mark: i am mark halperin. john: and i am john heilemann. but with all due respect to hillary, james comey had better material. mrs. clinton: his campaign is, selloff america's assets. we sell the statue of liberty? he wants to make america great again, maybe he should start by actually making things in america again. [crickets] mrs. clinton: we need to write a new chapter for america, but it should not be chapter 11. ♪

john: spontaneous humor abounding in atlantic city. welcome to another day of campaign combat in the presidential race. this afternoon, hillary clinton staged a rally beneath the faded sign of trump plaza, one of hit donald trump's shuttered casinos in atlantic city, where she laid out a case against his business record. later tonight, donald trump has a campaign. we will talk about both of those events throughout the show. first, a lot of focus has turned to the republican nominee's response to the fbi's response yesterday over not recommending action against hillary clinton. and director james comey's takedown of clinton's probity regarding practices. both put out videos featuring comey, and the quickest action to come out of congress in many years. comey is called to the committee

tomorrow. and then loretta lynch will do the same. today, house speaker paul ryan went so far as to say that clinton should be banned from the national security briefing that presidential nominees traditionally receive when they become their party's standardbearers. >> i was on a ticket in 2012. after the convention, you get the full, declassified information as part of your transition. as part of being a nominee. i think it should deny hillary clinton access to classified information during this campaign, given how she is -- has so recklessly handle classified information. we have seen nothing but

stonewalling and dishonesty from secretary clinton on this issue. that means a lot more questions need to be answered. john: mark, we will talk about donald trump momentarily. but let's look at republican leaders. they have bundled -- bungled these types of inquiries before. most recently, with the benghazi matter. in your view, what would it take for republicans to succeed in prosecuting this case? mark: if they want to make this politically effective, they will have to perform significantly better than they did on benghazi and most other hearings that have had a public policy and political motives. in cases like this it is complicated, but you have to do what is right. is there a public interest here? there is. what james comey did was controversial, what hillary contended was controversial. they need to do what is in the public interest, a fast invested -- investigation. they have little time to prepare, and they have to make the public joined in the questioning of, was this done in the public interest?

john: i will tell you, i think that on every level theoretically speaking, but hearing by the house oversight hearing with james comey could be a useful exercise in theory. but a snap here he -- hearing called to the next day, given the way white house republicans have acted in the past, the idea that they will conduct a useful hearing either politically or in the public interest on this short notice, strikes me as highly implausible. mark: john heilemann, you are right to be skeptical. i agree with you. it is an interesting decision on their part to do it so quickly. there are a lot of questions. bernie sanders is critical of hillary clinton's e-mails. i have not heard a single other democrat raised other questions. republicans, if they need to be medically successful in undermining comey's decision, and piggybacking on his verbal indictment, they will have to

find a way to get reporters to ask democrats -- which we should be doing anyway -- what is it about what hillary clinton did that troubles you in the wake of what color me -- comey said? john: the trunk campaign is trying to capitalize on the fbi's rebuke of clinton and her e-mail practices. one of the biggest obstacles might be donald j trump himself. last night at his rally in raleigh, trump devoted portions of his speech to the lack of a recommendation of an indictment. but as trump often does, he wandered off message, and in some cases, way off message. mr. trump: hillary clinton cannot keep her e-mails safe. and you know what, folks? she sure as hell cannot keep our country safe.

cannot do it. we are talking about the safety of our people. the laws are very explicit. stupidity is not a reason that you're going to be innocent. she went to extraordinary lengths to carry out a purge of her e-mails. i think the one with the most to lose -- he just lost today. she is crooked hillary, don't you understand that? we need unity in the republican party, real unity. and the leaders have to get supportive. saddam hussein was a bad guy, right? but you know what he did well? he killed terrorists. he did that so well, they did not talk, it was over. john: trump, we showed you a decent, pretty good attacks. he also made that comment about saddam hussein and a whole lot of other comments. and the saddam thing has gotten as much if not more attention

from the hillary clinton issue. so mark, is trump seizing this moment, or wasting a valuable, maybe invaluable opportunity? mark: listening to trump and talking to some of his senior aides, i think they have a good handle in uniting the republican party and harvesting the best stuff from comey to make this initiative. but his propensity to do things the media and critics pick up on his till there. the convention is coming, i do not know that trump will be able to milk this for ever. but with comey tomorrow, he would be better off making this more of a centerpiece. it will be fascinating when he gets here in a little bit how much he talks about hillary clinton. how honed he has that message.

but i think the trunk campaign has done a decent job, but could have done a better job on this. john: nicole wallace this morning said this was a golden opportunity for trump. all he had to do was talk for 10 minutes on this one topic, essentially repeat what comey had said in its preamble, and he could've scored a political homerun. instead, 66 minutes, and this thing about saddam hussein, which is not just something that the media or critics would seize on, but it is than in thing to say. and it is -- it is an insane thing to say. the ball was placed on the tee -- he did not do very well last night at all. mark: nicole's not here, but i hope she is watching. nicole wallace of all people who wrote that trump will not change, stop waiting for him to change.

no way can he do a focused to 10 minutes. again, i think they have a pretty good handle on the politics, but need to execute it better for their own sake. john: he should still stop saying things about saddam hussein if he knows what is good for him. hillary clinton and her campaign talked about everything but her e-mail today. this morning, she put together a college affordability plan to make in-state college tuition free for families making under $125,000 a year. this afternoon, clinton staged a rally next to one of trump's shuttered casinos in atlantic city. i was there. and she denounced the donald's business practices. we will talk more about her remarks later in the show. mark, for right now, broadly speaking, how do you think the clinton campaign is doing at

this moment handling the political fallout -- the legal situation a win for her, but the political fallout from what comey said? mark: the clinton team, my hats off to them. they now -- they know how to play scandals, she is avoiding questions. they will wait to see how comey does on the hill. they know how to play this game well, and they are playing it with a pretty weak hand, given what comey said. they are playing hardball politics to try to neutralize the story is much as possible. but eventually, she will have to answer questions, and that will be uncomfortable and difficult. john: this will delight you, in atlantic city i was talking to jennifer paul mariner, and she said one of the things i have learned in 20 years of presidential politics, nothing is ever as good as it seems or as bad as it seems. yesterday, comey's decision seems like good news, but i knew there would be another ticket of

the clock and we would have to deal with this negative stuff today. very even keeled about it. they are playing politically, a weak hand. but they are cool, calm, and collected about it. but because of the way they were going to go after -- they think they'll be better off tomorrow than they are today at this time. mark: they were shot at and not killed, and that is a good thing in politics. nothing more exhilarating. believe me, even if the republicans in the house of a miracle tomorrow and they are totally ready for this hearing and do a great job, they will be up against for medical adversaries. the clintons know i do this kind of politics. john: they have demonstrated it a lot better than republicans in

our recent memories. the potential running mates for donald trump, one who said thanks, but no thanks. ♪ john: earlier today, before i got to the city of brotherly love, i was in atlantic city covering hillary clinton's take

john: earlier today, before i got to the city of brotherly love, i was in atlantic city covering hillary clinton's take it down -- take down of donald trump's record. she spoke next to the trump plaza casino and hotel. she used to that as a prop while describing his real estate dealings and bankruptcies in atlantic city.

mrs. clinton: it is no sigrid that atlantic city has gone through some tough times. and if your governor would start doing his job instead of following donald trump around, holding his coat, maybe we could really get new jersey's economy moving again. donald trump does not think going bankrupt is a big deal. but it is devastating if you are someone who plays by the rules. what he did here in atlantic city is exactly what he will do if he wins in november. step one, give a huge tax cut to millionaires like himself. step two, add trillions to our national debt.

step three, suggesting we can just default on our national debt like he default it on his business debt. it is the same scam over and over again. make no mistake, he is not asking for forgiveness. he is just hoping we forget. john: trump started defending himself even before clinton spoke, putting the blame for his casinos troubles in atlantic city on new jersey elected officials. this morning he tweeted, even if caesar's bankrupt, others will follow. ask the democrat city council what happened to atlantic city. after clinton's remarks, he continued his remarks on fox news and other places where he talked about how much money he made despite her critique. clinton has attacked trump for his business record in the past. was this time any different or more effective? mark: it will be less potent because the comey is taking up so much news bandwidth. the press is hugely sympathetic

to this story line of that trump has, there was a lot of stories that are factual. trump is rebutting them in a factual way. there will never be a full-throated effort. this is a very potent line, you will hear more of it at today's event. the trump campaign may be underestimating the agreed -- degree to which the media will heelys up. these need to be rebutted or hillary will get mileage out of them. john: the staging of this event was strong as of the faded signage of trump plaza behind her. the real-life person who was supposed to be a victim of trump's shady business dealings was not that strong on stage. i am not sure how much that will matter.

the whole thing had a feel of george herbert walker bush going to boston harbor to take on mike dukakis over not cleaning up the boston harbor back in 1988. kind of a template. i will say to your point, trump put out a statement right after the event, where he said he defended his use of the bankruptcy laws. and then boasted about creating thousands of jobs and making a lot of money in atlantic city. i think there is something romney-like about the frame that is put on him. he is only in it for himself, not in it for you, that is a really devastating frame if they can make it stick. mark: i am reluctant to say so and so is getting under so-and-so's skin. donald trump is sensitive about his business directives, and hillary clinton knows that personally. it is a threat to him unless he figures out a way to push back with effectiveness. john: yesterday, mark and i talked about where things stood in both parties. today, that state has changed a

little. after spending the day with donald trump in north carolina, bob corker, chairman of foreign relations committee told the washington post today that he is withdrawing his name from the vice president consideration on trump's ticket because he is "not suited for job of political attack dog." joni ernst also act out. she told politico she would try to help trump win in november, but probably not. -- probably not as his number two. given those two names of floated and he played it stands the donald vp position? mark: he says the list is up to 12, including generals. that goes against his previous statement about some of you knows washington to get legislation passed. there may be somebody on the

list, maybe someone who is been on all along that they have in their back pocket. i continue to be assured that he will pick somebody who is unambiguously qualified. if he does that, it is a winning pick no matter who it is. john: that is certainly true. you made the point very well yesterday that it is sort of crazy that trumps shortlist is expanding. even with people dropping out like a bob corker, the list continues to grow. the shortlist is getting longer, which is nuts. it is not just a funny point to make. it puts extraordinary pressure on the head of his setting team. if he starts introducing a late-stage names closer and closer to the deadline, it puts

huge pressure on the vectors -- vetters. we know what happened with sarah palin, donald trump is courting the danger again. mark: trump is a master showman. he may have had someone in mind for a while, he may be floating different names to build a public interest. the differences, trump does not need to height things. he will get a lot of interest no matter what he does. i am not sure this is a reassuring thing. in the end, all the sound and fury means nothing. the day he announces his pick, if it is someone who is qualified, great for him. if it is not, look out. john: i agree with you. something in my gut, i think trump would love to shock the world. he loves to do the muhammad ali thing. put someone out there who no one was looking for. after he tweeted people and floated all sorts of names, just to somebody no one had been expecting.

i think he would love that kind of shock and awe. coming up, u.s. -- former u.s. attorney general alberto gonzales to break down fbi's investigation over hillary clinton's e-mails. ♪

john: there has been a great deal of legal and political analysis concerning james comey and his organization's investigation into hillary clinton's e-mail practices. here to get his take, alberto gonzales, former u.s. attorney general under george bush.

good to have you. james comey was your deputy when you were attorney general. give us a quick assessment of him as a lawyer, investigator, and his ethics and prudence. alberto: that is a lot there. i cannot speak to his investigative skills because as a deputy attorney general, that is not your job. your job is to make decisions relating to prosecution. but listen, i know jim is a hard worker and i honor his service. he has contributed most of his professional life in the service of this country. john: you do not have any sense that he has any kind of political motivation in terms of how he handles his business as a lawyer?

alberto: no. but i think what is going on with respect to his press conference yesterday, and perhaps his judgment, i was really surprised by the comment he made that no reasonable prosecutor would charge this case because that is not his job to make that kind of assessment. his job as fbi director is to do an investigation and present the evidence to the prosecutors. in this case, the attorney general of the united states. i think in making that statement he is challenging anyone who disagrees with them. and, accusing them of being unreasonable. so if the attorney general decides that she wants to go ahead and prosecute this case, i think what he has said is that that would be unreasonable. and i think that is unfortunate. that is the thing that troubled about -- troubled me about yesterday's press conference. i cannot speak to whether his judgment is right because i have not examined the evidence. but one statement i thought was kind of interesting. john: how unusual is it for someone in his position to make

that statement? i know you disagree with it, but is it way outside of the norm? alberto: yes. if i were the attorney general, and the fbi director had done an investigation, i would quietly want to know what he was saying. do you think there is enough here to charge? but that would be a private conversation. for him to publicly say that no reasonable prosecutor would charge this case is really an attempt i think, to lock in the attorney general. and i think it is very, very unfortunate. john: stay with us, we will keep this conversation going right after a quick break. ♪

john: and we're back with former u.s. attorney general alberto gonzalez. i know you've said you do not want to say, under the circumstances, the limits of

what you know about the case, if hillary clinton should have been indicted or not, but given the thoroughness of mr. comey's press conference yesterday, what more would you need to know? mr. gonzales: i would not make a decision based on a 15-minute press conference. i would like to sit down with investigators and look at what they look at. they would be a lot more work that i would like to do to feel comfortable. particularly since it involves

someone running for president of the united states. you want to get this exactly right. i would be shooting off the cuff if i simply said, "based on what he said, this is what i would do." john: one thing he leaned in really hard on was the question of intent. could not find criminal intent on hillary clinton's part. the lack of intent seemed to be a big part of why he would not recommend an indictment, but there are those who point to the law and say intent really is not necessary because gross negligence is the standard. what do you understand the

appropriate standard to be? mr. gonzales: it will depend on the statute in question, and in some cases, specific intent is required. in others it is not. for example, standard gross negligence would not necessarily require a winding of specific intent. it is going to depend on the statutes being looked at. what the attorney general would be or should be doing, from my perspective, is looking at those statutes and looking at the evidence presented by the director and making her own independent judgment about moving forward. she is not bound by anything jim comey said yesterday. she's not bound by his recommendation. her job is to look and see if the evidence reports the indictment in this particular case. john: let me ask you a political question. just from the standpoint of appearances, the standpoint to come forward and disclose this on the day hillary clinton hit the campaign trail with president obama, that has come under question from a variety of sources. put us in the mind of james comey. what would make the fbi director decide to do this on a day he knew that if it was happening, and do you think that was inappropriate?

mr. gonzales: i do not think that affected his decision. again, i do not know the factors he weighed in deciding yesterday was the day he was going to make this announcement, quite likely. what i find surprising is for the fbi director to have a public press conference and announced the findings of an investigation before even making a recommendation to the attorney general. i think he indicated that no one outside of himself knew what he was going to say, which tells me he had not even told the attorney general his recommendation. that is very unusual, for him to public the end on the world, "this is what my recommendation is going to be," without informing his boss. that i find unique and unusual, and i would be interested in terms of why he else he had to do that, but i cannot think of a reason why the announcement yesterday was in any way affected by the fact hillary clinton would be campaigning with president obama. john: given that he knew that event was happening, would you say it was maybe politically imprudent, just because of some of the questions and suspicions it might raise?

mr. gonzales: it could be that mr. comey believed he had made the decision and he knew what he would be recommending and wanted to get it out as quickly as possible, as far away as possible from the convention and election. it was simply a situation where he was ready to go and wanted to make the announcement. john: thank you very much for doing this today, sir. when we come back, we will walk down the boardwalk and talk the board talk in atlantic city, new jersey, right after this. ♪

>> in one word, how would you describe hillary clinton? >> delectable. >> strength. >> qualified. >> experienced. >> nice. >> competent. >> deceiving. >> one word to describe hillary clinton. >> liar. >> woman. >> hypocrite. >> dishonest. >> smart. >> fabulous. >> secretive. >> and donald trump? >> very hopeful. >> unqualified. >> on electable. >> fraud. >> truthful. >> opportunist. >> stupid. shifty. >> mean. >> arrogant. >> torn. i'm torn. >> hillary clinton. >> questionable. >> how about bernie sanders?

>> inspirational. mark: some of the sights and sounds and opinions in atlantic city around hillary clinton's event. not surprising maybe they tilted a little bit more in her direction. joining us now to talk more about trump v. clinton, casey hunt, who is covering hillary clinton today, and katie turr. the comey hearing still getting a lot of attention. how much is the trump campaign focused on reacting to that compared to everything out they might be talking about? katie: they are focused pretty heavily on it. donald trump said today they were going to focus entirely on hillary clinton's very bad day, but at the same time, he is still having to defend his business record, sending a statement saying that filing for bankruptcy is normal and that he got out of atlantic city in a

long time. he is still having to stray from the message and his son-in-law saying that his father-in-law's not an anti-semi in an op-ed -- saying that his father-in-law is not an anti-semite in an op-ed. they are having a hard time staying on message because donald trump is tripping over himself. also last night, talking about saddam hussein, that becoming a major point of controversy today for the campaign. mark: hillary clinton did answer questions today. how are they doing letting hillary clinton some -- answer some of these things herself? casey: we know how the clinton campaign deals with these crises. it is a little bit of a bureaucracy. they are careful and control. there are a lot of conference calls to figure out how to deal

with these things. there were conversations about how hillary should herself best respond to this, and the news came out today that comey was going to testify, so it not make sense to put her out there in the interim, lest she contradict herself again. those clips have been pretty brutal, showing what comey had to say and what she has until this point in saying as an explanation. john: i'm going to stick with you. we were in atlantic city together today. i know we were both talking to senior officials on the campaign. my sense is they are not dreading the idea of james comey going up to capitol hill tomorrow. what is your sense of how they greet the prospect of mitigating this matter further? kasie: my sense is that overall, there is a sense of relief that

they are able to at least put this legal cloud behind them. you also have to remember, she testified before the benghazi committee on this and other issues related to the report for hours and republicans came out looking worse for wear. there is the risk that this becomes overly political, and james comey is a figure who is viewed as somebody of great integrity by both parties, so i do think there is an element of risk for republicans that the clinton campaign is where a well of. john: i'm sitting here in philadelphia looking at a couple of things in my e-mail box. one of them has a headline that says "anti-donald trump forces

see convention coup as within reach" and another, "anti-trump leader noting that trump's team said he only had 890 committed delegates, well short of the 1200 he needs, so what is the view about the movement -- about the dump trump movement? katie: their view is it is a movement that will ultimately be fruitless. they do believe they had the with operation behind the scenes in place to maintain the operation. that said, it is a source of great frustration that there still are elements within the party refusing to embrace donald trump. he went out to colorado last week to try to smooth things over with some people out there, certainly with donors. that did not entirely work, so he certainly has a ways to go, but again, these controversies he keeps getting himself into our what is hurting him at the convention and what is giving these delicate groups the room to grow. mark: i want to ask you about bernie sanders who said pretty

negative things about hillary clinton her e-mails but positive things regarding higher ed. where does that relationship stand now? kasie: i think they are coming to a tenuous peace. all my indications are that there are discussions in the works for a potential endorsement event as early as next week in new hampshire. they are still kind of hammering things out and obviously, things could change, but this is definitely viewed -- particularly those income thresholds, starting at $80,000 but over the course of a few years, going up to $110,000 for families who would be able to get this kind of assistance to send their families to college -- this is the centerpiece in many ways or at least a centerpiece of bernie sanders' platform and campaign and it is something hillary clinton had previously criticized him for. she talked about how she does

not want to pay to send donald trump plus kids to college. she called the plan unaffordable. this is a real policy concession, and i think it reflects the fact that they have made progress in recent days and could come together potentially before the convention. john: we also had news from the donald trump campaign about fundraising efforts. looks like june was a much better effort for the campaign and yet, at the same time, they have no advertising on the air anywhere and none planned. can you just explain that conundrum? the money is coming in but not yet going out. katie: they still have to fund basic operations in various battleground states which they have not yet been able to do because they have not had the money to do it. but if you ask the trump campaign if they need ads, they will just point to the facebook ads they did last night on hillary clinton and comey just back and forth. that got over 6 million views and while experts will tell you those are people who are already supporters of donald trump and they must likely are not changing hearts and minds with that kind of thing, they believe their social media messaging and

their ability to drive a news cycle is enough. they are going to have to start spending in some of these states, but i do not have any indication of when that will happen. john: thank you both. next, we will talk to former pennsylvania governor ed bendel and former cruz campaign director, alice stewart. we will be right back. ♪

john: our final guest tonight is in fact sheet of guests tonight. ed rendell, big-time hillary clinton supporter and former governor of pennsylvania, and the former communication director for ted cruz, alice stewart. i just asked about what seems to be a renewal going on with the dump trump movement headed to cleveland. the campaign acknowledging their well short of the number of delegates needed, and some feeling they might be able to pull off a code -- a coup. ms. stewart: that was to be

expected. there are some people who have had concerns with the donald trump for some time and will continue to. as we get closer to the convention, they will be speaking loud and clear, but what we expect to see at the convention, the rnc has gone through the rules process and gone over the rules, and what is expected to happen is people will galvanize and rally behind donald trump and he will be selected as the nominee of the republican party. while there are a lot of folks holding their nose and do have concerns about some of his policies and where he stands moving forward, the number one goal, the number one focus for republicans and conservatives is to defeat hillary clinton. we cannot do it divided. we have to do it united.

the best way to do that is to get together at the convention, rally behind donald trump and put all eyes and focus on defeating hillary clinton. john: i'm going to ask about james comey. let's stipulate that hillary clinton not being indicted was a good thing for her and took away the largest threat to her presidential potential. having said that, what director comey said about her yesterday was brutal and in some respects showed her to be not totally honest. some would say an outright liar with respect to the way she handles her e-mail. how bad do you think the political fallout from the statement yesterday is for her? gov. rendell: i think the problem is that donald trump blew a good opportunity yesterday when he derided the entire process as being rigged and implied that director comey was in on it and was somehow pressured to come up with the findings he came up with. if he says it is rigged, it is very hard for him to turn around and use director comey passwords words, words that were scathing and parts against hillary clinton.

donald himself said it was rigged. i think he botched himself again by not taking a deep breath, forgetting about hillary clinton and saying, "this goes to judgment, care, serious matters, and here is what director comey said," so i think he made a big mistake and handling what could be a serious problem. john: let me stick with one thing on hillary clinton. given what comey has said in discrepancies he put forward yesterday and what she has claimed in the past, she will clearly have to talk about this at him point, right tackle does she not have to at some point that forward and answer the many questions a lot of

reporters would like to ask her after what comey said yesterday? gov. rendell: eventually, she does, but it's not exactly clear what some of the fact are. for example, the director said the reason he did not bring charges was no reasonable prosecutor would and because people who did similar actions were never charged. who are those people? that would be interesting to know, wouldn't? he said a lot of the e-mails had sensitive classified material. was the e-mail in its entirety classified? that would be interesting to know. i think there's a lot of fact-finding before anybody is in a position to answer questions, but i can imagine in one of the debates, someone is going to ask secretary clinton

those questions. john: be nice if she had a press conference before then. it has been a long time since she has had one. as a communications professional and longtime republican, how do you think your party and its presumptive nominee have handled the potential political opportunity that james comey has presented with what he said about hillary clinton yesterday? ms. stewart: i agree somewhat with the governor in that there was more to focus on yesterday as opposed to the rigged system. the fact that comey outlined in that a large number of the e-mails that were sent through a personal server were marked classified at the time they were sent, and this flies absolutely in the face of her repeated unequivocal denials that any of the e-mails sent were marked classified. in and of itself, that fact alone she obviously lied

repeatedly to the press and to those that asked those questions. i see it really hard for her to get through the next few months before we get to the debates without having to answer some of these questions, and that will be difficult for her to do in addition to the fact that we have national security information that -- who knows who has access to this now? we do not know who has tapped into this system, and that is a question that may not be known for some time. those are the kinds of things that need to be pointed out, that she lied repeatedly about the information in this year act that she knew what the rules were. she knew the rules regarding the use of a personal server and she felt that the rules did not apply to her. those are the kind of things that republicans and the gop need to continue to hit on over the next couple of months. john: let me ask you one question real quick -- it of words -- two words -- who would be the best vp pick for hillary clinton? gov. rendell: i like tom bill sack -- tom vilsack. john: thanks for coming back on the show.

we'll be right back. ♪

john: check out bloombergpolitics.com for all of your bloomberg news. coming up, the president of you -- city the ceo of aol on "bloomberg west" -- the president of udacity and the ceo of aol. for myanmar, we say to you, sayonara. ♪

♪ angie: it is thursday the seventh of july. this is "trending business". ♪ angie: we will be live in seoul, korea, sydney, but first, here is what we are watching. weakening.eps on happened thisit fast, investors fled. samsung is enjoying a recovery with profit beating