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  • breaking news just into CNN.

  • Let's go right to CNN business and politics correspondent Cristina Alesci.

  • Another candidate is out of the race.

  • Tell us what you know.

  • That's right.

  • Michael Bloomberg announcing to staff and wider that he is leaving the campaign.

  • He sends an email to the staff, saying, Three months ago I entered the race for president to defeat Donald Trump.

  • Today, I'm leaving the race for the same reason to defeat Donald Trump because it's clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult.

  • I'm a believer in using data to inform decisions.

  • After yesterday's results.

  • The delegate math has become virtually impossible and a viable path to nomination no longer exists.

  • Not entirely surprising decision by the former mayor of New York City last night was absolutely terrible for him.

  • And although they were putting on a very strong front until the very end and telling me and other reporters that they were in this past Super Tuesday, no matter what the results of Super Tuesday, clearly here they do not see a path forward.

  • But he's also in a separate release endorsing Joe Biden.

  • So we're going to have to see exactly what that means and how much money Michael Bloomberg is gonna put behind Joe Biden.

  • Christina, can we just talk about the endorsement for a moment?

  • Because a Biden surrogate earlier on our program just said Tim Ryan, Look at what would have happened to Joe Biden last night.

  • Had Bloomberg not been in this race.

  • What is he saying about why he is backing fight it now?

  • Well, it's very clear to him that Joe Biden obviously had a very strong knight, and the fact that he did really undercut Michael Bloomberg's argument for being in this race.

  • Remember that Michael Bloomberg said when he got in that Joe Biden was weak, he was having trouble in debates.

  • He was having trouble fundraising.

  • All of that has turned around in the last week or so.

  • South Carolina And, you know, up until a few days ago, his advisors were basically downplaying Joe Biden's momentum.

  • They were saying, Listen, South Carolina's just one state, his operation is very weak on, and now that can all change.

  • If Michael Bloomberg gets behind Joe Biden in a big way, that could really change the dynamic and give Bernie Sanders Ah huge competitors in this race because Michael Bloomberg has a field operation in important states and that could be passed over and handed to divide it in a way that could really change the dynamic of the race.

  • Guys particularly.

  • Look at Palo Colorado in California.

  • Bloomberg took in.

  • A lot of voters there might have changed.

  • The race has not been in yesterday in terms of who won.

  • Christine Leslie.

  • Thanks very much.

  • Hilary Rosen, Aisha Moodie, Mills, Hilary Rose.

  • I mean, this is a remarkable first of all Biden's progress in winning, but also candidates getting out very quickly.

  • Bloomberg.

  • Just the latest.

  • But of course.

  • Chlo Chlo, Bashar Buddha, Judge getting out and quickly endorsing.

  • And these are candidates whose supporters are most likely going to Joe Biden.

  • Where's with Elizabeth Warren?

  • You know those voters are gonna split.

  • They're not necessarily Biden voters.

  • They're not necessarily Sanders voters, but the Bloomberg campaign knows a lot about their voters.

  • More than any other campaign.

  • They spent more than any other campaign pulling their voters in many respects, so they know that they're Biden voters.

  • They know that this is their best path.

  • Yeah, I mean, the money though, Like the ass.

  • That was what I was gonna ask.

  • Where does this money look at the money we could.

  • We could show it on screen how much money he spent so far.

  • That's 10 times what Sanders dollars, but also just, you know, the money matters.

  • But I think that the creative of those ads was also quite good.

  • And so you put those resource is behind a job lied, and that completely changes the narrative on the ground about him.

  • That's really interesting, because, remember, Clyburn said that Biden Hillary needs to retool his campaign.

  • Biden's answer to that was, it's about addition, not subtraction.

  • Is he gonna bring on the best of the best on Bloomberg?

  • Seemed to do this?

  • Well, um, fair point.

  • But the remember Michael Bloomberg can't just dump all this money into the Biden campaign that I mean, even you won't allow that talent can't dump all of his staff into the Pendrick.

  • Okay.

  • And the FCC rules don't allow a single individual to give more than $5400 on a campaign cycle.

  • So what he will have to do is take what is currently his independent political action committee and turn his campaign into that and essentially have essentially a separate campaign to defeat Donald Trump in support of job.

  • Are there limits on Just so folks at home post Citizens United?

  • Are there limits on individual contributions to a political action committee?

  • There won't be limits for what he can do because he'll have a Super Pac right and the Super Pac is is an unlimited amount of money concerned.

  • But what you cannot do is you can't coordinate with the official campaign.

  • And so you know, there have been many things over the years where people have sort of signaled what the important issues are, but also believe this will be a separate and independent operation that he will have doing.

  • And to be fair, there been some blurring of the those lines.

  • If you look at, for instance, major contributions a Sheldon Adelson T to the Trump campaign, that kind of thing.

  • We got David Chalian, CNN political director on the line as well.

  • David fast moving shake up in the Democratic race here and fast moving, rallying behind Joe Biden.

  • Yeah, there's no doubt about that, Jim and this thing pieces really consequential of Bloomberg getting out and instantly endorsing Joe Biden exactly what Hillary was talking about because of his money.

  • Uh, Joe Biden is going to start raising money at such a clip that he couldn't imagine because of his success in the last four days.

  • But hey has not had a huge outside group money machine that has spent at the levels that Michael Bloomberg could spend.

  • Nobody has.

  • So that will be extraordinarily important to his effort going forward.

  • And in fact, I will say one of Michael Bloomberg sort of calling cards to Democrats when he got into this race.

  • Waas.

  • Whether we're not on the nominee, I am going to keep staff and spend all the way through November because I believe that the number one goal here is to defeat Donald Trump.

  • So that was part as a former Republican.

  • That was sort of part of his way to endear himself to Democrats that it wasn't just an ego driven quest.

  • And now, in all indications in this email in his announcement, that is precisely what he plans to do is to keep spending and and have a campaign all through November, which could really change the equation.

  • As you know, the Trump campaign is overwhelmingly outraising.

  • The Democrats has been, doesn't have Republican competition for the nomination and has been building a massive machine.

  • Should Joe Biden be the nominee?

  • Obviously, having Michael Bloomberg's full force behind him financially could be very, very consequential and what it could mean down ballot.

  • I mean, look at what he didn't chignon, guns, et cetera.

  • He makes it clear, as you say, David in the statement, that he's going to keep spending for issues that he cares about to help Democrats.

  • He was very dismissive yesterday of Elizabeth Warren quipping to Cristina Alesci.

  • Oh, I didn't even know she was still in this race.

  • Well, she she is still in this race, but she's reassessing this morning.

  • David.

  • Yes, as you know, when you come in third in your home state, poppy, right, the hard.

  • Not too hard not to reassess where you are in this race.

  • And again, Michael Bloomberg just to go back to him for a moment, he told Don Lemon on Monday when we interview when Don interviewed him for the pre Super Tuesday show, he said, I'm a very data driven guy and Don Sipple what are the numbers have to look like, he said.

  • Show me the numbers and then I'll be able to give you an answer that he saw the numbers last night, and now he's given his answer, and the same is gonna be true here with Elizabeth Warren not necessary that she may get out of the race.

  • But her reassessment is an inevitable thing when the entire sort of non Sanders portion of the party has cholesterol on Joe Biden.

  • The thing to watch Elizabeth Warren.

  • If she chooses to bow out of the race, where does she go?

  • Does she hold her fire because she has supporters?

  • You know, she crosses both divide and then Sanders, World of Progressive Side.

  • But she also has some overlap with by the supporters.

  • So how Elizabeth Warren uses this moment will be fascinating to be.

breaking news just into CNN.

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