senate and the congress have been spooked since 1988. i believe the times are different. and i believe that folks are making a mistake by not pursuing impeachment. the mueller report details he deserves it. what's going to happen in the mall of next year, of 2020, if they don't impeachment, he's going to say, you see? the democrats didn't go after me on these folks that always investigate me, when it came down to it, they didn't go after me there because i didn't do anything wrong. conversely, if mitch mckanl is the one who lets him off the hook, they're going to say, his friend mitch mcconnell, moscow mitch, let him off the hook. >> i don't disagree with that. you just said it better than i did. we have to walk and chew gum at the same time. it is incredibly unusual for members of congress to be able to do that and i'm glad that secretary castro has the -- >> my brother can. he's here tonight.

>> it's your brother that's giving you that good feeling about the congress. that's what we should do. we have a system right now that's broken and if you want to compare records, and frankly i'm shocked that you do, i am happy to do that. >> democrats pile on the front-runner during debate number two in detroit. >> i don't know what math you do in new york. i don't know what math you do in california, but i tell ya, that's a lot of money. >> joe biden did fight back with a more spirited debate performance than last time. at times it felt like it was joe biden versus everybody. welcome to our viewers in the you states and around the world. aim boris sanchez in for dave

briggs. >> nice to have you here. i'm christine romans. thursday, august 1st. 4 a.m. and in detroit coming into the second cnn debate in detroit, joe biden carried twin burdens. he was the front-runner with a target on his back. at the same time, his unstead performance in the first debate in june in miami had raised doubts whether he had the toughness and vigor to beat donald trump. that meant his wide lead in the polls was under fire as he took fire from every one of his rivals. >> i ask the vice president point blank did he use his power to stop those deportations. mr. vice president, you want to be president of the united states, you have to answer tough questions. >> you invoke president obama more than anybody in the campaign. you can't do it when it's convenient and dodge it when it's not. >> your plan, by contrast, leaves out almost 10 million americans so i think that you should really think about what you're saying.

>> joe biden told wealthy donors that nothing fund amountly would change if he were president. >> first of all, mr. vice president, it looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn't. >> unlike in miami, last night joe biden fought back as he promised. he was a little less polite in the second. he fended off every attack but he was especially passionate defending obama care. he criticized medicare for all citing disruption of health care and high costs to taxpayers. >> they can buy into this plan and they can buy into it with $1,000 deductible and never have to pay more than 8.5% of their income if they do it. if they don't have any money, they'll get in free so this idea is a bunch of malarkey, what we're talking about here. the fact of the matter is that there will be a deductible. it will be a deductible in their paycheck. bernie acknowledges it. bernie acknowledges it.

$30 trillion has to ultimately be paid. i don't know what math you do in new york. i don't know what math you do in california, but i tell ya, that's a lot of money. >> cory booker had an impressive night leveling most attacks on biden. booker said he can't have it both ways. booker also went after biden over his 1994 crime bill. >> we have a system right now that's broken, and if you want to compare records, and frankly i'm shocked that you do, i am happy to do that because all of the problems that he is talking about that he created, i actually led the bill that got passed into law that reverses the damage that your bills that you were frankly to correct you, mr. biden, you were calling it the biden crime bill until 2016. >> this exchange was the top

tweeted moment of the debate. >> there was nothing done for the entire eight years he was mayor, there is nothing done to deal with the police department that was corrupt. why did you announce in the first day a zero tolerance policy of stop and frisk and hire rudy giuliani's guy in 2007 when i was trying to get rid of the crack cocaine. >> there's a saying in my community, you're dipping into the kool aid and you don't even know the flavor. you need to come to the city of new jersey. >> kirsten gillibrand provided one of the most dramatic effects when she accused biden to be sexist. she asked biden to clarify what he meant in 1981 when he was a senator. >> mr. vice president, you didn't answer my question. what did you mean when you said

when a woman works outsid the home it's resulting in, quote, the deterioration of family and that we are avoid be -- >> no, what i -- >> these are quotes. that was the title of the op ed. we know america's women are working. four out of ten moms have to work. they are the primary or sole wage earners. they actually have to put food on the table. eight out of ten moms are working today. most women have to work to provide for their kids. many want to be working to provide for their communities and help people. either you don't believe it today or what did you mean it from them? >> in the very beginning my deceased wife worked when we had children. my present wife worked all the way through raising our children. the fact of the matter is i don't know what happened. i wrote the violence against women. lily led better. i came up with the it's on us proposal to see to it that wrim treated more decently on college campuses. you came to syracuse university and said it was wonderful, i'm

passionate about the concern making sure women are treated equally. i don't know what's happened except that you're now running for president. >> so i yuptd stand -- mr. vice president -- mr. vice president, i respect you deeply. i respect you deeply, but those words are very specific. you said women working outside the home would lead to the deterioration of family. my grandmother worked outside the home. my mother worked outside the home and -- >> thank you, senator gillibrand. i want to bring senator harris in. >> either he no longer believes it -- >> i never believed it. >> gillibrand's camp tweeted out a photo of the op ed from 38 years ago. congress is subsidizing deterioration of family. the quotes gillibrand used are not specifically about mothers. we should also note this. gillibrand tweeted this back in 2016 along with a selfie writing, quote, thank you, vp

biden, for your unwavering commitment to combatting violence against women. >> it was a break through night for tulsi gabbard. last night she emerged with a performance that was deeply personal and at times confrontational. watch this exchange with kamala harris. >> she put over 1500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana. she blocked evidence -- she blocked evidence that would have freed up innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. she kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of california and she fought to keep cash bail system in place. that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way. >> i did the work of significantly reforming the

criminal justice system of the state of 40 million people which became a national model for the work that needs to be done. i am proud of that work. i am proud of making a decision to not just give fancy speeches or be in a legislative body and give speeches on the floor but actually doing the work. >> when joe biden first took the stage last night he almost immediately made news with an unusual request for kamala harris. listen. >> kid, are we good? >> i'm good. >> after the debate senator harris spoke to anderson cooper about the go easy on me request. whether she took exception to being called a kid. >> that's what he wanted me to do. i didn't really think much about it to be honest with you. >> the kid. that's what people -- was that an issue for you at all? >> no. no. >> the -- did you -- the -- >> but i'll tell you why, because we're both on that stage

running for president so i'm pretty clear about who i am so nobody's going to define me on that stage. >> yeah, she did not want to really criticize him for that. andrew yang, the only political outsider on the stage, ended with this thought-provoking reality check of the whole process in his closing statement. listen. >> you know what the talking heads couldn't stop talking about after the last debate, it's not the fact that i'm somehow number 4 on this stage in national polling, it was the fact that i wasn't wearing a tie. instead of talking about automation and our future, including the fact that we automated away 4 million manufacturing jobs, hundreds of thousands right here in michigan, we're up here with makeup on our faces and our rehearsed attack lines playing roles on this reality tv show. it's one reason why we elected a reality tv star as our president. >> strong point from andrew yang. >> i think so, too. >> i don't think there's anything wrong with wearing makeup from time to time especially in bright lights.

>> i don't care that he wore a tie, not wearing a tie. >> i might not wear a tie. >> do it. >> joe biden got the most air time as moderators allowed himg to respond. he clocked in at 21:01. kamala harris came in second, 17:43. cory booker just shy of 13 minutes. >> another instant measure of attention is a candidate's google search ranking. well come to 2019. >> yeah. >> the subprice wrprise winner gabbard. it's hard to be sure how well she did. they searched for her first and last name separately. >> as the candidates were getting ready to debate, the trump administration took action against iran's top diplomat. we have a live report next. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief.

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agenda. also stating that he has no property or wealth in the u.s. so he will not actually be affected by these sanctions, although the question, boris, people are asking is whether this will affect his ability to participate in the united nations general assembly in september which traditionally he would, of course, play a big part in. the other question that people are asking is about the timing of this. while the administration had, as you pointed out, been threatening to do this for weeks, there is some question about why they would choose this specific moment because it was just a couple of weeks ago that zarif was in new york, he was talking to journalists and he was hinting, boris, about the possibility that iran might actually be willing to negotiate or i should say renegotiate some kind of a nuclear deal with the u.s. this is something that analysts had thought would not happen because it would be seen essentially as a capitulation by iran. it would be seen as sort of a boon for the trump administration. what makes it odd about the timing in terms of sanking zarif

is that zarif would be the logical person who would be leading these negotiations, who would be representing iran at the negotiating table if they were to happen. the question now becomes what happens to those negotiations? are they in jeopardy? and who if they are still a possibility would, indeed, be taking them forward. boris? >> yeah, president trump making clear he wants to sit down with the iranians. unclear exactly how this is going to help. thank you so much, clarissa. >> 18 minutes past the hour. president trump demanded an interest rate cut. he got one, and he's still unhappy with the fed. i'll tell you why. cnn business next. is skincare from around the world better than olay? to find out, olay faced the world. we tested our vitamin b3 formula and beat japan's top moisturizers. south korea's most innovative. and even the $400 french cream. olay regenerist faced 131 premium products in 12 countries, over 10 years.

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all right. something we have not seen in a decade. a decade. the federal reserve cut interest rates. the central bank cut rates by 1/4 percentage point. now for months president trump insult insulted, cajoled and rage tweeted the fed demanding lower rates, but fed chief jerome powell said pressure from trump did not factor in the fed's decision.

>> we never take into account political considerations. there's no place in our discussions for that. we also don't conduct monetary policy in order to prove our independence. we conduct monetary policy in order to move as close to possible to our statutory goals. that's what we're always going to do. we're always going to use our tools that way and in the end we'll live with the results. >> so the president did not cheer the decision that he had been demanding for so many weeks now. instead, tweeting that the fed chair had let us down while giving a nod to the federal bank's quantitative tightening. powell said this rate cut was a one off not the beginning of a trend. the dow closed down and the fed will continue to follow trade policy uncertainty. in essence, the fed cutting interest rates to help protect against the president's own policies. >> even though he wants them to cut it further considering there may be a slowdown next year

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to compare records, and frankly i'm shocked that you do, i am happy to do that. >> democrats piling on joe biden during debate number two in detroit. >> i don't know what math you do in new york, i don't know what math you do in california, but i tell ya, that's a lot of money. >> the front-runner did fight back with a more spirited debate performance than last time. welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm boris sanchez in for dave briggs. 30 minutes past the hour here in new york. coming into the second cnn debate joe biden carried twin burdens. the former vice president was both the front-runner with a target on his back and at the same time his unsteady lead had him taking fire from nearly every one of his rivals. >> i asked the vice president

point blank, did he use his power to stop the deportations. you want to be president of the united states you need to be able to answer the tough questions. >> you can't have it both ways. you invoke president obama more than anybody in the campaign. you can't do it when it's convenient and dodge it when it's not. >> your plan by contrast leaves out almost 10 million americans so i think that you should really think about what you're saying. >> joe biden told wealthy donors that nothing fundamentally would change if he was president. >> first of all, mr. vice president, it looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn't. >> last night joe biden fought back. he was a little less polite in the second. he fended off every attack but was especially passionate defending obamacare. he criticized medicare for all citing health care delivery and high cost to taxpayers. >> i ask the vice president point blank did he use his power to stop those deportations, he

went right around the question. mr. vice president, you want to be president of the united states, you need to be able to answer the tough questions. >> mr. vice president, you invoke president obama when it's convenient and dodge it when it's not. >> your plan by contrast leaves out almost 10 million americans so i think that you should really think about what you're saying. >> joe biden told wealthy donors that nothing fundamentally would change if he were president. >> first of all, mr. vice president, it looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn't. >> senator cory booker did have an impressive night. he leveled most of his attacks on joe biden with booker saying biden can't have it both ways on his record with former president obama. booker also went after biden over his 1994 crime bill. >> we have a system right now that's broken and if you want to compare records, and frankly i'm

shocked that you do, i am happy to do that because all of the problems that he is talking about that he created, i actually led the bill that got passed into law that reverses the damage that your bills that you were frankly the -- you were bragging calling it the biden crime bill up until 2015. >> thank you, senator. >> according to twitter, it was an exchange involving kool-aid moments later that was the top tweeted moment of the night. >> there was nothing done for the entire eight years he was mayor. there was nothing done to deal with the police department that was corrupt. why did you announce in the first day a zero tolerance policy of stop and frisk and hire rudy giuliani's guy in 2007 when i was trying to get rid of the crack cocaine -- >> mr. vice president, there's a saying in my community, you're dipping into the kool-aid and you don't even know the flavor. you need to come to the city of

newark and see the reforms we put in place. >> new york senator kirsten d l gillibrand accused joe biden of being sexist. she asked him to clarify what he meant in an op ed he wrote in 1981 when he was a senator about child care tax credit. >> mr. vice president, you didn't answer my question. what did you mean when you said when a woman works outside the home it's resulting in, quote, the deterioration of family. >> no, what i -- >> and that we are avoiding -- these are quotes. it was the title of the op ed. that causes concern for me because we know america's women are working. four out of ten moms have to work. they are the primary or sole wage earners. they actually have to put food on the table. eight out of ten moms are working today. most women have to work to provide for their kids. many want to be working to provide for their communities. >> thank you. let the president respond. >> you don't believe it today or what did you mean. >> in the very beginning my

deceased wife worked, my present wife has worked raising our children. the fact of the matter is the situation is i don't know what happened. i wrote the balance against women act. equal pay amendments. i was deeply involved with all of these. i came up with the it's on us proposal to see women were treated more decently on college campuses. you came to syracuse university with me and said, it's wonderful. i'm passionate about the concern making sure women are treated equally. i don't know what's happened except that you're now running for president. >> mr. vice president -- mr. vice president, i respect you deeply. i respect you deeply, but those words are very specific. you said women working outside the home would lead to the deterioration of family. my grandmother worked outside the home. my mother worked outside the home and -- >> thank you, senator gillibrand.

>> either he no longer believes it -- >> i never fwleefd. >> gillibrand's camp tweeted a photo of biden's op ed from 38 years ago.illibrand used are not specifically about mothers. note that gillibrand also tweeted this in 2016, thank you @vp biden to your unwavering support for violence against women. >> it was a break through night for tulsi gabbard. last night she emerged from the pack with a performance that was at times deeply personal, at times confrontational. watch this fierce exchange with kamala harris who was a former prosecutor and state attorney general. >> she put over 1500 people in jail for marijuana violations and laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana.

she blocked evidence -- she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. she kept people in prison beyond their sentences to ask them to use cheap labor and she fought to keep a cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way. >> i did the work of significantly reforming the criminal justice system of the state of 40 million people which became a national model for the work that needs to be done, and i am proud of that work. and i am proud of making a decision to not just give fancy speeches or be in a elective body and give speeches on the floor but actually doing the work. >> some tense moments there. let's bring in sarah westwood live from washington. how did joe biden do? the front-runner with a target on his back. how do you think he did in defending himself from these attacks? >> good morning, boris and christine. former vice president joe biden

did better last night than he did before. he did show more fighting in this debate, but this could really expose what could be one of his fundamental weaknesses which is the fact that he does have such a long record stretching back decades. things were much different in the '70s, '80s, '90s when joe biden was active longer than most of the candidates. he is bound to have said things, taken votes, taken positions that could be controversial through the lens of today's democratic party. that's going to be one of his fundamental weaknesses. it shows the pitfalls of front-runner status is that everyone is going to come after him and it's really biden versus everyone else. >> we were talking about that. look, when you look at anything with 2019 eyes from the 1980s, it's a very different kind of lens. he has such a record that you can look at him in today's eyes on any issue. >> it will get tougher going

forward because there will be more candidates. sarah, i wanted to ask you about something that the washington post put on their front page today. health care is the head of the agenda. much of these two debates centered around medicare for all and candidates seeking out where they distinguish themselves on that issue. as far as president trump goes though, you know, i understand that in these debates you have to focus on moving the activists and getting the people in the party engaged, but did you think anything president trump watched last night should concern him from a perspective that one of these candidates is gathering steam, is gathering enthusiasm and from outside of it? >> we know from reporting that president trump has been fixated on vice president joe biden as a potential running mate. he's launched a lot of attacks on senator elizabeth warren and we have heard that within his campaign he's been getting more concerns about senator kamala harris as a potentially serious

threat to his re-election prospects. harris did a really good job. she was able to fend off attacks, more attacks from other candidates and she had the breakout moment in the debates and she was able to defend medicare for all and against attacks that it was too liberal. she was taking it from both sides. biden accusing her of creating a plan that had too high of a cost, that could be too liberal and other candidates attacking it for not going far enough because it did preserve the private insurance industry. harris was able to show she could take hits from both sides. that could be troubling for the biden campaign. >> joe biden defending obamacare and saying there are ways to defend that. biden defending tpp. >> renegotiate it. >> renegotiate it. he's not stepping away really from the record of the last eight years where others are attacking where we come from.

kamala harris the second most googled searched candidate. tulsi gabbard was number one. i think she had a standout performance last night, and she needed to. >> that's right. she is one of a handful of candidates from the two debates that we saw this week that could very well not make it to the stage in september. that's when we'll start to see the thinning of the herd a little bit so to speak because the polling and fundraising requirements are going to get more stringent as the debates wear on. she is someone who needed one of those breakout moments. another one who did have a breakout moment who has languished at the bottom of the polling field was senator cory booker. he could land hits on former senator joe biden and julio castro had an interesting exchange with joe biden. biden was fending off criticism of the fact that the obama administration did engage in so many deportations. that could be a weakness for biden.

jew julio castro had a breakout night. >> some forget some called president obama deporter in chief. that meant you had to really cleanup the backlog of people with deportation orders before you could start to really talk about changing immigration laws in general. so this is -- immigration will be an ugly debate. >> front and center. sarah westwood, we are out of time. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. we are hearing from the father of one of the american teenagers accused of killing a police officer in italy. that's next. at the end of a long day, it's the last thing i want to do. well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. it's an all-in-one so it's ready to go when i am. the cleaning solution actually breaks down dirt and grime. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. so, it prevents streaks and haze better than my old mop. plus, it's safe to use on all my floors, even wood.

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the families of two american teenagers accused of killing a police officer in italy have arrived home. representatives from the u.s. embassy has already spoken to

one of the teens. on wednesday italian investigators conducted a forensic analysis on the hotel room where they were arrested. alyssa bell live from rome. we're hearing from the families. all of this sort of an attempt to buy drugs that went wrong. a lot of conflicting information. what are the parents saying? >> that's right, christine. a lot of conflicting information, and be that is really at the heart of the headlines we're seeing here in the eye callian press. a lot of questions in particular about the prosecutor's case against these boys and what the italian papers say are clear holes within it. things like precisely what cops were on duty that night. why they were where they were. why the police han who was tragically killed was not carrying a gun at the time when he accosted these two young american men. they remain inside this prison here, christine. you can imagine the heart ache

for the families involved. the fathers of both teens are now in rome. we managed to speak at first yesterday to the father of gabe natali hjorth. this is what he had to say to cnn after he saw his son and what he described as a very emotional meeting. >> he was distraught by what happened. i cannot come to terms with it. we are deeply upcity set by his predicament while at the same time fully convinced of his innocence. >> he insists that his son was not even aware that the other teen, finnegan elder, was carrying a knife or had used it in the scuffle with the two police officers that ended tragically with the death of one of them. so clearing his son's name, there are so many questions.

for the wider public there is because, christine, what we've had is the italian prosecutor's version of what happened. we've heard very little from the lawyers of the american teens so far. >> an italian police officer is dead. his wife grieving and he has been laid to rest. thank you so much for that. an explosion and fire at an exxonmobile plant in bay town, texas, no longer poses a threat this morning. city officials lifted an advisory after detecting no levels for air quality. 66 employees and contractors received medical care. the cause of the explosion still unknown. let's get a check on cnn business. taking a look around the world. you can see asian markets close mixed. european markets closing very little direction here. on the trade front, talks

between the u.s. and china ended wednesday without any sign of progress. both sides agreed to meet again in september. on wall street futures leaning absolutely directionless. that's a little bit of an improvement when markets took a bit of a hit after jerome powell suggested the fed rate cut was not the start of a new trend. the dow fell 1.2%. the s&p 500 closed lower. i need to give you the perspective here. this has been an amazing stock market run. 1% is not much at all. from trump's inauguration. we'll keep the numbers here. the s&p 500 is up 31%. the senate is expected to vote on the trump approved budget today. it's expected to pass. they're in hopes to keep it close to the vest. according to a source close to the process, president trump and administration officials made a small handful of calls wednesday to waffling lawmakers to talk

about the deal f. it does pass, all that's left is for the president to sign the spending bill. nothing is final until trump signs it. so many people are seeking payments from equifax. there might not be enough money to pay the claims for everyone. under the settlement consumers can file for equifax's free credit monitoring or receive a check for $125. what did you ask for? >> i got the money. >> the fund dedicated to the cash payouts is only $31 million. the more people who file claims, the less likely they are to receive the entire payment. the ftc is trying to persuade americans to take the free credit monitoring. if you file a claim, be careful of scammers. it's insulting to have to accept the free monitoring for something they did wrong. >> i already have that from another breach. up next, the cnn debates set to the sounds of motown. stay tuned.

in honor of the cnn debates being in the motor city, stephen colbert set some talking points to motown classics. take a listen. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> well, you're welcome. that's the point. putting them on the stage so america could be introduced. >> great publicity. >> all right. thanks for joining us. i'm christine romans. >> i'm boris sanchez. "new day" live from detroit starts right now. the first thing that i'm going to do when i'm president is i'm going to clorox the oval office. >> mr. president, kids belong in classrooms, not cages. >> if you cross the border illegally you should be able to be sent back. it's a crime. >> mr. vice president it looks like one of us has learned the lessons from the past and one of us hasn't. let me begin by telling you -- >> he was able to get the lines in, escape unscathed and a new life line. he will be back. >> this is "new day" with alisyn camerota and john berman. >> good morning.

welcome to a special edition of "new day." thursday, august 1st. 5:00 here in detroit. so much drama july couldn't handle it all. >> no, it quit. >> it quit on us so we had to make it august. this morning, who's waking up in a better position than last night? was there a breakout or a breakdown in the democratic debate. much of the analysis is in and the verdict is bruising. this was a demanding get it from all sides event, particularly for vice president joe biden. just about every candidate was attacking one aspect of joe biden's record or another. this time he was ready. he had a better and more energetic debate this time around, not perfect but better. >> senator kamala harris came out swinging and landed some blows on biden, but she found herself on the receiving end of some jabs, too. she was challenged on her new health care plan and her record as prosecutor.

we have moments to show you and discuss. let's begin with cnn's athena jones joining us with the highlights. athena. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. front-runner joe biden was the top target on the stage last night taking hits on all sides from everything from health care, tough on crime laws, women in the work force, immigration, climate change. as promised, the president was more aggressive fighting back. it didn't take long for kamala harris and all others to pounce on joe biden. >> you want to be president of the united states you have to answer the tough questions. >> mr. vice president, your argument is with science and unfortunately your plan is too late. >> you want to compare records, and frankly i'm shocked that you do, i am happy to