not want to repeat that year after defeating establishment candidates in the democratic primary george mcgovernthat landslide loss is being recalled as some democrats fear their current progressive front runner bernie sanders could end up replaying mcgovern's past. joining me someone who had a front row seat, gary hart, george mcgovern's campaign manager in '72. he ran for president himself twice, even had to run against george mcgovern in the primaries back in '84. senator gary hart joins me now. good to see you. hope you're doing well. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> let me start with whether there have literally been dueling op-eds about bernie sanders is george mcgovern '72 and others saying, no, no no, there's more that's dissimilar than similar. from your vantage point how many similarities do you see and how many differences? >> i see many more differences. let me do a little comparative biography. george mcgovern ran four times statewide in a conservative state not a liberal state like vermont. he was a decorated world war ii bomber pilot and knew the experience of war and i think his eco

gary hart, george mcgovern's campaign manager, and senator mcgovern were looking around for a place toet some media attention and a little buzz as the contest headed into the new hampshire primary. it worked for them. hart and mcgovern mobilized the antiwar movement in the state and those people turned out, and finished a strong second-place against ed muskie, the front runner at the time. there were a few reporters, national political reporters, who came to iowa to cover that. one of them was johnny apple of the new york times. in his story about the caucuses said mcgovern had an unexpectedly strong second-place showing. it was the first time i think where the expectations game got played. we can talk more about that. but having national media, particularly of apple's stature started to legitimize this. mcgovern went on to win the nomination, and that really sent a signal that the potency of the antiwar movement and also that there was something going on out in iowa that was worth paying attention to. host: we will have an opportunity to look back in history. a little bit more about o

i had never heard of george mcgovern. and he was about to run from the house. with the afl commissioner. so that was a small advantage that i had. but tim krause said to me tlater to talk about what it was like in the early days to talk about mcgovern. that thehe bureau of sioux falls from the syndicate building and every morning during the campaign george mcgovern would stop by with a handout that he had written and typed himself probably before going off because i had i had never heard anybody so articulate are moving it's illegal to be a democrat in south dakota and he drove himself around and built that party all by himself. so i will make a brief statement we heard a lot of the importance as a reporter but with a history of journalism the amount of money they are willing and ableey for what for what they drink so going from a time when the attire on the buses look down upon those to go into journalism but does anybody have thoughts on the challenge to connect with readers and viewers that there is a bigger gap between that and the seventies? >>. >> before

stephen: we know george mcgovern in 1972 had less than 5%.ld he have gotten from less than 5% in the polls and become the eventual nominee without the primaries? richard: without the stimulation, excitement, and glamour of the primary system. howard: he did not have the benefit of organization. stephenson in 1952 had the benefit of a massive organization in illinois, but mcgovern had no such organization of traditional political leadership in any major states. richard: does the primary then, because we could say the same thing that wallace in 1972. does the primary give a particular opportunity to the more extreme candidate that he might not have if he was sort of enveloped by the convention, caucus, and less-broadly representative system, like senator muskie in 1972. stephen: it is a point you have made often that the americans are not necessarily politicized as a nation. much less so than other major nations. politics is not on the average person's mind much of the time. which reflects itself in low voter turnout, so the extreme candidate,

and we watch the potential candidate, george mcgovern, make a decision.ant to us in trying to judge how that person who we are giving this leadership to for a fixed four years is going to respond. so on that personal level, it's certainly makes a difference. dick: all right howard, let me , put same question to you. howard: let me begin by quoting david butler, great scholar of american, british, european politics, who once said it was more important in terms of domestic and foreign policy of the united states, who was president than it is to the british people who happens to be or which party happens to be elected. the presidency is so important an office in the united states. plays inthat he both domestic and foreign policy of leading the people becomes an item of tremendous importance. it becomes more dramatic i periodswhen you get in of crisis. everyone, southerners northerners, everyone else, , knew that something was very important about that 1860 election. the moment that election took place, you began to get a revolt in the south. this is one wher

i had only been there a few months and i was suddenly assigned to cover george mcgovern '72 presidential campaign. i was really surprised, but it was great but i was a cub reporter. the third string. in other words, usually there was a first strain corresponded and that was bruce morton primarily. he was smart and respected by even the print journalist. the print journalists did not respect any television journalist. truly. we were, people talked for a living, didn't think about what we were saying. we were glamour boys. but bruce was good, and i think most people respected him. there was a second string, and often that was david, and i would then be bumped up to third banana. so i was i merrily -- primarily covered the radio. that was my job. i obviously didn't know what i was doing but i persevered. >> so there's a lot of interesting details in this book. what did you guys think when it came out and why, just briefly why do you think we're still reading it today? >> i was just happy my name was in at. [laughing] i didn't like the picture much,, but better than no picture. i'm not reall

in 1972 the democratic party won crazy because they picked george mcgovern as absolute loser against richard nixon it was one of the worst landslides ever and they then said this is what happens when you let the regular the whore you poloroid vote so they came up with this crazy idea called the super delegate and the super delegate was a way for party a leads to an essence over rule the the vote of those the unwashed masses who stumbled into caucus rooms and the like they've been trying since to try to gear something let me cut to the chase what you're about to see in this country is even better they are trying everything in their power to prevent bernie sanders a democratic socialist which nobody knows what that means because they keep focusing on the word socialist they're doing everything in their power to keep that from happening they're throwing in michael bloomberg the throwing of joe biden and nothing's happening why because the left this wild guy left version of the democratic party is gaining favor so they're trying yet again to thwart that because they want the adults of th

jean was they ask george mcgovern. mcgovern would say ask gene mccarthy. this went on for months. -- muchs what's more more active in the brewing of what this campaign became then i realized. this wasn't a decision made immediately upon seeing the returns in new hampshire. sure. >> high lawrence. i wanted to get your opinion on a current event with judge joyce -- roy moore. i wonder if you wonder will he win if he stays in the race and what about what steve bannon said in reaction, that the media is the opposition party? this is an example of why they are the opposition party. lawrence: steve bannon said it so it must be right. so just take his word for it. as it stands it is fast-moving but there is a kind of a flash pole that is out in alabama tonight that shows the two candidates tied now. that is a pity that pretty big drop for roy moore. productions for things that are still kind of hot come alive news events -- hot, live news events. i have never before predicted the election of -- outcome of an election in alabama. i have never thought about. here i

george mcgovern.vern was what would be called a progressive today, he had good policy ideas, a lot of youth energy, and understood the nomination, and totally smashed in the election. that's what worries me this time around. i see that same kind of thing materializing. >> with bernie sanders? >> yeah. >> thank you. let's go back to adrian. i think i am the eldest one here. i remember mcgovern. worked for the dnc as a volunteer then, took some time off to work the convention. everybody there was in a frenzy of happiness. george mcgovern was going to beat richard nixon a second term, didn't work. >> you hear reminiscing about george mcgovern in the '72 campaign and how it played out, but look, we have to keep in mind that bernie sanders, should he be the nominee, he can build his own unique coalition the same way barack obama built a unique coalition and hillary clinton built her unique coalition. he generated so much energy among young voters, african americans, hispanics, working class voters. he's go

and he brought up george mcgovern.nother george mcgovern situation which was 1972. the democratic party nominee and won just one state, massachusetts. do you think thoonat's an apt comparison? >> i ran the same time george mcgovern ran in the state of delaware against a popular incumbent. mcgovern only got 34% of the vote. i won only by 3,000 votes and i was one of those rare people that won that time in terms of a state that was a toss-up state. and, look, all i know is what the people, john, who i've -- i went into 24 states in 2018. 24 states. they were purple states. i campaigned for 65 candidates in these areas that are purple districts. we won 41 of them. i know everyone asked me to come in and campaign for them. i don't know whether they asked bernie to come in and campaign for them. bernie is not a bad guy, but bernie has a record, too. now that he's become a front-runner, everybody is now focusing on things bernie said and did like they've justifiably been doing for me for the past six months. and the fact tha

from septic go to named george mcgovern. i have never heard of him. and he would is a debate coach as you know, and he was about to run for the house against joe foss, the world war ii ace. nfl commissioner. anyone it. there was a small advantage that i had. timothy crouse said to me later, sometime will have to talk about what is going to cover whenever in the early days. we never had the talk. one way that we never did campaign can, in sioux falls hope for a rundown office building in the syndicate building, the elevators didn't start running into something like a clock and i had to file the weather. every morning during campaign, many mornings during campaign, george mcgovern, who caught those five floors without an elevator and stop by with a handout the probably written and typed himself. that was before going off to a sales a better whatever. but the man struck me because i never heard anybody who was quite so articulate were moving. tom: it is illegal to be a democrat in south dakota when mcgovern started in the early 50s rated as a college gui

i had only been there a few months and i was suddenly assigned to cover george mcgovern's 72 presidential campaign. i was really surprised. it was great. i was the third strength it usually there was a first string correspondent and that was bruce fortin primarily. he was smart and respected by even the print journalists. the printer journalists did not respect any television journalist, truly. we were people who talked for a living.didn't think about what we were saying. we were glamour boys. but bruce was good. and i think most people respected him. there was a second string. and often that was david - - he was very aggressive and then i would be bumped to third. so i primarily covered for radio. that was my job. and honestly, didn't know what i was doing. but i persevered. >> a lot of interesting details in this book. what did you think when it came out. why do you think we are still reading it today? >> i was just happy my name was annette. i didn't like the picture much but better than no picture. i'm not really sure. i think it captures a time and place that somehow, i've got a roma

george mcgovern wasn't a left-winger, he was a liberal, but famously lost in a landslide defeat to richard nixon after his insurgent campaign managed to capture the democratic party nomination. that's a trauma that has stayed with people for generations. understandably so. if you can point me to the data that we have where sanders is seven points behind in head-to-head matchups with trump, i think there would be a real reason to worry, but it's just not what the data says. if you don't like bernie sanders because you don't think he would be a good president. that's your choice. you should act on that as a citizen. but if you are freaking out because he is so obviously an electoral disaster, i'm here to tell you it's not what the information we have now suggests. so how to make sense of the sanders freak-out next. these folks, they don't have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office

george mcgovern left there 3:00 in the morning.t a great victory this was. he carried one state. one state. so what we've got to be careful of is coming out of a convention with everybody on the same page, not with a couple of people yelling loud about how excited they are about a victory on the floor and then lose the country. i've seen this happen since. what we've got to do, i think, is to have a candidate that all of us can rally around and we can say to the funders, here's a guy who can win. that's why i want to see a substantial victory here. i hope it will send a signal to the guys who can write the big checks that, please, take another look at this guy. he has a solid record. he is exactly what the country needs. he is honest. he is trustworthy. when he gives you his word, you can believe it. >> congressman jim clyburn, we appreciate you being with us. good luck in the south carolina primary tomorrow. for you, i know it's like your super bowl down there. >> thanks so much for having me. >>> thanks to our international viewe

they kept mentioning about this young democratic politician named george mcgovern. he was about to run for the house against the world war two flying ace and so that was a small advantage that i had. they said something we will have to talk about what it was like to cover that govern. one way the bureau in sioux falls was a rundown office building the elevators didn't start running until something like 8:00 and every morning during the campaign, many mornings during the campaign, george mcgovern without an elevator would stop by without a handout that he woul he would py get written and typed himself before going off to sales but it was quite so articulate or moving. >> they drove themselves around in a beat-up station wagon and builbuilt the party all by hims. >> i'm going to test the motor skills by making a brief statement didn't have my question be whether you come along for the ride or if i am working up the wrong tree. we've heard about the importance of things created as a reporter. districts is interesting to look at the amount of money journalists are willi

i can't imagine george mcgovern would have received the democratic nomination in 1972 without primariesnk primaries are a very decisive part of the system. richard: we have seen this year how they have orbited jimmy carter into position that many of the democratic establishment and leadership would never have supported, and likely as with john f. kennedy in 1960, so with jimmy carter in 1976. >> the same thing could have been said, much of the leadership that did not back mcgovern four years ago -- richard: did not back mcgovern. >> did not back mcgovern, and then to topic another person, so it means the primaries make it possible for people who would otherwise be ignored by the leadership are pushed aside by the leadership to come to the foreground. now and alling it the primaries that have come along. it pushes by the wayside the number of people who up until the day of the primate look pretty good in public opinion polls, but when they seek voting support, that they don't get it in the early primaries. they may never get it at all. richard: it is interesting to note that these primar

daniel ortega, the sandinistas, battles of the 1980s, remember democrats in the 1970s, folks like george mcgovernn communism. the charge out there in american politics, a difficult position for politicians like mcgovern in the '70s. folks who remember that and see that in bernie sanders, what you just showed are the folks no the warming up to him consistently in the polls. people who don't have the much firsthand knowledge of him in the '70s, '80s and '60s, bernie sanders is doing very well with. >> and george mcgovern a war hero and a guy that didn't run around talking about what he thought was most intriguing about the soviet system and how they were all very content. bernie said they were content. i forget what the exact word was, but a level of contentment there among soviet citizens saying bernie sanders. the only person who ever visited the soviet union from the west and came back and said that. it's astounding. >> this moment is why the white house is licking its chops about bernie sanders as "an opponent. more than medicare for all. gets to the heart what president trump wants to talk abo

what market focus on, you could flip that, say, if he looks like the nominee he would be the george mcgovern of this era. i did talk with a lot of folks in iowa, i was there about getting increasingly concerned about bernie sanders even with his popular support he would go the same route, there is no way of knowing, that but some have been kicking around the idea maybe we change the rules and make it more flexible for bloomberg to debate or let superdelegates who right now condition vote -- can't vote on first ballot and go ahead -- >> wait a minute. didn't they -- i was going to say didn't they do that in 2016 with hillary and bernie. neil: the idea was to prevent something like that, this guy. they might be mixing the stew again, you talk about a food fight. >> neil, as iowa as a harbinger. everything is true until it is and everything matters until is does thdoesn't. this may be the year we look back at iowa's moment of being trendsetter may come to an end. you have bloomberg on the race, who spend a lot of money in super bowl who is not in the iowa caucus, is everyone even talking about

it will be like george mcgovern. it will be a blowout michael dukakis.as very discouraged with what i saw as a democrat and somebody who wants the party to win in november. >> stunned by your answer so far. your thoughts on who won the night and who lost. >> for all the reasons leslie and doug say i was very pleased. i agree with your analysis. bernie sanders was the winner of the night because he was the front-runner going in and nothing happened that knocked him off of his frontrunner status. if anything the guy giving him the most potential competition was michael bloomberg with $2 billion ready to burn and he had a flame out. what a disaster. it reminded me of when jeb bush in the 2016 campaign wasn't ready for the question about the iraq war. how could you not see that coming? how could you not have that prepared? he wasn't ready for the question about women, wasn't ready to answer about stop and frisk, like he hadn't prepared and you only get one chance to make a first impression. he has a lot of money. you can't count about but that was a devastat

they're going to end up with somebody that is like george mcgovern in 1972. >> tucker: watch biden announce his victory in north carolina over the weekend. sorry. that was mean. probably true. a pelosi today just said look, if sanders is the nominee, of course i'm on board because i'm a loyal democrat. you think that is true? if sanders is the nominee and you think he's the most likely, will democrats in washington get behind him do you think? >> yeah, i do. what do they want? they want power. if he's the only ticket out of town, you better get on board. right? so yes, i do think they will. they'll put brave faces on and some people that behind the scenes, nobody will say it on the record except for james carville who is willing to. if he's the only one, they're not going to stop him. if bernie sanders can show in south carolina that he can have a more diverse population vote for him like in nevada, it's hard to take that away from him. >> tucker: i think that's right. the great dana perino. thanks so much for that. >> thank you. see you later. >> tucker: one of his less lucid moments, joe

. >> which is good because he will go the way of george mcgovern back in 1972 who lost 49 out of 52 statesy they use medicare when he's going to destroy one of the biggest parts of it that people love, medicare advantage which uses private companies. over 20 million people have it. >> you would also destroy some of these gold plans that the unions have, that they work very hard to bang out. some of them are better than anything you and i have and they of course would be consumed by the socialized medicine. >> to be clear, for over a year i have been very clear that i'm not for medicare for all. the way i would do that is to extend the public option. i would agree with steve, i would keep our private insurance and the people can have a decision. that's what we should have. >> my point is, what happens when it usually goes toward the progressives. >> i think this is one of the most boneheaded things that has happened in this entire cycle. how are they going to go about getting them? they're going to throw out the healthcare problems that they have hard-fought to win for 15 years. that is the

george mcgovern in 1972. now we see it with bernie sanders and the socialists.ent. >> president trump is the change. evidenced by the fact that the "gallup poll" came out, literally satisfaction on basically every issue, economy and paychecks and strength on the world stage, it is at highs. 60 to 80% on many issues. president trump is the change. bernie sanders wants to take us the way of venezuela, implement a failed system that has failed everywhere it has been tried, socialism. that is not the kind of change that america wants right now, i can assure you. liz: kayleigh mcenany, great to see you. come back soon. >> thank you. liz: next up the big hot moment in the president's state of the union address last night, one of them, when the president blasted sanctuary cities he got booed. he talked about states like california citing a notably brutal case in california. nancy pelosi, she is from the the gold state. she wasn't having it. >> last year our brave i.c.e. officers arrested more than 120,000 criminal aliens. ♪. and most of that debt is actually from credi

even like george mcgovern did so many years ago. take a listen. >> would senator sanders be a mcgovern-like mistake for this party isn't that >> that's for the parties. i think it's going to go down in a race between senator sanders and me for the nomination. as i said all along, not just can you beat donald trump, can you keep a democratic house of representatives in the united states congress and can you bring along a democratic senate. can you help people up and down the line. and i think i'm better prepared to do that than senator sanders is. >> reporter: but as much as the former vice-president may like, this is not a two-person race. in fact, so many other moderate candidates still in the race, elizabeth warren, amy klobuchar, pete buttiegieg. even tom steyer potentially complicating the former vice-president's path here in south carolina. but one thing is clear. this is a different electorate here in south carolina. some 60% of the democratic electorate african-american voters, so joe biden certainly has a strong appeal and i

pundits are so afraid, really betrays the fact they know what happened to walter mondale and george mcgovernz: you know who is old enough to know about communism is bernie sanders. he is in his 40s in '70s and0's. want your reaction to this sound bite, bernie on fidel castro of cuba. >> we're very opposed to authoritarian nature of cuba. it is unfair to simply say everything is bad. you know, when fidel castro came into office you know what he did? he had a massive literacy program? is that a pad thing even though fidel castro did it. >> a lot of dissidents didn't -- >> that's right. we condemned that. liz: this comes to u.n. united nations study. 9.3 million people in venezuela, a third of the population are starving or moderately food insecure. remember, bernie said food lines are a good thing. all the stuff is coming back. you know what i mean, john? >> it is horrible. this reminds me of when castro died, justin trudeau, kind of lost prime minister of canada tweeted some note of, that he was wonderful and there was, this whole discussion about how you know, castro did good things, while h

the other thing that people are predicting is that it could be like 1972, george mcgovern, different than bernie, but part of the left get that nomination and runs against a controversial and in some ways many democrats think the week nominee, president nixon. resident nixon wins an enormous landslide. that is the nightmare that a lot of nightmares who want to win also have in mind. it all depends on who comes out in the democratic primary. i hope whatever point of view you come out and vote, because it is wide open right now. >> neil: i am way too young to remember that mcgovern thing. thank you, senator for pointing that out. >> i was very young. >> neil: [laughs] senator, always a pleasure. >> see you soon. >> neil: to the sender's point, as all who comes after the vote. what if i told you that that there expectation that young people will come out in droves. after this... ( ♪ ) hey there! i'm lonnie from lonnie's lumber. if you need lumber wood, lonnie's is better than good. we got oak, cherry, walnut, and more. and we also have the best selection of plywood (clattering) in the s

theologically extreme candidate is usually worst positioned to win over swing voters, barry goldwater and george mcgovern are examples, both lost in landslides. what if this time it's different. instead of asking if sanders is unelectable, what is sanders is actually the most electable democrat? this may sound like magical thinking. in the age of trump, hyper partisanship, institutional distrust and social media sanders could be examined as a candidate custom built to go head to hoed with trump. there's plenty to suggest his views play better in a polarized primary than a general election. let's look at democratic party divisions. only 15% of democrats identify as very liberal. 32% liberal, 38% moderate and 14% as some flavor of conservative. the overall american electorate, 27% of americans identify as democrats, 30% republican, 42% independent. america remains a center right nation with 37% calling themselves conservative, 35% mooed rm mooed moderate and 24% liberal. bernie's argument echoes trump. he'll drive turnout by connecting with working class voters who have been alienated by the establishment.

the debate moved from the theoretical to practical after george mcgovern was blown out in the 1972 election winning only 17 of the 538 electoral votes against richard nixon. an often repeated criticism of superdelegates is that their participation is undemocratic. but is that really the case? thought of one way these unpledged delegates actually function as a means of preserving maximum voter participation and enhancing the level of competition in the general election. the majority of super delegates are themselves elected. moat are current or former members of congress. they're senators, they're governors, they're mayors who are selected based on their elected position. those who were not have been served within some leadership role within the democratic party to warrant the position. super delegates themselves have succeeded in mass election. they've served diverse constituencies. they've been with the democratic parties for an extended period of time or some combination of these traits. it's as a result of these positions that they represent the nomination choice of constituents. this ye

george mcgovern. people were ecstatic about him. maybe not as ecstatic as bernie.the nominee and everybody was cheering like mad. i don't go by how many cheering. i go by how many people were there. dan, your thoughts? >> that's a good analogy. it's the democrats' nightmare of 1972. one reason it's a live nightmare for democrats is bernie sanders is going to be around for a long time in this race because he has -- he's organized better than anybody in every single state. he is the only candidate who up to and including now has a very large group of what i'll call true believers in the sense of the late erik hoffer talked about true believers. people who metaphorically are willing to fall on hand grenades for him. he's going to be in this race a long time when others have dropped aside. i do agree, among his biggest problems are, number one, that trump and the republicans will beat him over the head being a socialist. they will tie him to cuba, to nicaragua, to moscow. secondly, he has never been able to strike a really strong bobd with americans of color, particula

george mcgovern wasn't a liberal, but he lost in a landslide defeat against nixon.t that's a trauma that has stayed with older generations, understandably so. if you can show where sanders is behind and head to head match up with trump, there is a reason to worry. it's not what the data says. if you don't think heed be good president, you should act on that as aid sit is not. but if you are freaking out because he is so obviously an electoral disaster. how to make sense of the sanders freak out next. being able to retire. on our terms. no matter what your goals are, our trusted advisors can help you reach them. ameriprise financial. if you're living with hiv, canand ask your doctorm. about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for hiv in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights hiv to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it can't be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take hiv treatment every day and get to and stay undetectabe can no longer tra

at least not counting george mcgovern, '76 forward, every democratic nominee has come in first, sec orn iowa and then they came in first or second in new hampshire. that's where the field gets culled down. to be honest, i don't -- you know, i don't think -- i mean, vice president biden, what you saw at the end of that, i don't want to pick on the guy but there was a lowering of expectations. he was trying to kind of level it so iowa, new hampshire and nevada and south carolina where i'm doing a lot better but what happens in these first two i think will affect the other two and then after that who is going to have the money to go into super tuesday to go up against bloomberg? that's like -- base which a poker game, a money of $100 million. >> charlie, if it's a money contest against bloomberg, then nobody can win that. they have to beat him on something other than just the money. charlie cook, thank you very much for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. >>> when we come back, presidential historian jon meacham will join us to put the impeachment trial into historical perspective a

you're going to go downhill, they said look at what happened to the party in 1972, nominated george mcgovernas a complete disaster after that and that warning was heeded. the progressives got tired of hearing that, they saw the party nominate centrists repeatedly and lose anyway. you've seen, i think, a rise of the progressive wing and it's as powerful if not more powerful than the centrist wing now. i think, you know, kimberley strassel writing for the "wall street journal" does not have the best interests of the democrats in mind there, but she makes an astute observation. they're going to have to figure out who they are, they're going to figure out who their leader is and they're lucky that they're having this fight in february, not in november. >> nbc's jonathan allen who first gave us the nickname brio trio. >> priscilla and amanda were there 20 minutes ago, they said it's not cold at all. >> i mean, it's very warm for them, i think. no, it's cold outside. you know, guys, the production crew here is muscling it out, i have a little bit of a heater so it's not that tough for me, but the

at least not counting george mcgovern, so '76 forward, every democratic nominee has come in first, secondrd in iowa. then they came in first or second in new hampshire. that's where the field gets culled down. to be honest, i don't -- you know, i don't think -- i mean vice president biden, what you saw at the very end of that, and i don't want to pick on the guy, but there was a lowering of expectations. he was trying to kind of level it. so iowa, new hampshire, oh, but nevada and south carolina where i'm doing a lot better. but what happens in the first two, i think, will affect the other two. and then after that, who is going to have the money to go into super tuesday to go up against bloomberg? that's like 100 -- basically it's like a poker game. to get in the game for super tuesday, it's a minimum of $100 million. >> and, charlie, if it's a money contest against bloomberg, then nobody can win that. they're going to have to beat bloomberg on something other than just the money. charlie cook, thank you very much for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. >>> when we come back, presid

it will be like george mcgovern, it will be a blow out, or mike to caucus.ry discouraged with what i saw as a democrat, and a somebody who wants the party to win in november. >> mike: wow, stunned by your answers so far. marc, your thoughts on who won the night at who lost it? >> for all of the reasons leslie and doug say, i was very pleased, actually. [laughs] i agree with their analysis. i think bernie sanders was the winner of the night, simply because he was the front undergoing it and nothing happened that knocked him off of his frontrunner status. if anything, the guy giving him the most competition -- potential competition -- was mike bloomberg, with $2 billion ready to burn, and he had an absolute flameout. what a disaster. it reminded me of when jeb bush in the 2016 campaign wasn't ready for megyn kelly's question about the iraq war. how could you not see that coming? how could you not have an answer prepared? he wasn't ready for the nda question, he wasn't ready for the question about women, wasn't ready to answer about stop and frisk, it was like

. >> richard nixon beat george mcgovern in 49 states. >> sorry, one example, one exception. >> sam, your thoughts about this. it's going into basically a wrestling match right now. they're all primed, i think zerlina is right. i think they'll all go after bloomberg, as they should. although a candidate running around telling people in their 20s and 30s i'm going to pay of a all your student loans, you don't have to get a real job because you're getting health care automatically and getting free tuition in college if you go to public school. a lot of people are promising things based on money. go ahead. >> those are receipts versus payments. >> the government is going to pay the bills. >> incredible recall on the mcgovern thing. >> wasn't carter shorter than gerald ford? >> he never told us his height just like wilt chamberlain told us his height. some people keep these things secret. >> back to bloomberg, you could not tee it up more perfectly for bernie sanders candidacy. a man who's been warning about oligarchies and billionaires, comes in -- >> you rolled the r there. >> finally gets

key serves as speechwriter to new york mayor john lindsay from 1970 to 1971, senator george mcgovern's 1972 presidential candidate -- campaign and speechwriter to the late senator edward kennedy from 1980 to 1984. toserved as senior advisor the kerry edwards campaign in 2004. other candidates include joe senate campaign, and tom bradley in his run for mayor of los angeles. author and professor robert shrum. and we are really honored to have with us alan dershowitz, professor dershowitz, a brooklyn who has been called one of the nation's most distinguished defenders of individual rights, the best-known criminal lawyer in the world, and as the jewish state's lead attorney in the corner of public opinion, he is the professor of law emeritus at harvard law school, a graduate of brooklyn college and yale law school, and joins the harvard age 25, becoming a full professor at 28, youngest in the school's history, and 50 years of teaching over 10,000 students. [applause] prolific author, recipient of numerous awards, and i don't know if you remember this, professor or she wits but the -- weofe

that's how they've turned the elections of democrats and republicans, and when george mcgovern won theiconic. we've got fox business's bulls and bears and everything else. maria, this state has a habit and sort of represent dags -- reputation of making pollsters look like fools. at the risk of the obvious and showing bernie sanders gaining, where do you see that going? >> and bernie and biden at the top are pretty much at the margin of error as we heard karl rove say last hour. it's fluid. the polls don't mean a whole lot when it gets to the second and third round of a caucus. if someone's chosen candidate doesn't meet the threshold. mo who do we vote for. and we're hearing that amy klobuchar voters for biden and-- we could see a couple of things happen. bernie and biden are doing well. amy klobuchar is ticking up. mayor pete put a lot of emphasis on the state after the state the path gets much harder for him. what happens after the first round will be very, very interesting and then of course, we have mayor bloomberg waiting on super tuesday. he should be here. neil: now we have what

to be george out mcgovern who lost in all 50 states with nixon.f you have a bernie sanders type of situation, that is the kind of thing i think republicans are salivating over. but maybe not the possibility of a recession in 2020, that would undermine the president's position. what will he do if that turns out to be the case, as you are maybe predicting in terms of the policy response? could we get one on between now and november? komal: he's already indicated a tax cut, and i think larry kudlow had mentioned that there might be a tax cut and campaign season. they will try to do that, whether democrats in the house will allow that to happen is a different question. but they will try to increase the fiscal stimulus. the pressure will be on, in terms of cutting rates and renewing. and what that will do with -- will temporarily give some support to the equity market, whether that can save the day and help on the election side is very much an open question. you are correct, if there is a serious recession as we go towards november, and it becomes appa

neil: some have said sanders would be the george mcgovern candidate.ion in debates but not much in terms of reaction at the poll. we don't know. but leapt me ask about how -- let me ask about how the markets are playing this, because i don't think they're factoring anything political at all. they don't see a problem with the president getting reelected. what happens if they do? >> so what i hear from folks in the market is that aside from the coronavirus, you know, they're happy with the way things are playing out because a stalemate washington is the ideal scenario for market. status quo and you can make your bets, right? so they're looking forward to that. but i think the other side that really needs to be factored in is the economy. the economy is actually doing pretty well. who gets credit may be up for debate, but the president is doing a very good job of taking the credit and making sure people know this is his economy x. if we see in those polls that you're talking about that the state of the nation, the sense of how our economy is being managed

barack obama in '08 and they got george mcgovern wrong back in '72. >> interesting. >> i found that really interesting. i was like, wow, what a record for those kids. >> that is amazing. >> so good for bernie, as she said. >> very much so. going to be watching nevada like a hawk. >> all right, my friend, see you soon. >>> good day to all of you from right here at msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome to weekends with alex witt. the final stretch to nevada, what the candidates are saying ahead of their first test in a racially diverse state. and inside president trump's week of rage, the new worries about what could come next. also call to resign. the message today from 1100 former justice department employees to the attorney general. plus stranded on a druze ship a cruise ship, the ordeal far from over by the americans impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. >>> but second day of early voting in nevada. a lot of voters are taking advantage of the open polls yesterday. and they will remain open until tuesday at 82 locations around the start. and those results will not be tallied

thus not what george mcgovern or harry or ted kennedy or any of the other democratic candidates for president were pushing. so this is really quite different. the thing is, my thinking has been, had been if you have 60% that just want to throw him out and don't give a rip who it is just so they can win. and 40% to want something that is pretty strained distraction, the 50% would probably bail. but on the bernie side, if you were going to ask them a year ago, what would be the best case scenario for you. he would probably say elizabeth warren collapses or all but collapses and there is a three, four, five way contested on the centerleft. guess what, that is where we are. frankly last saturday in the saturday nevada south carolina are little important then to shoot the wounded from iowa and new hampshire in a couple of candidacies. the thing that happens on super tuesday, he could get sanders to get 25 - 30% of the vote and end up with 40 - 45% of the delegates simply because of the weird delegate selection process democrats have and the fact that the other side of the party is so badly divided

. >> i think that the market's saying that it could be like george mcgovern. blame me i'm from vermont i think that that's kind of in play i do >> where it is a republican sweep? >> yeah. >> i think that's what people feel and never nominated someone who -- a socialist who has many communist views, never been the way. we had in -- >> i know he's a socialist communist? what do you mean >> okay. so he doesn't believe that the state should own i think to some state believes that the workers should own. trot ski okay form of socialist is certainly where he could be. that is not bad. i was a union leader one time and felt that trotsky had game and i prosecuted that and was fired. a suboptimal conclusion. but david, i think that you have to read through what marx says there's a -- certainly to the right of them. but he may be to the left of trotsky. >> really? okay. >> well, i mean, he is -- he wants to redistribute wealth and feels the wealth is outrageous in the hands of the few. trotsky believed that and lennen he was a mass murderer these are the things that len

barack obama in '08 and they got george mcgovern wrong back in '72. >> interesting. >> i found that reallyg. >> so good for bernie, as she said. >> vch

thing to remember is the last time the democratic party had an outlier come in was someone like george mcgovernral election did not hold well. one thing we have to be careful about is do not focus on just what is going on in the democratic primaries to project what is going on in the economy. the american voter is looking at, how is my life improving and what are the prospects under this administration or another at improving those prospects? ,ages and employment are rising but without investment we will not have real wages increase in a consistent way. i think that is what the voters will hear. there is not enough investment and i hope they will say we need more. tom: william lee with the milken institute. apple bounces up to 314. this is a professional phrase, it is not worser than two hours ago. even thoughg better they adjusted dividend up, coming off of zero on their earnings at the top of the hour. this is bloomberg. good morning. ♪ "rancine: bloomberg -- tom: surveillance." what we have done in recent weeks is try to talk to people about this medicine, realogy --virology. joining us now