'This Week' Transcript: Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rick Santorum

— -- THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOR 'THIS WEEK' ON July 3, 2016 and it will be updated.

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC HOST: Now for more on all this, we have top surrogates from both the candidates from the crucial swing states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. We'll talk to former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum shortly.

ABC THIS WEEK

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Starting right now on THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, breaking news -- the FBI interviews Hillary Clinton, three and a half hours of questioning.

What did they ask and where will the investigation go now?

All that after Bill Clinton's tarmac talk with Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, when I first heard the story, I said no, no, you're kidding. I don't believe that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Plus, fireworks over trade...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We are not going to let Donald Trump bankrupt America the way he bankrupted his casinos.

TRUMP: Hillary, she's never going to bring your jobs back, folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're there as Trump and Clinton target the must-win heartland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I trust no one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And veep stakes frenzy.

Who's topping the list just two weeks before the conventions kick off?

From ABC News, it's THIS WEEK.

Here now, co-anchor, Martha Raddatz.

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC HOST: Hello again and Happy Fourth of July weekend.

Four months to Election Day, two weeks to the conventions and the race for the White House is kicking into high gear. Both candidates are now vetting running mates, decisions on vice presidents imminent.

Hillary Clinton is set to hit the trail hard this week with Vice President Biden and President Obama himself. All this as the Clinton email investigation enters a dramatic final phase.

Saturday, Clinton spent three and a half hours being interviewed at FBI headquarters, voluntarily answering questions about that private server she kept while secretary of State.

Donald Trump complained that the system is totally rigged, called for criminal charges against Clinton. And he called Bill Clinton's tarmac meeting with the attorney general stupid.

And last night, determined to show she is carrying on as normal, Hillary Clinton showed up on Broadway, back stage at the hit musical, "Hamilton," with her husband by her side.

We have full coverage of the investigation and the political fallout.

And we begin with senior justice correspondent Pierre Thomas and senior national correspondent Cecilia Vega, who has been covering the Clinton campaign.

Good morning to you both.

And let's begin with you, Pierre.

We know it was three and a half hours. We know it was voluntary.

But what kind of questions would they ask her?

PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Martha, I believe they wanted to know why Secretary Clinton set up this unusual email system in the first place, who, if anyone, from the State Department signed off on this, and whether there were any discussions about how to keep classified information off that private email system.

This is -- FBI investigation has gone on for many months. They want to compare what Secretary Clinton knows to what was found during the investigation.

RADDATZ: As you know, Pierre, in order to indict this would have to meet the legal standard of having mishandled classified information.

What's that standard and what's the likelihood Hillary Clinton or any of her aides will face charges?

THOMAS: It's a pretty high bar. It can't just be that classified information was mishandled. You have to prove there was intent to do so. It's not just about negligence or being sloppy -- Martha, the key here is I'm told that one of the reasons the investigation took so long is because the FBI went back and looked at the access Clinton aides had to secure computer networks that contain classified information.

They wanted to know if those aides took classified information from the secure locations and then e-mailed it to the secretary on her non-secure private email system.

They dissected everything.

RADDATZ: So -- so how rapidly do you think they can wrap this up?

She was likely the last, if not the very last, person interviewed.

THOMAS: They are clearly in the final stages. I'm told Justice Department officials want this resolved before the conventions start in just about two weeks. Whether they will make that deadline remains to be seen.

I recently spoke to a former senior Justice official who was critical that this was being resolved so close to the conventions -- Martha?

RADDATZ: OK, thanks very much, Pierre.

And Cecilia, what's next for the campaign?

What do they do about this?

CECILIA VEGA, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martha, I think you're seeing this strategy play out in real time. Just look at the timing of what happened yesterday. This interview took place on a Saturday morning, early Saturday morning, over a holiday weekend.

Hillary Clinton -- there were reporters camped out in front of her houses in DC and in Chappaqua, New York. And no one saw -- there were no videos, no photos of Hillary Clinton going in or out of the FBI headquarters. That's the last thing the campaign wanted in this, for an image like that to emerge.

She is a -- her campaign is control in damage control mode right now. You mentioned the big week she's got coming up with President Obama and -- and Joe Biden, Vice President Joe Biden is joining her on the court.

She's going to head to Atlantic City, New Jersey to essentially taunt Donald Trump on his own turf.

The campaign wants to change the narrative right now. They're certainly hoping that as America is over watching these fireworks by tomorrow night, so we'll be over this story about this FBI investigation that took place.

RADDATZ: But Cecilia, you cover this campaign every day. You talk to senior officials.

Do they not get how serious this is, how this looks to voters?

VEGA: You know what they get, Martha?

They get that trust and honesty is a huge problem for Hillary Clinton, if not the biggest problem facing her right now as she heads into this general election against Donald Trump. Even Hillary Clinton mentioned that issue, that she's got -- recently, on the campaign trail, in a pretty rare moment of self-reflection, she said she's got a lot of work to do to prove to voters that she's willing to work hard to win their trust.

That is the problem for her going forward. You know, she's clearly going to be working on that more. I'm told by campaign sources that this issue of trust and self-reflection is something we're going to hear a lot more of.

But the real problem is they may not be able to change all of these minds out there. You and I have both spoken with people all around this country, even Hillary Clinton supporters, who say they don't trust her, either.

RADDATZ: That's exactly what I saw, as well.

Cecilia, good luck to you out on the trail.

Now for more insight, let's turn now to "The Washington Post" chief correspondent, Dan Balz.

Dan, you have a piece about this investigation in the poke -- in "The Post" today about that impromptu meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch, calling it a striking error in judgment, saying Bill Clinton has made a mess. It was either out of foolish indifference or plain foolishness, but it has created a terrible moment for his wife and the Democrats and for President Obama and perceptions of the integrity of his ministra -- administration.

Bill Clinton is a veteran of campaigns.

How did this happen?

DAN BALZ, "WASHINGTON POST": It -- it's astonishing to try to figure out what was going through his mind when he did that and -- and on the part of the attorney general, as well.

I mean the -- particularly if both knew -- which they obviously must have -- that she was going to be interviewed yesterday for this final interview in the investigation. The timing of it was bad. The optics of it were terrible. If -- on both their parts, what they were thinking is inexplicable and I think it has created a huge problem for her, because as this goes forward, it just kind of reinforces the inside nature, the coziness of the various participants in this and it will raise questions, particularly in the minds of people who are doubters from the beginning, that this was anything other than an inside job.

And Donald Trump is prepared to jump on that no matter what the outcome is.

RADDATZ: Let's talk about the attorney general a little bit. She said -- she said herself, this will cast a shadow over things, but that she will accept the recommendations of career prosecutors. And she said that was a decision she made months ago.

Is that the right thing to do?

BALZ: Well, I think if you're the attorney general, you should be involved in this decision. I mean this -- this is -- obviously, you don't want to interfere. You don't want political appointees interfering.

But she is the attorney general and for her essentially to say she will simply accept what comes up to her is -- seems to me an abdication of the role of the attorney general in a case that is this important and this sensitive.

RADDATZ: And -- and you had Eric Holder involved in the General Petraeus case.

BALZ: Yes, you did. I mean he -- he intervened in that case and -- and to change the outcome of that. You know, I mean you have a similar issue, frankly, Martha, with the president of the United States. I mean the president of the United States has endorsed Hillary Clinton. He is going to be campaigning with her. It is this -- as if he has prejudged the outcome of this.

Now, the -- the White House has tried to treat this, in a sense, as a routine case, which is to say keeping their hands off, staying away from it as far as possible.

And yet you do have the president having made a political decision to embrace her fully at a time when the -- the outcome of the investigation is still not known publicly.

RADDATZ: And just quickly, Dan, you said the Republicans are already seizing on this and -- and Donald Trump, as well. And it does have resonance. He said, "It is impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against "crooked Hillary Clinton." What she did was wrong. What Bill did was stupid."

I trust we'll hear a lot more about that.

BALZ: I'm sure we will. I mean even before this meeting between Bill Clinton and -- and Loretta Lynch, the Trump campaign had -- had -- had essentially seen this investigation as a win-win. Either she is prosecuted in some way, or if not, they would claim whitewash.

And I think that you -- you see Trump already warming up to move in that direction, no matter what happens in the outcome of this case.

RADDATZ: Thanks so much for joining us on this holiday weekend, Dan.

Enjoy the rest of it.

Now for more on all this, we have top surrogates from both the candidates from the crucial swing states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. We'll talk to former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum shortly.

But first, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown joins me from Cleveland, a Clinton supporter.

And Senator Brown, I want to start with you with the major news this weekend.

Are you worried at all about possible indictments coming from this case?

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: I'm not really, thank you, Ms. Raddatz, for -- for the question and for having me on the show.

I'm not worried about it. I see what Secretary Clinton has done. She has -- she's released 55,000 pages of emails, 31,000 different emails. She's released her tax returns since 1977. She's released her health care records. She's always been willing to talk to authorities.

I think what the story is missing is all that we don't know about Donald Trump. He won't release his taxes. We don't have his real health care records. He hasn't filled in any of the blanks in what he's going to do. We see every week or two, we see another story of a small business that went out of business because Donald Trump...

RADDATZ: Senator Brown, I want to stay with these e-mails.

BROWN: I understand. But that's a contrast we need to make. Go ahead.

RADDATZ: I know you want to make the contrast, but I want to stick with the emails. You sort of dismissed the possibility of indictments. They've been investigating this since.

BROWN: I answered your question.

RADDATZ: They've been investigating this since August. You really don't think any indictments are possible?

BROWN: I don't think that will happen. I gave you my answer. I don't think it will happen. But I think the story needs to be that, in part -- I'm not telling you how to do your job, of course, Ms. Raddatz.

RADDATZ: And please call me Martha.

BROWN: Certainly look at what Hillary's done. What's that?

RADDATZ: Please call me Martha.

BROWN: OK, I'll call you Martha, fine.

I just think that, you know, we certainly it's your job to explore all that you can about Secretary Clinton. But it's also our jobs, including the Clinton campaign, to find out more about Donald Trump. And I think the more we know -- elections are about contrasts -- I trust Hillary Clinton in part because for a whole lot of reasons, in part, because I know how she started her career advocating for the Children's Defense Fund. She didn't do off to Manhattan or to Washington to make a lot of money.

And I think she's followed that through the course of her career. And I think that is part of the story, too.

RADDATZ: OK, if there are no indictments, if she and her aides do not face any sort of legal action, has the meeting between Attorney General Lynch and Bill Clinton called into question the integrity of the process?

BROWN; No, I don't -- it was unfortunate. You have all made that case. And I think others have made it, too.

I wished it hadn't happened. But I think the FBI will do its job. I mean, I've seen the authorities in my career in the House and Senate, I've seen federal authorities do their jobs regardless of political machinations and political pressure sometimes. I fully expect them to. And I think that -- I think there won't be an indictment. And I think that means she did what many secretaries of state have done in the past.

I mean, she released more emails and more pages of emails and more records than any of her predecessors of secretary of state, even before she was actually running for president. I think that speaks to her integrity.

RADDATZ: But this trust issue really does resonate out there. I have been out in Pennsylvania and your state, in Ohio, all this week. It goes to the heart of the problems Hillary Clinton faces, in West Virginia, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, she acknowledges she has a problem with Trump.

Voters see trump as more trustworthy in some of these places. She has acknowledged the problem this week noting she has work to do on this front. What can she do to change this?

BROWN: Well, I -- first, you explain it. In part, when she left the secretary of state's office, her favorable ratings all the polling was very, very positive. Then, if you remember, all the Benghazi stuff started, and all the hearings, and the majority leader -- Republican majority leader of the House said those hearings were to bring her poll numbers down.

So, we see what's happened. And I think, again, once voters make that contrast that Hillary in fact has been a very good public official from her time as a lawyer to her time as first lady to her time in the Senate to her time as -- and now the most qualified person to run for president in my lifetime against a guy who has been a hypocrite in his business dealings, made a lot of money off trade policy, but now he wants to be the guy against the trade agreements.

I think that contrast is going play. I know you spent a lot of time in the Mahoning Valley talking to the folks in Youngstown. I know what the auto rescue did for the Mahoning Valley that President Obama and the Democrats -- and a few Republicans in the House and Senate -- did.

And I also know -- the suit I'm wearing was made by union workers six miles from my home in Cleveland where we sit now.

Donald Trump outsources his ties to China. He outsourced his furniture to Turkey. I know a company in Ohio that could make that furniture in Archibald, Ohio. I know companies in Cleveland that could make the suits and the other things that Donald Trump has outsourced.

RADDATZ: Let's turn to trade. It did dominate the campaign trail this week. Trump accused Clinton of selling out workers by supporting NAFTA and now TPP, and Clinton fired back on his business record.

You support Hillary Clinton. But listen to what you and Donald Trump have said about trade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Hard-working men and women who have made America the strongest nation in the world are betrayed by Washington's trade policy.

TRUMP: Our workers' loyalty was repaid with total betrayal.

BROWN; It will continue to cost us jobs unless we renegotiate a better NAFTA.

TRUMP: I'm going to tell our NAFTA partners that I intend to immediately renegotiate.

BROWN; There's no guarantee that China can't backdoor into this agreement.

TRUMP: China will enter the TPP through the back door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: Sounds like you have similar views.

BROWN: Well done. Good research.

A couple of things, first of all, all I've heard with Donald Trump, the guy who made a lot of money from outsourcing jobs to China, to Mexico, to Turkey, to Slovenia, to other countries I'm forgetting right now, the guy that made a lot of money guy that made a lot of money from that is now against this trade policy, but never, ever raised his voice against it when congress was considering it.

But the second point is, look what Hillary is proposing. Trump has not proposed anything we're going to do more tariffs and these are bad trade deals. I agree they're bad trade deals, of course I agree with that. But Hillary -- as Secretary Clinton has proposed a trade prosecutor aimed specifically at China-U.S. trade. She's proposed tripling the number of trade enforcers. And I know what trade enforcement does. I go to the International Trade Commission almost once a month, arguing for stronger enforcement. And we usually win on this in this administration.

I know what Secretary Clinton -- she understands rules of origin in autos. That's real jobs in auto supply chain in my state. That's why -- that a really important part of TPP that doesn't work for our country. She recognizes that.

She understands what...

RADDATZ: But throughout her tenure as secretary of state there was all-out advocacy for TPP. How are your voters going to believe that she's changed?

BROWN They're going to believe because she clearly understands these issues and she talk in great depth about them in individual interviews and rallies. You get none of that from Donald Trump.

And she was secretary of state, her boss was advocating a trade policy. It was her boss. She was the secretary of state for the president. Of course she's going to the take those positions.

But I trust her on this. I've spent a lot of time talking trade with her on the phone, in person, in my state, in Washington. Her office was right across the hall from my mine when I came to the senate. She strikes me as somebody more than most politicians who actually listens and doesn't talk all the time. And she -- I am convinced, I've staked my reputation on what -- and I've written a book on trade, and nobody has fought harder against NAFTA, CAFTA...

RADDATZ: Senator Brown, just quickly -- to wrap this up. I've got to ask you one quick question about vice presidential speculations surrounding you. Have you been contacted or vetted by the campaign?

BROWN: I'm simply not going to speculate on that. I love the job I get to do working everything from auto rescue to the earned income tax credit.

RADDTAZ: Have you been contacted?

BROWN: ...to those question. I'm not going to speculate. I think I have answered that.

RADDATZ: I'm not asking you to speculate. Have you been contacted?

BROWN: I understand. You've heard my answer. That's what you're going to get. And talk to the Secretary Clinton campaign.

RADDATZ: OK, thanks very much for joining us, Senator Brown.

BROWN: Sure, glad to do it.

Thank you, Martha.

RADDATZ: Thank you.

And Rick Santorum, two-time presidential candidate, and former Pennsylvania senator, who has endorsed Donald Trump is with us here in the studio.

RICK SANTORUM, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, Martha.

RADDATZ: Good morning.

I want to start with you as well with Secretary Clinton's meeting with the FBI. Your candidate, Donald Trump, tweeting yesterday, it was just announced by sources that no charges will be brought against crooked Hillary Clinton. Like I said, the system is totally rigged. I don't know who he's talking about with his sources. But totally rigged. You believe the system is totally rigged? You believe your candidate?

SANTORUM: You have a long history of this administration playing politics, everything from the Internal Revenue Service to the Justice Department on a lot of investigations. And when you see Bill Clinton doing what he did just this week, it is a very cozy relationship between the White House and Mrs. Clinton. And I think a lot of people, not just Donald Trump, are very concerned that this isn't getting a fair hearing.

RADDATZ: Loretta Lynch says she'll accept the FBI's investigation.

SANTORUM: And then said she would have the right to overrule it if she didn't agree, though.

RADDATZ: So, you agree with Donald Trump?

Will you go so far as to say it's rigged?

SANTORUM: Look, this is a very cozy relationship between the president and Mrs. Clinton. The fact that he's going to campaign for her in the face of the looming investigation and potential indictment says maybe he knows something that the rest of us don't know.

RADDATZ: OK, he had tweeted earlier, it's impossible for the FBI not to recommend charges. You're a lawyer. What is the basis for criminal charges?

SANTORUM: Well, I mean, obviously she set up an independent server, that's clearly against the rules. She handled classified information...

RADDATZ: Against the rules, maybe.

SANTORUM: Well, I mean, it's -- the level of indictment? I mean, what the charges are. There certainly was activity that is illegal activity.

The question is what --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: So you disagree with Senator Brown; she -- you believe she could face charges?

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: If she was not Hillary Clinton, that -- if she was a undersecretary of state that had done the same types of things, number one, she'd have been -- he or she would have been fired. And, yes, they would have been brought up under political -- I mean, prosecution by the Justice Department.

RADDATZ: OK. Senator John Cornyn is asking that Lynch recuse herself.

Do you think that's appropriate?

SANTORUM: I think the attorney general should be the attorney general. And she should go out there and make the case as to why she -- he -- she shouldn't or should be indicted. I don't think recusal is appropriate; she should -- she'd -- to take the responsibility. It comes with the office.

RADDATZ: OK. You were at Trump's speech on Tuesday.

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: I was. It was great speech.

RADDATZ: -- I was up there just shortly after that. You've been making the argument that Donald Trump will be better for working families. There have been a few economists who warn the opposite, including Republicans. Independent analysts, Moody's calculated that his plans would plunge the economy into a long recession with high unemployment, ballooning deficits and the rich, not the middle class, benefiting the most.

The Conservative American Action Forum warned that his immigration plan would shrink the economy by 2 percent and destroy up to 623 billion in private sector output.

The Heritage Foundation's "Daily Signal" groups his ideas on trade with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's and said, outright, he is wrong.

What do you -- ?

SANTORUM: This is the beauty of Donald Trump, that he goes against the Republican orthodoxy, much of which has been rejected a lot of Republican voters, who, well, would be Republican voters, at least in my state, who I think would otherwise like to vote Republican.

But they don't think Republicans understand that -- the problems that they're going through. And they know the Democratic solutions don’t work, you know, more government, higher taxes, you know, increase in the minimum wage, that's not the answer. The answer is jobs. The answer is good-paying jobs.

And what Donald Trump is focused on is a policy of trade that looks after the interests of the American worker, not just the overall GDP numbers. And that is what is resonating.

I can tell you, being in that room in Manhasset (ph), south of Pittsburgh, and seeing Democratic mayors from up and down that valley that's been decimated -- decimated -- by trade policy, showing up at his rally and saying, you know, this is someone we want to listen to. That's going to change in --

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: -- Mahoning Valley or the Monongahela Valley.

RADDATZ: -- jobs to that area?

You know some of those -- most of those jobs have been replaced. Manufacturing output is high but unemployment is also very high because they're just not doing those kinds of jobs anymore.

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: -- dishonest to promise that?

SANTORUM: No, I disagree with that. Look, manufacturing has made a little bit of a resurgence here in America. It could make even more if we have a level playing field in trade and we had good tax policy and regulatory policy, which, by the way, Donald Trump mentioned, you know, reducing the regulatory burden has this administration has put on our energy sector, our manufacturing sector.

He's got a message that's resonating with working men and women. And from Pennsylvania, all the way through the Rust Belt, all the way to Iowa, Minnesota, that message is going resonate. I think Donald Trump is going to surprise a lot of people.

RADDATZ: OK. One thing Donald Trump said is that his plans will result in higher consumer prices. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) paying a little bit more and having jobs. It's a much better system, the way it used to be. A lot of people say, oh, well, the goods will be cheaper. They'll come in, they'll be cheaper.

Yes, but we lost all our jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: Doesn't that hurt the middle class families you're trying to help?

SANTORUM: Well, it's a combination first of how much more you're going to pay. I mean, I can tell you, a good friend of mine in Butler County just lost a huge contract to a Mexican vendor in a competition, really literally by pennies, pennies on a part.

And you can say, well, we -- all those folks, about 100 of them, lost their jobs to Mexico.

Is pennies going to make a difference when you look at the hundreds of jobs and the impact of that?

So the answer is, could prices go up modestly?

When you look at the rate of inflation, a modest -- a somewhat modest increase in price for a much more robust and healthier working group of Americans, I think it's a pretty good trade.

RADDATZ: I also heard a lot about his temperament when I was on the road in your state and others. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was on this program last week and refused to say if Trump was qualified.

You served with McConnell in the Senate.

You think he's qualified?

SANTORUM: Well, I do. I mean, I've had the opportunity to spend some time with Donald Trump. He is -- he -- as you can imagine, I mean, he's a very engaging man. He's -- he puts on an image as a lot of candidates and I think all of us do when we're in front of a microphone that's really tough and combative.

But he's a good businessman. He knows how to put the deal together. And I think he'd be a -- he'll be a very constructive figure in the White House.

Tell me if you're interested in being vice president but if not, what kind of vice president does he need?

SANTORUM: He needs someone -- I would say this about any candidate. You need someone who is ready to be President of the United States. I mean, that's what the first priority of picking a vice president is and you know, there's lots of good people out there in the Republican Party. There were 17 of us running for president.

So that's probably a good place to start, someone to be -- someone from that group.

RADDATZ: And you?

SANTORUM: I'm not -- I'm going the adopt the Sherrod Brown approach to not comment on anybody.

RADDATZ: I don't like that approach. Come on.

OK. Thanks very much for joining us, Senator.

Coming up, much more on that eyebrow-raising meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch.

Is the former president helping or hurting Hillary Clinton and how will this play on the campaign trail?

Our roundtable ready to take that on.

And next, we head to swing states, where Trump's message certainly is resonating in the primary.

But how will it play in the general election?

Can Trump hold on to that support?

Or do voters now think he's all talk and no action?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: The clock is ticking down for our current candidates, Trump already vetting potential picks. He's expected to announce within the next couple of weeks. Some reports it could be as early as this week. Sherrod Brown and Rick Santorum playing it coy right there.

So who might Trump and Hillary pick as their number two?

Our roundtable weighs in -- coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What I'm going to do is I want to focus on 15 or so states, because we have to win. And I want my energy to be put in the states where it could go either way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: Donald Trump laying out his path to victory, planning to campaign heavily in those all important swing states.

While this message resonated with early voters in primaries across the Rust Belt region, some voters are now reconsidering their decision.

And what about Hillary Clinton?

Up in national polls, but contending with questions about her honesty.

So which way are swing state voters leaning?

I took to the road to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ (voice-over): Western Pennsylvania -- where steel mills in lush valleys were built to feed America's heavy industry. But no longer.

In these struggling communities, Donald Trump is an unlikely champion, a Manhattan billionaire, a white collar high roller famous for the TV words these voters have heard all too many times in real life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I have to say, you're fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: And yet Trump's best shot at the White House are these Rust Belt states -- Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, where we found a decidedly mixed mood.

A region that helped President Obama win in 2008 and again in 2012 is today torn between two imperfect candidates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel (INAUDIBLE).

RADDATZ: Bedford, Pennsylvania diner owner Scott Moll (ph) hears a lot of political conversations at his breakfast counter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to know what he's going to do for small businesses. I want to know how he's going to get trade back on track.

RADDATZ: Moll is not alone. Carol Boone (ph) may make an unprecedented decision.

(on camera): Have you ever voted for a Democrat?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

RADDATZ: But you might vote for Hillary Clinton?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will probably be my first time.

RADDATZ (voice-over): Then there are those who are considering switching loyalties, in favor of Trump, like Monessen, Pennsylvania mayor, Lou Mavrakis.

MAYOR LOU MAVRAKIS, MONESSEN, PENNSYLVANIA: Over the years, you look at Monessen, we lost over 8,000 steelworker jobs.

RADDATZ: The lifelong Democrat invited Trump to speak in the small steel town. He's fed up with what he sees as unfulfilled prime minister from the Obama administration.

MAVRAKIS: You're in the heart of where steel and coal is born.

RADDATZ (on camera): And you really think Donald Trump can bring that back?

MAVRAKIS: Do I think that -- that Hillary Clinton could do something for us?

I don't think any one of them could do anything before us. But he's saying what I want to hear and what everybody else around here wants to hear.

RADDATZ (voice-over): Indeed, this hard-scrabble region is home to many Trump diehards.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope he brings in more jobs, takes all the regulations off the coal mines, puts the coal people back to work.

RADDATZ: Here on the Ohio-West Virginia border, Trump's fans are unwavering -- buying bumper stickers and t-shirts to proclaim their loyalty.

(on camera): Some of the things he's said about women, does -- does any of that bother you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't bother me at all.

RADDATZ: How about -- I'm -- I'm looking at the sign behind you. We have hot chicks for Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like this one.

RADDATZ: Hillary for prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

RADDATZ: How about the one that says "Hillary Special: Two fat thighs, two small breasts, left-wing."

Does that go too far?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No. Hillary has went too far.

RADDATZ (voice-over): Motorcycle rally goers in Johnstown, Pennsylvania show that for every person voting for Trump because they can't stand Clinton, there's another voting for Clinton because they can't stand Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a sexist. He's an elitist. He's a racist. I think he would be terrible for our country.

RADDATZ: We heard that same story in McDonald, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'm voting for Hillary.

RADDATZ (on camera): And what is it about Hillary that you like?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not Donald Trump. And I can't vote for Donald Trump.

RADDATZ: On the other hand...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trumpo County, dude.

RADDATZ: Some here view Hillary Clinton as dishonest and not trustworthy. We heard over and over that Benghazi and those emails were a major concern.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personally, I think she lied about Benghazi. I think she lied about a lot of things.

RADDATZ: And then we heard from those frustrated voters who believe both candidates are so imperfect...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time in election history that I'm probably in the same boat as a lot of Americans, that to say, do we have any candidate that's worthwhile?

RADDATZ: But as we move toward the conventions, like it or not, it's Trump or Clinton and time is coming to pick a side.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ: And it was great being out on the road.

Coming up, more on that meeting between the attorney general and the former president -- what really happened inside that plane.

Plus, it's that time of year. Candidates making one of their most important campaign choices -- who to pick as vice president. Which potential picks could help or hurt the candidates most. Our roundtable dives into that and more, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: Trump and Clinton exchange blows on trade. Trump's campaign sees more staff shake-up. And Clinton finally faces the FBI.

A jam-packed week in 2016 race and our roundtable is here to break it all down, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would like to ask one question before we begin. Newt, are you going to do it?

NEWT GINGRICH, FRM. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Should I?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he needs the help. Yes.

BIDEN: The question was, should I -- should he be vice president. I tell him -- anyway, it's a hell of a job. You get a big pay raise. It's all worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: Even the current vice president is weighing in on veepstakes. Everyone wondering who Trump and Clinton will pick to fill out the ticket.

So, let's bring in the roundtable. Kimberly Strassel, Wall Street Journal columnist and author of "The Intimidation Game;" The Atlantic senior editor Alex Wagner; ABC News Cokie Roberts; and host of NPR Morning Edition Steve Inskeep. Welcome to everybody. Happy holidays.

COKIE ROBERTS, ABC NEWS: Happy Fourth.

RADDATZ: But we have a lot of work to do here first before you can go enjoy yourself.

Cokie, you heard the anger towards Hillary Clinton this week. And now we have her before the FBI. Do you think the campaign understands how deep the mistrust...

ROBERTS: Oh, they have to. I mean, they just simply have to. The polling numbers are so severe. One after another showing people don't find her honest and trustworthy, and find Donald Trump more honest and trustworthy.

But I don't think they have a clue how to fix it.

RADDATZ: Go to Broadway.

ROBERTS: Yeah, right, go see Hamilton. That'll do it.

He lied too, to his wife, terrible.

RADDATZ: And, Steve, of course those truly terrible optics when former president Bill Clinton and the attorney general met for half an hour. Politico had the headline, "Democrats groan after Bill Clinton meets Loretta Lynch." What was he thinking?

STEVE INSKEEP, NPR: Hard to know what he was thinking, except there's a coziness there. This is a guy who reaches out to everyone. Did he intend to influence Lynch in some way? We don't know that. But we know that this is a guy who doesn't necessarily discipline himself. It's part of Bill Clinton charm, it's part of his personality.

RADDATZ: Is there also a sense that, you know, those rules don't apply to me, Alex?

ALEX WAGNER, THE ATLANTIC: Well, first of all, this is something he's been known to do. He's had tarmac confabs, if you will, before. As Steve points out, we don't know what's in Big Bubba's head.

What I think is interesting is if you tell the story of Bill Clinton as a sort of political advantage as he was in the previous election cycle or seemed to be, this year, and this cycle, he has not been really. Hillary Clinton is still having problems with white working class voters, that was Bill Clinton's sort of bailiwick, if you will. And he has engaged with black lives matter in a way that has not been good for her campaign. There is this moment on the tarmac which will, I think, keep alive a story that has been hugely detrimental..

RADDATZ: And Kim, more things are coming out. There's more stories about emails.

KIM STRASSEL, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, look, but I think this goes beyond optics. I mean, we came talking about optics. She, Loretta Lynch, made it impossible for her to do her job. She's now saying, well, I'll just accept the recommendations. It's not her job to accept recommendations, it's her job to make a judgment as the head of the Department of Justice. And she's -- what she ought to be saying is, I either step back from this and let someone else make that decision, or make the judgment herself.

Also, by the way, the simple fact that she met with him in that airplane has already influenced this probe. The FBI works for her. They just watched her boss down with the husband of...

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Those are career prosecutors.

And attorneys general are political appointees, and everybody knows that. I mean, you know, Bobby Kennedy being the best example.

But the fact is that they often do change the recommendations of prosecutors. Eric Holder reduced the charges against David Petraeus. So, it is, you know, it does put Hillary Clinton in a more difficult position in all kinds of ways.

WAGNER: Can we also just note that Loretta Lynch, really, she was asked in the same conversation, what did Eric Holder not tell you about being attorney general. And she said winkingly, how to lock the plane doors. I mean, this is not...

RADDATZ: You were there.

WAGNER: Yes, I was there. She's not happy about this interaction by any stretch of the imagination.

ROBERTS: I'm amazed they all have these planes. What's the deal with planes?

RADDATZ: No, I thought about that, too, although...

INSKEEP: You don't go from your plane to another plane to talk to...

RADDATZ: I try, but it doesn't work. I'm alone on the tarmac.

So, let's talk about whether this mistrust is a factor at all in choosing a vice president. Does she find somebody stable, high on the trust scale? Where do you think that stands?

And first, we had Senator Elizabeth Warren dominated the talk this week, but according to our latest ratings, she's not alone in the top tier. This is how we look at them here at ABC. HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, the other Virginia Senator Mark Warner, and Secretary of Labor Tom Perez.

And if you want to put your money on one of those five?

INSKEEP: Well, Sherrod Brown, who you had on this program, is someone that she trusts but is not considered to be necessarily up there in the...

ROBERTS: Because there's a Republican governor who would replace him with a Republican Senator.

INSKEEP: Exactly, difficult for Democrats to give up that Senate seat.

But there is something here that connects all of what we're talking about. The email scandal in some sense is about Hillary Clinton not necessarily trusting people, not necessarily wanting to expose herself.

If you have people who do not trust Hillary Clinton, perhaps part of the problem is that Clinton does not always trust the people who are around her, the media yapping at her heels or whatever else. She has reason not the trust people in this political environment, but that's the challenge for her is to open up.

ROBERTS: I think the revelations that Tim Kaine took gifts as governor and stuff is going to be a problem for him given her problems.

RADDATZ: But what about Elizabeth Warren.

ROBERTS: I think Elizabeth Warren is the real problem, not only does she not need her in terms of the Democrats. Hillary Clinton in our last ABC poll had 88 percent of the Democratic vote. Barack Obama got 89 percent of the Democratic vote when he won in 2008. It's fine. And having two women on the ticket is a real issue. And we have looked at implicit bias. And you look at the polling where you see that Hillary Clinton is losing on leadership, that's all about being a woman.

STRASSEL: It's about turnout. It's not about do you get the vote, it's whether or not you can get them to turn out. And, look, the energy on the Democratic Party right now is on the Bernie Sanders wing. These are the people who she needs to get to have come out and I'm not sure you can do that with a Tim Kaine. I'm not sure she can do that with...

WAGNER: I think her strategy for Sanders supporters is beating the drum of Donald Trump and painting a picture of Donald Trump with his hand on the button over and over again. That's her outreach...

RADDATZ: Let's move to Donald Trump and talk about his potential vice presidential picks and could come -- it's some reporting it could come as early as this week.

Our handicaps from ABC's political team on the GOP veepstakes: Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich -- who you heard Vice President Biden mentioned -- Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who he met with, and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions.

Who do you think would serve him best?

STRASSEL: Look, he has got to have somebody -- everyone knows what Trump needs. He needs somebody that's going to provide a little bit of stability balancing on the ticket there. OK, you think one of his problems is, who can he get in there are a lot of people that would actually probably serve him best, but they probably would not actually run with him.

I think there is a bigger problem with all of these candidates that you just mentioned, too, and that is people forget that just four years ago with Mitt Romney, the split and the problem in the Republican Party is that they wanted a new generation of conservatives.

And a lot of the people that you have got on that list here, in particular, like a Gingrich, is not what many of those --

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Well, he's also 73 years old. And Donald Trump is 70. But I think Bob Corker would really serve him best in that list. The senator from Tennessee, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: Steve, is there anyone you think he should absolutely stay away from?

INSKEEP: I'm not sure that it matters all that much, Martha.

(LAUGHTER)

RADDATZ: I was going to ask you that question, too. We're all talking about it.

But does it really matter?

Maybe it's different this time.

INSKEEP: -- I don't just mean the conventional wisdom that vice presidential choices don't matter. I think they do matter some. But with this particular figure?

Really?

Corker is a serious guy who has a very serious reputation. But Trump is such an incandescent figure, it's hard to see him not overshadowing completely anybody that he might pick.

WAGNER: I think this is not a question of who completes who. There will not be a love match made with either of these candidates, with Clinton, I think, who can be in the White House with both her and Bill and navigate it as best as if they can and then with Trump it is can someone burnish his credentials for legitimacy. And I think maybe Corker would be it.

RADDATZ: OK. We'll be back with all of you in a moment.

First, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau poking a little fun this week at President Obama's lame duck status.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: It's a little sad that this will be the last chance for all three of us to get together in this capacity, given President Obama's impending retirement, something --

(LAUGHTER)

RADDATZ (voice-over): A thumb's-up and a laugh from President Obama.

But what's he really thinking about post-presidential life?

We read between the lines of that smile with someone two knows the president well -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, I know how hard this job can be. That's why I know Hillary will be so good at it.

RADDATZ (voice-over): President Obama there, endorsing Hillary Clinton. He's hitting the campaign trail with her for the first time on Tuesday, a preview of how he'll be spending the next five months.

But how will Obama spend his days after he leaves the White House?

We may have a new clue from how he spends his nights. We were all fascinated this morning by a "New York Times" article titled "Obama after Dark," describing him as a night guy, spending five hours a night in his private study alone, reading briefing papers and letters from Americans, watching ESPN, playing Words with Friends on his iPad and having not six, not eight but seven almonds a night.

In all seriousness, at only 54, Obama will have plenty of time to cultivate his legacy.

So which direction might he choose?

Here to help us read between the lines, Professor Kenneth Mack, a friend and former classmate of the president, who has known him since Harvard Law School days and shared private dinners with the president early on in his time in office.

And Ken Mack, so what does a 54-year old like Barack Obama, a night guy, do next?

KENNETH MACK, FORMER OBAMA CLASSMATE: I think, first, rest. Being president is a very big deal even for a relatively young man like President Obama. So I think the first thing he's going to do is try to relax, get outside the bubble a little bit. And I think over time, he's going to formulate his post-presidency agenda.

RADDATZ: But he'll be in Washington, D.C. He'll be watched all of the time.

So really what does he do during his days and those nights?

MACK: Well, I think that, you know, the recent article you mentioned, it gives you a little bit of a clue. He likes to read. He likes to know more about the world. He likes to relax. He loves sports. He likes to see and talk to his friends. And these are all things that he doesn't get enough time to do as president -- and also spend time with his family.

RADDATZ: OK, you talk about sports. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, kind of hinted he might be interested in buying an NBA team. We know he loves basketball.

MACK: Well, you know, I think that -- you know, I think that that's something that he may have thought about. And you know, we all fantasize about things. But I think for a former president to own an NBA team is -- would be an experience fraught with lots of potential conflict. So I think it's unlikely.

But I think it shows that he thinks and he imagines and he imagines widely. And it's possible. But I think not likely.

RADDATZ: OK, thanks very much for joining us, Ken, and giving us that insight.

MACK: OK, thanks.

RADDATZ: OK. Let's bring back our roundtable to quickly think -- say what you think he'll do.

You interviewed him this week.

What do you think is next for President Obama?

INSKEEP: Well, there's a photograph that I think gives a clue, Martha. It was some months ago. It was President Obama, in the White House, with a room full of young black men, really powerful photograph. Could not have happened at any other point in history.

This is a subject that the president is very interested in. The My Brother's Keeper that he's involved with is all about reaching out to young black men, trying to bring them up in the world.

That's something that I think he has a personal interest in, that he's passionate about, that he -- I'm speculating here -- he may feel he hasn't been able to do everything he would want to do because he's been busy being President of the United States.

But he might want to do more later.

RADDATZ: (INAUDIBLE) George Bush took up painting.

What do you think --

ROBERTS: He might slow-walk the news. He was very good at that, slow-jam the news. But I think he'll do what presidents do. They do some writing. They do some speeching. (INAUDIBLE) and they do good works.

RADDATZ: But do you think he's passionate about something?

WAGNER: Yes, Michelle Obama --

(LAUGHTER)

WAGNER: -- and fiction and

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: What about that alone time?

WAGNER: -- golf. That's what it is. The big G, yes, 100 --

(CROSSTALK)

STRASSEL: -- what he should do, what he would be good at, he should be a late-night talk show host. Late-night guy --

RADDATZ: He does --

STRASSEL: -- great comedic timing.

RADDATZ: He has very, very good comedic timing --

STRASSEL: -- on a teleprompter.

RADDATZ: Seven almonds?

I'm sorry; I'm fixated on that.

How do you --

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: -- seven almonds?

OK.

INSKEEP: It's going to be eight almonds --

RADDATZ: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

RADDATZ: Thanks to all of you. We'll be back after this from our ABC stations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel died yesterday in Manhattan. Wiesel, who was liberated from the Buchenwald concentration camp when he was 16, devoted his life to ensuring the horrors of the Holocaust would never be forgotten.

President Obama called him the conscience of the world. Wiesel said…

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIE WIESEL, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER AND HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: I swore never to be silent. Whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation, we must speak. We must take sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: Elie Wiesel was 87.

And now, on this 4th of July weekend, we honor our fellow Americans who served and sacrificed.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RADDATZ (voice-over): In the month of June, one service member died overseas, supporting operations in Afghanistan.

That's all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out "WORLD NEWS TONIGHT" and we'll see you back here next week.