plays hardball. good evening, i'm kristen welch matthews. the republican convention days away and the party's nominee is running the most unpredictable, some would say confounding campaign in modern timeles. the democratic nominee is facing a major trust deficit, only 37% of voters consider her trustworthy. on top of that, the country seems polarized on the issue of race and policing. donald trump said he is the law and order candidate and hillary

clinton said america needs more love and kindness. whose vision will prevail? with me for the full hour, bill mauer host of "realtime" and hosting a series of four special episodes, all live during the republican and democratic conventions. those will air wednesday and thursday nights. bill, thank you. >> great to be here. >> i can ask you the toughest question. if you had to explain this to somebody you knew, living overseas, what would you explain is going on in this country on racial issues right now? this tenseness. >> depends what country the person who i was talking to was from. some don't have a racial problem like we do because they don't have a history of slavery like we do. we never got race right in this country. it's the original sin of this country. it's a fault line that we've tried to cover up. every time something racial happens, people act surprised. i just watched that recent documentary on oj simpson and it's hard to believe that back then, every white person in america was like, of course he's

guilty. and no jury could find him anything but guilty and they were shocked when a jury did. >> mine was too. i was on the air. >> we were all shocked. and black folks were all applauding, not because i think they thought he was really that innocent but because for once, for one time, a black guy beat the system after the system had beaten black folks so many times. so that's the beginning of it. now, when it comes to the police, look, there's never any excuse for what happened. for a shooting of a policeman, i think we all condemn that. no ifs, ands, or butbuts. i understand the motivation. how many videos can you see, how many years can go by when this is going on when black people are brutally assaulted? the last one, the guy was right on the ground ooand put a slug him. >> try to explain that.

>> i'm surprised somebody did not fire back sooner. >> what do you think are the motives? i think it's different in every case but you're the guest tonight. what do you think causes all this? i see the common nature, white police officer kills black person, apparently without justification. what else is going on? is it prejudices? >> i interviewed a policeman on my show. he said i hated all black people. when i worked in the latino, i hated all latino people and then in the white community, i hated all the white people. you get not the good people. that's your job. >> so true. >> you're a policeman. you deal with criminals. so there is some of that. there is also something wrong with police culture. now, once again, we're not indicting all the police. and certainly without the police, this country would look like that movie "the purge" every night. >> i was a capital policeman far night, not dangerous work.

but they taught us in the short training we had, when you go to approached a stopped car for a traffic violation, you never stand directly next to the driver's seat. you don't stand right there at the window because you could get plugged so you always approach from the back door and go in sideways. always looking in sideways. police are basically worried on who's in the car. and then explain some of this. >> but it is a dangerous job. by the way, there are statistics on this. how dangerous it is. i don't think it actually cracks the top ten as far as how many deaths. i think cab drivers are killed more than policemen. i think electricians, fishermen. not to say it's a dangerous job but a job you signed up for as a policeman. you were conscripted into it. when you're nervous about your life, it can't be right away to shoot. which is it seems way too much. most cops, probably not but way too many. it gets on film a lot.

>> that's what i want to ask about. you see the guys running across the field a hundred yards away from a guy and plugs him from behind. n that's not self-defense. >> that's cowardice. >> are we missing something in the tapes? >> not in that tape. not in the rodney king. this goes all the way back to that. no matter what rodney king was doing, once you have him on the ground and have six guys wailing on him with batons, that cannot be justified. and again -- >> choke hold guy. the loosy cigarettes. >> this is a job you volunteered for. protect and serve on the side of the car. that's to protect and serve us. not you. we're not protecting you. you have to understand that, yeah, there is an element of danger in this job and you have to accept that if you want to do it. and by the way, i think most policemen like their job. there's danger and a lot of

perks. >> this weekend, donald trump tweeted, look at what's happening in the country. the weak leadership of obama and people like crooked hillary clinton. do you think the president of the united states, at any given time, has an influence on these kind of immediate situations of black and white? do you think the president's leadership does anything to forestall this kind of tragedy? >> i think this -- i don't think he can forestall them but i think this president is awfully good about talking about racial issues. there are lots of black folks on one side who say he doesn't do it enough. people like cornell west or eric dyson sometimes. >> i hear from both of them. >> and of course, we know what the right wing thinks of him is that perhaps he's an illegitimate president because he is black. >> i think i know why he's doing it. i think he's trying to be, i'm not saying not black, of course, that's stupid but to be someone who's seen as an overall leader and doesn't want to be --

>> it's almost an impossible position he's put himself in. that he is in. but as much as a president can calm a nation, he is calm. people think donald trump is great for their pocketbook because he's rich, but not because he's the opposite of calm. the stock market hates nothing more than volatility and he's walking volatility. they all pretend they don't like obama because he's a democrat an and socialist but they love it and he's calm and they love calm. >> if you want to live like a republican, vote like a democrat. >> that's great, i'll remember that. >> donald trump called himself the law and order candidate. >> too many americans are trapped in fear, violence, and poverty. we must maintain law and order at the highest level or we will cease to have a country. 100%. we will cease to have a country.

i am the law and order candidate. >> that's what nixon said. '68. >> what do you think he's taking sides there? >> first of all, it's a fact-free assessment of what's going on here. actually, crime has been down the last 10 or 20 years. that's not what it looks like on the evening news. >> but you could feel it in new york city. >> when it leads, it leads. >> you could feel what. >> crime is way down. >> of course. but that's not what the media likes. they like sensationalism. so people think things are worse. they're probably better and statistically, shown to be better. that's not how you win votes. trump can only win by scaring people. >> but if you've got kids like i do in new york, you feel better about this city than 30 or 40 years ago. >> of course. i lived here in the late '70s and the early '80s. it was ridiculous. >> the black lives matter movement, she said is it's

inherently racist. black parents should teach kids to respect the police. >> oh, god. really? he really said that? republicans wonder why they don't get the votes of minorities when they make comments like that. black lives matter is not inherently racist. it's what it is. black lives should matter and when we see them gunned down in the street when they are not deserving of that, is it not obvious that some movement had to rise up to protest against that? >> to make your point, newt gingrich who's on his best behavior said it's more dangerous to be black in america not just because of crime on the street but because of the police. he put it together, both threats to black youth. >> you know -- >> what do you think he's up to? >> well, he's up to wanting to be vice president but i don't think that's going to happen but these republicans are so alarmed

by donald trump and many of them are appalled even though they're sort of getting behind him. what did they think was going to happen? they spent all these decades pursuing a strategy of race baiting and anti-intellectualism and conspiracy theories and when a donald trump emerges, they're surprised about it? they shouldn't be surprised. the one different thing about donald trump is his temperament. certainly, we've had people who have followed that strategy before in the republican party. never anybody with this kind of temperament. if he became president, it would just be government by snit every day. it would be about tweeting and getting even with people who didn't do exactly what he wanted. >> do you think his call that obama was somehow the product of a strange personal conspiracy by his mother that she was a white american woman from kansas and went to kenya to have her babies and married an african guy that wasn't the best stand-up guy, not around very long and then somehow got it posted in the

honolulu newspapers her baby was born and gave him the name hussein, brac harack hussein an it to be president 35 years later? >> this is why he sued me. because this is the issue i was making fun of him about. >> it's incredible. if you talk it through. >> of course it is. and i mean, that is racism. i know you hate to hear it. i would never say all republicans are racist, but if you are a racist, and you're looking for a political party, this is the obvious choice. >> this is the mouse trap, at least. here, eat the cheese. >> but not just trump. if you watch the republican debates, they all follow this script of restore america. i want my country back. it's subtle, but it's not even that subtle. they talk about obama and his presidency as if it never existed. to me, there's something racist.

like, put america back to work. yeah, did that. we put america back. we got to rebuild our depleted military. it went up under obama like it did every president. >> my explanation for birtherism is that he's playing to people who want to believe somehow you can put an asterisk next to it. you go through all the pictures from john adams through and william and they're white. they want to say. >> they just don't like the idea of a black family eating off the white house china. they can couch it any way but did not go down well with them. and this is their answer to that. really wasn't president and were hoping he would be a terrible failure because then it would never happen again. bush, to his credit, george w. bush on obama's first day in office stood with him and said,

we want you to succeed. that was not the attitude of most republicans and i'm sure hated the fact history will judge this presidency as having succeeded. >> i think in the top couple of tiers. bill maher about the rise of donald trump after this. you're watching a special edition of "hardball: the place for politics." >> who gets more hysterical than lady donald trump? mexican rapists everywhere, we must build a giant wall and ban all the muslims.

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we are proud of our diversity. the fact that people come all over the world to become americans and contribute to our country. >> and some of them marry donald trump. >> all i know is what's on the internet. right. i find her slogan, are you ready for hillary, to be perfectly kacap sue late how i feel for her. am i ready? yes. am i excited, no. i spent my entire freshman stuffed in a high school. mirrors don't show my reflection. they have one little problem. no one wants to go. and to one wants to speak. >> back with bill maher. the race comes down to a choice between donald trump and hillary clinton. that's it. did you see the number the other day? 39% of the country say they're independent now. it's the highest percentage of

people. >> first of all, that's a myth. there aren't independents anymore. they've dived into this. they're usually right leaning independents. >> the ross perot people? >> bill o'riley said that. >> george well as of last week. >> that took guts. he earned admiration for doing that. >> the show business quality of conventions. usually they're not known for show business for years now. >> not for a while. >> last time, wendell willy. a big crowd in the galleries. >> you don't remember that. >> i've been told. >> i do remember as a kid, 1968. >> that was the best one kbl the chicago. >> wasn't there. but never missed a minute. >> that kind of drama, we may face again. >> one night i was watching with

my grad school roommates and said about 10:30, some sleep in the morning. like you're tucked in with the guy. what about trump, mr. valley who. got cleveland. monday through thursday. what's he going to do to make it razzmatazz? excitement? >> razzmatazz? that's not his problem. it's the opposite. don't you think? >> a compelling bit of political theater. >> i think they're going to make that for him. i think there's a movement to unseed him from the nomination. according to some people. they're unhappy with the nominee. they feel like this is a zombie candidate and destined to failure and don't want to ride him. i think the best thing the republicans can do is punt. the only way to win in november is to lose. it's not the worst thing in the world to have hillary clinton for four years.

in defense, in football, if you have a great defense, you punt. they have a great defense. they block legislation, they're obstructionists, this is what they do best. >> let her have the ball. she's not really that horrible to them when you think about it. she's not some sort of far left person. she's a centerist. >> may be far right on issues like war. >> too much of a hawk for my taste, absolutely. i don't blame her as much as other people do for the iraq vote because i think people forget that was a vote to give george bush a badge and a gun. it wasn't, go ahead and go in there shooting and blazing. and also, we had just been attacked and blah blah. it was the wrong country. little thing like that. but she is too hawkish. but one reason it was great to have bernie sanders in the race or rand paul, if he had followed what his father used to say was that you at least had a voice in

the debate saying, we should not be in all these countries. the president talked about how, well well, if you say the wrong words with islamic terrorism, that's what's going to stir up trouble. >> how do you explain? >> it's droning. it's probably droning that is causing more of the hatred around the world. and i'm not even sure if that program is worth it. i don't know if that doesn't create more terrorists than we're wiping out. >> the president refers droning to battlefield war. there's no doubt. >> yes, obviously. >> you? >> i've always thought we have to do something. we can't just do nothing. obviously, troops on the ground, fighting a war like we did in iraq was an extremely stupid thing to do. but i don't know anymore. i read an article that said, and i think the administration even admitted, we don't know how much people we're killing. and whenever there's a terrorist attack, what is the person saying? what did the guy in orlando say?

what did the bombers in boston say? get out of muslim lands. stop bombing muslim people. so i wonder if it's the language or maybe the bombs dropping from the drones that's more of the problem. >> all these years since the first iraq war, we've been killing muslim people on international television. that's what we've been doing. i don't know if we do it to any other group. >> and also saving many. we do it on behalf of them. like cost voe. >> that's the argument. >> but we would just probably be better off not to be so involved. the thing i'll miss about the obama administration is no new wars. i wish we could have gotten out of the ones we were in faster and more completely, but at least we didn't ramp up and they were trying to egg him on to go into syria. >> i think you might be nicer to hillary than you want to be. she wanted us to go into iraq. she didn't say, why don't you

use the authorization? thought he would only bluff. we could argue that maybe doesn't work after the fact but supported getting in with two people and seemed to want to be regime changing. >> women have patterns when they get to be presidents of countries of being hawkish because they have to burnish their macho credentials. >> just be careful. >> just observing. dira was tough. we'll see. i don't know anything about her yet. but i'm just -- >> i'm thinking of the hawks. yeah. >> just saying, women are looked at, there's a suspicion from man voted to begin with, are you going to be tough enough? and what we really need from women is what women are, more cooperative and i think hillary will be that too.

and as she said, more kindness and -- >> reagan showed his toughness with the, what was it called? air traffic control. that was his way of doing it. it worked. i heard it. they liked that stuff. >> i'm sure they were. a lot of people were impressed. >> bill maher sticking with us. the place for politics. >> i feel i should say something about bernie or bust where bernie supporters say if it's hillary, they'll stay home or vote for the green party. they're revolting. no, you'll be helping a. using 60,000 points from my chase ink card i bought all the fruit... veggies... and herbs needed to create a pop-up pick-your-own juice bar

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you famously said in one of the first debates in hillary clinton, i'm tired of hearing about the e-mails and for a long time, i was tired of hearing about the e-mails and i still don't think she committed some horrible crime. but that story has moved a little bit. has it not? it has. >> but this is what i also think. there is enormous frustration on the part of the american people with the way we do politics in this country. people want us to talk about their lives and their issues. and not just spend their whole lives attacking opponents. >> we're back with bill maher

who interviewed mr. sanders. what do you make of sanders? it's a one shot for him. too old to go back next time so not as sweet a deal as hillary made when she pulled out last time. >> i object to that, that's ageism. i don't know why we automatically assume somebody 78 years old are over the hill. some people live in blue zones where people routinely live to 100 and over. that's the norm. >> you think he could? >> i'm saying, especially people now, chris, you and i are both over 35 -- >> you're going to do it, aren't you? >> just on this issue. you know who should be a hat in the ring? jerry brown. >> he's great. >> but why doesn't he? because of ageism. people just think -- >> he's term limited now. >> i'm just saying in national politics. he's done so much to turn around california. >> you're making your point. you won the argument.

jerry brown. >> we're all individuals. some people are very, very completely together at 80 and some people aren't. reagan was in office and he wasn't. i'm sorry. that's just the truth. >> donald trump is taking criticism for his nickname for senator warren. let's watch that. >> hillary clinton has somebody, did you ever hear of pocahontas? it's pocahontas elizabeth warren. a total failure. she said she was an indian because her cheekbones were high, that she was native american and we have these surrogates, people like her, total failures. >> wow. >> i'm so tired of that. >> i thought it was funny. the first time i heard it, it was funny. lost a lot of value as he kept doing it. >> we had a piece. i am so tired of the two standards in this election that he can get away with all this stuff and hillary clinton cannot. there are two standards. and we went and showed tapes from other presidential

elections of what people did that was beyond the pale. george allen, remember called somebody a macaka? never heard that word before. good-bye. trump, what he does? that stuff would have anybody else out of the race. >> you think pocahontas was bad? >> i don't think it was nefarious but everybody before trump had to play by a set of rules and he plays by a different set of rules, calling mccain not a war hero. the thing with the mexican judge. trump university. >> he's not getting off on that. everybody thinks that's against him. the trump university is not a plus or neutral. >> exploiting the veterans and not giving the money that he promised for charity. i mean, if hillary clinton did that, she would be out of the race tomorrow. there is a completely different set of standards for this man. and i said a long time ago, i am glad this election is going on for a long time as opposed to a

country like great britain. >> why their election is close. we showed in a four-way race, a handful of votes, maybe more, gary johnson and bill weld close to 10. in a four-way race, hillary clinton and donald trump are even. about 39. look at this. hillary clinton, the reason, i think, is she recently talked about her trust deficit with voters. let's watch secretary clinton. >> a lot of people tell pollsters they don't trust me. now, i don't like hearing that. and i thought a lot about what's behind it. maybe we can persuade people to change their minds by marshaling facts and making arguments to rebut negative attacks. but that doesn't work for everyone. you can't just talk someone into trusting you. you've got to earn it. so yes, i could say that the reason i sometimes sound careful with my words is not that i'm hiding something, it's just that, i'm careful with my words.

>> what do you think? >> look, it's a hard thing for her -- >> especially to explain the fact why you're not credible to people when you're running for president. >> but it also is true. she has been demonized more than anybody else for the last entire quarter century. as far as the e-mails go, i think mostly what that is is an elderly person and again, we're not bashing the elderly here, they have every right. >> bernie for reelection. >> but as far as technology, they're not great at it. i'm not great at it. she probably didn't understand that much. >> you think that's the reason she has a low number? >> what was the intent with the e-mail? was the intent something nefarious? of course, it wasn't. most of the people in the state department used a private server because the government server wasn't efficient. she needed it to get her work done because democrats do work. government work. they don't hate the government. they want to get it done.

she's needed something that worked. >> i don't believe it, but it's good. >> you think something nefarious was going on? >> what i think is, and this is legitimate, hillary clinton had just run for president. she had personal contacts with tens of thousands of people in the country who are her political army. she wanted to keep that army together. she wanted to keep in contact with it and help people get their kids in certain schools, perhaps, stay in touch on holidays. she had to maintain a political network which was nationwide. >> sure. >> she didn't want that subject to -- she wanted that separate. i do understand the need for her to have a separate legitimate world in which she could operate. but the law is the law and i'm learning it like we all are. why is everybody in hollywood so unnuanced? every time we get a hollywood person, very liberal and occasionally conservative. is anyone going to say we can say things on both sides? >> me? >> in general.

>> if a liberal says there is spinach on your teeth -- i take more crap from liberal -- >> considerations, we're getting to my left. >> but can i say one thing? the e-mail thing? if you look at all the issues -- >> you never thought there was a problem there. >> as i said to bernie sanders, i think there's a little more of a problem than i thought to begin with but i still don't think it's a giant issue and if you look at all the issues that animate the right wing, e-mails, benghazi, voter fraud, planned parenthood, building a wall, who can go to the bathroom where, what do they have in common? they're imaginary. they're not real. they don't affect anybody's lives. they're not actual issues. >> i don't want to say both sides are guilty because it sounds too easy. during the benghazi stuff when people got killed there, wonder why, hillary clinton is a smart person and good on the law but said, let me explain what i did from the moment i heard my

friend, chris, was in trouble. don't know the guy but he was my friend but the moment, i went to the army, went to the cia, went to all the forces we had available to us at state. and i followed that thing hour by hour, until we heard he was definitely gone. he had been killed. i made a point of doing everything i could. you could do the ticktock on this. and yet when you watch the hearings, they never said, did you do this minute -- they never asked her the questions to get that kind of narrative. all the people wanted to hear was she did her best. that's all they wanted to hear and the republicans never gave her a chance to show that she'd done her best. i didn't understand, it wasn't very helpful. >> no one has the guts to say that chris stevens, brave, but it was his call. there wasn't enough security there. >> i think they were hoping she would say that at some point, blame it on him. >> you're not going to hug it out with the jihadis and win it that way. >> we count on local militia

because it was a revolutionary country and i wish congress was capable of a clear cut hearing where you actually learn something. we'll baa back. n back. back. b b. . nexium 24hr is now the #1 choice of doctors and pharmacists for their own frequent heartburn. for complete protection all day and night make nexium 24hr your #1 choice. oh, hey, jamie, can you hang back a sec? ♪ you wanna tell me about the boy in this painting? i dunno...maybe nobody understands him. well, if he were here, i'd say that being different is what makes him special. just like our discounts -- each one is unique, but together, they help save our customers a lot of money.

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i'm richard lui. hour's top stories. mike pence officially announced as donald trump's vice presidential pick. he vowed to take hoosier ideals to washington. john kerry said he will consider in connection with the failed military coup in turkey. blamed for the attempt that killed 194 people. gooulan denies any involvement. for now, back to "hardball." the president is coming back to the last of his term must

seem like the final few months of high school. as president, that means doing things just for fun now that it's tend. legalize pot. put beyonce on the nickel. invite rupaul to take a transgender leak in the rose garden. did i mention legalize pot? >> nothing i like more than new rules, by the way. i love new rules. that's yours? >> people tried to rip it off, but they can't. >> anyway, welcome back to "hardball." more than 320,000 people signed the white house petition to appear on realtime. the white house said they would keep in mind the invitation and plenty of us watch it because we admire bill's passion for spreading the science on climate change, asking tough questions about money in politics and trying to burst "the bubble" where some politicians and too

many of our nation's critical political debates exist. do you want something for the -- i'm pretty much pro-obama. this isn't new to anybody watching but what would you like him to get done between now and next generation? >> legalizing pot would be great. >> nationwide? >> i mean, he can't do it single handedly but come out strongly for it. he was a pot head himself. >> he used. >> he was a pot head. and he'll tell you that. >> a regular user. >> the chum gang. back in hawaii. and -- >> didn't kill his ambition. >> no, but if he had been convicted of it when he was young, he would not be president and must know people are serving time for, and future foreclosed in many ways. if you're convicted of just smoking pot, you can find yourself not able to get into a college or housing.

lots of stuff, problems with your kids. so -- >> that's it, huh? >> that's not the only thing. i don't think that's the most important thing but that would be a great last thing for him to do but as he goes down the list of stupid things in america. let's open up cuba, have a climate deal. nuclear deal with iran. these are the kind of things he seeps to seems to be checking off and that's a no brainer but a attorney general very much against legalizing pot which is a shame. >> something that's nothing to do with the legacy but knocking off trump politically. the danger of his very sting like a butterfly or float like a bee, float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, he knows how to sting that guy and pull back. does he risk getting pulled into the mud by trump? >> i don't think so.

he's too smart for that. he doesn't get down on trump's level. nobody gets down on trump's level. trump fights in a completely unique way. he never lost his inner bully from childhood. you noticed? he always -- >> lying ted. crooked hillary. >> branding people. >> low energy. >> or just saying the thing that makes people nervous about themselves. he talked about kasich the way he was eating. he's disgusting when he's eating or talking about menstrual cycles and all this kind of stuff. >> you didn't know him in high school? >> i'm saying, this is the high school bully and he never, ever lost that. and it's very effective. >> let's talk about something we grew up with. of all the things we made progress on, sexual orientation in our lives, i was watching a movie. 10 or 20 years and could still tell jokes about being gay. it was a funny punch line. there's no joke anymore. the senate doesn't work. people don't have that hostility

or discomfort. what do you think about the pope to the church? the roman catholic church owes an apology to gay people. >> i think it's great. the pope is a different kind of cat than any pope we've had before. now, on catholic doctrine, pretty much down the line. as has been every pope we've ever known. i think american liberals have a feeling he's more liberal than he really is but at least he makes this much of an effort. i love always love this pope just for the fact he went to washington last fall and lectured the republicans on climate change. i mean, climate change isn't even on his beat. he's the pope. he doesn't have to address this issue. but he took it upon himself because he's a smart guy and he said, i am going to put this on my agenda. >> it is sort of pro life when you think about it. >> yes, it is. >> saves the life of our species and everybody else on this planet. every other being. >> for the pope, grand master flash of ancient fairytales.

>> what does that mean? >> well, it's an insult to religion. >> that's your beat. >> but to lecture republicans on reality, on what's real, on getting real, it didn't work because republicans have not moved an inch on that issue but it made me really love that man. >> why is climate in real terms, not just a kilimanjaro, not with snow on it anymore but miami beach is five feet above sea level. it's svvenice down there. islands are disappearing right now. it's not a theory anymore. >> of course not. >> climate is affecting us. >> how about the fact that the pentagon has been on this page for the better part of a decade? the pentagon is saying this is a national security issue. and the republican in congress have told them, don't tell us that. so -- >> they're afraid of science?

admitting there's evolution or -- >> obviously, i think the main reason is because they get contributions from people like the koch brothers. they only have $80 billion, chris. what if they don't make more money? how are they going to eat? i don't understand rich people and climate. because you can't have private air. you can't escape this toxicity, in the water, the food supply and it's going to get you all. don't they connect the dots between the toxicity that is pervading the atmosphere and the sickness they must see all around them and themselves and their family, the rates of cancer? i mean, america in general causes this sickness because we are so toxic. >> they don't have your conscience. this is "hardball." the place for politics. hey, you're clarence! yes, sir. you know, at the model year end clarence event, you can get a great deal on this 2016 passat.

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you can play hardball all week long on facebook, twitter. access to interviews, videos, behind the scenes photos as we hit the road covering this wild presidential campaign of 2016. back with bill maher in just a minute.

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we have to be so strong. we have to fight so viciously, and violently, because we're dealing with violent people. vicious people.

folks, there's something going on that's really, really bad. all right? it's bad. and we better get smart, and we better get tough. we're not going to have much of a country left, okay? the muslims see what's going on. the muslims are the ones that have to report them. and if they don't report them, then there have to be consequences to them. >> welcome back to "hardball." criticizing president obama and other democrats for not using the phrase radical islamic terrorism. does he have a point? i'm back with bill maher. what is the issue of language here? they seem to think they've got obama on the hook there by not using the phrase, radical islamic terrorism. >> here's the thing. i think the question we have to ask is, can you defeat radical islamic terrorism, or the war on terror, not a great name for it, but for better -- for lack of a better term, without reforming

the religion itself. that's a question i think americans need to ask themselves. i would say, no. you have to reform the religion itself before you get to the war on terror. and you can't reform the religion if you can't talk about it. if you can't be honest about it. if you can't criticize it. every time somebody says islam phobia, they give coverage to the religious bullies who are making life miserable to all the muslims in the world who want to live in the 21st century, as opposed to those who still want to live in the seventh century. we want to live with the people with our values. but donald trump's solutions are abhorrent. the answer is not to ban all muslims. when they elected a muslim mayor of london, i said, we need more of that. they have to speak out plainly and come out plainly for the values that we all shaffer.

separation of church and state. equality for women. freedom of speech. these are not always rife in the muslim world. >> what about the argument about the language? back to the radical islamic terrorism. democrats don't want to use the phrase, trump said they don't want to use it for some murky reason. you know what he's saying. >> i mean, the language -- >> that they're somehow on their side. >> i know what he's up to. the language is not the main thing. but it is part of it. i've been saying this for a long time. if there is an attack in the month before the election, i think it will probably help donald trump. although he has an amazing ability to sabotage his own cause. >> what are the odds for him right now do you think? here in july? >> i want to scare people into coming out for the -- >> 2 out of 10 chances? 5 out of 10? >> people say, can he win? yes, he can win. i want people to be very scared

until november 8th. anything can happen in this country. people have dumb ideas about what makes a president. they say things like, well, we need to run the country like a business. he's a businessman. anything is possible. a terrorist attack could help him. and they don't like hillary either. so it's always possible. so be scared. be very scared. the zombies are in the mall, go out and vote. don't think this is in the bag. it's not 2 out of 10. let's say it's 5 out of 10. >> 50/50. >> i don't really believe that, but i tell people that, because i want them to stay scared. >> 1 in 10? >> no, i think it's higher than that. but it's going to be tough. obviously the demographics, and the more people see him, the more they hate him. for obvious reasons. he's abhorrent. >> his one great strength is he's out and hillary's in. it's a change. >> and his great weakness is he's an insane racist in orange

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back with bill maher. his hbo show will air four live specials during the weeks of the democratic and republican conventions. >> i hope there's a challenge to donald trump. i think that would be great. we need a republican party. we need more than two parties.

we need at least two. maybe they could find their soul again if they were to challenge this man. i don't want anybody to get hurt, but i'd like to see some fisticuffs down there on the floor. shut me up now. >> 1968, chicago. bill maher, thank you. >> always a pleasure. >> that's "hardball" for now. we're making news of our own today with the launch of msnbc. two decades. >> hello, and welcome to msnbc. >> more than 175,000 hours of television. >> the judgment of the supreme court of florida is reversed. >> there's a guy with a magnifying glass. >> countless news events. >> there were parents who suddenly were afraid to send their children to school. >> they were just trying to stop the economy from going into a depression. >> history in the making.