Dan Mitchinson: US correspondent on President Joe Biden having to prove himself at NATO summit

Joe Biden's appearance at this week's NATO summit came with additional pressures ahead of the US election.

Less than two weeks after Biden's shaky debate performance, Biden was under extra scrutiny on the world stage.

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Biden sounded better during his first address - but he still has to contend with further global exposure.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International Correspondence with Ends and Eye Insurance, Peace of Mind
for New Zealand Business.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Jan Missions and US Correspondent with US Now Hi Dan, Hi, Heather.
I mean, he was pretty fiery in that speech as
he quelled any concerns.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
No. I mean, it's interesting because normally when you get
leaders like this together, we'd be talking about what they're
talking about. But in this case, well, I mean it
would have been Ukraine and Russia obviously, but this week,
I think it's more watching President buying to see if
he's capable to run the country for another four years,
and that's what everyone's talking about over here. I think
he was speaking a little better today. He had a

(00:35):
little more energy, it felt like from watching him. But remember,
I mean this speech was read from a teleprompter, it
was from prepared remarks. It wasn't off the cuff, and
you don't take questions in the situation. So we'll see
how this works out later in the week. I think,
you know, by the weekend early next week, we're gonna
have a better idea if he's got the support that
he needs to stay in this race, not just from
world leaders but here at home.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yeah, I mean, the thing about about his performance is
that it is so hits and miss, right, and we
have seen him go from being really really lackluster to
being really energetic, and so having an energetic performance once
off is not really convincing, is it.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
No, No, you're right, it's hit and miss. I mean
the night after the debate he was pretty good. When
he was out on the campaign trail. A couple of
days later he was eh. Today he looked he sounded
real good too, And I think they're really working on
him to, you know, to stay the course and every
single day and I mean every single day counts between
now and the next week or two, I think, fair.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Enough, how's it going for Alec Baldwin.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well, I mean they've got a jury that's been selected,
so opening the arguments are scheduled for tomorrow. It looks like,
I mean, if things go as planned, this is going
to be a fairly quick case. I mean, closing arguments
are expected next week sometime I think around the nineteenth.
And he did score a little bit of a victory,
I guess when the judge ruled that prosecutors can't introduce

(01:48):
evidence of his status as a producer on this movie,
which he was as well as you know, starring and
then that you know, it was kind of interesting too
because his attorney took a minute or two to remind
the jurors today that bald when it was or is
quote a real person and then asked everyone if they
had seen Baldwin in a movie or a comedy show
that they didn't like, and would they hold that against him,

(02:09):
because some jurors obviously would. He doesn't have the best
reputation in the public.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, how are they having a film festival in the prison?

Speaker 3 (02:17):
I love this? And to give you a little background,
San Quentin State Prison is a maximum security correction facility
for men. It's located here in northern California. It's near
San Francisco. You've probably seen it a million times and
didn't even realize it on TV shows and movies. And
so they're holding the first ever film festival inside a prison.
They just named the jury today, which includes actors like

(02:39):
Jeffrey Wright who played oh Felix Leider in the Bond movies,
and Mary Louise Parker and a lot of other actors
and actresses too. This is going to take place on
the tenth and eleventh inside the prison. They're going to
have short form films and pitches from people who are
currently locked up, who were formally locked up. They're going
to have a separate jury that's inside people that are

(03:00):
currently incarcerated as well as the actors. And you know,
this is the first kind of a film festival that's
ever been held here. But they already do a lot
of media works inside this place too. I mean, they've
got a podcast that they produce that's listened to all
over the world called Ear, Hustle and Uncuffed, and they
also have a little sort of in house bulletin too,
So I guess it's just giving the people in there

(03:22):
sort of another resource when they get out, if they
get out.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Interesting. All right, Dan, thank you very much, appreciate it.
We'll talk to you in a couple of days. It's
Dan Mitchison, US correspondent.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
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