ALISYN CAMEROTA (HOST): Let's talk about what happened over the weekend with Donald Trump going to that African-American church and attempting to do some outreach to black voters. As we were saying with Jackie, the people who were interviewed in the church really appreciated it and felt his presence there. He sang, he talked to them. How do you think it went over?

BASIL SMIKLE: Well, it went down exactly the way I thought it would. He would have a very scripted speech, remarks to an audience, a congregation that was largely respectful that a presidential candidate came and talked to them. But, the reality is this is happening just over two months away from election day. This could have happened a year ago, and it did not. My sense is that this is an attempt to soften his edges with his core voters, but not real engagement of African-American voters. And look, I don't begrudge anyone going to communities, my community, and saying what they're going to do as a leader, as an executive to support their lives and their families. But to me, this sort of rang hollow.

JOHN BERMAN (CO-HOST): Corey, does Donald Trump still question whether President Obama was born in the United States?

COREY LEWANDOWSKI: I don't think he does. I think he said he doesn't want to talk about it.

BERMAN: Just because he says he doesn't want to talk about it. He hasn't said that President Obama was born in Hawaii.

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't think he does question it, but what I do think is that he went to Detroit, and the Detroit Free Press raved about him going there. They said it was the right thing to do and he was very well received and he was humble in that particular setting. He went and he asked for African-American support and he asked for their votes. And I think that's what you do as a presidential candidate. You go there and try and listen. And that’s what he did. There's been a lot of criticism of Donald Trump making speeches not inside an African-American community, talking to African-Americans but not doing it in the environment where many of the mainstream media said would be fair. Because he's been talking to all white audiences. That's not the case in Detroit. What he did specifically is he went there specifically, and he listened, and he talked, and he said, “I want your vote and I can do things for you that the Democrat Party has taken advantage of the African-Americans for the last 30 years. So what do you have to lose?”

SMIKLE: But I also think it's not about what the mainstream media is saying what he should do. It's what the community wants him to do. Look, you can't ask for the vote of community on your terms. You have to go to them and talk to them. And granted, he did go, but it's taken him so long to do that. Look, his luxury condominiums are less than three miles from Harlem, and he has not been to Harlem. And there's a question as to why. And look, with respect to the birther comment, what African-Americans read that as is that you believe the first African-American president of the United States is not qualified to govern. That's a stinging statement or sentiment coming from a nominee of a major U.S. party.

CAMEROTA: Well, let's unpack that a little bit. Why didn't Mr. Trump go sooner into a black community and talk directly to them?

LEWANDOWSKI: Look, the unofficial start of election is today. There's nine weeks and one day until election day.

CAMEORTA: But we have been enduring it for a year.

LEWANDOWSKI: I understand, but what no one is reporting on is last October when he had his first meeting with the African-American community in Trump Tower. And then they went down to Atlanta and he met with the African-American leaders down there. No one is talking about that. This has been a systemic and consistent issue with Donald Trump, which is talking to the African-American leaders.

BERMAN: Well hang on, Corey. I think on one’s talking about it because I don’t know if it’s been systemic. I don’t know that this has been a part of his campaign. Because he did it once last fall, and he did it this weekend --

[CROSSTALK]

LEWANDOWSKI: When was the last time Hillary Clinton met with the African-American community?

[CROSSTALK]

SMIKLE: I've been with her to African-American churches.

LEWANDOWSKI: When?

SMIKLE: I’ve been with her to communities of color.

LEWANDOWSKI: When?

BERMAN: Didn’t she just speak to the journalists, she just spoke to the minority journalist conference, which was two weeks ago, I believe. Before that, didn't she speak to --

SMIKLE: Urban League, NAACP. Where has Donald Trump been in those big events? Those are African-American community events. He does it on his terms. Not on our terms.

LEWANDOWSKI: He's talked to the African-American community in smaller settings where he's listening to these individuals because he wants to be able to have a give and take. There is no give and take at the NAACP. She gets up, she makes her speech, and she leaves.

SMIKLE: She took questions at the Association of Black Journalists. There is give and take. You can have smaller rooms and smaller conversations, but it seems to me what's systemic is that he wants to dictate the engagement on his terms, and that is something that I think is obvious to everyone.

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