Everything, except the mayor Michael Bloomberg. An exclusive new look at his new ad. Good morning. Welcome to morning joe. It is february 17, 2020, president s day and joe and willie are off. Jonathan lemire is here. Working, we love it and David Ignatius is with us and former director of Strategic Communications for Hillary Clinton 2016 president ial campaign, Adrienne Elrod, a lot to talk about, and host of nbcs politicsnation reverend al sharpton. Reverend, thanks for being on. Watching you last night and i have a lot of questions for you this morning. There is no shoresage of news on this holiday. President trump reportedly infuriated by the Justice Departments decision not to prosecute former fbi Deputy DirectorAndrew Mccabe. New calls for attorney general william barr to step down. This time from within. From more than 1,100 former federal prosecutors and Justice Department officials, and David Ignatius will talk about the apparent deal with the taliban, or as he calls it, trumps afghan gamble, but first, what we saw from the candidates over the weekend is just the beginning of what will be an extremely consequential next two weeks for the Democratic Party. From wednesdays nevada debate to saturdays caucus, to South Carolina the following week and peaking with super tuesday, we will be witnessing a noholdsbarred fight for how democrats will choose to combat trump. A fight which in many ways is for the soul of the party. Will it be the far left or the more moderate wing radical change or incremental fixes . Do they want to defeat trump or go bigger to defeat trumpism . A grass roots revolution, or driven by big money . Will voters grant racial forgiveness or demand racial accountability . Will we see party unity or demand purity tests . All that in the next two weekss so again as Democrats Campaign this weekend, a lot of their focus was on someone who wont even be on the ballot for another two weeks. Michael bloomberg wont be on the ballot in nevada this coming saturday or on the ballot in South Carolina, one week after that. But as the former new york city mayor rises in the National Polls, democrats are sharpening their attacks before his first big test on super tuesday. Just 15 days from today. So heres a bit of what we heard from bloombergs rivals over the weekend. 60 billion dollars can buy you a lot of advertising, but it cant erase your record. Theres a lot to talk about Michael Bloomberg. You all are going to start focusing on him like you have on me which im not complaining. What kind of ally would you call Michael Bloomberg for the Obama Administration . On several issues, like guns, he was a real ally. A real ally. But if you notice, he wouldnt even endorse barack in 2008. He wouldnt endorse him. You know, he endorsed bush. He endorsed the republican before that. All of a sudden hes his best buddy. You know . I mean, and he would not endorse him. You take a look at the stopandfrisk proposal, look at his ideas on red lines hes talking ak. Take a look at what hes done relative to the africanamerican community. Like i is have come on your show multiple times and a number of other candidates have come on and answered tough questions. Hes got to do the same thing. He hasnt gone on the sunday shows since he announced. Instead just running ads. I dont think you should be able to hide behind the ads. I think you should not only go on these shows, i also think he should take the debate stage. Why i have actually been supportive of him on that debate stage because i yo i cant beat him on the airwaves but i can beat him on the debate stage. The part i object to is the billionaire able to reach in his own pocket and throw down, you know, a couple hundred Million Dollars in order to finance their campaign. Because what that does is, that just short circuits all of democracy. Regardless of how much money a multibillionaire candidate is willing to spend on his election, we will not create the energy and excitement we need to defeat donald trump if that candidate pursued, advocated for and enacted racist policies like stopandfrisk [ cheers and applause ] which caused minorities in his city to live in fear. And issues to break down when it comes to Michael Bloomberg. Obviously, his money. A lot of people complaining hes buying it, bypassing the other, you know, normal processes with this election, to buy it on super tuesday. Theres complaints from women about how he has treated women. As he had, bloomberg. Reverend sharpton, watching your Closing Remarks on your show last night. Stopandfrisk, a policy he inherited, expanded over the course of three terms and even pushed back when the courts deemed it unconstitutional. I saw you giving him a little bit of room to sort of, i dont know, come clean, get past it. What exactly does someone who pushed a policy like this, who was heard quoted in conversations saying things that are pretty rough racially, and has just decided to say hes sorry, because hes running for president. Like, i dont know what he could do to actually prove that this wont happen again in another way. Perhaps you could share with me what you expect . I dont know what he can do either, but i think the challenge is that we cant just settle for a speech or a tour of speeches asking for forgiveness. Right. There ought to be an effort on his past, on his part, rather, to say, and, therefore, i want to try and repair the damages done by this. Some kind of criminal justice initiative, some kind of effort for those that were scarred. I also, mika, dont want to see him as a leaf that the other candidates dump some of their racial baggage, and why i said in my closing last night i want to know what bernies going to say about the vote he did for the crime bill where people went to jail on the cry bail, no matter his reason for voting for it, it was a law that incarcerated people. Joe biden wrote it. Amy klobuchar, with a 16yearold should have never gone to jail that she prosecuted in minnesota. So i dont want them to attack bloomberg to cover the fact that all of them have racial baggage. We can reconcile but lets recognize that. I understand that, about the other candidates that you mentioned, but theyre in the race. Theyre facing these questions. Theyre out mixing with the voters, actually participating in primaries, and the voters will get to decide es swespecian South Carolina. As pertains to Michael Bloomberg, Jonathan Lemire, three fouryear terms expanded it and fought for it fervently, correct . But doesnt have to participate in the primary process . Right. Never seen this before, skipping the first four states entirely, just not getting involved. Others like Rudy Giuliani, but this is new. To stopandafrica, youre right. Inherited from Rudy Giuliani but expanded it dramatically as mayor only dialling it down end of his third term in part because of legal action. His hand forced by the courts. So adrienne, i want to get to you, where we are now. The idea of democrats, mikas beginning, about a purity test. This is someone whose record is obviously being scrutinized right now. You know, and i think there will be more of this. Remember, in 2004, he endorsed george w. Bush and beyond that turned over the keys of new york city to him for that years Republican National convention and presided over nypd crackdown on crow test eprotesters. And traction about bloombergs treatment of women and comments made about him while in charge of his Company Bloomberg lp. What do you think . Democratic voterers learning more about him, is this a problem or because they want to beat trump make a compromise with him . Look, lemire, you bring an important point. Which is theres still a lot of information that voters across the board in the democratic primary dont yet know about Michael Bloomberg, because they have seen the slew of ads hes run. Hes run, what . 300 million so far, pretty close to it, in television. With certainly more to come. You have seen a lot of those Television Ads but havent actually heard that much from Michael Bloomberg on the national stage. Hes in a couple of National Interviews and of course done rallies and events across the country in key battleground states, key super tuesday states. Why i think wednesday night is such a big test for him even though of course not on the ballot until super tuesday, march 2nd. A huge test and voters will ultimately decide what is important to him . As you look at joe bidens numbers decline there is a rally around Mike Bloomberg in terms of believing he is most electable against trump or potentially the most electable against trump, why you see his numbers rise as bidens numbers fall, but the real question is, how do voters respond to some of thee allegations . Mike bloomberg will certainly be in the hot seat on wednesday night i think the clips you showed from the sunday shows this past weekend really demonstrate what is to come on wednesday night. Again, one poll away, but we assume hell get that probably tomorrow at some point. Its going to about real test. Ultimately the question is, where do black voters stand . How do they accept his stopandfrisk policies . Forgive him . Do they decide to kind of go as, no the necessarily a block but do they sort of shift their support from biden to bloomberg . Do they find and alternative candidate to support instead . Thats the real question, and how much are voters willing to put up with and also at the same time willing to accept Going Forward in terms of who they decide to be the frontrunner in this race . Interesting, theyre not going to know. I mean, super tuesdays going to be a bunch of states in one night but hes not going to have been tested by the first four. Were going to get to the complaints from some women in just a moment, but heres how Maria Theresa komar put the concept, the question around Michael Bloomberg on meet the press yesterday. This is where its going to get tough. Whos going to show up for the American Public . Mayor bloomberg or philanthropist bloomberg . I say that becauseif philanthropist bloomberg invested heavily for a womans choice, gun reform, heavily invested when it comes to every issue will technically expand the tent. Mayor bloomberg talks about red lining, talks about stopandafrica has been incredibly damages with some of those policies. As he rolls out his person and his persona hes going to have to be able to answer directly of what is happens and who is going to show up. Hmm. Could be both. Bring in michael salt into the conversation. The page one editor at the wall street journal. And reported extensively on bloomberg during his time as mayor. Also historian, author of the soul of america and professor of the presidency at Vanderbilt University jon meacham, nbc news and msnbc contributor. Jon, start with you. Sort of to give us a historical perspective, what does this look like and remind you of in any way . A little of 2016, just the day before yesterday, where you have an unconventional figure from new york who is forcing a lot of folks like us to sit around and talk about the norms and conventions and ordinary road size of american politics that may or may not still apply. This is the clearest test to me of whether the trump effect on our politics is durable in the campaign sense, because everything that we said was going to sink donald trump, all the way through, access hollywood, in october of 2016, didnt. Because he defied the rules of political gravity. The question was, we know he defied them. Did he repeal them . And ordinarily a lot of these kinds of questions would create a lot of stories on the front page of the washington journal and elsewhere that would have a clearly deleterious effect on bloomberg, but he was mayor of the nations largest city for 12 years. He can be very blunt. I suspect his being blunt about his bluntness may, in fact, play very well, and i think the question atmospherically is, to what extent do Americans Care about having a perfect and carefully packaged candidate in an era where every other norm seems to have been thrown out the window. And part of the primary process, Jonathan Lemire and caucuses, get to know the candidate and see how they do with voters. Weve got a stopandfrisk policy, a big question about Michael Bloomberg, which was carried out and pushed, expanded over the course of three terms. We need to talk about the three terms, because thats usually not what happens in new york city, and it doesnt anymore. But first, democrats won in part with bloombergs money in 2018. They depended on that money that were questioning so much now. No question. A huge benefactor to congressional races in 2018. Has been a leader on some democrat uk issues like gun control and the environment, particularly with coal. Yeah. But now theres a scrutiny what hes done before, the philanthropist bloomberg. Great to see. I covered him a time here in new york not as extensively or long as you did. Go back to that. Usually mayors get four years, two terms. Remind us how that came about and how mayor bloomberg ended up serving three years 12 years . Sure. First elected 2001, reelected 2005 and soon as he started his second term there was a lot of talk about him running for president. In 2007 he left the Republican Party and became unaffiliated with any party as he flirted with running for the presidency. When 2008 rolled around decided no the to take the plunge and didnt run. The question what am i going to do now . A term limit law preventing mayors from running for a third term and the mayor decided he wanted to run for a third term. Has any other mayor in new york city done that, decided he want add third term . Yes, other mayors. Were they successful . Many third terms deemed unsuccessful, and if you ask Michael Bloomberg hell say his third term was better than first and second. Others in new york may raise an eyebrow at that. But did they get through and serve a third term like Michael Bloomberg . Yes. So its got precedent. It does, but voters voted twice in the 1990s to prevent mayors running a third time, why the term limits law. And how did it come about . Pressured and used resources . Used philanthropy, criticism when this was happening leaning on folks he had given money to, to get them to help convince city council to overturn the term limits law. And covering him, how would you describe what you learned about him in terms of his leadership style . I would describe him as somebody who is very intent on getting things done and its a little like his slogan. He, when he first ran in 2001 he had never had any experience in government, and he was able to convince folks after a 40point deficit in polls. Now, you also were up close and personal as he was a candidate and mayor and didnt run against a fierce opposition. Reminded, a underdog in 2001, after giuliani endorsed him in the wake of zsept 11 attacks tht sent imskyrocketing in the polls. Likely see him, have to do more interviews and so on. What kind of retail politician is he . And also remember hes pretty rusty. Hasnt done it in years . Definitely rusty and never a great retail politician. He is a businessman. Thats basically been his career. Sure, in government for 12 years as mayor, but in terms of retail politicking, is he the, you know, the warm, fuzzy person on the campaign trail . Absolutely not. I dont think he would say he is. I cant get over the video unsee the video of him shaking a dogs head from vermont. And takes himself with a sense of humor. When i when you read about the complaints that women have made about his leadership style and also some of the, you know, i get ndas or agreements, women who felt harassed or spoken to inappropriately, did that surprise you . No, it didnt surprise me. Most of those allegations are from before he was mayor and in, in the lawsuits and all of these allegations were aired during his campaigns for mayor. So i certainly wasnt surprised by them, but they are serious allegations. If youre running for president absolutely fair game. Michael salt. Thank you so much. David ignatius, bring you into the conversation because youve written a column about the reemergence of the moderate democrat. And id like to know what that means, where Bernie Sanders plays in that since hes the one who appears to be on the upper end of winning so far, and where does Michael Bloomberg stand in that narrative . Mika, as i looked at the results of the first two contests, it struck me that although Bernie Sanders does get the attention, he makes the noise in the party, if you look at the numbers, theyre telling you something, which is that in this botched iowa caucus that we ended up not paying much attention to, mayor Pete Buttigieg had a breakout win. A guy whos Main Campaign theme, as i watched the law order debates, his more progressive rivals proposals on medicare for all and other issues, he was the moderate guy who was going to talk sense, and he won in iowa. Extraordinary moment and then look at New Hampshire. Bernie won but won narrowly. Buttigieg c