Showdown in the house this week on benghazi while Vice President joe biden meets with his inner circle tonight and gets even closer to jumping in the race. Then there is the snl effect. Who do you want as president . One of these washington insiders or a guy who has one pair of clean underwear that he drys on the radiator . Oh, will that help Bernie Sanders . A saturday night live veteran is here to weigh in. Lets begin with the trump bush feud this evening. Certainly showing no signs of cooling down. Joining me now, kirk eichenwald, also with us new york dshg former new York Police CommissionerBernard Carrick who was the citys top cop on that day, 9 11, 2001 and douglas brisso. Gentlemen, welcome to all of you. Thank you. Lets begin first with the back and forth on twitter, shall we . The war of words between trump and bush. Today, trump tweeted jeb is fighting to defend a catastrophic event. I am fighting to make sure it doesnt happen again. Jeb is too soft. We need tougher and sharper. Jeb bushs response, donald trump talks about Foreign Policy as though he is still on the aplentyis. Commissioner carrick, you were here in new york on 9 11. You disagree with donald trump wholeheartedly on 9 11. Tell me why. Well, you know, anybody that says that george bush didnt do everything in his power to keep us safe in the aftermath of the attack, i would have to disagree with. I was there from the point that the second plane his tower two. I was physically standing under the building when it slammed through the building. And i was there for the first 3 1 2 months afterward leading the rescue, the recovery and the nypds investigation in conjunction with the fab. And i know that the president , president bush, did everything in his power to make sure that we were safe from that point on. Are there things that could have been done differently prior . There probably is, but i would to say in this 7 1 2 to 8 months that president bush was in office, i honestly dont think he could have changed anything at that time. Accurate, in part, this is what you wrote at the time. Either direct warnings to mr. Bush about attack by al qaeda began in spring of 20301 when the white house was told of a report that a group presently in the United States was planning a terrorist operation. Weeks later, on june 22, the daily brief reported that al qaeda strikes could be imminent. Is there a seedling of truth to any of what donald trump is saying today . Well, let me say first that i respect commissioner carrick and everything he said right now, he accomplished a lot on 9 11. He was twh, he was brave. I feel a butt coming here. But what hes talking about is what happened after 9 11. And the real questions are what happened before. And the reality is that president bush, based on the president ial daily briefs that i have read was told more than a done times that there wassen attack coming, that it was imminent, that there were going to be many casualties, that there were terrorists in the United States. The 9 11 Commission Report essentially was he shouldnt have been surprised, correct . No. There was no way he could have been surprised. And i think the look that, you know, in that famous video where andy cart, the chief of staff, is telling bush of the attack, i think you know, ive always thought the look in his eyes was a look of recognition of what hed been told. But, you know, there is an element here. I am not saying bush could have stopped 9 11. You happen web dont know. If things were different, would they be the same . The problem jeb bush is making and the problem that is made across the board is we are talking about history. And the argument that jeb bush is making is he knew nothing and nothing could have been done. Well, let me jump in because we have historian i know theres nothing that can be done. I understand. Doug, when you hear people talking about this today, theyre jumping in using examples about fdr and an attack on pearl harbor. Tell me about that argument. Do you buy that . Look, its easy to blame president s for what happens on their watch. There was a whole bunch of back door to war theories that fdr was asleep at the wheel. Most of it is nonsense. I think the argument here is once 9 11 happened, brush behaved heroically. The famous bull horn moment, the throwing the ball at yankee stadium. Whats being debated by jeb bush and donald trump are those months leading up to 9 11. And there are memos that say my gosh, why didnt the president notice 9 11. President s are very busy and hindsight is very difficult. So i find it gosh that donald trump has pushed them into the election sd right now. Im anyhow not sure what its accomplishing. Part of his issue is and hes talked tough on immigration. He said had there been stiffer immigration policies at the time, hes gone as far as saying anyone could have been prevented, but when you do the digging, you read all those 9 11 hijackers they were in the u. S. Legally. Only two overstayed their visas. That is right. If we looked at memos today in the white house and the chatter today, its far, far worse than anything president bush had back then. You also have to realize, brook, this has been going on since 96. What this . The attacks on this country. President clinton had the kenya and tanzania bombings, the uss cole. There were plenty of warning signs going into 2000 when president obama was elected. So, you know, its nice to look and said who would have, could have, should have. The reality is i permanently dont think anybody could have done anything different or would have been able to stop what happened on september 11th. Go ahead, curt. But, brooke, people are portraying it as if this was part of, you know, a huge slosh of information that was crossing bushs desk. It wasnt. This was the focus of these multiple briefings. In fact, everyone knows of the august 6th briefing because its the only one the Bush White House released where it is a historical assessment of al qaeda. But it is historical. Well, the reason that document exists is because bush was getting so many briefings that said an attack is coming, an attack is coming, an attack is coming. But he said, i want a historical analysis and thats what came. And its important to look back. But hang on, gentlemen, i want to look forward and, doug, i want to go to you on this. Obviously, some of these trump attacks are forcing jeb bush to sort of, you know, defend his brother. But when you look at some of these polls, the opinion of president george w. Bush, this was taken in may, among republicans, 88 favorable. Not to mention and listen, i was there at the Reagan Library during the Republican Debate where the line, jeb bush was saying, my brother kept us safe was a huge, huge applause line. You look at the audience, granted. But still, doug, how does this affect jeb bush moving forward . I think jeb has to square off on donald trump and defend his brother like hes doing. I mean, this is the heart and soul of any george w. Bush legacy is he kept the country safe after 9 11. Created Homeland Security and we didnt have another attack on his watch. Trump is muddying the waters here. I think jeb is passive towards donald trump, its going to look terrible. So he has to, i think, rachet it up even more and have the argument that hes starting to have that donald trump knows nothing about Foreign Policy. We can go back into history and blame every president for anything that happened on their watch. Its not helpful for how we go forward right now. Trump i think is going to alienate some republicans on taking this stance on 9 11 where he doesnt alienate them when he criticizes george w. Bush for the iraq war. All right. Doug, bernie, kurt, thank you very much. A reminder, donald trump will be on cnns new day tomorrow morning which starts at 67 oclock a. M. Eastern. When we come back, is joe biden about to up end this whole race . Well talk to a man who knows everything there is to know about the white house. Also, donald trump set to host saturday night live coming up and its going to be pretty tough for him to top this. We need a revolution millions of people on the tre s streets and weve got to do something and weve got to do it now. While youre watching this, im hacking your company. Grabbing your data. Stealing your customers secrets. Theres an army of us. Relentlessly unpicking your patchwork of security. Think youll spot us . You havent so far. The next wave of the internet requires the next wave of security. Were ready. Are you . The beautiful sound of customers making the most of their united flight. Power, wifi, and streaming entertainment. Thats. Seize the journey friendly. Alright team, weve got an f150, needs a systems check and tires. Doc, i need you on point for this one. Already got the latest updates direct from ford engineering. cause ford dealers get that intel first. Treads, what do you got . Lookin a little bald, sir. With all due respect. Got the perfect fit ready to roll. Wheels up, flaps down, lets fly. Ford parts. Ford tools. Ford techs. When your ford needs service, theres one elite team. These are the specialists. At ford. Will he or wont he . Democrats are waiting to Vice President joe biden to decide whether or not he will run for president. Joining me now, david axelrod, former Senior Adviser to president obama. David axelrod, nice to see you, sir. Hey, brooke, good to be here. Lets begin with joe biden. He has said perhaps its in his heart, not to run, you know, this go around. But as were reading the tea leaves and hearing all this lastminute reporting, it may be different. Do you still believe that . Yeah. I wouldnt i wouldnt put too much stock into the tea leaves. I think hes going through a aga genuine process. On the other hand, his personal knowledge of the toll that those races take on you and your family, hes aware of what hes been through and what his family has been through this year. And i think hes really weighing those. And i dont have a sense that the process has moved all that far along here. So im a little put me down as a skeptic yet. Okay. Youre still in the skeptic column. Well look back with you and see what happens over the course of the next couple of days. In the meantime, as we wait for potential news on that, the state of the democratic race here, this is the with or without joe biden if he jumps in. And you can see especially how Hillary Clinton would fare without joe biden in the race. Im wondering, as joe biden is mulling all of this, david, how much do you think he is really paying attention to the poll numbers . You know, he has to look at them. That has to be part of the assessment that hes making. Because i dont think he wants to get into a race that he doesnt think he can win. But i think a large part of it is just his feeling that if he runs it, its because he thinks he will be the be president , the best follow on to president obama and i think thats really whats driving him. So im not sure the poll numbers are hes not living and dying by the poll numbers here. But if you were giving him advice, if i was his adviser, i would say these polls are not hugely encouraging. Because Hillary Clinton is hanging on to about 45 of the vote. You see Bernie Sanders at close to 30. Thats 75 of the vote. Their supporters are pretty firm. So, you know, overcoming those obstacles is a challenge. So we just found out today he will be joining Hillary Clinton in iowa this weekend. How could bill clinton help her, how could he hurt her . I think its risky to appear with her at events. Ive said before, its hard to shine when youre standing next to the sun. Bill clinton is a louminiscent character. When youre the candidate, you dont want to be overshadowed elsewhere. I think bill clinton could be useful as a surrogate elsewhere. My sense is that is how he will largely be used. There is a big event in iowa coming up, which is the j. J. Dinner. Im sure that, you know, he will be expected to be there. But i think generally, i would say way from joint appearances and double my force by sending him elsewhere. I want to also ask you, david, weve been talking tonight about this whole back and forth, the attacking from donald trump against jeb bush and all on terrorist attacks against 9 11, insults, theyre flying. Do you think there is any seed of truth in what donald trump is saying . Do you see a winner yet in this debate . Well, at the very sort of objective level was george bush president when the 9 11 attack took place, Everybody Knows that is true, whether its fair to impute the attack to him is a different question. The real political question is what is the benefit for jeb bush to engage in this debate . Does he gain from it or does he not . I think that donald trump very cleverly has involved jeb bush in a backward looking debate that underscores the fact that hes kind of a legacy candidate in this race. And i think on balance, trump is going to benefit from this exchange. I have to ask you about this because i know mitt romney was with jake tapper over the weekend. You recently talked to mitt romney, as well. And he had mentioned to tapper that hes surprised not many more people are talking about Chris Christie in this whole president ial nomination. What did he tell you . We didnt really talk about christie. He was very tough on donald trump in that interview. And said that he felt that even if trump werent the nominee, that he may cast a shadow over whoever the nominee is with all this nativism about immigration and some of the other issues that hes raised. But in terms of christie, i think christie is getting traction, particularly in New Hampshire where hes spending a lot of time. He still yet hasnt had that scrutiny that comes with beagle excavated into the front ranks. And the new jersey the new jersey scandals are still something that hangs over him. Its hard for me to see him projecting himself into the front line of candidates. But i know that mitt romney has a relationship with him. He was the key note speaker at the last democratic convention. So they have a trrelationship. What you really seed are republicans kachting about madly looking for someone who can take on trump, carson and the sort of outsider populist antigovernment wing of the party. And they havent yet lit on the candidate they believe can overcome this outsider movement. They havent yet. All the outsiders still ranking so high. David axelrod, thank you so much. Thanks, brooke. Coming up next tonight as joe biden decides whether or not he will better st democratic race, how nasty could it go between him and Hillary Clinton . Well talk about that when we come back. Whatever youre doing, plan well and enjoy life. Or, as we say at unitedhealthcare insurance company, go long. Of course, how you plan is up to you. Take healthcare. Make sure youre covered for more than what just medicare pays. Consider an aarp Medicare SupplementInsurance Plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. The only Medicare Supplement plans that carry the aarp name, and the ones that millions of people trust year after year. Its about having the coverage you need. Plan well. Enjoy life. Go long. Alright team, weve got an f150, needs a systems check and tires. Doc, i need you on point for this one. Already got the latest updates direct from ford engineering. cause ford dealers get that intel first. Treads, what do you got . Lookin a little bald, sir. With all due respect. Got the perfect fit ready to roll. Wheels up, flaps down, lets fly. Ford parts. Ford tools. Ford techs. When your ford needs service, theres one elite team. These are the specialists. At ford. I have great credit. How do you know . Duh. Try credit karma. Its free and you can see what your score is right now. I just got my free credit score credit karma. Really free. Those diagnosed with cancer who explored their Treatment Options by getting a comprehensive Second Opinion at Cancer Treatment centers of america. Call today or go online to schedule your Second Opinion here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com joe biden is going to need to make a decision really soon. Which way will he go . Joining me now, matt lewis, columnist beast. Harry innington. Stevens, author of the last season and gabriel german. Wonderful having you all on tonight. Show of hand, fellas, who thinks biden is not going to go for it and run for president . Okay. The lone hold out. I feel like this is sesame street. Youre the one thats out there. Go ahead and tell me, harry, why the lone hold out . Because he hasnt declared yet. If he were to enter the race now, he would be the 11th latest entry for a serious candidate. We would be hearing over and over and over again that he may get in, that hes going to announce hes going to get in, that hes going to leak that hes going to announce hes getting in and he hasnt done it yet. For me, its just a matter of he hasnt announced yet, things are getting very light. Until he does it, im going to say no, hes not going to get in. Gave, i want to talk about your piece that he wrote saying, quote, were already months into the biden campaign. Tell me why you think that. I think the whole point is that were looking at this the wrong way. Its not whether joe biden will get into the race. It is how. He is clearly already running for president. He is doing all the things that president ial candidates do. He is positioning himself within the Democratic Party as earth the alternative to Bernie Sanders or the alternative to Hillary Clinton. Whats the hold up . Well, the hold up is really what i think is its really whats the path . And one clear path is whether Hillary Clinton stumbles. And that is why i think biden ultimately becomes an official county and not a shadow candidate, its going to be an incredibly messy race. His campaign will be predicated on the argument that he is more electable than Hillary Clinton bec