Schmidt: Trump Says Things Millions Americans ‘Are Yelling at Their Television Sets’

BRZEZINSKI: “Joining us from Cleveland, Ohio, former McCain senior campaign strategist and MSNBC political analyst Steve Schmidt and here on set, deputy managing editor for Time magazine, Michael Duffy. Good to you have both.” 
SCARBOROUGH: “Steve Schmidt, you've done this before, one or two times. You had to prep Arnold Schwarzenegger for some debates in California. He obviously got through those successfully. If you're sitting in there, prepping Donald Trump, how do you do it?” 
SCHMIDT: “Look, at the end of the day this is Donald Trump's debate. He's coming in here. Can he show the country that he has presidential bearing? Will people watching this debate, see him in the role of commander-in-chief, not just chief provocateur in the Republican Party. It's an opportunity for Donald Trump to move beyond telling people they're stupid, telling people they're stupid morons, to be a serious person at a serious time in the nation's history. And to make himself a candidate for the presidency that people like you, Joe, and a lot of people covering this today can see as a prospective Republican nominee. That’s his challenge.” 
SCARBOROUGH: “Steve Schmidt , it's interesting. About a month and a half ago you, Mika, myself and a few other people were sitting around the table and everybody was laughing at the prospect of Donald Trump breaking out. You and Mika were the only two saying not only would he break out but he would be a big force. What did you see that I can say, quite frankly, very few other people other than Mika saw?” 
SCHMIDT: “Look, Donald Trump race is happening at a time where trust is completely collapsed and very nearly every institution in the country. People in America are very mad, very angry at the political establishment. They don't think the system is on the level. And Donald Trump is communicating to them, hey, I'm successful. I'll fight for you. I'll be on your side. And the things that he is saying are things that millions of people across this country are yelling at their television sets every night, but that are crowded out in this cultural political correctness from being heard out of the political establishment. So Donald Trump has tapped a vein. We'll see now, though, can he continue. Can he continue to grow those favorable numbers, and can he be seen as someone who can take the oath of office in the eyes of millions of American voters or is he just a summer sensation tapping into this angry vein in American politics right now?”