i'm margaret brennan in washington. and this week on "face the nation" -- democrats defend president biden after a disastrous debate and a new cbs poll reveals whether it changed the way voters see the

candidates now. president biden's team sought out thursday's debate to draw contrast with donaldtrump and hoped it would soothe concerns about the incumbent's age and stamina. instead, after a meandering, frequently hard to follow performance, not even mr. biden's closest supporters could ignore the obvious. >> it was a slow start. that's obvious to everyone. i'm not going to debate that point. >> that was strike one. if this was a ball game he has two more swings. >> the president went on damage control. >> spent the weekend at fund-raisers as critics outside some of those events and the nation's leading newspapers called for him to step aside. mr. biden said he's staying in the race, but some voters are voicing doubt. >> i'm not so sure he's as sharp as he should be. >> after what happened last night? democrats should wake up today with a plan b. >> we'll have results of a new

cbs poll. maryland governor wes moore campaigning for president biden will join us. meanwhile, despite repeatedly making falsehoods on stage, former president trump complained victory. >> we had a big victory against a man that really is looking to destroy our country. >> but his legal problems could cut that short as the supreme court prepares to rule tomorrow on build former presidents are immune from criminal prosecution. we'll hear from possible trump running mate, ohio senator j.d. vance. we'll check in with congressman jim hines, the top democrat on the tinl committee and get the latest from unicef russell on the humanitarian crises putting millions of children at risk around the world. it's all just ahead on "face the nation."

♪ good morning. welcome to "face the nation." we begin this morning with reaction to the first presidential debate of 2024. our polling unit asked voters, how they view the candidates now, including their cognitive health. the results are not encouraging for the president. the number of voters who say president biden has the cognitive ability to serve has dropped from 35% earlier this month to 27% after the debate. that's the lowest number since cbs began asking voters that question last september. nearly three quarters of all registered voters now say he shouldn't be running and nearly half of democrats say he shouldn't remain the nominee. an extraordinary number for an incumbent who didn't face a competitive primary.

we should also note that half of all voters also say former president trump does not have the cognitive health to serve. voters give former president trump a significant edge when asked which candidate explained his ideas clearly inspired confidence and appeared presidential. joining us now to discuss all of this is maryland governor wes moore in milwaukee where he has been campaigning for president biden's re-election this weekend. welcome back, governor. >> thank you so much. great to be with you. >> governor, you know, it wasn't good night for the president, and i'll save us time because i know you're going to tell us, look at presidential performance not debate performance. everyone has a bad night. barack obama once had a bad night. you know at 81 years old, this is a different set of factors for president biden. why was he struggling thursday? >> well, i think both candidates struggled. i don't think either candidate had a very good night on the

debate night. but i also do know that it does matter when we're looking at presidential performance, and not necessarily debate performance. >> but respectfully, governor, the president doesn't do many interviews. he doesn't do things where we have to see him be quick on his feet. he's not here. you are. he's not on the campaign trail as often as surrogates like you are. isn't that demonstrating that there are alternatives, democratic alternatives, who are younger and able to go out and be quick on their foot and on the trail? >> i know i got a chance to see the president when times were difficult and see him in trials, and i've seen him been able to be a remarkable partner to us. that's what i remembe and why i continue to believe that biden administration deserves another four years, and i'm excited about what that can deliver for the american people. >> why was the president struggling? >> i think the president had a

tough night. i think -- >> why is this. >> all of us have difficult nights. well, i think that the president had a difficult night just like every single one of us do. >> governor, i know that democrats believe that abortion is a winning issue in this election. here's what the american people heard from the president when he was asked about abortion. >> look, there's so many young women including the young woman who was murdered, and he went to the funeral. the idea that she was murdered by a -- by an immigrant coming in, they talk about that. but here's the deal, there's a lot of -- young women raped by their inlaw, by their spouses, by their brothers and sisters, by -- just d it's ridiculous and they can do nothing about it. >> abortion is an important issue for democrats. this should have been a lay-up. he was struggling to make the point. how do you explain that? >> margaret, that wasn't a great

moment for the president. and no one can argue. he was standing feet away from someone who was talking about politicians who take babies away after they're born and killing them. he was also standing feet away from somebody who was debating whether or not the limit on reproductive health should be six weeks or nine weeks or 12 weeks or saying any politician should have a say about what happens with a woman and her body when that conversation should exclusively be between her and her doctor. >> right. donald trump was saying the states -- >> we can't defend that. well, i think -- and donald trump was also claiming responsibility for the turn down of roe v. wade, so, i mean, it wasn't a great moment for the president, but let's be clear. his position on making sure the reproductive health and reproductive rights should be ironclad, his position we should have roe v. wade as a law of the land, is very, very clear.

with donald trump, i want to be also clear, that that is not his position. >> i understand you want the conversation to be about the policy and the false statements made by his opponent. but the atlanta journal constitution in georgia, a key state for the president, came out in an editorial saying this wasn't a bad night. it was a confirmation of the worst fears of some of biden's most ardent supporters. age has finally caught up to him. it referred to excuses like what you're making as insulting to the american people. how do you respond to that? >> i think that what we are watching, when you're watching a presidential passeerformance, watching a president to lead us to record low unmoemployment, wn we're able to watch the black wealth inside this country since the pandemic has risen by 60%, able to watch a presidential performances that been able to do things like raise wages for

our workers and making sure our rights are protected, that that does matter in this conversation. and, so i understand people who are, you know, and i understand and get it the arguments about age and the complications of 81, but the number 81 is an important number, but so is watching historically low unemployment rates and i do not think people should lose sight of that? we're not just talking about three and half years in the past. we're talking about four more years bringing him to age 86. here is what the president responded when he was asked about the national debt, and how he would tax billionaires. >> you would be able to wipe out his debt, we would be able to help make sure all those things we need to do, child care, elder care, making sure we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sure we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what i've been able to do with the -- with the covid -- excuse me with -- dealing with -- everything we have to do with -- look, if --

we finally beat medicare. >> the president lost his own point. >> we also have to remember that this election is a binary choice. it's an election between president joe biden and, frankly, even the conversation around the national debt. you know, someone whose tax cuts at a time when over the next decade we are going to have the largest transfer of wealth in the history of the world. >> you need young voters to turn out. democrats need young voters to turn out. >> that's right. >> how are they supposed to see themselves reflected n that. >> i think they're going to see themselves reflected in all the people going out and being the president's surrogates. i think you have to go out and earn it. i'm -- i'm the youngest democratic governor in this country. the only african american governor in america. and we are out here all the time and we're out here in

conjunction with other surrogates, with the president who is out here campaigning and the vice president, we're going to the people. we're making our case to the people as to why this partnership matters. progress does not happen by accident. the work we're seeing, i look at the state of maryland. 43rd in unemployment to having the lowest employment rates in the country. >> would you pursue the democratic nomination if joe biden were to take himself out of this race? >> i will not. and joe biden is not going to take himself out of this race nor should he. he has been a remarkable partner. >> are you confident that only person, the only democrat in america that could beat donald trump is joe biden? >> joe bien is our nominee. joe biden is our leader. and joe biden has earned and joe biden deserves the confidence, the respect, and frankly the partnership that we now have to provide to him.

and so i will be in chicago. i will proudly be supporting the president in chicago. i will work through november to make sure he gets re-elected. yes, i do think that president biden has earned the respect of democrats and joe biden is going to be our leader going forward? governor moore, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. and "face the nation" will be back in one minute. stay with us. (vo) you might be used to living with your albuterol asthma rescue inhaler, but it's a bit of a dinosaur, because it only treats your symptoms, not inflammation. treating both symptoms and inflammation with rescue is supported by asthma experts. finally, there's a modern way to treat symptoms and asthma attacks. airsupra is the first ever dual-action rescue inhaler that treats your asthma symptoms and helps prevent attacks. airsupra is the only rescue fda-approved to do both. airsupra is an as-needed rescue inhaler and should not be used as a maintenance treatment for asthma. get medical help right away if your breathing

does not improve, continues to worsen, or for serious allergic reactions. using airsupra more than prescribed could be life threatening. serious side effects include heart problems, increased risk of thrush or infections. welcome to the modern age of dual-action asthma rescue. we turn now to ohio republican senator j.d. vance. he joins us this morning from cleveland. i should say, we're having some technical issues. you're with us on zoom. hopefully our uplink stays solid throughout because i have a lot of questions for you, sir. >> sure. >> donald trump had a better night on thursday during that debate by many measures. but according to our poll he fell short on at least one of them, fewer voters thought the former president was truthful compared with president biden.

mr. trump falsely claimed states are passing legislation to execute babies. i think you know that killing people is illegal in every state. he falsely claimed that the speaker of the house at the time turned down 10,000 soldiers that he had offered to keep the peace ahead of january 6th, something his own acting secretary of defense testified to congress did not happen. if he has such a strong platform, why make false claims? >> well, margaret, i think the meeting is running interference on this stuff. we know and nancy pelosi has admitted on camera she could have requested more nationa guard troops and she bears some responsibility for the fact that they weren't there at the capitol. we know that the multiple democratic governors and states and even some democratic senators and congressmen would try to pass laws to legalize abortion up until the moment of birth. we know that media seems uninterested in fact checking

joe biden from any of the number of false claims he made including his --? >> i lost track. i've been told the media is on every site and it's our fault. let's get back to the candidate you're here to talk about. chris miller said 10,000 troops he was never ordered by the president to send those to the capitol that day. >> nancy pelosi has said on camera, margaret, that she bears some responsibility for the fact that the national guard didn't play a bigger role and of course we know the speaker of the house has an extraordinary amount of influence over capitol police. it's not in dispute. joe biden said that no troops died on his watch even though 13 american service members died thanks to his botched withdraw from afghanistan. joe biden made multiple statements of falsehood during the debate and a lot of folks in the media, yes, seem totally uninterested in fact checking him and the reason is because donald trump just performed so much better. there's -- there was this 24-hour period where effectively

everyone was honest, there was a contrast between donald trump's energy and command of the facts and joe biden's obvious inability to do the job as president, and now, of course, we've transitioned to this new media cycle folks trying to run cover. the american people saw what they saw. trump can do the job. biden can't. >> you might not have heard it, but i did raise a lot of those issues to wes moore ux the biden surrogate on before you. as to where you stand on some of these issues, tomorrow, at the supreme court, it may be a significant day as we get -- expected to get that decision on presidential immunity from criminal prosecution. and that's directly relevant to the federal charges against donald trump. as you know. you're a lawyer. i wonder, if you become the vice president and you are in a trump-vance administration do you believe a president could pardon himself for federal crimes? >> well, look, i've focused on electing donald trump as president whether i'm serving in

some other role or as a united states senator. i think the trump agenda has worked. on this -- >> would you object if the president were to try to do that? >> margaret, we know that the president has to have immunity to do his job. should barack obama be prosecuted for droning american citizens in yemen? there are so many examples of presidents, democrats and republicans, who would not be able to discharge their duties if the supreme court does not recognize some broad element of presidential discretion. i'm very confident that they're going to be able to do that, and i'm very confident that fundamental principle here is that the president has to be able to do his job in the same way police officers, judges, prosecutors, enjoy some immunity, that principle has to apply to the president too. >> so you do believe that a president could pardp himself for federal crimes? >> i believe that the president has broad pardon authority. more importantly i think the president has immunity. not whether he should pardon himself. it's about whether being prosecuted in the first place

for discharging his official duties. in that way i reject the premise of the question here. we need to have some recognition that the -- look, a democrat wins the presidency. they try to throw the republican president in jail. a republican wins the presidency they try to throw the democratic president in jail. that's the pathway of unraveling 250 years of tradition and making the president unable regardless of party to do their job. that is not a good thing and not something i think any republican supports. >> okay. to that point, president trump on that debate statement on thursday suggested that joe biden could be criminally prosecuted after he leaves office. it wasn't clear exactly what crime he was alleging but mentioned something about the u.s. border. in a trump-vance administration, would your justice department prosecute joe biden and if so for what? >> well, first of all, that would be the responsibility of the attorney general, margaret, but donald trump did not say he's trying to throw his political opponent in jail. that is joe biden who is, in

fact, already tried to do precisely that. importantly, what he said is that if you applied the same standard that jeff pegues's justice department has applied -- joe biden's justice department has applied he could go to prison. it's so extraordinary that people could say that donald trump is the one trying to use the law against his opponent in the future when that's what joe biden is trying to do. >> do you object to the premise? >> i think that what we need to recognize is applying a consistent standard is what really matters. >> so you would not want the justice department to prosecute joe biden for any alleged crimes? >> i want people who -- margaret, i want people who commit crimes to face the appropriate response in law. what i do not think is reasonable is for joe biden to weaponize his own justice department, going after donald trump, any numbers of crimes,

some of which have been thrown out, a number which will be thrown out including on monday by the united states supreme court. so the problem that i have, margaret, is not with which democrat should prosecute which republican and vice versa. let's get out of the prosecuting of people based on their politics. let's let voters decide who the president should be, not judges and prosecutors who are politically motivated. >> senator, you are, as everyone knows, on this very short list of potential running mates for donald trump. so for our viewers at home you are 40 years old. you've been in the senate for less than two years. you haven't held elected office before this. if you are selected, along sidea nominee who is 78 years old you will be a heartbeat from the presidency. what do you think your biggest accomplishment in the senate has been to date? >> well, margaret, i'm not running for vice president and it's important for us to remember that donald trump has been a very good president.

he will be a very good president again. i think in some ways these vice presidential conversations serve to distract from the fact that we have donald trump as president with a success. joe biden has been a failure. let's get back to success and let's get back to peace and prosperityp my attitude on the vice president thing, margaret, if he asks me i want to help him and i would be very interested in the job. you asked what are my accomplishments in the united states senate. in 18 months we've done a lot of good work for our constituents and got hundreds of millions of dollars to the great lakes. we've done a lot to help the people of east palestine deal with the terrible train disaster and we've done a lot of work on making sure that ohio has gotten defense resources that make not just ohio but our country stronger. so there's a lot we can hang our hat on. i like being a senator. i'm not trying to leave the united states senate. it's an honor to serve the people of ohio and that's where i expect to be in six months, where i expect to be in a few years. >> j.d. vance, we'll be watching

and hopefully have you back in studio flex time. we'll be right back. >> thanks for having me. >> announcer: this portion of "face the nation" is brought to you by simply safe. there's no safe like simplisafe. if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment.

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your search for 2 immunotherapies starts here. ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. a chance to live longer. tomorrow the supreme court is set to conclude a blockbuster term and issue a landmark decision on whether presidents are granted a degree of immunity from criminal prosecution. a decision that could impact the 2024 race. we're joined by cbs news chief legal affairs correspondent jan crawford and chief washington correspondent major garrett. a lot to get to with both of you. jan, the big question of tomorrow morning, what will the court rule? >> well, i mean we'll see. i do expect a decision that at least leaves open the possibility of a trial before the election. i mean i see zero chance they're going to embrace donald trump's argument he has absolute immunity and can't be prosecuted. i think they're going to say

there is some immunity for the official actions of a president. and why is that important? i agree, and you heard some of that in your conversation with senator vance, they are concerned this case will apply to future presidents and after a bitter campaign as one justice pointed out in argument the winning candidate could throw the loser into jail. they're worried about that. as trump said during the debate he believes biden's policies on immigration have been criminal and see this as a case that goes well beyond donald trump an that's why they're going to wall off those official actions of a president but leave open the ability of prosecution of unofficial actions of an office seeker. as trump's lawyer argued at the oral arguments conceded at the oral arguments a lot of what's alleged in the indictment is unofficial acts, so jack smith could have those papers ready to go and say, he's conceded. this is unofficial acts he can be prosecuted for. let's get this trial going. i think the judge could do that

quickly. >> it's hard to get your head around something being an unofficial act by the president when he is doing it in office at times from the oval office. >> a lower court -- >> how do you explain that. >> as a lower court in a different case on a similar case explained unofficial acts are the acts of aen officer seek e a candidate, speeches you may give at rallies. a lower court has laid out the ground marc for how you can make the divisions in the d.c. court of appeals. an official act will be the core powers presidents have, immigration policies, decisions about drone strikes, those cannot be prosecuted. that's going to be walled off. there's a lot of things a president does that could be unofficial and criminal. >> there is so much we need to dig into on the legalities and then with you, major, on the practicalities because as you mentioned there could be a trial before the election. >> can't rule it out. >> we have to talk about what that looks like and the impact on the trail. stay with us and we'll have the

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we'll be right back with a lot more "face the nation." stay with us.

welcome back to "face the nation." we return now to our conversation with chief legal correspondent jan crawford and chief washington correspondent major garrett. major, i want to pick up w