attack with this. understandable. he can't read. that's our broadcast on this thursday night. thank you so much for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. a warning about russian interference may have cost the acting director of national intelligence his job. nbc news has learned president trump pushed aside joseph maguire after lawmakers were briefed about the russian interference in the 2020 election. plus, long time trump ally roger stone gets sentenced to 40 months behind bars, but the president isn't ruling out a pardon just yet. and how michael bloomberg's campaign is explaining his lackluster debate performance as other democratic candidates continue their attacks. good morning, everyone, it is friday, february 21st.

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside alex in for yasmin. amazing we made it through the week with everything that happened. >> and the nevada caucuses are tomorrow. >> and south carolina after that. and super tuesday right after that. buckle up. >> it never ends. we begin with new information on why the president is replacing the nation's top spy chief, a career loyalist, acting director of national intelligence joseph maguire who was under consideration to be the permanent dni was pushed aside because the president was angry that lawmakers were briefed on russia's plans to help him get reelected. news of the briefing which was held last thursday was first reported by "the new york times." in fact, sources tell both the "times" and "the washington post" that the president erupted at maguire the next day, concerned the democrats would use the information against him.

a former official tells nbc news that the office of the director of national intelligence is nearing a melt down over maguire's removal and the reasons behind it. as ken dilanian and andrea mitchell report, trump is punishing intelligence officials for providing accurate intelligence to members of congress who are cleared to receive it. we should note that maguire's testimony in september when he told lawmakers that the whistleblower quote did the right thing and followed the law every step of the way, by reporting his concerns or her concerns over the president's phone call with ukraine's president. trump sent shock waves through the intelligence community when he announced wednesday that one of his most partisan allies, the u.s. ambassador to germany, richard grenell would replace maguire's acting dni despite having no intelligence experience. last night the president tweeted his intense to nominate someone else for the job quote soon. a former aide to devin

nunes, four sources a telling politico this. this move comes after president trump's nomination of grenell who hasn't served in any u.s. intelligence agency as we have been saying this to be the new acting director of national intelligence, a position that oversees all 17 u.s. spy agencies. patel, a former top national security council official was a key staffer on the house intelligence committee and the lead author of a report that helped republicans discredit the russia investigation. patel will not require senate confirmation to serve in the role. patel did not immediately respond to politico's request for comment on the story, let's get comments, go to washington. >> the guy who broke the story. >> daniel litman, you're the man on this one. it's a big one. we're going to get to that in a moment. i want to talk about the political implications to oust the current dni.

republicans, career officials, how have they reacted to this? >> they are kind of pulling their hair out because you can imagine that that's not a good reason to remove an acting dni, joseph maguire who by all accounts is well respected in the intelligence community just because he gave a briefing to congress about important security threats. shouldn't we be on the lookout for russia interfering, but that's a bridge too far for the president who does not want congress really to know about that. it's kind of a sore spot for him that russia has helped him in 2016 and is helping him again in 2020. >> kind of. that's for sure. quick question on that one, though, i just want to be sure with the reporting, the president got enraged mount vasouvious caliber here because the information was going to the

intel community, democrats, his first reaction was not that wow, we're getting evidence that russia is violating us again, and you know, working to get me elected. i mean, that wasn't his reaction, right? >> no, as far as we can tell that was not his reaction. and i think it's a safe bet to say that in the intelligence agency have told trump, hey, russia is interfering but, you know, it's also possible that they don't talk to him about that as much because he doesn't want to hear that. but they are on an obligation to tell congress which oversees the intelligence community, and trump was mad that adam schiff, one of his top rivals was included in this briefing but he's the chairman of the house intelligence committee, so you can't exclude him. >> let me go back to your reporting about devin nunes's aide moving to the department of national intelligence.

how might this background essentially authorizing him to go there and be part of this dni now, have an influence on the situation with the acting director for national intelligence. >> well, yeah, it's probably going to send shock waves to democrats because they view cash patel as someone that they don't like, and don't trust, and it's basically putting someone to keep an eye on the intelligence agencies, and even if grenell leaves a few months after his acting role ends, there is every potential possibility that patel would stay under a new permanent director. and so i think democrats, they view cash patel as not someone that they think would do a good job in the agencies, and he is, you know, new at intelligence, you know, experience, and so i think that's a name that if you

tell anyone in congress, their ears perk up. he's not someone that is probably well liked in parts of the intelligence agencies because he worked on the report to try and discredit them. >> daniel lippman, live in dc, don't go anywhere. roger stone has been sentenced to 40 months in prison after being convicted on charges of obstruction, lying to congress and witness tampering. federal judge amy berman jackson said stone wasn't prosecuted for standing up for the president, he was prosecuted for covering up for the president. judge jackson echoed the closing arguments telling the court the truth still exists. the truth still matters. she also said quote at his core mr. stone is an insecure person who craves and recklessly pursues attention. nothing about this case was a joke. it wasn't funny. on top of his prison sentence, stone was given a $20,000 fine, two years of probation, and 250

hours of community service. he won't have to report to prison until the judge acts on a defense motion for a new trial. stone claims one of the jurors was biassed against president trump. after the sentence was handed down, the president was weighing in on the matter during an event in las vegas. let's all take a listen. >> i'm following this very closely, and i want to see it play out to its fullest because roger has a very good chance of exoneration in my opinion. i'm not going to do anything in terms of the great powers bestowed upon a president of the united states. i want the process to play out. i think that's the best thing to do. because i'd love to see roger exonerated, and i'd love to see it happen because i personally think he was treated very unfairly. >> and trump's advisers are telling nbc news that if the president decides to pardon stone they want him to wait until after the election so he

doesn't risk turning off undecided voters in the swing states. joining us onset msnbc legal analyst, danny cevallos. good to have you with us. we have been talking a lot about the roger stone case, waiting for the sentencing, especially after what happened with the four prosecutors resigning once the doj got involved. give us your quick read of the sentence, where does it fit in expectations, legally speaking, is it in the right place, is it too severe, not severe enough? >> first, the president should not have intervened with justice. if he was going to pardon them, he should have pardoned them out right. main justice should not have swooped in. the line prosecutors did nothing wrong. they technically applied the sentencing guidelines which in this defense attorney's president can be unduly harsh. roger stone's case is an example. the original recommendation was 87 to 108 months, that was the guideline range applied. had roger stone received 87 months, the lowest ends of the

guidelines, it would have been the highest sentence ever imposed since 2005 for a 67-year-old first time obstruction offender, so you look at that and say, oh, well he got 40 months, that's not so bad, well, when you look at statistics, it is so bad because the average sentence imposed for an obstruction offender first time is under ten months. if you look at the averages, 40 mon months for a first time obstruction offender is rather high. it's considerably higher than the national average. you may say that, well, roger stone got something way below the original sentencing guidelines. to a defense attorney like me those sentencing guidelines are abstract numbers put together by a sentencing commission many years ago. the national arcverages are wha count. i may be in the minority, warning, i am a defense attorney, but roger stone's sentence is not a lenient sentence.

it is above the national average and so for those who think he may be lucky, yeah, maybe depending on how you look at it, but if you look at the averages, it was still a harsh sentence. >> speaking of the word lucky, the president has suggested, he was saying right there, he thinks everything is unfair. he thinks he qualified for exoneration at some point. his advisers as we have reported say look he's not going to do something or we don't want him to do something in terms of pardoning roger stone until after the election so it doesn't look bad or make a certain appeal and turn off undecided voters and those that are independents. what are your thoughts on that, not only the timing but the prospect of the president pardoning roger stone. >> there's a long history among presidents of strategic pardons. they are often issued, the controversial ones are issued on the last day in office. let's not forget, there have been many controversial pardons in the past, including president clinton pardoning his own brother. you had a number of pardons of people like patricia hurst who

was pardoned technically twice, first her sentence was commuted by president carter and president clinton pardoned her out right. there are not a lot of offenders who receive double pardons. if you're patricia hurst, maybe the rules are different. pardons are highly political by their nature. they undo everything that the justice department has done hours and untold thousands of dollars prosecuting somebody using all their resources and then it's just undone based on a president's view of the case. >> it's interesting that in the president's perspective it's only his allies that have been treated unfairly and always need to be pardons or exonerated. >> why am i not surprised by that. >> michael cohen, probably not getting a pardon. >> good point. >> danny cevallos, always a pleasure. thank you very much. another potential sign of trouble for joe biden, a new poll shows the former vice president slipping in south carolina. we're going to get a live report

on the state of his campaign. president trump rallies in colorado and not only slams the democratic presidential candidates but also this year's oscar awards and brad pitt just, you know, because. those stories and a check on weather when we come right back. - [spokeswoman] meet the ninja foodi pressure cooker, the best of pressure cooking and air frying now in one pot, and with tendercrisp technology, you can cook foods that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. the ninja foodi pressure cooker, the pressure cooker that crisps.

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welcome back, everyone. joe biden's lead in south carolina has dwindled after dropping 13 points since september. a new poll finds the former vice president topping the field in south carolina with 24%. bernie sanders and tom steyer are statistically tied for second with 19% and 15% respectively. then you have pete buttigieg, elizabeth warren, and amy klobuchar. they're all statistically tied for fourth, all within the margin of error. when it comes to black voters in the state, joe biden is the favorite, biden holds the lead with 31%, despite dropping 15 points since september.

tom steyer and bernie sanders are in a statistical tie in second. while elizabeth warren and pete buttigieg are also statistically tied in fourth. they have 5% and then just 1% respectively. >> joining us now from las vegas, nbc news correspondent mike memoli. you have been following the biden campaign from the get-go. what is his closing message to voters in nevada and how do these numbers either give him a bump or make them a little bit nervous in the biden campaign going into south carolina? >> there has to be some nervousness in the biden campaign seeing those numbers. south carolina is supposed to be his fire wall. they're using the campaign in nevada, campaigning with three people in line, first, the person actually on the ballot with him in nevada, bernie sanders, he has been focussing on two issues in going against the vermont senator, guns, and especially health care. the unions are such an influence in the electorate in nevada, and part of biden's message is that the medicare for all would hurt

unions that have won the hard fought negotiated health care plans. medicare for all would replace those. he has in mind the person heat indices he's going to share a ballot with, especially in the super tuesday states, michael bloomberg, we saw him go after him on the debate stage. he's trying to claw back some of the support mayor bloomberg has tried to bring in, and the man he's hoping to face on the ballot in november, the trump tower potentially off in the distance, president trump here in nevada today, and he usually uses these moments to highlight the contrast with him. >> so you have medicare for all, that's a big deal, of course there in las vegas, not far from where you are right now, that horrible attack. gun control is a big issue and the tv town hall yesterday in which biden blasted senator bernie sanders and his position on gun manufacturers. is this going to be a new line of attack for biden? >> reporter: well, biden really has been building up to this for some time. he has been talking throughout the campaign about the fact that he's the only democrat in this race who's taken on the nra and won, but in terms of his paid messaging and what we have seen

on the trail, he's targeting sanders specifically on this, raising an issue of liability for gun manufacturers that bernie sanders voted to pass when he was in the senate. let's take a listen to what he said at the cnn town hall last night. >> guess what, the only industry in america that is not able to be sued are the gun manufacturers. now, bernie talks about my record. it's appropriate. i'm not being mean. he voted to exempt gun manufacturers from any liability. zero. they can't be sued. >> reporter: at a separate event here in las vegas yesterday, biden said that the weakness of some politicians in taking on the nra is about cowardice, it's also immoral, strong words focused on bernie sanders. >> can i ask you on a light note. it's 2:19 in the morning, did you pull an all nighter because you're in vegas or wake up early for us. >> no comment. >> he's not answering. >> reporter: people are still having a good time.

hard at work here. >> see he reconciled all that. we were going to say busted but i guess not. >> mike memoli, enjoy whatever hours you can in the middle of the night. several top members of the trump administration have worked to slash legal and illegal immigration into the u.s. but now acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney says the u.s. is desperate for more immigrants. the details of that story next. i don't add up the years.

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acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney says the u.s. economy quote needs more immigrants to continue growing, according to an audio recording of mulvaney's remarks of a private gathering in england. obtained by "the washington post," mulvaney said quote we are desperate for more people. we are running out of people to fuel the economic growth we have had in our nation over the last four years. we need more immigrants, adding that the trump administration wants those immigrants to come in a legal fascia.

>> -- fashion. >> mulvaney's remarks tend to be in contrast to that of steven policy adviser stephen miller, that aim to close off the u.s. border to foreigners. they have insisted that the steady arrival of newcomers depresses wages for blue collar workers whose votes lifted trump to the presidency. nbc news has not obtained a copy of the audio recording. what we do have is weather right now, and nbc meteorologist bill karins in the studio telling me how much longer i have to wear turtle necks. >> it's cold almost everywhere. >> a big swing from yesterday to today. >> the weekend is going to be the reward. we'll get to that. north carolina yesterday, we advertised there was going to be snow. it wasn't going to be a crazy block buster, but enough to cause disruption. this is in the raleigh area, 2 1/2 inches at the airport. the first snow of the winter

season. the kids had to wait a long time for this one, and just barely enough to play in. charlotte only had about a 1/2 inch, and the storm is just about over with, but the cold back behind the storm system that we have winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings. they are worried about black ice and icy roads this morning. a lot of schools on a two-hour delay from richmond, norfolk, virginia beach, raleigh, fayetteville, wilmington, north carolina, this morning, under a winter weather advisory. as far as what's left, the blue is the snow, and you can see it sweeping off the coast. we're just about done with it. we mentioned the cold, alex mentioned the cold. it's 16, windchill in new york right now. negative 3 in northern new england and vermont. we're at 3 in chicago. denver is at 7 and the cold air has swept toward houston. windchill of 38. mobile 33 and northern florida at 35. so it is a chilly morning just about everywhere. as far as the weekend outlook goes, it's looking as quiet and nice as you're going to get, chilly and sunny in the northeast, finally a dry stretch

today. perfect travel weather around the country. the next storm in the southwest on saturday. could bring southern portions, areas of nevada. it's not going to be a huge big rainstorm that we keep people away from the caucus sights. it's a quiet weekend to get through this morning, a nice rewarding weekend. >> sounds good. kids are going to love it. thanks, bill. still ahead, as the attacks ramp up, one of michael bloomberg's campaign advisers is reportedly taking the fall for the mayor's lackluster debate performance this week. we're digging into polling showing how the democratic candidates stack up to the president in several key swing states. we'll share that. we're back in a moment.

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welcome back, everyone i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside alex whit, we begin this half hour with trump confidant roger stone, sentenced to three years for lying during the russia investigation. nbc justice correspondent pete williams has the details. >> reporter: 13 month after he was arrested by the fbi, roger stone, a former trump campaign adviser came to court. his lawyers said given his age, 67 and declining health he should get at most home detention. prosecutors urged the judge to consider all the criminal conduct listed in the justice department's original sentencing. the one before william barr, stone said nothing in court hoping his lawyers can get him a new trial.

he was sentenced by federal judge amy berman jackson, the same judge in photo stone posted on social media with what looked like a gun site cross hairs. stone showed a flagrant disregard for american democracy when he lied about finding out wa julien assange was up to with e-mails about the hillary clinton campaign. you are not prosecuted for standing up for the president. you were prosecuted for, appropriate that stone is judged by someone neutral, not someone who benefitted politically. outside comments about the case were entirely inappropriate. the sentence, 3 1/3 years in prison well below the maximum under federal guidelines. >> i worry people won't believe this is a fair outcome, though i do believe it is. intervention by political leaders casts a doubt on what

happens in federal court. >> reporter: the case isn't over. stone's lawyers are asking the judge to order a new trial. they claim one of the jurors were biassed against president trump. so for now, stone won't have to report to prison until the judge rules on that, but it seems like such a long shot. she's unlikely to grant it. ayman. >> our thanks to nbc's pete williams for that report. president trump yesterday did not rule out a pardon for stone, trump advisers tell nbc news they would want the president to wait until after the election so he doesn't risk turning off undecided voters in key swing states. quinnipiac university hypothetical match up polls spell trouble for the president in two swing states with a path to victory in another. in pennsylvania, trump loses every race but one which results in a tie, when up against joe biden, the president loses 50% to 42%, senator amy klobuchar has beat him 49% to 42%. michael bloomberg, up on top with 48 to 42%. senator bernie sanders, 48 to

44%, and pete buttigieg also beats trump 47% to 43%. however, senator elizabeth warren finds herself statistically tied against trump 47% to 44%. let's move on to michigan where democrats wind up on top in three hypothetical match ups, sanders posts one of the strongest wins there, beating trump 48 to 43%. bloomberg by the same point margin, 47 to 42%. biden bests trump 47% to 43% while races against warren, buttigieg, and klobuchar all end in a statistical tie for the president. now we check out wisconsin where the president defeats all the democratic candidates in every hypothetical race. klobuchar loses by an 11 point margin, 39% to 50%. warren posts a loss to the president, 41% to 51%. bloomberg, buttigieg, both lose to the president, 41 to 49%. biden loses 42 to 49%, and sanders also is defeated by the president, 43 to 50%.

>> and the democratic presidential contenders may have left the debate stage but their jabs at former new york city mayor michael bloomberg continue to rage on. >> it's my job to make sure that america got a little closer look at mayor bloomberg and came to understand that of all the people standing on that stage, he is the riskiest one for the democrats. >> how can you run against donald trump when you have, what is it, 10, 12, 14, ndas? >> we could wake up the day after super tuesday and the option in our party have been narrowed down to bernie sanders and michael bloomberg, and i think if that's the only two options we have heading into this contest against donald trump we're in trouble because most americans don't identify with the idea of burning the party down and are also not happy with the idea of trying to buy the party out. >> michael bloomberg's campaign has been taking the heat after

his lackluster debate performance. the "the new york times" reports that the former mayor put in hours of prep, holding mock debate sessions with top aides and meeting at length in new york and palm springs, california. one of bloomberg's closest advisers howard wolfson shouldered the blame for the less than stellar outcome. i led the debate prep, i accept the responsibility for inadequately preparing him. several people close to the campaign said the former payor's a advisers had acknowledged that bloomberg would have to take a different approach in the next debate on tuesday night. joining us from washington, d.c., white house and washington reporter for "politico," daniel lippman, the debate stage was quite the battleground for michael bloomberg. not sure that was the rude awakening he was anticipating but he certainly got it nonetheless. what do you think it will take for him to try and revive himself and whether or not the debate actually even matters when you think about it. do voters in states beyond nevada and specifically that night care what happened or even

saw what happened? >> well, it did get good ratings, but i think michael bloomberg is betting on the fact that if, you know, he spends hundreds of millions of dollars on tv and online ads and organizing efforts that he can circumvent what his poor performance showed, you know, two nights ago, so i think he is hoping that he can basically, you know, tell voters or not remind voters about what happened but really offer a positive message and hit what his consultants are telling him to do, but, you know, it shows that he was very rusty, and clearly not ready for prime time. >> yeah. so daniel, you may have heard me go through all of those poll numbers from swing states, but the state of wisconsin, i want to focus on here because the president is leading there. how does this affect the debate among the democrats over electability and who can beat the president.

>> i don't think one state alone is going to affect this debate too much. but it was interesting in the other states that democrats are leading that bernie sanders is not doing too poorly, that he is actually a serious contender to defeat trump in november if he's the nominee. so that goes against the grain of what the establishment and mainstream democrats are saying that he won't be able to, you know, carry, you know, democrats all the way. it kind of reminds me of what republicans were saying about donald trump back in 2016. they were very worried that he would destroy the party, and they didn't give enough credit to trump's passionate supporters among the grass roots and that's something that bernie sanders has this time, even if he's not popular in the corridor with, you know, mainstream democrats. >> let me get your thoughts on pete buttigieg's comments there because it kind of apply as off what you were saying, is he is

presenting this stark option of a guy who wants to burn the party down and a person who wants to buy the party out and i'm curious to get your thoughts. do you see any traction with the way it has played out since iowa and new hampshire that either through the polls or just, you know, kind of like the public sentiment that in fact democrats are viewing this as a two-way race between bernie sanders and michael bloomberg. is there still space for somebody like a pete buttigieg of an amy klobuchar. >> with joe biden's decline, and mayor pete not seeming to be ahead in many states at all, it does seem like it's down to bloomberg and sanders. but i think mayor pete will have to take back that comment about burning the party down if sanders is the nominee, but also we should be reminded that bloomberg did not want to be a spoiler in the first place, and so that's why he entered late. he thought that biden, you know, could do better, and so if he is

seen as a spoiler, that would go against what he said originally. >> it will be interesting to see what happens to the party after everybody gets behind a candidate, endorse them. >> they have said they would. >> we can see a brokered convention, that's what bloomberg is working on behind the scenes, too. >> right. daniel lippman, always appreciate it. thanks, daniel. >> thank you. still ahead, after the president blasts best picture winning film "parasite," the movie's u.s. distributor hits back with a jab on trump's ability to read sub titles. the latest on the deadly coronavirus as new cases surge across east asia. what the world health organization is doing to combat spreading of the disease. next, your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment.

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you see them? and the winner is a movie from south korea. what the hell was that all about? we got enough problems with south korea with trade on top of it, they give them the best movie of the year. was it good? i don't know. you know, i'm looking for like let's get "gone with the wind" can we get "gone with the wind" back, please. "sunset boulevard," so many great movies, the winner is, from south korea. i thought it was best foreign film, right. best foreign movie. no, did this ever happen before? and then you have brad pitt, i was never a big fan of his. got up and said a little wise guy statement. little wise guy. >> why. anyway, you heard it. >> i think some can make the case, that's outright bigotry when you're making that kind of point about south korea because

of its art and movies, that the academ academy awards are strictly american. >> who boos brad pitt, come on. >> that's a whole other issue. >> that was the president, obviously, and he was giving his take on brad pitt, the academy awards as well. certainly taking issue with south korea's win in the film "parasite," the first nonenglish film to win the oscar for best picture. neon, the company that distributed "parasite" in the u.s., tweeted writing understandable he can't read. again, the president expressing what was that about. there's your answer. anyway, brad pitt who won the award for best supporting actor alluded to the fact the senate did not allow witnesses to testify at trump's impeachment trial during his acceptance speech and i guess it didn't sit well with the president. >> do you think something like that goes to the ceo, we're going to take a dig at the president, are you prepared for what might come with it afterwards. >> he probably said, yeah, go

for it. good pr. a surge of new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in prisons across mainland china marking an increase after several days of declines. a handful of prisons reported over 500 new cases earlier today, a significant portion of more than 1,100 new cases reported in mainland china just within the last 24 hours. meanwhile, the amount of cases in south korea has now doubled, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in that country to 204. and there have been at least ten deaths outside of mainland china including two japanese citizens who were passengers on the quarantined diamond princess cruise ship as 900 new cases of the virus were reported in the last 24 hours, raising the overall total there above 75,000 with a death toll topping 2,200. absolutely just staggering. the world health organization announced yesterday that two new drug therapy trials to help fight the coronavirus are set to begin in china and that early results may be available within the next three weeks.

>> at least there's a little relief, we hope. >> hopefully. how about relief from the cold. >> the only story that scares me, they're quarantined on the cruise ship, they know it's there, and people are still getting it. yeah. >> scary. >> i know. >> let's get into this forecast. we talked a little bit about the snow in north carolina earlier. now we have the cold in its wake. it's not cold everywhere but everywhere from the southeast through texas, temperatures are well below average. orlando only 60 degrees. pretty chilly by your standards. the warm up is beginning in the northern ha northern half of the country. chicago, 46, and that warm stretch is going to slide all the way to the east coast. look at new york city, sunday, 53. monday, 55. tuesday, 50 degrees. that's a little early taste of spring for you there. and where it just snowed 2 inches yesterday we're going to be near 60 degrees on monday, and 66 in raleigh on tuesday. so the only stuff you really

have to worry about over the upcoming weekend, we have some rain coming into arizona, flood watches for areas around phoenix, heavy rain, especially on saturday. notice some of the rain in the southern half of nevada for the caucus. not too concerned. getting rid of the snow in eastern carolina. this is a map relike to see, i don't have any travel trouble spots. sunshine across the board. dress warm as you head out this morning, you and the kids and should enjoy a nice warm up in the east coast. >> thank you. >> thanks, bill rj. still ahead from wall street to main street, morgan stanley invests on smaller customers taking on a popular online broker, the stories following your business day next. diabetes and heart disease, but is his treatment doing enough to lower his heart risk? maybe not jardiance can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. so it could help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. and it lowers a1c! jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration,

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in what is one of the biggest bank take overs since '08, morgan stanley is buying e-trade for $13 billion. our reporter joins us live.

how sig niffiant and what does this sig nifi for you that they pulled this off? >> this is a monumental deal. what's interesting about it strategically, it marks a shift in strategy to some degree for the bank, historically focused on investment banking, this will move them in the direction of wealth management for regular people. very clearly a shift in strategy. just to remind you, this is just the latest example of a deal coming together in this space. we've seen consolidation in the brokerage industry last year with charles schaub's $26 billion takeover of td ameritrade. let me highlight a story, new mexico's attorney general is suing google over children's data privacy. the authoring alleges that the software -- that its software

collects young student's data without appropriate parental consent. google calls this factually wrong. and lastly in the entertainment space, viacom cbs delivered their financial results, the first set as a unified company, and they disappointed, they registered a net loss of $258 million. but perhaps the most interesting thing that came through this report is they are launching a new subscription video service which they referred to as a house of brands product. it's going to bring together various kinds of entertainment, sports, news, film properties, all together in one service. they own cbs, with nickelodeon, b.e.t., comedy central, so a number of them coming together and crowded.

>> more streaming wars. thank you so much. up next, a lock at axios's one big thing. and "morning joe," the russian interference that may have cost the top chief his job. we are in a full-blown national security crisis. live in nevada as 2020 democrats make a final pitch before tomorrow's important caucuses. "morning joe," everyone, just moments away. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (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!

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joining us now from washington, the man himself, the co-founder of axios, mike allen. let's get to the one big thing for you this morning, what is it? >> first thing first, happy friday. >> good one. >> boosting bernie. mike bloomberg got into this race partly because he wanted to stop sanders, because he wanted to stop democratic socialism. but after debate performance, if

he doesn't bounce back, he could wind up sealing the deal for bernie, because here's how it breaks down. because mike bloomberg looked weak yesterday, others of the moderates including elizabeth warren who got some of her mojo back, pete buttigieg, we just saw a clip from him, joe biden, less likely to get out. that keeps the field split, keeps other candidates sucking up delegates and helps bernie sanders build that lead that the bloomberg campaign themselves has warned could become insurmtable after super tuesday. >> also helps voters crystalize that contrast between a billionaire and democratic socialist, the corner stone of the campaign. let me get your take. what is axios recording about mike bloomberg's path to the nomination? what is the big picture strategy about delegates or getting to a

brokered convention? >> the bloomberg team thought for a long time their path would be in you get to a contested convention, the democrats are calling it, because they're saying we don't have brokers anymore, but if you get to the convention and nobody has a mathematical lock, nobody has clinched, could then mike bloomberg draw on his long relationships with super delegates, local officials, state officials, to put it over? you see on your air, david pluff and others, saying in these times, in this mod, even if there's not a mathematical lock, the idea of democrats overturning someone who has a majority, led the most votes, bernie in this case, that seems unlikely. so the path gets tough. more and more of these democrats are starting to think, maybe i could about that alternative. if we're going to go to the convention and nobody has a lock, it doesn't have to be bloomberg. pete buttigieg is saying it

could be me. you know elizabeth warren is saying, it could be me. >> in terms of long-term politics being like a bellwether of sorts, what is axios' reporting about what this nevada caucus on saturday is going to tell us about the whole future of american politics? >> this is fascinating. axios has a demographics thing, and nevada today looks like the whole country will look in 2045. tomorrow we'll get a sneak peak at the future of our politics, and that includes a white minority which the u.s. will have in 2025. that includes significant hispanic voters, 25% in nevada and in the country in 2040, 2050. immigration as a top grower of immigration, notable african-american population. so the diversity of nevada will very quickly be the diversity of america.

>> one more reason as to whether to keep iowa and new hampshire still the first two states in the primary season. thanks very much. we're going to be reading axios in a little bit. you too can sign up at signup.axios.com. "morning joe" starts right now. the next one was 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 2%, 1%, 1%, and zero. 3%, 5%, 11%, 14, 4, 3, 2.8, 2.54, 7, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1. oh, let's get back to business. now i feel good. now i feel good. [ cheers and applause ] >> what was that? that was his most interesting

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