snow fight. let's play hardball. good evening. i'm chris matthews up in manchester, new hampshire. we've got big news out of washington tonight. the president's begun his purge. he's having those who testified against him removed. in one case at least, physically, from their positions in the government. we're going to get to that trump nastiness in a bit. here in new hampshire with just four days to go until the primary, we've got a duel on our hands. a brand new nbc news poll out tonight shows bernie sanders and pete buttigieg fighting it out at the front of the pack. the nbc news poll taken after monday's iowa caucuses shows sanders leading with 25%.

up three points here since last month. pete buttigieg is in second place. and within the margin of error at 21%. he's up four points. elizabeth warren is next at 14%, up 1% from last month. followed by joe biden at 13, down two points since january. so you get the picture. senator amy klobuchar and the other candidates are in single digits. the new poll caps off a turbulent week -- week here, which began with monday's iowa caucuses fiasco that led to both buttigieg and sanders, both of these guys, claiming victory. and the numbers released by the iowa democratic party, buttigieg has a razor thin lead in the state's delegate count, typically used to determine a winner. while sanders won the raw popular vote. the latest "boston globe globe"/suffolk university tracking poll. released overnight, it shows sanders and buttigieg roughly tied at 24 to 23%.

with buttigieg jumping 12 points since monday. meanwhile, joe biden has dropped seven points. tonight's seven candidates will spar on stage here in manchester in the final debate before new hampshire voters head to the polls tuesday. in an event i witnessed here in manchester earlier today, senator sanders gave what i think is a glimpse of what we might see tonight. >> pete buttigieg has most exclusive billionaire donors of any democrat. that's -- that was from "forbes." "the hill," pete buttigieg tops billionaire dollar list. "washington post," the -- pete buttigieg lures even closer look from wall street donors following strong iowa caucus performance. i like pete buttigieg. nice guy. but we are in a moment where billionaires control, not only our economy, but our political -- >> i'm joined right now by campaign manager for bernie

sand. faz, you know, i think it was frank mankowitz, who said in washington, ignore everything said before the word but. it's after but that matters. your candidate has basically called pete buttigieg the candidate of billionaires. he said he's the leader in getting money from the billionaires. and then he said, quoting woody guthrie, what side are you on? the theme this morning was about. what side are you on? and he put -- is he putting himself on one side? and pete buttigieg on the other? explain. >> for sure. you -- you and i were both there this morning, chris matthews. and we saw the case that bernie sanders made and the choice is clear for voters. do you want a candidate to c cco cco cow tows to the billionaire class? who receives money from big drug

companies and big healthcare companies and why does that matter? because at the end of the day, he fights for policies that reward those companies. he's not going to take them on. at one point in time, he used to come for medicare for all. he has since backed away from that. bernie sanders, clear flag planted in the sand. has been where he's always been fighting for the working class, saying i will fight for medicare for all when i'm in the oval office. >> has he been bought? is he in the tank? is that what your candidate is saying? he's in the tank. rather than using a chinese word, let's use american words. is he in the tank? >> well, chris, you and i both know the political system is corrupt. it's rigged. billionaires have a lot of influence over it. big money has influence over it. and the question is are you willing to take them on? and if so, how? tell me how you are going to take them on. well, one way we know you aren't going to take them on is when you take their money. when you sit in close-door rooms and tell them yeah you can have special access to me. that's not what bernie sanders

does. it's not what he's ever done. so if you are looking for somebody who has the credibility to go up against donald trump and say here's a guy who is a fraud, who sold you out, who betrayed you. now, i'm somebody who you can believe in and that's bernie sanders. >> people who want to vote for pete for all kinds of reason, are they corrupt? >> no, not at all. i think there's -- there's a lot of things that people take into consideration about when and why they vote for certain candidates. and our job, chris, and you appreciate this as a campaign needs to make the choices clear from our perspective on why one person is a better choice than another. and i understand voters will take a lot of different issues into consideration. >> i know how this works. i know a congressman who would tell me when he went in the subcommittee markups, he could tell who in the room was in the tank with some special interest. he could tell. are you saying to me that you predict, or your candidate does, that pete buttigieg will be in the tank if he's president? >> he always -- he already has

been. he already has been. that's the point. let's not sugar coat it. he already has been in those rooms, receiving their moneys. >> last question. faz, look. i have been -- let me just tell you this. are you willing to say tonight why your candidate has all of a sudden gone after pete buttigieg? when pete buttigieg now threatens him winning in new hampshire. and you didn't do it before. >> it's a tight race, chris. >> pussycat, as i like to say, what's new? could it be that you are even in the polls? could that be the reason? >> yes. yes. it's our job -- >> an honest man. i have found an honest man in politics, faz. you have just admitted the truth. the reason you're trashing this guy is he's catching up to you. thank you -- >> clear choices. clear differences. >> well said. they are definitely different. they are very different.

joining me now is co-chair of the pete buttigieg campaign. mara, i saw you yesterday with the service people. how do you respond to that attack from bernie sanders against buttigieg saying he is basically in the -- in the corruption business? he's part of the problem. he's on the wrong side of the working people. that's what he said today. >> yeah. well, first of all, chris, it's great to be here. and there's just so much excitement on the ground and you saw it yesterday in miramac at the town hall. veterans of all eras who were there to hear pete's message of unity. and that's what he is going to do. he's got an agenda that is inspiring progressive, moderates, independents. and there's just no denying what's happening here. you know, the results in iowa are exciting. but what's happening on the ground here is really a movement. and it's just -- it's been an electrifying few days and really exciting to be a part of. >> you know, one thing i've

learned in politics, we learned it from the swift voting of john kerry. the trash they threw at john mccain. if you don't respond, you don't -- if you don't challenge a threat, this guy just came on the campaign manager for senator sanders, said your candidate, pete buttigieg, is not only is corrupt. he's owned by the -- he's in the tank with the big corporations. he's corrupt! that's what they just said. do you have a response? will you have a response at your candidate's opportunity tonight in the debate? >> yeah. absolutely, chris. let me just be very clear. pete is a veteran. he's a fellow veteran. he served our country with honor, with courage, with commitment. he raised his right hand and swore an oath to something greater than himself. the constitution of the united states. he put his life on the line for our country. and i got to tell you as i look around at all the candidates and

think about who i trust to be in the situation room, pete has the judgment. he's got the experience. and he's got the temperament to be our next chandommander in ch >> and you're not going to respond to the charge of being corrupt by the guy you're about to pass perhaps in the polls. he is getting a little worried apparently. his campaign manager just said the reason they're taking shots at your candidate is your candidate's catching up to him. no response from you. is that the campaign position? no response? >> no. chris, let me be clear. that's absolutely false. you know, pete buttigieg is a great american. and let me remind you and all of our viewers, he is part of the 1% of our country who has served our country. put his life on the line for our country. and to suggest anything otherwise is just simply not true. >> thank you so much. by the way, i like your appearance yesterday with all the service people. it was great. it was nonpartisan. it was uplifting. thank you so much, maura sullivan with the buttigieg campaign. former vice president joe biden

was not in manchester yesterday in the wake of a fourth-place finish in iowa. a gut punch to him. "the washington post" reports biden gathered with his top advisors at his home in delaware seeking a, quote, reset, close quote. elevated senior aide and obama white house veteran to day to day operations ahead of tuesday's primary. with me now is symone sanders, senior advisor to the biden campaign. thank you. and i'm just wondering what does this shakeup mean? is it cosmetic? is there a new campaign leader? >> thank you for having me today, chris. look. i don't want folks to read too much into what they've seen in the news today. the reality is that vice president biden came out of iowa, came here to new hampshire, and he told the people of new hampshire and folks across america that he was ready to fight. that he's been knocked down before. this is the first time. this won't be the last. and he is ready to fight for this nomination. and what he believes in. so our campaign has made some

additions, some expanded roles, to ensure that we are putting together the best operation not just here in new hampshire but nevada, south carolina, and in super-tuesday. we -- we intend to compete in this nomination, chris, and we think we -- we've got a great shot. we think vice president biden will be the democratic candidate and the next president of the united states of america. >> i think -- the first time ever, a whole year of run up to this night, for the first time in over a year, more than a year, your candidate joe biden has agreed to do a sunday interview show. why now, after all these months of refusing to do these programs and i know everybody's been after them. and they will be. i've been after him for a year, too. everybody's been after him. he's finally agreed to do an interview program on sunday. why has he changed his strategy now? >> well, chris, as i noted at the beginning of my comments, we're ready to fight for this

nomination. and so we -- vice president biden has been a fighter. and, look, we feel good about our operation here in new hampshire. i do believe that our sunday show interview will be out on the campaign trail with us tomorrow. here in new hampshire. so, look, i just don't think folks should read too much into this. i know the media wants to write our campaign off. but the reality is -- >> no. no. i want joe biden on my show. what, are you resident o cracra? are you crazy? i want him on the show. i want a piece of the guy. i've always wanted to interview him. >> the reality is, chris -- >> you've been hiding from us. >> chris -- >> go ahead. >> -- chris, i take offense to that. let me tell you why. we have really prioritized local media in this campaign. chris, lots of reporters and lots of correspondents across this country would love joe biden on their program. but the reality is that we have prioritized local interviews everywhere vice president biden goes. he does local print, local radio, local television. and we know folks are watching. we also know folks are watching

your show on msnbc. but we have made it a priority to make sure we are speaking directly to the voters. frankly, we're also going to continue to do. local media has been very important to us. but let me just say one thing, chris. we're excited to be here in new hampshire. but we are looking forward -- forward to tuesday. >> okay, simone, my 2 million viewers every night. they've known him for years. they want to talk to him. we want to talk to him. but thank you. >> right here on live air. >> let me tell you. my request has been in. you can talk to -- let's see -- tj. you can talk to kate beddingfield. you can talk to everybody. i keep asking. please, release joe biden. unleash him. symone sanders, thank you for coming on hardball tonight. >> look forward to seeing you guys tonight on the debate stage. >> okay. good luck. by the way, we have a program ready to see him. coming up. thank you, symone. it's a purge.

donald trump today retaliated against two of the national security officials who testified in the impeachment trial against him. trump promised payback. well, apparently, it's begun. you pay for telling the truth. and my colleagues joy reid and chris hayes will join me a little later. got much more to get to here in manchester, new hampshire. here we are in such a beautiful place. there it is. stay with us. for all out confidence... ...depend® silhouette™ briefs feature maximum absorbency, beautiful colors and an improved fit for a sleek design and personal style. life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. quitting smoking is freaking hard.st, like quitting every monday hard. quitting feels so big. so, try making it smaller. and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small... ...can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette

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two days after being acquitted in his impeachment trial, president trump is already getting his vengeance. in the last hours, news broke that gordon sondland, ambassador to the european union, a prominent witness in the impeachment inquiry, has been fired. in a statement, sondland writes, i was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as the united states ambassador to the european union. it comes just hours after

lieutenant colonel alexander vindman was escorted from the white house. physically removed from his position as an aide on the national security council. vindman, a decorated combat veteran, was one of many administration officials to testify during the impeachment proceedings. >> i was concerned by the call. what i heard was inappropriate, and i reported my concerns to mr. eisenberg. it is improper for the president of the united states to demand a foreign government investigate a u.s. citizen and a political opponent. >> the president brought up vindman, personally, during his white house impeachment remarks yesterday. >> fortunately, for all of us here today and for our country, we had transcripts. we had transcribers, professional transcribers. then they said, oh, well, maybe the transcription is -- is not correct. but lieutenant colonel vindman and his twin brother, right, we had some people that really

amazing -- >> well, actually, you know, i got to stop here. the president's made fun of physical handicaps. he's made fun of people who are not tall enough for him. now, he's making fun of people's perhaps a trace of a foreign accent. isn't that really clever? vindman's attorney released a statement saying in part there is no question in the mind of any american why this man's job is over. why this country now has one less soldier serving in the white house. lieutenant colonel vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. his honor, his commitment to right frightened this powerful person. people familiar with the president's decision tell "the washington post" that trump is eager to make a symbol of vindman soon after the senate acquitted him of the impeachment charges. a source says that vindman's twin brother, who was an attorney at the national security council, was also removed from the nsc. for more, i am joined by howard fineman. and john heilemann, co-host of

show times the circus and nation national affairs analysts. all three of you -- first of all, bena, escorting him like he's been -- like he was stealing money from the cash register or something. treating him like he's a bad-news character. >> and his brother, the nsc lawyer. the president doesn't feel like the acquittal is enough. and i think it says something about what senator mitt romney did, which is to say he pierced through the sort of myth the white house was casting about this impeachment trial. that it was just a partisan witch hunt. and the fact that mitt romney came out and voted for one of the articles of impeachment to convict, i think caused a reaction in the white house. and -- and what they're doing is they're showing people that speaking out, even under oath, even telling the truth, is something that's punishable behavior in this white house. >> he wants to expunge everything. >> no. no. he doesn't want to expunge them until he makes a spectacle of them.

>> okay. >> this is roman coliseum stuff. okay. donald trump is coming up here on monday to have a huge rally in the arena across the street from here. >> okay. >> and he's trying to steal the attention away from everybody else for the democratic thing. i wouldn't be surprised if he could get away with it, he'd bring vindman and his brother up here to parade them through the southern new hampshire. >> like conquered barbarians. >> yeah, because it doesn't prove his point about his power unless he humiliates other people. and by the way, i talked to one white house person yesterday who said you're going to see a long line of stuff. in other words, they're going to take every one of these people and make a spectacle of all of them as he gets rid of them. to show that he is not only vindicated but further empowered. >> anyway, sondland and vindman's removal comes a day after the president raged against democrats and others he sees as his political enemies. here is the president from earlier today.

>> well, you'll see. i mean, we'll see what happens. >> we'll see what happens. john hylaneilemann, you're the one to comment on this. is this the roman coliseum where he wants to torture before killing, if you will? >> sure. but i -- i -- the political analysis and the symbiotics of are are interesting but it's also against the law. it's illegal to practice retribution. to mete out retribution against witnesses. so what it shows me, apart from all the other things, howard, are right. obviously, the president is not just trying to expunge. he is trying to send a message. this is mafia territory, as usual. like, he hates -- he looks at the vindmans and he says he's a rat. and says i'm going to punish the rat. not just because of the spectacle but also to send a

message to other rats. because the president knows that he's done a lot of bad things and he wants to make hour thsur everyone who might come forward in the future recognizes that he will be forced to pay a price. but i do also want to point out that a president who's just been acquitted on two counts of impeachable offenses, just like in the last go around, the moment the mueller thing was over, he went and did something impeachable. just now, the impeachment is over and he's doing another thing that is, again, an illegal act. the president cannot stop himself from behaving the way he behaves but from breaking laws left and right. he is a lawless president. >> well, sounding like a vengeful count of mar-a-lago, trump made clear he won't let go of his desire for retribution anytime soon. "the washington post" reports that in this year's election quote advisors to the president said trump is already thinking about a scorched earth nine-month campaign against the

democrats. let's talk about what's happening up here in new hampshire. and it looks to me according to the all the polls, including the globe's poll, it looks like a two-person race right now. >> i'd say yes and i'd say the big news from our poll in particular with suffolk university as well of course is that pete buttigieg has been inching up -- upwards since iowa. and i think that's evidence of the fact that iowa, even with the debacle that's happened there around the results reporting, still is having an effect. still able to catapult certain kinds of candidates. i'm happy to talk about why i think that's a bit of a distortion of our electoral politics. for one, i think iowa and new hampshire play an outsized role they really shouldn't be playing. but for the time being, yeah, we're down to a two-person race. >> the assault has already begun on his enemies. mini mike he calls them. makes fun of the stature of the former mayor of new york. he makes fun of everybody's appearance. he makes fun of their accents now. everything's fair game. people call it a scorched earth. you are a democrat. even bernie has been through a lot of fights. what are you facing with trump?

>> well, i think -- i think that's what the voters here, that i've talked to and that i've seen at events, are asking themselves. who do they have to use my coliseum analogy, who do they have who's going to get in there with this guy? >> is russell crowe available? >> and do the combat. and even at the buttigieg thing, we were both at yesterday, i had some of these people tell me, you know, i sort of like pete. i think i'm going to vote for him because older people don't want to vote for bernie. one guy said to me wouldn't it be great if mike bloomberg is up against donald trump and donald trump calls him little mike or mini mike. and mike bloomberg says, well, let's compare sizes, mr. president. mine is 60 times bigger than yours. >> oh, you're talking loot. >> no, i'm talking 60 billion. so that, in the reasoning of new hampshire voters, one of the things they're thinking down the road -- and by the way, bloomberg's advertised enough up

here that he is sort of in the background of people's thinking. they're just desperately looking for whoever it is who can survive in the ring. >> let me ask john hylaeilemann. john, who has the 42 to use that word to stand face to face with trump when he starts purging people all around him? >> well, i think, chris, it's a little -- in a weird way, it's a little too early in this campaign to tell. we have had a very gentle democratic primary so far. negative campaigning has been minimal to this point. we are finally starting to see a little bit of gloves being taken off. democratic voters that i talk to are looking for is a lot of what howard is talking about. but that's what this test these next few months is going to be about. the race is going to get down and dirty. there is going to be more conflict in this race. and i think that part of the question that voters are asking is who can throw a punch and who can take a punch? and right now, that's one thing that hasn't been tested. policy's been tested up to wazoo. but what hasn't been tested is

that very question and i think we finally about to get there. maybe starting tonight on this debate stage in a real way. >> yeah. i think tonight we're going to see a big fight with bernie going after buttigieg. and also, joe biden trying to punch his way back into this fight. thank you, howard fineman. thank you, bina. i'm sorry. i worked on this. it's not a hard name. i just didn't do it right. thank you, john heilemann. up next, much more on trump's vengeance tour and the stakes for 2020. my colleagues joy reid and chris hayes join me next here in manchester. you're watching "hardball." e nen manchester you're watching "hardball. i think the house is changing him... -[ gasps ] -up and at 'em! ...into his father. [ eerie music plays ] is it scary? -[ gasps ] -it's in eco mode. so don't touch it. mm-hmm. i can't stop this from swinging. must be a draft in here. but he did save a bunch of money bundling our home and auto with progressive. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. -hello? -sorry, honey.

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welcome back to "hardball" live from new hampshire. and manchester itself as donald trump begins the campaign of payback he promised after impeachment acquittal. democrats are battling for the chance to take him on. the stakes couldn't be higher. joining me right now are two expert colleagues of mine. joy reid, host of "a.m. joy." and chris hayes, host of all in with chris hayes. thank you. we all are students unfortunately of this president. and we watch him. we watch him like a bullfighter watches a bull. and we watch him and we notice one thing about him. he gets emboldened. when he beats the judge, when he skips town, when he escapes justice, which he did this week, he becomes the worst. >> yeah. i mean, susan collins, who came out and said, well, you know, i

think, you know, being paefimped taught him a lesson. >> ha! can i make one of my classic laughs? >> i'll do it with you. >> ha! >> has she ever met donald trump? to put it in show biz terms, he's geoffrey barathian. he was the teenage king in "game of thrones." and he got worse and worse and worse the more he was enabled by his family, the lannisters. the more cruel he got. exactly. >> so power tends to corrupt. absolute power corrupts absolutely. >> and republicans gave it to him. let's just not forget they have given him permission to act as a monarch and they should not be surprised when he acts like a monarch. >> like a kid, he's getting out of hand. >> the thing i keep thinking about is he could have done this during the trial. i mean, if the -- if the president has the power -- president has the power to

recall you as ambassador. >> does the guy get his million dollars back? >> yeah. right. exactly. does he get a refund? but what it shows to me is, like, there is a degree of calculating here and a degree of restraint and discipline that is dangerous, right? because he is generally extremely undisciplined and extremely impossible to restrain in his impulses. but whoever it was that got in his ear, the white shoe lawyers that defended him in the well of the senate, they stopped him from doing this during the trial because it would look terrible because he was being impeached for abuse of power. and he basically sort of stayed out of the limelight. as soon as it was done, he's out with the entire sort of angry patriarch wedding toast that we saw in the east room. and -- and now, taking these concrete steps that as john heilemann said, it's unclear whether they're lawful. and they go against promises that were made by the secretary of defense esper that they would not stand for any retaliation. >> here's the question. does it matter if they are lawful if the republican party, backed by their new dershowitz theory of donald trump's ability

to rule, is that nothing he does is unlawful so long as he gives them judges, he can do anything he wants. even if it's unlawful, does anyone here legitimately believe that william barr is going to defend the law, the rule of law? you know, they're all the hand of the king at this point. >> a certain dictator, whose name we dare not use, when the people tried to kill him around 1944, the collaborators. he not only hanged him. he hanged him with wire. he had movies taken of him being hanged. he made it so their clothes would fall off so he could watch the movies. is this guy that bad? >> i thought of when i was watching this, you know, sort of feast to donald trump that took place in the east room yesterday and after the prayer breakfast. it was a bit like sort of no one wants to be the last to stop clappi clapping. that everyone wanted to make sure they were the loudest applause and the greatest cheers. >> i was thinking north korea, chris, when i watch the synchronization of applause in the chamber of the house. their faces like in north korea.

their face have the same -- >> let me say this. this is clearly someone from the -- from 10 or 20 or 30 years back if you look at interviews of him, had this kind of authoritarian impulse. he admires other systems that don't have democratic input. he's been very clear on that. >> but he wants to mob, though. >> right. but he's also -- he's also fundamentally a coward. and he's fundamentally incontinent in his ability to control himself. >> wait a minute. you just said two things. one of you said he showed restraint. so -- >> he can keep it together for small periods of time. but then it -- the dam bursts, right? so one of the things -- >> changed your metaphor. >> important to sort of keep your eye on here is i think in a bizarre way if you look to approval ratings of the president, during impeachment, his approval rating ticked up. even though the subject of the news was the president's misdeeds, the president himself was absent from the proceedings. he was not actually in the chamber. when he comes back out and he gives the weird wedding toast he

gave, when he comes back and starts firing and going after people, people are reminded of the person who is actually sitting in the white house. >> he also is money conscious and he saw 250,000 jobs were created in the last month and he heard that this morning to start his day off. he feels very confident. he thinks so. >> speaking with republican friends who, you know, know trump well enough. i texted one of them to say what's going to happen next? and they texted me back one word, bloodbath. that donald trump is out for revenge. that if he gets a second term, this is republicans talking -- >> who's left on the list? >> that he'll -- he'll try to get rid of anyone he thinks has ever displeased him. and what i -- what i think should be -- we should be worrying about right now is his sense of vengefulness is so complete. and his sense of being completely free to do whatever he wants is so complete that they are now looking at -- you have republicans looking to go after the bidens. to do the work that they couldn't get ukraine to do. he will now direct -- we don't know. we don't know what he is going

to direct the department of justice to do. we don't know what he's going to direct the irs to do. suddenly, the irs is free to turn over hunter biden's information when they couldn't turn over trump's. this is an unrestrained force. >> what's your hunch we get the judgment for the supreme court about the new york push to get his tax returns? could he be in the woods again? could he be not the free man he thinks he is? >> the -- the question that's going to come before the court, as i understand it, not as a lawyer but married to a very good one, is fairly clear cut legally. i mean, both the district courts and circuit courts have found this is not that hard a case. it's very clearcut. the question is we all saw, at the state of the union when he shouted out brett kavanaugh. and they looked at each other and smiled. it's mcconnell. it's trump. it's gorsich. and the question is are there five votes on the supreme court to order the president to actually follow the law?

>> by the way, he embraced the chief justice, too. really huddled with him. >> he seems to be on the team. >> i don't think john roberts liked that picture. joy and chris hayes, thank you. we'll be back at 11 for live post-debate coverage. great late night friday night. great late night for him. the american people are actually going to see some of the guys -- people who got through the earlier debate are coming into another one. up next, what do democrats want in 2020? other voters are still trying to decide which candidate to support. iowa entrance polls show they do want medicare for all based upon the entry polls. i am going to talk to presidential candidate and deval patrick, former governor of neighboring states massachusetts. and check out my new podcast. you say you want to be president? that's the name of it. it gives you the half dozen rules for winning a presidential campaign. episode three, the walls have ears, is available right now.

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senator michael bennet of colorado is staking his campaign on a strong showing here in tuesday's primary in new hampshire. coming up soon since he won't be on tonight's debate, here is your chance to hear what he has to say. i'm joined now by colorado senator and presidential candidate michael bennet. i am hearing a lot of good things about you. you got the raging cajun rooting out for you everywhere out there. >> he's in town. >> i know. suppose you had an opening statement tonight, roughly what would it be. >> i think it would be that we got to take donald trump on in the facts. this guy is an expert at being born on third base saying he hit a triple. when i saw the state of the union the other night and he is talking about the jobs and we know that during the obama administration, we were actually creating more jobs than under donald trump. and the american people need to hear that.

the american people need to know that farm bankruptcies are up 25% this year. farm income is down 16%. our farm exports are down $4.6 billion. 30% of farm income in this country, chris, is from the federal government and it's from trump borrowing from the chinese to try to soften the blow of his idiotic trade war that he is claiming credit for during the state of the union. >> why is his numbers and job approval come up? >> because we are in the 11th year of a -- of a -- of a recovery. and, you know, he's lucky to be president when we're in the 11th year of recovery. i think there's no evidence that he has had anything to do with it. >> okay. why such a brutarian, hauling people out of their office because they testified under subpoena. he did what he had to do under the law. and this guy escorted him out today like he's some kind of miscreant. some sort of bad guy. seems to like it.

he says in his rallies, beat up that guy. beat him up on the way out. don't hold his head when you put him in the squad car. let him bang his head. what kind of thinking is that? >> our democracy is at risk, chris. it was at risk wherefore he got there. i don't think he's the central cause of all our problems but he is a massive symptom and he is making matters much worse. nobody is above the law in this country and donald trump is testing the outer boundaries of that but he is not the only one. when mitch mcconnell says, when he is the majority leader of the senate, he says i'm not going to give garland a hearing just because i can get away with it. that's when ancient rome starts to collapse. these guys are, you know, trump. it's like he's one of these ancient roman emperors who's turned his army around. he's marching on rome and that's what's happened. >> you know, this primary fight doesn't seem to be gelling. it just doesn't. i know you're not doing that great. you're not the top of the heap. but it's not gelling.

i don't sense it going anywhere except to a big cataclysmic fight with a guy with billions of dollars to spend. and i don't know if that's good for the party. >> i think we have to get into a place where our head is straight. and we are focused on what matters. we succeeded in 2018. we flipped the house. we won 40 seats. 39 of 40 people ran on a public option. they did not run on medicare for all. and we slipped suburban seats in pennsylvania, all over the country. he was on defense on healthcare sques and he should be on defense on healthcare again. he's the only president in history who's taken it away, healthcare, from millions of americans. >> i tell you, michael bennet, you would do very well in those suburban-collar counties around philadelphia. i agree with you. >> that's how we win. thanks, chris. >> up next, still ahead, presidential candidate deval patrick says it will take an act of radical grace. an interesting phrase. to reunify america once trump leaves office, assuming he does.

the former massachusetts governor will explain how he thinks he can make this happen when he joins us next on "hardball" in about a minute. don't go anywhere. no matter how much you clean, does your house still smell stuffy? that's because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. so try febreze fabric refresher. febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. use febreze every time you tidy up, to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. make febreze part of your clean routine for full home freshness. la la la la la

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new hampshire. hoping to get his message out and gain the support of undecided voters. i'm joined now by himself, former massachusetts governor, deval patrick. great guy to have on. thank you. >> thank you. >> so your basic scoop on this is you want to to get that 5% t sitting out there. that's what i hear. >> i'm not thinking about percentages. i'm thinking about particular voters and meeting them where they are in every sense. >> i meet them everywhere. people say i don't know. >> isn't it amazing. this close. >> i don't know people that say i don't know. what's causing the clog in the arteries of the democratic party? >> you know, i have a theory and it's like we've been bullied for so long by this president, by the circumstances that we do what happens when people are bullied. we swing from rage to resignation and back again. get even or get over, and i think, you know, having been bullied myself when i was in the 7th grade, in a way you have to outgrow the bully.

you have to be bigger than the bully and we have to offer an alternative for voters, which isn't just our version of what he does, which is bully back and belittle and trivialize people who may not agree with us. we have to offer a different -- >> i remember being bullied in the 3rd grade by the 5th grader. i got him behind the neck in a chokehold. >> it felt good. >> i was hanging on for dear life. let me ask you. i watched bernie this morning. he gave a very strong, very passionate case about health care. that was where he gets red in the face. very impassionate. i saw buttigieg with a lot of service people. i'll get you home tonight. >> yeah. >> designated driver. >> yeah. >> does the party want cultural and ideological shift. do they want a revolution, as bernie puts it, or do they want to get the government straightened out? >> well, it's probably some combination of both.

sooner or later, and i hope sooner, certainly what i'm trying to do, is to respond to people the way they come at me, the way they ask questions of me. they're not asking questions about their health care from the perspective of being a democrat. they're not asking about climate change from the perspective of being an independent. what they want is a country. they want someone to speak to them as a patriot and to say, look, we can solve these problems and bind our divisions. >> thank you. >> we can do that -that, and -- >> barack obama, i was with him in a tough neighborhood in north philly above city hall. >> yeah. >> around temple. it was a poor people crowd. 9:00 in the morning, huge crowd and it wasn't what he promised benefits. when he talked about unit at this. >> right. >> i was so struck. these people -- they don't have a lot. they live in row houses, may be tenants. they wanted to hear a guy that was going to unite people.

so powerful to hear that. >> when i think about how my faith in the american dream was given to me by poor black people in the south side of chicago who had every reason to question whether the american dream was about them, it makes me tremble. but i got it and i got it deeply and i know that that anguish and hunger for a place in tomorrow, that's being felt all over the country today. we need to speak to that. that's what i'm trying to do. and i do that -- >> by the way, the patience to me, i think about it a lot. 250 slavery, 150 years of jim crow and 50 years of whatever and there's still this hope. >> yeah. there has to be. the whole country is founded on hope. the whole idea was a shot in the dark and the notion that you can have a country organized around civic ideals instead of the way things -- countries are usually organized, geography -- >> stay at it, governor. >> i'm going to.

>> stay at it. you don't need me to say so. please do. >> thank you. >> duvall patrick, highly respected public official and civil servant. >> thank you. up next, my thoughts on what the new hampshire primary and the other early contests are all about. you're watching "hardball."

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it snowed today in new hampshire like it did here in 1968 when eugene mccarthy trudged through the state to prove that lyndon johnson's days were numbered. i love it here. i've loved it since my parents took my brothers and me on those wonderful summer road trips and that time we rented a farmhouse along a country road in bradford where i played a piano much of an afternoon all by myself in a summer stock theater. now i'm watching bernie and pete duke it out up here fighting what looks to be a run of preliminary bouts to see who could outlast the outspending mike bloomberg. yesterday i watched buttigieg standing in the midst of a veterans group and this morning i watched sanders at saint anselm's college. he hit on voter suppression. >> if i cannot win an election

based on my ideas, then i shouldn't win the election. how cowardly can you be if you don't think your ideas are going to prevail to get out of politics and get another job. >> i like what sanders said because the only reason to be in politics as edmund muske once said, be out there all alone and be proven right. that's what this presidential election is about, at least in the early going. from here to new hampshire into nevada and south carolina. it's about standing out there and hoping that people will listen and agree. up here in new hampshire it looks like a snow fight between pete and bernie. stay with msnbc for our analysis of tonight's democratic debate. chris hayes will be here in new hampshire with a live studio audience. that's "hardball" edition. a special edition of the 11th

hour starts now. breaking news, donald trump strikes back on a friday evening emboldened by a not guilty vote and empowered by his takeover of the republican party. two major witnesses during the impeachment hearings are out of their jobs. tonight the army lieutenant colonel vindman and big dollar trump donor sondland have left their posts while a high level trump appointee fired in that controversy over pardon doning war criminals leaves his party to endorse a rival democratic candidate for president. plus, the week that was for the democrats. a barrier-breaking candidate deprived of a victory lap because of the inability of iowa democrats to tell us with any certainty who won. and let's not forget the first primary now four days away. all of it as a special early edition of "the 11th hour" gets underway on this friday night.