On her 12 p.m. ET hour MSNBC show on Monday, host Andrea Mitchell was in panic mode, fretting that the rash of terror attacks over the weekend would hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign: “...this is exactly what a lot of the people around Hillary Clinton had been concerned about, some incident. We recall how San Bernardino and the Muslim ban was – elevated Donald Trump and gave him this tough persona....He is now polling better than Hillary Clinton in the ability to combat terrorism.”
Moments later, Mitchell turned to correspondent Kristen Welker and worried: “...this really does put Hillary Clinton on the spot. She has campaigned on her resume, on her advantages in having been part of the administration, Secretary of State, a senator on Armed Services. Yet, Donald Trump is still communicating toughness in a way that she hasn't been able to.”
She added that Clinton “also is off message in that this was going to be the big rollout of her appeal to millennials, a real problem that she has in inspiring young people to come out in the numbers and the percentages that they did for Barack Obama.”
Welker agreed: “...it creates a real challenge for Secretary Clinton, you’re right, because Donald Trump talks tough and voters are clearly responding to that.” The reporter concluded: “There’s no doubt it’s complicating her efforts to energize millennial voters....the focus right now is on terror, particularly with our debate about a week away. So the challenge for her is to make sure that she energizes this voting group while also trying to look strong.”
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While dipping into a Clinton stump speech in an earlier segment, Mitchell seemed to catch herself sounding more concerned about the Democrat’s flailing campaign than about the threat of terrorism:
This [terrorism] has been a subject for Hillary Clinton. She's speaking at Temple University right now, a planned event....trying to reach out to millennials who have been not inspired so far in the numbers that they had been by Barack Obama, of course, four and eight years ago. And this is a real concern for the campaign. But obviously, the big concern today is the terrorism in New York and New Jersey.
Here is a full transcript of Mitchell’s Clinton strategy session with Welker and fellow correspondent Peter Alexander:
12:31 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: And of course, all of this is happening with a presidential election on the line. Hillary Clinton this morning, as we said, saying that Donald Trump is part of the problem in the fight against ISIS, that his comments throughout the primary and general election campaigns assist terror groups in recruiting efforts. This was at the news conference at the airport this morning in White Plains.
HILLARY CLINTON: I don't want to speculate, but here's what we know. And I think it's important for voters to hear this and weigh it in making their choice in November. We know that a lot of the rhetoric we’ve heard from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular ISIS, because they are looking to make this into a war against Islam. I’ve been very clear, we’re going after the bad guys and we're going to get them. But we’re not going to go after an entire religion.
MITCHELL: And we also heard a radio interview, an interview on Fox News, from Donald Trump this morning, before he met, actually, with Egypt's president, President Sisi. The meetings because of the U.N. this week and then flew on to Florida. But this was Donald Trump earlier today.
DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to have to be very tough. I think maybe we’re going to be seeing a big change over the last couple of days. I think this is something that maybe we’ll get – you know, will happen perhaps more and more all over the country.
STEVE DOOCEY: What do you mean? More terrorist strikes?
TRUMP: Yeah, because we’ve been weak. Our country has been weak.
MITCHELL: Joining me now is Kristen Welker, with the Clinton campaign in Philadelphia, at Temple University. NBC national correspondent Peter Alexander here in New York. Peter, let's talk first of all about the dynamic here in the campaign. With this happening, we’ve always, you know, been talking about October surprises for several election cycles, but this is exactly what a lot of the people around Hillary Clinton had been concerned about, some incident. We recall how San Bernardino and the Muslim ban was – elevated Donald Trump and gave him this tough persona in the primaries. He is now polling better than Hillary Clinton in the ability to combat terrorism. Although she has the reverse numbers, better than he, to be commander-in-chief.
PETER ALEXANDER: No, I think you’re exactly right. What’s striking now, we’re 50 days til the election, but exactly seven days until the first debate. And so, over the course of the last 24/48 hours – [coughs] excuse me – we’ve seen in real time a point/counterpoint between these two candidates on this very issue.
Donald Trump today, among other things, talking about the issue of racial profiling, saying, in effect, that police in this country are afraid to do anything to stop attacks like the bombings that took place in New York and in New Jersey because they don't want to be accused of racial profiling. He says the country needs to start a conversation, needs to look at that more seriously. He says it’s a concept he doesn't like but one he thinks we may need to pursue going forward.
But obviously, sort of true to Donald Trump's tone, he was a little bit more self-congratulatory in his language as well, you could say he was bragging, in effect, taking credit for basically saying this was a bombing even before the determinations had at least been communicated publicly by law enforcement. Saying, “I should have been a newscaster, because I called it before the news.” Obviously that is all sort of in real sharp contrast to the way Hillary Clinton handled this, much more measured, I think you would say, much more cautious approach.
MITCHELL: And now he’s tweeting, “Great job, once again, by law enforcement! We are proud of them and should embrace them – without them, we don't have a country!” He was endorsed, over the weekend, by the Fraternal Order of Police, which is the largest police union.
Kristen Welker, this really does put Hillary Clinton on the spot. She has campaigned on her resume, on her advantages in having been part of the administration, Secretary of State, a senator on Armed Services. Yet, Donald Trump is still communicating toughness in a way that she hasn't been able to. And she also is off message in that this was going to be the big rollout of her appeal to millennials, a real problem that she has in inspiring young people to come out in the numbers and the percentages that they did for Barack Obama.
KRISTEN WELKER: There’s no doubt it’s complicating her efforts to energize millennial voters. Andrea, I’ll get to that in just a moment. But to your first point, it creates a real challenge for Secretary Clinton, you’re right, because Donald Trump talks tough and voters are clearly responding to that. Her strategy is to tout her experience, but also to talk about the strategy that she has called for to defeat ISIS. And you heard her talk a little bit about that today when she stressed the need for an “intelligence surge” to really try to tackle the issue of lone wolves. And so, I think that’s part of what you’re going to hear from her in the coming days as she addresses this issue. Her strategy says, “Look, the polls underscore what we’ve been saying all along, which is that this is a deeply divided electorate.”
But to your second point, Andrea, she is not matching up to where Obama was back in 2012 with key parts of the Obama coalition. Millennials are the focus today, so she's talking about plans for college affordability, her plans to try to make community college free for many Americans. And this is going to be critical if she’s going to win in November. Not just millennials, but other key parts of the Obama coalition, Latinos. Some of her critics are arguing she hasn't done enough to reach out to that critical voting bloc. The Obama – the Clinton campaign now up with Spanish language ads to try to court that group. But you’re right, the focus right now is on terror, particularly with our debate about a week away. So the challenge for her is to make sure that she energizes this voting group while also trying to look strong. Andrea?
MITCHELL: Kristen Welker and Peter Alexander.
