we can thank for that the late great tim russert. he is the one who first talked about red states and blue states the way we do now, and he did it in the 2000 election. that's tim russert talking a couple days before the 2000 election. he's the one who started talking about them the way we do now. and that year is key, 2000. election night in 2000 was the first time in a generation, the first time since that carter/ford election in 1976, that we actually had a truly close, truly suspenseful, nip and tuck presidential election. it wasn't even settled on election night. people trying to figure out who their next president was going to be. all night and into the wee hours of the morning, people were at home, staring at their television screens, trying to figure out what combination of states might possibly put al gore over the top, what combination of states might mean that george w. bush was going to be the winner. that's the kind of night it was. the colors that were used that night just so happened to be blue for gore and red for bus

so the ideas then, there was a lot of talk, dick cheney went on with tim russert a few days after 9/11 and the portion of that was about we have to work in the shadows and our enemy works in these dark places and the only way for us to infiltrate is to join them in this place. i would like to say i thought that is not who we should be but i didn't. like many americans i was in agreement. tim russert who i have great respect for in that interview, he didn't confront the question and it evolved from there that once all of us kind of said it out loud and took it for test drive that maybe we could do these things and didn't object, it was implemented. i'm familiar with these techniques navigated to places like the cia and the enhanced interrogation program and i don't have any direct experience with that. it could be true but if the intention was to work on this dark side all work in the shadows it didn't need to come from sears school or outside influence, history is rife with torture and how to abuse, the human mind can be creative. it is a valuable discussion where those techniques came

. >> you know what captures your imagination, tim russert used to say it. numbers, numbers, numbers. when you start to fall in the 30s, as he did today in the fox poll, it's hard to blame somebody besides yourself. you're losing. >> when he's saying everything is rigged, he's explaining why he's going to lose. >> why is he at 39 now, when he was higher? >> because he had a negative convention. they have not started speaking beyond their base -- >> who is he blaming for that? >> he's never going to take the blame himself. he's undermining people's faith in solutions, whether it's the media or american democracy itself. >> moments ago, donald trump told his supporters in jacksonville, he met today with gold star families. let's watch. >> and just a little while ago, i met with the gold star families. i met with six families that were just like incredible people. and a gentleman handed me a check, and he said, you know, mr. trump, this is for your campaign. and i said, you don't have to do that. he goes, i do. he said it's more money -- and i haven't even open

we're going to see tim russert in this trump video talking about the 2008 presidential campaign when it was at the hillary clinton versus barack obama stage. let's listen to this video. >> when we arrived in south carolina yesterday, this was the state newspaper. clinton camp hits obama, attacks painful for black voters. many ompded by criticism of obama and remarks about martin luther king. >> dr. king's dream began to be realized when president johnson passed the civil rights act of 1964. >> it's as if you are minimizing "i have a dream." it took a white president to get blacks to the mountain top. >> the damage between the clintons and african-american might be irreparable. >> obama's support among hard working americans, white americans is weakening. >> clinton said a few years ago this guy would have been getting us cou coffee. >> the comments to a newspaper that if obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. >> clinton campaign doesn't want to change the tone. they are defending this and therefore, is their strategy. >> that's the last time there was any kind of ra

this is bill clinton actually quoted as saying tim russert told me that according to sources, bill clinton, in an effort to secure the endorsement for hillary from ted kennedy, said, hey, a few years back, this guy would have been carrying our bags, talking about obama. he has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that is pretty troubling. imagine donald trump -- imagine the outrage. that would have ended anybody else's career. >> well, this is what happens when you have a compliant media. to see what some of our other cable channel friends are saying today, they merely just pair rot what hillary says about donald trump, which is so despicable. it's so toxic for the national dialogue. we have really important issues facing the country. hillary should come out of hiding, come out of her late-night comedy show appearances, and actually debate the issues that matter. i call her hideaway hillary now, sean, because she just will not answer questions. she's not going to do press conferences. >> hideaway hillary. >> she's going to hide away until the election and try to run out the

senate seat in buffalo with our own tim russert moderating, well, made a critical error. >> well, i would be happy to. when you give me the signed letters. >> right here sign it right now. >> we'll shake on this, rick. >> no. i want your signature. i think everybody wants to see you signing something you said you're for. i'm for it. i haven't done it. you've been violating it. do something for america. america is looking at new york, why don't you show some leadership? it goes to trust and character. >> the reaction among women voters in new york, i remember from the time from focus groups was, that was like my ex-husband coming and asking me why i haven't paid such and such a bill. didn't go over well, let's just put it that way. >> no. there's a performance art to these debates as well as a substance debate. that very same year, al gore getting into george w. bush's personal space in the town hall in st. louis was an example of two males even sort of creating a mistake by not getting the performance art right. mitt romney and barack obama in their interchanges on the town hall debate we

even tim russert who i had great respect for and did amazing things, even in the interview he didn't confront the ex-president and i think it is all from there that once the administration and once all of us i think said it out loud and sort of took it for a test drive, the idea that maybe we could do things and we didn't object or protect ourselves, that it was implemented. i am familiar with the idea that these techniques were advocated from sere to places like the cia and eventually the enhanced interrogation program and ithink i don't have any sort of direct experience with that, it could be true but i also know that if the intention was to essentially work on this darkside or work in the shadows, it didn't necessarily mean , it didn't need to come from sere school or come from any outside influence. history is where i deal with examples on how to torture and how to abuse and the human mind can be incredibly creative in those terms so i think it's a valuable discussion about where those techniques came from but from my own narrative and my own story i don't know that it would hav

russert about why he hadn't served. on that day in this context, he stands up on stage with as mika talked about somebody else's purple heart and makes a glib comment about that. >> a replica. >> and then claims that the conversation he had with the gentleman who gave him the purple heart that the gentleman told him it was the real purple heart. a few minutes later that guy is interviewed by reporters. i didn't tell trump that. i told him that was a copy. what are you doing in the middle of this fight, at this moment, what are you doing holding a purple heart on stage and talking about it at all? >> there's nothing rationale about any of this behavior, harold ford. i say this as somebody -- i've known donald for 10, 11, 12 years. this is not rationale behavior at all. it's as if he's trying to blow himself up. he told one minute that the purple heart is a copy, a replica. and then two minutes later he gets up on stage and he specifically says i asked him if this was the real thing. specifically says opposite. it's one t