Transcripts For KGO This Week With George Stephanopoulos 20240714

Donald trump a oneterm president. So what changed thursday night . Did the frontrunners solidify their positions or give new hope to the challengers . Pete buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar are here today. The gop response from texas senator ted cruz plus our powerhouse roundtable. Well break down the politics, smoke out the spin, the facts that matter this week. Announcer from abc news, its this week. Here now, chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos. Good morning, and welcome to this week. The top ten democratic contenders shared the same stage for the first Time Thursday night. Who won, who lost, how much changed not entirely clear. Probably the way it should be still five months from the first votes. What is clear, the ideological and political debate that divides this field is far from settled. The candidates and the democratic voters are now vying for all wanting to defeat President Trump. What it takes to win, what comes next, the big open questions. Two of the candidates are here today. We begin with the mayor of south bend, Pete Buttigieg, mayor, thank you for joining us this morning. Thanks, good to be with you. I want to get to the debate but first that breaking news from the persian gulf. Those drone attacks on the Saudi Oil Facilities that threaten a big discorruption in the global oil supply. Weve seen secretary of state mike pompeo call out iran. President trump called the Saudi Crown Prince with a message of support. If you were in the oval office right now, how would you respond . If i were in the oval office, my focus would be on making sure this doesnt escalate into further instability, conflict and not only danger to World Oil Supply but danger to peace. Look, right now, there is more than enough destabilizing the middle east and the persian gulf without fears that a president could destabilize it further with the next tweet. We need to make sure right now that we create options to prevent things from escalating further, and since this appears to be spillover from the yemen conflict, making sure that the United States is playing a constructive role in guiding that conflict toward resolution thats the question. What is that constructive role on both fronds towards saudi arabia and iran, on the one hand, many analysts have said the United States is giving too much unequivocal support to saudi arabia over the last several years. On the other hand, iran has also been a destabilizing factor there. President trump had considered this french proposal to extend a line of credit to iran, ease the sanctions in return for a meeting. Would you do that . Well, it makes sense to use whatever leverage we have with iran. The problem is the president has actually reduced our leverage by unilaterally removing us from the iran nuclear deal, the jcpoa. Look, the good news in a case like this when you think about the United States ability to be a constructive force is that we have leverage with both sides. We have leverage with the saudis because of our alliance and have had leverage with iran. The problem is, were either taking our own options off the table or not using them well. Youve seen the saudis telling the limits of our friendship with things like the killing of an american resident and journalist and weve seen iran responding i would say predictably with escalation and provocation after what the president did to take us out of the nuclear deal. Were moving in the wrong direction but its not too late for us to be a constructive force toward peace and stability in the region. I want to stay on Foreign Policy and thursday nights discussion of afghanistan. You said the u. S. Must stop endless wars and then added this if theres one thing weve learned about afghanistan, from afghanistan, its that the best way not to be caught up in endless war is to avoid starting one in the first place. The wall street journal called that a startling claim. The idea that the United States started this war. What did you mean by that . Wasnt the war started by Osama Bin Laden from afghanistan . Of course, it was, and thats why we acted in afghanistan and rightly so. What im saying is that wars are extremely difficult to end. You know, today is the day that i left afghanistan five years ago, and i thought i was one of the very last troops there. We are still there. We are still debating how to get out. So the lesson is when were looking at the possibility of new conflicts erupting like some of the talk around iran, wed better remember how hard it was and is to resolve even a war that we had no choice but to be drawn into. So when you say the u. S. Started the war, you just misspoke . I did not say the u. S. Started war. What im saying is the lesson is that wars are difficult to end, but lets be very clear, we went to war in afghanistan because the United States was attacked, and right now our mission in afghanistan should be to ensure that we are never again attacked as a consequence of something happening in that country. Something i believe we can achieve without an openended commitment of ground troops. How do you feel about the debate three days out . I was struck by something David Axelrod told the New York Times today. He said that he felt that no one made the broadest, most appealing case for change on that stage. Do you agree . Well, in my biased opinion i, of course, think i did. Look, what we need is ideas that are bold enough to actually meet the challenge of the moment were in and also capable of unifying the country. Its why, for example, i described how medicare for all who want it can work in a way that creates that public alternative, gets everybody covered, but unlike the medicare for all vision that senator sanders and warren have, it doesnt dictate that to the American People and risk further polarizing them which is difficult as a governing strategy not just politically speaking. Look, we need to unify this country. Its not going to be about papering over our differences or watering down our values. Its forming solutions that engage the american majority. Sometimes from following Politics Today you would forget that there is an american majority that believes that we need universal health care. There is an american majority for gun law, commonsense gun law thats going to save american lives. There is an american majority for immigration reform, higher wages, choice, pretty much everything that our party is advancing. Shame on us if we cant get and gather a majority of americans who already agree with us on a majority of issues and use that not only to win an election but to govern well. You jumped on one of the contenders, Julian Castro, after he made that inaccurate suggestion that Vice President biden didnt remember what he was saying at the debate. But it did raise all these questions again about Vice President bidens age and fitness for office and cory booker right after the debate had this to say on that. This is a lot of people who are concerned about joe bidens ability to carry the ball all the way across the end line without fumbling. At one point hes talking about people in communities like mine listening to record players. I dont remember the last time i saw a record player. Do you share that concern . Thats for the voters to decide. Look, each one of us is competing based on our abilities and based on our vision and i think the candidate who has the best abilities and vision is going to prevail. I think we can lay out the differences without hitting below the belt, and thats what i plan to continue to do as a candidate. You have made this case for generational change. And thats one of your big pitches. Youre only 37 years old. One of the other candidates, andrew yang, told the cedar rapids gazette, its difficult for someone born in the 1940s to have a natural understanding of the problems facing America Today. Is that part of your pitch as well . I dont think that anyone should be disqualified as long as youre old enough constitutionally to run, which means being over 35. I do think that coming from a newer generation, coming from my generation gives you a different kind of perspective on some of these issues. Look, when we talk about, for example, the fact that by 2050 we have got to be Carbon Neutral as an economy, you know, lord willing, im planning to be here to see if we made it happen. I have a very personal stake in issues from that to the debt and the deficit. Something thats not a fashionable topic among democrats but certainly for my generation that expects to be here when some of these fiscal time bombs go off. A real concern. And i think that perspective needs to be at the table right now at a time when around the world were seeing more and more elected leaders from france to new zealand to el salvador coming from my generation when three out of the last four president s were born within a few weeks of each other. Finally while you were on the statement thursday night in houston, the president was in baltimore giving one of his campaign rallytype speeches, and it included some digs at you. Lets listen. They say, buttigieg is two points up in the state of texas against President Trump. I said, i dont think so. Do you think buttigieg is winning texas . Ive had him up to here. Whats the best way to respond to that bluster . I mean, you cant take it that seriously other than im very curious to know what pollster let him know that im beating him in texas by two points. Thats news to me but its very good news if its true. Mayor buttigieg, thanks for joining us this morning. Thank you. We are joined now by minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar. Thanks for joining us this morning. I think youre in iowa. Thanks, george. I want to begin with breaking news with you as well on something you had direct involvement in as a member of the Senate Judiciary committee the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh. The New York Times has a new report out revealing a separate sexual allegation from his time at yale that was not investigated by the fbi and that the fbi failed to interview at least 25 people who may have had corroborating information on the allegations against kavanaugh. Julian castro put a tweet out on that overnight saying, its more clear than ever that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath. He should be impeached and congress should review the failure of the department of justice to properly investigate the matter. Just a couple of minutes ago the president weighed in as well saying that democrats are telling lies about him. Kavanaugh should sue and that democrats are trying to influence his opinion. Do you believe this is grounds for impeachment . Should the Justice Department be reviewed . My views on Justice Kavanaugh are very clear, george. I think most people remember my questioning of the justice when he went so far as to ask me if i blacked out and had to apologize to me. I strongly opposed him based on his views on executive power which will continue to haunt our country as well as how he behaved including the allegations that we are hearing more about today. My concern here is that the process was a sham. I dont think you can look at impeachment hearings without getting the documents that the house would have to get the documents and the attorney general is shielding documents. If you recall, we were given this moment just a few days every other hour to look at the documents related to other allegations that have been called in on the fbi tip line. I cant reveal what we saw. But i can tell you it was documents of this size, and you could only look at one copy while other senators were in there, and it was a mix, not triaged, many calls to a tip line mixed in with actual calls from people that seemed to have information. I think the whole thing was a sham and that those documents need to be turned over as well as the documents that the white house hid from his time in the white house counsels office, all of that needs to come forward to even look at a proceeding like that, and to do any of this, george, you need a new president. You need a new attorney general that respects the law and that is just not happening with this guy. So i go back to the fundamental case i made at the debate, i dont want to be the president for half america. I want to be the president for all of america. And to win and move this country forward on those things, the mayor was just talking about on Climate Change and some order in how we deal with the rest of the world and doing something about health care and pharmaceutical prices, you need to fire up our base, yes, theyre fired up, but bring in moderate republicans and independents, something i have shown time and time again i can do. Youve done it in the state of minnesota but there is a real tension there between the two sides of your message thursday night. On the one hand you said you want to be the candidate for those who feel stuck in the middle of extremes in politics and on the other a house divided cant stand and democrats are united. Fundamentally arent democrats as we saw on that stage divided on some of the biggest issues we face right now from health care to guns . We have different views on policy but i what unites us is stronger. We dont want to throw out the Affordable Care act and put people out with preexisting conditions so that they cant get insurance. Thats what the president wants to do. We want to move on pharmaceuticals, but the point that i made here was that if you want to throw 149 Million People off of their insurance and thats the Sanders Warren bill, if you want to throw them off in four years, well, then im not your candidate because i dont think you should be throwing people off their current insurance in four years, and if you want to have a 16 trillion plan and a 20 trillion economy then im not your candidate, but if you want to move forward with someone with bold ideas thats going to do something about health care and believes that the work doesnt end on election day but begins on inauguration day, then sign up with me. You heard senator warrens response on thursday night, quote, no one likes their insurance companies. Is that an adequate response to the concern you raised . No. Of course, theres major issues with insurance companies, and i would push them, and i would have a nonprofit, noninsurance Company Option to bring the prices down. Thats what barack obama wanted to do from the very beginning with a public option and ive been pushing those pharmaceutical Companies Since then and i day i get in as president , id be able to get it done. Allow seniors to negotiate better prices for their drugs and make sure we can bring in less expensive drugs from other countries. But the answer that they have and it is on page 8 of the bill as i pointed out at the debate literally says that in four years 149 million americans would not be able to have their current insurance. I dont think thats what people want. I dont think its a bold idea. I think its a bad idea. You also saw that big idea from beto orourke on thursday night calling for a mandatory buyback. You said youd prefer a voluntary buyback and we should focus on extending background checks right now. But how concerned are you that the ideas being pushed are actually going to push the Democratic Party over the course of this primary fight into a place where its going to be much more difficult to win the general election . We just had massive shootings and a loss of life that was unprecedented in texas, in ohio, at a festival in california. So i want to make clear, i want to see an assault weapon ban. Ive supported that way back when i was prosecutor and took that with me based on the everyday gun violence i saw in minnesota. I brought that to the senate. So i think the smartest thing to do is, one, right now push Mitch Mcconnell to allow for votes on universal background checks and my bill to not allow domestic abusers to get guns. Then when im president , i will get that assault weapon ban passed as well as a limit on magazines. If we had those in place, that dayton shooter wouldnt have been able to kill all those people in 30 seconds. And i do prefer a voluntary buyback. I think thats a smarter way to do this, and i dont really look at the politics of this, george. I look at after battling this for years and leading on this and sitting across from President Trump in the white house and watching while for nine times he told me he wanted to see universal background checks and then meeting with the nra the next day and folding, im tired of this. I will be a president that wont fold, and i want to get things done for the people of this country. Youre getting some good reviews for your performance on thursday night but youre still stuck near the bottom of the pack in the polls. How do you build on that . Whats your breakout strategy . Well, i think it started on that debate night because i had an opportunity with just ten people up there for people to see my vision for the country and how i can win this and how we dont just need to win the presidency, we also have to win the senate, and that means winning in states like colorado and arizona and alabama and how important that is to get things done. And that gave me that moment where here in iowa today opening offices in Council Bluffs and other places and then from there, im doing a blue wall tour to show those states like pennsylvania and michigan and wisconsin that we need to win to win this election. And so my argument is im from the middle of the country. I was one of only three women up on that stage and also im someone that has a history of getting things done and bringing people together which is what we need in this country when this president wakes up every morning and imagine the people of this country, the immigrant worker at the nursing home thats in tears because what he says about hispanics or the elderly person that cant afford their insulin anymore and is keeping those drops in an injector or the farmer who is has their soybeans mounting up in a bin and doesnt know if they can continue a farm thats been in their family for generations. That is what this election is about and we cant forget that and let this president distract us. Senator klobuchar, thanks for your time this morning. Thank you, george. It was great to be on. When we come back, new polling of the debate from nate silver of fivethirtyeight and Chris Christie and Donna Brazile join our powerhouse roundtable. Well be right back. 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I think a patient who comes into our facility and is able to gain the care that theyve needed for years and we see them improve and we see the changes that they make, thats probably the most rewarding part of the job. This race is not that fluid at the top, and i dont think anything that happened tonight will move joe biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren out of those top three spots. It was a more coherent debate it seemed to me than the ones weve seen before, but i agree with whats been said. I dont i dont think much has changed particularly at the top. I think this was essentially a status quo debate. Nobody from the back of the pack really had a huge breakthrough moment. I think this leaves the race essentially where it was. That was some of the instant analysis coming out of thursday nights debate. The early consensus, no clear winner, not much has changed in the race so we fivethirtyeights nate silver do you buy that . To be honest i originally didnt think there had been a clear winner either. I thought some of the lower tier candidates like booker and klobuchar and buttigieg had strong evenings but top threefour candidesad sto o. The whole reason to conduct a poll is check your assumption ndd my initial assdu o r the debate didinner, elizabet warren. The voters in the poll gave her the highest rating of any candidate for her debate performance, 3. 4 in a 4point scale like an a minus or b plus. Perhaps more importantly, the number of voters saying they were considering voting for warren improved. That number went up four points from 44 to 48 . Even better for warren, her three leading rivals, biden, sanders and Kamala Harris all had their numbers go down on that same question. Warren also saw her favorability rating improve from 64 up to 70 , mwhich means that it now roughly matches bidens and sanders but her unfavorable rating is only 14 as compared to 25 for biden and bernie. In other words, shes the most broadly acceptable potential nominee. And just one more thing, our poll actually did have good news for several of the lower tier candidates, so it turns out i wasnt totally wrong about that part. In fact, booker, beto, klobuchar, buttigieg and yang all saw their numbers improve thbig exceptn was Julian Castro whose numbers worsened after his clash with biden. Of course, this is just one poll and fairly often bounces you see in the polls after debates will fade after a few weeks but one thing has been true for warren all campaign long, the more voters see of her, the more they like her. And i think she helped herself again on thursday night. Thanks to nate for that. Senator ted cruz is up next with the gop response. Well be right back. Kevin Kevin Kevin Kevin Kevin Kevin Kevin Kevin Kevin Kevin trusted advice for life. Kevin, hows your mom . Life well planned. See what a Raymond James Financial Advisor can do for you. 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Talk to your advisor or consultant kickstart my heart by motley crue truck honks wheels screeching clapping sound of can hitting bag and bowl clapping always there in crunch time. Senator ted cruz is standing by and all week long you get the latest on politics with breaking news alerts on the abc news app. Well be right back. Well be right back. One thing yy quickly, is that theres a lot to learn. Grow with google is here to help you with turning ideas into action. Putting your business on the map, connecting with customers, and getting the skills to use new tools. So, in case youre looking, weve put all the ways we can help in one place. Free training, tools, and Small Business resources are now available at google. Com grow hi. Maria ramirez mom maria Maria Ramirez. Mcdonalds is committing 150 Million Dollars in tuition assistance, education, and career advising programs. Prof Maria Ramirez mom and dad Maria Ramirez to help more employees achieve their dreams. Did you know you can save money mom and dad Maria Ramirez by using dish soap to clean grease on more than dishes . Try dawn ultra. Dawn is for more than just dishes. With 3x more grease cleaning power per drop, it tackles tough grease on a variety of surfaces. Try dawn ultra. Shhhh. I took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. What about robs dry cough . Works on that too. And lasts 12 hours. 12 hours . who studies that long . only mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs for 12 hours with 2 medicines in 1 pill. After these horrendous shootings, we do, in fact, await word from the white house about what the president is willing to sign. Thats important to a lot of my members. A lot of progress was made i believe on the background checks and various things having to do with guns. Well see what can happen. But were always protecting our Second Amendment. One of the big issues well talk about now with republican senator ted cruz of texas. Senator cruz, thank you for joining us this morning. And i do want to get to guns but first that breaking news i spoke to senator klobuchar about, Justice Kavanaugh. You are a member of the Senate Judiciary committee as well. What do you make of these new revelations from the New York Times, the calls from Julian Castro to impeach Justice Kavanaugh . Well, george, good morning, good to be with you. I read that the New York Times article this morning. You know, i got to say they apparently spent ten months with undercover reporters trying to track down every person that went to school with Justice Kavanaugh 30 years ago. You know, its an amazing level of reporting trying to just really dig up any dirt they can on the guy. I think that follows up with the rather shameful circus we saw during the confirmation hearing where they took allegations, they sat on them, they didnt make them public, they revealed them at the 11th hour, and you know what, the Judiciary Committee did what we should have done, we held a hearing, we invited the principal witness to testify. We heard it. The American People heard it and at the end of the day the American People made a judgment that the evidence wasnt there, the corroboration wasnt there and i think this article just shows the obsession with the far left with trying to smear Justice Kavanaugh by going 30 years back with anonymous sources. It really is another sign of how nasty and divided the time is today. You say the corroboration isnt there. But one of the points the article makes is that 25 witnesses werent even interviewed by the fbi and a person named making allegations wasnt interviewed at all. Thats their point, it wasnt an adequate investigation. Well, to be clear, the allegation that the Senate Judiciary looked at and considered were the allegations from dr. Ford, the allegations of Sexual Assault which the committee rightly said if this happened, this is a serious allegation and we scheduled a hearing, we invited dr. Ford to testify. We actually gave dr. Ford the opportunity to testify in private if she preferred, amazingly enough she testified at the hearings. Her lawyer never passed that on to her. She said she didnt want to be in that public hearing but her lawyers apparently kept that a secret and what you saw is you really saw the democrats, i think, taking advantage of dr. Ford and turning it into a circus. You know, we saw a spartacus moment in the middle of it, which showed how ridiculous the entire proceeding was but at the end of the day, we listened to the evidence. We listened to all of the potential corroborating witnesses for dr. Ford. The fbi interviewed them, examined them. Their testimony did not corroborate her allegations and the American People had a chance to look judge kavanaugh in the eye, now Justice Kavanaugh and to hear his explanation, and at the end of the day its the New York Times just being bitter enders. And you know what, i bet you the next democratic impeach kavanaugh, impeach trump. Theres nobody they dont want to impeach and at some point they just have to let the anger go and recognize that the democratic process actually moves on and i think its time for them to do that. Lets talk about the democratic process in relation to guns right now. Of course, your state has been rocked by those two recent shootings and the latest poll coming out this week from quinnipiac in texas shows that about 90 , almost 90 of texans support extending background checks to private sales. So does your republican Lieutenant Governor dan patrick, says it makes no sense to allow strangers to sell guns to others in private sales. Does he have a point . Well, listen, we absolutely need to do more. We need to strengthen background checks and ill tell you, george, im a texan. I was in odessa in the days following that horrific shooting. I was in el paso in the days after that shooting. Before that i was in Sutherland Springs the day after that shooting standing in that beautiful sanctuary covered with blood. I was in santa fe high school. Its less than an hour from my house. I was there that morning of the shooting. I had been with these victims. I have been with first responders. Ive been with families who are crying, and let me tell you, george, weve seen too damn many of these in the state of texas so we need to end them, absolutely, yes. Now, the question is what do we need that actually works, and this is where i get frustrated with democratic politicians in washington, because the proposals theyre putting forward would not have stopped a single one of these mass murders. Heres what we need to do. I introduced in 2013 my first few months in the Senate Legislation with Chuck Grassley called Grassley Cruz that targets felons, it targets fugitives and targets those with dangerous Mental Illness. It improves and strengthens the background checks. It stops criminals and those with dangerous Mental Illness from getting firearms and those who mmit felonies, it puts them in prison to actually stop these crimes. What about extending we got a majority that voted for it. 52 senators, 9 democrats, got enormous bipartisan support but harry reid filibustered which was a cynical decision. Need ssz and pass it so we can stop these felons and fugitives to what about expanding the background checks to private sales . If the president gets behind that, will you . You know, george, the problem with that proposal, and that is the proposal, youve teed on the one that the democrats focus on obsessively. It would not have stopped even a single one of these mass shootings. Its not a proposal designed if you say, we want to stop these shootings, their proposal doesnt do it. But you know what it does, as soon as you have every person, private to private transaction, if you have a grandfather giving his grandson a shotgun to go bird hunting, if you have a federal government background check for that, what you will see the next step to be is the only way to enforce that is a federal gun registry, and a gun registry is the step you need for gun confiscation and, by the way, george, as you know, we now have three of the ten democratic president ial candidates actively advocating for gun confiscation. They are saying the federal government is going to come, forcibly take your gun, so, look, i think that is a bad idea. The federal government should not be confiscating guns from lawabiding citizens but heres what we should be doing. We should be doing what will stop murders like this which is taking guns away from felons and fugitives which is prosecuting felons and fugitives who try to illegally buy guns which is making strawman purchases illegal. Ive introduced legislation to do that. Muchs pressed for it and spoke to Mitch Mcconnell and President Trump, urged both of them, take up Grassley Cruz, lets stop the criminals and lets protect the Second Amendment rights of lawabiding citizens. Lets talk about the political situation in texas. Latest polls show President Trump is underwater. His disapproval around 50 . You had five Republican House members announce theyre not going to run next year. You actually sounded the alarm this week saying, texas is a battleground in 2020. Thats really saying something that the state of texas is going to be a president ial battleground next time around. Well, look, i think thats right. I think texas is divided. I think our country is divided. I will say, george, i think thursday night was a very bad night for the democrats. I think thursday night the democrats galloped even further to the left. If you look at thursday night the entire night of the debate not a single democrat talked about jobs. Not a single democrat talked about the economy, about the fact that weve got the lowest africanamerican unemployment ever recorded and lowest hispanic unemployment ever recorded. Instead what the democrats told the American People is they want to raise your taxes, they want to triple the price you pay for a gallon of gas at the tax at the pump, they want open borders, they want to take away your Health Insurance and they want to take away your guns. Listen, that is an agenda designed to resonate in the faculty lounges at an ivy league college. If youre sipping sherry in a faculty lounge, youve got your party. But show me one steelworker, show me one truck driver, show me one person in america who actually works for a living who is interested in that radical agenda and the problem is, george, i think donald trump has broken the Democratic Party. They are defined now just by hating him. They ought to be the party of jobs. They used to be a party focused on jobs. Theyre not anymore. Let me close with a question what hes done to the Republican Party and, boy, when you ran against donald trump, you did not mince any words, called him a pathological liar, a bully. Said imagine what will happen in the next five years if he were president. Now youre supporting him for reelection. Hes unified the Republican Party behind him as well. How do you explain that . Were you just wrong then . What changed . Results matter. Weve delivered on policy. For 2 1 2 years ive worked very closely with the president , and weve seen remarkable results for the American People. We passed the biggest tax cut in a generation. Thats a big deal. I worked hard to bring republicans together to deliver on that. Weve repealed hundreds of job killing regulations. Thats incredibly important because the result is the economy has taken off. We have the lowest unemployment in 50 years. Weve got you know, the numbers came out just the other day, africanamerican poverty is the lowest we have ever recorded. Hispanic poverty is the lowest weve ever recorded. Those are real results. 6 Million People have come off of food stamps. Those are lives being changed, not only that, our nation is safer. Were rebuilding our military. Were standing by our friends and allies. Were standing up to our enemies and weve confirmed 150 new constitutionalist judges to the bench. Those are real results and so, listen, yes, in 2016 i had a vigorous primary where we had a significant contest. The people decided. The election is over. Donald trump is our president and i had a job to do. Represent 28 million texans and ive done that each and every day and im proud of the results that working together weve been able to produce, and i think the American People want to continue seeing jobs and Economic Prosperity going forward. Senator cruz, thanks for your time this morning. Thank you, george. The roundtable is up next. Were back in 60 seconds. Were back in 60 seconds. In the human brain, billions of nefor people with parkinsons, some neurons change their tune, causing uncontrollable tremors. Now, abbott technology can target those exact neurons. Restoring control and harmony, once thought to belost forever. The most personal technology is technology with the power to change your life. John is somebody that i actually got along with very well. He made some very big mistakes. John wasnt in line with what we were doing, and actually in some cases he thought it was too tough what we were doing, and he was the tough guy. President trump explaining why he fired john bolton this week, his Third National security adviser. Well talk about that in a minute in our roundtable joined by Chris Christie, former governor of new jersey, now a contributor at abc and Donna Brazile now with fox news, our chief political analyst matthew dowd and progressive strategist arshad hasan, the former chairman of net roots. I want to get to john bolton but begin with the debate and, matthew, let me begin with you. You heard a lot of different takes on the debate this morning. The early take, no big change, nate silver says Elizabeth Warren helped herself the most. What do you think . Well, i dont think theres any fundamental changes especially in the three people that lead it, but i do think it demonstrated theres about 40 of the democratic primary vote thats still very unformed. 60 is shared by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and joe biden. 40 still ready to be formed and theres a number of candidates, Amy Klobuchar you talked to, Pete Buttigieg you talked to, Kamala Harris, beto orourke who have a chance to form that and so i think this race is still open, that the ability of somebody else, a fourth person to emerge, is real competitive as we head into iowa so thats my takeaway. Theres still a lot to be decided. The fault lines, donna, did reveal themselves over the course of the debate. One of the things you saw especially on the big issues, especially on health care and medicare for all, it does appear now that its warren and sanders basically against everybody else. You know, i think the big one on thursday night, george, was barack obama. For the first time you saw democrats basically, you know, coalescing around the Affordable Care act. They didnt attack it, instead they said we want to improve it. We want to expand it and joe biden who everyone thought would walk into the debate sort of, you know, not in a mood to fight, he was in the mood to fight, at least for the first hour of the debate. But democrats are still, as matt said, theyre still on a shopping spree. Arshad, who is going to win . Who will they end up with. Well, i mean i agree that there is that this was the time when some of the middle tier candidates could have risen up, but thats not whats happening. I think really in the next four to six weeks, if you are not one of the top three or four candidates, its time to drop out. Right now its joe biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and well see who is maybe the fourth or fifth. Boy, i look at that and, chris, i dont see any incentive for anyone to drop out unless the money dries up. Only if money dries up. Donna and i were talking about it in the green room beforehand. Almost no one in our race in 16 dropped out until after the first voting in iowa. Perry had dropped out earlier. There were a couple but most of the field stayed. I think the amazing thing about all the hype around the debates is that they really amount to almost nothing in terms of what happens on the stage in terms of an effect on the polls. You know, i thought booker had a very good night. I thought he was articulate. He, you know, had a couple of moments of humor. I thought he carried himself really well and he had the third most time of anybody on the stage. Yet, nothing is moving his numbers. Now, that may be a particular problem with cory but i dont see anybody else, as arshad said, thats moving other than those top three and, quite frankly, sanders to me looked unglued. Well, he was also having trouble with his throat that night. He was but not just his throat, i mean his eyes were bulging out of his head visually i could tell you because i was watching on tv. He looked disturbing to me. That he really looked angry. And i dont think that democratic primary voters want angry. I think they want effective. They want somebody with fire in the belly. Hes not angry. Hes a passionate politician who brings his emotions to the table. I thought he did an effective job and, again, i agree with you about cory booker but Kamala Harris also needed to break through because shes been stalling for the last couple of weeks and i think she walked in there with a couple of lines she had a trump strategy. She had a trump strategy and i think that will be Julian Castro was had his moment on thursday night. Not a good one. Taking on joe biden. Well, sending that flare to joe biden, it turned out to be inaccurate, but then you look, several days after, cory booker jumps on the issue of bidens fitness. Youve had both biden and warren and sanders all now say they are going to have to put out their Health Records so that issue is in play now. Well, heres what i think. My takeaway from the debate and actually watching this for the last few months, this is not fundamentally going to be a debate about ideology, about progressive versus moderate. To me the real debate seems to be the people that want to put somebody in place thats willing to bash trump as hard as they can in a personal way and somebody thats more has more of a calm demeanor and dignified demeanor and more respect, and the field seems to be separating in that. Julian castro seems to have decided he thinks he wants to be that bully in the democratic primary, which to me isnt a great strategy. If youre going to run as a bully, youll go up against the biggest, baddest bully in the general election and that person is going to win. You said something that others have said as well. Rahm emanuel was saying this ideological battle doesnt matter. Do you agree with that . It does seem that difference over the scope of the program is fundamental. Its more than that. I think that democratic voters, yes, these issues are very important, and we should be allowed to feel passionate about it. I dont think theres anything wrong with that. But theres more than that. I think the democratic voters are looking for a candidate who will put out a strong vision for what it means to be a democrat and where america should be going next. I think thats why we see Elizabeth Warren slow and steady rise. She doesnt have to be super angry but she does feel passionately about what she feels, and she puts out a vision. She puts out a plan. To me thats the differential between sanders and warren. I mean, theyre essentially saying the same things ideologically, but warren looks reasonable in saying it, and sanders looks angry. To me, listen, ive been known to have a little passion over time and i would say angry sometimes. Thats right, and let me tell you, when i was passionate, i did well, and when i was angry i did less well and thats the difference. All right, so youre talking to somebody who lived it. When you say sit down and shut up, people dont like that so much. But if youre going after an issue with passion, on the Teachers Union or other issues, they really like that. So and i do think people were waiting for a breakthrough moment in the debate. Those are the people who are desperate, so castro is desperate doing that kind of move. I thought harris at times seemed desperate to make herself noticed on thursday night. Elizabeth warren clearly did not do that. She seemed to be biding her time a little bit, donna. What do you make of this idea that if she does continue to have momentum in iowa, does continue to make progress towards the nomination, will she have to move off of some of these positions . Well, it depends on what type of voter youre looking at. I think for warren, her appeal is, you know, she is a teacher. She knows how to tell a story. She is telling a story about personal experiences, not only her own, but the experiences of so many americans. I dont know if she has to move toward the middle in order to reach the type of voters that she needs to get in the primary. After all it takes 1,885 delegates because theyre not ss anymore in order to win thend t. Has a path to the nomination. I look at some of these other candidates and say they got a path to say New Hampshire and iowa and South Carolina and nevada. They dont have a path to the nomination. They dont have to be a path to be the whole game comes down to in iowa and New Hampshire who finishes in the top three because if you are not in the top three in iowa and New Hampshire, youre not surviving. Elizabeth warren to me right now is the only one right now that has a path to win both, and if she wins both, shes very hard to stop. Even if biden holds on in South Carolina. If she wins both of those but if somebody like Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar surprises then its a whole different race. Meantime, you just heard, chris, ted cruz make the case about how republicans have evolved over the last four years and the pitch that he sounded like the best pitch a republican can make in 2020, focus on the economy. Do you think that President Trump can get to that place to be making the same pitch . Well, i think he will get to o. At place because hell be i mean, u hes someone who lkst the polls very closely, very carefully as we know and i think in the end he will understand especially if hes running against someone like Elizabeth Warren that that is the argument hes going to have to make that hes going to have to say to the American People, listen, theres lots of stuff about me you may not like but ill tell you this, the economy is better than its been in 40 years since Ronald Reagan and she wants to turn the economy on its head, shes a socialist and she wants the government to be socialist. Thats going to have to be his argument. Thats going to be his winning argument if hes going to win so i think hes going to have to get there but he doesnt have to get there now and i dont think he will. I think once it becomes a binary choice, and theyre engaged that he will make that argument because he doesnt know who to engage with yet. The problem President Trump has is under this great economy that has been discussed, hes been at 38 to 42 job approval number and theres no president dramatically improve their job approval number in the midst of a general election year, maybe one or two points. If he goes into the fall of next year with a 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 job Approval Rating, it doesnt matter who the democratic nominee is the democrat will win if the incumbent it doesnt matter . I fundamentally disagree. Every single president who had under a 45 job Approval Rating has lost. If he was running against Hillary Clinton again, would it matter . I mean you cant say it doesnt matter Hillary Clinton would beat. Would beat donald trump. As republicans we take that race tomorrow. Wed sign up for it right now. Donald trump promised millions of americans that he will make their lives better. And the referendum next year will be on did he help you . Did he help the country . And i think overwhelmingly the country will reject donald trump in his approach to not just our economy but how he has managed everything under his watch so i think donald trump defeats donald trump next year. One of the Big Questions for democrats will be, did the coalition that came out in force, women, minority, young people in 2018 actually come out in 2020 even if one of their preferred candidates doesnt get the nomination . Well, i think one thing that is clear to me now that this will be a turnout election. The Democratic Base matters in this race. So i do think it matters who the democrats elect. If we dont elect a candidate who respects and values and really works with the base and thats going to make it a little bit more difficult. Youll have a low turnout election but i think that democrats can organize and i really do believe in it and not always just in the same places weve been organizing, i think this will be a more National Election because well be organizing everywhere. This is going to be a huge turnout. 15llion people plus will vote in 2020. The largest vote of total that weve ever seen before. And all the numbers say that among republicans and among democrats. We have the highest level of peoples engagement than we had even in the 2016 election in november of the 2016 election. This is going to be a tremendous turnout. Millions of people have been helped to answer donna. Its the lowest Unemployment Rate that weve had in decades. There are more people at work in America Today than when donald trump became president and broadly more africanamericans at work, more hispanics at work, more women at work. And so, you know, a lot of us we get inside this bubble and we micro analyze everything. For a lot of families out there what theyre going to be saying is you know what, four years ago i wasnt making as much or maybe i didnt have as good a job or maybe i didnt have any job at all and now i do and thats going to be what matters to them. Trump has to make that argument. Stagnant wages. They are not stagnant, donna, theyre not. More americans are filing for bankruptcy. More americans cannot pay their bills on time. You know, you can argue wages arent stagnant. You can argue its sunny outside. I see the clouds. And we got to make sure is there thats the difference . Theyre identifying i guess highlighting where the election could be fought. A lot of people are pretty content with where the economy is. Not everyone right now but i think the trick for trump is going to be to get those votersr thy rht now butre kind of tire i thi fdamental t j that trump has to do, which hes not done well since january 20th, 2017 is get out of his own way. The economy, Donald Trumps job aprofrl ratings should be 62 which is what it would normally be in an economy like this and its not. Its 20 points lower and donald trump constantly gets in his own way by the manner with which he leads and the manner with which he relates to people. Can he fundamentally change in the next year . I doubt it but thats what he has to do. We havent seen him change on matters of personnel. The latest example on john bolton and how that all went down. Listen, that was one that was coming for a long time because they fundamentally disagree on how to conduct Foreign Policy. And so i think that john bolton went in and he was john bolton. The john bolton weve all known for a long time. John hasnt changed. And i could tell you, you know, when the president spoke to me about john bolton, and he said, listen, we dont agree much but i like having him around because i like hearing that point of view even though i dont agree with it and i guess he got tired of hearing that point of view and decides, okay, enough of that. The president wants to sit down with north korea and basically wants to sit down with iran. The president listen, we talked about this on the show before. This president believes if he sits down with anyone, he can convince then of his point of view. Hes going to have to prove out whether hes right or not as we go forward here but thats fundamentally what he believes and bolton doesnt believe that. Not only about trump but about any leader. He thinks there should be preconditions and other things. The people, though, who support trump because things are good or at least theyre good for them are people who value stability, and this kind of behavior, always firing people, always, you know, throwing bombs in the international scene, thats not the kind of thing that will inspire confidence for those people who have it good and still want to support trump. So i think that there is a lot of opportunity for democrats. The week of 9 11, he fired his National Security adviser on twitter. Thats the kind of instability people are tired of. Thats why they are going to look for a new leader. Not just in the Democratic Party but a leader for all america. I give donald trump credit for getting rid of john bolton because i think john bolton was we have theres less of a chance of war today with john bolton gone. Thats the last word. Can i say happy birthday to my wife, george . Of course you can. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. If happy birthday. Thats all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out world news tonight and ill see you tomorrow on gma. Up next, President Trumps first visit to the bay area in three years is a couple of days away but its cloaked in secrecy. And heres a live look from mt. Tam. We have high clouds and even the marine layer making a comeback, bringing us some cooler and we are well past wethe honeymoon phase. Oooh lufa. Ocupado tom. At t, whats this i hear about you advertising a 100 Fiber Network . Only like a fraction of my customers can get that. Thats it . . You have such a glass halfempty attitude. The glass is more than halfempty you need to relax tom. Oww tom, you need a little tom time. A little tt. Stop living with at t. Xfinity delivers gig speeds to more homes than anyone