>>> AGE HAS BECOME A BIG ISSUE FOR THE 2024 ELECTION.

NOT JUST FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BUT ALSO IN CONGRESS.

REPUBLICAN SENATOR MITT ROMNEY, 76, ANNOUNCED HE WON'T BE SEEKING REELECTION TO MAKE WAY FOR A NEW GENERATION.

HE ALSO STRONGLY URGES BOTH PRESIDENT BIDEN AND FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP TO STEP ASIDE.

>> THE TIMES WE ARE LIVING IN DEMAND THE NEXT GENERATION TWO'S WRAP UP AND EXPRESS THEIR POINT OF VIEW.

SHAPE OUR AMERICAN POLITICS OVER THE COMING CENTURY AND HAVING A BUNCH OF GUYS WHO WERE AROUND IN THE POSTWAR ERA AM A WE ARE NOT THE ONES TO BE MAKING THE DECISIONS FOR TOMORROW.

>> THE LATEST ARTICLE FOR THE NEW YORKER IS CALLED THE TWILIGHT OF MITCH McCONNELL AND THE SPECTER OF 2024.

SHE TALKS ABOUT THAT WITH MICHELLE MARTIN.

>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US ONCE AGAIN.

>> GREAT TO BE WITH YOU.

>> A COUPLE OF INCIDENTS HAVE REALLY GOTTEN THE PUBLIC'S ATTENTION.

SOME OF IT STOKED.

SOME OF IT NOT GRID PRESIDENT BIDEN WAS CONCLUDING HIS PRESS CONFERENCE WHEN HE WAS OVERSEAS EARLIER THIS WEEK.

HE KIND OF ENDED RATHER ABRUPTLY SAYING, I HAVE TO GO TO BED RID OF COURSE, THE CONSERVATIVE MEDIA WAS THRILLED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SAYING IT WAS BIZARRE AND IT SHOWED THE OBVIOUS IMPLICATION THAT HE IS NOT WHITE UP TO IT.

BUT THEN TWICE NOW SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL HAS FROZEN UP DURING PRESS CONFERENCES.

WAS NOT BEING ASKED PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING QUESTIONS.

THAT HAS RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS HEALTH.

YOU RECENTLY WROTE A PIECE FOR THE NEW YORKER ABOUT WHAT YOU CALL AMERICA'S FRAGILE GERONTOCRACY.

HOW IS THE AGE OF THESE LEADERS, NOT JUST THESE TWO BUT OTHERS, PLAYING INTO OUR CURRENT POLITICS?

>> YOU'RE RIGHT.

IT IS INESCAPABLE.

UNFORTUNATELY FRAMED WITH A LOT OF OUR POLITICS.

I WOULD THROW A THIRD ACTOR IN THERE.

DONALD TRUMP AT AGE 77 IS NOT EXACTLY EXEMPT FROM THESE QUESTIONS.

EXCEPT THAT THERE'S SO MANY MORE QUESTIONS PERHAPS ABOUT HIM.

YOU HAVE THIS NATIONAL DEBATE THAT I THINK IS A LEGITIMATE NATIONAL DEBATE THAT OF COURSE IT IS PLAYING OUT IN THE FRAMEWORK OF OUR EXTRAORDINARILY POLARIZED AND IN A WAY PARALYZED POLITICS.

BIDEN COULD WAKE UP IN THE MORNING AND NOTHING FOR PARTS OF THE COUNTRY THAT WOULD BE EVIDENCE THAT HE IS TOO OLD TO SERVE.

DONALD TRUMP COULD FAIL TO EVEN MUSTER A SINGLE COHERENT SENTENCE WITH A NOUN AND A VERB AND A PERIOD, BUT SOMEHOW THAT IS NOT EVIDENCE OF IT WE ARE HAVING THIS NATIONAL DEBATE WITHOUT REAL EVIDENCE.

WHERE IS AGE ACTUALLY AFFECTING THE ABILITY OF OUR LEADERS TO LEAD AND WHERE IS IT PART OF OUR OPTICS OF THIS MEDIA SATURATED WORLD THAT WE LIVE IN?

THAT IS REALLY HARD BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS JOE BIDEN IS ALREADY THE OLDEST PRESIDENT EVER TO BE AMERICAN PRESIDENT.

THE SECOND OLDEST WAS DONALD TRUMP.

IF BIDEN IS REELECTED, HE WILL BE 86 YEARS OLD AT THE END OF HIS SECOND TERM.

I THINK IT IS A LEGITIMATE CONVERSATION FOR US TO BE HAVING.

I WISH WE HAD A BETTER FRAMEWORK AND MORE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT MATTERS IN THIS CASE AND WHAT DOESN'T.

>> WHY IS IT THAT DEMOCRATS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT PRESIDENT BIDEN'S AGE IN A WAY THAT REPUBLICANS DON'T SEEM TO BE ABOUT DONALD TRUMP?

AS YOU HAVE POINTED OUT, DEMOCRATS ARE ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT PRESIDENT BIDEN'S AGE.

ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT SEEMS TO COME UP IN FOCUS GROUPS, ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO SCRATCH VERY FAR INTO THE SURFACE TO GET PEOPLE TO EXPRESS CONCERNS ABOUT IT.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS A CONCERN FOR DEMOCRATS WHEN IT NOT A CONCERN FOR REPUBLICANS?

>> HERE IS ONE WORD FOR YOU, ELECTABILITY.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS RIGHT NOW AS YOU WANTED OUT, IT DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENCE AS WELL AS REPUBLICANS WHO HAVE THESE CONCERNS ABOUT BIDEN'S AGE.

FOR MANY DEMOCRATS, SOME OF IT IS A QUESTION OF GOVERNANCE.

IS HE AFTER THE JOB WHEN HE IS GOING TO BE 86 YEARS OLD AT THE END OF HIS TERM?

SOME OF IT IS ABOUT THIS QUESTION OF CAN HE WIN IT?

REPUBLICANS HAVE FIXATED ON THIS ISSUE.

TRUMP STARTED CALLING BIDEN BY THE NAME SLEEPY JOE WAY BACK IN INTERESTINGLY, POLLS BACK THEN HAD A VERY DIFFERENT STORY ON THE AGE ISSUE.

PEOPLE FORGET THIS BUT ACTUALLY HIS AGE WAS SEEN AS A LIABILITY AND HE ACTUALLY LOST ON THAT QUESTION MANY POLLS LATER IN THE 2020 ELECTION IN A HEAD-TO- HEAD.

IT IS ACTUALLY BIDEN WHO CAME OUT ON THE POSITIVE END OF THAT.

REMEMBER, TO SOME PEOPLE, CERTAINLY IN 2020, HE IS HEALTHIER, CLEARLY THAN DONALD TRUMP.

HE'S EXERCISING, BIKE RIDING.

YOU KNOW, TRUMP NOT DOING MUCH EXERCISING UNLESS YOU COUNT GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE MECHANICAL GOLF CART TO BE EXERCISING.

AND SO THERE IS THE SUBJECTIVITY OF THE NARRATIVE.

HOW MUCH OF THIS IS REALLY ABOUT THE OBJECTIVE TRUTH?

NOT VERY MUCH.

I DO THINK IT'S A LOT ABOUT DEMOCRATS, VERY WORRIED AS THEY SHOULD BE.

IT IS A RISK FACTOR IN OUR POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE WHEN MITCH McCONNELL I'M SURE I WAS NOT THE ONLY AMERICAN WHO THOUGHT IMAGINE WHAT COULD HAPPEN IN OUR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WHEN THE STAKES ARE SO HIGH, IF JOE BIDEN HAS A MITCH McCONNELL MOMENT IN THE MIDDLE OF A DEBATE IN OCTOBER 2024?

THE MISTAKES ARE DONALD TRUMP POSSIBLY COMING BACK INTO THE WHITE HOUSE.

I THINK THAT AT A MINIMUM, IT RAISES THE RISKS IN OUR SYSTEM AT A TIME WHEN THERE IS ALREADY A LOT OF THINGS TURN ABOUT THE FRAGILITY OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.

>> ONE PERSON REPUBLICANS SEEM TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT IS SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL.

WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH HIM?

>> IT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

TRANSPARENCY IS ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT REALLY MATTERS TO PEOPLE.

McCONNELL DID MOVE PRETTY AGGRESSIVELY TO TRY TO ASSUAGE SOME OF THE CONCERNS OF HIS OWN MEMBERS.

HE HAS TO ANSWER TO THEM .

HAD THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN PUT OUT A NOTE.

WHEN THAT WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR SOME PEOPLE BECAUSE BASICALLY IT SAID TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.

AND IT DISMISSED McCONNELL'S EPISODES AS MOMENTARY LIGHTHEADEDNESS.

I DON'T THINK PEOPLE REALLY BUYING THAT.

THEN THE CAPITAL PHYSICIAN ACTUALLY DID AN EXAMINATION AND THAT SEEMED TO AT LEAST TEMPORARILY QUIET CONCERNS INSIDE THE REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE, BUT MY OBSERVATION IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.

LOOK AT HOW QUICKLY AND VISIBLY McCONNELL'S DECLINE HAS HAPPENED.

WE'VE ALL HAD A PARENT, A GRANDPARENT, A LOVED ONE WHO SEEMS TO BE HEALTHY AND VIGOROUS AT AGE 80 AND THEN SOMETHING HAPPENS, A FULL .

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO MITCH McCONNELL.

HE FELL AND GOT A CONCUSSION WHILE GOING TO A FUNDRAISER A FEW MONTHS AGO.

HIS DECLINE HAS BEEN THERE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE.

HE JUST LOOKS LIKE HE HAS AGED AND NOT X MONTHS BUT SEVERAL YEARS.

WAYS THAT REMIND PEOPLE OF THE RISK FACTOR OF HAVING LEADERS OF THIS ADVANCED AGE.

ADVANCED AGE IS NOT MY TERM , NOT A PEJORATIVE.

I THINK THAT IS THE MEDICAL DEFINITION OF ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO MAKE IT TO A HEALTHY AND VIGOROUS 80 IN THE CASE OF JOE BIDEN AND 81 FOR MITCH McCONNELL.

>> SENATE REPUBLICANS ARE CONSULTING ABOUT WHETHER TO CALL AN EMERGENCY MEETING ON McCONNELL'S LEADERSHIP WITH THE SENATE BACK IN SESSION.

I WANT TO ASK TWO QUESTIONS HERE.

McCONNELL IS AN INTERESTING FIGURE IN THE PARTY RIGHT NOW.

GET NOT A SECRET THAT DONALD TRUMP LOATHES HIM.

LOAD SAME BECAUSE HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WAS FAIRLY RUN, THAT IT WAS NOT STOLEN.

WHAT IS THE DYNAMIC IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AROUND MITCH McCONNELL'S HEALTH FROM YOUR REPORTING AND THEN SECONDLY, I WANT TO ASK ABOUT THE STAKES FOR THE COUNTRY AROUND MITCH McCONNELL'S HEALTH.

>> FIRST OF ALL, IT IS A CLEAR REMINDER OF JUST HOW MUCH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS SHIFTED IN RECENT YEARS.

I AM SURE IF YOU ASK BARACK OBAMA HE WOULD NOT SAY WOW, JUST A FEW YEARS LATER, HE PASSES FOR THIS RELATIVELY SANE REPUBLIC ESTABLISHMENT.

HE HAS BEEN WILLING FOR EXAMPLE TO WORK WITH JOE BIDEN'S WHITE HAS TO PASS SEVERAL BIPARTISAN BILLS IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.

ALTHOUGH OBVIOUSLY HE REMAINS A FIERCE PARTISAN.

HE'S BEEN WHAT PASSES FOR THE OPPOSITION TO DONALD TRUMP IN HIS OWN PARTY.

IT IS A RARE ACTION CLEARLY BUT MITCH McCONNELL NOT ONLY RECOGNIZED BIDEN'S LEGITIMATE VICTORY IN 2020.

HE WAS VERY CLEAR IN ATTRIBUTING THE BLAME FOR THE CRISIS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY ON DONALD TRUMP.

BUT TO YOUR POINT ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE COUNTRY, WHO IS THE SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER.

LOOK AT THE HOUSE REPUBLICANS.

LOOK AT SPEAKER KEVIN McCARTHY.

JUST BEFORE OUR CONVERSATION, KEVIN McCARTHY UNILATERALLY ANNOUNCES HE IS OPENING AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY OF JOE BIDEN.

HAS NEW EVIDENCE BEEN PRODUCED?

NO.

HAS THERE BEEN A SPECIFIC BILL OF INDICTMENT?

NO.

IS KEVIN McCARTHY ABLE TO EVEN PUT A MEASURE ON THE HOUSE FLOOR TO FORMALLY OPEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY?

NO.

HE DOESN'T HAVE THE VOTES TO DO IT YET NONETHELESS HE IS PROCEEDING.

HE HAS BECOME A HOSTAGE OF THIS NARROW MAJORITY THAT HE HAS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

IN SEPTEMBER WE ARE LOOKING AT A MAJOR CONFRONTATION OVER GOVERNMENT FUNDING BETWEEN McCARTHY AND HIS HOUSE REPUBLICANS AND THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE.

THEY LOOK TO BE HURTLING TOWARDS ONCE AGAIN A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.

POTENTIALLY THE ONLY THING THAT WOULD STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING WOULD BE A DEAL IN WHICH McCONNELL AND HIS SENATE THE GOVERNMENT OPEN AND FUNDED.

SAME THING ON THE ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY FUNDING FOR THINGS LIKE DISASTER RELIEF AND UKRAINE AID.

THE ADMINISTRATION HAS ASKED FOR $24 BILLION IN ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO HELP SUPPORT UKRAINE AGAINST THE RUSSIAN INVADERS.

AND RIGHT NOW, IF IT PASSES IT WILL BE BECAUSE OF MITCH McCONNELL AND HIS SENATE REPUBLICANS.

>> WE HAVE BEEN FOCUSING ON PRESIDENT BIDEN, MITCH McCONNELL AND OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, TRUMP.

BUT THEY ARE NOT THE ONLY OLDER POLITICAL LEADERS OF CONSEQUENCE?

IN JULY, DIANNE FEINSTEIN WAS IN FRAIL HEALTH.

SHE SEEMED TO BE CONFUSED DURING A COMMITTEE VOTE.

SHE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE, THOUGH.

THE MEAN AGE IN THE SENATE IS 65 WHICH IS A RECORD HIGH.

EDITOR GRASSLEY IS 89.

THE DEMOCRAT FROM CALIFORNIA RETIRING AT 86.

MEDIAN AGE IS SO HIGH.

HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT?

>> PARTIALLY OF COURSE, LIFE EXPECTANCY OVER THE DECADES HAS GONE UP.

PEOPLE HAVE HAD LONGER AND LONGER CAREERS.

THEY ARE RELUCTANT.

WE HAVE MORE OF A CELEBRITY- BASED POLITIC WHERE NAME RECOGNITION MATTERS.

IT IS HARD IN OUR MEDIA MOMENT TO ACQUIRE THE ABILITY TO RUN STATEWIDE IN A STATE LIKE CALIFORNIA WHERE DIANNE FEINSTEIN IS FROM.

THAT IS A HARD THING TO DO AND SHE IS A HOUSEHOLD NAME, SO PART OF IT IS THE POLITICS OF THAT AND I DO THINK IT DOES SAY SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT A NATION THAT HAD LONG HAD THIS IDENTITY AS THE VIGOROUS NATION OF THE FUTURE, THE NATION NOT JUST OF YOUNG JOHN F. KENNEDY, BUT BILL CLINTON WAS ONE OF OUR YOUNGEST PRESIDENTS IN MY LIFETIME IN HIS EARLY 40s AND I FIND THIS TO BE REALLY TELLING.

THERE HAVE BEEN THREE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS INCLUDING BILL CLINTON WHO WERE BORN IN THE EXACT WE THINK OF HIM AS A YOUNG GUY, PERPETUALLY YOUNG BECAUSE THAT IS WHEN HE WAS ELECTED.

THE OTHER TWO PRESIDENTS WHO WERE BORN IN THE SUMMER OF 1946 WERE GEORGE W. BUSH AND DONALD J TRUMP.

>> WHY DON'T THE DEMOCRATS POINT OUT THE DEFICIENCIES ON THE REPUBLICAN SIDE?

BECAUSE OF THE COVERAGE OF IT OR THE PUBLIC UTTERANCES AROUND THIS ARE MUCH MORE SYMPATHETIC TO MITCH McCONNELL.

MUCH MORE EXPRESSIONS OF CONCERN THAN RIDICULING AND CONTEMPT THAT YOU SEE DIRECTED AT PRESIDENT BIDEN.

PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS SAID PUBLICLY, WHETHER THIS IS TRUE PRIVATELY, THAT HE CONSIDERS MITCH McCONNELL A FRIEND.

BUT WHY DON'T THE DEMOCRATS KIND OF HAMMER ON THEIR AGE THE WAY REPUBLICANS DO ON PRESIDENT BIDEN?

>> I THINK THERE IS A GENUINE FEAR AND A REALISTIC FEAR THAT IT COULD BACKFIRE AND CALL MORE ATTENTION TO THE ISSUE OF AGE WHEN BIDEN IS PERCEIVED IT TO BE VULNERABLE ON THIS POINT.

THAT NUMBER ONE.

NUMBER TWO, MITCH McCONNELL FOR DONALD TRUMP AND HIS SUPPORTERS, THEY'RE HAPPY TO THROW McCONNELL UNDER THE BUS.

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAW IN THE AFTERMATH OF THAT SECOND FREES UP MOMENT.

TRUMP ALLIES LIKE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE IMMEDIATELY LEAVING INTO THE FRAME PUBLICLY SAYING YES, MITCH McCONNELL IS UNFIT TO SERVE AND HE SHOULD GO, TOO.

I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANY LOVE LOST BETWEEN TRUMP AND McCONNELL.

IF IT IS AN ISSUE OF AGE AGAINST JOE BIDEN VERSUS STICKING UP FOR McCONNELL ARE GETTING RID OF McCONNELL OR SIMPLY SACRIFICING HIM POLITICALLY, THEY'RE HAPPY TO SACRIFICE MITCH McCONNELL AND THEY MAY SEE THAT AS AN ADVANTAGE.

>> THE FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR FORMER UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR NIKKI HALEY HAS SAID SHE THINKS THERE SHOULD BE TESTS FOR OLDER POLITICIANS.

HOW DO WE EVEN TALK ABOUT THAT?

I KNOW THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WOULD FIND THIS CONVERSATION, YOU KNOW, INAPPROPRIATE.

VERMONT SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS WHO IS ALSO 80, I BELIEVE, HAS SAID THAT HE THINKS SOME OF THE CONVERSATION IS AGEIST.

HE DOES NOT SHOW ANY SIGNS OF IMPAIRMENT.

SEEMS TO HAVE A VERY GOOD CASE.

BUT I AM INTERESTED IN YOUR TAKE.

WHAT ARE THE ETHICS OF THIS?

>> LOOK, FIRST OF ALL, AND OUR POLITICS, BIG ISSUES CANNOT BE OFF-LIMITS.

WE HAVE TO STICK TO THAT.

AND I THINK DEMOCRATS LOOKING TO POLICE, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE CAN OR SHOULD TALK ABOUT AND WHAT THE VOTERS HAVE ON THEIR MIND, THAT'S NOT GOING TO WORK ANYWAY.

LET'S BE REAL .

WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A SITUATION WHERE IT'S MANY DEMOCRATS AS WELL AS REPUBLICANS WHO ARE IN MY VIEW LEGITIMATELY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS.

DOES THAT ABSOLUTELY NOT.

THAT'S ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WE'RE STRUGGLING WITH.

I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ENOUGH REAL INFORMATION.

I THINK WE LIVE IN AN OPTICAL WORLD IN WHICH THE THINGS THAT WE THINK OF AS LEADERSHIP ARE ESSENTIALLY PROJECTIONS ON A TV SCREEN, FIRST AND FOREMOST.

AND DONALD TRUMP IS NOTHING IF NOT OBSESSED WITH A CERTAIN KIND OF FASCIAL IMAGE MAKING.

TALK ABOUT TESTS FOR OUR LEADERS.

REMEMBER THAT DONALD TRUMP IS THE GUY WHO GAVE US PERSON, WOMAN, MAN, CAMERA, TV, BACK IN THE 2020 ELECTION.

YOU CAN'T LOOK AT A VIDEO OF DONALD TRUMP FROM 2016 OR GO FURTHER BACK AND LOOK AT HIS INTERVIEWS, SAYING THE LATE '90S OR EARLY '90S WITH LARRY KING.

THIS IS A DIFFERENT MAN.

HE'S BEEN TRANSFORMED.

HE HAS VISIBLY AGED IN FRONT OF OUR EYES.

HIS COHERENCE IS ALMOST EVAPORATED.

HIS VOCABULARY HAS DISSIPATED HIS ABILITY TO FORMULATE CLEAR- CUT SENTENCES IS ALMOST NIL IN HIS PUBLIC REMARKS THESE DAYS.

YET WE HAVE THIS NARRATIVE AROUND BIDEN AND HIS AGE.

I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT THE AGE ISSUE, BUT IT COULD JUST AS WELL CROP UP AS A MAJOR LIABILITY FOR DONALD TRUMP BY THE TIME THE ACTUAL ELECTION ROLLS AROUND.

HE IS CERTAINLY NOT IMMUNE TO IT EITHER.

>> ONE AREA IN WHICH ONE CAN SEE THE LEADING FIGURES BECOME VISIBLY YOUNGER IS ON THE NATION'S HIGH COURT AND ON THE NATION'S HIGHEST COURT.

I AM JUST CURIOUS OF THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT CAN BE SO INTENTIONAL ABOUT ATTRACTING AND PUTTING IN PLACE THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS.

WHY DON'T PROGRESSIVES DO THAT?

>> YOU KNOW, IT IS A GOOD QUESTION.

I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT THAT THERE ARE SOME MAJOR STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES, NOT ONLY DO THEY WANT SOMEONE YOUNG TO SERVE FOR A LIFETIME APPOINTMENT ON THE SUPREME COURT BUT A YOUNGER NOMINEE TENDS TO HAVE LESS OF A I THINK DEMOCRATS HAVE KNOWN THAT.

BUT LOOK, EVERY GENERATION HAS TO RENEW ITS COMMITMENT TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.

WE ARE IN A CRISIS MOMENT.

NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE TWO VERY OLD STANDARDBEARERS IN THE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PARTIES TODAY, BUT BECAUSE WE ARE AT LOGGERHEADS OVER BASIC QUESTIONS AND MAYBE TRUMP NOR BIDEN WILL BE A LONG-TERM LEADER FOR THE COUNTRY AT THIS POINT.

PART OF THE ANXIETY AND PART OF WHY YOU ARE ASKING THAT WESTERN IS BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IS THE PATH FORWARD FOR THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW AND WE DON'T HAVE EITHER PARTY WITH A CLEAR- CUT SET OF NEW STANDARD ERRORS IN A NEW DIRECTION.

I THINK IT ADDS TO THE UNCERTAINTY AT A VERY VOLATILE MOMENT.

>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TALKING WITH US ONCE AGAIN.