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Election day in New Hampshire has arrived, and it’s a two-man race to take home the first-in-the-nation primary and stake a claim in the push for the Democratic nomination.

Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersMcConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security The Hill's Campaign Report: Arizona shifts towards Biden | Biden prepares for drive-in town hall | New Biden ad targets Latino voters Why Democrats must confront extreme left wing incitement to violence MORE (I-Vt.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBogeymen of the far left deserve a place in any Biden administration Overnight Defense: Woodward book causes new firestorm | Book says Trump lashed out at generals, told Woodward about secret weapons system | US withdrawing thousands of troops from Iraq A socially and environmentally just way to fight climate change MORE are heavy favorites in tonight’s primary, with both dominating in polls of New Hampshirites over the past two weeks. The two candidates are vying to cement leads in the Democratic field.

With strong performances, as Jonathan Easley reports from the Granite State, the two are looking to separate from the pack and become the candidates to beat, while some of their rivals have seen their stock dip over the past week as the field heads into the latter half of the early state contests.

New Hampshire Democrats are hoping the election provides some clarity into the state of the race after the debacle in Iowa produced a muddled outcome that remains unresolved. After defeating Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonHillicon Valley: FBI chief says Russia is trying to interfere in election to undermine Biden | Treasury Dept. sanctions Iranian government-backed hackers The Hill's Campaign Report: Arizona shifts towards Biden | Biden prepares for drive-in town hall | New Biden ad targets Latino voters FBI chief says Russia is trying to interfere in election to undermine Biden MORE in 2016 in New Hampshire, Sanders is the favorite to once again win the state’s primary, though he holds a narrow lead over Buttigieg.

On the heels of a strong performance in Iowa, the former mayor has gone all out to win in New Hampshire. Over the past week, he has produced crowds equal to those of Sanders as he feels the wind at his back. As Jonathan points out, top finishes by Sanders and Buttigieg could force some of their rivals to rethink their presence in the race and potentially exit the race.

CNN: Sanders and Buttigieg campaigns ask for partial recanvass of Iowa caucuses results.

Final RealClearPolitics New Hampshire polling average: Sanders, 28.7 percent; Buttigieg 21.3 percent; Sen. Amy Klobuchar Amy KlobucharEPA delivers win for ethanol industry angered by waivers to refiners It's time for newspapers to stop endorsing presidential candidates Biden marks anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, knocks Trump and McConnell MORE (D-Minn.), 11.7 percent; former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenCast of 'Parks and Rec' reunite for virtual town hall to address Wisconsin voters Biden says Trump should step down over coronavirus response Biden tells CNN town hall that he has benefited from white privilege MORE/Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenWarren, Schumer introduce plan for next president to cancel ,000 in student debt The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Don't expect a government check anytime soon No new taxes for the ultra rich — fix bad tax policy instead MORE (D-Mass.), 11 percent each.

The Hill: Democrats battle for New Hampshire's “undeclared” voters.

While Biden is expected to compete in the remaining early contests in Nevada and South Carolina — states where he should do well — there is doubt creeping into the minds of his allies and supporters. Specifically, they wonder if he has a path to the nomination after suffering underwhelming performances in Iowa and potentially New Hampshire, where he sits well behind Sanders and Buttigieg.

As Amie Parnes reports, allies in Biden World are disappointed in his standing in the Granite State. According to multiple polls taken in recent days, Biden polls fourth or even fifth, with allies starting to question his chances in Nevada and even winning his so-called firewall in South Carolina. Complicating his path forward is former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Michael BloombergTop Democratic super PAC launches Florida ad blitz after Bloomberg donation The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Latest with the COVID-19 relief bill negotiations The Memo: 2020 is all about winning Florida MORE, who is on the rise in national polls and looms ahead on Super Tuesday.

"It feels like a funeral," said one ally who is in regular contact with the campaign. Another longtime aide added that Biden "needs a spark, and I don't see it happening for him [Tuesday night],” though his team remains optimistic publicly.

"We believe that regardless of what happens tomorrow night, we're going to continue on with our plans to compete hard in Nevada, South Carolina, Super Tuesday and beyond," deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said at a reporter roundtable in Manchester.

Biden has long benefited from strong backing among black voters during his presidential bid. The latest Quinnipiac poll, however, showed Bloomberg cutting into that support. Among African Americans, the former vice president was favored by 27 percent in the survey, down from 49 percent in a January poll, while the former New York City mayor captured 22 percent, jumping from 7 percent last month (The Hill).

Niall Stanage: The Memo: New Hampshire spells danger for struggling candidates.

Morning Consult: New national poll: Sanders, 25 percent; Biden, 22 percent; Bloomberg, 17; Buttigieg/Warren, 11 percent each.

The New York Times: Elizabeth Warren is running her race. The real one may be passing her by.

Fox News: Bloomberg heard in 2015 audio clip defending “stop and frisk,” throwing minority kids against wall: report.

With Biden on the descent, Klobuchar is trending upward as she makes a play for a potential third-place finish in New Hampshire. After finishing in fifth place with 12.3 percent of the delegate share in Iowa, the Minnesota Democrat has prioritized a strong finish in tonight’s primary, fueled by an uptick in fundraising and state polls over the past week.

As The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports from Manchester, enthusiasm and curiosity about Klobuchar also appear to be on the rise. More than a thousand voters and supporters gathered in Nashua to see her on Sunday afternoon after more than 700 people came to see her in Manchester. Despite the fundraising bump, it will take more to keep the Minnesota senator’s campaign afloat, making a strong performance tonight a must. Her campaign ended 2019 with roughly $5 million in cash on hand.

The Hill: Nevada governor: State will avoid Iowa repeat.

The Washington Post: Trump barged into the Democrats’ primary turf in New Hampshire Monday night.

The Associated Press: Small New Hampshire town Dixville Notch votes for Bloomberg in primary.







LEADING THE DAY





WHITE HOUSE & ADMINISTRATION: One Democrat in the Senate on Monday called the president’s new $4.8 trillion budget proposal a “political stunt” (The Hill). But Trump cast his proposed blueprint for fiscal 2021 as a starting point in legislative debates about key priorities favorable to GOP candidates during an election year.

“We’re going to have a very good budget with a very powerful military budget because we have no choice,” the president said on Monday as he unveiled his ideas for the fiscal year that begins in October. He said he will work with Congress to reduce federal spending by rooting out “waste and fraud” (The New York Times).

As The Hill’s Niv Elis reports, Trump is winning when it comes to construction of a border wall, shrugs off rising deficits, wants (in theory) a bipartisan deal to lower drug prices, would curb spending on Medicare and Medicaid, and proposes to lower taxes by another $1.4 trillion.

The Hill: Five takeaways from the president’s budget.

The upshot: The president and Congress are expected to defer major decisions about the budget until after the November elections.

> War powers: Trump’s continued authority to take military action against Iran could come to the floor as soon as Wednesday if Senate Democrats succeed in forcing a vote this week (The Hill).

> Trump’s wrath: Senate Democrats are worried enough about the president’s hostilities toward federal military and political appointees who testified during the impeachment inquiry that they’re working to erect some guard rails. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants federal inspectors general to step in, and Democrats are looking for GOP support for legislation to protect whistleblowers (The Hill).

> Acting White House chief of staff: Mick Mulvaney Mick MulvaneyMick Mulvaney to start hedge fund Fauci says positive White House task force reports don't always match what he hears on the ground Bottom line MORE is a survivor in the West Wing. Last week, the former congressman passed the 400-day mark in one of the toughest jobs in Washington, and his mercurial boss gave him a public vote of confidence (The Hill).

> Department of Justice: Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani Rudy GiulianiGrand jury adds additional counts against Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and and Igor Fruman Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates Giuliani criticizes NYC leadership: 'They're killing this city' MORE, who has conducted foreign policy as the president’s emissary, has been asked by Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrBiden rips Barr's comments on coronavirus restrictions as 'sick' OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Cheney asks DOJ to probe environmental groups | Kudlow: 'No sector worse hurt than energy' during pandemic | Trump pledges 'no politics' in Pebble Mine review Cheney asks DOJ to probe environmental groups MORE to cooperate with a special “intake process in the field” to assess the origins and veracity of information Giuliani says he’s obtained about Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden via Ukraine. The prevailing concern is that Russia is funneling disinformation intended to appeal to Trump by seeding it with government officials, members of Congress and the public by working through the former New York City mayor (The Washington Post).

Separately, Barr announced on Monday that the department will file multiple lawsuits against immigration sanctuary communities for what the administration will argue is unconstitutional interference with federal immigration enforcement (Fox News). It’s an issue Trump is playing up during his bid for reelection.







IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES





CORONAVIRUS: Another case of the virus was confirmed in the United States, bringing the total to 13, with the latest patient diagnosed in California after traveling from Wuhan, China, and entering mandatory quarantine. The adult patient is being treated at the University of California San Diego Medical Center (Reuters). Trump mistakenly said on Monday night that there were 11 cases of the new virus in the United States.

President Xi Jinping of China, seeking to calm public anxiety in his country, was seen for the first time since the viral outbreak wearing a medical mask in Beijing while getting his temperature taken on Monday (Reuters). The Chinese population officially returned to work on Monday after the extended Lunar New Year holiday, but much of China remained at a standstill.

The death toll has now surpassed 1,000 people, almost exclusively in mainland China (1,018 this morning), with at least 43,138 people confirmed to have the virus worldwide, according to the latest data. More people died from the disease on Monday than any other day since the virus emerged from a wildlife market in December (Reuters).

Medical specialists with the World Health Organization were permitted to enter China for the first time on Monday to provide assistance after weeks of waiting for Beijing’s approval. The global health organization today has convened a special conference in Geneva that will compare all known data and innovative techniques that can halt the epidemic.

The latest research coming out of China says the virus can be transmitted by body fluids including saliva, urine and feces in addition to respiratory droplets in the air. “The 2019-nCoV epidemic spreads rapidly by human-to-human transmission,” according to data assessed by a group of Chinese researchers who published their findings in medRXiv.

Symptoms of infection in patients generally appear three days after infection, and of those patients who get the virus, 15 percent develop severe pneumonia, the Chinese team wrote. Seventy-one percent of the 1,099 patient records they studied indicated the patients contracted the virus from someone who had been in Wuhan, while 31 percent of those studied with the virus had been in Wuhan themselves.

In Japan on Monday, infections aboard a Diamond Princess cruise ship surged as thousands of passengers remained quarantined (The Washington Post). Thailand today refused entry to Holland America’s cruise ship MS Westerdam, which has no known cases of infection (Reuters).

The ease of transmission in humans and the nature of global travel have complicated efforts to halt the contagion. Exhibit A: a middle-aged man from Great Britain is believed to have contracted the virus at a Singapore conference before traveling to a resort in the French Alps and then home to his residence along the southern coast of England. He came in contact with dozens of people and flew on multiple airplanes before becoming ill and being hospitalized. Doctors are trying to retrace his steps to test those who crossed his path. He infected at least five other people who also stayed at the resort in the Alps. One of those travelers flew to Majorca in Spain before being diagnosed with the virus (The Associated Press).







The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@thehill.com and aweaver@thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE!







OPINION





How to see the next viral threat coming, by Gregory C. Gray, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/2SeZlNo

She’s Iran’s biggest pop star. She’s also a voice of hope demanding change, by Jason Rezaian, Global Opinions writer, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/2vn61Al







WHERE AND WHEN





Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features coverage at http://thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. ET at Rising on YouTube.

The House meets at 10 a.m.

The Senate convenes at 10 a.m.

The president holds a White House signing ceremony at 3:45 p.m. for the “Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act.”

Barr will address the winter gathering of the Major County Sheriffs of America at 10:30 a.m. in Washington.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will testify at 10 a.m. before the House Financial Services Committee. The Senate Banking Committee on Thursday will hear from Judy Shelton, Trump’s controversial pick to join the Federal Reserve Board, during a confirmation hearing (The Hill).

Special Olympics athletes and organization leaders will fan out across Capitol Hill today to seek lawmakers’ support for the “rights and needs of people with intellectual disabilities.” It’s the organization’s 18th annual “Capitol Hill Day,” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Pew Charitable Trusts at 9 a.m. hosts a newsmaker event titled “How to Bridge the Broadband Gap: A Conversation with State Leaders” at 901 E St. N.W., Washington. Registration is HERE.

This week, free tickets are available for the National Archives’s screening and panel discussion on Wednesday for “Race for the White House,” a documentary series produced by CNN that begins with “Obama v. McCain.” A moderated discussion about the 2008 race as well as current political news will include David Axelrod David AxelrodThe Memo: Warning signs flash for Trump on debates GOP hunts for leverage in revived COVID-19 talks Pelosi says there shouldn't be any debates between Biden and Trump MORE, an adviser to former President Obama, and Charlie Black, a political strategist for the late Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainThe electoral reality that the media ignores Kelly's lead widens to 10 points in Arizona Senate race: poll COVID response shows a way forward on private gun sale checks MORE (R-Ariz.). Information for the 7 p.m. event on Wednesday in Washington is HERE.

The Hill’s Campaign Report newsletter is now daily, with reporting from our colleagues on the politics team. Sign up to receive the latest news each evening in your inbox: http://www.email.thehill.com/thehillreg/thehillreg/pref.action







ELSEWHERE





➔ Amazon: The online behemoth seeks to depose Trump in connection with litigation over a $10 billion Defense Department contract the company says the president steered to competitor Microsoft because of personal animus (Fox Business).

➔ Theranos: Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the now-defunct blood test giant, made a renewed push Monday to dismiss charges alleging that she defrauded patients who used the company’s blood tests. Holmes and her legal team argued that the claims should be dismissed as too vague, adding that prosecutors cannot prove that people who got inaccurate test results through Theranos were actually harmed. However, prosecutors believe they have more than enough proof against Holmes and ex-Theranos President Sunny Balwani, her ex-boyfriend, saying that the two knowingly duped patients into relying on faulty means of gathering lab results. Before the Silicon Valley start-up imploded, it was valued at $9 billion. Reporting by The Wall Street Journal and investigations by the government eventually shuttered Theranos in 2018 (Bloomberg News).

➔ State watch: Feeling lucky? Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack Thomas James VilsackUSDA: Farm-to-school programs help schools serve healthier meals OVERNIGHT MONEY: House poised to pass debt-ceiling bill MORE (D), who left office in 2007 and later served as Obama’s agriculture secretary, won a $150,000 Powerball lottery prize, which he claimed on Monday (The Des Moines Register).







THE CLOSER





And finally … As some readers know, the Westminster Kennel Club in New York will name the 2020 “best in show” pooch tonight (a televised event that attracts legions of fans).

CBS News published a slideshow HERE of some of the impossibly well behaved, exotically groomed canines competing in this year’s event.

Some of those showy dogs accompanied by professional handlers in Madison Square Garden are also work dogs, The Associated Press reports:

“Ghost, a Norwegian buhund that competed Sunday at the nation’s premier canine event, makes weekly rounds as a therapy dog at a Delaware hospital and serves as a nonjudgmental listener for school kids learning to read. Lacey, a Labrador retriever that was entered in Westminster’s agility contest Saturday, puts in 50-hour weeks comforting patients at her owner’s child and adolescent psychiatry practice in California.”

Tune in to Fox Sports (FS1) to watch.





