'This Week' Transcript 8-30-26: Ontario Premier Doug Ford, State Department Spokesperson Tommy Pigott & Retired Army Gen. Scott Miller
This is a rush transcript of "This Week" airing Sunday, August 30.
A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, August 30, 2026 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: Desperation grows as thousands remain missing after catastrophic floods ripped through Nepal and Tibet.
“THIS WEEK” starts right now.
Urgent search. Five days after disaster strikes Nepal, thousands still missing, including as many as 90 Americans.
SUNNY PATEL, SON OF MISSING AMERICAN: It gets harder with every -- with every minute, every hour, really, to stay positive.
RADDATZ: Rescue missions slowed by brutal weather. This morning, Britt Clennett is live on the scene, and the State Department spokesperson joins me on the U.S. response.
Tariff turmoil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to focus on affordability, but I think this isn’t the way to do that.
RADDATZ: President Trump faces backlash from his own party after pausing some imported beef tariffs. We traveled to a California cattle ranch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our costs are beyond -- beyond what they’ve ever been.
RADDATZ: As the renewed trade war with Canada intensifies.
MARK CARNEY, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: That’s not something we’re going to accept.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Canada made the decision for political purposes.
RADDATZ: And as Trump signs an executive order to rename Lake Ontario, we speak with Ontario Premier Doug Ford about Canada’s resistance. Plus, our roundtable on all the fallout, just over two months to the midterms.
And --
GEN. AUSTIN SCOTT MILLER, U.S. ARMY (RET.) & FORMER COMMANDER, U.S. & NATO COALITION FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: And I was angry and immediately started thinking of who -- who let this happen.
RADDATZ: Five years after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the longest serving and final commander of U.S. forces, retired General Scott Miller, is speaking out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: From ABC News it’s “THIS WEEK.” Here now, Martha Raddatz.
RADDATZ: Good morning and welcome to “THIS WEEK.”
We begin with the latest on the devastation from the deadly flooding in Nepal and Tibet, where thousands are still missing, including dozens of Americans. Rescuers are rushing against the clock to find anyone still alive in the muddy aftermath of the flooding, which destroyed nearly everything in its path.
This is the moment a piece of a glacier broke off on the Chinese side of the border. You see a cloud of smoke rising and the ensuing landslide, bringing raging water rushing down the valley in this remote mountainous region of Nepal, a popular destination for tourists making spiritual journeys to the area.
As many American families wait for word on their loved ones, let’s get straight to ABC's Britt Clennett, who is at the site of the disaster.
Good morning to you, Britt.
BRITT CLENNETT, ABC NEWS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martha.
Well, take a look at the devastation here where that flood wall ripped through this village on the Trishuli River, taking out most of this community. Homes completely submerged.
Now, this as the search for survivors is ongoing here in Nepal. As you can see, though, this is a huge task in very difficult conditions. And that critical window to find survivors, it is closing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLENNETT (voice over): This morning, rescue teams battle monsoon downpours and dangerous terrain to race against the closing window of opportunity to find survivors of the catastrophic flood in Nepal and Tibet. Heavy rain and fog in Rasuwa, the hardest hit area, repeatedly causing delays, temporarily grounding those critical rescue helicopters, with many bridges and roads there having been washed away.
The scale of the devastation difficult to grasp after that wall of water caught everyone off guard, crashing into entire villages. The families seen here trapped on their balcony as the water rises around them. This dam shattering under the immense force. We traveled to Bidur, along the Trishuli River.
CLENNETT: Vehicles, homes completely submerged. This is where that torrent of water came roaring down through this village, destroying everything in its path within seconds.
CLENNETT (voice over): Search and rescue teams using bulldozers to scoop through the rubble. But amid the chaos, a ray of hope. This seven-year-old girl pulled from the rubble after rescue workers heard her cries.
But over 3,000 still remain missing altogether on both the Nepal and Tibet sides, including roughly 90 Americans, according to the State Department. The families of missing loved ones agonizingly waiting for news.
Sunny Patel’s father, Jitendra (ph), traveled to the region from New York for a spiritual retreat, crossing the border into Tibet to start the trek when the glacier collapsed.
SUNNY PATEL, SON OF MISSING AMERICAN: But they were a day behind. They were supposed to be there on the 25th. They got to immigration on the 26th.
CLENNETT (voice over): His father calling from immigration at the border to say he’d check back two days later. That call, the last the family heard from him.
PATEL: Dad’s tough. But it gets harder with every, with every minute, every hour, really, to stay positive because we would have hoped that we would have heard something from him by now.
CLENNETT (voice over): Jitendra was one of the dozens of Americans still unaccounted for.
LESLIE CRESPI, ISHA FOUNDATION COMMUNITY LIAISON: They’re powerful places for meditation.
CLENNETT (voice over): Leslie Crespi is a community liaison for the Isha Foundation in Tennessee, which has organized treks to the Himalayas for decades.
CRESPI: We have not been able to reach anybody since -- since that time.
There's no indications of survivors from the China side.
CLENNETT (voice over): The foundation led a trip for a group of 77 people, including 22 Americans.
CRESPI: People are just shocked, and they’re overwhelmed and begging for information, asking for information, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone’s seeking higher ground to escape?
ANJANA RAJA, AMERICAN FLOOD SURVIVOR: Yes. Because we’re all scared.
CLENNETT (voice over): Another American on the Kailash pilgrimage, Californian Anjana Raja, recounting the harrowing moment she managed to escape death within seconds.
RAJA: We just ran for our life.
CLENNETT (voice over): Anjana was inside one of these buses with her husband, waiting at the border checkpoint when the flood struck.
RAJA: It just came like a roar. It sucked a bunch of buses, SUVs people, the base camp, everything, took it in, turned it, turned it all upside down and dumped it into the ground.
CLENNETT (voice over): In Kathmandu, we meet more Kailash pilgrims from Arkansas, Cynthia Pitchford and Haley Kuntz, who landed the day the flood hit. But they are still determined to set off on the pilgrimage.
CYNTHIA PITCHFORD, AMERICAN TOURIST: This has been in the works for about five years.
CLENNETT: Did you ever think about maybe postponing it?
PITCHFORD: No.
CLENNETT (voice over): They’ll take a different route, but in a few weeks, we'll end up at the same border crossing, undeterred by warnings that other glacial lakes may also overflow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLENNETT: Well, Nepal is on high alert for more flooding, with two more glacial lakes potentially at risk of overflowing. But just behind me, you can see the site of a one miraculous moment. You may see that big open space of concrete-like mud. Well, less than five days ago stood a three-story school with more than 900 students in there at the time. Well, thanks to the principal’s quick thinking, all the students made it out alive.
Martha.
RADDATZ: Some ray of hope there. Our thanks to Britt Clennett and her team.
I’m joined now by State Department Spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
Good morning to you. Thanks for coming in this morning.
Can you give us some sort of update at all, especially about those missing Americans?
TOMMY PIGOTT, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Well, as of 6 a.m. this morning, I can say we now have 85 Americans, approximately, that are unaccounted for. We’ve also now seen nine Americans be safely evacuated. We are currently unaware of any U.S. citizen deaths at this time. The highest priority getting accurate information from the region. A hard region to reach at the best of times, made even more so by the devastation and the remoteness that we see.
RADDATZ: So, what can you do? We’re not sending in teams because Nepal doesn’t want any teams. Why is that?
PIGOTT: Well, right now we’re in communication with them directly to assess those needs. We have a disaster area response advisor actually on the ground right now in communication to see how best we can offer assistance. The situation on the ground, as you just saw in terms of the mud and other things, means that we have to get the right assistance in there. The Nepal government, we’re coordinating with them on what they need.
We have activated, from the State Department, $3.6 million in emergency humanitarian assistance. That includes up to three months of emergency food for up to 10,000 flood-affected households. So, we have immediately activated that. We actually have the first U.S. assistance on the ground already to address this humanitarian disaster.
RADDATZ: Let’s talk about the scope of this. I mean, those pictures are extraordinary. We saw that building where many Americans were inside, completely wiped out. Our search and rescue teams are more used to, even if they went, are more used to an earthquake, not anything like this.
PIGOTT; Well, that’s part of assessing what the needs are based off the devastation we see, the fact that we saw the mud, as was shown in that report, making sure the right assessments, and they’re part of the $3.6 million actually will go towards rehabilitating roads that have been damaged and also mobilizing specialized transport options to reach those hard to reach areas given the remoteness of this location, to make sure we can get that humanitarian assistance, including food, like I mentioned, but also sanitation, shelter, water to make sure those desperately needed humanitarian essentials reach people amid this devastation.
RADDATZ: And for the families and for the people here, and you’ve heard those tales of some people going back in, but the families themselves, what are you -- what kind of assistance are you giving them?
PIGOTT: We have surged consular assistance to the region. Our embassies in Beijing and Kathmandu are working 24/7 in terms of communicating and coordinating with local officials, trying to get that reliable information. If any American is in the region, please register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. That is so essential so we know how to contact you. Also know where you are. So, we’re continuing to surge those resources 24/7. Our highest priority helping the American people.
RADDATZ: And in the coming days, I mean, this is so devastating and so huge. You’ll be at this for a very long time. It’s possible we may not know anything.
PIGOTT: Our priority is the safety and security of the American people. As you mentioned, the remoteness of this location makes getting reliable information difficult, but our dedication remains, our commitment remains.
Every time we hear one of these devastating stories, we are reinvigorated in our commitment to getting the answers that are possible, to getting that assistance in, to standing with those that have been devastated and affected by this flood.
Our commitment is there, our commitment remains.
RADDATZ: We thank you very much for your help and for coming in this morning.
PIGOTT: Thank you.
RADDATZ: We turn now to the battle over tariffs and trade. President Trump this week ramping up action against our neighbors to the north in Canada while making a move on beef imports that has even GOP allies pushing back. The latest economic uncertainty coming just months before voters head to the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RADDATZ (voice-over): With just 65 days until the midterms, anxious Republicans are keeping a close eye on high prices and escalating trade wars.
President Trump aiming to calm those fears, targeting stubbornly high gas prices, announcing late Friday the U.S. had reached an agreement with Venezuela to take control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, but that could take years, this while the president took aim this week at the United States' biggest foreign oil provider, Canada, slapping a 50 percent tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Canadian officials have traded this very badly. They're nasty people.
RADDATZ (voice-over): But Canada firing right back with dollar for dollar tariffs and insults to match.
DOUG FORD, PREMIER OF ONTARIO: This guy's a loser. I have more courage, more brains in my baby toe than he has in his whole body. So there you go.
RADDATZ (voice-over): The president's economic agenda is a major concern for voters, from oil to Canada to cattle ranches. U.S. ranchers are reeling from the president's move late last week to allow 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef to enter the U.S. tariff-free for 90 days.
RADDATZ: You heard what the president announced on Friday. What does that mean for you?
MIKE WILLIAMS, CALIFORNIA CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it's unfortunate. I understand what he's trying to do. I don't agree that that's the best way to go about achieving his goals.
RADDATZ (voice-over): We met with three ranchers in Southern California's Leona Valley this week, where difficult conditions have squeezed the industry.
Rancher Mike Williams says the extra imported beef pales in comparison with beef produced in the U.S.
RADDATZ: What is coming into the country versus what you have here?
WILLIAMS: What's coming in isn't anything near the quality of the stuff that you get out of the American beef.
RADDATZ (voice-over): It has been a difficult time for ranchers. A long drought scorched the grass and grazing lands, and ranchers had to reduce their herd size and increase prices, with the average pound of ground beef up a staggering 10 percent from a year ago to $6.89 in July.
RADDATZ: The size of the U.S. cattle herd is smaller now than it's been since the 1950s because of the drought, because of the pandemic, and it is not easy to regrow a herd.
RADDATZ (voice-over): Cody Eastman fears Trump's moves could worsen the problem.
CODY EASTMAN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION VICE PRESIDENT: It's a little bit concerning as the fact that it's going to cause feeder cattle prices to lower, and it's going to cause us to sell our calves at a lower cost.
RADDATZ (voice-over): The shortage, says Brian Gorrindo, stemmed from necessary population control measures on cows.
BRIAN GORRINDO, LOS ANGELES COUNTY CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION VICE PRESIDENT: We were in drought for a long time, so there was a bigger herd cull across the country in the Western states. And that created a shortage, right, which caused beef to go up.
RADDATZ (voice-over): But it's unclear how much Trump's latest moves will help curb those prices.
GORRINDO: I think we did the math. It's like -- it’s like three burgers a person is what they're basically importing. So how much of an effect that's going to have, I don't know.
RADDATZ (voice-over): As the cost of beef has risen, the ranchers insist they haven't seen any windfall.
EASTMAN: We're not getting rich. Our costs are beyond -- beyond what they've ever been, but while -- while maybe a $6 pound of healthy, you know, good, properly raised ground beef in the store seems expensive, there's a lot of people that are paying $6 for a cup of coffee.
RADDATZ (voice-over): And it is not just the ranchers who were worried. President Trump's decision to waive some tariffs on beef drawing uncharacteristically harsh criticism from Republican allies on Capitol Hill, with number two Senate Republican John Barrasso of Wyoming saying, “Americans want U.S. beef on the table, not foreign imports.”
The rollback on beef tariffs, about as popular with some lawmakers as that new round of Canadian tariffs.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R) MAINE: I still think imposing new tariffs on Canada is a mistake.
RADDATZ (voice over): The latest tariff rollout in Trump’s global trade war now expected to cost the typical American household nearly $1,100 per year.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can’t let -- the whole Canadian thing, that’s been going on for decades. And it has to come to a stop. So, we’re going to be doing tariffs on their cars that are coming in at a substantial level, because we want to make the cars here.
RADDATZ (voice over): After an initial trade agreement fell through.
JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: They came in and they wanted -- they wanted more. And we weren’t prepared to do that.
RADDATZ (voice over): Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hammering the United States’ demands.
MARK CARNEY, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: In recent days, the United States proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair and undermine the net benefits for Canada, and called into question the reliability of any deal.
RADDATZ (voice over): Canada launching those retaliatory tariffs as high as 50 percent on American goods, including some steel and aluminum goods, furniture and clothing. And as relations break down with Canada, the president signing an executive order renaming Lake Ontario, a name held for more than 400 years, Lake America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RADDATZ: And the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, joins us now from the shores of Lake Ontario.
Good morning, Premier.
We’ll get to that issue in a moment. But first, President Trump threatened to double the tariff on Canadian auto imports, cars, trucks, auto parts, steel, from 25 percent to 50 percent beginning January 1st. If that happens, what would the effect be on both countries?
DOUG FORD, PREMIER OF ONTARIO, CANADA: Well, it’d be devastating on both countries, but it’d be definitely devastating on the U.S. We’re the largest purchaser of vehicles in the entire world off the U.S. Over 400 percent more than anyone else. And they’re already seeing the effect, over $7 billion. We’ve stopped purchasing an x amount of vehicles. $7 billion is like shutting down a couple auto plants.
So, I always say, Martha, a tariff on Canada is nothing more than a tax on American people. And it’s probably the worst move he could ever do.
RADDATZ: But what we saw this week were insults flying on both sides. President Trump calling you a flunky. You calling Trump a loser, a dictator, a bully. Is that really the way to handle this?
FORD: Yes. No, I think we got heated. I think it was pretty clear. I went on all the U.S. networks and, yes, it got heated. But, no, you got to eventually stand up to someone that just continuously attacks our country and insults our country. We believe in Canadian sovereignty. And I know Americans believe in having a sovereign Canada as well.
It’s unfortunate that he stoops down to that level. And, unfortunately, I did that day. But I just think that we need to focus on a free trade agreement that will create more jobs, more opportunities on both sides of the border.
RADDATZ: You know, in a social post President Trump put out on Monday, he targeted you and Prime Minister Mark Carney seeming to threaten further escalation aside from what you’re saying now. It said, “Remember, much of the electricity, oil and gas that Canada gets is transported through the USA. Someone should get these clowns to fall in line or the consequences for Canada will be far worse.” But in response, you seem to make your own threat, saying, “Trump says he doesn’t need Canada. I’d love to see him run cars without any oil.” What did you mean by that?
FORD: Well, first of all, he’s wrong with the electricity. Ontario alone powers 1.5 million homes and businesses in New York state and in Minnesota, and as well as Michigan. And not just Ontario, but all the provinces send electricity down to the U.S.
I have an idea, Martha, why don’t we send more electricity down there? And we have the electricity. We have the critical minerals, rare earth minerals. Theres’s countries all over the world that want our uranium, our potash, our, you know, high grade nickel and every other critical mineral. I’d rather send it down to the U.S.
And, you know, again, if you work together, we’re going to create more opportunities, more jobs. If I can say, everyone’s feeling bullied by President Trump. And this is the worst thing you could do for the American economy. It did not grow this way over decades and decades of being protectionists. It grew because of free trade and open and fair trade. That’s what we need to focus on. That’s what’s going to create more jobs in the U.S. and Canada. That’s what we need to do, not attack, attack, attack. I just don’t see the purpose. It’s absolutely backwards.
And it was like something out of “Saturday Night Live” when he signed documents saying change it to Lake America. It’s -- no one’s going to call it Lake of America. It’s been Lake America. It's -- no one is going to call it Lake of America. It's been Lake Ontario for hundreds of years. It's going to continue being Lake Ontario, and it's just so, so disappointing because I love the U.S., I love the American people. Canadians love the American people. We differentiate between the great American people and the president.
RADDATZ: So where does this stand? What do you do going forward? Are there any more negotiations planned? Has there been contact with the U.S. at this point?
FORD: Well, I can't speak for the prime minister, but he stopped the negotiations. It was a terrible deal for Canada. I told him it was a terrible deal. We're the engine of Canada, Ontario is, and it would have hurt our steel industry. And I find it ironic because we're the number one purchaser of steel in the world off the U.S. So that's going to hurt the steel mills right across the country. We're the one -- number one auto purchaser. That's going to hurt auto plants, and the auto companies are telling him this.
RADDATZ: And just one final question. President Trump announced on Friday that he had made a deal with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of its oil. How concerned are you about that? Because right now, Canada makes up 60 percent of the United States crude oil imports. Does this give him a bigger bargaining chip?
FORD: Well, you know something? That's going to be up to President Trump. Who do you want to deal with, an unstable government like Venezuela, or do you want to deal with your number one trading partner, your number one ally that has stood shoulder to shoulder through almost every single war that both countries have been in?
We're allies. We're best friends. Our trading is so integrated. We need to get a deal that's beneficial for both countries, and you'll see both countries thrive and prosper and grow. That's what we want.
RADDATZ: We will keep our eye on all of that. We thank you for your time this morning, Premier Ford.
FORD: Thank you. Thank you. God bless America. God bless Canada. We'll get through this, and let's get a deal and let both countries prosper. So thank you.
RADDATZ: And the roundtable is all here to weigh in on the trade war and what it could mean for the midterms. We're back in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a theory that I get to vote, you know, this -- I see it all the time that when Trump is on the ballot, they win. When he's not on the ballot, the people don't go to vote. And I'm asking the people through your brilliant show, number one show, I'm asking the people to get out and vote. Pretend I'm on the ballot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: President Trump urging Republicans to imagine he is running in this November midterm. We'll see how our roundtable feels about that.
Former DNC chair Donna Brazile, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, "USA Today" bureau chief Susan Page, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Good morning to all of you.
And, Kevin, I'm going to start with you.
We have a president with historically low polling numbers. Is this what Republicans really want in this midterm? Speaker Johnson said the same thing -- imagine Donald Trump's running.
KEVIN MCCARTHY, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: They need to because -- remember, Donald Trump, when he won the presidency, he won the popular vote. He won every swing state.
And he is correct. The pro -- the way you win elections, you get your base plus the swing. The problem Republicans have right now are with Republicans. And they need the turnout. So they need to bring turnout about four percent to five percent with Republicans, and they'd be in a much stronger position than they are right now.
RADDATZ: Chris Christie?
CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, I think --
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: We forgot the historically low polling numbers.
CHRISTIE: Well, I think generally, Kevin's theory is right, except here's the problem. The last Quinnipiac poll has the president 45 points underwater with independents. Those are the swing voters. And that's the problem.
In districts like Tom Kean, Jr. in New Jersey, Mike Lawler in New York, take the Northeast Republicans that Kevin helped to get elected -- without swing voters, those guys are going to be in a lot of trouble.
And so they're in a real bind. They don't want their voters in those districts to imagine that Donald Trump's on the ballot when he's minus 45 among Indies.
So that's the real problem I see, Martha, is. I think the base will come back and we'll vote for him, especially given some of the Democratic candidates. But that independent vote, if he's still 45 points underwater come Election Day, my party has a lot of problems.
RADDATZ: And Susan, looking, you know, that piece that we just ran, pushback to President Trump. That seems a pretty rare occurrence. Do you think that's kind of a one-off on the tariffs, on the beef prices?
SUSAN PAGE, USA TODAY WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: I think it's a pretty broad, but I'm not sure Republicans have the option of deciding whether to pretend Trump is on the ballot or not. Midterm elections are classically a referendum on the -- on the incumbent president. And as the governor was saying, when presidents have approval ratings in the mid-30s, it is usually a sign of real trouble.
This is -- President Trump is now almost precisely at the point George W. Bush was at in the 2006 midterms when Democrats managed to regain both the House and the Senate.
RADDATZ: And, Donna, looking at the -- at the tariffs, of trade, at Lake Ontario, now Lake America, apparently for some people, what do you see as that issue, especially for Democrats, it’s affordability again. When you look at the Republican pushback, do you think that will ease that pain for the Republicans?
DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER DNC CHAIR & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, all you have to do is listen to Susan Collins in Maine. I mean, she's already saying that this is going to cause problems up in Maine, and it's going to cause -- I think it's going to cause problems across multiple states.
People see this as not just Donald Trump bullying Canada, but they also see it in terms of how much will toilet paper rise? How much will, you know, two-by-fours, all kinds of machinery, auto supplies?
So yes, this is once again Donald Trump's failure to understand that the American people, when they go to the grocery stores and they get their receipts, they're saying Trump. And when they go to the gas station, they're saying Trump. They know that Donald Trump's policies -- inflation, the war on Iran that he can't stop. They know that his policy is causing them harm at the -- in their pocketbook.
RADDATZ: Kevin, you said you are a bit worried about the midterms because you say you're not seeing a clear message from Republicans. What would you tell them about messaging right now?
MCCARTHY: This is a race on the economy.
There's a lot of things I would have done different. I would not have recessed the House so often. I would have ran bills that are 80/20, have the Democrats vote against it, show where you're passing things and get stuff done.
RADDATZ: But can I ask you? You said at first, look, you know, yes, Trump is on the ballot because he's successful, but he is about the economy, too.
MCCARTHY: He is about the economy. You know, you brought up a poll earlier. You didn't bring up the poll that also came out this week that Republicans say Trump is the most respected president, more so than any of -- much more so than Reagan.
The problem is Republicans need a four-point more bump to get up. It is a different place than we were on redistricting when Bush was in. There's very few seats, so you do need to draw (ph).
When Trump won the presidency, he won the popular vote, they still lost seats in the House.
BRAZILE: Right.
MCCARTHY: He won Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Republican senators did not.
So for Republicans to sit back and say, “Oh, I don't want Trump out there,” he has performed better than they have. He has raised more money. It is a differential we have. But the Democrats --
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: But go to the economy again.
MCCARTHY: Yeah, the economy is an issue, and if you ask me about this Canada beef, it’s not Trump. Trump said he had a deal.
This is Carney using the election, coming back and the trade agreements at the last minute, trying to leverage it. Why? Because we do have Maine, Michigan and Ohio for the determination of who is going to win.
So it is a negotiation plate, trying to leverage the election at that time. Tough place to be in, but I think this is all negotiations. We'll get it taken care of. But we should have been focused the entire time just on the economy, because that's what they'll judge you on.
RADDATZ: Susan, one message the Republicans have very clear is about their opponents, the Democrats, calling them communists.
PAGE: Yeah, yeah.
RADDATZ: Is that a winning message?
PAGE: Well, I think it's a problem for Democrats. You know, we see that Republicans with no economic message consistently now, but Democrats are now in a battle over who stands for the Democratic Party. What direction should the party go? What's the strategy -- what's the best strategy? Is it to try to appeal to younger voters who are less reliable voters, or to go to a more centrist message?
And the answer is probably different. The answer is different in different places, but the fact that this debate is so public has created an opening for Republicans to try to paint the entire party as socialist or Democratic socialists or as very progressives out of the mainstream with the Independents whose vote are so crucial.
BRAZILE: But you know, Martha, I see it differently. Our fight has been more generational. I mean, you'll see that, on Tuesday, in Massachusetts where, again --
RADDATZ: Markey and Moulton.
BRAZILE: -- Markey and Moulton, and perhaps you'll see it in a couple other primaries as we end up this primary season. Our fight internally in the Democratic Party, it's not about the Democratic Socialist Organization, no more than it is about any other organization. It is really a generational fight and it's a good fight.
But Democrats have been unified on affordability. They've been unified on talking about health care, what the American people want. Democrats want to regain power to help lower costs and to put a check on this president and his inability to end this war in Iran. That's what Democrats are talking about.
They're not just having, you know, nighttime conversations on Democratic Socialists, and there are a few of them, but not enough for us to have a --
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: Well, I want to --
CHRISTIE: Well, you know, Martha, you know --
RADDATZ: Go ahead.
CHRISTIE: Look, Donna is very good at trying to wish it into existence, but -- and
BRAZILE: I pray.
CHRISTIE: I know. It's prayer, it is big for you, and you're going to need it because what you're seeing is the DSA is the motivating force in the Democratic Party right now. The traditional Democrats are on defense against the DSA. And part of the problem is the star of the DSA is the mayor of New York City, who has shown in the last month, he can't even figure out how to competently raise taxes.
When a Democrat can't figure out, especially a Democratic Socialist, can't figure out how to competently raise taxes, he has to continue to come out with his new apartment tax that he's putting on the people of New York. He can't even roll it out. They're now on their second phase of that.
The DSA problem is throughout the Democratic Party --
BRAZILE: That's not true.
CHRISTIE: -- and it is giving -- it is giving Republicans, with a president of 45 points underwater with Independents, a real opportunity here. I think Mike Rogers is going to win Michigan.
BRAZILE: Mamdani is not campaigning with Ossoff and Rogers.
CHRISTIE: He doesn't have to.
BRAZILE: He's not in Talarico. No, the Republicans don't want to talk about their failed leadership of not lowering inflation.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCARTHY: No, but every Democrat --
BRAZILE: No, every Democrat is not going to answer to Republicans, you know, bedside wishing that we hope we can talk about socialism. We're going to talk about affordability. We're going to talk about getting things done for the American people. We're not going to talk about Mr. Mamdani, although he's still going to have to move (ph).
CHRISTIE: Or Mr. Jackson in Maine, or Mr. El-Sayed in Michigan.
MCCARTHY: But listen, every Democrat goes on T.V., they don't get asked about that. They get asked about Piker. They get asked about Mamdani. They get asked, are you joining the Democratic Socialists, just like AOC did. Those are the Democrats who are winning. That's where people are going, but every Democrat has now have to announce it or denounce it.
You got Hakeem Jeffries standing up saying he's not for Medicare for All, and he's getting crucified in his own party. He met with Jared, and now he has to go back and apologize afterwards. The Democrats are in their own civil war, which are giving Republicans an opportunity that historically gives them advantage in this election a problem.
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: Susan, I want to ask you, you brought up Jared Kushner, the meeting between Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner. What did that tell you?
PAGE: It tells me that there are some people close to President Trump who are preparing for Democrats to win the House of Representatives and trying to figure out what can you do besides be investigated if that happens.
CHRISTIE: Here's what it says to me. What the hell is Hakeem Jeffries doing meeting with Jared Kushner? The guy is not a member of the government, even though he is sent around the world by the president to fail in negotiations all around the world.
If you're Hakeem Jeffries, what are you thinking? What do you think in accepting that meeting?
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: I want you to answer that.
MCCARTHY: Let me tell you -- they both have a personal relationship based upon legislation they worked on for criminal justice reform, and they were close. The real story that tells you is who leaked the story. Hakeem Jeffries' staff leaked the story thinking it would hurt Republicans.
It shows he's not prepared to be speaker because all it did was make him go put on a green outfit, stand in front of a project, and try to act (ph) tough on a decision that he made. It should not be a negative in America that two people of different parties meet. I don’t know what they talk about, but we should be able to meet together.
CHRISTIE: That’s not the --
RADDATZ: Chris, very quickly on the Iran War, we really have like 40 seconds here. Six months. Donna brought it up. But are people really paying attention to that anymore?
CHRISTIE: They’re paying attention to what it’s caused. And right now, because there’s no American military who have been killed, they’re not paying attention to that. But what they are paying attention to, Martha, is continued high gas prices and continued disruption to trade around the world because of the Straits of Hormuz problem. And so, that’s what they’re paying attention to. They may not be thinking about the Iran war as a shooting war, but they’re still thinking that the president hasn’t resolved it. And as a result, they’re still seeing high prices.
RADDATZ: And the goal seems very far away.
Thanks to all of you for joining this morning. More talk on the midterms next week and beyond.
Up next, my conversation with the longest serving commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, speaking out five years after that turbulent withdrawal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Exactly five years ago, at a dusty, exposed checkpoint in Kabul called Abbey Gate, the world witnessed the absolute best of America, standing in the gap to defend our country and those they serve alongside, during one of the darkest, strategic hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth upgrading valor awards for Marines who served at Kabul Airport during the suicide bombing attack that killed 13 American service members and some 160 Afghan civilians. Coming up, my conversation with the last general who commanded U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. His first major interview since we talked five years ago in Kabul.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RADDATZ: Today marks five years since the chaotic, deadly ending of America's nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan.
I was there that summer before Kabul fell with General Scott Miller, who had been tasked with drawing down all of the U.S. forces there, which he did in a matter of months.
But weeks later, Miller, like the rest of us, watched from afar as Kabul fell and chaos erupted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RADDATZ (voice-over): It was five years ago this week, America's longest war ending in chaos, destruction, and desperation. Tens of thousands of Afghans swarming Abbey Gate, their only way out after Kabul fell and the Taliban returned to power. U.S. Marines sent into control the teeming crowds, overwhelmed and yet determined to stay and help.
That was the moment a suicide bomb exploded just outside Abbey Gate on August 26th, killing 13 American service members and more than 160 Afghan civilians.
GEN. AUSTIN “SCOTT” MILLER, FORMER COMMANDER, U.S. & NATO COALITION FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: I was angry, immediately started thinking of who -- who let this happen?
RADDATZ (voice-over): General Scott Miller commanded U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan from 2018 to 2021. He was there at the start of the war and was charged with overseeing the withdrawal of all U.S. troops 20 years later.
A highly decorated special operations soldier and West Point graduate, Miller spent 10 years deployed in combat zones, including the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, iconically chronicled in the book and film “Black Hawk Down”.
That experience stayed with him.
MILLER: An 18-hour firefight was a foundational event in my military career, but I took those lessons and carried them through 2021.
RADDATZ (voice-over): We were there with him in the summer of 2021 as the Taliban was advancing and he was closing down Bagram Air Base.
RADDATZ: I watched you yesterday at Bagram. An Afghan was there, who's clearly helped the United States. It has to be heartbreaking for you, leaving them behind and fearing what might come next.
MILLER: I don't like leaving friends in need, and I know that my friends are in need.
RADDATZ (voice-over): U.S. assessments at the time were that the Afghan forces could hold off the Taliban, but there were growing fears within the country.
RADDATZ: The majority of the districts that have been taken are many, many miles from here in Kabul, but the big question is, what happens here when all of the U.S. forces leave Afghanistan?
RADDATZ (voice-over): That concern of a Taliban resurgence, top of mind for everyone we spoke to at the time.
RADDATZ: You're hiding.
ABDUL: I'm hiding right down here.
RADDATZ (voice-over): Abdul, a former interpreter for the Marine Corps and father of three girls, living in fear.
ABDUL: They will come and they will behead us or they will kill us.
RADDATZ (voice-over): Miller and other senior military leaders had advised leaving a small contingent of some 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, but it was not something he would talk about publicly at the time.
RADDATZ: Would you have liked to have seen a small force stay here?
GEN. AUSTIN "SCOTT" MILLER, U.S. ARMY (RET.): The -- let me hold on that one.
RADDATZ (voice-over): Miller completed the total drawdown as ordered and left his post in Afghanistan on July 12, 2021.
MILLER: I felt like I had a distasteful task. I knew I had to do it, but I didn't necessarily want to do it. And the real -- the real very distasteful task I was talking about was having to look at Afghan partners that I had relationships, some that went back 10, 15 years, that I knew were counting on me. And I had to tell them I'm leaving. I really am leaving, and this force is leaving.
As a person, I recognize I'm a soldier just executing our government policy. But the look in their eyes, even from my friends, was -- is almost as you're betraying us. And so I wasn't feeling good about that. I called that the dirty work.
RADDATZ: I don't think you spoke directly to President Biden about your advice, but certainly the way the command system works, he would have gotten it.
MILLER: I think the military advice was consistent up the chain of command.
RADDATZ (voice-over): As painful as leaving Afghanistan was for Miller, watching from afar weeks later, as the U.S. was forced to send in an emergency contingent of troops to evacuate American citizens and desperate Afghans was gut-wrenching.
MILLER: I felt helpless. I mean, there was a -- if I could have snuck on an airplane, I would have gone over there, probably disrupted everything and said, OK, I'm here. Let me help sort this out here because I wanted to help.
But I wasn't in a good space. And then we saw the suicide attack at Abbey Gate. That one almost brought me to my knees. That one hit me in the gut hard.
RADDATZ (voice-over): Miller says the chaos at Kabul Airport carried tragic parallels to 9/11.
MILLER: As we're approaching not only the fifth year anniversary of the collapse of Kabul, we're approaching the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, which many people in the military weren't even born then.
But I remember watching people leaping from the World Trade Center to escape the flames. And when you looked at it as a bookend, you know, the fact that people were climbing aboard and trying to grab onto the airplane that's taking off from Kabul and surely, they won't survive but falling to their death, you know, as the airplane gains velocity and altitude, that was traumatic for a lot of people because we do remember how this started. And now, we're looking at how it's ending.
RADDATZ: So what could have been done differently? You know the Pentagon is reviewing. When you look at that situation and how it ended and why it ended, what do you think and what should we have done?
MILLER: The disconnect, in my view, was risk was rising on the ground. And I'm not -- well, I'm sure it wasn't fully appreciated. And part of that is you lighten the load that you have to deal with in an emergency before the emergency occurs. If you start looking at the actual evacuation, you had a number of people that you knew you were going to bring out.
I would have liked to have seen some of that come out while we had all the airlift as we were taking the military out.
RADDATZ (voice-over): For those left behind, particularly women and girls, life under Taliban rule is bleak. Since 2021, the Taliban have barred 2.4 million Afghan girls from school, according to the U.N.
MILLER: It looks an awful lot like pre-2001 Afghanistan in terms of one that -- very specifically, the treatment of women, the armed forces who are left behind. They're at risk and they're at risk because they are a potential threat to the regime.
RADDATZ: You've done what you can for those who are here and trying to get others out. That's really important to you, especially those special operations.
MILLER: I felt a responsibility to the Afghan people. And let's face it, I think for somebody who's just lost their country and that's the way they come to the United States, that's a difficult, difficult start point. I think it helps me too, Martha. It's what do you do after that.
A lot of times people say, I don't know my purpose anymore. Well, there's some purpose. You can help some other people. You can help them assimilate into our country.
RADDATZ: You've transitioned out of the military after a pretty extraordinary career. But that is a really, really hard thing to do, especially because of the way Afghanistan ended. What do you do -- how do you heal your own trauma, I guess, and advice you would give to others?
MILLER: I'd tell people transition is an individual journey, and it's going to be a little bit different depending on who you are. I was quite unhappy with the ending in Afghanistan. Even if I knew it wasn't going to be good, I knew this -- knew this could happen, but I was angry. And I would call myself less than thoughtful, but time does some healing. When I think about who carries the greatest cost, it's the families.
RADDATZ: Do they also want to know it mattered?
MILLER: Yes.
RADDATZ: And what do you say about that?
MILLER: Well, that's the -- that's the, is it worth the question? And that's the -- one, it's a tough, tough subject. Every time you -- if you lost somebody on an operation and sometimes you lost them in ones or twos or driving down the road and hit by a catastrophic IED, you could never say this operation was worth it. But, as you're moving towards being what the nation has asked you to be, it's accumulation effects.
Going back to Mogadishu, one of the things, TF Ranger, what I can -- I can look at the spouses and the children, and I can say, you know something? I know we lost your dad or your husband that day. But I can promise you that the men of TF Ranger have taken those lessons, and they've saved other people's lives with those lessons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RADDATZ: Our thanks to General Miller and all those who served and their families.
One note about Abdul, the Afghan interpreter who feared he would be killed, he and his family escaped, and he is working hard and thriving here in America.
We'll be right back with a preview of an ABC special marking the 25 years since the September 11th attacks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RADDATZ: Next Friday marks 25 years since the devastating attacks of September 11th. In the coming weeks, ABC will be telling the story of that day and how the nation responded with resilience beginning on Tuesday night with the prime-time special exploring how sports, music, Broadway and comedy helped Americans rediscover joy and begin to heal in the wake of the attacks.
Here's a preview of "9/11: United We Stand 25 Years Later," led by my colleague, "GMA" co-anchor and former New York Giants defensive end, Michael Strahan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STRAHAN, ABC NEWS CO-ANCHOR OF "GOOD MORNING AMERICA" (voice-over): 9/11 is best characterized by profound loss. But I am curious, what you gained from 9/11.
How did 9/11 change you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The events of 9/11 were devastating for everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world changed after September 11th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early morning of the 12th, packed up some stuff, went down to Ground Zero and just began working.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It gave me an appreciation for anonymous individuals performing daily functionality for the rest of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When this happened, I wasn't a coach anymore. I was just an American. And as an American, you wanted to do something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think, what can you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For all of us in sports, music, entertainment, we all realized that we could all collectively help the country heal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We suddenly had like something, a little teeny thing we felt like we could do.
JIMMY FALLON, AMERICAN COMEDIAN & TELEVISION HOST: You have to make people smile again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Broadway showed up. A lot of musicians showed up. Athletes showed up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only something like baseball that can cure things sometimes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You saw an explosion of emotion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. There's just something about sports.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cheering of the crowd, especially when they introduced my brothers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The moment that will last forever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The concert for New York was 20,000 people. Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards -- Madison Square Garden was shaking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no place like New York City.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This amazing city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Extraordinary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just got chills again thinking of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry? It was glorious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: Be sure to tune in Tuesday night for "9/11: United We Stand -- 25 Years Later" on ABC and streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RADDATZ: And that's all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out "World News Tonight" and have a great day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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