>> if you haven't heard, i disinvited donald trump. [ cheers and applause ] >> look at that response another twist in the donald trump saga. the billionaire facing a backlash over his latest comments and just a short time ago he released a new statement

fighting back. meanwhile, are any other messages getting out from the big red state conservative gathering? at odds on iran. leading democrat chuck schumer and the white house. will the deal survive? it's high noon in the east 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." donald trump's campaign released this statement saying in part "mr. trump made megyn kelly look really bad. she was a mess with her anger and totally caught off guard. mr. trump said blood was coming out of her eyes and whatever meaning nose but wanted to move on to more important topics. only a deviant would think anything else." trump was disinvited from the red state gathering event happening right now in atlanta as a result of his original comments last night. the host of the conference

addressing the issue just a short time ago. >> i think it was inappropriate. i really think it was inappropriate. i've got my wife here i've got my daughter here i've got 800 friends of mine here. it's a family friendly program and if he's not going to clarify that this isn't what he meant, i don't think i'm going to invite him in. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell is joining us from atlanta. kelly, we welcome you to dubious task of how this happened? >> just a few words and it ignited yet another trump fire. he made this cable appearance late at night on cnn, he was dishing about the debate was asked about the questioning and he took to task megyn kelly, one of the three moderators and you heard the quote. people interpreted it differently. i spoke with eric erickson, who is the organizer here he took real offense, he felt a bit torn reaching out to the campaign

looking for clarification so he made this decision to disinvite. here's how it all unfolded in the wee hours donald trump nowhere to be found this morning at a key conservative convention here in atlanta. the annual red state gathering. the billionaire and gop presidential front-runner was abruptly told he was no longer welcome here after trump made new crude comments about the questioning style of debate moderator megyn kelly. last night on cnn. >> you know you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever. >> event organizer eric erickson quickly pulled the plug on twitter writing "i have rescinded my invitation to mr. trump. while i have tried to give him great latitude his remark about megyn kelly was a bridge too far." erickson then told a small group of reporters here "i am just not

willing to give up being a decent person for donald trump." erickson said "i wanted to have him here as a legitimate candidate but no legitimate candidate would suggest someone, a female asking questions is doing it because she is hormonal. a trump campaign spokesperson fired back after midnight. "this is just another a example of weakness through being politically correct. for all of the people who were looking forward to mr. trump coming, we will miss you." trump was already taking heat from hiss own presidential rivals earlier in the day before his comments because of trump's language toward women. governor chris christie. >> i have a really strong capable, tough wife who wouldn't put up with five seconds of that stuff. >> i caught up with carly fiorina backstage. >> when donald trump or anyone else calls women names i think that's not helpful. >> today two presidential candidates have already

addressed this crowd earlier today. governor mike huckabee who talked to reporters and was i think arguably reluctant to take on donald trump. he explained he's a candidate wanted to talk about his ideas and policies and doesn't want to be push into being a social media critic of donald trump. he strongly defended megyn kelly, a colleague when he was at fox news distanced himself from the comments and right now ted cruz is wrapping up and by talking to many of the attendees here, ted cruz is one of the favorites among the presidential candidates this is his kind of crowd, social conservatives who are active and engaged. many are from neighboring southern states. ted cruz is likely going to address this as well. alex, ted cruz has been perhaps most reluctant to take on donald trump personally or directly saying -- really invoking the reagan 11th commandment, say nothing ill of another republican and at the same time much of the anger and the sentiment that has motivated trump supporters could, in fact

be available voters for ted cruz if -- just if -- donald trump doesn't go all the the way. so we're watching it unfold here. there's disappointment among some to not see the celebrity trump. frustration about candidate trump and some who think eric ericson did the right thing by saying please stay away. alex? >> well, we have a couple more coming up jeb bush scott walker still to address that group today. thank you so much kelly o'donnell for that. let's get reaction. i'm joined by matt louis whose latest column appears online. matt, i'm going to reach out to you first as you heard these new remarks about megyn kelly and the disinvitation by eric erickson. where and how does this end? will it end before it does appreciable damage to the gop? >> that's a good question. the republicans had a good debate thursday night despite the fact donald trump was there.

i think you saw the candidates -- that the field was much stronger than it was in 2012. i think it was a net plus for republicans but at some point donald trump, there will be a point of diminishing returns and if he stays in this thing forever, for a year or until we get to iowa and new hampshire that could do serious, serious damage. but i want to give kudos and credit to eric erickson. the conservative movement has been missing leadership has been missing adults. it used to be william f. buckley who stood up and called up the fringe on the far right, the john birchers, the ayn rands and excommunicated them. we haven't had anybody with the courage to do that and i think eric erickson is doing a great service in calling out donald trump for this. >> okay. and jonathan has been nodding in agreement with you.

i want to play for both of you what rush limbaugh said yesterday about the treatment of trump by the fox news moderators. here's that. >> big time republican donors had been ordered to take out donald trump. in the debate last night. we all made a mistake. we assumed the orders went out the the candidates. is, but the candidates did not make one move toward taking donald trump out. is the broadcast network did not one of the remaining nine candidate s candidates joined megyn kelly in taking a shot at trump. not one. yet we have been told that there were orders from republican donors to take trump out. >> matt, is that the conservative belief that it was the fault of the moderators?

is that at odds of what the mainstream republican party leaders believe? do you think there's a divide on donald trump? >> there's a divide but it's by no means down the middle. there have been a lot of mainstream conservative thoughtful serious conservatives joe. that goldberg george will charge kraut heimer, yours truly have for months now been talking about donald trump as being a problem. he's not a real conservative, by the way. if you watch the debate that was evident he's not a conservative. he's a liberal on a lot of issues including supporting single payer health care. it's unfortunate that rush limbaugh and others throughout in the talk radio world boosting donald trump. i think advancing -- i don't know a fringe paranoia theory here, a conspiracy theory. if you think fox news and megyn kelly are part of the liberal lamestream media, if we've arrived at that point, that's a

bridge too far, i have a hard time believing that megyn kelly is now in the pocket of the liberal republican establish. >> did you say lamestream media? really? >> yes. >> let's listen to what rnc communications chair sean spicer said today. here's that. >> part of the reason he gets the popularity that he has is because he's not by his own words politically correct but what goes with that is he has to be more careful with his words. i think there's no question he needs to immediately clarify that comment. >> how careful do you think the leading gop leaders are being right now because they want to be careful and not go too far and do what mr. trump says he will do which is if hey, if they don't treat me nicely i'm going independent. >> this gets to what matt was saying about the lack of leadership and in praising eric erickson in taking a stand to

say no donald trump, you said something that was morally offensive. not politically correct, morally offensive and you can't come to my gathering. matt was saying there haven't been leaders in a few years. i would say you can mark it since the tea party takeover of congress in 2010 when the fringe came into congress. that was the time for the grown-ups in the republican party, whether it was the party chairman, the leaders on capitol hill to say, no this is -- what you're doing, what you're saying is wrong for the party, wrong for governance. now we've got on the the point where donald trump can say the things he has said. leave aside what he said about megayn kelly. what about what he said about a zigt u.s. senator, vietnam war veteran, former p.o.w. any other person who would have said something like that about john mccain would have been written off absolutely completely off the presidential campaign trail not taken

seriously, yet donald trump goes up in the polls. just because he's popular among the republican party electorate doesn't mean he's good for the party or right for the party. at some point someone of some stature has to do with eric erickson did today. >> okay. let's get to kasie hunt right now at the red state event in atlanta. atlanta.at lann kase -- atlanta. >> alex, i've spent the last hour talking to people who have come to this red state gathering today and there's been mixed feeling. there's not a lot of anger at him for making this decision. even people who disagree have said this is eric erickson's party, he can invite whoever he wants. there have been a couple people who have said they feel as though trump is being silenced and that that's not good and a problem for conservatives on the

whole but others are saying you know what? many ways these comments were a bridge too far and they're taking away the attention and energy from the other candidates. one thing i will say, alex this is ted cruz's crowd. if ted cruz is going to have a hope of winning the early primary and caucus state, it's voters like this who will be supporting him. they're also the ones donald trump is taking away from ted cruz and if anyone has lost oxygen in this summer of trump. it's really been cruz. he's been on the stage for the last half hour getting standing ovation after standing ovation after standing ovation. so in some ways banning frump this gathering, while obviously it's a direct reaction from his comments. it gives ted cruz a more of an elevated stage than he would have, alex. >> i'm sure you just heard the applause right there. we heard it cloud and clear for your microphone. i'm curious if you're hearing word from the other camps, their

sense of frustration about the fact that donald trump once again sucks the oxygen out of the room. you used that phrase even when he's not there. >> huckabee talked to reporters after his speech and it was a series of questions about donald trump, about megyn kelly, about whether these comments were appropriate and you could see huckabee get frustrated as that questioning went on and he said "i'm not here to just talk about some other candidate. i'm the only one that can talk about huckabee running for president i think that frustration is becoming a part especially for candidates like huckabee who again are drawing from some of these people who would otherwise be backing them. that 20% or showo showing up in the poll has pulled people from huckabee or cruz more than a jeb bush, for example. and we saw something different from scott walker. he tweeted earlier today that he agrees with carly fiorina who

said to stand with megyn kelly. so walker deciding he's going to come down on that side of this issue. he of course is somebody who potentially draws from both of these types of voters in the gop, alex. >> any conventional wisdom from the the dem circles that might be a potential contender? >> i think democrats ought to be fearing senator marco rubio who did very well in that main event. they should be fearing governor john kasich of ohio. sitting governor of a state republicans need to win who's gone against conventional republican wisdom by expanding medicaid under the -- under obamacare. who also when asked about same-sex marriage gave a respectful answer and said here's my position marriage should be between a man and a woman but if it were my daughter of course i would be there and it's a matter of respect. so in tone and policy john

kasich is somebody who could make it more difficult for hillary clinton if she is the democratic nominee to do battle with the independents that they're going to need to win the white house. >> matt, whom do you think is emerging as the strongest among the republicans and is whoever that person in your mind is will that person go the distance? >> yeah. i think marco rubio won the debate and he's the one that hillary, as jonathan was saying has to be the most afraid of. it's a clear contrast between hillary clinton. it would be a campaign about the future versus a campaign about yesterday. rubio has the great american dream story. you heard him say it during the debate. his dad was a bartender when he first emigrated here and rubio says that journey from behind that bar to behind this podium is the essence of the american dream. that's incredibly appealing to not just conservatives but a lot of americans and i think marco

rubio may be the one to keep an eye on. >> we'll keep an eye on all three of you, mad lewis, jonathan capehart kasie hunt. a key democrat breaks ranks over the iran deal as the president leaves town. how much of a fight lies ahead? and a programming note you eel hear from former presidential candidate gary johnson and his experience trying to get on the debate stage in elections past. they don't worry if something's possible. they just do it. at sears optical, we're committed to bringing them eyewear that works as hard as they do. right now, buy one pair and get another free. quality eyewear for doers. sears optical a new season brings a new look. a chance to try something different. this summer, challenge your preconceptions and experience a cadillac for yourself. take advantage of our summer offers. get this low mileage lease on select ats models in stock the longest for around 269 per month.

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. new developments in the iran nuclear deal. they come as president obama

spends the first day of his vacation at martha's vineyard. the big question will senator chuck schumer's opposition to the iran nuclear deal deliver a serious blow to his chances of passing through congress? joining me now haley jackson from martha's vineyard. >> you asked, alex, if this would be a serious blow to the deal on the iranian nukes. most likely not, at least that's the analysis. remember, even though senator schumer has come out against it and he is one of the top democrats in the senate. 15 other democrats have come out in favor of it including kirsten gillibrand including bernie sanders who, of course, is running for president. that said the white house has not ruled out that even on vacation president obama will be making a few phone calls in order to lock down support for this deal. his administration over the last several weeks has been really pushing this full court press to try to convince skeptical members of congress that they should back this deal. take a listen to what president obama said earlier this week about this. >> you don't negotiate deals

with your friends, you negotiate them with your enemies and superpowers don't respond to taunts superpowers focus on what is it we need to do in order to preserve our national security and the national security of our allies and friends. >> so once the president gets back from vacation once congress gets back from recess alex, look for the iran vote to happen by mid-september, by september 17 and it will be a busy month for the president, that's not the only thing he has on his plate. there's a budget battle over defunding planned parenthood. he's hosting a couple big international events including the visit from the pope at the end of the month. alex? >> i hope he gets a few extra wung this is month on martha's vineyard. that's for sure. hallie jackson, thanks so much. coming up melissa harris perry will talk about her exclusive interview with attorney general loretta lynch. they discuss what has changed in one year since the death of michael brown.

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out in the realm of politics. donald trump surely grabbed the spotlight before during and after thursday's debate and he led the google search activity of viewers as the event unfolded. while that may not surprise you, would you believe that ben carson was the second most googled candidate during the debate? marco rubio ranked third. now about the debate itself which topic was the most asked? the web site 538.com kept count. there were ten questions about foreign policy economic issues tied for second with six questions and cleveland getting publicity for hosting the republican debate in the convention next summer. travel and leisure ranked cleveland 17th of its list on america's most charming cities. charleston south carolina wins the honor as most charming city. >> you beat me by one second. >> it's the end. the end of the path i started us on. >> well, charming actor robert downey, jr., made a mint in this year's hit "avengers" sequel.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." time for headlines at the half. nine people are dead after an attack at a military base in kabul, afghanistan. the taliban has claimed responsibility. the friday night attack and two massive bombings earlier in the day left at least 44 people dead and hundreds wounded. events are being held in ferguson, missouri, this weekend, to mark one year since the shooting death of michael brown. last year's shooting by a ferguson police officer ignited a firestorm of civil unrest and also launched the black lives matter movement. the virginia department of motor vehicles is recalling all license plates containing an image of the confederate battle flag. the move comes after a deadly shooting at a south carolina church sparked the nationwide debate and the dmv will issue

plates with a new design. let's go to an exclusive interview with attorney general loretta lynch. msnbc's melissa harris perry sat down with lynch to discuss, among other topics tomorrow's one year anniversary of the death of michael brown, the 18-year-old shot and killed by a police officer in ferguson missouri. the justice department cleared wilson of violating michael brown's civil rights. but the shooting itself sparked violent protests as well as the national debate about policing and race. attorney general lynch says a lot has changed since then. >> i think it opened the eyes of america and, frankly, the world to what many minorities are say ing about feeling a level of disrespect and a lack of inclusion, particularly at the municipal level. >> joining me in studio mhp herself. thank you for cutting your lunch break short.

i appreciate that. i want to ask what else she had to say on the topic. what was your biggest takeaway? >> it's interesting. she has a very different position -- not that she says it but that i experience from her than the previous attorney general as she talks about policing. when she talks about law enforcement, she sometimes using the language of "we" and "us." and i almost walked away and said "oh, she's a good cop." so there's a way in which she wants to talk about accountability. she cares great deal about community. she's a daughter of the south who understands any quality and the way law can help with that inequality. but she also believes very strongly that police officers and law enforcement can be productive and valuable parts of our collective american life and so sosy see her as wanting to be in a position to use the department of justice to engage in real healing across those boundaries.

it's -- it sounds a little different than what we've heard previously. >> okay. i know you also asked her about hillary clinton's e-mail controversy. let's play it. here it is. >> right at this moment probably the most sort of splashy news thing happening at the department of justice is that the department of justice is investigating the e-mails of presidential candidate of hillary clinton, former secretary of state. is that a moment where the government is looking out for the people? is that sort of the reason for that? >> well, what i can say is we've had matters referred to us. we'll look and determine what steps if any we're going to take. it's not something that would characterize in the way that you have and we receive referrals when we do a number of things and we have to decide if there's appropriate action to take. that's what we'll do in that circumstance. >> what was your takeaway from that? >> overall it was a friendly interview but as i was asking

that question it was nice to have that shot of her because i did feel like she was looking at me like "i will end you." >> like why are you asking me this? >> so you know, what do you think about that. >> "i will end you." oh, my goodness. >> well, she is the attorney general of the united states of america. clearly she answered as a lawyer does which is to say it's the middle of an active investigation. she can't tell us what the details of it are. what i came away with when i talked to her, i talked to her on camera and off camera as part of an interview we were doing forest sense mag est"essence" magazine. she's clearly motivated by people who claim that what they are doing is for the people but it ends up being for themselves that benefits them but not the people, that seems to be the number one thing that irritates her, that goads her. >> i don't blame her. >> it's how she talked about the soccer scandal, about fifa when she was like look we had to go after them because these people

claim to be shepherding through worldwide soccer to help the chirp of the world but what they're doing is lining their own pockets. so i was trying to see, like, is that what's going on with the hillary clinton thing? and she was like "lady, i'm not going to talk about that." highly enjoyable. >> before i let you go. cyber security. all she talked about, the latest breaches in the various government systems. she referred to these attacks as insidious. that they were hard to characterize, really hard to control. let's listen more on what she had to say about this topic. >> cyber security i think, is the next frontier in law enforcement in the minds of the american people. everyone rightfully so takes great advantage of the internet the benefits of the sbiebcyber world. the world is flat because of our ability to connect instantaneously with someone across the globe. >> your take away from that was? >> cyber security is one of the three pillars.

she said what i want to do is policing reform and criminal justice. what i want to do is deal with the issue of human trafficking and cyber security so she saw the cyber security really as being both about our a kind of national security question but also about individual citizens and obviously there is a lot of vulnerability for the nation around this question. she takes that issue very very seriously as a kind of space where if we take our eyes off of it because the more sensational version of potential terrorism that looks like what we think an attack will look like and if we miss this kind of back door -- she's clearly, again, very interested in making sure that vulnerability is protected in this country. >> i know you're going to play this tomorrow in its entirety. what's one thing you want to have everyone listen and tune in for? >> it's important to hear what she'll say about voting rights and her continued commitment there. but more than anything else tomorrow we'll talk at length about ferguson marking this

one-year anniversary since the death of michael brown and i did ask her a lot about ferguson and a lot about this issue of community policing and the department of justice is the federal department that could enter into consent dereecrees and she had a lot to say about that. she really has spent a long time on a listening tour and, in fact, even on monday we'll kick off another part of the listening tour in communities around the country. so that will be the key. you want to hear what loretta lynch has to say about the issue of policing. >> i think she's a wonderful person to listen to great speaker, smart, i love the way she comes across. >> one should not underestimate the attorney general of the united states. she's short? in stature but very powerful. like that shakespeare line "though she be small, she is mighty and fierce." ever wonder what it would be like to work with donald trump.

coming up, the woman who co-authored a book with the presidential hopeful talks about what he is like next.

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let's go back to the fallouts over presidential candidate donald trump. late last night he was disinvited to today's red state gathering in atlanta. organizer eric erickson said it was because of the way trump characterized his exchange with megyn kelly during thursday's debate. >> well, i just don't respect her as a journalist. i have no respect for her. i don't think she's very good. i think she's highly overrated. she gets out and starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions and you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes blood coming out of her -- wherever. she's a lightweight, i couldn't care less about her. >> joining me now is an msnbc contributor and director of community outreach at the center for mexican american studies a president university of texas and joining me the senior editor of "reason" magazine with a welcome to you both.

victoria is disinviting her -- disinvitinger? disinviting trump the only way to go? >> absolutely. i mean this is even a partisan issue, it's about saying things that are inflammatory. men have wife they have daughters and sisters and they don't want someone like donald trump speaking to their loved ones like that and so regardless of how you feel about megayn kelly, and whether you think she's a good journalist bad journalist, republican or democrat, it's about basic de decency and i'm wondering whether donald trump's folks instilled that in him. you don't say that of anyone. >> rnc communications director sean spicer was on the "today" show and he had this to say about trump's comments. >> mr. trump's style is that he speaks off the cuff. that he is not someone that's run for office before. while that may be part of his popularity, he needs to understand that he's seeking the presidency of the united states

and words do matter. we need to be more careful in how it comes across to different demographics and different individuals across this country. >> on the whole peter, do you think gop party leaders wish they didn't have to deal with the donald trump situation? >> i suspect they wish that now. they probably should have thought about this a long time ago. republicans and conservatives have spent years cozies up to donald trump, to people like donald trump. conservative media has given him a huge amount of airtime over the past couple years, in particular on talk radio donald trump has always been a favorite. but you go back to the 2012 election and, you know, there's video of mitt romney standing on stage accepting the endorsement from donald trump and praising donald trump's business acumen his acumen as a job creator. the republican party cozied up to this guy and created this monster. i suspect now they wish they hadn't done so but they should have thought of that a few years

ago. >> petepeter, this particular situation, how does this fit into political discourse? is this what democracy should look like? is it fair to appeal to people's fears as well as their hopes? >> well donald trump is taking advantage of the system and he is performing well with a large segment of the republican party. it's about 24% right now in the real clear politics average and his appeal is, you know, that he's unconventional kind of an anti-politician. it's fair to some extent. what's unfair in politics right? but it's also completely out of bounds, it's totally inappropriate and the republican party elite, the republican party leaders should be rejecting. it should have rejected it a long time ago. >> carly fiorina is one of the few candidates criticizing trump for these recent comments. we know scott walker has chimed in in supporting carly fiorina that way. but victoria do you think she needs to be more aggressive in her opposition?

she's a woman. is it above all good political strategy for her? >> i think she's playing this very smart, alex. because she has to be careful. even though trump has been anger ago lot of folks in the past couple days with his comments he has a lot of support. she needs to walk both sides of the street here. she needs to reinforce that notion that you can't talk about women, veterans certain people in these derogatory ways but at the same time she doesn't want to alienate folks who might think, well trump is a little outthere but he has some things that i like especially in fighting against washington, d.c. so carly fiorina taking the stand, i think, is very smart and i think we'll see a snowball effect. with carly fiorina doing this and then scott walker joining it, i think this is the beginning of the end for donald trump because other candidates are going to feel comfortable saying well i agree with scott walker and with carly fiorina

whereas they wouldn't have felt comfortable saying "i'm against donald trump." so semantically it's different but it gives them that breathing room. >> i was going to say, semantics games here. trump reiterated his views on immigration during the debate. let's listen to that. >> the mexican government is much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning and they send the bad ones over because they don't want to pay for them. they don't want to take care of them. why should they when the stupid leaders of the united states will do it for them? and that's what's happening whether you like it or not. >> and beyond that during the debate, governor john kasich said donald trump is hitting a nerve in this country when it comes to immigration. victoria, what is your read on these type of comments and how far do you think they go in attracting a certain voting block? then on the flip side how many people do they alienate? >> well, i do think that there is a nerve that's being touched here. immigration is a problem that we have not dealt with in over two decades. and that is why we see the need

for comprehensive immigration reform. we need to see some security at the border but making it smarter, not necessarily building fences. so the frustration is there and it's going to continue to be there until there's that comprehensive reform. building walls won't do it. but what donald trump is saying it makes no sense regardless how you feel about immigration, when he talks about the mexican government, if you follow mexican politics and the mexican government, they are in shambles right now. i mean, the administration has so many problems you could call it inept where they are not having this machiavellian idea of sending folks to the united states. so donald trump is being nonsensical here. but it strikes a chord with folks who are frustrated with immigration. the flip pseudois going to be how latinos deal with this going forward and if the trump rhetoric on immigration doesn't stop soon it will permanently hobble the republican party, or at least into the 2016

presidential election. >> i've heard that echo certainly. peter, according to nielsen data, 24 million viewers tuned into thursday night's debate. are you surprised by those numbers? what do you think it says for the public's appetite heading into 2016 or is that a trump factor? >> i think the trump factor is part of it. but you look at the very high numbers for the undercard debate at 5:00 p.m. which got around six million viewers, a little more, i believe, and what that suggests is that there's even beyond trump a very high interest in this election and in this republican field which which is both large and strong beyond donald trump and there's a lot of interesting people a lot of people voters want to get to know so i think that overall it's an indication that people are highly interested, that this is a good strong field, that this is one that people want to get to know about and that people are going keep paying attention to quite a bit even after trump, i think -- as i think is likely exits or false in the polls.

>> okay thank you very much both of you. let's bring in journalist kate bonner. kate co-authored donald trump's book "trump, the art of the comeback." so with a welcome to you, what do you make of trump's remarks? are you surprised by them? are they at all out of character from what you know? >> hi alex thanks for having me on the show. i, of course watched the debates with great interest on thursday night and also the sort of afterdebate on the talk shows shows. i want to be very clear i am not on trump's inner circle advising him on content today and what he espouses on the air. i wrote a book with him 15 years ago when it was a very different time. he was responding to the real estate crash between 2000 257bd0003 and we were writing a book about his comeback. i will say that it seems as though he's making another -- definitely another very different kind of comeback today. but as for commenting directly on what he said last night, i mean, i don't know.

you're familiar with george carlin, right, the median? sometimes when you're working with mr. trump it seems that that's a little bit of the ethos, that nobody is safe. and he's willing to mock anybody in the audience and i think that's been a technique that he's been using on the campaign trail. >> i'm curious what it was like to work with him, though. any anecdotes or just in general your take away from that? >> yes, i was -- to be quite frank, it was great working with mr. trump, he's a straight shooter, he -- once you can prove yourself he gives you enough rope to hang yourself. he's very much of a person who -- attention to detail so i had to completely be on my toes. i do have an anecdote that i think is telling and that is after the book was published it was doing quite well he and i went on the howard stern show and, again, this is 1998 long time ago, and at the very beginning of the interview howard says "kate, she's a bombshell, blah blah blah." and trump looked into the camera

and said "the only reason i hired kate bohner to write my books is her looks. she can't write, she's completely stupid." and i wonder if today that had happened people would be saying because back then everyone was laughing robin, howard stern, we were all laughing we thought it was hilarious. but it seems as though times have changed in the last 15 years. >> so you didn't take offense? you thought for sure he's joking, i've written a great book, it's doing so well on the best-seller list. >> i didn't take offense and it's interesting my friends, my family at the time i'm on air on cnbc and my colleagues thought it was hilarious. at that time it was clear he was joking. of course what happened to ms. kelly last night was an entirely different experience and i'm sensitive to that. i would not want that to have happened to me but 15 years ago i think trump was a very different guy. much more easy going. >> what were his lessons coming back from the brink of bankruptcy that you chronicled in that book?

>> my favorite lesson was play golf. trump's whole attitude was -- and a lot of people say about golf, you know you get your best ideas in the shower or on the golf course because you're not focusing on your problems at hand. so he would always say if you're really up in your head, play golf you'll get the answer. the other was be flamboyant. and the chapter we wrote about that was his decision to acquire the miss universe pageant. and his view was "the chips are down, i'm $9 billion in the hole $300 million personally guaranteed, let's buy a beauty pageant and lighten things up and maybe even distract people about what's happening on the real estate side." >> interesting perspective. thanks for sharing with us kate bohner appreciate it." >> thanks alex. >> the battle between the national park service and the bottled water industry.

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a fight is under way between big water and the national parks. the park wants to ban plastic watt bottles but the fight is going to capitol hill. how did this turn into a standoff between the park service and the bottled water industry. >> well this has been a building controversy for a couple of years. millions of americans go to national parks every year especially in the summer, and they create a lot of garbage, they throw water bottles they've drunk from away and most of them don't end up in recycling bins they end up in garbage cans and so back in 2011 the director of the park service, john jarvis, wrote a mem toe to about 407

parks and monuments and said look, if you want to ban sales of bottled water to save money on your waste disposal costs, you can do this you just have to put in refilling stations. so visitors to the parks could use reusable bottles. and the ban was not on -- it was on sales of bottled water, but people can still bring bottles of water into the parks, there's nothing wrong with that. but the bottled water industry needless to say, was not happy with this because it's a loss in revenue and they care about that. so this year in particular they got very very active and they saw that more and more parks were banning sales of bottled water so they started lobbying congress particularly house republicans and particularly in districts where there are bottled water companies and these companies create jobs. >> is that how the bottled water

industry justifies its position? >> well it's complicated, you know, as with many things in washington, there are various levels of how you talk about things. so what the industry says is look, we run an environmentally conscious industry. we believe in bottled water. that's a lot better for you than soda is or than sports drinks are. so what their talking points have been as they have fought the park service on this bottled water issue is if you ban sales of bottled water, you're going to just encourage visitors to the parks to drunk coke and to drink gatorade and that's not good for you. that was their -- that's been their talking point. >> okay. lisa we'll follow this. very interesting. thank you so much for bringing it to us. appreciate it. at odds on iran, leading democrat senator shuck schumer and the white house battle over the nuclear deal.

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trump's talking. just what did he say to get himself shut out of a conservative conference? and when might his words hurt him in the polls? past and present, the treats of trump. how has his past shaped his run for the white house? the politics of the deal. how can president obama overcome top democratic opposition to the nuclear treaty with iran? and a march in memory. remembering a tragedy and the lessons for the nation. good day to all of you, welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we begin with the latest flap because of comments made by donald trump. he was disinvited to the rhetted state event in atlanta because

of what he said about anchor megyn kelly. >> folks, i've given donald trump a lot of latitude because he's not a professional politician. he's been a very blunt talker. i've said some dumb things in my life and i've apologized for them. >> well, trump not only didn't apologize, he again made his point in a tweet that political correctness is "killing our country." nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. kristen, with the good day, what was the final straw that got trump dropped from the event. >> reporter: good afternoon. trump was ousted for making new controversial comments directed at fox news anchor megyn kelly. it's all a part of a battle brewing between the republican front-runner and the conservative news network that may have contributed to his rise. it was this controversial comment about fox news anchor megyn kelly friday that got trump tossed from the red state republican gathering. >> you know you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever.

but she was -- in my opinion she was off base. >> reporter: trump seemed to be suggesting kelly was hormonal when she asked him tough questions like these during thursday's first gop debate. >> you've called women you don't like fat pigs dogs slobs, and disgusting animals. your twitter account -- >> only rosie o'donnell. >> you once told a contestant on "celebrity apprentice" it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president? >> what i say is what i say and honestly megyn, if you don't like it i'm sorry. >> reporter: after trump's comments friday, red state event organizer eric erickson took to twitter writing "i have rescinded my invitation to mr. trump. while i have tried to give him great latitude his remark about megyn kelly was a bridge too far." erickson also said "i wanted to have him here as a legitimate candidate but no legitimate candidate would suggest someone, a female asking questions is

doing it because she is hormonal." the trump campaign spokesperson fired back "this is just another example of weakness through being politically correct. for all of the people looking forward to mr. trump coming we will miss you. >> the comments escalate an on going fight. after the debate trump tweeted wow, megyn kelly bombed tonight and he retreated someone who called kelly a bimbo. kelly, a mom, former corporate lawyer and respected news anchor stuck her ground. >> i wonder knew will play with female viewers. >> reporter: back in july fox's owner rupert murdoch tweeted trump should stop "embarrassing his friends and the whole country." friday night trump brushed aside all of the criticism and claimed responsibility for the record ratings fox got on debate night. 24 million people tuned in. trump says that's all thanks to him. by the way, erick erickson has invited megyn kelly in the place

of trump. alex, back to you. >> kristen welker thank you. donald trump may have been disinvite bud many other gop hopefuls are taking the stage in atlanta today. we have already heard from former governor mike huckabee and ted cruz and editor of red state erick erickson took to the stage to explain if trump was not going to apologize for his comments he would not be able to take the stage. joining me from atlanta now, msnbc's benjy sarlin. benjy, how is the red state audience gathered there? how are they reacting to trump's absence from today's schedule? >> alex it's been striking. i've been here since thursday where i watched the debate with hundreds of red state activists and attendees and they were cheering wildly for trump then. i heard nothing but wonderful things for the whole next day. show up this morning, erick erickson announces he's disinvited, applause and cheers along a smattering of boos. and it's been frankly hard to

find trump supporters. people are upset about that megyn kelly line there are some raising concerns about his third party threat. it's a fooled errand to predict what happens to trump in the polls, but i can tell you something is happening here at red state. >> and how about the response of the trump campaign to the disinvitation? what's that been like? >> well you can usually predict how donald trump responds in tone if not in the exact words and this is with pure pure fury and let me just read a response to you from donald trump who, by the way, says his comments about megyn kelly and blood were misinterpreted. donald trump released a statement saying "mr. trump made megyn kelly look really bad. she was a mess with her anger and totally caught off guard. also not only is erick erickson a foetotal loser, he has a history of supporting establishment losers in failed campaign so it's an honor to be uninvited

from this event. mr. chairman trump is an outsider and does not respond to his agenda." >> do you get a sense that this scuffle will hurt trump? >> like i said i was there in ames iowa when donald trump said that john mccain was not a war hero and the reaction was explosive then. even the conservative media was bashing him, even people defending trump. then the polls came out and trump is what five six, seven, ten points in virtually every poll. so i'm not going to go out of my way to make predictions here. but it's interesting. you have now trump feuding with fox news and now with red state. those are two extremely influential news outlet within conservative media. it will be tough having both of them coming at him at once. >> you make a good point. that may make a difference right there. benjy sarlin thank you so much from atlanta. the red state gathering headlines the front page of the "atlanta journal-constitution." it focuses on how speakers are taking aim at planned parenthood. the "chicago tribune" story on trump is below the fold and asks whether trump's latest comments

about megyn kelly will put a dent in his poll numbers, especially among women. and on the front page of the miami "herald" is a story of how marco rubio's debate performance may have provided by him the lift he needs to improve his standing among republican voters. those are just a few of the day's political headlines. so what about the potential of donald trump running as a third-party candidate? i'll naught question to gary johnson, a former third party candidate. i'll get his take on whether trump's attack style will hurt him in the polls. of course, donald trump is just one of 10 presidential candidates scheduled to speak at this weekend's red state gathering. jeb bush has been traveling across the country going from cleveland thursday to new hampshire friday and finally now to atlanta today to speak in just a few minutes at the red states gathering. nbc news political embed covering the bush campaign jordan frazier is joining us from the red state gathering. jordan, what do you think bush will speak about when he takes the stage if on time in about 20 minutes from now? >> alex good afternoon to you.

governor bush just arrived to the venue in the green room about to take the stage. with donald trump as the elephant in the room here he will no doubt come up in some form during governor bush's remarks here today. beyond that we really expect that the governor will highlight the same themes he touched on in thursday's debate and has been speaking about out on the trail, highlighting his resume as governor of florida and trying to introduce himself to voters as they gather here and at events across the country. >> really quickly, has governor bush addressed the trump comments at small do you think he will? >> yeah. so far the governor has been on record saying that donald trump's harsh words are wrong and that the two share a different tone and different views. but in private i am told that governor bush has had some harsher criticism of the trump campaign so we'll see if he adds to those comments here today. >> yes, are something that was

brought up during the debate as well. jordan frasier, thank you very much from atlanta. tomorrow marks one year since the shooting of michael brown in ferguson, missouri. brown was shot and killed last august by ferguson police officer darren wilson. a st. louis county grand jury declined to indict wilson and the justice department cleared wilson of violateing michael brown's civil rights. the death and grand jury decision launched the black lives platter movement and msnbc's amanda sakuma is in ferguson, missouri for us. amanda, what kind of events are being held there today. >> good afternoon, alex. a decent size crowd gathered at the site where michael brown died at the memorial. they moved from there to west florissant avenue. they have a trek to go to normandy high school which is where michael brown attended summer classes just days before he died. leading that charge has been his family in front of the march. michael brown, sr., met with our own reverend al sharpton last night and you can really see in

his face that he is very much still grieving the loss of his son. he said that he hasn't shaved his beard in the entire year since his son was shot. the family is trying to turn this tragedy into a positive and uplifting community event. there are a number of events here around the st. louis region today, a few block parties. later on tonight there will be a concert held by most -- by artists and rappers in the area who've galvanized younger people to come together and unite as a community. and i think that's the sense and feeling we're getting on the ground here today that people are wanting to come together and heal but also ask for some accountability and moving forward and enacting changes here in ferguson. >> it's an important weekend. i know you're there all weekend for us. we'll talk with you tomorrow. amanda sakuma thank you so much. >> thank you. in a moment deposing the deal. is charles schumer's opposition to the nuclear treaty with iran a seriously jeopardizing situation for that agreement? i'll ask former ambassador joe wilson next.

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now to the fight over the iran nuclear deal. it comes as president obama spends the first day of his vacation at martha's vineyard and word of chuck schumer's opposition to the deal. joining me is hallie jackson. hallie, how did the white house take the news about schumer's opposition? >> it wasn't unexpected alex. at this point senator schumer the most influential, probably the top-ranking democrat to come out in opposition to the deal but the white house was pointing to a number of other democrats coming out in support of it including kirsten gillibrand from new york. even though we are seeing house democrats saying they will vote potentially or at least they support a vote to block the deal, it doesn't appear as though schumer is what you might call -- his defection will be

enough to tip the scales. schumer said this deal is almost the worst of both worlds. you're eliminateing sanctions but not doing enough to get them from getting a nuclear weapon. president obama has a different take. listen to what he said earlier in the week. >> you don't negotiate deals with your friends you negotiate them with your enemies, superpowers don't respond to taunts. superpowers focus on what we need to do in order to preserve our national security. and the national security of our allies and friends. >> 15 senate democrats have come out in support of the deal including most recently bernie sanders, who is running for president. and even while president obama is on vacation his administration is expected to continue the full court press to convince skeptical members of congress to back the deal. don't also be surprised to see the president make a few phone calls to lock down support. he has a busy month after vacation alex. not just the vote on the deal

which has to happen by september 17 but a potential budget battle over the fight to defund planned parenthood. he has a visit from the pope the u.n. general assembly. first full day of vacation he just made it to the golf course for what will be his first round of golf on martha's vineyard. alex? >> okay. i have a feeling it won't be an entirely peaceful vacation but that's just me. hallie jackson, thank you so much from martha's vineyard. despite senator schumer's stance, it's still a difficult path for congress to sink the agreement. two-thirds of both houses of congress must vote against it to override president obama's signature. joining me now is former ambassador joseph wilson who served on the national security council and is was deputy chief of staff in the leadup to the first gulf war. mr. wilson thanks for being on the broadcast. >> thanks, alex nice to be with you. >> in april i know you and your wife valerie plame wrote that op-ed in support of hillary clinton in which you wrote that the framework agreement at that time would make the world a

safer place. how about the final deal that's emerge? do you agree? does it till do that for you? >> oh absolutely. i think anything that gets nuclear weapons development off the table for a limited period of time as it may be is better than not having one. i remember when i was in iraq the head of the u.n. peacekeeping forces came to me after the iraqis invaded kuwait and we were threatening to overthrow that invasion roll that invasion back and he said you need to understand when you guys act militarily every other country is going to want to have a nuclear weapon to serve as a deterrent to you. so whatever the stakes are going down the road they are much graver now in the absence of an agreement. it will only encourage the iranians to double down on their nuclear arms development programs. >> with regard to chuck schumer, how much do you think his decision, his position publicly

is about politics versus having looked at the agreement and looking at everything that is entailed and thinking it's off base for him? >> i haven't talked to senator schumer so i have no idea what his motivations are. i'll say this. the international community, the american national security establishment, the leadership of his party have all said publicly that this is a good deal. it is much better than no deal and for senator schumer to think otherwise i've read his statement and i just don't know on what he bases that decision. certainly his right, but i agree with the white house when they say -- i'll just say this i think it's hard to aspire to be the leader of your party in the senate when you go against the consensus of your party's leadership? the white house and the national security community and the

international community which listened to all the arguments of mr. netanyahu and others and came to this agreement with iran notwithstanding those arguments. i will certainly be urging my two senators not to support mr. schumer's campaign for majority leader. >> kmabtwhat about the timing of mr. schumer's announcement? there is four more weeks before a vote on capitol hill. should he have waited with his pronouncements? >> well i think he should have pronounced the other way myself. but he has said he's not going to lobby his fellow members of congress and fellow senators on this issue. senator reid says this is a no whip issue which means senators can vote their conscience. i take him at his word he's voting his conscience. i disagree profoundly with the decision he's taken. >> how about the lifting of the u.n. arms embargo on iran? what's your position on that? >> you get a deal and the deal

encompasses certain things that both sides have to give on. if that's the price you pay not to have a nuclear weapon, that's the price you pay. >> do you have any concerns that iranians will waiver in their commitment at all when they see prominent members come out against this deal like senator shumer? people in his own party? the president's own party trying to scuttle it? >> well first of all, the deal does not depend on trust at all. there's a very intrusive inspection mechanism that the international community has put into place, one that our secretary of energy has articulated at some length before congress. the iranian foreign minister said clearly the agreement is between two sovereign governments. we fully expect and as the president said in his speech iranian hard-liners are going to be arguing against this agreement just as the republican caucus is and some democrats as

well. >> but you know all too well the difficulties in negotiating with dictators and with rogue government s governments. do you see the iran i don't know government as being someone the u.s. can work with? >> i see this agreement as being a deal which we were able to reach and which the national security community secretary of energy, president of the united states and international community all believes is enforceable. >> okay. let's switch gears here. i want to talk about 25 years ago this past sunday iraq invaded kuwait. that set the stage for the first gulf war. you were there in baghdad that day and in the months afterwards and you just wrote this op-ed in tomorrow's "boston globe." what were the lessons of that war and why do you say they've been forgotten? >> well i say they've been forgotten -- first of all, the lessons are that we are better off when we do an international crisis management problem with the international community at our side. with the coalition of the willing and with the

international community supporting it. in the gulf war we had over 30 countries supplying troops. we had 12 u.n. resolutions defining the nature of the mission and we had 90% of the costs paid for by other countries. and we achieved our objective and we achieved it swiftly and it gave us the international leadership authority moral authority, the political prestige to make a considerable difference in the 1990s on major issues in the region. contrast that with the iraq consider what we did yuanunilateral unilaterally, you look at the coalition of the willing in the iraq war and with the exception of maybe the british and the australians, the rest of them were pretty much coerced co-opt co-opted or suborned. we paid and are still paying the vast majority of the cost for this war and our reputation is

in tatters so much so that at a time when we should be proceeding with this iran agreement with a sense of international resolve and national unity we are so conflicted that a casino magnate in las vegas can fund right wing proxies to oppose it. >> do you think the middle east would be in a better position than it is today if the coalition forces kept going all the way to baghdad and forced saddam hussein from power back then? >> if you remember the use of force resolution is specifically define the mission as driving saddam out of kuwait there was no legal authority to do so. in fact, in the runup to the war, the arab nations within very much worried that what in fact, we were contemplating was the overthrow of the regime that we didn't like in baghdad and using the invasion of kuwait as a cover to do that. the fact that we didn't do it gave us enormous credibility with all sides when we went to madrid and subsequently to oslo.

>> and that was a success. thank you so much. good to see you again, ambassador. come join me again, thank you. >> thanks very much alex. we'll be right back. stay with us. ♪ ♪ fresher dentures with polident. for the best first impression. love loud. live loud. polident. number 1 dentist recommended. ♪ ♪ fresher dentures with polident. for those breathless moments. hug loud. live loud. polident. number 1 dentist recommended. the next great trip, gotta study those tripadvisor reviews carefully.

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you get used to the funk in your man-cave. you think it smells fine, but your guests smell this... febreze fabric refresher eliminates all the odors you've gone noseblind to break out the febreze and breathe happy. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." in colorado, fallout over a jury's decision to spare the live of shooter james holmes. jurors said they could not unanimously agree to impose the death penalty so under colorado law that resulted in an automatic life sentence. one of the jr.s who voted in favor of the death penalty spoke about their inability to reach that unanimous decision. >> one or two holdouts or -- >> one solidly.

and two still sort of on the fence but we ended our deliberations when one absolutely would not move. it was not a unanimous decision and so i pray that there's no backlash because we truly did our best. >> well, the decision came late yesterday and it came after jurors spent 15 weeks hearing evidence in the case. msnbc's scott cohn is joining us from centennial colorado so scott, what more can you tell us about this holdout? >> well we know alex that the holdout is a female there were nine women and three men on this jury. and she apparently embraced the defense argument that james holmes was so mentally ill that it would be improper to put him to death and she kept to that even after fellow jurors had her watch the 45-minute grisly crime scene video. the verdict, of course did not sit well with many of the family members and survivors who were in the courtroom, many of whom of course, wanted the death

penalty, among those speaking to reporters afterward, the grandparents of the youngest victim of the shooting veronica moser sullivan who was just six years old. >> at least one juror who did not vote for the death penalty is going to give colorado a very ugly face. when you look at you know, what's happened in light of this that's not justice. he's living. he's breathing. and our loved ones are gone. for over three years now. and the gaping void, the gaping wound that we have with the loss of our granddaughter has been replaced with a new absence of him living.

>> james holmes will formally receive his sentence, the life sentence is binding on the judge. it will take place in a three-day sentencing hearing beginning august 24. three days because victims will have a chance to speak and holmes, who has remained silent for the last three years, will have one last chance to speak to the public. alex? >> scott, do we know if they plan to have him speak to the public or not? are we just waiting? >> well he has declined every attempt. he's had chances to testify and make statements at various stages throughout the trial and the sentencing and he's chosen not to. this would be the time to do it if he's going to do it but we have no idea if he'll take advantage of it. >> thank you very much scott cohn from colorado. to politics now, donald trump causing a flash point moment in the run for the nomination. news week's latest issue profiles the will have him or hate him candidate. let's bring in the author "newsweek" writer bill powell. this is good. just look at all the

different -- it's hilarious. do you think this latest controversy is going to at all tarnish donald trump with his supporters? >> i think it probably will a little bit. i think it differs from the comments about john mccain. i think to go after until a very crude, juvenile way megyn kelly who, let's face it is a respect ed television personality among the republican base in the conservative party: i understand why donald does this because this is donald being donald but this one, i think, is not wise and i frankly wasn't surprised that erick at red state disinvited him. >> are you surprised by the commanding lead he has in the polls? how do you explain that? >> i'm very surprised and i don't quite know how to explain it alex as i write in the magazine.

i'm a shanghai-based foreign correspondent. i've been a foreign correspondent most of my life. i knew donald back in the '80s and kept up with him over the years and sort of became friendly with him. i never expected him to run let alone to be leading in the polls. that's why one of your correspondents earlier said what's going to happen now in the polls? who knows? how to predict? i don't know. >> i want to ask you about your time with him, i think it was 1987 but before that you said you were a foreign correspondent. how do you think the foreigners are looking at us with all this? there's been much hullabaloo about that certainly. >> my wife is a chinese national. she's a shanghai woman. we're based in shanghai she says she and her friends look at donald as quote/unquote a comedian. they just don't take it seriously. >> do they take his candidacy in the way that many in this country have embraced him as being a full reflection on the

citizens of the u.s. >> it's a fair question. i think some of them probably do. they will be -- i think there's obviously a lag to foreign perceptions but versus american perceptions but. i think people will be completely stunned if this goes much farther and he really becomes a serious contender as it gets down to voting time. >> so this 1987 cover story, what was your take away from him? >> well my take away was -- >> because you didn't think he'd run for president? >> in fact he told us at the last interview. we spent three weeks or a month bird dogging him back then and he was this brash young new york real estate/casino magnate. he'd become involved with mike tyson the then-heavyweight champion staging his fights at the atlantic city casinos and donald said "you want a scoop for your story? i'll give you a scoop. i'm not going to run -- pause --

but if i did, i'd win." and my colleague and i, another correspondent from news"newsweek" and donald all broke up laughing because he said it with a wink. donald is not unaware of how people perceive him and the bombastic personality, the "i can do anything this is the greatest, that's the greatest." that's who he is and it's how he created the brand. but he understands when you're listening to him that maybe you don't necessarily believe all the hyperbole. >> is there a big wink right now going on? do you think he envision himself sitting at 1600 pennsylvania avenue? >> that's precisely the correct question. and i don't know. in my bones i don't believe he does. i think the campaign has been taken aback by how quickly this

rocket took off. i don't think they were quite prepared for this sort of media storm and frankly the response from the voters. so it's the question that i wanted to put to him and have do you really want to do this? you're 69 years old. your kids are great, you have a good marriage you're a multibillionaire. why in the world do you want to do this? and he just gives the usual answer about oh well, the country is going down the tubes, etc. etc. i don't think in his heart of hearts he really wants to do this but i could be wrong. i don't know. the attention is the oxygen for donald. the attention and there's no bigger platform than this obviously. >> look how much time we're spending talking about it. i cannot wait to dive into this this afternoon. thank you very much bill powell good to see you. for political reaction to this latest controversy, joining me now, leslie sanchez, former

george w. bush administration official and zerlina maxwell, contributor to "essence" magazine. so ladies we have kasie hunt who sent us a note saying erick erickson is reading aloud angry tweets by trump supporters at today's red state gathering. so first off, respond to what you think is behind his popularity and is red state correct to have disinvited him? >> i'll start with the last part of this question. yes, i think erick made the right move. it's a strong move it send a strong signal and it's not a signal that should be among conservatives trying to say they're rebuking these comments. i think overall the basic tenet for running for president is respect for women. we saw this in 2008 that's why i wrote "you've come a long way maybe." there were a lot of sexist remarks and people rolled over them. there was a moment when women's groups, who are very silent right now, and some conservative womens groups are saying and

carly fiorina has said enough is enough. let's have an exchange of ideas about what it takes to be commander in chief but this politics of personal destruction and particularly the sexism against one anchor in this case or a pattern of it -- there's no place for that in running for president. >> do you think on the whole party leaders wish they didn't have to deal with the donald trump situation? >> party leaders are excited there's people looking at the republican primary. i can't speak for them. it's a very important election. there's some really solid and important ideas. women need to come together and call these things out regardless of their political ideology. it's time people come together and say let's set a standard for how we talk about campaigns, how we talk about each other. fair questions are fair. this other stuff is nonsense and i don't think it deserves anybody's attention. >> so zerlina, carly fiorina, is she doing a good thing by calling him out? is this a good political

strategy for her? >> yes, i think it's very good. coming after of her strong performance in the kids' table debate, the 5:00 p.m. debate on thursday night she's in a position where she's coming across as serious, someone with specific ideas and even though i disagree with megyn kelly politically, she's not a lightweight. she's not someone who as he retweeted earlier in the week is a "bimbo." she's a very intelligent woman. she was a former litigator in a big law firm here in new york city. she knows what she's doing. all she did on thursday night is read his words back to him. that's all she did. that's a completely fair question and i think he showed he's not ready for prime time. now, that just means not ready for prime time in terms of running for president. that doesn't mean he's not ready for prime time and getting big, big ratings and we've seen that all week long. >> prime time on the dial for sure. let's take a listen to rush limbaugh's reaction to thursday's debate. here it is.

>> not one of the remaining nine candidates joined megyn kelly in taking the shot at trump. not one. yet we have been told there were orders from republican donors to take trump out. >> so leslie what's the conservative belief? that that it was the fault of the moderators? the candidates? what is at odds with the mainstream republican party leaders and what they believe? >> it's a difficult situation when you have a celebrity candidate like this who is bombastic, who likes to engage the fight. i think the candidates did the right thing in focusing on their issues, their strengths, their introduction otherwise their airtime would have been devoted on fighting the counterattacks and rebuking a lot of what donald trump -- that's what they would have been known for. they're bet, for example, like marco rubio or ted cruz to really talk about their co-jebtgent ideas, get into the weeds on

issues like immigration, but i think what trurp has done right, what has helped this engagement is he's put everybody -- he's put, for example immigration on the front lines. there's tremendous frustration people are tired of the political washington speak and want some real answers that get to the heart of the matter. i think once you lay out what those positions look like there's open debate but he's raising the frustrations that so many people have with washington. so i think it's a fair point to raise that conversation. how he's doing it, the manner which he does it and these kind of sexist remarks, that's the part that i disagree with. >> ladies we have to wrap it here. zerlina maxwell, you got shortchanged, i promise to make it up to you my friend. >> thanks so much. >> thank you as well leslie sanchez. yes, he raised his hand but would donald trump really run as a third-party candidate? gary johnson, a former third party candidate himself, joins us next. two million, four hundred thirty-four thousand

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perhaps highlight of this week's republican debate came from the very first question when where the candidates were asked if they would pledge not to run under a third party if they did not receive the gop nomination. we all know what happened there. joining me now, 2012 libertarian presidential nominee and former new mexico governor gary johnson. always good to see you. thanks so much for joining me. >> alex great to be on thank you for having me. >> i'm going to ask you about the third party in just a moment. but your reaction first up to donald trump's comments last night about megyn kelly? >> well i thought they were inappropriate. that simple. you know, he says we don't want political correctness. i think what we want is humor but down deep we do want political correctness. >> okay let's get to the question then third party candidacy for donald trump. would that hand the election to the democrats? >> first of all, it's

problematic for trump. he can have all the money in the world and if he goes through the first primaries as a republican and there's no reason that he shouldn't, there are all sorts of rules in place, legislation that has passed in many states that would preclude him from going on and running as a third party. and there is no reason for him to drop out. i play a little gamalal -- game alex how would i answer the question. would you support the nominee is and preclude yourself from being a third party nominee, i would have raised my hand and said look i don't want to point out donald trump, but i would question me supporting donald trump. but there are others on stake, that look we shouldn't be in lock step and listen to what people have to say and i have disagreements with people on this stage, as long as i'm given

the opportunity to present myoposing opinion, then that is the respect i would like to stay in. so you know what i got boot parks on my -- from having been booting out from not having got that respect myself, starting out as a republican candidate in 2012. >> and put on your hat as a republican you were a candidate and the republican governor of new mexico. so with you surprised that trump is leading the candidates in the polls? >> no. because you have so many candidates out there and that he has taken the slice that he has taken and that he is leading is not a surp. >> is it not name recognition at this point? did he get a big boot from that? >> absolutely. that is the main factor in poll

significance. name recognition. how do you get name recognition? it is all about money but he is a celebrity to start with. if he were to run as a third party, i think he could potentially destroy the republican party because he will take the slice with him and it is the far right of the republican party and the democrats have the far left also that they're going to go their way. well it just happens to be that he's got that kind of support and it has the potential really to -- i think to take down the republican party. should he get out and run as a third party, like i say, there is no way he should get out because, look he's leading in the polls and needs to follow through with the primaries. by doing that problematic, he doesn't get to run as a third party. >> you just said you were booted away from the republican party. what does that feel like and why did you leave the republican party? was it issues or other reasons? >> well the issues the notion

that everybody on stage is a social conservative. it was that way in 2012. i'm not a social conservative. i happen to think a majority of the people in this country, speaking with a broad brush stroke with liberal and fiscally conservative. i gave that representation in 2012 and the republican party was dictated to by the powers that be and they didn't stand up for me. and they didn't stand up for somebody that was socially liberal. like i said most people in this country fall in that category. >> so what did that feel like for you. >> and you have the same phenomenon today. >> were you angry were you surp surprised, what was that like? how did that feel? >> well it felt horrible. horrible from the standpoint that i side with diet.com website, 3.5 million people got

online and expressed their feelings about the issues and i was the next president based 3.5 million. >> all right. >> i think republicans have to pander to the right to get the nomination. >> and listen i have to pander to paying commercials and paying bills with commercials. so i have to be done. andy johnson, we'll be right back. >> thanks, alex. >> okay.

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