let's go back to the floor for questions for the dnc. dnc member? >> thank you, i am from california. in the interest of time, my those whos only for are currently not on the administrative side or state leadership. i want to know, what have you done in your record, concrete example that backup empowering state parties? april: go ahead. >> let me tell you what we have done in indiana, mike pence's indiana. where neither the last, best where nevertheless, -- where nevertheless winning for democrats in mike pence's indiana. first of all we have to recognize that you have to show up everywhere. i cut my teeth running for statewide office. i went to 89 counties. i was on hand for the breaking of the world record for the most chicken fried chicken assembled in one place. they decided the canoe festival in franklin county set a world record. you just have to show up. since becoming mayor, i've been able to do that in new ways. i have been able to raise money for our state party able to support terrific candidate like helping joe taylor, a state , represen

what what i do for the dnc members of the dnc chair, not just in meetings, but in general? how do you play part in a democratic party where i am in charge? quizzically, you do need to be involved. look to theo future. we have discussed this attanasio. one thing we hit on his millennials and young people. there is one way to do that. you guys have the experience. you guys have done this for decades and years. it is time to adopt a mentorship role. teach me. show me how as a millennial how i can be as your chair, at this table. jeannie was the reason i got to be at this table. -- jamie was the reason i got to be at this table. he signed the petition. that is showing that you give a damn about the little people. jamie harrison, did you sign the petition? [applause] >> i have been a member of the executive committee now, chair for 4 years, member of the executive committee for about 2.5 to 3 years. every meeting i have gone to, particularly over the past few years, you get an agenda that says, pledge of allegiance, new business, business, adjournment. -- old business, adjournme

dnc has to do that job. when you're recruiting candidates, dnc ought to be helping train them. when we're hiring organizers, dnc should be training them. when alaska flips to become democratic or kansas in a year when trump wins by 14 points they pick up 14 seats in state legislature, we should have a center for best practices to go to school on what happened there and take those lessons. that's what we have to do. when we're building that infrastructure, getting back to basics and going to rural america saying we are here and you know what, we stand for economic opportunity, we are the democratic party, that's how we turn it around. it's got to be long-term -- >> thank you. >> investments. we're too short-term too frequently. >> turn to something else that was talked about before the break about what is going on in and around the country and look at another map. six states only had democratic governors and state legislatures. in the last eight years more than 900 seats in state legislatures went from democrat to republican and mostply legislatures draw the districts and big re

there's only so much the dnc can do, right? at the end of the day the party committee itself is a fundraising and organizing vehicle. it can't it doesn't have the power that someone like an obama or a hillary clinton, or you know, whoever that next figure is, to inspire that next generation of grassroots activists. just look down the republican side, brianna, it was donald trump who came along and added the energy and excitement to the republican party that allowed them to whip the white house, we live in an era of candidate-centered politics, right, that there's only so much that the party committees on the road can do. so perez is going to have his work cut out for him. he's inheriting a party that's at a low point when you add up the number of governorships and legislative seats that the democrats hold. despite the differences that this dnc race made clear, the ones we've all been talking about, the sanders wing versus the obama-clinton wing, trump is a unifying force now for the democrats. so i think that, when you're the o

dnc. did you follow all that? >> jonathan, i think we are going to start calling you professor serrie, political science and democratic politics here. great explanation. we'll check back with you on the first, second, third, fourth, fifth ballots if it gets to that as well. thank you, sir. >> see you then. leland: liz. elizabeth: all right. jonathan is our go-to guy. in the meantime, job creation and health care reform, those are some of the top issues the republican party made very clear at cpac this week. joining me now the chairman of the american conservative union and brains behind this operation, congratulations at cpac. >> you don't want to get ahead of your he have is-- yourself. elizabeth: an opportunity for cpac to identify itself, in the beginning it was a perhaps rocky start? >> we had a question whether donald trump should be invited to cpac and the whole never trump movement last year. no, we said, no, no, he had a right to be heard. and this year, controversies what's happening on shutting down cons

the new deputy chair of the dnc. wenite are uas a party. we have so much work ahead of us because across america, people are fearful. people are fearful for our future. democrats united is a hope for the future. we will put our values into action. we have a special election today in delaware. we have boots on the ground and actions all over the country today. strength in numbers, the millions of people that have been coming out since the inauguration to say, donald trump, you do not stand for our values. we have been marshaling and will be harnessing that remarkable energy going forward. the value of diversity is employed. here today.to be we have a lot of things to do and we will do it together. >> area. -- here we go. good afternoon. sorry, i lost my voice. we have been traveling the country. i'm so excited to be here with my colleague congressman keith ellison, the new deputy chair of the dnc. we are united as a party. we have is so much work ahead of us because across america, people are fearful. people are fearful for our future. democ

i will be a great dnc chair. [applause] >> public-service is the people business and and the atf raid to get so this is making scheerer we put values into action and then we win votes in elect democrats. our values are of the majority and what we need is somebody to take the fight. somebody with the proven track record of a turnaround agent that requires someone and had the so that we can put the values into action. [cheers and applause] >> the stakes are too high for business as usual. the chair needs to be a strategist, is seasoned and organizer in fierce message in a. so someone will understands the institution from the inside and out and someone is not afraid to tap into those longstanding challenges. if we think it is only focused on donald trump for 2016 than that is not telling the whole story. we do love the opportunity to transform the party in a move from politics to purpose. i want to be a champion to help us do that. to make sure that women are the backbone of this party do celebrated and trained and

what is next for the dnc? our phone lines are open. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8002 for independents. spanwj. on twitter @c our line for international viewers is (202) 748-8003. this program is live on the bbc parliament channel. good sunday morning to you. coming to you from a different studio as we work on our normal washington journal studio. we want to begin with headlines from the atlanta journal-constitution. tom perez as the new head of the dnc. with ties toeteran the establishment as the new face of the resistance to donald trump. tom perez will lead a democraticed national committee which has been reeling from the 2016 vote. that left the party firmly in a minority. democrats were worried at the buoyedliberal outcry -- at the wave of liberal outcry. our phone lines are open. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. is the headline from the washington post. tom perez elected as the party chair. more highlights from the event in atlanta i

i'm an attorney and i am what the dnc needs. the dnc represents a free america. we are the party of the people, all people, regardless of race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, or military service. we represent the young, the old, the rich, the poor, and everyone in between. we are the majority party of the united states of america. our party has a fundamental conviction that americans must not only be free but we must .ive in a fair society a society where the elderly and the disabled live lives of dignity and social security remains an unshakable commitment. where all people can find jobs in a growing, full employment economy, where all workers are guaranteed the legal right to join unions of their choice and to bargain collectively for a livable wage and decent conditions of employment. [applause] mr. peckarsky: i walked with the women's march in washington because i believe in a society where equal rights of women are guaranteed in the constitution. where a woman has the right to make the decisions about her o

in the future and a valid dnc. -- thank you. -- in the future and the dnc. [applause] donna brazil: thank you, sam. , want to makeve sure everybody is here. we will now move to nominate keithents of congressman allison. recognize --l now keith allison. -- the chair will recognize randy why garden for congressman ingarten of keith ellison. will you all have a seat? and the chair will recognize chairwoman alex for another speech and then congressman ellison. the chair now recognizes randi weingarten. ingarten.andi we as democrats, we fight every day of the america with a ladder opportunity for all regardless of who you are, where you are and who you love. that is the america hillary clinton fought for. it was my great privilege to be a soldier in her fight to become president. there was a disconnect. too many americans were convinced that a con artist was worthy of your vote. and too many americans just didn't to vote. and that is our challenge. as we say and labor, do not work, organize. it organized, we must. engaging every community. that is why i support a

what the immediate and construction needs of the dnc? after the election, there were plenty of people that were laid off, which tends to happen after elections. there are a lot of basic nuts and bolts we have to do. we need to do external outreach not only with members but to the broader community, and this is like doing maintenance on a plane at 25,000 feet, because you cannot shut the plane down and do that. i'm excited about the weeks ahead and i will be looking forward to working with not just the two of us, but the other candidates, who have all asked how can i help? so many dnc leaders and political friends elsewhere who are saying thank you. >> the budget has not been transparent. hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on national contract. how are we going to make sure the money goes to the states art -- that are starving for resources? tom perez: transparency is something that you are talking about on many levels. in transparency, for instance, means making sure that decisions are made in an open and transparent manner.

that is his new deputy dnc chair, keith ellison. let's take a listen. >> extend an invitation for me to join him in his leadership of the dnc. >> he is our leader. he is our chair. i think tom is ready to call on all americans to help reveal the democratic party and stand for the values that we all share with your prosperity for all, respect for all, inclusion of all, and we're ready to do it. >> all of us are united in the idea that tom is our chair, and we're proud to be part of the dnc and we're proud to say that this day is the day that the democrats come together, chart that new course for a bright future for the american people. thank you. >> is today a turning point for the democratic party? >> i think we're very excited about today. you see feel all across america. there are more rallies today. we're going to win a special election if delaware. you have an opportunity here in the sixth congressional district of atlanta, and i think we have a real shot there. we're moving forward in new jersey, in virginia. i think we're goin

we want to know what qualities you think the dnc chair should have. eastern and central 202-748-8000 , mountain and pacific 202-748-8001. we got an update from the washington post about the elections today and what to expect. 447 members of the democratic national committee will meet and vote on their entire leadership. they will vote on one of seven candidates to become chairman of the party. the since coming out of their as recently as a few hours ago, tom perez, the secretary of labor, has a clear advantage, while ,eith ellison is in the hunt but needs people to change their , needs some of their candidates come over. does become tom perez, what has he said about the position and what does he want to do with it? caller: that has been one irony about the race. perez, like ellison, has said theparty was out of touch last eight years and was critical of the way it was under barack obama and debbie wasserman schultz. it did not do what he called house calls, one-on-one campaigning locally, did not invest in all 50 states in the moretory, basically a lo

the head of the dnc. he was a star tonight, but it seems to me being mayor of south bend with the super highway of debris in donald trump's america, you might need someone who is a pro at fund-raising and knows how congress works and i think perez and ellison are the front-runners. >> people often pat him on the head and think he's the intern. >> he was very good about main street values and rural america. >> i appreciate your patience. sorry about the technical difficulties. lots of tough questions, but when we come back, republicans are facing tough questions of their own from angry constituents at town halls across the country. we have a question about your brokerage fees. fees? what did you have in mind? i don't know. $6.95 per trade? uhhh- and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee? guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $6.95

as part of the dnc winter meeting in atlanta, see that live at 10:00 today. let's go to rick and west virginia. good morning and thank you for waiting. go ahead. hello? let's go to greg in alabama. good morning. caller: good morning. i am not against us doing work we need to do in space but i am against like sending spaceships to mars. and unnecessary stuff like that when the country is in debt. i live in alabama and we are broke. -- i am for the sunlight. -- sunlight but we need come -- commonsense we need , some of the things we need to be doing i am for that but if we get the country finances in good shape again, then we may look at doing something exploratory. that is my opinion. thank you, good morning. host: atlantic city, new jersey, larry, hello, good morning. caller: good morning. we need a whole new civilization in space. the reason is that on earth we just keep having wars and if we have a nuclear war, we will need a civilization in space. host: brian from flagstaff, arizona. he says he is not sure about spacex oration, especially -- spacex oration

thank all of my colleagues on the dnc and special guests in the audience. dnc members will begin with a have a dialogue with the candidates and special guests have, as you know, these forms have been passed out,

amy: after tom perez was elected chair of the dnc, donald trump tweeted -- the race for the dnc chairman was, of course, totally rigged. bernie's guy, like bernie himself, never had a chance. clinton demanded perez!" that is what trump tweeted. bernie sanders appeared on cnn's "state of the union" sunday. host jake tapper asked sanders if he thought trump had a point. >> no, he does not have a point. one e of the things tomom will e to chahanges to o figure out hoe elect n national democratic -- i am not quite impressed with the process that now exists. amy: tapper also asked senators if he would be handing over his 2 million or so member list to the dnc. he did not say he would. zed jilani, your response? to read interesting before keith ellison was defeated, the dnc voted on a resolution that would have barred corporate lobbyists and corporate donations to the dnc, and that resolution was voted down to it actually, a lot of the very same arguments used at the dnc were used at the rnc over the summer when a few reformist republicans tried to put out a simmer -- similar resolution. these

the dnc chair, that vote coming in. let's await those results, go to this live. >> so that everyone can see them. [inaudible conversations] >> you would -- i would like to invite the candidates for the office of chair to return to the room as well. and as soon as i've been informed that they are here, i will announce the results. [inaudible conversations] julie: okay. so donna brazile's waiting for the candidates to resomewhere the room -- reenter the room, and then they announce the results. by the way, as far as nominating a dnc chair, i don't remember the last time we paid so close attention to a dnc chair election, first of all. seven candidates are on the ballot to be the next dnc chair. to qualify, the candidates actually only need 20 signatures from the dnc. and right now donna brazile is waiting for those candidates to reenter the room. going through the candidates now. let's listen. >> ms. green, major -- [inaudible] ms. green and please reenter the room. [cheers and applause] thank you. thank you. mayor pete.

nexttle over a week to our dnc chair will be. host: if you have a list of priorities for that debate for when they meet next week, what are the three key things the next chairman needs to do to see democrats winning again in the house and senate and the white house? i think we guest: need to understand the issues that district right mind space. a lot of folks in rural communities who are looking for economic opportunities. we need to understand what that economic agenda is across the country. we need to continue to support equality and make sure we have inclusiveness across our country. big issues like immigration reform that need to be addressed. huge opportunities for us across the country to provide visibility. an administration that has been and confusion and i think people are looking for true leadership. host: some callers would say it is not confusion it is donald trump following through on campaign promises he made. guest: i think donald trump made a promise he was a businessman who knew had a lead. he is shown nothing ab

chair. >> which is more important for the dnc chair to do? more important for the next dnc chair to be a counter weight to president trump, a very vocal and active opposition person to president trump or the job of the nktext dnc chair to have a unified message and slate of candidates of school board to the next prospective president to run that? >> the responsibility to party up is on me and everybody else to build it from the bottom up. so what has happened is that the money was not put there. representative ellison has said that he will fund the party at real dollar levels and not a couple of thousand here or there, and tom perez does not understand how the state party works, and ellison has raised over $2 million and helped the ka candidates down ballot. so i believe that ellison is going to wake up every morning to make sure that he is giving a one-two punch to trump, and while standing with us in the trees to build from the ground up. >> and if i can interrupt, because to characterize that he does not know anything about the state fundi

discussion with the dnc. pa rt protracted discussion with the dnc. part of this comes out because of the scandal last summer were the cherokee dnc, we found out she had herfinger cherokee dnc, we found out she had her finger on cherokee dnc, we found out she had herfinger on the scales cherokee dnc, we found out she had her finger on the scales against bernie sanders and in favour of hillary clinton. —— with the chairman of. so now you have these factions within the democratic party which are fighting it out. we saw that happened today. there was more than one vote that had to take place. and the person who won is more of an establishment person. the second—place winner has been placed as the vice—chair to placate people. 0k, joseph, thank you very much for your time this morning. let's round—up some of the other main stories. the un's peace envoy for syria says suicide attacks on two government compounds in the city of homs were designed to derail peace talks taking place in geneva. at least 35 peo

, vice chair of the dnc. we've done this before, and we request do it again. i think bringing people together will be very, very critical as we move forward. to protect our progress on the obama administration and to fight donald trump. >> christine quinn, the question is when the vote was come down and being announced by donna brazil, there was the ceta group in front and ellison supporters in the back of the hall, and they were still hoping for ellison to win here. now it's been a couple of hours. is your sense that everybody really is together, or there's still some work to be done here? >> look, only a really stupid county gives up hope before the last vote is counted, and after the first ballot it was, you know, really pretty close, and so you got to hope until the very end. congress person ellison gave a powerful speech before the dnc where he really urge reasonable doubt all of his supporters, myself included, to come together, to unite, and make sure that we win in 2018, and also that we realize the c

the new deputy chair of the dnc. wenite are uas a party. we have so much work ahead of us because across america, people are fearful. people are fearful for our future.

dnc is out of date. it needs to be professionalized. there's a joke in washington that you take competent people and somehow when they get in the dnc all of those skills go out the window. he has a herculean challenge. >> to the point you advised democratic presidents before. the problem with the dnc when you're out of power it's not as clear as who they are here for, current, relatively elderly democratics in the calkies, electing new people or just fighting trump and doing resistance? >> democrats have usually won in spite of the dnc. kennedy, carter, clinton. it didn't do hillary clinton a lot of good to be so closely aaligned with the dnc. the dnc needs to look at how do they professionalize themselves going into the 21st century? otherwise they're, frankly, in my mind, relatively irrelevant. >> brian, if keith ellison had won, republicans would have had a field day saying the party was moving too far left. what do republicans say now? >> very happy. it was a great choice. it shows that the democrats haven't learned anything from th

>> the dnc is not going back to the old ways. it is just not going to happen, and the thing that struck me as most hopeful about this dnc race is that the two leading contenders and i got to interview both of them for my podcast. >> right. >> and they come from the seemingly opposite ends of the party, and keith ellison had the backing of former vice president biden, and attorney general holder, and yet keith ellison was the bernie sanders supporter, and the member of congress from the 5th muslim american elected to congress and the first black person ever elected in the state of washingt minnesota to go to washington. and when i interviewed them both, they had the same vision of the party and where it should go and how to get there and how the party should reach out to all communities in all territories and states, and to also do it in a way that re-built the party, and not focusing on the congressional, and the senate races, but looking at the local races and the state races, and what you have saw there with tom perez in that i

, and intrusion into the dnc, in the fall of 2015. because the u.s. never wants to reveal exactly where the dhs,ligence came from, department of homeland security, the fbi sends a mid-level agent out to go find a completely group that was defending the dnc's computer systems. i would not say defending the dnc's computer systems. they were hanging around the dnc computer systems. the special agent calls, leaves a message, asks for a callback. the person running this, you can't make this stuff up, doesn't believe he is from the fbi, but doesn't check or callback for a while. in the standsths back and forth where they are presented with the evidence, the fbi said a group called the appeared to be responsible for this. this is part of russian intelligence. thathe response is so slow the president of the united states did not actually hear about any of this until june 20 16, 9 months. hown era when we talk about cyber means we have to be able to respond quickly, have a playbook ready, be able to look at an array of options, whether sanctio

clayton: and you have a lot to say about this, too, the dnc picking their new chair of the dnc, and tom perez kind of came out of nowhere. in the establishment he was well known. there he is on the left side of your screen, president obama's labor secretary. on the right side of your screen. was the guy who thought from the bernie sanders' side of the party would get it, keith ellison. yesterday afternoon tom perez was selected, he won and beat out keith ellison. he immediately chose keith ellison to be his deputy to sort of, i don't know, curry favor with the -- abby: unite the party? clayton: but, boy, a lot of people saying this thing was rigged, rigged, rigged. abby: keith ellison was one of the first to get behind bernie sanders, and when he was running for chair he had bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, chuck schumer, so i can't imagine they're thrilled this morning, because this comes right after bernie sanders, you know, lost the primary. they felt in many ways it was rigged. pete: of course they're not okay with it. you said came out of nowhere, others would say the establishmen

this "congratulations to thomas perez, who has been named chairman of the dnc. i could not be happier for him, or for the republican party." several of president trump's cabinet nominees face a senate vote in the week ahead as congress returns monday from their president's day break. a capitol hill reporter looks at that and other issues ahead for the house and senate. >> they are the senior senate staff writer. the senate set to vote -- a vote on up to four of the nominees next week. beginning with wilbur ross. tell us about the status of each nominee and how they will fare? >> it looks like the nominees that arebe

alan, talking about keith ellison, running to be the dnc chair. how is opposing government of israel's policy anti-semitic? isn't that what we do in this country? >> it's not. i do that myself. favoring two state is good, voting against the iron dome is unacceptable. supporting u.n. resolution that says israel has no control over the western wall and access road to hebrew university. but go back to the time with farrakan or spoke to someone and said i don't respect you because you're woman and jew and shouldn't be in law school. i'm quoting his own words. when he said jews have too much power over american foreign policy. so many good candidates for chairman of the dnc, why pick someone who is going to make me quit the democratic party, stop contributions from -- and alienate so many of the base of the democratic party. ruin it and turn into corbin's labor party and push it so far to the left. >> the hate to break the news but the democratic party is hemorrhaging membership. base of the party has been lost for over a decade. the question here, dem

let's get to the new boss himself, the dnc chairman. mr. perez thanks for joining us. >> pleasure to be with you, jake. >> i know your voice is from vigorous campaign. >> yeah. >> so nobody at home should sound any alarms. >> yeah. >> but i want to ask you, president trump told cpac on friday that the republican party from now on will be the party of the american worker. and in november president trump carried white voters without a college degree, work being class voters by a stagger 37% age points. what is your plan to win these voters back into the democratic fold. >> we lead with our values and we lead with our actions. we talk to them about how literally hours into the trump administration he was a fraud. he made it harder for first-time home buyers to buy a home, hours into his administration. days later he made it harder to save for retirement pet nominates a justice -- a judge for the supreme court who wants to e vicinitier rate collective bargaining. when we lead with our values and democrats and talk about what we've done to make

>> i think we've got a great team helping the dnc. i actually think what i heard there was some music, and the music is a united team moving forward. i really love keith ellison. i actually gave him a bottle of monticello when he was the first muslim elected to the u.s. congress, and he has a tremendous organizational talent. and the fact that the very first thing he did was pitch in to unify this party. we've had so many new people coming into the party, many of whom supported keith. and the fact that keith now is willing to use his leadership skills both in congress and as vice chair, is a great thing for our leadership team. and i have supported tom. he's a turnaround artist. he turned around the department of labor to be much more progressive, much more oriented to help workers, and now he's going to help turn around this party so that it's more a locally functioning party so we can help county organizations, legislative races, and really important, governors' races, because we've got 38 governors, and we know winning these govern

how important is the dnc chair to lead the party. there's all these other voices between bernie sanders and elizabeth warren and barrack obama. who knows what role he will play? who know what is if any role hillary clinton will play. >> i will argue this is not as important as democrats are making it out to be. they devoted an enormous amount of time to this process partly because it needed to seem a lot more open than the perception that the democratic primary was rigged or that they had maybe set things up so that it was easier for certain candidates to rise, et cetera. at the end of the day there is no exception to that and fundamentally what the 2016 election exposed was that top down organizing that party based structures are not sufficient to win an election. what is needed rather is more grass roots motivation and what the dnc party chair can do is encourage that and they can't create that and i think that's one of the sort of elephants in the room last night is that nobody can really say how do you get the sort of genuine fee

you've backed tom perez for the head of the dnc. we heard from hillary clinton at the dnc meeting today via video. you notably met with hillary clinton during the veep stakes last year. during the campaign i spent a good amount of time in your state. it's a purple state, liberal community, evangelicals, you have to build a coalition to win in colorado. with all of that going for you, can you say at this point you will not be definitively a candidate for president in 2020? >> you're the third person to ask me today. i keep saying, i have almost two years to be governor and i want to focus on that. i'm not forming a pac, i'm not recruiting people. i'm not going to say definitively anything. i'm trying to keep the focus on, you know, what we're trying to do in colorado and really -- you know, some of these things are on workforce training, education, some things around health care, i think we're making real progress. i want to make sure that neither myself nor my team get distracted. >> so, can you say definitively a maybe, governor? >

cnn washington correspondent ryan noble is at the dnc meeting in atlanta. ryan, what exactly is happening? >> reporter: well, fredericka, right now what's happening is pretty interesting. this is a battle right now over the use of corporate money when it comes to the democratic party. it kind of an example of the larger fight in the democratic party between the bernie sanders and more progressive wing of the party versus the hillary clinton/barack obama more establishment wing of the party. that's what we're going to see play out later here maybe in an hour or two when they go to elect the chair of the party and tom perez, the former labor secretary in the obama administration was on the short list as hillary clinton's potential vice president. he is considered the front runner, but keith ellison is mounting a serious challenge. now i'm told by at least one democratic committee member who is supporting tom perez that they feel they have the votes to win on that first ballot. if they don't win on the first ballot, it could get interesting. but there's certai

this weekend they're meeting to plot their next move and pick a new leader of the dnc. and that direction may well be further to the left since controversial minnesota congressman keith ellison is considered to some to be leading his rivals for the job of dnc chair. >> and i will commend the democrats for one thing. if they name keith ellison as the head of the dnc then i will commend them for truth in advertising. >> chris: joining us now from atlanta where she is covering the dnc meeting this weekend indicately huey-burns a reporter for real clear politics and from washington bob cusack, editor and chief of the hill. caitlin, let me start with you. because you are down there. while this is a seven person race it seems to be boiling down primarily to a contest between congressman ellison and former obama alicia secretary thom perez. what wing do either represent and who do you think has the edge? >> this is shaping up to be kind of a provocationy fight between the obama administration white house wing of the party and bernie sanders more progressive wing of the party.

>> well, i'm not voting dnc member. i truly believe because i know how the voting dnc members are, they don't like folks that don't have a vote out here endorsing: so i am not coming out for ellison or anyone of that nature. but what i have done is i talked to keith ellison. i have also sat down with tom perez and a couple other folks and talked about millennials, the plan for a pipeline program. i am encouraged. everybody needs a little work and we are going to have to hold folks accountable but i think the party is in good hands. >> it looks like tom perez has the vote advantage. what does that mean to that passionate base that the grass roots that supported bernie sanders who may now be supporting keith ellison who will be disappointed if perez is the head of the party. >> he's an interesting candidate because he was the most progressive liberal member of barack obama candidate. if that's the case that helps him a lot. the progressive democrats have got to figure out how to win something. they've got the energy. they

and just today perez roll out the endorsement of heads of four dnc caucuses. in the other corner, keith ellison, representing the more progressive wipg of the party backed by senator bernie sanders. >> i think it's going to take a reassessment of the purpose of where the democratic party is and where it wants to go. and i think essentially what we need to do right now is to become a grassroots party, which is what keith ellison believes. >> reporter: ellison's past ties to the nation of islam and leader louis fair i con are resurfacing he as he campaigns, though he publicly renounced them in 2006. neekter candidate has the race locked up. presenting an opportunity for other candidates like south carolina democratic chairman jayme harrison. in sougd bend, indiana mayor, to tout their outsider status and potentially alter the race. >> i believe the dnc needs a fresh start, too, and i believe that i can deliver that fresh start. >> reporter: picking up the endorsement of former dnc chair howard dean today. >> he's the outside the beltway candidate. this party is

today, delegates will be voting on a new chair for the dnc. we understand that portion of today's meeting is still a few minutes away, so we wait for that and bring you live coverage when he gets started. until then, house minority leader nancy pelosi recently held a town hall meeting in san francisco to discuss the health care law. we will surely as much of that is we can before the dnc election proceedings get underway. >> so now it is time to officially open our day of actions event in san francisco, california. as we gather here to save our health care, people are gathering all over the country in democratic districts under the leadership of democratic members and republican district's with outside mobilization weighing income a day of action to preserve our care. this is absolutely essential, because this is again an assault on one of the most important rights, the right to good health. reverend martin luther king said of all the forms of inequality, the injustice and health care is one of the most inhuman, inhuman. we know that. we know

governor, thank you. >>> new dnc chair will be our guest tomorrow. senate voted to confirm wilbur ross. ross will be sworn in tomorrow. >>> up next, how did it happen. something that's embarrassment for warren beaty, what's the problem? unbelievable. this is "hardball" where the action is. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? i use what's already inside me to reach my goals. so i liked when my doctor told me that i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating what's within me with once-weekly trulicity. trulicity is not insulin. it helps activate my body to do what it's supposed to do release its own insulin. trulicity responds when my blood sugar rises. i take it once a week, and it works 24/7. it comes in

for dnc chair, pete buttigieg, has just dropped out of the race. we'll have a live report from the dnc meeting coming up in just a moment. >>> one of the president's biggest supporters in congress, congressman darrell issa, is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate russia. >>> also new today, the white house is pushing back on an ap report based on a leaked document which appears to challenge the president's theory behind the travel ban. >>> and as i just mentioned, moments ago at the dnc meeting, one of the leading contenders in the race suddenly dropped out moments before the vote is set to take place. we'll take you live to nbc's alex seitz-wald in atlanta. >> reporter: so mayor pete buttigieg of south bend, indiana, one of the rising stars in the party, he's a 35-year-old navy veteran, rhodes scholar, he just dropped out of the race. he didn't have a ton of support among dnc members but he might have enough to swing it one way or the other between tom perez and keith ellison. however, he decided not to endorse from the stage. talking t