i don't see how he continues to do this. i really don't. >> howard dean, stuart stevens thank you very much for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. my guest tonight, khizr khan and ghazala khan. this is "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. my special guests tonight are khizr and ghazala khan whose son gave his life in iraq to save his fellow american soldiers. these two u.s. citizens have been the target this weekend of the republican presidential candidate, donald trump. they are here to respond and give their testimony on what america means to them. with the sacrifice of their son, a captain in the united states army, means to those who loved him and cherish his memory. with his wife by his side last week, mr. khan delivered a

powerful speech on the final night of the democratic convention in philadelphia. this is what he said directly that night to the republican presidential nominee. >> let me ask you, have you even read the united states constitution? i will gladly lend you my copy. you have sacrificed nothing and no one. >> trump later called khan's son a hero but questioned khan's right to speak out against him saying mr. khan who has never met me has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim i have never read the constitution which is false, that's trump speaking, and say many other inaccurate things. trump also questioned ghazala's

silence during that convention address. here he is again. >> his wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there, she had nothing to say. she probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say, you tell me, but plenty of people have written that. >> ghazala khan answered yesterday in "the washington post." quote, without saying a thing, all the world, all america felt my pain. i'm a gold star mother. whoever saw me felt me in their heart. donald trump said he has made a lot of sacrifice. he doesn't know what the word sacrifice means. that's ghazala writing for the "post." they join me now. thank you for coming tonight. >> thank you. >> i want to give people a sense of you and your family in coming to america as immigrants. my grandmother and grandparents were immigrants and had three sons fighting in the u.s. army, navy and air corps. let me ask you about yours. when you first came to this country in 1980, what was it like to be -- to come in this country from pakistan, where you grew up, and to become an american?

what was that like, sir? >> it was literally same story. we shared the same story with the rest of the immigrants, came empty-handed. we rented a $200 apartment, one bedroom apartment with the family and started life but we were looking forward to the goodness of the country and the values, and the reception we received where ghazala and i lived, we made friends. >> these were native americans you made friends with? >> i think americans. i didn't have any pakistani or indian around me. there was both white american, my both neighbors. >> what was it like, naturalization? i was lucky enough to be at one of those ceremonies. what do you remember of your naturalization? >> i just have such a soft place

in my heart whenever i see united states flag. it means so much to me and i can tell you the reason, and whenever i see these ceremonies and the expressions of the people's faces, it reminds me when we first came to this country with hope and with belief that we will make it, it will get better henceforth, we are at a place where things get better. and with that hope in the ceremony, i was just beside myself that what is about to happen, i'm going to get the rights that no other country grants to its immigrants except this good nation. >> ghazala, do you remember all that? >> i do. >> how about the constitution? because it's such an issue now

about learning, these are requirements to become a naturalized citizen. >> yeah. they had to ask me some questions and i had read this, at that time it's 20, 25 years ago, and i had good answers. >> do you think you're better than trump at this? you think you know more than he does? >> yeah. much better, i think. that's why i became citizen. >> when you pulled out that constitution the other night and said here, read it, basically, to trump, did that remind you of the fact you had to learn it? >> of course. of course. read it page to page. that was not the plan to pull out the constitution. >> you have it there? >> what i -- >> where did you get that, by the way? it's all marked up. >> it's marked up because i read it. and this 14th amendment, equal protection of law, is my favorite part of the bill of rights. >> that means your children get all the rights of somebody who

has been here 20 generations. >> exactly. i did not realize up until i was in the cab to the convention that i had this in my pocket. we talked, i was to say that when you read the constitution, look for the word liberty and equal protection of law. so i'm putting my coat on and i touched this and here it is. so i said if i pull it like this, it will be this. so i had to place it in this form so when i pull it, it comes like this. we practiced. >> you're like justice kennedy, because justice kennedy, who ronald reagan appointed, is the swing vote, you know, and he uses the liberty clause and equal protection clause for all of his recent big decisions. let me ask you about this, because i'm always amazed because you have accents from your native country. to have children who don't, what is that like to hear your kids running around the house with american accents?

>> well, i don't feel any different because i don't speak in english to them. >> oh, i see. >> i hear back english but i don't speak it. >> they are bilingual? >> they will speak in english to me. >> but it is so heartening to see our children moving forward. i look at them, look at their progress, look at what they have accomplished, no other place will grant them that freedom of choice, freedom of pursuing their dreams, and i bow my head looking at them and moving forward. now they have their children and they are moving forward. that is what this entire society is all about. nowhere in the history of mankind had been a country like united states of america. >> what was it like to see your son in uniform the first time,

military uniform? >> i was very proud of him. he looked so handsome. >> yeah. how about you, sir? >> after we pinned him his lieutenant bars after commissioning, we got the first salute from him and it meant world to us. looking at our young son in the uniform, beautiful, beautiful place where we had made home, and the pride in his eyes and happiness and joy on his face was just amazing. amazing. >> did he know, you never know, did he know the dangers? >> yeah, we talked about -- >> going to iraq. >> when he was deployed, he informed us and we spoke over the phone. >> he came to visit us. >> yeah. and we talked about the dangers and he said look, i don't think

that far. my responsibility is to take care of the people that are in my charge and i will do anything and everything to be safe myself, but i have this responsibility and i will continue to do that. >> he took it to heart, didn't he? >> he certainly did. >> donald trump pushed back this morning, tweeting this story's not about mr. khan who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather radical islamic terrorism and the u.s., get smart. anyway, trump also said yesterday he had made sacrifices for his country. let's listen to him. >> i think i made a lot of sacrifices. i worked very, very hard. i've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. i have done -- i have had tremendous success. i think -- >> you think those are sacrifices? >> oh, sure. i think they're sacrifices.

i mean, i was very responsible along with a group of people for getting the vietnam memorial built in downtown manhattan which to this day people thank me for. i raised and i have raised millions of dollars for the vets. i'm helping the vets a lot. >> what do you think of his sort of defense of his line of attack? >> it really explains certain things cannot be defined. his answer defines it. any decent american listening to that figures it out what he's saying, how he's defining sacrifice. if that is the definition of sacrifice, this candidate is now a candidate of a major political party, and close to become president of this country, commander in chief of this country, and that is the definition of sacrifice? >> here's a question from peggy, who submitted it on twitter. if you could write the script of his apology, what would you like him to say? >> no apology needed. the best apology would be that

his supporter repudiate him and pronounce their repudiation. we don't need any apology from him. we are beyond those apologies and we were promised several months ago that he will pivot in the right direction, he will change and he will not -- >> i know. >> -- do all that. >> you want to hear anything more from him? >> no. no. i don't want to hear anything from him and i don't want to say anything to him. >> okay. let me ask you about a larger question about being a member of the islamic community here in the united states. what is your emotion when you turn on the tv or the car radio or listen or sirius radio or read the paper and you hear there's been an attack. is it different to be islamic when you hear there's an attack by someone claiming to do it in the name of religion, whether in san bernardino, nice or paris?

>> my first thought is oh, my god, there we go again. how can we stop this happening as muslims because it comes directly to you. your faith is involved. so you wind up thinking how could i participate in the stopping of this madness that is taking place. the first concern and thought, that this cannot be my religion. these criminals are not part of my religion. they have hijacked these words are being manipulated, they call themselves muslim terrorists, islamic jihadists. they have nothing to do with islam. in peshawar, pakistan, same jihadis went in an elementary school and killed hundreds of

small children. these are jihadists, these are islamists? not at all. we condemn them. so the second thought comes that what is the solution? the solution is stricter check on people that are coming in. second solution is that communities joining hands to deter this kind of thinking, this kind of power that is cooking in a person's mind, a person is thinking of harming others, and making them part of the solution instead of building walls, throwing them out and blaming them and all that. that encourages alienation, encourages such destructive behavior. but making them part of the solution. i'm not saying that we should

simply open the borders and let anybody come and everybody come. not at all. we should have stricter policies, stricter homeland security check, but the community that is here making that part of the solution, working jointly with them. >> do you think the religious people in this country, there are islamic people everywhere, do you think there's been an effort made to pacify people, to stop this anger that reaches such a point that it leads to zealotry and then to terrorism? has there been that? >> there had been at a smaller scale effort, is being made, has been made, but this is not what islam is. name of islam is being hijacked. to the extent that we would like to see or i would like to see an effort that had been nonexistent but in smaller scale at individual community levels,

there are leaders that are trying to minimize -- >> what do you think or feel when you see us attack iraq or go into afghanistan after osama bin laden, or we go attack with bombs, libya? we are bombing syria now. all islamic countries. what do you feel as an islamic man? >> as a muslim american, not just as islamic man, as a muslim american, i feel these policies are not in the interest of united states of america and we see the result of it. we are more vulnerable now.

we have created a chaos for ourselves. >> you are speaking to the choir. >> i wish this country would have listened to chris matthews when he was talking, when he was preaching, we could have saved ourselves from this quagmire. >> i didn't think iraq made any sense and i think you agree. what do you think about trump, it first struck me that he was, i don't know what the word is, out of bounds, to use an old american expression, when he went after the president and said he was born in some other country, that he was not a legitimate president. he didn't belong on the list of presidents, he was born secretly in indonesia or kenya or somewhere that his mother, his white mother snuck over there, had him over there, gave him the name obama, married a man from kenya so she could say he was born in hawaii. it's a crazy story. why would a guy like trump who is not crazy, maybe he's not, why would he spread that story? he's stuck with it. he's never taken it back. our first african-american president. >> sure. it's disappointing and since then, look at the rhetoric since then on various subjects, various topics, various issues. same thinking continues. same thinking continues, craziness. total void of empathy. total void of moral compass.

candidate for the stewardship of this country had to have character, had to have understanding, capacity to accept criticism and capacity to understand those who follow him, those who do not follow him, because if he becomes president, he's president of all, not just the group that follows him. therefore, a capacity of accepting, receiving criticism -- >> what's your worst fear if he becomes president? >> i say this really, really clearly. this country will be in such a constitutional crisis. for example, he said i will throw out 11 million people.

so what is he going to do, go to congress and pass the law? congress is going to pass the law? no. so what is second option? second option is issue an executive order. who implements executive orders? so he signs it, sends it to the department of justice. would the secret service start to go or the martial go door to door? there are court challenges. supreme court is watching this, they will put a stop to it. where would we be? this country will be in such a constitutional crisis. that is just one example of the policy he has said. >> i will keep you here a few more minutes. more of your questions are coming in. we are taking them right now. unusual for us to do that but we wanted to be interactive tonight. later, republicans are distancing themselves from trump's comments about this family but so far, not his candidacy. can that start to change?

many republicans have spoken out over the khan controversy. governor haley said as far as em concerned they have the standing to say whatever they want in the political process and should not face criticism for it. former governor jeb bush tweeted this is so incredibly disrespectful of a family that endured the ultimate sacrifice for our country. senator lindsey graham said there used to be some things that were sacred in american politics that you don't do like criticize the parents of a fallen soldier. even if they criticize you. house speaker paul ryan spoke out against trump's proposed muslim ban before saying many muslim americans have served valiantly in our military and made the ultimate sacrifice. captain khan was one such brave example. his sacrifice and that of khizr and ghazala khan should always be honored, period.

as commander in chief, i'm pretty tired of some folks trash talking america's military and troops. our gold star families have made a sacrifice that most of us cannot even begin to imagine. they represent the very best of our country. they continue to inspire us every day, every moment. they serve as a powerful reminder of the true strength of america. >> that's president obama. welcome back to "hardball." that was our president speaking today about gold star families at a convention of disabled veterans in atlanta. it comes after donald trump spoke out this weekend against the khan family whose son was killed in iraq while serving this country in 2004. just moments ago, trump's running mate mike pence was confronted in a town hall meeting by a mother of a veteran over trump's comments about the khan family. let's listen to the vice presidential nominee. >> how do you tolerate this disrespect?

>> well, i thank you for the question. folks, that's what freedom looks like and that's what freedom sounds like, okay? let me just say first i want to honor your son's service to the country and your family's service. i know this has been much in the news of late, the last few days but as i said last night, as donald trump said, captain khan is an american hero and we honor him and honor his family. the story of captain khan is an incredibly inspiring story. >> well, he's breaking away from his running mate a bit there. back with khizr and ghazala khan. we have been monitoring twitter

and facebook for questions from our audience. here comes a question on twitter. if trump becomes president and bans muslims, do you think muslim service members should refuse to serve? >> that says it all. that says it all. it requires no -- this indicates the lack of thoughtfulness on this candidate's part. all of his statements, he's going to do this, he's going to do this, the economic policies, the security policies, lack of tolerance, lack of thoughtfulness. >> this comes from danielle who wants me to ask did they expect trump to react to their speech? did you expect trump to come back at you the way he did? >> not at all. >> did you, ghazala? >> not at all. i did not even think he might say anything. he's candidate for presidency. he wouldn't even pay attention to us, that's what i thought.

>> here's another question. how do mr. and mrs. khan's other sons feel about trump's responses to their parents? how is your family taking this? you are in the spotlight whether you like it or not now. >> before i accepted to speak, i spoke with ghazala. she's my editor, my strength, 42 years together, and i spoke to my family, and we said should we do this. yes, we should do it. will there be some negative criticism? maybe. so i got their support and got their strength and so other children, they don't want any part of this. they have their private lives. >> they don't like the exposure. >> they don't want the exposure. they are telling us to stop all this and come back home, rest, every w and th if there's a question, answer it, and let it be.

this would not be a political discourse or we would be sitting here and talking and all that had it not been his thoughtless comments made by a candidate for presidency. i am just amazed at the level of thinking, lack of empathy. this gold star mother is standing there full of grief and cannot speak and open her mouth, and this candidate has to take a cheap shot. that is what made me say things that i have said. i didn't want to say what was the rest of my speech but disrespect has limits. this good nation, thoughtful, patriotic people, place gold star mothers at the highest pedestal because they give all to the safety and security of this country, and this thoughtless, this compass-less, this empathy-less candidate takes a shot to pander for some votes, to create more hatred? >> so at the heart of it, i would like to ask this question

because i have been following politics since i was a kid. do you think trump believes all this stuff that he says? do you think he believes that barack obama was secretly born by an american white woman over in kenya so that she could pretend he was born in hawaii, all this he comes out with, do you think he believes you can have a religious test in a country where the constitution says you can never have, did he ever think he could impose that at the airports and the ports? does he ever think of that? does he believe he will build a wall and the mexicans will pay for it? or is it all as you said, pandering? >> it is pandering. that is the sad part. the sadder part is that some good-hearted, sincere, genuine, pure-hearted patriotic americans are falling in his trap. he's a snake oil salesman. they are falling in his trap.

>> let me say something on behalf of the approximately million people watching right now. thank you for your service. >> thank you. >> we can't thank you enough. last full measure, as lincoln called it. thank you for coming on this program. >> means a lot. the love and support we have received, we have not been able to walk three steps -- >> i hear it everywhere. it's everywhere. this country is a better country than donald trump. thank you, khizr and ghazala. thank you for coming here. coming up on "hardball," reaction to this conversation from a top senator who says trump is unfit to be commander in chief. senator dianne feinstein of california will be with us next. plus trump is getting criticized for his comments about russia and the ukraine. he doesn't seem to have a handle on what's going on over there.

big surprise.

welcome back to "hardball." we just heard from gold star parents khizr and ghazala khan reacting to the latest criticism from donald trump. joining me now is united states senator dianne feinstein, democrat from california. senator, did you get to hear what we just went through with the khan family? >> i did. >> what's your reaction? >> well, my reaction is they are

so real and they are so poignant and they are really -- it brings a lump to my throat what america is all about. the way they use the words, what words they use, their stories, you know right away this isn't made up, this isn't a political speech. they are really speaking from the heart and their heart is what beats in america the strongest. no question about that. >> when you live a life in politics, one thing i think you learn is when you're up against something that's bigger than you and you stop talking. what makes trump keep talking? why is he picking this fight of all -- what's it say about his nature that he would want to fight with them, a gold star family? i don't get it. i think he's a mixed bag but i don't get this one at all. >> i don't either, candidly, but i think there's unpredictability in him and i think that's what bothers me the most, that he really can't take a jibe, he can't take a criticism, he has to respond and he has to attack back. and the attack has to be worse

essentially than what he interpreted was said about him. i think that's a very bad trait for a president and i think the fact that he hasn't been able to curb it, to stop it, to change, to be more reserved, to use language that is different than the crudeness that he expresses it with, is really, really a problem. >> it strikes me that he has a brand which is he's pushing nationalism, sort of the spirit that broke the brexit thing, us against the world, yet he takes on a family that's fought for this country, sacrificed a son for this country, he's trashing them in a sense when that's part of his brand and now he goes over to russia and he's got putin, asking putin and the defense industry over there, the defense intelligence people, to pull watergate against hillary. he's supposed to be the nationalist, yet he's going outside the united states and coming back and hitting us from russia. it just seems, he doesn't know

his own brand anymore is my thought. >> well, i have begun to think he doesn't know what he's doing. he doesn't know the impact of what he's saying. i think what he wants to do is create an audience and he's been very successful in creating an audience, and you know, whether it was fox or cnn, any -- >> he's been on here, too. you can spread it around. he's here, too. >> right. right. >> you know so many things but let me ask you about foreign policy. he came out one day and said russia isn't going to invade ukraine, and of course they have already grabbed crimea. then the next day he said well, they're not going to do it or something like that. he doesn't seem to have a consistent fact in his head about what's going on. in central asia. >> i think that's right. i think there's no question about russian aggression.

i think that aggression is still in the ukraine. there's still military, there's still black military. i mean, i think we all know that this was russia. there's no question about it. and the intelligence certainly shows that. so if russia is going to be an aggressive power, that's a real problem for europe. that's what this is really all about. russia has a huge territory. enough is enough. ukraine wants to be separate, it wants to be closer to europe, and there really is nothing wrong with that. a nation's destiny should be its own. >> i hope you run for re-election, senator. >> thank you. i have awhile yet. >> i know you have awhile to think about it. thank you so much. joining me now is former trump advisor michael caputo. that same question about mr. trump's desire to take on any challenge. why take on this? why not just pass on this and say okay, this fellow and his wife spoke at the democratic convention, they made some good patriotic points, i'm not going

to go after that. why did he choose to get engaged in this dispute with people that are unassailable? >> you noticed after michelle obama's speech the entire trump campaign went silent. some of the things she said, you would have thought donald trump would have responded but they didn't. when all things, late in the day speech by gold star parents drew him out for criticism, the problem i have is that gold star parents are more off limits than the first lady is. i would rather have seen him criticize michelle obama's words than the gold star parents but frankly, i'm going to have to tell you, i don't see what donald trump said as something that's aggressive or taking on or some of the very active verbs that are being used by the media. i think unfortunately -- >> let's try this one on you. you know this world of politics as well as i do and how words

matter. saying that the mother in this case, ghazala, couldn't talk because like some sort of conspiracy, she's not allowed to talk. why would he go after her? she is obviously emotionally, you know, unable to get out and start talking about this as well as somebody might in sort of a non-attached political debate. she is so attached to this. the fact she chose not to speak at that point, why go after her and say there's some sort of conspiracy about why she didn't talk? what was that about? why would he do that? >> i understand what you're saying. >> yeah. but he must have. >> i'm trying to put that out there as -- he was trying to find something, as an infantry veteran, 25th infantry -- >> i know, sir, thank you for your service. i appreciate that. i do. >> i want to see gold star parents treated with respect because what happens if i were killed in battle? all veterans want to see the gold star parents because it could have been our parents but i don't think he was attacking

them. i do think this has become a campaign tactic by the clinton campaign, very successful one. who would have thought the khans' speech, we would have been talking about it a week later after the convention? this is a remarkably well executed campaign tactic by the clinton campaign and the trump campaign needs to pivot away from this. >> you know, that may be the case, i don't know, i don't know about what goes on in headquarters of these conventions or political meetings, but i do think both sides used the events as they develop and i think when there's a terrorist attack, trump is quite exploitative of that. muslim americans fight and die for the country, that's a fact. now it's on the table and trump has to recognize it and stop trashing muslims per se. that's what he's been doing. he's saying because of your religion we are keeping you out of the country. not because of any connection to

terrorism. we are keeping you out because of what you believe. that's been exposed and it's good for the country to get that in their heads and hearts. >> here's the thing. here's the thing, chris. the khans' son didn't die because of immigration policy. he died at the hands of radical islamic terrorism and that's what the topic is here. the problem, i think that exploiting gold star parents is just as bad as confronting gold star parents. we are walking a very very fine line. >> just a minute. just a minute. mr. khizr khan wrote an article about what happened with his son, he brought the story out to the public. i agree, i would always be suspicious of this if i were what you're doing but he's the one that came forward. please come back again. you make good points. up next, it's a question we have asked before but is this the final straw? what's the final straw mean with donald trump? will voters give him a pass again or forget about it, move on to something else? new polling shows hillary

clinton did get a big lead, we call it a bump, out of the convention. you can feel it in philly. it felt good there. it felt like the democrats were getting their act together. although her speech wasn't the best speech and that's always been the case at democratic conventions. i think the best speech was probably mr. khan's. the "hardball" roundtable is next.

welcome back to "hardball." donald trump's attack on the khan family has created yet another crisis for the republican nominee. unlike last comments, this confrontation seems to raise serious questions about donald trump's temperament. trump's about to take the stage at the campaign rally in pennsylvania. tonight, new polling shows hillary clinton getting a sizeable bump out of the democratic convention. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. according to a new cnn opinion research poll, clinton leads trump by nine, that's national. last week, he held a three point lead. 12-point shift there. similar story from a new cbs national poll where her lead is now seven. 46% and trump down at 39%.

the race had been tied at 42% after the republican convention. joining me for tonight's roundtable, robert costa from "washington post" and jane newton small, and howard fineman, global editorial director for the huffington post. howard, i keep waiting for trump to sort of implode on certain issues. he's a nationalist and then he goes and asks putin to intervene or the soviet, the russian defense intelligence operation to intervene in the american political election by going after hillary clinton's e-mail. then he goes and trashes a gold star family. that's not comporting with nationalism which is gross patriotism. why is he doing these things? >> as a matter of fact, the khan family tonight on your show was the utter expression literally of american exceptionalism. >> this is the place you can -- >> you heard mr. khan saying

there's no country on earth like this country. so ironically, donald trump has handed the flag of american exceptionalism to the democrats if they can take it. kiz khizr khan said it. he said you need tighter border checks, yes, we need to be careful about intervention. he gave actually the modulated, shrewd version of what trump has done in excess. that's what was so amazing about it. he put himself out of the mainstream. >> most of us grew up with parents or grandparents who spoke with an accent. >> my parents did. >> my grandmother talked like mrs. doubtfire. we all know what an indian or pakistani accent sound like but the kids, american accent. they are as american as anybody else. that's the exceptionalist part because that doesn't happen in other countries. not like here. that's the great strength. >> it's the melting pot. >> we are bragging about america

and trump's left as a critic. he blew it on that point. important point. >> it's a me-ism. that hits right into hillary's criticism of it. it's always i, i, i, me, me, me, not we, we, we. because for trump, it's what's good for trump. not necessarily what's good for the nation if you are looking at it in this case. so it's not exceptional for trump but it's exceptional for the nation. >> you are really good at covering the innards of this campaign. who inside the campaign comes up to him and says like a dutch uncle, donald, pull back on this, baby, you are in a hole, stop digging. the more you are seen as an enemy of this family, the more votes you are going to lose, two people in the suburbs who really want to be nice to people who want to be americans. all i want for somebody to be american is i want them to be american. that's my standard. do they want to be an american? if they do, you're in. >> i just got off the phone with rudy giuliani, former -- >> what's he saying about this? >> his advice to trump, to the campaign, ignore the khans, move on to a different subject.

>> did he tell them that? >> i said did you speak directly to trump. he wouldn't give a straight answer. he said he's been in touch with the campaign this weekend. it's people like giuliani, not so much the advisers and the family, the older people of trump's generation, people who don't work for the campaign, who he's talking to. the most telling thing you saw tonight was trump did not engage again with the khans. he did a lot of different attacks but not the khans. >> he went to the reps like he always does. he blames fire marshals for not letting people in, blames the media for being unfair, blames debate preparers for picking the wrong dates. >> i was talking about pittsburgh billy khan. that's who i was talking about is what he should have said. >> we always thought as the grandson of immigrants, we thought he was jewish. no. he was irish. we loved him anyway. >> the roundtable is sticking with us. up next, they tell me something i don't know. be the you who hugs a friend, who is done with treatments.

we're waiting right now for donald trump to take the stage in the campaign rally if pennsylvania, a state he needs to win to have a chance for the presidency. he needs pennsylvania, ohio and florida, all big tough ones. anyway, hillary clinton campaigned in omaha, nebraska, that's red country, alongside billionaire investor warren buffett who challenged trump to release his tax returns. nebraska's a red state, as i said, it's one of only two states that splits its electoral votes by congressional district.

the clinton campaign hopes to pick off the single electoral vote. it's always the big city, right? the state's largest city just as barack obama did in 2008. we'll be right back after this.

we're back with the hardball round table to find out something i don't know. >> trump campaign trying to pivot towards the general election. i expect he'll do policy speeches. >> hillary's people told me she stayed up to 2:00 a.m. the night before her speech and a big gallup poll showed there was net 17 points. >> why does staying up to 2:00 help? >> she was polishing it, finishing it. >> did she purposely make it non-lyrical? >> that's a good question. i don't know the answer to that. >> there's not a speech hillary hasn't stayed up till 2:00 in the morning for. every republican senator who's in a contested race has criticized donald trump. every single one of them. none of them has repudiated voting for the idea of supporting trump except mark kirk of illinois and he did it weeks ago so they're still

trying to have it both ways. mr. khan. >> in or out, buddy. >> thank you, robert costa. when we return let me finish the khans and get a thought about what they said tonight. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. you're washing that baked-on alfredo by hand,right? yes, dear. dish issues? cascade platinum... powers... through... your toughest stuck-on food. so let your dishwasher be the dishwasher. this turned out great. cascade.

♪olympics 2016, let me get you on my level. ♪ so you never miss a moment, ♪ ♪miss a minute, miss a medal. ♪ ♪ why settle when you can have it all? ♪ ♪soccer to wrestling. track and field to basketball. ♪ fencing to cycling. diving to balance beam. ♪ ♪all you have to sa♪ ♪ is, "show me," and boom it's on the screen♪ ♪ from the bottom of the mat, ♪ ♪ to the couch where you at? ♪ ♪ show me the latest medal count♪ ♪xfinity's where it's at. ♪ welcome to it all. comcast nbcuniversal is proud to bring you coverage of the rio olympic games. let me finish tonight with the khans who joined us tonight. let's imagine the feelings this

fami has been through, the pride of having a son serving as a united states army officer, the horror of losing him in battle, the pain of that enduring loss, the endlessness of it. i remember growing up and seeing those three pictures on the wall, they were the sons of my immigrant grandparents, one in the arm air corps, the other a tank commander the other my father in his naval uniform. today an immigrant family like that is at the center of the american presidential discussion. should a group of people who include those like the khan family who have given to their country what abraham lincoln called their last full measure of devotion be banned from entering this country? should an entire religion be stopped at the airport and publicly suspected by those in high position for the crimes of the terrorists? i said last week that donald trump has done something unprecedented. he's forced this country and both political parties to confront their own believes, to consider their commitment to the country's founding principles in a way they haven't. certainly not in my memory. there's only good to be gotten from the khan family's willingness to endure this

debate. there's only good beyond measure in their patriotic commitment to a country they love. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. "all in" with chris hayes starts tonight on "all in." >> his wife had nothing to stay. she probably maybe wasn't allowed to have anything to say. you tell me. >> donald trump attacks a mother who lost her son in iraq. >> this person is total incapable of empathy. he is a black soul. >> as the backlash builds. >> to have trump do what he did, i don't know where the bounds are. i don't know where the bottom is. >> what will it take for republicans to repudiate trump. >> i can't vote for donald trump. then, trump's putin policy. >> he's not going into ukraine, okay? just so you understand. he's not going to go into ukraine. >> except russia already annexed part of ukraine two years ago. lawrence wilkerson is here on that.