Transcripts For KGO This Week With George Stephanopoulos 20240712

Zblfshgts the president s unprecedented refusal well see what happens. Two days before the first debate. Hes got 47 days. Ive got 3 1 2 years. Well see. Im prepared to go out and make my case. Our powerhouse roundtable takes on all the weeks politics, plus, nate silver and a closer look at battleground michigan. Announcer from abc news its this week, here now chief anchor george stephanopoulos. Good morning, and welcome to this week. Eight days after the death of ruth bader ginsburg, two days before the first debate, another unprecedented twist in this unpredictable campaign. No Supreme Court justice has ever been confirmed this close to the election. Republicans are already closing ranks behind judge Amy Coney Barrett. Hoping to jolt the election. Democrats are calling the process a sham, warning that a Justice Barrett couldor threat ase me on the air this morning, our brandnew poll with the rity of americans believe the president elected on november 3rd should fill the Supreme Court vacancy, its against a backdrop of president ial race that has been stable for months. Joe biden now holding a steady tenpoint lead over President Trump. Jon karl is at the white house. John, this is President Trumps third nomination to the Supreme Court and these Court Appointments are the glue to the republicans. These have kept republicans in lock step with donald trump. But almost across the board republicans are enthusiastic about Amy Coney Barrett, above all, theyre ecstatic to have Something Else to talk about besides donald trump and his handling of the covid19 pandemic. In fact, george, i would expect Senate Republicans especially to try to make Amy Coney Barrett the face of the Republican Party effectively over the next five weekrather t know atald trp rag onene candidates in state after state. The goal is to get this done before election day, any way democrats can get it beyond november 3rd . Well, i just spoke to a top democratic strategist who told me flatly that theres no procedural Silver Bullet. The democrats on their own have no ability to delay this vote until after the election. The timing is in Mitch Mcconnells hands, now the republicans have outlined a series of events which would lead to a final vote the week before the election, so theres very little room for error here, but it would have to be a republican decision, the republicans would have to decide if its in their interest to delay. And george, as you saw, as you mentioned at top of the show, the decision to go ahead with a vote for the next Supreme Court justice with a vote, is a deeply unpopular one, democrats will hit that hard over and over again between now and the election. Lets bring in our supreme car yesterday that she shares his judicial philosophy. What does that mean for the court if shes confirmed . Harder to imagine a starker contrast with justice ginsburg. Akron cretely, i think she would vote to overturn roe v. Wide, strike down gun rights and side with the Trump Administration to strike down entirely the aca. A rock solid conservative majori the sr 30 years. By all accounts, shes a brilliant lawyer, what are the flash points at e mation hearings . Shes well regarded, well liked. On the merits on the substance, i think the future of legal abortion in this country will be a significant issue. Shell be noncommittal. If you look at what things like senators have been saying, there should be litmus test, would you overturn roe . If she passes the litmus test its clear where members of the Republican Party stands on roe, the future of the Affordable Care act in the moment of this election and the election could be flash point, the president has repeatedly suggested that getting her confirmed is important because there will be inevitable legal disputes. Hes broadcasting the idea that she would potentially weigh in and weigh. On his side in such a dispute. I think that does raise questions about independence and the legitimacy of the time line that the republicans have laid out. None of that is judge barretts fault. Its the thing that will have to be addressed during the confirmation hearings. Kate, thank you. Lets take those questions to members of the Senate Judiciary committee, were going to start with senator dick durbin. I want to begin where jon karl began. You have no procedural Silver Bullet to take this beyond the election, is that true . Thats true, and there have been two republicans who have spoken out already, senator murkowski and collins who say they wont support this procedure before this election, if two others decide during the course of the debate, then we could have a different timing and perhaps different outcome. I read a piece by adam, a top staffer for harry reid, they could systemically deny unanimous consent to meet, thats not good enough . I know adam, i like adam and respect him, but hes wrong, we could slow it down, perhaps hours, days at the most, but we cant stop the outcome, what we should do is to address this now respectively, but understand the context, george, senator Mitch Mcconnell, who could find no time to attend the negotiating on the Coronavirus Relief package that we need to put together for the pandemic facing our country, for the unemployed people, for the businesses, senator mcconnell refused to attend those meetings, didnt have the time to do that. When this vacancy occurred, now were going hellbent. And he had to reverse the positioning he took four years ago saying we should wait for the next president to fill the vacancy. As their caucus, they looked down at their shoes and changed their minds, too, we now agree with senator mcconnell. Some are calling democrats to boycott the committee proceedings. Several of your colleagues on the screw dish Area Committee said they wont meet with judge barrett. Will you meet with her, will you participate in the hearings . I met with every Supreme Court nominee since ive been in the senate, i will extend that courtesy if she requests it, for at least a socially distanced safe meeting, perhaps over the phone. I want to be respectful, we disagree on some things and in terms of participating in the Senate Judiciary committee hearing, ill be there to do my job. I want to ask her pointblank, as im sure others will, whether or not her position is that we should end the Affordable Care act, providing Health Insurance for 20 million americans and protections for americans from one coast to the other with preexisting conditions. These are fundamental questions, no more important now than at any time. Important at this moment because of the pandemic we face, there are many other questions but lets start with that. So many believe that this is illegitimate process, if its illegitimate process, why legitimate it with your participation . I have a job to do, george. Its likely that this nominee the republicans have promised even before her name was announced they would vote for the president s choice, someone who will be on the highest court of the land for the remainder of her life, i take that seriously. Questions i mentioned earlier about the future of health care in the midst of a pandemic and what this would mean for families, shes been pretty explicit in criticizing Justice Roberts when it came to the opinion he wrote, but now we have a new question brought to us by the president and thats the legitimacy of the election and whether this president , the first in history, the first in the history of this country who would not declare that he would accept the verdict of the American People on the future leadership in the white house. He said he wants that court to be full, he wants nine members there, oubsly the inference hell need some supporters. Heres what the president said on that subject. I think its better if you go before the election, i think this scam that the democrats are pulling, a scam, a scam will be before the United States Supreme Court and i think having a 44 situation is not a good situation. Given those repeated comments by the president , will you and other democrats request that judge barrett recuse herself from any consideration of the election . I certainly wish she would, it would really helps matters. She wants to be fair in addressing this, why, this president has been outspoken and outrageous, to think he would not verdict of the election and that he would make it clear that hes filling this vacancy on the Supreme Court to make sure it tips his way, if theres any election contest, thats an outrage. No president has ever said that in our nations history, he said it twice, he said it four years ago and now hes saying the Supreme Court is part of his plan this time. I think that she should step forward that she would recuse herself from any election contest involving this president. And if she doesnt . Well, the votes will cast ultimately on her nomination, each senator will have to make that decision after they hear her testimony. You mentioned the president s refusal to accept a peaceful transition of power, saying that he would abide by a peaceful transition of power. Last week senator ted cruz was on this program and he and others have drawn a moral equivalence between what he said and Hillary Clinton. Joe biden should not concede under any circumstances, because i think this is going to drag out, and eventually i do believe he will win if we dont given a inch and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is, do you agree with those comments . No, i dont. I disagree with Hillary Clinton. I respect her, i like her, but i think shes just flatout wrong. The election itself is going to be announced, the winner will be announced at some point, it will take longer with all the paper ballots that are being cast, at some point, i hope my choice joe biden is elected president , but if were going to maintain a democracy, peaceful transition through an election is the only way to do it. Just look at the streets of belarus today. If you want to see the alternative. We dont need that in america. Whoever the winner is, if its clear and legal, that should be announced and the other party should concede. Are you convinced its going to be a Fair Election . I hope so, george, but we have so much meddling going on here. We have the russians still at work, the chinese, perhaps the iranians and others, we certainly have the conspiracy threeists in this country, and we have what i consider to be corruption of the media, to think that were broadcasting through social media things which are truly false is really misleading the American People. We need and should have a much better approach to this than we currently do. I worry about the outcome. Finally, if democrats are successful in november, and you increase your numbers in the senate, your colleague ed markey has suggested that if republicans confirm judge barrett, you should end the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court, is that on the table . Well, i can tell you the conversation of the future about the senate rules is on the table and im part of it. The reason is this, we have seen under Mitch Mcconnell the destruction, denigration of the United States senate. George, last year in the senate, 2019, we had 22 amendments voted on in the entire year in the United States senate, Mitch Mcconnell has taken the senate and has turned it into something note a dlib ray delib ra tif and legislative body. We need to make sure what the procedure is in the future that we get down to business. Senator mcconnells approach i think has been failure. Senator durbin, thank you for your time this morning. Lets get the republican perspective from mike lee. Senator lee, thank you. Lets pick up where senator durbin left off. If the democrats are successful in november, they may move to end the filibuster possibly expand the court, your response. I think that would be an unfortunate step. I think the filibuster is there for a good reason. The ninemember Supreme Court has been something we have had in place for a very long time. Something that we have relied on. That said, this is promise theyve made. This is an expectation theyve created with their own voters, if they choose to take that step, it will have been with the consent of voters who will have elected him. Which is one of the reasons that democrats dont take the majority. You know, you talk about the filibusters, one of the reasons you may be able to get barrett through is because there are no fillibusters on judges. Thats right. That was an unfortunate step then, it had its natural consequences. I hope we can contain the damage so it doesnt go into the legislative calendar. You say you hope that youre successful on november 3rd, we just showed that poll, most americans believe whoever wins on november 3rd should select the next Supreme Court justice, worried at all that if you continue to push this through there might be a backlash at the election. Not on that point. Look, President Donald Trump campaigned in 2016, hes campaigning again this time, promising to appoint judges to federal courts and justices to the u. S. Supreme court, who are originalists, interpret the constitution on what it says, rather than on basis that they might wish it said. Hes fulfilling that promise. I think the American People respect somebody whos willing to stand behind his campaign promises. What does the confirmation of judge barrett, Justice Barrett, means for roe v. Wade . You know, only time can tell what will happen to any one precedent. Although, i would point out here, george, any time someone is looking at overruling a precedent, its a lot more complicated than people might think and in any event you cant look at the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice and boil down that jurist, contribution to the law, past and future to what they might do with a single case. This judge has an incredible background, this is a judge who will bring her expertise to the table. And it will be brought to bear on a whole wide variety of scenarios just as Justice Ginsburgs expertise was brought to bear in her cases. Including health care. Senator durbin and democrats are united concerned if judge barrett is confirmed, the aca and its pro texts for preexisting conditions will go down as well, valid concerns . Look, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act was i believe unconstitutional when it was enacted, unconstitutional when it was ligated in 2012. Unconstitutional when chief Justice Roberts, writing for a narrow majority, rewrote the Affordable Care act in two critical ways. In order to render an otherwise inevitably unconstitutional law constitutional. It shouldnt tarnish judge barrett in this. Her job is to figure out whether its unconstitutional or not. I dont believe it is. John rockets rewrote twice nortd to make it appear constitutional which it is not. You got a very forthright opinion on the Affordable Care act, lot of your colleagues are concerned that that forthright opinion is going to cost you on november 3rd . Okay, well, look, judge barrett, were talking about judge barrett here and constitutionality, judge barrett would look at this on the basis of constitutionality. Now, i dont purport to speak for what judge barrett might say or might speak. You asked me for what i think on the constitutionality on Affordable Care act. I dont believe it is. We also heard senator durbin talk about whether or not she should sit in judgment of this election, he believes that she should recuse herself from any electionrelated cases if indeed shes confirmed. Should she recuse . Judges and Supreme Court justices have a welldefined set of rules that helps guide their determination in making recusal decisions. Im not going to purport to speak of what she ought to do with her recusal. I have every confidence that shell make the right decision. On the face, the president is talking about a 44 court from his perspective saying, the election is going to be rigged, he says he needs a Supreme Court justice in there to create a majority and by implication support his position, doesnt that create a series of conflicts on its face . George, your use of the words by implication there does more lifting than those words can bear, more than logic and reason and the record can bear. Its hes repeatedly talked about a 44 court. Yeah, yeah, the dangers of a 44 court are significant. Dangers that were outlined by democrats in 2016 when they wanted us to confirm judge garland. And the republicans like you said no problem at all. Well, one can get around it. We didnt say it was no problem at all. We said that there are procedures whereby a 44 split can result in the affirmance of a lower court decisions. The risks are wellknown, not wrong for the president to point out that it might be a good thing to have a court thats fully ompanelled. And thats not an untenable position to make. So you have no problem with the idea that a president nominating someone 38 days before an election would then have that person set in judgment of the very election in play . Let me put it this way, george, judge barrett once confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States will be a Supreme Court justice, no less than a justice gorsuch, or breyer, kagan or sotomayor, shell be a justice on full par on them. Whether she recuses in its up to her and consultation with her colleagues and the rules at play. The president talked about mailin voting, increasing the chances of a rigged election, hes calling it a sign that the election could be a hoax. Utah your state has had no significant problems with universal mailin voting, heres what the fbi director chris wray had to say this week on that subject. We have not seen historically any kind of coordinated National Voter fraud effort in an election, whether by mail or otherwise. Isnt director wray right . I think it has to be a decision thats made by each at and we have used it in utah to my knowledge, there havent been significant problems with it in utah. But look, george, the fact that director wray says he hasnt seen historically evidence that its been manipulated its different whether it can be manipulated going forward. The president s concern is a legitimate one, i dont think we ought to dismiss it. Based on what evidence . Based on the fact that in any election, you go through a whole lot of procedures, or you should go through a whole lot of routine procedures, to make sure that theres not tampering that people might cheat. You want to make sure that you got in place mechanisms in place to deter that, to detect that and prevent that. And insofar as youre changing procedures that have been in place for a long time, you ought to be extra vigilant. I dont think thats unreasonable for the president to suggest. But finally, to be clear, problems in your state with mailin voting . No, its worked fine in utah. Its important to remember, whether were talking about mailin ballots or any other form of potential election fraud, the well you cant prove thats happened on a widespread basis in the past is very different from saying theres no reason to worry about it ever. These are significant things when youre shifting over an entire country is moving toward mailin balloting all at once . Theres legitimate reason for concern. We shouldnt dismiss that. Senator lee, thanks for your time this morning. Thank you. Roundtable is coming up and nate silver is up next with his new Senate Election forecast. New Senate Election forecast. Us. The different positions ive had taught me how to be there for others. I started out as a cashier. I mean, the skys the limit with walmart. Its all up to you. Try natures bounty hair, skin and nails gummies. The number one brand to support beautiful hair, glowing skin, and healthy nails. And try advanced, now with two times more biotin. Find a stock basedtech. And ton your interestswith or whats trending. Get realtime insights in your customized view of the market. Its smarter Trading Technology for smarter trading decisions. Fidelity. Lyis committed to being here. Ols program to encourage kids to keep a little distance. Here to reassure parents who are a little worried. Here to support teachers who make limited resources feel limitless. 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Supreme Court Confirmation showdown, now the latest fight in the senate control. The gop holds a threeseat margin now. But polls show democrats threat to flip several seats. Heres nate silver. Fivethirtyeight senate model recently launched to address this very question, the democrats are favored to win the senate, but just barely. Democrats have been polling quite well in several seats in arizona and colorado. But also in places like, south carolina, kansas and montana and alaska that would be a bigger upset. They have 12 legitimate pickup opportunities. They also face some fairly difficult conditions, most of the competitive conditions are in red states, and there are only two republican senators up for reelection this year, Colorados Cory Gardner and maines susan collins. In states won by himry clinton. Democrats need either three or four pickups to claim the senate depending on if they win the presidency. That assumes they hold every seat of their own, which they probably wont. Democrat doug jones is an underdog in alabama where hes facing former auburn football coach tommy tuberville. Were talking about four or five pickups instead. Now, winning four out of five of tew tacrtunities iveoae. Th outcomes iforecast is a split. Which could come down to whether Kamala Harris or mike pence is Vice President in january. 60 of 70 chance of flipping the senate. Thats not bad, but we do need to see more polling especially in red states where a Supreme Court fight could helpful to gop incumbents. Thanks to nate for that now our series six for the win. Really early voting began in michigan, roughly fourtimes the number four years ago. Trump squeezed out a 10,000point win back in 2016. Can trump come from behind again or are the democrats poised to put this state again . Terry moran traveled to michigan for some reporter michigan, the state that shocked the democrats in 2016, a prime target for both candidates this time. Its great to be here in michigan. Reporter for decades the wolverine state helped propel democrats into the white house. But donald trump kraxd this part of the blue wall wide open and he hopes to take it again. November 3rd, michigan, you better vote for me. I got you so many car plants. Reporter before trump, Ronald Reagan was the last republican to win here back in 1984. A key question this year, will those trump converts stick we with him . He told us he will. Im definitely more enthusiastic. Initially he was still a candidate, he was unproven, this goround i will have some four years of track record. Reporter trump is trailing biden in michigan. The Supreme Court nomination of judge Amy Coney Barrett hasnt seemed to have changed the race yet. But many voters dont like the hardball politics of it all. Election just so theres no problems with the legitimacy. Reporter but the president going full steam ahead. Straightforward and prompt confirmation, should be very easy. I think what were seeing is the ultimate level of hypocrisy coming from the president. Reporter this reverend in detroit says the Supreme Court fight and broader issues of Racial Justice require a much more energized Biden Campaign. You need to see joe biden on the front lines of a protest. You need to see Kamala Harris on the front lines of a protest. You need to see joe biden and Kamala Harris passing out masks, serving people food. This is an urgent time in america right now and merely talking about it is not enough. Reporter half an hour away in roseville, these sisters also believe more action than talking is needed. The same people who are out marching and protesting and whatever theyre doing, i hope and pray that they are using that same amount of energy to get their community, their friends and family to get out the polls. Thats where the change happens. Reporter almost four years ago, i came to michigan after that stunning election. So we want to find out what the people feel as the inauguration arrives. You could feel the enthusiasm, the optimism among Trump Supporters back then. I think we need someone whos going to find that middle ground for all of those people and give us some hope for the next four years. Reporter one of them you feel the same way now . I think his overall leadership has been good, i think that hes put a lot of good policies in place that are in line with my family values. Reporter but other 2016 Trump Supporters are switching sides. It didnt take long for me to really have severe buyers remorse. Reporter the mayor of Sterling Heights is a ,p whounid, jobill bbacking the first democratic president ial candidate that i have voted for in my life. Reporter the mayor knows his constituents and why they went with trump four years ago and may again. I dont think that trump voters are all racists, i dont think trump voters are all sexists, uneducated people who have had enough of being told theyre not good enough. Reporter he says the race is tight here as it was in 2016 but biden has a real shot. Joe biden is a different candidate than Hillary Clinton was and he doesnt need to peel off a whole lot of voters here. Hes been there for working class people for 40 years and hes not somebody whos going to lie to you. Thanks to terry moran for that. The roundtable is up next. Stay with us. Pursue the elusive. While also capturing the possibilities even Something Like co2. Over the last decade, chevron has spent over 1 billion on Carbon Capture projects. And is investing in Startup Companies working to transform carbon into new forms of energy. I was just fighting an uphill battle in my career. So when i heard about the applied Digital Skills courses, im thinking i can become more marketable. 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Stress comfort, a gummie supplement with lemon balm plus saffron to naturally boost your mood. Stress comfort from natures bounty thats what you call a really dishonest, dumb politician. A dumb guy. Dumb guy. Always known as a dumb guy. But we look forward to seeing hes got a lot more experience. Hes got 47 years. Ive got 3 1 2 years. So well see. My guess is its going to be just straight attacks, mostly personal. Thats the only thing he knows how to do. He doesnt know how to debate the facts because hes not that smart, im prepared to go out and make my case as to why i think hes failed. The first debate is tuesday night. Well talk about that and many other things with our roundtable. Joined by rahm emanuel, republican strategist sarah isgur, and leah wright rigueur and sara fagen. Rahm, lets start out with the Supreme Court. There seems to be a big debate in democratic circles senator durbin is going to meet with her, lot of democrats say boycott. No, i think you treat this seriously. I think first of all, theres going to be a lot of Collateral Damage to the senate and the Supreme Court, i think its a mistake what theyre doing. The senate was always constructed to slow down the house, slow down the emotions, anything else they put it into fifth gear, with that said, you treat it very seriously and respectively and do the lines of attack specifically on preexisting conditions, roe v. Wade and her philosophy on those issues that matter to the American People. I also think that isnt going to go to president s benefit. In fact, all the issues are going to come up in the debate. Theyre hoping this will blot out stuff. You can see that in our own poll here at abc the energy is starting to pick up for democrats, i think this is not going to the benefit of republicans. Sara fagen, republicans want a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Secondly, it appears at least right now, they believe it will help them more than it will hurt them in november. Well, if you think about this election for trump and weve criticized him at times for not making the case for the next four years and setting up the choice between joe biden, theres no better choice than the Supreme Court. Theres nothing that energizes republicans more than a Supreme Court fight. And the base of the Republican Party will not forgive these senators if theyre not able to get this pick through and on the court and there are some peril here, theres a very tight time line, this has to go flawlessly this could get voted on november 1st or 2nd. Its possible. If it punts, if theres any reason to punt, i think she should still get through a lameduck. If a republican werent to win those races the democrats would be seated right away, theres not any room for error and republicans have to execute this flawlessly. Leah, if the reaction to Ruth Bader Ginsburgs death is any indication, this is likely to fuel enthusiasm on the democrats side. Absolutely, we shouldnt be surprised that republicans in senate right now seem overwhelmingly in holding hearings. What we should be watching out for are how democrats are responding. If left right now, they want their own version of red meat. They want Democratic Senators to fight. They dont know what the strategy is right now. They dont want them to take it sitting down. So what were going to see is, continual pushing on this issue, at the very least what they want to see is that politicians, right, havent failed the base of the Democratic Party by actually Holding Republicans to task the best way that they absolutely they can. We may be in an endgame situation in terms of what you can and cannot do. But that doesnt mean the base want them to give up. The base wants fight. They want a challenge. What are the risks here for republican senators . So, republicans just like sara said, far more reliable court voters than democrats. This is a very different electorate in 2020. So when you think about single issue voters, prolife voters tend to be, that number has gone up 30 points, prolife single issue, thats something that republicans can really count on, perhaps, but on the other hand, when you talk about enthusiasm like leah is saying, or rahm, absolutely the case. The Trump Campaign says theyre counting on using this to demoralizing democrats by losing another court seat. It could have another effect. To keep the temperature down as low as possible, you dont want to give senator harris the chance to energize her voters by showing up at that Judiciary Committee hearing and knocking it out of the park. I think shes going to be really careful, she in particular, because shes been very aggressive in other pa. Eme urt nomi inhe its worked for her with her base. I dont know if it works with the few undecided voters that may still remaining in this election. But i think democrats more broadly, you know we saw over the weekend before the actual announcement people, again, attacking Amy Coney Barretts catholic faith, this came up on her 7th circuit hearing. Not the senators, though. The senators, i think, downright questioned whether someone whos religious conservative could be an impartial judge and thats a line where the base wants them to go, theyre smart not to go there, because when you think about these swing states, high catholic populations. Couple things a mistake to touch faith any more than to question nancy Nancy Pelosis faith as a catholic. I would not go there. I would stay on the issues. First and foremost, this nomination is going to affect the senate race more than the president ial. We have gone through epidemiology of an 100year pandemic, depression, civil unrest, nothing moves. The center of the president ial election is how you feel about donald trump. Joe biden getting 53 , people say theyll never vote for donald trump. 53 . Trump is getting 43 . 43 prkt of the people who think of his job approval. Nothing will affect this and if anything i think people are actually put off by the raw crassness of a power grab here. Biden republican is going to flip, moving incrementally and i think the Actual Energy is going to come to the democratic side, the one place that weve been lagging on the president ial. That could lead to a lot more questions that we focused on earlier in the program, sarah, whether judge barrett will be forced to recuse herself on anything to do with the election. Certainly the legal rules of ethics will have nothing to say about her recusing herself. Remember, bush v. Gore was 54 in the remedy for what to do about those ballots. But it was actually 72 there was a problem. I dont see a world in chief Justice Roberts, the chief institutionalist when it comes to the Supreme Court, whether its an eightperson court, a nineperson court will let this divide, 54, or 44, hes not going let that happen, i dont think shell recuse, i dont think shes required to recuse and i dont think it will matter whether if she recused. Nothing seems to move this president ial race. The polling average its been a sevenpoint race all through the summer, the question is, will it change on the debate and what are the risks for joe biden . I think one of the risk first, the debate isnt going to change anything. The debate by now, a majority of people in this country have made up their mind. You may have a smattering of people going in, this is going to make me decide. Thats not happening here. But one of things that we know and donald trump has long done this, is setting low expectations for himself. Because then, if he passes the bar, then he looks like a superstar. So one of the things that we saw it in that clip earlier in the show, talking, oh, joe biden has had 40plus years to do it this, im a newbie, im not a poll situation, although hes been running the United States for four years, what were seeing is, hes setting up an arena where he could look like a little late to the strategy. This morning, hes calling for joe biden to take a drug test. One of the dangers for the president hes coming to this now, hes done opposite as well. Hes raised so many questions about joe bidens mental capacity, if joe biden comes up and does the debate performance against Bernie Sanders back in the spring, its a win. I agree. I think thats been a mistake. He sets the Vice President for a situation where all he has to do is be average. The expectation is he cant articulate a sentence. He does have trouble with at times. But hes also had some very strong debates, hes had some poor debates. You know, its not unusual though for an incumbent president to do very poorly in the first debate. Weve seen this repeatedly, certainly mitt romney bested barack obama in their first debate. And then of course the president went on to win. So, you know, i dont think this debate will have much outcome in any direction. I dont think it will change anything, i think probably biden has more to gain and more to lose from it. Actually, i disagree in this case. The fact is, youre going into th deba crucial. Oe has trerebecause h. He doesnt have to persuade. Donald trump has to change the election and changing people is a lot harder, steeper hill than reassuring, joe bidens first 45 minutes, and theres a little history here, his debate performance oneonone he excels, multiple stage he gets off kilter. Hes got that. The best analogy here is the Carter Reagan debate. Carter made reagan too extreme, way out there on the far right, he showed up, and it didnt match. He hit the bar, i think donald trump has set it up for joe biden in a way that joe biden couldnt set it up for joe biden. Should he staaway from President Trump heres the challenge if theres a challenge for biden, nobodys replacing Donald Trumps anger and craziness for joe bidens anger and craziness. The best analogy was when trump went into kenosha looked like the source of the problem, joe bi biden exa n showed the leadersh leadership, strength is not anger, its different quality and effort. He has to reassure people that hes ready for this job, et cetera. Thats a different bar. Donald trump like everything else, hes thrown law and order, chinese virus, nothing has stuck, hes stuck at his 43 . He has to change people, thats a steeper climb for the president of the United States whos running at a consistent eightt fi sarah, biden has to reassure people, what can and should the president do . Rahm is exactly right lets stop there. I got five people for you to call at my home. The president has to change voters minds, he has the higher uphill climb. I will disdegree, i think the narrative that hes stuck on biden a risky move, yes, if biden comes in and like, you know, give sort of the min pull debate performance, thats good. But as we saw in 2012 barack obama did such a good job of setting the narrative on mitt romney so far in advance, if joe biden has a problem, donald trump can feed that to their people with ton of videos. Whats the narrative they should settle on, sleepy joe biden, socialist joe biden . He loses his train of thought, unhinged, in a social Media Election like this, clipping these things and putting it on facebook, the debate will have a lot of viewers, the low likelihood voters who are going to see clips, just a clip on facebook, twitter, instagram, thats what the Biden Campaign needs to worry about. The opportunity for the Trump Campaign to get those low likely hood to turn out. Its unquestionably socialist joe biden. A candidate whos already called for 4 trillion of tax increases. 4 trillion. And this is hardly being talked about. I think the president would be wise and hammer his view on climate change, health care, where hes going to take the country. What kind of Supreme Court judge will he appoint. He wont put a list out. There are so much material here thats not getting much discussion because were talking about style and people in the basement and somebody had a bad moment at the podium, and so i think on substance this is where the president could win and he needs to take that opportunity. Does the president have the discipline to make this about policy than personality . The president doesnt have the discipline. Whats imp mind, part of this election is about enthusiasm. Generating turnout, and one of things that i want to point out on socialism and biden, his own base doesnt buy this idea that hes a socialist. Because policies dont match up with that. It could have the opposite effect in unifying the Democratic Party, particularly the left, who has been skeptical of this idea of biden of some kind of radical reformer. Couple with whats going on with ginsburg seat and the urgency around that, you do have the potential to do something around enthusiasm which has been in a Central Place where democrats have struggled to keep up with republicans. That will have to be the last word today. Thank you all very much. Well be right back. St word today. Thank you all very much. Well be right back. Thats all for us today. Thats all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Tune in tuesday night for the first president ial debate. Ill be anchoring our special coverage starting at 8 00 eastern and ill see you tomorrow on gma. Up next, breaking news. A wildfire erupts early in the north bay, forcing evacuations. Well have the latest. Good morning to you. You can say goodbye to our good air quality. Look how hazy it is already. Temperature 70 degrees on top of mt. Tam with wind gusts to 26 miles an hour. Relative humidity dropping. Well talk about current conditions, show you where the fire is, and talk about how long