>> i could talk to these friends all day but we are out of time. that does it for our hour. thanks to you for watching "mtp daily" with chuck todd starts now. ♪ welcome to thursday. it is meet the press daily i'm chuck todd here in washington. we have a big show tonight. michael bloomberg's candidacy is grabbing headlines endorsements and afaction from the president.

we have a ballots brewing in nevada, the next primary caucus state. we will get to those developing stories in a moment. we begin tonight with breaking news. after a week of questions whether any republicans would speak out against the president's behavior post impeachment moments ago his attorney general bill barr whose justice department is facing scrutiny for its odd hajj handling of roger stone's sentencing recommendation he spoke out about president trump's tweets about the controversy. >> public statements and tweets made about the department, about people in the department, our men and women here, about cases pending in the department, and about judges before whom to do my job and to assure the h integrity. >> barr's comments come three

days after prosecutors recommended stone be sentenced to seven to nine years in prison for an conviction on seven felonies, a jury conviction. two days after senior justice department officials intervened to recommend a lighter sentence. leading all four of the federal prosecutors on the case to simply withdraw. it is one day after the president congratsed bill barr on twitter for quote taking control of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have been even brought. a tweet he backed up with words later in the day. >> people were hurt viciously and badly by these corrupt people. and i want to thank -- if you look at what happened, i want to thank the justice department for seeing this, this horrible thing -- i didn't speak to them, by the way. just so you understand. they saw the horribleness of a nine-year sentence for doing nothing. >> joining me now is kelly o'donnell, carol lee, and joyce

vance. kelly, let me start with you. i have got think the white house was given a little bit of a heads up that the president's attorney general decided -- was going to go on the president's favorite medium, television, to deliver a message to the president. it sort of seems to reinforce the idea that the private messages didn't work. >> i am told they knew barr was going to do this interview. so far we have had no response from the white house about what the attorney general actually said and how the president will take in that information. but let's be clear that the attorney general in his sort of soft spoken way essentially gave the president an ultimatum to stop the tweeting because he said it was not difficult to do his job, impossible to do his job. consider that paving the way for barr to say, this has to change or i'm out of here. now that may be going further unanimous the attorney general

wanted. >> right. >> but when you look at the essence of what he is saying he is saying that the president's ongoing commentary, including putting the justice department -- the word justice in quotes in some of these tweets has made it impossible. barr also said he did not talk to the president about the stone case or anyone in the white house. and he in fact made the decision to adjust the sentence before the president's tweets and then was left in that kind of impossible spot of the tweet looking like it influenced his decision a. very important message from the state's attorney general. will the president listen? >> that's going object the question. carol lee, i know you have been reporting in and out of the justice department this week. bill barr probably wasn't going to rebuke the president in public lightly unless he had such a firestorm on his hands internally he had no other choice. how bad was the situation internally. >> look, he is basing a crisis inside the justice department just in terms of morale, there

is a number of reports out there about others in the justice department considering resigning because of what happened with the stone case. and so he's got all of this internal pressure, and then all of the external pressure from congress, from his critics. and so this clearly looks to me like something he needed to do to take some of the pressure off. obviously he rehearsed that answer. >> sure did. >> he prepped for that interview. he knew what he was going to say. the question is can he get president trump to do the one thing that nobody who worked for president trump has been able to get him to do in three years? and the other question is, does bill barr have enough good will with the president and political capital that he can do something like this and get away with it? will the president lash back out at him. >> right. >> essentially what he was saying to him is look i am doing my job, doing what you wanted me to do, just stop -- >> meddling.

>> we have a perception problem here, stop meddling. >> i want to get to that comment in a many. joyce vance, i know you have got friends and colleagues in and around the justice department. i am sure you guys have all been talking behind closed doors. how necessary was it that barr had to do this? >> well, i think carol lee is exactly on the money here. if the president wants to ask -- rather, if the attorney general wants to ask the president to stop tweeting, he doesn't need to rebuke his boss in public. that's something he handles behind the scenes probably with the chief of staff. it looks like what today's interview was about -- this is an attorney general who has been noticeably absent from the landscape. he let all sorts of allegations about his conduct go unresponded to. he is now scheduled for hearings up on the hill on march 31st. you have got to ask, why today? i think the reason is he has insurrection on his hands in the building. he needed to go out and make

some sort of a statement. but you know, this is an attorney general who did nothing to stand up for his prosecutors when they came under attack by the president. >> yeah. >> who let them face this alone, let them resign. it all rings very hollow to me. i don't think we can take anything that barr said today at face value. >> pierre thomas over at abc did ask him about the issue of potential presidential retribution for him speaking out. here is the attorney general's answer on that. >> mr. barr, the president does not like to be told what to do. he may not like what you are saying. are you prepared for those ramifications? >> of course. as i said during my confirmation, i came in to serve as attorney general. i am responsible for everything that happens in the department. but the thing i have most responsibility for are the issues that are brought to me

for decision. and i will make those decisions based on what i think is the right thing to do, and i am not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody. and, you know, the -- i think the -- the -- i cannot did my job here at the wh a constant backgroundthat under. >> kelly o'donnell, former veteran secretary shulkin, former attorney general jeff sessions, former dhs secretary krir citizen nielsen, former defense secretary jim mattis, former secretary of state rex tillerson all in their own ways attempted to publicly send messages to the president to stop doing these things. all were summarily gotten rid of in some form or another because he didn't like being publicly chastised. what do we think here? >> it is perilous. it is perilous. well right now -- we have not

yet heard from the white house. but we heard from lindsey graham who says he has complete confidence in william barr. that is graham, who is obviously an ally on capitol hill trying to get a mess a j to the president as well that barr is on the right path here, mr. president. you can infer that from his vote of confidence for barr to try to preempt the president from acting unfavorably. one of the questions will be has the president learned any lessons? we have talked about this, when he has been asked that directly, he has talked about the democrats. is this a moment where the pressure about violating the rule of law or attempting to do that is enough that the blowback of how would you have yet another attorney general, if barr were to leave -- or the environment we are in -- would that change anything? if past is an informative piece of history for us, the president is very resistant to this. most officials say let trump be trump.

the tweets speak for themselves. barr is saying something very different here. and the president will watch for his -- we will watch for his twitter responses watch for an opportunity to speak to him on camera. we have not seen him on camera today. it was a long line of people who were well thought of when they came in the door who part of their exit interview included critiques of the president's commentary and tweerts. >> it may be too little too late, that trust went out the window a few incidents ago? >> it is a really -- i will be curious to see how this is received internally because, you know, the morale at the justice department has been kind of eroding over time. barr has been in the job for some time now. and for him to just come out now and defend -- i mean, he said to the president -- he said he didn't want the president tweeting about cases, about

criticism of officials of the justice department, about judges. >> things that he does on a daily basis. >> a day -- and has before barr took this job and will continue to do. >> right. >> so you know, i think there are a lot of people in the justice department who would have liked to have heard this from attorney general barr when he first came in. doing it now, i don't know how well it is going to go over. the message is very interesting to the president, he is basically saying stop making it look like we are in this together. he clearly does not like being seen as president trump's puppet. >> right. i don't think anybody wants to be compared to roy cohen. at least no lawyer that i ever met want to be compared to roy cohen. joyce vance very quickly, what would make you think that barr isn't being disingenuous. what action could he take next? >> if barr got on a same with

the president and announced that they were taking legislation to the congress that would change the sentencing guidelines for people accused of witness intimidation and that they would be making similar recommendations in every case pending nationwide and asking for sense reductions for people that are serving sentences that are similar to the one that roger stone is being asked to serve, then this might look like it wasn't disingenuous. until they do that, this is just a favor they are doing for one of the president's longtype friends. >> joyce, carol, kelly, i have to say, it's still -- i know there is a lot of doubters on here, but i have to say, this is going to be an interesting one. i will be very curious to see if the president can handle bill barr, essentially, pushing back at him. thank you very much. coming up, much more on the attorney general's comments because when a loyalist like barr rebukes the president publicly, it speaks volumes about the president's underlying conduct. protein,

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othroughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

welcome back. it is not just the current attorney general rebuking the president right now. last night the president's former chief of staff, john kelly criticized the president's conduct as well. joining us now to break this down, kimberly atkins, michael steele, and maria teresa kumar. let me go through some of the kelly comments. there were quite a few of them here that have been trickling out. for what it is worth i was talking to somebody who was at a paid speech of kelly's two week ago. it happened two weeks ago. it just didn't leak out. it happened on the west coast. here on -- this is john kelly on colonel vindman, we teach them don't follow an illegal order. if you are given one you will

raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order and then tell your would, which is with a vindman did. if you only watch fox news because it is reinforcing what you believe you are not an informed citizen. he has the sim riff about msnbc viewers. kelly at times sounded like the anti-trump. he said he did not believe the press is the enemy of the people. and he sharply criticized russian president vladimir putin. michael steele, you know how this president acts. you have all of these comments of kelly today. then barr does what he does at 4:00. now everybody is going to do stories that put barr and kelly together. he has already lashed out at kelly. >> yep, yep. >> on twitter. today. i know a lot of people are questioning the motive of barr here. we know the president still doesn't like the look of being criticized in public. >> it is a coincidence, plumebly, but it is going to enrage the president, as someone

who perceives loyalty as one-day way street, loyalty is what he is giving, not something he gives. therefore these betrayals are more hurtful for him n. his warped imagination this is a terrible disloyal thing to do and these people must be punished. i can't allow this to stand. i will be curious to see what his reaction is. he can't do much about his former chief. his attorney general is in a preair carious position. >> kimberly, i put together -- you started to see a growing list of senators calling for resignation. earlier today all ten democrats on the senate judiciary committee sent a letter to lindy graham saying they needed to do an investigation. lendsy graham first guy out of the gate praising bill barr on this. there was pressure on capitol hill, maybe it came from a handful of republicans, maybe quietly, but also what happened this the justice department. barr must care a little bit about this? >> he must. he must that he probably has

growing insurrection win the justice department itself of people who have been working there not just in main justice but across the country of prosecutors who have been doing their job faithfully and increasingly find it difficult if they fine that doing their job puts them in the twitter cross hairs of the president of the united states. that's not a good situation for anyone. barr was not saying he disagreed with what the president wanted to do. he was saying hey put your twitter phone down and let me do my job, which is remarkable. >> it is funny that the minimum we are hoping for is can you give us the appearance of a lack of impropriority. >> i think this is the challenge. it is clear from barr, from kelly, from newt gingrich rich -- remember that name? any time that the president was not listening to them they would take to tv to communicate because they know that's the medium that he cares about. the challenge is that you can't create policy and do our job

when it is so visible. the majority of stuff of what happens on capitol hill is the story of what happens behind closed doors and trust and building a trust and making tough decisions. he doesn't create that space for his team to do their job essentially. >> do you know what's remarkable about this? the first republican in office to speak out and criticize the president was not an elected official. it was his own attorney general. carlos cabello, a former member of congress, a republican i think in good standing still, unless donald trump is the one that decides if you are. carlos, i do think it is not a single elected republican rebuked the president this week. but bill barr did. what does that say about -- that the elected republicans on capitol hill? >> well, they are numb. they are shocked. a lot of republicans -- susan

collins expressed this out loud, what a lot of republicans think privately, which is, well, after impeachment, you know, the president got acquitted and now he learned his lesson. but the deinstitutionalization continues, chuck and a lot of these republicans are kind of shellshocked now. they don't know what to say. they don't know what to do. the president is so popular with the republican primary base that attacking him or even trick or treating him because the president demands, as you kind of alluded to, absolute loyalty. it is not enough to vote with him. you have to say nice things about him while you vote with him. so they are just kind of at a standstill. they don't know what to do. >> what's the likelihood we will see elected republicans go out of their way to say no the president should keep tweeting? >> well, i don't think you will see -- well, you might see some say that. he does have his hard core -- >> easy lay up.

>> the hard core house members. but look once primary season is over, and some of these republicans in swing states and swing districts start getting asked questions, don't be surprised to see them all of a sudden start createsing some distance between them and the president. >> i assume a bunch of them would be doing what lindsey graham just did, putting out states to praise barr? >> that's right. that's right. this is how they look for cover. this is how they say, well, it is not that i disagree with the president, but i agree with the attorney general that there is a correct way of doing things. it's -- look, i don't expect a lot of people to have sympathy for them but being a congressional republican she is days is tough. >> that's why probably you are -- even though you didn't do it by choice you probably are probably enjoying not being a current member right now. >> i am not looking to do it again. >> that was clear. carlos cabello, i know you

rushed in for us here. thank you. thanks for rushing in in miami traffic. i know what it is like. >> especially in february. everyone is here, chuck. it is february. everyone is in miami. >> i know. they are all touching sand, and they won't leave. thanks very much. up ahead, the battle of the billionaires. >> he calls me "little mike" and the answer, is donald, where i come from we measure your height from your neck up. >> mike bloomberg is hoping this could be his quote mic drop moment. he is writing an enormous check. but will the democratic party cash it? ratic party cash it? a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh! my a1c is under 7! (announcer) and you may lose weight. adults who took ozempic® lost on average up to 12 pounds.

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welcome back. if you had any doubt about how seriously to take michael bloomberg's candidacy take a look at how seriously some of his rivals are taking it. in the last 12 hours he has been attacked by elizabeth warren, joe biden, and by president trump who is beating about his fellow new yorker again today, calling him, quote, machiny mike, and a loser. bloomberg is campaigning in two super tuesday states today, north carolina and texas. enjoyed responding to the attack. >> we all know that donald trump is a bully. but he's from new york. i am from new york. and i know how to deal with new york bullies. somebody said, you know, that he is tall, and he calls me "little mike". and the answer is, done, where i

come from, we measure your height from the neck up. but the president attacked me again this morning on twitter. thank you very much, donald. he sees our poll numbers. and i think it is fair to say he is scared because he knows i have the record and the resources to defeat him. and with you -- [ applause ] -- with you together we can get it done. >> joined now by politico senior writer jake sherman who just got back from spending some time on the campaign trail with bloomberg and getting a full download what have that campaign looks like. and nbc's david plugt who ran the obama campaigns of 2008 and 2012. jake, let me start with you and what you saw. you laid it out in playbook on the neck knicks of this campaign. there is no doubt this is, you know, money can buy the best. >> yeah. >> let's set that aside. i am curious about the candidate himself. how did he -- how did he look? how did he handle the gaggle

phares, the first time he met the press. >> number one, he does not speak for very long. unlike president trump his rallies are short, 15 minutes of speaking. custom is purposeful. he doesn't appear to think people have the attention span for much more. talks about what he considers to be progressive policies, schools, taxes things he did in, no. number two, he is the same mike bloomberg that was mayor of new york who was short, who is dismissive of questions -- >> short you mean curt? not the height. >> i'm a' short. >> you are not that short. >> listen, he is disbusinessive of questions he doesn't like. he tried to answer the questions about stop and frisk. he said it is not who he is, but new york elected me three times so they must have liked what i was doing anyway. he is who he is. people will have to decide once he gets more eyeballs on him. he has been campaigning on his own terms. he has not done shows or

debates. he needs to do both according to people around him. we will see how he wears on people as they say. >> david, this is the most interesting intriguing thing about -- the campaign itself, i can imagine what campaign you could run if you had unlimited resources. the 50-state campaigns. my word. that the me in some cases is the easy part, right, when you are willing to spend all that kind of money. the hard part for me is the candidate. what are the hurdles he has to worry about right now? the structure i get. i am talking about him. >> yeah, this is easy. i mean when you have this much money, maybe the mistake you made is you could have run a better ad. but you are still making progress. so i think, yeah, i mean we will see if he is on the debate stage with you chuck next week in nevada. maybe the debate after that he has the mix it up. some of is even with the all the money he is

spending i dhi controls his destiny. on the morning of march 4th if we are saying bloomberg has the opportunity to be the next nominee it is because others haven't met their expectations and he can fuel that who is standing across the same from bernie sanders? >> if i were them i would do more of that starting sooner rather than later so he gets some practice before he gets on prodway. if he is in the debate next week, you know -- even though he is not on -- he's not contesting nevada or south carolina, how much of the focus is he? >> yeah, no, i think -- look, i could tell you. i think that the super tuesday's debates begin next week. i will leave it at that, david, as far as i am concern. let me ask you about -- you know this democratic primary electorate really well. this is a recent convert to the democratic party. this isn't elizabeth warren, 1994 was a republican, and

democrat now. this is somebody who every move has felt a bit calculated, right? the apology on stop and frisk comes days before he announces presidency. and there is going to be a ton of these comments from '07 and '08 and '09. that's not the past, ie, 20th century. that's pretty recent to a lot of people. how hard is it going to be to overcome that? >> it is not the party label that's the challenge. the stop and frisk. the housing crisis caused by getting rid of red lining, i think that concerns a lot of people. he is going to answer that. back the our previous discussion we were just having, i think what is interesting -- when you are just running ads and standing behind podiums and giving smart short speeches you are not taking on any of the hits. once he starts mixing it up. i think right now there is a lot of democrats who may say look at this guy, he's not really gone through the travails yet.

he's really not getting busted up the badly. he looks pretty good. when he mixes it up with both and you the media and some of his opponents some of the shine will come off a little bit. but he cheerl has such an advantage right now because they are only thinking about march 3rd. both from a resource standpoint arc delegate standpoint. that is such an advantage because all the rest of the campaigns, you know, bernie i think is stating to think more about it, so is mayor pete. but everybody has got get through nevada and south carolina. is that worth ten points? it is not worth ten points. but it is an advantage. you know, i have never been part of anything where anything you wanted to do, good idea, bad idea, you could just do. >> just do it. >> it is an amazing play gund if you are a political operative. >> for sure. jake, you wanted to -- >> i think their theory of the case is any misgivings about him and his past -- i don't know if this is true -- is going to be outweighed by the fact that democrats so badly want to

defeat donald trump that they are going to get behind somebody who was an inand a republican and a george bush surrogate not long ago. i think he said that on the record. we will see if that remains true. his argument is you can be a senator and have crafted bills on medicare for all. i have run a city and put into place policies that are progressive. it feels like if there is one candidate bloomberg is hurting more than any other right now, amy klobuchar. it looked like she was becoming the bidden alternative. what would you advise her to do? because bloomberg is basically sort of sitting on what could be votes that go to her. >> she's got to keep doing well. as well as she did in new hampshire. let's not forget, she came in third. >> right. i know. that's -- >> she's got find a way to come in top three in nevada, top two in south carolina. i think they are challenge is you have got bloomberg looming

out there, mayoret probably has more financial strength and organizational strength. she is up against -- jake mentioned some of bloomberg's arguments about the general. the other thing i think is working for him, now it is easy to do it hyped an iphone and in our ads and a podium but he seems like he enjoys sparring with trump. >> true. >> i think that sends to a signal to democrats, this is somebody, they are from, no, they travel in billionaire circles, real bill air circles. i think it is not the resources, he seems to relish the engage men with trump. >> there is some of that i feel like, you could go too far with the peoples. his argument is i got in late, people need get to know me. >> up ahead, a political food fight in the next caucus down test a. powerful las vegas

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sni( welcome caucuses are fast approaching, and after several days of an escalating feud with senator bernie sanders, the state in's politically powerful culinary union took a shot a the candidate's medicare for all program this afternoon. sanders supporters lashed out. the union then released another statement saying this, it is disappointing senator sanders's supporters have viciously attacked the culinary union and working families in nevada simply because we provided facts on proposals that might take away what we have built over eight decades. now several of sanders's opponents are seizing the opportunity to swoop in. joining us now, our nevada guru, john ralston, one of mow comod

moderators next week. mr. ralston, it is my understand nag the spokesperson for the culinary union went even further and listed all of the different ways sanders supporters have been attacking members, voicing threats. i think it hasn't just been on twitter. it has been on emails, phone calls. how big of a problem is this for bernie sanders? >> i think it would be a big problem, chuck f the culinary actually decided to do something. and i think the question that a lot of people are asking, is what was the point of doing a news conference to do a no endorsement and not really say anything about bernie sanders considering that his supporters have, from what i understand, done some of the thing that you just mentioned. they have been docsing people on the internet, putting their cell phones, their home address.

this is reminiscent of what happened after the 2016 state convention when the sanders supporters were very, very upset. there was a near riot at the paris, where you and i are going to be next week for the debate and they had to shut it down. then the state chairwoman got death threats. there was graffiti all over the state democratic headquarters. you and i just talking about it, we are already getting attacked on twitter somewhere. >> i am sure we are trending. >> exactly. >> i have trended a bit this week with those friendly people on bernie's team. >> i have been getting it since 2016. i am glad i don't have as many followers as you for the first time, chuck. i guess what i would say about this, though s bernie sanders just put out a statement and said harassment of any form is terrible and we urge our supporters -- of course that's what he is going to say. i can tell you inside the culinary union they are furious, they think he didn't step

forward soon enough to try to discourage this. but the fact is, you know, he could discourage them and they are still going to do it, chuck. >> they are, right. >> finally, did finally -- i want to say, because i think this is fair, i think you know it. there are people who are really, really committed to bernie sanders, believe in what he believes in, and they are just activists. they are progressives. this is a relatively small, but vocal and really nasty. >> it is a subgroup. >> -- and viciousings subset, subgroup of his main supporters? i am glad you made that point. right. most sanders' supporters are true believers in the positive. it is the dark corner of his base that they just -- it is out of control. and the campaign -- i don't know whether they could control it if they tried to do more than just statements. >> right. >> that stayed, if he finishes -- if he doesn't finish in the top two, does he have his own supporters to blame? >> yes, he would, i would think. and the culinary never would have gotten activated at all if

some of this stuff hadn't happened. and i think there was -- they please nobody doing what they did. joe biden was looking for a lifeline. no go. amy klobuchar. mayor pete -- maybe if you are out to get bernie, if you don't like bernie, help us. no one is happy with them. i have to tell you chuck, i think bernie is still the favorite here. he has a good organization here. he almost beat hillary on caucus indicate in 2016. this time he has adults running the campaign. it is not a rag-tag group of activists. >> right. >> they know what they are doing. and so i think they believe they have support. they have made incursions into the culinary rank and file and they have some support there. which is another reason i think the messaging, the anti-bernie messaging. >> yes. >> if you will, is going to continue with the culinary union. >> very quickly, though, had the culinary union endorsed -- if harry reid somehow endorses, doesn't that actually hurt the

caucuses in some way? i mean, wouldn't that discourage campaigns from going, because there is this perception, boy, if the culinary union is on your side you can't lose? >> the culinary union -- and people hate -- in the culinary union and bem obama's campaign reminding me of history, in 2008, remember when hillary clinton had the upset win in new hampshire and right away obama needed help. the culinary union came out i believe it was the next day and endorsed obama in nevada. and then hillary clinton ended up winning nevada. but obama folks will say we conthe delegate batch. >> they won the delegate batch. >> i think that was the first time you and i ever talked was after that, when we were both much younger. i have to tell you that it is not determinative. i don't think it is. >> interesting. >> but i also think gering to to endorse. the question is whether they are going to ratchet up the anti-bernie messaging and the implication is at least go out and vote for someone other than

bernie? that could hurt him. but i still think he's the favorite? all right. john ralston, thank you, sirm i will be seeing you very, very soon. quick reminder, in fact. nbc news is hosting the democratic primary debate live from las vegas. john ralston as you just saw will be moderating alongside leste holt, and myself. on the networks of nbc news. coming up, why i am obsessed with sending a message, eventually. m obsessed with sending a message, eventually liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ with hepatitis c... ...i ...best for my family.my... in only 8 weeks with mavyret... ...i was cured. i faced reminders of my hep c every day. i worried about my hep c. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret... ...i was cured. mavyret is the only 8-week cure for all types of hep c.

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welcome back. tonight i am obsessed with the old adage, better late than never. late doesn't appear to be better by much. consider former white house chief of staff john kelly n. a speech last night, he laid out in the clearest terms yet misgivings about trump's words and actions regarding north korea, illegal immigration, discipline, ukraine and the news media. one of the people who worked closely alongside the president now has something to say. just like john bolton did when he wrote his tell-all book. like michael cohen did as he was heading to of to position. they didn't speak out when they were alongside the president but later when there was less riff. they are joined by a long line of former trump associates and staffers who are revealing how bad things really were once it

all ended badly. some of these folks would argue that they didn't speak up at the time because they thought they could help manage the president, prevent him from his worst instincts. then there were those who did speak up when they did have something to lose,lose. people like alexander vindman. he was called to testify before congress. he still did it. people like mitt romney. he is about to weather a relentless fire storm for his impeachment book. his family will, too. he still did it when it mattered. for the others, just two questions. if you had a second chance, would you speak out? and would you encourage others to do the same if they're having these misgivings currently? that's a question i hope folks pose to those folks and i can't wait for that answer. after all, better late than ever. r late than ever (whistling)

(whistling)

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welcome back. today as part of a bipartisan effort to try check the president's war hours, the senate pass ad war powers resolution to try to limit the president's ability to further escalate tensions with iran. it only passed with eight republican senators, meaning it will not have enough support to overright the president's veto. but there are eight republicans. i wouldn't be surprised if you see that number grow over time. back to talk about how much power the president has, my

guests. >> first, you had a bit of a reaction. imagine if all these paid officials were coming on shows like "meet the press" to tell these stories about irresponsible and how dangerous president is, rather than saying it behind closed doors at 20 k or 50 a pop or whatever they're making. >> and they're being told by their agents at the booking agencies, don't do free media. it reduces the value of your paid speeches. >> an interesting observation. >> it put in public, to be public servants. >> and they're not that first set of public officials. quite a few people out west from obama land. >> i want to ask but the

culinary union and the bernie sanders incidents there. could it really cost him the rank and file union members who did like him, or certainly like his stances? >> they didn't like him. they loved him. in 2016, harry reid had to march into the culinary unions. the leadership was all with hillary. and all the membership was bernie. he took a step back when he started messing with their health care. he is going into nevada strong. i still think he'll be one of the leaders of whoever wins. >> i assume it is first or second but if he doesn't, i assume he has only his supporters to blame. >> i think it was an unforced error on his part. they just not like him, they

loved him. i think it is a challenge because they're not endorsing anyone prevents the bidens -- biden was really paying attention, he was putting most of his money into nevada saying pass diversity of voters that i need through that caucus. and that is one i would say that hurts him the most. i don't think pete buttigieg had a shot. maybe elizabeth warren but really, it equally hurts joe. >> and i think it is particularly bad for biden. the strategy of waiting for south carolina, south carolina is four days before super tuesday. if he's waiting for south carolina and hoping for a boost of media coverage and fundraising -- >> not to -- he worked for jeb bush. he was the last guy who said wait for south carolina. >> oh, yeah. when south carolina spoke, he got out. >> the fact the sanders campaign

is finally having to reckon with this out of control subset there. maybe it does take him almost losing nevada to realize, they have to figure out if there is a way to time this crowd. >> they do. this isn't new. this isn't an issue that just came up with culinary. this has been going on since 2016 that before with this. so this is something the campaign either doesn't know how to address or has chosen not to address. now we're seeing it cost them in real tangible ways. i'm not sure it is something they can control. maybe it is one of those unfortunate byproducts. >> i remember talking to folks on the right about this. something like, there was so much excite bmt the enthusiasm. well, we don't want to dampen

that. you're like, okay. >> "the new york times" decided to endorse two people. you start diluting your own power and your ability to cre e create -- >> i'm not convinced the nevada caucuses feel like that. don't you think if they endorsed, you know what? i'm out of here. i'm going to south carolina. >> but they need nevada. they really do. >> i understand. but it's not clear you can win nevada. >> but they need it not just for whether they'll come out and caucus for you. they need it as an operations to do grassroots that nobody else can do. >> i think bernie needs to figure out how to address these things and address them more quickly. him shushing the reporter, come

on, that's not a good look. >> bernie does not like to anxious questions. >> thank you all. we'll be back tworm more "meet the press daily." "the beat" with ari nemelb. bill barr rebuking trump. major news here from what can only be described as a besieged attorney general of the united states. bill barr for the first time now, you may have heard this just briefly. it broke as we were coming on the air. he is claiming to disagree president trump. let me get into it. this is a rare new interview. it comes as the embattled attorney general is taking heat for siding with trump in this very controversial way, politically intervening in the case of convicted trump aide roger stone and many say, blatant politicizing the department of justice. we'll break down what he is