Tonight. I was very impressed with steyer. There was something for everybody here tonight. What you walk away does this change the dynamic of the caucus in three weeks . No, not at all. If im joe biden and Bernie Sanders, good night tonight. Warren should have come back on the issue did he say it or didnt say it, this is an opportunity for her to hit it hard and she missed that opportunity. Check in with chris cuomo, standing by, chris . All right, of course were listening to you all here, anderson, its so interesting to get all of these different perspectives on what happened. I think the consensus, though, is that this was not the type of night of ambition we expected. Then the big question becomes, well, why . You have two possibilities. One is the scared never wins, hold your fire, everybody up there is popular and you dont want to hurt yourself this close before the caucuses. Okay. But the second perspective is you have to go for it at a certain point to distinguish yourself from your competitors and remember what every democrat is looking for and why you see this bottleneck at the top and people moving back and forth, three, four people within the margin of error, who is the right one to beat trump . That speaks to a big ambition. To a boldness. Someone who can take on, arguably, the most fierce campaigner weve seen in a generation. The question becomes why did they play it this way tonight . I have dana bash and david chalian, cant get better minds than this. First of all, am i totally off . Loaded question. I know. The idea that this was a chance, this was your last fling before the caucus, wu saw no one swing big. Absolutely. I do think you were dead on about the stakes being so high but i actually was it fiery . Could you feel the crackling in here . No. But if you are a caucus goer thinking who do i like, im a little torn, i just want to hear what they believe on the issues i care about, youve got that tonight, particularly on an issue that we have heard almost nothing about until tonight and that is foreign policy, given the fact that things are so different now with what happened in iran than they were just a couple of weeks ago. And thats the beauty of having you here, david, is that you can help us weave in the what people want to hear at this stage, what they heard tonight, what did you see . I agree. I dont think anything really changed tonight in this race and i agree that caution was the most active participant on the stage and i think theres a reason why. It is those rules that are particular here in iowa, where that second choice can really matter and so its a calculation, if you go after somebody you may be rolling out their supporters. Whats the difference between the straight vote gnat caucus . You gather for a meeting in your community at a local school or library and you have to get 15 of the participants in that caucus to earn delegates. If you do not get 15 in that precinct, and there are over, you know, a thousand precincts in the state, more than that, you your supporters then have the opportunity in a second round of alignment and preference to go to someone else. Its a very careful consideration about sort of going after an opponent whose supporters you very well may need to woo if they fall short. That has something to do with it, the specificity of iowa. But also there is a concern that, as you noted, the party is looking for a trump defeater at all costs. And so theyre not all that eager in seeing these folks try to take each others face off. Although i think only senator klobuchar spoke very directly to the task of the president and what he presents. Sure, everybody touches on it tangentially with some now kind of canned lines they have, stock and trade lines, but the moment of the night had nothing to do with that, Elizabeth Warren anticipating how to deal with sanders and their wires crossed. She took the moment, how and what did it mean for her . It was look, it was an out of the park moment. She clearly had it planned, probably almost to the word. And she delivered it. She executed it. And the it is what they clearly inside the Warren Campaign had in mind for the past probably 24 or 48 hours, which is the fact that she is the most viable woman in that list of the top four, particularly here in iowa. Shes the most viable, the only woman in the top four. And so she is trying to use that moment and explain why, not just a woman, but her as the woman in that position should be really seriously considered and it was a clever way of doing it because she also brought in the other woman on the stage, almost a sister in solidarity. Klobuchar thanked her. Saying people in the last 30 years have beaten an incumbent republican. She said none of these guys he didnt let it go. Right after it was her way of saying im moving past bernie onto the main proposition here, politically whether people think it was a setup from the warren up organically, kind of weird, it happened a while ago. But she does it a bernie gets in there and says i did beat an incumbent republican in 1990. And warren says, yeah, that was 30 years ago. And he goes right. So then im right. And it was kind of weird, david. He did not need to say that. It was weird. I didnt catch it. We made some video of it. But i see twitter commentary, that they exchanged words at the end of the debate, sanders and warren. Nice words or not nice . Well take a closer look at the video put it looked like they had some exchange once the debate was over. Interesting to learn what that is. Im curious to see if theyre ready to move on. They clearly didnt want to battle tonight. No handshake. Look, that is an interesting thing because, again, anderson, theyre in the same lane. So what was the nature of that discussion . Does it good natured and lets move forward, or is it what dana tends to see, if you get in my key light, ill throw you over the railing, if that was that kind of discussion at the end of the debate. Its a very different meaning. I think i also may have told you that a couple times. Chris, well come back to you shortly. Back with the folks here. David, interesting to see that exchange at the end. Well, you know, one thing that was left unresolved in their exchange was this what actually happened and i actually thought i thought in the debate she handled it well because there was nothing to be gained by saying no, youre lying, you did say it and she turned it to her advantage. I thought that was fine. But clearly lets play that video. Very, very hard feelings about the whole thing. This is not warm and cuddly. Poor tom steyer. Look, it seems to me that first of all they didnt shake hands. She clearly had a point she wanted to make. She had a point she wanted to make tonight, which was about gender and people in iowa, all around the state, and of course all around the country are saying can a woman beat donald trump . But it seems to me that they didnt resolve what was said at their meeting. And she wasnt happy about it. Yeah. And you can see that and clearly she wanted to do it during the debate but after the debate. She should have done it during the debate. You are running for president of the United States of america. This is the last shot you have. You take every opportunity to fire everything you have. People are paying attention. Theyre not following this daytoday. Many she says they tuned into this debate this might have been the first time they heard about it and i also disagree that, well, people didnt go after each other because, oh, they wanted the people to move over for second place. Come on. People have to win this caucus because if you dont win then you may not be going on. Are they afraid of joe biden . What is it . They didnt attack joe biden. I think the top four were only a point apart, biden didnt want to get into it, bernie was fine with it. Amy klobuchar, she did, tom steyer is not going to do it. I think the top four felt they were very close and we dont need to get into it and come out with a draw on the top four, see how our Field Operation works. Warren has been careful in the way shes emphasized gender, she tends to couch it in terms of other women in American History who have broken through against challenges rather than talking about herself. In this case, i dont think that the appeal to women is Bernie Sanders said a bad thing. I think the appeal to women is, women win elections, despite this widespread idea we somehow cant win elections. Dont forget sanders was criticized how we treated Hillary Clinton. That was the whole point. Elizabeth warren hurled a grenade into Bernie Sanders when that story leaked and she confirmed it. It stirred the embers of what happened four years ago, still bitter feelings about whether he was adequately supportive of Hillary Clinton and all the damage he had done to her leading into the election. And this brought all that back and lets not kid ourselves. Youre talking about how people should play hardball, that was a hardball move. And also women get punished if they play hardball all the way. Really . So i think that what she did was extraordinary. But what i love about Elizabeth Warren in those moments, she never stopped being the educator in chief. She didnt just say, listen, im a woman, i can do it, she made the case that women have been winning in the trump era. She used the moment well. But that was progressive to see those two have that level of vitriol was very disspiriting. Tonight for me was disspiriting. Democrats have to do better. Nothing i saw tonight that would be able to take donald trump out. If youre looking at this thing, did any of these people, prepared for what donald trump is going to do for us . I want to go chris cuomo, standing by with pete buttigieg. A lot of intrigue. Were with one of the participants up there, mayor pete buttigieg. Good to see you, happy new year. What did you think of the stage tonight . It was an opportunity to get our message out with three weeks to go. My focus was not relitigating debates from the past, but talking about the future, how do we turn the page in order to win and beat donald trump and in order to govern . Those two go hand in hand. What lights up rooms when im talking to voters across iowa and everywhere we go and asking them to envision that first day after we send donald trump into history and actually have to bring this country together to get big things done. This is a chance to talk about that for a lot of issues, i wish we could have gotten to that hopefully well touch in other debates but i really valued the opportunity to get out there and share thfuture oriented vision. I expected more points of comparison, 20 days until go time at the caucus. What was the calculation in terms of nows my movement, i have to make a move on her or him or both of them now . My focus was to make sure that my message was coming through. Ours is a winning message. Its clearly res natding with voters, improbable campaign over the course of the last year would never have been able to get here. This was an opportunity, especially in contrast that anybody who felt pressure to refight old battles from washington to talk about where were headed going forward. Two quick points. Iran is a new variable. We did not see this coming in. You have a perceived strength and weakness. The strength is, youre the only veteran up there, you worked in intelligence, you understand the region. How do you sell people on the idea that your strength outweighs your weakness, which is youre young, you havent been in the position of whether or not to pull that type of mission that we just saw with soleimani. How do you sell that . When it comes to National Security the next president is going to face completely new challenges from the kinds of proxy wars, to cybersecurity threats and climate security threats, yes, i bring a perspective from having served in uniform and that will never leave me in the situation room and i also bring a focus on what lies ahead. Im ready to engage our partners. We need to form new connections with leaders in order to move past this moment that donald trump has brought us to, restore american credibility and keep this country safe. A theory about why you see so much changing at the top now, youve entered in, which is very ambitious for you and your campaign, wasnt expected obviously, but the reason you see the movement is that no one is sold on which one of you beats trump. And i know that starts to sound like a tired question, but obviously nobodys answered it to the satisfaction of the party. What is the answer to that question and why do you think it hasnt been a satisfactory answer thus far . Part of what i had the opportunity to discuss tonight, the economy. I actually belong to the middle class and from the communities he talks about and then lets down again and again. When he says something to you that rhymes with pete, i dont know what hell come up with, that is a relevant thing. I get im not going to be like him, the only guy ive ever seen that makes Bernie Sanders laugh. When bernie hears what the president has said about him, theres a charisma that gets conveyed when its crass and crude and ugly and something that has to be combatted so that you are more persuasive than he to this same group of people. The key is to realize that we cant meet him on equal and opposite terms. I think his power not sure id call it charisma, but the power he has to change the subject by doing something outrageous or disgusting. We have to be ready to confront is behavior and correct his lies but always come back to the question that every election is about, the voters question, how is my life going to be different if its you, president , instead of you. We have the better answers on those questions, making sure people get paid more, longterm care, making sure we get paid family leave to keeping this country safe. We have to make sure the president doesnt deny us the opportunity to speak to that. You told chris that you were happy to be able to talk about things on foreign policy, in particular that werent fighting the battles of the past but considering the fact that you and joe biden are likely going after similar kinds of voters here in iowa, do you think its okay how he voted on the iraq war, and more importantly how he explained it tonight . I disagreed with the iraq war and i think that that vote was a mistake. Ive been clear on that. Does it disqualify him . Its an example of a difference between experience and judgment. Voters have to decide. If youre looking for the candidate with the most years in washington, the most time spent on capitol hill, youve got a clear choice and im not going to be your candidate. I also think we are where we are partly because of a sense of frustration with the inability of washington to solve our problems and thats where im offering a different perspective, whether thats National Security, partly because i was sent to war by one of those decisions made in the white house, or the perspective of the kind of community i belong to. Ask you one question on the woman issue that came up with Elizabeth Warren. Because i remember after the last debate you were kind of the guy who understood that the two women said when they were asked about would you give a gift or what did you do wrong, what do you apologize for, the women said theyd apologize. You have a good sensibility of that. Given that, what was your take on what happened with Elizabeth Warren and how she kind of tried to take the conversation that she says she had with Bernie Sanders and take it to another level . I think the right point to make, and many candidates made it tonight, is that a woman should be president of the United States right now and got far more votes than donald trump. Of course a woman can win the president and i of course its also true that sexism has been a force in our politics that needs to be fought. Mayor buttigieg, you may disagree with me, but it seems to me you need iowa perhaps more than anyone else and im wondering, just because of what youre saying, the proof point that chris is asking about, about telling democratic voters, showing them i can win and be the trump defeater, one way to do that is to actually win in iowa because you are lesser known, that truth may not be for biden or sanders. Do you feel you have to come in first place to catapult your candidacy forward. We have to do well in iowa. The best way to demonstrate you can win is to do well, to win. And what we see here in iowa is the opportunity to do that. Look, this election is just different from every other election so of course each of us will point to our records for evidence that we can win but weve also got to look forward and think about the unique, i mean, historically unique, first ever, kind of president that were dealing with now. Think about what its going to take to compete with him and we need to demonstrate and iowa is our first chance to do it, that we can pull together enough voters to come along with us who share that vision of a better day, turning the page and not getting stuck into that endless loop that has so many people, watching this exhausting process in washington, switching it all off, taking it into our own hands and the Iowa Caucuses are the first moment on the calendar when we get to do that. Does doing well mean coming in first . We need to do very well and thats what were working toward doing. If coming in first isnt doing very well i dont know what is, maybe second depending whos around you, you want to do well, but you dont want to set up a bar that you dont make. Thats reflective of what we saw tonight. Everybody knows they have to make a move but its close enough where theres such an interesting calculus going on of i dont want to offend, her people or his people upset at me, because they may wind up being my people. Interesting contrast from our president. Our president has never done that, never chosen nice as a way to win. Mr. Mayor, thats why its interesting to watch you and talk to you about whats going through your mind as youre making the positions you are. Thank you for joining us tonight. Happy new year to you and your husband. Good luck going forward. A lot more to talk about. Anderson is going to have senator Amy Klobuchar next and well go through all the players and all the implications. Stay with cnn. You could get up to 3,200 the day you file with an express no fee refund advance loan. Thats money fast. Like, today fast. Dont wait weeks. Go to Jackson Hewitt today. Country roads, take me home theres a booking for every resolution. Book yours at any price, at booking. Com im the only candidate in the book yomb bracee way,e, who d