>> "state of the union" with jake tapper is at the top of the hour. right now, "inside politics" with john king. donald trump reaches back in time to explain his growing support. >> you have a silent majority in this country that feels abused, that feels forgotten, that feels mistreated. >> trump says he means americans who want a stronger president. critics say it's an appeal to angry whites. plus hillary clinton makes an eye-popping comparison. >> we expect that from some of the terrorist groups. but it's a little hard to take coming from republicans who want to be the president of the united states. >> just tough? or too far? and with the boss' blessing, joe biden thinks more about 2016. >> i have to be able to commit to all of you that i would be

able to give it my whole heart and my whole soul, and right now, both are pretty well banged up. >> how the death of his son impacts biden's big decision. "inside politics," the biggest stories, sourced by the best reporters, now. welcome to "inside politics" i'm john king. thanks for sharing your sunday morning with us to share the reporting and their insights, cnn's maeve reston, jonathan martin of "the new york times." robert costa of "the washington post," and "the new york times" maggie haberman. we begin with done trump who is sending the strongest signal yet that he will not mount a third party presidential bid if he fails to win the republican nomination. >> and the republican party has within treating me very, very fairly. all i ask is fairness. in terms of victory that would certainly be the best path to victory. we're going to make a decision very soon and i think a lot of people are going to be very

happy. >> said a lot of people will be very happy. a lot of people, they're going to love it. that was saturday in nashville. mr. trump easily took first place in a straw poll conducted by a gathering of tea party groups. and where mr. trump presented himself as the tea party movement's perfect bullhorn. >> at least i have a microphone where i can fight back. you people don't. the tea party people are incredible people. these are people that work hard and they love the country, and then they get just beat up all the time by the media. it's disgusting. >> simple math. yes, simple math tells us why running as a republican appears to be mr. trump's best option. brand new iowa poll out just this morning shows donald trump atop the gop pack in iowa 23% of likely caucusgoers back the billionaire businessmen. ben carson at 18%. the wisconsin governor scott walker and texas senator ted cruz are next at 8 and jeb bush and marco rubio at 6%. now there's a similar pro-trump anti-establishment ring to the latest national numbers, too.

again it is trump and dr. carson leading the pack. look at the slide month-to-month. hard not to notice. the sliding numbers of the two candidates who, in the spring, reviewed the big players in this race, jeb bush and scott walker. the numbers don't lie. trump is much more than just a summer fling for republican voters and this week he says he knows why. >> so you have a silent majority in this country that feels abused, that feels forgotten, that feels mistreated. and it's a term that hasn't been brought up in years as you know. people haven't heard that term in many years. >> if the calculation back in the spring was this will flame out, how different are things now in the republican campaigns that it is clear that we are going back to school with mr. trump and we are likely to go into the new year with mr. trump because he's leading nationally, he's leading in iowa, he's leading in new hampshire and he's starting to talk about spending money and seemed to hintz there that he was ready to say, i'm going to stay as a republican. >> right. there's sort of like a hint of a threat in his remarks on the

third party bid. but i think that, you know, every campaign now has realized that he is a serious force to be dealt with. thinking about their strategy, obviously, we see jeb bush hitting a lot harder, coming back at him and some of the other candidates using that as their way to get some oxygen in the race finally. it will be interesting to see because trump really is getting organized in these early states in a way that no one thought possible before. and it will be interesting to see whether he can translate all of that into actual caucusgoers. come next winter. >> and interesting to see. he has risen in the polls in part, not exclusively, but he got attention early on with his tough views on immigration. that helped him with the conservative base. but now you have the republican front-runner, this hasn't happened in my lifetime, the republican front-runner for president says one of his central economic planks would be, listen here, raise taxes. >> i want the hedge fund guys to pay more taxes.

i know them, they're all supporting jeb bush and hillary. i want the hedge fund guys who pay very little to pay -- they make a lot of money and a lot of it is luck. they pick a stock and all of a sudden they make a lot of money. i want the hedge fund guys to pay more taxes. >> so smart. >> but as a as a this is this is like sacrilege in republican politics except this new world we're in which none of us can let's put let's be clear we don't completely understand it is a populist guy going to the tea party saying i'm going to screw the rich guys. >> he's a populist guy who rides around in a gold plane. you said something we were talking about before. we're seeing something we haven't seen before. so every effort to say this thing is just like every other thing that has happened before, there is not much value at the moment in predicting. we can just cover what's happening in front of us. what he is -- what he is tapping into is a populous sentiment on the right, a feeling of anger at the establishment, in terms of the tea party anger, tax the

rich guys and then he says, i know these guys. he is combining this brashness, and this anger, but also on the immigration front, "a" it became very clear at the end of last year's midterms the midterm was going to be a pretty, pretty powerful fuel in the republican primary for the presidency. you saw it come back as an issue. and it is tied to the wages issue. i mean, essentially -- >> immigration. >> immigration. what you hear is republican voters are hearing this as you know, you want more people coming in to keep our wages down. people will argue the economics of that. people will argue whether that's true. but that is what trump is feeding into. >> what he does in the race, i guess if only nixon could go to china can only trump say republicans should raise taxes? what you're going to have now in the days and weeks ahead is hillary clinton and bernie sanders saying on this point i agree with donald trump, how about you, jeb? >> yeah. he really does squeeze the other mainline candidates with the donor class. that is driven almost entirely by economic issues. and by the way, not just hedge fund guys. he said yesterday in nashville that he wants to protect social

security, and he said medicaid. i think he meant medicare. but, you know, he is speaking to a republican party that is increasingly downscaled, that is older, and that is much more populist in orientation. they are not driven to politics, these activists i'm talking about, because they're worried about the capital gains rate. they're in politics because they're concerned about the border, what's happening to my country, and here comes along this guy, all the celebrity in the world who is speaking directly to their issues in a way that he doesn't mince words. i don't know if that's 51% of the primary. but it's 25. >> 25% is enough for mitt romney with how many were left by the end? >> right. right. >> which is why -- which is why it's labor day and you're a republican establishment type and you see this happening. you see that big of a field, it's time to think of putting money --

>> and in the world of super pacs where these guys who normally would drop out would get to stay in. that's helping trump. here's the thing on the other hand, what is the tv ad that you run against trump? >> jeb bush tried it on the stump this week. he said he wants to raise taxes. that's not a republican. he spoke in favor of single payer health care that's not a republican. jeb bush blames us in part but he seems to say the other candidates need to get tougher. >> this is a guy who is the front-runner. he should be treated like a front-runner not like some kind of alternative universe to the political system. >> i think he's asking us to do that, robert. but the other candidates have also for the most part been hit or miss. >> trump's not running an ideological campaign yet every one of his rivals is running against him like he is. >> right. >> so he's running as a traitor to his class who understands wall street, who will fight wall

street and be a proponent for the lower middle class. this is his campaign. he's not running to be bill buckley's favorite or to be friends with bill kristol. this is for working-class, conservative people who haven't voted in a long time. i checked in with lewandowski, campaign manager for trump about the third party thing. they're aware virginia may try to keep them out. >> the loyalty -- >> but they like everyone squirming. so they're not going to make a promise. i said to trump directly -- he said look i'm not making any promises. >> south carolina will be so much leverage to have. >> -- had they like everybody squirming. next hillary clinton's new approach to e-mail questions and a new label for republicans first though let's call this a hair raising politicians say the darnedest things. >> colon up here. i just -- you have to do an inspection. this is getting crazy. >> it is. >> say it, please. >> yes, i believe it is. >> if anyone wonders if mine is

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welcome back. safe to say this is not a happy

morning at clinton campaign headquarters. and here's why. show you above the fold in the sunday des moines register the new iowa poll out still shows clinton in the lead in the kickoff caucus state. but bernie sanders is closing in. secretary clinton for the first time is below 50% in this poll. let's look closely. clinton at 37%. sanders at 30%. vice president biden not actually running but he polls third at 14%. now remember, sanders is also leading in some new hampshire polls. and clearly had secretary clinton in mind when he told the big democratic meeting friday, voters are looking for something new. >> with all due respect, and i do not mean to insult anyone here, that turnout, that enthusiasm, will not happen with politics as usual. >> he didn't want to insult anybody there. but he did want to make a reference to somebody -- >> i'll leave it up to you to guess. >> who is it? >> interesting, though, jonathan, maeve, you guys both

worry about this. democrats get jitters. it's part of their dna. democrats get jitters just like humans breathe oxygen. however there is a deeper sense of jitters in the democratic party when people look at all these poll numbers. one of the reasons people are going to the vice president. one of the questions is how does she handle all this e-mail controversy. democrats were heartened earlier in the week when she set the jokes aside and she said this. >> i know people have raised questions about my e-mail use as secretary of state. and i understand why. i get it. it clearly wasn't the best choice. i should have used two e-mails. one personal. one for work. and i take responsibility for that decision. >> that's what a lot of people in the party want to hear. it was a mistake. not a no joke. but to the same reporter who she said, what do you mean, wipe it with a cloth, of fox news who

sometimes get under her skin, he asked several questions including about the ethics of bill clinton giving paid speeches and hillary clinton didn't like it. >> let me answer one of your questions because i think that's what you are entitled to. >> well, this is the challenge. the campaign very much wants her to take the tone that you saw in the first clip. >> right. >> and they recognize that joking about it, was a decision that in hindsight maybe we shouldn't have done that. but the problem is the candidate herself is driving this, as maggie pointed out this week in her story, and when she's pressed her true emotions come out and she doesn't want to really engage, and she doesn't want to sort of take it in a way that legitimizes it. and so, it's fascinating to see those clips side by side. because the first one is what the campaign wants. and the second one is when she's pressed a little bit how she acts. >> it's also who she's pressed by. and henry does get under her skin. we saw that in the press conference which i think was

just four questions from ed henry before she left. she, i think, does not think she did anything wrong. and we don't actually know what happened. so i mean it is too early to say whether she did or doesn't. a lot of her critics want to say she did. the problem is to the point she said in that earlier answer, there are legitimate questions about this. there are reasons people have questions about this. and as jonathan said you have to feel for her staff. because they are in a really tough position in the sense that -- and by the way in contrast to '08 i think at this point in the '08 campaign you would have seen sort of anonymous sniping. you're not seeing that. >> they're hanging to the. >> and i think they share her view that the press has been unfair. what you are seeing with that statement, at ed henry is she does believe the press has been unfair. >> and then she walked out. she didn't take any more questions, too. that was it. >> but the problem is, it's not just the press. she said about that the thing that she said that was that was problematic -- several things she said have been problematic. one of the things she said was

nobody asks me about this but you. i've experienced on the trail, voters at her events who have brought it up to me, i have not asked the question, they have said i'm concerned about these speed bumps with her. i said what do you mean by speed bumps. they'll say these e-mail issues. >> that's the thing the e-mail issue represents something to democratic voters that's much broader than -- >> clinton ads -- >> a stand-in. >> they don't understand exact did >> seems shady. there's something shady and that's what they bring up in conversation. >> in this quinnipiac national poll this week they did this word association thing where they said what's the first word that comes to mind. the first word that came to mind for hillary clinton was lying. >> right. >> well one of the things that you're seeing that i think a problem for her, you actually see this with jeb bush, they have eerily similar profiles, honestly, at least in this respect and in some others but in this one neither one of them is actually really driving their own message. when you are not driving your own message people fill in the blanks. hillary clinton is talking about a patchwork of progressive ideals in some cases, in some

cases just democratic base ideals. but there is no sort of i'm a fighter and i'm fighting for you. but there's not sort of some overarching theme that i think people are really able -- >> they also both just feel when you're on the campaign trail with them, they seem to kind of project that they're above the process in some way. and you see that in flashes of irritation, both with jeb and with clinton. and voters kind of key in to that and don't like that. whereas like trump is out there just kind of mixing it up and people like to watch that and respond to that. >> the democratic campaign early on looked very much like a republican campaign. you had sort of was her turn, you had an anointed front-runner. bernie sanders essentially making the point, folks there's something in the water this year and you need to think outside the box and think differently. can he make that sway? he's doing it with voters. can he do it super delegates matter. the party infrastructure does matter more in the democratic primary process than it does in the republican primary process. can he meet that case to them?

>> every time you go up to new hampshire, especially in iowa, there's this joke among some people that bernie sanders and a lot of these vermont types fish fans following him around. this is a real presidential campaign. he's risising in the polls witht going negative on hillary clinton. he's capturing all the populist energy. joe biden isn't scaring his supporters off. so bernie is surging. he is connecting with what the democratic base want post-obama. to move more to the left, to have energy, and that's a powerful force. it's not a joke. >> hillary does have a trump card, no pun intended. she is history history making candidate in the sense that she would be the first female president. and if you look at her numbers, they're very strong among women, is a key, key part of her winning the democratic primary. and potential presidency. and i think the bernie thing is obviously -- >> and as we point out her weaknesses we should make clear she also has a lot of strengths, too. everybody sit tight the

republican establishment is watching nervously. you might notice that as donald trump takes flight in the polls, jeb bush isn't exactly setting the world on fire. now there's someone else taking a close look at the field. our reporters share from their notebooks next. plaque psoriasis... ...isn't it time to let the... ...real you shine... ...through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection, or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase...

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and help stop further damage. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common, or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. joint pain and damage... can go side by side. ask how enbrel can help relieve joint pain and help stop joint damage. enbrel, the number one rheumatologist-prescribed biologic. let's around the "inside politics" table, ask our great reporters to share a nugget or two from their notebooks. maeve reston?

>> i think the hardest conversations going on right now in the donor community is among the anti-trump donors, how do you take down donald trump. and there are a lot of donors out there who see it as much too dangerous, obviously, for the candidates, or their allied super pacs to go after trump. so they're looking to more establishment pacs. to potentially take him down in post-labor day ads. we'll see where that conversation goes. >> and how much money might be spent. jonathan? >> the obama-controlled dnc could not pass a resolution this weekend expressing support for president obama's iran deal. it's a bit of an embarrassment for the administration, seeing as how it's his party. he appointed wallstrom and schultz. it has revived this sort of latest round of eye rolling among democratic operatives about the state of the party. president obama has not put a lot of focus on the party itself. but it is going to be fascinating to watch what hillary clinton does with the dnc. a lot of people in the party

notice in her speech last friday to the party, she pointedly said that she's going to rebuild the party from the ground up. now when you say rebuild, that implies that, something has to be built back up again. keep an eye on the former governor of michigan, jennifer granholm, somebody who could be involved in the party this year or next year if hillary clinton becomes the nominee. >> i think a bit of an embarrassment is you're being a diplomatic understatement right there. >> this is the summer of trump and the one person i'm really curious about his perspective is mitt romney. on late saturday i checked with people close to romney. i say what is he really thinking about his race? here's what i found from several people who had conversations with him, who are close to him. one he thinks the race hasn't started yet. he's watching it very closely. he's very surprised that jeb bush hasn't got a lot of traction. he thought jeb would be better at this point. he also thinks the race doesn't really start until january and february. in terms of ruling out a run, he's not running. but he thinks the race begins in january and february, and he's

watching it very closely, and people just kept telling me the same thing, he's keeping an eye on it. he's surprised how the race is unfolding. and its in flux and romney is on the sidelines. >> very telling, shrug it away. okay, guys. very subtle. >> maggie? >> jeb bush spent the weekend in my home state, three fund raisers in the hamptons. he is raising very aggressively and his supporters feel very good about that. where they're not raising is equally as important. they're not doing a lot of secondary cities, tertiary cities, places outside new york, l.a., texas, havens for money. that's because august is the toughest month but also because jeb still doesn't quite have a case to sell to a lot of donors and they are trying to figure out, you know, can they pivot past this rough patch, one donor said to me if this was september or october and we were still having this conversation i would be concerned. they are hoping we are not still. >> we will check back to see if they are in a month or two. i'll close with this. a quick thank you and a farewell. one of the key behind-the-scenes players on our "inside politics"

family, we do view it as a family, is moving on. hardy squire not only helped steer this half hour every sunday morning but has been waking up before sunrise, yes, for the past year-plus to produce our weekday morning secondments on cnn's "new day." as he leaves for a new adventure, i want to say thanks, good luck, and we'll call you every morning 5:30 anyway. that's it for "inside politics." thanks for sharing your sunday morning. we'll see you soon, "state of the union" with jake tapper starts right now. feeling the burn. a brand-new poll shows hillary clinton slipping in iowa, as her voters defect to bernie sanders. >> the same old same old will not work. >> he'll be here in moments. and -- donald trump. >> i don't want your money. >> or does he? the billionaire hosts a fund-raiser but refuses to call it