medal in women's field hockey in 2016! >> it is euphoria. they are bronze medalists at the olympic games. if it's friday donald trump hits the reset button yet again. tonight regrets. he's had a few. >> you say the wrong thing. i have done that. plus, breaking news. the president announces plans to visit the flood zone amid a growing political storm. >> you're not playing golf in martha's vineyard. >> and there are new calls to shudder the clinton furoundatio. this is "mpt daily" and it starts right now. and a very good friday evening to you. i'm kristin welker in washington in for chuck todd. welcome to "mtp daily."

mea culpa or deathbed conversion. 81 days from a potential clinton clobbering and reality finally sinking in for the trump campaign. the past 24 hours we've seen an unprecedented attempt at a campaign makeover, metamore fa sis, call it whatever you want. paul manafort, trump's campaign chief off the campaign resigning today. the campaign finally up with its first battleground tv ad after being pounded on the air waves by the clinton campaign. then there's the candidate himself. today traveling to flood stricken louisiana for a rare presidential-style photo-on-touring water-ravaged communities after last night's stunninged a mirtion that he regrets some of his controversial comments, particularly those he says may have caused personal pain. it's a head-turning moment for trump who has run a scorched earth campaign for the last 430 days but cutting through all the noise, the only question that

arguably matters going forward for trump is this? are voters going to buy it? because it's hard to know where to start when looking at the sheer volume of things trump has said that he might now cliaim t, quote regret. >> sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. i have done that. they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they're rapists. >> he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured, okay? you got to see this guy. i don't know what i said. i don't remember. he's going i don't remember. maybe that's what i said. ben carson, you look at his faith, and i think you're not going to find so much. i never attacked him on his look and, believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. this guy, lindsey graham, he's one of the dumbest human beings i have ever seen.

it's rubio! >> should abortion be punished. >> there has to be some form of punishment. i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters. it's political bull [ bleep ]. we're going to knock the [ bleep ] out of isis. we're going to knock the [ bleep ] out of them. >> you are saying he can't do his job because of his race. is that not the definition of racism? >> no. we're building a wall. he's a mexican. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> do you think it's appropriate to call the sitting president of the united states the founder of a terrorist organization that wants to kill americans? >> he was the founder of isis, absolutely. i was viciously attacked on the stage of the democratic national convention by mr. khan, and i responded to that vicious attack. if you look at his wife, she was

standing there. she had nothing to say. she probably -- maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. you tell me, but plenty of people have written that. >> a lot to talk about on this friday evening. i'm joined by nbc news political analyst and host of the hugh hewitt show. thanks for being here. really appreciate it. >> my pleasure, kristin. >> some are looking at this and they think it looks like a presto change-o by donald trump. are voters going to buy this? >> i think many of them are, and by buy it, i think they're going to recalibrate the pluses and minuses of both candidates. you can run as long a series of miscues and pratt falls for hillary clinton. his are more famous because they're easier to document. donald trump under the tutelage of kellyanne conway who is becoming the carville, the axelrod of this circle, can get

him to focus on the very unseemly clinton foundation spreading wreck of an indictment of hillary clinton. forget the server. let's go to the foundation. and so i think what you see cleg away here in august is the beginning of the comeback and the story for september will be that donald trump is closing a gap that is real but that he's closing it under the guidance of kellyanne conway and with a new rhetoric. i think you will hear the names mark rich, bill clinton, hillary clinton, about 1,000 times because that is the unseemliest part of the clinton story. a month from now, the olympics won't be in the way of the narrative and we will be focused on what did she sell and when did she sell it, how much access was for sale at the state department under hillary clinton. >> i know a lot of republicans want donald trump to be focused on that and i take your point about hillary clinton having miscues as well. the difference it seems to me is that he has offended groups of people and as he has said, as he said last night, one of the

things he regrets are the people who he has actually made to feel bad. is it too late, hugh, to turn this around? >> no, i don't think so. i think the supreme court hangs in the balance. i think a lot of people are beginning to focus on their first amendment, second amendment, tenth amendment rights, the very structure of federalism being affected by the supreme court. donald trump's economic speech, his speech last night directed at african-american communities and specifics, in terms people haven't talked to the african-american community in a long time about what they have been promised by democrats and what has never been delivered, is exactly the kind of change that has to happen. so what donald trump took a long time to do is leave primary control and move to general election mode. but there's a lot of time left because my goodness, these olympics for republicans have been tremendous, highly rated, i can't wait to watch more of them tonight and they have obscured a lot of the elbows being flown inside of trump tower when they're done and they will be done next week, all eyes will go

to the campaign. >> i want to get to your point about african-american voters in one second. it's a good one. let me just ask you one point. we are about to talk to gop consultant mike murphy who said this. could trump change, maybe, but he's trump. my labrador could walk up to the piano and start playing. not going to bet on it. trump is trump. that's what he said on "morning joe" on wednesday. we have seen donald trump in fact pivot. do you think this is a real pivot or do you agree with mike murphy that it might go away in another week or so? >> i hesitate to disagree with mike murphy because he's one of the smartest guys in politics. he's also funnier than i am by a lot and he's going after me so you always got to be careful about the guy coming on after you but i do believe he can change. i have my on trump tattoos. i have three or four of them. i have gone to the dance with donald a couple times but i don't care about that. i care about where the country's going. i care about the supreme court. i think americans are worried about in the hostage ransom that was just delivered to iran but

this obama/clinton administration, it appears russia got basing rights thrown into the deal. i'm concerned about a syrian civil war that's killed a half million people -- >> hugh, okay. two very quick ones. you raise the point that donald trump has gone after you as well. but do you think other republicans are going to be able to put their grievances aside and get on board and that you will start to see the type of party unity that has so far been lacking? >> yes. i will give you a perfect example. brad thorr was a never trumper, one of america's best-selling authors, tremendous presence on twitter and just a very well-respected conservative, second amendment guy. he changed from never trump to pro trump just this week. there will be a lot more people like that. i don't expect the dead enders and never trump movement to change. they are heavily invested in never trump. i do think the more people focus on and i wrote a column about it, a dozen different areas of the law that will change as soon as hillary clinton puts one hard left liberal on the supreme

court, and change overnight, that they will come around and the worse the world gets, the more trump is going to be able to make the case that why would you reward secretary clinton after she blew egypt, libya, syria, the supreme court, the server, the status of force agreement, the -- maybe the worst secretary of state in american modern political history, why would we turn to her. that's trump's argument. that's kellyanne conway's task. >> and let me before i let you go, one of the most interesting shifts we have seen is this more robust outreach to african-american voters. let me play you what donald trump just had to say and let's discuss it on the other side. >> what the hell do you have to lose? at the end of four years, i guarantee you, that i will get over 95% of the african-american vote. i promise you. >> hugh, what the hell do you have to lose, is that the best case he can make to african-american voters right now? he's trailing with that group

95% to 1% based on one of our recent polls. >> it's the first step you have to make in making the argument is hey, folks, what exactly did president obama do for you or president clinton do for you, have your economic change -- conditions change in 16 years. today, donald trump and mike pence were in louisiana. president obama was playing golf. >> we are going to get to that but really quickly he's making these arguments in communities that are majority white. does he not need to go into some of these predominantly african-american communities, visit african-american churches, speak to african-americans and improve his actual outreach, not just make these statements? >> i think when you go into -- i have to argue that. when you go into the milwaukee media argument you are talking to an african-american heavily populated community. when you are in north carolina, you are talking in a state with many media markets which will be dominated by african-american voting turnout. >> the city itself was 94% white today, hugh. the city itself was 94% white.

>> louisiana's a special case. in louisiana that's where the flood is. when he was in youngstown, ohio, my backyard, he's in an african-american heavy district. up there, all along the pennsylvania/ohio border, heavily african-american population and donald trump needs to keep going back there and he is. we are a lot better off than we were two weeks ago. we are a lot better off than we were a week ago, being republicans. i hope the trajectory continues. i think with kellyanne conway, mike pence sitting on that plane with donald trump, it will continue to do so because he's got gifts. he just has to use them in a political way, not in a developer way. >> all right. hugh hewitt, great insight. really appreciate your perspective. >> thanks, kristen. >> i'm joined now by republican strategist and nbc news political analyst mike murphy. he ran jeb bush's super pac during the primary and has been a vocal trump critic. so thanks for joining me. really appreciate it. i want to start with what you heard from hugh. he said absolutely not too late

to turn this race around. is he right? >> well, my friend hugh's a smart guy and he's more of an optimist than i am about donald trump. i think the stains, the odious stains on his campaign from things he said in the past are pretty indelible and it will take more than one line on a teleprompter to be able to erase those i want to see if trump can sit down with the journalists not from the breitbart news crank asylum but with a legitimate journalist and get follow-up questions about what he regrets and what he feels badly about and what he wants to take back. let's see if he means it. that would be the first baby step toward maybe a new donald trump 2.0 that could have some chance in the election. but the problem with that is, if it's true that he didn't really mean it all, then who is this guy in the primary throwing those bombs around? was that -- some people say the real trump is much quote, better than that, so was the primary persona a creation? was it a scam? who is the real donald trump? i think the crucible the campaign will find out, my guess

is we have seen the real donald trump. >> a lot of people have raised that point. what exactly is he apologizing for and i have heard republicans saying he could start with a very firm sincere apology to the khan family. that is something you would like to see happen? >> yeah. i think he owes it to the khan family and the country. here's the problem. the media is kind of a sucker for this well, any minute now he's going to start speaking in french, the language of world diplomacy, he will eat delicately with a knife and fork, he will be very reasonable, and this will be this new wonderful trump we are all hoping for. but there have been four or five false teases of this before. we have to look at actions. the actions are the campaign is pretty much disintegrated. it's now a banana republic. there's somebody new every week in charge. one of the two new people in charge is, you know, a crank. and i'm a conservative and i say that about breitbart news. i think two weeks from now, a psychic nutritionist will be running the campaign. we have a very low threshold to give trump the benefit of the

doubt when he does something non-offensive. that's all it takes right now. we will see. let the wheel grind for 30 days. then after labor day in the middle of september, we will see what kind of trump we have and where the campaign is. but every indication to date in every poll shows pretty clearly that the country is rejecting trump. that's probably why we see what i'm sad to say are crocodile tears right now. >> i think it's fair to say you were also a skeptic during the primary. you said trump is frankly other people's problem. are you potentially underestimating him again? could we see a comeback? i have been talking to democrats, folks at the clinton campaign say hey, we do expect these polls to tighten. >> well, two things. i want to put that comment in context. that was early in the primary season, when i was talking about and i was working for the jeb super pac, our competition with folks like christie, kasich and rubio, and ted cruz's competition on that wing of the party with trump. i think context is important.

second, yeah, i can be wrong. i thought trump would go far but not be nominated in the primary. i was wrong about that. but it's a very, very different electorate and now in the general election, every poll says he's really dug himself into a deep hole. so i do believe the media business has a vested interest in now having a bit of a trump comeback to bring drama to the race and with drama comes eyeballs and clicks. yeah, i think he will go from terrible unelected numbers in the polling to just losing numbers and there will be a lot of hysteria about that but let's see where the race goes when we get into october 1st. hillary's a weak candidate. we would be beating her with a credible republican and i sure wish that were the case. >> that leads me to my final question. you are clearly still a skeptic about donald trump, clearly not a supporter. would you vote for secretary clinton as some of your gop colleagues are saying they are now going to do? >> well, i'm not a clinton fan. i think a lot of hugh's criticism is totally right

online. i have said this. i'm not voting for trump. i'm looking for a businessman, an outsider who came into the republican party, cleaned it up but was a patriot and wanted to build the country, not tear it down. i will probably write in the late wendell wilkie as my choice. >> all right. we just made some news there. all right. mike murphy, really appreciate your joining us on this friday. >> thank you very much. i appreciate being on. let's bring in the panel now. msnbc contributor, maria theresa kumar. co-author of the great politico playbook, jake sherman and former campaign manager, sarah flores. thank you for being here. let's just go around the horn. i want to get each of your reactions to this reboot. is it going to work? maria? >> my grandmother always says you are who your friends are. the fact that he doubled down on someone that is running perhaps the most extreme conservative website that goes after lgbt communities, that is incredibly

racist, incredibly mysogenistic, it says no. it's almost this george bush flashback of read my lips, i'm not going to raise taxes, or read my lips, i'm going to change. you're not going to. >> sarah, your take and mike murphy says he doesn't think this reboot is going to last. what's your take? is this something trump can sustain? >> i think what we might see is kellyanne conway will get him to let's call it a 92 for the next few days and maybe he will settle back down into a 78, 84. i think that's very possible. then i think you will see the polls tighten. >> jake? what do you think? >> let's define a reboot here. donald trump still is not engaging in ground game, not engaging in data. he's barely on television. he lags at all the fundamentals that we all know are needed to win a campaign. so sure, he might be able to stay on message for a month, couple days, month, whatever it may be. but he needs to put in place these fundamentals that everyone

knows you need to win a campaign. >> all right. stay with us. we will be back with more from our panel. first, coming up, baton rouge finds itself in a political storm a week after the flood waters rushed in. we'll have all the new details ahead. stay with us. what if a company that didn't make cars made plastics that make them lighter? the lubricants that improved fuel economy. even technology to make engines more efficient. what company does all this? exxonmobil, that's who. we're working on all these things to make cars better and use less fuel. helping you save money and reduce emissions. and you thought we just made the gas. energy lives here. get between you and life's dobeautiful moments.llergens by choosing flonase, you're choosing more complete allergy relief and all the enjoyment that comes along with it. when we breathe in allergens, our bodies react by overproducing 6 key inflammatory substances.

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welcome back. just a short time ago the white house announced the president will travel to flood-ravaged baton rouge next week. nbc's hans nichols is on martha's vineyard. what can you tell us about this decision? the president coming under criticism for not cutting his vacation short to make the trip. >> reporter: that's right, a lot of criticism but as you say, it hasn't really affected his decision. he's scheduled to leave martha's vineyard sunday night. he was always scheduled to do that. monday he will be back in washington at the white house. then on tuesday, he goes to baton rouge. white house officials are telling us they are very

conscious of any sort of footprint a presidential trip, all the helicopters, all the security, could potentially have on the cleanup. we should note the flood lines are receding in baton rouge. the president has received updates and he has had jeh johnson, his homeland security secretary, visit there. we did decide, though, to truth squad this a little bit and take a look at what happened with hurricane sandy. you remember that, october 2012. that made landfall in new jersey on monday. sunday night, the president was delivering pizza to his campaign operation down in florida. he flies back early, they cancel a bunch of campaign events and on wednesday, he visits and tours the state with then governor christie. so that time, it was a 48-hour span, much tighter this time there's a lot less time -- a lot more time, excuse me. there's one crucial difference, though. this time the president's name isn't on the ballot. >> big difference. that is for sure. thank you for tracking that. we know you will continue to

stay on top of it. really appreciate it. coming up, we will turn to donald trump's visit to the region next in 60 seconds. soon, she'll be binge-studying. now she writes mostly in emoji. soon, she'll type the best essays in the entire 8th grade. today, the only spanish words he knows are burrito and enchilada. soon, he'll take notes en espanol. get back to great with the right gear. from the place with the experts. office depot officemax. gear up for school. gear up for great. sorry ma'am. no burning here. ugh. heartburn. try new alka-seltzer heartburn relief gummies. they don't taste chalky and work fast. mmmm. incredible. can i try? she doesn't have heartburn. new alka seltzer heartburn relief gummies. enjoy the relief.

you're playing golf in martha's vineyard. that's all i can say. >> means a lot you showing up here, buddy. >> somebody is. somebody is that shouldn't be. >> make america great again. >> build it back, right? build it back. >> that was donald trump today visiting the relief effort in louisiana, where some political tension is building. the congressman representing louisiana's third district has been helping his community during the relief efforts. thank you for joining me. really appreciate it. >> kristen, you know, my home state of louisiana has been under water for a week now and if you turn on the national news, you wouldn't hear about it. you wouldn't know it's happening. the fact of the matter is, we have got a lot of folks who have lost their homes. in some communities, 90% of the homes are flooded, 90% of the

businesses are flooded and there's no attention being paid to this. it's just unacceptable. the fact is, we are all working down here, we are putting partisan politics aside and working to help our cotients >> well, congressman, i appreciate your saying that. that is why we are doing this segment because we do want to make sure that folks know what's going on down there. can you update us on the efforts to help folks get their homes and their lives back on track? how is everyone doing down there? >> well, we have a lot of work to do. even yesterday, we still had rising water in some areas so rescue efforts were ongoing. i can tell you, people across the state have been magnificent in helping neighbors out, delivering water and food and supplies, helping people out. there have been dramatic rescues. our first responders have done a good job but the fact of the matter is, we are going to need more help down here. >> what do you need from the federal government?

>> i was talking with the fema administrator who was down here the middle of the week. he said it's amazing nobody else is paying attention to what's going on in louisiana with 13 deaths, all these homes that have been wrecked. people, we have i think the count today or as of earlier today was 70,000 people have applied with fema. the number's rising. we want the president to pay attention to this. we are appreciative that the fema administrator's been here and we have fema help on the ground, red cross help. red cross says this is the worst disaster says sandy. this is a thousand year flood for louisiana. we haven't seen anything like this before. the fact is, we need more help. >> well, as you know, it was announced that president obama does plan to visit on tuesday. i wonder what your reaction is to that news and what specifically you would like him to do when he gets there. >> well, let me say first of all, last weekend, governor john bell edwards declared 21

parishes in the state as an emergency area and requested a federal declaration of emergency. the president initially granted four of those parishes and it took until the middle of the week to get the remaining parishes declared as a federal disaster area which delayed the response. we want the president to understand that yes, he's out on martha's vineyard playing golf. he needs to understand the urgency of this. i'm grateful that he is going to come down here on tuesday to see what's going on. but you know, leadership requires not only a rapid response, but a real acknowledgment and empathy for what's going on down here. but the national media also needs to understand that when people are hurting, americans are hurting in one area, they need to understand what's going on and you know, the national media's been out there talking about the foibles of olympic athletes and what's going on with politics and celebrities. the fact of the matter is, i get upset when the media only covers things that divide americans or

it becomes a laughing stock of some sort. this is a true human tragedy down here. we want the national media to pay attention to it. >> it absolutely esis a tragedy. we are so sorry for all the folks there who are hurting. you did get a visit today by donald trump. i know that to your point, you don't want this to be politicized. was it the right decision for him to come down, did he make a significant impact, do you think? we know that he did donate some food, some supplies. >> well, i'm grateful that he came down and we just want people around the country to understand the magnitude of this, because when i'm working with my colleagues and working with our state government, finally get the tally of what this is going to cost and how we get people back on their feet, i can tell you this. to convince my colleagues to provide additional resources over and above what may be already appropriated for disaster relief is going to be a

challenge. but the american public doesn't understand the magnitude of this disaster because the word has not gotten out. that's going to make our job more difficult. i'm going to fight tooth and nail to make sure the word gets out and that we can convince our colleagues in congress to help us at this time of need. this is a true and deep human tragedy. >> congressman, just to be very specific, your message to the president and congress right now is what is it specifically in terms of aid, funding and support that you want right now, that you feel as though your community's not getting. >> well, we know there are going to be limitations on what fema can provide. agricultural relief is very limited. we are going to need some additional help. we just got some assistance from the federal level for highways. we know the needs are going to be higher than what's been provided. i don't have a final tally yet. we are still coming out of rescue mode and we are still assessing the damage. we just need for our colleagues in congress and for the

president himself and his agencies to understand that louisiana is going to need further help. we also need the broad american public because the american public's generous. they provide charitable relief in time of need. but if they don't know and the if the national media is not getting the word out that's a problem. that's all we're asking for is to understand the magnitude of this tragedy and show some empathy and regard for it and if we do need the help, please be cognizant of what we're going to need. >> congressman, we certainly are. we are committed to continuing to cover this story and our thoughts are with all of you there. thank you so much. we really appreciate your joining us this evening. >> thank you, kristen. coming up, new calls for the clinton foundation to shut down. the very latest on that. stay with us. i do say that, you see... i study psychobiology. i'm a fine arts major. nobody really believes that i take notes this way, but they actually make sense to me.

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it's the end of an era for political talk. the final episode of the mclaughlin group will air this weekend ending a 34-year run. it comes just days after the death of the show's creator and moderator, john mclaughlin, at the age of 89 following a two-year battle with cancer. mclaughlin hosted every episode of the show until last week. the chicago pbs station that produced the program said quote, it was a trailblazer in the political talk show genre that inspired so many programs that came after. we will miss this important contribution to our political coverage. that is for sure. a funeral mass for john

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then there was all the money funneled into the clinton foundation from foreign governments and corporations. it was pay for play. yet hillary clinton, who is indifferent to the suffering she has caused, has no remorse at all. she offers no apologies. >> that was donald trump delivering prepared remarks at a rally in michigan. he's hitting hillary clinton on some of the negative news her campaign has weathered this week, most of it overshadowed by trump's own staffing shakeups. but the question without trump sucking up air time, this could have been a very damaging week for the clinton campaign, on monday, house republicans

accused clinton of perjury and renewed pushes to obtain notes taken by the fbi. those released this week. and you can see the flurry of headlines for clinton and the obama administration. major insurance company aetna announced it would pull out of the affordable care act in most states. there was renewed scrutiny over the timing of a cash payment to iran. then reports shed light on comments made by clinton's running mate tim kaine in 2002 saying that president bill clinton should have resigned over the monica lewinsky scandal. then the clinton foundation announcing it would no longer accept foreign donations if clinton is elected. joining me is former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, clinton supporter and msnbc political analyst. thanks so much for being here. really appreciate it. >> good evening. >> you said earlier this week that the clinton foundation should be shut down if clinton is elected. so i'm wondering if you still stand by that. we want your reaction to the reports the foundation is no longer going to accept foreign

donations if secretary clinton is elected. >> well, first of all, i think it's important, i heard donald trump say hillary clinton should apologize for the suffering she's caused. the clinton foundation has done wonderful things throughout the world, as you know. just for example, 11.5 million people living with hiv/aids are living today because of help they got from the clinton foundation. 50,000 young children in kenya and countries like that are surviving today because of the help they got from the foundation. the foundation has done wonderful things for people all around the world and we shouldn't lose track of that. when i said it should be shut down, i meant in terms of the clintons' involvement with it. i think if the secretary becomes president, she obviously can have no further involvement with it, can't ask for money for the foundation. she has to be walled off and so does what would then be the first spouse, bill clinton. neither of them can have any involvement with the foundation at all. i would think the best thing

would be for the foundation's work to be carried on for the next four or eight years by partners. but if they intend to keep it going and let's say chelsea runs it, anyone who gives money to it, and obviously not foreign nationals, foreign companies or whatever, but anybody who gives money, that information is never disclosed to the president or the first spouse. >> to be clear, you think this move, it sounds like a good step but does it go far enough, is that a fair characterization? >> that's correct. but the clintons did say bill, hillary and chelsea are discussing what the future of the foundation is going to be. this is just the first step. i think there's no way that either clinton will be fund-raising for the foundation if she's successful and i think there will be a chinese wall set up if the foundation continues to go forward. but they may decide to let partners carry on the work for the next four to eight years. >> let me ask you -- >> let's not forget the good work this foundation did. when donald trump talks about

suffering, that's brutal. nobody suffered. people were helped by the foundation. >> let me ask you about this broader point, because as you are saying, donald trump being quite harsh in his rhetoric. he again this week with his campaign shakeup has sort of stepped on his own message. my question for you is, are you concerned that he is getting closer to getting on message and staying on message, and what that might mean? >> no, i'm not concerned. i don't think donald trump is capable of staying on message. but look, i think and you have heard me say this before, no one in the clinton camp should think that this is going to be a ten-point, 11-point victory. no one should think in a state like pennsylvania we are going to win by 10 or 11 points. this will inevitably get closer. that's why there's tons of work for democrats and independents and republicans who want to see secretary clinton become president. there's tons of work for us left to do. this ball game isn't over by a long shot. we are in the second or third

inning. we may have a nice lead but nice leads can be blown. >> well, to your point, if donald trump hadn't sort of overshadowed this week with all of his news about his own campaign, this could have potentially been a very difficult week for secretary clinton and just moments ago, we are learning that a federal judge ruled that clinton has to answer written questions from judicial watch which filed a lawsuit over her private e-mail server, something that continues to overshadow her campaign. so when you think about the fact she still has these vulnerabilities, is she doing enough to turn voters around who say they just can't trust her right now? >> well, i think she's done a very good job. her speech at the convention was terrific. i think it addressed the question of can she be trusted. she made the great point, forget the campaign for a minute. in every office she's held, she's performed exceptionally well. as first lady she did wonderful things for the country. as senator, she was one of the

most effective senators you have had those quotes from republican senators who indicated that. so every time she's held office she's done an excellent job. people have trusted her. remember, when she was secretary of state, her approval rating was over 60% which for anybody in politics these days is pretty exceptional. so i think your point is if trump hadn't stumbled on his own campaign, would this have hurt the clinton campaign, a little bit, but a lot of these things, people have heard over and over and over again about hillary clinton so i'm not sure how much it will hurt. but the clinton folks and everyone who supports her have got to be ready. this is going to be a lot closer before it's over. >> just very quickly, yesterday we did learn something new about the obama administration. the state department spokesperson john kirby essentially said there was some linkage between that $400 million cash payment and the release of the prisoners. let me play a quick sound bite. i want to get your reaction on the other side.

>> so if you're asking me was there a connection in that regard at the end game, i'm not going to deny that. >> in basic english you are saying you wouldn't give them the $400 million in cash until the prisoners were released. correct? >> that's correct. >> donald trump has pounced on that as you well know. he's trying to link secretary clinton to it even though she had left the state department by the time this transaction actually took place. but does she need to disavow that payment? >> no, not at all. one thing your clip left out is that that was money that was due to iran anyway. it was iran's own money that we were holding and they were going to get back -- >> but politically, the optics are very difficult, aren't they? >> right, but unless you explain to the people of america that that was iran's money, it wasn't our money. we didn't pay them with $400 million of american money. that was their money that we were holding. did we leverage it to get those prisoners out? sure. i think that's a good thing, not

a bad thing, because they were going to get that money back anyway. >> but doesn't that give critics the fuel to say it looks a lot like ransom? >> my definition of ransom is when you fork over your money to get something done. when you fork over the money to the kidnappers that was theirs to begin with, that's not ransom. >> okay. secretary clinton should not disavow that payment? >> no. i think it was their money anyway. we knew they were going to get it back in court. so if that was what was necessary to bring them home, smart thing to do, i think. >> all right. governor ed rendell, as always, we really appreciate your perspective. thanks for joining us. >> have a nice weekend. >> you, too. ahead in "the lid" the first look at trump's big ad buy. you focus on making great burgers, or building the best houses in town. or becoming the next highly-unlikely dotcom superstar. and us, we'll be right there with you,

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in hillary clinton's america, the system stays rigged against americans. syrian refugees flood in. illegal immigrants convicted of committing crimes get to stay, collecting social security benefits, skipping the line. our border open, it's more of the same but worse. donald trump's america is secure. terrorists and dangerous criminals kept out. the border secure. our families safe. >> better late than never. that's donald trump's first general election ad hitting the air waves in florida, north carolina, ohio and pennsylvania. if you look at the electoral map, it is virtually impossible for trump to reach the white house without at least three of those four states and it's already a tough climb. numbers from our latest nbc news/"wall street journal"/marist poll show big deficits in north carolina and pennsylvania with trump trailing in all the states. with that, it's time for "the

lid". our panel is back. thanks, guys, for sticking around. maria theresa, what do you make of the strategy of that new ad? is it smart? >> it is so reminiscent of pete wilson's ads in 1993 that turned california solidly blue. before then, every single state you mentioned, north carolina, ohio, every single state has a margin of victory that actually has a huge new latino population. even ohio basically the one that president obama won, he won by 2.5% of the vote. there's a 3.5% latino elector in that state. it's not a smart strategy. the reason he's going after increasingly the african-american vote is not necessarily to win over african-americans but more to basically pacify and increasingly disillusioned republican women who don't want to be part of a candidate that is so -- such a fringe candidate. >> jake, pick up on that point and also talk about the fact that he's running these ads in

these four states and has plans to campaign in texas, mississippi in dothe coming day. >> let's be generous and say in the next 83 days, donald trump cuts in half all of those leads in those four swing states, those four key states. he is still losing them. this is still a big loss for him in every state if he cuts pennsylvania in half, he still loses by six points. the one statistic that sticks out to me that we were talking about before the show, in the suburban philadelphia area with white middle class educated voters, barack obama won by i think nine points and hillary clinton is up close to 40 points. so this is not a close race in a state like pennsylvania. >> that number is astounding when you hear it. sarah, pick up there. because jake cites that number. he's got a real deficit to make up in a state like pennsylvania.

can donald trump put some of these states back in play or is it simply too late? >> i think he can. 80 days. the world was created in a lot less, right? on the other hand, hillary clinton hasn't really faced the scrutiny that i think a lot of pundits were expecting her to at this point. donald trump has yet to bring that fight to hillary clinton. if he does, if he can stick on that message and we have yet to see him really do that, then i absolutely think this will tighten. i think a lot of those states go into play. maybe less pennsylvania, north carolina and florida, though. that's a pretty serious growth that he can bring there quite quickly, i think. polls generally lag but hillary clinton again, as you said earlier, has had a catastrophic week and while the political machinations will fade, those facts are easy to bring up two weeks from now. >> we know republicans will pound those points. i want to get all of you on your most memorable moments of the week before i let you go. jake, i will start with you. it occurred on this show

yesterday. we will play the clip and get you to talk about it on the other side. >> he has said she doesn't have the strength or the stamina for a very long time. that part is nothing new. what's new are the other reports of the observations of hillary clinton's behavior and mannerisms specifically with what you just showed in those previous clips as well as her dysphagia, the fact she's fallen. she has had a concussion -- >> hold on. hold on. >> so jake, tell me why this was your most memorable moment of the week. >> one of the great side shows of this election are the trump spokespeople or the surrogates donald trump has. i don't know hillary clinton's health history personally. i am not a doctor and i don't know her doctor. but it's kind of interesting to diagnose somebody with dysphagia from afar and i don't believe miss pearson is a medical doctor. that even makes it more strange.

also on fox news the other day, a trump supporter said to ignore polls. one of the great side shows of this election. >> that was a great moment as well for sure. maria, let's move to yours. you like manafort's revelations about ukraine and the headline there, donald trump aide paul manafort scrutinized for russian business ties. why was this your most memorable moment? >> because this is a man that has been an adviser to some of the craziest dictators of our time. everyone from marcos to the fact he has actual ties to a russian operation that helped elect the ukrainian dictator and then we have so many likabilities quote unquote when it comes to donald trump. when donald trump speaks it very much is kind of out of a playbook of fascists he's supported in the past. >> sarah, finally, quickly, yours was this dramatic rescue we saw out of baton rouge this week of a woman and her dog from

a car. we wanted to give you the last word on this one because it certainly underscores the fact there's still so much goodness in terms of people helping each other out. >> absolutely. i'm from texas. i thought it was worth highlighting the help the people in louisiana need and this guy jumps on to a car sinking as the water is moving. he doesn't ask who she's voting for, which political party she's in. he pulls her out of the car and goes back for the dog. great american moment. >> love it. great moment indeed. thanks for that, guys. stick around. n't let dust and as get between you and life's beautiful moments. by choosing flonase, you're choosing more complete allergy relief and all the enjoyment that comes along with it. when we breathe in allergens, our bodies react by overproducing 6 key inflammatory substances. most allergy pills only control 1. flonase controls 6. and six is greater than one. with flonase, more complete relief means enjoyment of every beautiful moment. flonase, six is greater than one,

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that is all for tonight. we'll be back monday with more "mtp daily." have great night and a great weekend. has my way hit the highway? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. just days after kellyanne conway and steve bannon took the helm of the trump campaign, the republican nominee modulated tone, cleaned house and rolled out his first ad of the general election. it's the clearest sign yet that trump, who has been hoping for a game change, is actively trying to win back the voters he needs for a path to victory in november. a staff shakeup this week, amid that, paul manafort today