lee knew that it fit a liberal stereotype that would make a larger point about dukakis. >> atwater wantson front of stage, but he knows he's playing with fire. >> lee also knew that it could be radioactive with bush, that if it weren't handled right, bush wouldn't use it. bush would declare it off-limits. >> atwater and ailes take a different tack. casting a shadow over dukakis' prison weekend furlough program by making a spector of willie horton. >> we felt that the furlough policy in massachusetts was too lenient. and so did we push it? yes, we did. >> as governor michael dukakis vetoed mandatory sentences for drug dealers -- >> we went to a prison site in utah, we created and built a set, the revolving prison door? >> his revolving door prison policy gave weekend furloughs to first-degree murderers not eligible for parole and many are still at large. now michael dukakis says he wants to do for america what he's done for massachusetts. >> the revolving door ad accomplished what lee atwater said was his goal, which was to make willie horton into dukakis' running mate. >> we like mike. w

my argument at the end of the show i might as well as give it away now, lee atwater, he said the best way to win a campaign is to find a state that the other side knows they need to win and then early on yank it away from them. break their spirit. atwater did it in michigan with the democrats. if they take pennsylvania away from trump, doesn't he know he's going to lose. >> i think the mathematics don't work because pennsylvania has enough of appalachia in it, enough of the rural areas that the governor is talking about and enough of the counties around pittsburgh, washington county, fayette county, that are becoming more republican. >> i know that. >> trump has to win every one of those votes because he's basically maximizing white conservative rural turnout and ex-urban turnout. he has to get that maximum to have a chance at pennsylvania and the electoral college mathematics don't work out without pennsylvania. i don't see how trump can win it without pennsylvania. >> president obama today mocked donald trump. his sarcasm today was so rich he knocked trump before his prepared romanc

. - this is where the role of lee atwater grows.skilled, you could say, in the dark arts of dirty politics. - you know, he was the guy that was running bush's campaign, doing all that stuff. - so lee atwater was able to create a parallel campaign where all the dirty work is being done by operatives and allies. he's sort of the don corleone of dirty politics. - he was once described as "mean as a one-eyed water moccasin." i liked that line. for him, it wasn't just, we're gonna win. it's we're gonna really kill the other guy. it's that--you know, that line, "i'm gonna strip the bark off that little bastard." and george h. w. bush, who's essentially a very polite man, probably not a mean bone in his body, but he needed a lee atwater. mr. nice guy doesn't usually become president. - a lot of the events that the bush campaign did were, i think, all about otherizing my dad, making him seem like he was out of the mainstream, that because of his immigrant status, he thought differently. he did different things than the rest of the country.

it's the same strategy that lee atwater used for richard nixon, for ronald reagan and george bush.as devised back in the '60s. let's use the southern democrats who right now are voting democrat and divide them and use law & order and states rights. let's use language but not go there directly but we can divide them and get them as the target to demonstrate as to why they are suffering economically and they use that target. donald trump has learned no more than a page out of that playbook. lee atwater would be pleased because the same message that he gave back then to elect nixon and bush and reagan is what donald trump is using in 2016 we know you and what we know is we don't like what you see. >> reverend, to african-american voters, someone who is not sure if it's an issue of trust or they can trust hillary clinton particularly in light of more reveal from the fbi on the 47 pages of their note taking in her 3 1/2 hour interview and not completely sure about donald trump kbut they might measure hm by ben carson who is from the detroit area, and he says is he surrounding by other p

under the instructions of lee atwater, we were told if david duke walks into the room, you're to leave room. david duke walked in, we walked out. that's been the policy of the republican party really ever since then. >> and so when it comes to what gop leaders and folks inside d.c. are thinking, ben, buzz feed had up an article saying the gop is suddenly terrified at the thought of trump winning. from the insiders and folks you're talking to -- we know pence was on the hill today to try to rally gop skeptics, but are you hearing that, that people are actually afraid that donald trump could win in november? >> look, i think some republicans are excited about that concept but the party's never been quite as divided, at least this i've seen in a presidential race. so, donald trump's modulation of tone is running up against things like the david duke incident. and that's sort of the tension point within the party. there are not many republicans who are saying hillary clinton would be a terrific president. in fact, you don't hear that very much. so, much like the country as a whole, there's

he was given an office headquarters near the white house in his office was between lee atwater and roger ailes handling the publicity into the next two years george learned about the electoral politics. he ran against michael dukakis and saw firsthand how t first-hn the presidential campaign. when it was over in november of 88, george declined an appointment to work in his father's administration and returned to texas to run for governor but at the same time help organize the texas rangers baseball team. as you recall the washington senators expansion team that had been formed a moved to texas in 1972. they were contenders and the deal to buy the team came through. bush stepped back and for the next four years was the public had of the texas rangers. he owned only 2% of the stalk sk and build a new stadium and basked in the globe. they assisted in 1992 but from a distance he stayed in texas and when clinton won the election set his sights and for the same time decided to run for governor of florida. bush was running again. could against the incumbent and richards was heavily favored. he

and the woodward building down on 15th 15th street near the white house.ic his office was between lee atwater who was managing the campaign and roger ailes who was handling the publicity. now head of fox news. for to next two years george learned about electoral politics from who gifted practitioners. pop pa ran against michael dukakis and george saw first hand how to run a presidential campaign. when the election was over into november, of 88 george declined an offer to work in his father's administration and returned to texas. he started an informal campaign to run for governor but at the same time held organize a cindy cat to buy the texas rangers baseball team. the rangers, you may recall, are the old washington senators expansion team, an expansion team formed here in 1961.at moved to texas in 1972. they were scarce scarcely pennant contenders and the deal to buy the team came through. bush stepped back from running for governor and for the next four years was the public head of the texas rangers. he owns only two percent of the stock. built a new stadium and really basked in the blow of

was unmatchable by the other side, a surrogate who knows just where to strike at the opposition, lee atwaterifying smart for the republicans once developed a method for breaking the other side's heart. find a state that they know they need to win that early on take it away from them. today we watched the president of the united states, a man from the other party execute the atwater tactic with glee. pennsylvania is mine, he actually said today, that means you lose. and that's hardball for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. >>> tonight on "all in" -- >> do you mind if i just vent for a second? >> hillary clinton calls in backup. >> i really, really, really want to elect hillary clinton. >> the president lets it fly in philly, dressing down donald trump. >> he won't let you on his golf course. he wasn't going to let you buy any of his condos. now suddenly this guy's going to be your champion? >> tonight barack obama's impassioned rallying cry, and why he was touting the single-biggest election headline of the week. >> republicans don't like to hear good

he told lee atwater who then told president -- vice president bush that trump was willing to serve as vice president. [laughter] and the old man in his audio diary said, strange, unbelievable. [laughter] which is kind of the headline of the past 14, 15 months. i think in many ways, you know, bush is the antithesis -- george herbert walker bush is the antithesis of what we're seeing right now without any argument. he's someone who spent his life in public service; as you say, at the -- on his 18th birth days, june 12, 1942, three things happened. he graduated from andover, he turned 18, and he drove to boston and took an oath as a naval enlis tee, later becoming the youngest flying officer in the navy. he's shot down, he loses his two crew mates, he plunges into the ocean. blessedly, the life raft was near him. he almost was decapitated on the way out. as you bail out of a plane, the plane doesn't stop, and he gashed his head on the tail of the plane. so another 6 or 8 inches, it would have been -- that would have been the end of the story. and he, the island in which, next to which he

whether you painted a very positive picture of the president bush, i was very disappointed about the lee atwater and -- situation. that comes to my memory. i'm wondering if in your view him as a decent man participating in the system thing about the nature of our politics within the context of the american democracy? that it encourages decent people to do the wrong thing in order to achieve their objectives, or is this just, maybe you don't see it as that important. i just did did not get the sense from your comments today, i have not read your book unfortunately so i don't want to say that you don't cover it. >> when i tried to say and when i talk about the ada campaign were talking about the furlough ads, the horton ads, although the horton ads were an independent expenditure group and we can spend the next three hours on that. but you said something quite brilliant there, which is politics is not a pure undertaking. if you want to amass power to be in a position of influence when the crises of the age come, you are going to cut some corners. you're going to have moments where you say, and do

on july 29, 2016, lee farley was taken into custody without incident at the u.s. prison at atwaterfornia where he was in custody on an unrelated charge. farley was charged with numerous felony counts including four counts of murder. with sfpd. officially charged today with 7 felonies. >> reporter:this comes after he allegedly beat-up an elderly man and his son in san francisco earlier this week. justine waldman is here now. >> reporter:and justine one of the counts includes assault with a deadly weapon? that deadly weapon. the district attorney's office says is a cane. the one police say miller used to beat-up an elderly man and his son. among the felony charges. criminal threats, inflicting injury on an elder, and two counts assault with force. the charges include multiple enhancements because one of the victims was 70 years old. this is security camera video from monday when the crimes allegedly happened. san francisco police arrested miller after he tried to enter the fisherman's wharf hotel room of an elderly couple on monday. the couple's son was staying in the next room, and