Seven or eight months ago as i recall. So far as i know, it had nothing to do with any kind of hostage swap or any other tit for tat. But donald trump warned that his opponent represents four more years of the same. We got our hostages back, and now we find out what we actually paid for the hostages, and it was in cash, which is terrible because that sets a terrible, terrible precedent. And its just sickening. And youll have four more years of obama if you elect Hillary Clinton. Joining the panel this week, wall street journal columnist and deputy editor, dan henninger, and columnist bret stevens. Maherian na Stacia Ogrady and bill mcgurn. So, bret, old news . Oh, no, its new and very interesting news because the Obama Administration never admitted back in january that they had sent 400 million in pallets of euros, swiss francs, to tehran in order to get those hostages released on the day they were released. This is fantastic reporting from our colleagues on the news side of the wall street journal. But they say that currency was simply to a technical matter, the foreign currency, because they couldnt use dollars in any transactions without violating the sanctions laws and that this was just part of this larger transaction. Whats the evidence, in fact, that it was ransom . Well, theres the incredible coincidence of timing. And weve had saeed abedini, who was one of the hostages, an american pastor who told fox news that he was sitting in the airport talking to an Iranian Intelligence officer, saying, why are we waiting to be released . And the answer from the intelligence agent was, were waiting for a plane to arrive. Presumably that plane was the plane with the pallets of cash. So the Obama Administration may deny until its blue in the face this was ransom, but thats not the way it looked to the iranian government. The iranian government did seem to believe, mary, that it was ransom because they have since taken three more hostages. And now are demanding even more money. Well, not only that, going back to that moment, the iranian government u. S. Officials admitted that the iranian government, even though they were separately negotiating the hostages to the iran nuclear deal, admitted that iran wanted some cash in exchange for the hostages. So they could show something tangible. You got to be able to put the money in the middle of the table and say we got it. Exactly. But theres also a pattern here. I mean if you go back to what happened between the Obama Administration and cuba, we had an american being held by the cubans, alan gross. The u. S. Wanted him back, and what happened . There was an exchange. Congress would not have allowed it, but president obama allowed four spies to be released. And in conjunction with that, he also opened more travel with the island, and we got alan gross back. So this is the president s pattern of going around congress to get done what he wants to do. And we dont know how the money was used. Cia director john brennan said the money theyre getting is being used for relatively benign things. Theyve also said before they know iran supports terrorism. The president s statement, we do not pay ransom for hostages is the obama version of, i did not have sex with that woman. I mean the iranians believe it was ransom. At least one hostage believes it was ransom. And his own department of justice seemed to believe that it looked and smelled a lot like ransom. They were warning about it. Although there isnt any sense that this is actually illegal, bret. Look, the money was basically money that was held over from a failed 1979 arms deal with the shah of iran. Mike mukasey pointed out in our pages the other day that, no, its not illegal, but it sets a dreadful precedent because the iranians have been in the business of taking hostages in exchange for money or political favors since the beginning of the Islamic Republic 38 years ago. Dan, despite the claims that the president made, i mean a lot of his defenders would say, look, whether or not it was ransom, get over it. This is something that if you wanted to get our people back, you had to do. Besides, if we didnt do it, the Iranian Nuclear deal wasnt going to happen. Therefore, this had to be done. It doesnt look pretty, but so what. Yeah, well i guess what were finding is not only is money fungible, but the facts are fungible as well. And as to the idea that we had to do this to get this invaluable nuclear deal with iran, one of the points which was to draw iran closer to the western sphere so we could have a relationship with iran. Well, how is that working, paul . Both the iranian and the Russian Press have been reporting recently that next week, Vladimir Putin and the iranian president are going to have a meeting in azerbaijan to discuss a military relationship. The Russian Ambassador in iran has been defending irans recent missile test as not a violation of the Nuclear Agreement and been touting the new military relationship between iran and russia. This is not the direction that that nuclear deal was supposed to take us in, but thats where were going. Briefly, bret, what about these next hostages, the new hostages . There are three of them. Theyve been taken since the deal. Yes. And theyre now demanding more money. Yes. In 2009, victims of iraniansponsored terrorism won a settlement to impound 2 billion worth of iranian money. The Supreme Leader is now saying that we want to get that money, and of course more hostages will be taken in the future inevitably. And they will not return unless we ante up. Exactly. You can expect the Obama Administration or likely the Clinton Administration to do it. All right. Thank you all. Still ahead, after a rocky weeks, allies are urging donald trump to get back on message. So can he . Our panel weighs in after the break. The campaign is doing really well. Its never been so well united. Well. Its never been so well united. Gary, gary, gary. I am proud of you, my man. Making simple, smart cash back choices. With quicksilver from capital one. Youre earning unlimited 1. 5 cash back on every purchase, everywhere. Like on that new laptop. Quicksilver keeps things simple, gary. And smart, like you and i like that. I guess i am pretty smart. Dont let that go to your head, gary. Whats in your wallet . One of many pieces in my i havlife. Hma. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine. I talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. Oncedaily breo prevents asthma symptoms. 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Republican leaders urging donald trump to get back on track following a rocky week that included a fight with the muslim parents of a slain u. S. Soldier, not to mention members of his own party. Former House SpeakerNewt Gingrich called trumps behavior selfdestructive and had this advice for the gop nominee. He has to take a deep breath. I think he has the potential to win the election. I think he has the potential to be a historical present. But to do that, he has got to grow into the side of the job and not get stuck where he has been, which frankly over the last week, i think has been very disheartening to most of his supporters. The controversies could be taking a toll with the latest fox news poll showing Hillary Clinton opening up a tenpoint lead in the race for president. Were back with dan hennen ger, mary ogrady and bill mcgurn. Joe ray go also joins the panel. Dan, when Newt Gingrich, who has been kind of the unofficial trump translator for the Republican Party, when he critici criticizes, donald trump, you know things are going badly. How bad is it . Well, its quite bad. I mean we had the fox poll. Hes down by ten points. In the wall street journal poll, hes down by ten points. And in the maris poll, hes down by 15 points. That is not going in the right direction. As Newt Gingrich says, he has all that potential. I think this is whats troubling Trump Supporters. Paul ryan said he won the primaries fair and square. He defeated 16 other candidates. Donald trump has this extraordinary gift for connecting to the American People or to some segment of them. He has a charisma that you simply cant buy. But bothering his supporters is why is he using that to attack people like the khans or even john mccain and not using it to take on Hillary Clinton . That is the main bout. Hes got these gifts. He should be using them against his opponent. What is this telling us, his behavior of the last week . He said the election may be rigged. I mean its extraordinary for a president ial candidate to basically tell the American People that the election might be stolen from them. Thats the kind of thing you hear in thirdworld countries. What is this telling us about trump as a candidate . Well, the main force of his effectiveness in the primaries was to talk to people as if hes on their side and that the establishment everything concerning the establishment is against them. So the idea that the election is rigged is an extension of that way of thinking, and he believes that that is why hes where he is today. So he wants to continue playing it. Also, i think his big problem is hes blaming the media. Again, he thinks that has resonance with the american public, but hes bringing this on himself because hes making it about himself, and hes missing all these opportunities to talk about jobs and the economy and terrorism and instead it always comes back to donald trump and how someone picked on him and how the media is against him. And that just doesnt have a lot of resonance with the broader public. Bill, ive been talking to Trump Supporters, some of his advisers, and what they say is, look, hes got to get on message. Right. This is a change election. The countrys unhappy. They want a change. Right. Hes got to make the case against obamas policies and clintons poll citizen and say, i can bring that change. And here are three or four ideas that i think will help make your life better and make america safer. Its just that simple. Right. Why wont he do it . Look, i think because hes not disciplined. This week i wrote a column likening him to the little rock coach who is always on offense. The High School Coach . The High School Coach who never never punts. Its a great offense, and he has the stats. But donald trump, to do that offense, you dont send your linemen after your own people or in the standing or something. You know, you got to direct it at the opponent. And what you mentioned is theres a lot of material for him to work with. The 1. 2 economy, the hillary emails, now the iranian deal. And hes giving mrs. Clinton a free pass. But worse than this, her best line at the convention, i think, was a man you can bait with a tweet is not someone you want to trust with nuclear weapons. So the worst thing about this is its playing to her portrayal of him as unhinged. So its not just that hes missing the stories that he could be doing. Hes confirming the way shes trying to paint him, and the polls, you know, at least for the moment seem to bear her out. And his politics, joe, is so personal. Its all about donald. Right. Democrats want to make this a referendum on donald trump, and donald trump seems thrilled that democrats want to talk about his favorite subject, which of course is donald trump. Thats just who he is. And before people who say were being unfair to trump, i mean if you look at the transcript. Washington post interview he gave this week, it was probably, i dont know, 30 minutes, 40 minutes. It was there was not on idea in there. There was not a policy in there. You dont see the trump people defending him on this. No, you dont. Like gingrich, its an important statement when someone like Newt Gingrich comes out like this because hes a trump supporter. Whats worrying is this is not the first time this message was delivered to him. He doesnt seem capable of changing. I want to hold on to the idea that perhaps he can, but hes heard this over and over and over again, and he doesnt respond. Who does he listen to, joe . I think he listens to paul manafort. I think he listens to a variety of his children . His kids. But does he listen to them enough, and can he stay focused on message . Theres only 100 days left. Right. Theres fewer. Can he stay on message . Maybe. I mean he just has to talk about things he talks about instead of the other things that he talks about. I mean he has raised some of these themes, and he actually he had a good fundraising month in july. So there is potential here if he can sort of steer himself in a more constructive direction. Thank you all. Still ahead, forget Hillary Clinton. Donald trump is taking on his fellow republicans . What the continuing feud signals about a broader conservative divide when we come back. Nals about a broader conservative divide when we come back. vo pro plan bright mind adult 7 promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. ray the difference has been incredible. She is much more aware. She wants to learn things. vo purina pro plan bright mind. Nutrition that performs. Donald trump ramped up his feud with fellow republicans this week, but after a contentious week of fighting within the Republican Party and in a surprising turn of events, the gop nominee decided late friday to endorse House Speaker paul ryan. Ryan is facing a primary challenge on tuesday from wisconsin businessman paul kneelen, who trump recently thanked in a tweet. So correct me if im wrong, mary, hes running against Hillary Clinton, not his fellow republicans. He won that battle. Why would he pick a feud like this . Right. I mean hes complaining about members of his own party, but if we go back to the convention, you have paul ryan, scott walker, you know, a number of republicans coming to his support. They were there. They supported theyve said he won fair and square, and so well support him. Right. But he believes again that all of his momentum in this is being against the establishment. So anybody who is not on his side has to be branded as a member of the establishment and has to be crushed. And without that, what does he have to offer . Nothing. Well, dan, i mean ryan basically has endorsed him, but ryan has said his endorsement doesnt necessarily mean he cant take issue with trump from time to time on subjects and thats what he did with his criticism of the khans, for example. I mean its not endorsement doesnt mean a vow of silence. Right. So why but heres the thing. Why does trump just not ignore that and move on . Well, hes marching to his own drummer, and everyone in politics has to march to their own drummer, paul. And these are politicians running for reelection all across the United States. The rule of thumb, as we all know, is that at the top of the ticket like in these state senate elections, if the top of the ticket, donald trump, falls more than five points behind his opponent, its very hard for these senators to compete. In the current wbur poll in new hampshire, kelly ayotte has fallen ten points behind her opponent, governor maggie hassan. Thats a stunning loss for ayotte who now has to decide whether to stick with trump or decouple. Pat toomey is facing the same thing in pennsylvania . His race against katie mcginty. Hes trying to struggle to decide whether he should stay with trump or go off on his own and basically follow his conscience. All of these candidates are now trying to figure out whether donald trump is running as an independent candidate and they are on their own, or whether they should associate with mr. Trumps candidacy. Joe, youve been following the paul ryan primary on wisconsin, which is coming up on tuesday. Whats going on there . And i know ive read that a lot of money from outside the state is coming in against ryan. How associated is this moment with trump himself . Its certainly part of the trump movement. I dont know how much its personally affiliated with donald trump. But some of his supporters, for sure. A lot of his supporters. A lot of his former staffers are helping out paul kneelen. Hes getting laura ingraham, breitbart. Com. All the trump media organizations are all pulling for kneelen. Look, trump hes not a policy man, all right . Right. But a lot of his supporters are. What they want to do is they want to purge the ryan wing of the Republican Party, and this is based on what issues . Trade, immigration, national security. I would say those are the big trump themes. If you are a Republican Party that purges the ryan wing, you really dont have a Republican Party. Look, i slightly disagree with joe. Im not sure its as driven by issues. Trumps whole theme is im the antiestablishment guy, and when i hear from Trump Supporters when they write, they lump everyone in. And, look, in politics we know these people have big egos. Oftentimes party