A Closer Look Live Primetime Special: Harris Baits Trump into Melting Down in Debate

On June 27th, President Biden had a debate performance so rocky that, a month later, he had stepped aside, clearing a path for Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place. Many said it was the most catastrophic debate performance in American history. But last night, Donald Trump said, "Hold my Diet Coke and buckle your seatbelt, because I'm about to go nuts." [ Laughter ] In fact, the face Biden was making during the last debate was the same face Trump's debate prep team was making last night. [ Laughter ] For more on last night's historic debate and the subsequent fall out, it's time not just for any "Closer Look," but for the closest F'ing look we've ever taken our mother F'ing lives. ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Well, you guys, last night was a big night. The eyes of the world were watching, and I think it's pretty obvious to everyone who the winner was. -I think it was the best debate I've ever personally that I've had. I won the debate by a lot. We won every one of the polls that came out tonight. -President Donald Trump is the reigning presidential debate champion, and even though the contest was 3-to-1 last night, he clearly prevailed. -All the memorable lines were from Donald Trump. -Yeah, that's not a good thing. That's... [ Laughter ] That's like someone asking how your subway ride was, and you say, "Well, there were some memorable lines." [ Laughter ] The most memorable character from the movie "It" was Pennywise. That doesn't mean you should let him babysit. But even Trump's most fervent supporters couldn't really keep up the ruse that he actually won the debate. The best argument they could come up with was that he did pretty well, as long as you didn't watch most of the debate. -I do think that he won on points on his first answer about the economy, and then, his last answer was good. So if you only watch those two parts, and if you're like first impression and last impression, you might leave with an impression that he did all right. Well, that's a good point. [ Laughter ] That's a very good point if there was anyone who watched a debate that way. Yes, if you tuned in at 9:00, fell asleep at 9:03, then woke up 89 minutes later, you might think, "Hey, Trump did okay." You know, and if the Jets only played the first and last down of the game, it would have been a 0-0 tie. [ Audience groans ] It's a long season. [ Laughter ] I can't believe there are pundits who actually get paid to offer this expert analysis on TV. Harris may have won among voters who watched the entire debate, but according to snap polls, Trump won among voters who turned on the debate, then accidentally sat on the remote, switched the channel, spent 90 minutes looking for it in the couch cushions, found it, and then watched the last 30 seconds. The closest they could come to admitting what we all saw with our own eyes was suggesting that maybe -- you guys, maybe nobody won. -I don't think the American people are watching and thinking any of these people won. -No. Somebody definitely won. [ Laughter ] I don't have to read the polls to know that. I can just look at a freeze frame from the debate. I mean, look at that. Every freeze frame... [ Cheers and applause ] Every single freeze frame looks like the last page of a comic book where Spider-Man is standing with his hands on his hips and the Green Goblin is cuffed from behind, hissing, "You win this round, webslinger!" [ Laughter ] In fact, Republicans haven't spent much time talking about the substance of the debate because there's nothing for them to talk about. Instead, they spend their time obsessively whining about the moderators. -The former president appearing at times to be agitated and angry immediately after the debate, complaining -- complaining that it was very unfair and, just a short time ago, calling in to Fox News saying it felt like it was three on one. -It was 3-to-1. It was a rigged deal, as I assumed it would be. Because when you looked at the -- the fact that they were correcting everything and not correcting with her. I thought the moderators were very unfair, but it basically was three on one and but I thought they were very unfair, the moderators. -The biggest, I think, failure for the country tonight was ABC. -Yeah, it's an embarrassment. It's an embarrassment to journalism. -ABC gets a D-minus, and that's being generous. In fact, the network's moderators were so blatantly biased against Donald Trump that it vindicated his pre-game criticism of ABC as dishonest. -ABC was not fair. This was -- this was a two -- three on one, at times, versus Trump. -As predicted, tonight's debate was three on one. -Stop saying it was three against one. You sound like a guy in a group of swingers complaining he didn't get enough attention in the bedroom. [ Laughter ] "It was three on one, Janet! You guys were on the bed having fun, I had to sit in the corner and watch. Every time I tried to sneak in, you said, "Not now, Dave!" [ Laughter ] "But when, Janet?" [ Laughter ] "When does Dave get a turn?" [ Laughter ] "That's why I agreed to this." [ Laughter ] Now, as you may recall, before last night's debate, Trump was adamant that he wanted not just one but multiple debates. -If Kamala Harris does end up being the Democrats' nominee, will you commit to debating her at least one time? -Oh, yes, absolutely. I'd want to. I think it's important. I would be willing to do more than one debate, actually. I think it's very important to have debates. And we've agreed with Fox on a date of September 4th. We've agreed with NBC, fairly full agreement, subject to them, on September 10th, and we've agreed with ABC on September 25th. So we have those three dates and those networks. So I just look forward to these debates. I think it's very important that we have them. I hope she agrees to them. I don't know how that's gonna work out. We'd like to do three debates. We think we should do three debates. -That's right. He wanted three debates and even named the networks. I'm surprised he didn't keep going. "We want to debate Fox, NBC, ABC, QVC, Home Shopping Network, Food Network. Cartoon Network. We like them. And a debate on HGTV, where Chip and Joanna Gaines do a makeover to the bathroom, where I keep my classified documents. [ Laughter, cheers, applause ] "I feel like we need fancier boxes." So how does Trump feel now that the debate is over? This might not surprise you. He has changed his tune. -She wants a second debate. -What's your answer? -That's 'cause she lost. She wants it because she lost. -Do you have an answer? -Well, I don't know. I have to think about it. But if you won the debate, I sort of think maybe I shouldn't do it. Why should I do another debate? -I don't know. Because the first one was a disaster and a second one would be super entertaining? I mean, we all want to see it. It's like watching skateboard fails on YouTube. It might be painful to watch, but when the recommended video comes up and says, "Epic skateboard nut shots," you're gonna click that link, you know? So, Trump insists he did well, but let's look at how both campaigns reacted last night. Here's Kamala Harris speaking to supporters at an event shortly after the debate. -Well, you know... [ Laughs ] [ Cheers and applause ] Uh, we -- But we have a lot of work to do. Okay? And tonight, I think, highlighted for the American people what's at stake. I started the debate by talking about it, and it became apparent, I think, throughout those -- that about an hour and a half that -- [ Laughter ] And as I said on the debate stage, we are not going back! I think that we think today was a good day, and it kind of was. [ Cheers and applause ] And we will win! We will win! -Oh, my God. She's got the vibe of a mom who's giving a toast after two glasses of wine at a wedding. [ Laughter ] "I'll tell you, I did not think it was gonna happen for my daughter Stacey, but it happened! And we are not going back to Stacey living at my house!" [ Laughter ] So, Harris was clearly pleased. And now here's Donald Trump moping around the post-debate spin room like a grandpa on a cruise shouting out random numbers to claim he had an awesome night. -Right now, let's go inside the spin room where we find Kaitlan Collins, and I think Donald Trump himself is in the spin room. Kaitlan, I'm not sure if you can hear me, but, uh, Donald Trump is in the spin room. That is generally not considered a sign of a candidate thinking he had a good night or she had a good night. -Mr. President, if you're so confident you won tonight, why are you here? Why not let the performance speak for itself? -Well, I think it did, but people said would I come here, and I made an obligation to a couple of people that I'm going to do their show. But it was a -- I thought it was a great night. The polls are indicating that we got 90%, 60%, 72%, 71% and 89%. [ Laughter ] -Fair question. Where is he getting those numbers? He's pulling them from his Approval Statistics System... [ Laughter ] ...a.k.a. -- [ Cheers and applause ] You figured it out. Also, it's not called the spin room because it's a place for you to go and spin out. [ Laughter ] I love the idea that Trump thinks he can fix a terrible debate performance by walking into the spin room and shouting out random numbers like he's behind the counter at a deli. "72! Tuna salad, 72! It's not getting any fresher! 72!" But I think maybe the most telling post-debate reaction came on MSNBC when Harris's running mate, Tim Walz, found out in real time that Taylor Swift had just endorsed their campaign. -This was just posted online by a woman you might have heard of, whose name is Taylor Swift, and she has posted this online along with a photo of her cat. And I'm going to read to you what she just posted. "Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven't already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most." And then she says, "I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election." [ Chuckles ] "I'm voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader, and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we're led by calm and not chaos." -Look at his fa-- That is the face of a man who just realized he's one step closer to getting Taylor Swift tickets. [ Laughter ] He's beaming. He looks like he just found out there's a sale on gutters at Menards. And 10% off leaf blowers! [ Laughter ] "This is the greatest day of my life. We got all these Midwestern writers, and they're like, "Trust me, Menards is gonna work." [ Laughter ] "Gutters at Menards -- you're gonna have to take an applause break. [ Laughter ] -Whoo! [ Laughter ] You asked a New Yorker, "Where do you get gutters?" you're like, "What are gutters?" [ Laughter ] "We have sewer grates. That's where the water goes." [ Laughter ] Who would've thought one of the most consequential moments of the most important presidential election of our lifetime would come from a massive global superstar endorsing Kamala Harris and the neighbor from "Home Improvement"? [ Laughter ] That's how Walz is gonna do his debate with Trump's running mate, JD Vance, just peering over a picket fence. [ Laughter ] Trump managed to start out calm, but, eventually, he went off the rails with an incoherent rant about eating pets. Yeah. [ Laughter ] We'll show you that right after this. -Welcome back to our live "Closer Look Election Special." I don't have to tell you the stakes of this debate could not have been any higher. In fact, here's how you know the stakes were high. I got bumped up from 12:30 to 10:00. If you see me on your TV before you're in your pajamas, it's an emergency. My time slot is like the national crisis alert system. 10 p.m. means elevated, 9 p.m. means severe, and if you see me on at 8 p.m., run for your lives! And Republicans knew how crucial this debate was for Trump, which is why they pleaded -- they pleaded with him to stay focused on policy. -What's your one best piece of advice, Bret, for you, for the Trump campaign? -Keep the debate focused on policy, not about persona. -I think President Trump needs to stay focused on his policy. -That is wise counsel -- focus on policy, Donald Trump's strong suit. And I'm sure a sober... [ Laughter ] I don't care for that reaction. [ Laughter ] I'm sure a sober, judicious Trump, after spending weeks poring over white papers and academic journals... [ Laughter ] ...took all of that solemn advice to heart, came to the debate prepared and focused, and homed in on the issues that matter most to everyday working Americans. -They're eating the dogs! -Oh, no. You guys! No, I don't think he listened! You told him to focus on policy, and he screamed about eating dogs! I don't think he listened! Unless maybe he was leading up to some kind of policy. [as Trump] "Folks, our dogs are too delicious. And Kamala -- she had four years to change that, but she did nothing. We're gonna create a task force on day one to cover all of our dogs in Vegemite. Nasty stuff. We're gonna make our dogs taste bad, and we'll do it easily." You know, it's funny -- you agree to host a live special, and the whole day leading up to the debate, you know, you worry -- you're like, "Oh, maybe nothing interesting will happen." And then someone just starts screaming about eating dogs. And you think, "Here we go, baby. Here we go." But you know what? Let's be fair. Let's be fair. That was probably just one bad moment, right? -They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. We have millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums. She copied Biden's plan. And it's like four sentences. Like, "Run, Spot, run." People can't go out and buy cereal or bacon or eggs. She's a Marxist. Her father's a Marxist professor. I think probably her boss -- if you call him a boss. He spends all his time on the beach. We have a president... -Mr. President... -...that doesn't know he's alive! He said, "Why do you send me a picture of my house?" I said, "You're gonna have to figure that out, Abdul." She's bussing 'em in and paying them to be there. They're eating the dogs! The people that came in! They're eating the cats! They're eating -- They're eating the pets of the people that live there. The people on television say, "My dog was taken and used for food." I read where she was not Black. She is Biden. -In the past couple of weeks leading up to this debate, you have said you lost by a "whisker," that you "didn't quite make it," that you came up "a little bit short." -I said that? I'm talking now, if you don't mind, please. Does that sound familiar? Quiet, please. I would say we would both leave this debate right now. -Oh, I bet you wanted to leave the debate! I'm shocked his aides didn't drive a van on stage, throw a hood over his head, and just whisk him away. As a general rule, if you're less than halfway through a presidential debate and you're suggesting that perhaps it would be better if you left the debate, you're losing. That's almost as bad as what Biden did, which was to stay but also maybe leave. [ Laughter ] So Trump unraveled and he never recovered. He fell for Harris' strategy, even though she and her team were telegraphing that strategy for weeks. -They expect him to, at some point, maybe lose it. They're gonna try to bait him a bit to try to lash out at her. -They're gonna try and get him off his game. -It's all going to be about the execution in the moment, especially if Harris tries to bait the former president. -"She should bait him. He can be rattled." -The challenge for Kamala Harris will be to bait Trump without getting baited herself. -Try to bait him a little bit. -He's incapable of not taking the bait. -Taking the bait from her on that. -There are certain things that you could bait him into obsessing over. -I think what he can't do is allow her to try and bait him in. I think he shouldn't take the bait. -There's gonna be a lot of bait, and you don't want to take any of it. -My advice is don't take the bait. -[as Graham] "Don't take the bait. That's the advice my memaw always gives me... whenever one of them slick-talkin' traveling salesmen comes to town with their wagon full of elixirs, promising to make me tall and handsome. Yes, I spent all our money, Memaw! I'll spend it on Hamlin's Wizard Oil! And, no, it didn't make me 6'5"! But who says you're the only one who can have dreams?! You old bag!" [ Laughter ] What does it say about our politics that the media talks about one of our two major presidential candidates like he's an iguana in a BBC nature documentary? "The iguana must remain still in order to avoid the venomous snakes, but the snakes have learned to bait the iguana... by talking about his dwindling crowd sizes." So that was the plan going in -- bait Trump, get in his head. And Harris put the plan into action immediately the moment they walked on stage. -Kamala Harris. Let's have a good debate. -Nice to see you. Have fun. -Thank you. -Thank you. -She just walked up and grabbed him by the hand. When you're a star, they let you do it. [ Cheers and applause ] He seemed so... He seemed so taken aback. If he had had a safe word, I bet he would have started yelling it, but, knowing Trump, he'd pick a safe word that he already yells all the time, so nobody would even notice. [as Trump] "Oh, no. She's coming over. Wall! Wall! Build a wall! Wall!" But that was just the start. Harris knew how to twist the knife. And we're going to show you that right when we come back. -Welcome back to our live "Closer Look" election special. Kamala Harris' broadcaster plan to the entire world before this debate -- rattle Trump and provoke him into a tantrum. And she did that by mocking the thing Trump prizes most -- the entertainment value of his rallies. -I'm going to actually do something really unusual, and I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies, 'cause it's a really interesting thing to watch. You will see, during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. -You can call Trump many things -- a weirdo, a cheater, a pathological liar -- but nothing will get under his skin more than calling him boring. For years, that was his only skill, and he's slipping. He's turning into one of those aging stand up comics who complain that people are too woke to laugh at the jokes they wrote 30 years ago. "Hey, what's the matter? Wives aren't burning pot roasts anymore? This is the good stuff, fellas." He's still doing the same shtick he's been doing for years, except now he's even more incoherent. Even his supporters aren't into it anymore. There have been empty seats at his rallies, and cameras have caught his supporters streaming for the exits while he's still speaking. And I get it, when you go to see Billy Joel, you want to hear "Piano Man," but if he only plays "Piano Man," you're going to really start listening to the lyrics and eventually say, "This is B.S, no one has ever ordered a tonic and gin. Let's get out of here!" So Harris pressed Trump's buttons with one well-placed comment about his rallies, and it immediately sent him into a tailspin. -People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go, she's bussing him in and paying them to be there and then showing them in a different light. So, she can't talk about that. People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics. -Look at her, look how happy she is at how well her strategy worked. She looks like she just baked the perfect Swiss roll on the "Great British Bake Off." She looks like she just tricked Elmer Fudd into thinking it's duck season. Trump went so far off the rails, he rolls seamlessly into a deranged and completely made up outburst about immigrants eating pets. Again, this is all one uninterrupted stream of thought that started with Kamala Harris saying Trump's rallies are boring. -People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics. And what's going on here, you're going to end up in World War Three -- just to go into another subject -- what they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats, they're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there. Amazing. I mean, all she did was make one comment about his rallies being boring. And this is true. We counted it within 90 seconds. He was screaming, they're eating the dogs! She can honestly trigger this guy into saying anything just by insulting what he holds dear. If they do another debate, Harris should say Mar-A-Lago looks dingy in less than two minutes. Be screaming Beavis and Butthead her real guys. They're real guys. I saw him on the red carpet. They're real and they're hot. I mean, again, look at her face. Even she can't believe how easy it was to set him. That's the face you make when you praying someone at a sleepover by putting their hand in warm water and they wet themselves before they fall asleep. Of course, Trump's claim is as insane as it sounds. This is a conspiracy theory that got belched up in the right wing fever swamps of the internet, and as ABC David Muir quickly fact checked them. I just want to clarify here. You bring up Springfield, Ohio, and ABC news did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. Lashing people on television, just saying here, this is the people on television saying, my dog was taken and used for food. You if you don't want to look like a crazy old man, there's no worse phrase for you to bust out than the people on the television set. It. And by the way, Trump was fact checked multiple times last night and Harris wasn't fact checked it all. And yes, there are absolutely things you can quibble with from Harris, but it's one thing to fact check someone on the granular nature of their position on fracking. It's another to say, no, people aren't eating dogs. Now, one would think pivoting to dog eating was an own goal by Trump, and the Trump alone bears responsibility for that. But conservative radio host Erick Erickson actually blamed those on the right who pushed the conspiracy in the first place. He tweeted you stupid MF, it's just got Trump to repeat your lie about the pets. Congrats on setting the news stories tomorrow by lying. So Trump picks it up and says stupid stuff fair in that they shouldn't have pushed the lie. But also maybe I want to be president. Man should know better. I mean, if your kid great. If your kid brings a giant wooden mallet to school and starts bonking kids on the head, you can't say it's the fault of Tom and Jerry cartoons, because maybe, you know, you just got a dumb kid. But this is my favorite part of the exchange between Trump and Mira. I'm not taking this from taking it from the same dog was eaten by the people that went there. Again, the Springfield City manager says there's no evidence of that. Vice president. Oh, you'll find out. What are you going to do? Send your crack investigators to Springfield, Ohio. Make sure to check that out on the next episode of Law and Order dog. Someone, I'm not gonna say one of our writers had an idea to do bark. Bark instead of the bum bum. It was me and, you know, there was a lot of conversation. You sure you want to do that in a live show? Because then we won't be able to edit out when it doesn't work. And I'm like, mayor is going to work. And, you know, vindicated. This is vindication. So Harrison's plan to provoke Trump worked. And even when he tried to pivot back to policy, it was a disaster. We'll show you guys just how bad a disaster right after this. -Welcome back to our live "Closer Look Election Special." So, Harris' strategy of baiting Trump worked, and he quickly unraveled. Republicans may have gotten their hopes up when Trump finally pivoted back to Harris' economic policy, but it became clear pretty quickly that Trump couldn't muster a coherent thought. -I went to the Wharton School of Finance, and many of those professors, the top professors, think my plan is a brilliant plan. It's a great plan. It's a plan that's going to bring up our worth, our value as a country. It's going to make people want to be able to go and work and create jobs and create a lot of good, solid money for our comp-- for our country. And just to finish off, she doesn't have a plan. She copied Biden's plan. And it's like four sentences, like, "Run, Spot, run." -Hindsight being 20/20, I wouldn't have said her plan is four sentences if the best example I could give was "Run, Spot, run." You should have said her plan is like three words, and then you would have been golden. Like, don't set yourself up for failure. That'd be like saying, "Don't get me started on her immigration plan. It's like a haiku. Oh, now I got to do a haiku. How does a haiku work again? Oh, boy, I really stepped in it." In his defense, there is a good reason to say, "Run, Spot, run," and that reason is... -They're eating the dogs. -So... [ Cheers and applause ] That was a baffling moment, and it only got worse when Trump tried to claim Kamala was no different than the current president. -She is Biden. -No. No, she's not. You know how I know she's not Joe Biden? She's kicking your ass in a debate. When she's on camera laughing, smiling, as opposed to Biden, who just, you know, stared off into the distance, like he was being jacked into the Matrix. Sidenote -- how much was Donald Trump missing Joe Biden last night? Trump was probably seeing Biden's face on Harris' body, the way starving people in cartoons see turkey legs. So, Trump couldn't land a punch when it came to Harris' economic plan, but then he had a chance to discuss his own agenda. He got a big, fat softball lobbed right over the plate about healthcare. Republicans wanted him to focus on policy. This was his chance. He's been talking about repealing Obamacare for nine years, since 2015. Surely by now, he has a plan to replace it, right? -So tonight, nine years after you first started running, do you have a plan and can you tell us what it is? -Obamacare was lousy healthcare, always was. It's not very good today. And what I said -- that if we come up with something -- And we are working on things. We're going to do it and we're going to replace it. -So, just a "yes" or "no." You still do not have a plan? -I have concepts of a plan. -"Concepts of a plan." Concepts of a plan is not a plan. "Concepts of a Plan" is an okay title for a jazz album. After nine years, you have concepts of a plan? If nothing else, that proves that Trump was a contractor in New York City. "Yeah, I got concepts of a plan. First, we're gonna knock out this wall. We're going to leave a bunch of buckets everywhere. We'll be back in six months." You've had nine years to come up with a plan. That's an eternity. Nine years ago, I was wearing a suit. I was standing for my monologue on a set that looked like I was hosting "Jeopardy!" on a spaceship. Look what you did to that poor boy. That poor, eager boy with good posture and all the hope in the world. Now I'm so exhausted all the time, I have to sit. The only way to get through the day is to start drinking at noon with Kevin Hart. Yeah! [ Cheers and applause ] Oh! Yeah, I'm still hung over. But you know what they say -- the best way to cure a hangover is hair of the... -Dogs. -So, Trump says he only has concepts of a plan for healthcare. Now, you know and I know there is no plan and there are no concepts. But he said it, so it's fair to ask when we might see the framework for this imaginary plan. A campaign aide was asked that question on CNN, and the mystery only deepened. -I do want to ask you about his concept of a plan on healthcare. He said, "You'll be hearing about it in the not-too-distant future? When are we going to be hearing about that concept of a plan? -Well, as he said, in the not too distant future. And President Trump's healthcare plan can best be -- -Do you have a date? Do you have a date? -I don't have a date for you this morning, John, but I'll definitely get back to you with one as soon as I can. -"And if I can't get you a date, at the very least, I can get you the concept of a date. Say, Soonuary Whenth." And if you thought Trump totally blanking on healthcare was bad, wait until you hear about what he had to say about his plan for IVF. We'll show you that next. -Welcome back to our live "Closer Look" election special. As we were saying, Republicans wanted Trump to focus on policy at this debate. And yet, even when he wasn't talking about eating dogs, he had trouble mustering a coherent thought. At one point, he flat out refused to explain his position on abortion, and even threw his running mate, JD Vance, under the bus. -Would you veto a national abortion ban if... -Well, I won't have to because again -- Two things. Number one, she said she'll go back to Congress, she'll never get the vote. It was impossible for her to get the vote, especially now with the 50/50 and essentially 50/50 in both Senate and the House. She's not going to get the vote. She can't get the votes. You won't even come close to it. So it's just talk. -But if I could just get a yes or no because your running mate JD Vance has said that you would veto if it did come to your desk. -Well, I didn't discuss it with JD, in all fairness. -"If there is one thing I want the voters to take away from tonight, it's that I don't talk to that guy. [ Laughter ] He's a weird guy. When Tim Walz says I'm weird, I'm like, 'How dare you?' But when he says JD is weird, I'm like, 'The man -- The man's got a point.'" Trump was also asked about the implications of his abortion bans for in vitro fertilization. Again, he's tried to dodge this, but the only reason IVF is at risk is because of his crusade to overturn Roe v Wade, which again, he has repeatedly bragged about. -I have been a leader on IVF which is fertilization, the IVF. I have been a leader. In fact, when they got a very negative decision on IVF from the Alabama courts, I saw the people of Alabama and the legislature two days later voted it in. I've been a leader on it. They know that and everybody else knows it. I have been a leader on fertilization. -Well... You picked the weirdest way to say it. If you told your husband you were pregnant and he said, "I'm a leader on fertilization," you think, "All right, I'm raising this baby alone." I mean, clearly he's repeating the word fertilization because he forgot what IV in IVF stands for. "I'm a leader on fertilization" sounds like something Tracy Morgan would yell out at a club. It sounds like an ironic t-shirt you'd wear to spring break. Now, I'm no debate expert, but it could be that they both had such vastly different answers on policy because of how they prepared in the days leading up to the debate. Harris not only practiced, but recreated the debate environment down to the smallest details. -Vice President Harris has been hunkered down at a hotel in Pittsburgh, making only a few appearances over the weekend before retreating back to her mock studio. Yes, it even had a stage with complete TV studio lighting. She even had an adviser dress like former President Trump to spar with. -How far down on the org chart are you when you're the advisor they make dress up like Donald Trump? "Hey, Gary." "Yeah." "We got a great job for you, Gary." "Oh, great, I was starting to think you guys didn't believe in me." "We believe in you, Gary. Now throw this big old suit on." At least they don't have to worry about getting the tailoring right, considering that Donald Trump's clothes don't even fit Donald Trump. What's up with his baggy -- He always looks like a burglar who crawled through the window and got tangled in the drapes. Looks like the suit you wear when you're smuggling endangered birds through a South American airport. "You can tape a couple more macaws to my knee pits. Manolo, I got room." [ Laughter ] I'm really excited about this next one that I'm going to tell right now. Where do you even buy a suit like this? Men's Weirdhouse? [ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ] That's a prime time joke. So Kamala was focused to prepare. Trump, on the other hand, chose a looser approach. -Former President Trump has held a handful of sessions so far, with campaign allies pointedly calling them "policy time" instead of "debate prep." -All the report indicates that he's taking this easy. He's taking this casually. He doesn't have "debate prep," so to speak. He has what they call "policy time" just to refresh his memory about what he might say on stage. -Trump's preparations -- a little bit different. More improv. They are called not "debate prep," but "policy time" designed to refresh him on his record. -Improv? I have both seen and been in some terrible improv shows in my life, but that sounds like the worst improv show imaginable. "I'm Donald Trump and this is my one-man improv show, 'Policy Time,' can I get a suggestion? Can I get a suggestion of an occasion I was treated very unfairly? I heard when they stole the election." "Nobody yelled that out." "I heard it. It's the suggestion." Harris and Trump were also working within the constraints of the debate rules. And while most of them seemed reasonable, there was one rule I took issue with. -When the two candidates meet for the first time on the debate stage, they will be not having any props. -Ah, that's a bummer. If props were allowed, Trump could have brought back his Tic Tac routine. -The groceries -- just to put it in simple terms, people go to the grocery store and they have less than half a -- half a deal, in fact, I had something here. I did have something I would show you. Wait a minute. I don't know if you've seen this. I used it once. Oh, I have it. I do have it. Look at this. Look at this. So... This is Tic Tacs, right? This is inflation. This is Tic Tac. This is -- This is inflation. This is what's happened. -I mean, that honestly would have been better for Trump than what actually happened at the debate. I mean, "This is inflation, this is Tic Tac" doesn't make a ton of sense, but no matter what your policies are, you have to agree that is Tic Tac. [ Laughter ] Also, that is not an example of inflation. That is an example of mints that come in different sizes. Does he also think Joe Biden is to blame for fun-sized candy bars? "Before Joe Biden, it was just called Ruth. Now it's Baby Ruth." Ultimately, the Trump campaign is hoping this campaign will come down to one key question, his central message. And we're going to get to that right after this. -Welcome back to our live "Closer Look" election special. Donald Trump's entire argument, aside from weird lies about eating dogs and windmills and Hannibal Lecter, boils down to one thing. When he left office, things were awesome. -I created one of the greatest economies in the history of our country. We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic. We handed them over a country where the economy and where the stock market was higher than it was before the pandemic came in. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. -Ah, yes, I remember the halcyon days of 2020, when the economy was soaring and toilet paper was plentiful, and we weren't all wiping our mail down with Clorox and filming our TV shows at home without our hair and makeup teams leaving us all looking like ghosts haunting a Dickensian orphanage. [ British accent ] "Please help me! I've been trapped here ever since I died from eating spoiled gruel!" [ Normal voice ] I can't believe I have to remind some people of this, but Donald Trump's presidency did not end well. Just in case you need it, here's a quick refresher. This shouldn't take too long. Donald Trump was the first president since Herbert Hoover to oversee a net job loss. Unemployment soared, and the economy shrank by more than 3%. Corporate profits went up while manufacturing jobs declined. Home prices soared by nearly 30%. The national debt rose by nearly $8 trillion. Crime spiked. The number of Americans without health insurance rose by 3 million, and the number of presidents who have humped American flags went from 0 to 1. He undercut the nation's response to a deadly pandemic that spiraled out of control because he ignored warnings about it, lied about its severity, disbanded agencies that were tasked with preparing for it, promoted sham treatments for it, said we could stop it by injecting disinfectant, and promoted a quack doctor who believes demon sperm is real, insulted servicemembers and feuded with Gold Star families, saluted a North Korean general, got reprimanded by the Army for desecrating Arlington National Cemetery in violation of federal law, and made the Queen of England disappear. Said he had the best memory in the world, then forgot he said he had the best memory in the world, got laughed at by the United Nations, including the Germans, got impeached for threatening to withhold military aid from Ukraine, and encouraged Russia to interfere in our elections. He doctored a weather map with a Sharpie to lie about the path of a hurricane, threw paper towels at hurricane victims, called Hannibal Lecter his wonderful man. A chief of staff called him an idiot. His national security adviser called him a dope. A secretary of state called him a moron. He got on a plane with toilet paper stuck to his shoe and didn't know how to close an umbrella. He took millions from foreign officials, including a possible $10 million bribe from Egypt, brushed dandruff off the shoulder of the president of France. He staged a months-long coup attempt, stoked a violent insurrection, tried to coerce Republican officials into overturning the election, claim dead people were voting and Democrats were selling mail ballots, got impeached a second time. He brought a crazy pillow salesman to the White House, and his lawyer gave a press conference at a landscaping company. He lost the popular vote twice, got indicted four times, convicted of 34 felony counts, falsified business records to pay hush money to a porn star. who said she spanked him in the ass with "Forbes" magazine. He was found guilty of fraud and libel and sexual abuse, possibly farted and definitely fell asleep in court. Bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade, said he was against a Florida abortion ban, then said he was for the Florida abortion bill. Called the CEO of Apple Tim Apple, called Elon Musk "Leon Musk," said Nikki Haley was the Speaker of the House on January 6th, claimed the price of bacon goes up because the windmills blow, shark attacks are caused by electric boat batteries, again said Hannibal Lecter was dead and real, wonderful, even though he's fake and famously a bad guy, insists he's not weird by saying the word "weird" 11 times in 30 seconds, which is, let's admit it, super weird. Became the first president -- And, guys, we ran out of time, but there were a bunch more things. This has been "A Closer Look," good night. [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪