MARK HALPERIN: I'm fascinated by a parallel universe in which [Donald] Trump hadn't said what he said about respecting the results because he had a lot of good moments. I think he got more of his message out than he ever has. He had the demeanor that a lot of people wanted to see. But there's no doubt that it's the revenge of the elites. Elites do not accept that that was an appropriate answer and it's not just the coverage in the immediate aftermath of the debate, the coverage this morning, but until he explains it and gets in sync with everyone on his campaign team I don't think he's going to get to talk about much else and that means every bit of good he might have done last night, with a strong performance and her strong performance, I don't think matters much.
JOE SCARBOROUGH (CO-HOST): Mark, let me ask you. And I'm sure people will disagree with me here -- just the implication of my question, the suggestion of my question -- how many people in Scranton, Pennsylvania, care about what he said in that answer compared to people in newsrooms that are -- whimpering and whining with their, you know --
HALPERIN: Almost --
SCARBOROUGH: With their soy lattes?
HALPERIN: That's why I said it's the revenge of the elites. Elites in both parties have been against Trump from the beginning.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI (CO-HOST): Yes, they have.
HALPERIN: They look at this answer as wrong, morally wrong, against our traditions. And so the elites have the power to make this the whole debate. Kellyanne Conway and others came into the spin room afterward and said, “Why are you seizing on one moment?” Well, because it's a moment that is out of sync with everyone else on his campaign. It's a moment that offends the sensibilities of elites. And it's a moment that will dominate forever what this debate is about. I think what he said was wrong and his tone was wrong and it was an unforced error but there is no doubt, Joe, you're right, normal people won't care about that answer. That's why I say again, elites control a lot of this process, they don't like that answer -- and for good reasons it was not an acceptable answer in the realm of American discourse.
