it is, after all, october, and the election in the 11th hour. the tax man cometh. let's play "hardball." good evening. you know those old polaroid photographs? you shook the picture and you see it slowly come into view before you. is thatter what we're seeing with donald trump? day after day some the real man reveals more and are month of himself. we watch him on stage or read his tweets and see what he says on fox. and gradually the picture comes into focus. and how does it happen all at once? he can use the teleprompter so he won't speak out. he can't be stopped from gradually relentlessly being donald trump. we have the popular image of

trump. the successful real estate develop here celebrates his wealth and business acumen. you have the other trump, the one that emerges from reporting like this weekend's bombshell new york times story. that's the trump that according to the times declared, a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns. a tax deduction so substantial could it have allowed him to avoid federal income taxes for 18 years. the trump campaign has neefr denied nor confirmed the rt, reporting. they say their candidate is a genius. today on the trail, hillary clinton took a swing at her possibly. his name is trump. let's watch. in the debate emit was smart to avoid paying taxes.

yesterday his campaign was bragging, it makes him a genius. here's my question. what kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year? this is trump to a t. he's taken a corporate excess and made a business model out of it. he abuses his power. gains the system. puts his own interests ahead of the country's. it is trump first and everyone else last. >> she's rolling up the score. trump defended his business success at a rally in colorado today. let's watch it. >> i understand the tax laws better than almost anyone. which is why i am one who can truly fix them. as a businessman and real estate developer, i have legally used the tax laws to my benefit. i have brilliantly used those laws. the news media is now obsessed

with an alleged tax filing from the 1990s at the end of one of the most brutal economic downturns in our country's history. i was able to use the tax laws in this country and my business acumen to dig out of the real estate mess. i reached within myself and delivered for my company. and the communities where my properties existed and i really delivered. >> meanwhile, trump the campaigner coming into focus this weekend while advisers and supporters like night gingrich. he went offscript saturday night. he mocked hillary clinton for her illness, her state of mind and her marriage. >> she is supposed to fight all of these different things and she can't make it 15 feet to her car. give me a break. give me a break.

she's got bad temperament. she could be crazy. she should be in prison. let me tell you. she should be in prison. >> hillary clinton's only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself. i don't even think she's loyal to bill, if you want to know truthful really, folks, why should she be, right? why should she be? >> wow! for more on the real donald trump, i'm joined by hallie jackson. and "huffington post" director howard fine. you're on the site right now. let's talk about donald trump this weekend. was there an effort to get him to talk along the liens that co-win the election? i've been saying this myself. he had a winning message for weeks.

the polling we've got tonight to show you shows that he's blown it. he has blown the lead in the campaign. he is now down behind her. about 5 points on average. that can be lethal in a campaign a month out from an election. why doesn't he talk about the issues that got him to where he is? jobs, illegal immigration? stupid wars. yes is he talking about matcheda and everything else that will never get him a single vote. >> right. and bill clinton and hillary clinton and all of these questions. he seems to be unable to help himself. when you look at saturday night. i think there was evidence of this. his campaign wants him to be talking about jobs and the economy and national security. i had an adviser, somebody close to the campaign say to me today, i wish i didn't have to go out and talk about these issues. i will because the media is picking up on it. i would rather talk about national security and some of these issues that have put trump where he is. the problem is, he cannot help going back after hillary clinton

when he feels attacked. that's what you saw saturday night in a sound bite you played from his rally in p.a. today he tried on get back on message. let it be noted, his campaign had a script that he was supposed to be delivering that night and we saw again and again him veer off that script. he didn't look at the prompter. he riffed. today he was at the national security forum. he was talking about veterans trying to get back on message. with trump we have seen that it rarely sticks. >> calling hillary crazy is nutty it civil. he nobody thinks she is crazy. you may not like the mind but it is sound as hell. let's look at the brand new -- go ahead. >> remember what we've seen. i remember talking to you two months ago with something very similar to this. trump turns the exact same attacks around.

so hillary clinton and her campaign comes out and calls him unhinged, for him he turns around and calls her crazy. this fits the pat person he has delivered on when. >> we did that when we were 5 years old. let's look at the brands new polls. according to the new poll, look at these numbers. 47-42. last month trump was ahead by 2 points. a shift of 7. in the new new york times poll, cbs poll. clinton leads by 4 points. i'm going to howard fineman. even i remember, you and i have watched these caaigns. a 5-point shift a huge deal. >> especially the late. the last week that he's is the

worst political week i can remember any national politician ever having. i'm surprised he is even at 40%. he packed it up and went home. there is a strong constituency that will reach out to him regardless as an agent of change. we know who they are. however, he has not expanded. he is back to the core that he was at a while ago. he blew an opportunity this past week, starting with the debate. continuing through today. to expand that base. >> susan, if he wins the election, is it still possible? the headlines in the paper, won't be that he won because he won the battle of machda. it cost lots of manufacturing jobs. he is not even writing the headline himself. another point of politics.

at this point the average person is paying attention. six months ago when he was saying his stuff, a very small percentage were watching. he doesn't seem to know that he has the potential to go out in the debate platform and speak to a huge audience and change a lot of minds. he doesn't seem to be it is the big circus now. it is not the little side show anymore. >> the land scape has changed. it is an year for steady as she goes. >> that's the problem that hillary clinton has. this is a year for change, for fresh blood, for shaking things up. but he goes too far. miss machado, at least she got the bad treatment of somebody 20 years ago. it was bad. it is objectively bad. you treat a little person badly. you apologize. you move on. you say that was not good moment. i sometimes get in a rush.

i'm not you said pressure. this beauty contest stuff is a business like everything else. there are ways you can answer it without prostrating yourself on the ground. >> people can explain and it accept it. people don't expect you to be set in perfect forever and ever. >> he is unwilling to be told. >> sometimes you have to stoop to conquer. i mentioned about trump's surrogates across the country. over the weekend to defend, the story about his not paying taxes. getting a tax break of almost a billion dollars in 1995. the message? trump is a genius. let's watch. >> my response is he is a genius. >> a genius? >> absolute genius. his application of the tax code. and he would have been a fool not to take advantage of it. >> great men have big failures and they take those failures and turn them to great results. i would rather have a genius like donald trump running the country.

>> there is no one who has shown more genius in their way to maneuver around the tax code. >> this is a guy who when lots of businesses went out of business, he clawed back to create another fortune. to create tens of thousands of more jobs and this is a very, very good story for trump. >> you know, when you sit down and do your taxes, if they're not too complicated to do yourself. some people use the short form. people look for deductions. they really do. the husband and wife sit there and sweat it out and try to be honest. they'll take breaks if they're thrown at them but they say, let's be straight about. this we'll do this honestly. and those people who do that go, i'm getting screwed. paying a very high percentage. i don't make that much money when you add together all the taxes. i'm an honest guy, an honor women. then they see mr. trump, mr. wonderful, taking tax breaks for a billion dollars.

i'm a chump. the big shot with the big old building and the beautiful wife showing off. that guy is bragging about, let me get this right again, dear, a genius. that's what they say. i guess i'm not a genius, dear. we didn't get any money back this year after paying our taxes. i guess should i study how to be a genius. it is insane, the politics of this. forget morality. why are they putting these guys on the road to say that? >> a couple points. i am told that is coming from trump himself. i am told that he believes this will be overall neutral for him. because of the flip side that it is relatable that somebody would look for tax loopholes and deductions.

people at home are for deductions that will help them ultimately save money. what you are seeing from donald trump surrogates. from trump himself today at his two stops in colorado is the important trail of donald trump as the ultimate success story. someone who did lose a billion dollars in a single year in the mid 90s. who went on to have in his view, success. 10, 15, 20 years later. that's how he is hoping the frame and spin this. what if this is more is the more tax numbers that come out? how does donald trump then handle that narrative? at the moment. trump again from what i'm hearing doesn't see this as harmful to his campaign. >> i just did the math. most people would have to work 2,000 years to make this kind of money. 2,000 years to get near his tax break. >> senator bradley of new jersey who worked trump on this stuff

told me, the story of donald trump is he became addicted on tax losses. he became addicted, his business became the manipulation of the tax code. not the actual construction of buildings. what trump did was ten to use the tax breaks to then turn the business into one of branding and fame and not construction of buildings. it has reinforced about this, why he doesn't show his tax returns. eight out of ten americans believe he should. it raises questions about how we will ran a business and just about the general fairness of not paying taxes. >> guess who has to defend all this stuff tomorrow night? mike pence. >> when donald trump gets backed sow a corner he reacts with 3:00 al tweets. the big potential is not just the story itself. it is in the debate next week. in that town hall on sunday.

if he is backed into a corner, who knows what he says in front of those people in the town hall. >> and they're not a great place to talk about somebody else's sex life. town halls are essentially anti-squeamish. they do not like conversations about infidelity and stuff like that. whatever they think when they're in the locker room talking, they don't like it out in public. >> i agree hallie. the ultimate test of whether he can discipline himself, we'll see on it sunday. >> we've had a few chances to see that. thank you. you have a good assignment there. and thank you, howard fineman. up next, trump's rough patch continues. as the state of new york clamps down on the trump foundation.

with only five weeks left until election day, he was hoping to turn around with a swing through colorado today. but his message was steered off course when earlier today it was reported that the office of new york attorney general eric snyderman who support hillary clinton, ordered trump to stop fundraising in new york state because it is not properly registered. specifically, the cease and desist letter who found it was involved in solicitation or phrasing in new york state. it is not and was not registered. it come in the wake of a report by the "washington post" that found the trump foundation lacks the certification required for charities that solicit money. when asked about the letter, trump campaign press secretary issued the following statement. while we remain very concerned about the political motives behind the investigation, the trump foundation nevertheless intends to cooperate fully with the investigation. because this is an ongoing legal matter, the trump foundation will not comment further at this time.

dave, you're behind this whole thing. you came one the investigation. this crime. do you know what bugs me is the these guys just break the rules, pay the fine and move on. they will to have pay a fine. is that what they'll face? the trump people for not registering? >> most painful part is that they have to submit to the audit. they were supposed to be licensed to raise money. if they bring in auditors to look at the foundation's books which hasn't happened ever. >> why do they have to tell the government how to operate? how come they didn't know that donald trump has a foundation and he never bothered to register it? >> they were investigating. i was talking to a law professor for another story and she said look at these four letters.

>> certainly. that's of the things they're looking into. the trump foundation made an illegal political gift on a that grew supporting pam bondi in 2014 at the time her office was considering launching an investigation into trump university. >> they say it was an accident. >> yes. >> someone had to tell them. >> yeah. me. >> it is called rolling disclosure. they tell the truth when they have to. where this election stands tonight. on the eve of the vice presidential debate. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients

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the campaign continues on an agenda set by hillary clinton and followed by donald trump. it is directed toward winning women of especially those more conservative married women who live in the suburbs. vote here's could have like either of the two major candidates. it is remarkable to see how

effective hillary clinton has been the past week in undermining donald trump with his powerful swing electorate. she is singly responsible for bringing alicia machado. because she's done it, trump has been pulled off his position. ever since the debate, he should be talking about trade deals, he's been contorting himself. thanks to a mysterious tipster, trump finds himself being the beneficiary of a near billion-dollar tax loss. instead of talking about his success in business he is drawn into an interminable discussion about why he spends so much time getting out of taxes and why that makes him to use his word, smart. to win, a candidate needs to focus on his or her issues. trump has a little more than a month to get that done. that's "hardball" for now. join me tomorrow at 7:00 eastern.

see you then.

>> tonight, as clinton moves ahead in key battleground states, why donald trump's tax trouble is just starting. >> the state of the trump campaign as their top surrogate gets ready to debate. and another decision -- >> this fall it's very tough. >> lebron james takes his talents to brooklyn. >> i was especially honored to receive the endot