PBS News Hour

AMNA NAWAZ: The two leading presidential candidates continue to highlight the stark differences between them in key policy issues.

It's a perfect time for Politics Monday today with Tamara Keith of NPR and Leigh Ann Caldwell of The Washington Post.

Amy Walter is away.

It's great to see you both.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Good to see you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's start now with an issue we know Democrats have been leaning into, one we saw former President Trump messaging on today.

That is abortion rights.

He spoke at the Danbury Institute today.

It's an anti-abortion rights conservative Christian group, has compared abortion to child sacrifice.

As you know, this comes the same day that Republican senators Ted Cruz and Katie Britt introduced a bill to protect IVF access.

But that's a few days after they blocked legislation that would enshrine access to contraception.

So, Tam, five months out from the election, what is the Republican position on reproductive rights?

(LAUGHTER) TAMARA KEITH: Well, it's complicated.

In fact, there's not a cohesive position.

And that's been a challenge going back to when Dobbs was -- when Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade.

There are more conservative groups, like the one that former President Trump delivered a video message to earlier today, that would like to go as far as you can go.

And then there are other Republicans who say, hey, how about a 15-week ban?

That might be something that we could sell to a broader range of Americans.

Former President Trump himself is often trying to have it both ways.

He has said that the Supreme Court got it right, that it should be sent back to the states.

And then he also says that, some of these states, maybe they have gone too far.

But he doesn't proactively say what he wants, because it's up to the states.

And I don't know how long that will actually work for him or if it's even working for him now.

But certainly it is going to be an issue when it comes time for this presidential debate in a couple of weeks, where the candidates are going to have to say where they stand and presumably get into some detail.

And I know that the Biden campaign wants this to be an issue that gets discussed in the debate.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

What about that, Leigh Ann?

Is it working for him?

Is it working to the Democrats' advantage here?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, The Washington Post: Well, Democrats think that it's working to their advantage.

You look at every single election since 2022 after Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade and Democrats point to win after win after win, and they credit abortion as that.

And that's why, in the Senate this week -- or the Senate last week, you saw them put forward a contraception protection bill that Republicans blocked.

This week, they're going to put forward an IVF protection bill that -- we will see where Republicans stand on this.

And so Democrats, it's not only to shore up their base, their -- this effort, but also to reach those suburban independent voters that they think will decide this election.

AMNA NAWAZ: We also saw this weekend a pretty stark split screen moment between the two major party candidates there.

Here, just take a moment and remind folks about President Biden speaking overseas.

This was as a French cemetery for American soldiers killed in World War I.

Here he is.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: The idea that we're able to avoid and engage in major battles in Europe is just not realistic.

That's why it's so important that we continue to have the alliances we have, continue to beef up those alliances, continue to keep NATO strong, continue to do what we have been able to do for the last -- since the end of World War II.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, President Trump, former President Trump, was speaking at a scorching hot Las Vegas rally, where -- when problems with the teleprompter led him to unscripted remarks that veered wildly from topic to topic.

Here's a few sound bites.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Secret Service said, we have to make sure everyone's safe.

I said, what about me?

Oh, we never thought of that.

They don't think about me.

I'm working my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off.

He should have a cognitive test.

And before the debate in two weeks, he should take a drug test, because I'm willing to take one.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) DONALD TRUMP: Countries are dumping all of their criminals into our country, right,and also some people that are not criminals but are not productive.

I got no teleprompter.

I pay all this money to teleprompter people, and I'd say 20 percent of the time they don't work.

AMNA NAWAZ: I just want to point out all of those remarks were within one 10-minute window.

Tam, for all his calls for President Biden to undergo some kind of cognitive test, it's clear to say Mr. Trump's remarks are not at all coherent in these rallies.

TAMARA KEITH: Mr. Trump's remarks have never been super coherent in his rallies.

I'm not sure that I can weigh in on how much they have veered in the last couple of months, but this split screen has always been there, will always be there.

They are different people.

And the people who stood in 110-degree weather to see that speech got what they came for.

They got the greatest hits.

They got some surprising things that they weren't expecting, because the teleprompter went out, which just made it a little bit more fun.

And that's what they're there for.

The base is with him.

I don't know how he is persuading persuadable voters with that messaging.

In terms of Biden, I was there with him in France.

I'm kind of surprised I'm still standing because I just got back.

But he went to that cemetery looking for that split screen, because that World War I cemetery is notable because former President Trump was supposed to go there to mark the end of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

He didn't go.

And "The Atlantic" reported that it wasn't just that there was a bad weather call, but that he didn't want to be there, and that he called over that time period people who died in war suckers and losers.

Biden never mentioned Trump, never talked about suckers and losers, though, he does all the time in his political speeches.

And although the text of what he said throughout that trip was about turning away from isolationism, embracing allies, honoring the war dead, it was an implicit split screen with Trump.

It was an effort by Biden and his team to draw a contrast with his opponent without saying his name.

AMNA NAWAZ: Leigh Ann, how do you look at that split screen, especially in a state like Nevada, right, which is a swing state.

Mr. Trump lost there twice.

Is it different this year?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: So that split screen is exactly what President Biden wants.

That is the -- ultimately what his campaign is, to remind voters that that is chaos and that he is the commander in chief, that Biden is the leader of the country that does not bring that chaos.

As far as Nevada is concerned, yes, Donald Trump won that -- or lost that state twice, but, according to polling, if we believe polling right now, Joe Biden, President Biden, is far behind Donald Trump in that state.

And so... AMNA NAWAZ: Polling as a moment in time, not predictive.

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: Yes, absolutely.

So that is why it is a battleground state.

It is essential for them, depending on their strategies to win the election.

But Donald Trump knows he's also doing better right now among Hispanic voters, especially Hispanic men.

And while he doesn't need to win them, he needs to do better than he did in 2020 against Joe Biden, which is where he only won about 30, 32 percent.

And so that is why Donald Trump is in Nevada, a very important state.

AMNA NAWAZ: You have made the segue for me, because I want to point out the crucial voting bloc of Latinos in a place like Nevada and others.

If you look at the comparison between how these two candidates did or how they're doing today, rather, compared back to 2020, you have seen a weakening of support for President Biden, down some 13 points, basically the same increase in support for Mr. Trump.

Leigh Ann, how do you look at that?

What is the message that's resonating here that's causing that increase for Mr. Trump?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: So the things that seem to be most resonating with voters over and over again, the economy and the border.

And those are the issues that voters have said, according to polling, over and over and over again that they trust Republicans, they trust Donald Trump over President Biden on those two issues.

And that is where President Biden is trying to make inroads.

And that is why you saw this executive order last week that he's getting a lot of criticism on the left that it's far too strict, that shuts down the border for amnesty seekers if there's a more than 2,500 people over a specific amount of time reach the border.

And so President Biden is very aware of this.

His team is very aware of this.

And that is why they are trying to highlight his economic achievements and also make inroads on the border.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, what is the Biden plan to reach those voters?

TAMARA KEITH: They're working on it.

They are trying to reach those voters.

They are targeting them with ads.

And they are launching a Latino voters for Biden effort and all of the things that you do when you're running a campaign.

And, I mean, I think that what they would say is, we haven't run the campaign yet.

We still have five months.

But the numbers are not good and - - not good for Biden in terms of losing that support.

And I think that there is an increasing realization that, for multiple election cycles, Democrats talk about demographics as destiny.

Demographics aren't destiny, or at least it isn't the same demographics.

The idea that Black and Latino voters are just automatically going to vote overwhelmingly for the Democrat may not be the case this time.

And the demographics are shifting so that it's more of a divide between working-class voters and college-educated voters.

And Trump is doing much better with working-class voters.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tamara Keith, Leigh Ann Caldwell, great to see you both.

Thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK) TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.