>> ANDREA, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
>>> CRAIG JOINS US NOW WITH MORE
ON BOTH TOWN HALLS.
>> GOOD MORNING TO BOTH OF YOU.
AS WE JUST HEARD THERE LOTS TO
UNPACK ON THIS FRIDAY MORNING.
TO DO THAT LET’S BRING IN NBC
POLITICAL ANALYST AND FORMER
DEMOCRATIC SENATOR CLAIRE
McCASKILL AND RICH LOWRY, EDITOR
OF "THE NATIONAL REVIEW."
GOOD MORNING TO BOTH OF YOU.
SENATOR, I’LL START WITH YOU.
TWO CANDIDATES, 1,200 MILES
APART ROUGHLY, PERHAPS, AN APT
METAPHOR FOR WHERE OUR POLITICS
ARE RIGHT NOW IN THIS COUNTRY.
ANY HEARTS AND MINDS CHANGED IN
EITHER TOWN HALL LAST NIGHT?
>> I’M NOT SURE.
I THINK MOST PEOPLE WATCHED THE
CANDIDATE THEY WERE SUPPORTING.
IF THERE WERE UNDECIDED VOTERS
THAT WATCHED BOTH, I THINK THEY
SAW QUITE A STARTLING CONTRAST.
I THINK THE PRESIDENT’S
PERFORMANCE STOOD OUT FOR
EVERYTHING HE DOESN’T KNOW.
HE DOESN’T HAVE A PLAN FOR
HEALTH CARE TO PROTECT
PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS.
HE DOESN’T KNOW IF HE OWES $421
MILLION TO FOREIGN BANKS.
HE DOESN’T KNOW WHETHER HE TOOK
A TEST AS THE RULES REQUIRED ON
THE DAY OF THE LAST DEBATE.
HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT QANON
IS, EVEN THOUGH HIS SUPPORTERS
SHOW UP WITH THOSE T-SHIRTS AND
THOSE SIGNS AT EVERY SINGLE ONE
OF HIS RALLIES.
IT WAS, FRANKLY, YOU KNOW, ONCE
AGAIN, SHOWED THAT THE PRESIDENT
HAS A VERY TORTURED RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE TRUTH.
>> RICH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
I FOUND STRIKING IN THE TRUMP
TOWN HALL, HOW LITTLE THE
PRESIDENT MENTIONED JOE BIDEN.
HE DIDN’T REALLY SEEM TO GO
AFTER THE VICE PRESIDENT
DIRECTLY AS MUCH AS HE HAS IN
THE PAST.
WHAT WERE YOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM
BOTH OF THE TOWN HALLS?
>> I AGREE WITH THAT.
IT REALLY GOES TO A KEY PARADOX
AND DYNAMIC OF THIS RACE.
THE TRUMP TOWN HALL MUCH BETTER
TV.
YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THIS GUY WAS
A TV STAR BEFORE HE WAS
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
HE’S JUST A VERY COMPELLING
FIGURE.
AND USUALLY IN PRESIDENTIAL
POLITICS, IN ANY POLITICAL RACE,
YOU WANT TO BE THE MORE
COMPELLING FIGURE, BUT IN THIS
CASE YOU DON’T.
HE DOESN’T WANT THE RACE TO BE A
REFERENDUM ABOUT HIM BUT
INEVITABLY IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM.
SO BIDEN ON ABC WAS DETAILED,
BUT ALSO DULL AND MEANDERING.
THERE’S NOTHING REALLY OF
INTEREST THERE OR TO GET YOUR
HOOKS INTO AND I THINK THAT’S
ONE OF THE KEY PROBLEMS FOR THIS
PRESIDENT AND HIS RE-ELECTION
CAMPAIGN.
>> RICH, TO CLAIRE’S POINT
THERE, LAST NIGHT THE PRESIDENT
TALKING ABOUT QANON AT FIRST
SAYING HE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT
WAS AND THEN ADMITTING HE KNEW A
LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THEY STOOD
FOR.
TWO WEEKS AGO THE PROUD BOYS.
THE PRESIDENT SEEMS TO CONTINUE
TO HAVE DIFFICULTY JUST FULL
STOP DENOUNCING FRINGE WHITE
SUPREMACY GROUPS.
WHY IS THAT?
WHY DOES HE HAVE SUCH A HARD
TIME DOING THAT?
IS THERE POLITICAL CALCULATION
THERE?
>> WELL, I THINK HE’S REPEATEDLY
DENOUNCED WHITE SUPREMACY.
WHAT WE SAW LAST NIGHT IS
COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE WHERE
HE WOULDN’T DENOUNCE QANON, THIS
POISONOUS CONSPIRACY THEORY.
I THINK THE REASON IS THAT HE
KNOWS A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE LIKE
HIM AND SUPPORT HIM AND HE
DOESN’T WANT TO DO ANYTHING TO
ALIENATE ANYONE ON HIS SIDE,
EVEN IF THEY’RE BEHOLDEN TO A
CRAZY THEORY.
SO THAT WAS NOT A GREAT MOMENT.
>> SENATOR McCASKILL, THIS IDEA
OF COURT PACKING, ADDING SEATS
TO THE SUPREME COURT TO TILT THE
BALANCE OF POWER, WE’VE TALKED
ABOUT THIS OVER THE PAST FEW
WEEKS.
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS GOTTEN
THE QUESTION A FEW TIMES.
SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS HAS GOTTEN
THE QUESTION A FEW TIMES.
THEY HAVEN’T FIGURED OUT HOW TO
ANSWER THE QUESTION.
LAST NIGHT MR. BIDEN SAID
PROMISING AN ANSWER BEFORE THE
ELECTION BUT AFTER THE SENATE
VOTES.
WHAT’S THE THINKING HERE?
WHAT’S THE STRATEGY?
>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, IT’S A
TOUGH QUESTION.
SECOND OF ALL, I THINK JOE BIDEN
HAS MIXED EMOTIONS ABOUT IT.
HE SAID OVER AND OVER AGAIN HE’S
NOT A FAN OF COURT PACKING.
IT’S HAPPENED VARIOUS TIMES IN
OUR HISTORY WHEN ONE PARTY HAS
GOTTEN CARRIED AWAY OR THERE HAS
BEEN SOME KIND OF GROSS
IMBALANCE.
AND I THINK HE’S TRYING TO WAIT
TO SEE WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
THINK OF THE IDEA THAT FOR THE
FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, THE
SENATE IS BLOWING UP EVERY RULE
THEY HAVE TO RAM THROUGH A
NOMINEE THAT’S MAIN VIEWS ARE
OUT OF STEP WITH MOST AMERICANS.
>> NEXT DEBATE --
>> IT’S NOT A TOUGH QUESTION.
IT’S NOT A TOUGH QUESTION.
THIS WOULD BE ONE OF THE MOST
RADICAL MEASURES IN AMERICAN
HISTORY.
THE SUPREME COURT HAS BEEN NINE
SINCE THE 1860s.
FDR AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS POWER
TRIED TO PACK THE COURT, WAS
REBUKED BY CONGRESS.
SO HE SHOULD JUST BE ABLE TO
GIVE A STRAIGHT ANSWER AND HE
WON’T.
HE SHOWED A LITTLE MORE LEG LAST
NIGHT AND SAID HE’LL ACTUALLY DO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE A FAVOR OF
TELLING THEM WHETHER OR NOT HE’S
GOING TO SUPPORT THIS BEFORE THE
ELECTION, WHICH IS CERTAINLY
NICE, BUT THE PAST -- IF YOU’RE
GOING TO BE A CANDIDATE OF NORMS
IN OUR INSTITUTIONS, YOUR ANSWER
ON THIS HAS TO BE NO, I WILL NOT
DESTROY THE LEGITIMACY OF THE
SUPREME COURT.
HE JUST REFUSZES TO DO THAT.
>> RICH, WE ARE SIX DAYS AWAY
FROM THE FINAL DEBATE.
AS YOU KNOW, PRESIDENT TRUMP
TRAILING IN JUST ABOUT EVERY
NATIONAL POLL THAT’S RELIABLE,
TRAILING IN MOST OF THE
BATTLEGROUND STATE POLLS AS
WELL.
WHAT DOES THE PRESIDENT NEED TO
DO ON THURSDAY TO TRY AND CLOSE
THE GAP WITH MR. BIDEN?
>> WELL, HE NEEDS TO SHAKE UP
THE RACE.
HE NEEDS TO HAVE A STRONG AND
AGGRESSIVE PERFORMANCE BUT
NOTHING LIKE THE FIRST TIME,
WHICH AGAIN MADE IT ALL ABOUT
HIM AND WAS REPELLENT TO A LOT OF PEOPLE.
OF PEOPLE.
AND GET THIS RACE --
>> I THINK HE NEEDS TO DO
EXACTLY WHAT HE’S DOING RIGHT
NOW.
BY THE WAY, IF AMERICA MAKES UP
THEIR MIND ON WHICH CANDIDATE
SUPPORTS THE NORMS AND
INSTITUTIONS OF THE PRESIDENCY,
I DON’T THINK THIS RACE WILL BE
CLOSE.
I THINK JOE BIDEN WOULD WIN IN A