i'm richard lui. on this monday, we have got some breaking news to share with us, republican scott walker dropping out of the presidential race. he is scheduled to give a press conference in just about 60 minutes. plus, the pope's visit to the u.s. is just hours away as well, but he spent today in cuba. what he did there plus what he will be doing here tomorrow. latest on the fallout from ben carson's con strollers comments about a muslim in the white house. first off though, nbc news confirming wisconsin governor scott walker dropping out of the 2016 presidential race. this makes walker the second republican to drop out of the race after governor rick perry. his campaign has scheduled a news conference tonight at 6 p.m. eastern in madison, wisconsin. now, a walker supporter telling the "new york times," the short answer here is money, when asked why the governor is ending his campaign. walker has also seen a full from grace in the polls a new cnn poll showing walker tied in last place among all republicans with

less than 1%. just an asterisk. for more, let me bring in e.j. dionne, susan del percio, republican strategist and john nichols, washington correspondent for the nation magazine. john, start with you, you are in madison, wisconsin, a state you know well, scott walker well, having followed his last three races in the last four years, is it money, too high of a burn rate? >> yes, too high of a burn rate. i was told by a very high ranking republican over the weekend that there was -- this campaign was going through tens of thousands of dollars a day on staff, on offices on just basic travel, beyond your tv advertising or anything like that. i have heard different figuring floating around but no question they needed a massive inflow of money on a steady basis to just keep this campaign on the road. so money is a huge factor.

>> why was the burn rate so. >> >> there's been a lot of criticism of the walker campaign, that the people that took charge of it, instead of running it as an outsider campaign, a renegade campaign trying to get, you know, built up to a powerful position, that they started first class, that they went for, you know high salaries, lots of quality transportation all that and just burned through a lot of money very, very fast. i would counsel there is one other element here on top of the money. money is very important, but scott walker is, in his heart and soul, a political strategist. in addition to the money, the reason he is dropping out right now, perhaps before he is completely out of money, is because he knows that it's better for him to get out now and not be in that kind of long, painful slog toward the next debit, where we talk about whether he will end up at the kids' table.

that's another part of this. he is always a politician and trying to kind of save his future reputation, at least a little bit. >> he is looking at the three or four moves down in this chess game over the coming year. >> absolutely. >> e.j. dionne, you have heard what john was saying in terms of the burn rate. high. tens of thousands a week is what john was saying. and the "new york times" saying on thursday at a new york city apartment, todd ricket, a national finance co-chair trying to put together a fund-raiser and tough to get people to attend. is this number that john is telling us, is it above average? does it seem to you that it is too much to spend for where he is sitting in this race? >> see, i think the burn rate is a real reason here but the burn rate doesn't bother you if you have some big donors eager to raise a lot of money for you. and so i also think that he built himselves this financial problem but then developed a series of political problems.

trump was a big part of that trump, he was making an appeal to the right end of the party and donald trump started eating up a lot of that support, particularly in iowa where toad win. not insignificant that two of the candidates now, rick per rained scott walker, were both on the right end of the republican party. and he didn't seem sure footed on national issues. he switched his stance on immigration, for example. there are other issues where he seemed to adjust. i think there were some governors, reagan and bill clinton being the obvious, who are really tuned into national issues. i think it took scott walker more time than was good for him in the end to really get locked in on those issues. i have heard that from conservatives who have talked to him, who were trying to advise him. so, i think it's the money, but the money is both the cause and a symptom of another problem. >> the cause and the symptom, susan del percio, we have the money. we have the polls. does one plus one equal three

here? and he getting a call perhaps from a big funder, perhaps the koch brothers, we don't know, and then he reacts, his campaign staff says it's time to move on, you put those two together and it looks a little bit too insur mountable? >> he actually didn't need to get the call from the big donor, if you will. the big donor was probably not returning his calls. that's what happens when the you have the that showing at the debate. they can be very, very damaging, or helpful, like carly fiorina. the last thing he wanted was someone wondering if co-make it into the primetime debate again. what hes to think about his future. he's young game he can go through this again. he can use this as a teachable moment, get out now instead of trying to fight it out with these other guys and say this was simply not my time.

nothing wrong with that considering how long the primary season s people remember he was going to run but they won't remember how he really went out, except he just didn't make it to the end. >> as the three of you know, called the golden boy early on in this process. somebody, take a look at the republican party, people looking at him going this is a person to watch. john nichols, we look at what happened there in wisconsin, three good wins, he had the recall, obviously in between those three wins, but was -- were those wins just perhaps too easy and now that's on the national stage, he didn't quite have the bona fides, if you will, to survive what might be more difficult than his wisconsin elections? >> you're actually asking a couple of very good questions. first off, in wisconsin, scott walker had a moment. he got elected in a republican wave year. he moved immediately to do some bold things.

he got a lot of pushback and then make a choice, is he gonna fight or fit in? he chose to fight. that got him a huge amount of national money, literally tens of millions of dollars flowed into the state to back him up. he was able to overwhelm his opposition in one state in a moment. and that was spread over a couple of years. but that was the reality. he misinterpreted that to think that what he did in wisconsin, particularly the anti-union stuff, would somehow translate instantaneously to the national stage. he never, ever really outgrew what worked for him in wisconsin and then evolved to a national stage. >> i think john makes a really good point there that he really thought that the anti-union stuff was a big enough national issue that he could ride that to much more support than he actually did. and i don't think republicans don't like unions, but i don't think it's at the center of

their concerns. and so you had trump and ted cruz chipping off votes to his right and then you had marco rubio kind of occupying the semiestablishment, semitea party space that scott walker wanted. and when you looked that the debit, as susan said, if you go down poll lists, he had less time than anyone in that debate, which mean he made less of an impression than anyone in that debate. >> talking about the unions here, they are already responding, share a statement from the afl-cio president, richard trumka, in response to scott walker's announcement and his run for president of the united states, which we expect in about an hour, saying scott walker is still a disgrace, just no longer national. susan del percio -- >> that's just politics. that's nonsense. he did the walk with joe biden. he is going with joe biden or hillary clinton. there's nothing surprising. >> react to what ej was saying. this is not an issue strong

enough to take nationally, to rally the troops to inrig is ra -- invigorate republicans to get out. >> it was a great fund-raising tool but not a great vote-getting tool. >> exactly. >> when it comes to wisconsin, he was looking like an insider to folks in iowa, given everything, he did run for several elections, he was a politician's politician. so, that is also part of the effect, when you look at donald trump, carly fiorina and ben carson being in the top tiers. >> last question here, john. the fighting bob fest, which you know very well there in wisconsin, annual progressive rally that happens in the state, there was any talk about scott walker? >> there was a lot of talk about scott walker, there always is. look, progressives in wisconsin have not liked this guy. they have fought against him. and so there is a measure of glee. i don't think there's any other

word, in the fact that he has sort of tried to rise and fallen so fast. by the same token, wisconsinites have to face the real that while the rest of the country is done with him, he is now coming back to wisconsin. >> so, ej, this is the question, now that scott walker has stepped away, and we asked that when rick perry did as well, where does his support go? you look at others that might fit that archetype of who he is. is it going to be chris christie? or does trump, as he does so well, turn on a dime and start to take up that mantra that walker has had over the last year? >> i think if you look at the polls, his support already went. there isn't a whole lot -- >> exactly right. >> i think he has already bled a lot to trump in iowa. i suspect he bled some to ben carson in iowa and iowa was really what his campaign was all about, that's where he was going to make his mark. and i also suspect, as i said,

that people who are looking for a certain kind of candidate might well have been looking for rubio and it's the last thing worth mentioning that the republican governor who started out anti-union and then lost a referendum and went the other way and has actually now tried to approach him is john kasich and rich trumka would probably point out he is still in the race and actually doing pretty well up in new hampshire. again, scott walker dropping out of the 2016 race to expect him to be coming to the cameras in about 50 minutes. e.j. dionne, susan del percio, john nichols, stay with us. more about walker's departure from the race in the hour. thank for being on that. the pope continues his north american tour. we will have the highlights from his day in cuba. we have that. and ben carson's campaign clarifying his controversial comments about muslims. we will have the details of that. stay tuned.

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shares of volkswagen, the world's largest automaker, fell 20% today. this comes on the first day of trading following accusations that the automaker has been cheating u.s. emissions laws for years. today, vw ceo martin winter corn admitted as much. in a statement, he said -- volkswag volk s w epa officials say on friday 500,000 diesel models manufactured since 2008 could contain software that enables cars to report false emissions data. these cars emit as much as 40 times the level of pollutants allowed under clean air rules. the epa also saying volkswagen could face a fine as high as 18 billion for the alleged violations.

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pope francis is in the third day of his host toric visit to cuba. he will be here in the united states in less than a day, expected to arrive the a joint andrews air force base at 4 p.m. eastern time. today, the pope delivered mass in holguin and traveling to satiago de cuba. nbc reporter, claudio lavanga, has the latest from havana. >> the pope's visit to the island finally draws to a close on the second and last full day on the island, he flew out of havana and flew to holguin, east of the island, the first pope to do so even though the third pope to have visited this island in the last 20 years. this morning, he held another open-air mass there in the sweltering heat. it was 95 degrees fahrenheit. it was big humidity, but he solded sold

ier -- soldiered on. he acknowledged the effort and sacrifice that the catholic church had to fair, of course, in the last 60 years since the revolution in 1959, as he was first banned and then restricted. he also praised the mission houses here, the thousands of mission houses, private homes turned into houses of prayers to offset the absence or lack of priests and churches much later -- churches. later on, he will fly to a church, stay in santiago, hold mass at the kath need dra before he flies out to washington where he is expected to land about 4 p.m. in the afternoon, the first leg of his four-day tour in the states. back to you, richard. >> nbc's claudio lavanga, thank you for that. in u.s., washington, d.c., new york stained philadelphia are preparing for the pope's visit n philadelphia, the pope will deliver mass for the conclusion of the world meeting of families.

the pope made this video message ahead of his visit. >> i look forward to greeting the pilgrims ant people of philadelphia when i come for the world meeting of families. see you in philadelphia. >> some security concerns ahead of the pope's visit to the u.s. nbc news has obtained a document revealing law enforcement is bore r worried terrorists may impersonate police officers, firefighters and others to create an attack inside the u.s. last week, homeland security secretary jeh johnson said there are no credible threats ahead of the pope's visit. >> we know of know specific credible threat directed at the pope's visit here to this city

so we fully anticipate a successful and safe visit for the pope and for the public and we encourage people to celebrate here in this city the pope's visit. >> pope will be in the united states from tuesday through sunday, september 27th. for more, let me bring in rick her rare row, executive director of cuba now. you heard all the concerns here, rick, about security. do you have any sense of where is that? do you have any concern yourself? >> um, i mean, this is a very popular pope. at the same time, he is somewhat controversial among some circles because of positions he has taken on issues such as homosexuality, climate change and equality. so, there's always a:cause for concern. i think more than anything, you're going to see thousands and thousands of pilgrims flock to the different masses, the stops he is making in the united states and mostly going to be a

very positive atmosphere for all involved. >> you have been watching the pope landed on this weekend, an al italia flight, there were chants, there was singing, there was raul castro, who came over to shake his hand and greet him, the president, the leader of cuba saying if this pope keeps on doing what he's doing, i may convert and become catholic. and so, how did his overall trip, if you were to describe it, go? >> i think he has been hitting all the right notes. from the very beginning, right when he got to cuba, he lauded the process of restoring diplomatic relations between the united states and cuba as an example of reconciliation for the entire world. then yesterday in mass and the mass he gave in havana, he warned of the dangers of serving an ideology as opposed to serving each other, which was a not-so-subtle swipe at the hosting government. today, he also called for greater freedoms for -- greater

religious freedoms in the island. so, he certainly has been delivering, i think, a very, very substantive message, one that's going to resonate with folks on the island, not just because of what the message is but also because he is the first spanish-speaking pope and seen as the people's pope and someone who is greatly, greatly admired in cuba. >> what does that mean for the united states, that he will be giving many of his addresses in spanish? >> well, i think it's going to be interesting. i mean, the -- there is -- there is a very significant hispanic population here. i think it's going to be a great moment for those of us who are spanish speaking to see a pope speak in our own tongue in this nation. i think it helps further the argument this is a nation of many cultures, many languages, and should all be brim based because we are all working toward the same common goals. i think it will be well received

overall. >> he is going to be speaking in front of congress. we know the pope agrees with democrats the most part on a number of issues like climate change, income inequality and the iran deal itself but there are those members of congress that are catholic that may not be attending, such as representative paul goes sar of who would not necessarily agree with what the pope could will have this any relevant controversy, his visit to the united states and his speech in front of congress? >> well, i think that that is that congressman's loss to not be there, because if you look at the pope's approval ratesed in united states, they are far above that of congress, if anybody's message is going to resonate that day, it is going to be his. he is going to speak -- he takes certain positions on certain issues that are not very popular to some folks on the republican side. at the same time, he has a very strong position against abortion that may not be so popular to folks on the other. so, maybe not everyone's going

to walk away 100% happy, but he is going to give everyone a lot to think about, i think that's good thing because these are all very urgent topics that we must discuss. >> you know, rick, when he was asked this on "60 minutes" what are you doing to prepare, and he said i am just hoping that god will guide me to do what i need to do on the united states. is he planning this out or is he really that impromptu, the way he will approach what he does when he comes to the united states? >> it's hard to say. i mean, he will have prepared remarks but even yesterday, we saw this in -- when he was speaking after the mass to an audience in havana, he went completely off script and he set aside the script and started delivering his own message and speaking out of basically just, you know, as he was responding to the situation. so it's very possible he could do the same thing here. >> he does okay at it, from what we see. >> oh, yes. oh, yes. when it comes to message delivery, he is as savvy as they get on the global stage. >> so enit so far.

rick, thank you for your time. >> thank you for inviting me. still ahead, bernie sanders draws big clouds in new hampshire as the race tight ups in the key primary states. an historic night for the biggest stars of the small screen. we will have more on last night's emmy action, coming up. e and auto insurance through progressive, you'll save a bundle! [ laughs ] jamie. right. make a bad bundle joke, a buck goes in the jar. i guess that's just how the cookie bundles. now, you're gonna have two bundles of joy! i'm not pregnant. i'm gonna go. [ tapping, cash register dings ] there you go. [ buzzing ] bundle bee coming! it was worth it! saving you a bundle when you bundle -- now, that's progressive. who knows, one of these kids just might be the one. to clean the oceans, to start a movement, or lead a country. it may not be obvious yet, but one of these kids is going to change the world.

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first african-american woman to win lead actress in a drama. >> the only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. you cannot win an emmy for roles that are simply not there. >> reporter: going into the show, jon hamm had never won an emmy. >> we are all just here for jon hamm tonight, right? >> that was on the invite, for jon hamm. >> reporter: "mad men" star finally got history if i. there has been a terrible mistake, clearly. >> reporter: "transparent's" jeffrey tambor was also a win, dedicating his award to the transgender community. >> thank you for your patience. thank you for your courage. thank you for your stories. >> reporter: julia louis-dreyfus scored his sixth emmy and allison janney her seventh, almost an acting record. ties with ed asser in and mary tyler moore and cloris leachman. >> the three of them in one sentence is enough to make me pass out. >> reporter: the night's top honors went to hbo's "veep" and

"game of thrones," the biggest surprise came when tracy morgan walked on stage. his sense of humor shining through once again after last year's devastating crash. >> i finally regained consciousness, i was just ecstatic to learn that i wasn't the one who messed up. just came from my heart, to my peers and my comrades and to the people in tv land, thank you very much. >> that was great to see tracy out there. that was nbc's joe fryer reporting for us. still ahead for, ben carson and donald trump tackle tough questions about muslim americans and carly fiorina makes a big move in the polls. more on these political hot topics ahead, stay tuned. kate rogers with your cnbc market wrap. stocks begin the week with gains. the dow climbed 125 points. the s & p adds 9. the nasdaq is up over 1. americans bought fewer existing homes last month. sales of previously owned homes sank 4.8% in august. apple says it is working to correct an issue with its ios app store, removing malware

embedded in hundreds of apps it is the first reported case of malicious programs getting past apple's review process. that is it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. ♪ ♪ ♪ another tie. order in? next time i drive. the right-sized nissan rogue. ♪

religion in the white house dominating the headlines today. on sunday's "meet the press," presidential candidate ben carson saying that america's not ready for a muslim commander in chief. >> let me ask you the question this way. should a president's faith matter? should your faith matter to voters? >> well, i guess it depends on what that faith is. if it's inconsistent with the values and principles of america, then of course it should matter. but if it fits within the realm of america and consistent with the constitution, no problem.

i would not advocate that we put a muslim in charge of this nation. i absolutely would not agree with that >> the council on american islamic relations called for ben carson to withdraw from the race. his campaign addressed the backlash by saying that carson believes americans are far from ready to accept a muslim for president but one could run and one should be allowed to run, going on to say here, carson was merely saying he could not advocate for someone whose faith was inconsistent with the constitution to lead our country. now, the gop front-runner sidestepped the question on whether or not he was comfortable with a muslim president. donald trump spoke with chuck todd on "meet the press." >> can you imagine supporting or being comfortable with a -- if a muslim ever became president of the united states? >> um, i can say that, you know, it's something that at some point could happen. we will see. i mean, you know, it's something that could happen. would i be comfortable? i don't know if we have to address it right now, but i think it is certainly something

that could happen. >> you said you would have no problem -- >> some people said it already happened, frankly, but of course, you wouldn't agree with that. >> trump already faced criticism for not challenging a man who attended his rally and called president obama a muslim, which donald trump was alluding to the attendee asked how trump planned to get rid of them. trump addressed the controversy on cnn's "state of the union." take a look. >> we can be politically correct if you want but certainly are you trying to say we don't have a problem, because i think everybody would agree. i have friends that are muslims. they are great people, amazing people, and most muslims, like most everything. these are fabulous people. but we certainly do have a problem. i mean, off problem throughout the world. >> what's the problem? >> well, you have radicals that are doing things. i mean, it wasn't people from sweden that blew up the world trade center. >> joining me now, dean owe ba dal la, daily beast columnist, susan del percio, and ryan grimm, the "washington post."

dean, i want to start with you. spokesperson for carson saying, this the reason why, carson was saying this, i will read this, verbatim "numerous scholars say islam does not fundamentally recognize separation of church and state." >> well, being a muslim, i can tell you i do. kim davis doesn't, a christian who tried to pose what i would impose what i would call christian sharia flaw kentucky, have to adhere to my views [ inaudible ] what's really going on here the idea that muslims. don't deserve the same rights as other americans, somehow suspicious with the enemy, we are not part of america and that troubles me far more than anything [ inaudible ] >> susan, as we look at the response from the carson campaign and what dean is giving a head nod to here, if there were comments made before, as

has been made, intimateded by donald trump about latino americans going after muslim americans, is that a space he can effectively bring on this sentiment that he would like to do in his messaging without having any sort of repercussion? >> probably not. the thing when you look at that interview, this is what he truly believes. this is -- he believes that a muslim should not be president of this country based on his faith. ben carson believes that i think it's starting to make people more aware of some of his more radical positions and i think that will start turning people off. i know what you're saying about the base, but the base doesn't have time for this kind of nonsense. the base is not going to accept people who have a problem with separating church and state. and that's exactly what's happening here with ben carson. donald trump, on the other hand, starting to look more and more like a politician because he hems and haws on these things. now the difference between -- >> starting to lack like one, huh? >> his response to chuck todd

you could tell is different than when he did "face the nation" and he changed his rhetoric. someone obviously said you better make sure you start to say radical islamics versus just muslims. and he -- he will do okay with that, but at the end of the day, he still couldn't answer a basic question which i think hurts donald trump, which as far as the president born in the united states, he still goes back to that and he can't answer that. >> ryan, i want to play what some other candidates are playing about ben carson's comments about a muslim commander in chief. take a listen. >> to merck i think the american people are going to decide who the president is based on the merits of their positions and their qualifications, not based on their religious beliefs. >> my belief is that the 3500 -- approximate 3500 american muslims wearing the uniform of the united states military are loyal to their country, they are fighting and dying for their nation. >> for me, the most important thing about being president is that you have leadership skills, you know what you're doing and

you can help fix this country and raise this country. those are the qualifications that matter to me. >> so, what does this say, because we have here carson being able to say this, of course, we don't necessarily have the poll numbers to reflect at this moment what the prepercussions of that are, but if we use trump as the archetype, there may be very little retribution for making or intimating or going up to the lane on such statements here. >> well, what they are saying here is that ben carson did not effectively use the dog whistle. you know, ben carson just came right out and said a bigoted thing. he came out and said i would discriminate against muslims. and the republican base is very sensitive to the critique that they are racists or bigots or anything along those lines and they will often go out of their way to tell you just how much that's not true. like donald trump did. some of my best friends are muslims. you know, that's something you hear quite regularly. so, for carson to do it that

overtly really, you know, makes people say, oh, come on, man. right. >> come on. what are you trying to do to us here? we have been playing this -- these dog whistles so well for so long. why are you being so loud about it? so, you know, the other ones are trying to be a little bit more subtle about it. >> and what he is saying with regard to the constitution and the muslim faith being consistent with that, you know, is he saying then because if you just look through the list, i have 15 pages in front of me, with those who are federal legislators and muslim and then you go into the list, there's two of them, andre carson, keith ellison, the muslim state legislators, on and on and on and on is he in so many words saying all of them are serving in a way that's inconsistent with the constitution and therefore, he would not support any of these popularly elected muslim american politicians? >> i think the irony is that ben carson is as vo kating a position inconsistent with our constitution and the values of founding fathers. article vi o constitution says

clearly no religious test to hold office. ben carson is saying there should be a religious test. our founding fathers put that in there for a reason, they were opposed to very thing, the very notion that ben carson is suggesting should be the law of this land or at least should be the policy he himself and his followers should support. >> he did say in that interview, he could support a muslim being a member of congress. so he makes no rational citizens on -- sense on this issue, just from a dark place in his heart, from what i'm concerned. this is what he believes, he just stayed and there's no rational -- the idea of oh he didn't believe in the separation of church and state. that is just a lot of nonsense. he just doesn't believe a muslim should be president, plain and simple. >> 15 seconds to you here, ryan, carson says similar messages that trump does but in a guy yetter voice it shows both may work? >> there are only so many of those voters to fight over. so, you know, i think the establishment republicans are

enjoying as much as they can watching these two kind of tear each other apart. i'm hoping that eventually, they will tear each other down and then the bushes of the world can pick up the pieces. >> establishment republicans. some might say -- >> that's great point. an excellent point. >> those who are left who have a voice. ryan, thank you so much. susan, dean as well, appreciate all three of your time. the white house is asking for the pope's help in freeing american prisoners in iran. we will have the details. want bladder leak underwear that moves like you do? try always discreet underwear and wiggle, giggle, swerve and curve. with soft dual leak guard barriers and a discreet fit that hugs your curves. so bladder leaks can feel like no big deal. get your free pair and valuable coupons at always discreet.com

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this past weekend, the university of new hampshire hosted the two highest polling candidates seeking the democratic nomination in 2016. hepatitis c held a college affordability forum on friday morning and senator bernie sanders held a rally at the campus on sunday night. each campaign touchbd similar issues like education, there was a stark difference in attendance. clinton's convenient drew a crowd of 600, while sanders attracted an estimated 3,000. aides to hillary clinton said her event was not meant to hold a rally-sized crowd and was holding a thoughtful discussion. sanders touted what he said was the largest turnout for any presidential candidate in new hampshire. though sanders drew a much larger crowd, clinton was able to pick up a key endorsement from new hampshire governor, maggie hassan who introduced her at the event. both candidates need to capitalize on the advantages. the race for the granite state is neck in neck, sanders holding

a four-point lead in the latest new hampshire poll but that's within the margin of error. we will have more. stay with us. so what's your news? i got a job! i'll be programming at ge. oh i got a job too, at zazzies. (friends gasp) the app where you put fruit hats on animals? i love that! guys, i'll be writing code that helps machines communicate. (interrupting) i just zazzied you. (phone vibrates) look at it! (friends giggle) i can do dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs... you name it. i'm going to transform the way the world works. (proudly) i programmed that hat. and i can do casaba melons. i'll be helping turbines power cities. i put a turbine on a cat. (friends ooh and ahh) i can make hospitals run more efficiently... this isn't a competition!

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to track their personal best. with microsoft cloud, we save millions of man hours, and that's time that we can invest in our athletes and changing the world. and welcome back. pope francis made headlines last week after endorsing the iran nuclear deal. now the united states is reportedly seeking the pope's help on freeing american prisoners in iran. political reports obama administration has been in touch with the cat vatican about ways that pope francis can help free u.s. prisoners in iran there are four u.s. hostages currently being held in iran. they include u.s. marine amir hekmati, "washington post" reporter, jason rezaian,

iranian-american christian pastor sayyid a bedini and robert levinson, retired reporter. the pope being involved in prisoner negotiations is not a far-fetched idea. at least one prisoner's family has reached out directly to pope francis for help. meanwhile. us a few months ago, the pope met with a high-ranking iranian female politician. for more, let me bring in the president of the plow shares fund. folks might ask here, joe, how does this come together, how does this work? >> right, how can a catholic pontiff help a property test talent president and a muslim ayatollah arrange a prisoner swap? the answer is that's pope francis. as pope he has global reach, global networks. and of course, relations with iran, relations with the united states and as francis, he is deeply interested in seeking a reconciliation between nations. you just saw him play a critical role in the cuba-u.s. reconciliation. i think pope francis believes

that a u.s.-iranian cooperation is essential for his long-range goal of a middle east peace. and he can play a role in helping this exchange. remember, there is three, maybe four u.s. prisoners in iran. iran says there are about 19 iranians being held by the united states. just this weekend, you had president rouhani express on national tv the possibility that such an exchange could take place. >> well, conventional wisdom says here, joe, that iranians will run the other way once the pope becomes involved in this issue. why would iranians, why would the leadership in iran, you mentioned the 14 hostages -- excuse me, 14 iranians that are in the united states as one of the reasons why, but conventional wisdom doesn't tell you that makes sense. >> you have got hardliners in both iran and the united states that don't want any reconciliation at all, that don't want cooperation that hate the nuclear deal for that reason, but you have got

pragmatists in both governments that see the necessity of the u.s. and iran starting to cooperate, not become allies, but just cooperate on their mutual strategic purposes. certainly getting the prisoners out is one such step. the iran nuclear deal doesn't make that happen. it was necessary to have that deal in order to open the gate, in order to open the way to these kinds of conversations. i would expect to see some movement this front in the months ahead. the most logical way would be some kind of exchange. mr. rihani doesn't want to talk about it as an exchange. >> thank you so much. >> up next, more on today's late-breaking news. scott walker bowing out of the

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welcome back. back to our breaking news this hour. wisconsin governor scott walker will drop out of the republican presidential race. he is scheduled to give a news conference in madison, wisconsin, at the top of the hour. we'll have that live here on msnbc. >> donald trump commenting on walker dropping out of the race within the last hour.

he tweeted moments ago, "i got to know scott walker well. he's a very nice person and has a great future." joined by e.j. dionne, john nichols. where do you want to start? john nichols will be at the edgewater hotel there in madison. because we did have that tweet from donald trump, we have scott walker, some have been saying you've got style versus substance. it appears based on what's happening today, style is winning out. john? >> that's the story of the campaign right now. i don't think there is much doubt about that. that is a remarkably hypocritical tweet from donald trump. a couple of days ago, donald

trump was stomping on scott walker in the presidential debate, the second debate. he had a long soliloquy where he talked about his failed fiscal policies, walker had done a lot of damage to wisconsin and saying walker's record was what caused the governor of wisconsin to collapse in the polls. for trump to dance around this side of it, perhaps tells you that donald trump always has something to say every day, whether it's true or not. >> maybe he, trump will pay some of the debt, scott walker debt and help him that way if he's such a fan. >> i doubt scott has debt. i suggest he is getting out before he has debt. >> yesterday that tweet would have been hypocrisy, today it's

diplomacy. there is a thin line. it's ironic also because scott walker really is donald trump's first victim. it was trump coming in that really began to decimate walker in iowa. once that started happening, iowa was what he had going. once that was gone, it was going to be very hard for him to get anywhere. that's what he's clearly concluded himself. >> as we are looking at these polls here and looking at the numbers for scott walker, donald trump's numbers went down. as we lose more and more those running for the nop natiminatio the gop side, are voters getting more serious about what's in front of them? >> they will start to. they probably think there are too many candidates out there right now. in most polls over 50% say it's too early to tell. you'll look at voters not deciding another few months. that number will probably dwindle down to about eight or

nine candidates by january. >> you know scott walker well. he's about to come to those microphones. he's a fighter. how does he spin the yarn here to look forward to his next step, his next career step? >> this is a miserable day for scott walker, let's be clear about that. he is a guy who really did imagine himself as going all the way. however, the important thing to understand is scott walker has been forced to leave races in the past. in 2006, he was all in for pairing a gubernatorial race and the money people told him they weren't going to be with him and he dropped back, repositioned and came around four years later and ran. i think that is going to run through scott walker's head. he's been up and down in the past. he will be thinking of some way forward. a lot of people think he'll quickly cash out and take some corporate gig. i don't think so. scott walker loves politics.

>> what will he say? ronald reagan was in two presidential races and didn't make it before he won. he was the model every republican wants to turn to. i think scott walker will say, hey, people that run for president before and it takes a while to get there. i'm not very old. i don't think he'll say any of that, but that it's message he wants to leave. he's going to be around and he might do this some day. >> susan, 20 seconds to you. >> e.j. is right. he'll talk about the future and what it will hold and there are many more opportunities. he will probably be gracious to some of the other folks running along with him. >> governor scott walker dropping out of race. we expect that announcement in about ten seconds live in madison, wisconsin. thank you all three on this evening. >> thank you. i'm richard lui. msnbc live continues right now.

>> breaking news. nbc news confirms wisconsin governor scott walker will drop out of the republican presidential race. walker is expected to announce that decision any minute now at a news conference in madison. that is a huge drop coming for a candidate in double digits two months ago. walker was leading the polls in iowa this summer. this big news comes two months after he formally announced his candidacy. >> we need knew fresh leadership. leadership with big bold ideas from outside of washington. the kind that knows how to get things done like we've done here in wisconsin. >