interfering in the 2020 election trying to help trump's re-election. president trump reacted angrily that this fact, according to his own intelligence officials, affected congress. the whole thing relates to meddling with 2020 democrats. a lot of news here. we're going to keep track tonight on all the msnbc shows. thanks as always. we'll be back at 6 p.m. tomorrow. "hardball" is next. it's all happening again. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews out in las vegas. it's official. russia has endorsed the re-election of president donald trump who is trying desperately to keep that matter secret. in major breaking story

tonight "the new york times" is reporting late today, in fact on this disturbing revelation, that has huge implications for our country. according to "the times," five people familiar with the matter, intelligence officials warned house lawmakers that russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get president trump re-elected. most disturbing was the president's reaction to the news that the intelligence had been shared with congress. according to this report, the disclosure to the house intelligence committee angered mr. trump who complained that democrats would use it against him. quote, the day after the february 13th briefing to lawmakers, mr. trump berated joseph maguire, the outgoing acting director of national intelligence, for allowing it to take place. additionally during the briefing mr. trump's allies challenged the conclusions, arguing that mr. trump has been tough on russia and strengthened european

security. this news paints a devastating portrait of a president who appears now willing to suppress intelligence for his own political purposes keeping congress in the dark about new russian attacks on our democracy. another ominous twist "the times" reports that last week's briefing did contain what appeared to be new information including that russia intends to interfere with the ongoing democratic primaries as well as the general election. i'm joined right now on the phone by u.s. congressman hakeem jeffries of new york who chairs the house democratic caucus. congressman jeffries, what do you make of this report, that the president is trying to keep you in congress in the dark that the russians are trying to throw the election of 2020 to him? >> well, unfortunately, this comes as no surprise. as we demonstrated on the house floor, this is a president who has no reservations as it relates to interfering in our free and fair elections and he's

a win at all costs individual. he solicited foreign interference from russia in the past. he solicited foreign interference from the chinese. he, of course, solicited foreign interference from the ukrainians and now we find he is at least trying to keep the information of russia's involvement in the 2020 election away from the representatives of the american people. it's shameful. >> is this a case of suppressing intelligence? if so, it looks like -- it looks like an abuse of power. if he's keeping u.s. intelligence information from the u.s. congress, what else would you call that except abuse of power. your thoughts, sir? >> it certainly seems like another example of corrupt abuse of power. we'll have to get to the bottom of what has taken place, but here's what we do know. the president basically does not understand the constitution or does not care about the notion of constitutional separation of powers. the house and the senate, we are part of a separate and co-equal

branch of government. article one and we're there on behalf of the people to serve as a check and balance on a potentially out of control executive branch. donald trump is the worst nightmare of the framers of the united states constitution. and he continues to put that on full display as he, again, has apparently done in this context. >> one republican member of the congress, a senator from maine, in fact, susan collins said he would learn his lesson through the impeachment exercise, that he wouldn't do what he had done before. it looks to me, your thoughts, sir, that he's doing exactly what he did in 2016. he's getting the help of the russians and now he's using the power of his office to advance those purposes. what do you make of the difference between 2016 and 2020? >> well, what it basically shows, once again, is that this is a president who doesn't care about american values, he doesn't care about democratic norms, he doesn't care about a

free and fair election, he doesn't care about the notion of one person one vote, he doesn't care about the preeminence of the rule of law. he doesn't care about the notion that the american people and the american people alone should decide who serves at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. and so i expect hopefully that both the house and the senate, both democrats and republicans, will look into what is transpiring here. and i think we're going to plea to the goodwill of our patriotic colleagues on the other side of the aisle to say when is enough enough as it relates to this out of control president, wanna bedictator with authoritarian tendencies. when is enough enough? >> thank you, hakeem jeffries. we have jeremy bash and steve schmidt. steve, i have to go to you with

this. this is a grand situation. here we are at the end of a long impeachment exercise which ended up in the so-called acquittal of the president. now we're learning incredibly the whole damn thing is starting over again. the russians are into their hacking, into their bogus use of social media. the whole works. the president of the united states is trying to keep that secret from us in the way he was denying it back in 2016. it's as if we're into a recidivist character doing the things he was charged with in the first crime. your thoughts? >> i think we're at a very serious place in this country, chris, that since his acquittal by the senate in the united states senate, donald trump has been unrestrained with his abuse of power. he is eviscerating the concept of the use of law with the constant interference with the department of justice. he appointed a political crony, somebody with zero experience, completely unqualified. not competent to the task to be

the highest ranking intelligence officer in the country and now we find out about this. what this is is an attack on the united states of america by a hostile foreign power. an attack on our elections, on the sovereignty of the american people to pick their leaders is tantamount in my view to an act of war and to see the president of the united states complicit with it, egging it on, trying to take advantage of it, trying to suppress it is as grave an abuse of power as you can possibly see coming out of 1600 pennsylvania avenue. and i think congressman jeffries is exactly right. there has to be an appeal to what has been a complicit, client, lick spittle republican congress who has allowed this president to run amuck to say that this attack by russia, by other hostile foreign powers on the sovereignty of the country

cannot be abided, it cannot be abetted, it must be repudiated and it must be repudiated by america's political leadership regardless of their partisanship or party. >> which of the following republicans do you think might speak up against the president for apparently if not collaborating with the soviets, with the russians again, the former soviet kgb director, mr. putin, and not going the other way. would you think kevin mccarthy, the house leader will do it? do you think mitch mcconnell will do it? name a republican who has the stuff to tell the president you have to be attacking the russians for interfering with our elections, not keeping it secret. >> there is no evidence, sadly, chris, that any of them will put their oath of office ahead of their partisan interests. this is what george washington washed about when he said farewell after leaving the

presidency. he warned about foreign interference and he warned about the rise of factions or parties that would subordinate the national interests to partisan interests. there is apparently one republican in the whole of the congress, mitt romney from my state of utah, a man of probity and rectitude who has the guts and bearing to stand up and call out what's wrong in a time of corruptio corruption, in a time of decency, in a time of faithlessness to the institutions and the concepts of the country by some of the highest political elected leaders in the land. >> we're talking about this incredible new "new york times" story breaking tomorrow morning, we got it tonight. the russians are coming tonight. the russians are interfering into this election now including the primaries. they are screwing around with our democratic primaries as well. apparently the president has been trying to suppress this information instead of trying to

stop the russians. in a new report by the times part of the president's anger over the briefing which congress got stemmed from the administration's reluctance to provide sensitive information to u.s. congressman adam schiff, the chairman of the u.s. house. in order to keep information from his political rivals, especially adam schiff, he's willing to suppress it from the american people. your thoughts? >> it's not only partisan, it's illegal because under the 1947 national security act, the office of the director of national intelligence is required by law to provide the congressional intelligence committees with information about a hostile power attacking the united states. and so the office of the dni was duty bound to tell people about this. he removed joe maguire, a career veteran.

he removed them. this guy still had a month left on his acting tenure. the administration did not have to remove him now. they had about a month left to a point or announce a more permanent nominee, and what they installed in there is someone to do the partisan work of the president, to ensure that the upcoming testimony in congress that the community -- intelligence community is going to be undertaking with the president's world view and his statements and his tweets and also that anything published about this intelligence as it was back in january 2017 does not go down that road again pointing the finger at russia. this is an ominous moment, chris, i agree with what you said, what steve said that here we have the underpinnings of our nation's defense being eroded before our very eyes. >> once again, it's on a partisan basis. "the new york times" reports

tomorrow morning that representative chris stewart, a utah republican member challenged russia's support. mr. stewart said he has aggressively confronted moscow. moscow had no reason to support mr. trump. let me go back to congressman jeffries about this. what's going on in the republican side of the aisle and the house of representatives that there's such toadies even on measures of national security. they fight any evidence that might be untoward for the president? let me go to steve on this. steve schmidt. what is it about the republican party and the house that they feel this way, that they have to operate like robots for the president? >> well, it's a party that's intellectually and morally corrupted beyond my ability to describe it in the english language. we saw during the impeachment dozens and dozens of republicans echoing propaganda from moscow

no different than if they were the kose of russia today. they are serving the role that was called useful idiots. hostile power's prop aganda against the united states so it is a sad, sad time for the republican party as it has capitulated fully to donald trump. it's become a cult or personality. we've watched over three years the subordination of truth itself. what is true now for these members of congress is what the leader tells them is true, not what is plainly true before their eyes. so you have a republican member of congress there living in an utter fantasy land ignoring the counsel of the intelligence community about what's clearly in front of them, which is an attack on the sovereignty of the country by the russian

federation. he would rather sign up with the russians than confront an indecent and corrupt president. that is tragic for the country and the security of the country. >> i have to agree with you, steve, it's hard to come up with the words of what we're going through. through all of the hell we've been through. the russians interfering and here they go again as if they can just get away with the robbery again, daylight robbery with the president of the united states helping to keep it secret. helping to keep it secret. a normal president would have stopped the russians from what they're up to again in this election. thank you, steve schmidt. thank you, jeremy bash. coming up, much more on this late-breaking story tomorrow. russia is backing trump's re-election and he doesn't want anyone to know about it. what kind of a chief law enforcement guy, is that what he calls himself, the chief law enforcement. this is how he enforces the law, by helping the russians get away

with this again? plus he was so infuriated by the white house briefing, in other words, they dared to tell the congress what was going on that he replaced the leader again. maybe they give this to jared kushner. he's making jared kushner in charge of future pardons. roger stone gets more than three years in prison. that's why he's probably going to get a pardon, because he's keeping the president's secrets. we'll have to wait to find out about this. we'll see when the pardons are coming but they are coming. plus, is it a different democratic race today than last night? fierce debate right here. it was a bloodbath. much more to get to on that later in this show. stick with "hardball" tonight. en listening to audible. it's audiobooks, news, meditations... gotta go! ♪

♪ hey! you know, i do think it's weird you've started commuting when you work from home. i'll be in my office. download audible and start every day off right. wean air force veteran made of doing what's right,. not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa

wheneveryone is different.a, which is why xfinity mobile created a different kind of wireless network. one that saves you money by letting you design your own data - giving you more choice and control compared to other top wireless carriers. now you can choose unlimited, shared data, or mix lines of each and switch any line, anytime. no one else lets you do that. design your own data with xfinity mobile. it's wireless reimagined. simple. easy. awesome. welcome back to "hardball." we continue to follow this

amazing breaking story tonight about a classified briefing that was just given by intelligence officials. they gave it to house lawmakers. we're learning that it's a warning that russia is trying to assist president trump in his pursuit of a second term. in other words, they're all at it again and so is the president. it's all happening all over again like it did in 2016. "the new york times" is reporting that, quote, some current and former officials speculated that the briefing they got may have played a role in the removal of the national director of intelligence, joseph maguire. he's been fired because he told congress what was going on, the russians are at it again. mr. trump's allies challenged this arguing that mr. trump has been tough on russia and some intelligence official viewed it as an attack. had they spoken less pointedly or left it out, they would have avoided angering the

republicans. if you don't tell the truth, the republicans don't get upset. according to "the new york post", the president perceived that as disloyalty by maguire, the head of dni and his staff, and it ruined maguire's chances of becoming the permanent intelligence chief. you don't become the head if you give information to the democrats about what the russians are doing to our elections. put that together. last night the president announced his choice as the next acting director of national intelligence, richard grinnell. a fierce russian loyalist and towedy. a hard liner for trump who will do his bidding. grinnell has essentially, this is no surprise, no intelligence experience. his resume, if you want to call it that, includes serving as u.s. spokesman for the u.n. under george w. bush and he was a foreign spokesman for mitt romney's republican run. i'm joined by denney heck of

washington state and ken delanie. congressman heck, you are a patriot. here we are putting it together. the president doesn't want democrats to know what's going on. he doesn't want anybody in this country to know what the russians are up to. he's out there apparently suppressing the fact that they're out there again doing what they did in 2016, putting their thumb on the scale on his behalf to beat the democrats. >> chris, i'm sorry, i didn't hear the question. what's the question? >> it's a big question. what do you make of all of this? how do you put this altogether? the russians are up to it again. the president is up to suppressing the information again and a partisan direction. >> well, look, chris, obviously i can neither confirm nor deny anything that went on in a classified briefing. look, i think i've even had this conversation with you. the answer to a question i've been asked hundreds of times

over the last three years, which is do i think the russians will be back in 2020. i said, what do you mean be back? they never left. there's nothing surprising about this in any way, shape or form nor the president's actions in this regard. it's a little bit as newsworthy as dog bites man. this is what he has done from day one. by the way, with respect to replacing acting director maguire, i think it's highly conceivable the seeds of that were placed last september. acting director maguire came before the intelligence committee with respect to the whistle-blower complaint that had been filed and said the whistle-blower had done the right thing and had followed the law. obviously got a lot of resentment on the part of the white house and the president who this past week has been engaged in nothing short of a revenge tour act after act. for example, it wasn't enough for him just to push colonel vindman out of the national security council, he even had to push his twin brother out who

had nothing to do with the underlying matter. so there's nothing about this that is surprising in any way, shape or form. >> now the president goes on and makes fun of the guy's pronunciation of his accent. let me go to ken delaney. this has become a totally, from what i hear from your reporting here, totally a partisan affair. >> yeah. with all due respect to the congressman, i think this is a huge deal because up until now, while donald trump has not been interested in the subject of election and leaning on it, he has allowed his government to protect the 2020 election. one of the things they did, they appointed shelby pierson, who is in charge of all of the intelligence related to and responses to election interference. she's the one that briefed the committees, is my understanding, and according to "the new york times," she's presented evidence that the russians are back at it again and they're helping trump. trump responded to that by

getting mad at her boss, joe maguire, and pushing him out. that's the behavior of an autocrat. it's the job of intelligence officials to speak truth to power. to bluntly and explicitly explain to policy makers, not just the president, but the congress, what is going on out there. we should also remember, chris, that a few weeks ago there was a report that the russians had hacked burisma. one can infer that that was part of the evidence. why would they not do that if it were not to hurt joe biden and help donald trump. it would be bad enough to learn that they were back at it helping trump. it's much worse that trump appears to be trying to cover that up. richard burr is not running for re-election and my sources tell me they expect that he will not be happy with this. he's out of the country on a

chch co-del. >> let's hope somebody will join mitt romney. go ahead, congressman. >> to my good friend, ken. please don't misrepresent what i just said. i didn't say in any way, shape or form this wasn't a big deal. what i said was it's not at all surprising. >> furthermore, i will tell you that it is a big deal, that he is now submitted or nominated ambassador grinnell to take this position. there are only two questions that a potential nominee should be able to answer, you hit the nail right on the head for one, which is are you willing to speak truth to power. that is essential for our security and our safety. but the other is are you qualified to hold this position? ambassador -- >> i take your point, congressman. and i apologize, congressman. we should add though that the reporting now out tonight from peter alexander of nbc news is that rick grinnell will not be

in this job for very long and that the president intends to appoint or name a permanent director. >> ambassador grinnell is not qualified to hold this job for one day let alone a temporary period of time. as you know full well, ken, and the rest of our viewers should, that the act or the law setting up the national intelligence office specifically requires that the director have extensive experience in intelligence. he has none, and i want to remind you that when my colleague, congressman ratliff was nominated and on the thin basis of only seven months of experience on committee, the intelligence committee, and no experience in the intelligence community outside of that, his prospective nomination was rejected. ambassador grinnell should not be in any conversation about who occupies that office. >> thank you.

we're trying to get that story. i understand where there might be miscommunication. this is incredible. i'll renew it, go online, you'll learn an amazing story, that everything we saw the last two years with the russians interfering in our elections on behalf of president trump, now they're doing it again. that's how our national intelligence community is reporting that to congress. the president is ripped about it. he doesn't want the congress to know. he especially doesn't want democrats to know about it. he doesn't want adam schiff to know about it. guess what, adam schiff did a good job of imagining the impeachment in the u.s. senate. this is an incredible story. he learned his lesson, the president won't do it goen. this is like saying vladimir putin won't do it again. come on. thank you, sir, for joining us as always. thank you, ken. up next, trump ally roger stone, whoa, is sentenced to a little

more than three years, 40 months. he got off light. he hopes stone will be exonerated. how would that work out? exonerates? pardoning. will he get a new trial? the president is still looking out for his guy, roger stone. you're watching "hardball." our family is from? what about here? here? here? daddy, is that where we're from? well, actually... we're from a lot of places. you see we're from here and there and here... turn questions you've always had into stories you can't wait to share; with ancestry. and my lack of impulse control,, turn questions you've always had into stories is about to become your problem. ahh no, come on. i saw you eating poop earlier. my focus is on the road,

and that's saving me cash with drivewise. ♪ oh, oh, (announcer)®! ♪ once-weekly ozempic® is helping many people with type 2 diabetes like james lower their blood sugar. 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. i lost almost 12 pounds! oh! (announcer) ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. there's no increased risk. oh! and i only have to take it once a week. oh! ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away

if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. once-weekly ozempic® is helping me reach my blood sugar goal. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) you may pay as little as $25 per prescription. ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®.

doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

welcome back to "hardball." justice was served today in the case of roger stone. the president's long-time fixer friend was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison. that's a bit more than 3 years, of course. he was convicted in november on every charge brought by robert muller, including false statements, witness tampering and obstruction. resisting a political pressure surrounding stone's case today judge amy berman jackson made clear, quote, he was not prosecuted as some have complained for standing up for the president, he was prosecuted for covering up for the president. as a key figure in the russian probe, he's best known for telling the trump campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by wikileaks. that's the organization that leaked the democratic emails hacked by the kremlin, the russians, putin in 2016. but stone was arrested early last year for lying to congress about his connection to wikileaks as well as his

communications with the trump campaign. in a veiled rebuke of the president himself judge jackson today said there was nothing unfair, phony or disgraceful about the investigation or the prosecution. and while jackson is still considering stone's motion to retry his case, president trump today said he's watching closely and waiting to make a determination of his own. >> i'd love to see roger exonerated and i'd love to see it happen because i personally think he was treated very unfairly. i'm going to watch the process. i'm going to watch it very closely and at some point i'll make a determination, but roger stone and everybody has to be treated fairly. >> i'm joined now by betsy woodruff swanpath and cynthia action ton who's a federal prosecutor. in the law, is this a reasonable judgment of 40 months? >> yeah, it's reasonable.

that's the -- that's the -- one of the bizarre parts about it. if you looked at this case and you knew about roger stone and exactly what the threats were, it wouldn't be surprising that this would be the result anyway. why barr felt the need to intervene, turn the justice department upside down, violate every norm, make everybody mad at the united states attorney's office, threaten his leadership for something that was a predictable result, i do not understand. >> let me go to betsy on the politics. it seems to me the judge has said today this is a coverup case. this guy wasn't out there robbing gas stations for his own benefit, he was out there helping the president by covering up their relationship about how to get the dirt from the dnc, how to get the hacking stup out. how trump can use it as oppo. how come the judge department throw the book at this guy to try to get him to talk? it just seems amazing to me that he says he's in collaboration with the president, he's covering up for him and at the same time he gets a relatively

smooth sentence of 40 months? your thoughts. >> the judge explained several considerations she made when deciding not to give stone a longer sentence. one thing she pointed out was the fact that he doesn't have any prior criminal record. she noted, of course, that he's older and that for somebody in their 60s a lengthy sentence is perhaps more taxing than it could be for somebody who's younger. that said, of course a sentence of this length is not -- it's not nothing and it's significantly longer than what stone's lawyers asked for. they were hoping he would merely get probation. at the same time, it certainly is interesting enough kind of a repudiation both of barr's view and of stone's lawyers themselves. the judge went out of her way to call their intervention unprecedented and john crabb, who is a senior official in the u.s. attorney's office who spoke on behalf of the prosecution to the judge, seemed in some ways

to reflect that view saying that the prosecution itself was righteous and also saying that the prosecutors who put together that initial memo, which has not been withdrawn where they called for a 7 to 9 year sentence, were acting in good faith and the memo that they released was entirely correct. >> well, president trump's comments today are the latest sign he's actively considering a pardon for stone. his comments coming after he posted a video this morning from a fox news host who said the president could end this travesty in an instant with a pardon. nbc news reports today that trump is not only weighing more pardons but he's also cutting the justice department out of the loop entirely. the process is normally handled by the department of justice, but the white house has taken the lead with jared kushner, the man who solved the middle east problem, the president's son-in-law now heading the effort over pardons. cynthia, has there ever been a president who's pardoned someone for covering up for them?

>> well, not like this. i mean, anybody that needs pardon doning is completely corrupt. when the president says i'm going to hope he's exonerated. he's not going to be exonerated. he's been found guilty by a jury of his peers. that's not the word, exonerated. he's going to pardon him. whether or not the sentence quite frankly is 3 1/2 years or 9 years, he's not going to see very much time in jail. to me, the minute he steps foot in that jail and she steps him back, he's going to end up pardoned. the only question is whether that's before november or after november. that's clearly his intention. the manner he's been acting where he's unleashed, untethered where he has any anticorrupt process demonstrates he's willing to do it in front of the american people and i suspect he will. >> betsy, thank you.

thank you, cynthia. my view is the worst thing about this case is it proves to all of the future trump toadies, if you cover up for this president, he will take care of you. that's a powerful message to the toadies out there. they're in good company and in good hands. up next, the gloves came off in a blistering debate in las vegas. how much if at all did it change the all important shape of the field, we'll see in the days ahead. you're watching "hardball." thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+/her2- metastatic breast cancer,

as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. be in your moment. ask your doctor about ibrance. and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu & doug

with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

mike bloomberg owns more wealth than the bottom 125 million americans. that's wrong. that's immoral. >> the best known socialist in

the company happens to be a millionaire with three houses. what did i miss here? >> we shouldn't have to choose between one candidate that wants to burn this party down and another that wants to buy the party out. >> mayor buttigieg has a slogan thought up by his people. amy's plan is like a post-it note, insert plan here. >> welcome back to "hardball." those were some of the attack lines in the democratic debate. they lobbed everything at each other including the kitchen sink. about 20 million people watched it last night, the biggest audience ever for any kind of debate like this. it got especially heated at times in large part because of the newcomer, the newbie. mike bloomberg is not even on the ballot. let's watch. >> i'd like to talk about who

we're running against, a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians, and, no, i'm not talking about donald trump, i'm talking about mayor bloomberg. >> the fact of the matter is, he has not managed his city very well when he was there. he didn't get a whole lot done. >> mr. bloomberg had policies in new york city of stop and frisk, which went after african-american and latino people in an outrageous way. >> mr. mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those non-disclosure agreements so we can hear their side of the story? >> we have a very few non-disclosure agreements. >> how many is that? >> let me finish. >> how many is that? >> none of them accused me of doing anything other than maybe they didn't like a joke i told. >> bloomberg warned last night that the in fighting among democrats will have serious unintended consequences and that's next. you're watching "hardball." i'm your 70lb st. bernard puppy,

and my lack of impulse control, is about to become your problem. ahh no, come on. i saw you eating poop earlier. hey! my focus is on the road, and that's saving me cash with drivewise. who's the dummy now? whoof! whoof! so get allstate where good drivers save 40% for avoiding mayhem, like me. sorry! he's a baby! try to win by attacking, now, we know the trump strategy- distorting, dividing. mr. president: it. won't. work. newspapers report bloomberg is the democrat trump fears most. as president, universal healthcare that lets people keep their coverage if they like it. a record on job creation. a doable plan to combat climate change. i led a complex, diverse city through 9-11 and i have common sense plans to move america away from chaos to progress! i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

my age-related macular degenso today i made a plan with my doctor, which includes preservision... because he said a multi- vitamin alone may not be enough. and it's my vision, my morning walk, my sunday drive, my grandson's beautiful face. only preservision areds2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. it's how i see my life. because it's my vision... preservision. managing lipids like very high tryou diet. exercise. tough. but if you're also taking fish oil supplements... you should know... they are not fda approved... they may have saturated fat and may even raise bad cholesterol. to treat very high triglycerides, discover the science of prescription vascepa.

proven in multiple clinical trials, vascepa, along with diet is the only prescription epa treatment, approved by the fda to lower very high triglycerides by 33%, without raising bad cholesterol. look. it's clear, there's only one prescription epa vascepa. vascepa is not right for everyone. do not take vascepa if you are allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. tell your doctor if you are allergic to fish or shellfish, have liver problems or other medical conditions and about any medications you take, especially those that may affect blood clotting. 2.3% of patients reported joint pain. prescription power. proven to work. now with a new indication. ask your doctor about vascepa.

welcome back to "hardball." last night's democratic debate, the best one i've ever seen here in las vegas, turned into a circular firing squad. all of the candidates focused their fire on one guy, the rich guy, mike bloomberg. today bloomberg defended his performance. the only person who benefits from the democratic division is the man they all want to beat is

donald trump. >> how was your night last night? look, the real winner in the debate last night was donald trump because i worry that we may very well be on the way to nominating somebody who cannot win in november, and if we choose a candidate who appeals to a small base like senator sanders, it will be a fatal error. >> for more i'm joined by adrienne elrod, senior advisor to hillary clinton and cyhil. first of all, adrian, i think michael bloomberg has a lot of money and has a message. if you don't run me, you run bernie. if you run bernie, we lose big time. >> that is the message. that's why so many moderate democrats are looking at him being the knight in shining armor. joe biden has a deficit in the

campaign. what we saw was not a strong performance by mike bloomberg. i understand what he's saying, donald trump is a winner from last night. there were some unforced errors that he could have easily corrected. nda, that was inexcusable -- >> shouldn't he have had a murder board before where people hit him with those. >> my understanding is he's been in some very aggressive debate prep sessions with talented people. he was strong on policy. when he talked about climate change, when he talked about economic issues he came across sounding very strong. but on some of the issues that really matter to democratic voters, i.e.,, me too movement, mdas, he needs some work there. >> personal frustration, i occasionally let it out. i anticipated last night that the smart move for the democratic candidates, four or five of them, was go after bernie. he's running away with this. he's running away in california.

he could get 40 or 50%. he could get the first ballot nomination the way he's going and yet they go after the newbie on the block. i'm just asking. >> it reminds me of republicans and donald trump in on the block? >> it reminds me of donald trump. he was the newbie and they didn't go after him. pete buttigieg went after him. bernie looked good before the debate and he looked good after that. >> i thought he was bernie laughs night. it was bernie, that's how who is. he's the democratic socialist candidate, he as a message and ideology. things got ugly between the

midwestern moderates. again during the second question on immigration, here he goes at her. >> you were staking your candidacy on your washington experience. you're on the committee that oversees boarder security on the committee that does trade, you're literally part of the committee that's overseeing these things and were not able to speak to literally the first thing about the politics -- >> are you trying to say that i'm dumb or are you mocking me here, pete? >> i'm saying you shouldn't trivialize that knowledge. >> i made an error. people sometimes forget names. i wish everyone was as perfect as you, pete. >> i can't tell you the number of times i wanted to plug these candidates with these questions. who is the prime minister of canada, simple stuff. if they even know the basics, here's a map, show me where

angola is. so me basic was in you should have learned in seventh grade. they have very tunnel vision of what they know. they don't know a lot. >> that was -- senator klobuchar did say that she just had a forgetful moment and didn't remember his mind -- >> aren't you kind. so she did know the president's name. >> that's what she implied, that she just forgot in the moment. i think that squabble that we saw between mayor pete and senator klobuchar doesn't help either one of them money. >> how does it hurt pete? >> it hurts pete because it keeps him under 15%. that's the problem that we're dealing with. >> d he look like the kid in school that did the homework and wouldn't let the other kids see it? >> and klobuchar is polling worse than him, looks like he's punching down a little bit. they are competing for white voters, moderate, middle of the

road types and there's an argument that amy klobuchar cost potentially pete buttigieg the victory in new hampshire. >> what did you think of joe biden. when brian said to him open question, here, tell your story of you and your son and whole question of ukraine, tell your side, he didn't want to do it. he refused to do it. >> he doesn't like that topic at all. he likes to pivot away from it. he likes to shouldn't it ashied and say the republicans are coming after me because they're afraid of me. >> why didn't he have a prepared answer o that tricky subject? >> it's just a difficult topic for him to talk about. remember when amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg were best friends on the stage? we'd like to see that again. >> six candidates took the stage

last night for the ninth democratic debate here in las vegas. i was in the spin room post debate and talked to them about it. you're watching "hardball."

i am totally blind. and non-24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424. and when you open a new brokerage account, your cash is automatically invested at a great rate. that's why fidelity leads the industry in value while our competition continues to talk. ♪ talk, talk

while our competition continues to talk. ♪you got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive♪ ♪ e-lim-i-nate the negative "slow it down a little" ♪ and latch on to the affirmative ♪ "it's okay" ♪ but don't mess with mister inbetween ♪ and my lack of impulse control,, is about to become your problem. ahh no, come on. i saw you eating poop earlier. hey! my focus is on the road, and that's saving me cash with drivewise. who's the dummy now? whoof! whoof! so get allstate where good drivers save 40% for avoiding mayhem, like me. sorry! he's a baby! and with the sxfinity stream app, screen is your big screen. which is free with your service, you can take a spin through on demand shows, or stream live tv. download your dvr'd shows and movies on the fly. even record from right where you are.

whether you're travelling around the country or around the house, keep what you watch with you. download the xfinity stream app and watch all the shows you love. last night after the democratic debate, i tried to

get candidates to admit what they were up to. >> you went after the whole array of so-called moderate democrats knowing that's the soft underbelly where you can get more votes. you can go up in the rankings by going after those people rather than what you tried before unsuccessfully was to approach bernie votes. i think that was your strategy tonig tonight. >> you are much more strategic than i am around all of this. >> you know what you're doing. >> look, i think this is the question now, electability, because democrats want to beat donald trump. we need a nominee who can get elected. >> there was clearly a lot of rough housing last night. i asked senator klobuchar about that. >> tonight warren, senator warren, your colleague, went out there and waved her hand every single time, got a lot of time tonight, a lot of time, on the attack, always on the attack.

and i think it worked. so this kind environment seems to be encouraging the kind of gladiatorial politics that you're running against. >> she had a good night, no doubt about it, but what bothers me is people of the country are watching, the people who stayed home in 2016. and what they see is everyone fighting with each other and they don't see the leadership we need to take on donald trump. >> what's strange is that the two candidates surging in the polls right now have never before run on a democratic ticket. mayor buttigieg had thoughts about that. that party is now being rivalled for by the two surging candidates are not members of the party and made choices throughout their careers not to become democrats. >> to me what it says is we've got to get it together and i think we ought to nominate a democrat. each of us has served as a

mayor, one as a republican mayor, one an independent and me as a democratic mayor. i believe in the values of the democratic mayor. >> another debate next week in south carolina. i believe it will be even ti feistier. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in," breaking news that the president fired his top intelligence official because officials briefed democrats on russian efforts to get trump re-electre-elected. then -- >> they say he lied but other people lied, too. >> roger stone sentenced to prison, despite incredible pressure from the president. >> roger has a very good chance of exoneration in my opinion. >> plus, a bombshell claim by

julian a