memeorandum: Inside the Chris Matthews Exit: MSNBC Boss Went to D.C. to Plead With Him to Quit (The Daily Beast)

9:20 AM ET, March 4, 2020

Top Items:

What Went Down On Super Tuesday — Want the latest politics news? Get it in your inbox. — Get more FiveThirtyEight — Store

Discussion: The Bulwark and New York Times

CBS News:

Live updates: Biden and Sanders pick up wins in first Super Tuesday states — The first polls have closed in the Super Tuesday states of Virginia and Vermont. CBS News projects Joe Biden will win Virginia and North Carolina and Bernie Sanders will win Vermont.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, National Review, CBS Boston, The Week, CNN, WCCO | CBS Minnesota and WREG-TV

NBC News:

Live Blog / 2020 Super Tuesday live updates: Biden wins the South, Mass., Sanders takes Vt., Colo., Utah, NBC News projects — More than 1,300 delegates — or about a third of the total — are at play on Super Tuesday. — Fourteen states and one territory held nominating contests …

Discussion: Power Line, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos, Associated Press, Politico, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, The Week and The Hill

Ryan Lizza / Politico:

Four reasons why Biden shocked Sanders — On Tuesday night Joe Biden engineered one of the most monumental political comebacks in the history of party primaries. The scale of his Super Tuesday rout over three well-funded and hyper-organized Democrats — Bernie Sanders, Michael Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren — has no comparison.

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Sanders can't lead the Democrats if his campaign treats them like the enemy — What Bernie needs to learn from Biden. — Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have been running very different kinds of campaigns, built on very different ambitions. Biden's been running to lead the Democratic Party more or less as it exists today.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week and The Daily Caller

Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:

Bernie Chokes — The revolution will have to wait. — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) fell short of expectations on Super Tuesday, failing to prevent former vice president Joe Biden from fighting his way back into contention in the Democratic primary. Decisive victories in several key states …

Discussion: NBC News, The Federalist and New York Times

Alex Thompson / Politico:

Warren team turns grim after Super Tuesday wipeout — Elizabeth Warren had a plan for winning. It didn't work: In 18 nomination contests, she hasn't finished above third place — including in her home state. — Now, she's facing political and financial pressures to get out.

Discussion: Townhall, The Daily Caller, The Week and BuzzFeed News

New York Times:
Biden Revives Campaign, Winning Nine States, but Sanders Takes California

Discussion: The Atlantic and The Boston Globe

Bonchie / Redstate:
Stop Gaslighting, Joe Biden Is Still Joe Biden and He's Not Ok

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Dot and New York Magazine

NBC News:
LGBTQ voters flock to Bernie Sanders, NBC News Exit Poll finds

Discussion: The Hill and NewNowNext

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump shifts his attention to surging Biden, stokes Sanders grievances

Discussion: The Hill, PJ Media Home, HuffPost and POLITICUSUSA

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Joe Biden's historic and unbelievable political comeback dominates Super Tuesday

Discussion: KTLA, fox8.com and The Guardian

CNBC:
Dow set to jump more than 600 points as Biden scores big wins on Super Tuesday

Discussion: NBC News and Vox

NBC News:
NBC News Exit Poll: Late-deciding Super Tuesday voters break heavily for Biden

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, HuffPost and BuzzFeed News

Jim Geraghty / National Review: A Fantastic Night . . . If You Don't Like Bloomberg, Warren, or Sanders

Brian Schwartz / CNBC: Joe Biden fundraisers see millions of dollars in new commitments with Super Tuesday surge

Washington Post:
Exit polls from the 2020 Democratic Super Tuesday contests

Discussion: Vox, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, CalMatters, The Week and New York Post

Detroit News:
Poll: Biden leads Sanders in Michigan ahead of Democratic primary

Discussion: The Atlantic and The Hill

Ledyard King / USA Today:
Many young voters sat out Super Tuesday, contributing to Bernie Sanders' losses

Discussion: The Dispatch, NBC News and NPR

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:
Democrats Decide That Joe Biden, as Risky as He Ever Was, Is the Safest Bet

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News and IJR

FiveThirtyEight:
Our Final Forecast For Super Tuesday Shows Biden's Surge — And Lots Of Uncertainty

Discussion: Washington Post, Insights into Impact, Vox, Breitbart, The Week, Off the Kuff, The Independent, New York Times, Four Freedoms, Patterico's Pontifications, Reason, The Mahablog and IJR

Kathleen Ronayne / Associated Press:

AP source: Bloomberg to reassess after disappointing results — Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg waves to supporters as he arrives to his campaign rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP)

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, KUSI-TV, Power Line, The Week, The Daily Beast, Florida Politics, KTLA and The American Independent

Politico:

Bloomberg considering dropping out after Biden rout — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Mike Bloomberg is weighing dropping out as early as Wednesday after losing a string of Super Tuesday states where he invested a fortune in advertising, according to several people familiar with his plans.

Discussion: HuffPost, CNBC, Washington Post, Associated Press, Mother Jones, Political Wire, Common Dreams, One America News Network, Fox News, Twin Cities and Raw Story

Hallie Jackson / NBC News:

Trump camp publicly batting down Joe-mentum but privately concerned — We know President Donald Trump has been watching the Super Tuesday returns roll in — he predicted earlier that it would be an “interesting evening of television” — as he goes after both Mike Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren on Twitter.

Discussion: The Hill

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“He Will Risk Making Ross Perot and Ralph Nader Look Good”: Bloomberg Resists Advisers' Push to Exit the Race — With his path disappearing after South Carolina, advisers pressed for a quick exit. But Mike has so far refused: I'll be damned if I walk away before a single vote is cast for me.

Discussion: NBC News, Breitbart, The Week, The Wrap and The Daily Beast

Politico:

'I've never seen anybody mount a comeback like this — ever' — With his unlikely romp across the Super Tuesday map, Joe Biden reshaped the 2020 Democratic primary — and got the two-person race against Bernie Sanders that seemed like a pipe dream a few days ago.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and CNBC

Hunter Woodall / The Daily Beast:
Bloomberg Voters Feast on the Carcass of His Campaign

Discussion: ABC News, Politico and The Hill

ABC News:
The Note: Eyes turn to Warren and Bloomberg as two-way race takes hold

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill and Politico

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Voter turnout in Virginia nearly doubles from 2016

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Vox, Breitbart and The Week

Tim Mak / NPR:

Former Prisoner Recalls Sanders Saying, 'I Don't Know What's So Wrong' With Cuba — Audio will be available later today. — American Alan Gross, a prisoner in Cuba for five years during the Obama administration, is accusing Sen. Bernie Sanders of commending the communist country when he came to visit him behind bars.

New York Times:

Coronavirus Live Updates: Disease Caused by Virus Is Deadlier Than the Flu — The World Health Organization announced on Tuesday that the global death rate of the new coronavirus was 3.4 percent. — RIGHT NOW Deaths outside China exceeded those inside the country for the first time since the start of the outbreak.

Discussion: UPI

CNBC:
WHO says coronavirus death rate is 3.4% globally, higher than previously thought

Discussion: News Items

CBS News:

Pierce Bush is first Bush to lose Texas race in over 40 years — Austin, Texas — Republican Pierce Bush, a grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, failed to advance out of Tuesday's primary in his bid for a Houston congressional seat, becoming the first member of his family to lose a race in Texas in more than 40 years.

Susannah George / Washington Post:

U.S. targets Taliban with airstrike days after peace deal — KABUL — The United States conducted an airstrike against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan Wednesday just days after the two sides signed a peace deal. — The strike comes just hours after President Trump spoke …

Discussion: CNN, Twitchy, ABC News, ABC13 and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Associated Press:
U.S. strikes Taliban forces, in first hit since peace deal

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Joseph R. Biden Jr / New York Times:

Live: Texas State Primary Election Results 2020 — Joseph R. Biden Jr. has won the Texas primary. View exit polls here » — 49m ago — Updated just now 94% reporting — Candidate Votes Pct. — 669,913 — 598,750 — 303,649 — 229,959 — 84,241 — View all candidates

Discussion: Breitbart

New York Times: Live Analysis: Super Tuesday

ABC News:
Super Tuesday results: Biden sweeps the South, Sanders strong in the West, anemic outcome for Bloomberg

Discussion: Associated Press, The Daily Beast, Townhall, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Deseret News, The Hill and HuffPost

Politico:

Trump launches an urgent fight to save his ticket to reelection — Eight months from a general election, President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are considering an urgent effort to rescue the U.S. economy from a coronavirus panic. — Trump advisers and GOP lawmakers have spent …

Discussion: Washington Post, Letters from an American, New York Post and The Hill

Associated Press:
Trump meets with GOP lawmakers amid surveillance rift

Discussion: The Hill and ABC News

Robby Soave / Reason:

Democratic Primary Voters Decisively Rejected the Media's Favorite Candidates — As Super Tuesday finally transfigures the Democratic presidential nomination process into a binary choice between two old, occasionally problematic white men whose enduring popularity is consistently underrated …

Discussion: Vox and Washington Post

J. Edward Moreno / The Hill:
Bloomberg on Warren: 'I didn't realize she's still in'

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair, IJR, POLITICUSUSA and The Daily Caller

The Daily Beast:

Inside the Chris Matthews Exit: MSNBC Boss Went to D.C. to Plead With Him to Quit — The “Hardball” host's wife had long expressed concerns to MSNBC brass that Matthews' increasingly controversial on-air antics would ruin him, sources told The Daily Beast. — The painful end …

Discussion: Raw Story, Page Six and The Week

Timothy Bella / Washington Post:

Jill Biden's epic tussle: In split-second blocking maneuver, she protects husband from lunging vegans — It could have been a scene out of the romantic thriller “The Bodyguard,” except the hero of the moment in this case was not a trained agent but Jill Biden.

Discussion: IJR, Althouse, Mediaite and The Week

Marisa Schultz / Fox News:

Tight Alabama GOP Senate race poised for Round 2 as Sessions, Tuberville head to runoff — No one won the GOP nomination outright for the Alabama Senate, which means voters will head back to the polls for a runoff election later this month to determine whether former Sen. Jeff Sessions can mount a political comeback.

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast and The Week