Mark holy moly. Less than two weeks since the national convtion, but instead of harmony, donald j. Trump doing just the opposite these days. Is calling his convention the first in history that made voters less likely to vote for the nominee. On a day when donald trump was trying to turn the page, targeting Hillary Clinton and talking about the economy, as republicans won him to do, the fallout from his comments about the gold star family continues. Today, governor Chris Christie became the latest republican unwilling to defend his partys nominee over the matter. Idea of me losing any one of our four children is unthinkable, and so you will not find me being critical of them no matter what they do, even though i may disagree with any statement they might make. It is just inappropriate for us in this context to be criticizing them, and i will not participate in that. Mark this morning, the press speculating, finally happened. New york congressman richard an opinionnced in piece that he will vote for Hillary Clinton, not donald trump. That makes him the first gop member of congress to say he would vote for clinton. The president with the Prime Minister of singapore called donald trump woefully unprepared to the president and tried to drive a wedge between the candidate and gop officials who endorsed him. Question that they have to ask themselves is, if you are say in veryaving to strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him . Weekly, whereand they are distancing themselves from statements he is making. There has to be a point at which you say this is not somebody i can support for president of the united states. The fact that that has not happened makes some of these the nonch and ring hollow. Wait, theres more. If tensions were not bad enough, in an interview published by the Washington Post, donald trump said he is not willing to endorse House Speaker paul ryan or john mccain ahead of their respective primary contests later this month. Donald trump also had harsh another beloved figure in the gop. Where do todays events lead Donald Trumps relationship with his own party. John in a shambles. The point that barack obama is trying to drive a wedge between donald trump and his party. He was doing that. Unnecessary at this point. Donald trump does not care about party unity. The way he behaves, Everything Else that he has been doing, that is what he really believes. He believes he does not need the Republican Party. The Republican Party thinks he as a threat to their political futures. Conservatives think he is unstable. Obama and thet Clinton Campaign are trying to break their back. They are trying to drive a wedge so strong that republicans will believe it is better to break. He loses Chris Christie today partially. Chris christies Communications Director announcing that she is voting for Hillary Clinton. To say hes not necessarily supporting john mccain and paul ryan, trump has proved time and time again he does not like to make nice. Any other republican nominee we have ever seen, any nominee of every party, would be desperate to save that senate seat. John he does not give a damn about the party or these people. A lot of people dont think he is a republican. They dont. They prayed he would behave more like a republican. None of it has happened. He is endangering their political futures and acting like a lunatic most of the time. Guy whoe lied about the gave him a copy of his purple heart. In the wake of stories in the New York Times today that have raised questions open by the kahn controversy over whether he is a draft dodger. He wishes he has a purple heart, takes a guys purple heart, but it is a copy. It is just another mark what is that camera number right there . Just you wait until they read the story in the Washington Post. Ryan. G to endorse paul donald trump use the same language that ryan used. John the nominee is trying to blow the party up there is no other way to explain it. Another controversy coming out of Donald Trumps mouth that the campaign is trying to deal with today. What histhe u. S. Today reaction would be if his daughter was sexually harassed in the workplace and if she were treated in the way that rogers the former head of fox is accused of treating women. At best, it was trivializing. Another one of his children tried to walk back or clarify his fathers comment during an interview on cbs this morning. She is a strong, powerful woman. She would not allow herself to be subjected to it. She would take it up with Human Resources as a strong person. At the same time, she would not allow herself to be subjected to that. That was the point he was making. John in the context of all else that is happening, is this a smallar problem problem, mediumsized problem, or another gargantuan problem for donald trump . Mark medium today, but it can grow. One of the things little discussed as you see these broad messages in campaign ads and surrogate activity, but and probably already underway, the clinton camp will micro target. You can bet women will be getting those comments and will sayi think it is fair to Donald Trumps ability to win female votes will not be enhanced by this interview. White menege educated and women have dominated for 50 years. Ourary clinton according to polling is ahead with that demographic. Suburban, collegeeducated, white women hearing that message microtargeted, that is a problem he has to solve if he is going to win. Mark eric trump talked about it. It would be fascinating to see what ivanka thinks about what her father said. John Amanda Carpenter tweeted strong women may flee Sexual Harassment, may also fight, and or to regain power, and then weeted thatp ret tweet. Things going well for the Trump Campaign. Mark eric trump is not the only person trying to reframe controversial statements made by donald trump. The family and surrogates have become increasingly important players in the election, requiring a lot of translating of what the candidate meant to say. Tv show time i go on a it is to correct the record or explain something a journalist or the democrats have taken out of context. I was at the dnc. W the speech. We have utmost respect for captain kahn, his parents, for that loss. Would it have been better if he had emphasized that in his initial comments . He was attacked. Which her father be willing to apologize and move on . That is a great question for him. In terms of the one question, whether he has made a sacrifice, i think my father has. That is not the ultimate sacrifice, a soldier dying to protect this nation. He did not start the fight. Whenis typical media donald trump responses somebody, they say he is attacking. He is not. Donald trump and i have both said that captain kahn is an american hero, and we honor his service and sacrifice and honor his family. How effective is that surrogate operation in helping donald trump to stay within that color within the lines . You cantes a phrase put lipstick on the pig. Hard to spend the unspent the unspn inable. , itsf his surrogates hard for them, even if they have material that you can spend, it would be hard to correct for donald trump because heelys such a large impression because of who he is. Mark on the ground locally, more success from mike pence and others than the National Framing would suggest. And pence had some momentum the donald trump children had momentum coming out of the convention, and one of the cost of creating these controversies as they cant do anything but play defense. The brand of the trump children and mike pence is dissipated because all theyre doing is trying to clean up. John a surrogate operation in an ideal world exists to try to amplify and push forward the messages you want to push forward. It should not be a defensive brigade at all times, and that is the position they have been put in. Mark they are all trying to go after Hillary Clinton. Eric trump tried to turn it to go after Hillary Clinton. Canproblem is the filter only handle a few stories at a time, and donald trump is creating the biggest stories through his errors. John those are just attempts to change the subject. In the end, the subject is the subject. When we come back, donald trump digs into the rigged system. And later, the Washington Post about that incredible interview we just reference with donald trump. We will be right back with all that. John both of the Vice President ial candidates have hit the trail hard, holding highprofile events. Ur,er tim kaines bus to a rally and richmond yesterday before heading to florida today. Campaigned in arizona this afternoon, but spent yesterday in nevada, where he got some decent local news coverage. Here is a sampling of what that sounded like. Handmade two stops in northern and made two stops in northern nevada yesterday and also a town hall event inside the carson nugget earlier in the day. He laid out his qualifications to be feist president. A question from a military mom sparking boos from the audience. The indiana governor address the controversy surrounding captain kahn. Supporters say they appreciated the governors time and attention he gave to the u. S. Military. Many people at that speech told us they hope that mike pence is able to smooth Donald Trumps rough edges. John how are they doing . Under y are laboring and mike pence is laboring under a lot of cleanup. They are proving to be what the people who picked them thought they would be, total pros who can handle themselves as professional, serviceable, and driving message in local markets. Are both relatively bland. I agree. They are both doing well. Iwatch mike pence going through iss and think, my god, what that man thinking. He has kids in the military. He is saying the right things about the kahn controversy, but he can only do so much. Mark he is an arizona meeting with john mccain today. Interesting an meeting. I suspect he supports john mccain. By now, you have probably heard that donald j. Trump billionaire has started repurchasing his rigged system mantra. Ohio,day afternoon in trump made the alarming statement that he was afraid that the election will be rigged in november. Donald trump talked about a rigged system during the nomination fight to good effect. Will this be affectively politically for him now to help him win rather than a justification if he loses . John in the realm of the unprecedented, the idea that somehow the American Election will be a fraudulent affair. Mark john kerry worried about that. It, youlking about worry about voting machines, voter suppression, but you dont say i think this system is rigged by some higher forces. Mark donald trump does not have a traditional turnout operation. I think it is a bad idea for the country, but if he can scare people at the polls and get them to say we cannot let them rig it. We have to win by so much that even clinton rigging will not keep us from winning, maybe he can scare some people to the polls. Look, the honest to god truth is we both know what this is. If trump loses in november, there is no way he will be a gracious loser and say the American People have spoken. He is going to want to have an excuse. I think he may say this all the way through to november, especially if it is a close election, so he could say if it was not for this rigged system, i would have one. I just dont imagine that donald trump will be like a normal loser if he loses. Mark youre right. John up next, new polling figures and where it clintons bounces coming from. Also, the Washington Post tells us about an amazing interview with donald trump. First, these words from our sponsors. Mark the polls have been coming in fast and furious, most telling the same story, Hillary Clinton is getting a solid bounce out of the philadelphia convention. Today, a new survey shows clinton leading donald trump 50 to 42 . Clintonll Shows Hillary beating donald trump 52 to 43 . Thatems pretty clear clinton has gotten some edge out of her convention. ,ets talk about independents what has happened preand postconvention . Conventions to solidify the base, but also bring in new people, to convince those who might be straddling the fence to join the party. We have two cnn polls. One conducted before the Democratic Convention, and one conducted after. Same methodology. Confidence weod are looking at real change. The polls that cnn published in july showed donald trump leading by 15 points. The poll published after the Democratic Convention had Hillary Clinton up by seven points, so those independents either word loosely affiliated with donald trump or had not chosen a candidate yet. What they saw at the convention or now has convinced more of them to join the Hillary Clinton camp. John what do you see when it comes down to the breakdown between men and women . A conventionthing needs to do is shore up your base. Women tend to vote democratic. Thatou have the women car Hillary Clinton wanted to play at the convention. She is up 10 points with women, strong majority, 57 percent say they are joining Hillary Clinton. She is also up with men by six points. Daddy ump states stayed steady in both those polls that 50 . Suggests that people have decided that Hillary Clinton is their candidate. Is her any change to account for her increase . It has changed in her favor. She is up 14 points with the nonwhite vote or, bringing her to 80 , a stratospheric number, which must mean the complementary role that Donald Trumps number is really lagging. He now gets 12 of the nonwhite vote, down several Percentage Points for him. Part of the electorate that is the fastestgrowing. It is the one the republicans talked about after 2012 where they needed to focus. Donald trump is moving in the wrong direction with that group. History of bounces, how often are they enduring and how often do they settle back down . It is so different from convention to convention, candidate to candidate, so i have been thinking about newtons laws of physics. Action there is an equal and opposite reaction, so you would expect the elasticity will bring it back into some place where it is homeostasis point, but what you have to take a look at is what happens with the campaigns next. It tendsaugust, where to not be an active Campaign Month and then things rev up after labor day. You have to think the Clinton Campaign with the resources that it has may think it can win this thing in august given that they have the resources, given that donald trump is having daily difficulties. What thecially Curious Campaign tees up and august. Mark thank you very much. Coming up, more about Donald Trumps extraordinary interview with the Washington Post and his relationship with the rubber covering party right after this. With the Republican Party right after this. Now by thee joined reporter from the Washington Post with the big trump interview today, phil rucker. Tell us what happened when you got to see donald trump. You had been banned for a while for this interview. I was at his rally earlier today and he had me at the golf course in northern virginia. We talked for a while about a the newsyubject, but is to my he that he is not ready to endorse paul ryan. Use the topranked republican in washington and is in a primary challenge in wisconsin. That election is on tuesday and trump said im just not there yet in terms of endorsing ryan and complemented his primary opponent and this is an extraordinary breach of decorum and shows just how divided the Republican Party is right now. Into the he come interview fixing to say this stuff or did you press them . Guest i pressed him on it. I asked him a asked him about a tweet where he complemented ryans opponent. Endorsingm are you the opponent or paul ryan, where do you stand . He said he was given giving the endorsement a serious consideration but was not there yet. He repeated that several times in the interview. In one or two words, what was his tone talking about ryan, mccain, and kelly ayotte estuary in chargefeels hes of the party and that these people are not in lockstep behind them. Both of them came out with statements criticizing trump over his treatment of the con family the khan family. John it would seem to me and to anybody who has ever covered a president ial campaign that this would be a campaign in utter melt down. What does it feel like to you as you watch the move throughout the day . Does not feel like utter meltdown. I just had a conversation with and therumps aids state of controversy has become the norm for this campaign. Ands rolling with his wins rolling with what he says. Was this a calculated move . I think phil pressing him means it was not but in the past two weeks, there have been five different donald trump controversies. There was the malaria controversy over her speech, the plagiarism, donald trump fighting with ted cruz again and donald trump in russia, fighting with the cons and those controversies, those last two were not going away. What is going on now smart donald trump is talking about maybe not endorsing paul ryan. He extinguishes one