SPECIAL UPDATE: THE "IT LOOKS LIKE TRUMP WILL PLAY THE CARDS IN HIS HAND -- AND DOUBLE HIS PRIOR BET AGAINST MC CAIN" EDITION

TRUMP STAYS TRUMP ---  AND HE SHOWS EVERYBODY THAT HE'LL PLAY THIS GAME HIS WAY

"I AM NOT A FAN OF JOHN MCCAIN, HE HAS DONE SO LITTLE FOR VETERANS..."   -- TRUMP

"....   AND FRANKLY, I THINK [JOHN MC CAIN] OWES [MY SUPPORTERS]  AN APOLOGY"  --  TRUMP

SHOWS REST OF GOP HE WILL FIGHT IT OUT OVER HIS  JOHN MC CAIN REMARKS

According to ABC News,   "Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he does not owe John McCain an apology for saying the Arizona senator is only a war hero 'because he was captured.'...    Before Trump's comments, McCain had referred to those who attended a campaign event for the real estate mogul as 'crazies.'..."  ( See "Donald Trump Says He Does Not Owe John McCain Apology" by Benjamin Bell,  7/19/15, ABC News  [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-owe-mccain-apology/story?id=32547286]).  On Saturday, Trump had released a statement that read, in part, "I am not a fan of John McCain because he has done so little for our Veterans."

ON ABC'S  "THIS WEEK..." PROGRAM

On ABC's "This Week... [with Martha Raddatz hosting]" there was this exchange near the beginning of the show:  

"MARTHA RADDATZ: And let’s get straight to Donald Trump who joins us right now on the phone for his interview since those controversial comments.  --    Thanks for joining us, Mr. Trump.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning.

TRUMP SAYS "NO" TO APOLOGY FOR MC CAIN

RADDATZ: Do you owe John McCain an apology?

TRUMP: No, not at all. Actually, if you look at Sharyl Attkisson’s report last night, four times she said I said perfectly, I said whatever it was, and it was absolutely fine. And she thought the press was covering me very -- very, very unfairly. And she stated that strongly. And I respect her as a reporter. And somebody that a lot of other people respect.  --   Also and very importantly I got a standing ovation, the biggest ovation they had all weekend, by far. When I left the room, it was a total standing ovation. It was wonderful to see. Nobody was insulted. --  What happened is, later on, the Republican candidates, some of whom are registering 1 percent and zero, and they’re very upset that I’m leading the polls by actually a nice margin, they’re extremely upset and they were extremely when the Nevada numbers just came out and they’re through the roof too. They started attacking me  --

RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, I want to -- let’s go back to this issue of John McCain, and you’re talking about the Sharyl Attkisson piece. You said he’s a war hero because he was captured, I believe perhaps he’s a war hero.  --   I want to read you a short bio of John McCain. He was shot down in 1967 on his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam. He fractured both arms and a leg when he ejected and nearly drowned when he parachuted into a lake. He was pulled out by North Vietnamese, who crushed his shoulder with a rifle and bayoneted him. He was beaten, tortured, and interrogated. He spent five and a half years a POW. The North Vietnamese offered McCain early release for propaganda purposes. He He refused until every man taken before him was released. He cannot raise his arms above his head to this day because of his wartime injuries.  --   You do not think that is a war hero, captured or not?

TRUMP: No, not at all. Actually, if you look at Sharyl Attkisson’s report last night, four times she said I said perfectly, I said whatever it was, and it was absolutely fine. And she thought the press was covering me very -- very, very unfairly. And she stated that strongly. And I respect her as a reporter. And somebody that a lot of other people respect.  --   Also and very importantly I got a standing ovation, the biggest ovation they had all weekend, by far. When I left the room, it was a total standing ovation. It was wonderful to see. Nobody was insulted.  --   What happened is, later on, the Republican candidates, some of whom are registering 1 percent and zero, and they’re very upset that I’m leading the polls by actually a nice margin, they’re extremely upset and they were extremely when the Nevada numbers just came out and they’re through the roof too. They started attacking me --

RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, I want to -- let’s go back to this issue of John McCain, and you’re talking about the Sharyl Attkisson piece. You said he’s a war hero because he was captured, I believe perhaps he’s a war hero.  --  I want to read you a short bio of John McCain. He was shot down in 1967 on his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam. He fractured both arms and a leg when he ejected and nearly drowned when he parachuted into a lake. He was pulled out by North Vietnamese, who crushed his shoulder with a rifle and bayoneted him. He was beaten, tortured, and interrogated. He spent five and a half years a POW. The North Vietnamese offered McCain early release for propaganda purposes. He He refused until every man taken before him was released. He cannot raise his arms above his head to this day because of his wartime injuries. --  You do not think that is a war hero, captured or not?

TRUMP PIVOTS FROM MC CAIN TO VETERANS

TRUMP: I didn’t say anything differently. And if you read -- and if you watch and take a look at what you have, I said nothing differently. I’m very disappointed in John McCain because the vets are horribly treated in this country. I’m fight for the vets. I’ve done a lot for the vets.  --   And the vets -- I’ve been going around to the campaign trail. They’re treated like third-class citizens. He’s done nothing to help the vets. And I will tell you, they are living in hell.

RADDATZ: [Talking about comments by the heads of two veterans groups]

TRUMP SAYS HE IS WITH VETERANS ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY  ---  ALSO THAT IT'S JOHN MC CAIN  WHO OWES THE APOLOGY

TRUMP: Well, maybe they don’t speak to the same vets that I speak to. But I go all over the country and I speak to vets all the time. And they’re absolutely having miserable times. It takes them six, seven days just to get into waiting in a reception room, just trying to get in to see a doctor. They’re treated horribly. And everybody knows it and it --

RADDATZ: Let’s go back here -- let’s go back to your comment about John McCain --

TRUMP: -- and it’s a scandal. And John McCain has done nothing to --

RADDATZ: There is -- Mr. Trump, I have covered the veterans issues for many, many years. Indeed, there are big troubles in the Veterans Administration.

TRUMP: -- the veterans except talk. --   And by the way, this all started, Martha, when we had thousands and thousands of people in Phoenix, Arizona, and John -- who, by the way, are devastated by illegal immigration, something I’m very proud to have brought to the forefront. We had thousands of people and he said they’re all crazies. He called them crazies. --  And frankly, I think he owes them an apology...."

The back and forth continued for some time.   And this is how the segment on ABC's  "This Week..." closed:

TRUMP CONCLUDES

"TRUMP: I believe that I will do far more for veterans than John McCain has done for many, many years, with all talk no action. He’s on television all the time, talking, talking. Nothing gets done. You look at what’s happening to our veterans -- they’re being decimated, OK. So I will do far more for veterans than anybody. I’ll be able to build them new hospitals, I’ll be able to build them care centers. I’ll be able to help the veterans.  --   John McCain has failed. Because all you have to do is take a look -- what you report on all the time, take a look at the scandal at the Veterans’ Administration and the disastrous conditions under which our veterans have to live. And believe me, I built, with a small group, the Vietnam Memorial in downtown Manhattan. I know what it is to help people and I know what it is to help veterans.
RADDATZ: Thank you very much for joining us, Mr. Trump...."

SO THERE IT IS TRUMP IS READY TO BATTLE IT OUT WITH THE REST OF THE GOP OVER JOHN MCAIN