gingrich, christie and pence and now late word of another contender making a last-minute push. kelly o'donnell will have all the newest details in just a minute. also, we have a boatload of brand-new battleground state polls. hillary clinton's lead vanishing in one big swing state, though growing in another one. all of the new numbers. we'll show you what they are and what they mean to that important race to 270. and taking a page from the obama playbook. hillary clinton heading to the same spot where the president launched his campaign eight years ago. and she launches a new attack on donald trump. >> this man is the nominee of the party of lincoln. we are watching it become the party of trump. >> clinton in springfield, illinois, earlier this month.

that's also where president obama introduced joe biden as his running mate. more on what clinton had to say. we begin with the battle for 270. when it comes to the race for the whourite house, what we havs not one election but a series of 50 elections. one in each state. plus the district of columbia. and the magic number there is 270 electoral votes. and today, we have a lot of new polls from some of the most important states on the map. now, remember, take these with a grain of salt. we'll see plenty of polls like this but they do give us a very good sense of how the clinton trump is. this is pennsylvania, a state republicans have wanted to win since 1988, the last time they carried it. our new poll shows hillary clinton with a nine-point

advantage in pennsylvania. again, this is one that donald trump is targeting. he badly wants to win. not a good number for him there. look at iowa. iowa is a state that's had close contests over the past 20 years or so. right now hillary clinton with a three-point lead over donald trump. donald trump came in second place there during the primaries. how about ohio being the key swing state. hillary clinton 39. donald trump 39. a lot of people undecided or maybe not interested in either one of those candidates. both under 40%. wisconsin. another state donald trump would like to flip. remember, he's paying so much attention to rust belt states. this state went for obama twice. has gone for democrats in every election since 1984. hillary clinton, six-point lead there. colorado, this one surprised some people. look at this. not only is hillary clinton out

in front in colorado. a 13-point advantage. wasn't long ago that colorado was a red state. a lot of demographic change there. rising latino population. that's trouble, it looks like, for donald trump. he's down 13. but if there is some good news for donald trump today, it is this. the quinnipiac poll out of florida has him polling a few points ahead of hillary clinton there. if you look deep into those numbers, what's you see, there's a strong racial component. he's gotten increased support in florida from white voters, specifically white male voters. at least in the quinnipiac poll in florida, trump, a slight advantage over hillary clinton. those are all the latest numbers. we're going to get a lot of these between now and election day. we'll bring them right to you. and also the big drama in politics we're following today. we're been following all week, trump in what seems to be the final stages of his vice presidential search. a search that's played out in a public way. that's just the way this candidate wants it. and trump's immediately family now playing a critical role in the deliberations.

the trump family holding a meeting with new jersey governor chris christie. this morning then a meeting with indiana governor mike pence. donald trump himself was in that meeting. so was paul manafort. also in the meeting, trump's sons donald jr. n and eric and ivanka. the trump campaign brain trust that's taken shape in recent weeks and months. earlier today, newt gingrich also flying to indiana for a personal meeting with trump. now this. word of a surprise last-minute addition to the short list. alabama senator jeff sessions also flying to indiana to sit down. sessions a hard-liner on immigration. one of the first republicans to support trump for president. so it looks like there might be four finalists in the mix here. let's bring in nbc's kelly o'donnell. she's been getting the latest on

these meetings all day. a lot of conflicting reports out there. trump has had these public auditions, private meetings. what's your read on the situation right now? >> there's a bit of deflection going on and a bit of keeping us on our toes trying to track who is really in the top tier for donald trump's consideration. in part, i think that is a function of the public sort of analysis of what's happening. behind the scenes we just can't really get anything that will tell us what's in the mind of donald trump. so part of what we're talking about today is the series of four people now in this range of meetings that's happened over two days, in indianapolis today. when you see jeff sessions of alabama, the senator that was the first to endorse now being a part of this. is this a courtesy meeting. what's coming up with the convention that will be here in

cleveland? is it about the veepstakes? from my source, his name has not been in the conversations in quite some time. it's a bit of a surprise he was added today. but mike pence had the home turf advantage today. he hosted donald trump last night for a big rally in indianapolis. prior to that, a fund-raiser on the books. just by the virtue of the calendar, he got some extra time. a problem with a trump plane that required it to stay overnight in indianapolis. and so more time available for pence. pence went on today to pick up his own schedule. he is running for re-election in indiana. he was doing the summer fair circuit. that's where reporters caught up with him, and he talked about being humbled by being considered and praised donald trump and his family. >> these are good people. these are people who have the best interest of america at heart. i truly do believe that donald trump has the right vision for america. i think he's going to provide the kind of strong leadership at

home and abroad. it's going to make america great again. >> and i get the sense, steve, there are factions, to use that word, of people who support different potential vice presidential picks. and so there's a little bit of the, who is leading? who is following? and that gets enhanced by the public comings and goings. and how things are talked about. and, of course, if there were not a deadline, we could be in for a whole lot more of this. but friday is the deadline. and the campaign tells us there will be a public event with donald trump and the person he chooses to run with him over the next few months. so we just have a limited window. trump will spend many hours in the air later today flying to california for a prescheduled fund-raiser. the on the ground time today was put to good use with a very busy dance card for donald trump and his oldest children. >> the clock continuing to tick. kelly o'donnell in cleveland for us. thanks for that. we've been breaking down the vp

short list. mike pence got his big audition on the stage in indiana last night. now today we'll zoom in on chris christie. the governor of new jersey. ran for president earlier this year. also was a u.s. attorney in new jersey for eight years. a lot of public corruption prosecutions. that's how he first made his name in politics. what are the pros to chris christie? if you are thinking of adding him to your ticket, you may see debate skills. he took down marco rubio. if you're donald trump, maybe you want that guy on the stage for the vice presidential debate. one of the big jobs of the running mate. how about the idea that christie is totally on board. never know what trump is going to say next. christie is willing to go out there and defend him no matter what. he wants this role. what are the cons? does christie have too much personality. donald trump's campaign in many ways is built on personality. the personality of donald trump.

can we put those pros and cons back up there. his campaign built on personality. you have to think about that. and, of course, bridgegate. that story, it's not dead yet. it's gone away in many ways but the legal aspect, the court cases are still to come. do you want to put chris christie on the ticket and have those trials playing out this year. we can go forward to what i was going to show you. this is the single biggest x-factor. the tangled relationships. this could be the biggest complicating factor. when you're donald trump and thinking about adding chris christie to your ticket. donald trump, who has emerge as the brain trust of his campaign? his daughter ivanka. her husband jerod kushner. very close advisers. very much part of this deliberation. jerod kushner has a connection to chris christie. kushner's father charles kushner was a real estate magnate in new jersey in 2004.

he was indicted. he was prosecuted by chris christie. and this was an epic story when it broke. we can show you the cover of "the new york post" when chris christie went after charles kushner. this was a salacious story. it grew out of a federal investigation into campaign financing. campaign donations. but it turned into this. a witness intimidation scheme that involved prostitutes and state lines and trapping them with videotapes and the brother-in-law. a crazy story. the question there certainly is, if you are donald trump, do you want to put on the ticket the guy who prosecuted your son-in-law's father. you can follow that one. in an interview this afternoon, donald trump was quick to add chris christie's name back on the list. >>y in governor has been amazing. newt gingrich is coming in today

to see me. >> so basically down to two? >> chris christie is somebody i've liked a long time. he's a total professional. a good guy. a lot of people don't understand that. but i'm narrowing it down. >> all right. let's bring in barry bennett, a senior adviser to the trump campaign. it's crunch time. how big do you think the short list is right now? is sessions a real contender? >> i think it's two or three. christie, newt and, of course, pence. >> how do you think they stack up? if it's those three, how do you rank them? >> i think they all bring different things to the ticket. he has to decide which is more important. my heart is with mike pence. here's a guy who, his grandfather was a bus driver. father owns gas stations. middle class midwestern guy. newt is much more cerebral, policy focused, and then chris christie who is, you know, more bombastic and more of an attack dog. >> put yourself in trump's shoes

here. that's ultimately the wild card. what is the candidate comfortable with? you make the case for pence. the case against him if you're looking at who trump would pick, is, would trump look at him and say too boring? >> you might. he might be drawn to newt gingrich because he's smart and he's got a lot of policy experience and a lot of washington experience. my guess is this is attractive for that reason. >> they talk about chemistry being important. that's what i was picking up on watching gingrich and trump last week at the rally. seems like they like each other and are comfortable with each other. >> the body language was good, wasn't it? pence is a quiet, reserved kind of guy. i don't know how that mixes with trump. >> what about christie? what's the case for christie? >> he likes christie. christie is -- they're friends. doesn't necessarily mean that's who you want.

chris christie has already been appointed to the transition director's job and he'd play a major role in the administration even if he's not the vice president. >> seems he wants the vice presidential job. >> i haven't talked to him, but it seems that way. >> what about the idea here. sounds like you don't think it's going to happen but people say donald trump likes the surprise. you don't see a scenario where he pulls a rabbit out of the hat and it's somebody nobody was talking about? >> what they really enjoy is all the speculation. we'll know monday or rather friday at noon whether or not it's mike pence. we may not know who it is. >> so you say mike pence is your preferred choice. if you were a betting man and had to bet, who would you say? >> i would say newt. if i was going to predict it now, i would say newt. >> barry bennett from the trump campaign. thanks for stopping by. let's bring in hugh hewitt. he's also the host of the hugh hewitt show. thanks for joining us. barry bennett says if he had to

put some money on this, he'd go with newt gingrich. what about you? >> all four of them are very experienced campaigners. i've interviewed each of them at. sessions, pence, gingrich n chris christie. if i put on my one hat which is win, just win, baby, i remember interviewing chris christie when he was in lordstown in trumble county which is deep blue. you know that area very well. chris christie plays well with union rank and file. used to be called reagan democrats. they're now called white collar, blue collar rise democrats and republicans. chris christie plays very well there. also in the suburbs of philadelphia. he plays very well in a number of demographics that are extraordinarily important if you're going to pull off the trump strategy of winning the key stone state, buckeye state and maybe into michigan. if you want the candidate who is best designed to win those three states, i think it's chris christie for a variety of factors. i also tend to believe this campaign will come down to the

last two months as happened in 2012 and 2008. late-breaking events. i sadly believe those will be terrorism related and people will be worried about events abroad, isis, iran and other issues like that. of those candidates, chris christie is, by far, better position positioned. the very good mike pence, if you are looking for a party uniter it's pence. if you are looking for someone who also like christie is a prosecutor, jeff sessions was a u.s. attorney for 12 years. he's a good prosecutor. they nailed down the base. if you want to win that swing vote and be prepared to go up against the issue of terrorism and especially against admiral sirvitas and the others on secretary clinton's short list and want someone to prosecute hillary for perjury which she apparently made a number of false statements before the benghazi committee, i think you pick chris christie. we'll see on friday.

>> what about the idea here. the counter to that would be, does christie have too big of a personality? if you are donald trump and your personality is the centerpiece of your campaign. you've seen how christie can be. he knows how to have those viral moments and create them out of thin air. that can be a good thing. is there a chance his personality is too big to be on a ticket with trump? >> i sat four feet from him in four debates on the national stage. he has a very big personality. also a terrific television debating skill. vice presidential selection skills matter in three ways. the day you're announced you have to give a speech. give a speech at the republican convention and debate the democratic candidate once and then provide context for the campaign. if you line up those three events and candidates, i think all three of them can give a serviceable day of announcement and all three can give a serviceable rnc announcement. christie did the keynote four years ago. when it comes time to debate.

i saw him take marco rubio down. took him out. and no matter who hillary clinton picks as their running mate, that person is not going to want chris christie to be opposite him. i'll say this about governor pence. everybody likes mike pence. i don't think you can go through the republican party and find anyone who doesn't like, admire and applaud mike pence. he's a unity choice. jeff sessions is deeply committed to a key set of issues. he's very strong on base issues. and newt is, you know, mr. newt, as rush calls him. don't discount the surprise. donald trump has done this like a television show. everybody is watching. he's got great ratings again. i'm not quite certain there isn't door number five out there. >> that's what i'm wondering about. barry bennett wants pence. thinks it will be gingrich. hugh hewitt making the case for christie there. coming up -- we're going to head to dallas where the first of the five slain police officers is being laid to rest

today. plus -- trump versus justice ginsburg. a sitting member of the supreme court publicly criticizing a presidential candidate. the implications of that. and our most important number of the day has to do with millennials in the november elections. there's a really shocking number in there, too. stay with us. we'll tell you what it is. my name is barbara and i make dog chow natural.

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president obama is meeting at the white house with civil rights leaders to find ways to rebuild trust between police and

the communities they're charged with protecting. today's meeting is coming after funerals for three of the dallas area police officers killed last thursday. nbc's tammy leitner is live in dallas. we had the initial shock and horror last week. the community dealing with that. the memorial service yesterday. now the funerals beginning for these individual officers. >> that's right, steve. you know, thousands of police officers from all over the united states descended on dallas today to attend these funerals which started today. officer brent thompson, his was the first. about 3,000 people showed up for the memorial service. his two daughters and wife erica, a fellow police officer, spoke during the service. she had a message to her fellow officers. put on the uniform and get out there. get back out there and do what we all love. senior corporal ahrens' funeral was going on at the same time in plano, texas.

he's described as meat. he is 6'5" and 300 pounds and was known as the officer that is a big man with a big heart. police sergeant michael smith, fellow officers escorted his body about 20 minutes outside of town to a church his family tends there. they had a private catholic mass. several hundred people. he's a 28-year veteran with the dallas police department. and his fellow officers described him as a by the book cop. a cop that would do just about anything to make sure that his daughters had everything they wanted. there are still two other funeral services set for friday and saturday. steve, as you can imagine, this is just going to be a very long week for the people of dallas and the entire law enforcement community across the nation. >> tammy leitner in dallas, thank you for that. as the dallas area pays its respects to the five fallen officers, police in baton rouge, louisiana, are still looking for a suspect who they say was part

of a plot to kill several police officers. they have already arrested four people and they aren't revealing the identity of the suspect who is still at large. that manhunt continues as the son of alton sterling, the man shot and killed by police last week, made a plea for peace. >> i feel that people, in general, no matter what the race is, should come together as one united family. there should be no more arguments, disagreements, violence, crimes. everyone should come together as one united family. >> nbc's charles hadlock is live now in baton rouge. charles, i think i understand, you spoke with one of these suspects earlier today? >> yes. nbc news spoke with one of the suspects who was wrapped up in this alleged crime. it all goes back to saturday morning. let me set the scene. the cash america pawn shop was broken into by four people.

all juveniles ranging from 13 to 20. they didn't get very far. a 17-year-old was caught just a few blocks away with three handguns. he was arrested and began talking. he said there was a -- he broke into the pawn shop to steal bullets to kill police officers. that set everyone on their nerves on edge here given the fact of what happened in dallas. they arrested three other people involved in this crime and a fourth person was also arrested. 17-year-old trashone coates. he was approached several days ago and was given the guns to look at and perhaps to buy. he says he didn't have the money. it was only $70 but he didn't have it to buy the weapons. he admits his fingerprints are on the gun but he didn't have anything to do with the burglary or alleged plot to kill anyone. here's what he told us earlier today. >> they are trying to say i was part of a plot. i'm not part of none of that.

that's what they are saying. i don't know nothing about that. they're trying to say we were collecting the guns to shoot at police. i never planned on shooting no police. why would i shoot at the police? >> we should note that even though the men are charged with weapons violations, they are not charged with trying to kill anyone. there are no charges involved in this alleged plot. steve, back to you. >> charles hadlock in baton rouge, thanks for that. still to come here, no apology from supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg. but is it appropriate for a sitting justice to condemn a candidate in the middle of a political campaign? questions today over if she would need to recuse herself if there were to be some repeat of the bush v. gore case after this election. >> josh, she didn't earn the nickname, the notorious rbg for nothing. l,

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welcome back. here are the headlines at the half hour. hillary clinton's lead over donald trump in three key battleground state has shrunk or even disappeared according to the latest nbc news/"wall street journal"/marist polls. clinton leading by three points in iowa. actually it hasn't shrunk in pennsylvania. she's doing well in pennsylvania. and she and trump are tied in ohio. the new numbers coming as we await word from trump on his running mate. he's met with three potential vp picks in indiana today. trump with his two sons, his daughter and son-in-law meeting with indiana governor mike pence. that part of pence's public audition last night. jeff sessions also reportedly flying to indiana for in-person meetings and chris christie meeting yesterday with trump's children. president obama has sent more than 40 additional soldiers

to south sudan's capital to help protect american personnel. a cease-fire there appears to be taking hold after days of fighting that's left hundreds dead and thousands fleeing their homes. south sudan has been embroiled in a civil war for the last 2 1/2 years. great britain has a new prime minister. theresa may officially appointed by the queen this afternoon. she promised to lead a one nation government after taking power in one of her first acts as prime minister, naming former london mayor boris johnson as foreign secretary. johnson, of course, one of the leaders in the so-called brexit campaign. you'll probably have to wait until the middle of october if you want to see tom brady play in a football game again. at least a regular season one. a u.s. circuit court judge rejecting brady's request to reconsider a lower court's ruling that nfl commissioner roger goodell acted within his authority by suspending the star quarterback in he deflategate

scandal. the four-game suspension is going to take place. that's what a court said today. brady has one option left. he can appeal to the supreme court but that would be a hail mary. meanwhile, it is donald j. trump versus ruth bader ginsburg. the latest clash to erupt in this contentious presidential race. all of this started a couple of days ago. justice ginsburg making comments in the sunday "new york times" that raised a lot of eyebrows. she said she can't imagine what the count would be like if donald trump is president adding, for the court, i can't even contemplate that. she also talked about potentially moving to new zealand. true to form, trump shot back saying ginsburg's mind is shot and calling for her to resign. yet given the chance this morning, justice ginsburg chose not to back away from those comments and even to dial up the rebuke. she told cnn, he is a faker.

he has no consistency about him. justice ginsburg has been known to speak her mind. but the question is, is he crossing a line? "the new york times" says yes. look at this headline in "the new york times" today. we just showed you. donald trump is right. you don't read that in the editorial page of "the new york times" too often. there's no real precedent for this kind of thing. the only time we see any sign of a justice directly weighing in on politics was back in 2000. sandra day o'connor was rumored to say this is terrible in response to florida being called for al gore on election night in 2000. sandra day o'connor didn't say that publicly and never acknowledged she said it but she and the supreme court did ultimately decide the 2000 election. fierce backlash when word of her potentially saying that did leak. that was back in 2000. here in 2016, ruth bader ginsburg is making no bones about it. going straight after donald trump. for more on this controversy, i

want to bring in justice correspondent pete williams. so, pete, there's no official line, i guess here, when it comes to what supreme court justices can and can't say. there are unofficial lines. there are traditions. there are norms. from that standpoint did ruth bader ginsburg cross a line? >> judged by those norms, yes. there are rules that guide federal judges. they don't a ply directly to supreme court justices. they say judges should refrain from supporting or opposing candidates for public office. the supreme court tries to be guided by those rules but the supreme court is different for the simple reason that it has just nine justices. if you are looking at a district court in d.c., for example, or where you are, if a judge is recused, takes himself off the case, they can find another one. they can't do that with the supreme cort. the roles are a little different there. some are already saying this is an example of why the supreme court should have a code of conduct, even though it doesn't have a technical one.

>> we look at the tradition here of the supreme court, at least officially, at least in public trying to stay above partisan politics. i always think of the state of the union address every year that the president gives the members of the court come in. they sit in the front row. but pay so much attention to who is clapping and who is not. they never clap for anything. they just sit there. >> the former chief justice william rehnquist used to say that -- and there was a time that few justices went and then they started coming back. he said it always bothered him they had to sit there like bumps on the log as everyone is standing up and cheering around them, both republicans and democrats. so you're right. they try very hard not to be cheering for a president's point of view on any specific thing that might come before them. there are some people defending justice ginsburg who say justices should refrain only from discussing pending cases and anything else is fair game. but that's certainly not the tradition. >> you say pending cases. it's rare obviously, but back in 2000, the presidential election

went to the supreme court. it's not totally unimaginable that something could come out of this trump versus clinton campaign that owned ends up befe supreme court. what would happen then? >> a possibility that no one is cheering for, by the way. well, that's the question. there are some people who say that by these comments, she would make it harder for her to resist calls that she would have to recuse herself. but, of course, the question in a supreme court case is not going to be, who do you like better or who do you think is qualified to be president. it's going to be some technical legal point like it was in florida about how the recount is conducted, what the rules were for treating how you count hanging chads in one county as opposed to another. she could certainly say, look. i've expressed no views on this specific issue. if she doesn't want to take herself off the case, there's nothing that can be done about that. the justices themselves ultimately decide whether they will be on a case or not. and the other thing here is trump's tweet just said that --

raised the question about her mind is shot. you know, i think there are a lot of justice ginsburg supporters who wish she hadn't said this but i don't know anyone that's saying based on her participation in oral argument, her dissent or opinions that's her mind is shot. >> as marco rubio might have said in one of those debates, she knows exactly what she's doing. think of it what you want. pete williams, thank you. appreciate it. right after this, our most important number of the day. we've got some surprising new poll numbers about young voters and the presidential race, including one that's going to shock you, i think. that's ahead. hi, i'm dominique wilkins.

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clinton, that may be how i decide to go. >> that's one bernie sanders supporter there. one young bernie sanders supporter. andrea mitchell talking to a group of them. we saw this in poll after poll this primary season. if there was one candidate in either party, democratic or republican, who was really generating big enthusiasm from young voters it was bernie sanders. but look. bernie sanders is not going to be a candidate this fall. young voters are going to have to make a choice. that's going to take us to our most important number of the day today. and that number is 38. 38 as in this. 38%. that's what hillary clinton is getting from voters aged 18 to 30 in a brand-new poll from gen forward. the associated press part of this as well. hillary clinton leads. that's your headline there. also you say 38%. it's a fairly small number. there's another 38 in this poll as well. if you add up people age 18 to 30 who say they want someone else or they just wouldn't vote, that's also adds up to 38.

hillary clinton is the choice of young voters with 38%. an awful lot of hostility to donald trump. down at just 17%. nearly 40% looking for somebody else. maybe sitting this thing out. that speaks to a lot of antip h antipathy among young voters. ask the question, is the candidate honest and trustworthy? ask young voters, overwhelmingly they say, no, donald trump is not. 80% say he's not. but hillary clinton only slightly better there. 72% saying she's not honest and trustworthy. here's another interesting finding. the question of race has become so central to this campaign. ask the simple question here. is the candidate a racist? this may be the most surprising. donald trump, 68% of young voters aged 18 to 30, 68% say, yes, donald trump is a racist. 18% say no. 13% don't know. for hillary clinton, 19% say

she's a racist. 38% say they don't know. but if you add it all up together, if you ask young voters, who are you going to ask for? 38 is our most important number of the day. 38% say hillary clinton. and 38% say somebody else if they have a chance. hillary clinton unleashes on donald trump from the historic site of an abraham lincoln speech calling trump's campaign ugly and dangerous. >> his campaign is as divisive as any we have seen in our lifetimes. it is built on stoking mistrust and pitting american against american. amazing is moving like one. real is making new friends.

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now i realize that our politics have contributed to the sense of division that many americans feel right now. and as someone in the middle of a hotly fought political campaign, i cannot stand here and claim that my words and actions haven't sometimes fueled the partisanship that often stands in the way of progress. so i recognize i have to do better, too. >> hillary clinton in springfield, illinois today.

an historic site where she was cli delivering that speech. trying to cut down on partisanship. didn't hold her back from going after donald trump. >> he's banished members of the press who have criticized him. is there any doubt he would do the same as president? imagine if he had not just twitter and cable news to go after his critics and opponents but also the irs or for that matter our entire military. given what we have seen and heard, do any of us think he'd be restrained? >> want to bring in two political experts. philip bump, political reporter at "the washington post" and nile stannon, associate editor at the hill. my old colleague, too. let's start on this hillary clinton speech. trying to get some sympathy from the press there. that's an interesting one. >> god bless her.

what she's trying to do here is obviously stand above the fray. she's trying to separate herself from the donald trump that we've seen throwing punches. throwing punches again today by suing one of his former staffers. but really advantageous to her is reminding people that's the other choice. one thing we've seen is neither of them is terribly popular. so hillary clinton reminding people they can either vote for her or donald trump, which, of course, isn't the only choice but that's going to drive a lot of folks to support her. and the same way a lot of folks are going to vote for trump because of clinton. >> we've seen this for a while. she's given a number of speeches where she goes after donald trump on something specific and really just tries to destroy his basic credibility as a candidate. we have all the new poll numbers today. some good news for her in pennsylvania, in colorado. some not necessarily good news in florida. do you think this message is

breaking through the way she wants it to? >> i think the message she wants to put forth is this idea that donald trump is simply an unacceptable choice. we've seen not just the polls that you referenced, steve, but many, many polls indicating that hillary clinton is the second most unpopular presumptive nominee of modern times right after donald trump. what we're seeing here is her trying to really place him outside the bounds of acceptability and presenting herself as someone who, even if you don't love her, won't tear the country apart in the way she's suggesting donald trump could. >> that's what hillary clinton is up to. donald trump is -- a couple ever things. let's start on the headlines today. the veepstakes. he's got to down to four people, maybe three. not exactly sure. sessions, christie, pence, gingrich. where do you think this is going to land? >> it's hard to predict what donald trump is going to do. it's been a fool's errand. he's in indiana.

had a good report from pence. a report that suggests he was leaning toward christie but his son-in-law stepped in and tried to intervene. >> son-in-law doesn't want christie on the ticket because christie put the son-in-law's dad in jail. >> it's hard to say. this will be the sort of thing that comes down to donald trump making this decision and seizing it in the way that he does. and i don't know that any of us has any real insight. pence seems like the smarter choice in a lot of ways. one can see why a gingrich or christie would be very appealing. >> the conventional wisdom is pence is the quote/unquote safe pick here. is that what trump needs? would a safe pick get him something? >> that's a great question, steve. i think it really goes to the heart of donald trump's campaign. if he were to choose pence, i think people would view that as donald trump himself bowing to some extent from the advice of people like paul manafort who have argued that he should run a more conventional campaign.

if he were to go for chris christie or newt gingrich, in a way, either of those choices would magnify the trumpiness of the ticket and that's the question for him. >> i want to be there for the conversation if trump has to explain to his son-in-law why he's putting chris christie on the ticket. there's also news today involving trump just coming out in the last hour. we're just getting details, but from the associated press, donald trump suing a former aide for $10 million. the associated press identifying that former consultant as sam nunberg. he'd been prevly affiliated with the triumph campaign. hasn't been for a while now. trump believing that nunering leaked confidential information, standard practice for donald trump in his business life in his political life to make employees sign nondisclosure agreements. we say the headline today is the veepstakes. this is right up there now. suing a former aide for 10

million bucks. >> from a political standpoint it's baffling to do this during a general election. certainly to have it come out when you're going to announce your vice president. your vice presidential pick. this was a day which we were all talking about that. now we've got this to talk about as well, which is donald trump stepping on his own big news. robert costa from "the washington post" added flavor to this. he tweeted he'd spoken to someone close to trump and the reason trump did this is because he was very mad. i get you're mad at him, but that makes it worse in a sense because it reinforces the way that people view donald trump as being subject to his own impulses. >> does that tell you something about donald trump as a candidate? what philip is talking about, the idea he has the impulse to respond, the impulse to retaliate. and that's the genesis for something like that. i think we've seen this theme, this idea kind of play out a million different ways in this campaign with donald trump. >> we absolutely have, steve. it's something that concerns

republicans here in washington and across the country to a large extent. their argument is that donald trump is not disciplined enough as a candidate. they feel that he missed the chance to really make the most of hillary clinton and the report on her e-mails because he can't really rein himself in. i will say in relation to the news you just mentioned, steve, if a campaign aide has 10 million bucks for donald trump to win off, then we're all in the wrong business. >> $10 million may be on the high end of that. we had barry bennett here saying by friday we'll know hothe vp pick is for donald trump. we can't get in his head. any guesses here? >> i have had this gut sense of gingrich based on totally nothing but i'm going to throw it out there. if i'm right i get to come back and say i'm right. >> how about the gut pick, nile? >> chris christie. his arms seem to be lengthening in terms of the consensus.

i'm going to stick with christie. >> i'm tempted to say the mystery guest, the surprise pick. but i'll say pence and i'll probably be wrong because that's what i do. philip, niles, thanks for joining us. here's hampton pierce with the cnbc market wrap. >> markets closing mixed today with the dow still in rare air. the dow gaining 24 points. the s&p up less than a point. the nasdaq losing 17 points. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. ue dog chow natural.ore.e is be

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warmly congratulate the home secretary. and when it comes to women prime ministers, i'm very pleased to be able to say, pretty soon it's going to be 2-0. >> david cameron, the former british prime minister congratulating his successor, theresa may, as she takes over the top job in britain. this is a big day for may. not only does she have a new job. she also has a new pet. get this. this is larry the cat. he's known as the chief mouser at 10 downing street. unlike david cameron, he's not going anywhere. he's staying put helping to keep the prime minister's residence mouse-free. larry wasn't the cameron's cat. he belongs to a civil servant. still, he's sticking around. if you want a parallel in the united states. the obamas leave the white house in january, but bo and sonny

stay behind. that does it for this hour. i'm steve kornacki. tonight on ""nbc nightly news"" bashar al assad is going to join bill neel neely for an exclusiv interview. first, "mtp daily" starts right now. >> if it's wednesday, it's donald trump's veepstakes parade. a steady stream of indiana encounters. is the answer to who's your pick actually a hoosier pick? it's "mtp daily," and it starts right now. good wednesday evening. i'm peter alexander in for my friend chuck todd. welcome to "mtp daily." 12 days until the democratic convention. five days until the republican one. less than 48 hours until donald trump is expected to hold a public event alongside his vice presidential pick. who is it