Later this month. Did the network and the Republican Party get strong armed by two of its leading k d candidates. It says neither mr. Trump or dr. Carson will participate in the debate if its longer than 120 minutes and does not include opening and closing statements. In other words, nice little debate you have here. Be a shame if something happened to it. Ill talk about how this all went down. The Communications Director and chief strategist for the Republican National economy. Good to see you this morning. Lets get into the debate. Theres a debate playing out on sunday morning tv. Amazingly its over the topic of 9 11. Here is what we heard this morning from jeb bush and donald trump on the sunday morning shows. Does anybody blame my brother for the attacks on 9 11 . If they do they are totally marginalizing our society. Im not blaming him but i dont want jeb bush to say my brother kept us safe. 14 years after that terrible day, did you ever imagine the rnc would be having this intra Party Debates about the attacks . We want them talking positively about where to take this country and to stop littuate gaiting the past and each other and focus on what they will do as each other. Youre agreeing this is not what the rnc had in mind . I would say this is one little spat. I think all of them, theres been several. On the republican side we believe its much more helpful, much more beneficial in the long run if were focusing on why were better and why our candidates are better . Does the party have any idea o about whether former president George W Bush should be given any blame for the people that died that day. Do you mean after 9 11 . Do you mean starting on 9 12 . Absolutely. When this country was attacked george bush did everything he could to keep the safe forward. I dont believe hes blaming him for 9 11. I think we can all agree that president bush, regardless if youre republican or democrat did everything to protect this country before 9 11 and definitely after. We talked about some of the worst weve seen within the gop. Yuled for no more na you call more name calling. Do you think thats been igno ignored . It hasnt been completely followed. Doesnt mean were not going to keep pushing for it. Youre reiterating that this morning . I think when chamber reiterates that. Theyre going to run their own campaign but our job is to do whats best for the party and try to make sure we put ourselves in the best possible position to win next november. That bring us us to the next debate. Take us behind the scenes a bit. These private negotiations about how long a debate will be and the format spill out into public view this week. What was the ultimate conclusion about the debate . Every single one of these debates takes about five years off my life in terms of the negotiations. Theres a back and forth with the rnc advocates for things that the candidates wants and tries to work with the network to help collectively take care of that. That was the case this time. Its back an forth. Cnbc has been committed to having great debate. They had some tweets they wanted to implement. The candidates felt it was important to have an opportunity both at the beginning and end of the debate. We worked with cnbc back and forth. We came to an agreement. With respect to the timing when cnbc announced this debate in september 28th, they said very explicitly it would be a twohour debate. What the debate about that was is there was a question whether that two hours would include commercial breaks. Several of the candidates felt like the last debate had gone on too long and so they wanted to ensure it was two hours of total time. We were able to work with cnbc to get that as well. I feel good about how the rnc handled this on behalf of the candidates and well have a great debate on cnbc. The last debate was three hours long. Almost all the viewers stayed. Isnt it good for viewers, voters to have longer debates, not shorter . I think its a formula. Its not just a question of timing. Its how many candidates are on stage. In the case of the Reagan Library its what people dont see necessarily off camera is the room was rather hot. The candidates it was late in the evening. It was a west coast debate. Its not just, you cant say this is the time that makes sense. Each debate has to get negotiated in itself. Its a balancing act between interest of all the people involved. Last question. I heard the candidates arent polling as well. Can you tell us why National Polls are determining factor for who is on the main stage for the next debate . Thats a really good question. Theres a couple reasons. Number one theres very few consistent early state polls. When you look at iowa, theres only three thats been done and not consistent so youve got maybe two in New Hampshire, one in South Carolina. One of the things thats interesting about a lot of these candidates who want early state polling is they dont want early state polling. They want specific early state polling. Someone might say i want iowa included or only iowa and New Hampshire or i want just South Carolina or South Carolina and New Hampshire. If you want just early state polling which would be the four states iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and nevada. That yields a different scenario to where we are now. When the candidates talk about including state polling theyre not necessarily saying we want all early state polling. They are only saying they want early state polling that benefits them. What a fascinating job you have to see how as we everything this campaign is not following the rules. New rules are being created by trump and the others and in this case private negotiations going public. Thanks for being here this morning. You bet. Let me bring in Armstrong Williams now. Heist carsons business manager. Thanks for being here. Good morning. I want who hear how this debate situation went down. It seemed as if the rnc caved from the demands from outsider candidates to have a shorter debate. Is that how you perceive what happened . Life is about compromise. Its about taking everybody interests into consideration. If the network, the rnc and ultimately the candidates. What many people dont realize is that the candidates are not really involved in the negotiations and rarely are their staff. We find out about it maybe a week or two before the debate and they send us the rules and guidelines. It was quite clear before that the threehour debate was very exhausting, very tiring. It appears as if the beginning of the debate especially with jake tapper and cnn it was an attack. It was almost a comedy. We dont feel it was okay. You say wait a minute, obviously, somebody is doing a very good job of protecting her brand and the rnc should do the same. It starts with the length of the debate and dr. Carson and many of the candidates we feel its important they have opening and closing statements. We exprezzed concerns to the rnc and cnbc. It all worked out. Nbc universal sources say they are trying to charge 250,000 for these ad packages around the debate. Its an extraordinary number for an advertisement on a cable news channel. Were expecting extraordinary ratings for this next debate. Do you and dr. Carson have any discomfort with the Idea Networks like cnn and cnbc and fox news profit off these debates and charge so much for adds . Remember, im his business manager. We dont have a problem with capitalism. People make money as long as legal, moral and ethical. We dont pliend. It costs a lot of money. Its a lot of sacrifice and its the american way to make money. If they make a profit all well and good. In the process of doing that make sure the candidates are not exploited ar or exhausted in the process. My source says they are seeing Strong Demand from advertisers taking advantage of the big audience of this next debate and thats because of these outsider candidates like your candidate and donald trump. Thank you so much for being here this morning in. Thank you for having me. Up next, a reality check about the democratic debate with carl bernstein. Later, you look at the headlines and they say who won or lost but are they worth the pixels they are written on. Stay with us. Its more than a network and the cloud. Its reliable uptime. And multilayered security. Its how you stay connected to each other and to your customers. 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Our senior medicare patrol volunteers are teaching seniors across the country to stop, spot and report fraud. You can help. Guard your medicare card. Dont give out your card number over the phone. Call to report any suspected fraud. Were cracking down on medicare fraud. Lets make medicare stronger for all of us. Welcome back. Political reporters are waiting, waiting for joe biden, tracking his every move and begging sources for intel about whether he will run for president. The sentiment is from the talking heads. It was the highest rated democratic debate ever. That broke cnns prior record of 8. 3 million set back in 2008 and surpassed the Overall Record for the dems. They had 15. 3 Million Viewers. Those numbers were jaw dropping. The gop debates had 25 Million Viewers thanks to donald trump. It says the halo effect is helping the democrats too getting more people to Pay Attention to the election. If the ratings were sky high and the talking heads all say clinton won, this is great news for her, right . My next guest is not so sure. Carl bernstein, the author of many books, including the clinton biography, a woman in charge. You feel its masking an underlying problem for her. I think it was her greatest moment for her up until the debate. I dont think that a reset button was successfully hit. Were still back to these basic questions about her truthfulnestruthfulness about the server, the foundation, the fbi investigation. Its all one story thats not going to go away. Was it her best moment . Absolutely. You say its all one story. Often times in the press in these days of headlines things come, things go. Youre saying theres all one big story that everything ties into. Theres the question of what we saw hillary at her best. Her competence, her readiness to be president. Her kplancommand of the issues e get back to her difficult relationship to the truth. Easy questions about what happened and should have been able to be recited about what really happened. This doesnt go away. Its a huge issue for the republicans to hit on and its one of the reasons joe biden is considering running because he understanding where shes weak. What are you hearing about biden in the process. Then again weve been talk about this since june. I talked to people talking to him over the weekend. Its family decision. A family, his family has to be all behind it according to these people and they are meeting again. I think they are very close to a decision. He wants to run. The question is can the whole family be up for this and enthusiastic the way they need to be after the tragedy thats occurred. They also see this opportunity did not exist until weve seen hillary cbeing weakened by whats happened. We have the benghazi this week and shes going to murder them. It has been a witch hunt. Its great opportunity for her. This story goes on. Distrust, big factor. We remember this image were seeing now in a prior testimony about benghazi. This week coming up well see her again. I suspect its going to be live to wall on cable news. Do you think that the press has paid enough attention to these looming issues around clintons candidacy. What happened too much attention. I think this committee is an ill legitimate force and shes correct about that. Sgr whe where are 15 Million Viewers coming from . From fox. They are there to watch Hillary Clinton stumble and fall and to attack her. This was not just democratic friends watching this debate. It has a big republican audience. The ratings reminded me that clinton is a giant celebrity and sometimes journalist may not fully appreciate that. They have been covering her for decades. They might be tierped of writing about her. To folks in the country, shes an a list celebrity. Now donald trump is running for the nomination. You have the ultimate celebrity clash. Its a cultural moment and we need to be looking at it in terms of celebrity culture reality tv. Its hard to stay focused on real issues. Last question is about biden. It was suggested hes already running. Hes been running for months and he wants us to think hes not decided yet. What do you make ooft possibility to appear hes not running when he is running . I think he wants to run. I think hes not reached that final decision but i think well see it in a matter of hours or a few days. Its great story for the press. The press nothings more than a will he or want he story. Got to deep all these elements together, server, biden, trust, trump, all one story. We got to keep these connections. Its very important. Love that point. Thank you for sharing that. I know youve within following the story of the jailed journalist. We covered it last week and i have nothing new to tell you this morning. There was a verdicts in the case. The authorities in iran say hes been found guilty but havent said what his sentence is. Post says an appeal is under way. While he remains in limbo, one of his colleagues started this sketch as a protest to his unjust imprisonment. Hes keeping track of every day jason remains behind bars. Well try to keep you up to date on that story. Were changing gears and talking about a story that says a lot about print is waning while the internet wins. Hustler magazine publisher after the break. [music] defiance is in our bones. New citracal pearls. Delicious berries and cream. Soft, chewable, calcium plus vitamin d. Only from citracal. [ screaming ] rate suckers [ bell dinging ] your Car Insurance goes up because of their bad driving. People try all sorts of ways to get rid of them. [ driver panting ] if youre sick of paying more than your fair share. [ screams ] get snapshot from progressive, and see just how much your good driving could save you. Big day . Ah, the usual. Moved some new cars. Hauled a bunch of steel. Kept the supermarket shelves stocked. Made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. Whats up for the next shift . Ah, nothing much. Just keeping the lights on. laugh nice. Doing the big things that move an economy. See you tomorrow, mac. See you tomorrow, sam. Just another day at norfolk southern. We figure you probably dont have time to wait on hold. Thats why at xfinity were hard at work, building new apps like this one that lets you choose a time for us to call you. So instead of waiting on hold, well call you when things are just as wonderful. [phone ringing] but a little less crazy. Were doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. Because we should fit into your life. Not the other way around. I think people stopped by shocked by playboy magazines photos a long time ago. The magazine shocked the world by announcing its covering up, eliminating fully nude photos in a couple months. Sex still sells but not nearly as much as it used to. Its dropped from 5. 6 million to under 800,000 today. We all know where people are seeing the pictures. Its online instead of print. The magazine needs to broaden its appeal to readers and advertisers. Its removed nude photos from its website. We havent made a profit on the magazine for more than a decade. When i came in six years ago it was losing over a Million Dollars an issue. It still loses money. We have over 750,000 readers every single month. We have a loyal reader base that still prefers print. Having said that our digital audience is much larger and the future of the company will be more digital. The obvious question to ask is do people really read playboy for the articles . Joining me to talk about that is the founder of hustler magazine. Larry, youre no stranger to controversial public decisions. Do you believe thats smart decision for this magazine . I knew he was getting old but i didnt know he lost his mind. Lost his mind, you say. How . How you take the most important feature in your magazine and drop it . What it became notorious for. They need to change their financial blueprint. They have always approached playboy from an artistic point of view because hefners background is an artist. When you lose revenue, you got to cut your fixed cost. To give you an e