Transcripts For MSNBCW With All Due Respect 20160801

Mccarthy, and mccarthy went on and on, implying this guy was a communist and doing all kinds of things. And finally, joe welch couldnt take it anymore and he said and ill quote him, have you no sense of decency, sir . I Ask Donald Trump have you no sense of decency, sir . I might add, just add one thing. Mccarthys career went straight downhill after that. Lets move on to more pleasant subjects. Unlike what mr. Trump says, americas great. Lets talk about the usa. It was 240 years ago, we started with a piece of paper. It was a blueprint for a new society, a society unlike anything the world had ever seen before, and in 1776, that blueprint started us on a path that has finally led to the next woman president. It was imperfect but it was aspirational. Now, that blueprint has done wonders for this country in terms of overall prosperity. When i was born in 1930, if my parents had seen what the world would look like in 2016, they wouldnt have believed it. The gdp per capita is six times what it was when i was born. Thats never happened in the history of mankind. Its a miracle. And the miracle is america. It still has all the qualities that it had in 1930 which propelled us forward like this. So america in terms of delivering wealth has been incredible. In terms of distributing wealth, it has not been living up to what i consider its potential. I just described to you 56,000 of gdp per capita and that means a family of four on average would have 224,000 of gdp per capita but it hasnt worked out that way. This country, while making some people enormously wealthy, has left people behind and those people were just as willing, probably more willing to go to afghanistan, they were as willing to go to normandy 70 years ago and in Hillary Clinton, you have somebody that cares about that. And i would venture let me give you just one more statistic and ill get away from that. I know how popular that is. But in the first year of the forbes 100 back in the 1980s, the aggregate wealth of the 400 was 93 billion. You can look it up on the internet. Currently, its 2,374,000,000. Everyone who has had 25 for one themselves, if they raise their hand. Yeah. It hasnt happened. They told us it would trickle down. But what has happened, what has happened is its flooded upward and that almost 2. 4 trillion from 400 people in this country, theyre not bad people. I know a good many of them. Like to know more, actually. But they have benefited from a system that frankly is tilted toward people like me and the rest of that group. Its not because theyre evil, but they have taken advantage. Theyre the ones with the lobbyists. Theyre the ones that have come up with carried interest where their income is taxed at rates far lower than almost all of the people in this room, and its going to take somebody with strength, resoluteness, brains, ener energy. Its going to take somebody to effect change. Theres no question about it. It wont happen by itself. It takes guts. It is a tough, tough job when you try and change the code on people who are making millions and billions of dollars a year in order to give a better break to people who work just as hard, maybe harder, and take home you know, a few hundred dollars a week. Its really wrong that in a country where 56,000 of gdp per person, for anybody that works 40 hours a week, not to be able to provide a decent living for their family, it just doesnt make sense. And it wont cure itself. And it certainly wont be cured with donald trump. Its going to take Hillary Clinton. It will take powers of persuasion, it will take a mandate from the people at her election. But shes spelling out what shes going to do as contrasted to the other candidate. She is telling you what she is going to do about the tax code and when that gets enacted, ill be a little worse off and believe me, i can take it, and youll be better off. Now, i would like to make a little news. And this is a surprise even to hillary. Its very easy, there were 129 million votes cast in the last president ial election. Very easy to think if youre watching a tv show or the weathers a little bad or something to think well, my vote really doesnt count, what difference is it going to make with 129 million. I have some real news for you. It doesnt make much difference if youre a democrat in idaho or a republican in california. You are in a state where the electoral votes going to be decided by majority vote and youre on the short side in that case. But we live in a very special place. In nebraska and maine, we also cast electoral votes by Congressional District, and we dont have to think about 129 million popular votes throughout the country. We have to think about 538 electoral votes. And yesterday on that same George Stephanopoulos show, they had four people predicting how the election would come out, and Jonathan Carle of abc news had gone state by state and come up with he came up with his notion as to who was going to carry each state and how that would cause the electoral vote to come out. And those of you who watched the show yesterday saw that he came out 269 to 269. He absolutely said that he did not try to come out that way. He just looked state by state. 269 to 269. Now, theres one district in the United States, i am looking at the people that can change that 269 to 270. It happened in 2008, by 3200 or 3325 votes. We actually gave a vote separate than the rest of nebraska. So its been done. Its been done. But were going to help that process along this time. I have pledged today that on election day, november 8th, i will take at least ten people to the polls who would otherwise have difficulty getting there. And when you go home tonight, you can go to a website called drive 2, the number 2, drive 2vote. If you go there, it will offer you information on three things. How to register, how if you need a ride on november 8th, you may find someone who will take you, we will take care of that, and it will also give you the chance to volunteer to take some people, whether ten or a lesser number. Today, i will even trolley for november 8th. It seats 32. Im going to be on it all day. I will do selfies, whatever it takes. If its snowing, if its cold, my goal and the goal of the people who have joined me on this in this drive to vote, my goal is to have the turnout here be the highest percentage of potential voters of any district in the country. Lets give america a civics lesson. How about it . Everybody in the second district. Of the people in this room, if each one of you would pledge to take ten people, i can almost guarantee that will be the margin of victory. So join me, if you can take 20, do that. If you can only take three or four, thats fine too. But get that neighbor who is watching that Television Program and shame them into coming with you to the polls. Now, just remember, drive2vote. Okay. Now, if you have read the constitution, which apparently some people havent, if you read article two, it deals with the presidency. Article two of the constitution. Look it up. Thats where they describe the presidency. We wrote that constitution, 39 men signed it, how would you ever guess, youll find out in a minute, 39 men signed it. In article two, describing the qualifications for the president of the United States, male pronouns, he, his and him, were used 20 times. Just imagine that. And its still in the constitution 227 years later. He, his and him. No hers, no shes. Well, on january 20th, we are going to elect the best president we have ever had and somebody who is going to change those pronouns. Hillary clinton. Wow thank you. Thank you all so much. Wow. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, omaha. Thank you. Thank you, Congressional District 2. I am so delighted to be back here with so many friends and supporters and with everyone here today, and especially i want to thank Warren Buffett for that kind and generous introduction. I have heard warren called the omaha oracle. I call him my friend. He is an american original. I am honored to have his support and i love the idea that together, all of you are going to aim to have the highest percentage turnout of any Congressional District in america. Its great to be here at the north high school. I had a chance to say hello to your principal, jean haines. You have been watching Hillary Clinton in omaha. Shes trying to rally voters in that state which traditionally goes republican, but it is also a state that divides delegates so secretary clinton trying to pick off a few delegates among the highlights so far, billionaire businessman Warren Buffett calling on donald trump to release his tax returns, saying that he will have a tax return duel. He will release his tax returns as well. And we have a little bit more of the event. Lets take a listen. Any of you watch the convention . I was so excited to have the opportunity for so many people who care about our country, who have contributed in many different ways, to have a chance to stand before america and to tell their stories, because america is story after story, and what i want is to provide the opportunity and the support so that every single american can live his or her best story, can make the most of your own godgiven potential. And after the convention was over, starting friday morning, tim kaine and his wonderful wife anne and bill and i got on a bus and started traveling across pennsylvania into ohio. We visited factories, small towns, bigger cities. We met with so many hardworking people who told us their stories and they proved every day that donald trump is wrong. America is not weak. I agree with warren, this is the greatest nation on earth, and our best days are still ahead of us. Now, that doesnt mean we dont have challenges and problems. Of course we do. Right here at home and around the world. But i dont believe there is anything that americans cant do if we make up our minds, because you know why . We are stronger together. But as warren said, too many people havent gotten a raise since the great crash. Theres too much inequality and too little opportunity. Washington is paralyzed by special interests and big money. But dont let anyone tell you we dont have what it takes if we make up our minds to solve our problems. And dont believe anyone who tells you i alone can fix it. When donald trump said that in his convention speech, i did a bit of a mental doubletake. I listened to that speech, 75 minutes of it, and it was like he was talking about a different country. Forgetting about everyone in america who gets up every day and works together, people who make a difference every single day. Hes forgetting our troops on the front lines. Hes forgetting Police Officers and firefighters who run toward danger. Hes forgetting about doctors and nurses who save lives, and teachers who change lives. Hes forgetting about unions who fight for working families and communities that pull together through hard times. I grew up in the midwest. I was born in chicago, raised outside of chicago. My dad was a small businessman. I mean really small. It was mostly just him and occasionally my mother, my brothers and me, and sometimes he would hire helpers to get one of his orders out because he printed fabrics to be made into draperies and he had a print plant with long tables. He was a very selfreliant man. But i dont think he for a minute, through his growing up in scranton, pennsylvania, through his service as a chief petty officer in the navy, through his work and business or his raising our family, ever thought to himself i alone can fix it. Thats just not the way we were raised. We were raised to get together. We were raised to follow up on the extraordinary example of our founders 240 years ago in philadelphia, who came together. You see that across nebraska. You see people working. I have been in omaha. I have visited projects, schools, other kinds of nonprofits and institutions where people are working together. Thats what we do in america. We see a problem and we say well fix it together. And thats what were going to do when we get the white house to move us forward in the direction we need to go. Now, i know how hard the Great Recession was. It was a terrible time, the worst financial crisis since the great depression. And people in nebraska worked hard to come back. I think it was a terrible moment. It could have gotten even worse. I believe that a lot of difficult decisions had to be made and we have come back from that terrible financial crisis. Thanks to the hard work of nebraskans, americans and president obama, we got out of the ditch we were in. So i think if were going to solve the problems we have, we ought to be really clear about where weve come from. We now have 15 million new jobs that have been created in the last seven and a half years. We now have 20 million more americans who have access to health care. We have the highest percentage ever in our history of young people walking across graduation stages to get their high school diplomas. So i know weve made progress but i know we shouldnt be satisfied. As americans, we always have to be asking ourselves what can we do better, how can we make more progress, how can we help more people. Were still facing tough challenges that developed long before the recession and they have stayed with us. The economy is not working the way it should for everyone. Starting in iowa back in april of 2015 until the convention this week, i have met so many people who tell me you know, they dont expect a handout. They dont even expect, you know, life to be easy. But they dont think it should be this hard. It shouldnt be that people feel like theyre out there on their own, like no one cares about them, that theyre not respected, that the dignity of their job is not something that we all support. I know a lot of people who feel that way. I bet there are some in this ga gymnasium who feel that way. Heres what i want you to know. You deserve a president who will get up every single day in the white house and do everything she can to give you the chance you deserve to have. And i will quickly add, as important as it is to have someone who gets what youre going through, i think its also really important that that person tells you what her plans are for producing results. So if you saw what i said on thursday night, let me give you the short, punchier version and it starts by making clear we do have to rewrite the rules so that our economy works for everyone, not just those at the top. My overriding mission as president will be to do everything i can to help our country create more jobs with rising incomes. I believe anyone willing to work hard should be able to find a job that pays well. Enough to support a family. So in my first 100 days, we are going to break through the gridlock in washington and make the biggest investment in new goodpaying jobs since world war ii. We are going to make the boldest investment in american infrastructure since the highway system. Warren read you some of the quotes from donald trump. Well, he has said so many things that i profoundly, vehemently disagree with. For the life of me you have been watching Hillary Clinton in omaha, nebraska, where she is holding a campaign event. She referenced donald trump several times and said trump was wrong about our troops, but did not specifically talk about the khan controversy. Meantime, moments ago, senator john mccain was holding a town hall in phoenix, arizona and was asked about the controversy. Heres what he had to say. Take a listen. Ill tell you what, when any time from now on when that question was asked, if i change my mind, ill let you know. Im not apologizing at all. I am not apologizing in the slightest. Undoubtedly, it is a discussion and debate that will continue. Now we want to go to with all due respect. Joining us to talk about Donald Trumps weekend and his today, his National Spokesperson who comes to us live from dallas and trump surrogate lawrence epstein. Welcome to you both. I want to ask you the same question. Katrina, you first. We have wanted you on the show for a long time. Thank you for joining us. How do you feel about the totality of what donald trump has said . How do you feel as a person about what he said about the khans . Well, i feel that this is something i have been expecting just being on the grassroots side of the Republican Party for a very long time. This particular election was going to be rough and tough and i fully expected the democrats to do what they do best and that is to politicize everything im sorry. And for the media to constantly attack and barrage the candidate. Can i ask you to focus on what i asked you, which is how do you feel i told you how i feel. Nchgs y you commented on the media, not about what he said. Every time i go on a tv show its to correct the record or explain something a journalist or the democrats have taken out of context. If you are asking me how i feel, i feel that donald trump is not your typical politician and does what he always does. He defends himself when attacked. I understand that the media and the democrats arent used to a republican who has a backbone thats going to fight back. I appreciate what youre saying and its responsive not to what im asking. I will ask you one more time. How do you feel as a person about what mr. Trump has said about the khans . I feel mr. Trump has been defending himself like he always has. How do you feel about what he said . I was there at the dnc. I saw the speech. Lets start with this. I myself, the Trump Campaign, katrina and mr. Trump, have utmost respect for captain khan, for his parents, for their loss, for their supreme sacrifice. Thats a baseline we dont want to move off of. Would it have been better if he had emphasized that in his initial comments . He is somebody who was attacked and i have been asked this question today, well, he was at the dnc so it was a partisan affair. He spoke in a partisan way. It was an attacking speech against donald trump. Donald trump saw the sfeepeech, reacted to the sfeepeech. The comments to George Stephanopoulos, im fine with what he said. When you hear the vfw, senator mccain, veterans, republican veterans, democratic veterans who say you know what, this guy paid the ultimate price defending his country, his parents have a right to say whatever they want, you say what to those veterans of both parties who are deeply profoundly offended by what mr. Trump has said . Again, they just like mr. Trump and very much like the khans have their right to their opinion. I happen to disagree. I think the gold star parents deserve utmost, absolute respect but do they get to say whatever they want you are saying they are wrong to be offended . Whos wrong to be offended . The many, many veterans groups . They have a right to be offended just like mr. Trump has the right to be offended by things said about him. Everybody has their right to their own feelings and to take the comments whichever way they will. Katrina, one of mr. Trumps close confidants for a long time is roger stone. Over the course of the last couple days, hes first accused mr. Khan of being part of a radical muslim group that was tied to the egyptian muslim brotherhood. Hes now tweeted hes correcting the record saying thats not true, his association is with the saudi jihadi and a man who is a 9 11 funder, according to mr. Stone. Do you want to associate yourself with those accusations of roger stone or do you have any kind of response to that . Well, you have to ask roger stone. Roger stone is not part of the campaign and i dont represent him. You have to take that up with mr. Stone. So you have no comment on someone who is a close confidant of mr. Trump doing that even from the context of i dont know what roger stone is talking about so you have to talk to roger stone about that. What i cannot do is sit here and try to tell you something i know nothing about although i do appreciate the effort to try to tie him to the campaign but i will say again, roger stone is not part of the campaign and therefore, you will need to talk to him. Let me ask you this. Do you consider the khans to be over and done with . Oh, i do. Absolutely. Mr. Trump responded after the speech and it was mr. Khan who went out and did all the tv shows and mr. Trump responded again. I dont see that happening in the future. Mr. Trump made very clear that he had nothing to do with the death of mr. Khans son who was definitely a war hero. So its just a little bit disconcerning on why this attack was even lodged at mr. Trump considering mr. Trump had nothing to do with the iraq war, whereas Hillary Clinton voted for it and then she didnt support the troop surge, then wanted to go into afghanistan, not to mention the failures in libya which is putting all our service men in danger as we speak. Donald trump has nothing to do with that mans son. What do you think is going on with mr. Trumps comments or what do you know is going on with his comments about the debate schedule . Two debates are scheduled on nfl nights. Im a fan. I dont know if you are fans or not. It is worrying that certain folks may not be watching the debates. We want as many people as possible to watch the debates. It came out in the emails, they tried to purposefully put the debates on christmas eve, new years day, joking, but some of that is fact. We want to make sure the same thing does not happen in the president ial debates. Do you think he is fully committed to doing three debates regardless of what the dates end up being, fully committed to doing the three debates that have become the standard of the president ial debates . You would have to ask him personally but thats what i understand. But thats what i understand and i think the issue here really is about the dates of the debates and making sure you maximize the amount of viewership and dont minimize it as the democrats did in their primary and hurting bernie sanders. We did an analysis of this. In the month of october there is not a single date in october where theres not a baseball game, football game, national holiday, not one day when theres nothing that conflicts with this. What do you guys propose to do about that problem . The debates are being negotiated i think this week. The negotiations are ongoing. The proposal from mr. Trump is not to have them on nfl football days. Thats where it is. You look at the dates, tuesdays and wednesdays, i understand there are playoffs which are not historically as widely viewed as nfl sunday night and monday night games. Katrina, i know you have long been a critic of the press for being liberally biased. Do you think right now, Hillary Clinton is getting easier coverage than mr. Trump and if so, whats your clearest example of that . Well, i do think Hillary Clinton has got some passes. We do hear occasionally, particularly when she goes on National Television and lies again about the email scandal in benghazi, about what we dont see with Hillary Clinton which is what happens almost daily now with mr. Trump is one sentence pulled completely out of context and a head line created around that. To this day i have not seen anyone in the media correct the record with regard to mr. Trumps immigration ban for muslims because it was immigration. The media has gone out there and proposed that his ban was for all muslims including United States citizens which that was not the case. It was always in context with immigration and it was always in the context of being temporary until we could figure out who the individuals were coming into this country. Thats just an example. Well, the example you gave initially it wasnt clear, but now it seems to have shifted to being a policy that has to do with countries rather than all muslims, yet the candidate himself has never enunciated that in a policy position. Is that unambiguously the policy of the campaign . Its not a ban on muslim immigration, but on ban of people from countries where there seem to be problems . If so, why doesnt the candidate say it that way . Hes been pretty clear on that. Theres no policy absolutely. It was a refined message considering. If you go to the website and look under his policies you will find that. He does talk about that clarification simply because the media is not reporting the correct policy position for mr. Trump so thats clarification for the publics notice, not the media. What was the reason of the change to go from a ban on muslims, temporary ban on muslim immigration to a ban on immigration from certain countries . Why did he change . Because the media never reported it as an immigration policy. The media continued to report it as a flatout ban on all muslims including american muslims. That was not the case. Eventually it was reported as a temporary ban on muslims, all muslims immigrating to the country. It was then switched apparently to a ban on people from certain countries. What was the purpose, reason, the rationale for the change . Because its a matter of National Security and again, the original ban was temporary until we could figure out whats going on and since then, fbi director comey has come out and said we could not vet these individuals for certain areas. The cia has confirmed. Isis is infiltrating refugees so mr. Trump wanted to clarify, it will be from those nations where potential terrorists could come into this country. Great to have you on the program finally. Hope you will come back. Boris, hope you come back. Coming up, we talk to a retired admiral to get his take. If you are watching us in washington, d. C. , you can listen to us on bloomberg 99. 1 fm. Lthc, seconds can mean the difference between life and death. For partners in health, time is life. We have 18,000 people around the world. The microsoft cloud helps our entire staff stay connected and Work Together in real time to help those that need it. The ability to collaborate changes how we work. What we do together changes how we live. Im not a customer, but im calling about that credit scorecard. to dog give it. Sure its free for everyone. Oh well thats nice and checking your score wont hurt your credit. Oh to dog im so proud of you. Well thank you. 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Dont start humira if you have an infection. If youre still just managing your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. So we know how to cover almost almoanything. Hing, even a romantic rodent. [rickie] a romantic what . [squeaking noises] im a sucker for proposals. And we covered it, april twentysixth, 2014. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum thats all i crave. E thats where this comes in. Only nicorette gum has patented dualcoated technology for great taste. Plus nicorette gum gives you intense craving relief. And that helps put my craving in its place. Thats why i only choose nicorette. Welcome back. We are joined by retired rear admiral Jimmy Barnett who spent more than three decades in the u. S. Navy and naval reserve. Hes now a cluinton campaign surrogate. Thanks for coming on the show. We just heard a couple representitiyives of the Trump Campaign who said donald trump was well within his rights to attack mr. And mrs. Khan because they started it. What do you think about that . I think what donald trump did is actually despicable and reprehensible. The fact of the matter is all he really had to do is thank them for the service of their son and the sacrifice of this family and instead, hes continually and just keeps doubling down on going back against them. Its alarming to me just from a decency standpoint. From the standpoint of wanting a commander in chief who has empathy with our gold star families who have already lost someone, it gives me some concern about his ability to make decisions, of committing american troops in the future for those Blue Star Families who have loved ones currently serving. Admiral, i want to ask you this question in a sensitive way. Now that the khans have entered the political arena, obviously we all mourn their loss and respect them and cherish their First Amendment rights to speak out, but are they now not having spoken at a political event now, fair game to be criticized, to be attacked even in the arena of politics . So mr. And mrs. Khan made the decision to speak out against what they thought was outrageous comments by donald trump, indicating that their son would not have even been allowed into the United States, so there is certainly rough and tumble in politics but the fact of the matter is, gold star families should be treated with respect and we have not seen that. All of our services have core values, from the navy its honor, courage, commitment, but all of them have similar things, one of which includes integrity and respect. And really, if the commander in chief cannot exhibit any of the core values of our military, should he be commander in chief . Admiral, let me ask you, we saw donald trump over the weekend make a statement that seemed to suggest he did not know that russia was in ukraine and has been for a couple of years. This is part of a constellation of comments hes made about vladimir putin, postures towards nato. Taken together, whats your view of what trumps posture is and what it means in how he deals with russia . Which country is he running for president for . Its alarming the way that he has defended vladimir putin, seems completely unknowledgeable about the world events, defends putin and when hes accused of killing journalists and does not seem to really understand the importance of our nato alliance. To kind of paraphrase mr. Khan, i would pull it out and say mr. Trump, have you read article 5 of the north atlantic treaty . This is common defense among our nations and we have a russia that is obviously in expansionist mode and he seems to be a sympathizer more with them than he is with the khans. Admiral, you know so many people in the navy now who have been in the navy over the years. Im wondering what your sense is of the breakdown of what percentage are supporting secretary clinton, what percentage are supporting donald trump. You know, we are very fortunate in the United States to have a nonpolitical military so people currently serving in uniform and when i was in uniform, we did not express political beliefs. What i will tell you from the people i have talked to who have retired or left the military, whereas a lot of them are generally considered to tend toward the republicans, there are a lot that are either not saying anything or are actively coming forward and its things just like this that raise concerns. I dont think in the history of our democracy have we ever had someone who is actually a threat, not that would cause a threat, but would be a threat to our men and women in uniform. Im afraid that his lack of knowledge and his lack of temperament will get us into a war that we do not need to be. This lack of empathy plays into that. Admiral barnett, thank you for coming on the show. We appreciate your time. We will now call in a pair of dueling strategists when we come back. What powers the Digital World . Communication. Like centurylinks Broadband Network that gives 35,000 fans a cutting edge game experience. Or the network that keeps a leading hotel chains guests connected at work, and at play. Or the it platform that powers millions of ecards every day for one of the largest greeting card companies. Businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. On a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Liberty mutual insurance. 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S for complete protection all day and night make nexium 24hr your 1 choice. Talking strategy now. Joining us from washington, d. C. , democratic strategist, steve mcmahon. Here with us, a republican strategist who served as the coms director for marco rubios campaign and now works at firehouse strategies. Thank you, to you first. How bad is this controversy with the khans . If he decided it was bad, what could he now do to fix it . Its bad but its also in the moment now and we have 99 days to go. I dont think a lot of people will remember this moment three months from now because things move so fast. My concern is its endemic of larger messaging problems coming out of the campaign. They dont need to be talking about this or talking about russia. They need to talk about how gdp numbers that came out friday were awful, how in the states that matter, ohio and pennsylvania, unemployment is employment is not where it should be. They need to talk about the economy. Instead trump seems to be talking about everything but the economy. Thats the big concern. As a republican strategist who wants to see republicans do well this fall, we need the top of the ticket talking about the economy and messages that work for us. What hes been talking about the last three days isnt working. Steve, i bet you dont agree this will not be on voters minds in november. No, i dont. One of the things the Trump Campaign is very good at is extending a bad story that could be a oneday story into three or four or five days. When you have 99 days left in the election, every day you lose is a big opportunity. Alex is absolutely right. This is a campaign that seems to have no message, no message discipline and a candidate who doesnt know the ukrainians or sorry, the russians are in crimea and so many other things. Its not a very good day to be a trump supporter. Steve, let into ask from a democratic perspective. We have been very hard on trump for all the obvious reasons over this khan thing. If this goes on for days and days now and they keep doing interviews, its going to look to some people like democrats are trying to milk this controversy or at least theres a risk of that. How does the Clinton Campaign avoid that, making it look like its overly politicizing something that shouldnt really be politicized and donald trump obviously caused all this by politicizing it . Is there a risk and how do they avoid it, the democrats, that is . There is always some risk but i dont see any evidence the Clinton Campaign is ginning this up. You have the khans going out there very humbly basically saying donald trump should get his facts straight, should read the constitution, should chill out, and the Trump Campaign, donald trump himself, are continuing to attack. They are walking themselves into this hole and then complaining that theyre in the hole theyre in. I dont see any involvement or participation from the Clinton Campaign. Frankly, youre right, if that were true or that were evident, it could be a problem at some point but right now, its the Trump Campaign really against itself here. Its also the difference between a primary election and general election. In case nobody else noticed, the general election started last thursday night when Hillary Clinton took the nomination or accepted the nomination. In the primary election, i think trump could sort of bulldoze through these controversies because there wasnt enough opposition to sustain the conversation, to sustain the spotlight on this, on any particular incident. Now that we are in the general election, you do see the dnc and the Clinton Campaign and every Senate Candidate to come under pressure to comment on this from reporters, from their opposition, from democratic operatives, from people like yourself. Thats the difference now. Heres my question. If i could, i think alex is right, theres one other element that seems to be present here that really wasnt present during the campaign. That is it was easy for donald trump when it was only 20 or 25 reporters covering his campaign to kind of bamboozle through them. You now have everybody in the world, every reporter and journalist in the world is paying attention to this and you cant bully every reporter in the world. Hes finding that out right now. That leads to my question. We are all now having seen trump say controversial things you remember very well through the nomination fight, all the way through judge curiel, now this. We all kind of said maybe this wont be the thing that kills him. As we get closer to election day and more of the available voters start to actually focus on this, is there a chance that Something Like this, whether its this or something that follows this, because something will follow this, will be a moment where suddenly it really is the thing that finally does him in . One of the things thats so remarkable to me is how stable trumps numbers are. He is right around 40 give or take a point in every single poll and has been for months. Now, the good news for him is that that 40 i dont think is likely to go. I think he can, as he said, shoot somebody in the middle of fifth avenue and that 40 is probably not going anywhere but 40 is not going to beat Hillary Clinton when you look at the electoral map. So how does he grow to 44 , 45 that he needs, at least needs if hes going to be competitive and win in november. These sorts of statements take him off message, do not bring in new voters. Should he want one, two or three debates . He should want as many as he wants. Should Hillary Clinton want other candidates, green and libertarian, on the stage or want oneonone with trump . I think she wants oneonone with trump. I think unless some of the other candidates get their numbers up to 15 , 16 , 17 , where ross perot was, theres a standard here that will be difficult for the others to meet. But if they do, they deserve to be onstage. If they dont, it should be oneonone. Thats what Hillary Clinton should want. She will excel at it. Single biggest mistake he made during the primaries was skipping the debate on the eve of the iowa caucuses. He should let the debates play out and drive as many viewers to them as possible. Even if they are on football night . Some things are more important. The tape will be running regardless of when it happens. Thank you both for joining us. Well be right back. 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One a day vitacraves gummies. Little billionaire smack talk in omaha tonight. Warren buffett challenging donald trump to a tax returnoff. Says he will meet him anywhere, if trump shows his tax returns, buffett will show his. Sayonara. Hardball with Chris Matthews is next. My guest tonight, khizr khan and ghazala khan. This is hardball. Good evening. Im Chris Matthews in washington. My special guests tonight are khizr and ghazala khan whose son gave his life in iraq to save his fellow american soldiers. These two u. S. Citizens have been the target this weekend of the republican president ial candidate, donald trump. They are here to respond and give their testimony on what america means to them. With the sacrifice of their son, a captain in the United States