netanyahu to finish the job. >> donald trump said a lot of things his first time around that terrified me. the campaign that the democrats ran was that donald trump hates us. i felt safe around the country when trump was in office. i don't feel safe with kamala in office. that speaks more. >> trump is definitely bad news for this country, and it's unconscionable for me to want to vote for a man like that. i would not with a protest vote, vote for trump. >> some would argue a vote for jill stein is a vote for donald trump. that's a moral decision i'm going to make, that i cannot put a vote behind a man that, obviously, have this nefarious intent. >> i could not find a kamala harris voter to go on camera. >> yasmin, thank you very much. that's going to do it for me this hour. "deadline: white house" starts right now.

. hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in washington, d.c.. i'm alease ya menendez in nor nicolle wallace. interviews canceled, angry outbursts about his critics, diatribes of everything from world leaders to sharks and fictional serial killers. 18 days to election day here in the united states and concerns they are mounting about the mental acuity of the oldest presidential nominee in american history. the red flags they are being raised not just by the media or democrats, donald trump's own allies they are now worried about his ability to stay on track. "the new york times" reporting at a time when his foents vice president kamala harris has stepped up her attacks on him as unstable, mr. trump has struggled to hone his message veering off script and ramping up attacks on miss harris that allies have urged him to rein in. veering off script, well, that may be an understatement. what you're about to watch just

from the past week. >> should google be broken up? >> i just haven't gotten over something that the justice department did yesterday where virginia cleaned up its voter rolls and got rid of thousands and thousands of bad votes and the justice department sued them that they should be allowed to put those bad votes and illegal votes back in and let the people vote. e, so i haven't gotten over that. a lot of people have seen that. they can't believe it. >> the question is about google. >> if guys can hear me, two things, put up the chart my favorite chart. my all-time favorite chart. let's listen to pavarotti sing "ave maria." biden was cognitively impaired. she should have reported him. that puts our nation in danger. we've never been so close to

being in world war iii than we are right now. and don't kid yourself. we have an election coming up, but we still have like three and a half months left and it's a long time in a nuclear world. and that would be a war like no other. i'm not thrilled about the people representing us, even for a short period of time. >> the election was three and a half weeks away not months when he said that. and if the endless series of nonse question tars, nonsensical answers wasn't strange enough donald trump has become downright flaky as the presidential campaign gets down to the wire. from politico something of a pattern, trump scheduled for an interview the date nears and then things fall apart. it happened this week to planned trump sit downs with nbc in philadelphia and cnbc's "skauk box" after backing out of a "60 minutes" episode this month. according to team trump their candidate is exhausted.

more from politico, quote, the trump campaign had been in conversations for weeks with the shade room about a sit down interview. an audience largely young and black and an interview with harris last week. in a conversation this week when describing why an interview had not come together yet a trump adviser told the shade room producers that trump was exhausted and refuse something interviews but that could change at any time. but not too tired for his favorite network, and his favorite morning show, here he is on "fox and friends" where he had to say stuff like this. >> well, lincoln was probable lay great president, although i've always said, why wasn't that settled. it doesn't make sense the civil war -- >> half the country left before he got there. >> almost like why wasn't that -- as an example ukraine would have they have happened and russia if i were president. >> an exhausted donald trump somehow found time for a podcast

with fox news star where this happened. >> i'm just a slight tad bit younger, but you remember 1980 times square before rudy giuliani. all the peep shows and stuff. some of the scammers were good. the shell game guys. that's them. if you're going to be good at a scammer. >> the press is a big scam. it's terrible. you know, i don't know that a country can come back if it has a fake press. >> it's hard. >> they're like the policeman, like they keep people honest, right. but democrats don't have to be honest. they don't have to be honest. they will never be accused of anything. i was so amazed that harvey weinstein got hit as hard as you can get hit because he was the king of the walk, right, and he got hit. i figure that maybe he wouldn't get hit so hard, but boy, did he get -- you don't know him well,

i don't know him well. >> yes. harvey weinstein. well known king of the woke. but don't worry, donald trump says he is just fine. >> i am the most stable human being. remember they said a stable genius. i am the most stable human being. i've been doing this for a long time. >> and that all that is where we start today. msnbc political analyst mara gay joins us with "the new york times," reverend al sharpton here host of msnbc's "politics nation" and president of the national action network and this weekend going to be interviewing vice president kamala harris in atlanta and talk more about that forthcoming interview later on and msnbc columnist and contributor charlie sykes and correspondent vaughn hillyard. vaughn, 19 days to election day. trump is on tv saying abraham lincoln should have cut a deal to avoid the civil war. goes on a podcast to talk about

how prosecutors threw the book at harvey weinstein. is that where we are? >> i think that's accurate. not exactly a campaign focus because the candidate himself doesn't stay focused on one specific message, and you know, his reference to somehow abraham lincoln should have settled the -- before the civil war started between the union and confederacy what exactly would a settlement look like? slavery? the best effort was the kritsendon compromise which would have added an amendment to allow the south to maintain slavery. donald trump in the "fox and friends" appearance talking about that kamala harris would supposedly ban cows and get rid of cows which is a misrepresentation of the green new deal, but this is where you see the republican nominee just over two weeks out despite sometimes the best efforts of his campaign to build events around focused around immigration or the economy, eye their candidate has a different tenor and the media interviews

he decides to do are podcasts that are very friendly towards him, but also the likes of "fox and friends" that type of interview that played out this morning was a stark contrast to the one that the vice president harris did with bret baier 48 hours ago. >> i wanting to correct myself. it's 18 days. if you're too exhausted to talk to the shade room are you too exhausted to be president of the united states? >> well, right. i mean what vaughn is identifying here, not just an issue for the campaign that donald trump riz veering off script. i think a central issue he has in making this closing argument is, he isn't going to win with just his base. and much of the appeal of trumpism that i hear when i ta you can to voters that we see in polls, is this -- i think it's a

false idea, but this idea that he's strong, that he projects strength and leadership, and this idea that he's an outsider and that a vote for him is a rationale choice for americans who somehow feel disaffected by the political system. now i don't believe that donald trump actually has solutions for those americans, but that is a large part of the appeal that you hear when you talk to voters at rallies, and on the trail. the problem is, that the reality of donald trump himself and who he is, is, of course, just none of those things. he's a threat to democracy. he has nothing to offer the american people. other than more, you know, grift for his own benefit in the next four years. and i think the more we hear from donald trump himself on the trail, the more obvious that becomes to voters. it's harder to really take seriously this notion that he would be a strong leader or that

he somehow cares about americans who feel like the political system hasn't served them. when you actually listen to what he's saying. he is really his own worst enemy on the campaign trail, which is not the closing argument that you need in a close race 18 days out from election day. >> charlie, i think that mara, as she often does, gets it exactly right when you talk to voters on the trail you hear about the outsiders which takes a certain chutzpah to be president of the united states and position yourself as an outsider. it is part of why you see vice president harris going after him on that exact element and the question of exhaustion. listen to what she had to say about the reporting that trump is exhausted. >> i've been hearing reports his team is saying he's suffering exhaustion and the excuse why

he's not doing interviews and not doing the cnn town hall. he refuses to do another debate. and, you know, look, being president of the united states probably one of the hardest jobs in the world so we really do need to ask if he's exhausted being on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job? i think that's a question that is an open-ended question he needs to answer. >> who do you think that appeals to? >> it appeals to voters who i think are the small segment that hasn't made up its mind. also to many of these soft republicans who might like some of the things that he's done in the past, but are now having doubts about all of this. i mean, look in a less than sane political moment candidates try to put forward their best self, most attractive side. i remember back in 2016, there's at least the urban legend that donald trump sort of moderated his approach in the weeks before

that election. but what are we seeing right now? this is the most bizarre, crazy, low energy but also dangerous closing argument we've ever seen. completely undisciplined. this is, you know, what donald trump is presenting to voters 18 days before the election. and i think we need to keep two thoughts in our heads at the same time. number one, we are seeing a completely incoherent, you know, guy who is clearly in some decline, deeply unserious man, but also someone who is quite dangerous. at the same time that he can't put together a coherent thought, his campaign continues to push an agenda that i'm not sure that every american has fully taken on board. the idea of the mass deportations, use of the military, so at one point you look at him and go he's weak, he's old, he's decompensating in realtime but also genuinely dangerous because, as i've said

before on this program, a clown with a flame thrower still has a flame thrower and i think we need to keep that in mind as well. >> rev, take a listen to something president bill clinton had to say in north carolina yesterday. he was on the trail with tim walz. take a listen. >> i don't have any more elections i'll be involved with, and i am too old to guild the lilly. heck, i'm only two months younger than donald trump. [ applause ] but good news for you, i will not spend 30 minutes swaying back and forth to music. [ applause ] i played enough music. i will not clap off beat. nor will i pretend to be a

conductor. because we got a race to win and we have to win it. >> rev, president clinton could be up there saying, hey, are my guys listening to me? let's roll. my favorite song, "don't stop" by fleetwood mac. everyone will love it and enjoy it. age alone, he's only two months younger than donald trump, that's not a rationale for the behavior that we are seeing and to charlie's point, yes, he had may be exhausted, some of this may have to do with age, but the message undergirding all of it is still as dangerous. >> the message is still as dangerous and more because he has gotten more unhinged in terms of what he's advocating and proposing. this time that even when we first saw him run in '16. what he is saying, what project 2025 is documenting, which is

really the policies of donald trump is far more dangerous. and i think that what people should ask themselves is just four or five months ago, when none of that kind of behavior was publicly demonstrated by joe biden, many people said he needs to get out of the race. you need to ask yourself honestly, why are you not saying that about donald trump who has behaved in a way that joe biden never behaved, and is an embarrassment to his party and his family. it seems that there's such understanding for donald trump that we didn't give to a far more able and far more competent joe biden in the same three or four-month period. what is really motivating you to support trump. >> his misogyny, racism? what's the real reason? it couldn't be age and coherence

when you have a man sitting up -- standing up on the stage painting everybody from pavarotti to rock and rollers, and he can't even dance. he just kind of weaves along and that's your idea of a president? >> he can't even dance is perhaps the sickest burn you have ever offered on this program reverend sharpton. vaughn you said this idea that republicans do have a message. they simply have someone top of the ticket who is not interested in staying disciplined and consistent on that message. i thought this reporting was interesting. quote, anna kelly a spokeswoman for the republican national committee which is supporting the trump campaign said mr. trump's message is clear and consistent. president trump's agenda for america's working men and women will fix our broken economy to lower costs and secure the border to make our community safe. i read that, vaughn, and say that is what they have tested in focus groups and tested in

polling if we stay really focused on this messaging, on border and the economy, there is a way for republicans to win. unfortunately, for them, donald trump does not have that message consistency, and i wonder not only what it means for him, but republicans down ticket who might be in down ballot who might be in competitive races who wish he was sticking to that message. >> right. i don't want to side-step your question, but i want to go to what you and charlie were talking about here. i think this election in the next two weeks will say a lot about the way that american views donald trump in the maga movement. to your point, right, donald trump ahead of the 2016 election there was a little bit more of a focused message and yet, you have seen donald trump in his opinion thrive being off wholly who he is, unscripted, no teleprompter, off message, doing the weave. we saw this in the republican primary, right. we saw him do very little campaigning. the month before the iowa caucus

he only was in iowa five days compared to his competitors who spent nearly every day in the state. that came from confidence in who he was as a politician. right now what you are looking at is somebody who sees himself ahead in a great many battleground states and polling, somebody who is confident, somebody who has not had to sit down for "60 minutes" and does not believe he has suffered politically the consequences or the consequences for january 6th outside of criminal indictments. for donald trump he feels stronger than he ever has politically at this moment in time and so for him, there is no need to stay on message, scripted from his political advisors. donald trump is, in his mind, his best strategist, campaign manager, his most effective communicator. who we are seeing up on the stage is the guy who believes that he can win the presidency doing exactly what he's doing right now. >> that should tell you everything you need to know. vaughn hillyard, thank you so much for getting us started. everyone else sticking with me.

more on the relationship between donald trump and fox news, which is increasingly looking like the only place he's comfortable speaking to. plus, the bro circuit. a billionaire out stumping for donald trump, debunked conspiracy theories about the election and hoping to catch the attention of the alpha male. later in the show the power of barack and michelle obama out in the coming days with the vice president herself with the election now just two and a half weeks away. all those stories and more when "deadline: white house" continues after this. se" continues after this blocke like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq. rinvoq works differently and it's a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief with rinvoq. check. when flares tried to slow me down, i got lasting steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when my doctor saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining.

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we have seen historically a lot of democrats they turn to the guys at "saturday night live" or "the tonight show" and write all their material. your material was funny. who helped you with it? >> i've had a lot of people help me, couple people from fox, i shouldn't say that, they wrote jokes and for the most part i didn't like any of them. >> should we see highlights. >> go ahead. >> just a snippet of that softball interview with the ex-president on the couch which is beginning to look like the only media he's comfortable doing 18 days out from a presidential election. we should note fox news has denied trump's claim they assisted with writing his jokes at the al smith dinner. in a few minutes after that admission trump lashed out at his friends at fox for not being pro-trump enough. >> you know the difference in the old days, you never played negative ads. in other words, when i leave here i'll be hit by five or six

days. >> on fox news. >> yeah. well, in the old days. but in the old days, which wasn't so old. i will have 12 people from kamala on and, you know, pretty much unopposed. for 19 days i don't think we should do that anymore. you shouldn't play negative ads. >> they buy time on fox. >> by the time you do it you say what are you doing. it's a net neutral. >> the event i have now. >> no. >> a very big event i'm going to see rupert murdoch. >> please tell him we all said thank you. >> i'm going to tell him something simple because i talk to anybody else, don't put on negative commercials for 21 days. and they're horrible people. please do it this way. then we will have a victory. >> we are back with mara, rev and charlie. rev, when you have donald trump complaining that the most

pro-trump network is not trumpy enough to his liking, what does that tell you? >> it tells me that how knows he's in serious trouble. he's trying to build a narrative that he's going to run the night that he feels he will be defeated. he's going to blame negative ads, he's going to blame voter fraud, blame that immigrants that came across the border sponsored by the democrats and voted. he's trying to build a narrative now that will be what would be anybody else that was someone that was respectable in politics would be their concession speech. this will be his blame speech. and he's rehearsing it now because that's what he feels he'll have to deliver on november 5th after they try to go through every court challenge they can. if anybody knows that donald

trump has lost it and losing it will probably lose the election, it is donald trump. he knows, it's like a performer getting on statement, you know when you can't hit the notes anymore. i don't care how loud the band plays. you can't sing no more, donald. >> we have dancing. mara. you would be forgiven if you did not catch this fox news hosted an all women town hall with trump. here's evidence of their cozy relationship with trump. according to cnn one attendee said i want to thank you for coming to a room full of women the current administration would consider domestic terrorists. a woman named said to laughter from the audiences before a question about foreign policy but a portion of that question was edited by fox news to remove her admission that she was voting for trump. quote, i proudly cast my vote for you today. i hope they count it, she added. according to an audio reporter from a cnn reporter who was in

attendance. there's something to him going on a podcast complaining about the press then coming on a friendly network and complaining to them in front of millions about the fact that they are not being sufficiently in the tank for him. >> i'm not sure that we talk enough in general in this construction about the kind of standards that journalists are meant to uphold. every politician has certain networks, certain newspapers, certain media outlets that he or she would rather talk to than others. that is normal. but i think it's important to be clear that donald trump's relationship with fox news is not normal. and that's both true in terms of fox news' selective editing and kind of gratuitous protecting of

this bubble that donald trump has created around himself and his base, and the lies, twisted narrative, all of that. but the thing that's more chilling is that i think this question of donald trump suggesting he's going to speak to rupert murdoch about making sure there's no negative ads, that gives us a hint at what donald trump as president may seek to do to control the narrative and to exert pressure on journalistic organizations in the united states. fox news or not. that is chilling. and i don't think we can talk enough about it because it's really -- it sounded like a threat, and this is again, as you said, he's talking to his friends. >> he's talking to his friends here. take a listen to something else he said to those friends because they were asking him about potentially courting nikki haley voters, bringing haley on the campaign trail. take a listen to that exchange.

>> there's a segment of the republican party that likes nikki haley and they are reluctant to jump into your column. she wants to help. if he calls me i'm there. you guys used to be tight. in the last 18 days will you call her and say come out with me. >> yeah. nikki haley, and i fought, and i beat her by 50, 60, 90 points. i beat her in her own state by numbers and they keep talking about nikki. i like nikki. nikki, i don't think should have done what she did. >> not sure if the most amazing thing is what he said or the reporting that flashed across my screen as we're on air, nbc news reporting according to two sources familiar with the planning that nikki haley is in talks to join donald trump on the campaign trail. can you imagine having someone who could be a really useful, powerful surrogate for you and then just dumping on them for 90 seconds straights. yes, it's a lack of strategy but

my goodness. >> the easy answer of course i want those voters. i want all of those voters. and, you know, this also comes at a time when kamala harris is making a very, very concerted play for those haley voters. she, you know, had the big rally with republicans for harris in pennsylvania. she's going to be traveling around the country with liz cheney and they're aiming at those soft republicans and what does donald trump do? he just dumps on nikki haley. this is donald trump. he has no impulse control. you saw so many aspects of trump and those clips you played. you have the thin skinned man baby but you have the authoritarian bully that, you know, that fox is in the tank for him, but in trump world you cannot suck up hard enough. to mara's point, yes, it's chilling what he's demanding from the networks, but more