this is how david axelrod summed up joe biden's performance in round two. >> the good news for biden is the best he can do. the bad news is the best he can do. he was much better than last time and much more engaged but i agree with these guys, he had moments in which he was uncertain, where he was on the defensive and the main thing is he was -- he was the guy who was going to take on trump and bring it to trump and restore values and decency. >> bill: that is how axelrod scored it. how do you score, dan? >> something like that. i thought biden did a lot better than he did in the first debate and he survived this one. they are talking as though what they want is a street fight

. >>> former obama advisor, senior political commentator, david axelrod. >>> david, i guess i shouldn't be surprised. i kind of was giving the president the benefit of the doubt that the public statement he made, which was completely inappropriate, you know, he's going after politicians in front of first responders in the midst of a tragedy. i thought maybe that was a one-off. but this other video now where just not even in a public setting, one on one with people he he's yammering on about his freaking crowd sizes. it's i would say unbelievable, but it's completely believable and it's completely pathetic. >> yeah, well, people are who they are, anderson. we know who donald trump is. he's a very narcissistic person. he is very much consumed about how people think of him and, you know, we know from history that things like crowd sizes are important to him. i remember at the time of that el paso rally of his that he seemed a little bit rattled that there was this competing rally that might have been even larger than his own. and much different in tone. and he was a little perplexed and un

david axelrod is saying the next one we have will tear this country apart.et a sense we're setting up for a civil war when it comes to the next nomination? >> perhaps, we should wait to see what happens with the next nomination. perhaps, we should wait for a while and see who stays on the supreme court for how long. why they leave. you know, who the next nominee is going to be. i'm not sure that david axelrod is really sort of helping the situation that he claims to fear there. obviously, he's very upset over the merrick garland nominee. and the same position that david axelrod has enveined there is something that he's feeding were eye that tweet. is more of partisan anger than actually a prediction going on sometimes. >> all right, jonathan allen, hanna trudo, thank you for being here. >>> keeping the peace. how the g7 will look a little different this year as organizers try to tamp down on the drama. >>> and coming up at 9:00, hakeem jeffries, a member of the budget and judiciary committee. it's tough to quit smoking cold turkey. so chantix can help you qu

david axelrod is a former senior at visor to president obama hosts the axe files. >> listen, we are five months away from iowa. team harris now saying this is their lowest point. you've been through -- you know campaigns. >> theyen have the had a lot of low points. i don't know. you know, look, the campaigns are full of ups and downs, and you have to navigate them. i remember so well the 2007 race. and we were being pummeled by the national pundit corps around this time, in fact in the fall of 2007, i believe we were maybe 30 points behind hillary clinton, but we had a plan, and that plan was to win the iowa caucuses, and we focused there, spent 87 days, there, and that did win, that changed everything. kamala harris has time to make a play in this race, and we ought to remember as we look at these national polls, this is a sequential process, it begins in iowa, runs through new hampshire, nevada, south carolina, and then on to the other states. and iowa and these early states are going to make a decision as to who shall live politically and who shall not in this c

i also think following david axelrod on this is really interesting as well because if you follow himn twitter, if you've listened to what he's said on tv, he has taken open shots at joe biden and has also undercut his candidacy and this is someone who ran the 2008 and 2012 races. someone with intimate knowledge of joe biden's ability as a candidate who continues to take shots at him publicly. >> tucker: it seems pretty clear that biden isn't up for it and he doesn't have the support certainly of the professional class in the democratic campaign world. i wonder if people in biden's campaign know that. >> would seem reports that his allies want him to curtail his schedule because i guess he's been making more gas later in the day. i think there's at least some acknowledgment that there's trouble there. if you don't have the confidence in your candidate to go out and be doing these campaign events, that's not a very strong statement of that candidate's candidacy. that should be a concern to democratic primary voters. if you go through joe biden's history, he has not proven himself as a

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david axelrod, a former senior adviser to president obama joins us as well. evening, gentlemen. david, if economic concerns are bringing out the worst in this president, how should 2020 democrats be addressing the chaos that results from this? what is the message here? >> yeah, well i think the word you used -- the operative word is chaos. i've believed for a very long time that the most effective argument for anyone running against the president is that we just can't do this for another four years. it's less about -- you know, it's easy to get outraged, it's easy to be morally indignant about what he's done, we do that all the time, but the reality is whether you like some of the things he's done or you don't, what i think a majority of americans can agree on is we can't wake up every day to the tweets and tantrums and gratuitous battles that create all of this chaos and make it very difficult to get anything done on the things that they actually care about. and i think that's the most effective argument for anyone running against this president. you know, y

be sure to watch david axelrod on "the axe files" saturday night 7:00 eastern right here on cnn.reciate it. >>> the president's attacks on jewish voters are still making waves. my next guest calls what he said breathtakingly cynical and buffoonish and he knows what he's talking about. he's the former u.s. ambassador to israel. he's next. ♪ relaxing guitar male announcer: it's a familiar feeling. the first chill in the summer air, and each day shorter than than last. this is what you live for. it's your season. so head to bass pro shops and cabela's fall hunting classic sale and event. to the wait did frowe just win-ners. prouders everyone uses their phone differently. that's why xfinity mobile let's you design your own data. now you can share it between lines. mix with unlimited, and switch it up at anytime so you only pay for what you need. it's a different kind of wireless network designed to save you money. save up to $400 a year on your wireless bill. plus get $250 back when you pre-order a new samsung note. click, call or visit a store today. >>> president trump attacking je

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they have served together for eight years at the same time they may be afraid of david axelrod or othersthey may be afraid of joe biden does not do well in this campaign then that could tarnish the obama legacy which is ironic because in these debates some of the other candidates are attacking the policies on immigration where they arrested a record number of illegal immigrants and joe biden was defending the former president's record, but i'm sure that as some cognitive dissonance that is going on. >> martha: we look at the latest fox news poll, joe biden at 29%, bernie sanders at 15%, elizabeth warren draw the biggest crowds. she is picking up a head of steam. when you look at the next one that show joe biden versus tromp, this latest poll shows joe biden handily beating the president with a national poll early in the game. elizabeth warren versus president rouhani. do you think that joe biden is the only candidate who has the potential to beat president trump? >> no. a lot of things can change. i think at this moment he has the best chance. take these national polls with a grain of sa

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. >> now david axelrod says these gaps could cause concern if the former vice president can unseat president trump. here is axel's tweet: >> if biden blunders through the race anxieties will rise among democrats about his ability to go the distance. of course president trump has been using biden's slip ups to go after him. take a look. president: joe biden is not playing with a full deck this. is not someone you can have has your president tpefplt got the nomination i would be thrilled. joe is a pretty incompetent guy. i have watched his interviews, what he has said and how he says it. i wouldn't of rated him high in the first place. joe biden has lost his fastball. he limped through it. he got through it. i think it was okay. >> so the gop and president trump so worried about biden making this frame of a guy who says he's a gas machine is now mentally unable as evidence by the recent gaps. >> at one point there will be one too many gaps. president trump has made it possible to get away with that goofy if you will and forgetfulness. president trump got away with saying some of the most outra

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about the makeup of the court and what happens when one day there are going to leave the court but david axelrod tweeting if there is a supreme court seat next year and mitch mcconnell carries through on his promise to fill it despite his previous precedent in blocking garland it will tear this country apart. i asked the senate majority leader about an opening next year and here is what he told me. >> we don't know if they will have a vacancy. what we do know for sure is we each picked two new supreme court justices and confirmed them. shannon: when pressured by the left to step down and make way of the democratic president, no way, i have a job to do and getting someone like me confirmed would be nearly impossible. reliable progressives. >> i wish her the best. she has a lot to do with the collegiality of the court, she has gone out of her way to praise justice brett kavanaugh and neil gorsuch. i'm not going to engage in morbid speculation about what is going to happen. a forest hearing the country apart we know who tore the country apart in the last confirmation battle. do we want to go throug

david axelrod tweeting bad advice, you can't place the candidate and win, he can cut it or he can't andy way he prove he can he can be an active and vigorous candidate. he is running for president of the united states, for god's sake. response to both of you. >> i want to know who these biden people are on the team who signed up to work for joe biden knowing what he is, who he has been for decades and now they have the vapors over gaffes. this man is making lots of gaffes, let's panic. that is practically his brand, gathering all the time. he built a career in politics as a gaffe factory. of course axelrod is right. they can't just throw the candidate in a closet and hope everything works out. he has to interact with the press and voters. the strange reaching, clutching at pearls over the gaffes, this is who he is and what he does. >> i agree. a little harsh on biden throughout this ramp-up of the primary season but i do agree with him here and we have seen total resiliency and biden's numbers. his african-american support is holding strong, where he was at 30 percentage points, people

him seem human and i thought in your article, katie, it was interesting the quote you had from david axelrod say it's is a risk and strength of joe biden, and you know the person at the center of this, the man he was talking about, said you know the truth of the matter is it doesn't mothbother me, it lo me in the eye and it seemed authentic to me. that is the upside, right? >> as david laid out to me, the moment that was captured highlights both the challenge with joe biden, the propensity to be gaffe prone. but at the same time his ability to emphasize. i spent a lot of time with joe biden, and folk who are committed have less to go do with a policy proposal. they're looking at electability, and there is certainly other voters who are reemphasizing character. >> yeah, there are lines of people that want to hug him. >> this is controversial, earlier this year biden face criticism from women that say women said he was giving unexpected hugs, thank you so much, katie, have a great weekend, everybody. >> coming up, everybody. now a category three, i'll caulk with a hurricane hunter that flew ar

david axelrod wrote, this is bad advice. you can't cloister the candidate and win.t, and the only way he can prove he can is to be an active and vigorous candidate. he's running for president of the united states, for god's sake. >> david axelrod was one of my leaders on the campaign for barack obama in 2008, but i do think as chris just mentioned, campaigns are grueling. it is a grueling pace. i think for all of the candidates, joe biden, including vice president joe biden, that it is incumbent upon their staff to protect their candidates to make sure they ever an adequate time to recharge, to refresh and to carry their message directly to the voters. i don't think that the gaffes are going to be ultimately fatal to vice president biden, but i do agree that it's time to really shore up his performance and make sure that he is not seeding ground to the other candidates who are very strong contenders. we see the gap closing with elizabeth warren, we also see the gap closing with candidate kamala harris. >> uh-huh. we do. so, rick, you have some democrats concerned ab

. >> martha: david axelrod, he has been very reticent when it comes to joe biden, very cautious about supporting him. president obama has not come out, but he seems to be a fan of elizabeth warren. he says she has a super organization enter campaign is hot. when you look at the way the rest of the democratic party is looking at her, do you feel like they are honing in on her right now? >> yeah, perhaps that is the weight is going to go. we have so far to go until then. >> martha: anything can happen. >> we know how treacherous campaign seasons can be, especially the primaries, but it would be interesting to see rising number one target. up until now it has been joe biden and he hasn't done himself any favors. >> martha: i want to show you this exchange with my next guest who is john delaney, a democratic candidate and its reflective of something a lot of reporters have been pushing in terms of the narrative of white supremacy. watch this exchange. >> that is what i am saying. i'm not saying semantics, and being very direct. i said it! >> no you didn't! >> he supports white supremacist

and i think president obama, as well as david axelrod and the things he's been saying and obviously i can't speak for him but if you follow these things, i don't think they trust joe biden's ability as a candidate. they see him as one of the weaker candidates are not the stronger one to go and defeat president trump which is obviously the object above democrats. i also think one other big issue for joe biden is well with his abandonment of a high demand. it makes him look spineless. we are talking about the same week where you have campaign officials going on, telling the media look, this is deeply held conviction and he's had this conviction for decades and he will not open and hit -- abandon it and then joe biden abandon it and it makes him look weak, spineless and it doesn't look like he's rooted in any core beliefs. >> tucker: well, at least we know how he defines deeply conviction. >> thanks, tucker. >> tucker: with biden gone in obama's legacy rejected, what ic party? the answer, the most extreme set of positions in history, the best way to make america better is to give terrori

but back to what david axelrod was saying, he was saying the question is whether that do you believell numbers that he has is because we aren't fully geared into biden right now and the campaign race. what do you think it is? >> jason. >> yeah, so first of all, if you look at the national polls versus the iowa polls, you'll see a significant difference. first of all, biden's lead's about three points lower in iowa than it is nationwide. another significant difference is is that harris is actually ahead of sanders. in the state of iowa. but specifically to your question on biden, this question is coming up more and r more. does he have the stamina? we don't like talk iing about these things, but it's a legitimate question. has his age caught up to him? so he has an opportunity. the people in iowa want to see their candidates. if i were advising vice president biden, i would tell him get to the state of iowa. there are 99 counties. get a bus. go tour. all 99 counties. i've done it with cruz back in 2016. it's rigorous. if he can make it through that process, he can put to bed all these

i would argue that david axelrod is right.hat's probably the best you are going to get out of sleepy creepy uncle joe. he is losing his fastball. here are just a few of some of his biggest blunders from the past or present. i think you will find this quite entertaining. take a look. >> do you agree with me? go to joe 30330. and during in this fight. i watch what happen when the kids from parkland marched up and that i met with them and i went off the hill to go into those neighborhoods. >> we've got to let them know who we are. we choose unity over division. we choose science over fiction. we choose truth over facts. the words that stung the nation and i would argue, i know, struck the world. you had people like -- excuse me. people like the former chairman and the leader of the party in germany. you had alan merkel. it you had this notion that somehow if you are poor, you cannot do it. poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids. while the kids. black kids. asian kids. mom lived in long island for ten year

not this poll, but other polls show she is taking a dip after the last debate and i think it was david axelrod who said you know she can ask questions but we don't know if she can answer them and she was forced to answer them and it was a problem. >> don't worry about kamala harris, she will be all right. as a matter of fact, she is on a bus rolling through as we speak and there's a big sign that says fearless, kamala harris for the people. and one after another of these national news organizations want to interview her and not any of the other people. >> just the fact that she's rolling the bus through iowa, originally you might member, and we talked with her consultant, they would skip over iowa, it's no big deal. they will roll with carolina. >> that was a mistake. they never should have said that. >> she should have been there, well, she's been thinking something. >> there were a couple others in des moines at the gun control form. >>> still ahead, gottesman joints at the roundtable talking about gun reform and the possibility of a new ban on assault weapons. >> and the fate of a controver

david axelrod tweeting "you can't cloister the candidate and win. cut it or he can't and the only way he can prove he can is to be an active and vigorous candidate. he's running for president of the united states for god sake." guy. >> i want to know who the biden people are on the team who signed up to work for joe biden knowing what he is, who he's been for decades, and now they have the vapors over gaffes. my god. this man is making lots of gaps. let's panic. it's practically his brand, gaffing all the time. of course axelrod is right. they can't throw a candidate in the closet and hope everything works out. he has to interact with the press and voters. the strange, clutching at pearls over the gaffes. this is who he is. >> shannon: let me bring jessica in. >> i agree. i agree with him here and we've seen total resiliency in his numbers. african-american support. holding strong, where he was in the national average around 30 percentage points. people know who joe biden's. that includes the gaps. they feel comparable with him. the interviews from

w >> sean: david axelrod is not a dope. he even said this is probably the best biden has got, and the idea they now want to hide biden, and as axelrod said, either you can cut it or not, this is the office of the presidency. trump will eat his lunch. t >> and you know what, trump, like him or you don't likeke trump, he is so quick, he is so witty, he is so, so smart. this guy, biden, is like, whoa, not functioning, they're not connecting, those circuits. >> sean: i'm looking warren, ioo did think kamala, but she has gone full-on aoc, green new deal, medicare for all, no private insurance. i don't see it. who do you see? mayor pete? >> honestly, any of them are a delight for president trump. about a year from now, donald trump is going to be standing under the debate stage with one of these guys. if it's joe biden, they won't have to put it on for free. >> sean: who gets it? >> i've stood on that stage with donald trump during a debate.ru let me tell you something. he will eat joe biden's lunch, and joe won't remember what l

i think david axelrod hit the nail on the head when he said the i good news is for joe bide, this isrobably the best he cab do, and the bad news for joe biden, this is probably the best he can do. >> tucker: so do you -- i just want to end on this, inject some reality into this, you are always talking to people who do politics for a living, political strategist from both sides. how many people do you know who believe that joe biden will actually be the democratic nominee? >> so, i think it's sort of split, but here's where things things start change and where, i think, things start things start looking different. even if you look ahead at the september debate, the requirements jump significantly. so the field probably is going to be cut in about half of who actually ends up on the debate stage and was going to be interesting as a lot of these moderates are not going to be on that debate stage. they're not going to hit the polling requirements or the unique donor requirement as well and i also think if you are joe biden, you are more exposedi bebecause you then get follow-up questions

. >> know, and i want to show you there is this quote from david axelrod that i think summarizes it as well. we can put that up for the viewers at home. and so basically he says this is bad advice. he goes on to say he either can cut it or he can't and the only way he can prove he can is to be an active and vigorous candidate. he's running for president of the united states for god's sakes. and joe biden had recently not too long ago floated the idea of a stacy abrams, potentially the vp nominee or at least biden's allies did and now, she's saying potentially should be open to being the vp nomination. listen to what she said in an interview. >> if any of the nominees offer me the opportunity to run with them as their vice president after they have been selected as the nominee, of course i'd be honored to consider that. >> mark: that's very sporting of her. we are going to come back to you but as we succumb of the president is on a roll here and we don't want to miss it. here he is in new hampshire. >> president trump: far more sophisticated and we had a man b and he is now our campaign

. >> sean: even smart prominent democrats, like it or not, david axelrod took note of this and said thisreally bad advice. you can't win.el he either he can cut it or he can't and he also said previously, this is probably the best biden has got so you see what's going on. sleepy crazy creepy uncle joe doesn't have any kind of curveball. he can't run on the obama biden faded failed agenda. 13 more a million americans on food stamps, a billion more in poverty and he knows the new extreme democratic agenda has no chance of beating trump in 2020 and would drive the country into poverty, probaly instantaneously. so the new democrats, they are not moving on from sleepy crazy uncle joe. in comes elizabeth warren and now a newly released fox poll well, warren has surged into second place, within striking distance of joe biden. in a national poll, a statistical tie up your chi is surging in places like new hampshire and iowa. why? because, well, she is embracing the ultra radical extremism of her party. open borders, trillion new entitlement, abolishing private health care, reparations, and the o

this is something that david axelrod tweeted out.into an election and the chinese know it. so is that a real possibility? >> i do -- i think that's possible, yes. and let me tell you, the nafta deal that is now sitting -- being ratified by congress, the new nafta deal, it's the same as the old nafta deal. there's only a few tweaks. so sometimes what leaders can do is say, oh, i had a great victory here and sometimes things are moving so fast that the press never goes to dissect it to explain it. so do i think it's possible that he will walk away from a tough china deal because he's worried it could tank the economy? yeah, i completely agree with that. but we shouldn't have been here to begin with. we should have been taking the chinese on with all of our friends and all of our allies and to say to china, you need to clean it up because if you don't clean it up, you face the entire world. he didn't do that. i think it was a terrible mistake. >> he seemed to indicate, though, he was having second thoughts on the trade war and then the

you see the polls there and david axelrod, who worked with president obama years ago.s poll numbers. he has been durable. but noting that all of the gaffes that biden has had, the question is whether it's because we aren't geared into the race or there's inherent strengths there. what do you think it is, brian? >> people had good feelings when he worked as the vice president to barack obama. one of the problems democrats have him is they don't know how to attack him. many democrats have attacked obamacare and his immigration record. >> is it because people are not listening to the gaffes that he's leading in the polls right now? >> people look at the former vice president and he's still a strong candidate. he makes gaffes. so does president trump. they're looking at him as a strong candidate, somebody who served as vice president in a popular administration. it's ironic that i'm saying these things, the republican. >> you love joe biden. admit it. >> let's talk about the alternatives. the endorsement for kamla harris. they helped endorse president obama early on. how s

david axelrod among them. make of what he said, also echos of why he says he got into this race. he said he initially got into it because of charlottesville. >> so this proved a nice moment for biden. i like that low energy dig at trump which recalls what he did to a republican opponent in 2016. yes, it was a great moment for biden. it also fanned the flames of white supremacy and comes pretty close to what elizabeth warren, who is much further left than joe biden, had to say about the president. to me the overarching theme here is in contrast to the newtown shootings, the democratic base doesn't really want unity. they want somebody who can fight. >> particularly on these issues that they care about. voters have moved left not only on all these issues that we talk about like health care but certainly on race as well. >> the difference that you see in the tone here has to do with that more than anything else. >> cory booker also weighing in from charleston yesterday. >> you reap what you sow. the act of anti-l

part of the thing david axelrod has been talking about is this fatigue now. you have people even people who might love the tax cuts, who might like the conservative judges, it's just exhausting. you can't get up every morning for five more years and be afraid to look at your phone because you just don't know what crazy thing is going to leap out to your eyeballs and ruin the next hour of your life. but that's kind of what we've been dealing with. it's a continuation of that. >> to remind folks, the last g7, there's an indelible photograph that folks might remember of just how swimmingly the various world leaders get along. we've got -- >> you asked for a body language expert. i don't need one. >> you don't need one for this one? >> that's the iconic photo we will show you in one second where president trump is basically swarmed by all of the leaders waiting for sort of a response or an answer for him or -- >> this is what happened last time. this is -- >> he's got his arms folded like a kid. >> yeah. so this is what happened last time. we'll see if we can imp

former obama strategist david axelrod not giving biden the highest marks.atch this. >> look, i think the good news for joe biden's this was maybe the best he could do. the bad news is this maybe the best he could do. he was much better them last time, he was much more engaged, but i agree with these guys. he had moments in which he was uncertain, where he was on the defensive. >> dagen: meantime, senator kamala harris, who rose in the polls after taking on biden the first debate, also took incoming fire last night over health care plan and her past record as a prosecutor. >> what's in the plan, which is banning employer-based insurance. we aren't going to be able to admit that when donald trump is accusing democrats of doing that as well. it bans employer-based insurance, and taxes the middle-class to the tune of $30 million. >> we can't keep with the republican talking points on this. you've got to stop. the reality is that under my medicare for all plan, yes, employers are not going to be able to dictate the kind of health care that employees get. >> i'm

david axelrod, now a cnn contributor, essentially they had a little bit of a family discussion. >> theres of deportations under the obama administration. were his policies wrong? >> it was the honor of my lifetime to serve president obama. i consider -- >> let's stipulate that. >> one of the greatest presidents. but i will say even a lot of folks in the administration recognized that the administration could have done better when it came to all of these deportations. >> should have introduced michael sherer of "the new york times." i love obama but -- it's risky in a democratic primary. >> it is risky. part of the problem is you've had two and a half years of donald trump trying to unwinding the obama legacy. and i think what the obama people have been concerned about and axelrod is one of them, obviously rahm is another, is that you're going to have seven or eight months of democrats fighting about the wrong thing essentially. fighting about the obama legacy when what they need to be focused on is the trump legacy. frankly this wouldn't be happening if joe biden wasn't sort of sitting t

david axelrod, we were sitting around talking and he said we tried the public option and couldn't getreally hard. and we couldn't get near to where these people want to go and now they're on the stage basically throwing tomatoes at the guy. it is incredible. >> but it is because joe biden is the front-runner and they're trying to find some way to land a punch on him. and his senate record is pretty old. so they are going back after that. but i think that they're trying to find something to attack him for. i think -- i don't think it is out of bounds, i think it is not productive. >> but the party has moved to the left. >> the party has moved to the left but it is always important to remember, those are the loudest voices. there are still a lot of moderate democratic voters. >> voters, sure. >> african-american voters are pretty moderate. >> more than democratic white voters. >> so they are speaking to the loudest voices in the room. and there are fair criticisms to make about barack obama's record but joe biden could probably do a better job defending it. to say look we could have don

david axelrod who knows joe biden very well, part of the process that got biden on the ticket as vicesident. he's always been prone to gaffes. that was true in his 40s, 50s and 60s. the difference is people are looking for signs of potential deterioration. gaffes that could be written off as joe being joe can become much more damaging to him. is that an age issue there or is it more to me, to jeff's point and josh's point about voters don't process the individual gaffes. is this the guy i want on a debate stage with trump? >> i think that's the thing that voters are focused on. we all hear this when we talk to voters. they care much more about who can beat trump, who will be best on the debate stage than any one policy or any one real moment. the challenge that biden faces, right now if you look at polling, he is shown to be the person that most democrats think can beat trump. do these moments chip away at that over time? is there going to be a tipping point for him on this? and i do think that the age question, again, when you talk to voters, there is some concern about age. he is 76

no less official than david axelrod called that misleading at the time.ting to build on aca to move towards single payer was not something that would undo barack obama's signature accomplishment. >> go ahead. >> primaries are laboratories. these are healthy discussion toss have right now. the democrats are very similar to where republicans were five years ago. these are essential issues to talk about. there was a really smart discussion about health care over the last two nights. i'm excited about that as a democrat. >> do you risk turning off people who love barack obama, such as african-americans, who democrats really need in key battleground states such as a pennsylvania, such as a michigan. do folks look at some of those candidates and say why are they talking about obama versus trump. i don't get this. there's sometimes a disconnect in d.c. on how regular people view these things. >> whoever the nominee is, barack obama will be out stumping in battleground states, joe biden, elizabeth warren, even bernie sanders. >> showing how popular barack obama i

that according to david axelrod, mr.nce instituted out at the university of chicago is, i think, one of the great masters of modern politics. and i read the article and he is exactly right. i mean, either biden can play in the arena or he can't play in the arena. i think he is a gradually decaying candidacy. i think he gets a little weaker every week. i think the most interesting thing and i confess i was wrong about this. i thought kamala harris would come on strong. but the gap -- her failure to perform has created a gap for elizabeth warren who now is doing surprisingly well. and i just have a hunch that biden will continue to decay. i think that senator sanders will continue to decay. and i suspect you will see by the time we get to iowa and new hampshire totally different democratic race. ainsley: it's interesting that you bring up that elizabeth warren is doing better because if you look at fox news poll, joe biden in march, got 31%. now, he is still getting 31%. elizabeth warren in march, newt, was getting 4%. and

david axelrod was not too enthusiastic about joe biden's debate performance.xelrod worried about biden's performance after his second debate of the 2020 primaries. the good for joe biden was maybe the best he could do and the bad news is this could be the best he could do. he was much better than last time, much more engaged, but he had moments in which he was uncertain or on the defensive. is joining us from florida. good, independent line. caller: yes. how are you doing? i would vote for any democrat in there that wins except for mayor de blasio. i think joe biden can get the union vote. he can take pennsylvania. he can take back michigan because he saved the auto industry. he is more favorable and smart because medicare for all is taking away private insurance. bernie sanders, elizabeth warren think they will get those things through the senate. with mitch mcconnell there, they have another thing coming. all that stuff they are talking about cannot be done unless they take the senate. donald trump is using the presidency as a cash call. every time he goes t

ainsley: there are people in obama's circle like david axelrod who have been critical of his 2020 runred flag to voters. listen. >> it wasn't just reported in 2020, president obama tried to get him not to run, but also in 2016 as well. there were reports that president obama thought hillary clinton would be the more formidable candidate, would be the stronger candidate of the two. you know, tried to convince joe biden, convince them not to run. the question for the democratic primary voters, why put your faith in a candidate, when people closest to him seem to doubt his ability? brian: it well play out. their way of getting joe biden the nomination, give him less event and more scripted because he tends to get tired later in the day. he will have noontime rallies? there is major democratic event taking place next week, he is passing on it? that is unbelievable to me. pete: like to hiding joe biden. that was the strategy. he popped up. made a lot of gaffs. now their strategy again is to hide him. do you win with that? ainsley: they really said afternoon rallies because he gets too tire

. >> sandra: and david axelrod had to say this about joe biden saying he runs strongest versus the presidenthich is why he keeps attacking biden but if biden blunders his way through the race, anxieties will rise among democrats about his ability to run the distance. >> team obama never liked biden and the snarking they've snarked at him and from obama's other former campaign manager. so biden was short of hoisted on obama as somebody you have to suck up to older white voters. you have to do something to help you with older white voters in places like, i don't know, pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin and they took biden. that wasn't their vision of the future and then biden annoyed them and annoyed them throughout the obama presidency because he's get out in front of the president on a good marriage or commit a gaff or need attention and they didn't like him and i'm not surprised they don't like him still. the democratic elite has to listen to the democratic base in the way the republican elite didn't listen to the republican base in 2016. >> bill: we have one more. >> african american wom

this is how david axelrod summed up joe biden's performance in round two. >> the good news for biden can do. the bad news is the best he can do. he was much better than last time and much more engaged but i agree with these guys, he had moments in which he was uncertain, where he was on the defensive and the main thing is he was -- he was the guy who was going to take on trump and bring it to trump and restore values and decency. >> bill: that is how axelrod scored it. how do you score, dan? >> something like that. i thought biden did a lot better than he did in the first debate and he survived this one. they are talking as though what they want is a street fight with donald trump. they're building donald trump into somebody who is 60 feet tall. that's all they talk about. it is a long time before the presidential campaign comes a year from november. they seem to be suggesting that the only one willing to fight with trump is elizabeth warren. elizabeth warren represents a politics i think that is going to take the democrats back to 1972 and a wipe-out that george mcgovern suffered at

david axelrod said he was much better. the bad news is this may be the best that joe biden can be.rge bush 41 when he was vice president to ronald reagan but i didn't think it would work to the republicans' behest to put down the reagan era when you were going to be the next president. i don't know why nine different people thought and last night, too, two nights ago, too, why it's important to put down barack obama. i thought donald trump had that marketed cornered. ainsley: stupid to do that when you look at the polls. joe biden is ahead. if they had praised him they might have looked better. steve: what do you think friends@foxnews.com. ainsley: tulsi gabbard doubling down on this shocking debate claim. >> our president is supporting al qaeda. >> his support and alliance with saudi arabia, that is both providing direct and indirect support, directly to al qaeda. steve: this on the heels of bin laden's son being killed reportedly. john james is right there in the restaurant in detroit. he calls that insane. and he is coming up next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ did you know you can save money by usin

david axelrod?e the best he could do and the bad news is this may be the best he could do. he was much better than last time. he was much more engaged, but i agree with -- i agree with these -- with these guys. he had moments in which he was uncertain, where he was on the defensive. and the main thing he was -- he was the guy who was going to take on trump and bring it to trump and restore values and decency. that was what -- that's where he started in this race. tonight he had to be a gut fighter, and i think he paid some price for that. >> gloria? >> you know, the bar was so low for joe biden at the beginning of this debate that he had to do better than a lot of people expected he would do, and i think he did. i think he took it to kamala harris. what i -- what i really noticed was that he was having trouble when he had to choose between defending barack obama and the way the party has moved left. in order to appeal to those voters. and so, you know, he said, look, i was good enough for barack oba