mark: i'm mark halperin. john: and i'm john heilemann. "with all due respect" to gary johnson, perhaps your question would be more appropriate in another setting. -- geography. >> this town was the end of the silk road. gary: what is aleppo? >> you are kidding. gary: no. ♪ john: we will take latebreaking swing state polls for 600, alex. q poll showed the

that in florida, donald trump and hillary clinton are tied. clinton is up by four points in north carolina. clinton is also up by 5 points in pennsylvania. with 48% and donald trump at 42%. and finally donald trump up by 1 point in ohio. we will talk more about that later. first let's talk about an intrepid story. last night clinton and trump went back to back at nbc's commander in chief forum. and it was a daily double letdown. when it was over, trump was roundly hammered on substance, while clinton on style. tonight we will start with times seemedat perturbed about questions about her controversial e-mail practices and handling of classified information. 12 hours after the forum, she held her third media

availability in four days by the tarmac in white plains, new york before heading off to charlotte, north carolina. here is her reaction to how donald trump performed on the intrepid. mrs. clinton: when asked how he would stop global terrorism, his answer was simply "take the oil?" the u.s. does not invade other countries to plunder and pillage. we don't send our brave men and women around the world to steal oil. and that's not even getting into the absurdity of what it would involve. mass infrastructure, large numbers of troops, many years on the ground. of course trump has not thought through any of that. john: she went to north carolina and made some of the same points. so in the wake of that forum last night, is hillary clinton on offense or defense? mark: even trump advisors have

said in the last day, even when trump raises his support for putin, they think it is a mistake. i think she wants to go on offense. it's just a reality of presidential campaign coverage and politics. so much is driven by the framing of the polls. these polls are huge because trump's path involves these four states. i spoke with two of his advisers about their view of the race. both of them said, winning these four states is the way. the next likely option is a big drop-off. the fact that he's competitive in these four is huge. pennsylvania as the toughest, it is huge. she is on offense after the forum, she feels. and the putin thing alone does not help him. the frame of the day will be, this is a tight race, and she is going to do everything she can to fight him off. john: i do not think that is exactly right because it is not

that type of race. trump has a pass to 270, but it -- path to 270, but it doesn't really go anywhere besides those states. looking at all the other polling, we have seen as of the past couple of weeks, she has arizona, texas, all these other places where she is on offense. it comes back to the intrepid. every time -- last night she seemed defensive and annoyed. mark: for sure. john: when she was questioned by matt lauer about her e-mail practices. and one of the big problems with that, i think she should have wanted it to be one hour so she could talk more about substance. because once she is talking about substance, she thinks she has the upper hand. we will talk about trump. mark: trump was panned for a lot of things. critics said he had a lack of substance. he displayed a lack of specifics. he said that america's generals were "reduced to rubble." and yet again he was criticized

correctly from mischaracterizing his own past statements about whether he was for or against the iraq invasion. here was what he said today. he reports, you decide. clarifying -- mr. trump: iraq is one of the biggest differences in this race. i opposed going in. and i did oppose it, despite the media saying no, yes, no. i opposed going in. and i opposed the reckless way in which hillary clinton took us out, along with president obama. letting isis fill that big terrible void. but i was opposed to the war from the beginnings long after my interview with howard stern. mark: from the beginning, long after. [laughter] mark: as we said trump was , criticized for his praise of vladimir putin.

those remarks were criticized by the republican head of the homeland security committee and the speaker of the house paul ryan. today though, this afternoon late on cnn, trump's running mate mike pence came to his defense. mike: i think it's been arguable vladimir putin has been a stronger leader in his country than barack obama has in his country. mark: trump was in cleveland largely making a speech about education. his campaign was dealing with news of a big staff shakeup in florida, and the report in the washington post there were mass departures from his policy shop in washington, d.c. so john, again a lot going on in trump world. if his performance tracks how he was last night, with some areas of criticism and stylistic flourish, will that be enough to win the debate? or does he need to up his game ?john: the fact that he will be

game?his fact that he will be in a direct confrontation with hillary clinton will make it harder for him to do what he did last night, to bluster his way through and not go long on anything. this thing on the iraq war, i know we have a lot to talk about -- he's lying. he is just lying. it is not just the stern interview. there are three separate instances before the war where he did not at all of those it. the public record of him opposing it, the first time was when the war was going on after one year. he keeps saying this and it is not true and people are finally holding him accountable for it. when he lies in a presidential debate like that, there is a high risk to fact check him. mark: every day closed to the general election he is being held more accountable for things that are not true or are inconsistent, or are deemed irresponsible. he got a taste of it last night. he won the coin flip so he got to the second. it will be harder.

if she shows up at the same debate with the demeanor she had last night and tries to hold him accountable with that demeanor rather than a light touch, he could get through the first debate winning with that level of performance. i will say again, in the states that he has to win, there are a plurality of voters that don't mind trump's totality. john: again, to come back -- the fact is -- and i was critical of her on style -- and if she performs that way in the debate, it could allow him to skate through. from her point of view, she will be better. but what you raised, it is important. there is no one around trump that i know that thinks it is smart to keep raising vladimir -- keep praising vladimir putin. mark: mike pence backed him up. john: he is the only one. i think it is nuts to do that. the truth is, if your five -- if you apply the standard -- had

barack obama said anything like that in 2008, what would the republicans have said? we have a new poll that looks at likely voters who do not hold college degrees. in fact, they hold high school diplomas at best. when we look at that group we see hillary clinton is beating donald trump in a two-way race 47%-40 2%. broken down by race, a huge gap between white and nonwhite voters. all with no more than a high school degree. among white voters, trump beats clinton. but when you look at nonwhite voters, clinton dominates. we asked respondents about their top concerns. 56% said their top concern about donald trump was his comments about women. white voters mentioned clinton's e-mail troubles. so mark, among that what jumps out at you?

mark: these are hitting on the things that our polls suggest voters have concerns about. look turnout is in a close race. ,the ground game matters and getting in the early vote matters. creating passion for your candidate and against the other side all matter. and these campaigns see that. they see the negative as inspirational as much as the positive. john: seems that ground game is going to matter a lot. we know that trump does better with white high school and lower education voters. we also knew that just tracking how to does in general that she would kill him within this group as with other nonwhite voters. the real issue is that those kind of voters are the kind who requires effort to persuade them and turn them out. it will be a huge test for her on whether she can turn out those members of the obama coalition. mark: the republican national committee officials say trump may have gotten a late start in the ground game, but we have the

best ground game in the history of politics. if they are right -- john: the history of politics? mark: that is what they say. john: were they around for the 2008 election? mark: if it is the case, it could make the difference. in the states that were going to decide this. trump has a coalition that could get him a plurality. she is the favorite, no question, but he has a coalition. so what is aleppo? we are going to tell you all about it when we come back. ♪

♪ mark: it has been a rough day for the libertarian candidate for president gary johnson because of an answer he gave on "morning joe" on msnbc about

aleppo. here is a quick guide to the last 24 hours for governor johnson. >> in the george washington university battleground survey, gary johnson has 11% support among likely voters. have you looked at these polls? 42 states have 10% plus. 15 states with 15% plus. >> mitt romney tweeted "i hope to get to see former gop governors gary johnson and bill weld on the debate stage this fall." gary: we need to join arms with china to deal with north korea. >> what would you do if elected about aleppo? gary: and what is aleppo? >> you are kidding. gary: no. >> it is going to be big, it already is. i am just wondering -- gary: no no. i am frustrated with myself. i feel horrible. >> what do you think will happen?

>> i have to get smarter. that is part of the process. >> in terms of the president of the united states -- if you don't know what aleppo is, you can't be president. >> gary johnson appears surprised by the question, what is aleppo? >> his responses what is -- response it, what is aleppo? >> did you have a brain freeze moment? >> no excuse. i was thinking in terms of acronym, aleppo. mark: when governor johnson you and i were pretty bullish on the moment of this campaign. the worst moment and the most attention after the day has passed. where do you think he stands? john: it is fair to say that what we saw between them yesterday, bill weld has a lot more foreign policy and he came across a little bit tentative, gary johnson. this is a big problem. this is a key moment for him.

this will gain a lot of attention at the wrong time. i don't know if it strictly speaking disqualifying, because donald trump has done 10-15 things that are worse. it is problematic. you can only say the obvious thing -- it's not great. mark: i think that he is handling it okay. i think we need to hear more from governor wells and see how he buttresses. but, i do not think -- i think this morning after the convention is not so much that he is dead. i don't think that he is. we have two candidates that have gone through a lot worse in their own ways. i think he can come back. he needed momentum to get into the debate, and this is not first great for momentum. and he needs to get better known. that he's better known now. john: he has accomplished that. mark: he will be on the broadcast news, and he will be talked about in social media more than ever before. he has to figure out a way to parlay it into positive attention. john: given the way that many millions of americans feel about donald trump and hillary clinton

if they see this and it makes , them explore gary johnson more, you know, i'm willing to forgive that for the fact that he's not one of the other two. mark: when we come back, legendary political strategist mary matalin joins us right here after this. ♪

♪ john: joining us is everyone's favorite republican turned libertarian, mary matalin. it is great to see you. we have a history with you and your libertarianism. it seems appropriate that we ask about your party's candidate nominee gary johnson, who had a , bit of a moment. what do you think about the question mark and i were thinking about -- dead, or can

he survive? mary: no, the problem is that he's not really a libertarian. he's not really attractive towards real libertarians. the aleppo issue is going to get him, and like you said, everyone is going to be looking at him now. in this election as you know for , the major two candidates, over 50% of each of their support is due to not liking the other guy. so hillary supporters don't like trump. and that is who they are voting for. so in his case his supporters , predicated on that they don't like either of the others. but if you are a libertarian, he is not. john: in what way is he not a libertarian? mary: he is the political equivalent of a cafeteria catholic. religious liberty is the essence of liberty, at least american liberty. and he's not on point on things. he is a lovely fellow, and i hope he gets to the debates. but i would rather that austin

pearson be the candidate. mark: i don't want to oversimplify what being a libertarian means, but he's for lower government, less taxes on the fiscal side, and less government, in terms of social issues. do you mean he doesn't have it in his gut? mary: he is relative to the one party, the two parties representing the one interest. ok, yes he is more libertarian than that. but he's not a clarion call for classical liberalism or classical libertarianism. mark: he is not like an intellectual. mary: you are making me say something mean about him. mark: i agree that he has positions that are off, and that he's not a member of the party for 48 minutes. i just don't quite get what you are saying about him. mary: ostensibly no apparent libertarian principles

portrayed with fiscal policy to foreign trade. mark: polls have shown trump within striking distance of the states he needs to reach a 270. do you think he has a 20% chance of winning? mary: i think he has a 100% chance of winning. and as you know -- mark: you are positive? mary: the race is closing, despite mrs. clinton's dumping hundreds of millions of dollars. relative to his $4 million. mark: you think hillary clinton has a 0% chance of winning? mary: i will just say 10-15%. i just think he's going to win. the closing of the race, the turnout you mentioned, whether or not he has a turnout operation, and the rnc does, and senate races are turning out every rock. he is in the margin of error in

about 10 of these states. and so, between the rnc and senate races and down ballot races pushing him, that will be his turn out operation. mark: i guess we should spend the rest of the time talking about the trump cabinet. john: no kidding. really, a 90% chance of winning? mary: as you know i don't have a puppy in this race. he is not really my guy, not a conservative or republican, and importantly he's not a progressive. what he is is that he has an action for bias. with conservatives and republicans have been, james 2:17, they have been faith with no action. so that is dead. he is a man of action i guess. john: let me ask a political question again, can you explain what possible political rationale donald trump has for speaking so kindly about

vladimir putin over and over? mary: yes i can, although i don't confer the campaign. except i will say i have spoken to kellyanne conway. she is brilliant. i think she has escalated his maturation rate, wouldn't you agree? i think he thinks he's attacking obama. you asked what the rationale might be. i think he sees everything a little different askew. , john: that is a psychological rationale, not a political one. there's no one around him except mike pence who thinks it's in his political interest to speak well of vladimir putin. he is widely unpopular among everybody in the country. mary: right, i don't disagree with that. again, we always have the same conversation. we think like we think. we are not thinking like the people that are can end up voting for him. they think we are all nuts in that the essence of what he is

saying is true. although they are two completely different systems. and the system he disavowed, communism, it is true that didn't -- vladimir putin is a better and stronger leader than obama is in this country. i would not say that, i think it's a distraction. but apparently distractions for trump have had no negative. mark: you think he has a better chance than the trump campaign seems to. let's talk about the states. do you think he's going to win michigan? mary: not necessarily. mark: wisconsin? mary: i think he could win ohio -- i think he can be competitive in the states he needs to be competitive in. with senate race is pushing him up -- florida, ohio, possibly pennsylvania. mark: there is almost no chance of -- you say he has a 90% chance and then you say, maybe , maybe he will win

pennsylvania. mary: i'm looking at fundamentals. even though i think -- is nothing more fundamental than the electoral college. mary: it is something we don't understand. in the same way that we made fun of the voters at rallies who turned out. mark: we never made fun of them. mary: did you not? ok good for you. , the mechanics have been to the rnc level. but she does not have something that he has, which is enthusiasm. so yes, i will say pennsylvania then. yes on pennsylvania. new mexico, nevada, iowa. mark: you think is going to win new mexico? mary: he will win states like that where he is in the margin of error currently. not in outlier polls, but these polls too. john: i can't imagine the kind of fights you're getting with your husband. mary: who? do you think he is my go-to guy

for politics ?john: tell us what politics? i do not think so. john: tell us what you would advise trump to do for this debate with hillary clinton. mary: talk to roger ailes. [laughter] i would not try to be anything different than what he is. i would have a couple things up my sleeve. what he has been right on is the large, large stuff. on immigration, economics, and for national security. john: we have to leave it there. mary matalin, thank you for coming on to the show. inside views from the campaign trail right after this. ♪

♪ mark: joining us to talk about the campaign trail through

reporters through their respective candidates every step of the way, in charlotte north carolina, msnbc political correspondent kasie hunt, and katy tur in ohio covering donald trump. your candidate seems to be on a humanizing tour. we have seen this before, candidates looking to show more of themselves. talk about why you think she is doing it. kasie: there are a few pieces of evidence we have seen that points to this. first of all the press conferences. we talked about her unwillingness to talk to the reporters that covered her most of this campaign. that has changed dramatically in the last week. all three times she's traveled with her press corps on the new plane, she talked to reporters, taking questions. and of course yesterday she talked to matt lauer. she is also, it seems, getting more personal in the interviews

she is doing. she talked to "humans of new york," you might have seen it. they interview normal new yorkers on the street. and they asked -- they talked to hillary clinton. she told them a personal story about being harassed as a woman in a law school exam. the guys said, hey, you are , what are you doing here -- they were to be sent to vietnam. she said she learned early on not to show her emotions and that it made her seem aloof. it's not just another swing back. we talked in the spring about how she would potentially have trouble running against donald trump. and democrats were growing worried that she was going to be coasting and that these polls are tightening. it seems they are making a strategic shift to counteract that. john: we saw donald trump talk about his position on the iraq war, say once again something that seems to run squarely in

the face of all available evidence. that those of us who possess of the internet can muster. why does he keep misrepresenting his position on the war? katy: because he can't say that he was wrong on something, or that he may have made a mistake. we've never heard donald trump do that. he's expressed regret for unnamed offenses over the things he said, but we've never seen him talk about mistakes he might have made in the past. and it seems like the position he is taking now by saying he has judgment that he would not have gone into iraq, it seems like he's sticking out this supreme judgment position in a way that doesn't allow him to say that he did not have the best judgment in 2003. he's sort of doing it, saying he was a private person, was a businessman, why were they even asking me about it? but at the same time he's

claiming he has the judgment now when he did not necessarily have any real intelligence information until these past two briefings. he is trying to say now that he would have known all along. this is part of donald trump selling himself as part of -- himself as somebody that is fit to be commander-in-chief. someone that won't get us into more conflicts overseas. someone that won't allow any sort of vacuum to be filled by a terrorist organization. it is problematic because the evidence does not support that. donald trump in 2002 expressed support for the iraq invasion on howard stern. today he talked about a 2003 interview with neil caputo, basically a word salad of him saying maybe you should go in, , maybe you shouldn't, wait for the u.n., it doesn't matter, i'm really thinking about the economy right now -- that's anything but a strong disapproval of the invasion. he was talking about a 2004 esquire interview, saying that

he knew that iraq was a mess and was always against it. but that came out a here and a -- a year and a half after the invasion already began. in fact esquire magazine is pushing back, posting an addendum to their story, an editor's note that said that donald trump did not express that he was against the war in 2003, but rather this was a 2004 interview after the invasion. mark: both candidates played to their worst types last night in some ways. hillary clinton was defensive and did not seem particularly warm. trump, we talked about all his problems. why do you think that is, and what is the campaign saying? kasie: privately i think the that so is frustrated much time was spent on e-mails

in particular. and they are raising questions about whether or not that speaks to the qualifications to be commander-in-chief. that said, i think they feel like the pressure has been taken off of them. and she successfully got back on message this morning with that press conference. of course, she can because she held so few of them, it is a mechanism that is working to her advantage. standing up and doing that. but the reality is this also gave them an opportunity to see where they need to practice for the first debate. and where exactly -- it is pretty clear she was personally frustrated with what was going on from the get-go. that is a something now that they have another couple weeks to practice before they face donald trump. mark: katy? katy: think the campaign is at least saying they felt positively about donald trump's

performance. donald trump tweeting that hillary clinton did a terrible job. if you take a look at donald trump off prompter and on prompter, they are two different candidates. on prompter, he is very careful about his words. he isn't so outrages. -- outrageous. he does not necessarily make the same headlines. when he goes off prompter, that is when your hear him praise the vladimir putin of russia or talk about our generals being reduced to to rubble. these are not the themes we are hearing on the campaign trail while he is on teleprompter. the campaign is trying to keep him on message. the problem is that when donald trump is off script is liable to say these sort of outrageous things. and going forward, what will be a concern is how he will do in the debates. what donald trump will show up to the debates. he has said he has not done

traditional debate prep. he is not doing any sort of mock debates. i am curious to find out. the campaign is not telling us what he's doing and what they are doing to keep him on message, and stop him from saying things that might bury an otherwise good performance. mark: katy tur, kasie hunt, thank you both. coming up, our interview with gary johnson about personal stuff. you will enjoy that. and if you are in washington dc you can listen to us on the radio radio on 99.1 fm in the nation's capital. we will be right back. ♪

♪ john: this morning gary johnson embarrassed himself about his response when questioned about

aleppo. and for the first and possibly last time in his campaign, everyone spent the day talking about the libertarian position. yesterday we spent time with him and his running mate bill weld. since many do not know about them personally, we wanted to give them a chance to show, who are these dudes? we started at the top of the ticket, asking gary johnson to start with his family. gary: my kids have been textbook. they are wonderful. mark: how old are they? gary: 34 and 37. mark: where do they live? gary: denver and new mexico. more than anything i enjoy being with them. so i am a grandfather also. my parents are still alive. they live in corvallis, new mexico. my father was a world war ii veteran, saving private ryan,

band of brothers. he was in the 101st, paratrooped into normandy before d-day. mark: when you see your kids are textbook, what do you mean? gary: i mean they are terrific. they are just -- you dream about kids in the way that they should be, those are my children. mark: before you got into politics you were in construction and real estate. gary: i started a one-man handy business in albuquerque, just me, and grew that to employ over 1000 people. mark: in the early days when it was just gary johnson, what kind of stuff did you do? gary: painted houses, concrete, carpentry work. mark: all self-taught? gary: no. actually i have paid for , everything in my life since 17 years old. 17, i startedt working construction jobs since they were the highest paying. i got on a crew where we build houses from the ground up. john: when we sit down with presidential candidates, we have to talk about drugs. you are a proud inhaler, right?

gary: i am a truth teller. i tell the truth. tell the truth and you do not have to remember anything, so that's who i am. so in the context yes, i have inhaled. john: obviously there are users of cannabis that identify with your campaign. you have said you are not going to partake in using any thc related products while running for president. and if were elected, you would abstain. given your views, what you think -- why do you think it is important to abstain as president? gary: i have maintained that you should be not on the job impaired. running for president is a 24/7 gig. being president is a 24/7 gig. the notion of incoming missiles, 12 minutes to deal with it, i think the american people need to be assured that somebody answers that phone that is all there. and so drinking is part of that. i don't drink. i would maintain that you shouldn't be drinking and the

-- and to be on the job either as president. john: your view is that abstention should apply previously. presidents should stay away from any substance that would impair them at all times. gary: i don't want to speak for others. that's the libertarian part of me. you may be able to do that, that is a decision you are ok with, but for me personally from a personal standpoint i would be , abstaining. --k: what is a better movie "fantasia," or "the sound of music?" gary: "fantasia." mark: which is a better band, the beatles or the rolling stones? gary: beatles. mark: what is the better tv show, "mad men" or "breaking bad?" gary: "breaking bad." mark: why? gary: because it was filmed in albuquerque. but the best television of all-time, "game of thrones." oh my gosh. mark: no metaphor for you? gary: no, that is it. you have not seen it or you

wouldn't have asked the question. mark: i don't get the accents. they confuse me. i am a "breaking bad" guy. you know why? it was filmed in albuquerque. gary: "breaking bad" in the top five. but i put "downton abbey" in maybe number 2? "the sopranos" number 3? mark: that is a killer list. john: what's your favorite nonfiction book? gary: i guess it would have to be "game change." [laughter] mark: it would have to be. john: what is your favorite piece of fiction? gary: i guess it would have to be "the fountainhead." mark: is there a president you would model yourself after? gary: jefferson has a lot of appeal to me that i would be the , most frugal president that has ever served in our lifetime,

leading by example, bringing an end to the imperial presidency that myself, bill weld, will be good stewards of the office not , being elected king or dictator. john: the commission on presidential debates says they have to get to 15% in the middle of september. they seem to think that even if they don't get there, the commission might deign to put the name. -- them in. you think that argument is plausible? mark: my spidey sense is that they will put him in one debate. but they are a package. the two of them together are an interesting team. wells is very prominent in advertising. they need to show people their personalities. they seem to be interesting, engaging figures. and a guy that likes "downton abbey" and "the sopranos," that's a huge coalition.

john: is interesting on educating the public. forget about the politics and who it would benefit. i think it would be good to have him on stage in that debate. i think it would be good for the country. people want alternatives. that was gary johnson. we will get to know his running mate bill weld when we come. -- come back. ♪

♪ mark: yesterday during the calm before the firestorm that broke around gary johnson, we got a chance to talk with him and his running mate bill welds about their personal stories. we showed you johnson, now we will talk about bill welds. we started about talking about his relationship with friends in high places, highest out of the m democratic party and nominee

, hillary clinton. bill: i like them both. bill clinton was my favorite governor in the 1990's. i have known mrs. clinton since she was hillary rodham. we both worked on the nixon impeachment. she was majority staff, i was minority staff. we worked closely on the ground in impeachment of the president. that is an unforgettable experience. i've had good experience with them over the years. mark: tell us about your kids. where do they live and what do they like? bill: i have eight kids. i have been married twice. teddy roosevelt's great-granddaughter for five years. we have two in california, one in the foreign service, one in baltimore, one in boston. 3 stepchildren. i have been married to a former writer of the washington post, magazine editor. and our three kids, one in california, one in washington.

and my body man here, marshall bradley, is my stepson. mark: so when the welds get together, what do you do? bill: it is pretty mischievous. our favorite word in both of the blended family is gossip. let's get together for a good vicious gossip. and you know, a car ride is an ideal place to have a good gossip because people cannot hear you. john: when you were growing up, where you think about politics at a young age? bill: i was thinking about becoming a latin teacher. having said that, my father was the uncrowned king of the republicans in suffolk county, long island. i heard the yapping from an early age, which i associated with cigar smoke. and to this day i love the smell of cigar smoke because it means everyone will be home for the evening. mark: you have been a public figure, and i am wondering if

somebody was to sit down and write your biography and says i've written articles and read , all the footage, when they say -- what would they say about the essence about bill weld? bill: most of my life is about public office and knowing what you're going to do once getting there. the state budget was too big, the state budget was bankrupt, and everybody said that, including the finance secretary. so i knew that i wanted to set the fiscal house in order. cut taxes a lot, and cut the budget and the state payroll a lot. i did that too. that was a success and we were rewarded. this is the third one where i know exactly what i would want to do if i get in. and it is exactly the same thing i did as governor of massachusetts, and gary johnson did as governor of new mexico, reverse the fiscal policy of the state, cut spending, cut taxes, and get us back on a straight

path. which strengthens the economy indirectly. if small and medium businesses know taxes are going down, they don't need big tax cuts, they just need security and they will build the plant next door and will hire the 23, 41 workers. and that makes the unemployment rate go down. mark: you are in the soundproof chamber when we were talking to governor johnson. i will ask you about a couple things. better movie -- "fantasia" or "sound of music?" bill: i guess "sound of music." mark: why? bill: julie andrews. was she in the movie? popular culture is not my long suit. mark: beatles or rolling stones. bill: stones, please. john: what books meant the most to you? bill: james thomas and his

biography of washington was my favorite historical book. in literature, my two favorite authors is luis borges, the argentinian, and vladimir nabokov. my favorite book is "pale fire." mark: thanks to our two candidates gary johnson and bill weld. bill weld is an incredibly impressive guy. john: he has always been. and i know a lot of people who think that this is an east coast ask theany people question why isn't bell weld on , the top of this ticket? he is an impressive guy that knows a lot about foreign policy. he was a popular governor in the blue state of massachusetts. i always thought he had a national future 20 years ago. mark: best i can tell, he has not weighed in on the aleppo

flap. he could probably talk about al eppo for hours. it will be interesting to see when he talks about it and how he handles it. john: gary johnson, you ask him why he is doing this, and he says he doesn't want to leave any stone unturned. i have no regrets. i feel like bill weld feels like this is a joyride, like gary johnson said, come do this thing with me and it's the last chance to have a voice in the national conversation. i can't imagine that he's not wringing his hands over what happened with his running mate today. mark: one more big push to get the 15%. our thanks to governor's gary johnson and bill weld. john and i will be right back. ♪

♪

john: on bloomberg politics.com, check out more from our latest polls of voters without a college degree. high school and less. mark: some craziness in the twitterverse. some people say that the clinton campaign say that this race is over and mary matalin is saying , that trump has a 90% chance of winning. there is a lot of uncertainty. but we know that hillary clinton has a better path to 270 by a lot. week the intensity of the has been crazy. coming up on bloomberg west, emily chang. until tomorrow, from both mark and me, i say to you, sayonara. ♪

♪ rishaad: it's friday, the ninth of september. this is "trending business," and i'm rishaad salamat. ♪ going to be live in singapore and turkey this hour. this is a look at what we are watching. caution --tor urged urged caution when talking on the note seven -- or taking the note seven on a plane. china firing a warning shot at the u.n.