ow! only at a sleep number store. time is now for the biggest sale of the year, where all beds are on sale. save 50% on the labor day limited edition bed. know better sleep with sleep number. >> i am john heilemann. like it or not, old man -- ♪ >> our highlight reel, carly fiorina takes the field. president obama delays his victory lap. the white house has the votes it needs to sustain the resolution for the iran deal.

the administration hoping to avoid a veto. john kerry was in philadelphia making his pitch. >> if your house is on fire, going up in flames, would you refuse to extinguish it because of the chance there might be another fire in 15 years? you would put out the fire and take advantage of the extra time to prepare for the future. my friends, it does not make sense to conclude that we should vote no now because of what might happen in 15 years, thereby guaranteeing that what will happen in 15 years might happen now. john: my question for you is, they are trying to get the democrats over so they can filibuster. does it really matter whether it happens by sustaining a veto of

the republican resolution or avoiding a veto? mark: if you avoid the veto, trigger enough votes, i think it enhances the reputation of the president, administration, secretary of state, and the policy itself here and globally. another key vote came over yesterday. i have got to say that the specter and spectacle of the house and senate passing a vote of disapproval, the president vetoing it, then having to sustain the veto -- it seems to me that it would be a lot better if the president could negotiate a treaty and the congress would not be able to get in his way.

>> i agree with you. it gives the impression to the rest of the world that we speak with one voice on foreign policy. consider how far they have come. >> do you think that dick cheney's book, the arguments they are making, will change anything about this debate? >> no, i don't, because of dick cheney's record with iraq, his refusal to believe that he made any mistakes at all in iraq, buying the intelligence, having his own intelligence shop in the vice president's office. >> not a big fan of dick cheney?

vice president joe biden was in miami today. he was trailed by a lot of reporters if he is revving up for a 2016 campaign. it was a first up for biden. he's doing a fundraiser in florida it tonight, speaking to jewish community leaders tomorrow, and marching in the labor day parade on monday. today he told the crowd, "people who aren't willing to risk failing never succeed." where is he going here? john: he's enjoying the attention, speculation, teased the reporters today. the two key things if you look

at a couple of key metrics, fundraising not set up, no committee, no staff. i don't see him making the moves that you would make if you're going to do this. >> you know about this stuff. i don't. what date is triggered for getting his name on the ballot? john: the first democratic debate is in mid-october. he would need to decide by then. he has got to be on that debate stage the first time the rest of those democrats get up. i think he will give an answer well before that. >> what does your gut say? >> my gut says, no. by the middle of september, we will know that for sure. >> i agree. john: rick perry is singing the

blues. he told a reporter that he has not been paid since june. rick perry's political director defected. the word is his operation is on its last leg. perry on the undercard debate stage again in september, then this news from new hampshire. will rick perry still be in this race when the votes are cast and iowa? >> the surprising thing to me about rick perry, having interviewed him several times, he is charismatic, but his campaign is over. he has not been able to move the needle at all.

john: he is a classic example of someone who had his time and missed his moment. he was the longest-serving governor in the history of texas, in the united states, a great job story in 2012, but his campaign was a fiasco. you can run a sensible campaign, but people still remember that moment. it haunts you forever. if you miss, you never get that moment back. that is one of the lessons here. >> cnn changed the criteria for candidates to get on the main debate stage. before, any candidate in the top 10 average made it in. now they are adding another way, breaking into that top 10 in the final month earns you a ticket as well. that's good news for carly fiorina. what did she have to do on this

stage to stay in the thick of things? mark: she will have a bigger challenge than before. she will be one of 11. that is a short amount of time for people to speak. she will be the only woman. i think that someone is going to in this debate to take on donald trump, and she could be that one. >> she could be that one. and on the big stage with all those other guys, she does have a pretty good rap. she is articulate and director, which separates her from the other politicians running. that is why she stood out. john: all the attention on this question raises the stakes for her.

she has to give another performance that is as good as that last debate. because of where trump is, she is best positioned to go after him. >> you think it will be a bigger draw than the first debate in terms of viewers? john: i think it will be bigger. hillary clinton unveiled her plan to address the problem of drug addiction and substance abuse. 7.5 billion dollars in federal funds to help local communities tackle the problem. chris christie release this video addressing that same issue. >> i'm pro-life. i believe every life is precious. not only the baby in the womb, but the drug addicts laying on the floor of the county drill. -- jail. the way to win the war on drugs is to treat the addict.

john: they are bringing this issue up on the campaign trail. this is mostly about opiate addiction, not the cocaine or marijuana discussion, prescription drugs, others. it has become a weird bipartisan thing. why is everyone talking about this now and will it matter politically? >> i think it matters politically greatly around the country. as far as chris christie is concerned, heroin is a huge issue in new hampshire, massachusetts, other east coast cities, enormously cheap. you can buy it easier than getting a big mack. it is all over the place. the number of overdoses are off the charts, huge issue.

john: up in new hampshire, you hear about it a lot. if you get this kind of bipartisan view, where is the political advantage? how do you win that argument so that it accrues to your benefit politically? >> it's going to cost an enormous sum of money, more beds, more treatment facilities. that costs money. they seem to be against spending money under the government umbrella, so i do not know how it will play out. john: my concern about it -- i feel like there is an apple pie quality to it where these candidate say there's a problem and proposed solutions, no one person will break through. up next, my interview with the democratic senator who carried president obama's iran deal across the finish line after these words from our sponsors. ♪

john: president obama has the votes he needs in the senate to make his nuclear deal with iran a reality. bob casey, he is one of those votes. i asked him if a protracted veto fight would hurt u.s. credibility. >> no matter which way the process goes, if an agreement is in effect, i think that will be the most important thing. all the legislative mechanics will not matter in the light of history. we should get the agreement into effect as rapidly as possible, but the hard part over time is going to be implementation, verification, holding the iranians accountable for the remarkable promises they have made. they have made a promise that is ironclad in this agreement to

never have a nuclear weapon. we cannot trust them on that. we have to make sure they uphold that for years and decades. it will be an awful lot of work going forward. john: you don't think it is problematic at all in terms of the u.s. ability to negotiate agreements and treaties to go through a protracted, ugly, partisan fight over a over a veto that gets sustained? >> people make an argument that that is going to be problematic. in the end, if the agreement goes into effect, the results we achieve with the agreement will be the measure of the agreement. john: let me ask you about two objections. one of them by vice president

cheney and his daughter out with a new book this week. he says that it will spark an arms race in the middle east. are you concerned about that? >> i am concerned in the context of no deal. then you have potentially a reversal of some of the gains you got in the interim agreement on the highly enriched uranium. they had 20% highly enriched uranium, and that's close to a problem for the world. when you get to that point, you have to consider if there is chaos because of no agreement, uncertainty, and maybe the likelihood they would break out, that is the fastest way to lead to danger, but also proliferation in the region. there is a debate about that,

but i really believe the united states will be more secure, the region, including israel, with the agreement as opposed to without it. john: let me ask you about an objection that president netanyahu and others have voice. that they will use the funds to perpetuate instability in the region. does that strike you as a legitimate concern? >> what they are doing in the region is a concern now and it was a year ago, and it will be with or without the agreement. they are still funding terror. that will go on regardless. the dollar amount is important, but they can do a lot of damage with smaller dollar amounts. they have all but perfected asymmetric warfare, putting other strategies in place that are not governed or driven by dollars.

we have to confront them aggressively. john: there are a lot of folks who come to the view that the deal on the table is better than no deal, and you seem to have come to that position. do you have any sense as others do that the deal should have been better to begin with? you are willing to accept it with its flaws, but there was a chance to get a better deal than the deal you are currently endorsing? >> to make a real assessment instead of a oh washington political assessment, you have to go back and retrace the steps of negotiation. that would have to be an exhaustive assessment of every discussion or engagement. i was not in the room when those early discussions took place, so it's hard to make a determination. it is plainly evident that there are areas where you wish you could have had more success of better results, but in the end

you view it in totality, and i think the constraints in this agreement are unprecedented. the monitoring, brent scowcroft said as much. and, this is something we all have to work on, every president, house, and senate, if we do a good job of implementation and enforcement and smack of the iranians when they violate and have strong deterrence, it can work, but we have a lot of work to do. john: your colleague from delaware who came out with you yesterday in endorsing this deal is also endorsing vice president biden if the vice president decides to get in the race. vice president biden has roots in your state. i know you support hillary clinton, but would you give consideration to switching your

support for president biden? >> i support secretary clinton. i think she will be a strong president and a strong nominee. i am a good friend of vice president biden, but i have made a determination to support her. we will have a continued spirited debate. mark: what's your opinion, biden in or out? >> i don't like when others give me that advice. i will not give it to him. john: are you worried about secretary clinton given the poll numbers deteriorating over the summer? >> i think she is the nominee. i think she will be elected president. i think she will be a good president. john: if she was not elected, do you think bernie sanders would be a capable president of the united states? >> absolutely. i know him well.

john: you think you could get things done with the house and senate? >> no matter who wins on our side, i think it will be secretary clinton, it will be difficult to deal with the republican house and senate, but maybe, and it is at least 50-50 or better, we could have a democratic senate again. john: that is optimistic. thank you, senator. we appreciate your time as always. thanks again to senator bob casey. when we come back, a whole lot of senator begich. ♪

john: we are back to extract a final bit of wisdom. here is my question for you. last night, i ran into someone following this republican race carefully who was pointing out the degree to which republicans

nominees have been saddled with baggage, whether it's scott walker, chris christie, marco rubio on abortion where he does not accept exceptions. even jeb bush on the path to legal status. we needed to become more inclusive and reach out more after 2012, that is what the postmortem says. who do you think among the republican runners has accumulated the least baggage and is the most viable candidate? >> john kasich, given what we know now. the two issues you mentioned are interesting in terms of what is about to happen.

the pope is coming to america for the first time. in an amazing display of what catholicism is all about, he indicated that parish priests ought to consider giving forgiveness to women who have had an abortion in the past. this is an extraordinary expression of grace, forgiveness, compassion, so i don't know how a candidate like marco rubio matches up against what the pope says. any person with common sense knows immigration is a big issue in this country and there is no way that you can get 15 million people and report them. -- deport them. we can't even get across town in new york or boston, so they know that. as far as governor walker goes, what is he doing looking for the bricklayers union endorsement building a wall?

john: just today, donald trump said after governor bush scolded him in spanish, he said that governor bush should lead by example and speak only english when he is in america. that is part of what is setting the tone, tenor, and temperament of this race, and it has drawn everyone into the weeds that could be damaging for that party especially giving the sense that they had to reach out more after 2012. >> i agree with you. they will have to live with it next year, 100% correct. john: we will be right back. take those words to the bank. ♪

john: we have had my cure for the first three days of this week. he won't be here tomorrow. somehow we got through that without me uttering profanity, getting in trouble with the sec or anybody, kind of a miracle.

>> do i get a gift or something? john: i'm going to get you a new rascal. >> i need one.

emily: breaking news. twitter's board will discuss the company's ceo search tomorrow. new details and what investors want to hear. emily: this is "bloomberg west." targeting apple, and the virtual augmented reality technology landing the most intricate capital. will it ever go mainstream? ludicrous is here. we hear about that coming up.