middle of the heart, and she wouldn't be prosecuted. >> meanwhile, the pundits keep critiquing donald trump, but he is gaining ground. both nationally and in swing states, leading democrats to wonder, why isn't she doing better? also, in the closest thing to a debate that we have had so far, the big loser was the moderator, matt lauer. will the media's rough treatment of lauer impact moderators of the real debates. and as we mark the 15th anniversary of 9/11, congress has just approved letting victims sue saudi arabia. but will the president stop that with a veto? i will ask the nation's first secretary of homeland security, tom ridge. but first, both candidates said shocking things last night that will only perpetuate their high negatives. there's a third party in the race, fighting its way to the debate stage. and the libertarian ticket, gary johnson and bill weld, will be joining me later in the program. this week, johnson finally became a national name in the presidential race, but not for any reason he had hoped. the presidential candidate number flubbed a question on aleppo, syria, which he should have nailed. >> what would you do if you were elected about aleppo? >> about? >> aleppo. >> and what is aleppo? >> some have called his brain freeze a disqualifier. really? in comparison to his opponents? i don't agree. and i can't help but notice that in the "new york times" coverage of this error, the "times" had to make two corrections to its own reporting, because the newspaper misidentified aleppo. i know, we ask more from our presidents, but gary johnson's in good company. that's my point. look, it's doubtful that johnson will be the nation's 45th president or that bill weld will replace joe biden. but i think that americans would benefit from hearing their message of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism. they deserve to be on that debate stage. neither the republican nor democratic ticket can match their executive governing experience. in fact, we haven't had a third party ticket this qualified in modern history. johnson is a successful entrepreneur turned public servant. twice elected republican in the very democratic state of new mexico, he eliminated the state deficit, created a surplus, all while reducing the size of the state's government. and he governed without an ethical blemish. quite a credential when viewed against his competition. weld also elected twice as a republican in a democratic state, massachusetts. his bio, straight out of central casting. unfortunately, credentials don't determine debate participation. polls do. and even though johnson and weld will be on all 50 state ballots in order to get to debate, they need to quickly reach 15% in an average of five national polls. while they meet that threshold in several states, they're not there nationally yet. despite the aleppo flap, i hope they make it. johnson and weld have offered a nuanced vision of independence and thoughtfulness. they refuse to campaign dirty. they are even willing to utter the "c" word, compromise. putting them on the debate stage would also force their opponents to defend their views against independent thinking. they just got their first endorsement from a major daily newspaper, "the richmond times dispatch." so here's my idea. if a pollster calls you, tell them you're for johnson/weld. you can always change your mind. after the debates. time for you to get involved. and not just on twitter. i do a poll on my daily siriusxm radio program. we're going to try it out here. go to cnn.com/vote and answer this question. before the gary johnson controversy this week, would you have known the answer to what is aleppo? be honest. cnn.com/vote. i'll announce the results later in the program. now to mark tomorrow's 15th anniversary of 9/11, i had long ago invited the nation's first secretary of homeland security, tom ridge. glad i did. because now there is so much more to ask him about from today's headlines. mr. secretary, great to see you. i want to begin with congress yesterday. voting to allow 9/11 victim families to sue saudi arabia for the 9/11 plot. what should president obama do? >> well, first of all, i think the executive branch has an entirely different perspective on the relationship with saudi arabia, so i don't think anyone should be surprised, given the complicated and important relationship we have with the saudis that the president vetoes it -- excuse me, the president vetoes it. and i wouldn't be surprised if the veto was overridden. i guess i take a look at this story 15 years later, after 9/11, and 9/11 certainly is a new chapter in american history, and certainly a new chapter in american security. and to think it took 15 years to make a decision in this regard is rather remarkable. and two, there are so many pressing challenges associated with what transpired in 9/11. it's disappointing they still haven't addressed many of those in the past 15 years either. >> the more passage of time, the more i wonder, are they friend or are they foe? what's tom ridge's answer to that question? >> i think it depend on how they view their relationship with our country and their own sovereign interests at the time. let's face it. sovereign countries operate exclusively when it's in their best interest. if it's in their best interest to side with us, to deal with iran, and which is a -- certainly a challenge to their relationship in the region, then they'll be very supportive of us. if it's in their best interest to work contrary to our interest, they'll do that. sovereigns do that. we just need to understand it. there are no permanent allegiances in the global community. there are a lot closer allegiances among democracies, but sovereigns do what's best in their best interest. and we can align our best interest with theirs, they're our friend. when our interest is not aligned with theirs, from time to time they necessarily can be a foe. >> mr. secretary, we will soon have a brand-new commander-in-chief. intelligence briefings now in earnest for both secretary clinton and for donald trump. i want to show you something that donald trump said relative to one of his intel briefings. roll the tape. >> what i did learn is that our leadership, barack obama, did not follow what our experts and our truly -- when they call it intelligence, it's there for a reason -- what our experts said to do. and i was very, very surprised. it in almost every instance. and i could tell, i'm pretty good with the body language. i could tell they were not happy. our leaders did not follow what they were recommending. >> so he says, "i can read the body language of those giving me an intel briefing and it tells me that obama and clinton did not follow their recommendations." now you're a guy in the loop. do intelligence briefers make recommendations, or present facts? >> in my experience, the professionalism of our intelligence community is undisputed. it's not their position nor their responsibility to make recommendations. every intelligence briefing i had, and obviously i had multiple briefings, was strictly to the facts. and the notion that people are reading other people's body language and pulling from that conclusions i think is -- it's not only inappropriate, it's not terribly presidential. >> tom ridge grew up in public housing, went to harvard, and wore the uniform of his country in vietnam. i want to show you something else that donald trump said the other night. this pertaining to the generals in our military command. roll that tape. >> i think under the leadership of barack obama, and hillary clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble. they have been reduced to a point where it's embarrassing for our country. >> governor, he also said that he might replace generals. is that the way the chain of command operates? can he just replace generals? >> well, he certainly can't. let's be very, very clear about this. whenever donald trump has something to say, he says it, regardless of whether it's based in fact, based on reality or any of that sort. i mean, this whole notion that you can -- regardless of outcome, regardless of circumstances, single-handedly wipe the slate clean, start replacing generals, is just -- it's troubling to me that someone who aspires to be the president of the united states and the commander in chief would think so ill of those who have served this country for hundreds of years and be so dismissive of those who have given recommendations and so dismissive of their service. >> in that same candidate forum pertaining to national security, secretary clinton made a statement relative to both syria and iraq. i want to show you that tape, as well. >> they are not going to get ground troops -- we are not putting ground troops into iraq ever again. and beer not putting ground troops into syria. we're going to defeat isis without committing american ground troops. >> mr. secretary, i hope there are no ground troops placed in iraq or in syria. but i think there's a separate question as to whether she should have said that. your view? >> well, i don't think it's ever appropriate for those who would be a commander-in-chief or those, frankly, are in charge to be announcing in advance what our plans are. one of the challenges and one of the problems i've had sometimes with this administration is that tactics were divulged publicly. and i think it's really inappropriate. again, you aspire to be not only the president, but the commander-in-chief, the leader of the free world and the notion that you would tell your foes in advance of certain things you would do or not do i think is just not -- again, i don't think it's terribly presidential. >> final question -- >> transparency is not always in our best interest as a country. and i think both of these candidates need to understand that. >> a quick final question. you and i come from opposite corners of the great commonwealth of pennsylvania. is the state really in play? >> i think it will be -- no, i don't. but, again, i haven't seen any polls. but my gut tells me that because of demographics, because of the extraordinary work the democrats have done in terms of registering voters, they have massive majority, and i think donald -- mr. trump has to do better in the suburban counties outside of philadelphia, and right now, as i read the tea leaves, he's not doing very well there. >> governor, thanks so much for coming back to the program. i always appreciate your commentary. >> let me just thank you, michael, and your friend, steve singer. on this particular day you worked really hard and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the flight of the 93 memorial. so i tip my hat and thank you for that. >> $10 at a time. i hate steven singer.com. thanks for that. what do you think? tweet me. i'll read some later in the program. matt lauer, how he conducted back-to-back interviews of hillary clinton and donald trump. will that change the way the upcoming debate moderators conduct themselves? donald trump had no problem with matt lauer. >> she was blaming matt lauer. i thought matt lauer did a very good job. his questions to me were very tough. but the gentleman who stood up and said, honestly, you should be in prison for what you did. to me, that was the tough one. 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(1940s aqua music) (burke) and we covered it, february third, twenty-sixteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ i thodid the ancestrydna toian. find out i'm only 16% italian. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors was eastern european. this is my ancestor who i didn't know about. this week, america finally got to see the major party presidential candidates interviewed back-to-back on live tv. but the reviews were all about the conduct of the interviewer. nbc's matt lauer was attacked for not challenging trump, while seeming to be very tough on clinton. with the upcoming presidential debates looming large, the role of the moderators now in the spotlight. lester holt of nbc is doing the first one. will he feel pressure to even things out? my next guest has a lot to say about that. david brock, a clinton supporter, who founded media matters, just wrote this letter to the commission on presidential debates, asking that they remove fox's chris wallace from the first -- from the debate that he'll moderate. among his reasons, roger ailes, who until recently was wallace's boss, has been advising donald trump, and that wallace said this about his role. >> donald trump on hillary clinton, what do you do if the -- they make assertions that you know to be untrue? >> that's not my job. i do not believe that it's my job to be a truth squad. it's up to the other person to catch them on that. >> david brock is joining me now. hey, david. let me get this out of the way. i think that matt lauer made a mistake. by the way, i've got immense respect for him. but i think he made a mistake when not confronting donald trump relative to iraq. he absolutely should have made reference to the howard stern interview on iraq and said to donald trump, "that's just not true." but in a debate scenario, is that really lauer's job or chris wallace's job rather than the opponent? isn't that why the opponent is there? a debate is a joust. it will be up to hillary clinton to correct that record. >> i don't think you need a constant fact-checking operation going on inside the debate. but i do think where there are clear falsehoods that have been said before by these candidates, adequate preparation would be to challenge -- to challenge them on that. i mean, you know, you're a host. you're going to challenge me in this interview. i can't see just sitting there and reading off a list of questions and not listening, not having a real conversation and not challenging. as i said, you know, it is certainly the role of the opponent, as well, to get in it. but i think you can't just lie down there in the face of these falsehoods. and as we know, every independent fact-checking operation shows that donald trump, his lies are off the charts. hillary was rated as the most truthful of the entire field, republican/democrat. so the point here, if he lays down, it's going to advantage trump, disadvantage hillary. >> but i'm concerned about the debate therefore becoming all about the moderator. and, you know, sometimes facts are fungible. people are still debating, whether candy crowley was correct in the obama/romney debate by talking about what it was the president said pertaining to benghazi and did he use the word "terror" the day after. i know you know of what i'm speaking. so it's not always so clear-cut. given what -- howard stern interviewed about donald trump, that was a clear instance. so matt lauer should have said something. i just don't want to open pandora's box. >> right. no, i don't disagree with you. i don't think every time somebody says something it's up to the moderator to fact-check it. but i think that was a very glaring instance. we're in agreement on that. and so -- and then the other part of my objection to chris wallace has to do with a conflict of interest on its face. which you've already -- you've already referenced my letter. roger ailes advising donald trump, also rupert murdoch, chris wallace's lawyer. look, if jeff zucker was advising hillary clinton and also being paid by cnn, cnn's critics would be squealing like stuck pigs and be right to do it. this is wrong on its face. optically, it stinks. so i think the debate commission has a particular chris wallace problem they need to address. >> let me do something that matt lauer didn't do the other night. let me challenge you on that assertion for a moment. okay? because you presuppose that ailes has some leverage of control over wallace at this stage which i think is entirely absent and to the extent he's being given any money by murdoch at this point, it was only to show him the door. so i don't think that holds water. >> i'm not presupposing what's going on inside fox news. i don't know. i'll give you that. but just on its face, the arrangement is a conflict of interest arrangement. journalists are constantly hitti hitting politicians for optical problems. why can't we hold journalists to the same standard? the point is, we actually don't know what's going on inside fox news. but we do know on its face that roger ailes is playing this dual role and it's just a matter of public confidence in these debates. both sides, trump and clinton, are going to be in agreement that the stakes in this election are extraordinarily high. and so i think we need to go the extra step there, and it's on the commission to make that decision. but i think the extra step there to ensure public confidence. and at least have wallace acknowledge all of this so, you know, in the debate, so that people can make up their own minds. >> final comment or question for david brock. you're pretty sophisticated guy when it comes to these political matters. is what you're really doing here setting the bar for wallace and you're planting a seed so that when people are watching this debate, they'll have in the back of their minds that david brock and others said, well, he shouldn't even be there moderating it. and therefore, you will have lessened what hillary clinton needs to achieve that night when we get to that debate? >> well, yes, in part. let me explain what we're trying to do here. >> ah-ha. >> first of all, we want to shine a light on this so the public does know. so am i trying to communicate to the public that there is an issue here that they should be aware of when they're seeing the debate? we need a real fair and balanced debate, not a fox style debate? yes, i am trying to do that. secondly, i'm trying to get the commissions to take responsibility and actually do the right thing here. i -- you know, i don't know that that's going to happen. and third, i want chris wallace to go the extra mile and, you know, whatever pressures he may be under, forego those and do a good job. >> david brock, i appreciate your thoughts. thank you. >> thanks. tough job to be a debate moderator. i don't envy any of them. tweet me your thoughts at smerconish. here next, the libertarian ticket, governors gary johnson and bill weld, who i think ought to be on that debate stage. which reminds me, don't forget to vote at cnn.com/vote. before johnson's controversy this week, would you have known the answer to what is aleppo? check out the early returns. in flux, but pretty close. 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because a hallmark of your candidacy is that you believe in less foreign entanglements. might that be an explanation as to why you didn't identify aleppo? >> no, michael. no excuse whatsoever. and i know you're doing a poll right now. but most -- not -- the person on the street is not running for president of the united states. but understanding what is happening in syria, that it is very serious, that i've been saying now for quite some time that the key to syria is bringing russia to the table, believing that kerry was actually involved in those negotiations and then seeing, you know, just last night that, in fact, we do have what hopefully will be a lasting cease-fire. >> you don't want us there, is my point. you don't want us over there, wherever over there might be. is it fair to say that gary johnson believes that every time we open a base overseas, we put more american lives in jeopardy? and not make us more safe? >> well, you know, we are there right now. we're going to honor all treaties and obligations, and you can't wave a magic wand and not recognize that we are there. but we're there in the first place, because we do support regime change, which i think has resulted in what is happening right now in syria. and that started with iraq and raqqah and the fleeing of -- saddam hussein's loyalists that fled to raqqah. >> governor weld, talk to me on this issue. what distinguishes your ticket from the republican and democratic ticket as we talk about the events of the middle east in particular? >> well, i do think our first inclination is not to support regime change every time we see something we don't like going on in another country. the united states has been at war in one place or another in the world for most of the last 40 years, and it's just too much of a presumption in terms of intervention. we think that iraq, syria and libya have proven that you don't necessarily effectuate good by going in military power in both libya and syria, we armed the rebels, the rebels lost and the arms wound up in the hands of isis. that's not helping anything. i mean, i think governor johnson, in addition to calling for the cease-fire yesterday, which is very timely advice, has been spot-on on syria, and saying that the solution has to lie through russia. that's not to say it's going to be easy. but i really commend secretary kerry. he's had one heck of a year between iran and syria. >> why can't you two fellas close? i'm going put up on the screen where you stand in a couple of states relative to your bid for making the debate stage. put up those numbers from the swing states. it seems to me that your message of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism matches the country. you've got two of the least popular major party candidates who have ever run for the presidency. there you are in north carolina at 15. ohio at 14. my home state of pennsylvania, 9. florida, 8. governor johnson, wherein lies the deficit of closing the deal? >> well, we're closing the deal. we went up nationally, spending a couple million dollars in 21 states. nationally we are up doing advertising. this "washington post" poll this last week that has us at plus 10% in 42 states, plus 15% in 15 states. plus 19% in five states. we're now reaching over 50 million on social media. so all of the analytics are ratcheting up, and in my opinion, there's just no question that we are going to get to that 15%. will that be for the first debate? maybe, maybe not. but 15% is not something that's a law. the presidential debate commission made up of democrats and republicans and they've -- arbitrarily set this number, really. we're supposed to have 21 million supporters as opposed to 18 million? you know, that's a tough call. and it's a tough call that i think falls on 50% of americans right now that are declaring themselves as independents. >> you know, michael, the truth is, if pollsteres asked, who do you think, trump or johnson or clinton, we would be 20 and 30%. but the way they ask the question, they say trump or clinton. and one more thing, if you could vote for a third party, would you? so that skews the results massively. they're also doing telephone land line polling, which doesn't pick up the millennials, which is now the largest voting block, and gary is number one among millennials 18 to 24. he's number two 18 to 34. these are our people. they don't answer any telephone, much less a land line. and, of course -- >> governor romney sent out a tweet this week and said he wants you on that debate stage and begs the question, do you have a shot at his endorsement? are there any other big names that you can bring aboard within the span of the next week? >> well, governor schwarzenegger of california came out with a strong statement saying we, by name, should be included in the debates. and i wouldn't be surprised to see a few more governors hop on. it's very easy to say we should be included in the debates when 76% of the people in the united states say they want us in the debates. and the truth is, the commission can do anything it wants to do. it's not -- it's not written in stone this 15% figure. if they put us in the debates, nobody could complain, nobody would have standing to complain. so they shouldn't be fearful. >> we are the only two candidates on the ballot, only two third-party candidates on the ballot in all 50 states, which i think speaks volumes to what it is that we're doing. >> governors, before you go, let's check in on this poll among my viewers. see what they're saying about whether they would have known. this is -- demands the honesty test here. the answer to the aleppo question. where are we right now? put it up on the screen. well, it's -- look at the flux. it's roughly 55-45. but it's an intelligent audience. what can i tell you, gentlemen? thank you for being here. i appreciate it. >> thank you, michael. >> thank you. governors johnson and weld. i hope they make it. i think they would add an independent perspective to that debate stage. still to come, a gop candidate has released his tax returns. it's mike pence, not donald trump. and last night, hillary clinton besmirched after of trump's supporters. what's the fallout going to be? trump tweeted this morning -- put that up on the screen. wow, hillary clinton was so insulting to my supporters, millions of amazing hard-working people, i think it will cost her at the polls. we'll talk about that in a moment. hold onto your forks. endless shrimp is back at red lobster. that means you get to try as much as you want... ...of whatever flavors are calling your name. seriously. like new garlic sriracha-grilled shrimp. it's a little spice... ...a little sizzle... ...and a lot just right. and try new parmesan peppercorn shrimp. helloooo crispy goodness. and the classic... ...handcrafted shrimp scampi... ...you can't get enough of? 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the racists, sexists, homophobics,zen phobic, islamic phobic. you name it. >> she was more kind to the other half, saying they were disen franchised. joining me now, democratic strategist, bob beckel and conservative analyst edie hill. is that going to hurt her? or are they divideded in this race? >> no, what she really doesn't like are people who are poor and don't have a college education. she likes the intelligencia. of she likes the rich liberals. that's who supports her. that's her real problem. >> bob beckel, does she lose any support that she otherwise would have garnered by what she said last night? >> well, you know, it reminds me a little bit of when barack obama said, you know, they grab hold of their flags and guns and their churches. you remember that back in the race against -- >> absolutely, 2008. >> 2008, yeah. that hung around for a while. and my guess is -- i mean, it's the wrong thing to say. but let me just say one other thing about this race. you know, trump, as much as i don't like donald trump, hillary clinton's campaign manager made a statement last week, which he said -- the question is, is donald trump an apparatchik of the russians? that's way over the line. that's treasonist. basically saying if he is, he's treason. the language here on both sides is getting way out of hand, and that's what happens when you have two people who have negatives in the mid 50s to 60s. the only way they can win is make sure the other person's negative stay up. i've got to correct you on one thing, mike. as smart as you are in politics, this race is not tightening. donald trump is not increasing. i looked at 14 polls in the key states. and ohio, for example. donald trump has 40, 41, 39, 40, 41, 42. it's hillary clinton that's backing down. and she goes from 49 to 48 to 47 to 46. so, yeah, this race is tightening, but not because trump is getting stronger. she's getting weaker. >> well, you know, e.d., at the outset of the week, coming out of the labor day weekend, cnn and orc had a national poll that showed trump up two, and frankly, i was dubious of the significance. i love the beauty contests, but i said, tell me what's going on in the swing states. and then here's quinnipiac on thursday with those five states. i get beckel's point, which is to say that she's coming down. he's kind of fixed. but nevertheless, it's a close race, e.d. >> it really is. and i think at this point, it still is really a tossup. and it's who probably doesn't damage themselves the most. hillary clinton definitely should not have made that statement last night. donald trump, i think, has been moving up. and the reason why, he's been much more controlled. he's been sticking to message, and i think has been, with the exception of some things, much less personal. and i agree with bob entirely. enough with the negatives. start talking to us as measur americans. what you're going to do for us and i mean for all of us. >> hey, bob, i want to go back to your russian comment. i did intend to discuss putin in this conversation. isn't what's going on here that donald trump says kind things about vladimir putin because to the extent putin, through hacking hillary's private servers has something that could embarrass her, he wants to be sure that putin drops it in the waning days of the campaign? >> well, i think that's probably part of it. but let's also keep in mind, it was trump's son who said that most of their ongoing business interests now in the construction world are with soviets. with russians. and nothing wrong with that. but they have very close relationships on their business side of things. so i don't know, you know -- i think -- if i were trump, i would not talk about putin any more. i mean, i don't think it does him any good. and the people who reacted to it, by the way, were republicans. not democrats that much. so i think it -- it's a net negative. but, you know, when you're on script, as e.d. said, about trump, he's done better on script. but, look, last night he gets in a crowd and said hillary clinton could come in here and shoot somebody down, and then said this thing about the iranians, if they came and flipped the bird to an american ship, that would be blown out of the water. i mean, those are the kinds of things, you know -- you don't need it, and all it is it is set you up for another commercial. >> e.d., let me show -- let me show the audio of what bob just referenced, because i do want to get to it. this is what he said relative to hillary last night and then you can comment. >> because she is being so protected, she could walk into this arena right now, and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching right smack in the middle of the heart. and she wouldn't be prosecuted, okay? that's what happened to our country. >> e.d., react to what you just watched. >> well, i think he tapped into the belief that hillary clinton is somehow able to get away with a lot. can she go in there and shoot a person and get away with that? i'm not so positive about that. but it was the idea and the sentiment. and that sentiment really is what hurts her a lot. it's why people don't trust her. they think that shady things happen. that she gets involved, and somehow stuff disappears, it's smoothed over, and that's what really gets to folks. but the whole talk about russia, i want to get back to, real quickly, is that's not what america is talking about. you know, they're talking about north korea this morning. and i think that pundits and the news networks miss out on what real americans care about. that's affecting them. that's what scares them right now. not putin. >> yeah, but that's -- >> well -- >> that's a good point. >> go ahead, bob. >> what i was going to say, you know, when donald trump says that the reason that the north koreans have successfully launched five times is because of obama and clinton, is way overboard. first of all, the first one was under the bush administration. >> yeah. and the majority were under his watch and her watch. >> okay. >> and he comes out after this one and says, now i'm really upset about it. >> e.d., here's -- here's the simple question for you that should be asked about trump. okay, mr. trump, what would you do about it? >> and i agree. that is exactly what question we should be talking about. and they should both be answering. that's not what happens. we get distracted. we start talking about who putin likes more or less. we start talking about whether or not you can point out some place on a map in syria. that's what we get off on. that's not what people are caring about. >> yeah, but the problem is -- >> final question, beckel, if i might. if i said to you -- if i hit you cold a couple days ago with aleppo, would you have known what i was talking about? >> no. and -- but not only that, i think it's -- you know, these guys -- normally, after labor day, third-party candidates tend to goat lower and lower in the polls. these guys are growing. and one of the things we didn't mention about this -- about these debates, they won't make the first debate. he won't. but he will make the second debate. and i'm waiting. it's not a question of arnold schwarzenegger or somebody else. some mega millionaire is going to come in and drop $20 million in his lap, tired of both clinton and trump and you watch what $20 million in his hands can do in terms of moving the dial. i think a lot. >> hey, wait a minute. $20 million? $20 million, maybe it will be gre gretchen carlson. >> >> it may be. certainly won't be me. >> i would like to see them in those debates. i think that would be what would be right and just. >> i'm -- amen. and by the way, i'm here all week. thank you, bob. thank you, e.d. as always. i appreciate you being here. >> pleasure. still to come, the final tally. so keep voting at cnn.com/vote. answer the question. could you answer what is aleppo, before this week's gary johnson gaffe? and your best and worst tweets, like this one. i've been smoking pot every day since 1970. libertarians don't think foreign policy because they don't want any foreign policy. well, they want us less involved in foreign entanglements. no doubt about that. what that has to do with pot, i'm not sure. every day starts better with a healthy smile. start yours with philips sonicare, the no.1 choice of dentists. compared to oral-b 7000, philips sonicare flexcare platinum removes significantly more plaque. this is the sound of sonic technology cleaning deep between teeth. hear the difference? 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is it a caregiver determined to take care of her own? or is it a lifetime of work that blazes the path to your passions? your personal success takes a financial partner who values it as much as you do. learn more at tiaa.org welcome back. here are the results of our first live vote question. the question was, before gary johnson got stumped on "morning joe," could you have answered what is aleppo? let's see the result. i don't know what it is. i want to check it out. 58% say yes. 42% say no. perhaps traattributable to the t that amongst mensa members. you are advising voters to commit fraud by responding to pollsters favoring johnson, you were trying to rig the system. no, i'm not. you're not locked into anything pertaining to the way you go and cast your ballot. i think they would add independents. they would force the left and the right to defend their views against where 42% of americans reside. and that, my friend, is the center. that's my only objective. hit me with another tweet. what have we got? i thought i was crazy for thinking johnson made a minor slip compared to trump and clinton. glad i'm in good company. the good company that you are in, trevor, is the company of yours truly, because i didn't think it was that big a deal. frankly i think among the chattering class it was the equivalent of a private e-mail server or some of the many gaffes that trump has made. i don't know that it rest nated in the rest of the country. we'll find out. i love the fact that beckel, when i said on this show did you know what aleppo was on this show, subject to embarrassment, because he certainly knows now, said, no, i don't know. do i have time for one more tweet? moderators can't know everything. they need 60 experts on phones live to call bs realtime at any time. i think the world of matt lauer. sure, he should have called out trump. lawyer listens to howard stern, i know, so sure, he should have handled that issue. but i don't want the moderators to step out of bounds. leave that to the opponents at the debates. follow me @smerconish. see you in a week. there's more than one route to the top. the lexus ls and lx... each offering leading edge comfort, safety and performance technologies. the ultimate in refinement meets the ultimate in capability. this is the pursuit of perfection. ♪ remember here at ally, nothing stops us from doing right by our customers. who's with me? 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(dad laughs) wow, you're laughing. that's not the way the world works. well, the world's changing. are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management, at charles schwab. but your time is over. had a good long run. it's time for something new, something simple. grown right here in california with absolutely no antibiotics ever. food we're comfortable eating, making, serving. this is the new comfort food. and it starts with foster farms simply raised chicken. california grown with no antibiotics ever. let's get comfortable with our food again. less than 60 days to go, and the race for the white house is as heated as ever. i'm poppy harlow. year watching cnn. hillary clinton is donald trump are trading barbs over comments the democratic nominee made in new york last night. somehow she's apologizing what she said, and trump is retweeting president obama, that's right, retweeting president obama, to make his point against clinton. let's see what clinton said about some trump supporters last night. >> you know, to be

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