willie. >> kelly o'donnell in atlanta. thanks, kelly. we heard from another leading candidate today for tomorrow's meet the press. chuck todd asked marco rubio of florida about trump's latest comments. >> if i comment on everything hes, my whole campaign consumed by it. that's what i'll do all day. i have to focus on the message. otherwise, the whole campaign would be how do you feel about donald trump. he says something every day. >> for more on this we are joined by chuck todd. chuck, all the experts said his comments could sink his campaign. then his questioning of john mccain's heroism. but his poll numbers continue to go north. is this different? >> this could be different for the republican party. i don't know if you will see him drop in support. we will have a first look at new numbers post debate the last few days on tomorrow's "meet the press." so it may not impact his poll numbers. but what you are seeing now is i would say getting close to a coalescing of the republican party. not just the establishment, not just big donors or

nbc's kelly o'donnell is there for us again tonight. kelly? >> reporter: good evening, erica. many people we met today are still eager to talk about donald trump, and the spectacle he brought here to the fairgrounds. like him or don't, trump represents a kind of candidate that is different this year and getting voters' attention. a season of the political outsiders. >> hello there. >> reporter: today a favorite among conservatives, retired neurosurgeon ben carson tapped into that sentiment. >> i get a lot of people who tell me that they've never voted before. they've never contributed to a campaign before. >> reporter: cson is part of a non-politician wave, led by gop front-runner donald trump. the real estate mogul and reality star acknowledged his showman appeal today on "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> i mean, there is -- you know that some of the criticism, we all feel like we're -- are we in a reality show? >> no, this is not a reality. this is the real deal. >> reporter: the deal maker turned his business experience on the iran nuclear agreement. claiming unlike othe

>> kelly o'donnell on the ground in iowa with the funnel cakes and the candidates tonight.elly, thanks very much. >>> a memorial in chattanooga, tennessee, today for the five servicemen killed last month by a gunman who attacked a recruiting center there. john biden was those paying respects. the shooter was shot and killed by police and has raised new concerns about security at recruiting centers and other military sites. >>> in china, the toll from this week's devastating explosions in the port city of tianjin became much higher today. authorities now say the blast killed more than 100 people, among them 21 firefighters. hundreds more were injured as those toxic explosions ripped through the area. nbc's ian williams has our report from china tonight. >> reporter: in the smoldering wasteland that was once a thriving industrial zone, more small explosions saturday, several cars bursting into flames. as a sign of the fear and confusion in the area, residents told us they had been ordered to leave. "the government told us to move. it's not safe here," said this man. but later

moderator megyn kelly asked about his rhetoric about women. >> you called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. your twitter account -- >> only rosie o'donnell. >> then trump complained about kelly's questioning on cnn. >> you could see blood was coming out of her eyes and blood out of her wherever. >> the fallout was swift. red state gathering canceled trump's appearance. candidate carly fiorina tweeted, mr. trump, there is no excuse. wisconsin governor scott walker avoided naming trump but sided with fiorina. >> i agree with carly, those comments are inappropriate. certainly, i think it's worth focusing on it. >> trump fired back in a statement. mr. trump made megyn kelly look really bad. she was a mess with her anger. the statement says he was talking about a bloody nose. only a deviant would think anything else. call the red state organizer who bumped trump a total loser. >> that was kelly o'donnell reporting. late last night, one of trump's advisers and a long time friend, roger stone, announced he resigned from the campaign. trump claims he fired him. >>> meantime, bernie sanders event was shut down. he was trying to give a speech ther

with him, it's worth debating well is he going to go up or stay the same in polling. >> kelly o'donnell is down in atlanta and you talked to chris christie and asked him about this. what kind of reaction did you get from chris christie? let's listen in fact kelly, let's play it first. >> do you think women voters might have been offended by the way donald trump handled the question from megyn kelly a had to do with his language about women and some of his messagist trumps that h throws out? >> listen, all of us can be responsible for myself. donald is going to be a serious a candidate as donald wants to be. that's going to be determined by his conduct and what comes out of his mouth. >> what is your takeaway from taking -- you're talking to a lot of people down there as well as chris christie, does not want to go head to head with him? >> i think one of the things that i wish the clip had played a little longer because he then turned it to his own wife mary pat and said she would have none of that she wouldn't put up for that second. mary pat owns more than the governor has been in the

because we have a strong -- ronald reagan got it right. >> so joining me from atlanta is nbc's kelly o'donnellkelly, governor christie was also there this morning. you spoke to him specifically, talk about his reaction to the debates last night and what he's doing there today. >> we were able to do his first interview today, thomas, and governor christie is really one of the candidates who is not a natural fit for this group. these are activists on the most conservative side of the republican party. we're is it chew waitsituated it 800 attendees. christie certainly took that head-on in his public remarks here tee teasing the crowd about the pleasure of being in a red state, if you're a republican in new jersey, and he joked, hey, you can listen to this accent for eight years, couldn't you? i spoke to him one-on-one and asked him about what his real mission is when he is not that natural fit with this group of republican voters. >> the idea that these folks are not my wheelhouse is really the product of two things. one, where i come from because people think you can't possible be a conservative

kelly o'donnell, i want to go to you. you just had an exchange are marrow rubio at the iowa state fair about immigration. what happened? >> good to be with you, luke. we talked with marrow aruco rub he did that and paid a price with conservatives and now, that issue is at the forefront again. i talked to marco rubio about the issue of birthright citizenship. is it so sacred that it cannot change? >> i personally don't think we need to change it. i'm open to changes that allow us to prevent people from deliberately do that. >> what would that look like? >> i don't know. it's an issue we haven't spent a lot of time focusing on. >> so, that's the real issue. when we talk to candidates that had be open to the idea of changes that issue of birthright citizenship, scott walker, marco rubio, how it would look, what it would be, is a real question mark. carly fiorina, when i spoke to her, she said we have to change the constitution. there are other things we need to focus on first. so, immigration has really swept the conversatio

kelly o'donnell caught up with wisconsin governor walker greeted at the iowa state fair by protestersut the latest iowa polls. >> i think in the end that people as i mentioned up here, there's a certain amount of protest to the republican leadership in washington. and i think the more people -- >> reporter: that's new for to go after the republicans here in washington. >> i'm here for the people here and the country. >> he was speaking on the soap box and was heckled. carly fiorina spoke and afterwards she spoke to the press. nbc's kelly o'donnell asked him for her response to trump's immigration plan. here's part of what she has to say. >> he has part of it right. we should defund sanctuary cities if we won't enforce the law. there's no question that we should have an employer verification system that actually works so we can make it mandatory. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell very busy in iowa today. fiorina's star is rising. national poll puts her in the top ten. and now to breaking news on the hillary clinton e-mail controversy. the intelligence community has flagged hundreds more e-mails

kelly o'donnell for us in the peach state. kelly have a good weekend. thank you so much. i want to bring in democratic strategist jemal simmons and joe w wadkins. a lot of people saying the donald had a bit of a tough debate last night. naturally he disagrees with that assessment. this was donald trump on morning joe, take a listen. >> i think i go up. i would think i go up. but we'll see what happens when the next numbers come out. but i think i'll go up. >> joe, he clearly thinks he'll go up. do you agree with that assessment? are we going to see a bounce in the polls from donald trump? >> well i've been on the record already saying a little earlier today on cnbc that at least from what many -- [inaudible]. >> we just lost joe there. let's see if we can get joe back. but meanwhile, jemal, i'll ask you the same question. do you think we see a bounce from donald trump? >> yes i think we're probably going to see donald trump top out. i never thought he would get much past or closer to past 30%. i this i the first question was a very tough answer. donald told the truth and

we get more tonight from kelly o'donnell >> kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, erica. for the first time in this chaotic campaign season, the republican party's 2008 nominee is back on the trail. but this time as wing man. with 17 in the race, it's hard to get attention. but voters here can still give lesser-known candidates a shot. a republican tag-team in new hampshire today. the actual presidential candidate is lindsey graham. >> do you want to go first? because i can't wait. >> reporter: but john mccain is along for a nostalgic return to the heart of new hampshire politics. the town hall meeting. >> mr. trump said he had a very good relationship with vladimir putin. i'm proud to have been sanctioned by vladimir putin. >> reporter: two come from behind wins in a new hampshire gop primary in 2000 and 2008. today he urged voters to give graham, who is lagging behind in polls, the same long shot chance. >> tell the others all around, say, go see lindsey graham. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview with nbc news, mccain and graham talked strategy. >> show up, take eve

kelly asked about his rhetoric toward women. >> you call women you don't like fat egg ps, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. your twitter account -- >> only rosie o'donnell. >> then last night, trump complained about kelly's questioning on cnn. >> you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever. >> the fallout was swift. red state gathering cancelled trump's appearance. carly fiorina tweeted, mr. trump, there is no excuse. today, wisconsin governor scott walker avoided naming trump, but sided with fiorina. >> i agree with carly, those comments are inappropriate, certainly i think it's worth focusing on. >> trump fired back in a statement, mr. trump made megyn kelly look really bad, she was a mess with her anger. the statement says he was talking about a bloody nose. only a deviant would think anything else. and the red state organizer who bumped trump a total loser. >> that was kelly o'donnell reporting, and more turmoil for trump tonight. one of his advisers and long his campaign. trump says he fired him. "meet the press" will have much more on the presidential race, including an exclusive interview with marco r

kelly o'donnell has more for us. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, craig. after a sold out three-day miniconference known as the red state gathering. some of the conservatives here told us they were disappointed to not hear from donald trump directly. as you might expect, trump has plenty more to say. the party went on without donald trump. this tailgate bash, part of the conservative convention, would have been trump's place to rail against political correctness. instead top presidential candidates fired away at him. >> mr. trump ought to apologize. >> jeb brush addressed the controversy directly on the attack on megyn kelly after she challenged trump's comments about women. >> come on. give me a break. i mean, are we -- do we want to win? do we want to insult 53% of all voters? >> trump's invitation had been revoked, but questions about him persisted. other candidates, like mike huckabee, were tired of talking trump. >> i'm running for president. i'm not running for the social media kritdic for somebody else running for president. >> trump's turmoil turne

kelly o'donnell, who also just gave us the best -- >> i may have never used that phrase on televisionefore, craig. >> i was going to say. thank you for using it with me, kelly. have a great weekend. >> you bet, my friend. >>> tomorrow, former pennsylvania senator rick santorum will step up to the soap box. he's been outspoken in his belief that same-sex marriage is wrong for america. a majority of republicans agree as well. only 32% overall favor same-sex marriage. that's according to a pew research center poll. that number has been steadily climbing over the past decade. when it comes to young republicans, especially. a majority support it. perhaps that's the crowd john kasich was appealing to been. >> the court has ruled. i said we'll accept it. guess what? i just went to a wedding of a friend of mine that happens to be gay. the fact that someone doesn't feel about things the way i do doesn't mean i can't love them. i would accept them. we're taught that when we have strong faith. >> republican presidential hopeful john kasich there. >>> in the latest marl, kia maccarechi introduces

. >> we're going to get a live report from the iowa state fair from kelly o'donnell. let's go now to the weather and the up summer storms. in wisconsin a thunderstorm stopped play at the pga championship tournament. left the course a mess. look at that. the storm knocked down the leader board, also port-a-potties and shredded some tents. play is set to resume this hour. then to the west, four homes were damaged from a mud slide in central utah. no reports of injuries. and for a lot of the country, the stroyr this weekend will be the heat. the weather channel's reynolds wolf. good morning. >> alex my friend, so great seeing you the other day. i hope folks are going to be happy to see, well, the warmer temperatures along parts of the coast, in the northeast the last blast of summer like temperatures, however, you will have scattered storms in parts of the finger lakes, back in the ohio valley. be ready for that as you dodge the raindrops. more where that came from across parts of florida, tampa, jacksonville in the 80s. some showers possible for you new orleans. very mu

more from nbc's kelly o'donnell in atlanta. >> reporter: good evening, willie. once again, donald trump has turned a few words into a firestorm. taking away oxygen from gop rivals, forcing his party to do damage control. he was supposed to be a highlight a lot a tailgate event tonight. but he's not coming and was told to stay away. this is where donald trump was supposed to be a star attraction tonight. >> someone had to stand up to him. >> reporter: the welcome mat was pulled by the organizer of this meeting. >> if you haven't heard, i disinvited donald trump. >> reporter: and top gop candidates were under pressure to call out trump once again.

kelly o'donnell has that and more from this week's epicenter of the political world. >> a season of the political outsider. today a favorite among conservatives, retired neurosurgeon ben carson tapped into that sentiment. >> a lot of people tell me they never voted before and never contributed to a campaign before. >> carson is part of a non-politician wave led by donald trump. the real estate mogul and reality star acknowledged his showman appeal on "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> you know that the criticism is we all feel like we are in a reality show. >> in the the real deal. >> the deal maker turned his business experience on the iran nuclear agreement. claiming he would keep it and find his flaws. >> you have to bypass that. >> i would police that so tough, they don't have a chance. >> hoary used his celebrity reignite a national debate on immigration. >> they are bringing crime. they are rapists. >> inside his aircraft, he said illegal immigrants must go home. >> they have to go. >> trump laid out the first campaign tell us. on the issue that propelled him. illegal immigratio

kelly o'donnell, you're live in iowa for us. you just witnessed a very interesting moment for scott walker. a confrontation he had with a protester. i'm going to play this video and well get to you on the other side. >> again, unintimidated. i am not intimidated by you, sir, or anyone else out there. i will fight for the american people over and over and over and over again. you want someone who is tested? i'm right here. >> now, kelly, this komsz after scott walker had a dip in the polls, following a debate performance that many observers saw as flat. iowa is must win in his campaign. he was raised there. i would venture to say the campaign likes to see this kind of passion from their candidate. >> first, look, let me say the daily national anthem is playing and i'm going to drop my voice because i don't want to be disrespectful. you're right, scott walker was raised for the first ten years of his life there and professional at dealing with proes thors. you can argue it works for him. there are well organized protesters who com

. >> reporter: and telling nbc's kelly o'donnell he refuses to exploit voter anger. >> if it's aboutealing to people's angst, i don't think i'm going to win. if it's about saying we can rise up again, we can fix these things, i believe i'm going to be a pretty formidable candidate. >> reporter: i'm here by the way in clear lake, iowa. i've got a rowdy group of democrats behind us, a big democratic cattle call. hillary clinton, martin o'malley, bernie sanders all speaking here tonight. i've got to tell you, lester, spend a little time in iowa and you realize hillary clinton is a fragile front-runner. speaking of fragile front-runners, i've got donald trump one on one this weekend in person right before he makes his way to the state fair. >> one not to miss. chuck, thanks. we'll see you on sunday for "meet the press." >>> in china we are getting a clearer picture tonight of the incredible scope of devastation from that wave of explosions in a major port city near beijing. and as a massive search and rescue operation continues for the missing, a piece of hope today. a sign of life in a

outrageous, and it would hand her the presidential election. >> reporter: and chris christie told kelly o'donnell today -- >> i have a really strong, capable, tough wife who wouldn't put up with five seconds of that kind of stuff. >> reporter: but trump's comments didn't offend some women at the red state gathering in atlanta. >> maybe i have a better sense of humor than some women but i don't take it too seriously. >> reporter: republican party leaders have been afraid to criticize trump. but after losing the white house in 2012 the party recommended softening its tone and reaching out to women, who do make up 53% of all voters. lester? >> andrea mitchell, thanks. let's bring in our political director. the moderator of "meet the press," chuck todd. i don't even know where to start, chuck. >> i know. lester, look, we knew it was going to be the trump show, and in many ways it was. and obviously the toughest opponent he had on stage were the questioners. but look, i think what's going to be fascinating to watch is trump i don't think did anything -- a normal political candidate we would say donald

nbc's kelly o'donnell is in des moines. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. the summer heat is not only about hillary clinton's day at the iowa state fair. there are democrats who are watching and worried. some are saying there is time for another democrat to emerge in this race with hints that joe biden or al gore should jump in. hillary clinton should not only go after republican rivals. sometimes a family reunion. >> hillary clinton is the best. >> reporter: brings uncomfortable tensions to the surface. for hillary clinton, her e-mail controversy is making some democrats nervous. >> it would be nice to have somebody else to put their foot in. >> reporter: friday night, clinton tried to smooth anxiety. joking about her new social media account on snapchat. >> i love it. those messages disappear all by themselves. >> reporter: at this iowa summer party, called wing dings, four democrats appeared on the same stage. a surging bernie sanders bragged about his big crowds. >> we have been generating an enormous amount of enthusiasm all over this country. >> repor

kelly o'donnell, thank you. >>> the clinton e-mail story won't go away.d two e-mails deemed top secret include a discussion of drone operations. clinton's people maintained she's done nothing wrong. and the state department is trying to determine whether the intelligence officials are correct about the classification of those e-mails based on the time when they were september. joining me from washington, perry bacon. as i bruised you, maybe the third time now. i want to break this down. what is it saying as far as the drone talk? >> we don't really know if these e-mails were classified or not. there was some talk of a mention of a drone strike in some of the e-mails. the inspector generals are looking into whether the e-mails should be classified or unclassified. that determination has not been made yet. the e-mail controversy is not ending anytime soon. the e-mails and the biden and gore stories are related in that if somehow hillary clinton is under a lot of controversy, they'll make it easier for a gore or a biden or a john kerry, somebody like that to

. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell is joining us from atlanta. kelly, we welcome you to dubious task of how this happened? >> just a few words and it ignited yet another trump fire. he made this cable appearance late at night on cnn, he was dishing about the debate was asked about the questioning and he took to task megyn kelly, one of the three moderators and you heard the quote. people interpreted it differently. i spoke with eric erickson, who is the organizer here he took real offense, he felt a bit torn reaching out to the campaign looking for clarification so he made this decision to disinvite. here's how it all unfolded in the wee hours donald trump nowhere to be found this morning at a key conservative convention here in atlanta. the annual red state gathering. the billionaire and gop presidential front-runner was abruptly told he was no longer welcome here after trump made new crude comments about the questioning style of debate moderator megyn kelly. last night on cnn. >> you know you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blo

kelly o'donnell is in des moines with our political roundup this morning. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. this was like politics in neon. think of it as dueling, slow-moving spectacles across the fairgrounds. you had hillary clinton in one swarm, gop front-runner donald trump in another as they brought their styles and their issues here competing for fairgoers attention. >> as donald trump's helicopter circled in the sky, hillary clinton was already on the move. >> really good. >> she was at the center of a roving pack of cameras, security and iowa voters. >> across the fairgrounds trump led his own frenzied throng. sometimes gliding in golf course style. trump did bring his own thrill ride to the carnival. for a few kids. >> i love my kids. come here, kids. does anybody want to take a ride? >> reporter: clinton's visit here was followed by the issue of her private e-mail server and classified information. clinton said she did nothing wrong but blamed republicans for stirring controversy. >> this is the usual partisanization, which i h

democrat martin o'malley telling kelly o'donnell -- >> you think the clinton e-mail issue provides an opening? >> i think people are hungry for an alternative. >> reporter: the republicans wasted no time capitalizing on speculation the democratic field could get bigger. >> there is a lot of disarray in the democratic party i'm sure that people like joe biden and al gore are seriously considering it. >> reporter: for her part clinton will try to turn the page in iowa this weekend and will have plenty of company with most candidates expected to turn out to court key voters and perhaps enjoy some signature treats. >>> up next an eye opening study about the impact work schedules can have on families. >> i have anecdotal information on that. how about a new member for your family? why tomorrow might be the best day to bring one home. >>> we are enjoying great weather today but it gets hot this weekend. a lot of sunshine. i will have details coming up in the microclimate forecast. shelters' peadoptn maratn this saturda >>> nearly three dozen animal shelters taking part in clear the shelters

nbc's kelly o'donnell is there. kelly, you're at the red state gathering. that's where they enjoy the reddest of red meat. very conservative group. do you expect the candidates to pump up but some like jeb bush may encounter a hostile crowd. what is it like on the ground there? >> reporter: real there's real electricity here, luke in part because they're active conservatives. they get out and vote. they donate. they work for campaigns. candidates and issues they care about. and the electricity is in part because they watched last night and they have an assessment and to see many of them in person today and tomorrow and hear them at length. participants satd ss said they to get hear a full speech and a real chance to immense themselves in what the candidates are saying and they're tailoring remarks to issues that malter to this conservative group. so you do hear about traditional marriage, you do hear about being pro-life against abortion rights. you do hear about religious liberty. the kinds of themes that play extra large in a setting like this. so there i

>> kelly o'donnell for us this morning in atlanta. kelly, thank you. >>> donald trump will be on "maneet the press" with chuck todd. >> good morning, erica. >> these are far from the most inflammatory things that donald trump has ever said. yet, the reaction really does seem to be different. why is the tide turning at this point? is it the tone or the target? >> i think it's a little bit of everything. i think it's the accumulation, number one. if you look at it, he's been growing the amount of people he's insulted over the years, starting during the berger movement and moving to hispanics with his comments about mexicans and veterans with john mccain. now women with megyn kelly. it adds to the angst that kelly is a star that -- this has last straw feel to it, number one. second, the republican party, i think many leaders now know, now. at a time when they have got to figure out how to unite and -- they're demographically challenged going up against democrats in '16. this isn't helping. >> kelly talked about the fact that in the past,

joining me from iowa is kelly o'donnell.t from donald trump visit today, and will he eat fried butter? >> reporter: well, that will be participate of what will be so fascinating today. people who have held elective office before come to the fair, they've been through this grill before. they know about the mandatory eat something that's attached to a stick, shake some hands, wear the right footwear appropriate for the fair grounds. those are all tests that donald trump will have to try to meet today. what will be interesting about his arrival is that he will be coming by helicopter not landing on the grounds which are massive, about 445 acres, but in property adjacent to this area. so i think it's a real question mark of people attending the fair will actually see the helicopter in the sky but we will certainly try to get pictures of it as he comes to town. but the message will be there. he will be bringing the trump m emblazened helicopter. he will be doing the expected routine minus, as you mentioned, that soapbox which is

democrat martin o'malley already in iowa for the state fair, telling kelly o'donnell -- >> do you think the clinton e-mail issue provides an opening? >> i think that people are hungry for an alternative. >> meanwhile, the republicans wasted no time capitalizing on speculation the democratic field could get bigger. >> there's a lot of disarray in the democratic party. i'm sure that people like joe biden and al gore are seriously considering it. >> for her part, clinton will try to turn the page in iowa this weekend and she'll have plenty of company with most candidates expected to turn out to court key voters and perhaps enjoy some of those signature treats. now, the clinton campaign says they have no way of confirming if that a.p. report is accurate, but they stress the part of the report that says clinton did not transmit the sensitive information herself. meanwhile, just to put that speculation about al gore into a little bit of context, his name has been floated as a possible candidate in every contested democratic primary since he lost back in 2000. >> watching al gore and also the

kelly o'donnell is at the iowa state fair this morning.me say trump's plan is ridiculous, and others are embracing it; is that correct? >> yes, and bless the tent above us. that becomes a reality out here in the rain. candidates are saying it's time to call out donald trump for ridiculous ideas. every candidate really don't want to talk about another candidate, they want to talk about themselves, but there are those critical points when ideas come forward or an incident happens or a comment takes place and they're willing to sort of weigh in and say no to donald trump. at the same time, you've got some other candidates who want to embrace some of the ideas in order to be appealing to those voters who are sort of inspired by trump. when i talked to voters themselves here on the ground, jose, and i've been doing that over the last several days, what is striking to me about those who like trump and support trump is that they really want someone who is not a part of the current political processme. that's not something that is likely to wear o

yesterday, out on the campaign trail, kelly o'donnell asked biden's long-time friend senator john mccain about all of this talk. >> i think that he sees this trust factor of hillary clinton in a steep decline. and i think that he is examining his options. >> new polling shows biden holding his own against the top republican contenders in head-to-head hypothetical general election match-ups, the vice president just ahead of jeb bush, tied with scott walker, and far ahead of donald trump. fath faring no worse than hillary clinton is. but his favorable score is better than clintons, 49%, 39% you see there. best mark in years, it can be attributed to the outpouring of sympathy and goodwill in the wake of his son's death. this is a big story. if joe biden were to enter the race it would be a very big deal. there are also very good reasons to be skeptical about whether he will actually do it. it's very late in the game right now. clinton has put together a formidable organization, locked down many key endorsements. biden, so far, has taken no steps to create a campaign organization. in fact, o