Well be back tomorrow. Sayonara. Coming up, hardball with Chris Matthews. The charge of the trump brigade. Lets play hardball. Good evening. Im Chris Matthews in washington. Donald trumps cavalry is taking to the field against Hillary Clinton. Its boots and saddles with the bugle calling charge. The only question is which direction. Will trump head back to his winning message of standing up for the country, the nationalist and populist excitement that won him all the primaries . Can he focus his attention on Hillary Clinton . Can somebody keep trump, trump . The phenomenal figure who did defeat every rival to win the republican nomination . Tonight, we have as our lead guest, the somebody trump picked himself to do just that. His Brand New Campaign manager, kellyanne conway. Thanks for joining us. Heres the question. You probably have a lot on your mind but the question i have tonight is how do you do it . You have so many weeks between now right to the finish, you got to turn this baby around, you got to remind everybody why they like trump, get him back to 5050 where he was pretty much before the conventions and get a majority. How do you do it . Sounds like youre in our strategy meetings. You are exactly right. Thats part of our focus. Im glad you added something to how does he do it and you talked about getting him to be trump again, the person that 50 of the country went for. Its important that he be authentic. I think we see with Hillary Clinton what happens when you try to be something youre not. This guy has to feel comfortable had he when hes out there on the trail. Its a combination of things. Its taking this campaign away from contentfree conversation into a debate on the issues. We feel the issues benefit us. When he talks about radical islamic terrorism or terrorism
on monday, when he talks about middle class tax relief last week, when he takes his debate right into the communities of color on tuesday and challenges Hillary Clinton to show why and how after decades in public service, some of these measurements are not any better for all of us in our inner cities, then why should we have more of that. I believe when he takes the case right to Hillary Clinton, he looks at it as a tennis match, lobbing, lobbing, lobbing at her, not picking a fight with the ref, not booing the crowd, and he focuses that way hes able to do two things. Hes able to be himself stylistically, hes able to be trump and authentically, yet hes able to move this conversation into a general election contrast with Hillary Clinton. We have two new ads going into rotation this week, our first major ad buy as a campaign. Its contrast. Heres what Hillary Clinton said, heres what were saying. You make the choice. How do you talk to him . Maybe you cant tell me this. We will talk years from now about how it worked out. I dont buy this theres been a problem of trump being trump. I think the problem is he has not always been trump. Hes gotten involved in side fights with the khan family. You and i know, getting fights with megyn kelly didnt help him, having the thing with me about women having abortion should be punished. How do you discipline a guy worth 11 billion . He says youre not worth the kind of money im making, how can you tell me what to do . Is he willing to be helped to be himself . The part that wins . Its a great question. First of all, hes never talked to me that way. He listens and he hears a bunch of us, a multitude of counselors and im very happy to report that donald trump promoted a woman to his Campaign Manager. I think it says a lot about him. First time. Thats right. First time for the republicans. Thank you. And three wonderful women, by the way, on the democratic side, susan, donna and beth, all of whom i respect a great deal. Im very happy to be in that small class with them. The way we do it is not telling him my approach is not to tell him what to do and who to
be. He dont ask a pollster for focus Group Results about how to say this or that word. Thats actually very refreshing to a professional pollster. What i do is present him with information and basically i said to him if you want to win, theres a path. This is one of the easiest races you and i have ever seen. Correct . We have two very complex candidates and a very simple almost binary choice between them. Is she going to own obamacare, the Affordable Care act and take it a little further, lwill it b single pair . What does she think about aetna pulling out this week and United Health care doing it for 1. 5 billion in losses. I agree with you but youre not running against obama. I want to know what will she do with the Affordable Care act. Does she think its working. We want to take it to a substantive debate. I know you will go there with us. Thats an important point to make. Thats confounding news aetna is pulling out. No way to have a plan when the Major Companies arent
participating under the plan. Lets ask the question focusing on hillarys health. Theres been this disconcerting unpleasant focus on hillarys health and stamina. That is something thats really part of this campaign . Lets watch. She doesnt really do that much. She will give a speech on teleprompter and then she will disappear, i dont know if she goes home and goes to sleep. I think she sleeps. Importantly, she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on isis and all of the many adversaries we face. Well, hes been doing it, did it again last night in a recorded comment. Why is that relevant . Many things are relevant the health of the other candidate, why is that a focus of your candidate . They think that his tax returns are so relevant so both of their health is not relevant but i will say this. I think theyre both relevant. Is there a Health Problem of hillarys . I have no idea. He keeps saying she has a Health Problem. I have no idea because im not a doctor. Let me make that very clear. Hes not either. I want to Say Something about that. Somehow, she and senator warren and the whole lot of them at the Democratic Convention where we were in our hometown of philly together, somehow its okay for them to insult this guy six ways to sunday every chance they get and if he shoots back with one comment, its look at him, hes attacking a woman, taking on her health. Have you seen the way they speak about him . Listen, i would lay it all down tomorrow if she actually wants to have a debate on the issues because she cant. She cant defend the millions more in poverty, the fact that 81 of the country feels less safe than they did a few years ago. She cant defend against obamacare. She cant defend against the fact she pretends shes here to help people in our communities and yet is against Charter Schools and School Choice which frankly has helped so many hispanic and africanamerican students right here in new york and elsewhere in this country. I put it all aside if she actually would come out of hiding and have a debate on the
issues. I want to Say Something else. There will be debates, wont there . There will be debates. Oh, absolutely. Three of them. Record ratings, right, i think we will all be very excited for those debates. You can see as the Campaign Manager there will be three, right . There will be the big hour and a half debates, right . They will happen . Yes. Just take a look. An hour ago, news here, Trump Campaign spokeswoman, katrina pearson, said Hillary Clinton had a condition called d dysphasia. Heres what she said. He has said she doesnt have the strength or the stamina for a very long time. That part is nothing new. Whats new are the other reports of the observations of Hillary Clintons behavior and mannerisms specifically with what you just showed in those previous clips as well as her dysphagia. We are not doctors. Your candidate is not a doctor. But your people are putting out
the word theres you have seen this. You see how politics works. You put out the word theres something wrong with the guy or the woman and the people start buzzing about it. Is this a tactic you appreciate, that you like . Oh, i dont like it as much as just taking her on on the issues and taking her on on her record. I think its very relevant today that the Clinton Foundation said if in fact shes elected president they would stop taking money from foreign entities. Why do we have to wait that long . Are they admitting some kind of guilt there . Its more relevant to talk about the fact that just today the state department confirmed the 400 million paid to iran was quote, for leverage which of course to lots of americans means ransom no matter how people want to wordsmith it. Talk about pay for play. I think there are so many things you got a good point there. Dont bury your lead. Thats a very good point. Until now, they have been denying linkage. Now they are admitting linkage. The 400 million and hostages getting out and everybody is going you said there was no
linkage. Lets take a look at something youre pretty good at before you got this big title. Congratulations on the career opportunity. This is history you are actually the first woman to run a republican president ial campaign. You know pennsylvania. Most recent nbc wall street journal poll up there, marist poll, Hillary Clinton is leading donald trump among women voters by 25 points. Now, down in florida, hes got a 40 point lead among white men. This is a strange election, almost like women here, white men here, all over the place. I dont like talking like its apartheid land but it is like that. What will do you about women in pennsylvania . I think he needs pennsylvania. Thats my judgment. It may be yours. No question. We are fighting hard for pennsylvania. Its one of the five states where we are starting our first ads, a state where the last couple president ial candidates did not fare well in at all. Wasnt even close. We are competing there and i want to talk to americas women. We will compete on health care, on education, on economic prosperity, on National Security and Homeland Security and many different issues that women care
about. I have to tell you im already so thrilled that we have heard so little about quote, womens issues this cycle. Why . Because we believe at the Trump Campaign that all issues are womens issues. I have never not once in 28 years of being a pollster heard the phrase mens issues. Theres a reason for that. Everybody thinks men can talk about all the issues but we are supposed to only talk about a couple of few. Whats really dynamic about female voters is how many different issues they are putting into the cauldron. The numbers you showed where Hillary Clinton is among 55 at women in pennsylvania, we want to earn their votes and speak to women directly. I still am confounded how the first female president ial candidate nominee is not doing better among women. If donald trump really is this awful person who took the wings off of butterflies as they say every day, how is she not at 65 . Why arent women excited to vote for we live in the same universe. Last night when ron reagan said your candidate was a sociopath, i dont like that either. But as a woman, you are also a
republican, all the things, we are all complicated, what did you think in march when i interviewed your candidate and he said women should be punished for having abortions . What did you think when he got in that fight with megyn kelly . I dont think anybody is an innocent here. He with all in the field. Theres no good guy and bad guy but what do you think when you heard his comments . Didnt you think this guy has to get an education . He needs to be taught some things. When you talk to him about abortion i was very disappointed and expressed it at the time for a very simple reason. Im prolife and proudly prolife. The prolife community has worked hard for decades to make very clear we dont believe in punishing the woman. I know you dont. We dont look at her as the perpetrator at all. Let me make that very clear. I think it comes from, i think it was a very Fair Assessment but i think it comes from him not being this focus group polished politician. Hes prolife and has said so and said much like Many Americans that he came to that opinion over time. Maybe in his adult years through a very personal experience, hes told the story many times publicly. So when i hear things like that,
i hear i want to introduce him to members of the prolife community, leaders who have toiled for years to make sure we feel there are two victims of abortion. The woman is not a perpetrator. Number two, talk about crisis presenti pregnancy centers. We can agree they do fabulous work. I want to be part of a party that says women facing unplanned pregnancy deserve our compassion and support, not our judgment and condemnation and we can all support that woman in her unplanned pregnancy. I have discussed this our church does that. What about donald trump and women . 25 point gap in pennsylvania. I think its fair to say that by the way, todays the anniversary, the anniversary today of the 19th amendment having passed. I know we all agree thats a really good thing. That was passed after world war i that women can vote. Some states allowed women to vote before that. I didnt know that. Everybody has a right to vote
now. Whats your pitch for donald trump for women . Theyre listening right now. A lot of them moderate, lot of progressive, some conservatives are watching right now. What do you want to tell them about why they may have been wrong about trump . I want to tell them two things. In practical terms, i want to tell them this is a man who promoting a woman without mentioning the gender of the voters either. This is someone who has a history of promoting women on their merits. You see in the trump corporation, you heard from people like the wonderful lynn patton who worked for him for a number of years, his daughter ivanka obviously is testament, she talked about all the women hes promoted. You should judge people by their actions not just their words on a Political Campaign trail. Number two, on the issues, he does not think obamacare is going well. We women are the chief Health Care Officers of hoour househol. We tend to be the majority not just of consumers but providers. We are the Home Health Care aides, 90 of nurses, we are a growing number of pharmacists and physicians. So lots of women out there still have great concern about obamacare which the Affordable Care act which should be also we know security is a huge issue this time. Yes, its National Security and holand security, terrorism, no doubt but also job security. Its every day affordability. He should take his message of every day affordability and say Hillary Clinton, you have been in political life for decades, how can you really say to women they are better off now and should have four more years of whats happened, we have millions of women in poverty, we have people who feel less safe, really take the case to her and ask women if they want a change maker or more of the same. Its a very simple construct. You have 270 electoral votes in your head . I do. We do. I have one thats got us at 284, one thats got us at 270 plus. Not a lot to spare. Not a lot to spare. Pennsylvania in there . Yes, it is. It is in there. So i got to cut off. I would love to have you come back because you are a big get now. You have become a big get. Heres the thing. Heres the thing. A lot of people think what trump is doing now in bringing you aboard and bannon aboard, the two new leaders of the campaign, what hes really going to do is like ted kennedy did when he knew he was losing, he gave his georgetown speech. He wanted to go out with a bang. Im going to lose this thing but im going out and letting everybody know where i stand. Is this to win or create a big bang on the way out the door . Im there to win it. I can tell you that. I walk around trump tower every day in our Campaign Headquarters and everybody in there is there to win it from the fabulous volunteers we have all the way up to the candidate himself. I think this week he seems very buoyant and one conversation i had with him last week which im sure people he doesnt mind me sharing, i told him how remarkable it is that millions and millions of people actually who always say i hate politicians, i want somebody who is outside of politics to run, yet they never really vote for
that person. We have third party candidates, people saying im a businessman. Hes been able to actually build a movement. And people have relied upon him for 14 months and hes got to see it through, got to do it for them. They are relying on him to do it. No, this is a guy who doesnt like to lose. We know if you look at the polling, one thing is very clear. There are a lot of people in this country who have decided they have a reason to vote against Hillary Clinton. There is some reluctance there. They now need reasons to vote for donald trump. Thats why im there. Im going to think about that every day and try to earn every vote. I hear what you hear. Thank you so much. Kellyanne conway, thank you. Congratulations to be the first woman to run a republican president ial campaign. Im joined by republican strategist john feehery. What do you think of this shake up, bringing in kellyanne and this guy bannon from breitbart. They will hit tough, she says she will discipline him and keep him focused on issues kellyannes a pro. She will bring a lot of great messaging to the campaign, hopefully a