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Smerconish

Today: Unveiling Of John Lewis Statute Replacing Confederate Monument; An Election Inches; RFK Jr Exits Race, Endorses Trump; South Carolina Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Murdaugh's Appeal. Aired 9-10a

Aired August 24, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN LEWIS: He is really monumental.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Now you saw just peeks of the sculpture, because the official unveiling happens later this morning, at 11:00. You can see more of Basil's work at basilsculpture.com. And of course, if there are artists who are creating work that you think intersects with the stories we're talking about, intersects with the news of the day, find me on socials. I'm at Victor Blackwell on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, X.

Thanks for joining me today. I'll see you back here next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is up next.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST: 1363. I'm Michael Smerconish in Philadelphia. That's how many sheets of plywood will be used to construct the platform on which the nation's 47th president will be sworn in in January. Does that sound like a long way off? Well, consider this, it's already under construction at the Capitol, a tangible sign of the presidential election entering the final phase. Think about it.

Both conventions are passed. Labor Day is next weekend. The following week, we're going to see the only scheduled presidential debate, and by then, some voting will already be underway.

North Carolina will be the first state to cast their mail-in ballots on September 6. Thereafter, early voting will kick off on September 20 in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Virginia. November 5, not so much Election Day as it is the last day on which you can cast a ballot.

Meanwhile, the election continues to be a roller coaster. A month ago, coming out of the RNC, former President Trump looked invincible, but vice president Kamala Harris has now recaptured what President Biden lost as a result of his debate performance. The race is margin of error close, whether viewed nationally or in the seven battleground states, and every day brings a new twist. By any objective measure, the Democratic Convention was a success, well produced, thematic, entertaining speeches.

The only hiccup, in my opinion, the disrespect shown to President Biden by having the 81-year-old speak after midnight on Monday, the Vice President accepted her party's nomination with a poised and at times forceful speech. Democrats left town with a sense of confidence not seen since, well, since Republicans left Milwaukee.

For Harris, the task is to maintain her momentum when finally taking questions from the media and voters. She's not been on the record in a free flowing manner since entering the race. For Trump, the challenge is to maintain self-control amidst a sea change in the race. His frustration with her ascendancy is palpable. D has always been for Donald, not for discipline. And as Doug Sosnick recently reminded in his latest missive, Trump has never enjoyed majority support as either a candidate or as an incumbent, is a high floor but a low ceiling.

When he won in 2016 it was with the benefit of some robust third-party candidates allowing him victory with just 45.9% of the popular vote to Hillary Clinton's 48%. According to 538 most recent polling averages, Trump is currently at 43.6% to Harris's 47.3. And as of yesterday, RFK Jr was drawing 4.6% of the vote. But now he's dropped out and given Trump his blessing in the competitive states.

Last night, he and Trump appeared on the same stage for the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The whole basis of American democracy is the free flow of information, and we know that a government that can silence its opponents has license for any kind of atrocity. And can you think of any time that you can look back in history and say that the people who were censoring were the good guys. They're always the bad guys because it's always the first step down that slippery slope to totalitarianism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMERCONISH: Earlier in the day, when announcing his withdrawal, Kennedy said that he's been shunned by the media.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENNEDY JR.: My poll numbers reached at times in the high 20s. The DNC Allied mainstream media networks maintain a near perfect embargo on interviews with me during his 10 month presidential campaign in 1992, Ross Perot gave 34 interviews on mainstream networks. In contrast during the 16 months since I declared ABC and. NBC, CBS, MSNBC and CNN combined gave only two live interviews from me. Those networks instead ran a continuous deluge of hit pieces with inaccurate, often vile pejoratives and defamatory smears. Some of those same networks included with the DNC to keep me off the debate stage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:05:28] SMERCONISH: I don't doubt that he's been shunned for the record. He was my guest here three times. I have all the angry emails to prove it, one live, two pre-taped interviews to accommodate his schedule. He was also invited to join us live this morning, and I hosted his wife, actress Cheryl Hines. So Mike Kennedy thwart Harris's convention momentum in an election of inches. The answer is, maybe take a look.

This is Nate Silver's silver bullet, an average of 2024, general election polls to appreciate the potential significance, just take a look at Nevada right at the bottom of your screen. Harris and Trump separated by just 0.1% with Kennedy polling 4.5% of the vote in every one of the seven swing states. Kennedy's vote share exceeds the margin separating Harris and Trump. Where will those voters go? Or will they just stay home?

It brings me to today's poll question. It's smerconish.com. Does RFK Jr's withdrawal and endorsement of Donald Trump change the race? Joining me now is Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, cofounder of purple strategies and CNN, senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, who's also senior editor at The Atlantic, his latest piece titled, Why The Blue Wall Looms So Large.

Alex, first to you, what's the significance of RFK Jr getting out and casting his lot with Trump?

ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think it's impactful not just because of the numbers and the math, but because of the narratives that drives the story and the campaign. First of all, it's Trump's an outsider. Guess who else is? RFK, and that makes, I think, makes Kamala Harris a little bit more of the old insider, which is what she's trying to get away from, what she's trying to reinvent herself not to be.

But there's something even better for Trump here, and that's the K in RFK, the Kennedy brand, the Kennedy mystique. It still represents a bit of Camelot and the promise of what could be a promise that was interrupted, and I think many Americans hope will be again. Trump's run out of script a little bit. It's the same old show that it used to be. How does he freshen it? How does he appeal to new voters?

Well, he's done a little bit of Elon. He's reaching out to young black men. But this gives him, I think, a new way to expand his story. So I think Trump is not a math campaign guy, right? He's not disciplined, as you just said, Michael, he's all about driving entertainment to drive a narrative, to create a story. And this, I think, gives him something new to say.

SMERCONISH: Ron Brownstein, your thoughts.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the Democrats would pay to have charter RFK to the suburbs of Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, Madison, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta and Phoenix to campaign with Donald Trump. Donald Trump, without much attention, has been telling audiences, I will not give a penny. That's his phrase of federal funding to any school that has any vaccine mandate from kindergarten through college. We know from polling in the Pew Research Center last year that the share of Republicans and white evangelicals, and it was to an evangelical audience that Trump made that pledge that says parents should be allowed to send their kids to school without vaccines, even if it endangers the health of other people, has doubled in the last five year to 40%, 70% of all Americans disagree.

The share of college educated suburban moms who disagree, I'm betting, is closer to 90%. With RFK, I think there is the potential, although it's a small group, and I'm not sure how many of them will vote. Yes. That some of those disaffected younger men who were parking with RFK might end up with Trump if they vote. You know what the turnout rate is among non-college non-white men, 49% you know what the turnout rate is among college-educated white women, 82%. Joe Biden did not hit the ceiling among college white women, and he got about 60% of them in Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2020, Whitmer and Shapiro got about 70% of them. And I just add this to the list with we have to remind ourselves that the Dobbs decision did not happen until after the 2020 election. But you add Dobbs, you add guns, you add Harris's, you know, just her identity and I think this latent threat to Trump of being associated with anti-vaccine extremism that Kennedy brings to him. I think on balance, this will end up being more problem than an asset.

[09:10:12]

SMERCONISH: Okay, let me then, let me go back to Alex and say, Alex, how would you handle him? Would you give him a seat on the plane? Are you putting RFK Junior out there with Trump again, and if so, in what settings? By the way, my two cents, if I may, I watched all of his speech in withdrawing from the race, and I watched all of the Trump rally, and I know that he gets portrayed and accurately so as being anti-Vax, but there's much more populism in his appeal when he's talking about healthy food when he's talking about healthy kids, when he's talking about forever wars, and I know he'll be cast among --

BROWNSTEIN: You don't think healthy cats code.

SMERCONISH: Alex, go ahead. You respond. I want to -- let me go ahead. Alex, I should not have injected myself. Alex, how would I handle it? Go ahead.

CASTELLANOS: No, I'm glad you did because -- how would I handle it. But let me also address Ron here. I guess he has nothing to contribute at all, which is why the Democrats and Biden and Harris have been working so hard to shut this guy down, to censor him, to get him out of the process. I think a lot of what you're saying, some of the extremism is built into his stock price, but what he does is he changes the narrative for Trump. There's a youthful, optimistic factor to that brand, and I wouldn't discount that Ron. I think you're off base on that.

How would I use him? I'd put him on the plane, but not all the time. I think once a week, do an event with him, do something big and powerful. Americans are hungry for politicians who believe in something other than themselves, and that's certainly not Kamala Harris. She just had a convention where she not only just did plastic surgery on herself, she like, ripped out her DNA and inserted some new stuff and then did nothing to explain to the American people why that occurred.

It's like somebody who just shows up on your doorstep and you never and just says, oh, I've always loved you when they hated you yesterday and gave you no rationale. It's a very cynical campaign, and I think the more exposure it gets, the more selfish it's going to become. And I think if on the other side, Trump can take advantage of the Kennedy opportunity to expand his vision of the future, which frankly, is hard for Trump.

All he's got about to say about the future is, let's make America great again. But if now he's got somebody can talk about children, children's health, clean water. When's the last time you heard a Republican campaign talking about any of those things using judiciously, a little seasoning on the saw on them, on the main entree?

SMERCONISH: Ron, I can see you want a response. Go ahead and take it. Keep it brief if you can.

BROWNSTEIN: No, I don't really want a response. I just think this is absurd. I mean, I think this is a lunatic conversation we're having. There's really nothing else.

SMERCONISH: Why is it? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. I got to say this.

CASTELLANOS: Thank you, Ron.

SMERCONISH: Why is it a lunatic conversation? Why is it, guys, hang on. Why is it a lunatic conversation when Democrats went to such great lengths to keep him off ballots? To Alex's point, if, if the guy is a loon who was never going to register, why were they so worried about his presence?

BROWNSTEIN: Because Donald Trump can't reach 50% as you said, in anything that allows him to win with a lower number makes it more likely for him to win. I mean, Alex, you know --

CASTELLANOS: I've always had a lot of, I've always had a lot of respect for Ron. You know, it created the idea of the blue wall. So I won't -- I won't go any farther on that. I'll just say that Kamala Harris has brought back the Democratic coalition, you know, certainly, black women, the black vote, younger people, there's excitement, but she's not made a dent in white men, and she's stuck there. Trump is stuck getting across the 50-yard line because he doesn't really have a vision of the future. He's a lot of the times looking back.

The Kennedy Mystique, the Kennedy brand, this new generation of Kennedy, who is an outsider, as defined by Ron and the Democratic Party, I think doubles down on Trump's message of change and give helps him with the vision. I think narratively, it's not just about it's not -- it changes who Kennedy is as well as who Trump is, and I think --

SMERCONISH: Ron, I got it. Ron, I've got to get out in 20 seconds. You take the final comment. Go ahead. BROWNSTEIN: Donald Trump is wrapping himself further in kind of

fringe views that will further alienate the white-collar suburbs that are Harris's best chance of winning, and that showed in 2022 despite broad economic discontent that they were able to tip the states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, that are going to decide the election.

[09:15:08]

SMERCONISH: Gentlemen, I appreciate both of you. Thank you for being here. What are your thoughts? Hit me up on social media. I'll read some throughout the program from the world of X. If a race in a state is decided by less than 75,000 votes that a 5% margin is huge. If that margin breaks for Trump, it's 65% as predicted. Come on, this is like an SAT question, that he just gave Trump the race. That's why he only took himself off in certain states and not others. The strategy is genius.

There was nuance. I don't even know how to say your name or I'd repeat it. There was nuance in the way that he got out, right? He's not getting out across the board. He's saying in those states that are decidedly red or blue, and if he's on the ballot, he wants to stay on the ballot. But in the competitive states, did I just get the reverse of that? Yes, no, I got it right. But in the competitive states, like my own Pennsylvania, he doesn't want to appear on the ballot, lest he be portrayed as a spoiler. I don't know that that will save him that complaint, depending on how the race turns out.

Well, that was a great debate, though, wasn't it? I love that, and they're both so smart, I want to know what you think. Go to my website. It's smerconish.com. Answer today's poll question. Does RFK Jr's withdraw an endorsement of Donald Trump change the race.

Up ahead. Following her historic speech at the DNC, my next guest and others are calling on Vice President Harris to start answering tough questions. Could her campaign be making a mistake by not welcoming journalists into the fold, and be sure to sign up for the daily newsletter@smerconish.com for which -- I want you to see this.

So Rob Rogers, he draws for us on a weekly basis. That's the cartoon that he drew, passing of the torch. Take a good look. Now. here's a different passing of the torch. This from Steve Breen, with a totally different message.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:30]

SMERCONISH: Despite her momentum, Vice President Harris hasn't done any formal interviews with the press since she rose to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket on the campaign trail, she's taken a few reporter questions, but many of her critics argue she hasn't outlined any specific policy details.

Harris said on August the 8th that she would do an interview by the end of the month. The Trump campaign accusing her of using a duck-and- hide strategy with the media.

Joining me now is Perry Bacon, Jr. or Washington Post columnist. His new essay is called, Harris should talk to journalists more particularly the wonky ones. Good to have you here, Perry. Let me show you something that Robert F. Kennedy Jr said yesterday. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENNEDY JR.: How did the Democratic Party choose a candidate that has never done an interview or debate during the entire election cycle? No policies, no interviews, no debates, only smoke and mirrors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMERCONISH: So at what point, and are we at that point that she needs to start doing interviews, and what should those interviews look like?

PERRY BACON, JR., WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: So she has put out some policies. She had a whole list of economic policies last week. She gave it a DC and C speech, it certainly gave some policy on Israel and Gaza. So I don't think that's quite right what he said. So I think the question to me is, like running for president is not, should not be, in my view, it should not be. Might be just giving stump speeches and then walking off stage. She's not and Gilead specifically. So she did not really run in the primary. She basically was anointed as the candidate picked by the DNC delegates and it is not taking questions from not only many journalists but not many human beings, regular voters either. She's not had the kind of town halls you would have and Q and A's you would have with voters if you ran during the primary.

So there's a real sort of democratic small D function, I think in taking questions, accepting the potential of like really being challenged by journalists, being challenged by regular citizens. So I do think it's time to not only have press conferences that are formal, which have more than two or three questions, but also to have interviews that could be -- in my piece, I mentioned, for example, her talking to Christiane Amanpour or Fareed Zakaria, people who are experts in foreign policy, or reporters specialized in economic issues. Because I think part of what I want to see is more debate, more back and forth in terms of, what are her policy ideas as she thought them through? How well can they undergo with rigorous questioning? And I think that's an important part of the presidential process that we've sort of missed since she became the candidate.

SMERCONISH: Here's some of what you wrote for The Washington Post. We'll put it up on the screen. I'll read it aloud. "Harris is making a mistake. She should be doing interviews and other engagements with journalists in recognition of their important role in democracy. In particular, she should speak to journalists who specialize in policy reporting."

Perry, I was thinking about this. If I were advising her and thinking strategically, I might roll her out in major media markets in the seven battleground states, because my perception is there's less of a partisan edge with some of the local network anchors. And so it sort of kills two birds with one stone in that she's making herself available for questioning, and she's also doing so in those states that matter most, and obviously whatever she says would be given national play. What do you think of that idea?

BACON, JR.: So I'm not sure of the electoral dynamics here. I. Think that you're hinting that if she does interviews in local places that helps drive up her vote count, I'm not sure doing an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution necessarily means or the whatever the TV stations in Atlanta are necessarily means you increase your vote count.

[09:25:14]

I think it's important because of the Democratic function. I want to hear since she's spending a lot of time in these seven states, I do think it'd be useful for her to be asked about schooling or policing in Philadelphia or in Atlanta, or how people in rural Wisconsin are doing and being just I think interviews give us a chance to, you know, people in those communities can ask questions about those communities and, you know, and drill down for answers. And so it's more of a discourse and less of a one way dialog where she has pulled a bunch of things and sort of says what her talking points are.

I don't think it's a silly that she will do better. And in fact, part of what's going on, I suspect, here is candidates, when they have to do interviews, often get off script. They don't say the things that are pulled the best. They might make a mistake. And I think that is part of it. It might be better for your winning chances to never talk to the media. I think it's a bad way to run for president. It may be better if you never take a question from a voter either. I think that's a bad and improper way to run for president.

SMERCONISH: Your piece also made reference to the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Philadelphia Inquirer, and it put a thought in my head. I get that she got into the race late. I understand that, so that the time constraints are different than in a conventional candidacy. But what about sitting for the editorial board? I mean, is that now a thing of the past? How about at the Washington Post, your newspaper? How about at the New York Times? But also some of the other major newspapers in the in the country, could be the Wall Street Journal.

Is it incumbent upon her to provide that kind of questioning opportunity, because it's exactly, I think, the type that you're describing.

BACON, JR.: Yes, I think editorial boards are important, and I think those in because you have a wide group of journalists who are in the room who often have different expertises. I'm not trying to say she has to interview with CNN or the New York Times. I work at the post. I'm sure I'd love to interview her, obviously, but my piece is not trying to make the case she should talk to the post or talk to Perry Bacon. Philadelphia inquirers a great newspaper in a swing state where she's visiting all the time. Anyway, there are papers in Wisconsin and Arizona.

I just think the point is not necessarily that she should sit down with me. The point is that I want to hear people in those communities get a chance to talk to the candidate. And I want to emphasize again, I also think it's not just a special privilege for reporters. I don't think there should be a point in this campaign where she talks, takes questions from regular voters, which is also not happening, which is also an important part of the presidential process.

SMERCONISH: Agree with you entirely. Perry Bacon, Jr., thank you for being here.

BACON, JR.: Thanks for having me, Michael.

SMERCONISH: Social media reaction from the world of X. Katherine, what do we have? "Like she needs more press. The lady's plate has been full for weeks. She doesn't do Command press conferences, nor would I."

Okay, but Taylor, Rand Taylor, are you running for president? I mean, doesn't it kind of go with the territory? I get it, you know, and I've said this on radio, and people don't like hearing me say it, but I'll say it again. It's smart politically because she's had this gilded ascendancy thus far, but at a certain point, I think you owe it to voters, you know, to prove that you can stand on your feet and respond in real-time to whatever the questioning might be. And if Trump could exercise more discipline when he does it, it would bring even more pressure to bear on her.

I want to remind you, go to my website @smerconish.com, answer today's poll question. Does RFK Jr's withdrawal and endorsement of Donald Trump change the race?

Still to come when you see the American flag, I got this question for you, do you make assumptions about the politics of the person flying the flag? And did the Democrats just take back old glory in Chicago this week. Plus Alex Murdaugh, the trial lawyer who was convicted of murdering his wife and son one step closer to a new trial. Valerie Borline, who covers the southeast for The Wall Street Journal, spent nearly three years reporting on the case what she dug up for her new book on the Murdoch Family Dynasty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:33:55]

SMERCONISH: You could say that Democrats raised the flag in Chicago. And I have a question for you. When you see an American flag flying, do you make an assumption as to the politics of the owner? I don't mean an F-150 with the Brandon bumper sticker. I mean, in a residential setting.

I've often had this conversation with radio listeners. Many of whom tell me they tend to associate the flag with Republicans, MAGA Republicans. And there's some support for that in the data. Ninety-two percent of Republicans have a favorable view of the flag compared to 77 percent of Democrats. That's according to IPSOS. Only three percent of Republicans have a somewhat negative view of the flag as opposed to 13 percent of Democrats. The flag, it turns out, is a proxy for their view of America. According to Gallup, 59 percent of Republicans reported being extremely proud to be an American as compared to just 34 percent of Democrats, and 36 percent of independents. And you can hear this divide in our music as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away.

[09:35:07]

SMERCONISH (voice-over): Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" has become a Republican mantra. It's walk on music for Trump at his rallies. It was performed live, which you're watching --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): -- who died --

SMERCONISH (voice-over): -- at the RNC.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): -- who gave that right to me.

SMERCONISH (voice-over): It's a song that could make an atheist cry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): And I'd gladly stand up next to you. And defend her still today because there ain't no doubt I love this land -- sing it -- God bless the USA.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMERCONISH: Until now Democrats haven't had a good response. Sometimes going with Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Republicans have effectively been making the patriotism play since I've been paying attention. I was an elected alternate delegate at the 1984 Republican convention in Dallas, age 22. Look at all that hair.

I remember then the launch of what would become a legendary campaign commercial, Morning in America, because of its blend of nostalgia and optimism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Nearly 2,000 families today will buy new homes, more than at any time in the past four years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMERCONISH: More than 30 years later historian Michael Beschloss wrote, "It may be hard to explain to younger Americans how a single commercial made a difference in the 1984 presidential campaign."

But the DNC this year was different. The GOP might have Lee Greenwood, but Democrats had Beyonce's Freedom anthem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MUSIC PLAYING: I break chains all by myself. Won't let my freedom rot in hell. Hey, I'm going to keep running because a winner don't quit on themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMERCONISH: Freedom is usually what Republicans tout. Consider that George W. Bush used the word 27 times in his second inaugural address. TMZ may have blown the report that Beyonce would be there herself, but her song was omnipresent and so too were chants of USA, USA, and lots of American flags.

There was a lot of talk of family and football, even country music, another staple of the Republican playbook. At the last in person DNC, back in 2016, there were performances by pop stars including Demi Lovato, Lenny Kravitz, Lady Gaga but there were no country acts.

This year there were three. Here's another indicator that Democrats are no longer ceding patriotism to the GOP. The reverence shown toward those who have worn the uniform. On night four, elected Democrats who have served their country paraded on stage.

And when on the final night, the vice president took the stage, she said words that, if you read them, you can be excused for thinking they'd come from Bush 41 or Bush 43.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fellow Americans, I love our country with all my heart. Everywhere I go, in everyone I meet, I see a nation that is ready to move forward.

I see an America where we hold fast to the fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world. An America where we care for one another, look out for one another and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMERCONISH: Yes, Democrats worked hard this week to take some ownership of patriotism. That's a good thing for all of us. The vice president was right in saying we have so much more in common than that which separates us. Amor patriae ducit, love of country leads.

Still to come, could Alex Murdaugh get a new trial for the murders of his wife and son? "Wall Street Journal" reporter Valerie Bauerlein joins me next. She has been following the case since the very beginning, has just written a fascinating new book on the downfall of the Murdaugh dynasty.

And don't forget to vote on today's poll question at Smerconish.com. Does RFK Jr.'s withdrawal and endorsement of Donald Trump change the race? Sign up for the newsletter while you're there voting. Checkout what Scott Stantis drew for the newsletter this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:44:02]

SMERCONISH: Convicted murderer, disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh, perhaps one step closer to a new trial after the South Carolina Supreme Court recently agreed to review his appeal, that of a prior decision which denied his request. No journalist knows the Murdaugh case like Valerie Bauerlein. She's a national reporter for the "Wall Street Journal."

She has covered the story from the beginning. She was in the courtroom for every major moment from his initial bond hearing to his more recent request for a new trial after his conviction. She visited all the locations important to the case. She accompanied the jury on their visit to Moselle, the family hunting farm, and scene of the murders.

She has just published a book. It's terrific. It is called "The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty. Valerie, nice to see you again. I want to put up on the screen, we just blew through it, the photograph on the day that the jury goes to Moselle and there you are looking at the kennel.

[09:45:01]

Describe what you're viewing.

VALERIE BAUERLEIN, REPORTER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: You know, it gives me chills to see that photo. I'm standing right where Maggie Murdaugh fell the night she was killed. And Stephen Gresham, the photography you see on the -- by the kennels is standing where Paul fell when he was killed. And we walked it off so viewers could know -- she was just 12 steps away when her -- when she was killed from her son.

SMERCONISH: The book has so much detail in it that if it came out at trial, I forgot it. And then there are no -- any number of things that we just never learned. And you put all the pieces together so beautifully but for the kennel, I'll stick with the kennel theme for a moment, but for the video that was shot, and then from an unlocked telephone that belonged to Paul who was murdered by his father. Then we're showing it now, if that video had not come to light, do you think he would have been convicted?

BAUERLEIN: You know, I'm here in Columbia, South Carolina. and I saw a number of the lawyers involved in on this trip. No, there's no chance he would have even really been charged absent that video, but it proved that he had been lying for the better part of a year about not being with Maggie and Paul down at the kennel.

And, you know, I also talked to a number of jurors and they said it was the video that sealed in their mind that he did it.

SMERCONISH: There were a lot of Perry Mason moments in all of this. One was that eventually they unlocked the phone. It turns out it was his birthday. That sounds familiar.

And also, General Motors. General Motors -- somebody at General Motors, you tell the story in the book, is watching the trial. They hear that there was difficulty in unlocking the black box and then immediately, what, they send the information that was being searched to both sides?

BAUERLEIN: Within a matter of days. So, you know, someone at GM was watching. We were all watching. That trial -- you know, it's 18 months ago, but it was a cultural phenomenon. They were there are many things about it that just captivated so many of us.

And yes, the state had requested the black box data on Alex Murdaugh's Suburban. At the time it was very new. And they said, we're sorry, we can't unlock that. It was a fairly -- request. But then the story becomes a national phenomenon and they're like, oh, time has passed. We can get data. And they sent an immense amount of -- I think maybe a terabyte of data on the Friday of -- during the trial. And by Monday, the defense and the state had analyzed where Alex was and when in that car.

SMERCONISH: Valerie, the murder weapons never found which cause me to ask you, did he have help?

BAUERLEIN: You know, I think there are a number of unanswered questions where are the guns is a big one and also where is the money. There's -- millions of dollars that Alex stole from his poor personal injury clients that is still missing. You know, prosecutors -- if he had help, we want to find out, but I spoke at some length to David Owen for this book.

He was the lead SLED agent and really had not talked about the case before. And, you know, that's a question that they would really like to know. The scene was sanitized. The scene was cleaned up. And to think that Alex Murdaugh could have done all that cleanup work in a matter of minutes by himself, you know, kind of beggar's belief.

SMERCONISH: If you saw my copy of the book, it is all marked up, footnoted, tabbed. It was extraordinary. There are many of us who followed every aspect of the case and no one told it the way that you did and especially now in the book.

One last thought, for lawyers, it's like a crash course on continuing legal ethics. All the things that an attorney should never do. What he was able to get away with before murdering his wife and child in terms of stealing from clients who were the most needy of the needy is just disgraceful. Good luck with the book. And thank you.

BAUERLEIN: Thank you.

SMERCONISH: Valerie's book is called "The Devil at His Elbow." It's terrific.

You still have time to vote on today's poll question at Smerconish.com. Does RFK Jr.'s withdrawal and endorsement of Donald Trump change the race? Sign up for my free and worthy daily newsletter while you're there. Check out what Jack Ohman sketched for us this week.

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SMERCONISH: So, there's the result, so far, of today's poll question. A lot of voting, nearly 40,000. Does RFK Jr.'s withdrawal and endorsement of Donald Trump change the race? Seventy-eight percent, so far, saying, no.

Here's some of the social media reaction that has come in during the course of the program. What do we have?

Democrats never learn. Insulting the American population by calling their candidates weirdos is no way to win. You should be wooing RFK voters, not insulting them, but you are the party that calls citizens deplorables.

Well, Russell, if you listen to the speech that RFK Jr. delivered yesterday where he went through his rationale, his -- you know, he's doing a slow burn. His upset with the Democrats for having denied him, in his mind, the opportunity to get on a debate stage and ballot position. They're interrelated.

More social media reaction. What else came in during the course of the program?

Since there was no primary or debates to hear Kamala positions on critical issues, she owes American multiple unscripted Q and As --

Yes, it's interesting. Some say, well, you got to cut her some slack because after all look at -- look at the way in which this all came to pass.

[09:55:06]

And I'm -- I'm with you in saying, no, it's all the more reason why she needs to hold herself out. I -- come on. You can't accept that on August 8 she was asked by the media as she's going past them and boarding, you know, Air Force Two, when are you going to do some media avail, an interview? And she says, oh, by the end of the month. Which, by the way, it would be the end of this week I imagine.

And we're going to say, oh, that's acceptable? No, that's not acceptable. One more, real quick. I think I've got time to do it. What do we have?

Michael, you are totally missing the point about the American flag. It's not that Democrats aren't proud of the flag. The Republican Party has made the flag a symbol of violence and meanness.

No, no, no. New York City Boy, you're the one missing the point. The point is, we should all take stock and ownership of the flag and no one should cede it in a political discussion to the other side. It's -- what you've said is all the more reason why you ought to be flying the flag and apple pie in baseball.

Thanks for watching. See you.

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