WEBVTT 00:02.066 --> 00:04.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And now it's time for the political analysis of Brooks and Capehart. That's New 00:04.966 --> 00:09.966 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart. Mark Shields 00:11.333 --> 00:12.566 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% is away. 00:12.566 --> 00:15.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So, hello to both of you on this Friday night. 00:15.166 --> 00:19.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% I want to start with something both candidates did. They went to a city, David, that is -- where 00:21.866 --> 00:26.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% people are truly in anguish over the shooting of a Black man. His name is Jacob Blake. It 00:29.400 --> 00:32.033 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% is Kenosha, Wisconsin. 00:32.033 --> 00:36.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% We saw both of them go, make statements. What did you make, David, of their different approaches? 00:38.400 --> 00:42.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DAVID BROOKS: Well, they were both very true to their core mission, what they have been 00:42.400 --> 00:46.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% running on, especially this year, but maybe since the beginning of their political careers. 00:46.633 --> 00:50.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Donald Trump has been running on a sense of menace, a sense that there is a lot of danger 00:50.366 --> 00:55.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% out there in the world and that he is the one to restore order. And so the keystone 00:57.300 --> 01:00.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of his visit was the image of him standing behind -- in front of a burned-out buildings, 01:00.200 --> 01:02.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and he wants to convey that message. 01:02.333 --> 01:06.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Joe Biden has run as a uniter. And so he went to speak to the Blake family. He pleased them 01:08.200 --> 01:11.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% very much with his sensitivity of what they were going through. 01:11.133 --> 01:15.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And you would have to say the evidence so far is that the law and order campaign that 01:15.066 --> 01:20.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Trump has been running since the convention has not shown much impact on the polls. He 01:21.200 --> 01:23.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% is still down seven or eight points. 01:23.266 --> 01:27.266 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% If you ask people on a whole range of measures which candidate makes you feel safe, Biden 01:29.200 --> 01:31.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% wins on -- any way you ask that question, Biden wins. If you ask people, is Donald Trump 01:31.933 --> 01:36.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% making it worse, 55 percent say Donald Trump is making it worse. 01:36.066 --> 01:41.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, the law and order message, at least so far, and as expressed through Kenosha, not 01:41.000 --> 01:42.266 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% working. 01:42.266 --> 01:44.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Jonathan, how did you see this? 01:44.633 --> 01:49.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, Judy, I look at it as -- at the two trips like this. 01:51.633 --> 01:54.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% One was a political -- both were political trips, but one was political; the other was 01:54.533 --> 01:56.566 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% presidential. 01:56.566 --> 02:00.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% President Trump's trip was strictly political. To David's point, it was all about law and 02:02.500 --> 02:07.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% order. It was all about stoking fear, white grievance, white fear of Black people, standing 02:09.966 --> 02:14.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% with law enforcement, which, on its face, is not -- is not wrong or bad or problematic, 02:17.333 --> 02:21.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% but in a city where a 17-year-old shot -- allegedly shot at three people, killed two of them, 02:23.733 --> 02:28.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and those same police officers rolled right by him, the president has had nothing but 02:30.700 --> 02:34.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% good things to say about that person, who was part of a militia, right-wing militia. 02:36.933 --> 02:41.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And so the president goes to Kenosha to buttress that. 02:41.933 --> 02:46.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Joe Biden, on the other hand, I think, did a presidential trip. He went to the Kenosha 02:48.966 --> 02:52.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% community to meet with the community, met with the Blake family, apparently talked with 02:54.700 --> 02:58.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Jacob Blake. But the community meeting he did at a local church, where he heard from 03:00.300 --> 03:03.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% all sorts of folks from the community, was him sitting, listening, responding in kind. 03:07.366 --> 03:12.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And a young woman, Porsche Bennett, who decided not to read the list of demands from her organization, 03:14.733 --> 03:19.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% but instead decided to talk from the heart, and talk to Vice President Biden about how 03:19.500 --> 03:24.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% - - quote -- "heavily angry" she and her community are about not being treated fairly, and the 03:26.400 --> 03:30.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% way Joe Biden responded to that, I think, was sort of a balm over the entire situation, 03:33.200 --> 03:37.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% because, in situations that happen, as have happened in Kenosha, people look to the president 03:39.266 --> 03:42.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% for calm, for leadership. 03:42.133 --> 03:45.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% They got that from Joe Biden. But Joe Biden isn't the president. 03:45.733 --> 03:50.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we -- both candidates during this past week have released TV ads 03:52.233 --> 03:57.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% that address racial unrest, address protests around the police. 03:58.466 --> 04:00.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Here is just a short clip from each one. 04:00.900 --> 04:05.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate: Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not 04:07.866 --> 04:11.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% protesting. It's lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted. 04:13.100 --> 04:17.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Fires are burning, and we have a president who fans the flames. He can't stop the violence, 04:18.800 --> 04:21.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% because, for years, he's fomented it. 04:21.200 --> 04:25.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% NARRATOR: Lawless criminals terrorize Kenosha. Joe Biden takes a knee. Biden and the radical 04:27.066 --> 04:31.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% left's weak response has led to chaos and violence, and their calls for defunding police 04:31.766 --> 04:33.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% would make it worse. 04:33.266 --> 04:36.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: David, what are these messages telling you? 04:36.133 --> 04:39.833 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% DAVID BROOKS: Well, Biden did something he - - his party failed to do during the convention, 04:39.833 --> 04:44.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% which was to acknowledge there is disorder in the country, crime really is rising, and 04:44.833 --> 04:48.466 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% there has been rioting and looting. It is not the mainstream of the protests, but it 04:48.466 --> 04:50.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% has been an element of the protest. 04:50.533 --> 04:53.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Maybe about 8 percent of the protests have turned violent. That is still a lot and it's 04:53.933 --> 04:55.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% still on people's minds. 04:55.966 --> 05:00.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so, with that speech and then the ad they have cut out of it, he is acknowledging that, 05:00.166 --> 05:04.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and he is making it a clear statement, which we talked about last week, of setting a boundary 05:04.133 --> 05:09.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that rioting and looting are not protesting, and that he is going crack down on that. 05:11.200 --> 05:13.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And that was acknowledging a real flaw in the Democratic approach at the convention, 05:13.266 --> 05:17.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% where they just didn't see that reality. And so I think he helped himself. 05:17.033 --> 05:22.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I mean, his team -- the downside of his team is, they are really experienced. They have 05:24.000 --> 05:26.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% been a part of the Democratic Party for a long time. The upside of his team is, they 05:26.500 --> 05:30.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% are really experienced and they know how to run a campaign. 05:30.633 --> 05:35.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so I think they have run a very effective campaign straight through. And it showed again 05:37.000 --> 05:38.466 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% this week. 05:38.466 --> 05:41.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Jonathan, does that ad help Joe Biden? 05:41.300 --> 05:45.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JONATHAN CAPEHART: I think that ad helps Joe Biden, because he makes a clear line, which 05:45.833 --> 05:50.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is obvious to folks on the ground, that there is a distinct difference between the peaceful 05:53.666 --> 05:58.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% protesters, who are out there wanting their voices heard about what happened to Jacob 05:58.533 --> 06:02.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officers. 06:02.600 --> 06:07.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% That young woman I just mentioned, Porsche Bennett, she even in her remarks said she 06:07.166 --> 06:12.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% was there speaking not for the protest -- not for the rioters and the looters. No, she is 06:13.566 --> 06:17.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% there speaking on behalf of the protesters, who want equity. 06:17.166 --> 06:22.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I do think it -- I agree with David. It is important and good that Vice President 06:22.133 --> 06:27.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Biden put that ad out there and made it clear that he draws a line and a distinction. 06:29.100 --> 06:34.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I don't think he is reacting to President Trump, as much as he is reflecting the reality 06:36.100 --> 06:40.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on the ground and the reality as the protesters see it. They are not part of the rioters or 06:40.900 --> 06:42.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% the looters either. 06:42.533 --> 06:46.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Two other quick things I want to ask you both about. 06:46.033 --> 06:51.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And, one, David, has to do with several announcements from the administration in recent days about 06:53.033 --> 06:57.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% rapid testing for COVID, the president talking about we are going to have a vaccine this 06:59.533 --> 07:02.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% fall, maybe in October. 07:02.000 --> 07:07.000 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Is all this likely to be effective in changing the minds of voters who are skeptical about 07:08.533 --> 07:11.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% his leadership or just don't know what to think? 07:11.266 --> 07:16.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DAVID BROOKS: Well, willing a vaccine into existence like a week before the election, 07:16.133 --> 07:19.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% probably not going to work. That's not the way science works. 07:19.133 --> 07:23.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% But I have to give the administration some credit on the rapid testing. And Abbott Labs 07:23.933 --> 07:28.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% apparently come with a breakthrough that gives you a chance to do testing fast. And the administration 07:30.933 --> 07:34.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% has poured a lot of money toward that, to get 150 million of these tests. 07:34.333 --> 07:38.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And for all the flaws of the administration's COVID response, they have done a decent job 07:38.866 --> 07:41.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of pouring money, both toward a vaccine and toward testing. 07:41.833 --> 07:45.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so I give them some credit at that. The - - from what I understand of this test, it's 07:45.333 --> 07:50.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% not the ultimate solution for a testing. You want to be able to test at home and et cetera. 07:52.333 --> 07:54.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% But if we could do rapid testing, you could test as people go into schools and conferences 07:54.533 --> 07:57.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% and buildings. 07:57.000 --> 08:00.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% If that could be effective, that is a step back toward normalcy. And I have to give them 08:00.366 --> 08:03.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% some credit where credit is due. They have put a lot of money into this. 08:03.800 --> 08:07.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Clearly, everybody wants vaccine as soon as possible. 08:07.933 --> 08:10.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Jonathan, what about the political effects of this? 08:10.900 --> 08:15.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, what is unfortunate about what the administration is doing -- I 08:17.033 --> 08:19.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% mean, great on the rapid testing. 08:19.166 --> 08:23.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% A vaccine coming before the election, not so sure about that. But it seems that all 08:25.766 --> 08:29.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of these moves are being made not because of compassion for the sick and for the infected 08:31.266 --> 08:35.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and for those who died, but as a political maneuver, to shore up a political problem 08:36.933 --> 08:39.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that the president has. 08:39.000 --> 08:42.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% He has not been handling the response to the coronavirus pandemic well at all. And I think 08:46.000 --> 08:50.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% what the American people have been looking for is, where is the national plan? What are 08:50.966 --> 08:55.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% you doing to safeguard our health, but, by extension, safeguard our livelihoods? 08:58.800 --> 09:03.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Because the pandemic has hit us in our health, but it also is hitting us in the pocketbook 09:04.533 --> 09:06.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and our livelihoods. 09:06.600 --> 09:10.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally to both of you, this article that raised a lot of eyebrows that 09:12.033 --> 09:14.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% has just come out in "The Atlantic" overnight. 09:14.166 --> 09:18.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% David, Jeffrey Goldberg reporting from anonymous sources, but, in his words, credible sources, 09:21.000 --> 09:26.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that the president used words like suckers and losers over the course of his presidency 09:27.666 --> 09:31.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% talking about people who served in the military, people who died in war. 09:33.066 --> 09:36.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He's -- the White House completely denies this. Do you see something like this having 09:37.200 --> 09:39.233 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% an effect? 09:39.233 --> 09:42.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I mean, A, Jeffrey Goldberg has had a whole series of scoops coming out 09:42.233 --> 09:47.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of the Pentagon and the Defense Department in administrations going back for decades 09:48.500 --> 09:51.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% now. So, he's a high-credibility journalist. 09:51.000 --> 09:54.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% This story has now been confirmed by several other news organizations, including FOX News. 09:54.333 --> 09:58.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And so we can fully expect that he -- he did call -- he dishonored the war dead by calling 09:58.433 --> 10:02.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% them losers and suckers. And it is no so far out of reach of what he's said in public about 10:02.666 --> 10:06.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% John McCain and others. So, I find it completely credible. 10:06.133 --> 10:11.133 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And that the idea that a guy who is offended by Colin Kaepernick taking a knee, he says 10:13.066 --> 10:16.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that dishonors the country, but calling the war dead losers, that is an absurdity. 10:18.933 --> 10:21.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And so people are rightly offended. I mean, we get offended by this guy on an hourly basis, 10:21.800 --> 10:26.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% but this is an offense that goes to the core of the conservative value system, the military 10:27.800 --> 10:29.933 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% value system. 10:29.933 --> 10:33.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And what has been shocking to me this year is, already, even before this happens, according 10:33.533 --> 10:38.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to surveys of active military personnel, they were already for Biden, which is extremely 10:39.833 --> 10:41.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% rare, for the active military to be for Democrats. 10:41.800 --> 10:46.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so he was already in trouble with this group, and it has got to trouble everybody 10:47.766 --> 10:50.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% who is in and out of uniform. 10:50.133 --> 10:53.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Jonathan, what are you thinking about this? 10:53.833 --> 10:58.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JONATHAN CAPEHART: It -- I didn't think I could be shocked anymore, particularly since 11:00.933 --> 11:04.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Charlottesville, about what the president says or thinks about things or individuals. 11:06.833 --> 11:11.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I was horrified by what I read attributed the president of the United States, where 11:13.833 --> 11:18.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Jeffrey Goldberg got basically -- on four sources. And the fact that, to David's point, 11:20.733 --> 11:24.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that it has been corroborated by other news organizations, including my own, The Washington 11:24.966 --> 11:27.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Post, tells you something. 11:27.000 --> 11:31.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And it is shameful. But I think what is even more shameful is the silence from Republican 11:35.133 --> 11:40.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% leaders around the nation and on -- and from Capitol Hill. 11:42.166 --> 11:45.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Tough subject, tough -- tough everything right now. It is hard to think 11:49.633 --> 11:53.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% of something uplifting. 11:53.366 --> 11:57.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But we appreciate both of you. Thank you for being here. Jonathan Capehart, David Brooks, 11:57.333 --> 11:58.333 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% thank you. 11:58.333 --> 11:58.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Judy.