thank you, lawrence. do or die? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. 83 days shy of the election and donald trump needs a game changer. forget the talk of resets and pivots. he needs a new fact that makes it all different. a new nbc poll has clinton with a nine-point lead. she's at 50, he's down at 41 and the trend is downward. the candidates were running even before the conventions but clinton has pulled away and is holding her lead.

according to the latest monmouth poll, trump is also behind in florida where clinton leads trump again by nine points, 48 to 39. without florida, it's hard to see how trump gets it. he's also battling history as politico reports today, no candidate in donald trump's position at this stage of the campaign has gone on to win the popular vote in november in the modern polling era. time is running short for trump to reverse the trajectory of the race before voters' preferences become locked in. while trump and his campaign faced the need for a game changer to shake up the race if they can hope to win and one target seems to be the health of his opponent, hillary clinton. here's what trump said about clinton in yesterday's foreign policy address. >> importantly, she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on isis and all of the many adversaries we face. not only in terrorism, but in trade and every other challenge we must confront to turn our great country around. >> well, this follows trump's charge of last week that clinton needs to sleep for three days in between campaign speeches. here he goes. >> her speeches are so short, though.

they don't last long. they're like ten minutes, let's get out of here. go back home and go to sleep. three days later, she gets up and she does another one and goes back home and goes to sleep. >> joining me are susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today" , and matt schlapp. there's something in the air. i heard it this weekend with a bunch of democrats in massachusetts this weekend. i'm reading something this morning, somebody has a $1 million bounty out for hillary's health records. trump's talking about -- hannity is ranting on this topic. what's going on. what are the republicans up to on this health issue? >> they are getting desperate. >> why are they on to this? what do they know? is there something we don't know in the health records? something that could change this election around? >> no. no. there's no indication there's anything like that. this was something that was thrown out there about a year or so ago that hillary clinton had somehow had strokes or something. it's ridiculous. what happens when a campaign

appears to be failing, and they make charges that don't seem credible at all, it actually reflects more on the person making the charge. >> is it smart to make a charge like this if they know it's not going to be proven true? it's smart if they can lead into something actually coming out or they can force some information out of her medical records. why would they go into a wall on this? why say something that will be proven wrong within a matter of weeks? >> because donald trump -- >> why do it? >> they don't think beyond the next news cycle. they are just desperate and grasping for straws and you can see it. >> susan? why push this button? we will show you hannity who is relentless on this. >> donald trump actually has been pretty clever through the primaries in finding some weakness in an opponent giving

him a nickname that in fact -- >> low energy jeb. >> low energy jeb. little marco. but this one seems kind of outrageous, doesn't it? she traveled a million miles as secretary of state. she -- >> she had a bed in the plane. i would like that bed. >> she keeps a perfectly full campaign schedule. >> what's this bounty of $1 million? have you heard this story? >> i have. look -- >> what's it about? a guy wants to drop $1 million, obviously she's not giving her medical records to this guy. what's this about? >> it's fair in the sense she's pushing donald trump very hard on -- >> tax returns. >> his failure on tax returns. he will push her back on her weakness. >> is it a weakness or you just dropped that on us? >> what's fair to say when you sit in green rooms in tv studios, democrats often say people in the press often say hey, she's awfully hard, she's not very available, he's very available, he's too available, it's hard to get her on our shows, hard to -- >> does that mean she's hiding ailments? >> i don't know. she's certainly behind some kind of veil. >> i like the way you drop this in there. >> perfectly legitimate to say she doesn't do news conferences, she hasn't done a news conference. that's a perfectly fair line of attack. but saying that reflects ill health? i just don't see the link. where's the evidence? >> when's the last time she did that? >> did what?

>> asked for questions ahead of time. >> she went to a grammar school and asked for them ahead of time. she did a press conference in front of a favorable press pool. do a real one. if she's so far up, this is such a cakewalk, go let it all hang out. >> i know that there's something to that about asking for the questions ahead of time. >> if i'm not mistaken, hillary clinton's doctor put out something that addressed this some time ago. i don't think there's anything, there's nothing to see here as the police would say. >> i think roosevelt's doctor probably did it. jack kennedy's. they always put out the records. >> if people aren't going to believe what a doctor says what's the point? >> put out the records. then we can see. >> it was reported in 2012 clinton suffered a fall in her home, conspiracy theories have been pushed about the former secretary's health. sean hannity as i said of fox news has invited doctors to try to speculate on clinton's alleged medical conditions based on video and photographs of the candidate. here's a clip from last week. >> was there a possibility she had a mini stroke, tia? what do you think, doc? >> you know, the picture you showed as she's going up the

stairs speaks a million words. is she really fatigued, is she dehydrated. one of the main reasons why she fell in 2012 and had the concussion was severe dehydration. they are holding her and going up the stairs so she may be really dehydrated, she may have arthritis, she may have fallen again. we don't know. there are a lot more questions that are unanswered. >> there's a thing in the paper did called the goldwater rule. stop giving diagnoses about somebody you have never met. the candidate speculation, clinton's own doctor last year as you say gave her a clean bill of health reporting that she's in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as president of the united states. that's a pretty strong statement. this isn't real or this is real? >> she's put her records out. >> she has. >> put your medical records out. not your own personal doctor. >> how about tax returns? >> it doesn't work that way. >> look, this is the way this conversation is going to go. this is the way the

conversation's going to go. hillary clinton's doctor has put out a statement about her health and fitness -- >> as chris said, john kennedy's doctor said he didn't have addison's disease. >> let's see his taxes. >> people are saying donald trump didn't pay taxes. let's see it all. >> i love that. >> so what are you hiding? why do you want to go to the tax returns? >> i don't think donald trump paid a penny in taxes. >> they could both be hiding something. who knows. >> we are talking about transparency. >> never mind. politico reports the clinton campaign is already preparing for the worst from trump especially when it comes to the face-to-face political combat of the presidential debates themselves. quote, the person picked to be hillary clinton's sparring partner in her upcoming debate prep sessions is expected to confront her about the death of vincent foster, label her as a rapist enabler and invoke the personally painful memories of monica lewinsky and gennifer flowers. here's what trump said at a campaign rally this saturday. >> her husband, bill clinton, who by the way, remember what he said, he did not have sex with

that woman? then a couple weeks later, oh, you got me. oh, i'm so glad they kept the dress. i'm so glad they kept that dress. all right? it's great. you know why? because it shows what the hell they are. >> you know, susan, there was a sense not too many years ago when you wouldn't talk about the dress the way he just did. because we are really talking about dna evidence and the whole routine. it's hard to believe there's a corner of the unpleasant he's not willing to go into. >> i think you have to assume, assuming we have debates, that he will bring up these issues and i don't think the attack by him is particularly perilous because we have had these before. they didn't even keep bill clinton, get bill clinton -- >> clintons are very good. when you come in on those, they always make you look bad. >> the question is, her

response. it's not the attack. can she respond in a way that is serious and thoughtful, doesn't look too defensive, deals witness and gets rid of it and makes the issue, him asking the question. that is harder than you would think to do. it's not something she's had to do in the past because this was not -- these are not issues that democratic primary opponents were going to raise. >> how would you play it if you were a debate challenger? if you had to play the sparring partne would you come in like that? >> yeah, absolutely. >> what would you say? what about monica? you knew about it. i don't think she knew bit, myself. >> i would say all of that. i would talk about all the scandals we are all very very familiar with and i would keep coming at it again and again and again. because the end of the day he knows he's not going to be able to throw her off on substance. she knows it so cold and so well. these are the kind of things, it's not going to be what he says. it will be as susan points out how she reacts.

>> i have never seen her blow up. have you? she doesn't tend to have that kind of -- i would be more likely to blow up. she doesn't seem like she blows up. >> she can be a little stern which is appropriate in some of these circumstances. how she plays it will be the most important thing. >> she's not going to do a jack nicholson. you can't handle the truth. she's not going to do that. that never seems to happen. the perry mason moments where you go you can't handle the truth! they always quibble is what they do. >> these questions of the scandals are very -- >> they are relevant. >> if you look at the bernie sanders, part of his appeal was she's part of the past, she owns washington, she's scandal after scandal, everyone's in her pocket. i think the fact is this. does it play into the now, what's going on now with the clinton foundation, what's going on now with how she was secretary of state where she said there would be a wall between the foundation and her being secretary of state. then we found out there are employees who are dual-hatted. that's not a very good wall. >> don't draw a red line unless you mean it for yourself. >> that's right. >> don't give it to somebody else. >> that's right.

the fact is that it plays into the past. i don't think trump should hit on the past. he should hit into the present. we all know about the past and it ain't pleasant. >> what we also know about the past is -- >> it's not just sex stuff. it's all the question about everything she's done in office from the missing rose, you know, law firm records to the $1,000 -- i'm saying don't lead with it. we all know this. we all know this. [ speaking simultaneously ] >> i have one problem with her from the past. it's not evil necessarily. but it's the part of politics i don't like. the fund-raising. the motel 6 stuff. using the white house as a fund-raising stunt, having people come in, stay at the lincoln bed and all the money they raised. it was to me irreverent. >> what about the pardons on the way out the door? >> you got a problem with that. >>? every one of these things is reflected in the value of the stock. the sins of the husband are not the sins of hillary clinton. donald trump needs to be careful here because he may offend women even more than he already has if he goes down the wrong path the wrong way. she might just -- >> she should. >> i'm not any more responsible

for my husband's behavior than ivana was for yours. >> she's not going to do that. >> she won't get dirty? >> no. if she has a standing here it's to say how dare you raise those issues. let's talk about what affects americans. >> that is old. we have been doing this for 30 years. we are tired of all that. >> let me tell you one thing that works in politics, the attack from the defensive position. people do root for the person under attack. when somebody is seen going at you, because you are behind in the polls, they go wait a minute, let's see what she has to say. there's a tremendous prejudice toward the person playing defense. remember reagan? there you go again. we root for the guy under attack. the "new york times" today talk about a game changer reported that roger ailes until recently chairman of fox news, has been advising trump and will play a role in his debate prep this fall. the times notes ailes is deeply familiar with the republican lines of attack against mrs. clinton and with the controversies that have surrounded her and her husband going back to their days in the white house. the trump campaign disputes the

story's accuracy which is always a way of not really disputing it, saying they are long-time friends but he has no formal or informal role in the campaign. okay. ailes has a long history of advising many successful candidates dating back to richard nixon. in 1998 he famously prepped george herbert walker bush for an explosive confrontation with dan rather on live television. let's watch this moment in history. >> i want to talk about why i want to be president, why those 41% of the people are supporting me. it's not fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on iran. how would you like it if i judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in new york? would you like that? >> that was called a showstopper. that was roger ailes advising the vice president at that time if you want to take on a sparring partner, take on the liberal dan rather, beat him in the preliminaries and you will look very good taking on mike dukakis. brilliant politics.

>> you know it was planned. you know he didn't think about that. >> he had to sign up. roger was holding the sign up for bush to go to. he also prepped reagan, i won't use my opponent's youth and inexperience against him in the mondale debate. he gave nixon the great aid to have faux hour-long sort of debates with people like bud wilkinson moderating it and ed brooks sitting in the first row. matt? >> i think the fact is this. ailes -- >> he has his own situation. is he going to help with this? >> ailes and trump are friends for decades. they talk a lot. i don't care whether it's formal or informal. this makes republicans and conservatives very happy. he's a shrewd operator. the fact that he might be talking to donald trump about how he handles his first debate is just music to all of our ears. >> who are you betting on the first debate? >> with the largest audience in the history of politics?

>> who you bet wins? >> trump needs it. i think he will perform. >> who wins? >> hillary's going to win. roger ailes -- >> the challenger tends to win. >> roger ailes will not make any difference for donald trump just as every other parade of professionalism -- >> give him a break. >> paul manafort knows what he's doing and donald trump rejects everything paul manafort suggests. >> not only does ailes have expertise he probably has trump's ear. he may be something trump will listen to. >> ailes has been there. >> he's been there. he's good. >> i tell you, when it comes to prepping people, anti-establishment mentality is the heart of that guy. the chance to take down a clinton is rich. thank you, susan page. thank you for your partisanship. thank you for your reasonableness and some partisanship. coming up, donald trump says he will vigorously, viciously fight terrorism on u.s. soil. i don't like that word. he wants an idealogical test for all immigrants and something he called extreme vetting.

would any of trump's, this is my question, this is the cutter, the acid test, would any of his anti-terror proposals actually prevent a 9/11? would anything have stopped, anything he's talking about, have stopped what happened here in 2001? would any of it worked? my theory, no, it doesn't work. you don't ask somebody if they're going to rob the bank before they rob the bank. no, i'm not going to rob the bank. why would they say i'm going to rob the bank? it's idiotic. talk about being for it before you were against it. from invading iraq to pulling out of iraq to attacking libya, time after time, donald trump has supported foreign policy decisions he's now blasting away at and we have the video to profit. can hillary clinton excite progressives with the prospect of actually running the government, taking over with the prospect of taking the senate, the white house and the house? finally, let me finish with the loss of john mclaughlin. serious business. what a loss. there he is. it happened at midnight last night.

pennsylvania attorney general kathleen kani resigned today after being convicted on nine criminal charges. prosecutors argue that kane leaked information about a rival prosecutor and then lied about it to a grand jury. not too long ago a rising star in pennsylvania politics and the first woman ever elected to her position, kane had already lost her legal license but had refused to step down until today. she can face prison time. she will be sentenced within 90 days. what a downfall. we'll be right back.

we should only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people. in the cold war, we had an idealogical screening test. the time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today.

i call it extreme vetting. i call it extreme, extreme vetting. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was donald trump of course yesterday delivering his plan to defeat isis, a plan that he says would use quote, as he said, extreme vetting, and a suspension of immigration from regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism. here's more of trump. >> in addition to screening out all members of the sympathizers of terrorist groups, we must also screen out any with hostile attitudes toward our country or its principals or who believe that sharia law should supplant american law. those who do not believe in our constitution or who support bigotry and hatred will not be admitted for immigration into

our country. >> strong words, strongly delivered. but would these plans safeguard this country against future terrorist attacks and would they have prevented 9/11. if they hadn't been able to prevent 9/11 i'm wondering what use they have. gentlemen, i'm looking at a couple of -- i look at trump seriously, these proposals are meant to be serious. let's take them seriously. he talks about how we are going to basically take people who apply for visas or emigrate to this country from areas where there has been terrorism in the region and not let them come to the united states. but the 9/11 people, four of them that were the masterminds came from germany. okay? i don't think we would have kept people from europe from coming here. the other ones came from saudi arabia, one of our allies in the world. i don't think we would have kept them out. by the region they are talking about over there includes israel. i don't think we would have kept israelis from coming to this

country. i'm not sure if this makes any sense at all in terms of weeding it out by geography, who's a danger, who isn't. >> trump continues to tackle a serious complex problem with simplistic proposals and extreme vetting is really just trump talk for let's keep all of the muslims out in a way that of course would be unconstitutional, counterproductive and serves as propaganda for our enemies. there wasn't any serious proposal that he articulated yesterday in his speech and if you actually look at some of the things he said all along the way, he wants to send tens of thousands of united states troops into the middle east, getting us bogged down in another conflict that will result in the loss of life and further inflame the situation. he's talked about over the last several months bringing back torture in a way that will put our troops into harm's way. he's recklessly talked about using nuclear weapons in a way that should be frightening to every decent person, not just in

this country but across the world. if you look at the totality of his package, not just the words yesterday, but the things he's talked about throughout the duration of this campaign, it is frightening that donald trump is so close to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> congressman, i have similar doubts but i go back to the particular questions, can you screen by region? israel's a region. what do you mean by region? we aren't keeping anyone from jordan out or egypt. >> remember, what he was also talking about, this is predicated on a radicalization commission. how do you keep people from being radicalized. >> how do you? how do you do it? >> i think part of what he was saying is if you have some ties with terrorism, if you come from a country that's known to export terrorism -- >> germany? they came from germany, 9/11. could we have kept germans from coming to this country? >> part of what he also said, the case of the boston bombers, for example.

the fbi brought them in for two interviews, then released them. there have been other people -- >> we are doing that. what's he going to do that's different? >> well, i look at it like jimmy carter did his best to get the hostages out of iran but once ronald reagan was elected, they got out. >> they got out the day he was inaugurated. he didn't have anything to do with it. >> because they knew ronald reagan was coming and he was a tougher president. >> you think that's it? let me tell you my interpretation having been on the airplane with carter. admittedly, different perspectives. i think they wanted to punish carter so they held the hostages until the end of his term. that's all i think it was. you may be right. my view's different. >> what i think part of what we heard yesterday is somebody who is willing to say you know what, i'm going to make a commitment, i'm going to show some leadership with our international allies and i'm going to have some ownership in it. that's what i did. >> who ended up in that whole saga of dealing with the enemy? who ended up trading arms for hostages? reagan did. >> yeah but -- >> reagan did. the guy you say was the big hero standing up to the iranians

ended up -- no. just stay on this subject. stay on this subject. he ended up giving them the missiles to get the hostages back on his watch. carter never gave them anything to get the hostages back. why is reagan tougher? i'm not sure. >> because i think reagan did not blink when he said for example -- >> he didn't blink. he sent them the missiles. >> he defeated the soviet union without firing a shot. >> that's changing the subject. why are you going after jimmy carter here again? >> i'm saying -- >> he's in his 90s now and you are going back again. look, i don't think you're right on reagan. reagan got caught. it cost him 20 points in the polls because he was caught selling arms, giving arms to the iranians to get some hostages back. >> could we agree that -- >> let's agree on the facts. >> -- the football coach of the worst team in the nfl does the same things blocking, tackling, passing the winning super bowl coach does. >> in trump's speech yesterday he blasted hillary clinton and barack obama for foreign policy decisions involving iraq and libya. as it turns out, trump was for all those actions before he was against them.

everybody watch this. thank god for tape. congressman, both of you fellows, watch this. thank god we have tape. let's go to the tape. >> i was an opponent of the iraq war from the beginning. >> are you for invading iraq? >> yeah, i guess so. you know, i wish the first time it was done correctly. >> i have been just as clear in saying what a catastrophic mistake hillary clinton and president obama made with the reckless way in which they pulled out. >> how do they get out? know how they get out? they get out. that's how they get out. declare victory and leave. >> libya was stable and president obama and hillary clinton should never have attempted to build a democracy in libya. >> gadhafi in libya is killing thousands of people. nobody knows how bad it is. we should go in, we should stop this guy which would be very

easy and very quick. ultimately, the people will appreciate it. >> simple question, congressman. do people in new york in your district care that trump was 180 from where he says he is on all these issues that we all care about? was it smart to go into iraq, yes or no. he was for it, now he says he was against it. should we have taken on, knocked off gadhafi. he was for knocking him off, now he says he wasn't. he was for pulling out from iraq early, now he says no, i wanted to stay with more troops. he says the popular convenient thing now but his positions at the time in realtime were the opposite of what's popular today. what should we look at here? >> donald trump has taken political inconsistency to a whole new level and continues to operate as the video pointed out on such a compelling way, in a fact-free zone. it's all predicated on just trying to attack president obama and trying to attack hillary clinton regardless of the facts. he's held different policy positions along the way that are inconsistent with the things he's been saying on the campaign trail simply because he's willing to say anything and

apparently do anything to get elected. now, it worked in the republican party primary. i don't think it's going to work in the general election. the reality of the situation in the middle east right now is that george w. bush and dick cheney took us into iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction, there were none to be found -- >> i'm with you, congressman. you don't have to sell me. i'm on that from day one. thank you for coming on. please come back. i want to ask you a question. extreme vetting. you go to a bank, i said this the other day. you go to a bank, you walk in the door, before you walk in you have to promise not to rob this bank. i promise. everybody including the bank robber says i'm not going to rob this bank. what does extreme vetting mean? i don't believe in sha sharia law then you blow up the world trade center. >> you have to find out their beliefs and statements. take the case of the orlando shooter's dad. he's pro-taliban.

maybe there was a red flag that we missed. i'm just saying, you know -- >> it was a gay club, there was so much going on with that guy. he used to go to the gay club. you don't know. you don't know the motive yet. >> you don't know. that's why you got to keep asking questions. one of the san bernardino shooters was here on a fiancee visa. maybe there were questions -- the two boston bombers, fbi brought them in twice and did not follow up on it. that's what he's saying. i don't know why we couldn't come together as a country and say you know what, maybe we should ask a few more questions. >> i'm with you. the danger, you know and the other congressman knows, too, you start harassing an ethnic group, bothering them, hovering over them, playing helicopter mom, they get mad at you and you start getting people going the other way. it's about treating people like americans who are americans. i'm second generation. i'm not so far away from this first generation guy you're talking about. i got to tell you, the idea that a lot of people watch this show

right now are second generation, maybe first generation, their parents came here, grandparents came here, they don't want to be tailed. thank you, congressmen. up next, taking the plunge. some republicans are so turned off by trump that they are willing to cast ballots for hillary clinton. i know a few but not all republicans are willing to do this. i want to ask trump critic christie todd whitman if she's willing to jump ship all the way and swim to the other ship, the big one called hrc.

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welcome back to "hardball." today more than 100 republicans signed on to a letter urging the republican national committee to shift resources away from the top of the party's ticket. in other words, away from the presidential campaign. the request asked chairman

reince priebus to quote, immediately suspend all discretionary rnc support for trump, close quote. instead, allocate resources to house and senate races in order to quote, save the republican party. it's that desperate. late today, the "wall street journal" reports that trump is about to go up with his first television ads of the campaign in the key battleground states of florida, ohio, north carolina and pennsylvania. these ads are set to begin this friday, three days hence. joining me for more is former new jersey governor christie todd whitman. she is also the former epa administrator under george w. bush. there you are, governor. there you are on national television. i have the honor to bother you a little bit. i'm going to bother you. >> so what's new? come on. >> here's the question for you. who are you rooting for to be the next president of the united states? >> i was a john kasich delegate so i'm still there. no, you know, these two candidates are running against the only other person they could

possibly beat. i'm waiting to see. i'm worried about what more might come out on hillary clinton and the foundation and the relationship with the state department. i'm waiting to see what more happens with the libertarian tickets. i served with both those governors. they are good solid people. there's a lot more to happen. i'm not going to vote for trump. i am going to vote. >> that leaves open hillary. the question, adlai stevenson used to say it's the duty of leaders to lead. who should we vote for for president? >> not trump. you have to vote your conscience but not trump. >> what about hillary clinton? is it better that hillary clinton become president or gary johnson? i don't think you want gary johnson to be president of the united states. that's my suggestion here. you don't want -- you might vote for him but you don't want him to be president. my question is why would you vote for somebody you don't root for to be president? >> actually, that's not entirely true. yes, it's a little troubling that gary said that he gave up smoking pot a couple months ago so he would have a clear head. >> for the election campaign. he dropped it before the

campaign. >> that's a good thing. bill weld is a really solid citizen and gary had a good record. it would be interesting to see what -- >> for president of the united states. gary johnson? >> you know, we have unfortunately what we have is as i said before, some very flawed candidates. the thing i will say about -- >> including all these guys. >> the thing i will say about hillary, she has some very deep flaws but at least they are within the parameters of flawed presidents we have had before, whereas trump is way outside those boundaries. >> here's my problem, and it's not you. i respect you a lot. you have always been very independent and a moderate. i very much like pretty much everything you have done but here's the problem. people come up to me after carter gets beaten by reagan and said don't blame me, i voted for john anderson. i do blame you. or they come after, you know, they vote for ross perot, who is pretty much certifiable, he's ruining his daughter's wedding really whacko stuff. it's fun, frisky to vote third party but you're not really picking a president.

you are doing something else. you are doing something else all together. >> you are voting your conscience if you really can't vote for either of these two major candidates. at the end of the day, i don't know. we will wait, i will wait and see. >> when can you come back and tell us? will you come back before the election? >> of course i will come back. >> tell us you voted for hillary clinton? >> i will come back. >> you have a problem with a woman being president? >> no. not at all. >> i'm just teasing. >> you know that, chris. come on. >> you were a great governor. almost beat bill bradley. got him shaken up. >> came close. >> thank you so much. governor christie -- i have family members like you. they are turned off to trump right now but are not ready for hillary. it's interesting. thank you. one guy is. thank you. coming up, hillary clinton widens her lead over donald trump but democrats are warning voters -- i'm not even going to say the word. don't assume it's won. there's my question. why get excited on the left and center left about maybe getting to run the government for four or eight years? winning the house and senate? winning the white house and

getting bills passed and making things happen? forget about this loser mentality. think about winning big. hillary clinton's got a very good chance right now of winning very big and running the table and actually getting to set u.s. policy on a progressive side of things. get excited about that. if that doesn't get you to vote, don't vote.

don't be complacent, my friends, because even though we're doing fine right now, i'm not taking anybody, anywhere, for granted. >> welcome back to "hardball." that's hillary clinton of course in this case riling up voters or trying to in philly. it's been three weeks since the republican convention and donald trump continues his free-fall. with just 83 days left, clinton is on track to win i think a powerful mandate. i would go differently than that appeal. i would say let's go for the roses.

last night at a dnc fund-raiser in martha's vineyard, president obama told fellow democrats there's still a lot of uncertainty out there and if we are not running scared until the day after the election we will be making a grave mistake. instead of making the safe call, i say shouldn't hillary clinton motivate democrats by going for the gold? the roses? pushing, say we actually can control the house, the senate and the white house if we win a big one. for more i'm joined by our round table, anne gearan, jonathan capehart and megan murphy, washington bureau chief for bloomberg. megan, start with you. it seems to me in terms of making people enthusiastic, especially bernie people, hey, this party, the democrats, has a real chance for the first time since lbj of actually being able to govern this country, running the congress, running the white house, passing bills or tax equity, reducing the polarization of wealth in this country, building things again, infrastructure, all kinds of good things, solidifying obamacare. win big. tell young people, you can be part of a mandate. don't say oh, don't get

complacent. it just seems like a loser's way of talking to people. in football games, you don't go don't get complacent. you say roll it up. roll it up. that's what you do. >> that's not in her nature to run that kind of campaign. she's gone this entire campaign without creating that kind of enthusiasm behind her except in her core base. >> you're putting her down right now. >> i think the senate is well within reach. >> when will they ever get the house if not with this type of opportunity with trump blowing it. >> her campaign is still quite conservative in terms of the goals they are setting out. i think there is still concern about the kind of personal brutal war we will get into in september in the debates and how much damage he could still in inflict. >> it's important she said what she said to this audience in philadelphia. the democrats need a huge turnout by african-americans -- >> trying to damp her down complacency? >> you tell them we need --

>> you ever been to political rally in your life? you come out of there so excited you think you have been in a revival meeting, you are so excited, you can't wait to go door to door. that's what you want. >> you can't get that from that clip. i wasn't there. what i'm trying to tell you -- >> don't give up yet. don't give up. >> she's saying you have to come out and vote and right now, the focus is on winning the white house and then after we go through the first debate if there is a first debate, you see how brutal this battle is going to be, then she can go for the roses or swing for the fences or -- >> whatever metaphor you like. >> yeah. >> i think she would say there's time for metaphors later. they are worried about being -- >> truly worried? >> i think worried. >> you think john podesta doesn't believe the polls are real. >> i think john podesta says what he means, he doesn't expect there to be a double digit wins.

>> he doesn't expect that. when it does, he'll be wrong. he'll be a political fool. >> a happy fool. >> that's the old trick of voting. the worst is coming. then at least you're right. >> do you remember how she was criticized for counting her chickens before they hatched? >> getting people excited about winning the house, we can beat paul ryan. go ahead. >> she's govern -- >> she's getting ahead of herself. >> which she legally has to do. that's a law. >> you guys are all right. hillary is brilliant. everything she does is brilliant. i'm wrong. dare i sit here. i know i'm right. the roundtable is sticking with us. up next they tell me something i don't know. listen to me.

if it's tuesday it's primary day. it's certainly that in wyoming where they decide whether liz chenee wins the primary. all they got out there is one seat in the house. she is up against seven other republicans which means her name i.d. should be good enough. this is her second race. we'll be right back.

>> back with the roundtable. tell me something i don't know. >> earlier in the show you mentioned kathleen kaine, the

pennsylvania -- her downfall is well known, but her rise is less so. and it's due in part to her ties to the clintons. she was -- she worked for hillary clinton in 2007, resigned her district attorney job to do that. and then bill clinton went all in for her in 2012, in large part because her primary opponent had backed hillary -- excuse me -- had backed obama over hillary and bill never forgave him for that. he did a fund-raiser, an ad, and some -- >> so bill backed the wrong horse here. >> so the leader of hezbollah in lebanon is spewing donald trump's assertion that barack obama is the founder of isis. he said this is an american presidential candidate who saying this. what he says is based on facts and documents. >> so is this guy anti-or

pro-isis when he says obama's leading it? >> i have no idea. >> by the way, why did he keep calling it isil? let's go. >> trump likes to say he likes to put his money where his mouth is. but for people who actually have money in the market, they're becoming suspicious of him, and his economic plan. they'll be numbers out tomorrow. >> why does trump keep talking down the market? >> it's baffling. if people deinvest from the market, this country is headed to recession. >> thank you for the information. when we return, let me finish with the lost of john mclaughlin, it happened last night at midnight. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

>> let me finish tonight with the loss of john mclaughlin who died last night at midnight. he spent a good part of his life as a new england jesuit. he was of the old school, the kind of professor who would dictate what was true, what was important to know, who was right, who was a good student, and who got an a. there would be graded exams never to be returned to a student. not even a pop quiz. you never knew your grid until -- grade until you got it. it was the perfect exhibition of sitting in a classroom in the '60s working backward.

i got to know him as a guest panelist. he would get the word to me early in the week, back in the late '80s. and i'd get up for the friday taping, including coming up with a prediction for the show. we bumped into each other when the wall came down, bumped into each other in the site of joseph ger bill's house to the leafy drive. we spent a day driving through east germany, which was still behind the iron curtain. we watched them serve coffee to the desperate east germans coming through the wall. i heard him pretending to be one of the oblijing british officers feeling sorry for the germans. poor devils, i heard him say. we toured the suburbs, ended up in lightsig. the major stop was the concentration camp where the old communist let us in after dark. he said, any jews killed here? interrupted the guy. however clownish his act, always knew what the argument was about. we visited the cathedral on

whose giant door martin luther nailed the 95 visas, challenging the power of the roman catholic church. i lost track of him for a while, only to find him standing over the tomb of the great reformation leader who risked burning at the stake and had succeeded in creating the protestant revolution. there's john mclaughlin, standing in that old cathedral, as he stood on martin luther's tomb, a question only he had mind, not so much whether luther was right on the theology, but how he knew he could get away

with saying what he did. how did he know, he asked. how did he know. theatrical, pyro technical, a fire cracker of a man, john mclaughlin, you were damn good company. tonight on "all in" -- >> i am who i am. it's me. i don't want to change. everyone talks about, you're going to pivot. i don't want to pivot. >> donald trump digs in. >> i am who i am. i've gotten here in a landslide and we'll see what happens. >> tonight, a formal request for the rnc to cut ties with its nominee, as the grim polling keeps on coming and trump tries to explain his new policy. >> i call it extreme, extreme vetting. >> plus, new details on clinton debate preps. >> don't be complacent, my friends. >> while there are multiple reports that trump is turning to ge