chris matthews -- coverage of the campaign. chris matthews, this is the video that's changed the course of this campaign. we showed different pieces of it at different times. sometimes we run the whole thing. america may be less than 24 hours away from quoting passages word for word in ways that people can't forget. >> you're so right. and the dush ability of this vehicle for information is going to be far greater than anybody who writes about it, talks about it, defends it, apologizes for it. it's going to be around. it's -- it's captivating because you're catching private conversations, i was thinking what "snl" tomorrow will do -- i imagine there will be a bus -- you'll be hearing voices from inside a bus. and there will be obviously hyperbol hyperbolic, it doesn't have to be much beyond this to be a cold open. it is a cold open in itself. >> on nbc, they cannot say the words that donald trump said on that bus. that's how astounding this is. >> i think we ought to talk about this the way he called locker room conversation. f

but let's go to the site in virginia, heading up our coverage there, chris matthews. chris? >> brian, i thought it was very illuminating, i thought mike pence did all the things right that donald trump did wrong. his body language was excellent, he looked like a grown-up. he was playing with a couple deuces against a guy with a full house. it was difficult for him. he had to defend donald trump. he came across as a grown-up, strong, very effective at being a conservative. he made himself the front-runner for the republican nomination in 2020. he was el kwen the at the end. he was very good on the policing issue for the conservative side, very strong against illegal immigration. he really didn't work the suburbs for trump, he worked his right wing flank. i thought he was very effective at securing trump's right wing flank. that may be important in the numbers in the next couple days. to stop this hemorrhaging of trump many i thought at times, and i like the guy, kaine was a little desperate there, jumping in all the time, always trying to get his points, he didn't wait his tu

we're joined by chris matthews in washington. hallie, you've been out there talking to trump supporters all year of all different stripes. where do you expect there to be any cracks in trump supporters, if any -- you're nodding your head no before u finish the question. >> here's the thing. throughout these moments -- it's funny because we talk about october surprises and then there's this one. so just in being in contact with a lot of different supporters in swing states that we've met on the trail, you want to check in with them regularly. when the tax issue happened, they didn't care. every controversy they defend him. these people who show up at his rallies. a and that's something that folks miss in new york and washington. you can get in a bubble when you go out in the country. these are people who truly hate hillary clinton and they want donald trump. and it's not because they love donald trump necessarily, some do with a passion that is intense as we've discovered out on the campaign trail. but a lot of it is driven by how

. >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. with 29 days to go, donald trump is clearly going to tough it out, facing a lot of defections and his campaign taking a negative turn just an hour before a debate with hillary clinton's former accusers. they also started a

"hardball" with chris matthews begins right now. >>> i'm chris matthews here in pittsburgh with the vice president of the united states. let's play "hardball." ♪ ♪ >>> well, here we are, mr. vice president. >> good to be back here. >> we're right next to a gym and i've been listening to you the last couple of days. you're talking about taking on donald trump with fisticuffs behind the gym. so i brought something along for you that might be helpful to you in your new endeavor. a couple of boxing gloves. these are worn boxing gloves. these are the real things. >> let me tell you, chris, i was trying to make a point. you and i grew up in similar neighborhoods, i think. >> summerton. >> well -- >> scranton. >> scranton and claymont. one of the things that trump is trying to say that i was a pretty good athlete in high school, played a little in college. and people didn't act in the locker room like he talks about. that's not true. and you and i both know from the locker room and the school i went to, one of the guys said, this is what i'm going to do, because i'm the star halfback or qua

. >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. with 29 days to go, donald trump is clearly going to tough it out, face ag ling a lot of defe and his campaign taking a negative turn just an hour before a debate with hilla

chris matthews. >> reporter: brian, i thought it was very illuminating. mike pence did all the things right that donald trump did wrong. he was very good on reaction, he looked like a grown-up. of course he was playing with a couple of deuces. but he came across strong, very effective at being a conservative. but i really think he accomplished making himself the frontrunner for the republican nomination in 2020. he hit all the bases, he was pro-life. and you may not agree with him. but he was eloquent. he was very good on the policing issue for the conservative side, very strong on immigration on the conservative side. so he really didn't work the suburbs for trump, he worked his right wing plank. he was very effective at securing donald trump's right wing plank. that may be important in the next couple of days to stop the hemorrhaging. i thought at times, and i liked the guy, kaine, was a little desperate there, jumping in all the time. always trying to get his points and didn't wait his turn. if he had just waited his turn the back and forth nature of t

we'll find out tonight. >> chris matthews et al. some language just snuck into the conversation from behind our panel there. having watched cable news all day long, college campuses are great places. these crowds have been on and off a little bit toxic today. it's been hard to listen to and follow conversations. our dynamic and beautiful democratic process has turned profane in part this election cycle. something tells me we haven't heard the last of it. on that note, we'll sneak a quick break in here. there is the venue, 32 minutes ay from start time. >>> we are all of a sudden 27 1/2 minutes away from start time inside the venue there in las vegas as the crowd files in and gets set to get comfy for a 90-minute debate tonight. >> there are not a lot of third debates in history to compare this to. a lot of presidential matchups never went to a third debate for a variety of reasons. we have had tremendous interest in the debates this year. the first one between trump and clinton, of course, 84 million people. that's an all-time recor

i'm chris matthews. >> hi, richard lui at msnbc

i'm chris matthews. we're following a potential bombshell in the presidential race with big implications for sunday's debate if not the election itself. nbc news obtained audio from 2005 of donald trump miking lewd comments about women. it was during a press tour and he was talking to former

chris matthews in virginia. chris? >> i agree with what chuck said. as i often do. i think if trump has a good couple weeks and that if is big he can struggle his way back to the situation he was in where he looked like he would win florida, win nevada, win ohio. but that's a struggle from here. he facees a wipeout right now. he faces getting humiliated. a couple weeks ago he faced the prospect of being competitive. so get to there to carry florida, ohio, north carolina, he has to have some really two strong weeks. he has to stop the bleeding. i think he did tonight. we'll see. but i think his vp did the job for him in stopping the shift to hillary clinton tonight. i don't think that kaine was able to hold on to that lead and keep it going. i do think, if for a while there i thought that the true north of this campaign, default posion was 50/50. very close in the low to middle 40s. and i still think that's possible to go back to. but i agree with chuck. it shifted now where because i think women are starting to make their decision, that women have been really hurt p

let's bring chris matthews in. chris? >> well, thank you. i do think it was not a great night for american politics. it was probably something to slow the fires of frustration with the candidate of the republican party. but we'll see in the next 48 hours. we're here again on the campus of washington university in st. louis. a beautiful campus. after the second presidential debate between hillary clinton and donald trump. this one had a far less clear outcome, i

chris matthews down in st. louis. chris, your last thoughts. >> the characters, courtroom drama, may well be that donald trump will point the finger at the former president. point to juan ta broderick and say you ra p ped her. this could get very raw. you can say the same about kathleen, you groped her. paid paula jones a million dollars to settle a suit over sexual misbehave. this could get really raw. i'm telling you, as you said, these moderators are going to have one rough time tonight keeping it minimally civilized. >> we'll be watching from the sight in st. louis. and immediately after this is over, we're coming up on the top of the 9:00 hour in the east. if you've been with us before, you know that's kus marly the time the other networks come on the air and start their coverage an their analysis. and then it's usually a matter of minutes from the top of the hour. when we're underway. and our coverage officially is underway. 9:00 eastern time. it's 8:00 p.m. on the campus of washington university in st. louis, m

. >> chris matthews, thank you. i want to read this from senator lindsey graham. like most americans, i have confidence in our democracy and election system. during this debate, mr. trump is doing the party and the country a great disservice by continuing to suggest the outcome of this election is out of his hands and rigged against him. if he loses, it will not be because the system is rigged but because he failed as the candidate. lindsey graham, republican from south carolina. hugh hewitt is with us from las vegas. he's the host of the hugh hewitt radio show. there is a moment when michael j. fox is on the phone with a member of congress and he says to that member of congress, it's just you and me. in effect, what's it going to be. on what many people will see the disqualifying point of contention here, where do you come down on donald trump tonight? >> the moment i thought he went 14 out of 15 rounds. he hit himself in the head and knocked himself out to express a contingent acceptance of the result. as chris matthews noted, he might have phrased it in a way n

. >> chris matthews, thank you. i want to read this from senator lindsey graham. like most americans, i have confidence in our democracy and election system. during this debate, mr. trump is doing the party and the country a great disservice by continuing to suggest the outcome of this election is out of his hands and rigged against it. if he loses, it will not be because the system is rigged but because he failed as the candidate. lindsey graham, republican from south carolina. hugh hewitt is with us from laos. there is a moment when michael j. fox is on the phone with a member of congress and he says to that member of congress, it's just you and me. in effect, what's it going to be. on what many people will see the disqualifying point of contention here, where do you come down on donald trump tonight? >> the moment i thought he went 14 out of 15 rounds. he hit himself in the head and knocked himself out to express a contingent acceptance of the result. as chris matthews noted, he might have phrased it in a way na says, if there is a state that is contested by a

chris matthews, heading up our coverage in las vegas. chris? >> well, it's very tense here tonight. it was tense here with the students outside during the pregame tonight. i thought it was interesting that both of these candidates were playing, each of them in their turn to their constituencies. trump was talking to the gun own. >> the second amendment people rather consistently. to the evangelicals with his pro-life position. extraordinarily graphic language in opposing partial birth abortion, long-term abortion, talking about the last couple of days. i don't think there are many procedures at this point. but very strong on that. also on immigration. hillary clinton is also in an airplane mode, if you will. they both basically were saying stuff they said before. all this was old material in both cases. but i thought the really graphic moment is when donald trump got into the pro-life moment. i think he was going after the evangelicals. hillary won the debate tonight for the following reason. the real battleground are women in the suburbs. republican, moderate women who tend to vote

chris matthews was watching all of it with us in st. louis. your assessment? >> i think in terms of the division of spoils here it, wasn't like the first two debates. the first presidential and the vice presidential debate. there's not the clear shutout victory like we saw in those debates with hillary clinton winning the first and mike pence for the second. this was much more closely contested. i do think it was kind of depressing. i think we've reached the point in this campaign where all the candidates can do is repeat what they've said before. i've seen theses in congressional races. it's all old stuff. it's basically a lot of sniping back and forth. cheap shots from both sides i must say, both sides. kind of a bicker sons, almost a domestic dispute. it didn't seem to have anything revel laer to or illuminating or inspiring. it had no inspiration. nothing until the very end when hillary clinton said something i thought very appropriate about donald trump's children. because they do impress you when you meet them. but i thought it was even better what he sa

i'm chris matthews back in washington from the al smith dinner last night. tonight, donald trump's race for president seems caught in a downward spiral and he can't seem to pull out of it. with 18 days to go until election, republicans are panicked. battleground state polls show hillary clinton rising. she's gaining in several states including georgia, utah, arizona, and even texas. a new online poll out just today shows more americans think hillary clinton won wednesday's debate in las vegas. last night, donald trump got booed at the traditionally civil and friendly al smith dinner when he called clinton corrupt and anti-catholic, he threw in. i was at thed table and could feel the strong reaction all around the room. his allies, meerm, have spent the week defending his refusal to say he would not accept the results of the election and the slur that mrs. clinton is a nasty woman. a wave of apprehension and anguish swept the republican party on thursday with many gop leaders concluding that it's probably too late to salvage his flailing presidential campaign

. >> you sir are the distraction, that was mike lee from utah joined by chris matthews who told us to watch utah if they will revolt it. they'll begin. chris matthewmatthews, it is un. >> it is also a state that has been rejecting the establishment. that gentleman we saw there. he knocked off a long-term senator to win that seat. it was the senator of wallace bennett. of course, he had to fight for it very hard. anybody that looked like establishment. it is not just a religious base out there. it is a tea party man there, mike lee, and much associated with the political and politics with mike pennsylvania pennsylvania and ted cruz. >> that party which mike pennsylvania had been out this week trying form up and keeping when trump -- >> he's going right there. he's getting killed. he's suffering like 36% margins. he's fighting is the conservative wing of the party. you see these people who are appalled by this behavior. they don't see this secular but this ronchi. i think we all do. >> right now, we'll see the republican party coming from the right and i think you will see a shrinking o

. >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. with 29 days to go, donald trump is clearly going to tough it out, facing a lot of defections and his campaign taking a negative turn just an hour before a debate with hillary clinton's former accusers. they also started a confrontation with the former president which was diverted by the officials in the debate itself. in the debate itself, clinton called him a liar. he called her the devil at one point, saying if he had his way, she would be in jail. we know all that. a new poll shows the people know that, too. it shows that the bottom could be falling out of the trump campaign. catch these numbers. the latest nbc wall street journal poll finds that clinton has jumped to an 11-point lead, double digits over trump, likely voters in a four-way race. clinton with 46, trump with 35. johnson with just 9%. but trump today doubled down on his attacks of former president bill clinton, threatened to go even further if more damaging tapes on him are made public. let's watch. >> bill clinton se

i'm chris matthews up in new york city. after the dust settled, it was clear the most stunning moment of last night's debate was donald trump's refusal to say whether he'd respect the outcome of this year's american presidential election. >> do you make the same commitment that you absolutely -- sir, that you will absolutely accept the result of this election? >> i will look at it, at the time. i'm not looking at anything now. i will look at it, at the time. >> are you saying you're not prepared now to follow that principle? >> what i'm saying is i will tell you at the time. i will keep you in suspense. >> it comes as trump ventures into unchartered territory as n american presidential candidate, taking the step that this election is rigged. despite pressure to defend the integrity of the election, trump doubled down on his remarks, saying he'll only accept the outcome if he is the winner. >> i would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters and to all of the people of the united states that i will total

chris matthews heading up our coverage at the debate site tonight. chris, this is your life's work and study. talk about tactics tonight that we might see employed. >> well, first of all, i love the baseball cards that rachel just gave us on both these guys. i never had so many stats, left-hander, right-hander, both weigh about right, 208. i'm 208. i think that's a good weight. so fascinating to watch these guys. i'm only interested in tactics tonight. i think it's fascinating there's such ideological questions about them. but tonight it's tactics. i think the real challenge, you guys can challenge this, pence has to score the headlines tomorrow. he has to break the charge. the race is beginning to settle. if it begins to settle with a 5 or 7 point lead it's over. he has to go on offense. i think he'll use that old tactic of attacking from a defensive position. he'll see her committed tim kaine committed to all the good attacks. his failure to pay taxes at almost a billion dollars in '95. his debaseness of women in the workplace. when that comes, tha

"hardball with chris matthews" begins now. >>> is donald trump the new baghdad bob? let's play "hard ball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in pittsburgh where tomorrow i will interview joe biden who is out on the campaign trail. with two weeks to go in the race and polls showing a lead for hillary clinton, there's at least one person who thinks donald trump is winning. donald trump. according to trump the polls are phony and the democrats are trying to discourage his supporters. here is trump earlier today. >> there are some great polls that have come out. i believe we're winning. these are phony, disgusting, dishonest papers. but if you read this stuff, what are we doing? what are we wasting time for? what they do is show phony polls where they look at democrats and it is heavily weighted with democrats and then they put on the poll where we're not winning and everybody says oh, they're not winning what they do is try and suppress the vote. this way people don't go out and vote. but we're winning this race. i really believe we're winning. >> later in the day trump

i'm chris matthews in washington. two words showcase today's campaign story. michelle obama. what she said about donald trump is the headline and the story of what she had to say promises, as we say in the news business, to have legs. it's going to go on. michelle was the undeniable star of this thursday, october 13th. she told a crowd in new hampshire she was shake ton the core by what donald trump said in 2005 about how he treats women. >> this is not something that we can ignore. it's not something we can just sweep under the regular as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season. because this was not just a lewd conversation. this wasn't just locker room banter. this was a powerful individual,

"hardball" with chris matthews begins right now. >>> pensive. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthew withes back in washington. it's an interesting challenge to decide in realtime who's won a political debate. but if you accept the challenge, as i have, you better do it straight, don't pretend to be a judge if you're not willing to accept the responsibility of judging. well, last night i called it for pence off the bat. he acted like a grown-up, kaine seemed overwrought, emotionally upset at what pence was saying. it's as if kaine couldn't stand hearing anything said well about donald trump, couldn't stand hearing anything said bad about hillary clinton. it was emotional. pence was solid if often misleading. kaine was forever trying to get his point in, sometimes successfully but not impressively. but if you think this is how i look at the two of them generally, you couldn't be more wrong. my job isn't to say who i preferred on the issues going into the debate, it's to say who i thought did well and advanced his position duri

"hardball" with chris matthews up next. >>> up in the air. let's play "hardball." >>> 13 days to go and hillary clinton has opened a big lead in two national polls heading into the final stretch. clinton is up nine points in the latest "usa today"/suffolk university poll. 47% to 38% in a four-way race. in a brand new poll from the associated press clinton leads by 14 points, 51% to 37%. but as a counterweight, fox news, which has a good poll out this evening that shows the race closer. clinton has a three-point lead nationally, 44% to 41% in that fox poll. but the polls that will decide the election are the battleground states themselves and those polls are mixed. a bloomberg poll in florida shows trumea

"hardball" with chris matthews begins right now. >>> i'm chris matthews here in pittsburgh with the vice president of the united states. let's play "hardball." ♪ ♪ >>> well, here we are, mr. vice president. >> good to be back here. >> we're right next to a gym and i've been listening to you the last couple of days. you're talking about taking on donald trump with fisticuffs behind the gym. so i brought something along for you that might be helpful to you in your new endeavor. a couple of boxing gloves. these are worn boxing gloves. these are the real things. >> let me tell you, chris, i was trying to make a point. you and i grew up in similar neighborhoods, i think. >> summerton. >> well -- >> scranton. >> scranton and claymont. one of the things that trump is trying to say that i was a pretty good athlete in high school, played a little in college. and people didn't act in the locker room like he talks about. that's not true. and you and i both know from the locker room and the school i went to, one of the guys said, this is what i'm going to do, because i'm the star halfback or qua

i'm chris matthews. i think this country's establishment, politicians, the media were slow to get him. they certainly underestimated him. not anymore. what about the man himself? what's he done to get where he is? what allows him to say things that would destroy anyone else in public life? over the next hour, we'll look at the donald trump story as a whole. you'll see him as a young man, as a business tycoon, as an entertainer. you'll see the experts have been counting him out rightly or wrongly for decades. in the movie "citizen kane" orson wells charles foster kane. >> it's also my pleasure to see it to that decent hard working people in this community aren't robbed blind by a pack of money mad pirates. >> trump echoed those sentiments for months, but in december many believed he went too far. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> it played well with some of h

"hardball" with chris matthews begins right now. >>> i'm chris matthews here in pittsburgh with the vice president of the united states. let's play "hardball." ♪ ♪ >>> well, here we are, mr. vice president. >> good to be back here. >> we're right next to a gym and i've been listening to you the last couple of days. you're talking about taking on donald trump with fisticuffs behind the gym. so i brought something along for you that might be helpful to you in your new endeavor. a couple of boxing gloves. these are worn boxing gloves. these are the real things.

i'm chris matthews in washington. two words showcase today's campaign story. michelle obama. what she said about donald trump is the headline and the story of what she had to say promises, as we say in the news business, to have legs. it's going to go on. michelle was the undeniable star of this thursday, october 13th. she told a cro i

i'm chris matthews in washington. well, down in the polls, the trump campaign is turning to a surrogate who hasn't been heard from a lot, melania trump. mrs. trump is now speaking out, defending her husband in the wake of that "access hollywood" videotape. here she is tonight. >> i said to my husband that, you know, the language is inappropriate. it's not acceptable. and i was surprised, because that is not the man that i know. and as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on. it was only a mike, and i wonder if they even knew that the mike was on, because they were kind of a boy talk, and he was lead on, like, egg on, from the host to say dirty and bad stuff. >> you feel the host, billy bush, was sort of egging him on? >> yes. >> well, a note about the clip trump is referring to, the audio was recorded on an "access hollywood" bus tour in the presence of others. "access hollywood" is an nbc universal program. anyway, melania's defense comes as several new polls show how far back trump is, clinton is in the l

"hardball with chris matthews" begins now. >>> is donald trump the new baghdad bob? let's play "hard ball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in pittsburgh where tomorrow i will interview joe biden who is out on the campaign trail. with two weeks to go in the race and polls showing a lead for hillary clinton, there's at least one person who thinks donald trump is winning. donald trump. accordin t

"hardball with chris matthews" begins now. >>> is donald trump the new baghdad bob? let's play "hard ball." ? good evening, i'm chris matthews in pittsburgh where tomorrow i will interview joe biden who is out on the campaign trail. with two weeks to go in the race and polls showing a lead for hillary clinton, there's at least one person who thinks donald trump is winning. donald trump. according to trump the polls are

i'm chris matthews in washington. well, down in the polls, the trump campaign is turning to a surrogate who hasn't been heard from a lot, melania trump. mrs. trump is now speaking out, defending her husband in the wake of that "access hollywood" videotape. here she is tonight. >> i said to my husband that, you know, the language is inappropriate. it's not acceptable.

"hardball" with chris matthews begins right now. >>> pensive. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthew withes back in washington. it's an interesting challenge to decide in realtime who's won a political debate. but if you accept the challenge, as i have, you better do it straight, don't pretend to be a judge if you're not willing to accept the responsibility of judging. well, last night i called it for pence off the bat. he acted like a grown-up, kaine seemed overwrought, emotionally upset at what pence was saying. it's as if kaine couldn't stand hearing anything said well about donald trump, couldn't stand

. >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. with 29 days to go, donald trump is clearly going to tough it out, face ag ling a lot of defe and his campaign taking a negative turn just an hour before a debate with hillary clinton's former accusers. they also started a confrontation with the former president which was diverted by the officials in the debate itself. in the debate itself, clinton called him a liar. he called her the devil at one point, saying if he had his way, she would be in jail. we know all that. a new poll shows the people know that, too. it shows that the bottom could be falling out of the trump campaign. catch these numbers. the latest nbc wall street journal poll finds that clinton has jumped to an 11-point lead, double digits over trump, likely voters in a four-way race. clinton with 46, trump with 35. johnson with just 9%. but trump today doubled down on his attacks of former president bill clinton, threatened to go even further if more damaging tapes on him are made public. let's watch. >> bill clinton se

i'm chris matthews in washington. two words showcase today's campaign story. michelle obama. what she said about donald trump is the headline and the story of what she had to say promises, as we say in the news business, to have legs. it's going to go on. michelle was the undeniable star of this thursday, october 13th. she told a crowd in new hampshire she was shake ton the core by what donald trump said in 2005 about how he treats women. >> this is not something that we can ignore. it's not something we can just sweep under the regular as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season. because this was not just a lewd conversation. this wasn't just locker room banter. this was a powerful individual, speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior. and to make matters worse, it now seems very clear that this isn't an isolated incident. it's one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life. i know it's a campaign. but this isn't about politics. it's about basic human decency. now is the time for all of us to stand up and say, enough

"hardball" with chris matthews begins right now. >>> pensive. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthew withes back in washington. it's an interesting challenge to decide in realtime who's won a political debate. but if you accept the challenge, as i have, you better do it straight, don't pretend to be a judge if you're not willing to accept the responsibility of judging. well, last night i called it for pence off the bat. he acted like a grown-up, kaine em

i'm chris matthews. thanks for watching. >>> she was born in illinois. >> they were a middle class family. >> her mother taught her to fight back. >> you go right back out there and give her what for. >> her father was a tough-minded republican. >> old school, taskmaster, very conservative. >> do you recognize this girl and the woman she will become? >> we came of age in the civil rights movement, the vietnam war, the women's movement. >> why have you gone down to that godforsaken place? i love him and i want to try it. >> she was the campaign manager. she was the boss. >> i could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas. >> she was carving a new role. >> women's rights are human rights, once and for all. it takes a village to raise a child. i have been accused of everything. >> she left office with her dignity intact. >> it is our job to figure out what happened. >> hillary has a lot of grit. takes a licking and keeps on ticking. >> i am running for president of the united states. >>> good evenin

i'm chris matthews. i think this country's establishment, politician, the media, were slow to get him. they certainly underestimated him. not anymore. so what about the man himself? who is this guy, a defiant number of people have told pollsters they want as our next president? what's he done to get where he is? what allows him to say things that would destroy anyone else in public life? as the next story we'll look at the donald trump story as a whole. you'll see him as a young man, business tycoon, as an entertainer. you'll see the experts have been counting him out rightly or wrongly for decade. in "citizen cane," orson plays the newspaper reporter. >> it's mile-per-hoy pleasure t people of this community right-hand robbed blind. >> donald trump echoed that. >> donald trump is calling for a complete shutdown of muslims in the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> it played well with some of his supporters. >> okay, we are civilized people. these

chris matthews was on the air. chris can hear this from st. louis. chris, i heard you say really the first member of our team to say this was disqualifying, this race, in effect, had come to an end on friday. >> well, yeah, by all the usual standards it is. i think we've been saying for days now that donald trump's dancing on a cliff, a couple of feet from the edge. i think he went over it. it's obviously past history but it's on tape. it will be used by hillary clinton's people right to the end. we don't know if it had any role in getting this story out. we don't know. that's pretty murky right now. clearly she benefits from it. i think there's certainties tonight. donald trump has been telegraphing his punch for days, since friday. he's going after the clintons, after bill clinton's behavior, his presidency and before that. he's going to go back maybe 30, 40 years, juanita broaddrick, paula jones, hit all those buttons and he's going to do it in front of bill clinton and chelsea. last time around we heard he wasn't going to go after clinton because

"hardball with chris matthews" begins now. >>> is donald trump the new baghdad bob? let's play "hard ball." ? good evening, i'm chris matthews in pittsburgh where tomorrow i will interview joe biden who is out on the campaign trail. with two weeks to go in the race and polls showing a lead for hillary clinton, there's at least one person who thinks donald trump is winning. donald trump. according to trump the polls are phony and the democrats are trying to discourage his supporters. here is trump earlier today. >> there are some great polls that have come out. i believe we're winning. these are phony, disgusting, dishonest papers. but if you read this stuff, what are we doing? what are we wasting time for? what they do is show phony polls where they look at democrats and it is heavily weighted with democrats and then they put on the poll where we're not winning and everybody says oh, they're not winning what they do is try and suppress the vote. this way people don't go out and vote. but we're winning this race. i really believe we're winning. >> later in the day tru

"hardball" with chris matthews up next. >>> up in the air. let's play "hardball." >>> 13 days to go and hillary clinton has opened a big lead in two national polls heading into the final stretch. clinton is up nine points in the latest "usa today"/suffolk university poll. 47% to 38% in a four-way race. in a brand new poll from the associated press clinton leads by 14 points, 51% to 37%. but as a counterweight, fox ,

"hardball" with chris matthews begins right now. >>> pensive. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthew withes back in washington. it's an interesting challenge to decide in realtime who's won a political debate. but if you accept the challenge, as i have, you better do it straight, don't pretend to be a judge if you're not willing to accept the responsibility of judging. well, last night i called it for pence off the bat. he acted like a grown-up, kaine seemed overwrought, emotionally upset at what pence was saying. it's as if kaine couldn't stand hearing anything said well about donald trump, couldn't stand hearing anything said bad about hillary clinton. it was emotional. pence was solid if often misleading. kaine was forever trying to get his point in, sometimes succe successfully but not impressively. but if you think this is how i look at the two of them generally, you couldn't be more wrong. my job isn't to say who i preferred on the issues going into the debate, it's to say who i thought did well and advanced his positio

i'm chris matthews in washington. well, down in the polls, the trump campaign is turning to a surrogate who hasn't been heard from a lot, melania trump. mrs. trump is now speaking out, defending her husband in the wake of that "access hollywood" videotape. here she is tonight. >> i said to my husband that, you know, the language is inappropriate.

we're joined again by chris matthews. chris, mitch mcconnell tonight issued a statement before donald trump's second apology saying, trump needs to apologize directly to womennd girls everywhere and take full responsibility for the utter lack of respect for recommend shown in his comments on that tape. did donald trump's apology meet mitch mcconnell's demand? >> i doubt so. you know, the interesting thing about this, there's a lot of freud on the left and misery. but the interesting thing is about everybody agreed tonight on the facts. and i think you've been right on pointing out the facts. they are the hart of the story. the associated press is not a biassed organization. and tonight's lead i think tells us the facts. after being caught on tape making shockingly crude comments about a married woman, he tried to so deuce, donald trump declared in a midnight video i was wrong and i apologize yet he claim, yet is the key word, he claimed the astonishing revelations were nothing more than a distraction and argued his words

i'm chris matthews. thanks for watching. >>> she was born in illinois. >> middle class family. >> her mother taught her to fight back. >> you go right back out there and give her what for. >> her father was a tough-minded republican. >> old school, task master, very conservative. >> do you recognize this girl and the woman she will become? >> we came of age in the civil rights movement, the vietnam war, the women's movement. >> why offgone down to that god forsaken place? i love him and i want to try it. >> i could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas. >> she was carving a new role. >> women's rights are human rights, once and for all. it takes a village to raise a child. i have been accused of everything. >> she left office with her dignity intact. >> it is our job to figure out what happened. >> hillary has a lot of grit. takes a licking and keeps on ticking. >> i am running for president of the united states. >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews. she's waited a long time for this. building

he's saying to be course, let's to chris matthews and the late arlen specter and see what happened in the 1960 election and make sure it doesn't happen this time. democrat, republican, let's applaud that and come together with a proper good election this year. >> a.j. delgado, thank you for your time today. >> thank you, kate. >>> up next, more on melania trump's defense of her husband's comments about women. comments she calls, quote, boy talk. will this help his position with female voters? a voting bloc he's struggling with. when i come back, i'll pose that to the highest ranking woman in president reagan's white house. are you on medicare? do you have the coverage you need? open enrollment ends december 7th. don't put it off 'til later. now's the time to get on a path that could be right for you... with unitedhealthcare medicare solutions. call today to learn about the kinds of coverage we offer, including aarp medicarecomplete plans insured through unitedhealthcare. these medicare advantage plans can combine parts a and b, your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescrip