JOE SCARBOROUGH (HOST): Sam Stein, it is all calculated. And that's the thing they don't understand. We're talking yesterday morning. Not only was he talking about when the plane would land because we thought he'd end up in the debate, he said “no” and he said “I'm going to walk out on the stage at 9:15, 15 minutes after the debate starts, they'll be fixed on the podium for 15 minutes.” Then when we said what's the story, why did you not go? At the end of the day why are you not doing it? He said I was driving across Iowa, somebody read me the press release and he said I can't go. He turned to his staff, he goes well, I guess I can't do the debate. He said it would so undercut who I am for my supporters. And he said to me, he goes your brother would hate me if I backed down like that. What he was saying -- Nicolle's father would hate me. My supporters -- he said -- but it was all very planned. It was all very, very thought out. And that's what--
SAM STEIN: He's a pro, obviously, at this, right? But one thing that really good politicians are good at is playing the victim and I don't mean that pejoratively in any sense of the word. But for a billionaire man with his own jet who's leading the polls to then come out of this as the victim is really remarkable and to turn Fox News as the villain is amazing. I think it's masterful. The thing that struck me about the debate, not was that he won it or lost it because you can't lose a debate you don't participate in, literally, but how much the agenda has been actually shaped by Donald Trump is remarkable. With him off the stage, the conversation was still about him, about carpet bombing ISIS, about surveilling Muslims, about building walls. It's amazing.
