john mccain has failed. take a look at the scandal at the veterans administration, the disastrous conditions under which our veterans have to live. believe me, i built a small group a veteran

i find his comments about mccain particularly offensive because i know john mccain. john mccampaign is a friend of inmoo. i have spent a lot of time with him. he is not a guy who speaks a lot of times about his time as p.o.w. he talks about others who were prison and how much he owes to people like bud day, another hero who was haled from iowa. the people that allowed him to survive. john mccain is a guy who cannot lift his arms past his head who cannot comb his hair because of what the vietnamese did to him. >> i want to ask but your conversation, but kaley's thoughts first. what do you make of donald trump's remarks on bill o'reilly's show tonight. >> let's look at what he said. he said, if there is any misunderstanding i want to clarify that now. john mccain is a war hero. he did back pedal on his statement. even donald trump is not defending donald trump's statements. i would challen anna and say donald trump is bringing up real policy issues. he is not doing with it the right tone but he is bringing up issues that resonate, some of the dangers that an open borde

here he is attacking john mccain. a guy who was one of the first ones in and one of the last ones out of vietnam. he was shot down over north vietnam on his 23rd bombing mission in 1967. he nearly drown when he parachuted into a leg fracturing both arms and a leg. he was pulled out by north vietnamese who tortured and interrogated him. he was offered release a number of times by the north vietnamese but each and every time john mccain refused. he refused because he was waiting until every man who was a prisoner before him was released. mccain spent 5 1/2 years in captivity as a prisoner of war. that is john mccain and that was his service to our country. service that donald trump seemed to question, ridicule this weekend and so now the republican party can all read from the same script and condemn donald trump for what he said. rnc releasing this statement in direct response. senator mccain is an american hero because he served his country and sacrificed more than most can imagine. there's no place in our party where

mccain accused trump of rallying at events in mccain's stuff state of arizona. in the op-ed, trump said mccain would rather attack the iraqi border than arizona. >> trump continues to talk about how much he's done for money. veterans groups are not buying it. a commander says someone who never served referring to trump, a day in a uniform should not sacrifice the service of somebody wounded in combat. >> thanks for all of that. does it hurt his campaign or help it? great to see you here. >> good morning. >> it's been a busy weekend. let me pose the question to you. after he made the comments about john mccain he got a standing ovation. does it hurt his campaign or help it somehow? >> depends on how you look at it. there were boos others said he did better. trump said he got a standing ovation. i think trump is at 18% in the polls. he's not at 50%. that 18% of people probably are not great fans of john mccain. when you have the entire establishment of the gop criticizing him, he looks better with the base. i think he hurt himself two ways. one, i think the weight

john mccain is a war hero. he's a man who refused to go home when the communists wanted to send him home despite the fact he was being tortured. he refused to leave his buddies behind and is an extraordinary war hero even if you have a lot of differences with him. but i think this is -- i think donald trump will eventually say something and apologize. but i think this is emblematic of a bigger problem of donald trump still going around saying things you would say if you were in the back of the pack instead of the front of the pack. if he wants to win, if he wants to play for the long run, he's got to stop making these type of mistakes. and when he does make these mistakes, he needs to come out with a clear apology fast. he's not doing that yet. >> yeah, and i think it's -- it could be permanent damage if he doesn't apologize. willie. >> he hasn't apologized. he wrote an op-ed saying he sees no reason to apologize. there's no definition of hero that doesn't include what john mccain went through. 1967 and 1973 in

john mccain has failed. all you have to do is which you report on all the time look at the scandal at the v.a. and the disaster conditions. believe me, i built with a small group, the vietnam memorial in downtown manhattan. i know what it is to help people. >> reporter: many have been coming to the defense of senator mccain. a former fighter pilot shot down and put in prison and put in hanoi for five years. this controversy has given an opening to many of the republican candidates. many who were just waiting for this opportunity to come out more openly and criticize donald trump. some saying that this should disqualify him from running for the race. >> it is offensive and ridiculous. it is a disqualifier as commander in chief. >> until mr. trump apologizes to john mccain and veterans of the country, i don't think he has the character or temperament to hold the highest position in the country. >> reporter: the republican national convention stated comments like those have no place in the party. we have not he

of john mccain. he has done a terrible job for the vets. >> mccain himself took the high road this morning. >> does donald trump owe you an apology? >> i don't think so. but i think he may owe an apology to the families of those who have sacrificed in conflict and those who have undergone the prison experience in serving their country. >> reporter: trump's republican opponents jumped at the chance to denounce his comments. jeb bush. >> this is a legitimate hero that has served his country in lots of ways. and mr. trump knows that. he should just aapproximately jazz.approximately -- just apologize. and move it on to the next thing. >> marco rubio. >> it is offensive. absurd and disqualifier as commander-in-chief. >> lindsey graham joined by mccain this afternoon. >> to anybody that suggests john and his fellow pows are lacking in the title of being called american hero, you shouldn't be our commander-in-chief. because you don't know our military. >> ted cruz who stands to benefit if trump gets out of

what is that work here with you and john mccain? >> i supported john mccain. he let us down because he lost, but it was a hard one with the economy. i supported him and raised a lot of money for him. and i'm a loyalist. i'm a person that if somebody is with me i'm with that person. john mccain was very disloyal to me. >> so luke russert, where does this go next? because right now donald trump is going to be on the stage at that first republican debate. >> he's going to be on the stage and we all have to see how the other candidates react. he's going to try to take them down some of the rabbit holes that will make them uncomfortable because it's beneficial to his campaign. in the context of where the republican party is solidarity with the military is one of the central platforms of that camp. for donald trump to do this and characterize it as the paid ya taking words, he was more than willing on friday with you to go down this road calling out john mccain. we know john mccain is not the most popular republican and conservative circles, but even the most conser

i don't think mccain is the villain here. now, your disdain for the establishment is why you are leading in the "the washington post" poll. you would agree with that you are coming across as a guy who doesn't -- thinks all of these people are pinheads. the democrats and the republicans are just a bunch of mouth offs they don't get anything done. that's why you are popular; is that correct? >> i have great record. i built a great company. i have a wonderful company. in fact, i just released my financials and people were amazed at how good they are they are great. i did something know, i employ thousands of people i don't know if you saw nevada poll came out fantastic. tremendous victory for me. most importantly as far as i'm concerned, i won the hispanics by a tremendous margin. so, a lot of good polls north carolina just came out i'm way ahead in north carolina. >> you are ahead by walker is second in the "the washington post." i think he is is and you are at 24. the reason you are surging look governor walker did a decent jo

they're trying to tie mccain to veterans and i attacked mccain, which i didn't do. i attacked mccain -- i'm the one that's going to help the veterans. by the way, if you know i was the one with the group that built and we built it beautifully the vietnam memorial in downtown manhattan. it's there today. i contributed a lot of money and i'm very proud of it. >> to be clear, are you saying -- you say you didn't attack all veterans. >> caller: i didn't. >> are you saying you didn't attack john mccain? it does seem -- you say, i prefer people who weren't caught. >> caller: i tell you what. the people that weren't caught they did a great job also. they get no credit. mccain gets credit. i want to give him credit. the people that weren't caught nobody talks about them. >> a governor said you shouldn't be -- you shouldn't be talking about wartime records unless you have served. others calling for you to step down get out of the race. the rnc issuing a statement strangely enough. governor rick perry of texas yesterday said that your comments should disqualify you from the p

trump rally in mccain's home state. so frank luntz interview, donald trump feared back. it's a lengthy exchange and we want to play you this whole thing so you can hear in the entirety what donald trump says. here you go. >> referring to people as rapists, referring to people -- john mccain a war hero 5 1/2 years of a p.o.w. and you call him a dummy. is that a prop pree ate inappropriate in running for president? >> you have to let me speak. you interrupt. i know him too well. that's the problem. i'm in phoenix in. we have a meeting that is going to have 500 people at the hotel. we get a call from the hotel, it's turmoil. thousands and thousands of people are showing up three and four days before. they are pitching tents on the hotel grass. the hotel said we can't handle this. we move it to the convention center. we have 15,000 people the biggest one of bigger than bernie sanders. 15,000 people showed up to hear me speak, bigger than anybody, and everybody knows it. a beautiful day with incredible people that were wonde

i under john mccain. i raised a million dollars for john mccain when he let us down he ran for president and lost to obama. i wasn't thrilled with that. i will say what i want to say. maybe that's why i'm leading in the polls because people are tired of hearing politicians and pollsters telling the politician exactly what to say. and believe me this whole thing was brought up by a lot of the people that are competing against me currently that aren't even registering in the polls because people are tired of them. >> have you ever said anything you regret? >> yes, i have on many occasions. >> can you tell us a few of those? >> no i wouldn't do that. i wouldn't do that. i wouldn't do that martha. it's not the appropriate time. certainly i've said things i could have held back. but not that often, surprisingly not that often but certainly there have been occasions. >> later on in our broadcast here we'll remind people about senator john mccain's military experience when in 1967 his plane was shot down and why

word that mccain uses. the two disagree on how to deal with illegal immigration. mccain did also come out this morning but his rhetoric was a lot more toned down than what you heard from donald trump. listen to this. >> when mr. trump said that he prefers to be with people who are not captured, the great honor of my life was to serve in the company of heros. i'm not a hero but those who were my senior ranking officer ss the congressional medal of honor winners inspired us to do things that we otherwise wouldn't be capable of doing. those are the people i think he owes an apology to. there are so many men and some women who served and sacrificed and happened to be held prisoner, and somehow to denigrate that in any way their service i think is offensive to most of our veterans. the best thing to do is put it behind us and move forward. just express our gratitude to those who have served and sacrificed and the real heros. the other 55,000 names that are down on the wall engraved in black granite that i stop b

john mccain has failed. all you have to do is look. take a look at the scandal at the veterans administration and the conditions under which our veterans have to live. believe me, i built with the small group the vietnam memorial in downtown manhattan. i know what it is to help people. i know what it is to help veterans. >> reporter: many have been coming to the defense of mccain and his service of the nation. a former fighter pilot and shot down ands to toured in prison for five years in hanoi. he went on to earn the purple heart. this has given an opening to many of the republican candidates. many waiting for this opportunity to come out more openly and criticize donald trump. some saying that this should disqualify him from running for the presidential race. >> it is not just absurd, but offensive and ridiculous. i do think it is a disqualifier as commander in chief. >> until mr. trump apologizes directly to john mccain and also to the veterans of the country, i don't think he has the character or the temperament to hold the highest

let's take john mccain. i'm in phoenix. we have a meeting that's going to have 500 people at the built more hotel. we get a call from the hotel, it's turmoil. thousands and thousands of people are showing up, three, four days before, they're pitching tents on the hotel grass. the hotel says we can't handle this. going to destroy the hotel. we move it to the convention center. we have 15,000 people. the biggest one ever. bigger than bernie sanders, bigger than -- 15,000 people showed up to hear me speak. bigger than anybody and everybody knows it. a beautiful day with incredible people that were wonderful, great americans. i will tell you. john mccain goes, oh, boy, trump makes my life difficult. he had 15,000 crazies show up, crazies. he called them all crazy. i said they weren't crazy. they were great americans. these people, if you would have seen these people -- i know what a crazy is. i know all about crazies. these weren't crazy. so he insulted me and he insulted everybody in that room and i said, somebody should run a

by the way, so did mccain. let's bring in senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny and cnn digital correspondent tanzina vega. jeff i want to start with you. this is going on and on. the guy doesn't stop talking. is he digging himself a deeper hole? >> i think he is digging himself into a bigger hole. it's really becoming quite the spectacle. i'm not sure i can ever recall something quite like this in the five presidential campaigns i have covered. something quite as incendiary. we are seeing a circular firing squad here among the republicans and it is -- it's really obviously not helpful to their end game here of winning back the white house, but it really is signaling that donald trump may be sort of near the end of his rope here. his other incendiary comments he's been saying over the past couple weeks, republicans have been sort of not quite that eager to call him out, but military veterans military service is something that everyone obviously respects and agrees with and a lot of republicans believe tha

i love john mccain. i voted for john mccain. everybody knows. who is going to doubt he is a war hero? his service to the country, the fact that he stayed two years in solitaire confinement, he wouldn't come home he's a class-act and he handled it very well by saying i'm not going to criticize. that i thought, was very good how he handled it. >> donald trump is the one we don't have to explain the most. >> every week there's another reason you have to defend -- >> the left didn't have to do that with the obama. >> the left will have to do it for hillary. >> that's true. >> that's interesting. >> a lot of explaining to do. >> candidates on the trail, they make mistakes. they say things they wish they hadn't said before. >> some of the things are fatal, like 47% of people are on welfare. >> i don't like john mccain because he told my followers crazies, but i never meant to imply that prisoners of war are less heroic. that's it. then you're finished with it. >> but the people that were coming out and saying on the right who were forced in the positi

john mccain has failed. because all you have to do is take a look at the scandal at the veterans administration and the disastrous conditions under which our veterans have to live. and believe me, i built a small group a veteran memorial. in downtown manhattan. i know what it is to help people and i know what it is to help veterans. >> thank you very much for joining us, mr. trump. >>> let's bring in democratic presidential contender, former senator and vietnam veteran jim webb who like john mccain attended the u.s. naval academy. senator webb, what is your reaction? >> well you know that's a lot to react to in a quick minute or two. first of all, i believe if donald trump had taken the opportunity to serve our country, he could have volunteered like a lot of people did, he would have had a different feeling the kind of things he's saying. it's one thing to talk about issues, but when you're talking about military service, you're talking about duty, honor and dignity. the comments he made a few weeks ago abo

what does he have to gain by targeting mccain? >> well look it was -- john mccain to certain republicans, to certain conservative republicans, tea party activists, is a popular whipping boy. but you know perhaps he was trying to get some reaction from the crowd that he was speaking to in iowa. john mccain is running for re-election to the senate here in arizona. he has a primary opponent so john mccain is not as i said earlier, beloved necessarily for his politics inside the republican party. donald trump was certainly trying to -- seemed to be trying to capitalize on that. but in doing so he really ignited the ire of even some of senator mccain's rivals by questioning his war heroism. don't forget senator mccain when he was captured he refused efforts to be released early. he chose to stay as a p.o.w. there and you know would not be released early so no one questions his heroism here except donald trump, as it turns out. now the question is what does the republican national committee do about this. do they really want him on that

i was with mccain the year after that interview -- >> that -- >> i was with john mccain and watched him go into the room the cell and anyone that seen that would never make the comment donald trump made. it's the notion that he somehow is a little unhinged. until now it's been he's crazy like a fox saying all kinds of provocative things getting support of people alienated from the political system and worried about immigration, people taking him seriously in that regard. this thing makes you wonder if he's not a little unhinged. >> yeah. >> and that if he is cresting that will be the reason not necessarily the substance of his remarks and naturally john mccain took the high road never claimed he was a hero. >> following up with that a bit, if he is unhinged should he be president? >> well, that's the obvious question. the wall street journal editorial page joined with us at the "huffington post" in saying he should not be taken seriously. you have them agreeing on something, you got a story. >> i hear the old phase, kathleen about if you leave a a monkey at a typewriter long enough, he'

. >> john mccain is a hero. what john mccain did was the most honorable, sacrificial service that a man could give to his country. >> joining us michael smerconish, the host of cnn's "smerconish" joining us from philadelphia. also joining us cnn political commentators kevin madden and paul begala they're here with me in washington. michael, first to you. do you think it's going to sink the trump campaign? >> i do. i think this is the beginning of the final act and i think the ripple effects of this extend further than donald trump. i appreciate what you just rolled of all the gop candidates doing now what's obvious, and that's condemning his speech. but they should have done it two weeks ago and i think jeb bush in particular blew a great opportunity. he should have taken on the don't when trump made the statement about mexican rapists which was jeb who said you need to be prepared to lose primaries to one the general. trump teed up a great opportunity and jeb didn't hit it. and he should have. >> kevin, do you

. >> admiral john mccain. turning down early release because of his father's high ranking in the navy. >> he's a war hero because he was captured. >> he tried to clean up comments. >> if a person is captured they are a hero. >> on twitter, captured or not, all soldiers are heroes. that didn't stop the disgust from republicans, most who hope to knock the real estate mogul from the top of the gop presidential field. >> i's a disqualifier of commander in chief. >> donald trump owes every american veteran and in particular john mccain an apology ji. >> reporter: the republican national committee said there's no place in our party for trump's comments. his words escalated on ongoing feud with john mccain over immigration. in his new op-ed, trump said mccain would rather attack the iraqi border than arizona's. >> trump continues to talk about how much he's done for veterans donating his money and his time to a new york city memorial. veterans groups, they are not buying it. the commander of the veterans of foreign w

. >> i am not a fan of john mccain. >> reporter: donald trump of john mccain took the high road this morning. >> does donald trump owe you an apology? >> no i don't think so. but i think he might owe an apology to the families and those who have sacrificed in conflict, and those who have undergone the prison experience in serving their country. snoou. >> reporter: but trump's republicans opponents jumped at the chance to denounce his comments. jeb bush. >> this is a legitimate hero that has served his country in lots of ways. and mr. trump knows that. he should just apologize. i think that will probably move it onto the next thing. next week there will be another one of these things. >> reporter: marco rubio. >> it's not just absurd. it's offensive. and i think ridiculous and i do think it disqualifies him to be able to be commander in chief. >> reporter: this afternoon. >> to anyone who suggests that john. >> his fellow p.o.w.s are somehow lacking in the title of being called an american hero you shouldn't be our commander in chief because you don't know our military. >> reporter: t

i think when it comes to john mccain, there's two john mccains. there's the war hero and the service to his country and five years being tortured. i have deep respect for his courage and his perseverance and bravery. but there's the john mccain, the politician. there's a lot of conservatives that don't like that service and that's legitimate for them to take this on. >> is this the robust debate that the republican party needs? this is early, but do you think this is where the conversation needs to be at this point? it seems juvenile and it's not on policy. >> yeah there's going to be several moments during this presidential campaign when people are going to be scratching their heads and wondering if they are acting like kids or adults. that's a fair comment. there's something going on in american politics and happening where these outsiders are really striking a cord. donald trump, ben carson carly fiorina, they are people that have never had elected office and doing pretty well in the polls. on the democrat side, you have bernie sanders, who has

pjohn mccain is a war ero. if i was advising him, i would say apologize and move forward. >> what about the comments he took in the hole about john mccain, p.o.w. about faith, wine and crackers? >> well you know it was a tough 20 minutes for donald trump. there's no doubt about it. the unfortunate part is you have nine other candidates on that stage who did a great job. you know they are getting no coverage what so ever right now. i think, for donald trump, i don't think he wants that comment to dominate the campaign. he is tapping into a sentiment that washington is broke, it needs leadership. it needs leadership from the outside. that's why his poll numbers are doing well. he does not want the comment about mr. mccain to define his campaign. >> i would think you are more concerned about his faith and how he sees it. the last question, sir -- >> we are always concerned about a person and their faith but it is a journey and process and we are willing to walk it with him. >> the des moines register saying he sho

john mccain has failed. take a look at the scandal at the veterans administration the disastrous conditions under which our veterans have to live. believe me i built a small group a veteran memorial. >> thank you very much for joining us mr. trump. >>> let's bring in democratic presidential candidate, former senator, jim webb. senator webb what is your reaction? >> well you know that's a lot to react to in a quick minute or two. first of all, i believe in donald trump had taken the opportunity to serve our country, he could have volunteered like a lot of people did, he would have a different feeling the kind of things he's saying. it's one thing to talk about issues when you're talking about military service, you're talking about duty honor and dignity. the comments he made about mexican immigrants insulted a lot of our veterans. some were inflamed with these comments. one of them wrote a letter to mr. trump, any time you want come back and talk to us to military service. oh you didn't go. i have known john

. >>> donald trump under fire for his assessment of senator john mccain's war record. did the republican front-runner finally go too far? we'll have reaction. >>> and newly obtained testimony from bill cosby. how he tried to keep his wife from finding out he was seducing young women he was also mentoring. >>> and a new chapter in the post cold war world as cuba raises its flag in washington reopening its embassy after half a century. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west and it's "way too early." >>> good morning, everybody and happy monday. it's july 20th. i'm amy holmes. >>> donald trump is not apologizing for his controversial remarks this weekend about senator john mccain's war service. trump made the comments saturday at a summit for evangelical christian voters in iowa. take a listen. >> somebody should run against john mccain who has been you know in my opinion not so hot. and i supported him -- i supported him for president. i raised $1 million for him. that's a lot of money. he lost. he let us down. but, you know he lost. so i never liked him as much afte

john mccain was an integral part in that. that may be the only piece of veterans legislation that gets signed into law by the president of the united states this year. >> done ald fromald trump donated money to build a veterans memorial in new york put on a veterans parade. does that say much to you? >> i appreciate that. i appreciate his philanthropic efforts. but he is running for president of the united states. and need to talk about veterans issues as do all the candidates involved. >> but bottom line for you when donald trump says that john mccain hasn't focused on veterans enough hasn't done enough for veterans you say that's -- patently false? how would you cat gorize it? >> i would say john mccain has been an advocate for veterans through out his service in congress and tlup outhroughout his service in the senate. i have seen firsthand knowledge, experience of john mccain out with the troops. wanting nothing but the best for them. and, so i would say that john mccain has lived his life again, service above self. and i

and mccain's daughter tweeted horrified, disgusted, there are no words. trump followed up saying i'm not a fan of john mccain because he has done so little for our veterans. so far john mccain has declined to respond. >>> whale watchers are enjoying a spectacular season. a high number of blue whales have been spotted. today's tour by the oceanic society were sold out. a passenger shot a photo of a whale breaching near the boat. professional whale watchers say it's not just blue whales out there but also humpbacks and gray whales. on july 4th weekend 115 whales were counted during one-hour survey. >> translator: >> i go out every year. i have seen a lot more whales. >> scientists say food are drawing them in but they're not sure why there is so much food this season. >>> still ahead on abc 7 news at 9:00, why health officials are warning americans not to pucker up to poultry. >>> and a small coastal community to change its name. >>> and this year's aids walk san francisco is tomorrow in golden gate park. to register call 415-615-walk. check this out. with

families believe that john mccain abandoned some of his brethren back there, so the idea that john mccain is a deitiy that i can't criticize. >> you don't criticize that. john mccain thrives off criticism. he loves to get his hands dirty. he he loves to be a consequenceal senator, no one has taken on his war record even in a sentence. >> not donald trump. listen to the tape. >> right now, adam if you were working with donald trump, would you say okay here's where we go today? you are the frontrunner. here's how to lessen the damage or how to build up what happened. what would you say? >> i would come off john mccain, i shift on to something that he has focused attention on in the republican primary which is our southern border. i think he scored some points there and i i think every republican needs to focus on securing and manning and defending our southern flank. that's where he needs to go. he's gone from the donald trump show starring donald trump and the nine apprentices heading to the debate and look like an apprentice himself. >> that's what they said two weeks ago. >> let's speak

he said mccain is not a war hero. so far trump operates with a no apology, no guts, no glory approach. he announced his presidential ambitions with what some consider incendiary rhetoric on immigration. that blunt style now has the billionaire business polls the front-runner. will insulting john mccain's vietnam record help or hurt trump? we're covering this tonight with nbc's kelly o'donnell on the campaign trail and chuck todd in washington, d.c. we begin in ames, iowa. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, thomas. this is a day-long event of about 3,000 conservatives who are hearing from 10 of the presidential candidates. then something unexpected and outrageous flew out of the mouth of donald trump. now the whole gop race is feeling the turmoil. >> thank you. >> reporter: on stage in ames, iowa. >> look at that. >> reporter: donald trump speak first, think later bravado was on full blast. aimed at senator john mccain. >> he's not a war hero. he's a war hero because he was captured. >> reporter: that stun

after his attack on john mccain. rick perry is one of trump's rivals for the 2016 nomination and has been ahead of the crowd on the staunch tycoon most recently hitting him over comments about john mccain. governor perry welcome back. >> thank you. >> donald trump this morning put out a statement not only does he not owe john mccain an apology but john mccain owes an apology for his comment calling supporters of donald trump crazies. how do you respond to that? >> over the top, bombastic rhetoric from donald trump. this time he's been able to offend one of the most beloved group of americans, that's our veterans. i just -- i really don't understand his strategy here of taking on a bullet that went through john mccain and a hit a lot of us. we need someone to be bringing this country together. chuck there's a reason that when i announced for the presidency that marcus latrell, mark thornto recipient, all veterans were standing on the stage supporting me because they know what i've done to support veterans both in my p

of you actually with senator mccain. you helped koord his visits to iraq and afghanistan when you were deployed overseas. trump, one of the things he was credited with saying is that mccain, and i quote, has not done enough for veterans in this country, and then trump talked about himself, i see the veterans i'm with the veterans all the time. does that ring true to you in any way? >> mr. trump's business is about a mile and a half from headquarters in new york city we are the only veterans headquarters in new york city and we have not heard from donald trump. >> as far as senator mccain's efforts for veterans go for him to say that he hasn't done enough for veterans is that in your opinion true at all? >> well that doesn't ring true at all, anderson. i can tell you that the clay hunt save act passed congress and was signed by the president. john mccain was an integral part in that and that may be the only piece of veterans legislation to get signed by the president into law this year. >> he donated money to build a vete

john mccain is a war hero. he sort of talked around it right? >> yeah. >> and it was so complicated at the beginning of his statement the voters were probably saying what? >> i think he fieldeels like he might not need to. he acknowledges it so he can't say he didn't weigh in but at the same time he doesn't want to dig into it. i think it's those second tier candidates who are speaking out hard because they want to gain some traction. >> that's what donald trump would say. >> jeb is in it to win it. i think he feels like he doesn't need to dignify the comments with a response but i still maintain it is time for the republican party to draw the line in the sand. if there's ever a time for red lines, it is now. this is -- i mean it's just crazy we're even talking about it, that trump has gotten this much air time on television. this man -- nobody has ever as a civilian been elected to the presidency without having been elected to other office with the exception of herbert hoover. >> but trump is so rich and he has so much money. here is the reason

>> first of all i think mccain relishes this battle. i don't think mccain should apologize. he is exactly right in trump's world. trump does not have great theories on who is a hero and who is not a hero. in trump's world there are two types of people. losers and heros. a loser is somebody criticized and someone who has praised him recently. there is no other in between. this idea that he has a profound theory on what mccain's service was in vietnam, he doesn't care. he just cares he was recently criticized by mccain. >> why does this make me like trump? i didn't even like the guy politically, but now i like him because everybody is coming down on him and they are trying to take him out of context. >> trump is like the done rickles. he is doing roast jokes and he is compelling. he knows how to get people talking. >> he says some of the most ridiculous things. first it was hard to take him seriously. you just laugh at what he says. he stole a chris rock joke, but it goes to show that joke was so good i laughed as if i never heard it before. >> that's what i think is so funny.

. >> he is talking about john mccain. get off mccain. he is not running and you are running in a republican primary. to keep this story alive is fighting with the wrong person. >> i feel like there had to be a calculated reason to say such a thing. >> i don't think it was any more calculated than anything else he does. he sees this as an extension to the illegal immigration conversation he thinks he is having. i will say if you watch the bill o'reilly interview he didn't just open the door to apologize but he put the words out there saying you do think senator mccain was a hero? fill in the blank. i said i will speed it up for you. >> i think bill o'reilly did more solid at the end saying donald i know you think john mccain is a hero. what frustrates me is seeing the paralysis trump is causing among other republicans. why are we still talking about donald trump? that is a failure on the of the other prime candidates. scott walker is being talked about but i want to see jeb bush mark rubio, and scott walker and others giving the media som

i have respect if for senator mccain. i used to like him a lot. i raised a lot of money for his campaign against president obama. hopefully i said it correctly and shortly thereafter said it correctly. >> trump blames the media for the controversy insisting his comments were distorted. he's reiterating he does think john mccain is a war hero and what he meant over the weekend. here's his original comments. you decide for yourself. >> someone run against john mccain, who in my i opinion has been not so hot. i supported him for president. i raised $1 million for him. he lost let us down. you know he lost. i never liked him much after that. i don't like losers. frank let me get -- >> he's a war hero. >> he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured. i have to tell you. he's a war hero because he was captured. okay? i believe perhaps he's a war hero. right now he said bad things about a lot of people. >> this morning the biggest newspaper in iowa is calling for trump to pull the plug on his race. one writes quote, he's p

but even this morning he's tweeting john mccain owes him an apology because john mccain criticized the people who came to his rally in phoenix last week. >> you heard the audience booing, right? so that's going to be what really is the test of this. is does his support drop? and i think that we will see that happen. yes, the party establishment has been looking for an excuse to get rid of the clown show, and to get donald trump off the stage somehow. and it's hard to do when he is first in the polls, when he's got 15 or 17 or 20% of the republican base that just agrees with him on a sort of visceral level. but, you heard that audience booing. that is an audience of hard-core, sort of christian right iowa conservatives and they did not like to hear the military insulted in that way. i would not be surprised if we see a pretty precipitous drop for trump. >> mitt romney also tweeted -- remember he went to kiss the ring of donald trump in the last presidential campaign as most of the candidates did and that was a little interesting. mitt romney's tweet was the difference between john mccai

mccain was a war hero period end of discussion. i think the outrageous line was when he seem today mock mccain for his own captivity. i went to the press conference after his session with frank on stage, and asked him repeatedly if he would apologize, i asked him if he was familiar with john mccain's story, with the story of him in captivity. the lengths mccain went to in order not to give up information to the enemy. and the torture that he withstood. and donald trump said to me it's irrelevant. that was his quote. look i think we're projecting here. we're trying to make donald trump into something he's not. it's silly to have a discussion about what donald trump could do if donald trump would behave better. he's donald trump. he doesn't behave better. this is who he is and who has always been. >> i'm not assuming he can't learn. there's the art of the deal which he's good at and it's a whole different art than the art of politics. he's got to balance trump being trump and what geraldo said, can he also add to that the element of

trump hit back on twitter calling on mccain to apologize and mocking mccain as a dummy who graduated last in his class, which isn't true. trump was add about the feud in iowa on saturday and here's what he said when his interviewer interjected that mccain spent 5 1/2 years in a prison is a war hero. >> he's a war hero. >> he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured. okay. i hate to tell you. he's a war hero because he was captured. okay. you can have -- i believe perhaps he's a war hero. right now he said some bad things about a lot of people. >> trump has declined to apologize for saying that mccain is not a war hero though he maintains the media has been distorting his words but mccain called on trump to apologize to veterans and other republicans were not so restrained. >> at a minimum he needs to apologize in terms of what he needs to do next in terms of the race, that's up to voters. clearly he needs to apologize and refrain from comments like that. >> this is a legitimate hero that has served this country in lots of ways and mr. trump knows that

, saying mccain was not a war hero. the poll shows trump with 24% support. that's 11 points ahead of scott walker in second place and double the support of jeb bush. the rest of the field in single digits. trump's support may have registered higher but the pollsters did say he took a hit following his comments about mccain. he will not be apologizing to senator mccain. trump remaybeins defineyiantdefiant. here he is moments ago. >> he should apologyize to the 15,000 people that have been fighting illegal immigration and are pretty phietrified to be living where they are living. >> we will hear from john mccain's son. you do not want to miss this. >>> he's a jackass. he is bringing his name down and he is not helping the process. and he shouldn't be commander in chief. >> presidential candidate lindsey graham passionate re response. amid the criticism tonight, we have this new poll. what does this say about how voters are responding to donald trump's comments about john mccain? >> reporter: i think it says a couple thing

john mccain described them es a crazies. i have to tell you, when you talk about what's going to happen to this race and donald trump, you look at the front page of des moines register just this morning, stripped across the top it says trump's comments could change the state of the race. donald trump is polling in the poll position right now when it comes to this race, victor. who knows what's going to happen next week. >> i can promise you one thing. donald trump does not apologize. and he won't during this campaign. >> when i said it, i'm sure you heard a bit of a chuckle because i don't think i've ever heard it. thank you both. and of course we want for you at home to weigh in on this. is this, do you believe, the turning point for donald trump's candidacy? tweet us, use the hashtag new day cnn. or go to facebook. we read your thoughts. >>> you can walk into any military recruiting office, no appointment, no security. after the attack in suchattanoo, some states are looking to change that. >>> and "el chapo," would he hav

mccain is going to take the high road. mccain's son jack a fourth generation didn't hold back about what he thinks. >> my father is a public figure open to attack. prisoners of war, in general, donald trump has to understand he's running to become the commander in chief of the military. if an individual becomes a prisoner of war, is he going to abandon them because he doesn't like people that are captured? >> reporter: he's going to have his first campaign event here in south carolina the first in the south, a primary state for republicans. it is going to be very interesting to see how he's received here chris. this state hosts eight military bases. over the past two election cycles a quarter of the electorate consider themselves veterans or active duty military. chris? >> a big religious community down there. we haven't heard a lot of what he said in iowa about religion. dana thank you very much. there's no question trump is getting attention. we have news for you. someone who could be one of the strongest candidates ente