>> the candidates who run for office and the fbi investigators who decide whether to prosecute them, these are their stories. ♪ john: tonight, a political noir starring hillary clinton. , north charlotte carolina, where president obama and hillary clinton made their debut on the trail. mark is 160 miles away with donald trump, a competing rally later tonight.

we will help mark with us later in the show. for now, i'm joined by al hunt. the context for both of these events were completely and utterly changed by the bigger news that came out this morning, fbi director james comey announcing the end of his agency's investigation into clinton's handling of classified information. in his public remarks, he offered a harsh, thoroughgoing critique, but all to leave criminal charges be filed against the present the democratic nominee. in 52 e-mails byins have been determined the agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received. containedhose chains information that was top secret, although we did not find clear evidence that secretary clinton

or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information. there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. ofhough there is evidence potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no prosecutor would bring a case. expressing our view that no charges are appropriate in this case. john: even down in charlotte, you could hear the collective sigh of relief from clinton's brooklyn headquarters. "we are glad this matter is now resolved." republicans were predictably ,uick to jump over the decision questioning the impartiality of the fbi's probe. the speaker of the house releases statement, "while i respect the law enforcement professionals of the fbi, the announcement defies explanation. no one should be above the law."

charles grassley called on the fbi to make all the evidence public. donald trump, of course, turned "fbiitter, tweeting, director said crooked hillary compromised or national security. no charges. wow." he also tweeted "the system is rigged. general petronius got in trouble for far less, very unfair. as usual, bad judgment." what happens now? al: hillary clinton has a second reason to utter a sigh relief because these republicans are playing this so stupidly. she was not only careless. she was reckless and arrogant, but rather than seizing on that, they're trying to suggest there is something rigged here.

james comey is a man of integrity. hisne could question judgment on this. i'm shocked at paul ryan. i'm not shocked at donald trump. what they ought to do is sees what is out there. it is different than david portray is. intent really matters here. he gave classified information to his mistress. if that is not intent, i don't know what is. hillary clinton was arrogant and reckless, and the gop should be making that case. john: i think that's right. director, he clearly understood the politics of this. this, than leading with he gave her political opponents are a lot of material to work with. i'm sure we will hear a lot of it from now until election day. the bottom line, a number of people who have asked me, had he think this place for hillary

clinton? anding to her senior staff my own sense of this, this is a simple story. the story is binary, indictment or no indictment. indicted, clinton was this would be one of the worst days in hillary clinton's life. she might not be the democratic nominee or the president of the united states. to date she has basically been exonerated in this e-mail scandal, this e-mail controversy. it is a good day for hillary clinton. i know there will be a lot of arguments about what she did, but she is more or less politically free and clear of this. there has been damage done, but she is free and clear. today. tar heel rallies after giving a speech to the

national education association teachers union in washington, clinton boarded air force one to a state lost narrowly in 2012. on stage not far from where i'm sitting at this moment, obama took some jabs at donald trump while praising clinton's experience and, well let's take a listen to that sound card -- that sound. ♪ you, butt know about we are fired up and ready to go, ready to win this election. please join me in welcoming the president of the united states, barack obama. hillary, hillary. row seat to front andjudgment, her toughness, commitment to diplomacy. i witnessed it in the situation room, where she argued in favor

of the mission to get bin laden. as a former senator she knew, she understood, because she had seen it. she had witnessed it, what this would mean for the thousands who have lost loved ones when the twin towers fail. this is not entertainment. this is real. this is not a reality show. this is reality. being president of the united states means you have to deal with reality. because iere today believe in hillary clinton. her toyou to help elect be the next president of the united states of america. al, we are still waiting to see donald trump so we can't do a side-by-side comparison of these two events. i was in the room.

you watched it on television, which is how most people were experiencing that event. how formidable do you think the clinton-obama tandem looks today? >> pretty darn fermentable. bill clinton really help barack obama in norma sweet in 2012 with that convention speech. back plus.ay pay barack obama at a time when hillary clinton, you're right, it was a great day that she escaped indictment, but her trust issue is a real problem with voters. more popularfar than clinton or trunk. i think he has standing. i think he did it well today. it looked good. i know democrats think that the one mistake obama made in 2012 was not contesting north carolina. he might have won it again. if i had that that as of today, i would put it in the democratic category. >> this is obviously a historic

moment and democrats have waited a long time, first having nominated an african-american and now about to nominate the first woman to lead the democratic party. to see the two of them on stage, former rivals, bitter rivals in 2008, then partners in statecraft in the administration, now political allies, the crowd was in love with what they saw on stage, and the clinton people were in love with it too. seeing this on stage in knowing we will see a lot more of it, knowing how much president obama wants to protect his legacy and take on donald trump and the fact that obama is a convert to her cause. they think that is powerful, that he was once a critic of hers and is now a convert. they think that is a political plus that he can bring to the race, and they sold the first sign of it today. privately, atyou

least among bill and hillary, it must rankle a little bit. they think they are the great political strategist and everything of all times, and they need obama. i'm not going to say he can carry them. that old thing about an eisenhower jacket, there are no coattails. she needs the enthusiasm of democrats, and democrats love barack obama, and that is a huge political asset for her. reactionome back, more to the fbi announcement, team trump, and a supporter. that is coming up right after this. ♪

as weit was, of course, have been discussing, a gigantic,ter- godzilla-size newsday for hillary clinton. york and ind in new her home studio. i'm going to start off with you guys. i ask you this question, there is no doubt as i said earlier in the question is indictment versus non-indictment, hillary clinton is the big winner today. what do you see as the biggest political downside into the way this was announced, the timing, and the things that he said in the process of exonerating her from any criminal charges? >> i would agree with your

earlier characterization regarding clinton-obama team, how formidable they look weird i think al hunt made the comment as well. i think i saw mark earlier in the day make the case that to your question, john, that he talked about some of the things he thought on the part of secretary clinton and some of willeam, but a lot of this erase itself, meaning the focus in the attention, as much as mr. trump and others might try to continue to gin it up. barack obama continues this kind of campaigning for secretary clinton and able to reassemble and reconstitute the coalition, president obama built it into thousand eight and

strengthen it in 2012, it is difficult for mr. trump and his team because the demographics of the country continued to move in favor of democrats and many key states, and of that turnout as 2012, it same bodes well for mrs. clinton. kelly and, you are an attorney and advisor to the trump campaign. what is the trump campaign posture towards what has been said? >> mr. trump will speak to that. where as he refused to indict her, he in pure and her. of theed with 67% country that says she is neither honest are trustworthy. or trustworthy. what the fbi would do whether i decide to continue to trust her. americans don't trust her because she lies for living --

they believe she lies for a living. in their pep rally down in north carolina today, neither president obama nor secretary clinton did a victory lap on the decision. she did not stand up and say, i have been vindicated. she has been very careful. the director's words were very harsh. not recommending indictment, but said she was extremely careless. she and the people who worsening her e-mails and receiving her e-mails all should have known. you are talking about hundreds of e-mails, all should have known that this was wrong. john: why not just make that argument going forward? argument that the trump campaign manager's and the republican party are going to make? or are we going to hear from you that it is a conspiracy, that somehow this is part of a "rake system"? >> that is a large part of what

this election is about. one thing that will not change between now and november is the insider-outsider -establishment-nonestablishment set up between these two people. in some ways, this plays right into mr. trump's argument that it is a rigged, corrupt system that only benefits insiders. putink that bill clinton his wife and attorney general lynch in a very bad position last week. it wasn't like that was ancient history. i think finally it is not going to erase the fact -- a fox news poll last week showed 58% think hillary clinton is corrupt. i don't remember pollsters asking the word corrupt. did whatsomeone hillary clinton is said to be done and applied for a job at

the state department and required a security clearance, could they get it? >> i imagine so. i heard mayor giuliani made that comment. i don't believe that and are the standard that was laid out, she did not violate any statutes. , thecommended to the fbi fbi recommended to the justice department that no action be taken. he said in terms of administrative steps, sure -- to break.ave to go if you were attorney general and somebody applied for a job that involved national security, that would not disqualify them in your judgment? a realould have to have serious conversation, but, no, it would not disqualify them. will stay with this pit we pick up this conversation when we come back right after this break. ♪

♪ john: we are back. you watched as you indicated earlier the clinton-obama event. putting aside the questions of the fbi, did you see a politically potent tandem there on stage? was a great day for hillary clinton. her political career and candidacy could have been over with an indictment. she went down in north carolina on air force one and you and i paid for it.

every time you can have a two-term sitting president say to voters, give me a third term. ronald reagan did it for his vice president, george bush. it's not clear the whole country wants a third term of barack obama, but when he was reading from the teleprompter, which was most of the time, it was a great solid, steady call for her to be the next president, and he was dissing donald trump because he can't help himself. i thought that was unfortunate. he is still the president of the united states. he has every right to endorse and campaign with her, but there is a line that should not be crossed. i listen to garden-variety pundits all day long insult donald trump, and they seem pretty patty, so i would expect something different here. trump has personally attacked the president over and over again. put out the not

fire yet that he doesn't believe that the president was born in the united states. formidablet was a piece, and if i were on the other side of this equation, the biggest worry i would have is with theiro of them supporters can reassemble and reconstitute that unbelievable coalition that mr. obama put together for years ago now. mark: the reason donald trump is here today is not a coincidence. to try tothings up step on the obama-clinton campaigning. explain the logic of coming to the same state and what his message will be tonight? mark, one of the greatest assets of donald trump to the electorate has been that he is unapologetically unafraid of the clinton candidacy. that is refreshing. we have had republican nominees

pull their punches on any number of things, so he is saying i am giving you one of the swing states in north carolina. it is a marginal red-blue state. it could go either way. barack obama won it in 2008. he will make the case against hillary clinton. today, he can quote right from the press conference. i think if the trump campaign runs ads quoting where it literally says that she was reckless, careless, so i think he is telling the people of north carolina there we will be back here again and again to make the stay competitive. last weekary clinton with senator warren and today with president obama, later with vice president biden.

is there any risk of it she starts to look a little uninspiring next to such a heavy hitting lineup? foro, i think it reinforces voters, the party, and independence, the diversity and strength of the party. presidentook at a hillary clinton in the white house with whoever she chooses , combine it with a formidable team in the u.s. senate, it signals to the country that here is a president that can work with congress and get things done. even heard republican senators privately say they could work with her on foreign-policy issues, economic policy issues. ,ven today with president obama she opened with a lot of electricity, excitement, and substance. we heard the president underscore how smart she is.

i think it only amplifies the point more that she is not only ready, but ready to work with congress. be her best day with president obama on the trail. diminished under the brighter star power of president barack obama. the other risk is we all know that cool is not transferable, so her problems are likability and trustworthiness. you can't impute that to someone else. he would do a great job much at thell clinton did democratic national convention in charlotte, but she runs the risk of looking like she needs to be propped up, that she can't do this on her own. mark: we have less than 30 seconds. you thought tom cotton was donald trump's best vice president of choice.

>> i love the list. the short list is growing, really serious, formidable people. has a very strong from.o choose i like the fact that he is meeting with them one-on-one and being very honest about who is being considered. shows the unifying of the party that is often not mention enough in the press. john: thank you very much. sorry to cut you off there. the vice, our takes on presidential sweepstakes right after this. ♪

>> welcome back. there are only a few days left with your 2016 fantasy league presidential lineup and baseball lineup and all your lineups.eague

this is the final stretch of the veepstakes season. we're seeing action from mates.al running let's start with the democrats. clinton's hillary possible number twos, including sherrod brown of ohio and perez. they were all dishing out whilen talking points, dodging questions about whether they would join the ticket with hillary clinton. stand atre do things this moment with hillary clinton's running mate decision? know who she is actually planning to pick. but i will say, from talking to people, about half the people are in touch with her about this. about half aren't. they're very happy with the choices. no one is going to make the choice that her choices are revolutionize the race. the two names i hear the most are the labor sector and tim cain, the senator from virginia. people seem genuinely happy with those. they'd be perfectly satisfied. my sense is that they don't think she's headed towards a surprise. thinks -- i still

think she won't pick until trump does. that means maybe not until after he mayvention, since well pick on the eve of his convention. >> right. i think that's one of the key elements here, is the question of timing, when does trump pick? true that trump picks next week, as is being suggested, that will give theton time through republican convention and into the time from when she'd would likely be on the friday or saturday after the republican convention and try to step on his headlines. hear those names too. certainly i hear tim cane a lot more than tom perez. tom perez someone who seems to be someone who they want to seem consideration rather than someone who is actually in consideration. i still think tim cane is the i still thinknd elizabeth warren might be the best choice. the name wasthing, raised, the agricultural sector. thought -- secretary. i thought that's who she was going to pick. he picked -- i would say he's as

exciting as tim cain. fits a governing partner, someone who people would say is qualified, someone she'd like to someone who will be loyal to her. but i'm not hearing that necessarily as... >> same here. >> it seems hard for me to that bill will end up on the ticket, but maybe we'll be surprised by that. question ofto the donald trump, billionaire and presumptive republican nominee, his new jersey golf club this holiday weekend. trump met with two possible mates, who until recently have not been widely speculated about. pence, whobe mike huddled with trump on saturday, iowa senator joanie ernst. tomorrow we have newt gingrich reportedly campaigning with the donald.

and senator bob corker from tennessee. does trump's running mate decision stand in your mind? look, one of the funniest things i've ever heard someone from the campaign say about veepstakes was kellyanne conway. the short list is getting longer acted as if that's a good thing. down to a handful of choices and know what?, you these choices may not be good enough. pence, to ernst. i believe the new aids who have weeks,, in the last two looked at the list that trump was honing in on and said, no, no one on that list is actually right. noyou need to think more broadl. i doubt that he would -- it sounds like maybe they did. lot of pence makes a sense, considering the other alternatives. >> well, he's got to solve the now.em that he has right the big problem he has, which is getting the republicans base, republicans to come home.

and pence might be as good a solution on that front as any solution. argumenthat's the best now against putting chris christie on the ticket, someone temperamentally trump is attracted to. but christie doesn't solve the republicansetting to come home to donald trump. i know the clinton people, some i talked to, they still think trump will go with his gut in the end. now, they don't n know anything is going on internally but they suspect it will be christie or gingrich. democrats don't know much about republicans in general and about trump in particular. >> yeah. fact.t know this for a but i have one source suggesting talked outhe's been of gingrich, that they'll find another role for gingrich in the may wellation and that be a dead letter. but everybody says in the end, trump's decision. trump may just go with this guy. anybody.d mean and the young lawyers and older lawyers working with him, they just like with pa palin, to

hurry,ebody in a big under time pressure in that's exactly what happened eight years ago. it was another rocky weekend for trump. you'd think that hillary interview at the f.b.i. headquarters would have dominated the 4th of july holiday weekend. instead we're all talking about that tweet that the trump campaign sent out, with what theed to be an image of star of david. some said to the contrary, it may be a sheriff's badge. in case your barbecue grill didn't give you any news updates, here's a quick refresher. >> donald trump, star of david. here's what happened. saturday, trump tweets image of clinton, a pile of money and a red star. >> many would say that resembles of david. >> it's immediately called anti-semitic. >> the imagine posted on a white supremacist board. deleted.t's then it's replaced by a circle. wait. that circle. points of the star were

still visible! >> a firestorm of controversy. monday, trump tweets it was a sheriff's star. the response, why did you delete it wasn't an issue? trump's campaign says clinton's campaign is trying to divert attention from her issue. >> not every star is a star of david. star.s is a simple >> this hand wringing going over a geometric shape is really out of hand. the star of david, over $100 bills. geometry.t it's imagery, which is significant to a lot of people. >> on to the next people. hurtful to a lot of people. but i do think, to play veepstakes with you... momentousk, given the clinton news, is this trump over basicallysy or will it linger somehow? it's over, because of the comey news and because of veepstakes and the conventions coming.

but i do think, once again, trump has got to prove himself and his operations, prove himself top republicans. he can't let a story like this fester. if you think it's unfair, if you press is out to get you, whatever, you just can't let a story like this fester. hook fore's off the this one, in terms of dominating the news, but he does have to that he won't let these kinds of things happen. he doesn't have a day to waste. not the first time that donald trump has tweeted things that have their origins nastiest, most disgusting the universe and twitter. it's like the sixth time that sourced toas been some white supremacist, anti-semitic, racist tweet twitter account. he's gotta cut it out! he's gotta stop it, because if areeeps doing it, people going to come to the conclusion that he's playing with fire, of theto rile up parts republican base that are the ugliest parts of it. and if trump constitute want want thatdoesn't

impression, he just needs to stop. was an -- iff he it was an absolute action, he still should take the opportunity to apologize, to be indignant not about hillary clinton but to be indignant about the groups who he's being with.ated that lack of indignation is hurting him with republicans as well as democrats, no doubt in my mind. >> 100%. the antidefamation league said no problemp has had denouncing people he disagrees with in the most clear and unequivocal terms. he should be denouncing these kinds of people and these kinds twitter accounts with the same kind of clarity. all right. coming up, our good friend, al back on the show and weighs in on why he says the f.b.i. was right to not chargesd criminal against hillary clinton. that is next. ♪

>> we are joined from washington, by our great friend. todaynt wrote a column entitled "hillary clinton needs a dr. no." i read your column, brilliant as always, it said comey made the right decision but hillary help.n needs what kind of help does hillary clinton need? needs someone to say mrs. clinton or madam secretary, you can't do this. have done the e-mail server. someone should have told her that, back in 2009. someone should have told her, john, i'm sorry, fine if you want to give speeches but you're a very rich person. from take $275 grand

goldman satchs. the clintons have a lot of talents. i think in a time of crisis, you aboutfeel pretty good hillary clinton. but they also have a sense of entitlement and arrogance. we're somehow good people, so same rules don't apply to us. she needs someone to tell her, no, that's not right. >> in the context of going forward, why shouldn't that well? be someone you know >> i think john is the one who best qualifies for it. department.e state but kind of -- you know, a cautionary flag there, mark, which i wrote about in that column. john left the white house in the of january 20, had, convinced that he persuaded bill clinton, don't a sleazyrk rich, fugitive. and poor john got back after a sleep and found out that clinton had pardoned mark

richt. >> al, in hillary clinton's operation of this campaign now, to put someone in that role? how would it actually be enacted? i think i'm thinking if she a presidency, should win. john is an adult. i think he can do that in the campaign. incidents occurred before the campaign. i think she's made mistakes but that egregiousf nature. but when she gets to be she's got a lot of smart people around her, but real hillarybe loyalist. it's not that you want people around you who aren't loyal but want someone around you, who, as i said, will say no. i was corresponding today. we said ted kennedy said one time that president kennedy said got to have two or three sons of bitches around you. then you have to reward them and them know that's what you need. that's what she needs.

>> i'm apparently a very lucky man because i have way more than two or three sons of bitches around me at all times. is, you're for you talking about the dr. no that she needs. right now she's recruiting a dr. yes. about the veepstakes. who do you think makes sense for hillary as a running mate? think tom perez does. i don't think the idea of an belected person should ever a running mate, a good a labor secretary as he might be. i think the one that makes the most sense is tim kaine, unless she thinks she's in political trouble. then i think you have to go to elizabeth warren. i don't think they want to pick sherrod brown. >> you've been writing a lot of lately. i remember one recent one where the sanderstask supporters. talk about that a little bit. >> you can say there's a better choice than tim kaine. the two criteria ought to be,

andthe person be president, number two, is the president comfortable with them in a campaign sense and particularly in governing? tim kaine clearly meets those tests. she may decide someone is better. is outsay that tim kaine of bounds, that this is a guy who has a 90% voting record, has a committed liberal by virginia standards, certainly standards, national that he's unacceptable, i think crazyreally create a caucus within the democrat party, which was what we used to ago, john.ars >> all right. al, thank you for being with us this show today. it's always a pleasure. up next, what to expect from donald trump's north carolina rally tonight. mark will talk about that when we come back.

>> welcome back. we're waiting for donald trump to arrive for his first public event. appear today with a special guest. joining me here to talk about guest --al >> another special guest. >> senator coker, who we think is on the list. going to be campaigning with newt gingrich. what's going on with these seeming auditions? is a very public tryout. [cheering] [inaudible] >> it's not only how he interacts with these potential but how the public takes

them. how does this crowd react to bob corker? are they as enthusiastic for him trump? are for donald also, newt gingrich, is the crowd as excited for newt for donald they are trump? i think that newt gingrich is able to whip up the crowd. pence, we're going to have to see. he's out on the campaign trail with him. but this is unprecedented. usually these are very circle closed-door meetings. >> what's interesting is that great performer. he knows how to get a great crowd.n from the i bet he watches, do they move the crowd? because that's such an important part of how he's been a candidate. >> i think, who is going to help you? you with ag to help certain demographic? i'm not sure that's the correct

things, butat donald trump has defied all expectations. i think what we should be isking for personality-based. does the character match? that'ss he somebody going to play the role that donald trump wants him to play, if they get into the white house? is what i've been hearing trump will... [cheering] [inaudible] the tweets trump put out in reaction to the comey ofouncement, there was a lot press release. you read through them. what's kind of the message there trump campaign? >> rigged system. that's the narrative they've been trying to paint in this now.ign but they started focusing in on it in the past several months, not only was it hard for him to get the nomination, because it's a rigged system, that inoculates him from the idea of the delegates taking the nomination away from him. also -- >> we're going to throw it back to you, because they're doing the pledge here.

>> thank you for being with us. be right back.

>> one more thing before we go. we couldn't help noticing president obama's many faces behinde was sitting hillary clinton on stage at that rally, here in charlotte. kind of amazed by them. in case you missed it, don't worry. we've cataloged some of the presidential facial expressions on display. [cheering] ♪[music]

>> man, i love those things when we do them! kind of fantastic. want to come back to the big news of the day. comey. nobody expected it. in clinton world expected it today. what's your view about its now inand what happens the aftermath? >> well, what comey did was extraordinary. and i understand why he did it. he felt, given the public's particularly in light

of what loretta lynch did, he needed to have some trabs transparency. but it is an extraordinary step for an f.b.i. director to lay a case -- facts of a case like that and then exonerate her. think he is now going to have to explain more, and i think people will dig into some of the things he revealed. revealed new things today about hillary clinton's e-mail practices that either weren't or weren'tl affirmed. but in the main, not being indicted is obviously a huge political thing for her. i think, in a weird way, comey laying it out, saying i'm a man of integrity, yet i still didn't want to indict her, in a weird way, i think that helps her. they get a few breaks, i think this thing may be behind her and republicans are going to have to look elsewhere. >> i couldn't agree more. i think people from the clinton to, they seealked it that way. they -- obviously their first indicted. we're not that's great. the second thing was, you know, having comey take her to the course it gives

some republicans some ammunition to fire at her. it does raise comey up in some ways. they can say, look, comey didn't go light on us. he didn't seem like he was to recommend an indictment. but he still didn't indict. done whatad just would normally be done, which is not say anything, and just like notton's lawyers say, she's indicted, people would have wondered, what did they look at? a political influence? what standards did he use? comey laid it out. i think it's unprecedented, certainly within the context of a presidential campaign. i think, in the end, this could her more than some of the alternatives, although it is still a scathing indictment of she conducted herself. >> as you know, the clintons don't mind. the clinton always think they can survive scathing. what they can't survive is indictment. so they'll take scathing any day of the week. all right. mark, i'm gonna really look forward to hearing what you have about what happens down

there when we next see each other. viewers,n, all of our everybody, tim jones has a great bloombergpolitics.com. it's about a town in vermont not to allowher or syrian refugees to resettle there. be in atlantic city. mark will be in cincinnati with donald trump. be with joewe'll biden. west,"up, on "bloomberg the manager of lockheed martin's judo program. inil tomorrow, for me charlotte and mark in raleigh, sayonara!you ♪

>> you're watching "bloomberg west." let's start with a check on your news.erg first word president obama and would-be successor hillary clinton are carolina.g in north >> there has never been any man

or woman more qualified for this office than hillary clinton! [cheering] >> ever! >> likely g.o.p. nominee donald trump is also in north carolina. in raleigh today. the f.b.i. recommends no charges be filed against hillary clinton a private e-mail server as secretary of state. f.b.i. director comey said and her aids were careless but there was no misconduct. lead tomay is in the proceed david cameron. south africa, double pistoriusympian oscar may return to prison for murdering his girlfriend three years ago. asking for 15e years. global news, 24 hours a