OCTOBER 15, 2019
DAY 999 OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

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A dozen Democratic candidates, the largest field assembled on a single stage so far, met at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio Tuesday. They debated for three hours, sparring on policy differences, health care, guns, and more.
 

Elizabeth Warren, the new polling front-runner, absorbed the brunt of the attacks, but there were several other clashes, including among Pete Buttigieg, Beto O'Rourke, and Tulsi Gabbard.

 

The MSNBC hosts and analysts offered these impressions of the debate:

 

 

Nicolle Wallace, MSNBC host:  The new dynamic is Elizabeth Warren getting attacked over and over again. The weird thing about these debates is that they haven't resulted in any seismic shifts, even with breakout performances… The race is frozen for better or worse.

 

But I think what people will be talking about around the watercooler is Pete Buttigieg. He seems to speak to this primal hunger for something different and something better, not just among Democrats. Democrats will chose among 12 candidates, but Democrats have electability front-of-mind and Pete Buttigieg had a fantastic night.

Still, these debates haven’t proven to be the thing that voters latch on to in any durable way.

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill: 12 is too many. Stop. I surrender. It would be great if we can get this down to top four, and then you could see the numbers move. And polling shows that voters are persuadable.

 

One thing to note: Pete has a lot of money…  He can take it in an organizational level in the early states.

There’s going to be incoming [fire] with the front runner… you’re going to get challenged. Elizabeth Warren seemed a little put off by it.

 

Karine Jean-Pierre, MSNBC analyst: Everyone on stage agreed she [Warren] was the front runner, attacked her, and she was uncomfortable.

This [the debate] isn’t going to shake anything.  We’re frozen, and a lot of this is because of the impeachment inquiry.

Eugene Robinson: I think if debates moved polls, it would move it for Amy Klobuchar. She was aggressive, succinct.

 

Wallace:  Sanders was pretty spry post-heart attack.  

McCaskill:  I think Joe Biden had a good night. He may have had his best debate, including on foreign policy. He just didn’t have as much time talking. 

Hayes: Debates are not what are driving voters to Joe Biden. I think… there might be a demand for a non-Biden alternative to Elizabeth Warren. 

There were multiple developments on the impeachment inquiry Tuesday:

 

1. State Department official George Kent told lawmakers in a 10-hour closed-door deposition that acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney appointed three other Trump administration officials to spearhead the president's efforts in Ukraine. Kent testified that the White House sidelined him and assigned Ukraine policy to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, former Trump donor and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, and one-time special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, who called themselves "the three amigos."

 

2. The New York Times reports the White House has begun an "internal review" of that July 25 call between Trump and the President of Ukraine and that it focuses on the decision to move the transcript into a top secret storage system.

 

3. Trump personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is defying lawmakers' subpoena for documents. On Twitter, he also said "at this time, I do not need a lawyer."

 

The Washington Post is also reporting, according to former officials, that Giuliani pressed President Trump to eject Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen from the U.S. and turn him over to Turkey, a top priority of the Turkish president.

 

4. Vice President Mike Pence’s office said Tuesday it will not comply with a request from the House to turn over documents related to President Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The VP's office says it won't cooperate with a “self-proclaimed impeachment inquiry.”

 

5. Former Rep. Pete Sessions is cooperating with a subpoena from the Southern District of New York in connection with its investigation into Giuliani's Ukraine business dealings.

 

6.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the House will not hold a formal floor vote on their impeachment inquiry into President Trump "at this time." 

 

"There is no requirement that we have a vote," Pelosi told reporters  after a brief closed-door Democratic caucus meeting. Speaker Pelosi will be at the White House tomorrow to attend a bipartisan meeting with other congressional leaders to discuss Turkey's invasion of Syria.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: VIDEOS

Rudy Giuliani defied a congressional subpoena as the Wall Street Journal reports federal prosecutors in New York subpoenaed former Rep. Pete Sessions for documents related to Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine. Lawrence O'Donnell discusses Giuliani's legal peril with Barbara McQuade and Berit Berger. (The Last Word)

Democrats don't hold punches at first debate since impeachment inquiry began

At the fourth Democratic debate, Democratic candidates let the gloves come off.

MORE VIDEOS

• 'What I've seen horrifies me': NY Fed insider on Giuliani criminal probe (The Beat)
  
  
• Judiciary committee member: GOP colleagues acting "increasingly sheepish"  (The Last Word)
  
  
• State Dept. official told Congress White House directed ‘three amigos’ to run Ukraine policy (All In)
  
  
• Trump capitulation on Syria shatters US credibility on alliances (Rachel Maddow Show)
  
  
• Hunter Biden speaks out (Morning Joe)
  
  
• Candidates age, health questioned at Democratic debate
  
  
• Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden clash over credit for past accomplishments
  
  

DEBATE SPIN ROOM INTERVIEWS

• Cory Booker: We need to unify this party 
  
  
• Elizabeth Warren on the money in presidential campaigns
  
  
• Kamala Harris says Trump ‘like a two year old with a machine gun’ on Twitter
  
  
• Beto on Buttigieg: 'I question his political courage'
  
  
• Amy Klobuchar on sparring with Warren in debate
  
  
• Andrew Yang warns the dangers of automation 
  
  
• Julián Castro on debate: We didn’t talk about immigration, housing

YOU ASKED, WE ANSWERED

From our Friday newsletter (in case you missed it): We asked you to send us your questions about the news. MSNBC Daily readers Ruth Hurley and Holly S. sent in their questions:

• Why isn’t the House arresting or putting fines on those individuals who ignore the orders to testify?
  
  
• What will it take (excluding impeachment) for Congress to remove Trump from office? A real coup? It's apparent that he will not go without a fight...
  
  
• Does Nancy Pelosi really have to get an impeachment inquiry vote?
  
  

Lawrence O'Donnell served as senior adviser to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and was chief of staff to two senate committees before becoming a writer, political analyst, and MSNBC host.

 

We asked Lawrence to tackle the questions. Watch his answers here.

Do you have a question about the news? Send us an e-mail and we'll get some of your questions answered by our reporters and contributors in a future edition.

OPINION

As Trump criticizes Hunter Biden, House Democrats should be investigating his daughter
Another famous child who is still very much entrenched in Washington, D.C., is embroiled in potential conflicts of interest as we speak. That child is none other than Ivanka Trump, adviser to the president.  by Dean Obeidallah, host of "The Dean Obeidallah Show" on SiriusXM radio. 

 

The fake Trump shooting video is the result of decades of media demonization by conservatives
Trump didn't start this fire, but he stoked the flames as the antagonizer-in-chief, bringing us to a dangerous new low in American life. By Matt Laslo,  reporter and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.

WHAT TO WATCH WEDNESDAY

Today is Day 1,000 of the Trump presidency.

  

Michael McKinley, former Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is expected to appear for a closed deposition with members of the three House committees.

 

Wednesday is the subpoena deadline for Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman to turn over documents.

 

Fresh from the debate stage, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Kamala Harris, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar join Morning Joe.

 

Will Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's reported endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders for president have any effect on the race? She is believed to be joining a Sanders rally to make the announcement in New York on Saturday.

This newsletter was prepped for you by Sam Go and Stephanie Haberman. 

 

Tell us what you think of the news and drop us an e-mail. 

 

Check out our YouTube feature, "The Day That Was," a review of MSNBC's primetime coverage. 

  

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