Remarks tonight provided another data point for anyone trying to assess his physical and mental state from a distance. Tonight, though, after a weekend of calls for him to bow out of the race and sharp rebuttals from his supporters, we have some new reporting from Carl Bernstein, CNN political analyst and author and legendary journalist. Carl, according to the people you've been talking to, what are you hearing?

Well, these are people, several of them, who are very close to President Biden, who love him, have supported him, have been among them, or some people have raised a lot of money for him. They are We're adamant that what we saw the other night, the Joe Biden we saw, is not a one-off, that there have been 15, 20 occasions in the last year and a half when the President has appeared somewhat as he did in that horror show that we witnessed. What's so significant is the people that this is coming from and also how many people around the President are aware of such incidents, including some reporters, incidentally, who have witnessed some of them. But here we see tonight, as these people say, President Biden at his absolute best, and yet these people who have supported him, loved him, campaign before him, see him often say that in the last six months, particularly, there has been a marked incidence of cognitive decline and physical infirmity.

What I wonder about is the people who were working with him at Camp David, allegedly in this intensive debate prep, if there were concerns there about this, and I don't know if you got any word about that, but how anybody involved in that debate prep, didn't anybody see something with this?

The debate prep was supervised by Ron Klane, who has been with President Biden for many years. People I've talked to have all been to Ron Klane in the last year to say, We have a problem. We have a problem such as we saw the other night, that there have been numerous instances where the President has lost his train of thought, can't pick it up again. There was a fundraiser which he started at the podium, and then he became very stiff, according to people there, as if it were almost a rigor mortis.

This was a report, allegedly, in June of 2023.

This was a year ago, almost exactly, at the old Four Seasons restaurant on Park Avenue, and he became very stiff, and a chair had to be brought for him to do the latter part of the event. I think that what these folks are saying and have been saying for a while is, yes, he's great when we see him as we have tonight. But he also has these inexplicable moments that we are very concerned about. And you, Ron Klane, and the first family, We need to talk about this, and they've been pushed back repeatedly whenever it's been brought up.

Did your sources tell you about topics he's particularly engaged in?

Not only, and it's not just these same people. There is no question. I have heard for two years how sharp Joe Biden is in his national security meetings. He has special briefing books on Ukraine, on the situation in Gaza that go down in the very very detailed military reports. He has an absolute command of the facts. He's sharp as can be. You see the evidence of his being the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate, of his work as vice president on Foreign Relations. We're clearly dealing with two sets of one person, and it really needs to be explored, according to the people I'm talking to, and I think an awful lot of major Democrats believe this, including some who have made statements to the contrary. But this is a problem that's not going to go away unless it's explicable. Does this mean doctors reports? I mean, obviously it'd be great if we could have real doctors reports from both candidates. Well, that's not going to happen.

Yeah. Carl Bernstein. Stay with us. We're going to bring a CNN senior political commentator, David Axerodt is back. Cnn commentator, former Georgia Republican Lieutenant Governor Jeff Duncan is with us as well. So is Ashley Etienne, who served as communications director for Vice President Harris, also joining his former Wisconsin governor, 2016, Republican presidential candidate, Scott Walker. So, David, supporters of the President continue to say, Look, it was a bad performance in a debate, which makes it sound like it was an anomaly. What Karl is reporting about is a number of incidents, according to the people he's talked to, which, I mean, is it just about a bad debate performance?

Well, I don't think that's the way the public viewed it, obviously. You look at polls and the numbers have further deteriorated as to whether people think he has the fitness to serve, I think down to 27% in a poll that was released by CBS on Sunday. The problem with his performance wasn't just that it was a very bad performance, but it was a bad performance that confirmed people's fears about his capabilities. The goal, I assume, of doing the debate was to dispel those concerns, and yet it ended up doing the opposite. President Obama and other presidents have had bad debates, but it's only The reason this is so damaging is because it goes to the main concern that people have. It's not about his decency. It's not about his identification with people. I don't think it's about his experience for sure. It's just about stamina and acuity. On that particular night in front of that vast audience, he didn't display it.

Governor Walker, you're supporting Donald Trump. Do you think Joe Biden will be the Democratic candidate for President?

I do. I think I said long ago, I think Joe Biden, looking at his crew, would gnaw his arm off before he gave up for President. Bottom line, he's been seeking this for decades. And as many of your panelists have said in the past, it's really tough to make that change. Delegates are legally, in many states, obligated to vote for at least in the first round. There's all sorts of campaign finance issues. I think just as an American, not as a Republican, it was sad what we saw the other night. If it continues to be sad and tragic, my advice for President Trump is going forward, don't draw attention to it. The American people can see it. Instead, talk about how you're going to do things that make their life better, more affordable, safer, more secure, and let the public see what they can see with their own eyes.

Actually, you worked on Biden's 2020 campaign. You worked communications for Vice President Harris. The difference between Biden and 2020 debates, and this last one is obvious, how can the President reassure people who watched him with pain and fear on that debate stage?

I think he actually did it on Friday. I think he actually doubled down on it tonight. But here's the narrative.

But those are telepronters.

No, absolutely they are. But he still looks strong and with it, even on those telepronters. There are times in which many elected officials, even former President Trump has not looked strong on a teleprompter. But here's the thing that I think that's being lost, and I'd like to go back to what Ax said, and that is Trump also reinforced the negatives about him. He had none of the challenges that Joe Biden did, but still also underperformed. He didn't raise nearly as much money, $6 million short of what Joe Biden raised during the actual debate. Joe Biden has raised $33 million since that point. The push polls show that independents and Nikki Haley voters didn't like his response to January sixth, didn't like the fact that he lacked substance and lacked a vision. In addition to that, they also felt like they couldn't trust Donald Trump. So he actually didn't do himself any favors either. I think that's the narrative that's also being lost in all of this discussion about President Biden.

Jeff, you're a Republican who has endorsed Biden. I'm wondering what you make of the defense that the top Democrats are making for him.

Well, there's no other way to call it than Thursday was an unmitigated disaster on so many fronts. And there's only one way to explain it. They're age-related issues. And these are conversations that happen all across America in homes with aging parents and grandparents, whether or not they should drive, whether or not they should handle their own finances. That inner circle has really got to deep dive and make sure they're giving them honest truths and understanding the gravity of this situation. But politically speaking, this 10% in the middle that I certainly find myself in that will determine this next election outcome are 100% totally up for grabs again, trying to figure out how do we get through this Donald Trump disaster? How do we find somebody? Democrats have a very difficult job in front of them. They've either got to figure out a way to crisis management their way through Joe Biden's performance on Thursday, or they got to go figure out the messy, sloppy process of picking a candidate that's more centric. If they can get through that and get to convention and actually present somebody that's more moderate, game on. I think there's a huge chance to take Donald Trump in his circus and beat him.

Governor Walker, I'm wondering what you make of the, I don't know if it's hand wringing or freak out or real fear among Democrats about what they saw in Joe Biden on that debate stage. I mean, for Donald Trump, many of his top national security folks and former chief of staff and cabinet officials are not endorsing him again, and they have concerns about his fitness. How do you view how the Democrats are handling this?

Well, it's fitting before this segment started, you had the man who helped expose the cover up of Watergate, now talking about what many of us believe has been the cover up, the state of mind of President Biden for the last couple of years, at least last year in particular. I think that's the big fear out there. The American people saw firsthand. In all the three elections I've won statewide here in Wisconsin, I always said the most potent political arguments are the ones people inherently know to be true. The other challenge that I think he has and that President Trump, if he's going to win, has to capitalize is the economy, high prices. It's not only a number one issue for everyday families. Young America's Foundation where I'm at, we just released a poll, literally today, and amongst college students, Nationwide, the number one issue is the economy. That's not a good issue for Joe Biden. And if Donald Trump can, again, stop attacking Biden and just start focusing on how he's going to help people get the economy going again, get prices down, get people back to work, he wins.