WEBVTT 00:02.033 --> 00:05.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: As the Senate returned to Washington and House members stayed home, last night, 00:05.166 --> 00:10.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on FOX News, President Trump declared the economy is on its way to a speedy recovery. 00:12.166 --> 00:15.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Here to analyze the politics of his response and more, Amy Walter of The Cook Political 00:17.200 --> 00:20.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Report and the host of public radio's "Politics With Amy Walter," and Tamara Keith of NPR. 00:21.800 --> 00:25.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% She also co-hosts the "NPR Politics Podcast." 00:25.400 --> 00:27.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Hello to both of you. 00:27.466 --> 00:31.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And before I turn to you, I want to let you listen to some of what President Trump had 00:31.066 --> 00:36.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to say at this FOX town hall last night, and also some of what Joe Biden had to say today 00:38.000 --> 00:42.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% at a different town hall that had to do with helping essential workers, particularly in 00:44.000 --> 00:45.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% the Latino community. 00:45.500 --> 00:48.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Let's listen to both of those, and I will come back. 00:48.133 --> 00:50.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: You get a job where you make more money, frankly. 00:50.033 --> 00:52.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And I think that's going to happen. 00:52.133 --> 00:55.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think we're going to have an incredible following year. We're going to go into a transition 00:55.100 --> 00:58.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in the third quarter, and we're going to see things happening that look good. I really 00:58.166 --> 01:01.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% believe that. I have a good feel for this stuff. I have done it for a long time. 01:01.733 --> 01:03.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate: You know, I have put out a detailed plan about 01:03.866 --> 01:08.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% what I think we should be doing right now to support our front-line workers and address 01:08.600 --> 01:13.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the disparities we're seeing with COVID-19 impacts all across the country. 01:13.033 --> 01:18.033 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And I truly think that, if we do this right, we have an incredible opportunity to not just 01:20.400 --> 01:24.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% dig out of this crisis, but to fundamentally transform the country. 01:24.466 --> 01:28.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Amy, I'm going to come to you first. 01:28.433 --> 01:33.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% You have the president pivoting to talk about the economy at a time when, frankly, the numbers 01:35.433 --> 01:39.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of cases and deaths on COVID are not looking very good. The president acknowledged that 01:41.633 --> 01:44.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in part last night. But he's talking about the economy, saying it's going to get better. 01:44.166 --> 01:48.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Joe Biden, on the other hand, talking about how we need to protect these front-line workers. 01:48.633 --> 01:52.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What do you make of these two approaches? Here we are in May of this election year. 01:52.366 --> 01:54.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: That's right. 01:54.466 --> 01:58.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% You can hear it with President Trump last night in that town hall. He was so nostalgic 02:00.900 --> 02:05.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% for that time before COVID, when the economy was strong, his numbers on handling the economy 02:07.766 --> 02:12.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% so strong, and his focus was winning the election on the strength of a good economy. 02:14.166 --> 02:18.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And now here we are with this pandemic that is not just devastating our health, but obviously 02:20.666 --> 02:25.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% devastating the economy. And he wants to, and he said over and over again, bring America 02:27.133 --> 02:30.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% back, we need to get Americans working, we need to get this economy back. 02:30.233 --> 02:34.833 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% With Joe Biden, what I find really interesting, Judy, is that -- especially that clip that 02:34.833 --> 02:39.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% put in there, was Joe Biden was attacked by many in the progressive community for not 02:41.833 --> 02:46.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% wanting to be progressive -- for not being progressive enough, for being really a status-quo 02:47.966 --> 02:50.500 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% stand-in. 02:50.500 --> 02:54.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And what he's doing is not just talking about bringing the economy back, but putting a focus 02:56.000 --> 02:59.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on the people who are looking to make more structural -- what he is looking to do is 03:01.466 --> 03:05.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% make more structural change by focusing on the people who right now are not just on the 03:05.566 --> 03:10.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% front lines -- he talked a lot about meatpacking workers -- but who also are -- were doing 03:12.533 --> 03:16.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% poorly in the economy before the COVID-19 outbreak and continue to struggle even now. 03:19.366 --> 03:24.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Tam, as you listen to this and you look at what these two candidates 03:26.300 --> 03:30.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% are saying, what does it tell you about where they see themselves in this contest? 03:30.300 --> 03:35.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: President Trump wanted his campaign slogan, had been 03:36.466 --> 03:38.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% sort of rolling out to be, keep America great. 03:38.966 --> 03:43.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And now it's more like, make America great again, again. 03:43.066 --> 03:48.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But, you know, you have a situation where you have the president of the United States 03:50.033 --> 03:54.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% with all the advantages of incumbency that a president of the United States has. And 03:56.566 --> 04:00.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% you have Joe Biden sort of stuck in his basement doing these Webcasts, trying his best to campaign. 04:03.433 --> 04:05.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% But it's very different. 04:05.500 --> 04:08.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Now, obviously, President Trump can't go to rallies. He is yearning for a day when he 04:08.133 --> 04:13.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% can get back out in an arena with 25,000 people. Unclear when or if that will happen. 04:15.233 --> 04:20.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But, certainly, he still has the ability to, you know, get on Air Force One, like he's 04:21.833 --> 04:26.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% going to do tomorrow, and sort of flaunt the power of the presidency. 04:27.733 --> 04:29.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: That's right, Amy. 04:29.766 --> 04:34.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The president tomorrow is going to fly from Washington to Arizona to visit a company where 04:36.566 --> 04:40.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they manufacture protective gear, masks that people are wearing right now. How much of 04:42.266 --> 04:46.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% an advantage does the president have at a time like this? Joe Biden is at home. 04:46.333 --> 04:48.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% AMY WALTER: Right. 04:48.433 --> 04:52.033 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And you could hear if that audio, he wasn't just in the basement. He was sitting, I think, 04:52.033 --> 04:56.466 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% on some sort of porch or something. You could hear crickets or frogs or something in the 04:56.466 --> 05:01.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% background, while the president gets to not only fly in Air Force One, but sits at the 05:01.000 --> 05:03.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Lincoln Memorial. The contrast couldn't be stronger. 05:03.600 --> 05:08.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% At the same time even with those advantages, Judy, the president is still looking at approval 05:10.666 --> 05:15.333 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% ratings that are in some cases 20 to 30 points lower than governors in many of these states, 05:17.600 --> 05:19.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% red states, blue states. 05:19.700 --> 05:24.666 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% All these governors have used this opportunity in the spotlight, under this crisis moment, 05:25.533 --> 05:27.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to meet that moment. 05:27.600 --> 05:32.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% This president has met it in the same way he meets every moment, which is in this very 05:34.100 --> 05:37.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% polarizing, sort of predictable way. And so what should be a big advantage of a bully 05:39.866 --> 05:42.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% pulpit has not worked out that way. 05:42.066 --> 05:43.300 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (CROSSTALK) 05:43.300 --> 05:45.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Tam -- go ahead, Tam. 05:45.333 --> 05:49.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH: This trip to Arizona is an official event. It is not a campaign event. 05:49.833 --> 05:54.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But it is not a coincidence that the president is going to Arizona. It's a state that he 05:54.233 --> 05:59.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% won in 2016. But the reality is that it's fully in play in 2020. 05:59.233 --> 06:03.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% His campaign has talked to -- I talked to someone from his campaign today. They have 06:03.066 --> 06:08.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% had people on the ground there since 2015. But there's a real sense that this is a state 06:10.466 --> 06:14.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% that they're going to have to fight for, that Arizona used to be red Arizona, isn't a guarantee. 06:16.866 --> 06:20.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And, certainly, under the current circumstances, it's not a guarantee. 06:20.600 --> 06:25.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Amy, you brought up the governors. We are seeing right now a number 06:27.600 --> 06:31.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of states, I guess, what is it, they're saying 29, 30 states, go ahead and planning to open 06:32.833 --> 06:37.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% up again, even with these forecasts of rising cases and deaths. 06:39.333 --> 06:42.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And the states that seem to be moving ahead, more of them have Republican governors. The 06:42.400 --> 06:46.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% states that are saying, no, let's wait, more of them have Democratic governors. 06:46.833 --> 06:49.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% How partisan is this right now? 06:49.133 --> 06:51.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMY WALTER: Yes, it's really interesting, Judy. 06:51.833 --> 06:56.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The Kaiser Foundation had an interesting pullout this morning that looked at -- or some data 06:58.733 --> 07:02.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% out this morning that looked at the rate of growth, especially over the last two weeks, 07:04.200 --> 07:06.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in states that had Democratic governors and states that had Republican governors. 07:06.700 --> 07:11.566 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Now, while it is true that states that have Democratic governors overall have more deaths, 07:13.966 --> 07:16.700 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% even per capita, than those who have red governors, when you look over the last two weeks at the 07:18.666 --> 07:22.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% rate of growth in both cases and deaths, it is the red states that are seeing an incredible 07:22.033 --> 07:24.133 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% uptick. 07:24.133 --> 07:27.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, the question -- and you are right to ask this, Judy -- is, what if this is true that 07:27.800 --> 07:31.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% we're not only going to see more cases, but more deaths in red states? Is that going to 07:31.000 --> 07:36.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% change the perception by people who live in those states and governors on this issue? 07:37.966 --> 07:41.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And what I found really interesting, I was digging through some polls taken in Michigan 07:43.400 --> 07:45.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and in Florida. These are two battleground states. One has a Democratic governor. One 07:45.266 --> 07:47.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% has a Republican governor. 07:47.300 --> 07:51.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% When you asked voters in those states, how worried are you about actually contracting 07:51.333 --> 07:56.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% coronavirus, and then asked specifically, very worried or somewhat worried, the people 07:58.266 --> 08:02.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who said they were very worried also happened to line up pretty closely with whether you 08:03.533 --> 08:06.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% were a Clinton voter or not. 08:06.000 --> 08:09.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% So, in Michigan, it was something like 52 percent of Clinton voters said they were very 08:09.933 --> 08:14.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% worried about that, of getting coronavirus, 57 percent in Florida. But among voters who 08:17.366 --> 08:20.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% voted for Trump in 2016, a quarter or a third said they were very worried about this issue. 08:22.033 --> 08:25.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, you can see at that moment, whether you have a red governor -- you're in a red state 08:25.666 --> 08:30.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% or a blue state, governor who is Democrat, governor who's Republican, the voter themselves 08:32.600 --> 08:36.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and the ideological lens through which they're looking also is impacting how serious they 08:37.633 --> 08:40.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% believe the threat of COVID infection is. 08:40.733 --> 08:43.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Tam, you have got 30 seconds. 08:43.800 --> 08:45.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% TAMARA KEITH: Yes. 08:45.866 --> 08:49.733 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% So, I was talking to a researcher at Hamilton College about this. And he was pointing out 08:49.733 --> 08:54.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% that, up until this point, there's been sort of a disproportionate weight of the coronavirus 08:56.766 --> 08:59.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% being borne by counties that were Clinton counties, that went for Hillary Clinton. 08:59.566 --> 09:04.566 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And there are also a lot of racial disparities that are underlying that and might explain 09:06.566 --> 09:10.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% why the politics are the way they are. But that could certainly change as the virus changes 09:11.400 --> 09:13.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the way it affects the country. 09:13.533 --> 09:18.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So interesting, these numbers state by state. We're seeing things we didn't 09:19.200 --> 09:20.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% see just a month or so ago. 09:20.900 --> 09:23.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Tamara Keith, Amy Walter, we thank you both. 09:23.133 --> 09:24.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% AMY WALTER: You're welcome. 09:24.133 --> 09:25.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.