'This Week' Transcript 9-1-24: Sen. Lindsey Graham, Gov. Jared Polis and Melissa Ludtke

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, September 1, 2024 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.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: We’re now less than 10 days away from seeing Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on the stage for the very first time. The ABC News presidential debate in Philadelphia is, of course, on September 10th.

So, let’s bring in one of Trump’s biggest supporters, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

And, Senator Graham, before we get to the campaign, I want to ask you about the devastating news overnight out of Israel.

I know that you have been a big advocate for the hostages and you got to know, Senator, you got to know the parents of Hersh quite well.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: Yes. Yes.

KARL: You’re – what’s your reaction of this heartbreaking news?

GRAHAM: Heartbroken.

KARL: Yes.

GRAHAM: Devastated. Mad. Jon and Rachel have done everything in their power to – to help their son be released from captivity. After 11 months of captivity he was murdered by Hamas. Hamas could care less about the hostages or the Palestinians. And if you want the hostages home, which we all do, you have to increase the cost to Iran. Iran is the great Satan here. Hamas is the junior partner. They’re barbaric, religious nazis, Hamas. They could care less about the Palestinian people.

I would urge the Biden administration and Israel to hold Iran accountable for the fate of remaining hostages and put on the target list oil refineries in Iran if the hostages are not released.

KARL: We heard from the White House overnight, a statement from President Biden, saying that Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. That was what the president said.

GRAHAM: What are they going to pay? I mean, what’s the price? I mean, they destroyed a lot of Gaza. They put their own people in harm’s way. The – Hamas could care less about – about the Palestinian people.

Mr. President, Bibi, if you want to really change things when it comes to the hostages, tell the Ayatollah what he values is on the target list. Until that happens, nobody’s coming home.

KARL: All right, Senator Graham, I'm going to turn to the campaign.

You have said that –

GRAHAM: Yes.

KARL: That Donald Trump is poised, can win this race if he stays focused on the contrast between his record and the Biden-Harris record, if he focuses on the issue. So, let me ask you the flip side of that, how could he lose this campaign?

GRAHAM: I think the way that they’re running the campaign is to draw him into insult debates, get off script, get off the issues. This poll, to me, is very encouraging.

Now, in a head-to-head race, Trump is losing slightly. But on the issues, Trump economy plus eight, inflation plus eight, border plus nine. My God, that’s a blowout. Focus on the issues, Mr. President. Every poll says that – says the same thing, the American people trust you with what matters the most to them, the economy, inflation, border security and just managing the government. If I were you, my friend, I would focus on those issues, laser-like, and you will win this race.

KARL: And if you look at what the former president has said just in the last week or so about Kamala Harris as he looks ahead to this debate, he has called her, quote, “low IQ,” “dumb,” someone who, quote, “can’t put two sentences together.”

GRAHAM: Yes.

KARL: Now those sound a little bit more than school yard taunts than the stuff of a presidential campaign.

GRAHAM: Yes.

KARL: But it’s also a strange way to set expectations before a debate.

GRAHAM: Yes, I – I think she’s – you know, she’s been a senator. She’s attorney general. She’s now vice president. Obviously, she has some talent.

But here’s what I would say. On foreign policy, she’s been a wrecking ball. On Israel, she sat there and listened to somebody call the Israeli government and people engaging in genocide and did nothing about it. She boycotted Bibi’s speech to the Congress, sending the signal to Hamas and Iran that America really doesn’t have Israel's back. She was cheerleading the withdrawal from Afghanistan. She’s bragged about being the last person in the room. The dumbest decision maybe in modern history by an American administration.

I was in Munich when she warned the Russians not to invade Ukraine. Four days later, they did. She’s been in charge of the border in some way. I don’t know what the hell she’s been doing on the border, but we’ve got more terrorists in our county than anytime in history. And fentanyl poisoning is the leading cause of death among young people in America. That’s what I would hit her with.

She’s been a wrecking ball on foreign policy. It’s been the most incompetent administration I can remember on things that matter to the American people, your safety and your prosperity. That’s what I would talk about, not her IQ. Her job performance has been lousy.

KARL: By the way, that speech for Netanyahu, as I recall, J.D. Vance didn’t go either. So, it’s maybe a double boycott there.

GRAHAM: Well – well, but he wasn’t – yes, but it – but he wasn’t vice president of the United States. And no – nobody doubts J.D.’s support for Israel. J.D. has been unequivocally supporting Israel. She has been horrible. She’s slow-walking weapons. She didn’t attend the speech. And that juiced up every terrorist in the region. So, it’s not a fair comparison.

KARL: Yes, but I – but I would also point out that in her speech she said – in her speech to the convention she said, contrary to what many in her own party wanted her to say, promised to give Israel what I needs to defend itself.

But let me move on to –

GRAHAM: Jon, the damage – the damage – the damage has been done. She was vice president of the United States. She refused to come and attend a joint session of Congress with the prime minister of Israel.

KARL: OK. But –

GRAHAM: That sent the worst possible signal you could send.

KARL: But let me – let me ask you about another big issue this week. President Trump, seemingly out of nowhere, came out of public funding for IVF treatments and a mandate for insurance companies to – to fund them. Where did this come from? I know Congress had a vote on this. You voted against it. Every Republican in the Senate voted against it except for two. Where did this come from?

GRAHAM: I think he’s just trying to show his support for IVF treatments that, you know, we’ve been accused, the party has, of being a bit – against birth control. We’re not. We’ve been accused of being against IVF treatments. We’re not.

And one thing I thought about after what he said, you know, we have tax credits for people who have children. Maybe we should have a means tested tax credit for people using IVF and other treatments to become pregnant. I would support a tax credit, means tested, kind of like we do with children, that makes sense to me, to encourage people to have children.

KARL: But you wouldn’t support this idea of mandating insurance companies to cover this, would you? I mean you’ve already voted against it.

GRAHAM: No. No, I would, because there’s no end to that. Yes, there’s no end to that. I think a tax credit for children makes sense, means tested. And I think, let’s look at that concept for people trying to have a child. That makes some sense to me.

KARL: OK, let’s –

GRAHAM: I'll talk to my Democratic colleagues. We might be able to find common ground here.

KARL: OK, let me ask you also about this incident at Arlington National Cemetery. Obviously I know president – former President Trump was invited by the families to be here.

GRAHAM: Yes.

KARL: But here’s the statement that the Army has put out about what happened. They say, “participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DOD policies which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An Arlington National Cemetery employee, who attempted to ensure the adherence to these rules, was abruptly pushed aside. The incident was unfortunate. And it is also unfortunate that that employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked.”

Did the campaign, did the – the campaign cross a line here?

GRAHAM: You know, I don’t know. I think we need to, you know – I'm all for looking at what happened.

But you know what really is unfortunate, that these families had to go visit their – their fallen loved ones at Arlington due to incompetence by the Biden administration.

You know, I've tried to work with President Biden to get Saudi Arabia and Israel to reconcile. I've supported a lot of their nomination – nominees. I've known President Biden for a long time.

But Vice President Harris bragged about being the last person in the room cheerleading the withdrawal of all forces that led to the death of these 13, a rise in terrorism, combine that with a broken border, another 9/11 is coming our way.

So, what I take away from this whole debate about Arlington is why they died, how they died, and the incompetency that led to their death. To the American people, we’ve lost deterrence. Nobody in the world is afraid of Kamala Harris. She has become, in my view, ineffective in terms of a voice for America. So, if you want to avoid more dead Americans, vote for Trump.

KARL: And I know you also opposed Donald Trump’s talk of quickly getting out of Afghanistan as well.

Senator Graham, thank you –

GRAHAM: I did.

KARL: Thank you very much for joining us on THIS WEEK.

Coming up, Kamala Harris moves to the middle on some hot button issues. Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis joins us live.

We’re back in two minutes.

JON KARL: Melissa, thank you for being here. And what a story I mean, you are a true trailblazer.

MELISSA LUDTKE: [LAUGHS] I was considered a pioneer back then, along with about nine or 10 others.

KARL: You're 26 years old.

LUDTKE: Yes.

KARL: And you've managed to, like, achieve a dream. You're covering the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated.

LUDTKE: Well, I'm covering Major League Baseball. I mean, that was really the thing. I was the only woman covering it nationwide. The Yankees were in my radar screen because they were such a bizarre team. It was a soap opera in the locker room, in the clubhouse. You know, I could read the stories and know that, but on the field, they were also one heck of a team. You had Reggie the straw that stirred the drink. You had Thurman Munson the captain. You had George Steinbrenner the owner. You had Billy Martin, who George Steinbrenner would go on to hire and fire four times. It was the story, and it was in New York, and I was based in New York, and so yeah, I got to know them very, very well, and that's where I learned about how to cover baseball.

KARL: And obviously, as being a beat reporter, the, the players talk to the reporters in the locker room. I mean, this is like a basic thing, the clubhouse after the game. So you got access, you got access to the Yankees locker room.

LUDTKE: Well, you know, it took me two years and I and I got it because I never went public with any of my quote, unquote demands or any of my frustrations. I worked very much behind the scenes with the young PR person, first year person, my age, and that made all the difference. It wasn't one of the older, I would call them curmudgeonly men who had said to other women reporters, you better behave yourself. You know you better behave yourself. And if you don't behave yourself, you know you're out. They were just so frightened if they let one woman in that door, in that door, in the door of baseball. I mean, not even in the clubhouse, that, that was going to be the end of the boys club. It was going to be the end of something that was treasured about that sport.

KARL: But the amazing thing to me is you get access to the clubhouse --

LUDTKE: Yes.

KARL: -- At just the moment when we have arguably the greatest World Series of our lifetimes. I mean, this is the 1977 World Series, certainly with Reggie Jackson becoming Mr. October–

LUDTKE: Absolutely.

KARL: I mean, the greatest single performance.

LUDTKE: Well, and they're also playing the Dodgers.

KARL: And they’re playing the Dodgers! This is an epic–

LUDTKE: This is the first time in the World Series. I mean, LA and New York, you know, have been playing since they've gone out to LA to become the LA Dodgers. But it used to be the city-wide, you know, the Dodgers, Yankees. I mean, come on, it doesn't get bigger than that. But personally, for me, take away all of the glitter and the glamor of this series, it was the first time I was ever assigned to actually cover a World Series. So for me, it was just the biggest opportunity that I'd ever had in my lifetime.

KARL: You've achieved this moment. Covering the World Series, the Yankees-Dodgers World Series, game one. What happens?

LUDTKE: Game One World Series, 1977 and there I am sitting in my seat in what's they call the alternate press box, which is down in the grandstand. In the fifth inning, over a very scratchy little loudspeaker, I think I hear my name being called. I was told to report to the main press box. and I am told up there that even though the Yankees had given me permission to be in the clubhouse, even though I've gone to the Dodgers because I knew they didn't have a woman covering them, asked them, they'd taken a vote, and they voted —

KARL: And they approved it. They voted in favor —

LUDTKE: They approved me. So we had the — both teams had approved. And what I heard from the lieutenant, left tenant of Bowie Kuhn, who never told me this himself, he said the commissioner is the only one who's able to get permission for this to happen. It doesn't matter what the teams say, it doesn't matter.

KARL: It doesn’t matter what players say.

LUDTKE: Permission is never granted, and it will never be granted in this world series, and it never will be granted forever. And so that was the message.

KARL: And taken away from you at the moment you've reached this pinnacle —

LUDTKE: Exactly, exactly. So there was just this moment of — in my life, it seemed a pinnacle at that point, because this is what I'd worked so hard to do, to prove myself. You know, really against the odds, there wasn't a roadmap for me to follow, to be a woman covering baseball, but I'd done it, Now I had a chance to really show it, and that was taken away.

KARL: So you, you lose the battle during the World Series, but then Sports Illustrated and Time Inc. stand by you and say we're going to challenge this in court.

LUDTKE: Yeah. We're now in the Southern District Court of Manhattan. That court decides to take the case. They have to figure out the judge. So they have this old wooden box, ancient wooden box, and they put all the names of the available judges into it. They turn it around, turn it around. The clerk puts the hand in, pulls out a card: Judge Constance Baker Motley.

KARL: So the only woman on the court, that first black woman to serve as a federal judge —

LUDTKE: That's right

KARL: — gets this case —

LUDTKE: That's right

KARL: You, you're 26 years old. Now, you are one of the most famous sports reporters in America as a result of this case. I mean, SNL is doing bits about it.

LUDTKE: : With OJ Simpson, I might add.

KARL: OJ Simpson, yes, quite amazing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNL NEWMAN SOT: I’m standing here with Buffalo Bills star running back OJ Simpson. OJ, I don’t know much about football, but I know what I like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: you're losing in the court of public opinion. I mean, people are coming down on you --

LUDTKE: There's no question. I mean, the cartoonists had a field day.

KARL: -- Why should women be in the locker room?

LUDTKE: Absolutely, absolutely there was no comprehension of, of why I would be wanting to do this, because the case was made against me very effectively by the commissioner, picked up by the cadre of all-male sports writers, at that point there were very few women who had a voice in this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSELL: Touchy matter because it’s now under litigation, Commissioner, the Melissa Ludtke case. You’re opposed to women going into the clubhouse. Why?KUHN: Well, Howard, it’s our view that it’s not a fair thing for our players. This is an area where they’re dressing and it’s an area where we think they’re entitled to some — some reasonable privacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUDTKE: And so from their perspective, it was really a case of my morals. It was, it was, how could a girl or a woman, or a lady or a damsel, as they like to call me, you know, possibly want to do this? that was how the whole thing wanted to be portrayed, as kind of a sexual adventure from both the players perspective, in terms of their, what the commissioner would call their sexual privacy. Now, I was also kept out before the game, and that's when magazine reporters did their work. Now there was no player who was naked at that point, no player. They kept their uniforms on from batting practice until the game. So why would I be excluded then, if the issue was the sexual privacy?

KARL: You win this case. Major League Baseball appeals, you win the appeal, It’s historic. I want to read what you wrote after winning. This was the Op-Ed you wrote the New York Times in 1979: “When the time comes that we no longer read or hear about women in any locker room, and instead turn our attention to reading their stories and listening to their accounts of the game, then we will have reached the goal that I set out for in 1977.” Have we reached that goal?

LUDTKE: Now we do have women in the broadcast booth. They're not just sideline reporters. We have a lot of women covering sports and doing just an absolutely wonderful job. People read their stories today, and yes, they don't sometimes even notice the byline. So we have come a long way, but we can't say that we've arrived at a time where I think the attitudes have shifted totally away from recognizing that we have to recognize that women have a tougher, tougher road to hoe in this. When you're the only woman still in a sports department at your newspaper, it's still not easy. It's not easy.