that wraps up the hour for me. don't forget to tune in live from las vegas. in about five hours on the stage you're looking at right now. "deadline white house" with nicolle wallace begins right now. hello, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. bernie sanders opening opdouble digit lead. he takes the stage tonight as the clear frontrunner. new to the debate stage will be former new york mayor, mike bloomberg, who, so far, has presented himself to voters largely through paid advertising blanketing the air waves and nationally on cable. all eyes will be on tonight's debate to see if it can reorder the democratic field in many of the same ways the final debate

before the new hampshire primary seemed to, givening aimee klobuchar momentum in that contest. tonight's debate comes as nevada democrats announce more than 70,000 early votes have already been cast ahead of the caucus said, which are saturday. that's a significant increase from when over 80,000 total participated. nbc news is out with new national poll numbers that show sanders with 27% of the vote. essentially a four-way tie for second place among joe biden, mike bloomberg, elizabeth warren and mayor pete. i'm klobuchar follows that group at 7%. but it's frontrunner bernie sanders after the 78-year-old, who had a heart attack four months ago announced last night, he won't be releasing anymore medical records. it's a move having sanders

charging a bait and switch. some critics are going as far as calling his lack of transparency trump-like. former mayor, mike bloomberg, who's running on a bet that the democrat democratic party will ultimately reject bernie sanders is facing a wave of criticism himself. he'll be critiqued about his welt, support for stop and frisk and making sexist comments. with sanders and bloomberg sucking sucking up a lot of the oxygen, there's palpable frust fragz fr from the other candidates. mayor pete had a message to rush limbaugh, who made his sexuality

an issue, bring it on.he idea oh limbaugh or donald trumpvalues. i mean, sorry, but one thing about my marriage is it's never involved sending hush money to a porn star after cheating on myself with him or her. so, they want to debate family values, let's debate family values. i'm ready. >> solid burn. for her part, elizabeth warren plans to have herself as the -- it's a shame mike bloomberg can buy his way into the debate, but at least this time primary voters curious can get a live demonstration on how we each take on an ego maniac billionaire. joe biden's hoping to gain

momentum in this, the first to receive a diverse electorate. and the state of the race ahead of tonight's debate in las vegas is where we start today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. here at the table, former democratic congress, associate editor for "real clear politics." and editor for move on.org. and strategist for the incoming calls. let me start with you. first of all, are you feeling better, my friend? >> i am. i'm not 100%. but i don't sound like margaret kidder anymore. thank god you're here. >> thank god you were here yesterday. it's good to have friends that will play sick when you're not here.

i mean, i comb through all the news, i can't get enough of it because it seems so volatile. sanders, clearly out on top nationinally, feels like and a lot of volatility after him. >> reporter: well, i think -- there's three stories going on. one is the horse race among the candidates on the ballot in nevada, most imminently, and in south carolina. that means everybody, except mike bloomberg, bernie sanders is the frontrunner. he's the frontrunner in what may be a prohibited way. he's in a strong position a number of super tuesday states down thero road. e people are saying yeah, he could be a run away train. the makings of the stop-bernie

movements are afoot. and you're going to see it on the debate stage tonight. a parallel conversation is the mike bloomberg conversation, where mike bloomberg is playing to the air waves and on the back of that has risen into a solid number two place in national polling. and that's -- as you pointed out a source of a lot of frustration of candidates in the moderate wing that have been scratching and clawing their way and sometimes succeeding in iowa, new hampshire. less joe biden, who did not perform as well. and there's a lot of folk bhos have made interest to try to take mike bloomberg peg they're a relatively new phenomenon and don't have the history of the iowa caucuses. but they have been full of dirty

politics, litigation, nastiness, uncontrollable in the few times we've had them. in 2008 it was true. and 2016 it was really true when you're seeing death threats against the partee chair. the head of the dnc are here in force trying to make sure what happened in iowa doesn't happen in nevada. but everyone thinks there's a chance it could. there's dramatic stories all playing out simultaneously and two coming to a head on this network. it's going to be thing to watch. >> it certainly is. look, laying out a pick-your-own adventure. i mean, i think he's right. there are pretty massive story lines that could collide tonight in dramatic fireworks. >> i think that's true.

the democratic primary's been very fluid. i think voters have displayed a flirtation with any number of candidates. and they haven't decide whood they really want to take to the big dance yet. these candidates on the stage tonight are going to have an opportunity to prove that. and particularly for mayor bloomberg, who has bought his way to the stage, that's how it happened and he's gehaving oing to explain who he is and his comments, that were not like decades ago. they were five years ago, two years ago, last year. and he has a lot of explaining to do. on the other hand, they have something to lose. elizabeth warren, i think she's in her wheel house when it comes to mike bloomberg. she has an opportunity around financial issues, around all of the things she has worked for

her entire career. and then i think of course joe biden. joe biden's got an awful lot at stake. but i don't still think this nomination might be his to los >> well, unlike donna, i'm not a democrat. they've waited way too long to get on the stop-bernie train or whatever he's describing. the idea someone who's a nondemocrat, who officially didn't really win iowa, who has predicated his entire candidacy on this electability argument that he can wakenau new electorate and turn out nonvoters was disproven by iowa, disproven in new hampshire when buttigieg and klobuchar both got twice his number of new voters, come in without medical records and call himself the frontrunner

and continue to dodge while all the candidates tunrn their fire on mike bloomberg and give this avowed socialist who's going to get slaughtered in the general election, while they go on about mike's ads are futile mistake. they will nominate bernie sanders and give donald trump not only a seconds term but a huge mandate if they spend all two hours focus on how much they don't like mike bloomberg. >> it's harsh. but to be honest it's the kind of thing i hear from democrats all day long who are scared of being in trouble. bernie's earned his place. i added up -- i think if you take out elizabeth warren because i think she's close to

bernie ideologically. 49% of democrats support a moderate. >> i'll say this. we're still very much in the early stages of this thing. >> you're not buying the runaway train? >> i just think we have to the let the voters decide. we've had two contests, two small states. we're coming up to the first diverse contest on saturday and then south carolina. and a whole chunk of states on super tuesday. and i think we just need to relax a little bit and trust the voters. and they will have their say. they will let us know who is -- bhooz who's going to be the nominee. i do not agree with the bernie bros and what they're doing online and the threat i think bernie needs do a better job calling that out. that is not okay. the threat of how vile that is. we have to call that out.

and i don't agree with him not putting out his medical records. people who are voting -- and we have to remember people are voting in california, north carolina. the super tuesday states are watching all of this. and voters needs to know how is his health? but poll after poll shows bernie is the frontrunner. he's getting double digit leads and i think he's consolidating the progressive base and now there's -- but that's what we're seeing right now. that's what we have to see, who's going to come out of that. bloomberg was a republican a democrat, an independent. to call out bernie, which i have issues with the whole if he's a democrat or not either. but bloomberg went through the whole process too. and bloomberg tonight is the very pretty, popular girl new to

the school and mean and everybody hates. that's how he's going to play out today on the debate stage. everybody's going to be like can we get to him? he bought his way on the debate stage. can he stand up to the scrutiny coming his way and rightly coming his way? >> i worked for george w. bush. one of the most undignified things they have to deal with is share the results of their colonoscopies. there's enough to worry about. but i also remember and detailing all of this to the world,to the public. i also remember working for john mccain, who was a cancer survivor and some of the goop that came down to the mayo clinic. bernie sanders basically pulling the curtain down on his health 16 weeks after suffering from a heart attack.

it's not like lightness and diziness. if he was a woman, he would be finished. what is going on? >> when we talk about vile, online supporters and breaking promises and shattering norms and being untransparent, remind you of anyone? and that's a big problem for democrats. what i would say about all of this is we all sat here in this room on election night and we were shocked. the world was shocked when donald trump was elected. we saw millions of people take to the streets. we have watched this president -- we've watched for three years the shattering of norms, the attacks on the institutions, and at the end of it -- now about ten months out from the election, what the democratic party has produced is a 78-year-old socialist from

vermont who is picking up steam and is going to be an unstoppable force before very much longer on the way to the nomination. and so the theory that there is some great base of people yearning for socialism in the united states of america is a fever dream and a fantasy. here's the deal. there's literally no one in this country who interacts with government. not at a local level a county level a state level, not at a federal level who comes out of that experience thank god that was great. terrific. i want to put these people in charge of more stuff, give them more money, more power, more control. and he'll be carrying forward into this election some of the most unpopular positions on issues that any candidate ever has. he wants to take away private

health insurance from 150 million people. go tell those union workers in michigan and pennsylvania, those union men and women that they're going to lose their private health insurance. it is a death sentence for the party and it will lead to donald trump's re-election, in my view. and that will play out tonight. because the issue that is propelling sanders forward right now is the myth of electability. he's viewed as the most electable candidate against donald trump right now. and those candidates are go having to to make an argument where they say no. donald trump's re-election will have profound consequences. and it will forever, forever change this country in a bad way. and so there is a profound

institutional responsibility for democratic voters and the party i think to face reality on some of this. >> a lot of people said that about the responsibilities the republican party held in 2016. and the truth of the matter was there was nothing the party establishment could do to stop donald trump. voters just liked him. they loved his celebrity. they liked what he said he was for. and i meet mostly democrats. they live in a blue state in a blue city and people say i hate donald trump but i would worry about the economy. i would worry about the size of government. they're sort of paralyzed in this trump or bernie question. what is getting lost, sort of, between the ground game where bernie is making voters happy and excited in the

establishment? >> let's be clear. a couple of people have mentioned this reality. bernie sanders got about 1/4 of the vote in iowa and the splits on the moderate side was enough to win the popular vote and win the popular vote by a decent amount but not an incredibly impressive amount. 25% is not enough to become a democratic nominee. so, i have said i think bernie sanders could be a runaway train. if he wins in nevada and rolls to south carolina. you think about the super tuesday states, a big showing in texas, a big showing in california. he could end up in a place where it becomes very hard to stop him. the reality is he's going to have to grow more than 1/4. can bernie sanders get in the 30s, up in the vicinity of 40?

but he's going to get stop and the question is by whom? the reality is -- you look at the number business low bernie sanders. it's what is happening with the numbers and who's growing and falling. who's growing has been mike bloomberg and who's falling has been joe biden with people like pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar getting a little momentum but not enough. what i think is driving all of this is whether you like it or not, are starting to madge an month's long battle between bernie sanders and mike bloomberg. and that would be the ultimate -- can you madge an more contentious fight? both of them with unlimited resources sluging it out from now until june. how does that look to you in the democratic party and can you

even put the party back together if that's what this evolves into over the next three or four months? >> i thought pete buttigieg had a wildly successful outing. i think elizabeth warren is taking on sexism and politics in the workplace in a way she's building on a conversation hillary clinton started. i'm surprised again -- outside of the primary process, i'm surprised it doesn't excite more men, women, people across the ideological spectrum in the democratic party. i know the reporting suggests your analysis is spot on as usual. thanks for spending some time with us. back at you. after the break, ahead of mike bloomberg's debut on the debate stage, we talk about bloomberg's strategy for aiming his fire against donald trump. and a day ahead of roger stone and a day after the pardon

palooza of corrupt politicians and businessmen, the question today, will trump pardon roger stone? and does he just want us to think he's at the end of his rope. [ fast-paced drumming ]

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as we've been discussing tonight will be mike bloomberg's first debate since 2009. his remarkable climb in the polls, thanks at least in some part to record breaking advertising spending, will likely result on focussed

attacks from the competition. joining us, tim o'brien. i have watched your transformation from journalist and trump watcher to really what i think steve and i would describe ourselves, dedicated advocates for and that's the spirit in which you're here. he's under fire from everything like the kind of things he said and employees getting abortions and having kids, stop and frisk and redlining. broadly, what is the strategy? to take everything on or stay in a cold blooded way focussed on donald trump as the opponent of everyone on tonight's stage? >> i think the logic from the beginning is he's got more governing experience than anyone running. that he's the most capable person of running and successfully running a national campaign against donald trump.

we respect everybody else we're campaigning against but we don't think they're going to be able to survive a national campaign against donald trump. and we certainly feel if bernie sanders is at the head of the ticket, there's going to be a lot of down ballot pain as well. i've spoke to progressives, democratic officials running, moderate democratic officials and they're all worried about getting torched on the ballot if bernie is on the ticket. we will support bernie if he's the nominee. we will support any of the democrats. we think all of them are far better than trash can fire in the white house right now. having said that though, democratic voters have to really put their thinking caps on right now. bernie is in a position with 25 to 30% voter support, he could get 80 to 90% of the delegates. and then we'll have, as we say,

a trading situation on our hands. mike bloomberg is a flawed man. i think it's healthy we're being asked by the media and we'll be on the debate stage to answer for mike's mistakes. but mike bloomberg is a very principaled public servient with a demonstrable record. it's stuff he spent decades delivering on and bread and butter issues. health care, jobs, education, the environment. guns, and on and on and on. there's nobody that can point to as many things as he can and i think that's going to matter to voters. >> and i appreciate you saying he's a flawed man. i think it would be easier if we were allowed to say that? >> and i'm a flawed man too. >> i'm very flawed.

but what do you say about the reeceancy for policies? stop and frisk? redlining? >> so, let's take these step by step. i ran "the new york times" coverage. what mike bloomberg was describing was accurate. well, meaning policies to get credit to low-income communities, which he supports, our campaign supports. also contributed to a broader environment in which subprime loans were captured sometimes fraudulently. that is all true. i think extending credit is important. we should do it. redlining is bad and it followed a trajectory that became problematic.

bernie's camp has decided to turn that into he thinks we never should have done anything about redlining. he was against predatory lending as the mayor of new york. and lending discrim nations as part of this campaign. stop and frisk. mike will continue to apologize for it. it is a star on his record. it was an egregious mistake. he never should have stood by it as long as he did. but he has the most progressive policy as any mayor, incarceration rate went down while he was mayor and we have scores of mayors of color and congressional members of congress of color who have come out in support of mike. they know the totality of his career. he's not a racist. on women, there's been two buckets to try to contend he's a sexual predator, when, in fact,

we have the most profound sexual deviant in the oval office right now. mike bloomberg -- low-city delegations come from a gag book written 30 years ago. he did not write the jokes in the book. he says he's never said any of those things. but they keep popping up in our competitor's social feeds as verbatim things out of mike's mouth. sexual harassment claims, the lion share of all of those don't include him personally in the suit. a number of them happen when he wasn't at the company. he was a mayor of new york. butt but you see headlines of 64 women have accused him of sexual harassment. not true. one of the advisors for long

time was deputy mayer. he ran bloomberg fulanth rain and the net chairman of our campaign. every platform in our campaign -- go ahead. >> go ahead. it's important to get the facts out. >> every platform in our campaign is about empowering women in the workplace and in the world. if mike bloomberg was a racist or a sexist, i here campaigning for him as vigorously as i can and i have and i'm honored to work with him, as are the range of women and people of color part of the 2100 people we have on the ground right now in 45 states and territories who plan to knock donald trump around like a beach ball for the next seven months. >> tell me about a memo. your campaign has writ an memo

as articulate as anyone saw happen. the structural problems that bernie sanders is drafrwarfed. tell us about it. >> our view of this is that moderate democrats need to coaless around someone who can win this election. and take the primary where it needs to go. and if they don't come together now and don't look at this in a very cold-blooded and realestic way, if they don't beat bernie sanders, they're not going to beat donald trump. that's the math and that's what we're going to stand behind here. >> tim, we loved having you here as one of our favorite reporters. we're always happy to see you on behalf of the mayor.

tell him to stop by some time. we're fair. so, i think tim is traveling down the path available to him, which is to not deny or defend the comments because they're undeniably offensive. to read the things alleged and say these are true and these weren't. what do you think? you think those defenses will hold or it depends on the case he makes against donald trump? >> i don't know. i think one of the things the mayor could do would be to release the women from the non-disclosure agreement. and i think that would free them up to talk about what is true and what's not, in their own words. and that will either help his defense or not. i do think it's important to answer these questions. i want to go to stop and frisk for a minute. because of what was perceived as

a success, those behaviors were replicated across the country. i know because i had a teenage son at the time stopped by police on the street. and it was the reverberations of that all around the country. so, it's more than just him apologizing for it, but really demonstrating to communities that were effected, to people affected by his propigation of that policy and the impact that it had all across this country. so, i think there are serious questions that have to be answered by mayor bloomberg and he has to account for that. and these are things in his own words. and i listened to some of the recordings and red. >> of the statements and they are pretty damming. and so, i think tonight will be the opportunity for him to be on stage and explaining himself to the american people and they say money can't buy you love?

well, i guess we're going to find out. >> i lead to articles and had this conversation on monday. but i have to say i don't know anymore what the voters will tolerate. because i said night after night after night that the american people would never elect a human being thapt said i can grab women in the -- so, i don't know anymore what they can forgive. what do you make all of the endorsements from members of the congressional black caucus? is it good deesds adeeds and contributing to the war against gun violence and other priorities? >> no one should question that mike bloomberg and his philanthropy that has been seen in cities around the country, advocacy around climate change, those are really good. the importance of his money and

advocacy to end the scourge of gun violence. but you can't run on a johnny one-note. he's going to have to show an awful lot more to gain the trust of me and the ladies in my hair salon. >> and i think after these two what has happened is many, many women with deadened to the fact this culture was spread at every company all the time. and so, what else is new? maybe not so much. maybe stop and frisk is a much bigger liability and the fact he has to flat out apologize for a complete johnny come lately reversal. and they come up with an economic plan that's going to benefit voters and black americans. we'll see. switching gears.

a big day for roger stone tomorrow. he'll receive his sentencing for his crime he's been convicted of by a jury. the crime declared is too harsh. before we talk about tax-smart investing, what's new? -audrey's expecting... -twins! ♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. can it help keep me asleep? sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed. absolutely, it senses your movements and automatically

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it's our most dangerous addiction. so we took our worst vice, and turned it into the dna for a better system. we created bionic and put the word out with godaddy. what will you change? make the world you want. the president's longest serving political advisor, this man right here, roger stone, is set to be sentenced tomorrow after being found guilty of

obstruction, lying to congress and witness tampering. it was the justice department's interfeern interference in his case last week when they changed the recommendation to the judge that caused the four career pr prosecutors to resign. one from the department of justice entirely. trump hasn't kept his feelings quiet. going as far as giving himself another new title. >> i'm allowed to be totally involved. i'm actually, i guess the chief law enforcement officer of the country. i haven't given it any thought. in the meantime i think he's going through a process but i think he's been treated very unfairly. >> former assistant director for cou counter intelligence, frank.

i think i read that he would dangle pardons in front of paul manafort and mike flynn. i mean, trump has been think about pardons literally since the day he got there. do you think for a minute he's not ready to go with a pardon for roger stone? >> we're all being groomed right now for the pardons or commutations. we are the preverbial frog in the simmering pot of water and the water is now starting to boil. and we cannot sucomeb to that. we've got to understand this is not normal. and you know what else is normal? trump saying he's the chief law enforcement officer of the country. this goes back to december of 2017. if you recall attorney general jeff sessions at the time introduced trump to a large crowd at an fbi academy graduation and introduced him as the chief law enforcement officer of the nation.

i immediately got tweets from fbi officials in the back of the room sighing sessions just screwed up. well, it's not a screw up. it's a deliberate strategy. and let me tell you viewers what they already know. the chief law enforcement ofrgs is not among the roles of the president of the united states. we can't become numb to that either. this is a deliberate strategy to put himself in charge of law enforcement. >> attorney general barr and people close to him somehow got it out to "the washington post." if there is a pardon that further undermines justice that was made out by career prosecutors so much so that -- so tainted, so contaminated that

four career prosecutors quit the case, would a pardon necessity a resignation from the attorney general? >> i think we've already answered this question. it's rhetorical. these has to be run through the justice department. barr had a chance to say no to the pardons. and i don't think he's going to do it. i got a good piece of advice one time moving up the career ranks in the fbi. one of my mentors said to me, frank, if any agent walks in your office and says he's thinking about resigning, take his badge and wish him well. the point being we're not in a role that you can simultaneously do while you're thinking about maybe resigning or retiring. you need to go and trump should do the same thing with barr. if you're thinking about being the attorney general, and

whether you should be in a role, you should go. >> it seems nobody believes the pushesback because he's been so subserveiant to trump. if these are general issues of concern, no one is buying it. >> we're watching the rule of law in this country systematically under assault when president trump declares himself the chief law enforcement officer, it should send chills down the spine of any american that knows what the country is about. the world's oldest constitutional republic. it is, frankly, terrifying. we're seeing a seizing of power by a president who is acquitted by the senate and now unchecked. we've seen the collapse of checks and balances. and this is the issue, not to

change the subject, but on the debate stage tonight is that fundamental question. nobody's perfect. everybody makes mistakes. we're not going to have perfect candidates running for office. but all of the candidates on the democratic debate stage, i believe are fidel ts through our system. so, the scales of justice in our imperfect world and imperfect system, it doesn't mean that the president of the united states gets to pardon his friends, pardon his cronies and we will move, should he be re-elected i think into an area where these very powerful institutions can be turned on as critics, his opponents, people who speak out against him and that's an thetical to americanism. >> and he told us he wanted to do it. after the break, trump's post-impeachment revenge story continues.

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up by the sudden resignations of four prosecutors from the stone case. this is the number three official at the department of defense, the person that provided i believe the signoffs saying that the military aid could flow to ally ukraine. he left today. the president didn't want him there anymore. i think he ultimately left by letter of resignation. but this continues to be a slash and burn campaign from the white house, from the president over impeachment. >> yeah. let's remember this revenge tour is now intersecting with the war on the justice department. and these are people escorted out, let go, fired. why? because they're doing their job. lieutenant colonel vindman and his twin brother in the wrong place at the wrong time being walked out. how does this all intersect with

the war on justice? the revenge is going to be laid upon comey and strzok and mccabe as ag barr continues a personal investigation using u.s. torns around the country who have actually no sven your or jurisdiction in the matters to investigate the origins of the russia case, did interview of mike flynn. all of this while we hear false claims by the attorney general that, yeah, i'm thinking about resigning, i don't like the tweets but he continues to fall right in line with trump and the revenge theme by investigating all of these investigators. we are watching the rule of law and our institutions turned upside down. that's the most disturbing part of this. >> you know, i'm glad that frank ties the war on the justice department to what's happening at the pentagon where the navy secretary resigned over a

dispute about navy s.e.a.l.s who were yanked out of the justice system at the pentagon and dealt with my trump who pardoned them, the number three at the pentagon yanked out for disagreeing with withholding military aid. they would be top tier stories, would have led with it. i think that the silence is deafening from other respected figures, former attorneys general. no one is defending william barr with respect or reverence on the right. no defending the -- the flip side is true. why aren't there more people con themming him? but i think that adds to the feeling of instability. >> well, i mean, i think that this is a -- throughout this tumultuous time i think people wondered when people will speak up that matter. h.r. mcmaster, mattis, mueller. where are the people?

john bolton to come forward and tell us more. john kelly even. the things he has said and seen. the things that he didn't stop that he didn't report. but i think that if you -- there's departures from the pentagon before the brink of war with iran january 8th. it is terrifying how vulnerable we are in terms of how much he's narrowed out channels but if you look at this, i think what frank was describing, everything he said i agree with. the sort of new campaign at justice to get more heat and light but the purge is going to go on and i don't want to name names but anyone involved in ukraine, like, the general counsel at the cia, who spoke verbally about filing a criminal referral to the fbi over the ukraine phone call which was rejected by attorney general barr because he only takes them in writing and so he didn't think it was official. what if she just loses her job?

i think we continue to see people ferreted out who objected to this all along while most of the headlines are about bill barr. >> what do you think the role of these kinds of stories of trump's war on his own executive branch of government is in a democratic contest? >> we have a president who uses the u.s. government as an extension for his own business. right? whether it's a department of energy, department of transportation, state department, department of justice, it is all for his business purposes, it is to quiet the political rivals. and he does it over and over and over again and the thing is we can't be immune to it. what we do have is we have these loyal public servants who are -- who have been fighting for the constitution, many for years, for decades finally saying enough is enough. here's the thing. we have to listen to them. because we're in a crisis and i think this is how this will play

in 2020. our democracy is in crisis. the rule of law no longer exists apparently for the president. we shouldn't be. this is what people are afraid of. when you see poll after poll and people say we have to beat donald trump, that's part of it. you have vulnerable communities afraid of what it would be like for another four years so that's -- this is how this will play in 2020. >> four-alarm fire. frank, thank you for spending time with us. we'll squeeze in another break. 'e liberty mutual. they get that no two people are alike and customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. almost done. what do you think? i don't see it. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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big debate starts tonight at 9:00. if you have plans, cancel them.

rachel maddow will start the pre-debate coverage at 8:00 p.m. brian williams and i will pick it up at 11:00. don't go anywhere. stick with us all evening long. my thanks for today's hour to donna, a.b. corinne. "mpt daily" with chuck todd starts now. ♪ if it is wednesday, it is debate night in las vegas and the stage you see right now is set for what could be quite a night. perhaps the most consequential debate so far. good evening. i'm chuck todd. welcome to "meet the press daily" and las vegas where we're hours from now on the debate