vacationing chris matthews. donald trump is promising a major speech this wednesday on the subject of immigration. on saturday the republican nominee will held to detroit, where he will speak at a black church. all of this part of what trump's campaign says is an effort to reach out to minority communities. last week, trump continually asked african-american and hispanic voters what do you have to lose by voting for him. many people took issue with the tweet saturday morning reacting to the news that the cousin of nba star dwyane wade had been shot. trump tweeting out on saturday quote, dwyane wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in chicago. just what i have been saying. african-americans will vote trump. hours later, trump tweeted his condolences. critics of trump accused him of politicizing the tragedy. the next day, trump's running mate and campaign manager were

asked about it. >> do you think that was a presidential reaction to a tragedy? >> well, right after that, he issued a tweet expressing his prayers and his thoughts and his condolences. a lot of you people in the media spend more time talking about what donald trump said and tweeted in the last three days than you do focusing on what the clintons have been up to for the last 30 years. donald trump has a plain-spoken way about him. >> do you think it's right to have that kind of a political response to a personal tragedy? >> i was pleased that his next tweet expressed his condolences to the wade family. >> trump continued tweeting about race today. now that african-americans are seeing what a bad job hillary-type policy and management has done to the inner cities, they want trump. also, this. inner city crime is reaching record levels. african-americans will vote for trump because they know i will stop the slaughter going on. and look how bad it is getting. how much more crime, how many more shootings will it take for

african-americans and latinos to vote. trump equals safe. what exactly is trump up to here? i'm joined by nbc's hallie jackson outside the trump tower. yaniche is with me, and robert. hallie, we have this speech on the calendar now. donald trump going to head to new york, talk to a black church. it's not the idea he's trying to target a message towards the black community. the way he's choosing to deliver this message just talking about black life in this country being seemingly never-ending series of threats of violence and all sorts of problem in their life. what is the strategy behind talking about it in this way? >> reporter: that has struck some as you know as sort of an insensitive, tone-deaf way of going about this outreach particularly because until we see him out over labor day

weekend in michigan, trump won't have delivered this message to any actual black communities, to any actual african-american voters directly in a way that we have seen others speak to these communities in the past. the strategy is to go after some of these minority voters in a way to build up trump's numbers with these folks. when you look at where he stands, it's about 1%, at least in our latest polling, in some battleground states it's virtually 0% support. which is why you are seeing trump talk about, for example, economic empowerment. that will be one of the issues he will discuss with the minority communities in areas like black churches, black neighborhoods, because it ties together trump's message he delivers more broadly that he's the one who can, in his words, fix the economy while being able to direct it more specifically to some of these folks we are talking about. >> let's talk about the targeting and the message here. there's a theory out there that trump isn't even necessarily talking directly to black voters here, that this is a way of telling white voters, hey, i'm actually interested in the

concerns of black voters, not just having a white base of support. let's say this is a message aimed at black voters. the way he's going about delivering this, the message wees have in his tweets basically saying hey, your lives can't get any worse, what do you have to lose, why wouldn't you give me a chance. is there a chance he could get some traction? he's at 1% right now. could he get any traction with a message like that? could he tap into something? >> it's hard for me to say he would tap into something. the voters i have talked to on the trail really feel highly offended by the black life he's painting. he's kind of saying, stereotyping african-americans in such a way it's almost unrecognizable to people who are african-americans, saying i go to good schools, i have gotten an education, i walk down my street and i don't get shot. people really feel he is talking to white, in some ways, one, white people who feel as though african-american life is like this. i spent time in west bend, wisconsin talking to people who

felt this way about african-americans. a man said to me as i was interviewing him, that african-americans don't want to work hard and he's a trump supporter. trump is telling that man it's okay to think that way. i also kind of think that way. that's what i think some people think he's saying. it's really hard for people to hear this. it's really hard for me to see him get traction this way. of course, there are african-americans out there who support donald trump. there are people out there who i have talked to who think he's a good businessman, he has a message of economic equality. it's hard to see this new message will add to those people. >> one of those african-american supporters of donald trump, pastor mark burns this afternoon, he's an african-american adviser and surrogate to the trump campaign, tweeted a cartoon of hillary clinton in blackface. some viewers might find this image very offensive. burns adding a caption of sorts. he wrote black americans, thank you for your votes and letting me use you again. see you again in four years.

pastor burns defending that tweet earlier today on msnbc. >> the tweet is a frustration that i have as a black man here in america and how i see african-americans in many cases, not every case, but in many cases suffering throughout this country and to see how en masse we have been voting for the democratic party en masse, yet we have very little to show for it. the picture is designed to do draw attention to the very fact that hillary clinton do pander after black people, she do pander and the policies are not good for african-americans. it is doing exactly what it's designed to do. we are not playing the political p.c. game. >> pastor burns also telling hallie jackson he would apologize to anyone who was offended. by the way, mark burns will be on "hardball" tomorrow night.

robert costa, the place of mark burns in the orbit of donald trump, a lot of people looking at the messages donald trump is spending right now to black voters, the way he's talking about black life in this country right now, asking the question where is he getting these notions from, where is he getting the description from, who is in his ear? is mark burns the answer to that question? >> mark burns is certainly someone who is well liked by the trump campaign and you see throughout trump's orbit when it comes to this outreach to african-americans and to the latino community an openness with inflammatory rhetoric. we saw trump on the campaign trail use the term bigot when it comes to secretary clinton. we see this today from a trump surrogate. so this is a non-traditional, to say the least, kind of outreach from a republican campaign to a minority group. >> hallie, something else that struck me. we put that tweet up from donald trump over the weekend about dwyane wade, about his cousin and donald trump immediately jumping to this statement that hey, this is why black voters are going to end up supporting me.

it struck me, kellyanne conway, his new campaign manager, the clip we played of her reacting to that saying what i liked was the tweet he put up immediately after that. that was what kellyanne conway was supposed to bring to this campaign, supposed to get him to stop tweeting excessively, needlessly, inflammatory things on twitter. she seems to be trying to deliver a message there. but can we read anything into the freedom i guess he still enjoys to tweet as he pleases? >> reporter: well, i think anybody who is going to come into donald trump's campaign and who would say to trump put down the phone and stop tweeting would walk back out of trump tower without a job pretty quickly, frankly. donald trump tweets. it's what he does. you can't stop him. what you can do is do what you have seen happen over this last week. yes, donald trump may tweet something that raises eyebrows but he immediately follows up or at least within a few hours with something that his supporters would view as kellyanne conway did as perhaps more appropriate. i think that dwyane wade tweet is a good example of that. remember, it was something critics looked at and said

donald trump here is doing exactly what he accused hillary clinton of doing which is seeing members of the african-american community simply as votes. so trump as he continues to work on, listen, i hate to say it. i even hate to call it a reset. obviously something is different with his campaign with this new leadership. that is one thing that has been clear. as this has happened over the last couple of weeks, you have seen perhaps the team begin to try to moderate some of the messaging he's putting out online. i realize i'm using a lot of waffling words but i think that's where you got to go when you look at what trump's doing. we are told after labor day he will make a turn, he will put more resources and time into traditional battleground states and not where he is 00ed tomorrow, for example, washington. we will see this outreach to communities even as it raises eyebrows as we have been saying. >> does hillary clinton have vulnerability when it comes to minority voters? you got donald trump basically

saying in the message from this very crude cartoon mark burns is tweeting out is basically saying to black voters hillary clinton has a very transactional view of you. you give her votes, she shows up once every four years, collects your votes, you get nothing for that. is that a sentiment that's prevalent at all? >> there's a vulnerability in hillary clinton in the idea that people look at the crime bill or at the fact they -- she used the term super predators so people have that question about hillary clinton. however, if you look at the primaries, you know that hillary clinton is very much imbedded in the african-american community. she made it a point to show up and continue to show up even before she was running for president and now as she's running for president. against donald trump, i don't think those vulnerabilities do anything and don't give him really anything to get from her, because he -- his outreach is so offensive in some ways, at least seen as offensive in some ways that he really i don't think can take away from the african-american votes because

bernie sanders, i think people say he felt he was genuine, they felt he was really trying to reach out to african-american voters and he could not make any headway. i think that teaches us that even if donald trump had a winning message, it would be really hard to take those voters away from hillary clinton. >> robert costa, quickly, separate but important issue here as well, i know you have some reporting on this. there's a couple independent candidates in this race, one of them evan mcmullin. he may be making some inroads in utah, a state donald trump is struggling in, maybe hurting donald trump in arizona and now some word of mitt romney people in mitt romney's orbit having communication with evan. what can you tell us? >> earlier today, evan mcmullin and his campaign advisers met with stuart stevens, chief strategist for mitt romney's 2012 presidential campaign here in washington downtown, talked through the last 70 days of the election. there's a sense mcmullin of course is an outside shot in every state in the country but if he could get his margins up in a high mormon population state like arizona or utah, maybe he could hinder trump from

winning those states and depress his total in the electoral college. that's the thought. >> could be an interesting dilemma for mitt romney because one of the other third party candidates, the presidential nominee for the libertarians, bill weld, guy who helped bring mitt romney into politics. >> that's right. i hear romney right now is in utah and in boston, wherever he is, which home he's in, thinking through his decision. he's been on the sidelines, been very quiet. he's thinking about does he go with mcmullin, someone who also went to byu, shares his faith, or does he go with weld and johnson on the libertarian ticket or maybe he sits it all out. >> very interesting dilemma and potentially consequential in an unlikely state, utah. thank you, all. appreciate the time. coming up, anthony weiner back in the news. the former congressman married to top clinton aide huma abedin has made headlines again after a new sexting report in the "new york post." abedin announcing today she is separating from weiner. donald trump also weighing in. we have the latest details on that story next.

plus, we are just weeks away now from the first presidential debate. already both sides are preparing for battle. two campaign veterans coming here to advise on strategy. also, donald trump calls on hillary clinton to release more of her medical history. this coming days after trump's doctor, the one who wrote he would be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency, reveals that he wrote that letter in just five minutes as a car waited to whisk it away. finally, the "hardball" roundtable is coming to tell me something i don't know. it is the easiest job in this business, folks.

we have new numbers on the rust belt and how three key states are faring for trump and clinton. according to the new polls from emerson in michigan, hillary clinton has a five point lead over donald trump, 45% to 40% there. gary johnson coming in third with 7%. in pennsylvania, clinton by three, 46% for clinton, 43% for trump. gary johnson sitting at 7%. in the battleground state of ohio, it is a tie. 43%-43%. notice that gary johnson hits double digits there, 10% for the lib dwrarn in ohio. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "hardball." hillary clinton's long time aide huma abedin today announced her separation from her husband of

six years, former new york cook congressman anthony woiner. abedin said in a statement this morning quote, after long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, i have made the decision to separate from my husband. during this difficult time, i ask for respect for our privacy. this comes in the wake of a "new york post" report alleging that weiner once again exchanged sexually suggestive photographs with a woman over the internet. the story also includes what appears to be an inappropriate photo of weiner in his underwear lying next to a young child who the "post" says is his son. asked for comment, weiner said he and the woman in question quote have been friends for some time, adding that she has asked me not to comment except to say that our conversations were private, often included pictures of her nieces and nephews and my son and were always appropriate. joined by senior political reporter for politico in new york and senior editor at politics here at msnbc. beth, the connection to the presidential race is anthony weiner is married to hillary clinton's basically top aide,

somebody who if she's elected will play a major role in the white house. donald trump is trying to turn this into an issue basically saying hey, this is a national security issue because hillary clinton trusted huma abedin with national security information and therefore, it could somehow have gotten into the hands of anthony weiner. does this resonate with anybody on that level? >> you know, that's a big stretch. let's just get back for a second to what huma represents in this campaign. people have always been intrigued by her. she was a prominent figure on the trail in 2008 while the secretary of state, she was at her side, too, and now in this presidential campaign. she's a very glamorous woman, she's mysterious, she's incredibly unflappable. people have been intrigued by her and that marriage to then congressman weiner was a cinderella story. it was fun, exciting, certainly covered a lot in new york by the tabloids. then it all kind of came crashing apart. it's a personal story, a very sad story. we saw more of it in the

documentary that -- on the weiner documentary that has been very well received. so does it have any relevance to hillary clinton's campaign, presidential prospects, probably not but it's a distraction. it's not a day they spent talking about donald trump. it's a day they had to do damage control. >> speaking of donald trump, we mentioned he tries to make the national security argument. he also weighed in with a statement saying huma is making a very wise decision. i know anthony weiner well. she will be far better off without him. i only worry for the country in that hillary clinton was careless and negligent in allowing weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information. it is just another example of hillary clinton's bad judgment. it is possible that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this. a clinton aide later telling nbc news that we are not dignifying

that with a response. it is obviously a stretch to make that, but there is, beth was just getting at this, this story i think at its heart to people is fascinating people the mystery of the relationship. people saw this happen five years ago with anthony weiner and she stuck with him, then he tried to make a comeback. for awhile it looked like he might actually get elected mayor in 2013 and it came out again and she still stuck with him. i think that's the documentary. >> he is a wonder. people scratch their heads how this couple got together, then how they stayed together. this is a very sad story. a very personal story. what it's not is a policy story. in all the e-mails we have seen come out from the state department, you see huma abedin playing the role of the gatekeeper, not policy maker. for donald trump to say we are in jeopardy because of huma abedin's the wife of anthony weiner is a stretch. something was tweeted along the lines how does this conspiracy

work? she's away from anthony weiner, therefore he goes gallivanting along and at some point they communicate to the extent that secrets are shared? it doesn't make any sense. for trump this comes at the perfect time. he gets a sex scandal, gets to attack the clintons, gets to enroll huma abedin who some tabloids have tried to stir up this idea that she's a muslim extremist. in all of these -- in this one story he gets everything he wants to talk about while avoiding talking about immigration, the issue he's trying to pivot and potentially losing huge parts of his base. this is a story that helps him secure that. >> i also think there is, this is maybe the final postscript maybe on the public life of anthony weiner. he also lost today his column in the "new york daily news."

he has a deal with a television station in new york they have apparently suspended, it is under review. looks like he's sort of recast himself in public life after the first fall, maybe that could be coming to an end. >> the fact that there was this photograph with his son, it sort of places him in a whole other category. he's no longer just a laughingstock. he's got some significant problem that hopefully he will romantic moments can happen spontaneously, so why pause to take a pill? or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use, is the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently,

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>> this is a tough business. >> you're a tough guy, jeb. >> we need to have a leader that -- >> you're tough. >> you are never going to be president of the united states by insulting your way to the presidency. >> i'm at 43 and you're at three. >> don't worry about it, little marco. you ought to chill. i have given my answer, lyin' ted. i have given my answer. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was donald trump going after his rivals during the republican primary debates. the first general election debate is now just weeks away

set for september 26 at hofstra university on long island here in new york. trump and hillary clinton will meet again on october 9th at washington university i st. louis. on october 19th, at the university of nevada at las vegas. what can we expect from these two candidates as they prepare to take the stage? well, in an interview with "the washington post," a former trump adviser said not only does he want 100 million viewers, he wants to be a showstopper at the roman coliseum. the main event at wrestlemania. perhaps that wrestlemania comparison comes from donald trump taking on the wwe's vince mcmahon back in 2007. take a look. >> look at this! donald trump! donald trump! oh, my god! >> hostile takeover of donald trump on vince mcmahon. >> jeb bush might be having some flashbacks watching that, too. joining me now is republican strategist and msnbc analyst ben ginsburg and lis smith, who

advised former maryland governor martin o'malley. ben, let me start with you. we made a montage of donald trump versus the republican field. lot of memorable moments in those debates this year. basically it was donald trump trying to dismiss their attacks with a put-down, with an insult, sort of a very alpha line of attack. in a one-on-one debate with hillary clinton, does that same strategy work? >> probably not. i think they are obviously aware of that. what you have seen with donald trump's positions on immigration, his outreach to the african-american and hispanic communities, give you a hint that there is going to be sort of a different approach to these upcoming debates. >> part of that i guess is the challenge of any campaign, any candidate approaching these debates, is to study up on the issues so you're not blindsided, you can give 90 second,

two-minute answer on whatever policy question you are thrown, really doesn't seem that reading the briefing books has been donald trump's strength. you think his campaign can get him to do that? >> oh, i think so. every candidate before a debate has a moment of recognition that they are out there flapping by themselves on a not very strong limb in a very stiff breeze having to answer questions in front of 60 million people. so candidates do tend to study up. but it's also important to remember there are two parts to any debate prep. one is the substance as you mention, but there is a performance art to these debates and that's different for the primary debates than the general election debates. >> lis smith, if you were behind the scenes with hillary clinton getting ready to go out there with 100 million people or whatever it is watching, she's got to stand on the stage with donald trump for 90 minutes, no commercials, what are you telling her to do? >> wow.

well, as you can imagine i get asked this question a lot. how do you prepare for a debate against someone like donald trump. that would be like preparing for a duel against a chimpanzee with a machine gun because you have no idea what the heck is going to happen. >> dangerous. >> very dangerous. look, to the extent that donald trump has a playbook, we did see it in the primary debates. number one, as the video showed before, his first resort is to go to personal insults. hillary clinton and her team, they can view this as okay, how do we get back at him like marco rubio and jeb bush did, or they could use it as an opportunity. i think the opportunity they have there is that hillary clinton isn't chris christie. when donald trump is throwing personal insults at her, it makes him look like a bully, makes him look bad. number two, i think she can turn around and make him look

temperamentally unfit to be president. that's something she has been doing and i think she can use it to underscore the main message of her campaign. so it's a big risk. i don't have ben's faith in donald trump that he won't resort to personal insults. his campaign has been very, very heavy on them recently making insinuations about secretary clinton's health, attacking her female staffers. i think he will go there and i think the clinton campaign needs to be prepared for that and to take that and turn it into a winning moment for her. >> that's interesting because i have been thinking about that. i think hillary clinton is an excellent debater. i think back to 2008 when she ran against barack obama. i thought she beat him basically across the board in the debates they had. she didn't win the nomination but i think she won the debates. i'm thinking of the moment that was most memorable from those debates. it was when barack obama said something negative toward her personally. when he said you are likeable enough and it sounded mean to people, it sounded nasty to people. a lot of people think at that moment the way that came across rallied democrats around hillary clinton, it was why she was able

to win the new hampshire primary in '08. that dynamic, i think donald trump has got to be aware of just given his style. >> yeah. look, i think that's right. i think that his people are telling him you need, you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. this is your chance to reach beyond the 13 million primary voters. i think it is a challenge which they are aware of, but it is a matter of him, the polls, for example, say that his main problem with voters right now is that he comes across ascary and may not have a presidential temperament. so that's what you have to go right after in a debate. the reality is, you probably have to do that in the first 45 minutes of the debate, is to show you've got substance and show you have the temperament to be president. that is a tall order. but he's also got roger ailes

helping him out, who is the real master of being able to frame up debates correctly. >> we are less than a month away. clinton versus trump. the political debate you never thought you would see but we will see it. thanks for joining us. appreciate it. up next, the doctor is in. what trump's doctor has to say about that infamous letter proclaiming his perfect health. plus, trump challenges clinton to reveal even more medical details. the roundtable is coming up next.

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. >> welcome back to "hardball." donald trump has been questioning hillary clinton's health and stamina as he says for weeks now. last night, he issued a challenge to his rival tweeting i think both candidates, crooked hillary and myself, should release detailed medical records. i have no problem in doing so. hillary? a clinton aide told nbc news they will not be releasing more medical records and that it is

up to trump to produce a legitimate and detailed letter from a doctor. they are referring to the friday disclosure by trump's physician to nbc news that he wrote a four paragraph letter calling trump's health astonishingly excellent in just five minutes. >> i guess he called, he said the clinton organization was going to publish a letter on her health and i know her physician and i know some of her health history which is really not so good, so i said why not. i would do that for you, too, if you needed it. >> and so the car was waiting outside? >> the end of the day, they came to get their letter. >> so just tell me about the time crunch. like you wrote it quickly? >> i thought about it all day and at the end, i get rushed and i get anxious when i get rushed. i try to get four or five lines down as fast as possible that they would be happy with. >> but it was based on your evaluation? >> it's all true. >> let's bring in the "hardball" roundtable. joan walsh from the nation, raul yes contributor for nbc

news.com and katherine appel from "washington post." trump has been trying to go down this road for a long time now. he wants this whispering campaign to be out there about hillary clinton. i guess my question is, looking at that video we are playing there from the trump doctor, the letter that was put together in five minutes -- >> typo-riddled. >> saying it would be the most excellent health of anybody ever elected president. >> unequivocally. >> is the wind out of the sails of that argument because of this doctor? >> he has no ground to stand on. by saying that hillary is hiding something, that she hasn't disclosed enough information. hillary's doctor has actually released much more information about hillary clinton. i'm sure it's not comprehensive. we haven't seen her mris or whatever.

but there's much more detail we know about her certainly than about trump. you could probably state unequivocally this is the most ridiculous letter that has ever been written. >> what can trump get out of this? he's still pushing it. the video from the doctor comes out, he's still out there pushing it. where does he think he's catching on with this? >> he's got the doctor saying he doesn't think she's in good health although that doctor looks like he's hunter thompson's doctor. can we just say that. not to judge on appearances but also judging by the ridiculous typo-filled letter. but this is i think what did paul ryan call the classic definition of a racist comment? this is a classic definition of sexism. men, bad men, basically said for centuries that women can't handle the rigors of most jobs but most importantly, the presidency, because our tiny little lady brains you know, our proclivity to hysteria and exhaustion just disqualify us from leading the free world. that's essentially what he's saying when you listen to him. it's not about anything that's

been released about her records or her concussion or anything like that. they play on certain, you know, things that we know but it's sically straightforward she doesn't have the stamina. >> yeah. that's been a message from trump for awhile now. there is physical health. there is also the issue of mental health that came into the conversation over the weekend. former obama campaign manager david plouffe had some tough words for donald trump on "meet the press." take a look. >> i think the assessment was that donald trump would try and do some things to appeal to the middle of the electorate, to appeal to suburban college educated women. he's not. we basically have a psychopath running for president. he meets the clinical definition. >> wait a minute. do you really think diagnosing people on air, i assume you don't have a degree in

psychology. is that fair? we are jumping to conclusions here. i think this is what gets voters a little frustrated with this campaign. >> listen, the grandiose notion of self-worth, pathological lying, lack of empathy and remorse. i think he does. i don't have a degree in psychology. >> that's david plouffe there. i have heard it's not just david plouffe. i have heard opinions offered about donald trump's mental health and we could say it's unfair for him to go down some of the roads he's going down against hillary clinton but is it fair to be going down that road against donald trump? >> well, in this instance, i think it is not helpful. if you want to make a case against donald trump, there is

so much documented behavior, there is his history of islamophobia, xenophobic remarks. go through those things. go through the incoherent policy. if you want to make a case for hillary clinton in terms of mental health, if you are a clinton surrogate, hillary clinton also has a documented history of providing access for veterans and students to mental health care. i believe she wants to convene a national white house, some type of convention within her first year of office for mental health. do all those things. bring all those up. this is just a distraction.

i will say, i happen to admire him, i think he's a great strategist, but i think if you want to talk about, if you want to be helpful, this is just a distraction even if he had a degree in psychology. even if he were a doctor. the fact is he's not donald trump's doctor. >> that would be more ethical. >> it's just inappropriate. i want to say there's a difference between that and talking about certain things in hillary clinton's behavior. behavior is one thing. that's apparent. but when you diagnose someone, only a doctor can make a clinical diagnosis. >> quick question. there has been this whole issue out there as well about donald trump's tax returns which he refuses to put forward. he says that's because of an audit. >> of course not. >> is there any possibility here

you can play "hardball" online. follow us on facebook, you will get access to videos and behind the scenes photos as "hardball" hits the road covering this wild 2016 campaign. we'll be right back.

we are back with joan, raul and katherine. last thursday maine's republican governor paul lepage left a profanity laced voice mail for a democratic colleague. in the tirade he said he was offended because he believed he had been called a racist, which the governor strongly denies. let's listen.

>> this is governor paul richard lepage. i would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a talk to you about your comments about my being a raist you [ bleep ] i want to talk to you. i want you to prove i'm a racist. i spent my life helping black people and you little son of a -- socialist, i want you to record this and make it public because i am after you. thank you. >> this morning, he said the governor needs to seek professional help. >> i don't expect the governor to apologize to me again. that is absolutely not his style. i think maine people are getting extremely concerned after six years and these kind of escalating events with respect to our governor he is now at the point he isn't fit to be governor and needs to get some

sort of professional help. >> the associated press reportintoday, the state's top democratic lawmaker wants the state constitution changed so the legislature could consider recalling the governor. according to the ap, justin alfond said monday that the process of chaning the maine constitution to allow for a recall would be long and arduous but could be worth to it try to remove lepage from office and said lepage should step down anyway and he said he would not resign unless several of his opponents do as well. >> and steven king, the famous maine resident tweeted paul lepage is a bigot, homophobe and racist. i think that about covers it. the saga didn't just start with this. it has been going on a long time. got elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 and said things people consider way over the line before. i'm sitting you here almost

ready to ask you the question, is this the end for paul lepage and i feel we asked it a million times before. >> we asked it and the thing is a lot of these tea party guys that won like scott walker and paul lepage, they will never face the presidential electorate more minority and non-white. he is a little bit protective and he said things like this before. i think steven king was completely within his rights to use the words he did unlike psychopath because he has a documented history of homophobia and racism and bigotry. >> in 2013 there was that ebola quarantine he ordered right before the election and very controversial and did poll very well. he is a supporter of donald trump. there are clear similarities there between the styles, the very over the top inflammatory, i'm never going to apologize, you come at me, i will come at you ten times as hard style. some people look at that and say paul lepage shows in 2014 maybe

in that re-election there was a silent vote for him and some question, is there a silent vote for donald trump out there? >> i don't know about that. paul lepage has even called himself, the probably said he was the original donald trump before there was a national donald trump. the problem for lepage's opponents trying to do a recall is so difficult, it requires, the last election was high turnout, it requires a high percentage of voters, a great distraction from government. i know being from california as well, when you have these recall elections there are all sorts of unintended consequences. gray davis was recalled in california and that paved the way for arnold schwarzenegger who left the state with many problems. a recall election is not always the way to solve this type of situation. you can say that this governor, he's offensive, he's raist and clearly bigoted. he hasn't crossed the line into

criminality or allegations of criminal behavior. it would be hard to see what the grounds are for a recall other than being offensive. >> i remember that california recall, in terms of a pure fun political -- you had 65 names on the ballot out there, you had schwarzenegger, peter was there. ariana huffington was running. that was a show. california ended up with schwarzenegger. roundtable will return and you will tell me something i don't know. we're back. the panel is with me and they're

each going to tell me something i don't know. we'll start with you. >> today, there were a lot of stories about a binew poll out from the public, religion research institute, very trustworthy, showing donald trump is losing catholics by 25 points. the most interesting thing embedded in the poll was that he is also losing white catholics by three points. mitt romney won white catholics by 19 points. this is another disaster demographic group for trump.

>> remember that karl rove idea of the permanent republican majority catholics were such a key part. >> today, dhs, department of homeland security announced the government will start a process of reviewing its practice of having private contractors for immigration detention. that's along the lines of doj reviewing the contracts with private prisons. the reason it matters, it will make a huge difference for people potentially in immigration detention centers where there's a lot of abuse violatios and unsanitary conditions and matters because for now this is how we will see immigration policy change in incremental small ways, even after the election we likely not see a broad wave of reform, it will go small pieces. >> wednesday, donald trump will give his speech on immigration in arizona.

>> it will be a revelation, i'm sure. >> i have a poll staff that i think even rivals yours, hispanic voters actually don't dislike trump as perhaps his inflammatory rhetoric or pundits might believe particularly those english dominant. >> those spanish dominant favor hillary clinton and those english are ahead 47-41. >> i didn't know that. i do now. thank you for watching. "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us, all in with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on all in. >> this is a national crisis. >> down in the polls the quote-unquote trump outreach continues. >> the cousin of nba star dwyane wade, great guy, dwyane wade, was the victim of a tragic shooting in chicago. >> tonight, the backlash to donald trump's racial appeal in the wake of shooting. plus, is the wall with mexico going virtual. >> who is going to pay for the wall? >> mexico! >> 71 days out, the latest version of trump's immigration