we are doing fine. >> mercedes schlapp, andrea mccarren and joe trippi are back.ld journalists use death watch, and are you on life support? >> look, there are nine candidates where poll numbers than jeb bush and the voters have a long-term to make their decisions. no voter has cast his or her ballot. what i will say, it did not help jeb bush during the debate, probably one of the most animated moments that i have witnessed during the campaign season is his talking about fan teas football. >> the question which he bragged about his team and chris christie said why are we talking about fantasy football, and asking jindal and rick santorum if they dropping out. >> could think to. >> stipulate that jeb had a lousy debate when he needed a good one, and he is stumbling but weapon the media say to you constantly, why are you still in this, are you on life support, does that color the coverage? >> absolutely. the media wrote the obituary. we did not see that with governor walker. his numbers were low but we were caught off guard when he decided to jump out in the summer.

. >> joining us to sort through all it this, mercedes schlapp, robert costa a national political reporter for "the washington post" who covers trump, and penny lee, a democratic strategist and commentator. so ben carson made a mistake, accomplice ko backing off the screaming headline. was this a legitimate story? >> i reply politico go an "f" in reporting. they even had to change the headlines. >> claimed west-point -- and they also said he had applied, about you in fact carson had never made that case, so again, i think politico got it wrong in this says. >> you say "f" in reporting, you think the story never should have been published? >> i think think the facts wrong. yes, i think they never should have reported. >>> carson used very strong language, liars, witch-hunt, garbage. he seems offended that -- >> they rise through the ranks in house races, gubernatorial races, and the press gradually vets these candidates. but we're seeing an uncomfortable confluence with the press and dr. carson. they're digging into his record, and it's just -- the way it's unfolding is uncomfortable. but b

. >> mercedes schlapp, andrea mccarron, and joe trippi are with us. should media be saying that? >> i think it's terribly unfair and highly editorial. there are nine candidates with poll numbers lower than jeb bush. the voters have a long time to make their decisions. no voters has cast his our her ballot. it did not help jeb bush at all, probably one of the most animated moments i've witnessed is his talking about fantasy football. but still -- >> a question from the cnbc moderator, which he was bragging about his team, and chris christie saying why are we talking about fantasy football. >> let ate stipulate that jeb had a pretty lousy debate when he needed to have a good one, he's been struggling, no debate about that, but with the media constantly saying are you on life support, doesn't that -- >> the media already wrote the obituary. and we didn't see that with governor walker, though his numbers were low, we were caught a bit off-guard when he decided to drop out. so clearly there's been a stings in the way they've been covering jeb. >> on "meet the press" he said one of the

back with me is katrina pierson and mercedes schlapp, who do you think won't make it? , mercedes, who's not going to be invited to the big stage? >> you know, the word out on the street is chris christie won't make it on the stage. if that's the case, that could really change the dynamics of the debate because governor chris christie has been very effective especially in the last two debates to come across strong, deliver a message that resonates with middle-class americans, and he, for example, last debate took on governor jeb bush which i thought was a very effective hit at the time. if he's not in the main debate, he would be sorely missed. charles: christian, what surprises are you looking for? i think a lot of people are centered around chris christie because results have been mixed in the last four polls. came in only 2% with the fox news poll and better with the other polls? >> my guess is kasich is on the line there, a candidacy that hasn't taken off well, midwestern governor looks better on paper. the other person that ought not to be on the stage but definitel

. >> joining us now to sort through all of this is mercedes schlapp, political consultant and former white house aide to george w burn, and robert costa for the "washington post" and penny lee democratic strategist and commentator. ben carson, then, made a mistake in writing he was offer add full scholarship to west point and "politico" backing off the screaming headline. was this a legitimate story? >> "politico" gets an f in reporting because they had to change the headline from fabricating at west point to a different headline. >> they said also that he applied but, in fact, ben carson never made that case, he said he never applied. so "politico" got it wrong. >> when you say "f" in reporting do you think it should never have been published? >> they should not have reported it. >> robert, ben carson is using strong language, liars, and witch hunt, and seems offended. >> for so many, they rise through the ranks and in house races and senate and governor races and the press gradually vets them but this is an uncomfortable confluence with the press and the politician and it is unfold

. >> eboni williams a political analyst, mercedes schlapp mcstrategist former spokesperson for presidenteorge w. bush. all right, eboni, i think it was proven that that really did not happen, here in the united states. it may have happened in middle eastern countries where it there was cheering after 9/11, but there seems to be no evidence it happened in new jersey. what are we to make of that? >> pretty much everybody including governor chris christie can't seal to recall this. you would think it would be documented in today's high-tech society. here's the point. i want to put on a legal analysis of what mr. trump is talking about. surveillance issue, fine, legally you can watch anybody. but what we want to do is make something effective. i think your previous guest's idea of something based on this legal requirement of reasonable suspicion, that gets us closer to something that's actually going to make us safer. so we can watch all we want, but if they're not going to give us -- there's really no point. >> also, mr. trump over the weekend, mercedes, talked about the fact he would bring

>> eboni williams a political analyst, mercedes schlapp republican strategist, was a spokeswoman fore w. bush. eboni, let me start with you today. really donald trump seems to be the only other gop candidate who is talking more about ben carson and what's been happening with him with the media over the last few days. do you think that that's smart now for trump and carson? they are on the top. to kind of go after each other? will this play out at the debate? >> you know, gretchen, i think it is smart of trump. i'm going to go ahead and say these two men are not pledging a fraternity together. they're running against one another, the top two candidates in what's a very adversarial process. it's not surprising, probably strategically savvy for mr. trump. he cannot continue to be a part of the ben carson cheerleading team if he wants to be serious and get back his secured front-runner status. i don't think it will hurt people. >> mercedes, it's interesting because as we've shown poll after poll, ben carson has a very high mark for trustworthiness. >> that's right. >> is this going to af

eboni williams is here along with mercedes schlapp. it's interesting, eboni.ou look at people who argue that climate change is a national security issue, here's why, they point out that extreme fluctuations in weather could spur mass migrations and lead to battles over resources such as water and land. >> yeah, gretchen. i can appreciate that sentiment, if they believe that. but here's the thing. right now nobody cares about that. we're less than three weeks outside of a horrible, deadly terror attack against the citizens of paris, and people have not forgotten that. people are still shaking around that. and certainly any effort the president and this leadership organization is making to get the conversation to pivot is not going to be effective right now. >> so, mercedes, the president last week before he left for paris was saying that this climate change summit was going to show the world that these countries were merging together and that they were taking on the terrorists. but yet are they really having enough serious discussions about terrorism, or are th

steve hayes is back and her shades slay -- mercedes schlapp lap, former george w. bush spokesman. both at 11% right now. they appeal to a very different constituency, don't they? on one hand cruz, very much of a tea party outsider where rubio is much more of an insider. >> sure, as cuban-american i can appreciate both their sets of talents, i tell you that much. but senator ted cruz is more confrontational, tea party, grassroots type of movement, you see this very much in the social media, where ted cruz followers are very strong, very out there. i think for senator marco rubio it's a little bit different. he kind of can fall on both lanes. could fall into the more moderate, establishment type inside, the republican ranks. sort of outsider as well. again, senator marco rubio does also come from the tea party movement. he has a 98% rating from the american conservative union. i mean again, he is no moderate himself. david: right. >> probably one that has broader reach. david: cruz gets more passion from the tea party constituents than rubio does. steve, i have to point out somethin

. >> and mercedes schlapp, and errol louis, that story, it now has holes main the story.he tv and conservative pundits are saying, wow, serious trouble right now. >> and i have to say that there are conservative pundits and i quoted a string of them on a piece of cnn.com have been criticizing him for over a year, and other gaffes or statements that he has made and a lot of the conservatives -- >> this is not a gaffe. if this is true, it is not a gaffe, but he made something up, and being admitted to west point on a full scholarship. >> it is different from misremembering a story from the past and misremembering getting into a fight who you got into the fight and what happened at that time if you were in elementary school and junior high, but in is lying about applying to west point and getting a full ride there. >> and it is extraordinary, and as you point out, he has an extraordinary story, and there is no reason for it, but that is not the criteria, and we have covered politicians for years and why would you lie about that and didn't you know that we would catch you, an