>> dickerson: welcome back the "face the nation." i'm john dickerson. we continue with the chairman of the republican party, reince priebus. we'll leave the previous issue. you once said that the electoral... the way the

perfect. is donald trump running a nearly perfect campaign? >> well, let me tell you something. this is a fascinating year for everybody, we all know that, but i have been, and i think people need to get outside this beltway and get on the road. if they were to see what i see, i see one of the greatest ground game movements, to be ground, meaning people coming to events, 20,000 in middle pennsylvania, 22,000 in seattle. this is probably one of the biggest moveme people across this country in modern history. and so while everyone loves to analyze donald trump all day long, 24/7 on cable, i think people have to look at what the facts are, and we're tied today, as we sit here, 51 days from the election. and we have a candidate that is capturing the electorate, america. it might not be capturing the pundits, but he's capturing

reluctant republicans, some of whom are republican officials in the republican party either in the never trump or in the barely trump category? >> well, some of the people ran for president, but you have to look at where we are we at with the voters. and where we're at with the voters, in one of the last polls i'm at, nearly 91% of the republicans, 92%. we need to do a couple percentage points better, but people who agreed to support the process, they've used tools from the rnc. they agreed to support the nominee. they took part in our process. we're a private party. we're in the a public entity. those people need to get on board. and if they're thinking they're going to run again some day, i think that we're going to evaluate the process of the nomination process, and i don't think it's going to be that easy for them. >> dickerson: would the party itself penalized someone who does not make good on the pledge they made to support the

process. and i think that people who gave us their word, used information from the rnc, should be on board. sure. >> dickerson: governor john kasich, if he wants to run again, he might be out of luck as far as the rnc goes? >> people in our party are talking about what we're going to do about this. there is a ballot access issue in south carolina. in order to be on the ballot in south carolina, you have to pledge your support to what's the penalty for that? it's not a threat. it's just a question that we have a process in place. and if a private entity puts forward a process and has agreement with the participants in that process, then those participants don't follow through with the promises that they made in that process, what should a private party do about that if those same people come around in four or eight years? >> dickerson: sounds like a brushback pitch, but let me ask

point donald trump said the debates are rigged. you have been part of this process. has the process been fair? does it feel fair to you at this point? >> well, there are two parts to that. as far as our party is concerned, i think i've been straight up and fair the whole way through. i think people have evaluated what we've done. i think people understand that i think i played it straight down the middle from the beginning to the end. i do think that the m especially in the cable 24/7 world, is totally obsessed with negative six-minute segments on donald trump no matter what it is. and i think that part of it is very unfair. >> dickerson: but the debate part so far as the nights it's happening, the moderators, all that? >> i think it's square. and i think people are ready to move forward and move on with this. i think that first debate is going to be probably one of the biggest events in the history of

mr. chairman, thank you so much for being with us. >> you bet. >> you bet. >> dickerson: we'll be right back. ...but they couldn't miss the show. so dad went to the new safelite-dot-com. and in just a few clicks, he scheduled a replacement... ...before the girls even took the stage. safelite-dot-com is the fast, easy way to schedule service anywhere in america! so you don't have to miss a thing. y'all did wonderful! that's another safelite advantage.

>> dickerson: and we're back with our political panel. ruth marcus is a columnist at the washington post. salamle is an executive director with the national review. mark leibovich is with "the new york times". riewrkt i want the start with you. the response to this explosion in new york overnight.

immediately and said, a bought went off. turns out he was right. hillary clinton said we have to wait for the details. is that a frame from which we should look at the two candidates? >> it's pretty telling. he turned out to be right, but might not have. i think that, look, i'm a facts girl, so i think the response, i'd like to wait for the facts until i comment is always a good idea. i think both of them could have behooved them to express some concern for the seems to be something that's forgotten in all this. >> dickerson: i want to ask about this op-ed by secretary robert gates. attacked both candidates. not attacked, sorry, criticized both candidates for their weaknesses. hillary clinton not trustworthiness. donald trump doesn't have the temperament for the job. does this matter? does he raise important questions about this, and with donald trump calling him a clown, does that matter or is that just what we're used to

doash owe is priced in for voters. if you look at the survey, it looks as though hillary clinton's support with the obama coalition is softening. if you look at younger voters, it's softening even drastically. even younger black men, it seems there is some weakness here. whereas if you look at donald trump, there is certainly what folks in many media outlets talk about, the which i'm sure we'll talk more about now. but he's proposed a new social program for working mothers. he went on the dr. oz show, which by the way, is a show that's watched by many of the voters he's seeking to reach, and he praised medicaid. and he suggested that we ought to expand the medicaid program further. so when you think about trying to get through one channel, the people who read the "wall street journal" editorial page, and then trying the reach another channel, think about the married white women in a state like

people who have been reluctant to join his campaign. it's not obvious to me that he hasn't done a decent job of doing an end run around certain kinds of media criticism and reaching those people. >> dickerson: and the polls have tightened a little and, mark, picking up on the point about those kinds of voters, the reintroduction of the idea that for five years donald trump was the advocate for the idea that barack obama was not born in the united states. does that matter to those kinds of voters? and said, yes, he was born here? >> i think it does matter to those kinds of voters. i think the lead that hillary clinton opened up in august was a lot of softening republicans. you mentioned softening of the obama coalition. a lot of these were squishy republicans who would listen to someone like susan collins who said she wouldn't vote for donald trump. there's like this divide between republicans who know who robert gates is and those who don't.

republican party or at least the establishment of the republican party. i was actually somewhat surprised by how critical he was of hillary clinton, who he apparently was... i thought he lad been an ally of closely during the obama years when they both served together. i do think that the kind of language he used, he the kind of damning language that butts the fear of pulling the will every for him into a lot of the suburban republicans in philadelphia. >> dickerson: one thing that's been clinton conversation, the last several week staffers have said, we realize we have to be out there talking about solutions. that's been interrupted by her comments about half of trump supporters being the basket of deplorables or health issues. now other things are getting in the way. what does that tell you, though, that this late in the campaign they're feeling like we still have to make the case for hillary clinton? >> and she still feels like she has to make the case. that's parted of what she's thinking about in the debates.

it's actually impossible even for donald trump's policy now that it's coming to break through donald trump, and so she's had a hard time either talking about individual policies in this campaign, but even larger, talking about the larger vision that she has for the country and for getting people to like her/trust her. this is a big challenge in the debate in addition to simultaneously trying to fact check donald trump. >> dickerson: i want to get back to the dail minute to the question of one can fix one's liabilities in a debate. but on this question of donald trump's view on the president's birth, he has asked us and his campaign has asked us to look back at his business career for an idea on how he would be president, look at his germany on the foreign policy. they now want this not to be a conversation, the question of the president's birth. but you can't just say it's over. >> oh, i think it's pretty clear that donald trump talked about this, raised questions about

may well be very relevant and motivating for some voters. it is not clearly to me that those voters for whom this is a pressing and important issue are vote there's donald trump was ever going to be able to win regardless. now, let's look at a state like florida, and mark leibovich is with "the new york times." you have a new report on survey findings in florida. you see that back in 2008, hillary clinton was well to the right of barack obama on some immigration issues. now she's well to his left in terms of she talks deportation relief and much else. but if you look at hispanic voters, barack obama the last time around won 60% of those voters. hillary clinton is well behind barack obama's mark among hispanic voters. now, they're not going to donald trump, but it seems like a lot of them are demote secretary of stated. and this is a pattern you see not just in florida but many other states besides. for a state like florida that many people assumed because hillary clinton's big push on immigration and amnesty and other issues would be in the bag

so is she struggling with the kind of voters for whom talk of the birther controversy is really meaningful, yes, and it may well make sense that by magnifying this and by talking about, this that could help motivate some of those voters, but is that going to get her over the bar, we'll see. >> i'm going to disagree on the issue of whether this is an issue that could affect vote there's would otherwise be for trump. first of all, it is astonishing that we are debating this this late in the ga didn't put away in 2011. he should have put it earlier in this cycle. you asked kellyanne conway why donald trump was whining about the president's birth for the last five years, she said, you'll have to ask him. that means case is not closed. so i think the voters affected by this are voters who might not

but they're voters who might have thought about staying home in the polls or they're voters who might have been tempted by gary johnson or jill stein, and now they get enraged and scared about the notion of trump being president. >> that's pretty much my view, as well. >> dickerson: i hear on the right people saying this is the press obsessed with the question of obama's birth to not cover policy that trump is covering. on the left i hear, don't fall for donald trump talking about birther. pay attention to the foundation what's the right way the look at this? >> i would say, look, the notion that donald trump settled this debate for however many years, when was this ever a debate? it was a debate on the fringes in certain sectors. donald trump, it's been well documented, spent five years talking about. this whether voters respond or not, it's appalling to watch this argument play out. it's edifying to no one. the facts are very, very clear. and just speaking as one human

so i'm suspect, but i find it appalling. whether it plays out electorally or not, i think it's clear we make clear what we're talking about. >> dickerson: ruth, let's move to the debates. reince priebus said the biggest political event in the world. is that good, by the way to, have that much focus on a single thing? >> it is what it is. and i think it's, look, to the extent that, you know, donald trump is hoping to generate the biggest ratings ever, the more voters pay attention, the voters are engaged, even if they haven't been engaged before. the better off we are. it's actually why it's really important that we have three debates, not one debate, so that people are not affected by one single thing. you can go back and go to issues. >> dickerson: what should we be looking for in the debate? >> well, one thing i'll throw out there is that back in 2012, bill clinton at the democratic national convention felt like it was really important that

medicaid program. the fact that donald trump wants to expand it is completely not an issue, and that's amazing. that tells you something about the debate. in the first debate between barack obama and mitt romney, romney was able to do an end run about the media conversation about his campaign and connect directly with voters and present a very different face. i'm not sure if donald trump is capable of doing that, but imagine if he does. imagine if he shows the many ways that he appears to be not like other republicans, for better or for worse, by the way, that's something where we'll have a direct channel to audience that's been hearing all kinds of messages about him. so that will be interesting to watch. >> i have a sense, and i could be wrong, but i don't think donald trump is crashing on the details of his medicaid policy as he prepares for this debate. i think what's exhilarateing to him is that this is a great show. he sees himself foremost as a showman. he thinks he can handle the stage and the moment. the clinton campaign has said over and over and over again, look, 100 peoples state bank will watch this. this is a moment to get very

about donald trump's history, my own credibility out there. and i think to some degree they see it as kind of almost a writ large diversion of their convention condensed into a couple hours. >> dickerson: we'll have the leave it there. it's a little more than a week away from our first debate. we thank you all for being here. we'll be right back in a moment. >> two candidates, one goal, your vote. the first president, debate,

>> dickerson: saturday marks the official opening of the new smithsonian museum of african american history and culture. we visited the museum with a man who spent 15 years working on its establishment, georgia congressman john lewis. congressman, we're sitting here >> sitting here, i tell you, means everything to me. my first non-violent protest was in 1960 in downtown nashville sitting down at a lunch counter on a stool in the local woolworth's store. this all takes me back.

i wouldn't be the person that i am today if it hadn't been for taking a seat. >> dickerson: what does it mean to be here inside this building? >> it just means everything. to walk in here, to be here, to see this magnificent museum, it's going to continue to take me back, just walking here, i could almost cry. i don't want you to make me cry. >> dickerson: you also spoke at the other end of this mall on the march on washington. would you ever have imagined that there would be this kind of a monument? >> i never thought, i never dreamed that one day there would be a monument, there would be a museum telling the story and the history of african americans for the days of slavery.

story you want people to understand when they come here? >> this story is an american story. it tells of our history, our having the ls, desegregation, racial discrimination, but much earlier, the whole system of slavery, the denial of basic constitutional right, the right to vote, the right to get an education, that people suffered, they struggled, beaten and arrested and jailed, people died, but they never give up. they never gave in. they never became bitter or hostile. they kept the faith. and they kent dreaming. >> dickerson: when you spoke on the steps of the lincoln memorial, you said, "wake up, america. we cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient." a real sense of urgency. where are things now in terms of

justice? >> well, we've come a distance. we've made a lot of progress. when people tell me nothing has changed, i feel like saying, walk in my shoes. ly show you change. we're one people. and we were involved in the struggle during the '50s and '60s. white people and black people suffered together. they died together to bring about change, to bring down those signs, white men, white women, colored men, colored women. the only places we will see those signs today will be in a book or in a museum like this one. >> dickerson: speaking of walking in john lewis' shoes, there's a picture of you on the edmund pettis bridge. what was happening in that picture. >> well, in 1965, a group of us,

montgomery to dramatize to the nation and to the world that people of color wanted to register to vote. we were walking in an orderly, peaceful, non-violent fashion. we came to the highest point on the bridge crossing the alabama river. down below we saw a sea of blue, alabama state troopers. and a m "this is an unlawful march. you will continue." a young man from dr. king's organization said, "major, give us a moment to kneel and pray." and the major said, "troopers, advance." i said, "major, may i have a word?" he said, "there will be no words." they came to us, beating us with night stick. i was hit in the head by a state trooper from a night stick. i had a concussion at the

weeks later we walked from selma to montgomery, and president johnson made one of the most moving speeches in the mo times on the whole question of voting rights and civil rights. at the end of that speech he said, "and we shall overcome." >> dickerson: you recently wrote a piece in the huffington post about that march from selma to montgomery. you said there's a way to talk about where we are today. >> dickerson: the march was 50 years ago. it changed america forever. there were hundreds and thousands of people coming from all across america, priests, rabbis, nuns, ministers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, white, all coming together.

people to protest. we should never ever give up on the right to protest what is right. >> dickerson: you mentioned non-violence. martin luther king and the montgomery story, that comic book that inspired you when you were growing up. in that comic book it talks about loving thy neighbor, a strong part of the non-violent message, that even when people are hitting you and beating you deserve your love. where is that message now? >> the message is in many of us. i think we have to teach all of our children, and those of us not so young, that the way of love is a better way. just respect the dignity and the worth of every human being. we need to continue to get it out there. if we get it right, if we get it right in america, maybe it can serve as a model for the rest of the world? >> dickerson: is that message

>> i think there are are some forces in america trying the take us back to another period. we must not let that happen. >> christa: do you see that in the presidential campaign this year? >> i see it very much. so there are forces that want to divide us, and we must not be divided. we've come so far. we have made so much progress working and building together. too many of my friends, too many of my colleagues, young people that i knew, '6 and african american, died together. we must not let their deaths be in vain. >> dickerson: thank you, sir. >> thank you, sir. >> dickerson: and we'll be right back. engineers can spot potential problems from any angle. because safety is never being satisfied.

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>> dickerson: there will be more of our conversation with john lewis on our web site, face

that's it for this week. for captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh

york, 2011, guess it was. and there was no, took several days before, to realize that that was coming out of the, taliban in pakistan. boston marathon bombing we didn't know for several days for certain if, if that was terrorists. so i think you have to assume from the start, terrorism is a real possibility.