NIGHTS IS A LOT. WE’LL STAY IN THESE PICTURES, BY
THE WAY, IN THE HALL AS WE TALK.
WE SAW SOME DIVISIONS ON THAT
STAGE VERY VISIBLE.
YOU COULD HEAR THEM, AND A BIG
ONE WAS GENERATIONAL.
AND LISTENING TO IT, WATCHING
IT, IT OCCURS TO ME THE MOST
INDELIBLE PICTURE OF THE EVENING
MAY BE A PHOTO WE’VE NEVER SEEN
OF A YOUNG GIRL IN BERKELEY,
CALIFORNIA, NAMED KAMALA AT THE
BUS STOP ON HER WAY TO SCHOOL.
THAT IS TO SAY, IT WAS ON THAT
POINT THAT SHE FORGED A MOMENT
AGAINST THE FRONT-RUNNER JOE
BIDEN WHO WAS CAREFUL TO BEGIN
WITH DONALD TRUMP.
HE WAS CAREFUL TO TRY TO END
STRONG, BUT THAT IS LIKELY OUR
PLOT LINE TONIGHT.
NICOLLE WALLACE.
NICOLLE WALLACE. >> I AGREE WITH THAT.
I BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TONIGHT
WILL ERASE IN MOST PEOPLES MIND
WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT.
THAT’S NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING AWAY
FROM ANY OF THE MEN AND WOMEN
WHO STOOD ON THAT STAGE, BUT I
THINK THERE WAS A VERY DIFFERENT
FEELING ABOUT TONIGHT.
FROM JOE BIDEN’S VERY FIRST
RESPONSE IN WHICH HE INVOKED AN
ATTACK, DONALD TRUMP WHICH WAS
SOMETHING OUR FRIEND JOY REID
SAID THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS
HUNGRY FOR.
HUNGRY FOR. I THINK THEY WERE ALL MUCH MORE
CLOSER TO THE BEATING PULSE OF
THE HOPES AND DESIRES OF REALLY
THE MOST SORT OF URGENTLY
DESPERATE TO BEAT DONALD TRUMP
WING OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
AND I THINK WE TALKED ABOUT IT A
LOT LEADING INTO THIS DEBATE.
KAMALA HARRIS HAS NOT YET BEEN
SHOWCASED IN A MOMENT THAT DID
NOT ELEVATE HER.
AND WE TALKED ABOUT THE BARR
HEARINGS WHERE SHE DIDN’T JUST
STAND OUT, SHE CHANGED THE
DYNAMICS OF THAT EVENT.
SHE CHANGED THE DYNAMICS OF THIS
EVENT AND PERHAPS THE DEMOCRATIC
PRIMARY TONIGHT.
PRIMARY TONIGHT. >> JOY REID?
>> WELL, I’M ACTUALLY LOOKING AT
WHO’S CROWDING AROUND THESE
CANDIDATES AT THE END.
A THRONG OF BLACK WOMEN FLOCKING
AROUND KAMALA HARRIS.
A GOOD THING FOR HER.
POOUT BUTTIGIEG’S THRONG NOT AS
DIVERSE.
DIVERSE. JOB NUMBER ONE, START
ELIMINATING SOME PEOPLE, START
TO TAKE DOWN SOME OF THE OTHER
CANDIDATES.
CANDIDATES. IT’S A GAME OF SURVIVOR.
YOU’VE GOT TO START TRYING TO
ELIMINATE PEOPLE AND OTHERS IN
THE MINDS OF THESE VOTERS WHO
ARE REALLY STRUGGLING TO PICK
SOMEONE.
SOMEONE. AND I THINK THE SECOND JOB, SHOW
US, GIVE US A VISION IN OUR
MINDS OF WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE
FOR YOU TO DEBATE DONALD TRUMP.
AND I THINK THE ONE PERSON WHO
GAVE US THAT VERY CLEAR PICTURE
OF WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE FOR
THEM TO GO UP AGAINST DONALD
TRUMP HEAD TO HEAD WAS KAMALA
HARRIS.
HARRIS. SHE HAD THE STRATEGY AND ONE OF
THE FEW WHO WENT AFTER JOE BIDEN
HEAD ON, SHE DESTABILIZED HIM ON
THE RACE QUESTION.
HE DIDN’T SEEM TO KNOW HOW TO
ANSWER, AND SHE TOOK ON DONALD
TRUMP DIRECTLY INCLUDING BACK TO
BIDEN, A BANK SHOT OFF OF BARACK
OBAMA, WHICH IS LIKE HEARSAY IN
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
SHE DID A BANK SHOT OFF BARACK
OBAMA’S DEPORTATION POLICY TO
HIT THAT MAN, JOE BIDEN, ON
IMMIGRATION.
IMMIGRATION. THAT WAS BRAVE AND IT WENT VERY
WELL FOR HER.
>> YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT
SURVIVOR, THOUGH.
SURVIVOR, THOUGH. IS THIS AN URGENT THING OR JUST
SOMETHING THAT HAS TO HAPPEN?
SO THAT THE FRONT RUNNERS GET
MORE ATTENTION?
MORE ATTENTION? >> ABSOLUTELY.
>> ABSOLUTELY. IN 2016 IN THE REPUBLICAN FIELD
THERE WERE 17 PEOPLE RUNNING BUT
ONLY ONE CELEBRITY.
IN THIS INSTANCE YOU HAVE A LOT
OF VOTERS WHO KIND OF LIKE THEM
ALL.
ALL. I KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE A
LITTLE BIT ABOUT BUTTIGIEG, I
LIKE A BIT ABOUT BIDEN.
I KIND OF THINK BIDEN MAY BE THE
ONE WHO CAN WIN AND HE MAY NOT
BE MY FAVORITE BUT I HAVE TO GO
WITH HIM.
WITH HIM. I LIKE A LITTLE KAMALA HARRIS
BUT I ALSO LIKE A LITTLE WARREN.
YOU’VE GOT TO STAND OUT IN A WAY
PEOPLE START TO SEPARATE
SOMEBODY FROM THE FIELD.
TONIGHT, KIRSTJEN GILLIBRAND,
KUDOS FOR STAYING IN IT.
BUT KAMALA HARRIS PRESENTED
HERSELF ESSENTIALLY AS A
FRONT-RUNNER TONIGHT.
FRONT-RUNNER TONIGHT. >> FORMER DEMOCRATIC COLLEAGUE
OF KAMALA HARRIS IN THE SENATE
CLARA McCASKILL.
CLARA McCASKILL. >> I THINK KAMALA OBVIOUSLY HAD
A BIG NIGHT TONIGHT.
SO DID MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG.
I THOUGHT HE HANDLED HIMSELF
WELL.
WELL. I THOUGHT HE SHOWED THAT HE
DESERVES SOME OF THE ATTENTION
HE’S GETTING.
HE’S GETTING. YOU COMPARE HIS PURCHASE TO
BETO’S LAST NIGHT, I THINK HIS
WAS SUBSTANTIVELY BETTER.
I THINK HE DELIVERED IN A CALM
WAY.
WAY. I COULD SEE HIM ALSO DEBATING
DONALD TRUMP.
DONALD TRUMP. BUT NO QUESTION, AND IF YOU LOOK
AT THE TIME EACH ONE OF THEM
SPENT TALKING JOE BIDEN WAS
OBVIOUSLY AT THE TOP BECAUSE HE
RESPONDED TO A LOT OF ATTACKS.
BUT WHO WAS NUMBER TWO?
KAMALA HARRIS.
KAMALA HARRIS. WHO WAS NUMBER THREE, BERNIE
SANDERS.
SANDERS. FOUR WAS IN FACT MAYOR PETE
BUTTIGIEG.
BUTTIGIEG. AND EVEN THOUGH KIRSTJEN TRIED,
SHE TRIED TO DO ALMOST A de
BLASIO, BREAKING IN TRYING TO
GET THE ATTENTION.
I THINK SHE ENDED UP ONLY WITH,
YOU KNOW, 7 1/2 MINUTES OF TOTAL
TIME TALKING.
TIME TALKING. SO IT IS TIME TO NARROW THIS
FIELD.
FIELD. I THINK WE COULD GET IT DOWN TO
FIVE OR SIX RIGHT NOW AND HAVE
SOME REALLY GOOD DEBATES, REALLY
STRONG CANDIDATES, AND THIS
PARTY COULD DECIDE WHO IS THE
RIGHT ONE TO TAKE THIS MESS IN
THE OVAL OFFICE OUT.
>> CONTRIBUTORS HAVE A FUNNY WAY
OF NARROWING THE FIELD.
LAWRENCE O’DONALD?
LAWRENCE O’DONALD? >> THIS WAS THE FRONT RUNNERS
DEBATE, IT WAS JOE BIDEN.
THE DEBATE WHERE YOU HAD THE
REALLY, REALLY STRONG
FRONT-RUNNER.
FRONT-RUNNER. SO THE QUESTION BECAME WHO CAN
BEAT THIS FRONT-RUNNER.
THAT’S THE FIRST QUESTION THAT
WAS IN THE AIR IN ANY OF THESE
DEBATES.
DEBATES. BEFORE YOU GET TO THE QUESTION
OF GOING UP AGAINST TRUMP.
AND SO SENATOR HARRIS DECIDED,
AND IT WAS CLEARLY A DECISION TO
GO STRAIGHT AT JOE BIDEN.
IT WAS VERY CLEARLY SOMETHING
SHE KNEW SHE WAS GOING TO DO.
SHE DID IT VERY WELL.
SHE DID IT VERY STRONGLY USING
JOE BIDEN’S HISTORY ON SCHOOL
BUSING IN THE UNITED STATES
SENATE, WHICH IS HARD TO IMAGINE
YOU’RE IN AN ELECTION IN THE
21st CENTURY THAT REFERS BACK TO
THE 1970s IN THE UNITED STATES
SENATE, BUT THAT’S WHAT YOU GET
WHEN YOU HAVE THIS KIND OF
LONGEVITY IN A CANDIDATE.
AND SO SHE REALLY I THINK HAD
SOME EXTRAORDINARY EXCHANGES
THERE, WAS VERY, VERY POWERFUL
ON IMMIGRATION, VERY POWERFUL ON