Transcripts For KGO This Week With George Stephanopoulos 202

Joins us live and the latest from g7 summit with jon karl and our powerhouse roundtable with Chris Christie and rahm emanuel. And one year after john mccains death. Our country is not well right now. Cindy mccains new mission. Announcer from abc news, its this week. Here now, chief anchor george stephanopoulos. Good morning. Welcome to this week. I alone can fix it, that signature line from 2016 pretty much sums up President Trumps approach to the presidency and this week he pushed it about as far as it can. With a dizzying series of impulsive moves this week, from greenland, tax cuts on and off the table, back on again, a tax on china and the fed. That sent the stock market into a tailspin and threatened the Strong Economy thats been his best selling point for reelection and as we come on the air this morning, a new political threat, a potential challenge from one of his own. Conservative firebrand joe walsh, a Tea Party Congressman now a talk radio host and no stranger to controversy. Once a stunch defender of President Trump, he appeared on cnn this week and said this. If republicans, john, stay silent in the face of this guy, i dont think the country will ever forgive the Republican Party, but forget about the Republican Party, if this guy gets four more years were in real, real trouble. And joe walsh joins us now. Good morning. George, good to be was with you. Have you reached a decision . Yes, and its great to be with you. Im going to run for president and im to be on your show announcing my candidacy. George, no surprise, we got a guy in the white house whos unfit, completely unfit. To be president. And it stuns me that nobodys stepped up, nobody in the Republican Party stepped up, because ill tell you what, george, everybody believes in the Republican Party, everybody believes that hes unfit he lies every time he opens his mouth. You say that, everybody believes hes unfit. One thing that the president points to often, just about every poll shows 80 support for the president among republicans. They dont have an alternative. George, look, im running because hes unfit, somebody needs to step up and there needs to be an alternative. The country is sick of this guys tantrum, hes a child. Again, the litany, he lies every time he opens his mouth. Look at whats happened this week he is the president of the United States, is tweeting us into a recession. I can tell you, george, that most of my former colleagues up on the hill they agree privately with everything im saying. Then how do you explain why because theyre afraid. Because theyre scared to death. Look, george, this isnt easy to do. I just sat down with you and said im going run for president. Im going to challenge this guy. Im opening up my life to tweets and attacks. Everything i have said, trump will go after and his bullies are going to after it. Are you ready for it . Yes, im ready for that. Heres what i think most of my former colleagues believe they think trump is going to lose in november. They want him to lose in november. And then they think theyre done with him and everything can go back to normal. Then they lose the courts, the supreme court, they lose the next vacancy. They want trump gone. Theyre just afraid to say that hes unfit. Look at this week, if you privately polled every republican member of congress, the president of the United States ordered private companies to not do business with china. The president of the United States said our fed chair is as big of an enemy as china. Ofma eye tired of his bs, grg youre on talk radio every day. When you speak like this, what do you hear from your listeners, support, correct . I hear support for the president. Its divot to be a critic of the president in conservative talk radio. And i hear often, george, what you just said at the beginning, i dont like him, i wish he wouldnt tweet, i wish he would keep his mouth quiet, but were getting some good things done, really what are we getting done . When i point to those people who listen to me on conservative talk radio that we havent built one foot of a wall, that this president who said im going to eliminate the debt in eight years has increased the debt at a faster clip than obama but, george, this is not about issues, i would not be even thinking about primarying this president if i was upset with his position on the debt or the deficit. Theres another challenger to President Trump as you know from inside the party, william weld. He had a tweet this week where he said this, donald trump is a clear and present danger to our country to the globe an to himself. And this is what got everybodys attention americadeservesbetter. 25thamendment, should the 25th amendment been invoked . It should be looked at. We have never had a situation like this. You cant believe a word he says. Again, i dont care your politics. Hes nuts. Hes erratic. Hes cruel. He stokes bigotry. Hes incompetent. He doesnt know what hes doing. George, hes a narcissist. Everything he cares about, the only thing he cares about is trump. He doesnt give a damn about america. He doesnt care about the border. You and i talked before we came on air. He lost me for certain at helsinki, when the president of the United States stood in front of the world and said, i stand with that guy and not my own people. Thats disloyal, thats unamerican. His supporters, i think, are tired of this. Our Campaign Slogan is be brave. This is not a difficult thing for me to do, im opening up my life. My bet my campaign is making, im going to pound trump every single day, hes a bully and hes a coward, someone has to call him out. I cant believe nobody in our party has called him out. The bet, george, of my campaign, there are a lot of republicans who feel like i do. Theyre afraid to come forward. You said you want to make the case against the president. The question is, are you the best messenger . A moral case against the president. Heres what the washington exam anywhere, conservative newspaper said in response to your potential candidacy this week. Theres the matter of his history of being trumpier than trump. Hes made a living on peddling the same sort of conspiracymongering and rightwing bombthrowing for which he know condemns the president. What your response . I helped create trump. And george, thats not an easy thing to say. Look, we were divided before trump. I went to washington eight years ago, part of the tea party class, wanted to shake washington up. I got involved in the battles and there were plenty of time where i went beyond the policy, and i got personal and i said some ugly things about president obama that i regret and its difficult but i think i think that helped create trump, and i feel responsible for that. You did provide aid and comfort for the kind of things he said. You mentioned president obama. You called him muslim. You often spoke out on racial themes. Want to show a couple of tweets that you had right there. Number one, we lowered the bar for obama, he was held to a lower standard because he was black, that was just in 2017. A few months after that, not just president obama, senator Kamala Harris said something really dumb. Meh. If youre black and a woman you can say dumb things. Lowered bar. Well, again, the beauty of what President Trump has done is, george, hes made me reflect on some of the things i have said in the past. I had strong policy disagreements with barack obama and too often i let those policy disagreements get personal. Do you believe hes a muslim . God, no. I apologized for that. But think about the contrast, george, again, im bearing my soul right now on national tv. We have a guy in the white hous anything hes dones not to apologize. I helped i helped create trump. Theres no doubt about that. The personal, ugly politics. I regret that and im sorry for that. And now weve got a guy in the white house, george, thats all he does. Understand, i walk around with this piece of paper every day, george, its got all of trumps lies on one side, mostly updated and then everything that he does thats wrong, i feel responsible for this. But im a conservative and i think theres a decent chance to present to Republican Voters a conservative. Whats the conservative case . Set aside the personal differences you have with President Trump, whats the conservative case for why President Trump should be replaced . Hes incompetent. He has no freaking clue what hes doing. He ran he said he was going to build a wall, george, we havent built a foot of the wall. He said mexico was going to pay for it, we havent. He told us trade wars were easy. Tell that to American Farmers right now. Tell that to american consumers. President trump said i will eliminate the debt in eight years. Hes increased it faster than president obama. This is on trump. He said ill eliminate the debt. He hasnt governed as a conservative. Hes not competent. He doesnt know what hes doing. George, the bigger case is this hes not capable of being decent. Hes cruel. Hes bigoted and hes a narcissist. Everything is about him. When you talk to your listeners on the radio, in these personal terms about President Trump, do they excuse it, say it doesnt matter . They say, but, joe, the democrats are socialists. I dont like him, i dont like w he does, but the democrats are socialists. I dont think thats good enough. Im not doing this to save the Republican Party. Im doing this, george, because i think the country can survive trumps fouryear tantrum. But you give this guy another four years in the white house right now, hes george, literally tweeting us into a recession, hell tweet us into war. But as you know, president s who face a serious primary challenge, jimmy carter, george h. W. Bush from pat buchanan, it tends to weaken them, they tend to lose. Are you prepared to take responsibility if you do well in this to help elect a democrat . It doesnt matter. Absolutely. Im going to do whatever i can. I dont want him to win. The country cant afford to have him win. If im not successful, im not voting for him. Id rather get back to place where im sitting down next to a democrat and were arguing about capitalism and socialism and were arguing about ideas. Instead, were talking about a child in the white house who tweets ugly insults at average americans every day. Were tired of that. I want to get away from that. William weld has been out there for months not making much of an impact. How can you run a Real Campaign . Where is your money going to come . Where are you going to focus . Were going to focus on iowa and new hampshire. Be brave is our Campaign Slogan. I believe there are people out there dying to come out, stick their necks out and say publicly what they believe privately, that this guy is unfit, hes indecent, hes setting a horrible example for millions and millions of American Children every day. I think it will catch on like wild fire. If im wrong . If im wrong, it was the right fight. Because somebody had to do this. Again, george, we have somebody in the white house whos not fit to be president. Everybody knows that. Joe walsh, thanks for your time this morning. Thanks, george. Up next, jon karl is live at g7 summit. And nate silver on the political cam impact on trumps trade war. Well be right back. Along the byway much more much more than this i did it way announcer verizon is americas most awarded network and the only one with the galaxy note10 5g. Right now, when you buy one, you get a galaxy note10 free. Thats verizon. Imagine. Megared omega3 power for your whole body. Now with an antioxidant blend for great sleep, refreshed skin and less stress. One softgel. 7 benefits. New total body refresh. Power your day with megared. Introducing a razor that works differently. The gillette skinguard. Designed with a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. It guards against razor burn on the neck and irritation on the face. Get the shave youve been waiting for. Gillette skinguard. So nice to meet you june, jay, ji, kay, raj, and. Ray good job, brain say hello to neuriva, a new brain supplement with clinically proven ingredients that fuel five indicators of brain performance. Neuriva. Thanks to move free ultra i keep up with this little one. See the world with this guy. And hit the town with these girls. In a clinical study, 4 out of 5 users felt better joint comfort. Move free ultra. Movement keeps us connected. Are you concerned about how the market is reacting to the tariffs . No, the market is doing great. You people want a recession because you think maybe thats the way to get trump out. Maybe thats the way we get him out. I dont think that will work, because, look, if anything we got into trade negotiations to get it right. We have horrible trade deals. Im straightening them off. The biggest one by far is china. So will trumps trade war hurt him . Well get into that with nate silver. But right now, live to biarritz where the president is for the g7 summit. The president making a lot of news this morning. Some news here, we just heard joe walsh saying hes going to challenge the president , any reaction yet from the white house . Reporter well, i asked the campaign about this. We got word back from the Communications Director for the trump reelection campaign. Simply a oneword answer whatever. When we asked about walsh jumping into this race. Look, the president s hold on the Republican Party is strong as its ever been. Hes by far the most popular figure, republican figure among republicans in the country, theres really no indication that he has any vulnerability to a primary challenge. Which is why, some of the bigger names who have could possibly jump in, mitt romney, john kasich opt not to jump in. Meantime, as i said, hes been making a lot of news this morning, including something that seemed to surprise a lot of people, when he was asked if he had any Second Thoughts about the trade war with china. Heres what he said. Any Second Thoughts on escalating the trade war with china . Might as well. Might as well. You have Second Thoughts . I have Second Thoughts about everything. That surprised so many people. But already, the white house backtracking . Reporter yes, this is something else. First of all, george, important to say, even before he got to that it seems like he was backing down he talked about how he hopes to get a deal with the chinese, that he believes the chinese want to do that even more he wants to. He said he wasnt going to go forward with declaring a national emergency. So, it seemed like he was trying to descalate after these comments about Second Thoughts, the press secretary for the white house Stephanie Grisham put out a statement and i want to read it to you, it said, the president was asked if he had any Second Thought on escalating the trade war with china. His answer has been greatly misinterpreted. President trump responded in the affirmative because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher. So, while it looks like the president was trying to cool things down with the chinese, we now have a statement coming out effectively throwing more gasoline on the fire. A week of zigs and zags, has one more zig. G7, last year it was a fractious meet, the president got into several fights including with the canadian Prime Minister trudeau, thats created some lower expectations for this g7 summit this time around. It sure has. Even before it got started out, you had some back and forth, the president right before he left the white house here, invoked the possibility of raising tariffs on french wines, the top official for the European Union was very critical of the president on a variety of issues while he was flying over here. The president s largely gotten a very warm reception, its been very cordial, diplomatic. George, whats interesting, usually these meetings end with some form of a joint statement. Before this meeting got started president macron of france said there will be no joint statement. He said it would be pointless given the obvious disagreements with the president of the United States on a range of issues including Climate Change, iran and obviously trade. Jon karl, thanks. So, could the fallout from trumps china trade war stall the economy . We asked nate silver, do you buy that . Trade policy doesnt make for the most dramatic headlines. Id argue that trumps tariffs on china is a threat to his reelection. Because the economy has been the best thing he has going for him. Average Approval Rating on the economy is 52 . Compared to just 42 job approval overall. Consider the potential Economic Impact on his trade policy. Bloomberg economics, could reduce gdp by. 6 . Since the last recession, gdp has grown by only about 2. 2 per year. It removes a lot of the slack we have from negative growth, meaning recession. In fact, economists are quite concerned about a possibility of a recession. 40 of economists surveyed, expect a recession in the u. S. By the end of 2020. Recessions are really risky for incumbent president s. 1980, jimmy carter the last incumbent president to face a recession. He lost in a landslide to ronald reagan. Also 1992 where george h. W. Bush lost to bill clinton. The economy wasnt technically in recession then but voters thought it was. Economists hadnt declared the recession of 1990 to be over yet. Of course, economic news, views on the economic is heavily tied to which party voters prefer. Recession would have tangible impacts voters can see firsthand, Chris Christie<\/a> and rahm emanuel. And one year after john mccains death. Our country is not well right now. Cindy mccains new mission. Announcer from abc news, its this week. Here now, chief anchor george stephanopoulos. Good morning. Welcome to this week. I alone can fix it, that signature line from 2016 pretty much sums up President Trump<\/a>s approach to the presidency and this week he pushed it about as far as it can. With a dizzying series of impulsive moves this week, from greenland, tax cuts on and off the table, back on again, a tax on china and the fed. That sent the stock market into a tailspin and threatened the Strong Economy<\/a> thats been his best selling point for reelection and as we come on the air this morning, a new political threat, a potential challenge from one of his own. Conservative firebrand joe walsh, a Tea Party Congressman<\/a> now a talk radio host and no stranger to controversy. Once a stunch defender of President Trump<\/a>, he appeared on cnn this week and said this. If republicans, john, stay silent in the face of this guy, i dont think the country will ever forgive the Republican Party<\/a>, but forget about the Republican Party<\/a>, if this guy gets four more years were in real, real trouble. And joe walsh joins us now. Good morning. George, good to be was with you. Have you reached a decision . Yes, and its great to be with you. Im going to run for president and im to be on your show announcing my candidacy. George, no surprise, we got a guy in the white house whos unfit, completely unfit. To be president. And it stuns me that nobodys stepped up, nobody in the Republican Party<\/a> stepped up, because ill tell you what, george, everybody believes in the Republican Party<\/a>, everybody believes that hes unfit he lies every time he opens his mouth. You say that, everybody believes hes unfit. One thing that the president points to often, just about every poll shows 80 support for the president among republicans. They dont have an alternative. George, look, im running because hes unfit, somebody needs to step up and there needs to be an alternative. The country is sick of this guys tantrum, hes a child. Again, the litany, he lies every time he opens his mouth. Look at whats happened this week he is the president of the United States<\/a>, is tweeting us into a recession. I can tell you, george, that most of my former colleagues up on the hill they agree privately with everything im saying. Then how do you explain why because theyre afraid. Because theyre scared to death. Look, george, this isnt easy to do. I just sat down with you and said im going run for president. Im going to challenge this guy. Im opening up my life to tweets and attacks. Everything i have said, trump will go after and his bullies are going to after it. Are you ready for it . Yes, im ready for that. Heres what i think most of my former colleagues believe they think trump is going to lose in november. They want him to lose in november. And then they think theyre done with him and everything can go back to normal. Then they lose the courts, the supreme court, they lose the next vacancy. They want trump gone. Theyre just afraid to say that hes unfit. Look at this week, if you privately polled every republican member of congress, the president of the United States<\/a> ordered private companies to not do business with china. The president of the United States<\/a> said our fed chair is as big of an enemy as china. Ofma eye tired of his bs, grg youre on talk radio every day. When you speak like this, what do you hear from your listeners, support, correct . I hear support for the president. Its divot to be a critic of the president in conservative talk radio. And i hear often, george, what you just said at the beginning, i dont like him, i wish he wouldnt tweet, i wish he would keep his mouth quiet, but were getting some good things done, really what are we getting done . When i point to those people who listen to me on conservative talk radio that we havent built one foot of a wall, that this president who said im going to eliminate the debt in eight years has increased the debt at a faster clip than obama but, george, this is not about issues, i would not be even thinking about primarying this president if i was upset with his position on the debt or the deficit. Theres another challenger to President Trump<\/a> as you know from inside the party, william weld. He had a tweet this week where he said this, donald trump is a clear and present danger to our country to the globe an to himself. And this is what got everybodys attention americadeservesbetter. 25thamendment, should the 25th amendment been invoked . It should be looked at. We have never had a situation like this. You cant believe a word he says. Again, i dont care your politics. Hes nuts. Hes erratic. Hes cruel. He stokes bigotry. Hes incompetent. He doesnt know what hes doing. George, hes a narcissist. Everything he cares about, the only thing he cares about is trump. He doesnt give a damn about america. He doesnt care about the border. You and i talked before we came on air. He lost me for certain at helsinki, when the president of the United States<\/a> stood in front of the world and said, i stand with that guy and not my own people. Thats disloyal, thats unamerican. His supporters, i think, are tired of this. Our Campaign Slogan<\/a> is be brave. This is not a difficult thing for me to do, im opening up my life. My bet my campaign is making, im going to pound trump every single day, hes a bully and hes a coward, someone has to call him out. I cant believe nobody in our party has called him out. The bet, george, of my campaign, there are a lot of republicans who feel like i do. Theyre afraid to come forward. You said you want to make the case against the president. The question is, are you the best messenger . A moral case against the president. Heres what the washington exam anywhere, conservative newspaper said in response to your potential candidacy this week. Theres the matter of his history of being trumpier than trump. Hes made a living on peddling the same sort of conspiracymongering and rightwing bombthrowing for which he know condemns the president. What your response . I helped create trump. And george, thats not an easy thing to say. Look, we were divided before trump. I went to washington eight years ago, part of the tea party class, wanted to shake washington up. I got involved in the battles and there were plenty of time where i went beyond the policy, and i got personal and i said some ugly things about president obama that i regret and its difficult but i think i think that helped create trump, and i feel responsible for that. You did provide aid and comfort for the kind of things he said. You mentioned president obama. You called him muslim. You often spoke out on racial themes. Want to show a couple of tweets that you had right there. Number one, we lowered the bar for obama, he was held to a lower standard because he was black, that was just in 2017. A few months after that, not just president obama, senator Kamala Harris<\/a> said something really dumb. Meh. If youre black and a woman you can say dumb things. Lowered bar. Well, again, the beauty of what President Trump<\/a> has done is, george, hes made me reflect on some of the things i have said in the past. I had strong policy disagreements with barack obama and too often i let those policy disagreements get personal. Do you believe hes a muslim . God, no. I apologized for that. But think about the contrast, george, again, im bearing my soul right now on national tv. We have a guy in the white hous anything hes dones not to apologize. I helped i helped create trump. Theres no doubt about that. The personal, ugly politics. I regret that and im sorry for that. And now weve got a guy in the white house, george, thats all he does. Understand, i walk around with this piece of paper every day, george, its got all of trumps lies on one side, mostly updated and then everything that he does thats wrong, i feel responsible for this. But im a conservative and i think theres a decent chance to present to Republican Voters<\/a> a conservative. Whats the conservative case . Set aside the personal differences you have with President Trump<\/a>, whats the conservative case for why President Trump<\/a> should be replaced . Hes incompetent. He has no freaking clue what hes doing. He ran he said he was going to build a wall, george, we havent built a foot of the wall. He said mexico was going to pay for it, we havent. He told us trade wars were easy. Tell that to American Farmers<\/a> right now. Tell that to american consumers. President trump said i will eliminate the debt in eight years. Hes increased it faster than president obama. This is on trump. He said ill eliminate the debt. He hasnt governed as a conservative. Hes not competent. He doesnt know what hes doing. George, the bigger case is this hes not capable of being decent. Hes cruel. Hes bigoted and hes a narcissist. Everything is about him. When you talk to your listeners on the radio, in these personal terms about President Trump<\/a>, do they excuse it, say it doesnt matter . They say, but, joe, the democrats are socialists. I dont like him, i dont like w he does, but the democrats are socialists. I dont think thats good enough. Im not doing this to save the Republican Party<\/a>. Im doing this, george, because i think the country can survive trumps fouryear tantrum. But you give this guy another four years in the white house right now, hes george, literally tweeting us into a recession, hell tweet us into war. But as you know, president s who face a serious primary challenge, jimmy carter, george h. W. Bush from pat buchanan, it tends to weaken them, they tend to lose. Are you prepared to take responsibility if you do well in this to help elect a democrat . It doesnt matter. Absolutely. Im going to do whatever i can. I dont want him to win. The country cant afford to have him win. If im not successful, im not voting for him. Id rather get back to place where im sitting down next to a democrat and were arguing about capitalism and socialism and were arguing about ideas. Instead, were talking about a child in the white house who tweets ugly insults at average americans every day. Were tired of that. I want to get away from that. William weld has been out there for months not making much of an impact. How can you run a Real Campaign<\/a> . Where is your money going to come . Where are you going to focus . Were going to focus on iowa and new hampshire. Be brave is our Campaign Slogan<\/a>. I believe there are people out there dying to come out, stick their necks out and say publicly what they believe privately, that this guy is unfit, hes indecent, hes setting a horrible example for millions and millions of American Children<\/a> every day. I think it will catch on like wild fire. If im wrong . If im wrong, it was the right fight. Because somebody had to do this. Again, george, we have somebody in the white house whos not fit to be president. Everybody knows that. Joe walsh, thanks for your time this morning. Thanks, george. Up next, jon karl is live at g7 summit. And nate silver on the political cam impact on trumps trade war. Well be right back. Along the byway much more much more than this i did it way announcer verizon is americas most awarded network and the only one with the galaxy note10 5g. Right now, when you buy one, you get a galaxy note10 free. Thats verizon. Imagine. Megared omega3 power for your whole body. Now with an antioxidant blend for great sleep, refreshed skin and less stress. One softgel. 7 benefits. New total body refresh. Power your day with megared. Introducing a razor that works differently. The gillette skinguard. Designed with a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. It guards against razor burn on the neck and irritation on the face. Get the shave youve been waiting for. Gillette skinguard. So nice to meet you june, jay, ji, kay, raj, and. Ray good job, brain say hello to neuriva, a new brain supplement with clinically proven ingredients that fuel five indicators of brain performance. Neuriva. Thanks to move free ultra i keep up with this little one. See the world with this guy. And hit the town with these girls. In a clinical study, 4 out of 5 users felt better joint comfort. Move free ultra. Movement keeps us connected. Are you concerned about how the market is reacting to the tariffs . No, the market is doing great. You people want a recession because you think maybe thats the way to get trump out. Maybe thats the way we get him out. I dont think that will work, because, look, if anything we got into trade negotiations to get it right. We have horrible trade deals. Im straightening them off. The biggest one by far is china. So will trumps trade war hurt him . Well get into that with nate silver. But right now, live to biarritz where the president is for the g7 summit. The president making a lot of news this morning. Some news here, we just heard joe walsh saying hes going to challenge the president , any reaction yet from the white house . Reporter well, i asked the campaign about this. We got word back from the Communications Director<\/a> for the trump reelection campaign. Simply a oneword answer whatever. When we asked about walsh jumping into this race. Look, the president s hold on the Republican Party<\/a> is strong as its ever been. Hes by far the most popular figure, republican figure among republicans in the country, theres really no indication that he has any vulnerability to a primary challenge. Which is why, some of the bigger names who have could possibly jump in, mitt romney, john kasich opt not to jump in. Meantime, as i said, hes been making a lot of news this morning, including something that seemed to surprise a lot of people, when he was asked if he had any Second Thought<\/a>s about the trade war with china. Heres what he said. Any Second Thought<\/a>s on escalating the trade war with china . Might as well. Might as well. You have Second Thought<\/a>s . I have Second Thought<\/a>s about everything. That surprised so many people. But already, the white house backtracking . Reporter yes, this is something else. First of all, george, important to say, even before he got to that it seems like he was backing down he talked about how he hopes to get a deal with the chinese, that he believes the chinese want to do that even more he wants to. He said he wasnt going to go forward with declaring a national emergency. So, it seemed like he was trying to descalate after these comments about Second Thought<\/a>s, the press secretary for the white house Stephanie Grisham<\/a> put out a statement and i want to read it to you, it said, the president was asked if he had any Second Thought<\/a> on escalating the trade war with china. His answer has been greatly misinterpreted. President trump responded in the affirmative because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher. So, while it looks like the president was trying to cool things down with the chinese, we now have a statement coming out effectively throwing more gasoline on the fire. A week of zigs and zags, has one more zig. G7, last year it was a fractious meet, the president got into several fights including with the canadian Prime Minister<\/a> trudeau, thats created some lower expectations for this g7 summit this time around. It sure has. Even before it got started out, you had some back and forth, the president right before he left the white house here, invoked the possibility of raising tariffs on french wines, the top official for the European Union<\/a> was very critical of the president on a variety of issues while he was flying over here. The president s largely gotten a very warm reception, its been very cordial, diplomatic. George, whats interesting, usually these meetings end with some form of a joint statement. Before this meeting got started president macron of france said there will be no joint statement. He said it would be pointless given the obvious disagreements with the president of the United States<\/a> on a range of issues including Climate Change<\/a>, iran and obviously trade. Jon karl, thanks. So, could the fallout from trumps china trade war stall the economy . We asked nate silver, do you buy that . Trade policy doesnt make for the most dramatic headlines. Id argue that trumps tariffs on china is a threat to his reelection. Because the economy has been the best thing he has going for him. Average Approval Rating<\/a> on the economy is 52 . Compared to just 42 job approval overall. Consider the potential Economic Impact<\/a> on his trade policy. Bloomberg economics, could reduce gdp by. 6 . Since the last recession, gdp has grown by only about 2. 2 per year. It removes a lot of the slack we have from negative growth, meaning recession. In fact, economists are quite concerned about a possibility of a recession. 40 of economists surveyed, expect a recession in the u. S. By the end of 2020. Recessions are really risky for incumbent president s. 1980, jimmy carter the last incumbent president to face a recession. He lost in a landslide to ronald reagan. Also 1992 where george h. W. Bush lost to bill clinton. The economy wasnt technically in recession then but voters thought it was. Economists hadnt declared the recession of 1990 to be over yet. Of course, economic news, views on the economic is heavily tied to which party voters prefer. Recession would have tangible impacts voters can see firsthand, Family Member<\/a>s getting laid off, stores closing. Politics can only go so far by calling a recession fake news. One more thing, the tariffs on china arent even good politics on their own terms. Free trade is more popular than it has ever been. In 2015, 51 of voters thought free trade was a good idea. Thats up to 64 . I do buy trumps trade war is bad politics for him. One Silver Lining<\/a> for the president , economists are pretty bad in predicting recessions. Historically they have shown, an ability to forecast recessions six to nine months in advance. Any assumptions of what the economy is going to look like at november 2020 are hazy at best. Nate silver, thanks for that. The roundtable is up next. Good relationship. Ay youve done a lot of good for the world. But i feel like you have the potential to do so much more. Can we build ai without bias . How do we bake security into everything we do . We need tech that helps people understand each other. That understands my business. Weve got some work to do. And we need your help. We need your support. Lets expect more from technology. Lets put smart to work. Imagine. Megared omega3 power for your whole body. Now with an antioxidant blend for great sleep, refreshed skin and less stress. One softgel. 7 benefits. New total body refresh. Power your day with megared. [ aevery box has a mission to protect everything inside from everything outside. When whats inside matters, count on boxes. [ doorbell rings ] paper and packaging. How life unfolds. 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The plan is so reasonable, they could stay on for the rest of their lives. Aww, did you get that on camera . Thanks, dad vo new plans now starting at 35. The network more people rely on gives you more. So nice to meet you june, jay, ji, kay, raj, and. Ray good job, brain say hello to neuriva, a new brain supplement with clinically proven ingredients that fuel five indicators of brain performance. Neuriva. Well, greenland, i dont know, it got released somehow. It will be interesting. Well talk to them. I can tell y. I thought the Prime Minister<\/a>s statement that it was absurd, it was an absurd idea was nasty. Im also very, very concerned about the Second Amendment<\/a>. We have very strong background checks right now. I have an appetite for background checks. Reductions. Im not looking at tax cut right now. We dont need it. We have a Strong Economy<\/a>. One thing i have to do is economically take on china, because china has been ripping us off for many years. Somebody had to do it. Im the chosen one. You know exactly what i meant. It was sarcasm. It was joking. We were all smiling. What a week at the white house, and were going to talk about it right now with the roundtable. Chris christie, former governor of new jersey. Rahm emanuel, former mayor of chicago. Yvette simpson. Our chief political analyst matthew dowd and alice stewart. Rahm, lets begin, we heard what joe walsh had to say about the week. What was your read on this week with President Trump<\/a> . Well, two things. What we have all said, hes firm in his opinions, its his principles that hes flexible hes on. The other thing is, if you go two weeks ago to this this week i put a pin on the fox poll it totally changed him. Where it showed biden it showed two things. It showed the president is emperor without clothes. The second thing is, that Office Creates<\/a> pressure on everybody. And i have seen two different president s react on that pressure. This pressure has finally cracked him. Is he feeling the pressure . I dont sense it. I think what happens is, we all react and sometimes when its concentrated like it was this week and i agree it was we all react were seeing something different. Were not. This is who he is. I have known him for 18 year this is who hes always has been. I understand, the office does put an enormous amount of pressure on you. But this guy is going to be who he is and hes going to be that way as long as hes in the white house. I see this week, i cant imagine how many times we have had a conversation where we said, this week, unbelievable. This is a turning point. This is a flexion point. I just dont believe it is. I think the American People<\/a> are used to it. This week takes the cake. It was full of ups and downs and lots crazy. Its scary for the American People<\/a> to see that in a concentrated fashion. To know that this is the guy whos in charge. This guy makes the decisions. Whether we go to war or not. A trade war or not. Go forward with policy or not. Its really important for people to see that this is the leader of the free world, unadulterated, unsupervised and this is the guy we put in charge. Its a very scary thing. I agree with chris, this is a more magnified version of the president. The president ended the campaign in 2016 the most disliked candidate to ever win the presidency. He starts the office with the highest disApproval Rating<\/a>. Hes now at the current point where hes the most historically disapproved president weve ever had. The problem for the president is, the president i think has understand in the last ten days that if this race is a choice, hes got a chance to win. But if the economy does anything at all, if it turns without the strength of growth thats it had over the course of three years its not going to be a choice. It wont matter who the democrats nominate. If the economy turns it will be a complete referendum on him. It doesnt stop him from escalating the trade war. This is no doubt chaos. This is his chaos. We have gone this week from greenland to nasty leaders, to scaramucci, to jesus trump superstar. Thats how hes always led. The American People<\/a> are looking at how does this affect me personally . How is the economy . How is my paycheck . They dont watch twitter all day long. Theyre not watching news 24 7. Theyre looking at how the news affect them personally. If the trade deal with china goes south, then that will be a big difference. Hes used to chaos. Thats how he operates. The American People<\/a> dont look at the daytoday, tweettotweet moments of this administration. But this is heres the case, he has a political strategy for three years built on digging into the red bucket and hes now realized that its also affecting the purple bucket and the blue bucket is where it is. Hes come to terms and has seen that and i believe that fox poll snapped something in him. He realizes the strategy is turning the terrain of this election against him. Thats why hes consistently dropping. How do you explain background checks, background checks, two different positions less than 24 hours . The fact is, its the pressure of not just the office, its the pressure of the campaign where he realizes where hes standing and the strategy doesnt hold up anymore. Rahm, you know this because you worked in two white houses. Part of what is happening here is, theres division inside the white house. Payroll tax cut, that wasnt his idea. I know that wasnt his idea. That was leaked by somit house. In everyhiteou peoe are doin. What the president does is, then he reacts to that and jerks back the other way. Instead of ignoring what a staffer might leak and saying, i am who i am, the economy is great, forget it. He plays it. He responds to it. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about background checks. You thought he meant it on background checks. To be honest, i dont know what to think by the end of this week. I think he still does mean background checks. What he did not anticipate and you can fault him for this, i dont think he anticipated the people in congress would give him a hard time on background checks as they are. I believe from speaking to him that he believes that expanding background checks makes sense. He now has to figure out, and you dont have experience you go out and say something. He expects people are going to follow him the guy who wrote the art of the deal, isnt used to negotiations theyre very different. Far there the stable genius, im in control president he ran on. It sounds like, when he has a conversation with nra, all of a sudden im not so sure. The economy is strong, well, maybe its not. Maybe were about to be in a recession. Trade war with china, just kidding, lets tax french wine. Lets go buy greenland. This sounds crazy. If hes trying to run the same campaign that he was running before where he shows himself not a political person, not influenced by politics, strong and capable, this is completely the opposite. With regard, you have to listen to him. He telegraphs what hes going to do in what he says. We have gone from background checks now to Mental Health<\/a>. After talking to the nra. Exactly. Heres the thing, he realizes something has to be done and he also realizes a big portion of his base, strong Second Amendment<\/a> supporters. Nra members, like myself. I expect something to be done with regard to gun violence and the more he mentions Mental Health<\/a> i see us moving in the way reasonable background checks are a good thing this is the problem that the president is in, its not can he negotiate with the legislator the, i dont think he knows what it means to be a leader. If he came out strong on background checks, the republicans in congress by and large would all follow in line, as joe walsh said earlier, theyre afraid of him. But coming out for background checks, for red flag laws, for a whole series of things that the vast majority of the country support, would put him in a better position. If the democrats have a referendum to run on guns, the republicans almost in every single close race will lose. George, two things. Political and economic. One, hes seeing the political strategy isnt going to pay the dividends he thought. He playing a red strategy, he needs a purple strategy. The early days the trump slump, he knows the economic consequences of whats happening. It feels like that, chris, what youre having here is, longstanding views about china are running straight into his needs on economy. He needs a healthy economy. Going into the next election. He believes what hes saying most of the time with tariffs on china. Listen, i think he believes what hes saying about china. To be consistent about his political philosophy going back 30 years has been this issue of trade. But when i listen to this analysis, this is october analysis, like october of the year before analysis. This is going to be mean nothing, nothing until the democrats nominate someone. Because, you know, it could become a referendum. Lots of times with incumbents it becomes a referendum, matt. But, its just as often if not more often a binary choice. Right now, we got nothing to look at. Even in a recession . Its never a binary hold on, i didnt say it was. The recession will become a whole different problem for the president. Any president it becomes a problem. Thats a whole different discussion that we wont know until next summer. But for right now, until its a binary choice of course, rahm is brilliant. The bottom line is, it will be completely irrelevant. That was heartfelt. A question i want to ask you, though, will joe walsh be relevant or not . I dont think he will. I applaud him for the courage and conviction to get in the race. I spoke with a Senior Campaign<\/a> reelection official after the announcement was made and his response was, who . Who is that . He has nowhere the name i. D. That trump does. Trump has 90 of the Republican Party<\/a> locked up. You need fundraising, infrastructure, data, you need the support of the Republican Party<\/a>, trump has that. Not only of the people across the country the Republican Party<\/a> is behind him. That means, state gop chairmen, state parties and these elections in president ial races are run state by state. When you have the state directors supporting the president 100 unfortunately someone like joe walsh isnt going to get any traction. The odds of walsh beating trump in a republican primary can he wound him . The question is, should someone make a principled argument that conservativism means, this is what the Republican Party<\/a> mean, contrast it to donald trump, yes. I have been the subject and target of things joe walsh has said. The most authentic thing he did today was basically taking some responsibility for the creation of donald trump and the devolution of rhetoric in this country. I think joe walshs argument, just like william welds argument, gives an opening for people who are republicanleaning independents to nod their head, see, heres why i dont want to vote for this guy. Who are you going to vote for . Its the general election. Thats what im talking about. In a general election, who are they going to vote for . If the democrats continue to ignore your advice and listen to your advice and go all the way to the left, those soft republicans are going to, yeah, but no thanks. No, governor. You need to be in your own camp today. You need to stay in your own camp. You got enough problems. I love it. I love it. You know, its only august. This is a crack in the dam. Who knows that joe walsh is the last one . Thic se. Who needs money, you got tv. Two events have happened thats relevant to this. Joe walsh represents an awakening conservatism. Back up, business roundtable, they make a statement this week about their principles, about something bigger, about Climate Change<\/a>, about the responsibility we have, theres a Seismic Shift<\/a> going on in coalition politics. You have a republican president whos talking about state control of the economy and the private sector and businesses talking about responsibility to workers, something is big changing in politics right now. One of the questions is, can democrats exploit that or not . We can answer that quickly. But we saw the first ad from joe biden in iowa. Take a look. We know in our bones this election is different. The stakes are higher. The threat more serious. We have to beat donald trump. All the polls agree, joe biden is the strongest democrat to do the job. Maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say, okay, i personally like so and so better but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat trump. I dont think we have seen matthew dowd, this early in a campaign, bold electability campaign. Its true, over the course of summers, basically nothing has changed in the debates on the National Polls<\/a> on the democratic side, but is this a wise strategy for the biden team . To me, electability if you Start Talking<\/a> about it, youre in a weak position. Electability should demonstrate itself. The problem joe biden has, i think hes the leading candidate, odds are, hes likely the democrat nominee. He has a third of the vote. His best hope this candidate field stays multiple candidate field for a lengthy period of time. I think joe biden has to demonstrate that he has a voice for somebody as i have said before that started running for office and serving office before we had eighttrack came and went. He has to demonstrate he has a voice for a new generation for leadership. Thats a tough thing for him. I think this has been a tough week and tough couple of weeks hes having a lot of trouble staying on message. Hes saying a lot of things off hasnt moved his poll numbers. We know what polling is and we know its early. Hes still not seeing the big grassroots support, big rallies. His wife already going through the electability argument know hes weak. The tweak of his Campaign Message<\/a> just going around saying im the one who can take on trump. You have to give someone to vote for, not someone to vote against. Ald trump and he has the strong message that resonates with democrats and he has to be able to contrast himself with his democratic challengers. He has to point out that Bernie Sanders<\/a> and Elizabeth Warren<\/a> are too far left, im more moderate. But is also viable and strong in the general election. He has to find that section in the middle thats not too far left but also designates most democrats electability normally id say is a thin read. But given how democrats feel, given they want somebody who can win, im not so sure normally given this year its a thin read. But the bigger challenge is what matt hit on. Joe biden whos been in office has to talk about his he has to fill in the picture of where he wants to take america Going Forward<\/a> and the problem is, he keeps going back to explain the past and not be able to define what the future looks like. If he can get himself to the future argument, hell be stronger, but he keeps getting tripped up by explaining what happened 30, 40 years ago. Thats his challenge. He has to be about tomorrow, not yesterday. The problem for democrats, its not bidens lack of message, its the message the other candidates have. So, if you look at look at Bernie Sanders<\/a> this week, somebody who had a tough week, his Green New Deal<\/a> is even more expensive than the current Green New Deal<\/a> on the table. The American People<\/a> are going to see this, say, sorry, i cant go that far. We dont feel that threatened to go that far. No. And joe bidens problem what joe biden i think is smartly doing right now is not extending himself to respond to all that kind of stuff because, if he does he can only move left. He has to stay where he is. Play the game and let the others burn out. But he doesnt have the answers. A week, where amazon is on fired, people are worried about climate, immigration at a height right now, if hes not forward to bring forward answers. People will look to other alternatives. People agree with positions on Bernie Sanders<\/a> and warren on healthcare. Rahm, Bernie Sanders<\/a>, 16 trillion, we may be heading into a recession, on college debt, on housing, on medicare for all, youre talking about tax increases, potentially in the face of a looming recession, is that something democrats the big challenge for Bernie Sanders<\/a> is, literally, 16 trillion, i mean, you can see the Cash Register<\/a> ad, its not hard. Theres an hour and a half left in the debate here. Second of all, id say the point is, you can have a responsible Climate Change<\/a> plan, you can have a responsible health care plan. The challenge here by Bernie Sanders<\/a> in an economic downturn, do you have a plan for the economy working for all . You could have had that ten years ago. Where we are now with the environment, people need extreme aggressive action on it. People on health care, people are literally dying from lack of insulin, were in an extreme situation the problem are republicans are going to have first of all, hes more unpopular than the worst policies than the democrats are offering. The republicans cant make a debt argument. The debt has been doubled in the course of the last four years. The problem republicans have in this, donald trump is a huge weight. Democrats, its a binary choice unless the economy turns. Last word for today. Thank you all very much. Up next, new mission for cindy mccain. Well be right back. Next, new mission for cindy mccain. For the care we provide, for the everchanges that we make in their lives. Patients that have not had care for many, many years. In the jail we provide medical, Mental Health<\/a>, and pharmaceutical services to our patients. Im very proud of the work we do at wellpath. The work that my team does. 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. Ive had the good fortune to spend 60 years in service to this wondrous land. Its not been Perfect Service<\/a> to be sure. And there will probably be times that the country benefited a little less of my help. But i tried to deserve the privileges the best i can. I have repaid a thousand times over. Senator john mccain died one year ago today after a lifetime of service. This week, jon karl traveled to arizona to speak with mccains widow, cindy mccain, whos launched a new initiative in the senators memory. Its hard to imagine that its been a year. How are you doing . Im doing okay. This is a process and my biggest job this past year has been making sure my family was okay. How often do you think of him . All the time. Every day. Every second of every day almost and hope hes approving of what im doing. Now, you have this new initiative. Tell me about it. I named it acts of civility. What im asking people to do is to go out and perform an act of civility, perhaps you go and talk to a Family Member<\/a> that you have disagreed with and try to make peace with that Family Member<\/a>. Agree to disagree with that Family Member<\/a>. Post it on social media. What do you think is driving the incivility that we see now . I think social media is for obvious reasons, contention on both sides of the aisle. The the lack of civility, i mean somehow weve been able we come down a lane now where, its okay to insult someone on the senate floor, insult someone on the house floor, and then walk away from it. What would senator mccain be talking to me about right now . What would be driving him right now . Certainly the shootings that have been going on. Certainly, the incivility thats happening. John was always the guy fighting for the little guy and i think john would be very discouraged about the border situation right now. He would also be the voice of reason in all of this, which is what were sorely lacking right now, is his voice of reason and his understanding of the purpose and the the ability to be able to work across the aisle on these issues. Thats how we worked for so many years. Now to just close ranks and not talk to anybody doesnt make any sense. It doesnt do any good for the country. Whos carrying that torch now . I dont see someone carrying the mantle of reason right now. I hoping someone will bubble up. Are you surprised at the way the Republican Party<\/a> has basically marched lockstep with President Trump<\/a> . Im surprised at a lot of things. This party is not the party of Abraham Lincoln<\/a> nor the party of ronald reagan. Were the ones who should be nonpartisan. Were the ones who should be working for the good of all. I believe this pendulum is going to swing back. I dont know when. But i just dont believe were going to stick right here on this side thats just disruptive and mean and nonprogressive. Two ways it can go, swing back and move towards civility or it can be a reaction in the opposite direction that, you know, its kind of more incivility. Hitting back, hitting back. Counterpunching as the president likes to say. Our country is not well right now. Were not you know, we need to get our act together number one and step back and take a breath. You know, this countrys made up of immigrants, were made up of people of every color, every creed, and thats what makes us special. To somehow side up black and white, brown and white, its just wrong. What about senator mccains friends who are in the senate . You know, still are my friends. Are you at all disappointed when you see someone like Lindsey Graham<\/a> basically become the president s most steadfast defender on this stuff . Well, lindsey has his own political career to worry about and his own political life. I would just hope in the long run everyone would begin to move the right direction. Including lindsey or anybody else. Lindsey is a part of my family. Hes a good friend. I cant not and will not be critical of lindsey. Before you go, a little straight talk, were going into another president ial campaign, you have seen not one but two president ial campaigns up very, very close. Whats your advice to the candidates . Oh, gosh. My advice is to not listen to the naysayers. Dont let the naysayers get you down. Do the right thing. You know, speak your mind. Speak your heart but be civil about it. I think also enjoy it. Never forget your sense of humor. You know, if you dont have a sense of humor youre not going to survive it, quite frankly. Youre not going to endorse any candidates . No. I just want to watch the process. If i participate it will be on the part of encouraging civility and encouraging people to talk to one another. And you have said not long ago that you wouldnt be surprised to see a mccain or two get into politics . Any update on that . Well, i have several that are interested. Well see what happens on that. We encouraged all of our kids to get involved in public service. We could see another mccain campaigning . I think so. For something . Yeah, for something. Something somewhere. That one ill get involved in. Youll endorse . Ill endorse that one. All right, thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thanks to jon karl and cindy mccain and thanks to all of you for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out world news tonight and ill see you tomorrow on gma. Events in southern california. A deputy who reported he was shot last week confesses to making up the story. And heres a live look outside, where it is becoming sunny quickly out there. Still a little patchy dense fog. Upper 50s to low 60s downtown right now. Low 70s later on this afternoon. A warmer day for everyone. Your forecast is coming up next to the wait did frowe just winners. Prouders everyone uses their phone differently. Thats why Xfinity Mobile<\/a> lets you design your own data. Now you can share it between lines. Mix with unlimited, and switch it up at anytime so you only pay for what you need. Its a different kind of Wireless Network<\/a> designed to save you money. 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