americans are losing confidence in american higher education, especially four year universities. the takeaways from a new independent study. a 200 unit apartment in san francisco may become the first project built under a new california law

that takes power away from cities when it comes to new housing development. but first, democratic lawmakers hold closed door meetings today to discuss the presidential race and joe biden's future and they emerged without a clear consensus on the path forward. you're watching, getting answers. i'm kristen z, thanks for joining us. if democrats were hoping for a clearer picture or unity after their first full caucus meeting since biden's disastrous debate against trump, they did not get it. afterwards, members said very different things to reporters about whether president biden should continue his candidacy. here's abc news reporter perry russom. >> tonight, president biden planning to meet with democratic mayors. his latest effort to rally support after yesterday writing a letter to congressional democrats calling into msnbc speaking with donors and meeting with the congressional black caucus. >> we are riding with biden this morning, congressional democrats meeting behind closed doors, discussing the party's future. >> he just has to step down because he can't win.

>> after the meeting, lawmakers asked if they're on the same page. >> they're not even in the same book. >> we are unified. that's all i can say. >> congressman jerry nadler, who sources say on sunday said biden should drop out, apparently flipping his support. today only he can withdraw. >> he's made it very clear that he won't. and that's the end of the senate democrats now being asked about biden's candidacy. >> president biden has been a really excellent president. he had a bad debate. we have to take the concerns that were that have emerged since the debate very seriously. >> that was abc's perry russom joining us live now to discuss the latest on this difficult situation facing democrats. former democratic senator from california barbara boxer. senator boxer thanks for your time today. >> thank you. >> seven house democrats have now publicly urged biden to step aside, many more saying so privately. but the majority seems to be saying publicly, i'm with biden and some prominent folks like new york congressman

jerry nadler today backed off from previous statements, expressing some doubt. how do you interpret this? what is going on here? >> i think what's going on is that people are nervous, they're talking to each other. i think the leadership understands that joe biden is going to run. i myself said after that disastrous debate, knowing joe as i do so well, it wasn't him and could he really get back on his feet? and i think he's shown in the last two weeks that he can, you know, this is president biden has been pummeled. i've never seen a candidate pummel, especially a candidate who's been, in my view, one of the greatest presidents since fdr, creating 15 million jobs, headed toward 16 million, while the other guy was the only president in history since records have been kept that left office with fewer jobs than when he came in. so here is a man who has really delivered. he stands for democracy and freedom. and the other one says he's going to be

a dictator. he's convicted felon. he only lies when his lips move. and yet that pummeling joe biden. >> yeah. i mean, when you talk about the record, i think of course there are exceptions. but overall, the sense among democrats is that he's done a good job advancing that vision. right? that he said he was going to run on and the platform and all that, and has delivered on some of the key items that democrats really wanted. so i think this is probably not about that. right. it's not so much about the record rather than his ability to lead and to do the job of the president for the next four years, and whether he is the best and even that, i think i'm hearing not as much dissent on that. what i'm sensing from hearing all the interviews and what members are saying is that is he the best fighter to take on trump and win the election? and to that end, what do you think? >> well, there's no greater fighter on the planet than joe biden. and that's why we have to watch him. do you know, if you look at his history, the personal losses, he's come back

from political losses, he's come back from there is no one that can get up and fight. and i do think there'll be a backlash to all this pounding on him. and i do think it's about his record versus trump's record. it's about the american people. so i do think, hey, was joe biden a better debater many years ago? yes but i must say he's never been slick. he's never been smooth. i know him for so long. he's not, you know, robert redford in the candidate or harrison ford in air force one. but those guys were just on film. joe biden has delivered. he's always suffered from the stutter, and you cannot miss that with him. and it is inhibiting him from getting his words out. but that stands for me. for someone who really understands how to fight through these challenges. >> what do you say to the democrats, or perhaps those who

are just not motivated to vote because perhaps they're tired of biden? trump 2.0? or perhaps they're younger and feel like you know, i didn't hear anything in the debate about artificial intelligence. anything that related more to the modern era. what do you say to kind of get them off the sidelines, if you will? >> well, i'm going to say this. i'm i'm not going to fight to beg you to vote. if you're a young person and you don't see the difference between a president who believes in climate change, that's joe biden and someone who asked the oil companies to give him $1 billion, and he would not do anything about climate change. he calls it a hoax. how about this gun violence? we have a president who believes in sensible gun laws. he's used executive orders. he's passed the only bipartisan bill since the assault weapon ban decades ago versus trump, who has nothing. he says get over it. when there's a mass shooting, you know. and what about the choice issue? we have, you know, president biden saying he wants

to make sure roe v wade is the law of the land versus trump, who says this was my greatest accomplishment and women should be punished. so if you're a young person and you don't get that, i, i'm really sorry. >> so these are the things that of course, the biden campaign and democrats surrogates, everybody wants uh, you know, voters to focus on. but how do you flip the script? how do you get them to focus on that when the focus now is on everything the president says, whether there is another stumble, whether he can speak unscripted and not lose his train of thought, you know, you yourself, after the debate said, let's give him two weeks. i mean, has he? it's been like a week and a half. has he shown that he can do those things off script? >> well, he's shown it to me. he i see that fight in that man that, you know, was missing when he had that dreadful debate. so, look, you're saying you're arguing in a way. not really. but you're saying to me, senator, can we flip the script

away from joe? that's up to the media, the media is piling on, and all the elitists here in this country, joe biden, he's someone who fights for the middle class, for the working poor, for people who get dirt under their fingernails. he's never come from the elite place. he kept our nato alliance together. do you really want to see us kiss putin's boots? honestly. that murderer so again, i feel like the press keeps saying, can you flip this? i'm trying to flip the script. that's what i'm doing. if i get off this show and people who are listening to me go, hey, right, let's focus on what we need. not so much if he fumbles. i've seen so many press people de fumble with their words. guess what? it happens. >> sure. and of course you know you're right. the press could probably do a lot more on project 2025, could talk a lot more about. right? i mean, democrats are pointing out the threat that could be posed potentially under an expanded power presidency that the

supreme court has given to the next president. right. but let me just ask you whether it's fair or not. the impression out there, based on polls, even eight months ago in that new york times siena college poll in which a generic democrat beats donald trump, whereas president biden was trailing trump in five of the key swing states, and there were many people who polled higher and even recent polls after the debate that showed other democrats could pull higher or are polling higher. granted, that's all hypothetical, because they're not the candidate. do you think the internal chatter and debate is warranted right now? >> well, i'm really glad you brought up polls because today i urge everyone to look at it. emerson had a poll out, and guess what? the only one within striking distance of trump was joe biden, our very wonderful governor. he was down eight points. kamala was down six points. gretchen whitmer was down ten points. joe biden was behind him within the margin of error, three points because people know that he can't

deliver and they are beginning to see all this piling on and they don't like it. they know what that feels like. they know what it feels like to be bullied and pushed and so on. so i think this is all turning around now, am i right? i don't know, but i'm on your show and this is what i think all right. >> look, i know what you think with regard to what the media should be covering, what the story should be, but i would like to know what would you give advice wise to president biden if you were advising him? what would you like to see him do in the weeks ahead? >> well, i've already said it straight out. just keep on going out there. do it without a teleprompter. take the questions, you know, campaign. your heart out. let's see the joe that we know. yes a little slower a little bit softer. but again and i have to say bernie sanders, who i don't agree with and a lot of things said something. he said, this isn't a beauty contest, you know. and the other guy, the other guy has

been convicted of 34 counts of, of paying off stormy daniels to keep their affair secret. he claims he didn't really know jeffrey epstein. you know, he doesn't know these people who put together this outrageous sort of manifesto uh- call 2025. so, you know, he lies every time he moves his lips. and so let's get real here. let's look at joe making a comeback as he's done many times. but let's not forget, this is about the american people. it's way bigger than two gentlemen. it's about our freedoms. it's about our children's freedoms. it's about our ability to live on this planet so it doesn't burn up. and i'm telling you this, i'm down in palm springs where it's like 118 or something. so there's people have to think about what this is about. don't let the couch win. don't sit home because too much is at stake. >> all right. democrat, former

democratic senator from california barbara boxer, now enjoying her life in palm springs. all right, you stay in the shade there. or at least the ac uh. take it easy. thank you. coming up next is college losing its value? we'll examine a study that shows our changing opinion about higher education and

scholarships. you'd be shelling out $95,000 as tuition climbs. something else is happening. a plunge, in american's opinion, on higher education. a new poll by gallup and the independent

education focused lumina foundation sheds additional light on this. in 2015. you can see nearly 60% of americans said they have a great deal of confidence in higher education. today, only 36% say the same. meantime, the percentage saying they have very little confidence in higher education has climbed from 10 to 32. joining us live to analyze what this means, lumina foundation's vp of impact and planning, doctor courtney brown. doctor brown, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> so we see your poll finds confidence in higher education has really been dropping in the last ten years. why >> you know it's really concerning, especially at a time where more people need to have education beyond high school. they're predictions that by 2031, 70% of people need to have some form of education beyond high school. and yet we're seeing this decline in confidence and an increase in the people that have no confidence. and what we're hearing from people that that are saying this is that they feel that college campuses are

becoming too political. they're concerned about the indoctrination. they're concerned about not being able to have a voice at those institutions. we're also seeing people that don't feel like higher education is aligned with the workforce anymore. they're not likely to get a job. and then, just as you said, the expense, the cost, the affordability is also getting in the way. >> all right. so it sounds like there are two aspects of this. one is ideological. the other is more practical. right. i have seen a lot of studies about, you know, questioning, hey, would trade school be better? you know, does your foundation look at whether higher education is right for everyone? and maybe certain types are better for some folks than others. >> you know, everybody deserves an opportunity to access whatever education that they saf education is better for one person than another. so we need to make sure that we open up an access so that it's affordable and people feel comfortable and they get the education they

need. but you raise a good point about trade schools or community college because we actually see confidence in community colleges much greater than we see confidence in four year or universities. >> we do have a graph showing that now that you've brought that up,can show that as well. this is interesting to me. and why do you suppose that is? again do you think it's based on value or is this okay. this is a different graph. but you know, since this graph is up, f it shows that community college confidence has actually been growing. so what do you think are the factors there? >> i think there are two things. first of all, when people hear higher education, they they think four year institution. so i think that's why we see the four year data very similar to what we saw, the overall confidence. the second piece is people think that community colleges are better aligned with the workforce. you're going to get a skill and you can you can translate that more easily into a job. they also don't see that community college campuses have that political, feel that there's as ideological as

universities and again, back to affordability. they're much more affordable for people to access. >> you keep going back to that political point. and of course, you know, we've seen a lot of protests on college campuses that may feed that perception. right. but let's go ahead and show that graph. the one that appeared briefly there, because there is kind of a party partizan political aspect to who really has lost faith in higher education. >> absolutely. so as as the graph shows, we see that republicans are much more likely to have little to no confidence in higher education. and that number has dropped dramatically over the years, where democrats have much more confidence now to be fair, everyone has dropped in confidence. so this isn't just a political thing. democrats are concerned about affordability, so they are losing confidence in higher ed. republicans are just losing confidence faster. however, their confidence is higher in those two year, those community college institutions. so let me ask you, why is any of this important, right.

>> what are the implications for colleges and for our society? >> you know, it's really important, as i said at the beginning, 70% of our jobs are going to require some form of education beyond high school, whether that's a degree or certificate or certification. that's where our labor market is going. it's also important to our societies. we know that more people, the more education you have, the more likely you are to be engaged in your community, the more likely you are to be healthy, the more likely you are to have purpose in your job and have a better life. so this is important to individuals. it's important to our communities, and it's really important to our nation. >> so how can institutions change the perception that higher ed is headed in the wrong direction, or it might not be right for them? why? you know, what can they do? >> we have a lot we need to do. first of all, we need to make sure that it is affordable. we have to crack this problem and we have to crack it soon. we have to make sure it's accessible to all people that they have the opportunity to access and succeed. to get that

credential, and not just that they have a credential, but it leads to a job, a good job. and then finally, we need to make sure our campuses are safe, where everyone's perspectives are welcome, where people are listening and learning from each other. >> all right. well, no doubt lumina foundation will be part of that effort. so thank you so much, doctor courtney brown. really appreciate you coming on the show. >> thank you. >> san francisco is reaching for the sky when it comes to building new housing. next, our media partner, the san francisco standard, gives us a first look at the 23 story project that got the green light

designed to speed up housing construction across the state. today, our media partner, the san francisco standard, has a new article out a controversial housing law just hit sf. this is the first major project to take advantage. joining us live now

to talk about what's happening in san francisco that could certainly very soon happen in other cities in the bay area. the standard business reporter who wrote the piece, jillian donofrio. hi, jillian. >> hi. thanks so much for having me. >> yeah, welcome to the show. i think it's our first time, right. >> yeah. first time. >> all right. let's make this awesome. your article definitely captured my attention because, you know, this is not a san francisco thing. there is a law that can make this pertain to every city. but let's start there. what is senate bill 423? >> yeah. senate bill for 23 is meant to speed up the process for new development in state or in cities that haven't met theio is the first one to miss those targets. >> yeah. for those who are unclear, it's like the state gives a number to every city. like you must build this number of new housing each year, right by this time. and if you don't, then boom. so this law is triggered. this law that just took effect, why was san francisco the first to be subjected to this?

>> well, san francisco does have a bit of a unique situation. some cities only have their check in every four years for meeting their state mandated goals. but san francisco checks in, more frequently on a yearly basis. and, you know, i should note also, san francisco does have the longest timeline for getting permits passed of any city in california, right? >> right. okay. so how short was san francisco towards its goal? what was the goal? >> very short. so 10,000 new units approved per year. and we hit 900. oh, okay. >> that's not even under 900. >> yeah. >> that's not even 10% okay. so now this law is triggered. so what does this mean? there's this project, in the dubose triangle, which i think we have pictures of that. and you can talk about what it is, tell us about it. >> yeah. so this is a new apartment tower that's going to be 200 apartment units, a mix of studios to three bedrooms. and basically, it will just have a lot faster of a permitting

process that it would have otherwise. so the average in san francisco was two years, and sb 423 is expected to make it more like six months for the approvals. >> got it. now does this mean that the city can't really stand in the way of the developers? >> well, it means that there's a lot less review of various kinds discretionary reviews, which could be neighborhood groups bringing issues, certain environmental reviews. those will no longer happen. >> so, you know, if those will no longer happen, in addition to just speedy construction, boom. this could go up much more quickly. what else does it mean? like in terms of like, neighbors having a say or, you know, the kind of stuff that normally happens? >> yeah. so the process is just a lot quicker. i think one of the things that was interesting, i talked to a consultant for the developer, and his big point that he was trying to say is that, you know, developers do still want to work with neighborhoods to try to find, you know, construction ideas that will actually fit into the

neighborhood and work with folks because they want people to live there. but those more long, drawn out, arduous processes will not be part of the picture. >> so who's happy about this and who has criticisms? >> yeah. so i think the folks that are really happy are those ones that are saying, yes, please. we need more housing in san francisco. it's one of the major problems that folks talk about for the city. so anyone who would classify as that, yes, in my backyard type of person is very excited. i would say the criticism kind of what we talked about where there are some people who feel cautious about, you know, the lack of the reviews by environmental concerns or by neighborhood organizations. >> are there any other bay area cities impacted by the new law, >> not yet. san francisco is the first. >> okay, what other factors might affect new housing development in san francisco? >> yeah. so senate bill 423 is definitely not, you know, a quick fix in that there are still other hurdles, construction costs are really high right now. high interest

rates make it hard to build, labor costs are higher than they've ever been. so there definitely are other factors that could slow down development. all right. >> so even with this constructed and what would the timeline be at best what, two years or something, yeah. >> no one wanted to give me an exact timeline, but 2025 2026. >> so the city will still be, well short of its state mandated numbers and goals, right? so does that mean we can expect a lot more of these projects to pop up and kind of be sped along? >> yeah, that's the expectation i think the city planning department is expecting to get a lot more applications in the coming weeks and months. >> what about corresponding infrastructure to match the additional housing, streets, things like that? >> yeah, that did not come up in my conversations, but i have to imagine that you will need to make sure your public transportation and your streets are looking good. if there's going to be a lot of new big apartment complexes for sure. >> all right. jillian donofrio, thank you for this interesting look at what's happening in the city. you can check out more of the article. you can certainly

read it or see the san francisco standard's other original reporting on their website as standard.com.

tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. president biden just moments ago on the world stage, his first global speech since the debate. what he declared. also, the air scare in upstate new york. the close call, two passenger planes. and the storms moving in, the midwest, right into the northeast. and the record heat. ginger zee is here. first tonight, president biden moments ago speaking to world leaders. the nato summit in washington, d.c. the president fully