You know, you know, I dont even like to use his name, much less talk about him.But the fact is I thought he looked foolish last night.I thought she looked presidential.I thought he looked silly.Have youi mean watching him on that stage?I mean, youve obviously, you know, you know him very well from interacting with him in a professional capacity.Has he, what do you make of where he is at?Has he, is his skill level the same?Is his, I mean, is he different than he was, as you recall, in office in terms of his stamina, thinking whatever it may be, you know, one of those big balloons when you stick a pin in and it swirls around the room until it comes down to nothing.That's what he reminds me of, just less and less and less and less, like somebody stuck a pin in him and he's just greatly diminished.The fact that we're talking about kitchen table issues, people's personal health, their financial health, all the things that people care about and what is he talking about?

Critique of Former President

Yes, I do.His people have already acted upon my family in my own home.I take his threats seriously.Let me just say what is so offensive to me is that there are some really good Republicans out there who put up with his, saying he never offered any, any, any national guard, even Mitch McConnell joined us in our bipartisan urgent.Please, please send them.Please send the national Guard and his secretary of the army, secretary of defense.Oh, it takes a lot of time.And, oh, and he never did until finally he did hours later.More people injured, some people subsequent to that dying because he wouldnt send the National Guard.So for him to go on tv and lie about it, I mean, he lies all the time.Thats the onlyi dont know if he knows what the truth is.Hes so far from it in his statements.But for him to lie about sending the national guy, I sent it, they refused it.Please press.Please press.Dont let him get away with that.Thats so ridiculous.And he knows that we do not have control of the security.Thats dealt in a different way and the power of the White House.Now, hopefully, we could get the District of Columbia made into a state and then the leader of the District of Columbia can call out the National Guard.But until that happens, and unless it does, were dependent on the president, who has incited the insurrection and refused to send the National Guard.So when he talks about arresting people and arrest, isn't that offensive to people?Am I missing something here.You know what?We don't agonize.We organize.We just have to win.We have to win big.I don't know if you saw, but the administration has called January 6 a special security event.

Critique of Former President's Actions

There was another critical moment, and this was Donald Trump's best moment based on your guys responses.And it was when he was discussing Afghanistan.Listen, we were getting out.We would have been out faster than them, but we wouldn't have lost the soldiers.We wouldn't have left many Americans behind and we wouldn't have left, we wouldn't have left $85 billion worth of brand new, beautiful military equipment behind.And just to finish, they blew it.The agreement said, you have to do this, this, this, and they didn't do it.They didn't do it.The agreement was, was terminated by us because they didn't do what they were supposed to do.So that was the former president talking about the Afghanistan withdrawal, where 13 us service members were killed in, in that chaotic process.You're a veteran.Yes, sir.There are obviously personal feelings here as well, that answer.And it's been an issue that he's talked about constantly on the campaign.What stood out to you for it?When I first heard that we were abandoning or we were withdrawing from Afghanistan.And the way it was happening, I had my Kennedy moment.It was very similar to when we decided to invade Iraq back under President Bush.And when I saw that we were leaving that amount of high tech equipment in the hands of our enemy, and later that day or later that week, I saw on the news where them celebrating with our guns in their hands, I realized what a travesty that was a, in the loss of money in that we abandoned when we left, plus the very bullets that we left there that they were shooting at us as we flew away into planes.

Discussion on Afghanistan Withdrawal

The influx of Haitians has also manifested itself in other ways, including a tragedy specifically in 2023, when eleven year old Aiden Clark was killed in a Springfield bus crash, one that involved a haitian immigrant who had a driver's license that was not valid in Ohio, as reported by the New York Times.Aiden's father declined to speak on camera, but as others have posted about the tragedy recently, he told CNN in a statement, we just want our family out of the news and for Aiden to not be mentioned in regards to politics.Putting aside any unverified theories about cats and dogs, Vilbryn Dorsenville, also haitian, says he understands the criticisms about the strain on resources caused by the influx of immigrants.I agree with these people, but he also painted a harsh reality.If it was not for a matter of death or life in my country, it would be better to get back.And that's also something we heard from another haitian immigrant who spoke at that city council meeting, saying that she estimates most Haitians.We want to go back.If it were not for the crisis there right now.Now, since we've been here in Springfield, no one we've spoken to, we haven't gotten any confirmation of pets being eaten or pets being taken to be served as food.But we did run down another video claim that the former president shared on social media last night about a separate incident, not in Springfield, of a woman who allegedly ate a cat.Now, we followed up with the police lieutenant in Canton where this allegedly happened.And they also told us they have no evidence to believe that that person was not a us citizen.Instead of what they've been described on as online as haitian.Doesn't seem to be the case.Warren Jimenez, thank you very much.Back now with the panel.

Aiden Clark's Case

Fox News

New emails and new records are painting a very different picture of President Biden's involvement in Hunter's business deals.It's very different than what the administration's been telling us.New visitor logs reveal eight more White House meetings between then Vice President Biden and Hunter's business partner.That makes the total 27 times, and that's what we know.We're also learning the president reportedly agreed to pay more than $800,000 to cover, part of which was Hunter Biden's legal bills.

Biden's Involvement in Hunter's Business Deals

We're also learning the president reportedly agreed to pay more than $800,000 to cover, part of which was Hunter Biden's legal bills.That was ahead of the 2020 election.And financial records reportedly show the president himself had $5.2 million in unexplained income.

Hunter Biden's Legal Bills

And financial records reportedly show the president himself had $5.2 million in unexplained income.Hmm.But remember, Biden has repeatedly denied any knowledge of his son's business dealings.How many times have you ever spoken to your son about his overseas business dealings?I've never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.I have never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their businesses, period.Do you think it was wrong for him to take that position?No.Knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you?Well, that's not true.You're saying things, you do not know what you're talking about.No one said that.Who said that?Every single day, the evidence mounts.Literally every single day.Douglas Murray, take a look at this email.

President Biden's Unexplained Income

Douglas Murray, take a look at this email.January 17, 2020 2019.This is then Hunter Biden's personal assistant.He wrote to an accountant.She did rather, and here's what she wrote.Hello, VP team.I spoke with Hunter today regarding his bills.It is my understanding that Hunt's dad will cover these bills in the short term as hunter transitions in his career.I have a list of the current bills of which I am aware.I've attached the list.In that attachment is a $28,000 payment for legal bills for restructuring of BHR Partners, which is the chinese equity firm that was the linchpin of that foreign and deal that Hunter did.So we're just to believe that President Biden, well, then vice President Biden, as he left office, never asked his son, hey, what is this about?We have to believe at the moment that whenever the Biden family got together, vice president, then Biden just held forth, monologued.It's possible that he just, you know, shot the breeze and just, you know, said whatever on his mind, maybe talked about his exploits as a young man, never asked any of his family any questions, never said, hey, Hunter, are you earning any money at the moment?Are you perhaps sitting on a board in a country you don't know in a business you know nothing about, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.Are you doing that by any chance?But maybe he never asked his son anything.Maybe he never asked his brother anything.Maybe the whole thing was just one big Joe Biden monologue.But you know what?I doubt it.I really doubt it.I doubt it, too.So he never asked when he was at that cafe Milano dinner with some of the business individuals Hunter was dealing with, he never asked.During the golf outing with Hunter.Never asked.Emily, then you look at this income situation.

Hunter Biden's Business Dealings

Emily, then you look at this income situation.So basically, on his tax return, then Vice President Biden disclosed $7 million more on his tax returns.This is according to the Daily Daily Mail that he did on his government disclosure form.Some of that's made up for by Jill Biden's income, but it still leaves a deficit of about $5.2 million.Where did it go?Yeah, that's right.Okay, so first of all, the endless Biden monologue, to me sounds like a fresh layer of Dante's inferno.I just have to say that.But I'm sure, Shannon, as I'm sure you know as well, look, I've seen our tax dollars used to prosecute $30,000 of alleged tax income evasion.I have seen personally, as pairs of criminal division, Ir's agents use our tax dollars to fly around the country interviewing family members to secure one count tax evasion.Believe me, there is no limit to the dollars that this government will spend of our money to claw $1 back of its perceived lost income.And I'm sure many people watching from home have had IR's note discrepancies on their returns of less than $1,000.So the allegation, the fact that our sitting president somehow had a discrepancy of $7 million between the tax returns and the government transparency reports, 5.2 million of which is unaccounted for in terms of its source of income, is absolutely mind boggling.And I hope that they spend our tax dollars, maybe just $1, toward ascertaining where it came from.It'd be great, right?And meanwhile, you have these meetings, Harris.

President Biden's Tax Returns

And meanwhile, you have these meetings, Harris.These 27 meetings nowadays.27.Rosemont, Seneca.Eric Schwerin, he's the head of it.He's the closest business associate of Hunter.He's going to the west Wing.Why?Well, I think we, excuse me, have a lot of people that we can ask, including the former chief of staff, which makes this really complicated because he's in the current White House, and I saw him on the scroll.Part of the problem, too, is that with those people in those meetings, along with the Bidens, you have to justify the people's house's time.I mean, seriously, you can't just get a meeting in the White House.You know, you've worked in it.So now I want to know a little bit more, if possible, about the context of their roles with all of this.Were there note takers in those meetings?And what do those people know about the business dealings?And when your child racks up $800,000 in legal bills and you don't ask.I agree.I mean, you don't ask, where are you getting your income from when I have to be responsible for nearly a million dollars in legal bills.Remember those 150 or so transactions, banking transactions, that investigators earlier on had already started to take a look at?Was that part of it?I mean, the public deserves to know.But as a parent, if I'm gonna pay your bills and you're like an older dude all over YouTube with, well, we can't even talk about it, what he's doing, but most of the time he's naked.If I'm gonna pay your bills, I need to know where is your money going and where's your money coming from?I completely don't believe that they didn't talk about it in some way, shape or form, even if it were just an admonishment from the parenthood.Yes, exactly.And that brings us to the topic of a special counsel, which we know Merrick Garland was asked about yesterday, the attorney general.

White House Meetings

Douglas, I've got to get this last point in a Hunter Biden email, just a bit of intrigue attained by Fox News Digital.He's not a fan of the Clintons at all.He said Bill Clinton, I can't repeat it on air, but called him a bleep and said he looks like bleep.And he called Doug band and Huma Abedin, two Clinton aides.Greedy, ironic.Hunter Biden used that, calling them petty, greedy, venal and low rent for taking a private sector money when they were in government.I'm horrified to discover there's dissent at the top of the democratic party.But at least we know that hunter does have some skills.He can paint a remember after everything else has gone, he can paint and sell his paintings for hundreds of thousands of dollars despite not being able to do that really either.That is a great point.A lot of ethical issues there.Look, it's just my view.Hunter Biden don't point ethical fingers.You've got a lot of fingers pointing back at.

Hunter Biden's Opinion on Clintons

Well, we can talk about that.Let me ask you about that.You write, you know a thing or two about campaigning.Your book has just fascinating look at politics in America and your career.What needs to happen now, in your opinion, for the Harris campaign?What?Because, I mean, look, no matter how well people think she may have done last night, you look at the numbers.This is still, tell me if you believe it, a very, very close race, particularly in these battleground states.Well, first, let me just say that my whole, what I loved about last night, she was herself.She was herself being articulate and knowledgeable and prioritizing.And the rest, she doesn't need any advice from the rest of us on how she should proceed.But what we need to do is to make sure she wins.So for all of those millions of people who saw her and were excited by the rest, we don't, that's okay.But we have to, we have to put it into action.So that means we must, I have three ms mobilized.We must own the ground to get out the vote.Every single vote.That is, for Kamala Harris to come to the polls.We have to message in a way that is inspiring.You dont run on empty because you mobilize.You need inspiration.We want a message that is bold and progressive, but not menacing, but is unifying for our country.As she said, turn the page where we want to unify America.Mobilization message.And of course, the money to get the job done.And small donors have been just so enthusiastic about her chemical.But this must continue.So I have the three m's and I have the three nos.No wasted time, no underutilized resource and no regrets the day after the election that we could have walked another precinct or made more calls or sent more texts or postcards and the rest.So we're getting down to the basics here.But we don't agonize over him.We organize.About her mobilization message, money, own the ground, because all of it is just a conversation unless you, unless you own the ground.So people are revved, they are working, and that's what it will take because I believe every race is close now.She'll win the popular vote, but we have to win one of those targeted states.There are people who watched the debate last night and agonized about a return to that for the next four years.

Campaign Strategy

Post-Debate Analysis and Campaign Strategies

We're getting the first reaction with the debate from our focus group from voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.Phil Mattingly is with them in Erie, Pennsylvania.So tell us who you're with and what they're saying about the debate.Yeah, Anderson, we talk about how critical Pennsylvania is for each candidate's pathway to 270 electoral votes.We're here in Erie County, Erie, Pennsylvania.We're sitting currently at Mercy Hearst University.Been wonderful host for us.The reason why we're here, 400 miles away from the debate is Erie county is the swingiest county in the most important swing state of this campaign.There's no question about it.Went Obama in 2021, went Trump in 2016, went Biden in 2020.The last two cycles, just about 1500 votes each separated the two candidates.So we wanted to ask voters who have not made a firm decision yet who they want to vote for, what they actually saw in this debate.Now, these are voters that have in the past supported Republicans and Democrats.They have in the past shown support for former President Trump or for Joe Biden.But coming into this night, they told us that they had not made up their minds yet in this election.So just to step back a little bit, show our focus group to people, Erie residents.Again, most important state, most important county in that state.We asked for a show of hands before the debate who hadn't made up their mind yet, but thought this debate may determine where they would go with their vote.To start with this debate, who do you think won by a show of hands?

Focus Group Discussion

MSNBC

In another way, how they react to this or how they overreact to this will be more determinative than the punditry in the moment and how the first flash poll moves.I think this was shape shifting in a deeper way, and it will show itself over the course of the next few weeks.It's the Kamala Harris that you've known for the last 30 years.It's also the Donald Trump that the country's known for the last nine, maybe even a worse version, the version that talks about pets being barbecued for lunch, being eaten by cat, dogs and cats, I guess, are breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that at least one person, no, Hannibal Lecter at least.But, but, you know, Trump really, you talked before this.We went into this, that Trump has become kind of a bad imitation of himself.And what we saw tonight was a vice president, former prosecutor, laying these traps repeatedly for Trump, who kept walking into them, whether it was his father's silver spoon or the size of his rallies or him being a disgrace on the world stage.Each and every one of them he responded to.It was too easy.It was too easy.I mean, this just shows this, this shows how consequential this election was.She was, she laid those traps.And I want to compliment her, but they weren't even that complex.They're just trigger words.And you just watch.You saw his physiology, you saw his eye movement, you knew where he was going to go.But it's all also what the rest of the world does to Donald Trump.She was absolutely right.I've been in those rooms with foreign leaders all around.I've met with dozens of them.They all say exactly what she said tonight.They're laughing behind his mouth.He's so prone to flattery and as she said, favor.How easy and terrified of being humiliated, how easy manipulated he becomes because he's weak.Weakness masquerading as strength.And that weakness was exposed tonight in a pretty profound and consequential way because it was over 90 minutes and he couldn't get off the map.Do you think this debate is the difference maker that needs to happen for, I guess that what feels like, you know, we're being told is going to be the tightest election of our lifetimes, that there needs to be some meaningful sort of change to move the numbers in any sort of definitive way.I think we all have to be careful not to overhype.I think we can overlande analyze over, you know, too much punditry.As I say, I think this unfolds over the course of the next few weeks.Let's give you a couple examples.I mean, honestly, I think the Taylor Swift endorsement, endorsement, how Trump reacts to that and how that can create a few news cycles, how he reacts in terms of his grievance and his pity party on those networks, and how he goes out and does these large scale events, and how he just consumed by how unfair this was and how rigged this was, and all of a sudden, that can expose itself as even more damaging than just the punditry of the moment, just the situation tonight.So, no, I think it was.That said, I'm a little subjective, candidly, but I cannot objectively imagine in those 60, 80 counties within those seven swing states that people truly were open argument, interested in evidence that were really kicking the tire, how anyone could have concluded that there wasn't just one commander in chief, and her name was Kamala Harris on stage tonight.Well, it was an eventful evening for both sides of the race.Do you think there should be another debate?

Discussion on the future of the campaign

CBS News

Well, Harris campaign keeps saying that they are the underdogs.A do you think that's true?Coming out of the convention, I heard many Democrats say, we got this.We got this.Everybody left out of that Chicago feeling on such a high lately.You look at the polls and people keep saying, yeah, but who is she?What will she do differently?Everybody says, we know who Donald Trump is.And for many people, he's still a very attractive candidate.Is a Harris campaign the underdog?I don't think, my humble opinion is she's not.And I don't like hearing about that.I mean, there's something about, I think, your own lives, your own success, we manifest.And there's something, I don't know what it is about democrats.There's a timidity.I mean, the stock market hits record breaking, and we're like, well, not everyone's in the stock market.You know, and I mean, there's a timidity.How about some pride?How about standing tall for the accomplishments?What Kamala Harris has done in the last eight weeks is unprecedented in us history.She's closed the gap.We're not just within a margin of error.We've expanded the map in the United States.You saw new polls this morning, states that were not even in the conversation.Now Donald Trump has to either defend or he has to go out and invest millions and millions of dollars would have never imagined a few weeks ago.So, no, I think the momentum is with us.She's the change candidate.There's a fresh air related to her.There's a stale air of normalcy related to Donald Trump.He's about the past.She's about the future.He's about chaos.We're about competency.It's about daylight and darkness.This is the easiest election in my lifetime.I love where we are in this case, to make the case anew against a guy who's more unhinged, more deranged than he ever has been.He's more derivative.And I mean this.I'm a student of Donald Trump.We all are.We've had to live with him.He's.He's less interesting.I mean, listen to these rambling speeches for hours and hours.His audience is even losing.People are walking out.He's literally, listen to what he's actually saying and how he's saying it.The monotone nature, his economic speech.How about the answer on childcare?And you're talking to me about families in America, and you're talking about cost of living.So I think she has remarkable opportunities.Governor, as Gail mentioned, there are some voters that feel like they don't know who Vice President Kamala Harris is.

And we got to go real quick.Any plans after 2026?Well, I saw some resumes around the corner here, so I don't know.What do you got?Our seats are full around here.Wait a second.I think one right now.I threw another seat open.Governor Newsom, thank you so much for joining us.Are there some openings we don't know about what's happening?I'm still going to be here holding on coffee.

Future Plans

Governor, as a prosecutor yourself, the former attorney general, how would you describe the strategy that the vice president employed?When asked a question, she would answer it, but then she would quickly pivot and almost bait a Donald Trump into speaking about another issue.She did it on everything from the border on immigration.She did it on crowd size.How would you talk about and how she used that strategy effectively?Well, look, as a former prosecutor, I know an easy mark when I see one.And part of the reason why you can, you can sort of bait Donald Trump into this stuff, whether it's on crowd sizes or something else, it's because Donald Trump is only focused on himself.And so when you entice him that way to talk about himself instead of talking about the american people and how he's going to help them, it's something that we've come to know is just part of his problem.He's focused on himself.He's not focused on the future of trying to help the american people.I also want to ask you about some of the other foreign policy issues that came up during the debate.

Vice President's Strategy

Now, you can't really top Mister Charles, but if you all have more ideas for more remix songs, you can still send them to us.You can post your song idea for what matches that moment or extends it at arimelber on Facebook or Twitter.You can always link with me@arimelber.com.and I want to be clear.We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow night.If we get enough good song ideas from you or ones that we haven't thought of.Maybe we will remix it again from scratch tomorrow night.Shout out to everyone who participated, all the great ideas we got.And of course, shout out to Ray Charles and Georgia on our mind.

Call for More Remix Song Ideas

Perspective now from his niece, Mary Trump, author of the just released book who could ever love you?A family memoir.First of all, I have to ask you about the debate.What did you think?For me, it was the first time I've seen somebody figure out a way to completely rattle the former president, and in the most simplistic of ways, criticizing, suggesting.People were bored by his rallies and leaving.And from then on, he was just yelling.That needled him so much, he was knocked off the rest of the night.It was incredibly validating, that debate, because some of us have known for a while that that is the way to go.But who's been in a position to press him in that kind of venue?Nobody.There's one, figuring that out, and two, having the ability to do it, even if you know that's how to do it well, that was the thing that she did so brilliantly.Vice President Harris both gave substantive answers to questions to help the american people get to know her better and what she's going to do for our country while going straight at Donald's vulnerabilities.The narcissistic injury she inflicted on him in the first ten or 15 minutes of the debate did exactly what it needed to do, which, as you just said, was make him unravel.He couldn't recover, and honestly, he's not going to, you write in your new book.The trouble with Donald had started long before he entered school.

Debate Analysis

Well, let's just talk about her rather than him right now.I can come back to his skin in later, but right now I want to talk about her leadership.I was so proud of her.She was presidential.She showed her new way forward, new and forward.Her plan to take us forward command of the issues, eloquence in talking about them, again, strategic in her thinking.I thought she was just spectacular.But her excellence did get under his skin.

Debate Discussion

So, David, I mean, obviously, the debate was a crucial moment.How do you think the dynamic, I mean, have the dynamics of the race shifted?You know what?We don't.I think they've shifted in some ways because anytime in an event when 67 million people are watching, one candidate so clearly dominates the event, especially against someone who is expected to be the dominant figure on the stage, it has some kind of impact in terms of voting.We don't know.There's not a lot of elasticity in the electorate.And I think both campaigns are waiting to see how these polls shake out in a few days when this thing really washes through to see if it's influenced actual votes.Ben?I mean, there was, you know, there was polling about how, prior to the debate, about the large percentage of people who still wanted to know more information about Kamala Harris.I mean, the debate, certainly there were a lot of, there was a lot of information there, whether it's what she said or just how she appeared.Do you think it moved the needle?I don't know.They got the information that she whooped to the butt.I mean, like, I'm still just giddy because, you know, you're sitting there chewing your fingernails down to the elbow.Is she gonna go out there and is Donald Trump gonna do to her what he's done to so many other people?This guy has eaten a presidential hopefuls like Tic Tacs.He's been the Pac man of politics, destroying people.Kamala Harris went out there, whooped his butt and made it look easy.Made it look easy.And so in that regard, that is information.Can Xi deal with a Putin?Yes.Can she deal with a tough situation, with pressure, with crisis?Yes.Now she has to now close the deal.People who before were commonly curious, like, okay, you know, she handled Donald Trump, but they still have unanswered question.Listen, if you're Kamala Harris right now and you're listening, talk to reporters now.Talk to everybody.If you can handle Donald Trump, a raging bull.If you can be the matador against this crazy person, you can talk to a reporter.Get out here, let people ask you the tough questions.You can do it.And I think she could start closing the deal with the people who are commonly curious, but you still don't know what she's going to do for them.Erin, the former president is suggesting he won't do another debate.

Erin, the former president is suggesting he won't do another debate.Do you think that's a smart idea?I think time will tell.I think one polling coming out of this debate, we'll see kind of where things, if things did move at all between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump last night.And the reason I would say at this point I don't think he will is because he has set the marker now where, well, if you lose the debate, you ask for another.So I'm not going to ask for another because I'm not the loser of this debate.That's very much the marker he's put down for himself right now.So he doesn't want to do Fox.He doesn't want to ask for another debate.Will it happen?Should it happen?I don't know if it will happen.Should it happen at this point for Donald Trump?I don't think it should.Now he's dealing with another news cycle.Instead of talking about the failures of the Biden Harris administration and how groceries are more expensive, it's harder to buy a home.It's harder to get ahead in this country than it was four years ago.Instead of talking about that, he's getting distracted by Kamala being able to pull him off his mark in that debate.I think at this point it would be better to be doing the rallies, try to stay focused and hit home your message and get your get out the vote effort moving.Now, I've heard from people in swing states they're seeing stuff from the Trump team and not the Harris team.Those points of contact are going to make a big difference come November.David, I mean, do you think if you were in the Trump camp, would you suggest he debate again?

Post-Debate Strategy

David, I mean, do you think if you were in the Trump camp, would you suggest he debate again?You know, I'd be very debate, should she debate again?Well, I think that, I think she's pretty confident.I actually think they do want to debate again because it would be maybe a second shot of momentum if she could repeat what she did last night.If I'm on the Trump side, Aaron recited the message that her rational strategists would like him to be on every single day.He does not stick to the message.And you saw how easily distracted he was last night.You talk about rallies, the rallies.He can have his message on a prompter and he might read the message on the prompter.It's the other hour when he's improvising that becomes the problem.And this has been the problem throughout for him.He is not a disciplined candidate candidate.And he seems less disciplined and a little more frantic than he's been in the past.Then Taylor Swift not only endorsed, but then also posted information about where he can go to register.

Potential for Another Debate

If I'm correct there.What did you think?How do you think she handled herself?I mean, one of the things we were talking about earlier is the mics were muted, but the facial expressions were not.And Kamala Harris was putting her facial expressions to use when Trump was saying all sorts of things.Yeah, I felt like, you know, when she was reacting, I felt like she was reacting like the rest of us in the audience were reacting because we were all kind of having this reaction of some of the things that he was saying.And quite frankly, I had a lot of disbelief on some of the things he said on the world stage.And I could just, I was picturing world leaders around the globe just watching this develop and sort of being in shock over it.Yeah.And I want to play this.

And I want to read some of what the Wall Street Journal editorial board said following the debate, saying she won the debate because she came in with a strategy to taunt and goad Mister Trump into diving down rabbit holes of personal grievance and vanity that left her policies and history largely untouched.She always takes the bait.Miss Harris set the trap.So he spent much of the debate talking about the past or about Joe Biden or about immigrants eating pets, but not how hed improve the lives of Americans in the next four years.I mean, when youve lost the Wall Street Journal as a Republican, what does that say?Yeah, I mean, I think it speaks volumes.I think, you know, she was incredibly effective at talking about her vision, her plans for the country to the audience that needed to hear it, which is the people that were tuned in.But she was also incredibly effective of just giving him enough rope.Right.I mean, like, she, like, go ahead, just let him talk.And I just kept saying, just keep letting him talk and he'll just portray himself to be what he is.I just say, like, think about having to work in the White House with him because that's what it was like every single day.Think about watching the person that's supposed to be running and leading our country and behaving in that way, because what you saw last night on that stage is exactly who Donald Trump is.Do you think he'll do another debate?

Debate Strategy

Do you think he'll do another debate?I think, you know, he was clearly angry last night.I mean, when he showed up in the spin room, you could see that he was just frustrated about the situation and you could see the anger sort of developing on stage in the moment.I think that's tv day, to be honest.Yeah, but we'll see what the poll numbers say because that might drive a lot of this.If he sees the poll numbers dip, he may want to do another debate.Olivia, stay with me.My panel is back from war on the showdown last night, and Brian Lanza and Alencia Johnson are back with me.And, Brian, let me go back to you.Do you want Donald Trump to do another debate?Yeah, I mean, I think they already have one, at least during the Biden Harris campaign.They already have the third one scheduled later this month.And so if she doesn't want to compete in that debate, I'm certainly not surprised she didn't want to compete in the Fox debate.Alonsia, what do you think?Well, I mean, I think there's history with Fox News not being able to actually fact check Donald Trump.So I can understand that.But Vice President Harris and the campaign, well, the campaign said last night that they are ready for the second debate whenever Donald Trump will agree to it.It's clear.Thank you, Olivia, for your point that he was really upset, which is why he ran to the spin room to try to create and control a narrative.But I actually don't think it helped.I think it harmed him even more.And Vice President Harris was quite disruptive on that stage and disrupting the way in which he always tries to dominate women.Right.And with you sitting here, Olivia, I'm just thinking about the range in which this coalition that wants to not only vote for Vice President Harris move past Donald Trump.It ranges from Republicans who are tired of him, who have the courage to stand up, you, as well as Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney, all the way over to the left.There are a lot of uncommitted voters who said they still want to vote for Vice President Harris.They want to see more obviously on the issue in Gaza.And then you have Taylor Swift endorsing her.I don't know what's more disruptive in our politics than a coalition and a candidate that can bring all of them together, and that is Vice President Harris.Yeah.I mean, Olivia being in the room, what was that moment like when Trump and Harris went after each other on the issue of abortion?

Both the Trump and Harris campaigns are spinning the debate as a win for their candidates.We wanted to know what debate watchers thought.CNN senior data reporter Harry Endon is here with a brand new suit, by the way.

What did you find here as far as how this was received?Yeah, I'm just going to use a scientific term, and that is that the vice president crushed Donald Trump.All right, so how did the vice president, how much did she crush him by?Look at this first debate winner margins.Look at that.She won by a 26 point margin, nearly matching Trump's margin over Biden back in June when he won by 34 points.Very similar to Joe Biden's margin of over Donald Trump back in 2020 of 32 points and significantly higher than the 2016 margin that Hillary Clinton had over Donald Trump in their first debate, just 13 points.But the bottom line here is debate watchers, and they actually leaned a little bit more republican than the nation as a whole, believe that Kamala Harris easily, easily won this debate.Again, the scientific term is she crushed former President Donald Trump.All right, will we see, though, a change in the polls, a rise or a bump for Harris?

Debate Results

There's another big difference here, whether or not there's going to be a second debate.We heard Donald Trump early this morning saying that he doesn't think there needs to be one because he felt he won decisively.That is not what the voters that you looked at said.With us now, CNN's Eva McKenzie and Elena Treenhouse.

Potential Second Debate

With us now, CNN's Eva McKenzie and Elena Treenhouse.They are in Philadelphia, the dust still settling at the debate site.Eva, what are you hearing from the Harris team this morning?

Post-Debate Reactions

Let's get a fact check now of the debate.CNN senior reporter Daniel Dale was listening closely to both candidates.Daniel what stood out to you, Jake?What stood out was that this was a staggeringly dishonest debate performance from former President Trump.Just lie after lie on subject after subject.By my preliminary count, Jake, Trump made at least 33 false claims, 33.By contrast, by, again, a preliminary count, Vice President Harris made at least one false claim, though she added at least a few misleading claims and a few more that lacked key context.I think a lot of Americans say, well, all politicians lie.No major presidential candidate before Donald Trump has ever lied with this kind of frequency.A remarkably large chunk of what he said tonight was just not true.And this wasn't like, little exaggeration, political spin.A lot of his false claims were untethered to reality.On abortion, saying every Democrat wanted Roe v.Wade overturned, though actually more than 80% of Democrats supported Roe.On crime, saying it's through the roof, though it's actually sharply down since early 2023.It's now lower than it was since Trump left office on health care, saying he's the one who saved Obamacare, the law he actually repeatedly tried to overturn.On Kamala Harris herself, saying that a Howard University grad black Law Students association president had claimed that she wasn't black at one point.Frankly, I don't have enough time here to run through each specific Trump false claim.I urge people to go to our CNN website or our app to read our team's detailed fact checks on this and a whole bunch more.For now, though, let's dive into one false claim.Trump made an egregious claim about migrants supposedly eating people's pets in Springfield.They're eating the dogs.The people that came in, they're eating the cats.They're eating.They're eating the pets of the people that live there.This is not only false, I think it's fair to call this odious.This for people who have not been online in the last couple days.This claim about migrants, haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating people's pets originated with a Facebook post that attributed the claim to a neighbor's friends daughter.So, you know, a third hand broken telephone kind of thing.The city of Springfield and the Springfield police say there are no credible reports of this happening.And even JD Vance, the vice presidential candidate who himself had promoted these claims, acknowledged this morning that the, quote, rumors might turn out false, although he still encouraged people to spread these cat memes.Now, I'll note that Trump himself added dogs to the equation they had not even been part of these viral nonsense rumors before.Now let's look at one false claim that Vice President Harris did make about the economic situation that the Biden Harris administration was left by Trump.Let's talk about what Donald Trump left us.Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.And what we have done is clean up Donald Trump's mess.So the Biden Harris administration was not actually left the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.They were left a 6.4% unemployment rate rate in January 2021.That was certainly elevated by recent standards, pretty high, but it was significantly down from the 14.8% level it reached early in the pandemic.So it was already improving at the time the Biden Harris administration took office.And that 6.4% level was the highest since the Great Recession.So in the last 20 years, not going back decades further, Anderson.Daniel, thanks very much.A lot to go through.We appreciate it.Joining me now to discuss all this, Leah Wright, rigor, CNN political analyst and historian Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers, also a CNN political commentator and David Polyansky, who is a republican strategist.

Fact Check of the Debate

Joining me now to discuss all this, Leah Wright, rigor, CNN political analyst and historian Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers, also a CNN political commentator and David Polyansky, who is a republican strategist.Welcome to all of you.Thanks for starting off.I feel like I just kind of went to bed after the debate, in fairness.So I appreciate you guys hanging in there with me.Ron Brownstein, let's start with a big picture here, because there were such high stakes for Kamala Harris in this debate.She had not been in this kind of forum before.She was facing someone who had been on this stage multiple times.I have to say, the Democrats that I talked to are absolutely thrilled this morning.Is that your takeaway, too?What are you looking at?I think the only way that debate could have gone better for her would have been if it was on October 20 and not September 10, which is not an inconsiderable point.You know, I felt after the first debate with Biden that if not for Biden's obvious deterioration, we would have been talking about how much Donald Trump's capacity to deliver an argument, to stay on point, to craft a message had declined.And that's what we saw tonight.I mean, the age contrast, the energy contrast, the vigor contrast, technically, last night, yeah, I guess it was still one.You know, one of the key problems democrats have faced in this race is that Donald Trump's retrospective job approval rating has been increasing to a point where it has been higher in many polls than it was at any point during his presidency.Now, why is that?It's because voters, I think, have been judging him mostly through the lens of what they didn't like about Biden, particularly inflation.What the debate did last night was make remind voters everything else that comes with Donald Trump.And just one last point.Trump sounded like someone who was calling into a Fox News show.I mean, he has spent so much time speaking to his core audience, which is still a strength.And, you know, he's going to turn out a lot of those people that he thought.I, I think he had lost the ability to talk to a broader audience.Defending the January 6 rioters, saying that everybody wanted Roe v.Wade to be overturned, claiming again that he won the election, and kind of the peak of this, insisting that in a very kind of racist argument that immigrants are eating people's cats and dogs, it was all, he looked like someone who was coming out of a dark movie theater into sunshine and kind of squinting because he has spent so much time talking to this narrow universe, he really had nothing to say to a broader audience.Now, real quick, I mean, the underlying realities are still there.60% of Americans think they are not better off because of the policies of the Biden administration.When Trump was able to get to that, it's a reminder that those are going to be headwinds for Harris.But she could not have done any more than she did last night.Amy?Well, David Polyansky and Leah, I want you to weigh in, and honestly, I want everybody to weigh in on this.But, David, I would like you to defend, to address this point of view, because I got multiple notes from people saying, well, it's like, I think we have seen which candidate is entirely online because there were all these moments where Trump was focused on issues that seem very in one corner of the universe.You know, I was talking to, it's anecdot, but when you get texts from all your family members who don't really pay attention to this stuff until a big moment like this, they're kind of like, what is this?What is he talking about?I don't know fully, but look, I think last night, all of us that have been a part of politics for most of our adult lives and participated in debates know one truism, which is if you end up sending your candidate to the spin room after a debate, you didn't win.And last night, Donald Trump went to the spin room inexplicably and took questions from the press.The vice president went to a debate watch party.It's a pretty good sign of where they both felt the night ended up.And, you know, in terms of the message, look, she was incredibly well prepared.Make no mistake, you could see that from the start.But I think the most important part of it was she was on offense from the minute she, not only the minute she started talking, but the minute she walked on stage, she walked across to former President Trump's podium and made him shake her hand.She was prepared, she was confident, and she was on offense from the start.And I think that played into his worst fears in terms of not only not being able to proactively drive his message, but to your point, fall back to what he's comfortable with, which is more conservative media.I mean, I think from the very beginning, one of the things that Ron brought up was that those of us who watched Joe Biden versus Donald Trump realizes that Donald Trump gave the second worst debate performance in american history.The problem was that the person who gave the worst debate in american history was also on that stage.And so when you actually take, now, you've been freed to say that when you take Joe Biden two months ago, listen, 75 days makes a lot of difference.When you take Joe Biden out of that debate, you see someone who is not capable.And that gave Kamala Harris a little bit of the confidence.Look, she was nervous the first five, six, seven minutes.Everybody saw it.And she had the ability to bait him and counterpunch him.And that's what I said this debate was going to be about.It reminded me so much of Ryan Garcia versus Devin Haney, which was a fight that happened maybe three months ago.You're gonna have to fill me in that Devin Haney was supposed to be a jabber and a good puncher, and Ryan Garcia was a counterpuncher.And Kamala Harris came out and she baited.She baited.She used the jab, and then she counterpunched.She counterpunched.She was able to hit him, pivot and move to the american people.Last night, you saw someone who was very prepared and you knew about 928.I think I marked it.928 was when this thing was over.That's when she went into the rallies, when she started talking about his rallies, which for him is his biggest, it wasn't clear it was going to be over at that point.Oh, but no, once he saw back at her, those of us around the orbit said, look, at that point, he was going to unravel.It was going to go downhill, and she was going to be able to find a groove.Up until that point, it might have been even, it might have been nip and tuck.The abortion answer was before that.That was pretty strong.She was strong, though.She was strong.But he unraveled.Yeah, he unraveled on rallies.She gave a very sound answer on reproductive freedom, scoring on substance.But he was done for after she questioned the size of his.Well, it was too pronged.Right.Because on the one hand, she had to make a case for herself and her own policies, and she was put on comfortable footing when she was asked very near at the top of the debate about abortion.And we saw that some of that nervousness fade away when she did that.And Leah, then, as Bakari points out, the other thing that she was clearly had spent a lot of time practicing was how to get under Donald Trump's skin.And the other thing that kept sticking out to me, too, was that she clearly had studied how to use the split screen to her own advantage.And we've seen times when that can cause problems for candidates.I mean, when Barack Obama debated Mitt Romney the first time, it was the way he looked kind of agitated in the box next to Mitt Romney that made it seem as though he was struggling.She was doing things like this.I mean, and if you've opened your social media feed this morning, that is what you are seeing.Yeah.And I think also one of the things that she did really quite effectively is she has this line that she's been repeating over and over on the campaign trail, which is that Donald Trump is a deeply unserious man.He is a deeply unserious candidate who has serious consequences for the american public.Those facial expressions, that mastery of the split screen was all about showing the nation just how unserious, but how dangerous he is.

Discussion on the Debate

Plus, we just got the first results from our instant poll.A debate watchers stand by for that.We're getting, we'll be right back or, no, actually, we'll keep going.We're getting the first reaction with the debate from our focus group from voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Debate Summary

I want to talk about some of the moments of the debate, because as we told you guys before the debate, each of these individuals had a dial.And if they turn the dial to the right, then they felt positive about what they were hearing in that moment.If they turned it to the left, they felt less.So they felt negative about what they were hearing.We could track that throughout the debate.We're going to show you a couple of moments where you saw the biggest movement towards positive direction for both of those candidates.You will see the lines at the bottom of the screen, and you will see that movement as the sound we play you plays out.We're going to start with this because they're radical.The Democrats are radical in that.And her vice presidential pick, which I think was a horrible pick, by the way, for our country, because he is really out of it.But her vice presidential pick says abortion in the 9th month is absolutely fine.He also says execution after birth.It's execution no longer.Abortion because the baby is born is okay, and that's not okay with me.Hence the vote.Trump abortion bans that make no exception, even for rape and incest, which understand what that means.A survivor of a crime of violation to their body does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next.That is immoral.And one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree.The government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.That sound, obviously, that moment was a critical moment, not just for the debate, on one of the critical issues of this campaign, on the issue of reproductive rights, and abortion.

Debate Moments Analysis

New reaction tonight in the wake of a debate talking point last night about Springfield, Ohio, which we should say right off the bat, is not supported by any evidence that we or really anyone has been able to find in Springfield.They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats.They're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there.Hes talking about black people, haitian migrants.And yes, that actually happened last night in the presidential debate.The former president amplifying a claim going around in right wing media.Hes also been citing the death of an eleven year old Springfield boy last year when a haitian driver, now in prison hit the school bus he was riding in.Heres what the father Nathan said last night at a public meeting.They have spoken my sons name and used his death for political gain.This needs to stop.Now they can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis, and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members.However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed to mention Aidan Clark from Springfield, Ohio.Well, tonight, Aiden Clark's dad built on his remarks, saying in a statement, the attention brought to our case in the last few weeks is 100% politically motivated.We've been grieving for over a year now.So why are you suddenly concerned?Politics.More on the politics of that and the related theories, conspiracy theories about house pets from Sinenzo Omar Jimenez.When you hear allegations of Haitians eating dogs and cats and I and taking them off the street and stealing them from people's yards, what is your reaction when you hear that?It was shocking to me, honestly, because the first question I asked myself, where in the world do people are eating pets?Vilas Dorsenville is the head of the haitian community Help and support center in Springfield, Ohio.

Debate Fallout

But the big controversy of the night wasn't the candidates, ABC moderators David Muir and Lindsey Davis, getting called out after aggressively fact checking Trump five times, but zero times for Harris.There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born.President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is actually coming down in this country.I did watch all of these pieces of video.I didn't detect the sarcasm lost by whisker.The question was about you as president, not about former Speaker Pelosi.But I, and here are the questionable Harris statements that they let go.The detailed and dangerous plan called project 2025 that the former president intends on implementing.What did the president then at the time say?There were fine people on each side.Donald Trump, the candidate has said in this election, there will be a bloodbath if this and the outcome of this election is not to his liking.Meanwhile, the Harris campaign wants a second debate.Donald Trump says hes mulling it over.Well, you know, when you dont win, its like a fighter.When a fighter has a bad fight, gets knocked out or loses the fight, the first thing he says is, we want a rematch.We won the debate according to every poll, every single poll.I think that, are we going to do a rematch?I just don't know.But we'll think about it, Greg.There's been big electoral shifts.I mean, like, seismic things happening in this campaign.Joe Biden's debate, Trump's assess the assassination attempt on his life.Joe Biden dropping out, and the race basically remains tied.And it probably will be after this debate as well.But what did you think about last night?Well, I don't know who won, but I know who lost.It was the american people.You could say if you complained about the refs, you're losing.Well, if the refs are corrupt, you gotta complain, because everybody lost.I actually got dumber watching it.I felt like my brain was being waterboarded by the sheer nonsense of these idiot moderators.But we were so sidetracked by the mechanics of the debate, the muted mice, that we forgot about them.I honestly don't know how anyone can decide who won the debate.That's like trying to guess the price of a painting that you suspect is a forgery.You can't objectively decide a winner in a sham competition.This is truly the first dei debate where one candidate was subjected to a high standard and the other was held to no standards at all.

Introduction and Debate Discussion

This is truly the first dei debate where one candidate was subjected to a high standard and the other was held to no standards at all.They removed the essence of fairness to achieve an outcome that could not be scored.You cannot score that.That is why you can't say who won or who lost.A liberal should be ashamed that your candidate needed the odds to be stocked so heavily in their favor.For many Americans, Harris entered as a mystery and exited as a mystery, and that was the goal, to keep her under wraps.So anyone who attributes that to Kamala's skill is an idiot.Congratulating Kamala for the debate is stolen valor.You should be congratulating David Muir and Lindsey Davis, who did the heavy lifting.And so calling that a debate is disinformation.That's like me going into a bar with Tyrus and inciting a brawl and then later taking credit for all the broken jaws.You know, it's just.And by the way, you get to say, oh, how do you know that it's a sham?Kamala confidently and casually unloaded all the hoaxes, the fine people hoax, the bloodbath, project 2025, the abortion ban, these things have all been debunked.Would she have done that knowing that there would be consequences?She did that knowing there would be no consequences, no followups at all.This was actually a betrayal of knowledge, knowledge being the act of solving a problem.And we had agreed to what the problem was.Who is Kamala?The debate deliberately chose the opposite path.Instead of the opportunity to gain knowledge they chose to cover it up and betray the public.You know, I went by this stupid assumption that maybe they would ask Kamala some real questions and follow ups.I was tricked.I'm like the person who foolishly assumes a partner who cheated on him would not cheat again.But the media always cheats again.And we have to remind ourselves they have their interests before your interests.I was talking to a friend today who reminded me of the phrase of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers had to do everything backwards and in heels.That's Republicans.Yeah, exactly.You always, you have, don't I know it.And, you know, when you wear those heels, it is really.And backwards.It's really amazing.I'm telling you.I'm telling you.All right, Harold Ford Junior, do you disagree?

Criticism of the Debate and Media

Let's get back to Philadelphia.Alex is standing by with California Governor Gavin Newsom.Alex.Thanks, Rachel.Just a few minutes ago, Governor Donald Trump entered the spin room.Yeah, there had been some speculation, some rumor, rumors earlier in the day that he might pull a trick like that.I actually was skeptical because I was able to enter this arena with a large hoagie wrapped in brown paper.This was not a highly secure facility for someone who has just survived an assassination attempt.Nonetheless, he was just here spinning his spin.What do you think that represents in terms of his assessment?An act of desperation.

Post-debate analysis

When you think about the issue that could decide the election, that could be the whole ballgame.Well, the way she was able to humanize that and talk about twelve and 13 year olds that have been raped, that are clutching teddy bears as they're giving birth to the rapist babies, I mean, what she didn't say was those same twelve and 13 year olds in Mississippi, there was one girl that had to bring her kid to 7th grade.That's Donald Trump's America.She was able to bring that to light and in a deeply emotional way.That was the most significant and consequential moment of the debate, because she spoke for millions and millions and millions of women and parents like me with two daughters.That was a significant, significant moment, and here's why it was significant as well.And it's not an indictment of Joe Biden by any stretch of the imagination, but it shows a differentiator.It shows what she is able to bring in terms of her communication, particularly on issues like that to a whole other level and now to this new and expanded audience.And that goes back to why Donald Trump was in the spin room.It was a bad night for him.Yeah.Her ability to talk about abortion in a deeply emotional way is resonant enough that I think it's not just about fathers of daughters or women, but men.People all over the country understand the gravity of those situations.People are sick of the way women have been treated in this country, sick of the way the LGBTQ community has been treated in this country, sick of how immigrants have been treated in this country.And the african american community, they're sick of it.That was another great part of this debate near the end, when we talked about the issues of race, and she elevated that in a way it gave.I saw there was a young girl, a young african american girl in the spin room.She walked from the back of the room to the front of the room.I'm not, I'm almost getting emotional about this.And she was looking at that screen because she saw herself.I mean, that was a different level of attachment.It didn't come from here.That came from here.And that's what she brought tonight.This was not a great night for her.This was a great night for this country, for freedom, for democracy, the rule of law, for social justice and racial justice.This is, I'm just filled with pride, and I'm also filled with pride because that's the Kamala Harris I've known for 30 years.We've been saying this.I know people go, I'm telling you that Kamala Harris I've known for 30 years, and this levity, she's back in a profound and deep way.And I think this is a tough, tough night for the campaign, for the Trump campaign.In another way, how they react to this or how they overreact to this will be more determinative than the punditry in the moment and how the first flash poll moves.

Discussion on the impact of the debate

Do you think there should be another debate?Do you think there will be another debate?Absolutely, unequivocally, there should be another debate, and it should be coming October.He said, anytime, anywhere.Let's do it.Why wouldn't we?All right, Governor Gasm, Newsom, I mean, I think we're just going to take this show on the road.Rachel, just go sell cheese sandwiches out of the back of the VW and follow this, follow this ride wherever it goes, looking for a miracle.I'd pay good money.I'd buy the t shirt.I'd do the whole thing.Thanks, you guys.It's great.

Discussion on the possibility of another debate

BBC News

Well, let's find out what difference all that might make to the race in those crucial swing states.John McHenry is vice president of Northstar Opinion research.You're very welcome to the program.One senior Republican I watched today, Trey Gowdy, who is a close ally to Donald Trump, said that it was a land of missed opportunities for their candidate last night.When you associate his performance with the key issues that voters care about, where for you did he fail to hit the mark?Maybe the most stunning thing last night was that he failed to ever use the phrase Biden Harris administration and closely tie her to many Americans frustration with how the economy is doing, what they're seeing in inflation and what they're seeing on immigration.He talked a lot about immigration, but not in a coherent way.He never really explained that.President Joe Biden said that she was going to lead the administration's efforts on controlling the border, referenced a lot of different points, but not in a coherent enough way to really land those punches.And what about her?

Certainly from a democratic perspective, reading the comments this afternoon, it would seem they had a better night than even the most optimistic among them could have hoped.But there is a word of warning.Isn't that their candidate in 2016, Hillary Clinton, probably won all three debates and yet still lost the general election.Sure.And we'll really see the effect of this debate over the course of the next week.We won't have particularly good scientific polling until about a week from now on the effect of the debate.But if she doesn't hit 50% or higher nationally, that suggests some trouble for her because democrats typically need to be above that point to win the electoral college.And we'll see in a state like Pennsylvania where they're basically tied right now, do voters believe that she opposed, that she supports fracking now, or do they believe former President Trump that she opposes fracking?When they do some research for themselves, they might be disappointed in the answer, but that should come out over the course of the next week.And those states, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, those are going to be really where we see the effect of this debate because everything else is pretty well locked in.She's certainly not going to lose California.She got to win California by about 5 million votes.She'll win New York, she'll win Illinois.Donald Trump will win Florida, Ohio, Texas.And it's those six or seven swing states, including Nevada, that will really tell the tale.Yeah, they certainly are.The race.What about the endorsement from Taylor Swift?

Debate impact on election

Just a final thought, a second debate, some thought that it might be on NBC, 25 September, maybe something on Fox.Who would benefit more from a second debate, do you think?Well, any opportunity to give Kamala Harris a chance to slip up probably benefits Donald Trump.I can't imagine he does an NBC debate.He's going to say, well, they'll be just as biased against me as ABC was.And if nothing else, you can tell who won social media by who is complaining about the moderators.And when Republicans are complaining about the moderators, it's usually not a good night for their candidate.If it's on Fox News, if they both agree to that, it probably benefits Donald Trump just because it gives him a second shot at it.And it's an opportunity for Kamala Harris to enter word salad land where maybe people go, oh, maybe she's not as sharp as I thought she was.If I was her, I think I'd stay away from the next debate.Interesting.John, good to talk to you.Thank you for coming on.

Potential second debate

Game day.I want to acknowledge it is game day.It is game day.Come on.It's a strange kind of day, though, here, because on the one hand, Kamala Harris has all sorts of policy holes and policy changes, and I want to ask you about that.But on the other hand, Donald Trump is not a regular candidate.His presidency ended in a bloody riot at the Capitol just last week.He's talking about flirting with abuses of power, arresting people on charges from cheating, which have not been proven.So what does she do this evening?Does she define herself or does she work to redefine or define him?Well, I think she still has work to do.And the opportunity presents itself to reintroduce or introduce herself to.The american people are desperate for that.They want to know her.Why?What's the motivation?Why she's not just the vice president of the United States, but why does she want to be president of the United States?So that's an opportunity anew.But she's fresh air.She has the ability to pivot off the three and a half years of success of the Biden administration.I would argue for success.I wouldn't run away from the record as it relates to industrial policy, manufacturing policy, worker centered policy, the fact that we have the fastest growing economy of all of our competitors around the world, and we've tamed inflation.At the same time, she's got a paid and compelling vision for the next four years, and she has that opportunity tonight.But this is tricky because you can say that you can talk about success, but a lot of people don't feel that they disapprove of the Biden administration, and they think the country's headed in the wrong direction.

Washington Post

Meanwhile, outside protests continue in the dark.They're so ashamed that they're going to have this in the, literally the vote in the middle of the night at midnight because they cannot stand what they're about to do on the Senate floor.Both sides lay out their cases.Why are we here tonight voting on a bill that has not had a single hearing?Why are we here tonight voting on a bill that would eliminate health care coverage that could save lives for 16 million people?But I don't believe that.My friend, the democratic leader is really interested in working on a bipartisan basis to fix the structural defects in Obamacare.We know that the individual market is in meltdown.Premiums are skyrocketing.This bill is lighting the american health care system on fire with intentionality.Vice President Mike Pence arrives just in case he has to cast a tie breaking vote just after midnight.

Protests and Debates

I mean, Olivia being in the room, what was that moment like when Trump and Harris went after each other on the issue of abortion?I think, you know, I think she was incredibly compelling and I think she was speaking on a very personal level to the american people.I thought she was very effective on that.I could feel the emotion.And, look, I am a conservative leaning voter on the issue, but I respect her for the fact that she understands how to speak to all of us and unite us on this issue.And I'm talking to conservative women across the country.I'm going to Arizona later this week, albeit I was with republican women last week on the issue of reproductive rights.And look, there is a growing coalition here of people who really are feeling like she has welcomed us into this, into this party.And she's saying, like, I'm going to be a president for all of you.Yeah.And she hit on that issue very early on in the debate, which means a lot of people were paying attention.And, Brian, on that point, I did want to ask you about that because, you know, Trump called his answer on abortion, quote, perfect.But when the moderators pressed him on whether he would veto a national abortion ban, he refused to answer.I think he said it in the past that he wouldn't sign a national board election ban.And I think JD Vance has also stated that.I think what he said last night is like, why are we considering, but that's not the case.He didn't say he would veto it if it got passed and got to his desk.He didn't say whether he would veto.I was answering the question, Jim, thank you for giving me the opportunity.I think what he was saying, well, if you're not going to answer the question, I am going to jump in.I'm about to answer the question.But you keep on jumping when I say I'm about to answer the question.That's the time you let me answer the question.As I was saying, and trying to answer your question, your deeply thoughtd question, I think what he was, what he was, what he was trying to say last night, and I think what he has said is like, listen, he goes, the country does not support late term abortion.I think 91% of the country feels late term abortion is a horrific thing.No, he said that.He said that in some states they're executing the babies after they're born, which is false.So.Well, yeah, well, let me finish my answer, Jim.I understand you don't want to hear it because it's inconvenient, but I'm still going to.Well, Brian, if you're not going to tell the truth, I've got to jump in.I'm sorry, Jim.Do you want to, do you want the truth?Do you want me to answer your question?We want the truth.Yes.And I'm trying to give you the truth with an explanation, but you constantly keep interrupting, which leads me to believe you don't want to hear the answer because it's inconvenient to you.So for the fourth time, I'm going to try to answer this question.What he said about abortion, what his position has always been, he's always been proud repealing abortion.He said it early on that he gave the list of people from the federalist society who were going to return it to the states, and that's what has happened.And he's very comfortable with the states making the decision.He's very comfortable with some states being as liberal as California and taking the position they want to.And he's very comfortable with states, as, you know, as Arizona sort of being more conservative as Texas, where he lies on the issue and what he believes on the issue, it should be pushed back to the states for them to decide.What he says at the national level is that he doesn't believe a national abortion ban is going to hit his.I believe that, too.I think you believe that, having covered the hill yourself, Jim, you know that there's never going to be any legislation that goes to his desk on abortion because there's never been any legislation to go to the desk of any president since the overturn of Roe v.Wade.So as in completing your answer, President Trump has actually stated his position now for, you know, now for the fifth time, where he stands.He has stated in the past he does not support a national abortion ban.JD vet but he didn't say.He didn't say whether he would veto that.I mean, I'm just, I let you talk there for a minute.I guess it's a little technical word, I guess, in my view, when you say you're not, this ain't C SPAN, Brian.And when I ask you a question whether he's, you know, why he didn't say whether he would veto it.You can't just go on and on forever.I mean, I did ask you a straightforward.Jim, I just confused.When I say he's not going to sign a national abortion patent, what does that mean to you?You're still not answering the question.Well, can I want to jump in here as someone who actually, in addition to presidential politics, I worked for Planned Parenthood for six years, and I know that Republicans have been planning for this moment for decades.And of course, they're not gonna introduce a national abortion ban while President Biden is in the White House.But as soon as Donald Trump, if he had the chance to be in the White House, they would propose it.And Donald Trump has only tried to moderate his position on abortion because it has been a losing issue since the 2022 midterms in blue states as well as red states.And so women voters, democrat, independent, and republican voters know very clearly where Donald Trump stands.He threw his vice president candidate under the bus.He will sign a national abortion ban.And that's why women are galvanizing across the country.Olivia.Yeah, I'm gonna agree.And look at the doubles in the details.All you have to look at, look at the plans in project 2025.It's very clear how controlling they wanna be when it comes to reproduction.And to me, it's appalling when you read the text on that.And it says it refers to monitoring miscarriages and abortions across the country.That is extra level government overreach.I mean, that is not traditional republican platform values of limited government.Let's be clear about that.

Discussion on Abortion

That sound, obviously, that moment was a critical moment, not just for the debate, on one of the critical issues of this campaign, on the issue of reproductive rights, and abortion.But it was also one that garnered significant reaction from our focus group, which I want to ask about right now.For those of you who responded positively to Vice President Harris answer, tell me why.Yeah, please.I responded positively to her answer because I do struggle with the abortion issue.And I don't know that she and I agree, but I don't know that, like she said, that government should be in charge of people's decisions.And I think that they're the, when she was talking about situations of rape and incest, I think that those happen more than we think that they do.And I just, I don't know.I just felt her impassioned response and that she would carry it out.And that resonated with you in the moment?Yes, it did.Who else had a positive response?Go ahead, please.I felt like it was her most genuine and passionate that I saw her pretty much throughout it.I didn't necessarily agree with what she was saying, but my favorable reactions were because it was nice to see the passion and believability that she stands behind and then have something to gauge more of what she says on since she hasn't spoken a lot solidly about a lot of issues.And I think what's been interesting, again, following how you guys were tracking the debate, which is a fascinating, and I should know, nobody in this room has been listening to the post game coverage.Nobody in this room has been listening to the analysis.We've actually all been talking amongst ourselves.It's been a really great conversation.There was another critical moment, and this was Donald Trump's best moment based on your guys responses.

But this is tricky because you can say that you can talk about success, but a lot of people don't feel that they disapprove of the Biden administration, and they think the country's headed in the wrong direction.So how can she promise that she's going to change things if she hasn't changed them already for.Well, that's the opportunity of the pivot.But again, you also have a proud past to build off of.I mean, people forget where we were under Donald Trump.We reached 14.8% unemployment.We've had the lowest black unemployment, hispanic unemployment, unemployment for women and those that are disabled in american history.We've seen a remarkable american comeback in this country.Manufacturing jobs, 740,000 new manufacturing jobs, supply chains coming back home.The Chips and Science act, the most significant environmental agenda and policies in american history.I mean, we're making progress, more energy independent than we ever have in our lifetime.So we are set up to dominate in the next decade two and three.But the opportunity is exactly right.There's been inflation scars.That's real.She's got to acknowledge that.And obviously, that's going to be a big part of this debate, the issue of economy, but the issue of cost of living.And she has taken that on as it relates to her policy agenda or focus.And that's the compelling future.That's where she can turn the page on the last few years and talk about things that Joe Biden, as the incumbent president, cannot.And that, again, is the opportunity as well this evening.Well, Harris campaign keeps saying that they are the underdogs.

Economic Discussion

I also want to ask you about some of the other foreign policy issues that came up during the debate.The question was asked on Ukraine.Twice, Donald Trump was asked a simple answer.In the words of the moderator, he said, would the war be over if you were president of the United States?He couldn't answer that question.Then Kamala responded by saying, well, yeah, he would be over because Donald Trump would just give up.How did you rate those different questions on foreign policy?Yeah, I thought she handled herself really well.On foreign policy, all Donald Trump did was say, well, it would have never happened this way and never would have happened that way, and offered absolutely no concrete evidence for that.What we do know, and I thought Kamala Harris prosecuted this case effectively, is that Trump would just give Putin and give Russia exactly what they want and would make that entire region less stable, would put NATO at extraordinary risk, NATO countries and our allies at extraordinary risk.And so I think what she did there was really, really effective.Pennsylvania, I don't have to tell you, is the nation's second largest producer of natural gas.

Foreign Policy Issues

Okay, so the big question is, historically, what does this all mean for the potential of winning in November because there have been debates that people have lost, but they've won the election.There you go.That's the key question.Sarah Sidener, you may receive a momentary polling bump, but does that mean you're going to go on and win the election?Not necessarily, because the fact is the election is all the way in November.And by my calendar, we're still in September.And look at that.Lost the first debate.First debate, but won the election.George W.Bush in 2004 lost that first debate to John Kerry.He won in the fall.How about Barack Obama?We mentioned Mitt Romney earlier.Mitt Romney won that first debate, but Barack Obama won in the fall.And of course, Donald Trump in 2016, he lost that first debate to Hillary Clinton, but he went on to win in the fall.So the bottom line is, yes, last night was good news for Kamala Harris.She won the debate in the minds of debate watchers, yes, based upon history, she should see a polling bump, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she'll win come November.There's another big difference here, whether or not there's going to be a second debate.

Historical Election Outcomes

What I loved about today was that they all got together at 911 and, you know, only in America can you have a big knock down, drag out fight the night before and then get together and do the remembrance and honoring of those victims.Today and in America does that best.Click here to subscribe to the Fox News YouTube page to catch our hottest interviews and most compelling analysis.You won't get it anywhere else.

Conclusion and Remembrance of 911

Yeah, that's right.And obviously, these key swing states are crucial.And it's believed that.Obviously the Democratic Party believe that places like North Carolina, that last time they voted for a democratic president, I believe, was Barack Obama's election in 2008.They believed that there might be some wiggle room to actually clinch that state.Recent polling showed that perhaps even just by a margin of 0.3%, Kamala HarrIs might well, the moment be ahead there.And, you know, there's lots of sort of swing voters that she might be able to entice.But on the other hand, I should point out that obviously, Robert F.Kennedy junior can't run there now.It's been decided by the North Carolina Supreme Court, and he's obviously thrown his weight behind Trump.So again, it's just an example of how close to call this current election is.And then I'm sure we'll get into this later on throughout the course of the show, how President Trump, former President Trump, would behave if indeed we saw him losing, but by a very, very close margin.Well, yeah, we.Well, let's talk about that soon because I know covering the 2020 election and doing the numbers on the screen that night, we were looking at the republican vote coming in early.

Discussion on the Importance of Swing States

Well, let's talk about that soon because I know covering the 2020 election and doing the numbers on the screen that night, we were looking at the republican vote coming in early.But one of the peculiarities of Pennsylvania is that those mail in ballots, and it does tend to be Democrats who send in the mail in ballots, those are not tipped into the counting machines until 07:00 in the morning on the day of the election.So is there a risk that this time we get that red mirage again that then is swamped by the blue wave that comes in in the early hours of the morning?I think, Christian, we have to be ready for that.Certainly.As you said, you know, mail in voting is particularly popular among Democrats and also some older voters who don't necessarily want to physically go to the polls themselves.That's something that we saw play a massive role in Pennsylvania in the past.The risk there, of course, is that we see a contested narrative over who wins the state of Pennsylvania.Donald Trump said a few times on that day, of course, if we see Pennsylvania turn blue, that means that they've stolen the election.That wasn't the case, obviously.No proof of that was simply that those mail in ballots were counted, as you said.But that absolutely could be the case.And I think that that's something that we're going to see disputed here in Pennsylvania as well, when they talk about the sanctity and the integrity of the election and could be in other states as well that have higher mail in voting talents.There was a post that he put on true social where he was basically issuing a cease and desist, saying that those who were cheating in inverted commerce.

Potential Impact of Mail-In Voting on Election Results

Let's start in Wisconsin.CNN affiliate WISN reports that Donald Trump called the top lawmaker in the Wisconsin State Assembly, Republican Robin Voss, and asked Vos to overturn the state's 2020 election results.When did that call happen?That call happened last week.Last week?Donald Trump is still trying to overturn the election results from almost two years ago.Listen to how Vos describes the call.He makes his case, which I respect.He would like us to do something different.In Wisconsin.I explained that it's not allowed under the Constitution.Trump then went on social media, of course, and attacked Vos.Let's go to Arizona now.

January 6 Committee Hearing

All right.One issue that did get a lot of attention from ABC's far left moderators was the weaponization of our Department of Justice.Donald Trump still made it a point of emphasis.Take a look.Every one of those cases was started by them against their political opponent.And I'm winning most of them, and I will win the rest on appeal.And you saw that with the decision that came down just recently from the Supreme Court.I'm winning most of them.But those are cases.It's called weaponization.Never happened in this country.They weaponized the Justice Department.Every one of those cases was involved with the DOJ from Atlanta and Fawney Willis to the attorney general of New York and the DA in New York.Every one of those cases.And then they say, oh, he washes a criminal.They're the ones that made them go after me.It's weaponization and they used it, and it's never happened in this country.They used it to try and win an election.They're fake cases.All right.Joining us now, someone who knows firsthand about the weaponization of justice.Live from the spin room, Robert F.Kennedy Junior.Great to see you.How are you?Good to see you, Sean, you left your party, a party that was near and dear to your father, to your uncle, I think has no resemblance to the democratic party today.

Discussion on Weaponization of Justice Department

There are people who watched the debate last night and agonized about a return to that for the next four years.You write in your book, the threat to our democracy is real, present and urgent.The parable of January 6 reminds us that our precious democratic institutions are only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with their care.The former president recently posted about jailing election officials he views as cheating.A couple weeks ago, he shared a computer generated image of you and several other prominent Democrats in orange jumpsuits with the caption, how to actually fix the system.Do you, I mean, do you take these threats of political retribution seriously?Yes, I do.

Threats to Democracy

Good to see you, Sean, you left your party, a party that was near and dear to your father, to your uncle, I think has no resemblance to the democratic party today.And this is the frustrating part about tonight, the radicalization views stated by Kamala.You know, they weren't asked by the, by the moderators.To me, it was, it was a failed opportunity.I think the american people were failed tonight.Yeah.I was disappointed by the evident bias of the moderators who were fact checking constantly kind of trivialities by President Trump but didn't, as far as I saw, they didn't fact check Vice President Harris a single time.But you're right, Sean.The party that I grew up in doesn't exist anymore.The party of Robert Kennedy and John Kennedy was a party of people.It was the party of resisting the corporate subversion of american democracy.It was the party of civil rights and constitutional rights, particularly censorship, very opposed to censorship and surveillance.It was the party of protecting the most vulnerable people in our society, including particularly, children.Today, the Democratic Party is the party of war.It's the party of censorship.It's the party of surveillance.We saw Dick Cheney and John Bolton endorse, along with 255 neocons, endorse Vice President Harris this week.They came out of exile, where they were sent after the Patriot act.They were sent after the war in Iraq, the biggest foreign policy debacle in american history.And they're not endorsing president, Vice President Harris because they've changed their minds.They're endorsing her because she represents their worldview more, more censorship, more war, more surveillance, and less liberty and constitutional rights.They talked a lot in the course of your campaign.They talk about democracy in peril, but everything, the entire force of the democratic establishment, if you will, they just, they just went in for the political, you know, death of your campaign.They did not want you to get to, they didn't want you to get a first baseballot.That's the other thing is that they've abandoned democracy.The Democratic Party is now about centralized control.It's about losing faith in the deimos, the people, and about abolishing elections, abolishing our ability to hear different points of view, to hear dissent.In my case, of course, they got rid of the primaries.They literally abolished many of the primaries so that President Biden wouldn't have to debate me, wouldn't have to run against me.Let me dip in.

Critique of the Democratic Party

Vilas Dorsenville is the head of the haitian community Help and support center in Springfield, Ohio.He came to the United States about four years ago from Haiti.And he hasn't just questioned the nature of the recent rumors.He's questioned what they will do to his community.It's just like xenophobia.It's just like bigotry, discrimination and racist.And they do not normally take time to see the impact that can have on the mental health of the immigrants fleeing the country from all kind of chaos.To be clear, former President Donald Trump's claims are not supported by evidence.In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the city of Springfield said there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.But all of this has also come as part of a very real surge in haitian population.

Springfield's Haitian Community

I don't know if you saw, but the administration has called January 6 a special security event.So that means that there will be more security there from the start so that we don't have it.And, of course, most important to that is to have Hakeem Jeffries have the gavel and be the speaker of the house.It would have been a very different outcome if I didn't have the gavel and the Democrats had the majority in the house.Speaker Amber, to Nancy Pelosi, I very much appreciate it.Thank you.Thank you.My pleasure.

Closing Remarks

Then Taylor Swift not only endorsed, but then also posted information about where he can go to register.She was encouraging early voting, which is obviously something that Donald Trump has spoken against over the years.Do you think that will have an impact.Look, I think that it may well thank you, JD Vance, for being the gift that keeps on giving.She signed the thing childless cat lady, because he just can't quit offending people.And I think that there are people who don't watch CNN every day.I know it's hard for us to imagine that there are people who are not engaged in politics in the same way that the former president is reaching out through podcasts and stuff to MMA fighters.Sure.Exactly.There are worlds adjacent to politics where there are stars and celebrities.There's the manosphere, all the bro stuff online that Trump is trying to do.But Taylor Swift is a superpower on her own.She has as many Instagram and social media followers as some countries have citizens.And so when she moves, it moves a needle.Will it translate into votes for young people?I don't know, but it puts more attention on the fact that there is a choice out there named Kamala Harris.One of the tells on this is last year when she encouraged people to register to vote.There were these rumbles in Trump world, and they ran a kind of mini negative campaign against her.The thought being to discourage her from actually getting into the race today.You know, Megyn Kelly and others were out there menacing her and saying, you know, republicans aren't going to come to your concerts anymore, and so on.So there's obvious concern on their part.And, you know, just in terms of getting people to register and getting people who aren't engaged.Now engaged, someone with 283 million followers, who's a cultural figure, who appeals to people across generations and a lot of young people, that'd be a concern.Erin, what do you think?

Taylor Swift's Endorsement

Erin, what do you think?Because obviously, JD Vance is kind of pooh poohed it, saying she's a billionaire, even if you like your music, she's disconnected from where most Americans are.Clearly, they would have loved to have had a Taylor Swift endorsement and obviously would be saying something very different if they had got an endorsement.Right.I think the ability for this to be a monumental, not only endorsement, but opportunity for celebrities to step in and try to move the needle, I think it exists here.It kind of brings me back to the 1990s when rock the vote started.It changed the way that younger people believed they could be involved in the american voting system, because back in the nineties, most young people thought, hey, that's what older people do.They vote.That's not my thing.Rock the vote.And celebrities really changed that approach.Now, is this only this endorsement right here where she puts out the image, puts out her statement, and encourages people to get more information that likely won't make a huge difference.But because of her platform and the opportunity that exists here with her, if she is willing to do more, whatever that may be, if that is a concert where your entry fee is a voter registration, you know, ticket that you've done that, that could help move the needle if they're doing it.And to be clear, though, the margins are kind of small, even with, with Taylor Swift being a monumental star, because combo is already doing really well with a lot of the demographics that are Taylor fans, women, younger voters, things like that.So there are margins that exist there for them.But it's.How is she, how involved is she willing to get.

Impact of Celebrity Endorsements

CNN senior data reporter Harry Endon is here with a brand new suit, by the way.He's also running the numbers.That's a new one.I know I'm right.It's a tan.I haven't worn this in years.I don't know if it's brand new, but it's brand new for you.And I wanted to mention that tan suit, by the way.Tan and a little bit of tan.There we go.We're matching.All right.What did you find here as far as how this was received?

Discussion on Suit

But all of this has also come as part of a very real surge in haitian population.In Springfield, we have realistically been saying twelve to 15,000 immigrants is what we have counted through the health department and other agencies, and they are here legally under the immigration parole program.Once here, immigrants are then eligible to apply for temporary protected status.Haitian temporary protected status was recently extended and redesignated for Haiti, mainly due to violent anarchy in the country.But the total population of Springfield is around 58,000, so that's around 25% haitian.And the growing pains in the community have not always been easy.State officials say it's stressing resources that obviously represents a massive increase based upon percentage of the population in Springfield.It is unprecedented in such a short period of time.Federal government simply has to be part of the solution.They have to step up.It is their policies that have created these surges.The influx of Haitians has also manifested itself in other ways, including a tragedy specifically in 2023, when eleven year old Aiden Clark was killed in a Springfield bus crash, one that involved a haitian immigrant who had a driver's license that was not valid in Ohio, as reported by the New York Times.

Haitian Immigration and Impact on Springfield

What about the endorsement from Taylor Swift?Around 250 million followers on Instagram, many of them young women, but I can't imagine many of them were unaware of her support for Kamala Harris before this endorsement.What difference do you think it might make?Honestly, I don't know that it affects a single vote.I do think that the swifties are, by and large, going to be Harris voters anyway.And it seemed really strangely timed from the perspective of, if anything, the biggest pop superstar in the world.Announcing her endorsement on the day where Kamala Harris, by all accounts won the debate seemed to sort of step on the story, whereas they could have used that later in the week to sort of build a sense of momentum.Yeah, it's interesting, the timing.We'll maybe put that to our panel a little later.Just a final thought, a second debate, some thought that it might be on NBC, 25 September, maybe something on Fox.

Taylor Swift's endorsement

We're debuting the top three, all ideas from MSNBC viewers.Coming in third is Carly Simon's anthem that might apply to the minority leader who walked into the Senate like it was his yacht.You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht.You're so brave.You probably think this song is about you.You're so brave.McConnell strutting in like it was his yacht.But finding out Schumer is the captain.Now, if you will, coming in at number two, several of you recommended foreigner or mop for how, let's be honest, Schumer did.McConnell cold.Yours, cold.I'd like to welcome to the back of the mono bear.See, I'm for real.We're delivering these mop tactics.Tactics.Cold.It was that cold.And here we go.Let me have a drum roll, please.Coming in at number one of MSNBC, ideas for the remix, a song suggested by many viewers.I'm talking about a Percy Mayfield classic popularized by the great Ray Charles.Hit the road, Jack.Hit the road, Jack, don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.That was the clear winner.Many of you thought the message was obviously, hit the road, Mitch.And it's fitting you actually all nominated a song from such a great artist from Georgia.Cause that moment's not just about Chuck Schumer.

Introduction of Top Three Soundtracks

And at the end of a long, dramatic day, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has one bit of advice for reporters.Why don't you guys go home and go to bed?Almost, senator, almost.

End of the Day

But her excellence did get under his skin.And it was so strange because one of the things I was so proud about Kamala, the vice president last night, was that she prioritized in her answers.Any one of them could be a program discussion, but she prioritized the importance, whether it was a womans right to choose, whether its our national security, whether its issues that relate to our economy and the rest she prioritized.And that means theres so much more to come as we go from here.So I think she did great as to baiting him and him taking the bait.You know, you know, I dont even like to use his name, much less talk about him.

Harris's Leadership

The fact that we're talking about kitchen table issues, people's personal health, their financial health, all the things that people care about and what is he talking about?And, well, the things you talked about earlier, which I won't waste, I won't spend any more time going into.But I do think that people saw a big distinction as to who can be the commander in chief, who is respected.And she has served as vice president, as a senator before that this is a person who is a good person.Personally, I know her as a good person, a person of deep faith, who cares about people.And her public service is a reflection of that.Officially, I know her as a personal strengthen.She knows the priorities, the issues.She has the command of them.As I mentioned, she is strategic in how to get the job done and eloquent in how to convey it.And politically, she is very astute.So when she puts forth a new way forward, shes taking us from the greatness of Joe Biden and all that we working together accomplished in that term to new heights, to new heights in her way.So I thought that that was demonstrated very clearly and with over what, 67 million people watching, it's a good start.We say to everyone, now our work continues.We must get out the vote.Well, we can talk about that.

Harris's Public Service

Taylor Swift's surprise endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris following last night's debate may be dominating the headlines this morning, but the vice president has also enjoyed a boost in support from an unlikely place.In recent weeks, Republicans ranging from former Trump staffers to former Vice President Dick Cheney have all thrown their support behind Harris as they look to distance themselves from Trump.Joining me now, former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, Olivia Troi.She's part of Republicans for Harris, attended the debate last night and was a guest of the Harris campaign.If I'm correct there.

Endorsement of Kamala Harris

Eva, what are you hearing from the Harris team this morning?Eva?Well, John, bottom line, they believed it was a mission accomplished.They set out to characterize the former president as fundamentally unserious, as more caught up in his own grievances than the concerns of everyday Americans, and as easily susceptible to being needled on trivial matters like crowd sizes, on conspiracy theories, like maligning immigrants for eating pets.And in addition to this, they also believe that the vice president commanded the stage and had a good mastery of the issues when it came to foreign policy, when it came to the economy, and especially when it came to reproductive rights, that she illustrated real compassion.Let's listen.You want to talk about, this is what people wanted, pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because their healthcare providers are afraid they might go to jail.And she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot.She didn't want that.I absolutely support reinstating the protections of Roe v.Wade.And as you rightly mentioned, nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion.That is not happening.It's insulting to the women of America.And though you could see campaign aides with a little pep in their step last night in the spin room, so happy about the debate that they're calling for another one, they are under no illusion, Sarah and John, that the next couple of weeks are going to be easy.They still view themselves as the underdogs and know that there is going to be a difficult road ahead.That is why they are already building out the week with the vice president campaigning both here in Pennsylvania and in North Carolina, and that road to the election getting shorter and shorter.We are less than two months away.I want to talk to you, Elena, about what Donald Trump is saying now.

Harris Team's Perspective

An act of desperation.He knows he got his clock clean from the moment she came out on stage.When she introduced himself, she had the courage to go over to him, shake his hand, clearly, he was uncomfortable.And introduced herself as Kamala Harris.Kamala Harris, she commanded the room from the second she came out.She was a commander in chief, and she had him on the defense the entire night.If this was a prize fight, it would have been tko in the second round.She did as well or better than any of us could have hoped for.And I know her well enough to know this.The best is yet to come.She can do that even more.With more experience, more time on the campaign trail.You're going to see the quality of her performance only improve.You know, we just played that sound of the exchange she had with Donald Trump on his role in overturning Roe v.Wade.Something at one point, he said he had done a great service to the country by appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe and then said it was what everybody wanted.When you think about the issue that could decide the election, that could be the whole ballgame.

Discussion on Kamala Harris' performance

Let's bring in our panel because I want to talk about these live pictures we're seeing from Charlotte in North Carolina.There is Kamala Harris.She's out on the campaign today.It's quite interesting, North Carolina, because the republican candidate for governor there, Mark Robinson, he's down 14 points in that race, which I guess gives her some hope, particularly when you consider that polling I showed you a little earlier, Brett, come in on this.I mean, we talked about, we'll come back to turnout and to cost of living, but what about this line in our headlines that there isn't going to be a second debate?Donald Trump saying tonight he thought he won the first one.He doesn't need it.Does she need a second debate?Well, I don't know if you notice some of the feathers that seem to be coming off of Trump today, and that probably is due to the fact that he's chickening out of doing another debate.

Discussion on Kamala Harris' Campaign in North Carolina

And what about her?We talked about the 28% in the Times Sienna poll who said they wanted to know more about Kamala Harris.Did she do enough in your mind to introduce herself to those voters last night?Well, she certainly didn't make any real stumbles.I don't know if it was a fallback point, but she threw out that trap for him, questioning the effectiveness of his rallies.He just wasn't the same candidate after that point in the debate.So she essentially let him take over, let him give all his talking points and was able to sort of sit back and be calm and, you know, not make any real fumbles over the course of the evening.So I think in that sense, she might not have revealed much about herself, but she allayed some concerns that she wasn't able to handle the pressure of a debate.Certainly from a democratic perspective, reading the comments this afternoon, it would seem they had a better night than even the most optimistic among them could have hoped.

Kamala Harris's performance

Governor, as Gail mentioned, there are some voters that feel like they don't know who Vice President Kamala Harris is.And sometimes when it comes to campaigns or even debates, it's about narratives.Narratives you think that are gonna win and narratives that someone may try to spin on you.What does she need to say about herself?You've known her for over 30 years.Literally.What is something about Harris that most of the public does not know that you feel like they should in this moment?Well, I think her remarkable resilience, her character, her integrity, her sense of purpose, meaning, mission.I talked, when I introduced and I said 482 votes from California, I talked about her sense of justice, but it was racial justice, social justice, economic justice.I've seen her be a champion for folks that literally others have turned their back on.At the same time, there's a hard hit headed pragmatism.She's tough, tough as nails.Is that why she shifted positions on so many things?She's modestly shifted positions, but you got to give me a break.How about the flip flop flip of Donald Trump on abortion?The flip flop flip on marijuana?Tick tock.Remember that?He was against him for.This is a guy who said, I'm going to reduce the debt in the United States, increased it by 8.4.Should she be out there more, letting people know this?Because people think she's running from the media.She doesn't want to sit down.Listen.That changes tonight.I know, but should she be doing more interaction?I think this tonight, to me, is the beginning.Tomorrow morning is the beginning of the campaign anew.Okay.I mean, this debate sort of sets a tone and tenor, and now folks are going to tune, I imagine this will be the most watched event of its kind, arguably, in history.And then the focus, then all of the above.And that's the, again, the opportunity.Then the work starts after that.Well, we've been hearing that for.We've been hearing that she's going to do more interviews for a long time now.That's up to the campaign.And you know what I mean.I'm not here to advise in that respect.I think absolutely she should do that, but that's up to her.Whatever.Look, you gotta flood the zone.You gotta dominate the conversation.However you can do that.Is that rallies?Is that one on one conversations?Is that town halls?That's up to the campaign.But look, they have the best team out there.David Plouffe, next level.Jen O'Malley, next level.And you got a candidate who I've seen win and grind it out in some tough races in California.She's as good as it gets.And we got to go real quick.

Personal Insight on Kamala Harris

I thought she did great.And by the way, I have to say thank you for putting people from Bucks county on tv.It's where my wife grew up.It was great to hear from them.But I thought the vice president did a great job both laying out her vision and also prosecuting the case against Donald Trump, showing the clear contrast, particularly on the issue of abortion and the fundamental freedom for women to be able to make decisions over their own bodies.I think she exposed the former president for being kind of nonsensical and unhinged and sort of baited him into doing what he normally does, which is speaking in conspiracy theory tones.I mean, he is someone who really seems to not have any kind of vision for the future and is just focused on sort of the silliness of the past, settling old scores and a whole bunch of wacky conspiracy theories.Governor, as a prosecutor yourself, the former attorney general, how would you describe the strategy that the vice president employed?

Vice President's Debate Performance

Let me dip in.I guess Kamala is at one of her watch parties or something.I don't know what she's saying.Let's just dip in for a second.And let me just say that I think we all know that tonight was a night that highlights something that you all have been working so hard on.We have folks here who have been knocking on doors.Well, you know, but we have a lot of work to do.Okay.And tonight, I think, highlighted for the american people what's attainous.I started the debate by talking about it and it became apparent, I think, throughout those that about an hour and a half that.So obviously she's gonna go out there and her team.The thing that I learned about her tonight is, you know, being hidden away for days and days and days on end.You can learn your rehearse lines and it doesn't matter if you tell the truth.Cause she wasn't fact checked.She told a lot of lies about Trump in 2025.Lies about mandatory gun buybacks, which she did support.Lying about fracking, lying about a national abortion ban that Donald Trump doesn't support.And, you know, it's hard when, when you've got three on one like that.But that's what I expect.We're now, she's been in this campaign 50 days.We only have 56 days till election day.But early voting, for example, I've been pointing out tonight starts right here, one week from tonight.There's a lot of information about her stated views in her own words that people don't know about.What would you advise the Trump people to do to get that out of the debate?

Discussion on Kamala Harris's Debate Performance

All right, will we see, though, a change in the polls, a rise or a bump for Harris?I think that the most likely scenario is that you will, in fact, see a rise in the polls.Why?Take a look at the last four times we had a first debate and look at those winners.Did they see a rise in the polls?Yes.Mitt Romney in 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020, and Donald Trump earlier this year, they all saw rises in the polls of two points or more.And given how close this race is nationally, given how close it is in the swing states, do not be surprised if Kamala Harris jumps out to a lead nationally.And don't be surprised if she jumps out to, to a slight, small lead in those key battleground states.It should still probably be a close race based upon history.But no doubt, at least based upon history, we should expect Kamala Harris to receive a polling bump and a race as tight as this one that would certainly be welcomed.Okay, so the big question is, historically, what does this all mean for the potential of winning in November because there have been debates that people have lost, but they've won the election.

Polling Predictions

To start with this debate, who do you think won by a show of hands?Former President Trump?I'll give it four, but tentative two over there.What about Vice President Harris?More hands.For those of you who thought this debate could be determinative, how many of you have made up your minds based on what you saw tonight on stage in Philadelphia?Raise your hands.All right.I want to ask you why.What did you see that brought you to a conclusion?I think it's important to remember that we are voting for the leader of our country and not who we like the most or who we want in our wedding party, but who is actually going to make our country better.And we're in an incredibly unique situation where we've had both of the candidates in office before, and we've gotten to see what they would do.And when facts come to facts, my life was better when Trump was in office.The economy was higher, inflation was lower.Things were better overall.And now with Kamala's administration, things haven't been so fantastic.And she's saying she can fix the problems that her administration has caused, but I just don't know if I can afford to take that risk.Were you leaning towards the former president coming in tonight?Probably.And did you vote on in 2016 or 2020?I did.So decision made there.What did you think as to who I would vote for in this election?I strongly felt Camilla was more optimistic, more respectful.I thought she had plans that she tried to describe in the minutes worth of time that she had.I mean, they really were limited with their time.So, I don't know, I just felt more strongly for her as opposed to her opponent.I want to talk about some of the moments of the debate, because as we told you guys before the debate, each of these individuals had a dial.

Voters' Opinions

All right, Harold Ford Junior, do you disagree?Yeah, I have a slightly different opinion on this.I think a couple things.It's good to be back around the table with everybody.First off, what I saw last night was a candidate with two candidates who each had to do.President Trump, I think, had to do one big thing.He had to stay disciplined on the issues.And I think he had a number of things to talk about, from border security to tariffs.I thought one of his more effective moments, because it was an uneven performance.I think it was a, frankly, an uneven performance and skewing towards not a good performance on his part.Vice President Harris talked about tariffs and then he said to her, you kept my tariffs, and he didn't come back to it.It amazed me that the lack of preparation on his part, I thought when Joe Biden on June 27, his team, he was unorganized and unprepared.Donald Trump struck me that way, too.I was on with Harris Faulkner yesterday on Brett's show, and she said that one of the things she was going to be looking for at the very beginning of the debate was who took the high road.I thought when she shook his hand and said her name, I thought those of us who follow this closely was something we watched.But I think the american people liked that decorum, and it was a good thing for her to do it.Three.He just missed opportunities.It's almost like if you go, you play the Kansas City Chiefs and you complain at the end of the game.They had Patrick Mahomes.Of course they had Patrick Mahomes.You've got to build a defense around him.And I thought that there were a lot of refs, but I tell my kids, Greg, in all seriousness, when you're complaining about the refs in a game you're losing, you're not only losing.You just said that you're letting your team down.And if everybody believe, and Jesse and I talked about this last night, there's a belief, and I think there's some truth to it, that President Trump has to go up against the media in ways that certain candidates for president have never had to do.Knowing that, you prepare for that.And he seemed to be just skillfully unprepared.He took every bait.He took every pump fake.It was like a great basketball player getting in foul trouble first eight minutes of the game because they committed stupid files.He did that a lot.And he makes the point that he doesn't want to.That if you want a second debate, that means you're losing.Look, this race is super tight.24 years in a row, you've had super tight presidential races.I don't think anything moved.But the question is how many new voters might have been invited to vote.And she achieved one goal.She conveyed seriousness and calmness.She didn't talk about any issues.She didn't talk about the switching of positions on issues.And hopefully at some point the country deserves to hear.I agree with you heartily on that point, Greg.The country deserves to hear why she moved on border security, how she has moved on the economy and where she differs with President Biden.Hopefully we get a second debate.For those.That was a lot of sports metaphors in one answer.

Harold Ford Junior's Opinion

That was a lot of sports metaphors in one answer.So I was really impressed with the pump fake judge.The biggest issue for Americans is the economy.And in some assessments, that was the issue he did best on.And that was one of the first questions.So if people only watch those 1st 20 minutes, maybe they walked away with that.Yeah, she was, she was actually asked, if I recall correctly, the first question, we better off now, you know, than we were.And she started all this aspirational, inspirational ambitions and this and that.She didn't answer any questions.I came away from this saying to myself, 30% of Americans don't know what Kamala Harris stands for and they still don't know what she stands for.I came away with that knowing.And I agree with Greg.The voters lost last night.The voters lost for several reasons.And this segment is about the legacy media.To me, ABC didn't care about the truth.They were pushing libelous questions.The questions were like a push pull.Like you call someone up allegedly trying to get, you know, find out what people are thinking.But, you know, isn't it true that the rooster killed the duck or whatever?And, you know, the person said, yeah, yeah, of course it's true.You know, and that they would actually go to the, to Charlottesville and ask that question as though that hasn't already been debunked.And she never had to answer anything.And the major networks sanction these lies is they were truths.And that is how the major, the network and the legacy media put the final nail in the coffin.Donald Trump told us about fake news.Last night was the end of the legacy media.And if I were ever to do a debate again, I would not do it on the legacy media.We were fooled by CNN.CNN just kind of sat there.But you know why?You know why it was level with CNN?Because CNN was complicit with the Dems.They wanted Joe Biden out.So it was a fair debate.This was, we got to take Kamala's side.We got to make, like, January 6.Every time she lied, they would not fact check her.She says 140 police officers were injured and some died on January 6.What police officer died on January 6?Ashley Babbitt died on January 6.And then they go on and on and on, you know, and third term abortion, she wouldn't answer the question.They didn't push for an answer.And, you know, I got to say one more thing.Who the hell do they think they are?Fact checking when David Muir says, well, I didn't get that.What was it?The impression on the whisker won by a whisker?What was that term that he used?He said, you know, I didn't interpret it that way.We're not asking you for your interpretation of what Donald Trump said.And finally, ABC News claimed that Trump was wrong.When Trump said, crime is going up, they said, no, crime is going down.They're wrong.They lied.And I'll tell you why.Because the FBI has made it clear that 30% of the police departments, including New York City and Los Angeles, did not respond to their request about crime.I have the stat right here.So they pushed lies.They defamed a president to push Kamala, who answered no question and was the queen of theatrics.Go, Jesse, go.

Judge Annine Pirro's Opinion

Go, Jesse, go.Run, spot, run.My favorite line, that was my favorite line of the night.It was the first laugh and might have been an only laugh.I liked the other one, Abdul.I said, abdul, if there's a problem.Yes.So Trump wasn't perfect, but Kamala didn't take advantage of it.Trump was emotional, he was undisciplined, but he still delivered powerful messages on the core issues that voters care about.Kamala Harris was very well prepared.She was very composed.But at the end of the debate, the voters had no idea what her policies are.So her whole strategy was to distract by mocking Donald Trump so she didn't have to talk about her record or her policies.She wasted a huge moment to be able to tell 67 million people what she stands for.All she did was say, don't vote for Trump instead of vote for me.The media loved it because they just like watching Trump get teased.But if you're an undecided voter, how did Kamala Harris explain what she's gonna do to help you get a house or help you secure the border?She didn't do it.Trump missed a huge opportunity to define her.He said it a few times, but he could have been a lot more precise and beat that drum harder.He did tire to Biden.My favorite line was, what are you talking about?Go to DC, wake Joe up at 04:00 in the afternoon, get him to close the border.That's all he needed to do.And the signature moments that you see on the Internet after this, she didn't have any.She didn't have any.Trump had them all.And that's what's going to reverberate.She whiffed at the first question and then just temperamentally, I found her evasive, found her unlikable, preachy, and instinctually, I don't know that's gonna play with men because men are predominantly the undecided voters.What I loved about today was that they all got together at 911 and, you know, only in America can you have a big knock down, drag out fight the night before and then get together and do the remembrance and honoring of those victims.

Jesse Waters' Opinion

And then let's hop over to Maryland, where last night CNN projected Maryland state lawmaker Dan Cox would be the winner of the republican primary in the state's governor's race.Cox, Washington, and remains a big disseminator of Trump's election lies.He tweeted on January 6, while rioters were actively breaching the Capitol perimeter, quote, Pence is a traitor.Pence is a traitor.That's the republican gubernatorial nominee in Maryland.Extremist ideologies abound today.Audio circulating from a former Trump White House aide who ranted about his meeting with the January 6 committee.

Arizona Republican Party Censure

Audio circulating from a former Trump White House aide who ranted about his meeting with the January 6 committee.Yesterday, the aide, Garrett Ziegler, went on a live stream suggesting that the January 6 investigation is an attempt to go after white christians.They're Bolsheviks, so they probably do hate the american founders and most white people in general.This is a bolshevistic anti white campaign.If you can't see that, your eyes are freaking closed.And so they see me as a young Christian who they can try to basically scare, right?A bolshevist anti white campaign going against christians.Mask off now, it might be tempting to compare Donald Trump to Shoichi Yokoi, the japanese sergeant discover hiding in the jungles of Guam in 19 72, 27 years after World War two had ended, mistakenly of the belief that World War two was still going on, that the Japanese had not lost.

Maryland Republican Primary Result

Finally tonight, an update on that Washington moment when Mitch McConnell was reminded of who runs the Senate, which we remixed on last night's show with that savage move.I'm a savage.Classy.Bougie, ratchet, sassy, moody, hot, nasty.Now, last night, I asked you all for ideas for other soundtracks for that moment.And we've heard from thousands of you already.We're debuting the top three, all ideas from MSNBC viewers.

Discussion on Mitch McConnell and Senate Control

Cause that moment's not just about Chuck Schumer.Schumer could only invoke the majority's power because Georgia voters told Mitch to hit the road, turning a red state blue after a bruising four years.And as McConnell waits his turn, you can bet George is still on his mind.So George is.Ray Charles gets the last word tonight.I said George.Yeah.Georgia is going to stay in a lot of people's minds because, well, Georgia is what changed everything in our politics this year.Now, you can't really top Mister Charles, but if you all have more ideas for more remix songs, you can still send them to us.

Discussion on Georgia's Role in Senate Control

Its 10:00 p.m.on July 27.After years of promising to repeal and replace Obamacare, Senate Republicans are at a critical moment.Imma vote for anything to go to conference.And I think Paul Ryan puts to bed whether there will be a conference.As republican leadership finally introduces a bill.Its unclear whether they have the votes to pass it.The legislation I just laid down is called the Health Care Freedom act, and it restores freedom to Americans.

Senate Bill Discussion

Then comes decision time.Cain casts the decisive vote to gasps and applause from Democrats and stoic silence from the GOP leadership.Both parties leaders seem emotional about the vote.

McCain's Decisive Vote

The trouble with Donald had started long before he entered school.At home, he tormented his little brother Robert, a year and a half younger, and seemed to have nothing but disdain for everybody else, including and perhaps especially his mother.The kids in the neighborhood alternatively despised and feared him.He had a reputation for being a thin skinned bully who beat up in younger kids, but ran home in a fit of rage as soon as somebody stood up to him.I mean, is that, I mean, it's fascinating to hear that description of a little boy and seeing the man.That is one of the most damning and dangerous things about Donald Trump.And that is the thing that one of the things that makes him most unfit, he's never evolved from that.That's still who he is.You see that in him now.Absolutely.I mean, your book is very moving.It's deeply personal.You write about, you know, your childhood growing up in the Trump family.Your father suffered from alcoholism.He died when he was just 42 years old.And you write about this comparison between how your father was treated by his father, by your grandfather, and how the former president was kind of molded into the person he is today.

Mary Trump's Book and Family History

And you write about this comparison between how your father was treated by his father, by your grandfather, and how the former president was kind of molded into the person he is today.Yeah.Interestingly, because my dad was eight years older than Donald.He was the heir, he was the namesake.He was the oldest son.All of the attention was on my dad for a long time.The expectation was on him because he was the oldest.Exactly.Very much in the mold of that time.As the oldest son in namesake, he was expected to take over the family business slash empire.And for reasons that aren't necessarily explicit, my grandfather found my father wanting, even though my dad had every intention of fulfilling that role.His problem was that he wasn't as tough as my grandfather wanted him to be.And he also had interests outside of the family business.He was an expert boatsman and fisherman and pilot.And my grandfather had nothing but contempt for those things.So by the time my dad was in his early twenties, my grandfather had already shifted attention to Donald.When you see Donald Trump on the stage last night, compared to what he was in 2016 or even 2020, do you see a big difference?

Comparison of Donald Trump and Mary's Father

When you see Donald Trump on the stage last night, compared to what he was in 2016 or even 2020, do you see a big difference?I do, especially from 20 years ago.But even from eight years ago, he is, he has much less impulse control to the extent he ever had any.He is incapable of bringing a thought to conclusion.He goes off on tangents.And I think part of it is because he hasn't been pressed, he hasn't been challenged, and he's gotten away with so much.This is a man who spent his entire life pushing the envelope to see what he can get away with.And as soon as he realizes nobody's going to stop him, he pushes the envelope some more.There's so much in the book.Mary Trump, thank you so much.Thank you, Anderson.It was wonderful to be here.

Donald Trump's Evolution

We're joined now by CNN political analyst and longtime Trump watcher Maggie Haberman of the New York Times.Maggie, thanks for joining us.Trump claims last night was his, quote, best debate performance.We saw him go to the spin room immediately afterward.Do you think he knows he lost?I think he knows that he may not have performed suboptimally well considering how we have seen him aggressively pushing back on any criticisms and declaring that he won a debate that by every objective voice I've seen, it's widely agreed upon that he did not win.He lost.What that means for the campaign and the election, I think, is an open question.We're going to know more in the coming days.We'll see what the polls show.We'll see if Vice President Harris gets a bump.Donald Trump had a rough outing.It was arguably the worst debate.And certainly, you know, if you don't think it was the worst, it was the second worst debate that he has had since he entered the political scene, that the arguably worst one would be against President Biden in 2020.Yeah, it was pretty bad last night for Trump.Trump repeatedly took the bait last night, as you know, something his advisors and allies said he wouldn't do.

Trump's Debate Performance

Trump repeatedly took the bait last night, as you know, something his advisors and allies said he wouldn't do.I want to play one of those key moments.Listen to this.You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter.He will talk about windmills, cause cancer.And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.People don't go to her rallies.There's no reason to go.And the people that do go, she's busing them in and paying them to be there and then showing them in a different light.So she can't talk about that.People don't leave my rallies.We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.The question Trump was asked, Maggie was about the border, yet he ended up talking about crowd sizes.Did it surprise you how easily he was provoked by Kamala Harris?It honestly didn't surprise me, Wolf.I thought there was a chance of this just given that he has such contempt for her and has made that very clear.That immigration non answer, or at least the question on immigration that he then proceeded to talk about this crowd size about, was actually a mirror image to a problem that President Biden had in their June debate, where he was asked a question on abortion.President Bidens best issue, just as immigration is one of Donald Trumps best issues and Biden proceeded to pivot away from abortion and talked about immigration.His worst issue in this case, crowd size is not Donald Trumps worst issue.Its just an irrelevant issue.And it allows Vice President Harris to say he is only interested in himself and talking about himself.It was a lot of missed opportunities, Wolf.I don't know how much new people learned about Donald Trump, although arguing that immigrants are eating pets from the debate stage probably is going to get some attention for the most part.Viewers have seen this kind of rhetoric from Donald Trump a lot, and he does these things at rallies as well.But this is a moment that millions and millions of Americans were tuning in for.It's just very different.The former president, as you know, Maggie, is also not yet committing to a second debate with Kamala Harris.

Trump's Provocation and Response

The former president, as you know, Maggie, is also not yet committing to a second debate with Kamala Harris.What does that tell you?And do you think he will see, we will see another debate?I think there's a chance, Wolf.I mean, I think we're going to see what the polling looks like and we're going to see if the campaign feels like they need to do it for whatever their purposes are.Look, he toyed with the idea of dropping out of this ABC debate.That was last night in the days leading up to it.So I expect that we're not going to hear anything concrete from him for a while.We know that Vice President Harris team immediately challenged him to another debate because they believed that they did well and they wanted to try to set the stage for him not agreeing and suggesting that he is scared and worried about doing it.I do think there's a chance he will.We'll wait and see.We will indeed, in perhaps the most bizarre moment, Maggie, from last night, Trump seized on that rather wild conspiracy theory that haitian immigrants, we're eating pets here in the United States.

Trump's Future Debates

We will indeed, in perhaps the most bizarre moment, Maggie, from last night, Trump seized on that rather wild conspiracy theory that haitian immigrants, we're eating pets here in the United States.I want to play that for you.Listen to this.In Springfield, they're eating the dogs.The people that came in, they're eating the cats.They're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there.And this is what's happening in our country.And it's a shame.Maggie, what are you hearing from the Trump team about that?Look, publicly, the Trump team is, you know, saying that he had an outstanding performance and theyre not surprised.Privately, a number of supporters, allies and advisers would rather he not have talked about that.Cats and dogs, you know, conspiracy theory, because it just stands out.And its just a moment again where a lot of people are paying attention this is an unfounded claim that he is making to demagogue immigrants.But, you know, theyre more concerned about the fact bluntly, Wolf, that he did not make a case tying Vice President Harris, not just tying himher to President Biden, but also making her sort of own their three and a half years in office.That was the goal for this debate.He had one opportunity after another to do it, and he did not do it.Maggie Haberman, thank you very much for joining us.

Trump's Conspiracy Theory

So I'm going to keep an eye on MJ.Lee, thanks so much for that.Let's turn out to CNN national correspondent Kristen Holmes covering the Trump campaign.So, Kristen, why is former President Trump casting doubt on the potential for a second debate?Well, Boris, quickly, I just want to mention something that MJ just said.This idea that Taylor Swift would campaign potentially or go to an event with Kamala Harris, that is something that would really get under Donald Trump's skin.I just want to remind everyone that despite the fact that he went on tv today and said that he didn't think he would get Taylor Swift's endorsement, he wasn't a big fan of hers anyway.It was just last month that he was posting AI pictures of Taylor Swift, essentially pretending that she had endorsed him, saying, Taylor, I accept with these AI photos of her and of other women wearing swifties for Trump shirts.So that is something that would really irk Donald Trump regardless of how many times he says he doesn't care what Taylor Swift does.Now in terms of the debate, Donald Trump says last night was one of his greatest debate appearances ever.However, after months or weeks of saying that he wanted a second debate after this one with Kamala Harris, he now appears to be backing away from that idea.Here's what he said this morning.When a fighter loses, he says, I want a rematch.I want to rematch.Always the losing person, the fighter, the debater, they always ask for a rematch.I won the debate.I don't want to do another debate.Now, I don't know anything about fighting, but I do know that generally speaking, if a campaign comes out immediately after a debate and says we want to do another one, that generally means that they thought that they did well, if a campaign comes out and sends their own candidate into the spin room, it generally isn't that good for that side.Now, regardless, I've spoken to a number of republican allies of Donald Trump's who say they were disappointed in his performance last night.They don't think it's going to move the needle at all.But they did believe after talking to him in the lead up to this debate that he would stick to the issues, that he had been warned enough times that Kamala Harris was going to try to get under his skin, that she was going to try to goad him with specific questions or specific responses.And, hey, Kristen, we're going to interrupt you really quick because the former president is speaking in Shanksville, Pennsylvania right now.Let's listen in looking at it.But, you know, when you win, you don't really necessarily have to do it a second time.So we'll see.But we had a, I thought we had a great debate last night.Thank you very much.The, what would need to change for you to agree to a second debate, but you want different rules?Well, you know, when you, when you don't win, it's like a fighter, when a fighter has a bad fight, gets knocked out or loses the fight, the first thing he says is we want a rematch.So we won the debate according to every poll, every single poll.I think that are we going to do a rematch?I just don't know.But we'll think about it.Would you still do the one on NBC on September 25?You propose that?Are you still committed to.I would do NBC.I do Fox, too.I'd do Fox, too.But right now we have to determine whether or not we even want to do it.We had a great night last night.And you see by the poll numbers, it was really fantastic.Thank you very much, everybody.The CB's.Thank you, prass.Back to the van.Thank you, Prass.That was former President Donald Trump at the, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania for the anniversary, the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 attacks, United flight 93 which went down over Shanksville.The former president being asked by reporters about the potential for him to do another debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.The former president saying we'll think about it.He repeated the idea that he won last night.He said we had a great night.He said the polling shows that that's not what CNN's polling reflects, which gave the edge to the vice president.He did say that when you win, you don't have to do it a second time.Comparing himself to a prizefighter and the losing side in a boxing match, saying that they want a rematch.He says that he may not need one.He would do NBC or Fox, according to him, for a debate.Of course, we're going to keep an eye on the former president's remarks and get the latest from his campaign as he speaks to the press.Breonna.All right, Boris, thank you so much.Former President Trump and his supporters are slamming ABC News after last night's debate.

Trump's Remarks on Second Debate and Shanksville Visit

Former President Trump and his supporters are slamming ABC News after last night's debate.They are calling out the network after its moderators fact check the former president in real time.Trump made at least 33 false claims according to CNN's count.And this morning he called the debate a rigged process and baselessly suggested that Harris cheated.They had a rigged show with somebody that maybe even had the answers.I mean, I watched her talk and I said, you know, she seems awfully familiar with the questions.CNN media correspondent Hadas Gold is with us now.Hadass, how often did ABC step in last night?Yeah, Brianna, fact checking is always such a thorny issue for debate moderators that it's dogged them for years now.ABC, before the debate never committed one way or another whether they were going to fact check.But clearly they had made a conscious decision that they were going to step in at certain times.But they stepped in in very sort of quick and crisp moments.There were two very clear, very obvious fact checks.Let's get to the first one.This was about 20 minutes into the debate, and this was by Lindsay Davis on the subject of abortion.And you can look at the governor of Westphalia, but the governor before, he said, the baby will be born and we will decide what to do with the baby.In other words, we'll execute the baby.There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born.Now, the second fact check was about the whole thing of people eating pets in Ohio.I never thought I'd have people eating pets in Ohio on my 2024 debate bingo card, but here we are.But there were other more indirect fact checks, which I think was a very interesting and smart way for the moderators to do a fact where they don't go right to the candidate and say, actually, this is not true.David Muir, for example, when Trump refused to say that he had lost a 2020 election, then turned to Vice President Harris and said, okay, he still believes he did not lose the election that was won actually by President Biden and yourself.But as you noted, Trump's allies, Trump himself, the right wing media, they are howling over this.Some have even gone so far as suggesting, abcdehe he should somehow be criminally charged or should have something happen to it just for fact checking, you know, saying what is true and what is not in a debate stage.And they're saying that they should have also been fact checking Harris.And sure, as we noted, Harris did have at least one instance where they could have potentially fact checked.But, you know, ABC was just going for the most obvious, most extreme examples of outright mistruths.And that just happened to be said by Donald Trump.Brianna.

Trump's Criticism of ABC News and Fact-Checking

And I want to play this.You know, you expressed concern about Trump's affinity for dictators.We saw Kamala Harris say that last night.He mentioned Viktor Orban, the hungarian autocrat, multiple times last night.And then he said this about Ukraine.Let's watch this.Do you want Ukraine to win this war?I want the war to stop.I want to save lives that are being uselessly, people being killed by the millions.It's the millions.It's so much worse than the numbers that you're getting, which are fake numbers.Just to clarify in the question, do you believe it's in the US best interest for Ukraine to win this war?Yes or no?I think it's the US best interest to get this war finished and just get it done.Olivia, you were a national security adviser to Vice President Pence.How concerned are you that Trump could not give a straight answer there?No.That's incredibly alarming.And what that tells me is he did not want to go against Putin.That's the message to the american people in the world right there.And when I look at him, I mean, he verified for us that those are his alliances and his loyalties are two dictators around the world.Right.To Putin and Viktor Orban.He talked about Viktor Orban.I think in his response, like, the entire time in a minute.I mean, I think that shows the world that that's who he's mentioning.He didn't mention any other world leader while on the stage, right?He didn't talk about, he didn't lie to anyone else.He was looking at these authoritarian like people.And I think he sees himself in this vein.It's disturbing.And I want to read some of what the Wall Street Journal editorial board said following the debate, saying she won the debate because she came in with a strategy to taunt and goad Mister Trump into diving down rabbit holes of personal grievance and vanity that left her policies and history largely untouched.

Trump's Affinity for Dictators

I want to talk to you, Elena, about what Donald Trump is saying now.He said this morning, he was on Fox saying that he doesn't need to debate again because in his mind he wondez, which as you have noted, John, that that is not what the majority of folks, including voters, have been saying.But how does his campaign think that he did last night?Well, between his campaign as well as many Republicans I spoke with last night, I was texting with many of them throughout the debate.I was in the spin room talking to his advisors.There's a couple of things.I think there's no question that people were very frustrated with his missed opportunities, particularly on some of Harris's answers, on the economy, on her changing her positions.They believe that that was an opportunity for Donald Trump to really set his own message, to talk about the key issues they believe voters care about, specifically the economy and immigration.Instead, on many of those answers, he took the bait from Harris and turned the entire conversation into an airing of grievances, of talking about bizarre things like migrants eating pets.As Eva pointed out, something, of course, that we know is false and has to be dimpin debunked.There was some frustration around that.Now, I did talk to some people as well who acknowledged, Republicans acknowledged that he fell for the goading, that Harris led him down.And remember, this was a key thing in my conversations with senior Trump advisers leading up to last night, that they had advised Donald Trump on.This was the key concern, they said, even more than the substance on the issues, they were concerned about Donald Trump's tone and his temperament and going off onto these different tyrants, really about random things that didn't relate to his own messaging.And that's kind of what we saw last night.It appears that they were not successful in that.However, a key claim that they continue to make, and Donald Trump made this this morning, is that the moderators were biased against Donald Trump that it was a three on one debate.Although I'd argue now, we know that often when you're attacking the refs, you're often on the losing side.Sarah, John, there's a good point.Elena Treen, Eva McCann, thank you both so much.Live from the city of brotherly love.

Trump's Perspective

Back now with the panel.You know, we all heard that Trump had had these social kind of very far right extremists, some quite zany maga influencers on the plane with him.And they had been putting out these photographs to hear him, former president of the United States, at this, you know, at this crucial debate, in his moment of meltdown, because she'd criticized his crowd size and suggested that people were bored of him, you know, go to that.Black people, haitian migrants are eating dogs and cats.I mean, I found it shocking, really.I mean, not surprising, but just.It can be.I think it was not surprising.It was appalling, but it wasn't surprising.And that's really the point here.This isn't a one off.This is part and parcel of who Donald Trump is and what his political project is.It was based.I mean, remember what he said when he came down the escalator?To me, it's like the Willie Horton ad, but like in modern times and social media, part of the nature of Trump's politics is that he's taken Willie Horton ads out of the closet and he's made it mainstream by articulating it himself.And that's one of the things people have to decide.Whose problem does that solve?What does it do for a country to have a leader who casually smears people in racial terms for his own political gain?And by the way, I feel terrible for the parents of that young man whose name, they ask that we not mention his name.I won't mention his name.But they're clearly struggling with the loss of a child, which is the worst thing that you can ever deal with.You know, to see politics drag them and their grief through the public square is another disgusting thing.It's horrible.And, you know, some things are just kind of in plain sight obvious.Donald Trump doesn't care about anybody but himself.If he cared about this immigrant crisis, and there are some negative aspects of it.They're not this racist lie he's telling.But it is tough on some of these communities to have new folks coming in.It's that that is disruptive.If he cared about it, we could have fixed it.This spring, there was a bill that was negotiated in good faith between Republicans and Democrats to get something done, and he blocked it.So he's actually, it's his border crisis.It's his.All that pain and suffering that's happening is at his foot.And then also he talks about fentanyl, and they want to beat us up on that.I lost one of my closest friends to fentanyl.We could have stopped a lot of that.There would be a lot more fentanyl testing strips down at the border right now if Donald Trump hadn't stood in the way.So this is a man who's inflicting pain on the country.He's hurting people.He's making these small towns suffer so that he can become president and stay out of jail.Yeah, I mean, I think this is the most important point.He was clear with Republicans, do not pass this bill because it will only help Democrats.We want the issue.And so the question is, do you want an issue or do you want to solve problems?And his values and his preferences are very clear.Aaron, you're not working with the Trump campaign still.But is this, if you were, is this a story you would want everyone talking about the day after the debate?Absolutely not.There are so many other things that should be being talked about.You can talk about the strain on resources in communities, not only in places like Ohio, because as Trump and Republicans have said, community is a border community because of the failures at the southern border.You can talk about how it's happening in Texas and Ohio.And these communities need more resources, and we need to do that.And one thing I will say to Van's point about fentanyl, I do want to remind viewers that back in 2017, there was a major bipartisan piece of legislation that was passed when Donald Trump was president to fight opioid and fentanyl overdoses.And they were starting to come down until the pandemic, and there was that change.So I just want to be clear when it comes to overdoses and the work that was being done, I lost my brother to a drug overdose.And so I understand what that feels like.And I remember that legislation very carefully when it came to being able to fight that.We still have those resources available.We can be using those as well right now on that specific topic.Thank you all.Appreciate it.

Panel Discussion on Trump's Remarks

Just a quick line of news to bring you that has come to us in the last few minutes.This is a posting on true social from Donald Trump, who says he will not be participating in a second debate with Kamala Harris.There was some speculation as to whether they would appear together on NBC for that second debate, but he's saying in the last few minutes that he's decided not to do a second debate.We've got a panel coming up, of course, at 09:00 we'll maybe discuss that with them.Let's bring in our panel because I want to talk about these live pictures we're seeing from Charlotte in North Carolina.

Trump's Decision Not to Participate in Second Debate

Well, I don't know if you notice some of the feathers that seem to be coming off of Trump today, and that probably is due to the fact that he's chickening out of doing another debate.I don't know what logic would suggest that if you performed well in the first one, why you wouldn't want to do another.But clearly, he has huddled with his advisors.They determined that it was a complete and an utter disaster, one that is best avoided in the future.And that's why despite what will undoubtedly be some negative headlines tomorrow, he's decided that he's got to make his case directly to the american people.We can expect lots of those big rallies.But as Harris pointed out in the debate, folks have not been turning out in the same numbers.They've not been staying as long as they used to.So Trump, quite frankly, is between a rock and a hard place right now.Yeah.I mean, Nina, just looking at some of the lines coming out of this rally, she says she believes that we owe it to the voters to have another debate.She might well say that given that most of the polls that we've seen gave it to her on Wednesday night.Yeah, that's right.

Analysis of Trump's Decision and Its Impact

There was a post that he put on true social where he was basically issuing a cease and desist, saying that those who were cheating in inverted commerce.People like election workers, lawyers, political operatives in the state, that he'd come after them and they'd face the full force of the law.Do you think he's already prepping for that fight in Pennsylvania, given the importance of the state on the night?Undoubtedly, he and his team are prepping in trying to create the predicate for casting doubt over the results.That being said, there are a few different factors this time around, not least of which is the fact that Americans have gotten a lot smarter when it comes to issues like Nina was raising about how votes are actually tabulated.And those mallow votes get tabulated after, in many cases, those that were cast on election day.On top of that, there is an extra effort happening now to educate both voters, but also, quite frankly, politicians.And then there's the third factor, and I think this is perhaps the most critical one.And you're hearing it whispered around Washington at the moment.And that is that most Republicans are sick and tired of Donald Trump.And so if he loses on the next go around, they are not going to stand with him once again.He will have lost three national elections in a row for Republicans, and I think they will seize this as a moment to try and turn the page and write a new chapter for the party.

Trump's Preparation for Possible Election Disputes

This topic covers the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, including reactions, analysis, and impact on their political standing.

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