game time for clinton and trump. let's play hardball. good evening. i'm steve in for chris matthews. the labor day weekend is upon us. while they means americans will have a three-day weekend to celebrate the weaning days of summer it also marks the kick off of the general election, the home stretch. less than ten weeks to go and all indications are that they are entering on an uneven playing field.

it is showing the clinton campaign have identified so many paths to an election day victory they are now focusing on the one or two battlegrounds that would ensure a win but opening up the possibility of a college landsli landslide. the trump campaign is yet to answer some questions, the plan to get to 270 electoral votes remains unclear. the watt l ground state deployment is a plan in progr s progress -- with that in mind let's take a look over here at the big board about where things stand as we hit the labor day home stretch. this is not where the race

stands right now thchlt is where republicans wanted the race to stand right now. when this general election campaign a few months ago, if you had said then, where do you hope this presidential race stands they would hope it is a very close race in terms of lek terror r-- electoral votes. we'll show you piece by piece what it look like. there have been developments. we'll start with two states that everybody, and i mean everybody, said we have swing states that no longer look like swing states it. this is a state republicans won clear through 2004 through 2008. you can see here by four points but hillary clinton's lead exploded in that state right now.

not looks like a swing state and neither is colorado. most recent poll has hillary clinton this running 14 points ahead. two states we thought were swing states are looking more like hillary clinton's states. states we pencilled in and said they are trump states because they are always republican states, they are not red states. most recent poll hillary clinton up by 2 in north carolina. romney won by 7, most recent poll has trump up 4. not a very comfortable lead for donald trump. it is a lead but you can't call it a safe red state. donald trump is up a single point in the most recent poll. how about arizona again in

double digits for romney. what does it do to the map. you can't call them red states. you can't say georgia is. you can't say massachusetts is. look how it starts to change. now, some of those other battle groun ground states. you can start with new hampshire. donald trump won this in the primary. hillary clinton, an 11-point lead. a couple of polls like that in new hampshire. how much have we heard about trump km peting? most recent poll, seven points for hillary clinton. some putting her double digits ahead. hillary clinton leading small but leading in florida. hillary clinton leading in a small margin.

a four-point lead in ohio. wisconsin down to 3. democratics would like it to be more. z still, that is lead. best news for wisconsin, the best news right now is right here. he is in a tie. nevada also, hillary clinton a smaller lead than president obama had but still a lead. keep that in mind. all of those battleground states. you can't point to a single one right now. these are states you have got to be flipping. she is up double digits in new hampshire. bottom line, heading into the home stretch. look how low he is. trump would have to run the table to get to 270.

he need as shake s a shake up t path to the white house. i am joined by amy and hue hue hewist. what is the single most important thing he needs to do? >> there needs to be a shake up. i think it does come down pennsylvania in the end. luckily today -- and i know you're coming to this later in the program, there was a saturday night massacre and september 20 a narrative of the reputation on hillary clinton and e-mails. it will change the race beginning monday and i don't

think the old labor day, i think we'll be studying this report over the weekend. she had a terrible week and he had a very good week. >> you're right. we'll get into that later in more detail. from hillary clinton's standpoint, she is ahead. what is if biggest threat hillary clinton faces in the home stretch? is it the d.o.j. in what is the biggest threat? >> it doesn't go any further than we have already heard. it is a real problem a real issue. she didn't know something about classified material. >> okay. so you -- >> so you don't think that's a threat. what is? >> i think the thing she needs to worry about the most is that donald trump becomes sane.

he didn't drool. it was supposed to be part of a piv pivot. he lost half of the advisory board. he is not doing anything to reach the voters in the swing states. she is playing rope or dope. let him flail and if he stays where she is she is in a good position. do well at the debates. really, let him go around and around who can't keep his latino advisers aboard. >> top aids were confident of victory. according to the washington post the tough talk on immigration combined with a world trip won him the election. the new york times reported that several associates have told his son eric that trump is in real

danger of losing. rns strategists indy kate to the younger mr. trump his father's already narrow path to the 270 electoral votes. that's sort of a version of what the state by state map looks like right now. they mentioned that the immigration speech. trump feels they took a big step forward with the immigration step this week. given all that he is up against, do you think he helped by what he said on imdwrags. >> sh. >> in answer to his question, question, donald trump looking presidential is a big threat and even howard wolfson said donald trump's trip to mexico was a home run. the media is analyzing his

speech in very different ways. i watched it and i heard a stuff tone but in terms of sur stance i thought he was straying the middle of the road. i understand be i think they like that message, that he will be putting hillary clinton first. >> let's stay on that for a second. we talk about the tone of the speech and the emphasis on crime. he had the parents of victims of crimes that had been by illegal immigrants. he is trying to figure out why clinton is winning and why trump is losing. it it comes down to people that are conservative.

they worry about their taxes but they don't like being associated with somebody who says the inflammatory things donald trump has. i'm having a hard time seeing how those volters warm up to him because of it. >> it depends if they listen to it. i agree that i thought it was a very energetic speech but comprehensively on immigration. going back to you i think very completely accurate assessment of the map, wisconsin, iowa, nevada, are where donald trump to shake the map up. how do they plan those three states? i think it plays very very well. it's not going get you back colorado. nevada is a funny state because of trump's presence there. how does it plan iowa, pennsylvania and wisconsin? he promises security. he el visits for the media of

those not in the country legally. he does so so more humor and grace. it was his very best day of the campaign in the middle of a week where hillary clinton began on the front page of the los angeles times and ended up with a terrible report today. i think we'll see a much tighter race. >> and some sounded like they believe hillary clinton win is in the cards for november. >> check it out. >> arizona will need a senator that will act as a stamp, not a rubber stamp for the white house. >> the message that we have is

pretty good. it seems to boil down to mr. trump's penalty being not what people like as opposed to where the issues are. republicans are where many of the american people are. >> that mccain ad, it take mes back when the republicans concluded he was toast. they wanted to save the congress. they started saying hey, give us a check. seeing shades of that right now in that ad. >> i think it has a lot more to do with john mccain and he is trying to appeal to his moderates in arizona. you also have to ask a question in politics compared to what? we are talking about donald trump and his tone or demeanor. hillary clinton, it was reported that the highest negativity unfavorability in her career. the bad news that's come out last week and this week ip

collude tg children to be foup dagts and half of the people that she met were donors. this has not been good for her. i would say that very firing speech that she gave attacking donald trump and donald trump voters, i thought it was a sign of week waakness. hillary clinton was willing to sling that mud because i think she is afraid of donald trump. she is afraid that message is getting through. >> this is a message we have been talking about. hillary clinton, those high negative numbers, are we at a point where we have to say what happens in this election, she may still win, that problem for her is unfixable? >> it may be but her negative numbers are still lower than donald trump's.

i can't get get over how people with look at that, screaming and running as something that would play well with the general elector r elect elect electorate. it is ludicris to think he gained when he lost supporters. he has the knowledge or twoblt. >>. when we come back we'll get a full report on the fbi neats. this is hb hb, the place -- this is "hardball," a place for poll it cans.

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clinton told investigators she used a personal e-mail and she did not remember anyone raising concerns about it. what are the headlines coming out of the this? >> one, she didn't remember how to handle sensitive investigation because of the concussion she suffered in 2012. that's one of the revelations from these documents that's raising eyebrows. she also said she didn't know what the letter c meant on some of the e-mails. i spoke with a former federal official who said that is really hard to believe given all that the briefings that she had.

finally, they say they had no evidence her server was ever hacked but that is inconclusive because she had over 13 devices over time. donald trump called her a liar. and bottom line, it continues to fuel the voters lack of trust. it is something she'll need to address particularly in the debate. >> that's right. we are entering the home stretch of the presidential campaign. thanks for the time. i appreciate it. we'll be right back. khloe is th.

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welcome back. we know who the moderator will be. lester holt will be at the helm for the first debate on the night of september 26th. other moderators include anderson cooper and chris wall as. clinton an her advisers are preparing demand they see as the ultimate wild card while not doing further harm to her image. she has told friends since the

spring in private huddles fed by to trump by allies like roger stones. she also said advisers have been peppering her including wild card shots at her family. glenn joins me now. thanks for taking a few minutes. they want to now which donald trump will show up. we know trump that would say little marco rub owe. >> this domesticated version of trump. she said she was concerned he would present graf tas. it is a much more difficult debate for her. i think it is a weakness and i think people on dlin ton's team

are trying to compensate on that weakness. that in and of itself is a wild card. >> do they then try to give her some lines to provoke a response? how do they handle that? >> absolutely. she really has a two-told challenge. she will look better by comparison. the second component of that is to really deal with these trust issues. we saw this 11 page summary of the discussion with the fbi. washington post reported it was a 25 year high.

she has business and for a long time her strategy has been to pray for the best. we have seen significant erosion in her numbers. >> that's "hardball" for now. coming up next, your business. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? to show your roots. with root touch up from nice'n easy it blends with leading shades, even salon shades. in just 10 minutes. so pick your shade. and show the world your roots... ...with root touch-up.

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