we're following this saturday morning on msnbc. stranded on the high seas, one of the hundreds of cruise ship passengers quarantined because of the coronavirus explains what it's like to be trapped on her honeymoon. >> paying the price, president trump putting two key impeachment witnesses out of a job. reaction to their dismissal and who could be next. new hampshire on the line. the 2020 candidates sparring on

the debate stage last night. the biggest question now, who can go head to head with the president? and who came away with the upper hand? >> it was definitely fight night there in manchester, new hampshire, as all seven gathered there. it was ugly at times. absolutely. three days to new hampshire. >> good morning, everybody. it's saturday, february 8th. i'm lindsey riser, alongside candace gibson and corey coffin. >> so we have a lot we are covering. we have a team of analysts and reporters with us this hour. >> a u.s. citizen is dead after contracting the coronavirus. this is the first american to die from the virus since the outbreak began last month. >> okay. so here's what we know right now. officials say it is a 60-year-old who was diagnosed with the virus in wuhan, the center of all of this, in china, just wednesday. 48 hours later, that person was dead. >> and this now brings the death toll to 724. just a staggering number. across the globe, there are more than 34,000 confirmed cases right now of the coronavirus. that number continues to climb. >> joining us now from hong kong

is nbc news foreign correspondent molly hunter. molly, tell us about this latest case. are we learning more about the u.s. citizen? >> hey, guys, good morning. we don't know that much more than what you've just shared. so the u.s. embassy in beijing, a spokesperson there confirmed to nbc news that the first american -- this is the first american anywhere in the world has died from the coronavirus. that person died in a hospital in wuhan. and we know, you guys, there were thousands of americans living in wuhan. a lot of teachers actually. we know that hundreds got out on those charter flights but we do know there are still americans in wuhan. they have been communicating on social media and we know at least one other american is still in the hospital there. >> all right. nbc's molly hunter following all of this for us. we're going to pick it back up in a little bit and give you what all americans need to know to stay safe. >> and many others as well. back here on the home front to the race of the white house. seven democratic presidential

candidates sparred on stage during the debate in new hampshire. >> and in just three days, those voters will have a chance to decide on a candidate when they go to the polls tuesday. there was a lot of name calling on stage as the candidates covered topics from the economy to president trump to healthcare. >> but bernie says, and he says he wrote the damn thing, but -- willing to tell how much the damn thing is going to cost. who's going to pay for it? it would cost more the entire -- the entire federal budget we spend now. >> if we do what joe wants, we'll be spending some $50 trillion on healthcare over the next ten years. that's the status quo, joe. that's what health and human services says. we are spending twice as much per capita on healthcare as the people of any other country. >> if you were campaigning through iowa and three of us were jurors in that impeachment hearing, you said it was exhausting to watch. and that you wanted to turn the channel and watch cartoons.

>> we're facing a fundamentally new problem with president donald trump. so the biggest risk we could take at a time like this would be to go up against that fundamentally new challenge by trying to fall back on the familiar. >> there are people on this debate stage who are willing to say, yeah, we'll leave our troops there for five more years. for ten more years. we sent our troops in and they did their best. they were there for us. but we need to be there for them. and that means not send our troops to do work that cannot be solved militarily. >> we're in the midst of the most extreme win or take all economy in the history of our country. and unfortunately, that extremity is just going to reach unprecedented heights as technology is getting stronger, smarter, more capable all the time. and most of us are not. most adults feel happy if we stayed about the same on any given day. >> we have not said one word tonight about race. not one word.

are you kidding me? we have the most diverse party -- we have a very diverse cou country. we have a very diverse party. the heart and soul of this party is diversity. >> and new this morning, a poll shows senator bernie sanders is in the lead in new hampshire right now. he's got 25% ahead of pete buttigieg at 21%. elizabeth warren sitting at 14%. and joe biden with 13%. >> in about an hour, several democratic presidential candidates will be taking part in a special forum in new hampshire moderated by stephanie ruhle. >> courts forum will be the first of the election cycle addressing the candidates approach toward a future of the federal courts and our rights that are at risk. >> joining us now is stephanie ruhle. good morning to you, stephanie. thank you for coming in to preview this. without giving too much away, what are some of the questions you are going to be looking for the candidates to answer this morning? >> reporter: good morning to you all. just think about this. president trump very famously

said on the campaign trail, even if they don't like me, they have to vote for me. why? judges. and judges have been a crowning achievement for president trump. put the two supreme court justices aside. i'm talking 187 federal judges. 50 circuit court judges. that is how many president trump and mitch mcconnell have packed the courts with. and remember, judges are on the bench for life. as many judges as the president has put on the bench in the last three years, that's the same pace as obama for eight years. on the other side, those judge appointments are some of the most dangerous, for those candidates, scariest things they think and talk about. what it means for reproductive rights. what it means for immigration. our judicial system touches practically every facet of our lives so i will be sitting down with eight candidates to figure out when and if they are the next person in the oval office, what are they going to do about it? >> not to mention the supreme court, which president trump

says he has many more justices in the pipeline. democrats are heading in following a strong jobs report for president trump. how much tougher is it getting the eventual nominee to beat trump's economy? >> listen. it was a democrat who famously said, james carvel, it's all about the economy, stupid. we had a really big jobs number yesterday. wages are finally going up. ironically, where you are seeing low-wage workers get a boost, it's in states where minimum wage has been hiked. and that happened on a state level. it wasn't the president. but it did happen on the president's watch. so new hampshire voters, like voters around the country, are focused on the economy. and while they've got one of the lowest poverty rates in the country, we also know that wages haven't gone up much here and it is one of the most expensive states when it comes to secondary education. so if you believe in education

is the key to a good job, it cost a whole lot of money here. that matters to voters. >> stephanie, you get a sense that michael bloomberg is gaining momentum? >> he definitely had a very big week. think about it. mike bloomberg isn't here in new hampshire. he wasn't in iowa. but after the iowa debacle, that was a win for him and where has he been? he is staying on this track where he is focused on the national race. on monday, remember, that's when early voting started in california. you got a whole lot more delegates in california than you do in iowa. he's been crossing the country all week. and just yesterday, former acting navy secretary richard spencer, former during the trump administration, signed on to endorse mayor bloomberg saying it's not about a person i'm endorsing. it's account t it's about the good of the country. so without a doubt, mayor bloomberg has got some momentum. we talk about mayor pete buttigieg's momentum. mayor bloomberg has over 60

endorsements from mayors and pete buttigieg has only 30. but definitely gaining momentum. >> nbc's stephanie ruhle. you can watch our courts event on our website, msnbc.com and nbcnews.com. >> thanks, stephanie. joining us now, senior political editor and correspondent vaughn hillyard. they are both in the granite state, as well. beth, let me start with you because what were your big takeaways from that debate last night? >> well, the big takeaway is how much the dynamic has changed since iowa. pete buttigieg now very much in the hot seat. he came out of iowa, as we know, with a slight, tiny little edge over bernie sanders. he is now a front-runner. an official front-runner. and the other candidates on the stage were treating him that way. he is a very smooth talker, as we know, and he was parroting back a lot of hits from some of the other candidates, including joe biden, who until now has tried to sort of rise above it all as former vice president. he came in sort of disappointing fourth there in iowa so he

couldn't afford to step back and let everyone else spar. he was right in there with -- with them. amy klobuchar had a very strong night. she was extremely active and -- and -- and -- and right there at pete buttigieg going after him quite -- quite extensively. then there was bernie sanders, of course the self-described democratic socialist who was also right up there as a front-runner and getting a lot of incoming as well. i don't know if the dynamic going into tuesday drastically changed but we definitely saw the dynamic from a few days ago change very much on this stage. >> hey, vaughn, what were your big takeaways as well? and the second part of this question, it's kind of been back and forth whether or not it was a negative or attack-heavy debate. where would you fall on a scale of one to ten when it comes to attacks? >> good morning, guys. i think this debate went for nearly three hours. so for this debate, there was actually a lot of substance. you know, a lot of opportunities for these candidates to actually talk extensively, whether it be about climate or healthcare. we should note, kn though, that

first hour is where a lot of that back and forth took place. this is exactly where pete buttigieg wants to find himself in this race right now. pulling off a surprise victory or what he is calling a victory in the iowa caucus. and you took -- you heard him take that measured response up on stage last night. suggesting that americans are looking for a new sort of politics. one that brings people together. and moves away from divisiveness. of course, that riled up the other candidates. particularly, those that have extensive backgrounds in washington up on that stage. amy klobuchar said, you know, mayor, you can try to make everything sound nice so that you're the cool newcomer to the group but says, america, that's not what they are looking for. there is currently a newcomer occupying this white house and it hasn't worked out for this country. joe biden also pushed back against pete buttigieg's rhetoric. suggesting you don't know what you're talking about. the obama administration went pretty well for democrats. passed the recovery act. passed obamacare.

and really tried to get folks across the country to have a little bit more perspective as to what those democrats, who did have d.c. experience, brought to the table as opposed to what he called a small-city mayor. >> if you guys had to name one candidate who was a clear winner and one candidate who was a clear loser, who would you both pick? >> oh, gosh. i'm not in the business of picking winners and losers. i would say that mayor buttigieg held his own as the guy who was getting a whole lot of incoming. and that was really the test. he -- it's -- it's hard to suddenly emerge as the guy to beat. and he was that person last night. and he was -- he -- he held his own. he's always -- he -- he's a smooth talker. the question is whether this can sustain itself into tuesday. >> i agree that i don't think this necessarily this debate hurt anybody. i know elizabeth warren. some of the folks around her campaign, including congresswoman who spoke in the spin room afterwards, suggested

that they had wished that the senator from massachusetts, neighboring massachusetts, had got more speaking time. at the same time, this was a moment -- i'm going to agree with beth here -- for pete buttigieg. his candidacy hinges on iowa and new hampshire. he pulled off iowa. now, the question is can he do it in new hampshire? this is not a place that you could say south bend is his backyard. but if you look at the next states, nevada and south carolina, he is in the single digits so this is a place where he needs to pull off another stellar performance to convince folks beyond that he is a real contender in this democratic nominating process. >> vaughn and beth, speaking of single digits, the real-feel temperature there is two degrees. i'm sure it doesn't feel like that. props to both of you for hanging in. >> the hand warmers are out, you guys. >> you got to do what you need to do. thank you, guys. >> the day's other breaking news. presidential payback. two key witnesses in the impeachment hearings are ousted. lieutenant colonel alexander vindman has been removed from

his job at the national security council at the white house. and eu ambassador gordon sondland has been recalled from his post in brussels. >> in fact, sondland releasing a statement overnight saying i was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as united states ambassador to the european union. that came hours after lieutenant colonel vindman was escorted out of the white house by security, along with his twin brother. >> vindman's lawyer releasing a statement saying, quote, 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 at the white house. lieutenant colonel vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. his honor, his commitment to right frightened the powerful. >> president trump even alluding to the move earlier in the day when asked about vindman. >> i'm not happy with him. do you think i'm supposed to be happy with him? i'm not. >>. >> joining us now is alana, white house reporter with "axios." alana, what were the mechanisms surrounding these decisions? did anyone in the white house give second thoughts about what

the optics would be here? >> yes. good morning. and definitely. i think that, you know, outwardly, the president and other trump administration officials are taking their victory lap. they feel emboldened by his acquittal on wednesday. we saw the president, on thursday, you know, not hold back at all in trying to go after some of his critics in that nearly three-hour -- he didn't call it a speech, he called it a celebration on thursday at the white house. and then we saw that again on friday. we saw he -- you know, they made no efforts to pretend that this wasn't retribution for testifying in the impeachment investigations. he -- these dismissleals came n even -- barely 48 hours after his acquittal. but i did have a chance to chat with some folks at the white house after all of this yesterday and a lot of people, you know, they said, yes. the optics are bad. but the president, you know, they are political appointees. the president is able to dismiss them. one said, you know, welcome to the world of a political

appointee. but i also chatted with some people on the hill. people who work for some very prominent republicans and also very -- republicans who are some of the president's biggest defenders. and they had shared, you know, some uneasiness over this saying he couldn't have waited any longer. the optics here are terrible. reminding them of the massacre, as they called it, during former president nixon's impeachment during watergate. and so it will be interesting to see if there are more after this or if this is kind of it now for -- for president trump. >> yeah. i want to pick up on that because this president doesn't sugar coat things. and there is still a handful of impeachment witnesses who are working in the administration right now. could any of these others be next? >> they definitely could, and i've tried to -- to gage with some folks at the white house on whether we should be expecting more. not really getting a lot back from them now. i think everyone's being kind of tightlipped about this. but yes, there are definitely people that could potentially be on the chopping block. we saw someone like george kent who works at the state

department. he testified very prominently during the impeachment hearings in the fall. same with laura cooper, who works at the defense department. or david holmes, who works at the embassy in ukraine. these are all people who are still in their roles, the same roles they had prior to participating. so it will be interesting to see if there is more retribution. but, again, some of the more -- you know, some of the president's harshest critics during that time, like the former ambassador marie yovanovitch or bill taylor who took over after she had left, they have both left recently around the beginning of this year. and so those people aren't really anyone that i imagine the president would have wanted to direct some fire at them. but they're no longer there anymore. >> alayna, thank you for your time this morning. >> national security perspective, we're joined by former chief of staff at the cia and department of defense. and an msnbc national security analyst. jeremy, good morning.

good saturday morning. from a national security standpoint, what do you make of this sort of retaliatory action from the president? >> well, i think it's dangerous because one of the things we want our national security professionals to do, whether they are serving in uniform or in the intelligence community or from civilian life, is to be able to speak truth to power. we want them to advise without fear or favor, the truth, to their bosses. to, ultimately, the president of the united states. and certainly, when they are called upon to testify, under subpoena, by congress, in an authorized oversight fashion, they have to be prepared to tell the truth. and i think this effort by the president to get rid of anybody who will tell the truth also sends a signal, which is not see something, say something. rather, it's see something, say nothing. stay silent. >> and, jeremy, how about how it was done? i mean, we have this lieutenant colonel, a decorated i-o irraq

veteran, purple heart recipient, being escorted out of the white house. >> yeah. it was done in a way to cause fear and to intimidate anybody who would challenge the official authorized authoritarian account of what happened here. and it was done in a manner suggesting that colonel vindman and his brother are under a cloud of suspicion. they can't be trusted. they're not authorized to handle sensitive information. it's done in a very, frankly, kgb fashion. you know, where there is sort of a knight night of long knives. a knock at the door in the middle of the night. it's done in a way to intimidate, to cause fear among people who would speak up. i want to say one thing which is the earlier guest mentioned ambassador taylor and ambassador yovanovitch and sort of referred to them as trump critics. they're not. they weren't trump critics. they are career professionals, foreign service officers. in fact, in bill taylor's case, he was asked by secretary pompeo and president trump to go back to kyiv and serve in this role.

so that's the concern, which is that the career professionals who have served across administrations, they're not democrats, they're not republicans, will not -- not be in their posts. but more importantly, they'll be fearful of speaking out. >> well, we have had guests on our show who talk about the fact that the president feels emboldened after this week. what consequences, if any, could there be for retaliating against whistle-blowers? >> well, again, i think under our law, there are whistle-blower protections. but they don't necessarily apply in this case because we're -- here, we're talking about people who specifically serve the president on his staff. and he has the authority to remove them. but you point up to a larger important point, which is this past week, senator rand paul publicly outed the name of the whistle-blower from the intelligence committee who first saw this wrongful, illegal, and abusive conduct. that move by senator paul undermines whistle-blower protections. it undermines the laws that congress has passed to protect whistle-blowers. and so i think there is a lot of

concern about what senator paul has done. there is a lot of concern about what's been on fox news and right-wing media to try to out whistle-blowers. and anybody else who will speak truth to power. >> that is something that deserves much more time than we have today. jeremy bash, thank you for coming in. >> trapped on board. a newlywed couple quarantined on their honeymoon. they talk about what life is like for the thousands of people who are in limbo because of the coronavirus. >> and a black history month idea backfires. why the choice to redesign the covers of popular classics created an uproar. (bell rings) when heartburn hits. fight back fast.. with tums chewy bites. beat heartburn fast. tums chewy bites. but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate

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and welcome back into msnbc world headquarters in new york. you are taking a live look at manchester, new hampshire, this morning where the sun is up and it is a beautiful day. many of the 2020 candidates will be making the rounds today ahead of tuesday's primary. even though it is a beautiful day, it is a chilly 17 degrees there this morning. let's get to your headlines now. and tragedy in los angeles. actor orson was reportedly kill killed. he was injured after he was hit by one car and then died when a second car hit him. bean's career began in the 1950s. he made appearances on the twilight zone and a game show to tell the truth. he was 91 years old. search and rescue is under way in that as massive flooding in

eastern oregon strands drivers and people in their homes. it's insane video here to take a look at. rapid snow melts caused the river to overflow by several feet. national guard has rescued ten people. some by helicopter. two emergency responders also had to be saved from the waters. >> "the washington post" reports president trump's companies charged the secret service rates as high as $650 a night when he traveled to his mar-a-lago resort in 2017. the trump national golf club in new jersey charged the secret service $17,000 a month for a three-bedroom cottage on the property. last night, "washington post" reporter david told msnbc's rachel maddow the secret service has not disclosed certain payments at trump properties. >> they tell you how much they spend on don jr.'s hunting cabin. they tell you how much they spend on eric trump's weekend house and yet they say they don't spend a dollar on mar-a-lago, which is not credible. >> told -- reports rather that

public records show more than 471,000 payments to the trump company. but also, records are incomplete. that number, likely, higher. and a u.s. appeals court threw out a lawsuit alleging president trump violated the emoluments clause. the suit -- violated the constitution by collecting payments from foreign governments through his personal businesses. now, the judge dismissed the case actually on technical grounds saying the 215 lawmakers that filed suit didn't represent a majority of congress. >> thank you. breaking news. a six-year-old in wuhan, china, becomes the first american to die of the coronavirus. the american died just two days after going to the hospital. >> back here in the u.s., 27 chinese nationals escorted off a royal caribbean cruise. ship that docked in new jersey and were tested for the virus. >> nbc's erin mclaughlin is life in new jersey. erin, what is the latest on their conditions? >> good morning, lindsey. officials say they're optimistic for the four chinese nationals

being tested at this hospital. they don't think they have the coronavirus. meanwhile, hundreds of americans from nebraska to tokyo have been quarantined. and scientists race to figure out this mysterious virus. a 60-year-old who had contracted the virus in wuhan died thursday. and this morning, growing fears the virus may be spreading here at home. according to the cdc at travis air force base near san francisco, five evacuees rescued from the epicenter earlier this week have been rushed to local hospitals after showing symptoms. >> we're being very aggressive. using quarantine measures that haven't been used in 50 years. >> friday, three more planes full of evacuees from wuhan landed at military bases in san diego, san antonio, and omaha. across the country, hundreds of americans remain in quarantine. american is one of them. he arrived wednesday still in good spirits despite being stuck at a military base for two

weeks. >> great. better than where i came from. so i don't have complaint. >> yun lin says he is showing no symptoms but officials taking no chances. there is still much we don't know about the virus. >> that includes exactly how it spreads, how deadly it is, whether it's commonly transmitted by patients who are not yet displaying symptoms, and other issues. >> questions causing trouble at sea. south of tokyo, a dream holiday turned nightmare. aboard the diamond princess, more than 60 confirmed cases, including at least a dozen americans. in total, more than 3,700 passengers and crew either quarantined on the ship or hospitalized. another cruise liner quarantined off the coast of hong kong. and in newark, new jersey, four chinese nationals escorted off a royal caribbean cruise, some on stretchers even though they showed no symptoms of the virus. >> one of the patients actually tested positive for the flu. nevertheless, in this hospital,

in isolation, royal caribbean delaying its next cruise out of new jersey pending those test results. we expect those results from the cdc today. guys. >> lot of people waiting to find out those results indeed. nbc's erin mclaughlin there for us. >> as erin mentioned in japan, cruise ship passengers are under quarantine after 64 people tested positive for the coronavirus, including 13 americans. >> they're on board something called a cruise ship called the diamond princess. and it is currently docked near tokyo. and among the people on board, an american couple who is spending their honeymoon stuck on that vessel. >> they are spending their honeymoon joining us live this morning, as well. that couple, good morning, to both of you. first, i want to say congratulations on the honeymoon and on the wedding. >> thank you. >> i know the honeymoon is less than ideal. can you tell us what the conditions are like on the ship right now? >> well, just for your guys' knowledge, it's nighttime for us now. >> okay.

>> but honestly, it's really depressing. yesterday, our hopes were a l little bit higher. but i don't know. after today, they kind of just dropped pretty drastically. we just want to go home. >> we're scared. >> why did they drop? why did your hopes drop? >> everything the ship -- the captain was saying. just the numbers were going up. and more passengers are testing positive. so we were just like in panic mode. >> yeah. and food situation hasn't really gotten that much better. and we're trapped. >> yeah. we're trapped. >> we're out to sea actually right now and we're going to be docking in the morning. but yeah. it just -- you can only do so much in a 14-by-14 area. >> let's talk about that. so you say you feel trapped. how are you spending your days? are you just confined to that one room? do you have certain parts of the ships where you can go? >> they've been starting to allow passengers in interior

rooms and also ocean view. and then eventually -- because we're in a balcony room so we have less priority. but we decided we're not going to even leave. we're just going to go outside on our balcony if we need a little bit of air just because we don't want to get any sort of virus or anything. >> we want the end of this whole situation, to get off, and go back home. >> yeah. we're not exposing ourself to anybody or anything. not even like a housekeeper trying to come in here to clean. >> how do you get your food? >> they come by with -- they have carts and they give us a menu like the night before. and we pick out of like two items. and we open a door, we have gloves and mask on. but we've been using the same gloves and mask for the past two, three days. so that's pretty much invalid at that point. and we get the food and honestly most of it's inedible. breakfast and lunch today. >> we didn't even eat. we ate dinner and that was about it. >> imagine -- it's called a

honeymoon because it's the honeymoon period. it's supposed to be a wonderful period. so you imagine it's all uphill from here? this is as bad as it'll get for marriage? >> well, yeah, right, i hope so. >> everyone's been saying if you guys can survive this -- >> you can survive anything. i guess this is our test for sickness and in health. >> survive the first part of the cruise. now, this part's the real test. >> yeah. >> any estimation of how long you guys will be on that ship? how many more days? >> well, according to the cdc and the u.s. embassy and also the japanese government, they've all been coordinating together. and apparently, our release date is february 19th. but we'll believe it when we see it and we're really hoping that like sticks to it because it's just -- it's going to be too much. >> just from the whole get go of the situation, like the cruise ship has been very vague. like even when the whole situation started, they made it seem like it wasn't a big deal. they're just going through a few things and we should be no problem. the next morning, we wake up,

we're in the middle of the sea instead of docked and we are told that we're going to be quarantined for 14 days. >> and we didn't even know how to even dissect that. >> well, they're smiling now. we'll see in ten days. >> yeah. check back in. >> honestly, this is probably the first smile we had all day. >> all day. everyone loves raymond has been putting us -- that's about it. >> great reruns. okay. >> stay safe, guys. >> we are thinking of you guys. we wish you the best in the next some ten days to two weeks on that cruise ship. >> out of a job. the fallout from the president's ousting of two key impeachment witnesses and the other officials whose jobs could be at risk. risk no. uh uh, no way. ♪ come on. no. no. n... ni ni, no no! only discover has no annual fee on any card.

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following a lot of breaking news this morning. including the president punishing those who crossed hip. trump removing two administration officials overnight who delivered damaging testimony during his impeachment hearings. >> nbc news white house correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us with more. kelly, critics are calling this friday-night massacre, did it come as a surprise? >> there were certainly some clues. but this was very abrupt. and the white house is not explaining why it happened or if

other dismissals are still to come. the army officers who were removed from their positions here remain on active duty and return to the army. while the ambassador, who was let go, is not being reassigned and he is out of the trump administration. after impeachment comes the purge. witnesses paying the price. >> everyone was in the loop. it was no secret. >> ambassador gordon sondland had testified about his conversations with the president. and that he believed military aid to ukraine was tied to a biden investigation. late friday, sondland lost his post. the president intends to recall me, effective immediately, as united states ambassador to the european union. sondland, a trump inaugural donor, wrote that he is grateful to president trump. even after the president's defense team had heaped blame on him. >> democrats' entire quid pro quo theory is based on nothing

more than the initial speculation of one person, ambassador sondland. that speculation is wrong. >> friday's purge began with a decorated iraq war veteran, who was critical of the president under oath. >> i was concerned by the call. what i heard was inappropriate. >> lieutenant colonel alex vindman served as a ukraine expert on the national security council. and was among those listening to the trump/zelensky phone call. vindman's lawyer wrote the most powerful man in the world buoyed by the silent, the compliable, and the complicit has decided to exact revenge. the president who made firing part of the trump brand. >> you're fired. get out. >> had only hinted that vindman was vulnerable. >> well, i'm not happy with him. you think i'm supposed to be happy with him? i'm not. >> but the purge went beyond vindman, to include his brother, who also worked at the nsc but was not a witness. reveling in his acquittal thursday, the president brought

them up, unprompted. >> but lieutenant colonel vindman and his twin brother, right? >> house speaker nancy pelosi said she was stunned. >> just goes too far. >> during his testimony, vindman tried to reassure his soviet-born father, fearful that testifying could be risky. >> do not worry. i will be fine for telling the truth. >> lieutenant colonel vindman and his brother, they have been reassigned. not necessarily fired. that was nbc's kelly o'donnell from the white house. >> turning back now to the race for the white house. with the new hampshire primary three days away, seven democratic candidates took to the debate stage last night making their final plea to new hampshire voters. >> nbc's dasha burns was there in manchester, new hampshire. dasha, what are some of the big takeaways we're getting this

morning from last night's debate? >> good morning. the debate stage was divided last night. the candidates battling it out for the future of the party. the two front-runners representing two very different visions. moderate versus progressive. newcomer versus experienced. all this coming off a chaotic kickoff to the primary season. >> high stakes in new hampshire. bernie sanders and pete buttigieg, neck and neck out of iowa going head to head in friday's debate. >> politics says it's my way or the highway. >> are you talking act senator sanders? >> yes. >> i don't have 40 billionaires, pete, contributing to my campaign. >> buttigieg, the primary target on the stage. >> we have a newcomer in the white house and look where it got us. >> senator warren, is that a substantial answer from mayor buttigieg? >> no. >> we need people with experience. that's why i'm worried about mayor pete. >> after a disappointing showing in iowa, joe biden battling to get back in the race. calling out president trump for firing lieutenant colonel

vindman. >> i think we should all stand and give colonel vindman a -- a -- a show of how much we supported him. stand up and clap for vindman. get your -- get up there. who we are. that's who we are. we are not what trump is. >> amy klobuchar, finding the spotlight. >> because if you are tired of the extremes in our politics and the noise and the nonsense, you have a home with me. >> meanwhile, elizabeth warren, disappointed with her debate performance. >> i just didn't say enough. didn't fight hard enough. >> this after the latest nbc news/marist poll shows sanders leading in new hampshire with buttigieg close behind. warren, biden, and klobuchar trailing. it all comes on the heels of the iowa debacle. a three-day delay before all results were released. showing buttigieg and sanders, virtually, tied. but inconsistencies in reporting calling the outcome into question. >> the reality of this is we may never know with 100% clarity who

won the iowa caucuses. >> lending all the more gravity to the granite state's primary. >> and now, it comes to new hampshire. a state that thinks for itself, is not going to be told what to do by anyone. >> reporter: and one candidate noticeably absent from the debate stage. former mayor michael bloomberg. he has not been campaigning here in new hampshire. but he is touting a big endorsement from president trump's former navy secretary, richard spencer. guys. >> nbc's dasha burns reporting from manchester, new hampshire. thank you. >> and bloomberg, i should mention, is spending this weekend in alabama where he is campaigning ahead of super-tuesday, of course. in the meantime, there are some new clues this morning in the investigation into the helicopter crash that killed kobe bryant. >> while the ntsb is still not sure what caused it, investigators do know what didn't. we'll have that for you in just a moment. we'll have that for you in just a moment hi guys. this is the chevy silverado

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this guy? you don't believe me? hop in. good lookin' pickup, i will say that. oh wow. silverado offers an optional technology package with up to 15 different views - including one enhanced view that makes your trailer appear invisible. wow. - that's pretty sweet. - that's cool. oooohh! that's awesome. where'd the trailer go? i love it. it's magic. new developments this morning on the investigation into the helicopter crash that killed kobe bryant, his daughter gianna, and seven others. the preliminary finding is raising new questions. >> nbc's sara harmon is in los angeles for us right now. sara, what are investigators saying? >> candace, good morning. good morning, guys. a preliminary ntsb report is showing that engine failure was likely not an issue. now, we're going to have to wait about a year for the full and final report. but at this point, it doesn't look like it was engine failure.

instead, this morning, there were new questions about visibility the morning of that fateful crash. >> reporter: today, new clues about the fatal crash. ntsb investigators releasing previously unseen photos, taken by people on the ground. showing low cloud cover. the chopper disappearing into a fog bank. in his final transmission, pilot telling controllers he was climbing up to escape the clouds. moments later, the chopper crashed into the hills near calabasas. investigators found no evidence of a mechanical failure. the engines and rotor blades appear to have been working normally. all nine people on board were heading to a youth basketball tournament. vanessa bryant, announcing a celebration of life for the lakers star and his daughter in the house that kobe built. the staples center in los angeles. the date, 2/24, a tribute to

gianna and kobe's jersey numbers. >> she is not doing well. >> the announcement comes as emotions continue to run high. friday, here on "today," oprah winfrey said her best friend gayle king fears for her safety. >> she's feeling very much attacked. >> after cbs posted a clip online of king asking kobe's friend, lisa leslie, about the 2003 sexual assault case against him. >> it's been said that his legacy is complicated. >> respect the family and back off. >> celebrities, including snoop dogg, slamming king on social media. >> before we come get ya. >> king said the clip was aired out of context. >> i am mortified. i am embarrassed and i am very angry. >> cbs news saying in a statement, an excerpt was posted that did not reflect the nature and tone of the full interview. we're addressing the internal process that led to this. the controversy coming as the community now prepares for a final good-bye.

>> there is a massive turnout expected for that memorial for kobe and gianna on february 24th. and there is still questions about how they're going to handle the ticketing. the staples center here in l.a. can hold 20,000 people. but, guys, it's likely many more are going to want to attend. back to you. >> that will be full very quickly. >> yeah. at one point, they were considering, sara, the coliseum out there. holds about 80,000 people but they decided, of course, sara harmon, on the 20,000 seat staple center. thank you so much, sara. >> book backlash. the black history month idea that backfired for barnes and noble. >> why a reprint of a group of classics turned into such a controversy. (vo) why the aceves family chose verizon. we all use our phones very differently. these two are always gaming and this one is always on facetime. and my oldest is learning to be a pilot. we need a reliable network because i need to know he's safe. 'cause as soon as he lands, he knows he better call mama. mama! (laughter)

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but you do sell investments that earn you high commissions, right? we don't have those. so, what's in it for you? our fees are structured so we do better when our clients do better. at fisher investments we're clearly different. it always happens on black history month. on the 8th day of black history month there's a little controversy after barnes & noble reap printed several novels with black characters instead of white ones. it included books like frankenstein and "peter pan" with the characters with people of color. only one book was written by a black author. >> it's what is in "the root." books in black face, barnes & noble celebrates black history month with white books.

>> you write about how a librarian told you growing up thank you can't judge a book by its cover but when covers are being changed, maybe it's time to judge them. do you feel that way? >> i think that's a correct statement. i think one of the things that people don't realize about this campaign is that all of these books are in the public domain, so it wasn't really -- none of them have anything to do with black history, which is -- which is counter productive to any discussion about black history. there is nothing black about these books or historical about these books, so you could only come to the conclusion that these books -- this was done because of for profit. >> it does make you wonder who was in the room when this decision was made. barnes & noble responded saying, quote, the covers are not a substitute for black voices or writers of color who work and

their voices deserve to be heard. the company talks about highlighting our black voices and writers are color. is that what they actually should have done instead of publishing more people of color or changing these books? >> yes, i think that's what you should do during black history month. you should highlight black history. another thing is that these books, because they were in the public domain, all of the profits would have gone to barnes & noble, which is probably the impetus behind this decision in the first place. >> the original campaign claimed it was trying to get books that barnes & noble calls classics to be highlighted for black history month but you write it's possible that they assumed only write people wrote classics. was this just an excuse to appear diverse but not actually be diverse? >> i think it was performative, no doubt about that, but i think it was profit driven because

barnes & noble has access to every book in the world so they could have easily highlighted books, again, about black history, which is the point. there is -- there's no logical decision behind this, because it's not about black people or history. so, you know, it doesn't make any kind of sense. as you pointed out earlier, it also proves that they couldn't have had any black person in the room who could have easily raised their hand and said, hey, but what about black people and what about history? >> you can easily see some people, and black people being in the room who might have said, oh, they're actually kind of paying tribute and honor to black history month, can't you? >> well, how? it's, again, not -- the books had nothing -- they were all novels so they had nothing to do with history and nothing to do

with black people. so i don't understand, again, how they just came to that conclusion. that's why i called it books in black face because the only thing that was black about these books was the cover. >> i want to say real quick the barnes & noble tweet that they put out, there are plenty of authors of color who are responding on that tweet, so if you are looking for an author of color here, that is where you need to go. they actually showcase it there inadvertently so our viewers can go and check out very worthy authors. >> michael, thank you. next year i can expect "macbeth" the black version. >> "alice in wonderland." >> i'll have a book out about black history next year so they can buy that. >> we're glad to hear it. listen, at the end of the day, the two headlines are what happened here. people were also like, wait, barnes & noble are still around?

>> we didn't even talk about that. >> exactly. thank you, michael. ali velshi is up with more on today's news. plus the conspiracy theories from the iowa caucuses. who's spreading them and why. is who's spreading them and why (burke) at farmers insurance, we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. even a "gold medal grizzly." (sports announcer) what an unlikely field in this final heat. (burke) not exactly a skinny dipper, but we covered it. at farmers, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. so get a quote at farmers-dot-com. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ yes. yes. yeah sure.

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thank you for watching msnbc live. i'm lingd sdsay riser with kend gibson. here is ali velshi. >> it is fun to speak to you

because we're in the same room. i love it. i meant to apologize because last week i didn't realize we were in the same room and i came in with a good morning, everyone, and i interrupted your show. >> you were loud! >> i was loud. my wife would share your view on that. >> good to see you. enjoy your saturday. whomever the nominee is, the president will make up lies about. he thinks he has free rein right now. >> the question is who can go toe to toe with mr. trump. he's the real threat to the country. >> colonel vindman got thrown out of the white house, got walked out. >> there was courage. i read today about lieutenant colonel vindman being escorted out of the white house. >> we should be pinning a medal on vindman and not rush limbaugh. i think we should all stand and give colonel vindman of how much support we gave him. stand up and clap for vindman. get up there. who we are. that's who we are. we are n