Room. Saying this is a rules problem is ignoring the reality that americans see around us every single day. Sometimes i think that senator warren is more focused on being punitive or pitting some part of the country against the other. Id like to ask senator warren if she would join me in calling for an end to this regime change war in syria, finally. When i called on twitter to suspend Donald Trumps account that you did not agree, and i would urge you to join me. Things also got heated between the moderates and the progressives on that stage as they debated whether the best way to win back the white house is with bold ideas or practical policies. So, lets be clear, whenever someone hears the term medicare for all who want it, understand what that really means. Its medicare for all who can afford it. I believe the best and boldest idea here is to not trash obamacare but to do exactly what barack obama wanted to do from the beginning. My question is not why do bernie and i support a wealth tax, its why is it does everyone else on this stage thinking its more important to protect billionaires than it is to invest in an entire generation of americans. I want to give a reality check here to elizabeth, because no one on this stage wants to protect billionaires. Let me tell you, though, how this looks from the industrial midwest where i live. Washington politicians, congressmen and senators saying all the right things, offering the most elegant policy prescriptions, and nothing changes. I think as democrats, we are going to succeed when we dream big and fight hard, not when we dream small and quit before we get started. Ooh, a lot happened on that stage. I want to start with our team on the ground in columbus, ohio, ali vitali and shaquille brewster. Ali, youve been following Elizabeth Warren all around the country. This is the first time we have really seen her get attacked. How does her camp take it today . Reporter thats exactly right. I mean, stephanie, its pretty clear from the way that the rest of the field was treating her on the stage last night that they think that shes the frontrunner who needs to be taken down a peg, and thats exactly what we saw. I think everyone on the stage, except for Julian Castro and Bernie Sanders went after Elizabeth Warren. And so, clearly, theres a dynamic shifting in the race there just based on what weve been seeing in the polls, in the way in which shes been rising. But you also watched the way in which she dealt with those attacks. She really doubled down and didnt cede any ground, whether it was on medicare for all or defending a wealth tax. Thats something that im not necessarily surprised that she did, because as shes been pressed on these issues, even by us on the campaign trail, thats exactly how shes dealt with it. A lot of the responses that i heard last night are things that i have been hearing on the campaign trail for the last few weeks. The only question now is, now that theyre in the limelight, now that theyre held up to extra scrutiny because shes the frontrunner, how do they hold up . And frankly, the other person i cover on the campaign trail is senator Amy Klobuchar, who was one of two people who went really hard at Elizabeth Warren last night. Klobuchar seemed really itching and ready to make that comparison when i spoke to her on sunday night. She told me then she wanted to make the comparison that she was the moderate who could offer pragmatic policies. Clearly, she didnt tell me Elizabeth Warrens name on sunday night, but obviously, when you watch her execution, thats exactly how it came down. And really, amy cloklobuchar ha been someone whos really not found her footing on these prior debate stages, but last night, obviously, in a really doordie moment, because shes not yet on the november debate stage, was trying to make the case for herself as the moderate option on the stage there. Shaq, last night was big for Bernie Sanders. His first appearance since his heart attack. Now getting an endorsement from aoc. Hes got to be happy with that performance. Reporter thats right. And i spoke to his Campaign Manager just a couple of minutes ago, and theyre really ecstatic by what they saw from senator sanders last night. First, the heart attack didnt come up as much as they perhaps expected and were prepared for going into this debate, but he also mentioned that we saw a side of senator sanders that we dont normally see on the television cameras. We saw senator sanders laughing, smiling, joking with the other candidates, and also had somewhat of that heartwarming or reflective moment as he thanked his other candidates there for their support as he was in the hospital and dealing with his heart attack. But if theres one thing the campaign was really trying to show yesterday, its that Bernie Sanders is back and that he wants to be a force in this campaign. We saw that with the endorsements that were rolled out even before the debate ended. We learned that aoc, representative alexandria ocasiocortez, is now going to be endorsing him at his big rally in new york on saturday. We have an endorsement from representative omar, and they also are celebrating their fundraising numbers. So, theyre really trying to show Bernie Sanders is back in this campaign and will be a force. Ah, Bernie Sanders, that surprise special guest in queens, we quickly realized it was going to be aoy. Thank you both so much. Joining this conversation, jonathan allen, or as i call him, the birthday boy. Nbc News National political reporter. Victoria Defrancesco Soto from the university of texas, former deputy secretary of state and spokesperson for hillary clinton, and my dear friend tim miller, former Communications Director for jeb bushs 2016 campaign. Jonathan, i follow you on twitter. Your big takeaway, klobuchar, klobuchar, klobuchar, huh . Yeah. Stephanie, i think there were a couple people that had good nights last night, but Amy Klobuchar certainly stood out as somebody who came out fighting. She had, as ali vitali was saying, her back up against the wall, came out swinging not only against Elizabeth Warren but also against donald trump. I thought one of the key moments of the debate last night was very early on she gave a very concise answer about what she thought was wrong with the president , about impeachment, and also on the electoral battlefield, which was that he wasnt making America Great again but was, in her words, making russia great again by putting the United States interests second and putting his own interests first. It was perhaps maybe of all of the people in washington and on the campaign trail, the most cogent explanation for what the democrats are trying to say about what trump has done wrong that ive heard so far. Victoria, what was your big takeaway last night . Mayor pete. I mean, mayor pete really stood out as the person who the gop is going to come after, because he now has the mantle of the prime moderate. And i agree with jonathan, Amy Klobuchar was very strong last night, but mayor pete really stood out, and he has tons and tons of money and has this momentum. That being said, hed better watch out, because fox news, bright bart, if you read them this morning, theyre already sharpening their knives to come after him. So, for me, the takeaway is the new standard bearer for the moderate lane in the Democratic Party is mayor pete. Youre shaking your head no, no, no. Why, why, why . No, i agree, but i laugh because every week someone does well and the Trump Campaign comes to the conclusion, oh, theyre the one we have to worry about there. Its like theyre the people in the 3g commercial who are missing all of the brownies in the 4g break room. But its not just the Trump Campaign. Yeah. Look at what the candidates did last night. They turned their attention from joe biden to Elizabeth Warren. Yeah, im not disparaging you know, i think there are debates where its clear that people lost or won. The first debate it was clear that joe biden did not have a good night. I dont think last night was one of those nights. When he oh, sorry, you thought he did have a good night . The first debate, it was clear that biden did not. We always start out with the first hit not communicating well. The first debate, biden had a bad night. You could say kamala he lost. Last night, people had good nights, people had bad nights, but it was kind of a rorschach test. Everyone saw their candidate and thought they did well. The big thing was, not only was warren, did she have a target on her back, but it was like she was in a dunking booth and everyone came, they took their shot, and she withstood it pretty well. I think it bounced off the thing a little bit, didnt go in. But what you saw last night was everyone going after her because all of them are realizing that shes cannibalizing their votes. The Washington Post had a really interesting piece by philip bump that was looking at the fluidity in the race, and it showed in the last month, 24 of democrats had changed who their favorite is in the race. And within that, biden is retaining 81 of his voters and warren 87 of her voters. The voters that are going to warren are coming from everywhere. She is siphoning votes. She got 22 . One of every five supporters of kamala shifted to warren. Nine Percentage Points of orourkes voters went to warren. Zero percent the other way. Theyre all realizing that theyve probably wasted a couple of months not going harder after her. Did it hurt . Did it help last night . I dont think so. Yes, mayor pete had a great night. Yes, Amy Klobuchar had a great night. Yes, cory booker had a great night. But its not just debates. They go back on the trail, and theres something not working for most of these people on the trail. And i dont know that it changes that trajectory. The trajectory is that warren is doing great. And last night didnt knock her off. Tim, this fight between progressives and moderates, did it impact Elizabeth Warren . Because theyre making the argument, these are big plans, these are bold ideas, but youre never going to get them done. Does she need to get herself more to the middle . Or is she pulling voters out of the woodwork kind of like the way the president did, and does it need to shift to the middle . Well, look, i dont know that she needs to shift to the middle in this primary. And im in an uncomfortable position of having to agree with philippe. Uncomfortable. I dont think anybody landed a punch on her last night. There were some weird attacks on her. You know, senator harris on the twitter issue, you know, beto talking about her divisiveness. I dont think thats going to resonate in a Democratic Party. These attacks from the right . I mean, i thought that pete did probably the best job at making sure the argument was less about ideology but more about can these policies get done, pragmatism, you know, practicality. But is that really going to be the thing that moves voters off of Elizabeth Warren who are excited by her . No. I think a better comparison is to, you know, kind of the coalition that obama put together in 2008. Right now it seems like she has the energy, and theyve got to pop the balloon of the energy thats driving her to the top of the democratic primary. Last night, it seemed like a lot of flailing, and i dont know that, you know, there was a lot of really tested strategies and tested messages that actually work with democratic primary voters. They worked on me, but you know, im an antitrump republican. So i dont know that im the prime target audience. Okay, then jonathan, lets go back to joe biden for a second. If people were taking swings at Elizabeth Warren but didnt land any punches, could he have landed more . Yes, he stood up and said i stand with my son, hunter biden, he didnt do anything wrong, listen to his statement. But there was a clear lane for joe biden to say, me . My son . Why dont you take a look at jared, ivanka, don junior, eric. He would have gotten a standing ovation. People would have been shouting, hallelujah, amen, in front of their tvs. And we heard none of that. His real problem, stephanie, if he does that, because the entirety of his campaign is predicated on the idea that hes much more president ial than the current president. So, if his argument is that donald trump has divided our country, donald trump has cheapened our politics, that donald trump is unpresident ial, then turning around and training his fire on Donald Trumps kids isnt really the way to show that contrast that he wants to show. Now, is he aware that other democrats are going to do exactly that, that theyre going to spend a lot of time on television talking about Donald Trumps kids, talking about the emoluments that have ecrude rescued to the trump family over the course of the Trump Presidency . Absolutely. Biden knows that other people can do it for him, doesnt have to do it for himself, certainly not on a debate stage with a lot of people paying attention. So i think from a strategic and tactical standpoint last night, it makes a lot more sense for him not to hit trump there. Whether or not he should have been hitting trump harder on other issues is another question. I think a lot of folks in his campaign, a lot of people who donate to him want to see him ratchet it up even more than he has in the last few weeks. Uhoh, ive got two boys again shaking their heads. Didnt the democrats do that last night . Look, i think that biden could have been much stronger for sure on the ukraine issue and he had two weeks to prepare for it, and i agree with stephanie, it could have been a knock out of the park moment last night that he missed, but i thought that was true for every democrat. The president of the United States is a crisis right now. And honestly, watching that debate last night, i felt like it could have been john kasich that was the president they were running against. I did not get any sense that there was an urgency, that the most important thing that these 12 or 20 or how many people were up there last night have to do is beat this guy in the general election, and i dont feel like there is a depth of knowledge about the scandals and the corruption in this white house. I mean, i think that me or felipe would win a quiz show competition by a mile over everybody on that stage last night. When they do go after trump, its platitudes. I would like to see in future debates, biden, but everybody show a lot more energy and passion in going after this president. I mean, you have don junior last night mocking hunter biden, skying, youre such a loser, you need your dad to get your job. No one on that stage felt like saying, imubber and youre glue, big boy . I mean yeah, i hate to disagree with the birthday boy, but i think, you know, biden has shown flashes of being very direct, whether its a couple weeks ago where he said, you will not destroy me. That is not unpresident ial. That is strong. That is standing up for yourself. This isnt a ka italian. This isnt a tea party. You have to show that you can take on this guy. Taking on this guy doesnt mean stooping to don juniors level of idiocy and nonsense, but it does mean standing up for yourself. I agree with you, i dont know if throwing something at my television, but if biden had said, look, im not going to stand for this from some guy whose kids are in the white house making money off of trademarks, off of hotels. You know, no one mentioned last night that people are going to his hotel in scotland on the air forces dime. Thats not being undignified. That is telling the truth. Bidens fighting corruption, youre being corrupt. Give me one line. When they were talking turkey, no one mentioned that turkey, more than any other Foreign Government in the world has spent more money at trump hotels. Think about that. They had mike flynn on the payroll . I want to bring in Laura Hancock with cleveland. Com. Laura, President Trump won in places like ohio because he promised to make peoples lives better. That was brought up again last night. Take a listen. Here in ohio, in the latest job data, ohio is losing jobs under donald trump. He has broken his promises to ohio and the industrial midwest. I ride my own chevy. Its a chevy cruze, used to be built right in lordstown, which is now one more symbol of the broken promises that this president has made to workers. Do you think that people of ohio are ready for a different option . I think it just depends. I think suburban voters for the most part, even though they are trending more blue, i think that economically, if theyre not suffering, i dont know if theyre willing to go for a democratic candidate, especially if the person is seen as too liberal, too progressive. And yes, it is true that farmers are suffering under the tariffs, especially soybean farmers and also people who worked in auto and manufacturing, auto jobs, they are in trouble. There is a gm plant that has been idled in northeast ohio, and that affects a whole chain of businesses. Last night the Opioid Crisis was brought up. I know thats an important issue in ohio. Is that something that resonated with voters there . Laura. I think it resonates with white voters because thats what the Opioid Crisis has in particular hit. It started out with rural, white ohioans. At one point, we were having 13 people a day were dying from opioid overdoses. The deaths seem to be decreasing, although it still is a problem. We had some more urban voters of color. There is a feeling like, why werent you guys this concerned during the crackcocaine epidemic . So, yeah, i think that op