are you hanging around a little bit? >> i will. >> thank you. i forgive you already about tom brady. see you later. thanks for staying with us this hour. spare a thought for the man who just finished serving 14 years as the governor of the great state of texas. poor rick perry. rick perry is down and out in american politics right now. for some reason even though he poses no threat to anyone. i mean anybody else in the presidential race punching at rick perry by testify in addition is punching down. he's the basement. rick perry should be immune from criticism now because of his own irrelevance in the race. he's that far down and out but for some reason rick perry is still in a position where he finds himself still getting kicked. the other candidates find time to insult rick perry and tear

him down. >> you know, one of the things i'm most honored about is so far everybody who's attacked me has gone down the tubes. lindsey graham was at 3%. now 0%. perry attacked me. he's getting out of the race. he was at 0. everybody. rand paul attacked me. the monmouth poll where i lead by double figures and rand paul is at less than 2%. he attacked me. now jeb bush just went town in the mon it is mouth poll very big. >> okay, i can see republican presidential front-runner going after jeb bush, running roughly in third place. i can see him going after rand paul because paul has so much

media support even if he has terrible poll numbers. i can see donald trump going after lindsey graham. though he's a zero in the presidential race even in his home state lindsey graham says to anyone that will listen one of the main reasons he's still running for presidentings one of the things he most wants to talk about when anybody interviews him is that he thinks donald trump is so terrible. he wants to stay in the race to be on record even if he never makes another debate he wants to be on the record in the race as having opposed trump in every possible way. i can see donald trump going after lindsey graham. but rick perry? it's hard to imagine a reason to spend time singling out rick perry as his campaign keeps circling the drain. he poses no threat to anyone. but donald trump went after him today. that gave rick perry a reason to go on television which he did just after donald trump's remarks to answer donald trump's contention that he, governor rick perry is about to jump out of the presidential race. it didn't go well.

>> joining me now former texas governor rick perry. do you want to make news today on the real story? is donald trump right? are you getting out of the race? >> you know, a broken clock is right once a day. >> how many times a day? come on, governor. come on. >> are you getting out of the race? >> you know, a broken clock is right once a day. so the bottom line is i'm still here, still working. >> god bless him. governor rick perry had to let go of the staff member whose job it was to remind him about the numerical ending of common american idioms. wait until the bird in hand versus birds in bushes things. that's a tough one in terms of the map. rick perry is having a hard time. more on the question of whether or not his campaign is over later in the show. tonight the governor saying on fox he's still working, still

there. there is more news on the subject and donald trump may be right that rick perry is done. that said, the new national poll out today on the republican presidential race doesn't have rick perry polling at 0%. he's not at zero. it has him polling at 1% which is still not good. it does mean he's within one point of rand paul and chris christie, both of whom are at 2% nationwide. this is the new monmouth national poll today. it's the latest poll in which another high profile republican, another supposedly top tier national caliber republican is way down in the dumps as well. in fact, only one point ahead of rand paul and chris christie. only one point up at 3%. scott walker. if you listen to the whole republican establishment and the beltway media, even a couple of months ago either jeb bush or scott walker was supposed to be winning by now. scott walker nationally is in eighth place with 3% of the vote

which is smaller than the margin of error in this poll. this weekend i went to the 147th annual comington fair in western massachusetts which is awesome. i go every year. every year i go to the demolition derby. this year i was sitting with my friend michael at the demolition derby. from our vantage point michael took a 20-second cell phone video of what the demolition derby looked like from where we were which was right in the front row which was freaking terrifying from rocks, dirt, parts. it was very exciting. in the 20-second clip he took i didn't notice this saturday night. i was too scared. too caught up n. the video clip. a receive -- revelation. watch this and look for the sage political analyst delivered by

the official. it was only 20 seconds but this guy figured it out. this is sage advice particularly for politicians who find themselves at the bottom of the pack now. >> if you're not moving you're probably losing! >> if you're not moving you're probably losing! true at this demolition derby which i attended saturday night and true in national politics for rand paul, chris christie, rick perry and increasingly scott walker. all these guy who is are not just flirting with occasionally bad polling numbers in the campaigns for president, these are guys who are not moving. they appear to be stuck at what's becoming a surprising bottom tier of candidates in the republican race.

it's one thing to be in the basement for a poll or two. another for people to expect you to be a 2% guy, a 1% guy, a 3% guy from here on out. if you are not moving you are probably losing. but things are starting to seem stuck in the polls. not just at the bottom of the republican field. also at the top of the field. of course that's a much happier place to be. trump is also not moving as the republican presidential front runner. he seems to be continuing to consolidate and increase what's starting to feel like a prohibitive lead over other candidates. mr. trump is in first place in every national poll. by this list he's been in first place for the last 18 straight national republican presidential polls. in the new monmouth poll he reaches a new milestone. 30% of the vote, the highest he's had or any candidate has had in any national republican poll all year long. this is starting to feel not just predictable but permanent. he's leading in every poll since the fourth of july. by increase fwli impressive margins.

here's a fact that mr. trump is not yet bragging about but he ought to be. to me at least it seems like low hanging fruit in terms of things donald trump could brag about but i have never heard him brag about, the ad factor. mr. trump way ahead of everybody in the polls not only nationally but every early state as well. when there have been people who have gotten close to him in the polls recently like the poll out of iowa in which ben carson was tied for first place. when mr. trump was tied his answer usually has to do, usually says something about the fact that the candidates have been spending a lot of money on advertising. that's how he explained, for example, why ben carson was doing well and tied him in a poll in iowa. he didn't say anything bad. he said, oh, he's spending a lot of money in iowa. when asked about jeb bush who is in the single digits, doing poorly overalle but holding onto

roughly third place. donald trump explained why jeb bush has any support at all by talking about how much money jeb bush is not just raising but spending on advertisement. it's clear mr. trump believes in the political effectiveness of advertising. he thinks you can move your poll numbers up if you spend money on ads. you can tell he believes it because that's the way he talks about other people's relative success in the race. within that reasoning what's more impressive about mr. trump's consistent longstanding and increasingly large leads in the republican polling is that he's done all that, put himself in first place in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina and nationally by a mile. he put himself in first place by such a distance for going on two months now he's done all of that, built this prohibitive front-runner status without running a single ad. there are no donald trump for president tv ads.

nationally or in the early states. we just got a good run down from nbc news about the other ad spending by other campaigns and super pacs supporting the campaigns, where they are spending nationally versus in the early states. usually in a normal presidential year you try to correlate some of the ad spending with how candidates are doing. you try to see the effect of spending in the polls. in this case you can throw that rule out the window. the person who is dominating to the point where everybody else is in single digits, that person has spent zero dollars on ads. turns out he doesn't need to. so trump to say the least has a good thing going. he's winning by a mile. he's not even having to spend anything to do it. he's stuck at the top of the polls in what's starting to feel like an increasingly permanent position. he's not moving but he's not losing either. everything is going great for

him. and so today he decided to make a major change in the dynamics of the race. why do that now? everything is going great for him. what exactly is broken that needs to be fixed for donald trump in the presidential race? but this republican party loyalty pledge with mr. trump made a show out of signing today. it represents a major change in the way he's running what up until now has been a successful campaign for the republican nomination for president. >> thank you very much, everybody. thank you for being here. this is some turnout. my great honor. the chairman just left, as you probably know. he's been extremely fair. the rnc has been absolutely terrific over the last two-month period. as you know that's what i wanted. i wanted fairness. i don't have to be treated any differently than anybody else.

i just wanted fairness from the republican party. we are leading in every single poll. a new poll came out today where we are over 30%. we have actually hit numbers as high as 35 and 40%. and frankly i felt that the absolute best way to win and to beat the democrats and very easily, i think, beat the democrats no matter who it may be, whether it's hillary or anybody else and i think hillary will have a hard time, frankly, with what's happening getting to the starting gate. the best way for the republicans to win is if i win the nomination and go terrell against whoever they happen to put up. and for that reason i have signed the pledge. [ cheers and applause ]

so i will be totally pledging my allegiance to the republican party and the conservative principles for which it stands and we will go out and we will fight hard and we will win. most importantly we'll make it great because that's what it's all about. are there any questions? >> yes. many questions. many questions were asked at today's press conference. none of which unfortunately could be heard on anyone's microphones so it made the press conference hard to follow on tv. but the basic question here is if you're donald trump why change now? if you pitched your team all the way to the world series by throwing your amazing knuckle ball that nobody could hit, why stop doing that and instead start throwing fastballs just because everybody else does?

an unnamed adviser to mr. trump's campaign tried to explain the logic of signing the political pledge saying he was changing course on running as a third party candidate because he wants to inoculate him of supporting liberal candidates and policies. he doesn't want to be criticized for it at the next debate. honestly, and with all respect that makes no sense. whatever criticism donald trump might have faced to leave and run on his own, whoever was criticizing him, the criticism has not been working. >> gentlemen, we know how much you love hand-raising questions. we promise this is the only one tonight. the only one. is there anyone on stage -- and can i see hands -- who is unwilling tonight to pledge your

support to the eventual nominee of the republican party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person? again, we are looking for you to raise your hand now. raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. [ booing ] >> to be clear, you are standing on a republican debate stage. >> i fully understand. >> the place where the rnc will give the nominee the nod. >> i understand. >> and experts say an independent run would almost certainly hand the race to democrats and likely another clinton. you can't say tonight that you can make that pledge. >> i cannot say i have to respect the person that if it's not me, the person that wins, if i do win -- and i'm leading by quite a bit, that's what i want to do. i can totally make the pledge if i'm the nominee, i can pledge i will not run as an independent.

and i am discussing it with everybody. but i'm talking about a lot of leverage. i want to win but i want to win as the republican. i want to run as the republican nominee. >> tonight you can't say if another one of these. >> this is what's wrong. he buys and sells politicians of all stripes. >> dr. paul -- >> he's already hedging his bet on the clintons. if he doesn't run as a republican maybe he supports clinton or runs as an independent. >> okay. >> he's already hedging his bets because he's used to buying politicians. >> well, i have given him plenty of money. >> just to be clear -- we are going to move on. you can't make the pledge tonight? >> i will not make the pledge at this time. [ cheers and applause ] >> rand paul trying to share the stage there. that was the last rand paul was ever heard of. when you think about that dramatic moment and that was the

way the debate opened up. trump took the stance. defended the stance. that's when he opened up to the bluntest possible criticism on the issue. look at the poll numbers after that. it's not hurt donald trump one bit for anybody to criticize him on the issue. until now his consistent stance that he would keep open the option of running as a third party wasn't hurting him. when he said last month it gave him leverage he's right. holding out the possibility that he could bolt the party gave him leverage. he said what he wanted from the party in exchange for running as a republican was for the other candidates and the party to be nice to him, treat him with with respect. he's saying they no longer have to. he's pledged to run as a republican no matter what they do. why give that up? why sign the pledge? it was funny. earlier this morning, new jersey

governor chris christie, mr. 2% appeared on the fox news channelle and they made a big show of him signing the pledge like there was suspense about it for him. >> the pledge for you, sir. here's the pledge. we printed it out. we heard you hadn't signed it. are you running as an independent? >> i'm not. and i don't need reince priebus to meet with me personally before doing this. september 3, '15. i signed. >> we'll put it on the pile. good to see you. >> that's not a number 2 pencil. >> no, no. all ink, baby. >> all ink. it's a funny thing to ask chris christie to go through signing the thing. he's going to leave the republican party where he's polling at 2% and harness the great groundswell of support by running a third party campaign that anybody will notice let alone care about? right. come on. who else in the giant republican field poses the remotest threat

of running a third party candidacy that would have any effect on anything whatsoever. why have this pledge? the only reason the republican party did the pledge is for one canada at that time, so donald trump would sign it. he has enough support that he could put a huge dent in the republican nominee by running third party and is the only one that could make it happen because he hats enough money to self-fund a third party campaign without raising a single dollar from another human being. he's the threat. the threat has been there from him and him alone. the threat that he could do it and would to it. that's been dramatic. it's given him great leverage to make the republican party be nice to him. to pledge not to block him in his campaign. he had it until today when he gave it up. he's not a dumb guy. the guy is why did he to this? my best guess is maybe the party at the national level or some combination of the states had come up with a plan by which they told mr. trump they could

keep him off the ballot so he thought he needed to do this in order to ensure ballot access in some states. maybe they told him that. i can certainly imagine the states or national republican party threatening that. but if you actually look at ballot access laws in the state almost all of those problems are surmountable with the right lawyers, right amount of money and support in the polls. maybe trump was hoodwinked, tricked into thinking he would need the republican party more than he does. hard to believe. again, he's not a dummy. he's a lot of things but he's not a dummy. honestly, what this looks like strategically is a giant screw-up. a giant, beautiful, classy, huge, screw-up. s. no, like you haven't seen a bed in weeks! zzzquil. the non habit-forming sleep aid that helps you sleep easily,

and wake refreshed. because sleep is a beautiful thing. you're not at all concerned? about what now?ly? oh, i don't know. the apocalypse? we're fine. i bundled renter's with my car insurance through progressive for just six bucks more a month. word. there's looters running wild out there. covered for theft. okay. that's a tidal wave of fire. covered for fire. what, what? all right. fine. i'm gonna get something to eat. the boy's kind of a drama queen. just wait. where's my burrito? [ chuckles ] worst apocalypse ever. protecting you till the end. now, that's progressive.

we have a big show tonight. nba legend kareem abdul jabar is here. yes, for real. calm.

calm. also we'll have the latest on the trauma unfolding in the commonwealth of kentucky today. drama that saw a county clerk thrown in jail over the issue of same-sex marriage. lots to come. please stay with us.

it seemed like it was over. donald trump said good-bye, showed off his signed pledge to the cameras, thanked the crowd, waved bye-bye. it was over. but then turns out there was an encore. >> hey, ladies and gentlemen. this is a very -- an amazing man.

he is, as you know -- right? >> thank you. >> speaker of the house of indonesia, here to see me. setya novatno, one of the most powerful men, a great man and his group is here to see me today. we will do great things for the united states. correct? >> yes. >> do they like me in indonesia? >> yes, thank you very much. >> with that it was over for a second time. one hallmark thing about trump's presidential candidacy is that he does stuff like that. weird stuff can happen when donald trump is around. he seems spontaneous, unscripted, unpredictable and that has been used to great effect by donald trump on the campaign trail. that's why the tv news landscape looked like this at 2:00 p.m. today. everybody following donald trump's every move, even the business channels. mr. trump said he was giving up his outsider status as somebody

not beholden to the party that he would support whoever the republican nominee is and would not run as an independent candidate. the other thing is he's starting to give up the other thing that sets him apart from other candidates. the perceived spontaneity and authenticity. this big media circus was for a circus act starting to feel rehearsed. his appeal and the fascination is in large part because of the spontaneous, unscripted, real, but he's not doing that anymore, if he ever was. for example, here is what mr. trump said today about jeb bush. >> jeb bush is a very nice man. i will be honest. he's a very nice person. i think he is a very low energy person. >> jeb bush a very low energy it

shall that sounds familiar. that's because mr. trump has said it about a zillion times now. >> jeb is a nice person. he's very low energy. i'm not used to that kind of person. >> people are tired of low energy people. >> jeb bush is a low energy person. for him to get things done is hard. >> you know, i view it as energy. there is no energy on the other side. >> a very low energy person. very, very low energy. so low energy that every time you watch him you fall asleep. >> it's not like this canned attack on jeb bush is the only thing trump has packaged together every time he speaks. he's had a canned line for pretty much every issue that's come up to the point where now it is just canned line to canned line. it's neat, disciplined in a way. but it's also boring, predictable. par for the course but donald

trump's appeal is he's not supposed to be like that. not supposed to be like every other politician but he kind of is now. >> i love the hispanics. i have thousands of hispanics right now working for me. love them. they have a great spirit. >> i have a great relationship with the mexican people. many work for me. i have so many hispanics and they love me. i employ tremendous people. they work hard. mexicans. thousands of people worked for me over the years. hispanic. >> i love the people of mexico. i love hispanics. nobody loves hispanics like i do. if i didn't bring up the subject of illegal immigration you wouldn't be asking the question nobody would be talking about immigration. >> only because of me is everybody talking about illegal immigration. they wouldn't be talking about it. >> if it weren't for me you would not even be talking about

illegal immigration. you wouldn't be talking about it. >> in all fairness if it weren't for me they wouldn't even be talking about illegal immigration. people are offing me millions of that ares. when you're in first place, you can collect so much money. i keep turning them down. i have people coming up wanting to give me millions. $5 million last week i turned down from one man. i said i don't want your murn money. so i'm turning down millions. i don't want your money. we are turning down millions. all the guys coming up, don, i want to contribute millions. i don't want your money. >> so far everybody that's attacked me has gone down the tubes. >> do you ever notice the ones that attacked me most viciously went down to zero. >> what's a great honor is they hit me hard and they went down. >> haven't you heard everything already? it's getting boring.

>> if he no longer seems spontaneous and unscripted and no longer seems bigger than and not beholden to the republican party which he swore off with the pledge today then what's left that's different about him? joining a man whose body language and facial expression said everything i felt when donald trump good nighted the indonesian house speaker today chris speaker who is at the press conference today and asked the first question. thank you. >> it's great to be here. >> the look on your face. i was like, that's how i feel. >> i kept looking around like seriously, are we being pranked? part of it is i feel there is a lag in terms of the press corps. they have heard the lines more than we have. that this is just a stump speech now. that's what politicians do. huckabee has a stump speech. i can tell you about the illegal

imgrants and talk about how i will make your head spin and the strongest military, we have to protect the vets. you can do it. but there is no -- >> which isn't important as a criticism for any other politician because everybody expects it. now that he's doing it, is that actually -- i feel the only thing donald trump can't do is be boring. >> i agree. he said at one point that i have to keep saying different things so they will keep covering me. it sets apart why he's been so expert. >> is this the handout? >> yes. the other thing to remember is the campaign is winning. here's the rachel maddow show full screen. >> he handed out something from my show? >> yes. >> wait.

like it's just a picture from the tv? >> he literally handed out a packet of information that's full screens from cable news of polls including -- >> screen shots from tv shows? that's not the poll. >> there is the cnn -- >> john king making a gesture about me winning a poll. >> the thing about this, here's what connects to the thesis. the next step will this be -- this is not an actual campaign. >> this is a high school play about a campaign. >> a bad set of props that no one will look closely at. don't open the folder on stage. if you are going the conventional route. >> by pledging fealty to the republican party. >> he could have made news today. charlie guff said what about the naked women in times square which is a huge issue in the new york city tabloids. wouldn't take the bait.

he could have said something that made news but he didn't. he has transformed into a traditional canada at that time. the question becomes do you also then bring the organizational capacities. >> so when you happened out information. >> it's not only screen shots. >> amazing. stunning. chris hayes, thank you for braving it and for staying. >> you can keep this. >> i wonder if i should charge him. >> it's not classy to use this. >> credit, the rachel maddow show. huge. we've got news ahead tonight

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we've got news ahead tonight on the kentucky county clerk who was thrown in jail today on the issue of same-sex marriage. there is an important part of the story being mostly missed by the national media. we have that specific part of the story ahead. plus, the great kareem abdul jabar joins us tonight in part because he's in a big political fight that he picked and he's winning. he's here for the interview tonight. stay with us.

kim davis is a democrat, a county clerk held in contempt of court for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. it's not as simple as that. it's now not just about kim dafs and her own conscience and her not wanting to do this. kim davis is trying to stop others from giving out marriage licenses to same-sex couples. her deputies in the office said

they would grant licenses to all couples but kim davis said she would not allow them to though she wouldn't have to sign them or have anything to do with them. she said no today that other people would handle the matter so the judge sent her to jail. it is not clear how long she'll stay there, whether the judge or she will give in first. this one kentucky clerk is getting attention for the fight. i think it is important to note she may not be alone. she's not the only clerk who is resisting. by our best figuring there appear to be clerks who said they will basically take this same stance as the clerk in rowan county in 14 counties in alabama. these 14. also two more counties in kentucky besides the one where the clerk is now in jail and one county in texas. if that's correct we are looking at 17 more potential cases like the one unfolding today in kentucky where the clerk has ended up in jail.

we do know how this ends ultimately. this ends with marriage equalle ti everywhere. we have known it would end that way since the supreme court settled this as a matter of law this summer. in terms of how we get there, do more officials in other states start joining this kentucky clerk behind bars for contempt of court? before we reach the inevitable resolution what happens along the way and what is the prospect of jailed anti-gay wanna be martyrs? what's the prospect of not just one but more than a dozen of them do to the politics of the where i shall? watch this space.

it's become a standard part of the game. the hook shot. instead of the classic facing the basket, both hands approach you turn sideways. you hook the ball over your head with one arm. by shooting that way with one arm you free your other

nonshooting arm to hold off the defender. you see the hook shot all the time now. back when the hook shot was a new idea the guy who perfected it was kareem abdul jabar. he was 7'2" with long arms and good coordination so it was almost impossible for a defender to stop one of his hook shots. you couldn't reach him. he mastered the art of creating distance between himself and the other guy. he got so good at the hook shot he could make them so far from the basket his hook shot got its own name when he did it. they called it the sky hook. kareem abdul jabar's sense of distance, the way he could look all alone on the court in the sky hook moments burns forever in my mind as a kid who watched basketball growing up. it turned out to be a metaphor for not just his experience on the basketball court but part of the way he lived his life. in an essay this year mr. ab tul jabar wrote about his reasons

for converting to islam when he changed his name. he said, i came to realize that the lew alcindor everybody was cheering wasn't really the person they imagined. they wanted me to be the clean cut example of racial kbal ti. the poster boy for how anybody from any background could achieve the american dream. i was living proof to them that rachl was a myth. i knew better. after he retired in 1989 as the nba's all-time leading scorer mr. abdul jabar remained in public life and politics. secretary of state hillary clinton appointed him an american cultural ambassador in 2012. he now writes a regular column in "time" magazine that's provocative and smart. last year when the l.a. clippers owner got caught on tape saying racist stuff and the nba had to decide what to do about the

behavior from a team owner, kareem abdul-jabar raised the uncomfortable question of why it was that tape that was so upsetting from donald sterling but not the prior decade when sterling had to pay huge settlements in racial discrimination cases brought against him as a landlord. this week, kareem turned his sights on donald trump in a column he wrote yesterday for the washington post criticizing him for menacing journalists and for taking credit even for his ability to bully the media. he favorably compared bernie sanders to donald trump saying that the ways the two candidates have dealt with criticism on the campaign trail reveal the difference between a mature, thoughtful and intelligent man -- bernie sanders -- and a man whose money has made him arrogant to criticism and impervious to feeling the need for actual policy. he said the candidacy will be lost forever.

that piece was published yesterday. by yesterday afternoon kareem abdul i can't beba had a response from donald trump. not just any response. it was that one. a note scrawled in sharpie on the column that kareem had written. dear kareem. now i know why the press always treated you so badly. they couldn't stand you. the fact is that you don't have a clue about life and what has to be done to make america great again. best wishes, donald trump. how do you respond when you get a note like that. my favorite note is there was one thing highlighted in the column and it was donald trump's name. ooh, it's about me. must be important. i wouldn't know how to respond to that. if you are kareem abdul jabbar he posted it online with the observation, the bully proves my point. kareem abdul jabbar joins us

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yesterday morning, nba legend kareem abdul jab bar who is now a political columnist posted a piece in the "washington post" arguing donald trump is trampling constitutional principles by menacing journalists among other things. that afternoon, mr. abdul jabbar had a handwritten note from donald trump scrawled in sharpie, you don't have a clue. mr. abdul jabbar posted, the bully made my point.

the is the author of "mycroft holmes." thank you for being here. >> nice to talk to you, rachel. >> there are a lot of things to critique about the donald trump presidential campaign. i wonder why you singled out his attacks on the media. why that bothered you so much. >> it bothers me because first amendment is such an essential part of the what our democracy is about. when you attack journalists in order to silence criticism, are you really stifling the public discourse? the fact we can engage in some critical analysis of what someone says and ask them questions, that makes our democracy work. it makes us able to understand what the issues are and where people's hearts are and what

they are going to do as our elected officials. when you try to suppress that, i think you are trying to stifle criticism and avoid being accountable. i didn't like the tone of what that meant in this political campaign. it's very important. >> it is one thing for politicians to not like the press or not like reporters. generally in those cases, i think politicians ignore what is written about them because they don't like the press and dismiss what anyone in the press thinks of him. obviously he cares to the point where he sent you this angry note written on your column. did you expect anything like that? has anything like that that happened to you before? do you have any relationship with him? >> i have met mr. trump a couple of times, but i don't have any relationship with him but i didn't expect that. there are so many other journalists that think he has to be held accountable in some way and they try to ask him questions and all they get is

threats and put downs. it doesn't make any sense. >> why is it that you -- and i will describe this as optimism because i can tell what you think of donald trump, why are you so optimistic that his candidacy will fail. that he has no chance and we are having a fascination with him now but you think it will be over soon. why do you think that mr.? >> political campaigns are about style and substance. mr. trump's style is very attractive. the reason he's able to get all of this attention and have the following that he does is because he says things in a way that inspires people or makes them feel good about the things he's saying. pretty soon there's going to have to be some substance. when we hear what the substance is of what his programs are for his vision of america, i don't think that his candidacy will last very long beyond that.

>> i wonder, having been in the public eye for so long, especially because you were in such a bright public spotlight when you were so young. starting when you were so young and for so many years, do you feel like -- i guess do you feel like our politics right now are in part about who's good at managing just the art of being on tv? who's good at managing the art of being looked at and talked a lot about more than other substantive in politics. >> i think too many trivia aspects of the public life have become primary and all important. whereas getting programs that are going to benefit the average american person and keep our nation on its path of greatness, don't seem to be able to discern between those two with issues. we have to constantly remind people what's important and why. that's why educating ourselves

about the candidates and what they have to offer and what they see as the best way to do things. it's so important. >> kareem abdul-jabbar, nba hall of famer, columnist, author of the soon to be released book, "mycroft holmes." >> thank you for being here. >> thank you, rachel. i have been told that joe biden has just made remarks about running for president that go closer than he has gotten before in terms of explaining whether or not he's going to run and i think we have those remarks ahead. stay with us.

we just got in new tape from moments ago, vice president biden speaking in atlanta. he was taking questions from the audience and this is what he said whether he will run for president. watch. >> my whole soul to this

endeavor, it would not be appropriate. everybody talks about a lot of factors, other people in the race, whether i can raise the money, whether i can put together an organization. that's not the factor. the factor is -- can i do it? can my family undertake what is an arduous commitment that we'd be proud to undertake under ordinary circumstances, but the honest to god answer is i just don't know. >> vice president speaking moments ago. he went on to say there's no way to put a timetable on this. if i can reach the conclusion we can do it in a fashion that would make it viably not hesitate to do it but i have to be honest with you i can't look you in the eye and say now i know i can do it. as always, heart-felt comments

from vice president biden, not clarifying whether he will run but clarifying how he will decide. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. "first look" is up next. it's friday, september 4th. right now on "first look." a father's grief, thousands fighting for a better life, and the clock is ticking. then to an incredible scene at the leave no trace festival known as burning man. trump pledges americans. hillary clinton circles e-mail wagons. joe biden searches for strength to run. pope francis sneaks out of the vatican again. tom brady wins another one. jim harbaugh gets schooled in the debut. good morning. we begin half a world away. the father of the li