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tv   State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash  CNN  October 16, 2022 9:00am-10:00am PDT

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argumentics ocean as a demonstration. >> reporter: while king applauds the biden administration new national strategy for the region, the cochair of the arctic caucus says more will need to be done. >> russia has like 40 ikebreakers? we have once. >> reporter: as other nations, not even geographically close to the arctic, like china and india lay out their ambitions, senator king wants a stronger naval presence there, more robust military infrastructure, and commitment to international treaties, like the u.n. law of the sea, steps he believes that could deter a possible war. >> i don't know, i think the jury is out on that, but it's at least possible. i think that would be positive for america and the whole world. all right. boris sanchez, thank you for the report. coming up on cnn, dana bash talks with both the republican and nominees kari lake and katie
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hobbes. "state of the union" starts right now. ? prices surge. more bad news on inflation just weeks from election day. >> folks are still struggling. we can't kid ourselves about that. >> how long will prices stay high? and will voters trust the president to fix it? white house economic adviser cecilia rouse is next. midterm match-ups, as voters start to cast their ballots, we'll look at two key contests. arizona governor's race with republican kari lake and democratic katie hobbs. >> i'm proud of the work we did in 2020. >> as biden makes a swing out west -- >> i love being in colorado. >> -- we'll talk to that state's democratic senator michael bennet and his republican opponent joe o'dea. president biden debates how to punish one global power and keep another from deadly escalation.
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the threats and the u.s. response with national security adviser jake sullivan. ♪ hello. i'm dana bash in washington where the state of our union is wondering what the country will look like in 23 days. as we count down to the midterm elections, the president of the united states faces twin challenges. gloomy new data points show that inflation is unchecked despite attempts by the fed to bring it down. the cost at the kitchen table is up, fueled with clashes with unpredictable global powers. the economic and foreign policy chaos, part of what's driving dramatic uncertainty ahead of next month's elections. today a special focus on the midterms. we'll have interviews with the candidates in two critical battleground races, one with tremendous consequences for the
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country, arizona where democrat katie hobbs is running against republican kari lake for governor, and then to colorado where republican joe o'dea is testing whether a republican who distances himself from former president trump could win a purple state. o'dea and incumbent democratic senator michael bennet will be here. first today we start with the biden administration and the issue voters say over and over is their top concern, the economy. here with me now is white house economic adviser cecilia rouse. thank you so much for joining me. i want to start with what president biden said on friday, that his administration has made some progress on reining in inflation. annual inflation in september was 8.2%. it barely changed from the month before. how is that progress? >> so i very much appreciate the question, and the inflation is very much the president's top concern. it's my top concern. i completely understand how that's a big challenge for many
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families, for all families here in the united states. so what we can see in the economic data is the fed is focused on bringing down inflation, and the big concern is can they bring down inflation while maintaining robust economy, labor market. we are starting to see signs that the actions they're taking is having an effect. for example, we love having a very strong labor market, but it's been very, very strong. employers are having a very hard time finding workers. we saw in some data last month that employers are posting fewer job vacancies, which means there's a little bit of easing in the labor market, without having any lay-offs. the housing market is starting to cool. we know that housing prices is part of the challenge for families, our inflation challenge. excess savings are starting to be spent. so we're starting to see signs that our red hot economy is starting to cool. so we know that because of that
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strength we're better positioned than most other countries for the fed to achieve its dual goals. >> i want to show you and our viewers some of the other data points they deal with every single day. the price of eggs has gone up more than 30%, gas, chicken, coffee, milk, bread, have all gone up significantly. these are real kitchen table issues for americans. >> absolutely, and the price of food is part of our inflation challenge. again, we are focused on it to the best of our abilities. is actually through energy. so putin's war against ukraine where he has weaponized natural gas, weaponized energy shows up in food prices as well. energy is a big component of fertilizer. we have been working to ease ports which actually helps to ensure that farmers are able to export their products and they're not sitting on a lot of inventory. our agriculture department is
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doing what it can to pry to increase supply and increase yields through programs such as helping farmers with double-cropping. there's no question that families are feeling the squeeze. it's why the president is focused on trying to bring down costs. the inflation reduction act, while it doesn't directly speak to food, it goes to medical care, it goes to energy costs and so we are focused on trying to help family gets through this. >> let me point to another data point that excludes food and energy, the so-called core inflation number. president biden touted that as a sign that the economy was improving, but now it is on the rise, 6.6%, the highest in 40 years. by president biden's own logic, doesn't that show that the economy is actually headed in the wrong direction? >> so, if one looks month-on-month, it was actually flat. so, again, a lot of the reason why core inflation increased was because of housing costs and
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medical costs. the inflation reduction act caps medical costs of insulin for seniors at $35 a month. it allowing medicare to negotiate with pharmaceuticals. it caps out-of-pocket expenses as well. we are focused on trying to address medical care, and by extending the affordable care act extensions through -- for another few years, it provides accessible health care for so many people. so we're focused on bringing down medical care costs. you've mentioned that -- >> i would also point out that housing -- >> i'm just curious, and a lot of americans are curious, when the so-called inflation reduction act which really start to bring down inflation. >> so the many parts of the bill will start to take effect next year. for example, there are tax credits for energy to help people weatherize their homes and also bring down other forms of energy costs.
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so we are focused on helping to make that transition to clean energy in a way that brings down energy costs for families. so this is tough. there's no question about it. this is challenging. what i will say is this economy is stronger than almost every other economy, that the federal reserve is focused on bringing down inflation. this president is committed to doing fiscal policy that is complementary to the federal reserve's actions so that we can get through this period just as quickly as possible. >> cecilia rouse, thank you for joining me this morning. >> thank you. i want to turn now to foreign policy and some serious global tests for the commander-in-chief. joining me is the white house national security adviser jake sullivan. thank you so much for coming on. i want to start with saudi arabia. president biden said this week it is time to rethink the u.s. relationship with saudi arabia after they sided with russia to reduce oil production. one thing some of your fellow
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democrats on capitol hill are pushing is halting future arm sales to saudi arabia. can you give a reason why the u.s. would want to continue selling arms to saudi arabia right now? >> well, first, dana, thanks for having me on. you're right, the president did say he is going to re-evaluate our relationship with saudi arabia because they did side with russia against the interest of the american people. this is a relationship that got built over decades on a bipartisan basis. so the president isn't going to act precipitously. he's going to act methodically, strategically and take his time to consult with members of both parties and also to have an opportunity for congress to return so he can sit with them in person and work through the options. >> is halting arms sales on the table? >> those options include -- as i was just saying, those options include changes to our approach to security assistance to saudi arabia. i'm not going to get ahead of the president. what i will say is there's nothing imminently moving now. there's time for him to have
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those consultations to make decisions in the best interest of the american people. that's what he's going to do. >> president biden, as you know, faced criticism for his meeting with the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman in july. will president biden meet with the crown prince again at the g-20 summit next month? >> he has no plans to meet with the crown prince at the g20 summit. he is focused, however, on making sure that through every engagement he has across the board he's looking out for not just the u.s., but for our allies as well. one of the things he was able to achieve in that meeting in july was the historic opening of saudi's airspace to israeli commercial air traffic, the first step saudi arabia has ever taken on a path towards normalization with israel which we believe was a positive thing for him to be able to deliver for a strong partner of ours. let's turn to russia. president biden says the pentagon is working on possible
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responses to a russian nuclear strike. one potential could be a so-called tactical nuclear weapon that could take out a small target, relatively small, like an airport, or maybe just detonate a nuclear weapon in the black sea. would you see either of those as less serious or deploying a nuclear weapon just as serious no matter how big or where it is? >> the use of a nuclear weapon on the battlefield in ukraine is the use of a nuclear weapon on the battlefield in ukraine and we're not going to slice the salami. >> does that include detonating it in the black sea? >> well, first, the black sea includes the ports of odesa and other cities from which ukrainians are currently exporting grain to the world market. so the notion that somehow
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there's differences in use here i think is a dangerous notion from our perspective. we believe it's incumbent on the united states working with our other nato allies and partners and other responsible countries around the world, including the likes of china and india, to send a very clear and decisive message to russia that they should not contemplate the use of nuclear weapons in this conflict. >> in iran, security officials are continuing to crack down on protesters. former president barack obama was reflecting on similar protests in iran, that happened in 2009. he said he regretted holding back some public support for protesters. listen to what he said. >> in retrospect, i think that was a mistake. every time we see a flash, a glimmer of hope, of people longing for freedom, i think we have to point it out. we have to shine a spotlight on it.
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we have to express some solidarity about it? >> is the biden administration doing everything you can to help the protesters in iran? >> we are taking a range of aggressive actions to try to support the protesters in iran. the first thing that we're doing is trying to hold accountable those brutal officials in the iranian regime who are cracking down on protesters, killing protesters, beating protesters. we have sanctioned the so-called morality police. we have sanctioned senior officials who have participated in the brutal crackdown and repression. we've sanctioned the communications minister who is responsible for trying to cut off the internet from iranians trying to communicate with one another. we've tried to make it easier for the brave citizens of iran to be able to talk to one another and talk to the world.
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we're always looking for more things we can do. in fact, just this past week i had the opportunity to meet with iranian activists working from outside the country to support those working inside the country, to hear their ideas for additional steps the united states can take. we stand unequivocally, clearly, emphatically and with principles and values on the side of the iranian protesters, the women and citizens standing up for their freedom and dignity. president biden has spoken to this multiple times, and we will continue to do that day in, day out, just as i'm doing on your program now. >> jake sullivan, the president's national security adviser, thank you for joining me this morning. >> thank you. it's one of the most consequential match-up in the country this fall, the race for governor in arizona. the candidates are here. republican kari lake and democrat katie hobbs will join us next. and does a republican who distanced himself from donald
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welcome back to "state of the union." with a little more than three weeks before election day, we'll focus on two key midterm races and talk to the candidates on both sides who will help determine how the united states is run. we'll start in arizona where the battle for the governor's mansion is neck and neck. the contest is under way to lead there. it's one of the most critical states in the nation. both democratic secretary of state katie hobbs and republican nominee, former television broadcaster and fierce trump ally kari lake are joining me this morning. ms. lake, i'm going to start with you. and i want to start on the question that everybody says is their top issue across the country and that is the economy. inflation is still near its highest levels in four decades. in your capital city of phoenix, it has the highest inflation in the entire country, 13%. so if you are elected governor, what specifically would you do differently to fix that? >> well, it's a tough issue because it originates -- the problem does -- out of washington, d.c., but we still have to help our citizens here in arizona. the people who are suffering the
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most i've learned is the people who are nearing retirement or who are retired. i've talked to so many of them, and they said, kari, i saved all my life, i did everything right and my retirement savings has shrivelled up a third, i've lost a third of it since joe biden took office. we'll help in any way we can. that's why i unveiled a plan last week to put a half billion dollars back into the hardworking arizonans' pockets by getting rid of our rental tax and our tax on groceries in arizona. this is not going to harm the cities. the general fund, we're going to help them for the next five years with the general fund, and we're going to make sure they have enough to get by. this is a growing arizona. people want to move here and our revenues are going up and we have a surplus. we need to hand some of the that back over to the hard-working people, and we will. >> let's turn to another issue
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facing your state, and that is the influx of migrants at the southern border. a lot of these individuals are seeking asylum. they are fleeing political violence in countries like guatemala and honduras. do you accept that the u.s. has a responsibility to accept those asylum-seekers? >> well, the vast majority of the people coming across don't really meet the criteria for asylum. there's a lot of fraudulent asylum claims that are being made. i'm really concerned about the people of arizona. we've had 5 million people come in, and we've had a million of them called got aways. that means we're not even processing them. they want to avoid capture because they have criminal records. we need to vet people coming into our system. we have a very generous legal immigration system. but we can't afford to take on the world's problems right now when so many americans are struggling, so many arizonans are struggling. i'm really concerned about the number of seizures we've had with fentanyl coming across the border. it is the number one killer of young people in this country and it's coming through arizona. we're no longer going to allow
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the cartels to have operational control of our borders. >> dhs says less than 1% of migrants encountered at the border have a criminal record. i want to stick on the question of asylum, those that to meet the criteria, should they be allowed to stay in this country? do you think what the current governor, doug ducey has done, sending some of the migrants to washington, d.c., is the right thing to do? would you continue that practice? >> dana, i'm going to have to discusses agree with you on that figure you just put out. we have a million got-aways, people intentionally entering this country mainly through the tucson sector, and we don't know what their background is. there's a reason they're trying to get in unnoticed. it's because they have a criminal background. they're coming into this country. we know that they have tracked down terrorists, people wanted for murder. you can go to the customs and border patrol site, we have murderers coming in, people with
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raps -- with a rape record. you name it. >> let me just tell you that the stat that i just cited comes from the department of homeland security, less than 1% of migrants. i know you're using language like rapists and criminals and so forth. what i was asking about are migrants seeking asylum. i want to move on to another really important issue, particularly when it comes to your critical swing state of arizona. that is what happened in 2020. you called the 2020 election corrupt, stolen, rotten and rigged. there is no evidence of any of that presented in a court of law or anywhere else, that any of those things are true. so why do you keep saying that? >> well, there's plenty of evidence. we had 740,000 ballots with no chain of custody. those ballots shouldn't have been counted. >> where is the evidence of
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that? >> dana, there's plenty of evidence. i'm happy to send it to your team. the problem is the media won't cover it. >> we've covered this extensively and what you just said has been debunked. >> only one side of it, dana. the real issue, dana, is people don't trust our elections. they haven't since 2000. i'm a reporter, been sitting on your side of the desk for a long time. since 2000, we have americans who don't trust our elections. in 2000, in 2004 they didn't trust the elections. in 2016 kamala harris, amy klobuchar, hillary clinton, everybody on the democrat side said the election had problems. >> ms. lay, there definitely has been some of that, but in 2000 al gore conceded, in 2004 john kerry conceded, in 2016 hillary clinton conceded and we didn't see that in 2020. that's the difference. so the question is, are you undermining faith in elections by saying that the 2020 election was stolen when there's absolutely no evidence to
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support that? >> dana, in 2018, stacey abrams never conceded. she still hasn't. i don't hear cnn calling her an election denier. we have a right protected by our first amendment to question our government and to question elections. >> no question about that. >> we still have the first amendment. we still have the first amendment. >> yeah. >> when you start seeing the media cancel people for questioning their government, then that's when we have a problem. >> i totally agree about the first amendment. you and i are benefiting from the first amendment as we speak. i couldn't agree with you more on that. >> well, i'm sure that -- >> i want to play for you something that president trump's own top officials, they're the ones who ventilated all of this. again, these are president trump's top officials at the justice department and they said under oath that they saw no evidence of substantial fraught -- fraud in 2020. take a listen.
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>> i made it clear i did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff which i told the president was bullshit. >> i said something to the effect, sir, we've done dozens of investigations, hundreds of interviews. the major allegations are not supported by the evidence developed. >> we were in a position to say our people already looked at that and we know you're getting bad information, that that's not correct. >> so these are president trump's own top justice department officials. why not believe them? >> i'm looking at what's happening in maricopa county. let's look at the 2022 election of august 2nd where one hour into election day because of my opponent katie hobbs' incompetence, we ran out of ballots one hour into election day in one of our largest counties, pinnell county. >> that did happen and officials apologized. that did happen and the county
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officials opinion apologized. i want to ask about the 2020 election. >> but dana -- an apology doesn't bring somebody's vote back. all i'm saying is we need to restore honesty and integrity in our elections. >> but apologizing, isn't that doing just that? you're right. it doesn't bring votes back, but at least that is transparent. if leaders like you and president trump are saying that the election was stolen, aren't you participating, contributing, even causing the idea of people thinking that the election is not safe and secure? >> no. we are going to make sure our elections are safe and secure for democrats, independents and republicans alike. we want to know our legal vote counted. we want to know the winner on election night. we don't want to be counting for ten days. >> don't you want your votes to be counted? >> dana, dana --
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>> don't you want your votes to be counted no matter how long it takes in 2022, in november? >> dana, dana, i've been on the campaign trail for 503 days. i talked to moms and dads who are losing children because of fentanyl poisoning. i've talked to retirees who can't afford gas and food. i've talked to parents whose children are getting out of high school and can't read. we have serious problems -- >> i totally agree, which is why the election denial -- >> you want to have me on here and talk 2020 election. you're the one who -- >> i would never bring this up ever had you not been bringing this up consistently on the campaign trail. let's look forward. >> can we talk about the issues -- >> will you accept the results of the election in your election? will you accept the results? >> can we talk about the issues? i came on here thinking we would talk about the issues facing us right now. >> we did. >> i think you're stuck on 2020. >> i have interviewed many, many republicans and haven't mentioned it. i only did with you because this is a big thing you're running on. let's look ahead. >> dana, dana.
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>> let's talk about the 2022 election. will you accept the results of your election, mids lake? >> i'm running against a twice-convicted racist who cost the taxpayers $3 million because of her hatred for people of color. she paid a woman of color in her office $30,000 less than men doing the same job. last week we heard she held a mock slave auction in high school. we saw her running from a black reporter, hiding in the bathroom. i'm not going to lose the election because -- >> i'm going to talk to katie hobbs right after we're done. >> the people of arizona will never elect a racist like katie hobbs. >> my question is will you accept the results of your election in november? >> i'm going to win the election and i will accept that result. >> if you lose, will you accept that? >> i'm going to win the election and accept that result. the people of arizona will never support and vote for a coward like katie hobbs who
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won't show up on a debate stage, single handedly destroying a 20-year history of gubernatorial debates because of her cowardice. no momentum behind her, the polls are in our favor and we're going to win the election. we have common sense ideas that people want and we're seeing democrats pore over and vote for us right now. i've had many people reach out and say they're voting for us. the democratic party is faltering. it's not the party of solutions. it's the party that caused the problems we're in right now. >> kari lake, i appreciate you coming on with me and answering these questions. i'm going to go to your democratic opponent katie hobbs to talk to her about some of the that you and i just talked about. here with me now is katie hobbs. we have a lot to get to. you were secretary of state. you were in 2020. your reaction to what you just heard on that issue from kari lake. >> i think anyone running for
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office who continues to say there was widespread fraud. they say they have evidence, they have yet to bring any evidence forward. you and i have talked about this so many times. this is absolutely disqualifying. this is somebody who will have a level of authority over our state's elections, the ability to sign new legislation into law, the responsibility of certifying future elections and she has, not only as you heard, refused to say if she'll accept the results of this election, but also whether or not she would certify the 2024 presidential election if she's governor. this is disqualifying. this is a basic core of our democracy, and she has nothing else to run on. this is what she has centered her entire campaign around. >> let's talk about the issue of abortion. you said last week that you support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving politicians entirely out of it. can you clarify, do you support any legal limits on abortion in arizona?
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>> look, the fact is right now that we are under an extreme 15-week ban that limits health care options for women who need them. there's the potential for a complete ban. right now that ban is in the courts. but under my opponent's administration, she would support a full ban. she's called this a great law. she doesn't support any exceptions for rape or incest. >> what do you support? >> look, when you're talking about late-term abortion, that is incredibly, extremely rare. it's happening -- if that conversation is happening, it's because there's something that's gone incredibly wrong in the pregnancy, and politicians do not belong in that decision. >> what do you support? what should the limits be? >> the decision about abortion should be between a patient and their doctor. >> so there should be no limits in the law? it should only be decided in the medical office?
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>> government making these kind of mandates interferes with the care that doctors need to provide to their patients. they don't belong in these decisions. >> so just to be clear, if you become governor, you will push for a law that has absolutely no limits in any point of the pregnancy on abortion? that's your position and what you would want to be the law of the land in arizona. >> the fact is right now that we have very limited options and we need to get politicians out of the way and let doctors provide the care that they are trained to provide, the health care that their patients need. politicians don't belong in those decisions. >> you declined to participate in a pbs debate against kari lake. here is what one columnist from "the arizona republic" wrote. laurie roberts wrote, if katie hobbs loses, remember october 12th, the day she ran away from confronting kari lake.
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democrats in arizona are known for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but hobbs' refusal to debate her opponent on wednesday represents a new new level of political malpractice." why won't you debate her? >> kari lake has made it clear time and time again that she's not interested in having substantive, in depth conversations about the issues that matter to arizonans. she only wants a scenario where she can control the dialogue. she's refused to sit down in a one-on-one lengthy conversation to really clarify with arizonans where she is on the issues. she's the one afraid of talking to voters where she's at. we are doing everything we can to make our case directly to the voters of arizona. i guarantee you, i guarantee you that when arizonans are struggling, when they go to open their ballot, when they're thinking about the fact they're not sure how they would put food on the table,
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they're rationing their insulin or thinking about having to drive their niece or sister or daughter to california to get the health care that they need, they're not going to look at their ballot -- >> she came and sat down with me and answered my questions for a lot of minutes. a lot of democrats are questioning your decision. they're saying it's the wrong decision. president biden's former 2020 co-chair said i would debate and i would want the people of arizona to know what my platform is. if you think she's as dangerous as you're saying to democracy, is it your responsibility as a candidate who wants to run arizona to show and explain who their alternative is? >> that is exactly what i'm doing right now. there is a lot more ability to have a conversation with you without her interruptions and shouting to do that.
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yes, she did sit down with you. she's refused to do that with any legitimate reporter in the state of arizona and take her case directly to the voters. she's only interested in creating a spectacle. i guarantee you, people struggling in arizona right now are not making their decisions about -- over whether or not there was a debate between myself and kari lake. they're going to make their decision based on the person who understands their struggle and has real solutions to try to fix that struggle. >> real quick. inflation is near its highest level in four decades. you heard me ask kari lake about phoenix. highest inflation in the country. democrats control the house, the senate, the white house. does president biden bear some response for the decisions that are affecting families' lives? >> inflation in arizona is being largely driven by skyrocketing housing costs, and we have to do more about housing. we need to build more, bottom line. supply is not keeping up with demand. prices are through the roof and people are being priced out of their homes. we're seeing a huge increase in
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people who are experiencing homelessness right now because of that. the fact is, i have a real plan to address rising costs for arizonans, put money back in the pockets of working families. experts have looked at both my plans and kari lake's plans, and my plan is the plan that will actually address inflation and put people back to work by providing additional child care assistance and a tax credit for folks who pursue a career in technical education. the same expert described kari lake's plan as putting jet fuel on the fire of inflation. >> katie hobbs, thank you so much for joining me. appreciate it. >> thank you. could there be a midterm surprise in colorado? republican challenger, the one rewriting his party's playbook and the senate democrat defending his seat, they're both next. ur turn. (burke) get farmers and you could save money with the safe driver discount just by having a clean driving record for three years. get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. (driver 3) come on!
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welcome back to "state of the union." this week the president spent time and political capital to go somewhere democrats thought was pretty safely blue this year, and that's colorado. two-term incumbent democratic senator michael bennet holds a narrower-than-expected lead over first-time candidate, republican businessman joe o'dea who mitch mcconnell calls the perfect candidate for colorado, someone who doesn't spread donald trump's lies. both o'dea and senator bennet are here with us today. i want to begin with republican candidate joe o'dea, and i want to start with the economy. there is a new inflation report showing core inflation reaching
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its highest rate in 40 years, utility gas is up 33%, chicken milk, vegetables, they're all up. if you were in the senate, what specifically would you do to fix the inflation problem? >> dana, thanks for having me on today. this inflation has been caused by the $1.9 trillion reckless spending bill that got put in place by michael bennet. he cast the deciding vote back in march of last year. it's caused record inflation. they've dumped over $5 trillion in the last year and a half. in addition to that, the war on energy has caused the price of diesel to go through the ceiling. it's still there today. we've got a fed that's been asleep at the wheel, big government in our way. those are just a few of the issues i'm going to address in january. >> how? what would you do? >> first off, we've got to get our energy policy back on track. we've got to get energy, wind,
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solar, nuclear, good, clean natural gas. we've got to get the permitting out of the way so we can go back to work in colorado and flood the market with increased supply. it will cause the price to go down, inflation will go away. that's how you do it. >> washington is once again debating stricter gun laws, after yet another mass shooting in north carolina. in your state of colorado there's one gun death every ten hours. you said you would have voted against a bipartisan bill that mitch mcconnell and 14 other republicans supported this summer. do you think any additional gun restrictions are needed at any level? >> look, every time we have an event, we pass another set of laws. democrats here in colorado have ignored the laws that are on the books. as a drug dealer, you can possess a weapon. it should be a felony. they're not taking them off the streets. we need more cops on our streets. we need to make sure we're enforcing the laws that we have. we don't need a whole host of new laws.
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what we need to do is make sure we're enforcing the ones we have. >> there is a red flag law in colorado focused on mental health. you say colorado's law there doesn't work. why not? >> well, when i talk to the sheriffs, the ones putting that law in place and having to implement it, they don't think that law works. it puts them at risk. they're not happy with that law. it needs to be rewritten here in colorado. it's not doing the job it's supposed to do. we need to do more with mental health here to get these people off the street. we have hundreds of laws on the books. we need to enforce them. we need more cops on our street right now. if you talk to the chief of police in denver, he'll tell you he's short 250 officers. that's because democrats across the state of colorado have defunded, demoralized the police. >> let's stick to guns. >> we've got to restore that position.
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>> the red flag law is intended in part to deal with mental health which is what you're talking about. colorado has approved 146 applications to take away a gun from a dangerous individual in the last two years. doesn't that make your state more safe? >> well, it's not. we're the third worst state for violent crime in the united states right now. they just deemed denver as one of the most unsafe cities in the nation. you go around here and we have record crime everywhere. we need to enforce the laws that we have on the books, get these criminals off the street. we've got cashless bonds that are being put in place. we're not getting the criminals off the street. that's the problem with crime in colorado. >> let me turn to the issue i know you've talked about, and that is january 6th. this past week the january 6th committee held its final hearing before the midterm elections. you have said donald trump could have done a lot more to stop january 6th, the insurrection, the violent attack on the capitol from happening.
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do you think what happened on january 6th should disqualify him from being president again? >> look, i believe that january 6th was a black eye on the country. i've been very vocal that i thought he should have done more to keep the violence from heading towards the capitol. anybody that was violent at the capitol or tore something apart, they should be held accountable. we've got processes in place that hold people accountable, and we need to move the country forward. i don't think donald trump should run again. i'm going to actively campaign against donald trump and make sure that we've got four or five really great republicans right now, ron desantis, nikki haley, tim scott, they can run and serve for eight years. i'm going to do my job as senator make sure they have good campaigns so we have a good selection of candidates for 2024. >> before i let you go, abortion is shaping up to be a major
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issue in the midterms. you support a 20-week ban in colorado with exceptions for rape and incest. two years ago your state rejected a 22-week ban. colorado currently has no limits on abortion. are you out of step with your state? >> no. i believe for the first five months that decision should be between a woman and her doctor. after that, for rape, incest, life of the mother, medical necessity, i believe that decision should be between a woman and her doctor. michael bennet voted for a bill that supports abortion up to and including the moment of birth -- >> i'm asking about your -- >> that's excessive. >> i'm asking about your position. that's excessive. my position is where most of america is. that's excessive. >> joe o'dea, thank you so much. i appreciate it. i want to go to michael bennet, the democratic senator from colorado, defending his seat against who you just heard, joe o'dea. it's been two months since democrats passed the so-called
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inflation reduction acted which you called a victory for the american people. core inflation is still at its highest level in four decades. polls show, as you know, that the economy is a top issue for colorado voters. so why isn't the inflation reduction act reducing inflation? >> well, because the elements of the inflation reduction act aren't going to kick in for a while, dana. the cap on drug prices for seniors and the requirement final, finally, overcame pharma of the requirement that medicare negotiate drug prices on behalf of the american people, capping insulin at $35 a month. these are things that are going to take a while to put in place. you're right, today gasoline is $3.70 a gallon. here in colorado a gallon of milk costs $4.20. that's really tough on people. i think one of the things i've
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been trying to explain to folks is that this is a global problem. canada has the same inflation that we have. the european -- every country in europe has the same inflation we have. the uk does as well, india as well. we're facing broken global supply chains that we have to address and we're facing increases in energy prices because two years ago oil was at $20 a barrel, went to $93 because of the economic recovery and then putin invaded ukraine. the fact that it is global is cold comfort when you're paying $3.70 a barrel. but i think what -- sorry, go ahead. >> i would like you to react to what larry summers, a democrat, has said, which is that the spending
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that you, in part, or you did vote for of the last couple of years, particularly $1.9 trillion for the american rescue plan, exacerbating the inflation we're seeing now. >> right. i know larry summers said that. there are economists who have said other things. i -- i believe the bill we passed kept 30,000 people in coloradanings -- coloradans from being evicted i think it has funded law enforcement all over the state. mental health services that we desperately need. it hut childhood poverty in half last year because of a bill i wrote. i'm concerned that the federal reserve kept the interest rates at zero too long and their quantitative easing was too impressive. but that's looking in the re-view miro. but what we need to do now is fix the issue. i think we can by bringing our supply chains back to the united states, by making sure that we are benefiting from the inflation reduction act in the sense that we are leading the world in the transition from fossil fuels over the next 25 years to a net zero energy economy.
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the united states is perfectly positioned to do that now. we are in a place now where, unlike before we passed that bill where we can reduce costs, where we can increase our energy independence and our economic strength and reduce emissions while we're doing both of those things. i think that'sen a amazing place for us to be. >> senator, your opponent disagreed with the supreme court's decision to overturn roe versus wade. he says joe biden won legitimately in 2020. i want our viewers to listen to an ad that a democratic group ran to boost o' dea's opponent in the gop primary because they thought he would be easier for you to beat.
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>> announcer: he says he wants to rein in government spending but he supports biden's spending bill. and before running for senate as a republican, he supported democrats and even gave money to michael bennett. >> so, again, that was an ad from a democratic group. how is your campaign going to payment him as a far-right republican? >> i think he's painting himself that way. it's incredible. he has said that he would have voted for all three of donald trump's supreme court nominees, notwithstanding the fact that he knows that they overturned roe v. wade. he opposes -- you just heard colorado's law codifying a woman's right to choose. i'm proud to live in a state that's one of the first states to codify that law. and he opposes it. he opposes -- he voted last time we had an election in colorado, he voted for an amendment -- or a ballot issue that banned abortion in all -- banned abortion and had no exceptions for rape or incest.
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he says that donald trump, even though he probably knows better, bears no responsibility for what happened on january 6th. >> i should say he did support a ban after 22 weeks. just real quick, given everything you said, was it a fellow democrats to run that ad? >> look, i don't think -- i don't think -- i believe we should reform our campaign finance system. i have a racist billionaire that is funding a super pac that's supporting his campaign from wyoming. that's not helping voters in colorado, but i want you to know, and i want your viewers to now hoe out of touch he is with colorado >> senator bennett -- >> -- the idea that he would not support any additional gun laws, including a law mitch mcconnell voted for in the u.s. senate -- >> senator bennett, we're going to have to leave it there. in the interest of fairness of time, we heard him say that. we appreciate you joining us. thank you so much for coming on, senator.
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>> thanks for having me. character, consistency, scandal, does any of it matter? if you judge the question on donald trump and donald trump alone, survey says probably no. but do the old political rules still apply to anyone not named donald trump? georgia may have that answer. >> herschel walker spent a career shaking off tackles in the nfl, but he's now trying to outrun allegations rocking his senate campaign, that the staunchly anti-abortion republican, who backed a total ban with no exceptions, paid for a woman to have an abortion in 2009, and then told her to have another one two years later. >> this here, the abortion thing, is false. it's a lie. >> reporter: walker is rolling out a very modern play, firm denial -- >> she's lying. she, she's lying.
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>> reporter: 57d and defiance. >> i'm not going to back down. this seat is too important to the georgian people for me to back down. >> reporter: but in an interview with cnn's manu raju, mitch mcconnell acknowledged that walker's struggles bring back memories of 2012, when abortion controversies helped sink the campaigns of republican todd aiken -- >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down. >> reporter: and richard murdock. >> that is something that god intended to happen. >> derailing the gop's path to the senate majority. >> i dabbled in witchcraft. i never joined a coven. >> or in 2010, when christine o'donnell put a new spin on the old adage, if you're explain sh -- >> i'm not a witch. >> reporter: you're losing. but after four years of donald trump. >> very fine people on both sides. that call was a great call.
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it was a perfect call. >> reporter: whose scandals still have the same impact they used to. in 2017, senate candidate roy moore may have hoped trump's ability to defy gravity could help him weather sexual misconduct allegations. >> get out and vote for roy moore. >> but he lost in an upset in deep red alabama. across the aisle, north carolina democrat cal cunningham saw his 2020 senate campaign go up in smoke after his steamy text messages leaked amid an extramarital affair. and when new york governor andrew cuomo tried to follow trump's defiant playbook amid allegations of his own -- >> i was elected by the people of the state of new york. i'm not going to resign. >> he ultimately stepped down. and stepped down. >> if i step aside -- >> one exception, virginia governor ralph northam who who in 2019 confirmed, then denied in appearing in a racist yearbook photo but managed to serve out
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his term. even after a bizarre press conference. >> my wife says inappropriate circumstances. >> top senate republicans are still campaigning for herschel walker, despite concerns over candidate quality, with mitch mcconnell saying, whether it's fatal or a big problem this year, we'll find out. and with polls showing a competitive race, control of the senate could all come down to whether, in this polarized environment, voters are still swayed by scandal. thanks for spending your sunday morning with us. the news continues next. and, noh i paid, it followed me everywhere. so i consolidated it into a low-rate personal loan from sofi. get a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrow up to $100k. sofi. get your money right. - hey honey. - hey dad. that smell could be eight million odor causing bacteria.
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