[Lemon:] Republican leaders urging Donald Trump to get back on message now and to focus on Hillary Clinton's record. I want to talk about this with Matt Schlapp, he is the chairman of the American Conservative Union who is a former political director for President George W. Bush; and Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard. Gentlemen, thanks for coming in this evening. Matt, you first. It's been a rocky few days for the Trump campaign. The poll numbers in key battleground states show it Clinton now leads Trump point by 9 points in Michigan, 13 points in Pennsylvania, 15 points in New Hampshire. There's 96 days to go. How does he turn this around?
[Matt Schlapp, Former George W. Bush Political Director:] You know, I'm a veteran of two presidential campaigns. You have times when you just have terrible weeks and I think it's fair to say Donald Trump has had a bad seven or so days. And at these moments people start to panic. You have to field all these phone calls when people saying oh, my God, oh, my God. And I but I think it's fair to say that every poll shows the same thing, which is the number one issue for the American voter is jobs and the economy followed closely by the fact that they're concerned about our national security with the rise of Islamic terrorism. And the third problem is I think Washington is broken. And what's funny in a lot of these polls that have happened over the course of the last three months is Donald Trump often leads in all three of those important issue areas. And what he did over the course of the last seven days is he didn't talk about those three issues, he talked about all these other extraneous issues. And when you do that in politics, you send confusing messages to voters. And now we're seeing it play out in these polls. If he gets back on the main message of the economy, fighting terrorism, taking on a broken Washington, explaining how Hillary Clinton is not equipped to fix any of those problems...
[Lemon:] He can turn it around.
[Schlapp:] ... I still think this is a race that he can win.
[Lemon:] OK. Bill, you're out with a new article for the Weekly Standard, it's titled "Panic among chickens." Here is what your message is to your GOP brethren brother and now panicking over Donald Trump. You say, "They should get no credit for whining to the press and complaining to their peers so long as they continue to support for president the individual who is the very cause of their whining, their complaining, and their panic. The only act they should get credit for is withdrawing their support for the candidate. If they were to do so, as late in the day as we are, many things are still possible." After this week are you saying to your party I told you so? Is that what's going on?
[Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard Editor:] No, because I still think there's hope. I mean, I think, look, Matt is right. That if you just look at the issues there's plenty of room for republican to win this year. People aren't happy with the economy of President Obama. There's plenty of criticism we made of his foreign policy to Secretary Clinton. But, Matt is wrong. The top issue when you vote for president is the candidate I'm considering voting for capable, qualified, fit to be president? And the voters are concluding correctly, unfortunately, that Donald Trump is not so qualified. And therefore, that they can dislike Obama's economy, that they can dislike Clinton not telling the truth about the e-mails, they can just throw all sorts of things about the democrats; they're not going to vote for Donald Trump. And they're right not to vote for Donald Trump. Because the number one thing you do have to think about when you go into the voting booth is this person I'm voting for qualified fit and fit to be president of the United States. That's what's so disappointing for a conservative republican like me about this year. Was it a winnable election, it's not winnable under Donald Trump. I say that with some I think that's true. And I'm reassuring that the American public seeing the real Donald Trump, that's what we've been seeing for the last week. It's not like he's off message. This is the message. Donald Trump is Donald Trump. He is the message and he is an unacceptable message.
[Lemon:] Matt?
[Schlapp:] The problem with what Bill is saying is that we went all across this country and had primaries and caucuses, and I'm a conservative like Bill is a conservative and conservatives dominate these that the primary process on the republican side. And they gave Donald Trump more votes than anybody anybody who has ever run for the republican nomination before. I have to have some humility over the fact that this is the choice that republicans made. And I don't think that qualifications...
[Kristol:] They made a horrible mistake, Matt. They made a horrible mistake.
[Schlapp:] ... I think that, but I think that qualifications come down to very basic questions about the Constitution, and then after that we're having an ideological conversation about the direction of the country. I don't know how you could do anything that helps Hillary Clinton get into that Oval Office.
[Kristol:] Because Donald Trump is more dangerous. I'm not for Hillary Clinton; I'm against both of them. And I think we'll still see a chance hopefully to have other candidates emerge. It's not too late. It's getting awfully late. And it would have been a lot less late two months ago if all these cowardly and pathetic republicans hadn't decided...
[Lemon:] So, who is it's...
[Kristol:] Oh, gee, I know better, I know better. But privately talking to you, guys.
[Lemon:] So, Bill, if it's not too late, then who?
[Schlapp:] Right. I mean, come on.
[Kristol:] It's a big country, lots of people can come forward, they can still get on the ballot in some states and...
[Lemon:] Like who? I mean, do you have a name?
[Kristol:] I know of a couple people who are very seriously considering it but I'm not going to I let them out. I wish Mitt Romney would do it, I wish senior people would do it who don't need who wouldn't have such difficulty getting publicity.
[Schlapp:] But we had 17. Here's the thing.
[Lemon:] And we had Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney, back in 2012.
[Schlapp:] I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We had 17 we had 17 and Donald Trump this is what's fundamentally flawed here is that...
[Kristol:] There's nothing flawed here.
[Lemon:] One at a time, please. Go ahead, Matt.
[Schlapp:] ... we went all around the country with 17 candidates and Donald Trump beat them all, Bill. And so, why would we at the very end say, oh, my God, this is some kind of a fluke.
[Lemon:] Let him respond.
[Schlapp:] ... that happened out of nowhere, we got to find someone new? It would be interesting...
[Lemon:] Go ahead, Bill.
[Schlapp:] ...it's a fundamental screw you to the voter if you do that.
[Bristol:] It's a fundamental mistake for the Republican Party, not a majority for a plurality of the republican voters to nominate Donald Trump. People are seeing that now. It's a free country. People are entitled to run as independents. But again, let me talk why do this republican office holders. Obviously Trump is the nominee. I'm not challenging that. Why did this republican office holders still they had to do what they know is wrong and that you what's wrong in private. But in public they felt they had to go along, they had to bend the knee. Paul Ryan, a man I respect very much. Why is he even pretending to support Donald Trump?
[Lemon:] Hey, quickly, let me get this in there.
[Kristol:] He doesn't think Donald Trump should be president of the United States.
[Lemon:] Hold on, I want to play this. This is Paul Ryan today. Listen to this.
[Rep. Paul Ryan , U.s. Speaker Of The House:] None of these things are ever blank checks. That goes with any situation in any kind of race. But right now I think it's important that the voters you know, he won the delegates, he won the thing fair and square. It's just that simple.
[Lemon:] He's also suggesting that his endorsement is not concrete as well. But, go on.
[Kristol:] He won the delegates, fine. He's the republican nominee. Paul Ryan is an individual, he's an American. He has to make a decision. Am I comfortable, do I think it's the right thing for the country to support Donald Trump.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Kristol:] I believe Paul Ryan in his heart believes Donald Trump should not be president. But he's made a bunch of calculations some of them for good motives.
[Lemon:] I've got to go.
[Schlapp:] But he also knows that Hillary Clinton shouldn't be president.
[Lemon:] Thank you both.
[Kristol:] That's why we need a third choice. I got to have to.
[Lemon:] Coming up, Clinton Eastwood known for his bluntness both on screen and off but what he says about the American society and the November election may still come as a surprise. We'll be right back.