60 Minutes - 10/07/2024: Election Special

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

The 2024 presidential ticket, Bill Whitaker joins the Democratic ticket on the campaign trail for in-depth interviews with Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz. Belief in the ballot; Scott Pelley travels to Arizona's Maricopa County. The last minute, Whoever wins the presidential race in November will inherit an expanding Middle East conflict. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Available for a limited time only at McDonald's. It's a 60 Minutes tradition, hearing from the presidential candidates. Though tonight, only the Democratic ticket sat and answered our questions. You want to expand the child tax credit. Yes, I do. You want to give tax breaks to first-time homebuyers. Yes. And people starting small businesses.

Correct. How are you going to pay for that? My economic plan would strengthen America's economy. His would weaken it. But pardon me, Madam Vice President, the question was, how are you going to pay for it? What are your fears for this coming election day? That we'll be doing this again for another four years. Stephen Richer is a Republican election official

in the swing state of Arizona who has spent nearly four years fighting to convince fellow Republicans that the 2020 election wasn't stolen. How did they react to you? Not well. Not well at all. I'm Leslie Stahl. I'm Bill Whitaker. I'm Anderson Cooper. I'm Sharon Alfonsi. I'm John Wertheim. I'm Cecilia Vega. I'm Scott Pelley. Those stories, plus we remember the terror attack on Israel one year ago,

and address President Trump's absence. Tonight on 60 Minutes. It's been a tradition for more than half a century that the major party candidates for president sit down with 60 Minutes in October. In 1968, it was Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. This year, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump accepted our invitation. But unfortunately, last week, Trump canceled. The Trump campaign had told us that the interview would be this past Thursday at Mar-a-Lago. They also asked us whether we would meet 78-year-old Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was grazed in an assassination attempt. We agreed. On September 9th, Trump's communications director, Stephen Chung,

sent a text that read, quote, I'm working with our advance team to see logistically if Butler would work in addition to the sit-down. Sit-down meaning the interview in Florida. Days later, Chung called to say, quote, the president said yes. Then, a week ago, Trump backed out. The campaign offered shifting explanations. First, it complained that we would fact-check the interview.

We fact-check the interview. We fact-check every story. Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020. Trump claims correspondent Leslie Stahl said in that interview that Hunter Biden's controversial laptop came from Russia. She never said that. Trump has said his opponent doesn't do interviews because she can't handle them. He had previously declined another debate with Harris, so tonight may have been the largest audience for the candidates between now and Election Day. Our questions addressed the economy, immigration, reproductive rights, and the wars in the Middle East and Europe. Both campaigns understood this special would go ahead

if either candidate backed out. And so, with that, here's Bill Whitaker. Kamala Harris has been a candidate for president for just two and a half months, and the post-convention honeymoon is over. With the election just 29 days away, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, face unrelenting attacks from Donald Trump, and the race remains extremely close. We met the 59-year-old vice president this past week on the campaign trail and later at the vice president's residence in Washington DC. We spoke about the economy and immigration, Ukraine and China, but we began with the escalating war in the Middle East one year after the Hamas

terror attack on Israel. The events of the past few weeks have pushed us to the brink, if not into, an all-out regional war in the Middle East. What can the U.S. do at this point to stop this from spinning out of control? Well, let's start with October 7. 1,200 people were massacred. Two hundred and fifty hostages were taken, including Americans. Women were brutally raped. And as I said then, I maintain Israel has a right to defend itself, we would, and how

it does so matters. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. This war has to end. We supply Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, and yet Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course. The Biden-Harris administration has pressed him to agree to a ceasefire. He's resisted. You urged him not to go into Lebanon.

He went in anyway. Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu? The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles. But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening. We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end. Do we have a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu?

I think, with all due respect, the better question is, do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes. While the war in the Middle East has dominated recent headlines, it's the economy that most concerns American voters this election year, as always. There are lots of signs that the American economy is doing very well, better than most countries, I think. But the American people don't seem to be feeling it. Groceries are 25% higher, and people are blaming you and Joe Biden for that. Are they wrong?

We now have historic low unemployment in America among all groups of people. We now have an economy that is thriving by all macroeconomic measures. And to your point, prices are still too high. And I know that. And we need to deal with it, which is why part of my plan, you mentioned groceries, part of my plan is what we must do to bring down the price of groceries. Harris says she'll press Congress to pass a federal ban on price gouging for food and groceries,

but details are yet to be defined. You want to expand the child tax credit. Yes, I do. You want to give tax breaks to first-time homebuyers. Yes. And people starting small businesses. Correct. But it is estimated by the Nonpartisan Committee

for Responsible Federal Budget that your economic plan would add $3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. How are you gonna pay for that? Okay, so the other economists that have reviewed my plan versus my opponent and determined that my economic plan would strengthen America's economy, his would weaken it. My plan, Bill, if you don't mind, my plan is about saying that when you invest in small businesses, you invest in the middle class, and you strengthen America's economy.

Small businesses are part of the backbone of America's economy. But pardon me, Madam Vice President, the question was, how are you going to pay for it? Well, one of the things is I'm going to make sure that the richest among us who can afford it pay their fair share in taxes. It is not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations. And I plan on making that fair. But we're dealing with the real world here.

But the real world includes... How are you going to get this through Congress? You know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I'm talking about because their constituents know exactly what I'm talking about. Their constituents are those firefighters

and teachers and nurses. Their constituents are middle-class, hard-working folk. And Congress has shown no inclination to move in your direction. I disagree with you. There are plenty of leaders in Congress who understand and know that the Trump tax cuts

blew up our federal deficit. None of us, and certainly I cannot afford to be myopic in terms of how I think about strengthening America's economy. Let me tell you something. I am a devout public servant, you know that. I am also a capitalist. And I know the limitations of government. Kamala Harris has been in government for decades.

She was first elected San Francisco District Attorney in 2003, then California Attorney General. She went on to the U.S. Senate and now Vice President. A quarter of registered voters still say they don't know you, they don't know what makes you tick. And why do you think that is? What's the disconnect? It's an election bill. And I take it seriously that I have to earn everyone's vote. This is an election for president of the United States. No one should be able to take for granted that they can just declare themselves a candidate and automatically receive support. You have to earn it.

And that's what I intend to do. Let me tell you what your critics and the columnists say. Okay. They say that the reason so many voters don't know you is that you have changed your position on so many things. You were against fracking, now you're for it. You supported looser immigration policies, Now you're tightening them up. You were for Medicare for all. Now you're not.

So many that people don't truly know what you believe or what you stand for. And I know you've heard that. In the last four years, I have been vice president of the United States. And I have been traveling our country. And I have been vice president of the United States. And I have been traveling our country. And I have been listening to folks. And seeking what is possible in terms of common ground. I believe in building consensus. We are a diverse people, geographically, regionally,

in terms of where we are in our backgrounds. And what the American people do want is that we have leaders who can build consensus, where we can figure out compromise and understand it's not a bad thing, as long as you don't compromise your values, to find common-sense solutions. And that has been my approach. But one issue that has proven impervious to compromise is immigration. Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris approach has been inconsistent, and Republicans are convinced immigration is the vice president's Achilles' heel. You recently visited the southern border and embraced President Biden's recent crackdown on asylum seekers. And that crackdown produced an almost immediate and dramatic decrease in the number of border crossings.

If that's the right answer now, why didn't your administration take those steps in 2021? The first bill we proposed to Congress was to fix our broken immigration system, knowing that if you want to actually fix it, we need Congress to act. It was not taken up. Fast forward to a moment when a bipartisan group of members of the United States Senate, including one of the most conservative members of the United States Senate, got together, came up with a border security bill. Well, guess what happened? Donald Trump got word that this bill was afoot and could be passed,

and he wants to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem, so he told his buddies in Congress, kill the bill, don't let it move forward. But I've been covering the border for years, and so I know this is not a problem that started with your administration. Correct, correct. But there was an historic flood of undocumented immigrants coming across the border the first three years of your administration. As a matter of fact, arrivals quadrupled from the last year of President Trump. Was it a mistake to loosen the immigration policies

as much as you did? It's a long standing problem. And solutions are at hand. And from day one, literally, we have been offering solutions. What I was asking was, was it a mistake to kind of allow that flood to happen in the first place? I think the policies that we have been proposing are about fixing a problem, not promoting a problem. But the numbers did quadruple under your watch.

And the numbers today, because of what we have done, we have cut the flow of illegal immigration by half. We have cut the flow of fentanyl by half. But we need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem. You have accused Donald Trump of using racist tropes when it comes to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, when it comes to birtherism, when it comes to Charlottesville. In fact, you have called him a racist and divisive. Yet Donald Trump has the support of millions and millions of Americans. How do you explain that? I'm glad you are pointing these comments out that he has made that have resulted

in a response by most reasonable people to say, it's just wrong. It's just wrong. With so many people supporting Donald Trump, the man you've called a racist, how do you bridge that seemingly unbridgeable gap? I believe that the people of America want a leader who's not trying to divide us and demean. I believe that the American people recognize that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down. It's based on who you lift up. The Harris campaign has been hopscotching the country,

and with less than a month to go, the pace is picking up. The vice president told us she has lost track of how many states she's visited. How are you doing? I'm doing well. You well? We joined her on the trail late last week in the crucial swing state of Wisconsin, in the town of Ripon, the birthplace in 1854 of the Republican Party. And at a rally plastered with country-over-party banners, Harris appeared with staunch conservative Liz Cheney. As vice chair of the House January 6th Committee, Cheney became one of Donald Trump's fiercest critics.

I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. That proclamation spurred a chant of approval from the crowd. Four years ago, if someone had told you that you would be campaigning with Liz Cheney, what would you have said to them? That'd be great. That's really diplomatic.

Would you ever have thought that you'd be campaigning with Kamala Harris? I hope that if you had said to me four years ago, our Constitution is going to be under threat and it's going to be crucial for the parties to come together and to support Vice President Harris because she'll defend the rule of law, I know I would have said that's exactly what I'll do. I thank you all. Whoever wins the presidency will take on a host of daunting challenges, especially beyond our borders. Back in Washington, Vice President Harris told us she's determined the U.S. must win the economic

competition with China for the 21st century. And as for the war between Russia and Ukraine? What does success look like in ending the war in Ukraine? There will be no success in ending that war without Ukraine and the UN Charter participating in what that success looks like. Would you meet with President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a solution to the war in Ukraine? Not bilaterally without Ukraine, no. Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine. As president, would you support the effort to expand NATO to include Ukraine? Those are all issues that we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point.

Right now, we are supporting Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russia's unprovoked aggression. Donald Trump, if he were president, Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now. He talks about, oh, he can end it on day one. You know what that is? It's about surrender. It's a hard left turn here, but you recently surprised people

when you said that you are a gun owner, and then if someone came into your house... That was not the first time I've talked about it. That was not the first time I've talked about it. That's not the first time I've talked about it. So what kind of gun do you own, and when and why did you get it? I have a Glock, and I've had it for quite some time. And, I mean, look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement. And so there you go.

Have you ever fired it? Yes. Of course I have. At a shooting range? Yes, of course I have. When we come back, vice presidential candidate Tim Walz gets the 60 Minutes treatment

and Kamala Harris talks about why Donald Trump decided not to. cookie crumble. It's a sweet summer twist on iced coffee. Your cold brew is ready at Starbucks. When I found out my friend got a great deal on a designer dress from Winners, I started wondering, is every fabulous item I see from Winners? Like that woman over there with the Italian leather handbag, is that from Winners? Ooh, or that beautiful silk skirt, did she pay full price? Or those suede sneakers? Or that luggage? Or that trench? Those jeans?

That jacket? Those heels? Is anyone paying full price for anything? Stop wondering. Start winning. Winners find fabulous for less. Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz was little known outside Minnesota just two months ago.

He didn't exactly come from nowhere. He was a sixth-term congressman and now is governor of Minnesota, where he has championed abortion rights, gun control, and other progressive ideas. But it was calling former President Trump and Senator J.D. Vance weird that may have landed him on the ticket. Two months ago, you and Kamala Harris barely knew each other. Now you're running together vying for the top offices in the land. It's not possible that you agree on everything. What have been some disagreements you've had since you became a team? Well, she probably disagreed with you said, Tim, you know, you need to be a little more

careful on how you say things, whatever it might be. Whatever it might be, Walsh has been criticized for embellishing or telling outright falsehoods about his military record and about his travels to Asia in the 1980s. In your debate with J.D. Vance, you said, I'm a knucklehead at times. And I think you were referring to the time that you said that you were in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square unrest when you were not. Yeah. Is that kind of misrepresentation, isn't that more than just being a knucklehead? I think folks know who I am, and I think they know the difference between someone expressing emotion, telling a story, getting a date wrong, rather than a pathological liar like Donald Trump. But I think it comes down to the question of whether you can be trusted to tell the truth.

Yeah, well, I can. I think I can. I will own up to being a knucklehead at times, but the folks closest to me know that I keep my word. Walz proudly touts his record as governor of Minnesota, but it also has opened him up to criticism from his Republican opponents. Former President Trump says that you and your administration here in Minnesota has been dangerously liberal. Radical left, he calls it. So what do you say to that criticism that rather than leading the way, you and Minnesota are actually out of step with the rest of

the country? President Trump may be referring to that that our children get breakfast and lunch in school so that they can learn. He may be talking about we have a paid family medical leave policy that was promoted by the business community. Donald Trump spends his time tearing down states rather than lifting up the things we do, the best of it. Donald Trump's critiques of that, not only are they wrong, but I'm waiting for what is his solution.

Here in Minnesota, we're so optimistic we walk on water half the year. It was that kind of humor and candor that helped land Tim Walz the job as Kamala Harris' running mate. Before you joined the ticket, you called Republicans weird. That's sort of become a rallying cry for Democrats. Why do you think that label stuck? I was really talking about the behaviors. Being obsessed with people's personal lives in their bedrooms and their reproductive rights, making up stories about legal folks legally here eating cats and dogs, they're dehumanizing.

They go beyond weird. Because I said this, it becomes almost dangerous. Let's debate policy in a real way, and let's try and find an objective truth again. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are in a full sprint to November 5th, hoping their arguments will give them a chance to cross the line ahead of Donald Trump and J.D JD Vance. You are sitting here with us. The Trump campaign canceled an interview that they had agreed to, to participate in this broadcast. What do you make of that?

If he is not going to give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then watch his rallies. You're going to hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances. And what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener. You will not hear about how he's going to try to bring the country together, find common ground. And Bill, that is why I believe in my soul and heart the American people are ready to turn the page. More from the Democratic ticket.

Plus, one year covering rapidly escalating conflict in the Middle East. Civilians caught in the middle, as always, are the ones suffering the most. At 60minutesovertime.com. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Sometimes historic events suck, but what shouldn't suck is learning about history. I do that through

storytelling. History That Doesn't Suck is a chart-topping history-telling podcast chronicling the epic story of America, decade by decade. Right now, I'm digging into the history of incredible infrastructure projects of the 1930s, including the Hoover Dam, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, and more. The promise is in the title, History That Doesn't Suck, available on the free Odyssey app

or wherever you get your podcasts. With Donald Trump pulling out of his 60 Minutes interview tonight, we'll turn to a different Republican who is paying the price for Trump's claims of a stolen 2020 election. Stephen Richer helps administer voting in Maricopa County, Arizona. That's Phoenix and home to 60% of Arizona voters. Maricopa is often decisive in a state which swings either way. Trump claimed Maricopa County was stolen in 2020. Republican Stephen Richer was determined to find the truth, to restore belief in the ballot.

He discovered that truth wasn't what many wanted to hear. I've become much more cynical about politics. There are a lot of people who have no lines in the sand, a lot of politicians, a lot of politicians for whom it's like oxygen, that if you told them they weren't going to be reelected, it would be like unplugging them from oxygen. So whichever way the winds are blowing, even if it's highly immoral, they're on for the ride. What are your fears for this coming election day? That we'll be doing this again for another four years. Nearly four years ago, Republican attorney

Stephen Richer was the voter's choice for Maricopa County Recorder, the office that records voter registration and handles ballots by mail. Richer took office after the 2020 vote when his own party was up in arms over allegations of fraud. It was Richer's first elected office, and he knew what to do. They just need answers. It's not that complicated of an issue. It's just people are uncertain. They expected Donald Trump to win. I expected Donald Trump to win in Maricopa County. He didn't win. They have questions. As soon as we give them logical, factual answers, all will be well. And that's not what happened.

That is not what happened. The logical, factual answers came after multiple investigations. A hand recount of Maricopa County's 2.1 million paper ballots confirmed Joe Biden won. Statewide, prosecutions for illegal voting involved a total of 19 ballots. In Maricopa, 50 ballots had been counted twice for a typical reason. Somebody made a mistake. A human being made a mistake. There were 2.1 million ballots cast in the 2020 election. These 50 shouldn't have been tabulated. By no means were the 50 all for one candidate or another, so it had a negligible impact on the actual contest. Negligible, too, because Trump lost Maricopa County by 45,109 votes. What evidence of widespread fraud was found

in Maricopa County in 2020? None. And I would say Maricopa County's 2020 election is the most scrutinized election in human history. When you began to tell your fellow Republicans in Maricopa County that the election was fair and there was no fraud that would change the outcome, how did they react to you? Not well. Yeah.

Not well at all. They included Trump, who said, the entire database of Maricopa County in Arizona has been deleted. He called it an unbelievable election crime. It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was in the office looking at the very thing that he was saying we had deleted. And so just sort of the ludicrous nature of it, it just is offensive. What did you say in response to what the president had written?

I said something like, this is unhinged. I'm looking at the voter registration database right now. These lies have to stop. This is as disprovable as saying 2 plus 2 equals 5. And the reaction was what? The reaction was significant. Three violent threats to Stephen Richer have been prosecuted. One man got three and a half years. The others are awaiting trial.

What we see here is your public statement saying that this was not connected to the internet undaunted richer explained the facts here in 2021 he was heckled and followed to his car people were banging on my windshield as i got into the car. What were they shouting? Turncoat. You're wrong. You're an idiot. Don't be a traitor. How could you? The fever has never broken. This was three months ago. I do not believe the 2020 election was stolen.

So why do so many people remain passionately unconvinced? I think it has become the tattoo. I think it has become the tattoo to show that you're a true believer of the movement. You believe the election was stolen? I do. Shelby Bush started a political action committee which investigates what she calls widespread fraud in Maricopa County, fraud no credible investigation has found.

She's taken in nearly a million dollars in donations for the work of her PAC, and the Arizona Republican Party awarded her the leadership of its delegation at last summer's national convention. And that's why I, Shelby Bush, the delegation chair, and our wonderful state chairwoman, Gina Swoboda, and this entire delegation cast their 43 delegates to Donald J. Trump! You are a rising star in the state party. Well, I definitely have brought some attention onto myself. That is for sure. What do you believe happened in the Maricopa vote in 2020? I believe that fraudulent votes were put into the system.

I also believe that a lot of state statutes and regulations and policies were broke, which makes the election questionable at best. Bush still questions whether signature verification was proper and whether some ballots were collected illegally. She's an administrator in a medical practice. You're self-educated. That's correct. When it comes to elections. She's an administrator in a medical practice. You're self-educated. That's correct. When it comes to elections. That's correct. In a recent case, a judge disqualified you from testifying in the case because he said you were, quote, obviously unqualified, not even in the ballpark. That's one judge's opinion, who is a radical leftist, who is legislating from the

bench, and I don't believe that it had any merit in my credibility whatsoever. Is there a danger in undermining people's faith in the election system by persisting with these conspiracy theories that no one has been able to validate. Again, I'm going to disagree with you, sir. Respectfully, it has been validated. And because the election officials... Where? By whom? The election officials...

Give me a court case. Give me something. I don't need a government official with a vested interest in disproving information to tell me whether what I have is valid. It's up to each individual citizen as a member of this society to review the evidence, to think for themselves, and make those decisions. It's valid because you say it is. I say it's valid because I say it is, and if somebody looks at it, they can determine whether it's valid. The evidence speaks for itself. Data does not lie. Data doesn't lie. Election officials do.

The election was not stolen. It was lost. Attorney Ben Ginsberg has represented the Republican Party in many of its most important election cases. In 2022, he joined conservative judges and senators in Lost Not Stolen, an investigation that exposes election fraud lies. Part of it centers on Trump's swing state lawsuits. Donald Trump and his supporters brought 64 cases. They lost 63 of them outright. There was one that was a partial victory involving 200 votes, far from outcome determinative. And all of that told you what? The evidence to back up the allegations of fraud and elections being unreliable

simply does not exist. The election deniers in Arizona will say, we did lose all those cases, but the judges weren't fair. Under the rule of law, you have every right to submit your litigation. But under the rule of law, a conservative principle, a Republican principle for as long as I've been practicing election law, you have to accept the rulings of the court. I don't have time, frankly,

to worry about whether people believe me or question my integrity. I have what I believe is the mission that I am on, and that mission is for my children and my grandchildren. I am not here to make friends. I am here to do a job. Where does that mandate for that mission come from? It comes from my own personal drive and it also comes from, I believe, a calling from God.

Mr. Chair and Board. It has been a calling for many. Fear God. Over nearly four years, in meetings of the Republican-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which certifies the vote. Venezuela, Dominion machine! Our election in America is a joke and Maricopa is a joke! You are the cancer that is tearing this nation apart!

Good day! Have you been accused of treason? Oh, yeah. Treason. Murdering fellow officials that would talk. Republican Clint Hickman has been a county supervisor 11 years. In 2020, he was among Trump's most loyal supporters. Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman. Still proud that he took the time to call me out and thank me for the work that I was trying to accomplish.

Thank you, Clint. Good job, Clint. But Hickman saw no evidence of fraud and said so when he voted to certify the election. All in favor, say aye. Aye. You've received a number of death threats. I've lost count. I've lost count. And so have my colleagues. And so have election workers. Well, you've lost count, but here's one.

Hello, Mr. Hickman. I am glad that you are standing up for democracy and want to place your hand on the Bible and say that the election was honest and fair. I really appreciate that. When we come to lynch your stupid, lying, commie ass, you'll remember that you lied on the f***ing Bible, you piece of s***. You're going to die, you piece of s***. You're going to die, you piece of s***.

We're going to hang you. We're going to hang you. That man is in prison for two and a half years, but there were others. But the chilling one that you didn't play is one of the guys said, We know the restaurants that you are in, and we know where your kids go to school. Menace grew in the shadows and emerged on the stage. I hear the word unity, and I get sick to my stomach, because there is a lot of earthly, fake, and vile unity talk going around in our state. This is Shelby Bush, the Maricopa County Republican Party Vice Chair,

talking about fellow Republican Stephen Richer this past March. So what does unity mean to me? It means unifying with those that share the core biblical Christian Judeo principles that we share. That's unity. But if Stephen Richer walked in this room, I would lynch him. I don't unify with people who don't believe in the principles we believe in and the American cause that founded this country. When you heard Shelby Bush say that she would lynch you, you thought what? Well, I first thought, like, why is that word in your vocabulary? Lynch is a weirdly historically loaded and oddly specific term.

Bush offered a modified definition of lynching. I think many people are familiar with a political lynching. It's referred to as destroying someone's career. It was not ever meant physically in any way, shape, or form. Probably a poor choice of words. You have seen the unrest in this county, the civil disorder in this county. You're contributing to that. What I am doing is I am shining a big bright light on the disdain and the arrogance of some of the elected officials. They are elected to represent the interests of the people. And until they are ready to step up and do that, then there will be unrest. Is election denialism a swindle? Oh, 100% so for some people. It's a swindle? Oh, 100 percent so for some people.

It's a swindle emotionally for some. It's a swindle politically for some. It's a swindle economically for some. This past July, Stephen Richer ran in the primary for re-election. He lost to a fellow Republican who said Maricopa elections are a laughing stock. Richer moves on after this election, leaving behind his enduring contribution, the fortress defenses around the center where the votes are counted. A wall to defend America from Americans.

I have seen some ugliness in the character of human beings. It has given me great insight into horrific moments of human history. I would look at some of these historical moments and say, like, well, that couldn't happen here. But moments like these begin to give you insight on how stuff like that can build up, how the animal passions, how going along with the crowd, how the emotions of just being your side versus their side. It's just to say that some of the same human impulses

that I didn't understand, I now do understand. You understand how things can go wrong. I understand how a society of educated people can do something truly horrible. There are very few things that you can be certain of in life, but you can always be sure the sun will rise each morning. You can bet your bottom dollar that you'll always need air to breathe and water to drink. And of course, you can rest assured that with Public Mobile's 5G subscription phone plans, you'll pay the same thing every month. With all of the mysteries that life has to offer, a few certainties can really go a long way. Subscribe today for the peace of mind you've been searching for.

Public Mobile. different is calling. One thing is certain about the election four weeks from tomorrow. Whoever wins will become a wartime president. The wars are in Ukraine and in the Middle East, and the United States is deeply involved in both, providing arms and money to Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders, and to Israel in the war with Hamas and now with

Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran. Israel's war started one year ago today, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise terror attack storming across the Gaza border into Israel, as we reported that week, talking to survivors Amir and Miri Tibon from the Nahal Oz kibbutz. The Hamas terrorists. I mean, there were hundreds of them around and inside the kibbutz. The numbers are impossible to comprehend.

There are two kibbutzes near yours, Be'eri and Kefar Aza. What happened there? In those two communities, hundreds of people were slaughtered. Be'eri and Kefar Aza and the music festival that happened near one of them. Those are the three scenes of the largest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust ended.

More than 1,100 Israelis were killed, most of them civilians. In Kibbutz Beri, we met Elan Gat. From this home, Hamas took his mother at gunpoint and shot her, while he, his wife, daughter, and sister were captured. He and his daughter escaped. His sister, Carmel, and wife, Yardan Roman, were taken hostage. They could do anything to me. You were helpless.

I was helpless. You cannot object to anything. It could cost you your life. You're worried about rape. Yeah. I was worried to get raped. Yeah, of course. And fortunately enough, they didn't do it.

Yarden was released in a prisoner swap after 54 days in captivity. Carmel was executed by Hamas after nearly 330 days. October 7th became Israel's 9-11, another date that lives in infamy on the calendar of history. Now, as the war enters a second year, more than 41,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in Gaza, many more their homes. The Israeli death toll is about 1,500. Hamas still holds about 100 hostages, though Israel believes only half are still alive. The war is fought on and over biblical lands, but no modern-day Solomon has emerged to resolve it. After one year, the time for peace is long overdue. I'm Leslie Stahl. We'll be back next Sunday for another edition of 60 Minutes.