Show: MTP DAILY Date: October 11, 2016 Guest: Michael Steel, April Ryan, Steve King, Larry Sabato
PETER ALEXANDER, MSNBC HOST: Good Tuesday evening. I`m Peter Alexander in Washington, D.C., today for my friend, Chuck Todd. Welcome to MTP DAILY.
Donald Trump says the shackles are off as he targets his own party in a vintage Trump tweetstorm. Also tonight, we have brand-new polls post- debate. These are new numbers as well as a Republican Party that is tearing itself apart.
Trump`s enemy number one today, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump`s enemy number two, basically the Republican Party. And moments ago, NBC`s Kelly O`Donnell spoke with Donald Trump`s running mate who took a shot at Speaker Ryan, cheered Trump`s unshackling and at least seem to acknowledge a party in turmoil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Paul Ryan is my friend but, yeah, I respectfully disagree with his focus in this campaign. I think it`s important that we let Trump be Trump.
KELLY O`DONNELL, NBC NEWS LEAD CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Is the party in crisis?
PENCE: I think the country is in a lot of trouble right now.
O`DONNELL: But Republicans fighting Republicans in this way, sir --
PENCE: I don`t find myself thinking a whole lot about party right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: And here`s what makes Trump`s tweetstorm and Pence`s knock on Ryan so puzzling. Trump`s assault on Clinton during the debate appears to have worked and stopped the bleeding. And now Trump is turning on his own party.
Again, according to our brand-new NBC News/SurveyMonkey online poll, voters say Clinton won the debate by 10 points, but that was a significant improvement for Trump compared to the first debate which he lost by 31 points.
And another brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, this is the new, in the field yesterday, so after the debate, has Trump down just seven points against Clinton in a four-way matchup. Remember Trump was down 11 points before the debate.
It`s the same story in the two-way race. He is down seven but that again a big improvement. He was down 14 points before Sunday night`s debate. We should note these numbers come from what`s basically a smaller sample than usual because our pollsters are rolling in the field for a single day.
But the top-line lead is nine points right now, Clinton 46%/Trump 37% overall. That`s over the course of the three days. But these do seem to confirm our initial takeaway from Sunday`s debate that Trump lost, but he won big with the base by going nuclear on Clinton.
Then came today`s tweetstorm against his own party. Here we go. "Despite winning the second debate in a landslide, [every poll], although not ours, it`s hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support". By the way, Trump lost all scientific post-debate polls that we`ve seen, as we just noted.
Then the floodgates opened again. "Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty". More. "Disloyal R`s are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary. They come at you from all sides. They don`t know how to win. I will teach them".
And there is this. "With the exception of cheating Bernie out of the nom, the Dems have always proven to be far more loyal to each other than the Republicans". Trump also attacked John McCain for pulling support. We`ll have more on that later.
This all appears to be a cathartic airing of pent-up anger for Trump. "It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me", he writes. "And I can now fight for America the way I want to". Paul Ryan`s office fired back in a sharply written rebuke of Trump`s tirades, saying, "Paul Ryan is focusing the next month on defeating Democrats and all Republicans running for office should probably do the same".
Let`s bring in today`s panel. April Ryan is White House Correspondent with American Urban Radio Networks. Michael Steel was the Press Secretary for the Former House Speaker, John Boehner. And Maria Teresa Kumar is the President and CEO of Voto Latino and an MSNBC Contributor.
Nice to see all of you with us right now. So, Michael, to you, if I can, just right off the bat. Donald Trump right now, he seemed to have staunched the bleeding as it were, as there was a better debate performance. The base was satisfied.
83% of them after the debate in our new poll said basically, hey, Republicans should stick with this guy. We like this guy. So why is he going after them in this way and effectively sort of increasing this feud within the party?
MICHAEL STEEEL, SPEAKER BOEHNER`S FORMER PRESS SECRETARY: If Donald Trump loses to Hillary Clinton it will be because Donald Trump lost. It won`t be because of establishment Republicans or leprechauns or orcs or anything else. It will be because he lost an utterly winnable presidential race.
ALEXANDER: So the bottom-line is the message should be good change. Two- thirds of the Americans want change. He clearly hasn`t put a good messenger for that. But, on the message, right now, going after Republicans, you need the base but you need Republicans in general and you need more than just Republicans to be biased.
STEEL: And this not so tweetstorm is obscuring the fact that these new revelations about the Clinton campaign`s coordination with the Obama administration are a major scandal. And instead, we`re talking about Trump Tower and magic thumbs.
ALEXANDER: Maria, your thoughts.
MARIA TERESA KUMAR, VOTO LATINO FOUNDING PRESIDENT AND CEO: Well, I think, part of it is that it actually demonstrates the fact that he is not a polished Republican. He doesn`t need his base right now. He needs to expand the pie not only among Republicans but among independents, among women. And instead of going after that, he is basically, I think, preparing his neck up stage.
What am I going to do as Donald Trump after the election on November 8? And I think that we`re starting to see that his team basically knows that they`ve lost. It is more like what am I going to do now and how do I keep these troops recognizing that I`m going to give Hillary Clinton presidency a heck of a hard time.
ALEXANDER: April, talk about the calculus right now for Paul Ryan, this paradox, right. I mean there are career-ending consequences no matter which way some of these Republicans and vulnerable Republicans in both the House and Senate go right now. If you stick with Trump, then you may hear about it. If you break with Trump then the base may be furious. How is Paul Ryan handling this?
APRIL RYAN, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The tell-tale sign of how Paul Ryan is handling this which I think is very good is the fact that how many candidates did Donald Trump rally with? How many candidates did he rally with during his time running for in the primary and when he became the nominee?
So that is telling you something right there. There was a hold my nose term here and maybe I can swallow it kind of thing. But Paul Ryan understands he can`t salvage this. Donald Trump is his own worst enemy. They`ve tried to help him save himself, but that hasn`t worked.
So now he is trying to save the ship. And Democrats are really feeling if they have got a chance to win a lot of House and Senate seats -- and I mean this is going against all tradition we`ve ever seen.
KUMAR: Right. And will you hear me? I`m closed doors as Mitch McConnell since August has basically said we`ve lost the Senate. And so what he`s trying to do right now is not to make sure that there is encroachment within the House.
ALEXANDER: Yeah. He`s made it clear. The House majority is my priority. My question to you, though, Michael --
STEEL: That`s his job and he`s going to take some heat to do it.
ALEXANDER: So how long can Ryan stick with Trump in this situation? His integrity ultimately is on the line here. Here we pulled this up. He withdrew his support from Wisconsin lawmaker in 2012 who made some comments about women. I think the quote was -- I wrote it down. Some girls, they rape so easy.
In that situation, Paul Ryan obviously said hey, I`m not going to stick with this guy. Now these comments from Trump are different, but he was still in effect condoning or saying he had been involved in sexual assaults. I mean how low can you go before you have to say enough?
STEEL: I think the Speaker, first of all, has reserved the right to do more in the future if he feels it`s appropriate. But, right now, he is focused, as he should be, entirely on doing what`s right for his members. And that means there are districts where Trump is very popular and will remain very popular.
There are members who have endorsed him enthusiastically. There are other members, probably a growing number, who are increasingly uncomfortable with him. And what they need to do is be able to run their own campaigns, the campaigns that are right for their districts and do what`s determined by their local politics and their own conscience.
ALEXANDER: The message that`s supposed to be effective obviously that rallied the base and made the parts of the performance that were so well I think appreciated by Republicans were the ones when he goes after the Democrats, go figure, goes after Hillary Clinton. The campaign, April, is out with a new ad today. So let me show you guys. Here`s part of it. Going after Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton failed every single time as Secretary of State. Now she wants to be President. Hillary Clinton doesn`t have the fortitude, strength or stamina to lead in our world. She failed as Secretary of State. Don`t let her fail us again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: You see that ad highlighting moments where Hillary Clinton is coughing or she was stumbling at the 9/11 memorial --
RYAN: Where she was average person.
ALEXANDER: Where she appears an average or she appears weak. He says this is about stamina and other things. Effective or not?
RYAN: Well, I`m going to say this. I think for those who hate Hillary Clinton which we know that a lot of his base actually have a visceral dislike for her, that will work. But at the last debate and the first debate, that was not the Hillary Clinton we saw.
We didn`t see her with those glasses. We didn`t see her trying to hold herself up or stable herself. She is a strong woman. Stability is an issue when it comes to her health or his health, but that`s not who we saw the last couple of days. So I think this video for those who dislike her will ring true, but for others I think it will ring hollow.
KUMAR: And I think -- I`m sorry. I think there are a lot of women when they see that used to say it`s another nail on his coffin because what he needed on the last two debates and before the scandal was, one, to apologize after the tapes leaked but a sincere apology; and two, actually get Republican women to vote for him.
That basically says she is a working woman. You`re basically going after her for that and for being human. And it`s really hard for I think increasingly women who actually saw that.
ALEXANDER: Michael, last thought?
STEEL: Well, I think, it`s incomprehensible. I think that she has a record whether it`s e-mail scandals, whether it`s Benghazi, whether it`s repeated failures of judgment as Secretary of State, a pretty anemic record as Senator from New York. There is no need to go into this sort of conspiracy theory area that she is suffering secretly from a debilitating illness. There is plenty of stuff to indict Secretary Clinton already without that.
RYAN: But when you come to the issue of e-mails and you brought that up and Donald Trump keeps bringing that up. You cannot -- and that`s against the law. People are not talking about this. You cannot bring the Justice Department and the Office of the President together just say we`re going to put someone.
That`s illegal. And not only that. FBI Director Comey used to be a Republican and you guys respect him very much. And he even found that there was nothing wrong with what she did, just the fact that she mishandled the e-mails.
STEEL: It was a serious error in judgment as I think everyone acknowledges, including the FBI. And the revelations today involve the Clinton campaign coordinating with the Obama Justice Department.
RYAN: How much of that is Russia and how much of that is true?
ALEXANDER: Let me interrupt because there`s a lot of e-mails to talk about as well. You guys stay with us. All right. Excuse me quickly though thanks to you.
I want to get right now to Trump supporter, Congressman Steve King of Iowa, who is joining us. Congressman King, thanks for being with us.
REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: Thanks for having me on.
ALEXANDER: So help us understand the Trump strategy right now. He shored up the base by going after Hillary Clinton. He did it pretty well. I think a lot of people agree. On the debate stage, he was strong against the Clintons again and in fact last night. So why start a war with his own party?
KING: Well, I would say that it wasn`t Donald Trump that started the war with his own party. It looked to me like when that tape came out it`s not known --
ALEXANDER: So why continue a war with his own party?
KING: Well, he has that habit of when he is not done with the battle he finishes it somehow and moves on. And I think it takes him a day or two to get that done. But it wasn`t he that started it. And he needed to be on that stage on Sunday night. He needed to have a good performance. He did.
It`s almost a unanimous decision over Hillary Clinton. But he lost the bounce he should have had on Monday morning when the conference call came in. And he and the rest of America learned that our Speaker wasn`t going to actively campaign for Donald Trump any longer, nor defend him.
ALEXANDER: So let me ask you --
KING: It doesn`t need to happen that morning. It took away his bounce.
ALEXANDER: So, in simple terms, do you think your Speaker is a weak, ineffective leader as Donald Trump says?
KING: Well, I wouldn`t go so far as to say that. I mean I think that Paul Ryan`s intentions are good. My relationship with him has been good. But I think this was a wrong move to make. It divides the party instead of unifies it. And it almost sacrifices the presidency. That`s what it sends on that direction. Now Trump`s got to pull it all back again and rebuild in the four weeks that are left.
ALEXANDER: So you wouldn`t go that far. Does that mean you think Donald Trump was wrong in calling him weak and ineffective?
KING: No. What it means is that I`ve got a good relationship with Paul Ryan. I want to keep it. I want to expand it. But, on the other hand, if I disagree with them, I think he respects me. I respect him. And we ought to be able to speak up and say what we think. I want to see this party come together.
ALEXANDER: Will you vote for Paul Ryan as your new Speaker in the new session?
KING: I don`t know the answer to that at this point. We`ll have to see how this election plays out and what might be happening. But, again, I`m not working against Paul Ryan. I`ve been supportive of him. He was served up a pretty difficult task but now he needs to chart his own course. This is no longer the course that John Boehner had charted for him.
ALEXANDER: So you`ve scolded colleagues for distancing themselves from Trump. Congressman, is there nothing that Trump could say or do that would cost him your support?
KING: Well, the same question applies to the supporters of Hillary Clinton. But I don`t know what he might have said. That will show up on the tape. But I know this that what came out in that audio tape, it`s not a videotape. It`s just pictures with an audio tape behind that.
That is not nearly as bad as what we have seen pour out from the Clintons over decades. And so if you measure actions verdict words, I think it`s an easy decision. But we have a constitution to protect. We have rule of law to protect.
ALEXANDER: Let me understand quickly though. Just to be clear though. Why does it matter that it was just audio and we didn`t see his face saying it?
KING: Well, he doesn`t dispute it and I don`t dispute it either. But it doesn`t have -- for example, there is no videotape of Hillary Clinton being interviewed by the FBI. There is no audio tape. There is no transcript. There are just some sketchy notes that some of the investigators who were anonymous took.
That`s a lot bigger deal. And we should not let our nation be caught up in a statement that no one will defend versus the actions of the violations that are clear that Hillary Clinton committed.
ALEXANDER: But do you understand though why so many of your colleagues are fleeing Donald Trump right now, the behavior, lashing out at anyone who criticizes him, his past talk of grabbing women effectively of sexual assault, even though he says he never actually performed sexual assault or sexually assaulted anybody?
KING: Well, I understand it. I understand that some of them want to save themselves. They want to distance themselves. And they think if they do that, they are more likely to be reelected and they can hold a majority and maybe a stronger majority that way in the House and maybe hold the majority in the Senate.
That`s what they are thinking. But I need to remind them that they are joined at the hip with our nominee. And as his numbers go down, their numbers go down. As his numbers go up, their numbers go up. We`re far better off to be a team and put on the same jersey and go together than we are to be divided.
So it`s this way. Republicans at the RNC, they decided that they want Donald Trump as their quarterback. And we ought to be looking at this from that standpoint. And we ought to say I`m going to block for you. I`ll tackle for you. I`ll run. And, by the way, if I need to pitch in, I`ll pitch in.
I mean Mike Pence was behind me today. He`ll pitch in and has. So we need to do it together. And if not, I think, we will sink separately. And that`s where the disagreement is in our conference.
ALEXANDER: The shackles are off, Donald Trump says today. Does Trump think that he has run to this point a constrained campaign, have restraint been the problems for him?
KING: Maybe by Donald Trump standards, he has. We`ll have to find out on that. He has gone way beyond what anybody expected. A year and a half ago when we brought him into Iowa for our Freedom Summit, a lot of people thought he had no chance and each way beyond that they said the same thing.
ALEXANDER: How about by your standards? I know by his standards he was restrained. But by yours?
KING: Well, here`s what I would say. There wasn`t a lot of high expectations for his ability to succeed in the debate on Sunday night. He walked out on that stage a pretty lonely man but he walked off that stage victorious by every objective measure.
We don`t know what he might be capable of doing, but he has risen through these challenges before. He showed it just the Sunday night. And so we`ll see what his strategy is going forward. But I want a strong, bold leader that will allow us to pass a conservative agenda in the House and in the Senate.
And that`s what America wants. And they should not be blinded by this Trump tape that seems to be sweeping the nation. Take a step back. Take a look at it. Be objective and make the right decisions for America.
ALEXANDER: And to be clear, you said Clinton "is somebody I can work with". So it`s not Donald Trump. You`re confident you can accomplish perhaps not your agenda, but you can work together with Hillary Clinton?
KING: Well, as I said, I know I can work with Donald Trump. And with Hillary Clinton, what I`m referring to is for a time, once a year, I was required by law to sit down in a closed room with Hillary Clinton and discuss the refugee status.
ALEXANDER: So you can work with her once in a year?
KING: Well, that`s my experience. It may be more than that. But what could happen was with no press in the room, with no staff in the room, we can talk business. And I remember being amazed by that that there was a cell there where we could do business in that fashion.
I`m not going to declare war on anybody that might be the next President of the United States. We`ve got a country to run together. And yes, the choices are pretty clear. If we`re going to restore our constitution, there is only one choice and it`s Donald Trump.
ALEXANDER: I think everybody agrees the choice is clear no matter which side of that decision you go. Congressman Steve King of Iowa, thanks for your time today. We appreciate it very much.
KING: Thanks a lot. I appreciate having me on.
ALEXANDER: Coming up, Hillary Clinton making her pitch to millennial voters while another round of leaked e-mails raises new questions. You`re watching MTP DAILY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALEXANDER: There you go. A new ad from the pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC, Priorities USA, that`s not just aimed at Donald Trump. With Clinton rising in the polls, the Super PAC is now widening its scope and taking aim at a Democratic majority in the Senate.
NBC News reports Priorities USA is planning on expanding its focus to Senate battleground states, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. It`s obviously a sign that the PAC thinks the presidential election is in pretty good shape right now for Hillary Clinton, the way the Senate map is shaping up.
If Democrats net two seats out of these four, they have a really good chance of gaining control of the Senate. Later, in this hour, we`re going to dig deeper into the current state of the Senate race with the battleground guru, Larry Sabato. But after this break, we`re going to take a look at Hillary Clinton`s millennial outreach and totally new kind of e- mail problem.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We cannot risk putting a climate denier in the White House. I can`t wait to have Al Gore advising me when I am President of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: Hillary Clinton right there making her latest pitch to millennials today alongside the Former Vice President, Al Gore, in Miami today. Gore`s kept a pretty low political profile since he ran for the White House in 2000, a race, of course, he notably lost after a narrow and contentious vote margin in that state.
He`s kept his distance from both Bill and Hillary Clinton and kept his focus on combatting climate change. The campaign hopes that can invigorate Clinton`s standing with young voters but the Clinton campaign is facing new questions today following the release of even more of what WikiLeaks says are e-mails from Clinton campaign Chairman, John Podesta`s account.
NBC News, we should note, has not yet independently authenticated these documents. Among them is a note from the now Interim DNC Chair, Donna Brazile, that was sent when she was a CNN contributor. The day before Hillary Clinton planned to join a CNN town hall, Brazile wrote a note to Clinton`s Director of Communications with a question about the death penalty.
The subject to the e-mail was "from time to time, I get the questions in advance". The Clinton campaign responded to the hackings in part, "Donald Trump has once again cheered on Russian hacking after he willfully misrepresented at the debate that hacking may not be happening".
But CNN said in a statement, "We have never ever given a town hall question to anyone beforehand". A Democratic official told NBC News that CNN would send paid contributors like Brazile questions for panel discussions. Brazile would reach out to both Clinton and Sanders campaign for answers to help with her reporting and her commentary. And that this had nothing to do with the actual forum or debate questions.
Brazile released her own statement in part saying, "As it pertains to the CNN debates, I never had access to questions and would never have shared them with the candidates if I did. Let`s get right to our road warriors, NBC`s Kasie Hunt who is live in Florida where Clinton wrapped up that rally just a few moments ago; and Kristen Welker, who has been following the Clinton team throughout the course of this campaign.
She`s along the shores of the East River in Brooklyn. Kristen, Clinton campaign statement on the hack of Podesta e-mails seemed to focus on Donald Trump and on Russia. Have you heard anything else from the Clinton team at this point? They haven`t even authenticated them, best I understand.
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They haven`t authenticated those hacked e-mails. Peter, you`re absolutely right. And this is how they have been responding to these hacks. By the way, this is the second round of releases.
WikiLeaks says they have about 50,000 documents in total. So they are bracing for more potential hacks. But they are really trying to put the attention back on Donald Trump. The fact that you have the U.S. government saying that Russia is trying to interfere in the U.S. election and that Donald Trump won`t acknowledge that Russia is behind these hacks.
And they are essentially calling on Donald Trump to condemn Russia over this and to reveal any ties that he might have to Russia. So that is their strategy in terms of dealing with this. They are trying to turn the page.
ALEXANDER: Right.
WELKER: But Democratic officials are stressing that point that you made, Peter, which is that it wouldn`t be uncommon for Donna Brazile to reach out to both campaigns to try to get the guidance ahead of an evening of a town hall event and also stressing the fact that she never came out and endorsed either candidate. There is no doubt, though, that this is a political problem potentially for Secretary Clinton at the very moment that she has opened up a pretty substantial lead in the polls, Peter.
ALEXANDER: With a hot tip to the American Airlines shuttle flying over head right now, Kristen. I want to follow-up and ask you about another exchange that WikiLeaks released. This is one e-mail where Brian Fallon, the Press Secretary for the Clinton campaign, writes that "DOJ folks inform me there is a status hearing in this case this morning".
It`s followed by a forwarded note of someone notifying Fallon about a document filing that note that says, "Hey, Brian. This was filed tonight". What are the implications of a Brian Fallon type figure, a former DOJ spokesman, being in communication with Justice officials?
WELKER: Right. Well, again, it`s an optics problem, right. And the question is, is there any conflict of interests? We did reach out to the Clinton campaign about this. They aren`t commenting again. However, they are stressing a couple of points.
One that the e-mail which they are not verifying, but the date of this was marked two months before the FBI investigation opened up. The White House today coming out not commenting on the veracity of these hacked e-mails but stressing that there was no political interference in the DOJ investigation.
You also have outside experts, Peter, who say it wouldn`t be completely abnormal to have this type of communication as the campaign would want to be lopped in on any foyer requests or otherwise as it pertains to Secretary Clinton`s e-mails.
But, again, this is a real political problem because these hacks are ongoing. And The New York Times today reporting -- and I`ll just give you an example of why this continues to be an ongoing issue -- reporting new e- mails seem to underscore Mrs. Clinton`s public struggles in defining her politics and reasons for wanting to become President.
That occurring during the primary process. So it`s raising a lot of authority questions for the Clinton campaign just as again she is getting some new momentum.
ALEXANDER: And that point sort of underscores this idea that she is struggling to get the enthusiasm she needs with a variety of different demographics, including millennials. So, Kasie, to you. The significance today -- I think it was clear to a lot of people from our generation that remember the year 2000, maybe not as clear for young millennials.
Al Gore`s appearance obviously in Florida, climate change the big topic, but also he called himself Exhibit A and the reason why you need to vote having barely lost the election by barely losing that state. What was the reaction there in Florida today?
KASIE HUNT, NBC NEWS AMERICAN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Peter, I have to say it was a little bit jarring to see Al Gore back up on stage on the campaign trail in Florida. It felt like a real throwback in the room. And the crowd here was mixed.
There were people who clearly would have remembered what happened in 2000 when he made reference to that saying, you know, I am Exhibit A for why every vote counts. Several people in the crowd started chanting you won, meaning you won the state of Florida. And, of course, therefore, if he had in the end won here, he would have won the entire election.
The Clinton campaign has been clear with me that Al Gore does not represent their millennial strategy. It is not the only piece of what they are trying to do to get millennials excited. I did see at least one voter under the age of 25 jumping up and down saying I met Al Gore. I took a selfie with Al Gore which is I was a little bit surprised that she was so enthusiastic. But really they are on to something there.
ALEXANDER: Was she enthusiastic about him as a former candidate for President? Was it the former candidate for presidency that got her or was it the climate change guru thing?
HUNT: It`s the climate change, I think, that has a lot of younger people engaged. And that`s an issue that -- I mean digging that in any of the polling younger voters are very focused on that as an issue. And that`s where the Clinton campaign sees value in having Al Gore come out here and do this.
And she gave an extended set of remarks as well focused on climate change. And then, he followed with a speech. I have to say I was reminded during the speech as to why everyone thought eventual President George W. Bush was a better campaigner than Al Gore.
But, in some ways, the focus on policy fit. These two candidates, Hillary Clinton very focused on it, Al Gore clearly as well. The vibe was a little bit similar in that regard, Peter.
ALEXANDER: Kristen and Kasie, appreciate it. Thank you both very much.
WELKER: Thanks, Peter.
ALEXANDER: Still ahead right here on MTP DAILY, Republicans locked in tight races, split on their support for the top of the ticket. We`re going to break down how this is playing out in the party`s fight to maintain control of the U.S. senate. Stay tuned.
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ALEXANDER: More MTP DAILY just ahead. But first, Deirdre Bosa has the CNBC Market Wrap.
DEIRDRE BOSA, TECHNOLOGY REPORTER, CNBC: Thanks, Peter. The Dow dropping 200 points, the S&P losing 26, and the Nasdaq falling 81 points. Samsung has pulled the plug on the Galaxy Note 7 after repeated reports of the device overheating even after a recall. Report says 41 million Americans have had their identity stolen.
Bankrate.com reports many are putting themselves in harm`s way with risky behavior. 42 percent don`t check their credit reports regularly while 28 percent use all or mostly the same password. That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANN KIRKPATRICK (D), ARIZONA: Senator, I just want to ask you. Do you trust Donald Trump`s finger on the nuclear arsenal? Yes or no?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Isn`t that kind of a nonsense question? I have said I don`t support him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you trust his finger on the button?
MCCAIN: I do not see a scenario where the finger would be on the button.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you support the idea of Donald Trump`s finger on the button until this past weekend?
MCCAIN: I did because I was supporting the nominee of the party. I will continue with the nominee of the party becomes responsibilities and becomes also authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: John McCain there defending his new position on Donald Trump last night at the senate debate in Arizona. The republican is one of six GOP senate candidates in relatively competitive races who are not supporting their party`s presidential nominee; McCain, Ayotte, Portman, and Heck all dropped Trump in the wake of those lewd 2005 comments from "Access Hollywood."
Pennsylvania`s Pat Toomey has been undecided before the tape came out. He announced today he would not endorse Trump. Mark Kirk of Illinois never backed the republican nominee. Six other republican senator candidates are sticking with Trump including his former primary foe Marco Rubio who put out a statement today saying he wished he had a better choice for president but he is voting for Trump to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House.
And as you saw with McCain, even the republican senators who distanced themselves from Trump are still open to attacks. Check out this ad for New Hampshire governor Maggie Hassan who of course is challenging the incumbent in that state republican senator Kelly Ayotte.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you tell a child to aspire to be like Donald Trump? Would you point to him as a role model?
SEN. KELLY AYOTTE (R), HAMPSHIRE: Absolutely, I would do that.
TRUMP: I just start kissing them. It`s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don`t even wait. And when you`re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you treat women with respect?
TRUMP: I can`t say that either.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you point to him as a role model?
AYOTTE: Absolutely, I would do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: Donald Trump giving the ad makers plenty to work with. And joining me now is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and the keeper of the Sabato`s Crystal Ball, Larry Sabato. Larry, nice to see you.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR POLITICS AT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Peter.
ALEXANDER: So the GOP senate candidates are damned if they do and damned if they don`t. Their potentially career ending consequences. However, they choose to go. McCain and Ayotte left Trump and they are still getting attacked by both sides. McCain attacked today on Twitter by Trump. Ayotte attacked for previously supporting him. How do you sort of cast this excruciating dilemma facing republicans right now?
SABATO: Peter, I think the nub of it is actually to get out the vote effort. How is it exactly that these senate candidates get out people who will vote for them but will not vote for Trump or alternately get out the Trump supporters who may be mad at them and will skip their race? It`s a major complication for a party`s get out the vote efforts.
Somebody has got to decide which races take priority and I think we kind of know it will end up being the senate and house races rather than the presidential race. But this is a complication democrats don`t have. They have a unified ticket and if you know somebody is going to vote for Clinton, the odds were enormous. They`re going to vote for the democratic candidates for senate.
ALEXANDER: So the republican senate candidates, they really do as you indicated, have no places to hide especially because they have debates, many of them this week. I think North Carolina is Thursday. It`s back up in front of the cameras again. They can`t say nothing like Paul Ryan basically or say they`re not updating their position.
All 12 in closest races are basically on record now. What challenge does that pose for these candidates? You saw the way John McCain tried to handle it and, you know, you can decide for yourself if that works.
SABATO: Basically, they`re all creating T.V. ads for their democratic opponents. That`s what these debates are useful for. If you are going to pick something out of the debate, it`s probably going to be the nub of the problem for republicans this year which is division about Donald Trump.
ALEXANDER: And Trump has really consumed the senate campaigns. Big stories just within the last several days on Evan Bayh in Indiana that in 2010, he was shopping for jobs while he was still serving the state of Indiana as it`s senator. Of course, they`ve all been trumped with the opposition. Sorry about the democratic candidate. Trumped literally this weekend by this access Hollywood tape. Here was the senator from Pennsylvania Pat Tommey. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I think Pennsylvania voters are easily capable of distinguishing between Donald Trump and Pat Toomey. And they know that we are very different people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: Candidate tell the difference. I think this gets back to the point you were just making about the fact that the question is not whether they know the difference, but whether they are sufficiently satisfied by or the other to show up at all.
SABATO: That`s part of it. The other part of it is, Peter, we live in a very partisan polarized era. Back in 2012, the last presidential contest, only about 10 percent of the voters split their tickets between president of one party and the senator of the other, 10 percent. And of course is some states, it was lower than that. That`s what the republican incumbent senators have to worry about.
ALEXANDER: Larry, where is this thing, you got the Crystal Ball, how do you see the senate ending up?
SABATO: It depends on Hillary Clinton`s margin. If she keeps moving upwards, she ends up winning by, you know, eight, nine, 10 percent. I think the democrats will carry the senate. If this tightens up again and it ends up being, you know, two or three-point margin, I don`t think that will be enough.
ALEXANDER: Eight, nine points, that`s a lot of points. The question is what happens if it`s in that, you know, that 5 to 7 range, which seems like they may settle back to it. Larry Sabato, nice to see you. Larry, thank you.
SABATO: Thank you, Peter.
ALEXANDER: Still ahead, leaders of one major voting blocker are losing faith in Donald Trump. Plus why Trump`s lewd comments are the laughing matter for late night comedians. You are watching "MTP Daily."
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ALEXANDER: I think we can all agree this campaign has been surreal at times and four weeks left to go. Now, the lead Access Hollywood video was causing some late night comedians to take a more serious tone. Here was Trevor Noah`s take on The Daily Show last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREVOR NOAH, COMEDIAN, THE DAILY SHOW: He got caught on the tape boasting about sexual assaults. And then they managed to spin it at something much different.
TRUMP: This was locker room talk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s what he said in a locker room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was just talking about where the boys like to buzz, like the locker room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Much worse than the locker room.
NOAH: Two things about that locker room excuse. First, they are conflating sex talk and sexual assault talk. All right? There is a big difference between saying dirty words and glorifying nonconsensual sexual contact. Look, every guy have this conversation. No, that`s a crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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ALEXANDER: Another layer of republicans are peeling away from Donald Trump in the recent days. It could be evangelical. Christianity Today is a nonprofit evangelical news organization. They run what`s basically the largest mainstream evangelical magazine and they posted an open letter urging readers to speak out against what they Trump`s, quote, blatant immorality.
Executive editor Andy Crouch writes this past week, the latest (though surely not the last) revelations from Trump`s past have caused many evangelical leaders to reconsider supporting him. This is heartening, but it comes awfully late, he writes. He goes on to compare the legacy of the Trump presidency to that of King David saying it is, quote, grievous to imagine.
Conservative writer and radio host Eric Erickson also had some powerful and very personal words in an essay in which he expresses regret for not speaking out strongly against Trump sooner and said he only hopes his children now know winning is not everything. Trump still has a lot of support from evangelical Christians and likes to tout on the trail, evangelicals love me.
Here`s the latest NBC News/Wall Street journal poll. It shows a 30-point advantage, he`s at 60 percent, and Clinton is at 30. Time now for The Lid. My panel is back. April Ryan, Michael Steel, and Maria Teresa Kumar.
Michael, do you first of all -- what is striking to me after this Access Hollywood tape came out is how supporters of the evangelical community largely had been sticking with Trump, some of the more prominent evangelicals. But this article was really striking and said the bible refers to a man like Donald Trump as a fool.
STEEL: I think that it`s been amazing throughout this process, how people of faith have stuck with Donald Trump. I`m not evangelical, I`m an episcopalian, but his words and deeds seem to me the exact opposite of the Christian teaching examples that I learned in Sunday school.
ALEXANDER: What do you make of this moment right now for the republican party? You`ve got the evangelical community in part speaking out to Donald Trump, Trump going after house speaker Paul Ryan. Can the party survive a moment like this?
KUMAR: The evangelical movement was more or less the base of the republican party and ensured that they are constantly getting to the senate and they need them in order to get to the White House. And it`s interesting, when Chaffetz came out, Representative Chaffetz has came over the weekend and was asked, who did you -- who did you ask in the party before you basically unendorsed Donald Trump? He said, no one.
He didn`t call the chairman, he didn`t call the campaign, he didn`t call the speaker. And it just demonstrates right now, it`s full anarchy. It`s every person for themselves. The republican party right now, what they should be doing is unendorsing Donald Trump unequivocally. Because in order to get to the White House cover, you actually need to embrace the changing landscape of America.
And that is Latinos, that is the LBGT, that is single women, that is African-Americans, they can`t win. And Ryan, I think, is realizing this a little too late.
ALEXANDER: So here`s the running mate, Mike Pence, a short time ago. Here`s some sound from a town hall that he participated in. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For me, personally, if Hillary Clinton gets in, I, myself, I`m ready for a revolution, because we can`t have her in.
PENCE: Yeah, you know, don`t say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: He says, no, don`t say that. In other words, we don`t want a revolution right now, but what is your reaction to some Trump supporters who feel that way right now? If Donald Trump doesn`t win this thing, he has unearthed a lot of anger in this country, and a lot of people whose dissatisfaction doesn`t just dissolve and go away.
RYAN: You know, President Obama says that this nation is not as divided as some people would like to believe, but there is a definite divide. Donald Trump and some of his rhetoric, starting off with Barack Obama and the b0irther issue, and then talking about the wall, has created a chasm.
And then this issue with the police versus the community. I mean, it`s so many different things. We`ve got a list and I know I`m missing so many pieces. But there is a divide. And Donald Trump talked early on about a revolt. He talked about anger. He talked about, you know, let`s have a riot. He talked about these things. So he put the words out there.
And going back to the bible, the bible talks about, as a man speak it, so is he. And not only that, you know. He is a walking contradiction in every sense of the word. When he gets his way, everything is fine. When he doesn`t, people remember those old things that he said.
ALEXANDER: But these divisions I think in large part are fueled by fear right now, on both sides, right? So Donald Trump has a new ad calling Hillary Clinton dangerous, showing all sorts of pictures of ISIS and awful things happening around the world. Hillary Clinton about Trump, basically said that that I`m the last thing, she told "The New York Times," standing between you and the apocalypse.
KUMAR: I actually think that she`s actually not dealing in fear. She`s basically saying, these are his words. Let`s not forget, he`s been going after our institutions of checks and balances. He has gone after reporters for trying to keep him honest.
He`s gone after federal judge, Judge Curiel, when he said, I don`t like the way you`re prosecuting. When I`m in the oval office, I`m going to use personal vendettas. And recently he said that he was going to jail a political opponent. This is not. (CROSSTALK)
ALEXANDER: Michael, go ahead.
STEEL: Let`s remember, the country is extremely frustrated with Washington. They feel that.
ALEXANDER: Two-thirds of Americans.
STEEL: . we`re on the wrong track. No person personifies the Washington establishment more than Hillary Clinton. Former first lady, senator, secretary of state. This is a person who came to Washington straight out of law school and has, other than a brief sojourn in Arkansas, basically made her life`s work in this town. She embodies the establishment these people are revolting against because of the anger and frustration they feel.
RYAN: But I think what the problem is, I think it`s on both sides, for the democrats and the republicans, you cannot just focus in on your base, because when you focus in on your base, you leave so many people out there alone. And feeling like they are not covered. And I think that`s the problem -- I don`t think, I know. We`re seeing the republican party implode.
STEEL: I don`t think the anger and frustration with Washington is confined to the base of the republican party.
(CROSSTALK)
KUMAR: Let`s be clear. When President Obama came and said, I want to actually be the president for everyone. Mitch McConnell clearly stated that he wanted to make sure that the president would fail. As a result, you cannot negotiate with someone who does not want to bring you -- to negotiate with you.
ALEXANDER: I want to interrupt, this is not a conversation we`ll be able to finish right here, but an important one to have right now. Maria, nice to see you. Michael, as always. April, good to see you. See you back in the White House.
RYAN: Yeah.
ALEXANDER: We`ll be back with an update on Sunday`s big debate winner. On this guy, it`s unanimous. Stay tuned.
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ALEXANDER: So in case you missed it, American democracy was rescued today after both parties replaced Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with Ken Bone at the top of their tickets. You didn`t hear that? In case you missed it, Ken Bone found the lost city of Atlantis, and in case you weren`t aware, none of that is also true, at least not yet. But America does love the red sweater, the debate questionnaire who has taken on mythical proportions since Sunday night.
There he is, Ken Bone, the red sweater. You can do anything because Ken Bone and his sweater are now everywhere. Fox, CNN, twice in a day, it turns out. I talked to him today on MSNBC. And there he is on ABC`s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!." You flip over to ESPN, and just wait for it, there`s Ken Bone as well, alongside, sporting the reds, there`s Ken Bone right there.
He even got his own Halloween costume kit, complete with the sweater, glasses, mike, and mustache. So you know who`ll be knocking on your door a few days from now. Get online because his trademark officially sold out. Everyone wants a piece of this guy and we are not making this up.
An adult video website is apparently offering him $100,000 for an hour-long broadcast to talk about, you know, the state of American politics. Folks, what else did you expect in a year as strange as this one? So where else will Ken Bone show up next? Who knows?
That`s all for tonight. We`ll be back tomorrow with more MTP DAILY.
"WITH ALL DUE RESPECT" starts right now.
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