Youre there. Sign out up for bloomberg politicss midday newsletter. Its called the brief and it has everything you need to know about the 2016 race each day. Thanks for having me, guys. See you tomorrow. Sayonara. Hardball with Chris Matthews is next. This race is even. Lets play hardball. Good evening. Im Chris Matthews in washington. Back in the saddle again. Our friend is a friend well, kind of. Hillary clinton made her first appearance back on the campaign trail today, after taking time off to rest up with her pneumonia. Shes back facing new polls that snow the wind a to the back of her opponent, donald trump. They include a brand new New York Times cbs poll out today that has the race, catch this, 4242. Meanwhile, trump is regaining
ground in battleground states. Hes up 2 in nevada. Hes up 3 in both florida and in ohio. And hes up 8 in iowa. You might say trump himself is back today, taking time off from the teleprompter to hit back at colin powell. Hit back at a pastor of a church in flynt, that stopped him talking politics in his church. And to put down Hillary Clinton for her health. The attack on powell came after some of his emails were hacked and released. Powell said with trump, he would never overcome his birther past. He called trump a national disgrace. Overnight trump tweeted, i was never a fan of colin powell after his weak understanding of weapons of mass destruction in iraq equalled a disaster. Last night, trump knocked Hillary Clinton on her health. It is hot, and its always hot when i perform, because the crowds are so big. These rooms were not designed for this kind of a crowd. I dont know, folks. Do you think hillary would be able to stand up here for an hour and do this . I dont know . I dont know. I dont think so. Now we have one left and in all fairness, shes lying in bed getting better, and we want her better. We want her back on the trail, right . We want her back on the trail. Well, as i said, trump mocked a pastor from a church in flynt, that he visited yesterday. The pastor had interrupted trump when he started criticizing Hillary Clinton in the church. Hillary failed on the economy. Just like shes failed on foreign policy. Everything she touched didnt work out. Nothing. Now Hillary Clinton mr. Trump, i invited you here to thank us for oh, oh, okay. Not to give a political speech. Okay, thats good. Im going to go back well, that was tough. Today, trump said that reverend, that was reverend faith green timmons, was a nervous mess. Thats trump on her. Lets watch that. When she got up to introduce me, she was so nervous. She was shaking and i said, wow, this is sort of strange. And then she came up. So, she had that in mind. Theres no question about it. And ill tell you, the audience was fantastic, but she was so nervous. She was like a nervous mess. What was so i figured something was up, really. This afternoon, donald trump slammed or actually, Hillary Clinton slammed trump for what he said about that pastor. His latest target is a pastor in flynt, michigan, who respectfully asked him not to use her pulpit for political attacks. He called her a nervous mess. Thats not only insulting, its dead wrong. Reverend faith green timmons is not a nervous mess. Shes a rock for her community in trying times, she deserves better than that. And flynt zerves better. In fact, so does america. Well, none of this, of course, is likely to surprise or certainly disturb the voter now looking to vote for trump. Perhaps it will actually remind him of his brand. Well, fact is that the country right now is divided with trump on one side of what is today, september 15th, an equal divide. Joining me right now to talk about that, the Washington Post robert costa, former rnc National Committee chair, Michael Steele, and jane newton small. So trump seems to go back and forth between a teleprompter and being donald trump. What brought him back to being trump today . Because hillarys back . I was with trump all day yesterday in flynt, michigan, and canton, ohio, and i got the sense shadowing him for about ten hours that this is a candidate thats very optimistic about the polls and is going with his gut. Its his instincts right now running this campaign. Steve bannon and kellyanne conway, of course, around him. But this is a candidate driving his own ship, driving his own car. Do you have a sense that has he thinks these polls are trend . Because i heard about that today
listening to the other discussions on other programs. I keep saying, when is a blip on the screen a cycle . When does it become a trend . Something thats moving in one direction, unless stopped . Well, i said to trump, chris, as he was looking over all of these polls on his plane, they were piling up, and he reviews them very carefully. I said, well, some of the polls show you are up nationally and in swing at a times. And he looked at me incredulous, and he said, some . Some . All of them are up. So hes very confident as he looks at the data. Well see if it lasts. He thinks part of the reason is the comment by secretary clinton about Trump Supporters being deplorable. Okay. Lets go about lets talk about that with Michael Steele and jane newton small. With these polls, the New York Times the New York Times cbs poll, which closed yesterday, i believe, thats been thats barely covered the whole weekend. So it certainly went as late as tuesday night. That does cover the period of people, we were all blabbing about that. Do you think that was a changer . I think it did . Deplorables . Move people to trump column . I think the combination of the deplorable, and of course, the general feel around the campaign, the clinton campaign, people are sensitive to that. Its funny, you get beyond labor day and the dynamics in the races change. People get more connected to it. Reporters can tell you on the ground that, you know, theres a different kind of energy. And the voters are more sensitive. They pick up stuff. They dont they may not articulate it directly, but that is a sense, theres something not quite right. Thats like me in the nba. I get to decide who i like, who im rooting for, the individual players. And the regular season is too darned long. Its 82 games. Anyway, your thoughts about this. Is there something that makes this more grabable. That they actually might move now . I think theres definitely a feeling of people definitely paying attention. But theres a huge group of the silent majority, the
independents are finally sort of now really paying attention. But i have to disagree a little bit with you, mr. Steele, in the sense that, i think what hurt hillary more was the fainting spell, was the pneumonia, was sort of covering up, its all the things that people dont like about the clintons, was this sense of not being honest, not being forthright, of sort of hiding things. She blamed that im not going to be critical, but just factually, she blamed that on her staff, saying they werent quick enough, but the staff is trained by her. They know what theyre supposed to ive always said in politics, never, ever blame staff people. Because everything comes from the top. Theyre taught how to behave it stops here. Its the way it works. Anyway, secretary clinton used her first appearance on the trail today to slam donald trump as a loose cannon. I thought she worked very well today coming back from a by the way, shes not back from pneumonia, shes got it. And i thought she performed really well and strong, and i thought gutsy today. Lets watch. People accuse me of all kinds of things. You probably have seen that. But nobody ever accuses me of quitting. And i will never give up. Ill never walk away. No matter how tough the going gets. Im actually asking americans to hold me accountable for my ideas. And hold my opponent accountable for his. Are we going to bring people together or pit americans against each other and rip our country apart. Are we going to work with our allies to keep us safe or are we going to put a loose cannon in charge, who would risk everything, generations of americans have worked so hard to build . I think Hillary Clinton is shaping the battlefield. Shes setting it up, going into this debate, to be the kind of debate that she would like to win, and she should win. Preparation, seriousness, no pizazz, no showing off, no wild, crazy stuff. Simple, i know my stuff, this guys not ready, at all, never will be. And if youre talking about substance, then she absolutely wins. Wherever we talk about substantiative things, hillary does better in the polls than donald trump. Can she shape the way we look at this debate . I dont think the deplorable thing actually hurt her. I have this group of independent women ive been following the entire campaign from the various states that ive traveled to, and the independent women that ive been speaking to have said, that they actually this is a debate theyre having amongst themselves. Is it really am i deplorable person . Am i in that basket of voters that are racist and sexist and xenophobic, if i vote for trump . Whats worse, being in a basket or binder . Where do they get these metaphors from . People dont fit in baskets or binders. Whyd they say basket i never thought of people in a bactersk. Roses are in a basket. Thats the debate clinton wants people to have. This is the problem. I take your point and i see where youre going, chris you do . I do see where youre going. Im not sure i do. Im trying to figure this thing
out. Heres the rub. Heres the thing. Shes setting this up. You know, hold me accountable for my ideas. Well, this isnt that election. It has not been this election. It has this is no one is what is the debate going to be about. The debate is about actions. Youll be held accountable for your actions. That is her problem. Its a problem with the way her staff and she handle what happened on friday and sunday. It is the words that she has used to describe the american people. Similarly for donald trump, but here is the rub that really rubs them the wrong less of a price than she does. Thats called the curve. Thats called the curve. I was saying to all of you, i guess i can go back to robert now, i think the hillary people are plainly as brian said today, whats his last name . Fallon. Fallon. Brian fallon. Brian fallon said today, we dont want to be jubdged on a curve. I think thats whats going on
here. I think most people will judge us on a curve. If donald trump comes out there and is calm and serious and matches her point by point, people will say, he won. That could happen. Im just saying, i think thats what the clinton people are deadly afraid of. An even match, he wins. Trumps told me hes not doing formal debate prep, as we know. Why . Roger ailes is playing a role, not a formal role, in getting trump ready for the debates. Trump said ailes is walking him through the history of debates, how former candidates, people hes worked, nixon and others have handled the these debates. And one thing trumps working for is, does clinton attack him . He said hes ready to be the statesmen if thats the tone of the debate. Hes also ready to be the attack dog. It will be interesting to see how clinton handles him. Does she bait him, bring him out, or keep hip on a different level. Well, donald trump jr. , a top surrogate for his father was interviewed on a local philadelphia Radio Station today. He made this point about how the media treats his father versus how thaw treat Hillary Clinton. Lets watch. And the media has been her
number one surrogate in this. Without the media, this wouldnt even be a contest. But the media has built her up, theyve let her slide on every indiscrepancy, on every lie, on every dnc, you know, game, trying to get Bernie Sanders out of the thing if republicans were doing that, with they would be warming up the gas chamber right now. Thats donald trump junior. He said he was referring in that case to the capital punishment. He said hes made similar comments in the past, but normally uses the phrase the electric chair. Here he was in july. If republicans did that, it would be disgusting and thats what youll see in a clinton administration. This sort of divisiveness has to stop. They should be ashamed of themselves. And if we did that, if the rnc did that, if my Fathers Campaign did that, with they would be calling for people to get the electric chair. Any comment on that, anybody . I think, first of all, calling the media its like appealing to the refs at this point, its totally useless. Theyve actually benefited
donald trump has benefited from almost 2 billion of free media. He is essentially a beast of cable. And like of reality tv. So, to say that shes somehow benefited more than he has is sort of crazy. I want to go back to something you were talking about a emt mo amoment ago. We hear that hes at least studying the history of debates with an expert, roger ailes, the trick in winning a president ial debate, well be talking about a lot of this later on the show, well look at this with people who have studied this. The winner of most debates is not somebody who comes in there loaded for bear and makes an attack on the other person. Theyre the president or Ronald Reagan who comes on and waits for his opponent to take a predictable shot at him or her in this case, and retorts. Because the public always respects and roots for the person whos defending himself. So, jimmy carter, quite appropriately went after reagan for being opposed to medicare when it came out, and it was a debated point back in the 60s. And reagan said, there you go again. That there you go again line wasnt accurate, but it was a great way of saying, were tired of you, president carter. Were tired of you clinging to office. This is so true. Of course, lloyd benson, youre no jack kennedy. Respond to the charge, and people say, yeah, yeah, were with that guy. So how does trump get hillary to attack him . Or does he say, hillary just has to say to donald trump, well usually you address me not as madame secretary, but as crooked hillary, and then she can respond to that. It seems to me they ought to seset it up like in basketball, you call the foul. Then people are rooting for you. Your thoughts on that, everybody. Isnt that what youre looking at in preparation for these debates, to attack from a defensive position and hit them when they hit you. And one of the things trump has said to me, as a former producer, host of reality show, he understands the theatrics of television. Its not about winning on points throughout the whole hour and a half, its sometimes about the theater and maybe even one or two lines. I agree with you. Jay . The bite we replay infinitum afterwards. I think the khans highlighted the weakness with donald trump, if you get under his skin and insult him and dig at that, he cannot let it go. So hillary will try to hook him into some kind of angry retort. I noticed you were overnight the other night, donald, is that bothering you . Heres the problem, with he knows that and he understands that sensibility. And her problem will be, when he comes back. So take your example, well, you know, you said this, and he comes back, you know, you used to call he crooked hillary, and now youre calling me secretary of state, well, thats because you are crooked. Thats the danger here. I love it. I love the game. Even though the stakes are the future of this country in the world in many ways, it is a contest. It is. And theres going to be a winner. There will be. And record viewers. And Ronald Reagan proved that, with the help of roger
ailes. Yep. I wont use my opponents youth and immaturity against him. It shouldnt have meant anything. It meant everything. It defined the race. Robert costa, thank, sir, for the reporting. Michael steele and jay newton small. Coming up, a divided america. New polling from virginia shows that Trump Supporters dont really know any clinton voters if same is true for clinton voters. They dont even know any Trump Supporters. Howd this country get so starkly divided . People dont know each other anymore. Plus, another day, another excuse for the Trump Campaign about why donald trump wont, dont say cant, wont release his taxes. Today his son said its because doing so would cause too much of a distraction. Wait, i thought trump said he couldnt release because he was under audit. You mean its up to him . Well get to that. Theres a lot of contradiction coming out of that camp. And the hardest hardball roundtable will be here. And three things i dont know. Well be right there as this race has gotten as tight as a what . A drum. And my election diary on where this race stands today, september 15th. Midseptember, were already
there. This is hardball, the place for politics. Mapping the oceans. Where we explore. Protecting biodiversity. Everywhere we work. Defeating malaria. Improving energy efficiency. Developing more clean burning natural gas. My job . My job at exxonmobil . Turning algae into biofuels. Reducing Energy Poverty in the developing world. Making cars go further with less. Fueling the global economy. And you thought we just made the gas. Energy lives here. Take on any road with intuitive allwheel drive. The nissan rogue, murano and pathfinder. Now get 0 apr for 72 months,
plus 500 bonus cash. Weve got some more new polling, new polling on the president ial race. For that, we check the hardball scoreboard. First to virginia where Hillary Clintons lead is now three points up from donald trump. This is the way of o doing it among likely voters. From a new poll in washington, clinton, 40, trump, 37, gary johnson, 8. Not enough to make the debates. Next, to georgia. According to a new poll from fox 5 down in atlanta, trump leads clinton by four points. Trump, 46 in that state, clinton, 42. Johnson up to 10. Well be right back. My lenses have a sunset mode. An Early Morning mode. And a partly sunny mode. Transitions® signature™ adaptive lenses. Are more responsive than ever. Experience life well lit®. Upgrade your lenses to transitions® signature™
welcome back to hardball. The commonwealth of virginia used to be a reliable republican state, a commonwealth, of course, until barack obama captured his 13 electoral votes in 2008 and then again, obama won virginia again in 2012. Well, obama turned virginia into a purple battleground, but as