beautiful day. >> announcer: starting right now on abc's "this week" -- breaking news, new debris found. is it from malaysian airlines flight 370, and will it pinpoint where the plane went down? crunch time. donald trump surging in the polls, ahead of the crucial first gop debate. will he keep up his momentum? donald trump is here, live. 2016 shocker. is joe biden about to jump into the presidential race? plus, hunting outrage. will cecil the lion's death spark new bans on trophy hunting? and why that american dentist may face criminal charges overseas. >> announcer: from abc news, "this week" with george stephanopoulos begins now. good morning. i'm jonathan karl, lots of news to get to this morning,

including the countdown to the first republican debate. front-runner donald trump will be center stage, is he ready? what is his strategy? trump will be with us live momentarily but first, we start off with breaking news, this mysterious piece of debris has just been found near a fragment of a wing that was found just days ago. that piece is set to undergo analysis to see if it is from missing malaysian airline flight 370. let's bring in steve ganyard, many are wondering, is this part of that plane? >> i think we'll have to wait and see. this has to go back for forensics testing. we need to continue to go deliberately, slowly and make sure we look at these pieces by themselves and figure out if this is part of the airplane.

>> okay, so, if this turns out going to help us pinpoint where that plane went down? >> not really, because they'll go back and they'll do some forensics on the metal, it will tell us what happened at the end when this airplane hits the water, but it's not going to tell us where the pieces of that australia, where the real clues are. where the blacks are and where are. >> thanks, steve. now to that possible bombshell in the 2016 race, is joe biden about to jump in? abc's cecilia vega with the new evidence the answer may be yes. >> reporter: this morning, the strongest signs yet that joe biden might be ready to run. the vice president's advisers telling abc news, his political team has been ramping up in recent days, entering what they call a more active phase. >> hi, how are you? >> reporter: in camp biden, there are discussions about fund-raising and launching a political action committee, and while the vice president himself hasn't authorized any of

these moves, one adviser tells abc news he believes biden is 90% in. biden telling george back in january that he is open to a run. >> yes, there's a chance. i don't think you have to make up your mind until the summer. i think there's -- i think it's wide open on both sides. >> reporter: and there could be an opportunity. less than half of democratic front-runner hillary clinton's supporters described themselves as very enthusiastic about her of cancer, pressed his father to run and the vp has been holding meetings at home, talking to friends, family and donors about jumping in. one thing is certain, biden is >> happy new year. cecilia vega, abc news, new york. >> thanks, cecilia. we'll have much more on the

vice president later, but now, to the republicans and the upcoming debate, it's the first big test for front-runner donald trump, as "the new york times" put it, the stakes are in a word, huge. here's abc's tom llamas. >> reporter:s front-runner trump not studying but spectating, taking in a golf tournament in scotland. at a course he just happens to own. >> as far as preparing for the debates, i am who i am. i have never debated before. i'm not a debater. >> reporter: the brash billionaire surprisingly downplaying expectations for his own performance at the gop showdown. >> maybe i'll do terribly. >> reporter: who he'll take on is still up in the air, only the top ten candidates polling the highest in five of the most recent polls qualify for the main stage. according to an abc news analysis, if a debate were today, some of out of the main event.

rick perry and rick santorum. meanwhile, candidates sharpening their attack lines. >> and if this deal goes through, the obama administration will become quite literally the world's leading financier of radical islamic terrorism. >> reporter: but, are they ready to tangle with trump who's surged to top of the polls by winning some passionate fans? like, those at this week's bloomberg townhall. >> he's successful. >> tell me what you think a trump presidency would look like. >> classy. would be a presidency of hope. >> reporter: some analysts like this may be as far as trump goes. >> trump will tout his top-line numbers and say, i have 20% of the base. but, in the end, 20% is not enough, and when half of your own party dislikes you, you don't have very much room to grow from that 20%.

>> reporter: jon, one of trump's main talking points is that he'll win the presidency. that he can beat hillary clinton. in recent polls, clinton has a double-digit lead over trump. >> thanks, tom. let's get straight to the gop front-runner donald trump who joins us by the phone. sir, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, jon. >> i'll get to the debate this morning. but we have this news this morning that joe biden is looking in to running, what is your assessment, harder to beat than hillary clinton? >> i think it's a real possibility, because what she did was absolutely in my opinion illegal and i don't think she's going to be allowed to run if they have a prosecutor who's going to be honorable. because if you look at general petraeus, what he did is nothing compared to what she's done. and his life is in ruins. what she did is far worse. so, i think she has a big problem with e-mails. so, somebody like biden could go in and do very well and maybe

win. >> let's get to your big moment, you never debated before, are you ready for this debate, what would you consider a win? >> well, i'm not a debater, these politicians -- i always say they're all talk no action. they debate all the time. they debate every night. i don't debate, i have created tremendous jobs. i built a great company. i do a lot of things. my whole life is a debate in a way. the fact is that i'm not a debater and they are. but, with that being said, i look forward to that. who knows. >> you obviously haven't been afraid to attack your opponents, now, you're going to be on stage with them, are you going to be throwing punches? >> every single attack -- >> you have been attacking -- >> every attack i made was a counterpunch. they attacked me first. and i hit them back. maybe harder than they hit me. the fact is, i have been attacked pretty viciously by some of these guys. i have a lot of respect for some of the people on the stage. but i -- i have been attacked and i counterpunched.

i didn't start the attacks. >> okay, some of the more recent scotland, kind of dismissed your rise as a phenomenon. poll is a temporary loss of sanity. >> well, he may say that. very weak on defense, probably hurt him very badly. i think he's a nice guy. i contributed a lot of money to his cause where he goes around as a doctor and takes care of very seriously ill people and helps them out. i have made a lot of contributions. i'm surprised to hear him say that. maybe it was built up by the press. i would say i was little surprised to hear rand say that. but if he feels that, that's okay with me. >> you have been very harsh on your assessment of jeb bush, especially, what you wrote in your book, "the america we

deserve," you said of jeb bush, he's exactly the kind of political leader this country needs now and will very much need in the future -- he's and not just jeb bush. of hillary clinton you said, woman, works hard and i think she does a good job. underrated guy in american politics. rick perry, you said, he's a very effective go nor, texas is now, you have declared hillary clinton the worst secretary of state ever. you said rick perry is too dumb >> there's a very simple answer to that, i was a businessman all my life, i made a tremendous fortune. i had to deal with politicians. i would contribute to them and deal with them. i'm not going to say bad things about people because i needed their support to get projects done. i needed their support for lots of things. horrible things and then go in a year later, and say, listen, can i have your support on this

project, or this development, or this business? i contributed to people, because i was a smart businessman, i built a tremendous company and i did that based on relationships. now i'm no longer a businessman. now, i'm someone who wants to make our country great. and they're telling jeb -- i understand what jeb is saying. hillary used the exact same word, the tone of trump. well, we needed a tough tone. they're beheading our people -- they're beheading christians -- the world is going crazy. >> opponents isn't beheading anyone. >> but the tone has to be tougher. if we're going to stop isis, if we're going to clean up the border and stop what's happening at the border which is a disaster, which i was very proud to brought up. now, everyone's apologizing to me now that they see that i'm right. we need a strong tone and we need tremendous enthusiasm and have that strong tone and he enthusiasm that you need to make

our country great again. i feel strongly. but as a businessman, i support everybody and i did very well doing it. >> so, let me ask you about something you tweeted last year, you said of barack obama, sadly because president obama has done such a poor job as president, you won't see another black president for generations, what did you mean by that? >> i think he's been a very poor president, i think he has done a very poor job as president. we have $18 trillion right now in debt and going up rapidly. >> but what did you mean -- >> wait a minute, the world -- we don't have victories anymore. china is killing us on trade. mexico is killing us at the border and killing us at trade. mexico is doing unbelievably against us in trade. you look at what's going on with japan, you look at what's going on with vietnam, you look at saudi arabia, makes a $1 billion a day and we defend them. >> i understand our critique, but why do you say we won't see

another black president for generations? >> i think he has set a very poor standard, i think he has set a very low bar and i think it's a shame for the african-american people. by the way, he has done nothing for african-americans, if you look at what's gone on with their income levels, with their youth, i thought he would be a great cheerleader for this country. i thought he would do a fabulous job for the african-american citizens of this country, he has done nothing. they are worse now than just about ever -- excuse me, they have problems now, in terms of unemployment numbers, look at their unemployment numbers. here you have a black president who's done very poorly for the african-americans of this country. and i think that i will win the african-american vote and i think i will win the hispanic vote. if you see the recent polls that have come out, jon, you'll see that, because i'm leading in the hispanic vote. i want to go through a lightning-round questions. to get a sense of what a trump presidency would look like.

supreme court, who's your model of supreme court nomination? >> i have number of people that i like, but i will say this, when it comes to the supreme conservative. i would like high intellect and very conservative. >> would president trump authorize waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques? even torture. >> i would be very strong. when people are chopping off other people's heads and we're worried about waterboarding, i have no doubt that that works. i have absolutely no doubt. water waterboarding? >> such a big subject. i haven't heard that word in a long time. >> okay, i want to get a sense what a trump cabinet looks like, very quickly, throw out a couple names, secretary of state? >> i think it's far too early to put names out. i'm certainly looking at the field, there are certainly tremendous people we could put

in, but somebody who's very strong and very smart and very energetic. you need a lot of energy. >> running mates? sarah palin said some very nice things about you and you said some very nice things about her, would you consider her? >> the answer is, you know, i like sarah palin a lot, i think palin has gotten some unfair press. but i would pick somebody who would be a terrific, you have to view it as, who would be a good president in case something happened, there are many, many people out there that i think would be very good. >> last question, reince priebus said all candidates should pledge not to run as a third-party candidate? will you take that pledge this morning? >> i will tell you this, i'm leading in every poll, in some cases by a tremendous margin. people are surprised. i'm not surprised. people who know me aren't surprised.

if i'm treated fairly by the republican party i would no interest in doing that. if i'm not treated fairly by the republican party, i very well certainly not give that up. >> okay, donald trump, thank you for joining us. >> okay, thank you very much. 17 republican candidates are trying to get on that debate rick santorum, he won the iowa caucuses last time. received 4 million votes overall and was the runner-up to mitt romney. senator santorum joins me now. you just heard from trump, he's emphatically not ruling out a third-party run? >> well, you know, i'm not concerned about that, the republican party is going to treat every candidate fairly, they have rules and they're going to live by those rules, and donald trump like every other candidate will rise and fall. i don't have any fear that donald trump somehow is going to treated unfairly and therefore run as a third-party candidate. >> okay, let's get to you, right

now, it looks like you're not going to be on that debate ten, you're quite a ways out, what do you say about these debate rules that can leave you, the runner-up last time, out of the first debate? >> yeah, they're pretty arbitrary. i saw a poll recently, they asked iowa caucusgoers, if they could name the republican candidates, 80% could name three running. i was at 1% in the nation poll four years ago. i won the iowa caucus. in fact, i won the iowa caucuses, two weeks before the iowa caucuses, i was at 2% in the national polls. national polls mean nothing. it's an arbitrary figure. unfortunately the networks and the rnc have gone along with this irrelevant of legitimacy of candidacy. the ability to influence who's in the top ten by the amount of

coverage they get, the amount of advertising dollars. folks who have advertised on fox and fox business in order to drive their numbers up. this is -- and i hear it everywhere i go. i'm here in iowa right now, i was in new hampshire, south carolina, people are concerned that the media, we are going to decide who the top candidates are, not the people of iowa, not the people of new hampshire. that's wrong. >> but to be clear -- this is the chairman of the republican party, this is the rnc that have signed off on these criteria. you're being frozen out of this first debate. >> i have said it from day one. well, look, here's what i know, four years ago, there was a straw poll, i finished fourth. way down in the pack. the two people, the person that finished first, didn't win a

gate, a few days later, another candidate came in with hundreds of thousands of dollars, was at the top of the polls in august, he didn't win a delegate. i'm not worried about what's happening here in august, whether it's a debate or the like. i'm looking for the opportunity for every candidate in this race be heard on a national stage, they deserve it, these are really good qualified men and women. i guarantee you someone in that first debate is going to be someone who's going to get a lot of delegates come next year and it will be another incident where the rnc and the national media missed it. >> okay, i want to ask you about your status, you mentioned the national polls, let's look at polls in iowa, where you won, you were at less than 1% in iowa, what happened? where did all of your support go? >> number one, they're not talking about caucusgoers.

number two, again, when i talked to folks, i spent several days here, most of the people i talked to are undecided. amount of support, but a lot of folks are undecided. i'm on their list. they're going to work their way through these candidates. the folks that are doing well, not surprisingly are getting most media attention. so, again, i'm not concerned about what happens now, i'm going to go out, i have been to almost 60 counties in iowa, we'll continue as we are, getting our caucus captains and getting our county organizations together, come february, when it matters, not august, come february, we'll be there, we'll surprise people again and they'll scratch their head and say, gee, why did we mess up this summer and not recognize all candidates can bring something to the table should be in this game. >> no doubt you'll hit all 99 of those counties. coming up, the roundtable on

the trump's big debate moment. and we'll talk to jack hanna about the growing uproar over the cecil the lion by the american dentist. "this week" with george stephanopoulos is brought to you by md anderson cancer center.rought to you

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when we come back -- the legendary jack hanna weighs in on cecil the lion's shocking death and the big debate over trophy hunting. cecil the lion's shocking

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now, the growing debate over trophy hunting sparked by that american dentist who allegedly killed the famous lion cecil after luring him out of a national park in zimbabwe, and overnight, there were new questions about the fate of

cecil's companion. we'll talk to jack hanna on shortly, but first, the latest from abc's alex perez. >> reporter: this morning, we're learning that jericho the lion is still alive seen in a photo taken this morning after conflicting reports of his death saturday, but the outrage over the death of his companion cecil is growing. the hunting of all lions, leopards now suspended. >> hunting has been suspended. >> reporter: meanwhile, still no public sighting of minnesota dentist dr. palmer, who admitted to shooting cecil this month. palmer said he broke no laws. zimbabwean authorities are demanding his return. >> we're looking forward for his extradition. >> reporter: all of this putting a spotlight on an already-heated debate on trophy hunting. conversations hoping that american will put a ban on trophy hunting imports. >> we should really shame these people, this is not acceptable

behavior in this day and age. >> reporter: but hunting advocates say it's a critical way to pay for conservation efforts. for "this week," alex perez, abc news, chicago. and jack hanna joins us now from montana, he's director emeritus of the columbus zoo. has spent time on that very animal reserve that cecil appears to have been lured from in africa. mr. hanna, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> so, i got to ask you, what was your reaction when you first heard the news about cecil? >> well, you can imagine, working with animals for almost 40 years now, the thing is, people have to understand that, in 1947 when i was born, there were about 450,000 lions. in the mid'-70s,

when my kids were born, there 100,000. today, there are less than when i first started filming there were lions everywhere. obviously today, their numbers have dropped. as far as what happened, real quickly, four things here, i wasn't there, you weren't there. number one, this animal was habituated, that means the researchers studying the animal from the distance. that animal knows that. that lion knew that for 15 years or so, right? when you go up on this animal, it mean habituated, it's not tame, it's just sitting there. number two is, all of a sudden, you go through and you drag a carcass to the hunting side, that was proven that they drug the carcass. now, someone said that the man might not have seen it on the i was there when they were collaring the lions, therefore you could see that collar.

there's another item right there. you can imagine already, they didn't have the right permits, that could be or that could be -- not be. obviously -- by the way, i'm not anti-hunter. i'm not a hunter. as far as the dollars that go into this, hunting in general throughout the world, millions, trillions of dollars go into it to protect the animals as well. this whole thing as you said is very difficult situation. right now, if you have lions, as far as hunting lions in zimbabwe, the issues they have right now are beyond abominable. >> clearly in your view, he did something very wrong here, zimbabwe has asked for him to be extradited. what do you think should happen to him? >> well, let's put it this way, several years ago, a gentleman was in yellowstone and took an elk, took the

animal, killed the animal, he got a very hefty fine, 40 or so years in prison, that was because of an elk in our own country. what should happen is, as far as extraditing him to zimbabwe -- >> you think he should be punished. he could go for jail for this? >> yeah, i think every good hunter would agree, something has to happen here. because that's not what good hunters do. he had to know some of these four points i just pointed out. you can't shoot him like a cow. >> very quickly do you think it's time, i know you're not

anti-hunter, but is it time to put aside this issue of trophy hunting? >> yes, the predator relationship, the prey is messed up in a lot of places, so, you have to work on that, however, you have to look at it consider the loss of the lions. take some of these animals that might be plentiful somewhere and put these animals in other areas where they need these animals. places where they need them. thank you. coming up gop are the committee reince priebus on the gop debate and bernie sanders joins us from new hampshire. he just pulled off the biggest grassroots event. he's next. you had some blocks and you had major thoroughfares and corridors that were just totally pitch black. those things had to change. we wanted to restore our lighting system in the city. you can have the greatest dreams in the world, but unless you can finance those dreams, it doesn't happen.

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once again, senator bernie sanders drew huge crowds wednesday night, and all over the country, according to his campaign, 100,000 supporters attended nearly 4,000 grassroots gatherings in all 50 states. senator sanders joins us now from new hampshire. senator sanders, thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> i want to ask you about the big news about joe biden

possibly getting into the race, what do you think, does biden the sitting vice president represent that establishment politics or represent a voice for change here? >> well, i have known joe biden for many years, but i think the american people who are seeing the middle class of this country disappearing, massive levels of income and wealth inequality, a campaign finance system which is literally corrupt right now, want to go beyond conventional establishment politics. and i think, when you mention why we have had 100,000 people on wednesday night coming out all over this country saying enough is enough, government has to respond to the needs of the middle class, not to billionaires, i think that's what's going on in this country and i'm not sure that conventional politics will do it anymore. >> let me ask you, there's no doubt a tremendous achievement this grassroots gathering all over the country, but "the new york times" did an analysis of who showed up,

according to your own numbers on this, more attendees from the seattle, metro area, than iowa, new hampshire, south carolina combined. these came from the liberal base of your party, i have to ask you, you're not going to get broaden your appeal beyond the far left of the democratic party, how do you do that? >> well, that's a fair question, jonathan, and let me just say this, if you and i were having ago, you would not have anticipated that we would have brought 100,000 people out on wednesday night, that we would have the largest crowds of any candidate in iowa, new hampshire and all over this country. we have made phenomenal progress in the last three months and you know what, we're going to continue to make that kind of we'll be reaching effectively out to the african-american community, i have not only one of strongest civil rights voting

record, but we have an agenda for raising the minimum wage to $15, to making public colleges $15, to making public colleges and universities tuition-free, that will appeal to the african-american and the hispanic communities. i think our campaign makes significant inroads all aross the country. >> you have taken some heat on the issue of immigration, you voted against the 2007 immigration reform bill, that included a path to citizenship, that was the best chance in a generation to get a path to citizenship for those who in this country, undocumented immigrants, do you regret voting against that now in hindsight? >> no, let's be clear, number one, i voted for the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform legislation. >> which was blocked. but i'm asking you about the one that actually had a chance -- >> but let me finish, i'll give you the answer.

and the answer is that absolutely, we need a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. we need to take people out of the shadows. what my concern then was and remains is with these guest worker programs, which you're reading about, where you have folks in high-tech industries getting fired while corporations are bringing people from russia and other countries into the united states to replace american workers and to drive wages down. in the last bill, what i was able to do, by the way, at a time when youth unemployment is unbelievably high in the united states, i was able to get language in that puts a $1.5 billion to create jobs for kids in this country. where the unemployment rate is very, very high. >> let me ask you, you have been a leader on climate change, we saw hillary clinton on the issue of the keystone pipeline, had a

very interesting answer when asked whether she supported or opposed it, if it's undecided when i become president i'll answer your question. what does that say? say, i have a hard time understanding that response. planetary crisis about climate change, jonathan the debate is over, the scientific community is unanimous in telling us it's very real. i'm very proud by the way just yesterday, we received the endorsement from friends of the earth, one of the largest environmental organizations in america. that's one of the reasons they gave me their endorsement. >> hey, we're out of time. yes or no answer to one quick question, hillary clinton's poll suggest that a lot of people don't see her as honest and trustworthy, do you think hillary clinton is honest and

trustworthy? >> i have a lot of respect for hillary clinton. she is somebody i have known for 25 years. i'm not going to be engaging in personal attacks against her. i'm not going to be engaging in personal attacks against her. she and i disagree on many issues. the american people want a serious debate about serious issues, not personal attacks. >> senator sanders, thank you very much for joining us. coming up the roundtable weighs in on joe biden's testing the waters and trump's make or

break moment. no one will be watching the first gop debate more closely than the chairman of the rnc reince priebus. he joins us now from wisconsin. i got to ask you mr., chairman, you heard criticism of the rules. you received harsher criticism from lindsey graham who said, i think it sucks when asked about your rules. so, what do you say, how can you leave a guy like rick santorum out of the first debate? >> first of all, we wanted to do a few things, jonathan, you got to go back to the beginning. number one, we're not having a 23-debate circus, okay, we cut the debates to nine. we didn't want to have extremely liberal moderators do the debates. we had some say over the med ray or the. now, what people have to

understand, i'm not going to bore people to death on this, the federal election commission has rules. this airtime right now, your company controls it. i don't get to tell you who put on your corporate air time, and so there are some things that we don't control. now, that being said, cnn and fox have agreed that every candidate, all 17, are going to participate in debate night. so, we're proud of the fact that everyone running is going to have an opportunity. and the reality is, it might be a little bit harsh, you can't necessarily treat someone that's polling at 18% or 20% the same as someone that's polling at.5% or 1%. everyone is going to have an opportunity. >> i have seen the contract that the networks have with the rnc about these debates. it says clearly the criteria getting into the debate will be done in consultation with you. you had a role here -- >> i don't have a contract. you're wrong, i don't have a contract with fox news and i

don't have a contract with cnn. but that all being said, we're in consultation, and i have talked to them, but you know what, i'm not opposed to what their doing. i actually think they're doing great job. i'm very grateful to fox news and cnn for the fact they're letting every single person, all 17, participate in debate night. >> okay, let me -- >> i think we got amnesia. four years ago, do you remember jon huntsman and jerry johnson didn't make the cut of some debates. i'm sure you remember that. the point is, there is a meritocracy involved but that being said, everyone is going to have an opportunity. i think it's great. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the roundtable is here now. former house speaker newt gingrich. abc's cokie roberts. democratic strategist maria cardona. and kristen soltis-anderson.

mr. speaker, i asked you about mr. trump, how are these republican candidates going to deal with him on that stage? >> i don't know. i think he's the guy that has the most to win and the most to lose. i think what reince described has a certain irony to it. it may well be that the folks who are at the 5:00 debate have a more interesting debate and a greater ability to get their message out in an age of social lines and get them out to all of their supporters. it may be the 9:00 becomes the trump versus everybody brawl and in some ways, you might be happier not to be in the middle of the barroom. while the brawl is going on. >> you have a situation you could see the former governors of new york, sitting governor of ohio at the kids' table. >> the rules are crazy. the only reason it matters, because once they're cut off, it puts them in a position which makes it harder to raise money and organize, because they look like losers and i think that's

crazy. i'm sorry that mr. priebus has limited the number of debates. i loved the 23 debates. >> you didn't mind all of the debates? >> no. hillary and barack obama had 22 debates. >> right. >> there's this establishment fantasy, that if only we had controlled the debates, somehow our candidate would have emerged more articulate, more intelligent, less wounded. but we are where we are, and i actually think, having two debates is not a bad idea, and my advice to the ones who are in the 5:00 debate, if you optimize your opportunity you may actually get more out of it than the bottom half of the 9:00. >> i think it's going to be all about creating moments. it's going to be all about creating the thing that helps you cut through the clutter. even for the just pretend. you know, most americans are

going to see the couple of moments that come out of this moment s moments people picking fights with donald trump or donald trump picking fights with them? >> what is your guess? >> i think that's going to be a night democrats are going to be grabbing their popcorn and republicans are going to be grabbing their ulcer medicine. i think the earlier debate could have much more serious conversation about substance. i think fox news lost an opportunity to put everybody on stage, which cnn is doing as an example. >> have back-to-back debates. >> exactly. in at least in primetime. they're not relegated to the loser -- >> trump's big thing is that right now, in our poll, 30% of republicans say there's no way they're going to vote for him.

now that's a huge number. and if he can convince those people that he is someone to vote for, that's his big challenge. >> and you don't underestimate him. you think he can actually win this? >> i think peggy noonan did a column yesterday, something's happening in this country, people are disgusted with the failure of this country to make sense, and people look around and they see the borders are uncontrolled, they see isis still existing, they see the mess in greece, they see baltimore, they see ferguson, and people don't like chaos. people like leadership. >> but do you think trump could actually win the republican nomination? >> yes, i do. trump is playing this game, and everybody else is playing this game. the establishment understands this game. trump's game is very simple -- we need someone really, really tough. i'm really, really tough.

>> as you remember well, a lot of the same people voted for george wallace, the segregationist from alabama, we're seeing that same kind of disgust from that establishment. i want to move to the other side, some polling this week showed a potential problem for hillary clinton. first of all, quinnipiac showed jeb bush with a narrow lead, and even scott walker neck and neck with hillary clinton. now we see joe biden may jump in. >> i don't think that's a problem at all. i think this is frankly something that the campaign has already built into their strategy, they knew early on, we talked about this the last time i was on that she was going to be challenged. early on, the thought was it's -- it might be elizabeth warren. then, bernie sanders jumped in. >> do you think biden is going to come in? >> i think biden should consider every possibility.

i think right now, you're seeing all of his friends, all of his family, they're going through an incredible grieving process, it was beau biden's last wish, he has to consider it, he has to deliberate every single possibility and avenue for him to jump in. and i think he deserves to do that for beau. but i also think at the end of the day, doing it because beau biden wanted him to do it is not reason enough. >> but what you have people in the establishment, as you say, coming and saying, we're scared, we're scared she's losing. she's not going to make it and compelling argument. >> but let's be very clear, we're not at that point yet. all of the polls you mentioned, look at the enthusiasm among the democrats. yes, bernie sanders is getting huge crowds and yes, he's getting bigger numbers in the polls. but he still has a substantial lead over him and the democratic enthusiasm within the democratic caucus and primary voters is

tremendous. >> what is your read of biden, could he get in this and actually give her a real challenge? >> single digits in the polls, really, he hasn't shown a lot of strength. up to this point, hillary clinton is clearly the strong front-runner. i think joe biden has been in the game a while. but he's certainly better than hillary clinton on that metric. so, to the extent he can excite people who may be think that hillary clinton is too much a traditional politician doesn't have clear answers on questions, that may be his opening. >> she did a very good job at the urban league, where she did get african-americans fired up. and she went after jeb bush, in which they also responded to. they also have a new message out, the grandmother message and she's using it very well.

climate change, everybody says i'm not a scientist. she says i'm not a scientist either, i'm just a grandmother with two eyes and brain. that's brilliant. >> she had banner day on friday. not only did she take it to jeb bush in florida at the national urban league focusing on the right to rise, and contrasting that to all the policies that jeb bush would not help this rise. at fiu where rubio has a teaching gig, so, she's really taking them on and the contrast between a forward-looking engagement with cuba and rubio and frankly the rest of the republicans focused on a backwards-looking policy, i think, is tremendous. >> mr. speakerer, biden has to look at what happened to hillary clinton and look at the polls and see an opening. >> biden would like to run, if he can figure out the right angle. i agree, he tends to single digits. but i see this institution a little bit different. president obama has presided over the worst collapse of state

and local offices of any president in the democratic party. in the last century. okay, so you're coming in to '16, already having lost most of your bench, et cetera. it's going to start sinking into democrats that, despite good speeches and lots of bravado, hillary clinton is a disaster, because of corruption, because of arrogance. what trump said was right. you look at how they treated general petraeus and you look at what she did with her e-mails, in any other circumstance she would be going to jail. not the white house. >> we're out of time. >> thank you, everyone. coming up, my conversation with baseball phenom bryce harper, we're back after this from our abc stations. patients across the country have spoken. they recently rated their care experience at over 3,500 hospitals

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in our "sunday spotlight," baseball phenom bryce harper of the washington nationals. fans know he brings plenty of passion to the field and he's also inspiring a new generation of baseball fans. >> and harper to right field! >> reporter: he's the hottest hitter in baseball. >> upper deck! >> reporter: having a year that any ballplayer would dream of, all at an age where most are in the minor leagues. you're having a hell of a season. >> i'm trying. you know, i think as a team, we're having a great year. we're having a lot of fun. >> reporter: harper was just 16 years old when he was christened baseball's chosen one on the cover of "sports illustrated." you said your goals was to be in the hall of fame definitely, but be considered the greatest baseball player who ever lived. >> if you don't have the goal to be the best, what's the point of playing? i want to be the best i can to help my team win. >> reporter: he made his major league debut at 19, becoming rookie of year with his old

school hustle and power at the plate. now 22, harper is having a breakout season, rivaling some of the best in baseball history. you already have more home runs than previous years. it seems like it's clicking. >> the biggest thing was i was healthy, the past couple of years, i would have these freak accidents. in 2014, i slid into third base, banged up my thumb. i was out two months. my main goal going into this year was trying to stay healthy, trying to play smart. >> reporter: you're 100% guy. >> yes, and i'm still going to play that way every single day. >> reporter: harper has also gone into the stands in a different way this year, going viral with this selfie he shot with a fan's phone last month. he reached over the fence to one of his youngest fans in spring training. plenty of fans at national park who's your favorite player? >> bryce harper.

>> bryce harper. >> bryce harper. >> reporter: while baseball's overall attendance is thriving, its fans are older than any other major sport. fewer young kids are picking up the glove to play. the nationals hope to change that. the youth academy provides afterschool education in baseball, with a field of dreams facility in one of washington's toughest neighborhoods. >> these kids are able to go over there and get away from whatever they're going through and enjoy the game of baseball. washington little league team is the nationals. the team has outfitted nearly 5,000 little leaguers with their very own nationals uniforms. >> an opportunity to play in the big leagues one day. that's the ultimate goal. >> reporter: it's been ten years since baseball returned to the nation's capital and harper

hopes that this is the year that the team brings home a world series title. >> i want to, you know, win a world series. i want that more than anything in the world, and i want to bring that back. >> reporter: but first, let's get my daughter anna over here for a selfie. thanks a lot. >> our thanks to bryce harper and the washington nationals. before we go, good news, no death of u.s. service members overseas in july. that's all for us, thank you for sharing part of your sunday