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CNN This Morning
Jake Tapper Talks about Israel, U.S. Politics and his Show on CNN; Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) is Interviewed about the Presidential Race and Ukraine Aid; Ask Axe Anything. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired March 04, 2024 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: The White House is escalating calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, tapping Vice President Harris to try to drive home the message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There must be an immediate ceasefire. This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in. This would allow us to build something more enduring, to ensure Israel is secure, and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: President Biden had teased a possible temporary ceasefire deal as soon as today, but it is still far off. Hamas is attending today's ceasefire talks in Cairo. Israel is not. Prime Minister Netanyahu demanding that Hamas first released the names of all surviving hostages before he sends a delegation.
This morning we are very lucky to have CNN's very own morning person, Jake Tapper, with us to kick off our conversation.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": Good morning, everyone. Good morning, everyone.
HUNT: This is probably the only time you're going to actually see him live as much as -
TAPPER: Whoo! This was in honor of your new show. I say congratulations. I'm happy to come in early. I immediately regretted making the offer, but here I am, smiling, awake.
HUNT: I'm very grateful. I really am. It means the world that you're here. And, honestly, there's no one that I'd rather talk to kind of about the politics of what's going on, especially in Israel as - and how it relates here. I mean you heard Harris', you know, making that statement.
TAPPER: Yes.
HUNT: It is stronger in a lot of ways than the president has.
TAPPER: Well, the policy is the same.
HUNT: Right.
TAPPER: But certainly how she delivered the policy, the emphasis, the setting, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the anniversary of Sunday -- Bloody Sunday, her intonation seemed stronger than what we've heard from President Biden, even though word for word the policy is the same, which is, ceasefire as soon as possible, six weeks hostages home, aid in, et cetera. But the way she described it, the stark way she described the - the humanitarian catastrophe going on in Gaza, much more stark.
HUNT: Right. I mean she talked -- she was talking about malnourished children.
TAPPER: Yes.
HUNT: I mean, in many ways, it's -- it's the message that the progressive left is using to badger her boss.
TAPPER: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. And again, I don't think the policy is any different.
HUNT: Right.
TAPPER: I mean the U.S. is now air-dropping supplies into Gaza, which is, you know, a very remarkable move. And also gets at the lack of cooperation from Netanyahu's government when it comes to getting aid in, even for the United States.
But that said, she gave it with a much more forceful style.
HUNT: Can we talk a little bit about the dynamics between President Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu and how it relates -
TAPPER: Yes, no love loss, I don't think. Yes.
HUNT: It doesn't seem so.
TAPPER: No. And I - and I think -- I think that -- well, first of all, I - I think President Biden's on the record not particularly caring for Netanyahu in terms of how he runs his country. Netanyahu is -- he relies on it. It's a parliamentary system. And there are 14 seats that he needs in order to stay prime minister that are controlled by these extremists, right-wing zealots, anti-Arab bigots, Smotrich and Ben Gvir in Israel. He can't do anything to upset them, and they are right-wing extremists.
Netanyahu is not popular in Israel. His - he polls about 15, 20 percent. If there were a call for a new election, Benny Gantz, who is in the war cabinet, who is visiting in D.C., would likely beat him as prime minister.
HUNT: Yes. So, how does this relate to the -- the presidential election because, I mean, we saw, out of the Michigan results, the significant, you know, feelings that are held by many in the Arab American Muslim communities.
TAPPER: Also, younger people, progressives.
HUNT: Also young voters. Right.
TAPPER: Absolutely. It's not just Arab American and Muslim Americans.
Look, it's a - it was a real muscle flex last -- last Tuesday during the Michigan primary. Here's 100,000 of us. You know, you can't ignore us. And I would be worried if I were President Biden.
Now, what is the -- what are the politics going to look like in November? I don't know. Will Netanyahu still be prime minister? I don't know. I mean there are lots of unknowns. But certainly there's a lot of dissatisfaction with the way that President Biden has managed this conflict because of all the horrific loss of innocent life we're seeing in Gaza.
HUNT: Yes. Let's talk big picture about this week, right, because in many ways it is the kickoff week to the general election. You have Trump on Tuesday --
TAPPER: Makes it even more surprising that I am here at this ungodly hour given the requirements upon me. We have Super Tuesday Tuesday. We have the State of the Union Thursday. Today we expect a Supreme Court announcement when it comes to the 14th Amendment. I mean a lot of stuff I'm going to have to be wide awake for.
HUNT: I know. I know.
TAPPER: At all hours.
HUNT: And, you know what, I will be with you on Tuesday night and Thursday night. I will be not up as late as you are, but -
TAPPER: And hopefully with some B12 shots (INAUDIBLE) behind the scenes.
HUNT: Yes. We're both going to need it.
TAPPER: Thank you.
HUNT: But this rematch -- I mean polls show Americans really don't want it.
TAPPER: Nope.
HUNT: But it's going to get solidified this week.
TAPPER: And a lot of people don't even think - it's really strange. Like, a lot of voters still are not convinced --
HUNT: They think it's not going to happen.
TAPPER: That this is going to be the reality.
HUNT: Why is that?
TAPPER: I don't know. I can't really explain it. I mean I feel like we've been saying it for quite some time. It's going to be -- certainly it's going to be President Biden.
[06:35:02]
HUNT: Right.
TAPPER: And the polls indicated certainly it's going to be President Trump -- former President Trump, although we should note Kamala Harris did win her first primary last night, the -
HUNT: Nikki Haley, you mean.
TAPPER: I'm sorry.
HUNT: It's OK, it's early.
TAPPER: Yes, Nikki -- Nikki Haley won her first primary. Yes, I'm confusing my - my powerful women.
HUNT: Yes, yes, here in Washington.
TAPPER: Yes, in Washington, D.C., yes.
HUNT: Right. No, you're right. And, I mean, look, the - the polls out over the weekend too, right, voter's views of the economy are warming, but they don't -- Biden doesn't see it. That's "The Wall Street Journal." Most Biden voters in 2020, so people who voted him, I think -- for him, they think he's too old to lead. I mean that's the backdrop for his State of the Union on Thursday.
TAPPER: Yes, and also he has -- he has failed to, at least at this date, and he's not the one with a competitive primary, he has failed to secure his -- his coalition. I think he has like 80 percent of the people who voted for him in 2020, according to this "New York Times"/Sierra poll, say they will vote for him. Ten percent are going to vote for Trump. You're losing one out of ten of your voters. That's trouble.
Now, it's early. I know a lot of skeptics of polls say that "New York Times"/Sierra College poll is not solid enough.
HUNT: Right.
TAPPER: But I will say, President Biden has a lot of work to do.
HUNT: Yes.
So, one of the other reasons I wanted to have you here is because I've been watching your "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL" series, which has been airing on Sunday nights.
TAPPER: Sunday nights at 9:00, yes.
HUNT: It's awesome.
TAPPER: Thank you.
HUNT: It's - it's - it's amazing.
Let's show a little bit of this week's episode that's focused on Eliot Spitzer and then Jake will -
TAPPER: The sheriff of Wall Street, Eliot Spitzer.
HUNT: Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: And a telltale sign of his hubris, Spitzer was so confident he would become governor, he started staffing his administration years before the election. One time Spitzer said to me, there's someone I'd like to interview to be lieutenant governor, but I wouldn't want to be rejected. Now I realize he's talking about me. And he was right, I didn't want to be lieutenant governor.
And at the time, Hillary Clinton was the junior senator from New York. So, I said to Spitzer, if Hillary Clinton becomes president, you pick the new senator. I would be your guy. And Spitzer said something to me at that point, it was very prophetic, stay out of trouble and you're my guy. And all I could say to that was, physician heal theyself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Some advice from Spitzer, stay out of trouble.
TAPPER: Well.
HUNT: Whoops.
TAPPER: And lieutenant governor, then Governor David Paterson, did stay out of trouble. The problem was, Eliot Spitzer didn't stay out of trouble.
HUNT: Sure didn't.
TAPPER: The worst kind of trouble also.
HUNT: The worst kind of trouble.
Talk to me - talk to me a little bit about like what it was like to make this. I mean I saw you interviewed Rielle Hunter from the John Edwards -
TAPPER: Rielle Hunter. Yes, we have coming up, not this Sunday because of the Oscars, but the following Sunday, March 17th, we have Jim McGreevey, the governor of New Jersey, who had to step -
HUNT: Fascinating. TAPPER: Down during his whole controversy involving him being secretly gay and putting his lover on the government payroll in New Jersey. That was 2004. Were you born yet? That's a --
HUNT: Yes, Jake.
TAPPER: And then - and then the last one is about the Valerie Plame scandal and weapons of mass destruction writ large. But it's been -- yes, we started with Blagojevich, Mark Sanford, John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, McGreevey and Plame, yes.
HUNT: Do - what did you learn doing it? Like, what was your big picture (INAUDIBLE)?
TAPPER: Well, first of all, you hear what it's like for people, either the governors themselves, the politicians themselves, or people close to them, what it was like. So you -- I mean you -- just on its face, you learn their perspective, the perspective of Rielle Hunter, John Edwards' girlfriend, what was going through her mind and her - her -- she said she didn't even want him to run for president. She was like the only person who was like didn't - who didn't want him to run for president. Also, it was very interesting getting the - the inside look at that when John Edwards admitted the affair but denied paternity of their daughter. I feel like that's the moment that she was like, oh, we're not in love.
HUNT: We're done. Yes.
TAPPER: Yes. Like, that was it, she fell out of love with him in that moment. My interpretation, not hers.
HUNT: I mean, you can understand why that might happen.
TAPPER: They're human dramas. I mean I -- we try to glean a little wisdom, analysis, intellect out of them, but they are human dramas. They are what Shakespeare would be writing were he alive today. And they're fascinating and they do tell us something about ourselves as a - as a voting public, and also how we have evolved as a country.
HUNT: Yes. I mean, I -- look, I have to say, when I think about how to cover politics, how to do this job day in and day out, the one thing I always try to remind myself is that these are actual, real human beings who act in human ways.
TAPPER: Yes. Sometimes all too human, right?
HUNT: Right. That's what I mean.
TAPPER: I mean with Eliot Spitzer passing anti-sex trafficking laws, sex worker laws, and then breaking those very laws.
HUNT: Yes.
TAPPER: May even that day. Who knows?
HUNT: Who knows. TAPPER: Yes.
HUNT: OK, you should watch the series, guys, it's really good.
Jake, thank you so much. Go take a nap.
TAPPER: Congratulations again. Congratulations again.
HUNT: Thank you.
TAPPER: No, I've got to start my day. I've got show meetings. I've got to go to the gym. I'm ready. I'm ready.
HUNT: Hey, if you get up this early, you know, you've really got a jump on everybody else. I've got to tell you that.
TAPPER: Oh, of course. Definitely.
HUNT: All right, Jake, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
TAPPER: Yes, thank you.
HUNT: All right, make sure you do catch the next episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL." It's going to be Sunday, March 17th, as Jake mentioned, 9:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN.
All right, up next, crews battling those massive Texas wildfires, hoping for some cooler weather in the hours ahead.
Plus, a consequential week, as we've been discussing, for President Biden.
[06:40:01]
Our own David Axelrod is here. We're going to "Ask Axe Anything." Almost.
And the Trump campaign considering a new strategy targeting Muslims in Michigan. Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee joins us, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: Welcome back.
The Trump campaign is considering a strategy to try to drive a deeper wedge between an Arab American and Muslim voters and President Biden. According to "The New York Times," the idea is to run ads in heavily Muslim Michigan communities thanking President Biden for standing with Israel. Well over 100,000 Michigan voters chose "uncommitted" instead of choosing Biden in the Democratic primary last week.
Let's bring in Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee of Michigan.
Congressman, it's always wonderful to see you.
REP. DAN KILDEE (D-MI): Thank you. It's good to be here. HUNT: And I, you know, I have Michigan roots myself, so I'm always
grateful to have Michiganders -
KILDEE: That's right.
HUNT: Michiganders on the show.
Look, this was a pretty tough message that Michigan voters sent to President Biden.
What's going on there? How big is this problem? And is he doing enough to address it?
KILDEE: Well, I think he needs to do more. I happen to share the views of many of those folks who voted uncommitted, although I supported the president. Their views on the Israel-Hamas war are views that I happen to share. And I think it's important that the president here those voices.
I do think there's a pretty strong distinction between the way President Biden has approached these issues in the Middle East and - and Donald Trump, I hope, at the end of the day, that reality will sink in.
But, in the meantime, I do think that the president needs to engage more with the Arab and Muslim community, to talk to them, to hear from them face-to-face, their concerns, and hopefully have those concerns inform the U.S. position as we go forward on this.
HUNT: Do you think that if the president doesn't change the policy that we have as a nation right now towards the war in Gaza, that President Biden will lose Michigan in a general election?
[06:45:10]
KILDEE: Well, I think it's a challenge. I think, though, you know, even though much of this was expressed at the ballot box, this is not a political issue for the Arab and Muslim community. This is a matter of - of life and death. So, I think it's a mistake for anyone to view it through a purely political lens. Having said that, it's something that the president will continue to have to address.
But I think, at the end of the day, eight months from now when this decision is made, Michiganders are going to make a choice based on a whole variety of factors. And the - the - the contrast between Donald Trump and Joe Biden couldn't be more stark. And I - and I do believe that as Michiganders sit around their kitchen tables and make a decision about who's best for them, it won't be much of a question. Joe Biden will be their choice.
HUNT: So, fair enough. But, I mean, look, these two papers, "The Wall Street Journal," "New York Times," they're both topped with polls that honestly have some warning signs in them for the president. "The Journal" poll, the top lines are closer together. Some people are questioning whether the spread in "The Times" poll is really as big as it says. But they both reflect deep concerns, especially around President Biden's age and how that comes across. I mean most Biden voters who voted for him in 2020, according to "The Times," think that now that he is too old to lead. Is it possible for the presidents to put these questions to rest?
KILDEE: I think so. I mean we're going to have the State of Union later this week. I think that's an opportunity. But the president getting out there and being among the American people, you know, talking about his vision for the country.
Look, I think there's a bit of a double standard here when you see these criticisms of president Biden and, in the meantime, you've got Donald Trump out there giving speeches that are unhinged, deranged. He can't distinguish Nikki Haley from Nancy Pelosi. He couldn't pick his own former wife out of a photo lineup. So, you know, to be fair -
HUNT: But the former president has pushed back on that and saying he was referring to the wife of someone else in the crowd. I just want to throw that out there. But I take your point.
KILDEE: He - he always - he always has an explanation when he does something completely ridiculous. And my point being though is that, look, Donald Trump is no spring chicken. Donald Trump can't remember what day it is. And, you know, the criticism of President Biden, I get. It's ultimately going to be measured on performance. What Joe Biden has done, no matter what his age is, what Joe Biden has done is really remarkable for this country. I mean look what's going on. Unemployment is down. The stock market is up. Everything is going in the right direction. Under President Trump, what do we have? Complete chaos. And I think, at the end of it, that's really going to be the measure of these two candidates.
HUNT: So, this morning, out in "The New Yorker," Evan Osnos sat down with president, with President Biden in a rare Oval Office interview. And the president was pretty apocalyptic about what he expects from former President Donald Trump in the event that Trump wins the general election. He said, quote, and again this is from "The New Yorker," "I just think he'll," Trump, "do anything to try to win. If and when I win, I think he'll contest it no matter what the result is."
That is a pretty stark statement from the president saying that he believes that Donald Trump will try to steal the election if Joe Biden does -- does win in November. Do you agree with the president?
KILDEE: Well, I think the evidence is there. Donald Trump does not connect with reality. He's interested in his own power. You know, I - I just started reading Liz Cheney's book. I've been reading a lot of these books.
Liz Cheney and I served together. We certainly don't agree on a lot of the issues. Just pay attention to what conventional Republicans are saying about Donald Trump and what he will do to stay in power or to gain power. It ought to be frightening to every American.
HUNT: What would you like to see President Biden focus on in the State of the Union Address this week? KILDEE: Well, I think, a couple things. Number one, making the point that his policies are working. We are restoring American manufacturing. It's making a difference in the lives of Americans, number one. Secondly, I do think it's important to begin to signal what's - what's next. I know the president has a focus, for example, on housing. Housing is a challenge in this country. It can't just be a referendum on what we've done, but also a look to the future. Trust us. You've seen this president do the hard work and it's living for the American people. Trust us to continue to do that work. And I think if he - if he lands that message, I think that's going to be a game changer.
HUNT: What do you expect from the House speaker, Mike Johnson, in terms of moving forward on Ukraine aid? I mean is there a sense among Democrats of how to handle if, in fact, there is a Republican proposal that Johnson's willing to put on the floor on Ukraine aid, how Democrats would handle that?
KILDEE: Well, we can't figure out exactly what Speaker Johnson's agenda is. I mean he first wanted to connect Ukraine aid to border security.
[06:50:02]
We gave him what he asked for and then he turned away from that.
There's a real problem in the Republican conference. There seems to be a pro-Putin caucus within the Republican conference. The sooner Mike Johnson recognizes that and realizes that the functional majority that will stand for America's national security, a strong border, Ukraine, et cetera, that functional majority is made up of almost all the Democrats and a really good percentage of the Republicans, north of 300 votes for any package that would address those issues.
HUNT: Sure.
KILDEE: If he's going to continue to cater to the, you know, dozen or 20 most extreme members of - of Congress, we're not going to get any of this done.
HUNT: All right, Congressman Dan Kildee, thank you very much for being with us this morning.
KILDEE: Thank you.
HUNT: I really appreciate it.
KILDEE: You bet.
HUNT: All right, 50 minutes past the hour. Time for your morning roundup.
Jack Teixeira, the air national guardsman accused of posting classified documents online, expected to plead guilty. Teixeira was just 21 when he was charged with six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information. He faces decades in prison if he's convicted.
Strong winds and higher temperatures are fueling wildfires that are spreading across the Texas panhandle. It is the biggest fire in Texas history. A cold front is moving into the area today, which could provide some relief for firefighters.
And in Utah, a major league soccer game happened in the middle of a snowstorm. Real Salt Lake won its home opener against the Los Angeles Football Club 3-0. Los Angeles' head coach called it, quote, "disgraceful" that the game was played in these conditions.
I don't know, I thought - I thought that was kind of the deal with soccer.
All right, now it's time to "Ask Axe Anything."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was with Joe Biden for the past weekend and, whoo, he wiped me out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, so you feel he's up to the job?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dana, I was just with him and behind closed doors he's a dynamo. Joe went into beast mode. He said, we're going to tighten this border. Look how easy I can cross it. Then he paracord up to the top of the border wall. He front-flipped into the Rio Grande and came back up with a fish in his mouth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, our panel is back and now we are joined by the one and only David Axelrod, who has graciously agreed to regularly let us "Ask Axe Anything," within reason, of course.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Within reason, yes.
HUNT: Axe, I'm so grateful to -- thank you for being here.
AXELROD: Sure. Great to see you early birds.
HUNT: We really appreciate it. We've had a - we've had a number of non-morning people this morning.
AXELROD: Yes.
HUNT: So, thank you.
I actually want to ask you, Axe, to start off with this, and this is just breaking this morning. There was a rare Oval Office interview that the president gave to "The New Yorker's" Evan Osnos.
AXELROD: Yes.
HUNT: And he talked about what he believes former president will or won't do when he wins -- if he -- if Biden wins the election. "Losers who are losers are never graceful. I just think he'll do anything to try to win. If and when I win, I think he'll contest it. No matter what the result is."
I mean, first of all, do you agree with the president, and what do you make of his decision to say this out loud at this point?
AXELROD: Well, first of all, I don't even think that is a debatable scenario. I mean, we've already seen it tested. Donald Trump has two -- there are two scenarios for Donald Trump in an election, either he wins or it was stolen. He never acknowledges the third option, that, hey, they just weren't into you, which is -- was - was the case in - in 2020. That is not in his parlance. That's not in his, you know, range of understanding. So, I expect that he would contest any election and -- but at least we're now alert to the fact that that is a likely scenario if he were to lose the election.
HUNT: Yes, we're being a little light about it. I mean I just will say, I was at the Capitol January 6th. It's not a laughing matter necessarily.
AXELROD: No.
All right, our panel has questions for you too.
Kate Bedingfield, what's yours for Axe?
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: OK. Axe, what do you think the president -- what - what kind of public events do you think President Biden should focus on and what do you think gets him the most bang for his buck? If you're laying out the rest of this campaign for him and his team, what sort of public events should he be doing?
AXELROD: OK, I feel really weird asking -- answering this question coming from you. Let me just say that because you spent years thinking 24/7 about this very question, and I should actually turn the tables and ask you.
But look, I think that being a strategist is like being a coach of a team, you want to maximize your team's strength, you want to maximize your quarterback's strength and you want to minimize their weaknesses. So put him in situations where he's likely to score the most. And that is -- for him it's, I think in places where he can show his empathy and connection, in more informal settings where he can interact with people.
But I do think, Kate, and I think you'd agree, that he - he also needs to show urgency and advocacy and action moving forward here.
[06:55:02]
Got a good chance this week at the State of the Union speech, which I think is going to be more important for a president running for re- election than any I can remember.
HUNT: Thats really interesting.
Shermichael, what's your question?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: So, Axe, I - I have a question for you. I think that the Trump campaign is going to have a hyperfocus battleground state strategy. So, with that in mind, President Biden won Georgia by 12,000 votes, Arizona by 10,000 votes, Nevada by 33,000, and Wisconsin by 20,000. Considering those numbers, and some of the fractures we're seeing within his coalition, how worried and concerned should his re-elect campaign be?
AXELROD: I think this is a rhetorical question, Shermichael. But, you know, you raised an important point that I think we gloss over when we're doing the math. We look at these national polls. These national polls are meaningful but they're not -- they're not completely prescriptive about what's going to happen because we elect by electoral votes. Joe Biden won by 7 million votes last time, but really by the margin of 44,000 votes in the three closest states. And that's how presidential races are run. Forty-four states are going to watch this year in six states are going to determine who the president of the United States is going to be.
And, yes, I think right now in polling, on the average, he is, you know, even or a little less than even in a lot of these states. Some states he's trailing. In those six states. And that is going to be the focus of the campaign. And there will be a lot of data analytics and a lot of focus on how to prioritize those states and how to prioritize resources and how to prioritize where the focus should be.
One thing I want to add, by the way, to my last answer to Kate. One thing you do when your quarterback maybe can throw as far as he used to, maybe can scramble quite as well but has a lot of experiences, you use your supporting cast. You throw to the other players. You hand the ball off to other players. I think the president needs to use his surrogates a lot more aggressively than he has so far. And that is certainly true in these battleground states.
HUNT: Really interesting. Tia, what's your question for Axe?
TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION": All right, my question is, since we're on the eve of Super Tuesday, I want to ask about the early primary states. We know the Democratic Party redid the calendar. They said they wanted to have some of those earlier states more reflective of the electorate. But it was also interpreted as a way to make some of those earlier voting states friendlier to President Biden. My question is, did it matter? Did it work? What was -- what was the actual effect of this rejiggered primary calendar?
AXELROD: Yes, I'm not sure that it mattered at the end of the day. When he -- when that was announced, my thought was, if anybody was thinking of challenging the president, this would be a daunting calendar. He, as you remember, he didn't do particularly well in the caucuses and primary in Iowa and New Hampshire last time. He did very well in South Carolina. That's where he wanted to kick off the campaign.
As it turns out, I'm not sure that it would have made that much of a difference. And you look at New Hampshire, where he didn't do particularly well last time, and there was a -- there was an effort on the part of Congressman Phillips to challenge him. And there was a write-in that was pretty successful. I don't think, at the end of the day, it made that much of a difference in terms of who the nominee if the Democratic Party would be. Probably got him off to a better start.
HUNT: Axe, we're - we're about to wrap up here, but very briefly, I mean you mentioned passing the ball to other members of your team. I mean these two headlines on "The Post" and "The Journal" are -- excuse me, "The Times" and "The Journal" respectively, where, you know, 70 plus percent of voters are saying they think Biden is too old, I mean, is that surmountable, fundamentally?
AXELROD: Well, look, elections are a choice and they're not -- they're not a referendum. And I think part of the challenge for the Biden campaign is to get out of the referendum mode and really focus on Donald Trump, who is an epically flawed candidate. But -- so, yes, I think it can be overcome. As you can see, these polls, despite everything, are very, very tight. But it is a problem, and there's no doubt about it, and there needs to be a lot of thought about how to use him, how to present him, and then how to shift the focus to Donald Trump.
HUNT: Yes.
AXELROD: Because we haven't seen anything quite like this before.
HUNT: We sure haven't.
All right, David Axelrod, thank you. You're such a great sport. I really appreciate it.
Tia, Shermichael --
AXELROD: Great to see all you guys. Have a great day.
HUNT: Come back soon. You too.
AXELROD: Thank you.
HUNT: All right, I will leave you with this. Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark has gone where no woman, or man for that matter, has gone before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This for college basketball history. She does it with a foul shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Just amazing. She's on the court all by herself for that. She is now the NCAA's all-time leading scorer in basketball, period.
[07:00:02] Not women's basketball, not men's basketball, basketball. And, guess, look at this, they beat Ohio State. I'm a Michigan fan, so that's great.
