inflation skyrockets at home while abroad president biden makes nice with a leader he vowed to make a pariah. >> the united states is invested in building a positive future in the region. >> was it worth the price? top economic adviser to president biden, jared

bernstein, joins me ahead. and proxy battle. republican primaries pit sitting governors against former president trump, who says it's a matter of when, not if, he runs. what will the gop look like in 2024? i'll speak exclusively to the republican governor of arizona, doug ducey, next. plus, 187 minutes. the january 6th committee will lay out what former president trump did during the insurrection. >> i look at it as a dereliction of duty. he didn't act. >> is it a crime? i'll speak exclusively to january 6th committee meeting elaine luria in moments. hello, i'm dana bash in washington where the state of our union is really feeling the price hikes. president biden is back in washington this morning and brushing back criticism of his meeting and fist bump with saudi's brutal crown prince this week.

>> do you regret the fist bump, mr. president? >> why don't you talk about something that matters. i'm happy to answer a question that matters. >> the face-to-face in oil-rich saudi arabia comes as the president tries to take on soaring gas prices and inflation. a new report this week showed inflation rose 9.1% in june compared to last year. the fastest rate in four decades and without any easy solutions. president biden also returns to a domestic agenda that has, once again, been stymied by democratic senator joe manchin. the west virginia senator announced thursday he is ending current negotiations on the sweeping climate and tax plans president biden and other democrats hoped to pass. saying he wants to see more data on inflation before moving forward. the move makes it increasingly difficult for democrats to make good on those campaign promises before the midterm elections. and has left many in his party furious. president biden is advicing congressional democrats to take

what they can get from senator manchin and pass his deal to lower drug prices and health care subsidies. here to talk about all this is economic adviser to president biden, jared bernstein. thank you for coming in. let's talk about that inflation report. your former colleague in the obama administration, jason furman, called it brutal, adding, there is absolutely nothing good in it. larry summers says, no one can -- nobody, rather, can suppose that inflation is under control. in his statement, president biden dismissed it as out of date. if you don't think 9.1% is the inflation rate the last month, what is it? >> first of all, let's be clear. the president himself said repeatedly after that report came out that inflation is unacceptably high. remember, this is a president who grew up in a family where issues like the gas of price and the price of food were kitchen table issues. he has dispatched his team to do everything we can to ease price

pressures. it is his top domestic economic priority. now, in terms of the out of date, i think what the president meant there, is since that report came out, the price of gas is down about 50 cents a gallon. that's about the fastest decline in about a decade. it is still way too elevated. let's make that clear. we have more work to do in that space. but it gives americans a little breathing room at the pump. there are key other aspects. you actually mentioned some of them that this president is the congress -- democrats are lined up here can undertake to improve the affordability of prescription drugs and health care. >> i'm going to talk about that in one second, but let's talk about what you mentioned, breathing room. democratic lawmakers, a lot of them, they don't agree that that message is working. i'm sure you've heard it. president biden said that declining gas prices, just like ug said here, are providing more breathing room for american families, but the national average is still over $4.50. and i want you to listen to what democratic senator tammy baldwin told me this week.

>> when people come up to you in wisconsin in the grocery store or at the gas station and ask you about high prices, is that what you would tell them, the data is out of date? >> certainly not. it's great news that in the last month, gas prices have gone down by about 40 cents per gallon. that's really not the break people are looking for. >> so, when you say breathing room, you understand that there are people out there saying, i'm not feeling breathing room. i'm feeling crunched. >> absolutely. that is well understood, but if we're going to talk about the damage that these high energy prices are having on family budgets, i think we have to talk about the benefits for when those prices come down a little. i've been very clear, more importantly the president is unequivocal by not calling mission accomplished on any of this 37 we're talking about a decline that's completely insufficient when it comes to

delivering family relief to budgets they need. so, that's why he continues to push on every aspect he can of this issue in terms of increasing the supply of global energy to help mitigate that price increase. >> you're right. the prices have come down, which is a good thing. it's better than them going the other way. >> you have to get the trend going the other way. >> "the washington post" is reporting the treasury department says the oil price could soar 50% after -- actually, more than 50% after the european sanctions on russia kick in on russian gas. so, the question is, are analysts who are predicting that that might make gas prices $6 a gallon accurate? could prices actually go back up? >> so, a lot to unpack there. first of all, you talked about the price of oil. i should have mentioned this earlier. while the gas price is down about 8% or 9%, the oil price is down about 20%. so, when we talk about the president doing all he can to provide relief at the pump, one

of the things he's doing is trying to nudge these companies to pass some of those savings along to consumers. you know, in the first quarter of this year, some of the biggest oil companies had a net profit of $35 billion. these are companies we helped to the tune of billions of dollars during the pandemic -- >> will prices go back up? >> i'll get to that. during the pandemic downturn. they ought to share some of that profitability with the american people right now, especially as we're supporting ukraine's efforts in their war against russia. no one can see reliably around the corner when it comes to price, talking a couple of quarters away, so i would say don't pay a lot of attention to the forecasts because it's too much volatility. what i can say, i think it's very likely that gas prices continue to track down for the rest of this month. i say that not just because the oil price is down 20%, but wholesale prices are down as well. those two tend to track each other. dana, this is minutia. when it comes to prescription

drugs and health care premiums, as you said in your introduction, democrats are there. >> i promise we're going to get to that, but just one more question about the efforts that the administration is making on oil. the president just returned from saudi arabia. he met with crown prince mohammed bin salman. i want you to look at this image. i know you've seen it. the world has seen it. the fist bump. and the reaction has been swift because this is a man who ordered the brutal murder of a journalist and then his body was dismembered with a bone saw. jamal khashoggi's fiancee said if he were alive today, is the accountability you promised for my murder? the murder of mbs's next victim is on your hands. why is he fist bumping him? >> you're talking to a policy adviser. i'm much more able to give you fulsome read outon meetings, not

greetings. first of all, the president explained his rationale for this meeting quite fullsomely in a washington post op-ed that's there for everyone to read. let me quote something jake sullivan said. president biden's ensuring there's no vacuum for russia and china to fill. what jake is saying there, what the president is engaged in here, is trying to stabilize a critical region of this world. something that he has consistently done in his foreign policy work as senator for many decades. economically, more secure and stable middle east is important, i think, for the american people. >> that's a long-term goal. did he actually deliver anything on the road to that from this very controversial meeting? >> so, we saw saudi arabia say that it would increase its capacity for oil production and i refer you to them for more information there. but remember, saudi arabia is part of -- of course, part of

opec, part of the cartel. the president has been -- and other -- some of our other members of our foreign policy team have been pressuring opec to increase production. in fact, a few weeks ago they talked about doing precisely that for july and august, increasing production 50%. this is very much part of that effort. >> let's talk about the domestic agenda and what happened this week. senator manchin backed out of negotiations on parts of that plan. the climate crisis, corporate tax increases. president biden said that the senate should pass the scaled down plan to extend obamacare subsidies, what you were talking about, allowing medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, for example. i want you to listen to what senator manchin said about why he blocked other parts of the agenda. >> inflation is absolutely killing many, many people. they can't buy gasoline. they have a hard time buying groceries. everything they buy and consume for their daily lives is a hardship to them.

and can't we wait to make sure that we do nothing to add to that? >> is president biden frustrated with senator manchin? >> i think the president is very much and very compelled to get congress to work with him on his climate agenda. he's already taken unprecedented action. i think this is important. if you can't find a legislative path to clean energy, the urgency of the problem is so significant, that as he said on friday, he will find an executive order and rule change path to get there. and i should say, he's already found that path. he'll continue down it. he has invoked the defense production act to ramp up clean energy production in this country. he has helped to kickstart the offshore wind industry. he has set the toughest ever emissions standards. he will continue to pursue that with or without congress, but the urgency of the issue, dana, i think is -- it is beyond me

how anyone could miss it. over $$100 billion a year on cot to our economy based on wildfires, droughts. look at the geopolitical pressures from this. a russian prosecuting war based on fossil fuels. there's a great rationale to what this president is undertaking and he will continue to press. >> i appreciate your time. he's facing off against president trump in a proxy war for the future of the gop. doug ducey will join me next. how much did he tell them about what president trump was doing as the capitol was attacked by his own supporters? stay with us. [singing] oven roasted cooooold cuts cooold cuts hepatitis c? don't just treat it. crush it with mavyret.

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welcome back to "state of the union." one of the hallmarks of this election year is former president trump's determination to back gop candidates who subscribe to his lies about the 2020 election. that is especially true in arizona, a state trump lost and blames the gop governor doug ducey for ignoring his pressure to overturn joe biden's win there. the former president heads to arizona next week to rally for his pick to replace the

term-limited ducey. former tv anchor and election denier kerry lake but outgoing governor and co-chair of the republican governors association ducey is backing a different candidate to replace him. real estate developer karen taylor robson. here with me now is governor ducey of arizona. governor, thank you so much for joining me. your state's primary is now just over two weeks away. you and the former president are on opposite sides of this primary battle. and the candidate he is supporting says the 2020 election was stolen. so what is at stake in this race for your state and for the overall republican party and its future? >> well, the names on the ballot are karen robson and kerry lake. robson is the real conservative. she's the real deal. she started her career working for ronald reagan, she's

pro-gun, pro-life. she's the mother of four. she's been a community leader and a successful business person. and i think karen taylor robson will be the best person to be a fresh, new leader for the state of arizona. her opponent, on the other hand, bears no resemblance. her campaign or even her personal interactions with me to anything she's done over the past 30 years. this is all an act. she's been putting on a show for some time now. and we'll see if the voters of arizona buy it. >> and how does this play into the national conversation, particularly about, as i mentioned, the election in 2020. c lake is backed by the former president, in large part, because she says the 2020 election was stolen. >> kari lake is misleading voters. she's been tagged by her opponent, fake lake, which is

sticking and doing some damage. karen taylor robson started from zero and now this is a margin of error race. >> will the republican governors association support kari lake in the general election if she wins the primary? >> all post-august 2nd roles are to be determined. the republican governor's association is in the business of electing republican governors. we happen to be very good at it. we're the only majority republican conference in the country. we protect our incumbents, we reap our red states red. dana, we're on offense all over the country right now. this is the most expansive map we've ever had. oregon just came online, so we're on offense. we don't support lost causes. we certainly don't support landslides. we go into states where the races are competitive and get the good candidate over the finish line. >> let me expand beyond arizona. doug mastriano has already won

in pennsylvania for that governor's race. will you support him or is he in that category of lost cause? >> no, i didn't say lost cause in any category yet. >> but i'm asking you, do you -- >> it's a long ways -- >> will the rga support him in pennsylvania? >> november 8th is a long way off, so we'll be looking at this map, we'll be looking at the resources we have, and we don't know what september and october are going to hold. we don't know who the next charlie baker in massachusetts, larry hogan in maryland, or glenn youngkin in virginia is going to be, so we'll make those decisions targeted on a basis on how we can have success and results. we don't spread the dollars pro rata across the country. we go into states where people have moved numbers, build coalitions and we win those races. >> let me ask you on a personal level. do you, doug ducey, who does not believe the 2020 election was stolen, either in your home state of arizona or in

pennsylvania, think that someone like doug mastriano should be in such an important swing state in the governor's mansion? >> i think that the people of any state would be better served by a governor who believes in the people, believes that small businesses should be allowed to operate, and believes that children should be in classrooms. i also think this election should be about the future. i don't think we should think for one more moment about 2020. this is about the 2022 election cycle. as i said, the job of the rga is to elect republican governors and that's what we're going to do in this cycle. >> i want to ask about january 6th. your state house speaker and your friend, rusty bowers, testified before that committee, about the direct pressure he got from donald trump. john eastman and rudy giuliani. you told me last year on this show that donald trump bears some responsibility for january 6th. do you believe his actions on january 6th or inaction should

disqualify him for holding public office in the future? >> dana, i condemned january 6th. and i think everyone that broke the law should be held accountable. in our system, this is up to the voters on what happens next. so many people want to talk about 2024. i want to resist that temptation to talk about hypotheticals. i think the best way for us to turn this page and to move forward as a conservative republican party and the country is to make sure we get the best possible people elected in 2022. and that's my focus as well as running the state of arizona every single day. >> if donald trump runs in 2024, will you support him? >> i think we will have options in the 2024 primary race. i am hopeful we will have options. and i want somebody who can win that general election because i believe with success in 2022, the general election is the republican party's for the taking.

>> let's talk about a couple of really important issues that voters are talking about and thinking about. gas prices. gas prices in your state and arizona are still at $4.85 per gallon, well above the national average. president biden wants a gas tax holiday on a national level but also for states. will you support temporarily lifting arizona's gas tax? >> arizona has the lowest flat tax in the nation. we just passed the largest tax decrease in the history of our state. meanwhile, president biden is flying to the middle east and fist bumping with murderers and despots, asking for more supply. what he could do is open up the keystone pipeline. what he could do is work with america's energy leaders and provide more supply of fossil fuels, of clean energy and solve this crisis. he's going to have to make that

decision. we're not going to do anything in arizona that's temporary or a gimmick or puts my successor in a terrible spot with the voters. we're going to have good policy here and joe biden could lead from the white house as well. >> governor, you signed a 15-week abortion ban into law in march. your attorney general is trying to reinstate a 1901 law from before arizona was a state, which bans all abortion except to save the life of a mother. will you support that? should abortion be banned in arizona? >> well, listen, dana, i know you know that i'm proudly pro-life. arizona is considered the number one most pro-life state in the nation. i was supportive of the supreme court's actions. i believe that roe versus wade was wrongly decided. and now it comes back to the states. the law that i signed was the 15-week abortion law. and the legal authority inside

the state in terms of opinions is our attorney general. this will be left to the courts to decide, but ultimately it should come back to the le legislatures and the people to make the decision. >> so, do you support a total ban or do you not? what do you personally believe as governor? >> what i ran on in 2014 is that i am pro-life with exceptions for life of the mother, rape and incest. that's what i remain. >> you signed a new school voucher program into law. and it lets any student in your state use publicly funded vo vouchers to help pay for school. critics say it will funnel state dollars to wealthy families who can already afford private schools. why should wealthy families, who can afford private school, be eligible for state vouchers? >> arizona is now the gold standard for educational

freedom. these are not vouchers. this is a scholarship for all 1,100,000 of arizona students. and i'm not concerned about the wealthy families. i'm concerned about the poor families. 50 years ago, politicians stood in the schoolhouse door and wouldn't let minorities in. today union-backed politicians stand in the schoolhouse door and won't let minorities out. it's time to set these families free. they are trapped in failing public schools and now they will have a way out and they'll be able to learn, grow and climb the economic ladder in the united states of america. >> if your focus -- >> and arizona first. i encourage all my governors, both republican and democrat, to take this bill in arizona, take educational savings accounts, and make sure everyone in your state has access to their taxpayer dollars so they can get the education of their parents' choice. >> governor, if your focus is on low income students, making sure they get the same choices as

those who have wealthy parents, why not just focus the public funding on them? why also give public funding to wealthy families? >> public education is about educating our public. and i believe in equal opportunity for all of our students and all of our families. i really think this is the way to renew american k-12 education, to renew america. to have an education where you're learning something of value, of math, reading, science, american civics, character formation. arizona leads on this already as the number one state for school choice. and now with educational savings accounts, we're going to take it to the next level. >> governor ducey of arizona, thank you for joining me. i really appreciate it. >> thank you, dana. what happened to the secret service text messages from january 6th? and what's ahead in this week's hearing. i'll ask a member of the january 6th committee what they've learned. that's next.

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so we gave 'em thinkorswim® web. because platforms this innovative aren't just made for traders -they're made by them. thinkorswim® by td ameritrade welcome back to "state of the union." the january 6th committee will reveal what they know this week about the 187 minutes that former president trump spent that day not trying to stop the rioters from ransacking the u.s. capitol. here with me now is one of the two committee members leading the upcoming hearing, democratic congresswoman elaine luria of virginia. thank you for joining me. congresswoman, i want to start with what to expect from this prime time hearing on thursday. does your committee know what donald trump was doing for all of those 187 minutes on january

6th? and how much did the testimony from pat cipollone, his white house counsel then, help answer that question? >> dana, i'll start. it's pretty simple. he was doing nothing to actually stop the riot. we'll go through pretty much minute by minute in that time frame from the time he left the stage at the ellipse, came back to the white house and really sat in the white house, in the dining room, you know, with his advisers, urging him, continuously to take action, to take more action. and not only was it a situation of not doing anything, at one point the infamous tweet at 2:24 he egged people on by saying vice president pence didn't have the courage to do the right thing. mr. cipollone's testimony is very valuable. we'll be incorporating that into our hearing coming up on thursday. but there's actually more. it's not only mr. cipollone. there's other witnesses we've spoken to who have yet to appear in our previous hearings, who will add a lot of value and

information to events of that critical time on january 6th. >> who will that be? >> you'll have to wait until thursday to see. but i will tell you that people who were in the white house, people close to the president, and also, you know, people who had insight into the actions that were going on, you know, in the variety of ways that they were trying to control the violence. >> are they people we haven't heard from thus far? >> yes, there will definitely be people included in the hearing who we have not heard from so far. >> the inaction you talked about, does it constitute a cri crime, in your view? >> well, you know, mr. kinzinger and i were both veterans leading this community. i think as veterans of the military understand what action looks like in a time of crisis. and also the president is the commander in chief, he's the only person in the constitution whose duty is explicitly laid out to ensure the laws are

faithfully executed. i look at it as a dereliction of duty. he has a duty to act. we will address that in a lot of detail and, you know, from that, we will build on the information we provided in the earlier hearings. >> your panel just subpoenaed the u.s. secret service for texts from january 6th. this is a really extraordinary move. the dhs inspector general said that the secret service erased them. now congressman jamie raskin says there are contradictory representations about that. can you clarify, do texts still exist from the key members of the secret service from in and around january 6th? and are you confident that they were not deleted nefariously? >> that's what we have to get to the bottom of. theirs a requirement for federal agencies to maintain records, an agency that was such a key part of a critical event in our history, one would assume they had done everything possible to keep those records, to analyze them, to determine what went

right and wrong that date in their practices and procedures. we're looking into them. that's why we're subpoenaing them. as far as digital records and text messages not being an i.t. expert, but i do understand, there's a lot of things that can be done, forensic analysis and recoup youing of data. we want to make sure we understand the bottom line. where are these text messages? can they be recovered? we subpoenaed them because they're legal records we need to see for the committee. >> when president trump is considering launching a presidential bid as soon as this fall, if donald trump announces a campaign for president, what will that mean, if anything, in how you conduct your investigation and the importance of it? >> well, it will not change how we're conducting this investigation. the purpose of this investigation is to lay out the facts of everything that led up to january 6th, the events that happened that day and prevent something like this from happening in the future. you know, the bottom line is that no one is above the law. whether he's a president, former president or a potential future

presidential candidate. we are going to pursue the facts and analyze those, provide recommendations. if necessary, you know, pass that information along to other people. you know, who would act in an appropriate way to hold him accountable. >> this hearing this coming week is the last one planned. but it really seems like you're getting a slew of new information on a daily basis. do you expect we're going to see more? >> so, this is the last in this series that we put together where we laid out a framework to describe the different elements of the events leading up to and on that day. certainly, we are receiving new information every single day, even day by day incorporating more of that new information into what we'll present on thursday. so, you will definitely be hearing from the committee again that, you know, timeline or whether it's in the form of hearings or other methods to present the evidence. but, you know, we have a responsibility to present the things we've uncovered and we

are talking about how the best way to do that is after this hearing. >> is your investigation in some ways ramping up with the new information you're getting? >> i would say so. you know, at one point, as we came into the end of the series of hearings, we thought this might be a point where we transitioned in an effort to make sure that we had documented and focused on the recommendations. i'd say we are still full speed ahead on the hearing as well as full speed ahead on the other elements of what we have a responsibility to do as a congressional committee. >> congresswoman elaine luria, thank you so much. we'll be watching you, of course, on thursday and you out there can watch the coverage of the january 6th hearing right here in prime time on cnn. tune in on thursday evening. and democrats hope voters turn out in november to support abortion rights, but could the way they talk about the issue be turning some of those voters off? we're going to talk about that with our panel next. with parodontax active gum health.

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we're talking about women dying. we're talking about more than half the population not being able to make decisions. we're not even half of this body has a uterus. when you silence us and don't allow us to amend bills that will let people vote, that will allow women to make their own decisions, you're silencing all

of us! >> welcome back to "state of the union." we're here with our panel. we have the woman you just heard, joanna mcclinton, the pennsylvania house democratic leader here at the table. thank you so much for coming down. that was you speaking on the pennsylvania house floor last week. you met recently with the vice president kamala harris in philadelphia to talk about the administration's efforts to better access abortion for people who are in tough spots, in states where it's becoming illegal. is the administration doing enough? >> absolutely. vice president kamala harris has made this a priority for our nation. we certainly know congress moved very quickly on friday. we're waiting on the united states senate to act and vote for the women's health care act. vice president harris came and met with my colleagues and i, both senate democrats and house democrats, in philadelphia from the entire commonwealth. we sat down to talk about what the federal government has done thus far and how we can

coordinate with messaging and ensure voters are aware for the first time in a very long time, women's health care and our independence, including our ability to vote freely, is on the ballot in pennsylvania. >> alyssa, how do you think this issue is playing now that we've had some time for it to settle in to the elector ate? >> i think it's more of a 2024 issue rather than midterm. most of the polling, inflation, economy and gas prices are the top-tier tickets for midterm. in the swing sdringts for republicans, especially in the south, it could be challenging. that said, the economy is the whole game for the midterms. in 2024, though, this is going to be interesting. if you're someone like a ron desantis who is easily behind president trump, the republican front-runner, in a state like florida that has major metropolitan areas like miami where access to abortion is something that's widely supported, i think it becomes a bigger challenge for him. >> so, there's abortion and then

there's another very hot issue, and that is the culture wars going on. it is very much playing out on the campaign trail and just in society in general. i want you to listen to an exchange between senator josh hawley and berkeley law professor bridges. it was a senate hearing, and she accused him of being transphobic. >> you referred to people with a capacity for pregnancy, would that be women? >> many women, since women have the capacity for pregnancy, many cis women do not have the capacity for pregnancy. there are also trans men who are capable of pregnancy as well as nonbinary people. >> this is not a women's rights issue. >> i want to recognize your line of questioning is transphobic. >> listen, i listened to josh hawley, i watched the exchange. i think that most voters, republican voters, you played that clip, republican voters are going to agree with josh hawley asking the question. he asked the professor, he said,

look, do you meet with your students with this level of animosity if they ask you these questions? she was very aggressive back. josh hawley said, do you expect -- can men have babies? she said that's a transphobic question. i'm not quite sure most americans see it that way. i think they see it, can men have babies? most americans say, no, they can't. that issue, i think, goes clearly -- you're going to see that clip played over and over again in many commercials. just one quick other point, dana, you talked about the abortion issue. you heard jeff zeleny, he was in pittsburgh this week, he was kind of out and about and he said, look, you talked about it, people in pennsylvania, they don't care about, it's not registering with them. they're talking about inflation, the economy, crime, all those issues that paul doesn't want to talk about. >> josh hawley doesn't want to talk about it. josh hawley is not one of that professor's students. i used to work from congressman gephardt in missouri. josh hawley is 40th in gun

deaths, 40th in life expectancy. it has above the national average of child poverty, below the national average of median income. he's doing a terrible job on crime, health care, jobs for his state, so he wants to beat up on trans kids, the most vulnerable in the state. >> come on, paul. >> it's despicable. do his jobs and health care to his state instead of beating up on some california professor. >> the whole game is the economy, but there's an interesting friction that's come about when you have the dobbs decision around abortion, and i consider myself an lgbt ally, but we also have this new sort of language where we can't even acknowledge that it's women's issues. that, you know, i'm as a woman someone who can get pregnant. i think the right is kind of seizing on that. there's some validity to it, but this is so far down the culture war and should be so far down on -- >> they are. >> it's going to be -- >> the other thing we have to realize is that western pennsylvanians have already been

very vocal about them being pro-choice. in washington county, right after the dobbs decision came down, almost 1,000 women came out with their daughters, with their children, saying, you know, here even in rural pennsylvania, we are not supportive of this decision. we support a woman's right to choose. we are not part of this culture war but we are doubling down in november to make sure our priorities are on the ballot and who pennsylvania chooses at our next governor. >> speaking of the ballot, let's speak of someone who wants to be back on the ballot in 2024. you might have heard of him, al alyssa, donald trump. you might have worked for him. i know this doesn't make you happy but he told new york magazine, quote, in my own mind i've already made the decision. i would say my big decision will be whether i go before or after, meaning the midterm elections. you understand what that means, do i go before or after? that will be my big decision. >> my prediction is august he announces. i think he's feeling the heat of

the january 6th hearings. i think they're significantly more effective than even his team anticipated. and i do think that -- listen, he's never cared about other republicans on the ticket and how it may hurt their races because if you're a republican in an uphill battle in the midterms, the last thing you want to do is answering for all the things donald trump has to answer for right now. but i will say this, i think that -- i think jeff zeleny, i'll steal this point from him that he made earlier, it's harder form merrick garland to o after him, even if there's potential crimes there. that's resonating with donald trump. the more he insulates -- >> how does that affect the races you care about in pennsylvania? >> it makes it much tougher having the president on the ticket. with doug mastriano at the top of the ticket -- with him running for governor in pennsylvania, donald trump is on the ballot already in pennsylvania. he's endorsed both the senate candidate and the republican

candidate. it makes it tougher in swing states, our colleague is kind of a purplish district. in a wave year republicans could win that seat. there are other seats they could win. having trump in the mix makes it much more difficult to pick up the swing seats. >> the greatest political strategist was henny youngman, the comic, he said, compared to what? biden is down. trump is downer. joe is still beating donald in the polls. it or to quote joe biden, don't compare me to the all mighty, compare me to the alternative. when he inserts himself, it hurts republicans with swing voters. >> i was going to say paul, i'll let it go quickly, that's the contrast president trump really likes, biden trump. he'll take that contrast any day. >> you live in the real world. can you tell us here in the swamp what's the answer to the

political peril or not of him being in the ballot in a state or commonwealth like yours. >> in the common wealth of pennsylvania, trump even being in office helped democrats. it was trump being in office helped us have not just a blue wave and moment but sweeping him with the statewide elections in the odd year and even year picking up seats in the house. we have to be very clear that josh shapiro's opponent has aligned himself with president trump and tried to throw votes out for the election and tried to criminalize abortion. he's on the ballot in pennsylvania. >> the only one less popular than donald trump, joe biden. >> donald trump according to the poll loses to joe biden. he's the only candidate he does. >> ten seconds. >> yeah, by the way, here is a poll. 6 in 10 americans feel the president should not run for a second term. 1982 ronald reagan went on to win 49 states. do not count joe biden out.

>> i'm counting him out. i'm counting him out. >> all right. guys, great discussion, welcome, hope to see you soon. have a good day, everybody. don't go away at home because we want to bring you a story about a child who met civil rights icon john lewis. their friendship changed the course of his life. stay with us.

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everyone gets the best of you.

today marks two years since congressman and civil rights leader john lewis passed away at age 80. lewis' lifelong fight for fundamental rights for black americans is so vast it's hard to quantify but a book "because of you john lewis" tells the

story of lewis' impact on one young man. now 14-year-old tybree. what's it like to be walking on this bridge for you? >> i do feel a little emotion. to this day every time i come to salma or come to this bridge, i can feel his presence. >> reporter: salma, alabama is where he met his hero, john lewis. >> i keep thinking about what he did on this bridge and how he fought for my rights and many more. >> reporter: four years ago at age 10 after learning about martin luther king junior in school he convinced his grandmothers to drive him seven hours from tennessee on the anniversary of bloody sunday. >> i wanted to meet someone who is close, who is also involved in the civil rights movement and, you know, it's john lewis. i didn't know if i'd see him. >> reporter: then we saw tybree. last time we did this walk you were that big.

we were covering the story and brought him over. you were standing so still. i couldn't believe it. >> i was serious then because that's your hero, you got to make a good first impression. i could feel my tears watering up and when i saw him, i broke do down. you have shown me how to have rare courage. selma was the turning point. >> reporter: lewis asked tybree to walk with him across the ed -- bridge. it was the beginning of a special bond. >> he was a big friend. i wish he had more time together. he taught me honor and integrity. he taught me how to be humble and how to be a good student and person. i remember facetiming him and saying happy birthday and i sent him a library card. >> reporter: why a library card? >> one of the things that started john lewis to the civil

rights is he can't go to the library and get a book because he was black. he couldn't get a library card. >> reporter: when lewis died two years ago, the nation lost an icon, tybre, lost a friend. he read the poem at the funeral. >> out of the night that covers me. i got through it and then i couldn't hold it in anymore but i was very proud of myself at that moment. >> reporter: you felt him guiding you through it? >> i felt strong like he was right beside me when i did it. >> reporter: four years ago, john lewis stood on this bridge and said to me he's optimistic about the youth of america. >> to young people, to the young leaders, just give it all you got. >> reporter: that was right before he met you. i'm sure you fed that optimism. >> i did. i never thought i'll be so involved in marchs. i just got to see the world bigger and my little corner wasn't enough. he changed my entire life. my goal is to get every kid to

know john lewis, about his legacy and what he stands for. get in good trouble and follow his footsteps. that's my goal. >> thank you to tybree and thank you for spending your sunday morning with us. the news continues right now. this is "gps" the global public square. welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world. i'm fareed zakaria coming to you live. today on the program, joe biden's first trip to the middle east as president. what was accomplished, what was left on the table, i'll ask an expert. then. >> mr. president. >> i sit down with one of the most respected leaders of the region. iraq's president on america's new push into the middle east. and as finland