k" secretary of state antony blinken is trying to push for diplomatic relations between the u.s. and china. i'm robert costa. the 2020 campaign picked back up after a tumultuous week with donald trump. we'll have the latest on the investigations and the legal challenges facing trump. we'll speak to his former attorney general, william barr.

and one of the newest gop contenders, former new jersey governor, chris christie. we'll talk to democratic senator richard blumenthal, about the investigations of the planned merger between the pga tour and the saudsaudi-owned golf tour l. that's all on "face the nation." ♪ good morning. welcome to "face the nation." we got a lot to get to. we want to begin with secretary of state antony blinken's trip to china. the first u.s. diplomatic mission there in five years. margaret is in beijing. looks like good evening to you. >> good morning to you. 5 1/2 hours worth of talks between secretary blinken and his chinese counterpart concluded. they were very direct. they were very candid. it's good they were talking at

all. one of the u.s. officials said there was one agreement, was to stop the downward spiral in this relationship. but it's clear they have profound differences. secretary blinken and foreign minister qin, an ally of xi jingping, talking about grievances. tension spiked last summer, when then-house speaker nancy pelosi visited taiwan. and again in february, after the spy balloon shootdown. now, president biden wants to move on. >> i don't think the leadership knew where it was. and knew what was in it. i think it was more embarrassing than tension. >> reporter: beijing objects to the u.s. military presence in the pacific.

china ease defense chief refuses to speak with lloyd austin, at a time when beijing is expanding its nuclear arsenal. >> the door is open. my phone line is open. >> reporter: miscommunication risks a clash. last month, a chinese warship came within 150 feet of slamming into an american ship in the taiwan strait. and in the south china sea, a chinese fighter jet buzzed the u.s. air force. the divide runs deeper than a failure to communicate. blinken pressed authorities to crack down on the flow of fentanyl. that drug is the number one killer of americans under the age of 50. beijing has its own motivations to meet. it wants investments to continue to flow as its economy is slowing. the recent biden administration to cut off the sale of advanced technology of high-end computer chips is causing concern. secretary blinken will have a

working dinner with his chinese counterpart tonight and tomorrow. he plans to meet with the top party official who oversees foreign policy. all of these meetings, really, an intense push to try to hit restart on this relationship. bob? >> margaret, speaking of a restart, what do both sides hope to achieve from the meetings? and will there be deliverables? >> expectations have been set very low for actual achievement, in terms of deliverables, as they call them in washington. we know here in beijing, the ultimate hope may be for a face-to-face meeting between president xi and president biden this fall. perhaps as soon as september or at a key conference in california this coming november. so, all of this may be building up to that meeting between the two leaders of the world's most powerful economies. in the meantime, it is that economy interest that is also a

chief concern here. the u.s. and chinese economies are so intertwined. there's interest in lowering tension to alleviate some of that invenervousness in the buss community. we know when it comes to concern about technology and investment, the u.s. wants to continue that flow between both countries. and wants to tamp down some of the concern going into this next year. but fundamentally here, president biden believes that this the country, china, is the only one in the world that has the power and the intent to change the global order. this is about competition. >> margaret, will secretary blinken meet with xi jingping? >> bob, that meeting may depend on the next 24 hours and how they go. arrangements are being made for

president xi to meet with antony blinken. the secretary of state has been a key aide to president biden over many years in the senate and in the white house. so, this is an important face-to-face, to lay the groundwork for that possible presidential summit. >> margaret, thank you. margaret will be back later in the broadcast. we're joined by william barr. he served as attorney general under former president trump. his book, "one damn thing after another" is now available in pa paperback. good morning, mr. barr. thanks for being here. >> thanks for inviting me, bob. >> former president trump says everyone except you says this indictment is about election interference and should not have been brought. he says you know the indictment is total b.s., our shorthand for what was said. he is known for watching the sunday shows. he obviously saw your appearance on another network last sunday. why is he wrong about this? >> well, this is not a

circumstance where he's the overreach.this is government he provoked this whole problem himself. yes, he's been the victim of infair witch hunts in the past. that doesn't stop the fact that he ducts himself that lead to situations like this, that hurts any political cause he is associated with. this is a case entirely of his own making. he had no right to the documents. the government tried over a year, quietly and with respect, to get them back. it was essential they do. and he jerked them around. he had no legal basis for keeping them. beyond that, when he faced a subpoena, he didn't raise any legal arguments. he engaged in deceitful conduct,

that was a clear crime, if those allegations are true. it was outrageous. according to the humidity. he took the documents ouft storage. led his lawyer to believe he would conduct a full search of the boxes and calls for his lawyer to file with the court, that he had completed a search. >> how strong is the special counsel's case on obstruction, specifically? >> it's very strong because it comes from his own lawyers. there's evidence of him saying things that are completely incompatible this is anything but an innocent document di dispute. >> do you believe he lied to the justice department? >> yes, i do. >> do you believe that he continues ss to claim he has privileges and rights under the records act. is he mischaracterizing the act? >> absolutely.

the legality of him taking battle plans and sensitive information as his personal papers is absurd. just as wacky as the legal doctrine they came up with for the vice president to unilaterally decide who won the election. the whole purpose of the statute, the presidential records act, was to stop presidents from taking official documents out of the white house, that was passed after watergate. it restricts what a president can take. it was purely private, that had nothing to do with the deliberations of government policy. obviously, these documents are not purely private. it's obvious. and they're not arguing that it's purely private. the president has sweeping discretion to say they are, even though they don't squarely fall within the definiton. it's an absurd argument. >> if he is convicted, do you think he should serve a prison

sentence? >> we haven't gotten to whether he's convicted. >> if he has? >> i don't like the idea of a president serving time. >> the republicans spoke out this week, as is director wray. are they wrong to say this justice department is acting in a political way? >> well, if they're pointing to this case, i think they're wrong. i think they had the choice to seek the documents. what they're saying is, he should get a pass because hillary clinton got a pass. six or seven years ago. that's not a frivolous argument. i'm not sure that's true. if you want to restore the rule of law, you do it by applying the right standard here. that's not unfair to trump. it's not a case where trump is houncent and being unfairly ife did,s unfair to thatst

>> soan rlicans continue to defend him. what will it say if the party, your long-time party, puts them forward as their nominee? >> that's the problem. they're not defending his conduct but saying it's unfair to prosecute him. if it's unfair to prosecute him, that's not the whole answer. the question is, should we be putting someone like this forward as the leader of the country, the leader of the free world, who is engaged in this kind of conduct? this is not just an isolated example. trump has many good qualities. and he accomplished some good things. but the fact of the matter is, he is a consummate narcissist. and he engages in reckless conduct that puts his followers at risk, and the conservative agenda at risk. >> will he put the country at risk? >> he will gratify his own ego ahead of everything else,

including the country's interest. he's like a9-ar-old kidhoay pushing the glass towards the edge of the table, defying his parents from stopping him from doing it. it's self-assertion and exerting his dominance over other people. and he's a very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country's. his personal gratification of his ego. our country can't be a therapy session for a troubled man like this. >> this is not the only special counsel investigation. an ongoing one on january 6th, so many witnesses being called in. you were the star witness for the house january 6th committee. are you willing to testify? or have you testified before the special counsel? >> if they call me in as a witness, of course i would testify. all i said was what i said -- what i recounted in my book. that this false story about a stolen election. >> have you talked to them in any way behind the scenes about

government. i don't expect to be a witness but i'm glad to be one if called. >> trump was arraigned in the january 6th case. >> i defended him on cases that i think is unfair. i think the january 6th case will be a hard case to make, because of first amendment interest. i think they will pull the trigger on that. i would expect it to be this summer. >> do you believe the fulton county district attorney will indict trump in georgia? >> yeah. i don't know about the case. i don't know if it's a sound case or not. i'm skeptical about that. >> why are you skeptical? >> because of the first amendment interest. we don't want to get in a position where people can't complain about an election. >> trump said on tape, he wants the secretary of state to find votes. >> i know. but they're innocent t interpretations of what he said,

of all of the votes we think that are bad, we want to ponk find some among them that are slam dunk. i think it's likely to be brought. >> former attorney general, will barr, appreciate you to take time to stop by. "face the nation" will be right back. don't go away. tell you how they could be more efficient? i'm listening. well, with ibm, you can use software to help you connect and analyze data— from hvacs to elevators to lights. what if we use ai-driven insights to pinpoint inefficiency? yep. and act on it. saving energy, money... ... and emissions. yup. that's a big one. now you've built something better for everyone. that's the sustainability solution ibm and a global real estate company created. what will you create? ibm. let's create. if we want a more viable future for our kids, we need to find more sustainable ways of doing things. america's plastic makers are investing billions of dollars in new technologies and creating plastic products that are more recyclable.

durable. and dependable. our goal is a cl for a better tomorrow, we're focused on making plastics better today. we turn, now, to the 2024 presidential campaign. and former new jersey governor, chris christie. he's in bay head, new jersey. good morning. governor, have some republicans, especially those in congress, have been too quick to rally behind trump this week, without knowing the full scope of the evidence in the records case? >> if you read the indictment, and i did this work as an attorney in new jersey, in the fifth-largest office in the country, and that indictment lays out disturbing facts.

not only about the former president keeping all of those documents and national security documents, but he had no right to keep under the presidential records act or any other law. from ordering his lawyers to lie. and showing the documents to other people, that were not cleared to be able to see them. i think we have to have a full trial and a fair one. the former president is presumed innocent until proven guilty. but the conduct in there is deeply disturbing. we need change at the department of justice. and if i'm president, you can be guaranteed we'll put an attorney general in there that will lead without fear or favor, and clear out anyone that does show partisanship. that's a different issue than the conduct that donald trump

engaged in. that's not conduct we want to have from someone to be president of the united states. >> some of your rivals have said that the justice department in their view, is weaponizing their investigation, targeting former president trump. you know the director, chris wray. are they wrong when they talk about the d.o.j. becoming weaponized? >> i think the d.o.j. under eric holder became weaponized. and the fact of the matter is, if you look at what he did, as his time as attorney general, both against republicans and in refusing along with loretta lynch later on -- >> what about now, governor? >> -- to prosecute hillary clinton. now, what we're looking at is people seeing things as being inequitable. if you don't prosecute hillary clinton and you choose to prosecute donald trump, that

raises questions in republicans' minds. and it should. but it does not change the conduct. we cowould note here govent rern e uments them. the times that the grand jury served a subpoena for them. he waited, waited and waited, defied the government. and then, wound up having his house raided. and when they did, they found over 100 more classified documents, after he had told everybody months earlier, he had returned everything. that conduct is indefensible in my view. if it's true, as alleged in the indictment, he is in severe legal trouble. >> indefensible, disturbing, your words about the alleged conduct. is the republican party right now, not only at a crossroads politically but historically? >> i said this when i announced for president. we have been in a crossroads numbers of times in our nation's

history. 1776. 1861. 1941. 1961. and 1981. all those years, we had presidents, like george washington, like abraham lincoln, like fdr, like jfk, and l ronald reagan, who had a choice of going small or going big and doing big things for america. we need a president who is not looking at the small stuff in the rear-view mirror, who is constantly whining and complaining and moaning about how things are unfair. what we need a as president whol big, lead america to big ac achievements and big goals again. and there's nobody that can do bigger better than me. >> how will history see your own role with trump? >> i made it clear in 2016, i did not want hillary clinton to

be president of the united states. i think that was the right decision. my hope back in 2016 was that i could make donald trump a better candidate. and if he won, a better president. i tried and that was wrong. i couldn't make him a better president. and he failed over and over again. >> this is a race for the white house. you're not the only one running against former president trump. is governor ron desantis ahead of you in the polls. does desantis have what it takes to be the leading conservative? >> we're going to find out. i don't know governor desantis all that well. i will get a chance to know him over this campaign. people will see this if they go to our website, at chris christie.com. you'll see in the last two polls in new hampshire, we're solidly in third place, after one week in the race and only four points behind governor desantis in second place. this is a race to be the trump alternative. >> right now, tony blinken, t

secretary of state, leading with chinese officials. do you think it's the right decision to engage with china in this way? >> i think the problem has been the entire biden administration has been filled with mishaps towards china. let's start with ukraine. joe biden said a small encouraging wouldn't be a problem. he said that a war in ukraine would be okay. china is funding it because we gave them the signal it was okay. and russia is killing ukrainian citizens who only want their freedom. he has made mistakes of not being tougher on the stealing of our intellectual property. letting spy balloons fly over the country unharassed. whatever he is doing is a day late and a dollar short. he should be more direct with china from the beginning.

people that know me know there will be no confusion on the president of president xi, when i'm president of the united states, about what america policy is. and every day, we will be fighting to make america the winner in this competition against china. >> governor christie, we'll see you on the campaign trail soon. we appreciate you being here. "face the nation" will be right back. don't go away. major enterprises around the world, healthcare companies, energy companies, small businesses, governments. -when these organizations run on google cloud, they're defended by the same ai-powered security that protects all of google. -a 24 hour, 7-day-a-week force against whatever it is that we're facing. -there are a lot of people on the internet that are trying to do bad things. it's our job to stop them. ♪ i got this $1,000 camera for only $41 on dealdash. dealdash.com, online auctions since 2009. this playstation 5 sold for only 50 cents. this ipad pro sold for less than

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as we head into the first official days of summer, we're seeing mixed signals when it's coming to the economy. >> reporter: at san francisco's biggest shopping mall, default is the new black. westfield's mall's owners returned the keys to the lender. an unaffordable commercial loan. a cautionary tale about the economy's next stress test. >> there's going to be a wave of defaults, the tighter banks will get with their lending. less credit will be available to

consumers. >> reporter: beleaguered consumers, millions of them. >> cost of living has increased a lot. it's getting harder to do things that i would typically do. >> reporter: inflation is still high but dropping. for the first time in 15 months, the fed last month, capaused a hike in interest rates. a 30-year fixed mortgage, is at 7%, more than a doubling two years. car loans, also a 15-year high. and credit cards. typical rates on existing cards, near 21%, the highest since 1994. here's the flipside -- so many americans keep spending. big ticket buys, like cars. maybe encouraged by plunging passgas prices. investors are also buying. the s&p 500 and nasdaq have hit

the highest levels since april of last year. the stomck market is not the economy. it brings us back to westfield mall's drama that it represents. banks have $3 trillion outstanding in commercial real estate loans. more than half that will come up for refinancing this summer. and at today's higher rates, many more borrowers may just walk away. mark straussman, reporting from atlanta. we'll be right back. ary: that wasn't me. narrator: said hillary, who's only taken 347 steps today. hillary: i cycled here. narrator: speaking of cycles, mary's period is due to start in three days. mary: how do they know so much about us? narrator: your all sharing health data without realizing it. that's how i know about kevin's rash. who's next? wait... what's that in your hand? no, no, stop! oh you're no fun. [lock clicks shut] type 2 diabetes? discover the power of 3 in the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ (oh, oh, oh, ozempic®!) ♪

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ask your health care provider about the ozempic® tri-zone. you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. tomorrow, the nation will be honoring juneteenth. that's the anniversary of the date in 1865, that word reached the last enslaved americans that they had been freed. two years after the e mmancipatn proclamation was signed.

welcome back to "face the nation." before i traveled here to beijing, i sat down in washington with cbs news correspondent policy and national security contributor, h.r. mcmaster, to discuss some of the challenges with the u.s. and china. thehioute was h increasingly aggressive actions by the people's liberation army. that's china's military, in recent months. there was video of a near-miss in the south china sea in the air and one at sea in the taiwan strait recently, as well. how unusual are these incidents?

>> they're not unprecedented. but it's unusual in the quick succession of multiple