>> to mark the 50th anniversary of our relationship, this is a hybrid of breeds native to singapore and hawaii, where the president was born, most of us believe. >> a trump joke there from the prime minister of singapore at a state dinner last night. that will do it for me on "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. >> i want you to know something, i come to work every day wanting to start the show with something other than donald trump.

and yet every day more words come out of his face. where to begin? >> yes, they do. >> where to begin. >> they keep coming out. >> so much to talk about. >> a waterfall of words are destroying his brand. >> your voice is back. >> barely. i had to go on stage last night and have him speak for me. how pathetic is that? we hear enough from him, you know. >> i guess. >> all those menthal cigarettes caught up with you. >> this is the first time on your set. >> i'm a little scared. good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, august 3rd. with us on set, the managing editor of bloomberg politics and the co-host of "with all due

respect" john heilemann and professor at the university of michigan school of public policy, former democratic congressman harold ford jr. is working. >> and in washington columnist for "washington examiner. >> i think it sounds good. i'll do the news. >> yesterday we stopped for about ten minutes and we talked at the beginning of the show donald trump's mental well-being as questioned by just about everybody that we know. john heilemann, an implosion the likes of which i have never seen in all of my years of being a republican, i've never seen anything like this before. if you are a republican and if you actually believe in what the republican party has believed in in the past, starting with ronald reagan, it's all very

sickening. >> republicans are having a hard time right now. >> as you said yesterday on your show, donald trump doesn't give a damn about the republican party. >> they should have known that. they are all sitting in their own you know what. >> it's not like we didn't say on this show that donald trump didn't give a damn about the republican party. he cares about himself. >> people called him for months the chaos candidate and he benefited from being the chaos candidate. he now looks increasingly like the kamikaze candidate. he's trying to destroy the party, himself and everything he's doing by now if you just apply rationale basis to looking at his behavior, he's just trying to destroy everything. including his own campaign and his own prospects and everything that lies before him. >> there is -- it makes no

sense. he'll contradict himself. say something one minute. contradict himself three minutes later. contradict himself again and say things that are clearly false that any rationale person would know there's videotape to show that he had taken a different position a day or two before. >> look, look, it's not even the lies which are obvious and daily and weekly. it is his complete lack of care for the people of this country. he does not have dedication to this country. he's not driven by dedication to this country. if you saw him flipingly holding a purple heart and talking about it the way he did. >> always wanted one of these. >> what i believe is he thinks he can go back and then be a big business mogul.

i actually think he's crossed the line into the area where those primary voters are going to look at this and see him with that purple heart and see him talking about that family that way and they're going to be turned off. i can't imagine -- >> maybe not yet but he's on a trajectory -- >> his brand is in jeopardy. if he cares about anything, care about your brand and start acting like an american. >> if you actually care about your family, if you care about your children and their brand, there's no doubt everybody in that family from ivanka to don jr. to eric, everybody is being damaged by the chaos. they spend their entire time answering -- >> they get on the air and mess up. >> they should be getting on the air talking about the economy, talking about the -- >> not sexual harassment which they know nothing about obviously. >> what i'm saying, willie, they are put in a position to

constantly defend their father for the stupid, stupid things he's saying. >> we see it every morning. eric trump was on tv talking about sexual harassment. i wonder -- his whole argument was nationalism and he's going to make america great again. when he stepped across the line on day five or six in a fight with gold star family and questioned whether khan, that was his argument and you have the vfw and these veterans groups coming out against donald trump, he's in a territory he can't be in. that was his last place. that's where he lived. if you lose those people, if you lose the military, then what? >> he needs paul ryan and republican leaders and yet donald trump is still at war with leaders of his own party who must be feeling incredibly stupid right now.

>> in an interview with "the washington post," he's withholding his endorsement from house speaker paul ryan and republican nominee john mccain in their primaries this month. also kelly aot in new hampshire. let's remember what speaker ryan said. >> i'm just not ready to do that at this point. i'm not there right now. i hope to support his candidacy fully and i want to do that but right now i got to tell you, jake, just being candid with you, at this point i'm just not there right now. >> at that point there was still -- >> he shouldn't be there right now. >> yesterday trump returned the favor using very similar language. i'm just not there yet. i am not quite there yet. i like, paul, trump said. these are horrible times for our country. we need strong leadership. we need very, very strong leip.adersh trump said that speaker ryan

sought his endorsement that "everybody wants my support." ryan's office didn't. neither speaker ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for donald trump's endorsement. we're very confident of victory next week. regardless, chaos. >> there's a mccain commercial i want to show you later. >> chaos and kamikaze behavior. think about yesterday as willie suggested after he attacked the khan family, gold star family, 22 million veterans in this country, people upset. a story comes out in "the new york times" that talks about his lack of military service, his five deferments, which is in contradiction to things he said years ago to tim russert about why he hadn't served. on that day in this context, he stands up on stage with as mika talked about somebody else's purple heart and makes a glib comment about that. >> a replica. >> and then claims that the

conversation he had with the gentleman who gave him the purple heart that the gentleman told him it was the real purple heart. a few minutes later that guy is interviewed by reporters. i didn't tell trump that. i told him that was a copy. what are you doing in the middle of this fight, at this moment, what are you doing holding a purple heart on stage and talking about it at all? >> there's nothing rationale about any of this behavior, harold ford. i say this as somebody -- i've known donald for 10, 11, 12 years. this is not rationale behavior at all. it's as if he's trying to blow himself up. he told one minute that the purple heart is a copy, a replica. and then two minutes later he gets up on stage and he specifically says i asked him if this was the real thing. specifically says opposite. it's one thing after another. >> it's painful to watch. unfortunately i look forward to seeing it again. the petty grievances this guy

has that continue to play themselves out and back and forth with paul ryan. we talked about during the primary he was bad at times. he's worse now than he's been at any point during that time. >> he is at his worse. >> the point you make, he will say he said x and show videos of him saying why over and over again and he denies it. i don't know how you deny over and over again a presidential candidate and then the khan family, he called for a ban on muslims coming to the country and it may well be he'll look back on the last 96 hours and one of the most patriotic speeches i ever heard give was by a muslim american and brought an end to this campaign. >> great advertisement for the united states of america that this country has rallied around a muslim american family and maybe it is undone some of the

damage that donald trump's stupidity in proposing a muslim ban has caused this country worldwide. >> you're so right. >> thank god. >> take a look at donald trump. we've been talking about this purple heart. we might as well show you this purple heart conversation. he holds it like it's a toy and talks about it like, i don't know it's a trading card or something. it's hard to watch. >> this is all really depressing. depressing on a personal level because we know him and he's our friend. it's depressing for me as a conservative. it's depressing as a republican. >> and as an american. >> it's depressing most importantly as an american. >> if you know anybody who served, if you have served, if you lost anybody who served or if anybody who served has been injured, take a look at this and think about this as your next commander in chief. watch. >> a man came up to me and he handed me his purple heart.

now, i said to him, i said to him, is that, like, the real one or is that a copy? he said that's my real purple heart. i have such confidence in you. i said, man, that's like big stuff. i always wanted to get the purple heart. this was much easier. but i tell you, it was such an honor and maybe i can bring him up on the stage, lieutenant colonel general lewis dorfman. >> was he holding the purple heart, nobody wants a purple heart? it's not something you always want. again, it's bizarre that he

would say this was the real thing. after the guy said, no, it's a copy. the clinton campaign was quick, very quick to react to trump's remark tweeting this is from a man who says he's "sacrificed" for our country. tammy duckworth tweeted this photo saying this is how one usually looks when awarded the purple heart. nothing easy about it. john harwood reporting last night that the campaign staff is suicidal. that manafort has checked out. and it's actually worse than people imagined. the family can't control him. the kids can't control him. manafort can't control him.

nobody can control him anymore. he's just off in the fields wandering. it's really bad for this country. it's dangerous for this country. what does the republican party do now? >> i think we reached a moment where the republican party is going to change its tune. i think meg whitman coming out last night that ran for a republican in the state of california say i'm voting for hillary clinton, he's dangerous, the country can't afford -- i'm putting my country ahead of my party. i wonder if we see the thread being pulled where people have enough cover, paul ryan maybe and others, to come out and say, enough is enough. i can't stand by this. something that people have been calling for for months and months and months. >> paul ryan, joe, we know these people. we know sometimes we disagree with them. i do. we know them as people. we know they're solid good people. we know they're leaders. revoke your endorsement. >> paul is a great guy.

>> be a leader. am i overstating it, i think they're ruining the party. >> they are ruining their careers. they are damaging the party. and they're doing it for a guy as we've said here time and time again who is a democratic for 65 years of his life. he voted for bill clinton in '92. he voted for bill clinton in '96. he voted for al gore in 2000 and john mcca in 2009 he said hillary clinton is great leader. he gave money to hillary clinton three times. he is a democratic and these republicans are sitting here -- >> there was a conspiracy theory at the beginning of the campaign, that bill clinton and donald trump spoke on the phone for a very long time before the campaign began and bill clinton encouraged him to run for president, john heilemann.

listen, i mean, it's not a stretch. donald trump has been a democratic his entire life. the clintons and he have been friends. i'm not saying that those conspiracy theories are true, but if that was a conspiracy theory you were running with, you sure would have a lot of ammunition to say he's deliberately throwing this election to hillary clinton. and destroying the party in the process. >> i ask you as the only previously elected republican office holder at this table, what would be the political cost to paul ryan or anybody else, focus on paul ryan, to stand up tomorrow or today and say, you know what? i'm done. he's not going to endorse me in my primary fight. i've had enough. i tried to make good peace with this. i haven't been able to. i'm out of here. what's the political cost to that? >> the fear they have right now are trump supporters. i think a guy like -- these

congressional districts, you are always going 10, 15 percentage points higher than your candidate. if you have a good relationship with your district, not much. you know what you do? you make the announcement at a town hall meeting in janesville and you spend an entire weekend holding town hall meetings and explaining to people face to face why you're not supporting donald trump. >> or subject to an ad that john mccain's opponent put out against him ripping him to shreds supporting ludicrous comments by donald trump. >> harder for john mccain. he's just in a lose-lose position. he just is. if he doesn't support trump, he's going to get in trouble. he's in trouble with the trump base now. he gets killed in the primary if

he doesn't support trump. he gets killed in the general if he does support trump. if you're mccain, just do the right thing. >> here's more from trump's interview with "the washington post." he hit back at mccain after mccain rebuked trump for questioning the right of a fallen soldier's parents to criticize him. trump said i haven't endorsed john mccain. i've never been there with john mccain because i've always felt he should have done a much better job for the vets. mccain has not responded though he did meet privately with governor mike pence in phoenix last night. pence did not address trump's comments. >> he also took a swipe at kelly ayotte in a fight in new hampshire. i'm doing well in new hampshire. we don't need weak people. we have enough of them.

we need fighters in this country. kelly ayotte has given me no support. she responded i call it like i see and it i'll stand up for our military families and what's best for the people of new hampshire. we went after newt gingrich when he was speaker of the house. we ran him out of town. there are a lot of people in my district that weren't happy about that. i held town hall meetings and explained why. i got 80% of the vote in the next race i ran. you can explain this stuff away. you can tell people i'm going with my conscious. you disagree with me. i understand you like trump. this is why i'm doing it. >> it's petty grievances thing. i like mike pence as a person. i was really disappointed watching a few days ago, maybe

two days ago, when a military mom got up and made a point and was booed by members of the audience and governor pence and others didn't do what john mccain did years ago when a woman said awful things about obama and mccain stopped the questioner. at a political rally for either republican or democratic, someone can stand and be booed after announcing that her son served in the military. >> showed a picture of the son serving in the military. >> i think it's turning against him. >> what have we come to as a country? what have we come to as a body when this is acceptable? as a republican nominee who enjoys support among a decent number of people in the country

after all that he's said and all he's done and what happened at mike mike pence's rally? >> as we look at these responses donald trump has given to various candidates whether john mccain or paul ryan or kelly ayotte, the question is what is my benefit? joe talked about the electoral questions that john mccain faces. when you give your support and stick your neck out there and what you get in kind is donald trump questioning you calling you weak saying you don't stand up for vets and saying to paul ryan i like the other guy in this race? at this point when is enough? n >> you've said things and now you're not endorsing me?

the person i'm most sympathetic to is paul ryan because he's not just concerned about janesville, wisconsin, he has a majority to win back. for those members on the edge in purple districts, donald trump could very well be a big drawback. he's also got a lot of members that he's got to keep onboard who are hearing in town halls that they love donald trump. i think the biggest problem donald trump has right now -- >> how do you do it if you're paul ryan and say he's racist but i'm still supporting him? >> it's incredibly tough. i count one of those very disappointing when he came out and said, fine, it's endorsement, calling it what you want. i don't love it. i get why he did it. he's thinking, if i'm speaker of the house, which is the president that's more likely to sign bills into law that my congress passes. i think he miscalculated and thought it was donald trump and thought that he would be able to

sort of take his agenda and put it on the blank slate that is donald trump. we've now seen that donald trump is not governed by anyone but his own gut and what he thinks is getting applause lines at rallies. >> since paul ryan accepted racism and continued to endorse, it's only gotten worse. not just worse, much, much worse. at what point does he pull his endorsement? >> we said it's only going to get worse. we told him in real time. if you do this, it's only going to get worse. the question now is people are quietly asking and reason why people might watch our show because we bomb it out what people say quietly off camera, i heard it all day yesterday. i heard it last night. i heard it from so many worried republicans and democrats, is

donald trump stable enough to have his finger on the button. the question for a lot of people coming up to me and talking to me now is not the paul ryan question, who is more likely to sign conservative bills, the question people are asking now is who is more likely to use nuclear weapons? who is more likely -- who is mentally stable enough to have the nuclear codes? >> one of the most amazing things about this cycle has not been -- donald trump has had a lot of support in the republican party for millions of voters for many months helping him win the nomination. throughout the entire time that he was rising, we would have -- you i know, all of us, had conversations can republican strategists who would privately say he's unfit for the oval office. he should not be commander in chief. some of those people now who have endorsed him, some of those

people are pro-trump. having said for months that they questioned his temperament, his suitability and intellectual stability and his knowledge and now increasingly his mental and emotional temperamental suitability, stability, whatever you want to call it. >> now they're endorsing him. >> then they endorsed him and now as you predicted and others predicted, things have gotten worse and worse and worse and no one in their right mind thinks things are going to get better. there was a prayer he would stabilize, pivot, et cetera. no one believes that now. >> how about this -- >> he's still criticizing khans yesterday. >> think about his brand like "the apprentice" or whatever he thought he would come back to and would have a bigger brand, he got head of nbc entertainment tweeting saying you're not coming back. nobody wants anything to do with him because he's said things

that are not suitable for any career, any part of american life. >> we have to run to break. this is close to a record. 25 minutes in the first block. not quite a record. i think we can talk about -- >> if we go another couple minutes the people from guinness will be on the phone. still ahead on "morning joe," the top cop in the nation's largest city is leaving the force. new york city police commissioner bill bratton announced yesterday he's stepping down next month to the private sector. >> commission bratton will be on with us this morning and retired general michael hayden will be our guest in a few minutes and i'll ask him if he's ready to endorse donald trump yet. plus, donald trump versus a crying baby. >> i love babies. >> donald doesn't. we're back in a minute. ♪

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>> i love babies. >> who doesn't love a baby? >> especially if you have babies. i've had four of them. when you're on an airplane or in a restaurant and you hear baby crying, instead of being irritated, you want to go over to the parent and say can i help you out? don't worry. >> it will get better. >> we've all been there. it will get better. it will be worse when they're in college. it will get better. you feel sorry for them, right? >> the babies are cute. >> nobody loves baby more than mika. >> donald trump at a rally in virginia yesterday, here's how he responded when a baby began to cry during the speech. note the time stamp at the right-hand of the screen. >> don't worry about that baby. i love babies. i hear that baby crying. i like it. what a beautiful baby.

don't worry. don't worry. the mom is running around like don't worry about it. it's young and beautiful and healthy and that's what we want. okay. ripped us absolutely to shreds. i was only kidding, you can get the baby out of here. that's all right. don't worry. i think she believed me that i love having a baby crying while i'm speaking. >> he did not like the baby. >> he crosses into new territory every speech. >> not kiss be baing babies. >> it's a different kind of campaign. >> he's attack babies now. he hasn't attacked god yet? >> the pope. >> disrespected a federal judge. he hasn't attacked god and key four pillars of american life.

>> we're back in a minute. we have retired general michael hayden with us. i'm going to ask how easy it would be for donald trump if he were president of the united states to fire a nuclear missile. that's next. e actually. you've been to my place. no, i wasn't...oh look, you dropped something. it's your resume with a 20 dollar bill taped to it. that's weird. you want to work for ge too. hahaha, what? well we're always looking for developers who are up for big world changing challenges like making planes, trains and hospitals run better. why don't you check your new watch and tell me what time i should be there. oh, i don't hire people. i'm a developer. i'm gonna need monday off. again, not my call. nexium 24hfor their own#1 choice of docfrequent heartburn.s for complete protection all day and night make nexium 24hr your #1 choice.

donald trump: i could stand in the middle of 5th avenue i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay? and you can tell them to go f--- themselves! you know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever... you gotta see this guy. ahh, i don't know what i said, ahh. "i don't remember." he's going like "i don't remember!" bp drilling teams train in virtual reality simulators in here, so we're better prepared for any situation out there. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. beif you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla (apremilast).

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with us from washington,

former director of the cia, retired general michael hayden. joining the table, veteran columnist and legendary msnbc contributor -- legendary. mike barnicle. he's not happy. red sox ahead. price blows it. this morning we're going to talk about something less important. nuclear annihilation. i have a lot of people starting to ask me, so donald trump, he may not be the most stable guy in the world but there are enough checks and balances. so if he gets angry, he can't launch a nuclear weapon. can you walk us through that? what safeguards are there to stop -- let's just say any president who may not be stable from launching a nuclear attack against another country? >> well, joe, the commander in chief is the commander in chief.

the constitution article ii puts great power in the executive. the founders knew that national defense required authority, direction, agility and speed. there's a lot of authority in the office and in the armed forces give a great deal of deference culturally to their civilian leadership. >> they certainly have to. that's the way it has to be. the military always, always defers to civilian leadership but in this case, is there a safeguard to stop between a president who is unfit to be commander in chief and the final person that presses the code and launches nuclear weapons against a country that has angered the commander in chief? >> that chain of command was built for speed and decisiveness and so let me default to a

concern that general john allen raised several days ago. he greatly fears and i frankly share that fear that we are heading toward -- we may be setting up the circumstances that create a crisis in civil military relationships. not nuclear annihilation but steps far below pressing the nuclear trigger. what happens within the armed forces when we fear perhaps these kind of decisions for a military that does defer to civilian leadership. what then happens? it may actually strain and test the fabric of our civilian military control. >> mike barnicle? >> general, there are some scheduled partial intel briefings for both candidates during the course of a presidential campaign. based upon what you know and what you don't know about donald trump, could donald trump get the kind of security clearance that would be necessary to work

as a deputy to you when you were at cia or nsa? >> that's a great question, mike. i don't know. you know, it's an interesting question but it's not compelling. he's going to get some briefings between now and election day. frankly, they'll be labeled secret but they'll be secret light. they'll be generalized discussions. both candidates will get them. what's more serious, mike, there will be teams in the cities for the two candidates on election night and the next morning one of those two candidates is going to get the pdp, president's daily brief. simply stated, carry virginia, carry ohio, carry florida, you get all of the secrets. that makes the vote pretty important. >> general hayden, it's willie geist, good to see you. you said in the past you could not support donald trump but that you weren't there yet on hillary clinton. based on what you've seen over

the last few days, do you see yourself as more likely to vote for hillary clinton? >> i'm not prepared to say that, willie. frankly, i don't know what mr. trump could now do to get me off this position that i just don't think that's going to work. i'm certainly not prepared to say that i would definitely vote for secretary clinton. >> you're saying you don't see anything donald trump could do to make you vote for donald trump? >> that's right. i don't know how you undo so many of the things that have already taken place. if he can come up with it, i'll keep an open mind. i don't know what that is. >> does that leave you voting for no one? >> that's possible. i've got a free franchise. i can exercise it how i choose. let me be very clear. in my narrow lane of national security, it's clear to me who the better choice is but frankly there are things to the right and to the left of my narrow lane that make me pause before i

would make the kind of decision you're suggesting i should make now. >> what concerns you most about donald trump? >> how erratic he is, joe. i can argue about this position or that position. i do that with the current president. but he's inconsistent. when you're the head of a global superpower, inconsistencies unpredictability, those are dangerous things. they frighten your friends and they tempt your enemies. and so i would be very, very concerned. >> who amongst your peers that you respect greatly whether they think like you or don't think like you are advising mr. trump? >> no one. >> that's a good answer. >> i have to follow up with that and i'll be careful here.

several months ago a foreign policy expert on international level went to advise donald trump and three times he asked about the use of nuclear weapons. three times he asked, at one point if we have them, why can't we use them? >> wow. >> that's one of the reasons why he doesn't have foreign policy experts around him. >> trump asked three times? >> three times in an hour briefing, why can't we use nuclear weapons? >> be careful, america. be careful, republican leaders. your party is blowing up. >> general hayden, i want to ask one more time and it may be classified, the steps. donald trump decides to use a nuclear weapon. what is the time frame between

his decision and when the nuclear weapons are launched? >> joe, it's scenario dependent. the system is designed for speed and decisiveness. it's not designed to debate the decision. >> all right. general hayden, thank you so much for being with us. we greatly appreciate it. still ahead this morning, even chris christie is now saying that donald trump handled the criticism from the khans badly and trump saying this morning that he has no regrets. >> ugly. >> we'll be back in a minute. o shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough.

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to actually operate my business from everest.de and the surface pro 4 allows me i help clients achieve their dreams. being able to go between having a laptop and having a tablet is really important to me... i couldn't do that with my mac. i love that we as humans can go to the top of the world. it's the durability...the reliability...it's incredible. >> how are you feeling? feeling good about america? >> no. i'm really concerned. i don't get your party. i think it's going to blow to pieces. do you agree? if he's guys don't get it -- >> it's blown to pieces. >> they have to pull their endorsements and stand up on their own two feet as leaders and not kowtow to someone who is going to ruin them -- >> is ruining them. >> the party is done.

>> by the way, chris matthews is right, this is the best thing that ever happened to the democratic party. look at how americans are coming together. muslim americans. americans of all backgrounds. we're saying no. we're saying no. >> it could be a very positive development for the republican party as well to facedown -- to take out the cancer that's been growing in the party. >> they're too wimpy, too. i don't know what's going on. i've never seen anything -- three republican leaders who i think are actually real men are acting like complete wimps shaking in their shoes. >> which three? >> recoiled. >> let's not name names. >> ari fleischer was on a few months ago. this is what ari said about supporting donald trump three months ago. >> how do republicans who are

coalescing and getting behind donald trump one by one, how are they doing this? how are they dealing with some of these inconsistencies? i can't imagine they think a temporary muslim ban is something they would support. >> with hesitation and doubt is the answer for many people. he's running against hillary so the choice is clear. i'm one of those people. there's a lot about donald trump i don't like but i'll vote for donald trump over hillary any day and i will. >> we'll see if anything has changed for him when ari joins the table and ask him what -- we'll ask him what the republican party needs to do to survive. if you have a typical airline credit card, you only earn double miles when you buy stuff from that airline. wait...is this where you typically shop? you should be getting double miles on every purchase! switch...to the capital one venture card. with venture, you earn unlimited double miles

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all right. a new poll in the presidential race shows hillary clinton extending her lead. the reuters online poll taken through the weekend, clinton had 43% to donald trump's 35% increasing her lead from six to eight points since the democratic national convention. >> and clinton leads by eight points in an nbc/survey monkey poll. last week trump led among men by 15 points. now he's only up by seven points. his lead with might men cut from 31 points to 23 points this week. and trump has lost his eight-point advantage among those without a college degree.

clinton now leads among those without a college degree by two points. >> while trump was up 33 points among white voters with no college degree, he's now up by 24 points. >> bleeding in a lot of those categories and most of the polls showing hillary clinton with a jump. six, seven, eight-point jump after the democratic convention and that's not really taking into consideration what's happened this week and the bleeding that is sure to follow from that. >> every day. no one has witnessed anything as we've seen all year long. no doubt about that. i challenge anyone who even come up with an historical equation that is similar to what's happened in the last three days. i can only imagine what the jump would be when they're going in the field to take a poll now after the last three days. >> i was watching "with all due

respect" last night and felt sick at what i was watching. it's gone so far off the rails. >> he remains though formidable. secretary clinton is not above 50. >> she's above 50 in one or two polls. >> state by state, i agree. i'm in the clinton campaign. you have to be careful with remain focus which i know everyone is. and i believe september 26th remains the pivotal day. the first debate will be the most watched nonsports television show probably in the history of the country. >> is he going to debate her? >> i think he'll be forced to. >> more people will watch that since the moon landing. >> m.a.s.h. is number one for nonsports thing. i think the winner of the first debate emerges with the advantage heading into the last 40 days of the campaign. >> john heilemann down the hall

in the interrogation box. these are national polls that we've been looking at and talking about. you look inside states that haven't been competitive in a generation, i saw a poll yesterday in georgia, new mexico, and places like that. we brought up utah poll from june yesterday. how concerned should republicans be that some states that have always gone their way be conc n concerned that they could flip? >> very concerned. if you talk to clinton campaign, they're not on defense in any state that barack obama won in 2012 and they are on offense in a whole bunch of states that haven't been in the democratic column in a long time. you think about arizona. you think about utah. you think about georgia. there are some missouri polling suggesting that the race is a tossup and that's not a state that democrats have won for a long time. if you lay that out against the fact that the trump campaign has

no re -- the financial disparity between the two campaigns. i can't speak for republicans. i can speak for the fact that right now the structural advantage that any democratic has are bolstered by this scenario that a lot of battleground state polls will make the possibility at least for hillary clinton to run up a huge electoral college margin if things keep going this way, if they keep going this way, possible. >> no surprises. all right. john, thank you. coming up next hour, new york city's top cop. bill bratton is here. he joins us on set. also "the new york times" columnist will join us and why donald trump is best described not in political terms but in developmental ones. we'll explain that ahead. "the wall street journal" just crossed with a piece tighted george w. bush delivers critique of donald trump's policies. our producers are digging into that and we'll unpack that with

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>> i think the republican nominee is unfit to serve as president. i said so last week. and he keeps on proving it. the fact that he doesn't appear to have basic knowledge around critical issues in europe, in the middle east, in asia means that he's woefully unprepared to do this job. i think what's been interesting

is the repeated denunsations of his statements by leading republicans including the speaker of the house and the senate majority leader and prominent republicans like john mccain, and the question i think they have to ask themselves is if you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him? >> welcome back to "morning joe." that's barack obama. >> it's a good question. >> that's barack obama putting republicans who would like to walk away from donald trump in a box if they could ever do that. welcome back to "morning joe." it's wednesday, august 3rd.

with us, she's back. playing the role of brenda without a voice. >> i have something to say. i know the messenger may not be perfect for the republicans but for paul ryan and mitch mcconnell, if you were asked is donald trump fit to lead? could you say yes and endorse this man at this stage? do you want to do that to yourself? i'm curious of the answer. >> with us to help mika answer mika questions we have john heilemann. "the new york times" columnist frank bruni and former press secretary for george w. bush, ari fleischer. we have to get in one story really quickly before we jump into politics. just 60 seconds. "the wall street journal" story, willie geist, that the united states of america paid ransom,

$400 million ransom in cash piled up high in unan unmarked cargo plane and gave $400 million to iran. >> plane load of cash for iran. this was $400 million of cash that went to the country. it coincide with the january release of the four americans held there. this is money that was installment in a settlement the obama administration reached in an old arms deal from 1979 and that it'snvinincidentcoincident. >> it was quid pro quo. i said it back in january. i got attacked for it. this is pretty good evidence of a quid pro quo. great reporting. >> you know what this points to also? this is a story that since last

night and this morning donald trump should have been all over. the story from sunday of hillary clinton saying that director comey said she was being truthful and he didn't and not just a conventional campaign but a smart campaign would have seized -- >> and gdp growth. >> he would have seized on these stories and talking about that instead of mr. khan. >> you have $400 million payoff to iran on an unmarked plane. you have the slowest economic recovery since 1949. and you have the democratic nominee lying about the fbi director and what he said. what's wrong with donald trump? >> the fundamental problem is that he's such a good counterpuncher he's knocking himself out. that's it. he's so focused on attacking that if he set his sights on

hillary and president obama, he's blowing this election for republicans. >> you look back at the guy you worked for george w. bush, whether it was muslims, him bringing in muslim americans right after 9/11 and saying don't you dare question these people's patriotism and then look at what he said about cindy sheehan. i understand she's in pain. i understand why she's in pain. she's an american. she has every right to say whatever she wants to say. >> and after trump went after the khan family, i retweeted what president bush said about that. there's something about the american nature to be inclusive and welcoming and what is donald trump is trying to prove is that he can win without honoring that tradition. it's worrying to me. donald trump was my 16th choice for president in the republican primary. hillary was 19th. i probably preferred bernie sanders over hillary.

>> are you still there? >> so are 65 million americans. >> that doesn't make me feel better. "the wall street journal" reports that former president george w. bush delivered a critique of donald trump's policies. yesterday he never used the nominee's name himself. bush told a private fund-raiser in cincinnati for senator bob portman that he had been reflecting on threats against american exceptionalism saying the u.s. should welcome islam you can women to experience a free society so they can lead the charge for equality in the middle east. one attendee said he said everyone wants to be free. he touched everyone in the room. the former president was quoted as saying as long as everyone feels welcome, i think we'll succeed. i just -- ari, maybe this is awkward. you really think he is fit -- don't talk about hillary. i'm not asking about hillary. this answer may not include hillary clinton.

a deflection to hillary. i'm asking you about donald trump. is he really fit to lead? >> you can't do it that way. it's not a vote of confidence in one candidate to the exclusion of the other. >> do you think he's good for the party? >> is he fit to lead? >> i'm going to hold my nose and vote for him and if he wins, i'll hold my breath. >> do you think he's fit to lead? >> why will you hold his breath if he wins? >> i'll hold my breath even worse if hillary wins. you keep acting like there's no choice in this election. >> i'm asking about your candidate. >> hold on a second. hold on. we make people answer questions. let me do this. ari, republican to republican, do you think donald trump is fit to be commander in chief of the united states? >> nobody else exists. >> mika! this is a republican talking to a republican about the future of our party and country. do you think donald trump is fit

temperamentally fit to be cha commander in chief? >> i'm worried about it. it's a roll of the dice. hillary clinton is a bigger roll of the days. >> do you think hillary clinton is fit? >> she knows how to say the right things but every time she acts, she acts wrongly. look at the world today. look at the middle east and what happened on her watch as secretary of state. this is the fundamental issue. it's not a one-person race. >> he's going to hold his breath. >> frank, you said we need to look at donald trump developmentally. >> yeah. i think he's a toddler. we keep on trying to fit him into political and ideological boxes. this feud with the khan family, it's i'm rubber and you're glue of political discourse. >> what example leads you to that conclusion? >> how much time do we have? do we want to go back to what he said about john mccain?

we could go on and on. donald trump says whatever he wan wants to say regardless of the fact that he's vying for a position of the utmost leadership and he would be a role model to kids, i don't mean to mimic a hillary clinton campaign talking point but you said to ari, republican to republican, this is ceasing to be a question about republicans and democrats. i think it's becoming a question about risk management. i think what you saw meg whitman do we'll see an increasing number of people do. i'm curious over the next couple of weeks to watch how many of those republicans that skipped the convention are going to take the next step, follow what meg whitman did, and say i'm going to vote for hillary. >> this is why donald trump has to realize how thin the ice is underneath him that he could fall through. he has to stop attacking everybody else? >> when is he going to realize? >> there's only 14 weeks left. >> he's this close to the finish line. he's this close to presidency and we're still rooting for him

to grow up? >> i didn't say grow up. >> hoping? >> ari, i know you have heard the same thing that i've heard and i know you're not there yet. what i've heard and i can't believe -- i saw somebody yesterday write in "the washington post," he wrote exactly what republicans have been calling me about over the past two or three days which is to say we can't stand hillary. she's bad for america. we're asking ourselves, i didn't say this, this is what everyone is saying, is donald trump is sociopath? i know you have heard it because i've heard it. all my republican friends have heard it. >> i don't know donald trump but i know a lot of people in his organization and people that know him and when they say he's a remarkably different person, you said it in private than he is with this public persona. his public persona is so off and he's putting himself on the

wrong path. >> what does is say when general michael hayden earlier on this show, former head of the nsa says he could never vote for du donald trump? >> it gives me tremendous pause. what do you do? you don't vote at all? you have to have a choice. you make a choice. >> is there any -- >> it's a bad choice. i wish both parties had put up different candidates? >> is there any construct in which there could be another candidate? >> no. >> i wish the democrats had a different candidate. if joe lieberman was on the ballot, i would vote for him. >> yesterday chris christie spoke out against his criticism of the khan family. the parents of the soldier who was killed in action who have been speaking out against chris christie's friend. >> i cannot imagine the pain of

losing a child under any circumstances. and for mr. and mrs. khan, the pain of losing their son while defending our country is unfathomable and gives them the right to say whenever they want whether they're right or wrong. you're not going to find me being critical of mr. and mrs. khan no matter what they do. even if i disagree with any one particular statement they might make. it's just inappropriate for us in this context to be criticizing them. i'm not going to participate in that. >> said everybody in the world but donald trump. >> who at his convention had people accusing hillary of the worst. >> you had bernie supporters doing the same thing at the democratic national convention. trump was also criticized by medal of honor recipient dakota mayer. former son-in-law of sarah palin tweeting this. if donald trump wants to be commander in chief, he needs to act like one and that can't

start until he apologizes to the khans. >> trump refused to admit any missteps when it came to his handling of the manner. >> do you regret engaging in the back and forth about the khans? >> i don't regret anything. i was hit hard from the stage. it's just one of those things. >> it wasn't wise to bring the mother in. i understand khan. for you to bring her in, that gives them the opportunity and just opens the door for them to come in and hammer as this mean kind of guy. >> i understand that. part of it is i read a lot and i watch a lot and many, many people discuss this. many, many people. so when i said it, it bece a big deal. that's the way it is. i was viciously attacked. i said not very viciously back -- >> if there's some muslim woman who loses her son, you can't no matter what she does.

she can set you on fire and you say thank you, i hated those trousers. >> i was viciously attacked. all i did was respond to it. it ends up being a four-day story. >> was he viciously attacked? they asked if he read the constitutions and if he sacrificed. at his convention they were screaming "lock her up." it was rude and ugly. it was mean. and they had this elegant family on stage asking questions. that's not a vicious attack. if you think that's a vicious attack, you're quite a small person and that's a very polite way of saying something else that you have said. i would never say in public. >> what day did mr. khan give his speech? >> thursday night. >> so here we are a week later

almost and even yesterday donald trump is dragging this out. this is very simple. >> he doesn't want to win. >> it's communication malpractice by a man who doesn't have the discipline to focus on how to win. >> let's talk about how easy it is. they bring it up again and say all i'm going to say -- enough has been said. all i can say is he's a hero and i understand and feel for parents who are grieving horribly. i can't imagine the sacrifice they made. the story could have been over last friday. >> it's what ari said at the top of the segment. he's a counter puncher no matter who you are. i got hit from the stage. of course i'm going to hit back. he hits back against faceless eggs on twitter. if he's slighted in some way, he'll hit back. >> is that what international relations under president trump will be like?

that's a scary thought. he didn't need to make this happen. if he felt the need to say anything, he had a great response. i didn't vote to go into iraq. hillary clinton did. >> communication malpractice from the beginning. >> john heilemann, when you hear the conversation about the purple heart and about this family, is this someone who cares about this country? >> it's hard to know the heart of anybody. >> what does it tell you? >> i can speak to politics of it. the behavior yesterday -- we talked about this last hour. you created this titanic epic mess around the question of this gold star family. you prosecuted it beyond the part of all reason politically and otherwise for the course of now heading into five days.

"the new york times" writes a story about your lack of military service on the front page of the paper. you've got 22 million veterans -- five deferments. you have potentially 22 million veterans around the country who are either upset with you or on the brink of being upset with you because of the way you treated a gold star family and then parading around on stage holding someone's purple heart talking about it in a glib way and then you lie about what the man told you about the purple heart. he told me it was the real purple heart and enmthen the ma says it's not a real purple heart. it's a copy. it defies any intellectual reason, political reason. it's one of the craziest things i've seen any candidate do in more than 25 years of covering this business. >> how does he end the day? you have all of that going. then he sits down with a formerly banned "the washington

post" and how does he end the day? he ends the day attacking paul ryan, john mccain and kelly ayotte, one of the most popular people in the party, who is fighting for her life in a state republicans need to win. what does the republican party do today? >> i really don't know, joe. we talked about it before. as i said earlier, i think he's gone from now the chaos candidate for the kamikaze candidate. there's no other way to describe it. again, i'm not inside his head. i don't know what he's thinking. but from the outside it looks like this is a guy who is bound and determined to destroy his own campaign and everyone around him. his family, his party, his prospects for winning, his prospects of emerging with any shred of respect intact. if i were -- i don't understand what the calculations are that are going on in paul ryan's head. i thought i did a couple months ago when he tried to walk this line of endorsing him but then

denouncing him left and right. i'm not sure how you can continue to maintain an endorsement and have it be even in your barest political interest. i just don't get it. >> the family, you talk about trump's family. you talk about the trump brand. you talk about the trump business. you talk about the kids who actually the kids were the stars of the convention last week. and you look at what they're having -- they're having to clean up every day. >> impossible messes. >> he's damaging not only his -- destroying his brand but he's damaging his children who i know have tried to be a counterbalance against his worst instincts. they have all tried to counterbalance him against his

worst instincts. m manafort has given up. their attempts to balance him obviously -- nobody has any control over him anymore. >> the family, the kids in particular, the last and only line of defense for donald trump. if they can't get to him and tell him to pull back on this stuff, no one can. you ask what republican party does today, reince priebus, reached out to the trump campaign and expressed his extreme frustration and outrage to which he received the response, what do you want us to do? donald trump is freelancing. he's doing his own thing. >> a quick question. name one characteristic that will make donald trump an effective president? >> business background. >> okay. thank you. frank bruni, thank you as well.

>> good to see you. >> we'll be back with chuck todd. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. >> a man came up to me and he handed me his purple heart. now, i said to him, i said to him, is that, like, the real one or is that a copy? and he said that's my real purple heart. i have such confidence in you. man, that's like big stuff. i always wanted to get the purple heart. this was much easier. but i tell you, it was such an honor. maybe i can bring him up on the stage. lieutenant colonel lewis dorfman. [ applause ] 't cover

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>> donald trump is dangerous for america. >> i could stand in the middle

of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn't lose any voters. i would bring a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding. >> no matter what donald trump says, john mccain would support him for president. >> including donald trump? >> yeah. >> i would like to punch him in the face i tell you. you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes. >> even republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is distancing himself from donald trump. not john mccain. even after trump said -- >> he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't capture. i hate to tell you. >> mccain repeated. >> i vote for the republican nominee obviously i am a loyal republican. >> there was a time when country mattered more than than his political party but 30 years in washington have changed john mccain. we need leaders to stand up to donald trump. >> i'm ann kirkpatrick and i

approve this message. >> donald trump in return is helping mccain in his tough primary fight by refusing to endorse him. trump telling "the washington post" yesterday, i haven't endorsed john mccain. i have never been there with john mccain because i always felt he should have done a much better job for the vets. joining us from washington, nbc news political director, moderator of "meet the press," chuck todd, good to see you. what does john mccain do? what does paul ryan do? what does kelly ayotte do? they have come out and supported the khan family but not repudiated donald trump. do we get to a point in the next few days or weeks where they come out and revoke their endorsements for him? >> is it revoking your endorsement or do we see a new conversation that republicans start having and ask him to withdraw? this is where you're just -- it seems to be him against the entire republican party now.

yesterday morning we led "first read" with the phrase that used the word unraveling. donald trump's campaign is unraveling before our eyes particularly his relationship with the republican party. that was 24 hours ago before he went out of his way to not endorse john mccain and not endorse paul ryan and went out of his way to challenge kelly ayotte. whatever that interview was that i couldn't stop reading at points last night. i cannot wait for the secret state strategy. >> what happens? >> i don't know what the rules are. i think you do that, is that the easiest thing to do? my guess is there are timing issues. i think we're probably way ahead of ourselves. but at some point do you unendorse him or do you call on him to for the good of the party -- if you don't believe

hillary clinton is somebody you want as president, if you're a republican, don't you call on your nominee to quit? don't you call for a new nominee? that's what i don't get here. >> it seems like he would love that opportunity. it really doesn't seem like he wants to win. maybe he's gotten way too far in this and is just, like, forget it. he's going out there and riffing worse than he ever did. i guess the question i have for senator mccain, paul ryan, kelly ayotte, do they understand he will not keep his word with them? do they understand that they endorsed someone who is going to ruin them? so why don't they all ask him to withdraw? do they understand that, chuck? >> look, if you're john mccain, trump attacked him on veterans issues, right? this is something john mccain, bernie sanders, i think one of the few bipartisan bills that passed in 2014 was an attempt to

reform the va that bernie sanders and john mccain worked together on. i think it was one we always heard bernie sanders saying i worked with republicans and i worked with john mccain. the point is of all things to hit mccain on, it's sort of like it's one thing to hit him because you think conservatives don't think mccain is a real conservative or disagree on that but to hit him on vets seemed like a dirty low blow. >> thoughtless. maybe even crazy. harold? >> chuck, good morning. to play out your withdraw of the quit part, how does that work? how would the republican -- i hear you. i don't know how that happens because first of all, i don't think he does that. you don't think he would do it but if people ask him to do it, does pence elevate up? >> i have no idea. do you elevate pence? do you have an emergency meeting

of the rnc? if you have head of the rnc and we have our reporting who is upset particularly about this paul ryan situation, as chair of the party, does he say, you know what? the republican national committee wants to withdraw its support on endorsement. i assume there are mechanisms. i'm sure it's nearly impossible. probably very difficult. but trump is putting the party in a situation where some of their members might not have any other choice. >> he doesn't want to be there. >> you go down the road of what meg whitman is doing and by the way do you think meg whitman is going to be the last? it was republicans behind the scenes, spokesperson for chris christie, longtime political aide for jeb bush, meg whitman, just ran for governor in 2014, three very successful women in the republican party all bolting on the same day. >> chuck todd, thank you for being with us.

we greatly appreciate it. coming up, he's been the top cop in boston, l.a. and new york city and now police commissioner bill bratton is stepping down and joins us next to explain why. "morning joe" will be right back. a golden flakey crust made from scratch. and mixes crisp vegetables with all white meat chicken and bakes it to perfection. because marie callender knows that making the perfect dinner isn't easy as pie, but finding someone to enjoy it with sure is. marie callender's it's time to savor and know there's even more to savor with family size pot pies. gilman: go get it, marcus. go get it. ...coach gilman used his cash rewards credit card from bank of america to earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. at places like the batting cages. ♪ [ crowd cheers ] 2% back at grocery stores and now at wholesale clubs. and 3% back on gas.

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now you can watch nbc's coverage of the rio olympic games live at home or on the go. here with us now, outgoing commissioner of new york city police department, bill bratton. why are you leaving us? where are you going? >> it's the right time

personally and professionally. a great job offer and professionally the department is in great shape. i've got a line of succession that the mayor picked the right guy for the right time. my number two. right time. city is in good shape. department is in good shape. i'm in good shape. i think anyway. >> can we talk a bit about the election going on, presidential election. >> that's right. there is one of those. >> i'm wondering, as a vietnam veteran, what was your reaction to the purple heart incident yesterday where donald trump got the purple heart? >> i was appalled by it quite frankly. the purple heart along with the medals of bravery, highest awards you can give, serious injury received in combat. and the idea to treat it so lightly, amazed and appalled. >> donald trump called himself the law and order candidate.

he said that our cities are spiraling out of control and he said he's the guy that can come in and help stop that. do you believe either of those to be true? >> i do not. talk is tough. i would not trust that he would be able to do much about that being quite frank with you. cities aren't spiraling out of control. some unfortunately have rises in crime. new york city fortunately is not one of them. i always wonder about tough guys. talk tough. i wonder if mr. trump has ever taken a punch in his life in the sense of an actual punch. nice to talk tough. in this situation, i would have serious concerns about his abilities in that area. >> talk about the state of policing in new york city right now. obviously it's been center stage and national debate since fergus ferguson. what kind of police department do you leave behind and what type of relationship does that

police department have with the community it serves? >> i believe behind an extraordinary police department that's in the midst of a phenomenal change, if you will. all of the studies done, president obama's study, everything that they are recommending to help reform american policing, we're already doing and around the curve. we're not going into the curve. my mayor has committed almost $2 million over the last 2 1/2 years i've been chief to training, to equipment. we have the best equipped police officers in america. technology, safety for them. the issue of race is an american problem. it's not a new york city problem. it's an american problem. we're wrestling with as a country. even there i think that we're around the curve on that issue. we're facing it openly. i have a department that like the rest of american policing is struggling to find common ground. it's shared responsibility for safety. i'm very proud of what we've done over the last couple years.

it's one of the reasons why i can comfortably leave this job. jimmy o'neil is so committed to this issue. we have the tools, resources to get it fixed here. the old adage you can make it in new york, you can make it anywhere, we are making it in new york and hopefully help the rest of american policing and america address this area for the first time. >> you leave this post having serve as top cop in boston, los angeles and new york twice. you know a lot about leadership. we'll end on a political note. i'm just curious if you think the republican candidate for president is fit to lead, which usually sounds like a condescending question but i'm truly curious. what do you think? >> i don't. i'm amazed my fellow vets are supportive of him. he had half a dozen deferments during the war era and ends up with a physical deferment when

those deferments end. i'm sorry. i know mr. trump. i've known him over the years. i'm not supporting him. that's the reality of it. i can guarantee i'll be attacked for the fact the new position i'm going to, the company i'm going to, aside from that, on the law and order issue, on the vietnam veterans issue, the idea of national security, the attacks on muslims. i have 1,000 muslim officers on this department. several thousand muslim employees. i do not get it. one man's opinion. >> all right. >> thank you very much. >> commissioner bill bratton, thank you for being here. more importantedly, thank you f your extraordinary service to this city. >> it's been great ride. now i can enjoy the city as an average citizen walking around. i get to walk to work also.

>> if you're walking through central park and there's a guy with reflector sunglasses on a bench -- >> you know how those old timers are in the afternoon. >> it's barnicle. >> you need to redo the commercial you did a couple years ago. you out jogging. you need to update that a little bit. i used to love waking up to that one. >> still ahead, we heard president obama criticize donald trump before but nothing quite like what we heard from the president yesterday. how donald trump is responding this morning ahead on "morning joe." ♪ using 60,000 points from my chase ink card i bought all the framework... wire... and plants needed to give my shop... a face... no one will forget. see what the power of points can do for your business.

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line. it's called sjp. honored by the greatest in this industry. an honor to honor her. fun to be there. i just couldn't talk to anyone. it was a lovely event. >> it was a lovely event. >> i was mute. >> she is quite a visionary. a great actress. >> huge "morning joe" fan. >> said she was out of the country last week and just couldn't stand it because she wanted to know what was going on. >> she's so interested in this election. >> super smart and funny. >> i bet she's a huge trump supporter. >> i'm going to speak for sarah and say that she's a bit concerned about what is happening. >> that's an understatement. >> it was a great event. we want to thank everyone. >> still ahead on joe scarborough -- "morning joe," what will he say next? hal hallie jackson joins us live from the trial where donald trump is campaigning today. we'll be right back.

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>> what concerns you most about donald trump? >> how erratic he is, joe. i can argue about this position or that position. i do that with the current president. but he's inconsistent. and when you're the head of a global superpower, inconsistency, unpredictability,

those are dangerous things. they frighten your friends and they tempt your enemies. and so i would be very, very concerned. >> that was retired general michael hayden in a sobering interview last hour on our show. let me ask you quickly, john heilemann, about the question we've been posing around the table, what happens if donald trump were to get out of the race? >> over on "good morning america," there's a quote. i'm told senior officials of the party are exploring what would happen if trump dropped out and how to replace him on the ballot and the answer is the republican national committee can't force him out. 168 rnc members would have to pick a candidate by early september. that's what is being said this morning on "good morning america." >> they have the ability to pick a new candidate? we were talking about maybe it's mike pence in succession because he was nominated at the

convention. you're saying donald trump could go out a martyr and say i was forced out of this race with his voters and rnc could get the candidate it wants. >> if rnc could get the candidate it wants. >> if that is true, the republican party is a private institution. there's no legal thing here. there's no constitutional thing here. presumably the party could pick a new nominee. apparently just the rnc could do it again if this reporting is accurate. >> mike barnacle says the system is rigged, the media is against him, et cetera et cetera. >> the only thing that would govern him in going what he would do is the mantra he's followed all yearlong, is it good for my business. >> right. >> the other part of this report i like is the part that says that the republican chair reince priebus is furious and has

multiple conversations with trump telling him he needs to change course. one imagines that wouldn't necessarily be a conversation that would yield the results the chairman wants. >> i can't believe i have to say this. >> we've been saying it all along. he's a democrat. republicans you're getting mad at me for talking about a guy that is destroying the republican party, could destroy the republican majority in the senate, which i actually want. could destroy the republican majority in the house, which i actually want. could destroy republican governors, could destroy republican state legislatures. and who is doing this? a guy who called bill clinton before he ran for office, had a very long conversation with bill clinton. bill clinton encouraged him to run for president as a republican. and now he's setting himself on fire. and you're thinking the most loyal thing you can do is to

allow the flames to consume you and paul ryan and john mccain and kelly ayotte and the entire republican party? really? is that what loyalty will bring you. what loyalty -- what does loyalty to donald trump as a politician bring you? what has loyalty to trump as a politician -- what has that brought you? nothing good right now in august. and it keeps getting worse. really. >> i'll tell you what it brought you last night in an interview with the "washington post" if you're paul ryan, it brought you i'm not going to support paul ryan in saying nice things about his opponent in that primary. if you're john mccain it brought you trump saying i've never been for him because i don't think he does well for the vets. >> he suggested that paul ryan was weak and kelly ayotte as well. let's go to jackson florida.

hallie jackson is there covering the campaign. what else has trump said? >> reporter: you know, i've been listening to the show all morning, guys. reince priebus is furious. the bridge too far was trump refusing to endorse paul ryan, the top republican on the ticket not endorsing the sitting house speaker of the party of which he is running in with his reelection bid coming up, the reelection bid ryan is expected to win. for priebus that is way out of bounds. we have reporting that he's been calling around to trump folks. i've been told by one top republican there are rumors now of discussions about what happens if trump drops out. the thing is, this is very risky this point because this plays into exactly the narrative that donald trump has been trying to construct, that the system is rigged, the election is rigged.

it is what he has tapped into for over a year now, the dissatisfaction that the big guys in washington are trying to pull the strings. it feeds into that narrative. all this contingent apparently on whether trump actually drops out. and there is absolutely no sign that is going to happen. trump, i believe, can taste the possibility of victory come november. and i just don't believe he's going to let that go. his campaign and him pushing back really hard this morning on the idea there's any disunity within his campaign. john harwoods tweeting that a top ally to paul manafort saying staff is suicidal. there's no morale left. trump has said, that's not true. of course trump's going to say that, right? it is yet again a moment in time where we are saying what we have said for a year now. a nearly unprecedented moment

right now in campaign 2016. so much i think is going to come out today when you look at where ryan is, where priebus is. when you look at trump going to wisconsin for a rally, it's all kind of coming to a head. >> another important day in the campaign. >> yesterday my sources inside the campaign talked about a number of firings that they had. he called one person, asked them to run a stake who he had no working knowledge of that state. and said i don't have any working knowledge of that state. i've never worked there. well, you're going to now. and paul manafort, who i heard yesterday afternoon before the reports last night basically checked out. he doesn't stand up to him anymore because he's learned what everybody else around donald trump has learned. doesn't do anything. >> when you talk to people in the second tier of the campaign, they will tell you they have no opposition state after state

after state. there's no ground game in states. >> you go around these battleground states. it's not that there's a disparity of operations. >> there is nothing and to follow up on my point really quickly, it's important to remember donald trump has been a democrat for 65 years of his life. he voted for clinton twice. he voted against george w. bush twice. he was praising hillary clinton in 2008, said she'd be a great president, a great leader and secretary of state in 2009, said that she'd be a great negotiator. he has been a democrat. i don't know many 65-year-olds that have been a member of one party their entire life and then said, wait a second -- this has

been nothing but a marketing exercise for him. >> if his business is something he cares about, i question about the country, i really do. but i know he cares about his business. this is destroying his brand. >> what about his family? what about his kids who are so impressive? don junior, a star is born. ivanka has so much to lose from this. >> so much. >> look at eric. look at all of these people who are being thrown after having a star run a couple of weeks ago in cleveland, now they're having to go out and clean up their father's mess every day and it is destroying their brand. >> it really is. >> donald trump, wow. >> still under fire for refusing to back down from his criticism of a gold star military family. he jokes on the trail about getting a purple heart. quote, the easy way. >> more to come.

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i want you to know something. i come to work every day wanting to start the show with something other than donald trump. and yet -- every day more words come out of his face. where to begin? >> yes, they do. >> where to begin? we have so much to talk about. >> it's a waterfall of words that are destroying his brand. >> your voice is back. >> barely. >> how exciting. >> i had to go on stage and have him speak for me. how pathetic is that?

it's like we hear enough from him. >> all those menthol cigarettes. >> you know. it's wednesday. >> this is your first time at the set. >> i'm kind of scared. >> we tried to put a plant over there. >> it's a little tory birch meets vera bradley. we have the managing editor of bloomberg politics, john hailman. former democratic congressman harold ford jr. is this working. >> also we've had columns for the washington examiner. >> i think it sounds okay. >> not really. >> i think it sounds good. >> you want to try to say isis with the lisp from your braces?

>> yesterday we stopped for about ten minutes and talked about donald trump's mental well-being as questioned by just about everybody that we know. an implosion, the likes of which i have never seen in all my years of being a republican. i've never seen anything like this before. and if you are a republican, if you actually believe in what the republican party has believed in in the past, let's say starting with ronald reagan, it's all very sickening. >> republicans having a hard time right now. >> as you said yesterday on your show, donald trump doesn't give a damn about the republican party. >> and they should have known that. they're all sitting in their own you know what. sorry. >> he cares about himself. >> the thing that's interesting, people called him for months the chaos candidate and that he benefits from being the chaos

candidate. he now looks increasingly like the kamikaze candidate. he's trying to destroy the party, himself, everything that he's doing now seems to be -- if you just apply a rational basis to his behavior, he's just trying to destroy everything. including his own campaign, his own prospects, everything that lies before him. >> mika, there is -- it makes no sense. he will contradict himself. he will say something one minute, contradict himselv himse minutes later, contradict himself and say things that are clearly false that any rational person would know. there's videotape to show he had taken a different position like a day or two before. >> look, look, it's not even the

lies, which are obvious and daily and weekly. it is his complete lack of care for the people of this country. he does not have dedication to this country. he's not driven by dedication to this country. if you saw him flippantly holding a purple heart and talking about it the way that he did, if you want to go back to the khan family -- >> this is easy. >> what i believe is he thinks he can go back and be a big business mogul. i actually think he's crossed the line into the area where those primary voters are going to look at this and see him with this purple heart and see him talking to that family and they're going to be turned off.

>> we're talking harassment. >> or put in a position to defend their father for the stupid, stupid things he's saying. >> every morning we see it every morning. eric trump was on tv yesterday talking about sexual harassment. when you're talking about his whole argument to make america great again. now questioning mr. khan, whether he's committed from

stopping terrorists from coming into this country. that was the core of this argument. when he crosses that military line and starts going after people and yet the vfw and all these veterans groups coming out against donald trump. he's in a territory he can't be in. that was where he lived, nationalism, make america great. if you lose those people -- >> he needs paul ryan and republican leaders. and yet donald trump is still at war with leaders of his own party who must be feeling incredibly stupid right now. >> you know in an interview with the "washington post" he said he's withholding his endorsement from house speaker paul ryan and republican nominee john mccain in their primaries this month. also kelly ayotte who is fighting for her political life in new hampshire. let's remember what speaker ryan said back in may when he was deciding whether to endorse trump's candidacy. >> i'm not ready to do that at

this point. i'm not there right now. i hope to support his candidacy fully and i want to do that. just being candid with you, at this point i'm just not there right now. >> at that point, there was still -- >> he shouldn't be there right now. >> yesterday trump returned the favor using similar language. he told the post i'm not there yet. i like paul, trump said. but these are horrible times for our countery. we need strong leadership. trump said that speaker ryan had sought his endorsement, quote, everybody wants my support. ryan's office said, no, we don't. regardless -- >> i want to show you guys later. >> chaos. >> chaos and kamikaze behavior. think about yesterday.

after he attacked the khan family, gotten all this repudiation from military people across the country. people upset. a story comes out in the "new york times" that talks about his lack of military service, his five deferments which is in contradiction to things that he said years ago to tim russert about why he hadn't served. on that day in this context he stands up on stage with somebody else's purple heart, maybes a glib comment. and then claims that the conversation with the gentleman who gave him the purple heart, the gentleman told him it was the real purple heart. a few minutes later the guy says it was a copy. but what are you doing in the middle of this fight holding a purple heart on stage and talking about it at all? >> there is nothing rational about any of this behavior. i say this as somebody that -- i've known donald.

this is not rational behavior at all. it is as if he's trying to blow himself up. >> he's done. >> he told one minute that the purple heart is a copy, a replica. and then two minutes later he gets up on stage and specifically says i asked him if this was the real thing, just specifically says opposite. one thing after another. >> it's painful to watch. i unfortunately look forward to -- the petty grievances, the back and forth with paul ryan, you'd think at some point he'd be bigger. during the primary he was so bad. he's worse now than he's been. >> he is at his worst. >> the point you make, he will say he said x and they will show videos of him saying y over and over again and he denies it. i don't know how you deny over and over again.

finally, the khan family, he called obviously for a ban on muslims come into the country. he'll look back on the last 96 hours and one of the most patriotic speeches i've ever heard anyone give happened to be given by a muslim american may be the thing that undid this campaign. >> it's been a great advertisement for the united states of america that this country has rallied for muslim american family and maybe it is undone. some of the damage that donald trump's stupidity in propoesinga muslim ban has caused this country. >> you're so right. he holds this purple heart like it's a toy and talks about it like it's a trading card or something. it's hard to watch. >> this is all really compressincompresdepressing on a personal level because we

know him and he's our friend. it's depressing for me as a conservative. it's depressing as a republican. and it's depressing most importantly as an american. >> if you know anybody who served, if you have served, if you've lost anybody who's served -- >> nothing matters. nothing sacred. >> take a look at this and think about this as your next commander in chief. watch. >> a man came up to me and he handed me his purple heart. now i said to him, i said to him, is that like the real one or is that a copy? and he said that's my real purple heart. i have such confidence in you. and i said, man that's like big stuff. i always wanted to get the purple heart. this was much easier.

but i tell you it was such an honor and maybe i can bring him up on the stage. lieutenant colonel dorfman. [ crowd chants usa ] >> why is he toldi iholding the heart? nobody wants a purple heart. it's not something you always want. again, it's bizarre that he would say, hey, this was the real thing. the guy said, no, it's a copy. well, the clinton campaign was quick to react, tweeting, this is from a man who says he's quote sacrificed for our country. democratic senate candidate and double amputee tammy duckworth said this is how one usually looks when you are awarded the

purple heart, nothing easy about it. again, he is right now -- listen the campaign -- john harwood reporting last night that the campaign staff is suicidal, that monofo manafort has checked out. it's actually worse than people imagine. the family can't control him, the kids can't control him, manafort can't control him. nobody can control him anymore. he's off in the fields wandering. it's really bad for this country. it's dangerous for this country. what does the republican party do now? >> i think we've reached a moment where the republican party is going to change its tune. i think meg whit mman coming ou last night and saying i'm voting for hillary clinton and doing it in such strong terms, she said

i'm putting my country ahead of my party. i wonder if we're starting to see the beginning of the threat being pulled. people may have enough cover to come out and say you know what enough is enough. there must come a point where they say enough. >> paul ryan, we know these people. we know sometimes we disagree with them or i do. we know them as people. we know they're solid, good people. we know they're leaders. revoke your endorsement. be a leader because that's what you are supposed to be. am i wrong? am i over stating it? i think they're ruining the party. >> well, they are ruining their careers. they are damaging the party. and they're doing it for a guy as we've said here time and time again is a democrat for 65 years of his life. he voted for bill clinton in '92. he voted for bill clinton in '96. he voted for al gore, he voted

for barack obama in 2008. in 2009 he said hillary clinton was a great leader, would be a great negotiator. he gave money to hillary clinton three times. he is a democrat. listen, there was a conspiracy theory at the beginning of the campaign that bill clinton and donald trump spoke on the phone for a very long time before the campaign began and bill clinton encouraged him to run for president. it's certainly not a stretch. donald trump's been a democrat his entire life. the clintons and he have been friends. he's deliberately throwing this election to hillary clinton. and destroying the party in the process.

>> so i ask you as the only previously elected public office holder in the state, what would be the political cost to paul ryan or anybody else but focus on paul ryan to stand up tomorrow or today and say you know what, i'm done. he's not going to endorse me. i've had enough. i've tried to make good peace with this. i'm out of here. what would be the political cost to that. >> the fear that they all have are all the trump supporters.

>> harder for john mccain. john mccain is in a lose-lose position. he is. if he doesn't support trump, in fact, he's going to get in trouble. he's in trouble with the trump wa base now. he gets killed in the primary if he doesn't support trump. he gets killed in the general if he doesn't support utrump. >> here's more from -- trump for questioning the right of a fallen soldier. i've never been there with john mccain. i've always felt he should do a

much better john b with the vet. aides say they discussed national security issues. >> trump also took kelly ayotte, he told the post i don't know kelly ayotte. i know she's given me no support. we need loyal people in this country. we need fighters in this country. we don't need weak people. kelly ayotte has given me zero support. i'm always going to stand up for our military families and what's best for the people of new hampshire. the one thing i found was -- when after newt gingrich who is a very popular republican figure. we ran him out of town. you know what? there are a lot of people in my district that weren't happy

about that. i hold town hall meetings, i explained why. i got 80% of the vote. you know the next race i ran. you can explain this stuff away. you can tell people i'm going with my conscious. you disagree with me. i understand you like newt or i understand you like trump. this is why i'm doing it. >> it's the petty grievances thing. i was really disappointed watching a few days ago. when the military got up and made a point and she was booed by members of the audience and governor pence and others didn't do what john mccain did eight years ago when there was a woman at a rally who got up and accused senator obama of being muslim and said awful things about him. and mccain stopped this questioner. democrat or republican, someone

withstand and be booed for a question. a kid who served in the military -- >> who's going to boo him? >> i think it's turning against him. >> the question i have to build on -- >> unfortunately for the republican party as a republican nominee who still enjoy support amongst a decent number of people and what happened at mike pence's rally, i haven't seen something that revolting and a candidate not stand and say that is unacceptable in a long, long time in politics. >> whether it's john mccain or kelly ayotte, the question they have to ask is what am i getting out of this relationship? when you give your support, you

stick your neck out there and what you get in kind is donald trump questioning you, calling you weak and saying you don't stand up for vets. at what point do they say enough? >> at this point it may almost seem weak to say you've said all of these things that make no political sense, you've done all of this stuff but now you're not endorsing me so that's the thing that's going to push me over the edge to walk back. i don't quite know how that plays. the person i'm most sympathetic to in all of this is paul ryan. he's got a caucus to hold together and he's got a majority to try to win back. and while for some of those members who are on the edge or in these purple districts, donald trump could very well be a big draw back. he's also got a lot of members he's got to keep on board who are hearing in town halls that they love trump. the biggest problem -- >> if you're paul ryan and you

say, yes, he is racist but i'm still supporting him? >> i count myself as one of those who is very disappointed when he finally came out and said fine it's an endorsement, call it whatever you want. i don't love it. he's thinking look if i'm speaking of the house, which is the president that is more likely to sign bills into law that my congress passes? i think he miscalculated and thought that it was donald trump and thought that he would be able to take his agenda and put it on the blank slate that is trump. we've now seen that trump is not governed by anyone but his own gut. what he thinks is getting applause lines at rallies. >> still ahead, a special investigation. chief legal correspondent joins us with an in-depth look at trump's proposed muslim ban.

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coming up on "morning joe," the day after donald trump first announced his muslim ban back in september, we tried to nail down the candidate on how exactly that would work. >> the customs agent would ask the person his or her religion? >> they would say, are you muslim? >> and if they said yes, they would not be allowed in the country? >> that is correct. >> wow. up next, a first look at a brand new msnbc investigation into the legal and financial realities of actually enforcing such a

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donald trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. we must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by

terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place, we don't want them in our country. i actually don't think it's a blow back. in fact, you could say it's an expansion. i'm looking now. people are so upset when i use the word muslim. remember this. and i'm okay with it because i'm talking territory instead of muslim. but just remember this, our constitution is great. >> remember that. >> donald trump's proposed ban on muslims entering the u.s. has seen many incarnations on his road from candidate to nominee and has been back in the spotlight this week with his war of words with the gold star family, the khans. the ban is popular with his base, but how would it actually work? and what would it cost? if it's a serious policy proposal brought by the republican nominee for president, americans should know more about it.

joining us now we have ar ari melber. and brian sullivan. >> you said his name correctly. he can't even say -- >> brian sullivan, that's tough. >> i can't say it. so you actually spoke with over 20 homeland security experts. >> he is the major party nominee here. we can put up some of the quotes we got talking to people who were dhs, i.c.e., border security. they said it's impossible, not d do-able. 189 million entries to the country a year.

you want to patrol those people for their religion, you ever to look at the top muslim nations. only one has religion on a passport which means you'd have to personal vet these people. >> you'd have to ask them their religion. >> you'd have to decide whether they were telling the truth and you'd have to track it. these are people who do border security for a living, said what are you going to do here, tattoo the crescent on those who are muslim? are you nuts? we heard that again and again from people who basically said this isn't workable. ballpark right now we spent about $21.5 billion on immigration enforcement. we were told by officials it would take multiples of that. maybe three times 60 billion, up to 100 billion just to set up the global vetting system to look at people's belief s.

>> i've traveled extensively in the middle east. i don't like to use the term muslim because they're so different. it's like saying christian but there's all these different types of christianity. if you go to kuwait or dubai or saudi arabia, there are people with exceptionally different believe beliefs. saying muslim, what are you talking about? >> dumb. >> again, unworkable. i'm curious what do you think about the impact the khans have had? if donald trump and his muslim ban has shattered america's reputation among many muslims across the world -- >> i think it's a historic moment in a way that will take time to appreciate. because from the founding of

this country, white men were the only people at the beginning considered full americans. and our history has been the slow, steady expansion of the circle of american-ness to include women and people of color and african-americans. and we're not there yet. when the khans versus trump drama has come to the surface, it's really a test of two different theories of what's an american. and donald trump is now doubling down on a theory of american as small. >> it's trump who has been on the evidendefensive. >> totally. >> khan has been embraced by democrats, republicans alike. >> i think he gambled on the idea, the old idea of america as whiteness. he got here by impugning barack obama's american-ness and hillary clinton's american-ness. he is now beyond any shadow of a doubt the un-american candidate.

>> i think he wanted to run a campaign talking about muslims and now he is in a fight talking to muslims. it turned out that's a lot harder. as everyone knows muslim americans are just like any other americans. >> a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of muslim americans actually voted republican. 1% of the population, 10% of the doctors, entrepreneurs, conservatives. >> what did khan say? he just said you have a policy that would have september kept of america. >> my son who died for america. >> in our reporting, we can show up here $131 billion in annual trade just with the top four muslim trading partners, and another $18 billion from muslim tourists. to have khan get up there.

just make america great? that's why it resonates? >> think -- >> like 65% opposed it. this has been a bad idea from the beginning. from the beginning. >> america has changed. our apple pie is a lot more colorful than it used to be. he didn't get that. he doubled down on the wrong apple pie. i think hopefully this country will see the better of it. >> it makes you think sort of about -- you ever been to the internment camps for the japanese?

it kind of reminds me of that era. people that were literally born in the united states but had a last name that was japanese and they were sent off to internment camps. what if a country said it was going to ban americans? >> this is a referendum on what does it mean to be an american. >> right now i think the people are speaking. >> i know. it is kind of beautiful what's happening. >> in a strange way it is actually beautiful. >> thank you very much. >> that's what people say about brian sullivan, actually. stay with us. we're going to dive into the fear hitting the markets and the good coming out of that, if any.

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he's the guy who can come in and help stop that. do you believe either of these things to be true? >> i do not. talk's tough. but i think the bit about law and order and policing, i would not trust that he would be able to do much about that, quite frankly. cities aren't spiraling out of control. some unfortunately have rises in crime. new york city fortunately is not one of them. i always wonder about tough guys that talk tough. i wonder if mr. trump's ever taken a punch in his life. >> that was bill bratton on the show last hour. we've got brian sullivan with us. he's taken a punch before. he's with us still. brian, let's talk about fear, consistency and leadership. >> i love what general hayden had to say this morning. he talked about consistency of leadership. when you look at the financial mark

markets, fear starting to trickle in. who knows where it will go. if you talk about leadership -- if you're a ceo of a fortune 500 company and you come out, you need to have a fairly consistent message all the time. they're going to say whoa, you said this last week. consistency is massively important in the financial markets and i believe it's more important here. in some ways the u.s. government is the largest corporation in the world. >> right. and so the inconsistency obviously spooking the markets? >> right now, a little bit. who knows how much of this is politics? you've got a lot of stuff going on in europe. the point is down seven days in a row, look to be down eight today. gold has been up lately. these are places people hide when they're nervous when they hide their money anyway. >> interesting. >> how many gold bullions do you have? >> counting the ones that i buried in my back yard, actually

i don't have anymore. i was watching glenn beck a couple of years ago. i thought it made more sense to sell my gold for survival seeds. i got glenn beck survival seeds. >> good call. >> hey, looks like by the way i may need them. >> i've got a guy who told me he'd give me 25 gold bullion cubes. >> i take that. >> that's what bombing is worth on the market. >> up next, while donald trump publicly fights with republican party leaders -- you were duped, guys -- hillary clinton is enjoying democratic party unity. and also some serious star power behind her as we saw play out at the democratic national convention. we're going to bring in someone the "wall street journal" called one of the most influential figures in the business. >> mogul that's the word. >> on how broad wway is doing me in this election than just

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♪ what the world needs now >> clinton got a boost from the great white way when hamilton put on an extra performance to raise money for her campaign.

with us now to explain is -- >> the president of theaters jordan roth and has a new baby. >> congratulations. >> 11 days old. >> congratulations, a great piece in the "wall street journal" also about you yesterday. >> thank you. happy to be with you all. >> we don't usually go outside the -- explain. >> well, so it used to be that all we could do is fund-raisers, right? hamilton did fund-raisers for clinton and an obama fund-raiser for the dnc. where the campaign is going now is content. that's what we make is content. what you're seeing is videos, songs that are really impacting this campaign. so in the wake of the orlando tragedy, a huge group of artists came together to record what the world needs now is love.

that social video went viral. number one on the itunes charts. the song and then of course invited to perform at the dnc. also kinky boots, in response to north carolina bathroom laws, just pee was the music video. just pee where you want to pee. 10 million views on social. >> 10 million? >> 10 million, right? these pieces of content would take millions of dollars to get these out. >> and broadway stars singing hillary's fight song. >> many broadway stars in the fight song video. millions of millions of social organic views. politics.

♪ >> hamilton has devoted one performance to one particular candidate. the connection with the conversation and the campaign, i think, probably unprecedented and of course how prescient to be having this conversation. >> would say that's reflective of what the broadway community feels about mr. trump? >> broadway has always been a blue state, not light blue, deep deep deep blue. >> thank you for saying that. >> but always, always that's sort of where our roots where, where our community is. but i think the tonys was great entertainment and certainly

impacted the conversation as many of these videos have done. >> so let me ask you, what if -- we're just going to go to straight broadway for a second here. what's out? what's coming out that people that watch our show, people that live here are coming to visit over the -- must see shows. >> a new revival of and new play. >> that's going to be great. >> jordan roth it's always great to have you. >> congratulations, dad. >> come visit. >> we're going to. >> we'll be right back with much

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know? it's young and beautiful and healthy and that's what we want. okay. ripped us absolutely to shreds. actually, i was only kidding. you can get the baby out of here. that's all right. don't worry. i think she really believed me that i love having a baby crying while i'm speaking. >> i saw that donald trump kicked a crying baby out of an event earlier today. as i'm thinking about pre-k sometimes you wonder who the baby is. right? you wonder who the baby is. >> my gosh, i can't believe he was mean to that baby. >> he was just joking. >> no. the baby was crying. >> he was just -- >> the baby had to leave. >> i love babies. >> what did you learn today, joe? >> trump loves babies. >> no. >> we learned so much. yeah, very -- >> on a more serious note. >> a very stark response general

hayden had to a question posed to him by gerald ford. >> who amongst your peers that you respect greatly whether they think like you or not think like you that you know is advising mr. trump? >> no one. >> and that was just one part of that interview that was frightening. >> i found out today that there are people now actually looking into the question of what would happen if trump were to decide he was no longer the republican nominee. it falls to the rnc. there are some complicated p provisions there. >> you said there are three reasons why they could step in. >> death, declamation or otherwise. >> you could drive a mack truck through that definition. >> mike? >> i learned that it's nearly unimaginable but true that people are now researching how

he would be replaced if he drops out or is pushed out. >> it is happening at the rnc and it is happening in republican offices across the country. >> thank you so much for being with us. as always we greatly appreciate your patience and i'm glad your voice is back. >> it's back. >> okay. >> stephanie rule picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks, guys. good morning. breaking news overnight. civil war in the republican party. donald trump refusing to endorse paul ryan and john mccain. the head of the rnc is beyond angry while trump stafferers s reportedly, quote, suicidal. and the candidate is firing back this morning this as a republican ceo jumps ship. >> i think the republican nominee is unfit to serve as president. >>