mark: welcome to this new edition of the best of with all due respect. we look back at this week. week was focused on the attack in florida. we begin though with how both of the presumptive nominees reacted to the tragedy. hillary clinton: the orlando terrorist may be dead, but the virus that poisoned his mind remains very much alive. donald trump: it is an assault on the ability of free people to are you on the ability of free people to live their lives, love

who they want, and express their identity. hillary clinton: the attack in orlando makes it even more clear. we cannot contain this threat. we must defeat it. donald trump: when i am elected, i will suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the united states, europe, or our allies. hillary clinton: inflammatory, anti-muslim rhetoric and threatening to ban the families and friends of muslim americans, as well as millions of muslim business people and tourists from entering our country hurts the vast majority of muslims who love freedom and hate terror. donald trump: hillary clinton, for months and despite so many attacks, repeatedly refused to even say the words "radical islam." until i challenged her yesterday, and guess what. she will probably say them. she sort of has said them. but let's see what happens. hillary clinton: we have to stem the flow of jihadists from europe and america to syria, iran, iraq, and back again. donald trump: we need to tell

the truth about radical islam. we need to do it now. hillary clinton: if the fbi is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you should not be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked. donald trump: her plan is to disarm law-abiding americans, abolishing the second amendment, and leaving only the bad guys and terrorists with guns. no good. not going to happen, folks. not going to happen. hillary clinton: to all the lgbt people grieving today in florida and across our country, you have millions of allies who will always have your back. [applause] and i am one of them. donald trump: ask yourself who

is really the friend of women and the lgbt community? donald trump with actions, or hillary clinton with her words? i will tell you who the better friend is. and someday, i believe that will be proven out bigley. john: so big speeches. and other media appearances by the presumptive nominees today. how do you think the tragedy in orlando will impact the race? mark: we both said that if there's an event like this, it will elevate national security, maybe even on a par with the economy as a test for these 2 candidates. i thought hillary clinton and her team, executed, in the text of the speech, being both tough and optimistic and in terms of the semiotics of the event, i thought they executed pretty close to flawless. she is in a different zone now in terms of communication. she is showing a lot of confidence.

i thought donald trump gave for he has on offer. to be a different kind of commander-in-chief. to shake things up. when he, today, talked about banning immigration from countries that have been problematic as opposed to a muslim ban, you see him simultaneously grappling with how to seem tough but also perhaps trying to change some of the policies that have bothered people even within his own party. john: i want to just focus on trump to start with. hillary clinton basically articulated what has people see in her policy, with bells and whistles. donald trump went further. you're saying he's trying to move away from being a religious test, to broaden it and say should be focused on terrorist ties. however, in some sense, he's basically adding to the muslim ban. he has not actually taken that off the table. he is gone further. it is going to be a bigger target for democrats. it will be a bigger target for republicans who are worried about him. i don't think he did a lot, even with the teleprompter, to ease that their concerns. he said a bunch of things that were not true. suggesting that the shooter was afghani, as opposed to being born in the united states. suggesting -- casting a very broad net over the entire muslim american community, saying they

all know when they're bad people in their midst, and they are basically bad for failing to turn those people in. i thought donald trump gave people what he has given them. he will be consistent. that is the bigger, tougher approach. but i don't think he did a lot today in that speech -- and we could talk about morning television, which is worst -- but in that speech today to reassure republicans who were worried about him as commander in chief to make them feel reassured. mark: secretary clinton and her team are confident in their bones that eliminating donald trump is an acceptable alternative on his economy and his business dealings, etc. will be possible. that it will be absolutely

possible, and perhaps, most decisive on doing it on national security. they will look at their performance and say she performed as a steady leader and he performed as a hothead. there are a lot of americans, though, who will look at her record and the record of the last eight years and say, he may be a hothead, but that is what we need. they may be underestimating the extent to which trump's performance has broad appeal. but they are so confident that her performance today is a winning performance against her issues against him. john: let's be clear. the biggest weakness that she has in terms of her stature, her resume, her ability to step up her game and communicate in ways that seem to make her a credible commander in chief -- she is now playing at a very high level. she has room to grow. but the biggest weakness is her record. donald trump will be able to headway by yolking the obama record with her. and say the country is not safer. it may be safer than it was on 9/11, but that things are

getting worse. there is a bad trend line here. the obama policies abroad and at home have not helped us with this threat and made us safer. she is going to have to deal with that. the history that she has of being part of the obama demonstration foreign policy a national security team. she is going to have to deal with that. trump can make some headway with her on that front. but there's an awful lot about what he is saying that will still make a lot of republicans nervous and a lot of democrats giddy. when we come back, our bloomberg politics national poll about where voters stand and the issues they care about most. ♪

♪ john: policy debates over homeland security the political world has been transfixed on how the candidates are responding to this moment of national crisis. first, here's what the voters think. or at least a window into that. we have a new national bloomberg politics poll. it shows hillary clinton leading donald trump by double digits in a head-to-head general election matchup. 49% to 37%. this poll was conducted from friday to monday. this shooting in orlando occurred while he was in the field, making it the first major telephone survey conducted since the attack. yesterday, we added a few questions related to the tragedy, including one that asked voters which candidate they think would handle best events similar to those in orlando. 45% said trump, 41% said clinton. 15% said they weren't sure. from what we have discussed so far, what do you think, and what do you find most striking about these numbers? mark: the survey shows what a lot of democrats and republicans have been saying privately, which is in the run up to orlando, based on the last 10 days or so, hillary clinton showing herself at her best and donald trump is struggling with all but his core supporters.

clinton is 49%. trump at 37%. i will not say that that is her ceiling and his floor, and republicans hope that is not the case, but that is a spread as wide as you can imagine, with her edging towards 50%. our poll will confirm what a lot of private data has said and what republicans are afraid of, which is trump may be pretty far behind in this race as a snap shot of where we are now. john: essentially, this poll takes into full account donald trump's problems.

the problems he made for himself by making those racist comments about judge curiel and a after day after day of negative news coverage from doing so. it also includes the first polling since orlando. so that is the timeframe here. mark: it also includes the coming together of the democratic party with president obama coming in behind hillary clinton, along with joe biden, the first lady, and elizabeth warren. while trump has been struggling, clinton is working towards unity. john: the one thing it does not include is the full unity of the democratic party yet. because bernie sanders has not yet endorsed hillary clinton. so there is still some part of the democratic party that is not on the clinton bandwagon. she will probably benefit in her polling strength when that eventuality occurs. she will get more good news and more of a lift in the polling when that occurs.

the horse race is still ugly. it is striking, in terms of our post-orlando questions, that more voters say they think donald trump would be a good commander and situation such as this. trump still has a few percentage points in the lead. it is in the margin of error. he leads on that and in the attributes that voters see him better at handling terrorism in general. that is consistent with some things we have seen in past polling. mark: since the shooting, donald trump has been talking and tweeting quite a bit. one thing he has been stressing is the fact that president obama and hillary clinton are, he says, wrong for not using the words "radical islamic terrorism" for describing the motives and basis of this attack. yesterday, trump said he suspected clinton may give in and start using the phrase. but, at a campaign event in pittsburgh today, clinton showed no signs she will back down on that. hillary clinton: i have clearly

said that we faced terrorist enemies who use a perverted version of islam to justify slaughtering innocent people. we have to stop them -- and we will. so if donald suggests i will not call this threat what it is, he has not been listening. but, i will not demonize and declare war on an entire religion. trump's words will be, in fact they already are, a recruiting tool for isis to help them increase their ranks of people willing to do what we saw in orlando. he is turning americans against americans, which is exactly what isis wants. leaders who have actually fought terrorists know this. he says he knows more about isis than the generals do. do. [laughter] hillary clinton: it is almost

hard to even think of what to say about that claim. he said i will abolish the second amendment. that is wrong. he says i will let a flood of refugees into the country without any screening -- that is also wrong. these are demonstrably lies. that, he feels compelled to tell them, because he has to distract us from the fact that he has nothing substantive to say for himself. mark: right around the time clinton was speaking in pittsburgh, president obama was meeting with his national security team. then the president defended his own word choices with some pretty fiery remarks to reporters at the treasury department.

pres. obama: there has not been a moment, in my seven and a half years as president, where we have not been able to pursue a strategy because we did not use the label "radical islam." not once has an advisor of mine said, "man, if we really used that phrase, we will turn this whole thing around" -- not once. so if someone seriously thinks that we do not know who we are fighting -- they know full well who the enemy is. so to the intelligence and law enforcement officers, who spent countless hours disrupting plots and protecting all americans. including politicians who tweet. and appear on cable news shows. they know who the nature of the enemy is. there's no magic to the phrase "radical islam." it's a political talking point,

not a strategy. the reason i am careful about how i describe this threat has nothing to do with political correctness, and everything to do with actually defeating extremism. groups like isil and al qaeda want to make this war a war between islam and america. mark: that was intense. president obama at the white house. our new bloomberg politics national poll. we asked likely voters is avoiding the term "radical islam" makes it a look weak in the fight against terrorism. 47% agreed with that and 44% disagree. so pretty split and within the margin of error.

john, we have hillary clinton and president obama on one side and donald trump on the other. who is getting the better of the argument? john: first, let's say this picture that we have seen today, two on one, two political heavyweights -- hillary clinton and barack obama -- both taking on a trump is striking to watch. it is something we will see a lot over the general election. that poll that we cited is interesting. the fact that there is some sense that trump is onto something, at least in a narrow way, that the public is on his side. that they believe the democrats not liking to use the phrase "radical islam" is a weak point. but it is also the case on a lot of other matters that trump put forward that he is on the wrong place. his suggestion that president obama was weak on terror, a wide majority of people disagree with that. they also are strongly against the notion of increasing surveillance on muslims living in america. so i can see why he is focused on the language issue, because it is one of the few areas where he has a bit of a strong hand. mark: there is certainly a point

of view there, i would definitely breakdown on partisan lines. it is testament to their confidence that hillary clinton and the president has that -- that clinton has the upper hand overall in policy that they are both going after him. they are not hiding from it. this is an issue trump has talked about for months. they have not confronted him directly. it shows you that they believe that they are in a moment in time when confronting trump, even when he feels he could be on the offensive, they feel it is the right thing to do. they are feeling confident enough to do it. john: and they also think that they are turning this not into just a policy discussion by a character discussion. making it clear that the way that trump talks makes him unfit to be president of the united states. that will be a key point in hillary's argument going forward.

democrats are not the only ones who have a problem with how donald trump reacted to the orlando shooting. his speech on the war on terror yesterday, republican leaders seem to be distancing themselves on both policy and political grounds from the party's presumptive nominee. senator bob corker, who praised trump's last foreign-policy committee who praised trump's last foreign-policy address and has been talked about as a potential running mate, told reporters today that trump's remarks are not what corker expected and he is "discouraged" by the campaign trump is running. and here's what house speaker paul ryan said. when he was asked about trump's temporary ban on muslims entering the united states. speaker ryan: i do not think a muslim ban is reflective of our principles, not only as a party, but as a country. the smarter way to go is to have a security test and not a religious test.

john: in the past, trump has clearly benefited politically by projecting strength in moments of national crisis. in the context of the republican national convention. but at this time, we are seeing many party leaders either staying silent or deking trump's positions out of hand. concern is growing among republicans that trump may be losing the entire general election before it really begins. what do you think of the sources of that more pervasive sense of concern? mark: it runs across the board. they do not see a turnaround in trump's discipline. they do not see an organization being built. they worry the convention planning is too slow. they see private data that suggest trump and clinton's performance have hurt him. and he continues to create controversy and not talk of out changing the economy and

changing washington like he did last tuesday. it can turn around again, but the biggest thing going on is a lot of media who think that this is being cooked right now in a way that will be difficult for trump to recover from. john: we talked to smart strategists who have done a lot of presidential campaigns. and the notion that presidential elections are won are lost in the spring and summer. trump's comments about judge curiel, not only with a bat for trump, but they could not have come at a worse time for trump. to see the reaction of republican leaders to trump's speech, his tweets, his attack against president obama on the morning shows, this has created a sense that -- this is normally a moment trump has benefited from -- they are looking and people are running and turning tail. i feel they would not turn and run if they did not get the sense this may be a sinking ship for all the reasons you described. mark: they find it difficult to accept the fact that trump will stop making unforced errors.

so can he turn it around? john: i am increasingly of the view that a guy who is donald trump, who is 69, has been the character he has been for as long as he has been, and has had so many positive reinforcements for the behavior he has exhibited both as a business person and a candidate -- he is unlikely to change. people praying for him to become more presidential and pivot, they are barking up the wrong tree. i could imagine a million things donald trump could do to turn it around. my question is if he has anything like the inclination to do those things. so far, there is no inclination he does. mark: he needs to pick a really successful presidential running mate.

someone perceived as ready to be president from day one to broaden his brand a little bit. he needs a great convention and great first debate. all of those things are in his grasp. but he needs to plan those things now. if he approaches them in the same ad hoc way, he will not get that trifecta. john: the question is even if he does those things you suggest whether it may be too late if he does enough damage to himself. still ahead, two political masterminds. after this break. ♪

♪ mark: we are back with republican media consultant and handsome fred davis, and former tennessee congressman and marginally less handsome man, harold ford.

thank you for sticking around. i want to ask fred -- we did this bloomberg politics national poll, and one of the things we asked voters were their picks for their party nominees. the list of potential running mates for donald trump, give me the top four. fred, i'm going to get your reaction to this. newt gingrich at 29%. marco rubio at 24%. john kasich at 18%. chris christie at 9%. so, what do you think of the idea of newt gingrich as donald trump's running mate? fred: i love newt and i think he is a man of great ideas. i think what donald trump -- i think his strength is as the chairman of the board. the guy that gets out and gets to use the bully pulpit all over america. but he needs someone back home that is an operating officer. of that list, of course i am prejudiced as well, but i would put kasich at the top of my list. someone who has proven he can

get things done. worked on both sides of the aisle. while donald is out being donald. john: what you know about john kasich, do you think he would take that gig if he were offered it? fred: i don't think he would. i wish he would. we haven't talked about it. i think he made his peace with his run for presidency and is really happy to be back in ohio. mark: harold, the democrats would be completely afraid if newt gingrich got on the ticket, wouldn't they? harold: i think there would be six or seven marriages on that ticket alone. i agree with fred's characterization of newt. i served with him. i think he is a very smart guy. but i think fred is probably right about the kind of needs that donald trump has. it is unclear to me is newt would be a good fit for that role. mark: we asked about the potential running mates for hillary clinton. elizabeth warren was at the top choice, 35% of democrats. cory booker was 17%. not sure, senator not sure, 15%. and julian castro, secretary

castro, 12%. so, elizabeth warren obviously the top choice of democrats. there is virtually no chance that hillary clinton would pick her, but that suggests pretty popular support. harold: mrs. clinton has indicated she will keep an open mind to all these folks. i don't know senator warren very well. she clearly early on the campaign leveled the most effective critique of donald trump, and continued to follow up with an equally impressive one. i know cory booker. he's a former mayor. could help manage. could help relations in congress. i don't know secretary castro, but i do know tim kaine, and sherrod brown, who also would bring a lot to the ticket geographically. and help mrs. clinton sure up constituencies that we did not have a strongly as we wanted in the primary. john: i will ask you to do something that is not going to make you comfortable, because you are an elusive man on some matters. who do you think would be the best vice presidential pick for hillary clinton? who would be the best?

harold: look, i think all these folks would be good. the challenge is, who helps her win, and who helps her with constituencies we need the most help with? i think tim kaine, sharon brown, and cory booker, and elizabeth warren certainly drives the fire in the party, but if you look at geography, those three guys bring a lot to the table. mark: fred, we asked about the republican brand in our poll. 32% said a favorable view of the republican brand. 62% said unfavorable. is donald trump helping or hurting the republican brand right now, do you think? fred: i think he is changing the republican brand. it remains to be seen whether it is helping or hurting. probably hurting this week. of course, it is hurting a little bit. but in the long run, i am of the feeling that he is bringing new people and new excitement to the republican party. it is a party that has been a little confused through the primary process. i think there is a clarity there. whether the establishment likes the clarity or not, we will see how it turns out. i think it is a possible positive.

john: fred, does it not worry you today -- we played a bit earlier in the show donald trump saying today basically i may have to go it alone here. i don't care -- if i have to do this on my own, i will do it on my own. republican leaders should just be quiet, he said, and let me get on with the business of running for president. i don't need them. i can do this on my own. is that a sensible strategy or way of looking at the world when you are a major party nominee? fred: well, it probably would not have been my advice to him. you know, you know what it is like in that seat. with paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, people who are very sharp, establishment politicians nipping at your heels, what are you going to do? donald trump is not the type to sit back and say yes, yes, let me fall in line. that is not why people like him. he is there fighting for his every breath. i think he will continue to do that. i think that is part of his unusual popularity.

mark: fred, if he were sitting in a meeting with mitch mcconnell and the pollster for the senate committee came in and said, "senator, if donald trump is at the top of the ticket, you will lose the senate majority." and senator mcconnell said to you, "fred, what should we do?" what would you advise he do? fred: i would say we need to change that dynamic and get on board. i agree with harold. i think hillary and obama have made a great tag team this week. and the democrats -- no one is overly elated in america about donald trump or hillary clinton. their negatives are too high. but, the democrats have done a far better job of coalescing behind her and moving forward. i think it is about time for the republicans to do the same. i will probably get 1000 phone calls for that when the show is over, but that would be my advice. mark: harold, in your "usa today" interview you said secretary clinton refused to commit to keeping debbie wasserman schultz on as chairman of the committee after she becomes the official nominee.

what are the politics of that answer? harold: i have been a believer from the offset. i've said repeatedly that i think the chairwoman made things messier than it should've been. she had every right to profess her support for mrs. clinton, but as the party chair -- i think bernie sanders had some credence to what he was saying. look, if we reach a point where the only way we are able to keep harmony at the convention is for debbie wasserman schultz to not be chairwoman, for someone to run the convention, electing hillary clinton is the most important thing that the democratic party should be focused on. i don't have any issues with what mrs. clinton is saying. john: i am going to ask you to do something that also will not come natural to you. just pretend like you are bernie sanders' chief advisor right now. what would you tell sanders to do today -- from sanders' point of view, not from hillary clinton's point of view, but from his own point of view? harold: to begin to draft a speech to talk about the importance of income inequality. how to raise these issues. and tell you believe the democratic party is at the center and the core of resolving these issues. you had your battle with mrs. clinton. mrs. clinton won fairly in this race. you look forward to working with

her. i would cite two or three instances in which you worked with her in the senate that are very important not only to the party, but to the country. let's move forward. make clear that we had into this convention unified. it appears there is going to continue to be fissures with the republicans. what we need to do is not only enter the convention unified, but leave it equal unified, if not even stronger. john: next up, we have alex conant, the former communications director for marco rubio's campaign. the one and only the one and only dan senor, the formal advisor to paul ryan and so many other things. they will join us to talk about donald trump and a lot of other stuff right after this word from our sponsors. ♪

♪ john: right here with us in studio, we have dan senor, formal advisor to speaker paul ryan and a lot of other things. and alex conant the communications director for marco's campaign. it is great to see you two. alex has been waiting to see you all day. alex w.: i needed another alex

as backup. john: i'm very excited about this. we just talked about paul ryan on the show. i asserted that i think the speaker was leaving the door wide open to resend his endorsement for donald trump. is that true? dan: i think it is safe to say that a lot of republican leaders are not terribly enthusiastic about the reboot of the trump candidacy and the trump campaign over the last few days. so, they are being reserved and how they express their enthusiasm about his candidacy. whether it is leaving the door open a little bit, a lot, not at all -- i am not going to speculate on it. i'm just going to tell you that i am not surprised i how restrained you are hearing more and more republican leaders. john: you know the speaker pretty well, right? do you think that he -- that there is a live option for him? dan: not now. john: not now? dan: not now. john: not possibly -- dan: i take him at his word. he says it is not something i plan to do or intend to do. i don't think it is something he is contemplating doing.

i think he is going through what a lot of republican leaders are going through, which is they have endorsed trump. they are planning to stick with trump. they are concerned about his campaign. they are concerned about the down ballot collateral damage. alex: are they concerned about the damage that a trump endorsement might wreak on their own personal fortunes? which is to say that paul ryan is seen by many as the hope of the republican party in 2020 and beyond. at a certain point, does he make a personal calculation? dan: i think the -- i have talked on this particular point in terms of how to think about trump, i have talked to him quite a bit. his view is that, again, i'm very critical of trump. very much out there. so, what i say is not reflective of what he thinks. one of the big factors for him is that he has believed that if house republicans are divided it will do -- even if they think the things that trump is saying are reprehensible -- it will do more damage to the chances of republicans keeping the majority then if they are at war with each other over trump. that has been his view up to now. john: alex conant, not alex wagner, alex conant, let me ask you this.

do you think republicans have finally reached the conclusion -- i've heard you on the show saying a couple of times that trump needs to change. he needs to moderate. he needs to be more presidential. have you given that up now like a lot of republicans? [laughter] john: a lot of republicans to me seem to hear trump and say that is a lost cause. he is going to be who he is going to be. alex c.: losing hope is probably the right way to look at it. donald trump, if he is going to win this fall, needs to create a campaign around him. he needs to have a message. he needs to have surrogates that go out and echo his message to compete with the clinton machine. that is not happening. he has been the presumptive nominee now for over six weeks. it is very troubling that we have not taken those affirmative steps toward putting together the kind of campaign that he needs to put together, not just to win, but to have it to be close this fall. the trajectory in the polls right now is very troubling. if i'm donald trump, i'm worried about it. alex w.: alex, when we hear party elders and strategists, and related folks say that trump needs to build a campaign. trump needs to get on message. trump needs x, y, and z -- one might as well say trump needs to sprout wings and do several other things that will never naturally happen given this man's trajectory so far.

i mean, what reason is they are to still hold out hope that he will make these reforms in a timely fashion? alex c.: look, because he wants to win. i believe he wants to be the president of the united states. if he wants to win -- alex w.: do you think he believes that he needs to change in order to win? alex c.: well, we are going to have to test that proposition, right? we are about to find out. if he wants to win, he needs to build a campaign. he is not doing that as of now. the fact is, as of today, he only has one or two communicators on the whole campaign. they are doing work. i had one or two staffers last summer on the rubio campaign. we were struggling with the amount of income. i can only imagine what trump's communicators are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. dan: no campaign organization. no fundraising. he is not raising money. virtually no communication with the rnc. continuing to say incredibly inflammatory things. not communicating with republican elected leaders. this guy has one speed. you have seen a version of what you're seeing now in everything he has done in this election. in every part of his career. the way that he communicates. he has one speed. the idea that he will suddenly

start looking and behaving presidential i think is -- wishful thinking. john: as you pointed out, you were out front never trump. #nevertrump. i think, you are pretty much out front #drumptrump at this point, right? you are doing work behind the scenes trying to figure out a way to stop donald trump from being the nominee of the party, correct? dan: i will say there are number of people who are brainstorming on whether or not we can capitalize on, right now -- i feel like we are in an inflection point right now -- there is genuine concern among a lot of republicans. among republican elected leaders. among donors. among activists. and among many delegates who are attending the convention. there is a momentum where people are saying wait a minute. it is directly correlated with trump's collapsing poll numbers. i do think that there is a correlation between tolerance for the insane things trump does and the insane way he behaves, and good poll numbers. the moment those poll numbers drop, tolerance goes down. now, people are saying wait a minute, this could be a real mess. there are discussions but whether or not he could be dislodged at the convention.

whether or not it will be able to get together between now and the next couple of weeks is a separate question. but there are conversations. john: or if it will be about as successful as all of your efforts in the never trump movement. [laughter] dan: hey! come on, john! don't -- john: what is the percentage like the donald trump will likely be the nominee of the party after the cleveland convention? the percentage? dan: i would say 80 plus percent. alex c.: john, i would say that these things reach a tipping point. at which point the way we look at it changes. everything changes overnight. it will happen very quickly if it is going to happen. there will just be a moment with the support for him collapses. in the political universe that is very different. six weeks from here to cleveland is a long, long time in presidential politics and a lot can change. alex w.: and yet you look at the numbers, and you look at general american approval for each party. well look numbers, i'm sure, are not where the party wants it to be -- the approval numbers. are they are conversations happening in republican circles about november and what happens after november to the party if trump wins? alex c.: i think people are

still focused on november. look, i'm old enough to remember in 1992 one of the people running for president -- he was a self-funded billionaire -- and at this point he looked very viable. six weeks later he dropped out of the race. it is ross perot. alex w.: do you think ross perot is an appropriate analog? alex c.: i'm just saying that a lot can happen between now and the convention. and even more will happen between the convention and november. take it one day at a time. it is on trump to prove that he can put together a campaign that is capable of being competitive this fall. we have not seen that evidence yet. john: with that we have to go, but what i will say right now is what donald trump would say to both of you which is "be quiet." be quiet, republicans. alex w.: that is better than "you're fired." dan: i can't believe that you were dissing our never trump efforts. i mean -- it is not over. it is not over. john: dan senor. alex conant. alex wagner. thank you all, all three of you. when we return, more from our bloomberg politics national poll. ♪

♪ mark: joining us now to talk more about our new bloomberg politics national poll is our colleague john mccormick. he has dug through the numbers, written them up, and you can read the stories on bloombergpolitics.com right now. he is in our chicago bureau. john, talk about the issue of brand that we asked fred davis about. how the two party's brands are doing. which, obviously, creates the environment for this election. john: well, i think this poll offers some real concrete evidence that donald trump is not doing anything positive for the republican brand right now. as you have maybe discussed, only about 1/3 of americans view the republican brand in a favorable way. that is the lowest level we have recorded in a bloomberg poll since the poll's inception in 2009. mark: how is the democratic brand doing? john: much better. not great, but about half of

americans view the democratic party in a favorable light. that obviously sets up the contours for this race, both at the presidential level, and it can affect congressional races and down ballot races for governor ships, etc. john: john, i ask you to go beyond the confines of the poll in one respect. i am struck by the wrong track number of this poll, which is very high. 68% say the country is on the wrong track. the wrong track number has been over 50% for a long time. it did not stop barack obama from being reelected in 2012, but it is a strange thing to me that the wrong track numbers are that high and barack obama's approval rating is well over 50%. how do we reconcile those realities in the electorate? john m.: it really is a stark contrast. it seemingly would the an environment that donald trump could take it vantage of if things were going better for his campaign right now. that so many americans think that the country is headed in the wrong direction. that number is at the highest

levels that we have recorded in the bloomberg poll going back to 2010 or 2009. it is an atmosphere where a challenger to the incumbent party, seemingly, with have an advantage. at the same time, we asked people about their economic and personal situation in life. for the first time since we started asking the question in 2010, the majority of americans say they feel better off right now than they did at the peak of the recession in early 2009. people, personally, are feeling better about their situation. yet, there is a very widely held belief that the country is headed in the wrong direction. mark: as we said yesterday, part of this poll, the bulk of it was done before the orlando massacre. there is some of it from after. the data will be a little mixed. talk about what issues with the top issues for voters in our survey. john m.: jobs and the economy is almost always the top issue that people list when we get them a choice to pick from in terms of

what issue they think is the most important in the election. that was about 1/5 of the electorate. americans said that jobs and the economy were the top issue. when you combine terrorism and isis, the number of approaches and actually surpasses jobs and the economy slightly. so, we did see a tick up in those numbers following the terrorist attack in orlando. we will see how this plays out over the coming weeks. at least initially, people are at a heightened level of concern when it comes to terrorism, as would be expected. mark: if you are watching us in washington, d.c., you can also listen to us on the radio at bloomberg 99.1 fm. we will be right back. ♪

♪ john: thank you so much for watching this edition of "the best of with all due respect." remember, you can find the latest news and analysis on our

website, bloombergpolitics.com. we will see you back here on monday. until then, sayonara. ♪

♪ david: you have been in that job when there has been tragedies, huge tragedies in this country. what can we do to avoid this going forward? mr. clinton: first of all, we need more help with intelligence work with federal and local law enforcement, with people who may be lone wolves. like those people let san bernardino, they were converted to the