TIMES. U.S. EDITOR AT LARGE FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES, AND COMEDIAN ALEX EDELMAN. IT IS HIS FIRST VISIT TO THE NIGHTCAP. LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK. DONALD TRUMP HAD AN ABSOLUTE LOVE FEST WITH REPUBLICAN LEADERS WHO SEEMED TO HAVE FORGOTTEN OR AT LEAST DISMISSED JANUARY 6th. IF YOU REMEMBER, AFTER THAT DATE, MANY REPUBLICANS OPENLY CRITICIZED HIM. WANTED HIM TO GO AWAY. I AM LOOKING AT YOU, MITCH McCONNELL, AND LINDSEY GRAHAM. BUT NOW DONALD TRUMP IS BACK, AND HE IS NOT JUST THE NOMINEE. HE IS THE PARTY. CAN WE JUST START WITH, LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT THAT DONALD TRUMP CIRCLE OF LIFE SINCE JANUARY 6th. AND TO THIS WEEK, WHAT IS YOUR TAKE? >> AS SOMEONE WHO TALKED TO A LOT OF BUSINESS LEADERS AND FINANCIAL LEADERS, WHAT I FIND STUNNING IS THAT AFTER SAYING THEY WOULD NEVER DEAL WITH DONALD TRUMP AGAIN, BEHIND THE SCENES, IT IS NOT JUST THE UP FRONT PUBLIC STUFF IN WASHINGTON. IT IS THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES SCHMOOZING YOU ARE SEEING FROM WALL STREET REACHING OUT TO TRUMP. AND I WAS IN ASIA LAST WEEK, AND AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE ASIAN LEADERS AS WELL BEGINNING TO ADJUST THEMSELVES TO A WORLD WHERE TRUMP COMES BACK IN NOVEMBER. >> BUT IS THAT BECAUSE YOU THINK THAT PEOPLE, BUSINESS LEADERS, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE EXCITED HAVE THEM BACK? OR THEY ARE JUST BREAKING THEMSELVES AND THEY KNOW THEY HAVE A DECENT CHANCE, HE IS GOING TO BE THE GUY. AND THEY DON'T WANT TO BE ON HIS ENEMY LIST. >> I FEEL LIKE BUSINESS LEADERS ARE MAKING, THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE A COMPROMISE AT THIS TIME, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO PLACE THEIR BETS. ON CNBC TODAY, ANDREW ROSS SORKIN, MY COLLEAGUE, HE HAD SPOKEN TO MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN THE MEETING THAT JILLIAN JUST REFERENCE. THE BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE. CAME OUT AND TOLD ANDREW HE SOUNDED CRAZY, HE WAS RAMBLING. MORE OF THE SAME, HE WANTS TO CUT THE CORPORATE TAX RATE FROM 21% TO 20%. >> HAS COMPANIES DO NOT PAY TAXES. HOLD ON, EVEN BEFORE THE CORPORATE TAX CUT NONE OF THEM ASKED FOR 21%. 28% WAS THEIR GOAL. HE SAYING I'M GOING TO GO EVEN LOWER. >> SAID THERE IS A WORLD IN WHICH I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS ANDREW SAID, SOME OF THESE PEOPLE WERE INCLINED TO SUPPORT HIM BECAUSE THEY ARE THINKING ABOUT THEIR POCKETBOOKS MORE THAN THEY ARE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION RIGHTS, WELFARE FOR THE COUNTRY, DEMOCRACY. WHICH IS NOT A SURPRISE. BUT EVEN THEY WERE DISTURBED BY THE TRUMP THAT THEY JUST MET. >> HAYES IS JUMPING OUT. >> THE PROBLEM I HAVE WITH THAT, ANDREW'S REPORTING IS SO GOOD, BUT THE FACT THEY ARE NOT COMING OUT AND SAYING IT, COMING OUT ON CAMERA AND SAYING YOU KNOW WHAT? WE JUST SAW THE FORMER PRESIDENT AND WE HAVE A LOT OF CONCERNS, ACTUALLY. THE FACT THAT THEY ARE SAYING IT, MAKING THESE MOVES BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, NOT BEING UP FRONT WITH IT, I THINK THAT IS AS COWARDLY AS THE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS WHO ARE WILLING TO STAND NEXT TO HIM IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE ON HIS GOOD SIDE SHOULD HE WIN. >> OKAY, BUT THIS IS WHAT IS CRAZY ABOUT THAT TO ME. THAT THESE CEOS WHO, IN THEORY, SHOULD BE AMONG THE MOST INFORMED PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY . RIGHT? THEY HAVE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF EMPLOYEES. THEY WERE A MULTIBILLION DOLLAR BUSINESSES. AND SOMEHOW THEY WERE SURPRISED THAT DONALD TRUMP MADE NO SENSE, WAS MEANDERING, AND SEEMS TO BE LOST. HOW ON EARTH COULD THEY NOT KNOW THAT? ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WATCH HIM SPEAK. >> IS DEGRADATION, BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT THAT HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM BEFORE. YOU THOUGHT THERE WAS NO LOWER THAT HE COULD POSSIBLY GO. THEN WHERE HE HAS BEEN. AND THEN YOU WATCH THIS IT IS LIKE I AM SURPRISED WHEN I WATCH THE SPEECHES. HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A RAMBLER, BUT I THOUGHT HE WAS AT THE CONCRETE FLOOR. HE IS IN CHINA. HAS COMPLETELY GONE THROUGH THE OTHER SIDE. AND HE LOOKS TERRIBLE. >> BUT HE IS UP AGAINST THIS WHOLE WALL OF CHATTER ABOUT BIDEN LOOKING TERRIBLE AND BIDEN RAMBLING, AS WELL. SO I THINK WHAT IS HAPPENING IS A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SCREAMING OUT AND SAYING THEY'RE BOTH SOUNDING REALLY OLD, SO WE WILL LOOK AT THESE QUESTIONS OF POLICIES. >> AND THE OTHER THING IS THAT HE HAS BEEN SUCH A BULLY, AND THE PEOPLE -- >> I LIKE HOW YOU HAD TO PAUSE AND THINK. >> I WAS WONDERING WHETHER OR NOT TO SAY THE WORD EFFECTIVE, BECAUSE IT'S NOT JUST HIM, IT IS HIS ALLIES. THINK ABOUT EVERYONE IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WHO HAS BEEN DRUMMED OUT SO VICIOUSLY. LIZ CHENEY, THOSE FOLKS, IT FEELS LIKE THEY ARE GONE. >> OR WEIRDLY EMBRACED, LIKE LARRY HOGAN TODAY RUNNING FOR SENATE IN MARYLAND. TRUMP IS LOOKING AT RIP ORTING ENDORSING HIM. NO JUSTICE IS WORKING AFTER HIS CONVICTION. >> ONE OF TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN LEADERS WAS LIKE YOUR CAMPAIGN IS OVER, YOU ARE DEAD MEAT. NOW THEY ARE REALIZING MAYBE NOT. >> I THINK A LOT OF BUSINESS LEADERS ARE LOOKING AT THE FACT THAT TRUMP IS ENDORSING A NUMBER OF REPUBLICANS WHO ARE MUCH MORE MAINSTREAM THAN IN THE PAST. THINKING WELL, MAYBE IF HE CAN DO THAT, MAYBE HIS POLICIES WILL BE QUITE SO CRAZY. >> OKAY, BUT THAT IS WISHFUL THINKING. IF HE WAS REALLY DOING THAT HE WOULD COME RIGHT OUT AND SAY NIKKI HALEY IS MY VP. RIGHT? NIKKI HALEY CONTINUES TO HAVE SUPPORT. SHE WAS OUT OF THE RACE FOR TWO MONTHS, AND STILL, AT SOME OF THOSE PRIMARIES SHE HAD 20% OF THE VOTE. AND THERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE THIS NOTION THAT SHE IS THIS GEORGE BUSH REPUBLICAN, AND HE IS NOT EMBRACING HER. HE HUMILIATED HER OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND SHE HAS ENDORSED HIM. BUT I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE POINT YOU MADE, PEOPLE ARE SAYING TRUMP MIGHT BE MEANDERING, BUT SO IS JOE BIDEN. LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT WE SAW HAPPEN THIS WEEK. BECAUSE THE RIGHT IS MANUFACTURING THESE STORIES THEY ARE TELLING ABOUT JOE BIDEN. WE SAW IT THIS WEEK. THE CROP VIDEO FROM THE G7 SUMMIT SUGGESTING THAT JOE BIDEN WAS LOST IN A FIELD, SPEAKING TO A PARATROOPER. IT WASN'T EVEN TRUE. WE ACTUALLY HAVE A CLIP THAT I WANT TO SHOW. OH, NO, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE HAVE A CLIP OF DONALD TRUMP, SORRY. >> VAGO, ME MEANDERING. THEY MADE UP THE FACT THAT JOE BIDEN WAS LOST AT THE G7, MEANDERING THROUGH A FIELD. IT WASN'T TRUE. THAT HEADLINE MADE ITS WAY TO THE NEW YORK POST, ALL OVER RIGHT-WING MEDIA. ALL OF HER FOX NEWS THIS MORNING. YET NONE OF THEM WERE TALKING ABOUT DONALD TRUMP, WHO, EARLIER THIS WEEK, I THINK IN VEGAS, WAS GETTING A SPEECH AND SOMEHOW WENT SO OFF THE RAILS TALKING ABOUT AN ELECTRIC VOTE AND SHARK BITES. WE DO HAVE A CLIP OF THIS. WATCH THIS. >> I SAY WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE BOAT SANK FROM ITS WEIGHT AND YOU ARE IN THE BOAT, AND YOU HAVE THIS TREMENDOUSLY POWERFUL BATTERY, AND THE BATTERY IS NOW UNDERWATER, AND THERE IS A SHARK THAT IS APPROXIMATELY 10 YARDS OVER THERE. BY THE WAY, A LOT OF SHARK ATTACKS LATELY, YOU NOTICE THAT? I WATCH SOME GUYS JUSTIFYING IT TODAY. WELL, THEY WEREN'T REALLY THAT ANGRY, THEY BIT OFF THE YOUNG LADY'S LEG BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THEY WERE NOT HUNGRY, BUT THEY MISUNDERSTOOD WHO SHE WAS. >> LIKE, FOR REAL, WHAT IS HE SAYING? THAT WAS UNEDITED DONALD TRUMP, YET, WE KEEP HEARING THAT JOE BIDEN, HE IS FEEBLE. >> YOU SEE, SHARKS HAVE ELECTRIC CURRENTS, NO, THAT IS NOT WHAT IS TALKING ABOUT. >> IT SOUNDS LIKE HE IS HIGH, GENUINELY. THIS IS SOMETHING YOU HEAR FROM A COLLEGE FRESHMAN, SAY YOU'RE IN A BOAT, AND THERE IS A BATTERY REALLY FAR AWAY. BUT BECAUSE THE BATTERIES UNDERWATER THE WHOLE OCEAN IS ELECTRIFIED. EXCEPT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BOAT BECAUSE IT IS BLOCKED FROM THE ELECTRIC CURRENT. SAY YOU JUMP IN AND TAKE YOUR CHANCES WITH THE SHARK OR TAKE YOUR CHANCES WITH THE BATTERY, DISCUSS. IT IS INSANE. AND BY THE WAY, THE COMPARISON WITH JOE BIDEN, TRUMP OFFERED POLICY. JOE BIDEN MAKES GAFFES, SOMETIMES HE WILL STUMBLE, SOMETIMES IT IS EMBARRASSING. >> HE ALSO HAS A LIST. A >> AND HE HAS ALWAYS DONE THAT. >> ALWAYS. >> NOT A LIST, A STUTTER. >> AND HE HAS WORKED WITH STUTTERER'S, THERE IS BEAUTIFUL STORIES ABOUT THAT. BUT HE NEVER PROMISES POLICY. HE NEVER GOES ON THESE INSANE RANTS. THE EQUIVALENCY FOR ME IS JUST NONEXISTENT. >> IN SOME WAYS IT IS A REAL PITY THAT THERE IS NOT AS MUCH WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE OF TRUMP FEATURES AS THERE WERE FOUR YEARS AGO. FOUR YEARS AGO PEOPLE SAW HIM UNEDITED, IN THE RAW. EIGHT YEARS AGO, EXCUSE ME. >> A SICKLY JOE BIDEN IS PUSHING UP AGAINST THE FACT THAT AS PRESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES HE IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE MONITORED BY A PRESS POOL, AND EVERYTHING HE SAYS IS PUBLICIZED. DONALD TRUMP HAS A HUGE ADVANTAGE OF BEING ABLE TO POP UP WHENEVER HE WANTS, THROW OUT A COUPLE OF SHARK QUESTIONS, AND THEN DISAPPEAR. WHICH JOE BIDEN CANNOT DO. >> AND THEY ARE NOT COVERING IT THE WAY THEY WERE BEFORE. YOU DON'T SEE THIS. >> THAT WE CRITICIZE, AND IT WORKS FOR NOT COVERING AS MUCH, AND THAT IT WAS THE REVERSE BEFORE OF WIRE YOU GIVING DONALD TRUMP WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE? >> I MEAN, THAT WAS A PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES. WE DID DO THAT. >> I THINK IN 2016 HE WAS NEW, HE WAS NOVEL, BUT HE WAS ALSO MORE ON POINT THAT HE HAS NOW. YES, THE THINGS HE WAS SAYING WERE STILL KIND OF RAMBLING AND OUT THERE, BUT WE HAD A BETTER GRASP OF WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO COMMUNICATE AT THAT TIME. SO IT WAS MORE DANGEROUS. >> IT WAS ALMOST A NEGATIVE CHARISMA TO IT. A SORT OF NARRATIVE, MANUFACTURED NARRATIVE. IT WAS FLAWED IN PRETTY MUCH EVERY WAY ETHICALLY, BUT AT LEAST HE WAS GOING SOMEWHERE. AND AS A COMEDIAN WHO APPRECIATES IMPROVISING AND RIPPING HIM A PART OF ME WAS LIKE WELL, THIS GUY IS A MANIAC. HE'S A SHOWMAN. HE IS PLAYING ON EVERYBODY'S FEARS AND HE REALLY UNDERSTANDS THE FLUID DYNAMICS OF WHAT MAKES AN AUDIENCE WORK. NOW I AM JUST LIKE HE HAS LOST UP THERE. GIVE HIM A HOOK, GET HIM OUT OF HERE. BUT I AGREE WITH KATIE, THERE IS A SENSE THAT THERE IS STILL A REFERENDUM ON WHETHER OR NOT PRESIDENT BIDEN IS IN SOME WAY ENFEEBLED. SO EVERY POSSIBLE GAFFE THAT HE HAS SHOWN IN A NEGATIVE OR EDITED LIGHT SEEMS SOMEHOW NEWSWORTHY. IF YOU ARE LIKE THIS JUST IN, TRUMP, A LUNATIC. PEOPLE ARE LIKE YEAH, WE KNOW. >> MEANWHILE, TRUMP'S BIRTHDAY, TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY, AND IF HE WINS HE WILL BECOME THE OLDEST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY IN THE COURSE OF THIS TERM. I KNOW WHAT IS TALKING ABOUT THAT. >> YEAH, BIDEN THROUGH SOME SHADE AT THAT ACTUALLY
