Biden tapes released after legal battle

Some of this may be classified, so be careful.

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All right. I was going to ask you something else. Oh, gosh. I can't think of what it is.

All right, let's bring in Joel Payne now. He's a CBS News political contributor and Democratic strategist. Joel, good morning. What stood out to you from these tapes, and what do you make of the response from the Biden team that, well, this might be political retribution? Well, Errol, good to be with you. Look, I think the tapes tell the story for themselves. They do show that President Biden did have a faulty memory, as was some of the claims that were made by Robert Hur and by some of the political opponents who were going against Joe Biden at that time. I think it also does raise some questions about what classified information President Biden shared with his ghostwriter and what not. It is important to point out that independent prosecutors who looked at this information decided that Joe Biden did not maliciously violate the law. But be that as it may, I think what this does is continue to really complicate the legacy of Joe Biden's time in office, in part because it helps narrate and tell the story of really a lot of the critiques and the criticisms that came across President Biden related to his fitness for office. Does this mean that Joe Biden couldn't do the job of president? No, but it offers more material to help his political opponents tell that story.

And we know that he, the former president, has released a book. The first lady-- former first lady have released a book also helping to kind of define their own narrative. But this does remind people of the former president's halting memory and his inability to kind of complete thoughts, even when he starts speaking. Might that be used as baggage for Democrats against some of his cabinet members, like former VP Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who are considered to be potential contenders for 2028? I think certainly political opponents will try to do that. And look, I think that some version of truth and reconciliation around the Biden era will be a part of the 2028 Democratic presidential primary. I think that however close-- whatever proximity you had to the Biden White House, I think that that will be of issue. Many of us-- and I will count myself as a part of this, Errol-- reached the conclusion if Joe Biden's memory of his age did not affect his job performance that the American people have kind of treated that as settled law. I think that that's partially true for the first term, but I think that most Americans thought that this was a one-term deal that they reached with Joe Biden. And I think the fact that Biden decided to press on with the re-election campaign in 2024 before he stepped out and that his aides and people around him maybe did not encourage him to step out sooner I think will certainly be a part of the discussion in 2028. These tapes don't do any favors to Joe Biden or to the people around Joe Biden at that time to help move on from this story. I think it will only intensify scrutiny from that era. All right, Joel, great to chat with you on this topic. Thanks for being with us today.