Primary ballot in alabama. Why alabama has the first deadline where you have to sign up first. Now bloomberg declined to jump in months ago. So what changed his mind here . The New York Times reports that bloomberg sees weakness in the top tier of the democratic field and doesnt think that joe biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are Strong Enough to defeat President Trump. The 77yearold has Financial Resources no other democrats, really almost no other humans on earth can match. Hes also a former republican who turned democrat ahead of the midterm election. A democrat before he turned to a republican, before he turned to an independent, before he turned back into a democrat. And now we know he is likely running for president of the United States. We are also following several major developments on the impeachment front as well as investigators get ready for the first televised public hearings. Thats going to be next week. Meantime, acting white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney subpoenaed to testify this morning but he is not expected to appear. That is not really a prize. A lawyer for the whistleblower sending a cease and desist letter to the white house demanding that President Trump stop attacking his client. And the times reports ukraines president planned to announce an investigation of biden as President Trump wanted during a cnn interview in september. But it was scrapped when news of the whistleblower complaint and alleged quid pro quo broke. Joining us now, 2020 democratic president ial candidate andrew yang. Mr. Yang, i hope you can hear me. I know we were having audio problems. Can you hear me . Yeah, loud and clear. Thank you, john. The robots are working for both of us this morning. I appreciate that. So if i can get your reaction to this really big news, which is that Michael Bloomberg and his 50 billion filing paperwork to enter the president ial race. What do you think of that . Well, im friendly with mike. Hes a great philanthropist, was a stellar mayor, but its going to be really difficult for him to jump in right now and now replace the thousands of conversation conversations many of the candidates have had with ad buys. There are limits to what money can do. Were seeing some of the limits of what money can do with other candidates. And so i think hes going to have his work cut out for him, if he jumps in. What do you think it changes in the democratic race . Its probably going to change the price of advertising. Some of the early states and certainly mike has a very valuable perspective to offer. As an american, im glad that he is looking at the race because hes an extraordinary leader and has done a lot for the country. You know what im interested in . If he gets on the debate stage and youre there beside him, im curious how youll explain to Michael Bloomberg why he deserves to receive a thousand dollars a month of your universal basic income which is a big part of your campaign. So why will you tell Michael Bloomberg he should get a thousand dollars a month . Well, its opt in so he doesnt need to take it. Knowing mike, he probably wouldnt take it because he has bigger fish to fry, though you dont get to be a billionaire by turning down a thousand dollars a month, so you never know. But the fact is that when the dividend is distributed in alaska every year, it goes to the richest alaskan and the poorest. And that makes it universal. It removes any stigma. Its not like youre getting it, im not getting it. You dont have to keep track of how much people are making. Thats part of whats made the Petroleum Dividend universally popular for decades. So you, talking about money, have your first big Money Campaign ad up and running in iowa. Lets take a look here. President obama named andrew a champion of change and his ideas are a blueprint for a new way forward. An economy where big tech and wall street are held accountable. A Health Care System with medicare for all that takes on Drug Companies to lower prices. A fight against Climate Change that confronts big polluters. We have to rewrite the rules of the 21st century so that they work for us. So its interesting. That ad was really an introduction. Youve been running for months now. That ad was fairly general. Struck me as fairly general, promoting a lot of the ideas Democratic Candidates are. And while you had basic income on the screen, you didnt really talk about it. Im curious why you chose to talk about what you did. When we did some research we found out most iowans still were getting to know me. So as you say, this was very much an introduction ad. Were going to have more ads in the days to come that dig a little bit deeper. But we found out that people wanted to learn more about me and my background. And so thats what this ad is meant to provide. You have come out in support of the impeachment proceedings. But youve also talked about the risk to democrats focusing too much on it. Im just trying to figure out what ultimately that means. Does that mean if you were in the house of representatives youd vote to impeach the president and if you were a democratic senator that youd vote to convict him . Is that true . Well, those things are true, but we have to face facts that not a single republican crossed party lines to vote for impeachment proceedings, which strongly suggests that its going to run aground in the senate. And all of the oxygen is going to be around donald trump and not around a new way forward and a new vision for the country that americans will actually get excited about. Thats how we solve the problems that got him elected. Thats how we beat him in 2020, and thats where our focus should be right now as democrats or americans. So were getting closer to iowa every day. Im curious what your closing message will be in iowa to the iowa voters. My closing message to iowans will be that we have left an awful mess for the next generation, for our kids. And that we have to do better. We have to create a new way forward that will enable us to be able to look our kids in the eyes and say, your country loves you. Your country values you, and you are going to be all right. And if we can say that honestly, then we will win in 2020. Just to wrap this up or go back to the beginning here, Michael Bloomberg, obviously, is getting in the race because for whatever reason, he doesnt think the democratic primary field is Strong Enough. What do you think he sees . You know, i cant speak for mike, but if you look at the numbers, i think hes concerned that there are a couple of frontrunners that have Economic Perspectives that differ substantially from his and that he wants to make sure that his perspective gets represented. You know, this is a democracy. You cant fault someone for putting their hat in the ring. And i believe that mike has a lot to add. Hes done a lot for the country over the last number of years. Do you think that hes right that perhaps Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, some of their economic models, are too far from the mainstream . In your opinion, where does andrew yang sit in comparison to those . Well, i think that we need to have 21st Century Solutions for 21st century problems, not solutions that have not worked in the past. Unfortunately, some of the candidates in the field seem like theyre reaching backwards for solutions to todays problems and they dont seem to have a sharp understanding of how technology is transforming our way of life and particularly the decimation of millions of manufacturing jobs in the midwest that led to Donald Trumps victory in 2016. Andrew yang, we appreciate you being with us. Thanks so much for being here. People listen to what you said about ad prices because youre absolutely right. That will be the immediate proximate effect of Michael Bloomberg entering the race. Thats the biggest impact were looking at, john. See you soon. I also like the point he made that Michael Bloomberg didnt become a billionaire by turning away 1,000. What would he do with that . When theyre on the debate stage, thats a question id ask andrew yang if Michael Bloomberg deserves his universal basic income. Praising the man who fired him a year ago. Whats all that about . Coming up next. Celebrating a successful business trip together is easy, if youre staying at holiday inn. Were there. So you can be too. 25 cent boneless wings at applebees. Born to be wild. Born to be wild. Get em while theyre hot. Heres the story of Green MountainCoffee Roasters sumatra reserve. Lets go to sumatra. The coffee here is amazing. Because the volcanic soil is amazing. So we give farmers like win more plants. To grow more delicious coffee. Which helps provide for wins family. All, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. Green mountain Coffee Roasters. Motor . Nope. Not motor . Its pronounced motaur. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. For those who were born to ride, Danafarber Cancer Institute discovered the pdl1 pathway. Pdl1. They changed how the world fights cancer. Blocking the pdl1 protein, lets the immune system attack, attack, attack cancer. Pdl1 transformed, revolutionized, immunotherapy. Pdl1 saved my life. Saved my life. Saved my life. What we do here at danafaber, changes lives everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Only lexus asks questions like these, because we believe the most amazing machines are inspired by you. Experience the rewards of our curiosity. Can match the power of energizer. Because energizer ultimate lithium is the longest lasting aa battery in the world. [confetti cannon popping] energizer. Backed by science. Matched by no one. Former new york city mayor and businessman Michael Bloomberg is preparing to get into the president ial race. Hell file today to get on the democratic primary built in alabama. Joining us for more on this, Political Correspondent abby phillip and former obama Senior Adviser david axelrod, host of one of my favorite podcasts, the ax files. Let me start with you and your tweet after the announcement. You said this is a thunderclap and not exactly a vote of confidence from leading moderate and durability of joe Biden Campaign. A lot of people initially responded to that. This must be an indictment on joe biden. I want to turn to this new poll from the New York Times and the siena poll on a sampling of swing state voters. And they were asked if the democratic president ial primary was being held today, who would you vote for . All but one went for biden. Yeah, this is one of the paradoxes of the Biden Campaign because his numbers have been generally holding up. Theyre not in iowa. Theyve been sliding in iowa. And theres concern about iowa and new hampshire. Its more about a performance issue. This question of, can he hold up over the long run . And i think that one of the reasons bloomberg didnt get in, in the first place, is because he didnt think there was room. Hes betting that biden will falter and there will be a lane for him in the middle of the electorate. I also had a second tweet in which i pointed out that bidens base is not a bloomberg base. Its White Working Class voters, noncollege educated voters, africanamerican voters. Bloombergs reach is not into that constituency, and thats his problem. Its not clear where his votes are. And, you know, i think this is motivated by a combination of conclusion that biden may not make it. Ambition. And i think genuine concern about trump and the reelection of donald trump. Because biden may be losing money. Hs not losing africanamerican support yet. Not yet, no. Well see if it holds. The real question is can you lose the first two contests and win the nomination. It sort of defies the laws of president ial physics, president ial campaign physics but thats their plan. Its interesting. I brought this up a few times. I covered the wes Clark Campaign in 2000. Bianna is not impressed at all by that. Talked about it like it was normandy. One of the lessons i learned is when you get in late like wes clark did, no matter how hard you tried, your campaign is about why you dont think the other candidates were good enough. So youre forced to answer that question the whole time. So even if you want to be delivering a positive message or even talking about the general election, you are forced to talk about why you didnt think everyone else on that stage was good enough for why you got in. So im wondering, is the mere fact that bloomberg is getting in going to disrupt the field in a negative way . Is this something that all democrats now need to worry about . Well, you know, i do think that that question is one that bloomberg is actually going to have to answer. He has to make the case for his own candidacy. Why him and not any of the other moderates in the race . Kamala harris or pete buttigieg. Why him and not biden, frankly. Even as much as this is an indictment on biden, to davids point, what biden does that bloomberg im not sure that bloomberg can do based on what we understand about his political appeal is unify as much of the democratic constituency as you can get. The progressives, the moderates, the voters of color, africanamerican voters, latino voters. The candidate who is going to win the nomination is going to do the best as a democratic candidate will have to do all those things. Its a real question. Can bloomberg do all that . He has to make that case to voters himself and then, beyond that, yesterday i was speaking to a top democratic official in iowa who was talking to me about some of the candidates who were already in iowa and who have been there for many, many months and who have really extensive ground games. And theres a sense that even the ones who have put in a lot of time and money, it is, for some of them, not going to be enough because some of these early states are so difficult in terms of organizing, they require a lot of elbow grease on the ground. And it is very difficult to parachute in there and somehow get people to dramatically change their minds just because they know your name. Andrew yang alluded to this earlier in your interview, john, where he said hes seen the limits of what money can buy in this campaign. Thats a reference to tom steyer who has a lot of name i. D. Because hes running millions of dollars of ads in this campaign but is struggling when it comes to the ground game and gaining traction beyond the single digits. Its hard for me to believe that bloomberg is going to go into iowa. I dont think thats a very promising place for him. Hes got to figure out where hes going to start this campaign. New hampshire would make more sense because republicans and independents can participate in that primary. But i think the bottom line is, you know, running for president is really, really hard. People are in your face all the time. You are scrutinized in ways youve never been scrutinized before. Mike bloomberg is a very formidable guy. I have some doubts as to whether hes going to take to this president ial nominating process. Someone else who jumped into the political arena officially last night is former attorney general and former alabama senator Jeff Sessions who announced hes running for his old seat and he did it with this ad. I want to play it for you and then i want your reaction to it. Watch. When i left President Trumps cabinet, did i write a tellall book . No. Did i go on cnn and attack the president . Nope. The president s doing a great job for america and alabama. And he has my strong support. Please, please dont take me, President Trump. Pretty please. What did you see there, abby . I mean, it is probably the only strategy available to Jeff Sessions right now. The problem is, i dont know that its going to work. The president is still unhappy with Jeff Sessions. He really didnt want sessions to get into this race, and i dont know that any amount of hugging of President Trump in an ad like this is going to really change that if trump decides at any moment, which he could do to simply tweet more attacks on him. So its about the best that he can do. And it might work for now in alabama, but this is going to be i actually think, surprisingly, its going to be a challenging race for Jeff Sessions just because of the drama that is in his past and also because the republican establishment seems just as much to not want this to happen as the president does. And so hes going to have to kind of run a little bit like an independent in alabama if hes going to make this work politically without sort of getting attacked from all sides here. Well be able to test the limits of how flattery works with the president. We know hes subject to that. Well see if even Jeff Sessions can work that magic on donald trump. Welcome to campaigning in the trump era. I want to talk about your conversation with cindy mccain on the ax files, the podcast and cnn as well because we heard earlier from don junior when he was on the view yesterday and talking to meghan mccain. And he in his own way, sort of apologized for the bickering and animosity that ensued between her late father and the president. And im curious to hear what