listen to this. >> might know ron desantis disney, ron desantis covid, something like that. they know very little really about him or about his personal life story or what he's done in florida. i'm of the belief once we get his story out there, and thankfully, we have the resources to do that, he's campaigning with a phrenetic pace already. my view is we're going to close this gap, i'm of the firm view that it is a two-man race. >> so, hey, desantis campaign, define him. what have we seen so far? we've seen the trump super pac allies defining desantis for desantis which is never what you want. you never want to be defined by your opponents. >> no, you don't. i do think what he's saying about the brand image around ron desantis, i know from walking to some of desantis' advisers that that's something that they really want to lean into and this image that he's a family man, unlike donald trump who -- one of his worst qualities is his rhetoric that he uses, that's something that many voters have been turned off by. ron desantis is trying to use that and lean into it, appearing e

all take a donald trump over ron desantis and a date. will go to the grave on that. one will >> have to talk about that another time, katie. >> i guys thank you. and coming up, will you believe it? clarence thomas finds himself embroiled in yet another ethics controversy. new superrich benefactors putting him within the proximity of unimaginable wealth and privilege. that is next. that is next ting migraine with qulipta®? remember the pain? cancelled plans? the worry? that was then. and look at me now. you'll never truly forget migraine. but qulipta® reduces attacks, making zero-migraine days possible. it's the only pill of its kind that blocks cgrp - and is approved to prevent migraine of any frequency. to help give you that forget-you-get migraine feeling. don't take if allergic to qulipta®. most common side effects are nausea, constipation, and sleepiness. learn how abbvie could help you save. qulipta®. the forget-you-get migraine medicine™. we're at war. -detonators charged. qulipta®. there's a chance that when we push that button, we

this is in contrast ron desantis's record of unrelenting attacks on those same groups. be bragging in this ad that his policies are set to threaten trans existence. >> in the future, transgender women compete in the miss universe. >> make america great again. >> psych! >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i can't think of anything more horrifying. >> it really has shut down drag. >> just produced some of the harshest, most draconian laws that threaten trans existence. >> congratulations, ron desantis! mission accomplished! you win! >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> wait, wait. that is actually the at. we didn't alter that. someone who has been such a study the trump clone who has donated so much to try to appear -- desantis defended himself against the avalanche of criticism from the right, arguing that attacking trump for his previous acceptance of the lgbtq community is, quote, totally fair game because he is campaigning, saying the opposite, and quote. as for the bigoted sentiment of the ad, ron desantis has done much worse then spread hateful, harmful messages. he's been building a regime in florida which i

i still think -- i keep talking about ron desantis.figure this out because as much as some of the other candidates, a tim scott, a nikki haley, are all very appealing in certain ways, they've just not shown the willingness to fight and be able to capture people's attention. ron desantis is burning through a lot of money on his campaign side but he still has a huge superpac with lots of money. so he still has some advantages and i think a lot of people are rooting for him. i do think we are not too early to be thinking about people that should be getting out of this race. even in a head-to-head race donald trump is still beating ron desantis but i think at some point earlier than usual you might need to see some people dropping out and consolidating behind an alternative. whether people have the courage to drop out and back a ron desantis i don't know. i think when things are look like this it gets hard to not endorse him. but no one in that pack of people running in the single digits shows to be a real threat. and that's why i think ro

i think it ron desantis is elected on this particular message that is because that is what republican voters expect it. if he were to turn around and do something different that will become politically very problematic. desantis is in a political bind. i think he has decided rather than try to find the ability more to listen to the right that he wants to be further to the right, even perhaps further to the right then trump himself. if he is going to do that there is really no way he can criticize trump for these investigations. focus on the far right of the republican party right now do not think these investigations are legitimate. caitlin is right, he avoided actually talking about what trump may be charged with in the january 6th the facts of that case and also the documents case do not support the argument that he is making that this is all sort of a stretching of the law. even this idea of political differences. january 6th is not about political differences. it was about people using violence to gain political means. i think desantis is trying to avoid those arguments altogether

_ come along at this point, ron desantis has not proven that he is a better— desantis has not provenve in his attempt to try to turn — better alternative in his attempt to try to turn things around and show that he _ try to turn things around and show that he can — try to turn things around and show that he can be at least as good as donald trump on china and foreign policy— donald trump on china and foreign policy while avoiding the legal problems are donald trump as, distilled — problems are donald trump as, distilled tough and the steep hill to climb— distilled tough and the steep hill to climb but it's still awake and turn it— to climb but it's still awake and turn it around in this campaign. donald — turn it around in this campaign. donald trump, if you look at some the things that he says and ignore them, he is quite warm with the crowd, he works the crowd, he is quite personable and i wonder if ron desantis has that. is he a retail politician? he desantis has that. is he a retail politician?— desantis has that. is he a retail olitician? ., , ., , ., , politician? he does not s

florida governor ron desantis, his closest rival, although nearly 30 points apart. ng by for us. we also have rick wilson, cofounder of the lincoln project and the author of running against the devil, the block to save america from democrats and from themselves. rick wilson, it's great to talk to you. ron was supposed to join us. he spent having technical difficulties. if he joins us, we're going to bring him in as well. let's start with where the polling is showing both the former president along with the major front runner which is rhonda santas. >> sure. >> you mostly here from democrats that desantis, excuse me, that trump would be the easiest candidate to beat for joe biden. if you think back to 2020, it was not that big of a win. what do you think about that? do you think that trump is the easiest candidate to be for president joe biden? >> i think it's a deeply paradoxical moment. he's both the easiest and the hardest candidate to beat. his base is more intense. the space is less persuadable. they are more fixed in their belief that only he can save america. a

nbc news polling showing a 30 point lead over ron desantis.re insightful is an event like this today here in rural western south carolina, in which you have thousands of folks streaming out for donald trump here in the heart of this afternoon. this is the ninth summer of trump rallies, and they are as strong as they were from those events that i was going to back in 2015 that summer. for donald trump, he does not see any movements in any of his republican primary rivals beginning to even have a glimpse of being a threat. it is for donald trump, it's notable when you have the likes of the governor of south carolina onstage, lieutenant governor, multiple members of congress, as well as lindsey graham who we should know received booze here from this crowd during his remarks. but donald trump told them, look, he was here and he endorsed me. he was one of my earliest endorsements and i have his back. for donald trump, he has consolidated power yet again among this republican not only voting electorate, but also up on capitol hill. you have not seen

ron desantis, almost got booed off the stage forthat. desantis, he almost got booed off the stage for that. ron desantis, he got a very enthusiastic reception, and he approached the whole issue very differently, he did not say his name but he did say that if he is elected president he would and the weaponisation of the federal government and fire the director of the fbi, that's his way of saying to trump supporters, i agree with you that the charges against donald trump are politically motivated, but i'm still the guy that you should elect to put in charge of all of this, but when he is aiming to make that case, it still means this race is all about donald trump, who is still very clearly the front runner in the polls and very much the man that all the other republican candidates have to try and beat. for more on what ron desantis is doing in iowa, my colleague carl nasman spoke earlier with cbs news�* ed 0'keefe who interviewed him ahead of the dinner. ed 0'keefe, thank you so much forjoining us. i just want to start with these latest c

it's about ron desantis. people don't like ron desantis. but he can't fire himself.s to be something else. so, you know, they have to try this. but, at the end of the day, you have a candidate who is running against donald trump who is still wildly popular in the republican party, at least. and you have a candidate who on paper i think ron desantis had a lot of pretty compelling arguments for why he should be the nominee. but he's just not a likable or charismatic person. >> but also feels like the republican primary electorate said we want donald trump. we don't want the fake version from florida. this is who we want. this is who we're going to support. so in that instance, desantis just doesn't offer anything. he's not been able to grow the base of -- his base of support throughout this period that he's been retooling and retooling and retooling. and it's hard to see how leaner, meaner is going to actually benefit him. i mean, it's more the establishment saying, we're trying to pump him up. but it's not -- voters just aren't buying it. >> yeah. there is still time.

he has used twitter for and on behalf of ron desantis and ron desantis' campaign.s his tweets read like press releases from the ron desantis campaign. and he's targeted and highlights all the themes that ron desantis and his campaign target and highlight. he talked about russia and maybe we should give them some of ukrainian land. he talked about the war on woke, the desantis campaign. he has played footsie with trump while saying he does not support trump. that is exactly where ron desantis is. he wants to maga supporters to know he likes trump, but prefer me, ron desantis. all of these are objectives of the ron desantis campaign, and why musk supports him is he feels that ron desantis will give him a tax cut once elected. that's musk's financial interest. the other, however s musk's ego. look, if you're just going at this financially you would do it a lot smarter than elon musk is. he lost a will of money and lost it all on the altar of a tremendous ego. what elon musk wants is celebrity. he wants people to like him. he wants to be adored. he's been in rooms with

this is classic ron desantis.e. if he really meant this, if he really meant this, one way to go at donald trump in republican politics right now is to say to republican voters donald trump misled you. he and fauci misled you on the vaccine. operation warp speed. he misled me. ron desantis, if i made any bad decisions in florida, it's because i listened to donald trump and he was wrong to lead us in that direction. had i been president i wouldn't have done any of that. it's a dangerous place for the nation. it's a dangerous place for our public health. but it's the politics of today's republican party and it's the politics of rfk jr. and the democratic party, which is probably why he should consider jumping over the gop before this is done. >> let me ask you, david jolly, while i have you about the sad state of ron desaptis's campaign. i think he's behind 30 to 35 points in the earliest days of iowa and south carolina. the composite picture of desantis republicanism is a massive loser even among the extreme and rad

because it is starting to seem like the more people hear from governor ron desantis, the less they likentis trailing trump by more than 30%, a gap that has only widened as voters continues to meet desantis on the campaign trail. joining us now is claire mckascill, former democratic senator of missouri. thanks for joining. there's nobody i'd rather hear from in terms of assessing that ad that was shared by the desantis campaign. what do you make of it? and what does it tell you about what the campaign thinks of republican primary voters? >> well, the interesting thing here is, he has to have, and his team has to have, some theory by which he takes votes from donald trump and he thinks the way to do that is to out-trump trump, go even further, spew more hate and bigoted language. and i've got to tell you, the biggest problem that desantis has is that, in order to be a con man, you have to have showmanship. now, we all know that donald trump is a con man. he is a huckster. he is somebody who thinks it's all about self promotion and marketing, and nothing about substance or policy. ron desa

but are these issues just to work for ron desantis? >> that is the sad part of it, we've seen governor desantis and other republicans just continue to distract and deflect their culture wars. and i will say this is an opportunity for democrats including the biden ministration to be true problem solvers and provide solutions, whether it's the climate crisis the cost of living, or this conversation with real solutions to immigration, this is a time for democrats to lead. >> florida state representative and eskamani, as always, i'm grateful for your insight, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> up next, a major conservative special interest group has a message for republican primary voters. donald trump is a loser. >> we definitely need somebody who can for can win. i think he would probably lose that bet if you voted for trump. . >> the latest on the 2024 republican circus, that is next. next. so, i got this app from experian. it's got everything i need to help my finances. got my fico® score, raised it instantly, i even fou

he's certainly beating ron desantis. but, listen, this is not good for him.ts to be indicted possibly a third time, possibly a fourth time as he's seeking the white house again? >> i talked to a source this morning who is very much a supporter of donald trump, speaks to him, who said that the question at this point is about how the republican electorate looks at him when it comes to his electability. and right now 's pretty strong. if you look at the latest monmouth university poll on this question, the strongest candidate against biden definitely trump is 45%. and this person i talk to said that even he, the former president, is a bit concerned that cumulative effect of all of this, despite his bravado, might take a toll on that. >> right. i think that's the key point to hit on. it's not necessarily our republican voters going to ditch donald trump or absolutely flip on him. this is someone who they have had a personal and political connection to for the last six, eight years. the question is whether these indictments pile up in a way that starts to see him

if ron desantis stands in front— believe you. if ron desantis stands in front of— believe you.in front of the 50 people and said the sky is — in front of the 50 people and said the sky is blue today, they would believe _ the sky is blue today, they would believe him. none of these candidates, especially ron desantis, who is— candidates, especially ron desantis, who is a _ candidates, especially ron desantis, who is a standard with voters to make _ who is a standard with voters to make it — who is a standard with voters to make it stick.— who is a standard with voters to make it stick. that's why i asked what he's going _ make it stick. that's why i asked what he's going to _ make it stick. that's why i asked what he's going to do _ make it stick. that's why i asked what he's going to do in - make it stick. that's why i asked what he's going to do in the - make it stick. that's why i asked | what he's going to do in the next six months to seven self apart from donald trump. that species even today, not... he could havejust been one of donald trump's campaign managers trotting ou

keep in mind, after the 2021 election down in florida, where ron desantis won 2022, that is, ron desantisy double digits, like 20 points across portions of florida, okay, he is unstoppable, that is why so much went in there. abc is reporting mr. griffin because ron desantis has not had a lot of lift off in the poll, they are pausing their support, although griffin and his team says that is not true. >> ainsley: his team says ken is not pausing anything, he continues to assess the field. many live in miami and palm beach, they are waiting out to see who the big guy is going to be, who is going to win the primary and put their money behind that individual. the estee lauder guy met with tim scott and ken griffin left chicago. he started hedge fund citadel and bought property in palm beach and moved to miami. i think they will support who wins the primary, they are pushing the one they like now. >> brian: not one side will go the whole way. they will have ups and undoes. no one has seen anything like donald trump, twice indicted, dominating every news cycle and by having 30 to 40% lead. they

strategy how they will beat donald trump in the early states. >> shannon: des moines register about ron desantisgh time there. they say republicans say if desantis wants to gain momentum, start hitting campaign trail in earnest in smaller meet and greets and talk to iowans one-on-one and we are getting word from his campaign that is what he is going to start doing, a bus tour and spending time on the ground, part of reset of the campaign. >> katie: they said they believe stories about campaign getting reshuffled, it is not an existential threat, they want his name out there, he did well in an interview with cnn. this is a race for second place, donald trump is beating everybody by 30% and donors have been trying to find a candidate they believe can convince trump voters to come to ron desantis, tim scott, vivek ramaswamy, even nikki haley and that is not happening. numbers game of how many people are in this race is splintered and until it is one-on-one race or one on two race, things will not change the republican primary and base is with donald trump. >> shannon: tim scott continues to tick up

ron desantis and i keep thinking about one of my quotes, good gets better and bad gets worse, and we'ven watching desantis, and i want to put up this tweet from congressman john james, african american republican from michigan where he points his out and says, first owl of all, slavery isn't cte. one thing he pointed out. there are only five black republicans in congress and you are attacking two of them. my brother in christ, put the shovel down. is it even recoverable for desantis? >> he's got the money, so that always helps. for how long? we don't know, but he has a super pac with a great deal of money to help him. to me, this debate will be fascinating on august -- >> without trump -- >> there is an actual contrast, scott versus desantis. >> the fact that you see the pile-on right now on ron desantis suggests that those people who will be standing on the stage with ron desantis know exactly what they need to do which is he's lowering, lowering, lowering, if they can get one more punch in, he's no longer number two. somebody else gets to be elevated. this is a very, very dangerous de

but his whole spending issue was apparently news to ron desantis.k out to me. quote, the campaign did not hit expected fundraising targets and spent exurban utley, caught the candidate in his wife by surprise, a person with knowledge of the reaction said. here's the thing, desantis and his wife have been crisscrossing the country on a private plane, spending more than 1 million dollars on air travel. did they walk onto that plane and think those jets were free? don't you know free private jet rights are only available to conservatives supreme court justices with rich benefactors? sorry, couldn't help myself. and it's not just the fundraising. it's hard to imagine that desantis's defense of some policies had the goal of winning votes. -- to include land when the state curriculum effectively defending slavery and touting the supposed benefits of it to people who were enslaved. it was so beyond the pale, even the standards of conservative culture wars didn't buy it, didn't buy into it. it's part one of the first attacks as this primary cycle from the f

ron desantis thing like he felt ron desantis should have endorsed him. >> brian: on the surface seemse a situation where you have a very popular successful governor in iowa ohio thought was going to actually endorse desantis because they are so tight, who is doing a lot of the same things and has that school choice and everything. and for trump to go after just for not endorsing him. it certainly didn't hurt him over the weekend in the speak when he brought her up. to your point, too in terms of small donors, the "new york times" writes, small donor donations are down. it's just can -- those are 200 lower. $10.2 million small donors which shows the grassroots that donald trump has. >> ainsley: maybe that's because small donors feels the way kim reynolds does. >> brian: i mean for joe biden. >> ainsley: okay. >> steve: regarding on the republican side. do you know who surprisingly has got a lot of small donors for a republican is chris christie. he raised $1.6 million in the last quarter, and a third of that came from small donors, which does suggest that he has got broad appeal. you k

or the burn rate, it is about ron desantis.like ron desantis, but he can't fire himself. so, the shakeup has to be something else. they have to try this, but at the end of the day, you have a candidate who is running against donald trump who is still wildly popular in th e republican party, and you have a candidate who, on paper, ron desantis had a lot of pretty compelling arguments for why he should be the nominee. but, he is just not a likable, or charismatic person. >> but also, it feels like the republican primary election once donald trump, we don't want the fake version from florida, this is who we want, this is who we are going to support. so in that instance , desantis just doesn't offer anything. he has not been able to grow the base of support throughout this period that he has been re-tooling and through to learn. it is hard to see how leaner, meaner, is going to actually benefit him. it is more the establishment saying, we are trying to pump it up, but voters are just not buying it. >> i mean, there is still time, r

will: governor newsom's wife is going after ron desantis' wife for this, she's launched the new nationalwa last week. >> it's one thing when your policies come after us as mamas, it's another thing when your policies come after our children, and that's when the claws come out. pete: so that's, i mean, the desantis campaign knows that she's a real asset, and so she went to iowa to launch this with governor reynolds who has said she won't endorse in this particular race. but to mobilize, you know, republican female voters, male voters on an issue that really matters to republican voters right now which is parental choice in education and getting all the nonsense that's in the classroom out. well, governor newsom's wife didn't miss if an opportunity to attack her for that. and this is sort of an example of how we talk past each other completely. this is jennifer cycle newsom tweeting this: we will not allow extremists to vilify entire communities to advance their fear-mongering aagenda. when you come after our kids and communities, we fight back. in the face of hate, we are united. so gover

and now, ron desantis is in iowa, hoping it gets easier to be ron desantis, because at this moment, it awkward. look at the headlines tonight, from political. top donors souring ron desantis, from nbc, confidential desantis can't pay memo, looks to reassure donors amid stumbles. from rolling stone earlier, murdoch starts to sour on desantis. they can smell a loser. you know the old saying, with fox like this, who needs enemies . that is, well, awkward. the terrific radical political report writes anything could happen, but it is remarkable how the desantis hype cycle has followed the 2015 scott walker trajectory, most beat for beat. now, that is not a comparison any republican would want. walker went nowhere. he is on the mount rushmore of gop candidates who were supposed to be all that and turned out all dead. jeb bush? exclamation point. you can clap now. or, for history buffs in 1998, upwards of $1 million, that is 40 million into the's dollars and famously ended up with a single delegate item mills of arkansas. >> a lot of shade for desantis, who is still number two in all the poll

but in reality, he is certainly not. >> we are talking about ron desantis, but casey desantis, his wifeetting in on the action. she started campaigning for her husband. well, take a look at this new video. >> schools, open. parents rights, defended. school choice, universal. critical race theory, prohibited. d e i? stop. we will not allow you to exploit their innocence to advance their agenda. we are no longer silence. we are united, and we have finally found our fighter. >> david, i mean, we just showed part of this very long ad. it's so dark. i would love your thoughts. >> yeah jonathan, look. casey desantis is a fairly compelling political figure in florida, and now nationally. for many, sees the brighter side to florida's angry governor. for others, she's become americas karen. and i think that's the ultimate disconnect here with a campaign that needs to get more constituencies to get to the white house. she is a more effective messenger than on the santas, but if all she is doing is amplifying the wrong message, she is actually clarifying ron desantis's weaknesses. and this ideolog

we want a ron desantis. we think ron desantis can beat trump. we love ron desantis.ose words back, because this guy is worse than trump. ron desantis is worse than donald trump. donald trump was at least trying to open the party up, the republican party up by reaching out to african american voters and gay voters. hey, everybody is welcome here. 99 things you can hate, but that was the one good thing he tried to do. desantis wants to punish him for that. he wants to punish a u.s. president for opening his heart after gays and lesbians were gunned down in a nightclub. you don't punish a u.s. president for that if you're a patriot, if you're a human being, if you're a christian, if you're a decent carbon-based being, you don't do that. ron desantis is doing that. ron desantis is trying to punish trump for trying to do something for criminal justice reform, with the first step back, he had 25,000 people come home, and only 12% ever got in trouble again, the most successful reform ever helped the black community. ron desantis wants to punish him for that. ron desantis is

what they're realizing is ron desantis is about 5'8". they're realizing they don't really care for him that much, his interpersonal skills and they're realizing he's not a true fighter against donald trump. in order for someone to win this primary, they have to be big on the future of this country, i.e. tim scott, and they have to be somewhat of a bully, i.e., chris christie. and there's no combination of both. >> that was profound. >> i took a moment to marinate there. >> is your best argument against a candidate for president his height? >> no. ron desantis is very, very short to be president of the united states. >> i mean is that an argument about it? >> literally. >> is joe biden -- why are we talking about -- >> how tall is he? >> i'm just asking. we've been on tv all day together and you keep referencing his height. are you worried about his height or joe biden's age? >> that's a tough one. but i will tell you this. i mean when the field shakes out, i believe firmly that we'll have two individuals that are close to 80 years old ru

you touched on the reason donald trump does not like ron desantis, question of loyalty.e feels like -- >> ainsley: i think he respects him and likes him, he doesn't like he is running against him. >> brian: is nikki haley being disloyal. >> ainsley: ron desantis is just the next guy. >> steve: in second place. >> ainsley: if it were nikki haley, he would go after nikki haley and not ron desantis. >> brian: 15 after the hour, let's go -- more on this interview -- >> ainsley: quickly cutting us off. >> brian: more of your interview later. steeshg that was the teaser clip. >> carley: all politicians should hug and love each other on both sides of the aisle. >> ainsley: everyone eat cotton candy. >> brian: it would hurt our ratings. >> carley: crazy detail, something major in germany, police in germany capitol of berlin are searching for an exotic animal near a residential area. officials deploying massive forces and using helicopters and drones to locate what they believe to be a lion. animal control don't know where it came from, there are no zoos or animal sanctuaries tha

ron desantis' department of education doubled down on this.led down on this multiple times and he hasn't said, guess what? you -- and then he wants to blame the people that wrote this and say i wasn't the one that wrote this. real leadership would have stepped up and said, hey, there is no upside to slavery. slavery was not a jobs program. nobody should have implied and that's what we did and we're going to change the language and this would have been done, and this is one more part of a fact pattern of ron desantis being mean and hateful. >> did he disqualify himself? >> i wouldn't -- it would be hard to make the case if ron desantis was the republican nominee that folks in black and brown communities won't support him and folks in the lgbt community won't support him, and then he hired a guy who had known cases of being anti-semitic and then wrote it and created a video that they tried to propagate on their systems and then he had to be fired. so this is a trend. one is an exception, a three is a trend and this is a big problem. >> very quic

the majority of the republican base really liked ron desantis. y down from where it was. dropped by 15 points. that really does mirror the drop that we've seen from desantis in the horse race. it's not just that donald trump is going up. it's that ron desantis himself is going down. and this to me is a very troubling metric. the more republican voters have gone to no ron desantis, the less love he has become. >> yeah, it looks like some of the desantis supporters just shifted to trump is what has taken place. and harry, earlier this month, the campaigns reported fundraising numbers. there was a worrying sign for desantis there as well. can you tell us about that? >> yeah, you know, money is something that can keep you in a presidential race. and it's also something that can boost perhaps those very favorable ratings back up. but this to me is a very troubling sign. let's look at the donations to ron desantis' presidential campaign. about 70% of the donations that came in were from folks who gave the maximum amount. that'll means they can't give an

any diminishment of donald trump hasn't accrued to ron desantis. >> yeah, and if you listen to ron desantiss including one yesterday with fox business, he rejects the idea that he hasn't run a good campaign, in fact, blames his problems on the made -- media, let me just play a little bit of that. >> it's pretty clear that the media does not want me to be the candidate. i think they've tried to create a narrative that somehow the race is over. this is going to be a state by state contest. >> we have been the target of the corporate media. they clearly do not want me to be the nominee. these are narratives, the media does not want me to be the nominee. i think that's very, very clear. why? because they know i'll beat biden. >> okay. well, what do you think of that as an argument? it's not his campaign. it's the media misrepresenting the state of the campaign. >> this is like my kids when they were in elementary school and every time they didn't -- they got criticized or got caught not doing their homework, they blamed the teacher doesn't like them. the teacher doesn't like them, and nine time

ron desantis was asked about this, initially sort of deflects, errol, and then doubles down.what he said. >> i didn't do it. i wasn't involved in it, but i think -- i think what they're doing is i think that they're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a black smith into doing things later in life. >> being enslaved. >> apparently. >> why is he doing that? >> that's a history major by the way from yale college. >> right. >> the -- look. the reality is he has chosen these noneconomic issues to run on, to attack black history, to attack what he calls wokeness, you know, to attack women's rights, and abortion rights. those are the issue that is he thinks are going to carry him to the republican nomination. in this particular case, it's just a disgraceful hash of history. i mean, they've just got all of the wrong. even in the clarification after that press conference, they put out this list of, you know, black people to whom -- who would fit into that category. >> right. >> and, you know, i think 12 of the 14 were actually freed men.

so ron desantis has to watch out for him.ll of these republican candidates, we don't want them to split the vote because it makes it easier for donald trump in the winner take off states. the battle is on. we have great candidates. exciting to watch. >> thanks, tomi. we appreciate you being here. happy independence day. thank you. >> one very special retired marine now is driving a cross the country to honor veterans and first responders and raise money to help their families. scott joins me now. tell me about what you're doing and how our viewers at home with get involved if they want to and happy july fourth to you. i left that out. >> thank you very much. god bless america. i am -- today is day 43 of a 65-day journey across the united states of america to honor and respect our veterans and first responders. i am retracing the trial of a famous american name names her ratio jackson. he is the first american to cross the nation in an automobile. i have been visiting like the ronald reagan birth place museum, the birth place

the purpose of the ad is to portray ron desantis as a champion against gay rights and sort of lgbtq-plusd that's a little different than portraying the shift to donald trump. it is actually to portray desantis as a fighter against these ias part of the culture -- these issues as part of the culture war's block. that is a primary election strategy. it would be problem attic in a general election. have to completely walk away. what you need to be a republican nominee who's elected in a general election is suburban women, kind of centrist voters, old-line republicans who are kind of more like interested in economics and not social issues. >> even if you're sympathetic to the message that they're sending in the video, it's the execution also that is actually pretty poor. it's almost like trying to out meme trump and not doing it particularly effectively apparently. but coming up next for us, tough questions on the campaign trail for mike pence who still finds himself having to explain to voters what he did or did not do on january 6th. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell cle

sounds like ron desantis has a ron desantis problem. joe biden might have a joe biden problem. >> the irony, in the world we're facing right now, confronting from ukraine, to all of the other problems, experience ought to trump youth. evidently not in the polls. >> maybe a nice tan. president biden was shirtless. he's sun tanning. he's doing what we all do. my question -- i often think in politics nothing happens accidentally. was this picture designed for "a" donald trump? "b" ronald kennedy jr., his opponent who does push-up shirtless. "c" voters, or "d" vladimir putin? >> none of the above. this one is above my pay grade. this is one i have to throw to jeff, the white house chief of staff. what in the world were you thinking? >> i would say "e" it was for me. that's something i wish to attain and achieve by the time i'm 80 years old. >> all right, harry. i promised viewers this would be the first television broadcast where we read threads outloud. i asked people to send us threads. i'm going to ask you one of the thread questions tha

looking at the comment, he said, hey, press, keep asking ron desantis about this, and let bit the messagehat about that? desantis has three problems. he has a donald trump problem, and a ron desantis problem, but now he has to deal with tim scott as well. and what about the fact that it is vailed criticism, but criticism nonetheless. >> yeah, it is what we are seeing so often is a fighting among the scrum. if this were the tour de france, the members of the peloton would be fighting about who is coming in second, and not worrying about the leader, but it is not what i would advice. because it is not going around him, but him, and when you have the opportunity to throw out the anchor to someone who is anchoring, that has not happened, and that is why nobody has been attacking donald trump. and these candidates as we will see this weekend, it is going to tell us more of what to expect in the future debate coming up, and whether they will be jocking for second or third or put some of the fire toward donald trump trump, do you believe he is going to debate? >> i would say that he has nothing

you wonder, was that period -- >> defining ron desantis? there's a lot of things in his home state as governor. he signed a six-week abortion ban. he started to go after disney in a more aggressive way. he really stuck his claim on the right of trump. and believe it or not, maybe people who would even support donald trump don't want right of donald trump. and maybe that is why ron desantis has kind of stalled out. >> scott jennings, ashley allison, thank you both. >> thank you. >> a hot tub may sound fun. but it is actually incredibly dangerous when that is a temperature in the ocean. i will tell you more about it next. husband... what? it's the inspire implant he got. he's not struggling with cpap anymore. all that rest is working wonders for him. and for me. gotta go. naughty girl. hi sweetie! ah! (scream) here comes the choo-choo train of love! inspire. sleep apnea innovation. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ what do we always say, son? liberty mutual customizes your car insurance.

ron desantis can't figure out who he wants to be, who he wants to attack.er he's going to go on a homo phobic rant. it's hard for voters to see who he is beyond this person that they just cannot get behind and they cannot like. i mean, if you look at the guy, he walks around kind of like he's angry and doesn't even want to be in the position he's in. even fox news, right. so i don't know how these media interviews are going to do for him if he wants voters to like him, which is a key piece of making it in presidential politics. you can govern as well as you want to, be a great political organizer but if people don't like you, you're not going to make it that far. >> fox news can make or break a republican candidate and "the washington post" is reporting that rupert murdoch used to be excited about desantis, but the more he shows himself, the less appealing he is. is desantis in danger of losing fox news and hence losing the primary itself? >> well, absolutely. i mean, if you can't get fox news to stay on your side, i mean that is literally the rnc's mouthpi

he called on florida and especially those running for president, ahem ron desantis, to again clarify tions. meanwhile, vice president kamala harris, who desantis keeps attacking in this black history feud, says the new guidelines are about a larger agenda. >> i do believe that we are witnessing a national agenda that is about a full-on attack against hard-won, hard-fought freedoms and rights. consider this issue and then think about what is happening around a full-on attack on the freedom to vote. >> joining me now is dean abadala, msnbc columnist and host of "the dean abadala show" on sirius xm. welcome. brendan, this cuts close to home for us. we can talk about kamala harris all day long and make it about her. but it really isn't. sy want to play for you real quick, ron desantis' response to byron donalds asking him to fix this. >> at the end of the day, you've got to choose. are you going to side with kamala harris and liberal media outlets? are you going to side with the state of florida? i think it's very clear that these guys did a good job on those standards. there wasn't anyth

i want to get to the headlines with ron desantis. first of all, congratulations for him and his team. i'm trying to figure out how they spent half of it. headlines right now on the governor's struggling campaign. desantis hits reset button. just what you said. "new york times," ron desantis will appear in rare cnn interview. and politico, can ron desantis become an insurgent. your thoughts. >> he's got to run like he's not the fronts runner. he's running like he's the frontrunner. he's running like he's the one to watch. he shouldn't be. he's the one that should be the underdog. he's showing that he can fight for america and americans. >> harris: why is that? why does he need to do that? he's in second position. andvivek ramaswamy was second. >> it's fascinating. desantis has really lost momentum since april. the more people have gotten to know him, the less they like him. he's likability numbers have dropped. more people are hearing from him. he had a lot of popular symbolic measures. he sent immigrantses up to martha's vineyard. now

from rolling stone earlier, murdaugh's start to sow ron desantis. they can smell a loser. ld saying? with thoughts like this who needs enemies. that is awkward, the terrific political ripon to relay -- how the desantis hype cycle has followed the 2015 scott walker trajectory, almost beat for beat. now that is not a comparison any republican would want. walker went nowhere, he is on the mount rushmore of gop candidates who are supposed to be all that and turned out all doug. jeb bush, explanation point. you can clap now. or for history buffs, john conley 90 80 who spent upwards of $11 million, 40 million in today's taller, and ended up in a single delegate. it's a lot of shade for desantis who is still number two in all of the polls, with all kinds of money. but, the political piece says donors, quote, faith in the florida governor has been shaken by early campaign missteps in his hard-line positions on abortion, trans gendered rights, and other culture war issues. so that might be the white, but how about the what next? well cnn has confirmed that donors, including one time

and it's getting bigger. 14 percentage point lead over ron desantis in new hampshire righnow. paign. he tries to say everything's doing fine. he had an exclusive interview with jake tapper. let me play something he said, governor. >> this issue gets into the state of the race, because some of your supporters are disappointed that your campaign has yet to catch fire the way they would want in terms of polling. one really pollster, i was asking her about your campaign. and she thought the issue was you bumped up at the beginning because voters, republican voters saw you as more electable conservative like trump, like trump without the baggage. but then they say as you go further and further to the right on some of these divisive social issues that could alienate moderate suburban moms, et cetera, republican voters see you as less and less electable. what do you say to that analysis? >> i don't think it's true. the proof is in the pudding. i took a state that had been a one-point state, and we won it by 20 percentage points, 1.5 million votes. our bread and butter were people like

, florida governor ron desantis-— desantis.s all of this le . al desantis. does all of this legal stuffy _ desantis. does all of this legal stuffy is _ desantis. does all of this legal stuffy is facing - desantis. does all of this legal stuffy is facing to i legal stuffy is facing to qualify him? fist legal stuffy is facing to qualify him?— legal stuffy is facing to qualify him? legal stuffy is facing to auali him? �* ., qualify him? at the end of the day voters _ qualify him? at the end of the day voters make _ qualify him? at the end of the day voters make their - qualify him? at the end of the day voters make their own - day voters make their own decision _ day voters make their own decision. people ask me if someone indicted should they be able to— someone indicted should they be able to run and we have had political _ able to run and we have had political indictment so that we -ive political indictment so that we give any— political indictment so that we give any prosecutor the ability to render_ give any prosecutor the abi

ron desantis. >> reporter: the bright spot is casey desantis. >> we want you to be on board to take> reporter: they say that she could spur a turnaround for the campaign, there are concerns emerging across the aisle too. democrat robert f. kennedy jr. who is challenging president biden has been making incremental gains in the polls. he is now speaking out on comments that prompted charges of racism m and anti-semimitism after falslsely suggesting that cocovid-19 was engineered to spe jewish and chinenese people. >> there is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. covid-19 is targeted to attack caucasians and black people. >> reporter: kennedy has said his comments were misinterpreted, but as for mark's face condemnation, the white house has called the claims file. his sister carrie kennedy called them deplorable and untruthful. in jewish groups have said the same. >> norah: no scientific evidence to back those claims. robert costa, thank you. turning to the war in ukraine, russia is vowing to get revenge after ukrainian forces again attacked a vital bridge connecting russia to c

ron desantis the other part of his policy is don trump. as long as donald trump remains in this position, we are staring down the barrel of a donald trump nomination. >> almost certainly. tim miller, thanks for these your insight tonight. as always, and going back in the annals of various republican campaigns, there's no person with no more experience than you. that is our show for tonight. now it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. >> good evening, lawrence. i was what >> good evening alex. i was walking down the hallway listening to your show in a hurry and i thought, and police clearly's up for me, i thought i heard chuck rosenberg accuse you of multiple bank robberies and counterfeiting money. >> yes. >> so i have to rewind to clarify what that was all about? >> i mean, the truth has finally come out, where a modern-day pop bodying clyde. he was just positing, multi about different scenarios in which he would want immunity deals and the plot got, the imaginary plot, i will say, lawrence, got quite elaborate, with me in ch

the next closest is florida governor ron desantis and the spokesperson for ron desantis, for a pro-ronesantis super pac never backed down, admitted they are way behind in the polling, they feel this race is winnable, but listen to their spokesperson at what they feel has been a major factor in recent support for the president. >> clearly, donald trump is the runaway frontrunner, particularly since the indictments. that was not the case before the indictments. it is the case afterwards. a lot of folks want to rally to him. >> reporter: and even with that d dynamic they feel race is winnable. when you look around, there is a lot of work to be done. i came out here after former president trump was indicted in florida over the alleged miss handlings of classified documents. i spoke to some of his supporters just to see if maybe they would be swayed one way or another by those pretty damning allegations. if anything, they were emboldened. we are going to see if they can at least begin to start making up some of that ground on in fourth of july. >> all right. omar jimenez, enjoy the parade.