my next guest says yes, david axelrod you know, former advisor to president obama. h of he's campaigns he wrote a piece in "the new york times" with david plouffe. david, thank you for being here. this was great radio fodder for me and my listeners on two days. >> glad to help you. >> by the way, give me something for next week, would you? but get came up why would the two davids, axelrod and plouffe but this in "the new york times" instead of calling up the former veep on his campaign apparatus? what, if anything, can we read into how you delivered the message? >> well, first of all, the piece was assigned to us by "the new york times." they were interested in how biden adjusts to the new reality in the covid-19 era. so, we were responding to that request. it wasn't meant as a message to the biden campaign. you know, the biden campaign has a new campaign manager jan o'malley dylan who was the deputy manager of the obama campaign in 2012. probably as skilled a manager and organizer as there is in the country. so, she could have written this piece if they asked her to

david axelrod, you were a senior adviser to president obama. lot of time in the west wing. people hear the west wing and think it must be some huge place. this is a pretty small area we're dealing with right now, and especially when you're talking about infections, it's potentially. potentially, i hope it doesn't happen, very, very problematic. >> you're right, wolf. people don't realize just how small it is. there was that show "the west wing", and you had this accesen that it was a large place. it is a tiny place. the battle for real estate and the white house is an old story. just to get an office is hard, because there's such little space, and you're constantly brushing past people, and so i mean, it is concerning. this whole issue of wearing a mask, the president reportedly told his aides he didn't want to wear a mask because he thought he'd look ridiculous, but how ridiculous would it be if by refusing to wear masks, some of the most important decision-makers in our government were exposed to this virus and taken out of the picture. i adm

. >> joining me now is our commentator david axelrod. to start the segment by watching you on live television saying bill barr did the right thing right there. >> well, he did do the right thing. obviously there were other questions how he's conducted but he's absolutely right that a contrive investigation for purposes of winning an election would be the wrong thing to do. i remember the pressure that was on president obama and the criticisms he took afterwards because he did not make more of a public point about the russia investigation in the campaign of 2016. his point after the fact was that he did not want to put his thumb on the scale. and so i think that was the right approach. president trump has a different approach. the attorney general is standing up for the rule of law and the appropriateness of action at the department of justice. >> senate ersor santorum, the f that attorney general was asked that question because of his boss' fault? should the president dial back? >> well, i think there is plenty of issues surrounding obam

we've had david axelrod say it didn't come up in 2008 during a very thorough vetting. the denial last friday from the vice president. where do we stand? >> dana: well, i think you're seeing what's going to happen, as all the democrats are going to coalesce behind biden. i mentioned on friday that if you didn't see over the weekend prominent democrats start to distance themselves from joe biden that that meant there have been a collective agreement, may be spoken, may be spoken somewhere. that they are just going to have two go for it, defend joe biden then came out with a couple things. asking the dnc to investigate joe biden would've been like asking harvey weinstein's movie company to investigate him. that doesn't wash. this idea that joe biden was more vetted because he went to the 2008 vice presidential vetting than someone like brett kavanaugh when multiple senate confirmations from for the u.s. circuit court. i know that judicial apartments are political now but remember when harry reid was head of the democrats than he had the majority in the senate, they went a

david axelrod, you spent a lot of time in the west wing. people think the west wing in the white house must be a huge place. this is a pretty small area we're dealing with right now, especially when you're talking about infections. it p it's potentially very, very problematic. >> you're quite right, wolf. people don't realize just how small it is. there was that show "the west wing" and you have this idea it's this big space. but there's such little space and you're constantly brushing past people. it is concerning this whole issue of wearing a mask, the president reportedly told his aides he didn't want to wear a mask because he thought he'd look ridiculous. how ridiculous would it be if by refusing to wear masks some of the most important decision makers in our government were exposed to have environment and taken out of the picture. i admire dr. fauci and others for practicing what they preach and showing people what you need to do. this underscores to the country what this will be. what about the average business trying to reopen now? s

david axelrod wrote in "the new york times" here this is part of what they said peered he said, "whatiden has to do to be trump's he has to find a way to get beyond the tapes and project himself into our evermore digital world. i'm not asking to give him advice, but there are a lot of recommendations. what does joe biden do now that the president has broken the seal of sorts by going to arizona? >> well, maybe he can find a way to do some of this in a limited fashion as well. but look, remember, the president is going to arizona in order to draw attention to success. honeywell has repurposed an aerospace factory and turned it into making critical protective gear. if biden travels, he's going to have a similar oomph. he's going to have a similar strong message to whatever that event is. he can't simply show up and picked the name of a battleground state and say, "i'm here. i want to talk to you." i think this was built into the memo, or to the piece by david axelrod, namely that he needed to have a message. they talked about content. they talked about it in terms, not only of the media

you have david axelrod who gave barack obama elected twice.f people say they did a great drop of what they did and results reveal it. they know joe biden very well. they have known him for years and worked with him side-by-side for eight years. something is going on here because rather than talk to him, they were at an editorial at "the new york times" telling him, you have to get out of the basement. you look like you are beaming in from the space shuttle. instead, he is doing a virtual rope line where he asked different people i'm a one voter a day how things are going. so david axelrod and david, it is like you watch in the morning listening to the radio show in the brain is bothering me. i will do an editorial in "the new york post" rather than texting me. it makes no sense. these are his supporters setting him on fire. what is crazy in the battleground states, he is actually reading or just behind donald trump. so he's got his hands full. this is going to be barack obama against donald trump. i would not be surprised if joe biden introduc

just like david axelrod and gretchen whitmer said. look, imagine proposing that during cavanaugh.t the rnc would run an investigation looking into the allegations. they would be left out of the room. in this argument from david axelrod and others that you know, if it was okay for obama, that he vouches for joe biden, then it should be accepted across the board, again, trusted biden, trust obama argument is ridiculous. democrats have paved themselves into a corner here, they don't have good answers, a couple years ago, it was believe women, believe all women coming forward, and now, it is trust joe biden. >> dana: marie, so, i think that democrats are just going to coalesce behind joe biden regardless. i truly do. you saw, over the weekend, none of the high profile democrats moved away from joe biden in anyway. so i think that's going to happen, but what about how this has refocused republicans minds about how brett kavanaugh was treated when he was going through the supreme court nomination. for example, he had gone through senate vetting. this argument that the obama team is maki

as i said. >> david "axelrod, as usual, thank you very much. right now, i want to get more on the trump administration's response to the pandemic. dr. yasmine, thank you so much. when there is a leadership vacuum at the top at the federal level, let's say, how does it impact the fight in this pandemic? >> the leadership is absolutely key. you want to make sure everyone involved in the investigation is reading from the same hymn book. with a pandemic that's affecting all americans across all states. that leadership becomes even more important. we heard these frustrations even earlier this week during the senate health committee hearing, senators asking for the guidance they need very soon in order to safely open businesses and schools. we even heard during that senate committee hearing the senator from connecticut asking the cdc director where those guidelines were. they have been so slow to come, wolf, and it just leaves states scrambling in the dark. it leaves different states doing different things. it doesn't make sense when what you need is

has got to come out of his basement, and i would like to urge him to read, as i'm sure he has, david axelrod's article and david plouffe's article in "the new york times" article this morning that says this election will be decided on social media. and they say that the trump white house is light years ahead of the democrats in manipulating social media. that means the democrats have to get serious on behalf of the 6 out of 10 americans that want a new leader, to make sure the tail doesn't wag the dog this november. >> hmm. all very interesting points. certainly president trump and candidate trump did very well online in a number of ways, and had a high return. joe biden here trying to play catchup on that. we've seen something from him, you know, in many days, including, margaret, these virtual interviews and town halls he's tried to do. on the way the president is moving the numbers, margaret, i wanted to get your reaction to something folks may have seen or heard about, which was in this town hall setting. take a look at the president talking to brett bair. >> that number has changed, mr. p

in a new op-ed, former top obama campaign staffers david axelrod and david plouffe list several things that biden needs to do to beat trump. and they write that the biden campaign needs to ramp up its digital operation. quote, online speeches from his basement won't cut it. while television remains a potent force, youtube, facebook, twitter, instagram, snapchat, and tiktok are all essential in a covid-19 world in which candidate travel and voter contact will be severely limited. in many respects, they are the campaign, not an important part of it, end quote. back with us again tonight, david plouffe, former obama campaign manager and senior adviser to president obama. his latest book is called "a citizen's guide to beating donald trump." david, do you even have a tiktok account? you know what tiktok is? you're giving advice about using tiktok. i'm having trouble seeing joe biden on tiktok. >> well, i know what it is, and i've certainly spent time on it, so i understand it. but, yeah, i'm the last person who knows how to master those platforms. that's the thing. you need distinct strate

i saw that david axelrod is saying, it's time to get joe biden out there on the campaign trail.make a change, even though we are in tough times, they have to be convinced that the other option is going to be safer, stronger, better for them, and better for the economy. >> unless it's a throw the bums out, which this could be. the president is asking the american people to judge him on three years of his presidency and not the final fourth year. if you're running a marathon and you stop at mile 25, you still lose the race and that is what is going to happen to this president. he's going to be judged on where this country is in november. biden has to do something, but right now i think the people are focused on what is going on and this pandemic. karl rove has been very good and his career into finding his clinical opponents, and the time he usually does that is now, may and june. i find it very hard for president trump to be able to define biden and the american people are concerned about their health, the economy. he is going to be judged on those numbers. on the unemployment ra

he's also received criticism from people like david axelrod saying that he needs to modernize his campaignworried that he does look like a candidate that is consigned to his basement. so as you pointed out, he tried to do that. tried to modernize his campaign, tried to do this virtual town hall. they had some technical problems. watch this. >> in my own? good evening. think you for tuning in. i wish we could have done this together and it had gone smoothly, but i am grateful we are able to connect virtually. thank you for the work. >> tucker: i am seeing flashbacks, that rattled me. >> it was funny, because vice has an article that said that this looks like it was being run by local seniors trying to put on their first zoom meeting. that wasn't it. watch this. >> we can come out the other -- -- so much closer, more resilient than we have ever been before. god bless you all, may god protect you. >> tucker: i feel like i'm watching a fish show! >> so with the technical glitches, you had that tripping bird in the background. doing a better job than protesters, but it wasn't a smashing success

if you look at david axelrod and david fluff saying, "get out of the basement in delaware," his abilitycate big issues virtually, a town hall campaign event yesterday really did not work out well for joe biden. tara reid, this story could keep going and be a big problem for him. more of a problem for him as a campaigner before election day. >> harris: interesting. all right, as we knew, this is happening inside the white house press briefing. kayleigh mcenany, press secretary. let's watch. >> secretary mcenany: thank you to all of our veterans. you are truly, truly are heroes. now, as i moved to my next subject, i want to begin by saying this. look at, our rank-and-file men and women at the fbi are heroes in their own right. they protect this country from domestic crime, and we thank them for their service. they work hard, and once again, we owe them a debt of gratitude. but that is separate and apart from what i'm about to address right now. the fbi exists to investigate crimes. but in the case of lieutenant general michael flynn, it appears that they might have existed to manufacture

she said this to david axelrod at the university of chicago. "i think right now, people want to see improvements in our health care system and that means strengthening the affordable care act. that should be easy, we should be doing it right now. warren has been rumored to be on biden's vp short-list and that does move her a lot closer to him on the issue most important to many americans. even though he is in hosting any in-person events right now, the next six months of campaigning and hillary clinton just helped him raise $2 million, and eye-popping amount especially considering donors were only interacting with the headliner hrc the resume. right now, biden leaves drums and maddie had many head-to-head polls, the campaign and the dnc and has $255 million, and traditional campaign events or canvassing operations, they will figure out a way to spend that money. >> dana: no one is going to be that short of money when it comes to the selection. thank you, peter. so joe biden and his former opponent bernie sanders are partnering on half a dozen t

david axelrod.ou understand the vetting process that biden had to go through in order to get barack obama confident that he should be barack obama's running mate. the complaint you filed was about uncomfortable interactions in the office and not sexually assault assault. would the vetting team find that? >> i think so. their job is to come up with every bit of evidence of people's lives. they were to look into their records and look into their personal lives and certainly any sort of formal complaint would have been an interest to them. i would tell you close to 30 candidates at the beginning. by the end when you got down the final few, that vetting was very intense. there were candidates who were knocked down by things that were discovered by these vettings. they were thorough and professional. i think it is important to know that process and not just about this particular incident but no salacious gossips and no pattern of behavior. none of the things you would expect to see if someone was capable

back with us for more analysis, our senior political commentator, david axelrod and our chief political analyst gloria borger. when you see a president holding a meeting today without masks, without a lot of social distancing after two members of the white house staff tested positive, david, what does that tell you about how seriously the white house is taking all of this? >> what it tells me is that the president wants to sell the country on the idea that we are getting through this, that we're in the next phase of this. you know, i was saying to gloria in the break, sometimes i have the feeling that the president wanted to quarantine dr. fauci and the other scientists because they've been bothersome to him lately. they have been honest with the country about what this virus entails, that it's still out there, that we have to be very careful about how we open up. as you know, the cdc guidelines have been held up by the white house to state and local governments. so you know, i think the president has made a decision that he wants to will this to be over and to signal to the country tha

. >> strong words, let's discuss with david axelrod.at do you make of the politicized response we're seeing across the country to the virus. >> well, look's, it's fitting into the kind of template, the model of our politics that we've seen for some time now, and that the president has driven which is a very cultural divide, those who say they don't want government telling them what to do, versus those who are apt to respond to the advise of public health experts, here's the thing about this. this is not a partisan virus, it doesn't choose democrats or republicans or independents. and it really doesn't chose localities. there was a myth at the beginning that somehow this was a problem for large urban areas, that's where it began. but now we see it migrate iing o smaller communities around the country. in the south and midwest. if you huang the to put a political lens on it, most of these areas are areas where donald trump was a winner in 2016. so we're in this peculiar position where he's urging people to resist the guidance of his own g

>> i have great respect for both david axelrod and david cloth.ave given that advice and private because basically what they did was they wrote an op-ed in "the new york times" that said everything about the joe biden campaign is bad. it's dismal. it's a disaster and you should change absolutely everything because trump is going to bust you on the most important tactic which is digital. there is no way that joe biden can match what brad parscale's operation has been able to do over several years in just six months. i thought that it sort of was like making sure that everybody knew that they would have done it very differently and they would have been able to win, but i also have to say this. the candidate that they help to bring to the oval office to be commander in chief was barack obama. he was a unique individual. joe biden is not barack obama and is not that unusual. we've known him for decades. i don't think a digital strategy is a problem, i think a message is the problem. >> ed: and that's why you have morty tolson the retired journalist sa

you've heard that from, for instance, david axelrod, who was the chief strategist for president obamaack then. so that is a point that biden's allies have continued to raise as he faces these allegations. >> arlette saenz reporting for us with the latest on that story. thank you very much, arlette. this special edition of "the situation room" will continue in just a moment. to everyone navig these uncertain times... whether you're caring for your family at home or those at work, principal is by your side. we're working hard to answer your questions. like helping you understand what the recently passed economic package can mean for you. we're more than a financial company. we're a "together we can get through anything" company. now, more than ever. guys! guys! safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!! that's safe drivers save 40%. it is, that's safe drivers save 40%. - he's right there. - it's him! safe drivers do save 40%. click or call for a quote today. why accept it frompt an incompyour allergy pills?e else. safe drivers do save 40%. flonase sensimist

the people who were responsible of the venting of biden, you heard from stephanie, eric holder, david axelrod believe you are seeing the beginnings of a full hold around joe biden. the american democratic public -- >> harris: i want to step in for just a second before we move on. we are going to run out of time to hear from everybody. what's the difference between believe women and believe all women, per the #metoo movemen movement? >> jessica: believe limit is to take their word for that something may have occurred, and to investigate it. to believe all women would include someone like julie swetnick, democrats turned against and said the story about brett kavanaugh doesn't hold water. the point is to take a woman's word for it and then investigate a claim and see where the chips may fall. >> harris: ari? >> ari: [laughs] you know what the differences. believe all women who accuse republicans, believe no women who accused democrats. >> jessica: what about al franken, ari? where is al franken? >> ari: these women's groups and democratic politicians who started this whole trend, started the ha

2008 that led barack obama to pick joe biden, other members of the staff including top strategist david axelrodcnn.com that the vet would have turned up any formal complaints filed against biden during his 38-year career in the senate. it did not. had any credible issue been raised, you can be sure biden would not have been the nominee, obama would not have tolerated it. you see here, and i'm not criticizing it, but this is a concerted effort by team obama to say, we looked under every rock, there was nothing there. >> and this is just one of the really tricky things about reporting out this story, you know, people who say they know joe biden really well and have known him for decades, those folks have said, and we've spoken to some half dozen former biden aides, i know lisa has done really extensive reporting on this as well, they say that the joe biden that they knew at the time simply did not have this kind of reputation. they also just heard nothing at the time about any complaints about sexual harassment let alone a complaint about sexual assault. so on the one hand you have folks who knew

she tweeted -- we also heard from david axelrod, who reiterated that point as well, that the team ofin biden's report to suggest there was any history of this kind of allegations. nbc news has also spoken with jeffress, who repeated this is not the case. we've heard a number of people suggesting there could be records among the senate papers which are not being cataloged at the university of delaware. we heard the biden's campaign cede if there was any report, it wouldn't exist there, and biden has called on the national archives and the senate to scour their own records to see if they can produce such a document, alex. >> mike memoli, thank you for that. more questions for joe biden will come today at 5:00 eastern when he discussion the allegations and more with al sharpton right here. >>> joining mess -- me is madeline dean. you are one of the four congress men that are outright campaigning for joe biden. >> thank for having me on did are this critical time for our country. in terms of supporting joe biden, i'm sprout to sport him, but let's talk about the allegations. number one,

ainsley: david axelrod and david plouffe an article they wrote in the "new york times."asically what biden needs to do to improve his digital world. they say to win you have got to get beyond the basement tapes and you have to project yourself. they say that he is spontaneous. he encounters -- his encounters with people is what helps him and his empathy would be suited best for right now because our world is hurting. jehmu, what do you think about that? do you agree he needs to step it up? >> i think most americans, ainsley, would agree that empathy is sorely missing from the white house right now, especially during this crisis. and people have a vision of what a presidency could look like with someone like joe biden and his empathy and connection of people. we need to see him out of that basement. what does his kitchen look like? what does his yard look like dismi have to say comments previously about joe biden and policing the democrat party. republicans police the president. 20 credible sexual assault allegations that have never been held accountable for. so it's the

and the advice that david pull off david axelrod are giving, getting out of the basement.iously we don't know how that campaigning is going to go as you lead up to whatever a convention looks like but you have the president itching to get on the trail and he's headed to arizona today. >> and you lead us perfectly to the man who is the incumbent obviously and those on both sides are saying in regards to what joe biden does or does not do in terms of taking advice to the obama advisor, there will be a referendum potentially on the president and his stewardship overall, but particularly in handling the coronavirus. what are your thoughts? you had that virtual town hall and had a chance to go back and forth, but you had guide benson on the other day who had a chance to watch the town hall and he said don't underestimate this president and that kind of format. one of the presidential debates is supposed to be a town hall where he can really engage and connect with the middle class in this country. >> clearly that the format he thrives in. he sometimes goes off onto tangents as

i'm going to tell you david plouffe and david axelrod also think it's a mistake for him to stay thered in in the "new york times." mr. biden is stuck in the basement speaking like remotely like an astronaut beaming back in the inctd national space space station. in order to break through and be heard he will have to up the tempo of his campaign. so why is he still there? >> if i can give joe biden advice that's not my job. when you are stuck in the basement, it doesn't look like you have a command of any situation. he tried doing a podcast to show he had command of the situation. it didn't. he tried doing other virtual town halls, no actual commands of the situation. people want to see leadership out and about. they don't mind seeing new a mask. i would say that's true of the president and vice president as well. they want to see you out and about. and staying in the basement doesn't convey that kind of feeling. it hasn't worked for him. but then again, being out and about doesn't work for a guy who doesn't do a good job of stringing four sentences together to make a cohesive thought.