what a week it was. my thanks to all of you. most of all, thanks to you for watching. that does it for our hour. i'll see you here for deadly white house at 4:00 p.m. the joker is wild. let's play hardball. good evening. i'm chris matthews back in washington. well, two events last night, 1,200 miles apart showcased the dramatic difference between the democrats and donald trump. in houston the top ten democrats met for their third debate jousting to become their party's candidate in 2020. meanwhile republican members of congress met in baltimore to hear from their party's unchallenged leader. it was a battle for america's attention from a president who can't stand a moment from the spotlight.

and true to form trump unloaded a series of attacks on the democratic field. >> i hit pocahontas way too early. i thought she was gone. she's emerged from the ashes, and now it looks like she could beat sleepy joe. he's fallen asleep. he has no idea what the hell he's doing or saying. and here's sleepy joe, what? where am i? just sign here, sleepy joe. crazy bernie, he is a crazy guy. i think it was buttigieg, they said think of it as boot and edge edge because nobody can pronounce this guy's name. >> actually that is the way to pronounce it. the democrats sharing the stage in texas may have differed on the issues, but they were unified in their purpose, of course. they all trained their sights on the man we just heard from, trump. >> houston, we have a problem. we have a guy there that is literally running our country like a game show.

>> you know, when i first got into this race i remember president trump scoffed and said he'd like to see me making a deal with xi jinping. i'd like to see him making a deal with xi jinping. >> we have a white supremacist in the white house and he poses a mortal threat to people of color all across this country. >> we must and will defeat trump, the most dangerous president in the history of this country. >> there's enormous, enormous opportunity once be get rid of donald trump. >> and now president trump, you can go back to watching fox news. [ cheers and applause ] >> well, while the democrats sought to earn the support of rank-and-file voters, trump spoke as a president who has the republican party already in his clutches. >> i go to audiences, i was joking one time recently. i walked up to him and i i said listen i don't have to make a very long speech. you really have to elect me, whether you like me or not it makes no difference because our

country will go to hell if any of these people get in. it'll go to hell. but i said, you know, i was joking but i'm really not joking. you have no choice. >> sounds like louie xiv or xvi. as "the new york times" put it, the president's speech last night hit virtually everyone of his political lines. as he careened between prepared remarks, ad-libbed, and boasts about his record. at times trump's address felt more like an act even using wind turbines as setup material. >> try dropping a windmill someplace close to your house, try selling your house. they make noise, they kill all the birds. the energy is intermittent. you happen to be watching the democrat debate and the wind isn't blowing, you're not going to see -- charlie, what the hell happened to this debate? he says, darling, the wind isn't blowing. the goddamn windmill stopped,

that windmill stopped. >> frump trump's latest complaint is about energy-efficient light bulbs. >> the bulb that we're being forced to use, number one to me most importantly, the light's no good. i always look orange. [ laughter ] and so do you. the light is the worst. >> mr. president, actually some would say it's not the light bulbs. and while trump has criticized baltimore as a rat rodent infested mess, the only rat that was apparent during his visit last night in baltimore was an inflatable one. there it is meant to look like him. among the many demonstrators who gathered to protest the president's appearance. that's pretty well-done there. i'm joined by susan page, washington bureau chief of "usa today," and a democratic candidate for the united states senate in south carolina, sir, michael steele, former spokesperson for house speaker

john boehner and ronald reagan. there you are. you've got the smirk. i can't resist the smirk. i've got to ask you about trump and his joker. it's just like jack nicholson, he can't stand somebody else on television. he can't stand people watching the democrats' debate. here he is careening from light bulbs to wind turbines. there wasn't a topic last night that he didn't find something to talk about. your thoughts about trump's interruption of our lives again. your thoughts. >> well, you know, donald trump sees the presidency obviously as a reality television show, and that's how he relates to all of this. how am i doing in the ratings? how are the polls? are people applauding? am i getting laughs here? but the whole thing is beginning to spiral downward in a very alarming sort of way. again, we can laugh about his behavior, but the fact of the matter is he's sitting in the oval office and that makes his behavior a very scary thing. >> you know, it reminded me

about these old comedians of one line after another, like take my wife, please. you know those henny youngman lines. it was like that last night, like take my presidency, please. your thoughts, jaime. >> i hope there aren't a lot of people going to these speeches because i know they're losing brain cells. you have a president talking about light bulbs, and chris, it just doesn't make any sense. >> it makes them yellow. >> i guess it makes them yellow -- >> i'm sorry, i've been corrected. >> well, in the end he's going to be red because he's going to be very upset when he loses this election. he's not talking about the issues that people are dealing with right now. the people that are rubber stamping his election like my senator lindsey graham are not focused on the issues that people are dealing with right now. >> there's setup material on that on everything he does. it isn't just jokes. all the jokes are at the expense of anybody concerned about energy, anybody concerned about

climate change. they're sort of, you know, against modernism, against reality, against facts, and his audience has to laugh at all that. we don't like these new light bulbs, we don't like wind. why wouldn't you like wind and saving the planet? >> he's been anti-wind from the beginning. this is not a change of position. he was against wind turbines even in the 2016 election. here's what was interesting about his speech last night. this is the argument he's going to make against whoever wins the democratic presidential nomination which it is dangerous to elect these democrats. these a socialists. these people will take your country away, and that is an argument that worked for him in 2016. so i think democrats have to be careful to be aware of it. and, you know, the other thing, he makes this argument with a lot of energy. you know, he spoke for 78 minutes last night. what candidate goes out -- what president goes out and speaks to a crowd for 78 minutes? >> could he wear out a biden? >> i think -- >> on a platform, could he wear him out? >> i think he could wear out a candidate, biden or other candidates as well.

>> fidel castro would go four hours at a time, so it's not a test how liberal or conservative you are, it's just if you can talk a lot. but he does have this obsession with the moment. the thing about this president i used to say to people think about radios every two hours has to refresh. this guy refreshes his act every minute. he wants to own every minute including last night. >> he wants to win the news cycle every single time. the way to think about it is, he's never polled above 50%. he cannot win this presidential election. democrats can lose it, and he's going to be out there, whatever candidate you guys nominate he'll be out there saying this candidate will take your health care, take your guns, raise your taxes, wreck the economy. i'm the only thing -- standing between you and armageddon. >> he got some help last night from beto, we're going to confiscate all the ar-15s -- fawning over the president from the republican retreat in baltimore yesterday house minority leader kevin mccarthy invoked the name of ronald

reagan as he praised the current president. >> the republicans have never been more united. don't take my word. take the members on the stage, actually look at the polling itself with this president. no president, not even ronald reagan had as much support within the party as president trump has. >> but not everyone is as united behind the president as mccarthy is claiming there. the president's nominee in 2012 told cnn the other day i'm not planning in endorsing in the presidential race at this stage. i'm not planning in endorsing in the primary or in the general. ron, let me ask you about this guy. i'm not sure the loyalty behind this president which is sort of lending like and mechanistic and regimental is something to brag about. there's something nonintellectual. they don't praise reagan, they follow him in a kind of way that doesn't suggest individual thinking or anything. it's just we're afraid to buck

this guy because the people at home are much more right wing than any officeholder in the party it seems. >> you meant praise trump not reagan. there's no genuine affection for this guy and throughout most of the party. he may have his base, he may have his cult-like base among the public and electorate, but elected officials are wise to him for the most part. they know he's a reckless erratic, dangerous individual but, you know, they got their tax cut. and if they cross him, they know what happens to them when they go back and get primaried. >> when makes lindsey grahams, for example, who's the classic toty. really. it's your state, i didn't create these people. what makes his tail wag when the name trump is mentioned? what makes him run around like he loves him? i mean he doesn't love him. i know lindsey. lindsey is a good guy in many ways, but why are they behaving like him today? ron?

>> oh, me. i'm sorry. >> i'll get to jamie in a minute. >> no, but i think it's survival for them. the bottom line is they need to get re-elected and they need him to get re-elected. they can't afford to have him tweeting to their base as well as his some bad stuff about them and next thing you know they don't win the republican primary and they never get into office again. that's the real bottom line. >> jaime if you win the nomination you're going to run against this guy in -- >> i'm running against him now. >> what is his reason -- what does his tail wag whenever the name trump shows up? he's embarrassing. >> listen, the most important thing to lindsey graham is lindsey graham. he said it in his own words in "the new york times" article recently. two objectives, get re-elected and being relevant. he wants to be relevant and

donald trump makes him relevant. i call him the world's most powerful golf caddie because that's what he is. >> i've got another theory. their dream was to get appointed when the other guy died, serve until they died and try to transform death into some building like the richard russell building. that's what their dream was, never to leave the senate ever. is that what lindsey wants? help me. >> the senate allows lindsey to be relevant. to be on television every night. but at the end of the day, chris, it's not about the people in south carolina. you tell me whether they ever would have done this. hurricane dorian coming up the coast, coming up florida, we evacuate. hilton head, myrtle beach and charleston. where is lindsey graham? is he in charleston putting sand in bags, on phone with the governor, no he's in montenegro -- >> that was a campaign commercial.

thank you. you'll never go on foreign trips if you're elected to the senate. >> it's not about that. if you got a hurricane, you saw what the hurricane did for it bahamas. >> what i know politics is. my guests are sticking with me. coming up after the democrats big night, who's leading and who's bleeding? what about that cheap shot from julian castro? here it is. >> barack obama's vision was not to leave 10 million people uncovered. he wanted every single person in this country covered. my plan would do that, your plan would not. >> they do not have to buy in. >> you just said that two minutes ago. you just said two minutes ago they'd have to buy in. you said they'd have to buy in. >> if you qualify for medicare, it's automatically to be enforced. are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago? >> an attempt to show dementia on the part of the leading democratic candidate, julian castro caught himself looking incompetent.

we'll show you that in the tapes. he was wrong in this case. vipt biden was correct. he did not say what he accused him of. plus, trump's corruption in plain sight right now. he promised he wouldn't profit from the american presidency. he is. we've got much more coming on that front. stay with us. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. cut. liberty m... am i allowed to riff? what if i come out of the water? liberty biberty... cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ ♪

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she's for bernie, well i'm for barack. >> we all owe a huge debt to president obama. >> what i favor is something that barack obama wanted to do from the very beginning. >> i want to give credit first to barack obama for really bringing us this far. >> of course we owe a debt of gratitude to president barack obama. >> and stand with barack obama all eight years, good, bad and indifferent. that's where i stand.

>> well welcome back to "hardball." that was the democratic candidates last night of course making a point of embracing the obama legacy. that was nice to hear. while the story line heading into last night, it wasn't the battle between the moderate and progressive wings in the party that brought the most contentious moment of the night. that came when julian castro took a shot at the former vice president, falsely accusing biden of saying his health care plan wouldn't publicly enroll people in his option and hinting that biden was old and forgetful. he was charging him with short-term memory loss and dementia. let's face it and let's watch. >> you just said that two minutes ago. you just said two minutes ago they would have to buy in. you said they would have to buy in. are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago? are you forgetting already what you said just two minutes ago?

i mean, i can't believe that you said two minutes ago that they had to buy in and now you're saying they don't have to buy in. you're forget that. >> i said anyone and their grandmother who has no money, you're automatically enrolled. >> it automatically enrolls people regardless if you choose to opt in or not. if you lose your job, for instance, his health care plan would not automatically enroll you. you'd have to opt in. my health care plan would. that's a big difference. i'm fulfilling the legacy of barack obama and you're not. >> i'll >> a short time ago secretary castro told my colleague chuck todd it was a disagreement over health care policy and not biden's age, he says. >> you repeated the word forget so many times that a lot of people thought this was a planned hit. >> it was not. look, i respect vice president biden. i've known vice president now for years, of course served in the obama administration with him. i think that in many ways he's a good candidate.

that's going to be up for the voters to decide. what i was pointing out is he had denied saying the words buy in, even though he did say the words buy in. >> i think everybody heard what they saw and heard him use the word "forget" again and again. he was going after him saying you don't remember what you just said. >> there are questions you can raise about joe biden and his vigor and his age and his tendency towards gaffes, that not inappropriate. but this wasn't inappropriate. this came across as mean-spirited and precooked and toxic. and i do not think julian castro is going to be the either the nominee or a member of joe biden's cabinet -- >> was he gunning for vice president under elizabeth warren? >> i think he's a 1% candidate who thought i've got to do something to shake this up or i'm not going to be relevant at all going forward.

seems to me that is probably the calculation he was making. >> she said there's going to be a hit directly from julian castro on the vice president, it's all planned, it's going to happen. so somebody leaked the fact he was going to do that. >> this will stun you, but a lot of the lines last night were devised on stage. >> does houston have a problem? >> you might possibly have drafted some of those lines. >> anyway, leaders and bleeders. julian castro ask bleeding. who won last night to use the crude phrase in the game of politics as it is somewhat a game. who won? >> so i think biden weren't -- wasn't perfect but he was good enough. and i think elizabeth warren continued to do exactly what has brought her success so far, which is make her progressive case but stay above the fray. >> she was untouched last night. anyway, former texas congressman beto o'rourke got a lot of attention on the issue of gun control.

defending his mandatory assault weapon buy back program. watch this. this is going to have a short-term reaction among democrats, and you bet he'll be the poster boy next summer for the nra. but let's watch. >> if the high impact high velocity round when it hits your body shreds everything inside of your body because it was designed to do that and you'd bleed to death on the battlefield and not be able to get up, when we see that being used against children and in odessa i met the mother of a 15-year-old girl who was shot by an ar-15 and that mother watched her bleed to death over the course of an hour because so many other people were shot by that ar-15 in odessa and midland, there weren't enough ambulances to get to them in time. hell yes we're going to take your ar-15, your ak-47. [ cheers and applause ] we're not going to allow it to be used against our fellow americans anymore. >> you see those people in the first row literally jumping up and down. it was amazing. in response to that comment by beto o'rourke a texas

state representative tweeted my ar-15 is ready for you robert francis, using beto o'rourke's legal first and middle name. beto o'rourke tweeting this is a death threat. clearly you shouldn't own an ar-15, and neither should be anybody else. apparently he's turned it over to the fbi this thing. let's go to beto o'rourke. he's an active political figure on the national stage. talking about confiscating, mandatory buy backs of ar-15s. there are 10 million of them in the country right now. what will that mean by next summer? >> i think that means beto o'rourke is not running for senate or anything in texas any time soon. i think it means he's reinvigorating the gun rights lobby, he's reinvigorating republican and other fears, people in rural areas' fears the democrats are not in favor of common sense steady gun reform. they're in favor -- they're going to come break down your door and take your gun. and that the a real fear on the part of a lot of people, and he just made that a lot more legitimate. >> ron, you're thinking about is

this beyond where the country is right now in terms of gun safety? >> i think the problem with that and i agree with what was just said, this plays into the republican nra meme of democrats coming in, kicking down your door and taking your gun away. i think the problem for me with about the buyback that's mandatory, so it will be a confiscation, eventually is that it's not part of a larger comprehensive anti-gun violence strategy. it seems like sort of a one-off thing. well, we're going to take your ar-15s away. i've got news for you. you can take all of them away and it might be a good thing but it won't stop mass shootings. so unless you embed this in a larger comprehensive sort of program i think you're missing the boat. >> like going after those ammo magazines with 30, 40 bullets in each one. this is one moment that right around the corner people about human being behavior.

here's mayor pete buttigieg last night when he was asked to talk about resilience. here he is talking about his personal experience as a gay man coming out, saying what he is. overwhelming his setbacks that came his way and ones he thought was going to come his way. it's very powerful. let's sit back and watch pete buttigieg. >> i came back from deployment and realized that you only get to live one life, and i was not interested in not knowing what it was like to be in love any longer. so i just came out. i had no idea what kind of professional setback it would be especially because inconveniently it was an election year in my socially conservative community. what happened was that when i trusted voters to judge me based on the job that i did for them, they decided to trust me and re-elected me with 80% of the vote. >> what do you think, jaime? rare moment of, well, human reality? >> well, it was a great moment for pete. and it was one of those moments where i constantly try to remind

democrats not only those running for president but also on the down ballot, that democrats win when we're hopeful and aspirational. when we talk to people about where they are and relate to them on that level, bill clinton was a master at doing that. barack obama was very good at doing that as well. and the key for us, the key for the nominee of our party, the key for folks like me running for the united states senate is to go into these communities, rural communities and urban communities and talk to people where they are. talk to their heart because when people vote they're not just voting with this, they're voting with this and this. it's the heart and the gut. >> that's what lbj said about civil rights. you got to get to the heart on that, the deep values of the country. thank you so much. susan page, as always, front page susan. jaime harris, thanks and michael steele, thank you, sir. and ron reagan, we wait for you

every time we hear you're common ground, really. you're one of the stars of this show. up next, the sentence handed down to actress felicity huffman. not a nasty sentence, a couple days about the college admissions scan. we're going to learn about this sort of crime and how it gets paid for not extensively or expensively. 14 days for all this? you're watching "hardball." ♪ ♪ ♪ no matter when you retire, your income doesn't have to. see how lincoln can help ensure you still have income every month of your retirement, guaranteed, at lincolnfinancial.com.

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welcome back to "hardball."

felicity huffman of desperate house wives she was sentenced today to 14 days in prison for her role in the college admission cheating scandal. huffman and 13 other parents pleaded guilty to bribery and mail fraud charges. she initially faced up to 20 years in prison but received a more lenient sentence in two weeks because of her guilty plea. in a statement today huffman said i accept the court's decision today without reservation. i've always been prepared to accept whatever punishment the judge imposed. i broke the law, i admitted that and pleaded guilty to this crime. there are no excuses or justifications for my actions, period. well, 50 people, including "full house" actress lori loughlin were indicted back in march of this year in a massive investigation which revealed that parents paid millions of dollars in bribes to get their children into elite universities. part of the scheme involving

cheating on standardized exams like the a.c.t. and falsely designating some kids as athletes to get preferential treatment even if they weren't athletes at all and had nothing to do with those sports. in huffman's case, she paid $15,000 to have a college counselor correct answers on her daughter's s.a.t. test, resulting in a higher score. >> i'm joined by katie phang. tom, in this case what did she pay the test moderator to do to get her kid's numbers up. what did she actually do for the money? >> essentially it was kind of two things. one, that she'd be able to have her daughter take the test with no time limit whatsoever. as we know from taking the college boards you have a certain amount of time to complete certain portions of of the test. she would be able to take as much time as she wanted. in addition to that, what she pleaded guilty to and what we saw in the charging documents was that the person who proctored the test, basically

the instructor for the test went back and was able to correct some of her daughter's answers that led to approximately a 400-point increase on her college board. so not an insignificant increase. and on top of that her daughter had a significant amount of time it get it right in the first place. >> how does the proctor get to squirrel themselves away with a "w" somebody's test and change enough of the answers to get 400 points? do they know the answers because they're smart? or they've guide book with all the right answers? how do they cheat? >> i think what came across in the initial charging documents in several instances and it wasn't just felicity huffman's daughter who was able to get some of these benefits, but according to the charging documents, chris, basically you have people that are educators. these are not people that are just off the street. god knows it's not myself. but it would be people that are educators, that are professors that are involved in the school,

you know, in the school and schooling systems so they would presumably have that higher level of knowledge to be able to correct these answers and jack up those scores. >> katie, what do you make of two weeks, 14 days? is that jail time or real prison? what kind of a situation will this defendant, this convicted person have to face? what will the situation be for two weeks? >> so felicity huffman is not going to be doing hard time at a maximum security federal prison but two weeks is a lot of time for someone who's an otherwise glamorous hollywood actress. 14 days doesn't sound like a lot but for any defendant looking down the barrel of going to jail that is day for day, we do not expect for her to get good time served. she'll do those 14 days but frankly chris by the time she actually gets into the prison system, basically gets acclimated to it, she'll be out of the system. you look at her, see she gave $15,000 in order to get her daughter to test better with that proctor's assistance but if i were someone like lori

laughlin who gave $500,000 for her two daughters to get into usc, island be whipping out those prayer candles tonight because she's decided to plead not guilty, take the rick of going to trial against the biggest law firm in the world which the federal government. so he's looking at significant jail time if felicity huffman only got 14 days. >> i'll start with tom. it's a tough question. will this serve as a real deterrent? will this stop parents who has the crazy ambition without the right values, instead of teaching their kids along the way, from the time their first grade on to 12th grade, and they think about buying them in? is this going to teach better values or scare the bad guys? >> i think it's two things. one, you can get caught because that's a big part of this. i think everybody here thought you pay this guy and this guy pays somebody else and you can get into the school of your choice or at least have a better opportunity.

and i think the fact when people get caught doing wrong things and they are people in positions of power or influence or celebrity, that's always a bit of a wakeup call. and the fact that felicity huffman she got a pretty good deal here. 4 to 10 months is what she agreed to in her plea agreement. prosecutors asked for even loaner that, they went beyond their obligations, arguing for on me a month, and now she's going to do 14 days. i wouldn't want to do 14 days and i think a lot of people watching tonight wouldn't want to do 14 days in a federal prison either. i think it is a bit of wake up call. and if you're lori loughlin and you're sitting at home and watching this she paid a lot more money. $500,000 along with her husband. she's looking at significant jail time even if she pleads out. i think some folks are going to be watching really closely and realize this service fraud or could really bite you. >> katie, good deterrent by

this? >> it is a send a message sentence, chris, and that's exactly what the federal judge said she wanted to do in this case. normally in these cases when you have a lot of people involved in the fraud, what happened in this specific case he was the master mind was cooperating with the feds. he wore wires. everything was bugged. i mean, this is how he actually drew that huge net to bring in all of these parents. and so in this particular investigation, this operation varsity blues, it went from the very top in terms of cooperation, which made it easier to snag people like felicity huffman, lori loughlin, exactly those people. so yeah, it is a deterrent, but i don't think it's going to stop people from doing the obvious which is giving millions of dollars to help their kids get into school. >> it's going to then reputation of usc because all this money being spent to get into southern cal is amazing. georgetown is different. we already knew there was a great school. up next donald trump made campaign promises he would not

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welcome back to "hardball." donald trump said during his presidential campaign that he wouldn't even think about his business once he became president. but lately he hasn't missed an opportunity to promote his business. >> with doral, we have a series of magnificent buildings. we call them bungalows. they each hold from 50 to 70 very luxurious rooms with magnificent views. we have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants. and the ballrooms are among the biggest in florida and the best. >> such an unbelievable amount of work to be done. the last thing i care about is my company.

>> i love the u.k. i own great property in the u.k. i love the u.k. i have no idea how my property is doing because i don't care, but i own turnberry and i own an aberdeen and i own in ireland as you know. >> i would not even think about this business. it would be so insignificant to me compared to making our country great again. >> people like my product, what can i tell you. can't help it. >> that's the same guy. this week vice president mike pence and secretary of state pompeo spoke in washington, d.c. as "the washington post" points out, the speeches suggest that trump and his cabinet are not shying away from events that drive revenue to the president's company. even after multiple stories have brought new scrutiny to the blurring of lines between trump's business and his presidency. well, those stories include the president floating the idea of holding next year's g-7 at his resort in miami. the vice president staying at

trump's doonbeg resort hours away from his meeting in dublin. as a supporter told "the new york times," we want to go everything we can to make him successful. if that means having dinner or staying in his hotel, we're going to do so closed quote. farenthol tweeted today the president seems more and more willing to ignore a bedrock promise of his presidency, and emess afraid of looking like they're helping. and some close to the president are treating the entire situation as a joke. that's up next. you're watching "hardball." u & ♪ hour 36 in the stakeout. as soon as the homeowners arrive, we'll inform them that liberty mutual customizes home insurance, so they'll only pay for what they need. your turn to keep watch, limu. wake me up if you see anything. [ snoring ] [ loud squawking and siren blaring ]

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you know, someone bought a cheeseburger at the trump hotel. it's asinine, and you've seen that. you've seen where the emoluments suits have gone. they're just trying. the amount of income he's taken but really the family, the business, anything in a desperate attempt to stop him. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was donald trump, well, jr. down-playing concerns whether his father is profiting off his presidency. meanwhile secretary of state mike pompeo spoke today where he mocked the reporting on trump's conflict of interest. >> i look around. this is such a beautiful hotel. the guy who owns it must be successful somewhere along the way. that was for "the washington

post" in the back. >> isn't that sunshine i'm joined by david farenthol who's done most of the reporting that the secretary of state was mentioning there, and harry fineman, msnbc analyst. he made fun of you for catching them at this as if it's a joke. that the president is pumping up sales at his various properties while he's president. >> i'm glad the secretary of state reads "the washington post." we had a story yesterday saying mike pence, the vice president, and secretary of state pompeo spoke this week to events put on by a paying customer of their boss, donald trump. this nonprofit rented out the ball rooms of the trump hotel which pays trump privately, two public officials affiliated with trump show up to boost their events. >> if you know you're under scrutiny, if people are looking for a misbehavior, but trump seems to lately be expanding on it and showing it off. the kid coming on fokz and,

friends, saying it's a cheeseburger -- it's not about cheeseburger. it's about thousand dollar rooms >> first of all he loves to brag about how he makes money. it's money coming in. and also it has the political effect of allowing him to talk about that as opposed to every other catastrophic constitutional, legal and political event he's got going on all around him. he'd rather talk about that. >> so if you hit my arms i can take it, just don't hit me in the face. it's amazing, this is considered a less problem for him to be caught making money off the presidency than -- >> that's until it isn't. >> we'll see. president trump told reporters last month his team had chosen his doral resort in miami as the site of next year's g-7 summit after vetting 12 other sites. key line there. let's watch. >> my people looked at 12 sites, all good but some were two hours

from an airport, some were four hours. some didn't allow this or didn't allow that. >> david, tweeted today asking the public has anyone out there in the media, government, hospitality anywhere heard of any sites vetted by this administration? trump said there were at least 12 in trying to prove him right, but so far i come up short, you say. it hasn't checked out any of the prospects. >> i don't know that. i'm just looking for evidence that he's right, that he's telling the truth. i looked up other place where trump vetted. i looked up other states where they said they vetted sites. i could only find one in hawaii that was vetted, and they said, can we have a conference in oahu, and they said, yeah. maybe there's vetting in other places, i just haven't found them. >> was it his idea to go to miami? >> i don't know yet. was there a really formal vetting process? they looked at the parking and the accommodations at these

places and somebody said, yes, trump royale is best, or they said, have it at another place. >> how do we root for a guy that takes advantage of the presidency? >> we're thinking of the exact same guy. we know who that guy is. he's in the outer suburbs of the pittsburgh area, western pa. he's in ohio, he's in michigan, he's in wisconsin. as long as he's got a job, as long as he's doing great in the so-called trump academy, fine. but this propensity of donald trump can come back and bite him with some of those people. the moment that economic situation for that person turns downward. my workers may be getting ready to strike against general motors. what are those guys going to think when they think donald trump is using his influence to shovel money in while they're out on the street? that could put a hitch on their

desire to go to the polls for trump in 2020. >> meanwhile, politico says the air force has sent crews to trump's scottish resort up to 40 times. we don't know how often this has occurred since trump became president. is this an important question, about having the air force use one of his sites? >> when you say that original appearance, right, the air force crew staying in the president's hotel, it sounds bad. but in this case it's a lot more complicated than that. the arrangements that caused this, the air force crew stopping in that airport, the air force staying in trump's hotel. >> what about growth? >> they signed a contract in 2016 to bring more air force crews there, unless we know trump stepped in to interfere, it looks like just a continuation of something obama did. >> did foreign people come and

check in there? >> the only person i've ever heard say, foreign government say, yes, i bought in here because i wanted to influence donald trump, the philipine ambassador last year. he had a big gala and he said, i'm doing this because trump is a friend and i want to show that. >> in the case of the filipinos, there's proud. donald trump is proud, they're proud. i can tell you having dinner at one of those places, they're not doing it for the food. >> i can say that i'm cleaner having gone to trump international. i hear it's nice but i'm not going there. i know, howard. it's on your expense account. congratulations to get the secretary of state to take a whack at you today. up next, i spoke to many of the democratic candidates in the spin room last night after the debate. we're going to have the highlights of that next if you missed it at 11:00 last night. you're waupgtching "hardball." tc"

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call 1-800-501-6000 today. last night i was in the spin room at death bait room in houston, texas. i talked to them about their own performances. let's listen up. >> i think you were great today. i thought klobuchar was good. i thought you both made a strong appeal for unity and admonition. let's not go so far that even if we win, we divide the country. >> i'm not out to scold anybody, but when i talk about plans that

can bring us together, i'm not just talking about winning an election, i'm talking about governing a country. we are dangerously divided, polarized as a nation. it can be done in one of two ways. we have to do it in a way that brings people together. >> in politics, people with money get in the door. >> that's what my anti-corruption bill is all about. the influence of money in washington is huge, and the point is it's just as you identify. it's campaign contributions but it is so much more. so i have a bill that's a big bill, the biggest bill since watergate, and it goes after the influence of money in lots of places. >> most people thought there was another aspect of this. you were suggesting a man of 76 years had lost the ability to remember what he just said. short-term memory loss. >> not at all. >> you rubbed it in three or four times. you kept saying you don't remember what you said. >> we had a disagreement whether he said the words "buy in." he did say the words "buy in"

when you look at the full transcript. >> do you think it was fair to suggest if joe biden had lost it? >> no. >> that wasn't fair? >> no, i didn't like that. >> you're the top candidate in four or five. >> yes. >> you should be happy about that. >> i'm still urging the american people. >> i'm trying to figure out why it's not happening. >> chris, look, those of us who are in the top tier have been, two of them, have run for president before. one of them many times and the other has been on the national seat for quite some time. if you want to believe the polls, though, you should also know that the polls have been very clear that on a head-to-head match, i win against donald trump by significant margin. >> i'm the only person in this race and this senate that lives in a low-income black and brown community. one thing, you come to my community and you come from a different background but a working class area, you'll find --

>> northeast philly. >> yeah, you'll find common cause. people don't want a handout, they want a fair shake. >> you figured me out as working class. thank you. that's "hardball." "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. >> hell, yes, we're going to take your ar-15, your ak-47. >> beto o'rourke on his promise to take away assault weapons. and the death threat he got afterwards. he joins us live tonight. then -- >> i own a lot of different places. soon you'll find that out. >> the court victory that could nail trump on the emoluments clause. details emerge just how often the air force stayed on trump's scottish resort. protests in the streets of baltimore as the president comes to town. z >> the light's no good. i always