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tv   Hardball With Chris Matthews  MSNBC  August 12, 2015 11:00pm-12:01am PDT

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they are adding more commercials. >> ridiculous. >> it airs august 22nd. the documentary is on netflix now. stephanie, tig, thank you for doing this on tv. we will do more on the web with. chris hayes is up next. the donald trump playbook. attack and attack hard. let's play "hardball." ♪ ♪ >> good evening, i'm steve kornacki in new york, in for chris matthews. we begin tonight with the most dangerous game in politics today. taking on donald trump. last night trump gloated about the state of rick perry's campaign, which ran out of money despite a media blitz attacking trump. he also revelled in lindsey graham's struggles which come despite a flood of media interviews where graham bashed trump as a jack ass. in an appearance in michigan
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yesterday, trump was out to make an example of those two, that if you end up on trump's hit list, this is what might happen to you. >> lindsey graham hit me harder than anybody. he's got zero. lindsey graham is at zero. legitimately, i saw it on television today, zero. zero. >> perry hit me harder than anybody. those were the two. and perry was at four or five, he went down to two and down to nothing and now i guess he's out of the campaign. >> you know what's a great honor, they hit me hard and they went down. >> perry went to washington to make a speech about me. it wasn't nice. he went from four or five, down to two. and didn't make the debate stage. graham was at two and he went to nothing. so i'm honored with by that. >> susan page, washington bureau chief request usa today and kwame jackson, a finalist on trump's apprentice reality tv show, now entrepreneur and consultant.
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susan, we can debate whether attacking trump brought down the poll numbers of perry and lindsey graham, they weren't too high to start with, so who knows. but it's clear what they were trying to do was the adult in the room strategy. they wanted to be the voice of reason, that attacks donald trump, to get credit for that. george pataki tried this too. there was their attempt to latch on to trump media coverage and it failed. >> it's obviously risky because trump is on a roll. we don't see the candidates doing better like rubio or kasich on the rise doing this. these are candidates with a big problem, trying to get into the race, they take this strategy of attacking trump. now most front-runners in trump's situation would ignore them, would just pretend they weren't there, why give publicity to somebody who's not doing well. you but trump has one gear, if you attack me, i'm going to attack you back.
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this may be some kind of pre-emptive as other candidates think about whether to take him on. >> the conventional wisdom in politics has been, if you're the front-runner and the guy in the back of the pack is attacking you, you ignore him, don't give him the attention. trump breaks all the rules, and he's pulling away in iowa. according to a new poll out today, trump now leads with 22%. that's eight points clear of ben carson back in second place. he also blows away christian conservatives like ted cruz, mike huckabee and others. trump took a detour last night after he spotted a member of the audience holding a copy of his book. let's watch. >> hold that book up, please. okay, one of the great books. that's my second favorite book of all time. do you know what my first is?
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the bible! nothing beats the bible. nothing beats the bible, not even the art of the deal. >> perry, another piece of conventional wisdom that may be being blown up in front of our eyes. trump was in iowa couple weeks ago at an evangelical event, used foul language. people said you can't do that and get their support. there's donald trump making jokes about the bible and leading in iowa where 60% are evangelicals. >> he had support amongst moderates and tea party folks and evangelicals. he's doing well in iowa. the striking thing, you have all the people in the republican party attack him from rand paul to rick perry. also megyn kelly was critical of him and his numbers go up. so he has some piece of stable
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republican party, and those people are not going away, even as lots of people in the republican party attack trump very harshly. >> kwame, you know him in a close way that nobody else does, and nobody covering politics. so i got to ask you this, the psychology of donald trump in this moment, talking about all these examples over the last few months, where everybody has said, it's suicide what you're doing politically. you're going to do that, you'll be out of the race in no time. and every time he's done that, his numbers have only gone up. i got to imagine a guy with an incredible ego like that to begin with, what is he feeling about himself right now? >> well, you know it's interesting, because i think that my relationship there and the fact that i do know him well is, to quote jay z, maybe the gift and the curse, like his album. not sure how that plays out, because i think trump, first and foremost is an entertainer. i think people give him credit on the political front, but he's tapped into the american
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"zeitgeist" of anger. the polls talk about people blow $50,000 in earnings a year are supporting him. people without college education are supporting him. so it's a different type of voter that maybe doesn't resonate with his actually political dimensions. so trump is an interesting character, an entertainer first and i think we have to let that part play out in much more of a kardashian-like fashion. >> last night, trump also fired a shot across the bow of the rand paul campaign after paul launched a media blitz attacking trump. >> two guys that hit me the hardest were perry and graham. they hit me harder than anybody else. now it's rand paul. can you believe it? he's the new one. i said, rand, i've had you up to here. i've had you. i've had you up to here. >> well, today rand paul's campaign released a video online attacking trump's conservative record.
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let's watch some of that video. >> in many cases, i probably identify more as a democrat. i've been around for a long time and it just seems like the economy does better under the democrats than the republicans. >> health care. >> liberal on health care. we have to take care of people that are sick. >> universal health coverage? >> hillary clinton, i think is a terrific woman. i'm a little biased because i've known her for years, i live in new york, she lives in new york. i've known her and her husband for years and i really like them both a lot. >> susan, nothing exactly new here, this stuff has been out for a while, some clips, 10, 15 years old. trump's been confronted with this stuff before. it does raise the question to me, does rand paul understand the base of his own party? >> well, you know, under conventional rules of candidates real inconsistent with positions he's taken in the past. we have to remember, he's not a conventional politician. all the rules that apply to
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other candidates do not apply to him. look back at that cnn poll in iowa that is just out. the two leaders are donald trump and ben carson, two candidates neither of whom have ever run for office, have any record of public service, and yet these are the candidates that voters in iowa are lining up behind. that tells you, politics as usual, people are sick of it. and some of the standards they have applied to political candidates may not be quite so important. at least at this point in the contest. >> the ben carson thing, that also surprises me a little bit. you think back to the debate and the trump thing is obvious. he's making a lot of noise, i guess that's connected to a polling surge. ben carson basically said nothing in that debate. his most memorable line was, i thought you forgot i was here. he surged in the polls after that. i can't figure it out. but trump has had his sights on jeb bush. last night he delivered two major attacks on bush, the first in a press conference in
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michigan where he reminded reporters that trump was the center of the republican universe, not jeb. here's trump talking about the massive audience for last week's debate. >> there should have been two million people watching. you agree? about two million. that's been sort of standard. they had 24 million people. who do you think they're watching? jeb bush? i don't think so. >> in talking with sean hannity last night, trump went after bush as a mouthpiece for wealthy donors. >> when jeb bush raises $114 million, which he has. when hillary raises $60 million, i know the people that gave them the money. they're not the nicest people in the world. >> the system is corrupt? >> jeb bush is totally controlled by the people that gave him that money. the nice part about me, i don't want anybody's money. >> donald trump is a rich guy. jeb bush is the son of political privilege. they reek of the establishment yet donald trump is drawing this
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distinction here, my wealth frees me from the political establishment, it allows me to say, i don't need your money. it allows me to throw it in their face. i know wealthy candidates make this argument a lot, i think it resonates. >> the one thing trump brings more than anyone else, he's saying things that people don't say. he's very honest and at times not politically correct, but in this case, the chief critiques of bush are bush is kind of bull, people think, and he's the candidate of the wealthy republican class which is exactly what donald trump said. the danger with donald trump, if you attack him, he won't just attack your views, he'll attack who you are in a way that's pretty resonant, like a lot of democrats and republicans i've talked to have said, jeb is okay, but he's too dull. donald trump is saying that over and over and over again. and that's a problem for bush even if trump doesn't win the primary. >> trump also took a shot at bernie sanders who's caught fire.
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trump went after sanders because protesters took the microphone at a sanders campaign event in seattle rendering him speechless. here's what trump had to say about that. >> i would never give up my microphone. i thought that was disgusting. that showed such weakness. that will never happen with me. i don't know if i'll do the fighting myself, or if other people will, but that was a disgrace. i felt badly for him. but it showed that he's weak. he's getting the biggest crowds and i'm getting the biggest crowds. we're the two getting the crowds. but believe me, that's not going to happen to trump. >> not going to happen to trump. susan page, first of all, it makes me think are protesters now going to take that as an invitation to test trump and see how he handles that. but listening to him, the way he's talking, bernie's weak, i'm tough. it gets to the heart of the message. it's not a policy message. it's not an ideological message.
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it's china, mexico, i'm the tough guy who is going to stand up for you. >> exactly. >> and it's so unusual for the candidate leading one party to attack somebody who we don't think will probably get the nomination in the other party. and again, it's not as if trump is making elaborate strategies when he talks. i think he just says whatever comes out of his mouth. one thing, i don't believe that was a sanders campaign event, i think it was another event that sanders was supposed to speak at. but it is true he was unable to speak because of the protesters. >> perry bacon, kwame jackson, susan page, thank you. just as hillary clinton was hitting her stride on the campaign trail, now she's facing two big threats -- bernie sanders, who surged into the lead in new hampshire, and the drip, drip, drip of her e-mail scandal. plus, jeb bush blames hillary clinton and president obama for the rise of isis. but not his brother, who took us to war in iraq in the first place. and donald trump said he
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strongly considered a woman running mate, his latest attempt to undo the damage, if there was any damage from his dust-up with megyn kelly. and finally, a giant goose, a dragon and a killer robot, we'll meat the candidate behind the craziest ad possibly ever. this is "hardball," the place for politics. you know the best thing about summer? summer pizza. and you know the best thing about summer pizza? it tastes light. it tastes fresh. and it's pizza. this summer, try our new grilled chicken margherita pizza. with roma tomatoes basil pesto sauce mozzarella and grilled, all-white meat chicken. all on our thin crust. get a large for only $12.00. and save room for dessert with our chocolate chip cookie for only $5.00 more.
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"hardball" last month to talk about his new memoir. >> one last thing, you know i'm a big fan of yours. what do you do to live until 90? more important than the name of the book, you are around at 90. is it a good marriage? is it not drinking? is it not smoking? it may be a moral thing, or is it something more athletic? what is it that's kept you so healthy mentally and physically? >> i'd say the main thing is marrying the right woman, which i did 69 years ago today, this is my anniversary, as a matter of fact. >> congratulations to you and rosalyn. >> that's the achievement of my life, marrying rosalyn. >> we wish former president carter all the best. why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use, is the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction
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welcome back to "hardball." hillary clinton's campaign woke up to two pieces of bad news this morning. first, the front page of the "boston herald" reads, bernie overtakes hillary in new
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hampshire. a new poll shows bernie sanders surging ahead of the former secretary of state in the crucial first in the nation primary state. sanders leads clinton by seven points now. 44-37. sanders picked up 36 points since march. back then he only had 8% in new hampshire. all of this comes as sanders is drawing massive crowds to his rallies. 19,000 in seattle. more than 27,000 in los angeles. 28,000 in portland, oregon. by contrast, hillary clinton drew her largest crowd at her june kickoff, estimated about 5,000. that said, 65% of the new hampshire democrats say they still believe hillary clinton will ultimately be their nominee. just 11% say they believe sanders will win the nomination. and there are new revelations in the clinton e-mail investigation as well, which we'll get to in a minute.
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susan milligan, contributing editor with "u.s. news & world report." chris, we have the new hampshire numbers and hot off the press, the cnn poll in iowa, hillary clinton 50, sanders, 31. he's creeping up in iowa too. let me start with the dooms day question for the clinton campaign. what if sanders catches her and beats her there and rolls into new hampshire and goes two for two in the first two contests? what happens? >> i mean, it's probably over, which it's hard for me to imagine, steve, any candidate winning iowa and new hampshire and not being the nominee. it's possible, obviously she would still have lots more money than bernie sanders, but momentum being what it is, there would be a ton of pressure on her to say, look, it's not your time. that said, i think it's very unlikely that happens. i think what the herald poll
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suggests, something they think we've known, new hampshire, if there's a place that bernie sanders is going to beat her early on, it's going to be new hampshire. some of that is geographic, yes, he's from vermont. some of that is, there's sort of an appeal to him in that state and there has been since he got spot race. i think iowa is a harder sell. 50-31 isn't bad, but you're still behind by 19 points and hillary clinton hasn't said anything negative about you in the campaign. if it gets closer, she's going to. so i still think new hampshire is his best bet and i think there's going to be a relatively competitive contest there. >> susan, when we see numbers like this, obviously the next door neighbor thing is a factor in new hampshire. beyond that, when we see numbers that are much closer than anybody was expecting. six months ago, people were saying maybe martin o'malley could step up. nobody's talking about him. it's bernie sanders. is there more a reflection of unexpected enthusiasm for bernie
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sanders, or does this tell us more about lack of enthusiasm for hillary clinton. >> i think it's broader than that. i think there's this pent-up frustration among the democratic party who have seen their leaders move to the center and to the right as they were trying to sort of win the house majority and the senate majority. then they lost those and are thinking, why did we recruit all these people who are conservative and move more to the right? i think that's bernie sanders' appeal. i also don't think it's as damaging to hillary clinton as it would be to a first-time candidate where someone could say, it's really not your time. it's not the same as it used to be, as for example, when her husband first ran, where you needed to win a primary to raise the money to get the bus fare to go to the next state. that's not true anymore. you can run a more national strategy now than 20 years ago. it would still be damaging and expose her weaknesses, but i don't think it would kill her. i agree with chris, i think new hampshire is his best bet.
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>> i'm just looking at the psychology of it, the psychic damage of somebody who entered the race as a front-runner like we've never seen running against a guy who isn't even a register democrat, i know the math sets up nicely for her, the demographics of other states, but it's uncharted territory. sanders isn't the only threat facing clinton right now. also reported yesterday that clinton has agreed to turn over to the fbi her privacy server that housed her personal e-mail as secretary of state along with a thumb drive containing copies of her e-mails from her time at the state department. the day after it's been reported the intelligence communities inspector general notified senior members of congress that two of the four e-mails on her server contained top secret information, despite past denials from clinton herself. >> i did not e-mail any classified material to anyone on my e-mail. there is no classified material.
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so i'm certainly well aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material. >> i am confident that i never sent nor received any information that was classified at the time it was sent and received. >> it's also reported at least four top aides have turned over records, including copies of work e-mails on personal accounts to the state department, which is collecting them in response to a subpoena from capitol hill, according to the department. lawmakers have demanded records, including personal e-mails from six other aides, but it's unknown whether they used personal e-mail for work. so, chris, a new revelation here, another bad headline for hillary clinton. here's what i'm trying to figure out. we can go back 20, 25 years now and neither clinton, bill or hillary has ever polled that well on the question of honesty and trustworthiness, which is what this gets to. bill clinton still managed to win the presidency twice despite bad poll numbers. are you seeing anything here
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that takes what was already a bad situation for the clintons on that front and makes it worse, that takes it into new territory for them? >> i think you're right, her numbers on honesty have steady plummeted since she became a candidate. i don't think that if you thought she was not honest and trustworthy before today, this will somehow drastically change your mind. i do think, though, that if you believe, and i do, that this will essentially be a, can hillary clinton make the 2016 general election, assuming she gets there, about the future? can it not be about hillary clinton the past, but hillary clinton the future? this makes it harder to do that. the longer the story is around, it feeds all the narratives. they're paranoid, they think the rules don't apply to them. they surround themselves with no one who would say, wait a minute, why don't we just set up a state department e-mail address. so to the extent it reminds people of things they don't like about her, i do think that's
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problematic for her in an election, like every other presidential election ever, that tends to be about the future. >> all right, thank you both for joining us. coming up, is trump not enough showmanship for you? i'll speak with way man who's running for office with a campaign ad that includes a giant goose, laser eyes and a robot. this is "hardball," the place for politics. it's so shiny. i know, mommy, but it's time to let the new kitchen get some sleep. ♪ if you want beautiful results, you know where to go. angie's list. everyone can shop for services from highly rated companies, even without a membership. but as a member, you can save more. and you get exclusive access to ratings and reviews. angie's list is there... for all your projects - big and small. pretty! come see what the new angie's list can do for you.
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welcome back to "hardball," a political ad out of canada has taken this country by storm today. part sci-fi, part fantasy, it's by wyatt scott, an independent running for a seat in the house of commons. he makes quite a first impression. watch. >> hey, i'm wyatt scott and i'm running for parliament. i'm an independent candidate and
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i'm here to fight for canada! university is too damn expensive. services like health care and social programs should be expanded, not cut. the indigenous people aren't even protected by their own government. change is coming to canada. and i'm here to lead that charge. are you ready for the shift? i am. my name's wyatt scott and i'm running for parliament! >> i'm scared of those eyes, all of a sudden. i'm joined from vancouver by the candidate himself. i don't know, analyze, dissect what the message in this ad, dragons, robots, random people falling out of the skies, your eyes shooting.
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what is the message you're trying to get across here? >> well, i think we had a few main points within the video. the video itself was meant to capture attention and i think we've done that at this point. definitely a few points in there. it was a lot of fun making this video. >> you say the idea was who get attention, obviously you've succeeded at that. we don't give too much country in this coverage to canadian parliamentary elections. so congratulations on that front. but tell us about the process. this is a new thing in canada, in the united states, i think, the opportunity to come up with a viral ad that will get you this kind of coverage. what was the process like of making this thing? >> about six months ago, i put an ad on craig's list, as an independent candidate running in my writing, i'm very limited on funds, so i had to do something big with something very small. i was fortunate enough to find a couple of student film-makers, and they were very eager about the process.
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we collaborated for a few months, went back and forth, and i think that they did a phenomenal job. it was three amigos was the production company, a gentleman by the name of christian sheridan, phenomenal job they did. >> congratulations, like i said, you managed to get the attention of the united states on canadian parliamentary politics. thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks for having me. up next, with the last name of bush, is jeb bush really the best critic on american policy in iraq? the former florida governor goes on offense on two red meat issues. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.
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welcome back to "hardball." jeb bush has opened up a new line of attack against hillary clinton on of all things, iraq. it's a risky strategy for someone with the last name bush, but in a speech last night at the reagan library in california, jeb put the blame for the rise of isis on secretary clinton and president obama. >> isis grew while the united states disengaged from the middle east and ignored the threat. and where was the secretary of state clinton in all of this?
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like the president himself, she had opposed the surge. then joined in claiming credit for its success. then stood by as that hard-won victory by american and allied forces was thrown away. in all of her record-setting travels, she stopped by iraq exactly once. >> clinton's camp rebutted the attack. a senior adviser telling reporters, this is a pretty bold attempt to rewrite history and reassign responsibility. they cannot be allowed to escape responsibility for the real mistake here. they might hope we'll all forget, but the american people remember. jeb bush has stumbled on the question of iraq and whether he would have invaded the country knowing what we now know, he said he wouldn't, but politico reports of jeb bush's 21 named foreign policy advisers, 17 worksed in his brother's white house. and jeb has said his brother is a top adviser.
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so why is he going after hillary on such a risky topic? jamelle bouie, a staff writer for slate. eliana johnson, for the national review. zeke, you know he's got to address it in some way at some point in this campaign. iraq looms so big over the debate. the name bush is always going to be attached to the iraq war. jeb has to say something. but this strategy of saying the key moment in time everyone should remember is u.s. troops leaving at the end of 2011 on obama's watch and everything that's happened since then, is that a smart way politically of addressing this? >> you know, it's the best he can do with this. there's nothing he can do to make this into a winning issue for him. this is always going to be sort of a hindrance on his chances for the white house. at the same time, he's just trying to mitigate the risk. here it's hillary clinton voted to go into iraq and now both of them are on the same size of this issue, saying both would not have gone in knowing what they know now. but bush is going after the only
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person he can to try to make this issue -- the only way he can to make this issue a positive or less negative for him, which is to blame hillary for the withdrawal and he makes a somewhat compelling case here in terms of that, saying the obama administration failed to secure the bipartisan status of forces agreement. >> jeb bush called the obama administration's decision to withdraw from iraq a fatal error. >> why was the success of the surge followed by a withdrawal from iraq? leaving not even a residual force that commanders and joint chiefs knew was necessary. that was the fatal error, creating the void that isis moved in to fill and that iran has exploited to the full as well. it was a case of blind haste to get out. and to call the tragic consequences somebody else's problem. rushing away from danger can be every bit as unwise as rushing into danger, and the costs have been grievous. >> but jamelle bouie, the other
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issue that jeb bush has to deal with, the reason the u.s. left at the end of 2011, was because the initial decision was made by george w. bush to set that as the date. >> that's right. not just that, but the purpose of the surge to create a political solution, a stable iraqi government, wasn't working out. the iraqi president was actively persecuting his political opponents. so it's not a success when the main political goal didn't work out. what's interesting about all of this, and i think zeke is right, this attempt to neutralize the issue as much as attack hillary, the fact that a man named jeb bush is talking about the iraq war, bringing this up, in terms of not dissimilar from his brother, can only hurt him in the public. the thing that is important to remember, the iraq war is responsible for democrats taking to 2006 in the mid terms. it's pretty much responsible for barack obama's rise to prominence.
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iraq is not good territory for republicans. i'm sort of baffled why anyone on jeb bush's team would think this is a topic that people are clamoring to hear jeb bush talk about. >> eliana, you cover the republican universe. how attached is the republican rank and file to defending, to litigating the iraq war? i know there's a certain crowd in the republican party, this is their policy, interventionism and they want to defend it to the end. but i wonder with the rest of the party, is it just we're supposed to defend it because it was our president who did it? is there an appetite in the republican party to get behind another bush like this, or are they looking for somebody to move them beyond it? >> whoever the eventual nominee is, has to have a national security strategy and that has to involve the middle east. so i think jeb bush was doing something larger here. and that was reclaiming the narrative on iraq, which up to
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this point, the democrats and the media have owned by putting him on the defensive about it. so what he said, here's my version of events. he said nobody has gotten everything right here, but the turning point in the middle east was the troop surge, which both hillary clinton and barack obama oppose, and they followed that up by leaving no troops in iraq. that's what he called a fatal error. now it's up to the voters whether they believe that message and buy that message, but isis is going to be litigated in this election whether jeb bush likes it or not, and while some people say iraq was the real stain on the bush presidency, i think there's no question that isis is going to be a stain on the obama presidency. and that's undoubtedly going to be discussed in the upcoming election. >> zeke, the thing i didn't see coming in this primary, donald trump, what he said last week, he was against the iraq war. i think he said from 2004, but he was basically saying, from the beginning. it started in 2003. i think we have that bite from donald trump. let's play that.
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i was right about going into iraq. you know that very well. i said it was going to destabilize the middle east. i was right. i was totally against it. yet i'm the most mill taristic person there is. now that we're there and you have these guys chopping off christians' heads and lots of other bad things happening and they'll come for us if we don't come for them, i say, cut them off where they're getting their wealth. cut them off at the oil. we have nothing. they don't even answer our phone calls anymore. iran is taking over iraq 100%. just like i predicted years ago. so i say this, i didn't want to go there in the first place, but now, we take the oil. we should have kept the oil. now we go in, we knock the hell out of them, take the oil. >> zeke, i think the danger here when you unpack all of that, donald trump, even if republicans don't get behind him, is telling republican voters, telling republican activists, you don't have to be
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wed to the legacy of the iraq war. you can stand here a decade later and say, no, it was bad, it was wrong, we shouldn't have done it. you don't have to defend it. >> that's where the republican party looked like it was going three, four years ago, the rise of rand paul, the legacy of ron paul trying to reframe the nature of american foreign policy. but the rise of isis has really turned all of that on its head. so it's easy now for donald trump to say, i opposed the iraq war in 2004 it was easier than than it was in 2003. the same way with rand paul moving to the right on iraq and fighting isis, saying, he wants a more muscular response there, when just a few years ago, he was calling for more investment at home. now donald trump is cutting against the direction that even rand paul is moving in the republican party and that's interesting, but maybe not something republican voters want to hear. coming up, donald trump said
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he would strongly consider a female vp, is that enough to help his support among women voters? this is "hardball," the place for politics.
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♪ our original dough is hand tossed and made fresh. there's a good reason why we never use frozen dough. it's because, there is no good reason to ever use frozen dough. ♪ "the new york times" has published a letter to the editor sent by president barack obama. the president hailed the paper's coverage of efforts to dismantle voting rights. also he calls on lawmakers to fight back against restrictions. he writes in part, quote, from the moment the ink was dry to
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the voting rights act, there's been a concentrated effort to undermine the law and turn back the clock on the progress. congress must restore the voting right act. our state leaders and legislature must make it easier for our voices to be heard. the truth is, too often we disenfranchise ourselves. we'll be right back.
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i will be great on women's health issues. i cherish women. and i will be great on women's health issues, believe me.
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>> we're back with the roundtable. that was donald trump yesterday, telling reporters that he is the republican candidate who will do a lot for women in 2016. trump may be trying to put distance between the laundry list of his prior negative remarks about women that came up at the cleveland debate. now he's apparently rethinking his previous position about completely defunding planned parenthood. >> i would look at the individual things that they do and maybe some of the things are good, and i know a lot of the things are bad. but certainly the abortion aspect of it should not be funded by government, absolutely. >> today trump said he'd consider having a woman as a running mate, telling michael sneed that, quote, i am all for the concept, it would have to be the right person and i'm not going to go into who that would be right now, but i have great respect for women. i have great respect for women who are executives in my company. have great respect for women's judgment. he doesn't think much of the only woman running for the gop
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nomination after carly fiorina did well in the cleveland debate, trump tweeted, i just realized if you listen to carly fiorina for more than ten minutes straight, you develop a massive headache. she has zero chance. let me ask you about this. it does seem, you know, he didn't take any noticeable hit in the polling after the debate after the dust-up with megyn kelly and all that but it seem there is some awareness that they want to emphasize women's issues a little more here. he's taking a slightly different stand on planned parenthood than we're seeing from other republicans. is there some concern on their part? >> i have to disagree with you on that. i don't think trump is out there specifically to offend women of i think he is an equal opportunity offender. he's been out there calling erick erickson a buffoon and charles krauthammer a dopey loser. i don't see him sharing the
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stage with anybody. it is hard to imagine him picking a vice president. i don't think it is anything particular to a female. and he has since followed up those remarks on planned parenthood. he doesn't believe they should get any federal funneling as long as they continue to do abortions which doesn't distinguish him at all from the rest of the republican field. i don't think this is anything particular about women. this guy railroads anybody who isn't completely differential to him. the new poll out shows trump topping the field overall with 22% from likely republican iowa caucusgoers. he comes in at number two in caucusgoers behind ben carson. there is a slight gender gap within the republican universe when it comes to donald trump and female voters. do you see a specific problem for him on this issue? has he actually proven once again that the laws of politics don't apply?
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>> i think the usual laws of politics still apply here. i don't think donald trump is a credible or serious candidate. i think that by this time next year, donald trump will be remembered as a wonderful distraction in the usual boring august summer before a presidential election. that's about it. with that said, i do think that in so far that he has a campaign, this whatever this clown show of a campaign, he does have a bit of a gender gap. i think that has a lot to do with the fact trump's persona is very aggressively masculine and male in a way that i think a lot of american men, not a lot obviously but some chunk of american men identify with. and quite a few women do not. but outside of that, donald trump is not someone who has a coherent strategy, coherent ideas, really a coherent anything. he is just donald trump. as far as a vice presidential pick, i think the ideal pick for
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donald trump would be another donald trump. >> that supposes there are two of them in this world. but it is amazing. we're sitting here in the middle of august. the calendar is advancing and we are talking about a vice presidential pick for donald trump and who that might be. >> it is bananas. >> it is going on longer. that's the interesting thing. i was watching him yesterday and i think we might be seeing slightly different donald trump. he is always going to be, time king of the world and that whole bravado and everything. he seemed more relaxed. he was joking with reporters a little bit. i think he might be at this and saying, starting to, my strategy is working. >> one hundred%. the only thing better than one donald trump is two. he likes executives who work for him. ivanka. she might be a little young for the office. that's the type of person that seems to fit the trump bill here. he needs his campaign needs that
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sort of energy reinforcing. that would reinforce everything about trump. everyone who knows her really likes her. the stories about her are, she is very personable and it would help smooth out the rough edges. but trump is certainly hitting a groove. everything the republican party has thrown at him for the past two months. he was disinvited, not invited to the koch sum, the club for growth is coming after him. they're all going after him. that has done nothing. his support has gotten stronger and he's seeing that. the whatever he has going for him is working so why change? >> yeah. eliana, that's amazing to me too. the fox news debate, he is in this dust-up with megyn kelly. she is so popular with the fox audience. 25 million people watching it. it is shocking. i can't think of another
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republican politician who could say this stuff about megyn kelly, who could go to war with her and survive and maybe win. >> i think trump's appeal to people is that he isn't afraid to offend anybody. that means bashing some of the sacred cows of the republican party. i think what he will start to realize is that once he's not saying provocative and offensive things, he stops getting the headlines and he stops getting put on television constantly. and his campaign will lose some of the sizzle. that may come as a disappointment for him. the incentive is to continue to spout the most provocative and obscene things like the way a reality television star. so it doesn't matter if the headlines are good, bad, offensive, inoffensive. >> that's the amazing thing. about six weeks to put this in perspective. donald trump has been dominating the headlines in politics and dominating this race. we're still five months away from anybody actually going to the polls and voting in this
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thing. that's the question. how long is this sustainable? >> i think it is sustainable as long as he has media attention. as soon as the first primaries come, as soon as he does not win anything, i think he drops out. i think he might drop out when he gets bored with it. right now i think he's here to be offensive and be loud and take advantage of the media attention and frankly, just simply, he's not here to make friends. he's just here to hang out. >> that's a good reason to run for president. to hang out. thanks for joining us tonight. we'll be right back. will seal the deal. sure! i offer multi-car, safe driver, and so many other discounts that people think i'm a big deal. and boy, are they right. ladies, i can share hundreds in savings with all of you! just visit progressive.com today. but right now, it's choosing time. ooh! we have a winner.
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all: what? [chuckles] he's supposed to pick one of us. this is a joke, right? that was the whole point of us being here.
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>> that's "hardball" for now. "all in" with chris hayes starts now. >> tonight on "all in." >> do you really think you could beat hillary clinton? >> great question. the answer is yes. >> hillary clinton is officially feeling the burn. as bernie takes the lead on hillary in new hampshire. what to make of all the early polling. plus, matt taibbi on 2016 the reality show. >> the bible! >> the first republican finally drops an attack ad on donald trump. >> then planned parenthood gets some love from the republican front-runner. >> i cherish women. >> plus, vanlt fair and the twitter over tinder.