a lot energy left and thank for being with us. >> we're going to see you back here in one hour. special from new york. ♪ i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. a suspect now in custody. tr the florida resident that drove a van that looks like exhibit a for see something, say something and my thoughts on how to climate surround thing man hunt represented a new partisan low. plus did one single american county determine the outcome of the 2016 election? ben bradlee thinks so and if he's right what might that

county tell us about the midterms? and nbc's rebranding of megyn kelly has ended after a comment about blackface. but was her deck stacked from the get go. and a message about leadership that could not be more timely. but first the suspect was arrested in florida friday and facing up to 48 years in prison in connection with devices sent to prominent democratic politicians and donors. christopher ray said these are not hoax devices. still to be determined is whether or not thaw were viable. the suspect was charged withile egooal mailing of explosives and assaulting federal and former officers. that's the good news. we owe a debt of gratitude to

the law enforcement solving this case so quickly. and the pipe bombing perpetrator that presents another low in our discourse. before his capture of this case as a potential false flag operation. before there was a suspect where thaw were addressed to prominent democrats. that suggests the intent was to do harm to mem bfrz of that party but some suggests that was too clean shs too easy. maybe somebody wanted us to stereotype republicans without causing any physical injury. that would be a false flag operation. the mere mention of that possibility was greeted as heresy by some but that wasn't what i found offensive. the idea someone would send over a dozen packages is itself not logical. so there's no such thing as an

implausible explanation. what i found vile was that some seemed to be hoping for a certain political outcome, namely the party affiliation of the perpetrator. that's sad that some would wish for a domestic terrorist to boo playing for thugt team. no one guy with a screw loose sums oppolitical party. those of us prifbl -- prifbl nl toads have a platform know people like that there throughout and our words -- last night the president isammed a potential john mccain moment. remember when a woman said she distrusted senator obama because he was a muslim and mccain immediately shut her down. too bad just hours after the arrest in the pipe bomb case,

the president didn't do like wise when the crowd began a familiar chant at his rally. and that brings me to this week's survey question. go to my website at smerc smerconish.com. does the president have a obligation to rein hostile chants at his rallies? my answer is yes. two fbi veterans, former fbi assistant director and jaums galiano a supervisory special agent. speak to me on the issue of intent. what does it matter whether he intended to kill or to frighten. >> well, the charnels will make a difference there. what his intent was will inform the charges that they bring

against him and i think the complaint so far is a holding document. ybt don't think this complaint will be the end oof the charges we see because they're still investigating the case, still trying to figure out what the motivation was. you don't send pipe bombs through the mail without intending to hurt people. we don't know enough to know really what his intent was. >> have you seen this type before now that we get a look at the suspect. >> i think we've seen other cases of extremists that have carried out attacks for one idology or another. i go back to the '60s when we had so much violence and it involved bombings that were occurring all over the country,man a directed against police officers. so we've seen what happens with extremism in the past. it's yet to be seen as mentioned what specifically his motive may

have been and we may never know. if he doesn't explain it and we don't find other statements by him, especially made before the event, we may not know. >> okay. but just looking at that van, tom, isn't it pretty clear what he was seeking to do. i was willing to entertain it was all a distraction -- >> i understand that. i meant we might not know specifically that he devised these devices to absolutely harm the individuals in a serious way. we think so but the part about the explosives contaken harmful material, that we know. how it was wired or if it was wired correctly, that we don't know. anybody would know if they're sending mail to a former president that it's going to be screened by the secret service and once these devices are

discovered, then postal inspectors and the rest of the country will be on a heightened alert for the rest of the packages. >> i'm feeling like i felt thij aftermath of the parkland shooting. as detail said are coming forward, why wasn't there data entegration? are you sensing any of that? >> i tell you what. somebody who's been down here in manhattan, it's been a sobering week. hats off to law enforcement, the nypd, the local and state, federal folks in florida dud an amazing job. just to put this unperspective, the longest case in history was the unibomber case. that took seven years to solve. and even just last march it took 18 days before law enforcement

is able to track down the perpetrator in the serial bombing case. and to your question it's a difficult one and i'm sure that my fell oocolleagues will agree. we cherish civil liberties, the ability to speak our mind. unfortunate lathe hyperbole on platforms. yes, on hindsight we look back. the fbi stood up and said we missed this one. just look at my twitter feed and you can esee tons of harsh, incendiary things. i agree woo need police these poomal making over threats like this gentleman did when he was accused and arrested and went to jail for talking about bombing a

florida utility comp an. but there's a fine line between free speech where we're allowed hyperbole and actual threats. it's going to be difficult i think. >> i was watching in real time when the tarp was being put over and i thought i can only imagine the conspiracy thererists. why would they cover to -- move the cover the van with a tarp. >> if they make sure they collect the evidence so they can get their money. they want to make sure the kind of evidence the van contains when they talk to the suspect. remember they're going to want to take thuks like finger print,

dna, all from the interior and exterior off the van. law enforcement has no idea if this suspect was acting alone. and that doesn't mean in this case that's true. they want to make sure if there are any other co conspear ateres. is preserve. >> tom fuentas good old-fashioned police work made this happen. >> absolutely. in this case i think the key was the finger print and because this individual had been arrested before. his finger prints were in the file and raekered checks and everything from someone threat violence. i think without the finger print, without any dean ads

evidence in the packaging. it just might have taken a few days longer and see who else was doing this, particularly from the south florida area that had been involved in possible lelts of violence and bombings and threats in the past. >> i don't wash dwrag any of you but i'll give you the chance if you want to riri spond. we are microphones. some of them may have issues and responsibility comes with with it. anybody want a piece of that. it's okay with if the answer is no. go ahead. i think we need be fair figure -- for the public to understand it and it's called

dealing with with folks that there emotionally tist shed poem, edg and have a glie exfreszing his by views opthe white supremacists and at the psalm him to seminal tribe. i understand inplutical ideology play as role. and we're politicians or senior officials in the summer. absolutely had the are esponsibility first couple of days i know jams and ib weren air frequently saying don't zwruchl immediate conkz. people saying it has to be republican orall we said was

don't jump to that conclusion and investigators have to not jufrm to it until the facts lead them to a more appropriate there a and i think some have been reporting since that pundits were on the air. we're saying when you're running to an conclusion. even if that is obvious that he was a registered republican but don't come to that opinion until you verify that fact. >> final thought, quick la. >> words matter. but they don't need words in order to act like cooks. >> appreciate your booing here. go to my facebook page. i'll read some responses through the the course of the program. "trump just lost his chance to

be presidential and capitalize on the support and sympathy off the 67%." and he missed it. he missed it unfortunately for the rest of us. another one quickly. trump needs to reew n in his rhetoric as do his critics. it's as vile as -- i don't want to play the relativity game. i will just say seating to the loudest voices in the political room has done a disservice. goto our website, answer today's survey question. which asks does hoohave any to run into the rallies.

>> megyn kelly is neyoegs yaeter would it have ever been possible for the former fox news icon to change her image. >> here's part of last night's bull maher take. >> pirates offend one-eyed people and we can't dress there's a hors there's hobo because it offends homeless, can't dress as an escaped mental patient. it offends conyeah. hydrating better than $100, $200 even $400 creams. with our b3 complex, beautiful skin doesn't have to cost a fortune. olay.

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it's official megyn kelly's morning program on nbc is cancelled. the former fox news star had been struggling in the ratings but her fate was sealed when she made a racial comment on tuesday. the push back from even colleagues was swift and it seemdisee seems decisive. joining me now, entertainment tonight hoets, michelle turner. this will be remembered of her

giving her walking papers. was it that simple? >> that's a good question. did she ever have a shot? because if you remember when the big announcement came that megyn kelly was coming over from fox there was immediate and widespread skepticism because what we was she was the prosecutorial interviewer. point for point. she was very strong and tough in her approach. sotoget the nouncement and -- knowing she is going to be a morning show host and very lovable and girl next door and that was we've already an i don't go. but then when all of these snow ball things started happening, whether it was the cast of "will & grace" or sawing i regret

going on and the blackface comments she had a struggle going into it. we also knew the paw day she got which i don't begrudge anybody getting their money. >> i agree with you on that. i can illustrate your point. let me first show you a clip of megyn as she hosted in prime time at fox, verses nbc. roll them both. >> let me stop you in the first point. you don't steam seem to know what you're talking about. i have read the testimony that was given before the u.s. -- >> i'm also a little nervous. bear with with me, please. i'm so grateful to all of you that rour rr here as our first audience, you in the studio. we have the entire cast of "will

& grace" here. that's how i feel. >> the demographics for those two programs is different. an ageing white population that tunes in. fox and you've got to reach many of color. >> i thought she did a really good job when she was at fox. i comaway from that even liking her more as a person after interviewing her but when i heard that she was going to morning, i automatically said i don't think this is going to work because i didn't look at her as a personality hat that had a huge following, women and especially women off color who watch television, i didn't think she had that type of following so i taalready thought that was huge gamble and if you thing of even some of the comments saying

santa clause is white. that automatically had folks turned off. then she was replacing two african american hosts who hosted that show. i think it was bad choice after bad choice after mistake after mistake and she didn't help her sw swflself with the blackface comment. >> the age of all of america are largely over. i don't think since "seinfeld" signed off did we watch one particular show. people are saying are you watching such and such and i've never heard of it because there's so much throughout and wore rr all in our individual silos. we love a comeback story. is she done? >> absolutely not. i definitely thing she well show up again. where.

>> i don't know. fox is starting their digital network. there are so many different outlets and places to go to have a platform and a voice. she most definitely will be okay and show up again. but in the meantime she has a good dugz sit on while she figures out what's going on. i said i wasn't going to talk about money, didn't i? >> thanks for booing here. >> thank you, mike. >> let's see what's you're saying on my twitter and facebook pages. you don't get fired over just one thing. there you go. racial remarks sinks from fox. this was in the work withes i think for a long, long time and probably would be better characterized as instraw that

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so did a single american county determine the outcome of the 2016 presidential election? and if so what can we learn with the midterms 10 days away. both of my parents were born and raised which had voted democratic for dk aide said. trump did just flip the county, he won it by 26,000 votes. frars that provide nearly 56% of his entire state. three swing states, wus wus, michigan and pennsylvania.

so in understanding. diseffected residents, do we unlock the key to donald trump's victory? that's the provocative theory. joining me now is its offer, ben bradlee jr. a former reporter and editor that spotlighted the famous expose on the catholic church. are you saying literally or figuratively that came down to lucern county? >> i thing more figuratively. this is going micro to get macro, if you will. i, like so men ea, was shocked that a candidate as unusual as donald trump got eect alled president and looking for a different way to write about the story, i looked for lucern county which is traditionally

democratic but surged for donald trump and created this 56% victory marnlen and thought this bead a different way to look at the trump phenomenon which the mainstream media, let's face it, mostly missed. >> the title, i think is very deliberate on your part. they feel they've been forgotten. speak to that. and i think that struck a cord and resonated with these folks. they feel isolated. they feel faz they've been marginalized by flat or falling wages. they felt a dominant liberal culture as personified by

hollywood and network tl vision condescended them and mocked them. and they just related to trump in ways that they did not to hillary clinton. they felt listened to. he just spoke to them in ways in which hillary did not and many were democrats who crossed over to vote for trump in the primary in the republican primary and stayed with them in the general. and they've told me they didn't leave the party, the democratic party left them. >> based on a lot of what you write about was elected to congress. he's now running zbens bob casey in my home state of pennsylvania. so what can we read into based on your midterms and the

analysis of barletta. >> ensome ways he was trump before trump. having risen to power in 2006 by spotlight thing illegal immigration issue 10 year said before trump did the same thing. so they came together as kindred spirits and trump recruited bar lettau to run against bob casey and it looks like he's having a difficult time getting traction, at least if you believe the polls which have him down about 15 points right now. so there's also redistricting going on in pennsylvania thanks to the state supreme court, having found that republicans jerry mandered the congressional

districts. so as a result it appears that the democrats are going to pick up four house seats, maybe five. and barletta looks like he's having a tough slaug because he didn't have state wide name recognition being a congressman from lucern county. may come back a third time. right now it appears that his coat tails aren't going to be long enough. >> right but folks would be incorrect to think the constituency has turned on the president. ysh don't want to give it all away but in the owned of the book you revisit and they're still standing with their man. >> they are. at least my microcosm of 12 are.

of my group, 11 of the 12 say that if the 2020 election were to be held tomorrow, they would enthusiastically vote for trump again. and only one has slipped into the doneicided category. this is before yesterday's events of the trump zealot being arrested in the bombings cases and this may throw a wild card into the midterms. >> i'm giving your book to my mom. she's a former miss hazeltine high school. >> god bless her. >> what do we have? the midterms are turning out to be closer than we thought. hard to say and including mine was wrong. my message, relative to where

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what makes a great leader and how do they get to become great leaders? those are the questions pondered by general mcchrystal who authored leaders. here's what i thinking as i was reading the book. i'm going to put up on the screen those 13 leaders, the personalities that you profiled. what i wondered is could they switch jobs? i get that martin luther mouth not understand einstein's theory of relativity but is the skillset transferable to different areas of responsibility? >> i would say the short antser on our research is no. leadership is extraordinarily contextual. of the skills of the leader.

in fact most leaders can't even puck up from one job, go on to a different one. like a ceo and be effective in the next. >> is the skillset innate or can it be acquired? >> that's an intersing question. i think there are traits a person can have that give them advantages but much of leadership must be learned. and the core is to be adaptable and do what's needed in a given situation. i was taught how to lead people into battle but in combat you quickly learn if it's stupid but it works it's not stupid. if you take that to leadership, then if it's bad plp but it works, is it bad? and that's what i think the united states and the world is wrestling with right now. >> words matter.

when we're talking about leaders and qualities of leadership. >> words are extraordinarily important. i go back to maximilian. there was famine, there was a revolution and this quiet lawyer who's really introvertd and writes most of his statements and speeches out, distributes them. he whips the population into this frenzy towards virtue. it's all about building a virtue estate. but it begins to operate for virtue but using terror. in one five-week period in 1974 they guillotined 900 people. sometimes for slanderous news or slandering patriotism.

and so what happened was the words took people away from the actual believes they have, towards something that many short sided >> is there a modern parallel to what you're saying? >> i think we all have to draw our parallels. i think enemy leader now, particularly given the capability of information technology, things like the oth other social media can go around what used to be a buffer of traditional media where people would put a little bit of thought and filter on it. once that gives it we get inflamed and we get inflamed about things. we communicate faster than we can think and woo can do pretty terrible things.

>> leadership can be used for ill purpose, right, general? >> in fact that's exactly right. we talk about good leadership or bad. good or bad i would say is whether it's intrinzically good. the the most effective leaders have been for criminal causes. and the terrorist leader of al qaeda in iraq that we killed. but the reality was i left that experience and writing about him swins a deep respect for him as a leader. it was really world class. and just because we dus gree with someone's objectives, doesn't mean we eshould assume they're not going to be effective in motivate engpeople. >> power and leadership are separate items.

>> they are. someone like boss tweed unnew york city amasses an amazing amount of power for corrupt purposes and that was a transaction between people who were also benefitting but real leadership makes us better than we would otherwise be. real leadership inspires us. real leadership doesn't go to the petty parts that exist in all of us. real leadership makes us stand a little straighter, walk a little further, be a little more generous and that's what i think we should be talking about right now. >> thank you very much for being here. style come your best and worst tweets and facebook comments like this one "smerconish usually i can't stand listening. lately i think i see things the way you do more and mor. you haven't changed."

i w going to say which of the two of us do you think has changed. all that i ask is that you watch the totalality and then make your determ naugzs. does president trump have any obligation to rein hostile rants at his rallies. at smerconish.com. i'm told there's a lot of voting. back in a sec. [man 1] ...this is my body of proof. [man 2] proof of less joint pain... [woman 3] ...and clearer skin. [man 3] proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis... [woman 4] ...with humira. [woman 5] humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. [avo] humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma,

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so every week we have a different survey question at my website at smerconish.com. during the course of the hour

i'm on, people cast the ballot. i don't see the result until you do. here's the question. does the president have an obligation to rein in hostile chants at his rallies? 15,631 votes cast, pretty large sample, 96% of us, i'll say us, say yes. take a look at what happened. yesterday was the day the pipe bomb suspect is apprehended and that very night he's in charlotte and this is what transpires. i'm not saying it because it is my network. if it were in a different context, they were chanting fox sucks or msnbc sucks, i would say the same thing. that moment, i will take general

mcchrystal's word, for leadership. senator obama is a good man, a family man, trying to do what he thinks is right for the country. mr. president, you can't just read from the prompter and mouth those words. you have to show us that you mean it and take action. very easily you could have reined in the crowd, they would have followed his lead, but he is trying to have it both ways to gin up the base for the midterm elections. what else, what have we got? hot show. smerconish, it is more likely trump will have a bill clinton moment and play the saxophone on the arsenio hall show. i know the moment you're referring to. what else. give me another one. come on, guys, chop chop. you were wrong once again this

week. you try so hard hoping trump is good. time to turn your back on him. everyone must for the good of the country. hey, craig, what are you watching, man? i just said to you as i said at the outset of the program that the president missed an opportunity. he should have reined in the crowd, but he spent too much time stoking that audience. i don't know what more you want from me than to lay it out with that simplicity. what's next? what trump is doing is like yelling fire in a theater. dick, i can't argue with that. to the extent the president is responsible for having -- look, when i'm on radio or television or writing in print, i'm always thinking there's a guy like this that's out there. and i have a responsibility to use the privilege of the microphone in a way that's not going to incite someone like this among us.

there's no surprise which way this whole thing turned out, and there are many, not just the president, but certainly him, that are not exercising that responsibility with their word choice and they need to. one more if i've got time for it. my favorite part of the show. you cannot put a fox news mentality into a mainstream show. megyn kelly was always a disaster waiting to happen. i can remember when all of the family signed off. i remember when my parents were excited to watch the final episode of "mash." i remember seinfeld's last episode and me being similarly excited about it. those days are over. we don't all watch the same television programs today because there's so much choice out there, and that was a large part of megyn kelly's problem. don't get me wrong, i think she's a gifted broadcaster. she said something indefensible this week, i don't know that it was a fireable offense, but my observation is people are stratified in what they watch.

the audience didn't transfer from fox to nbc in the mornings. i'll see you next week. (vo) this is not a video game. this is not a screensaver. this is the destruction of a cancer cell by the body's own immune system, thanks to medicine that didn't exist until now. and today can save your life. ♪ ♪ something important. it's not going to be easy. quicksilver earns you unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere. actually, that's super easy. my bad. that's super easy. ♪

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good morning to you. i am christi paul. >> and i am victor blackwell. >> we have breaking news this hour. we're in new york and we have breaking news on the mail bomber investigation. sources tell cnn cesar sayoc