'This Week' Transcript 8-4-24: Rep. Byron Donalds, Jon Finer & Almar Latour

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, August 4, 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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: Locked in.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The momentum in this race is shifting.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Republicans must win. We want a landslide.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Kamala Harris, officially the Democratic nominee, set to announce her running mate at any moment.

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: I trust she will make that decision on her own terms when she is ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She will make it on what she sees. I am who I am.

STEPHANOPOULOS: While Donald Trump and his allies attack the vice president's gender and racial identity.

TRUMP: I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?

HARRIS: It was the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect.

STEPHANOPOULOS: This morning, Trump ally Congressman Byron Donalds. Plus, political analysis from Chris Christie, Donna Brazile, and our powerhouse roundtable.

Landmark exchange.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Their brutal ordeal is over, and they’re free.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Three Americans wrongfully held in Russia, now back on U.S. soil after the largest prisoner swap since the cold war.

PAUL WHELAN: I'm glad I'm home. I'm never going back there again.

EVAN GERSHKOVICH: Today was a really touching moment.

STEPHANOPOULOS: We’ll get the latest from White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, and "Wall Street Journal" publisher Almar Latour.

Plus –

PIERRE THOMAS, CHIEF JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It’s hard for me to be here. It's a challenge.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Pierre Thomas shares a deeply personal journey, uncovering his family's history of enslavement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, it’s THIS WEEK. Here now, George Stephanopoulos.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning and welcome to THIS WEEK.

What a dizzying summer it has been. The earliest presidential debate ever, an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Joe Biden's withdrawal, the swift rise of Kamala Harris. And now, as the vice president conducts final interviews today with possible running mates, a brand-new race.

Our FiveThirtyEight polling average shows Harris has tightened the gap against Trump in the key swing states with slight leads over Trump in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

All this as the former president and his campaign scrambling for a clear strategy after questioning the vice president’s racial identity at a black journalist conference. Trump says he will not attend ABC's September debate. And last night in Georgia, he focused much of his fire on the state's Republican governor.

Senior White House correspondent Selina Wang was on the scene. She starts us off this morning.

Good morning, Selina.

SELINA WANG, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, George.

Former President Donald Trump rallied here in Georgia last night, trying to court voters in this critical battleground state. He was clearly testing new attack lines on Vice President Harris, trying to see what would stick. All of this as the vice president is on the verge of choosing her running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm thrilled to be back in the great state of Georgia. I love Georgia.

WANG (voice over): Last night, at a rally in battleground Georgia, former President Donald Trump reopening old wounds, attacking the state's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, and his certification of the 2020 presidential election results in this state.

TRUMP: He's a bad guy. He's a disloyal guy. And he's a very average governor. And all he had to do is sign something where the Senate would like to look at election integrity.

WANG (voice over): Trump also testing attack lines and insults on vice president Kamala Harris just days after she rallied at the same Atlanta venue.

TRUMP: So, we have to work hard to define her. We – I don't want to even define her. I just want to say who she is. She's a horror show. She'll destroy our country.

WANG (voice over): Three months to the election, Harris now officially securing enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee for president.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will officially accept your nomination next week once the virtual voting period is closed.

WANG (voice over): Making history, the first black woman and Asian American at the top of the ticket. Only the second woman to be a major party's nominee.

The rapid search for her running mate now in its final phase. Sources say Harris is meeting with top contenders in person in D.C. this weekend, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor Shapiro, are you planning on meeting with Vice President Harris this weekend?

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: I think any process questions like that should go directly to the Harris campaign.

WANG (voice over): Those who’ve also been vetted for the ticket, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Also on the short list, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I'm flattered to even be mentioned in this context. And it's a very important choice. And she's going to make the choice that is right for her, for the ticket and campaign, and most of all for the country.

WANG (voice over): Harris is expected to announce her pick by Tuesday night when the pair will appear at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, before a multiday blitz through seven key battleground states.

It all comes on the heels of Trump's controversial comments at the National Association of Black Journalists Conference on Wednesday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a black woman?

TRUMP: Well, I can say, no, I think it’s maybe a little bit different. So, I've known her a long time indirectly, not directly very much, and she was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black. And now she wants to be known as black. So, I don't know, is she Indian or is she black? But you know what, I respect either one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has always identified as a black woman. She went to a historically black college.

WANG (voice over): Trump later went on to share this photo of Harris and her family wearing traditional Indian clothing and writing, “Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian heritage are very much appreciated.”

Harris has long embraced her Jamaican and Indian heritage, as well as her identity as a black woman. As senator, she joined the Congressional Black Caucus. Harris reacting to Trump's remarks by drawing a contrast with his campaign.

HARRIS: And it was the same old show. The divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WANG (on camera): And Donald Trump is now throwing the debate schedule up in the air, saying over the weekend that he accepted an invitation for a Fox News debate on September 4th. But back in May, Trump already agreed to a debate on ABC News on September 10th. Vice President Harris has not agreed to that Fox News debate. Her campaign is saying that Trump is running scared and backing out. On social media, Vice President Harris posted, quote, “It's interesting how any time, any place becomes one specific time, one specific safe space. I'll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.”

George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, Selina. Thanks very much.

Let's bring in Republican Congressman, and Trump ally, Byron Donalds.

Congressman, thank you for joining us this morning.

REP. BYRON DONALDS, (R) FLORIDA: Good to be with you.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why is former President Trump questioning the vice president's racial identity?

DONALDS: Well, first, George, in Chicago he was responding to a question from, I believe, Rachel Scott. Like, this is really a phony controversy. I don't really care. Most people don't. But if we're going to be accurate, when Kamala Harris went into the United States Senate, it was AP that said she was the first Indian American United States senator. It was actually played up a lot when she came into the Senate. Now she's running nationally. Obviously, the campaign has shifted. They're talking much more about - about her father's heritage and her black identity.

It doesn't really matter. The president mentioned it. What he also talks about far more frequently is the fact that Kamala Harris is the person who created this massive inflation which is destroying black families, white families, Hispanic families. It's her failure as border czar that has left our southern border wide open. More than 10 million illegal immigrants coming into our country. Record fentanyl coming into our country which has killed more Americans than at any other point in the history of our country with respect specifically to fentanyl.

STEPHANOPOULOS: OK.

DONALDS: And the fact that she and Joe Biden have unleashed one of the worst foreign policies in the history of our country that has us on the verge of World War III. That is Kamala Harris' record.

President Trump talks about that frequently. But, yes, he did mention it in Chicago, in response to a question from Rachel Scott.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you - and you just repeated the slur again. If it doesn't matter, why do you all keep questioning her identity? She's always identified as a black woman. She is biracial. She has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She's always identified as both. Why are you questioning that?

DONALDS: Well, George, first of all, this is something that's actually a conversation throughout social media right now. There were a lot of people who were trying to figure this out. But again, that's a side issue, not the main issue. The main issue that's (INAUDIBLE) - Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Sir, one second. So, you just did it - you just did it again.

DONALDS: George, (INAUDIBLE) for what (INAUDIBLE) -

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why - why do you - why do you insist on questioning her racial identity?

DONALDS: You want to talk or do you want me to talk?

STEPHANOPOULOS: I - I want you to answer my question.

DONALDS: OK, you don't yelling at - George - George, now that you're done yelling at me, let me answer.

He talked about it on the stage yesterday in Atlanta for, what, two minutes? He spent more than 35, 40 minutes going after her record, talking about how radical of a senator that she was. She was the most liberal senator in the United States - in the United States Senate. That is a fact. He talked about the job that she did as vice president of the United States. A job, I will add, which has been a failure for the American people. I know you guys like to glom on to this, that he talks about in jest or in a serious manner for about a minute or so. What you do not cover is the litany of failures of Kamala Harris. That's what you're not covering, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, question - so questioning somebody's racial identity for a couple of minutes is OK?

DONALDS: George, I'm going to tell you again, he brought it up. AP is the one that wrote the headline when she first came into the United States Senate. Didn't talk about her being black. Talked about her being the first Indian American senator. AP brought that up.

I mean, George, we could have this conversation for the entire segment, but none of this matters to the American people. What matters to the American people is, are we going to have the same policies of the Biden-Harris administration that has been destructive of the American people? Or are we going to have the policies of the Trump administration which put America first, had low inflation, prosperous Americans no matter your race, no matter your color, no matter your creed, and a foreign policy that kept America safe?

Those are the facts that truly matter because this issue is going to come and go, the lives of the American people is what's going to remain and that's what matters more than anything else.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If it doesn't matter, I don't understand why you keep on repeating it, why the president keeps on repeating it, why those introducing the president yesterday keep on repeating it.

DONALDS: George, actually, I'm not the one who keeps repeating it. George, you're the one that's bringing it up now. That's -- I don't I understand why --

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: You've done -- sir, you've done it -- you've done it three times, every single answer you gave me.

Now, let me finish, sir --

DONALDS: George --

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- every single answer you gave, you repeated the slur.

(CROSSTALK)

DONALDS: You asked me, George. That's why I'm pushing back on you now.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Right.

DONALDS: George, you asked me the question three times, I responded but --

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And every single time you repeat the slur, that is my -- exactly my point. You simply can't say that it's wrong.

DONALDS: George, so then what you're saying -- so then what you -- and I want to get off this topic because it's not the only thing that's going on. But, George, now you're saying that "AP" is the one that slurred Kamala Harris? Because those are the facts.

You can go to the Internet and look at the clips, George, if you want to or we can talk about this now.

I prefer to talk about the future of our country because the American people are struggling. The American people do need serious policy decisions to be made and they need serious leadership on the world stage.

Kamala Harris has not proven that she can do that. Donald J. Trump has proven that he can do that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: "AP" did not say that Kamala Harris is not Black. She is biracial. She is Indian. She is Black.

You continue to repeat the fact that you continue to repeat the slur. I don't understand why you and the president do it.

But it's clear you're not going to say that it's wrong. And you've now established that for our audience.

Trump also said at the convention that he would pardon January 6 rioters --

(CROSSTALK)

DONALDS: -- everybody look for themselves. Let's move on.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I've already said that. Go ahead.

DONALDS: Everybody, let's move on. There we go. Go ahead.

STEPHANOPOULOS: We should go on and repeat the slurs again.

Trump also said at the convention that he would pardon January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers. Do you support that?

DONALDS: Actually, what he said is that he was going to review every single case. He even repeated that again in Chicago at the NABJ.

Listen what we do understand is that the Department of Justice under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they did massively push up charges on people who protested at the Capitol, and some who rioted at the Capitol on January 6. So what he's talking about is doing a case by case review.

You can lump it all together all you want but those are the words of Donald J. Trump. I'm quite sure on the Internet, people can pull up that clips. They can watch it at their own leisure.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I'll read it to you right now, this was Rachel Scott's question.

My question is on those rioters who assaulted officers. Would you pardon those people?

Oh, absolutely, I would. That's his words.

DONALDS: Yes and - but you -- but you did not leave in was the rest of his comments where he said -- yeah, I would, but we want to look at everything on a case-by-case basis. That's what will happen, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: No, that's actually -- that's not what he said. He said, if they were innocent, I would pardon them.

They've all been convicted. He said he would pardon those who assaulted police officers.

Do you support that or not?

DONALDS: Hold on, George, you -- George, you just -- George, you just changed the sound bite. You just changed it. You -- now you added, if they're innocent, then I will pardon them.

Let's go back to the record of January 6, again, not something --

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: I didn't change the sound bite. That's exactly what he said. They've been convicted.

DONALDS: George, the first thing you said -- the first thing you said was -- yes, I'll pardon them. Then you --

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And he said that.

DONALDS: -- say if they are innocent, then yes, I will. That's what you said, George. Now, I'm responding.

Okay, so what he's saying is, is that yeah, I will go and look at these -- at these cases if they're innocent, yes, I will.

Of course, if somebody was beating up a police officer at January 6, he's not going to do that. But if you had people who were just walking through the Capitol which did occur on January 6th because the security protocols had changed because of that riot at the Capitol, then what he would do is not let allow them to be held in jail with these massively increased charges by the current U.S. attorney in D.C. under the Biden-Harris administration.

Compare that to the fact that at the rally that -- the riots that just occurred at Union Station when Bibi Netanyahu was speaking in the Congress, you had the same U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who decided to just let people go and not file any charges even though they were defacing monuments at Union -- at Union Square.

So we want to be fair with the justice system. We don't want to be political with the justice system.

STEPHANOPOULOS: My question is on those rioters who assaulted officers. Would you pardon those people? Donald Trump, oh, absolutely, I would. You wouldn't pardon those? If they were innocent, I would pardon them.

That is the entire quote. They are not innocent. They are convicted. He said he would pardon them.

DONALDS: And, George, what we -- what I'm telling you is he's going to go back and look at these cases because it is without a doubt - and, look, January 6th is a very painful memory in our country, but it is without a doubt that the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia was supercharging these people because of political viewpoints, because you have other riots that have occurred in Washington, D.C., where the charges were minimized or dismissed altogether. That is not an even-handed system of justice. That is a politically motivated system of justice. And you don't have to look any further than the difference between how the Department of Justice has treated Donald Trump versus how the Department of Justice has treated Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton. What he is talking about is equal -- is equal enforcement of the law, not picking and choosing because of your politics.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I would remind you that this Department of Justice actually indicted Hunter Biden, the president's son. And, of course --

DONALDS: Only after they didn't have a choice.

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- we were talking about assaults on police officers. People who were convicted for assaults on police officers, which the president has said he would pardon them.

Thank you very much for your time.

DONALDS: George, I just want to -

STEPHANOPOULOS: We're joined now by our political analyst Donna Brazile and Chris Christie.

Thank you all for coming in.

I almost don't know where to begin after – after all of that.

First of all, Chris, let's talk about where we just left off on the pardoning of those who said -- assaulted police officers.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, (R) FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & CONTRIBUTOR: Well, he’s made this really clear, George, over time, and he's – in fact, Donald Trump has, you know, has them singing before his rallies, singing the national anthem. He calls them hostages, et cetera. I don't think there's really any question that the only person who's inconsistent this morning is Byron Donalds.

Trump's been consistent. He says he's going to pardon them. And what people need to understand about Donald Trump is what I've learned over 22 years. When he says something, he's going to do it. And so if he says he's going to pardon those folks, if he's elected, you can take to the bank that he will.

STEPHANOPOULOS: It’s also clear, Donna Brazile, they – that the Trump team is not going to back away from questioning the vice president's racial identity.

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER DNC CHAIR & CONTRIBUTOR: Look, I recognize, George, that the playbook of the late '60s and the '70s and even as – as not too far ago in 2011, when then Barack Obama, the president of the United States, they questioned his birth, his birth certificate. This is an old playbook. America's tired of this playbook. We're tired of questioning people's background simply because they don't look like something or someone else. Donald Trump wants to be the arbiter of who is an American, and he’s not.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Is this strategy or impulse?

CHRISTIE: Impulse. You can't imagine that anybody who understands anything about politics would say, hey, here's a great idea, go to the National Association of Black Journalists and question whether Kamala Harris is really black or not. This is what happens, George, and this is how you can tell that this race is changing, because what happens is, when Donald Trump’s ahead and he feels like he's comfortably ahead, he is willing to go with conventional, smart political advice. As soon as he thinks it's getting close, he goes back to the greatest hits. You saw this at the convention when he didn't think he was getting the reaction he wanted from the beginning of the speech, he went back to the greatest hits. You saw it at the NABJ, and you saw it last night in Atlanta.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Attacking the Republican governor.

CHRISTIE: Right. Now here's Brian Kemp, who he has attacked mercilessly since 2020. Sponsored a primary candidate against him, who, by the way, Kemp got 70 percent of the vote against in the primary, beat Trump's endorsed candidate. And this is a guy who won big in 2022 when lots of other Republicans up and down the ticket, including in Georgia, were losing. And so to attack Kemp is a stupid thing, but this is who he is, George. This is personal. He's juvenile, and so he's going to continue to attack, not only Brian Kemp, but the women, George, who should have heard loud and clear last night, he attacked First Lady Marty Kemp, just as viciously as he attacked the governor. And that's the greatest hits. That's what he'll go back to.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's talk about Kamala Harris, Donna. She's having final interviews today with the vice presidential choices. This handful of white men, governors and senators, are being considered. Is there any clear choice?

BRAZILE: I do believe that she's going to look for a governing choice. Somebody who is – will be ready on day one.

Look, she went through this process four years ago. She knows what – the job. She knows what it takes. She has, I think, an exhaustive list of talented people. Some probably better than others.

I'm excited about the choice that she will make later today. And as you all know, tomorrow, the vote concludes for the delegates.

George, it – it goes without saying. These last two weeks have been extremely, extremely difficult. Difficult in the sense that we – we didn't have a playbook. But what we utilized, of course, inside the Democratic Party was a playbook that Joe Biden and others put together to give us a -- a very smooth transition so the vice president's ready.

BRAZILE: I can't show my hands, of course. I have a couple of favorites.

(LAUGHTER)

But as somebody who's spent time in 2000 at the table and, in 2020, encouraging the, you know, then Vice President Joe Biden to select Kamala Harris, I know she will make a really good, historic choice today.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Chris, the shortlist includes your neighboring governor, Josh Shapiro, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, also Pete Buttigieg and some others.

I was struck this week at the convention, the black journalists, when Donald Trump was asked about J.D. Vance. He said vice presidential picks don't matter.

CHRISTIE: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

CHRISTIE: A ringing endorsement.

STEPHANOPOULOS: In this case, does it matter? Does Kamala's choice matter?

CHRISTIE: It matters a lot. And I think it matters a lot for two reasons. One, it's going to show whether she's really trying to reach out to her entire party, and by extension, the entire country.

I think she needs to pick someone who's viewed as more moderate than her. I think she needs to pick someone who's got more governing experience at the ground level. That's why I think she will pick a governor.

And secondly, I think it's really important because she's going to send a very clear signal about how she makes decisions. And, look, when you're vice president, let's face it; you don't make a lot of decisions. The president makes those decisions, and you try to help him or her implement that, right? So I think that will show that, too.

But, look, I'm going to go where Donna won't go.

(LAUGHTER)

CHRISTIE: It should be Josh Shapiro. I don't think this is a hard choice. He's a very talented politician. He's extraordinarily popular, 65 percent job approval in a state she needs to win. This is really important. And I'll tell you this. What -- if she picks Shapiro on Tuesday, Donald Trump created Josh Shapiro.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How so?

CHRISTIE: He endorsed Mastriano, the weakest Republican candidate in that field. What it allowed Josh Shapiro to do was, instead of playing to his base to try to win a narrow election, he saw an opportunity for a coalition-building election, and that's what he did.

Sp now he's seen as a coalition builder because he did it, but the only reason he could do it is because Trump made another ridiculously stupid endorsement by endorsing Mastriano, who was a flawed, weak, bad candidate. If Josh Shapiro winds up winning and they -- and Trump loses Pennsylvania, he can go back to his decision in 2022 as planting the seeds for that loss.

STEPHANOPOULOS: We only have about a minute left. I want to ask you each about debates. Do you think we're going to see them this year?

BRAZILE: I know that Kamala Harris is committed to debating here at ABC News.

And I also want to say one other thing, $300 million in two weeks; over 300,000, maybe more, volunteers; the kind of enthusiasm -- I was with the bricklayers this past week in Michigan. People are coming on board. They're rallying for her. But she's also helping down-ballot candidates. This is -- this is going to be a great campaign, but she knows she has an uphill fight.

CHRISTIE: Quickly, she needs to perform well over the next two weeks. If she does, that will put the kind of pressure on Donald Trump to make him know he has to debate. So...

STEPHANOPOULOS: So he'll debate if he has to?

CHRISTIE: Right. Make a good choice for V.P. and run a good convention. She does those two things, he'll be on the debate stage somewhere with her. I hope it's here.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Thank you all very much.

Up next, tensions escalate in the Middle East after the assassination of a Hamas leader in Iran, plus the latest on the historic prisoner exchange. We're back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: We’ve heard the Supreme Leader loud and clear, that he intends to avenge this killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran, and that they want to conduct another attack on Israel. We can’t just assume that we aren’t also potentially going to be victims of that kind of an attack. So, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got the right resources and capabilities in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: The U.S. is preparing for a possible retaliation. We’re joined now by the White House deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer.

Jon, thank you for joining us this morning.

We saw that announcement from Secretary Austin. Several moves, aircraft carriers, destroyers, missile defense systems, all to prepare for a possible Iranian attack.

What do we expect from Iran? How worried are you about escalation?

JON FINER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, George, I won’t lay out what I expect Iran to do because I don’t think we want to show our hand in that way. But I will tell you, we are preparing for every possibility, just as we did in advance of April 13th when Iran attacked Israel and the United States and a coalition of our partners and allies worked with Israel to defeat that attack.

In the current moment, as you just said, the Pentagon is moving significant assets to the region, to prepare for what may be another need to defend Israel from an attack, while simultaneously we are working very hard to deescalate this situation diplomatically because we do not believe that a regional war is in anyone’s interest in the current moment. And that is something that we’ve been trying to avoid since October 7th.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes, I wanted to get into that because you mentioned the April 13th attack and both -- that there was preparation for April 13th but also a fair amount of back-channel -- back-channel talks signaling to each side about how to contain the escalation.

Had there been contacts with Iran about that this time?

FINER: Well, again, part of what makes back-channel messages and conversations effective is that they need to stay private. And so I won’t speak to the details of the diplomatic activity that is underway, other than to say, in close coordination and conjunction with our Israeli allies and other partners now in the region, we are doing everything possible to make sure that this situation does not boil over, even in the context of providing significant assets, U.S. assets, and the help of other countries to defend Israel should the need arise again.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Israel also targeted a Hezbollah commander this week. Has that set back the ceasefire negotiations?

FINER: Well, look, we’ve been quite clear, both publicly and private --President Biden has been on the record about this a number of times, and also privately to the Israelis and to other partners in the region, that we think this ceasefire and hostage deal has to take place as soon as possible. This would be the best outcome, we believe, for Israel's security, certainly for the hostages themselves who have been through an unimaginable ordeal. But also certainly for the Palestinians living in Gaza and for the wider region to just turn the temperature down on this entire situation and create the possibility for a more peaceful future and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

That remains job one for us, right alongside the work that we’re doing to defend Israel from a potential outside attack.

Part of why we think this is so urgent is because in a context like this in which there are hostilities taking place throughout the region, there is always some outside factor that can intervene and interfere and make these negotiations harder. And so we want this deal to take place as soon as possible before that happens again.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s turn to the prisoner swap with Russia this week. What can you tell us about the condition of the freed Americans?

FINER: Well, I won’t speak to their private health information or anything like that. What I will say is, we had the privilege to speak to and listen to the president speak to the Americans right after they were released, when they were still sitting on the tarmac in Turkey. And the president and their families were gathered in the Oval Office and they showed just extraordinary strengths. They were overwhelmingly happy, as were the family members who were sitting with the president. It was quite a moving scene.

We were also able, as I think you know, along with the president and the vice president, to welcome them back to U.S. soil at Andrews Air Base that same night. And what we saw, frankly, was a scene you don’t often get to witness when you do national security and foreign policy work, which was just a lot of happiness and joy.

And, you know, these people now are spending time with their families, doing what is required to recover from the ordeal that they’ve been through. And I'll leave it to them to characterize how they’re doing when they’re ready.

STEPHANOPOULOS: We all saw that happiness, no question about that. But several Republicans on Capitol Hill have criticized the swap, saying that trading innocent Americans for Russian criminals sets a bad precedent.

What's your response?

FINER: Well, we've heard those criticisms. The president himself has said that these are extremely difficult decisions for a head of state to make. And, by the way, President Biden wasn’t the only head of state that made this difficult decision. He singled out the chancellor of Germany, who made a very difficult decision on behalf of the German people as well. And there were four other countries that were involved in making what happened last week possible. And we expressed an enormous degree of gratitude. The president called them all, actually, in the aftermath of this exchange.

Our view is, there are countries around the world that wish to do us harm. And some of the ways in which they try to do us harm is by catching American citizens up in what can be a geopolitical or other disputes. We do not think that it is responsible or the right thing to do for American interests to leave those people in harm’s way. And so the president, from the moment he took office, has prioritized getting Americans who were in captivity when we came here out, and those who have been taken since trying to free them as well.

He makes no apologies for doing that. He understands the tradeoffs involved. And if you saw the scenes I think that we saw last week when these families were reunited, you would see on a personal level how important this and how much responsibility the president feels to all Americans, but particularly those who are in such difficult situations.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Jon Finer, thanks for your time this morning.

FINER: Thank you.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And we're joined now by Almar Latour, the Dow Jones CEO and publisher of "The Wall Street Journal." Of course, the reporter Evan Gershkovich was one of the prisoners released -- wrongfully detained prisoners released this week. Thank you for being here today. Have you been able to speak with Evan?

ALMAR LATOUR, WALL STREET JOURNAL PUBLISHER & DOW JONES CEO: Yes, this weekend, and also on the tarmac when he arrived, and he's doing well. We saw a lot of energy when he got off that plane, and he still has a lot of energy.

STEPHANOPOULOS: What more can you tell us about how the negotiations unfolded? Of course, "The Wall Street Journal" was right in the middle of all of this.

LATOUR: Yes. Of course, it was a large government component, and it was a lot of quiet diplomacy. For us, our part was to make sure that there was constant advocacy with decision-makers, seen/ unseen, getting public statements out there, but also, making sure people would see the suffering that the parents were going through, the assault on free press, and the people -- the decision-makers would be convinced that they had to act on this. And so, that was our push. We were -- we felt, very responsible for that.

The news room did its part in reporting and having the emotional support, putting a spotlight on it. But as a company, we wanted to get our guy back and we pushed really hard.

STEPHANOPOULOS: what do you say to those, like as I quoted -- as I talked with Jon Finer, who have criticized the deal, including former President Trump who called it a great deal for Putin, but horrible for the U.S.?

LATOUR: The beauty of this whole campaign has been that we have stayed out of politics because this was about getting Evan back, getting these prisoners back. The prisoner swaps have existed throughout history. They will continue to exist. I do believe that certainly now, that Evan is back, and the others are back, we need to think about how we treat countries that have turned us into an industry. I personally believe they ought to be punished and there needs to be some collective action against that. That's for others to sort out. We'll certainly make ourselves heard, now that we have this very unpleasant experience, but with a very good ending.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I was struck by Evan that, you know, he had to write out a statement for his clemency hearing. The last sentence of the statement was asking Vladimir Putin for an interview. I see you smiling right there. Putin's press secretary said he would consider it if a formal request is submitted. Has a formal request been submitted?

LATOUR: Well, I'll leave that to our news room to share that and to make those decisions, but what it showed is that Evan hasn't lost his spirit as a journalist. He's a journalist with a hunger for stories. He's a storyteller. He's got a lot of energy, and boy, wouldn't that be an amazing thing to see.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Then he might have to go to Moscow to do it, right?

LATOUR: Well, you would have to decide on what location you could do that and you could pick a neutral country, but I don't want to speculate, and I think that's a news decision. I want to respect that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, it would be an amazing scoop. Thank you for coming in today.

LATOUR: All right. Thank you for having us.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Round Table is up next. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: The roundtable’s here. We’ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Here with the roundtable now, I'm joined by our senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott, “USA Today” Washington bureau chief Susan Page, and “Politico’s” senior political columnist Jonathan Martin.

Rachel, I have to begin with you. We've all seen your interview with President Trump up there on the stage at the NABJ. You are always prepared, but were you surprised by the Donald Trump you saw?

RACHEL SCOTT, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think in many ways, George, former President Donald Trump leaned into a territory that many Republicans were hoping that he would just flat-out avoid, especially when it comes to questioning the racial identity, the heritage, especially in front of the National Association of Black Journalists, of Vice President Kamala Harris.

We have heard from Republicans, say even privately that they want this to be about the issues, redirect back to the issues. That is not what the former president did on that stage.

STEPHANOPOULOS: It's not what he's saying. Why did he go to the NABJ?

JONATHAN MARTIN, POLITICO SENIOR POLITICAL COLUMNIST: I think he's convinced himself that he can make inroads with non-white voters this election, and I think he thought that this was an avenue to reach some of them. I think that was probably before he -- he was into the Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump version of this campaign, and I think maybe he probably would have made a different choice had he known that was going to be the -- the race here.

STEPHANOPOULOS: It -- it does seem, Susan, like that, even though -- that the pick of Kamala Harris has flummoxed the Trump campaign at some level.

SUSAN PAGE, USA TODAY WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: You know, you don't need polls to tell you that Donald Trump is newly concerned about this race. You just need what he said in that -- in the interview with you, Rachel, because he was returning to -- he was defaulting...

STEPHANOPOULOS: It's worked before for him, he says.

PAGE: Yes, he was defaulting to the things that have -- that he's gone to before, the birther issue with -- with President Obama, returning to -- to race as an issue, has gotten traction before with his supporters. That was -- you know, I was thinking about how long it's been since the birther issue got traction. It's 16 years ago. Things are not perfect in this country, but I think there are ways in which that issue doesn't work quite as well for him now as it did then. And, by the way, Barack Obama won the presidency twice, anyway.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And he keeps on going back to it.

Rachel Scott, by tomorrow at this time, we're likely to know who Kamala Harris has picked for vice president, for her -- for her running mate. She's having several interviews today. In the end, though, this is going to be a very personal decision for her?

SCOTT: It's going to be a personal decision, and she's the vice president of the United States right now. She has recently, most recently, gone through this sort of vetting process, right?

And so I think that the campaign is keeping a few things in mind, especially when we're talking about Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Obviously, who she can have, sort of, that relationship with, if she should be elected as president of the United States, but also who can help her in some of these critical battleground states as well. And when we look at those polls and start to see the shifts toward Harris, the momentum that she is gaining, that is key, and I know that's top of mind...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Jonathan, we heard -- we heard Chris Christie say he thinks Josh Shapiro is the clearer, smart choice...

MARTIN: Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... but he's also become -- become the target of a pretty remarkable campaign, including one Politico reported on by the Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman taking him on?

MARTIN: The two prominent Democrats in the state going at it here, which is a sort of long-running feud between those two, you know, very ambitious individuals, shall we say, no surprise there.

I think she picks Shapiro, unless one of two things happen. She either takes a survey in Michigan and sees that, while Shapiro helps her in Pennsylvania, he'd lose her votes in Michigan because of the Arab-American population, or there's just no personal connection there, if she can't get past the lack of chemistry. I think, unless one of those two things happen, or both of them happen, I think it's Shapiro.

STEPHANOPOULOS: In the end, it is that personal chemistry which is always the tipping -- tips the decision over?

PAGE: You know, the personal chemistry can be important. Winning the election, possibly, more important. Personal chemistry, if you don't win the election, probably doesn't matter much. So I -- I guess I would -- the people who know what's going to happen aren't talking, and the people who are talking don't know.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, no one really knows until she does finish the interviews, right?

(LAUGHTER)

PAGE: She may -- well, she may --- she may know. But I wouldn't count out Mark Kelly, who makes sense in a swing state, who carries maybe a little less baggage on some of these issues than Governor Shapiro does, and could help her on the issue in which she is really vulnerable and that is the issue of the border.

MARTIN: Well, I just think, though, that the election still goes through the three Great Lake states, right, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Yes, she's more competitive in the Sun Belt than Biden was going to be, George, but she still has to carry the Midwest. And I think, given that, I think you look at Shapiro in Pennsylvania or Walz in Minnesota, as someone who can, sort of, work in the upper Midwest, I think she -- it's going to come down to those two...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, you have to win two of the -- two of the southwestern -- or southeastern states, to make up for any one loss in the Midwest.

MARTIN: In the Midwest, exactly.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah. Let's just talk about the state of the race right now, though. We showed that polling tightening, back to something like where it was before the summer started?

MARTIN: Absolutely. It's gone back to where this campaign was at the outset of the year, which is a slight Donald Trump lean, but only in the slightest, slightest sense. Obviously, the party in power is not popular right now.

And we're back to, frankly, George, where we've been in politics for the last nine years. If this election is about Donald Trump, the Republicans are going to lose. If it's about the Democrats and not Trump, then Trump has a chance to win. That's been the recurring theme for nine years now. And it's the question in this campaign once again.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I -- I was struck, Rachel, in -- in the vice president's response to what happened at your interview. She seemed to be aware of what Jonathan Martin is talking about. Don't make this back about her, after he gives us comments.

SCOTT: Yeah. And it has been really notable for us, reporters, who have picked up on the nuance about how she has responded to some of these attacks, questioning her racial identity. She is not going there, and democrats say, look, she knows who she is. She identifies as a Black and Asian woman. Why does she have to go out there and respond in that sort of way?

What she is doing is putting it back on Donald Trump and Republicans saying, they're dividing, and then pivoting back to the issues.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And Susan, let's talk a little bit a little bit about the debates. We saw that statement from Donald trump yesterday. He said he agreed to a Fox debate (inaudible). He negotiated with them on his own and it certainly looks like he is not going to come at least on today's facts to the ABC debate. Do you agree with what Chris Christie was saying earlier that if he feels like he needs it, he'll show up?

PAGE: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And she said, she'll show up. And if you're all going to give her the time on the air, what a great opportunity for an interview with her, by the way, but I think that would encourage him to show up. But it didn't look to me like the Fox debate on the 4th is going to work out. I don't think look like she's going to agree to that. She is very happy with this argument that he is afraid to debate her in the debate he had accepted with Joe Biden.

MARTIN: He thinks so highly of himself, George, that he's the nominee for a third consecutive cycle. He has done this in two previous campaigns. He's convinced, give me the ball, I can go out there and do this and turn around this campaign. Don't forget, he's the one who said, I alone can fix this.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Does he believe that the 2020 Chris Wallace debate helped him, do you think?

MARTIN: I think he believes that she is not a great debater, and that he would do better than her on stage. And if he needs to have a good debate, he can turn one in, and turn the campaign around.

PAGE: I moderated the last debate she did in 2020, the vice presidential debate.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah.

PAGE: She is a good debater. She is confident. She uses a little humor. She made Mike Pence be quiet, which is something I struggled to do, and she came across in that debate as a prosecutor, and that is a good message.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That seems to be her sweet spot.

SCOTT: Yeah. And imagine that on the debate stage where you have a prosecutor possibly, facing off against someone who has just been convicted, right? And that's the sort of image that, of course, Democrats are hoping that they can actually have on the debate stage. But yes, and thinking back to her taking on President Biden when they were running against each other in the Democratic primary -- Democrats see her as someone who can thrive potentially on the debate stage. The question is, does it actually happen?

STEPHANOPOULOS: We will see. Thank you all for coming in. We'll be right back.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: From inside America's classrooms to the statues in countless communities, there has been a debate across America about how to account for the stain of slavery in our country. In partnership with ABC News, researchers with the 10 Million Names project uncovered the history of our chief justice correspondent, Pierre Thomas, taking him to West Virginia on an emotional journey to discover his ancestry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS CHIEF JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Almost here to the plantation where my ancestors lived as enslaved people. This is, kind of, surreal.

(voice over): It's incredibly hot, like it must have been back then, here on the outskirts of Huntington, West Virginia.

It feels strange, beautiful and scary, all in the same breath.

Researchers from the 10 Million Names project, which explores the genealogy of America's once enslaved people, traced my genealogy here, to what is known as Greenbottom. It was a massive, 4,500-acre plantation operating in the time just before the Civil War.

I was shocked to learn it was under the reign of a historic and infamous Confederate figure, Albert Gallatin Jenkins, Harvard graduate, two-term congressman, Confederate general and staunch supporter of slavery, kept humans imprisoned, treating them as little more than valuable livestock.

This is also where my great-great grandmother, Adeline Jenkins, daughter of Charlotte, was born into slavery in 1958.

Mr. Fain, Pierre Thomas, ABC News.

DR. CICERO FAIN, MARSHALL UNIVERSITY: Nice to meet you, sir. Welcome to the Jenkins Plantation, the ancestral home of your great-great-great-great grandmother Adeline.

THOMAS: It's a blessing to be here, I think.

At its height, how many slaves?

FAIN: Probably would have been 80 to 100, and, unquestionably, slave labor made the Jenkins family rich.

THOMAS: Rich, indeed. In Congress, Jenkins made it exceedingly clear he believed slavery was the natural order of things, calling the institution "the alpha and the omega, critical to the future of a prosperous America."

In a lengthy speech on the House floor, Jenkins stood firm in his belief that even the idea of abolishing slavery was startling, alarming and evil, saying in, part, "It would mean to the South the loss of millions in property."

Jenkins lays down the cold-blooded economics of the slave trade, saying "4 million slaves were estimated to be worth at least $3 billion."

His words allow me to have a better perspective, coming here today.

THOMAS: And there were other chilling facts.

FAIN: He had primarily girls, older women and boys because Jenkins made a regular habit of selling off the young adult males at their prime stage so that he could make the most money. And the records show Jenkins was cruel. And, of course, the overseers that he hired, even more cruel, to the point of beating and then salting the wound afterwards.

THOMAS: I just want to take it in for a second.

FAIN: Sure. I'll give you some -- some space to do that, sir.

THOMAS: Just -- just -- just a second.

One of the most difficult moments of my journey, walking inside the Albert Jenkins home. Within two minutes, it became too much.

It's hard for me to be here. It's a challenge.

A mile up the road, the slave cabins.

Here is where my great-great grandmother Adeline was likely born.

These cabins survived a long time.

(UNKNOWN): Yeah.

THOMAS: The owner of the plantation had the power of life and death.

(UNKNOWN): Mm-hmm.

THOMAS: I wish they didn't have to go through what they went through.

I'm proud of them, but I just wish.

I only wish I could see the faces of Charlotte and Adeline. Without them, there would be no Sally Jefferson, my great-grandmother. There would be no Annie Belle Brown, the matriarch, and no Helen Thomas, my extraordinary and wise mother.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

THOMAS (on camera): This truly was a triumph of grit in the face of evil. I can only think of a few words regarding my ancestors, thank you. Thank you for surviving. George?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Pierre, thank you so much for that piece. It was clear to see how moved you were by that journey. Take us inside, what was going through your heart and your mind when you stepped into that house?

THOMAS: I felt the strong presence of the legacy of slavery, racism, and evil. It was kind of flowing over me. I felt drowning in it, and I just -- I just couldn't take it, George. I had to walk out of there.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And what is your hope and what is the hope of these -- those behind this project? What do they hope to accomplish by continuing this legacy?

THOMAS: Well, George, I was reluctant to do this project. I spent two months, basically, thinking about it before I decided to do it. And I think at the end of the day, I felt the need to explore because I had intentionally not wanted to know about slavery. I wanted the history of my family to begin with my grandmother who lived to be 100 years old. And I found at the end of the day, after some pressing from my friends that that was not enough, that I'm a reporter, God forsakes, I'm a reporter and I needed to know more about my family's heritage, and it was stunning to see what I learned.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, what was behind the reluctance?

THOMAS: Just the pain of it. Knowing that my people were slaves, in bondage. And again, my grandmother was such a noble, thoughtful, wise person, and I just felt more comfortable with that being the starting point. And you know, as I thought about this project more and more, I knew that that was not enough. I wasn't being true to myself, if I didn't go back and find out more, and it took me to West Virginia.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Incredibly powerful reporting. Pierre, thanks very much.

THOMAS: Pleasure, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And all of you at home can see Pierre's full report at abcnews.com. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: That is all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out "World News Tonight," and I'll see you tomorrow on "GMA."