Dickerson welcome back the face the nation. Im john dickerson. We continue with the chairman of the Republican Party, reince priebus. Well leave the previous issue. You once said that the electoral. The way the Electoral College works, democrats need to be good. Republicans need to be nearly perfect. Is donald trump running a nearly Perfect Campaign . Well, let something. This is a fascinating year for everybody, we all know that, but i have been, and i think people need to get outside this beltway and get on the road. If they were to see what i see, i see one of the greatest ground game movements, to be ground, meaning people coming to events, 20,000 in middle pennsylvania, 22,000 in seattle. This is probably one of the biggest movements as far as people across this country in modern history. Analyze donald trump all day long, 24 7 on cable, i think people have to look at what the facts are, and were tied today, as we sit here, 51 days from the election. And we have a candidate that is capturing the electorate, america. It might not be capturing the pundits, but hes capturing america. Dickerson is he capturing reluctant republicans, some of whom are republican officials in the Republican Party either in trump category . Well, some of the people ran for president , but you have to look at where we are we at with the voters. And where were at with the voters, in one of the last polls im at, nearly 91 of the republicans, 92 . We need to do a couple Percentage Points better, but people who agreed to support the nominee, that took part in our process, theyve used tools from the rnc. They agreed to support the were a private party. Were in the a public entity. Those people need to get on board. And if theyre thinking theyre going to run again some day, i think that were going to evaluate the process of the nomination process, and i dont think its going to be that easy for them. Dickerson would the party itself penalized someone who does not make good on the pledge they made to support the nominee . I think these are things our party will look at in the process. And i think that people who gave us their from the rnc, should be on board. Sure. Dickerson governor john kasich, if he wants to run again, he might be out of luck as far as the rnc goes . People in our party are talking about what were going to do about this. There is a Ballot Access issue in south carolina. In order to be on the ballot in south carolina, you have to pledge your support to the nominee, no matter who that is . Whats the penalty for that . Its not a threat. And if a private entity puts forward a process and has agreement with the participants in that process, then those participants dont follow through with the promises that they made in that process, what should a private party do about that if those same people come around in four or eight years . Dickerson sounds like a brushback pitch, but let me ask you one last question, at one point donald trump said the debates are rigged. You have been part of process. Has the process been fair . Does it feel fair to you at this point . Well, there are two parts to that. As far as our party is concerned, i think ive been straight up and fair the whole way through. I think people have evaluated what weve done. I think people understand that i think i played it straight down the middle from the beginning to the end. I do think that the media, especially in the cable 24 7 negative sixminute segments on donald trump no matter what it is. And i think that part of it is very unfair. Dickerson but the debate part so far as the nights its happening, the moderators, all that . I think its square. And i think people are ready to move forward and move on with this. I think that first debate is going to be probably one of the biggest events in the history of president ial politics. Dickerson all right. Dickerson all right. Mr. Chairman, thank you so much for being with us. You bet. You bet. Dickerson well be right back. But they couldnt miss the show. So dad went to the new safelitedotcom. And in just a few clicks, he scheduled a replacement. Before the girls even took the stage. Safelitedotcom is the fast, easy way to Schedule Service anywhere in america so you dont have to miss a thing. Yall did wonderful thats another safelite advantage. Dickerson and were back with our political panel. Ruth marcus is a columnist at the washington post. Salamle is an executive director with the national review. Mark leibovich is with the new york times. Riewrkt i want the start with you. The response to this explosion in new york overnight. Donald trump got off the plane immediately and said, a bought went off. Turns out he was right. Wait for the details. Is that a frame from which we should look at the two candidates . Its pretty telling. He turned out to be right, but might not have. I think that, look, im a facts girl, so i think the response, id like to wait for the facts until i comment is always a good idea. I think both of them could have behooved them to express some concern for the victims, which seems to be something thats forgotten in all this. About this oped by secretary robert gates. Attacked both candidates. Not attacked, sorry, criticized both candidates for their weaknesses. Hillary clinton not trustworthiness. Donald trump doesnt have the temperament for the job. Does this matter . Does he raise important questions about this, and with donald trump calling him a clown, does that matter or is that just what were used to from donald trump . My sense is that Donald Trumps style, the brag doash owe is priced in for voters. If you look at the survey, it looks as though Hillary Clintons support with the Obama Coalition is softening. If you look at younger voters, its softening even drastically. Even younger black men, it seems there is some weakness here. Whereas if you look at donald trump, there is certainly what folks in many Media Outlets talk about, the birther controversy, which im sure well talk more about now. But hes proposed a new social he went on the dr. Oz show, which by the way, is a show thats watched by many of the voters hes seeking to reach, and he praised medicaid. And he suggested that we ought to expand the Medicaid Program further. So when you think about trying to get through one channel, the people who read the wall street journal editorial page, and then trying the reach another channel, think about the married white women in a state like pennsylvania, the people that he hasnt been able to reach, the people who have been reluctant to join his campaign. Its not obviousme hasnt done a decent job of doing an end run around certain kinds of media criticism and reaching those people. Dickerson and the polls have tightened a little and, mark, picking up on the point about those kinds of voters, the reintroduction of the idea that for five years donald trump was the advocate for the idea that barack obama was not born in the united states. Does that matter to those kinds of voters . Is that why he finally came out and said, yes, he was born here . I think the lead that Hillary Clinton opened up in august was a lot of softening republicans. You mentioned softening of the Obama Coalition. A lot of these were squishy republicans who would listen to someone like Susan Collins who said she wouldnt vote for donald trump. Theres like this divide between republicans who know who robert gates is and those who dont. Hes obviously a very wellrespected figure in the Republican Party or at least the establishment of the Republican Party. I was actually somewhat surprised by how critical he w of Hillary Clinton, who he apparently was. I thought he lad been an ally of closely during the obama years when they both served together. I do think that the kind of language he used, he said its the kind of damning language that butts the fear of pulling the will every for him into a lot of the suburban republicans in philadelphia. Dickerson one thing thats been interesting, ruth, in the clinton conversation, the last there talking about solutions. Thats been interrupted by her comments about half of Trump Supporters being the basket of deplorables or health issues. Now other things are getting in the way. What does that tell you, though, that this late in the campaign theyre feeling like we still have to make the case for Hillary Clinton . And she still feels like she has to make the case. Thats parted of what shes thinking about in the debates. It has been impossible. Its actually impossible even for Donald Trumps policy now that its coming to break shes had a hard time either talking about individual policies in this campaign, but even larger, talking about the larger vision that she has for the country and for getting people to like her trust her. This is a big challenge in the debate in addition to simultaneously trying to fact check donald trump. Dickerson i want to get back to the dail minute to the question of one can fix ones liabilities in a debate. Trumps view on the president s birth, he has asked us and his campaign has asked us to look back at his Business Career for an idea on how he would be president , look at his germany on the foreign policy. They now want this not to be a conversation, the question of the president s birth. But you cant just say its over. Oh, i think its pretty clear that donald trump talked about this, raised questions about this for many years. But again, as i suggested earlier, the thing is that this may well be very relevant and motivating for some voters. It is not clearly to m those voters for whom this is a pressing and important issue are vote theres donald trump was ever going to be able to win regardless. Now, lets look at a state like florida, and Mark Leibovich is with the new york times. You have a new report on survey findings in florida. You see that back in 2008, Hillary Clinton was well to the right of barack obama on some immigration issues. Now shes well to his left in terms of she talks about deportation relief and much else. But if you look at hispanic voters, barack obama the last voters. Hillary clinton is well behind Barack Obamas mark among hispanic voters. Now, theyre not going to donald trump, but it seems like a lot of them are demote secretary of stated. And this is a pattern you see not just in florida but many other states besides. For a state like florida that many people assumed because Hillary Clintons big push on immigration and amnesty and other issues would be in the bag for her, she is struggling there. So is she struggling with the kind of voters for whom talk of the birther controversy is really may well make sense that by magnifying this and by talking about, this that could help motivate some of those voters, but is that going to get her over the bar, well see. Im going to disagree on the issue of whether this is an issue that could affect vote theres would otherwise be for trump. First of all, it is astonishing that we are debating this this late in the game. Its something that donald trump didnt put away in 2011. Earlier in this cycle. You asked Kellyanne Conway why donald trump was whining about the president s birth for the last five years, she said, youll have to ask him. That means case is not closed. So i think the voters affected by this are voters who might not be voters who would go for trump. But theyre voters who might have thought about staying home in the polls or theyre voters who might gary johnson or jill stein, and now they get enraged and scared about the notion of trump being president. Thats pretty much my view, as well. Dickerson i hear on the right people saying this is the press obsessed with the question of obamas birth to not cover policy that trump is covering. On the left i hear, dont fall for donald trump talking about birther. Pay attention to the foundation and other things. Whats the right way the look at this . I would say, look, the notion debate for however many years, when was this ever a debate . It was a debate on the fringes in certain sectors. Donald trump, its been well documented, spent five years talking about. This whether voters respond or not, its appalling to watch this argument play out. Its edifying to no one. The facts are very, very clear. And just speaking as one human being, maybe im in the media, so im suspect, but i find it appalling. Whether it plays out electorally or not make clear what were talking about. Dickerson ruth, lets move to the debates. Reince priebus said the biggest political event in the world. Is that good, by the way to, have that much focus on a single thing . It is what it is. And i think its, look, to the extent that, you know, donald trump is hoping to generate the biggest ratings ever, the more voters pay attention, the more voters are engaged, even if they havent been engaged before. Its actually why its really important that we have three debates, not one debate, so that people are not affected by one single thing. You can go back and go to issues. Dickerson what should we be looking for in the debate . Well, one thing ill throw out there is that back in 2012, bill clinton at the Democratic National convention felt like it was really important that republicans wanted to cut the Medicaid Program. The fact that donald trump wants to expand it is completely not an issue, and thats amazing. The debate. In the first debate between barack obama and mitt romney, romney was able to do an end run about the media conversation about his campaign and connect directly with voters and present a very different face. Im not sure if donald trump is capable of doing that, but imagine if he does. Imagine if he shows the many ways that he appears to be not like other republicans, for better or for worse, by the way, thats something where well have a direct channel to an audience thats been hearing all kinds of messages about him. So that will be interesting to watch. Be wrong, but i dont think donald trump is crashing on the details of his medicaid policy as he prepares for this debate. I think whats exhilarateing to him is that this is a great show. He sees himself foremost as a showman. He thinks he can handle the stage and the moment. The Clinton Campaign has said over and over and over again, look, 100 Peoples State Bank will watch this. This is a moment to get very basic facts and very basic ads about Donald Trumps history, my own credibility out there. And i think to some degree they large diversion of their convention condensed into a couple hours. Dickerson well have the leave it there. Its a little more than a week away from our first debate. We thank you all for being here. Well be right back in a moment. Two candidates, one goal, your vote. The first president , debate, a cbs news prime time special live dickerson saturday marks the official opening of the new Smithsonian Museum of African American history and culture. We visited the museum with a man who spent 15 years working on its establishment, georgia congressman john lewis. Congressman, were sitting here at a lunch counter. What does that mean to you . Sitting here, i tell you, my first nonviolent protest was in 1960 in downtown nashville sitting down at a lunch counter on a stool in the local woolworths store. This all takes me back. I grew up sitting down. I wouldnt be the person that i am today if it hadnt taking a seat. Dickerson what does it mean to be here inside this building . It just means everything. To walk in here, to be here, to see this magnificent museum, its going to continue to take me back, just walking through here, i could almost cry. I dont want you to make me cry. Dickerson you also spoke the march on washington. Would you ever have imagined that there would be this kind of a monument . I never thought, i never dreamed that one day there would be a monument, there would be a museum telling the story and the history of African Americans for the days of slavery. Dickerson what is that story you want people to understand when they come here . This story is an american story. It tells of our history, our having the ls, desegregation, racial discrimination, but much earlier, the whole system of slavery, the denial of basic constitutional right, the right to vote, the right to get an education, that people suffered, they struggled, people were beaten and arrested and jailed, people died, but they never give up. They never became bitter or hostile. They kept the faith. And they kent dreaming. Dickerson when you spoke on the steps of the lincoln memorial, you said, wake up, america. We cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient. A real sense of urgency. Where are things now in terms of urgency in the fight for social justice . Well, weve come a distance. Weve made a lot of progress. When people tell me nothing has changed, i feel like walk in my shoes. Ly show you change. Were one people. And we were involved in the struggle during the 50s and 60s. White people and black people suffered together. They died together to bring about change, to bring down those signs, white men, white the only places we will see those signs today will be in a book or in a museum like this one. Dickerson speaking of walking in john lewis shoes, theres a picture of you on the Edmund Pettis bridge. What was happening in that picture. Well, in 1965, a group of us, about 600 of us, wanted to walk from selma, alabama, to montgomery to dramatize to the nation and to the world that people of color wanted to register t we were walking in an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion. We came to the highest point on the bridge crossing the alabama river. Down below we saw a sea of blue, Alabama State troopers. And a man spoke up and said, this is an unlawful march. You will not be