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Inside Politics
Biden Lays Out Expansive Plan to Combat Gun Violence; January 6 Committee to Hold First Prime Time Hearings This Week; The White House Plans Heavy Focus on Economy This Month; Mehmet Oz Wins Pennsylvania GOP Senate Primary; Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired June 05, 2022 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(MUSIC)
[08:00:21]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST (voice-over): More mass shootings in America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this can happen anywhere.
PHILLIP: As families from Uvalde mourn.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How much more carnage are we willing to accept? How many more innocent American lives must be taken before we say enough?
PHILLIP: Will President Biden's call to action get anything done in a split Senate?
Plus, the January 6th Committee goes primetime with promises of new revelations about Trump's plot to stay in power.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Our democracy is at stake. We have to defend our democracy.
PHILLIP: Will Americans sit up and pay attention?
And is there an economic hurricane coming? The president admits there are limits to what he can do to fight inflation.
BIDEN: The idea we're going to be able to bring town the cost of gasoline is not likely in the near term.
PHILLIP: INSIDE POLITICS, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters, now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIP: Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Abby Phillip.
In Uvalde, portraits of grief are impossible to escape. The funerals of the 22 victims began this week, and makeshift memorials continue to grow at the scene, bringing family and friends of the victims, even mariachi bands comforted the grieving.
And since Uvalde, though, 12 days ago, there have been at least 26 mass shootings in this country, including in Philadelphia just last night where three people were killed and 11 more were wounded.
And now, families are calling on Washington to do something to curb the seemingly endless stream of gun violence.
On Capitol Hill, senators are considering small changes, like addressing mental health and Joe Biden is demanding a lot more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done.
This time that can't be true. This time we must actually do something. The issue we face is one of conscience and common sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And joining me now with their reporting and insights, Molly Ball of "Time Magazine", Seung Min Kim of "The Washington Post", Hans Nichols of "Axios" and CNN's Melanie Zanona.
So Biden's speech was a reminder that this -- we've been here before, we've seen this show before. But in a lot of ways, he had to say something. On his list of things he wanted to do were a laundry list of things Democrats have wanted for a long time.
A ban on assault weapons, raising the aim to purchase an assault weapon to 21, ban on high capacity magazines, gun manufacturer immunity and addressing the mental health crisis.
But what is the point of the speech give than so many of those things really are not likely to be even on the table for negotiations right now?
HANS NICHOLS, AXIOS POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, presidents always have multiple audiences when they're speaking. The president here, who is clearly talking to his base, he's clearly talking to a grieving America, who is concerned about gun violence.
He had a smaller message and maybe less of it toward Senate Republicans.
And it's really the first time he's weighed in, sort of in this -- I don't want to say strategic pause, but Democrats want to give Republicans the space in the Senate to come to sort of a deal.
The president encroached on that a little bit. There's still some positive momentum happening on the Hill, and it's still possible to have something done, as you mentioned, on the smaller side, things that everyone can agree to.
PHILLIP: Yeah, I mean, what is the risk, though, that Republicans just seize on that speech and say oh, he's making it political, even though -- these are obviously the positions of Democrats for decades now.
MOLLY BALL, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, there was some concern, and I think we did see some hesitation in the White House.
He didn't come out with this speech right away after the school massacre, because there's always a concern that any time a president steps into an issue, yes, he has the bully pulpit, but he has the power to polarize the issue against him and his party.
There's this sort of equilibrium in Washington where anything the Democrats are for, Republicans are against, and vice versa.
But it was decided and I think as Hans was saying correctly, that for the sake of his base and for the sake of a grieving America, it had got to the point, and with another shooting happening the morning the president made this speech, he had to say something.
So it was an attempt to lay out what we already know Democrats are for, as you said, without enflaming the issue by going so far that it would scramble these talks in the Senate.
[08:05:10]
It's a very delicate balance at this point. It still would be surprising if they get anywhere, but the idea was to sort of weigh in without inflaming those talks.
PHILLIP: Yeah. I mean, I think when people are looking at this wondering okay, are we really going to get somewhere here?
An interesting thing that happened just this morning actually, an ad taken out in a Texas paper by 250 Republican donors, really aimed at Senator John Cornyn, saying to him, we'll back you up on doing more on gun violence.
Not sure how that's going to play, but take a listen briefly to how McConnell, the Senate majority leader and Cornyn, his appointed negotiator, are talking about in this latest gambit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): First and foremost is keep guns out of the hands of people who are mentally ill or criminals. To me, that should be a point of consensus.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Mental illness and school safety are what we need to target.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Where are we on what Republicans are willing to do?
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, it's still early in the discussions. We expect negotiations to heat up next week when they're back in town. We're talking about really small tough, even the red flag laws, would be a bill to incentivize states to create red flag laws, not mandate it.
So when you drill down in the details, there are still sticking points. Even mental health, it's how much money do we need to allocate for it? What are the pay-fors? So they are sticking to a small universe.
On one hand, that is a good sign for a deal. Democrats have made it clear to accept less to get a compromise. But talks could still fall apart, as we have seen time and time again on Capitol Hill.
PHILLIP: Interestingly, a couple days ago, a Republican lawmaker from New York came out and said, you know, I'm for an assault weapons ban. A few days later, he says he's not running for reelection. It seemed to say a lot of where you can be as a Republican on anything related to gun control right now.
SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. And I think struggle for Republican Party has been that the voters who are so passionate about the Second Amendment and gun rights, they are -- they tend to be single issue voters.
They will come out and support the candidate on that specific issue, and that energy among those who are major proponents of the Second Amendment. That's been a struggle for Republicans to be able to get on board with some conversations.
That's why, if there is an agreement, it's going to be important how the Republicans will be able to sell it.
For example, for John Cornyn, the Republican senator, I think he's able to want to tell not only fellow Republican lawmakers but to voters that this is necessarily a major expansion of gun regulation, but just making sure the current system works and we're enforcing current law.
That's how he's been able to promote previous conversations that he and Chris Murphy of work in the past.
PHILLIP: You're going to see this week on the Senate and in the House, testimony, potentially powerful testimony, from the victims and survivors of some of these recent shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, including one of these really young children who survived by covering herself in blood, in one of those classrooms.
And the reason for that is this. I mean, take a look at what has happened over the last few years. You've seen an incredible pattern, after Columbine, a spike in interest in gun control, after Sandy Hook, a spike after Parkland.
And then spike, inevitably, goes back down in all three of these cases. Democrats are trying to interrupt that cycle by having these hearings.
How effective do think that will be? BALL: Well, look, I mean, it's clear to the American people if they
have been galvanized by what happened. It's clear Republicans feel some political pressure on this issue.
I don't think we would see Republicans come to the table and where they have if they weren't hearing from even their conservative constituents that this feels like it is gone too far, if this is something that has to get done.
However, as Mel said, the initiatives being considered are very small, are very incremental, they do mostly to sort of strengthening existing regulations. Nobody thinks that even if they pass the Democrat's dream package, it will prevent mass shootings going forward, or maybe even make a meaningful dent.
So, if you're talking about legislation whose effects are mainly symbolic. The question is, do you want to pay the political price for that on the other side?
Because there are a lot of single issue voters who see any attempts to regulate anything in this area as problematic.
PHILLIP: Yeah, I mean, something is better than nothing, especially on this issue.
NICHOLS: What's interesting about your chart, and it lays it out is I would just -- if you drill down and you really zero in, how flat it's for a little bit.
[08:10:06]
How long is their public retention on this issue? I think that's all Democrats are feeling right now. They know time is limited. They know which way it's headed. They distinctly have moment here.
And I think that's partly what they are aiming for. As Melanie mentioned, they're trying to seize the opportunity.
PHILLIP: I mean, they're just -- you know, it's interesting to me after a lot of these shootings, you see Republicans only wanting to talk to the families and the survivors of people who are not interested in gun control.
But I think this make it pretty unavoidable but there are many other families survivors and others, who want Congress to do something, and who will say to them, not doing anything is not an option.
But, coming up next for us, on another topic, investigating the insurrection: when we going to learn a Thursday night primetime hearing about Donald Trump's plot to stay in power?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:15:06]
PHILLIP: We're going to learn a lot more this week about former President Trump's push to stay in power. The committee that's investigating the insurrection will hold its first big hearing this Thursday night in primetime.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): I've got no doubt that reasonable minded people are going to look at this and say this was an organized hit on American democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: The hearings are expected to include a combination of live testimony and it taped depositions, including for members of the Trump family and former top White House officials, and that includes Cassidy Hutchinson who is a top aide to Mark Meadows.
And Hutchinson has testified already at length about things that went on inside the White House and her testimony can it being one of the more bombshell, you know, revelations. I think a lot of the things that we have learned have seemingly come from her.
What more can we expect, Seung Min, from these hearings? And -- I mean, what is the risk, really, that they've promised a lot to the American people? It's in primetime. Can they deliver?
KIM: They are setting a pretty high expectations here, but I also think, first of all, we've learned a lot from the various news reports coming out of this committee so far. The records they have chosen to release.
But they promise that there are more and there's a reason why they are putting those front and center, in primetime.
And I also think there's a different element to of actually seeing these people testify in person and the impact that has. We've talked about Cassidy Hutchinson, very valuable witness for the January 6 Committee.
And she is expected not only to testify in person during the hearings but also videotapes of her testimony will, her private discussions of the committee are expected to be aired according to sources that my colleagues have talked to.
So I think there is power in hearing those words, especially hearing for example her testified at -- mark meadows her former boss had told people around in the White House that President Trump had talked kind of approvingly about the hang Mike Pence episode, which is still astonishing to think about.
PHILLIP: Just astonishing thing. It just the fact that testimony on its own it's something that differentiates is from the last impeachment. There really wasn't testimony. So it's different.
ZANONA: And they're also really thinking about in terms of how to make a splash. There are scheduling hearings in primetime, they're going to have a multimedia presentation. And that's because they're really thinking about this in terms of,
this is playing out in the court of public opinion as much as anything else. And they are cognizant of that.
And I think the challenge for the committee is can they make the American public care about the threat to democracy the same way they care about gas prices and school shootings and inflation. And that's a really tough task for them.
PHILLIP: Yeah. I mean, can they make them care? But even if they don't, I mean, there is a kind of mandate for history here. That I think they think that they have. How real is that?
BALL: The committee's job is first and foremost to find the truth. It's not to affect the next election or to convince people necessarily really have anything.
But it is to tell the full story of what happened, to find what happened and we know that they've interviewed hundreds of people, they've gone through thousands of pages of documents.
And it's sort of resonates with me as like a long form writer, a lot of what they have to do is just take all this information and synthesized it and tell a story.
Turn it into a narrative arc that people can understand and to sort of highlight that emotion, that first person emotion that people are feeling, right?
As Seung Min is saying, the power of the words of people who were there, who witnesses in person, who felt in real-time the panic and the fear of what's happening, and then, you know, to make the case that this was not a sort of spontaneous eruption. That this was, as Representative Raskin was saying, a coordinated attack.
PHILLIP: Melanie, I want to come back to you because you have some really excellent reporting about this happening on the other side. Former President Trump, as usual, wanting his supporters to back him up.
Maybe some Republicans are thinking, maybe that's unnecessary but Trump wants that. What are we going to see from Republicans?
ZANONA: Yeah, I mean, this would surprise no one of the stable but Trump has reached out as allies on Capitol Hill and said, I want people out there defending me and I want them pushing back on this committee. And that has happened.
They have answered the call, there is been planning behind the scenes from a familiar cast of characters, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who was subpoenaed at the committee, has been coordinating the effort.
House GOP Conference chair Eliz Stefanik, she's going be in charge of messaging, making sure everyone has talking points. She's begun to preview that message a little bit, saying it's a partisan witch hunt, it's all political, also blaming Speaker Pelosi for the security failures.
And then Jim Jordan and Jim Banks who are also supposed to be up on the committee are going to play an effort in messaging.
But to your point, Abby, most Republicans on Capitol Hill think there is not a need to push back. This is mostly for an audience of one. They think that this isn't going to matter in the midterms and they're better off pivoting to other issues.
[08:20:02]
PHILLIP: And, in fact, a senior Republican told you in a story, we just need to reinforce a narrative that Democrats are obsessed with Trump and the past and they aren't interested in dealing with the problems of the present. Most Americans aren't talking about January 6.
And really, Hans, they're not, I guess.
NICHOLS: Oh, I mean, you don't meet a Democrat around town that doesn't acknowledge that they haven't broken through this issue and it hasn't really become front and center for the American public.
You also don't meet a Democrat in town from senior lawmakers to aides that don't think this is the most important and crucial work they're going to be doing this Congress, to Molly's point, right? This is a serious issue, they want to lay a historic predicate.
But on the politics of it, yeah, this is their last shot. I think there's a recognition. This is their last moment to breakthrough to convince the public of what happened.
As to the counter programming point, but we're also talking about here is will the programming breakthrough? We're having a question about where the programming breakthrough?
PHILLIP: The counter programming --
(CROSSTALK)
NICHOLS: This isn't a State of the Union where you give a State of the Union and go to the State of the Union responds which were all political reporters, were duty bound as we watch the response to the State of the Union.
None of us actually watch the response to the State of the Union, right? You're already filing these stories.
PHILLIP: And certainly, the American people don't care. Don't remember it.
NICHOLS: The counterprogramming is going to be tough.
PHILLIPS: Couple of interesting news for the Justice Department this week. They decided to hand down contempt charges for Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro but not Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino. Now, Democrats not too happy with that kind of mixed bag.
I mean, what does it say about how the DOJ is willing to engage on some of these issues coming out of the January 6th committee?
KIM: Well, I think it was Mark Meadows, legal experts say that would have been the toughest call because if there is an aide in the White House that has a claim to executive privilege, it is almost certainly the White House chief of staff.
And I think that was what the Justice Department really was weighing at the time. I think people like Peter Navarro, when -- you know, his title's trade advisor. I think when he's claiming executive privilege, it was probably a tougher sell.
ZANONA: Meadows also engaged a little bit with the committee.
KIM: Exactly, exactly.
So I think those facts that are out there made a little bit tougher for the Justice Department but you're certainly right. Not just Democrats but obviously the Republicans on the January 6 Committee, very much disagree with that decision.
They said it made harder for people to -- harder for them to get information. So, we'll see what the impact is going forward and what kind of impact that has on the committee.
PHILLIP: Yeah. I mean, I think you're hearing frustration from the January 6 Committee and rank and file Democrats have been frustrated for a while. They're like, we trust you, Merrick Garland, but please do more. So, we'll see where that goes.
Coming up next for us, gas prices are headed towards $5 a gallon nationwide. Is there anything that President Biden can do to win back voters who are worried about inflation?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:27:18]
PHILLIP: President Biden and his aides want to spend June focus on the economy and what they're doing to help Americans get back on track. And another jobs report that camera Friday seemed to confirm that the economy is strong and unemployment is at a low, 3.6 percent.
But, and this is a big butt, prices are high. And for gas, it is double what it was when Biden came into office.
The president admitted last week that there is really nothing much he can do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The idea we're going to be able to click a switch, bring down the cost of gasoline, is not likely in the near term nor is it worth regard to food. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: I mean, they're in a tough spot and buy knows it and he's been in the spot for us quite some time. But what's the point of giving the speeches, what are they trying to accomplish? Are they just trying to convince the American people that things are better than they feel like it is?
KIM: I think the one thing that the White House was trying to do it with the op-ed and with the speeches to tell voters that they do have some sort of a plan and some sort of a strategy.
But I think at this point, especially in a midterm year where his fate, the Democratic Party's fate will be determined so much about the state economy and how people feel about it, it's not really helping at this point.
I've talked to a lot of Democrats who are just kind of frustrated and say, at this point, you can't really convince voters that things are great because they're not, especially when it comes to gas prices and other issues.
You just have to go out there and make this as much as possible a contrast election. Tell voters what, this is what we're doing, this is for Republicans would do if they were back in charge and you have to prevent that from happening.
The White House is starting to do that a little bit more, particularly President Biden. But something that's not in his DNA. I think it's a tough test for the White House comfort of the midterms.
NICHOLS: There are two bits of news on inflation presence of had sort of his big economic plan and you also have Janet Yellen saying. I was wrong inflation.
What do you think is going to get more play on Republican attack ads leading up to the midterms? Is it Janet Yellen admitting on inflation or is it the president's op-ed? And I think we all kind of know the answer to that.
PHILLIP: Yeah, I mean, let's play that moment from Janet Yellen earlier this week with our own Wolf Blitzer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY: I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take. As I mentioned, there have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:29:48]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: You can tell there, she's not a politician, because she said "I was wrong".
(CROSSTALK)
HANS NICHOLS, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Former Fed chair, this is like -- this is Janet Yellen. This is the core --
PHILLIP: Janet Yellen.
NICHOLS: -- honest to the data.
PHILLIP: There was an interesting Bloomberg article about an upcoming book that said that she wanted to reduce the size of the stimulus package because of concerns about inflation.
She came out yesterday actually to deny that she wanted to reduce the price of the stimulus package, but not that she was confirmed about inflation.
This upcoming book said that privately, Yellen agreed with Larry Summers that too much government money was flowing into the economy too quickly.
So there's -- I don't know, I mean maybe call it a little bit of buyer's remorse, but I mean Hans, you said this is going to be a gift to Republicans.
But it's also just acknowledging the reality that something went wrong between last year and this year on the inflation front.
MOLLY BALL, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "TIME MAGAZINE": Yes. I mean number one, I think this is an admission not just that certain people were wrong about inflation, but the White House was not listening to these voices inside and outside the administration.
There was not much of an internal debate at the time beyond this reporting that we're seeing about Janet Yellen trying to say hey maybe we should bring down the price tag of the stimulus package.
But the White House, you know, continues to deny that their policies had anything to do with what's happening. They say inflation is a worldwide phenomenon. You know, it's based on these other macro- economic factors.
They don't believe that it had anything to do with that American Rescue Package and the large price tag on that. So that's part of the problem with the argument that they're having.
But you know, as Seung Min was saying it's very hard for the president to come out. He has to seem like he's focused on this issue, but there isn't much he can do.
So he ends up coming out and giving this mixed message that says things are better than you think, but also I'm really trying to tackle this issue that I know is causing you pain, I feel your pain, but also there's not much I can do. I'm calling on the Fed, I'm calling on Congress.
So it's very difficult, I think, for him to convince people that he's not sort of helpless here.
ZANONA: Yes. I mean I will say, it is helpful to have some expectation setting. And I think we have seen Democrats do that, as well. Saying we can't just snap our fingers and fix this problem. And it's almost refreshing to hear in a way.
But on the other hand, there's also the risk of making this administration look like they are powerless. And it feeds in right into the Republican narrative that the administration is inept. And so it is this sort of tricky balancing act for Biden and the White House when it comes to messaging.
PHILLIP: They're also battling a lot of kind atmospherics around the economy. So you've got Jamie Dimon warning that there's a hurricane coming, a recession coming. Then you have Elon Musk saying basically, I have a bad vibe about the economy. He says, I have a "super bad feeling" about the community. He's cutting 10 percent of Tesla jobs.
And you had Joe Biden actually responding to him this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well Elon Musk has talked about that. Ford is increasing through investment overwhelmingly. I think Ford is increasing investment in building new electric vehicles. 6,000 new employees -- union employees, I might add. Intel has added 20,000 new jobs making computer chips. So you know, lots of luck on his trip to the moon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZANONA: Joe Biden's been --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Yes. He couldn't walk away from that. But I do want to just bring one more thing up, and then I'll let you guys respond. But this issue of bad vibes and the economy is really maybe what is driving a lot of this.
Take a look at this chart. This is a chart of the question asking people, how do they feel about their finances, my own financial well- being and how they feel about the national economy.
Back in 2019, 75 percent of Americans, they felt pretty good about their own finances. 50 percent said they felt pretty good about the broader economy.
By 2021, that gap has gotten huge. It's almost a 50-point gap. So much of that is just really vibes. People saying I feel fine, but the economy is crappy.
BALL: Well I think it's a couple of things, right. I think first of all, it's a feeling of instability. So much of why people elected Joe Biden was this idea of a return to normalcy. This idea that we would get off the roller coaster of the Trump years,
of COVID, of all of the things going on and have a little bit of stability. And because of inflation, because of the economy, people feel like they're still on the roller coaster.
So I think that's -- that's a big part of people's sort of sense of foreboding. And also the economy just isn't working for people, right. Even if you've got plenty of money in the bank, even if you've got a steady job, you know, the fast food place down the street is closed two days a week because they can't get enough workers. Or you know, the things that you want to order on Amazon are out of stock.
So it's little things like that that make people feel like even if their personal finances are pretty decent right now and jobs are not a problem with the unemployment rate where it is, the economy is just not quite working.
PHILLIP: Yes. People of Main Street don't seem to have bounced back in their opinion.
[08:34:52]
NICHOLS: Yes. Vibes matter in the economy. If consumers don't feel confident, if businesses, if business owners, small business being innovative fell positive then you'll have some sort of contraction.
I mean that's just kind of the basics of it where how people feel actually does end up mattering.
I would just say broadly, we'll know who is right between the president and Elon Musk, right. I mean This isn't an answer that's not knowable down the future, right.
And we will have earnings calls and we'll have other CEOs. And there will be other CEO forums where CEOs come out and they say do you agree with Elon or do you agree the president?
And you know, you'll see what they start doing in terms of their guidance, their expectations. We'll know and we'll know, you know, before November on which direction the economy is heading, at least in this context.
(CROSSTALK)
SEUNG MIN KIM: And I thinks what's so hard for -- I think what is so hard too for the administration is that the one thing where prices have gone up so much, which is gas prices, the prices are you know, like plastered all over wherever you drive.
It's the one kind of product where you see how much it's going up every day. That also does not help the vibe situation that we are talking about here.
BALL: And I would also point out that given that NASA has given the lunar lander a contract to Elon Musk, President Biden --
PHILLIP: As Elon Musk points out --
BALL: We will find out if he does have good luck on his trip.
PHILLIP: Right. We will find out soon enough what's going on with Elon Musk on a lot fronts.
But coming up next, the doctor is in. Does the Trump endorsed celebrity candidate have what it takes to win the Keystone State?
[08:36:13]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: Just five days before the end of the recount, David McCormick has conceded to celebrity doctor, Mehmet Oz in a hotly contested Pennsylvania senate primary. McCormick had hoped that mail-in and overseas ballots would put him over the top, but it was not enough in the end. The Trump-backed candidate's margin of victory was less than 1,000 votes.
Now this is a pivotal contest that could decide control of the Senate and Oz will now face off with Democrat John Fetterman, who is still off the campaign trail after suffering from a stroke just days before the election.
It's Oz now, Melanie, and you know, as far as some Republicans were concerned, this is fine. But what will this mean for what a general election looks like between those two men?
ZANONA: Well, I mean first of all, it's going to be a tight race. The fact that Pennsylvania is a true purple state, and I mean it's going to come down to the wire really.
I think with this race in particular where are you seeing how Fetterman is trying to portray Oz as a celebrity, a phony, doesn't live in the state. His campaign (INAUDIBLE) pitches him --
Well, here's the thing --
PHILLIP: Let me share you -- this is a bumper sticker that the Fetterman campaign is selling now for $6, which is a pretty hefty price. "Dr. Oz from New Jersey" and it says at the bottom, "Fetterman for Pennsylvania".
So they're already going after Oz, carpet bagger, that type of thing.
ZANONA: Right and then on the flip side, they're going to try to portray -- Republicans are going to try to portray Fetterman as a radical. Welcome to the Bernie Sanders wing of the party.
And so we're starting to see it. The question is will Republicans use his health against him? And that we haven't seen yet.
Dr. Oz is a doctor. I think he is a specialist in cardiology, and so it will be interesting to see how they go there. PHILLIP: Just to give people a little bit of background, Fetterman is
recovering from a stroke. He had a major heart procedure done right after that stroke, and put out a letter from his doctor, who apparently he last saw prior to this week five years ago.
And the doctor said, I told this guy to take his medicine and change his lifestyle and he didn't do it. And now here we are.
So Fetterman in his statement says, "Like so many others and so many men in particular, I avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn't feel well. As a result I almost died. I want to encourage others not to make the same mistake."
Some Republicans are saying this guy lied about his health condition. The Fetterman campaign is trying to saying I really like all of you guys, who also haven't been to the doctor in five years.
NICHOLS: We went through a medical during the break, we won't -- (CROSSTALK)
NICHOLS: Look, you don't meet Democrats in town that aren't worried about the Fetterman position right now.
PHILLIP: Yes.
NICHOLS: They're worried, they haven't seen him. They all wish him a speedy recovery as I'm sure we all do at this table. He had a serious health issue. They weren't entirely honest on how they describe that health issue and that's a problem for any campaign.
In all the reporting that's come out, the most interesting thing is that some of the campaign staff didn't actually know he had the procedure when he had it
And if you're not telling your campaign that you're going in for mayor cardiac surgery, that suggests that the campaign and the candidate aren't on the same page and that could be a challenge when you get into what you rightly suggest is going to be a really tight election where there are going to be a lot of close calls and a lot of snap decisions.
You want everyone on the same page. That campaign is not on the same page and that's a problem.
POMPEO: How does Oz play this?
BALL: It will be interesting, I think as Mel was saying, to see if they try to make an issue of it at all. And I think it's going to depend a lot on what happens.
Does he come back on the campaign trail? Does he look good as new? Does he sound good as new. Is he able to sort of proceed? Because I think it's not the kind of thing that you want to make into an issue in that case.
But does he, you know, do or say or seem any way that sort of gives ammunition to the idea that something else is wrong or that he's not being honest in some way?
But you know, I've been asking a lot of Democrats, given that this recount or potential recount took so long to sort out, who would they have rather faced? Because I think it was sort of --- a tough one --
PHILLIP: Yes. We have a toss-up.
BALL: -- in terms of whether they would rather face Oz or McCormick. You know, we saw them advertise against both of them during this period of uncertainty. And now they're going to go after Oz as a sort of like a snake oil salesman, a celebrity, you know, someone who is not right for the state or doesn't live in the state.
And I have been asking Democrats is that -- and most of them do say they would have rather faced Oz.
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BALL: But the fact that he's such a celebrity does sort of give them pause, because he does have such universal name ID and particularly with a lot of like suburban women voters, potentially some goodwill there from his TV career.
PHILLIP: Yes. Lots of Oprah watchers all across the country.
Real quick before we go. Two interesting headlines about former President Trump in the last couple of days. It's on CNN.
Kamp allies and other Georgia Republicans look to keep Trump out of that governor's race. And Politico saying that Trump is weighing a big bet in the Alabama senate race, maybe re-endorsing Mo Brooks.
This could get interesting yet again.
KIM: Very interesting. Well, first of all President -- former President Trump might try to up his endorsement record after a string of couple of failures over the last couple of weeks.
But I think the Georgia dynamic is really interesting. I mean obviously Trump is never going to get on board with Kemp. There's a lot of bitterness there.
But whatever Kemp and allies can do to just keep him quiet, just kind of not let him vent his rage during the general election, when it could be very competitive against Stacey Abrams.
That's their goal right now. We'll see if they could see.
PHILLIP: Yes. It's a do no harm strategy for Republicans farm for Republicans down in Georgia.
Coming up next for us thought, Queen Elizabeth delighted her fans with an unannounced video with Paddington Bear. Could there be one more jubilee surprise appearance?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) QUEEN ELIZABETH II, BRITISH MONARCH: I keep mine in here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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PHILLIP: This weekend in Britain was a weekend of celebration for their longest-serving monarch as Queen Elizabeth marked 70 years on the throne. Now the Queen's only public appearance during the four-day platinum jubilee was on Thursday.
She and four generations of the royal family greeted thousands gathered outside of Buckingham Palace. And in her absence, the jubilee events still continued from the service at St. Paul's Cathedral to the derby at Epsom Down's to a star-studded concert outside of Buckingham Palace last night.
CNN's Max Foster was there for all of it, and he joins me now from outside Buckingham Palace.
Max, really incredible show of force for the royal family in the U.K. this weekend. What does this mean for the Queen, the longest serving monarch? But is this, perhaps, the end of an era for the U.K.?
MAX FOXTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're not going to see another event like this. Will we see another jubilee? That's what's sort of playing on everyone's minds here.
I think for the Queen, every ten years she gets a taste of genuinely how popular she is. That is at a jubilee. And we saw last night the mall here absolutely full. It's estimated that when it's full like that, there are about a million people. Most of those weren't here with tickets, just here to be part of the atmosphere. I think for her to have seen that would have been very heartening, indeed.
A lovely little update from her granddaughter Zara Tindall yesterday when she was asked how the Queen was. She said she's well and on her sofa, in comfy clothes watching the TV. So, she is engaged in all these events, watching them on TV, even though she's unable to attend them herself.
Prince Charles, as usual, stepping in for her, giving the big speech yesterday. A huge responsibility, really, to speak on behalf of the nation. And He described his mother as the mother of the nation.
So, awareness that he shares this huge public figure with the nation. And also interesting Abbey, as well, Camilla was standing alongside him. We heard recently that she will be known as Queen consort when he becomes king.
So they're being presented as this pair who will ultimately take over form the queen. So, when you talk about legacy and what this means, frankly, transition is always at the back of people's minds, including the Queen's mind. So, everyone's ready for it when the inevitable comes.
PHILLIP: Yes. I mean I think if there's any conversation about the waning of the monarchy, I think a million people on the streets really says something a little bit different.
But I want to ask you, Max, about what we saw over the last couple of days, which is the return of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the U.K. after a year of, frankly, very public family turmoil. How did that go?
FOSTER: Well, it's interesting. I read a piece on this for the Website and Sitting back and considering it because a lot of people, you know, were very focused on this moment, the Sussexes coming back into the royal fold and how they would handle that.
And I think, you know, frankly, they're not as popular here as they are in America, and there's a lot of upset, I think, when they turned their back on their roles and responsibilities.
I was outside of St. Paul's Cathedral, which was their one major appearance. And outside, people did cheer when they came. I asked people about that. What I discovered was there are a lot of critics of the Sussexes here but they also gave them a lot of credibility for coming over and showing respect for the Queen and putting the differences behind them.
Because of the protocols, they were sitting with junior royals, their cousins, not with William and that's where the focus -- or the tension probably is. So I suspect there might have been an attempt to have some meetings behind the scenes to resolve their differences with Prince Charles, Prince William, the Sussexes.
We'll wait to see whether or not those meetings did take place and how they went so I think that's going to be the interesting bit. But to see them back in the royal fold was very symbolic.
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FOSTER: And I think that would have been very heartening to the Queen because it caused so much upset for her when, you know, they left and the subsequent interview with Oprah Winfrey.
PHILLIP: Well Max Foster, thank you so much for all of that. Enjoy the tea and the once in a lifetime celebration over there in the U.K.
FOSTER: Thanks, Abby.
PHILLIP: And that's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
Coming up next, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH". Jake's guest this morning include the Democrats' lead negotiator on guns, Senator Chris Murphy.
And tonight on CNN go inside the Watergate Scandal like never before with Woodward and Bernstein and the Watergate prosecutors and the man who turned on Nixon, White House counsel John Dean. The new "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES WATERGATE: BLUEPRINT FOR A SCANDAL" premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. on CNN.
And thank you again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. Have a great rest of your day.
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