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Trump Under Fire. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 03, 2016 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I say the words Donald Trump and you say?

IBTIJAH MUHAMMAD, U.S. OLYMPIC FENCER: I don't know. What do you say? Where do you start?

GANGEL: Do you think he's dangerous?

MUHAMMAD: I think that his words are very dangerous. When these type of comments are made no one thinks about how they really affect people. I'm African-American. I don't have another home to go to. My family was born here, I was born here. We've, you know -- I have grown up in Jersey and all my family is from Jersey. It's like well, where do we go?

I'm hopeful, that in my efforts to represent our country well as an athlete, that they change the rhetoric around, you know, how people think and perceive the Muslim community.

GANGEL: That's one of the reasons she was invited to the Islamic Center of Baltimore this year for President Obama's visit.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told her to bring home the gold.

GANGEL: And much to her surprise being different has now made her one of the celebrities of the U.S. Olympic team with a stream of profiles, photo shoots, and lucrative endorsements.

MUHAMMAD: I'm solely focusing on, you know, just preparation.

GANGEL: Train, train, train.

MUHAMMAD: Train, train, train, yes.

GANGEL: And hopefully, gold.

MUHAMMAD: I always say that if, you know, I'm blessed to win a medal this summer that it will icing on the cake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We continue, hour two with me on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being with me.

In just a couple of minutes, we have the little live box on the screen for a reason here. We are watching and waiting to hear from the Republican nominee, Donald Trump himself, there in Daytona Beach, Florida. Listen, he is under pressure today really like never before because sources are telling CNN his own staffers, some of his advisers are frustrated with him, although in a follow-up phone call it sounds like they're frustrated with the media.

We will get into that. Leaders of his own party, they are outraged against him, though. And then just minutes ago his own vice presidential nominee, Governor Mike Pence, contradicted Trump's latest decision. Trump did not endorse two powerhouse Republican leaders in a "Washington Post" interview in the 24 couple hours in their upcoming primaries, and talking specifically about Arizona Senator John McCain and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

When "The Washington Post" asked Mr. Trump about Speaker Ryan's reelection bid, this is what Donald Trump's response was -- quote -- "I like Paul. But these are horrible times for our country. We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I'm just not quite there yet. I'm not quite there yet."

But flash-forward to just about an hour ago, Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, voiced his strong support for Speaker Ryan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It takes time to have relationships together. I strongly support Paul Ryan, strongly endorse his reelection. He's a longtime friend, he is a strong conservative leader. I believe we need Paul Ryan in leadership in the Congress of the United States.

QUESTION: Having the presidential nominee maybe not being as forthcoming with that same view leads some to believe that the Republican Party is a little out of step with each other. Is that the case? What are the people to make of it?

(CROSSTALK)

PENCE: No, not at all. I talked to Donald Trump this morning about my support for Paul Ryan, our longtime friendship. He strongly encouraged me to endorse Paul Ryan in next Tuesday's primary. I'm pleased to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's begin with CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll there standing by at that live event in Daytona Beach.

Jason Carroll, what are you hearing from the Trump campaign? What's his message today?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think part of his message is going to be what we have already heard. He hasn't even taken the stage yet and already we have heard several speakers take to the stage and blame the media for all of this discourse that we have been hearing out there.

So we expect that to be one of the points that Donald Trump talks about as well. We heard him mention it yesterday, Brooke, when we were in Virginia. He talked about the media being on the side of Hillary Clinton, not on the side of Trump.

One of the other points that I think he is going to bring up is that $400 million payment to Iran. That's going to be another one of the points he's going to hit today during his rally. So much has been said about Donald Trump, the Republican Party, unity, who he's endorsing, who he's not endorsing.

I spoke to a woman, one woman, her name is Pat. She's sort of symbolic of what a lot of people in this room are feeling, people that I have spoken to. They feel as though this whole back-and-forth with Donald Trump endorsing or not endorsing those within the Republican Party is inside baseball.

One woman said to me, she said, look, maybe he doesn't say the right thing in the right way all the time, but you look at the totality of this candidate and we are behind him.

[15:05:02]

A few themes once again we will hear at this rally when Donald Trump takes the stage. One will be the media. We have already heard speakers talking about it, the media which they believe is tilted toward Hillary Clinton. Another theme is going to be about that $400 million payment made to Iran. Expect Donald Trump to hit home on that point when he takes the stage just a few moments from now -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. I hear the crowds over you. We will take Mr. Trump when he takes to the podium here any minute now.

Meantime, let's have a bigger conversation on the reports of the turmoil within Donald Trump's campaign, within the top ranks of Trump's party.

Our chief political correspondent Dana Bash has been all over this story beginning with the initial reporting of the frustration among these advisers. And then, though, talk to me about the call you received from top members of his campaign.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Frustration? There's no frustration. That was the tongue in cheek, but actually quite serious reason for the call was to say, look, the idea that senior Trump aides, including and especially Paul Manafort, who was one of the people who called me earlier today with several other members of the Trump senior staff, that the frustration that they have is with the media, with sort of everything and everybody but their candidate.

Having said that, they also -- and Paul Manafort specifically acknowledged that they are, and need to, focus on Hillary Clinton. He insisted that they were in the past, that we weren't covering it, but he certainly signaled that at this rally that we are waiting for Donald Trump to begin, he is going to be more on message and a more focused candidate in the areas that they hope, which Jason Carroll just laid out, whether it is about her e-mail situation, about the money that the U.S. allegedly paid for to get the hostages back, this new explosive story in "The Wall Street Journal."

There are a whole host of issues that they hope that Donald Trump stays focused on and doesn't veer off into other areas that will get party leaders, including and especially the chairman of the Republican Party, very annoyed with him about, like intentionally withholding endorsement of the House speaker, Paul Ryan, in his Republican primary.

BALDWIN: Yes, we know Reince Priebus is really irked. This is personal for him. He goes way, way back.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: To being the chair of Paul Ryan's first congressional campaign.

BASH: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Go back to White House. He's frustrated. But we also know he's been on the phone with Mr. Trump the last couple of days.

For now, Dana Bash, thank you so much.

Again, we are watching and waiting to hear from Donald Trump in Florida. We will take it.

Meantime, the Republican Party presidential nominee not endorsing the top Republican in Congress, what is that really all about? What might be the motivation here?

I had Ari Fleischer on set with me a little bit ago, served as White House press secretary under George W. Bush. This is what he thought.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER GEORGE W. BUSH WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: To send a signal to Paul Ryan that I'm bigger than you, I'm more important than you, and when I become president, you better remember it. It is classic negotiating.

You want to make the person you are negotiating with -- and you always negotiate with the speaker -- think I have leverage on you. Trump's all about leverage. I think that's all this is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So much to discuss.

I have more wonderful voices, CNN political director David Chalian, Trump surrogate Boris Epshteyn, CNN political analyst Angela Rye, used to served as executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Jim Geraghty, senior political correspondent for "The National Review."

Welcome, welcome to all of you.

David Chalian, let me just begin with you on my conversation with Ari. I pushed back and I said is that smart to be going into the White House, let's say Mr. Trump wins, with that sort of message to the top Republican in Congress, you need to listen to me? Is that what this is about?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I do agree with Ari's point that Donald Trump does love looking for how he gains leverage in any circumstance. This is a lot of what "Art of the Deal" is about that I'm sure a lot of folks have read.

But that's a key point, too. It is also a bit of payback, let's be clear. He is using almost identical language to what Paul Ryan said to Jake Tapper back in May when he wasn't yet ready to endorse Donald Trump. There's certainly a little bit of payback there as well.

Listen, if indeed Donald Trump wins this election and if indeed Paul Ryan as expected is reelected by his colleagues as the speaker of the House, they're going to undoubtedly have a working relationship that will at times bend towards the White House end of Pennsylvania Avenue and at times bend towards the congressional end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

That's sort of the give-and-take in that relationship.

BALDWIN: OK. I'm listening to you and I'm seeing Boris sort of nodding a bit out of the side of my head.

Let me just go to you and ask though in folding in the Mike Pence -- we heard him say, listen, he called Mr. Trump or Mr. Trump called him. There was a discussion over whether he should or could endorse Paul Ryan. Mr. Trump gave him the green light to go for it.

[15:10:05]

Still, the fact that these two men who are on the top of the Republican ticket are not on the same page, is that not worrisome?

BORIS EPSHTEYN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No issue at all.

Governor Pence and Speaker Ryan know each other, they served together in the Congress. Donald Trump said, hey, it is up to you. Donald Trump is choosing not to endorse anyone in the primaries. Again, keep in mind this is not GOP versus Democrat. This is a primary within the GOP. Donald Trump is saying for next Tuesday's primary in the case of Wisconsin, he's not going to make an endorsement. It is in a few days.

BALDWIN: But of all Republicans, you know, Speaker Ryan, the most powerful Republican in all of that end of Pennsylvania Avenue. EPSHTEYN: It's not just Speaker Ryan. But it is across the board.

Donald Trump is not making an endorsement across the board in the GOP primary. That's the decision he made. And Paul Ryan falls into that category.

As David said, no matter what happens going forward when Donald Trump is president and if Speaker Ryan is reelected, they will absolutely have a working relationship and it will be a relationship that goes back and forth just like they have done with presidents and speakers of the past throughout history.

BALDWIN: Jim, do you think this matters? Do you think voters care? Is this a big deal?

JIM GERAGHTY, "THE NATIONAL REVIEW": The fact that Trump is not endorsing in primaries is big news to Renee Ellmers, the congresswoman from North Carolina, who lost in her primary earlier this year.

I think it is a much simpler explanation. You love Donald Trump because he is a counterpuncher. Right. If he feels like he's been attacked, he punches back twice as hard.

BALDWIN: Which is why a lot of Americans like him.

GERAGHTY: He does. And he does it no matter how small the slight, he can't let anything go, that he has to punch back, that he has to.

He clearly felt insulted that Paul Ryan didn't endorse him out of the gate. This is how he's going to get him back.

(CROSSTALK)

Exactly. Paul Ryan didn't endorse him in the primary either. To be fair, Paul Ryan didn't endorse him in the primary.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: He said he wasn't quite ready yet. That's the exact same words with Jake Tapper.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: That was after the primary was over.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But he got there, and Donald Trump hasn't.

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And Donald Trump used his same verbiage to say...

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: Take that for what you will, but in the end, when Donald Trump is president and if Speaker Ryan gets reelected, this will not... (CROSSTALK)

RYE: I'm just curious about whether or not Trump surrogates have conference calls, because you are all saying something very different today. This is the first time I have heard that Donald Trump is not going to endorse in the primary.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: So, Kayleigh is saying something different. You're saying something different. I'm sure if Corey was here, he would say something different. So, do you guys have conference calls?

EPSHTEYN: That's a guess. Right?

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Do you all have conference calls?

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: And the surrogates are absolutely on the same page.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: You guys can't be, because you guys don't have calls.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: They can't be on the same page, because even the candidate -- let me just finish my sentence.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: The candidate and the running mate aren't even saying the same thing.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: What did Kayleigh say? You can't answer my question.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: There's that.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Fascinating, Boris.

BALDWIN: Then the second bit is on the frustration within the campaign. And so initially Dana was all over the reporting.

And you have -- amid all the top brass within the Trump campaign calling her up and saying they're frustrated with us, the media. And obviously the pushback on that is, well, stop blaming the media all the time. And I would say this to even some of the Bernie Sanders folks, too.

But he needs to stay on message. Right? He needs to stay on message. What are we going to hear from him today?

EPSHTEYN: You will hear the message of national security, economy. You are going to absolutely hear about the $400 million, part of $1.7 billion given to Iran, a state sponsor of terrorists.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me actually stop you there, because you bring up something we should talk about with David Chalian.

David Chalian, I was talking to Carol Lee last hour who broke this story with "The Wall Street Journal." For people who are not familiar, talk to me about the $400 million -- it's not even dollars. It's Swiss francs, it's other currencies, in cash, in pallets unmarked an cargo plane to Iran in January. Why is this a big deal?

CHALIAN: Listen, ever since the sort of hostage release deal was put into place, this has been an avenue of criticism of Republicans because quite frankly they have been totally opposed to the Iran nuclear deal from the very beginning, many of the Republicans.

This is a big deal though because the White House has insisted time and time again that this was not a ransom, that there was no quid pro quo, these were simultaneous actions that happened on simultaneous tracks, that hostages were released, and this payment came to fruition as part of the Iran nuclear deal.

It is impossible to know if they completely stayed on separate tracks. Clearly, there were different teams negotiating this, Brooke. But learning today of this airlift of money, this gives Donald Trump fuel and fodder right now, the opportunity to veer back on message on the national security plank and express not just this moment of payment and when this payment arrived, but the larger, broader argument against the Iran nuclear deal because of the belief that it makes America less safe.

[15:15:08]

So that is a message that Donald Trump should be sort of saying every day. It is one that appeals to not only his supporters, but has the potential to appeal beyond his loyal base.

BALDWIN: OK. Let me actually just pivot to Angela and pose this to you. You have the optics of this, the timing of this. John McCain came out today and said, yes, it's ransom, even though the White House isn't. They're under fire.

RYE: I think they are under fire.

BALDWIN: Trump's going to take this on.

(CROSSTALK) RYE: Especially because I think the facts are too challenging for him to digest, the fact that this is an age-old dispute, 1979, the year I was born. I'm old.

BALDWIN: Me, too.

RYE: The fact that this is how old it was and the president said, just like he normally does, it's time for us to end this, too, at the same time that they're dealing with these other critical issues.

I think it makes a ton of sense, but the optics, to your point, are not great and Donald Trump...

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: It in no way makes sense...

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGHTY: It is totally coincidental that they released the hostages when we sent these giant pallets full of cash of every denomination. And a plane just happened to arrive in Tehran and then they just happened -- it is totally coincidental, America.

The obvious, giant, hanging softball for Trump today is if you feel like this administration keeps lying to you, if you feel like this administration never tells you the straight story and always has these secret deals going on with shady regimes that ultimately hate us, and pledge death to America to us, if you want to end that, vote for me. If you want more of the same, vote for Hillary Clinton.

It's really easy, if he cannot attack Khan today.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: In the Iranian budget, there is a line item for $1.7 billion, that money going to the Iranian military. Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. The government again is lying to the American people. Hillary and Obama have a lifelong history of this. Hillary Clinton's been lying to the American people for 40 years.

And, again, how can...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: He has the softball.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: You think of him in the rally recently kicking the baby out, and the whole Purple Heart...

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Paul Ryan, McCain.

EPSHTEYN: With a straight face, how can Josh Earnest stay up there and say, hey, this is not ransom?

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: It's absolutely ransom.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: It's ransom.

BALDWIN: Quick break. Stay here. This is so good. We're waiting for Donald Trump in Daytona Beach, Florida. We will take him live coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:29]

BALDWIN: Welcome back. This is CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Live pictures, Daytona Beach, Florida, waiting to hear from Donald Trump holding a rally there. Keep in mind, Florida, one of the three key battleground states his campaign believes he has to win in order to reach the White House.

But it is turmoil -- is that -- don't ask me how I know that? But it's turmoil, not tactics, dominating the headlines today about the Donald Trump campaign. Sources tell us that his staffers are growing frustrated with their candidate going rogue and not staying on message, a claim that Trump denies.

So my panel is back.

David Chalian, let me just begin with you. On the reporting, what is this about the Trump campaign reaching out to Mr. Trump's good friends, Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich, on helping them help him?

CHALIAN: Right.

Dana Bash, Jim Acosta, others have said that people from Trump world have reached out to these folks that Donald Trump has listened to in the past, especially in the last couple months as he went from presumptive nominee to nominee, and trying to get some help in getting the candidate back on message.

But just listen, Brooke, to what Newt Gingrich -- can I just read you what Newt Gingrich said to "The Washington Post" today on this very topic of what is the very palpable sense of concern and anguish inside the Republican Party over the state of the Trump campaign right now?

BALDWIN: Please.

CHALIAN: "The current race is which of these two is the more unacceptable, because right now, neither of them is acceptable," Gingrich said today. "Trump is helping her to win by proving he is more unacceptable than she is."

Gingrich went on to say, he only has a couple of weeks to reverse course here.

This is one of his most ardent supporters, somebody who was a finalist for his vice presidential pick, who is out there saying today that Trump is helping Hillary Clinton win by proving himself unacceptable. Just to express, we can't really overstate the level of concern that's going on right now, even among people who are very, very close to the candidate.

BALDWIN: Boris, wow.

EPSHTEYN: Donald Trump has done something that Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani did not do. Right? Donald Trump is the nominee for this party. Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich are extremely respected members of my party and they their opinions and they are free to give them.

Donald Trump is someone who is the nominee and we should all be now united in making sure that he is the president, he is elected on November 8. So, listen, again, Newt Gingrich is entitled to his opinion. I disagree. I think Donald Trump has had a strong campaign.

Every campaign has bumps. This is someone who's only been a politician for a year. And that has been the huge upside. And of course you have seen some downside. But overall, as we move forward and concentrate, again, on national security, Hillary Clinton has not kept this country safe.

On the economy, 1.2 percent GDP growth last quarter, 0.8 percent GDP growth the quarter before, Donald Trump will continue to make the case that he is the only one to truly turn this country around and he will do it once elected.

BALDWIN: Jim?

GERAGHTY: Sure.

The word out of the camp -- apparently this was on Twitter a short while ago -- is there is no formal intervention going on. I guess that means no black tie.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Ba-dum-bum.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Zing.

GERAGHTY: Basically, the message will be very -- everything we have said here, which is that, look, you have these big issues you can talk about, the Iran deal, the state of the economy, ISIS, Florida has Zika breaking out. There is this constant sense things are unraveling in this country.

And instead let me talk you what I'm mad about that guy Khan today.

(CROSSTALK)

[15:25:00]

EPSHTEYN: You're bringing up Khan again, where we can be -- if you want to talk about the Iran deal, let's talk about the Iran deal.

Let's talk about the fact that it shouldn't have been a deal in the first place. People say it is a larger part of the deal. We owe them money from 1979. We don't owe any money. We don't owe any money.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Go ahead.

RYE: I think part of what we have to remember is that in an election year when you're right after the conventions, the folks who are driving the news cycle are the two candidates and we can't help but talk about what the Republican nominee is talking about.

We're talking about crying babies. We're talking about Captain Khan. We're talking about what he's not talking about and that is the Iran deal, and the only entity that is talking about that is the White House, proactively addressing...

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: ... Iran deal today, so we could be talking about it.

RYE: And we're talking about his tweets because Hillary Clinton said he can be baited by a tweet.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: Hold on a minute. That's just incorrect.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: It is actually factually right.

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGHTY: If you give the media low-hanging fruit, they're going to swing at it. They're going to pick at it. And the thing is that what he has to do...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Low-hanging fruit? This is what he just kept stepping in over the weekend.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: The Trump criticism specifically. And then we will when we listen to him. I'm sure he will talk about what we were just discussing with the $400 million with Iran.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: His campaign better hope so.

GERAGHTY: When George W. Bush was running for governor, he said I have a four plank thing -- four issues I talk about. They said, what else is there? There is a fifth plank. Let's talk about the other four. Right?

You stay on message, and if he can do that, he's got a chance of winning this.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: The media does choose the narrative it pushes. It has certain people around -- Anderson Cooper had Mr. Khan for half-an-hour last night, half-an-hour. We could have been talking about the economy.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: We're about to take Mr. Trump for who knows how many minutes.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: And he will talk about the Iran deal. He will talk about the economy. He will talk about Zika. And that's what I hope...

RYE: Sure better hope so.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: He hasn't been.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And that sound has made some of the frustrations in the campaign, according to the Dana.

And so we will listen for that.

Meantime, meantime, meantime, let me ask you this, because I have had Jamie Gangel, who has got these fascinating interviews with -- it's -- interestingly, all three Republican women, not Meg Whitman, but she is the most recent sort of high-powered Republican woman to say this.

Maria Comella, with Chris Christie, longtime adviser with Chris Christie, and Sally Bradshaw with Jeb Bush. All three Republican women in the last couple of days changing course, saying they are not voting for Mr. Trump, they are voting for Hillary Clinton. What do you make of that?

EPSHTEYN: To be fair, Meg Whitman has not been a change of course. She's been anti-Trump from the get-go. BALDWIN: She's a Republican.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Now she's saying she's voting for Hillary.

EPSHTEYN: But she's been anti-Trump from the get-go, effectively never Trump. That's not a change of course. She is entitled to her opinion. She is one individual. She has her own history as a business leader, as someone who has run for office, but has not been elected.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Are you worried though from the Trump perspective these three women who are coming to the forefront and saying, we're voting for Hillary Clinton?

Because there are a lot of Republicans who are still sort of trying to figure out what to do when they walk into that voting box on November 8.

EPSHTEYN: Am I worried about those three specific people? I'm not.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: No, no, no. Many a Republican in this country.

EPSHTEYN: What we want to do is to appeal to every voter out there, man, woman, whatever their background is, across spectrums. That's absolutely the goal of this campaign. That's what he did in the primary.

Fourteen million voters voted for Trump, more than ever in the history of the GOP.

BALDWIN: Which is amazing.

EPSHTEYN: And we will continue to do that moving forward.

We have about 98 days. We're very confident when November 8 comes, no matter what individuals are out there saying they are now anti-Trump, there are millions and millions of voters will be making a binary decision between a woman under whose leadership this country has continue to failed in Hillary Clinton and a man who's been successful throughout his life and has offered actually new ideas, actual change. America will choose Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: No, and Angela, maybe Boris has a point to all the other millions of people. And we are just talking about these three Republican women. Do you think it's a big deal?

RYE: I think there's one more that we haven't talked about. She's not vote are for Hillary Clinton, but Jan Brewer even saying she is concerned about his inability to stay on message. I think that Republicans should be very, very concerned, not just

because he is literally distracting from what the overall -- or what his campaign messaging should be, but also the overall Republican message. You don't just have a presidential election. You have Congress. You have a Senate that could flip.

You have a House that's less likely to flip, but you could very well lose some key allies for what would have been a Trump administration. There are some serious concerns on the table. And I think they're right to have an intervention.

EPSHTEYN: There was no intervention.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: I'm not finished, Boris. I didn't talk the whole time you filibustered.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: So the one thing that I would say is, to his point, there may not be an actual formal intervention.

But that doesn't mean there's not going to be a family conversation, literally maybe with the Trump kids today. And I think it's time.

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGHTY: You end up having that public conversation. You have the Newt Gingrich of the worlds saying, what the heck is he doing? He's doing this.

Look, these three Republican women figures by themselves, if this happened in a vacuum, you would say, OK, fine, it's three of them. We already know Trump is not doing spectacularly amongst women. And traditionally Republicans don't do as well among women voters as Democrats do.

We know that, demographically, women are becoming -- each year, they become a slightly larger chunk of the electorate. So, if you're a Republican who is looking for reelection to the House and Senate or a governor's race right now, you have to be sweating bullets.

RYE: That's right.

GERAGHTY: You have to be nervous about this, because if you're losing the Meg Whitmans of the world, who are -- even if they're never Trump, they're nominal Republicans -- the fact that they're not even saying --