remember the biden administration denied rfk jr.ecret service and they tried to keep off the ballot in several states. they've made it very difficult for him to run as a legitimate candidate. and so especially after president trump demanded that the department of homeland give rfk junior secret service, they finally i think this just goes to show you the leadership ability of trump and the fact that he is able to still have such a major impact on policy and decision making even out of office. and that's something that rfk junior did acknowledge. i mean, we're at such an interesting time right now in political history where you have two former chief executives running against each other, one with a proven track record of, you know, an amazing economy, low taxes, low inflation, affordable food and not. and then the other where you're having to choose between eating and heating, where you have sky high inflation, people can't afford to put gas in their car. so at the end of the day, i think you have a president who's going to bring peo

any time he has some common cause with rfk he sees that as a net positive for him because he knows rfk jr. has been appealing to some of the voters he needs. >> is it possible that former president trump might be trying to convince rfk to get out of the way and not draw voters away? >> reporter: you know, who knows on that front. i mean, i think -- i certainly think that kennedy is probably, is slightly more harmful to trump, the other third party candidates are more harmful to the democratic ticket, whatever that ticket ends up being, you know, fe had rfk's junior endorsement he would love that, he's always sort of -- he loves the mythology of rfk and the kennedy dynasty linking with that in some way would be very desirable to trump. >> vance saying good-bye to traditional wing of the republican party, not lost on me that j.d. vance was not always fully standing with trump, he was quite critical for a time, even writing it in the atlantic once that trump was cultural heroin. >> well, we've done this for how long now, eight years, nine years, where there's some trump appointee who said

jesse: that would be good is sage advice from rfk junior. we will be, gently primetime cover in the dnc and now got a whole lot more interesting rfk junior, good luck. >> thanks for having me. jesse: of biden out of the race he trump team shifting its site to kamala releasing a major ad campaign the battleground stats reminding voters about her record, watch. >> chkamala newton joe can do te job she did it, look what she got done aboard invasion, runaway inflation, the american dream dead. they created this mess, they know kamala anza's failed record. trump senior advisor jason miller joins us, jason how does this change things now? >> in a lot of ways it doesn't change things very much at all. the fact of matter is that kamala harris will own everything from the hearing/by demonstration for the past three and half years. whether it be the record-setting illegal immigration, whether it be the sky high inflation, the chaos all across the globe. she has to own all of that plus, and here's the thing kamala harris has to own her radical liberal

he went after rfk junior. he called them a democratic plant a radical left liberal is how he wrote about it. and he said that the country in a video, he said that the country would collapse almost immediately if rfk would when obviously there's no assumption that rfk would would win the white house. but trump just met with rfk yesterday, and according to rfk's campaign, they discussed discussed national unity. why would the former president want to meet with someone he calls a democratic plant? is it to try to win over his endorsement? >> because we are still one nation under god. and i think this moment that we have lived through president trump always has a way of it's not like meeting the moment. it's not like president trump is looking to meet with joe biden and talk about national unity right now. i mean, what what is going on with that meeting with when he has very limited time here in milwaukee at his schedule is really packed. well, first of all, i don't i think anybody is looking to joe biden or the d

republican political operatives are now running rfk adds in five swing states that call rfk a liberal and call him pro-choice, neither of which he is, but both of which are intended to cipheri votes way from harris and the democrats by tricking people into voting for rfk instead. the rfk campaign at this point is built to help elect donald trump. as for timothy mellon, though, the "i found amelia earhart head in a bag" guy, he has made nd nearly a quarter billion in donations to conservative candidates and causes just in the past four years. he's not a long-term donor. he has not been doing this forever, but he is really doing it now. and he indeed has given $75 million to trump and vance and $25 million to rfk jr. and who knows what else is coming. mr. mellon wrote a memoir in 2014 in which he said citizens who get help from the government, quote, are slaves of a new master, uncle sam. he also wrote in that memoir ot that in the 1980s, quote -- i can't even read this. in the 1980s, quote, black people became even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situati

republican political operatives are now running rfk adds in five swing states that call rfk a liberal andt call him pro-choi, neither of which he is, but both of which h are intended to ciph votes way from harris and the democrats by h tricking people into voting for rfk instead. the rfk campaign at this point is built to help elect donald trump. as for timothy mellon, though, the i m found amelia hair hart head in a bag guy, he has made nearly a quarter billion in donations to conservative candidates and causes just in the past four years. he's not a long-term donor. he has not been doing this forever, but he is really doing it now. b and he indeet has given $75 million to trump advance and $25 million to rfk jr. and who knows what else is coming. mr. mellon wrote a memoir in 2014 in which he said citizens who get help from the government, quote, are slaves of a new master, uncle sam. he also wrote in that memoir that in the 1980s, quote -- i can't even read this.ca in the 1980s, quote, black people became even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situation

last but not least, there is longshot candidate rfk junior.ir expose that detailed sexual assault allegations against him from 1998. this week he went on the breaking point podcast and responded to the allegation, saying he is, quote, not a church boy. i have so many skeletons in my closet. when pressed to respond directly to the allegations he would not comment. msnbc has not verified vanity fair's reporting, no are as -- nor has rfk responded. he boasted that it is hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what is not, but if elected he will not, quote, take sides and will push for the truth about what really happened on 9/11. back with me, joe walsh, former republican congressman of illinois and tom nichols, staff writer for the atlantic. good to have both of you back. tom i will start with you. who is your pick? >> it is just too big of a buffet. this week. i think rather than keep punching joe biden, i have to go with rfk. you know, the sign of a historic family now in during the last phase of his bizarro campaign for president. with p

rfk jr. is not the first one.e bit about the history of third-party candidates and what it would mean. we don't know that this would be the case, but if rfk jr. were to decide to take trump, i guess, up on his offer on that call. >> trump is only doing this because obviously his pollsters have pretty exact figures saying the roughly 10% who supposedly support rfk jr. would predominantly come to him. whether that is true or not, we don't know. biggest third-party candidate in american history. ross perot in 1992 got 19%. i got to know george h.w. bush very well. until the day he died he was certain that his election, his defeat that year was because of ross perot. in 1912, theodore roosevelt came in second against a democratic and republican candidate. there is a big tradition. the most interesting one, george wallace in 1968 got 13%. at one point he was running as high as 25% on an open, racist appeal. richard nixon tried to co-opt that. wallace did not run. nixon won by a landslide. privately nixon said the reaso

you think about this ticket, — rfk junior. you think about this ticket, now— rfk junior.is is— president candidate, trump, vance, this is not— president candidate, trump, vance, this is not a — president candidate, trump, vance, this is not a situation where trump is trying _ this is not a situation where trump is trying to— this is not a situation where trump is trying to appeal to people who are not— is trying to appeal to people who are not already with him. trump did not go _ are not already with him. trump did not go with— are not already with him. trump did not go with katie britts or another woman— not go with katie britts or another woman in— not go with katie britts or another woman in the republican party in order— woman in the republican party in order to — woman in the republican party in order to try to diversify, try to appeal— order to try to diversify, try to appeal to _ order to try to diversify, try to appeal to women in a year where we know— appeal to women in a year where we know reproductive rights are on the ballot _ know reproductive rights are on t

rfk junior is not the only one causing problems.nd anti-vaxxer nicole shanahan engaged in rhetoric, and among the qanon movement by suggesting that the government might be quote, satanic repossessed, so not only do you have 9/11 truth is out there but you also have a full-blown qanon conspiracy endorser. >> and i should correct myself and say, i don't know what he was eating either but to say that his campaign has reached the point where he has to actually contend with the rumor that he was eating a dog because people would believe it at this point because of everything that has happened in that really bizarre campaign, including -- yeah, this anti- vector. this is stuff that normally would have ruled you out of contention for being on the school board. you know, instead of national politics and joe's point about the two sides of 9/11 were just -- we are so use to the kennedy campaign that we just shrug and say you know, the guy had a warm in his brain. what are going to do? it tells us something about what kind of country we've bec

and again, biden has now given rfk junior protection next. in sports, major league baseball has its all-star break gets underway. giants and a's representatives are excited for the first all-star game. >> sports director jason dumas says reaction from the guys coming up. >> and now kron 4 sports. >> the all-star festivities begin. the best baseball players in the world got together this evening in arlington, texas, for the annual home run derby. it's a night to watch the best power hitters flexed their muscles while also hearing from and the all stars. >> the san francisco giants, they have 2 players in arlington, logan webb and elliot ramos. meanwhile, mason miller of the a's is there as well. we caught up with miller and ramos today before the home run derby. >> it's a great moment for me is a great move for my family. so it's a really good experience for sure. i never thought i was going to be here and not even though the big, you know, the season. here is a is a blessing. this was my goal was to make an all-star team. you know, you don't

presidential candidate rfk jr joins us now. so rfk, you ran the right way. you did what you were supposed to do. you were a democrat. you primaried a democrat incumbent and they wouldn't let you. how did they jam you out of this thing? because now look at what happened. yeah, i think it was a strategic mistake by the democrats. jesse and you and i have talked about this before, but they got rid of they changed the primary rules while we, you know, while we were running the primary, they changed 60 different rules to make it impossible for anybody to challenge joe biden. one of the things that you remember that they did to me is i'd been campaigning in new hampshire, so they adopted a rule that said that any political candidate, any democratic candidate who campaigns in new hampshire, who steps foot into the state of new hampshire and all of their votes would go to the president, all of their delegates would go to the president instead of going to that. and then they shut down the florida primary. they shut down a bunch of primaries. they just said, we're not

empire said it loud and clear in his post, if trump wins, israel wins, if biden wins, israel wins, if rfk jr. wins, israel wins. 2024 is no different, no matter who wins, israel wins. amen to that brother. amen. so, this concern was shared by hundreds of social media users, like t, here, who posted a photo. all three candidates, trump, biden and rfk, and then she said the following, now has three prominent zionist candidates for the 2024 elections, no matter who you vote, whether it's trump, biden or rfk jr., the only winner is israel. the illusion of democracy is being displayed right before your eyes. the party told you to reject the evidence of your ears and eyes. it was their final most essential command, george orwell, 1984, so it seems. seems like we are headed to some really weird cringe for us especially and desperate times ahead as the the presidential elections will by all means be historic, but historic for all the wrong reasons. i completely hear you and i'm uh interested in watching more of these uh videos, because as long as the uh media showcases the uh real show uh behind

no matter who you vote for, whether it's trump, biden or rfk jr. the only winner is israel. illusion of democracy is being displayed right before your eyes. the party told you to reject the evidence of your ears and eyes. it was their final, most essential command, george orwell, 1984. so it seems like we are headed some really weird cringe for us especially and desperate times ahead, as the the presidential elections will by all means be historic, but historic for all wrong reasons. i completely hear you and i'm - in watching more of these videos, because as long as the media showcases the uh real show behind all of this it is telling the world that the the us empire is no longer the empire you to be ruling the entire world thank you very much for being with us now and gents station because next we have figures new poll from the new york times and sienna college show that donald trump's lead in the 24 presidential race has widened after joe biden's fumbling debate performance, which still resonates to this day, concerns that biden is too old to go

zionist candidates for the 2024 elections, no matter who you vote for, whether it's trump, biden or rfk jr., the only winner is israel. the illusion of democracy is being displayed right before your eyes. the party told you to reject the evidence of your ears and eyes. it was their final most essential command, george orwell 1984. so it seems like we are headed to some really weird, cringe for us, especially and desperate times ahead, as the presidential elections will by all means be historic, but historic for all the wrong reasons. i have completely hear and i'm... in watching more of these videos, because as long as the uh media showcases the uh real show uh behind all of this it is telling the world that the you the us empire is no longer the empire it used to be ruling the entire world thank you very much sima for being with us now ladies and gents stay tuned because next we have figures expos. new poll from the new york times and cni college showed that donald trump's lead in the... 2024 presidential race has widened after joe biden's fumbling debate performance, which still reson

this is something that rfk jr. supporters have been demanding and given the context it could very easily be done. >> he has been demanding this since earlier this year. i was on the campaign trail with him in the early days after he switched from democrat to independent to run third party and he has been clear that there are threats that have been made against him. while he is trying to gain ballot access across the country to be the third party contender in all 50 states, he has made clear that he has felt like the u.s. secret service protection is something that is warranted for him, his family, his campaign, and something that he is begrudged and bee moaned and knocked the biden administration over for not granting up to this point in time. >> i should point out also as you know from covering campaigns it comes with protection but it also gives the candidates tremendous access to intelligence about them, but also mobility and help in planning movements and vehicles and the like. so there is a benefit to it in a

hundreds of social media users like t here, posted a photo of all three candidates, trump, biden and rfk, and then she said the following: the us now has three prominent zionist candidates for the 2024 elections, no matter you vote for whether it's trump, biden or rfk jr. the only winner is israel, the illusion of democracy is being... right before your eyes, the party told you to reject the evidence of your ears and eyes, it was their final, most essential command, george orwell, 1984, so it seems like we are headed to some really weird cringe for us, especially and desperate times ahead, as the the presidential elections will by all means be historic, but historic for all the wrong reasons, i completely hear you and i'm interested in watching... more of these uh videos, because as long as the uh media uh showcases the uh real show uh behind all of this it is telling the world that the you the the us empire is no longer the empire. used to be ruling the entire world. thank you very much sima for being with us. now ladies and gents, stay tuned because next we have figures expose. new pol

that trumps biggest donor is also rfk's biggest dude-- donor. both of which are intended to siphon votes away from harris and the democrats by tricking people into voting for rfk. instead, the rfk campaign is built to help elect donald trump. as for timothy mellon, the i found the head of amelia fo earhart in a bag guy, he has made nearly a quarter billion dollars in donations to conservative candidates and causes just in the past four years. he has not been doing this forever. but he's really doing it now. and he indeed has given $75 million to trump and vance and 25 million to rfk junior and who knows what else. mr. mellon wrote a memoir in 2014, in which he said citizens who get help from the government are "slaves of a new master, uncle sam." he also wrote that in the 1980s "black people became even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situations." even more belligerent. but that is the man who has done more to really then anyone else in the united states to try to get these men back in the white house. and honestl

no matter who you vote for, whether it's trump, biden or rfk jr. the only winner is israel. the illusion of democracy is being displayed right before your eyes. the party told you to reject the evidence of your ears and eyes. it was their final most essential command, george orwell 198. '84 so it seems like we are headed to some really weird cringe for us, especially and desperate times ahead as the the presidential elections will by all means be historic, but historic for all the wrong reasons. i completely hear you and i'm interested in watching more of these uh videos, because as long as the uh media showcases the uh real show uh behind all of this it is telling the world that the you the us'. empire is no longer the empire it used to be ruling the entire world thank you very much for being with us now ladies and gents stay tuned because next we have figures expose. a new poll from the new york times and scienna college showed that donald trump's lead in the 2024 presidential race has widened after joe biden's fumbling debate performance, which still resonates to this day

rfk junior, who knows he is going to do. he has made rumblings about endorsing trump.will that help trump? we just don't know. host: the current president, what happens to him? he is still president of the united states, obviously, but how does the goal change? guest: it's a great question. the president himself did this phone call, recovering from covid in delaware, did a phone call at the campaign headquarters saying i'm not going anywhere, i have six months left in my presidency ton 13730 and rule 18, the chair ton declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 8997. will the gentleman from georgia, mr. ferguson, kindly take the chair.

rfk jr. responded to those allegations by saying this. >> listen, i have said this from the beginning, i am not a church boy. i am not running on that. i said in my -- i had a very, very rambunctious youth. i said in my announcement speech i have so many skeletons in my closet. >> this is not exactly the rfk of 1968. this year there is a foreign military conflict dividing the democratic party, this time in gaza. but the central issue looming over this year's convention is not the war and it is not the kennedy in the race. in fact, by all outside measurements, the democratic party is in a period of relative unity and cohesion and especially in its shared alarm about the threat posed by the party's opponent, donald trump. so both structurally and politically, it is a dramatic difference from the year 1968. instead this year the issue that is fracturing the party, the thing that hangs over what is a very big tent at this point isn't a policy division but a personal one. it is the issue lbj kept

there were rumors that the former president asked rfk to endorse him, rfk is not dropping out in theas about unity. going back down to the convention, kate michael. >> sharee and her son jace, this is not your first convention? >> i was here in 2016. >> this is the first time my mom has taken me to a trump convention. >> tell me what you experienced and what you thought of today's event? >> i thought today was -- i i thought i had to sit there and watch a boring thing and i wanted to see trump at home, but i saw so many speeches, so many people talk about trump and how god was guiding him on saturday, because a potential assassinator was going to shoot him and he moved in the perfect direction so it only hit his ear. today when he was walking in i saw the paper on his ear. >> what did you think when you saw him? >> i thought that god blessed him, that he is still alive and that the assassinator was very wild and had no right to be doing this. this was a martyr, he was going to be a martyr. >> why do you think it is important to bring your son? the tears are coming. why is it importan

idea donald trump and his allies already testing out a tagline i love you to so another quid pro quo rfk tries to make a tree. >> his endorsement it's meant for a job live at the table. van jones alyssa farah griffin, doug heye, and bomani jones welcome to a special edition edition of newsnight, state of the race and good evening, i'm abby phillip in new york. thank you for joining us. we are living in unprecedented times, so we're going to take the time here to really dive deep into these historic events of the last few weeks, i have a great roundtable of smart voices right here with me in the studio. so let's get right to what all of america is talking about right now. and that is the sudden candidacy of vice president kamala harris just into cnn, harris now has the support of enough delegates to win the nomination an incredible feat, just 36 hours after president biden left this race. and tonight, she has debuted as the nominee in waiting and free framing the race in the process, a race that has essentially been fossilized since 2020 i took on perpetrators of all kinds creditors who a

rfk junior, who knows he is going to do. he has made rumblings about endorsing trump.will that help trump? we just don't know. host: the current president, what happens to him? he is still president of the united states, obviously, but how does the goal change? guest: it's a great question. the president himself did this phone call, recovering from covid in delaware, did a phone call at the campaign headquarters saying i'm not going anywhere, i have six months left in my presidency and i am going to be out there stumping for you. it's really interesting, though, because vice president harris will surely want president biden's support. they are very linked, both politically and in terms of their policy record. but because biden has become unpopular, it's going to be trickier for her, right? she's prop -- he's -- she is probably not going to do every rally with the president. she will want to establish her own independence. to think about one example, ronald reagan running for governor in 66, beeri got -- barry goldwater, the 64 nominee that lost in a huge landslide, sti

donald trump meeting with rfk jr. yesterday. and rfk junior's campaign saying that the focus of this focus of the meeting was national unity and had the trump campaign, marc was on with me earlier and they say, always looking to reach out to independent voters but donald trump had called rfk junior a democratic plant and saying that he would like ruined the country immediately if he'd become president just two months ago, what is their strategy here? is there an end-run like endure campaign? what is this? well, i think when you're, when you're in a primary process you get a lot of that, you get a lot of statements that are made on both sides from people who are campaigning against each other. why is this person running? what are they doing haley hitting the stage tonight and governor desantis. and so you bet once you move into the conventions, move into the general election, you are struck, you're trying to so i think the outreach and also i think it's good to touch base, obviously, given the events over the weekend, obviously,

msnbc has not independently verified those allegations, but rfk jr. responded to those allegations by saying this. >> listen, i've said this from the beginning. i am not a church boy. i am not running like that. i had a very, very rambunctious youth. i said in my announcement speech that if i have so many skeletons in my closet. >> this is not exactly the rfk of 1968. this year once again as in 1968 there is a foreign military conflict dividing the democratic party, this time in gaza, but the central issue looming over this year's convention is not the war and it is not the kennedy in the race. in fact, by all outside measurements, the democratic party is in a period of relative unity and cohesion and especially in its shared alarm about the threat posed by the party's opponent, donald trump. so both structurally and politically it is a dramatic difference from the year 1968. instead this year the issue that is fracturing the party, the thing that hangs over what is a very big tent at this point, isn't a policy division, but a personal one. it is the

msnbc has not independently verified those allegations but rfk jr. responded to those allegations by saying this -- >> listen, i've said this from the beginning -- i am not a church boy. i am not running like that. i said in my -- i had a very, very rambunctious use. i said in my announcement speech that i have so many skeletons in my closet. >> this is not exactly the rfk of 1968. but this year once again as in 1968 there is a foreign military conflict dividing the democratic party, this time in gaza. but the central issue looming over this year's convention is not the war and it is not the kennedy in the race. in fact, by all outside measurements, the democratic party is in a period of relative unity and cohesion, and especially in its shared alarm about the threat posed by the party's opponent, donald from. said both structurally and politically, it is a dramatic difference from the year 1968. instead, this year the issue that is fracturing the party, the thing that hangs over what is a very big tent at this point isn't a policy division, but a pe

even though rfk, jr.ald trump resemble each other in a lot of their views and a lot of their anti-establishment positioning. so, i think that joe biden has to deal with challenges coming from multiple sides right now. >> yeah, considering the question of low voter turnout among young people, i'm wondering what you all think -- what actually changes the needle on this. they say every election cycle, we see so much of lecturing people on voting and tell them vote, vote, vote, no matter you've got to vote and trotting out celebrities to put out members along the same lines. do those things matter? if there's expected to be low turnout now, would that make a difference? what do you hear from voters? >> i don't think there's going to be low turnout. . hasn't been necessarily low turnout since 2018. >> the cycle and-- >> i think that, i mean, they may disagree with me, based on my reporting, i think that, look, could there be lower youth turnout? yes, if the voters that vote uncommitted or voters that are up is

it is critically important the resources are available and all of these candidates including rfk jr.ily twice has been victim to political assassination receive the direct support and protection that is befitting the united states. >> if you are planning to introduce that bill, does that mean as we stand today you do not have confidence in the security that is being provided to the former president donald trump? >> he got shot so it is clear there is no confidence in the level of security that was provided. the fact is on numerous occasions, requests were made and denied. that obviously is disturbing. if the position of the secret service is that they don't have enough resources, they should be making that abundantly clear not after a shooting but before a shooting that they needed more resources. the fact is that this should not have happened. from my vantage point congress has a responsibility to act. we need to ensure the safety and well-being of president trump, vice president harris who is likely to be the democratic nominee as we move forward, rfk jr. and of course president bi

rfk is around and he is not a factor in this. rfk junior i mean. i think it is a good question who will step forward to challenge her? and of course if someone does as katie bar the door. on paper at least i think we can all agree the nomination now is in the hands of a cadre of thousands of delegates chosen to support joe biden that is why they are in it they are biden delegates. he has endorsed or are they going to go against the candidate that he endorsed? maybe but it seems to me she really does have a leg up here. i think it off a lot of potential candidates will shy away because of that. >> you have to wonder what the phone calls and that meetings and the gatherings, you've got to wonder there have been a big questions leading up to this decision and this announcement from the president. who is in charge and who is in his inner circle? and those that are outside of it what are they going to do? you have got the president endorsing kamala harris very publicly in the statement. as we were just noting some of these governors were in doubt respon

meanwhile, rfk junior is apologizing for this leak.says he was taping at the time with an in-house videographer when trump called it says he should have told the person to stop recording immediately. biden-harris campaign official says vice president kamala harris has formally asked trump's running mate jd vance to debate her. probably be sometime in august that who have yet to agree, though, on terms and in exact date. >> let's go taking a live look at san the embarcadero folks out there, bicycling soaking up the last few rays of the day. >> yeah, those electric bikes and scooters is zipping along as they do these days. lawrence is with us as we get a check of the forecast. you know, i really like i like those one wheels. have you seen those just racing down the embarcadero? yeah, i want want to you guys might find in the hospital after, but yeah, a lot of fun out there today to enjoy that sunshine and the nice weather around the bay area. high pressure trying to build back in here in the will. i think as we get the weekend's ax, that

it's hard to imagine a similar reaction in this current environment after rfk was killed, that's when the saturday night's special, a very small handgun was outlawed i'm not suggesting that that's a solution. >> what i'm suggesting is american said, hey, we just crossed a line we need to do something. we have raised the temperature of the political temperature in this country and it's dangerous. we have to step back from the brink. i'm suggesting there are many ways to show that. one of them is by altering rhetoric. and i, and i hope that in the weeks to come, we will see a ratcheting down of rhetoric a bipartisan one, right? because it doesn't work. if it comes from one side and by the way in the last several hours, i have seen republicans and democrats repeating that phrase that political violence has no place in our society or some variation of that. but it has not been uniform, right? because there are some and sadly, that's just a fact of the current turn discourse. who are already casting blame and well, you might worry, right, laying the groundwork for feeding, feeding the flam

rfk junior should have been allowed to be one of our considerations. now we have a mess. biden up there saying how he is with the nato alliances, what the heck happened in afghanistan? he didn't let anyone know anything and they had to defend their own soldiers and people. that is a disgrace to our nation, and he doesn't give rfk junior any secret service protection. what in the world is that about? i am disgusted with him. cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: c-span viewers are familiar with former senator john danforth. he spent two decades representing missouri on capitol hill and recently cofounded the group our republican legacy. what is our republican legacy? guest: our republican legacy is people who are committed to the republican party as it has been throughout its very long history. it is the party that believes we should try to hold the country together as one people instead of being as divisive as both parties have become. it is a party that is committed to the u.s. constitution, meaning we respect the peaceful transfer of power after elections, we

really at any time in our history, even in the 960s when we had the horrific assassinations of jfk of rfk and martin luther king junior we did not have the breadth of what we have been seeing in the last few years. the threats against public health and local government officials during covid, the threats even against school boards and librarian the attempt to kidnap and kill the governor of michigan. the attack on the republican majority leader in the shooting of the house, threats against supreme court justices, threats against the just the judges in the trump trials and of course, january 6 itself, michael, the trajectory of american society at this point is pretty clear trump was the victim today. it is possible that tomorrow it will be someone that trump identifies as a threat and so it really is. do we want to live like that? because it is pretty clear that we are on a pathway where these kinds of horrific events are only going to become more common there are elements of maga-world than not afraid to add, afraid to react to potentially things like this. >> what are the risks that in

biden dropped out of the race according to his team, but they set this up exactly, they didn't want rfk jr., they didn't want a bernie sanders, they made it so that it would be their establishment candidate, and now they are going to try to push kamela harris into that role, and i think they are going to be in for an absolute wake-up call come, day on november 5th, because she just does not have anywhere near the momentum that someone like donald trump has. now, you correctly identified that the republicans wanted to fight beiden, who wouldn't want to fight an election against a man in such a state? how do you think harris versus trump goes, is it closer, wider or just the same? you know, that's a good question, and i've been thinking about the polls, i think one of the mistakes that democrats made was throwing in someone like haris, you're throwing in someone who is not going to pull better against trump, she may be the same as biden in some cases, just going to be worse than other cases, especially when you look at those key swing states, because as we know here in the us, as much as

they refused to give rfk junior a detail. i don't even know if that's true . we need more help, coming from the detail leaders, from my father's leaders, he's a guide that attracts a lot of people, big crowds, different from a biden rally. a lot of people. i mean, fact-check true? it is different. mike: ok. well. don jr.: a lot has to be answered for and quickly. i don't want to be the guy, and i won't, you know, push conspiracies, but these are just facts that i can't reconcile in any way, shape, or form, and i'm someone with inside knowledge as to how these things are done, how these guys prepare, how thorough they usually are, i have witnessed it for eight years mike:. mike:we talked about your friendship with tucker carlson. there was detail reporting this morning and the times about his role in the selection of senator vance. what would you say is tucker's dynamic in the party. don jr.: i think he is one of the great thought leaders of the party these days. he is a down to earth guy who understands real americans and genuinely cares, and genuinely cares.

he has a chance rfk didn't have. candidates who got shot and didn't survive didn't have. he's been president for one term. he's been very divisive. now he can come around and do two things. a, pick a vice presidential -- or a running made that can appeal so some sense of moderate democrats. that would go a long way. secondly, extend an olive branch to democrats and to independents. do something you haven't done in the past six, seven, eight years. forget about lock her up and lock him up. extend an olive branch and see how far that goes. i guarantee, new jersey will be in play. i guarantee some other states like minnesota will be in play. chances of trump doing that are minimal. i hope he does that. i hope he extends and goes above and beyond. we'll see what happens. my party and president biden's campaign are not doing well. i called on him to withdraw from the race two days ago. i think both -- i think the country is ready for younger, more charismatic and a clean slate kind of candidate. >> ari, you're giving off

they could, they could decide to stay home or they could decide to protest vote and maybe it is an rfk junior protest. but i think but the polls show now, there' s so much time between now and november for that to change and i would be surprised if turnout among young voters is lower than 2020. maybe that's more of my got hunch than it is anything else. >> and politico a couple months ago, asked me a 3 paragraph thing on what biden can do to bring young people's votes, ten people respond to the question, 9 of them were about had something to do with policy, they were about tick-tock and youtube and this kind of thing and i think there are substantive policy issues with biden that aren't about outreach or tick-tock or being old, primarily the war in gaza but not just the war in gaza. inflation is an issue with many young people but if you look, the new york times to the study of uncommitted voters in which is the second-largest uncommitted turnout by percentage and they mapped where the largest arab community, somali americans and did an overlay of where the somali community is concentr

they are of the mind that there are some real alignments with the rfk junior voters. and they saw him as a potential threat and at him right now, trying to embrace it yeah. >> and i would also say one of the things that we've heard over and over again since the shooting on saturday, is that donald trump is actually trying for this message on unity. now, i will be cleared how long this lasts. if it lasts, we have no idea. obviously, donald trump is not one for a unified message, but the people have spoke to who are close to him, have said that he feels like a changed man, at least he say he he is one of the things what he's saying is that he's lucky to be alive. so there is a concerted effort that they're making as a whole on trying to be show a united front. all right. >> kristen holmes, david chalian. thank you both very much. and it didn't take long for conspiracy theories about the attempt on donald trump's life to start flaring up on the internet, social media lit up with a slew of wild and unsubstantiated claims about the motivation for the attack, which is still

rfk jr, he's looking to get and may tryg equally from and democrats disinformation regarding rfk welllitical identity at the moment seems like largeie to the biggest so you know, i think that which. i do this reflects a bigger which is right now if you think about what are the disinfo mason threats less and less one piece of content. re's a lot of news coverage about, you know, ai enabled deepfake vid or audio. first of all, you i thinke thing threats are less that one piece of content that is false and otaling conspiracy theorie that if you look back over the period i'm writing about in the book, i, i think tre are three that have been huge drivers of our politics, you kn. on the 2020 e, election denial, whatever we callnd■ vaccine skepticism and, and covid related conspiracies. andth more more difficult thing to tackle. and the quote, you know, from jerry er line of unwinding in nation's paranoia that's not like you jre not going to solve that one fact check and problem with conspiracy theories is that they'reotfiable right so if i tell you that's no the vaccine works because pfizer

yeah, i guess rfk -- i don't know. someone leaked it.the call, trump said some controversial things and they put it out to everyone. they talked about vaccines. and he was talking about getting rfk jr.'s endorsement. but we actually got the extended tape. >> steve: really? >> jimmy: yeah. and trump really went on some crazy tangents. yeah, listen to some of this. >> everyone is saying that "espresso" is the song of the summer, but i think it's hozier. ♪ i'll take my whiskey neat ♪ [ laughter ] have you seen "despicable me 4?" i've seen it eight times. it's touching and a very complex film. i'm not ashamed to admit i cried. banana. are you buying anything on prime day. i always promise myself i'm not buying anything and then boom, new roomba. [ laughter ] do you use a bar of soap or a a loofa? i'm a loofa guy. but sometimes it can be a a little rough. it could be a little rough. just being honest. could leave you quite chafed. got to be honest. seat warmers confuse me. feels good for a couple of minutes then it feels like i had an acciden

biden dropped out of the race according to his team, but they set this up exactly, they didn't want rfk jr., they didn't want a bernie sanders, they made it so that it would be their establishment candidate, and now they are going to try to push khamela harris into that role, and i think they are going to be in for an absolute." wake up call come election day on november 5th, because she just does not have anywhere near the momentum that someone like donald trump has. now, you correctly identified that the republicans wanted to fight biden, who wouldn't want to fight an election against a man in such a state? how do you think harris versus trump goes? is it closer, wider or just the... same, you know, that's a good question, and i've been thinking about the polls, i think one of the mistakes that democrats made was throwing in someone like haris, you're throwing in someone who, it isn't. not going to pull better against trump, she may be the same as biden, in some cases, she's going to be worse than other cases, especially when you look at those keys swing states, because as we know her

rfk jr.e's been denied up until, you know, this happened secret service -- pete: if he probably doesn't have big rallies either. rachel: no, but the point is that was a very political move. rfk jr. running for president, given the history, should have been given that and he commanded it -- and joe biden, because he was mad that rfk jr. was creating problems for him in the primary or just for political reasons, withheld it. will: j.d. vance was on stage last night with donald trump, the first time, it and became apparent, i think, in the speech that j.d. vance's role is going to be the largely to go after vice president kamala harris which is probably wise from a strategic standpoint because she could end up being the presidential candidate. so the attacks begin. the offense against kamala harris begins. and here is j.d. vance saying although we have questions about kamala, we don't know who's going to be at the top of the ticket. >> what a cool thing it was to be asked by president trump to s

exactly, they didn't want rfk jr., they didn't want a bernie sanders, they made it so that it would be their establishment candidate, and now they are going to try to push khamela harris into that role, and i think they are going to be in for an absolute wake-up call come election day on november 5th, because she just does not have anywhere near the momentum that someone like donald trump has. now, you correctly identified that the republicans wanted to fight biden. 'who wouldn't want to fight an election against a man in such a state? how do you think harris versus trump goes? is it closer, wider or just the same? you know, that's a good question, and i've been thinking about the polls, i think one of the mistakes that democrats made was throwing in someone like haris, you're throwing in someone who is not going to pull better against trump, she may be the same as in some cases just going to be worse than other cases, especially when you look at those keys swing states, because as we know here in the us, as much as they talk about democracy, the election ultimately comes down to a han

and then later it'll be abc, and so i think the fact that they did that. was very telling, they got rfk jr. out of the democratic race, they got him to be an independent, they made it so that it was only joe biden's race, they had that disastrous debate back in june in which the entire american public and really the world saw just how bad of a state biden was in, we saw what had been hidden from so many or maybe what they had just refused to see for so long, and now they are in a position where you've got the democrats preparing for their official convention. in august and i know that they're planning some kind of virtual roll call vote, or at least they were before biden dropped out of the race according to his team, but they set this up exactly, they didn't want rfk jr., they didn't want a bernie sanders, they made it so that it would be their establishment candidate, and now they are going to try to push khamela harris into that role, and i think they are going to be in for an absolute wake-up call come election day on november 5th. because she just does not have anywhere near the mo

and then later it'll be abc, and so i think the fact that they did that was very telling, they got rfk jr. out of the democratic race, they got him to be an independent, they made it so that it was only joe biden's race, they had that disastrous debate back in june in which the... entire american public and really the world saw just how bad of a state biden was in, we saw what had been hidden from so many or maybe what they had just refused to see for so long, and... now they are in a position where you've got the democrats preparing for their official convention in august and i know that they're planning some kind of virtual roll call vote, or at least they were before biden dropped out of the race according to his team, but they set this up exactly, they didn't want rfk jr., they didn't want a bernie sanders, they made it so that it would be their establishment candidate, and now they are going to try to push khamela harris into that role, and i think they are... to be in for an absolute wake-up call come election day on november 5th, because she just does not have anywhere near the

disinformation regarding rfk jr for or against? well i mean rfk political identity at the moment seems like largely tied to the biggest disinformation in american life. so you know, i think that which i do this reflects a bigger shift that we've seen, which is right now if you think about what are the disinfo mason threats less and less one piece of content. you know there's a lot of news coverage about, you know, ai enabled deepfake video or audio. first of all, you i think we should be thinking that the big threats are less that one piece of content that is false and more sort of these totalizing conspiracy theories that if you look back over the period i'm writing about in the book, i, i think there are three that have been huge drivers of our politics, you know. q and on the 2020 election, election denial, whatever we call it, and vaccine skepticism and, and covid related conspiracies. and so those are a much more more difficult thing to tackle. and the quote, you know, from jerry kroger or my line of unwinding in nation's para

and then later it'll be abc, and so i think the fact that they did that was very telling, they got rfk jr. out of the democratic race, they got him to be an independent, they made it so that it was only joe biden's. race, they had that disastrous debate back in june in which the entire american public and really the world saw just how bad of a state biden was in. we saw what had been hidden from so many. maybe what they had just refused to see for so long, and now they are in a position where you've got the democrats preparing for their official convention in august, and i know that they're planning some kind of virtual roll call vote, or at least they were before biden dropped out of the race according to his team, but they set this up exactly, they didn't want rfk jr., they didn't want a bernie sanders, they made it so that it would be their establishment candidate, and now they are going... to try to push camela harris into that role and i think they are going to be in for an absolute wake-up call come election day on november 5th, because she just does not have anywhere near the mo