i'm john heilemann, and with all due respect to the summer of 2015, sayonara. ♪ [laughter] all right. to get out ofbout town for the long weekend day, sports fans. our special "with all due respect" summer recap. jump, trump, and a whole bunch of candidates not named trump. there is no question that 2015 was the summer of the donald. but it was just a short time ago people will stare -- were still saying rings like this.

>> will donald trump run? [laughter] >> we just got over sarah palin. ofhe has a long record clownish attempts to run. >> in june i will announce one way or another. i think you will be surprised. >> i will only be surprised if you say you are running. john: kind of awesome. before the labor day holiday, we thought it was important to pause and contemplate how we got here. told through the lens of this program, the unexpected emergence of donald j. trump. mark: i'm mark halperin. john: i'm john heilemann. you yourself have a show. mr. trump: a tremendous show. "the apprentice."

i am officially running for president of the united states. john: with all due respect to donald trump -- mark: with all due respect to donald trump -- john: with all due respect to donald trump, you're not the only one who knows how to escalate a situation. on the show tonight, trump, trump, and trump again. mark: but first, trump. now all returning to our regularly scheduled programming, donald trump. mark: he is a shorter figure. is not michele bachmann or herman cain. this is not a joke candidate that will pop up and go away. mark: every other candidate would kill for his poll numbers. john: donald trump at 11%, more than double his preannouncement total. mark: he predicted once he was taken seriously, he would rise. john: every leaderboard insight. mark: crazy high best in show

marks on everything from handling the economy to immigration. donald absorbs anything you fire at it and uses it as fuel. >> donald trump, donald trump, and donald trump. ongoing attempt to understand the trump phenomena, --did a focus group less last night with 12 donald backers in new hampshire. him callou hear mexicans rapists, does that bother people? do you think? >> classy. i think he would bring a lot back. >> i look forward to it. >> it's an interesting thing every day. mark: what, if anything, will you is his caps on? he is successfully parlaying

anxiety. there's a healthy dose of racism and what he is doing. in ames, iowa, mark asked trump about his suggestion mccain is no war hero. trump survive this? will he take a dive? mark: someone who likes trouble for this, i can't imagine this will turn them off. ton: with all due respect macy's, you can take the donald off of your shelves, but you get to the donald off of your bus. >> are the people who donate money to the trump campaign? >> they will be coming to you for his super pac. >> how much is donald trump worth? >> we came to $2.9 billion. mark: billion? >> billion with a b. rode in on immigration.

is it time to diversify his portfolio when it comes to issues? deport 11lion to million people. that's how many people live in ohio. mr. trump: rnc -- john: whoa, whoa, whoa. question easiest anyone asked -- no, they cannot. john: that is a powerful place to be, no doubt. are told it is donald trump versus everyone. the primary of trump. , just the party freaking out? on jeb,rump attack calling in a low-energy guy, i think is fundamentally accurate. the low t candidate. >> there are pills for that, but

jeb is not taking them. aboutwhat do you think him saying he's not a real conservative? >> i think that's the way to take them on. he's a unicorn. he something we've never seen. kanye west, you know what? i will never say bad about him. you know why? because he loves trump. john: when we come back, donald trump unfiltered. ♪

john: all right, now it is time to take a little trip straight to the donald's mouth. mark and i found ourselves fortunate enough to be bequeathed an audience with maximus himself.

he had a lot to say. mark: because you have never run before, people are wondering how you will conduct yourself, will you run negative television ads as is common in politics? mr. trump: i'm not sure there will be that many ads. people know who i am. mark: will you run negative ads about your opponents? mr. trump: i might. i don't know. mark: finances, policy, personal? mr. trump: i would not do personal. held to: he should be account. he should be asked, as he was yesterday, how is he going to pay for it? mark: you have said that he seems low-energy. did you see that? mr. trump: he was a little bit

better. john: and then the anchor babies. mr. trump: terrible. is the asian community furious with him. john: that's not a phrase you are hesitant about using. i'm using it. and no one is mad at me for using it. look, i'm an intelligent person. i would say that it could be my campaign does not resonate and i will call you guys and say, john, mark, it's not working. i'm not so proud. i'm proud, but i'm not a proud read i'm certainly not to put. there are people who are less wealthy than you who have spent tens of millions -- mr. trump: romney for one. oh, i'm going to spend millions. i will be up to tens of millions in the not-too-distant future. goodse i am instantly a

business person, i'm not want to throw money away. if i think i can win, i'm going to call you guys and say, fellas, i did a pretty good job -- mark: are you committed to going all the way to iowa? mr. trump: i'm committed unless i see him not going to win. and tax security interest at the same rate as ordinary income. do you agree with her? mr. trump: yes, the carried interest is a tremendous burden on the country -- john: you want to tax carried interest the same way? carriedp: i would take interest out and i would have the ones making hundreds of millions of dollars a year pay some tax. that's outrageous. john: so you would like to raise taxes on yourself? mr. trump: that's right. i'm ok. you see my statements. i do very well. i do not mind paying taxes. the middle class is getting clobbered. the middle class will this

country, not the hedge fund guys. mark: on the xm banking, where do you come down on it in the end? mr. trump: i don't like it. is a one-wayich -- street for politicians and a few companies. they can do very well without it. john: if you think back to the fed shares of the past, who you think has been the best? mr. trump: right now you have janet is sort of more of the same and i have to tell you, i often talk with two pat. for the last couple of months i've been a politician in your world. previous to that i have been a business person. i have always loved low interest rates as a developer. look atfrankly, you what is going on now, the problem is you are creating a bubble and the bubble could explode. paul volcker a lot. i thought he was a terrific guy and so many different ways. he had a good polls, he had a good -- you know, the bead he had, he was doing what had to be

done. john: for campaign finance reform, that's an important part of your platform. what is the cornerstone of your campaign about can paint finance reform? mr. trump: it could be. number one would be trade, obamacare, repealing and replacing, taking care of our vets, strengthening the military. we did talk all day long about things with the do. campaign-finance reform certainly would be something we could talk about. i think more than anything else, transparency. you know, there should be total transparency so if someone is going to do something and i think one of the reasons i am so high in the polls is everyone knows all of the lobbyists -- y of whom i used to employ and i know many of them -- they have tremendous power. they have tremendous power over these candidates. >> in the past you have

expressed that the way to deal with the war on drugs is to legalize drugs. the situation with mayor won in colorado is very interesting. bad things are happening with respect to people's health and the affected is having a people. i am not in favor of the legalization of drugs. mark: i'm wondering what one or two of your favorite bible verses are. want to get don't into it. it's very personal. -- [indiscernible] mr. trump: probably equal. mark: some people say you are insecure and that's the way he you act the way you do. mr. trump: everyone's and secure. mark: what are you insecure about? your looks? mr. trump: probably we are all insecure. mark: be introspective. what are you insecure about? mr. trump: well, it is my hair. mark: we love your hair.

what else are you insecure about? mr. trump: my chipping. mark: in golf. mr. trump: my chipping. john: up next, candidates who are not billionaires with less interesting hair. ♪

john: if you haven't a be one of the other 21 candidates, thislican or democrat, in presidential race, worry not. we did not forget about you or the time you spend with us. take a look. mark: joining us, carly fiorina. former wisconsin governor scott walker. martin o'malley. former ohio governor john kasich. senator ted cruz. john: governor chris christie. and moonlighting comedian lindsey graham. carson: the wonderful thing

is, i was in the airport, a lady comes up to me and says, i am a staunch democrat, but i love you. mark: that's pretty good. "ben carson -- democrats love me." to -- you ever had s. fiorina: i would have maybe five cents left in the checking account and my landlord would ask me, how much is in your checking account? i have lived paycheck to paycheck. what's different this time? >> the country has been in stagnation for four more years. i recognize the core of that problem and we have an economic platform that will unite america , using an arbitrary number to divide candidates in any way is

not in the best interest of getting the right candidate to run. it's not a matter about me or anybody else. it's about the people of america , the people in the early primary states paying the most attention. again, senator bernie sanders! you are nevers: going to forgive me for that, are you? john: i'm not. neither is my cardiologist. >> is he doing the job? we are not lifting those restrictions. i think that's important. i like marco rubio. i'm deferential to governors. i think there's a lot they bring to the table as far as proven executive experience. i think he and i have similar thoughts about national policy. i sent a nice little tweet saying, marco, happy birthday

from 140 something to another. mark: this talk about your mother who died of hutchins disease, what was that like? senator graham: i tell you, she wanted to live so bad. she got sick in the fall of '75, and going through chemotherapy. a family member's sick, you want to will them well. god knows, you do not want to give up. bestr of '76, she had her easter. she was feeling good and she cooked dinner for the first time in a long time. mark: just the four of you? she said, iam: guess you had a good dinner? i said, yes, ma'am, we did. i thought maybe we would be the 1%, but by june she was gone. >> i have called people who were close friends and i said, i made

a decision and they said, what? i said, i've decided i'm going to run for president of the states. i think people just don't understand me. thinking aboute what was 20 years ago. i'm not who i was 20 years ago. i like who i was 20 years ago, but i like who i am now. bigything is fine. at no gyrations. this was good. i enjoyed it. you know what, it was really fun to deliver the talk and have so many people there. that is kind of a little overwhelming. think we are, you not necessarily where you think we are as a country on whether overseas toicans fight our wars? >> [indiscernible] thatand the mega-drought created the symptoms, or rather

the conditions of extreme poverty that has led now to the rise of isis. west africa.mic in were are many places where have the turning radius of the crisis. think you are as good friends with them as other people. i'm trying to understand what separates you from the others who have gone beyond the pale? i'm not going to engage in the media's game of bashing another republican candidate. you wante people say to make sure he does get into the race so you can win the support he has. is this a political population? senator cruz: i'm not going to go into the gutter with personal attacks. i think policy distinctions are

important. i will talk about differences when it comes to amnesty or common core or marriage. that is supposed to be the bread and butter of politics, but i'm not going to engage in personal attacks. mark: would hillary clinton be worse on the economy than barack obama or do you think about the same? some anecdotal snapshots, if doubling the capital gains tax is worse than barack obama? in that case, i would say worse. him for his position on the keystone pipeline. >> thank you for that. clinton: they give her that. thorough,ther a very deliberative, evidence-based process to evaluate the environmental impact and other considerations of keystone.

i will refrain on commenting inause i had a leading role getting that process started, and i think that we have to let it run its course. john: -- mark: do you have a goal tonight? to get 1200ers: people, including clinton supporters, to come out and where my pen. it's a moderate goal. mark: when you get nervous, what happens? senator sanders: i get louder. mark: so you might do the mantra? do the sanders: i might mantra. john: i was shocked choosing between bruce springsteen and jon bon jovi -- on hasor christie: j become a friend over the last few years, and bruce i have a cordial relationship with. we know each other. we have worked on some things. but jon and i have become

friends with -- that mary pat and i have become friends with jon. i have been to 124 bruce springsteen shows. john: i will rescue the question though. desert island discs. if you could only take the catalog of one or the other -- governor christie: springsteen. hen: the question is whether can do better than romney did in iowa. we will give you a shot at this. let's see how you do here. >> whoa! >> a hole in run! john: good luck. availabilityss while eating pork. i wonder if you will commit to having all of your press conferences while eating iowa pork. mr. bush: that would be fine.

[indiscernible] getting elected one vote at a time, is that a challenge? mr. bush: 330 million people, it's a challenge for sure, but that's how you win in iowa. be here.t to you can't helicopter in and leave. you've got to be all in. graham: he gave out my phone number national television, so i have fun with it. at the end of the day, we'll get serious. this is the silly season. [laughter] john: and we will be right back. ♪

john: thanks for joining us for the "with all due respect" reflects on summer edition. we are on twice a day at 5:00 and that 8:00. our cow print and i will be

right back here after labor day, -- mark halperin and i will be right back here after labor day, but for now -- ♪

alix: we are moments away from the closing bell. i am alix steel. david gera in fort joe weisenthal. alix: u.s. stocks closing lower. markets unable to shake off the volatility. is, whatt the question did you miss? alix: the only certainty is uncertainty. david: plus insideay