SHE LEFT AND WHY WE’VE GONE 95 DAYS WITHOUT A WHITE HOUSE PRESS
BRIEFING.
BRIEFING. LET’S BEGIN WITH THAT BREAKING
NEWS.
NEWS. WE NOW KNOW THE MATCHUP.
WHO WILL FACE-OFF ON EACH OF THE
TWO NIGHTS OF THE DEMOCRATIC
PRIMARY DEBATES HOSTED BY NBC
NEWS.
NEWS. HERE THEY ARE.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT COMES LESS THAN
24 HOURS AFTER FINDING OUT WHICH
20 CANDIDATES MADE THE CUT FOR
THE DEBATE STAGE.
THE TWO-HOUR EVENT AIRS ON JUNE
26th AND JUNE 27th.
LIVE FROM MIAMI RIGHT HERE ON
MSNBC, ON NBC NEWS AND
TELEMUNDO.
TELEMUNDO. JOINING ME NOW, NATIONAL
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, STEVE
KORNACKI.
KORNACKI. ARGUABLY, THIS IS ONE OF THE KEY
MOMENTS IN ALL OF THE CAMPAIGN,
RIGHT?
RIGHT? IT’S GOING TO BE A LONG
CAMPAIGN.
CAMPAIGN. BUT FOR A LOT OF THESE 1%ers AND
2%ers.
2%ers. MY QUESTION FOR YOU IS.
LET’S START WITH NIGHT ONE.
A LOT OF PEOPLE SAYING THIS IS A
CHANCE FOR ELIZABETH WARREN AS
THE ONE TOP TIER CANDIDATE TO
SHINE.
SHINE. I WONDER IF IT DOESN’T PROVIDE
AN EVEN BIGGER OPENING WITHOUT,
SAY, A BIDEN OR BERNIE FOR SOME
OF THE PEOPLE LOWER IN THE POLLS
TO BREAKTHROUGH.
TO BREAKTHROUGH. >> YOU CAN CALL THIS ONE THE
OPPORTUNITY DEBATE.
OPPORTUNITY DEBATE. THE FIRST NIGHT DEBATE.
ELIZABETH WARREN.
ELIZABETH WARREN. THERE ARE FIVE CANDIDATES RIGHT
NOW, MASSIVE DEMOCRATIC FIELD,
THERE ARE FIVE CANDIDATES RIGHT
NOW WHO ARE REALLY GETTING MESH
URGEer USHL TRACTION IN THE --
MEASURABLE TRACKS IN THE POLLS.
ONLY ONE OF THEM, WARREN WILL BE
IN THE FIRST NIGHT DEBATE.
AS YOU SAY, OPPORTUNITY FOR
WARREN TO WALK ON THIS STAGE AND
BE THE BIGGEST STAR ON THIS
STAGE AND POTENTIALLY OWN IN
STAGE.
STAGE. THAT’S THE UPSIDE POTENTIAL FOR
HER.
HER. FOR THOSE OTHER CANDIDATES,
THOUGH, THEY ARE FACING
DIFFERENT CHALLENGES.
DIFFERENT CHALLENGES. BETO O’ROURKE IS AN OBVIOUS ONE.
HE GOT INTO THE RACE WITH
EXPECTATIONS BUT HIS TRAJECTORY
HAS GONE SOUTH SINCE THEN.
HE’S NOT GOING TO BE
OVERSHADOWED BY A BIDEN OR A
SANDERS OR A BUTTIGIEG OR A
HARRIS.
HARRIS. THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A
REINTRODUCTION FOR A BETO
O’ROURKE.
O’ROURKE. JOHN DELANEY, BILL DE BLASIO,
JULIAN CASTRO, JAY INSLEE, TIM
RYAN IN PARTICULAR.
THESE ARE CANDIDATES, REMEMBER,
AS THE DEBATE SEASON, AS THIS
CAMPAIGN PROGRESSES AND WE GET
INTO THE FALL, THE CRITERIA THAT
THEY USE TO GET INTO SUBSEQUENT
DEBATES, IT’S GOING TO INCREASE.
THE THRESHOLDS FOR POLLING
SUPPORT, THE THRESHOLDS FOR
DONATIONS RECEIVED WILL INCREASE
JUST TO MAKE THE STAGE.
CANDIDATES LIKE RYAN, INSLEE,
GABBARD, DELANEY, THEY RIGHT NOW
NEED TO HAVE A BREAKOUT
PERFORMANCE.
PERFORMANCE. THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST
OPPORTUNITY THEY’RE GOING TO GET
TO START GETTING -- THE
DIFFERENCE FOR THEM, GETTING
BETWEEN 0 AND 1% IN THE POLLS.
WHICH IS LARGELY WHAT THEY’VE
BEEN DOING AND GETTING 3, 4, 5%.
THAT’S THE DIFFERENCE THE NEXT
FEW MONTHS TO BE INCLUDED IN
FUTURE DEBATES OR NOT.
AT THE OPPORTUNITY DEBATE, THEY
WON’T BE OVERSHADOWED BY MOST OF
THE BIRG NAMES LEADING THE FIELD
RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT NOW. THERE’S THREE OR FOUR AT-BATS,
LET’S SAY.
LET’S SAY. IF ONE OF THE CANDIDATES CAN
KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK ON ONE
OF THOSE AT-BATS, THAT COULD BE
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STAYING
IN THIS THING THROUGH THE FALL.
>> ALSO THREE WOMEN AT THAT
DEBATE.
DEBATE. BUT LET’S GO TO NIGHT TWO.
THAT’S WHERE WHAT ARGUABLY THE
HEAVY HITTERS ARE GOING TO BE
THERE.
THERE. THERE YOU SEE.
JOE BIDEN IS IN THAT DEBATE.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, BERNIE SANDERS,
KAMALA HARRIS.
KAMALA HARRIS. I’M SO CURIOUS RIGHT NOW, INSIDE
THEIR WAR ROOMS, PER SE, HOW
THIS CHANGES THEIR STRATEGY THAT
THEY’RE IN A DEBATE WITH SO MANY
OTHER BIG NAMED CONTENDER.
>> SO MANY VARIABLES NOW.
WITH THE DNC, THE WAY IT WAS
STRUCTURED, THE DRAW WAS
STRUCTURED, THEY WERE TRYING TO
GET A MIX AND MATCH.
THEY WERE TRYING TO GET SOME
FROM THE TOP TIER, SOME FROM THE
BOTTOM, GET SORT OF A BROAD MIX
EACH NIGHT.
EACH NIGHT. BUT ULTIMATELY, IT DOES BECOME
LUCK OF THE DRAW.
THEY TOOK THE TOP PERFORMING
CANDIDATES, THEY KIND OF PUT
THEM IN A HALF.
HALF ONE NIGHT AND HALF THE
OTHER.
OTHER. THE LUCK OF THE DRAW, AS YOU
SAY, BIDEN NUMBER ONE IN THE
POLLS RIGHT NOW.
SANDERS IS NUMBER TWO IN THE
POLLS RIGHT NOW.
IT’S A BIT OF A SHUFFLE BEHIND
THAT.
THAT. HARRIS, BUTTIGIEG, THEY’RE RIGHT
UP THERE.
UP THERE. WARREN IS THE ONLY OTHER ONE
THAT’S REGISTERING.
THAT’S REGISTERING. YOU GOT FOUR OF THE FIVE HEAVY
HITTERS AT THIS POINT ARE GOING
TO BE ON THAT SECOND NIGHT
STAGE.
STAGE. OBVIOUSLY, BIDEN COMES IN THE
FRONT-RUNNER AND THE IMMEDIATE
QUESTION BECOMES SPECIFICALLY
THESE OTHER THREE.
ONE OF THEM, DO ALL OF THEM COME
IN WITH A PLAN TO DIRECTLY GO
AFTER JOE BIDEN?
DOES BERNIE SANDERS WANT TO
CONFRONT JOE BIDEN AND TRY TO
DRAW A STARK IDEOLOGICAL
CONTRAST BETWEEN THEM AND SAY,
YOU KNOW, JOE BIDEN, YOU’RE THE
CANDIDATE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.
THIS IS WHY WE NEED A
REVOLUTION.
REVOLUTION. THIS IS WHY THE ESTABLISHMENT
DOESN’T WORK.
DOESN’T WORK. HOW DOES HE CHOOSE OR OTHERS
CHOOSE TO ENGAGE WITH BIDEN?
>> I WAS LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
FOR THE REPUBLICAN DEBATES THREE
YEARS AGO, LOOKING AT 23, 24