things he's denied, let's be clear about that. he's not been somebody who is clearly a regular churchgoer or who is schooled or knowledgeable about religion. they were willing to put that aside because he's been on their side in terms of issues. this is the first crack in the wall. we'll see whether it moves votes or not. but it's the first time i think interest that community you're hearing, you know, signs of disapproval. >> and he's calling it, in his response, a far left magazine. >> in many respects they go well beyond the two articles of impeachment. as peter says, it's about every aspect of the president's life, having read the editorial or op ed, it's breathtaking, a major shift in the evangelical movement. >> joe crowley, peter baker, so good to see you both, happy holidays. coming up, trump whisperer. white house insiders say vladimir putin is the secret source of the president's

strongly-held belief that ukraine, not russia, meddled in the 2016 campaign. and up next, senator jeanne shaheen of new hampshire joining us on that and much more. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. mitchell reports" on msnbc. is that ireland...1953? how did you know? mom...that was taken at the farm. it was in this small little village.

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it turns out president trump has a high profile defender in his impeachment battle. his name is vladimir putin. "the washington post" is report former white house officials say putin helped persuade the president it was ukraine and not russia that hacked the democrats and interfered in the 2016 campaign, despite all the evidence presented to the president by u.s. intelligence officials. according to "the washington post," the president's intense resistance to the assessment of u.s. intelligence agencies that russia systematically interfered in the 2016 campaign and the blame be cast instead on a rival country, ukraine, led many of his advisers to think that putin himself helped spur the idea of ukraine's culpability. from manchester, new hampshire, senator jeanne shaheen, a member of the armed services and foreign relations committees. senator, welcome, happy holidays to you. >> thank you, happy holidays. >> also of course, what putin said in his annual news conference this week, that he

agrees with the president defending him. does this cause you concern, that the president is relying more, according to the "washington post" reporting, on vladimir putin than on the cia and other intelligence agencies? >> absolutely. it is stunning. and a first in history, as long as i've been alive, given the threat that russia has posed and continues to pose. and what's equally disturbing is to hear some of my colleagues in the senate who are parroting that same line that is coming directly from putin. so it is very disturbing. this week, in the foreign relations committee, on a strong bipartisan vote, we passed additional sanctions against russia, because clearly what we have done to date and what the white house has been willing to do to date has not been enough to change their behavior and to hold them accountable. >> do you have any indication

that the president would sign that? >> i think if it comes out of both houses with a big vote, as, you know, when we passed the previous sanctions in 2017 and 2018, when we were working on them, the president said he wasn't going to sign them, he was opposed to them, yet when they came through the senate with a 97-2 vote and an overwhelming vote in the republican house, he agreed to sign them. so i think if we give that kind of strong support to these sanctions, he will be forced to sign them or it will send a very strong signal to the american people where his priorities lie. >> and at the same time, the issue of a senate impeachment trial is obviously front and center. now senator mcconnell is saying he's fine with not getting the articles of impeachment. perhaps that's just a position given the fact that nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, and mitch mcconnell are in a standoff.

what is your sense of the play right now? should pelosi just sit on the articles of impeachment until and unless senator schumer gets some agreement to get these witnesses? >> i think we're all, and the public, is anxious to see how the process is going to unfold. it would be nice if it could actually be a bipartisan process. i think that's what the american public is looking for. they want answers to the questions. they want to see a process that they believe is fair. and i think this kind of maneuvering just further raises questions in the public about what's happening in congress. >> do you think any of those more vulnerable republicans who are up for reelection, collins, perdue, tillis, for instance, cory gardner, might provide the votes to require witnesses? >> you know, i hope so. again, i think you have to ask,

if the president is innocent as he says, if this was all such a perfect phone call, then why not turn over the real transcript of the phone call that's being held in extra security in the white house? why not make available to congress those people who were in the room, who were engaged in email traffic, who know what happened with withholding aid to ukraine? and on so far, this president hasn't been willing to do that, even though in previous impeachment processes, we know at least with richard nixon, when it looked like congress was going to impeach him, with bill clinton during his impeachment, they made available the people who congress was interested in hearing from. >> finally, i want to ask you something that you've managed to achieve, something very close to me because i've covered it so intensively, which is the diplomats. the diplomats from havana and from some parts of china who have had brain damage, mysteriously, from some kind of

illness, we don't know what, you have managed to get into the appropriation actual medical care for them and their families. >> well, that's right. and thank you very much for all the coverage you've provided to this. it's been a real mystery since our embassy officials were first attacked in cuba and then we had other people who were affected by similar kinds of events in china. and unfortunately, they have not been all treated equally, even though there are similarities in the kinds of injuries they've suffered. for many of these people who have been working on behalf of the american people in our embassy and our consular offices and our intelligence agencies, and have put themselves at risk, and yet they have not been treated consistently in terms of the health care they've been provided. and so this legislation would do exactly that, it would say if they were injured overseas, in

one of our embassies, that they should get the same kind of health care. because so many of them have been unable to work. it's affected their daily activities, as you say. it's similar to a traumatic brain injury. and we need to make sure they're given the health care they deserve for sustaining these injuries on behalf of the american must have been. >> senator, thank you so much. i know a lot of people are grateful to you for standing up for our diplomats and other u.s. officials overseas. thanks very much and happy holidays to you and your family. >> happy holidays to you and to everyone watching. >> thank you very much, senator jeanne shaheen from new hampshire. up next, the revolving door. is acting chief of staff mick mulvaney the next white house official to head for the exit ramp? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. we'll be right back. hell ports" on msnbc. we'll be right back. ♪needs somebody

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about mick mulvaney who certainly stubbed his toe in the briefing room? >> when we in the press talk about who is up and who is down in trump's orbit, people say we're obsessed with palace intrigue, but mick mulvaney still has the title acting chief of staff, that's fairly instructive. there's been reporting about him being on the outs for the last a couple of months, really. he was side lined during the raid on al baghdadi. in october he turned the white house press briefing room into something of a confessional, he was talking about president trump's ukraine dealings and said that politics gets into foreign affairs all the time, get over it. there is this notion that mulvaney doesn't have the

standing with the president and he doesn't have the standing, doesn't have the influence over the white house staff. so you saw, when mark meadows announced his decision to retire, that was viewed by lots of people as meadows himself transforming into this sort of white house chief of staff in waiting. i've covered mark meadows since he was elected to congress back in 2013. i'm told he doesn't want the traditional white house chief of staff role, but if he were to take a job like a white house strategist or something like that where he's a trusted adviser who could be called on at a moment's notice for support or to lend an ear to the president, he's already doing that. that's the kind of role he's occupied for years now, really. so he's probably ruling out, i'm told, the sort of standard, typical white house chief of staff job, but he will certainly be a close friend and adviser to president trump. and he wants to help him on this reelection bid. >> i remember, a.b., when white house chief of staff was a big

deal, a key national security adviser, in the know on everything. we think of jim baker, leon panetta, others who have inhabited that role. and here you have a man who has had the "acting" title which so diminishes him. he still has a lot of power as omb director, he can put a hold on ukraine funds, for instance, without anyone knowing. >> and he was very much one of the ringleaders of that whole effort, andrea. it's clear he was sidelining john bolton and running his national security council out of the white house on those decisions and on the ukraine matter, all in the spring and summer. but somehow in the last few months he has fallen out of favfav fav favfave favor. they're very tight with mark meadows who is willing to leave his seat to be chief adviser.

surely if the trump family pressures him to take the role as chief of staff, it's likely he ends up in it. this is an amazing thing to watch unfold. and like death and taxes, the only other certainty in life is that being trump's chief of staff is something that has a short shelf life and won't end well. it's sort of an amazing thing to watch, these people who are still willing to go into this situation. and i think mark meadows is, when they know how volatile it is. eventually when trump makes mistakes, he wants to blame someone else, it's almost always the chief of staff. >> thanks so much to both of, geoff bennett, a.b. stoddard. senator cory booker joins us live next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. t on "an reports" only on msnbc 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,

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last night but he's still in the race and he joins me now from the campaign trail, from adele, iowa. senator, thank you very much for taking the time to be with us. your reaction to the lack of diversity with the exception of andrew yang, but no african-americans, no hispanic candidates on that stage. >> yeah, iowa media has been calling it out, saying what are they doing with these artificial debate thresholds that have never proven right. it was john kerry and john edwards who were apolopolling a and 4% and went on to finish at 1 and 2. this race is wide open. we're picking up steam. we're just coming out of from an event where the democratic chairperson of the county endorsed our campaign. we're on top of the field in endorsements on the ground. we're gaining momentum, online fundraising, people are reacting, let's get him back on

stage, going to corybooker.com at record levels. i feel more confidence than ever that that's our pathway. >> they just announced, the dnc, the threshold for the january debate. and that's going to be in des moines. and the threshold now is at least 5% in at least four polls and 7% support in two single state polls or 225 -- and 225,000 unique donors. that's a real stretch for you, you've been polling at about 2%. how do you catch up? >> we've started clocking at 4% in polls the last couple of weeks, we're really surging. that would have kicked off carter and clinton. we're really showing great strength. people are telling me now, wait a minute, we need a nominee that can excite the fullness of the democratic coalition. remember, in michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, if the

african-american turnout had been the same in '16 as it was in '12, we would have a president hillary clinton right now. we need a nominee that is energizing and exciting like we've had in the past. the polls have never energizing. the front runner has never gone onto the white house. we know this election is wide open. we are on the ground, we are building a campaign and we are seeing more online fund raising and helping billionaire doing wall to wall adds. people are equipping us with the resources. if you believe in my candidacy. please go to corybooker.com and help us out. >> mike bloomberg is pulling $140 million.

he's absolutely swamping the air waves. >> yeah, i don't know. the early primary states, the last mayor did that was rudy giuliani. did not work so well for him. i don't understand a strategy to win in that race. i don't think he will. hi think it is going to be one of us like you have seen in the past. and we'll go on just like obama did to trigger that coalition and win in south carolina. i will be e tthe nominee. it starts 45 days from now. i am the number one candidate online, we are growing here in this state. we are in it to win it. i know i am the candidate that can best resurrect the obama's coalition. it pushed the republicans way into the minority of the united states senate. we got to take mitch mcconnell

back into the benches. so the best person in this field to excite and ignite the coalition, we need to pass the big legislation. i am that candidate and we are getting men tomentumomentum. >> what about impeachment and a possibility of a trial in january. do you want a short trial and longer trial? it will keep you off the campaign trail? >> i think you should separate these. i want to hear from witnesses that have firsthand experience from this president had not been able to even testify. what are you afraid of? if the truth will clear you then let the people in the room when you did which seize the betrayal of your office, let them testify. let the politics take care of itself. this is an american moment, we

should do our jobs, all of us. what do you think mitch mcconnell's position should be excluded? >> mitch mcconnell had been stunning to me. there is another oath that we as senator have to swear of being impartial jurors and you have mcconnell saying i am in locked steps with the president and i am doing his bidding. this is astonishing to me that someone would say so contrary to the oath they have to swear. i am concerned of having a fair process when you have loopholes not willing to uphold the constitutional intent or the oath. this is a time for patriotism and not partisanship. we'll look back at this moment and see who really stood up for the values of this nation or willing to sacrifice for short

term political gain. >> i want to ask you jeff van drew, he endorsed you in the past. he's a new republican sitting with the president in the oval office yesterday. i gather you have thrown your support to whoever is the strongest to take him on as he's bending the democrats who elected him? >> he voted against donald trump over 90% of the time. i don't understand how you suddenly can wake up and say that i am going to vote the other way every single time and say things like donald trump do or die. come on. you got to be kidding me. this is hurting a lot of people in new jersey and a lot of an distinguish over this as you can

understand. i think it is a sadness of this whole thing. >> the big issue came up last night because of elizabeth warren going after pete buttigieg of his fundraiser which was trending. where do you come down on that? did she transfer a lot of money from her senate campaign? >> i don't want to get back and forth. if you remember on the big stage, i am the one that's saying let's watch about how we talk about each other and i wish i was on the debate stage, there was more questions about wine cases than gun violence and issues that's affecting americans. i wish i was on the stage to talk about the truth. the person that we believe that's going to represent this party is the one that can best heal us and bring us together

and excite people to come out. >> i am running the campaign that has the same message from the beginning. have a more courageous to understand that we are not, i want to elevate this incredible people on that stage that don't question it. i am going to be that nominee. i hope the people will decide. the only way we can beat donald trump is bringing the best of our light. >> senator cory booker, thank you very much. safe travels out there on the campaign trail. >> thank you for stopping with us today. >> all the best. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you. we'll have more news ahead. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." stay with us. "andrea

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